Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Broken Branches	By : ChaCha92 Category: Naruto AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 8173 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Don't own anything in the Naruto universe. Some dude in Japan does. Make no money on my stories either.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
What the hell was he thinking?
Minato knows it’s a simple enough question, but can’t begin forming the answer. He feels like such an idiot for compromising with Kushina three months ago and agreeing to a spar that will decide whether or not she’ll return to the field. He certainly didn’t delude himself into thinking she might change her mind.
Since Hell hasn’t frozen yet, that wasn’t happening.
He hoped that the time she spent with Naruto would mellow her stance. He did what he could to soften it as much as possible with every attempt to convince her to back down and follow Tsunade’s orders.
Unfortunately, nothing worked. It’s why he now found himself pacing training ground 15, waiting for Kushina to arrive with Kakashi since he agreed to be their referee. He’s very early. His anxiety didn’t let him patiently wait until the appointed time of nine a.m. So he cheated and used the Hiraishin to get to the grounds to have plenty of time to think.
Hiruzen agreed to relieve him so he’d have the entire morning. Like Minato, he is just as reluctant to allow Kushina to return to the field, but also agrees they need the shinobi too badly.
“Keep pacing a rut and the next time it rains there will be a new stream on this training ground,” Kushina’s amused voice breaks into his reverie.
Coming to a stop, he turns to see her strolling toward him accompanied by Kakashi.
“I’m just thinking,” Minato replies, his smile failing to reach his eyes.
Attempting to lighten the mood, Kushina quips, “It doesn’t look good for the Hokage to be so distracted, y’know.”
“I’m just trying to think of ways to convince you to remain on medical leave, Kushina,” he quietly admits.
Kakashi silently moves off away from the couple, occupying himself by stretching and warming up.
Ignoring the teen, she steps forward and wraps her arms around Minato’s waist, burying her face in his chest as his arms automatically slide around her shoulders in a strong embrace.
“You know I’m not doing this to indulge my ego,” her muffled voice explains. “My bastard cousin is patiently waiting to strike.” She tightens her grip and quietly adds, “I don’t want to lose Naruto.”
Sighing heavily, Minato’s eyes close as he rests a cheek against the top of her head.
“I know. Hiroto has an overabundance of patience. He will take as long as he needs to accomplish his mission. And he has the added bonus of help from the Uchiha clan.”
“What makes the situation all the more galling is the fact he knows we know how cozy he is to that stuck up bastard Fugaku,” she growls. “With him in the mix it’s making it harder to figure out how my cousin will pull it off and when.”
“I wish I had the manpower to keep a guard on you both to ensure that won’t happen,” Minato admits reluctantly. “Or take the time off to guard you myself.”
“Hiruzen would put a hit out on you if you tried doing that,” she grins. Pulling back, she tugs on his waist. “C’mon, let’s get it on!”
“Would you hate me if I don’t wish you luck and hope you lose?” he asks, boring into her eyes.
A soft smirk tugs at her lips before she stretches to kiss him soundly. Breaking it off a few moments later, she says, “No, but I’ll be very, very upset with you and probably make your life miserable for the unforeseeable future in retaliation.”
“Spoken like a true sore loser,” Minato quips, before ‘oof’-ing when she not too gently punches him in the stomach. Rubbing his stomach, he croaks, “Where is our daughter anyway?”
“Hiruzen agreed to watch her,” she explains, sauntering a few paces away from him. “Homura and Koharu were in the office when I stopped by and immediately forgot they’re the staid pillars of Konoha and started acting like goofy, doting grandparents.”
“Which means they’ll be taking turns watching our match through the crystal ball and heard everything you just said.”
“Like that bothers me any, blondie.” A mischievous glint lights up her green eyes. “Now is your strategy to bore me into submission, or do you plan on actually sparring?”
Minato’s only answer is to smirk back and instantly disappear from sight.
“That’s more like it!” Kushina purrs, her eyes darting around trying to get a bead on him.
Drawing out a kunai in each hand, she idly twirls them on her fingers, waiting for him to make the next move. She knows he’s going to go for her weakest skill, but he’s a lousy gambler if he thinks she will reveal her hand just yet.
She isn’t surprised when he instantly appears in front of her. Snapping her arms into a defensive position, she’s stunned when he grabs her face with both hands and pulls her into a kiss. Her brain screeches to a halt at his “attack” before being overcome with a blind rage and brutally kicks him in the balls, not caring if she destroyed any future chance at having another baby together.
Her sadistic smirk disappears into an annoyed scowl when her husband ‘poofs’ out while doubling over in agony. Rolling out of the way as Minato attempts to grab her from behind, she bounces up to viciously slash at him when he immediately reappears next to her.
The couple viciously trade blows as Minato kicks and elbows her between easily deflecting her strikes, hoping to bruise her enough that she’ll be convinced she needs more time to rest. The medics will probably scream at him for it later, but it’s a small price to pay.
Nailing her with a hard knee to her stomach. He doesn’t hesitate to pull her right wrist painfully behind her back to her shoulder while grabbing her in a headlock with his left arm.
He sighs softly in annoyance when he’s suddenly holding dispersing smoke before instantly disappearing from sight.
A false calm settles over the deceptively deserted training ground. The barest whisper of movement among the trees is the only indication anyone remains.
Even when she’s at peak health, Minato knows ninjutsu has never been Kushina’s strong suit. She has the advantage of being far better at seals than him, but she’d be taking a huge risk by whipping them out for this match. He doubts her network is up to handling a seals battle.
Shamelessly using the location seal he put on her, he teleports close to her. He deliberately avoids going right to her position because he doesn’t put it past her to use herself as bait to trap him.
Perched high in a tree and hidden in the thick, upper foliage, he carefully scans the area. Cautiously he expands his senses, using chakra to sense her location and enhancing his hearing to provide further information on his wife’s activities.
He’s not surprised to feel the faintest spike of chakra on another tree flanking his right. The explosion completely misses him as he lightly lands on the ground moments later. Looking up, he smirks at the entire treetop where he was hiding burned to a stub. When Kushina goes all out, she truly doesn’t hold back. Ever.
However, he is startled to hear a fart somewhere behind him. Swirling around with kunai drawn, he expects to see a blur of red bearing down on him, but is faced with nothing until a rope net rises up around him, sweeping him off his feet. Muttering curses, he immediately starts slicing through the thick rope until a cold, sharp blade presses against his neck, halting all movement.
“Unless our ref disputes it, I win,” Kushina’s smug voice gloats.
“Sorry, sensei, but Kushina wins fair and square,” Kakashi’s apologetic voice calls out.
“Can’t really argue with that,” Minato grouses as she lifts her blade from his neck.
Dropping down from the net to the ground, she waves Kakashi over to get his help in easing Minato down. Within minutes, he steps free.
Stepping over to her scowling husband, Kushina wraps her arms around his middle while Kakashi disappears from the small clearing again to give them some privacy.
“C’mon, I won fair and square, blondie,” she soothes quietly. “I hardly used any chakra except for the clone and to pull the supplies I needed for my trap from a storage scroll. We both know my weaknesses and strengths, but I wanted to prove to you that I could function in a fight without relying on my weakened chakra network.”
“It’s different on missions and you know it, Kushina,” Minato sullenly states while wrapping his arms tightly around her. “I know you’re tired of hearing this, but I wanted you to recuperate longer.” Sighing heavily, he adds, “I’m not going back on our deal. You get to go back on active duty.” He cuts her off when she lifts her head and happily opens her mouth in reply, “But you’re sticking to escort and courier missions.”
“What the hell? Escort and courier? Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” he meets her offended glare with his own hard gaze. “I’m going against my better judgment in allowing you to become active again. So you’re doing courier and escorts or nothing at all. I want you coming home in one piece.”
Blowing out a harsh breath, Kushina grudgingly relents, “Fine.”
Pulling her closer, Minato spends a few minutes kissing her before pulling back to grin into her eyes.
“I briefly considered giving you guard duty and patrols, but I remembered how badly those tend to go for you. Boredom literally drives you insane and I don’t need anymore ninja added to the injured list.”
“You know me too well,” she smirks.
“If I knew you that well, you wouldn’t have been able to get the drop on me and win this match,” Minato smirks back. “How did you make that fart sound without being there to do it?”
Kushina laughs.
“I tweaked an exploding tag enough to where it harmlessly expels air. The bonus is that it sounds like a fart.” She waits for Minato to finish laughing before adding, “I wanted to end our match quickly or your chances of beating me would’ve increased the longer we went at it.”
“It was unexpected and an effective distraction,” he reluctantly admits. “You really are unpredictable and that eases my mind a little. Not much, but you have enough tricks to come back alive.”
“I told you, blondie, I don’t intend to leave you and Naruto. Now let’s go back and save our girl from being spoiled rotten by her adoptive grandparents.”
“C’mon, Kakashi, let’s go back,” Minato laughs into the trees while draping an arm over his wife’s shoulder and guiding her out of the training grounds.
Kushina effortlessly falls back into the routine of going on missions, even if they’re easy escorts she can do with her eyes closed. Less than a month after being put back on the active list and she already had several successful missions under her belt. They weren’t as exciting as most ‘A’ and ‘B’ ranked missions, but she feels like she’s contributing instead of being impotently stuck on the sidelines.
Tugging her winter cloak tighter around her shoulders, she impatiently waits for her partner outside the tower in the sharp November air. The snows won’t come until later in the month, but the biting wind blowing right through her is testament they are coming.
She smiles to herself when she feels the familiar chakra of her partner approaching.
“Would it have killed you to arrive on time, Kakashi?” she calls to the sullen fourteen-year-old.
“Blame sensei for redundantly reminding me to keep an eye on you and prevent you from overdoing it and to get both our asses back home in one piece,” the silver haired teen grouses.
The redhead rolls her eyes. “He laid the same ol’ lecture on me between kissing and molesting me.”
“Too much info,” Kakashi cringes.
“Oh, c’mon, Kakashi!” she admonishes with a playful nudge. “You’re getting to the age where you might find a girl to care for and want to make kissy faces with!”
“Kissy faces?” he asks incredulously. “Is that supposed to go along with terms like ‘Cuddle Muffin’ and ‘Honey Buns’ that you and sensei so maturely throw at each other?”
“Exactly,” Kushina winks.
“This is going to be a long mission,” Kakashi mumbles, rolling his eye.
“Hey, just be glad you’re going out on actual missions instead of being stuck here on guard detail.”
He throws her a lidded glare.
“It’s a ‘C’ ranked escort. How is that supposed to be a real mission?”
Reaching over, she pats his shoulder soothingly.
“I understand your pain, ‘Kashi, but you know blondie is going to stall and keep you off of ANBU missions for as long as he can. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re my partner on these missions. I feel better knowing you have my back.”
Kakashi sighs in resignation before offering a reluctant smile.
“I guess we both have to take what we can. Shall we meet up with our client at the gates?”
“Yeah,” Kushina nods. “Let’s get this over with.” As they walk, she asks, “So who got stuck with us to fill out the rest of the team?”
“Ibiki and Hayate.”
“Hayate? That little runt?”
“He’s only four years younger than Ibiki and I. He’s not that little,” Kakashi dryly replies.
“Which makes him a runt,” Kushina smirks. “He’s a good kid, though. How did we end up with the walking rule book and the runt?”
“Their other teammate, Tokara, is down with the flu and there was no one else available.”
“I notice you didn’t make any move to defend Ibiki against my ‘walking rule book’ comment.”
“I didn’t?” Kakashi asks innocently.
Kushina laughs, “Are you still sore about that time he pretended you were still a genin? Let it go, Kakashi, that was a long time ago.”
“Hmm? Did you say something?” he innocently asks before dodging her not so gentle punch.
“Smart ass,” she huffs.
“Oh look, Ibiki and Hayate are already waiting for us,” he needlessly points out.
“Hey, midgets!” she greets cheerfully while sticking her foot out to try tripping Kakashi. Looking around she frowns and asks, “Where’s our client?”
“Good morning, Kushina-san,” Hayate’s soft voice greets.
“Good morning, sempai,” Ibiki also greets in his recently acquired baritone. “The merchant, Shou, hasn’t arrived yet.”
“He hasn’t?” Kushina scowls further. “He should be here impatiently waiting and pissed that we’re late.”
“We arrived at the appointed time, but haven’t seen any sign of him yet,” Hayate explains.
“What the hell,” Kushina mutters angrily, placing her hands on her hips.
“We’re still getting paid,” Kakashi points outs, earning a glare from her.
“Hey, Kakashi, it’s nice to see you going on more ‘C’ ranked missions since getting busted down to chuunin,” Ibiki heckles. “I thought you’d only be doing ‘D’ ranked for the rest of your career.”
Kushina laughs at Kakashi’s murderous expression and low, threatening growl.
“All right, you two, knock it off,” she orders, calming down somewhat. “Here’s the ground rules. ‘C’ ranked escort or not, you’re all to stay sharp. No screwing around. Keep the teasing to a minimum. I want to get this mission done as quickly as possible because I’ve got a baby to breastfeed.”
The three boys cringe and Hayate turns a nice, deep shade of red.
“Way too much info, Kushina,” Kakashi grouses.
“For once, I agree,” Ibiki nods with a grimace.
“Get over it, boys,” she waves it off dismissively. “One day you’ll all get married and your wives will be doing the same thing.”
All three boys give her incredulous looks as another voice haughtily snipes, “I am not paying good money for my escorts to be standing around chit chatting.”
All four nins turn to face a man standing a few yards away with his arms crossed. He’s a short, wiry man with receding black hair pulled back into a short ponytail and is dressed in a black winter cloak over a formal dark gray traveler’s yukata. Two male servants meekly flank him on both sides as his eyes disdainfully rake over them.
“Shou?” Kushina asks, narrowing her eyes.
“I am,” he nods solemnly.
“You agreed to meet us at a specific time and are late. Show up on time next time if you don’t wish to pay us to chat,” she tersely explains.
“The designated time is when I decide it is,” he snipes haughtily. “I can certainly have you replaced, costing your salary for this mission.”
“Go ahead,” she shrugs indifferently. “By the time you get a replacement team, assuming one is available today, you won’t be able to depart until tomorrow at the earliest.” Turning to the boys, she jerks her head up the street. “C’mon, I’ll treat you guys to lunch, then we’ll go tear up a training ground in a free-for-all spar.”
“Okay,” Kakashi easily agrees, knowing she’s bluffing while Hayate looks uncertain and Ibiki merely arches a brow.
“Wait a minute!” Shou begins, but is cut off by Kushina jabbing a finger in his face.
“No, you wait a minute, Shou. You’re wasting our time with your diva antics. You’re paying us to act as a security escort; you’re not paying us to be your bitches. You can either quit screwing around and shut the hell up or go get another team, putting your ass further behind schedule. I don’t give a fuck either way.”
The man gapes at the angry redhead standing with her hands on her hips and looking like she’d like nothing more than to dismember him, starting with the most sensitive parts of his body.
Recovering some bravado, Shou reaches up to nervously smooth out the lapels of his cloak.
“I don’t have the time to bother with such nonsense. Shall we get started with our trip then?”
“Certainly,” Kushina replies cheerily with a big, ‘I will rip your throat out with my teeth’ smile that sends a shiver down Shou’s spine. Turning to the rest of her team, she orders, “All right, boys! Move it out!”
Minutes after passing through the gates, Ibiki mutters, “Bitches?”
“You should already be familiar with Kushina’s colorful euphemisms by now, Ibiki,” Kakashi drolly replies.
“’Colorful euphemisms’ is a nice way of putting it,” Hayate comments.
“Indeed,” Ibiki agrees as they continue their journey.
Shou keeps mostly to himself and his two servants, which suits Kushina and the others just fine. She considers him a pompous, arrogant ass and hates whenever he opens his mouth because if he’s not talking about himself, he’s either being overly critical or complaining about something.
By the next day she’s ready to kill him and hide the body, claiming it was bandits, but refrains when she reminds herself they only have one more day to put up with his bullshit.
She notices Shou and his servants grow more tense and agitated as they pass through a particularly dense and isolated forest.
Kakashi confirms her suspicion by moving closer to mutter just loud enough for her to hear, “It seems our client is very anxious, almost like he’s expecting to be jumped any moment.”
Kushina nods and orders in a low voice, “Tell Ibiki and Hayate to stay alert and ready to close ranks around our client. It may be nothing, but I’ve got a feeling Shou is hiding a damn good reason for his jumpiness.”
Nodding, Kakashi moves off and passes on Kushina’s orders to their teammates, who both nod and become even more attentive to their surroundings.
An hour later their suspicions are proven correct when a barrage of kunai and shuriken bear down on Shou.
“Incoming!” Ibiki warns, but it’s too late. The projectiles strike home causing the terrified merchant and his servants to disappear into smoke.
The clones of the Konoha nins follow suit and immediately ‘poof’ out of existence.
Two of the attackers carefully scrutinize the now deserted area.
“I told you they were onto us!” one of them hisses from the dense upper canopy of the forest.
The blonde gives her stocky, black haired partner a scathing glare. “You said no such thing. Now shut up before I cut your voice box to keep you from giving away our position.”
“Too late,” Ibiki states from his perch on another tree nearby as the exploding tag attached to the kunai goes off when it embeds in the trunk between the two.
“That really applies more to you than it did to them,” another voice states behind Ibiki.
The teen whirls around in time to block the kunai strike to his neck.
“Maybe,” he grits calmly out to his taller opponent, “but you’re confirming our theory we’re not dealing with a couple of bandits. No hitai-ate. So what village is your group rogue from?”
“You’re a sharp one,” the man compliments. “Too bad your talents are wasted in dea…”
The kunai piercing his neck cuts off the conversation as his corpse drops hard to the ground four meters below.
“I didn’t need your help, Kakashi,” Ibiki replies irritably.
“No, but we need yours,” Kakashi retorts calmly, annoying the brunet further. “There are a lot more out there than we thought. I’d say a small gang. Now’s not the time for you to play interrogator.”
Ibiki merely growls as both disappear back into the trees.
“They have to be hiding among those boulders at the base of the mountain,” a scratchy female voice whispers from the dense upper canopy of a nearby tree.
“It’s possible. They can’t hide as well with three civilians,” another male voice replies.
“Then just lob a damn tag in there and blow them to bits,” another male hisses.
“And give away our position on a mere possibility? Haru, do everyone a favor and die,” the first male voice retorts.
“That’s easy enough to arrange,” Kushina’s voice quips nearby as a kunai hits home in Haru’s neck.
Before the other two can launch a counter attack, they are forced apart to dodge several kunai zooming in on them.
Hayate planned to pursue one of them before he leaps off the branch he’s perched on to avoid a sword strike aimed for his back. He lightly lands on another branch before leaping away as his pursuer relentlessly follows him through the trees. Pulling out a couple of smoke bombs, he lobs the orbs hard into the next branch he lands on, obscuring the view of his pursuer. The green haired nin gags and coughs while leaping clear.
Dropping to the ground, the nin carefully scans the trees and area for any sign of the boy. Not sensing anything, a sinister smirk spreads across his lips as he races through several hand signs and slams his hands to the ground. The grass before him bulges obscenely before exploding high into the air. Small bits of rock arc out to fall back to the ground through the trees. Closing his eyes, the green haired nin enhances his hearing and listens to the familiar sound of pebbles hitting leaves, bark and rock before a different sound reaches his ears.
Racing through a new set of signs the nin grins as an intense whirlwind of rocks and dust tears across the clearing to his right. Despite not being taller than a single story building, the small tornado reduces everything in its path to sharp debris that only serves to add to its destructive power.
The nin arches a brow in interest as giant stone spikes erupt from the earth directly in the path of the tornado, diminishing its intensity. The nin draws a kunai out in time to block the downward slice of Hayate’s blade.
“Is Konoha that desperate for ninjas that they’ll rob the cradle to fill their ranks?” the green haired nin goads past their locked blades.
Hayate doesn’t answer as his glare intensifies while swiftly pulling his blade away in a graceful arc and attacking his enemy with a series of joint jarring strikes. The older man is impressed as Hayate keeps him on the defensive and he had to draw another kunai to defend himself with.
Becoming annoyed, the older nin ducks down and swivels out of Hayate’s reach. As the boy rushes him, he deftly somersaults over Hayate, landing just out of his reach as he spins around and attempts to viciously slice across the enemy nin’s abdomen. The green haired nin startles Hayate with his speed as he rushes in a blur, coming close to begin raining hard blows and kicks, knocking the sword from his hand.
Blocking the punches and kicks, Hayate manages to kick out his left leg, releasing a hidden blade in the heel of his sandal before driving it home into the enemy’s right shin. The man howls in agony as Hayate rolls away, snatching precious blade up before springing to his feet and in one graceful movement swiftly cartwheels back to his opponent on one hand.
Before the green haired nin can react, Hayate drives his blade up into his ribcage and through his heart. Life fades from the older man’s eyes as Hayate pulls out his sword while the body falls away to land in an awkward heap.
“Jin was one of our best,” a scratchy, female voice growls from the shadows nearby. “I’m going to kill you slowly for that, you brat!”
Raising his sword back into a defensive position Hayate whirls in the direction of the voice. His eyes widen in horror as a huge fireball bears down on him, giving him no time to dive for cover.
Time seems to slow down as Hayate gapes in horrified fascination as a kunai with an exploding tag attached sails directly into the oncoming flames. It goes off in an intense burst that eats up the oxygen feeding the fireball, instantaneously extinguishing it before it can reach the young boy.
Hayate releases a soft sigh of relief as Kushina lands next to him with her arms crossed.
“Hey, bitch, try picking on someone your own size!” she yells into the scorched and damaged trees surrounding them.
Glancing down at Hayate’s annoyed, flat look, she shrugs, “What’s the point in clichés if you aren’t gonna use them?”
Shaking his head their attention is drawn to a pink haired kunoichi rushing them from her hiding place as her hands fly through a series of signs. Her fierce gaze is locked solely on Kushina and Hayate making her fail to notice the kunai sailing downward from an overreaching arc to land just behind her. She never reaches the last sign as the attached exploding tag goes off in a spectacular explosion, scattering her remains far and wide.
Kushina looks at Hayate who shrugs. “Probably was Ibiki’s doing,” he softly explains.
She just rolls her eyes. “I got the third one already, so let’s get out of here.”
He nods and follows her out of the clearing. They travel less than a kilometer away before stopping near a cave with a stream emerging from its mouth. After scanning the area and noting it was clear, Kushina and Hayate approach the cave entrance. Moments later Ibiki joins them just as they reach it.
“Well, that last explosion was a bit brutal, don’t you think, Ibiki?” Kushina asks the dark haired teen.
Ibiki tersely replies, “I prefer to get things done quickly as not all the enemy has been accounted for or eliminated. I don’t like wasting time on grandstanding.”
Kushina rolls her eyes again. “You’re such a party pooper, Ibiki.”
“We should probably move away from here before we get the kind of party none of us will enjoy,” Kakashi suggests, emerging from the cave with the terrified merchant and his servants trailing behind him.
“We will,” Kushina agrees as her gaze falls to Shou and hardens into steel. “As we travel, I want to know who you pissed off and why.”
“I don’t have any enemies. Competition, yes, because that’s the nature of business, but no one that would want to kill me,” Shou snaps defensively, regaining some of his bravado.
Kushina punches Shou in the gut, causing him to double over as his servants cry out in shock, “Master!”
Grabbing his ponytail, she roughly yanks him up, causing him to lean back as she presses a kunai to his throat.
“I don’t like being lied to,” she hisses in his ear. “And it really pisses me off that your lies are putting me and my team in danger. There are others out there hunting for your blood. Share it all now or I turn you over to Ibiki here to practice on ‘cuz he wants to go into Torture & Interrogation.”
Shou awkwardly looks over at the teen built like a bear and shudders at the cold, cruel look in his dark eyes.
“All right! I’ll tell you!” Shou caves.
“Good,” Kushina replies, putting her kunai away. Yanking him by the hair to stumble in front of her, she adds, “Get moving. You’re not that stupid where you can’t walk and talk at the same time.” She ignores Shou’s glare to order the others, “Keep your wits sharp. We’re dealing with experienced, rogue nins. They’ve got nothing to lose, so they’re not going to hold back.”
She takes point while the three boys nod and fall into formation around the merchant as they hurry out of the area.
Several minutes later, Kushina glances over her shoulder and growls, “You’re too quiet, Shou. Start talking, but don’t be loud either.”
Shou glares back before huffing, “They’re a band of rogue nins from different ninja villages who hire themselves out for various jobs.”
“What kind of jobs?” Kushina prods when he fails to continue.
“Most likely the illegal kind,” Kakashi muses, carefully scanning the area from his position on the left flank.
“Not necessarily,” Shou snaps. “I hired them as security for my business. Their rates were reasonable.”
“Wouldn’t that include security for yourself as well?” Ibiki asks from the right flank.
“Well, er, I, er…” Shou stumbles over his answer.
“And why wouldn’t they be your security now if that’s true?” Hayate weighs in from behind, cutting him off.
“Because he stiffed them in some way and now they’re out for his blood,” Kushina adds. “My guess is their rates really weren’t that reasonable and Shou didn’t pay them as agreed upon and they’re a little unhappy with him.”
“I’d say more than a little unhappy,” Kakashi reasons.
“Which leads me to think he did more than just stiff them,” Ibiki points out. “The only other reason I can think of that would make rogue nins risk exposing themselves like this within Fire Country is he sold them out. I heard that a rogue Grass nin named Goro was recently captured.”
“Well, isn’t that interesting,” Kushina muses. “So are you willing to share all, Shou, or shall we just leave you and your servants to your own devices out here in the wilderness?”
“You can’t do that!”
Shou’s protests are cut off by Kushina turning around and giving him a cold look that made it clear they’d do it in a heartbeat.
“I hired Goro and his thugs to help minimize my competition,” Shou sullenly explains.
“Minimize the competition?” Kakashi asks sardonically. “Is that the new way of saying, ‘Drive them out of business by any means necessary?’”
“I trade in high quality spices, competition is fierce,” Shou snarls defensively.
“So they helped reduce your competition by breaking some bones and using scare tactics, right?” Ibiki asks.
Shou hesitates until Kushina turns around to glare threateningly again over her shoulder.
“I didn’t ask and they didn’t tell me,” Shou grudgingly admits. “I paid them part of their fee upfront, but when I started hearing about mysterious fires at some of my competitor’s warehouses and the gruesome deaths of some of their employees I decided I didn’t wish to be associated with them anymore.”
“To save having to pay them the rest of their fee and cut all ties that could lead to your prosecution you decided to set Goro up for arrest, figuring with their leader gone you were safe,” Ibiki reasons, annoying Shou into turning around to glare at the teen.
“You probably thought that if only Goro was arrested his gang wouldn’t suspect you because why just set him up and not his whole gang?” Kakashi rhetorically asks.
“And you assumed that no one would find out, but just like you sold out Goro, someone sold you out,” Hayate quietly adds.
“All three of you boys should consider going into T&I, you make a good team,” Kushina smirks over her shoulder at them.
Her grin widens when she sees the dual disapproving scowls on both Ibiki and Kakashi’s faces. Focusing on Shou, she arches a brow.
“Well, did they call it correctly?” He sullenly looks away. Turning back to refocus her attention ahead of them, she affirms, “They did. If we make it out of this, Shou, you are not escaping prosecution. The Fire Daimyo in particular takes a very dim view of such conduct because it usually leads people into thinking it’s a good idea to try taking his position away from him like that.”
“And if he doesn’t, guaranteed the Fourth Hokage will as he doesn’t like his ninjas carelessly risked like this,” Kakashi points out.
“Especially certain members of this team,” Ibiki ominously adds.
“That can’t happen,” a male voice calls out ahead of them, prompting them to stop dead in their tracks and tense for action.
Kushina stares down the tall brunet built like a bull.
“How about we make this easy on everyone?” the newcomer cheerfully offers. “Just give us Shou and we amicably part ways. It’s not like it’d be a great loss. He’s already pissed you all off by lying to you and, knowing Shou, he probably paid for a lower ranking mission anyway, so he’s stiffed you guys too.”
“Good point,” Kushina agrees before adding, “Sorry, but we can’t. Shou probably has to answer for a lot more than just double crossing you guys. Plus, it doesn’t help that you and what’s left of your gang are probably rogue nins. We don’t have the time to try taking you all in because, as you know, us Konoha nins take a very dim view of having rogues wandering our back yard, so how about you just let us go on our way? It gives you the sporting chance of getting the fuck out of Fire Country before we hunt you down.”
“Aw, that’s too bad,” the shaggy haired brunet sighs wearily, rubbing the back of his head. “Guess it can’t be helped,” he shrugged. “Before we get this started, I’d like to know who my opponents are before I kill them. My name is Nobuyuki,” he introduces himself with a bow.
Deciding to humor him and not be the one to make the first move, Kushina replies, “I’m Uzumaki Kushina.”
Nobuyuki’s face lights up. “The Red Hot-Blooded Habañero!”
Kushina clenches her fist and the boys hears her growl low, “I hate that fucking nickname!”
“And who’re the rest of your crew? Anyone famous?” Nobuyuki eagerly asks.
“Knock off the bullshit and just kill them, Nobuyuki!” a blonde kunoichi snarls rushing from the shadows, repeatedly hurling kunai and shuriken.
The boys grab the merchant and his servants as they and Kushina scatter before any of the weapons can hit.
“You’re no fun, Ai,” Nobuyuki huffs petulantly before giving chase.
Ignoring him, Ai races through the woods after her prey. She’s forced to leap clear after triggering a trap of motion activated exploding tags attached to two trees flanking her path. She then dodges a sword strike by Hayate before whipping out her sword to viciously trade blows.
Hayate holds his own against her, but can’t find an opening to finish her quickly. Dodging his thrust, she somersaults backwards, throwing down a smoke bomb.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Hayate is overwhelmed by the smoke. He starts hacking and wheezing, dropping his sword while doubling over onto his knees. One hand clutches at his throat while the other rubs at his clenched eyes to offset the intense burning sensation. He barely senses the kunoichi sauntering up and attempts to climb to his feet only to collapse back onto the ground as his breathing becomes a sickening, raspy, grinding sound.
“Feels like your eyes and lungs are burning out, don’t they?” Ai goads. “Neat little poison I like to use to incapacitate my enemy. If I don’t kill you, having your lungs slowly seared from the inside will.” Bending her arm back to thrust her blade into him, she smirks, “Trust me, skewering your heart is far less painful than letting that continue eating at you.”
Ai grunts and looks down at the blade piercing through her chest, the light fading from her eyes as she hears Kushina’s voice growl, “Which is a far easier death than you deserve, bitch.”
Yanking her blade free, Kushina moves to kneel at Hayate’s side. The boy is curled on his side in pain, struggling to breathe. A painful coughing fit wracks his body and her eyes widen in alarm at the blood spurting from his mouth.
“C’mon, kid,” she murmurs calmly, gathering him up in her arms. “Let’s get you to safety and try to do something about that.”
She receives no acknowledgement from Hayate as she disappears from the area.
Ibiki has his hands full defending against another nin that intercepted him as he attempted to get Shou and his servants to safety. Shou and his remaining servant huddle together in terror against the trunk of a large tree, shouting for help. The other servant had the misfortune of getting a shuriken in his eye before getting mercifully finished off by a kunai piercing his throat.
Trading blows with his opponent, Ibiki wishes they could forget they’re Konoha nins for a moment and hand their asses over to these rogues so they can go home. Ducking under a fatal kunai strike to his head, he comes up to try returning the favor with his own kunai only to have it blocked. Silently he admits the blue haired nin is a very good close combat fighter, but mentally muses not good enough as he ducks again and swiftly comes up behind him to deftly snap his neck.
“Shut up!” he barks at Shou and his servant. When he has their attention he growls, “You’re only calling attention to your location and making it harder to protect you.”
Seeing their compliance he returns to scanning the area. Kakashi had managed to lead his opponent away from their position, but Ibiki wasn’t chancing there wouldn’t be more rogue nins lurking out there.
Sensing the area is clear he turns back to Shou. “Let’s get moving. A stationary target is an easy one.”
Without much prompting he leads them quickly out of the area.
Racing through the trees along a river, Kakashi plays a deadly cat and mouse game with his opponent, taking turns to come close to taking the other out.
Sensing and incoming attack, he adjusts his course, but is nearly met head on by a barrage of kunai. Dodging that attack by leaping sideways to another tree he doesn’t see the exploding tag innocently tacked under the branch he lands on. He does sense the sudden spike of chakra and starts leaping clear as it goes off.
The force of the explosion knocks him off his trajectory and he has to flip off of different trees and branches in a ricochet pattern in order to land somewhat safely on the ground. When he’s close to the ground his attempt is thwarted by another exploding tag that sends him crashing into some bushes. Groaning, he awkwardly climbs out from the tangle of branches as quickly as possible. Feeling sharp, stinging pain he glances down and sighs at the shrapnel embedded in his left side and leg.
“Y’know, we really don’t want the wrath of the Yondaime Hokage on our asses,” a male voice echoes through the area. “Why not do as Nobuyuki suggests so we can call it a day? You guys have already taken out a lot of our team, but you really don’t want to piss him off. He’s being nice by giving you the chance to turn over that tightwad prick, Shou.”
Kakashi snorts, but doesn’t respond as he stealthily moves through the foliage to try locating his foe.
“Going to stay stubborn about it, huh?” the voice echoes again. Kakashi’s eye widens in shock when he hears the voice right behind him add, “Oh well, can’t say we didn’t try.”
The bald nin drives his kunai through Kakashi’s back with such force that his hand bursts right through his chest before scowling in annoyance at the dissipating clone until his expression switches to shock as Kakashi’s fist erupts through his chest. The crackling electricity and cacophony of chirps quickly fade as he draws his bloody hand back out to let the body hit the ground.
“Turnabout is fair play,” Kakashi mutters. Glancing down at the wounds he hurriedly bandaged, he sighs again softly in annoyance before disappearing to regroup with the rest.
“About time you got back here,” Ibiki grouses at Kakashi minutes later while standing guard in front of a cowering Shou and his servant.
“I got lost on the road of life,” Kakashi shrugs, succeeding in annoying the stocky brunet.
“Can it you two!” Kushina snaps from her position hovering over a whimpering and gasping Hayate. “Either help me out here or keep alert, Kakashi. That bastard Nobuyuki is still out there with who knows how many other rogues left from their nasty little band.”
Kneeling on the other side of Hayate, Kakashi asks, “What happened?”
“That blonde bitch threw down a smoke bomb laced with some sort of poison that is burning his lungs from the inside out,” she worriedly explains. “I think he closed his eyes in time as it looks like only his surrounding skin is burned. I irrigated as much of the crap out as I could, but he’s been coughing up blood and I don’t have anything that can treat this.”
Kakashi promptly roots through his medic kit. He pulls out a folded paper sack before drawing out a vial and breaking the wax seal on the cork. Opening the sack he scrunches and twists the neck and blows into it, filling it with air before tapping out a liberal amount of the powder into the opening. Blowing into it one more time he immediately places it over Hayate’s mouth and nose.
“Inhale as much of air inside as you can, Hayate,” he instructs while holding the back of his head in place.
The younger boy struggles to comply, partially collapsing the sack and immediately starts coughing.
“Keep breathing in and out of the bag as much as you can.”
Hayate struggles to move away from the powder filled sack to get some fresh air, but Kakashi firmly holds it in place.
“You need to breathe in as much of antidote as you can, Hayate,” Kakashi urges. “It’ll at least stop the poison from doing anymore damage.”
Several tense minutes pass until Kakashi finally pulls the bag away from the younger boy. Peering inside he smiles in satisfaction as seeing most of the powder gone from the bag. Kushina helps ease Hayate into laying his head back on the ground before looking up at Kakashi in curiosity.
Noticing, he explains, “Rin included the vial in the medic kit when she gave it to me. She told me it works on several known poisons and taught me how to mix it into a liquid to be injected or how to get someone to breathe it in for respiratory poisons.”
“At least it’s something for now,” Kushina nods, “but we need to get him to a medic soon.”
“Then you should’ve turned Shou over when you had the chance,” Nobuyuki’s voice intones.
They scatter with Kakashi snatching Hayate into his arms while Kushina leaps out of the way of the barrage of kunai zeroing in on the spot the young boy was laying.
Briefly pausing, Kushina tries to get a bearing on her team before having to duck under a vicious kunai strike aimed for the back of her head. Having crouched down low she swivels around and springs back up, drawing out her short sword in one fluid motion to block the second strike.
“You guys are like roaches, kill one and there’s twenty more waiting to be squashed,” she smirks at the young chestnut haired kunoichi.
“That describes your team better since you’re all gonna die like roaches,” the rogue nin snarls back.
Rearing back one leg, the brunette kicks forward into Kushina’s stomach, forcing her to stagger back. Recovering quickly, Kushina surges forward, fiercely exchanging blade strikes and blows. The brunette gets lucky and knocks Kushina’s blade from her hand, pissing the redhead off even more and prompting her to return the favor and knock the kunai out of the bitch’s hand.
The brunette ducks under Kushina’s punch and manages to come up behind her to bury her fingers in the long, red locks and viciously yank back, making Kushina hiss in pain. Twisting around with a snarl, Kushina grabs the bitch by her shirt while dropping to roll onto her back. Simultaneously she plants her feet into the brunette’s stomach, thrusting her legs out when she rolls as far as her shoulders, throwing the brunette off and breaking the grip on her hair.
The kunoichi barely manages to avoid face planting in the dirt by tucking into a forward roll and springing back to her feet. Drawing another kunai, she tries drive it into Kushina’s right eye, giving the redhead the prime opportunity to wrap her arm over the one invading her personal space and deftly hyper-extending it until she hears a satisfying snap followed by a pain filled scream. Kushina promptly grabs the brunette’s head, snapping her neck and silencing her forever.
Not bothering to spare a second glance as the brunette’s body hits the ground, Kushina races to the sound of another battle nearby, hoping the boys are all right.
“Fighting you boys makes me feel like a bully for letting Misao fight your team leader,” Nobuyuki cheerfully states while fighting Kakashi and Ibiki in turn. “But Misao really wanted to go toe to toe with the Red Hot Blooded Habañero and I wanted the satisfaction of taking out Shou.”
The shaggy haired brunet pauses to viciously kick Kakashi away in his injured side when he twists out of the teen’s kunai strike range. Kakashi crashes into a tree, crying out in pain before falling into a heap. Leaning back, Nobuyuki avoids Ibiki’s kunai slashing across his ear before stepping out of the teen’s reach.
“You got what you wanted and Shou is dead,” Ibiki states, standing at ready while sizing up the older brunet. “Your only options are to escape now while you have the chance or save us the trouble and surrender since we will hunt you down.”
Glancing over at the bloody corpses of Shou and his manservant laying across the clearing, Nobuyuki shrugs.
“Well, killing Shou wasn’t satisfying, y’know? There wasn’t enough pain or terror involved for that bastard.” His gaze turns cold and cruel as he slowly prowls toward Ibiki. “There would’ve been if you Leaf nins had simply handed his sorry ass over when I asked so nicely earlier. So I just have to take it out on you.”
Ibiki isn’t surprised when he rushes him, but it still takes everything he’s got to deflect the punches and kicks raining down on him. In a blur of motion, sharp metal shoots out, catching the teen off guard as the kunai buries to the hilt in his right shoulder before a high kick to the chin sends him sliding several yards on his back in the dirt. Hearing Nobuyuki’s next statement sends a chill up his spine.
“I shouldn’t be wasting my time on you when it’s much easier to off the injured first.”
Staggering to his feet, Ibiki clutches his shoulder as his eyes narrow at seeing Nobuyuki heading toward where Hayate lay barely conscious in another part of the clearing partially hidden by some bushes.
Idly twirling a kunai on his finger, Nobuyuki stops and looks down at the wretched boy, shaking his head.
“Doubt I can inflict more pain than what you’re experiencing from Ai’s poison, so I guess this is really going to be more of a mercy killing.”
Drawing his hand back he surges forward to land the fatal strike when he has to flip out of the way of Kakashi’s chidori. Landing several yards away, he grins at the heaving teen glaring fiercely over the bright glow of the chirping jutsu surrounding his extended hand.
“Didn’t think you were still in the fight, kid,” Nobuyuki chuckles. “Well, you just made things a lot easier for me. Two birds with one stone and all that.”
Kakashi’s eyes widen in horror at the two kunai bearing exploding tags he didn’t even see the bastard throw that are already close enough for him to read the kanji. His eyes widen even more in shock before narrowing in confusion when the conflagration erupts harmlessly against an invisible barrier.
“I knew Misao wouldn’t be much of a match for the Red Hot Blooded Habañero,” Nobuyuki sighs in annoyance.
Understanding lights up Kakashi’s eyes when he sees Kushina enter the clearing. Taking that as his cue, he gathers Hayate up in his arms and carries the younger boy safely away from Nobuyuki.
“You shouldn’t have gone after my teammates and killed Shou. You’re going to wish you were in that dead bitch’s shoes when I’m through with you,” Kushina growls, tightening her grip on her short sword.
Nobuyuki shrugs before instantly appearing before her. Being used to Minato’s fighting style, she easily avoids a fatal kunai strike to the heart by sidestepping and countering with an elbow to his chin. She follows with a downward slash that he blocks with a kunai. Both swiftly trade blows, dancing dangerously around each other, ducking and dodging while trying to land the killing blow.
She cuts him deeply across the side of his neck, but misses severing his jugular. Stunned, he pivots out of her reach, taking a brief moment to press his hand to his neck, before bringing it away to stare down at the blood. Raising his eyes to meet hers, his gaze turns cold as she smirks back.
Kushina goes back on the defensive as Nobuyuki charges her again, relentlessly slashing at her. Sweeping his leg up in an arc he kicks her in the side of her head, causing her to expose her back to him where he slashes a deep groove diagonally down her back.
Gritting her teeth against the searing pain, Kushina twists and barely avoids a fatal strike to her kidney. She staggers because of the deep gash in her side, but manages to bring up her sword to block a downward strike to her heart. Kicking out hard, she sends Nobuyuki staggering back from the blow to the nose, breaking it with a satisfying crunch. Whipping out a kunai with an explosive tag, she flings it at him while quickly flying through several hand signs. An invisible barrier keeps Nobuyuki from leaping to safety as the tag strikes home and the contained conflagration scorches him from existence.
Clutching her side, Kushina releases a sigh of relief. Looking around, her gaze lands on Shou and his manservant’s broken corpses. Rolling her eyes, she doesn’t feel the least bit sorry for Shou, but is annoyed he isn’t going to answer for his sins and that she’s going to have to deal with the fall out.
“Are you okay, sempai?” Ibiki asks appearing at her side.
“Mostly,” she quips, giving him a wan smile. Giving him the once over, she adds, “I’m in about as good a shape as you. How are Kakashi and Hayate?”
“About the same. Kakashi got Hayate to safety back that way,” the stocky teen explains, jerking a thumb over his left shoulder.
“Let’s go regroup then. I’m pretty sure that’s all of them.” Kushina replies, leading out of the clearing. After a few moments she adds, “This mission sure as hell sucked monkey balls.”
“I wouldn’t know as I’ve never sucked monkey balls,” Ibiki deadpans.
Kushina’s laugh is broken by a grunt of pain as she doubles over, clutching her stomach.
“What’s wrong, sempai?” Ibiki worriedly asks while gently grabbing her shoulder and upper arm to steady her.
“I think I just broke a promise to Minato and overdid it just a little,” she gasps, breaking out in a cold sweat. “I may need your help, Ibiki.”
Hunched over in pain, she doesn’t see his nod and leans heavily on him as they make their way slowly through the woods. Kakashi looks up from Hayate as they approach. His visible eye widens in shock and he quickly steps over to help Ibiki bring Kushina closer.
Kushina grunts as the two teens ease her into sitting down and leaning against the trunk of the tree Hayate is laying under unconscious.
“Status,” she grits out.
“A lot better than you,” Kakashi answers. At her glare he rolls his eye and adds, “We all sustained injuries. Hayate is alive, but unconscious. I sustained shrapnel in my left side and left leg.”
“I sustained a kunai wound to my right shoulder,” Ibiki adds. He nods his thanks when Kakashi hands him a roll of gauze to bandage up his shoulder.
“And that asshole Nobuyuki slashed me across my back and cut me in the side,” Kushina finishes.
“Then why are you in so much pain where Ibiki was practically carrying you right now?” Kakashi asks with an arched brow while dropping to kneel at her side.
She sighs heavily as he examines the wound in her side.
“Because I think I did what Tsunade sternly warned me not to do, ‘Kashi.”
Pressing a compress against her side, Kakashi straightens up to look at her in alarm. Meeting his gaze she nods.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I blew out my chakra network ‘cause now I’m not feeling too good.”
“It certainly looks like you sustained a lot worse damage than a side wound and slash to the back, sempai,” Ibiki grimly notes, having finished bandaging his shoulder the best he could.
Still holding the gauze in place against Kushina’s side, Kakashi silently considers the situation.
“We’re going to have to summon sensei,” he finally states.
Ibiki looks on in confusion while Kushina gapes at the silver haired teen in shock.
“We don’t have a choice,” he insists, boring into Kushina’s eyes when it looks like she’s going to protest. “None of us are in any condition to get help and both you and Hayate are in bad shape.” His gaze becomes more pointed when he adds, “You’re not going to convince me blowing out your chakra network is a minor thing. I was there when the old bag was lecturing you and listened to sensei nag at you often enough. I can tell you’re getting worse by the minute.”
“I’m not sure what’s going on, sempai, but I agree with Kakashi,” Ibiki chimes in. “If there’s a way to summon help here faster, we need to do it.”
Kushina opens her mouth to retort when another spasm of pain hits her. Gritting her teeth, she hunches over more, clutching her stomach while squeezing her eyes shut against the pain.
She barely hears Kakashi murmur, “You can be mad at me later, Kushina. Stand back, Ibiki.”
Moments later she’s not surprised when she hears Minato’s worried voice ask, “What happened?”
Feeling his strong hands frame her face, Kushina manages to open her eyes to smile wanly into his worried blue eyes.
“Hey, blondie. We ran into a little trouble and got our asses handed to us,” she manages through the pain. “We’re all injured.”
“We encountered a band of rogue nins after Shou, sensei,” Kakashi clarifies as Minato looks over at him. “We eliminated them, but not before they killed Shou and his servants. Ibiki and I took less serious injuries. I got shrapnel in my leg and side and he got stabbed in the right shoulder. Hayate inhaled poison within a smoke bomb that was burning out his lungs, but I got him to ingest the antidote. It seems to have helped. Kushina may be the worst off of all of us with kunai injuries to her back and side and may have blown out her chakra network.”
“Thanks, Kakashi.” Turning to his wife, he worriedly orders, “Hang on, Kushina. Let me summon the guys and we’ll get everyone help.”
At her weary nod, he rises to his feet and steps back. Taking out one of his special kunai, he holds it point down in his left hand while placing the flat palm of his right on the pommel. Closing his eyes, he concentrates while the weapon glows bright with chakra.
Ibiki can’t help looking surprised witnessing the Hokage Guard Platoon appear holding hands in a circle around Minato. Noticing Kakashi smirking at him with an arched brow, he scowls at the other teen before returning his attention to the scene before him.
“Thanks for being quick, guys,” Minato grimly greets them while stepping over to Kushina.
“It never pays to keep the boss waiting,” Saburo quips.
“What’s wrong, boss?” Raido asks after throwing a dirty look at the black haired nin.
“Looks like we’re here for transport duty, Raido,” Genma points out, looking around at the injured nins.
“Exactly,” Minato nods, gathering Kushina into his arms. “I’ll take care of Kushina, you guys get the boys together and transport them right to the hospital. Once the medics have them I want a squad of ANBU out here for cleanup. Our client and his companions are dead as well as several rogue nins.” His gaze becomes more pointed. “I want to make absolutely sure there aren’t anymore wandering in our backyard.”
“Yes, sir!” the three nins smartly reply in unison as Minato disappears in a flash.
Being the closest, Genma steps over and gathers Hayate into his arms. “C’mon, kid, you don’t look so hot.”
Not surprised by the lack of answer, he carries Hayate over to where Kakashi and Ibiki are standing. Kakashi gingerly crouches to one knee and partially cradles Hayate in his arms after Genma eases him down at their feet.
Joining Raido and Saburo to form a circle around the boys, Genma clasps hands with his platoon.
“Okay, boys, this is going to be a bit stomach churning,” Genma warns.
Ibiki and Kakashi nod to show they’re ready.
“Let’s do this,” Raido states.
All three men close their eyes in concentration before the entire group disappears from the clearing in another flash.
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Broken Branches