Five months of his training trip went by in a blink of an eye. Naruto and Jiraiya have been constantly on the move ever since the trip started. They stopped over in towns for no more than a few days at a time, while they camped out during other days. So far, they have only focused on the more physical aspects of the shinobi arts- taijutsu and kenjutsu. Jiraiya helped him with his taijutsu but kenjutsu was not his specialty. As such he called for the help of Gamahiro, the toad kenjutsu expert. He taught Naruto some of the toad style kenjutsu to incorporate with his Uzumaki style.

He also did a few missions alongside Jiraiya. Even though he was on a training trip, he still needed to contribute to the village. As such, from time to time, he would receive a hawk with a mission for him. They wouldn't be too much for him to handle and if really needed help, Jiraiya was there. He mostly dealt with bandits or small-time thugs that were causing problems in small towns.

Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts as he dodged a katana swipe that managed to cut off some of his hair. "You were distracted, Naruto-san. That could get you killed," Gamahiro stated before he engaged again. Naruto continued dodging the swipes aimed at him as he stood on top of a large lake. Oh, he also had his hands tied behind his back and he couldn't access his own sword to retaliate. Gamahiro explained that it was to develop his reflexes but Naruto thought otherwise. '"You cannot lose if you cannot be hit" he says… Bullshit, this is just to torture me. Stupid toad…' Naruto grumbled as he jumped over a cross attack.

As soon as Naruto landed, he had to bend backwards to dodge another swipe for his neck. He jumped in zigzag as he dodged multiple vertical swipes but was knocked off his feet as a water bullet hit him. "Hey, what the hell!?" He shouted as he was thrown towards the forest that surrounded the lake. He twisted his body midair and landed safely on his feet. His chest was stinging slightly from the hit and his face made sure Gamahiro knew that he was not happy. "What was that for? I thought we were doing dodging practice or something!" He shouted as Gamahiro made his way to him.

"But did you dodge?" He asked in a straight tone. However, Naruto swears he was being mocked by the kenjutsu-using toad. "Not all sword users are dignified to use only their swords when fighting another swordsman. You must be ready for when that happens."

"Tsk. Yeah...you're right. But that still hurts, you know!" Naruto exclaimed as he took off his bindings. He went over to his little campsite where he had some fish grilling over a fire and some water which he chugged. He had been left alone by Jiraiya that day as Jiraiya needed to meet some informant in a nearby town. Why didn't he take Naruto? He said it was going to be quick but knowing the old toad, it was so he could go to a brothel without a young teen following him. So a day will most likely become two or three.

He sat down and took one of the fish he grilled while Gamahiro took a seat nearby. With Jiraiya gone, he only had the toads to keep him company. Gamahiro would train him while Gamakichi would spend time and talk with him. Suddenly, Naruto's attention was pulled towards an hawk that was approaching him. He extended his arm and the bird landed on it. He took the scroll placed on its back and began to read it.

"Another mission?" Gamahiro asked.

"Yeah. It has been a while since my last one though. It should be easy enough. Can you help send a toad to tell Ero-Sennin that I'm on a mission? Tell him I'll meet him here in a few days," he said as he showed Gamahiro the location on his mission scroll before he burned the scroll in his campfire. He gave the hawk some of his fish before it flew away. Gamahiro nodded and dispelled in a puff of smoke. Naruto started packing his things and put out the fire, removing any evidence he was there. 'Toki… It's been awhile since I've been there. Nearly a year if I'm right…'


Five Hours Later

Naruto had crossed into the Land of Hot Water only merely two hours ago and currently he was roaming through the town of Toki. It had not changed appearance wise since his last visit. Buildings still lined the main roads, the hot springs were still the most popular attraction in the area and tourists came through and fro. However; there is one thing that changed and it couldn't be seen unless one had a keen eye.

A large majority of them seem much more tense…the bad kind of tension. They seem much more wary, constantly looking over their shoulders and Naruto deduced that many of them were locals through the activities they did and where they lived. Naruto looked up at the sun to see that it was going to set in two hours or so and decided to find a place to stay first. He entered a small hotel and got a room. It was a simple room, with a single bed and a bathroom. In his opinion, there was no need to spend so luxuriously when on a mission.

After setting his stuff down, he headed out again. As Naruto walked, he closely observed the town around him. The more he observed, the more he noticed how Toki had changed from the cheerful town he had first visited with his team. Shady figures in alleyways grouped up smoking who knows what, mothers rushing their children to move faster so they reach the safety of their home quicker and the overall dampened mood on Toki. The receptionist at the hotel tried to keep a hospitable face but Naruto could see slight discomforts from her such as the fluctuations in her chakra which is usually caused by stress. 'What the hell happened here?'

He walked the streets till he found the place that he was looking for, a sushi restaurant. It was only about a ten minute walk from his hotel. The restaurant had a bar which could seat 15 people and wrapped around a cooking area where three sushi chefs worked, attending to 5 people each. Currently, two of the chefs were not working as the dinner rush had yet to start and there were only two customers in the restaurant excluding Naruto.

"Good Evening, welcome to…" The chef exclaimed before he got a good look at the customer. He tilted his head, trying to look at the customer properly, trying to remember where he recognised him from.

Naruto smiled and took a seat at the bar in front of the chef. He sat beside a woman who had a cloak which covered her features from the outside world. Beside her, to the right with a stool separating them, sat a nondescript man who ate his sushi in silence. "Yes, it's exactly who you think it is, Satoshi-san…" Naruto said as he smiled at the chef.

"Oh wow. It really is you. You've grown since I last saw you and I almost didn't recognise you-"

"Without my face covered? And with the cloak?"

"Yeah. I'm glad to see you again," Satoshi said. "What would you like to eat?"

"I'll get whatever you recommend to me. I want to try your best," Naruto said, getting a nod from Satoshi.

[Satoshi is from Chapter 10. He made a small appearance before Team 7 went to Wave.]

"This is delicious, Satoshi-san. Not as good as ramen of course, but still great," Naruto said as he swallowed another piece. "I get why, you're working as one of the chefs here even though you're the owner. Can't let the quality of your restaurants slip."

"Thank you. My restaurant's quality is very important to me," Satoshi said as he presented another plate of sushi to the woman beside Naruto. "Hey, you still have not told me what you're doing here?"

Naruto gestured for Satoshi to come closer to him and whispered in his ear. A look of horror came over Satoshi's face. He looked at Naruto who had a serious face. "It's true then. If you have any information, please tell me. The sooner we get them out, the better it is for everybody."

"They came here about two months ago and the town has never been peaceful since," he whispered into Naruto's ear. Satoshi unconsciously glanced wearily at the door to check and to the other patrons of the restaurant before nodding to himself. "We don't know where they came from, but our town doesn't have the strength to fight back."

Satoshi backed away from Naruto, placing a smile back on his face, before serving the woman another plate as Naruto took the time to process the information. Satoshi took out a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it. "If that is all, here is how much you have to pay," Satoshi said as he passed the paper to Naruto.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion as there was usually a different way of paying for food. He took the piece of paper and read what was written on it. Directions. He nodded in understanding and took out his wallet. Satoshi was probably too scared to say things out in the open like this. "Here you go, Satoshi-san. The food was delicious."

"Thank you. It was nice to see you again," Satoshi said with a bow.

"It was nice to see you too, Satoshi-san. Thank you for the food," Naruto said with a bow.


Naruto was jumping through the trees as he memorised the directions written on the note Satoshi handed him. He took one last look before crushing it and shredding it into pieces.

10 minutes later

Naruto stopped as the tree line came to an end. In front of him was an ominous looking abandoned warehouse. It used to be a weapons storage area but it was abandoned when the land stopped producing shinobi.

'Guard patrols. This must be the right place. They must have a lot of money to pay this many guards…' Naruto thought as he pulled up his mask. Naruto only wore his mask during missions. Jiraiya had pointed out that wearing a mask pulled more attention to him and that was one of the key factors they were trying to avoid during the training trip.

Naruto moved from shadow to shadow as he circled around the perimeter. It was a full moon tonight as such there was more chances of being spotted. Jiraiya had taught him the ways of infiltration and there was no way he was going to let him down and get caught. The warehouse had two other smaller storage huts on its left and right. Those huts were guarded by a guard each while the warehouse had two groups of three patrolling its front and back. 'They must be making bank with the amount of members they have…but they don't look like shinobi,' Naruto thought as he took note of the patrol timings and positions.

The area around the warehouse was also not trapped or rigged by how easily he could traverse through the tree line. After getting all he could, Naruto climbed the tallest tree in the area. He had a bird's eye view of the area and it seems like they were not prepared for any attacks from the roof. There was only one guard patrolling the entire roof and he looked like he would rather be somewhere else. Naruto channelled chakra into his eyes to increase its sharpness and brightness. The roof was trapped unlike the ground but it was only the basics. A few paper bombs here and there with tripwire as a trigger.

'I need to see who's inside…' Naruto thought as he made his way to the west side of the warehouse. His cloak made him blend into the shadows as he waited for the guard at the hut to look away. '3…2…1..' the guard finished his walk and turned. At the same time, Naruto blitzed across the open field and jumped onto the roof of the hut, landing without a sound. He immediately jumped onto the wall of the warehouse and stuck to it using chakra. The guard below him was none the wiser as he made his way to the roof.

He stopped right before a paper bomb trigger which was connected to five paper bombs. He made the ram seal and channelled chakra into the trigger before sticking another premade paper seal on top of it. 'Fuin!' The seal glowed which caused the paper bombs to emit a faint glow as well before all of them were deactivated. Naruto continued to walk towards the roof, passing the line of paper bombs and certain death.

Naruto peaked over the top and saw that the roof's guard was right in front of him with his back to him. In a split second, Naruto covered the guards mouth with his left hand while his right snapped his neck. A swift and silent kill. Normally Naruto would avoid killing, but from the information he had, he felt like this little group deserved it.

Two clones appeared from thin air by his sides as he placed the body of the guard neatly by the side. "All traps are cleared, and I'm sure you sensed that, boss." The one on the left reported.

"Yes, thank you." The two clones disappeared in a puff of smoke as Naruto went over to the centre of the roof with glass windows that opened into the warehouse. Naruto went over to one of the opened windows and crouched down near it while channeling chakra into his ears.

"The second batch leaves in an hour. Bunto wants to know how much we need to increase production?" He heard a deep voice say.

"At the rate we're going, we will need to increase the protection price or we will take another town. There's one three hours from here," another answered.

"Well, do whatever it takes. Bunto won't wait any longer. You have two weeks to increase production or else…"

"Yes, brother…"

"Be wary when transporting the batches. One of the villages might get wind of what we're doing and stop it," said the deep voice.

"Hahaha, what are they gonna do? You have me! I will give them a funeral if they try it!" Exclaimed a cocky third voice.

"You better deliver. We spent a lot of money on you," said the deep voice.

"Ha! You doubt me. Maybe I should give you a burial," the man replied but the other merely shrugged off his threat.

Naruto was interrupted from his listening when a kunai was made known mere centimetres away from his neck. "Don't move and tell me who you are, or else…" came a feminine voice from behind him.

"I could say the same thing for you…" Naruto stood behind his attacker with Arashi pointed at her back. "Now, will you please gently lift your hands to where I can see them?" Naruto asked as he poked her slightly in the back with Arashi to emphasise his point.

Her arms slowly raised as she made them seen. "Drop your kunai." She did as he said but before the kunai could reach the ground, she kicked it by the ring which sent the kunai flying into Naruto's leg. She turned and swiftly did a leg sweep before sending a roundhouse kick to the other Naruto which was about to reach her. Her attacks were swift and it happened in a second.

"You should've just done as I said," she said as she was about to pull the cloak off Naruto but he dispelled in a puff of smoke, both of them did.

"Maa maa, is that how you greet an old friend, Kurotsuchi?"


Kurotsuchi's attention was pulled to her left where the mysterious shinobi was sitting along the edge. "Who are you?! How do you know who I am?" Kurotsuchi demanded.

"You wound me, Kurotsuchi," he said in a mock hurt as he slid off the hood of his cloak. His golden hair flowed in the wind of the night as it was illuminated by the moonlight and contrasted against the darkness. He looked up into her eyes and time stood still for Kurotsuchi. His azure blue eyes, an unforgettable sight for her pink eyes. The eyes that promised kindness, sincerity and held a certain warmth in them.

"Naruto?" She muttered, getting a small chuckle out of Naruto.

"So, you do remember. How long has it been since we met? A year?" Naruto said as he took in Kurotsuchi's reaction.

Kurotsuchi was broken out of her momentary gazing. "Oh…yeah, it's been a…year since our time in Iron," she said rather awkwardly, hoping Naruto didn't notice her staring for a moment. "What are you doing here, Naruto?"

"Probably the same reasons, you are," he replied as he nudged his head towards the area below him. Kurotsuchi took a few wary steps forward. After seeing Naruto with his back to her, her wariness disappeared and she looked over the rooftop's edge. Below she saw what Naruto was gesturing towards. Men were transporting crates from the warehouse onto ox carriages and seemed to be preparing to depart soon. "Is this why you're here?"

"It might be part of it. Looks like things got really bad that the townspeople took their chances with sending a message request to both Iwa and Konoha," she said as she took note of the number of guards that were going to follow the oxes.

"Not surprising since many traders go through Toki. Hey, how about this? We can work together since our missions are the same. We can catch up along the way," Naruto suggested as he looked at Kurotsuchi expectedly.

"Are you sure? I don't think our villages will like us working together…"

"They won't, but it's either this or we ruin each other's missions and nobody gets paid. So how about it? For old times sake?" Naruto persuaded as he extended his hand out.

Kurotsuchi looked towards the extended hand, then towards the group below before back to the hand. "Ok, let's do this!" She exclaimed before she quickly realised and placed a hand over her mouth.

"Hahaha, don't worry. I placed silencing seals the moment we met. It's impossible for any of them to hear us," Naruto said as he shook hands with Kurotsuchi. Naruto stood up and went on to clean up any evidence they had been there before they pursued the transport group.

'Silencing seals? I didn't even notice he placed any down. How? There was no paper, no special seal glow, no hand seals or words…' Kurotsuchi realised as she watched Naruto clean up the area to look untouched.


She was like a ballerina, jumping through the trees. She did it with elegance yet there was strength and weight showing through her leaps and landings. Her hair may have been at shoulder length but it was enough to keep him mesmerised as it moved in the moonlit night.

Like him, she had grown so much, but one thing stayed the same…her eyes. The pink eyes that reminded him of the sakura trees that bloom during spring. The eyes that showed her spirit and the eyes that showed hardships and resilience.

He had no doubt that she had also increased in skill. The callouses that he felt on her warm hands was an indication of how much she trained. Her chakra also told many stories. It was larger and the elements that resonate with it were also stronger. 'Earth and Fire, a very strong chakra nature combination…It would be great to have a rematch...'

"Oi, you better keep up back there!" Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts as he realised Kurotsuchi had stopped several trees ahead of him. "The transport group is starting to prepare for arrival. You better not be slacking back there, this is your idea after all!"

"Yes, madam…" Naruto said with a bow after he landed at the same branch as Kurotsuchi. He had to immediately duck under a swipe for his head. "Woah, you have to be careful where you're swinging those wonderful arms of yours," Naruto commented before having to dodge once again to another tree. "Ha ha, you missed me again. You have to be faster if you ever wanna touch me."

"I swear…why do I put up with you…blondie," Kurotsuchi said with a slight smirk.

"Hey," anymore of Naruto's protest died down as they realised the transport group had reached their destination.


After four out of seven of the Kiri shinobi swordsmen perished in battle and the bloodline purges started in Kiri, Raiga and his fellow survivors decided to part ways. His life as one of Kiri's best was all in the past now. He did not know what happened to his ex-teammates and neither does he want to know. What he does want to know is, "What the hell are you doing!?" He demanded.

The two bandits he had caught turned pale white as they slowly turned to face Raiga. "B-boss…" he managed to stutter out.

"What the fuck did I say about testing the product?" Raiga calmly said as he pulled the two blades from his back. The legendary Kiba blades of Kiri. One of two pieces of evidence from his past as a Kiri shinobi. The other being his name on the bingo book. "When I say something, listen. It's that simple. But I guess you two idiots don't understand simple…" Those were the last words they heard before Raiga cleanly separated their heads from their bodies.

"Clean this up," he ordered the two henchmen who had accompanied him. One of them shakily nodded and they got to clearing the two bodies. "Even with all the warnings, they still wanted a funeral…Tsk these mosquitoes are annoying, why must we choose such a dumb place for the headquarters…" he muttered to himself. If Raiga had kept the mosquitoes in his sights, he would have seen them dispel in a small burst of smoke.

The compound he was in was much bigger than the one he had come from. This was their headquarters, where they distributed all their products and where they gathered. He smirked when he saw people avoid him in fear. Barely anyone cared to cross his path after hearing about his feats as a previous mist swordsman. He didn't know when he started being in this line of work but he definitely enjoyed its money.

Suddenly, great explosions occurred around the different warehouses. "Shit! Intruders! Protect as much of the product as you can!" He ordered those who ran by trying to put out the fires that occurred. He took his Kiba blades and began the search for their attacker.


"You ready?"

"As ready as you are."

"Ok, on the count of three," Naruto started. "3…2…1." He created the hand seal to activate his paper bombs and their fuses started to go. "You get the lot of them, while I go for Raiga. BOOM! Good luck!" With that, Naruto and Kurotsuchi dispersed.

'Ok…Ready for some action, Kurama?'


"You ready?"

'Because I'm not a bijuu that can level mountains in three seconds?'

'Haha and you'll never be. Ah what fun it was to hear the screams of those men…'

Naruto ignored Kurama's violent recollections and focused on taking out those who were rushing towards him. He unsealed and unsheathed Arashi before rushing through the crowd that was approaching him. He tried his best to not kill as many as he could, aiming for weak points that would place them out of the fight instead of out of life forever. He ducked under a machete swipe and struck a bandit at his Achilles tendon which caused him to shout in pain. The bandit fell down forward and could no longer move with both of his tendons sliced.

He jumped through in the middle of a high and low combination attack before turning and throwing shuriken at his attackers. He blitzed through five people in 20 seconds before making his way to the largest chakra signature in the compound.

"Raiga Kurosuki, fancy meeting you here," Naruto greeted as he came face to face with Raiga.

"Oh ho ho, so you do know who you're messing with gaki. You'll come to regret ever trying to fight me," Raiga said as he brought his Kiba blades forward.

"Let's find out than old man," Naruto quipped as he brought his blade forward.

"Oi, who are you calling old man!" Naruto could see Raiga's eye twitch in annoyance.

"You're like 40. That's old to me," Naruto said with a shrug while unsuspecting lay releasing his resistance seals.

"Oi, oi, I'm only 38." His frustration grew.

"Yeah…old." His frustration grew even more.

"I'm going to give you a burial Gaki. You'll regret ever saying that and for even challenging me!" Raiga rushed towards Naruto with his blades ready.


While Naruto went to the front of the camp, Kurotsuchi went to the back where it seemed the more important things were happening. She headed for the building which they recognised as the main building. It was at the back of the compound and it was bigger than most of the buildings around it.

" Doton: Iwadeppo no Jutsu (Earth Style: Stone Pistol Jutsu)! " Multiple sharp stones were shot rapidly from her mouth towards the bandits that were rushing towards her. The stones might have been small, but they hurt. Hurt badly. The bandits received multiple cuts on their bodies as the stone bullets made contact. Some had bad fortune and were pierced by the bullets.

' Doton: Kengan no Jutsu (Earth Style: Fist Rock Jutsu) ' Kurotsuchi thought as she went through the hand seals. It was a jutsu passed down through her family and was a jutsu she had learnt to use in conjunction with her taijutsu. Earth hardened around both of her arms, making them stronger and hit harder. 'Ok, let's do this…' she thought as more enemies came into view.


In the blink of an eye, Raiga was already onto Naruto with the Kiba blades ready to come down on him. The slim and straight pair of blades were blocked by Arashi as Naruto held Raiga's blade inches away from his face. Raiga used his superior strength to begin pushing him back.

As Naruto slid slightly back, he let go of the hold on the two blades and jumped back to avoid getting slashed. 'He's fast if he can outrun the Kiba blades…' Raiga thought as he realised Naruto was not a run of the mill shinobi. The Kiba blades were imbued with lightning and as such he could use it to channel lightning and move it at lightning speeds.

Raiga brought the tip of the blades together as he channelled chakra into it. " Raiton: Raikyu (Lightning Style: Lightning Ball) !" Multiple balls of electricity formed near where his blades met and grew larger and larger. Once the orbs was larger than his head, he sent them flying towards Naruto.

Seeing multiple orbs of electricity flying towards him, Naruto bent his knees slightly and angled Arashi such that its tip was facing the ground and its blunt edge faced him. " Uzumaki Style: Typhoon Blade !" In a split second, all the orbs of electricity were sliced in half as they dissipated into the air.

Raiga watched in shock as his jutsu was countered but his shock turned into excitement. A smile formed on his face. 'A fast shinobi and a wind style user? Just the perfect challenge for me.' "Haha I like you Gaki. I'm going give you a burial when I'm done with you!"


The ground was littered with unconscious and dead people as Kurotsuchi stood in the centre. "Woo, that was a workout!" Kurotsuchi exclaimed as she wiped off the sweat on her forehead and checked over the very few bruises she received. "Ok, let's find out why they were protecting this building so much…" she muttered as she made her way into the building.

The building had been emptied and its occupants were most likely on the ground outside the building unconscious or dead. She travelled through the halls and checked on the rooms that were on the way. The first floor was used mostly for lounges as seen by the number of empty beer and sake bottles, cards scatttered on the ground and sofas.

She made her way to the second floor and was disgusted to find rooms filled with drugs. These drugs were the reason Iwa was called for a mission. The drugs were spreading along Iwa's trade route and were affecting their businesses. Kurotsuchi wanted to ask for a team from the Tsuchikage or rather her grandfather, wanted her to experience working alone for a change. A change which only lasted until she met Naruto.

She took some samples of the drugs and placed them in a scroll for her village to analyse while she set paper bombs along the rooms. After she set an acceptable amount of explosives, she made her way to the last floor. As soon as she reached the staircase at the end of the hallway, she noticed a tripwire at the first step and its subsequent steps. 'Hm… this might work if I was a regular person but I'm a shinobi.' She thought as she channelled chakra into her feet and walked on the ceiling.

She reached the top floor and turned to her left to see two large men with swords making their way to her. From the way they held their katana and how they ran, Kurotsuchi instantly knew that they were neither shinobi nor samurai, just regular thugs. "Aww…Are you guys sure you know how to use those?" She asked in a cute girly voice.

"Get her!" One of them shouted.

"Aw, this is so cute. If Naruto was here, I'm sure he would be on the floor laughing right now," Kurotsuchi mocked them as she went through hand seals. " Yoton: Sekkaigyo no Jutsu (Lava Style: Quicklime Congealing Jutsu) !" A large amount of quicklime was shot from Kurotsuchi's mouth towards the two men. It covered them and restricted their movements heavily.

"Hey, what the hell is this!" "Get us out of this!" They shouted in panic as they felt the quicklime get heavier and their movements getting more difficult.

"Nah, I think you should stay there," she said as she shot a singular stone bullet which hit a water sprinkler on the ceiling. The sprinkler burst open and water sprayed out, hitting the quicklime. This caused the quicklime to act like cement and harden even faster than it already was. "You guys enjoy your time here," she said with a smirk as she walked past them towards an office at the end of the hallway.

She reached the door at the end of the hallway and kicked it open. Inside, a small man was panicking and Kurotsuchi was disgusted to see him hide behind two women who were shaking in fear. "Oi, get out from behind them, coward!" She ordered but the small man hit under his office table instead. Ignoring the man's action, she turned towards the two women. "Hey, are you two alright?"

The two merely nodded their heads. "Did he do anything to you?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"N-no but h-he was about to," one of them managed to stutter out.

"I see. Ok, you're safe now," Kurotsuchi affirmed to them as she created a rock clone which escorted them out. "Hey you!" Kurotsuchi shouted as she flipped the table and grabbed the small man by the collar.

"P-please don't hurt me. I'll give you anything. Money? I can give you money." He pleaded.

"I don't care about your money. What I want to know is who are you and what the fuck you're doing here?" Kurotsuchi said as she threw the man down on the floor.

The man instantly picked himself up and crawled as far as the room allowed him to get away from Kurotsuchi. "I'll tell you if you promise you won't hurt me."

"That'll depend on your answer. So now, tell me!" Kurotsuchi didn't like forcing and threatening like this but unfortunately it was part of being a shinobi. Acts like this helped others too, such as taking down this drug gang.

"I'm….and I…" the man muttered.

"You don't want to get hurt and her you are speaking gibberish. Speak up."

The man took a deep breath and looked at Kurotsuchi. "My name is Bunto and you just destroyed my company…Argh!" The man now known as Bunto let out a battle cry as he charged Kurotsuchi with a small tanto. Kurotsuchi used a kunai to deflect the tanto before hitting Bunto on the back of the head with the kunai's ring.

"Weird…why does the name sound familiar though…" she muttered as she tied Bunto's limbs and carried him out of the building. She took the shortcut and went through the window.


Two blurs of blue and yellow clashed over and over again. Naruto's striking yellow blonde hair was the only thing visible in his clash against Raiga and his lightning. Naruto dodged under a cross swipe from Raiga and aimed a punch for his stomach. His punch was blocked as Raiga raised his knee. Raiga grabbed onto his hand and twisted it.

To prevent his arm from breaking, Naruto spun his body such that it followed Raiga's twist. As soon as he landed back on his feet, he was kicked in the stomach.

A dazed Naruto looked up from his rough landing area to see the Kiba blades coming down towards him. Naruto grabbed onto Arashi tightly and placed in front of him such that one of the blades was pushed away. Naruto rolled away from the other blade but not before it slightly nicked his cheek.

Naruto stood up and immediately dodged another orb of lightning. Naruto dodged to the left only to be met by Raiga. Naruto raised Arashi to block one of his blades but he saw from the corner of his eye, the other Kiba blade ready to strike from his blind spot.

"You're good gaki, but not good enough," Raiga said as he thrusted the blade into Naruto's side. He twisted the blade causing more internal injuries especially with the Kiba blade's jagged edge. Raiga smirked at his triumph but it disappeared when Naruto turned into a log.

He saw a shadow below him and turned with his blades in an x cross. His blades met Naruto's as they fought a battle of strength. Unlike before, Naruto had a plan to win a battle of strength. Naruto placed his right foot in between Raiga's feet before hooking the back of his foot behind Raiga's knee and pulling it while pushing his blade as much as possible. Raiga was thrown off balance and stumbled backwards.

Naruto took the opportunity and rushed in. " Uzumaki Style: Waterfall Slice " he muttered as he swung his sword. Panic was seen on Raiga's face for a mere moment and disappeared the next. Raiga brought one of his blades and tried to deflect Naruto's as best as he could. Naruto's diagonal slice and the Kiba blade slid against each other enough to change Naruto's aim. Naruto ended up striking Raiga in the shoulder instead of his chest. Raiga recovered from his stumble by rolling backwards and making distance between him and Naruto.

"Ok, gaki. I have to give to you, you have skills. But it's time to stop messing around," Raiga said as he went through hand seals. " Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Jutsu) " a thick mist formed around Naruto and his opponent. Naruto could sense the chakra of the jutsu disrupting his sensory abilities making it hard to pinpoint Raiga's presence. "I may not be as good as my…shall I say ex-colleagues but I'm good enough," came Raiga's voice spread throughout the mist.

'Shit his voice and chakra is everywhere. It's going to take a while before I can sense him well…I'm fighting blind here,' Naruto thought. Naruto stood with Arashi at the ready as he used his other senses. 'If you can't see, hear. If you can't do that, feel. Use all of your senses…' one of the first things Jiraiya taught him rang through his mind.

Naruto took a deep breath in as he used his ears to listen to the slightest of movements. The slight crackle of electricity was heard from his left causing Naruto to bring up Arashi. His blade was met by the two Kiba blades and their wielder. Raiga disengaged and entered the mist again.

Once again Naruto attuned to his senses. He listened, smelled, and felt for any sign of his opponent. He smelt the scent of blood to his right and immediately rushed towards it. It was from the wound he had caused on Raiga's shoulder. As he ran straight, he could see a faint outline through the mist. ' Uzumaki Style: Waterfall Slice ' Naruto swung his blade at his opponent and struck true. Or so he thought. Raiga turned with a smirk before he dispelled into lightning and shocked Naruto. 'A lightning clone.' "Arghh!" Naruto shouted in pain.

"Hahaha, shocking am I right?" Raiga's voice came from the mist. "You've done well but I think it's time for your funeral." Naruto looked up from his position on his knees as he heard the sound of thunder and saw the flashes of lightning. " Ikazuchi no Kiba (Fangs of Lightning) !" He heard Raiga exclaim as a large strike of lightning was shot into the clouds above. Naruto's eyes widened before he felt his hair raise and immediately jumped as far as he could. A second later, a strike of lightning hit where he had been.

'That was close.' Naruto thought as he continued running chakra through his body to mitigate any more effects that lightning clone had. Naruto had once more dodged a lightning strike but it cost him. He was so focused on the lightning that he forgot to check for where Raiga was. He barely dodged the strike that was coming for his back and was slashed across his left leg.

"This is your end gaki. It's time for your burial!" Raiga exclaimed as he stood over Naruto. Raiga brought down his blades for the final time. Or at least he tried to. He found himself unable to move and could not finish Naruto off. "Oi, what happened?"

Naruto smirked. "Hahaha, shocking am I right?" Naruto smugly repeated Raiga's own words. " Uzumaki Fuinjutsu; Super Paralysis Seal ," at those words, Raiga's eyes widened as he realised what had happened. "I think it's time for your funeral, rest in peace…" Naruto whispered as the light in Raiga's eyes slowly faded. Naruto pulled out Arashi from Raiga's heart and he fell to the ground. Naruto closed Raiga's eyes as the mist around him slowly disappeared and the adrenaline from the battle began to die down before pain took over.


Kurotsuchi came out from Bunto's office to see Naruto on the ground bandaging up his leg while Raiga's body lay next to him. She roughly placed Bunto in a sitting position as she made her way to check on Naruto. "Hey, you alright?" She asked as she crouched down near him to see his injury. As she crouched down to his level, Kurotsuchi realised that Naruto's mask was off.

Her eyes widened as she began to take in every inch of his face. Her cheeks began to redden as she realised that she was ogling Naruto. Naruto seemed to have not noticed her red cheeks but he did realise her shocked expression. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Y-your mask." She pointed out.

"Oh yeah, you've never seen my face before. I don't wear my mask outside of missions and since ours is done, I took it off." Kurotsuchi merely nodded.

"Ok… back to your question, I'm good, nothing that won't heal," he said as he placed back the healing Shizune gave him back in his thigh pouch. He took out a scroll and sealed Raiga into it, while he sealed the Kiba blades into another. "So…who's the short guy trying to escape," Naruto asked as he pointed towards Bunto.

Kurotsuchi could only sigh as she watched Bunto continuously squirm against his bindings. He had tried to escape many times during their journey from the main building to where Naruto was. No matter how many times Kurotsuchi explained that his attempts were futile, he still tried again. "He's the one in charge of all this actually," she said as she gestured around them.

"Him?! Really? He looks like he doesn't know how to make coffee," Naruto exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah…he said he was Bunto or something like that," Kurotsuchi said, piquing Naruto's interest.

"Hey, weren't there three people at the meeting in the previous warehouse? One of them was Raiga but did you see the other two?" Naruto asked as he recounted the meeting he stumbled across previously.

"No, all that attacked me were bandits and some genin shinobi. Bunto's bodyguards barely knew how to fight. I didn't see the other two," Kurotsuchi explained as she tied Bunto to a nearby crate that hadn't been destroyed.

"Hmm… weird. I could've sworn they were part of that travelling group with Raiga. They had pretty strong chakra which means they're missing-nins," Naruto said before he quickly put his mask back on as he sensed new chakra.

"Very smart deductions," came a deep voice that made Naruto and Kurotsuchi immediately turn around. A man came into view as he used a shunshin to appear in front of them. The man was large and was about 6ft tall. He had a massive cleaver on his back and was not wearing a shirt so his abs were showing. His face was covered as he had a cloak covering his head.

Beside him, another man appeared. This man was the same height as Naruto and had white hair with a bow on his back. Although he was not as big as the other man, he was still very muscular and his muscles could be seen from the shape of his clothes. "We left for a small break and we came back to anarchy… You better be paying us extra for this Bunto," the smaller man said as he drew his bow while the other man took his cleaver.

"Looks like we've found them, Kurotsuchi," Naruto said as he readied to fight. Kurotsuchi moved to Naruto's side and got into a fighting stance. She created a bo staff made of stone and readied herself. "A bo staff?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I've been practising," she said in a whisper. "Are you going to be good?" She asked as she gestured to Naruto's injured leg.

"More than good," he simply replied before the two men rushed them.