Man, from Nami!
The door to the Hokage's waiting area opened, and an old man entered, he was a grey-haired, bespectacled man with a large beard and dark eyes. Tazuna wore a sleeveless V-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals, a towel around his neck, and wore a pointed hat on his head. He stopped just inside the door, eyeing the room with a critical eye, "What is this, I asked for ninja, not kunoichi," he slurred, before opening an unseen jug, tipped his head back, and began to chug? When he finished, he stoppered the jug, and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, then added, "this is going to require a lot more prowess than an invitation to the bedroom."
The KI directed at the bridge-builder by everybody in the room, instantly sobered him up, "Are you calling me a whore, bridge-builder," Tsunade stood and marched over getting in the old man's face, "because I am a kunoichi too, and I'll have you know, I've fought and defeated people that would make you piss your pants? I fought in two Great Ninja Wars, and countless smaller wars, battles, skirmishes, and incidental missions, since I became a kunoichi at eleven-years-old! Also, not that it's any of your business, the only man I have ever lain with was my fiancé, and no one else since he died in service to this village," she yelled in his face! "Now, would you like to get on with explaining this mission for these ninja," she asked in a much calmer voice, "but I warn you, one more crack about my people, of any kind, we will cancel this mission, and you will have to find another village to employ, and that includes during the journey back to your homeland? Are we clear, Tazuna-san?"
Tazuna bowed his head toward the Hokage, "I apologize, Hokage-sama," he declared, then bowed to the others he saw in the room, "and my apologies to you all, what I said was uncalled for and if anybody else said the same thing about my daughter, I would do my best to murder, the rat-bastard! I humbly ask for you to forgive me," Tazuna's contrition was sincere, as far as Naruto and Hinata could determine?
Naruto remained silent, he was only insulted by association, it is the kunoichi on his team who had the right to accept or deny his request for forgiveness. Thank Kami, he grew up living with a kunoichi, and knew how most of them thought. They neither needed nor wanted a man to come to their defense in matters of honor, these deadly women could see to their own honor, thank you very much. Kurenai, Hinata, Sakura, and Tsunade, shared a look, an unreadable glance and they all gave a subtle nod, and turned back to the client, "You are forgiven, Tazuna-san," Kurenai-sensei graciously accepted his apology, but added, "but be warned any further insults from you or even those close to you, and even in the midst of battle we will depart and leave you to your own fate."
"I understand, kunoichi-kun," Tazuna nodded, "now before I put my foot in my mouth again. May I explain my mission," the entire team nodded this time, and he began? "My nation of Wave has always been a poor nation, but happy, we're not big at all, we have less landmass than even some cities, but are fiercely protective of our independence. That independence is now being threatened, by a very small man, who casts a very large shadow, the business tycoon, Gato of Gato Trading Company."
The eyes of all grew wide at that name, besides skills, all of them were up to date on current events around the world, and the name Gato was seen in quite a number of newspaper, magazine, and current events websites. Tsunade already knew all of this, no mission goes through without thorough vetting, and her sources are numerous, which included, among other things, Jiraiya's spy network.
"I see I don't have to explain who this man is to you," Tazuna nodded, "good, that saves us time. A year or so ago, Gato entered Nami no Kuni and began buying up shipping companies, and dock space, even commercial fishing assets were bought out, every square footage of waterfront property fell under his control. As, I'm sure you are aware, to a nation like Wave, entirely dependent upon its seafront real-estate, owning that property, puts a stranglehold on our economy, on our very lives. As soon as Gato finalized his monopoly in Wave, he began strangling our poor nation, the way a python would its prey. In order to break his monopoly, I began building a bridge, that would connect Wave Island to Hi no Kuni," Tazuna finished his story, then his face turned dark, followed by his face, "but Gato will do anything to maintain his grip on Wave. I think, he wants to be elevated to the status of Daimyo, even as one of the wealthiest men in the world, there is still only so much he can accomplish, but as royalty he can do so much more."
Tsunade scoffed, "even if he does become Daimyo, if he proves himself to be too troublesome, the other nations, most likely our very own Fire Nation, because of our proximity, will just gobble him up."
Tazuna nodded, as he had thought of that as well, "that is also my thought, but either way, the people of Wave would be caught like grain between the mill-stone and the trough. Which is all the more of a reason to finish my bridge before it's too late."
"Why doesn't Gato just wait until its finished, and then blow it up," Naruto asked, "that might dissolution other people from trying that again?"
"If it were a bridge within a nation, you'd be correct, Naruto-kun," Tsunade explained, "however, there is a certain etiquette involving bridges connecting between nations. If Gato attack's the bridge after completion, then it will be seen as an attack on both nations," she continued, "Fire would retaliate by sending more of us to back the upstart off and teach him a lesson."
"That's right," Tazuna stated somberly, "but until it is complete the bridge is the sole responsibility of the nation that began the project, hence why Gato is getting desperate to prevent my bridge's completion. So much so, that he has begun to hire ninja to try and stop me from completing it," he stated, finally getting to the reason for his presence. "I need help from the Leaf to guard me and my family as I complete my bridge."
"Forgive me, Hokage-sama, but how is this a C-Ranked mission," Hinata asked, "if these truly are ninja, then shouldn't this be a B-rank, even borderline A-rank, depending upon the caliber of ninja we face?"
Tsunade grinned ruefully, "normally you'd be right, Hyūga-Genin-san," delicately reminding Hinata of her place, "but Tazuna-san, cannot afford anything higher than a C-rank, and this is a golden opportunity for Fire Nation to acquire another trade route." The Genin of Blood Squad stared straight ahead, is that all she cared about, the money this mission could bring to Fire, which would only be true if they succeeded, they stared straight ahead, not bothering to look at their Hokage? It was such a striking reversal of her attitude at the beginning of the meeting, she seemed to go from a caring benevolent leader, to a callous one in just a few moments, that it made them wonder something. Quietly, they stopped the flow of their chakra, and found, a bit of foreign chakra running through their chakra coils, they recognized it, as belonging to their sensei, they allowed their chakra to start flowing again, which broke them out of the genjutsu.
As one, they turned their faces to their sensei, in a subtle glare, but she only had a mysterious smile, indicating for them to pay attention. They turned resolutely back to look at their Hokage who was still at the beginning of what she was saying, "normally you'd be correct, Hinata-san," the Hokage grinned, noting the final test their sensei gave them to insure they were ready, they could be covert if it was necessary, then she continued, "but Tazuna-san, cannot afford anything higher than a C-rank, and this is a golden opportunity for Fire Nation to acquire Wave Nation through annexation, which will bring them under Fire laws, and remove Gato's ownership of the waterfront property, and bring it under our Daimyo's control. To insure this, Konoha will be sending a pair of ANBU along with you," Tsunade finished.
There was a chuckle, and a giggle, as Naruto and Hinata grinned knowingly, "that's very clever, Hokage-sama," they said together.
"So glad you both approve," Tsunade said dryly.
"Will that not drive up the price," Tazuna asked with concern?
"Not at all, Tazuna-san," Sakura spoke up for the first time, "you see, ANBU base pay is a part of Konoha infrastructure, where as other ninja, from Genin to Jōnin, get paid directly through missions. Tsunade-sama, is giving us the best chance for success, by including two ANBU in our team," the rosette kunoichi explained, "she's giving you more bang for your buck, so to speak."
"Who will be accompanying us, Hokage-sama," Kurenai asked?
Tsunade grinned, "Tsuki (Moon), Neko (Cat), make yourselves known," she ordered!
There were a couple of blurs in the room, and before the Hokage had closed her mouth two ANBU, shinobi and kunoichi stood before their commanding officer. "Hai, Hokage-sama?"
"Are you two ready," Tsunade asked, when they nodded, "good, you are going on a mission with Blood Squad here, but while it is important, we don't want our adversaries knowing how important, therefore you will go dressed as normal Jōnin. Understood?"
"Understood," they chorused, and they performed a hand sign, and their clothes seemed to melt around them, only to reform an instant later into the standard Jōnin uniform. They turned after completing the transformation, and Naruto's Aunt and her boyfriend, faced them all. They had used True Transformations to alter their clothes for the mission parameters, while the kunoichi used the summoning technique to bring a particular item from where she kept it, into her hands. Yugao looked the same as she always did, Naruto could see the dragon armor under the long-sleeved, Jonin, pull-over sweater, except her violette-hair was in a kunoichi-braid, and the Uzumaki family katana, which she had summoned settled into place, peaking over a shoulder. It looked just like any other katana, but the tsuba was an ovular Onmyō-symbol. The man standing next to her, was a well-respected Tokubetsu Jōnin, named Hayate Gekkō. Hayate had short brown hair, dark-colored eyes, and dark markings under his eyes. He also carried a katana, strapped over his back, with a rectangular hand guard.
"Oh, thank Kami," Naruto stated in relief, "another shinobi will be along for this mission."
Most of the kunoichi, turned a glare on to the male genin, but it was Sakura who spoke, "What's that supposed to mean, Naruto-kun?"
"It means, Sakura-chan," not backing down at all, he told her what he meant, "that as much as I admire and respect all kunoichi, especially my teammates, not to mention my aunt, I sometimes feel that I'm adrift in a sea of estrogen. Plus, once a month, one or more of you, seems to decide that I need to be mentally and emotionally tortured, just for being a man," Naruto added, then sighed and inhaled through his nose, "one of the drawbacks of having an enhanced sense of smell is I can always tell which of you is on your period, or which one of you is in heat." Naruto was deliberately looking at the ceiling to avoid making eye-contact with either of the women, who had turned red when they realized, they hid nothing from their teammate, and or, love interest or nephew.
"Why not, stand upwind of them, Naruto," Tsunade asked out of medical curiosity, "then you won't smell them?"
"If only it were that simple, Hokage-sama," Naruto sighed, "but one of the drawbacks to mastering your element as you may know, is you are subconsciously manipulating that chakra element to benefit yourself. Earth specialists tend to leave a wake in the dirt wherever they walk, even on stone, fire users are a little warmer than normal, water ninja tend to humidify the air, and lightning masters are more prone to static electricity," Tsunade and the other Jōnin nodded their heads, the other genin listened with fascination, and the civilian looked interested, "well, wind masters like me, tend to alter the local air currents to draw in the winds they need to work with, so no matter where I stand, I'm always downwind."
"Why did you not tell us this before, Naruto," his aunt asked dangerously?
Realizing he was in trouble no matter what he said, he decided to, bite the senbon, and just tell the truth, "I did it to keep from embarrassing you," Naruto said, studiously ignoring Tazuna in the room. "I apologize for blurting it out here in front of Tazuna, but I was so relieved to finally have another shinobi to talk to on my first mission that I blurted it out."
Before further discussion could be had, Tsunade decided to get them back on track, "Getting to the other subject at hand, Blood Squad is to accompany Tazuna-san here, back to Nami, and guard him until he finishes his bridge. You are authorized to use any and all means to prevent his demise," she was looking directly at Naruto when she said that, he quirked an eyebrow, looking at Tsunade to make sure he understood what she was authorizing, when she emphasized, "any means short of assassination of Gato. If he attacks directly, you may do what you must, but until then he is to be left alone. Is that understood," she asked?
"Understood," they all said!
"Good, Kurenai-sensei," Tsunade said, "give them their marching orders."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," the crimson-eyed kunoichi acknowledged, before turning to her team, and began giving them orders, "you will all go home, and pack everything you will need for an extended trip, meet me at the Village Main Gate in exactly one-hour." They waited for her to finish her instructions, and give the execute order, "Go!" They were a memory as soon as her mouth closed, they did not see her smile of pride in them, you will all become great ninja, I am just glad I could have been a part of your story.
New Traditions
Naruto and Yugao wasted no time getting to the house, as they entered the house they headed to their respective rooms. They really, did not have to do much preparation, because one of the village's standing orders for all ninjas was to be able to set out on a mission, at a moment's notice. That meant having what they needed for a mission ready at all times, ready to go immediately upon receipt of the mission. The hour Kurenai gave them was generous, it was mainly so they could settle any business they might have while they were away early, or schedule for a later date. Naruto picked up a large scroll in his room, into it he sealed clothes, rations, medical equipment, they may not be medic-nin like Sakura-chan, but all of them knew how to do emergency medicine.
The doorbell rang, Yugao called out that she would get it, he heard the door open and several feet file into the house. Naruto, of course, was wearing his Ten-Fist sword on his back, which he always did since becoming a Genin. He was just stopping by the foyer to lay his scroll next to the door, before making his way to the living room, he smiled when he reached it, because he found nearly everybody he cared about, Anko, Sakura-chan, Hayate, Hinata-chan, Kiba with Akamaru, Hana with the triplets, and Kurenai-chan, seated on the couches, or in various chairs within the room, they were all engrossed in their own talk. Sakura, Kurenai, and Hinata were chatting, and casting surreptitious glances in Naruto's direction. Kiba was laughing at something with Anko and Hana, while scratching the back of his head, to Naruto, he seemed to be flirting with Anko. Yugao and Hayate were just sitting in the loveseat, lost in their own little world. The Inu-nin were laying on their sides in their own little pile, Akamaru and the Haimaru triplets were brothers, from the same sire.
Naruto cleared his throat, and smiled, before asking, "Hi, guys, what're you doing here," he asked with enthusiasm?
Hana is the one to answer his question, "your aunt invited us over, to take part in an Uzumaki clan tradition," she explained, "it's a tradition that usually only involves family, but she said we're family in every way that matters."
Naruto understood his aunt's thoughts on that matter, "well, she's right there," he agreed, "you may not be Uzumaki, but you've all become like family to us," he said, as he entered the room to stand next to his teammates.
This prompted Yugao to stand-up from Hayate's lap and begin bustling around the room. She went to the side-board and took a tray of drinks and went around the room putting a shot-glass into every hand. The shots were of sakè, "okay, this is a tradition the Uzumaki would partake in when they became adults, and began to take their place in society, with Blood Squad about to undertake its first mission outside the village, this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to do this. So, if you will all raise your glasses," they all did, "To Blood Squad on their first mission, may we represent our Village with honor."
"Blood Squad, formidable while separate, unbeatable together," Naruto toasted.
"Blood Squad, give them Hell," Kiba decreed, "but come back safely, together."
"Here, Here," Hana agreed to her brother's benediction.
"To Blood Squad, may we all learn each experience, but never give up that which makes us strong, our uniqueness," Hayate declared.
"To Blood Squad on our first mission, we will destroy our foes and look good doing it," Sakura quipped.
"To Blood Squad on their first mission, Gato won't know what hit him," Anko declared.
"To my team, no matter what happens, we will get through anything together," Kurenai decreed, "and one more standing order for you all, no dying."
"To Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun, and Kurenai-sensei, we will make the mountains tremble with our passage, and rivers slow as we cross them," Hinata exclaimed, "our story will be Epic," and they all drank their sakè.
Gone to Wave.
The original Blood Squad were many hours outside the Village Hidden in the Leaves. At the moment, the only ones present were Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, and Kurenai, not to mention Tazuna of Nami. The two ANBU were nowhere in sight, Naruto could not help the grin on his face, this was his first excursion out of Konoha in his whole life. Of course, he and Hinata knew they were being followed, and had been since the moment they set foot outside the Village. Naruto and Hinata's balaclavas were totally on, and up, their visors were flipped down over their eyes, and their dojutsu were on in full. Hinata was on point, while Naruto brought up the rear, Kurenai and Sakura were on the right and left of Tazuna-san, respectively, while the two ANBU were nowhere to be seen. It may be worth noting that all three of Naruto's ninjutsu: Surrogate Substitution, True Transformations, and Flash Clones, had been sold to the ANBU corps, which brought a nice chunk of change to the Uzumaki compound, and had also been included in the Scroll of Seals as Kinjutsu.
They knew what the two following them looked like, and even who they are, Meizu and Gozu, aka, the demon brothers, missing ninja from Kirigakure. They were known to associate with the S-ranked missing ninja, Jūzō Biwa, the wielder of Kubikiribōchō. Jūzō by himself was reputed to be a near nightmare to fight, but Jūzō, plus the Severing sword, was said to die the battlefields red with blood.
It was late afternoon, and in the midst of a particularly, hot summer, when Naruto sensed something… insulting. The demon brothers had apparently grown tired of following them and decided to ambush them, that was not the insulting part, that came in the form of their chosen cover. The brothers were trying to show-off their training and chose to hide their ambush, by hiding in a puddle of free-standing water. The only problem with that tactic, it had been weeks since it rained, this was the dry season in the Land of Fire, one of the reasons it was called that, was due to its unusually, high temperatures in the summer. The second hottest on the continent, with only the desert lands of Kaze no Kuni going higher, and drier, if they were true ninja, they would have taken this into their calculations when setting their ambush.
"So, what should we do about them," Kurenai asked her genin, over the special communication devices, given to them by Hana and Kiba, as first mission gifts? They allowed the Inuzuka's non-canine partners to communicate with them, taking their voices and modulating the sound up and down the frequency scale, allowing humans without special abilities granted by the King of the Biju, or a bloodline limit to communicate freely? Kurenai had her own ideas but wanted to see what her students thought of the situation, "should we spring their ambush, or allow it to go forward?"
"Well, springing the ambush would reveal our capabilities, and some of our abilities," Naruto pointed out the obvious, which he knew they knew, but wanted to point it out to determine the likely consequences of such actions. They nodded their understanding, "and it is most likely these idiots were sent to test us, a guy like Biwa-san, wouldn't want to waste his time on small-fry."
"True, but letting it go forward will not accomplish anything, they'll likely target Tazuna-san and we already know why," Sakura stated, "if I were to attack our group, I'd go after Kurenai-sensei first, then try a feint at one of us, before suddenly veering off toward, Tazuna-san. If, I didn't know anything about our capabilities, all I would see, was a typical Genin team on a mission," she told them as her powerful mind, turned the situation over and over, "Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan are dressed enough alike to likely be siblings, I'm dressed differently enough with my shemagh, the only one they might've heard of is you, Kurenai-sensei."
Kurenai smile, "it's likely, and I am in the Book of Shinobi as Crimson Mirage, so they likely know my method of attack will be using Genjutsu. The first rule of strategy, is never do what your enemy expects you to do," their sensei lectured, "but always do what they expect you not to."
"Actually, the rule of thumb is to be unpredictable," Hinata corrected, "and I don't see what the issue is, we know they're there, most of the power of an ambush comes from the surprise of your enemy. There's no reason, why we cannot incorporate elements from both options," Hinata reasoned.
"What do you have in mind, Hinata-chan," Naruto asked?
By the time the party came even with the supposed innocuous puddle of water, they had shifted positions so Kurenai was bringing up the rear. They had apparently grown complacent as the journey wore on, and had allowed their vigilance to wane, the two kunoichi were in the middle, chatting about girly-things. There was a lot of giggling involved in whatever they were talking about, as one or both seemed to cast conspiratorial glances in the blonde shinobi's direction, who had migrated to take point, leaving Tazuna terribly alone and isolated.
The demon brothers weighed their options, wondering if they should change their battle-plan, but decided against it, their first target could not possibly be in better position for springing their trap. The entire party had walked by and were a few paces passed the puddle, when they rose out of the puddle, one atop the other. Once they were completely out of the water, the one on top combined a leap with a throw from the one on bottom, and together they launched the top one through the air. They ended up entangling the raven-haired beauty, with a deadly-looking chain, that seemed to be attached to a pair of gruesome-looking gauntlets.
"Oh no," Sakura exclaimed in fright!
"What," came Naruto's astonished bellow?
"Do it," the two-horned Meizu, which was truly the only way to tell them apart, ordered, and they pulled on the chain hard, their combined might, caused the chain to rip through Blood Squad's sensei like a chainsaw through paper.
"Kurenai-sensei," Naruto called out in alarm, before he felt the wind blow behind him as the Chunin from Mist, appeared behind Naruto, laughing at his shock and fright!
"Now, it's your turn," one of them stated as they brought their chains up and would have wrapped it around him.
Naruto suddenly smirked, "psych," and he was gone in a plume of smoke, and in his place was Gozu, who just had time for his eyes to go wide, before he met the same fate as Kurenai.
"How was that possible," then Meizu remembered, who they had supposedly killed a moment before, a genjutsu master, "of course?" Then focusing he yelled, "Kai!" There was a flash of light and the world returned to normal, but it was still too late, because he watched the blonde one, that they had intended to use as a feint, break his brother's nose. Gozu felt the sharp rap on the back of the head with a kunai, and the last thing he saw before consciousness fled, was a flight of six-Onmyō (Canada) geese, flying sedately to the west, one of them seemed to be carrying a scroll on its back.
Nightmare in the Mist
The air was as opaque as a blanket, visibility, was down to zero, and the wind was utterly still, it was as quiet as a tomb. Through this foggy atmosphere, a boat moved through the water, normally this boat, a small-time fisherman's vessel too insignificant for Gato to even try to buy out, would be maneuvering through the channel between Fire and Wave, with its tiny motor going full blast. This morning, however, was different because as insignificant as this ferryman was in terms of acquiring businesses, it would not be the case if he were caught by Gato, helping the very man trying to break-up his business venture. This auxiliary for Charon, had some truly august passengers today, Nami no Tazuna, Konoha no Sakura, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyūga, and Kurenai Yūhi, were making their way to the not-so-sunny coasts of Nami no Kuni, to guard Tazuna from the minions of the fiend known as, Gato.
An enterprise that aforementioned fiend, would surely frown upon, therefore, it behooved the boatman to conduct this service as quietly as possible. "This fog is so thick, you can't see anything," the rosette kunoichi commented, sitting on the port-side gunwale, directly opposite the Hyūga, toward the aft section of the boat was their sensei, and behind her was Tazuna directly in front of the steersman, in the bow of the boat was Naruto.
"Bridge isn't far, now," the ferryman's voice, seemed to cut through the silence like a knife in the stomach, "our destination, the Land of Waves, is just ahead."
Naruto's nose was not picking up much in this fog, having his balaclava up, was just a waste of time, so he kept it pushed back and down on his shoulders. Being in the front of the boat, allowed him to understand the scope and scale of the bridge their client was trying to build, they passed along the bridge quite close, but even as close as they were, they could not see the top, barely making-out the scaffolding and construction equipment. "Whoa, it's huge," Naruto suddenly yelled!
"Wha… quiet," the boatman scolded, "I told you, no noise, why do you think we're traveling like this?" The ferryman, continued to berate the Genin, "turning off the engine and rowing, moving… in the dense fog, it's so they don't see us!"
Naruto humorously clamped a hand over his own mouth, Sakura was looking at him in rebuke, Hinata was sporting a condescending smile, but Kurenai was looking hard at the bridge builder. "Tazuna-san," Kurenai began like a mother chiding her child, "before we reach the pier, I want to know something." Tazuna refused to look at her, "the ones who are after you, I need to know, why? If you don't tell us, this mission ends as soon as we put you ashore."
After a long explanation, which was all for the ears that were definitely listening in the mists, they were sensed quite easily, with Naruto's radar-sense. Well, there were only two, and the speed with which they moved while scouting definitely said they were ninja, their movement efficiency said they were quite skilled both of them equaling Kurenai-sensei, while one of them moved even better than her. That one seemed to have a broad-profile on one-side, but a more rounded section as well, that told Naruto exactly who it was, the broad-section tapered to a point on one end, could that be the infamous, Kubikiribōchō?
They approached an entrance tunnel to the wharf, it would take them well into Wave Nation, "Tazuna, we are very fortunate," the boatman said to the bridge-builder, "no one has noticed us, so far."
"Nice going," Tazuna appraised. Oh, but they have noticed us, boatman, Naruto thought, overhead the call of geese was heard in the distance, it was the only sound that could be heard in the still atmosphere, that's the point, I'm sorry to say, but you're expendable compared to our client. As am I, Naruto thought grimly.
The fog was starting to lift by the time they set foot on a lonely, secluded dock, just within sight of the magnificent. "That's as far as I go," the ferryman declared, "good luck."
"Right," Tazuna accepted, "thank you for taking such a risk."
"Just be careful," the ferryman admonished, as he started up his motor and sped away into the distance.
Tazuna turned to the rest of the party, "okay, take me home, and I mean get me there in one-piece!"
"Of course," Kurenai confirmed. Biwa-san is definitely going to attack, he must be impatient to get paid, Naruto surmised, then chuckled to himself, he must really despise working for Gato, all articles I've read on him say that he's a real piece of work, conducting his business like a crime syndicate.
Naruto, was leading the way again, using his senses to tell him exactly where his adversaries were, he suddenly ran a few paces forward and stopped. He took out a kunai and threw it randomly into the bushes, "over there," he shouted, like an over-eager puppy.
Kurenai rushed over to the place he sent the kunai, and chuckled, "good news, kids, there wasn't an enemy behind these bushes," she stated holding up a dead, snow-white rabbit, extracting Naruto's kunai from its skull, "bad news, Naruto-kun is cooking dinner tonight." They all chuckled along with her, though it was on the outside only, that's a snow rabbit, Kurenai thought, but they only have white-fur during winter, when snow is on the ground, it camouflages them allowing them to escape from many of their predators. It's mid-summer, right now, meaning it's been raised indoors away from sunlight, which can only be for one purpose, a substitution technique. So, they're going to try us here, she decided.
Jūzō had been watching this group from the trees, with a critical-eye, he did not get to be the rank of S-ranked ninja, by taking chances or underestimating his opponents. While on the surface, this appeared to be your typical Konoha, Genin team, the efficiency of movement the blonde one displayed spoke of considerable skill. Plus, he was able to actually inflict a mortal wound on a substituted opponent, also said a lot about his skill, it is possible there was more to him than meets the eyes. This Naruto's sensei also happens to be the famed Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha herself, second only to the Nidaime Mizukage's Genjutsu skill. This meant fighting this group will be difficult, because he will not be able to trust his senses, he will have to rely on his instincts and experience, luckily, he had faced many genjutsu masters in his time, and they all added their blood to the fields he painted.
"I think, Shiroyuki should keep the kunoichi occupied, while I keep company with the shinobi and their sensei," Biwa said, while giving a discrete flare of his chakra, much like the dot-dash code. This relayed his plan to his weapon, and when he received the confirmation code, he waited for the attack to commence. Jūzō felt the moisture of the air become more oppressive, meaning his weapon was beginning the attack. Several small projectiles of water coalesced from the accumulated moisture, and rushed toward the backs of the unsuspecting females, if they fell for that, then they didn't deserve to be called kunoichi, my mother would've just called them fangirls that deserved their deaths.
Just as the water-needles were about to hit their mark, the one with the balaclava moved her palm and began swatting the water-senbon out of the air. She moved with the grace of a dancer, her body appeared to have been encased in a shield made of air, she combined grace with dexterity. The other one, once she saw the projectiles, seemed to swim around the needles, her torso would move in one direction, while her limbs and lower body moved the rest of her someplace else. Her style was built to entice and lead one into a trap, but there was definite power there, mom would approve of both of them. Then Shiroyuki appeared in front of the one in the shemagh, sweeping at her leg, but then the one in the jacket appeared beside them, and just as her teammate began to fall, she helped her by grabbing her torso. This added a fulcrum, allowing the fall to turn into a backflip, while at the same time, the one in the balaclava threw a raiton-chakra, infused punch at Shiroyuki's head. A punch that was already augmented by the metal on the backfist of the gloves, Shiroyuki's swiftly realigned head prevented the punch from landing. The shemagh wearer, reached toward her thigh and drew a pair of hanbo, before rushing back into the fray. She combined her taijutsu with her weapons movements, her weapons became extensions of her body.
As the fight between the kunoichi raged, Naruto was watching from the sidelines, he could have helped them and would have, but for a few things. Firstly, if this were an attack by the enemy it was just the opening barrage, meant to test them, the real attack from Jūzō-san could come any moment, and he would not abandon his sensei just to have some fun. Secondly, it meant that their plans were working, and finally, the movements of Sakura and Hinata's bodies said they were having fun, and both of them would flay him if he interfered. Besides, their main priority was the bridge builder, Naruto made the cross-finger-sign and twenty Kage Bunshin appeared, surrounding Tazuna. Naruto wanted to deploy his dojutsu, but it was not yet time to reveal his trump card.
"I am honored," a gravelly voice said from behind them. Naruto and Kurenai whirled around at the sound, "to think a lonely man like myself, gets to share this dancefloor with someone as lovely as the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha."
Their initial surprise was short-lived, Naruto glanced at his sensei and shook his head, which brought a nod of understanding from her, stall. Kurenai turns to see a man, a slender and tall shinobi — about the same height as the sword he wielded, standing on top of the nearby body of water, his hand and arm in an unusual formation, and from the way the water under his feet churned, he was obviously calling upon his chakra and it was a massive Suitonjutsu. The man on the water, to Naruto, just seemed to be the personification of menace, he has not felt this feeling, since he was extremely young, the two years he spent on the street. That was one of the most traumatic events of his life thus far, he can hardly think back on that era without remembering the ever-present feel of fear. Well, it was like someone had condensed all of that same fear from the entire period of time and coalesced it, into the man standing atop the water in front of him.
Jūzō Biwa, also known as, Nightmare from the Mist, S-ranked rogue ninja, of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who wielded Decapitating Carving Knife – every kenjutsu user worth the name knew about the Seven Blades of the Mist – had no eyebrows, just creases under his eyes, and a cross shaped scar on his right cheek. His hair and eyes are dark gray in color and his hair is short and spiky. He has light tan skin. He also had a red grid-shaped marking covering his jaw. He wore a black, tight-fitting sleeveless shirt, with two light, thin stripes, on his chest, a striped cloth belt and light pants, along with black arm covers, extending from his hands to his biceps. Jūzō, also wore bandages around his neck and face, which also covered his ears, and like all the members of the Seven, had pointed teeth, like a shark.
Naruto knew that Jūzō-san was trying to intimidate them, by intentionally releasing his Killer Intent (KI), well it was, at least, working on him. The only reason he did not run away, was because his love for Sakura, Hinata, and Kurenai, was more powerful than the fear the Swordsman extracted from him. Love always conquers fear, and consumes the fires of anger and hatred, with its hotter, but gentler flames. Kurenai saw Naruto pluck up his courage, she was proud of her student, not many would be able to overcome the kind of pressure Biwa-san was exerting, let alone a Genin. That's one of the reasons, among so many that make me love you, Naruto, and while I wouldn't trade this time with you for anything, I wish you were not my student, so that I could, or at least try to, capture your heart. She placed all of her attention back onto their enemy, and smiled a charmed smile, "I am truly flattered, that such a powerful shinobi such as yourself, would know about a humble kunoichi, like me."
Jūzō merely returned the smile, showing off his shark-like teeth, "of course, Kurenai, the Crimson Mirage, a genjutsu prodigy, considered to be Konoha's number one genjutsu user, whose skills are said to rival those of even Shisui and Itachi Uchiha. Capable of discerning the truth in an instant and luring enemies to a place far beyond genjutsu, and into the subconscious mind to see a person's 'true nature,' and quite often mistaken for an Uchiha, with those eyes of hers." They continued to appraise each other, taking their measure, he grew serious, "now that the pleasantries are over, I need you to hand over, the old man."
"That would be quite impossible, at this juncture," Kurenai asserted, "he's our client after all. It wouldn't be very good for Konoha, if we started letting our clients fall into enemy hands, every time we get waylaid by enemy ninja. I'm prepared to die for him," Kurenai growled, as her crimson-eyes seemed to shine with an ethereal glow, "are you prepared to do the same, Jūzō-san, to die for an old fart like him?"
"Well," Jūzō-san rasped, "looks like I get to see the Crimson Mirage in action, this is an honor," their enemy declared solemnly, "will you show me the Crimson Skies I've heard from my peers?"
Kurenai smiled like a cat that just ate the canary, "maybe, if I deem you worthy, I have many skills," she stated, while cocking her hips to the side seductively, "that dojutsu is just one of many, I possess."
Jūzō-san just laughed, "if you're attempting to beguile me with your charms, you'll find I'm quite immune to your blandishments, unlike say that Genin standing next to you." Naruto blushed, he had thought by remaining professional, no one would notice how his sensei was getting to him, but when a woman as hot as Kurenai Yūhi begins acting sexy, that shit is hard to ignore. Kurenai said nothing, at least, I know the guy I've fallen for finds me attractive. "In truth, he is far more appealing to me than you are, Yūhi-san," Jūzō admitted, "just give him a few years and to me he'd be just right."
Naruto, to his credit did not blush, his aunt had raised him to be fairly open-minded about such things, still, "I'm flattered, Jūzō-san," he began, "but men are ugly, smelly, disgusting creatures to me, not appealing at all accept as friends and comrades."
"As for you, Jonin-kun," Jūzō-san continued, "there was a standing order among all Mist ninja, to capture you, and bring you back to the village, or destroy you on sight. Your stats were in are Bingo Book," their enemy informed them, "but enough talk, I must exterminate, the old man, now!"
"I just told you, Jūzō-san," Kurenai repeated, "that… will be impossible in this place."
"So," taking her answer as more defiance, "Kurenai-kun, it seems I need to eliminate you first, so be it." A mist even thicker than the natural fog from just an hour-ago, billowed into existence, "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" The world around them was enveloped in a thick blanket of mist that surrounded Naruto and Kurenai, they could still hear the sounds of fighting to one-side as the kunoichi battle still raged, they apparently were not covered in the mist, just these two.
"Sensei," Naruto warned.
"Naruto-kun, he'll come after me first," Kurenai reminded him.
"Be careful, Sensei," Naruto admonished, then continued in low frequency, below normal human hearing, something her earpiece picked up, "remember that tattoo on his lower jaw and lip area?" At her nod he continued, "I recognized it from my Seal Training, it's a pain seal, it was used by the Uzumaki as a ward against genjutsu, it's a countermeasure they used. Whenever someone used a genjutsu on a person with that mark, it flared like fire which caused the genjutsu to fail," he explained to her.
Kurenai narrowed her eyes, "don't fret Naruto-kun, if what your saying is true, then my genjutsu may still work, just not the way I intended. If we fail, we only lose our lives," Kurenai concluded.
"Right," Naruto agreed.
One of the Kage Bunshin voiced his observations, "man, this mist is getting thicker as we speak!"
"The Land of Waves is surrounded entirely by the ocean," Tazuna explained, "so fog and mist accumulate very easily. You could say, we're in the perfect environment for our enemy to fight us, all of the advantages are currently in his favor, but not for long."
"Eight points," came Jūzō-san's disembodied voice, "larynx, spine, lungs, the liver… jugular, and subclavian arteries, kidneys, the heart. Now, which will be my kill point," the voice asked?
Kurenai, made the ram seal, and flared her chakra, pushing back some of the mist, "Naruto calm-down, I'll protect you with my life, I would never be able to face your Aunt if I let anything happen to you, I would sooner take my own life than allow you to die!"
"Your conviction does you credit, Crimson Mirage," Jūzō-san's voice spoke from near the clone group, then Jūzō appeared right next to the group, "it's over!" However instead of standing their ground, they substituted themselves, but left behind several explosive kunai, and only one clone.
"Dai-bakufu," the clone stated, before it exploded, adding its explosive force to the kunai, ironically the water clone's substance leveled as much landscape as the exploding clone and kunai!
Another Jūzō appeared behind Kurenai and slashed his Kubikiribōchō through her torso, "DIE," he yelled, but instead of that, Kurenai's body disintegrated into a shower of cherry blossoms! Jūzō's face suddenly flared in pain, like it was on fire, and the genjutsu placed upon him to lure to a specific place, broke. He found Kurenai waiting where she was manipulating him to be, with a kunai ready to slit his throat, and he chuckled at the shocked look on her face, "I forgot to tell you, genjutsu doesn't work on me."
"Yeah, figured as much," she replied, then added, "but then, it did exactly what I wanted it to do, distract you long enough for me to get behind you." Jūzō's eyes widened, when he felt the point of a kunai jabbing into the base of his skull, "Don't move, Jūzō-san," Kurenai ordered, "even the toughest, masochistic ninja, can still become distracted by pain, it takes mental concentration to ignore pain, which if I'm not mistaken is the key to your ninjutsu. In order to cause all of this moisture to rise and condense, you must concentrate, and I imagine that it's a balancing act, you have to condense enough moisture out of the air to make things opaque, but too much and it falls like rain, too little, and you won't achieve your goal. Like deceiving us into believing that this is you, and not another water-clone," Kurenai revealed, while looking behind her to see another Jūzō-san already making his swing at her.
Kurenai quickly ducked below the swing, which caused her to lose a few strands of hair, not to mention destroy the water-clone, but the swing had so much force behind it, that it buried itself into the Earth behind Jūzō. He still used the momentum of his swing, to add extra power to an already powerful kick, which sent Kurenai flying. Before Kurenai even landed, Jūzō grabbed the Sever Sword and rushed forward, moving so fast the air was whistling past his body, he spotted an obstruction and came to an abrupt stop, "makibishi spikes… she's trying to slow me down, how foolish!"
Kurenai went into the water, just as Jūzō flipped over her little road block, she surfaced a few moments later, that's strange, there's something odd about this water, its dense. Denser than water should normally be, Kurenai narrowed her eyes, it's a trap. Jūzō lited upon the surface of the water and raced over to stand above her, he had placed the great sword onto his back, on a magnetic harness in the center of his torso. He began to rapidly move through hand signs, "Foolish kunoichi," he named her, then, "Water Prison jutsu!" A dome of water, rose up and surrounded Kurenai, "Escaping into the water," Jūzō stated, "big mistake." He began a malicious chuckle, and started explaining the rudiments of his jutsu, "this prison is made of water, but it's stronger than steel." He brought his free hand up and began to focus his attention, "Water Clone jutsu!" Jūzō turned his head to look at Naruto, "stay still, kunoichi-kun, it's only while my hand is within the dome, that you may continue breathing. Now, I will have a talk with your Genin, my weapon should be finishing off the kunoichi of your team," he motioned for his clone to attack.
Rather than become concerned, Kurenai took on a curious expression, "this should be interesting, Jūzō-san," she sounded more like a fight spectator, than a sensei concerned for her student.
Jūzō ignored her comment and turned to Naruto and sneered at him, "do you think wearing a headband, makes you a ninja," he asked in derision, "when you've hovered between life and death so many times that it no longer fazes you, and earned a place in my Bingo Book, then you may call yourself a ninja. To call an upstart like you a ninja, is an insult to the title," he stated as he drew the mist tightly around them closing the curtain on their vision.
Just as the mist closed off his vision, Naruto immediately began to receive flashes of images, of Tazuna embracing his daughter, while his aunt and Hayate looked on in bemusement. Then the image turned, and Naruto saw the path leading from the water's edge to the front-door of Tazuna's house, from the shore to about a third of the way there the tracks showed three-sets of webbed-feet, there he saw that a storage scroll remained on the ground, and from there four sets of human tracks continued to the door of the house.
Naruto tapped his communication device, "Sakura-chan, how are things going over there," he asked, while he began a series of hand signs?
"We're about even in skill to this hunter-nin, Naruto-kun," Sakura answered, "he's activated some sort of mirrored ice-prison that allows him to move between them very quickly, its only thanks to Hinata-chan that I don't have more wounds than I do already." She heard him gasp over the air, and smiled tenderly for his concern, "it's nothing major, Naruto-kun, you've given me worse than this when we spar, and you never hold back against any of us. Don't deny it," Sakura admonished him!
"Well, anyway, I've just gotten confirmation, Tazuna has made it safely home," he explained the reason for his call, while continuing the hand signs, "so, you two can do whatever you need to get back to me."
"Roger that, Naruto-kun," Sakura sounded relieved, "see you soon."
Naruto finished all of that just in time to jump out of the way of a kick from the clone of Jūzō, when he landed, he brought his foot down hard, which released his chakra into the ground. There seemed to be a hollow thrum, as if his stomp caused a reverberation in the Earth, "Ninja art: Dust Devil," the very dust on the ground, began to rise into the air and started swirling into a vortex, this was not wind driven, but chakra driven. The vortex began to send out dirt particles, and they began attaching themselves to the water molecules of Jūzō's water-based chakra, the dirt became mud, even the water-clone was consumed by the plague of dirt, which forced it to its knees. Finally, the dusty, now muddy vortex collapsed, and with it, so did the clone, the dust devil did what it was meant to do, clear the air of moisture, breaking the Hidden Mist jutsu.
Jūzō did not let his surprise show on his face, but inside, he was dumbfounded that any Genin could disrupt his jutsu, one he has mastered and used many times to dispatch hundreds of Jonin-level ninja. Earth users included, and not one of them has ever figured out how to counter his ninjutsu, who is this kid? "Who taught you that, boy," Jūzō demanded to know?
"Nobody, I just made it up on the spot, every riddle has a solution," Naruto answered truthfully, "but all further inquiries should be directed to, Boss," he stated, thumb-pointing behind him to see, not-Tazuna, striding onto the field with a resolved attitude.
"The old man," Jūzō wondered, then saw the old man's form liquify, then shrink and reform into…
"Naruto Uzumaki, pleased to meet you, Jūzō-san," the blonde declared, then looked at his clone, "trade with sensei, please, you did a good job being me."
The clone smiled, "that's because I am you, Boss," then there was a flash of light and Kurenai was standing where the Flash Clone once stood, in her place in the prison was the clone. He promptly grabbed Jūzō's hand, which brought him out of his surprise.
"Let go, brat," Jūzō roared, "let go!"
The clone just laughed, using chakra to adhere to Jūzō-san's hand, "this is you're sword arm, is it not, Jūzō-san, you let your S-ranking go to your head," the Naruto-bunshin chided him, "you should never allow this arm to become occupied with anything but a weapon? That's sword art lesson number one," he rebuked the man, "at least among the Uzumaki clan."
On the shore while Jūzō was distracted by the Senko Bunshin, the original pulled a collapsible Fuma shuriken from his pack, giving it to his sensei, "I assume you know how to use this, Kurenai-sensei?"
"Of course, Genin Uzumaki," she said, with a smile, "Jonin are required to be familiar with every tool of our trade." Kurenai unfolded the wicked looking piece of steel, this one was of a different design than Mizuki's a few months ago. Where his, had four-points of lethality, meant to puncture the enemy, this giant shuriken, also called, demon-wind shuriken, had four-arms with an edge on each arm, this one was meant to maim or decapitate your enemy. Kurenai did not need the same wind-up to throw this one as Mizuki, such is the difference in power and experience, between Jonin and Chunin, she merely caused it to spin and threw it.
There is a reason, Jūzō-san is an S-ranked ninja, some things are just ingrained with so much experience. Despite his preoccupation with the Flash Clone, still in his prison, "You're smart, boy," Jūzō-san was still aware of his surroundings, including when he was under attack, almost on instinct he reached out his other arm and caught the flying weapon, in the safest way possible, by the center orifice, "but not smart enough!" Jūzō-san made his comment a little too soon, however, because right behind the first shuriken, flying in its shadow came another demon-wind shuriken, both of his hands were occupied, surely, he was staring his death in the face, just at the last minute however, the ninja jumped, just barely missing having his body cut in-half.
That shuriken was not what it seemed, however, because it suddenly reversed course, spinning rapidly, back toward the missing ninja. Just before it would have hit Jūzō-san, it morphed into another Naruto. This Naruto wrapped his arms and legs around Jūzō-san's body, this Naruto was using his magnetic bloodline to stick to the sword on Jūzō-san's back. The Naruto standing next to his sensei, was the original, he looked upon the man he faced, not with arrogance or superiority, but with respect, the look was returned. "Thank you, Genin," and Naruto snapped his fingers…
At Tazuna's home a mile or so away, they watch as a blinding white-light, volcanos high into the darkening sky, it seems to almost turn night into day. Not even a second later the power of such an explosion could be felt as a series of seismic tremors, not quite an earthquake but it caused a few trees, old and deeply rooted in the soil to sway in their beds. "My Kami," Tazuna and his daughter, Tsunami say together, the sight of the explosion, temporarily overcoming his cynicism, "what in the Naraku, was that," Tazuna asked?
"That's my nephew, sending a soul to Tengoku," Yugao deduced, solemnly.
Glossary
Naraku - Hell
Tengoku – Heaven