An: so it begins. Enjoy!
Start
Naruto headed to the north gate to meet his teammates for the mission into the land of sound. It was a calm sunny day in the land of fire. The various messenger hawks could be seen flying all across the village toward their destination. Naruto stopped for a moment to look up and smile at them, tucking his hands into his pockets he continued, the sun beating down on his black shirt, a red spiral on the front, matching black pants with red spirals on the sides where the thighs layed. His green chunin vest stood out to everyone he passed, but he ignored them, whether the looks were positive or negative, The blond Uzumaki didn't care anymore.
He reached the gate and to his surprise, Hana was waiting there with 2 other chunin. Her smile radiated brighter than the warm sun. She waved to him exuberant about his inclusion in their mission.
"You were promoted, Hana?" Naruto asked confused yet happy.
"Yeah! I've been completing a lot of difficult missions lately, with my contributions during the invasion, the chunin council felt I was ready for a promotion." She finished still smiling at him.
"Chunin council?" He asked head tilted. Hana let out an exasperated sigh. She pointed her finger sternly at him getting his full attention.
"Listen up Naruto! You're a chunin now so pay attention. This is information you need to know." Naruto put his hands behind his hands, half paying attention. She let out another sigh, knowing it was a losing battle unless it was training She explained.
"Hokage-sama is too busy to go through the mission records and suitability of every Shinobi so we have two councils that can also decide to promote a shinobi if they have the right aptitude and experience. First the chunin council, they are governed by the elders who advised Sandaime-sama. They also assign missions to active chunin. Then there's the Jounin council, the Jounin council must unanimously agree to promote a shinobi to Jounin who meets all the correct qualifications." Hana explained.
"I think I get it. There's too many shinobi for the Hokage to be able to look into each shinobi, I'm sure most would be overlooked if not for both councils." Naruto replied.
Hana had a pleased smile on her face.
"Exactly!" Naruto processed that fairly quickly and began to look around for the rest of her teammates. Hana quickly grew nervous, "Naruto, don't get upset."
"Why would I get ups-." Naruto stopped midspeach at Sai standing off to the side without a care in the world. Naruto clenched his fists feeling his anger rapidly starting to rise. He could hear Hana in the distance trying to calm him down, pleading with him to not explode, his brain distantly wondered when she had started to know him best. A pleasant thought, but it did not stop his anger. How could Sai just show up for a mission after disappearing for so long? In the middle of an invasion no less, they were both worried immensely. They could understand being a shinobi that followed orders to the letter but would it have hurt to send a note, drop by just to say I'm still alive!? No, and as Sai gave a fake smile and made another comment about his short stature he couldn't hold himself back, he disappeared appearing behind Sai with a punch packed with so much chakra it would put him in the hospital. His fist glowed a dark green, his face set in a deep scowl. He could see Sai's eyes widen in surprise and fear, heh, he didn't think I would grow this much that fast, too bad. His fist was just about to connect to his face when tree branches of all things grabbed him around the waist pulling him back, they planted him into the ground fully restraining him.
The surprise of seeing such a legendary kekkei-genkai made him forget about his anger for a moment.
"Wood? What the hell!" Naruto flexed his chakra causing the woodbindings to tighten.
"Shit, who did this? Hana, I need support!" Naruto called out feeling his chakra being leached from his body.
"Naruto, you're fine. Take a deep breath. Our team leader cast the jutsu." Hana replied walking up to place a hand on his head. Naruto relaxed into the hand a bit, he realized that he may have gone overboard with Sai. He let out a deep breath, regaining his calm.
Another guy walked up, older than the 3 Shinobi, he was lightly pale with short brown hair and a happier-style headband. He wore the standard Konoha fatigues with a jounin vest. He walked around to stare soullessly into Naruto's eyes.
"Are we calm now?"
"Yes, jounin-senpai," Naruto replied quietly.
"I don't care what your problem with your teammate is but when we go on missions I expect 100% professionalism. That goes for everyone here. Do you understand?" He questioned getting affirmatives. He stared a little longer at each chunin.
"Good, my name is Yamato. I'm your captain for the duration of this campaign. You've all been briefed on the overview, correct?"
"Yes, Taichou!" All three yelled.
"Good, we'll be heading north, hitting all the bases on the East bordering the Hidden Hot Water Village. Intel is sparse, we don't know what to expect besides Sound Shinobi. Be prepared to fight. Hana you were selected because there's an abundance of water in that location, you're water style will pay dividends, Sai you are a reconnaissance expert, we'll rely on you to scout and relay a majority of our intel using Naruto's shadow clones, Naruto I've heard your sensory Ninjutsu is superb, you'll be the most important part of this team. We'll need you to discover the hidden bases as well as alert us to enemy patrols."Sai, Hana, and Naruto looked very surprised at their captain's intel regarding their specialties. The mission was going to be a tough one, Naruto and Hana felt more at ease knowing they had a capable commander in Yamato. Sai just gives a fake smile.
"Any questions?"
"What's the base destruction sop(standard operating procedure)?" Sai asked.
Yamato crossed his arms over his chest.
"We infiltrate, kill any enemies that we come across, search for survivors/non-combatants, place exploding tags at critical junctions, exit and blow the base from the outside."
"What about any jutsu we find?" Naruto asked eyes gleaming at the thought of secret jutsu he could learn.
"The Leaf Village has a standard procedure, anything in Orochimaru's base could be dangerous for the hidden leaf, it will be retrieved, given to the secure and disposal unit, and they will verify its safety. If it is deemed safe it will be returned to the original person who found it, if not it will be disposed of."
Hana had a concentrated look on her face digesting all the information. A question popped into her head.
"What's our time limit for base infiltration?"
"30 minutes."
"Roger."
"Roger."
"Roger."
"Move out."
They left the village gate, and reaching the forest they jumped into the tree, jumping from branch to branch toward their destination. The journey was made in silent professionalism, Naruto glared at Sai every so often while Hana looked sad but nothing was said for which Yamato was grateful. This was an extremely dangerous mission, Orochimaru was as unpredictable, as his bases would be full of unsuspecting traps. Hopefully, Naruto's sensory ninjutsu was up to par. Yamato glanced back at Naruto's frowny face and wondered what Kakashi-senpai saw in the kid. Sure he was a chunin which is mildly impressive but he didn't see what he saw in him.
They reached the Northern border indicated by the rice paddies laid out all over the land.
This land was a prominent farming country, producing rice for many Great villages, lesser Villages, and towns. It made sense why Orochimaru chose this land to host his villages
and hideouts. The sun shined down on the rice paddies painting them in an ethereal glow, The beauty of this country was astounding for such a humble farming land.
As the team traversed through the land past the different rice paddies, Naruto looked out seeing the different farmers working on their land, They barely paid any attention
to the shinobi passing through even if they were moving at a rapid speed to avoid identification. They passed through all the rice paddies reaching the forest
on the other side of the farms. Naruto opened his mouth to ask a question but before he could Yamato held up a hand.
"From here on, We'll only be using Leaf hand signals to communicate. From our intel, the base is in this area."
"Naruto, your sensory ninjutsu stays active at all times. Any issues with that?" Naruto looked surprised, "I've never used it to that extent. My chakra should hold up."
"Good. Sai, I've read the dossier about your skillset. Create your ink animals to scout the area, I need locations of ambushes, caches, and hidden bases. Anything you can find. You'll be receiving and sending out in 10-minute intervals. We're in enemy territory do not forget that."
"Naruto we'll be in the front, Hana on the right, Sai on the left, with me in the back. Standard Konoha diamond formation. Let's move."
"Understood!" they responded. They jumped into the trees moving as a unit slowly to avoid ambushses. Sticking to their original plan, they stayed on the border of Fire Country and Rice paddies heading East.
Naruto molded his chakra internally to activate his sensory ninjutsu, As his jutsu activated the world changed, he could feel the lingering natural energy from birds leaving
distinct trails as they flew along their paths, he could sense the rabbits, deer, and field mice hiding after feeling their disruptive chakra. He could sense a lingering evil chakra permeating an area two miles to the East.
He could feel the strain of the concentration it took to continue focusing the chakra in his feet to propel himself off fleeting branches while actively working on expanding the range of his Jutsu to detect anything weird.
It was like doing situps while throwing a ball against a wall and catching it. Over time the concentration became effortless and he could feel his sensory range expand once more.
There! he detected rapid movement toward their position. He held up a hand stalling his team while rapidly going through communication handsigns to direct them toward the enemy.
Three, all with chunin level chakra, low speed. Naruto signaled his team taking the lead. Yamato grabbed his shoulder, He made different hand signals initiating a plan. Naruto
responded with hand signals pointing out where each enemy was, He pulled out a scroll unsealing Kusanagi that he brandished with two hands. Sai pulled out his beast scroll, scribbling
on it he summoned numerous ink snakes that traveled through the foilage undetected.
The three Sound Shinobi closed in on the leaf Shinobi, They stalled hiding under bushes peering up at the leaf hidden in the trees. They made eye contact and then attacked!
They threw a handful of ninja tools that the shinobi attempted to dodge only to be impaled with sickening thuds. Naruto fell back with a kunai in his head, Yamato bled out with shuriken embedded in his back,
A windmill shuriken had cut Hana's head clean off and Sai had two kunai embedded in his eyes.
"I told you they were weak."
"Yeah yeah jobo, you always say that."
"Shut up you two, Find anything we can bring back to Orochimaru." They were all wearing standard Sound Shinobi gear with a cloth to cover their faces.
They attempted to walk forward only to be unable to move. Jobo looked down to see roots crawling up their bodies.
"What is this!?" Naruto appeared behind him cutting his head off with Kusanagi.
"AHHHH!" the other two screamed. They pleaded for their lives, staring at Naruto fearfully. Sai and Yamato appeared behind them knocking them out. Hana jumped down releasing her hand seal,
The area rearranged itself, as their "bodies" disappeared. She let out a sigh and rolled her shoulders. Yamato went through a few handseals terraforming a small hole in the ground. He and Sai picked up the surviving Sound shinobi dropping them into the hole, Yamato jumped in after, followed by Sai, Hana, and Naruto.
The hole closed itself after the entire team had entered. Yamato patted Naruto on the shoulder in a sequence in the dark. Understanding his message Naruto went through three hand seals ending with tiger,
Fire style: candled flame, Naruto held up his palm creating a small orange light that illuminated the underground area. Yamato gave Naruto a few more handsignals, Naruto expanded his sensory ninjutsu closing his eyes
to identify any other threats. Sensing nothing he gave Yamato a nod.
Naruto could the adrenaline from the short battle that had just occurred. The Kusanagi is an impressive sword, weightless and able to cut through bone with barely a flick of his wrists.
He had only been in a handful of true life-or-death battles but he could feel himself changing, There was no hesitation in his movements, he knew what the goal was, what he needed to do, and how to execute it.
He sheathed his sword to his back, not needing to seal it any longer. They had already run into opposition, It was only going to increase from here, he we needed it quickly in case of more ambushes.
Naruto watched as Yamato created small open chairs for their prisoners. Torture was next, They needed the information they could provide about the next opposition they may face.
Usually, he would have been adamant with Yamato-taichou about not needing to resort to any tactics, but the cold reality of his last battle with Gaara, then how outclassed he was against Tsunade and later Orochimaru had hit home.
He was out of his depth, any knowledge would help him survive, to make sure Hana survived as well. She was his person and even though he was gaining more, he could not lose her.
So he hardened his heart and focused on learning how to torture captives for information. Yamato formed three hand seals ending with snake, he held the seal as roots sprouted from the ground scratching off skin from both captives, this action
woke them up. They were startled at first, but recognizing the leaf shinobi in front of them they began to scream until more roots sprouted up covering their mouths and silencing them.
When 40% of their skin had been scratched off by the roots, Yamato let go of his seal retracting the roots back into the earth.
"Answer my question or we will extract the answers from you. Tell me the location of the sound base."
one of the Sound shinobi spittle running down his mouth gathered what he could spitting it a Yamato. "Fuck you Leaf trash!"
The other Sound shinobi who seemed to be leading the squad stayed silent, his eyes shifted around the dark underground area, His eyes roamed around identifying the other two leaf shinobi toward the back in relaxed poses.
Yamato pulled out a collapsable bucket, set it on the ground, and formed a few hand seals "Water Style: Spout." water poured from his mouth into the bucket.
He formed a few hand signals and Naruto came forward, he closed him palm dispersing the small candle flame, He went through a few hand seals ending in tiger,
"Fire Style: Flame." a stream of fire erupted from his mouth toward the bucket, Naruto kept the flame constant heating the water until it was boiling.
Yamato picked up the bucket of water pouring it on all the cuts of the shinobi that spit at him. Naruto winced closing his eyes as the shinobi screamed in absolute agony.
It was one thing to say you could harden your heart to endure the cruelty of the shinobi world, another to experience it without flinching. He squinted his eyes open, the sound
shinobi was still writhing in the chair trying to find anything that would lessen his pain. Naruto flinched, turning his face to the side. The other sounds shinobis eyes glittered as the sounds of his comrade's screams increased.
After a few moments they died down, Yamato reached around grabbed his hair, pulled his head back, and looked unflinchingly into his eyes.
"Answer my question or we'll do another round of water." The shinobi flinched back at first, then firmed up spitting straight into Yamato's face.
Yamato let go of his hair, moving back toward the bucket of boiling water when his comrade spoke up. His voice was arrogant,
"Don't waste your time leaf shinobi, he's barely a grunt. I'll answer your questions but I want something in return."
"Ashawa you traitor!"
"Shut up, Menarto. You're fodder."
"Lord Orochimaru will come for you, He will not forgive your betrayal!"
Sai, Hana, and Naruto watched on as they began to squabble. Eventually, Yamato had enough, he slapped a containment seal on Menarto's face knocking him unconscious.
He leveled a stare at Ashawa who felt his heart begin to palpitate.
"Answer my question."
Ashawa smirked, "Of course, Of course, but first I want your guarantee that you'll make me a citizen of the land of fire with immunity from." Yamato a permanent frown on his face took a step back, leaning his back against the wall.
Yamato closed his eyes contemplating for a moment.
"Sure, I can do that for you."
"No, I want the blonde one to swear on his pride as a leaf shinobi." Yamato opened his eyes, he leveled a piercing glare at the Sound shinobi who smirked in return. He truly felt that
he had found a loophole to secure his life with shinobi. Yamato almost let out a sign of his lack of intelligence and awareness of the shinobi world. Shinobi had no honor,
or agreements, whether they were alliances between villages, or even agreements between rival shinobi, they held the same weight as air. This shinobi thought they would
bring one of Orochimaru, their greatest traitor back into their country to live a peaceful life or use the skills they acquired to harm. No, once they had the information they needed,
this would become their grave. This would be a challenge for Naruto, he had not yet seen the true darkness of the shinobi world. He had read about his willingness to uphold his world and shonobi code. He would have no choice but to break it now, a harsh lesson but one he would have to learn here and now.
Naruto stepped forward with trepidation on his face. He eyed the sound of shinobi warily. Give my word to bring back this scum? He was probably involved In the attack on the leaf, the one that killed Gramps. Yet they needed the information. Maybe they could monitor him until he was deemed a non-threat? He hated the idea but what else could he do? With an internal sigh, he faced the sound shinobi with barely a hint of anxiety on his face. He clenched his fists not enjoying being put in this position.
"Fine, I swear on my honor and pride as a Leaf shinobi, we will instate you as a citizen of Fire Country to live out your days as you wish."
"Good dog, I'm glad you see things my way. The base is to the west of where ambushed you. If you head west you'll detect the first genjutsu, dispel it head one click south and you'll see an image of a snake carved into a tree." Naruto glared as Yamato, Hana, and Sai listened quietly.
The genjutsu hiding the entrance can be dispelled using the snake, boar, tiger, bird hand seals in that order."
Yamato walked closer untrusting of the willing information being provided.
"Enemy opposition?"
Ashawa was flippant In his response, he had laid back completely comfortable that he had all the cards.
"30 to 40 sound Shinobi patrol the base, the rest are Orochimaru's prisoners to experiment on." Naruto was enraged at Orochimaru's disregard for life while Hana frowned sadly. Sai was completely impassive.
"Traps?"
"Orochimaru booby-trapped the first 13 opposite rooms, the positive doors from 24 to 46."
"Anything else?" Yamato asked.
"Hmmm, oh there might be a general at the base. Orochimaru posts them there sometimes when he has something important to protect. That's it."
"You've been very cooperative."
"Of course, I'm looking forward to my new life In the leaf," Ashawa smirked as Yamato walked behind him, he pulled out a kunai stabbing Ashawa in the throat before he could move. He twisted it, took it out, wiped it on Ashawas clothes, and walked back to the team as Naruto stared in shock, Hana was accepting yet sad and Sai was still impassive.
"Yamato-taicho! Why did you do that I gave my word!" Naruto yelled.
"Listen up, he was a monster working under Orochimaru, he would never be welcome in our country. You are Shinobi, not a samurai, honor is not our goal. Understand? " Yamato was firmly looking directly into his eyes.
Naruto eyed the lifeless body, his blood was leaking down the chair onto the ground making it bloody mud. He placed his hand on his forehead cupping it, so this was the reality of the Shinobi world. Kill or be killed? He was a monster but weren't all shinobi? Why did he get to go on instead of him? Because he was a leaf shinobi? Because they were the strongest. These questions plagued him.
"I understand."
"Let's head out, we'll be communicating by hand signals on the way to the base."
They left the hole, and Yamato sealed it up behind them. They headed west, reaching the genjutsu. They didn't dispel it in case it triggered an alarm and went south arriving at the tree with the snake carving.
Yamato made a few hand signals toward Naruto who focused his sensory ninjutsu on the area above and below them piercing the earth. Naruto signaled back to Yamato two numbers, then pointed down below them.
The team took positions on opposite sides of the base hidden by trees. Yamato stood on a branch above the base, he went the three hand seals required that dispelled the genjutsu hiding the hidden base, Naruto held up 5 fingers as the team readied themselves. They waited a few moments for voices to reach them from inside the base.
"Ugh, why are we leaving the base again?"
"Boss said Genjutsus dispelled, we're investigating whether that was caused by a person or chakra running out."
"Boring. We're not grunts are we?" Another voice resounded.
"Sigh, can't we just finish this up so we can head back inside, there's some girls waiting for me." A different voice responded lecherously.
The around shinobi exited the aound base in the ground. They grouped at the front of the exit in the forest. There were 6 of them, two squads. This was the tricky part. How would we take them out without alerting the entire base? Naruto felt sweat accumulate on his brow as Yamato-taichou slowly went through hand seals for a binding jutsu. He had only a moment to engage once the wood grabbed his targets. He had the three to the left, Yamato-taichou strictly forbade ninjutsu until we successfully infiltrated, Kusanagi was going to work once more, he could see Sai unsheathe his tanto and Hana quietly pulling two kunai from her holster opposite to him.
Naruto steadied his breathing, focusing his senses on detecting the minuscule traces of chakra indicating Yamato casting his jutsu. The chakra all around him was a lot tougher to detect than the internal chakra system shinobi possessed, but he was starting to grasp it. Oddly Yamato's chakra interacted with the chakra of the world to create his jutsu. The natural chakra fed on his chakra to give his chakra constructs life. Before Naruto could completely lose focus he felt it. Like an arrow loose from a bow he sprang into action, he could feel Hana and Sai's chakra following his lead.
Naruto unsheated Kusanagi as shouts of surprise and alarm fluttered through the ranks of the sound shinobi, they attempted to escape but the wood bindings fed on their chakra to grow tighter. Naruto appeared like a wraith on the left he slashed spinning with it, his sword lengthening and shortening so quickly that most would have missed it.
Hana appeared throwing two kunai, imparting the two shinobi in front. She looked down at their bodies with sadness.
Sai appeared plunging his tanto into the throat of the last one, who gurgled before falling over.
Yamato appeared with a nod. He went threw hand signs, burying all the bodies into the earth. With a final hand sign to his team, they entered the hidden base.
They ran down the main corridor, Naruto making clones to check each individual only for every single one to be a trap room. The influx of memories almost seemed like too much at times but they kept going reaching the right laboratory. They entered, Yamato handed each member a scroll, and they started sealing away notes, jutsu scrolls, and anything else that looked interesting.
"What are you doing here!? Sound style: bursting wind!" A sound shinobi with a hole in his hand shouted pointing it towards Hana who was wide open. The wind started to gather when a blade pierced through his throat ending his life instantly. Hana turned to see Naruto with the coldest eyes she'd ever seen glaring at the dead man as his Kusanagi slowly retracted.
Hana, Sai, and Naruto give Yamato silent nodes indicating they're done. Yamato returns their nods with one of how own, team Yamato exits the laboratory, heading back down the corridors that begin to snake down into a dungeon. Naruto is on high alert sensing an abundance of chakra signatures in this area. Still leading from the front he tells his team to halt, communicating how many individuals they should be inspecting. Yamato pats him on the shoulder in a sequence, they disappear onto the ceiling concealing themselves while they scale down into the depths.
Team Yamato on the ceiling watches as around 10 sound shinobi guard people in cages lined up against each wall on both sides. The people in the cages are wearing rags and tattered clothing. They all look extremely malnourished with bones visible throughout their bodies. Yamato, Sai, Hana, and Naruto scan the faces and bodies of each individual noting that each person belongs to a different region of the elemental nations. Yamato reached over tapping a sequence on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto waited a moment for the sequence to finish before responding with a nod.
Two of the sound shinobi walked toward the stairs to the upper level, Naruto and Yamato trailing them from above. As the sound shinobi reach the corridor above, Yamato and Naruto drop down from above piercing them with their weapons.
They return to the dungeon to see Hana and Sai engaged in combat with 5 of the shinobi while 3 lay on the floor. Yamato burst In, his hand turned into a wood spear piercing one of the Shinobi from behind, the spear extended out piercing another until the wooden spear pierced the ground below them. Sai threw a handful of shuriken, unable to dodge them in the confined space they hit one of the shinobi's vital areas putting him down.
The last two sound shinobi stumbled back, eyes desperately searching for an exit. They saw an escape, crouching to propel themselves they stopped standing upright. Why would I need to escape? This Is our base. We are safe serving Orochimaru. Ha! Those cowardly leaf in ran off. They both thought before darkness encroached on their vision.
Naruto sheathed his sword onto his back as team Yamato regrouped in front of the prison cages. One of the prisoners an old man with Grey and orange hair sat in front of the gate. There were atheists 30 of them. All with varying degrees of orange hair and green eyes, from adults to children, old and young. They looked defeated, robbed of basic sustenance for who knows how long.
"Hello, who are you?" Yamato asked walking up to the gate.
"I am Shenai last head of the Shizen clan. We are all that's left."
Yamato's eyes opened in surprise.
"The nomadic clan from the land of forests?"
"The very same." Yamato rubbed his chin in thought disturbed.
"Taicho, what's concerning about Orochimaru performing experiments on this clan besides the obvious?" Naruto asked confused. Orochimaru was evil, disgusting perversion of the shinobi world. What could be so special about this particular clan?
Yamato released a sigh, giving him a side glance. Hana and Sai perked up as well interested in this information.
"The Shizen clan has a very strong kekkei-genkai that allows them to passively absorb natural energy to bolster their body and jutsu. With this, a master can have a limitless chakra If they can learn to convert its natural form." He explained getting a confused and wide-eyed look from Hana, a contemplative one from Sai, and an astonished look from Naruto.
Naruto drew back from the conversation Yamato continued to have with the clan leader. It all sounded like muffled noise to his ears. Besides Jiraiya telling him of the Uzumaki clan, he had no knowledge of his parents or his origins, yet he had this particular chakra trait that the Shizen clan shared. He didn't want to doubt Jiraiya but the village had hated him and hid the information for years, why would a Sannin of all people be the one to tell him at 13? No, he couldn't fully trust Jiraiya no matter how much he wanted to.
"Alright, we've killed the shinobi guarding this base. You're free to escape. Our objective is to destroy it."
"I understand. Thank you." Shenai replied shakily getting his feet under him to stand.
Yamato walked towards the bars to unlock them, Naruto scrutinized the locking mechanism, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary but he could feel a very faint chakra that marked the bars from the top to the bottom. It created an interlocking connection between them. If Orochimaru constructed it, it had to be used to keep them prisoner, but if so why have guards, damn it now he's getting a headache from thinking too much.
Yamato opened the jail doors and immediately there were smiles on every member of the Shizen clan, team Yamato felt smiles come to their faces as the clan exited one by one. They escorted them out, placing explosive notes on the key areas to ground the base.
Team Yamato plus the 30 members of the Shizen clan exited the base, there were smiles on everyone's faces. For the Shizen, this was the first time they had seen the sun in years. Naruto and Hana felt relief sweep through them. Watching someone be tortured was tough but this almost made it worth it. Sai was impassive as ever. He had a fake smile on his face as he slowly unsheated his tanto.
Shenai turned to Yamato and the team.
"You have no idea how overjoyed we are. We are forever indebted to the Leaf Village." He bowed deep at the waist and the clan followed. For a fully minute they bowed, and team Yamato followed suit after a minute. They departed deep into the forest.
Naruto watched them go deep in thought, he still had so many questions he wanted to ask. What are their origins? Did they know anything about the Uzumaki? But protocol dictates he keeps those questions to himself. It would only give away who he was, anyone could be watching, they were in enemy territory after all. So with a deep sigh, he let it go, questions for another day.
Yamato gave the team a nod. They each made the ram hand seal.
"Activate."
"Activate."
"Activate."
"Activate."
BOOOOM*
The sound base collapsed inwards burying the base entirely.
Giving each other a nod they dispersed to the next one.
They traveled the entire day reaching the area where the intel indicated the base was. Team Yamato regrouped in the trees. Yamato turned his head slightly giving Naruto a nod.
Naruto formed a ram hand sign as the world around him changed. The world became Grey, and Yamato became blue and brown. Both colors swirled together harmoniously to create something new, Hana became blue, Sai was orange and brown, but his colors never merged. He deemed his focus on the area around them,
Below him he could feel the dark taint of Orochimaru's chakra, he still felt like vomiting every time he felt that chakra. His eyes narrowed, and there was only one chakra signature at this base, it was immense and felt strange, there were three colors this time, blue, brown, and orange, they swirled together harmoniously like Yamato's colors.
Naruto was deep in thought trying to process what this could mean. There was a small piece he was missing from the bigger picture, he knew it. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't realize his entire team was staring at him until a few taps from everyone jolted him out of his concentration. Yamato made a few hand signs to communicate. He was confused about his lack of focus.
"Taichou," Naruto said trying to gather his thoughts, the alarm bells in Yamato's head started blaring. Naruto had followed protocol to the letter this entire time, although he was still a little green, he would never violate protocol for something silly, he was beginning to become a dependable part of his team, someone he could count on. He turned his body completely around giving him his full attention.
"Don't worry about protocol violations right now, I trust you. What did you sense?"
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, his first outing as a chunin, he wanted to do more, to be more, but sometimes he had to speak up when things seemed off.
"The base is below us, I can feel Orochimaru's taint, but there's only one person inside."
Yamato rubbed his chin in thought.
"Hmmm."
"Odd, unless they knew we were coming and pulled everyone out," Hana replied her face serious and concerned.
Sai leaned back against the trunk of the tree they were standing on unconcerned.
"Still, it's just one person. Why break protocol just to tell us that?"
Naruto narrowed his further.
"This one person has more chakra than Kakashi-senpai, they have three chakra Natures that harmonize like yours Yamato-taichou. I'm not sure what that means but they are dangerous, if they've been left to fight by themselves we should ready ourselves."
Yamato's eyes widened In surprise at the information. He studied the young shinobi in front of him, they were not the die-hard ANBU he was used to working with, they were young, and early in their careers. Talented yes but ready for the battle ahead with a shinobi that could he S-class? No way. The council wanted this mission completed regardless of the cost but he would not sacrifice the future of Konoha.
"We retreat." He stated firmly.
"What!? But the mission!" Naruto exclaimed. Yamato gave him a firm look,
"The mission means nothing if everyone dies." Naruto and Hana flinched back at his response, they remembered their fallen comrades. Sai on the other hand appeared emotionless and unmoved.
"The mission is to clear the bases so konoha shinobi can move in unimpeded, if we die it will be for a good cause. If we retreat now they will bolster this position making it harder for our forces to move in." Sai stated logically.
"Sai's right Taichou!" Naruto agreed. Hana shook her head reaching out to grab Naruto's arm, confused Naruto turned to her only to see her glaring at him. She had never done that before, he quieted down to listen to Hana.
"You're both missing a key part of this, what if this enemy is infinitely stronger than the three of us? They kill us here and the next group of leaf shinobi won't have a single clue of what they're walking into." The boys quieted down at her logic.
Yamato nodded impressed.
"Exactly, we retreat, gather reinforcements, and hit the base hard. Let's move."
"And just where do you think you are going?" A female shinobi appeared right behind them on the same tree.
Alarmed, the entire squad jumped creating distance from her as they landed in the clearing below.
She's fast enough to evade my sensory abilities, Hana was right. Naruto thought keeping his eyes on the enemy.
Who is this woman? Yamato thought
She was average height with light blue hair tied back into a ponytail that looked like a pineapple. She had red menacing eyes, a slender figure with thick legs showing where he speed cane from.
Sai narrowed his eyes on her form.
She doesn't carry shinobi pouches, I don't see any discernable weapons on her person.
"Leaf strike formation B!"
Hana and Sai moved in tandem rushing to their opponent's flanks opposite each other. They threw shuriken creating a pincer from both sides. Yamato quickly went through hand seals,
"Earth style: Earth wall jutsu." A wall of earth erupted behind the enemy preventing her from moving backwards. She crouched down to jump when she glanced up to see the blonde one spitting out a giant fireball down at her form. She smirked, they weren't bad at all. A massive explosion destroying the wall and scattering the shurken happened creating a cloud of dust. Team Yamato, retreated a few steps eying the smoke with trepidation.
"Crystal Style: Aegis Symphony. " Her voice sounded out from the smoke, a great crystal encased her form leaving her unharmed.
Naruto grew uneasy at the sight.
I pumped a lot of chakra into that attack yet she's unharmed.
Before the team could center their thoughts she moved appearing In front of Sai in an instant, he drew his tanto slashing for her neck, she held out her arm, to block the attack, he continued confused but not letting the opening go,
clang*
"Crystal Style: rippling ovipositor." A blade protruded from her forearm, covering the length of her arm, she threw her arm out forcing his blade wide leaving him open. She stabbed the other bladed arm towards his heart, Sai was about to be stabbed when "Rasengan!" She quickly pulled her arm back, expanding the Crystal blade into a shield that blocked the Rasengan. The Crystal formed cracks but the chakra of the Rasengan ran out. Naruto ducked under her retaliatory swipe, wooden spikes burst from the ground towards her chest forcing her to jump back to create distance. She started to go through handseal when blades of water were hurled toward her back, she waved her hand at the water blades turning them into small Crystal balls that fell to the ground slowly sinking beneath the earth.
Naruto's sweat fell on his face glanced at his comrades, he could see their wary faces. Her speed, her tactics, her jutsu, she was not a normal opponent.
Sai, pulling out his beast scroll quickly wrote on it summoning two large ink black lions.
"Beast scroll: twin lions!" They ran at the enemy roaring! Threw lifted their paws to strike her, crystals jutted out her body stabbing through both creatures and dispersing them into ink, Hana followed up, trying to stab her in the head, she grabbed her arm, breaking her wrist and tossing her to the side, her crystal is turned into a spear that she threw at Hana, who rolled barely dodging It. Yamato has finished his sequence of hand seals, vines, and thick roots quickly wrapped around her, constricting her movements. They were alarmed by her relaxed expression.
Naruto and Yamato quickly through hand seals.
"Water style: Raging torrent!"
"Lightning Style: current!"
A lightning-infused maelstrom struck her head, engulfing her body in the electric water. The crystals on her arms broke and she was thrown back hard into a tree with a loud crack. The team felt relief, finally, she was dead.
"Hana, how's your wrist?" Naruto asked walking towards her.
"I'm fine Naruto, it's not a big deal."
"She was strong," Sai stated to Yamato who nodded his head.
"An A-rank shinobi for sure. Let's finish the base and get out of here."
"Do you think we're done?" Slowly she stood up with no visible damage on her body, there was a large crack in a shimmering light on her body.
"Congratulations, you damaged my crystal armor." She clapped mockingly.
Crystal armor! That took everything they had, she was using a jutsu like that to cover her entire body! Damn it. What was the plan now? Naruto glanced at Yamato who looked out of sorts himself.
"My name is Guren, shall I get serious?" Guren said with a sadistic smile. With that statement, Crystal balls shot out of the ground piercing through Sai's and Yamato's thighs, arms, and hands. They collapsed to the ground bleeding profusely.
Hana stumbled back in shock, she had reset her wrist and wrapped it, but her fingers were not in the condition for handsets yet.
Naruto desperate to save his team dashed towards Guren, he unsheathed the Kusanagi channeling wind nature chakra threw the blade, it turned blue humming ominously. Guren narrowed her eyes in hate towards him.
"How dare you steal Orochimaru's blade you pathetic welp. I should kill you right now and end your pathetic story."
Naruto pressed in throwing a feint thrust that she twisted her body to the right to block, he pivoted slashing toward her right collarbone that she left open,
clang*
he made contact but he was unable to cut through her Crystal armor. Ignoring the trepidation that ran through him he continued to strike, she stopped blocking, standing there smirking she watched him strike at her head, throat, legs, and ribs, yet every blow bounced off her armor.
Naruto panted sweat dripping down his form as he regarded her enemy in front of him. He had a plan, a crazy one. He jumped back creating distance, Guren watched him with amusement.
"Shadow clone jutsu!" 100's of shadow clones appeared attacking Guren, with shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags. It was chaos as battle cries sounded off in the clearing. Naruto used that as a distraction to have his clones grab his teammates and retreat, the clones successfully retrieved Sai and Yamato but Guren killed the shadow clone that picked up Hana, dropping her to the ground. His fear spiked but he took a calming breath to center himself. He shifted through the influx of memories looking for a pattern in her attack. It took 80% of his clones dying but he found it. With his plan in mind, he substituted with a clone behind her, he ran lightning chakra threw Kusanagi like a buzzsaw, Guren amused at first detected the change in nature and backflipped over the buzzing sword. There! He dashed as 4 clones appeared grabbing her limbs, Naruto appeared in front of her slamming his palm on her as Kanji appeared all over her body.
"Got you!" Naruto shouted, forming a Rasengan in each hand he attacked her, and his seal stopped her chakra flow breaking her shield.
"Raaaaaaa" He yelled thrusting both Rasengans. Guren's crystal armor peeled off her body the Kanji spread on it, she grabbed both of Naruto's wrists halting his attack.
"What?" He muttered
"You're too slow." She head-butted him sending him into the dirt.
"You have promise, Naruto Uzumaki, unfortunately for you. I've been waiting for you." She said. Naruto was confused and alarmed, waiting for him. How was that possible unless there was a traitor in the village, but why? We have to leave now! He glanced at Hana who was trying to retreat by crawling out of the clearing. Guren noticed immediately.
"OH, so she is the person you care about most, the intel was spot on." She formed thin crystal lances that she threw at Hana's downed form. They pierced through her back, shoulders, and legs pinning her to the ground. Hana screamed.
"Ahhhhhh!" Her body twitched, and she felt cold all over. She could feel the life draining out of her. She tried to hold on desperately, she didn't want to die yet! There was so much she hadn't experienced yet, she wanted to keep going on adventures with Naruto, and she wanted to stay by his side forever, why? Why! Why!?
Naruto's eyes turned red as his hate grew.
"Damn you!" He disappeared, throwing a haymaker into Guren that left a crack in her armor. He retreated attempting to reach Hana, Guren appeared beside him, armor repaired, her punch connected with his chest taking the air out of his lungs, her next blow hit his haw leaving him dazed, she threw a roundhouse kick that knocked him into the dirt. He went to push himself up when two lances pierced threw both of his hands pinning him to the ground.
"You're too weak boy. I'm bored. Let's play a different game." She said walking over to Hana, Guren formed a crystal, Lance. She glanced down at Hana's form for a second before letting out a sigh. Naruto yelled and roared struggling to free himself, he tore his hands up attempting to free himself.
"Leave her alone!" He screamed desperately
"You're already bleeding out, I guess I won't be able to have fun this time." Sher Lance pierced through Hana's heart ending her with a gurgle, Crystal jutted out of Hana's entire form as she slumped down.
Naruto felt the world stop, and rage like never before roared inside him. He wanted to destroy everything, to kill Guren. Hana! Hana! His mind raged at his loss, slowing he started to lose himself as a dark red aura grew around him. It grew darker and stronger as a glitterati growl left his lips. His eyes became slanted, his hair wild. The dark red aura solidified around his body forming a shroud with two tails swinging behind him. Tears fell from his eyes, he stared transfixed on Hana's slumped form.
Yes, boy use my power. Destroy the enemy in front of you. Give into your rage. She killed the one most precious to you.
Yes, I will kill her for Hana!
He raged inside himself, not paying attention to hearing the Nine-Tails for the first time.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR!!* A beastly chakra-infused roar left his mouth, destroying some of the trees in the area.
"So this is the power of a jinchuriki. Come, weak boy."
Naruto snarled, tensing his legs he propelled himself at her leaving a crater in the ground. He appeared in front of her throwing claw strikes that she batted to the side, she kicked his right knee with force, shattering the kneecap and bending the leg in the opposite direction, Kyuubi-enhanced Naruto grimaced as the red chakra popped the leg back into place healing the injury. Overcome with rage he fought like a berserker, his tails came to life speeding toward her like spears, she twisted her body dodging both, and closing the distance she threw an uppercut into his chin sending him flying, before he could get too far she grabbed his leg throwing him into the dirt forming a crater.
You are outclassed boy, give me control. I will destroy your enemies!
Naruto flipped from his back to all fours as a third tail started to grow from his shroud, Guren jumped, landing on his back with her knee hitting his spine, the craters doubled in size, Naruto lost consciousness from the blow, red chakra receding.
Guren picked up his unconscious form. Throwing him over her shoulder she took off into the forest.
"Orochimaru has something special in store for you."