Sarutobi looked out, his eyes sweeping over the vast majority of the village, or at least that which he could see within his current range, a thoughtful expression playing his face. Well, thoughtful wasn't the right word, but the closest one to describe the way the muscles beneath his face's wrinkled skin had moved, brow slightly furrowed and eyes distant, the hints of a frown touching his face. Orochimaru had seemed to drop the connection he and the elder man had maintained after his exile, and the Sand was acting unusual, suspiciously so. Was there a connection?
A woman with long purple straight hair entered the room discreetly through one of the opened windows, the mask of a cat that adorned her face concealing any and all emotion, or lack of, that she held.
"Report." The hokage demanded easily, deciding to hold off his questions for the lack of presence of her partner until after the initially desired information was retrieved.
"Naruto-Kun spent the day sightseeing and grocery shopping, very little behavior out of the usual by comparison to the drastic changes seen in past days." The low and feminine voice told. Sarutobi quirked his brow, confused.
"No changes? No suspicious behavior? No violent tendencies to others?" The man pressed, trying to find further information.
"None today, sir. He had seemed to be in a good mood, and others steered clear of him to make cause for his patience to subside and aggression flare." She responded in the same monotone voice.
"Where is your superior?" Sarutobi finally asked, turning to face the young woman.
"He see,ed to have gotten bored with the task and separated while we had been watching our target; he seemed to have become fed up with the job." She continued
"However, I do not believe another surveillance keeper is an immediate necessity, he will be at the tournament tomorrow after all and our people are stretched thin as it is, you needn't not concern yourself with this nor the topic until after other, more apparent, issues are dwelt with." She said. Sarutobi stared at her, as if he had never met her before and that this was the very first introduction to her, but he had to ultimately agree, for all she had said was the truth, he could hardly spare the time for this meeting or his previous break from his work as it was, let alone finding another surveillance personnel.
"Then it is settled, you will be Naruto's sole keeper effective immediately and temporarily until other maters are tended to." He said, matching her professionalism. She nodded, but said nothing, seeming to be waiting for a dismissal.
"You may leave." And so she did, the curtains giving their usual flare against the breeze as her body moved expertly through the gap the open window gave within the structure's wall.
-
The wind flew past Yugio as the ninja, now double agent, sped on through the streets of Konoha via rooftop towards her new master's current residency. Master, the word itself seemed to reflect sexual acts or ambition despite what the situation implies, it was almost laughable. Yugio blinked, her pupils dilating slightly as they reopened before contracting sharply into thin cat-like slits. She hadn't been born this way, and yet she could no longer claim to be the species of which she had originated, both because of who she now worked under and what she now was.
'It's so ironic that it's laughable.' She thought as she finished her way towards her destination.
-
'Today's the day. Everything is ready, it almost feels too easy.' Naruto thought, a sinister grin overcoming his lips
-
Naruto watched with unbridled excitement as the first match began, his energy persisting throughout the entirety of the following matches until it was finally his turn to play. He knew that he needed to hold back, give them something to laugh at just as he had done the match prior to this, lest they grow suspicious.
Entering e match, he made his exclamation of how he would surely win and listened with an amused grin as the audience shouted their distain. Riling them up was just so easy.
-
Neji watched as his opponent entered the ring, his silvery eyes focusing intently at the person before him. Something about him was different, all of the people from their extended circle of friends had noticed, but only he and Hinata had seen the extent of this. For one thing, the beast that had resided within him was no longer present, and the nature of his energy had seemed to become so much more volatile than it had been before. There was something else, too, something about the way he acted, but Neji found himself unable to put his finger on it.
Naruto struck first. Using the body flicker technique, his body disappeared from view only to reappear behind Neji. Neji turned, exclaiming slightly from shock, and felt the knuckles of Naruto's hand strike his face, sending him flying. As he recuperated, Naruto launched himself for another attack, preparing himself for Neji's expected retaliation. As anticipated, Neji used his gentle fist technique, Naruto allowed himself to become injured for it would only be temporary, he would unlock it within moments and he had given the crowd something to cheer at. His eyes flickered over towards the hokage to gouge his expression, and for a moment he saw the sadistic glee of the man he had once believed to have been worth while, the same man of whom he planned to kill.
Neji furrowed his brow in confusion at the glint he saw in Naruto's eyes for that split moment where his gaze diverted from their battle, a look of analyzation and of someone with genuine intelligence.
'What is he planning?l Neji wondered silently, distracted momentarily from battle and therefore faulting in his attack, causing him to miss. Somehow, dust and dirt had been kicked up, distorting and clouding the view of the onlookers, and that was when the battle ended. No one knew how, but Neji's unconscious body lay heavily among the rocks of the disturbed ground, and he did not move.
"Monster!" Someone shouted from the crowd suddenly, an uproar of similar insults following on the first's lead. Naruto bowed to them sarcastically and began to walk back to the stands where the rest of them sat, most of whom having ignored the battle in the beginning but now all of the, watched intently.
-
"You're a wrench in my plans, you know." A low voice murmured to the trapped ninja, whose foot had been caught in a hole a clone had dug, the earth having fallen beneath him.
"That dojutsu of yours can ruin everything, oh what should I do? What should I do?" The figure approached through the dirt, which had been kicked up but now seemed to pervade the air unnaturally, but Neji could tell-using his dojutsu-that the air was filled with chakra, as spread out as water particulars in mist, the nature of which being destructive and dangerous, and yet it remained under control by the figure that now stood just before the downed Neji.
"Oh yes, here's an idea." The figure continued, grasping onto Neji's headbands and slowly pulling it off.
"You know, you should thank me for this, Neji. I am putting you out of your misery." Naruto's face peered through the dust and dirt, eyes glowing vibrant hues and pupils a bright yellow. Then everything went black.
-
Neji awoke with a start, surprised that he still lived. What had just happened? His headband was no longer absent from his person, but upon his forehead and tied into a sloppy knot. He blinked slowly, feeling a slight burning sensation on his forehead beneath the cold metal of the protective metal. Removing the headband and looking into a mirror, he realized, with great amazement and relief, that the symbol that had been on his forehead was absent.
A slip of paper fell to the floor from where it had been concealed within his headband, stealing his attention towards the folded thin sheet.
Dear Neji-San,
Congrats, you're now a free little birdy, choose your moves carefully, interfere with me and a different seal will be set off. Behave and you'll get to live a prosperous life, mess with my plans and you shall suffer. Simple, right? Oh, and don't tell anyone, unless you want that seal on your tongue to go off, that is.
Love, Naruto
Neji blinked at the paper, confused.
'What plans?' He wondered. Then, as if to prevent him to ponder this further, Hiashi entered the hospital room.
-
Naruto waited with growing excitement, but he had remembered to conceal it early on enough so as to not come off as odd to his peers and this cause suspense. Soon it would happen. It was Sasuke's battle now, his turn, and Maruto waited for it to end as soon as-Gaara screamed in pain as he was electrocuted by the sound of screeching birds, his blood splattering the ground as he became injured. Naruto's eyes widened. This hadn't been his plan, Sasuke winning hadn't been expected. Sasuke was to join Lee in a hospital bed, incapable of battling further. Something must be done.
Sand began to flare amuck within the battlefield as Gaara lost control to such a horrifying extent, another hurtle, Gaara had been expected to be in control throughout the ordeal. What had gone wrong? When had it gone wrong?
Gaara and Sasuke continued their battle, which had grown in intensity, the fight quickly moving onwards to some other area, Sasuke following Gaara with clear agitation.
Feathers began to fall, correction, had been falling and simply gone unnoticed for a good while now, and many of the unsuspecting crowd fell to a genjutsu enforced dream. This had been expected, this was an unchanging factor in the plans. Nothing else was.
The sound of a gigantic snake, no, a small mutinied of humongous summons reverberated through the air, alertin the awake few among the stadium of the attack. This had been anticipated, it was a factor in the plan for which said plan needed to proceed with ease, but much else needed to be reanalyzed.
"Naruto! You Baka! We need to go!" Sakura yelled.
'Damn' Naruto thought
'Another wrench in my perfect plan, wonderful.'
-
The beast before Naruto was monstrous to say the least, a destructive beast that did little more than destroy. The creature, its body made of solidified sand, destroyed tree and rock and dirt as it moved. Sakura, for her part, had been subdued and now lay, pressed tightly against a tree, as sand slowly pressed her closer. Naruto's eyes flickered over towards her, mild amusement sparkling within his eyes.
"Hey Sakura, whose the Baka now?!" He called to the unconscious form, giving a loud laugh at the lack of response.
"This, this is too good. Poor little Sakura with no one to save her. Oh, what ever will she do!?" Naruto cried, placing a hand over his forehead dramatically
"Oh, the humanity!" He continued, bursting out into laughter again, this time mire subdued and sadistic than the first.
"You've had this coming for a long time now, bitch." He growled, suddenly appearing before her and kicking her squeal in the jaw.
"Wow, I guess all jinchuriki are messed up." A female voice breathed. Naruto turned around, slowly, his eyes glaring at the blonde that had followed him.
"You are Temari, yes?" He asked before nodding to the other person.
"And he is Kankuro?" He continued. Both of the addressed people stared at him, suspicion and shock present in their eyes. He glared at them, pupils contracting into slits and glowing a bright blaze.
"Shut up, you have no right to speak of us without knowing the extent of who we are. Don't assume it's because of our inhabitance, or in my case past inhabitant."
-
The sound of metal against metal clanged as a battle ensued. Whilst the three fought, two on one mind you, the destruction of the surrounding forest was quickly coming to progression. Suddenly, invisible strings pulled themselves taught around Naruto's neck, torso, and wrists, keeping him restrained.
"Got him!" Kankuro announced Temari, who nodded as she drew herself closer. Naruto pulled against the bindings, causingnthe sttings to cut into his clothing and, in some areas, his skin.
'Deja vu.' Naruto thought with a grim smile, the glow of his eyes flaring suddenly to a blazing fire. Kankuro screamed, his knees giving out beneath him as he clutched his head in what looked like agonizing pain. As the strings of solidified chakra wavered from their previous existence, Naruto sprang forwards, kicking the downed figure in the chest, the force of this pushing him clean off of the sturdy branch and to the ground below.
"Kankuro!" Temari screamed, diverting from her path and towards her falling brother. Naruto stared at them, watching as Temari tended to the partially conscious other. Naruto brushed himself off, the tingle of chakra in his fingertips healing all of the thin slices through his skin. The pain of the thin strands was familiar, but the action that had taken to happening below was alien to him, or at least something he hadn't seen for a good long while. He stared at them for a few seconds longer before taking out a slip of seal paper and tossing it, the kunai attacked causing it to fall down much more rapidly. A flash of bright light illuminated the trees and shrubbery below beyond being visually viewable for a few seconds, after the light ended both of the nin proved immobile. This explosion was not physically damaging, merely something to incapacitate small groups with ease for at least ten minutes.
Returning to the task at hand, he sped over via branches towards the one tail recreation. His body a blur of motion, clouded by airborne sand, he took the sword he had gained from one of his kills and dug it deep into the hardened sand, the sharp blade cutting with ease and he made one long slice at went up from its lower body and up to its shoulder. He lifted the blade and jumped away-the move energized with a blast of destructive chakra that destroyed the sand beneath him-from the oncoming attack of a swiping claw, the beast roaring in pain. He landed on one of the arms and ran in a slight spiral around the limb. The cuts held firm, however, the arm not falling to the ground as Naruto had meant.
Sprinting and jumping, staying afloat with a few flaps of his wings, he made a spinning slice along the width of the arm, and then landed in a spinning sort of kick that finalized the damage.
The beast shrieked as its arm parted from its body, falling lifeless to the ground sand of the limb began to lift up into the air, leaving the limb without its sand armor. How odd was it that, with nothing more than chakra and a bit of sand, one could create flesh and bone. Then again, he too could turn his body to energy, do the fact that the one tail could shouldn't have come as such a shock. Dark crimson leaked from the healing wound, the fluid seeping into the ground and sand, staining everything with its dark red color and the scent of iron.
Shukaku roared his animalistic scream as it swung its remaining claw forwards, aiming at the angelic-looking-being. Naruto saw this and teleported a small distance, his body leaving a small burst of light as it did so. Shukaku did, however, make contact with something, another seal paper. The paper erupted into an explosion, the beast shrieking as its body was engulfed with fire and harsh light as the sand upon him melted into clear glass. It shattered when he moved, leaving his body without his usual defense. He lunged again, but instead of redoing the same move, Naruto dodged whilst airborne with a few flaps of mighty wings, landing on the thing's shoulder. This area still had the sand armor, untouched by the previous explosion. He jumped away. Flipping in the air and launching several of the explosive seals-all of which attached to a kunai-at the throat. They didn't go off, causing Shukaku to pause when the expected pain didn't occur, he laughed in a dangerously mocking way.
His laughing stopped when he felt the sand around his other shoulder and side of his neck punctured with more kunai, and then Naruto was retreating, wings flapping as he carried what looked like two lugs with him high in the thinning air. shukaku understood why a few seconds later. The explosions erupted simultaneously, but these were not the same as the ones that had gone off before, those were mere fire crackers by comparison. The shock wave three Naruto and the two he had saved farer and higher than he had gone, blowing his hair amuck around his head and threw him off corse for a few moments before he re-stabilized, watching the fire that had blazed below him. Slowly, he began to lower himself, setting the pair on the ground a safe distance from the fire.
'Safe for now, at least.' Naruto thought, thinking of the possible forest fire the battle may have caused. Two summons-of which he had attained from the Naruto of this universe's father, each of them holding up a body of the unconscious. He may be cruel, but he wasn't a monster, he still had mercy for the uninvolved. Sasuke looked injured and Sakura had bruising everywhere, both from the sand and from Naruto's minor attacks. Temari looked to be fine and Kankuro was similar, though he may suffer from the occasional migraine after their battle.
Naruto looked back into the flames, looking for the other person. He found the decapitated head a good distance away and teleported towards it. The eyes had been ruled upwards into the skull, but they swirled down towards Naruto as he appeared on the short muzzle.
"Why?" Shukaku asked in his deep rumble, the disembodied voice seeming to echo. The fires cracked and burned behind and around them, their many shadows dancing from every side and even on their own bodies.
"Why what?" Naruto asked aloud, walking up closer toward the eyes that watched him, the eyes crossing slightly as they continued to lock onto him. Naruto seemed to be prideful for the endeavor he had done, proud of the accomplishment he had just completed. A snarky smirk rested itself into his lips as he stood on the snout of the decapitated bijuu.
"Why would you go against me? Sought to destroy the village, a common goal one would think." Shukaku continued. Naruto gave a soft laugh, it only remained quite for a short while. Within moments, it escalated into maniacal laughter, an insane howl of amusement.
"You thought I wanted to share that with you?! That's my goal, and I alone will do it. You-" he began to pace along the length of the snout, his feet crunching against the falling sand and fur and flesh as the head deteriorated into dust.
"You, my friend, are nothing more than an obstacle in my plan, you are nothing more than something I need to finish move on to my goal. You are nothing to me." He grinned darkly at the being, whose eyes were wide due to a newfound lack of eyelids. How odd it was that his eyes had yet to fall with the rest of him, since they were of the first things to go when the body deteriorates, but then again they did look milky, perhaps he was slowing the process in the area he was still using or something of the sort. Naruto took something that glinted in the light and put on what looked like a walking glove, the black leather not going any higher than his wrists. The would be normal gloves if not for what had caused the glint, for what looked like steal claws had been added, the metal jutting out in a fashion that resembled a snake's underside.
The glove glowed, the glow becoming a fiery display as Naruto applied chakra to the metal, the points of the claws becoming longer and sharper as he did this.
"Goodbye, Shukaku, may your eventual reincarnation have a nice long run before you get recaptured and sealed up." He said in a mockingly chipper tone. Then, with light trails following the blade, he made a swipe at the forehead and began to dig into the skull. The cranium burst as he exposed the insides, an unconscious redhead having been sealed safely within the cavity. Naruto grabbed hold of the back of his collar, beginning to pull him away from the mass, and gave a hard yank, tearing at the fleshy protrusions that had attached themselves to Gaara's skin. Shukaku had been sealed within him, thus he had controlled the body with Gaara as the central point of command. With another mighty yank the last and thickest of the fleshy attachments snapped, detaching from Gaara and releasing him. He bent down, scooping up some of the ash-like powder and filling a small vial with it, as if an after thought. A puff of light and Naruto was gone.
-
Sasuke awoke with a start as he found himself to have been moved, Naruto walking near him with an unconscious Gaara over his shoulder, both of the pair being covered in scarlet and some odd clear fluid alike.
"Morning sleeping beauty! Oh, thank you for your oh so important contribution to the battle!" Naruto said after having realized Sasuke to be awake, sarcasm dripping from his words like water from a melting icicle. Sasuke blinked from shock at the snideness of the person before him, but once it settle in he glared harshly at the blonde, not that the yellow strands could be seen through the red muck.
"I did more than you, dobe." Sasuke retorted in his low volume. Naruto hummed, turning around on his heel like a corkscrew.
"Really? Than who finished Shukaku? Who saved Sakura and your ungrateful ass from the fire? Who beat the sand siblings? Sure as hell wasn't the pathetic ass I'm looking at right now, I'll tell you that." Naruto said, scowling and glaring at Sasuke.
"Please, you did little to nothing in the battle, you went to sleepy land when the battle started you fucking dumbass!" Naruto almost yelled. Sasuke pushed himself up, standing and approaching Naruto, head raised high as he literally looked down upon the blood soaked Naruto.
"Unless you want me to tell everyone about your little secret, you'll keep your mouth shut about that, you little pest." Sasuke growled, an air of superiority looming among him.
"What secret? The kyuubie? That's old news, tell me something new." Naruto responded, standing tall against he taller person. Sasuke smirked triumphantly, as if he knew himself to win with his next words.
"How about I tell the council how you harassed your superior teammates?" Sasuke asked in a low, threatening voice.
"Now, come along and pick up Sakura. We both know that you're going to take care of it anyway so just go ahead." Sasuke felt his smirk widen as he spoke his next words. Naruto's eye twitched as he felt his patience snapping in two.
"While your at it, why don't you kneel and kiss my shoes, you piece of crap." Sasuke finished, grinning almost sadistically to the blood soaked other. Naruto stared at him, glaring holes into his skull. Sasuke's eyes were drawn to Gaara as Naruto let the redhead, soaked in scarlet and odd fluids, fall to the ground, staining the earth and grass with the liquids.
Naruto placed his bloodied hands on Sasuke's shoulder's causing Sasuke to look back to him. That look forced a chill down his spine, and he felt himself shudder. Naruto's knee hit Sasuke's groin and twin jewels, the blow being much more powerful than it would have been otherwise due to Naruto forcing Sasuke's body to not follow the way of the force he had given him. Sasuke's knees gave out and he began to drop to the floor, but Naruto wasn't finished. A punch to the gut, one that pushed up at an odd angle and actually pushed up into his chest cavity from his stomach, was the next thing Sasuke felt. A small squirt of blood came from the raven's mouth, and he felt his body fly in the direction Naruto sent him.
Naruto approached him, his face full of dislike.
"Sasuke Uchiha" Naruto began in a cold, demanding voice.
"You will keep silent about this if you don't want your throat to be slit tonight." Naruto stood before Sasuke, glaring down at the person below him. Sasuke stared at him in horror, eyes wide with shock. Naruto paused, as if remembering something, and he spoke without turning back.
"And do get that cursed seal checked out, you dirty cheat." Naruto spoke in a grumble. The sound of something sizzling, like bacon beginning to cook, grew, the scent of something burning away following it shortly. Sasuke dared to glance over to Naruto to see that the majority of the blood that had coated him was now absent, and some kind o energy coated him as fire, the cause for the sound. Sasuke watched as the rest of the blood fizzled away, before the flame-like energy vanished like a dying campfire. No more blood touched the blonde. Then, he formed four clones, each one grabbing one of the live bodies-including Sasuke-and began to make the high speed trek back to the Village.