Chapter Fifteen: Silencing a Bird
Author's Note: As always, I'd like to start by thanking everyone who's left a like, follow, or review. I genuinely appreciate it.
Otherwise, I hope you enjoy this story!
Bold: Technique (English Translation)
Italics: Thoughts
Horizontal Line: Flashback
(Scene Change): Signals a scene change
"What's the day's take, Goro?" Raiga asked as he took a sip of sake from a saucer, sitting in what used to be the Headman's house. A gray, zip-up pack that looked like a cocoon rested at his side while his twin swords–the Kiba–were propped against the wall behind him.
"A few kilograms, boss," Goro reported, standing at attention.
Raiga frowned, his rippled blue eyes narrowing. "A few kilograms? That's not enough. Inform the workers that they must produce more, or there will be extra shifts." Raiga noticed Goro squirming. "You disagree."
Goro's black eyes widened in alarm. "No! No, boss! It's just–"
"-Just?" Raiga cut him off, raising one of his thick, green eyebrows as he pinned his underling with his gaze. "Spit it out."
"It's just–why can't we go out and raid some of the other villages for more workers?" Goro shakily asked.
Raiga gave Goro a puzzled look. "Are you slow? We can't do that because we risk drawing attention to ourselves."
"But why would that matter? You're invincible, boss!" Goro gushed.
"Yes, I am strong," Raiga smirked, preening for a moment before stating, "But even someone such as I would be hard-pressed to defend all of you should Kawa no Kuni's Daimyo call for aid from either Konoha or Suna, which would happen if we started kidnapping other villagers."
"Understood, Boss!" Goro grinned, feeling a sense of warmth at his leader's concern for him.
"Excellent! Now, go inform the workers," Raiga ordered, dispatching his man with a wave of his tanned hand.
Goro nodded before leaving the room.
Raiga sat in silence for a moment, enjoying his drink and admiring the flickering shadows cast by the lit sconces as he mentally composed a few lines for a new eulogy when the noise of a zipper opening drew his attention. His eyes flicked towards the sound, seeing the cocoon unzipping to reveal a pair of glowing red eyes attached to a young boy with lavender hair.
"Why lie to him?" the boy softly asked, his eyes boring into Raiga's as he emerged from his pack. "You have no intention of protecting any of them."
Raiga shrugged as he placed down his saucer and picked up a bottle. "Words to ease his mind, like whispered assurances to those on their deathbeds to make their passing easier."
"But why won't you protect them? Are they not your men?" Ranmaru asked, frowning as he caught motion from the corner of his eyes. His scarlet orbs flicked towards the movement, seeing a tiny brown bird perching itself on a tree branch outside the window.
"They are, but they are expendable; the only ones that matter are you and me," Raiga said before knocking back the rest of the sake. "Bah! Should they die, I'll honor them with a funeral–nothing brings people together like a funeral!" the ex-swordsmen declared with a drunken blush on his cheeks. He then stood, dropped the bottle, and swept out of the room in search of more alcohol.
"I see," Ranmaru stated, his eyes locked on his protector's back as he left. The young boy's eyes told him that Raiga truly believed that the only people who mattered were Ranmaru and him. Yet, the boy's eyes could also see a sorrow bubbling underneath the surface; Raiga hated himself for how he felt.
And Ranmaru hated that he couldn't help him.
The boy's attention shifted to the bird perched on the branch, its brown eyes locked on Ranmaru. The boy tilted his head, examining the tiny avian.
It was a common cliff swallow and, as its name suggested, was common to the region due to its large cliffs. Ranmaru had seen dozens of them during his time near Kawabatami, but that was the first time he had ever seen a bird with the chakra and soul of a human.
"How strange," Ranmaru thought, channeling more chakra to his eyes and seeing a thin thread of chakra leaving the bird's chest and going upwards in a southeasterly direction. The boy followed the thread, looking past buildings, trees, and stone, his eyes gazing for miles until they landed on a blond girl a few years older than him sitting slumped against a rock on a plateau. He observed the girl, quickly marking her as a shinobi from the hia-ate she used as a belt.
"What are Konoha shinobi doing here?" Ranmaru wondered. He pulled back his sight and spotted a blond boy around the same age as the girl in the bird and another girl with raven hair. It didn't take the red-eyed boy long to deduce that the trio of shinobi were scouting them, but where was their sensei? And were there more?
"Oi! Ranmaru! What are you looking at?" Raiga slurred as he strolled into the room, a fresh bottle of sake in his hand as he bent down and picked up his saucer.
"Bird watching. Some baby birds are roosting in the cliffs," Ranmaru replied, looking at the bird standing on the branch. He saw it stiffen.
"Oh, and where are their parents?" Raiga asked, quickly charging chakra to the saucer before turning and flicking it at the tiny bird. The clay bowl sliced through the air, cutting off the bird's head.
Ranmaru watched the girl's spirit flee the bird's body just as the saucer cut into its neck. He tracked the spirit, seeing it return to her body as her two companions frantically tried to provide medical aid. "They appear to be alone," Ranamaru answered before lying in his pack and zipping up.
"Then let's go and keep them company," Raiga stated, swiftly grabbing his swords and hoisting Ranmaru onto his back. His young charge secure, Raiga shot out of the room, gathering a few of his men before heading to the western cliffs.
(Scene Change)
Naruto and Haku were stunned by the sudden turn of events. One moment, they were guarding Ino's body. The next, they were sprayed by a mist of blood spurting from the Yamanaka's throat. However, it only took Haku a second to break out of her shock and leap into action.
The raven-haired girl rushed to Ino's side. Haku swiftly drew two senbon from her pack and stabbed them precisely into the sides of the blond girl's slender neck. Ino suddenly stiffened before relaxing, though Haku paid it little mind as she channeled her clan's bloodline to her hands, causing them to glow a faint white with cool mists coming off of them.
Haku's actions freed Naruto from his stupor.
Naruto surged forward, grabbing his girlfriend's shoulders and pulling her away from Ino. "Haku? What the fuck are you–"
"-I'm slowing her blood flow! Now, summon some clones, then summon Gamakichi to get Jiraiya!" Haku ordered, slipping from her boyfriend's grip and returning to Ino's side, where she began to pressure the wound and seal it with her Hyōton chakra.
Naruto nodded, quickly placing his hands in the unique plus-shaped hand seal for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) and surging his chakra. Instantly, the trio were engulfed by a plume of thick, white smoke the size of a large house. Before the smoke cleared, dozens of pops were heard, followed by twenty groups of clones using Henge (Transformed) to transform into the trio. The disguised clones shot out of the smoke, scattering in every direction. The remaining Naruto clones then fanned out, searching for nearby enemies, setting traps, and taking defensive positions.
Naruto bit his thumb while the smoke cleared and blistered through the hand seals for the summoning technique before slamming his right hand on the ground.
"Yo, Naruto! How's it-" Gamakichi began to say, only for his summoner to cut him off.
"-No time! Go to Jiraiya and tell him we need a medic! Ino's hurt! Bad!" Naruto commanded.
"Got it!" Gamakichi hurriedly agreed before dispelling himself and going to Jiraiya.
His tasks done, Naruto returned to Haku's side, noting that she had unzipped his bloody jacket to get access to Ino's neck. "I don't think I'll ever wear that jacket again," the boy shuddered as he spotted how stained the white collar was as Haku's ice slowly encased the girl's throat; the blue ice tinged pink.
"As soon as I've sealed her wound, we're going to have to move–just in case they send someone after us," Haku stated, her eyes focused on her work as she ensured her patch was secure.
Naruto nodded, agreeing with his girlfriend's assessment. "And how long will it take you to seal it?" Naruto nervously asked, his eyes peering around their plateau as his hands reached into his hip pouch and palmed a kunai.
"A few minutes," Haku answered before falling silent and focusing on her work.
The seconds slowly passed as Haku did her work. Seconds where Naruto's mind was sucked into a maelstrom of twisting thoughts and emotions that threatened to drag the blond underneath an undertow of guilt, anxiety, and rage. Thoughts like: "Was it my fault? Should we have been out here? Can we protect Ino? Who hurt her? Was it Raiga? I want to kill him."
Ticks away from the three-minute mark, Naruto's first clone got dispelled. It had transformed into a bare branch sticking out halfway down the cliff, lying in ambush for their enemy to scale the rockface, only for a green blur to make a beeline for it and slice it in half. "Shit!" Naruto cursed, shooting to his feet just as half a dozen more clones were dispelled in a similar manner. He turned to his girlfriend, "How much longer?"
"Fifteen more seconds," Haku answered, her pale brown slick with sweat.
A large explosion rocked the cliff face, followed by multiple lightning cracks.
"Fuck!" Naruto shouted, his mind flooded by dozens of clones instantly dispelled by a flash of blue lightning.
"He's too fast," Naruto thought, glancing at Haku and Ino. "I don't think we can outrun him. At least, not without a distraction." Naruto then made a decision as he prepared to summon a hundred more clones.
"Done! Summon as many clones as you can, and let's go!" Haku commanded, hoisting Ino onto her shoulders. She took two steps before Naruto stopped her in her tracks.
"You go! You're faster! I'll slow him down!" Naruto declared, creating his clones and sending them charging over the cliff's edge. The clones pulled out some explosive notes and wrapped them around the handles of their kunai.
Haku's eyes bulged to the size of boulders as she whipped around and stared down her boyfriend. "Are you insane? No! I won't-"
"-Haku! Ino needs help! Go!" Naruto barked, his eyes flinty before they slightly softened. "I'll be alright. Help's on the way," he assured before rushing off after his clones.
Haku stood there for a second, frozen, torn between dropping Ino and dragging her boyfriend back by his ear or acquiescing to his wishes. The first option would give them a better chance at living but would result in Naruto probably hating her for the rest of their lives–if they survived; the second option would give Ino a better chance at survival, but would probably result in Naruto's death.
"...I love you," Haku whispered, feeling a tear roll down her cheek before she turned and ran off towards their base.
(Scene Change)
Meanwhile, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Asuma, and Zabuza were sprinting across a plateau halfway between their base and the cliff Jiraiya and Ino had used for scouting earlier. Nothing was said between the stern-faced men, each knowing what their job was when they got to the scene. Yet, while their mouths were silent, their minds were anything but.
"Naruto, if you survive this, I swear that I'm putting you on a leash, dragging you back to Konoha, and training you into the ground until you can beat me with one hand!" Jiraiya declared.
Kakashi sighed, "Minato-sensei, your son's going to turn my gray hair white."
"Raiga, if you lay one finger on Haku, there won't be a shred of you left to bury," Zabuza seethed.
"Ino, please be safe," Asuma prayed.
(Scene Change)
Naruto commanded his clones to launch their explosive kunai while he circled to flank the green-haired swordsmen. The genin watched the hail of black blades fly toward the enemy, their burning explosive tags making them look like falling embers in the dying twilight. A lesser ninja would have balked at the sight, yet Raiga was no lesser ninja.
The former Kiri-nin calmly stood, observing the oncoming salvo as he raised his swords and charged chakra through them. The swords crackled with blue electricity that arced menacingly and lashed at the air. He slashed his swords, sending large, crescent blades of electricity at the approaching wall of metal.
Raiga smirked as he saw his attack get absorbed by the blades, bouncing between each one and prematurely setting off the explosive tags before they could even near him. The crime boss felt the cliff face rumble and crack underneath his feet as he dodged some of the debris the explosions knocked loose. He heard the sound of something cutting the air, causing him to roll his wrist and casually deflect a fuma shuriken heading towards his head.
"Is that the best you've got?" Raiga called, hearing the shuriken flip over his head and start falling towards the ground. The swordsmen would have let it fade from memory if Ranmaru didn't poke him hard in the back. Raiga swiftly turned and fired a lightning bolt at the shuriken, hitting it and causing it to dispel in a cloud of white chakra smoke. Raiga heard a large poof of smoke behind him, followed by another mob of fifty blond clones charging him with kunai.
"How did he see that?" Naruto wondered, keeping on the move as he interweaved between his clones, drawing a kunai and wrapping a flashbang tag around its handle. "How did he see my clones? They were transformed! Does this guy have eyes in the back of his head?"
Raiga frowned, his Kiba blades sparking as he gave the oncoming horde an unamused look. "I grow bored of this, boy." Raiga then disappeared in a blur and began slicing through the clones with contemptuous ease, eliminating the copies with expert cuts to necks and stabs to the chests. He heard a sizzling noise from above him as he bisected two clones. Instinctively, he used Kawarimi (Replacement Technique) to replace himself with a clone on the edge of the mob just before a flashbang went off.
"Fuck!" Naruto mentally swore when he received the memories from the clone that the missing Kiri-nin used for his escape. The blond's mind was racing with what to do when he heard a crack of lightning, followed quickly by a firm grip on his throat. "Urk!"
"It was noble of you to sacrifice your life for your allies. You bought them a few moments they didn't have," Raiga commended as he held the blond by his neck. His sword was hanging from his wrist by its loop. "May I know your name? I want to immortalize your death in a eulogy," Raiga casually explained, loosening his grip slightly.
"Fuck…you!" Naruto wheezed, glaring at the large man as he feebly kicked at the air and tried to pry loose from the swordsman's iron grip. The edges of Naruto's vision darkened as his brain signaled his lungs to intake as much air as possible through his constricted airways.
Raiga tutted, shaking his head as he gathered raiton chakra at the top of his shoulder and had it slowly snake its way down his arm and toward his hand. "Fuck you?' Is that how you want to be remembered? Pity," the man tutted as he shook his head, "Oh well, maybe those girls will tell my men before they join you," Raiga finished, flashing the blonde a malicious smirk just before the electricity hit his hand and started electrocuting the boy.
Naruto let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed around the canyons as he got lit up like a neon billboard. Every nerve ending in his body felt like it was on fire as the electricity coursed through it. The Uzumaki swore he could smell his skin burning and hear his blood boil. The teen was on the verge of blacking out, but he clung to consciousness as Raiga's words replayed in his mind; "Maybe those girls. Maybe those girls. Maybe those girls." Naruto felt a familiar warmth swirling in his gut as his mind raged, "Over my dead body!"
Ranmaru's red eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as they saw a huge mass of red chakra gathering in the blond's gut. He shuddered as the chakra formed the head of a snarling Kitsune that glared straight at him. "Rai-!"
Whatever Ranmaru was going to say was cut off by a pillar of swirling red chakra exploding from the blond boy. Ranmaru and Raiga got tossed back as the pillar extended outwards for twenty meters, bathing the nearby cliff faces in an eerie crimson light as heavy malice poisoned the air, its vileness felt for miles around.
(With the Reinforcements)
"That's!" Kakashi uttered, his visible eye widening as he sensed Naruto's tenant.
"Kyūbi," Jiraiya gravely stated, his eyes narrowing and fists clenching.
"Do you think the seal's broken?" Asuma asked, dreading the possibility.
"I hope not," Jiraiya said, pumping more chakra into his legs as he picked up the pace. His footsteps cratering the stone he ran on.
Zabuza said nothing; his mind flooded with images of Yagura unleashing the Sanbi's power, not knowing that his former teammate was thinking the same thing.
At the same time, Haku felt an involuntary shudder shake her spine when the Kyūbi's chakra polluted the air. "Please be safe, Naruto," the girl whispered when her senses screamed at her to dodge. Haku quickly hopped to her right, hearing something cutting the wind past her ear.
"You're a quick one," Goro grunted, pulling back his claw as he watched the girl make some distance. She stopped in front of a large boulder. A large boulder that one of his men was hiding behind, waiting for the signal. "Surrender, and I'll make your deaths quick and painless."
"Never!" Haku snarled, tightening her grip on Ino while she flexed the fingers of her free hand. The Yuki heiress' eyes darted to and fro, searching for threats as she gathered and kneaded suiton chakra in her stomach.
Goro shrugged, shifting into a fighting stance. "So be it," he said before charging forward.
A sandal scuffing against the rock behind her was Haku's only warning, but for Zabuza's apprentice, that was more than enough. Haku darted to her left, narrowly dodging claws that would have cleaved her head from her shoulders, as her free hand swiftly formed four hand seals.
"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Bomb Technique)," Haku thought as she brought her hand up to her lips and opened her mouth. A powerful stream of water fired out of the kunoichi's mouth with the power of a firehose, striking the surprised men. The men were sent tumbling, ass over tea kettle, across the rocky plateau as Haku held her technique.
A kicked stone from her left made Haku's eyes widen. Her eyes darted in that direction and saw a third man storming towards her, his claw aimed at Ino.
"Die!" the man roared, a bloodthirsty snarl on his face as his claw neared Ino.
Haku's body moved on its own as she ended her technique and quickly shifted Ino into her arms. She closed her eyes, preparing for the worst, when she felt a swift breeze past her, followed by a dull, wet thud. Haku opened her eyes, all tension leaving her shoulders as they landed on the familiar form of her sensei. "Zabuza-sama," she breathed, smiling. Never had she been so happy to see her teacher standing over a freshly decapitated corpse.
"Are you alright, Haku?" Zabuza's gruff voice asked, resisting the urge to punt the head off of the plateau as he turned and examined his student. He noted that Kakashi and Asuma had dealt with the other two enemies behind his apprentice: a broken neck for Kakashi's target and a slashed throat for Asuma's.
"I'm fine–but Naruto's not! Please, go help him," Haku urged, placing Ino on the ground.
"Will do," Zabuza nodded before disappearing in a blur.
Kakashi and Asuma approached the girls, the former quickly moving toward Ino to perform medical aid while the latter stood there momentarily, looking at his student's limp form. Unconsciously, Asuma tightly clenched his bloody trench knives in his fists as he examined her prone form, noting how pale the Yamanaka was. Asuma took a steadying breath before locking eyes with Haku and offering the girl a silent nod in thanks before he, too, disappeared in a blur.
"Please remove your ice so I can get at the wound," Kakashi requested, his hands glowing green.
Haku nodded, removing her ice, praying that her boyfriend was safe.
Kakashi quickly got to work, beginning to heal the wound, his one visible eye widening as he saw the damage.
(Back with Naruto)
"Jinchūriki," Raiga hissed, holding his hand as he leaped away to gain some distance. He spared his hand a glance, finding a mottled mess of third-degree burns and blackened skin. The swordsman tried to clench his fist, only to receive a burst of pain. The missing-nin repressed a groan as he let his arm fall to the side, a bead of cold sweat dripping down his spine as his body told him to flee, his mind sending him images of a short, gray-haired young man with pupilless pink eyes as the pillar soon folded in on itself, forming the same snarling head that—unknown to Raiga—Ranmaru had previously seen.
"Jinchūriki?" Ranmaru harshly whispered, channeling more chakra with his eyes to pierce through the veil of bijū chakra. He saw that the blond's burns were healing rapidly, growing new skin and repairing the damaged nerve endings. The young boy saw chakra gathering in the teen's legs a second before he disappeared. Ranmaru felt woozy as the world suddenly blurred. He heard the cliff crack behind him, shifting his focus. The young boy saw the jinchūriki's fist buried in the stone they previously stood.
Raiga growled, charging his blade with raiton chakra, the jagged blade humming and sparking like a broken electrical conductor. He charged the blond, closing the distance in the blink of an eye with his sword ready to behead the teen. The ex-swordsmen swung down, his weapon millimeters from ending the threat, when the blond let loose a chakra-laced roar that blew Raiga away. The green-haired man flew up the cliff, tumbling like a loose leaf across its face. He heard Ranmaru grunt in pain as they crested the cliff's edge and hung in the air. Instinctively, the crime boss wrapped chakra around himself and Ranmaru, and not a moment too soon.
"I'll kill you!" Naruto snarled after the swordsmen as the Kyūbi's chakra tendrils swung around him like flailing tails. He felt his tenant's chakra boiling through his tenketsu, demanding blood as the teen charged chakra to his legs and pursued his prey. In the blink of an eye, the blond appeared above Raiga. The swordsmen had no time to react as the blond punched him toward the plateau below.
"Argh!" Raiga grunted as he was buried into the plateau, wincing in pain. He looked at the sky and saw an orange comet plummeting towards him. Raiga charged chakra to his body and performed a Kawarimi (Replacement) with a loose bit of stone a split second before Naruto attacked. "You okay, Ranmaru?" Raiga asked, reappearing a distance away as he gathered raiton chakra in his throat. He felt it running up and down the chakra pathways in his neck like a livewire.
Ranmaru's breath hitched as he answered, gritting his teeth. "Yes, Raiga-sama." The boy focused on the large, dust-filled crater, shivering as he felt the teen's bijū glaring at him. "It's still in there." As if hearing Ranmaru's comment, more bijū chakra flooded the teen's system, making the young boy wince and look away.
"Good," Raiga said before opening his mouth wide and releasing the gathered chakra at the jinchūriki's location. "Raiton: Gian (Lightning Release: False Darkness)," the swordsman thought, watching the blue bolt of lightning shoot out of his mouth and at the settling dust cloud. The technique hit the crater, producing a loud crack and flash as it struck. The swordsmen tensed, sensing great malice behind him as he leaped to the side, avoiding a stab towards his back.
"Stay still!" Naruto roared, chasing after the man, clawing at him with his sharpened fingernails. However, the man lived up to his reputation by skillfully dodging the teen's attacks and deflecting what attacks he couldn't with minimal movement from his blade.
"As you wish," Raiga said, suddenly halting and shifting to the side as the blond lunged at him. He raised his sword high and stabbed it through the teen's back, severing his spine and destroying his heart as his blade embedded itself into the stone. The swordsman felt a manic smile grace his face as he felt the jinchūriki's body jerk, only to quickly fade from his lips as the body dispelled in a cloud of chakra smoke.
"Shadow clone? He has that much control?" Raiga thought, his eyes widening in alarm as he sensed himself surrounded by a dozen shadow clones of the blond jinchūriki, each with their claws bared and ready to rend flesh. Raiga gathered a massive amount of lightning chakra in his chakra coils as he ducked a flying claw swipe, slashing the clone's gut as he passed. Two clones attacked him simultaneously, one aiming at his groin while the other struck at his nape. He loosened his grip on his sword, letting it hang from its tassel as he snap-kicked the clone in front, followed by reaching behind, grabbing the other clone's wrist, and throwing it at two more clones.
"Argh!" Raiga yelled out, feeling a chunk of his side ripped out by a passing swipe. The swordsman fought instinct to cover his side, flipping the sword into his hand and dispatching the clone with a slash to its back.
"Just a few more seconds," Raiga thought, gritting his teeth as he heard more 'pops' behind him, telling him that the teen summoned more clones.
Ranmaru's eyes were darting to and fro, trying to track the numerous clones, growing dizzy as the orange-shrouded clones buzzed around them like furious hornets. He tightly gripped the fabric of his cocoon, shuddering as he felt a dozen pairs of crimson, slitted eyes glaring at him. The boy wanted to close his eyes, making the malicious looks disappear, but he couldn't. He couldn't because he owed it to Raiga to help him. Steeling his resolve, the boy expanded his vision, getting an overhead view of the fight. The boy paled as he saw over two dozen clones surrounding them.
"Raiga!" Ranmaru shouted, uncaring if he was discovered. "Do something! Now!"
"On it," Raiga grunted, dispelling a clone that slashed his left calf. In one gigantic burst, he unleashed all the gathered raiton chakra in his body, looking for the whole world like a gigantic bug zapper. Dozens of clones went up in smoke, popping like firecrackers, until only one blond remained, yowling in pain. The missing-nin smirked, relishing in the teen's pain, though he was cautious. "Ranmaru, is that the real one?"
Ranmaru zoomed his vision on the teen, looking at his skin. The teen's injuries were in a constant cycle of damage and regeneration, with Raiga's skin burning the teen's body and cooking his blood, which the bijū would heal. "Yes, it's the real one." Ranmaru was so focused on the threat before them that he missed the rapidly approaching one from behind.
"Excellent," Raiga crowed as he approached the downed blond, directing all of his raiton chakra at the teen to keep him paralyzed. The swordsman raised his blade high. "Let's see you heal from a beheading monster!" Raiga declared as he moved to execute the jinchūriki, only to hear the sudden cry of a swallow, followed by the clang of his sword hitting the ground.
Raiga was confused, trying to process what happened, when he felt something violently stab through his back and come out of his torso. "Wha?" Raiga coughed, spewing a mouthful of blood as he looked down and saw a familiar, large blade sticking out his front. "Zabu..?" The former Kiri-nin's eyes dimmed, his body falling slack as his world turned dark.
"You alright there, brat?" Zabuza gruffly asked, withdrawing his sword from Raiga's corpse. Kubikiribūcho's wielder frowned behind his neck bandages as he felt it catch on something extra before he jerked the blade free. His violent actions tore open the blood-soaked cocoon on the green-haired man's back, revealing the mutilated body of a young boy. "The hell? Why's a kid here?" Zabuza wondered.
Naruto rose on wobbly knees, his body occasionally twitching from an aftershock. "I'm…fine. How's Haku and Ino?" Naruto panted, his voice gravelly as he locked his crimson eyes on Zabuza. The blond's question was answered by Jiraiya, who appeared behind him.
"They got to us; Kakashi's treating Ino as we speak," Jiraiya assured as he clasped his godson's shoulder. "We'll see them after we secure the Kiba and—bodies?" Jiraiya explained, sounding confused at the sight of the young boy. He locked eyes with Zabuza, the question clear in his eyes, only to receive a shake of the head.
"That's good," Naruto breathed, smiling as he felt a wave of relief overcome him, washing away his rage and the Kyūbi's chakra. Naruto's eyes fluttered, a sudden gust of fatigue causing him to stumble. "Ah," he uttered, falling forward, losing consciousness before he hit the ground.
"I've got you," Jiraiya fondly whispered, catching his godson before he could faceplant. He hoisted the blond over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The Toad Sage glanced at a silent Asuma who was glaring down at Raiga's mutilated corpse. Jiraiya felt his years weighing down on him as he watched the younger man—a man who was practically his nephew—wrestle with a pain that no sensei wished to bear: an injured student.
"And I hope it's only an injury," Jiraiya prayed as he approached Asuma. "You good?" the elder ninja asked. No response. Jiraiya frowned. "Asu-"
"-I'm good," Asuma lowly said, tearing his eyes away from the body and staring straight at Jiraiya. "There's still two of Raiga's men left in the village."
Jiraiya didn't need to be a mind reader to know what Asuma's intentions were. It was all there in his eyes; he wanted blood. Jiraiya warred with himself, wondering what was the best course of action, wondering what he would have done in a similar situation. "I don't need to wonder," the man sighed as a large mountain swathed in fire fueled by Gamabunta's oil appeared in his mind. The veteran shinobi could still hear the screams of the Iwagakure shinobi as they were roasted alive, the smell of their burning flesh carrying on the wind as he stood atop the Toad Boss' head and silently wept.
Jiraiya returned to the present and jerked his head towards the village.
Asuma nodded and disappeared in a blur.
A moment of silence passed upon the plateau before Jiraiya asked, "...Zabuza, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"Got it," Zabuza said before racing after Asuma.
Jiraiya sealessly summoned a shadow clone, ordering it to seal the two bodies in a scroll as he stared up at the night sky, looking at the stars for guidance.