Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. My two great anime/manga loves were/are Naruto and Dragon Ball/Z/(not GT). Maybe it was because those two hit me at the right age to just suck me in, but nothing in anime has engrossed me so much as those two things. Oh, I've enjoyed plenty of works that I've come across since then. But my fervor had never been stronger than with Naruto and Dragon Ball.

I'm a Toonami kid. That 1999 lineup of shows, featuring DBZ, changed my pitiful 8-year-old life forever. When Naruto dropped in the U.S. in 2005, that was a wrap for me, children. Hooked from episode one. I never had a chance.

Chapter 27: Deal With the Steel

Raijin no Ken in hand, Nawaki fended off consecutive attacks from both Kinkaku and Ginkaku. His granduncle's weapon held up in the face of the onslaught from the two powerhouse siblings. The two were big and strong in their own rights. Against most anyone else, their coordination would have torn a single shinobi apart. But Nawaki was fit enough to deal with even the two of them.

He knew enough about the Treasured Tools the brothers used to avoid being trapped by the various caveats that came with their powers. And yet, this had done nothing to hamper his combat abilities.

"Not bad, boy," Kinkaku complimented, noting Nawaki's ability to keep both he and his brother in his sights.

Nawaki had fought faster shinobi. Not that they were slow, but compared to many of the other top-flight shinobi he had come across in his life, Kinkaku and Ginkaku lagged behind. They negated this disadvantage with their swarm tactics. The siblings were tremendous at trying to get a target to look the wrong way and finish them off.

To counter this, Nawaki attempted to fight off of the walls, or anything in general that gave him the higher ground.

Nawaki scoffed, springing off of rocks and mountain rubble to maneuver the Gold and Silver Brothers in front of him, "I'm in my thirties, you condescending ass."

"Still just a baby!" Ginkaku shot back, "Bashounen: Hi no Maki (Banana Palm Fan: Coil of Fire)!" With a wave of the fan in his hand, he sent a massive trail of flames Nawaki's way, trapping him on a perch with a creeping wall of fire, "Face it, you're not a patch on what your elders were capable of."

'They had another of the Treasured Tools?' Nawaki eyed the approaching fire closely, refraining from panicking, "Maybe. But Tobirama-ojiisama did train me – and his lessons stuck," He clapped his hands together, holding his palms in place tightly, "Suiton: Suishouha (Water Release: Water Colliding Wave)!"

A spiraling vortex of water formed in the air around his body before exploding out, spilling forth with force. It extinguished the flames and spread across the battlefield, quickly filling up the pit they fought in.

Ginkaku took refuge on a mountain wall, similar to how Nawaki had previously in the fight. In one move, he had altered the entire battlefield. Again. After destroying the very mountaintop itself, he had basically created a lake all on his own, "Well, I'll be damned. He can use a water jutsu that powerful without a source. Just like his granddaddy."

"Granduncle," Nawaki corrected, "And thank you."

"You know, if someone like you put as much effort into finding a way to fight the clan wars as you do into treasure hunting, the Senju Clan might dominate the Elemental Nations."

"I don't have all of these great big ambitions," Nawaki said in regards to Ginkaku's critique. He looked out over the clouds of the high mountain they were on. It was a very peaceful, beautiful place, "I wanted to lead the clan at one time, but I saw what that kind of power turned you into. I don't want it. Let sis handle it. I can do more where I am, and do what I love at the same time."

He got to see the world. He got to meet all sorts of interesting people of all kinds. Shinobi, samurai, merchants, dignitaries. He got to uncover the mysteries of the past, and at times he even got to hold relics of legend in his hands. His sister saw value in his ventures and let him do it.

Just because he wasn't a clan head didn't mean he was incapable of fighting on par with them. Tsunade was stronger than him, but it wasn't by an insurmountable figure. On a good day, with everything going his way, he had a better chance than most of getting a win against her.

"I see," Ginkaku said before tilting his head curiously, "Do you also love getting pulled through solid rock?"

Nawaki's face twisted in confusion, "What?"

Kinkaku lunged out of the wall, wrapping his arms around Nawaki's body, "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Jutsu)!" He then dragged the man back into the wall with him.

Ginkaku gleefully watched as a trail moved through the rock, every so often exploding outward. It was a telltale sign that Kinkaku was beating Nawaki to a pulp just underneath the surface. Eventually, Nawaki's body was forced out of the wall, flying through the air before splashing down into the water.

"Ha-ha! Outstanding, brother!" Ginkaku complimented, clapping his hands as Kinkaku poked his upper body out of the wall, bowing in appreciation, "That's what he gets for taking his eyes off of the ball!"

"Exactly!" Kinkaku boasted, "The boy liked to talk too much. Like they always say, 'silence is golden'. Words are the true source of the world's ills, right, brother?"

Before Ginkaku could respond, Nawaki popped out of the water, soaked to the bone and bruised, but otherwise not registering the damage done to him, "Want to see something cool?"

"...Yes?"

Nawaki formed a tiger seal, and everything went dark for the two brothers, "Kokuangyo no Jutsu (Bringer of Darkness Jutsu)!"

Neither Kinkaku, nor Ginkaku could see a thing. It was startling to have one of their senses taken away from them so completely. They could still hear, feel, and smell though, for all the good that it did them.

Recognizing it as a genjutsu, Kinkaku had the chance to dispel it after a moment, but Ginkaku didn't turn out to be so lucky. Before he could restore his vision, Kinkaku heard the pained scream of his brother. Upon shaking Nawaki's jutsu off, the first sight he was presented with was that of his brother, sliced clean in half at the waist, the two halves floating away from each other, blood and guts spilling out into the water.

And there, unrepentant at the murder of one half of the Gold and Silver Brothers, stood Nawaki, Raijin no Ken in hand – the instrument behind the death of Ginkaku. His head slowly craned up to where Kinkaku had last delivered a beating to him, "I did ask if you wanted to see something cool. I never told you what it would be."

Nor did he say who it would be cool to. An enemy dead at his feet seemed plenty cool from Nawaki's point of view. Unfortunately, Kinkaku didn't share it.

The sight of his brother's dead body caused Kinkaku to hyperventilate. They had been playing around with what they'd assumed to be a lesser Senju living off of the legacy the past titans of his clan had made. Meanwhile, he had never lollygagged. Every move he'd made had been done with purpose, to turn the battlefield to one of his liking – negating their numbers advantage as best as he could.

Of course, combat tactics were the last thing on Kinkaku's mind as he watched the two halves of his brother float away from one another. Something in him broke. Their powerful weapons were forgotten. Instead, a powerful cloak of dark red chakra covered his body.

'A jinchuuriki transformation?' Nawaki thought to himself as he watched Kinkaku lose himself, 'Interesting.'

He only had so long to think about it though, as Kinkaku launched himself at Nawaki with a new level of viciousness. He ripped and tore through the water, lashing out with claws, swinging his tails to send powerful shockwaves flying at his target.

Nawaki kept his head about him and managed to navigate the danger presented to him, but Kinkaku's rage made him persistent, and his chakra cloak gave him defensive capabilities that allowed him to ignore the paltry cuts Nawaki could deal out in return, even with his electric blade.

A tail slamming onto the surface of the water disrupted Nawaki's footing, and from there he was a sitting duck. A massive red claw came for his neck and chest.

"Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion)!"

Just as Kinkaku was to make contact and slice 'Nawaki' to ribbons, he exploded. The blast rocked Kinkaku, sending him flying into a rock wall. Before he could shake off the impact and pull himself out, the tip of the Raijin no Ken was shoved through his throat, stopping him cold.

Nawaki grabbed the hilt with both hands and carved the rest of the way through Kinkaku's neck, removing his head entirely. The chakra cloak dissipated, leaving behind nothing but a headless man to fall down into the water below.

The Nawaki that Kinkaku had seen upon restoring his vision had never been the real one. Immediately after killing Ginkaku, he'd made a Shadow Clone to serve as a decoy for the enraged brother. It was a good thing he had done so, because despite his preparations for the Gold and Silver Brothers, he hadn't anticipated them having access to tailed beast chakra.

The clone had given him a chance to observe and adjust for the changes in his original battle plan. When it's time had come, it had also given him the chance to finish things in a single stroke while Kinkaku was still wondering what had happened.

And about what had just happened, the jinchuuriki transformation. It was a mystery that needed looking into. Everyone treated jinchuuriki like monsters, abominations, because of that ability. To anyone's knowledge, the tailed beasts were all accounted for around the world. Only two of the nine had been sealed into people. If Ginkaku, and maybe Kinkaku, could access abilities associated with them, research needed to be done. Real research. Not just hearsay based on century-old superstition.

But that was work that could be seen to later.

"We done?" Nawaki asked to no one in particular. Silence greeted him as the last man standing on the battlefield, "...Yeah, I think we're done."

Now, it was just a matter of collecting the prizes he had come for... and the corpses of his opponents. Perhaps his sister would be interested in taking a look at them. Any findings from that, along with bringing back some of their ancestor's honest-to-goodness weapons would make her see that his excursions into the field were too useful to chastise him for taking.

And speaking of people making themselves useful...

"Alright, Sakura! Fight's over! Get back up here and carry all of this shit!"

XxX

(Some Time Later – With Naruto – Northern Islands of Mizu no Kuni)

Relations between Naruto's party and their temporary hire Tayuya had been frosty ever since Naruto had threatened to murder her if she showed the same kind of treachery she had before, leading them into an ambush to test their mettle.

That was fine. They didn't need to talk or be friends for Tayuya to do her job and get paid. It was a good thing they were tough too, because they looked like they were well off. That would attract more bandits and people willing to try their luck to take what they had.

They had already seen as much when they'd crossed a bridge to get from one island to another. They had paid bandits prowling around one end to prevent a fight. When a different set of bandits demanded a toll at the other end as well, they received payment in violence. They were not about to be ripped off on both ends of one bridge.

At that point, to be fair, Naruto backtracked and proceeded to take his money back from the first group. Let no one say he was an unfair person.

Naruto gave a content pat to his refilled wallet before he stashed it away safely, "You said the bad stuff is farther in, didn't you?"

"Oh, you lot are talking to me now?" Tayuya responded with some sass before deciding the answer was important enough to reiterate, "Yeah. It is. Basically, Mizu is carved up in chunks of turf."

"So... like countries in a country?" Tenten asked. It would make sense. Mizu no Kuni was a ton of islands close enough to each other and far enough away from the mainland to comprise a nation.

Tayuya scoffed at the idea that there was any semblance of order in that country, "Hell no. More like bandits under one asshole can fuck with people here, but they can't do it somewhere else," She explained, "Each of the Seven Swordsmen basically run their own racket that dominates. You know - robbing, extorting villages, picking fights with other Swordsmen when they feel like it-."

"Question," Naruto chimed in, raising his hand like a student in class, "What are the Seven Swordsmen? Just guys with swords? Samurai?"

Tayuya looked appalled at the ignorance, "You morons don't know anything about the Seven Swordsmen?"

Naruto wracked his brain trying to drum up some kind of information that wasn't there, "...Is that, like, from a book or something?" He flinched when he saw Tayuya take a gigantic breath, likely for some spirited insult, complete with cursing, "We're not from around here!" He defended.

It was a good enough excuse for Tayuya, but that meant she had no clear reason to lay into anyone, which irritated her, "Son of a-... fine," She let it go with a huff, "The Seven Ninja Swordsmen... alright, listen up. This is a Mizu no Kuni legend. A long time ago, the Sage of Six Paths had two sons. He also had a bunch of badass weapons that we call the Treasured Tools."

"We know this stuff already," Kabuto said, "We have Sage of Six Paths legends on the mainland."

Tayuya immediately jumped on her opportunity to berate the weakest of the pack, "Shut your mouth, cocksucker! You asked me, and I'm telling the story!" He backed down out of fright from the feisty woman, which mollified her significantly, "Alright. So, years later – centuries later, actually – a guy inspired by the Treasured Tools wanted to try and make his own set of badass weapons. But no one knows what the fucking things look like... and I hear tell he liked swords."

"Seriously?" Naruto deadpanned, "How come all the legends I hear wind up being lame in reality?"

Kurama had shared plenty of accounts of things that shinobi had passed down for years as lore. Granted, the fox had an ego, so he wasn't exactly a reliable narrator, especially when he tried to relate everything to himself.

"Hey, I can see it," Tenten said, "I don't think it's lame, either. Go with what you know. If I wanted to make my masterpiece weapons, I'd make ones I like."

Hearing that from her got Tayuya's interest, "You make weapons?"

Tenten regarded her carefully, but couldn't pass up an opportunity to share anything about her passion, "Yeah. Weapons are the only thing I'm good at, so I make them and use them."

"I wish you'd stop talking down about yourself like that," Naruto said, before trying to get to the heart of what Tayuya was telling them, "Anyway, these swords. This story has a point, right?"

Tayuya huffed. Impatient, yellow-headed prick, "Yeah-yeah. Anyway, the guy liked swords, so he made the most kickass set of swords ever. But here's the kicker. He couldn't fight for shit. When a group of shinobi found out what he had and came his way, he didn't have a chance," She took her finger and drew it across her own throat, "They killed him, took the swords, and ran amok."

Naruto was wholly unimpressed, "...That's it? A dude made swords, and a bunch of other dudes took 'em?"

"Yeah," Tayuya said with a grin, "Pretty straightforward, right?"

"That's a word for it," Tenten muttered, "But wait, these shinobi were a group. If they took the swords together, why did you say the Seven Swordsmen fight each other and have separate territories?"

A predatory gleam came to Tayuya's eye, "Because shinobi fucks like you can't be trusted," She spat distastefully, taking great pleasure in the offense her words generated, "Each one had a sword, yeah. But they saw what the others had. They saw how powerful their swords were. They got greedy. They wanted what the others had. So, they tried to kill each other and take their sword. Ever since then, all seven swords have never been in one place. No one has ever had more than two at a time either."

It made sense. If one amazing, superpowered sword made you strong, how powerful could you be with two amazing, superpowered swords? Or three? Or even more? Honestly, they'd all heard of worse reasons people chose to turn on their comrades.

"Do the swords get passed down?" Tenten asked, very intrigued at the idea of powerful weapons with history behind them.

"Sometimes," Tayuya told her, "Usually, someone just comes along, kills the one who has it, and takes it for themselves. That's how things work here," She said with a shrug.

Naruto gave her a tiny smirk, "It's really not that different from how things work everywhere," He said, "So where are we going?"

"From what you all say, you're looking for a ghost or something," Tayuya said, "That's bad for you. This is like the worst place to be searching for someone like that."

"Great..." Kabuto drawled, in low spirits.

Tayuya rolled her eyes instead of completely berating him. She knew Naruto wouldn't be kind if she kept bullying the only doctor on-hand, "Don't be such a pussy, medic. All that means is we just need a little help."

Naruto didn't like the idea of bringing more people into what he was doing. Hiring Tayuya was one thing, but the more people got involved, the messier things would be, "What kind of help?"

Tayuya sighed, "Well, Golden Boy, I have good news and bad news," She led on cryptically, "Which one do you want first?"

"Bad news," Naruto said automatically, "Maybe whatever the good news is will make the bad news suck less."

Tayuya shrugged her shoulders to his reasoning and acquiesced, "The bad news is, you're probably going to have to pick a side to get what you want," She said, "The good news is, you've got like seven sides to pick from."

Having followed the train of conversation well enough, Tenten skeptically raised an eyebrow to Tayuya's implied suggestion, "You want us to get cozy with one of these Seven Swordsmen?"

Tayuya pointed Tenten's way and nodded, "Got it in one, Buns. To find the guy you're after, you need more than just me. I mean, I'm fucking awesome and everything, but I'm not omniscient. I don't know everything," She said, "You need to be like a fly on shit; a million eyes everywhere."

"Flies don't have a million eyes," Kabuto pointed out, ever the student of biology.

Tayuya didn't appreciate the impromptu tutoring, "You know what I was talking about, four-eyes," She said with a venomous look.

Tenten took Naruto for a quick aside between the two of them, "What do you think? It's not a terrible idea. We're kind of out on a limb here doing this all by ourselves."

Naruto frowned. Tenten was right. He knew she was right, "Yeah, but do you really want to risk getting stuck in a civil war?" The last thing he wanted was to get them bogged down in doing the lion's share of fighting someone else's conflict.

Sure, they could go by the channels that his father would have tried to use in the same situation – try and enlist the help of a clan that he could then pose the question of unifying to. Something told Naruto that wouldn't work in Mizu no Kuni. Whatever influence clans there held, it was much less significant than it was in a country like Hi no Kuni. The ones with the power were usually the ones with the best information, and from what they'd learned, the Seven Swordsman were the force to be reckoned with around those parts.

Whether Naruto liked it or not, they would have to break Minato's standard procedure if they wanted to get anywhere in their search. Tenten was more or less fine with it, however, "I really don't see how this is any different from what all the other clans are doing on the mainland. Just replace all of the clans with sword-swinging jerks."

"...You've got a point," Naruto said to his best friend. Mentally, he made his mind on the thought that this had nothing to do with helping his father achieve his goal. The hunt he was on was strictly personal, "Alright," He said, addressing Tayuya, "What do you know about these guys? We've got to go with the right one."

Tayuya scoffed at what she perceived to be a flighty answer, "What does it matter which one you side with? Just pick one, do something to get on their good side, and get what you need."

"Two reasons," Naruto said before holding up one finger, "One: you freelance in this country, so I'm guessing you've probably worked for one of them before. We aren't gonna be able to just walk in and talk to these guys. You can at least try and vouch for us."

It had never come up, but yes, Tayuya was tangentially familiar with a few of the Seven Swordsmen, "Good point. What's the second reason?"

Naruto held up a second finger to join the first, "Because I know what all of them will probably ask for in exchange for helping us. We're gonna have to take at least one sword off of someone else."

Tayuya visibly recoiled at the thought of this motley crew taking on one of the Seven Swordsmen for another. Yes, blondie was strong, and his weapon-toting partner wasn't chopped liver either, but that would have been asking a lot for anyone to do, "I know you think you're hot shit back on the mainland, but why would anyone here ask you to do something like that?"

"Because if we pull it off, great!" Naruto exclaimed, sardonically, "They get a sword in exchange for having their guys keep their eyes open for something they might see. If we fail and get killed, it's not like they lose anything. And if we have to give a superweapon to one of these Swordsmen, I want to make sure it's not a complete head-chopping psycho."

Tenten snapped her fingers and pointed Naruto's way as though he'd come up with something smart, "Ooh, that's a good point. I didn't even think about that. I really don't want to be responsible for putting a despot into a better spot to throw his weight around."

Again, with the sentiment. Tayuya scoffed at the idea that any of them cared about the people of Mizu, "What the fuck does it matter to any of you? None of you assholes live here."

Tenten stepped forward to her, "So that means we don't have to care about making things even worse?"

"If you're really strong, I don't see why you would," Tayuya replied smoothly in regards to what she saw as their fake bleeding-heart act, "Strong people don't give a fuck about anyone else. To them, weak people just get in the way. That's how it is."

With that, she went on her way. Her job was to guide them, but she didn't care if they were ready to follow or not.

Naruto, Tenten, and Kabuto all looked at each other before Kabuto spoke up, "I don't understand. I mean, it's like she wants us to be bad people."

Tenten offered a possible reason as to Tayuya's continuous standoff attitude, "Maybe that's just what she's used to? Like, she knows how to deal with people like that better," Tenten suggested, "She seemed kind of... okay with it when Naruto threatened her."

Naruto remembered the confrontation, "You mean when I grabbed her by the throat?" He asked, getting a nod from Tenten that left him wide-eyed, "...Nuh-uh," He offered as a lame rebuttal.

"Yeah-huh," Tenten replied, a grin making its way to her face at her friend's apparent discomfort, "Don't look so startled. You shouldn't judge other people's romantic proclivities, you know."

Her attempt to make Naruto more uncomfortable immediately backfired when he put his hands over his ears and walked off to follow Tayuya, "Tenten, no! I don't need details about how you like to get down. Come on! You're like my sister!"

Her mouth fell open as she immediately began to protest, red-faced, "No! I wasn't talking about-! I don't-! I mean, I haven't even-!" She stopped and turned to Kabuto, who desperately tried not to make eye contact with her. The worst part was, she couldn't tell if Naruto had done it on purpose or not, "...I fucking hate you sometimes, Naruto..." She muttered in defeat.

XxX

Of all the places Anko expected their mission to take them, the grounds of a martial arts temple was not what she'd imagined. When they'd first come upon the place, she'd thought they were about to meet ninja monks. Instead, it was just a training place for dedicated students of a taijutsu master.

Kakashi and Anko arrived in the middle of morning exercises. Dozens of men and women from all sorts of walks of life stood in formation, moving through their basics in unison with loud, hearty shouts accompanying each motion.

Anko took in eyefuls of those she deemed good looking as they marched past, "As much as I love watching the sweaty masses go through their katas, what are we doing here, Scarecrow?"

Kakashi had his eyes on the man at the head of the class. It was a tall individual in a green jumpsuit with black bowl cut hair – a look that many men there emulated in honor of their sensei, "Might Guy is the premier hand-to-hand specialist in the Elemental Nations."

Anko realized that a claim like that covered a lot of ground, "That's a broad statement. Is he really that good?"

Kakashi wasn't the type to dole out compliments, but he was one to recognize dangerous and powerful people, "Without a doubt. I wouldn't say it if I didn't believe it absolutely. The man is hired to instruct nobles personally. He also runs training drills for standing militaries all over."

"That doesn't explain why we're here." Anko pointed out, attempting to flick the stoic Kakashi on the ear.

"Danzo managed to get into the Fire Daimyo's ear," Kakashi explained, tilting his head to avoid the fingertip, "If he's playing a game of politics with the nobles, we have to start with others who've had dealings with them as well."

It made sense, even if Guy didn't look like the sort who would be capable of helping, "And he'll talk to us?"

"KAKASHI-SAN!"

The loud call from the head instructor of the academy got everyone to stop in their tracks. After a quick word with a young man who was leading the class along with him, Guy sprinted with surprising speed, leaving a dust trail before stopping right in front of Kakashi. Anko stepped back reflexively as though they were about to be attacked, but all that happened was a rapid shaking of Kakashi's hand.

Kakashi muttered to his teammate while he felt his shoulder being jerked in and out of the socket from the hearty greeting, "I think the problem will be getting him to stop," He said before speaking up, "Hello, Guy."

Guy either hadn't heard the first bit, or ignored it, "How have you been, my friend? Have you been stoking the flames of youth, working to further your employer's noble dream?" He asked, gifting Kakashi with a million-yen gleaming white smile. Anko swore she saw them sparkle in the sunlight.

Kakashi had never been sure how to answer questions like that from Guy, nor why the man seemed to like him. Nobody liked Kakashi, "Uh... yeah, sure."

It was at this moment that Guy finally seemed to notice Anko. The purple-haired woman almost felt like leaving Kakashi to his fate, rather than dealing with the odd shinobi herself, "And who is this?" Guy asked, "What a lovely young woman. Kakashi, I'm pleasantly surprised in your tastes!"

Anko noticed the opportunity at hand, and jumped all over it, "Hear that, Scarecrow? Come here and give mama some sugar-," She approached him, lips puckered and ready to kiss, only for Kakashi to grab her by the face, "Aww, don't be that way, honeybuns," She continued to tease.

"Don't you start," Kakashi said, without sparing her a glance, "Her name is Anko, and we're not a couple, Guy," Besides, what did 'pleasantly surprised in his tastes' mean?

Guy's smile dropped a bit at having his theory debunked, "Ah, what a shame! I merely assumed, because I've never seen you with anyone else," "I always believed a good significant other would do wonders in solving your death wish."

Kakashi sighed, knowing that last remark had gotten Anko's full attention. Great. Just more questions for later that he wouldn't be answering, "Don't have a death wish, Guy," Kakashi droned as though he were speaking to a man who would not heed his words.

"Of course not, my friend."

Might Guy was a well-traveled, experienced shinobi. The man carried himself like a blowhard, but was more on the ball than people liked to think. One didn't live that long and find themselves in the employ of so many without being attentive and intelligent enough to make it happen.

Kakashi pointedly ignored the way Anko looked at him after Guy had brought up his apparent 'death wish', "As much as I'd love to catch up, we did come here for a reason. Do you have a place where we can talk?"

Guy nodded seriously, before turning back to the head of the class, "Lee! A close friend of mine has come a long way to speak with me! You're in charge! Continue the morning instruction!"

A young man, dressed similarly to Guy, only with wide round eyes and very prominent eyebrows, bowed in response, "Yes, Guy-sensei!" He bellowed before seeing to his master's wishes, "Everyone, reset! Annnd begin!"

The shouts with every motion made echoed out in unison once more as Kakashi and Guy went off to speak about the issue at hand. Anko followed, but lagged behind, eyeing Kakashi carefully.

XxX

(With Naruto – Mizu no Kuni)

Naruto and company reached another town, and conditions only seemed slightly better than what they had seen since first arriving in Mizu no Kuni. It was cleaner. The smell of sickness and death didn't permeate the air the way it did in the 'port' town. But the people seemed skittish, and not any better off monetarily than any of the other common folk they had come across thus far.

There were also some unsavory types, only more uniform than the bandits and other rabble they'd come across on the roads. They wore hooded robes and displayed their weapons, gloves with retractable blades, prominently for everyone to see.

A funeral bell and a bolt of lightning striking down caught their attention, prompting them to head near the center of town out of curiosity. As they reached one of the waterways running through, they came across a sight that had not only grabbed their attention, but the attention of everyone in the town that watched it float past. However, no one made a motion to do anything about it.

The group of four stopped and watched as a small boat entirely engulfed in flames floated downstream, "What is that?" Naruto asked.

Tayuya frowned at the sight of the floating vessel burning on the surface of the water, "A funeral barge," She said, "...Crap. We're in that guy's territory."

The light from the fire glinted off of Kabuto's glasses as he watched the vessel curiously, "Is that how people honor their dead here?" Cremation wasn't foreign to him. Just doing it in such an elaborate way was.

"There's nothing honorable about it," Tayuya replied, turning to Naruto, "You were talking about avoiding certain Swordsmen before. That's the handiwork of Kurosuki Raiga. And if that thing's still burning that hot, he probably isn't that far away himself. Look alive."

Naruto felt that nothing good would come of learning more, yet he needed clarification, "What's his deal?"

Tayuya readily answered, if only for her own future well-being. The last thing she needed was her employers deciding to go to the wrong person and get them all killed, "He's probably one of the more unstable members of the Seven Swordsmen, from what I've heard. If you do anything he doesn't like, or if he just doesn't like you, you get one of those."

Tenten's mouth fell open in horror, "There's a live person on that?"

"Keep it down, Buns!" Tayuya shushed her before correcting her, "There was a person on there. Pretty sure there's not much left of them by now," All of the foreign party seemed to react tastefully at what she figured they perceived as an act of barbarism, "Get used to that sight. You see a lot of them around here. Those guys we keep seeing, those are his goons. This is his turf."

Kabuto shook his head in distaste, "That's awful!"

Tayuya shrugged, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm 70% sure whoever's on that thing was incinerated on contact. No pain."

So, this Raiga person was strong enough to turn people into ash with one move, whatever it was, and violent enough to do it whenever he felt like. Naruto quickly came to a decision, "Yeah... this guy's not getting another sword."

"You're making that call just off of that?" Tayuya chuckled, "Raiga's an unstable twat, I'll admit it, but his punishments are the tamest ones out of the seven. They get way worse than that, depending on who you're dealing with," At least with Raiga, if you stepped out of line you died quickly. But it was their decision in the end, "Come on. If he's not the one you want to talk to, and he's definitely not, we've got a ways to go to get to one you'd be okay with. We've gotta go, like, now."

She figured they should get out of there before the Kurosuki Family took offense to their presence. They weren't the only able fighters around, and they had the good sense not to walk around with their weapons out, but any chance of butting heads with them was too much. Plus, Raiga was a dogged bastard. If they got his attention, they'd only lose it once he killed them and had to find something else to occupy his attention.

Naruto didn't reply at first, his eyes affixed to the funeral barge. So long did his gaze linger, that it gave Tayuya time to perceive just what was likely going through his head, "Oh, hell no," She said upon realizing Naruto's train of thought, "Golden Boy, no. Leave it the fuck alone."

Naruto glanced back at Tayuya, getting defensive over her accurate assumption of his intentions, "What? You don't know what I'm thinking."

"It's written all over your face," Tayuya sternly pointed in his face, "Don't go starting shit with the Seven Swordsmen right now - any of them," She didn't care how strong he was or wasn't. Doing something dumb was still doing something dumb.

Naruto didn't see taking Raiga down as a foolhardy venture, however, "Oh, come on. We were just talking about how we'd have to go after one eventually. Why don't we just hit this guy, take his sword, and keep it for when we finally start getting in with whichever one we pick to work with?"

Tayuya didn't see it so easily, "And when you dick it up and get killed, I'm just supposed to be okay with my ass being left to dangle?" She had no plans of catching a 'funeral' of her own because of her choice of employment, "Besides, what are you going to do if you don't like the next one? Or the next one? Or the next one? You gonna fight all of 'em?"

To Tenten, that indeed sounded like a 'Naruto' sort of approach to a delicate issue, "Don't put the idea in his head. He absolutely would," She warned before appealing to Naruto on a more meaningful level, "Naruto, we're looking for the masked man. We're not supposed to overthrow the power structure of an entire country."

She was aware of how absurd it sounded that this was well within the realm of possibility.

"But what if the country really sucks?" Naruto asked before turning to Tayuya, "This place really sucks," He made sure to let her know, "Something's got to change around here. I haven't seen one good thing about Mizu no Kuni since we've been here."

Kabuto tried his best to offset some of Naruto's negative attitude, "I mean, there could be some good points we haven't seen yet."

"Kabuto, stop being polite," Naruto demanded of him before ticking off things on his fingers, "The food sucks, the people suck, the towns suck, the weather sucks-," Instead of being offended, or getting angry, Tayuya seemed more amused the longer he went, "Mizu no Kuni sucks."

"Is Hi no Kuni really that much better?" Tayuya asked.

Naruto shook his head no, "Not really, but it doesn't smell like wet, misty ass, with dead people in the drinking water, either," He had his share of problems with the mainland, but certain things like that weren't one of his issues.

Tenten jumped in before Naruto could go any further, "-And your answer to fix things here is to create a power vacuum where tons of people will get killed before anything gets better?"

"Ballsy as that is, Golden Boy, you might want to listen to your fucking squeeze there," Tayuya said, pausing momentarily for Naruto and Tenten to say in unison that they weren't like that, "Or... don't listen to her. I'd get more work, and I'd get to watch more of you shinobi whittle each other down."

Of course, she'd have to survive Raiga murdering the lot of them first, but after that it would be smooth sailing in theory.

XxX

The Kurosuki Family kept tabs on the comings and goings of everyone in the village, and everyone that came through. It was necessary to find out who was worth shaking down for money, who was worth recruiting, and who was more trouble than they were worth to keep around.

Four strangers had recently appeared who seemed to fit with the second and the third. Even though they'd kept their heads down, they didn't seem to come from Mizu no Kuni. Everything about the way they looked, carried themselves, and reacted to what they came across proved this much.

They kept to themselves for the most part, but the most annoying thing about them was to look at them, if that made sense.

Compared to most other nondescript persons they came across who weren't part of their group, they looked healthy, flush with cash, and the life in their eyes. For two of the foreigners especially, it agitated anyone who looked at them.

They couldn't wait to scramble to their boss and give him a reason to let them cause trouble.

"Never seen 'em before, Boss," One Kurosuki Family thug said, adding on to whatever report his cohorts could give of their daily findings, "They look like some kind of shinobi. But not from no group I've ever seen or heard of."

"Hm," A tall man in robes similar to the rest of the Kurosuki Family stood and looked out at the town. A hood covered his head from view, "I don't like strangers very much. They always seem to have a problem with the good relationship we have with our villagers."

"You want us to give our guests a Kurosuki Family greeting?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea. In fact, I think I'll lead the welcome wagon myself," "It's always nice to meet new people."

XxX

(Some Time Later – With Naruto – Mizu no Kuni)

The seafood in this village was infinitely better than it had been where Naruto and company had first made land in Mizu no Kuni, so a good meal was a welcome comfort when they were still in an unfamiliar land. Even though Tayuya knew her way around, the rest of them simply had to take her word for it - for all of the consternation she caused in some situations...

Naruto looked around the table as Tenten sat around bored, Tayuya grumbled to herself, and Kabuto chowed down on his order, "Kabuto, how's that curry, my man?"

Kabuto looked up from his food to shrug, smile on his face, "Eh, it's alright."

Having heard the idea to remain in the village for a little while to get their bearings, Tayuya voiced her disagreement, "Fuck your curry. I'm not staying in the same town as Kurosuki fucking Raiga if you don't have a plan for dealing with him."

Everyone else let out a sigh of annoyance and disappointment; Tenten more than anyone else, "So, we're sleeping in the woods again?" She asked rhetorically, "The woods, where we were fighting mosquitoes, and rotating shifts to scare off bandits all night. Fun."

Naruto couldn't help but feel the same. They had an advantage here, "The guy doesn't even know who we are. What in the hell would he want with us?" No one knew that they were potential players. As long as they kept their heads down until they left, no trouble should have come their way.

That was the idea. In practice, this never panned out quite the way everyone hoped.

A contingent of ten Kurosuki Family members entered the restaurant, spreading out to cover the dining area, much to the silent fright of the customers.

"Stand up for the protector of the region, Kurosuki Raiga!"

As all of the restaurant's patrons quickly stood and lowered their heads out of fear, Tenten, Kabuto, and Tayuya all slowly turned their heads to Naruto with dry expressions on their faces.

"...What?" Naruto said defensively, "...This isn't my fault. Kabuto, what are you doing?" He added when he caught Kabuto moving to stand.

All eyes now turned to a self-conscious Kabuto, who realized that none of his friends had taken a similar initiative, "Uh, I'm gonna do the thing. You know, to avoid any trouble."

"Sit back down," Naruto reached out and pulled Kabuto down before he could lift very far off of his seat, "This Raiga dude could be the Sage of Six Paths for all I care. I'm not bowing to anybody."

For maybe the first time, Naruto and Tayuya were in complete agreement on something, "Seriously. Standing and bowing? No bigger way to write 'I'm a bitch, please victimize me' on your forehead than that," Tayuya said, backing her temporary employer up, "-And I don't even want to fight these motherfuckers."

"Well, it looks like we might not have a choice," Tenten said, noticing that all eyes of the Kurosuki Family members present were scanning around, looking for something amongst the people they could see, "What are the odds that they're not looking for us?"

Not odds that anyone would bet against. The four of them stayed tucked down in the booth, out of eyeshot from the gangsters.

"Anyone got a way out?"

Naruto sighed and sat up straight, "Yeah, one," He said, finishing the broth in his bowl before wiping his mouth and standing, "Tenten, get 'em out. You'll know when."

"Oh no..." Tenten muttered. Yet she didn't try to stop him, "Just be careful, and don't bring the heat back with you."

Naruto grinned and gave her a thumbs up before sauntering over into the Kurosuki Family's view, keeping the jovial expression on his face, despite the claws pointed at him, "Hey, guys!"

"What do you think you're doing, meat?"

Despite the threat, and the sharp weapons inching ever closer to him, Naruto never stopped smiling, "Sorry, I'm not from around here. I just want to help with any trouble I can so I can get moving without problems. Trying to make things as easy as possible, you know?" He said with a shrug, "So, what's the issue here, and how can I help?"

The Kurosuki Family thugs looked at each other before sizing Naruto up, "You're one of those out-of-towners, aren't you? Yeah... you sure don't look like a local."

Naruto took that as a compliment, "Thank you."

"Shut up," The goon replied, "The boss is going to love to meet you," He said in a threatening manner.

"I'd be happy to meet him," Naruto chirped, refusing to sell the potential peril he was in, "We should go right now. Don't want to waste his time."

The group of hired muscle were thrown off by the seemingly passive demeanor of this shinobi. It wasn't what they were accustomed to, "W-We'll see about that."

With a gesture, a runner was sent off to go and get their boss. Naruto took the momentary pause to send a look to the booth he'd previously been in. His friends had since vacated their seats. Great. When the Kurosuki Family went to escort him to Raiga, he'd slip away and meet up with them later, 'Man. I guess we are going to have to camp out again tonight, damn it.'

Naruto's woes over having to spend the night fighting insects and shooting dirty looks at bandits in the shadows had to wait, as instead of being led away, much to his chagrin, the man behind the Kurosuki Family came to him.

How did Naruto know without a description from Tayuya? Well, it was kind of obvious that the tall, jacked guy with the slim, fanged swords in his possession, who also happened to get a wide berth from even his own men, was the one in charge. Also, when a stray bolt of lightning hit a bowing bystander, dropping them to the floor in a smoking heap.

All of the restaurant-goers cried out before going silent, lest they attract the man's attention. Naruto glanced at the likely dead body, all pretenses of good cheer dropped – at least until Raiga started speaking.

The green-haired swordsman towered over Naruto with an unstable smile, "Ah, the outsider," He greeted, "What brings you to my humble slice of heaven?"

Naruto tore his gaze away from the deceased individual and pasted his false grin back onto his face, "Oh, just passing through looking for someone."

"Well, I do love to meet new people," The tall swordsman said with a chuckle, "I am Kurosuki Raiga."

"I figured as much," Naruto said, before looking around the restaurant, "Everyone here seems afraid of you," He observed.

Raiga's gaze followed Naruto's. Every person he looked upon did their best to keep their eyes off of him, even his own men, "There's nothing to fear. I protect this place. I even protect this place from itself from time-to-time. After all, Mizu no Kuni is a difficult place. Many terrible things can happen to people who don't know how to get along in this corner of the world."

"Well, that's nice of you to be worried," Naruto said, feigning ignorance of the killer intent choking everyone else in the restaurant. The poor civilians were being brought to their knees from it, "You don't have to worry about me. I don't plan on staying for long."

Before Raiga responded, he stopped and waited, as though he were listening to something. After a moment, an unnerving smile spread across his face. He beckoned one of his gang members over, "Take your men and head east. We've got some people who aren't as gracious of guests as our friend here. I would like to meet them."

Naruto paled. Raiga knew that his crew was trying to split town without any conflict. Now he was going to force it, 'How? Is the guy a sensor or something?'

In the end, it didn't matter. Now they would be under pursuit. It was clear at this point that Raiga wanted to get his hands on them for some reason, and Naruto had seen nothing to reasonably assume that it would be good.

He was proven correct when Raiga drew the swords he carried and attempted to run Naruto through with them. Naruto sidestepped his way to safety, only for lightning bolts to fly from the tips of the blades, striking farther into the restaurant and causing an explosion.

Civilians tried to run and take cover as best as they could. Naruto dove into Raiga and shoulder-checked him through the door... and part of the wall, "You psycho! Take it outside!" He paid for his attempt at gallantry, when Raiga responded with an electric shock, "Gaaaaah!"

Raiga cackled madly as the electricity coursed through his enemy's body. He held his swords to the sky and fired electricity up to the heavens, "I can't give you a funeral, but I can make sure nothing's left of you! Ikazuchi no Kiba (Fangs of Lightning)!"

Naruto's muscles locked up. Willpower wouldn't allow him to force his way through something that physics wouldn't allow him to. Not by himself, 'Kurama?'

"Got it. Shrug this off. I don't care to see what happens next."

With a loud yell, Naruto went into his jinchuuriki form long enough to shake off the effects of what Raiga had done. As he did, Raiga brought his sword down, pointing at Naruto. By the time a powerful blast of lightning came down from the sky to strike him, he had vanished in a blur. Raiga's naked eye had been unable to keep track of him.

In a move of daring, Raiga placed a second lightning strike right by himself on the side that Naruto had planned to blindside him from. The sudden attack forced Naruto to veer off before he took more damage.

"Okay, how in the hell did he know where you were coming from?"

That was a fantastic question. Naruto looked back at the path he'd veered through to get to Raiga, and then at where the ground had been destroyed by Raiga's counterattack. He'd kicked up dirt in his path, true, but he'd moved so fast, even the highest-level shinobi Naruto had fought would have to avoid it first.

'Even dad had to Hiraishin out of the way the first time I used it on him before he tried to hit me back,' Naruto thought to himself and to Kurama, 'No one who sees it counters it on the very first try.'

"Well, this guy just did. So, now what do we do, Naruto?"

Raiga clocked him coming in once. That didn't mean that the man had his number. It just meant he'd have to keep putting in effort, 'We fight him until one of us stops moving, I guess. Keep it simple.'

"At least it's my kind of plan."

"Hehehehehahahaha!" Raiga laughed, his body engulfed in electricity, "You see? We're strong! I told you, together, we're strong! You and I can take down the rest of the Seven Swordsmen all by ourselves!"

"Is he talking to his swords?" Naruto asked out loud, "Okay, yeah... this guy's not getting all of the swords."

Raiga waited a moment before he kept speaking to seemingly no one, "No, no, I'm nothing without you. You're the strong one. No one in Mizu no Kuni can stop us!"

On the rooftops, members of the Kurosuki Family, numbering in the hundreds, stood, looking down at their master's battle from a safe distance, awaiting his command.

Naruto looked around, finding himself surrounded, and steeled himself. He felt he could handle it, but that would take his attention away from Raiga. If Raiga could really clock where he was going somehow, he probably wouldn't hesitate to try and pick him off while he was mopping up his goons. He had five seconds to make a decision, and from there he'd have to wing it, 'Clones can handle the Kurosuki Family. I've gotta smash Raiga.'

Before things could continue, the sound of a flute filled the streets. Everyone present – the Kurosuki Family, Raiga, and Naruto – felt the sensation of being stabbed in every part of their body. Some immediately fell down from shock, or passed out in a matter of seconds.

Naruto remained on his feet for several seconds, gritting his teeth until relief came when the music momentarily stopped.

A hand slapped Naruto hard on the back, getting him to turn around to see Tayuya with a flute close to her lips, "Mateki: Jigoku no Hari (Demonic Flute: Hell's Acupuncture)," She said with a devious grin, "Whoops. Did I get you, Golden Boy?"

Naruto stared with his mouth wide open. Oh, that bitch. Did she catch him in that on purpose, because despite saying 'whoops', she certainly didn't sound sorry about it, and because Kurama didn't feel it, he thought it was hilarious.

"Mwahahahaha! Oh, that's good. That's great!"

'Hate you...' Naruto thought to Kurama, simultaneously wishing he could project it to Tayuya as well.

"Yo," She said intermittently through playing her flute to maintain the jutsu, "Move your ass."

Tayuya kept playing, even as they took the opportunity to make themselves scarce. Naruto looked over at her with an irritated expression, "Where's everybody else?"

"Buns said someone needed to take you to where we were meeting up."

"And you volunteered?"

"I'm the only one who can actually find my way around in this place. And clearly, I had the tools to pull your ass out of the fire just now, didn't I?"

Evidently so. Naruto didn't even know anyone that was particularly good at genjutsu. That was one thing Tayuya had that he wasn't accustomed to. And speaking of tools-, "I thought you used that guitar thing," He said, indicating the instrument still on her back.

"I have more than one weapon, asshole," Tayuya said with a roll of her eyes, "Anyway, your stupid friends are way out of town by now. Do you have a way to catch 'em?"

"They're not stupid, and yeah," Naruto said, "Hold on tight and brace yourself."

Tayuya was going to ask him what he meant by that, when she found herself scooped up by the waist under Naruto's arm, "What? Hey, what the fuck are you doing? Put me the fuck-!" The entire world disappeared into a blur right in front of her eyes, "Ugh..."

Naruto took satisfaction in the wave of nausea rolling through Tayuya's body. From where he held her, he could feel her stomach churn, "Hey! I finally found a way to shut you up! Hold on tight. We've gotta do it again."

"No, don't-!" Once again, Tayuya saw the world in fast-forward, this time, they stopped on the outskirts of town, not that she cared where they were at the moment, "...Urrp."

"You good? We've gotta do it again."

Tayuya grabbed onto Naruto's pants tightly, "Gonna puke!" She hugged his entire leg when she felt him start to move, "Stop! Gonna puke!"

Naruto held up when he heard Tayuya vomit on his sandal-covered foot, toes and all, "Aw! Aw, come on! We didn't even make it three bursts!" He did his best to kick throw up off of his foot before continuing on. It was then that thunder rumbled in the near distance, "He's still on us."

Tayuya stood back on her own feet, wiping her mouth as the sound got closer, "How did he break that genjutsu so fast? That's good shit! Urp..."

"Arrrgh," Naruto groaned, "This guy doesn't quit! And how is he following us!? I left him in the dust!"

Tayuya growled in response, "I told you, asshole, you don't just fuck with any of the Seven Swordsman. They don't forgive or forget."

Raiga appeared 50 yards away in a bolt of lightning. Naruto stood prepared to continue fighting, while Tayuya took up behind him with her instruments. Raiga took a few steps forward, looking more than happy to keep fighting, when he stopped and looked over his shoulder at something on his back, "Why do you run? After all, you came here to disrupt things. You don't like the way I'm running things," He held up his swords, "These equal power in this country. We have the power here."

"Power is everything in Mizu no Kuni," Tayuya said quietly as a lightning storm started to kick up again, "It's the only guarantee you'll survive."

Naruto looked back at her momentarily before focusing solely on Raiga. They were out of town now, which meant that he didn't have to worry about Raiga destroying homes or killing people trying to fight him. It also meant that he didn't have to worry about himself either, "You should step back," Naruto said.

Tayuya didn't need to be told twice. Getting hit with a stray bolt of lightning, either from Raiga, or from the heavens, was not in her plans.

Raiga stabbed his swords into the ground, raising large thunderbolts that tore through the dirt and trees on its way to Naruto, "Raisou: Ikazuchi no Utage (Lightning Burial: Banquet of Lightning)!"

Tayuya and Naruto separated, jumping up into the trees. They had to keep moving to other trees in order to keep from being shredded, electrocuted, and burnt by Raiga's attack.

Raiga poured more chakra into his attack, focusing more on Naruto, as lightning strikes hit the ground at random all around him, "Nothing left! I'll keep going until there's nothing left of you!"

Naruto could easily identify that Raiga was throwing around a lot of power, and had yet to tire. The man had chakra to spare, which was fine. He didn't have time for a battle of attrition.

Tayuya watched as Naruto leapt into the air and created clones to keep himself aloft, all the while, he used them to close the distance on Raiga, "Crazy bastard," And she could have been referring to either one of them.

Naruto eventually got close enough to dive at Raiga. He held out a hand, palm flat, fingers spread wide, twisting it in a circle as best as he could, his other hand remained still over the top of it as something of a stabilizer, "Fuuton: Rasengufuu (Wind Release: (Spiraling Typhoon)!"

A compact-sized tornado flew out from Naruto's hands, cutting and blowing a path in Raiga's lightning storm and his wild snaps of electricity. Realizing that his jutsu was compromised, Raiga gave up on it and used the versatility of his swords to transition into another.

He spun his swords in his hands and brought them up into the air, lightning struck his body, "Grr..." A vortex of electricity formed around his body in the form of a dragon that he sent to strike out at Naruto, "Rairyuu no Tatsumaki (Lightning Dragon Tornado)! You're dead, boy! Dead!" He couldn't dodge, even if he did his little clone trick again.

Naruto smiled to himself. He didn't have to worry about dodging. He was right where he wanted to be, even if Raiga had upped the ante in an attempt to take him down.

Naruto's clones didn't just go away after he jumped off of them in midair. They dropped to the ground, and slowly cleared out the lightning all along the ground with their wind... all the way to Raiga.

Granted, none of them had been prepared for Raiga to change things up into a gigantic jutsu out of anger, but the clones only had to change their focus. With no more lightning on the ground after Raiga canceled that technique, that only left the big electric dragon to deal with, which they did.

All of them didn't survive, but enough did that they could go at Raiga's dragon and use their wind chakra to weaken it before they were forced to dispel.

Naruto watched from above, transitioning from the Rasengufuu to a souped-up version of the tried and true original, "Odama Rasengan (Great Ball Spiraling Sphere)!"

The blue spinning ball of chakra in Naruto's hands tore through what was left of Raiga's jutsu and smashed into the man himself. The sound of thunder rumbling and lightning striking came to a stop with the sound of Raiga's bones crunching underneath the force of the enhanced Rasengan.

Raiga's body hit the solid ground, punching a six-foot deep crater into it. After that, he didn't move an inch at Naruto's feet. He'd let go of the Kiba swords when he was smashed into the dirt, and the bundle that had been on his back bounced away a short distance.

Naruto breathed heavily as he stood over his fallen foe before turning his head to the sky and letting out a scream of release – an adrenaline dump of sorts. The fight had been the culmination of a week dealing with Mizu no Kuni's terrible conditions, and the last annoying hour of walking on eggshells around the Kurosuki Family. Inside of his body, Kurama approved.

Tayuya kept her distance until it was clear that Naruto had gotten it all out of his system, 'Maybe Buns wasn't just talking shit the other day?' She thought to herself in regards to Naruto, "You done, you big psycho?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, catching his breath as his heart rate settled down, "Yeah, I think I'm done," Idly, he noted the irony in his putting a man who loved giving 'funerals' into what could amount as a grave with his final attack, "...Really don't think he's getting back up after that one."

Tayuya gazed into the crater at Raiga's clearly broken body. If he managed to get back to his feet, let alone even be alive after the attack that Naruto dropped on him, Tayuya would run for the ocean, jump in, and swim for it, because he was clearly undead.

Victory aside, Tayuya was still shaken up by being pursued by a sword-swinging lunatic, capable of calling down a force of nature to bolster his fighting power, "You... I fucking told you not to fight with any of these assholes!" She said, stomping up to Naruto to poke him in the chest, "What did you even hire me for, if you're just gonna ignore what I said!?"

"I didn't start that!" Naruto shouted.

"You didn't have to! Raiga's a fucking bag of mixed nuts!" Tayuya argued back, "The second I told you where we were, the second I said we should have left, we should have left!"

They didn't have a base of operations. They didn't have a safehouse. There was nowhere to hide. Nowhere they could go to rest and recover if anything went sideways. If they angered someone powerful enough to send people after them, or do it themselves if they so felt inclined, there were few options available to them.

Naruto understood. He barely cared, but he understood. That being said, the worst case scenario was starting something and not being able to see it through. They had. Raiga was dead. They weren't. That was it.

"What are you so pissed about?" Naruto shot back, "We had to take a sword off of somebody for this whole plan to find the masked man to even work. And-," He trailed off, pointing to Raiga's corpse, "-It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, as far as I'm concerned."

Tayuya blinked, considering what she knew about Raiga, the Kurosuki Family, and how they dominated the region, "You've got a point there..." She said, before becoming more alright with taking out one of the Seven Swordsmen, "Welp, no use crying over spilled loot! Speaking of which..." She hopped down into the crater, and immediately began taking anything that looked valuable off of Raiga. After a moment, her eyes moved to Raiga's body and the bundle he dropped, "...You mind if I-?"

Naruto didn't care about anything Raiga had been carrying, other than the two Kiba blades, "-Yeah, knock yourself out."

Tayuya hopped out of the hole and trotted over to the wrapped bundle, "Don't mind if I-," She stopped cold after opening it up to see what was inside, "...What the fuck is this?"

"What?" Naruto asked, "Does he use fingers, toes, and ears for trophies, or something?"

"No... but, uh..." The way Tayuya hesitated to say anything else didn't give him much hope to the contrary, "There's a kid in here, Golden Boy."

Naruto picked up the swords and turned to where Tayuya was kneeling down, "There's not a kid in there. How could a kid fit in there?" Naruto said in disbelief as he walked over to check on her findings.

Lo and behold, there in the wrapped bundle was a weak, unhealthy-looking child with purple hair and red eyes. He looked undersized and frail; like he would die if someone poked him too hard with a pillow, but he was definitely alive.

"...Uh..." Somehow, that summed up the confusion both the jinchuuriki and the musician kunoichi felt at the child staring up at them in fear. All Naruto could think to ask was one question, "D-Does he count as loot to you?" Because that would make their further interactions a lot more strained if she did.

"No, he fucking doesn't!"

Jutsu List

Mateki: Jigoku no Hari (Demonic Flute: Hell's Acupuncture). C-rank genjutsu, supplementary, all ranges. An illusion sent out through the chakra in the soundwaves. Once the song is heard, the chakra moves through all 361 tenketsu in the human body and affects the corresponding nerves nearby. The user can use the technique to cause pleasure or pain, hence the name. Because the transmission of the jutsu is sound-based, it has a large range of effectiveness, and can be applied without full knowledge of the target's position. The genjutsu is ineffective if the opponent can't hear the technique. An individual with a high threshold for pain can attempt to overpower it.

Fuuton: Rasengufuu (Wind Release: Spiraling Typhoon). A-rank ninjutsu, offensive, mid-range. The user can create a tightly coiled tornado in the palm of their hand. From the position of the user's fingers (ranging from wide open, to pressed closely together), the effects of the jutsu can range from a powerful wind, to an inverted cyclone with a drilling tip. The jutsu uses the first two steps of its parent jutsu, the Rasengan, to work, thus it requires no hand-seals.

Major Clan Information

Kurosuki Family
Leader: Kurosuki Raiga

Population: 1/5
Military Strength: 1/5
Economy: 1/5
Notable Traits: Low-level members utilize bladed claws as weapons. Uniform outfit of hooded robes. Dangerous hand-to-hand combatants. Mostly comprised of thugs looking for a better standard of living, or opportunistic shinobi. Mostly lacking in individual strength compared to skilled shinobi, the group leans heavily on the power of their leader, one of the Seven Swordsmen, the wielder of the twin electric swords 'Kiba', Kurosuki Raiga.
Area of Operations: Northern islands of Mizu no Kuni.

Alright, ladies and gentlemen. It's been a little while, but we're back with more in the wild interpretation of how things could go in the Naruto world if hidden villages had never become a thing.

Nawaki obtains most of the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths after running through the cocky Gold and Silver Brothers. And Naruto inadvertently finds himself in a knock-down drag-out with Raiga. So much for not stirring the pot. Now, he and his crew have their hands on a major Mizu no Kuni political piece, and they haven't even gotten to the big island yet.

Ah, there's nothing quite like killing your enemies and looting their dead bodies for all the valuables you can fit in your pockets.

Meanwhile, maybe more importantly to some of you, Guy is in the house! What can Kakashi and Anko get from him in their quest to dig up anything on Danzo, and perhaps take him down? And what's this about a 'death wish' from the aloof, detached Kakashi?

We shall see.

Anyway, that's all I've got for you as of this update. Until the next time, I hope you all enjoyed.

Kenchi out.