Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Living Behind a Mask ❯ Three Strikes & You're Out ( Chapter 10 )

 

Living Behind a Mask:

 

Chapter 9:

 

Three Strikes and You're Out:

 

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In the Nearby Forest:

 

The Nukenin stopped and took a seat on a stump.

 

“Alright, obviously you two have thought about this. Tell me what you've come up with.”

 

Naruto leaned up against a tree while Sasuke sat on a branch of that tree.

 

“Well, we've come up with several solutions, most of which aren't… appealing…”

 

The Nukenin nodded, indicating them to go on. Sasuke continued.

 

“We aren't welcome in any village, so we'd be stuck with working for people like Gatoh, becoming `tools' of others. We refuse to take orders from anyone. We could use a several layered Henge to blend into society, but we have objectives we need to complete, which consists of taking out nine people. We could help a group overthrow a tyranny, but those are rare. Or we could just steal what we need. The only plausible one is Bounty Hunting.”

 

The Nukenin sighed.

 

“You've covered everything we do to survive. All of us had morals when we started out, however, those who kept them didn't last long. Being a Nukenin makes the most bloodthirsty dog of a village look like a saint to us. You still have your morals; however, you will have to sacrifice them to live.”

 

Naruto and Sasuke glared at him.

 

“No.”

 

The Nukenin raised an eyebrow.

 

“I seem to have hit a nerve…”

 

Naruto nodded slowly.

 

“We might be willing to drop most of them; however, there is one we will not drop. To gain power at the other's expense.”

 

The Nukenin nodded slowly. There was a deep hidden meaning behind that. One that held many bitter memories, if their expressions were anything to go by.

 

“You obviously have a good reason for that. I'm not going to pry into your past, but know this. There are times when you have to kill your heart to do things that you wouldn't be able to do otherwise.”

 

The Nukenin stood up and looked at both of them.

 

“Well, it's been nice meeting you. I'll catch you round.”

 

Naruto stopped him.

 

“We'd also prefer it if you left the Wave alone.”

 

The Nukenin raised an eyebrow.

 

“Oh? Why's that?”

 

“It's the only place that ever acknowledged us as regular humans.”

 

The Nukenin sighed.

 

“You guys'll have to learn that you can't afford to have connections to any place longer than your stay there. Those that keep those connections are found out and exploited by others. Later.”

 

The Nukenin disappeared leaving only a few displaced leaves to indicate he'd ever been standing there. Naruto and Sasuke pondered his words. Everything the Nukenin had said was true, however little they wanted to admit it. They wouldn't put it past Konoha to secretly hold one of Tazuna's family hostage, ordering them to give themselves up or they would kill him. It was better if they severed all connections with anyone but the three of them. Naruto took out a scroll and a calligraphy brush and ink jar. Ever since he had begun working with Orochimaru on Fuuinjutsu, Naruto had always carried one around in case he needed to make a sealing scroll on the run. He wrote out a short letter to Tazuna, thanking him for his hospitality, and telling him that they were not going to be coming back. Naruto rolled the scroll up and summoned a small one tailed Kitsune. The Kitsune looked up at him, waiting for its orders. Naruto handed him the scroll.

 

“Give this to Tazuna.”

 

With Kyuubi's help, he used a rather advanced form of telepathy useable only by higher demons to send the Kitsune the directions. The Kitsune yipped and ran out of the clearing with the scroll in its mouth. Sasuke was also writing his own scroll, and that's when Naruto sensed a squad of ANBU level signatures nearby. Sasuke finished his scroll and rolled it up, throwing it to the ground in the clearing. Sasuke turned to Naruto and gave a slight flick of his head to indicate they should leave. Naruto nodded and they both disappeared well away from the ANBU. The ANBU cursed as they saw the two targets get away. They came into the clearing and looked at the scroll that Sasuke had thrown and noticed that it was addressed to them. None of them could sense any chakra coming from the scroll to indicate some form of Genjutsu or Fuuinjutsu so they took the scroll and opened it and their eyes bulged as they read the contents.

 

`For Konoha ANBU, you were pathetic. Let us give you some advice. We're giving you three chances. Each time Konoha initiates a capture attempt, cause us harm or blackmail us, you will have one strike against you. This time will not count. After the third slip up, we will destroy Konoha and every single one of its inhabitants. Considering you gave neither of us a single chance for a normal life before we left, this is a rather generous warning, don't you think?'

 

The ANBU nodded and left for Konoha with all due haste. Making a direct threat to Konoha was not to be tolerated, especially from a pair of teenagers. Unknown to them, Naruto could choose to unleash Kyuubi at will.

 

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6 and a Half Months Later:

 

Naruto and Sasuke had quickly gotten used to bounty hunting to keep their funds up. By now, Sasuke knew how to do the Forced Sleep Technique without hand seals. Using it every night to drown out the sounds of his brother and his lover which echoed through out the area gave him an excellent amount of practice. However, about six and a half months after they left the Wave, they ran into a squad of Konoha ANBU who were apparently going for the same target they were. However, since Naruto and Sasuke had arrived several minutes before the ANBU, the kill was theirs by right. However, there was a new member to the ANBU on this squad and he charged both Sasuke and Naruto without thinking. Naruto's eyes lit up at the man's ignorance and puffed up a tail with chakra and drove it through his neck with frightening speed, killing him instantly. Their mood thoroughly spoilt, Sasuke sliced off the target's head with practiced ease and turned to stare at the three remaining ANBU.

 

“I would assume you got our message from 6 and a half months ago? This is your first warning. We got to the target first, so it was ours by right.”

 

His tail still lodged in the man's throat, Naruto picked the mask off the ANBU's face. This was a face he didn't recognise, so he pulled out his new bingo book he'd nabbed off a Kiri ANBU squad who had tried to take them on not too long ago and began shifting through it. He did not find the face in any of the sections so he looked up at the remaining three masked Konoha shinobi.

 

“No wonder he's a nobody. Charging in there like an idiot… I'm surprised someone didn't kill him sooner. He's not worth anything, so I'll give him back.”

 

Naruto wrapped another tail around the man's waist and stopped applying the chakra to his first tail. He ripped it back out of the man's neck and used the tail around his waist to hurl the lifeless body back at the other three. They caught the body and were shocked when the force of the throw forced them back several meters. Another of them withdrew the standard issue ANBU katana and got ready to charge when the captain stopped him.

 

“Do you want to end up like this?”

 

The man grunted and sheathed his katana. Sasuke turned back to the head, picking it up by the hair and formed three hand seals, before placing his palm on the mans head to use the preservation jutsu to make sure the head wouldn't decay or smell before they delivered it. Sasuke handed it to Naruto and Naruto slipped it into a specially designed body bag for heads. Sealing the bag, he gave the ANBU a last look of contempt and a snort before they both left to their employer to receive the bounty on their target.

 

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A Month Later:

 

They were just about to kill another target in the Earth Country when a single Ame Nin dropped from his vantage point and sighed at the boys.

 

“Seems I got here a bit too late…”

 

Naruto shrugged as he punched one of the target's body guards in the chest hard enough to break his sternum and then followed it up by breaking his neck with a tail. Sasuke dispatched the last body guard and their target looked at the boys in fear.

 

“Who are you?”

 

Naruto smiled sadistically at the man.

 

“Uchiha Sasuke, one of the two remaining Uchihas and Uzumaki Naruto, container and mate of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, queen of demons. Say high to Shinigami for me will you? I've got some personal issues with him.”

 

The man was trying to get his head around this revelation.

 

“Kyuubi is…”

 

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

 

“Female? Very much so.”

 

Naruto plunged a kunai into the man's voice box and out through the back of the spine, ending his life instantly. After severing the head and preparing it for transport, they saw the Ame Nin looking at them in something akin to respect.

 

“I'd never thought I'd get to meet you two. You're pretty famous, you know?”

 

Sasuke shrugged in indifference.

 

“We don't care about fame. We just want to finish off Akatsuki.”

 

Now that got the Nin's attention.

 

“Akatsuki? Those nine weirdos?”

 

Naruto looked at him in interest.

 

“How much do you know about them?”

 

The Ame Nin smiled and made a beckoning motion with his hand.

 

“Nothing's free in life.”

 

Naruto shrugged and chucked the body bag to the Ame Nin, who caught it in surprise. The look of surprise morphed to that of a grin.

 

“Handing over a bounty of this size would merit more than a bit of info on Akatsuki… I suppose I could pass on a jutsu or two…”

 

Naruto and Sasuke smiled. They still had more than enough cash to give up this kill in exchange for things money can't buy. The Ame Nin sat down and told them everything about Akatsuki he knew. Besides the fact that he knew there was nine of them and their appearances and jutsus were… Unique, the only two he knew about in specific were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigake Kisame.

 

“I happened to see both of them about 3 months ago when I was taking care of a nobody in the Falls Village. Apparently, they were looking for something, but I didn't ask them. I got the impression it wouldn't be healthy.”

 

Naruto nodded. The lead was not exactly brand new, but it was far more current than what they had before. The Ame Nin looked up at the cloudless sky as he thought about what to teach them. Once he had decided, he looked back at them.

 

“I'd assume that both of you specialise in Katon jutsus, right?”

 

The both nodded and the Ame Nin smiled.

 

“There's a Suiton jutsu that compliments Katon jutsus quite well. It's called Suiton: Koku'un no Jutsu.”

 

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

 

“Black Mist Technique?”

 

The Nin nodded.

 

“It produces a black mist from your body that rises into the air and causes it to rain. But not just any sort of rain; Pure crude oil.”

 

Now that would be useful. Crude oil was extremely flammable, and a rain of it would definitely increase the effects of a simple Housenka no Jutsu almost 30 fold. Sasuke's Sharingan activated signifying he was ready. The Nin nodded and formed the seals, announcing them as he went.

 

“Tora, Hebi, Tora: Suiton: Koku'un no Jutsu.”

 

A black mist came off the Ame Nin's body and rose into the sky. Not 20 seconds later, the first drop of oil fell from the sky. It was quickly followed by a shower of oil that lasted about 30 seconds. The Nin stopped the jutsu and the rain stopped shortly afterwards. Sasuke nodded.

 

“Got it.”

 

Naruto nodded. He didn't need to learn the jutsus right off the bat, as he could just relearn them from Sasuke later. The Ame Nin thought about what to teach them next.

 

“Which Suiton Jutsus do you know?”

 

They recounted their rather limited collection of Suiton Jutsus. The Ame Nin nodded.

 

“I'll teach you three more. Suiton: Suiyuudan no Jutsu, Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu and Suiton: Suishouha.”

 

They agreed. Luckily, there was a small creek nearby that was fed by an underground spring. The Ame Nin performed each one which Sasuke copied. After he had finished, they thanked him and he disappeared from sight, leaving Sasuke to teach the jutsus to Naruto. It took several hours to learn all of them with the Kyuubi's help. At about midday, they went to a nearby town to recuperate.

 

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Next Morning:

 

Naruto and Sasuke were staying in the only inn in the town, or what should probably be called a collection of buildings. Naruto awoke to the glaring sunlight streaming through the only grimy window in their room with Kyuubi in his arms. Nothing unusual there. Kyuubi's eyes shot open when he looked at her and she leaned in giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Anything more serious and it would probably end up in another all day love making session. Sasuke would put up with it during the nights, but during the day he'd made it very clear that he didn't like it one bit. After Kyuubi had gone back to her cage, Naruto got dressed and used a rather powerful Genjutsu to cloak himself so as not to make too much of a scene at breakfast. As he walked down the stairs, he was acutely aware that his older brother while under a similar Genjutsu to him was staring vehemently at another couple who were sharing an intimate moment. Naruto sighed and took a seat next to him.

 

“Aniki, you really need to let someone else in.”

 

Sasuke turned to give Naruto a glare but instead of seeing the usual smirk or the less usual mock concern, he saw true concern and even a hint of worry in his eyes. Sasuke sighed and sat back in his chair. For once, he spoke his thoughts.

 

“The reason I don't `let someone in' is because I don't want to get attached to someone who will be following us around and Itachi will use as a hostage when the time comes to kill him.”

 

Naruto had to agree. It was a valid point. There weren't many females in this Nukenin business, and all of them they had met were rather intent on making sure that they did not end up `succumbing to the whims of a male', despite how some of them saw Naruto act with Kyuubi. They usually dismissed it as something like `if he did, she'd just kill him.' To an extent, that was also true, however, Naruto didn't for a different reason. It's because he saw her as his equal in every way shape and form and wouldn't do it even if he had to. Naruto looked at Sasuke with a defeated look.

 

“I'd let Kyuubi spend a night with you, but-“

 

As if to illustrate the implication, Naruto felt a rather strong feeling of disgust coming from the seal, or more directly, his lover which the seal was `protecting' him from. He sighed.

 

“She's not too thrilled with the idea…”

 

Sasuke shrugged and stood up, looking at Naruto with a questioning glance which in this situation meant `what do you want to eat?' Naruto thought for a moment.

 

“Bacon and Eggs, and if possible, a bowl of miso ramen.”

 

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief. The bacon and eggs was understandable, but ramen for breakfast? It was almost as unbelievable as the `legendary sucker' of a Sannin winning at gambling. With that, Sasuke made his way over to the counter.

 

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