A/N I'm sorry about this sudden change to the chapter, someone from the comments pointed out some issues with the writing in this one, and after reading their points, I had to agree, so I rewrote it… I hope this change is better and that you guys like it. Please give me your opinions, I always take them into consideration and am willing to change the story if necessary. Sorry once again… love you all.
xxx The Following Morning xxx
Naruto woke up and looked down to see the sleeping face of Anko on his chest, he smiled at his beautiful wife and softly kissed her, waking her up.
"Good morning, my love"
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes "Good morning."
The two climbed out of bed to get dressed and start their day but were brought to a halt when a poof revealed a slug on Naruto's shoulder.
"Lady Tsunade requests you and your team at her offices as soon as possible." the slug then left, as usual.
"Another summon by slug?" Anko asked.
"Yeah, must be really important." he summoned a shadow clone and told it to go fix breakfast while he woke up the girls.
Fifteen minutes later, Naruto, Mito, Akari, Akira, Anko, Manato, and Kazuna were sitting in the kitchen, Anko feeding Manato while Naruto fed Kazuna. The others had yet to wake up, but they didn't have time to wait for them so Naruto, Mito, Akari, and Akira said their goodbyes to Anko and the twins.
Naruto summoned a shadow clone to fix breakfast when the others woke up, then he and his team left for the Hokage tower.
"I'm glad you four are here!" Tsunade exclaimed "We have a problem, it seems that Sasuke Uchiha has left the Village, and I need you to join the team to retrieve him."
"When did he leave?" Naruto asked.
"Sometime around midnight last night, Sakura Haruno was the last to see him before he knocked her out."
Naruto nodded "When do we leave?"
"Now, Neji, Kiba, Choji, Kenzo, and Shikamaru are waiting for you at the gate."
"Okay, let's go, team!" he said, gesturing for the three genin behind him to follow. The four jumped out of the window, leaving a pissed-off Hokage yelling about using the door.
xxx Konoha Gates xxx
Naruto and his team landed just in time to hear the boy named Kenzo make a promise to Sakura.
"I promise to bring him back!" he said confidently.
"You better." Sakura said with a sniffle.
Naruto cleared his throat "We don't have time to wait, as the only Jonin on the team I'm in charge, so let's move out before they get too far away."
The others nodded in agreement and followed him and his team in the direction of Rice Country, after traveling for a few miles in silence Kiba broke it with a question.
"You're Naruto Namikaze, right?" he asked.
Naruto regarded the boy and spoke after a moment of silence "Yes, I am."
"I was told you were dead, my mom and sister always seemed down when they talked about you." Kiba stated
"Ah, Tsume and Hana, I miss them I should go visit them when we return."
"Wait, you knew my mom and sister?" Kiba asked, a little shocked.
"Yeah, your mom used to babysit me when both of my parents couldn't be home, and Hana was like a sister to me since we both were the same age, when I wasn't with Anko, Hayate, and Yugao I was with them." Naruto explained.
"I see, then you should come by, though you should probably should expect a slap or two."
Naruto chuckled "I'd deserve it if they did slap me." Their talking was stopped when they came across the sound four, carrying a large vase and leaping through trees.
He threw a kunai at all of them, forcing them to dodge and turn around. Upon seeing who it was they visibly paled.
"Holy shit, It's you!" the redhead shouted
"You're the fucker who broke our barrier and fought the first and second Hokage to a stand-still." the big guy with six arms exclaimed.
Naruto grinned at the man "Yeah, and now I've been sent to return the Uchiha."
The group of four glances at one other, before ultimately deciding the have the redhead escape with Sasuke leaving the remaining three to fight their opponents.
Naruto, knowing that he couldn't delay any further turned to Shikamaru "You were promoted to chunin, right?"
Shikamaru looked confused for a second but nodded in affirmative.
"I'll put you in charge of this fight while I go after the objective, we can't let her get across the border with him." he then turned to his team "Be careful, and follow Shikamaru's orders."
They looked like they wanted to object, but nodded anyway. Naruto gave a two-finger salute and leaped off after the girl.
Tayuya was running for her life, she knew that she stood no chance against the man who was most likely chasing her, she risked a glance back, she didn't see anyone behind her, but this brief lack of concentration caused her to miss a branch sending her tumbling to the forest floor.
Grunting in pain, she looked up only to see the vase she was carrying and a pale foot resting on it raising her view to see who it belonged to, she paled once again at seeing the unimpressed face of Kimimaro.
He looked down at her with bored indifference, without saying a word he withdrew a bone sword from his arm before finally speaking, but Tayuya wished he didn't.
"Lord Orochimaru has no further need for you." he then lunged the sword at the downed form of Tayuya, intent to kill evident.
His blade was stopped at the last second by another, Tayuya's shock was indescribable, first, she had been cast aside by her leader, then, she accepted her death at the hands of Kimimaro, and now some stranger saves her. She then wondered who saved her, she looked up and gasped at what she saw, her confusion doubling somehow.
Naruto stood between her and Kimimaro, in a defensive stance "You know…" he started, sparing a glance at Tayuya "She may be my enemy, but I'm not gonna stand by and watch her be betrayed."
Kimimaro quirked an eyebrow at this "You'd protect an enemy?"
Naruto only shrugged "My enemy now could become my ally later."
"Interesting…"
"We gonna fight or not? I'd like to take our wayward Uchiha back." Naruto asked a bit impatient.
"If you insist." the albino stated.
Naruto looked at Tayuya "Stay put or what little mercy I'll show you will vanish."
She didn't need to be told twice, she had nothing to gain from defying him since she had nowhere to go if she did, she resigned herself the watch the fight.
The two combatants stood across from one another, and neither seemed willing to make the first move, after a while it seemed Naruto's patience wavered first as he dashed at Kimimaro, bone met steel as the two slashed and parried one another's attacks.
Naruto kicked Kimimaro in the chest to separate himself from the albino, he sized the man up and down, inwardly impressed at his sword skills. All the while Kimimaro looked on bored.
"Can we speed this up?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah, if you say so." Naruto waved his hand dismissively.
He then launched himself back at Kimimaro with greater speed than before, causing the man to grunt as he parried the blonde's attacks, Kimimaro realized he had begun to fall on the losing end of the battle.
He activated his curse mark, his bones breaking through his skin all over his body, making him look truly demonic, Naruto did a backflip to gain some distance.
"Woah!" was the only thing that came to his mind.
Kimimaro didn't give the blonde any further time to admire his transformation and rushed at him much faster than before, Naruto barely dodged the slash to his neck as he blocked with his sword pushing back he found that this new form was stronger than him.
Naruto planted a foot in the demonic albino's chest in the hopes of gaining distance, only to have his foot grabbed and thrown across the field. He grunted as he landed, thinking 'Damn, looks like I'll have to release a level of my resistance seals'
He kick-flipped to his feet and made the hand sign to lower the level of his seals, doing a few stretches he remarked "This feels better!" before launching himself at Kimimaro again, engaging him in a fierce taijutsu battle that looked to go either way.
Tayuya just watched amazed at the legendary battle in front of her, trees were being knocked over and craters were forming where the fighters crashed into the ground. She oddly found herself rooting for Naruto to win, probably because she knew that at least with him she had a chance to live.
The fight between Naruto and Kimimaro was coming to an end, and both fighters stopped for a moment panting from the fight, Naruto smirked at the albino "One final attack with our swords?" he only got a grunt in response, but Kimimaro pulled a bone-sword from his arm and took a stance.
The two dashed at one another, clashing in the center and pushing through one another with their attacks until the two stood back-to-back, neither moving, the winner undecided, that was until Kimimaro collapsed, dead.
Naruto approached the vase that contained the Uchiha but was stopped when a kunai dug into the ground in front of him.
"I can't allow you to take him." spoke a new voice.
Naruto turned to see a scrawny man with white hair done in a ponytail, his bangs covering his bespectacled face.
"Who are you?"
"Isn't it rude to not introduce yourself first?" the newcomer asked.
Naruto groaned in frustration "Naruto Namikaze." He answered after a moment of silence.
The man hummed as if he was pleased with this news "Namikaze? So you're the man who helped in the invasion and fought the first and second Hokage's?"
Naruto was losing his patience with the man "Who are you?" He asked again.
"Oh, forgive me, my name is Kabuto, Lord Orochimaru's right-hand man." He answered with a hint of glee to his voice.
"...and you've come to stop me from taking the traitor back to Konoha?"
"Exactly!" Kabuto exclaimed in a cheerful tone.
"Well, tough shit, I'm taking him back with me." Naruto made the hand seal to release all of his resistance seals and dashed at impressive speed at Kabuto, who barely dodged.
"You're really fast." Kabuto genuinely complemented the blonde.
"Thanks for the compliment." He threw a right hook at Kabuto's face, who barely blocked with his wrist, grunting in pain as he did so.
"Strong too…" Kabuto remarked "I might have to take this more seriously." with that he sped up his attacks, matching Naruto blow for blow.
Tayuya watched from the sidelines as the fighters fought, her attention was broken away from the fight when the vase nearby began to shake and Crack, until it blew apart, revealing a transformed Sasuke Uchiha, the left half of his body covered in black markings, his left eye now yellow surrounded by black, the kid didn't even acknowledge the fight ten feet to his left, he only let out a hearty cackle and dashed off in the direction of Rice Country.
The two fighters didn't seem to notice this and she briefly pondered the idea of going after the kid, but she threw that thought away after seeing how fast the kid was, there was no way she'd be able to keep up, even if she unleashed a level of her curse seal.
She decided to turn her attention back to the second legendary fight she'd seen today.
Naruto and Kabuto were locked in a deadly Taijutsu battle since Kabuto was using chakra scalpels to try and damage the blonde internally. Said blonde had no intention of letting the man succeed in his endeavor, dodging the deadly attacks.
Naruto back-flipped to gain some distance, unsheathing his tanto's and dashing at Kabuto, who barely got a kunai out to block. The two went back and forth, Kabuto barely able to keep Naruto from slicing him in half.
After a tense battle, he noticed that the vase was broken and smirked. He jumped away from the blonde, his smirk ever present on his face.
"Well, I've accomplished my mission, so there's no need for this fight to continue…" he began to sink into the ground "Until we meet again, Naruto Namikaze." He waved as he disappeared.
Naruto was confused at this change in mood until he too noticed the broken vase and cursed himself for not paying attention to the vase.
He looked around the field and noticed the redhead leaning against a nearby tree "What do you plan to do now?" He asked her.
She blinked and tilted her head in confusion "I'm going back with you, shithead. There's no way I can go back to sound now."
Naruto seemed to ponder her words for a moment, which made her slightly nervous, he then smiled at her, but it wasn't a kind smile "I'll trust you for now, but if you betray my trust" if possible the smile grew wider "I'll kill you."
Tayuya shivered and nodded frantically, causing the blonde's smile to soften "Good, I'll put you under my clan's protection but you'll have to be questioned and tested to ensure your loyalty."
She nodded again "I'll never betray you, Lord Naruto."
This caused Naruto to pause and blink "Huh?" was his only response.
Tayuya squirmed a bit "W-Well, I pledged my loyalty to you, so it's only natural to address you with respect."
"Respect is fine, but I'm not one for honorifics so don't address me as Lord, just call me Naruto."
Tayuya looked hesitant but nodded anyway "Okay… Naruto."
He nodded and stood up "Now let's go, I need to check on my sister and my team." He then dashed off, Tayuya didn't move for a second but followed him.
xxx With Mito xxx
The fight with the sound four was surprisingly easy, they couldn't hold a candle to her, and with Akira and Akari helping her they were utterly destroying them.
She was standing next to the dead bodies of the sound four, Shikamaru and the others had already returned to the village, and they volunteered to wait for Naruto to return with the damn Uchiha.
A shadow landed to her left, on pure instinct she swung her katana at the threat, only to have it blocked by a tanto "Woah, is that any way to greet your brother?" The voice asked.
She looked up and saw Naruto, she instantly sheathed her katana and glomped him in a hug "I'm glad you're okay!"
"I'm also glad to see that you, Akari, and Akira are okay." He glanced around "Where's the others?"
"They went back after the sound four were killed, we volunteered to stay and wait for you."
Tayuya had been standing nearby, and her patience had worn thin "Oi, Naruto! Are we going to go to your village or not?" she asked impatiently
Naruto looked at her, causing her to flinch, she was worried that she'd just pissed off her new leader and that he'd kill her just like Orochimaru would.
"You're right, we failed the mission and there's no one left to fight, so let's go." He broke the hug with Mito and began walking towards the village, the others following him soon after.
"Why is the woman from before with you?" Akari asked.
"Yeah, wasn't she our enemy?" Akira asked.
"She was, but she was betrayed by her ally, and after I killed him she swore her loyalty to me." He calmly stated.
"Huh?" Mito looked confused.
"She's coming back with us, under our clan's protection. Hopefully, we can get her enlisted as a ninja, then I guess she could act as a bodyguard for our compound since we could always use more protection to keep Himari and Sora safe."
Those two are civilians who wouldn't survive if the compound was attacked, Yugao, Tsunade, Shizune, and the others could handle themselves so he wasn't worried about them. Of course, he was worried about Hanabi, Hinata, and Fumiko, but he believed in their abilities, after all, he trained them.
The group arrived in Konoha, all heading towards the Hokage tower, they entered Tsunade's office and delivered the report about the mission's failure. Naruto then explained the situation about Tayuya, he learned her name on the walk back to the village, and he managed to get Tsunade to agree to enlist her after they ensured her loyalty.
Tayuya readily agreed to be the dedicated bodyguard of the Namikaze compound, since it was her new home and her only chance at a better life. She felt that she could trust Naruto, after all, he saved her life even though she was his enemy, she wasn't alone in this endeavor though, the woman named Yugao also agreed to be a bodyguard, although she couldn't do it all the time since she was in the ANBU.
After Tayuya was an official shinobi of Konoha the group retired to their shared home and collapsed onto the couches in the living room.
"That mission was difficult, if it wasn't for sensei's training I don't think I would've survived." Akira exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Akari agreed and looked at Naruto "Thank you so much, sensei!"
He waved his hand "I didn't do much, you're the ones who put in the hard work."
"Nonsense, you're an amazing sensei!" Mito shouted.
Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know, I guess it's because I had years of experience."
Mito nodded in agreement "You've trained me since I was five, and I've become so much stronger."
Naruto smiled at her "Well… how about we go and train? After all, you guys need to get stronger since the chunin exams start in 2 weeks.
A/N I'm back! Covid is a right asshole, still feeling some symptoms like coughing and shit but I'm well enough to write now and I need to thank some people who wished me well.
Here are all the people from "The Namikaze Prodigies"
Jaytheehokage
DxGREYxMAN
gameking26
Here are all the people from "Maidenless"
Rey Rodriguez
Habu2010
Whatif-inator
Darkstar2311
NVS Tobi
GageTemplar
Kylerees148
Zerospoke
werewoof97
BK201DarkKitsune
Kitsune
I can't begin to express how much I love all of you… I still can't believe this story has nearly 16k views, that's insane… anywho, sorry for the long author's note, couldn't help it. Felt I had to express my love.
