"So that explains the Five Great Shinobi Nations," concluded Kakashi.
"But what about Uzushiogakure? That was once fairly powerful," said Tazuna.
"Uzushiogakure? I've never heard of it," said Sakura.
"Then why does the Konoha flak jacket have a spiral in it?" asked Tazuna. "I know Konoha betrayed their allies of so many years..."
"No no, nothing like that," hastened Kakashi. "There were other things going on at the time and we weren't able to come to Uzushio's aid. That's all."
"Right," said Tazuna. "I remember some of it. I was pretty young back then, but it was all big news at the time."
"It doesn't matter," said Kakashi.
"If Uzushio hadn't fallen, Gato wouldn't be..." grumbled Tazuna.
"Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto. "There are Five Great Shinobi Nations, right?"
"Yes, Naruto. I just got through explaining that," said Kakashi.
"So does that mean there are Lesser Shinobi Nations? Or a lot of nations like Tazuna-san's that don't have ninja at all?" asked Naruto.
"Well, yes, some nations have even given up their lesser villages due to the expenses," admitted Kakashi. "Land Of Snow has only a few elite ninja and no major training programs or hidden village. Whereas the Land Of Hot Springs disbanded its hidden village because it is cheaper to just hire ninja from another country rather than pay the upkeep on an entire ninja village."
"That must be a very different lifestyle," mused Naruto as they walked along. At least they walked along a bit before they realized that Sakura had come to a complete stop.
"That," said Sakura, pointing at Naruto. "THAT CAN'T BE NARUTO!"
"Eh?" asked Naruto, pretty sure that he WAS Naruto.
"Why can't it be Naruto?" asked Rin.
"Because that wasn't a dumb question! He must be an imposter!"
Sasuke absolutely did NOT snort, then look away as he tried to throttle the impulse to laugh. It must have been some allergic reaction of some sort.
Naruto's gaze and voice went completely flat. "Oh. Hah de hah. That is so funny."
Rin heard that absolutely flat delivery and had to look away herself, rather than snicker.
"Sixpath Sage, Sakura. What I ever do to you?" asked Naruto, trudging along the path as Sakura started catching up.
"Do you really want the list?" asked Sakura.
"I don't..." Naruto stopped speaking, staring at the puddle ahead of them.
"Just keep going," said Kakashi.
"Uhm, sure?" asked Naruto, really uncertain and giving the puddle a wide berth as he passed it.
Sakura saw the opportunity for more teasing and decided to kick some water at Naruto. She didn't catch the suddenly alarmed look from Kakashi.
The moment the water erupted, Kakashi was ready and had kunai drawn and heading for the disturbance.
Naruto dodged the weapons coming at him as if he knew where they were going to be before they'd even been thrown.
Sasuke gaped but would recover after one second. Tazuna cringed and was collapsing into a ball of terror.
Then Kakashi had smashed the two chunin's heads together with enough force that it was quite likely one or both of them would now suffer permanent brain injury.
Unfortunately, that left pieces of Sakura scattered about the road.
"Hang on, I've got this," said Naruto, holding out his hand.
"Got WHAT?! She's-" Sasuke was having a VERY unpleasant flashback.
"Whose flesh the Sword of Mercy hurts,
has drawn no breath."
Like a ghostly reflection, a sword formed in Naruto's hands.
"Whose soul it heals,
has wandered in the night."
More solid, colors fading into place on the translucent blade.
"Has paid the summing of all debts in death,
has turned to see returning light."
The sword was completely solid now. A straight-bladed sword of mottled blue metal that somehow seemed more real than its surroundings.
Naruto continued to concentrate, mumbling the odd poem twice more under his breath.
"Uhm," said Tazuna.
Naruto began placing the hacked apart limbs together with Sakura and then carefully stabbed her with the sword.
"Ah!" said Sakura.
"What are you doing you..." Sasuke started out angry but then stopped and stared at what was happening. "What are you doing?"
"The sword heals those stabbed with it?" asked Rin, then noted that whatever Naruto was doing was taking all his concentration. "I'll assist."
Kakashi stared himself for a few moments, pulling up his Sharingan-cover for a better look, then putting it back so that he didn't exhaust himself.
"Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sasuke, having noted the expression of concentration on both Rin and Naruto's faces. "What just happened?"
Kakashi put a hand down on the ground. A puff of smoke later and there was a small dog there.
"Yo," said the dog. "Kakashi. Long time."
"Pakkun. I already dispatched one of your brothers to Konoha, this is a supplemental report," said Kakashi. "Attacked by two chunin-level missing-nin. Likely the Demon Brothers from Kiri. Will interrogate later. Further info on Naruto's new weapon summoning abilities. The 'Sword Of Mercy' can heal wounds and reattach limbs that have been severed. Guessing from the poem used to summon it, it may be capable of resurrecting the dead or slaying zombies. Uncertain of which."
"'Zombies'?" asked Sasuke.
"Okay, got it. Is that Rin Nohara?" asked Pakkun.
"Yes," said Kakashi, not indicating whether he was answering Pakkun or Sasuke. "Also related to Naruto's unlocking of the Weapon Master jutsu, he is apparently able to detect weapons even when they are hidden by the use of ninja techniques."
"Really?" asked Sasuke, thinking that sounded REALLY handy.
"Got it. I'm off. You want I should just dispel once I get there?" asked Pakkun.
"Yeah. No spending time getting acquainted with any of the Inuzuka hounds."
"Like I would spend time with THOSE snobs," said Pakkun. "They always cheat at cards too."
Hiruzen Sarutobi listened to the report, read the note, then listened to a second dog with the followup report.
After that he merely grew very thoughtful.
"Kakashi just wanted us to dispel once we got this out of the way," Pakkun told Bisuke.
"Aw, dang. That's no fun," said Bisuke.
"No. No fun this time out. That was an interesting sword though," said Pakkun.
"Oh?" asked the Hokage, glancing at the ninken. "What was interesting about the sword?"
"It smelled powerful," said Pakkun. "But kinda nice. Like long naps on cool grass in the spring."
"Oh, that IS nice," admitted Bisuke.
"Oh. What happened?" asked Sakura as she sat up. "Why are my clothes ripped? Why is Naruto asleep? I swear, he's so useless... why are you looking at me like that?"
Sasuke shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Kakashi made an uncertain noise. "How long before Naruto's ready to move?"
Rin answered. "That took a fair chunk of chakra. He's an Uzumaki though. Give him an hour and he'll be able to move."
"I see," said Kakashi. "Just enough time for a little interrogation practice. Sasuke, you're with me. This might prove to be very educational."
Sasuke had noticed one of the missing-nin was beginning to move a bit, so he nodded as he had an idea of what was coming.
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(Posted Wed, 04 Sep 2013 14:33)
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