A/N: Just a reminder, I don't own Naruto, but this fanfic is mine. While I am thankful for constructive feedback, I write the story the way I choose.
Also, those of you wondering why Kabuto is interested in the memorial stone will get your answer this time around. 'Nuff said. Back to the story…
~Siva'a-tasi
~III~
Chapter 31: Nightmares of Mice and Snakes
~Previously on No More~
Breaking away from pointless reminiscing, Hiruzen made the turn leading up the path to the tori gate marking the official entrance to his clan home and suddenly vanished to reappear next to the guards slumped against the gate's heavy wooden poles, both dead. An explosion further up the path snapped his head up, his practice bo appearing in his right hand with rush of released air.
'Konohamaru!'
A ghost himself, the Lord Third streaked off like a wraith looking for souls to feast upon, his four shadows trying to keep pace with their vengeful master.
~III~
~An Hour Before Naruto's Return to Konoha~
"The Old Man's" feet whispered across the flagstone path winding through the grove of trees shading the Sarutobi walk, his eyes flickering left to right discerning friendly shadows from hostile. Unfortunately, there was twice the number of shadows there that should have been, and his face grew even grimmer.
The two Konoha ANBU to his left broke off to intercept three shadows and his left hand twitched once, then twice. The high-pitched whirring of metal streaked through the trees squelching into soft flesh. Two of the shadows stumbled and fell. Only one tried to claw its way back to its feet before the downward stroke of an ANBU blade flashed in the moonlight ending its struggle forever.
The Sandaime never once paused in his flight, never once deviated from his course, even as the chirping call went out over all available frequencies. He knew help would arrive soon even if it wouldn't be in time for some. Knowing the arrogance of the fools invading his family home, Sarutobi's rage spiked as his killing intent washed out in front of his group like a tsunami.
The lush canopy gave way to the stars above and the grand courtyard of the Clan Complex, a large open stone way bordered by three good-sized homes. Hiruzen knew they would have to sweep everything in the front before he could check the remaining quarters in the back but he was forced to push those thoughts to the side as an eruption of Katon heat flared up just to his right: The Branch Home of the Sarutobi Clan.
His right hand swept up nearly throwing the two-meter stick outward as it slid through his grip until it was extended as far as it could go. The staff smashed into the back of a hooded invader about to overwhelm young Toshiko, the girl having been forced down to one knee with her staff held across her body and above her head to stop a downward kunai slice. The tip of Hiruzen's staff smashed into the spine of the attacker with a sickening crunch, the black-clothed invader dropping like a puppet with severed strings. Toshiko-chan's cross-body swing of her staff robbed the figure of consciousness as the reinforced end struck what Hiruzen presumed was a male in the jaw speeding up his passage into the darkness. Hiruzen did not wait for the thanks he knew was coming, the rebound of his weapon sending it back into his waiting grip as he signaled to the house now going up in flames. His remaining ANBU guard dashed off in that direction no more than a twin pair of shadows as the Sandaime rushed headlong into the main home without hesitation as Hitsuji streaked off to check the two-story traditional home on the left side of the courtyard.
By the time Hiruzen ghosted past the broken doors, the gentle Hokage had been replaced by the God of Shinobi.
The fighting stick moved as if it had a mind of its own. Shooting directly above the old man's head, it smashed into the chest of the hooded shinobi trying to drop silently onto his back. He was good, perhaps a Tokubetsu Jounin judging from his chakra concealment proficiency. He was simply out of his league as the collapsed ribcage bore testament to.
The Hokage flicked his wrist sending the body backwards out of the trashed entryway he'd come through without breaking pace.
Seeing that the ambush didn't work, two more surged forward with kunai and tanto's to cut the old man down. The staff lashed out again, sweeping across Hiruzen's body from right to left. The first assassin ducked avoiding the crushing blow by a hair but his partner was not so lucky, the blunt end of the stick smashing into his temple crushing in the side of his skull. The body shot away from the Hokage as if launched from a catapult, the old man pivoting smoothly on his now planted right foot as his left trailed behind the weapon smashing the sole of his shin-high combat sandals into the first attacker's cheek as he lunged to take advantage of the Hokage's turned back.
Hiruzen grinned with grim satisfaction as he watched the younger man's face attempt to collapse around his footwear, the boy's disfigurement followed by the sounds of jawbones, cheekbones, and cartilage snapping with frightening speed. He was dead instantly, long before his body joined his friend in widening the new hole in the side of the family's sitting room.
Hiruzen completed his rotation while flashing his chakra. While not nearly as proficient as Iruka-kun, he possessed competent skill and learned two key pieces of information.
First, there was no one else inside the home. He detected a cluster of chakra signatures in the back yard, half of which he recognized immediately.
Second, there were a small number of rapidly cooling chakra signatures inside the home, all of whom he recognized as loving servants and distant clan members. Although it meant that Konohamaru might still be alive, it, unfortunately, confirmed that this attack was a purge aimed at his family; the assassins would spare no one.
With a muttered curse, he streaked through the now silent home and out into the back yard where he saw Rinkusu holding off three assailants while a white-haired one stood off to the side observing. Upon Hiruzen's arrival, the figure turned to face the older man and Hiruzen's face paled slightly.
The Kaguya had arrived.
It was very difficult for Kabuto to maintain a slow, even pace as he entered the graveyard to "collect his wayward girlfriend." The two had been running the same ploy for over a week now, Guren coming to the cemetery to kneel and "tend" to the weeds around the memorial stone only for Kabuto to arrive around sunset and join her. The bespectacled lad would kneel next to her and she would point out the new names she'd discovered today, no more than three, and see if she could "stump the chump" by asking Kabuto if he knew about the families mentioned there.
So far it was five to eight, definitely not in her favor.
Today, however, Kabuto was trying to suppress both his chakra and his heartbeat. The distraction was well underway if the chirping alarm was anything to go by and that meant they only had mere moments to pull this off. Plastering a fake smile onto his face once again, Orochimaru's right-hand man knelt next to his accomplice and made some insipid comment about how lovely the sunset was before whispering harshly under his breath, "Begin!"
Guren calmly leaned over until her head rested on the shorter man's shoulder, a docile move that made him flinch, before casually indicating three names in a close cluster. The only difference between their previous games and this round was that she funneled just the tiniest amount of chakra into three names tracing out a triangle pattern. With her fingers resting lightly against the stone, she began vibrating the crystalline matrix of the marble until the names began to flicker and glow with a soft blue light. Once the glow became steady, she lowered her hand and used her eyes to glance about as a burst of pale blue energy released a small puff of smoke.
Both of them stared slack-jawed as a hefty scroll appeared from some dimensional storage container before falling to the soft grass. Their surprise lasted only a moment as Kabuto's hands shot forward to seize the prize, his body beginning to slide its way into the earth. He made it all the way up to his shoulders before he jerked to a halt.
The spy's shoulders jerked once, then twice, before his gaze found the glowing chakra chord trailing from the scroll to the memorial stone.
"Sneaky, sneaky old man. Where is the trust these days?" Kabuto snarked. Guren raised an eyebrow but made no comment in rebuttal. They were trying to steal the village's greatest prize after all.
Kabuto surged chakra into one of his hands and slashed at the blue chord only to make it stretch under his attack. A few more increasingly desperate slashed with his scalpel only produced the same result.
At this point, he wanted to curse and swear into the night sky. They were soo close!
A hundred meters away atop a gently swaying tree branch, Kakashi folded his arms across his chest as he calmly watched the spectacle. Standing next to him stood the infamous Toad Sage with an extremely disappointed look on his face.
"Maa, Jiraiya-sama. You'll just have to be happy with killing him during the attack."
Jiraiya didn't bother dignifying the observation with a comment as he watched the now frantic spy from Oto yank out a blank scroll and begin sifting through the green-banded document before finding something of interest. He watched as the traitor sprinkled a powdery substance on the document, flew through a few hand signs, then burst a tiny amount of chakra into his concoction.
"I say slit his throat and deal with Roachy when he arrives. He's gone too far to give up now, his pet snake dying or not he'll still come."
Kakashi merely eye smiled and turned his attention back to the untrustworthy duo kneeling before his sacred thinking spot. "In time, Jiraiya-sama. In time."
The Cyclop's tone of voice lacked its normal joviality and laziness as he watched the medic-nin roll the Scroll of Seals back up, re-stash it inside the monument, then leisurely guide his "girlfriend" away.
Rinkusu was fending off three attackers while four, armed clan members formed a half-circle behind her with non-combat family members huddled up for protection. The attackers didn't appear to be pressing her hard, instead opting to hurl insults, feints, and rather lewd suggestions about how they'd like to spend the next few hours which is why Hiruzen's arrival threw a wrench into their plans. Two noticed and glanced over their shoulder at the newcomer.
Rinkusu took advantage of the distraction and drove the point of her bo into the throat of the attacker on her right leaving the one between her and the pale-faced bone wielder. She was bleeding from a shallow gash on her left thigh and wanted to keep a buffer between her and the lethal Shikotsumyaku user. He already cost her a perfectly good blade with those bone swords and the woman preferred to keep him beyond arm's reach.
The underling folded like cheap linen resulting in angered curses from her remaining two assailants, one of which was eternally silenced by the resounding crack of Hiruzen's staff against his temple. Calmly stepping up to stand beside her, the old man turned to square off against the remaining two assassins gently moving his daughter-in-law backward to stand with the remaining survivors.
Hiruzen's eyes never left the pale-skinned youth, his white hair neatly framing his angular face in the dim light of the back yards sealing wards. He noticed that the corners of the youth's face turned upwards ever so slightly as his left arm motioned for the remaining nin to back away, the bone sword wiggling side to side as he stepped forward to square up against the aging Kage.
Hiruzen simply lifted his weapon with one thick-wristed hand gripping the farthest end of the stick. The youth reciprocated by raising the sword in his right hand until it clacked softly against the wooden weapon and for several minutes the two stood there watching the other, Hiruzen's dark orbs observing the lighter ones belonging to his latest, and most dangerous, opponent. They stayed that way until someone in the frightened huddle sneezed and then the two high-sprung warriors dashed forward faster than the audience could follow.
CLACK! POW! SNAP!
Stopping several paces away from each other, their backs facing their opponent, the two turned back to see how their opponent fared in the exchange.
Hiruzen smiled happily noting that he escaped injury. His poor robes were not so fortunate as he felt the sudden rush of air in his billowing attire. He also spun to heft the now broken weapon nodding politely as his opponent stepped backwards motioning that the older man should replace the weapon. Tossing it aside, Hiruzen bit one of his thumbs before blurring through the seals that would bring his most powerful ally into the fight.
Enma the Monkey King wasted no time transforming into Hiruzen's preferred weapon with a barked [Henge: Kogōnyoi!]. Taking up the nigh-indestructible weapon, Hiruzen allowed himself to smirk just a touch as the two reset for the next clash, the Kaguya doing so with just a touch of hesitation now.
A rustle of the night air gave them both pause, and a kneeling figure appeared just behind the albino bone wielder. Hiruzen couldn't make out the whisper but he thought they said something about, "It's done." Whatever it was, the bone wielder lifted a sword up in salute and the two sunk into the earth, their chakra fading out as they vanished from his limited range.
Hiruzen allowed himself to sigh with relief before a harsh, "That bastard left me!" brought his head around to stare with surprise at the third would-be assassin from his earlier entrance into the dire situation.
The poor man's screams as Rinkusu beat him unconscious could be heard by the ANBU just now beginning to storm the Sarutobi Clan Home on behalf of their beloved Kage.
~Current time in Naruto's Mindspace~
"What the hell are you doing?"
Naruto blinked numbly his confusion written all over his face. Just to make sure she wasn't speaking to someone other than him, he turned his head to glance around confirming the nearby farming village was filled with silent huts dark with the absence of moving life forms.
"What the hell are you, yes, you doing?"
"Yes, I'm referring to you," the bijū sniped. "Who else would I speaking to?" This snapped Naruto's gaze back to her as he rocked back onto his haunches.
"I was trying to go to sleep," he returned with a bit of snark only to receive a barking hiss in return. Kurama stalked forward to grab him by the neck of his mental avatar, her delicate hand looking oddly out of place as she yanked him into the air by one arm, his toes tickling the grass just beyond the reach of his feet.
"I'm… missing… something obvious… h-here…" he croaked out, the back of his mind finding it odd that his mental self-projection still needed oxygen. He was even more put out at its clear distress at not having enough in his current predicament.
"I've been patient," the growling chakra titan began, "because you asked me to trust you." Her hand tightened noticeably. "But you've appeared to have forgotten why we're going through all of this nonsense in the first place."
Her voice was an angry rumble now despite her more diminutive stature.
"C-Can… we t-t-talk… about t-this?" he rasped out. For several long minutes, the miffed nine tails locked eyes with the by now blue-faced Genin, something Naruto had to admit was difficult to do from his lofty position, before she unceremoniously dumped him on the damp grass. As he panted into the lush earth of his mindscape, Naruto marveled at the detail of his inner universe.
"You've played long enough," she quipped.
He had to grunt and clear his throat before a normal sound would emerge. "Played? What are you talking about?!" Naruto tried not to notice how squeaky his voice sounded right then, his bruised throat protesting its use at the moment.
The smaller woman swiped her arm into the air and at least a dozen rectangular screens materialized with full-color images moving in each one. Naruto rubbed his throat as he glanced from one silent movie to the next, his mind short-circuiting when he glanced at an image near the middle that looked suspiciously like a naked version of himself smashed against a naked version of the Kyuubi, both standing waist-deep in the very lake he just crawled out of, their mouths frantically vying for dominance in a ferocious liplock, her curvy body molded to his enough to accent all of the sensual curves of her form as her chest pressed firmly against his own.
He sputtered and pointed with one hand still massaging his neck, his red-faced gurgling enough to force the angry bijū to blink in confusion, turn to see what he was gawking at, then glow a brilliant red from head to toe right before she began swiping angrily at the image with both hands. It shattered into a million twinkling lights not to be replaced with another floating TV screen.
"Not. A. Word. Or. You. Die." Her back was still to him so he couldn't see her brightly glowing blush.
"Bu-." His thoughts were cut off by the blazing red orbs currently passing for her eyes once she stopped moving, her blurring body materializing in front of him with her face less than a hand's breadth from his own.
"Not. A. Word." Her left hand shot backward to point at the remaining images, her hand pointing up at them remainder indicating that he should focus on something other than what he thought he saw.
Looking back to the remaining eleven, he saw scenes of him laughing and talking with Akimi at Ichiraku's, a younger version of himself playing ninja with Anko, and recent images of him training and studying with his fragmented clones. They were snapshots of his current life, snippets of the different foci he'd prioritized in his goal to learn as much as he could before the final slide took place. Opal and Ella flickered across several screens and one seemed permanently affixed to the Sandaime's smiling (or frowning) face.
His eyes raked over scenes of him at the A.S.C., the older daughter Kirika leaving a fresh cup of tea as he poured over seals studying for his fourth and fifth level mastery certifications, a memory that made him smile warmly right before his eyes noticed a familiar face with bright green eyes and pointy ears. He stepped forward to touch the screen, his hand passing through harmlessly as it focused on her sleeping face, her body wrapped in soft ivory sheets. Kurama noticed as something passed across his face before he turned away, wincing as he fought back the moisture pooling in his eyes, the ancient chakra entity feeling almost sorry for the emotional hurt she'd dredged up with that particular memory.
It all got derailed once the image settled on Iruka-sensei lying comatose in the hospital and his soft melancholy evaporated to be replaced with growing outrage. There was unfinished business there and his voice was a violent whisper as a name shot across his mind. Ebisu.
"I haven't forgotten."
"That is not how it appears from my limited vantage point. From the looks of it," her arm swept the many images hovering in mid-air, "you have plenty of things left to distract you." Still cross, the shorter woman folded her arms across her curvy chest and scowled imperiously from her vertically-challenged vantage point.
"You know I still need Mito's journal before the final jump." His head swiveled from Iruka's pale image to lock with hers and Kurama felt something in her stomach she couldn't explain when his feral snarl met hers. "We've discussed this several times since your awakening."
Neither one knew what to call what Inari had done to unlock her memories, so they kept trying to come up with creative names for it until they found one both of them approved of. Both paused with a thoughtful look, their faces turned up to the moonless mindscape sky as if chewing on the word to savor its taste. A few seconds later, the miniaturized bijū shook her head in the negative before bringing her gaze earthward to continue their discussion thinking the search was not yet over.
"I get the journal. What I don't get is all this," she growled out sweeping her arm at the nearly dozen playing scenes behind her. "It's almost like you're afraid of something and you're trying to hide by keeping yourself busy. What are you afraid of?!"
His reaction to her snarled question made her eyes flutter open in shock, her mouth falling open immediately afterward in disbelief as his shameful face turned away.
"What are you afraid of?" It was a whisper this time, a hushed plea that made him flinch visibly. She stepped closer to force him to focus on her and he reflexively backed away.
"I'm right, aren't I?" Naruto's face was a mask of pain, of sadness that she couldn't understand, and it was making the ancient being both angry and frustrated. He'd never been able to hide his thoughts and emotions from her before but now he was a blank canvas of nothing despite the near-physical pain on his face.
The frustrated clutching and opening of her fists were indicating that growing level of frustration.
"After the Chunin Exams," he mumbled out making the tiny figure pause.
"What?"
"I'll explain the plan after the Chunin Exams." Kurama's face constricted into a mask of rage at his obfuscation but his body faded from view as the connection broke. She tried multiple times to forcefully drag him back inside to continue the argument, to perhaps pound the information from his astral body but his consciousness was like smoke through her fingers. In a fit of rage, a bijūdama tore through the sleeping village obliterating it from the landscape, the enraged chakra monster falling to her knees in frustration.
"NO!" Her eyes glanced skyward once again even as her voice dropped to a whisper. "He's just like all the others."
~III~
Naruto finished his Monday morning workout and showered with his usual efficiency. A brief visit to the mindspace while the hot water cascaded down his aching body showed a lethargic fox in all her orange glory, the human form discarded as she lay near the center of her den. Before he could call out to get her attention, Kurama opened her eyes and rose from the floor, her body turning to pad slowly out through the still open gate, the twenty-meter tall fox pausing just before stepping outside to look back in his direction without saying a word. Naruto stepped forward into the cage only to see the mighty bijū turn and exit the den quickly losing herself in the thick copse of trees beyond the entrance.
Seeing as he didn't have the time to chase her down nor the desire to send Khan out to chase her back, he faded from the mindspace without a word.
Gearing up and packing for a two-week mission, he finished a healthy breakfast before streaking across the rooftops to the mission planning office of Hokage Tower, his mind turning the conversation with his tenant over and over again. He would face his fears later but, for now, they had business to take care of.
He found his teammates waiting at the base of the tower, their sensei only a few moments behind him. A few minutes later found all four of them being directed by ANBU Team Neko to follow them into the Hokage's office vice the normal mission hall for a private mission brief. With the Academy out for the summer, Iruka had taken up his auxiliary post with the Hokage for mission assignments. Behind both of them stood Dragon and Lynx watching silently by the back windows of the office. Once the room was covered in privacy seals, the stoic Chunin took over.
"Good morning, Team Asuma. Your primary mission will be the recovery of this Genin kunoichi from Kusagakure no Sato." He handed out several copies of a photo Naruto was already familiar with, the same redhead looking just off-camera at something.
"We have confirmed with Kusa that her Jounin team will be traveling in conjunction with another, Kusa having recently verified they were sending two teams to this year's exams." His eyes took on a dangerous glint. "Your job is to escort both teams from the Kusa border, your rendezvous point, and dispose of them before traveling more than a day from the border crossing. You will meet up with your backup team two days before the actual escort join up to firm up your plan."
"Do we know who our backup will be?" Asuma chimed in drawing the interest of his Genin as they looked up to the Chunin expectantly.
"Kakashi Hatake will be the joint team lead once you've rendezvoused. Team Seven will join you as they are a heavy combat team and Kakashi specializes in these types of elimination missions," Iruka answered calmly. Every Genin in Team Asuma grimaced much to the Hokage's saddened notice.
"Shouldn't they be here for the brief, Iruka-sensei?" The scarred Chunin smiled at the quick-minded kunoichi.
"Their brief will come closer to their departure date. We have one more thing to discuss after this that Team Seven need not be a part of." Ino nodded in understanding happy to not have to deal with her former friend and former crush just yet.
"Are they blooded?" Several people in the room blinked at the cold-blooded tone of the question from the blond shinobi.
"Yes, Naruto, but this will be their first combat mission against other shinobi." Iruka's concerned study of the boy continued even after he grunted his acknowledgment and returned the photo of their target. Seeing no further questions, he hesitantly continued.
"You are to make it appear as if Iwa staged an ambush. Defer any and all implications that Konoha could be involved in this. Any questions on the main mission?" The three Genin shook their heads in the negative.
"Good. On your way to the Kusa border, you are to stop in Hanikamu Village just to the northeast of the designated border checkpoint. There you will have four days to locate and extract this undercover agent, one Hisa Tamaguchi." The entire team memorized the thin face and unremarkable features of the plain man in his middle years, Naruto noting that if he hadn't been given the photo, he'd never notice the man in a crowd. His eyes kept trying to slide across his face as he wasn't there in the photo.
"We lost contact with him several weeks ago, Jiraiya noting the man's history of never missing a report in the past two decades."
"His cover?" Shikamaru piped up while trying to memorize the man's very forgettable face.
"He runs a paper product and a courier message service." The pineapple-haired Genin grunted out a short laugh.
"That plays well into Jiraiya-san's writer image. No one would suspect his routine visits to pick up more supplies." Hiruzen, Asuma, and Iruka nodded approvingly.
"Any other questions?" Iruka asked once more. "No? Then good luck, Team Asuma." All four of them locked their bodies to attention and saluted with a closed fist to the heart before turning to file out one at a time.
"Meet me at the western gate in one hour. Pack for two weeks," Asuma barked out before vanishing in a smoky shunshin.
~III~
Asuma asked for a pace that would put them within sight of Hanikamu Town by early afternoon and Naruto complied. As point, he glided through the upper branches of Konoha's dense tree growth with hardly a sound to accompany the tamping of his combat sandals across the sturdy branches that made up his highway, his equally ghostlike teammates following in his wake.
Senses tuned outward, the forest floor below flickered by as the wound their way northwest through Hi no Kuni, their destination the river fork fifty miles or so south of Taki. From their sparse knowledge of the region, the small village sprung up out of necessity from its meager beginnings as a trading post now boasting a population just past four hundred sturdy citizens, the loose conglomeration headed by business-oriented clans under a civilian governor.
Traveling at shinobi speeds, a trip that would have taken a merchant caravan several days required a little over three hours at moderate speeds. Breaking through the treeline, the group descended to the tall grass and glanced down into the bowl that represented the river valley in which the village of Hanikamu made its home.
It was little more than a shallow depression from which the land had been cleared for miles around the sleepy town to make use of the lumber. In place of what used to be a thriving copse of trees now sat the squat village surrounded by a two-story wooden fence, only one double-doored gate visible from the southeastern approach. The river ran lazily to either side of the village from behind, rafts, barges and flat-bottomed boats of all sizes loitering to either pick up or delivery goods bound for market. Not much of the village itself could be seen from inside, however, two large compounds half the size of the village could be observed on the far side of both river splits beyond the village, their plots of land connected to the village proper by a pair of wooden bridges large enough to accommodate a heavy cart.
Naruto made a mental note to explore both at the first opportunity.
Along the southern side of the split river lay farmland, at least a dozen smaller homes littered amongst the fields with the northern side sporting the majority of rice paddies. South of the city Naruto could see green crops lined up in neat rows throughout the six or seven small farms nearest the walled gate. He could hear the lowing of cattle near the northern compound and, between the fairly orderly layout, had a good understanding of Hanikamu's major export products, a system easily exploitable by a skilled Genin team if push came to shove. It was almost too simple.
"Set up camp here," Asuma ordered much to Ino's displeasure. While she didn't mind camping with her main squeeze, a quick bath and warm shower beat the hard ground any time.
"Naruto, when night falls send out a team of clones to scout the village and those two compounds. I want a detailed layout of the village we can study tomorrow morning." Shika's face scrunched up.
"Sensei, wouldn't it be easier to gather intel from inside the village?"
Asuma chuckled and nodded. "It would but I learned early during my time in Keishi not to underestimate greedy civilians. The more we know before we go into that rat's nest, the better off we'll be."
"Keishi?" Ino mumbled rolling the word over in her mouth. "Who names a city 'Neglect'?"
Asuma chuckled again. "Arrogant people with no concern for the citizens they are responsible for governing." Without another word, the older man turned away from the wooden walls of corruption to help set up their camp. He'd been to Hanikamu before and held little hope that things had changed since his last visit.
Greedy people never change.
"While Naruto's raiding force is scouting out the village tonight, the rest of us are going to work out our family cover story." Three pairs of eyes blinked back in interest.
"Family?" Naruto asked with his first grin of the day.
Asuma merely nodded while pulling several ink jars and pigments from his backpack. "Yup. It looks like it's time for Uncle Kurokuru to make another appearance in the Land of Fire." His grin grew as dyes and inks gave way to well-worn but comfortable clothes, a bamboo walking stick, a large wicker amigasa with thinner weavings making a small window for the wearer to peer through, and the rattiest pair of hemp-and-wood flat sandals they Genin had ever seen.
Naruto released a half dozen clones to set up camp while Team Ten discussed Uncle Kurokuru, the wandering fruit-infused rice wine vendor.
~III~
The moon was a waning gem, a haloing sliver of light in the inky night canvas. While not ideal for sneaking, it would make detection harder for guards not trained in chakra sight enhancement. Throughout the countryside, small critters began their evening ritual, soft paw pads picking their way through the brush in their daily fight for survival.
Amidst the brush, a small family of raccoons waddled the nearly invisible trail leading to farmer Wada's Asian Pear orchard, a sweet treat easily garnered from the juicy pickings still clinging to the branches above, the slender row upon row of trees easy to climb and filled with slender branches suited to small nocturnal fingers. A small stream split the orchard offering the occasional small fish with little risk as the farmer kept no hounds to harass them, their soft chittering only occasional break in the cacophony of bugs and frogs.
The eldest male paused, his ears twitching alertly as the entire family froze in place. Something had disturbed the cicada, the obnoxiously loud insects making the perfect sentry if one knew when to listen. To the clever mind of the nocturnal scavengers, the pause dragged on accompanied only by the high-pitching whining of the bugs, their constant pining undulating from higher to lower pitches their only company as the night itself seemed to release a nervous breath. Hearing no further disturbance, the pack began their climb into the lower branches in search of the succulent rewards growing there.
Nimble fingers plucked the first golden orb sniffing excitedly at the mild sugars kept just under the fruit's leathery skin. It would need to wash the object of its affections in the nearby stream, a compulsion forged through centuries of instinct. The rotund mammal turned to drop the fruit to the ground below before climbing back to retrieve its treasure when fear took over.
Something moved. There was no sound just the turning of a shadow many times its size and the icy grip of terror seized its heart. On the same branch not a tail's length from the nervously chittering male, was a shadow with hazy, glowing eyes the color of man's night fires, the eyes of a nocturnal predator comfortable in its inky black shroud.
The male's noise was beginning to grow as its fear began to take hold, the sound carrying loud enough to make the remaining pack of eight freeze in place and pivot their muzzles in his direction. They would either fight or flee as was their way, however, the reverberating trill in their Alpha's call was demanding they flee.
It was then that a dozen of the shadows leaped from the branches and raced off into the night, the sudden rush of movement scattering the nocturnal thieves in random directions, their voices wailing in terror as hunched ghosts raced along the branches without sound or scent.
It would be many weeks before the good farmer's orchard would be plagued by then ravenous animals too hungry to give in to their fear or care that their newest night terror would be long gone.
Those shadowy forms, however, would glide across the fields blended amongst the dark castings of the night sky, specters flitting silently from branch to branch as they reached the outer farms of Hanikamu. A dozen headed for the main town while another dozen gracefully arced away to patrol the seven homesteads forming the bulk of farmland produce supporting the sleepy trading village. The remaining dozen split silently into three groups of four, their destination the two larger homesteads across the river to the north of the village.
Swathed in ninja cloth to match the brooding night sky, a fine one-way mesh covering the small strip across the bridge of what would be a human's nose, they streamed unimpeded while mortal men, women, and children slept. Through the fields to peer inside homes, up along trees and walls to peer into pens, and across the gently gurgling streams leaving the barest of ripples they ran each with a destination in mind. It was like a silent dance of shadows directed by the hand of Kami meant only for the gods to see, the bored sentries walking along the city's walls ignorant of the wave of silent death gliding past them over the very walls they were sworn to safeguard. One sentry, a youth more sensitive to the gentle stirrings of the night air, paused when an icy shiver shot up his spine.
Turning quickly, his hand darting to the hilt of his weapon, he stared intensely at the narrow walkway behind the wooden tips of their wall of logs, his breath still as he released it in sputtering hisses. Was that a shadow to his right? His body jerked as he spun, his left hand lifting the lantern to shine it in the shadowy corner he'd just walked past as sweat began to pour down his face, his breathing now coming faster in gasping bursts. That corner moved, he was certain of it and now his hearing was playing tricks on him as the beating of his own heart began to pound in his ears drowning out the sounds he'd become accustomed to on his nightly shift. Inching closer to the corner, his right hand began to slowly draw the machete styled sword on his left hip, his fingers clenching and releasing nervously as he tried to reset his sweaty grip.
Another sound. Another twitch. Then a hand clamped firmly onto his shoulder and the youth shrieked like a small child as he spun whipping the blade free from its worn scabbard to swing in a wild arc behind him roughly at the height of his own neck.
"Oi! Oioioioi!" his Sergeant grumbled out backing away hurriedly prepared to draw his own sword. "What the hell are you doing, Nao?!" The youth was panting as if he'd just run from the gate to the Mayor's house and back, his face a slick sheen of sweat flowing around his saucer-sized eyes as they slowly registered the presence of his superior on his nightly rounds.
"Get a hold of yourself, boy, or you'll be cleaning the latrines for a month! You nearly took my head fool!" Sniff! Sniiiiiiffffffff! "While you're at it, be sure to clean yourself after rounds are done." Having chastised his newly pissed subordinate, the good Sergeant stomped off to calm his nerves with a belt or two of sake not wanting to reveal how shaky his own hands were at the moment.
Poor Nao could only stand shocked for a few moments as he shakily tried to return his weapon to its holster, his gasping breaths ringed too loudly in his ears as his pulse hammered his chest. After six tries, the dull blade clicked home and a heavily shaking hand raked through his sweat-soaked hair before wobbly legs carried him off to complete his rounds. He still had another hour of watch and the stench of his own piss was rancid in his nostrils, his sense of smell ratcheted up by his terror.
So distraught was he, he failed to notice the inky mass of shadow silently drop to the floor in a crouched human form before it darted off into the night on its appointed rounds.
Dawn found a meditating Naruto Uzumaki seated before the smokeless campfire of Team Asuma's temporary abode as the last of his clones dispelled. When his eyes opened to greet the slowly brightening dawn, Naruto had multiple reasons to think tomorrow was going to be a horrible, very bad, no good day.
~III~