Chapter 3,
A Black Dawn, III

Land of Fire, Capital City, Cloudtop district

Naruto crouched down beside some debris, eyes scanning over the spider webbed stone. The rough indent of a body being slammed into the hard material before him was rather obvious. This is where the first clone went down.

Images flashed through his head, and he glanced over to a nearby crater. Number two was squished over there…

He made to stand and head towards his third and final clone's grave, before his head suddenly lurched. A wave of delirium struck him as his vision swam. Shit… not again!

Naruto felt his teeth grind together as a freezing chill began to spike through his body, seemingly turning the air around him frigid.

His eyes, unbidden, shifted into a bleached white as his pupils shattered.

From his perch above on the Fire Lord's palace, he watched the black-masked shinobi bow before their target. He clicked his tongue in mild annoyance. "The Hokage's bodyguard is in the way."

A somewhat amused chuckle rang out through the air, and he glanced over to the other missing nin beside him. She was playing absently with her kunai pouch as she regarded the leaf nin down in the gardens below them. "Bodyguard, huh Bari?"

'Bari' shrugged. "He was seen as the Hokage's sole entourage. What else could he be?"

The other assassin shook her head dismissively. "The kid's probably just an assistant or something. A foot massager, you know?"

"What kind of assistant looks like that?"

"Enough."

Bari stiffened, and turned to face the individual in charge of their team who had appeared just behind them in a small puff of smoke.

The squad leader drew his blade, and Bari watched as the gleaming edge warped the air with the tell-tale sign of wind chakra. He hid his envy at that. Wind was such a perfect element for bladework, it was almost a match made in heaven. What did he have? Jack shit. No element, just chakra in its basest form.

The world just wasn't fair sometimes.

"The garden is clear of guards now, the two guardians held to their end of the bargain so it's on us to cinch this thing." The wind user extended a hand, glancing at Bari. "You neutralize the princess. Amaya and I will deal with the leaf nin."

Bari nodded, fingering the handle his own blade and silently preparing himself for the oncoming assault. His eyes sought out the princess once again, his mind slowly formulating the ways he could-

He froze.

The leaf nin was staring directly at him.

"What the fu-"

"We've been spotted! MOVE Bari!"

The harsh shout forced him into action, and he flashed forwards in a body flicker. Luckily, the boy seemed to glance away towards the princess for a split second in order to say something. He caught sight of Amaya appearing behind the target. The kunai that she had thrown at the princess would be intercepted, but her distraction should be enough.

It wasn't the first time they had done this. They made a good team.

How long had he been intending to ask for her hand? After this paycheck, Bari promised, he would do it. Life was too short to waste tip-toeing around.

He pushed himself to move even quicker, and a sallow hiss rang out through the air as he drew his sword. He couldn't afford to be gentle, not now. A quick, painless blow with the flat to the princess and he could snatch her away whilst his two allies dealt with the leaf nin…

The thought of the future he was damning the poor girl to soured his tongue. However, a living had to be made somehow. Missing nin didn't exactly have the pick of the litter when it came to jobs, and this one had the payout of a lifetime.

You just did what you had to do.

His feet landed on the verdant green grass of the Fire Lord's garden, and Bari saw the princess' eyes widen in horror as she caught sight of him.

His path was clear, and devoid of obstacles. It could not have been more definitive.

He struck, his blade lashing out like the flashing tongue of a viper…

-and the leaf nin suddenly appeared.

Ice-blue eyes thawed from the heart of a glacier stared into Bari's soul as a face of black ceramic slithered around the princess' bodice to meet him.

His heart lurched in his throat as the temperature around him plummeted.

Bari restrained a wince as his blade clashed harshly against the Konoha shinobi's armguards, and he felt something in his wrist 'pop' from the sudden shock. As young as his opponent was, the boy was incredibly sturdy.

The momentary stalemate was quickly ended as Bari felt himself giving, forcing him to disengage and hop back before he lost the tug-of-war for good. A shuriken followed him in a dogged pursuit, and a quick swipe of his sword saw the singular projectile flicked to the side.

Pain.

His breath hitched in his throat as his muscles suddenly locked up, his fingers cramping excruciatingly as white electricity sparked down his blade and into his uninsulated hands.

His gaze rose to meet the black-masked shinobi's, just in time to see the tip of a kunai hurtling for his face.

'Thud!'

Naruto jerked slightly, head swimming painfully as he blinked the sudden spots in his vision away. He suppressed the urge to shiver as a fetid chill ran down his spine.

That was the third time the memory had replayed in his head…

"Sesugumo Bari…" He whispered softly. That had been the assassin's name. How Naruto knew that, he could only attribute to one notion.

"Nix."

Barely managing to restrain his urge to flinch at the sudden noise, he glanced up and found Weasel watching him with those red eyes of hers. He bit back a curse as she slipped down from the large piece of rubble she had been scouting from, approaching him with silent, feather light steps.

She had been watching him ever since she had found him in the Fire Lord's garden. The Kunoichi was awfully subtle about it of course, and it was only Naruto's paranoia that had allowed him to catch her.

He watched as the elite ANBU stopped a few feet short.

"Permission to speak freely?"

Naruto blinked in momentary confusion, before sighing inwardly. That's right, the old man put ME in charge for some demented reason.

Nevertheless, he folded his arms cautiously. "Go ahead."

Weasel nodded. Her eyes glanced behind him warily, and she decided to step closer. She didn't miss the way the younger ANBU's body tensed up like springsteel beneath the bodysuit in response. "You've been showcasing high levels of unease and awry behaviour, indicative of mental shock." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Your credential's are heavily classified so I must ask, is this your first mission?"

A brow rose behind Naruto's mask, not that she could see it. Was Weasel under the assumption that his 'first' kill had shaken him? The notion almost made him laugh.

Snorting softly, he shook his head. "This is not my first mission."

As if she had been expecting the answer, Weasel followed up immediately. "As I suspected."

"Then why ask?"

"I cannot find another logical answer for your… 'distracted' state."

Tonguing his cheek in equal amounts of unease and irritation, the Black ANBU shook his head once more. "You are mistaken. I am operating at optimal efficiency."

The sardonic glint in her red-eyed stare was all the response she needed. From this distance, Naruto could even see the legendary three tomoe spinning slowly, like floating obelisks of obsidian amidst a sea of molten flame.

This is growing tedious…

"Put your delusions out of your mind and focus on the situation at hand." He commanded. Might as well use it while I got it. "That's an order."

She stared at him for an achingly long second… before inclining her head gently. "Understood."

"Did you two find something?"

Both operatives turned to glance at the guardian who was stood a small ways behind Naruto. She was regarding them both with her hands folded across her lithe chest. Her near yellow eyes that had been roaming slowly over the area were now locked on the smaller ANBU.

Naruto stood from his crouch, dusting off the kneepads of his bodysuit as he shook his head dismissively. "Negative."

He felt her eyes linger on him. "Then mumble to yourselves in your own time, hmm?"

Naruto restrained the urge to retort, instead shooting her an irritated glance as he returned his eyes to the scene of carnage around him. They were in the famous cloudtop district of the capital city, and in the spot where Naruto stood was once a rather high-class barbecue establishment.

It was nothing but rubble now.

The club-wielding goliath had obliterated the establishment when he had decided to show his true colours. The brawl had been fast, messy, and wholly one-sided. Naruto's clones hadn't stood a chance.

Nor did the civilians… The thought passed his mind as he watched yet another body be pulled from the wreckage by the city guards. A white sheet was tossed over the unfortunate individual, hiding his crushed corpse from the world.

The traitorous guardian had apparently decided that he couldn't leave any witnesses behind.

Naruto could appreciate the ruthless logic in the act. After all, how could he not? He was a Black ANBU.

He could not however condone the barbarism in the way it was done. It was sloppy, distasteful, and overly wasteful.

Black ANBU wore the faces of monsters well. They would marry the hand of terror when they needed to. However, this… this was pointless. These people warranted a quick death, for all they were guilty of was standing in the way of objective completion. They did not warrant their final moments to be that of utter terror, of dying slow deaths whilst their crushed and broken bodies gave out in agony.

Terror and pain were weapons to be used by those who had been trained to use them. Not by a stick-waving, traitorous Neanderthal.

Naruto's frozen, hoarfrost blue eyes narrowed as the air turned cold around him. He would see that club-wielding fool suffer the consequences. I'll show you what a real monster looks like.

He felt a presence step up beside him, and he idly registered that the female guardian was now stood barely a foot away. Her arms were still crossed, although her fingers tapped impatiently on her bicep as she regarded the ruined scenery.

"I never trusted that fucker, ya know?" She ground through her teeth, more to herself than to Naruto. "He'd been a guardian longer than me, but he still rubbed me the wrong way."

The Black ANBU didn't offer a reply. Instead, he took the moment to analyse the woman.

What was her name again? He felt somewhat sheepish, especially since she had most definitely introduced herself when the Fire Lord had ordered her to accompany him to the princess' last known location.

In his meagre defence, the woman wasn't exactly notorious by any means despite being one of the lauded twelve guardian shinobi. It also didn't help that Masurūga was inherently more clever than his father, as the current Fire Lord had opted for skills over prestige. Most of the newly reformed guardians weren't even listed in the bingo books. Including this one, Naruto mused.

She looked deceptively fragile, with her lissom form wrapped from head to toe in white bandages. Thankfully, she afforded herself some modesty in the form of a simple, sleeveless red tunic that fell to her thighs. At first glance, Naruto would assume her to be some sort of ranged specialist.

The two tanto sheathed at the back of her hip made him think otherwise. Perhaps she favoured speed-

"Finished staring?"

Naruto blinked, before clearing his throat.

"I wasn't staring."

A baleful yellow eye turned to him, and he saw the white cloth where her mouth would be shift slightly in a smirk. "Mhmm…"

Thanking the gods that he was wearing his mask, Naruto opened his mouth to speak.

He was interrupted as a figure suddenly appeared before them in a swirl of leaves.

Another guardian shinobi made his presence known, a large male cloaked heavily in muddy brown leathers and rough wool. Although his face was obscured by a deep hood, Naruto recognized the newcomer.

He had been ordered to follow the man's commands by the Sandaime, after all.

The old man had seen a powerful opportunity to garner the Fire Court's favour in sending Konoha nin to provide aid, and the Fire Lord had only been too quick to accept the proffered olive branch.

The man standing before him was the current leader of the Twelve Guardian shinobi. Apparently, he had once been a monk at some point…

Seeing the bulky build and the handle of a chipped and rusted broadsword peeking out over the man's shoulders, Naruto somewhat doubted the integrity behind the rumour.

Nevertheless, the ANBU inclined his head minimally in acknowledgement. "Captain Chiriku."

"Nix," The man replied in greeting, offering a small nod in response. His voice was incredibly rough, as if his vocal chords had been rearranged incorrectly at some point. Disregarding Naruto, his head turned towards the female guardian. "We have a lead. Foot mobiles have been spotted heading south."

"Shit, really?"

The large man ignored the woman's surprised query, and instead turned back to Naruto. "Your Kage has authorized your co-operation. You and your team will accompany us on the chase."

"Not a good idea. That's the diversion brokering south while the main caravan moves west towards the Land of Wind."

The worlds spilled from Naruto's mouth before he had even realised it.

Three pairs of eyes turned to him, even as Naruto's own eyes widened in surprise.

Where did that come from?

"Where did that come from?" Blinking owlishly, he turned his head towards the female guardian who was looking at him curiously.

"Uhh…" Naruto floundered slightly, however was saved as the first guardian grunted lowly.

"That is a notion the Sandaime has already put forwards." He nodded slowly at Naruto. "If your hunch mimics that of your Kage's, then it is a good one. Act on it and move west, I shall shoulder the repercussions should there be any for your actions." He jerked a head at the female guardian. "Go with the leaf nin, if the main target is indeed moving to Wind Country, the implications will be grievous. Act immediately if necessary, otherwise, wait for backup. You have field command."

"I… yeah, alright." No sooner did the words leave her mouth, did the large guardian turn and vanish in a blur of movement.

Weasel glanced towards Naruto curiously, before turning to regard the remaining guardian. "We should move immediately." Her fingers reached up to press against the blood-coloured engraving carved into her shoulder. "If they are moving on foot, we will not catch them tonight."

Naruto felt his own brand pulse with foreign chakra as Weasel issued a regroup on her position.

The bandaged woman hummed softly, before turning an eye onto the ashen-haired ANBU. "Let's hope you're right."

Jackdaw landed silently beside Naruto in a crouch, his muscles strained from the overuse of several repeated body flickers.

"-If you're wrong… If we don't find her, then the Fire Lord's just traded one princess for another…"

Back in the Fire Lord's chambers…

Date Masurūga was furious.

He didn't look it of course, seated on his haunches and calmly cupping his saucer of tea. However, Hiruzen could very much see the tsunami building behind the façade. It was roiling now, rumbling slowly as it was birthed from the pits of sodden desperation.

"I did not expect to recreate my father's mistakes."

The sudden statement caught the old Kage off-guard, and he glanced up to find the Fire Lord staring into the face of his greathelm once again. "You were foolish to think so." He shrugged as Masurūga levelled a curious gaze on him. "It is in a shinobi's nature to always seek the more profitable outcome."

The Daimyo was silent for a moment, before eventually nodding, conceding the point. "It would seem that way." He glanced over his chambers with a discerning eye. The blood and corpses had been long since removed, however remnants from the brief skirmish were still visible. Scorch marks from the Hokage's flames, scratches and gouges carved into the expensive wood from wayward weaponry, there was even a hole in the floor in the vague shape of a humanoid…

It was a long time before he spoke again. "So Sanada Masayuki knowingly allowed his daughter's defection, in exchange for my own?" He shook his head. "Such barbarism is unbecoming of humanity."

The Kage of the leaf didn't reply immediately, instead glancing out towards the gardens through the doors that had been thrown open. Eventually, he grunted. "I do not believe that is the case."

Hiruzen supressed a smirk as the Fire Lord's head snapped up in surprise.

"I beg your pardon? Hiruzen, you yourself said that it is likely they are heading west towards Wind Country!"

"You misunderstand me. I do believe that the princess is being moved west, however not in some pretence of a trade." The Hokage shrugged. "What would he possibly gain in allowing his daughter to defect? If anything, it would simply put you on alert."

The Fire Lord made to reply, before pausing abruptly. A thoughtful mien fell over his features as he frowned.

The old Kage reached into his robes, removing his trusty pipe which he lit with a snap of the fingers. Ignoring the Daimyo's displeased wrinkling of the nose, he placed it in the crook of his mouth. "No, it seems that he has simply capitalised on the integrity of those who grace your palace." He then snorted softly. "Or lack thereof."

The Fire Lord's gaze upon the Hokage was equal parts withering and contemplative.

The two fell into silence once again. It was long, and dreadfully quiet…

They were both listening intently to the scars that littered the once flawless space, which spoke volumes without uttering a word.

Elsewhere…

They were cutting a furious pace, evident as the beautiful forest scenery around them was reduced to a mere blur.

Even for shinobi standards, this was gruelling. Naruto knew his stamina was just shy of being inhuman for his age, evidence of Jaguar's inherently thorough work.

However, there was only so much a body ten years aged could take. He was starting to feel the burn in his muscles.

Being at the helm of the party, Naruto glanced back to check up on those who were moving in harmony slightly behind him.

Weasel seemed perfectly at ease. Her raven black, hip-length waves of hair were splayed out behind her like a silky scarf as she sprinted across the treetops of Fire country forestry.

Jackdaw seemed slightly less comfortable with the pace, however still perfectly able. The man's movement was surprisingly snappy as he fluttered from tree to tree. Naruto found himself absently drawing the connections between the man and the mask he wore.

He didn't even bother checking up on the mummified guardian. She was directly next to him, after all. He could hear her laboured breaths, but it was steady.

I wonder who's got more juice in their tank?

It would be a close thing. The guardian had far more years of development on him, far more years spent conditioning her body…

On the other hand, he was a Black ANBU.

The third continuous hour of movement passed, broken only by the soft scuffs of sandals, or in Naruto's case body suited feet, on bark.

Sucking in a deep breath of oxygenated air to quell the accumulating acid building up in his legs, Naruto grumbled inwardly to himself. Be asking too much to stumble across them having a nap, wouldn't it? He couldn't afford to slow down now, not with the stakes as high as they were.

…

It would also make him look like a fool, which absolutely would not fly.

Stifling his inner musings, the Black ANBU refocused on the task at hand.

The chance that they would find their quarry was slim. A needle in a haystack one could say, with the needle being two skilled shinobi and the haystack being the entirety of western Fire country.

An interception was nearly impossible, not with the head start their targets had on them. A shinobi on foot could cover a monstrous amount of ground, evident by the fact that Naruto himself was doing exactly that in the moment.

He sighed softly. If only they were moving by carriage down the road or something else equally as stupid-

"Wait!"

At once, the party came to an immediate halt. Jackdaw and Weasel took defensive positions on the outskirts as Naruto turned to glance at the female guardian, who had cocked her head to the side and was looking around warily.

Her hands came together in a strange seal, and immediately the bandages around her form slackened of their own accord, flashing silky smooth, sun-kissed skin that began to glow ever so slightly with chakra.

Naruto restrained his tongue, watching in curiosity. Was she a sensor?

If so, what the hell was she sensing? Their target would be leagues ahead of them, far out of the range of any sensor no matter their skill…

"Something's happening." The whisper slipped from her lips, as if through clenched teeth. "Lots of juice, multiple chakra spikes!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "How far ahead?"

The bandages suddenly snapped back into place as she eased from her stance, hiding her flesh once again. Her yellow eyes locked with his frosty ones, and her hand extended to point a finger in the opposite direction.

"Not ahead… behind."

Jackdaw cocked his head in surprise. "Really?"

'BOOM!'

The ANBU was inherently silenced as a deafening series of explosions rang out from behind them, and all shinobi turned to regard the impressive spires of earth and rock that had suddenly jammed themselves out of the ground and into the sky several miles behind them.

Even from this distance, Naruto could see the tiny specks that were corpses sailing through the sky like sand scattered into the air.

"What the hell?"

"Are any of the other guardians earth specialists?" Naruto asked quickly, eyes locked on the tremendous display of earth manipulation.

That was either the work of a single, very powerful shinobi, or several high-tier ninjutsu specialists.

The question silenced the baffled guardian, who glanced at Naruto in confusion. Her eyes snapped back to the pillars of earth jutting into of the sky, before she shook her head. "The only one who may have been was killed tonight in his sleep…"

A frigid chill began to creep across the forest as Naruto's body coiled, like a spring under strain. "Then assume third party involvement. Primary objective: Asset recovery. All non-identified personnel are considered hostile, neutralise with prejudice."

"Understood."
"Roger."

A momentary pause held as the guardian glanced at him in surprise. The other two Konoha nin had snapped to attention however, their eyes locked on their acting commander.

"Wait a secon-"

"Engage."

At once, the ANBU blurred into movement. Naruto's form exploded into cascades of ash and cinders as Jackdaw transformed into a fluttering mass of fabric, eerily reminiscent of a bird made from cloth. Weasel simply disappeared, swinging wide to the left in order to avoid being locked up in close-quarters. The mummified guardian lagged behind ever so slightly, taken off-guard by the sudden gear change.

There was no time for scouting.

This was either the lucky break they were looking for, or it wasn't and they were wasting precious, precious time.

It was a gamble that Naruto had no choice but to bet on.

The fatigue he had been feeling earlier was flushed into oblivion as adrenaline and excitement filled his veins with its powerful ardour. The distance between where they had been standing and the commotion had evaporated in an instant, and Naruto quite literally exploded into a large stretch of open terrain.

Time seemed to slow down to a maddening crawl as the airborne ANBU noticed several things at once…

One, a rather handsome carriage was toppled onto its side on the main trading road. It was flying fire country colours and bore the Daimyo's seal. From within, he watched a shirtless, flail-wielding man emerge alongside a very familiar kunoichi. Hired shinobi and rōnin disguised in the Daimyo's colours had taken defensive stances around the carriage, however seemed understandably shell-shocked by the carnage that was taking place around them.

A vein popped in the Black ANBU's forehead as he watched one of the carriage horses bolt for the hills. These jackasses actually were plodding along down the main road…

Two, foreign units were assaulting the caravan en masse. They were dressed uniformly in similar gear to Konoha's own ANBU, however their colours bore a tell-tale swathe of red and dusty brown. Their grey masks made of stone, each depicting the face of a sobbing man or woman, had the Black ANBU's hackles rising in extreme alarm.

Weepers?

The word banged around in his head, instilling him with all sorts of hostile instincts. These shinobi were Iwagakure's belated attempts to catch up with Konoha, Kiri, and Kumo's ANBU divisions…

Despite Iwa's renown for lacking subtlety, the 'Weepers' as they had been dubbed, had proven surprisingly effective during the Third Great war. A large portion of their numbers had been thinned in the 'Blinding Massacre', the slaughter that had given the Yellow Flash his title.

How they had slipped past the border patrols Naruto could barely fathom, however it was clear that they had a motive. Their incredibly co-ordinated attack had only disabled the caravan, leaving the occupants within unharmed. At present, the Black ANBU could see over half a dozen Iwa nin descending down from the surrounding forests. The horribly unsettling, warped sound of crying and wailing men and women began to howl through the battlefield as the Weeper's namesake came into effect.

And finally, three, he was about to be splattered into paste by a giant slab of wood…

Eyes widening in alarm, Naruto spun in the air and clapped his hands above his head, sending a cascading shockwave of lightning and force upwards that sent him recoiling downwards to the ground.

Bouncing off the hard-packed earth and rolling to his feet with barely a grimace, the Black ANBU swerved to the side as a club the size of his torso missed him by scant inches. Eyes narrowing as recognition dawned, he drew the fuma shuriken from his back and flooded the weapon with chakra just as a large swathe of black cloth came flying at him.

The sound of ripping fabric echoed through the clearing, and Naruto lowered his buzzing weapon as slivers of black fluttered down around him like silken raindrops.

The Black ANBU straightened up, his glacial glare boring into the beady eyes of the traitorous shinobi who stood across from him.

You… A frigid cold began to seep into the air, unrelenting even as three separate factions of shinobi went to war around him. I've got a bone to pick with you.

As if the man had read his thoughts, his large foot slid back in the dirt in preparation-

-only to sink into the ground as the dirt suddenly gave way. The earth morphed, rapidly saturating and mutating into gluey slurries of mud and clay.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"

Naruto was forced to abandon his focus on the traitorous guardian as the earth around both of them churned into a slick mudslide. Dashing to the side as the river of mud began to flow at a monstrous pace, the Black ANBU left the guardian to the muck.

The hair on the back of his neck prickled as a cold shock ran through his body in warning. Naruto spun, arms raised as a small boulder of earth shattered across his form and sent him sliding back a few feet.

Wincing from the impact, the ashen-haired ANBU shook out his stinging forearms. As the dust settled, he glanced up to find a face of grey stone watching him from halfway up one of the stone spires that was jutting out from the ground.

Naruto frowned, keeping the figure in his peripheral as he glanced around cautiously. The situation was most definitely not in his favour. Enemies surrounded them by the dozens, jutsu and weaponry were being thrown around every which way, and their target was deep in the royal thick of it all.

A glance towards the carriage had him witnessing an execution as the shirtless figure used the chain on his flail to tear the head from one of his own men. The red-eyed, red-haired man was laughing like mad as he went wild, attacking everything in sight and drenching himself in blood and gore. The subtle jingling of bells clinked merrily in between the sounds of combat…

What the hell is he doing? The man's behaviour was baffling, even more so than the fact that he had yet to take the princess and flee for the western border.

He cast his eyes warily about the scene, momentarily ignoring the anomaly for now.

The club-wielding traitor, M'beki, had been bogged down in the river of mud. He was fending off the mummified guardian, who had apparently taken Naruto's place after he had been driven away.

He couldn't see the second traitor, however she was most definitely one that preferred attacking from the shadows. He would have to be weary for genjutsu if she caught sight of him…

Weepers were making a mess of the battlefield. The system they were employing was proving fruitful for them, evident as samurai and mercenary shinobi dropped like flies. Long-ranged ninjutsu specialists were peppering the field with area-of-effect techniques from atop the stone spikes they had erected, catching both samurai and shinobi in mud and rock. The close-range fighters were deliberately weaving through the field as they slowly closed in on the carriage, ambushing those who were desperately trying to avoid the ninjutsu bombardment from above.

The ANBU frowned behind his mask.

The Weepers would be a problem, however they were deep in foreign lands. Judging by the sheer explosiveness of their attack, Naruto wagered that this was likely an 'all-in' type of deal for them. If their objective slipped out of their reach, they would be forced to retreat or risk being ripped to pieces as Konoha patrols converged on them like bloodhounds.

His eyes flashed around, searching quickly even as he stepped through a series of rocky spikes that suddenly burst out from the ground, the tips searching for his flesh.

Absently, he heard the warning shout from the Weeper who had spotted him, alerting his allies to the presence of Konoha shinobi.

Naruto couldn't see his teammates anywhere, meaning that they were either pinned down somewhere or lurking on the outskirts and waiting for their chance to intervene. Naruto hoped that it was the latter.

Despite the blatant attack from a foreign shinobi force and the grievous implications that came with it, they had only one objective here.

The Daimyo's daughter.

If this attack meant war, then she was an asset that could not be lost under any circumstance. Her capture to the Wind Daimyo would terrible, however, losing her to Iwagakure was unthinkable.

Nothing else mattered but her, not at least until she was secure.

Rising onto the balls of his feet and ready to evade as the Weeper above him flashed through yet another set of handseals, Naruto sent a pulse of chakra through the seal on his shoulder.

The wailing grew louder, crawling through the air in mournful notes. It was the only warning Naruto had as something grabbed his ankles from below.

Gasping as his body was pulled under the ground up to his neck, Naruto was forced to watch as a slim figure rose out from the earth a few feet ahead of him.

The hollow sobbing of a child echoed through the air as the man turned to face the trapped ANBU, and from this distance, Naruto could see the honeycomb-like holes needled into the surface of the stone mask.

It was the wind.

As the wearer moved, it was the wind that whistled through the holes in the mask that made the horrible noises.

"Poor thing." The stone-masked shinobi whispered, raising a sandalled foot.

"Wait! It's a-"

The cry of warning from above was abruptly cut off, just as a stomp snapped Naruto's head back at a gruesomely unnatural angle. The faintly hissing build-up of static energy began to crackle through the air as the 'murdered' leaf-nin began to glow ominously.

The Iwa shinobi's eyes widened in alarm, and his body traded places for a chunk of nearby stone just as the lightning clone exploded, sending a wave of white electricity shattering outwards in a ten-foot radius before dissipating.

The Weeper's eyes snapped up to where his companion had been perched on one of the spires, just in time to watch his corpse fall sixty or so feet before landing with a sickening 'crunch!' at the base of the stone pillar.

Where he had once stood, a black-masked ANBU watched him with dispassionate, frigid blue eyes. The small figure was hanging from the side of the spire, one hand holding onto the fuma shuriken that was stabbed into the stone as an anchor. The other was crackling softly with white electricity that had just began to fade, revealing gloved fingers that were clutching an entire larynx, tongue still attached.

"Damn, he's pretty scary for a panty thief, huh?"

The Iwa nin whirled around, his arms rapidly encasing in hardened, black-hued stone as he swung a fist at the bird-masked leaf nin that was standing directly behind him.

The slim ANBU snickered as he bent over backwards in a dodge, his upper half folding back and out of the way with ease…

…revealing a weasel-masked ANBU that was stood just a few feet behind him. Her red eyes flashed, the three tomoe spinning hypnotically as her blurring hands ended in the tiger seal.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."

The Weeper's world turned red in all consuming flames.

A few seconds passed… before Jackdaw sprang back up, batting the small embers on his torso out as the Iwa nin barely a foot in front of him fell to the ground in a charred lump of meat.

The ANBU snapped his head to the side, regarding his teammate, before turning to observe the gargantuan ball of red flame that was careening off across the battlefield. He turned back to Weasel, who was just staring at him plainly.

"You know, a shitting kunai would have worked just as well…"

Weasel cocked her head, before shrugging. "Duly noted."

Before the bird-masked ANBU had a chance to reply, their commanding officer dropped in between them, fuma shuriken spinning like an angry buzzsaw and a fistful of gore in his offhand.

Glancing at the tongue flopping around in between his fingers, Naruto tossed it to the side with a muttered 'ew' before glancing up to his companions.

Both of them were watching him intently, their stances poised and ready to move at a moment's notice. Even Jackdaw's demeanour seemed to leaden as another series of explosion rang out through the battlefield, ringing their ears slightly.

These two elite shinobi handpicked by the Hokage himself were waiting on his command, both of them carrying years of experience he had yet to even taste. Whether it was trust in his ability, or trust in the old Kage's choice in anointing him as acting cell leader, it mattered not.

He would not fail.

Reaching up, Naruto adjusted the blank, soot-scorched mask on his face as he stared his two teammates down with a frosted gaze.

"Situation has elevated, however our objective remains the same."

He received two nods in response.

"Weasel." Red eyes flashed in acknowledgement. "Go dark and overwatch the target. Do not break cover unless success is a guarantee and if the target is moved…" Naruto paused to stare her dead in the eye. "Abandon us, and move with her. We'll tie down as many as we can."

He could almost see her features contort into a scathingly displeased scowl behind the mask as her Sharingan spun angrily. Evidently, she did not like the sound of that.

Naruto shrugged inwardly. It didn't matter what she did or didn't like. She was an ANBU. She would obey.

After an uncomfortable moment, Weasel eventually nodded, albeit stiffly. "…Understood."

Naruto nodded, satisfied. He opened his mouth to dismiss her, before abruptly pausing. Jaguar had warned him upon the importance of comradery…

…and the savage advantages one could gain by exploiting another's sense of it.

It was a wicked thing to do, done only by the wicked themselves.

But that's what I'm for, isn't it?

Naruto's hoarfrost blue eyes softened ever so slightly as he trapped her gaze within his for but a fleeting moment. "I'm counting on you."

The three tomoe that were spinning furiously in Weasel's red eyes suddenly slowed in surprise. She stared at him for a moment, seemingly floored... before inclining her head once again, albeit gently this time, and vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Naruto felt her presence rapidly fade into the mess of combat around them.

"I guess that means we're diving into the frying pan then?"

Naruto glanced at Jackdaw, somewhat put off by the man's oddly subdued voice. "I don't know." He replied blandly. "That looks more like the fire to me."

"Hehe, too true…" The man chortled at the joke, before suddenly whirling around on the smaller ANBU. "Hold on a second, did you just make a funny? The Hokage said that you were some sort of braindead child-soldier!"

Naruto didn't offer a reply as he felt a vein pop in his forehead.

Thankfully, he was saved from having to reply by one of the nearby stone spires collapsing as something suddenly slammed into it. His brows narrowed darkly as he watched the mummified guardian explode out the other side, her form battered and bruised as she skipped harshly across the ground before eventually coming to a stop.

She didn't get up. Her form lay slack instead, a hand gripping at her side as she desperately sucked in shuddering breaths.

"Jackdaw?"

The bird-masked ANBU's levity suddenly faded as he straightened up, eyes locked on the black-clothed traitor that had mounted the recently felled tower of stone. Chakra signatures spiked all around them as Weepers were drawn to the commotion. "Yeah?"

The Black ANBU just drew the fuma shuriken from his back as he clenched a slightly sparking fist.

"On me."

Author's Notes: Mornin', or at least it is for me I suppose.

I must apologise for the shorter chapter. I had a surprising amount of difficulty in getting writing done. Writing two stories simultaneously, whilst training and working is somewhat taxing… who knew, eh?

As a little note, I did make some edits to the previous chapter. Mainly, I was unhappy with Naruto's portrayal during some of those scenes. It seemed a little too unprofessional, as 'Hoguie' pointed out to me in his review. Nothing major, just a few changes to our resident spooky-boi's reactions and demeanour.

This is mainly due to the fact that I prefer to write darker, more mature themes. Ironically, it was my attempt to curb this and portray a ten-year old accurately that lead to this inconsistency. Go fish, I guess.

Questions/Review Responses:

ReddFoxx: I was afraid that you would make this story some light-hearted adventure about "fixing" Naruto.
Light-hearted isn't exactly my style. I'm a bit of a fucked up little deviant, so whilst I might go for humour or levity at times, the overall tone will always be somewhat dark and or mysterious. Or at least it will try to be.

djsmall565: Great job. I really like this story. You almost lost me in the beginning with how he was putting up with the hokage's BS but it smoothed out pretty well. I've never really been a fan of Sarutobi cause he always seems very hypocritical but you have made him own up to that. This is great I can't wait to see where you take this.
I'm glad you noticed that. I've always found him as a mirror to Harry Potter's 'Dumbledore' in a way. Both are characters so many make out to be one-dimensional or stunted in some way because they lack the ability to portray their true flaws properly. I tried my best to give the old man the respect he deserves on paper, with all his unique imperfections intact without demeaning or curtailing his character.

Humn: You are one of the rare few that writes a great story description.
Heh, whilst I'm awfully flattered, I have to disagree with you my friend. If only you knew how long it took me to write out those sixty or so words… I must have re-written that fucking description about forty times before I finally had something halfway decent. I don't blame others for having garbage descriptions, its surprisingly difficult lmao.

Lessons with Jaguar, #3

Pursing his lips, Naruto glanced out over the glistening river. He watched as the moonlight scattered across the rippling surface, casting these beautiful little refractory shimmers down the water's length.

The gentle rush of the river, combined with the chirping of cicadas and the burbling croak of toads… it was so peaceful. One could take a seat in the grass here and gaze up at the stars, content that all was right in the world.

Naruto could have… he could have simply closed his eyes and waited out the gorgeous scene in bliss.

Instead, he approached the river and dipped his filthy hands into it, tainting the running water a foul red as the blood sifted away from his bare fingers. Gristle dripped from his blackened mask, chunks of meat and bits of brain matter that also slicked itself into the streaming waterway.

Standing and rolling his aching shoulders, the trainee ANBU placed his hands into a seal and pulsed his chakra twice, he waited exactly ten seconds, before pulsing again another four times.

Almost immediately, something changed.

The cicadas had stopped chirping.

The toads were silent.

The clouds had rolled over, obscuring the bright moon above and darkening the world below…

Yellow eyes, like that of an ancient, powerful predator from the old world, flashed in the darkness on the other side of the river.

A shiver ran up Naruto's spine, even as he straightened up, hands clasped behind his back and head bowed in deference.

Stalking out from the foliage across the river, Jaguar emerged. His spiked foot speared into the ground as his form came into view. The Black ANBU simply stood, watching his student for what seemed like an eternity.

A long uncomfortable silence stretched, growing nigh endless, before the ex-assassin finally broke it.

"Is it done?" The low, guttural voice growled across the burbling river, almost frightening it into silence.

Naruto nodded, idly noticing that the grass he was standing upon had been stained a deep crimson from the blood that was dripping down his form.

None of it was his own.

"How many?" The Black ANBU's voice was inherently curious.

"Fifty-seven, sir." He replied quickly, hearing the number bounce around in his head.

Fifty-seven lives snuffed…

"Twenty-eight males, fifteen females, seven elderly and…" Naruto paused, the next words sticking to his throat and refusing to leave.

Jaguar's eyes seemingly lit up with barely restrained intrigue. "…and?" he purred softly.

A cold chill settled over the clearing as Naruto glanced up, eyes hardened into sleets of rime and hoarfrost. "-and seven children, all accounted for and euthanized, sir." The cold deepened. "The houses have been burnt, the well drained and the fields salted. The plague will not be spread."

Jaguar nodded slowly. "Satisfactory, I suppose." He paused, before reaching back into the darkness behind him. "However, you missed one." With that, he tossed forwards a heavy burlap sack that thudded down to the river's edge.

A muffled 'scream' rang out through the clearing, followed by cries of pain and terror as the bag began to shift and jostle.

Naruto felt the ice in his body spear at his insides as he stared at the sight before him. It's still not over?

Of course it wasn't.

This would never end.

Not for him.

Jaguar's low, guttural chuckles rang out through the clearing, and Naruto glanced up to find the man's shadow fading into the darkness of the woods.

"Do be sure to be thorough this time, Zero-one." The Black ANBU paused, glancing over his shoulder with a gleaming yellow eye. "Wouldn't want the poor thing to suffer any more than she already has…. would we?"

Naruto didn't reply as he watched the twine that held the sack closed finally fall slack. The burlap fell open, spilling a girl no older than he onto the pebbled riverbank. Her once flawless, youthful skin was riddled with boils and pockmarks. Her veins were dark and bulging, her eyes bloodshot and her nose dripping a viscous mucus.

Horrid, fresh burn marks could be seen amongst the plague-wounds, remaining a damning evidence of Naruto's own incompetence.

Her wide, terrified eyes snapped back and forth in panic. Her nails scrabbled at the dirt as whimpers escaped her lips. As if fate had decreed it, the clouds parted ever so slightly, and moonlight illuminated the figure stood on the bank across from her.

Her eyes landed on him.

On his mask.

On the white, crisp number '1' that stamped it.

On the blood, and the muck that hung from his body.

On his frosted eyes that held no emotion whatsoever.

…On the hand that suddenly sparked with white energy as it clenched into a fist.

Naruto stepped onto the water, his feet carrying him across in deliberate steps. He looked down at her with his frozen gaze, taking in her features with a forlorn eye.

"P-please…"

Static energy sparked through the air as Naruto's hands came alight with bleached white electricity.

Fifty-eight…

Jutsu/Techniques:

- Earth Release: Earth Flow River - Ninjutsu, Offensive, C-rank
A technique native to Iwagakure, the user transforms the surface underneath their opponent into a muddy river that sweeps them off their feet and carries them down stream. The technique is the fundamental base to most 'Earth Flow' combinations.

- Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears - Ninjutsu, Offensive, C-rank
A technique native to Takigakure, the user condenses mud or stone from the ground and moulds it into spears, or spikes to impale their target. This technique is powerful when combined with other Earth Flow techniques.

- Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique - Ninjutsu, Supplementary, D-rank
A technique native to Iwagakure, while lurking underground, the user grabs a target and drags them into the earth, leaving only their head above the surface. Because victims are rendered unable to move in this state, they are easily subjected to torture or decapitation

- Earth Release: Earth Spear - Ninjutsu, Supplementary, B-rank
A notoriously difficult to master technique native to Takigakure, the user channels earth-natured energy through parts of their body to take on extremely dense characteristics. This technique is extremely variable, with proficient users able to turn their entire bodies into a diamond-hard substance.

- Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique - Offensive, C-rank
A famous technique either adapted or created by the Uchiha clan of Konohagakure, the user kneads and folds fire-based energy within their stomachs to form a pressurised ball of flame. Considered a traditional test, or 'coming of age', for Uchiha children, this technique is notorious for being chakra-hungry.