Ch 6 - Operation Burning Fields

Tsunade sighed as her office door opened up, the light of the setting sun cascading over the stacks of paper. Her sigh deepened as she saw the elderly woman enter, easily recognizing the figure. "And to what do I owe the pleasure at this late hour, Koharu-san?"

Utatane Koharu, advisor of the Hokage and her predecessor, shuffled into the office and took a seat across the desk. "Good evening, my Hokage. I simply came to speak with you regarding the situation with the Land of Vegetables."

Shaking her head, Tsunade set down her pen and leaned forward. "Of course you are. I should have expected as much. Suffice it to say, I have things well under control…"

TTTTTTTTTT

Naruto stood in his office, looking over a connection of various threads on a corkboard. Nen's assault on the island was highly unadvised and laid him out for weeks, but it did come with one strong perk. "Karin, can you hand me that history book?"

Pushing up her glasses, Uzumaki Karin quickly put down the scroll she was reading and grabbed the book she was asked to grab. The transition from her previous position had come with more than a little bit of change and interrogation. But between Naruto's warm and sunny chakra and the revelation that they were related had made things a bit easier. The fact that he and Lady Haruna treated her better than any other boss so far didn't hurt either.

Flipping through the offered book, Naruto shook his head. "This doesn't make any sense…if Konoha allowed Uzu refugees, there should be some remnant or evidence of them being there…"

"There is." A voice called from the window, causing Karin to turn and draw a kunai. Naruto only gave a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose, the voice was one he knew far too well. Looking over his shoulder with a glare, the blonde's suspicions were confirmed as he saw Jiraiya the Toad Sage sitting in the now open windowsill rather casually.

Turning and raising an arm to prevent Karin from striking, Naruto took a step forward. "I always knew you had balls, Jiraiya-san, but sneaking into another nation's capital when you trained their head of defense is a new one."

Karin stammered in shock. "Jiraiya? Jiraiya of the Sannin? Orichimaru's former teammate Jiraiya? How…Naruto-chan, how do you know Jiraiya?"

At first Jiraiya was proud that he was so easily recognized, but the young woman's reference to his traitorous teammate caused instant frustration. Who the hell was she, and why would she use that snake as the point of reference. Sliding into the office properly and standing up, JIraiya looked over the young woman carefully, his eyes narrowing as a few possible realizations rattled in his head. "And who is this?"

Even with the time that had passed, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the discomfort Jiraiya was in. But time had cooled his temper somewhat, and the responsibilities he now faced had built up some small level of maturity in the shinobi. "Jiraiya is my former sensei, and my godfather…" The way he dug in that last word showed that he still held some anger over that realization. "Jiraiya, this is Uzumaki Karin. She and her mom fled following the fall of Uzu."

"Uzumaki, of course. You look very similar to Kushina when she was your age…" Jiraiya mused, drawing another death-glare from Naruto. Clearing his throat, the Sannin adopted a more professional stance. "Right…anyway. Tsunade wanted me to speak with you regarding that little stunt you pulled a couple months ago."

Naruto grinned maliciously, showing his fanged canines. "To be fair, Ero-Sannin, that was more Haruna's stunt than mine…"

Two Months Earlier

"Now, would you mind explaining what exactly the two of you are doing in my damn country?"

Sakura blinked at the direct order, Hinata lowering her head at her righthand side. They had come in without any official explanation or permission to recover someone who had apparently insulated himself at a high level in the (admittedly small) nation's government. Balling her fist, Sakura took a deep, weary breath. "We came to bring Naruto home."

Haruna and Naruto both quietly looked at each other before looking back at the pair. "Sakura…I am home…" Naruto slowly responded, setting a hand on Haruna's shoulder, with Haruna setting her hand on top of it. "Besides, I don't really have any reason to go back there, even if I could…"

The words cut through Sakura like a knife. No reason to go back? "Naruto…you can't be serious…what about your friends, your team, Sasuke and me…." She instantly realized her mistake at that last mention as his eyes hardened like daggers, and the killer intent she almost never saw from Naruto quickly flooded over the office. For a moment she swore his crystal blue eyes turned a nightmarish shade of red.

"Naruto-kun…" Haruna interrupted softly, gently squeezing his hand on her shoulder and looking up at the angry shinobi. "Darling…it's okay." Now it was Hinata's turn to be shocked, her knees shaking in a mix of fear and anger. It had only been a few years ago when she had spoken so highly of Naurto to Haruna, and now it looks like that was coming to bite her in the ass.

Once Naruto had calmed down, the daimyo turned her attention towards the two shinobi. "So, by your own admission, you broke into Hosaku with the intention of kidnapping our nation's defensive strategist. This is a definitive and unquestionable act of war. In most places, you would be executed on the spot for this….but, because you helped save Nen's life, and out of respect for Naruto, I'm willing to go for a more peaceful route. The two of you will be political prisoners here in Hosaku."

TTTTTTTTT

"So, are you here to break them out, or are you here to convince me let them go?" Naurto asked Jiraya, not entirely looking at him as he thumbed through the book Karin had handed him. Either one was a possibility, and not the only ones either where the Spymaster of Konoha was concerned.

"Oh come now, I can't just see my student?" Jiraiya responded with a chuckle, drawing the full narrow-eyed glare from Naruto. The chuckle died nervously under the glare, and the Toad Sage grabbed a chair to take a seat. "There is something serious I would like to talk to you about though…Sage Training. Even though you are no longer with Konoha, you are still my student, and I do owe you…for not telling you anything…"

"Sage Training? You mean the senjutsu, like the First supposedly had?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. He had thought it was just some rumor, but Karin had accidentally independently confirmed it's existence when talking about one of Orichimaru's experiments. Naruto was about to press the issue further when a lantern hanging above his desk suddenly lit aflame.

For a moment, the blonde ninja stared at the lantern in a mix of surprise and disbelief. He had picked up a few lessons on fuinjutsu while in Suna and found that he was a natural at it, which made a lot more since when he learned about Uzu and his clan. He had been playing around with a few experimental techniques in the art, and this lantern was one of them. But the delight was to be short lived, as the purpose and reality of the lantern sent all his hairs standing. It was a warning system, and the simple activation of a tag in the possession of a few guards would set it alight.

"Damn…he really was hoping to have an easy night…" Naruto chuckled and shook his head before snapping to action, turning and tossing a kunai at his former sensei. Unsurprising to anyone, the Sennin easily deflected it, dropping into a combat stance. Student and teacher faced off, the pair staring at each other and not moving a muscle. After a few tense moments, a smirk grew on Naruto's face. "Just do the best you can do."

Jiraya raised an eyebrow in confusion at the cryptic comment. For a moment, he thought his former student was actually encouraging him. His shock was then compounded by the sight of a chain jutting from Naruto's chest. For a brief moment, he thought that his godson had somehow figured out how to manifest his mother's powers…until Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke with Karin standing behind where he had been.

"An Uzumaki through and through I see." Jiraya quipped as he deflected the chain with a quick backhand, inwardly wincing as he had forgotten just how hard those things were.

Karin took the comment as a compliment, smiling as she retracted the chain into her body and took her own combat stance. "You may be a legend, Jiraya-sama, but Orichimaru-san didn't make me a warden of his projects for nothing…"

TTTTTTTTTT

Haruna looked concerned at Naruto, who had frozen completely in place out of nowhere. The pair had been on their way to a date, dressed to the nines and walking under the rising moon to a nearby restaurant. A thousand different emotions played out on his face as something happened behind those piercing blue eyes, until finally a single word passed through clenched teeth. "Fuck…"

Before Haruna even had a chance to question, the blonde shinobi summoned a dozen clones of himself. "Code Red boys. The lanterns are lit and Jiraya is in the Palace. You six, escort Haruna-chan back to the barracks and hunker down with the samurai. The rest of you fan out and find the Vagabonds." Undoing the top buttons of his button-up shirt, the real Naruto turned to Haruna with a depressed look on his face. "Sorry, but it looks like we will have to reschedule."

Nodding softly, Haruna crossed her arms over her chest, a stone-cold look in her eyes. "Give them hell."

TTTTTTTTTT

The extraction had gone off without a hitch, and the team was making good time. Taking a free moment, Kakashi looked back behind him over his squad. Team Asuma (minus their late leader) and Team Kurenai (also without their leader who was out on pregnancy leave, and with Neji taking Hinata's place) were both built for this kind of operation, and they had managed to catch the local guards at an opportune time. The only thing worry that had arrisian was when one managed to pull out and activate a tag of some sort, but it had burnt to ash with no obvious result.

The group traveled in roughly two clusters, with Team Asuma surrounding Sakura and Team Kurenai likewise grouped around Hinata, and Kakashi himself on point between the two. Their goal was the border, to fade into the Land of Forest and take advantage of their skills in similar habitats to lose any pursuers. And for a while, the plan was going off without a hitch, until a sudden shuriken wizzed just past Kakashi's head and buried itself into a tree.

Turning back again, Kakashi noticed the literal army coming after him. After a quick second observation, it became obvious that the army was just one person cloned a few dozen times or more. And there was only one person Kakashi knew who could even do that, much less use it as his primary battle strategy. Throwing out a few quick hand signals, the former Anbu directed the two teams to split off in opposing directions. Just as he had thought, several of the clones likewise split off to track them, but the bulk of the force came after him.

Stopping in a small and seemingly abandoned field, Kakashi turned and pulled out a kunai, deflecting several more shurkien that came his way. Then, the onslaught began, a wave of Narutos (all dressed in slacks and blazers for some reason Kakashi couldn't figure out) came at him. It was like a wave of fists and feet, but unlike spars with Naruto in the past, they blows seemed coordinated with eachother, and it actually put the experienced jonin on his back foot for a moment.

"Have to admit, your training under Jiraiya was worth it." Kakashi complimented as he deflected another blow and grabbed the clone's arm, taking the briefest of advantages he had to use it as a club and smack away several of the others, all disappearing in a burst of smoke. When the smoke cleared, he saw that the clone army had formed a perimeter around him, with one stepping forward from the group.

"And I have to admit you have terrible timing, Kakashi-san." The Naruto who had stepped closer replied as he rolled up his sleeves. "But out of respect, I'm going to give you one chance. Go home, tell the old lady you failed. Please." There was a look of pleading in his eyes as the former student looked at his teacher.

"Sorry Naruto, but you know I can't do that." Kakashi responded as he shifted into a combat stance. This was obviously not going to be just a spar between student and teacher.

With a sigh, Naruto reached into the inside of his blazer and pulled out a pair of goggles, sliding them onto his head and over his eyes. "Couldn't blame a guy for trying."

TTTTTTTTTT

Team Asuma and Sakura were quickly headed north, currently cutting through a sparse wood, with several of the Naruto clones following them. Things had gone so smoothly up till then, easely sneaking through the meager guard and breaking Sakura out of her apartments in the Daimyo's palace. The fact that they were being pursued by their former friend and classmate was definitely troublesome though, every one of them knew well how doggedly stubborn the blonde was.

So it came to no one's surprise when two of the clones managed to break away from the group and actually cut off the foursome. What did come to the surprise of all was when those two transformed from the ninja they knew to a pair they weren't expecting. Pulling to a halt, Shikimaru internally swore as he took a quick assessment of the situation. The moon was nowhere near full enough to cast any shadow, and it was now obvious that there were other ninja's hiding in the wave of clones. This was going to be troublesome.

The two Hosaku-nin stepped into a ready stance. On one side was Nen, a handful of shuriken clenched in each fist, dripping with some type of fluid. On the other was Tori, dressed in a simple black and purple kimono, long hair up in a ponytail that mirrored Ino's as they stepped forward to speak. "In the name of the Land of Vegetables, I am giving you one chance to surrender and turn yourselves in. If you go quietly, the Daimyo may be merciful in your punishment."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen." Ino replied snarkily. The trio of Team Asuma had worked together so often they were a well oiled machine, and both Ino and Choji knew Shikamaru would need some type of distraction in the moment. Stepping in behind Sakura and Choji, the Yamanaka heiress made the unique handsign of her clan and aimed it between the heads of her teammates at the opposing blonde.

The two opposing groups stood still for a moment, assessing eachother and waiting for the other to make the opening move. Perfectly, this made the Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind-Body Switch Technique) hit without a hitch, causing Tori to snap her head back suddenly like she had just been punched….

Deep within the recesses of Tori's mind, Ino found herself in a realm of darkness, surrounded by nothingness. This wasn't right in any way. She should be within the mindscape of her target, not in this…void. A series of ripples appeared on the ground in front of her, like water; and from their center arose the same blonde shinobi she had tried to enter the mind of, albeit in a much more elaborate and beautiful kimono and makeup.

"Mind control, eh?" The mental image of Tori spoke to Ino, standing poised and ready. "Makes sense for a kidnapping assignment, and I'm sure it was very helpful getting around the guards. Unfortunately the Fates were not on your side tonight." With a sadistic grin, the mental-shinobi continued. "You see, in the Land of Keys resistance to mental techniques is kind of their whole deal, taught to children. But if you really want to look into my mind, well…who am I to object? Kagi Hiden: Rekishi no Meikyu."

Finding herself unable to break the connection, Ino saw a blinding light surrounding the mental image of Tori. When her vision returned, she was somewhere else, in a house she didn't recognize…her frame of reference was off too, like she was in the body of someone shorter or younger…her brain was flooded with the perpetual sense of fear and dread…and then, looming over her was an older man, reeking of cheap booze….

Snapping her head back, Tori growled and clutched her forehead as Ino screamed in pure terror collapsing to the ground as her body shook and flailed. Shikimaru couldn't help but look down at his teammate and good friend, snapping his attention back to the blonde opponent in anger. That brief moment of tunnel vision was all that was needed, and it wasn't until it was too late that he sensed the attack coming from behind him. As he crumpled to the ground, the last thing the Nara saw was his attacker, a red-clad pinkette he had called friend, looking down at him with a clenched fist.

TTTTTTTTTT

"Damnit, that can't really be him, can it?" Inuzuka Kiba cried out as the Naruto clones chased after their group. The group of five was moving as quickly as they could through the fields, dashing through knee-high vegetation in the dead of the night. The orders were clear, their goal was to get to the borders as quickly as possible, and there was no better team for tracking and infiltration than Team Kurenai.

"It must be. Why?" Retorted Aburame Shino, keeping his eyes forward as he ran. "That's because no one else uses the Kage Bushin in that matter. Also, my kikaichu have already verified the chakra to be the same as the Naruto we know."

"Really? Well then that at least explains where he's been hiding." Kiba responded through clenched teeth. The Inuzuka honor burned in his veins, pushing him to turn around and lay out the blonde. As far as the group knew, Naruto had simply never come home, with Tsunade quietly listing him as missing but never making any effort to bring him home. Others talked about how there had to be more going on behind the scenes, but to Kiba the answer was simple: the loser had turned traitor.

It was to the feral warrior's delight then when several of the clones managed to get ahead of the group just as they entered a small valley. It was obvious they intended to cut off the group's escape, and Kiba had no issue making sure that didn't happen. But before he could ready an attack, one of the clones transformed, replacing the form of their former comrade with that of a much different man.

With his straw hat on his back, the greying veteran Sensui the Fire-Dancer looked over the group of young Konoha ninja. "Two Hyugas, an Inzuka and his hound, and…an Aburame? Oh this is going to be a fun night." With a devilish grin, the shinobi flung out his bandage-wrapped arm, releasing a wave of smoke bombs at his adversaries. "You are going to have to use the good stuff on these ones, Yoko."

The valley quickly filled up with thick black smoke, the smell of sulfur and saltpeter filling the noses of anyone around. On cue, a second clone transformed as well, the petite form of Yoko the Blind already working through several handsigns moving towards the dark cloud. "Sution: Shin'en ni Kakusareta." Her chakra mixed with the evening mist and impregnated the heavy smoke as she gently stepped into it.

Within the cloud, there was chaos. Neither Kiba nor Akamaru could smell anything past the mist over the pungent smoke, which was also sending Shino's insect companions haywire as self-preseration instincts took hold. But most frustrated of all was Neji. He had activated the Byakugan the moment he saw the smokebombs, but whatever jutsu the other shinobi had activated had turned the smoke into an amorphous cloud of chakra. Even with his skills, he could barely make out his teammates through the thick chakra-laden smoke. Calming himself, the genius of the Hyuga family focused, trying to find the other shinobi.

It was the sudden pained cry of Akamaru that brought Neji a point of reference. Tracking the chakra signature of the nin-dog, which was flying as though he had been hit, Neji finally found the strange chakra signature hidden amongst the cloud. He could even barely make out the impression of fine chakra-charged steel signifying a drawn sword, quickly making it's way to a distracted Kiba. Quickly Neji slammed his hand forward, releasing the Hakke Kūshō (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm).

The blow struck Yoko just as she made her swing. Instead of a clean cut across both hamstrings to cripple the Inuzuka, she instead landed a deep but twisted slash into one of his legs as she herself was sent flying by the sudden and precise shockwave. On a personal level, she didn't care much about how much worse she had wounded the other shinobi. But what she did care about was that it broke her concentration and likewise broke the jutsu, causing her chakra to dissipate from the now clearing smoke.

Rising up from her rough landing, Yoko raised her ninjato in a defensive posture as she heard the incessant buzzing she had associated with one of the Konoha ninjas move towards her. But she could also smell the familiar scent of ash and sandalwood coming her way as well, and so with a grin she leapt back to the fallen shinobi who reeked of sweat and urine (and now blood).

Seeing the swordswoman move towards his stricken teammate, Shino took a quick step towards Kiba to try and guard him. But the deathcries of his kikaichu caused him to stop up short, and just in time as Sensui dove in and slammed a hard kick into the ground where he would have been. It didn't take long for Shino to see just what was causing his insects problems: the elder warrior had somehow managed to wrap his forearms and lower legs in bright hot flames.

As the insect master and the flaming fighter sparred off, Neji moved to aid his fellow Konoha nin. But he only got a single step before feeling a hard pinpoint blow in the tiny blindspot of the Byakugan. As pain flared out from the point of impact, the experienced genius could tell it was from a broken bone in his spine. But only an expert in the Byakugan would even know that singular point, and as his world started to spin and fade Neji turned to see Hinata staring at him, hands raised in a combat stance.

"I am sorry, Neji-nii-san." He heard her call out as the world went black. "But I cannot give up on being by his side…"

TTTTTTTTTT

Jiraya ran like a madman towards the rendezvous point. The duel with Karin had been time consuming and seemed like it served mainly to drive him from the palace. Although he had far more experience and skills than the young Uzumaki, her sheer stubbornness and stamina had pushed him further than he had expected.

As he came up over the ridge, Jiraya's heart stopped. There on a battlescared and abandoned field stood Naruto charging up his Rasenshuriken while Kakashi was charging in with his own Rasengen. The Toad Sage could only watch as the two slammed into eachother, causing an explosion of smoke and chakra.

As the smoke cleared, Jiraya lept to Kakashi's side as Naruto stood tall, shoving up his goggles with his left hand. His right hand was obviously wounded, but it quickly became obvious he was in better shape than Kakashi, whose arm was hideously mangled. Before Jiraya could launch an attack of his own, Naruto glared at him over his shoulder. "Out of respect, I'll let you collect your ninjas and leave. Please, just take the failure and go home."

AN: Hope y'all enjoy this, action chapters are by far my weakest.

New Techniques shown in this chapter:

Kagi Hiden: Rekishi no Meikyu (Eng: Land of Keys Secret Technique: Labyrinth of History)

A secret counter-technique developed in the Land of Keys to protect users from mental attacks and interrogations. The mind reader is trapped in a mental loop and is forced to live through the most tramatic events of the users past from the users point of view repeatedly.

Sution: Shin'en ni Kakusareta (Eng: Water Release: Hiding in the Abyss)

An advanced version of the Hiding in Mist technique. The smoke and mist is impregnated with enough chakra to block out vision and disorent sensors, but requires constant concentration from the user.