Naruto:A New Path

Whirlpool's Destruction

Naruto stared at Mayu with a serious expression on his face. He had always been a curious person and always wanted to know what was going on or if there were any secrets of almost anything, this had annoyed the village back when he was young since he wouldn't leave his victim alone until they spilled their guts. He had stopped pestering people as time passed but his curiosity still remained, though it had lowered to a healthy curiosity.
When Mayu had begun to make her accusations, Naruto knew to shut up since he knew that whatever she was about to say was important, and the fact that he didn't really have another choice since he was tied to a chair with his chakra sealed. He watched as Mayu walked back to her throne-like chair, slumping into it with a sigh. Exhaustion could be seen in her eyes, proof that she had been through a lot in her days, and her seating position showed that she was simply tired, of what, he did not know.
"Where to begin?" Mayu wondered out loud. She ran a hand through her hair, with her eyes settling on the vast desert. Naruto noted the look of sadness that washed over her face as her eyes wondered the dunes of the desert. The kunoichi suddenly snapped her gaze at the blond, getting his attention, before she sighed once more.
"Are you going to tell me anything, or are you just going to sigh all day?" Naruto asked, a little irked at Mayu's attitude. Her lax nature reminded him somewhat of Shikamaru, which wasn't really a good thing.
Mayu scoffed before shifting on her seat, her gaze on Naruto. "I guess I should begin with the village's history," she crossed her arms and sighed once more, Naruto's eye twitched in annoyance, "Whirlpool was always a peaceful village, we didn't seek out trouble and avoided confrontation with any village. Conflict, however, was unavoidable. Whirlpool was home to many seal masters, every single ninja knew the basics of sealing, this mixed with our large chakra capacities caught the attention of other villages."
Mayu stood from her seat and walked over to one of the large windows on the room, looking longingly at the sky. "Because of our talent other villages viewed us as threats and attempted to attack us several times. All of those attacks were easily countered by our ninja, but tension between our village and others began to rise. We still remained peaceful and things looked peaceful, until…" she trailed off, her eyes filled with sadness and regret. Naruto simply kept listening, knowing that it wasn't a good time to intrude, "The Third World Shinobi War began. At the time Konoha was in trouble, their rations were low and many of their forces were dying on the field. They requested the aid of Whirlpool. After much negotiation Whirlpool finally agreed to help out Konoha and became involved in the war. We gave supplies to the Leaf and sent some of our shinobi to help out in battles. At the time I was young, a fresh Genin, and was told by my master that ninja nations should help each other out. I was against the idea but nobody really listened to me."
Naruto watched as Mayu's expression grew sour, her eyes reflecting the resentment she held. The kunoichi turned to the Chunin and frowned. "Since we aided Konoha, other villages saw the opportunity to attack us. At first they were no trouble but when they attacked us at the same time, Whirlpool stood no chance. We were forced to seek help but our 'ally' villages refused to help. Suna was the first to deny us help and we soon ran out of options. In the end we asked, no, begged! We begged Konoha for help, the same help we gave them. And what did they say?" her eyes filled with unshed tears, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, "They said no! Just like that they denied us help! The only reason we were attacked was because of them and then they just abandon us as if we never helped them! I watched family, friends, teachers, I watched them all day when I was just a Genin. Innocent people were slaughtered before my eyes just because Konoha refused to help! That's why I seek revenge against them, I'll destroy the damned villages that abandoned us."
The room fell into silence, Naruto's blue eyes followed Mayu as she walked towards him. He understood why she sought revenge, if he was honest, he would probably have done the same thing in the past. She was right at being angry with Konoha, in fact he couldn't believe what they had done. For the first time on his life, he saw Konoha as unfair and flawed.
"I want you to join me," Mayu's voice snapped Naruto out of his thoughts, eyes widening at the request. She stood in front of the Chunin with a tired look on her face, "Avenging Whirlpool will be hard by myself and I'll need all the help I can get, I don't care where I get it. You're an Uzumaki like myself, do what's right and avenge your people."
Naruto's eyes narrowed on the kunoichi. "No," he responded with a frown, taking Mayu by surprise. A growl escaped his lips and he glared at the Whirlpool survivor, "I don't approve of what the Hidden Leaf did but it's the home of my friends and as long as they are Konoha shinobi then I will always side with the village. I swore to protect those important to me, attacking Konoha would be betraying my friends and I will never do that!"
"I see you're being stubborn," Mayu snarled, walking past Naruto's chair. She was out of view but her footsteps echoed throughout the room, "You will see things my way soon enough."
The Chunin heard the sound of her footsteps die down and sighed, he had to find a way out. He had to stop her before she took more lives. He knew that he didn't stand a chance against her but with his team at his side, then they stood a chance though it was small. Mayu, or Red Death, was far above Genin or Chunin level. If they wanted to win then they would need to know how Mayu fought, using seals.
Naruto suddenly smirked, noticing his ninja sandals were still on. 'Looks like I'll be out of here sooner than I thought,' he quickly kicked his sandals off, keeping an ear out for any sign of Mayu, 'I'll have to be quick about this.'
Back in Suna one of the councilwomen stood on the rooftop of the Kazekage's office building. She looked at the village with a tired look on her face, she always valued the village and did everything on her power to ensure that it gained prosperity. Knowing what the council was doing made her feel powerless, she couldn't do anything against their decisions. It was stupid to betray Konoha a second time since they would investigate the death of their ninja. Starting conflict would only result in lost lives and the eventual destruction of the village.
A smirk formed on her face, she was no usual elder and she would show it. She was Chiyo, a shinobi that had seen many things on her day. She knew that it was easy for ninja to know when someone had been targeted and killed, she would do what was necessary to stop the council. The council didn't have any knowledge of how the ninja world worked and how to improve a Hidden Village, she would need to kick those people out of there and appoint those that had such knowledge.
The first step would be to gather those that are knowledgeable on the ninja world, those that had first-hand experience and knew to spot trouble right away. Then they would need to gather supporters and finally appoint a new Kazekage. This wouldn't happen overnight, in fact she guessed that it would take a minimum of two years before they would finally rid themselves of the old council. Chiyo was a patient person, getting rid of the council would take time but she knew that it would eventually happen. She only hoped that the Konoha ninja didn't get killed on their mission, for that would only put her plans on jeopardy.
Naruto held a small blade on his mouth, his ninja sandals near his feet. The Chunin always kept a small blade on his sandals if he was ever captured on a mission, he had never had any use of it until now. With the blade on his mouth he looked down at the seal running across his torso. It was a standard chakra suppression seal with no real complexity, it seemed Mayu had taken it easy with the sealing.
The Chunin's eyes focused on the seal before glimmering with glee, he had found the main seal. On his training with Jiraiya, the sage had taught him the basics of sealing. Chakra suppression seals were one of the basics forms of sealing due to how straight forward they were. The seals were composed of many smaller type of seals with one being the strongest. If one was to take off the strongest seal then the whole thing would easily break with a little force.
Naruto used the blade to cut on area right below his heart, grimacing as he did so. A small trail of blood ran down his torso as he disrupted the main seal. He gritted his teeth as he continued to cut part of his flesh, wondering when the seal would weaken. There was a sudden pull on his body before he felt a small portion of his chakra return. The Chunin dropped the blade and tapped into his chakra, growling at the burning feeling of the seal against his flesh, by the looks of things Mayu had used one of the burning chakra suppression seals Jiraiya had been talking about. This seals would burn hotter and hotter each time the person tried to use chakra.
' Come on!' Naruto gritted his teeth as blue chakra flared around him, the seal burning hotter on his flesh. The mark markings around his torso began to waver and shrink in size. With one final struggle the seal finally came off, leaving the Chunin panting on the chair.
Naruto chuckled as he rested against the chair, he had managed to take off the seal. He looked down at his torso to see it colored a burning red, no doubt the seal's work. He knew that it would eventually heal, as always and focused on the ropes on his hands. Gathering wind chakra around his hands, he began to manipulate it. Hearing the sound of light tearing, he smirked focusing on the wind chakra cutting the rope. The Chunin winced, feeling the wind chakra cut into his wrists due to his control not being that good yet.
He began to pull his hands away as he gathered more wind chakra until they suddenly snapped apart, making him jump slightly on the chair. "I have no time to lose," he muttered as he put his ninja sandals back on. Turning around he found that his shirt and scrolls had been put on the corner of the room. He quickly put on his white shirt and pocketed the scrolls.
Without thinking twice, the Chunin jumped out of the building's window and landed safely on the sand. Sighing in relief he turned around with his eyes widening at the sight before him. There was nothing but sand where he used to be, not even a rock or any kind of evidence that showed there had been a building there.
"What is this?" he wondered as he extended his right hand, gasping when feeling the rough surface of the building against his hand. A small blue glow surrounded his hand as he touched the building, "How did she make a whole building invisible? Is it a kind of genjutsu or another kind of seal?"
Naruto frowned and turned on his heel before breaking into a run. He didn't have time to wonder how the building worked, he needed to get away from Red Death. He didn't want to risk being captured again and knew that if he did, then she wouldn't be as forgiving as before. What he needed to do was reunite with his team and find a way to stop her.
The blond reached into his pant's pocket and took out a scroll. He poured some chakra onto it and his headband appeared before him. A smile formed on his lips as he remembered how he had gotten it, it was a reminder that he had important people he needed to protect. Tying it around his forehead, Naruto made a few clones, all of them running next to him.
"Scatter and leave a trail," he ordered as the clones ran in opposite directions. He was sure that Mayu would be preoccupied following their tracks and give him more time to prepare. Naruto's headband shone on the desert as he continued to run with a frown on his face, he hoped that round three would go to his team.
Sasuke, Gaara and Kankuro walked through the desert, none of them talking. The puppet-user was a little freaked out by the odd auras that surrounded his two teammates but he didn't voice it, choosing to keep his eyes on the horizon instead. The one-tailed jinchuuriki kept his eyes focused on the surrounding area, looking for any kind of movement that would give them a hint as to where Red Death had gone.
Sasuke kept a hand over his kunai holster as he walked. He felt as if they were being watched and could have sworn to have seen something earlier. They hadn't heard or seen the mercenary the Sand ninja were talking about back at the village but being prepared wouldn't hurt, he would be the one to kill him. He needed to test his strength and a mercenary would be the perfect opponent.
"Stop," Gaara ordered as he came to a halt, his eyes focused on the desert. Kankuro turned to Gaara with a confused look while Sasuke scoffed with his arms crossed. Not long after, the outline of a person could be seen in the distance.
"Who's that?" Kankuro wondered as he narrowed his eyes on the figure.
Sasuke focused on the figure before breaking into a smirk. "It's just Naruto, I knew the idiot wouldn't get himself killed," his eyes caught the sigh of movement once more, making him turn to his right rather sharply, alerting the other ninja. "It's nothing," he muttered when he saw the two Sand ninja look at him oddly, "Let's just get the idiot back for now."
Gaara nodded as he broke into a run towards the Chunin, the other two following behind him, Sasuke keeping an eye out for the mercenary.
Ino walked heavy steps through the streets of Konoha. She held a tired expression on her face and her clothes looked like they had seen better days, she would need to wash them as soon as she got home. Tsunade hadn't been light on the rest of the training and she could feel her body begin to ache from the rigorous training she had gone through, she hoped to get a warm bath as soon as possible.
Not many people walked around the village but she guessed it was because it would get dark in a few hours. She turned a corner and her eyes filled with recognition. Sakura walked a little ahead of her with a slight bounce on her step. It was rare for Sakura to show that level of happiness and the blonde kunoichi couldn't resist her curiosity. Ino was never one to be left out of gossip and picked up her pace, hoping to catch up to the pink-haired ninja.
"Hey Forehead, how have you been?" Ino greeted, the nickname a habit rather than an insult.
Sakura turned to Ino with a frown on her face. "What do you want here Ino-pig?" she sighed out in annoyance before she realized the condition Ino was in, "What happened to you?"
Ino found herself laughing a little nervously, remembering the torture she now had to endure almost daily. "I was out training," she explained, "But that doesn't matter now. I want to know what's got you so happy."
Sakura suddenly had a smug look on her face, a competitive glint on her eyes. "When I was walking around the market I heard someone say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach," she pointed at herself with an exited smile on her face, "I'm going to make something for Sasuke and give it to him when he comes back from his mission."
Ino suddenly broke into a fit of laughter, tears welling up on her eyes. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," she gasped out as she laughed. Sakura fumed and clenched her fists, a bright blush on her face, "Come on Forehead, you can't be that naïve."
"What are you talking about?" Sakura growled.
Ino smiled. "You don't have to cook anything for anyone, if they like you then they like you," she explained, "You just have to spend time together and things just fall into place. Sure you have to do some work but don't go out of your way, it'll work out eventually."
"You don't even know about that Ino," the pink-haired ninja accused with a frown on her face, "It doesn't work like that."
"Of course it does," Ino countered with a light blush on her cheeks, remembering how she and Naruto had admitted their feelings and the days they had spent together. Maybe it really didn't work that way for everyone but she shrugged it off, "That's how it worked for me and Naruto anyway."
"Wait," Sakura muttered with wide-eyes, her whole body frozen in shock and a perturbed look on her face. Ino watched the other ninja with a frown, not thinking it was that much of a shock, "You and Naruto? Blond, goofy and loud Naruto?"
"Yes, why?" Ino asked a little harshly, making Sakura gulp and wave her hands defensibly.
"N-nothing I was just wondering," she admitted with a nervous laugh. Ino huffed and began to walk away. Sakura trailed behind her with a guilty look on her face, "Come on Ino, I was just really surprised. I never expected you and Naruto to be together."
Ino's face softened and she stopped walking, turning to Sakura with a small smile. "It's okay Forehead, I guess it's pretty strange that we ended up together," she admitted with a tender look on her eyes, "But I've never been happier."
"Really?" Sakura asked incredulously.
"Yeah," the blonde said with a nod, "There's something about him that makes you feel special, like you're the only person in the world. I was mean to him back when we were kids but he still looked past that and treats me really well."
Sakura found herself smiling, she was happy that Ino was happy and with Naruto nonetheless. "You're sounding pretty corny Ino-pig," she teased, making the blonde glare, "Anyway, I'm happy for you guys. Naruto's not that bad and I have one less person to worry about with Sasuke."
Ino chuckled and shook her head. A yawn escaped her lips as she turned to walk away. "I'm going home," she announced with a tired expression, "I've had a long day. It was nice to talk to you, Sakura."
Sakura watched Ino leave with a smile, feeling the friendship they had broken long ago began to heal, it would be nice to have her as a friend again. "I'll see you later, Ino," she called out as she made her way home.
Naruto ran through the desert with no particular thought in mind. His clones had dispelled in unknown ways and it could only mean to things, that someone really hated clones or that Red Death had noticed his absence and took chase. He really hoped it wasn't the latter of the two. Running from Red Death would result on his capture, he knew that he should meet with his friends but he had no idea just how he was going to make it, it would be a matter of time before he was found and his invisibility jutsu wouldn't work since Red Death would be on the alert.
' Come on Naruto,' he urged himself,
'Remember what Jiraiya-sensei taught you.'
' Remember well Naruto,' Jiraiya's voice echoed on his head, 'whenever a lady says no it means yes!"
Naruto shook his head violently, 'No, not that!'
' You'll never guess Tsunade's bra size. Come on, take a guess!'
"Useless pervert!" Naruto exclaimed as he continued to run, giving up on his master for now.
His breath hitched when a wall of sand appeared right before him without any warning. Not able to stop his run, the blond crashed face-first unto the wall with his head breaking through it, getting stuck in a rather comical way.
"Are you serious?" he growled as he tried to pull his head away from the sand, "Someone get me out of here!"
"Very well," Gaara's monotone voice stated. The wall of sand dispersed, enabling the blond to move once more. Naruto led out a sigh of relief as he turned to see the Sand ninja accompanied by Sasuke and Kankuro, "We came looking for you but it appears you're not in danger."
Naruto nodded, nursing his neck his with right hand. "I managed to break out but I'm sure Red Death is after me," he gave his teammates a nod of acknowledgement before making a few clones, "I'll leave this guys here to leave fake trails, they bought me some time before. We have to get out of here as soon as possible and come up with a better plan."
"Then let's get out of here already," Kankuro urged.
"Where are Shikamaru and the other girl?" the Chunin asked in confusion.
Kankuro sighed. "Don't let her catch you calling her that," he stretched his arms in a tired manner, "She and that Shikamaru guy are laying traps for Red Death."
"Then you guys lead, we have to regroup," Naruto ordered, receiving nods from his teammates. The two clones ran in opposite directions and the group of shinobi ran through the sand, hoping not to run into trouble.
Shikamaru looked over his work with a careful eye. He and Temari had set up traps around the area, using the sand to cover them up. The lazy Chunin had taken a liking to Naruto's explosive tags since they were detonated with a simple hand seal, he wondered if he could also learn sealing but decided against it, it would be too much work.
The traps were set up to make a large circle. He would trigger them when Red Death was inside of the circle. The explosions would create a large cloud of sand that would shield everything from view, hiding the many tags inside of the circle. Those tags were Naruto's strongest explosives. Since those explosive tags took longer to activate, a diversion was needed. It was a well enough plan but it would need precise timing and for the team to actually know where the traps were.
"Someone's coming," Temari muttered, reaching for her fan. Shikamaru turned to his right to see four shadows approaching them, he held up a hand, motioning her to wait, "What?"
Shikamaru sighed. "We can't attack just yet," he ordered with narrowed eyes, "There's the possibility that their allies."
"Fine, but if we die it will be your fault," she muttered with a frown.
As the figures got closer the distinct color of Gaara's hair gave them away. Shikamaru sighed in relief while Temari got a smile on her face, happy to know that Naruto was okay. The shadow-user threw Temari a confused glance, it seemed she had grown rather fond of Naruto, he thought of telling her that Naruto had a girlfriend, a violent one at that, but he didn't want to get in the middle of things so he shrugged it off.
"Nice to see you're alright," Shikamaru stated with a small grin on his face.
Naruto grinned and pointed a finger at himself. "You didn't think I'd let myself get caught so easily, did you?" he joked with a chuckle. He looked around the area and raised a brow, "Did you guys set up the traps?"
"Of course," Temari responded with a proud look on her face, "I guess we hid them pretty well."
"You really did, good job guys," he congratulated with a smile. Temari found herself blushing lightly and turned away from the group with her gaze on the sand.
"So, what now?" Kankuro asked.
Sasuke scowled. "We should just fight Red Death and lead him to the trap," he suggested with his hands on his pockets, "That way we'll get rid of him easily."
"No, Red Death won't go down that easily," Naruto muttered with a frown on his face. The group threw him odd looks, wanting to know what he meant, "I was able to figure out how Red Death fights and a trap won't be enough."
"Then what do you propose we do?" Shikamaru asked in a serious expression.
Naruto crossed his arms before closing his eyes in deep thought. "I guess I might be able to come up with something," he muttered more to himself than to anyone. He opened his eyes and gave the group a confident group, "Yeah, I think I can come up with something. Red Death fights by using seals, all we have to do is counter them and Red Death will be vulnerable."
"How will you do that?" Gaara asked in a monotone voice.
"Back when I trained with Jiraiya-sensei he taught me some of the seals he knows," Naruto explained, "It takes me a few hours but I'll be able to make the one we need."
"Sounds like a plan," Shikamaru decided. The group stood in front of him with a confident spark on their eyes, the lazy Chunin nodded at them with the same confidence on his eyes, "We'll take Red Death down tonight."
The desert was cold as Gaara and Kankuro walked through it. Gone was the light of day, replaced by the darkness of night. The two ninja kept their eyes open for any sign of their opponent. The moon shone down on the desert, giving the sand a dim silver glow.
The group had broken into different teams that served a different purpose. Gaara and Kankuro had been chosen to face Red Death directly and were walking through the desert in hopes of running into the ninja. As if invoking Red Death, sand suddenly shot up around them, blocking their view. Gaara frowned and dispersed the sand without much trouble. Kankuro quickly took out his puppet as his eyes darted around the area, trying to find the ninja.
"Kankuro…" Gaara called in a low voice. The puppet-user turned to his brother with a confused expression, "Jump away."
As soon as the simple command left the jinchuuriki's lips, the two leapt away, just as a powerful shot of air struck the place where they had just stood and kicked up a small cloud of sand. "Good job," came Red Death's voice. The sand cleared to show the familiar form of Red Death, scythe twirling on her right hand, "Not many can dodge my attacks, but then again I wasn't planning on hitting you."
Gaara simply stared at his opponent and prepared to attack, his brother next to him with his puppet ready to move.
Naruto and Sasuke watched the ninja from a safe distance. The two Team 7 members were to enter the fight when they saw fit. Getting a surprise attack on Red Death would be crucial for their plan and they had to time it just right.
Sasuke suddenly broke into a run, making Naruto gasp in surprise. The Uchiha took a kunai in hand, wanting to finish the fight as soon as possible. His eyes widened when Naruto suddenly appeared before him with a frown on his face.
"What are you doing Naruto?" Sasuke growled with a glare.
Naruto's eyes narrowed on his teammate. "We can't interfere just yet. If we go in there now then the plan will go to waste," he explained, "Let's just wait a few more minutes."
"We don't have a few more minutes," he argued with his glare still on place, "If everything goes according to plan we won't get to truly test ourselves, do you want that Naruto?"
Naruto clenched his fists. "Look, Sasuke. I don't remember anyone asking for your opinion so just listen," the Chunin countered, "It's not about testing ourselves, it's about taking down Red Death. You can't order us around, so learn your place on this mission, Genin."
Sasuke glared as the Chunin approached him, with his eyes narrowed. 'I"m not beneath you, loser' the Uchiha growled in his head, 'I'll show you where I stand!' . Naruto shot him one last look before beginning to move past him.
Everything happened in a flash. Naruto suddenly got the wind knocked out of him by Sasuke's punch before the Uchiha kicked him away. The blond landed on the sand, rolling with the punch and getting on his feet, creating a clone as soon as he got back up. The clone took hold of Naruto's arms before launching him at Sasuke. The Uchiha could do nothing but watch as the Chunin's right fist met his face rather painfully.
Blood escaped Sasuke's mouth as he jumped away from the blond. He nurse his jaw, glaring at Naruto with his left fist clenched. The two glared at each other and slipped into their taijutsu stances. The Uchiha saw this as an opportunity to put Naruto on his place while the blond knew that Sasuke wouldn't stop without a fight.
With the sound on an explosion in the distance, the two ran at each other. Their plan put on great jeopardy.
Shikamaru watched Red Death fight his teammates in the distance, Temari standing next to him with a frown on her face. The lazy Chunin was growing agitated, there was no sign of Naruto or Sasuke entering the fight. He guessed that they would have intervened by now but there was no sign of them.
"Where the hell are they?" Temari growled with worry on her eyes.
Shikamaru sighed. "Don't worry much about it-"
The two ninja suddenly jumped away from where they stood, dodging a set of kunai in the process. The two turned around to see a man with long black hair, a goatee on his face, wearing samurai-like armor.
"I don't get why you ninja's use tools like this," the mercenary began, twirling a kunai on his left hand, "They're easy to dodge and you can tell when their coming. You ninja aren't that stealthy, are you?"
Shikamaru studied the man, wondering why he was after them. Meanwhile Temari took out her fan and gripped it tightly on her hands. "Why are you here anyway?" the lazy Chunin asked with a frown on his face, "By the way you talk and dress yourself, I'd say you're a mercenary."
The man smirked. "Not bad kid. You're sharper than you look, but…" the mercenary reached for his back and pulled out a sword, pointing it at the two ninja, "But, it won't save you. I won't show mercy just because you're kids."
The two ninja readied themselves to fight, their eyes focused on the mercenary. They hadn't counted on being attacked right when they were facing Red Death. Things just got a lot more complicated and they hoped that they would be able to come out on top.