"Alright Liang what is this about?" Came the voice of Yue Ying, wife of the Godaime Raikage as she entered his library where he still sat reading over yet another scroll. She swore he just did it to appear more educated than what he already was. He had probably read all the books in here three times each.
"You will see soon enough my dear." He replied calmly, though she could practically feel the smirk on his lips.
"Zhuge Masong Liang." She growled his full name through her clenched teeth. She loved her husband to death but the man could be so infuriating at times. "I was in the middle of enjoying lunch with my students, who I have not seen for over three months when your messenger arrived. Now, dear husband…I want an explanation.
He held his hand up, and then began counting down.
Five…four…three…two…one.
He looked at her, a sly smirk tugging at his lips as he spoke one simple word. "Duck."
Her instincts kicked in and she did just that, barely avoiding one of the Kumo chuunins as the man was quite literally thrown through the wall behind her, where he landed at the foot of Liang's desk.
"I told you I'll see him now." Came a pissed off female voice from the hall. One which both Ying and Liang recognized with ease.
Liang cleared his throat and rolled up the scroll, setting it aside. "I would welcome you into my home, but I believe you have more than adequately done so yourself already. Isn't that right? Tsunade of the Sannin."
As the dust settled it revealed none other than the legendary medic as she stepped into the newly made door, two other women following shortly behind her.
Liang allowed his eyes to travel to Shizune, and then they finally settled on Akina, only his wife noticed the slow, dangerous smirk that crossed his features.
Fire country territory: Leaf war encampment:
Naruto sat at the head of a rectangular table, Ibiki was sitting to his right, with eight other empty seats along the length of it.
To Ibiki, the silence was heavy. It wasn't because he was frightened of Naruto…well…much anyway, but because he could tell the boy was very very angry. More so than any other time he had seen him.
So, being the interrogator, Ibiki decided to do what he did best…interrogate.
"Naruto-sama." He paused as he watched Naruto turn towards him. "You seem agitated."
"And even if I am Ibiki…what in the world would make you believe I would share the reasons for my agitation with you?"
Ibiki paused, that was blunt, evasive. Whatever was bothering him was not just professional, it was personal.
"Because I am the only one who has bothered to ask."
"Hn…" Naruto conceded that point.
Ibiki watched him for any kind of reaction, a twitch of a finger, flashing eyes, growls…anything. But nothing came from him.
Naruto however, allowed his mind to wander. He remembered, back on the marshes of the Moroko plains, it would be four years ago in three weeks since that time. Ohh yes, he remembered that day well.
The day of his very first battle.
It was cold. He could hear the sounds of battle ahead as his men, a contingent of thirty Anbu followed silently behind him, the mask shining in the dimlight that broke through the gray clouds overhead as they let the rain fall heavily on them.
He could see the battle taking place long before any of the others. The sickly green waters of the marsh sloshing at their feet as the thin fog settled around them, the rotting trees and groaning wood, providing little cover from the shuriken and kunai being thrown by both sides as they clashed. The blood mixed freely with the water at their feet, turning it into a brownish quagmire instead.
He could see several of the Ame and Taki ninja beginning to flee, believing the battle to be lost.
However, two remained, only two. They stood amidst the center of the chaos. The first was a large man, wielding an even larger Naginata pole-arm. The second was a young woman, possibly no older than seventeen wielding two chain whips.
The older man swung his weapon in a wide arc, sending a wind blade into the crowd, and then blocked the strikes from those near him.
The girl behind him was twirling the chains in her hands, the bare edges of it slitting throats and slashing arteries with pin point precision. Soon however, they were pushed back against eachother, back to back as the Kusa-nins circled them.
The larger man looked over his shoulder at her. "Yoshino-dono." He spoke calmly. "This battle is lost, make your escape. I will hold them here."
The younger woman snorted as she smiled in resignation. "It is no use, Kenpachi-sama. We're surrounded." She spoke simply. However, the sound of breaking wood, before a tree branch fell, brought their attention upwards, to the sight of a masked Konoha Anbu
"Ninja of Taki and Ame, Konoha…at your service."
As the words were spoken, Konoha ninja seemed to appear from the mist all around them, leaping through the humid air as kunai and shuriken rained down on the Kusa ninja from every direction. The confusion and chaos escalated, men died and screamed.
It was quick but none-the-less brutal, the Kusa ninja which had numbered about two hundred, left, their numbers barely reaching seventy.
It was only a few moments later that Naruto was approached as he wiped his sword clean from the blood.
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