DISCLAIMER:- I DON'T OWE Naruto or Kingdom

Western China

245 A.D

SHI PROVINCE, KOKUHI VILLAGE

'Get up you useless bastard... .'

Those were the words Shin was using to motivate himself to get himself up after being knocked down multiple times again and again 'Damn it, this blue eyed bastard is strong'

"Ya know yer taking this a little too seriously, calm down will you, it is just a stupid swo-." "IT'S NOT JUST A STUPID SWORD YOU GOLDEN HAIRED BASTARD." Shin roared suddenly rejuvenated as he charged with all he got.

'That sword was the last thing Hyou gave to me, I will achieve my dream and hyou's dream, OUR dream with that sword' Shin was on his way towards the address that hyou gave him before he was blocked by the goons of Kokuhi village, they tried to pick a fight but he made short work of most of them but then the blond asshole came along and things went downhill. Shin has been trying to get past him ever since, worst part was that he was able to take the sword that Hyou had given him, 'I can't forgive you for that you bastard.'

'sign' "You really don't learn do you?" the golden haired guy said as he caught shin's wooden sword in his hand without even a flinch while he put his other hand on shin's forehead and stopped him in his tracks.

'Dammit, not again!' Shin knew what was coming next and he braced himself but much to his shock he was not thrown around like a ragdoll like previous times, he looked up at the man who was much taller than him and saw the man that had kicking the crap out of him look at him curiously' "Exactly what in the blue hell is so special about that sword that you are willing to get your ass kicked because I'm starting to feel like a jerk " he honestly was feeling like an asshole, the kid had a lot of spunk and he was strong as well 'no wonder this kid sleepwalked his way through all of the guys here'

"It's none of your damn business!" Shin roared as he tried to push back against the blonde but without any success 'Damn it! if there was one thing I was confident about it was my strength but this asshole is not even moving an inch' Shin was getting tired, his breathing had gotten heavier and his muscles were sore 'I have to get to the place Hyou wanted me to but this bastard is tough!.'

Shin was about to push once again but he couldn't and if you asked him why he would not be able to give you a concrete answer but if he had to take a guess then his guess would be that it had something to do with the shift in the mood of blonde.

'w-why...WHY DOES THIS GUY SUDDENLY LOOK SO HUGE!' Shin was staring wide-eyed into the blue eyes of the blond which had gained an amount of intensity Shin had never seen, it was so overwhelming that the thought of backing down entered Shin's mind and the moment it did it snapped Shin back to reality.

'WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING? BACKING DOWN? ME?' Shin was feeling embarrassed for even going along that line of thinking. Shin, making up his mind about his next course of action, Took a step back and pulled his wooden sword out of blond's hands much to the blond's surprise and swung the sword with rejuvenated vigor 'Throughout my life there has only been one thing that had motivated me, that motivated Hyou and that was..IS our dream, if I just stop moving towards our dream the moment I fight someone that can kick my ass then I might as well stop dreaming and go back home and keep being a slave, marry a slave girl, and pump out kids that will also be a slave…LIKE HELL!' For the first time in this entire fight the spiky haired blonde chose to dodge his sword strike instead to catching it in his hands like he had been doing previously, surprise entered the eyes of blonde as he dodged multiple slashes targeted at him from multiple angles. 'I'm never going to swing this sword without purpose 'I will never lose the purpose for which I swing this sword, OUR DREAM OF BECOMING THE GREATEST GENERAL IN HISTORY' Shin managed to perform the fastest swing he had ever made from his wooden sword with enough power behind it that the blond felt the need to take a step back for the first time in this fight.

'GREAT! I think I got some groove back, now I can turn this thing around' Shin had finally regained some of his swagger back and he said what he was about learn what he should not have said.

"Don't you dare think this fight is over you pretty boy fuck."

One could listen a pin drop in a haystack! That was the level of silence that came over the battlefield as the blond's eyes were covered by his 2 long bangs the guy was practically shaking.

What happened next was not good for Shin's ribs

XXX

XXXX TWO MINUTES LATER

XXX

Three Moves

That was how quick it ended, in just three moves

Shin was having a hard time processing what happened as he tried to get up but wheezed out and collapsed due to the pain in his ribs

"I'm more than twice your age and I look badass ya shitty brat" Shin got the impression that he should not open his mouth to retort to that or he would get another spasm of pain from his ribs and he did not want that, not when he was finally recalling what happened

He remembered holding his sword in both of his hands and raising them to perform a powerful downward slash on the blond as he ran towards him as fast as he possibly could all the while the blond stood still until he did not and was right in Shin's face with his head reared back

Shin braced himself for a head butt and his decision for the most part was right because the man had all the intentions to perform a head butt…

The problem was that it was not shin's head that he was targeting it was his hands that were coming down to perform the downward slash

Shin was caught completely off guard by the unorthodox move by the blond and he also did not expect the force that came off the head butt as the fingers of his right hand and the blond's head collided, it was so powerful that Shin was blown back and lost his footing

Shin tried to regain his footing but the blond was already on the move as he snatched shin's sword right from his hands and Shin really could not do much about it as the head butt from earlier actually rattled the bones of his right hand 'oh crap' Shin thought and tried to get out of the way but he really could not do anything as the blond performed a full circular motion and smashing the butt end of the wooden sword into Shin's ribs, sending him many a feet away in the process

That was when Shin had lost his breath for a few seconds as he could not breathe at all. It all happened so fast but now that he had regained his breath and a clear consciousness he was trying to think of all the possible options he had…and he could not think of any

'What can I do now? The guy is strong and he has both of my swords too' Shin gritted his teeth in anger and pain…mostly in pain as he clutched he left side 'Damn it! It hurts too! this situation just keeps getting worse, I'm already late, I should have been at the place that Hyou wanted me to go to by now but I'm struck at this place with this stupid blonde with his three moves of doom '

Shin noticed that the blond had stopped ranting about how he was not a pretty boy and he was actually examining the sword Hyou had given him and his eyes narrowed and had gained a sort of seriousness that Shin had not seen the blond have before as the man turned and faced him

"How did you get this sword?"

"I told you it was none of your business" Shin's really did not feel like talking about Hyou and relive all that had transpired within last four hours because he knew it would exhaust him mentally and that was the last thing he wanted, he could not afford any of that, not now, not in front of this guy

The blond looked annoyed and voiced his displeasure "look kid, it may not look it but I like you, I really do, you've got guts, not many can face me and not piss their pants but you went a step further and made me use a sword too, now granted I was not actively trying to kill you but still the point stands that I don't want to kill you so why don't you just answer some of my questions and call it a day." the blonde man asked in an annoyed tone

He was not the only annoyed person and Shin made it known to him "I don't have time for your stupid questions, I'm already late I would have made it to the place by now if it wasn't for you goons hell I probably would have beaten you if I was not worried about being late."

There was a tick mark on the blonde man's face at hearing the word goon but he took a deep breath before speaking "I doubt it kid, men and women far stronger then you have tried and failed but that is besides the point, you did mention that you have to go someplace right, so let's cut a deal then, I make sure you reach your destination and you answer my questions, how about it? Just tell me how you got the sword "

Shin looked at the man suspiciously as he asked a question himself "Why are you so curious about how I got that sword anyway?"

The blonde man answered immediately with a pointed gaze directed at him "Because that sword has no business getting out of royal palace, not when our king is a just thirteen"

Shin was surprised not only by the implication of what the blonde said but also by his knowledge "what? How can you say that?"

The blonde did not remove his pointed gaze for once as he spoke again "yeah, that sword is not something that even your run of the mill nobles get their hands on, so either you are a thief so talented that you entered the royal palace and stole a king's personal guard's sword without losing your head or some serious shit has hit the fan that I'm not aware of, now stop being annoying and answer the damn question" there was some force behind the man's words

Shin was at the loss of words 'This guy seems to know more about the situation then I do and he was not even involved in this mess ten minutes ago' Shin was actually contemplating asking for his help

"if I tell you everything, will you help me get to get to place where the rivers meet?" Shin always had a talent of understanding someone after clashing swords with them and on some level he knew that if this man made a promise he would keep it

The blonde replied readily "Kid, I will make sure that you reach that place faster than if you would have if you went ahead yourself without any damage just answer some of my questions"

Shin looked at him for a full minute before signing "(sign) fine"

XXXXX 5 Minutes later XX

Shin was looking down at the ground after he had told everything, just saying it all out loud for the first time had got him exhausted, tears were already threatening to fall but he controlled himself, he could not cry, he had already wasted too much time crying

He looked up at the blonde when he made a 'hmm' sound all the while looking up in the sky, he could tell that the man was definitely thinking about something far more productive then he was

The man spoke for the first time in the past five minutes "Did Hyou ask you and your master not to touch his body and not move him from where he laid?"

Shin was surprised by the man's knowledge "yeah he did."

The man made a 'hmm' sound again followed by a quite "smart kid, Brave too"

The man again asked a question "How old was Hyou?"

"Thirteen"

"And what was he wearing?"

Shin was about to go off on the man for asking stupid questions before he actually stopped when it hit him "..He was dressed like royalty!"

The blond man was looking at the stars once again as he began speaking again "Yeah, that kid was being used as a body double."

Shin was taken aback by that conclusion "WHAT?"

"Really think about it, why would Shou Bun Kun would go out of his way to get a thirteen year old slave boy when he has a parade of nobles that are older and more experienced who would sell their left nut to get the kind of job offer that Shou Bun Kun offered to Hyou but he chose Hyou better yet it's not like he could not pick both of you but he did not pick both of you instead it was just him right? Hyou probably looked a lot like the current king who also happens to be a thirteen year old."

The blond directly looked at him as he spoke "It is definitely not that unusual a tactic Hyou's desire to lay down in the open just confirms this, he was trying to buy you some time."

Shin was already pretty overwhelmed with a wide array of emotions, Anger and rage being the primary ones but he voiced his question first "What do you mean he was trying me some time?"

"Hyou probably looked a lot like the King, otherwise Shou Bun Kun would not go out of his way to get him, Hyou was probably a distraction, he was probably being chased, the ones who are chasing him will stop to take a look around and follow Hyou's blood trail, by just laying there if we are lucky then they will mistake him for the king, cut his head off and return but at the very least they will definitely stop around him and that will buy you some precious time."

Shin was boiling with rage 'These bastards just toyed with Hyou's life like his life did not matter at all, I'M GOING TO KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.'

Shin would have continued with his murderous thoughts had the blond not continued right after

"Damn, things sure have gotten nasty haven't they but then again if nothing else at least I got something to do to occupy my time at least."

The man stood right in front of Shin and offered him a hand "C'mon kid we don't have much time."

Shin tried to get up by himself but wheezed in pain "Damn it."

The man looked at him unimpressed "Trust me kid, I'm not one of those benevolent heroes in the stories that offer hand for help or whatever, I know for a fact you will have problem breathing let alone walking for a little while and time is a luxury that we don't have, so off with the machismo bullshit and get with the program"

Shin growled and tried to stand up on his own again and succeeded this time "My name is not kid, it's Shin and you better remember it because one day I will become the greatest general in history"

The blonde stared at him wide eyed before he started chucking to himself angering Shin all the more, before he could speak the blond spoke again "Man, you sure dream big but really it seems that you have a good resolve" the blond leveled a pointed stare at him as he spoke his next words somberly "But time will test that resolve I'm sure of it"

The blond went up to Shin and grabbed his arm and picked him up in a piggy back much to Shin's chagrin but before he could voice his displeasure the blond spoke again "Hold tight kid and I know you don't like it but you should not walk for some time now, don't worry though, you will be fine in a couple of hours."

Shin was about to retort to the man's claim but then he remembered that he had not asked the most important question "Hey! I forgot to ask, what is your name?"

The blond had started moving and it looked like he would not answer the question before he spoke again "Well normally I would not give out my name to random folks but you did make me draw your sword and I did block your way so I guess it's only fair, my name is Naruto."

Shin was about to ask more random questions but then the blond started picking up speed..

And some more speed…

And some more speed…

"HOLY SHIT!" Shin was really starting to regret not insisting more strongly on walking on his own

XX

XXX TEN MINUTES LATER

XX

Shin was breathing heavily now that he on his own two feet and it was not due to exhaustion but because of fear he felt for his life 'Damn, is this guy even human? I'm pretty sure humans are not supposed to move that fast, not with another person on their back any way'

Shin still could not forget how the guy was jumping off from rocks to rocks without losing speed or missing steps all the while Shin was screaming like a idiot but Shin was not going to be hard on himself about that 'I still would have preferred the regular route instead of his stupid short cut, at least I would not have felt like I was about to lose my life like half a dozen times but then again…'

Shin turned around and saw the shack that was supposed to be his destination '… I did reach this place faster than if I had run on my own so there is that.'

Shin was getting more and more angry as he moved forward towards the shack that was barely holding up 'Hyou, you sent me here without telling me anything about the mess that you got yourself nor did you allow me to take revenge for you and I did just that, all for this piece of shit shack? I can't accept that, this place better answer the questions I have or you better wish I don't die because if I do then the the first thing I will do is find you and kill you again.'

"Go ahead and see what's inside"

With these strange thoughts in mind Shin entered the shack followed by Naruto.

XXXXXXX

INSIDE THE SHACK

30 SECONDS AGO

Inside the shack was a thirteen year old boy with long black hair who was wearing a red robe that was worthy of a royalty like him for he was the great-grandson of the "God of war" King Sho and he was also the current King of the state of Qin, his name was was Ei Sei.

'Heh, "King" what a joke' Sei thought to himself bitterly, He was a king only in name, he was just an ornament to the throne, there was no way a child like him could govern the whole country. Sei was aware that just like his father he was also being used by the Prime Minister Ryo Fui who has been Sei's for the past year to climb higher and gain even more authority and his one and only true obstacle was the other Prime minister Ketsu Shi who was using his Younger brother Kyou to lead a rebellion and overthrow Sei to make Kyou the king so that he can take control of the whole country.

'A king with no power, I would laugh if my life was not on the line' for some time now Sei has feeling more than just frustration at his current predicament and the reason for that was that he was aware of Ketsu's and Kyou's plans from the start but he could do anything about it, his status as a commoner did not help his situation as many powerful nobels sided with Kyou for the simple fact that that Kyou had royal blood in his veins, he truly was a powerless king the only one he could trust was Shou Bun Kun and now even his life was in danger

'A lot of people are risking their life for my survival, Shou Bun Kun, Heki, Hyou…Hyou'

Sei was not close to Hyou, but Sei had nothing but respect for Hyou, Hyou had an outrageous dream and you could feel the resolve behind his words and yet he threw his dreams away without a second thought just to protect him

'Your friend sure is taking his time Hyou' Sei stopped his musings as he heard footsteps and clutched his sword

The person who entered was a boy his age, he was a thin boy with Spiky black hair with a rat-tail on the back of his head, If Sei had to take a guess by the state of his appearance then he would guess that the boy was some run off the mill peasant, he was wearing a sleeveless blue garment fastened with a brown cloth belt.

The boy was looking at him like he had seen a ghost, it looked like he was about to speak before he caught himself as his expression changed, sporting anger this time as he found his voice "You must be the king" the boy Growled

Sei would have struck the boy right there had he not seen the sword on the boys back and he immediately responded "You must be Shin"

Shin was taken aback 'How does he know my name?' Shin was about to voice his question when his companion entered the shack as well

Sei looked at the the new comer and let out a gasp 'it can't be'

The man that had come was a tall man who had a similar sleeveless garment fastened with a brown belt but his garment was of orange color and unlike the boy he wore pants too

The man had long spiky blond hair that were tied in a ponytail, he had jaw length bangs that covered both sides of his face but the most peculiar feature of him was the 3 sets of marks on both side of his face that would look like whiskers, all in all he looked like one those guys that people liked to call 'Pretty boys'…something that blond did not like to be referred to as to say the least… a fact Sei was aware of

'I can't believe it, I never thought I would see him again but he's actually here!' Sei would have actually voiced his astonishment had he not been interrupted by what was the beginning of an unpleasant experience

Everyone inside the shack instinctively dodged as a sword slash went above their head

A unanimous thought of 'Shit' went through everyone's head as they were all aware that this poor excuse of a shack was about to come down and their prediction was right

"What on earth is happening here? That hurt" Shin groaned as he tried to get up, he had made a big jump just in time to get out of the collapsing shack but in the process he also landed on his front and his ribs which had been experiencing just a dull ache were now once again in pain

Shin looked around to find the source of the destruction and was greeted with the sight of a very creepy looking tall man dressed in a red and black robe and wore black pants, he had a sword on his back and his arms were crossed as he spoke to the king with a sadistic grin on his face "I have finally found you, and now I will have your head king of Qin, Ei Sei."

The man unfolded his arms and took a step forward as he continued to speak "You nearly had me with that other one, I was thoroughly shocked to learn that two people could who looked exactly alike! And to top it all off that kid was amazing! He was the first one to be given a mortal wound by me and still get away.." The sadistic grin never left the assassin's face until he heard what the man with the blond hair had to say about him

"Either the standards at 'Vicious Scarlet' have gone to shit or you are just a bad apple because you have to really suck as an assassin to be this loud and not even get the job done " Naruto said, not even looking at the man as he was dusting his cloths

"WHAT? YOU DA-" The Assassin from the Vicious Scarlet would have continued but he was once again interrupted

"SHUT THE FUCK UP" Shin was having a hard time controlling himself; these people were talking about something they had no right talking about

"I am sick and tired, tired of you fucks talking about Hyou like an object to be used… that guy had his whole life planned out, he was going to become a great general, make himself a big mansion, marry a beautiful girl.." the emotions Shin was experiencing were overwhelming and making it difficult to speak but he did anyway as he pointed his sword at Sei and growled out "You took that away from him, and for what? Your stupid sibling rivalry? I won't forgive you, you bastard"

Sei had learned to be a level headed guy at a very early age, so it was no surprise that he was able to respond without revealing how angry he was about what Shin said "You think this is stupid?"

Shin replied without missing a beat "Damn right I think it is stupid! To us people who work the fields and such, we couldn't be bothered by who the king is! So screw you, you little…" before Shin could continue he heard the assassin chuckling

"Kuh Kuh Kuh! And here I thought you were his servant or something, if you wanna kill him, I'll let you do it, but I get to keep his head."

Shin was looking at the ground as he spoke "Oh I will kill him, I will chop him limb to limb."

Shin raised his head and looked right in his eyes "But you come first bastard, since you were the one who actually killed, I'm going to hang you by your guts!"

Shin started moving towards the assassin before he was interrupted by Naruto

"Are you sure about this Shin?" Shin looked at the blond and saw that blond was raising his eye brows all the while looking at his chest and Shin immediately got what the blond was getting at

"I'll be fine, don't worry about it" Shin growled and without any hesitation made a dast towards the assassin

XX

XXX TWO MINUTES LATER

XX

'I can't believe it' The assassin thought to himself bewildered by what was happening right now

'In terms of speed, power and technique this kid and that body double kid are almost the same and yet-' the member of Vicious Scarlet blocked another set of attacks that came at him from different angles, each attack had enough power that the assassin could not afford to be lax or he would be in a world of pain and that had forced the assassin on the back foot '- and yet i am actually feeling threatened when I'm facing his attacks' The assassin took a couple of steps back and took a defensive stance so that he could slow down the pace of the battle and gather himself so that he could finish this quickly, in doing so he looked down and was shocked at what he saw 'WHAT?'

There were multiple cuts on his garment 'and I was not even aware of those! This kid is far more dangerous than that other kid, ' the man that was responsible for Hyou's death looked at Shin with narrowed eyes, it did not make any sense, how can two people have the same amount of power, speed and technique and yet one of them is far more dangerous

The assassin was correct in his assessment, Shin and Hyou were each other's equals in terms of skills and capabilities but what he was not aware of was that unlike Hyou, Shin was not the least bit intimidated by his presence or killing intent and the reason for that was that Shin had overcome an even greater presence… namely Naruto's presence

'I have fought someone who felt far bigger and unbeatable then you, compared to that guy you are nothing' Shin thought to himself all the while preparing for his next attack

'Looks like Hyou was right about Shin being better than him despite being equal in every metric' Sei thought to himself, remembering his conversation with Hyou about Shin

The assassin was trying to think of something fast 'I don't like this kid, I have to finish this kid quickly' the assassin was not willing to take unnecessary risks but he knew he had to take some

Shin went at the man again, hands raised to bring his sword down for a vertical slash, with the intentions of cutting his head open.. and he missed

Shin was in the middle of stoping his own momentum all the while realizing that the opening was a feint and he fell for it

'Shit' Shin knew he was wide open for any to attack at his left side and the large man was on his left side, Shin did not even bother to look at his left to see the man who was no doubt swinging his sword with both his hands with the intentions of cleaving him in half because it was what he would have done if he was in his opponent's shoes

There was an ear splitting grin on the assassin's face as his sword made contact, it stayed in place when Shin was lifted in the air, the grin started to lessen when he heard a 'clang' sound, it completely left his face when he did not see any sort of blood in the air as he was falling towards the ground, the assassin's was sneering when he realized what had happened

'What shit is this? This kid's reflexes are ridiculous; he jumped to the other side using single leg while blocking my attack with a single arm in mid air! ' all of it was not making sense to the man in red and black robes, but it was his reality and it was pissing him off

Shin did not just land, he slid and was right at Naruto's foot, he tried to get up and was reminded why Naruto was warning him "Dammit!" Shin groaned while clutching his side

Shin was having a hard time getting when he heard Naruto speak for the first time "You know this is taking wa more time the it has to."

Shin was having a hard time breathing let alone talking, but he needed to respond to the suggestion Naruto was making "I can take care of him just fine alright! Don't get involved in my f-arg" Shin once again clutched his side in pain

Naruto sighted and for the first time took his eyes off the assassin all the while shin was down, and looked at Shin right in his eyes as he spoke "I saw the fight, I have no doubt that if it wasn't for your ribs you would have won, but fact is your ribs were hurt before you even begun fighting this dude and that despite blocking that last attack your ribs did take the brunt of it, there is a difference between brave and being foolish Shin, and you must recognize that"

Shin glared Naruto as he spoke "You don't get it Naruto, that guy killed Hyou-" "And Hyou wanted you to be a Great general didn't he?"

"What." Shin was at the loss of words, he did not remember telling anything about Hyou's last words to the blond

"The difference between a good general and a great general is that the great general carries the will of his comrades that he loses on the battlefield right on his shoulder as he moves forward"

Shin once again felt what he felt when faced Naruto 'Damn his presence is overwhelming!'

"A Great general is entrusted with protecting not only the citizens of his country but also its pride and the only way to do that is by ensuring that he must wins in the most decisive way, and to do that he has to understand himself and his abilities and he must also recognize that his abilities do not stop at just his intellectual and martial might, it also includes the abilities of his comrades, his soldiers, when a general recognizes reality for what it is instead of what he wants it to be, uses all of his abilities to its fullest potential and ensures the victory of his country, that is what makes a great general"

Shin was not aware of it but he was never going to forget these words

But Naruto was not done speaking "Right now, you know your condition, and you know my capabilities and you know the will of your comrades, if you still insist on fighting this guy then go right ahead but just know this, that you are being very selfish"

Shin stared at the blonde for a few more moments before he replied "..fine"

Naruto let out a dramatic sigh and said dramatically "Good gravy! The things I have to do"

Sei was not aware of it, but he had smiled for the first time in years 'Despite everything that happened you still haven't changed Naruto-san, I'm glad'

The man that was hired to take the head of the Qin king was standing still as was making his way towards him with what looked like a wooden sword of all things in his hand, Now anyone with half a brain would question his sanity, why was he, an assassin of the feared 'Vicious Scarlet' was letting the man known as 'Naruto' give a speech instead of finishing them off, to those people, his reply would be a 'FUCK OFF' they did not experience what he did

He was going to attack the moment the boy was downed but then he looked in the eyes of blond and his will to attack just left his body, The intensity in those eyes just stopped him in his tracks, the man continued to look t him but then his eyes turned cold and it felt like the man was not even looking at him but rather he was looking through him but then they turned disinterested, as if he, the elite of 'Vicious cycle' was not any threat to him, he felt insulted and wanted to kill him right there, but then the blond gave his speech and he was enamored by the whole thing

Now the blond was moving towards him with his wooden sword and he was feeling nervous 'Have I heard this name 'Naruto' before?'

"I still maintain my original statement you know, either the standards have dropped or you are a shitty assassin, you brag, you 'Play with your prey' and stretch fights, and worst of all you are not even good at it" Naruto said to him all the while checking Shin's wooden sword

A growl could be heard from the man, this guy might be some hot shit but he was not going to be disrespected by some pretty boy, he voiced his opinion without knowing the consequences

"SHUT UP, I'LL SHOW YOU HOW GREAT AN ASSASIN I AM YOU PREETY BOY FUCK"

The silence that followed after made the Vicious Scarlet member, the blond was no longer checking his sword and the two bangs on his face were covering his eyes

'He's dead' was the thought that went through the head of both Shin and Sei

The blond looked up and he was wearing a smile that screamed restrained anger "You know if time was a luxury that I had then I would make this long and I would make this humiliating.."

Naruto threw away the sword as he spoke "..but losing to a guy who is weaponless should be humiliating enough I suppose"

'THAT'S IT!' No matter who this guy was, it didn't matter, he had his pride as a member of 'vicious cycle' and he was going to protect it

He raised his sword with both of his hand, trying to put all the weight behind his swing with the intentions of cutting him in half

What happened next shocked everyone except Naruto…he was just mildly surprised but for a different reason

'T-his cant be' both the hands of the assassin were still in the air holding his sword, he could not complete his swing becau65wqse Naruto had blocked it…with his bare right hand

Shin could not believe his eyes; the blond had blocked the swing of the man that Shin knew was no joke using his bare right hand without even taking a step back

'I always knew that Naruto-san was strong, but this..' Sei was having a hard time comprehending the sight before him

Naruto looked up and he had a small frown on his face, he saw what he expected to see for the most part, his right hand had twisted to the left and caught the sword between the depth of his thumb and index finger, but what deepened the frown on Naruto's face was the sight of small trickle of blood

"Well I'll be damned, either I underestimated you and you are better than I was giving you credit for or I have gotten rusty…"

Before the assassin could even smile at his words the blond spoke again ".. but then again, even with any of those two scenarios are to be true, it does not change the fact that I'm about to break your nose"

The assassin could not even respond as the blond pushed him using is left hand all the while not losing his grip on the sword, when there was enough distance between them, the blond pulled the assassin in by pulling the s ord in with enough force that the assassin actually stumbled and was forced to take his eyes off of Naruto, when he tried to correct himself he felt like someone struck his nose with a hammer

The assassin was having a hard time comprehending what was going on, but he had enough self awareness to realize that the last attack had lifted him off the ground, 'What the hell wa-' He could not even finish his thought before he felt an attack on his side from his back

*CRACK*SNAP**POW*

Those were the sounds that echoed throughout the whole area as the assassin landed on his back whimpering helplessly as his ribs had given out, not even knowing how all this happened

Shin was honestly surprised by the fact that his eyeballs had not fallen out of socket because he knew his eyes just continued to widen as the 'fight' ,if you can even call it that, progressed.

Naruto had pulled the guy towards him by pulling his sword all the while moving forward himself, Shin did not remember seeing him trying to bend down but Naruto's face was right in front of the assassin's waist all the while never loosing focus of his target, he was on just single leg, and he had tightened his fist with the intentions of using it like a hammer, as he moved his hammer fist and hit the nose of the assassin, the assassin was lifted in the air by the impact

Shin was so enamored with the sight of the body of the assassin lifted off the ground that he actually missed when the blond had moved right behind the flying body of assassin, Shin did not know if he was Seeing things but to him it looked like the air was moving around the fist of Naruto as he punched the assassin from behind, and then those sounds reverberated through out the area

*CRACK*SNAP**POW*

Shin hated the fact that he was feeling sorry for the man who killed his best friend, but he could not help it, he was still cringing after listening to that sickening sound

Naruto looked at the downed man who could not seem to form coherent words and then stomped at the had which was holding the sword "and that's that" Naruto said to himself, satisfied with his work. He looked up to see the two boys moving towards him, Shin was openly cringing while looking at the man while Sei looked more in control

"Why did you not kill him?" Sei asked

"Well, I had the intentions of taking this guy down quickly without killing him so that I could ask him some questions so that I could get some information regarding this whole situation, but then he opened his mouth and…yeah" Naruto said, laughing little awkwardly before sighing

Sei would have reminded him that he could do that do but he couldn't do that because there was an alarmed look on the blonds' face, it was the same look that Shin and himself wore onece they felt the vibration from their feet

"Yeah..things just got worse" Naruto said what everybody was thinking

"FIRE"

"GAH""OM MY G-AHH""AAAHH-"

"What's going on there?" Shin had an idea of what it was, but wanted someone to tell him otherwise

"That sounds like an army..and a large one at that" Naruto answered, confirming his fears

Shin looke at different directions and concluded the obvious "WE'RE SURROUNDED" Shin shouted

"Now our only option is the rive-" Sei did not allow Shin to complete his sentence

"That's sealed off too" Sei crushed Shin's hope easily as they saw a large number of boats moving towards them"

Naruto addressed Sei without looking at him "Man, I knew things are probably bad, but I did not imagine 'Royal army moving without Royal seal' bad."

Sei signed in defeat 'I guess this is my defeat'

Shin tightened his grim around his sword "Dammit! Looks like I can't rest just yet"

Sei looked at him shocked "You're going to fight against the whole army"

Before Shin could reply Naruto cut him off "No he's not, and no I'm not asking you to surrender king, I know a secrete passage, let's go"

Shin and Sei followed Naruto as he lead them to the secrete passage all the while he was kicking himself mentally 'Dammit, I should have killed that assassin, now I can just hope that I punched him hard enough so that he does not open his mouth, god knows it would just get me in more trouble then I already am'

TO BE CONTINUED

A/n:- Hope you folks like it, rate and review and you can also ask questions and I will answer them if I think I would not revealing too much