Summary: According to the scrolls, a thousand years ago, Kaguya Otsutsuki ate the Chakra Fruit produced by the God Tree and became the first Jinchuuriki. Eighty years ago, the Warring States Era concluded. This story takes place in that nine-hundred-year gap in time that no history book dares to speak about. AU post-apocalyptic, Mad Max-like, Warring States setting. Rated M for possible lemons, swearing, character death, swearing, blood, angst, swearing and violence… Tayuya's in it, so I should probably warn you, there might be a bit of swearing here and there.

List of Main Characters: Naruto U. (18), Hinata H. (18), Hanabi H. (17), Sakura H. (19), Ino Y. (19), Sasuke U. (19), Itachi U. (22), Fuu (19), Tayuya (20), Kin T. (20), and OCs.

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WASTELANDS

Chapter One: Enter Naruto of No Clan

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"Listen carefully… a long time ago. Before there was Man. There was only a Void. Within the Void lived the gods. And the gods. In their states of boredom created Monsters. Terrifying creatures whose sole duties were to feast, and feast on only one thing. Man. Man was on the menu. Only Man could satisfy their hunger. And the gods with their craftiness, made Man the only beings who knew how to stop the Monsters. Ever since the Sage of Six Paths split Yin and Yang into two, the Monsters have once again been unleashed. And what of the Men with the knowledge to seal them? They've been thrust forwards in time to a time too far beyond mortal Man's reach."

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October, 09.

800 Years before the events of 'Naruto'.

100 Years after the defeat of Kaguya.

Space and time distorted on the highest floor of a lonely high-rise in the Land of Rain. Nine figures in pitch black robes were scattered around a dark and dingy room minding their own businesses when a ninth figure emerged from the ripple in space-time. Dressed in a black cloak, drenched in rainwater with an orange, single eye-exposing, mask. The man walked into the building and removed his robe to reveal black top and pants with a faded green scarf and dark grey gloves.

The man began removing his gloves as one of the mysterious figures approached. A tenth figure appeared from the wall. Introduced by a Venus' Fly Trap-like plant sprouting from the damp concrete. The plant opened to reveal a creepy two-faced being who didn't say anything until the approaching figure pulled back his hoodie.

"What have you got?" the silver-haired man asked his followers.

"Probably herpes," the masked man tried to make light of the situation.

"I'm being serious Tobi," the pierced man growled.

"So am I, Lord Pain!"

The God of Judgement instinctively turned to the plant-man growing out of his wall for answers. More of the hybrid appeared from the wall until he was completely separated from the barrier. The creature in black rose to his feet.

"The Land of Grass has sparked conflict with the Land of Earth for the property surrounding the Kyuusai Bridge," the black half of his face spoke with a deep bellowing voice, "The Land of Grass had pre-booked the Senju Clan for an apparent 100 million Ryo… whilst the Land of Earth might be forced to hire the Uchiha Clan for 350 million… if they can find the money," the white half was a little more sensitive and appeared to question everything he said with a pause.

"Of course they can find the money," Lord Pain turned to face the large opening in the wall that Tobi had walked through. The rain continued to fall on the Land of Rain. Both countries were bordering on his land. His band of mercenaries could've probably taken out the Senju Clan if they weren't expecting it, but he would risk starting a war with the Land of Grass' Daimyo, who was much closer to him than the Land of Earth's. He needed to make a choice: Either make an agreement with the Land of Earth to wipe out the Senju army for 250 million Ryo, aid the Land of Grass to help boost his new clan's reputation with an added 50 million Ryo on the side, or wait on the sidelines for one of the countries to mess up so that he can colonise it like he did the Rain Country, "Any news from the Land of Lightning?"

With the Land of Fire's recent betrayal of their greatest ally, the Land of Eddies, they'd lost their status as the strongest country in the Ninja World. The Land of Lightning, thanks to them having two Tailed Beasts, namely the Two Tails and the Eight Tails, were quick to steal that title and didn't seem like letting go of it anytime soon.

"I… I don't know," the white Zetsu shrugged, "The Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning have recently agreed on a deal. The Lightning Daimyo's grandson became infatuated with the Land of Fire's Hyuuga Heiress, but refused to take the Clan Name of Hyuuga, so they decided to marry off the heiress's older sister instead with the Land of Lightning offering 2 billion Ryo in return. Perhaps if we offer to escort her we could grab 500 million for ourselves."

Lord Pain was already deep in thought, "Wait!" everyone stopped to stare at the contemplating genius. His Rinnegan pierced the clouds, creating an opening as he thought, "No, no. The Land of Fire is currently low on funds since losing the Land of Eddies. They won't be able to afford a strong clan to escort the Hyuuga woman, and with the Uchiha and the Senju preoccupied we can kidnap the woman and hold her at ransom for the whole 2 billion, since the Land of Lightning is so keen on spending its newfound cash. Oumagatoki will rise at last."

Oumagatoki, roughly translating to 'dusk', was the up-and-coming mercenary group turned clan made up of twenty-one S-rank fighters who'd been banished by their original clans. Led by the Rinnegan-wielding God of Judgement, Pain (New Daimyo of the Land of Rain after the previous one was… sent away). Lord Pain lifted his hood over his spiky silver hair.

"You two," he first turned to Tobi, but the clueless man was trying to smell his finger through his mask. He looked over to Zetsu who was already morphing back into the wall, "Shift your focus to the Hyuuga incident, but report back to me if any other big money deal occurs out in the Wastelands, and update me on the Uchiha-Senju battle when it begins."

"Of course, Lord Pain," he melted into the concrete.

"No problem, sir," Tobi fell through the floor.

"Why is everyone sitting around? You have your new pairs, don't you? We need bonds, grab some money and get out into the Wastelands," Lord Pain commanded, "Come Yahiko, come Konan, we have an issue to attend to in the South-West Section 23."

The duo left the room, slamming the large wooden doors as they disappeared. Tobi appeared through the floor.

"Forgot my coat," he giggled before walking through a wall.

XXX

"Hey!"

Naruto's eyes opened instantly as he sprung across the stuffy room and landed in one of the corners. His wild spiky blonde hair flopped around as he landed on his knees as he placed his back on the corner. A big-boned woman with a double-chin, a pink apron, short red hair and a large broom stood under the door frame. Naruto's blue eyes quickly scanned the room before returning to the woman.

"How many times have I told you, you can't stay in the rooms if you don't rent them out," she shouted. Naruto smirked. He fell into a cross-legged position before looking around for his possessions. A backpack had been carelessly thrown into the farthest corner. His red robe with black flames was sitting at the foot of 'his' bed. His black shin-high sandals were tucked neatly under the bed. His weapon pouch, filled with shuriken and kunai knives, was sitting on the end table. And his orange jumpsuit was probably in the closet.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry Baa-chan, but you know I'll pay my tab when I get money," he flashed the older lady a foxy grin, unaware of the fact that she was actually advancing. He got hit in the head with a broom, "ITAI!"

She continued to beat on him with the wooden broom, "What have I told you about calling me 'Baa-chan', huh? I'm only thirty-five years old, you disrespectful youth! Sure, my youthful days are behind me but one day you'll be thirty-five and realise how young it is! Stop breaking into my apartment rooms because you close the windows and the dust can't get out, so I have to brush every morning! And you earn thousands every time you go out of town and kill innocent people so don't you dare give me that line!" the assault ceased.

"You can't blame me, Obaa-chan," he tried to be a little politer to no avail, "You've heard the statistics, the average life expectancy out in the Wastelands is twenty-eight years. You're ancient in my books, dattebayo."

He got two extra hits for those comments. He was trapped between the meaty tree trunks she calls legs. He couldn't escape her broom swings.

"Well, I don't live in the Wastelands. Murder is illegal in the Sanctions. They say even the great Uchiha Clan respects Sanction customs. The average life expectancy here is seventy-three… although most of us are widowed old women by that time," she sighed, "Luckily, my Izumo was wiser and chose to abandon his clan to come live with me in this Sanction."

"That's… that's amazing," Naruto looked around and calculated… it would take him two seconds max to grab all his things from the room, but he'd have to grab his clothes from the closet and put them on without being caught.

"I'm just saying, Naruto. Mei from the Dango place said that the ratio of men to women in the Ninja World is 1 is to 47. That means you could potentially have 47 wives if you just stopped all this fighting… I mean, I heard men like having more than one woman… with the exception of my Izumo, of course."

"You don't really have time to think about relationships when your life is on the line every day," Naruto said.

"That's what I'm saying, I know this beautiful girl who lives down the road. She's got the most youthful breasts ever and she's still pure because most of the males in the Sanction are either toddlers or are too old to even have sex anymore. I actually think you're in only twenty-year-old in this Sanction, Naruto."

"I'm actually eighteen, until tomorrow."

"Even better," she sounded surprised, "Come on Naruto, think about it. There's like a hundred young women in this Sanction and you're the only one who can satisfy their urges to-!"

Naruto exploded with quick feet and quick hands. He grabbed his weapons pouch, clipped it onto the side of his thigh, grabbed his shoes from under the bed, threw them to the other side of the bed, leapt over the bed, snatched his robe, put his shoes on, and only then looked back. The woman was still a little stunned. He grabbed his backpack and stopped at the closet to grab his jumpsuit.

"HEY! You still haven't paid!" her brain caught up. Naruto nabbed his jumpsuit and made a run for it. He painstakingly hopped down the wooden hallway as he put his pants on over his shoes. He threw his orange and black jacket on, zipped it up and concluded by sliding his robe on and leaping through an open window.

The blonde landed gracefully next to a crowd of young women.

"Naruto!" they screamed.

"Hey," Naruto wanted to get as far away from Baa-chan's Standard Apartments. He made his way down the dusty road at full speed.

Two hundred years ago, people had to be at constant war with themselves and the Monsters that had been unleashed from the Brink. A hundred years ago, Lady Kaguya ate the Chakra Fruit produced by the God Tree every millennium. This gave her control over the Monsters, they disappeared into the shadows and the lands were at peace thanks to Lord Tenji and Lady Kaguya's reign. One night, Kaguya went crazy and killed her husband, vowing to reclaim the freshly dispersed chakra from everyone. It took months for her sons to band together and seal her away, splitting Yin and Yang into two to create the Tailed Beasts and spark wars amongst countries for the land, money and power that once belonged to the Otsutsuki Empire. The Ninja World turned into the Wastlelands. A horrible place where anything could happen to you at any moment.

Along with the rush for land. There was a rush for power, a rush for chakra and a bigger rush to learn and discover new jutsu. If you could weave the right hand signs and distribute the right amount of chakra to the right body part, you could discover a potentially lethal new jutsu that could be sold to a country for millions. The bloodlust brought the Monsters that had plagued people's nightmares for centuries and to protect those who didn't want to be caught in the adrenaline rush that was the Wastelands, they built Sanctions. Large villages that would keep the Monsters out, and act as a ceasefire for men.

The Leaf Village was one of the biggest private Sanctions in the Land of Fire. Private in that, it ran itself, no money from the feudal lords or from any big clans was used unless they were stopping there to rest. Everyone knew each other, so everyone would grieve together when someone's father, brother, or son was declared dead on the battlefield. It was even worse when it was someone's mother, sister or daughter because it happened less frequently. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for the remaining males, this meant that they were more valuable and bigger targets for kidnappings and murders. The number of Uchiha, Senju, Aburame, Hyuuga, Nara, Akimichi, Sarutobi, Yamanaka, Namikaze, Fuuma, Otsutsuki, and Uzumaki young boys who were killed just because of their last name was so high that the clans had to resort to changing boys' last names and separating from them only to return to them when they were fighting fit.

The Wastelands were horrible… but they were a part of life in the Ninja World.

"Naruto! Come by to try my new ramen batch!" Ayame, one of the survivors of the Ichiraku Massacre, called out from the Ichiraku Ramen Stand as the beautiful young blonde sprinted past. He ground to a halt in front of the little shop and shrugged. He was probably just going to run out of the Sanction to get himself killed anyway.

"A last meal would be great," he chuckled, but Ayame didn't like joking about death. A year ago, the Ichiraku Clan left the Sanction because they were offered a 30 million Ryo deal, but it turned out to be an ambush, which left all fifty-three young men dead. She saw Naruto as a brother, and technically, the last male in her clan. If he had to die, she wouldn't be able to handle it, "I'm sorry," he grabbed her hand when he saw her face twist into a frown.

She tried to give him a smile.

"How about a bowl of sweet miso ramen, maybe that'll give me the strength to cut down everyone that stands in my way," he laughed. Ayame nodded excitedly before disappearing into the back. As she vanished, a familiar looking woman appeared with an apron around her hips.

"Naru-chan!"

"Hana!"

Hana was a member of the Leaf's Inuzuka Clan. Formerly, a clan made up of hundreds of crazy warriors who discovered the ability to train ninja hounds and formed such dualities and similarities that they could become one with the hounds, ripping through enemies like freight trains through paper. Now, only three members remained. Kiba and Akamaru, Naruto's best friend and fellow Wastelands Scavenger who once helped him secure a 50 000 Ryo deal; Hana and Kuromaru, the Inuzuka Clan's matriarch and patriarch respectively; and Hana and her Haimaru Brothers, the only member with more than one ninja hound. Hana ran two jobs just to pay the bills in case Kiba's scavenging didn't work out. She was the Sanction's only trained veterinarian and she'd been helping Ayame run the ramen stand ever since the Ichiraku Family Massacre.

Hana was the only person in the entire Sanction who understand that Naruto was more of a scavenger than a mercenary. The difference was that a mercenary was the common assassin who got paid to kill, a scavenger would usually come by after the dust had settled and collect what the clans were 'too good' to collect, usually one Ryo bills that would amount to thousands at times. He also looted bodies and, if need be, searched the houses for any survivors and brought them back to the Sanction. Of course, if a good mercenary came by Naruto wasn't one to decline. Scavenging wasn't as dangerous as mercenary work, but in the Wastelands, someone could kill you simply because you look like a guy they once saw.

"Found anything interesting?" she asked placing an empty bowl on the counter. She proceeded to furiously wipe away the smudges as Naruto spoke.

"Nah, but I feel like since the Land of Fire just broke away from the Fire-Eddies Agreement, more wars will take place around this area, which means more loot," Naruto explained whilst staring intensely at Hana's wiping. It was mother-like, to say the least. Naruto's lack of motherly affection meant he craved a woman who could love him as a mother would. He looked back up to Hana's face. She had extremely smooth and shiny pale skin with the iconic Inuzuka 'red fang' tattoos on her cheeks. Her brown hair was tied into a bun for work purposes with two strands hanging over her face. She wore her cream vet jacket to work but hung an apron over it to avoid staining the expensive piece. Naruto could watch her wipe bowls for days, but that would've been weird. If it weren't for the age difference, and her questionable 'friendship' with Ayame, Hana would've probably been Naruto's first choice in partner. He didn't really care about that whole 47 girls for every guy thing.

"Yeah, definitely," Hana had been too focused on the bowl to answer Naruto, but as she did Ayame emerged from the back with a steaming hot bowl of ramen. Hana spun around to face the kitchen, she disappeared behind the room divider.

Two women lifted the curtains and took their seats next to Naruto.

"Two bowls of miso ramen please," the one with a raspy voice ordered for both of them. Naruto raised an eyebrow before blowing on his ramen.

"Since when did you eat ramen?" he asked.

He turned on his bar stool to face Tayuya and Kin. Tayuya blushed before turning to Kin. The clueless woman with long black hair shrugged. Naruto could never forget how he'd met Tayuya and Kin, and the women could never be thankful enough to the gods that Naruto was where he was when he was.

Last year, Naruto, for some reason, had decided to venture further north then he'd ever ventured in the Wastelands. No battles for land had taken place in the Land of Fire because the Fire-Eddies Agreement was in full swing and Uzumaki Guards, trained in the Way of Fire, were guarding the borders in their numbers. Naruto thought he'd had stumbled on a battlefield near the border of the Land of Sound and the Land of Fire, but it was a famous Facility that ran tests on young people to try and create an army of super shinobi. Naruto had recently discovered his Nine Tails healing ability and used it to bring both Tayuya and Kin back from the verge of death after them almost drowning. Everyone else had died in an incident that was later dubbed the Land of Sound Facility Meltdown. After carrying both survivors to the Sanction, they explained that the meltdown occurred when the Three Tails and the Five Tails were accidentally sealed into Kin and Tayuya respectively, during a test to figure out how much Tailed Beast chakra a human child could take. The Sanction welcomed both Tayuya and Kin with open arms and after a year they were well-known Jinchuuriki.

"Did you hear about the Land of Fire's deal with the Land of Lightning?" Tayuya asked after her blushing concluded.

"Yeah, I heard the Land of Fire is receiving 2 billion Ryo," Naruto said.

"Well, did you hear that the Hyuuga Clan is receiving an extra 1 billion Ryo?" Tayuya asked.

"Good for them," Naruto quickly slurped down the first strands of ramen.

"And they're using 500 million to pay for the escorts," Tayuya was beating around the bush, something Naruto didn't really fancy.

"Good for them," he repeated.

"The four of us were offered to join a group of mercenaries to help escort the Hyuuga princesses to the Land of Lightning," Kin said, flat-out.

Naruto stopped eating to take that information in, "A group of mercenaries?" he licked the side of his mouth, then swallowed, "How many of us in this group?" Naruto wiped his hands on one of the serviettes. Tayuya pulled out a scroll and read through it to find the passage.

"Ten."

"Well, what do you mean the four of us? There's only three Jinchuuriki in the Leaf," Naruto turned to the women.

"That Yamanaka girl is coming with us… Ino."

"Hmph… I don't usually like doing mercenary work with someone who comes from a clan," Naruto stroked the light stubble on his chin, "Where is this Ino?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Tayuya growled.

Naruto laughed, "Sure, when and where do they want us to meet?" he asked.

"The Glass Sanction, a government-funded Sanction to the north… quite close to the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire," Tayuya was too lazy to search for a map in her backpack so she tried to use her mental knowledge of the Rain-Fire border. There was a chance she could've been wrong, but who cared?

"How long will it take us to get there?"

"It says, please be prompt around twelve noon, so we can leave at six in the morning and if we don't run into trouble, we'll get there at around eleven."

Two bowls of ramen were dropped in front of both women. Kin instantly turned to slurp down the steaming hot ramen. Tayuya let hers cool for a minute. Another figure lifted the curtains and jumped on the seat to Naruto's left.

"There you are, Naruto, Kin, Tayuya! I'm Ino from the Yamanaka Clan," the excited platinum blonde raised a peace sign to her eyes and winked. Tayuya froze before facing Naruto and muttering 'Oh Kami', "So, I'm guessing you're all discussing tomorrow's mission, if you are I actually have some suggestions and steps to make sure this mission goes off without a hitch," she rummaged through her backpack.

"Would you like some ramen, Yamanaka-san?" Ayame identified Ino by the symbol on the back of her purple tank top. She flipped her blonde bang to stare at the ramen girl.

"Oh no, ramen would be like a middle finger to my hips," she giggled before finally dropping her backpack and pulling out a map that already had different locations marked off in some black ink. She slapped the map onto the table and rolled it out so everyone could see. Kin had to shift her bowl to the wall just so she could eat in peace, "Since the Glass Sanction is only roughly five hours from here we should probably leave around five in the morning, so we could give ourselves two hours of space, in case we run into some idiots who don't know who they're messing with. Then, I feel like since we'd be so close to the Grass border, instead of walking along the Land of Fire's border which will probably be war-ridden, we could just cut through the Grass, then head up into the Land of Waterfalls, which is never at war, then we could hop into the Land of Iron, Sound, and then stop at the Land of Hot Water so I can get my pores opened after all that walking and sweating. And with the Land of Frost being the only land bridge into the Land of Lightning I think that'd be an obvious country we'd have to pass through to get to the Lightning Country."

Naruto had already finished his ramen so his attention was now fully directed at Ino, who had a pretty solid plan. Tayuya was too busy watching her ramen cool to care about what Ino was saying, Ino was never really her favourite person in the Leaf Sanction. Kin had just finished her ramen and was staring into space, quietly wondering how she managed to scarf down that much ramen in such a short span of time.

Ino continued, "I had daddy mark out all the best resting places along the way, each of these X's is a private Sanction, so things will be more expensive there but at least we'll have a little more space to breathe. They're quite spread out too, so we'll only run into one every week or so. The Y's are Yamanaka Household Homes. Thanks to me being on the mission we can stop there and resupply if need be. The only problem is they're only located in the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Iron so from Sound to Frost we'll have to make do. The Z's are potential warzones. Conflict can obviously hit us from anywhere, but one of our spies mapped out valuable structures and plots of land that might stir up conflict in the coming months. We have some in the Land of Iron, the land of Sound, the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fire too, along with the Land of Grass's border with the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth. Other than that, we'll be on our own," Ino giggled, "But I'm sure you can handle it," she placed her hand on Naruto's. The spiky-haired blonde didn't pull away.

"Perfect, I say we meet at five in the morning and head out then, it'll be a lot easier, make sure to sleep with your things packed."

"I have an idea," Ino wasn't done, "Why don't you just come sleep at the Yamanaka Compound, I'm sure we can find a minka you guys can sleep in until tomorrow comes."

"That'd be great," Naruto twisted his wrist so he could grab Ino's hand. The platinum blonde grinned before looking down at their intertwined fingers. She looked back up to Naruto who was staring between the curtain gaps at some building in the distance.

"Okay," Tayuya separated the two, "Naruto, since you're finished, how about you come with me to buy some clothes for the mission," she lifted Naruto to his feet.

The ignorant blonde, not sensing the tension in the air, asked, "Wouldn't Kin be more suited for that?"

"She sure is. Come along, Kin," Tayuya dragged both of them through the curtains whilst yelling, just loud enough for Ino to hear, "Don't be so scared, you dumbass, it's not like you haven't seen me naked before!"

Naruto's brow furrowed, "I haven't."

XXX

Tayuya hated doing stereotypical girly things, like applying makeup, going to parties and talking about boys, but she couldn't help but like shopping for new clothes. Something about the idea made her smile, as if buying clothes was her idea of heaven. Maybe it was a result of wearing the same thing for years as a child. Wearing the Facility's bland black jumpsuit was a lot better than wearing torn and tattered remnants of her clothes, that exposed way too much skin, as a child, but it still left her feeling restricted and burdened. So maybe she was using shopping to drown out that part of her past… but who cared, as she'd always say.

"Don't you want to pick something out?" Naruto asked Kin. The slightly older woman was always the shyest member of the Jinchuuriki trio. According to Tayuya, before they were rescued, Kin was an 'arrogant bitch', so why her personality changed so suddenly was a mystery. She had neither Tayuya's foulmouthed personality, nor Naruto's loudmouthed personality. She was always drowned out by outspokenness, but it didn't look like she minded.

"Um… I'm a little short of funds," Kin rubbed her shoulder awkwardly.

"It's on me," Naruto nudged her with his elbow.

"Oh no, no, no, no, I could never, you worked hard for that money," she sighed. She never had the confidence herself to go out into the Wastelands even though she had that Jinchuuriki status.

"It's only like fifty bucks, I get triple that every time I loot a rich bastard's house in the Wastelands."

Naruto pulled out a random fighter's outfit from the women's section, "This would be perfect on you," he was lucky to pull out something in a small. It was a black long-sleeved top with a black pair of knee-exposing leggings that came with a blue double slit dress she could wear over the outfit. The new attire would've been a great change from her stealthy green flak jacket and snow camo undershirt, pants and scarf.

Kin giggled shyly before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "It must be exciting to live on the edge like you do," said Kin.

"Ha, you'll see for yourself tomorrow. It's actually pretty overrated for the most part, the Wastelands are a vast plain of forests and deserts and rivers with deadly fish. The climate is more likely to kill you before any high-ranking mercenary does," Naruto downplayed the thrill of being out in the Wastelands. He did a lot of downplaying but that was because he knew something much worse was right around the corner in life.

"How's this?" Tayuya flung the curtains apart. The redhead was wearing something Naruto though he'd ever see her wear. It was so unique and surprising to the blonde that he couldn't mask his confusion, which Tayuya interpreted as disgust. She was wearing a dress. An actual dress. At first Naruto was trying to decipher if it was some kind of oversized shirt, but it was hugging her body in all the right places and accentuating too many features to be an oversized anything, "A simple 'no' would do," the angry redhead shut the curtains.

"… I think you should go apologise," Kin suggested.

"I… I didn't hate it, she just caught me by surprise with that one," Naruto blushed. He handed the outfit in his hand to Kin before rushing over to the blue drapes and spreading them slightly to allow safe passage. Tayuya kicked him square in the chest for running into the changing room while she was disrobing. Luckily she had her mesh armour undershirt on, so Naruto didn't see anything. He got the message though. The whiskered idiot landed on the varnished floor.

"You good?" the cashier asked, too lazy to walk all the way to Naruto's side.

"Yeah… I'm okay," he'd hit the ground hard, but his body was used to hard impacts. Kin quickly hung the garment so she could help Naruto to his feet. Tayuya stuck her head out to make sure she didn't break anything.

"That'll teach you to walk in on a lady," she growled.

"How did you take you take your dress off so quickly," was a more important question in Naruto's head.

"Ask another question and I'll give you another kick!"

"Why do you have to be so violent all the time, Tayu-chan, dattebayo!"

Tayuya stuck her naked leg out through the curtain, all the way up to her upper thigh, and used it to kick Naruto's stomach, "Did I give you right to call me Tayu-chan, you stinking rat?! And I told you not to ask any more questions! That was a question!"

"Hey, hey, hey! You break anything, it's yours!" the owner yelled from the backroom.

Kin, who always loved making any awkward moment between Naruto and Tayuya even more awkward, had to add her two cents to the conversation, "Well since you've broken so many of his bones, it makes sense that Naruto would be yours."

"Kin! If I wasn't in my underwear, I'd come out and beat you senseless too! How dare you accuse me of being in a relationship with someone so stupid, so reckless and so… so…"

"Calm down, Tayu-chan. You know I was just joking. Why don't you try on some more clothes to ease your emotions?" Kin tried to tranquilise the mad bull.

"I'm gonna continue trying on clothes! But not because you told me to!" Tayuya disappeared behind the drapes.

"I saved your ass," Kin folded her arms.

"Shut up and pick an outfit," Naruto was trying to nurse his wounds. As he said that, Kin grabbed some outfits that she'd been eying intently, and walked into Tayuya's changing room even though there were four open rooms.

"If that vixen keeps kicking your ass and you're not getting anything out of it, one of these days, I'm going to stop healing you and you're going to die!" a demonic bellow echoed through Naruto's mind. He sat against the wall and allowed himself to be sucked into his mindscape. He looked up to the giant reddish-orange fox that loomed over him with bright red, darkness-piercing eyes, and nine destructive tails waving in the background. Vapour escaped the beast's nose as it exhaled. There was no barrier between the two individuals because earlier in the blonde's life the fox got Naruto out of a sticky situation, so Naruto freed the heavenly beast to honour an agreement they'd made prior.

"I know you'd never let me die, you enjoy living too much," Naruto reasoned.

"You forget that I'd be revived somewhere else in the world, maybe then I'd be free," the fox stared into the distance. The water stirred, sending ripples out with the water as a medium, "We'll have to cut this conversation short, your vixens are here."

"Naruto! Naruto! Are you dead, you old fuck?!" Naruto instinctively snatched Tayuya's hand before staring into her hazel irises. His eyes widened, expecting a slap to come from the redhead's free hand, but Tayuya just pulled her hand back and said, "What the fuck's wrong with you, we need to pay for our shit."

"Oh… oh yeah," Naruto gripped the wall as he attempted to pull himself to his feet.

Tayuya punched him.

"That's for grabbing my hand so roughly, you stinking rat!"

XXX

Due to the constant wars for land, love and power, major countries and miniature lands alike had important structures and landmarks damaged to the point where repair would be infeasible. As a testament to how futile these wars were, nine times out of ten, all the countries involved in the war that destroyed that town would see the land as useless and withdraw from the area. But where one group saw trash, others saw treasure. Their base in the Land of Rain, not enough, each one of the ten pairs that made up Oumagatoki needed their own base somewhere out in the Wastelands. Somewhere so close to key strongholds that they could easily access bonds, but also far enough from those same strongholds to avoid being caught in a war where they weren't being paid to kill anyone.

Two figures, in search of the perfect hideaway, sauntered through the remains of a temple that was on its last legs. The taller and broader figure on the left, dressed in the gang's soon-to-be iconic black trench coat, walked casually with a massive heavily-bandaged sword slung over his shoulder. His beady eyes analysed the collapsing temple as he stepped over a pile of rubble. The shorter man was relatively new even according to the group's standards. After Lord Pain failed to obtain the services of the Uchiha Outcast Brothers, Sasuke and Itachi, a rogue mercenary apparently from a land west of the Land of Wind appeared at Lord Pain's doorstep. Untried and untested, the young man was nonetheless given the chance to prove himself amongst the greats.

"So tell me, how does a regular old swordsman from the Land of Water end up in a horrible place like this?" the shorter man asked.

"Brave assumption calling me regular," the taller man had to duck under a low-hanging concrete beam being held together by tattered cables.

"Even braver assumption calling you old," the short man admitted as he trampled over a thick and warm puddle of crimson ooze.

"Well to answer your question, I was one of the Land of Water's Legendary Seven Swordsmen of Mercenary Work. I was pretty capable of joining Oumagatoki on my own will, but I had a tie-in with the man behind the mask so when he formed this mercenary band with Lord Pain and Lady Angel, I was the first person he decided to recruit," the swordsman brushed aside a heavy wall of concrete, "The job description was simple enough. A band of ten mercenaries or so, we kill for money and protect each other when stuff goes sour… didn't even need to think about it. I didn't expect any of this 'become the world's greatest country' nonsense. What about you, what brought you to the Land of Rain?"

"There's not much to say, I was clanless and broken. I heard tales of Lord Pain and Lady Angel on my endeavours through the Land of Wind. I knew that in this cruel world, it was kill or be killed. I couldn't fight back against the people that got me in this situation, so I decided I'd rather fight back against the people who make my situation even tougher."

The duo got to the end of the temple and was joined by two more pairs of cloaked men. The twenty-first member of Oumagatoki, a blonde man with a high-tech eye under his bag. A huge wooden figure with a scorpion tail and rag over his nose. The only person in the group who'd seen Kaguya in the flesh, an ancient man with a grey mask and green eyes. And a handsome young-looking man with slicked-back grey hair and a smug smirk on his face.

"Anything interesting?" the man in the mask asked.

"Look at it, Kakuzu" the fish-man hybrid turned to face the temple as it stood crippled with dead trees peeping from its glassless windows and a hail of insects nesting on its walls, "What do you think we found?"

"What happened to the other two?" the shorter man with tanned skin asked.

"Some fools on top of that dune were stupid enough to pitch a tent, un. So we sent the two to go check them out," the blonde man replied. They were in a ghost town in the middle of an arid desert. The young man cupped his eyes to get a good view of what looked like a camp at the top of a large dune, but he didn't see any signs of a tent.

"And?"

"Well, as you can see there's no more tent, so I'm guessing they fixed that mess, un."

"Hey, I actually don't believe we were well introduced," the man tried to get that image out of his head by changing the subject. Sasori had stolen the blonde man away from Oumagatoki before Lord Pain could properly introduce them, so the males stopped to finally greet each other.

"Haha, I'm surprised you haven't heard of me by legends and tales," the blonde extended his arm to reveal a toothy smile, "Deidara, un."

"… Shinji," the man smiled awkwardly, "How about we just bow… there's no way I'm shaking that hand," he admitted.

"Deidara is a very raw talent," Sasori explained, "But he has the ability to create bombs of with clay that he spits from his hands. Crazy motherfucker, but a crazy motherfucker who doesn't care about what or who he kills… even if it means taking himself out."

Deidara laughed before turning back to the tanned male, "What about you? Any special talents I should know about before I start pissing you off?" Shinji took a moment to observe everyone he was surrounded by. Kisame was an expert swordsman who had near-infinite chakra and could steal chakra if need be; Sasori was a mysterious puppeteer who could skin you alive if he needed to add to his collection; Deidara was a walking explosive and if you crossed paths with him you'd be a sure kill; it was rumoured that Kakuzu had mastery of all five elemental chakra affinities; and Hidan was immortal… enough said. That fact that if he wasn't wearing a black cloak he'd be dead by now made him feel a little worthless whilst surrounded by the top S-ranking mercenaries in the Wastelands.

"No," he admitted, "But that still doesn't give you the right to piss me off."

"Hmm? You don't have any special abilities? Then what stops me from sacrificing you where you stand?" the silver-haired worshipper asked.

"Me, I'm too lazy to search for another partner," Kisame gripped the hilt of his sword.

"I was just Jashin you, don't take it seriously," Hidan didn't want to start an altercation with the deadly man from the Water.

"Don't you ever say 'just Jashin' ever again… or I will kill you," Kakuzu growled.

"I'd like to see you try, old man."

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Sasori grew impatient, "I don't want to wait for those two, so let's go to the dune and check on them."

XXX

Thanks to Naruto's inability to say no to people, Tayuya, Kin and the whiskered blonde had found themselves sleeping in a little Minka that night. In actual fact, there was nothing wrong with the Minka. The only person who had a problem with it was Tayuya, and she just didn't like who the Minka belonged to.

It didn't ease Tayuya's anger that Ino was dressed in a light purple see-through silk gown with nothing but mesh armour underneath. Wearing silk/cotton gowns wasn't uncommon, (since she was wearing a bright red nightgown with bandages wrapped around her hips and thighs, and Kin was wearing a cotton winter camo gown with her leggings underneath) but Tayuya swore that the platinum blonde temptress was saving her most see-through garment for the day Naruto came over. The barefoot beauty sauntered around the little wooden home blowing out the lanterns until the room was completely dark save for the moon's light.

The moon had formed a hundred years prior and, although it had been slowly rising into space since then, it was extremely close to the earth's surface. By extremely close, if you were able to stand on a tall enough mountain you would be able to grab a piece of moon for good luck. The heavenly satellite penetrated the clouds if they hung high enough. This meant that even though the lanterns were blown out, the Leaf scavengers were still able to see each other's silhouettes bathed in blue moonlight.

All four of them laid their sleeping mats facing each other to form a square in the centre where the last lit lantern was situated. Ino jumped into her mat from its feet and made her way up under the cotton blanket. She blew into the lantern to darken the whole house a shade.

"Hey Naruto," Kin whispered. Her head was directly facing Naruto's with Tayuya's head facing Ino's. She had to lift her chin to stare at the hyperactive ninja.

"Oi?" he lifted his head.

"What do you think the other six people will be like?" Kin rested her head.

Naruto had to think about that one. Ino answered first without hesitation, "Not as good as me, that's for sure."

"I'm willing to bet on that," Tayuya mumbled.

"Well if this really is a 500 million Ryo deal and neither the Uchiha Clan nor the Senju Clan are on it, I'm guessing it's six of the biggest and strongest and cut-throat mercenaries on this side of the Great Wall, dattebayo!"

"Fuck yeah, we'll probably have one of those strong and silent types who don't say anything but ends up wiping out an entire army," Tayuya imagined.

"Or maybe like a renowned shinobi who's discovered over a thousand different jutsu and earns millions every year just for selling them and teaching them to people," Kin thought aloud.

"I wouldn't mind a chiselled young bachelor who just has the complete package, you know? Muscular, fast, smart, never-ending stamina and maybe even to top it off downstairs, a nice, hard-,"

"Okay!" Naruto didn't want to hear the last word of that sentence so he threw his own imaginary partner into the mix, "I just want someone who's going to be there when it counts, dattebayo. She doesn't have to be extremely strong or extremely smart, but someone who's trustworthy, loyal, energetic, and never wants to give up."

"… Maybe that kind of person has been right under your nose this whole time," Tayuya couldn't hold her yawn in any longer. She rested her head on the pillow and drifted away. Kin followed suit.

"Hey Naruto," Ino whispered on the verge of sleep herself.

"Yeah?"

"Can I count on your protection out in the Wastelands?"

"… Of course, you have my word and I never go back on my…" Ino had already disappeared into her dreamscape. Naruto stared at the moonrise. The big ominous ball of rock watched over him as he drifted away.

XXX

October, 10.

Midday

"Happy birthday… happy birthday… happy birthday."

Naruto made the mistake of informing Tayuya when his date of birth was. At some point during that year Naruto had mustered up the courage to ask Tayuya and Kin how old they were, and they were surprised to learn that the youngster was actually two years younger than both of them to which he quickly replied that come October 10th that gap would be reduced to one year. With that information, Tayuya vowed to annoy Naruto and remind him of how young he was every October 10th until he was older than she was (an impossibility).

"How does it feel to finally be legal?" Tayuya's arms swayed as she marched through the dense jungle. They were only a kilometre or two away from the vantage point and to Kin's disappointment they didn't run into anything or anyone while out in the Wastelands. The Glass Sanction, unlike the Sanction Hidden in the Leaves, had no barrier surrounding it because it was a government operated Sanction that anyone could enter and exit. Due to the lack of action, Naruto spent five, long and agonising, hours listening to Tayuya make stupid jokes about being a child.

"What do you mean legal? The legal age for drinking in the Sanctions is like twelve for boys and thirteen for girls," they'd lowered the limits drastically because people were more likely to die at a younger age, thanks to the ever-present possibility of war.

Kin pulled out a kunai from her pouch and used it to slash through some leaves. Tayuya continued to mock Naruto as they manoeuvred through the difficult terrain. Ino trailed behind everyone and read her map aloud.

"You realise thanks to leaving so early, we're probably like the first ones here anyway right?" Tayuya whined.

"Not really," Kin remarked as she chopped the last green branch and walked out into the clearing. She was greeted first by three pairs of people. A pair of raven-haired men sitting next to a tree. A man-woman pair standing near the centre of the opening. A pair of women, one pink-haired, one mint-haired, who were standing against a tree.

The four Leaf mercenaries squeezed between two trees to enter the clearing. The two women to their right were the first to approach with friendly smiles on their faces.

"Hey, what're your names?" the pink-haired woman asked.

"Hey there," Naruto tried to be friendly, "The name's Naruto, this is Tayuya, Kin, and this is Ino," he introduced everyone.

"Any clans between the four of you?" the second woman asked.

"Uh… yeah, Ino here is a part of the Yamanaka Clan."

They both seemed impressed.

"Don't steal my brain or anything," the mint-haired lady joked.

"Not making any promises," Ino giggled.

"Well, my name is Sakura Haruno," the first woman introduced herself. Sakura wore a shirt and apron skirt combination in a simple colour scheme. Her clothing was a mixture of bright scarlets and fleshy pinks. She wore a sleeveless red shirt with a grey zipper accompanied by a pair of black biker shorts under a short light pink apron skirt. She topped the look off with a few more accessories, namely a plain red headband, the regular mercenary's beige backpack, tight black gloves, a weapons pouch, pink elbow protectors and low heel, knee-high open-toed boots.

"This is Fuu," the pink-haired kunoichi decided to just introduce everyone else. The orange-eyed vixen wore a midriff-exposing two-piece outfit with a white and red colour scheme and a lot of mesh armouring. She wore an extremely short sleeveless white top that ended just under her relatively flat breasts. She had fishnet armour under her shirt and a pair of fishnet shorts visible under her white apron skirt. Her attire's accessories consisted of a pair of white armlets, an orange clip in her mint green hair, short white sandals and a red cylindrical bag wrapped around her torso which acted as her backpack.

"I believe that's Hoshiko," she pointed to the male member of the male/female pair near the centre of the clearing. The young man had a curly mop of brown hair and a set of equally brown eyes. Hoshiko sported a shirt and pants combination with a white and blue colour scheme. He wore a body-hugging long-sleeved white top with a tight pair of white pants and a light blue sash holding the combo together. His choice of accessories was made up of black fingerless gloves, light blue shin guards, a pair of blue goggles, short blue sandals and a beige backpack.

"The lady next to him is Asuna Kawamoto," the seated woman had sickly pale skin with long black hair and bangs so long they covered her eyes. Asuna's colour scheme was basically black with pieces of white. She was dressed in a silk black kimono with floral patterns running along both it and its obi, where the colours were inverted. Under the kimono, she wore a short-sleeved black top with a low-cut collar accompanied by a pair of black leggings that were pulled up to her waist and held by a white silk belt. It looked like her partner was carrying all their supplies so her only accessories were bandages wrapped around her torso that ran all the way to her wrists, two open-toed, shin-length open-toed boots, a shuriken pouch and a pair of traditional fans tucked into her obi.

"Those two over there are the famed Uchiha Outcasts Brothers, the one leaning against the tree is Sasuke," she used her thumb to point to the younger man with onyx eyes and black, in some lights, blue, hair. He wore a shirt and pants blend in a white and purple colouring pattern. His loose long-sleeved white shirt hung at his shoulders, revealing his toned physique. He was clad in a pair of baggy violet pants too with a pair of shin-high black sandals. The man only needed a few accessories, just a light purple rope belt with a sword at the ready, a pair of black arm-guards to protect his wrists and a purple backpack with the Uchiha logo that was currently resting by his feet.

"And the one sitting on the root is Itachi," she concluded with the most enigmatic, and probably the oldest, character in the clearing. The older gentleman had his black hair tied into a ponytail whilst his onyx eyes stared into the distance. Itachi simply wore a shirt and pants like his younger sibling but in a black and faded blue scheme. The Uchiha was dressed in a faded blue almost black short-sleeved shirt that ran past his waist, over his equally faded blue/black loose pants that were held up by a white sash. Thanks to the shirt's low cut collar along with the longer sleeves, Itachi's fishnet undershirt was visibly hugging his body. The man only had a few accessories on him, those being the bandages wrapped around his shins, his black sandals, his black backpack and his plain black headband which he wrapped around his forehead to keep his hair in shape.

Whilst Naruto had opted to stay in his orange and black jumpsuit with black sandals. His only accessories were the black headband he used, just like Itachi, to stop his spiky hair from blocking his sight. And Kin had chosen to wear her traditional sleeveless flak jacket over her winter camo shirt and pants combination and under her winter camo scarf. Tayuya and Ino had decided to change their looks a little.

Tayuya left her greyish-purple double slit dress in the Sanction and had arrived at the rendezvous point wearing a black sleeveless hooded zip-up jacket over her long-sleeved fishnet undershirt. Her upper body attire change was accompanied by a new knee-length black apron skirt which allowed Naruto to see her classic black biker shorts. She kept her bandaged up hair and the bandages she wore as socks under her black sandals.

Ino didn't really do much adjustment to her attire, but to suit the mission at hand she removed most of her makeup, snipped a lot of her platinum blonde hair so she could tie it into a lower back-length ponytail, and bought an open-front mid-thigh level purple apron skirt with a shorter black skirt that didn't go past her inner thighs under it. Lucky she kept her fishnet tights on as a form of modesty shorts.

Everyone seemed battle ready, but were too reluctant to socialise, so they retired to their own corners of the clearing and chatted amongst themselves. The boredom continued until an hour later, when a horse-drawn carriage exploded through the shrubbery to give the ten mercenaries the news they'd been waiting for. Naruto was the first to get up, and he had to in order to avoid being charged down by a half ton equine.

The carriage was a lilac purple with golden dragons running along the sides. Its wheels were made of wooden spokes attached to steel that had been finely shaped into a perfect circle. The two horses dragging the carriage through the forest were pure white thoroughbreds who responded to the well-dressed rider's shouting without putting up a fight.

"This seems interesting," Fuu commented as the carriage door was pushed open allowing its three passengers to get out and smell the fresh Glass Sanction air.

"Behold, in their excellence, members of the esteemed Hyuuga Clan. The patriarch of the Hyuuga Main Family situated in the Land of Fire's Central Sanction, Hiashi Hyuuga. The heiress of the Hyuuga Main Family situated in the Land of Fire's Central Sanction, Hanabi Hyuuga. And the future wife and matriarch of the Raijin Prestigious Family situated in the Land of Lightning's Ethereal Sanction, Hinata Hyuuga," the well-rounded man who had steered the horses recklessly into the clearing announced.

It took all of her energy and the process of repetitively squeezing Naruto's hand furiously for Tayuya to avoid shouting, "Get on with it already," she decided to wait in patience and, for a minute, enjoy the feel of Naruto's smooth large hand around hers.

"Now introducing Lord Hiashi Hyuuga, who wishes to address all of you, bounty hunters, at once," the announcer took a step back.

"Did he just call me a bounty hunter? This bitch ain't a bounty h-," Naruto used his other hand to cover Tayuya's mouth before she ruined a potentially multimillion Ryo deal.

The elderly man in a white male's kimono with green cotton robes stepped forward as the hesitant group of mercenaries bunched together in front of him. Kin was extremely distracted by the family's eerily white eyes, but Naruto was too busy contemplating about how he was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sasuke Uchiha. He didn't know much about the guy, but just from sensing the aura radiating off of him, he knew that this was going to be a painstakingly long mission.

"As you may know from the letter my servant sent to your respective Sanctions, my eldest daughter, Hinata, will be married to the Lightning Daimyo's grandson upon her arrival in the Land of Lightning. Unfortunately, due to the turmoil in Central Sanction thanks to our Daimyo's irresponsible retreat from the Fire-Eddies Agreement, I must stay in the Land of Fire until the wars on our borders cease," Hiashi began to pace as he spoke, "Now, the Land of Lightning has sent us, in advance, a billion Ryo to get the highest ranking mercenaries in the game. But, I couldn't leave my most precious gem, Hanabi, in the hands of a cold band of killers like the Senju Clan or the Uchiha Clan and my Hyuuga Clan is fighting on the borders so here the ten of you are. I don't want anything happening to Hanabi, so I need you to keep a low profile as you manoeuvre to the Land of Lightning. If you're able to take Hanabi to the Lightning Country and bring her back, you will receive your billion Ryo reward."

"Billion Ryo?" was the common question.

"Oh… uhh… I can explain that," the servant stepped in, "You said they were each supposed to get 50 million and with the 500 million remaining I assumed that was compensation for me."

"No, no, no, you don't get a cent. It's 50 million each for taking Hanabi and the other one to the Land of Lightning and 50 million each for bringing Hanabi back unscathed."

"Honestly, your horses in the Wastelands would be nothing but a distraction. We'd be an easier target, and last time I checked, horses weren't that useful on desert sands and in bone-chilling weather," Sasuke spoke.

"What my brother means is that," Itachi jumped in while covering the younger man's mouth with his hand, "With all due respect, Hinata's transportation would be a lot more private if we didn't have the glamorous carriage following us around."

Hiashi looked back to Hanabi, "Hana-chan, would you be able to walk all the way to the Land of Lightning, it's okay if you want to stay."

"It's okay father, my legs can manage."

"You?" Hiashi asked Hinata. The timid woman of royal blood nodded, "Then, I shall return to Central Sanction with the carriage. Don't forget to take your backpacks with all your necessities, if you run into danger I don't want either of you to engage, okay."

"Yes, father," Hinata smiled.

"Of course, father," Hanabi politely nodded.

After handing the girls their backpacks, Hiashi entered his majestic carriage and rode into the forest's darkness with his servant and the horses.

"… Well then," Ino sighed to let some of the tension simmer.

"LET'S GET WASTED!" Hanabi shocked everyone with her loud and demanding voice. She seemed so innocent and shy when her father was around, but as soon as he was far enough away she became her true self. She pulled out a list from her pocket and described in detail what she planned to do on this trip, "Before I get back to Central Sanction, I absolutely have to: Get so drunk I passed out in my own vomit. Kiss a boy. Take in some sort of illegal drug. Get laid. Smoke-."

"Hanabi! Don't be so lewd," Hinata complained.

"What? You'll be living it up in the party central of the world, sis, I'll be stuck with the strictest family in the Land of Fire for the rest of my life, this is my only chance to let loose," Hanabi threw her arms behind her head and smirked.

"You!" Hanabi pointed through the crowd to Naruto.

The clueless blonde, who'd been too busy sizing up Sasuke to carry about the horrifying conversation, pointed to himself for reassurance, "Me?"

"Yeah, you! Kiss me!" she demanded.

"The fuck you will!" Tayuya responded first.

"You're like twelve," Hoshiko scratched his hair.

"I'm seventeen, but that doesn't matter, we're both adults out in the Wastelands," Hanabi said.

"The Wastelands aren't about getting drunk or having sex… that's a major part of it, but that's not what they're about. The Wastelands are about being on the edge, survival, and fighting for what could be your last meal-."

"Let's get a move on," Sasuke was already on the opposite side of the clearing with Itachi, "Itachi and I decided it would be a great idea to stop in the Land of Rain before moving on."

"I was thinking we start in the Land of Grass," Ino said as she zipped her backpack and willingly followed behind Sasuke.

"The Land of Rain has better resources, and is much more developed. Plus… we know a guy," Sasuke smirked.

"Then let the journey begin, dattebayo!" Naruto was the last to set off, making sure to man the rear as they all disappeared in the thick jungle. Naruto, Tayuya, Kin, Ino, Hoshiko, Asuna, Sakura, Fuu, Sasuke and Itachi. Ten very different mercenaries pieced together by fate for, probably, the most dangerous mission of their lives. The journey through the Wastelands was underway.

XXX

First chapter done and dusted, and I didn't expect it to be this long. Chapter two will probably be a little shorter. As you can see there are quite a few changes compared to the original. If you liked it, then favourite it and follow it, maybe even favourite and follow me.

As I said there are OCs and currently there are three, Hoshiko, Asuna Kawamoto and Shinji. There will be more, in fact, I'm hoping some of you can create them. The Akatsuki, or Oumagatoki, in this story are made up of twenty-one members. The named pairs are Pain, Yahiko and Konan; Deidara and Sasori; Shinji and Kisame; Kakuzu and Hidan; and Tobi and Zetsu, which means there are… ah damn, there goes my maths. A few more pairs to go, and I'm honestly too lazy to come up with 10 or so OCs out of the blue, (with Darkseid of the Moon planning underway, my creativity is extremely limited) so if you don't mind then feel free to PM me your idea of an OC, maybe it's a character you've had in mind for a while but have never been able to write a decent story involving them or you just want to see something you created in one of my stories. If you're going to send me one then why not make it someone crazy and exotic, give them a fresh new Kekkei Genkai or some unique weapon and if you like I could tag you in the chapter of their introduction.

Tactician Out.