Naruto scratched the back of his head as he opened the door to his apartment.
"Alright, alright, you can stop with the bangin'..."
Naruto trailed off as he looked at the two redheaded females at his door. One, he recognized as Karin while the other was a new face.
"Oh, uh, how can I help you?"
The taller of the two girls spoke in a rather harsh tone.
"I've been knockin' on the door for five fuckin' minutes! The hell took so long?!"
Naruto tilted his head slightly.
"Five minutes isn't that lo-"
"Don't care! Where the fuck's the landlord at? Me and this chick's doors are locked and we don't have the damn keys!"
Naruto looked at the two girls in surprise before realizing.
"Oh, one second."
Naruto turned back to his apartment and put a hand on the wall next to the door in a seemingly random spot. A moment later, a small seal array appeared and something materialized in his hand along with a puff of white smoke.
"I had your keys made yesterday but I didn't know who to give 'em to. Here ya' go."
Naruto handed a key to each of the girls. The first took it with a huff and stomped off. Karin and Naruto watched her walk away with curious looks.
"Did she ever tell you her name?"
Karin nodded.
"Her name is Tayuya. She seems to curse a lot. I hope it won't be too loud in this place."
Naruto shook his head at the girl.
"Oh don't worry about it. It's pretty quiet around here."
Karin turned back to Naruto and nodded before sticking her hand out for him to Shake.
"I didn't actually get a chance to introduce myself properly. I'm Karin Uzumaki. It's amazing that I'm finally meeting more members of our clan."
Naruto smiled at the girl as he shook her hand.
"Naruto Uzumaki, and yeah, I feel that. I honestly never thought I'd ever have a family like this. I hope we get along alright."
Naruto gave Karin a big smile which was returned with a small grin and a nod.
"Just knock if you need somethin', I have some Shadow Clones that'll be here all day cleanin'."
Karin nodded and waved as she walked off to her new apartment. Naruto waved back for a few seconds before a few clouds of white smoke appeared behind him.
"You guys know the drill."
The three Shadow Clones nodded and saluted their maker before Naruto shut the door behind him, leaving to start his day.
X
Sasuke's head snapped in the direction that he felt four strong chakra signatures. His eyes narrowed as he activated his three tomoe Sharingan and drew his tanto.
"The hell are you doing in this village?"
The headband on the ninja with six arms designated him and his two companions as Sound Ninjas. Their choice of clothing being so similar to Orochimaru's was even more of a giveaway. The ninja at the front of the formation smirked as he hopped down from the roof, landing on the street in front of Sasuke.
"Lord Orochimaru's expecting you, Sasuke Uchiha."
Sasuke glanced around as the other two ninjas landed on either side of him, blocking his escape routes. The one on his left was large and had an orange mohawk and sideburns. The one on his right had dark blue hair with bangs covering his right eye along with green lipstick. Strangely, there was another chakra signature attached to that one.
Sasuke turned back to the first ninja as he spoke. His black hair was tied back in a spikey ponytail. He nodded to Sasuke.
"Nice weapon ya' got there. What do you plan on using it for, huh?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed further.
"It depends. What do you want with me?"
The man shrugged.
"Orochimaru's orders. We're bringing you in. It's your choice if you wanna be brought in beat up or not, though."
Sasuke glanced around himself again.
"Why should I go with you?"
The man tilted his head slightly, his eyes catching the mark on Sasuke's neck. His smirk widened as he spoke.
"Orochimaru's got big plans for you, Sasuke. If you want more power, you'll know what to do. You have one hour before we take you by force."
Sasuke glared at the three ninjas as they jumped away, receding back into the darkness of the night. He flinched in pain and put a hand up to his neck as the Curse Mark reacted. He sheathed his tanto as his eyes shifted back to their regular dark color.
'Seek me out in the future. I will grant you the power you yearn for, Sasuke. Under my guidance, not even your brother, Itachi, will be a match for you.'
Sasuke perfectly remembered the words Orochimaru had spoken to him. They were practically engraved in his flesh along with the seal on his neck.
It was a trap. There was no doubt in his mind. But there were also memories. Memories yet to come, memories that he dreaded seeing with his own two eyes.
He has one hour. Hopefully, that is all he needs.
X
Sakura hopped from rooftop to rooftop as she sensed something wrong. She had this feeling ever since Sasuke woke up in the hospital not too long ago. Something was off but she couldn't tell what.
Sakura came to a stop and looked over the edge of the roof she landed on. She saw Sasuke slowly walking with a small bag on his back, his face being shadowed by his bangs.
"Where are you going?"
Sasuke turned around quickly to see Sakura staring at him questioningly. He breathed out before shaking his head.
"Don't worry about it."
Sakura's eyes narrowed.
"You have a bag on your back and you look like you're about to leave. Don't tell me not to worry about it."
Sasuke stared at Sakura for a moment before turning around to continue walking.
"I need to go."
Sasuke stopped and leaned to the right just in time to avoid being hit by a few senbon. He turned around in surprise to see Sakura with her arm outstretched.
"What are you-"
"-I'll ask you again. Where are you going?"
Sasuke closed his mouth and dropped his bag to the ground.
"Sakura, don't do this."
Sakura narrowed her eyes further.
"Don't do what? Sasuke, something happened and you haven't told me or anyone else about it. Explain before I send you back to the hospital."
"Don't try to stop me from leaving."
Sakura's eyes widened ever so slightly.
"Leaving?"
Sasuke nodded.
"I'm leaving. There's too much that I need to do to stay in this village any longer. I need to go."
Sakura lowered her hands to her sides. Sasuke carefully picked up his bag from the ground. He flinched when Sakura ran forward. He barely avoided the punch aimed at his face and jumped back.
"Do you even know what the hell you're saying, Sasuke?! If you leave, you'll be branded a missing ninja!"
Sasuke grit his teeth.
"Don't you think I know that?!"
Sakura stopped and stared at Sasuke.
"I... Please, I need to leave."
Sakura's eyes widened when Sasuke looked at her, his eyes full of unshed tears and fear. The dark haired teen vanished in a burst of speed. Sakura put a hand out to stop him but was too late. She looked in the direction she felt her teammate's chakra fade into and thought fast. She turned on her heel and began running off towards where she would hopefully find help.
X
Adrik opened his door not long after he just got done changing into his ninja attire for the day ahead. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Sakura at his door, panting heavily with her hands on her knees.
"Sakura? What's wrong? It's kinda early in the morning for you to be up."
Sakura looked up at Adrik with a frightened expression.
"I need you to keep track of Sasuke!"
Adrik's eyes widened as Sakura dragged him out of his apartment by his arm. He barely had time to make an ash rope to close his door before being dragged away.
X
Naruto stared in shock at Tsunade, no longer feeling the effects of being woken up at three in the morning.
"Th-There's no way, right? He wouldn't just leave the village like that, right? You're not lying to me, are you?"
Naruto could already tell by the Hokage's serious expression that she wasn't lying.
"Your team for this mission is already assembled. You, Adrik, Sakura, and Shikamaru are to set out in fifteen minutes to track down Sasuke Uchiha and bring him back to the village."
Naruto could only nod in response along with his teammates that Tsunade addressed. They immediately began running out the door after being dismissed by the Hokage.
X
"Adrik, what can you sense?"
Adrik stayed silent as he focused.
"The ashes on Sasuke aren't responding very well. The most I can do is sense the direction he's in."
Shikamaru nodded.
"Then we should try to speed up. Drop your weights, Adrik. If we need to fight, I'm gonna count on you to try and make the first move."
Adrik nodded again. Shikamaru turned his head to address the two genin of the group.
"If we get caught up, we'll try to make an opening for you two. You probably have the best shot of bringing Sasuke back."
Naruto and Sakura nodded, steeling their resolve.
X
The large man with orange hair turned around with his eyes narrowed. He tossed the covered basket he was carrying to one of the other two Sound Ninjas.
"They caught up. Get the Uchiha out of here."
The other two ninjas nodded as they ran off back into the forest. The ninja team from the Leaf arrived just in time to see them leave. He raised his hands into a string of seals as black markings appeared on his body. He smirked before pointing his palms towards the arriving team.
"Earth Style Barrier: Earth Dome Prison!"
The four Leaf Ninjas stopped as they werecompletely encased in a dome of solid rock. Adrik narrowed his eyes as he looked around.
"It's covered in chakra. Stand back. I think I can bust a hole in this thing."
The three other ninjas nodded and stepped back to give Adrik some room. Shikamaru and Sakura felt as their chakra was being drained little by little with Naruto not even recognizing a difference.
Adrik put his hands to the ground as ashes erupted from his palms.
"Scorch Spire."
X
The man on the other side of the dome smirked as he could feel the three ninjas in the dome had probably realized they were trapped by now. They simply stood back and did nothing. His smirk dropped as he realized something.
There were four ninjas. Where did the other one go?
The man's eyes widened as a sharp pain shot through his torso. His mouth began leaking blood as he looked down. He coughed and choked on the blood in his throat as he realized a heated, black spike was now practically replacing his entire stomach. The dome of Earth began to crumble as his hands fell to his sides and his eyes became lifeless. Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru looked at the dead man with slight shock before they had to try and catch up to Adrik, who barely even gave the dead man a glance.
X
The man with six arms looked back in surprise.
"Jirobo seriously couldn't even last a full minute? What the hell happened?"
He tossed the basket in his arms to his teammate as he got ready to fight.
"Keep on your guard, Kidomaru. If they could take down Jirobo so easily, we need to be careful."
The man with six arms, Kidomaru, nodded. Without another word, he activated his Curse Mark. Black markings covered his entire body before they began to shift color and spread further. Kidomaru's skin became a dark red and his hair turned light grey and lengthened. Two horns appeared on his arms and on his elbows. A third eye grew at the center of his forehead, made evident after he took off his headband, with all three eyes becoming pitch black with golden irises.
"I'll handle them, Sakon, Ukon."
The pale haired man, Sakon, nodded with a smirk at seeing his teammate activate his Curse Mark's second level. From behind him, attached at the base of his neck, was another head that smirked as well. It looked identical to Sakon, it's bangs covering the opposite side of its face as the other's.
"They won't know what hit 'em..."
Sakon and Ukon ran off, leaving their demonic looking teammate to face the approaching ninjas.
X
The group stopped to avoid the golden arrows that were fired at their feet. Accompanying the appearance of the arrows was a malicious chakra that stared them down. Adrik grit his teeth as he spoke to his team.
"We don't have time for this. They're trying to stall us."
The other three nodded with Shikamaru stepping forward.
"Then go on ahead. I'll take this one."
Adrik tilted his head towards Shikamaru.
"Are you sure? This guy is at least a jonin level. He's not gonna get caught off guard like the last one."
Shikamaru nodded and pushed his teammates slightly.
"Just go."
Kidomaru aimed another three arrows at the fleeing Leaf Ninjas. He was stopped for a second when he realized he was unable to move. With some effort, his chakra exploded outward, breaking the bindings placed on his shadow.
Shikamaru sighed to himself as this was going to be much more troublesome than he first thought.
X
"They're approaching. One stayed behind and is probably fighting Kidomaru, now."
Sakon nodded to Ukon. He stopped in his tracks when a man with pale white hair and two red dots on his forehead landed in front of him.
"I will take it from here. Take care of the weaklings."
Sakon barely had time to react when the man took the basket and sped off. He turned back with an irritated expression.
"Whatever. If he wants to keep being Orochimaru's little pet, that's fine by me. He's gonna die anyways. Ukon, ready?"
The head on the back of Sakon nodded. Moments later, a nearly perfect copy of Sakon was ejected from his body. Ukon looked back at his brother and nodded.
X
Naruto and Sakura flinched as they sensed two chakra signatures appear not too far ahead. Adrik narrowed his eyes before bringing out his daggers to block a clawed hand.
In front of him stood Sakon with changes similar to Kidomaru's. His skin was dark red and a horn protruded from the left side of his head. Most of his right side was covered in pale purple scales. His one visible eye was golden yellow with black sclera. He smirked, revealing his sharpened teeth.
"End of the road, Leaf Ninja. You should've stayed in your village. Now, you have to die!"
Sakon rushed forward and punched Adrik in the stomach before he could react. Naruto summoned a Shadow Clone that caught his brother before he could be sent flying.
Naruto's eyes widened when Sakura was launched forward by a kick from behind. Where Sakura once stood appeared a mirrored version of Sakon. Another clone caught Sakura before Naruto rushed towards Ukon with his katana drawn.
Ukon looked towards Naruto and frowned slightly. He blocked the downward swing of the blonde teen's sword with his scale covered left arm and punched the teen in the stomach. Ukon was surprised when the teen vanished in a puff of white smoke after being hit.
Right before Ukon could be slashed from behind by Naruto, Sakon appeared and caught the blade with his right hand. He brought his other hand back but was unable to land a punch on his target when he was hit painfully in the face by a glowing green fist. His head was turned to the side just enough that he saw Ukon was hit by an ash covered fist from the opposite side.
The two men were sent back slightly before landing further away on either side of the three Leaf Ninjas.
"Sasuke's signal is getting away fast. Naruto, get some clones for a distraction. Try to bring these guys closer to each other."
Naruto nodded and sheathed his katana. In an instant, he made twenty Shadow Clones that appeared around the three of them in a circle.
Sakon effortlessly dodged a punch from one of the clones before headbutting it, his horn impaling and dispelling it. He spun around and kicked another clone that popped up behind him. He blocked a slash from another clone's katana before punching it in the face with his other hand. He turned around to see seven more clones rushing towards him.
He spun in a circle, catching the first three with a spinning roundhouse kick. Two of the remaining clones jumped up high and made hand seals.
"Wind Style: Wind Bullets!"
Six wind bullets shot from the two clones. Sakon evaded each one with a smirk before leaping up to slash at the clones with his clawed right hand. He looked back down to see the other two clones performing a jutsu.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Without being able to land in time, Sakon was pushed back by the strong winds that came from the clones. They dispelled moments after, leaving the wind to die down.
Sakon looked around as he landed to see he was back to back with Ukon, the two ending up in the same situation. They both turned to face their surroundings when Earth Walls suddenly shot up from the ground. Sakon rushed forward to try and attack Sakura as she made more Earth Walls to try and enclose the area. He was stopped, however, when Adrik appeared in front of him with a dense cloud of ash coating his hand.
"Heat Crash!"
Sakon was launched backwards and his face was slightly burned from the attack. He landed in his spot behind Ukon and looked around. Ukon rushed forward when he saw the area was completely surrounded by Earth Walls. He sent a punch towards one of the walls, intending to break it, but was stopped by a rope made of ash that dragged his fist towards the ground.
Ukon yanked his arm out of the ground and jumped back to his previous spot. He and Sakon looked around, waiting for their opponent's next move. They both flinched as dense, black smoke began leaking into the circle from the small cracks between the walls. They both put their hands up to cover their mouths and nostrils but stopped when the smoke merely floated around them.
"Shit, I can't sense them. Ukon?"
Ukon shook his head in response.
"This is some sort of jutsu that's keeping us from using our senses. I can barely even see."
Sakon nodded in agreement. They looked at each other and nodded before rushing in opposite directions. They both grunted as they were yanked to the ground by their ankles.
"Your first mistake was splitting up."
Ukon stood up and looked around, a kunai appearing in his right hand from a seal on his wrist.
"Show yourself, coward!"
Ukon tilted his head to the left but his cheek was still cut by a spinning, black kunai. He grit his teeth and threw his own kunai in the direction the black kunai came from. He had no idea if it hit its mark as he didn't even hear the sound of it impacting with anything.
"Your second mistake was thinking you could still fight me."
Ukon turned around and brought his left arm up just in time to block a ball of dense ash that singed his scales slightly. He turned back around when he heard a noise, only for a small senbon to pierce his left shoulder. Ukon held his arm that limply fell at his side. He could feel the left side of his body beginning to go numb as he fell to one knee.
"Nowhere to run."
Ukon looked up with wide eyes as a figure appeared in front of him, completely shrouded in black smoke with a black mask on its face. He jumped back as best as he could and unsealed another kunai that he threw at the figure. He was shocked when the figure seemed to disappear, fading back into the black smoke clouding the area. He fell to both knees as another senbon hit his right shoulder. Now, he couldn't move his arms and he could barely lift a foot.
Ukon looked around as he heard a cracking sound. Before he knew it, an Earth Wall crashed down on him. His brother, Sakon, was met with the same attack as the smoke began to clear up.
The two brothers could only grit their teeth in pain as they were unable to move and now trapped below what amounts to a landslide worth of rubble.
X
Adrik landed next to Sakura and Naruto, who turned away from the pile of rubble with a sense of urgency.
"Come on, we need to catch up!"
Naruto rand off with Sakura following close behind. Adrik turned back to the rock pile as he clipped his mask to his utility belt. Black smoke drifted up from his foot before he stomped on the ground.
"Scorch Spires."
Two lines of increasingly large black spikes shot up from the ground as they approached the rock pile. Adrik turned back around and began running to catch up with his teammates, already sure that his attack hit its marks.