Red Riot - Chapter 30 - The battle in the steam

Matsu:- The MC, a Kiri Chunin, with Uzumaki traits. Jonin Akiko - Matsu’s Sensei and exasperated mentor of other children, Matsu returned he

Matsu:- The MC, a Kiri Chunin, with Uzumaki traits.

Jonin Akiko - Matsu’s Sensei and exasperated mentor of other children, Matsu returned her beauty to her.

Yukari Terumi :- Friends with Akiko and is currently engaged in a Honeypot mission. 

Orochimaru:- One of the Three Sannin. Legendary for surviving a fight against Hanzo the Salamander. Snake Summoner and a dangerous enemy.

                                                ____________________

Arashi grinned as their team sped after the lone Kiri nin that had been spying on them. 

It almost made it too damn easy when you had a Hyuuga that could see as far as theirs could, but that’s what you came to expect from one of the prominent clans of Konoha!

“We’re closing on him!” called Hito Hyuga from ahead. Arashi could just make out the veins bulging on the side of the other man’s skull underneath the hitae-ate of the leaf. 

Always freaky to look at when they did that, but Arashi had learned that it wasn’t wise to point out such facts to the Hyuuga it was practically guaranteed that you were about to get jyuken’d in the dick.

Something that never got old when you set up a rookie shinobi to do just that. Stupid rookies almost always fell for it. 

“Two hundred metres! Contact soon!” Hito called. 

Arashi’s grin gained a few fangs. It probably wasn’t fair cause this was a brat they were hunting down. Another person might even feel a bit sad with them only doing what amounted to a scouting mission, but they were a kiri brat and that was good enough reason for Arashi and the others to put them in the ground.

The brat could certainly cover ground well enough, that was for sure, he’d gone straight up over the mountain and bolted hard north into the Valley of Hell without a second thought. 

Arashi would try and make it qui—

“Multiple contacts!” Hiro screamed a warning and everyone slammed into a tree to halt themselves as defensive positions were assumed. 

“Four more coming in from the sides!”

“What the fuck Hito? Were you fucking sleeping job?How didn’t you spot them?” snarled Senshi as he glared around.

“I was watching our surroundings! They weren’t there a second ago!” snapped the Hyuga clansman.

Arashi only had a moment to wonder why it was that even the vaulted Hyuga eyes had misled them when masked men raced out of the trees.

Arashi dodged a brace of kunai that were more to herd him close to his squadmates.

“They’re trying to corral us!” he called, and his teammates immediately stopped trying to close ranks. 

One of the shinobi they were facing must have had some area-of-effect ninjutsu that would take them out all at once if that were the enemy kill team’s go-to tactic.

Sadly for them, he wasn’t just a shinobi. 

He was a Chunin of Konoha! 

Kunai flickered out skillfully as he countered the oncoming assault. He wove his body around follow-up strikes but frowned as he continued to miss on hits that he was sure would have nailed his foe. 

“Gurk!” cried one of his fellow shinobi as one of the shinobi tackled them out of the air, leading with a kunai to the throat. 

The man locked eyes with Arashi and desperation leaked out. They were dead and everyone knew it. 

With one final act of defiance they formed a seal that made Arashi and the others throw themselves away from him.

Koto exploded with the use of the suicide jutsu taking his foe with him in a gory splatter that painted the forest red and sent a red mist wafting through the air. 

“Bastards!” Arashi called at his opponent, only to get a silent shift in their posture as they prepared to attack once more.

Kunai sailed through the air, and a flash of fire flashed through the mist. Surprisingly the kiri nin didn’t counter it with water jutsu but instead chose to keep evading.

Arashi frowned. Why were they only using shurikenjutsu if they were doing it so poorly? Another shuriken sailed past and Arashi gasped as he felt a distinct lack of air being shifted around him.

His heart thundered as his mind caught on. “It’s genjutsu!” he barked, pulsing his chakra to shatter the illusion.

The foe he’d been ‘trading’ blows with vanished into nothing, only for the forest itself to suddenly become impassable due to a heavy mist that ensnared anything.

Arashi’s mind churned at this. He hadn’t misstepped once during his fight with the illusion, but the density of this fog meant it had to have taken a few moments at least. 

So what did that mean? That the illusionist had used a true surroundings jutsu on them? 

Arashi fell back on wartime procedures. “Flame!” he called into the mist, ears straining for the countersign that would come from a fellow as his mind continued to try and work out why they’d been tricked into not seeing the mist. Why would—

“Lea—” a voice started to call, only for the sound of a blade slashing a throat to make them fall silent. The sound echoed through the mist, and Arashi raced towards it like an Inuzuka hound on a scent. 

He arrived in time to watch Hito’s body drop to the ground limply, his hitae-ate fallen to the side to show the birdcage seal on the man’s forehead.

His killer knelt over him, his hand on Hito’s temple, his eyes locked on the seal. “—activation doesn’t occur on death but rather the cessation of blood flow to the occipital lobe that is linked with eyesight,” he muttered. “What about the other parts of the brain linked to eyesight?”

It was at that moment that Arashi made a connection. 

This boy was in the Bingo book for being linked with a Hyuga abduction! And here he was, attempting to steal from his dead comrade’s corpse!

Arashi knew what he had to do at that moment. His hands blurred as he worked through his strongest jutsu. 

He inhaled, swelling his chest hugely and when he exhaled he unleashed a gigantic fireball.

‘Great Fireball Jutsu!’ he thought as the ball of flame rocketed forward, scorching its way through the mist and clearing it like a hungry beast. 

When the fireball hit it exploded, causing a wave of flames to radiate outwards and blowback huge sections of the mist. 

Hito took a few careful lungfuls before stepping forward, looking for any signs that the boy had survived. 

A displacement in the earth or a watery shell was what he was expecting. 

When the last companion on his team appeared with a kunai in hand, Arashi directed them with quick hand signs to keep a watch for their opponent. 

His comrade nodded, eyes sweeping the area as they both advanced. 

Arashi paused for a moment. His comrade hadn’t used the ‘acknowledged’ sign but instead nodded. 

He threw a brace of kunai only for his comrade’s form to shimmer and fade into that of the boy who locked eyes with him.

Arashi bared his teeth. “You’re quite the slippery little eel, aren’t you?”

The boy merely stepped back slowly, his face expressionless. He faded into the mist with each step. 

Arashi sprinted ahead only to find himself in the crater that his great fireball jutsu had caused. 

Movement made him look down, and a burned face with eyes leaking blood screamed silently up at him with hands that were melted skeletal things. 

Arashi spiked his chakra and the moving corpse faded from his sight. “Is that all you can do? Shadows and tricks?” he bellowed into the mist. 

The sound of a small shriek whirling about. He turned in time to catch a flash of light followed by a heavy crashing noise carrying through the mist. 

Arashi raced towards the sound only to find himself once again too late as his last comrade lay dead amongst shattered trees. 

Part of their stomach was missing. 

The hairs on the back of Arashi’s neck stood up as he began looking around desperately. 

He needed to catch the kid before he could land whatever that attack had been. The kid had the initiative, that was clear enough…

Arashi began weaving his chakra as quickly as he could. 

The kid wanted to try shadow games? 

Well two could play that game.

Arashi formed up a basic illusion of himself standing within the clearing, eyes sweeping aorund as he faded into a better position that would put him out of sight. He even went so far as to activate his scent-blocking seals included in his chunin vest and pull in his chakra to make it harder to detect him.

For a long minute, nothing happened. 

Then Arashi’s neck spasmed, and he twitched in shock. When he tried to throw himself out of hiding he found he couldn’t. 

His eyes darted around, trying to find what it was that had caught him. How had the kid done this?

Arashi licked his lips, alright, don’t panic, he just had to wait for the kid to come gloat, then he’d launch a surprise senbon attack from his—

Arashi didn’t get the chance as suddenly the chakra wires that had surrounded him constricted and cut through his skin and into his arteries. 

He bled out in seconds without even seeing his opponent, and the question of how coursed through his mind. 

It went unanswered. 

                                           _______________________

I flicked the kunai I’d picked off of the Konoha Chunin’s body. 

I had to give it to them. Their weapons were slightly better made, slightly more dense, and they had a slightly improved alloy that actually made it easier to channel chakra through them. 

Guess when you were a nation that sat in the middle of a lot of the elemental trade lines, you had a few benefits like that, though. 

Kiri could be the same, I reasoned. 

It was just a shame that the wielder of said gear had made several assumptions about my skills. He obviously hadn’t known I was capable of sensing his chakra otherwise he’d have never hidden like he had. 

That had just let me set up to wrap him up in chakra strings that I then used to restrain and finish him off.

I spared a glance to where a cluster of shinobi watched from a few kilometres away. 

They hadn’t gotten closer than that, and while at first, I’d feared they were Konoha reinforcements when they didn’t move to assist, I set about killing the rest of the Konoha squad that had followed me. 

I could only conclude that they were local shinobi.

Locals who merely watched him dispatch the Konoha nin without once moving to assist or block him. I suppose to them that was the better play than moving to stick their necks out. They might not had a dog in this fight between us.

They stayed where they were, far enough away to watch, but also break off if they wanted to.

I hummed, taking a moment to consider them.

They were far enough away they wouldn’t have gotten anything of note from the fight. Not with the chakra-heavy mist that I’d used to blind the Hyuga shinobi after getting the chance to use Gengetsu’s new illusion jutsu. 

So, the most likely scenario was that they were just looking to see who won. They might come in after I was gone and get a better read of the battlefield from analysing the field, but that wouldn’t tell them too much.

If I wanted to force the issue and confront them, I could. I’d need to sprint them down and find out who they were, but as the situation currently stood, I didn’t need to borrow any more trouble. 

I’d just killed four Konoha shinobi, and I was now further afield from Akiko with an operation that all logic dictated was about to blow up in our faces. 

As the mist faded, I gave the group a final look to let them know I knew they were there. I sealed up the bodies that were worth sealing and sprinted back south to what I knew was going to be an active combat zone soon.

I could only hope that Akiko was smart enough to follow the mission objective and not the one her friend had added at the last minute.

 “And if wishes were fishes, we’d be all eating prime sushi,” I thought as I poured on the speed. 

I still found myself really hoping that my sensei had done the smart thing and gotten out of dodge. 

                                                      _________________

Akiko allowed herself to be drawn into the bedroom. She fluttered her eyes and tittered like a brainless whore at any comment Ashan said, but the instant he looked away, she directed the flattest of flat looks at her friend.

Yukari merely smiled back.

Akiko had to hide her scowl. If this is how she was acting after being in the field on a long-term honeypot mission for a few months, Akiko was damned glad that she hadn’t been deployed for longer. 

Her professionalism, for one, was shot to shit!

Ashan shut the doors to his bedroom and turned with a perverse look. “Well now, ladies, shall we—”

Akiko hit him in the chest, causing him to expel all the air out of his lungs. Before his mind could even register what had happened, she followed up by chopping her hand right into his neck.

He dropped to the ground, and Yukari flinched at the sudden violence. 

Damn, this bitch had gotten sloppy if this was enough to catch her off guard!

Akiko caught Ashan before he could hit the ground. She’d hit him just hard enough in the neck to dislocate the bone and make it cut off the spinal cord, which meant that he was a cripple without someone at least as good as her student fixing him up.

He flopped on the ground helplessly, and Akiko had to resist the urge to put him out of his misery. 

“Akiko, what the fuck was that? You were supposed to sleep with him so I could bring you into the clan!” Yukari flapped her stupidly long sleeves at her.

Akiko pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yukari, I think being undercover as a vapid idiot has caused your brain to rot if you seriously thought this was a good idea.”

“It is! Think about it: You can start a bloodline linked to the Terumi! Better yet, our kids would be half-siblings!”

Akiko groaned. “That’s ignoring if I even want a brat like that!”

“You do, and you want to give it as many advantages as possible in life!” Yukari replied. She glanced down at the floundering Ashan.  “Shit, well, if we sneak him out, he could be worth more to Kiri. We’ll just keep him drugged up and ladies mounting up,” she muttered before tilting her head. “What did you do to him to drop him like this? Also, nice henge with your face.”

“Not a henge," muttered Akiko before she moved on, not wanting to get bogged down with that. "Also I dislocated his second vertebrae,” Akiko answered as she put an ear to the floor and got a feel for anyone moving about the household. Damn place was big enough, that was for sure. “We might be able to move him,” she conceded. It would mess with their plan for entry into Yugakure, but they’d find another reason to get in. Yukari wasn’t wrong that if they nabbed this bloodline Kiri as a whole would be a lot stronger for future generations. 

There would be a bit of infighting, no doubt, over access to Ashan, but she’d get rewarded.

Any thoughts of getting a bun in the oven could wait until she wanted to actually think about it. For the moment, that was never, and it was likely to stay that way with the creeps that held power in Kiri. 

If she wanted to scratch an itch, that was one thing, but a lifetime commitment to a helpless kid? Urgh, it was bad enough dealing with Matsu.

Speaking of, why hadn’t he snuck in by now?

Something must have caught his attention… He’d read the cues that Yukari was hinting at and decided he didn’t want anything to do with watching what might have been a threesome.

Yeah, he and Ashan were dreaming if they thought that would happen. 

“Where did you learn to dislocate someone’s neck?” Yukari asked, sounding impressed despite herself.

Akiko smirked. “Oh, you pick it up here and there,” she replied. She wasn’t about to admit to reading over Matsu’s shoulder a few times while he was writing those books on anatomy. 

The details about the heart, neck, and lungs were particularly interesting reading. It was rather interesting how taking on Matsu had led to her skills truly growing for the first time significantly in years. 

It wasn’t a result she’d been expecting, but then again, not many people were Matsu.

She didn’t know of any other shinobi that had a medic on call to spar with and then heal them up post-spar to handle any strains or tears. It was frankly absurd how much harder she could push herself with access to Matsu.

And sometimes, he spouted the most insightful things or, in the case of his books, wrote them down. She’d had to call in a few personal favours to keep honing her stealth skills, and while hanging out with Hunter nin elite wasn’t her idea of a good time, she obviously had the skills if she was still able to ghost up on Matsu whenever he didn’t push himself with that sensory jutsu of his.

“There any sensors in the camp worth a damn?” Akiko asked, considering if she could get away with a chakra pulse to get her wayward student to them. 

Damn brat, where the hell had he run off to. He was raised in an Okiya he shouldn’t be too squeamish about this sort of thing, right?

Yukari grimaced. “There’s a few, sadly, not very good obviously as I’ve sat in the same room as them, and they’ve never detected my chakra levels, but if you were to pulse it, they’d investigate… most likely,” she tacked on at the end.

“Tch, I really don’t want to have to fight my way through the freaking camp if I have to. Yukari, my mission is to take this man’s head.”

“You know it’ll be better for the Village if we secure him. We have the chance to! It’s barely two day’s run to a friendly port we can extract him from!” Yukari argued.

Akiko shot her friend a disbelieving stare. “First of all, that’s presuming everything goes well, and we don’t end up with tracker nin hounding us out of the Village. Secondly, failing a mission is still going to be marked against us, and it will cost us subsequent missions I have lined up.” 

She’d adjust, but she wasn’t going to tell Yukari that. No need to feed the woman chakra for this argument. “And finally? Two days? Bitch you’ve gotten fat if it seriously takes you two days to cover that distance! My student and I covered it in half a day easy!” 

Yukari and Akiko stared at each other for a long moment before they both broke into smiles. Yukari sighed. “I can’t deny that I have lost a bit of condition,” she said, patting her stomach bulge. 

Akiko grimaced. “You’d also be risking your kid if you went for stealing Ashan.”

That caused the woman to grimace and look away. Akiko huffed and leaned against a wall to keep mapping out the staff's movement. If she slew Ashan, she’d need to work out their exit. 

She didn’t have to worry so much about having people walk in while he was crippled, as she and Yukari could play up the whole ‘stud in the bedroom’ act that had gotten them so close. People would eat it up if what she’d heard muttered between the guards was any indication.

What they wouldn’t let slide was if they walked into a headless corpse. So, when she did kill him, she planned to make it as clean as possible. Probably finish breaking his neck so there was no blood, then seal him.

Then again, lots of Village leaders liked it when you presented the entire head. It might not be as clean, but it certainly sent a message that you shouldn’t be messed with. 

Akiko considered how she would do it and get away with it as she toyed with a small tanto she had tucked behind her back.  

She was just weighing up trying the audacious plan of simply walking out with hers and Yukari’s robes slightly ruffled when a commotion sounded out around the camp.

Akiko frowned, sharpening her hearing. “We have a problem,” she announced. “Another group of shinobi has just appeared at the camp’s gates, and they’re not friendly. 

Akiko stomped on Ashan’s neck, ending his life before sealing him up. She then grabbed Yukari. “We need to move. Now,” she growled, not willing to entertain any resistance from her friend.

Thankfully, Yukari saw reason and followed. 

They made it out of the building before things went sideways.

Instead of the sounds of fighting sounding out a a voice with a silky purr to it carried itself clearly throughout the camp.

“Summoning Jutsu!” 

Akiko couldn’t tell why she did it, some sort of animal instinct must have flared up and demanded that she turn and look like everyone else.

The summoning jutsu was a well-known jutsu and a sign of favour with a specific animal clan.

It was usually heralded by a puff of chakra smoke caused by the transportation of the summoned animal.

So when the smoke cloud expanded into the sky to tower over even the tallest guard tower, Akiko knew things had just gone terribly for this mission.

The smoke blew away to reveal a huge purple snake with black markings all over its body.

Its tongue darted out as if it was tasting the very air, huge green eyes surveyed the camp.

“You dare to summon me after the last fight, Orochimaru? Such arrogance! You might be able to defeat me, but that does not warrant breaking our deal! You still have not given me the required sacrifices! I demanded a thousand for facing the Salamander!” 

Akiko felt her thundering heartbeat relax as her mind processed the words. Orochimaru of the ‘Sannin’. Famous for surviving Hanzo, or at least fighting him long enough to be acknowledged. 

Rumour had it that they were only spared because Hanzo didn’t want to draw the ire of Hiruzen Sarutobi, but people dismissed that out of hand. Hanzo didn’t fear anyone.

Still, if Orochimaru had misstepped with his summon, he’d be denied a powerful asset and have wasted a lot of chakra.

Akiko nudged Yukari to keep moving, knowing that a fight was about to break out regardless, and she didn’t want to be in the middle of it.

“Kukukuku!” laughed what could only be Orochimaru, his voice still deliberately being broadcast for all to hear. “But you see, that is why I summoned you, oh, mighty Manda,” said Orochimaru with a certain level of glee. 

“For before you are the thousand sacrifices.”

The words sent a chill down Akiko’s spine faster than any Yuki could have managed.

Akiko turned and watched Manda’s mouth twist into a wide smile with serpentine fangs bared. 

“Excellent!” hissed the gigantic summon before it struck, sweeping forward and devouring what looked like a squad of frozen stiff shinobi. 

It swallowed them whole and turned towards another group.

Akiko grabbed Yukari into a bridal carry and forwent all pretence of stealth as she took off, sprinting in the opposite direction as Manda.

Sadly, the summon was fast, insanely so.

It snapped its head up, tracking her as she ran. It then moved, ignoring the screaming masses of people rushing about underneath it, which it crushed casually. A few fireballs and watery jutsu splashed off its scales, which it didn’t even notice. 

“What’s this? A little Mist nin caught in my sacrifice? I shall enjoy the taste of you!” Manda hissed. 

Akiko felt like cursing her friend out like a fool right then and there. 

If she hadn’t gotten greedy and they’d simply killed the target like they were supposed to, she could have been done with this mission, but instead, she’d gotten greedy, and now Akiko was going to get fucking eaten by a fuck off giant snake. 

“This is your fault,” she growled at Yukari who was string at Manda’s dripping maw in terror.

“N-no arguments here,” Yukari whimpered. Her hands shifted to cradle her stomach.

“Oh?” came the sibilant tones of Orochimaru, causing Akiko to jolt in surprise as she caught sight of the tall, pale man standing atop his summon’s head. 

Had he been up there while it devoured those people? 

He smiled a toothless smile at them while his eyes glittered with delight. “Hmmm, well, now this is interesting! Two little kunoichi from the Mist have wandered far from their ocean, haven’t they?”

Orochimaru’s eyes fell to Yukari’s stomach, and Akiko felt a shudder run through her. 

The way he did it made Akiko think of a snake slithering into a bird's nest to devour its eggs. 

In her arms, Yukari began to hyperventilate as her instincts told her just how fucked she was.

Akiko’s mind raced, wondering how she would get out of this situation. 

She shifted her weight as her mind came up with an answer.

It was the absolute worst answer she could conjure but also the smartest one for her survival. 

Yukari’s head turned as if sensing the direction that Akiko’s thoughts had turned. 

They locked eyes, and Akiko prepared herself for nightmares for the rest of her life only to curse herself as she knew she could never live with herself if she did the ‘smart thing’.

She swallowed, preparing herself to fight and die for a foolish idea, only for a gigantic chakra source to light up to the side. 

Unbidden, every person in the surrounding area turned their heads only to catch a streak of light flash past them and straight at Manda. 

Something metallic pinged right as Akiko snapped her head around to catch sight of something impossible.

“DYNAMIC ENTRY!” screamed her gloriously foolish student as he entered the fight feet first, slamming himself into the gigantic snake’s side.

The snake buckled around the kick and toppled like a giant tree. It slammed into the earth, causing a small earthquake. 

Matsu landed in front of Akiko and Yukari.

Akiko could only stare in shock as a sound like thunder rolled over them, shaking the very earth she stood upon. 

Around them, lesser shinobi fell to the ground and cried out in shock while others stood tall. 

What was that? Had the world turned upside down just now? What was going on? And… why did Matsu suddenly look so much greater than he had been? 

When had he gotten so tall? So broad in the shoulders?

Then the image flickered and Akiko felt the waves of his chakra cascading out of him. 

It was just her imagination running wild on her, that was all.

Matsu turned. “Hey Sensei, I’m here now,” he said with a dashing smile

Despite herself, she felt relief flood through her. In another situation, she’d call him an idiot. Didn’t he know that it would have been smarter to abandon her?

Then again, it was because of him that she couldn’t leave Yukari…

For some strange reason, small flecks of multicoloured paper were falling all around him, causing the oddest-looking snow to flutter in the breeze. 

She was about to lambast him for doing something so stupidly showy when they were interrupted.

“Kukukuku!” 

Laughter cut through the moment, and Matsu whirled around to lock eyes with Orochimaru as he emerged from the dust cloud. “My my! I wasn’t expecting this! An Uzumaki that is loyal to Kirigakure? I hadn’t believed it when it appeared in the Bingo book! Kukuku!”

“Orochimaru,” Matsu replied with a small nod of acknowledgement. 

Orochimaru didn’t nod back, his eyes, however drank in every detail of Matsu. 

Matsu considered back and the situation he found himself in as the purple mass that was Manda began to rise with a furious hiss. 

Matsu sighed. “Guess I’m going to have to really go for broke,” he said.

He clenched his fist, and like an explosive tag going off in her face, Akiko felt even more chakra begin to wash over her, it felt like she’d suddenly found herself thrust too close to a hearth-fire. 

What should have been comforting and warming was burning her due to how close she’d gotten. 

Matsu’s arm blurred as he threw a punch and the air in front of him exploded with Orochimaru dancing backwards.

Matsu batted a trio of kunai out of the air that Akiko hadn’t even seen Orochimaru throw before Matsu swept a kick that sent a wave of force that blew tents and the shanty huts over with its power.

Then suddenly Akiko found herself swept up in strong arms with Yukari clutched opposite her. 

“Clench tight!” Matsu warned before suddenly throwing himself into a sprint.

Akiko felt the wind whipping at her as Matsu tore away from the camp and the fight he’d seemingly been ready to knuckle down into.

Akiko shifted her head so she could peek over Matsu’s shoulder, the action proving surprisingly difficult. The camp was already hundreds of metres away with the distance growing by the second. 

Manda, Orochimaru’s summon, was towering over the encampment and exhaling a gigantic torrent of noxious purple smoke. 

Akiko swallowed. That had been damn close. 

Matsu continued to run, carrying both of his nominal superiors as far and fast as he could away from danger. 

Akiko found herself looking at landmarks that they’d passed last night, passing her by insanely quickly as Matsu pushed himself to get further and further away. 

By the time two minutes had passed Matsu’s form was quaking with exhaustion, and the waves of chakra pouring out of him had begun to splutter and weaken. 

When Matsu stumbled Akiko was ready and she shifted in his grasp, turning so that she could catch him as he collapsed.

“I’ve got you now kid,” she said. 

He raised his head to look at her and smile. “Let’s not do that again,” he said, and she laughed in agreement. 

Matsu then collapsed limply in her arms, exhaustion taking over him.

Yukari, once more proving that she’d gotten soft from sitting aorund so long, remained in the dirt, staring at Matsu and her. “What the fuck was that?” 

Akiko stroked Matsu’s hair as he began to snore in her arms. “That was my student saving our collective asses. Now get up. We need to get out of here before Konoha has any chance to catch up. Orochimaru has far too many reasons to want to catch us now,” she declared as she hefted Matsu onto her back with his arms draped over her shoulders.

Matsu shifted and muttered in his sleep. “Fuck that nope rope.”

Akiko laughed deliriously as she led them east as fast as they could go, all the while marvelling at the fact that less than five minutes ago, she’d been staring down a certainty of death only to have it snatched from that snake bastard. 

“Fuck that nope rope indeed,” she giggled. 

                                                    __________________

My return to consciousness was painful but slow. An ache had settled in my body that seemed far too ingrained for my liking.

I groaned and scrunched my eyes shut to avoid the light as much as I could but it came and went merely adding to my discomfit. 

“You awake back there?” asked Akiko. 

I cracked open one eye and peered out at the world to find that I was thrown over her back with my head resting on her shoulder. A rather large drool patch had built up where my face had been, but I didn’t have the energy to wipe my face or feel ashamed. 

“We’re alive?” I asked, stating the obvious as my mind struggled to catch up with what had been going on. 

“Yup, and good work for that, by the way,” Akiko said as she continued to jog. 

I frowned at her. Why was she jogging? That was civilian pace, not something any decent Shinobi would be caught dead doing. 

A wheezing sound made me look over and find Yukari struggling.

Oh, I suppose that answered that question. She nodded at me. “T-thanks for the save kid!” she said as she jogged. 

I eyed her for a moment. If I wasn’t feeling absolutely spent right now I’d have offered to jog along myself, but I wasn’t sure even a civilian’s pace was possible for me right now.

“Any signs of pursuit?” I asked instead as my mind finally caught up with our situation.

“None, you got us far enough away that their trackers haven’t yet caught up.”

I hummed for a moment. “I might have already killed their trackers. I sensed them and investigated them when you went off with Ashan to do your thing,” I said.

Yukari and Akiko shared a look. “You killed their trackers?” Akiko asked.

“Yeah, there was a Hyuga with them. I got to use Gengetsu’s new jutsu. It worked,” I grunted as Akiko shifted, causing me to become jostled. 

“Well, you were certainly productive,” Akiko replied drolly.

“Shame you didn’t feel like beating up Orochimaru while you were at it there kid. For a second, I was starting to buy into the hype around you,” Yukari joked. 

I shot her a look. “I’m not skilled enough to deal with a poison user like that while also handling his summon.” Not to mention protecting Yukari. I hadn’t really been thinking about it at the time, merely acting on instinct but if a fight had broken out she would have been a gigantic liability.

Yukari nodded in agreement but I wasn’t done. “I’ll have to work on that,” I continued blandly. 

Yukari shot me an amused look that faltered when she saw I was serious. She snorted and looked to Akiko. “Well, the rumours mentioned he had a bit of an ego.”

Akiko glanced at her friend. “It’s not ego. He can do it,” she replied, and I was touched that she believed in me enough to stand up to her friend. “Also, we’re within sight of the port, so everyone shut up until we get to the ship. I don’t want us relaxing until Yukari is on that ship.” 

Akiko glanced over her shoulder at me, her eye bore into me. “I’m going to have to ask you to start walking before we get within sight of the port Matsu. It’ll raise too many questions if you’re being carried by me,” she stated. 

I grunted in response. What I was about to do was going to hurt, but then again that was the price of using the Gates. A lot of power up front and a lot of pain later on.

I clenched my teeth and dredged up my chakra, making it start circling as gently as I could. My Body suddenly felt like it had jolts of electricity running through it while at the same time feeling relief run through it.

Pins and needles ran up and down my limbs as I felt the sensations of pain and relief war with each other. I kept circling my chakra though. Akiko was right, if I couldn’t at least walk then we were going to attract even more attention.

For an hour I bore the pain, working on getting my energy up and preparing myself for what was to come.

“Ready?” Akiko asked.

I slid from her back and the instant my legs bore any weight they crumpled under me causing me to curse as the ground rushed up to meet me.

I stopped before I faceplanted though.

Akiko leaned in to check me over. “I’ll carry you if—”

“I can do this,” I stated through clenched teeth. I pushed past the quivering limbs and committed my entire being to command my body to move as I wanted it to.

I straightened and was rewarded with new lances of pain wracking my body as different muscles clenched but when I was upright I was able to hold myself there under my own power. 

I took a deep breath that tasted of agony but also carried the sweetness of life with it. Next to me Akiko hovered, ready to catch me if I stumbled once more.

I lifted my foot and took a step forward, ignoring the ache and tiredness that came with the action. 

I almost laughed as I thought about it. I was starting to become an old hand moving forward while hurting these days.

I shot Akiko a thankful nod and started to stagger my way to the Port.

I was slower than even a civilian but I was walking on my own. When we reached the guards I wasn’t stumbling but I had a serious sweat going on. Akiko’s eyes flickered to the guards and to me as they glanced at me suspiciously. 

If they thought I was diseased, they might actually do their jobs and keep me out.

“Urgh, sorry sensei, I won’t drink again! I swear!” I mumbled loudly enough for the guards to overhear. 

Akiko caught on quickly. Her face shifted into a sneer of disgust. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it too many times before. When we get home, I’m going to make you drink and then make you train until you puke! Then I’m going to drag you out of bed and make you do it again!” she snapped.  

The act had the intended effect with the guards relaxing and waving us through with a laugh at my expense. 

Yukari watched on silently, pretending to be our client.  

We made our way to the port, and the cooler seaside air actually helped to lift my pain a little. It felt nice having somehting so cool rushing over my body. I opened up my vest to vent a little more, only to click my tongue.

Damn it, I’d lost all my coloured pieces of paper when I’d attacked Manda. 

So much for being in control. I’d have to work on that way more. I hated to think about how much chakra I’d wasted. I probably could have done more or gotten us further away.

The scary thing was that I don’t think even with five gates open I could have fought Orochimaru.

He’d seen me coming at the last moment with four gates open and, out of instinct, launched a barrage of shuriken at me that I’d deflected before kicking Manda. Then with another gate open I’d barely been able to match him for a few moments.

The fact that he could do something like that was kind of insane. 

I thought I’d been closing the gap a bit, but I was just putting a toe on the stage that monsters were already dancing on. 

At the docks, we found a ship that bore several discrete Terumi emblems all over it that we approached. Instantly we had a trio of tall men walk out from behind crates. Even without my chakra sense as sharp as it normally should be, I could tell there had been nothing behind those crates a moment ago. 

It would have been unnerving and a good scare tactic against a civilian, but Akiko merely nodded at them and waved a hand at Yukari. “Mission successful, here’s your princess,” she stated firmly. 

Yukari stepped forward and nodded. “Hello cousins!” she declared merrily. 

A flicker of something ugly passed over each of the men’s faces, and for a moment, I thought they were about to get violent. 

Then I tracked where they were looking and noticed that each of their gazes were locked on Yukari’s stomach.

Hmmm? What’s this? Envy was an ugly look. 

Yukari ignored them, didn’t see, or pretended she didn’t. “My mission was a success! We’ll have to wait a few years to see how successful it was, but I’ve got a good feeling!” she declared, only to turn and march back to us. She kissed Akiko on the lips, causing everyone to blink.

She drew away and winked at Akiko, who gave her a flat look. “Shame we didn’t get to enjoy ourselves, but oh well,” Yukari giggled, ignoring the annoyance clear in Akiko’s gaze.

She then stepped past Akiko and towards me. I had enough time for my eyes to widen and to attempt to block her before she leaned in and claimed my lips in a scorching kiss. Damn weakened body!

It was wonderful kiss. 

The ladies at the Okiya would have given it a solid eight out of ten for skill. When she drew back, she patted me on the cheek. “Thanks for the rescue, little hero. I’ll be sure to keep an ear to the ground for your name, Matsu Uzumaki,” she said.

She then turned and sashayed away.

I felt the three shinobi’s glares lock on me, and I had no doubt that without even trying, I’d just earned their enmity. There wasn’t even any point in reminding them she’d kissed Akiko first. Damn meatheads. 

I sighed. I was too fucking tired for this by far. “That woman is trouble.”

“More than she’s worth,” agreed Akiko as she watched her friend slip onto the boat. “I should have dropped her in front of that snake. Might have given her the wake-up call she needed,” she said.

“Sadly, you didn’t,” I said, joking along with her. “Sensei?” I said a moment later. 

“Hmmm?” she asked, looking at me. 

“Any chance we can rent a room? I’m wrecked,” I said, flopping my arms about to indicate how tired I was. 

Akiko nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

The staff gave us both odd looks for requesting the futons be laid out already, but we ignored their looks as we swept into our room. 

Akiko claimed a position by the door and sat down heavily. “Sleep, kid. I’ll wake you in… twelve hours,” she said, trying not to look at the second futon beside the other. The staff were probably assuming things with how they’d laid out the futons, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care.

I grunted my thanks and collapsed into my futon.

I was asleep before I even hit the ground.

                                                     ____________________

The run to the camp, the fights, and then the flight from the camp’s destruction was a little over a day for us.

It took both Akiko and me five days to recover from the ordeal, which is saying something, considering that I had access to healing jutsu.

Then again it was mainly waiting for my chakra coils to stop burning so I could perform jutsu. I’d also had to work on the various microtears and breaks that had spread throughout my body from the brief exchange I’d gotten in with Orochimaru.

During the downtime when Akiko and I couldn’t head out, we’d spent our time wandering around and talking with various people. Some I’d tapped to start feeding information on various topics towards a merchant in Kirigakure’s employ. 

The street kids were to report things they encountered, such as smugglers, guard movements, noblemen who got drunk or too handsy, who was spending lots of money, and so on. Then, I swept into the red light district and worked my charm with the various ladies working in the Okiyas. 

For a little money on the side, I got them signed up to send us more information.

As a bonus, I had a standing offer that should they be approached by another person looking to set up a similar network with them, they were to accept the deal but inform us for a nominal reward. 

It wasn’t somehting that was ever confirmed in the story, but Jiraiya’s tendencies to spend big in Okiya’s and Red Light districts might have been linked to his spy network. If he did eventually set up a network here I wanted to know. 

I also wanted to know what he was being told and if possible, who he was meeting, but for simply civilians, taking such risks would be playing my hand too far. 

My informants were all little fish in a big ocean.

Better for them to simply pass unnoticed by the sharks swimming above them.

It wasn’t quite a fourth mission complete for us, as it would take us travelling around and establishing more links to the network to be truly effective for the Land of Hot Springs, but it was a start.

When it was time to leave, we made our way west slowly, passing through numerous towns and even a few resorts. The Land of Hot Springs lived up to its name, and along the way, we kept our ears to the ground metaphorically for any hint of Konoha shinobi running around.

Ostensibly, the Land of Hot Springs wasn’t allied with anyone as that would draw the ire of Lightning and Mist, but Akiko explained that if Konoha came to town, Hotsprings officials didn’t impede them as there was an ‘understanding’. 

Everyone knew it, and it was one of the reasons we needed to get a sense of what was going to happen in a few short months. 

Konoha was stacking the deck by having Hot Springs be the first ‘nation’ to host the Chunin exams. Outwardly, it was a show of humility to allow a smaller nation, but I doubted it was an altruistic act. 

“Just remember that as a small nation Hot Springs knows they’re fucked, but to survive in this world, they need to make sure the big fish attack each other. Then, they can gobble up the scraps. It isn’t so much they’re puppets to Konoha as their interests might align on certain things while flip flopping the next day,” Akiko lectured. 

“Politics,” I summarised. 

“Politics,” agreed Akiko as we walked for a few minutes before anything changed. 

I glanced at her and noted how the muscles in her neck were tightening as we continued to walk. Ah, good. She had noticed we were under observation. 

With how close we were to Yugakure, that was to be expected. We had unsealed Ashan’s head and were walking with it in a sack that hung from Akiko’s belt. There wasn’t any blood dripping from it that would announce exactly what it was.

It was more the size and shape of it that made it obvious to anyone what it was.

A man in black clothing appeared in front of us. “Halt Kiri shinobi! State your business for you approach Yugakure!” he declared. 

I had half a mind to say, ‘Oops, we’re lost! We meant to walk to Kumogakure!’ just to see what the man did, but I tamped down the thought and let Akiko talk our way into their Village.

“Bounty mission completed. We’re to turn it over and secure the funds!” she declared, hefting the sack with Ashan’s head. 

The man spared the sack a look before nodding. “You may proceed but know that any hostile action to us or guest of our Vilalge will see a response from us!” he declared.

We nodded and were led into a brief run that saw us emerge at the gates of Yugakure. 

Rustic was the first word that came to mind. They had wide streets laid with stone, but a lack of traffic made them seem provincial compared to other cities we’d passed through. 

That wasn’t a bad thing, considering this was supposed to be a Hidden Village, but compared to Kirigakure and what I had seen of Sunagakure from our position outside, Yugakure was tiny. It might have been maybe a few clan compounds in size at most?

We made our way down the main thoroughfare, and my eyes tracked towards a nearby mountain that was smoking slightly. “See much volcanic activity from that?” I asked, noting the location and size. That place reminded me of mountains you’d see in a video game. 

If I were to apply any genre savviness to my situation, I had to conclude that the volcano was going to feature in some way in the upcoming Chunin exams. 

This was reinforced by the people I could sense scurrying about the mountain, building what seemed like hideaways and traps. 

“Heh, it doesn’t do much but provide for our glorious Hot Springs,” declared our guide with a flick of his head. It took me a moment to understand that he was trying to snub me by showing off his shiny hair.

I nodded politely. Damn, this guy was vain.

We approached a large structure containing at least three hot springs from what I could see with the rising clouds of steam. 

“You built hot springs into your admisntraiton building?” I said sceptically. Wouldn’t the steam cause many issues with mould and damage to paperwork?

“Perks of living here!” said the man before waving a hand at the buildings we passed. “If you don’t have a hot spring in your house, you’re poor in the Land of Steam!” he declared, and on some level, that made a good deal of sense. 

Except for the paperwork. Then again, maybe they were fine with that. Or they were idiots. I couldn’t discount that as a reason.

We entered the room, and I noted that the rooms did a good job sealing the room. You could barely hear what was happening outside, which was a sign of good craftsmen at work. It seemed they weren’t stupid then.

Just ostentatious. 

When Akiko deposited the head, there was a small stir with the administration staff muttering to themselves with one of them bowing towards us as another scurried away. “There seems to be an issue on our head. We had already paid out for this man’s death with another… it seems we will have to rectify that, as you do possess the proof of death.”

I almost smirked at the idea of these people asking Orochimaru to return the money before another thought occurred to me. “Are the people who made the faulty claim still in Yugakure?” 

Akiko inhaled as she caught onto my line of thought.

Before anyone could move, a door to the side of the room opened up and like he’d planned for it, a chakra sense that I’d only felt once before filled the room. 

“Oh my, this is embarrassing! A clerical error indeed!” Orochimaru said as he all but slithered into the room. 

Behind him an ornately dressed man swaggered in with a pompous air. I mentally marked him as Yugakage in my head but kept my eyes on the true threat.

“Oh fuck this guy, Why is he still here after two weeks?” Akiko muttered so quietly I only just heard her. I suspected Orochimaru also heard her, but he kept his focus on me.

I adopted a smile as my heart began to race, before I knew what I was doing, my mouth was talking before my brain could catch up. “So the rumours were true then? Yugakure is colluding with Konoha to create a favourable showing for Leaf nin?”

That caused everyone to pause. Orochimaru frowned slightly before his smile returned. “Oh? And why would you say that?”

“Why else would you be here?” I said, and I knew I’d hit the nail on the head with that statement even if no-one reacted. 

There was no plausible reason for Orochimaru of the Sannin to sit around in the Land of Hot Springs for a fortnight. 

Unless there was. 

And the only reason that matched up was the upcoming Chunin exams. 

“Perhaps the same reason as you? To collect a bounty,” Orochimaru said.

I offered a bland smile. Everyone in the room knew that was a lie, just as much as they knew that our appearance here was for the same reason now. We were simply engaged in doublespeak. 

“I think we’re going to have to advise the Mizukage about this,” I said, still talking without any input from my brain. 

Instinctively, I felt another chakra source make itself known, and Orochimaru frowned, his eyes tracking to the side for a moment. 

I grinned, an idea of what was about to happen forming in my mind before it happened. 

The door Akiko and I had entered through was yanked open, and a powerfully built black man stalked into the room. 

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard the rumours, but look what we have here! It stinks of fish and mulch in this Village!” roared Ei, the future Fourth Raikage. 

At his side, a kunoichi glared at everyone in the room. A brief sweep of my chakra sense marked her as having extremely potent chakra, moreso than Ei which was saying something as the man was a walking talking stormcloud to my senses. 

So, that meant that this kunoichi could only be the Jinchiruki of the Two tails demon cat. 

I nodded amicably towards the Kumo nin catching them slightly off guard. Ei and the kunoichi narrowed their eyes at me in suspicions but I ignored it. 

Before there had been a vague promise of guest rights. Now Orochimaru had to play nice lest he open himself up to a counter attack.

We had ourselves a lovely stand off, one that I could exploit. 

I turned towards the now profusely sweating leader of Yugakure. “So, how about you give us all a tour and don’t try and show favouritism to Konoha neh?”

“W-we were doing no such thing!” rallied the man desperately. 

Akiko sniffed. “Please, no one is going to believe that now. I’d seriously think about that tour if I were you. I wouldn’t want to learn that you’d put your thumbs on the scales after all.”

“The fish is right!” Ei grunted, crossing his massive arms in front of his chest and nodding his agreement. 

The Yugakage glanced around as if seeking support from someone, but with the chakra Orochimaru, Ei, and the kunoichi were pushing out he basically had a weight around his neck. 

Akiko and I now looked perfectly resaonable compared to the other two parties. I was hoping to leverage that later.

He slumped, admitting defeat. “We’ll arrange something.”

I nodded along, knowing it was his best course of action. 

I gave the other parties a quick look over. So, I had Ei, Orochimaru, and the Two Tails Host to play nice with.

Ei wouldn’t hesitate to crush us, Orochimaru probably wanted to dissect me. Sounds like I was in for good times. 

I shot Akiko a grin which she didn’t return. Ah well, as they say in dangerous lines of work, Who dares, wins. 

                                                           ______________

A.N. I couldn’t help myself. I needed to ratchet up the tension…

I wanted to use Killer Bee but sadly if I am any judge of Canonical timeline he is only like… 4-6 or something like that? 

Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support! If things go well for me I might have a short interlude before the end of the month but I can’t promise that as yeah… christmas season is pretty full on with managing family. 

Cross your fingers and hope, though!  I'm very surprised at the people that have taken the lead so for the Bronze and above members thanks for showing so much interest!
- Also yes, I have read the comments. Gengetsu was a potential PoV but he does more for the story with his motivations being obscure.