Dōkutsugakure no Sato
Dragon: Okay, so this chapter was kicking my tailbone for days! I hope you don't hate me too much after it, because WARNING: Character death.
Chapter 7-Tradegy
In Konoha
Kakashi and the other senseis had been forbidden from seeking out their genin teams. Kakashi was somewhat ok with this, because he felt Iruka could handle this. He was the one closest to Naruto, after all. If anyone could talk some sense into his knuckleheaded student, it was Iruka.
However, he was also frustrated. He couldn't just sit here and do nothing. He had to help. And that was exactly what he planned to do. Luckily, he was not alone.
"Are you sure you should be walking around like that, Gai? You're pretty wounded," Asuma commented as he, Kakashi, and Gai made their ways to a secluded part of the woods.
"Don't worry about me, Asuma! My flames of youth still burn strong!" the bruised Gai said exuberantly, his arms raised high.
"Rrrrriiiiight," Asuma said slowly. To Kakashi, he asked, "How are we going to get to them in time?"
"I'm hoping Iruka can stall them long enough that we can reach them before the border," Kakashi stated. "Then we can arrive and hopefully…" He was stopped by a loud meow. The group stopped and saw a black cat staring at them. Kakashi's eye widened.
"Where'd the cat come from?" Asuma asked, but Kakashi wasn't listening.
A black cat. This was the second time a black cat had ever crossed Kakashi Hatake's path. The last time was the day before Ren was captured and she killed herself on Kakashi's Raikiri (Lightning Cutter), to protect the village.
"Come on, guys! We need to move!" Gai shouted, and ran off ahead. Asuma shook his head and ran after him. Kakashi stood starting at the cat for a moment, before Gai shouted out again, "Kakashi! Hurry up!"
Two other times a black cat had crossed his path. And just like the last two times, Kakashi ran by it. Only this time, he was dreading what he'd lose this time.
With the group
Naruto stood slack jawed at the man before him and the group. Iruka just stood stoically in front of the group. The oldest of the group tensed at the possible threat he posed while the younger ones stood shocked at their Academy instructor's appearance. Kurotsuchi simply frowned at him.
"Who's this scumbag?" the Iwa kunoichi growled, making the Rookies glare at her hotly.
Iruka looked surprised at her presence. "What are you doing with an Iwa kunoichi?" he asked.
"I just happened to be in the neighborhood and they said they'd pay me to show them a good time, if you know what I mean," Kurotsuchi answered sarcastically, earning more glares from the group.
Anko, however, chuckled. "Maybe there's hope for you yet, girly," she said.
"Oh, lucky me," she grumbled. Iruka just shook his head and decided to not worry about it, but before he could speak up, Aki brought attention back to him.
"What are you doing here, Iruka?" Aki asked in a hard tone, her fingers toying with a few kunai.
The scarred chūnin sighed. "I was hoping to convince you lot to return to Konoha with me," he admitted, hoping honesty would be the best start.
"Well, forget it, Iruka sensei!" Ino shouted. "We're not going back! Not with what they're planning to do to Naruto!"
"Ino, I know it's bad, but we can fix it," Iruka attempted, but Chōji spoke up then.
"They had the Daimyo's signature on the order!" he shouted. Iruka winced. That made this more difficult. Time for a different tactic.
"Then let's go to the Daimyo, then!" Iruka said. "Straighten this out! Your dedication to your friend is admirable, but you don't have to just leave the village to protect Naruto!"
"And who's to say the Daimyo isn't ignorant of the situation?" Shikamaru asked. "Who's to say he doesn't agree with the citizens? The risk was too great to attempt. This way, we make our point, and Naruto's supported against any who might try and hurt him."
"At what cost, Shikamaru?" Iruka countered. "Think about the Akatsuki. Naruto told me how he was confronted by Itachi. And from what I've heard, every other Akatsuki member is an S-ranked criminal. Do you think that 13 Rookies, three Jōnin, and two chūnins can take on such a group?"
"Well, I guess we'll find out!" Naruto said. "I may not have asked for their help, but I'm glad I have friends that would stand by me despite my…circumstances, and if they think this is for the best, I'll fight tooth and nail to help them!" He looked conflicted as he looked back at one of the first people (besides his family) to see him as Naruto, and not a demon fox. "Please move out of our way, Iruka sensei. I don't wanna fight you."
"I don't want to fight you either, Naruto," he said softly. "But I can't let you do this. Not when there's other options."
"There are no other options," Aku said forlornly with a shake of his head. "We only have the one."
"But it's absurd!" Iruka protested. "Is leaving the village really your only option?!"
"The only one that has Naruto-kun safe!" Hinata told him hotly.
"You would leave your families to do so?!"
"You do see them out here right now, right?" Aki said lowly to the chūnin. "They're in it for the long haul, more so than the others who joined us." She turned to Iruka and gave a small smile. "Iruka, I know you care about my little brother. So, I'm going to give you this one chance: join us. Konoha has done Naruto wrong for the last time. For what you mean to Naruto, please consider joining us now, or I'll have to move you. Painfully, if necessary."
Iruka looked shocked at the offer, but before he could even think on it, a shout resonated across the field: "Kurotsuchi-sama! We've found you!"
"There's the damn demon! Kill it!"
"Shit! Run!" Aku shouted, but it was too late. They were slowly being surrounded. Aki cursed and activated her Kekkei Genkai.
"No choice. Fight through!" she shouted. This had the group bolting, trying to break through wall of ninja around them. Kurotsuchi was forced to fight an Iwa nin, who had to dodge her attacks as she swiped at him with a kunai.
"Kurotsuchi-sama!" the nin protested. "Why are you fighting me?! I'm here to take you home! Away from these dogs!"
"I won't go back!" she shouted at him. "Not when there's a chance I could end up like Deidara because Ji-sama believes I'd become a threat one day!"
"What are you talking about?!" he shouted. "The Tsuchikage would never do that! Especially to you of all people!"
"I thought the same! But not anymore!" she shouted and shit the man's throat. His body turned to rubble, signifying it as a rock clone. Kurotsuchi cursed and whirled around to defend herself against the shinobi.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Iruka found themselves fighting a Konoha and Iwa nin respectively side by side. Naruto summoned some clones and began fighting the guy in front of him while Iruka blocked a sword swing with a kunai. "Naruto! Stop this!" the chūnin pleaded. "There's got to be another way!"
"Not from what I see, Iruka sensei!" Naruto shouted, punching the shinobi before him. "The damage has been done, and Konoha wants me gone or dead!"
"You're damn right, demon brat!" the Konoha nin shouted. He tried to stab Naruto, but all he hit was a clone.
"Naruto! Think this through!" Iruka pleaded, dodging another swipe at him.
"I am!" Naruto shouted. "It's only this one seems to be the right one!" He punched the Konoha nin away from him and started to form a Rasengan with a clone's help. Iruka's eyes widened as he stared at the attack and how it would hit the nin before the blonde.
"NARUTO NO!" he shouted and quickly substituted himself with the nin. In hindsight, it wasn't a good idea. Because as soon as he did, the Konoha nin had his throat slit by the Iwa nin, and Iruka appeared in front of Naruto…
Just in time for the Rasengan to be shoved into his chest.
For Naruto, the world seemed to stop.
The noise around him seemed to vanish entirely.
His face slowly morphed into a look of horror at the slowly creeping expression of pain on the face of one of the first people to look at him as a real person. The swirling orb of chakra in his hand slowly dug into the chūnin instructor's chest, shredding his skin and breaking his ribcage. Naruto tried to back off from the attack, but it was too late. He lost concentration for the briefest of moments, and the Rasengan destabilized. The ball of chakra exploded, and sent Iruka Umino spinning away from the blond jinchuriki and into several trees.
Naruto fell to his knees, staring incomprehensively at where his favorite instructor had flown. The shock had yet to settle as he felt someone pulling at his arm, yelling something at him. He couldn't see anything other than the trench his Rasengan had made. When the implications of what he just did finally registered in his brain, the world seemed to restart around him. Sound harshly returned to his ears as he let out a raw, hoarse scream; "IRUKA SENSEI!"
He tried to race towards the area his pseudo brother figure flew off to, but he was held back by firm hands on his arm. "LET GO OF ME!" he shouted. "IRUKA SENSEI IS HURT! I'VE GOT TO HELP HIM! LET GO!"
"No Naruto! We've got to move!" a voice shouted, and he knew it was Aki. But even still, Iruka was in the tree line, hurt or worse! He couldn't just leave him! He tried to struggle harder, but his sister's unrelenting grip began dragging him away.
"NO! LET ME GO! IRUKA SENSEI IS STILL OVER THERE! AKI, LET ME GO! IRUKA MIGHT DIE! AKI! AKI! AKI!" But she didn't let go, she merely kept dragging him to the others waiting in the tree line, leaving the fighting Konoha and Iwa shinobi to deal with each other.
All the while, tears flowed down her beautiful face.
Konoha
Tsunade sighed in exhaustion as she stared at her desk, which for once wasn't filled with mountains of paperwork. She had sense tossed all that to the floor in order to stare at all the information she had been given currently. A shinobi walked into the room and said, "Hokage-sama, I have the order you requested…"
"Leave it on my desk, and leave," she ordered, not looking up. The shinobi was startled by the tone.
"O-Of course, ma'am," he stated and left the rice and sake on the desk and left quickly. She looked up to see the chopsticks were sticking straight up in the rice. She scowled as a feeling of dread creep into her system.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," she mumbled.
With Kakashi
Kakashi tensed, feeling something was wrong. VERY wrong. He sped up, hoping it was just him thinking the worst…
With the group
Aki and Aku were forced to knock Naruto out in order to keep going. The group were going at full speed, trying to outrun their pursuers. Kurotsuchi was very pessimistic about their current predicament.
"They're going to catch us!" she screamed.
"Turn left at the large tree! It will take us to Oto!" Shikamaru shouted. "After entering their borders, they'll be forced to call it quits or risk being caught in hostile territory!"
"I highly doubt that will detour them!"
"Then the group of Oto nin closing in on our entry point will slow them down!" Neji supplied. "If we can make it through before they see us, they'll run right into our pursuers and they'll be forced to stop or risk causing an international incident!"
"It's the best we got right now!" Aku said, securing Naruto on his back. "Pick up the pace! NOW!" They didn't protest as they tried to pour on the speed.
"STOP RIGHT THERE, KONOHA DOGS!" an Iwa nin shouted.
"KILL THE DEMON!" a Konoha nin screamed.
"Turn now!" Shikamaru yelled, and the group quickly followed his orders. As a singular unit, they jumped over the Oto/Konoha border and vanished into the forest around them. The Konoha and Iwa nin tried to follow but soon were met with an Oto patrol.
"Who goes there?!" an Oto nin demanded, causing an Iwa nin to slit his throat. This caused a massive fight between Oto, Konoha, and Iwa. And the group they were pursuing to disappear into enemy territory.
Arc 1 end