Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Lost Soul ❯ Rekindled Flames ( Chapter 18 )

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me, but I do claim the Yominokunis, Yakubyougami and the Tekigougan for myself!

 

A Note from Katana Haibane: Man, luck really hasn't been with me. The second the Christmas Holidays end - BAM - I get sick. How frustrating! That and waiting for Naruto - Hurricane Chronicles to become animated is getting annoying. Sure, some of the 100 odd filler episodes were interesting, but did it ever take them a damn long time to get their act in gear!

 

Chapter 18: Rekindled Flames

 

“WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SASUKE?”

 

Mikomi had barely started to walk away from Tsunade's office when blonde boy slightly taller than she was had grabbed her and hurled her into the wall with surprising force. As weak as she still felt due to both chakra depletion and grief Mikomi found herself unable to break the grip of the blonde boy.

 

“WHERE IS HE? TELL ME ABOUT SASUKE DAMMIT!”

 

The sheer volume of the voice caused Mikomi to cringe before she even tried to respond. Problem was, she couldn't. Try as she might to at least give the blonde creep some sort of answer, Mikomi found her body failing her as she started choking up again. A strangled sob tore from Mikomi's throat as she fought hard to try and keep her grief inside. When Mikomi started shaking a look of confusion crossed the blonde's face despite not relaxing his grip in the slightest.

 

However, the second that tears started to roll down Mikomi's face the blonde boy leapt away in horror as if he had been burned, at last realizing what it was that he was doing. Even as Mikomi slumped to the ground, guilt and shame appeared on his open visage. Then, Tsunade burst out of her office.

 

“NARUTO! What the hell do you think you're doing to her?” Tsunade shouted at Naruto when she saw Mikomi slumped on the ground and crying once again, “Get your ass in here right now. Shizune, please contact Hinata and have her take Mikomi back to the Hyuuga compound at once.”

 

Staring at the ground, Naruto followed Tsunade back into her office.

 

Tsunade's face looked like a thundercloud about to break as she barely restrained herself from shouting at Naruto once again, “Alright Naruto, what sort of brilliant idea went through your head to threaten a fellow Konoha Shinobi right outside the Hokage's office? Hmmm? Especially when you start screaming down the building about Uchiha Sasuke.” Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose before leaning back in her chair for a moment, “You need to be careful Naruto. Just like you, the Konoha Council seems to be itching for almost any excuse to exile her from here. So spill it.”

 

It wasn't a request, but an order, and Naruto felt properly ashamed enough that he had little trouble loosening his tongue, “I'm sorry Tsunade-ba-chan, I really am. I was coming to meet with you to see what was happening regarding my team placement now that I'm back, but I over hear you guys saying Sasuke's name through the door…and…well…I kinda lost it. I'm sorry. I know I should have waited for you to tell me what's going on. I…I just really wanted to find him you know?”

 

The anger that had seemed nigh to bursting inside of Tsunade slowly drained away at Naruto's words. A small pit of tension that had been festering in her stomach suddenly seemed to occupy a great deal of attention for a minute before Tsunade could give Naruto a decent reply, “I guess I can understand what you're going through Naruto. In a sense, I went through a somewhat similar ordeal when I lost my own teammate. However, I'm afraid that I can no longer sanction any official missions in regards to locating Uchiha Sasuke.” Before Naruto could say anything Tsunade silenced him her own expression of sadness, “That girl that you just met, well, she was the last person to see Uchiha Sasuke alive. I'm afraid…that Uchiha Sasuke may have been killed by his elder brother when he at last confronted him.”

 

Naruto deflated so rapidly it seemed as if the air had been let out of a balloon. Tsunade could barely hear Naruto speak, his words were such a low whisper, “That…that can't be true Tsunade-ba-chan! NO! I can't believe it…I-I…don't want to believe it. Not Sasuke…”

 

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Tsunade tried to haul Naruto out of his sudden depression, “The best thing that I can suggest for you to do is to get back on a team and start doing missions once again. I was going to have Kakashi deliver the news to you later today, but I suppose that I should just tell you now. In one week, I will be officially reassigning you to Team Seven. Once again Hatake Kakashi will be your Jounin Sensei and Haruno Sakura will be one of your teammates. The final person that I'll be assigning to your squad happens to be that same girl you just scared the crap out of so I'd better find you apologizing to her sometime this week. Her name is Yominokuni Mikomi, and she may be physically stronger that Sakura is.”

 

Paling slightly - both at the concept of having to apologize to Mikomi and at the fact that she may be stronger than Sakura - Naruto stiffened, then bowed. “Thanks Tsunade-ba-chan, for telling me all of this. You could have just kept me in the dark, but you didn't. I really appreciate that. Bye.”

 

As Naruto fled the office Tsunade couldn't help but think, `Orochimaru has caused far too much pain and suffering. Looks like I'm going to have to redouble my efforts to find a way to penetrate his village beyond the civilian sector.'

 

 

Two detailed maps were laid across the table inside Orochimaru's Planning Chamber. The first detailed the land surrounding the Village Hidden in Rocks including the three minor shinobi villages that bordered it. The Village Hidden in Clouds and the surrounding countryside was illustrated on the second map. Miniature models of shinobi forces littered the table, constantly being shifted around by Orochimaru and Mosa Hogosha. All except for the miniature that represented the explosives cache that Tatsumaki had developed in Cloud.

 

“Hogosha-san,” Orochimaru purred, “you must have all of your shinobi in place around Waterfall and Rain in a week's time. Using your forces you should be able to annex them without too much difficulty. Especially if you place those explosives that I gave you properly. I'll have my forces ready to distract the Raikage's forces and prevent him from sending any sort of reinforcements to either village.”

 

Hogosha just nodded absently, “Right. Still, I would have expected more from your Orochimaru. This stretches our forces ridiculously thin. Even if I succeed in taking out another two villages to add to my own powerbase it is more than likely that we'll suffer significant losses, especially with the terrain advantage that Waterfall has. It's risky.”

 

A hissing chuckle sprang forth from Orochimaru's lips, “What is there worth gaining without a little bit of risk? Together we aren't powerful enough to take down Konoha quite yet. Not to mention there is no guarantee that the Village Hidden in Clouds will offer any kind of resistance if I'm able to slip a man close enough to detonate their explosive's cache…”

 

Momentarily a slight shiver of fear rippled over Hogosha. Orochimaru's last statement regarding the Raikage's explosive's cache clearly showed that Orochimaru had planned his tactics well in advance. Hogosha had even been in the room while Kabuto had suggested delivering the plans for building their explosives to both Tatsumaki and Kiriken. `My god,' Hogosha thought, `he must have place a tracking seal inside the plans that he gave them. Maybe even a flaw of some sort that would allow him to trigger the devices. He left a snake of his own within both nations and they didn't even realize it.'

 

For the first time since Hogosha had signed his fate over to helping Orochimaru he began to have doubts about whether or not his village was merely being used as a pawn in the giant shogi board that occupied Orochimaru's mind.

 

 

A nervous sweat was beginning to shine on Naruto's face as he slowly made his way to the Hyuuga compound. Not only had he attacked his future teammate, but someone who was also his last friendly link to Uchiha Sasuke. Add into the equation the contempt that Hyuuga Hiashi always had held for him and it felt as if he was walking into a lion's den. Wiping the sweat from his face and hands, Naruto schooled his features into a relatively neutral facial expression before he approached the Hyuuga Compound gates.

 

However, Naruto's composure didn't last long as he started pounding on the gates, “HEY, HEY, OPEN UP! I NEED TO TALK WITH HINATA AND MIKOMI-SAN!”

 

Any chance that Naruto might have had to enter the Hyuuga compound without being recognized by the guards was shot to hell when he continued to pound on the gates for then entire minute the two guards scrutinized him from the other side with their Byakugan. With a sudden crash one of the Hyuuga guards slammed the gate into Naruto sending him sprawling backwards onto the ground.

 

“Get lost brat,” he snarled, “I don't even know why you would even bother showing your face around here. You haven't been allowed anywhere near the compound since your last prank you demon piece of shit. Get out of here before we're forced to remove you from the area.”

 

The shouting match that ensued between Naruto and the two gate guards rang out across the entire compound of the Hyuuga Main Branch; Naruto's crystal clear voice especially. Hinata had been settling down in her room to practice her control over the Rasengan when she heard Naruto's voice causing a commotion. Instinctively activating her Byakugan Hinata immediately caught sight of the two Branch family Hyuugas' guarding the gate. When one of the guards gave Naruto a hard shove out the gate with both hands, while drilling some chakra into his shoulder tenketsu, Hinata took off for the gate at a run.

 

Surprise flickered across Naruto's face as he felt the tenketsu in his shoulders close off. He instinctively called up twin ribbons of the Kyuubi's chakra and forced open the two closed off tenketsu with them before sliding backwards into a fighting stance. Snapping his hands into the cross-shaped seal for the Kage Bunshin Naruto glared at the two gate guards, “I just want to talk to Hinata and Mikomi-san. I don't see what your problem is. I would have assumed that I would at least be allowed to see my girlfriend even if you wouldn't let me into your damn compound.”

 

Naruto blinked as the one who had shoved him suddenly had his eyes roll up into the back of his head before collapsing on the ground unconscious. A familiar, delicate hand had appeared where the man's neck had been and a moment later Hinata was glaring at the other guard. Her lavender eyes in full Byakugan caused her to cut quite the intimidating figure indeed,

 

“What exactly are you doing Sago?” Hinata practically growled, “I thought that your instructions were quite clear on guard duty. If a shinobi appears at the gate you need to at least inform the person they are seeking before turning them away. Even worse, you try to refuse entry to my boyfriend.”

 

Sago wisely said nothing but continued to shit his angry glare back and forth between Naruto and Hinata, “The council will hear about this,” Sago spat, “I don't care if you're the clan heir. Nobody from this clan should sully themselves with that demon's presence, especially you!”

 

A loud crack echoed across the courtyard as a bright pink palm print appeared on Sago's face as Hinata's slap spun him around and into the open door before falling to the ground. With a grunt Sago hauled himself to his feet and stalked away.

 

Naruto couldn't help but whistle, “That was some slap Hinata. Those weights of yours must be really helping with your strength.”

 

Hinata then rounded on Naruto. “What you did to Mikomi is almost as bad as what they were doing to you Naruto,” Hinata scolded, “I hope that you've come her to apologize to her. She was absolutely mortified by what you did to her.”

 

Scratching the back of his neck, Naruto's face fell and shame spread across his features, “I realized that after the fact Hinata-chan. I was a jackass. I just want to apologize.”

 

Hinata's scowl softened as she realized why Naruto had come to the compound, “That's good to hear. Come on, she in the back of the compound with the Branch Family.”

 

Despite Naruto's somber reason for coming to the Hyuuga compound he couldn't help but stare at everything they passed by. He had never been inside the Hyuuga compound before, let alone any other clan compound. The size of the buildings left Naruto looking around in awe and as he entered the gardens Naruto had to restrain himself from running around and looking at all of the incredibly sculpted and manicured plants. When they finally passed through the family living quarters that led out to the Branch Family section Naruto couldn't help but look on in awe. So many people were living together under one roof, together as a family.

 

A slight pang of jealousy shot through Naruto for a moment before he quashed it back down. Just because the family lived together didn't mean that everyone was treated like a member of the family. He couldn't forget the looks that Hiashi had given Hinata before he had left for his extended training trip with Jiraiya.

 

Finally they entered the Branch Family's quarters. At first Naruto thought that they were relatively the same as the Main Family's living quarters until he realized how much smaller everything was. The bedrooms were only half the size. Even the sitting areas they passed also were half the size as well. A flicker of sadness crossed Naruto's face for a moment before it disappeared, but it was long enough for Hinata to pick up on it.

 

“It's sad, isn't it,” Hinata murmured to Naruto, “we're supposed to come from the same family, yet, we enslave half of the people whom we should be calling cousin. I hate what this has done to our family.”

 

“Yeah,” Naruto said, trying to comprehend why the Hyuuga did this, “I mean, isn't family supposed to be people that you protect with your lives? Try to live with and make their lives easier? Maybe I don't understand what family really is, but I'm sure that it isn't this.”

 

When they reached the door to Mikomi's room the quite sobs that came through the door reminded both of them why they were here in the first place. Tentatively Hinata reached out and knocked gently on the wooden doorframe, “Mikomi-chan, may I come in? There is someone with me who'd like to talk to you.”

 

“I-I g-guess so…H-Hinata.”

 

Naruto was mentally berating himself again for being so harsh with Mikomi when he heard the sadness in Mikomi's voice. Hinata had hardly pulled the door open when Naruto walked in and immediately fell to his knees and bowed deeply in front Mikomi. Naruto visibly flinched when he heard the squeak of fright that came from Mikomi.

 

Without taking his eyes off the floor Naruto began his apology, “Mikomi-san…I would like to apologize for what I did to you. I'm very sorry. I'm afraid that I was rather impulsive in my actions towards you Mikomi-san. I was wrong. I hope that someday you'll be able to forgive me. I'm sorry…”

 

Mikomi could only stare in shock at the blond man that was kneeling before her. He seemed so different than earlier. No longer was he an intimidating aggressor, a man the seemed to loom over he much like Sadisuto had done in the past. The change was so radical and pervasive that Mikomi didn't know what to say at first. She couldn't ever remember anyone who had attacked her the way that the blond man had apologizing to her afterwards.

 

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Mikomi decided that she would figure out what sort of trick was being played on her, “Who are you? And why the hell would you bother apologizing for attacking me? Nobody has ever bothered before!” Mikomi's last few words came out like a whip lashing out onto Naruto's exposed back, causing him to flinch.

 

Looking up into Mikomi face at last Naruto tried to convey how sorry he was in both his expression and his words, “My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm apologizing to you because what I did to you was wrong. I just reacted. You see…Sasuke was a very good friend of mine. He…he betrayed the leaf and I wanted to bring him back. I also promised Sakura-chan that I would bring him back. Again, I'll I can do is ask for forgiveness. There is no excuse for what I did to you.”

 

For a long time Mikomi just sat their staring at Naruto as he continued to kneel in front of her. She could feel the sincerity that was in his voice, could tell that he truly meant what he had said, but she wasn't sure what to do.

 

“Please,” Naruto begged, “I don't want you to hate me Mikomi. Especially not when you've been assigned as my future teammate. I have enough people in this village who hate me already simply because of who I am…I don't want another to hate me for what I've done. I'm sorry…”

 

Feeling strangely comforted by Naruto's words, a half-smile creased Mikomi's lips, “I…I think I'll be able to forgive you Naruto. How about you buy me some ramen to make it up to me?”

 

“WOOHOO!” Naruto shouted in his exuberance before he pulled Mikomi to her feet, “Thank-you Mikomi for forgiving me. As for buying you ramen, I know this really great place called Ichiraku Ramen…”

 

 

A few days later Mikomi found herself standing at attention inside Tsunade's office with Sakura-chan at her side, Naruto and a strange grey-haired Jounin. The grief that she felt upon her realization that she had lost Sasuke-kun hadn't left her yet, but it also no longer dragged her down like an anchor. It remained a small ache in her heart that she wasn't sure would ever go away. Still, she couldn't help but fell a connection to him even beyond death. Tsunade claimed that she had awoken from the Genjutsu that Kinniku had placed upon her with a fully matured Sharingan spinning. Mikomi wasn't sure how, but she was determined to be able to consciously awaken the final give that Sasuke had apparently given her.

 

“Alright you four,” Tsunade said in her official business tone of voice, “As of this moment I am officially assigning the four of you the designation of Team Seven. Sakura, Naruto, Mikomi, unless you are specifically assigned to another group of people for a mission the three of you will work together as a team with Kakashi as your sensei. Training Ground number seven is currently available for the four of you to begin some preliminary exercises if you so wish.”

 

Pulling out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise, Kakashi calmly started to read it as he addressed his team, “Alright, I guess I'll be meeting the three of you down a training ground seven. You have five minutes to all get there or else you'll have to do a push-up for every second that you're late. Oh, and that means one push-up, per person, per second. Starting…Now!” With that said, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving a very irate Sakura and Naruto behind.

 

“JEEZ THAT HYPOCRITICAL BASTARD!” Sakura yelled at empty space as she grabbed Naruto and Mikomi and started to sprint for the open window, “HE'S NEVER ON TIME SO WHY IS HE PUNISHING US IF WE DON'T MAKE IT THERE ON TIME!”

 

After being dragged by Sakura across a couple of rooftops Mikomi and Naruto were finally able to get their feet back under them. Sakura and Naruto were both sprinting as fast as they could when Mikomi spoke up, “Where is Training Ground Seven?”

 

Naruto pointed to the edge of the forest roughly on the other side of Konoha, “Over there. I don't know how the hell we're gonna get there in five minutes. Man, what a way to start out the first team meeting.”

 

The distance from the Hokage tower to training ground number seven usually took almost seven minutes running for everyone but Gai and Lee. Their record was closer to four minutes with their weights on. Grimacing slightly, Mikomi pulled a small scroll out of her hip pack and proceeded to store both of her one-hundred and fifty pound wrist weights in it before she grabbed hold of Naruto and Sakura.

 

“Hold on you two, I'm going to try and get us there on time.” Without a second thought Mikomi started to channel her chakra into her legs to boost her speed. Bodily dragging her two teammates along Mikomi started running at a speed that nearly rivaled Lee's. She sailed across the city in just over three minutes and burst through the woods shortly after that. Following Sakura's shouted directions Mikomi was able to make her way into the clearing of training ground number seven in just over four and a half minutes.

 

A blushing and giggling Hatake Kakashi met them, enjoying another re-read of his perverted orange book. At his team's sudden appearance Kakashi calmly flipped away his book and addressed his disgruntled team.

 

“Well, I'm surprised that you made it here on time I was hoping to be able to get through another chapter before you guys were done with you're push-ups. Not bad.” Kakashi just did his typical one eyed grin as he observed the incredulous looks coming from his two former subordinates, and the confused one coming from Mikomi. “Since we have a new member joining us how about we introduce ourselves for her benefit.”

 

Glancing towards Mikomi Kakashi didn't stop grinning, “Alright, since everyone is so quite I'll start things off. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have lots of likes and dislikes and my dreams are none of your business. Okay, Naruto, you're next.”

 

Shaking his head at Kakashi's antics, Naruto grinned and shook Mikomi's hand, “Hiya Mikomi. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I think that ramen is the greatest food in the world and the only thing I like better than that is Hinata-chan. I hate the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook as well as that snake bastard Orochimaru. My dream is to be Hokage someday.”

 

Mikomi's face darkened greatly upon hearing Orochimaru's name. Sakura was quick to notice this and tried to change the subject as quick as she could, “Uh, well, Mikomi already knows me. I'm Haruno Sakura. I really like medical jutsu as well as training lately. I used to have the ambition to marry Uchiha Sasuke-kun, but recently have grown past my childish crush. I-”

 

“That's good,” Mikomi grated harshly, “'cause you wouldn't be able to marry Sasuke-kun anyway.”

 

“Oh?” Kakashi asked looking intently at Mikomi, “and why would you say that?”

 

“Because I was there when his brother killed him.”

 

Sakura felt like she had been punched in the gut by Tsunade at this news. Even Kakashi's seemed surprised for a moment as he tried to absorb what Mikomi was telling them. When Sakura opened her mouth to get more information from Mikomi it was Naruto who stopped her. He simply laid his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

 

“W-well, alright. I…I don't like Uchiha Itachi or Orochimaru. My dream…I guess…is to become the best Medic Nin in the world.”

 

Realizing that it was her turn to speak, Mikomi did her best to throw off the melancholy that she was feeling at the moment. With a sigh, Mikomi started to speak, “My name is Yominokuni Mikomi and as far as I know I'm the last of my clan. I don't like a lot of things; however, food and especially dango is something I like. I recently escaped from Orochimaru's control and had been forced to work with the Sound for a little over two years. Uchiha Sasuke was the only reason that I was able to keep my sanity in that hellhole. I despise Uchiha Itachi and absolutely loathe Orochimaru. I don't really have any dreams at the moment except for one day be able to call Konoha my home.”

 

It took a few moments before anyone was able to say anything, but at last Sakura was leaned over and put a comforting arm around Mikomi. This time Mikomi didn't pull away.

 

“It's alright Mikomi, I've heard how tough these last few days have been on you. Just remember that you will always have people here that you can call your friends. To us, Konoha already is your home.”

 

Mikomi gave Sakura a grateful smile before giving herself a little shake. Sakura was her friend and she wasn't about to let her down by failing to do her job as part of Team Seven. “Alright guys, sorry for the delay but I think I'm ready to go now. Let's get to it!” Mikomi started to rub her hands together in anticipation at the thought of being able to do something - anything - besides dwell on her grief.

 

Kakashi proceeded to pull three bells from his pocket, “Well now that Mikomi's little case of melodrama is out of the way and she's ready to go, here is the test. I'm sure Sakura and Naruto recognize these bells so I'm not going to bother only holding two as you obviously remember the test. Just so you know you only have two hours to get all three bells from me.”

 

Naruto and Sakura grinned confidently as Sakura slipped on her fingerless black gloves. Taking her cue, Mikomi slid into a ready stance with her new teammates and watched Kakashi, ready for the moment that he gave them permission to start the exercise.

 

Pausing for a moment to take in the sight of his old pupils and the new youngster assigned to his team, Kakashi felt a tingle going up his spine. `Something tells me that I'm going to have to take these three seriously or I'm gonna be up shit creek without a paddle.' With that thought in mind, Kakashi slid into a read position and pulled his forehead protector back to reveal his left eye. A surge of anger briefly shot through Mikomi when she saw the Sharingan spinning in Kakashi's eye before it passed just as quickly.

 

“It looks like I'm going to have to take the three of you seriously or I'll be in trouble. Now remember, you're going to have to come at me with intent to kill or else you'll never get the bells from me. You have two hours.” Kakashi again disappeared in a puff of smoke.

 

Once safely hidden in together in the tree line Mikomi un-strapped her ankle weights and sealed them in the same scroll as her wrist weights. Naruto gave Mikomi a quick nod before she spoke, “What's the plan? Just so you know I have been training with someone who had a mature Sharingan as well so I kind of know how to deal with fighting someone with it. Well, at least on the taijutsu level.”

 

“Good,” Naruto said as he glanced around the area without picking up Kakashi's presence, “then maybe it will be a good idea for you to keep him occupied once we lure him out. We're going to have to go about this fight in a hit-and-run sort of way. Kakashi's good so we'll use our numbers and stamina to out last him. Here's what we're going to do…”

 

 

There was little doubt in Kakashi's mind that he was at a disadvantage in terms of sheer stamina. Naruto had always been a stamina machine thanks to the Kyuubi and if the reports from the Chuunin exams were correct then Mikomi also had an inordinate amount of chakra as well. Sakura may have had less stamina than the other two but her strength was going to be a problem. A smirk was on Kakashi's face when he slipped through the treetops to find his three charges huddled conversing quietly. Slipping from the tree Kakashi sank into the ground, ready to perform the `Doton: Headhunter Jutsu' on both Sakura and Naruto.

 

Mikomi was shocked when she saw the pair of hands explode out of the ground just as Naruto and Sakura had predicted and grabbed their legs. Recovering quickly Mikomi quickly made the cross shaped seal for a Kage Bunshin. Kakashi's hands suddenly were grasping nothing but air as Naruto dispelled his two shadow clones causing Kakashi to quickly burst from the ground to come face to face with Mikomi.

 

She grinned, “Kage Bunshin Jutsu!”

 

Mikomi was ready for the detonation that her chakra was going to make upon her attempt at a bunshin jutsu and had locked her feet to the ground. Kakashi, unfortunately, was not. The chakra detonation lifted the Jounin off his feet and right into the path of Sakura's oncoming fist. As Sakura's fist impacted on Kakashi's back he exploded into a log that was shattered into a thousand slivers as Sakura's punch tore straight through it. Mikomi and Sakura nodded as they heard the expected cry of Naruto from above the treetops.

 

“MULTIPLE KAGE BUNSHIN JUTSU!”

 

As Kakashi burst from the cover of the trees under a rain of Naruto's Kage Bunshins, he found himself having to quickly engage Mikomi in Taijutsu. Kakashi grunted under the impact from Mikomi's punch, instantly recognizing Gai's Iron Fist style taijutsu. Flipping back to put some distance between himself and Mikomi he suddenly realized that his Sharingan was working on Mikomi at only a fraction of its normal effectiveness, much in the same way his fights with Gai always threw his Sharingan off. Seeking to end this encounter quickly and retreat Kakashi caught Mikomi's left wrist when she overextended slightly and slipped behind to hammer a punch into her kidney area only to have her explode into a log.

 

Sakura bursting from the trees and causing the ground in front of Kakashi to erupt into a storm or earth forced him to retreat into a line of Naruto's charging from the forest edge. Reacting on instinct Kakashi quickly preformed another jutsu, “Katon: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!”

 

The storm of fireballs that erupted from Kakashi's mouth tore apart the line of Naruto and amidst the smoke of dispelled clones gave him barely enough time to escape Naruto's follow up technique, “Futon: Great Breakthrough Jutsu!” The ball of compressed air cleared the clearing of dust and smoke before plowing straight through a stand of trees.

 

Mikomi, Naruto and Sakura disappeared into the trees once again, but this time hunting Kakashi rather than the other way around.

 

Pausing a moment to catch his breath, Kakashi could sense the army of clones that Naruto had combing the forest before he evaluated the combined assault the three of them had come up with, `I guess experience has taught Sakura and Naruto how to deal with the way I fight. Mikomi seems to also have a great deal of experience handling the Sharingan. Maybe I should have actually read her entire file rather than just glance through it?'

 

Glancing back towards the clearing he had just come from two things saved Kakashi's life: first he noticed the change in air pressure, and the second one was when he spotted the glow of chakra speeding his way. Kakashi was forced to hit the deck and slip underground again as he recognized the familiar air blades caused by the technique `Futon: Blade Storm Jutsu' Kakashi wasn't sure who had launched the technique, but he was sure it could only have been Naruto or Mikomi. That technique - especially with the wide area this one had used on - took a heck of a lot chakra out of a person.

 

With a quick seal Kakashi spawned three mud clones and launched them at his three students only to encounter clones once again. Kakashi nearly cursed as he sensed his clones get taken out with a `Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu.' He knew he had to turn the tide of the fight quickly if he wanted to be able do more than just defend himself.

 

Emerging from underground Kakashi cast his senses out in search of his students and was able to come across Mikomi while she was in the middle of setting a trap. He knew it was vicious but it was the only chance that he had to keep the fight from swaying too much in his students' favour.

 

“DOTON: EARTH FIST JUTSU”

 

As the fist of earth connected with Mikomi's chin, her chakra defence absorbed enough of the damage for her to recognize this combo. Sure enough, a moment later as twisted towards where the jutsu had be launched from, the head of a dragon had appeared from the ground and began spitting ball after ball of mud in her direction. Mikomi sealed as fast as she could, taking one of the mud balls in the hip before she was able to launch her counterattack, “Raiton: Chain Lightning Jutsu!”

 

The bolt of lightning that erupted from Mikomi's hand tore through the mud balls coming towards her and exploded the dragon they were coming from. Unfortunately for Mikomi, Kakashi was able to react in time to create a mud pit beneath where Mikomi was to land, causing her to sink up to her neck in mud before he hardened it back into regular earth. A curse of frustration erupted from Mikomi as she watched Kakashi leap away laughing.

 

In a burst of her Tsunadean strength Mikomi tore her arms free of the earth encasing her and proceeded to split the ground open with her fist to free herself. Getting to her feet she heard the sounds of fighting on the opposite side of the clearing that she was on. Sprinting there, Mikomi watched in awe as Kakashi proceeded to dodge every punch that Sakura threw his way while destroying clone after shadow clone that Naruto had amassed. Leaping into the fray Mikomi's added pressure forced Kakashi to retreat once again after a particularly close call where Mikomi had nearly forced him into the path of Sakura's fist with a stunning axe kick of her own.

 

Back and forth this went for over half an hour before Kakashi started to show any signs of fatigue. Several times now he had attempted to end the fight with near lethal techniques only have them break against Mikomi's body, shatter upon Sakura or Mikomi's fist, or penetrate one of the numerous shadow clones that Naruto had created. Kakashi knew that he'd have to put everything on the line and end this fight if he was going to keep the three of them from snatching the bells from his belt. He wasn't about to just hand the bells over without forcing them to truly earn them!

 

Kakashi made three shadow clones of his own and sealed for his technique. The one he assigned to chase after Sakura had a Rasengan slowly take shape in its palm while he and his other clone formed a Raikiri each. He began his charge through the trees towards his pupils who once again were in the middle of the clearing.

 

All three of them recognized the chirping sound of the Raikiri that came from the forest. Naruto and Sakura felt shock wash over them as they realized that their teacher could quite possibly kill them while a cold fury lit Mikomi's face. Mikomi recognized that technique alright. She would never forget how it was the one that kill Sasuke!

 

Breaking from their stupor Naruto started to form a Rasengan and Sakura got into a ready position. Mikomi on the other hand, flew through the seals for two techniques, one after another.

 

“KATON: MOLTEN EARTH JUTSU!” Mikomi stomped the ground an a huge pool of molten earth spread out in front of the trio before sealing once again.

 

“KATON: NOVA DETONATION JUTSU!” Mikomi had begun forming the condensed fireball above the pit of molten earth as the three Kakashi's skidded to a halt in front of lava field in front of them. The three jutsu's faded as everyone on Team Seven watched as Mikomi unleashed a second massively draining chakra attack in a row.

 

Three massive pillars of fire burst from the orb of flames in the sky and streaked towards the three Kakashi's. Both shadow clones never stood a chance and Kakashi barely was able to Kawarmi out of the way before the pillar coming his way incinerated him.

 

Naruto once again produced a wave of shadow clones to send after Kakashi as Mikomi dispelled her techniques. Naruto was surprised when they hauled an exhausted Kakashi from the trees moments later and dropped him at Sakura's feet. With an amused grin on her face Sakura reached down and pulled the bells from Kakashi's waist, “Thanks for the bells Kakashi. So, would you say that we passed?”

 

Kakashi groaned for a moment before sitting up and taking out his little orange book. Mikomi happened to have a clear view of the contents of the book when he opened it this time and was blushing furiously as she turned away from the eclectic Jounin, “Yeah, I suppose the three of you pass. I'll have to dock marks from you all for nearly killing the teacher however.”

 

Training ground number seven rang with Naruto and Sakura's laughter for the next several minutes, both at Mikomi's embarrassment from Kakashi's book and from Kakashi's appraisal of the test.

 

 

A familiar smirk crossed Kabuto's face as he pushed his glasses up on his nose before gazing around the escarpment surrounding the Village Hidden in the Clouds. He had to give the Raikage who had originally built the village a great deal of credit. Building a village hidden in the top of a hollowed out mountain peak certainly gave them an impressive looking natural defensive structure. Still, the fact that Tatsumaki only had a minimalist watch on the surrounding mountain peak only accentuated the weakness that was inherent in his system of defence. It may be difficult to scale the mountainside that led up to the peak if you didn't take the main road; however, it is far from an impossible task for a ninja.

 

Sliding back into the mountain's shadow, Kabuto pulled a thick scroll from his hip pack. Unrolling the scroll gave Kabuto pause as he pondered how he was going to simulate an assault on Kumo. Shrugging, Kabuto pushed a surge of chakra through the scroll and unsealed the bodies of then Mizu Nins that he had been saving for this occasion. He began sealing.

 

“Dead Soul Army Jutsu!”

 

Kabuto relished the feeling that came to him as his senses suddenly flared up to include a further ten bodies under his control. He could feel what they felt, see what they saw, hear what they heard, smell what they smelled. Only the sense of touch was missing but that was hardly a loss. There was no sense in creating a jutsu that would feedback pain into the user. Kabuto started when he realized that he could even feel the chakra systems of each individual he had reanimated. Clearly this version of the technique was far superior to his previous incarnation.

 

With a thought Kabuto quickly Henged all ten of his troops to give them a grey colouration to blend into the mountain wall more effectively. Kabuto directed his troops to circle around towards the rear of the mountain where the guard patrol was spaced out to the thinnest point. With the sun setting, the shadows cast by the mountain would cover the entire eastern face lending further camouflage for his reanimated army.

 

Initially Kabuto had tried to spread his little attack group out over a large area to reduce the chance of being caught. To his annoyance, Kabuto noticed that the further apart the group became the more chakra was required to keep them animated.

 

The Euphoric feeling of experiencing the world through ten other sets of senses ended once Kabuto had direct his little army to just below the rim of the mountain. Kabuto was able to spot four guards in the area that had any chance of spotting the Mizu Nins he was controlling. With another thought, moments later all four were little more than pincushions for kunai. Another smirk crossed Kabuto's face: the fun part was just beginning.

 

Kabuto quietly directed his little army down the inside of the mountain wall, having to kill another two ninja on the way. Upon reaching the village level Kabuto put his plan into action. Kabuto proceeded to slash the throat of the weakest corpse at his disposal and jammed a few kunai into his chest and let the body to rot. Insurance in case the Kumo Nins were too incompetent to take out his little group after he detonated the bomb they had created using Orochimaru's plans.

 

Like a column of ghosts the nine remaining corpses descended upon the heavily guarded warehouse. Using a unique sound jutsu Kabuto was able to put the seven guards around the building asleep before they realized what was happening. Next he directed two of his nine corpses left to run over and slash the sleeping guards' throats while the others got inside. After pausing for only a moment to deactivate the alarm seals that had been placed at the main entrance seven of his army slipped into the building and started planting explosive notes all over the place. The remaining two followed after they had finished their grizzly deed.

 

Again Kabuto left one of his corpses behind, only this time it would act as the trigger for all of the explosive notes in Tatsumaki's explosives cache. Purposely throwing caution to the wind, Kabuto directed his eight remaining corpses to sprint for the main gate. Kabuto smirked when the Kumo Anbu squads on patrol duty finally noticed his fleeing corpses. Directing his team to start throwing a hail of kunai using the `Kage Shuriken Jutsu' he waited until he had stretched his connection to the remaining corpse in the explosives cache to its limit.

 

The detonation lit up the dark sky for miles around and even caused several minor landslides. Glancing back towards the blast zone with a corpse, Kabuto was pleased to note that the blast had managed to consume almost an eighth of the village. Not bothering to instruct his animated army to fight all that hard he let the last of his corpses get cut down by the furious Anbu squads before releasing his jutsu.

 

Kabuto pushed his glasses back up onto his nose and smirked. He had just incited a war between Kumo and Mizu.

 

 

While Kabuto had been off inciting an all out war between the already tense villages of Kumo and Mizu, Mosa Hogosha was leading his forces to annex the Village Hidden in Rain and the Village Hidden in Waterfalls. Using the Village Hidden in Grass as a main staging point Hogosha had arranged for his army to pincer both villages. One section of his divided army would attack from the north on each Village while the second half staging in Grass would attack from the east and west respectively. He had also enlisted the help of two groups of summoning experts from the Sound to launch an attack using the three-headed giant serpents that had been so effective during the assault on Konoha three years ago. They were to send a trio of the giant serpents to assault the villages from the south.

 

Hogosha was hoping that this three pronged attack would decimate the forces of both villages fast enough for him to take both villages with minimal casualties.

 

The assault on the Village Hidden in Rain progressed as planned, the trio of three headed snakes pulling most of the pressure away from the bulk of the Iwa army that descended upon the village. The pincer of Iwa Nins that had converged from the north and west had forced the remaining guards not trying to take out the serpents to retreat into the Village proper and out of their defensive position. After decimating half of the Rain's forces the village leader had finally surrendered unconditionally to prevent any more loss of life. Following her execution Hogosha had placed one of his most trustworthy advisors in place to act as a puppet leader in the village. Leaving half of his invading army behind to ensure his governance over the Village Hidden in Rain, Hogosha had pulled the rest of the troops back to Grass and Iwa to keep his land secure.

 

The assault on the Village Hidden in Waterfalls resulted in a far greater number of losses for the Iwa army. This was because the Village had a pair of summoning specialists of their own. Together the pair had been able to summon three giant mongooses to take on and repel the serpents the Sound summoners had unleashed upon the village before they were targeted and cut down by Hogosha himself. Although he had anticipated greater resistance from the Village Hidden in Waterfalls he hadn't expected Orochimaru's summons to be destroyed so quickly. So fierce was the defence of the Waterfall Nins that nearly three quarters of their number were wiped out before Hogosha had been able to take down Waterfall's leader in combat. The Waterfall Nins had surrendered shortly after that, but the battle had taken its toll on the Iwa army. Nearly half of their numbers had been lost in the battle.

 

By the time that Mosa Hogosha had returned to Iwa, reports were already flooding in that Kumo had gone to war with Mizu.

 

Hogosha had to hand it to Orochimaru. He was one slippery bastard when he set his mind to it.

 

 

`Of all the times to forget to refill my secret sake bottle,' Tsunade thought as she felt a headache coming on, `especially when it seems that the world has gone mad.' Reports of the supposed Mizu attack on Kumo had been flooding in after the incident had triggered a full scale war between the already tense nations. To make matters even worse it appeared that the Tsuchikage, Mosa Hogosha, had grown even more ambition by taking over both the Village Hidden in Rain and the Village Hidden in Waterfalls in one fell swoop. With warfare breaking out everywhere the economy of the nations was in chaos.

 

There was a knock on the door to Tsunade's office. “Tsunade-sama” Shizune called from the other side of the door before she entered the office, “you had a mission for me?”

 

Tsunade sighed heavily feeling like that's all she ever did these days, “Yes Shizune. We've got to try and get this warfare under control. Inflation has been skyrocketing and it has been getting harder and harder to keep the peace in areas surrounding even Konoha. I need you to act as the neutral third party ambassador for the peace talks that I've been able to arrange during the ceasefire that has been called after two weeks of warfare between the Mizu and Kumo. I had to put considerable pressure on both nations to get a ceasefire in the first place.”

 

Shizune nodded as she tried to comprehend what was going on, “Do you know what sparked the conflict in the first place? I may be able to get both sides to stand down if I can figure out the origin to this new eruption of violence.”

 

“I have extremely strong suspicions that Orochimaru is behind this renewal of violence,” Tsunade said before lacing her fingers together, “But unfortunately I have no proof. I know that he initiated the tension between both sides in the first place but they rejected that idea. As of right now, all official reports indicate that it was a rogue group of Mizu Nins that infiltrated Kumo and apparently detonated a massive explosives cache that destroyed an eighth of their village before being cut down. If possible I need you to persuade both Tatsumaki and Kiriken that Orochimaru is the one behind all of this, although you'll probably have to exhaust every other line of argumentation trying to prove that neither side started the conflict before they'll even listen to than line of reasoning.”

 

“Is this going to be a solo ambassadorial mission or will you be assigning me to a team?”

 

“I had planned to team you with Team Eight for all ambassadorial missions but they haven't returned from wave country yet. I'll be assigning you to team with Team Ten along with Haruno Sakura. Since Sarutobi Asuma is currently assigned to an A ranked mission you'll need at least one heavily offensive fighter with you if things turn ugly.”

 

Nodding, Shizune picked up the folder that Tsunade had passed across the desk for her to look over. The vague timeline on the escalation of the conflict between Mizu and Kumo was etched out according to the data and suspicions assembled by various Anbu teams. Shizune couldn't help but pause at the information of Iwa making yet another expansion of territory biting off huge chunks of territory by annexing both Rain and Waterfall.

 

“What's being done about Iwa's aggression?” Shizune asked, “They are certainly far more active than usual. Hmmm…I'm sure I'm missing something here…”

 

Shizune quickly scanned over the brief synopsis of the battle that occurred during Iwa's attack. Something was tickling her in the back of her mind but she just couldn't put her finger on it. Glancing through the report a third time the word `serpent' caught her eye, causing her to reread the passage it was in.

 

“Tsunade-sama, take a look at this,” Shizune said, highlighting the passage before passing the report back to Tsunade, “In the reports about the attacks on Rain and Waterfall our Anbu teams witnessed the same three-headed serpents that attacked Konoha attacking those villages. It is proof that Orochimaru is somehow involved considering that he is the only person who currently has access to the serpent summoning scroll. I think that I'll be able to use this to sway the suspicions that Kumo and Mizu have away from each other and onto the Sound. It will at least be some concrete proof that Sound has been busier than either the Raikage or Mizukage have cared to admit.”

 

A smile finally graced Tsunade's face for the first time since Naruto had returned. Reading the passage had given her hope to somehow make it out of this predicament without the shinobi nations completely shattering apart. Tsunade need that fragment of hope now, especially since the reports on the Akatsuki coming in from Jiraiya had taken a startling increase in frequency.

 

“Shizune, as this moment you have until tomorrow morning to assemble your team and supplies before departing at once. Because this is supposed to be a strictly ambassadorial mission it will only be ranked as a B class mission. However, all of you will be receiving A class payment as compensation if you are able to at least initiate a signed truce or even a ceasefire for a year or longer. Dismissed!”

 

 

Yakubyougami was once again in his lab revising his current viral agent in an attempt to figure out a formula best suited for taking down a Jinchuriki. He had slipped a minimal dose of his flesh-eating virus into Gaara's lunch three day's earlier and had stayed long enough to realize that beyond a slight stomach cramp there was absolutely no effect on the Jinchuriki. He hadn't even need to slip him the antibody virus that he had created to specifically destroy his original attack virus. As things stood it was next to impossible for him to collect a drop of Gaara's blood to test the effects of his various creations without revealing the fact that he was far stronger than he had ever let on.

 

So, for now, Yakubyougami was stuck with experimenting with various viral strains that he had been working on for the last few months. Several looked promising, but he had yet to speed up the infection speed to rival that of his flesh-eating virus. Preventing transmission beyond his intended target was also an annoyance that he had been trying to rectify as well. He was trying his damn hardest to come up with something but he was more than confident in his skills with his blade if that turned out to be his final option. If speed was all it took to breech the shields he was sure that it wouldn't be much of a problem. After all, only his illustrious leader exceeded him in terms of speed.

 

As he continued to work, Yakubyougami's thoughts drifted back to the Chuunin exams and his meeting with Yominokuni Mikomi. `Three years…' Yakubyougami thought, `three years and I haven't even had the chance to see her as anything besides the mask that I wear to remain close to our initial target. And now she's near target number nine…' As much as he didn't want to admit it - least of all to himself - Yakubyougami found that he'd been having a great deal of difficulty keeping the Akatsuki's mission as his primary objective. More and more he had caught his thoughts leaning in towards Mikomi.

 

Wrenching himself from that train of though, Yakubyougami turned back to his work. Running a hand through his midnight black hair, Yakubyougami's piercing red eyes inverted in colour and he began another attempt at virus creation, `A-T…G-C…T-A…T-A…G-C…C-G…'

 

 

Despite the exhaustion that was crashing over him, Sasuke felt excellent. He could feel his strength returning with ever second he trained, every single specter he defeated. Once again Sasuke had achieved four successful Raikiris before his chakra had been sapped and once again he was able to perform nearly every attack in his vast arsenal.

 

And he had done so without any outside influence.

 

Pride that had been next to nonexistent while he was serving Orochimaru under the influence of the Cursed Seal surged through him. At last he was beginning to realize what a fool he had been to become lured to Orochimaru through the offering of power. He had lost everything by allowing that damned seal to take over his life and gained very little that he couldn't have achieved on his own.

 

`Damn' Sasuke thought as he drank a bizarre energy restoring drink that Shinigami had provided plenty of in his workout area, `I never would have believed that Naruto, Rock Lee and…and Gai would have had the answers all along. Being a genius means absolutely nothing without a great deal of hard work, something that I had never truly contemplated before my time in this land of the dead. I only worked when I was offered the chance to grasp power, never when it was about the basics in becoming a true warrior.'

 

Briefly a feeling of disgust washed over Sasuke, `Damn, I just wanted every fucking thing handed to me on a silver platter. If Shinigami ever allows me to regain my life there is no way in hell that I'll ever make that mistake again. Hnn…Naruto, it seems like I may very well owe you an apology. I'm starting to think your attitude may have been the right path to take all along. I just never was willing to acknowledge the potential that you had all along since I couldn't even look past my own damn ego.'

 

Feeling the energy starting to flow through his body once again, Sasuke's thoughts traveled back to the face that had renewed his drive to return to life, `Mikomi, I hope that you'll forgive me after all this is finished. My selfish hate not only ended my own life, but nearly ended yours as well. I am unsure of what you truly mean to me since the Cursed Seal shut down almost all of my emotions beyond what the Uchiha clan massacre had done to me, but I promise that I will return to see your face again someday.'

 

Unheard by the self reflecting Uchiha, Shinigami's laughter rumbled throughout his entire realm. “It appears that you may achieve mortality once again Uchiha Sasuke. I eagerly await your progress for these next several months. You have grown far beyond any expectations that I have ever had for you. It appears that even now, the will of fire burns strongly in you, young boy from Konoha.”