A/N: The amount of reviews I've gotten from the last chapter was disappointing, and yet I seem to get more favorites. Such a shame…and I was expecting the same numbers from "Gura Gura no Naruto". But all the same, do read and review would you kindly?

[Streets of Konoha, shortly after Kakashi's attack…]

Uchiha Sasuke had been walking down the street wearing a brand spanking new chūnin vest after his training under his sensei a few hours ago. His cold attitude at the moment was brought back to the moment he was defeated. He also remembered the moment that Kakashi stole his victory away from him by murdering the bastard…that wasn't right, because he wanted to kill the dobe for even thinking he could surpass him and getting the Mangekyō Sharingan in the process. On the other hand, that one-eyed moron indirectly did him a favor…because now he had nobody to stop him from ravaging that pathetic Hyūga girl that loved the idiot so much. Yes, that would be a fitting insult to the idiot's memory when he raped her in front of that headstone of his and told him of her crush…or better yet, why not force that stuck-up prick Hiashi and his inferior clan to allow him to marry the bitch and use her as a baby factory just so that he could walk on over and gloat about it?

As he neared a bridge, Sasuke found himself leaving his thoughts of joy to be on edge when he noted a form in a tattered black kimono looking at the cherry blossoms. The katana at his side made it obvious that this was a trained killer. "Beautiful aren't they?" asked the swordsman, his gaze apparently on the falling petals, "No matter how hard you look, you can search your entire life and never find a tree where all the blossoms are open. It must be my lucky day today."

"I have no time for such nonsense," said Sasuke, "now leave before I have the Council boot you for simply breathing the same air as I am!"

The samurai sighed as he shook his head in disappointment. "Why am I not surprised to hear you say a stupid thing like that? There's always time to appreciate the simpler things in life…in fact, I'm pretty sure at one point you've enjoyed such a sight with your own family. To see a soul such as yourself drowning in your own petty hatred is something I find pathetic…as you're too full of hate to even enjoy something as simple as good food."

At that, Sasuke turned red while gritting his teeth. Who the hell did that wannabe samurai think he was? "Do you really think food is going to help me kill my brother? Will looking at the cherry blossoms give me more power? I care nothing of anything…not even your so-called 'simple things in life'! I have my hate, and that's all I need! I will get stronger, and I will crush my brother so that I can restore my clan!"

Laughter was the samurai's response. This irritated Sasuke to no bounds. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just how stupid you're being!" said the samurai in between laughs, "I really think you've got your priorities wrong! Think about it…what say, you get killed by your brother without even touching a girl; how will you revive your clan then? The way I see it, it should be the other way around…you should revive your clan first and then kill your brother. On the other hand, what if you do kill him? What then? Will you just kill everyone senselessly, even all the women in the world? What good would all that power you've gained at the time do you then? And that is why I think you're stupid…you're so wound up in your own hatred that you can't even plan for the future."

Sasuke sneered at the samurai. "With all the power in the world, I won't need the future at all…as a matter of fact, fuck all the girls! I can get any woman I want, whenever I want it, regardless if they want it!"

Even under the scarf, one could tell that the samurai started frowning. His displeasure was made even clearer when he pulled the katana out of his obi, saya and all while drawing the black blade and holding the sheath in his other hand as he turned to face Sasuke. "Pathetic. You are willing to resort to rape to revive your clan. I wonder if I'm doing the world a favor by killing you…"

"Ha! What're you going to do about it? Killing me does favors for nobody!" said Sasuke, mocking the rōnin as he pulled out a kunai, "You're only condemning yourself to execution in doing so. As a matter of fact, you're probably just a no-name samurai wannabe that's travelling around the Elemental Nations playing 'badass rōnin' and toting what is likely to be a fake sword!"

Once Sasuke had finished that last sentence, the samurai had vanished before the Uchiha's eyes in a 'whoosh' and the sound of 'clock, clock, clock' from geta-wearing footfalls had sounded off three times from behind. "You really need to lighten up," said the swordsman, "and in addition to that, you really need to know when to shut your mouth."

At that moment, Sasuke turned around to see the samurai just standing there. What was going on? With a grunt of reassurance, he readied himself to charge. "I knew you were nothing but hot air!" he said, grinning furiously, "And now I will show you what an Uchiha is capable of!" At that he kicked off, and was about to stab his enemy in the back when all of a sudden, he felt and saw it! First, the pointy end of his kunai slipped off smooth as glass; next was that his pants had fallen down to his ankles; after that, he felt strong pain as though he were slashed up from behind while his chūnin vest had fallen apart; and then finally he felt a blunt trauma on the back of his head, and the last thing he saw and heard before his world went dark was the samurai sheathing his black sword. "Hanauta Sanchō," he said, when he was almost finished, "YAHAZUGIRI!"

With that last shout, and the clack of the katana being sheathed, Uchiha Sasuke had hit the ground in an awkward position with his eyes rolled into the back of his head in unconsciousness. The samurai turned to face Sasuke with a look of disappointment under his sandogasa. "And that is why you are a baka," he said, tucking the sheathed katana back in his obi, "you have your head so far up your ass that you forgot to look underneath the underneath. You forgot to even worry that I might have hit you!

"In any case, just be thankful that I finished you off with my sheath in spite of your blatant stupidity. But don't think for a second that I'm done with you just yet, I still have more in store for you…"

[Hōkage's office, four hours later…]

This mysterious attacker was driving her to wit's end! Although she appreciated the humor in Uchiha Sasuke's humiliation, she still had to worry about that rōnin's intentions. As of this moment, the rest of the Rookie Eleven were on the lookout for this samurai so that they could arrest him and then question him. It shouldn't even be difficult to find that bastard; according to Izumo, the samurai wore a sandogasa that covered the upper half of his face while the lower half was covered with a long and tattered crimson scarf wrapped around his neck, a tattered black kimono with red trim and the kanji for 'kitsune' was written in big strokes on each sleeve and a red obi, stood on a pair of geta, and wore nothing under his kimono except bandages that were wrapped around his hand, his foot, and even starting from under his chest. He was carrying a large katana with amethyst circles divided into thirds that were inlaid onto the sheath, a flower-shaped guard, and brass fittings.

She tried to think more seriously but no matter how hard she tried, Tsunade could not help but laugh and pound her desk at the manner in which Sasuke was found—which was butt-naked, his hands and feet tied in such a manner that he was suspended in the air yet secured to the ground with all limbs spread out, a blindfold over his eyes, a ball gag in his mouth, and wearing a sign around his neck that said 'Forget that I'm an Uchiha: I am a homosexual asshole, please punish me!' in front of a gay bar in the red light district that relished in BDSM…the extreme kind. And to make matters worse for both master and student (both of whom were lucky to be unconscious), forensic reports had stated that said 'asshole' was attacked about an hour after Kakashi by apparently the same attack: a high-speed strike that moved faster than even the almighty Sharingan could track. The Uchiha-brat was only lucky that Sakura had found him before the patrons of said gay bar decided to take the note's advice and rape the living daylights out of him.

In any case, she had every shinobi under her command to look for the rōnin in black. Some, such as Sakura had an ulterior motive for tracking down that rogue samurai—which in her case was to make him pay for humiliating her precious 'Sasuke-kun' (although Tsunade suspected that she also wanted pointers on how to do those knots herself). But all in all, the rest of the Rookie Eleven immediately went to work with the other shinobi to locate the samurai, with Team Ten and Kurenai wishing to pay respects to Asuma before they began. It was understandable that they did…it'd been a week or so since that strange incident where they found the mangled and decapitated bodies of their sensei's killers, and so it was no surprise that they went to tell him that the two Akatsuki members were dead just a day after their return…

[Meanwhile, near the Konohagakure Cemetary…]

"Still thinking about it Shika?" asked Ino, with a look of concern on her features as she carried a bouquet of flowers from her family's store.

"You know it," answered Shikamaru, holding a pack of Asuma's favorite brand of cigarettes in one hand and some incense in the other, "I can't help but wonder who would be capable of killing two kage-level shinobi. I mean, you've seen the remains of the battle yourself Ino, and I can't get this troublesome thought out of my head. I've been thinking about out it every night since we saw it, trying to piece together the events that took place—but it all led me to the same question."

As he carried the supplies to clean the headstone Chōji remained silent to Shikamaru's statement in thought. It just so happened that he too saw the devastation, and like Ino, he could not believe what he saw: when they all got to the place where they suspected Hidan and Kakuzu would be, they found slash marks all over the place, a boulder cut in half, grass having been cut apart, deep gashes in the side of the cliff, and a crater. As to the fate of the bodies, Hidan's was found with the arms dismembered and displayed for the world to see crucified on his own collapsible spear and the remains of what used to be his triple-bladed scythe. Kakuzu's body on the other hand was found in the crater (likely having been pushed in), and it was clear that he suffered multiple stab wounds, before being incinerated from a single cut shortly after his decapitation—judging from how the fire spread, it was clear that the cut was meant for good measure in making sure that that greedy abomination died and stayed dead. To be honest though, he was just as baffled as to who would be strong enough to take on two Akatsuki members.

Before Chōji could let out his own comments, the three of them had run into Kurenai who was waiting for them outside the cemetery. "Kurenai-san," said Ino, politeness in her tone, "how good to see you!"

"Likewise Ino," said the genjutsu mistress, "Shikamaru, Chōji, you are both looking well."

The Akimichi heir gave out a wide grin at that as he followed his team and his sensei's girlfriend into the cemetery. "You know it…truth be told, we may not have been the ones who did his killer in, but I'm pretty sure Asuma-sensei would rest easier once we tell him that he's dead. What about you Kurenai-san, what are you going to tell him?"

A scheming smirk had made its way onto Kurenai's face. "Oh nothing, I was going to tell him about what happened to Kakashi. After the Kyūbi no Yoko attacked, the two of them had a falling out and eventually became barely tolerant of each others' presence…so you can imagine how much of enemies they became. I can only imagine as to the look of…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Kurenai had caught sight of someone at the Sarutobi grave pouring sakè from a gourd onto the headstone. Upon further inspection, her eyes had widened—this was Kakashi's (and apparently Sasuke's) assailant! What was he doing here? As more questions cropped up in her mind, she watched as the rōnin then pulled out a bundle of incense and a cigarette lighter to light it, divide it into three smaller bundles, and then stick the three bundles in the dirt right in front of the marker. After he was done, the rōnin pulled his katana out of his obi, laid it to the side, and then walked out of his sandals one step before sitting in seiza with his hands on his lap, and the four ninja were right next to him.

"You do not want to test me Team Ten," said the rōnin, quickly drawing his katana just as the four shinobi had their kunai ready and holding its point at Shikamaru's throat, "and I especially would recommend against fighting in your condition Yūhi Kurenai. So why don't we put away our weapons and pay our respects to the dead like normal people do? This is sacred ground after all."

All of Team Ten and Kurenai had reluctantly put away their kunai while the rōnin threw his katana into the air and spinning and then picking up the saya just in time for the sword to sheath itself before setting it back down next to him. Once Chōji had cleaned up the grave, Ino moved in to put flowers in the vase, right before Shikamaru lit up a cigarette and placed it on the headstone. Afterwards, it was nothing but reverent silence, but the rōnin stayed in seiza position. Shikamaru was the one who broke the silence. "What are you doing here?"

"Just paying my respects to the dead," said the rōnin, "especially for Hiruzen and Asuma. I owe them both my life immensely. If it weren't for their appearances in my life, I would have just ended it all."

At that, Shikamaru's eyebrow had been raised. "And the reason for your attacks on Kakashi and Sasuke would be?"

The tone that the rōnin used was nonchalant, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I just don't like them."

Chōji briefly turned his head to face the rōnin in shock. "Wait, let me get this straight, you attacked and humiliated Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke (a jōnin and a chūnin respectively) all because you 'don't like them'? Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate what you did to the both of them seeing as I don't like them either, but somehow I just don't believe you humiliated them both simply on the basis of disliking them."

A humorless laugh had escaped the rōnin before he suddenly turned serious and his voice hollow. "Well you wouldn't like them either if they tried to kill you."

Ah! So there was the heart of the matter! The rōnin attacked both of them simply because those two sexist meat heads tried to kill him at one point. But who was this mysterious swordsman, Kurenai had no clue. And before she could question him further, he stood up and grabbed his katana while tucking it back in his obi before stepping back into his geta. The sound of 'clock, clock' had resounded with each step as the rōnin walked away before pausing momentarily halfway to the entrance to the cemetery and turning to regard the four shinobi with a bow from the waist. "By the way, I wouldn't bother bringing me in to the Hokage; I was going to go see bā-chan after paying my respects to the Sarutobi family anyway."

Upon hearing that, the four shinobi in the cemetery had questioning looks their eyes before they were wide open as they immediately knew who that was. Only one person could get away with calling the Hokage 'bā-chan', only one! When the turned from the headstone to locate him, they saw that the rōnin was no longer there! At that point, Team Ten knew that their part in the mission had commenced!

[Streets of Konoha, ten minutes later…]

The streets of Konohagakure no Sato were emptied out as the civilians were given the order by the shinobi to stay inside as a random attacker in a black kimono was on the loose. Team Nine was patrolling the streets for this mystery attacker—the rōnin that had taken down Kakashi and Sasuke quite easily. "How un-youthful!" said Maito Gai as he walked down the streets with his eyes open, "I highly doubt anybody should be in a position as my not-so-hip rival at the time! And to do so to Sasuke as well is nothing short of rubbing salt on their wounds."

"Oh come on Gai-sensei," said Tenten seriously, with her hands on a hankyu with a quiver of arrows ready to fire, "you have to admit; the man did ask for it, and after seeing what Naruto-kun had to deal with growing up (with Kakashi being responsible for some of the things I've seen), I wouldn't be surprised if one of us took revenge."

Neji nodded at that. "I may not have had anything personal against Kakashi, but I do agree with Tenten: it was only a matter of time before someone decided to step up and avenge what I've heard that that sorry excuse for a jōnin apparently did. And as per Sasuke, I would have jumped at the chance to humiliate that arrogant asshole, if only to try and humble him a bit. I've seen the way he looks at Hinata-sama like a piece of meat; and I kid you not, with my hand to both Kami and any Buddha listening, he is no less an animal than that filthy Inuzuka brat. I highly doubt his mother disowning him was enough." It was true; ever since Naruto was reported to be dead, Kiba was attacked by his own dog Akamaru for his part in the torment of the Uzumaki boy. This was because he was one of the Inuzuka who participated in the 'fox hunts' mainly because he knew that Hinata crushed on the rival for his affections, even though said rival had no idea of her crush.

Before Rock Lee could say anything, he was silenced by Tenten who made a gesture to listen up. It was then that Team Nine had heard it; it was faint at first, but it got louder as the sounds got closer. One could tell that the sound was a rhythmic 'clock, clock' in such a pattern that it was like footsteps. As the sounds got louder, all of Team Nine had finally seen the source of the sounds turn around the corner and walk towards them; black kimono with red trim, the kanji for fox on his sleeves, wide-brimmed sandogasa, crimson scarf, large katana, geta clogs…yep, that's the rōnin all right.

"Halt!" shouted Tenten the second that the rōnin was within a few feet of them, while drawing her bow, "You will state your name and business, and surrender that katana of yours or else I will shoot!"

The rōnin paused before he let out an amused laugh, causing the other members of Team Gai to get into ready positions. "It's been a while Tenten, and I see that you've taken to learning a new weapon. Has Gai and Lee been grossing you and Neji out with their hugs as usual?"

Tenten's eyes had widened briefly before they narrowed in suspicion. "The fact that you know who are and tells me that you used to be from this village. Are you a nuke-nin?"

Even under the scarf and the sandogasa, one could tell that there was an amused look on the rōnin's face. "Me? A ninja? Not anymore. Not since I was found by a samurai and taught in their arts. But in any case, you don't have to block my path anymore. I am already going to the Hokage to have a word with her."

"Well forgive us if we don't believe you after attacking two ninja here," said Neji, tensing a bit, "now if you won't hand us your sword and come with us peacefully, then we'll be forced to attack."

A sigh had escaped the rōnin's lips…one of disappointment. "There's no other way? Very well then, I'll follow the three of you to the Hokage's office."

At that, Gai's eyebrows had shot to the sky. "Just like that?" asked Rock Lee, very suspicious, "No conditions?"

"I didn't originally have any conditions," said the rōnin with a small mischievous laugh, "but now that you mention it, I do have one now."

Neji and Tenten both looked to Lee with evil looks in their eyes before they both sighed in frustration. This time, it was Tenten's turn to speak as she turned to face the rōnin. "What condition is that?"

"A kiss from Tenten."

Upon hearing that, Tenten fired her entire quiver at the rōnin only to see him vanish into thin air, hit Neji in the stomach with the butt of his katana in a single draw before sheathing it, turn around to stomp his geta-wearing foot on Lee's instep followed by a roundhouse to the head as he was about to charge, and then turned around just in time to bring his shin up quickly in order to smash Gai in his family jewels all within a few seconds. Knowing the rest of her team was out for the count, Tenten dropped her bow to draw her tanto only to freeze and drop her knife while turning redder than a tomato as her mind fried itself upon realizing that someone had stolen her first kiss. By the time she had realized what had just happened, and who had just kissed her, her knees had turned into jelly as she fainted from embarrassment and perverse thoughts clouding her mind and making her skin red, which rivaled Hinata's whenever she was near Naruto.

Once the battle was over, the rōnin moved the scarf back up the lower half of his face and then using the sandogasa to obscure the upper half. He enjoyed that kiss, but he had other places to be.

A/N: I've decided to combine a bit of Brook, Mihawk, and Zoro's styles (not his santōryū) because I'm trying to recreate Samurai Ryūma when he was still alive (you know, when he killed that dragon that made him a legend in "One Piece" before Hogback decided to resurrect him as a zombie with Brook's shadow?). If I added santōryū to the mix, then he would've been more overpowered than he is now.

Songs Used:

"Evil" by Toshiro Masuda from "Naruto"—Naruto attacks Sasuke

"Midna's Theme" from "The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess"—Paying respects to the Sarutobi family

"Ultimate Secrets" by Toshiro Masuda from "Naruto"—Naruto vs. Team Ten

Vocabulary:

Seiza—this is the regular sitting posture for when you are in a dojo; you are either on your knees and the balls of your feet, or your knees with your feet pointing behind you.