AN: So, a guy messaged me and said 'Hey ya know there's this thing called a poll right?' I'm like a poll? You mean something I can put the votes for the Dōjutsu on? After playing around in my profile I finally found the poll thingy, honestly didn't even know that was thing yall, I thought polls was for something FF did that you voted on. So head on over an vote!
Zoran: Question becomes how will Naruto react if or when he finds out?
(Started 12/1/22 Finished 12/12/22)
Beta SilverStreak93242
A hollow blue eye stared into the flames of the small campfire, taking the last bite of the fish he had cooked he tossed the stick into the fire and listened to the damp oil coated stick pop as the fire claimed it. Taking his hand he ran it through blond hair, the hair lightly coated crimson and matted with dried blood.
"Seems like the rest of Gato's thugs got smart." Kurama said "I mean you have been hunting down each one of them hoping to finally put an end to the man."
It had been four days now since he started the hunt, in that time he had killed more people than he cared to remember, and that's not even counting the countless souls lost to the deep at his command. It felt wrong to him, but he would bare the weight it would take all.
"Kit you know you don't have to go it alone…" He didn't even respond to the fox, unlike the rest of the world he couldn't hide his feelings from Kurama. His mind just replayed everything that he had done, like a broken record.
(Flashback)
Walking out on a log Naruto stood on the edge and looked down at the water of the cove where two ships were moored. Holding his hands out wide he leaned forward and let gravity take him plunging into the waters below.
As he fell his mind he thought about the answer he had giving to Kurama, the answer to the question the millennia old fox had asked him days ago. As soon as he felt the cold of the water hit him he angled his body up and started swimming towards the pier.
Coming up for a breath he looked at the sole guard and the two ships docked there. He slammed the palm of his hand into the water making a loud splashing noise before he dove back below the water.
"What was that?" a mercenary said as he looked out into the deep water trying to see what had caused that sound. He walked towards the edge of the dock, a hand silently raised itself out of the water the setting sun reflecting off the water blocking his sight. "Guess it was a fish." he mumbled as he turned around and started walking back towards his post.
Pulling himself onto the pier Naruto walked behind the man his hidden blade silently sliding out from his wrist. The mercenary didn't have a chance to scream as a hand covered his mouth and a blade slid in between his ribs, a green hooded man stepped over him blood dripping from his wrist as the light faded from his eyes.
"Are you sure that's your answer…" Kurama asked as Naruto placed one of the demo tags he got from Itachi on the small ships.
'If it means that I can give those I want to protect a chance at a better life, then yes.' he responded as he stood up and started walking towards the house. The setting sun casting his shadow along the wooden pier as he drew his swords.
"Hey Zaji, time to-" a merc said as Naruto walked calmly down the pier, his eyes widened when he realized that it wasn't Zaji walking down the pier. "Shit! In-" he didn't get to finish his warning as Naruto reappeared behind him and blood sprayed from his neck.
Flicking his wrist Naruto continued his slow walk towards the house, his target was inside. "Kit remember you came here for something to help the vixen and the Old Perv, don't lose sight of your objective." he didn't even respond, his mind already locked on its target.
Looking at the gold inlayed double doors he reached up and uncovered his eye, there was no telling what was on the other side of this door, it could be Gato, it could be an army of thugs, or it could be Kakashi and his team. To him any of those would be welcome.
Raising his foot he kicked the heavy doors, it buckled under the force of an angry blond sending the doors skidding across the room. "Oi Templars! It's time to pay to piper!" Naruto yelled as he strolled into the richly decorated room. He leaned to the side as the tip of a spear flew by his head, the wind coming from his sword screamed as it reflexively cut the offending man in half.
A loud bell rang out as the guard on the other side of the hall rapidly rang it "Intruder! There's someone in the mai-" his yelling silenced as two swords protruded out from his chest.
Naruto didn't even spare the man a glance as ripped his swords out. Walking over to the door he placed another demo tag connecting the two doors, as soon as someone broke the tag it would detonate killing any fool in its range.
The sound of people running towards him drew his eyes away from the door. Running towards him were a handful of mercs "There he is! Don't let him escape!" the lead one yelled making the man roll his eyes.
Taking a step away from the door Naruto held his sword at the ready "Fourth Stance: Mirage…" he mumbled as he rotated and dropped the sword, its point hitting the ground and both the sword, and its owner disappeared from view.
Naruto's eyes glowed as his after image slowly faded from sight his red and gold eye seeming to mock the people before him "Shit shinobi!" one of them yelled as they all looked frantically around for the hooded man.
"How observant…" a voice whispered in his ear as blood flew from his back. The three standing nearest to him didn't even have time to react as they lost control of their bodies, the walls were painted red as their heads fell from their bodies.
"Behin-" the leader tried to yell as he turned to face behind him. A pair of swords exited out his back as Naruto reappeared in front of him holding the blades stuck in his gut.
"Had you people not accepted a job offered by a Templar you could have survived to take another…" he roughly pulled the swords out from his gut and faced the two-remaining people in the hall. "Now I'm not an evil man, walk away now I won't use your blood to paint the walls of this fine home." he smiled as the remaining two threw down the weapons and ran towards the door.
Walking slowly down the hall he remembered that he had placed a tag on the door "Don't open the do-" he tried to tell them as the demo tag detonated sending dust and body parts flying. "I tried to warn you…" shrugging his shoulders he continued on.
His eyes landed on a door that had a red medical cross on it. Walking up he tried to open the door only to find it locked 'So that's how he wants to play?' Naruto thought taking a step back from the door and kicking it open using less force then when he entered the estate "What's up Doc?" he said locking eyes with the aging man.
The man who was trying to stuff papers and medicine in a leather bag his terrified eyes peered into the glowing red and gold eyes of the bloodstained hooded man standing before him. His eyes darted around the room as he tried to find a way out.
"Don't bother." Naruto said his eyes saw movement from outside the window, it seemed that the rest of the Gato's mercs had realized the intruder was a shinobi and sought to escape. "Is Gato in by chance? No…well that's a shame, oh well…" he formed a hand seal and watched as the two ships that had just departed went up in flames and the explosion rattled the windows "You see I really don't care if the midget is home right now, the person I want is you, and I will get what I want when I'm through…"
"W-w-what do you want with me?" the terrified man stammered out as he backed away. The man before him went beyond what Gato was paying, and at this point he was willing to do anything to keep the demon before him at bay.
"I want all of your medicine, to be more specific I want everything for pneumonia, strong pain killers and every single blood pill you have…" Naruto said as the man's eyes looked past him, "Mirage…"
The hooded man standing before him faded like smoke on the wind as a katana passed through his body. "Kai!" the man yelled jumping back away from the door. He glared at the hooded man as he came back into sight.
"Interesting, a thug that's trained." Naruto said as the two circled each other in the hall, "Tell me how did a man like yourself come under a Templars employ?"
"Dr. Hiwasawa get out of here now!" the man yelled as he drew a shorter katana from his belt "I don't answer to a man with no honor…"
"Your honor died the second you started working for a Templar, I figured a ronin would have more sense than to side with oppressors." he flipped his blade and dropped it "But no matter…" the second the point touched the ground, he grabbed it and charged the wandering samurai.
The man expected genjutsu and had prepared accordingly, but when the man grabbed his sword the second it tapped the ground he was caught off guard. Sparks flew as the ronin quickly recovered and deflected the twin swords.
His eyes widened as the man he was fighting faded and reappeared behind him, a shooting pain told him that he was able to shift in time to avoid a fatal attack, the pain told him he was alive. "Tell me what is the difference between a charka based, sound based, and tool based genjutsu?" Naruto whispered in the man's ear as he twisted his swords. The ronin reached over and sliced the space where he was standing. "The only one that can be broken fully with charka is a charka based genjutsu."
The ronin's sixth sense told him to move, obeying he shifted to the side earning himself a deep cut on the arm, instead of a missing one. The hooded man before never once taking a step towards him. "Tool based requires you to find and remove the tools that are used in the genjutsu…"
Once more he was cut his face wincing in pain as he tried to ignore the cut to his side. Turning quickly the ronin swung out at the space behind him, hoping to slice the man in half. The cloaked man he had been facing charged and plunged both his blades into the man's chest "Sound based, is unable to be broken unless the sound is stopped or you plug your ears, and if the man controlling it still has charka left then the jutsu will remain…" Naruto's voice once more whispered in his ear, blood seeped from his mouth as he fought back against the darkness that entered his eyes. "My sensei pounded this into my head each day he trained me, you've been fighting shades since we started…"
The two cuts seemed to wash away from his body as the last of his life faded from his eyes, he had been fighting a ghost this entire time. The man had him trapped in the sound based genjutsu since the start of the fight.
Roughly yanking his blades out Dr. Hiwasawa watched as blood was sent flying against the walls, he fell back in horror, horror of the monster that Gato had pissed off.
(Flashback End)
Naruto was pulled out of his daydream by the sounds of a wagon coming down the road, it was the building supplies for the bridge. Another shadow action made by the Templars that needed to be dealt with.
It didn't take long for the people of Nami to realize that a lot of Gato's thugs were missing and those that were still around were more worried about the shadows around them then trying to subdue the people.
Sighing Naruto stood up and started walking towards the road, the reaction was nearly instant when he stepped out into the road. "Shit! Its him!" one of the 'workers' yelled quickly realizing Báleygr was standing before him, his red eye seeming to shimmer under his hood.
"I'll only ask once, where is Gato?" Naruto said just loud enough for the pair on the cart to hear him.
"Fuck you!" another one of the rougher looking men yelled drawing a knife from under his robe. "It's because of you that the fucking bridge is nearly complete! And the second it is we lose all of the power we had on this island!"
Upon hearing this the rest of the men escorting the cart seemed to stand a little straighter and their eyes a little more defiant. "Is that your answer?" Naruto asked as he watched the rest of them draw various weapons "I tried…" he mumbled as he faded from view.
And so too did his mind fade as well. The shadow growing ever stronger.
The Creed Reborn
Deisui had one hand resting on the wheel and a second hand was holding onto a bottle of expensive sake. To be exact it was a bottle of sake made using a Diamyo's personal rice field from nearly a hundred years ago.
Taking a look at the crew he quickly noticed that while everyone on board was relaxing, there was an aura that hung in the air, an aura of darkness that wasn't there days ago.
He heard the shuffling of boots beside him as he looked towards the Standing Officer. "Sawada." he greeted the man. His soot covered face did little to hide the bags under his eyes. Seeing the long look on the man's face he held out the bottle of sake for the man.
"Commander." he greeted back taking the offered bottle, his quick drink turning into a long swig as he let the alcohol burn away at his fatigue. "You weren't kidding about the kid were ya?" he asked handing the bottle back to Deisui.
"Kid, I ain't ever kidded bout the Uzumaki. When I said he'd burn the world down to protect those he loved I wasn't kidding." Deisui replied taking the last swig of the sake before tossing it over the side "But I'll tell ya one thing…"
"What's that commander?"
"I wasn't spectin the world to burn this early…" Deisui said as his mind looked back at the last few days.
(Flashback)
Deisui watched as the green flare lit up the night sky. It was the signal him and Naruto had agreed on when they needed to meet. "Drop the Dingy!" he bellowed out to those on shift knowing it would take the better part of an hour to reach shore. "Sawada! On me!"
Naruto sat by a small fire a few hundred yards from the hut. He knew shooting off that flare had the chance of bringing the Konoha nins, but with the way he was feeling right now he welcomed the chance of a fight.
Closing his eyes, he let the wind take him back to brighter days. The days where he played pranks on the people of Uzu, the days where him and Itachi beat each other black and blue, the days he and Karin fought over food.
Hearing the crunch of sand, a sole blue eye opened and looked towards Deisui and the crew that had come ashore to meet him. There was no way that it had been an hour yet, but if they were standing on the shore then it had to have been.
"Naruto." Deisui greeted the hooded blond, the crew could tell just by the way he was acting something was wrong. It took everything they had to not recoil in shock when he pulled down his hood.
Hollow blue met black as a hand tried to push back blood-stained hair. "Deisui…" Naruto replied before pulling out a piece of paper. "I'm going to keep this brief because a pair of Gato's lieutenants are going to be meeting in a few hours."
Taking the piece of paper Deisui's eyes narrowed "Naruto before I even open this tell me something. What the hell happened?"
Standing up Naruto looked at the people behind Deisui "Standing Officer Sawada, Leading Officer Endo, Seamen Konda, Isobe, Kowata. Return to the ship and follow the orders on that paper." he said before turning away.
"Naruto! I wasn't done talking to you boy!" Deisui roared as he sprinted towards the blond.
"I was." Naruto replied as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Deisui stared at the place Naruto once was, he knew those eyes, the eyes of a man set on revenge. "Son of a bitch!" he was kicking himself for not being here, not stopping the boy before something like this happened. Opening the piece of paper, he glanced down at its contents.
'On the north side of the island there is a cove with a house. That is Gato's personal home, head there an take everything of value, and in two days head to the wharf for a raid on his warehouses I will have the gates open by then, be extra careful with the pallet I paint red, its the gas.'
He handed the paper to Sawada "Head on, I'll meet you there." Deisui told him as he started to walk off down the beach.
"Where are you going?"
"To find some answers…" he growled back as he faded into the night. His destination was clear, the hut that the pair were using as a base.
He knew Naruto had a rough past, hell at this point everyone back home knew that, and one of the few things grounding him was his devotion to those he cared about. 'So what made him snap, why now?' he thought as he looked up at the hut.
Silently opening the door, he peered inside, the fire they used for light bathing the room in an orange glow. Stepping in he looked at around the room and quickly realized one of the reasons the blond snapped. Karin was laying in her bed her already light-colored skin almost sheet white as beads of sweat poured down her forehead. "I didn't think it was this bad…" he mumbled to himself. Turning back, he looked at the other bed, "Master Jiraiya…"
Deisui was in shock at the man lying in bed. He had no clue that one of the nins that Naruto and Karin had met was Jiraiya. If he was in such a state then the question became, who put him there.
Closing his eyes he turned and walked out, he knew what he had to do now, the question was how long could they hold out against the shinobi that put Jiraiya on deaths door? He was not medic and he understood that there was nothing he could do for the pair that Naruto hadn't already done.
As soon as he walked outside, he was greeted by the view of the men he had come to shore with. "I thought I told you louts to head on back?!" he bellowed out at the five.
"We ain't headed anywhere until we figure out why the cappin went off the deep end." Isobe responded getting a nod from the rest of them.
"While I still think he's too young to lead, that doesn't mean I don't care bout the kid. Little shit beat the hell out of salvers at ten and saved my ass, least I can do is pull his ass out of the pit." Sawada said placing his hand on the hilt of his saber. "He risked his life to save mine ya know."
There wasn't much left in life that could move the hardend shinobi, but the men before him "You lot are the sorriest, most insubordinate, fuckin people I've ever had the displeasure of sailing with…" he mumbled barely loud enough for the men to hear "But I wouldn't trade ya for a case firebrand sake. Back to the ship! Now! We have the last of a clan to save!" Deisui yelled taking the lead, his mind trying to figure out how he and the crew could save the blond.
They never saw the girl sitting in the woods, her gold and blue eye watching every move they made.
(Flashback End)
"Patrol boat! Starboard on the horizon!" a man yelled pulling Deisui from his daydream.
He watched as the crew took their positions, "Sawada, make ready!" he yelled out over the deck as men grabbed the gear and prepared for contact. "We ain't got much left so don't fire till ya see the whites of their eyes and the stains on their pants!"
The Creed Reborn
A pair of hooded figures sat in a small dingy as four men rowed it towards the shore. The taller of the two wore a gray and black woolen cloak and had a katana hanging from his belt, his black ANBU pants had been patched up with off colored patches. The shorter one carried a wakizashi and a bamboo flute tucked into her belt, her mud-colored cloak was held tightly against her as the wind started to pick up.
"Taya, I told you to pack warmer clothes before we left home." the male said as he watched his companion tug at the cloak.
"Yeah, ya did Itachi, I thought we were just trying to catch up with your uncle. Not headed to some fuckin island to keep the love birds from getting killed." Tayuya said as the wind picked up more and caught her hood yanking it down. "I should have known that when Deisui forgot that damn crate back in Uzu that this trip was going to be a headache, and if that carrier gull didn't reach us we would have traveled all the way to port only to find they weren't there." pulling her hood back up she glanced at the shore as they started to near it.
Itachi's uncle had sent a message dated four days ago informing them that the nin Naruto was working with was in bad shape, and he wasn't the only one, Karin was also under the weather, as his uncle put it a 'bit of a rough start' between the two groups.
Silently he was thankful that Deisui was such a drunk, otherwise they wouldn't have had to bring that crate.
It would have taken the seagull nearly a month to reach its intended target, had it needed to head all the way to Uzu, but it only took it a day to reach Itachi and they took two days to reach Nami. When he got the message, he immediately told his cousin to shift course towards Nami.
"Well, we knew that our ship couldn't catch up to them when we left Uzu. Karin did tell us that Difendā wasn't made for speed like their schooner was." Itachi said looking back the massive wooden vessel.
It had been a near three-year process building the frigate and training people to sail her. Unlike the smaller ship which was made up of a mix of people both from the slavers complex and Uzu, the crew of Difendā was compromised entirely of people who were willing to sail in defense of their homeland. It was sailed on a skeletal crew sadly meaning everyone needed to double up on jobs.
"Yeah, smarty did mention something like that, but to be honest half the shit she talks about goes in one ear and out the other." Tayuya mumbled as she watched Itachi and two of the men paddling stand up, she felt a wave pick up on the boat and start carrying it forwards. "I'll be glad to have something that doesn't rock under my feet again…"
Itachi jumped overboard and grabbed the rope with his sole hand and started pulling it towards the shore.
Tayuya launched herself from the dingy as soon as they stopped pulling it "Land sweet land oh how I fuckin missed you!" Itachi and the rest of the men couldn't help but laugh at the girl. "Oi, you stop laughing Mr. I can't keep my balance!"
"If nothing else the trip was a good charka exercise for me." Itachi said before turning back to the crew of the Difendā "Tell Ichirou to find his dad, I'll be back on this beach in four days with Naruto and Karin till then try and keep her out of sight." It was bad enough that shinobi other then Deisui, Naruto and Karin were on the island, but it would be catastrophic if someone managed to sink the ship, or worst, capture it.
"I think that's goes without saying, I mean that is Ichirou's ship after all." one of the crewmen said as he pushed the dingy off the shore, "Now don't go getting yourselves killed!" he yelled as he picked up a paddle and started rowing.
Itachi and Tayuya watched as the men rowed back towards the ship. Pulling the front of his hood Itachi turned and started walking towards the woods, the less time they spent in the open the better. "Taya." the hooded girl didn't even need to be told what to do pulling the flute from her belt she held it up to her mouth and slowly blew across the hole.
A haunting tune echoed across the forest as the girl focused on the song. While not an Uzumaki she could still make use of the clan's non-bloodline related jutsus, this was one of them, Song of a Hundred Eyes, another sound based genjutsu that wasn't aimed at combat but scouting. It had taken her nearly two years to learn the jutsu from the scroll they had found it in.
Letting the song end, Tayuya took a deep breath. "There's a road not too far, but there's something on it like a cart." she said putting her flute back in her belt.
"I hope that's not what I'm smelling." Itachi mumbled, he could smell the burning of wood in the air, but there was something else mixed in, the smell of burning flesh. "Stay on guard…"
"Ya don't say…" she mumbled sarcastically as she fell in step with him. The closer they got to the road the stronger the smell became, and the stronger it got the worse it smelled.
Having never smelled burnt flesh before it took everything in Tayuya's power to not puke. She knew that Itachi was fairing much better with him being a former ANBU and all, but she had to wonder if it made him sick as well or if he was just numb to it.
Stepping out into the road the pair was finally able to see what it was they were smelling. "I think I'm going to be fuckin sick…" before them was the shredded and burning bodies of people "who could have done this?"
Itachi had a feeling who could have done it, but there was something else at play here. The cuts were clean, something Naruto was more than capable of, but there was something the blond was not capable of doing.
He was not able to do any fire jutsu.
Outside of the basic three and Shunshin Naruto didn't have any jutsu he could use. He had spent almost everyday training with the swords Karin made he found that scroll in the ruins of Uzu. Besides the basics and tactics there was little else he could teach Naruto. Everything the blond learned from him was learned through excessive amounts of him repetitively beating the blond into the ground.
White against the brown of the dirt caught Itachi's eye, bending down he inspected the object. "That answers that question, it wasn't Naruto that caused this…" he said looking at the cigarette butt and all of the dead "They were killed by Asuma, a former member of the guardian twelve." the longer he looked at the group around the cart the clearer the picture became.
Tayuya still didn't understand "Why would a Konoha nin target a group of civilians? It's not like they pose a real threat to them." a group this small would only pose a mild threat if they were in an enclosed space not in the open like they were now.
"It's not that they posed a threat to him, it's that they posed a threat to his Order." Itachi said as he tossed the butt away "I can almost promise you that the cart was full of weapons and that each one of these people are part of the resistant here."
"There you go talkin about that damn Order again…" Tayuya mumbled. She had never met with or dealt with these Templars like Itachi and Naruto had, for someone like herself it was hard to believe in something she had never seen. "So your sayin this Asuma guy caused this?"
"I ain't a hundred percent certain but I'm willing to bet my arm on it." Itachi said as he started walking again "And if he's here then that would make two high ranking jonin Templars that were sent on this mission."
"I know jonin is up there, but how skilled is he?"
"He was hand selected by the Diamyo of Hi no Kuni to be one of his twelve guards. Meaning he is just a step below the Hokage as far as the Diamyo knows." Itachi replied taking a last look around "Come, there's nothing more to be gained here."
The Creed Reborn
A muffled cough emanated from the respirator as Karin slowly added a few drops of the now liquid gas to pinkish compound in the vial. It took everything in her power to not rip the constraining mask off as she coughed because she knew doing so would mean a slow death.
She didn't even know what time it was now, had to be nearing lunch at least. But during that time, she had made so much headway into the chemical compound that she had written down every individual ingredient used in the compound.
She was both relieved and terrified by what she found, relieved in the sense that she knew how to counter it on a large scale, but also terrified because she knew where the base for this compound come from. Her. And the guilt she felt knowing that the death of thousands was in a way created by her made her all the more pissed.
All those years ago in Kusa she mixed some stuff together all so she and her mom could escape. At the time she didn't know what she knew now, she didn't know about the Mind's Eye, or the Isu, the Templars or Assassins, all she knew was that she needed to get out of Kusa.
Hindsight was always twenty-twenty. Because of her kid self she now had to deal with someone, somewhere in the world that was at least on par with her, or the person just got lucky through a lot of trial and error.
Gods, she hoped it wasn't the later.
Most to the ingredients she had been able to identify just through her basic tests, but there was some that she still had no idea what they were. One thing that she had confirmed was that the gas wasn't as odorless as she thought, there was an odor, just one that was masked.
Had it truly been odorless compound like she thought it was then the first three test vials would have held the key to neutralizing it. Now she was just testing various mixes to figure out the rest of the compound and its counter. "Test ten…" she watched as the mix started to bubble from the chemical reaction "Like adding vinger to soda…" she mumbled as she placed the vial back in its rack "Test ten fail."
Picking up another vial she threw herself back into her work. It had been all she was able to do to keep her mind off things since the fever broke. With Naruto who knows where and Jiraiya still not awake, she was just trying to do anything that could take her mind off things. Even if the guilt done nothing but gnaw at her.
Holding the vial up she watched as the pinkish liquid slowly turned green "Damn it!" she yelled sitting the vial down and picking up her pen "Test number eleven, fail…" she mumbled as she jotted down the compound she used and its effects on the now liquid gas.
Closing the lid on the vial she placed it back in the test rack before picking up another. "Test twelve…" she watched with bated breath as the drops splashed into the vial.
"Isu…whenever you have a minute dinner is ready. Figured you would be hungry since you skipped breakfast and lunch." A female's voice came through a can, she looked at the offending silver tin and sighed. Had it been that long, had she seriously not left the room since this morning.
Picking the can up she looked down the cable connecting it and followed it up to the brown wall "I'll be right out…" she mumbled through the mask. Taking one last look at the still pinkish vial she sighed and picked up the pen again "Test Twelve No reaction to compound, failed." she mumbled as she wrote.
Closing the book, she put the lid back on the vial and walked over to the filtration room she had made. Was it crude sure, did it work...she would be the first test…
Sealing the door behind her she grabbed the handle of her a prototype air pump, still not anywhere near Isu standards, but in theory it should work. In that time her mind wandered back to yesterday, the day Hirumi told her about Mariner being missing, about Naruto.
Unknown to the red head, there was another person who was thinking about the day before as well.
(Flashback)
Naruko had just arrived back at the hut, she had taken the long way back to avoid any chance of Shinya following her back. Taking one last glance around she opened the door and stepped inside the dimly lit room. Closing the door behind her she stood still for a minute allowing her eyes to adjust to the light.
Slowly as the room came into focus, she realized something was off, there was a shape missing from one of the cots and there was a new shape propped up against the table. "Isu?" the girl didn't even twitch as panic started to set in. "Isu!" Naruko dropped the basket and went running across the room to check on the girl.
So many what ifs ran through her mind as she sprinted towards the downed girl. She placed her fingers on the side of her neck and sighed in relief when she felt a pulse. "How many times do I have to tell y-" it was then that she noticed the mark on her arm, almost like a bite mark. "What the hell?"
Picking the arm up she inspected the odd marking, something she knew wasn't there before. "Where did this come from?" she mumbled to herself. The mark wasn't deep enough to draw blood, but there was an indent that was clearly made by someone biting down on her.
A small groan came from the girl as blurry and unfocused eyes blinked. "Hirumi?" Karin mumbled as she looked up at the dimly lit form of the girl "Damn it my head is killing me…" the effects from her healing power still lingering.
"Isu, are you alright? What happened?"
"I'm fine, just a bit of fatigue from…" her mind cleared as she remembered what she had done "How's Jiraiya?!" she yelled quickly standing up and moving to check on the man a relived sigh echoed across the room as she checked on him "Good looks like it worked."
Confused Naruko walked over and looked at her sensei. Her eyes widened as she looked down at the man "How? He was barely hanging on when I left and now he looks nearly healed!" she looked towards the girl her eyes begging for an explanation.
"One of the traits of an Uzumaki. I can heal someone from the brink of death using my charka." Karin said before coughing overtook her, Hirumi quickly poured some water and handed it to her. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Naruko replied her mind racing as she pieced together what Isu had told her "There's no way something like that doesn't come free…"
The silence was deafening as the red head lowered her head. "Yeah, it doesn't…each time you use it the cost isn't just charka, it takes a little bit of your life force as well…"
"Why would you do that?!" the black-haired girl yelled. Why would someone that barely knew them willingly give up part of their life to save a man she didn't know? "Isu, why? Why would you do that?"
"Because...it might help pull Mariner from the dark pit he is in…" Karin said. At this point she was willing to do just about anything to help him. "Hirumi, under no circumstances are you to tell him. Understand?"
"I will only do that if you do something for me." Naruko replied getting an annoyed look from the girl "Don't look at me like that, it's something simple and you don't have to do it right now. All I want is to know more about you and Mariner."
"Know more about us?" Karin asked trying to figure out why the girl wanted to know about her and Naruto. Needless to say, she was hesitant since she still didn't trust the girl. "Why do you want to know that?"
Naruko had to take a minute to figure out how to word her response. She was sure that if Mariner was in fact Naruto, the same Naruto that was her brother, then she knew that Isu wouldn't come out an tell her. "We might be working together after this, at least that is what Ero-sensei wants, and I figured that if we are going to be working together then I would want to know a bit more about you." what she really wanted was more on Mariner, she wanted, no needed to know what the man was like. "And maybe along the way I can figure out a way to make it up to you for our rough meeting."
"You can make it up to me by not telling n-" Karin caught herself before she said his real name "Mariner. Besides I don't know anything about the deal your sensei made with him, so until I hear it from him we are just working towards the same goal here, and then we are headed our separate ways."
Seeing that she wasn't going to get anything out of the girl Naruko conceded "Fine, I won't tell him." she mumbled dejectedly.
Karin could tell there was something more to her asking then just wanting to know more about them. What she didn't know, but she was aiming to find out.
(Flashback End)
Karin had been pumping the air pump for nearly ten minutes now. She had felt the air pressure change with each pump making her head feel like it was full of water.
'Well here goes nothing' she thought as she reached up and pulled her mask off, there was no going back now. Taking a deep breath she exhaled slowly, her vision swam and her ears finally popped from the released pressure. 'Well so far so good.'
She waited a few more minutes to see if she had any of the gas was still trapped in the room. She would rather be the only one caught in its grasp then open that door too soon and expose Jiraiya and Hirumi.
Hirumi looked up as she heard a slight hiss "I was wondering if you were going to skip dinner too." she said sitting a bowl down on the table.
"I didn't even know I skipped lunch. I was so focused on my work that I didn't even realize what time it was." Karin responded as she sat down at the table "Ya know I figured that we would have real food when we made landfall, not more of this crap…" what she was really hoping for was more pancakes.
"Sorry it's really all that's stocked here, and I can't really go into to town to buy stuff when I don't have the cash." Jiraiya was the one with the cash not her "I mean this stuff isn't that bad, you make it seem like it's the end of the world." she was hoping to get the girl to talk to her a little bit so she could start to piece together the puzzle that was Isu and Mariner.
Pouring another glass of water Karin just stared blankly at the girl "I would rather eat ramen everyday then have to live off this stuff, and that's saying something." taking a drink she looked back down at the soupy stuff in her bowl. "Makes me miss home, at least there we could hunt and fish without worrying about someone seeing us."
Naruko's ears perked up when she heard the word home, thinking back Mariner had also said the herbs she picked was found on the same island they lived on as well. "You make it seem like there's not many people where you live."
"There's not, if I was to guess maybe about a third or a quarter of the total people on Nami here." she knew the exact number of people, but she wasn't telling this girl, "You could say that…" Karin stopped mid-sentence and looked up at the wall. "There's no way their here."
"Isu?" Naruko asked trying to figure out what the girl was sensing. "Konoha shinobi?"
Shaking her head, she stood up and grabbed her cloak "No, but there's no way those two are here, it would take weeks to reach here from home." she responded slinging her rifle over her shoulder and quickly making her way out the door Hirumi in tow.
It didn't take them long to come within sight of a pair of people, even in the moonlit darkness Naruko could tell their cloaks were nearly the same as Isu's and Mariner's.
"Wolfsbane!" she heard Isu yell out.
"Sting Ray!" a male yell back.
Karin grinned under her cloak when she heard the male respond with sting ray. It was something that was native only to Uzu making it one of the best callouts to use, even if she was almost certain of the charka she felt, she still wanted to a hundred percent positive.
"Smarty that you?" the pair heard a female yell as they started to approach the pair "I'll be damned it's the walking scroll herself! If your here, then the walking headache can't be too far away."
"Taya, how many times do I have to tell ya to quit messing with Karin." the male said quietly before quickly realizing there was someone with Karin, someone he didn't recognize. "Taya…"
"Yeah, yeah, I see her." she mumbled barely loud enough for Itachi to hear as she slowly placed her hand on her sword "Hey smarty, ya got any of those steel rounds for your old matchlock?"
Sighing Karin already knew what she was doing "Firstly yes, it is me. Secondly, I ain't never used a matchlock rifle nor do I use steel shot, and lastly yes, she's with me." she responded "This is how I know you have selective hearing ya damn trash panda."
"What did you call me four eyes?!"
"Enough you two." Itachi said stepping in before the pair started their verbal brawl "So she's one of the nins that uncle told us about?"
"I didn't know he sent you a message in the first place, I haven't seen him for a few days now." Karin replied as she tried to ignore Tayuya "How the hell did you get here?"
"Deisui left the crate, and we set out not long after you left trying to catch up and make sure you got it." Tayuya told her "We expected to find the walking noodle cup well before we found you, because according to the drunk you were under the weather."
"I was and still am, I could fight to some degree right now but I still ain't anywhere near fully healed." Karin responded before she heard someone clear her throat beside her. "Oh sorry, Tachi, Taya, this is Hirumi."
"Nice to meet you." the black-haired girl greeted as she looked at the pair. It was barely bright enough to make out their shapes in the dark.
"Same to you, now smarty where the hell are you staying at?" Tayuya responded quickly realizing that Karin wasn't using their full names 'Meaning that she doesn't trust Hirumi that much.' she looked up Itachi who silently nodded.
"Might as well talk over some tea, or as close to tea as we can get with what we have." Karin replied as she motioned for the pair to follow. Maybe now they could find the blond.
The Creed Reborn
Naruto stared down at the mouth of a coastal cave as his mark ran inside. He had followed one of the messengers for Gato's thugs out here from town. At first, he thought about just attacking the man and taking the message, but if the attack on the supplies the morning was any indication, then the remaining thugs were more desperate then he realized. They were willing to go to the extreme if it meant that they could have control of the island again.
Only a handful of them truly knew what was going on.
Outside the cave was a pair of guards, their hands resting on their weapons and their eyes darting from shadow to shadow. He knew they were keeping an eye open for him.
Silently he crept around to right above the mouth of the cave. Flexing his wrist, he felt the blade lock into place. "If the boss hadn't left after breakfast, he would be dead along with the rest of the idiots at his home." Naruto stopped when he heard this "Rumor has it that boss will be back here soon, and that he is bringing an army with him to get rid of these fucking shinobi." so he missed Gato by just a few hours the other day.
"How big of an army we talkin, cuz these a shinobi were talkin bout here." he heard the other ask, maybe he could just gain what he needed by listening.
No that wouldn't do, if Gato was bringing an army of thugs he wanted to make sure that there was no help to be found on the island. "I ain't sure how many, but the boss said he found the original shinobi that was supposed to kill that bridge builder. I'm sure that with him around we can deal with the rest of them."
"Any idea when that army is coming? Cuz we might not make it till then."
"I heard sometime in the middle of next week, we're supposed to be by the bridge and when they land at the end catch any of the fleeing workers." Naruto had heard enough, and launched himself from the ledge "What wa-" the man didn't even have time to finish as a foot landed on his back and blade pierced the back of his skull.
"Shit! A-" A deafening bang silenced the man as smoke raise from the other outstretched arm.
Retracing his blade Naruto stood up and slowly reloaded his hidden gun, he knew that he had a few seconds before the people inside were even able to reach him. Closing the chamber and cocking the hammer back, Naruto silently drew his swords and started his decent into the cave.
"There he is!" he heard a man yell as soon as he reached the top of some stairs. A crazed grin formed on the hooded man's face as he shot down the stairs. A sickening crunch was heard throughout the halls as the man's neck was snapped as Naruto landed.
"You bitch!" Naruto leaned to the side as a spear was jabbed at him. Calmly he brought his swords up cutting its shaft before the man could pull it back.
Rushing the now defenseless man Naruto swung his swords "When I fight, I can almost forget about everything…" he mumbled as blood dripped from the blades, hearing the sounds of people running towards him he turned to face them "It's almost like a sense of peace…"
"Fuck its Báleygr!"
Sprinting towards the group Naruto threw himself into the fray his glowing golden and red eyes looking more like streaks as he moved from person to person. "It's a nearly hypnotic dance…" he slid to the side as the tip of a sword cut under his eye. "A dance to the death that I can lose myself in…"
The Creed Reborn
Deisui slowly guided the ship through the burning wreckage that was once one of Gato's patrol ships. Had this been a traditional naval battle, the kunai launchers that the patrol boat had would have been a decent defense, but this wasn't a traditional battle. They were the pray, plain and simple.
If the wreckage surrounding him was any proof, gone were the days of Deisui the drunk and former resident of Uzu, gone were the days where you had to look into a mans eye to kill him, those days had left the second he met the young Uzumakis.
The fires burning in the night reminded him that he wasn't doing this for the people of Nami, he was doing this to pull a man from the pits of hell he was headed into. One way or another he would find Gato.
"Survivor off the starboard!" he heard a man yell as people hurried to reel in the man.
"OI! If ya want ta live grab the fuckin rope!" Sawada yelled across the waters "If ya want ta die!" the sounds of multiple hammers being cocked were heard across the deck.
The young merc didn't even think twice about grabbing the rope as a couple of the deck hands pulled him towards the ship. Taking the outstretched hand he was pulled onto the deck and quickly restrained.
"Take the wheel…" Deisui told the standing officer, before making his way down to the deck. "Ya see I can have mercy when I need it, and there's more where that came from if ya tell me what I need." he said as he looked at the men standing beside the survivor holding him in place. "Where is yer boss?"
Had he been hired a year ago he wouldn't have even thought about selling Gato out, hell had he been hired a month ago he might have not even thought about it, but he hadn't even been there a week and already there was someone gunning for his new boss. "He left the island, I was told he would be back next Thursday with a small army."
"Good, good, keep talkin… I want everything you know…"
The thug stared into the sharingan as Deisui grinned ear to ear "He plans on attacking the bridge and dealing with the builders and shinobi guarding them, I don't know how many people that he's bringing just that some of them are shinobi. He doesn't even know about you." he watched as Deisui nodded his head and turned around "I told you everything I know!"
"Aye I don't doubt that…" Deisui replied "An I am a man of my word, so mercy yer have…" he finished as he waved his hand.
The pair holding him knew what he wanted and forced the man over towards the rails "I told you everything! I thought you would save me!?" he yelled as he tried to break free of the men holding him.
"Save ya? I said mercy, not that I would take ya in an feed a murderous son of bitch like you!" Deisui yelled back as all color drained from the mans face "My mercy to you is not scattering yer guts across the deck of this ere ship. My mercy is giving ya a perserver and tossing ya back overboard. Thats the extent of my mercy, now the sea, she might not be so merciful…"
Realizing the situation he was in the thug silently resigned himself to his fate. Deisui watched as the man was tossed over the rails and a wooden life perserver was tossed beside him. "May the sea have mercy on yer poor soul!" He looked up just in time to see a seagull land on the railing, a gull he knew should have been halfway to Uzu by now. "Sawada! Grab the message!" Deisui ordered the man as the started up the stairs. Taking the wheel back he read the short message his son had written him, and another smile formed on his face. "Full Sail! We're off to meet Difendā!"
The Creed Reborn
A searing pain almost made Naruko trip as the four neared the house "Damn it!" she yelled as she touched the skin under her eye. It wasn't the first time she had felt pain this week, earlier this week 'Wait…' she stared down at her hand 'I felt pain in my hand the same day mariner showed up with a bandaged hand.'
"Hirumi you alright?" Karin asked as she looked back towards the black-haired girl.
"Yeah, just something in my eye." she responded as she pushed the pain out of her mind and started walking again.
None of the hooded people bought the lie but they didn't question it either, Karin just coughed lightly and started walking back while Itachi and Tayuya glanced back at the girl.
"Tell me something smarty, why the hell did you come here?" Tayuya asked honestly both her and Itachi wanted to know. Deisui didn't really go into detail when he sent the message, kinda hard to fit a story around the leg of a seagull.
"Oh yeah, sorry…" she started recounting the day she learned about the gas and Gato as they walked. She left names out of it, but the pair knew who she was talking about. Naruko tried to focus on the story but the pain in her face had yet to recede, and Karin had finished the story by the time they had reached the house. "Well this is where we're staying, even if a ship spots it, they're just going to think its a hut." she said opening the door and leading them inside.
"Bout time…" a voice greeted them as they closed the door.
"Ero-sensei?" Hirumi mumbled as her mind realized who the voice belonged too "Your awake!" she yelled rushing over to the man as he laid in the bed "How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere? Can I-"
"Enough…" Jiraiya said with a raspy voice holding his hand up "Water." nodding her head Naruko grabbed the water skin hanging on the chair and handed it to the man.
Itachi and Tayuya meanwhile stood near the door and looked towards the man hidden by the darkness. "Glad to see your awake, I thought Hirumi was going to go crazy worring about you." Karin said as she worked on restarting the dying fire. "Taya, head outside and get me some more wood."
"Yeah yeah smarty." she replied as she opened the door and walked out.
"I'll head with her." Itachi said following her out.
Finally getting a flame to take on the tinder, Karin blew gently on the flame as she added bigger sticks. "When Mariner brought you back I thought you were going to die, you had blood dripping from your mouth and there was nothing I could do." Naruko said as Karin listened to her and her sensei talk.
"Only thing I feel right now is a headache from the lack of water." he replied to her "I wish I had a buxom blond tending to-" a punch to his gut remained him he was at the mercy of a female "Speaking of the man where is he?" he asked hoping to change the subject before he met his end at the hands of his student.
The look on his student told him all he needed to know as she subconsciously touched her cheek, instead another voice responded "I haven't seen him since I woke up yesterday." Karin said as the fire got bright enough to finally see around the room "Hirumi said each time she's saw him in the past few days, he was didn't say much if anything before leaving."
"I see…" if mariner hadnt been back then there was no telling where he was, meaning Naruko was the only one of the them who could fight at her fullest. "How did he look last time you saw him?"
"Hollow…" Naruko responded as she heard the door open "He was covered in blood and if I didn't know it was him I would have said he was demon."
The sound of wood hitting the floor drew everyone's attention "Master Jiraiya?" the man looked towards the one armed hooded man as he tried to figure out who he was "Your other man I was told about. I thought you were still with Konoha?"
Jiraiya was trying to place a voice to a name but no one was coming up. Based off the cloak alone he could tell that the man was with Isu and Mariner, but the way he talked to him implied he knew him. "Trust me it was a Konoha nin that put me here. Have we met before?"
Reaching up he removed his hood and locked eyes with a stunned toad sage. "Its been a while spymaster Jiraiya." Itachi said resting his hand on the hilt of his katana "Last time I saw you I was still an ANBU."
"And last time I saw you there was a matching arm." he replied looking at the stump that was at one point in time his arm "You know I've spent four years looking for you only for you to show up here, where have you been hiding?"
"Thats something none of us here will tell you." Karin replied "Itachi here might trust you but I still don't and our home is just that, our home."
"Bit harsh there ain't ya smarty?" Tayuya asked looking over at the girl "But she does have a point, an I would prefer the peace an quiet, over a bunch of fucking explosions. She's bad enough with all her experiments." she finished getting an annoyed growl from Karin.
All eyes looked at Itachi as the finial person who hadn't spoken about Uzu "While it is true I have a lot of respect for you, both as a ninja and as a spymaster, I would prefer if you left us alone. There are people where I'm at that I would die to protect."
A small smile formed on the sages face as he heard the conviction in their voices "So you have found a place to call home even after being branded a missing nin? There's not many places that would accept you." technically he was also a missing nin and he still hadn't found a place for Naruko to call home, he himself he would never have a home, his home will forever be his craft.
"Wait sensei this man here is a missing nin?" Naruko said drawing all eyes to her "Wouldn't that mean he's in the bingo book? How could another village accept him if he is a wanted man?"
Itachi's eyes narrowed as he looked at the back of the girls head. During the whole walk back to the hut he had never gotten a good look at he girl and even in the light of the fire she still hadn't turned to face him.
Taking another sip of water Jiraiya thought about how to answer the questions "While its true that a missing nin from one village might also be hunted by the village's allies, the opposite could also happen. Take Kiri as an example, while I am being hunted by the loyalist faction as both a supporter to the bloodline faction an a missing nin, when the bloodline faction wins I would have a place where I wouldn't be hunted, an ally."
"So that's why your here, you wanted to stop the gas as well." Itachi surmised.
"Bingo, a man needs a safe place to peep after all. Oof!" as soon as the words came out of his mouth another punch was sent into his side, still coughing he continued "All jokes aside Kiri is the best bet I have at taking Minato out, I would say Kumo and Iwa too, but they would rather kill me then work with me."
"Then to that end everyone here is working towards the same goal." his sharingan flickered as a smile crossed his face "That bastard will die for what he did to my family. But first we derail his plans."
Naruko turned to face the man "How are we going to do that?" she asked as Itachi stared at a face he had once known.
There was no mistaking it, even if her hair color had changed, even if she had grown, there was no mistaking the her face. The only thing he wanted to know is how, how did she get here? But first he had to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. "Naruko?"
AN: I couldn't help it…So the pieces are in place, the board is set, and the fight for Nami soon begins. What awaits the twins during the finial chapter of the wave arc? Who is the shinobi Gato hired? Will Naruto fall into darkness? Will any of the Konoha ninja get killed?
Will I ever have sanity again?
No, no, I will not...
Jutsu List
Song of a Hundred Eyes: A sound based nin/genjutsu where the caster send their charka out with the sound, like echos each time the sound strikes something it sends audio back to the caster. The song is played in such a way that it sounds like its coming from everywhere yet no where at the same time. Range is dependent on how far the sound travels. Uses a substantial amount of charka.