"Huh. I didn't know this was here." I look at a decently sized building that I happened to stumble upon.
It's nothing special, a plain weathered brown and it's no larger than a smaller restaurant. This is an outpost but it isn't the one I'm supposed to destroy. It's a bounty station, a place where Hunters can claim the bounties of the people they've killed. Provided they can prove that they killed the bounty, you can't just walk into one of these places while covered in blood and say 'I killed Kakashi of the Sharingan.' They're going to check to make sure you did, usually by demanding to see a head or other identifying items. There are some fun stories of what happens to people who try to swindle bounty stations like this.
There is this one where some random guy came in and said he kill a specific bounty. Well it just so happens that the bounty was in the building and he didn't enjoy someone saying they killed him. I bet you can guess what happened next. There was blood everywhere.
"I guess it couldn't hurt to pick up a Bingo Book." I shrug to myself. Then I drop out of my tree and swiftly walk to the outpost. "I've always wondered what one of these looks like inside."
With Konoha's Team
"Why are we moving so slow!" Naruto whines as he glares at Shikamaru.
"Because I want to." Shikamaru lazily says back. He's not affected by Naruto at all, he's dealt with much more threatening people. Like his mother. She's scary. "We've got plenty of time to get there so I'm going to use it. I don't like running if I don't have to."
"Kakashi! You're some big hotshot shinobi! Tell him we've got to move faster!" Naruto tries a different tactic.
"He's the team leader." Kakashi ruffles around in his hip pouch for something. "If he says walk, we walk. Where did I put it? I know I brought it with me, so where did it go?"
"Ino!" Anko calls out with a sing song voice. "I've got you some studying material!"
"Really?" Ino asks in interest as Anko waves a brightly colored book at her. "Who makes an orange book?"
"Hell no!" Kakashi blurs and yanks a bright orange book out of Anko's hands. "This is mine! Get your own!"
"Perverts." Naruto's eyes go blank as he see what the two jonin are fighting over. "I'm surrounded by perverts. Why am I always surrounded by perverts? I had hope for you Kakashi, I really did. You seemed like an okay guy but you read those books. You've ruined it all."
"I'm not a pervert." Shikamaru blandly says to the other boy his age.
"Sure." Naruto dejectedly responds. "Keep telling yourself that tent boy."
"That means alot coming from you, Mr. Drools-a-lot." Shikamaru insults him right back.
"What are you two talking about?" Ino sends the two boys a knowing smirk as her coat flutters in the wind.
"NOTHING!" They both shout in unison and both blush while looking anywhere but at her.
"I really like this coat." Ino smiles in happiness.
With Alvarcus
"Not what I expected." I mumble to myself as I take in the interior of the bounty station.
It's just one large open room with a bar and tables, there's even a few more private booths lining the walls. It's basically a bar. What a let down. However the clientele are not what you'd expect at a normal bar, everyone here looks like they are ready for a war. Men and women alike are armed to the teeth and that's just the visible weapons. Who knows what is hidden away on them.
"Whatever, not like this is anything strange for me." I mumble again then make my way to the bartender. "Hey, I'm looking to get a Bingo Book. Who do I talk to for that? You or someone else?"
The bartender does a quick once over of me without pausing cleaning his glass. "Go home. This isn't a place for children. You'll live longer."
"I haven't been a child for a long time." I say with a hint of a warning in my voice. "I'll ask again, where can I get a Bingo Book?"
"Don't get smart with me." The bartender stops cleaning the glass. "You need a sponsor for this kind of work. Someone has to vouch for you, they need to say that you're worth it. We don't just let anyone in here, we want people who will be successful."
"I vouch for him." A deep gravelly voice calls from one of the private booths.
"R-really?" The bartender stutters out in shock and the glass he was holding slips out of his grasp and shatters on the ground. "Y-you vouch for him?"
"Yes." Kakuzu himself says to the now quiet room. "He's just won me a bet that had a lot of money riding on it. The least I can do is vouch for him."
"Hey Kakuzu." I give him a little wave. "It's been a while. Where's Hidan at?"
WHY THE FUCK IS HE HERE!
Don't freak out. Don't freak out. DON'T FREAK OUT! I'm freaking out. Fan-fucking-tastic.
This is supposed to be stress free! A cake walk! Nothing like this should happen! Why?! WHY?!
"He's out doing something for his asinine religion." Kakuzu gruffly responds. "Should be back soon. Why, want to say hello to the lunatic?"
"Not really." I shrug off the idea like we're chatting about a close friend.
Except on the inside I'm freaking the fuck out. Alright alright! I've got this! Just calmly disengage conversation with him and you should be fine. It's okay. He's nice. Er... nice for the Akatsuki?
"He's weird." I continue talking. "Anyways I don't really have time to chat. I am actually on a time sensitive mission but I happened to stumble across this place. Figured I might as well grab a Bingo Book since I'm here and all that."
"What are you doing?" Kakuzu leans forward from his reclined position. "Something entertaining?"
"Oh you know how it goes, a little of this and a little of that." I vaguely respond. Like hell I'm telling anyone where I'm going, especially a member of the Akatsuki while in a room full of paid killers.
"Of course." Kakuzu says in contentment as he leans back. I think he just tested me, he wanted to see if I would reveal what my plans were. He wanted to know if I'm paranoid like a good shinobi should be. "Don't let me keep you any longer, Alvarcus Mar."
Almost all of the heads in the room subtly swivel to me. If I wasn't a trained shinobi I would have missed the small movements. Each person is now reevaluating me, studying me. Measuring themselves against me and calculating if they can defeat me. A few of them seem smart, they've decided to back off. Most of them seem eager.
Fuck you Kakuzu, why the hell would you say my name! Now they know I'm an A-rank bounty!
"Heyyyy friend!" An obscenely drunk man throws one of his arms across my shoulders. "Don't listen to that old geezer! HICCUP! He doesn't know... know... anything!"
"Can you fuck off?" I growl out in warning. "I'd hate to stain the floor with your blood on my first visit here. That sends a bad message and who knows if I'm coming back or not."
"Now now there's no need to be so hotsle... hostal... hostils... mad!" The drunk man merrily pats me on the chest and there's a very quiet sound of paper crinkling when he does. "I know when I'm not wanted. I'll go... go over... over there." He staggers off to a table with two others. They both look greatly embarrassed.
"Fuck that guy." I turn back to the bartender who is holding a small black book. "So. Bingo Book."
"Right here." The bartender tosses me the book. "And thanks for not making a mess. Blood is so difficult to clean up."
"You're talking to a shinobi." I pocket the book and send a glance towards Kakuzu. "Hey, bartender. Give the drunk guy's bounty to Kakuzu if he has one, will you? Tell him it was a thank you for the vouching."
"You're going to kill him?" The bartender whispers back to me.
"The idiot is going to kill himself. I just made it happen." I turn around and wave goodbye to Kakuzu then leave the building.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen!" The drunk man stands up and shouts over the conversations of the building. He's surprisingly not drunk anymore, he was acting. "For all of you who recognized that name and decided to go after the bounty on his head, don't. He's mine."
"And what makes you say that?" One of the many Hunters asks in anger. "In this line of work it is a first come first serve business."
"Simple really, I've already killed him." The not actually drunk man clasps his hands together. "I've stuck an explosive seal to his chest, all I have to do is set it off. So like I said, I've got him and his bounty already. KATSU!"
An explosion goes off much closer than everyone but a select few expected. It happened in the room. The back of the not actually drunk man exploded right between his shoulder blades, killing him instantly. With a wet thud he crumples to the ground.
"Kakuzu." The bartender calls out to the only other person to not be surprised by the explosion. "The bounty goes to you, by the wishes of Alvarcus Mar. He said it was a thank you for vouching for him."
"Muffins you are wonderful." Kakuzu grins to himself.
"Who the hell is Muffins?" Someone asks.
With Alvarcus
"What a dumbass. Did he really think I wouldn't notice the tag he tried to sneak onto me?" I take to the trees again and start to make my way to the base I'm supposed to destroy. I've got less than a half hour's run ahead of me, it's only a few kilometers away. I could make it quicker if I pushed myself but I don't want to.
~Host, we're being followed.~
"Figured. Probably more Hunters that are looking to take my head." Not entirely unexpected, Kakuzu did out me inside of a bounty station. That was a real dick move, I bet he wants me to kill off some of his competition.
~Shall we kill them? They don't feel that strong, I don't know how much fun we can have with the three of them.~
"No. We'll only kill them if they attack us. I want them to watch us. I want them to witness the destruction of this base and spread rumors about our power. I'm going to attempt to use them to give us a reputation. I want us to be someone you don't fuck with."
~We only need one of them for that.~
"True, but three people will talk more than one. Word will spread faster." Plus this covers the whole Orochimaru wanting me to send a message, I'm killing two birds with one stone. Or in this case a really overpowered jutsu.
~Aren't you worried that they will talk about one of your strongest attacks?~
"Let them, the jutsu I'm going to use requires a shit ton of prep work. This is the kind of move that needs a very long time – by shinobi standards at least – to get ready so it won't matter if everyone knows about it. I'll only ever use it if I have the required time to set it up, it's an opening move not a finishing move. By the time anyone realizes what's happening it'll be too late."
~Really now? And just which technique are you going to use? One of the ones that broke the island?~
"I've got a couple in mind."
With the Hunter Team Following Alvarcus
"Where the hell is this kid going?" The Leader barks to his two teammates.
"No clue." The First one says.
"I'm more curious as to why he hasn't confronted us yet." The Second one says. "Doesn't the Bingo Book page on him say he has minor sensing capabilities?"
"You can't always trust the Bingo Book. They've been wrong about things before and something like a 'minor sensing ability' is pretty small already." The Leader responds. "It's part of the reason we're going after him. He's a kid with an A-rank bounty, he must have done something stupid or heard too much for Konoha of all places to give him one that high."
"Yeah, there's no way he's as skilled as the usual A-ranks." The Second agrees. "He's a kid, he hasn't had time to learn."
"I don't know about that." The First cuts in. "There's that whole tripled if alive part. Do you think he made away with a kinjutsu and Konoha is trying to get it back?"
"Could be that he stole something important and they want to figure out what happened to it." The Leader shares his own opinion. "Maybe he sold secrets to Orochimaru to get into Otogakure. You did see his headband, right? Music notes. That means he's with Sound now."
"He has stopped." The Leader halts all movement and his team joins him. "We'll observe for now. Let's see what he's up to, learn his mannerisms and habits. Then we will strike."
"Are we going for alive or dead?" The Second asks.
"Don't know yet. Let's watch him for a bit then we'll go from there." The Leader leaves it up in the air. "If we can take him alive we will, if not then we still get paid."
With Alvarcus
"They've stopped." I'm kneeling in a wide clearing, it's perfect for what I have in mind. I just want to make sure my tail isn't going to take this chance to attack me, any good Hunter would observe their target if presented a chance like this.
Seems like these three aren't incompetent. They're waiting and watching.
~Let's give them a show!~
"Yes, let's." I rise up from kneeling.
I slowly, so I don't scare away the Hunters, go through hand signs for a very low level earth jutsu. Once I'm done I tap the ground with a hand and a pillar of stone juts up from the ground. There is one difference from the usual pillars I make though, this one resembles a cross. The two arms of the cross are pointed down at the ground at around a ten degree angle.
It's perfect.
I shrug off my coat and with a grand flourish I hang it on the impromptu coat stand. That's right, I made a coat stand using a jutsu.
With the Hunters
"He made a fucking coat stand." The First says in surprise. "Who does that?"
"Wrong question." The Leader says. "It's why did he do that?"
"We're about to find out. He's going through hand signs again." The Second cuts in.
"Why is he going so slow?" The Leader asks himself. "Hell I know what jutsu he's using! It's Earth Release: Boulder Birth. It just makes a boulder."
Sure enough, the target finishes his hand signs and slams them to the ground. Except the Leader was wrong. Usually the jutsu Boulder Birth is used to make a single or in some cases two boulders. There's not really a practical use for this jutsu, it's a stepping stone for Earth affinities to get used to molding the earth around them for more impressive jutsu. But Alvarcus Mar must have not been told that because he's made ten boulders. Ten boulders that come up to his waist, it's an impressive feat.
"Damn." The Second can't help but say.
"Kid's got a lot of chakra, I'll give him that." The First agrees.
"I don't get it though. What's his plan? So what he's made ten boulders, big deal. They're not useful for anything." The Leader racks his brain, trying to come up with something.
"He's doing it again." The First gestures to the target. "Same hand signs and everything."
Ten more boulders spring up out of the ground.
"What the hell?" The Leader says and the other two are thinking the same thing. "He's doing it a third time?"
Another ten boulders join the rest.
"Four times? No, five. He used it five times." The Leader is staring at the now changed clearing. There's fifty boulders dotting the landscape now. "What is he doing to do with fifty boulders?"