Chapter 3: Every Journey Starts With A Few Steps
Fire Country; Fourteen Hours North-West of Konoha
Near The Outer Borders of the Fire Country
Present date.
Team 7, in addition to Tsunade and Shizune, had departed from the Northern gate of Konoha early in the morning at around six thirty in the morning given that Kakashi was his typical tardy self. However, it was obvious that Kakashi placed a lot more importance on this mission than any others since he was only an hour and a half late instead of his usual two. When Kakashi had arrived, the group of five left the village without any other problems.
Now it was fourteen hours later and the day had been incredibly long. Tsunade had stressed the need to rush towards Kumo. She admitted that this wasn't the safest way to achieve their ends, but she knew that they weren't the only ones looking to make contact with the new Raikage and have Hidden Cloud as a much needed ally. The political situations were tensing up recently and that wasn't due to the antics of Akatsuki or Orochimaru's Hidden Sound village. Those two problems were Hidden Leaf's alone since the main target in Akatsuki's view was Uzumaki Naruto while Orochimaru had taken an unnerving interest in Uchiha Sasuke.
Tsunade had wanted to travel farther, but she knew she was pushing things too far as it was. They were taking enough risks rushing towards Kumo like this, but to do so without rest was suicide. She wasn't going to take that big a risk to herself or her team. For that reason she had them make camp near the edge of the Fire Country's borders. It had only taken minutes for the tired travelers to unpack their tents and sleeping bags and get to sleep.
Only one man remained awake and that was because he volunteered to stand watch that night. Yes, Hyuuga Neji felt that something was amiss.
That's why he stood in the center of the camp and activated his Byakugan. He had specifically waited until everyone else had gone to sleep because he didn't want to alarm certain individuals. Those individuals were the ones that had been watching them from a distance. If one was to ever figure out who they were and why they were following the Hokage north he or she would have to lull them into a false sense of security. In short, Neji needed to make sure they'd attack the camp. He was confident that the other ninja would be able to rouse themselves in the blink of an eye to defend.
The visible chakra coils of the rest of Neji's team flared into view. There was the Hokage and her aide, Shizune, in the center of the camp. Both of them were asleep. Naruto and his teammate, Sakura, were off to the northern side sleeping side by side while Team 7's jounin master saw it fit to stay off to the south. They barely moved in their sleep and Neji could tell it wasn't a peaceful rest. Perhaps they had sensed the same thing he had.
It wasn't his own teammates that he was interested in scouting out. From his idle position in the center of the camp he was able to see in all directions thanks to his Byakugan. He shifted his head ever so slightly so that the miniscule blind spot didn't cause him to miss something important. His battle with Kidoumaru when the Sound Barrier ninja had taken Sasuke away from the Leaf had taught him a lesson he would never forget.
Hyuuga Neji gave his head a slight nod as he could see the chakra coils of several figures moving in from more than one angle.
The shadowy figure hated waiting for Zetsu. It seemed that his partner was nearly always late. This was due to the fact that he dawdled or wasted precious time by sticking around to hear meaningless conversation. The figure didn't want to wait any longer. They had tracked the Hokage's party all the way to the edges of the Fire Country and he was tired of waiting. Tired of waiting for Zetzu. Tired of waiting for his chances to get the Kyuubi, and tired of slinking in the shadows. He'd done that far too long.
"You're letting your anticipation get the best of you, old friend," a whisper came from behind the figure. He whirled around, glaring and ready to pounce. When he saw who it was, he snarled.
"There you are. Stop wasting time, Zetsu. If we don't get the Kyuubi soon Uchiha will beat us to it."
Zetsu let out a soft sigh from his position sticking out of a tree besides the figure. "Uchiha has other things to deal with right now. You on the other hand seem to be excessively eager to commit suicide."
The figure's glare sharpened even more. "Once again you insult me, Zetsu-"
"I did nothing of the sort," the fly-trap-like human replied, interrupting his companion. "I don't doubt your abilities. I realize you are more suited to combat than I am myself, but you do realize who is down there, correct?"
There was a deep exhale of breath from the figure. It was pure annoyance. "We'd go in, grab the Kyuubi brat, and sneak away. We won't be fighting anyone," the figure replied.
"They aren't stupid. Surely you realize that someone will be keeping watch. If the alarm is sent up we'll be dealing with a highly regarded jounin master, his team, and the Hokage herself? The Kyuubi brat seems to have some control over the Kyuubi's massive power. That alone should make you wary."
"In and out," the figure seethed. "I've waited too long."
"And you shall wait a little longer. There are other forces at work here. There were several figures moving towards the Hokage's position. I took longer because I had to verify their identities. I assure you they're highly trained. If it wasn't for my rather unique abilities I surely would have been detected-"
"Uchiha Itachi!" the figure spat angrily. "Him and that gill-faced freak-"
It was Zetsu's turn to exhale in utter annoyance. "Keep your voice down or we'll surely be detected by these individuals. And no, I assure you it wasn't any of our companions. Nor is it a group of assassins foolishly attempting to take the Hokage's life," Zetsu added quickly, seeing the figure's facial expression change. Well, what facial expression was readable.
"Then?" the figure asked, intrigued enough to lose his impatience.
"They seem to be ANBU from Konoha, oddly enough," Zetsu said thoughtfully. The figure hated when Zetsu was in moods like this. It was in times such as these that he slinked away into the shadows to gather information and let him seething for hours. "Regardless, the other Jounin, the Hyuuga, has undoubtedly already seen their presence through his Byakugan eye. I had to expend a lot of energy to keep my chakra coils from being visible to him."
"I'd like to move closer…" the figure said, his grin returning.
For once Zetsu agreed. "Good. You've read as much into the situation as I have. We may just get your opportunity tonight if all goes well."
Uzumaki Naruto was rudely awakened from his light slumber by the fact that a group of small pebbles sprinkled across his face. Unlike what he would have done years ago, Naruto's eyes shot open and he instantly tensed up, relying on his senses. He noticed that Neji was standing very still near the middle of the camp. There was a small scuffle in the ground near the Jounin's foot. He'd been the one that'd woken him up with the pebbles. That meant there was trouble.
There was a soft sound behind him that alerted Naruto to the fact that Sakura was also awake. The fact that the sound only lasted a split second meant Sakura was similarly aware of the situation. Naruto lay in wait for the storm to begin or until Neji gave the signal.
In the blink of an eye Neji seemed to glow bright and a ripple of air rushed over Naruto. There was the sound of metal clinking and clanking together. Naruto barely had time to notice the pile of kunai at the Jounin's feet and realize the fact that he'd blocked the attack by releasing pure chakra from his body before he'd flipped upright.
It was both a good thing and a bad thing that Naruto had sprung to his feet. Where his head had been resting mere milliseconds previous was occupied by a rather large ninja star. Since he was standing up, however, the black-clad ninja that had exited the trees besides him landed his foot squarely in his upper chest, knocking him backwards. After landing painfully flat on his back and feeling an odd tingling in his left shoulder, Naruto rolled to the side just in time to avoid the follow up blow from the attacking ninja's knee.
Quick motions in his hands allowed Naruto to complete a hand seal and create a Kage Bunshin clone to appear on the ground beside him. The clone was immediately toasted and turned to smoke by the fact that a thin blade impaled its throat. Naruto used the free time to flip to back to his feet.
Propelling himself forward to attack with the forward motion he continued, Naruto snapped forward with his fist and caught the holder of the thin blade in the wrist. There was a snap and a small shout of pain. The hand retracted and the blade was left stuck in the ground where the Kage Bunshin clone had one been.
Naruto faced his injured attacker now. The attacker was larger than him in size, but seemingly very agile despite his height and weight. Before Naruto could make another move, his attacker lunged to the side. Behind him was another figure clad entirely in black. A feminine figure this time. She was just completing the hands seals needed for a jutsu.
The jet of flame erupted from the feminine attacker's hands. It came as such a surprise that Naruto didn't have time to dodge it beyond turning his head and upper body to side so it didn't hit him directly in the face. The flames bit and seared against his body suit, hair, and exposed flesh. The heat was intense enough that Naruto felt his entire body was going to melt.
It would have been a lot worse if his suit he wore wasn't flame resistant. That didn't stop the heat from taking its toll. The smell of burnt hair filled his nostrils making him want to hurl and he didn't event want to think about the flesh of his cheek. Naruto supposed he was quite lucky as the thin blade that he been stuck in the ground had actually melted under the flames. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he cried, creating four shadow clones to do his bidding.
Three of the clones charged the attacker while the final clone as well as Naruto himself readied a Rasengan attack. Just as the chakra began to swirl around in the palms of combined hands of Naruto and his clone there was an even sharper pain stabbing in his right arm. In addition to that, the clone he was using to help fuel the Rasengan dissipated in a puff of smoke due to a shower of kunai.
Of course the death of the shadow clone was the least of his worries. The pain in his arm was burning far worse than anything the female's flame jutsu had done. Reaching with his good arm he felt the handles of about five or six kunai dug into his flesh. Naruto quickly shot a glance to the side where the attack would have come from to see the original attacker standing there grinning.
One of the attacker's hands was swaying from side to side in a sickeningly smooth motion - it was clearly broken. "Lucky I couldn't use a jutsu, brat," the man snarled. Because Naruto had broken his wrist he was unable to create hand seals and thus had to resort to a fist full of kunai.
It was also lucky for Naruto that the other attacker had to take the time to finish off his three other shadow clones before engaging him. The precious time it had taken Naruto to stare down the male attacker should have cost him his life. Right now both of the attackers were readying themselves to attack at the same time.
"The demon dies here," the female attacker stated firmly while she readied herself. The male attacker stayed silent.
It was the earthshaking rumble that knocked everyone off balance that saved Naruto. What followed was the sound of snapping bones and a scream that barely sounded human. The Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, had entered the battle. Both of Naruto's attackers had stopped dead after the rumble.
The two figures quickly glanced at each other. "Oh shit," the male one said. "Time to go," the female added before they both turned on their heels and darted off into the trees as fast as they had come.
With some free time Naruto took a moment to collect himself. Utilizing his free arm he reached back and plucked the kunai one by one from his arm, wincing each time.
"Naruto!"
The blonde ninja spun to see Sakura hobbling towards him. She was favoring her right leg, but didn't seem to be in pain. "Sakura-chan, your leg-"
"Don't worry about that. I've already started healing it. I need to stop the bleeding on your arm," Sakura replied as she began to make several hand seals. When she had completed the seals she placed her palms on the kunai wounds. It was overly warm to the touch, but when the kunoichi removed her hands the wounds were closed, for the most part.
After that Sakura fussed over his hair and cheek, but once that was done she turned her attention back to her own leg. In the meantime, Naruto headed over to where Tsunade, Neji, and Shizune were summing up what had happened in the battle. Just as Naruto began to open his mouth to speak, two figures emerged from the bush. One of the figures was wearing a fox mask while the other appeared to have one on that was avian in nature. Naruto recognized them at once as members of Konoha's ANBU forces.
"Hokage-sama," the ANBU nin wearing the fox mask said, bowing deeply to her. "I regret to say that we were too late to stop the assassination attempt on you, but are greatly relieved that you were unharmed." The other ANBU nin followed suit, bowing deeply.
There was a snap of a twig which caused everyone in the clearing to whirl around to see what made the noise. It was only Kakashi emerging from the bushes carrying an unconscious body slung over each shoulder. He dropped the bodies onto the ground. There was a man with a mask that looked to be of a pig and a woman that had a mask that was clearly a rabbit. Both were ANBU. "Then perhaps you can explain why I had to stop these two from trying to take Naruto Uzumaki's life?" Kakashi asked. It wasn't really a question. These weren't the two nins who had been attacking him moments before, however, as they sported no injuries.
"What-" both Naruto and Sakura deadpanned at the statement, but things were already in motion. Two ANBU who had willingly walked into the clearing had leapt into motion. The one wearing the fox mask had surged forward, blowing past the stunned nins and heading into the underbrush.
His companion was less fortunate. The ninja whose face was hidden behind the eagle mask attempted to follow, but was snagged out of mid-air by a rib crushing blow from Tsunade's forearm in an amazing display of speed from the Hokage. The man crumpled over, writhing in pain on the ground, but unable to voice any pain. His ribs were fractured badly and pointed inwards, cutting and slicing his lungs so they could no longer hold any air.
"Kill you, Naruto?" Sakura asked, still confused, as she turned to face her blonde haired teammate only to realize he was no longer standing beside her. "Naruto? Naruto!" she snapped, spinning around entirely and just catching a glimpse of the nin as he leapt over the shrubbery into the forest after the ANBU agent in the fox mask. "For the love of-" Sakura stopped herself in mid-sentence before lunging towards the forest line herself in pursuit of her comrade.
Neji had already turned and was preparing to depart, but it was Tsunade's voice that stopped him.
"Stop. There may be more of them around just waiting for us to thin their lines. If Naruto and Sakura were foolish enough to follow an enemy through unknown terrain, we cannot endanger anymore of our team."
"But Tsunade-sama-" Shizune began, but stopped herself when she realized the grim look on the Hokage's face. Neither of them liked the situation, but Tsunade was correct in her decision. Naruto and Sakura would be on their own.
"Can we finally go now? Look how foolish the kyuubi brat is!" the Akatsuki member hissed to Zetsu, who in turn was halfway sticking out of a nearby tree.
Zetsu inclined his head every so slightly. "Yes, I think it is time," he said before shrinking entirely into the tree.
"Excellent. I have waited far too long for this. I must collect my tailed demon before someone else does," the first man said before he too leapt forward after his prey.
To be continued
A/N: Shorter than normal, I know, but I've been very busy of late and people were requesting an update. Yes, I do still appreciate all the private messages and reviews I get. I'm sorry I'm unable to write at a pace suitable for the story I'm trying to tell. Thanks for your patience.