Hello everyone, yes, I am alive, I just went through my first semester of Uni and could not find any time to write, sorry. To make up for that I have written my longest chapter yet. Now onto plot business, the very, very long break between my last chapter and this gave me the chance to plan out and fix up my story, for the last time. Firstly, I now have an ending planned as well as almost everything in between and can safely say I now know exactly what I want to do with this particular story. Secondly, I went back and fixed up some plot holes due to my amateurish writing at the beginning, the reason Naruto was able to use the Flying Thunder God technique is as it is keyed in to the blood of Minato and his children, AKA Naruto and thus would only work if he tried to use it. The reason it was in the forbidden scroll is because I believe it is a scroll of powerful and dangerous jutsu created by the Hokage. As a side note here, I would like to thank all of you profusely for actually reading through what I put out at the start before this final edit as it really wasn't good at all in my opinion and even now with this final edit I still think it isn't that good, but I guess you are your own harshest critic as they say. Oh, I also changed Ninja Art: Comeuppance of the Heart and Mind, which I also own, to Ninja Art: Retribution… seriously that name sucked. Lastly, since I know how the story will end now, I have finally hammered out Naruto's personality. I am not going to say what it is because that ruins the point of character growth if I tell you how and what affects him and in what way. What this does mean though, is that Naruto is no longer going to have any strange or unplanned personality changes. The reason for his new personality will be revealed eventually but not anytime soon.
This note below applies to both of my Naruto stories.
I am sad to say but I no longer want to have Temari in the harem. I suppose it has to do with the fact that after some reading, I have come to like Shikamaru and Temari together, plus Shikamaru is cool. As a result of this I no longer want Temari in either of Naruto's harems, and thus am taking her out. Sorry to any Naruto/Temari fans but I am not really, for lack of a better term, "feeling" Naruto/Temari anymore.
Back to TTONU exclusive note.
The poll for last harem member has been closed and the winner is: Samui. Honestly the top five in this poll were at least 10 points above all other options and it really only cycled between them over time which greatly surprised me.
So to sum up the harem is now locked in at: Tenten, Tayuya, Mei, Konan, Fuka and Samui.
One last side note in case you were wondering, you don't have to read over this story as I only closed up that plot hole, fixed the grammar and added a bit more description to the settings and battles, so nothing huge has changed.
That is all I have to say, so now enjoy the story.
SSJ3 Kyuubi Naruto.
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Naruto anime/manga all I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
'Heavily demonic voice'
'Fox talking'
"Fox thinking"
*expression*
Jutsu
Flashback
Chapter 29 – Mission in The Land of Grass
As the dust cleared, Yagura was revealed with two transparent tails of chakra thrashing about behind him.
'You are a fool, any battle I have been in I have won, today will not be the first I lose.' Said Yagura, before jabbing his staff into Naruto's gut, who was caught off guard and leaned forwards slightly, giving Yagura the perfect opportunity to roundhouse-kick Naruto in the face, sending him a few metres away.
Yagura tried to capitalise on his advantage by bringing an axe kick down on Naruto's back, but he was blocked, his ankle firmly gripped by Naruto, who was on his left knee.
'I'll admit you caught me off guard for a second there, but that won't happen again.' Said Naruto, before flipping Yagura up and fly-kicking him in his lower back, sending Yagura away and in doing so, allowing himself time to reach a vertical base once again.
'Now it is time you lose, Claw of The Wind Fox!' Said Naruto as he picked up his sword which was stuck in the ground diagonally, before he turned the blade so the tip was pressed where his heart was, before pushing the blade through it, causing a huge burst of air pressure to explode out from his position.
Yagura flared his chakra cloak to protect him from the air pressure as he waited in patient apathy. Rocks fell from the sky before landing back on the ground, or, being literally vaporised from coming into contact with the air spiralling around Naruto. Naruto was bathed in a white hue, his clothes had changed and now took the form of a long-sleeved, ankle-length white coat, which was split into four pieces from the front, back, and sides, once it reached past Naruto's knees. Naruto's hair had turned shock white with a single lock of blood red hair hanging down his forehead, reaching the bridge of his nose. His eyes had turned solid gold with a single tiny dot in the centre being white, reflecting no emotion at all; giving him an angelic and slightly demonic look.
A cyclone whipped up around Naruto and in a flash he disappeared, before reappearing with his back lightly touching Yagura's.
'It's over.' Naruto said, with his voice seemingly reverberating from inside him.
Yagura made to turn around but when he tried, he erupted in a mess of blood, with gashes appearing all over him, despite the chakra cloak around him.
'*guh* W-what *cough* i-impossible.' Gasped Yagura before he dropped to his knees, his eyes showing his first emotion in the battle; shock, which was quickly replaced with rage.
'CURSE YOU!' Shouted Yagura, before he exploded in a tsunami of blue chakra, the mass of chakra climbing up almost ten metres into the sky, before pushing outwards, forming a dome of blue chakra which was rapidly expanding. Naruto avoided getting swallowed up by the chakra construct by leaping away, before it shattered. A massive roar sounded from within the crumbling dome, before a fully transformed Yagura was revealed.
Naruto heard the roar and turned slightly, almost as though he did not care what Yagura had just transformed into.
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Both armies stopped and turned to look in the direction the roar had come from. Ninja on both sides shuddered in fear.
'N-no he transformed.' Said Mei, her single eye as wide as he it could possibly go.
'Naruto, be careful.' Mumbled Ao.
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'Pitiful, giving into the beast because you can't achieve victory with your own skills.' Said Naruto apathetically with his reverberating like tone.
'KKKKKKEEEEEE.' Screeched the now Sanbi-like Yagura, causing little balls of black, blue, and white chakra, to converge around his head, forming a ball of dense chakra.
Yagura took in a deep breath, taking the ball into his mouth, before spitting it out at high speeds at Naruto.
'Just as I said, pitiful.' Said Naruto, before he raised his hand and sliced down in a chopping motion, which caused the conglomeration of tailed beast chakra to split in half as it rushed past him before exploding; along with the ground in between Naruto and Yagura, while also slicing through Yagura himself.
Yagura reverted out of his transformation and returned to his human form, bleeding heavily out of his mouth, the multiple gashes over his body, with a slight stream coming out of his left ear, the ear drum of which exploded from the sonic boom released from Naruto's last attack.
Naruto appeared in a burst of white light in front of Yagura. Yagura looked up with wide, fearful eyes.
'W-what is going on?' Spoke Yagura in a shocked childlike tone.
Naruto paused before looking at Yagura's face and after briefly sensing his emotions, registered nothing but confusion.
'Yagura, are you aware of what you have done over the last ten years or so?' Asked Naruto.
Yagura titled his head slightly, before his mind was assaulted with a flood of memories which he could not truly call his own, as he could not really recall doing them, but knew they occurred.
'Yagura would you like to right your wrongs, I can give you a second chance and just as easily a swift death, choose.' Said Naruto almost uncaringly.
'I-I want to make things right.' Said Yagura quietly.
'Good choice.' Said Naruto, before he and Yagura disappeared in a flash of white.
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End Flashback
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Naruto was heading to the Hokage Tower to get a mission, his first since being back in the Leaf. As he walked, he reflected on the conversation he had with Sasuke before.
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Flashback
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'So Sasuke, allow me to ask the question I'm sure everyone in the Leaf wants to know. How did you survive?' Asked Naruto, with only sympathy in his eyes.
'I will admit it was difficult, but I discovered a trick of the Sharingan, if I will it, I can implant memories into people's minds, including my own. In the same way they can be implanted, they can also be removed, so anything which wasn't crucial to missions, or my life, was removed, thus keeping my sanity.' Said Sasuke in a relieved tone of voice.
'I only hope I can survive the menace as well as you have, although being stuck with such an annoying teammate for years, well, I feel for you Sasuke.' Said Naruto.
There was a short pause, before a screech of Sasuke was heard.
'Run while you can.' Said Sasuke quickly, dropping some money on the counter, before disappearing in dark purple, almost black, swirl of flames.
"Screw that. If I'm right that that's Sakura's chakra signature, running won't be enough." Thought Naruto, before seemingly turning into blades of wind which then dissipated through the air.
As the last blade of wind left the establishment, a pink haired girl walked in.
'I was sure I heard Sasuke, oh well, he will be mine sooner or later.' Said Sakura before giggling.
In the Uchiha clan complex, Sasuke shivered.
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End Flashback
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'Ugh, I really hope I don't run into Sakura any time soon.' Said the whiskered blond, remembering their team meeting and her pathetic behaviour.
"Poor, poor Sasuke." Lamented Naruto.
Luckily Naruto's luck held out until he arrived at the Hokage tower and proceeded up to Tsunade's office, where he saw Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Tayuya, and Anko gathered.
'Uh yo?' Said Naruto in confusion.
'Good, you're here Naruto. Now, the others have been briefed already, so I'll fill you in quickly while they go get ready.' Said Tsunade.
Tenten and Tayuya both gave Naruto a kiss on the check before leaving, prompting Hinata to glare at them murderously.
"Crap, I'll have to deal with her soon." Thought Naruto, inwardly dreading the upcoming conversation.
After they had all left, Naruto walked forward and sat on the corner of Tsunade's desk, facing away from her and in the process, ignoring the tick mark on her face.
'So what is the mission, Tsunade?' Asked Naruto nonchalantly, as he studied the pictures of the past Hokage.
Tsunade took a deep audible breath before speaking, 'A seduction and assassination mission into The Land of Grass.'
'Oh… forgive me if I'm speaking out of place, but are you sure you need so many people, if I'm not mistaken, assassination missions are normally carried out alone, even more so the ones involving seduction.' Said Naruto with a curious tone.
Tsunade hid it well but was inwardly surprised that Naruto had become so knowledgeable.
'That is where you come in, with your clones, you will cover protection detail. That way instead of us having to send out five shinobi, we are sending you instead due to your unique skills.' Said Tsunade.
Naruto frowned but nodded before leaving the office as a blade of wind.
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The group of seven were hopping along the trees in the general direction of The Land of Grass with palpable tension in the air. Anko was looking at Naruto in barely disguised desire every now and again, no doubt due to the possibility of her having her curse seal removed. Tenten and Tayuya were looking at Naruto with happiness and a bit of lust. Sakura looked like she wanted to melt Naruto with her eyes, while Hinata looked like she wanted to kill Tayuya and Tenten, while looking at Naruto in wistfulness. As for Ino, well Ino just seemed apathetic to the whole situation, but had a gleam in her eye as she watched Hinata, Tenten, and Tayuya, no doubt intrigued by the recent change in attitudes. Naruto choose to take the safe option and was ignoring all the glances around him and conversing with Kurama.
"So, are you going to tell me what the marks represent?" Asked Naruto curiously.
The fox scoffed while muttering about super powerful idiots.
Naruto grew a tick mark and growled at the fox, before cutting the link again.
"Shesh he has been getting so moody recently." Thought Naruto wondering what the cause was for Kurama's sudden change in attitude.
Naruto discreetly looked at the group behind him and sighed.
"Oh man, this is not going to be a fun mission at all." Thought Naruto.
If only he knew how right he was.
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After arriving at The Land of Grass, Anko quickly took charge, giving the group more detailed specifics on who they would be targeting and personal details about the targets movements and frequently visited establishments. The target was a low-ranking official who had very strong backing from the people; the problem was he also had his own hired ninja force which he used to intimidate those who tried to stop his business which usually resulted in the killing of said people. To make matters worse, he also controlled the people trafficking rings in most minor lands such as Tea, Wave, and Rivers, while also having control of a small group in Water and Wind. His business was a borderline illegal brothel, as while some of the workers were legitimate, most were people kidnapped and forced to work at the brothel under fear of torture. The girls were going to infiltrate said business while Naruto would watch guard over them while keeping an eye on Tadashi Hirago, the lowlife behind all of this.
'All right now you all know the parameters of the mission so before we begin, I just have one last piece of advice.' Said Anko gaining everyone's attention, stopping them just outside the outskirts of the town which Tadashi operated from.
'If one of you compromises our position we will all be found out and hundreds will continue to suffer, so make sure you don't do anything to attraction too much attention.' Said Anko seriously.
The group nodded and entered the town separately, with Naruto entering a few minutes afterwards, so as to dissuade anyone from thinking he was affiliated with the kunoichi. Naruto was clad in a frayed blue trench coat complete with a hood, with a white shirt stained with dirt and mud, black steel toed boots and black cargo shorts reaching just past his knees, his headband, kunai and shuriken sealed into his shorts and his sword hidden by the coat lying vertically along his spine, giving him the appearance of a shady mercenary. Naruto made his way over to a seedy looking pub and seated himself at the bar. He ordered a bottle of sake and started to drink while discreetly channelling chakra to his ears in order to hear every conversation in the bar. He remained at the bar for a good four hours, not hearing or seeing anything of worth aside from a figure sitting in the corner of the establishment, who was clad in a large trench coat with the hood up, only allowing a pair of eyes to be visible, which he felt that he should recognise, which was further supported when he briefly made eye contact with the greyish-blue eyes of said person which seemed to dance with amusement and lust. Eventually his patience proved fruitful when Tadashi entered the pub laughing jovially with two other men, with a scantily clad, busty brunette hanging off his arm.
"One of the paid workers no doubt." Thought Naruto.
The group ordered two bottles of sake and sat in the centre of the pub.
'Yes, a new shipment is coming in tomorrow, Gin, from Tea this time.' Said Tadashi in a slightly high-pitched voice.
"New shipment? Bastard! Haven't you ruined enough lives yet?" Thought Naruto in annoyance, as his hand tightened on the bottle of sake he was drinking from.
'What about those new, uh, prospects?' Said Gin carefully, with an almost teasing voice.
'Ah yes, I shall be… testing, them out later today.' Said Tadashi before chuckling darkly.
"Well I guess that means that the infiltration was a success." Thought Naruto, before throwing down some money and leaving.
The third man who until now had been quiet, glanced at Naruto before saying something which caused worry to strike Naruto.
'The sad part is they don't yet realise that we know they are ninja.' Said the last man in a very deep voice, who was covered in a black trench coat with the hood up.
'Indeed Shin, indeed.' Said Tadashi.
"Well their cover is blown; this can't be good. I guess I'll have to keep this a secret for now, I can't risk them panicking and failing the mission. I'll just have to keep a closer eye on them." Thought Naruto, before leaving and entering an alley. He made six clones which then vanished, disappearing in a blade of wind each.
"No, this isn't good at all." Thought Naruto.
Inside Naruto's mind Kyuubi stirred and updated himself on the current situation.
"Hmm, quite cold, Naruto, whether you know it or not, you are changing, and it would seem not for the better." Thought Kurama, before going back to sleep.
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Anko was currently confirming the layout of the building with Ino and Hinata.
'Yes, I took over one of the leading guards minds and took a look around. There are three floors and a basement. The top floor was inaccessible and crawling with guards, my guess is Tadashi's office is up there. The second floor is largely dominated by bedrooms, no doubt for the activities. The first floor, which we are currently on, holds the main entrance and guard barracks. This leads me to believe the kidnapped workers are brought in from, and kept in, the basement.' Said Ino in a hushed whisper.
Anko nodded before turning to Hinata.
'Everything is similar to what Ino has found, although the top floor has a tube leading to the northern exit of the town, while the basement has a tunnel which, as far as I could see, leads well out of the town.' Added Hinata quietly.
'All right, now, I have heard from the others that they too were requested to come to the top floor tonight, so this means tonight is our chance, be ready.' Said Anko, earning a nod from the other two, before they all left in opposite directions.
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'Heh, some ninjas are entirely too overconfident, not noticing that the designs on the roof are seals for surveillance cameras and microphones. Wouldn't you agree, Shin?' Spoke the slick voice of Gin.
Shin gave a light glare from under his hood.
'Well they will find out soon.' Said Gin with a grin, baring his shiny white teeth.
'Soon.' Finished Gin in amusement.
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Naruto had dispersed his clones after learning that the rest of his team was going to meet with Tadashi in fifteen-minute intervals from midnight. The now dark red clad ninja settled in the foliage of the tree he had recently climbed in order to get a good vantage point for the meeting, luckily it was autumn, so he blended in nicely with the dark orange and brown leaves.
Sakura went in first and was led to another room, Naruto waited patiently but after fifteen minutes, not a single sound or movement was made and soon Tayuya walked in.
"Did she do it or what?" Wondered Naruto.
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Tayuya walked in only wearing a small black tank top and red skirt.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on, did the pink howler monkey get the job done or what?" Thought Tayuya, unconsciously mirroring Naruto's thoughts.
'Right this way if you please.' Said Tadashi with a slick grin on his face.
"Man this guy is creepy, not as creepy as snake face, but definitely creepier than that four-eyed freak." Thought the redhead, remembering her old leader and his right-hand man.
Tayuya entered the room and felt a seal slapped onto the back of her neck before everything went black.
"Damn… Naruto." Was the Uzumaki's last thought, before collapsing to the floor.
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The process repeated itself until every girl had come through Tadashi's office. After Anko disappeared, Tadashi himself disappeared and Naruto had run out of patience.
'Time to finish this.' Whispered Naruto, before turning into a blade of wind which shot through the window of Tadashi's office.
He landed in a crouch materialising once again, before walking over to the only other door in the room aside from the entrance. Inside he saw a lone man wearing a long, black trench coat, with the hood up, whom Naruto realised to be Shin.
'Hello ninja, surprised?' Asked Shin.
'Honestly yes, I didn't expect a lowly criminal to be capable of outsmarting some of the best kunoichi I know.' Said Naruto, clearly not referring to Sakura at all.
'Pride and arrogance have clouded your mind, even a small child could kill a great ninja given appropriate circumstance.' Said Shin, before pulling out two kusarigama.
'That may be true in most cases, but as you said, circumstance is everything and yours have already put you at a disadvantage.' Said Naruto, as a clone of him brought The Claw of Kurama diagonally towards Shin's neck.
Shin raised his two blades and using the chain, locked the clone's blade, before stabbing one of the sickles into the clone's heart, with the other sickle out in front of him ready for any move Naruto may make.
'Things will not be as easy as you want them to be.' Declared Shin, before lunging at Naruto with one sickle coming down on his head, while the other was swung horizontally to stab Naruto in the kidney.
'Fool.' Said Naruto before drawing his blade and blocking the sickle aimed for his head, and in a surprising display of speed, jumped upwards while dragging the sickle with him, in an attempt to impale Shin with the sickle he swung at Naruto's back.
Shin somehow ducked in time while simultaneously grabbing the chain of the sickle which had nearly ended his life, before throwing it upwards, where it lodged itself into the ceiling of the cramped room. Shin swung himself using the anchor his sickle provided him to deliver a flying kick at Naruto's gut. Naruto already being airborne couldn't dodge and thus blocked the kick by crossing both arms in front of his chest, before grabbing onto Shin's left ankle and twisting. Shin quickly twisted his whole body in the same direction as Naruto's twist, in order to avoid having his ankle broken, however this was what Naruto wanted as he then brought his elbow down onto Shin's right kneecap, shattering the bone. Shin landed in a heap and breathed out heavily. Naruto quickly back flipped in midair with a chakra aided burst and landed right by the door again.
'This isn't over.' Said Shin quietly.
'Oh but it is.' Said Naruto, walking past the crumpled man towards what appeared to be a tunnel.
'I said this isn't over.' Said Shin, before pulling the chain which held his sickle that was lodged in the roof down towards Naruto, while standing up and surprisingly, lunged at Naruto with his other sickle.
'Third Tail: Tail of Agony.' Whispered Naruto, before his three tailed cloak sprung up around him.
Naruto disappeared in a blur of red cutting the chain of both kusarigama before stabbing his blade into Shin's wrists, first the left followed by the right, slashing down to the elbow of each after which he pulled the blade out and stuck it through Shin's ribs diagonally through the left side of his body, piercing the majority of his right lung while severing his left in half all within the space of seven seconds.
Shin fell to the floor as Naruto pulled out his sword while deactivating his shroud, hacking up blood and saliva, with more blood dripping down his shredded forearms.
'Thanks.' Said Shin quietly, before the light left his eyes and a seal appeared on his forehead before vanishing.
'Body control seals huh?' Said Naruto, having seen the seal and recognising it.
Naruto walked over to Shin before giving a bow before closing Shin's eyes. Naruto then picked up the pieces of Shin's kusarigama and sealed them away before entering the tunnel.
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When Naruto reached the end of the tunnel, he found himself near the northern exit of the town. He quickly channelled some of Kyuubi's chakra to his nose before locking on to Tenten and Tayuya's scents.
'Trying to flee are you, well I can't let that happen.' Said Naruto before blurring away in pure speed running towards the scent.
After a quick five-minute run, he found himself at a small two-story building. He sensed about twenty signatures on the first floor and four on the top floor.
"Hmm the top floor, must be where some of the girls are being held, which means that the first floor, is going to be fun." Thought Naruto with a bloodthirsty smirk.
Naruto kicked down the front door and looked around quickly, surveying the area. In the far-right corner of the room was Anko, Hinata, Tenten, and Tayuya all gagged and blindfolded, and as far as Naruto could tell, unconscious.
'You know, you might think that kidnapping and blindfolding those girls helps you.' Began Naruto, drawing the attention of everyone else in the room.
'The truth however is that you have made sure I don't have to hold back HAHAHAHAHA.' Said Naruto laughing manically as his shroud covered him, with two tails lashing out behind him, his eyes turning red while his sclera turned black.
Naruto launched out fifteen chakra claws from his shroud and plunged them into the chests of the fifteen men around him, only sinking the claws in slightly so as to not kill them instantly, but to instead allow the corrosive chakra to eat away at them as they cried out in agony.
'Music to my ears.' Mumbled Naruto.
'Hmm, I felt twenty signatures when I came inside, but only see fifteen bodies.' Pondered Naruto aloud, before turning to the corner of the room where a person was shivering in the corner holding an axe.
Naruto slowly walked over to the trembling man, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust.
'P-please don't kill me, Tadashi threatened to kill my family if I didn't join him.' Whimpered the man.
Naruto audibly sighed before turning away.
'Ha, die bastard!' Shouted the man, before lunging at Naruto, axe poised to split his head.
Upon contact with the shroud, the metal blade melted and the wood caught fire, causing the man to drop it, the axe falling to the ground but never reaching it, as it disintegrated before reaching the floor.
'Hehehehehahahahahaha Oh you fool, I spared your life and gave you the chance to live and you tried to split my head open HAHAHA. Die in agony.' Said Naruto, before he stabbed the man in the eyes with his fingers, causing his eyes to burn.
He dropped to his knees, clawing at his face, all the while releasing bloodcurdling screams as the corrosive chakra ate away at his eyes, before moving on to his brain, killing him slowly and painfully.
'Fool.' Said Naruto, before releasing his cloak as his eyes returned to normal.
Naruto quickly checked up on the four, ensuring that they were still alive, before heading upstairs. Naruto climbed the stairs slowly and upon reaching the door behind which he felt five signatures, kicked it down. The sight he walked in on was Tadashi trying to force himself on Ino who was lightly sobbing with her shirt ripped open, revealing her bra, with her hands tied behind her back, while Sakura was curled up in the corner, as though she had received a heavy beating to her midsection. Gin was seated behind a desk looking bored, while there was the same figure he had seen in the bar sitting in the corner of the room, staring at him.
'Tadashi, you are an unlucky man.' Said Naruto calmly, drawing everyone's attention, minus the unconscious Sakura.
'*sniff* N-Naruto *sniff*.' Said Ino sadly, with a hint of relief.
'What do you want, how did you get here?' Asked Tadashi, all the while pressing Ino against the wall.
'Oh my, and here I thought you were intelligent; ask not for when your time will be up, for your time is now.' Said Naruto, before moving at immense speeds, tackling Tadashi and pressing his back against the wall, while Ino slumped to the floor.
'You don't have any regard for human life and abuse it at your whim, hence, while on a whim, now I shall take your life, but not before I give you a gift for your trip to the afterlife.' Said Naruto, before his eyes became slitted, and he focused more and more chakra into his eyes while looking directly into Tadashi's.
In seconds, Tadashi started to scream while frothing at the mouth, before snapping out of it and looking at Naruto with wide eyes.
'M-M-mons…' Tadashi mumbled, before Naruto launched a chakra enhanced uppercut to his gut, pulverising most of his internal organs, which caused him to hack out copious amounts of blood, before his coughing ceased and he slumped over the arm, dead.
Naruto gave him one last look before tossing him to the side of the room. Naruto looked to the two unknowns in the room, trying to gauge their reaction; the hooded figure gave no reaction, whereas Gin had a slight grin on his face. Naruto was conflicted seeing Gin grinning, but after hearing Ino's light sobs, he walked over to her. He picked her up off the floor and hugged her. She stiffened at the contact before crying into Naruto's shoulder for a few minutes. Once she had calmed down a bit, Naruto unsealed his blue frayed trench coat and gave it to her, before pinching a nerve in her neck to put her to sleep. He gently laid her down and after checking that Sakura had no major injuries, walked back to the two figures that hadn't moved an inch since he had entered the room.
'Now who are you two and why were you working for Tadashi? That being said, what I really want to know the most is why neither of you care that I killed your boss.' Said Naruto calmly with an aggressive undertone.
'Ah, and who ever said I work for Tadashi, I am just a lowly merchant whom Tadashi came to trust and confide in, as well as being able to provide him with a sealing expert.' Gin said in a teasing tone, before glancing at his partner.
Naruto's expression remained unchanged until he heard the sealing remark. He lunged at the figure and pushed it against the wall.
'*Oof* I didn't think you were the type to like it rough.' Teased a sultry voice.
'Grr who are you? Aside from Jiraiya and the Fourth Hokage, all the sealing experts in the world have been Uzumaki, or of Uzumaki lineage?' Questioned Naruto.
'Oh, and here I thought you had liked my red hair.' Said the figure being pressed against the wall, as she reached into her hood and brought a few strands of dark red hair forward while brushing them on Naruto's nose slightly, causing a tingle to run down his spine.
Naruto relaxed his grip and let go of the figure that somehow seemed to be smiling under the hood, however that was possible.
'You see, Naruto, well, you could say someone was expecting you.' Said Gin with his ever-present grin.
'Oh, and who would that be?' Asked Naruto in a steady voice.
'That would be me.' Said a figure, which was currently leaning against Naruto's back with its own.
Naruto's eyes widened slightly, before a smile started to spread across his face.
'So it's you.' Said Naruto.
'Indeed Naruto.' Said the cloaked figure.
'So mind telling me who these two are?' Asked Naruto curiously.
'They are my contacts; come now, you have been with Jiraiya long enough to know how a spy network functions.' Replied the figure in monotone.
'Very well… Now who are you?' Asked Naruto, turning his attention back onto the other cloaked figure.
'Me? Well, I am just someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time.' Teased the figure.
Naruto glared at the roundabout response.
'No games.' Said Naruto in a steely voice.
'Not even in the bedroom?' Asked the figure in mock hurt, with a fake sniffle.
Naruto maintained his gaze, causing the figure to sigh.
'You shouldn't be so uptight; women don't like a man who is so severe all the time. Although I guess I have teased you enough. For now.' Said the figure, adding the last part as an afterthought, before raising a hand to the hood of the cloak.
The cloak was pulled back revealing dark greyish-blue eyes and blood red hair with fair skin, marred only by a small beauty mark on the left side of her lip.
'So, it is you.' Said Naruto with a slight nod.
'Hmm, how did you know it was me?' Asked the now revealed beauty, with a small pout.
'Well, I did press you against the wall, so I was able to ascertain a reasonable estimate of your, uh, proportions.' Said Naruto with a small, amused smirk.
'Oh, that is just unfair, feeling up a woman and not allowing her the same courtesy.' Teased the figure in mock sadness complete with a pout, while also crossing her arms under her bust, intentionally pushing it up.
'Oh, I never said I wouldn't allow you to return the favour.' Said Naruto causing the beauty to smile.
'*cough* Uh, you are certainly different since the last time we met, Naruto.' Said the still hooded figure in a monotone tinged with a hint of surprise.
'Well people change after all.' Said Naruto with a shrug.
'Now let's go.' Said Naruto, before creating a clone and having it pick up Sakura, while he picked up Ino.
'Right, Gin, you know what to do.' Said the figure.
'Of course. I will head out as soon as I fix the mistakes of Tadashi over there. As for Fuka, I suggest you take her with you, as I should not be needing her help for the foreseeable future.' Said Gin, before leaving the room.
Naruto gave a quick glance to Fuka, then the other figure, before giving a small nod and leaving as well.
'So Fuka, would you like to go see the Village Hidden in the Leaves?' Asked the figure.
'Of course, Itachi.' Said Fuka with a small smile.
-line break-
Naruto headed downstairs and gently set down Ino, before creating another five clones.
'Take care of them and take them to the Leaf, I will be along shortly.' Said Naruto, getting nods from all of his clones, who hastened to carry out his orders.
The original Naruto walked out while heading back to the northern exit of town, knowing the tunnel would still be there and would take him to where he wanted to go. After a long walk, Naruto reached Shin's body, the blood was only now starting to congeal, and the body was still a little warm. Naruto stared at the body for a second before picking it up bridal style and carrying it outside. Naruto set the body down before allowing a tail to form, which he plunged into the ground and quickly dragged around in a rectangular motion. With that done, Naruto made the tiger seal and placed his chakra cloaked hand on the ground, causing the section he had carved out to adhere to his hand, which he picked up and placed next to him in a rectangular clump. Deactivating his cloak, Naruto picked up Shin's body and placed him into the hole with his arms by his side. A small water jutsu later and the blood marring Shin's face had washed off and been absorbed into the ground. Naruto slowly and quietly took two handfuls of dirt at a time from the clump next to him and placed them over Shin's body until he was buried. Naruto grabbed onto a section of the wooden wall which wasn't necessary for the building's structural integrity and pulled it out, before clawing the name 'Shin' onto the plank, before he pushed it slightly into the ground at the head of Shin's grave, so it would stay up.
'I hope that you have found peace in death, Shin. You were a warrior worthy of a death in battle, I only hope our battle was to your satisfaction.' Said Naruto, before pressing his hands together and giving a deep bow.
-line break-
'So Itachi, how did you know I was going to be sent out for this mission, moreover, why didn't you just come to the Leaf, you have been fully pardoned by Tsunade, not that anyone beside Jiraiya, Sasuke, Tsunade, and myself of course know this?' Asked Naruto, as he tree hopped alongside Itachi, as they caught up with his clones carrying all the girls who were currently unconscious, with Fuka in front of Itachi and Naruto, keeping an eye on the clones.
'Well you see I needed to find a way to covertly escape Akatsuki without drawing any attention to myself, believe me, with Sasori and Zetsu around, that isn't easy.' Replied Itachi in his usual level tone.
'So… what can you tell me about Akatsuki, aside from you and Kisame, no one really knows who makes up Akatsuki?' Probed Naruto, turning his head to study Itachi's profile, trying to get some info on his would-be hunters.
'Well, I could tell you now, but I hate repeating myself and knowing that I will have to repeat this information in full detail to Tsunade shortly, I will give you the abridged version. There are 'The Immortals', a duo who are near impossible to kill. Then there are 'The Artists', a group who are very dangerous, although not very stealthy, given one of them uses exploding clay. Then there is the Leader, otherwise known as Pein, and his Angel, whose skills are largely unknown, although Pein has the fabled Rinnegan, and The Angel utilizes paper based Ninjutsu. Then there is Zetsu, the spy of Akatsuki, also a cannibal plant man and lastly, Tobi, who possess a Sharingan eye and is the true Leader of Akatsuki and for a time, my senpai.' Said Itachi, with his tone growing ominous around the end.
'So not exactly you regular run of the mill ninja.' Said Naruto turning to face forward again, unconsciously staring at Fuka as she hopped from tree to tree.
Fuka had shed her cloak, now being clad in the same clothing Naruto had seen her in when they had first met, being that of a dark-pink and shoulder less gi-like shirt with loose arm-warmers reaching her upper arms and light-purple spandex-shorts and a pair of black low-heeled boots with an olive-green tipping. After a while, Fuka looked back and blew Naruto a kiss as she had felt his eyes roam her body, largely focusing on her posterior, Naruto in return gave an almost unnoticeable blush and looked down slightly in embarrassment at having been caught staring, before looking back up with a saucy grin, which Fuka returned. In Naruto's mind, Kurama etched a longer scratch onto the wall, turning the mark which had previously been half the length of the others the same length.
"Ha, no one can fool a fox that is many centuries old." Thought Kurama, before going back to sleep.
-line break-
Arriving at the front gate, Naruto quickly signed everyone in before rushing off to the Hokage tower with his clones, Itachi, and Fuka following.
'Um Kotetsu, was that Naruto with Itachi?' Asked Izumo, staring at the sign-in sheet in disbelief.
'J-just let it go, he was with Naruto, right? Meaning Naruto should be able to take care of him if need be.' Said Kotetsu in shock.
Izumo for once uncharacteristically agreed with his lifelong friend and choose to ignore what he had just seen.
'Well, I guess that is what you get for complaining about gate duty being boring all the time.' Said Izumo with a chuckle.
-line break-
Tsunade's right eye was twitching so much it may have been hypothesized that it was an organism all on its own. One might ask why Tsunade's eye was twitching so much to cause people to think it was alive and the answer was simple: Naruto. Having walked into her office with all of the kunoichi he had been assigned to protect currently unconscious, each held in the arms of one of his clones, an unknown kunoichi who looked entirely too flirtatious for her liking, and if that wasn't bad enough, the one, the only, Itachi Uchiha, who was standing in her office with a completely indifferent expression on his face, to top all that off, Naruto had the audacity to nonchalantly yawn and say mission accomplished. Tsunade could not take it any longer at lunged at Naruto.
'BRAT!' Shouted Tsunade, as she cocked her fist back, before throwing a massive punch at Naruto. Tsunade blinked and somehow found herself hugging Naruto.
'Aw, I missed you too Tsunade.' Said Naruto, as he hugged Tsunade, while snickering internally.
"I love wind manipulation." Thought Naruto in amusement.
Tsunade sighed and hugged Naruto back, before leaning back and bonking him softly on the head, which caused him to give his fox-like grin.
'*sigh* You are too much of a headache, Naruto, I have no idea how Sarutobi-Sensei dealt with you.' Said Tsunade, while massaging her forehead.
'Hehe, the old man said that a lot as well.' Said Naruto in a sad, nostalgic tone.
Tsunade paused, gauging Naruto's emotional stability, remembering that talking about Hiruzen had been a touchy issue around him after his passing before he had left. That being said, it seemed that she had nothing to worry about anymore, as Naruto had a small smile on his face and looked as though he had come to terms with the Third passing away.
'Anyway, mind explaining why your team is unconscious?' Tsunade asked, but it was clear that it was an order.
Naruto proceeded to explain what happened during the mission, causing Tsunade to frown, before she started to massage her temples in annoyance.
'That's about it I think.' Said Naruto in a thoughtful tone.
'Uh huh, mind explaining what they are doing here?' Asked Tsunade, gesturing to Itachi and Fuka.
'Well Itachi happened to have been waiting for me and it was a coincidence that we met up on this mission, although as you know, I was planning on tracking him down soon so you could heal him.' Said Naruto, earning a nod from Tsunade.
'While Fuka here is part of Itachi's spy network and was keeping an eye on Tadashi. Oh, can you give her a blood test.' Said Naruto offhandedly.
Tsunade's eyes narrowed, 'Why? You didn't get her pregnant or anything brat?!' Asked Tsunade in a warning tone, filled with promises of pain if the answer didn't satisfy her.
'No.' Replied Naruto "Not yet anyway."
Kurama just gave himself a self-satisfied pat on the back.
"I am always right." Kurama thought arrogantly.
'Why then?' Asked Tsunade in a more level tone.
'Just a… hunch.' Said Naruto vaguely.
'Fine, now get out of here.' Said Tsunade, before Naruto nodded and gave a slight bow, before he disappeared in a ball of wind, which looked like a massive Rasengan.
'Now Itachi, I think it goes without saying that until we announce you are back, you are to lie low.' Said Tsunade authoritatively.
'Can I go see my brother and the Uchiha clan compound?' Asked Itachi.
'Very well, but only Naruto and Sasuke, as well as your, associate, can know you are here in the village.' Warned Tsunade, to which Itachi nodded, before vanishing in a flock of crows.
Tsunade once again started to massage her temples, before melodious laughter came from Fuka.
'You know, if you stress too much, you'll get wrinkles.' Teased Fuka.
'Shut up you, I am in my fifties, if I want wrinkles, I'll get them.' Said Tsunade grouchily.
Before taking a swig of sake.
'Hehehe, is it a bad time to say I'm technically in my eighties?' Asked Fuka, causing Tsunade to spit out her sake.
'Guess it was, huh?' Commented Fuka with a laugh.
'That's it, I am giving you a blood test.' Said Tsunade, before making six shadow clones to carry the others who were still knocked out.
"Brat isn't the only one who can use that jutsu." Thought Tsunade in pride.
-line break-
As Naruto was walking back to his apartment, he felt a seal on the back of his right-hand burn with the number nine.
'Guess it is that time again.' Mumbled Naruto, before quickly running to his apartment and closing the door, before activating a chakra suppression seal on the door to hide the usage of any chakra in the apartment from anyone outside it, before making a shadow clone.
'Reverse Summoning Jutsu.' Said the Naruto clone, while slamming his hand down on the ground just in front of the original, before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
-line break-
Naruto appeared in a cave lit by candles which worked using residual fire natured chakra in the chamber. There were nine poles, each three metres high, arranged in a circle, eight of the poles were already occupied by people, while Naruto quickly jumped up to the ninth.
'Welcome once again all, to the monthly meeting of Jinchuuriki.' Said Naruto to the other eight people who were gathered in the cave.
'First order of business, Akatsuki is beginning to mobilise.' Said Naruto seriously.
Now, just in case some of you are worried, don't worry, Fuka is not staying eighty as any way you look at it, an eighty-year-old with an eighteen-year-old is weird, sorry if this offends anyone, but I simply cannot fathom that at all. She is only temporarily eighty as it has to do with the way I am modelling her ability to switch between bodies and live in her hair. Rest assured, soon she will be turned back into a twenty-year-old. Oh, one last thing, I will be focusing on this story for now, just check my profile for specifics as it is now one in the morning here and I am too tired to write the note out again.