Transcending My Wings

{Dan} Guys? Where are you? Oh well I think they all left… I feel lonely.

{Kiba} -comes in from the bedroom- It’s okay, I told them all to leave. I thought you and I could spend some alone time.

{Dan} -blushes- Oh! Okay! Let’s play videogames!

{Kiba} -sweat drops- Umm, no… I was thinking of something else to do.

{Dan} -blushing still- I see! I’m all for it! -grabs Kiba and runs towards the bedroom-

{Kiba} -while being grabbed- Read on to the chapter! We’ll be back!

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To Transcend My Wings
: : Chapter 6: : Misty Snakes
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“Orochimaru-sama there has been reports of Itachi from the leaf village looking for our hideout,” announced Kabuto coming in to Orochimaru’s chambers.

“How far is he from here?” asked Orochimaru with a bit of a sneer to his voice.

“About four days away.”

“I see, we’ll let him roam free for the time being. Is he alone?” inquired the snake sannin.

“No, he’s accompanied by his brother… but there are also reports from the Hidden Star Village.”

“Has the star been recovered? I need that for my most recent experiment.”

“That’s the thing, our spy has reported that the star had been destroyed… well, lost to be more precise?”

“Lost? How exactly?”

“It seems that the village leader and one of his subordinates absorbed the stone into their body, the leader has died and no traces of the star could be recovered. The other part of the star is currently unknown.”

“Tch, the unpredictability of this incident has proven troublesome. Anything else?”

“Hai Orochimaru-sama! There have also been reports of the vessel you wanted though they are merely rumors.”

“Do tell.”

“We were told of a blonde haired civilian who resembled the child of prophecy but he did not have the heaven seal on him accompanied by a star-nin though their whereabouts aren’t specified yet.” This suddenly piqued the curiosity of the snake.

“Hmm? This is too good to pass up, send the sound four to confirm and tell them to report to me immediately so I could get my hands on that boy. I’m going to need a new vessel pretty soon and he has powers simply unimaginable and incomparable to anything we’ve ever seen.”

“Very well, Orochimaru-sama, I’ll dispatch them.” Kabuto left the snake sannin to ponder the current events while he dispatched the rest of the sound four to tail the rumors about the prophesized child and the guardian. Kabuto could only hear maniacal laughter coming from his master’s chambers as he left.


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The two, Sumaru and Naruto, are currently camping out in a clearing near the woods. They had just decided to rest for a bit but Naruto’s stomach had decided to make itself known. Sumaru chuckled a bit and decided to hunt for something to eat while the blonde boy foraged for some wood to start a fire. Two came back to the campsite and started to roast the fish he got from the nearby river and some rabbit for meat.

“I don’t want to eat the rabbit,” mentioned the blonde while cringing as he saw the limp body of the lifeless rabbit.

“How come?”

“They look so… I don’t know, I can’t explain, but I really don’t want to eat them… I’ll take the fish instead.”

“Okay, here.” Sumaru handed over the fish and Naruto put it close to the fire to roast but not before skewering it. Sumaru did the same to the rabbit and they waited for them to cook.

“How old are you exactly, Sumaru-san?”

“I’m turning 19 this coming week.”

“Wow! I’m turning 19 on October 10…” A pause came before the blonde muttered something, “I’m always the youngest.” Sumaru merely chuckled as he intently watched the blonde in front of him. It would seem that the boy right in front of him still held some innocence to him assuming that he’s seen how the shinobi half lives.

“Something on my face?” asked the blonde as he noticed the other watching him instead of eating the food presented right in front of him. Sumaru shook his head and began to eat. Once the pair had consumed their lot, they noticed that it would be too late to travel, even a short distance, so they set up their sleeping tent. Once done, they set their sleeping bags inside and proceeded to sleep.

“Night, Suma-chan,” yawned Naruto through sleepy eyes.

“Goodnight Naruto.” In only a matter of Seconds, the two let the dark promise of oblivion lull them to sleep.


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Once the morning broke, Sumaru was the first one up. He stretched lightly but he cramped up realizing that his whole body was a bit sore. The blonde next to him had thrashed around the night before and had managed to unzip himself from his sleeping bag and half-way lay on top of him. He regretted ever listening to get only one tent like the blonde had wanted.

Before they had left the village, Naruto had protested that they would only need one tent since there were only two of them but it turns out that Naruto isn’t the most graceful sleeper. If there was ever any case for strapping anyone down while sleeping, Naruto was it.

Now fully awake, Sumaru couldn’t help but smile as the blonde in front of him was now cuddling the sleeping bag that he was just on. The blonde was a weird sleeper indeed. He was snoring a bit loudly while drool seeped from his mouth while smiling like an idiot. Sumaru, once he finally grasped the blonde’s sleeping habits, couldn’t help but laugh a bit loudly. This was enough to rouse the still sleeping blonde.

“Wh-(yawn) What’s so funny Sumaru-chan?” asked Naruto as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. Now fully alert, Naruto looked at the boy in front of him doubled over while laughing his head off.

“Have you ever watched yourself sleep?” asked Sumaru as he finally got a hold of himself. Naruto reddened in the face as he realized just what it was the other boy was implying. Kiba had always complained that once he sleeps, he’s always all over the place and his face would twist like an idiot. There was also this one incident that Minato had taped his son sleeping with the help of Kiba. The two almost laughed themselves to death while watching Naruto smile, drool and snore at the same time.

“Naruto-kun? Are you there?” Naruto was pulled from his tiny mid-daydream. The thought of his best friend and father almost broke his heart but he knew he had a new destiny to fulfill and the times they had spent had not been for naught.

“Yeah, should we go get ready?”

“It would be best.”

“Okay.” Naruto had first done his morning rituals while Sumaru packed the tent and the sleeping bags along with their other stuff.


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“Aniki, would you stop already or at least slow down!” Sasuke’s pleading fell on to deaf ears as Itachi scourged the land for any traces of Orochimaru’s hideout. They had already found fifteen prior to the one they had just found and each of them had not lead back to the snake. Sasuke tried to keep up with his brother but his stamina was waning. They have been on the move for months already ever since the blonde had disappeared. Itachi became something else that day, like he lost a part of himself. Tsunade tried to keep Itachi inside the village for his own sake but the look Itachi gave to anyone in his way was nerve-wracking, even to the Hokage.

“If you’re tired otouto, then go home.” Itachi kept his senses in check as he sped up, jumping from tree to tree looking for anything out of the ordinary or if any trace of the snake’s chakra was present.

“I’m not going home without you.” Sasuke knew that Itachi was only doing this in revenge. It seems that the blonde had some hold on the older Uchiha that he couldn’t comprehend.

“Sasuke.” Itachi got Sasuke’s attention when he stopped. He had just activated his sharingan when he noticed concentrated chakra to his left. Sasuke got the hint and he also activated his sharingan. He could now clearly see chakra in color and measure one’s power even before they started to battle. He felt nostalgic as he thought of the blonde that had allowed him to gain this form of the sharingan. He could relate to his brother in wanting to see the blonde boy again, but it seems that his brother felt more than just a want to revenge the, presumed dead, boy.

Not a few seconds later, a bomb was detonated a few meters in front of them. The two brothers had managed to jump out of harm’s way as an unknown enemy stood before them. In place of the detonated bomb a figure stood tall, the man had blonde hair whose bangs were swept up to one side of his face, and ponytailed loosely to the back; he also donned a black cloak decorated with red clouds on the trimmings complete with a hitai-ate of the Iwagakure(Rock Village), obviously slashed across the sign, which would mean that he is a missing-nin from his village. Sasuke also noticed a ring on his right index finger that read as Seiryu (the Azure Dragon).

“Like my art, yeah?” Itachi didn’t even bother answering the other as he lunged forward, kunai drawn. Itachi’s sharingan flared for a moment before he reached their opponent. Itachi’s speed was staggering but something was off, thought Sasuke.

“Aniki, we need to retreat.” Itachi did not heed his brother as he kept attacking throwing one ninjutsu after another coupled with shurikens thrown in between. Nothing was landing on the mysterious figure that appeared before them. All of Itachi’s attacks either came up a little short or the normal strength behind his attacks was lacking. Sasuke readied to attack, but Itachi only sent a deadly glare his way to keep him from interfering. The two went on for a while; the older Uchiha was the only one attacking while the other was simply doing his best to avoid the attacks. Sasuke couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t attacking until Itachi fell to the ground, mid-step, panting.

“Aniki, you’re chakra is draining,” Sasuke turned his attention to the other accusingly, “what did you do?!” Sasuke wanted to elicit an answer from the grinning man in front of him but he couldn’t do a damn thing if he had to worry about Itachi, who looked almost ready to collapse.

“Seems like he doesn’t have it yet… which means that you don’t either,” said the blonde. Sasuke mulled over the man’s words, thinking what it was that he and his aniki was supposed to have. Sasuke merely glared back at the figure standing in front of him and his brother.

“Hehe, you’re fun! Let’s meet again, ‘kay? And the name is Deidara so don’t forget, yeah?” The man, apparently named Deidara , disappeared on moment later leaving behind a puff of smoke.

“Dammit! Aniki! Something in is sucking away your chakra! We have got to go!” Itachi was far too gone as the guy in front of him had disappeared and he was left panting. Darkness overtook him so quickly that he fell onto the ground without warning. Sasuke was at his side in an instant, he now had no other choice but to take Itachi back up to the village knowing that his brother would not be happy once he woke up.


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“So which way should we go? Left or right?” asked Naruto as they ended up at a fork in the road.

“Not sure, according to the map, the road leads to the same path at another crossroad so either way, we end up at the same place. You pick one.”

“Uh, Okay, how ‘bout to the left. It seems to be more out in the open so no problems right?”

“Okay, then.” The two walked through the path that Naruto had picked, but they had ended up near a small hut in the middle of nowhere. The path they had walked through had three different road splits and Naruto had made the decision to take the left side each time. They had gotten lost once they reached a forested area. Sumaru wanted to track around, but Naruto wanted to go through it to cut time, but even with careful planning on Sumaru’s part they were lead way off their intended path. That was how they found themselves in front of a hut in the middle of nowhere.

Sumaru dragged Naruto to ask for directions and the easiest way back to Konohagakure. Naruto happily knocked on the door only to meet face to face with a big, almost bulky guy dressed only in a loose black pants held up by suspenders, but what got the two’s attention was the humungous sword strapped to his back. Naruto could almost compare Kakashi to the guy seeing that they both had masks covering the lower portion of their face. But he could almost see a scowl outline the mask he was wearing.

“What do you want?” A gruff voice spoke in great annoyance. Naruto seemed paralyzed so Sumaru took over.

“We just wanted to know if there was a path we could take from here to get to Konohagakure.” Sumaru used a sickly sweet voice that even Naruto cringed.

“What the-” The man was about to throw out the punks in front of him when he noticed his companion coming back from gathering the herbs he desired.

“Zabuza be nice! They only need directions.” The man, aptly named Zabuza, only held the door open as his companion ushered the other two in so they wouldn’t just crowd in front of the small house. Sumaru sized up the smaller figure dressed in a simple summer dress that ended a little below the knees, with a black strap choker. It would seem that he liked what he saw as a light pink dusting crossed his normally fair skin. Naruto elbowed Sumaru to focus seeing that someone in the room didn’t like the way Naruto’s companion stared at his partner.

“Sorry for his behavior, he’s been a bit moody lately.” The other guy, oblivious to the staring, implied as he saw a frown etched across the older guy’s normally masked face.

“Haku, why’d you have to invite them in, you shoulda just give them directions and throw them out.” Zabuza’s voice came out bored without a change in the tone. Haku, gave the other a simple glare to reprimand and, just as swiftly, turned his attention to the two.

“Would you like to get something to eat before you go?” This time, Sumaru seemed more than incapable of speaking so Naruto took to answering the rather effeminate long-haired male in front of them.

“We’re alright nii-chan, we’re kind of in a hurry so I think we better get out of your way too,” said Naruto while implying that Zabuza seemed less than enthused to having visitors. Haku got the implications and merely wrapped a couple of freshly-baked bread for the duo before seeing them out. He couldn’t help but be amused that the braided haired male was a tad bit clumsy. The poor guy tripped twice on his own foot on the short walk from where he stood just moments ago to the door.

Seeing the amusement in the eyes of his ward, Zabuza took it upon himself to let the other guy know who Haku belongs to. Zabuza took a couple of strides towards the crowd in front of his door and once he reached them, he pulled Haku back against his exposed chest and wrapped his arms across the surprised male.

“He’s mine so stop with the starry-eyed thing, it’s annoying!” barked the older man. Sumaru merely glared at the older male before turning around and walking out while murmuring something about love rivals, jerks, and love at first sight, in turn, completely missing the part where Haku reprimanded the other with the threat of castration. Naruto smiled impassively and wondered for a moment if Itachi would be protective of him like that if he could ever get the older Uchiha to fall for him as much as he has fallen for the older Uchiha in such an unbelievably short moment. For a second, he thought that his attraction seemed a bit unnatural, but he let it slide from his musings as thoughts of kissing the man seemed to be more appealing.

“Sorry for his unusual behavior, he's not normally like this but thanks for the bread. We’ll be going now.” Not a moment too soon, Sumaru and Naruto were assaulted by a rain of kunais and shurikens. The two dodged to the side but was unable to dodge all of it. A couple was able to embed themselves onto Naruto’s left arm and Sumaru’s right leg. Naruto, surprised by the attack caused a misstep and hit his head falling down rendering him unconscious. Sumaru, more alert, tried searching for the enemy but the pain in his leg was distracting him. Zabuza and Haku intervened and tried to sense the enemy’s chakra for their whereabouts but it would seem that whoever attacked had already fled. Zabuza hefted up the unconscious blonde while Haku helped the other back on his better leg and help him in.


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Four figures quickly bowed down in front of the snake sannin.

“We found the new vessel Lord Orochimaru.” The long, red haired female informed their master of the whereabouts of the newly found blonde. “We were able to wound him and his comrade so they would have to recuperate in that area. I also laced the kunais with a paralyzing effect which could also help us in our capture of your new vessel, even just by trying to delay them for a couple of hours.”

“How far away are they from here?” The mirth and amusement from the voice of the snake sannin was undeniable.

“Not by much, we estimate it at around 10 miles northeast from here an hour at most,” supplied by another figure with six arms.

“Kidomaru, please inform Kabuto that we are to head out immediately; Tayuya you will accompany us while Jirobo, Ukon, and Sakon prepare another room for our guest, we want him to be comfortable if he is to be my successor after all. You are dismissed,” three of the four figures quickly dispersed and disappeared in the shadows. “Let's get going now, Tayuya. We need to welcome our new guest personally.” Orochimaru, along with Tayuya, met up with Kidomaru and Kabuto at the entrance of their lair and all four headed towards their conquest.


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Zabuza had hefted the unconscious blonde towards his and Haku's shared bedroom while the other was laid down next to the blonde. Something in Sumaru's movements seemed off and his joints were stiffening as he was helped onto the bed. Zabuza and Haku carefully took out the shurikens and kunais sticking out of both boys.

"Why can't I move?" asked Sumaru towards the beautifully effeminate raven completely ignoring the obvious amusement of the older man in his predicament.

"The weapons used to attack you must have been laced with something to paralyze its victims." Haku deducted quickly being the one knowledgeable in the ways of using herbs. He told Zabuza to watch over the two while he prepares an antidote for the paralyzing effect. He had the herbs needed but it would still take time before the two are fully able to move completely.

In a matter of minutes, Haku had created the antidote needed and had administered it to one of the two; Sumaru had taken it himself but the blonde needed a little help in swallowing the antidote so Haku opted to give it orally but Zabuza protested harshly. Sumaru merely told the two to wait since the blonde would hate for any one of them to administer something orally if they're in no immediate danger.

The waiting had been the worst part. Sumaru opted to sleeping until the paralysis wears off and Zabuza had gone out to hunt for some meat to eat along with fish from the river nearby. Haku stayed back to watch over the two and made tea in case they wake up.

An hour passed by and Sumaru had already recovered from the paralyzing effects. He tried to play the pity card for Haku to pay more attention to him but Zabuza became hostile when he noticed and threatened to cut off a certain part of the guy. Sumaru blanched when he looked into the older man's face which only promised him of pain if he kept it up. Sumaru receded and just waited for his companion to wake up, all the while brooding.

Not a moment too soon, Naruto stirred from his slumber. Eyes blinked hard upon waking. The first thing he noticed was a feeling of being strapped down onto the mildly comfortable bed he currently laid down on despite the absence of any straps. His mind fell onto sudden panic before he realized that Sumaru, Haku, and Zabuza had come into view. He also noticed that he couldn't quite open his mouth wide enough to let any audible sounds come out. Haku, holding the medicine that's currently made into a syrupy liquid, hovered it over the blonde's mouth insinuating for the other to drink it.

"Drink this up and you'll feel better," Haku managed to let the syrup run down the blonde's throat after pouring it on barely opened lips. Naruto managed to swallow a bit even if a little painful, he sent a silent thanks to the other boy as a wave of drowsiness wracked over him. He let his muscles relax until sleep overcame him once more.

"Is he alright?" asked Sumaru towards the two other occupants of the room.

"He's still feeling the kunai's paralyzing effects so he'll be fine once he wakes up again," Haku answered all the while making the blonde as comfortable as he could. In the midst of all this, the three ninjas felt four ominous chakras surging forwards towards them. In preparation, Sumaru gathered his weapons and the other two did the same as well. Zabuza donned his gigantic sword while his subordinate took hold of his needles.

In a matter of minutes their guests have arrived without any intention of masking their chakras. All three of them quickly strode outside to investigate whether or not the four are there to fight of or otherwise.

"What do you want?" asked Zabuza in a rather annoyed tone, he noticed Orochimaru first, a known sannin, then looked to the other three and noticed the hitai-ate symbols of the sound village.

"We're here for the blonde that's to be my new vessel," hissed Orochimaru in a slightly seductive yet dangerous tone that bordered in amusement.

"We don't know who you're talking about," answered Sumaru tersely. He felt a sudden surge of wanting to protect the blonde. He figured that it might have been because he now felt like a friend to the blonde. He failed to notice the glowing purple sign of the star on the back of his hand, but Orochimaru caught sight of it and knew that he had been right in assuming that the vessel he seeks was in the company of these so called ninjas.

"I really don't care for any more bloodshed than necessary but if you don't relinquish what I want then so be it." Orochimaru merely stayed back as his subordinates fell in to fighting stance. No more warning or exchanges were made as Sumaru instigated the battle. He called forth for his Kujaku technique forming 5 beasts, which he has been unable to do previously, and sent them to attack the girl holding onto a flute.

Haku followed suit as he sent needles to attack the grey-haired male wearing glasses. The needles were easily deflected using a chakra scalpel. The other male retaliated and sent forth his own needles towards the long raven haired male. The surrounding air became a bit heavy and Haku used his own chakra to form ice walls in front of him. He managed to merge with one before the needles struck. The ice shattered leaving only watery traces behind.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru had stood back and let Kidomaru, the six-armed man, to handle the sword wielding man in front of them. Zabuza called for his hidden mist jutsu to mask his whereabouts as he sent the sword twirling like a boomerang. Kidomaru managed to avoid it in the nick of time and quickly created something like a sword by integrating his own chakra onto a web-like thread much like how spiders make them. He fashioned his sword to be made as hard as steel and quickly made for the offensive.

Swords clashed as Zabuza once again took hold of his sword and swung it down onto the incoming male. Swords mashed producing metallic sounds that reverberated in the surrounding area. The battle seemed to come close to a draw but the other arms of Kidomaru had also stayed active and gave out punches here and there that Zabuza barely managed to avoid. And still, the battle kept on with a smiling snake waiting for his chance to take his vessel into his clutches for his own twisted use.


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Naruto stirred from his sleep as soon as his body felt that something was going on outside. He was able to get up from the bed as soon as he heard clashing metallic sounds. He looked out of the window and noticed that the place was covered in a deep mist. The mist itself seemed unnatural so he deducted that danger must be looming outside. He quickly gathered his gear in hopes of helping out his guardian and new found acquaintances. Before he even got out the door, he finally took notice of the fact that he felt better than he did before he got hit with the kunai. So he redoubled his movements and scampered out.

He was met with a rather sense of deja vú upon opening the door. He saw Haku battling it out with the guy he had met from before with Orochimaru. He quickly scanned the area in search of the snake sannin. He knew that if his people were in the area then so must he. From what he could tell the grey-haired male seemed to be the right hand of the snake himself which would mean that Orochimaru is looking for something important to have given a personal visit.

Sumaru and Tayuya had fallen into somewhat of a stalemate. Sumaru counterattacked all of Tayuya's dokis with his own chakra beasts. Even the genjutsu that the red-head used didn't produce the effects that she wanted. Along with their battle, Zabuza had started using his water clones to battle Kidomaru as he summoned up his water dragons. The six-armed boy summoned up his own spiders to battle it out. What he didn't notice was that more and more water were filling the area.

"Now, Haku!" Zabuza screamed to help the boy.

Haku merely nodded in understanding as he held the grey-haired man's hands in stalemate. He freed his other hand to quickly make one-handed signs and called out loud for his 'thousand needles of death.' The surrounding water turned quickly into ice needles and surged forwards towards the grey-haired man. Haku jumped back in safety as he noticed that the man had also escaped unscathed, but he had another thing on his mind and quickly did a few hand signs and called out 'ice style: body-piercing dome!' Water surged up from the ground and enveloped Kabuto before hardening to ice. From the inside the ice formed spikes and pierced the body. Haku, for a moment thought that he had gotten the other man, but soon found out that he hadn't as needles were quickly sent his way. The grey haired male was able to use his substitution jutsu to get out of the tight spot and sent poison needles towards the other boy. He dodged quickly but Kabuto was prepared and came from the right and tried to attack him with a chakra scalpel.


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Zabuza had been intently watching the battle while he battled the boy in form of him as well. As soon as he saw that Haku left one side unguarded, he changed pace and intervened from the oncoming attack. The attack that was meant for the raven had gotten to him instead; he felt his body collapse as his ward and lover came to his aid.

Naruto, seeing what happened sprinted over to Haku's side. He felt sympathy for the raven, something about the way the raven tried to hold Zabuza almost broke his heart. As soon as he got to Zabuza's side he quickly summoned up green chakra to start repairing the torn ligaments. Haku looked at the blonde in sorrow, but Naruto merely smiled his way before murmuring something that sounded like the older man would be fine.

In all the commotion, Naruto failed to sense the oncoming needle that pierced his right leg and left shoulder. The blonde toppled over and the chakra from his hands dissipated. Haku laid down Zabuza gently before hurrying up to help the blonde. He used another one handed signs to summon an ice dome to cover and protect Zabuza's unconscious body. Once he got to the blonde, he reached for the needle but a sudden white light engulfed him as well as the blonde. The light went as quickly as it came but he noticed that he had a symbol of water on the back of his right hand glowing light blue.

"What's this?" asked Haku.

"You're a guardian now, but there's no time for questions, help me up," muttered the blonde.

"You're still weak," came a reply from the raven holding him up but Naruto merely ignored him for the time being. He had a certain goal in mind and this might be the only way to get them out of certain doom.

"Orochimaru, you bastard come out here and face me!" screamed Naruto to try and get the sannin's attention.

"You called for me, my sweet?" asked Orochimaru in a sickly sweet voice.

"What do you want? Why are you doing this?" Naruto’s voice sounded meek, almost like he lost all the fight his soul once had.

"I want your body, I want you to be my new vessel, give them to me and I will spare their lives." Naruto mulled it over looking for pros and cons but in knowing that he wouldn't be quickly killed, he decided to go with the snake in hopes of saving his friends' lives.

"I'll go with you, just please don't hurt them anymore." Just as quickly as Naruto said that, all fighting stopped once Orochimaru called for subordinates to stand down.

"Don't go!" Sumaru called out as he ran towards the blonde.

"Sorry," answered the blonde as he limped towards the snake and looked back to say something once more, "go to our destination and let Itachi and Godaime Tsunade know." Naruto only muttered loud enough for the guardian to hear. He smiled once more towards his newly found guardian before the pain overtook him and he crumpled to the ground once more. The two guardians made a move to try and help the blonde but they were outdone by the snake that quickly came and carried off the blonde bridal style.

"You're lucky for now, I'm keeping my promise in not killing you, but go after us and be faced with certain death," Orochimaru was able to give warning before leaving the two other guardians speechless. The other three followed as well leaving only clouds of dust in their wake as the mist had dispelled long since the older mist-nin fell unconscious.

"What do we do now? Will he be okay?" asked the raven haired man as he scooped up Zabuza and hefted him onto his back.

"That man won't kill him from the looks of it but we leave for Konoha as soon as possible, the other guardians are there from what I’ve heard from Naruto, and with them we stand a better chance of finding him."

"What did he mean when he said I'm a guardian now?" asked Haku while looking over the symbol of water etched on the back of his hand even as the glow had disappeared.

"The symbol of water that you have means that you are one of the few chosen to protect him as he journeys to complete his mission; your original powers are augmented making them stronger, that's what he told me at least, but even as he said that, it feels like he's the one doing all the protecting." A silent tear slid down Sumaru's eyes as his emotions ran wild in the loss of his charge. In truth, he felt more like the blonde's friend despite the short time that they have spent previously. The other boy only took in his new part of this unwarranted discovery before signaling for him and Sumaru to head for Konoha in hopes of getting Zabuza healed as well. Something inside told him that he needed to protect the blonde, but he couldn't find it in himself to ask why so he shrugged it off for the moment.

"Let's get going, I know the quickest route, we can make it there before nightfall."

"Right, let's go," uttered Sumaru as he followed the raven haired boy leaping from tree to tree, all the while, using chakra to boost their speed.

"Hold on Naruto, we'll come for you, just you wait." The two quickly pushed on as they neared the village.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

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{Kiba} -just out of the bedroom wearing a tight fitting brief boxer- Hey there! Thanks for reading! My cuddle bug has been working on this for a while, actually more like obsessing since he couldn’t put it out sooner. So I tired him out and he’s sleeping now… so just a review and he’ll get back to you! Thanks again!