Disclaimer:
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 31: Intruders
Three days had passed since then.
This morning, Kakashi and Sasuke were on guard duty at the bridge while Naruto remained at Tazuna's house. Sakura was also supposed to stay here, but she could not stand to be separated from Sasuke, so she went with them, leaving Naruto alone.
Naruto didn't mind this. Without the loud girl, it was much easier to focus on his meditation.
He sat on his bed with his eyes closed. His consciousness was at the core of his mind palace. He was still far from breaking into the next stage, but his "Cosmic Assimilation Technique" made things very risky, and he could not lose focus and relax yet.
He was progressively absorbing the energy emanating from the demon fox called Kyubi and integrating it into his own body.
Even in his previous life, he had never tried to integrate a type of Qi that was this violent and unstable. He had to very slowly drip the demon's chakra into his still-developing dantian and refine the chakra until it could be used without causing him harm.
If he didn't refine it this way, that chakra would be not much different from poison, and it would destroy his body completely. Much more so in his current weak state.
As Naruto prepared to refine another bit of that violent chakra, he heard some noises on the floor beneath him.
He was still unable to feel the presence of other living creatures, but something was telling him that an enemy had entered the house.
The sound of platters being broken and Tsunami screaming just served as confirmation.
'Looks like Gato is finally making a move.' He wondered if Zabuza had come in person or if they had sent others to attack.
Considering that Tazuna was not in the house, he guessed it was the latter.
"Mom!"
Naruto heard the little brat shouting and a couple of men laughing.
"Oh, what do we have here? Should we take him too?"
"We only need one hostage."
He could only hear two persons speaking, but he still approached with care. If there was someone on the level of Zabuza, he would be in trouble.
"Hehe, should I kill him then?" A man with an eyepatch and a katana said in a threatening tone.
Tsunami hurried to pull her son behind her.
"Wait! If you touch my son… I will bite my tongue and kill myself! If you want a hostage, just take me."
'Mmm… those men don't look like ninjas… they appear to be regular swordsmen… I should be able to do this.' He decided to act now, instead of waiting for them to take hold of Tazuna's daughter. If they got a hostage, that would complicate things.
The two men had yet to notice his presence, further confirming that they were not very powerful individuals.
Naruto pulled three kunai and aimed at the swordsman closer to Tsunami. The man was completely bare-chested, while the other was wearing a thick coat and could be hiding some armor underneath, which could block his attack.
Hiding and throwing weapons from afar was very different from his preferred style, but he was not stupid enough to discard his advantage. He would use whatever tools he had at his disposal to increase his odds of victory.
Without hesitation, he let go of the kunai, and they hit the man on his shoulder and neck.
"Ahh!" The swordsman screamed as the foreign objects pierced his flesh. He let go of his sword and almost fell to the ground.
His companion turned around and spotted Naruto kneeling near the top of the stairs.
"Shit! One of the ninjas was still here?!" They had been informed that all of them were at the bridge.
"Argg, fuck!" The injured swordsman grunted as he took the kunai out of him. He began losing a lot of blood and was forced to use his hands to cover his wounds.
"Stay there, I'll take care of this one." The other swordsman felt at least a bit relieved to confirm that this was not the Jonin. That one was supposed to have white hair and a mask.
"You are a genin, right boy?" The swordsman unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Naruto.
"I'm sure you are scared… there is no need for us to fight. We just want the woman over there. Then we'll leave."
Naruto's answer was to send a barrage of shurikens his way.
"Tsk!" The swordsman showed that he at least had some skills as he was able to block all of them at lightning speed.
But the next moment, when he looked back at where Naruto had been, there was only a small cloud of smoke.
"Where di- ahh!" The swordsman felt a sharp pain on his side, and when he looked, he found a sharp kunai stuck in his side while Naruto held it.
'No armor… okay then.' He twisted the kunai while it was inside the other man.
"Ahhhh!" The swordsman dropped his sword and pulled out a short knife from the front of his jacket. He determined that the sword was too long to fight at this distance, so this was more effective.
He directed a stab towards the face of the blonde ninja, but Naruto was not an easy target.
Fighting at this distance was his specialty.
He blocked the swordsman's attack and pulled the kunai out at the same time, earning another grunt of pain from the man.
The intense pain was too much for him and, just for a second, he lost his concentration.
Naruto used this small window to direct another attack, this time aimed at the man's neck.
The kunai entered on one side and almost exited on the other.
The swordsman opened his eyes and mouth widely when Naruto gave the blade a violent twist.
The swordsman was incapable of screaming and could only let out some harrowing noises before he died.
"No…" The other swordsman moved back against the wall. He was still holding onto his neck. His left torso was covered in blood, and his only remaining eye showed his fear and shock.
Tsunami and Inari were also staring at Naruto with a mixture of admiration and fear. He had always been polite and quiet during his stay at their house, and they never expected he would be capable of killing someone with such coldness.
Naruto glanced at them for a moment and pointed to an empty corner of the room.
"Go wait over there. I'll finish this in a minute."
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