Naruto:A New Path

The Red Clouds(Akatsuki)Appear😨😨😨

It had been three days since Naruto had gone with Jiraiya and things were looking great for the blond. He was already trying to do the second step of the Rasengan training, which consisted of making a rubber ball explode with chakra. The first step had been finished in only two days since Naruto already knew how to mold and shape chakra from all his training with wind manipulation. Jiraiya had been impressed and showed him the second step a few hours later.
Naruto was bored of walking down the same long road and wondered why they didn't just run all the way there. He knew that Jiraiya was capable of doing it but wondered why he chose not to. He guessed that the sage wanted to give him more time to train on the Rasengan but he knew that it wouldn't be the only reason for taking their time getting there. The blond sighed, he was bored out of his mind. He was still trying to do the second step of the training but seeing the same scenery for days irritated him.
"When will we get there, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked with a whine. He put the rubber ball away and crossed his arms, "We've been on the same road for days, shouldn't we be there by now?"
Jiraiya sighed. "Seriously kid, can't you shut up for a few minutes?" The sage rubbed his head and closed his eyes, "You've been pestering me on the same thing for hours and I keep telling you that we'll-"
"Get there, when we get there," Naruto interrupted with a pout, "That's getting annoying sensei."
"Just quiet down already," Jiraiya said with a groan, "We're almost there alright?"
Naruto smiled. "Why didn't you say so in the first place!" The blond cheered and chuckled, "If we get to the village then that means that I won't have to eat your cooking anymore!"
"What's wrong with my cooking?" Jiraiya asked with a smile, "I can't be that bad..." Getting only a blank stare as a reply, Jiraiya face faulted, "You don't have to be so blunt about it kid."
Naruto rolled his eyes and focused back on the rubber ball. He hadn't made any progress on it and tried to think of what was wrong. Like with the water balloon, he had been spinning chakra in all directions but nothing seemed to happen. 'Maybe if I add more chakra to spin, the ball will pop,' the blond thought.
With a determined look in his eye, Naruto poured chakra into the ball. Now came the hard part, spinning the chakra. He had always had trouble with controlling large amounts of chakra, he assumed that every ninja had this problem and blamed it on his bad chakra control. The blond spun the chakra in all directions and closed his eyes in concentration. The rubber ball began to shake lightly before shaking uncontrollably almost instantly.
Jiraiya watched Naruto with an analyzing eye. The blond was close to popping the rubber ball but the last push was always the hardest. He was proud of his new apprentice, Naruto was proving to be quite capable. 'He'll get far,' Jiraiya thought with a proud smile.
' Come on,' Naruto focused on spinning the chakra and soon heard a small deflating sound. He opened his eyes and saw that he had made a small hole on the rubber ball. 'I'm still not getting it,' he thought with a frown, 'But at least I made some progress.'
"That was good Naruto," Jiraiya said with a grin. The blond grinned back and scratched the back of his head, "Take a rest and continue your training later."
"I can still go," Naruto argued with a frown that soon turned into a smile when he saw a village in the distance, "We're here! It was about time!"
Jiraiya nodded. "I should get some information on Tsunade's whereabouts here," the toad sage said with his arms crossed, "When we get there I'll need to go see my contacts alone."
Naruto nodded with a smile, "Do whatever you want. When I get there, I plan on finding the nearest ramen stand!" The blond couldn't take it anymore and ran off towards the village.
Jiraiya watched the blond leave with a frown, "Too bad he already left," he said with a sigh, his money reserves were low and he had seen how full Naruto's wallet looked, "I might as well get going."
"Aren't you glad to be back home?" asked a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds, his face was covered by a straw hat and there was a wrapped sword strapped to his back.
"I have closed all ties with that place. Don't ask meaningless questions Kisame," said another man wearing a similar attire to the first, "Let's just execute our mission."
"It's a shame we can't capture the nine-tails yet," Kisame said with a grin visible on his face, "I don't understand why we have to monitor its progress."
"It is always better to be prepared. Since we are unable to seal the nine-tails at the moment we have make sure he doesn't surprise us when the time comes," the man raised his face to see Konoha only a few minutes awake. The sharingan could be seen under the shadow of the straw hat and the man began to walk, "Let's go Kisame."
Kisame followed after Itachi with a smirk on his face. He hoped to find a person he could fight, it had been far too long since he last fought someone of high lever. Konoha was known for its strong ninjas and Kisame looked forward to fighting some of those ninja.
"Come on Naruto!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he threw a punch.
The blond ducked under the strike and countered with a kick. Jiraiya blocked the kick with his knee and delivered a punch to Naruto's face, making the blond cry in pain. The blond fell on the ground but rolled to the side when he saw Jiraiya's leg about to stomp him. Naruto stood back up and jumped in the air when he took note of Jiraiya's fist going towards him.
Naruto flipped in the air and landed on the ground with a crouch before leaping towards the sage. The blond threw a punch but his eyes widened when Jiraiya simply leaned to his right to avoid the attack. He was helpless as he sailed through the air and received a hard blow to the ribs for his mistake.
Naruto got the wind knocked out of him and plummeted to the ground. "I told you not to charge in like an idiot!" Jiraiya scolded with a frown. It had been three days since they arrived at their destination and had been staying in a hotel. There was not much information on Tsunade so Jiraiya met with a few of his contacts and had them see what they could find in neighboring villages. The two had been training on Naruto's taijutsu for the past two days and because Jiraiya's contacts were gathering information on Tsunade, the sage didn't have anything to do. Since they were stuck in town until his contacts were back, Jiraiya had decided to help Naruto improve his taijutsu. Naruto's training consisted of spars with nothing but taijutsu. This had been going on for two days and Naruto was learning fast, "A shinobi must always keep a cool head when in battle, remember that."
Naruto groaned as he got into a kneeling position. His ribs were in pain and he felt exhausted. The blond managed to smile despite himself, this was one of the things Naruto actually liked about training with Jiraiya, the sage didn't go easy on him. "Got it… Jiraiya-sensei," he responded through pants. He tried to stand but winced at the pain on his ribs.
Jiraiya grinned, he was impressed with Naruto's progress in taijutsu. "That was good you're improving kid," the sage said as he extended a hand to Naruto. The blond looked at the hand oddly before breaking into a grin and taking it. Jiraiya helped him stand up and sighed, "Why do you always have to charge in like that? I keep telling you not to do that."
Naruto chuckled. "Sorry sensei I won't do it again," he said with a grin, "Let's go one more time. I'm sure this time I won't mess up!"
"We're done for today Naruto," Jiraiya said, "You look kind of tired and took a hard blow on the ribs."
The blond frowned. "You just want to go out with random women again, don't you?" Naruto deadpanned. Receiving no response from the older ninja, the blond sighed, "Fine I'll go back to the hotel since I still have to finish the Rasengan."
"That's the spirit kid!" Jiraiya cheered with a perverted smile.
"Whatever," Naruto sighed out as he walked towards the village. He might have sounded down but he was actually looking forward to his training. He was already working on the third and final step and it proved to be the hardest. It consisted of spinning chakra inside an empty balloon without popping it.
"Remember not to use clones!" Jiraiya yelled from afar before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
Naruto frowned. It was completely unfair. He had actually made a Rasengan, not perfect but still a Rasengan, with the aid of a clone. Jiraiya had been impressed but told him to stop using the clone, his reason being he wanted Naruto's chakra control to improve and the Rasengan would do so.
"Freaking pervert," Naruto muttered with a pout.
Kakashi was unconscious on the bed of his apartment. The room was filled with the Jonin that knew Kakashi closely. Gai sat on a chair inside of Kakashi's room. Asuma leaned against a wall with Kurenai by his side. All had seen Kakashi going down and decided to take care of him while he woke up.
"How long will he be out?" Kurenai asked. She had arrived at the apartment after Kakashi had already been brought there since she had gone to report to the Hokage.
Gai sighed. "We're not sure," he began, "The doctors say that he is exhausted and has suffered severe damage from Itachi's attack."
"Why did they attack on broad daylight?" Kurenai asked in worry.
"I can think of some reasons," Asuma said with a serious face, "They said that they came for Naruto for whatever purposes they have, if Itachi is with them then that means that they are powerful. By attacking in broad daylight they show that they are not afraid to be noticed. I say that they were trying to intimidate us."
"That might be it," Gai agreed, "Itachi and… um. That… other guy probably wanted to intimidate us."
' This is bad,' Asuma thought with a frown, 'Just how strong are these guys. They took down Kakashi with a single attack. What the hell would someone like them want Naruto?" The Jonin thought back on the fight, trying to find anything that revealed their true motives.
-Flashback-
Asuma and Kurenai stood in front of Kakashi. They were winded and faced the two missing ninja wearing black cloaks. Kisame's straw hat was gone, revealing his shark-like face, while Itachi looked at the Jonin with a calm look, his sharingan active and analyzing their every move.
"Those cloaks…" Kakashi started. The two Jonin gave him a questioning look while Kisame broke into a grin, "You're from the Akatsuki… aren't you?"
"You know about us?" Kisame asked with a smirk, "And here I thought we were pretty secret."
"Why are you in Konoha?" Kakashi asked with a glare, already knowing what they wanted from what Jiraiya had told him.
Kisame chuckled. "Why are we here?" The shark-like man smirked, "We're here for the f-"
"That is not of your concern," Itachi interrupted.
"If you're here for Naruto then know that I will not allow you to take anyone from my team," Kakashi said with a glare.
Itachi looked into Kakashi's eyes with a calm expression. Sharingan met sharingan but Itachi's began to change. Kakashi's eyes widened before he fell to his knees. Asuma and Kurenai ran to Kakashi's kneeling form and checked for any wounds.
Asuma saw movement out of the corner of his eye and froze when he saw Kisame's blade inches away from Kurenai's head. Kurenai watched the blade inch closer to her second by second. She thought it was her end but a green blur kicked Kisame away. The Akatsuki member sailed through the air before crashing on the ground. Before everyone stood the mighty beast of Konoha, Gai.
"Well Kakashi, it seems that you've lost," Gai said with a light chuckle, "Not to worry my rival, I am here to help you."
"Damn you," Kisame growled as he stood up, "I'll kill you for this."
"Kisame," Itachi said sternly, "We will cause a lot of noise if we fight them here. Soon we'll have all of Konoha after us, it is best that we leave."
"Damn," Kisame said with a frown before turning to Gai with a smirk, "I'll get you back for this. Remember this: Kisame will kill you." With that the two Akatsuki members left in a swirl of leaves, leaving a panting Kakashi that barely held consciousness.
"You alright Kakashi?" Asuma asked in concern for his fellow ninja.
Kakashi eye-smiled as he covered his sharingan. "I'll be alright," he said, "Just make sure to tell the… Hokage… that the red clouds appeared…" Unable to handle the fatigue, the copy ninja fainted.
-End Flashback-
"What did the Hokage say Kurenai?" Asuma asked.
Kurenai frowned. "When I told them that the red clouds appeared he looked very worried," the genjutsu mistress started, "He dismissed me but I heard him call for the ANBU. Isn't that a bit too much?"
Gai shook his head. "When it comes to It-" Asuma motioned Gai to keep quiet. Gai threw him a confused look before the door began to open.
Sasuke entered the room with a frown on his face. "Kakashi I need you to…" the Genin stopped himself when he saw everyone on Kakashi's room and a bedridden Kakashi, "Why are you here? What the hell happened?"
The Jonins threw each other worried glances before a Chunin wearing glasses entered the room. "Is it true that Itachi returned to the village! And that he was after Naruto!"
"Damn," Asuma muttered with a frown.
Sasuke's eyes widened before he ran out of the room at full speed. "What bad timing," Gai said with a frown.
Sasuke ran through Konoha with a furious look on his face. 'Why did that bastard come here? Why is he after Naruto? I'll kill you… Itachi!'
"Come on," Naruto muttered with his eyes closed in deep concentration. Beads of sweat rolled down his face and a balloon was held on his right hand. He felt the Rasengan close to completion, it would only take him a few more minutes. All that training with the wind manipulation was really paying off now.
The balloon shook uncontrollably before calming down. Naruto's heartbeat rose, he almost had it. He began to shape the chakra into a ball and add more onto it. Bit by bit he would add chakra to it and it was finally about to work. All those long hours of training had brought him to this point. He steadied the chakra and felt the Rasengan become more stable, he was about to finish it!
'Knock, Knock'
Naruto's head snapped towards the door and heard the distinct sound of a pop. His pupils dilated and he turned back to the balloon, where only parts of it remained. A cold breeze fell over Naruto and his face darkened. The blond made his way to the door with a dangerously calmed expression on his face.
The blond reached for the handle and threw open the door. "WHAT!" Naruto spat with venom on his voice. He glared at the two who had interrupted a Rasengan breakthrough.
Kisame laughed. "We've got ourselves a feisty one," the Akatsuki member said with an amused smirk. Naruto's eyes widened when he looked at Itachi, he looked exactly like Sasuke and the sharingan was active on his eyes.
"W-who are you?" Naruto asked in slight fear.
"Itachi!" Sasuke's voice was heard from the hallway. Naruto turned to see Sasuke glaring at Itachi with hate on his eyes and sharingan active.
"He looks like you," Kisame said in amusement, "Do you know this kid?"
Itachi nodded. "He's my younger brother," he said calmly, giving Sasuke a glance, "Have you gotten stronger? Have you had enough hate?"
"I'll kill you!" Sasuke screamed as he charged up a Chidori and charged recklessly at Itachi. The Akatsuki member didn't move from his spot as Sasuke approached him. The Genin grinned inwardly, the fool would die today.
Sasuke's eyes widened when Itachi appeared before him and held his left wrist, breaking the attack. "You're weak," he said in disgust before punching Sasuke on the stomach. The Genin spat out blood and could do nothing as Itachi held him by the neck and slammed him on the wall. "You lack hatred," Itachi said as he leaned to Sasuke's ear, "You haven't gotten any stronger. You need more hatred to kill me." Sasuke gasped in fear when he saw the all too familiar Mangekyou sharingan forming on Itachi's eyes.
Naruto watched as his friend's body went limp. Sasuke began to trash around and scream in pain as if he were in a nightmare. Naruto had been weak again, his friend was suffering because he had been too weak. The blond glared at the two Akatsuki members. They would pay for what they did to Sasuke.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Countless copies of Naruto filled the hotel causing the two Akatsuki members to be pushed back by the sheer numbers.
"You won't escape kid!" Kisame exclaimed with a smirk. He used his sword to dispel all nearby clones while Itachi ran through hand signs.
A large fireball filled the hallway and torched all the Naruto clones. Smoke filled the hotel and when it cleared there was no sign of Naruto or Sasuke for that matter. "He managed to trick us," Itachi said with a frown, "We were fools to have underestimated a Jinchuuriki."
"Let's go after the bastard," Kisame said with a smirk as the two Akatsuki members left the scene.
Naruto ran through the village next to one of his clones that had Sasuke on its back. He was looking for Jiraiya since he would be the only one that could help him. There was a chance that the villagers would get hurt by any crossfire so he avoided running through streets, choosing to jump rooftops. He would be spotted easily but he didn't want any unnecessary casualties.
Naruto stopped mid-step when he saw a black cloak blocking his view. He received a backhand and crashed against a ceiling, feeling bits of rocks dig into his skin. He held his right arm in pain as he stood up slowly. His eyes widened when he saw both Akatsuki members standing where he had been only moments ago. The clone carrying Sasuke jumped to his side and looked at the two missing ninja in fear.
"Come with us Naruto," Itachi said in a calm voice, "You have our word that Sasuke won't be hurt if you come with us without making a scene."
"A scene?" Naruto asked with a light smirk, "Like this one!" The blond ran through hand signs and put a hand to his mouth. A powerful gust came out of his mouth knocking over antennas and roof tiles.
The two Akatsuki members disappeared from view. Naruto took in all of his surroundings, looking for anything that told him where the two were. A light flash of black caught his attention and he jumped from where he was. Kisame's sword crashed against the spot where Naruto had only been seconds ago.
"Not bad kid," Kisame complimented with a smirk, "But you forgot someone."
Naruto, still airborne, looked to his side to see a fireball approaching him. The blond ran through hand signs and put a hand to his mouth. 'Wind Style: Air Bullets!' The air bullets clashed against the fireball, creating a powerful explosion. The blond was blown aside and landed on the hard floor of a street.
Naruto felt his left arm completely numb and his back was throbbing in pain. Somehow the blond managed to smirk and look at the Akatsuki members defiantly. Itachi and Kisame jumped down from the roofs and landed in front of Naruto. Kisame smirked at the look Naruto had on his face, the kid was just too entertaining, that defiant look on his face only added to the amusement.
"Y-you idiots," Naruto muttered as he got on his hands and knees. The blond panted at the sheer effort it took. He supported himself with his right leg and began to stand, slowly but surely. Naruto swayed slightly but managed to stand and give the two Akatsuki members a weary grin, "I got Sasuke to safety while you were focused on me. You'll never get him."
"Who said we were after him?" Itachi said, making Naruto give him a confused look, "We were looking for you all this time… well that's not right. We came for the nine-tails sealed within you. Sasuke only got caught in the crossfire."
"W-what?" Naruto gasped in shock. Sasuke had gotten hurt because of him. He was to blame for the wounds Sasuke had taken.
"Let's go nine-tails," Kisame said with a smirk. The missing ninja charged at Naruto but was suddenly knocked away by a white blur. 'Why does this keep happening?' Kisame thought as he crashed against the ground. He stood up shakily, soon after, and glared at the newly arrived men.
"Jiraiya the Toad Sage," Itachi stated.
Jiraiya frowned. "So you're the Akatsuki," he said. He gave a quick glance to Naruto to make sure he was okay, pleased to see that it was only minor wounds he turned back to the Akatsuki, "You're looking for Naruto, I take it."
"What do we do?" Kisame asked Itachi with a frown, "This is the situation we were trying to avoid."
"We'll have to pull back," Itachi responded, "It's not smart to take one of the legendary three, the risks are too great."
"You won't be going anywhere," Jiraiya said as he ran though hand signs, "Earth Style: Dark Swamp!" The ground beneath the two Akatsuki's feet turned to mud and they began to sink. Kisame growled and flailed while Itachi calmly stood where he was. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" An engulfing ball of fire came out of Jiraiya's mouth and crashed into the two Akatsuki members.
Naruto looked at the attacks in awe, Jiraiya was truly powerful even if he acted like an idiot. The mud disappeared and the flames dispersed revealing two burnt bodies. The blond's eyes widened when he saw them. Where Itachi and Kisame had been were now two unknown ninja with Sand Village headbands.
Jiraiya walked to the bodies to inspect them. 'It appears that they used a kind of puppetry,' Jiraiya observed, 'From the looks of things, they were able to transfer their chakra into them and create less powerful copies of themselves. The real question here is, from how far could they control them?'
"Master Jiraiya!" Jiraiya turned away from the bodies to see a squad of ANBU standing in front of Naruto, "We were ordered to contact you by the Third Hokage."
Jiraiya nodded. "Tell the Hokage that the red clouds made a move but Naruto is safe," the sage ordered, "The Uchiha got hurt take him back to the village."
One of the ANBU nodded and slung Sasuke over his shoulder. The squad nodded to Jiraiya once more before disappearing in blurs. Once they were gone Jiraiya sighed, he hated giving orders, that's one of the reasons why he declined the position of Hokage by the Third.
"You okay kid?" Jiraiya asked with a proud smile. Naruto smiled lightly and nodded, "We'll go to another hotel so you can rest. If you're healed by tomorrow we'll keep moving, I got a lead on Tsunade."
Naruto grinned. "That's great I'll get healed in no time," he said without his usual cheerfulness, "Hey Jiraiya-sensei, I almost mastered the Rasengan today."
"Really?" Jiraiya asked with a grin.
"Yeah," Naruto responded with a smile, "If it hadn't been for those two I would've gotten it."
Jiraiya nodded, watching his disciple sway slightly. He was probably exhausted from his encounter with the Akatsuki and had been lucky to have both of them taken it easy on him. It was still surprising for the blond to still be standing.
Naruto's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell lifelessly to the ground. Jiraiya caught him before he fell and slung him over his shoulder. "I guess it was too much for you," Jiraiya said with a chuckle as he walked to the nearest hotel.
Rumors spread through Konoha fast. Saying how the traitor Itachi had come back to Konoha to kill Sasuke and Naruto. Some villagers were worried about Naruto while others remained indifferent. Ever since the attack on Konoha, Naruto had been viewed as a hero by a portion of the villagers. They were worried about how Naruto would fare against the traitor Uchiha who slaughtered his own clan.
This news reached the sharp ears of Ino. She was making her way to the barbeque restaurant where her team would usually meet. She wanted to talk to her teammates about the danger Naruto was in. Ino entered the restaurant and saw Choji stuffing his face on a corner table, sitting next to an annoyed Shikamaru.
"Hey guys, I've got something important to talk to you about," Ino said with a sense of urgency on her voice.
Shikamaru glanced at Ino before sighing. "I know what this is about. Considering the fact that you look so worried, I take it you heard about Naruto," he said with a groan. It wasn't that Naruto wasn't his friend, it was just that the blond would get in way too much trouble, "Don't worry about it. I heard that Naruto is traveling with a legendary ninja so he should be okay."
Ino shook her head with a frown. "Jiraiya won't always be in the village. Who's to say that Itachi won't look for him again?" she asked a little angry, "Not even three Jonin could defeat him."
Choji chewed his food and glanced at Ino. "What do you… think we should do? We can't do… much," he said while chewing on his food.
"He's right," Shikamaru said with a frown, "It's not like we can do anything against ninja that powerful."
"Why not get stronger?" Ino asked with a determined expression. Naruto had taught her that determination was an important factor to being a ninja and she had taken those words to heart, seeing how much Naruto had improved in only a month, "We could train harder to be able to help Naruto in the future. I'm not saying that we'll be strong enough in a few months but maybe we could be able to help him if we train hard enough."
Shikamaru sighed. "That's too much work Ino," he said, "What if Itachi and whoever came with him are dealt with before we could help. I don't want to do any extra training."
Ino glared at Shikamaru. He wasn't willing to help Naruto because it was too much work, when Naruto did nothing but help. Naruto trained like a maniac to protect his friends and Shikamaru just ignored it like it was no big deal. "What's wrong with you!" Ino snapped with angry tears on her eyes. Shikamaru and Choji looked taken back by the outburst, "Naruto's always helped you even when he was the one that needed the most help! He suffered for years and would risk anything to help us, how can you turn your back on him?"
A few tears rolled down Ino's cheeks causing Choji to stop eating. "Ino's right Shikamaru," he said with a serious expression, "You remember how he was when we were kids right? He would be happy around us but as soon as time to go home came Naruto would only stare at us in sadness. Even though he looked sad he would always help us with anything we needed. What's a few rounds of extra training going to do to us? I'm willing to train twice as hard!"
Shikamaru sighed watching his teammates. He never said that he wouldn't help Naruto, he just didn't want to train even harder. "You're starting to sound like Lee, Choji... fine," he said with a small smirk. Ino and Choji smiled at their teammate, "I guess if you too will get more training done I'll probably get dragged into it. I would rather agree now than be annoyed later."
"Thank you guys," Ino said with a smile.
Shikamaru nodded with an annoyed look on his face. Training would only get more troublesome from now on. One thing was for certain, a certain blond would owe him big for this.
"Let's get going!" Naruto cheered with a smile. He was back to one hundred percent after a good night's sleep, "Let's go before the old lady disappears!"
Jiraiya got a panicked look on his face. "Don't be an idiot!" he scolded. Naruto gave him an odd look, causing the Toad Sage to sigh, "Take my warning. Do. Not. Call. Tsunade. Old."
"Why not? Wasn't she as old as you?" Naruto asked in confusion.
Jiraiya shuddered remembering the last guy who called Tsunade old. "Just don't call her that trust me," he dug into his coat and took out a balloon before handing it to Naruto, "Here, work on the last step and don't use clones."
"Got it," Naruto said with a smile. He filled the balloon with air and got to work. He would have the Rasengan down in no time.