United I Stand
Chapter Six: Mission Start!
"I was lying on the grass on Sunday morning of last week. Indulging in my self-defeat," Naruto sang as he slipped on a white shirt before he tossed a brush to Naruko.
"My mind was thugged, all laced and bugged, all twisted, wrong, and beat. A comfortable three feet deep," Naruko sang as she brushed her long ponytails straight before she launched the brush to Menma, who rolled over the couch to grab it and brushed his hair.
"Now the fuzzy stare from not being there on a confusing morning week. Impaired my tribal lunar speak," Menma sang as he brushed his hair to a some-what tamed style then kicked up a pair of orange jeans and tossed it to Naruto, who flipped up a wall and grabbed the pants by the leg with his teeth before he twisted around and sat down on a chair to slip it on.
"And of course, you can't become if you only say what you would have done, so I missed a million miles of fun," Naruto sang as he stood up and hopped twice to get his pants on before he kicked over a chair with Menma's black shirt and pants on it, where Menma leaped up and surfed on the chair, spinning it slightly as he slipped on his shirt.
"I know it's up for me," Menma sang as he tugged his shirt down and somersaulted off the chair and landed on one foot, and kicked up Naruko's orange bra and white shirt with a large orange spiral in front and kicked it to her, where she caught it with her foot and kicked it into the air.
"If you steal my sunshine," Naruko sang as she pulled off her button-down pajama gown, and hopped up to slip on her bra and shirt. When she landed, she caught her thrown black skintight shorts with her foot from Naruto and slipped them on.
She kicked up both of Naruto's orange and white sneakers and round house kicked them to Naruto, who back-flipped and caught the shoes, and landed on his feet to put them on.
"Making sure I'm not in too deep," Naruto sang before he pulled a chair by his foot sharply and sent it skidding to Naruko, who flipped on it and caught her black and orange sneakers from Menma.
"If you steal my sunshine," Naruko sang before she kicked her chair back, which made it skid towards the couch where she grabbed her orange shorts and Menma's orange jacket with long black sleeves and tossed it into the air, where Menma flipped over the couch and slipped on his jacket and landed in a crouch.
"Keep me versed and on my feet," Menma said before he reached behind him to the kunai pouches that hung on the wall and tossed two of them to Naruto and Naruko, who caught them and placed them on their right thighs, while Menma did the same.
"If you steal my sunshine," Naruko sang as she slipped on her shorts, which were barely visible beneath her long shirt, and tossed on her sleeveless orange jacket with a black star on the back of it. She then tossed Naruto his orange bomber jacket, which he caught and slipped on before she slipped on a belt over her fairly long shirt.
Menma slipped on his black and orange shoes and black fingerless gloves and asked "We got everything?"
"Food Scrolls are in the pouches," Naruto confirmed as he tied his Hiate-ite on his right knuckle.
"Along with our recently acquired tents and sleeping bags," Naruko said as she tied her Hiate-ite around her neck.
Menma tied his Hiate-ite around his right sleeve on his bicep and said, "Well turn off the radio and lets G-O."
Naruto walked to the radio, which sat in the kitchen, and flipped it off with a grin. "Let's jet guys!"
The trio flipped out of their window and wall-climbed down their apartment building before they landed on the ground and began to walk toward the gate.
"So I've been thinking," Naruto began. "Should we get personal weapons?"
Naruko tilted her head and inquired, "What brought this on?"
"Well think about it, every awesome shinobi has an awesome weapon that everyone knows that theirs. I mean look at the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. Tell me you guys wouldn't want something like that," Naruto said.
"I mean to be fair, they were damn awesome when we learned about them from Iruka-sensei. You think we should all get swords or something?" Naruko asked.
"Not swords, just something that suits us. Like me, I want some badass gauntlets and a huge axe," Naruto said. "What about you guys?"
"Hmm…If I had to choose, I'd take a bo staff or a spear or something. I think it should compliment my Taijutsu style pretty well," Naruko said. "What about you Menma?"
"Thinking about it, I'd like a bow and arrow or maybe a chain whip sword," Menma said. "It would be pretty neat to freeze my opponents from afar while piercing them…We should talk to Anko-sensei and Inoichi-sensei about it later."
"Heh, another good idea from Uzumaki Naruto, success!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin. "Now, onto other affairs, once Hinata-chan dates us three, who do you think she would choose to continue dating?"
"Honestly, it could be any one of us," Menma said. "If she liked us in that way."
"At this rate, "Denial" should be your middle name," Naruko dryly noted. "I don't know. I mean I don't think Hinata-chan likes girls."
"I kinda hope she does so I can view a little bit o-" Naruto was interrupted by Menma smacking him upside the head. "Ow! Why?!" Naruto asked.
"I heard something perverted coming and stopped it," Menma said. "God, maybe you should change your name to Miroku."
"After that perverted Monk on Inuyasha?" Naruto asked. "Hmmm not too bad of a name. Uzumaki Miroku…"
"Oh Kami, he's actually thinking about it," Menma muttered. "In all seriousness, if Hinata likes us, you have a strong chance just like Naruto and I. I mean, we are a part of the OG Naruto and that may be just enough for her."
"I suppose but I can honestly see her going for either one of you more than me," Naruko said. "Which is why I think one of you should ask her out first, I go second and then the other one goes last."
"An excellent idea," Naruto said. "I nominate myself to go…last."
"W-What? You want to go last?" Menma asked with surprise.
"Yeah, I mean I personally think she's going to go for Menma since I firmly believe he's closer to the original and she will see that as well. Besides…" Naruto then smirked. "Haven't you heard of "Saving the best for last" Menma?"
"You cocky asshole," Menma noted with a somewhat impressed tone. "Then, in that case, I will go first since the better always does."
"Oh-ho-ho, is that a challenge I smell?" Naruko asked as Naruto and Menma smirked at one another. "I shall officiate this challenge then. This outta be good."
"Speaking of good, look who's also awake during this time of morning," Naruto noted as he motioned ahead.
Team Seven was walking ahead of them.
"Oh, awesome! Yo Sakura-chan!" Naruko yelled.
Sakura looked back and the trio could see her face morph into a smile before she tapped both Sasuke and Sai to make them slow down, which they obliged, much to Menma's annoyance.
The trio caught up to Team Seven, with Naruko and Sakura sharing a brief high-five before Sakura asked, "You guys going on a mission too?"
"Yeah, we going to Taki to rescue someone," Naruko explained with a grin. "What about you guys?"
"It's some mission to protect some noble woman from these guys, nothing too big," Sakura replied.
"For you maybe," Sasuke grumbled.
Meanwhile, Sai wrote in his notebook as he expanded on this by adding, "Kakashi-sensei thinks highly of us in completing this mission. Personally, with dickless and fangirl, I think we're bound to fail."
"Sai you moron!" Sakura said before she lifted her hand to punch Sai but Naruko caught her fist and shook her head. Sakura frowned at her but took a breath and lowered her arm, something Menma caught with disgust but remained silent.
Sasuke merely remained silent, above petty insults.
"Jeez Sasuke, you just gonna let him insult you like that?" Naruto asked.
"I am superior to him so why should I let his meager insults bother me?" Sasuke asked.
Both Naruto and Menma snorted at this.
"Something funny you two?" Sasuke asked.
"Oh nothing, I didn't think eunuchs could be superior," Naruto noted with a grin, which caused Sasuke to halt briefly while Sai let a small smile appear on his face. "But hey, you learn something new every day, right Menma?"
Menma smirked.
"Naruto! Stop talking about Sasuke-kun like that," Sakura shouted as she lifted her arm again to strike him.
"He could talk to Sasuke however he wants, you aren't in control of him," Menma's cold voice replied, which caused Sakura to look at him.
"You heard what he said about Sasuke-kun. I'm not going to take that lying down," Sakura replied.
"Oh shit, it's about to come to ahead already," Naruto murmured to Sai, who looked enraptured by this.
"You act as if the Uchiha needs a bodyguard," Menma said. "He is capable of holding his own. Hell, he ignored both insults thrown at him since he's so "Above" them after all. Why can't you let it go? Neither Sai nor Naruto are insulting you personally so why want to hit them?"
"They insulted Sasuke-kun!" Sakura angrily exclaimed. "He's gone through so much in his life with losing his clan. He doesn't need anyone calling him names or putting him down!"
"Let me clue you in on something," Menma began. "The Uchiha has lost a lot and I won't sit here and act like he hasn't but unless you lived their life, you have no right to think anything about them. All you see day in and day out is just a mask in that person's image. You don't know what they've lost or what they've been through."
Sakura balled up her fists angrily, which caused Menma to smirk.
"What? You going to hit me because I disagree with you?" Menma questioned as he stopped and faced her and tapped his face. "Well here I am and unlike Naruto, I'm giving you permission to strike me."
"Sakura-chan…" Naruko slowly warned.
"I sense a fight coming," Sai said while Naruto began to fish around for something. "What are you looking for blond?" Sai asked.
"Some fucking popcorn because it's about to go down," Naruto replied.
"I can create popcorn with my ink if you'd like," Sai suggested.
Naruto stared at him for a moment then said, "You…I like you."
"I'm not going to hit you Menma…" Sakura stated.
"Oh? Is that because I'm telling you to? Because I seem to remember Naruto telling me you would hit him at a drop of a hat when he did anything you disliked, especially when he insulted the Uchiha," Menma said. "Do I have to insult him as well to get you to do it?"
"Stop egging her on, Menma," Naruko warned.
"Just because you are friends with Sakura and Naruto can't hold a grudge against her doesn't mean I am either of those things," Menma shot back.
"You know what…Then enlighten me Menma. What have you lost?" Sakura asked suddenly, which surprised the entire group.
"Oh shit," both Naruto and Sai said.
"Sakura-chan…You don't want this, just back down," Naruko warned.
"No, he wants to stand here and preach down to me, telling me how to feel and what to say and who to defend so I'm going to call him out on his bullshit," Sakura said to Naruko.
"Sakura," Sasuke said. "I do not appreciate being the catalyst for what is going to occur so before things get any more severe, let us just go."
"No Uchiha…" Menma said as his hair shadowed his eyes. "She asked a question right? It's only right to answer her."
Menma then turned his head to Sakura and declared, "Naruto, Naruko, forgive me but I'm going to spill a few things, I hope you understand."
"Dude, I am so fucking entertained by this, I don't even care, spill it," Naruto said.
'Menma…' Naruko thought. 'I know you're about to snap but at least stick to the story of us being in separate villages and don't go so hard on her…Please?'
Menma didn't respond. Instead, Menma took a step toward Sakura and said, "From the moment we were born to a few weeks ago, we were separated and told nothing. Nothing about our past, our family, why everyone hated us, not disliked, not annoyed, hated us. Hated us to the point that we, in separate villages, were sold nothing but rotting and expired foods."
Both Naruto and Naruko could feel anger filling their veins at the memory of OG Naruto suffering at the hands of the villager's neglect and hatred of them but they remained silent.
"Imagine being alone from day one. Waking up to your caretaker at the orphanage denying you basic essentials like food and clothing, only to see them willingly give it to the other orphans. Imagine waking up and seeing a look of rage in the eyes of the person that is supposed to take care of you every hour of the day…Imagine watching all the other orphans being hugged and cared for and adopted while you sit there in your own filth being treated worst than a mangy cat in the street!" Menma shouted with anger in his voice, which caused Sakura to flinch and look down at the ground.
But Menma scowled at her and shouted, "Don't look down. Look me in the fucking eyes and Imagine it, Haruno! Imagine being four years old, kicked out of the only home you had, and begging the man you look up to for answers about your past. Imagine begging to know if your parents loved you. Did you have siblings, any other family, a clan, or anything?! Imagine begging this man you see as a grandfather about why everyone hates you?! And imagine being told that the past is the past and nothing can change it!"
"Menma…That's enough," Naruko said as tears began to fall from her eyes.
"Imagine being alone in a dingy and rotting apartment for most of your life, clinging to some sort of hope that you had people who cared about you and that they didn't abandon you or betray you to try and to ki—hurt you. Until one day, you met someone you think likes you and seem to think you're cute but then the very next day, they betray you and humiliate you in front of everyone else when all they said was fucking "Hi" but you're so lonely, so craved for attention, that anything is better than nothing! That you would rather take the abuse because it means someone cares enough to feel something about you when no one did!"
Both Naruto and Naruko flinched at this but Menma continued.
"But that person doesn't see it nor do they care. They just take their abuse out on you, the kid no one likes because who is going to defend you? The civilians? The teachers? The other kids? No, that person can see they don't care about you! So for years, you allow them to abuse you because that's all you, the sad, neglected pariah of the village is so used so you decide to say "Well fuck it, might as well give them a reason to hurt me," so you turn to pranking and being the obnoxious clown to at least get people to see you as that than nothing…But all the while, all you ever wanted was to have a friend…A single fucking friend!"
"Now add all of that…And multiply it by three and you're looking at Naruto, at Naruko, and me. We each did something so dangerous that the Hokage had no choice but to bring us together and hope that three lonely, abandoned, disrespected, pariahs can offset one another and finally not be alone…Now ask me Haruno, ask me what not only I, but we have lost, what we had to endure? Ask me!"
Naruko and Naruto slowly looked to Sakura, who had a stunned expression on her face but the duo could see tears building up in her eyes. "That's what I thought," Menma said before he turned and walked away.
"I-Is he telling the truth?" Sakura asked. "…N-Naruto…Is he telling the truth?"
"Yeah…He is…" Naruto softly admitted.
"W-Why didn't you tell me? All this time I…" Sakura stammered as she fell to her knees.
"I just don't know how to hold a grudge. I was a pest to you and I deserved every hit that I got," Naruto said with a smile.
"N-No! Don't brush this off like its nothing!" Sakura tearfully exclaimed. "You felt like this your whole life…And I…I added to it…When he spoke about that person betraying you…I did exactly that…"
"You did and it hurt like hell," Naruto admitted. "I'm not going to brush it off. You, and a lot of other people hurt me, a lot. And on some level, I hate you and the village at large, save for a couple of people. But I like to think I became stronger because of the adversity. Same with Menma and Naruko. Besides, if I didn't go through that, I wouldn't have them. So, worth it, I guess."
"You are a bigger person than I, blond," Sai said.
"I…I…" Sakura whispered as tears fell from her eyes but Naruko knelt in front of her and brought Sakura into her arms in a light hug, which Sakura returned as she began to sob.
"To think you three experienced that…" Sasuke said to Naruto. "I lost my clan but at least the villagers like me and the council protect me…To think you three didn't have that and were separated. It's eye-opening…"
"We've been through a lot and it's a sore point with us but Menma…He took it a lot harsher than most of us," Naruto said as he watched Sakura sob against Naruko's chest.
"If it is worth anything, I'm sorry," Sasuke said.
"Hakuna Matata. It means no worries," Naruto replied.
"It's okay Sakura-chan…I'll talk to Menma. It wasn't fair for him to say all of that to you," Naruko said as she patted Sakura's back.
Sakura shook her head and murmured, "No…I deserved to hear the truth…I needed to hear it…"
"We can talk about this when we come back, okay?" Naruko gently asked.
Sakura pulled away and wiped her eyes and nodded.
"We need to get moving to our training field Sakura," Sasuke said softly as Naruko stood up.
"Well, it's been dramatic but I gotta run. Come on Naruko," Naruto said before the two walked off after Menma, who was nearly out of sight of the Uzumaki Duo.
"You guys are on time. Impressive," Anko proudly noted once the Uzumaki Trio stood in front of her.
"Thanks, Gotta be ready for our first mission," Naruto said. "We would have been earlier had something not happened…"
Naruko shot a look to Menma, who looked at his nails with a bored expression.
"Lot of orange between you three," Inoichi noted.
"Um…Did you not see OG Naruto?" Naruto questioned with a humored tone.
"I-I did but at least you guys have more color?" Inoichi questioned himself. He then shook his head and said "Well, you guys are all stocked and ready to go?"
"Got our tents, sleeping bags, kunai, shuriken, the works," Naruko proudly said.
"Very good. Now, it'll take a day and a half to get to Taki so we're going to go top speed, got it?" Inoichi questioned. The trio nodded with excitement on their faces. With a smile, Inoichi said "Then let Team Eleven's first official mission…Begin!"
And with those words, the five-speed off past the gate and onto their first mission.
The Sun was starting to set when Team Eleven made it to the outskirts of Takigakure no Sato and the squad looked as tired as they felt but the first thing that stunned the Uzumaki Trio was the large tree that seemed to stretch into the sky above.
"Holy hell…" Naruto breathed out. "This thing is huge!"
"How did that happen?" Naruko asked with a stunned expression on her face.
"There is a myth that the tree holds a special property that can boost one's abilities," Anko explained. "If the myth is true, then it would cause the tree to be as big as it is. Admittedly, this is only my second time seeing it and it looks bigger than the last time…"
"Come on, there is a cave that acts as the entrance to this village," Inoichi told them. The squad quickly found the cave entrance and walked into it and after various twists and turns, Team Eleven found themselves walking out of the exit to the sight of a large lake.
In front of the cave was a bridge that lead to the gate of a fairly large village that surrounded the large tree, which was currently letting in dull orange sunbeams through its thick leaves and branches, causing the village to seemingly glow.
"And this is Takigakure no Sato…" Inoichi said with relief but it was then he noticed that there was a lot of smoke rising from the village.
Then the sounds of combat were heard against the breeze of the wind, horrifying both Anko and Inoichi. "The village is under attack," Anko said to Inoichi.
"We need to move, now!" Inoichi commanded. The group of shinobi ran across the bridge into the entrance of the village. The five could see dozens of shinobi clad in midnight blue masks and black clothing attacking the various civilians. "Do not hesitate to kill," Inoichi commanded the group.
The moment they got close enough, Inoichi leaped into the air and delivered a flying kick to the first shinobi that ran towards him to attack.
Anko skidded on her knees to avoid a large naginata taking off her head and quickly rose to her feet and twisted around with a leap and stabbed her kunai into the neck of her attack.
Naruto jumped over Anko and landed a kick to the shinobi behind her while Naruko and Menma ran past them, hopped into the air, and landed a knee to two of the invading shinobi's faces, sending them to the ground.
The two rolled on top of their downed opponents and both reached into their kunai pouch and stabbed the two shinobi in their necks.
Menma removed the kunai and immediately launched it at another invading shinobi, who was about to kill a mother and child.
But he also caught the attention of two more invading shinobi.
Menma smirked and ran forward and launched two kunai at the two shinobi, who deflected them only for Menma to skid in front of one of them and stab him in the gut with a kunai before he ducked the second's roundhouse kick, which nailed the first invading shinobi in the face.
Menma rolled behind the second shinobi and then leaped up and stabbed him in the throat with a kunai then pulled it out.
Meanwhile, Naruko ran towards a house where two invading shinobi were busting their way through and delivered a kick to both of their backs, sending the duo in. Naruko landed on the ground then flipped to her feet and shouted, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
Two clones of her quickly appeared and ran to the downed men and stabbed their backs repeatedly as she turned around only to catch the fist of another invading kunoichi and twisted her arm, sending him off her feet and onto the ground where Naruko quickly stabbed her in the neck twice.
Anko and Naruto let out a shout as they leaped into the air and delivered a double flying kick to an invading shinobi but when they landed, Naruto ducked the right fist of a kunoichi and kicked her in the face, sending the shinobi off of her feet and onto the ground before he launched a kunai into the masked kunoichi's head.
"Is that all of them?" Naruko asked as Anko finished off a shinobi on the ground. Menma and Inoichi joined seconds later.
"Seems like it but I'm betting there are more deeper into the village," Inoichi replied.
"But who are they anyways?" Menma questioned.
Inoichi looked at one of the downed bodies and answered, "I can find out. Keep watch." Inoichi then walked to one of the dead bodies and knelt beside it and performed several seals before placing his index and middle fingers on the deceased's forehead.
"Saiko Denshin," Inoichi whispered as he shut his eyes and began to focus.
Just five seconds later, Inoichi removed his fingers and informed the team, "There wasn't much but I did find out something. These shinobi were hired as an army to take over this country to get the Heroes Water…"
"The Heroes water?" Anko asked her partner.
"No idea what that is but I have the names and faces of the four shinobi. Suien, Kirisame, Murasame, and Hisame. There is another figure there but I can't make out the face…" Inoichi said as he stood up from his knelt spot. "They must still be in the village somewhere."
"So what now then?" Menma asked.
"It means we get to fight these bitches," Naruto said with a cheeky grin with his hands behind his head.
"That should be quite the learning experience," Naruko said excitedly.
Menma smirked and replied, "Well I'll take that."
"You won't take anything," Anko said.
"She's right. First things first, we look for survivors. If any of you are attacked, defend yourselves," Inoichi said.
The three Genin nodded and took off in different directions but Anko remained. "They were able to kill," Anko noted. "They didn't even hesitate…"
"I know," Inoichi said. "They don't even look shaken by it…"
"You don't think they have murdered before, do you?" Anko questioned.
Inoichi narrowed his eyes in thought before he and Anko glanced at each other.
"You can stop hiding now. We know you're there," Inoichi challenged.
There was silence before a bored voice announced, "And here I thought you two were dumb. Should've known better from Konoha shinobi."
From the roof behind the pair of Jōnin, a muscular, tough-looking shinobi stepped into sight.
He wore a black, sleeveless shirt, grey pants, ninja sandals, and brown-colored arm warmers. He had about chin length grey hair which is spiked at the top. He also had a teal line marking that goes over his nose.
"Hard to not notice the stench of blood coming from you," Anko said with a scowl.
"So you must be Murasame, The eldest of the Same Siblings of Amegakure," Inoichi said. "You do realize who you face, right?"
"I know," Murasame replied as he pulled out a bottle of water and held it up to the pair as he said "That's why I came prepared. To defeat the famed Yamanaka Inoichi and Mitarashi Anko will put me down in history."
The man smirked and drank the bottle and both Inoichi and Anko immediately felt a pulse of chakra flow from the man. Ethereal blue flames flowed around the man as he placed the bottle back on his belt and let a wide smirk appear on his face.
"Don't blink now," Murasame said before he flickered out of existence.
"I can't believe we killed again…" Naruto heard Naruko say in his head with a soft tone.
"It was us or them," Menma replied. "Simple as that."
"It's just after that night I…We swore to always find a different path, you know?" Naruko murmured.
Naruto paused on the roof and thought, 'I know…I hate the fact that we did it as well…We broke our promise but you heard Inoichi-sensei at the start. Use lethal force. We are on a mission now and we can't afford to not listen…Besides, if any of us die, we all do. We can't take that risk…'
"Looking at all the carnage around us shows they didn't care about human life…They earned what they got. They are the bad guys here," Menma replied with a growl.
"I guess…" Naruko faintly replied.
'Hold on,' Naruto thought as he heard crying in the distance. 'I hear someone crying…' Naruto jumped down from the roof and dashed forward through the streets of the ruined Taki, trying to ignore the various dead bodies that littered the streets.
Naruto skidded to a stop when he noticed a lone figure on his knees in the middle of the street.
The figure had long, dark brown hair, which was tied in a lower ponytail style, and fair skin. The man wore grey pants, a green shirt, and shinobi sandals with a grey shoulder pad on his left shoulder with a brown strap over.
And he was holding what looked to be a deceased child in his arms.
Naruto, who had removed a kunai from his pouch at seeing the figure, slowly put it away as sadness filled his heart. The man was grieving heavily as the sobs indicated.
Naruto walked up to the kneeling man and asked "Are you alright?"
The man turned around and Naruto could see anger and fear in his dark brown eyes, as well as the tears on his face. "D-Don't hurt me!" The man exclaimed.
"I won't hurt you," Naruto said as he pointed to his forehead. "I'm from Konoha. We had a mission here to find-"
"T-To find Fū," The man said.
"Yeah, that's right. How did you know?" Naruto asked.
"I-I was the one who requested the mission," The man said. "My name is Shibuki…I am the leader of this village…"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "The leader…What happened here?"
Shibuki shook his head with a broken look and said "I was coming to welcome you to the village but we were attacked…Suien-se…Suien decided to perform a coup for the Hero's water…So many slain…S-So many lost…"
Naruto opened his mouth but a voice from above exclaimed "So this is where you were hiding Shibuki!"
Just then, a man vaulted from the roof across from the pair and landed on the ground in a crouching position.
The man wore a black hat-like forehead protector with the Amegakure symbol on the front of it, tied in the back of his head.
He also wore a black skin-tight suit underneath all of his clothing, which also covers his mouth and nose, a grey scarf around his neck, a white T-shirt over his black suit, a blue-colored strapped suit that acts as his pants, and a shirt over his grey one. He was also wearing his weapon holster on his right thigh and black shinobi sandals.
The man turned around and Naruto could see that he had tiny black eye irises, messy, chin-length brown hair coming out from under his forehead protector, part of it covering his left eye.
And no eyebrows.
"Kirisame!" Shibuki exclaimed with terror.
"Suien-Sama was wondering where you escaped to," The man said. "He told us to find you and bring you back to him…But he didn't say to bring you back alive," Kirisame said with a sadistic gleam in his eyes.
"Is he one of the guys that attacked this place?" Naruto asked.
"Y-Yes…" Shibuki stammered out.
Naruto smirked and replied, "That's all I needed to hear…" Naruto made his way in front of the broken Taki leader and stared at Kirisame and quipped, "Never in my life have I seen an eyebrow-less being but here I am."
"A little pipsqueak from Konoha wishes to fight me?" Kirisame asked.
"I have a feeling this won't last long at all," Naruto replied. "For what you and your other teammates done brow-less, I'm going to stomp you out until there's nothing left."
Kirisame laughed wildly and shouted, "I'm going to enjoy showing you your heart before you perish!"
'Hold on, I hear someone crying…'
Menma darted from left to right on a roof, his eyes scouring for any survivors. So far, he had managed to find ten people hidden but nothing short of enemies quite yet.
He landed on a roof and crouched down on it and thought 'Naruko…Anything?'
"Nothing yet," Naruko replied. 'Naruto, you find out the cause of the crying?'
"Little busy at the moment!" Naruto's voice exclaimed. Seconds later, the sound of explosions reached his ears.
'Naruto? Were you the cause of—' Menma was interrupted as a foot collided with the back of his head, which sent him soaring through the roof and crashing into the second floor of the house, thankfully on a nice and comfortable queen-sized bed.
Menma shook his head and looked back from the corner of his eye only to roll off of the bed and onto one knee to avoid his head sliced by a water whip.
"How lucky you were able to avoid that," A female's voice commented.
Menma narrowed his eyes and seconds later, he heard her voice shout, "Suiton: Mizu Buki (Water Style: Water Weapons)!" Just then, a spear made of water shot through the roof right in Menma's direction. Menma rolled backward to avoid it, only for the spear to retreat and then pierce through the roof again in his direction.
Menma rolled to the left, crashed out of the closed window, clung to the wall with his chakra, and quickly darted up the side. Without warning, the woman fell off the side of the roof with a water sword in her right hand.
The woman had short light brown unkempt spiky hair, azure blue earrings, red lipstick, pupil-less black eye irises, short thin light brown eyebrows, and wore a white hair band over her head, holding the hair out of the way from her eyes.
She wore a pink tube top that has dark red linen along with an open, light blue shirt, navy blue pants, and ninja sandals. She wore her shuriken holster on her right leg. She fell towards Menma and swiped the water-made sword but Menma pulled out a kunai and clashed weapons with her.
"You were quick to escape that trap, boy," The woman said with a gleam in her eyes. "You will be a good challenge to see where I stand."
"I was about to say the same to you," Menma hissed.
The woman smirked and replied, "When you meet the Shinigami, tell him that Hisame sent you to him."
"Took the words right out of my mouth!" Menma yelled before he broke away from the clash and leaped up to deliver a roundhouse kick, which sent her flying from the side of the house and crashing into the wall of the house to their left.
'Naruto? Were you the cause of—'
Naruko's eyes widened in horror when Menma was suddenly cut off but she knew that he was still alive.
Otherwise, she would have been dead already. The sounds of explosions and fighting rang in the distance and for a moment, Naruko was glad.
It was so eerie standing amongst the dead that she felt that she was about to lose her mind.
'Just like that night…' Naruko thought to herself before she heard crying from three houses down. Naruko immediately sprang into action and ran down the body-filled streets as quickly as possible and when she made it to the house, she quickly threw open the door to see a cloaked figure standing in front of two small children.
Naruko's eyes widened and she sucked in a breath.
"W-Why are you doing this?"
"You *hick* killed my family and left me like this!"
The image of the children instantly flickered to a bloody five-year-old Naruto as he cowered in the corner as a hulking man stood before him, a bloody dagger in his hand before it flashed back to the scene in front of her.
And Naruko immediately sprung into action with a scream and tackled the hooded figure out from in front of the children and through the wall, sending both of them outside.
The two slammed to the ground but the figure kicked Naruko in the chest, sending her skidding backward against the ground but Naruko placed her hand against the ground and pushed herself off and onto her feet, which skidded against the ground.
"Bōfū Sōru (Hurricane Soul)!" Naruko exclaimed as her eyes took on a platinum blue color as a faint sapphire blue aura of chakra flowed from her body.
The figure flipped up to their feet, held out both hands in a placating motion, and said, "Wait, I'm not here to—"
Naruko dashed forward with an enraged shout.
The figure's orange eyes widened beneath their mask.