[...] In our current days, the Art of Demonology is nearly lost. Only the last prophets of Bethrezen can muster enough demonic energies to conjure flames and open rifts to summon lesser imps. And even these lesser imps appear sickly as if great lethargy has overtaken their frail bodies. [...]
[...] There is no future for the Church of Bethrezen. The last apprentices of the old prophets can't create even a spark. They all, however, report that upon establishing a connection with the Netherworld where Bethrezen resides, all they could see is emptiness. As if the hell itself has been deserted and abandoned. And with it came a great feeling of sadness that originates from even deeper depths of hell where no one could venture. [...]
[...] The only remaining legacies we have left are the Great stories, legends, and history of the previous Epochs where even the mediocre sorcerers could summon forth bulking demons. Legends of sweet whispers able to corrupt the priestesses of the Highfather. And the history of Bethrezen almost succeeding bringing the fury of the hells upon Nevendaar - a very clever plot of corrupting Elven wells of magic which allowed Demonic generals to bring forth the legendary Arch Demon Nebiros. Only to ultimately fail at the hands of the greatest warriors and heroes of that Epoch. But that's history for the other chapters of this archive [...]
-The Disciple's Archive
The Cultist
Chapter 9
The Gamble of Spontaneity
"We've been running for a while! Let's take a break!" Ino whined.
Shikamaru, and even Choji, rolled their eyes. "It's going to be sixth break already since we started. Not even half a day has passed."
"A lady needs her rest!" the girl exclaimed "How am I supposed to fight and remain pretty if I'm tired?"
"By not skipping out on training?" Shikamaru said.
"Hmph, you're the one to talk. All you want to do is to watch clouds."
"Touché."
"Besides, I don't want to get too muscular. What if Sasuke-kun doesn't like it?"
Choosing to ignore that statement, Shikamaru signalled for the team to stop. "Might as well take a break so Ino stops whining."
"I'm sure you're just as happy to take a break." Choji commented.
Shikamaru just shrugged, choosing to neither confirm nor deny that statement.
Having chosen to travel on the ground to preserve energy, they settled into comfortable positions quite quickly. Choji and Shikamaru didn't bother and just sat on the ground and leaned against a trunk of a tree, while Ino found a comfortable looking log to sit on. Again.
"It's quite weird we haven't seen anyone else yet." Ino commented after a moment of comfortable silence which they used to freshen up with some sips of water. "Or even any wildlife that Anko-san threatened us with."
"I have to agree," Shikamaru carefully said "Despite how many breaks we took, we've still covered some distance in few hours we've been here, and we travelled in a path that would increase our chances of encountering a team." he further mused "Systematically speaking, the fact we haven't seen anyone is… unnatural. Either there's something wrong going on here, or the Forest is much bigger on the inside than on the outside…"
"Is that even possible?" Choji asked.
Shikamaru shrugged "I don't know. I've read that anything and everything is possible with Fuuinjutsu, but space expansion just sounds too fantastical."
"We can seal things in scrolls. Isn't that, technically, space expansion?" Ino commented.
Shikamaru frowned "No… " he uncertainty replied "That's creation of space inside something else…" he then relaxed his face and shrugged "I don't know anything about any of that."
"Still, you do have a point." Ino continued "I'm starting to feel uncomfortable. The forest doesn't feel too… foresty?"
"I know what you mean," Choji muttered his agreements.
"Nothing to do about it," Shikamaru said as he stood up and dusted himself off. "We have to push forward. Are you ready to go?"
Choji silently followed and stood up. Ino, instead, chose to whine "This break was so short, I didn't rest enough! Each time we stop we rest less and less!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes "Obviously. I am trying to mitigate the time we have already wasted for your breaks. We don't want to be stuck in the forest during the night, do we?"
Ino relented with a long suffering sigh "I suppose. Alright, alright, I'm coming."
No sooner she said that as they heard a faint boom somewhere in the distance east of them, which then quickly followed by mild rumble beneath their feet.
"What was that?" Choji asked.
"Proof that we're not here alone after all." Shikamaru retorted with a worried glance. If something reached them from such apparent distance then it was bound to be powerful and something that they'd potentially want to avoid.
"We shou-" he abruptly cut off what he was about to say as his instincts screamed for him to move, and he rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a kunai that only managed to nick a lock of his hair.
Shikamaru could only appreciate the speed at which both Choji and Ino assumed defensive formation, with the three of them covering each other's back, ready to deflect a strike from any angle.
There was a dangerous lull in the air and Team 10 had to sharpen their senses to the maximum to spot any further disturbance in the surroundings.
A faint whistle from Ino's direction was enough indication of incoming projectiles. Not a moment later, several shuriken quickly flew from the canopy that Ino deftly deflected with her kunai.
But that was only a momentary distraction. Two lightning bolts were shot at Shikamaru and Choji from either side of them, forcing the team to roll away and break the formation. Lightning passed by dangerously close and Team 10 were lucky to have gotten away with just mere singed clothes and static in the hair.
They didn't get a moment of rest, however, as three ninjas were on top of them, their swords and kunai raised, fully ready to inflict debilitating injuries to each of them.
Choji and Shikamaru managed to recover and roll away, while Ino had to use her kunai to deflect the weapon. Ultimately, all the enemy weapons met the cold ground with Team 10 on their feet.
However, they were still apart and the enemy didn't give them the chance to come into their senses. They once again pounced forward and engaged them in single fights, effectively splitting them apart.
It was clear from the first few moments that the enemy were much more skilled than them.
"We need to get back together and devise a plan of escape," Shikamaru thought as he barely deflected another sword strike which only made a hole in his shirt "We have the advantage of the forest - seems these Kumo shinobi haven't had much training fighting amongst the trees."
Indeed it was ninja wearing Kumo insignia that they were fighting. A red haired girl was thrashing Ino with a sword, a nondescript brown haired guy was fighting Choji with kunai, while he himself was facing someone with bright white hair. From what Shikamaru managed to observe, it was clear that they clearly are slightly unsure of their footing amongst the leaves and branches and roots that scattered the dense forest ground.
His white haired opponent kept on the pressure and was constantly forcing Shikamaru backwards, keeping him on the extreme defence that he was barely managing.
He felt himself approach something behind, and so Shikamaru surprised his opponent by throwing his kunai and then a couple more in between swings, something that the opponent managed to swiftly deflect and avoid, before making another swing.
Here Shikamaru bent under the swing and dodged backwards… and grabbed the tree trunk with his hands and swung around it. The sword, having missed the target, embedded slightly in the trunk that the enemy didn't anticipate to be so close.
Not having expected this, the Kumo ninja had to hastily put up a block to avoid getting kicked in the face by Shikamaru's feet that came swinging from the other side of the tree.
It didn't cause any serious damage and it didn't have enough force to push the Kumo shinobi back, but then it wasn't meant to. Having perfectly executed the surprise manoeuvre, Shikamaru was in a position to push against the block and do a chakra leap backwards, effectively disengaging and making considerable distance.
Midway in his leap he twisted around and threw shuriken to where Ino was fighting. Having sensed the deadly projectiles, the red haired girl kicked Ino, who blocked the hard kick, and then spun around to deflect the shuriken.
"Ino!" Shikamaru shouted and the blonde girl understood.
Without waiting, Shikamaru landed near the only girl of the Kumo team and kicked hard against the ground, casting dust and debris into the girl's eyes who quickly attempted to shield them with her free arm.
Capitalising on the momentary distraction, Shikamaru brandished two kunais and slashed them in a cross pattern. He gambled on their overconfidence and was hoping that instead of dodging, the Kumo kunoichi would want to display her prowess and block the strike through the momentary blindness caused by the dirty trick. All he needed was to lock her in place for a moment or two and he prayed that Ino played her part.
His gamble paid off when his kunai were stopped by a clang of steel meeting steel.
"Ino!" he immediately shouted again.
"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" came a voice behind.
Not recognising the technique, the red hair didn't react quickly enough to avoid it.
The moment Ino intoned her jutsu, Shikamaru pushed forward and with a roll disengaged and leaped by Ino's side to protect her slumped form.
Ino, now in in the Kumo kunoichi's body, spun around on wobbly feet and dashed towards where Choji was struggling against his enemy.
Using the sword that was still in her hand, she wildly slashed and diced at the unnamed Kumo shinobi, in a fashion of someone who picked up kenjutsu for the first time, completely taking him by surprise who abandoned his attempts at trying to get Choji, who surprisingly was doing better job at blocking the sword strikes with kunai than dodging them. He was still sporting several cuts on this body.
"Karui?" he exclaimed as he sloppily parried the unexpected blow. "What are you doing?"
The now named Karui didn't reply, merely continued to crazily swing her blade trying to land at least one hit. It was noticeable that the girl's whole body started to shake ever so slightly.
Meanwhile, Choji recognising Ino's technique, used this opportunity to jump away and re-join with Shikamaru.
Ino, still in Karui's body, continued to assault the Kumo shinobi with reckless abandon.
"Karui!" the white haired Kumo ninja shouted as he finally re-joined the fray.
After that shout, Karui's body briefly seized up as if in shock before her whole posture momentarily relaxed, and her head hung low.
The two male members of Kumo team warily looked at their teammate. Suddenly, Karui's head snapped up and her gaze was filled with utter rage.
"Those tree huggers! How dare they invade my mind!" she shouted and spun around, ready to unleash her rage on the girl who did this. Her anger only grew when she saw the Konoha shinobi were nowhere in sight. "Omoi!" she shouted.
"Here," the white haired Kumo ninja said as he finally landed near his team.
"Where were you for so long?" the unnamed ninja asked.
"Well," Omoi sheepishly rubbed his head "I got surprised, got my sword stuck, and it escalated from there."
"Whatever," Karui seethed "We have to give chase!"
Omoi nodded "No playing around this time. They seemed pretty weak so let's just get it over and done with. Hopefully they gave the scroll we need. And if not, that's just one team less in the future."
And so the Kumo team gave chase.
Team 10 forgot to cover their tracks.
The deformed hawk gave a final spasm, before bursting into splatters of ink among the treetops.
Having been ready for this, Naruto with knocked out Sasuke in his arms and Sai, jumped mere moments before the technique dissolved.
Deftly landing on branches, they quickly descended on to the ground level of the forest. Naruto and Sai quickly observed the obvious traces of some sort of battle - a sprung trap, scorched marks on the ground, disturbed earth, and weaponry scattered around.
There was another cry coming from their left, louder than before. Mildly recognising it, Naruto rushed towards it, Sai hot on his heels.
Using his Blood Sensing, he felt that they are very near. Signalling for Sai to stop, they hid behind a tree trunk that was covered in bushes and moss. Good enough to partially hide them while offering a reasonable viewing angle.
What Naruto saw truly enraged him.
There, in a small clearing, was Team 10. A broken Team 10. Shikamaru laid unconscious on the ground, his face bleeding from a blunt impact.
Karui was holding a struggling Ino by the neck, while Omoi was twisting Choji's arm, with the Akmichi's face in the ground and obviously still conscious if the whimpering was any indication. The third member of the Kumo team was casually standing near Shikamaru.
"Let this be a lesson to mind your own fucking mind!" Karui shouted into Ino's face.
At the same time Omoi kicked Choji's extended elbow, effectively breaking his arm. A short scream escaped Choji's mouth before he too lost his consciousness.
That was enough for Naruto to see red. He unceremoniously dropped Sasuke to the ground and dashed forward, not even hiding his speed. In an instant he delivered a sickening kick to Omoi, and before the Kumo shinobi could even land on the floor, he was already upon Karui.
Naruto stabbed the arm that was holding Ino with his dagger, and the girl immediately let go of Ino with an unexpected shriek of pain.
Pivoting on his feet, he swept Karui's legs and then delivering a debilitating strike to her head with the handle of his weapon while she was still mid-air. With a sickening crunch, the girl landed on the ground already knocked out cold.
Without even checking up on Ino, he dashed at Omoi again who at this point had recovered.
Omoi barely dodged a swipe of Naruto's knife and then managed to block another kick, not without wincing at the force of impact. All his bones in his arms shuddered.
Seeing that Sai was handling the third member, Naruto completely focused on Omoi.
He pushed away with his feet against the block and made some distance and at the same time unleashed his KI at the Kumo ninja who instantly froze with wide eyes.
Naruto quickly waved his free hand in a triangle pattern and immediately unleashed Iteration of the Beast technique. Combined with the KI, Omoi could only stare at Naruto, terrified beyond belief.
"Y-y-you!" he stuttered "F-from that mission!"
Naruto finally looked at his opponent and recognised him from that weird mission they went to prior to exams. Narrowing his eyes, he hissed "How dare you mutilate another Leaf shinobi like this!"
"T-the exam-"
"This goes beyond the exam!" Naruto shouted "It's one thing to defeat someone and take their scrolls, and it's completely another to humiliate and break arms and seriously injure clearly defeated opponents!"
"My village-"
"Your village, your village, your village," Naruto snarled. A miniscule amount of Kyuubi's chakra started to actively leak into his system, sharpening some of his gaunt features. His eyes were completely set on Omoi. Voice coloured with bijuu chakra, he further hissed "It's not the first time Kumo has violated Konoha for no other reason than because it can! This was one time too many! If I have any say then I will no longer allow Kumo get away with shit!"
And he once again dashed, his KI focused on his single enemy. All his pent up anger over Kumo's action of past years spilling forth in this one moment. That opened the floodgates to all of his other bottled up anger that he never realised he had – at the unjust world, at his early mistreatment, at himself for not being the best he could be.
Omoi could do nothing but try to block and defend the onslaught, his whole being terrified at the amount of chakra and KI the blonde was leaking, all of it focused solely on him.
In the brief exchange they just had, he displayed his superior Kenjutsu skill by successfully blocking and deflecting the wild knife swipes.
Suddenly, Naruto changed his stance, legs wider apart, knife in reverse grip, and engaged again.
Swipe –blocked- followed by a standing leg sweep, which Omoi barely stepped over while the blades were still locked. Naruto pushed off with his blade and pivoted on his feet and attempted another horizontal slash from a different angle which too was blocked, if only barely. Immediately, while the knife was locked with another blade, Naruto threw a punch to Omoi's face. Omoi expertly held the lock with one hand and used his other to deflect and divert the punch.
But that's what Naruto was hoping for. Even in his state of hot fury he was able to fight smartly.
He slightly released the pressure of his locked weapon and with an incredibly dexterous sleight of hand he changed the grip on his knife. He then twisted his arm and hooked his blade around the blade of the katana and with a yank pushed it outwards, effectively breaking Omoi's guard.
He didn't stop there, and with one single movement he twisted the grip on his weapon back to reverse again, and with a quick step forwards he brought the weapon down with an aim to split Omoi's head apart.
Eyes widening at the incredibly quick manoeuvre, Omoi dropped his weapon to give him ease of movement, and using Naruto's arm that he still had contact with from the previous deflection as a springboard he pushed and made a step back.
That was enough to escape grievous injury. But not enough to dodge it completely.
Naruto looked with satisfaction how his knife's point punctured Omoi's cheek, creating a shallow gash. But most importantly, drawing blood.
Kicking hard, Naruto leaped back and performed a small chant. "Binding of Haemorrhage!"
Omoi screamed as a thin sliver of blood sharply shot out of his cheek, clearly aiming for the ground.
Naruto blinked as nothing further happened. He was expecting Omoi's cheek to be bound to the ground but he guessed it didn't work that way…
Regardless, it did the job of disorienting the enemy to the point he was rooted on the spot from pain. He quickly conjured a bloody whip and cruelly started striking Omoi in non-lethal spots.
Naruto wasn't sure why he was so super fixated on him when there were two other teammates who were involved too. Maybe it was seeing him actually injure someone he knew on a more personal level and being able to do something about it. All those years ago he could do nothing to help Hinata that he barely knew. But now was a completely different matter and seeing what he saw, coupled with the stress or encountering Orochimaru was the last straw. And it just so happened that Omoi was the perfect target to work through his anger and stress.
Somehow the Kumo ninja still managed to avoid few strikes here and there by rolling out of the way and yet Naruto persisted in the same fashion, speaking between each strike "How- does it feel- to be- on the receiving end- of so called- village- superiority? How does- it feel- to be so- unfairly dominated- by a superior opponent?!"
Suddenly he was struck with an Infernal inspiration. What appeared in his mind's eye was so vivid, so clear, and so unexpected that for a moment he faltered in his onslaught.
And then he grinned and let out a low cackle, enamoured by the idea that manifested in his mind, completely ignoring the question as to 'where did it come from exactly'.
With a fancy twist of his wrist upwards, he struck Omoi across the shoulder with his whip so hard it made him do a quarter of a spin in the air and then land with a thud.
Naruto released the technique that was holding the whip's shape and it splurged on to the forest ground with splatters of blood.
Oh great Bethrezen, father of men and demons alike.
I invoke you and your nature, in the name of Konoha.
Granter of free will, and such - it's abolisher.
He softly chanted, delicate almost. A stark contrast to his expression a moment ago. The Power that rolled off of him, however, was palpable in the air. Naruto gently sliced his palm and let the blood freely flow. With a soft wave of his arm, he commanded it to combine and infuse with other blood sources, eventually creating a single thick trickle.
By his will, it formed an empty perfect circle around Omoi, representing the unity between the beginning and the end. Omoi was groaning on the floor but still alive and very much conscious.
"Sai!" he suddenly commanded. He saw earlier that his teammate had knocked out the third member of the Kumo team rather swiftly. "Bring him to me, quickly!"
Understanding what he wanted, Sai picked up the other male of the opposing team and put him near Naruto who now stood in the blood circle, occupying the same space as Omoi.
He resumed the soft chant.
While inside the circle, he made a small incision on the unnamed ninja's arm, deep enough to draw blood, but gently and shallow enough not rouse him from the unconsciousness.
Enemy aiding ally,
Ally betraying the enemy.
Wolf in sheep's clothing,
One's purpose - protection of another village.
A long rectangle formed around the second ninja representing the four planes of being, similar to what he did in Wave, with one side touching the edge of the circle, where the physical met the metaphysical.
An explosion of Power emanated in the small clearing, shaking Ino from her dazed state, and Sasuke from his light unconsciousness. Both sat up and observed the proceedings, one with confused horror and the other with exhausted curiosity.
Power of a Great Village, used on another,
Lost and humiliated,
Palpable fear of victor's spoils.
The rectangle enkindled into soft, warm flames that gently dissipated into air together with the blood. The energy around Naruto shimmered for a second, and Power took the effects of treacherous calmness. No longer oppressing, yet the feeling of something lightly pressing against the back of your mind was very vivid.
Naruto turned to Omoi and slowly started walking towards him.
As his eyes landed on the Kumo ninja, Omoi couldn't shake off the feeling of slow, existential dread creeping on in his whole body with every step Naruto took. And yet he couldn't move away, to run. Despite not having lethal wounds, Naruto did a great job at utterly beating any and all strength he had in him.
"W-what," Omoi stuttered "What are you doing?"
"Kumo did such a great job at taking what's ours, at trying its best to flex its power where it was not needed. All you had to do was take the scroll and walk away and yet once again Kumo wanted to show who the top dog here is!" Naruto replied, his anger cold and palpable "I think it's only fair I return the favour."
Your will broken, to be replaced by another,
In the name of Bethrezen, you shall server another.
Finally Naruto reached the other ninja, who hurriedly tried to raise a weapon to defend himself. Naruto easily kicked it out of the way before grabbing the same arm and sharply twisting it, breaking Omoi's wrist, before heaving him overhead and slamming the other boy into the ground.
Let the roots of the Great Tree
Overgrow your feeble will.
Let the will of Bethrezen's servant
Be your new purpose.
He pinned down Omoi so he couldn't move much, and then gently cradled his head with his right arm with the thumb gently touching the middle of Omoi's forehead. Immediately, the circle flashed red. It didn't ignite like his rituals usually do, instead one would describe the blood starting to sparkle, radiating ethereal quality.
My village now yours,
Its protection - your life's work.
The blood circle unexpectedly shuddered before lifting off the ground and rushing towards Naruto's thumb in a circular motion, getting smaller and smaller the closer it got.
At once, Omoi was overtaken by an invasive feeling of calmness. It tried to permeate his whole mind and his mind was fighting back, sending panic signals to his whole body. Sweat started gathering and dripping through his whole body and his limbs started to shake as of trying to fight some invisible restrains.
"Serve Konoha!" Naruto furiously hissed and the circle coalesced around his thumb that he began to press more firmly against the forehead. It touched the surface of the skin and Omoi opened his mouth in a silent scream.
He wanted to scream in uncomfortable pain yet another will told him no sound is to be made.
This other will, Omoi didn't know what was going on, but he knew he was losing something very precious.
"What- stop…" managed to utter.
"You serve Konoha!" wisps of treachery extended from his mind down to his neck and chest, softly squeezing his heart.
And yet he knew. At least he thought he knew, he wasn't so sure anymore, but he didn't serve Konoha, did he? Kumogakure was his home. Konohagakure, no? Those words were so similar in his mind.
"N-no." he whispered, eyes locked with the blues of his comrade. His… comrade?
With his free thumb, Naruto touched his leftover blood from earlier technique, and then pressed it against the forehead too.
Infusing his voice with Power and chakra he proclaimed his command once again, clear and loud for the Universe to recognise and obey his will.
"You. Serve. Konoha!"
The circle split into multiple thin crimson lines that in a span of a second spread and ran through Omoi's whole body before converging back into a circle on the forehead where it stayed there for a moment before seeping into the skin.
Omoi's eyes rolled to the back and his whole body relaxed.
Naruto stepped back and uncertainly looked at the ninja on whom he used a technique he never knew or tried before.
For the first time he was worried after the rush of Power left his body. Usually he was filled with empowerment and vigour, but this time it was a dull sense of panic.
Did he regret what he did? No. Kumo had it coming.
Was this the best place and time to do something like this? Also no. He was smart enough to think about the consequences of his actions today, especially considering he had an audience.
That, and he wasn't entirely sure what exactly it was that he did. All he saw were glimpses of images, the diagram of the ritual circle and the metaphysical formula behind its meaning, and a pure desire for vengeance - to dominate someone's will the same way they dominated his allies physically.
"Oh." he finally fully realised what it is that he did in his fury.
Omoi finally stirred and slowly sat up.
"Well, that bloody hurts…" he quietly remarked as he casually observed his injuries "By the time I return home these wounds will turn crippling. And then I will be admitted to a hospital, told to retire early, and the Raikage will personally execute me for being useless…"
Naruto sweat dropped at the gross exaggeration, but otherwise didn't say anything.
Omoi finally looked at Naruto with mild curiosity. "Why does it feel so weird to say home?" he looked around and observed his teammates' unconscious forms. "For that matter, why don't I feel nothing but mild contempt at my… teammates? Shouldn't I be worried?" he frowned "Why am I so open with you?" he tried to stand up, but was clearly in no position to do so.
"Stay seated, you don't want to make yourself feel worse."
Immediately Omoi obeyed and stopped any attempts at trying to get up. Naruto sighed, realising the extent of the technique.
"Huh," Omoi thoughtfully let out "What did you do to me?"
"Tell me," Naruto slowly began "You said about returning home… where is your home?"
"Of course it's… it's… Huh. What did you do to me?" he repeated again after struggling to say what he wanted to say out loud. Or did he actually want to say it? And try as he might, he just couldn't bring himself to feel angry about the situation.
"Well," Naruto licked his dry lips to alleviate the pressure of the mounting stress that was slowly developing "You are under Konoha's command now. Under my command." Omoi slowly nodded, his eyes full of the same uncertainty that Naruto was feeling with the whole situation.
Sasuke and Sai finally approached, with Sasuke unceremoniously plopping on to the ground, his exhaustion clear.
"Did you really did what it looks like what you did?" Sasuke voiced.
Naruto just silently nodded and looked around to see where Ino was. He spotted her nearby, tending to Choji and Shikamaru who conveniently were still out cold. He caught her eyes and silently cursed to himself for seeing some mild, open fear and panic in them.
"You," Naruto was startled at hearing a sharp commanding tone from Sai that still came off rather. At some point Naruto thought he will start admiring Sai's capability of conveying contrasting emotions through his tone. Sai continued, "Who is your master?"
Sai, it seems, understood the situation very quickly.
Omoi visibly struggled for a moment before sagging in defeat and just pointing at Naruto. "Him," he said "Naruto."
"You know my name?" Naruto asked in surprise. Last he remembered, he didn't really introduce himself.
He got a nod in response "We briefly met on that mission, I overheard your name. And of course, you are in the bingo book too, it'd be foolish to come to a different nation and not know the possible threats."
Naruto owlishly blinked "Bingo book? Me?"
Sasuke scoffed, not even overly surprised anymore "Of course you'd get in it before me. Of course."
"You will return and pretend like this hasn't happened until called upon again." Sai commanded.
"I don't take orders from you."
"But you do from me," Naruto intervened before Sai could retort "You will act your usual self, and not mention to anyone what happened since my team's arrival."
Omoi visibly struggled if the mild shaking of his head was anything to go by. Ultimately, he sagged in defeat again and nodded. "Very well."
"Good."
"What scroll do you have?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto was relieved Sasuke asked that as he completely forgot they were still in the exams.
"We have the Earth scroll," he replied. "It's on Karui. The red head."
Naruto nodded and went to pick it up. True enough, the girl had the scroll they needed in one of her pockets. Very convenient. When he returned he looked in concern as Sasuke once again lost his consciousness.
"He has a fever," Sai stated.
"We need to return to Tower as quickly as possible and have him treated. Who knows what that snake freak did to him, the mark on his neck looks like some failed Fuuinjutsu." Naruto said and looked around "Ino!"
The girl's gaze snapped to Naruto's from where she was tending to both Choji and Shikamaru.
"How are they?"
"Out cold, numerous injuries, broken arm…" she replied "They're not waking up, I don't know what to do…"
"Do you have the second scroll?"
Ino shook her head.
"We need to get to Tower and get everyone treated. Nothing can be done about your scrolls." he turned to Sai "Can you use that hawk technique to carry all of us?"
"Negative. I don't have enough chakra to sustain it for long or to make it stable as I did previously," he reported "And it wouldn't be big enough to carry all six of us."
"Dammit! We will need to carry them ourselves then. Ino, you take Shikamaru. Sai - Sasuke. I will carry Choji."
"How am I supposed to carry him?" Ino asked tiredly.
"On your back, Ino," Naruto was quite exasperated by that question "Or on your shoulders. Or bridal style. Whatever works for you."
Ino silently complied and gently picked up Shikamaru in her arms, while Sai and Naruto heaved their respective people on their backs.
With a final nod to Omoi, Naruto sped off towards the tower, with the other two hot on his heels.
It quickly became apparent that Ino definitely couldn't keep up and started to fall back big time rather quickly. Sai, too, was starting to struggle with the weight he was carrying even though he didn't outwardly show it much.
Naruto sighed. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone was blessed with a stamina of a literal beast.
He signalled for the party to stop. "We will need to find a spot to spend the night at."
"But the tower is so close…"
"I'd say it's maybe another hour or two travel at our speeds. And you two are starting to really slow down." he shook his head "Don't forget that we are still in the exam too," Naruto added "The chances of us being ambushed are high. And we won't be able to fight when you are tired and exhausted. Especially not with three people that are out cold and could be used as leverage against us."
"I guess you're right…" she relented.
Naruto took Sai's silence as agreement enough.
They spent another ten minutes walking off the obvious path until they found a suitable place to make a camp at. A fallen oak tree that started to partly grow into the forest's ground. Thick vines and moss was covering the mighty trunk with still healthy branches offering some sort of coverage with its fresh leaves. With little effort, a temporary camp could be made from the natural resources providing them with limited stealth.
They only hoped that no one would ambush them during the night.
The three unconscious Konoha Genin were put deeper into their shelter as to hide them from sight. Naruto shared his food and water with Ino, who had lost supplies in the fight earlier. They ate in a somewhat tense silence, still high on alert expecting a new fight any minute.
When it was apparent that they were safe for the moment, they allowed themselves to relax. Ino seemed to be the most affected with her eyelids getting unbearably heavy.
"Hey, Ino," Naruto whispered, drawing the girl's attention "Listen… can you please not tell anyone what you saw? Not even your own team?"
"Or what?" Ino bit back "You going to intimidate me and force me to keep my mouth shut? Do to me whatever you did to that Kumo ninja?"
Naruto blinked at her tone. It sounded angry, but there was a definite undertone of fear in it. He then frowned "Of course not, Ino. I would never do anything to a Konohan. Ever. Especially not to someone I shared my life and class with for past few years. You, or any other Konoha shinobi have nothing to fear," he slowly explained "Only the enemies of Konoha should fear me, I really hope you understand that."
Ino tersely nodded and relaxed a bit.
"You two can get some shut eye in. I will stand watch for a few hours."
Without waiting for further comment, Ino climbed deeper into their makeshift shelter and was out cold within seconds.
"You need rest too." Sai said.
Surprised, Naruto replied "I have my own way of recuperating. If it helps, you can switch with me in 4 hours?"
Sai nodded and laid down on the same spot, closing his eyes.
For the little time Naruto knew Sai, he knew that his pale teammate would only accept the lightest of naps in this kind of situation.
Shrugging, he jumped higher on to the tree and settled into meditative pose, fully engaging his Blood Sensing while simultaneously relaxing his whole body.
Softly chanting under his breath, ancient language rolled off prayers with no real meaning. The light drum of Power was gently beating in his mind, letting his whole body relax. Drawing Power from the metaphysical plane he allowed it to internally run through his body, rejuvenating the aches and accelerating chakra recovery. With the Blood Sensing, he could feel the light pulses of life in nearby animals. Rabbits, snakes, and even a large wild cat sneaked past once. It seemed the forest was slowly returning back to life.
After what felt like moments but were hours in reality, he sensed Sai's pulse accelerate. Opening his eyes he stretched and a moment later Sai jumped on to the same branch he was on.
Without exchanging words, Naruto nodded and jumped down.
He laid down where Sai was a minute ago, and resumed his reverent meditation.
Some time passed and now he sensed Ino stirring. Deciding that it should be time for all of them to get a move on, he got up.
Surprisingly, it was early morning. It was still dark, but the first rays of sunshine were piercing the thick canopy and slowly chasing the darkness away.
Feeling fully refreshed, he contemplated how they all will get to the tower.
Ino silently got up too, clearly still exhausted. Sai joined them, and together they shared what food and water was left. Last day it seemed no one was truly aware of how much time was passed and went they finally made camp it was getting dark.
Unexpectedly, Sasuke woke up and with a groan joined them too.
"Sasuke?" Naruto called when the raven head unceremoniously plopped down next to him "How are you feeling?"
"... Hn."
"That's not very descriptive."
Giving his half of the food and water to Sasuke, he allowed him to eat in peace. After a moment, Sasuke finally deigned to answer properly.
"I feel… weird." he finally said "My chakra feels weird. Like I have no control over it. I… I feel it messing with my body. And I feel so cold. I don't know what Orochimaru did to me but I want it fixed."
"Wait, Orochimaru?! That Orochimaru?"
"Yes, Ino. That Orochimaru."
"What was he doing here?!"
"Your guess is as good as mine, but from the looks of it he wanted something with Sasuke." he turned to the boy in question "Let me have a look at it."
Shrugging, Sasuke allowed it.
"I know very little of Fuuinjutsu, but I've learnt that it has some parallels with my ritualistic art," he absentmindedly explained as he inspected the place where Orochimaru nicked Sasuke.
A black single tomoe with a single squiggly line sat on top of irritated skin of Sasuke's neck. Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of it, all he could tell is that the mark looked grossly unfinished and that one of its purposes was to channel something. He told Sasuke as such.
"Try channelling chakra into."
"Hn…"
"I don't think it's time nor place to experiment with unknown Fuuinjutsu."
Naruto sheepishly smiled as he turned to Sai "Didn't expect you to be the voice of reason."
"Hn."
"Don't copy me, that's creepy." Sasuke deadpanned.
Naruto cracked a smile, some tension leaving his body.
"How are we getting to Tower with 2 unconscious people?" Naruto asked "Can you even walk, Sasuke?"
"Yes. My chakra feels unstable but I feel OK enough to proceed on my own feet." he replied and looked at the forms of Choji and Shikamaru "We can leave them here."
"Sasuke-kun!"
"Don't be absurd, Sasuke. After what we encountered I don't feel comfortable leaving any of ours here."
"They will be out of the exams."
"Better that than leaving them here to be found by Orochimaru or another vicious team."
Sasuke only shrugged in response.
"I can make another hawk. It's not far from the tower. Instability of the technique won't matter due to the distance."
"It can't carry all of us though."
"No, it can't." Sai confirmed.
Naruto sat down and linked his hands, momentarily deep in thought.
"Can you take Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino together?"
"Negative. One too many at best."
"Thought so," he sighed "Choji and Shikamaru?"
After a momentary pause, Sai slowly nodded.
"Okay then, let's do that. You take Choji and Shikamaru to the tower. Meanwhile we will wait here. Once you drop them off, return and pick us up. On the second go, you will take Ino and Sasuke."
"And you?" Ino asked.
"I will utilise my full speed and run straight to the tower. Might not be as fast as an airborne bird, but I believe you won't have to wait long. It's not that far."
"And if there's an ambush?" Sai asked.
"I just run past them. Being on my own gives me more leeway to escape."
"Be it on your head." Sasuke said and dismissed the conversation as over and done with. Naruto knew him enough to take it as utter confidence in his skills.
Quickly organising themselves, Sai conjured his hawk technique. It was more stable this time, with more defining features in its wings, but still sported some uneven lines across the body.
With little effort, the team gently heaved two members of Team 10 on to the hawk where Sai displayed amazing feat of strength holding them in place as the hawk flapped its wings and set off, only leaving blotches of dark ink behind.
"I only hope it works."
And so they sat and waited. The tense atmosphere returned and they tried to alleviate it by making idle conversation. Sasuke even sneaked in a small training session to stretch his sore limbs. He attempted to use chakra too and quickly discovered that his control downgraded to pre-academy level. A lot of it seemed to uncontrollably disperse out of his body despite his best efforts. He even struggled with something as simple as surface sticking and every minute that he spent trying he only got more furious at the situation at hand.
"All I fucking wanted was to fight strong opponents and test myself. Instead I got humiliated and weakened!"
"Fighting me is not enough?"
"You're different!"
"How so? Strong is strong. You still can't beat me."
That was clearly not the best thing to say. Sasuke did a weird combination of a wince and a frown.
"Wait, Sasuke can't beat you?"
"No, Ino, he can't."
"You're just unnatural!" Sasuke finally said, clearly giving up on feeling angry at Naruto and instead sounding exasperated "I want to fight other people whose techniques I don't know. I want to fight ninjas where I can challenge myself and still feel like I could win. I want to see how I compare against some who had a natural growth, like me!"
Naruto sighed "If you want to fight and test yourself against someone with 'normal' ninja development then go fight literally anyone from our class. You will quickly discover that you can beat any and all of them with one hand tied behind your back without Sharingan. You stand way and above what you'd call 'normal'." Sasuke refused to acknowledge the pride that swelled inside him. Naruto continued "You need to learn that you don't have to win to improve. Your amount of victories won't make you better, quite the contrary actually. When you are challenged and you lose is when you learn on your mistakes and improve. You can't deny that the time spent sparring and training with me made you way stronger than it would have if you did it alone. I appreciate that you wanted to fight someone else for that matter, but this is definitely not a situation to complain about. We should all be thankful we are alive to fight another day." Naruto then sported a tick mark as he huffed "In fact, you had no natural growth at all! Not only do you train a lot on your own time and you have the Sharingan, but we are also on the same team. And I guarantee you that we do not train the same way other teams do!"
"Hn."
Rolling his eyes, Naruto abandoned that conversation.
Surprisingly they didn't have to wait long. In about 10 minutes Sai returned, alone. He jumped off his ink construct that quickly exploded into ink.
"Unstable." is all he said on landing. He immediately took out another scroll and already started preparing the same technique, silently giving an indication that Ino and Sasuke should get ready.
Sasuke, displaying his full angst, stomped his way to Sai and stood next to him, impatiently brooding. Ino was more timid, quickly collecting her things that she managed to keep from the fight, before joining Sasuke too.
"Is Shikamaru and Choji alright?" she asked.
Sai only nodded without even looking, his focus entirely on his brush.
"Not many teams have made it yet," Sai finally spoke "Possible due to Orochimaru's interference. One ambush straight north, near two boulders facing the entrance of the tower, at the edge of the tree line."
Understanding it was addressed to him, Naruto thanked Sai for the information. Suddenly, his head snapped East "You need to hurry, Sai," Naruto stated with small urgency "I feel several presences approaching, they're quite near."
Sai nodded and within seconds unleashed another inky hawk. It was obvious Sai was quickly improving - the bird was more stable than previously. Without further ado, the trio jumped on to the bird, leaving Naruto behind.
At the same time as the hawk flipped its wings, Naruto engaged his full speed and dashed off in the same direction.
Last thing he saw at the corner of his eyes was a team of three jumping into the space they were a moment ago. The apparent leader was wearing some sort of oversized gauntlet. He looked around as if searching for something.
And then Naruto's sight was covered by mighty tree trunks that he sped past.
It didn't take long for Naruto to reach the tower when he was allowed to utilise his full speed.
True to Sai's words, there was an ambush waiting near the border of the treeline that opened into the clearing of the tower.
The unexpected bit was that it was two teams. Amegakure thought they'd boost their chances of success by teaming up and possibly surprising tired ninjas that happened by.
Well, Naruto was the opposite of that. He was both full of energy and prepared. Having known that there is a team ahead of him he already started chanting a prayer. So when the 6 ninjas suddenly unleashed their ambush, Naruto momentarily disabled them with a well executed Iteration of the Beast and dashed past them, leaving Ame ninjas eating his dust.
From there, it was two paces, one jump over the river, a step, and he was inside the tower.
"Naruto."
Recognising the monotone voice of Sai he finally allowed himself to relax.
Turning around he saw Team 10 that, surprisingly, was wide awake. However from the pained groans, half lidded eyes, and weak physical form it was clear that they won't be staying long in the waking world.
Switching his gaze to Sasuke he was pleased to note that he seemed physically more relaxed. Make no mistake, he still had an aura of extreme broodiness with his arms crossed as he was leaning against a wall, blissfully ignoring Team 10, deeply absorbed in his thoughts. And yet Naruto could tell that his countenance was a bit more eased. Perhaps it was because they were out of the open danger zone.
"Hey… Naruto…"
He turned around to look at Shikamaru.
"Ino said… that you saved us," the Nara muttered between pained breaths "Thank you."
His mood souring at the reminded of Kumo's cruelty, Naruto merely nodded in response. His actions didn't warrant gratitude - he did what he was sure any Konohan shinobi would do.
Looking back at his team he said "We should go. Hopefully we'll find someone to help Shikamaru's team."
Without visible acknowledgement, Sai and Sasuke followed Naruto to a large board that was stationed at furthest wall. It was flanked by two shut doors.
Naruto read the cryptic message that was written and before he could offer his insight, Sasuke spoke "We have to unroll both scrolls."
"A proctor will be summoned who will confirm our success and will let us proceed." Sai immediately added.
"And you know this how?"
Silence and dead stare is all he got. Sighing, Naruto sarcastically motioned for Sai to proceed. And so he did.
Recovering the scrolls from his pouch, he unrolled them in one swift motion in a cross pattern.
At once, a complete summoning Fuuinjutsu circle materialised which was immediately followed by a puff of smoke in the middle of it.
Naruto and Sasuke tensed in wary anticipation but it wasn't needed. The smoke dispersed revealing Iruka.
Iruka blinked in surprise at seeing the team he didn't expect to pass so quickly. Then his gaze switched to Team 10 and his expression turned alarmed.
"Are you OK?" he immediately asked.
"No," Ino replied. "Shikamaru and Choji needs immediate help. Bruising, broken bones, maybe a concussion, bleeding, possibly internal too, I don't know."
Iruka nodded with a grimace "I will get medi-nins straight away. Unfortunately due to Exam's rules I can't let you proceed."
"That's alright, I think we had enough of this stupid exam."
As if on cue, Choji lost consciousness and Ino had to catch him before he hit his head against the floor.
Iruka then turned his attention to Team 7 "Well, congratulations are in order. You're the second team that has passed. I'm surprised that a rookie team did so well."
"Who was first?" Sasuke asked.
"Suna team. They arrived in a record time and didn't look like they had even a scratch on them."
Naruto's and Sasuke's eyes narrowed, remembering the altercation they had before.
"They're a team to beat then."
"I'd still urge caution," Iruka advised "I need to rush and find medics for Team 10. Since you successfully passed, you may proceed. Behind these doors," he waved towards the two exits "You'll find barracks style accommodations with showers. Communal kitchen is also available on every floor. Mind you, each village had been assigned their own floor. For Konoha it's floor 4."
"Can we leave for the village?"
Iruka shook his head "Unfortunately not. The exam is still in process. You will have to wait here until the time runs out."
"In that case would it be possible to speak with the Hokage?" Naruto asked.
Iruka frowned "I know you're close with the Hokage but he's a busy man, especially during the period of Chuunin exams. I don't think-"
"It's really urgent," Naruto pressed "It concerns Orochimaru and the village's security."
Iruka's eyes widened "Orochimaru?"
Naruto nodded. "We had encounter with him here in the forest. He wanted something with Sasuke. I think Sasuke also needs urgent medical check-up, the snake bastard did something to him."
"Hn!"
"Shut it, Sasuke!"
"I will inform Hokage-sama immediately," Iruka frantically confirmed "Please, proceed for now. Ino, Shikamaru, please hold on here. I will get medics for you too!"
"Thank you."
With that their academy instructor made a swift exit with Shunshin, leaving only illusionary leaves behind.
"Let's go," Sasuke said and started moving towards one of the doors.
"Wait, let's wait for Iruka to return."
"Why?" Sai asked.
Naruto rolled his eyes "I don't feel comfortable leaving Team 10 on their own."
Sai stared at Naruto for a little while and Naruto honestly felt like he was examined again. He finally nodded "Very well."
"Hn!"
"Shut it, Sasuke!"
"-and then-"
A quiet knock resonated within the sealed bubble that interrupted Hiruzen's train of thought. He glanced at Jiraiya, who raised an inquisitive eyebrow in turn, and reached under his desk.
Brushing his finger over a seal, a Fuuinjutsu array flashed into existence around the room and then with a barely audible 'pop', disappeared.
"Come in," he called.
His secretary confidently stepped into the room and announced "Umino Iruka here to see you. Claims it to be of paramount urgency," here she looked Hiruzen directly in the eye "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I do agree with his assessment."
Both men showed mild surprise at that. It's extremely rare for a secretary of the Hokage to interrupt a secret, confidential meeting, let alone confirm the urgency with a sense of finality.
Understanding that he should take it seriously, Hiruzen motioned for her to call in the academy instructor.
Not a moment later, Iruka rushed in.
"Hokage-sama!" he greeted with a bow.
"Breathe, Iruka-kun," Hokage calmly instructed. "You seem to have been in a big rush. Take a second to relax, and then tell us what's so urgent that you managed to get through my secretary when I was having a very important meeting."
Heeding his leader's command, Iruka took a moment to collect himself before finally relying what Naruto told him. With every passing word, Hiruzen's and Jiraiya's expressions darkened and the tension in the room rose. At some point Iruka started to sweat from the sheer pressure of two legendary men.
"Thank you, Iruka. You did right for listening to Naruto's request," he finally said. He signalled something to ANBU and within moments there was a small squad of masked ninjas standing in front of him "Neko, inform the ANBU commander about this, enlist more ANBU for this. Scour the forest for any tracks or signs of Orochimaru. Do not disturb the exam, be discreet. Inform me immediately on any discoveries. Go."
Nodding, squad of ANBU vanished without a trace.
"Jiraiya, come with me. We will go straight to the Tower."
"I'll meet the kid?" Jiraiya asked, mildly surprised "I thought our first meeting would go differently."
Hiruzen shook his head "The only reason I even entertained your original idea is to see you being embarrassed. Alas, a situation has arisen that has forced you two to meet earlier."
"Can't you just send the kid away?"
Hiruzen frowned "You are being childish," he finally stated "Which is of no surprise, of course." the Hokage sighed "You have to give up on any preconceived notion you have of Naruto. He is not how you imagine him to be. He is a very valuable shinobi of Konoha and since he was present in the encounter with Orochimaru I'd like hear what happened directly from him."
"You sound like you have closer ties with him than what you've described to me before." Jiraiya suspiciously observed.
Hiruzen only shrugged "Maybe, maybe not."
"Jiraiya-sama was supposed to meet Naruto?" Iruka cautiously asked, surprised that someone like the legendary Sannin would be interested in Naruto of all people. He internally winced after that thought - according to Naruto earlier, Orochimaru did go after Sasuke.
"That's not important," Hiruzen waved his hand in dismissal and stood up "They are in the tower, correct?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Thank you. We shall head there immediately."
"I am impressed the kid managed to get to the Tower so quickly."
"He is the most impressive and interesting shinobi of his generation," Hiruzen mysteriously said and then turned to Iruka as they were all leaving "You are dismissed and can return to your previous duties."
Bowing in respect, Iruka did just that. Hearing their comments he mused that perhaps he should weight Naruto's words heavier in the future.
Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location far away from Konoha, a dozen shadowy figures had a meeting of their own.
Cloaked in thick plumes of shadows, only their eyes were distinguishable.
"-you are only to track and investigate. It is not the time yet to start our plan and reveal ourselves to the world," a commanding voice boomed throughout the empty cavern. It was clear it was the leader of the group if his position on a raised rock above everyone else was any indication. Every other shadow in the room listened with rapt attention. "Is that understood?" a round of confirmations quickly followed. "Good," he continued "You know your targets. Dismissed."
"Actually, hold on, you ass!"
Everyone sucked in a quiet breath. The person who just spoke was a wild card and it's always a toss of a coin in every meeting whether the leader will tolerate such blatant disrespect or punish it.
"Speak," he commanded. Seems it's one of those days where he was in a good mood "And watch your tongue lest you lose it."
"Yeah, yeah," the shadowy figure waved away the warning "Put me on the fishface's team. Swap us around! I want to go to Konoha."
An incredulous silence followed until the apparent leader finally broke it "You know full well the teams have been formed with specific needs in mind, tailored for your assigned targets."
"By Jashin, you are so dense! I'm not asking permanently, just for this one outing to Konoha!"
"Why?"
"Did you not feel the shift in the air, hm?" the shadowy figure nearly purred "Some years ago and just recently? Do you not see the change in the air?"
The apparent leader blasted the area with KI so potent that everyone broke down in sweat even from such great distances where their physical bodies were located.
"Speak plainly."
"Fine!" the shadow rolled its eyes "Jashin demands I find this source of change, immediately. It took me years and uncountable number of sacrifices to finally track the rough location of it and it's just so happens it's in fucking Konoha!"
"Your made up god demanded..?"
"Don't you dare besmirch His name with such blasphemy!"
"Hmph. I don't-"
"Whether you allow it or not doesn't matter - I will go anyway. Your word means nothing next to words of Jashin."
"If you disobey, I will k-"
The arrogant figure laughed and cut off the leader, knowing what he would say "You know full well you can't kill me, you already tried once. And according to what you said earlier, you don't want an open conflict either which no doubt will happen should we fight."
Everyone were looking at the exchange with bated breath. No one has ever dared to challenge the leader's authority on such level before, and even the man himself showed a level of restrain in the past. But seems today was a special kind of day.
The leader's rippled eyes visibly narrowed and he blasted the man with the strongest KI he could manage over the distance.
The arrogant man's shadow visibly shook as it struggled to keep form, yet he defiantly stood his ground.
After a moment that felt like eternity, the leader relaxed.
"Remember, Hidan. I might not be able to kill you physically, but there are still other ways to die." he then closed his eyes in contemplation.
The now named Hidan took the warning to heart. Despite his arrogance he was still an S rank shinobi and his inner instincts screamed at him that it was no bluff.
The man finally opened his mysterious purple eyes "Very well, I will allow it if it's of such great importance. But you will give me a personal report on your findings and why it was important."
Everyone looked at the leader in open astonishment, quite shocked that he agreed.
"I do not think that's wise, Leader-sama." a red eyed shadow protested.
Purple eyes met red as he replied "My word is final. I admit I am curious too on what Hidan will discover. He might be reckless, loud, and brash and overall an annoyance… but he still stands among us for a reason."
"Jashin is very pleased by your decision! Oh, joyous days, I now must inflict pain to celebrate!"
"That being said," the leader continued "It's Itachi who will accompany you, not Kisame."
"What? I don't want to go with that stuck up prick!"
"The feeling is mutual." the now named Itachi replied.
"And yet that is what you will do if you don't want to die. Permanently." the leader stressed "I trust Itachi will be able to keep you in line better than Kisame. We don't want you to do anything stupid that could jeopardise us."
"Aw, so little faith in good ol' me?" another shadow flashed shark like teeth.
"Am I wrong?"
"No." was the reply.
"You say you don't want anything to jeopardise us yet you allow this foolishness." Itachi calmly pointed out what everyone was thinking.
"Perhaps. But I have the utmost confidence that you will prevent anything from happening. Just as you are able to leash Kisame, you'll be able to leash Hidan."
"Hey!" Kisame exclaimed "I'm no pet!"
His words were ignored.
"And again - I'm curious." the leader added "Now, your teams are fairly close. You are to rendezvous and perform a swap at your own agreed times. Remember the time frames for your assignments and don't forget your other missions too. You have no more than 2 months to gather Intel on the villages." He then turned to a specific shadow "Kisame is to accompany you in bounty hunting in place of Hidan whenever that swap happens, Kakuzu. Do not kill him. This is only for one outing to Konoha."
"Ah, at least I'll finally get some action!" Kisame grinned.
"No promises." Kakuzu emotionlessly replied.
"My threat to Hidan extends to you too." the leader stated "Dismissed."
And with that his shadow vanished. As there was nothing else calling and tethering their projections, so too did the other shadows dissipate in the air.
Scene!
R&R!
Thanks for reading! If you spot errors or mistakes, do let me know!