บท 174: Chapter 25
Back in Konoha
Kushina was enjoying a nice lunch with Miyuki and Akari. With Naruto and Karin off on a mission and the boys getting to know their new team mate and sensei it had just been them.
Kushina was using this time for some personal training. She was still helping the two girls from time to time, but now they had their own stuff to work on.
They used lunch to get together and talk about their days or stuff happening around the village. As they were talking the Nara matriarch appeared and headed to the table.
"Kushi-chan" Yoshina calls.
Kushina looks up to look the female Nara. She had sensed her come into the shop, but hoped she would keep moving. Seems that wasn't happening.
"Nara-san, what can I do for you?" Kushina asked.
Yoshino just ignored that she didn't use her first name.
"I wanted to know if you had the time to talk to Naruto-kun, and when would be a good time him to meet the girls?" Yoshino asks.
"I didn't get a chance to bring it up … he's so busy with missions and everything" Kushina responds.
"Well we need to know soon. We have a place all picked out, but we need to know when to schedule it" Yoshina says.
"And I'll tell him, but he's out on a mission right now. I don't know when he'll be back" Kushina says.
"Fine, but I need to know soon. Please let me know as soon as he gets back" Yoshino says before leaving.
Kushina sighed as the woman left. She forgot Yoshino can be even more stubborn than her at times.
"What was that about?" Akari asks.
Miyuki nods also wanting to know. Kushina figured she would have to tell them anyway, but not here so they get up and head to the hotel where she tells them everything.
Moon country
Later that day the ship had finally arrived at the ports. Naruto could already tell why this was a popular tourist destination. He had to admit he would like to come back someday with the girls and his family.
The ship was still being unloaded when Prince Michiru decided they would go on ahead and left the rest to the Circus master.
The ride through the town was strangely quiet.
"How weird, this is supposed to be a pretty busy street" Michiru comments.
Seems the rest of the group also thought this was weird as they walked beside the horse drawn carriage.
"Karin, see if anyone is here" Naruto tells her.
The red head immediately closed her eyes and used her jutsu.
"Yeah, but they're scared and hiding" Karin answers.
She points upwards and everyone catches the shadow of a child and woman darting back somewhere they were less visible.
"Seems like things are about to get interesting" Naruto comments.
They kept walking through the town and then through the forests that surrounded it and the estate of Moon Countries ruler and family. When they pulled up to the castle it also seemed deserted save the few guards that opened the gate for them. The carriage pulled up to the front and the prince stepped out, but still no one came.
"No ones come to great us" The large prince comments.
That was until a lighter toned, overweight, old man and a woman presumably his wife stepped out onto the balcony over looking them.
"Hey, Shabadaba!" Prince Michiru shouts.
"My, my, if it isn't Michiru-dono. Good job traveling through the different countries. It's wonderful that you have returned safely" The now identified Shabadaba responds.
But the way he addressed the prince as dono set Naruto on edge. As one who liked to play such games against the Hokage he knew that not using the appropriate –sama suffix meant something was wrong here.
"Thank you Shabadaba, but that aside the town looks a little weird" The prince says.
Everyone even the prince noted the change in Shabadaba's facial expression.
"Shabadaba …"
"Where is Papa? I don't see him around" The prince says after looking about.
The look on Shabadaba's face seemed just a little harsher.
"The king … has died!" He shouts with a crazed look in his eyes.
Before anything more could be said guards came rushing out of the castle to surround them from every direction.
"I shall now inherit the throne! So you the heir are in my way. Kill him!" Shabadaba shouts.
The armed guards immediately rushed the prince and the group surrounding him.
"Sasuke, Ami, Sakura" Kakashi barks.
The three immediately rushed in using their tiajutsu to fight, but quickly switched to using kunai. Naruto didn't have time to think about them as he unsealed the Kusanagi. Karin also unsealed a sword a standard wakizashi that Kushina gave her before they left.
The duo split up taking either side of the prince and Hikaru instead of charging in. They didn't have to wait long for the action to come to them.
Kakashi and Anko also joined the fray using kunai to counter the swords the guards were using. Anko went to back up Ami and Sakura, which Kakashi jumped in front of Naruto and Karin fighting the soldiers trying to get in the gap between the two Uzumaki.
Unfortunately for the soldiers facing Naruto the difference between the Kusanagi and their swords were substantial as some broke on first contact with the legendary weapon. Even their shields weren't helping much as Naruto using his speed and agility to weave in-between the shield and their guard to strike poison enhanced wounds on his enemies.
Those that weren't succumbing to the poison quick enough found no mercy from the blond as he already killed five guards.
Karin wasn't doing quite as well, but she was managed to hold her own even as multiple men were targeting her. She gracefully dodged and maneuvered as they attempted to stab her with their swords and retaliated at the rights time like Kushina taught her. However, she only cut and maimed a few she was up against as she was just trying to hold them off.
Kakashi seeing even more guards urged the prince to get in his carriage and go, but it didn't get far before more guards came and stopped it violently.
Naruto created three Kage Bunshin and had the stay and fight with Karin before he flashed to the front of the wayleighed carriage as Kakashi dealt with those at the rear. They needed an exit, but it was blocked off by a platoon of troops.
He was going to use a jutsu when he saw a large dark carriage with two men controlling it and a third sitting with them at the top. Naruto almost smacked himself when the guy in the middle jumped off the carriage and charged with his sword right into the middle of the platoon of troops yelling at the top of his lungs.
"It's Captain Korega!" Naruto heard someone shout.
The troops seemed stunned and were able to stop the man from pushing through them to stand beside the carriage.
"He's a traitor! Kill him quickly!" Shabadaba shouts.
"What did you say?" Korega shouts.
Only with his back turned the soldiers took the chance to strike at his back. He managed to be aware of it just in time to knock the guy back.
"Snap out of it"
"There's no way he's the ruler!"
"For friends to fight like this …" Korega shouts at the men as he fights them off.
Unfortunately he stopped and had to be saved by Kakashi from being stabbed in the back.
"Who are you?" Korega asks.
"I'm a hired guard. A shinobi from Konoha" Kakashi responds.
"That's reassuring" Korega remarks.
"At any rate, take care of his majesty. Take the carriage and get out of here" Kakashi tells him.
"Right" Korega says.
He runs to the front of the carriage as Kakashi continues fighting and takes hold of the reigns. He's able to easily ram through the remaining guards as Kakashi brings up the rear. Kakashi goes to use his sharingan, but Naruto stops him.
"Get the rest and go. I'll take care of this" Naruto says.
Kakashi didn't argue as he left with Sasuke, Sakura, Ami, and Anko following close behind. He soon sent Karin after them before turning on the soldiers all with the weapons raised as they glared at him.
He flashed through the hand seals 'Tiger - Ox - Dog - Rabbit - Snake'
'Fūton: Diatoppa – Wind Release: Great Breakthrough' Naruto intones.
He releases a huge gust of winds that picks the troops off their feet and sends them flying backwards some being unlucky in their landing spots.
His work done Naruto sinks into the ground and leaves the area behind. Shabadaba can hardly believe what happened as he runs back from the way even he was thrown by the winds.
"What are those guys?" Shhabada says as he sees the devastation the jutsu wrought.
Standing higher atop the mansion three men stood. The tallest one had long shaggy dark hair. The middle one had long shaggy orange colored hair and the shortest one had shaggy white hair.
"They're pretty good" One comments.
Meanwhile, Naruto had caught back up with the group as he jumped out of the surrounding forests. Anko and Kakashi seemed to casually disregard him as he turned to Korega.
"Sorry what was that?" Kakashi asked.
"I said your help really saved us back there. I apologize for not explaining the situation in advance. What are we going to do now?" Korega asks.
"We have friends in Sanchuu. We should head there first" Kakashi responds.
Korega nodded and they rushed towns the town. Later after failing to find the circus group Korega took them to a cave in the mountainous area of moon country. As they walked towards the opening Michiru and Hikaru suddenly took off into the cave shouting.
"Papa!"
"Grandpa!"
"So … that's the king" Naruto states.
Korega took the responsibility of explaining somethings to the Konoha contingent.
"The King new that Minister Shabadaba would want the crown one day. Even so the King hoped that he would understand him some day.
However, he continued to run down the path of anarchy. Luckily since we knew about this beforehand, we were able to offer our advice to the King. We came to the conclusion to execute the Minister before his treachery could grow further.
Just in case the worst happened we had his Majesty, Michiru, and Hikaru-dono go overseas under the disguise of traveling through our neighborhing countries" Korega explains.
Michiru looks up from where he was crying over his father.
"That … that was why … no way!" shouted as realization dawned on the prince.
"The King had a plan to deal with the Minister. However, the Minister had already hired some wandering ninja and had a military force set up.
Their counter attack was greater than we expected and we were forced to flee. But the King was …" Korega trails off.
"Grandfather" Hikaru says as he begins to understand.
Everyone stood in silence until Anko spoke up.
"Let me take a look. I'm not an Iryō-nin, but my speciality is poisons and it helps to know a little something of the medical field" Anko says.
As she pulls the covers back from the Kings body everyone is shocked to see he is partial covered in stone.
"It seems one of the shinobi has some sort of special ability. The King was poisoned while leading us!" Korega says.
Kakashi looked on in sympathy for the man. He knew what it was like to feel like you had failed your leader. He gripped his hand tightly as he looked at the boy he held responsible quickly before looking away.
"Well if it's a poison there might be something I can do. The first step is to identify what this is" Anko says.
She then got to work trying to identify the cause of the ailment as best she could with what she had. Everyone gave her room to work except Sakura and Ami as they watched closely to see what she was doing. Sasuke decided to wait outside and left without much fanfare.
A little while later Anko stood outside with Kakashi.
"How is he?" Kakashi asked.
"Not good. There was nothing I could do except stop the progress of the stone from covering his body entirely. Maybe if we had a medical-nin with is things would be different, but I doubt it. He doesn't have much time left" Anko surmises.
Unseen by everyone in the cave the old man came too.
"You've come back, Michiru?" He says.
"Grandfather!" Hikaru cries out hearing the voice.
"Majesty" Korega responds.
"Hikaru too … thank goodness" The King answers.
"How is the country?" He asks.
"It's unfortunate, but it's going to fall in rebel hands at this rate" Korega tells him.
"I see" He responds.
"Michiru, what do you think of this country now?" The King asks his son.
"What do I think?" Michiru starts.
"I think that it is a very rich, pretty and wonderful country" Michiru answers honestly.
"But I don't think that fortune alone does not bring happiness" The King responds to his son shocking him.
"Smiles, happiness, hopes, and dreams … I wanted to create a country that was peaceful and charitable. It's a shame that Shabadaba, who I had considered a comrade, could not understand this" The King tells them.
"I don't understand what you are saying!" Michiru responds.
"You sound just like Amayo" Michiru adds.
"Did you see her? How did it go?" The King asked.
"I see …" The King says when no answer was forthcoming.
"She said that I don't understand what is important" Michiru admits.
"She's as straight forward as ever. I thought that her scolding you would be perfect, but I never thought she would become disgusted with you like this. It's such a shame" The King responds.
Hikaru just looks between his father and grandfather. He remembers some of the things Naruto had said to him.
"I see … something important?" The King repeats.
It stays silent for a moment after that before the King speaks again his tone growing progressively weaker.
"Michiru"
"Yes, what is it?" Michiru asks.
"Please listen to my final words" The King asks.
Everyone became alert at that and the prince and Hikaru instantly began wailing again. Naruto wondered if they were even listening to the man.
"I can't tell you what this important thing is in my current situation. You will become the next King" He says.
"All of you bodyguards …" He calls.
Naruto stood on the other side of his bed as Hatake took position near the Kings head beside the crying Michiru.
"Yes, sir" Hatake responds.
"I'm sure that you already know what it is, but please hear my final request …" The King croaks out.
"What is it?" Hatake responds.
"Please protect these two"
"I will, even if it costs me my life" Hatake vows.
Everyone including the King's guard nod their heads in agreement.
"Thank you" The King responds.
"Michiru …" was his last words.
Later that night Naruto was looking up at the night sky when Hikaru joined him. The kid told him the story of how his grandpa gave him the bow and how important it was to him. After a little silence Naruto asks him a question.
"Hikaru, did you understand what your grandfather was trying tell you and your father?" Naruto asks.
"Not really … but it kinda reminded me of what you have been saying to me. About this country needing a just and dependable leader they can count on" Hikaru answers.
Naruto nods.
"That is what I said, but the King was talking about something more. He wanted the both of you to love this country he built and to protect it for him. He wanted you to love and protect not just the land and the buildings, but the people as well … at least that's what I think he was saying" Naruto tells the boy.
Hikaru looked up at the moon high in the night sky before looking down at his own small hands.
"Do you think … I can be that person?" Hikaru asked.
"It won't be easy or without hardships … but yes I think even your father can become the man your grandpa hoped the both of you would be" Naruto responds.
Hikaru smiled brightly at that. He would do it. He would become a good king for his land and people.
"Just remember you always have a friend out there if you need help. I hope I can also count on you if there comes a time I need your help, Hikaru" Naruto says.
Hikaru nods and they both go back to looking at the moon, while Hikaru continues to tell stories about his grandpa.
Meanwhile Kakashi, Anko, and Korega are talking on their own.
"We don't have a strong military force. It's too weak to stand up against the Prime Minister. For the time being we would like to send Michiru-sama and Hikaru-dono overseas again.
Our best bet would be for him to meet with out allied countries and form a stronger military force" Korega tells them.
Kakashi and Anko had to agree that did seem like the best move. It was well after midnight when they moved. Unfortunately seeing his father die and his large out of shape body made it hard for the prince to keep up when it was time to run for a boat that would take them to a hidden larger boat that was waiting on them.
When the prince fell Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura had to break from the rest and help him up. Which was right when the three ninja the Shabadaba hired attacked by sending an exploding tag right at the prince. Thankfully Hatake was able to just get Michiru out of the way.
When the smoke cleared from the blast Naruto, Karin, Sasuke, Sakura, and Ami stood in front of Kakashi, Anko, and Michiru.
"Are you stupid!" screeched out one of the missing-nin, the white haired one.
Until that moment Naruto thought he would never have the misfortune of hearing someone with a more annoying voice than Haruno. Sadly that was no longer the case. Thankfully one of the other missing-nin continued talking instead.
"We saw a light coming from the coast. It was so obvious that you had made arrangements to get those ships now why don't you have over that man and the brat?" The orange haired one said.
Naruto sunk into the sand and repeared directly in front of the three.
"That's not happening idiot. You must be awefully good if you think you can take on three Jōnin and three Chūnin level genin … plus the pink haired one" Naruto says confidently.
Everyone just ignored the indignant shout that came from the pink haired one as they now found something far more annoying.
"Your full of spunk, brat" the red haired one responds.
He then uses his speed to appear behind Naruto. He goes to punch him, but instead found himself bent over Naruto's knee. He was then punched in the face and sent to the ground where Naruto followed up kicking him into the dark haired guy.
"Now that wasn't nice. I was just trying to save you from having something like that happen" Naruto responds.
The white haired shreeker growled at the blond. The dark haired guy set the one with red hair down and took a stance facing Naruto. They both took off to beat down the Uzumaki.
Naruto's response was to square his body up with them and take off as well. He punched the white haired shreeker in the stomach strong enough to knock him off his feet while he turned and intercepted the punch coming at the back of this head.
Using chakra Naruto blasted forward and slammed the much taller dark haired guy into the sand and then landed with an elbow to the chest. He flipped up into a kick catching the white haired missing-nin in the chin and then dropped down with his left leg on the stomach of the dark haired guy still on the ground.
He then pushed off the dark haired guy as the white haired missing-nin came at him again only to be intercepted by the Uchiha.
"What's this? Come to be a hero?" Naruto asked the Uchiha.
"Shut up and deal with that moron idiot while I handle this one" Sasuke says gruffly.
Naruto hadn't even stuck around to hear that as the dark haired guy rocketed at him intent on killing the blonde. Meanwhile, Kakashi was dealing with the red-haired guy as he held a kunai to his neck.
"This is as far as you go" Hatake says.
"Is that so"
Kakashi managed to turn and bring up his kunai in defense as the guy he was holding fades out. He lashes out with the kunai only to have it blocked as he jumped back gaining space from the red head.
"Shinobi from Konoha, huh? I've heard rumors about you. I wonder which of us is stronger?" The man taunts.
"We'll find out soon enough" Kakashi responds.
They both charge each other ending up exactly opposite where they started. Only it wasn't the red-hair guy that was hit, it was Kakashi. The slash mark below his shoulder and the fresh spurts of blood signaled the red-heads victory.
Meanwhile, Sasuke also wasn't having an easy go of it with the now seemingly female member of the missing-nin trio. He also had a few cuts on him and was having a hard time figuring out how it was happening.
Ami and Anko were busy dealing with the rebel leaders' men they had brought with them. They were having an easy time of it though since these were regular men. Anko hadn't done more then summon a fairly large snake, which freaked the horses the men were riding into bolting.
Ami was taking care of several that managed to jump off their mounts and try and attack them on foot. Without the advantage of numbers this time she was easily beating them.
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura whom jumped in the fight when she saw her precious Sasuke get cut were trying to figure out what's wrong as they were slowly loosing their fights.
"Release!" Kakashi shouted thinking it was a genjutsu.
That was when the red-haired guy touched his glove and a weird orange glowing eye popped up in the center. He then raced towards Kakashi. When Kakashi went to defend the man avoided the kunai and grasped his other hand with the gloved hand. His hand and arm quickly turned to stone.
"That's a waste of time. This isn't a genjutsu" The red head says.
"It was the explosive note" Sakura breaks in.
"That's right. It's an odorless poison mist. When you smell it, it messes up your five sense. You will be useless for awhile allowing us to easily dispose of you" The white haired girl explains.
"Wait … then why aren't the dobe or those two losers affected?" Sasuke asks.
As if on cue the taller dark haired guy is sent smashing into the red-haired guy breaking his hold on Kakashi.
"That's easy. A poison like that isn't potent enough to affect someone like me in the slightest. And if you call me dobe again I'll cut out your voicebox and leave you to drown in your own blood" Naruto responds.
Of course everyone stopped fighting and looked at the blond.
"What? I'm tired of him and that almighty I was the Rookie of the Year, elite Uchiha, kiss my feet bullshit. Hello I'm a fucking Jōnin and he's the one that's still a genin" Naruto says.
The Uchiha just turns away in a huff, Sakura screeches, and everyone else just shakes their head and gets back to business.
"That still doesn't explain how Ami and Anko aren't affected" Sakura questions.
Instead of Anko Naruto also fields this one.
"She's been your sensei, one of them anyway, for the last eight or nine months and you mean to tell me you don't know that she specializes in interrogation and poisons. Did you already forget what happened just five or six hours ago?" Naruto questions.
Sakura immediately felt a little embarrassed, but she wasn't going to give up.
"Well … that still doesn't explain Ami" Sakura responds.
"I am her apprentice Sakura, plus I didn't breathe in any of the smoke" Ami tells her.
Sakura just nodded and shut up. Unfortunately with the lull in fighting Korega saw what happened to Kakashi's hand and became enraged. He charged at the now recovered red-haired missing-nin and swung with his sword.
"I'm your opponent now. I'll avenge the King!" The man shouted.
Unfortunately it was too late for anyone to intervene as the red head easily dodged the sword swing and got behind Korega. Before he could even turn his head the red heads gloved hand touched his shoulder and Korega was turned to stone.
"Such a lovely expression on your face" He taunted.
"It could even be called a work of art" He adds.
He took his sword, which resembled a sabre or fencing sword and was about to smash Korega when the Kusanagi sliced cleanly through the sword and then swung inside the red-heads guard forcing him to jump back, but still managing to cut him shallowly on the thigh.
He watched Naruto carefully as the teen had the sword shrink back to its normal size. The Kusanagi had started to change lately to Naruto's surprise as the blade had a tinge of purple to it, which shone eerily in the moonlight. The handle and guard were now black.
"Like my sword. It also has several unique abilities. One of which is that with each cut it delivers a fatal dose of toxin that even the Legendary Medic Tsunade would find hard to cure if not done immediately" Naruto says with a toothy grin.
"Why you little …" The red-head started.
Naruto was quickly behind him. The missing-nin couldn't react in time as the sword lengthed and stabbed him through his side piercing his kidney.
"Now that was unfortunate. I kind of liked Korega-san and the King. That was a mean thing to do … turning them to stone like that" Naruto says.
The grin never left his face as he addressed the man. Unfortunately the white haired menace got involved and distracted Naruto allowing the red-head to get away. The white haired girl also fled behind her genjutsu.
He looked to see that Sasuke and Sakura were both sprawled out in the sand. Karin was with Hikaru protecting him and the boats and he could see Anko had moved to treat Kakashi at some point.
However, he found Ami knocked out and Michiru gone. This wasn't good. Seeing as the fighting was finished for now Naruto went to go check on Karin and Hikaru. The remaining soldiers wept for the stone encased leader.
At the castle Michiru was shoved into the throne room. He couldn't stop himself from stumbling and falling on his face.
"My, my, my! We've really had to search for you, Michiru-dono!" Shabadaba says from behind the prince.
Michiru manages to turn around and get to his knees.
"Why!? You were papa's comrade, weren't you!?" Michiru shouts.
"And yet … you do something so horrible!" He continues.
Shabadaba and his wife just laughed at the foolish prince.
"Comrades you say? Don't be ridiculous!" Shabadaba responds.
"Your old man was always babbling on about an ideal world. He said that he was going to start supporting the elderly and those who weren't born into wealth. Not onlywas he going to use the national treasury for this, but he even planned on lowering taxes" Shabadaba tells him.
"Papa was doing something like that?" Michiru asks shocked.
Shabadaba just ignores the question and continues his rant.
"For example, what do you think allows you to eat delicious food as much as you like?" Shabadaba asks.
He picks a green pear from a bowl of fruit and holds it as an example. He then takes a bite from it with the juice dripping from his mouth. Despite himself Michiru can't help but gulp down his desire for the pear.
"Since this country is wealthy, we're able to enjoy such delicacies. And yet he said everything was meant for the people!" Shabadaba shouts angrily.
"He said it was our job to protect the peoples assets. Quit with the fancy talk!" Shabadaba shouts.
He throws the barely eaten pear to the ground smashing it as some of the juice hits Michiru on the face.
"Listen up!" He shouts at the prince.
"The most important thing in this world is money, money, money, money! Money is everything!" Shabada rants.
"That just means you want to become rich!" Michiru shouts back.
"That's right! I want more!" Shabadaba shouts.
He gets closer to the princes face as he starts pushing and pulling the fat on it. He then starts poking and pushing the prince.
"I want to get fat and have a plump body like yours!" He says before finally slapping the prince.
"You killed papa … over something like that" Says a teary Michiru.
"But he's dead. Now I'm going to become the King" Shabadaba proclaims.
"No I will! I will become the King!" Michiru shouts.
Shabadaba barely turns his head to give the prince an evil look.
"I doubt that. Dead men aren't usually made Kings"
It was now daylight where the group was hiding in the forest. Everyone was understandably upset about the previous night, but Naruto didn't care for all the talk about giving up and running away. Hikaru of course was the most upset as he sat in the clearing crying and ready to quit. Naruto decided enough was enough.
"Get up" He says to the crying boy.
Hikaru ignores him as he continues to cry.
"I said, get up!" Naruto shouts.
Everyone in the clearing shot surprised looks at Naruto, but Hikaru did as told even if he kept his head down and still cried.
"We need to rescue Michiru-san" Naruto says calmly.
"That's impossible!" Shouted Hikaru.
"I'm sure we can't save him! After all … after all they're going to kill papa!" Hikaru continues.
After shouting that he fell back to the ground and buried his face in the grass as he continued to cry. Naruto stood and walked over to the crying boy.
"Get up Hikaru"
"Get up" Naruto repeats when he doesn't.
"I said get up!" Naruto shouts as he lifts the boy onto his feet.
Everyone quickly got to their feet fearing what the blond would do. Kakashi had already pulled out a kunai. Defense of the clients' son would work well to dissolve any trouble he got in if he timed it right.
"Is this it … Is this the limit of your strength. You are just going to sit here and cry as they kill your papa" Naruto says.
Hikaru was stunned in silence as he stopped crying.
"Where's the boy that risked his life to save an animal that only moments earlier tried to make him a midnight snack. Where is that boy that said he wants to be the man his grandpa wanted him to be. Where's that boy that said he wanted to be someone people can depend and count on.
Your father is in a bad spot, but there is still hope. Doesn't your father deserve the same determination to save him that you gave Cham. I promise if you won't quit, I won't. We will save your father" Naruto announces.
Everyone in the clearing just looked at the blond with skepticism. How could they take on those three missing ninja and an entire army of troops to save one man that was probably already dead.
But the speech had the desire effect. The look on Hikaru's face grew serious as he stood up.
"I'll go. I'll go and save Papa!" The boy shouts.
The look on his face was enough to tell the others he was serious. Naruto smiled at the determination in his eyes. Still some weren't as easily swayed.
"Hikaru-sama, be reasonable!" One of the remaining loyal soldier shouted.
He wanted to save the prince, but there was just no way.
"Hey, I'll protect the kid. Nothing will happen to him. I promise" Naruto responds.
"I'm ready" Karin chimes in.
"Let's go" Sakura says.
"Can't let the brats have all the fun" teased Anko.
"I'm in" Ami adds.
"Hn, like you'd get far without my help" Sasuke says.
"We did make a promise to the former King. We should all follow the example of their courage" Kakashi says to the men still against it.
That's when they heard some rustling sounds like something large was coming towards them. Everyone tensed up before relaxing when the head of Cham and Kiki came from behind a tree.
"Cham! Kiki!" Hikaru shouted.
He ran to embrace the sabre-toothed tiger and was rewarded with a lick to the face that knocked him back a bit.
"Hey Cham! What's wrong with you all of a sudden" They heard.
That's when the members of the circus appeared. Including one ticked off ring master.
"After the prince's carriage ran off somewhere we went to the place thinking 'Well, that's odd …' Only then to be turned away at the gate, and even threated by the soldiers!" The man shouted.
"Because of that all the animals panicked and ran into this forest!"
"And to not be able to collect our fee? That's completely different from what we agreed upon!"
"Now, will you please explain to me what's going on around here?!" He finished shouting at the apparent leader of the soldiers with them.
"Ringmaster-san, you anger is very understandable. It would be trouble for everyone in the circus if you weren't able to get your money" Kakashi intervenes trying to appease the man.
He then goes on to tell him what's happening.
Meanwhile, at the castle prince Michiru's situation was becoming extremely precarious. A plank had been erected on the balcony of the thrown room and he was being shoved out onto it blindfolded with a noose around his neck no less attached to another wooden beam held in place by a pully system.
"No! No, no, no! Stop it! No!" Michiru shouted in fear.
"For the longest time I wanted to try executing the master this way" Shabadaba says to those around him.
Around his throne stood five old men dressed in expensive robes and his wife. All of them watching as Michiru was made to step over the railing of the balcony and out onto the plank before the noose was placed around him. He tried to fight them, but it was all in vain. Shabadaba enjoyed it nonetheless.
"You mustn't struggle like that Michiru-dono! Otherwise …" He called out jovially.
The frown on his face when Michiru recovered instead of instantly falling to his doom was noticeable. Michiru stood and stopped struggling to his further disappointment.
"Remove the blindfold for him" Shabadaba ordered.
Upon seeing where he was Michiru fell back against the balcony, but Shabadaba wasn't having that. He ordered one of the soldiers to turn the crank connected to the rope, which forced Michiru to his feet.
"Try not to fall too quickly! It wouldn't be any fun that way!" Shabadaba taunted the prince.
As the rope was pulled further Michiru moved to the center of the long wooden plank almost causing it to snap, but that forced him to the edge of the plank where he nearly fell off. But once again to Shabadaba's disappointment Michiru managed to regain his balance.
When the prince managed to calm down his eyes fell on the beauty of the surrounding land bathed in the light of the setting sun. Its beauty was breath taking and it was in this moment the prince began to see what his father was trying to tell him before he died.
It was well after the sunset when the guards at the gate heard the sounds of a drum and music coming up the path. It was the circus, back again much to the guards' anger.
"What are you guys doing back here?!" He shouts at them.
"No, umm …" The ringmaster fumbled for an excuse.
"Leave!" The guard shouted as he pointed his spear at them.
A disguised Kakashi moved to the front of the group and used his sharingan to get them through without incident. In the throne room the three missing-nin entered the room. The red haired leader looked like he had seen better days, but was moving around just fine.
"What's this?" He asked Shabadaba referring to the prince's predicament.
"Just a little entertainment. It'd be boring to kill him right away, don't you think?" Shabadaba responds.
A couple of moments later the circus entered the gates and made their way to the court yard.
"What?" One of the soldiers watching Michiru says.
"Those circus folks? Why were they let in?" Questioned another.
Shabadaba and his advisors came out to see what the commotion was.
"We should turn them away immediately" One of the old men says.
But Shabadaba caught sight of a beautiful blonde, blue eyed girl doing acrobatics at the front of the circus group.
"No, wait. I was just starting to get bored because of this guy anyway" He says.
People started to come out of the estate to watch the circus as they performed forgetting about what was happening above them.
While the circus was busy doing their part in distracting the occupants of the estate Naruto, the three remaining loyal soldiers, Sakura, Sasuke, Karin, and Hikaru entered the estate through a secret passage.
They ran through the estate, but with everyone out watching the circus the halls were pretty easy allowing them to move freely for the most part. It wasn't till they reached the stairs that they ran into a group of soldiers standing watch in front of them. Sakura quickly relayed a coded message to Kakashi through their communication device.
He got everyones attention and then using his sharingan, which alerted the missing-nin and Shabadaba to what was happening called out the technique.
'Water Release: Water Beast' Kakashi intones.
Using the water in the fountain a giant wolf like beast rises up and blasts the front of the estate with a huge spray of water. The blasts of water sent everyone standing out watching the show in various directions as they were captured by the flow of the rushing water including the guards inside the castle.
Not one to be left out Anko jumped from out behind the circus performers and also performed a technique.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu" She shouted.
Three large pythons emerged from the smoke and dealt with the wave of soldiers that poured out of the castle when the wave of water subsided. Kakashi though was able to maintain the water beast jutsu as he used it continue sending sprays of water at the soldiers.
Ami also helped out as she fought a group of soldiers trying to attack the group from the side that the snakes hadn't picked off. Some members of the circus and the animals were also fighting.
Meanwhile the group had made it up the stairs. Kakashi told them Michiru was being held in the throne room so that meant they had to go up three levels of stairs. Frankly Naruto was wondering about the genius of bringing the kid and the four soldiers along. It would have been simpler to get in and out if it was just them alone.
After reaching the first level they ran to the next set of stairs running as fast as they were allowed to with the kid following them. As soon as they reached the top of the stairs they were met with the dark haired member of the three missing-nin with the big dopey face.
"It's true. That's the leader for you. He's great at reading things.
Like that the rukus outside was a diversion. It was all obvious" The dark haired missing-nin says.
"You not very bright coming here to face us like this are you. In case you forgot I alone bounced all three of your asses around the sand earlier. But if your looking for more …" Naruto threatens.
He moves to step forward, but Sasuke stands in the way.
"This ones mine. The rest of you should go on ahead. I'll be right behind you" Sasuke says.
"Alright he's all yours, let's go" Naruto orders.
They quickly turned and ran to the next set of stairs, but the big guy tried to stop them only for Sasuke to force him to stop as he tried to kick him in the face. The dark haired man blocked the kick and squared up to face the Uchiha.
"I'm not going to hold back on you" He tells Sasuke.
"Neither will I"
Sasuke's eyes turned red as he activated his kekkei genkai. Both fighters rushed at each other, but Sasuke's sharingan gave him the advantage as he dodged the punch and landed one of his own on the bigger man's gut. To his surprise the man didn't budge as he gave a large toothy smile and tried to smash Sasuke's head into the ground.
The Konoha genin managed to dodge as the fist crashed to the ground creating a cloud of dust and debris. Meanwhile the group just made it to the top of the stairs when Karin quickly grabbed a kunai hidden in her shirt sleeve and threw it at the wall in front of them.
Everyone looked at her questioningly except Naruto that knew what was going on. The wall slowly buldged as a shape became visible on the wall. When the cloaking technique dropped the white haired female of the missing-nin group was grinning at them her head a few inches away from the kunai embedded in the wall.
"Good job, noticing me" The white haired female says.
"She wasn't the only one. That perfume your wearing wreaks. Wearing perfume even though you're just a kid. You've got bad taste" Sakura taunts.
Naruto and the others somehow managed to resist the urge to shout hypocrite at the pink haired genin.
"Kid?" The white haired female says angrily.
"I'll handle her. Go on ahead" Sakura says.
"Did you say, kid?!" The the white haired missing-nin shrieked.
She then dove at Sakura forcing everyone to jump back as she created a shallow crater in the floor.
"I'm already twenty-two, you know!" The female missing nin shouted.
No one in the hall way knew what to think about that. Seriously she not only now had a more horribly annoying voice than Sakura, but now was an adult with noticeably less curves than her as well. It didn't get much worse than that in most of the guys opinion.
"Karin, stay with her. I'll handle the leader on my own" Naruto orders.
"Becareful" Karin responds.
Naruto nods as he and the group ran past the distracted white haired female. Her focus was soley on Sakura not even seeming to notice the female Uzumaki staying behind.
The group continued on as they found themselves outside below the throne room and Michiru still standing on the plank.
"Papa!" Hikaru shouted.
Naruto was focused on the prince so he saw it too late when the red headed leader of the missing-nin jumped down his gloved hand smashing the face of the oldest soldier with them and almost instantly turning him into a statue then smashing him against the ground.
Before anyone could make a move they were surrounded by at least fifty soldiers in full armor and gear swords and spears pointed at them.
Naruto stepped out in front of the group even though the three remaining men tried to hold him back. He and the red head stared each other down while Shabadaba laughed from above.
"It was all in vain, wasn't it. Your plan" He taunts.
"Actually I'm surprised your alive. The Kusanagi's poison is usually extremely lethal and fast acting. But looking at you I can see you won't be alive much longer. We should make this quick, I've never fought a dead man before" Naruto responds.
"Die!" The red head shouts as he charges.
He was halted as ten puffs of smoke erupted and then ten Naruto's rushed the soldiers surrounding them. A load roar was also heard from behind them as Cham came running to their rescue. The soldiers parted as the sabre-toothed cat came running at them.
Naruto threw down a couple of smoke pellets and when the smoke cleared Cham and the loyal soldiers were running up the stairs to the throne room.
The red head then looked to see that the blond haired kid had stayed behind.
"Didn't want to run away with your friends" He taunted.
Naruto smiled at him. He unbuttoned his shirt as seals flared up illuminating his skin before he deftly touched several of them and they faded away.
"Run from you? You are good, but not that good. Without that glove your just some second rate missing-nin. I won't even break a sweat killing you" Naruto says.
"Isshidate, kill him!" Shabadaba shouted from above them.
"Gladly" the red head responds.
Naruto takes a deep breath and then exhales a large amount of dark mist that covers the entire floor and rises ten feet above floor level they were standing on blinding the soldiers and Isshidate.
"What is this?!" The red head shouts.
"This is my 'Meiton: Enmu – Dark Release: Smog'" Naruto answers from inside the smog.
Isshidate could barely breathe. It felt like the smog was choking him and his eyes were watery as he tried to breathe the air into his lungs, which felt like they were on fire. He made a run for the stairs, but was kicked in the midsection as he fell to a knee. Unfortunately this made him suck in the more of the polluted air.
His head was then smashed into the stone floor by what felt like a leg made of iron. He wasn't the only one feeling the effects of the jutsu as the soldiers were already knocked out from a lack of oxygen and several well placed blows to their bodies.
Isshidate had enough. He powered up his glove and reached around trying to come in contact with his blonde attacker, but all he felt was air until he felt something. He immediately turned it to stone. His satisfaction was short lived as he was soon kicked on the butt and sent skidding across the stone floor.
He fumbled around reaching for what hit him and his hand landed on what felt like a leg and he turned it and the person to stone. He didn't stop this time and felt another body and turned it to stone as well just in case.
He needed air. He jumped up temporarily escaping the smog attack and gulping down the fresh air greedily. Gaining control of himself he saw the blond haired brat and dove for him. Naruto simply substituted himself with one of the knocked out soldiers.
Isshidate didn't even bother to stop channeling chakra to his glove when he noticed what happened. The poor soldier was turned to stone and the red head callously threw him to the ground shattering him.
Isshidate fell to the ground, but noticed the smog had dissipated and in its wake it left behind the dead bodies of the entire platoon of soldiers that were backing him up including those he had killed himself. Up on the balcolny Shabadaba eyes grew wide as he and his wife looked shocked at the sight. The pair began to back away making their way back towards the throne room.
Just as the pair made their way to the open door they were run over by the 3 remaining loyal soldiers, Cham, and Hikaru. They all fell in a pile of tangled limbs.
"Ohh!"
Those in the pile stopped moving and looked for the source of that sound. It was Shabadaba's wife and the reason for the sound was soon found as well. One of the soldiers' hands had found their way to a very delicate area of her body during the struggle.
Aside from being a little disturbed by the situation the struggling to separate began especially for the unfortunate soldier that had his hand now trapped by the older, unattractive woman. Try as he might to yank himself free the woman was not letting go and no one else seemed to care one way or the other.
"Papa!" shouted Hikaru.
Luckily he had landed on top of the pile and could see his father clearly.
"Hikaru!" Michiru shouted back.
The man tried to turn to look at his son only to hear …
*Crack* As the wood finally started to give out. The wood began to splinter and crack.
Hearing the noise everyone stopped moving and looked towards the surpsingly not frantic Michiru. Instead his eyes were focused on the land and sky of his country.
Shabadaba managed to crawl out from under the pile and was looking on anxiously as he cheered.
"Go on fall! Fall!" The man cheered.
Michiru didn't seem to even hear the grotesque little old man. His eyes held the look of a man resigned to his fate.
"Goodbye Hikaru" He says softly.
Barely a second later the board finally broke and Michiru plummeted towards certain death. However, he grunted as he felt something impact his stomach as he suddenly seemed to lift higher in the air making the noose stop tightening around his neck.
He was soon dumped on solid ground. The rope was carefully cut from around his neck allowing him to breathe as he fell forward to the ground catching himself with his hands.
"Naruto-niichan!" Michiru heard Hikaru shout.
Indeed when he looked up the prince found the blond, blue eyed shinobi giving him a big grin.
"Thank you" Michiru whispered.
Naruto heard it all the same and nodded.
"Now to deal with the trash" Naruto says.
Michiru thought he was talking about Shabadaba and his wife.
"No, wait!" He shouted as he stood up.
"Let me deal with them" Michiru says menacingly … well as menacingly as he could.
It was enough for Shabadaba though as he took off running into the throne room. For being such a big out of shape guy Michiru was keeping up well as he ran after the man. Hikaru, Cham, and two of the soldiers ran after them leaving Naruto alone … well mostly alone. He wasn't sure what was going on over in the left corner of the balcony and he didn't really want to know.
Instead he looked down and saw the angry looking Isshidate. Naruto jumped over the railing using a liberal amount of wind chakra to slow his dissent. When he touched down he was facing the missing-nin.
No words were said as Isshidate held up his gloved hand and sent as much chakra as he could through it. The eye in the middle went from orange to an orangish-yellow color as the white lines became visible. Then the glove turned red while the eye's pupil displayed a dark orange and red coloring while the iris was enlarged and pure black the surrounded area was dark orange and blood red like the pupil.
Naruto noted the change, but paid more attention to the man. He took out a single kunai as the man charged straight at him like some amateur. Naruto through the kunai as it raced toward the man's face.
Isshidate didn't even stop as he plucked the kunai out of the air with his ungloved hand. He reached the blond kid quickly and stabbed him with his own kunai while his gloved hand moved to turn him to stone.
He paused just a moment to say something.
"I expected more" He said.
He said nothing more as his gloved hand came in contact with Naruto's head gripping it.
"So did I" He heard from behind him.
His head snapped directly behind him to see the grinning blonde only to turn his head just in time for the Naruto infront of him to explode violently. He was sent screaming back into the hard cement of the adjacent tower where he went threw the wall and landed on the hard floor of the building.
It wasn't over though as the kunai clattered to the floor beside him and began to glow. The resulting explosion engulfed Isshidate and caused the floor to collapse nearly squashing Sakura as Karin had moved when she sensed the build up of chakra.
"NARUTO!" He heard coming from the building.
He just ignored it in time to see Michiru triumphantly walking out with Shabadaba and his wife tied up and being held by the remaining loyal soldiers. Naruto could see some bruising on Shabadaba's face although his wife was smiling. Naruto also noted they were missing one of the soldiers, but he ignored it.
"What will you do with him?" Naruto asked the prince.
Michiru tugged on the rope he held connecting to the bound traitor as he was sent tumbling to the floor in front the prince. Michiru smirked as he thought about the question.
After that things happened very quickly. Kakashi exhausted all of his chakra and spent the time recuperating. The surviving soldiers and the rest of the Konoha group rounded up all the remaining men and women loyal to Shabadaba. That effort took nearly a week and a few managed to escape off the island nation, but most were caught.
Those proven to be a part of Shabadaba's plan or complicit with him would be held in prison for a time to be determined later by a trial. However, there were too many for them all to be tried so some would be pardoned depending on their role and agreeing to certain stipulations.
As for Shabadaba and his wife they were both to be executed in a month's time for the crime of high treason. He would not make it a public affair.
The prince was made the new King of Moon Country at the end of the week and big celebration was had by everyone. There were so many parties going on around the island nation that the group couldn't get to all of them. Of course the King and the now Prince Hikaru invited them to the repaired palace for a grand feast to mark the occasion.
Naruto did note that despite all the food and parties Michiru didn't eat as much as he did before. He'd also heard from Hikaru that the man had started exercising. Something was up with that and Naruto had a guess as to what.
After the coronation was done there was nothing left for the ninja. New soldiers had been recruited and were adequately guarding the new King and Prince of their country. So they spent a few days enjoying the beach and relaxing before they would leave.
Naruto was laying back on the sand looking out on the ocean when his quiet time was interrupted. A shadow loomed over him. He didn't need to look up to see who it was.
"What do you want?" Naruto asked.
"Aww … and here I thought you might like to rub some tanning lotion on my body" Anko says seductively.
Naruto's right eyebrow arched as he looked up at the woman. Naruto thought it wasn't possible for her to dress any more slutty than she regularly did and it turned out he was wrong.
He wasn't sure it was even legal to walk around in something like that. It was the smallest bikini he had ever seen. There was a small strip of material barely big enough to cover her nipples attached to a string that went around her back. Oh and the material was slightly see through and she hadn't gotten in the water yet.
The bottoms were just as bad as another small stip covered her labia, but her pubic mound was on full display as the material stoped a quarter of an incher above her labia attached to a couple of strings then went around her back and led to a single string that went down the middle of butt cheecks, both of which were also on full display.
"Where did you even find something like that?" Naruto asked.
"You like, I went through every bikini shop in this town before finding this little number" Anko said as she poses.
He hated to admit it, but she is hot. He had to force himself to look away and stare out at the ocean again.
"What do you want?" He asked again.
"I just wanted to say hi and see if you … maybe … wanted to get something to eat … with me" She answers awkwardly.
Naruto had to look up at her again just to make sure it was the same women as she sounded so nervous. He quickly looked away again.
"I'll pass" he responded.
'I can't believe this. Here I am wearing this ridiculously hot bikini and he won't even look at me' Anko thought angrily.
"Look at me" She says.
"Look at me!" She shouts when he doesn't.
Seeing that he still won't look at her she pushes him back onto the ground and pins him as she leans over him making him look at her.
"What's it going to take?" She asked sadly.
"What's it going to take for you to forgive me. It's been over 5 years already. I've said I'm sorry, I've begged you, gotten on me knees even. I can't do it anymore. Just tell me what you want me to do already and I'll do it" She tells him.
A black inky substance crawled it's way over Naruto and then he sunk into the ground.
'What the fuck?' Thought Anko.
"I'm going to tell you once more that I will never, ever forgive you for what happened. You don't know how hard it was for me to trust you back then after all the times I had trusted someone before and literally been stabbed in the back for it.
But you wore me down. You made me think you really cared, that you understood me. That we shared the same pain. Only to find myself betrayed once more by someone I thought I could trust, because she was in the same pain I was.
You betrayed me and for what? Some stupid promotion?" Naruto says from behind her.
Anko didn't even turn to face him instead keeping her head down towards the ground.
"I wa-wanted too …"
"Too what?" Naruto interrupts.
"To be accepted by them!" She shouts.
"I wanted to be accepted by them. I just wanted them to see me like everyone else. To treat me like everyone else. I'm sorry about what I did, but can't you … can't you at least see that I didn't want to hurt you" She says turning to face him.
Naruto quickly turns away causing her to drop her head. The reason he turned away was that her momevement causing the bikini to shift and pretty much everything was on display.
"I'm going to tell you something I told Umino-san some time ago. I thank you for your apology, but it is wasted on me. I do not forgive you or anyone in this village … including the Hokage for what has been done to me. However, I do not seek revenge. I just want to be left alone.
That's what I want from you Mitarashi-san. I don't want to be friends, I certainly don't want to fuck you or be your boyfriend. I don't have any plan of some grand revenge on you or anybody else in Konoha.
I just want to finish out these last 2 years and get on with my life" Naruto responds.
"Why the change? You sounded like you absolutely hated my guts back in Wave" Anko reminds him.
"It was the first time I had even seen you since that night and you went about it in the wrong way. I may have overreacted some and I have had the chance to think about it since Wave.
Don't get me wrong I stand behind everything I said that day, but I've moved on. You should move on as well. My forgiveness is something you can't have" Naruto says before leaving.
He would have to try again tomorrow to get some peace. Maybe he would try his luck in one of the casino's. He had been meaning to visit one since things had gotten back to normal on the island. Of course if he had remembered who he was talking to he would know things wouldn't end this simply.
'Ku,ku,ku maybe not today Naruto-kun, maybe not tomorrow or the day after that or the month after that, but you will forgive me or I am not the sexiest, hottest damn kunoichi there is. Oh yes, you will forgive me' thought Anko as she dusted herself off and ignored the lustful stares the surrounding male population was giving her.
The next day he was playing on the beach with Hikaru, Cham, Kiki, and Karin when another uninvited guest popped up.
"Uzumaki"
Naruto stood and turned to face the speaker. He grinned at seeing who it was.
"Hmm … I wondered when you would make your move. Let me guess you want to know what happened between me and your brother" Naruto says with a grin.
"…"
"Just going to stare at me huh. *Shrugs* Not like it matters. The fight ended in a draw and he left" Naruto tells him.
"That's it. It was a draw and he left?" Sasuke questioned.
"That's all you need to know about it … actually you didn't need to know anything. Now reward my generosity by leaving" Naruto says.
"Fight me" The Uchiha says.
"Not interested"
"Fight me! Or are you scared" The Uchiha taunts.
"A lame taunt, that's all you got? Go away Uchiha" Naruto responds.
"Fight me!"
The shout was followed by him running at Naruto as he closed the distance and prepared to punch the blond idiot. Sasuke cocked his arm back and proceeded to punch the blond square in the mouth only to have his fist go straight through the blond.
He wasn't given time to recover before a knee found it's way to his stomach and a punch connected with the side of his head. Sasuke staggered back before retreating a little to get some space.
"Hmm … you've gotten a little stronger since the academy, but I was expecting so much more from the 'Rookie of the Year' after all the training Hatake has surely given you" Naruto taunts.
Sasuke hand started to turn red from the pressure he was exerting as he reminded himself to keep calm.
"I'll show you the difference between a peasant and an Uchiha Elite" Sasuke says as his eyes bleed red.
Naruto didn't bother activating his.
"I see … so your plan was to fight me and steal my techniques. Your so easy to read little Uchiha. Do you really think I would be stupid enough to show you anything.
You are not on my level. You never were on my level. As far as being an Uchiha Elite … that's easy to say when you're the only Uchiha left" Naruto responds.
Sasuke frowns, but doesn't immediately attack. He takes out a couple of kunai and rushes in again.
'This time will be different. It will be you under my foot this time' Sasuke thinks.
When Sasuke got closer Naruto calmly sunk into the ground and before Sasuke could adjust as he sunk he grabbed Sasuke's ankles firmly causing him to fall forward as he threw the kunai down so he could brace himself.
It was like a repeat of the Survival Exercise Kakashi put him through when evaluating their team as he found himself up to his chin in the sand. He didn't even know how the blond did it.
Naruto calmly rose from the sand right in front of Sasuke as he looked down on him.
"This is warning number three Uchiha. You don't seem to learn very well so I'll make it clear. I'm not some training tool you get to use to guage how close you are to killing your brother.
I have no interest in helping you kill him. I have no interest in helping you get stronger. I do not care about you. So stay away, because there is no fourth warning, I promise you that.
Come at me again and you won't ever get the chance to fight your brother or avenge your clan. Now, I'm going to go have fun with my friends. Have fun getting out of there" Naruto says.
Sasuke struggled to break free as Naruto walked over to Hikaru and Karin that had watched the whole thing.
"That was so cool Naruto-oniisan!" Hikaru shouted.
He started mimicking the quick fight and added moves of his own. Naruto just laughed and patted his head.
"Should you really leave him there?" Karin asked.
She watched as Cham sniffed the Uchiha before licking his face and walking back over to them and Kiki mussed up his hair. It was a slight improvement if you asked Naruto.
"He'll be fine. I'm sure Hatake will be here soon to help him out if he doesn't get out himself" Naruto responds.
Karin nodded at that and left it alone.
"How about we go back to town and get some ice cream?" Naruto suggests.
Hikaru nodded eagerly, royalty or not he was still a kid. Karin also nodded as the five of them walked back into town leaving the Uchiha by himself.
The next morning Team 7 got on one of the luxury cruise ships and departed for Konoha. The noticeably fitter and better looking Michiru, Hikaru, Cham, and Kiki seeing them off waving until the boat was nearly out of sight.
"I think I'm going to go pick up Mama once the country settles down" Michiru tells the now sullen Hikaru.
"I understand what she meant now. I know what's precious to me. I know what it means to love what's precious" Michiru says.
"I bet she will be happy to see that"
"Huh?" Michiru says as he turns around.
"Naruto, Karin!" Shouted Hikaru.
"Naruto-kun … why are you not on the ship headed home?" Michiru asks.
Naruto bends down to hug Hikaru and pet Cham and Kiki.
"I wanted to talk to you about something without any prying ears around. Do you have time to hear a proposal that could benefit your country?" Naruto asks.
"Sure, umm … let's go to the palace" Michiru directs.
Naruto nods and he and Karin follow the royal duo and their entourage back to the Estate.
4 Days Later
"I told you we should have gone back for them!" Anko shouted.
"Maa, maa I'm sure they caught the next boat. They probably slept it after over doing it the night before" Kakashi responds.
"Still we should have waited for them at the port" Anko argues.
"Look we're here and there's nothing that can be done about it now" Kakashi says as he knocks on the Hokage's door.
'Have fun being stuck on that stupid island dobe' thought a still pissed Uchiha.
"Enter" Tsunade says.
Anko gave Kakashi a look that said this wasn't over before she Ami passed him and walked into the office. Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 soon followed not caring in the least what happened to the blond or his cousin.
"Ahh Team 7, here to give your report?" Tsunade asks.
"Yes, Hokage-sama" they answers.
"Good, Naruto already filed his and gave me a rundown of the mission so just hand the report to Shizune and you can collect your pay" Tsunade says.
If she had been looking at them when she said this she would have noticed the shock or confused faces they gave her. But she was focused on reading reports of Lee's recovery.
He underwent the surgery several days before and so far the reports on his recovery were better than he expected. He might actually be able to rejoin Team Gai in a few months barring any setbacks.
"Naruto already gave his report?" Anko questioned.
"Huh, oh yeah … he and that Karin girl came back three days ago. Nice job with the client by the way. It seems we have secured our relationship with Moon Country as King Michiru was very pleased with your work" Tsunade says still looking at the reports.
"How is that even possible. It's nearly a weeks travel to get from the Crescent Moon Kingdom to here and he missed the boat the day we left" Kakashi says.
The tone of desperiation in his voice caused Tsunade to look up from her reports and eye the man curiously.
"He has some kind of teleportation just, didn't you know?" She tells them.
All of team 7 just shook there heads.
"Hmph, well I wouldn't believe it but he took a gift and a request for an alliance for me to the new King Michiru and arrived back within ten minutes with the alliance agreement signed. Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do, your dismissed and remember to give the written report to Shizune before you leave the building" Tsunade says.
She goes back to her paperwork missing the looks on Team 7's faces.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง