The Return:
The next day Raditz woke up in the husk of a tree rubbing sleep from his eyes. He took a deep breath and stretched out his senses. He felt Oboro's presence above him and several wildlife creatures around him. He crawled out of the tree and stood at his full height of 6 feet. He began to float, flying up to a sleeping Oboro.
"Brat! Wake up!" he said harshly
Oboro was startled as he fell off the tree causing Raditz to sigh as he disappeared in an afterimage. He caught the boy by the scruff of his shirt and grimaced
"If I were an enemy, you'd be dead already" Raditz said
Oboro nodded as he breathed out easy
"S-sorry about that" he said as he sighed in relief
He dropped him, allowing him to land on his feet. Raditz landed as he stretched out his senses even more to see if they were followed.
"We need to head out. Did Nagato and Konan tell you where they were headed?" he asked the teen
"They said to meet them somewhere in the Land of Rivers" he said
"Where exactly?" Raditz asked
"In the Hidden Valley Village"
The long haired Saiyan nodded as he felt the breeze brush across his bare chest.
"Let's get going then." he said as he turned to walk and Oboro followed
Xxx
Kabuto was still working as a medic in the Leaf Village. He pushed up his glasses as he checked off another name on his clipboard. He had been giving village secrets over to Orochimaru through two of his contacts Yoroi and Misume. Lately things had been on the up and up with Naruto and company returning to the village. He couldn't get within reach of them because he could feel them watching their surroundings with ease and whether it be paranoia or coincidence, they were never truly alone. There were always people around them or in the area, so watching them up close wasn't an option. Soon, he began to hear a big commotion as the nurses and doctors were all talking to one another. He walked through the commotion to speak to his colleague Shizune Keto Senju.
"What's all the murmuring about?"
She looked at him with a confused face
"Apparently…Sozu Kohinata has returned…"
Kabuto's eyebrows raised in interest at the mentioning of one of his past patients returning from the dead.
"Wh-What? Wasn't he killed in action?" he asked in confusion
"Apparently he survived and has been training the whole time" she said with disbelief in her voice
Kabuto pushed up his glasses and took a deep breath
"Well, we'll see if he's the real thing or not soon enough" Kabuto said
Xxx
The next day:
Sozu had his feet up on the desk with his hand resting in his gi in the torture and interogations department. He was annoyed that they took his sword away but he was learning to grunt and bare it. He held a neutral look on his face. As far as he was concerned, this village and its people were in the past, but he breathed in deep and exhaled as he remembered he was to protect the entire planet from his master. Supreme Kai Shin told him that Naruto, Hinata, Neji and Sasuke were the children of the Sage and his brother, as well as Kakarot and Vegeta as well as their offsprings being the descendants of Yamoshi. Speaking of Yamoshi, he remembered meeting him on King Kai's planet. He was trained into the ground by him and King Kai for 3 years, but he was still allowed to visit the planet of Kais while in the supposed afterlife. He was even forced to run Snake away by King Kai in the beginning as a test to see if he was worthy. He almost died doing that. Along with the fact that he was missing his right arm, made all the training a bit more difficult in the beginning.
He was soon brought out of his musings as the door opened and the Hokage walked in with Inoichi Yamanaka and Ibiki Morino. Shikaku sat across from him noticing the nonchalant attitude of the young man in front of him. Ibiki and Inoichi stood on opposite sides of the room, watching him. Sozu stretched out his senses and he could feel 3 anbu in the room and he scoffed mentally. He could also feel 2 pretty strong power levels near the door on each side.
"Sozu Kohinata, would you mind taking your feet off the table?" Shikaku asked in annoyance
Sozu obliged as he realized he couldn't make his masters look bad. He just felt detached from the village as he thought they did nothing but hold him back here.
"Now, how did you survive your mission and where have you been for the past 3 years?"
Sozu put his elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand. He was told not to reveal the Supreme Kai or the Gods until he came to earth.
"I was saved by a passerby and I've been training myself for the last 3 years" he answered vaguely
Shikaku narrowed his eyes as he studied him in a scrutinizing fashion.
"And who saved you?" he asked
"A doctor in a small village on the edge of the Land of Water"
Shikaku rubbed his hand on his forehead as he yawned
"You expect me to believe that?"
Sozu shrugged
"It's the truth" he said without breaking eye contact
Shikaku studied him intensely as he was trying to see if he was lying.
"That aside, you will be DNA tested to make sure you are who you say you are. Now, who trained you for 3 years?"
"Myself" he said easily
"You can't expect me to believe that."
"It's all I got for you" he replied cooley
"Do you wanna go to prison for life?"
"Of course not" Sozu shrugged
"Then you will tell me the truth now or get locked up for the rest of your life" Shikaku said in a deadly serious voice
"Now that won't be necessary" Kai Shin said as he appeared next to Sozu
The Kohinata boy's eyes widened as he stood and bowed.
"M-master? What're you doing here?"
Inoichi and Ibiki drew kunai and were getting ready to attack, then Shikaku stood and stopped them
"Wait! Stand down" he said as he looked at the purple skinned man, then at Sozu who was raising his head back up to stand in a defensive position
'I didn't even sense him. How did he get in here?'
"Master you say? Who are you?"
The anbu in the room appeared with tantos drawn to attack, but Sozu moved into action to disarm them by hitting pressure points on their bodies at jonin speed catching them off guard
After much explanation and deliberation from the Supreme Kai, the other occupants were shocked to say the least
"So you're the God of all creation? And you say you knew the Sage of 6 paths, progenitor of the Saiyan and Hyuga as well?" SHikaku asked cooley, despite the situation
"Yes. That's correct"
"And Sozu is your student? And has he been before he went off the grid?"
"Correct"
"Why choose Sozu out of all the other Hyuga?" he said looking at the boy who still stood defiantly on defense in case they tried anything
"His potential exceeds the majority of them, along with stopping him from falling from grace. His path would've led him to those who wish to cause destruction and end the existence of your world. And as a favor to my friend Hamura, I watch over his children and appear when they need me the most"
Shikaku narrowed his eyes as he looked at the God
"Where were you during the world wars?"
"My master at the time had me as his student and he did things as he saw fit. I do things how I see fit, and as long as the clan isn't going extinct or down the wrong path, there is no need for me to interfere"
"What about the Senju? They're related to the Sage and they've almost died out"
"There are a myriad of survivors all across your planet. One happens to be headed here along with a very special child of the Sage. You will need them in the coming battle against Frieza." he said
Shikaku wasn't surprised as he figure he knew of the Arcosian Empire. He also filed away the prediction of a Senju and a child of the Sage visiting the village for later.
"Frieza has sent 5 of his elite soldiers ahead to the planet already. They will be here in a little under a month with Frieza and several others a little under half a month behind them. You will need to be ready"
Shikaku felt his heartbeat quicken as he spoke
"Well, we did know they would be here in 3 years. Looks like I'll have to put together an Arcosian suppression team along with the akatsuki"
Kai Shin smiled as he spoke again
"The akatsuki have been infighting due to differences in opinion of leadership. You'll be happy to know that very soon you'll have a battalion to handle them. But you cannot let them get the 9 tails or you may need the power of the legendary super saiyan or the sage of 6 paths to get rid of the threat they breed"
Shikaku, Inoichi and Ibiki tensed
"Why only the 9 tails" Ibiki asked finally speaking up
"Because, the fox can match 7 of the tailed beasts on his own easily. I would say don't let them take any more jinchuriki at all. You will need there power in the battle to come"
'Just as I thought, a 5 Kage summit is needed' Shikaku thought
"Wait, what about the guardian of earth? Do you consort with him?" Shikaku asked
"Wouldn't you like to know" Kai Shin asked
Shikaku realized he would get nothing from this and he let it go
"Well, now that you know who's student Sozu is, we shouldn't have any more trouble. If you need me, ask Sozu" he said as he ruffled the boys hair affectionately
"Right. We'll be in touch. Count on it" Shikaku said as he bowed
"Child, be good for these people. I've told you, everything changes given time." he said to Sozu who nodded
Kai Shin teleported out of the room causing the jonin's eyes to widen, while Sozu took his seat.
"Are we done?" he asked
"We're done here. But now we need to test your strength to see where you measure up" he said
Sozu shrugged and followed his Kage. As they got to the door Shikaku turned around looking at all the occupants in the room
"Almost forgot, this meeting and everything we spoke about are an S-class secret punishable by death if mentioned casually
Xxx
Sozu sat in the lotus position waiting in training ground 6 with several shinobi watching him, including his former teammates. He felt Ino watching him like a hawk with a titlewave of emotions rolling off her, from sadness, to happiness, anger and etcetera. He felt his former teacher watching him as well with suspicion and hope. Mina and Akino were the same as they looked at him. He closed his eyes as he felt the atmosphere around him. Being back in his home village felt surreal, but also he wanted to be done with it. His father left him in an attempt to save him as he committed crimes and had been on the run for over 6 to 7 years now. He smirked as he felt who was coming towards him and he stood up opening his eyes with his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"So, you're my opponent huh?" he said looking across at Naruto with a raised eyebrow
"Damn right! I've got questions for you!"
"What makes you think I'll answer?" he asked
Naruto pulled up his right sleeve and channeled chakra into his seal, summoning his Osiris Scythe. His wind chakra began to circulate around him, swirling into a white aura wrapping around his body.
"Fujin no Yoroi!" (Wind God Armor)
Sozu pulled out his sword in a reverse grip and twirled it in a forward grip. Naruto finally noticed his missing right arm and got a disheartened look on his face. Sozu smirked as he looked Naruto in his eyes as he activated his Sekigan
"Don't underestimate me. If you do-"
He blurred out of sight, surprising everyone and reappearing behind Naruto.
"You might die." He said as Naruto spun his scythe in reverse to block the sword slash.
They jumped apart as the Hokage appear in between them.
"Just a moment you too, let's set the rules. No killing moves and no destroying the training grounds too much. And absolutely do not unleash anything that could destroy the village. Understood?" he said
They both nodded as he jumped back and let them get back to their fight. Trunks, Kakashi, Sasuke and Hinata stood watching as did all the other rookie 9 teams. Sozu paid no mind to them, they didn't matter anymore to him. His blue aura began to radiate around him in waves as he stood with his legs spread and his sword at the ready.
"Come, 9 tails" he said with no emotion in his voice
Naruto narrowed his eyes and charged at full speed causing Sozu to jump high and begin to float. Naruto looked up at him in interest as he began to float upwards until he stood in front of him.
"How about we go all out from the start?" Naruto asked as his wind armor sharped
Sozu said nothing as his blue aura darkened. There was a breeze that passed the two of them and they locked eyes. Once the breeze ended, they disappeared. Naruto swung his scythe at Sozu as their blades clashed causing a loud *clang*
They struggled with looks of determination in their eyes staring one another down. Naruto overpowered him by slashing and sending him backwards and moving to slash at him again. Sozu smirked as he leaned back dodging the swipe. Naruto spun around changing hands with the scythe and he slashed at Sozu's legs, causing him to flip in mid-air and slash upwards causing Naruto to lean back. Soon he had to bring up his knee to block a kick from Naruto. Naruto went through hand signs with his sword in his hand ending on the fire release sign.
"Firestyle: Azure Slash!"
Blue fire slashed burned along his sword as he flew backwards and slashed in an X at Naruto who twirled Osiris covered in wind chakra. Then he saw Sozu was gone and twirled the scythe and flipped it downwards from the back as he pivoted, causing Sozu to block his attack with his sword.
*clang!*
Their blades sizzled for a bit and then they jumped apart and disappeared, clashing across the sky causing pressurized bursts of air to explode across the sky. An orange and a blue blur could be seen clashing through the sky. Naruto slashed at Sozu with his scythe and he dodged, slashing the side of Naruto's right forearm as he kicked him in his back. He channeled ki into his sword and moved in a blue blur past Naruto delivering several vicious cuts and stabs across Naruto's body
"Judgment Cut level 1." he said as Naruto's grunted in pain
He turned around with his sword at the ready and went to slash downwards at Naruto. The blonde cleared his mind as he used his ki to form a layer of energy outside of his body to absorb and interact with nature energy. Naruto pushed his scythe back and it jabbed Sozu in his solar plexus
"Ough!" He coughed up spittle and Naruto pulled his scythe back and spun it around his body to smash the blunt end of the scythe into his jaw, drawing blue from Sozu.
"Auuugh!"
Sozu drew his head back up and brought his sword to defense against the incoming scythe. Naruto put his hand in the ram seal creating a shadow clone and it punched towards Sozu. The short haired brunette dodged the punch and he launched backwards but the clone then created a blue ki blast in his right hand.
"Shinku Hadoken!"
A large energy wave shot at Sozu who leaned back and allowed himself to fall out of flight. Naruto put his scythe back in the seal and he went through the Ox, dragon and landed on the bird seal while his clone landed on the Snake seal.
"Combination style: Light of the Hurricane Redux!"
He combined the wind and lightning chakra to form a swirling bullet of lightning and sent it towards Sozu. Said individual smirked as his sword began to get wrapped in ki.
"Drive!" he yelled as he turned horizontal to the attack and began to spin several times, finally sending out a slash of ki to tear through the bullet, causing it to explode.
He continued to spin regaining his balance and landing on his feet as he skid across the ground to a stop in front of everyone. Naruto landed across from him with grace as he took off his tattered sage cloak.
"So, you've definitely gotten stronger than last time. But I'm just getting started" He said as he put his hands in the ram seal, as a set of seals shown across his skin briefly and disappeared
Sozu stabbed his sword into the ground and he took off his blue gi top revealing a long sleeved black shirt. As he dropped his gi it smashed into the ground. Next he undid his obi and it dropped to the ground making a dent in the earth's surface. He pulled his sword out of the dirt and he smirked at him. Naruto kept a serious face as he looked at him
"You're gonna regret that 9 tails comment!" he said as he pushed off his feet destroying the ground under his feet.
He blurred in front of Sozu who pivoted and turned around to slash at Naruto. The blonde ducked and rolled away, throwing a set of kunai at him. He too blurred away in a blue flash and they began to battle across the grounds causing multiple craters to kick us dirt and debris. Naruto jumped back from a slash and rolled up his left sleeve running blood across seal and two large curved bladed shuriken
"Aquila!" he yelled as he threw them encoded with wind chakra at Sozu.
Said Kohinata jumped backwards, but he didn't expect Naruto to zoom across the field and grab the shuriken as he threw one at his opponent. Sozu blocked the blade with his sword causing a hum across the battlefield. Naruto threw the other at his face causing him to lean back again. He realized he had to lean back upwards as another giant curved 3 bladed shuriken was sent under him. The shuriken transformed into a Naruto clone that grabbed him by his legs jumping upwards high and spinning in the air, throwing him into the ground.
Sozu was pissed, and he refused to be tossed around the battlefield as he channeled chakra and ki into his blade, stabbing it into the ground as he landed. He used the blade as a way to gain his balance as he used it to spin and kick an incoming Naruto in the face. Naruto disappeared up in smoke and Sozu reversed his grip and pulled it out of the ground to block a kunai slash from Naruto. As he clashed with Naruto and their blades grinded against one another, he heard the curved shuriken coming back towards them covered in wind chakra.
"Fuck!" He hissed as he leaned backwards, but Naruto didn't fall for it and Sozu used the rhythm of his fall and his momentum to get back on his feet while in a crouch and slash at Naruto's calf muscles. The blonde jumped backwards, throwing the kunai covered in wind chakra at him. Sozu moved his head in the knick of time and he soon had to jump as the Aquila shuriken slashed into the ground.
Naruto went through hand signs as he ran forward gripping his Aquila shuriken.
"Wind Style: Destructo Disk Barrage" he yelled throwing the attacks at Sozu
"Tsk!" he flew backwards dodging the first shuriken and he brought up his sword to parry the second attack.
The razor sharp chakra grinded against his sword giving him a close call. He had to use ki to push the shuriken away and he lunged out of the way of an incoming Aquila shuriken as he fell to the ground and caught himself in ki towards the very surface to the ground, landing on his feet. He turned to block a slash from a Naruto clone with his sword. He pushed him backwards and jumped away to smash the pommel of his sword into the head of another clone, causing it to dispel. He soon dodged another slash from another shadow clone, jumping backwards, flipping over a shadow clone and going through hand signs ending on the fire seal.
"Fire Style: Grand Arcane Flames!" he yelled, spitting out a burst of flames towards the clones.
As the clones were dispersed he turned to see Naruto covered in wind chakra flying towards him and he dodged the incoming fist, but he received a shallow slash across his cheek, as he spun in mid-air. He jumped into the forest foliage in a blur to gain some distance. Naruto channeled his blue aura around him chasing after his opponent and he blew through the foliage. He came upon Sozu and punched him square in the jaw, sending him flying into the tree bark, but to his surprise, Sozu disintegrated into dirt. He dodged a kick from Sozu, who landed across from him and charged back in slashing at his ankles. The blonde jumped and kicked him in his face causing his head to fly back. He used the momentum and flipped to land on the bark of the tree and he pushed himself to jump back with a corkscrew spinning momentum to slash at Naruto who smirked as he got orange pigment around his eyes as they turned yellow with bar like eyes and he caught the blade with both hands.
"Wh-what?"
Naruto headbutt him with his head band causing him to let go of the sword. Sozu shook himself out of a daze and he ducked a punch from Naruto, but he was still sent crashing through the forest foliage and he tumbled, but he pushed himself back up landing on his feet. He was in his battle stance, breathing even as he took a deep breath and exhaled waiting for Naruto to come after him. Soon he heard a whizzing past him as he dodged the Aquila shuriken with grace as if he was dancing. He soon heard a sharp slashing through the air as he dodged his sword that was thrown at his head. He quickly jumped spinning to a horizontal position grabbing his sword out of mid-air and effortlessly deflecting the shuriken from Naruto. He channeled ki into his blade and slashed through one of the shuriken effectively cutting it in half. Soon, Naruto landed in silence and grace in the clear, calling back the remaining Aquila shuriken to himself. He put it over his wrist seal and resealed it away. There stood with a thick amount of tension in between them
"That power of yours. It's as if you're one with nature. I can see your chakra as if it blends in with everything around us" he said
"It's called Sage Mode. I learned it from the toads of Mount Myoboku"
"Humph, well at least this won't be boring." he said
"You make it seem as if this isn't over." Naruto said raising his eyebrows
"Watch and learn" Sozu said as his body tensed
A red aura began to surround him causing the ground to crack and splinter. The air around him began to burst and swirl with debris as he smirked
"Kaio-Ken!" he yelled flashing across the field punching Naruto and sending him flying across the field sending them rocketing across the training field
As they fought Vegeta and Trunks landed near the audience to watch the battle in interest.
"So that's the boy they said returned from the dead is he"
Trunks nodded
"Yea, I did a mission with him a few years back. Kid was a bit of a hot head"
"Looks like nothings changed except the amount of power he holds" Vegeta retorted
"What do you mean?"
"While he had a high power level, he seems to be pushing himself to access that power he's emitting. Meaning he won't be able to hold it for long. He's going to burn out while Naruto maintains his status" Vegeta said as he crossed his arms
"I see. I'd also image that if Naruto tapped into the 9 tails chakra, he'd win easily"
"Of course he would. If Mina went all out, she'd match up to the brat he's fighting right now as well" Vegeta scoffed
Mina turned as she heard her name
"Oh, dad, bro, you guys came to watch the fight too?"
"What's left of it at least" Vegeta replied
Mina looked at him in confusion then back at the battle
Xxx
Sozu moved in a red blur as he reappeared behind Naruto and kicked him back to the training field. Naruto grunted in annoyance as he used his spacial awareness and flipped to land as he spun around to dodge a sword slash from his opponent. Naruto threw an elbow strike at him but Sozu dodged, but he soon felt a pressure from the natural energy as it sent him flying until he stabbed his sword into the ground to stop himself from flying away from the blonde teen. Naruto stood in his hummingbird fist stance as he watched his opponent and he brushed his chin to see blood dribble down his chin.
"Humph is that all?" Naruto asked as a forest green aura wrapped itself around him
He disappeared in an orange flash and Sozu brought up his sword to slash at him vertically. Naruto spun out of the way by a hair's length and he stomped into the ground to throw a heavy right punch into his jaw sending him flying through the forest. Sozu flipped as he dodged multiple trees in mid-flight. He saw Naruto closing in on him with a kunai coated in wind chakra. They slashed and their knives clashed multiple times in a spinning momentum throughout the forest until Naruto pushed him into a tree as they clashed. Sozu kicked Naruto in the stomach and he jumped into the branches with Naruto jumping after him. The blonde threw his kunai at Sozu, who dodged as he hopped through multiple branches. He pushed himself even further to fly around behind Naruto and headbutt him in his back, sending him flying through the forest into the village.
"Oh shit. Haaaa….I knew I should've stopped this a while ago" Shikaku said sighing in annoyance as he and the others leapt after the two combatants
The villagers soon felt a gust of harsh wind as a street was wrecked, knocking over several citizens. Soon they felt another gust of wind move through the streets to knock over more citizens and several business stands. The people were all on edge as they looked around in fear and confusion as to what was going on. Soon, they were relieved as they saw several shinobi, namely the Hokage in the direction on the outbursts.
Naruto jumped through the village in a burst of body flickers being careful not to crash into any buildings. He kicked off of a building launching himself into the sky and he saw Sozu closing in on him. He began to form a Rasengan in his hand. The spiraling ball of chakra was a vermillion red instead of light blue. He channeled wind release to the chakra construct as he made his way out of the village. Sozu saw this and channeled ki into his sword as he flew towards Naruto in haste. Soon they passed the village gates and Naruto started to fly higher in the air. Sozu cursed as he was running out of strength.
"Kaio-ken times 2!" he rasped out and he launched himself towards Naruto even faster.
Naruto smirked as he briefly tapped into Kurama's chakra and for a second he glowed golden as he flipped over Sozu and slammed his Rasengan into his back.
"Yin Release: Vermillion Rasengan!"
"WHAAAAUGH!" Sozu yelled as he was sent flying downwards towards the earth
He quickly regained his senses as he landed in a pool of water causing a large splash. As he was carried along with the stream, he quickly grabbed onto a stone in the water as he pulled himself to a nearby shore. He had his sword in his teeth and pulled himself up and walked into the forestage as he slowly began to walk faster, running through the forest. He could feel Naruto coming towards him and he took his sword out of his mouth as he tightened his grip on it. He knew he wasn't supposed to kill or maim but would make his impression with his next attack as his speed began to pick up and he became a black and blue blur throughout the forest.
Naruto flew low into the forests around the village looking for Sozu. He soon saw Sozu moving towards him with a high speed and he smirked as he pulled out a kunai channeling wind chakra into it. And Sozu surprised him by moving past him, stabbing his sword into the ground and gripping the sword to swing around from the momentum of the blade into the ground and slamming his foot into the neck of Naruto sending him rocketing through the forest and slamming through several trees. He heard a giant *boom* on the other side of the forest. He dropped his kaio-ken aura and he breathed out hard using his sword to keep himself standing. His Sekigan deactivated as he was severely tired from the kaio-ken and he was teetering on the edge from chakra exhaustion.
Little did he know that the blonde regained his balance and the boom was him pushing himself off a giant boulder back towards his opponent. Soon he heard a whiff of wind in the air as Naruto flew back towards him in a torn up black and orange jogging suit to slam his fist into his opponents face, sending him flying through the forest smashing through several trees and eventually into the ground tearing across the grass. He wasn't lying on the ground but he was down on one knee with his clothes in tatters. He stood up shakily as he dropped back down to one knee coughing up blood.
"Son of a bitch…haaa….haaaa…I…should've paced…haaa….myself through this" he breathed out heavily.
He heard footsteps in front of him as he didn't even bother to look up. He saw his sword clank on the ground in front of him, but he didn't bother to pick it up. He just felt sheer disappointment in himself for losing. He felt as if he let down his master, but he knew that wasn't the case.
"I told you you'd regret call me 9 tails" Naruto said with a bit of acid in his voice
Sozu lazily shrugged and he was about to fall until Naruto caught him by the arm, pulling him up and putting his arm around his shoulder.
"You…should just…leave me" he muttered between breaths
"Shut it and take your loss like a man. It doesn't make us any less than friends. But never insult me or Kurama again. Especially him! He's not a monster, but a misunderstood living being!" he said
Sozu grunted in understanding of what he said
Inside the seal:
Kurama gave a ghost of a smirk as he slept in a forest manifested in the mindscape.
Back in the outside world:
Sozu had a look of embarrassment on his face as he shuffled on his feet with Naruto. As they kept moving, they were soon met by Shikaku who body flickered in front of them with Aoba and Raido flanking him
"That was…mildly considerate of you two. You left the training field towards the end of the battle but… there were no casualties"
Sozu looked at the Hokage in apprehension. Shikaku gave a piercing gaze as he examined him from the battle
"Your battle prowess is impressive but your other skills such as leadership have yet to be seen. For now you will remain genin, but you will be able to take A and B rank missions with a team of my choosing" Shikaku said
Sozu sighed in defeat but he accepted his fate
"Now, it's time to get you to the hospital" Naruto said
As they teleported in an orange and yellow flash.
'I had got to see if I can learn that' Shikaku thought as he and his guard headed back to the village
Everyone else landed just as they saw Naruto teleport away.
"Darn, we missed the ending! And their youth was so bright" Lee said
"Not to worry Lee, we shall show them our youth at another time" Might Guy said
Soon they began to hug and somehow the sun appeared in the dreary sky causing a sunset and a beach to appear.
"All Mighty Push!" Sasuke yelled hitting the both of them sending them flying away and saving everyone from the eternal sunset genjutsu.
"I would usually reprimand you for that, but I'll let it slide because you saved us from that freakshow" Shikaku said as everyone even Vegeta nodded in approval
Xxx
Later that day
Shikaku sat with Iruka who had been promoted to Jonin recently due to his stepping back in the field for promotion. They had been in a cold war with the sound and he had done good work in infiltrating the land of Rice Fields. He also knew that there was a rat in the village as well according to Weasel.
"Jonin Iruka Umino, you will a teacher for team 4 which will include: Sozu Kohinata, Naori Uchiha and Sai, formerly of the foundation"
"Sozu Kohinata? He's alive?"
"Yea, he was who Naruto was fighting earlier"
Iruka's eyes widen comically
"How? How did he live? And how is he so powerful?"
"It's nothing to worry about right now. Also, part of it is classified. Just know he'll be up and moving around in a few days"
"Right. Anything else I should know sir?"
Iruka nodded in acceptance and he soon exited the office
"You may have to beat him into submission if he thinks he's top dog"
Xxx
Sozu woke up in the hospital, he sat up to look out and see that it was night time.
'I hope this was worth the trouble to come back here' he thought as he pulled out a picture of his mother. She was a tan skinned woman with brown hair and black eyes. She was smiling with his father holding her from behind while she was pregnant with him. He looked at the face of his father, then he layed back putting the picture back in his tattered shirt pocket.
He looked down at his left hand and balled it into a fist. He looked up as he heard the door opening to see Ino, Naruto, Mina and Akino coming in to visit him.
"To what do I owe this gracious gathering? I doubt it's my birthday" he said in blatant sarcasm
He soon regretted it as he was slapped by Ino. He grunted in annoyance as he looked at her only to get a surprise at her crying while looking at him. She had her fists balled as she looked at him in deep anger and sadness. It felt like it was going to boil over into rage until Mina put a hand on her shoulder. She hugged Ino and walked her away from him
"Ino, it's ok he's not going anywhere. Call down first so you can get your thoughts in order" sha said
Akino looked at her in sadness then looked at him with a questioning gaze
"How did you survive? Mina and I felt your lifeforce leave this planet from far away. So how?" Naruto asked leaning against a wall with his arms crossed
He looked out of the window as he really felt uncomfortable, but he also felt a bit of shame at not realizing that people in his home village actually cared for him. And he sighed as he spoke up know this would make them feel like he was pushing them away
"It's top secret. Hokage's orders"
Naruto grunted in acceptance as he asked another question
"I suppose that goes for who trained you as well right?"
"Unfortunately" he said and everyone in the room realized they had to respect that
Ino finally gathered herself as she spoke in a whisper
"Why…Why did you wait 3 years to come back?"
"Training. I couldn't get the strength I needed here. Also-"
He pulled down his shirt collar to show his cursed seal of heaven, but it was white instead of black.
"I had to find a way to be able to use this thing without it taking control of me." he said as he let his shirt go
"So… you held back during our fight?" Naruto said
"I wanted to see if I could win without it. Besides, I wasn't trying to kill you, just knock you out" he shrugged
Naruto filed that away for later
"We definitely need a rematch" Naruto said causing Ino, Mina and Akino to sweatdrop
"But getting that thing purified couldn't have taken that long." Akino chimed in
"Eh, I couldn't get what I needed from this place. No one here would have helped me get this far. I needed this power. I still have to bring in my father for his crimes" he said with a bit of acid in his voice
"And just how do you know that? You never asked anyone" Mina said
"Yea, was the training you did with team 10 not enough for you? Did the time we spent on our mission in the land of whirlpools mean nothing to you?" Ino added
Sozu breathed in and out deeply as his face hardened
"It's not that…I just…I have my own goals to achieve. Besides, no one said anything when the chunin graduates got special training. You who come from clans don't know what it's like to take what you can get and scrounge around to climb up from the bottom"
They all felt the sting of his words.
"You…could've asked instead of jump up and leaving" Naruto said
"And would you have really given me what I needed? Or would your clan politics have only allowed me to go so far. Even the clan that's apart of my fathers lineage would've just put a caged bird seal on me anyways, making me a slave and lower than the branch family" He said with even more distaste visible in his face
"No one would have stunted your growth! We would've made sure you got that seal off your neck too" Naruto shot back
"Whatever! Guess we'll never know now will we" he said looking out of the window at the stars
There was a tense moment of silence as they all thought about what he said
"I get it" Mina said as everyone else looked at her except Sozu
"Thats great but" he turned to look at her
"I never asked you to understand me" he said with no emotion in his voice causing Akino to narrow her eyes
"What bothers you about us or coming back to this village?" Akino asked getting everyone's attention
"I only came back because my teacher ordered me to. I'd rather be on my own hunting for Mukai right now. For me, this is just playing ninja with relics of my past" he said in a matter of fact tone
Naruto balled up his fists as he walked forward and grabbed him by the scruff of his hospital shirt.
"Look here shit face! You're not the only one who has his one mission in life! I've got two factions of mercenaries from earth and not from earth trying to kill me for what I contain and who I am! So spare me the theatrics! If you wanna leave because you feel some kind of way about being back here when all we've done is care, then leave! But don't look down on us because you FELT like no one gave shit when we helped you train and fed you, and looked out for you. You're mad because you used to be the weakest of us, now you're not congrats. But don't play the victim around me!" He said, shoving him back into the bed and walking out.
Mina looked at him and turned to follow Naruto as he left. Ino did the same leaving Akino and Sozu alone
Akino looked at him for a moment then spoke
"Your little inferiority complex has spiraled into a disdain for the very place you were born. You're childish"
His eyes widened as he looked at her in confusion
"You have a bad case of running away to do it for 3 years straight. You're upset at all of your losses as well. I take it. Sorry I was there to stop you from getting your ass handed to you and your arm blown off but, you're stronger now so grow up or leave" Akino said as she walked out of the room
Sozu looked at his remaining hand as he balled up his fist and laid back in his hospital bed. He thought about what he heard as his face scrunched up in irritations.
'The fuck does she know?' he thought as he turned on his side to get to sleep
He soon heard the door opened and he turned to see a familiar face.
"Kabuto?"
"I had to see for myself. They said you returned. And that you fought Naruto Namikaze and ended up here. It's good to see you my friend" he said as he held his clipboard to his side
"You as well" he said with a smile on his face
"How have you been?" Kabuto asked
"I've been better, that's for sure. How about you?" he was biding his time slowly using his ki as it filtered through his body to heal himself. He remembered the technique supreme kai taught him and he was slowly healing from over usage of the Kaioken as well.
Sozu had been stretching out his senses all over the village and he noticed a few foul lifeforces. He was surprised to see such a foul intention in one of his friends from the past.
"I'm doing good. I've been moving up in the medical field. I work directly with Ladies Tsunade and Shizune. Just stopping by to check up on you and say what's up before I clock out" he said with a disarming smile. Sozu wasn't buying it but he kept up a good front.
"That's awesome! I always knew you'd become high in the food chain around here" he said in congratulations
"Thanks, now let me check your vitals." he said as he went through the motions of checking him before the hospital closed
As he checked his vitals he asked
"I remembered you had a seal placed on you a while ago from Orochimaru. Is it still giving you much trouble?"
"Nah, I got that thing purified a long time ago" he said as he noticed Kabuto tense up. He acted like he didn't but he notice as he showed the cursed seal to Kabuto and he scribbled down a few notes and smiled reassuringly
"Glad to hear it. Looks like everything is ok for now" he said finishing up his notes with a smile
They talked for another 20 minutes as Kabuto asked him similar questions to what Naruto and MIna did and then they parted ways. As Kabuto left, Sozu narrowed his eyes as he knew he had to keep watch on him
Kabuto walked out of the room with a normal smile on his face but in his mind he thought something different.
'How….how did he get the slave seal and Orochimaru's soul removed. I must let him know that there's someone out there that can rewrite his seal'
He checked out of the hospital and moved to walk to the forest of death. He walked in an alley and he disappeared into the shadows. He moved through the night of the Leaf Village with urgency. Unfortunately, he caught the eye of an Anbu Black Op that was passing by. He tailed him lightly with the grace of a predator stalking its prey all the way to the Forest of death.
Kabuto looked around and surveyed the area before he leapt into the forest. Itachi hid the shadows around the trees during the forest of death and he went through hand seals and placed his hand on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
He summoned a crow and it spoke
"Natoru, look into my eyes" he said as he used his Sharingan to transmit what he's seen so far
"Go to lord Hokage and deliver this message"
The bird nodded and flew off towards the village. Itachi continued to move forward into the forest to shadow Kabuto. Said glasses wearing shinobi maneuvered through the forest until he made it to the secret lab that he used with Jinuske and Orochimaru for the invasion. He dispelled the genjutsu covering the entrance and he opened the door and he opened the door and began to walk underground to close the door and the illusion came back over the door.
Itachi landed with his Sharingan activated looking at the entrance. He narrowed his eyes and lay in wait to see Kabuto come back out. He summoned a shadow clone and sent it to find some nearby Black Ops members for back ups.
Hokage Tower:
Shikaku was writing up another send off for the 5 Kage Summit and he had 5 methods sent out to each and every village. He looked out of his window and he saw a crow fly through his window.
"You must be Itachi's crow" he said
The crow nodded and spoke
"Names Natoru. I came bearing a message from Itachi Uchiha. He's followed Kabuto Yakushi to the forest of death"
"The forest of death? Why would he be there"
"He used his sharingan to show me what happened. I can't say much else, but I imagine he might need some back up" Natoru said
Shikaku smirked and pulled out a tri-pronged kunai and he channeled chakra into the knife, throwing it on the ground before.
"Thank you Natoru, I'll be sending back up immediately"
"Cool. Welp, my job is done then" he said poofing back to the summoning realm.
Soon Kenji Namikaze appeared in a yellow flash.
"Sorry for the wait. I had to get my sandals on. What's going on old man Shikaku?"
Shikaku put his head in his hand and got serious.
"Itachi Uchiha has found some suspicious activity in the Forest of Death. You are to assist him in apprehending the suspect and get them to TNI immediately. There should be others on the way to help him as well"
Kenji nodded and jumped out of the window causing the 5th Hokage to roll his eyes.
"Got it. We'll handle this in no time"
"Haaa….no one uses the door these days" he said
Kenji leapt through the buildings in a blur as he moved with haste in the shadows of the night. He leapt above the village looking down at the street lights as they shined on the people walking through the night. Some had groceries, some were walking in packs like families and some were either in couples or alone or walking their dogs. He would normally be one of them but he had just put Yuji to bed and Mei was having tea with his grandmother Kumiko and his aunt Fune. He realized he needed to speed up to help Itachi and he channeled chakra into his feet as he took a giant leap and began to use his ki to fly forward. He came upon the forest and landed in silence among the forestage. He leapt in a giant spring and flipped over the gate and flew into a light sprint. Soon, he found himself being followed by two other black ops and he leapt ahead and stretched his senses and he took a drastic right and leapt through the foliage to see Itachi hiding in a tree a few meters away from the clearing. He and 2 others landed behind and next to Itachi.
"What's the status of our perpetrator?" Tenzo (Cat) asked
"He hasn't come out of hiding yet. Now that you all are here I think I'll move in and you all stay above ground incase he escapes"
"You sure you wanna go in alone? What if he's not alone?" Kenji asked
"I agree, this could be the rat that Lord Hokage was speaking of. And if he works for Orochinmaru it could be a problem" Yugao (panther) said
"Yes, panther and I will stay up here while you and Kenji apprehend the perp" Cat said
"Alright fine, let's not waste anymore time" Itachi said
Itachi dispelled the genjutsu over the door and slowly opened the entrance. He created a shadow clone and had it go ahead of them in case of any traps and they moved in behind it. The stairwell was steep as they crept into the laboratory. It was dimly lit with lights and there was a brighter light at the end of the stairwell. The shadow clone was stepping carefully, walking down the hallway. Soon, the shadow clone triggered a trap with a set of blades coming out of the side of the wall piercing through it.
"Bingo" Kenji said
Itachi nodded and created another shadow clone as they stepped over the rigged stairs. They were a bit more careful as they made their way down slowly. Another trap was set off as the staircase triggered the ground to open up and the clone to fall in.
"Can't blame them for that one" Kenji said again as he created a shadow this time and they continued on.
They began to walk down the stairs making it to the bottom only to see a blood seal barrier stopping them from getting in. Kenji smirked as he was able to dismantle the blood seal and walk in, but soon an alarm went off and they saw a purple blur moving about the lab towards another door.
"Got him!"
Kenji threw his tri pronged kunai in front of the ninja and teleported in front of him. He thought he had the man but he received a tap to his right arm from a chakra scalpel causing him to grimace in pain as Kabuto tried to jab at him again. Kenji dodged and kicked his lower leg with extreme force causing an audible crack and he dodged another swipe with the gloved hand with the green chakra enveloping it. Soon he was on the back foot of the battle, but he was still fighting back as he saw the man's other hand occupied by a bag that looked to have important files and documents. He grabbed the hand that swiped at him again and headbuttted his opponent in the face breaking his nose. Itachi came in and slammed the pommel of his tanto into the temple of Kabuto's head effectively knocking him out.
"Good thing we came down here together." Kenji remarked
"This seems too easy" Itachi said
Kenji put his left hand over his shoulder and applied basic medical ninjutsu to reattach the nerves in his shoulder slowly. Even then he would need to lay off of it for a day or two.
Soon the face of the man they apprehended morphed into the face of another person. Itachi activated his Sharingan and looked around for their perpetrator. Kenji's shadow clone, still being active, went to another room in the lab. Speaking of which, they were able to finally look around the room and they saw multiple operating tables, beakers and test tubes full of liquids of different colors. They saw dried blood and used gloves on a steel tray along with another table having test tubes and a microscope on it. They also saw test tubes with human bodies in them as well full of purple liquid.
"What the hell were they doing down here?" Kenji asked
"No clue, but our perpetrator is down here or possibly could have gone through that door. I'll go through and check while you look around here" itachi said, opening the steel door that showed a darkened tunnel barely lit by any lights.
"Right. I'll send a shadow clone with you just in case" he said creating another shadow clone to follow the exiting Itachi
Soon Itachi and Kenji's clone were running through the dungeon corridor at a high speed. His feet and the clones' feet patered an echo throughout the dimly lit tunnel and he saw a figure moving in a black cloak ahead with his sharingan enhanced vision. He picked up speed channeling chakra into his legs as he and the clone moved in. The black cloaked figure kept moving but turned abruptly to throw down a kunai with a paper bomb. Itachi went through hand signs and shot out a water bullet towards the paper bomb seal. The clone moved in throwing a hail of shuriken putting his hands in the cross seal
"Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!" He said turning 4 shuriken to 40 to slash through the cloaked figure who jumped back as the shuriken tore through the cloak revealing Kabuto with several cuts along his body. Kabuto pulled out a kunai to deflect several of the shuriken and he went to pull something out of his ninja tool pouch. Itachi jumped forward to get close to Kabuto as his mangekyo activated to look Kabuto in his eyes.
'Tsukiyomi!' he thought while catching him off guard
Kabuto cursed as he fell to one knee and Itachi landed next to him knocking him out with a chop to the back of the neck. He caught the back of his collar and lie him down gently pulling out a pair of chakra suppression cuffs putting them around his wrists. Pulling him up and tying rope around his legs as well as taking away his ninja tool pouch and searching him and taking any hidden tools off of him
"Mission complete" Itachi said as he sighed
'Not bad for my last mission in the anbu' he thought
Xxx
The next day, Kabuto woke up in the Torture and Interrogation department in a room with Kenji, Inoichi, Jiraiya and Shikaku Nara sitting and in the case of the other 3 jonin standing front of him.
"So…you sent two of the best after me did you? It only makes sense" he said
"You had to know that you'd get caught. We've been looking for you for 3 years. You've been keeping us off your back for a while now, but now the jig is up"
"What do you think you'll get from me? My mind is locked tight by lord Orochimaru. Good luck" he said with a shit eating grin
"We've got a seal master. Actually, we have two so piss off" Kenji said in annoyance
Jiraiya smirked at his taunt as he channeled chakra into his fingertips and he placed his hand on his head
"Anima Seal Release!" he said
"Argh!" he grimaced in pain as he felt something in his mind release and he felt the chakra in the seals in his head release.
Jiraiya took his hand off his head and walked backwards as Shikaku spoke up
"Now you can either make this easy or we can drag this out with a mindwalk" Shikaku said
Kabuto scoffed at his words and smirked
"Do you worse" he rasped out in annoyance
Inoichi put his hand on Kabuto's head and began to mind walk him. As he did this a seal spread across his body and they all looked in concern while Inoichi was in the middle of the walk.
"Oh crap! Orochimaru is a devious one" Jiraiya said
"What's going on?" he asked as he looked at Kenji who stabbed a tri-pronged kunai into the wall and walked over to Kabuto and put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's a self-destruct seal! I'm gonna get him outta here once the mind walk is done!" Kenji said
A few moments pass and Inoichi pulls himself away from Kabuto as he breathes heavily.
"Kenji wait!" Jiraiya yelled
Kenji teleports Kabuto away to the backyard of the Namikaze and Senji Compound. He sees his son and Mito playing in the back and he throws a tri pronged kunai channeled with wind chakra high in the air.
"Kenji?"
"Papa?" Yuji asked
He smiles at them at teleports away and as soon as he teleports away there's an explosion in the sky next to their home and Kenji teleports back next to his son with his arm and part of his face covered in burns
"PAPAAAA WAAAAAHHHH!"
"Oh no!" Kenji yelled as she moved in to catch a falling Kenji
Kumiko walked out to see what's going on with Mei behind her
"Yuji, Minto what's going-" Mei gasped as she saw her husband battered and smoking in the backyard with their son crying and hugging him as Mito was trying to remove him and turn him on his back.
"Kenji!" she yelled running over with a silent yet worried Kumiko,
Naruto and Mina ran out to see falling debris and a burnt up Kenji.
"What happened?" Naruto semi-yelled
"He teleported here and he had someone tied up, then he threw a kunai high in the air and he teleported with that person, and-"
"Then he and that person blew up. Ok…ok…Naruto can you teleport?"
"Yea but I don't have any seals around the village like he does yet. But-" a golden hue wrapped around him and he got 9 magetama around his chest with a swirl and lines going up and down his arms and legs as he picked up Kenji.
"I can move just as fast thanks to Kurama" he said as he disappeared in a yellow flash"
Xxx
"So what did you find out?" Shikaku asked Inoichi as they were sitting in the Hokage office
"Orochimaru is planning something alongside the akatsuki. They plan of waging war against the 5 great nations with the help of the Sound village, the hidden sky village, hidden grass along with a group of cult worshippers known as Jashinists. They're getting ready to strike in a few months. Right now they're working on gathering jinchuriki" Inoichi said
Gonna take a break from this story for a bit. Not really sure which direction to take it in. It's my first story let me know what you think I could do. I might rewrite it. I'm actually working on another Naruto what if that is more atuned to the original story. Perhaps I'll be able to fine tune my skills through that. Thank you for tuning in.