Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Koorikage ❯ Traitor ( Chapter 5 )

Notes: With the arrival of chapter 245 and thus Part 2 of the Naruto story, my interest has been rekindled. This is not to say that my interest was waning in any way shape or form, just that I'm more engrossed than ever.

 

Even though my story becomes more and more AU every week, seeing them grown up and stuff has reminded me how much I love these characters and why I wanted to write a story about them in the first place. You know that thrill you get when you first really get into something and it drives you to write a fanfic? It starts to fade over time, but I just got it again like I was getting it for the first time. Woo!

 

So now, without further ado, more stuff that we now know for certain will never happen in the Naruto universe, but would be really cool if it did.

 

 

Chapter 5 - Traitor

 

“Aomaru!” Teiko shouted as the four sound nin carried him away.

“I'm going after him!” Musuka yelled as he leapt into the trees where the ninja carrying Aomaru had disappeared.

“I'm coming with you!” Naruto hollered back and followed him. With a grumble, Shikamaru leapt after him, signaling for Neji and Tenten to come along and for Lee to stay with the two other injured snow ninja.

“What are you doing?” Musuka demanded as Naruto caught up to him. “It's your fault he was captured in the first place! Leave me; I can handle this on my own!”

“I could care less about what you want!” Naruto yelled back at him. “I'm after Sasuke!”

“Calm down, Naruto,” Shikamaru said, having caught up as well. Then he turned to Musuka. “Their leader is a missing nin from our village. We've been hunting him for years, and he's the reason we're here in the first place. Your cousin and his team misinterpreted the situation and got caught in the middle before we could explain.” It was an excellent excuse, and if he played his cards exactly right they could come out on top with the snow village after all.

“Assuming you're telling the truth, what would he want with Aomaru?” Musuka asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

“We don't know,” Shikamaru answered. “Though at least now we know why he was here in the first place, assuming that was his only goal.”

“So you've been snooping around our village trying to catch this guy, is that what you're trying to tell me?” The hidden weapons master still seemed unconvinced. “Why didn't you come right to us and tell us from the start?”

“To be honest, we had no idea of knowing how cooperative your village would have been to us,” Shikamaru said as they continued leaping through the trees after their quarry. “Also, the whole situation is a bit of an embarrassment to our village and we wanted to try to clean it up without anybody having to find out.”

“Well, you blew that one, didn't you?” the snow ninja snapped.

“Blame your cousin's team for that,” Naruto snapped right back. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

“Whatever,” the Nara said. “Our first priority right now is to retrieve your comrade. There's no way you can do it alone, so you might as well accept our help.”

“Fine,” Musuka replied, narrowing his eyes once again. “I'll accept your help for the time being. What are we dealing with here?”

“Their leader is a former leaf ninja with extensive knowledge of fire element techniques,” Shikamaru said. “He was the number one rookie of his year when he became a genin, and is a rare genius. He also possesses a bloodline ability that allows him to see through and copy almost any technique, be it ninjutsu, genjutsu or taijutsu.”

“He sounds like a monster!” Musuka exclaimed.

“He is,” mumbled Naruto quietly, more to himself than anyone.

“What about the other three?”

“We have no knowledge of them,” Shikamaru stated. “They are from our enemy, the hidden sound village, and are most likely all chuunin or jounin. That's all I can say right now.”

“So how are we going to beat them?”

“We're not,” Shikamaru said simply. “We're going to overtake them, grab your friend, and run.”

“WHAT!?” Naruto yelled. “Shikamaru…!”

“That's the strategy, Naruto,” the Nara said forcefully.

“But…Sasuke!”

“Retrieving their comrade is our number one priority. We can't risk him getting hurt or recaptured in a drawn-out battle. We'll take him and run. And before you say anything, there's no way you can take on Sasuke and three sound ninja on your own.”

“I can try!” the blonde continued to argue.

“But you won't. You'll carry out the mission as ordered. If Sasuke's finally made an appearance after all this time, you'll catch up with him again soon enough.”

Naruto said no more, which Shikamaru knew was his way of grudgingly accepting the plan.

“We're coming up on them!” Musuka said suddenly.

“They know we're right behind them, so this is going to have to be fast,” Shikamaru said. “We left right after them, so they won't have had time to set any traps. Go straight for your comrade; I'll cover you.”

“What about him?” Musuka gestured to Naruto.

“Naruto's running interference.” The Nara turned to the one in question. “Naruto, make sure Sasuke is off our backs. He's the only one who can stop us.”

Naruto said nothing, but his face was set in grim determination.

“Can he handle that?” Musuka asked. “The way you described this guy makes him sound unbeatable.”

“He can handle it,” Shikamaru affirmed, glancing at his friend, whose expression was more set in purpose than he'd ever seen it. “If there's one ninja from our village who can handle Uchiha Sasuke, it's Naruto.”

 

-

 

“They're coming!” one of Sasuke's subordinates yelled.

“I know,” the Uchiha replied calmly. “Just make sure you don't lose that kid. Whether you help me defeat them or not does not matter to me.”

“Hai, Sasuke-sama!”

At that moment, a storm of shuriken shot out of the trees from behind them and they scattered to avoid being hit. “Pointless,” Sasuke thought to himself.

“Let him go!” came a voice, and a half dozen chains with various sharp objects attached flew at the subordinate carrying the prisoner. One of them with a claw caught his leg and he was yanked backward.

“Incompetence,” Sasuke grumbled in his mind, and moved back to take charge of the situation. Another of his subordinates had come to assist the one carrying the prisoner, but was ceased in his movement when caught in a moving shadow. Sasuke saw his two targets and prepared to neutralize them when a familiar voice shouted out from the trees to his left.

“Sasukeeeeee!”

He turned and saw his blonde former teammate flying toward him. He twisted his foot in the air to catch a nearby tree limb and effortlessly dodge out of the way. However, just as the loudmouth ninja shot past him, another one dashed at him from behind. Again, he dodged in the nick of time. Now he found himself between two more Narutos, one from below and one from above.

“Such basic tactics. He'll never change.” Just as he thought that, he felt a hand grab around his ankle and looked down to see it coming out of the branch he was standing on. Then the branch spoke.

“You've gotten sloppy, Sasuke.”

 

-

 

Naruto grinned, even though in his current form it was not visible to his opponent. Sasuke growled and twisted his foot loose, throwing an explosive tag into his face.

“Too bad, wrong one!” he taunted as he dropped down on his old friend from above, just as his tree limb clone vanished in a puff of smoke. He saw Sasuke begin to perform seals, and grinned again. He'd have to wait until just the right moment so that he couldn't be copied with that annoying Sharingan.

“Katon! Goukakyou no jutsu!” A giant ball of flame shot toward Naruto, who then began to form his own seals.

“Suiton! Suitaihou no jutsu!” a massive blast of water shot out of his mouth and hit Sasuke's fireball dead on. He used the opportunity to spring from below again and grab Sasuke in a sleeper hold.

“I've been training to fight you for three years,” he said cockily. “You don't think I learned some techniques to counter yours?” With another annoyed grunt, Sasuke threw him off and kicked the one coming in from above into a tree. Neither vanished, and instead stood up again a moment later to continue the fight. For the first time in their encounter, Sasuke looked agitated. This pleased Naruto a great deal.

“We've got him!” came Shikamaru's voice. He looked over to see his teammate and Musuka attempting to retreat, but being hampered by holding Aomaru and fighting three sound ninja at once. Sasuke took advantage of his distraction and threw a kunai in his face, which he caught just before it hit.

“Kuso…” he grumbled.

“You'll never get out of here,” Sasuke said. “You can barely hold out against me and that leaves your teammates outnumbered with a burden to carry.” The Uchiha smirked. Naruto looked again and saw the three sound nin swooping in on his teammates. However, one was suddenly impaled with countless shuriken and kunai and fell to the ground dead, while another was blindsided by none other than Hyuuga Neji. Tenten appeared behind him a second later.

“Sorry we're late,” the Kunoichi said, smiling.

“Never mind that, it's time to get out of here!” Shikamaru yelled.

“No!” Sasuke suddenly yelled. “Recapture the prisoner! Now!” But his two remaining subordinates were having difficulty making it passed the combined might of Neji and Musuka, and Shikamaru and Tenten were already on their way back to the village with Aomaru.

“No!” Sasuke yelled again. His mask of no emotion had come off, and he flew after them. Naruto dashed after him, and had five more clones drop down from the trees to cut him off.

“Go!” He yelled to Neji and Musuka.

“What about you?” Neji yelled back, kicking a sound ninja into a tree.

Naruto took one last long look at Sasuke, who was fighting off the five new clones that had jumped on him, and thought of all the training he'd done in the last three years - all the preparation he'd made for this day, when he would encounter Sasuke again and fulfill his broken promise to Sakura-chan - then he squinted his eyes shut and shook his head, turning to yell back at his teammates.
“I'll cover your escape!” He created another set of clones and sent them to hold off Sasuke's subordinates, while he went for Sasuke himself. Neji and Musuka shot a hesitant glance in his direction, and shot off after Tenten and Shikamaru.

“You can't fight me alone, Naruto!” Sasuke shouted in frustration as he watched his quarry escape.

“Watch me!” Cloning himself yet again, he lunged at his lifelong rival.

 

-

 

“They've stopped at the tree line,” the leaf nin named Neji said.

“How can you tell?” Musuka asked.

“I can see,” was the cryptic reply. Musuka didn't press.

“That's a good idea,” he said. “Walking up to the gates with an unconscious member of our village probably wouldn't be the best idea.”

“My comrade is making contact with them now,” Neji continued. “Your cousin and his teammate are still with him.”

“Why didn't they go back to the village?” Musuka remarked crossly. “They're in danger there!”

“They are in no immediate danger as long as Lee is with them, I assure you,” Neji said. “Besides, they probably wanted to make sure their third teammate returned safely.”

“What about your other friend back there?” Musuka asked. “Can he take on that monster guy and two other ninja by himself?”

Neji closed his eyes solemnly, but said nothing more than, “Uzumaki Naruto is not to be underestimated.” Musuka did not reply. It seemed the ninja next to him held a great deal of respect for this Naruto.

 

-

 

“Here they are,” Lee said as Neji and Musuka dropped out of the trees and landed next to the large group that had gathered on the snow.

“Musuka-senpai!” Teiko yelled, evidently relieved to see him safely returned.

“Where's Naruto-kun?” Lee asked. He sounded worried.

“He stayed to cover our escape,” Neji said stoically. “Sasuke and two of his subordinates were still trying to cut us off when we left.”

“That fool,” Shikamaru said quietly, shaking his head.

“I will go and assist him!” Lee exclaimed.

“You will not,” Shikamaru said bluntly. “Naruto knew what he was doing. If he comes back, he comes back. If he doesn't…there isn't anything you could've done anyway.”

“This is true,” Neji said. “The battle is most likely over by now, and Sasuke is either dead, retreating, or coming after this boy again,” he pointed at Aomaru. “In any case, we must move from here.”

“It's time to go back to the village,” Musuka said. “Come with me.”

They walked over the snow to a place where a path cut through, and for the first time the Konoha ninja could see that the snow surrounding the village was almost five feet deep. The road was wide enough for all of them to walk abreast if they wished, and they quickly made their way to the gate.

“These are ninja from the hidden leaf village,” Musuka explained to the sentry. “They assisted us in retrieving one of our captured comrades. I would like to take them to Arima-sama.” The guard seemed to consider this for a moment, and then nodded.

“Good,” Musuka said. He turned to his young cousin. “Shiro, take them to Arima-sama, and wait until I arrive before you go in. I won't be longer than ten minutes.”

“What are you going to do?” Shiro asked.

“If that last companion of theirs returns, he's going to need a way into the village.”

Lee smiled, and he noticed that all of his teammates were as well.

“You have your orders then,” Musuka said.

“Right,” Shiro replied. “This way.” He began leading the leaf nin toward a large building in the center of the village. Of course they already knew what this building was; it was the office of the village's leader, who everyone simply referred to as “Arima-sama.”

Musuka sent one of the sentries to take Aomaru to the hospital to be looked over, and then waited by the gate. As nothing was happening, the sentry spoke to him.

“What are leaf ninja doing here?”

“Reportedly, they were tracking one of their missing nin, the one who attempted to abduct Yukimora Aomaru. The story seems ambiguous, but as they helped us to retrieve him and as they also did appear to know the abductor, I have no true cause to doubt them at this point.”

“So is that how those three got so beat up?” the guard asked, referring to Shiro and his team. “Some kidnapper missing nin?”

“No, they mistook the leaf ninja for spies and attacked them. I too mistook them for spies at first and joined the battle. It was at that point that the abductors arrived.”

“Why didn't you bring back one of these kidnappers so we could question them? Are they all dead?”

“No, they were too powerful, and our priority was to rescue Yukimura Aomaru,” Musuka said.

“So what are you waiting here for then?”

“I'm waiting to be impressed by someone,” was all Musuka said.

“What?” The guard was clearly confused, but the hidden weapons master said nothing more.

Five minutes later, Musuka was about to leave and go inside the village, when a small whooshing noise drew his attention to the road in front of him and there, drenched in sweat and a fair bit of blood, stood a panting leaf ninja with spiky blonde hair.

“Did they…all go inside already?” he asked between gasping breaths. Musuka had to wait a few seconds for his astonishment to subside before he answered.

“Yes, they did. I was waiting here for you so you would be allowed to enter as well.”

The blonde ninja in front of him smiled. “Thanks.” And the two of them made their way into the village toward Arima-sama's tower.

“Uzumaki Naruto, eh? I'll have to remember that name.”

 

-

 

The silence was maddening as they waited on the bottom floor of the one called Arima's tower for Naruto and Musuka to return. Neji was leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, though he would open them occasionally to observe those waiting with him. Shikamaru was sitting on a bench, hunched over with his chin in his hands, and Tenten was sitting next to him, watching Lee pace back and forth. The two snow ninja were seated on a bench on the other side of the hall. From their body language, they still didn't trust the leaf ninja in their presence, but were aware they could do nothing about it for the time being.

Neji was worried about Naruto; he would admit that much. If anyone could handle that situation, Uzumaki could, but it might prove too much for even him. And if he was worried, he could only imagine what this was doing to Shikamaru. As the team's leader, he took the life of each and every member of his squad as his personal responsibility. The Nara took this responsibility more seriously than any other commander Neji had worked under, and it was another reason for his great respect toward the younger ninja. Also, his captain was good friends with Uzumaki, and the loss would be on a personal level for him as well.

“How long did Musuka say?” the one called Shiro spoke up. He was evidently growing impatient.

“Ten minutes,” his teammate replied. She looked at her watch. “He should be here any time now.”

Neji's eyes could see the nerves of everyone on his team tighten up just a little bit more. He himself was having difficulty controlling his heart rate, and this displeased him somewhat. While he was also personally attached to the boisterous young ninja in many ways, it was unprofessional to dwell on such emotions while still on a mission. Such things were to be delayed until one returned home. The only one who had an excuse was the team's leader, as long as he kept himself under control.

“Naruto-kun will return!” Lee said abruptly, halting in his pacing and flexing is arm in front of him. “He will not be defeated so easily!” This diffused a bit of the tension, for Lee had finally voiced what all of them had been thinking about. Just then, they heard footsteps from down the hallway, from the direction of the entrance to the building. Every head spun, and saw a young man with spiky blonde hair being supported slightly by a young man with long, black hair and a white robe making their way down the corridor. Neji heard a collective sigh of relief from his team, and was surprised to note that he was included in it. He hadn't even been aware he'd been holding his breath. But there was no doubt about it, he was glad to see the blonde again.

“Everyone's here, then,” Musuka said. “Let's go see Arima-sama.” They made their way to a staircase at the end of the hall and began climbing. Lee went over to congratulate Naruto, and Shikamaru gave him a slap on the back and a no-doubt sardonic remark that made the blonde chuckle but that Neji couldn't hear. He was suddenly struck with what an important person Uzumaki Naruto was to so many people. If he had died, aside from his own grief his captain's, not to mention the other two members of his team, Hokage-sama would have been very upset, as would Jiraiya-sama. They'd both taken a particular liking to the boy. Hinata-sama also was very fond of him, even if it wasn't in the way most people believed, and of course the Haruno girl would have been destroyed.

As he watched Naruto banter with Lee and Shikamaru while they made their way up the winding stairs, even though he was obviously exhausted and still depending on Musuka to walk, Neji couldn't help but smile in spite of himself.

 

-

 

At the top of the winding staircase, there was a short hallway. At its end, Shikamaru could see a large wooden door painted light blue, with the kanji for ice embossed on it and painted a slightly darker shade of blue, flanked on either side by a ninja dressed in black. As he and his team and their escorts approached, he could see that one of them was male and one female, and each wore a ninja-to on their back. The appeared to be about Shikamaru's age, which meant they were either chuunin or extremely talented. Possibly both, though if young Teiko's words were to be believed, the most talented chuunin in the village was amongst them already. The guards stiffened when they approached, then softened slightly when they saw who was coming.

“Musuka,” the young man said, “who have you brought here?”

“They are ninja from the hidden leaf village,” Musuka replied. “I'm taking them to see Arima-sama.”

“Are they here on a diplomatic mission?” the girl asked, eyeing the obvious signs of a fight on Naruto and the two snow ninja suspiciously.

“No, they're spies, Neesan!” Shiro yelled out angrily. The two guards instantly went for their swords but Musuka held up a hand.

“They are not spies,” he said firmly, shooting an irritated look at his younger relative. “At least they do not appear to be at this time. I am not discounting the possibility, but for now they are here as friends.”

The guards relaxed their swords but remained wary. Shiro looked furious.

“'Neesan'?” Shikamaru repeated in his head. Lee had said Sabu Shiro had a large family.

“You shouldn't let your emotions cloud your judgment, Otouto,” said the young man guard in a lecturing manner. The young chuunin said nothing, but his ire was obvious.

“So they're brother and sister,” Shikamaru deduced of the guards. “Probably twins, based on their size, age and similar mannerisms. Interesting.”

“You can go in,” the female guard said. “Arima-sama is only doing minor paperwork right now.” Musuka nodded to her, and then to her brother, and pushed the door open.

They passed through the doors to see a large office filled with scrolls and old artifacts, and an enormous picture window overlooking the village of Yukigakure. In front of the window there was a large oak desk, and sitting behind it was a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties with grayish blue hair that was about as tame as Inuzuka Kiba's. He wore a long, tan coat, and looked up at them the moment they entered.

“Ah, Musuka,” he said, smiling. He seemed as friendly as the stories would have one believe, but it could just as easily be an act. “Who are these people you've brought with you?”

“They're hidden leaf shinobi, Arima-sama. They were in our village reportedly tracking one of their missing nin covertly when my cousin's team discovered them and attacked. A battle ensued, during which Yukimura Aomaru was abducted by the very missing nin in question. They aided me in his safe return to the village, though the missing nin escaped.”

The leader of the snow ninja seemed to be taking this all in carefully, putting a finger to his chin and considering all he'd heard before he responded.

“What did this missing nin want with Yukimura Aomaru?” he finally asked.

“I don't know, Arima-sama, and apparently, neither do they.”

The snow leader thought for another moment and then addressed Shikamaru.

“You are your team's captain, are you not?” he asked.

“Yes, I am,” he replied calmly, not at all shocked that a ninja of this man's caliber could discern such a simple fact. It would do no good lie, anyway.

“What were your orders regarding this mission?” Arima asked.

“I'm afraid I can't fully divulge that to you, as it's official Konoha business, as I'm sure you understand,” he said. “However, I am at liberty to tell you that the ninja we were tracking, one Uchiha Sasuke, has been classified as a Class A missing nin from our village for three years. He poses a threat to our village as well as to the people of the world in general, and our latest information had suggested he'd been investigating this village for some time. The only way for us to track him down without drawing attention to ourselves and while avoiding embarrassment to the leaf was to infiltrate the village ourselves in an attempt to discover what he was after.” Shikamaru had to be extremely careful in making up this account, as it would be his team's death if it were to be refuted by any solid facts.

“I see,” the snow leader said. “And in doing so you placed not only yourselves in danger but any of my ninja who might have discovered you and taken you as spies.”

“It was a calculated risk,” Shikamaru said.

“As all shinobi movements are,” Arima replied. “Very well, I accept your explanation for the time being, and we do owe you our gratitude for returning one of our comrades to us safely. You are welcome to take advantage of our village's hospital to treat your own wounds, but I would like to speak with you again later.”

“Understood. Thank you.” Shikamaru bowed, and his team followed suit.

“Musuka, please take them to the hospital. Sabu-san and Toukanda-san are apparently in need of a visit there as well.”

“Hai, Arima-sama,” Musuka said as he bowed also. Then their entire group turned and left the great office. Shikamaru couldn't help but notice the appraising look the female guard gave them as they walked by - Neji in particular. He was sure the boy with the eyes that could see everything caught it as well, and that it made him distinctly uncomfortable. Shikamaru allowed himself a miniscule chuckle.

 

-

 

Their stay in the hospital was brief, as the only one in need of any real kind of treatment was Naruto, who of course always healed remarkably quickly. They were given a place to stay for the night, and then Shikamaru went to speak with Arima again. None of the rest of the leaf ninja knew exactly what they were talking about, but they knew it was significant because their captain was gone for most of the day. When he came back that evening, he told them he had important news for them.

“Naruto, you'll be coming back with me tomorrow,” he said. “One of their shinobi will be joining us; he has a message for Godaime and Arima figures it would be safer if he traveled with us.”

“Great! I can't wait to get home!” Naruto exclaimed. “It's so cold here.”

“And us?” Neji inquired, indicating himself and his two teammates.

“Arima wants to draw up a preliminary treaty with the leaf village - something that will last until he can speak with Godaime directly. He asked that three of our team stay here to go over the details with him as well as a show of good faith. You'll be leaving in another three days, bringing a copy of the treaty to Godaime.”

“Understood,” Neji said. “Perhaps one of us will be able to discern what Uchiha Sasuke was doing here as well.”

 

-

 

So the next morning, Naruto and Shikamaru set out with a snow ninja messenger as their traveling companion. One of the first things Naruto did upon their departure was try to pick up the trail left by Sasuke's departure. There wasn't much to go on, which frustrated the blonde to no end. Shikamaru tried once to convince him to give up on it, but didn't bother after that. They were headed in the general direction of Konoha, after all.

A few days later, both Naruto and Shikamaru began to notice that they weren't headed in the general direction of Konoha - they were headed precisely in the direction of Konoha. The remains of Sasuke's trails were leading them straight home. Worried, they picked up their pace considerably. Their companion seemed to have figured out what the haste was all about, because he did not ask them.

“What would he want to go home for?” Naruto asked after another day and a half. They'd been cutting back on sleep, so they were gaining on their quarry ever so slowly.

“I don't know,” Shikamaru answered. “They'd kill him on sight, or at the very least capture and imprison him.”

“This missing nin of yours,” their companion asked them, “What were the circumstances of his leaving?”

Naruto and Shikamaru glanced at each other, and Shikamaru, sensing his teammate didn't really want to talk about it, picked up the explanation.

“He was enticed by Orochimaru of the hidden sound village to betray us and seek power there,” the Nara explained. “Years ago, his entire clan was slaughtered by his older brother, and he feels his only purpose is for revenge. Any means to that end is acceptable to him.”

“Orochimaru of the legendary sannin?” the snow ninja asked.

“Yes. He too was a traitor to the leaf, more than twenty years ago.”

“And you have no idea what they might be up to?” the yuki nin inquired skeptically.

“We have ideas,” Shikamaru replied, narrowing his eyes. He was asked no more questions by the snow ninja.

“Do you think going to Konoha has something to do with what he was trying to do in Yukigakure?” Naruto asked a few moments later.

“It's possible, but I doubt it,” Shikamaru said. “Kidnapping that Yukimura seemed to be his only purpose there. More likely he's gathering information for Orochimaru before returning home.”

“Heh. He'll never get back,” Naruto said cockily. Shikamaru found that his smirk was infectious.

 

-

 

When they were less than a day away from the village, the trail suddenly branched out. Evidently Sasuke and his two remaining subordinates had split up to investigate whatever it was they were investigating.

“It looks like they were here less than a day ago,” Shikamaru said. “This is the freshest trail we've seen.”

“What do you intend to do, then?” the snow ninja asked. He was obviously wondering if they expected him to help them track the sound shinobi down.

“We'll continue on to the village, and alert them of what's going on,” Shikamaru replied. “A team can be sent out to apprehend Sasuke and his subordinates, and find out what they're doing.”

“What!” Naruto wailed indignantly. “He could get away!”

“Naruto,” Shikamaru practically growled. “Our current mission is to report the current state of events to the Hokage and escort the messenger from the hidden snow village. If Sasuke is really spying, he won't get far before someone catches him. We'll be home before the end of the day, and someone who isn't travel-weary and has more support can chase him down.”

Naruto was clearly not happy with that solution. Shikamaru was well aware that his friend wanted to be the one to bring in the rogue Uchiha, but there was nothing he could do about that.

“Let's hurry up, then,” the snow ninja said. “The sooner we get there, the sooner you can send a squad out after him, and the sooner I can go home.” The instant he finished saying that, his eyes bugged out in pain and blood spattered out of his mouth. He fell over dead with a kunai embedded in his back.

“Move!” Shikamaru shouted. He and Naruto leapt from their positions only to see the tree limbs they been sitting on become riddled with shuriken, kunai and senbon. A barrage of dart-shaped fireballs followed, forcing them into mid-air evasive maneuvers.

“It's an ambush!” Naruto shouted the obvious.

“It's Sasuke,” Shikamaru spoke back loudly, even as he dodged more flaming darts and shuriken. One of the sound ninja they'd encountered outside of the snow village leapt out at him and he had to perform a quick kawarimi with a nearby branch to escape.

 

Naruto had immediately ducked for cover and produced clones. He took every precaution to make sure Sasuke couldn't see him - the most dangerous thing remained allowing his rival to copy his trump technique - but as he did not know exactly where Sasuke was, it was still a risk.

“Come out and fight me, Sasuke!” He called angrily.

“You're the only shinobi in the world foolish enough to face your opponents head on when you could defeat them in stealth,” the Uchiha's calm voice floated back to him from the trees. “Let's see what you can really do. You left so quickly back in the country of ice.”

Naruto growled. Running away from Sasuke was one of the most humiliating things he'd ever had to do, and the other knew it. The blonde forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down. It wouldn't do any good to allow his opponent to rile him up and get him too angry to focus.

“I see you have been training,” Sasuke's voice came again. “You're not as hot-headed as you used to be.” He sounded amused. A kunai flew from the trees and Naruto immediately turned and hurled one back, getting struck in the face in the process. The shadow clone vanished in a puff of smoke.

“You talk of fighting openly, yet you let your clones stand out while you remain hidden,” Sasuke taunted. “I don't see why I should have to show myself if you won't.”

“Fine,” Naruto said, appearing out of a tree branch. Three more kunai flew at him from a completely different direction than before. Instead of dodging them or taking the hits, he caught them and hurled them back. Unfortunately, three more had been thrown in the shadow of the first three, and he did not have sufficient time to react to them. Two hit him in the stomach and on in his chest, just below his left shoulder. Naruto cursed and coughed up blood.

“Was that it?” Sasuke mocked. “You've been training to hunt me down for three years and that was all you could do? Disappointing.” The Uchiha appeared in a flash on the tree limb next to Naruto, a tanto drawn and ready to deal a final blow. The blonde turned his head slowly to face his old teammate, now almost choking on blood.

“Always…save your trump card for last,” he managed. As Sasuke swung his tanto, Naruto grinned madly, and as the sword hit him, he vanished into smoke.

“What!” Sasuke yelled, his eyes widening in surprise.

“How stupid do you think I am, Sasuke-baka?” Naruto yelled as he streaked straight down towards his adversary from a tree limb directly above. Even Sasuke had no time to dodge and could only bring up his arm holding the tanto to try and block some of the blow. They crashed into the forest floor several seconds later. Naruto used the shock of the impact to spring off of Sasuke's chest with his arms and landed on his feet about eight feet away. He wiped a trickle of blood from his chin as Sasuke got to his feet.

“How do you ever expect to beat you psycho brother if that's all you can do?” Naruto goaded. It was his turn to try inciting the ire in his enemy. “Your Sharingan is practically useless. It hasn't bothered me either time we've fought.” He put on his best cocky grin to emphasize his point. Sasuke looked murderous.

“How did you do that?” he demanded. “Shadow clones always disperse after a direct or fatal hit.”

“No they don't,” Naruto replied cheekily, quite pleased with himself. “I just wasn't very well practiced in the old days. A skilled shinobi who can hold his focus can keep a shadow clone intact under almost any conditions.”

“So you indeed have trained a lot, then,” Sasuke observed. “But you used your trump card early.”

“Not quite,” Naruto said. He then proceeded to sink into the ground, popping up behind Sasuke less than a second later. The Uchiha's reflexes were perfect, however, and as soon as Naruto sprang from the ground his opponent whirled on him and threw a hard punch straight for his face…and was stopped from behind as he was put in a sleeper hold.

“Gotcha,” Naruto said into Sasuke's ear as he held him fast.

“Now, you're gonna tell me why you were kidnapping that kid from the hidden snow village,” the Naruto standing in front of him said. “Or do I need to beat you up some more first?” The grin on his face was wider than it had been throughout the whole fight. He'd been waiting three years for this.

“You always were overconfident,” Sasuke said. Just then, Naruto's hands that were holding his captive in place started to burn. Sasuke's skin was painful to touch, and it was all he could do to hold on. His eyes widened in shock as the black markings of the curse seal made their way across Sasuke's body. Before Naruto had any time to react to the change in situation, he was hurled off of Sasuke's back into himself, and went sprawling into a tree trunk, where one of him vanished in a puff of smoke. When he stood again, Sasuke was standing still as a statue with glazed over eyes and the marks of the curse seal covering his body.

“Sasukeee…” Naruto growled, clenching his fists.

“Orochimaru wants to use my body for his immortality jutsu,” Sasuke said. “I have not yet defeated my brother.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Naruto shot back.

“He desires my body because of my blood limit ability. If I can find another candidate with a blood limit ability he finds more desirable, I may be spared this time.”

“So you think that kid from the snow village would work?”

“He is the closest I have come so far. And he possesses two blood limits as opposed to just one.”

Naruto smirked. “Heh. That Sharingan of yours didn't do you much good after all, did it?”

“It will be enough to defeat you…”

“…Dobe-kun.” The last part came from right behind him. Naruto spun around and swung a kunai blindly, before seeing it hit another Sasuke right behind him. He swelled in horror. Had Sasuke seen him perform kage bunshin after all?

The kunai sliced through Sasuke's neck, and the Uchiha dissolved into a black sludge around Naruto's hand and melted to the ground. Too late, Naruto spun back around to have Sasuke's fist land in his face. He flew back toward the tree, and used it as a springboard to fly back at his foe. However, with the combination of the Sharingan and the curse seal, Sasuke managed to dodge every attack Naruto threw with seemingly no effort.

“Why don't you just leave Orochimaru's village then?” Naruto asked as he tried again and again to land a hit.

Sasuke backhanded him into another tree and waited for him to stand again before responding. “I can't,” he said. He pointed to the marks on his skin. “This cursed seal does more than unlock my power; it steals away my free will. I cannot betray Orochimaru.”

“Liar!” Naruto yelled. “It didn't affect you like that before!”

“Through my will and Kakashi's seal the curse was contained. I was aware of the full effects of the seal when I left for the sound village. It was the last thing I chose to do on my own.”

“So you knew you'd be giving up your free will? Is that what you're saying?” Naruto could barely contain his fury.

“Yes.” Sasuke said no more, and dashed in to attack again.

 

-

 

Shikamaru was having more than a bit of trouble with his two opponents. They never attacked simultaneously, so if he were to attempt a kagemane on one, the other would ambush him. For the last several minutes he'd been carefully maneuvering them into a position that would allow him to finish them off, and it was beginning to take its toll on his stamina.

“Just one more…” he dodged another kunai thrown at him and flipped back so his feet were clinging to the trunk of a tree that he knew the other enemy was waiting in. Discreetly, he extended his shadow up into the canopy and captured the ninja who was waiting there to ambush him. He pretended not to know where the next attack was going to come from, and made a show of surveying his surroundings looking for it.

The other sound nin seemed confused as to why his comrade wasn't attacking, because he wasn't doing anything Shikamaru stepped forward down the trunk, causing the ninja he'd captured to step forward also, and off of the tree limb he'd been standing on. Consequently, he fell out of the tree, and his body shifted to reflect Shikamaru's horizontal status. Shikamaru then stood up, making it appear that the sound ninja was splayed out on the ground unconscious.

As expected, the other sound ninja flew out of his hiding place at the apparent effortless defeat of his comrade - right from where Shikamaru knew he'd been hiding. As soon as he was in range, he extended his shadow again and captured the second opponent with ease.

“Finally,” Shikamaru exhaled in relief. He then formed the seals that would allow him to finish his two foes off.

“Ninpou: Kage kubi shibari no jutsu,” me muttered. Shadow arms coiled up around his fallen opponents and by exerting enough pressure, he was able to strangle them.

“That was a troublesome fight,” he said to himself as he crouched on the ground catching his breath. “It took longer than I would have liked.” Still, he knew he had to go see how Naruto was handling Sasuke. He took another few seconds trying to get his breathing under control, and then he was off.

When he arrived, it was just in time to see Sasuke prepare that chidori technique he'd used in the chuunin exam so long ago against Gaara, and Naruto countered by preparing his Rasengan.

“This won't end well,” he thought to himself as he tried to get a better angle to observe. The two combatants rushed at each other, and Shikamaru noticed that the strange black markings he'd seen on Sasuke once before were present again. He didn't need to be told what was going on. He remembered his fight with the sound ninja Tayuya and what the curse seals were capable of.

Naruto and Sasuke clashed, and for a split second everything seemed to freeze and the two techniques swirled around each other, and then there was a great release of energy and both of them were sent flying.

 

-

 

The blast was overwhelming and completely unexpected, and there was a stinging pain below his shoulder. Naruto hadn't planned on being sent reeling by the force of his own attack, but his uncontrolled flight continued for several long seconds before he came back into contact with the ground and tumbled along for another several dozen yards before finally slamming into a large boulder and coming to a stop. He was so dizzy he didn't even know which part of him was facing up, or which direction he'd come from. As he tried to get his bearings, the pain in his shoulder flared up again and he realized he'd been stabbed by something.

“Part of Sasuke's technique must've gotten through,” he thought to himself. He could only hope that meant Sasuke had taken a hit as well.

As the world around him continued to spin, he used touch to feel where the ground was and maneuver himself into a sitting position. After that, he blinked fiercely a few times to get his vision straight again. There was no sign of Sasuke anywhere.

He made an attempt at standing, but collapsed again, and on his second attempt, a small explosion drew his attention to the direction where he believed Sasuke to be. A smoke bomb had gone off. Before he had time to think about what that meant, he felt the ground change beneath him, and looked down to see himself sitting in the center of a huge circle of blackness.

“No!” He shouted in a panic. But it was too late. He could feel the blackness encompassing him, and there was nothing he could do to shake it off. “No, I'm not finished!” His cries were in vain, for only a second or too later he was completely immersed in the blackness and he could feel it swallow him up. An instant later, he felt himself being moved, and then light rushed back to his eyes. Even though it was dusk, it seemed like midday to his light-deprived eyes.

“Shikamaru!” He howled. “Let me go back!” He tried struggling, but he didn't seem to have the strength at the moment. “You bastard!”

“You couldn't even resist my kage kakushi no jutsu,” Shikamaru said plainly. “Even though you knew what it was. If I was an enemy, you'd be dead right now.” The shadow ninja had him on his back, and was leaping through the trees in what Naruto could only assume was the direction of Konohagakure.

“So what?” he argued back. “I would have figured something out! I can't run away from Sasuke again!” The blonde's voice then suddenly dropped in volume and took on a very pained tone. “Not again…”

Shikamaru knew that this was a great matter of shame for his comrade, and though he didn't look, he was sure the blonde ninja had tears in his eyes.

“You're not,” he said simply. “Back in the country of ice, you were following orders and protecting your teammates. Right now, I'm forcing you away against your will. No one will ever say you ran away.” Shikamaru wasn't really big on giving comfort, but sometimes troublesome things were necessary.

“…”

“Besides, Sakura would murder me if she ever found out I let Sasuke kill you. And Ino would probably help her.”

“Heh. Thanks…Shikamaru.” Naruto soon fell asleep, and didn't wake up until they neared the village, where he insisted upon walking by himself. Shikamaru didn't understand at all, but there was no point in arguing about it. The wound in his shoulder seemed to have healed already, though the Nara couldn't figure out for the life of him how.

“You still can't walk by yourself,” Shikamaru told him after the first few steps. He took Naruto's arm and slung it around his shoulder to help the other walk. Carrying another person on his back while already exhausted from a fight has slowed his progress significantly, so it was already midmorning of the next day as opposed to the original estimate of late evening.

They'd been walking that way for about ten minutes when the gates of Konoha came into view.

“We're home,” Shikamaru said to his companion, in case the other hadn't noticed. Indeed, the other looked up and smiled when he saw the gates. Then the Nara noticed something else. The two sentries outside the village looked familiar.

“Is that…?” he started. Naruto made a questioning sort of grunt. Shikamaru squinted and when his suspicion was confirmed, he chuckled slightly.

“The village is sure asking for it, putting those two on guard patrol,” he remarked. In another few seconds, Naruto also saw who it was, and an expression of rejoice covered his face, to be replaced only moments later by one of despondency. It wasn't difficult to discern why.

Shikamaru waited until he was within a speaking distance that wouldn't require him to yell, only raise his voice a little bit. “Oi!” he called.

“Shikamaru!”

“Naruto!”

The girls seemed pleased to see them, at least. Though he'd never tell anyone, that was always Shikamaru's favorite part of coming home from missions. At least the missions that didn't include his old genin team. The two kunoichi ran out to them, which was kind of funny, considering they weren't allowed to leave their posts. Whatever.

“Oi, Sakura-chan,” Naruto greeted his friend weakly. “G-gomen.” Then he passed out, leaving Shikamaru to support his full dead weight. Sakura looked confused. She wouldn't be for long, as soon as the obvious questions were asked.

“Where are the others?” Ino asked. That was one of them.

“Back in Yukigakure, finalizing a treaty the snow nin are drawing up. Well, they're probably finished and on their way back by now.”

“But why are you two back early?” Sakura pressed. “And what happened to Naruto? You obviously didn't fight the snow nin if the others were working on a treaty with them.” And those were the other two. Might as well get it over with.

“We ran into Sasuke.”

“WHAT?” both girls exclaimed in unison.

“I'll explain later. Do either of you want to help me get this idiot to the hospital?” he gestured to the unconscious Naruto. “I need to give my report, and then I need some sleep.”

“I'll take him,” Sakura volunteered. She took Naruto from Shikamaru and slung him over her shoulders. “Go and give your report, then. But I want to know what happened as soon as you've had some sleep.”

“Aa.”

And with that, Sakura vanished.

“So…aside from Sasuke, did it go well?” Ino asked. Her voice rang with an emotion Shikamaru couldn't quite place, and her face shone with what looked like a mixture of concern and relief.

“Yeah, it did,” he said. They made their way back to the gate. Ino of course could not leave it in the middle of their post, so any real conversation they wanted to have would have to wait until later. Not that Shikamaru minded; he had some things to do before he could go to sleep, and he really wanted to go to sleep.

“Well, what happened?” Ino pressed, frustrated with the simplicity of his answer.

He spared her an irritated sidelong glance before elaborating. “We were caught just as we were leaving, but Sasuke showed up right then so we were able to pan the whole mission off as searching for him. It's a good thing we did, because Yukigakure would not have been our enemy and we could have made them one, which would have been a very bad thing. As it stands now, their leader wants to have some sort of `mutual beneficiary' treaty or something. It's not really an alliance, but it's close enough.”

“That's great!” Ino exclaimed. They had reached the gate.

“I guess,” he agreed. “We'll need all the help we can get if Orochimaru and Sasuke are out there gathering up blood limits again.”

“I take it that's part of what you're going to explain to me later, right?” Ino asked wryly.

“Of course.” He grinned back. Just then, Aburame Shino appeared on the other side of the gate.

“I am Haruno Sakura's replacement while she tends to her teammate in the hospital,” he said. He then strode to his post and said nothing more.

“I have to go give my report now,” Shikamaru said. “I'm going to swing by the hospital after I get some sleep, so I'll see you there, okay?”

“All right.” He turned to leave. “Shikamaru?” Ino's voice called him back once more, but it was uncharacteristically quiet this time. He turned again.

“Yeah?”

She looked him in the eye, and offered him a genuine smile - the kind he didn't get to see from Ino very often. It was too bad; it looked good on her.

“I…I'm glad you're back…and that you're all okay,” she said. This atypical fragility caused Shikamaru to let go of his usual cynicism and spare one more moment to smile back at his friend and teammate before setting off to finish up his mission.

“Aa.”

 

- - -

 

 

 

 

 

Done. Whew! That was a tough one. I didn't want to repeat the fight between Naruto and Sasuke that happened in the manga, but at the same time I needed a similar conclusion. Also, some of the plot elements I'm using took place in the manga, or are contradicted slightly by events in the manga, but you have to remember that this breaks off right after 212, or when the Sand ninja showed up. It's tough, but I'm finally getting to the point where it won't matter any more.

 

Also, since some of you couldn't figure it out even though I though I made it quite clear, Musuka is one of my absolute favorite characters that I made for this fic. He's just so damn cool.

 

And lastly, there has been a change that will also be retroactive as soon as I get around to fixing it in the earlier chapters. Aomaru's surname, “Yukimora,” doesn't mean anything. I had originally intended for his name to be “Yukimura,” but a typo that occurred when I first introduced him changed it, and I thought it sounded cool so I kept it. Upon further consideration, I have decided that I do not like it, and will be changing it back to the original Yukimura. This way, it can be written in kanji, and the original pun that I had in mind for his name will make sense again. (“Yukimura” means “snow village.”)

 

As always, thanks for reading. If you liked it, please leave a review so I know there's people out there reading and enjoying this. It also helps me to get better (as long as you leave some constructive criticism, anyway. =P)

 

 

 

Suiton! Suitaihou no jutsu - Water element! Water cannon technique

 

Ninpou: Kage kubi shibari no jutsu - Shadow neck bind technique

 

Kage kakushi no jutsu - Shadow concealment technique