61. Mitarashi Anko of the Blast-Sword

"The name's Mitarashi Anko." Anko introduced herself with a smirk as she held up her own sword, the blast-sword Shibuki. "And I'm here by request of your old comrade, Momochi Zabuza, to put a filthy traitor named Raiga in a grave of his own and collect his swords for Kirigakure."

"You…" Raiga's eyes narrowed at the woman in front of him. "Why did Zabuza send you? Why do you have Shibuki? What kind of joke is that asshole pulling?"

"Nothing's a joke. I'm just a member of the Seven Swordsmen, assigned the honor of killing a traitor and taking back your swords." Anko declared.

"A Konoha shinobi being a member of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure? Hah! What a load of bullshit!" The former Kirigakure shinobi declared. "There's not a chance any Mizukage would approve something like this!"

Anko shook her head: "It's true, though. Kirigakure has changed. The Civil War is over and the Godaime Mizukage is trying to usher in a new era for the village." Her eyes then narrowed. "You wouldn't know, though, because you never cared about Kirigakure. I've read up on you and learned a lot about how you worked. All you cared about was your own selfish agenda. You haven't even bothered to check in on your home country at all since you left, haven't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean? You don't know the first thing about why I left! Kirigakure has always been a wretched hellhole. Sandaime, Yondaime, Godaime – it doesn't matter what Mizukage it is." Raiga snarled. "I'd never look back at a place as disgusting as there! And I'd never take the word of anyone sent on Momochi Zabuza's behalf!"

Raiga immediately raised his two swords into the air. Anko immediately began to charge forward.

"You want to kill me and take the Kiba blades back to Kiri? Over my dead body!" He shouted. "Lightning Blade Technique: Thunderbolt!"

Lightning bolts rained down from the sky. The bolts of lightning rushed forward, directly at Anko's position. The Konoha jōnin was forced to jump backwards to avoid the lightning. She then took in a deep breath before exhaling a large fireball from her mouth directly at Raiga. The former Kirigakure shinobi lowered his blades and charged forward at the fireball. As he approached the flames, the two swords in his hands began to generate electricity. He then struck the fireball with the electricity of the swords, completely overpowering the fire and causing it to dissipate

Anko rushed forward at Raiga, raising her Shibuki blast-sword at him. She swung, but Raiga immediately jumped backwards, avoiding the attack. The scroll from the blast-sword began to detach slightly, releasing a section filled with explosive tags. Anko then took a deep breath in.

"Explosive Blade Technique: Fire Style: Detonation!"

Anko breathed out a stream of fire from her mouth. The flames made contact with the explosive tags just as they began to detonate. The fire, combined with the explosive tags, created a massive conflagration that rushed forward at Raiga. The former Kirigakure jōnin jumped away in time, but was unable to fully get away. The flames burned at him, creating holes in his vest.

"Erk…" Raiga hissed to himself. He then looked over at Anko in irritation. "So, you actually know how to use Shibuki? I guess you weren't lying; you most likely are its owner." A small, malicious smile then developed on his face. "Did you kill Jinpachi?"

"I did." Anko nodded her head in understanding.

Tears started to roll down Raiga's eyes. Despite the tears, the malicious smile grew into a wide grin.

"Then I actually have something to mourn you for. I'll remember you well from this day; the woman who ended Jinpachi's life! May you have a peaceful afterlife!" Raiga declared as he quickly slammed the Kiba blades into the ground. "Lightning Burial: Banquet of Lightning!"

The Kiba blades began to glow, generating electricity. Thunderbolts began rushing through the ground towards Anko's position. The Konoha jōnin jumped into the air, avoiding the attack. She then extended her left hand outward towards him. Snakes rushed out of the sleeves of her pocket, directly towards Raiga. The snake moved rapidly, biting into Raiga's right arm, causing him to wince.

Anko then gestured with her left hand, causing the snake to pull on her. Anko's body rushed through the air directly towards Raiga. She gripped the Shibuki blast-sword with her right hand and prepared to strike at him. A small smirk developed on Raiga's face, however, as he held out his left hand.

"Water Style: Droplet Release!"

Raiga spat out a large orb of water from his mouth, which made contact with his left hand. Multiple streams of water, in the form of spears, rushed forward directly at the approaching Anko. Her eyes widened. She then made a gesture with her right hand, causing the scroll on her sword to unravel slightly and create a barrier between her and the water.

"Explosive Blade Technique: Explosion Barrier!"

The explosive tags on the scroll-barrier activated, causing them all to detonate just as the water spears made contact with them. The resulting force of the explosion caused the water to evaporate. The resulting explosion, also, knocked back both Anko and Raiga slightly, creating distance between the two of them. Raiga landed back on the ground next to the Kiba blades. He then quickly picked one of them up with his left hand.

"Pretty good reflexes there." Raiga complimented. He then turned his attention to the snake still biting his right arm and cut it off with his sword. He reached down, picking up his second sword with his right hand. "Was this supposed to be poisonous, by the way? I've been hit by so many different poisons, I'm probably immune to it. It's not going to kill me, if that's what you were hoping for."

"It's not. I want this fight to last longer than that." Anko stated sharply. "I want this fight to be a challenge. I want to really test myself and get a fight out of you before I take those swords from you!"

"… Hmph. You think the same way as the Swordsmen of Kirigakure. Even though you are from Konoha, I can now see why you may have been inducted into the seven." Raiga admitted. A smirk then developed on his face. "You know, I always hated that mindset and all the members of the Seven Swordsmen!"

Raiga rushed forward, directly at Anko. His swords began to glow, radiating electricity as he approached her. He swung his swords directly at her, but Anko blocked with her blast-sword. As the swords clashed, Anko's Shibuki began to unravel a new segment of the scroll, revealing more explosive tags.

"You all just like to fight and kill indiscriminately. It doesn't matter who the person is or what they do. None of you care; you just want to fight. That's all." Raiga accused. "You don't even bother to get to know your opponent! All that matters is that you win and that they lose!"

The newly-revealed explosive tags began to activate, causing Raiga to jump backwards from the clash to avoid the explosion. Anko rushed forward through the newly-created smoke at him, swinging her sword again. Raiga jumped up into the air to avoid her strike and then came down from above her, attempting to impale her from above with the Kiba blades.

Anko proceeded to jump out of the way, causing Raiga to impale the ground with the Kiba blades. The impact caused the electricity in the swords to rush through the ground towards Anko's position. She jumped into the air, barely missing shocked. After a few seconds, Raiga pulled the swords out of the ground, stopping the electricity. Anko then landed back on the ground. She then glared at him.

"Fighting and killing indiscriminately are two different things, and hell; I don't find any person that I see walk by me, and I sure as hell don't go around killing people for shits and giggles and neither do any of the current Swordsmen." She stated sharply. Her eyes then moved around the battlefield toward the various graves around them. "You, on the other hand, do!"

"I never kill indiscriminately! I left that life behind the moment I left Kirigakure!" Raiga shouted angrily. "I make sure that every person that I kill, I know something about them. I mourn for them and their life, as I know who they were and what type of person they were before they died!"

"Oh, so you just get to know your victims before you slaughter them. That makes it all the better." Anko rolled her eyes.

"You don't understand. None of you do. It's the issue with the shinobi lifestyle as a whole." Raiga shook his head. "We have the power to kill as often as we can that we no longer think of lives as meaningful. That's why I left Kiri. That's why I live the way I do and appreciate the lives of all that I kill."

"Life has meaning, yes, but if you actually believed that as full-heartedly as you claim, you wouldn't kill as many people as you have." Anko replied. "Face-it; you're just a psychopath trying to justify your killings. Honestly, you make me sick."

"As do you." Raiga replied with a snort. A grin then developed on his face. "So, what's the point of talking? Let's continue this fight! I have a funeral for you to prepare, after all!"

Anko did not verbally respond; instead, she tossed Shibuki into the air. She then began rushing through hand signs.

"Fire Style: Flare Aura!"

Chakra began to completely surround Anko's body. The chakra then began to change shape, resembling red flames. Her body became entirely surrounded in fire. Just as she finished her jutsu, the Shibuki blast-sword fell down back to her. She caught it and gripped it tightly in her hands.

"You're not even going to have a funeral." Anko said coldly. "After this battle, your body's going to be nothing but ash."

'She encased herself in flames. Just like my-' A grin developed on Raiga's face as he raised his swords into the air, causing the hilts of the blades to connect. "Interesting technique you got there. I wonder how similar it is to mine. Lightning Strike Armor!"

Raiga began rotating his swords. Electricity began to generate in the Kiba blades and quickly began to surround him. Within seconds, Raiga was covered in an intense electric field.

"We have very similar jutsus. I'll definitely remember this when I give you your funeral!" Raiga declared sharply. "So let's do this! Your last rites await!"

Anko merely scoffed in response as she and Raiga both charged forward at one another, gripping their swords tightly.

"N-No!" A man with pointy brown-hair shouted, his eyes wide in fear. He looked momentarily to his hands and the pair of broken steel gauntlets attached to them, before he looked back up to face his assailant, Zabuza. "You-"

Zabuza swung the Kubikiribōchō sword at him, cutting off his head and silencing the man permanently. The head rolled to the ground, directly in front of a group of thirty men dressed in all black.

"HOW DARE YOU!" One of the men shouted in anger. "You killed family. You've killed so many members of our family. And no one ever does anything to the Kurosuki Family and get away with it!"

"I just did and I will get away with it." Zabuza declared bluntly as he swung his sword, gripping it tightly.

One of the men proceeded to snarl and charged forward, pulling out steel gauntlets onto his hands as he rushed Zabuza. Before he could reach him, however, a pillar of ice began to develop directly underneath him. The ice quickly rushed upwards and encased his body, preventing him from moving. Kahyō then jumped forward, landing directly on top of the ice.

"Zabuza-san, I have just went through the rest of the town and I believe that I have killed all of Raiga's gang that was hiding there." She said bluntly. She then looked down at the other Kurosuki members. "Do you need help getting rid of these?"

"Nope." Zabuza shook his head. "These are all that's left. I've already killed a handful of the ones that were all the way out here."

The Kirigakure jōnin then rushed forward and swung Kubikiribōchō through the pillar of ice, directly into the gang member inside. Zabuza's sword cut both the ice and the man's body in half.

"No! Not him too!" One of the Kurosuki family members shouted. He then looked up and glared at both Zabuza and Kahyō. "You both-"

"How's Anko? Is she finished killing Raiga?" Kahyō questioned.

"See for yourself." Zabuza gestured to his left.

Kahyō looked in the direction he requested. She noticed large bursts of lightning and fire in the distance that looked as if they were colliding with each other. She then shook her head.

"I see. Looks like she's taking her time." She noted.

"She's having fun with him, I assume. Lord knows I would." Zabuza grumbled to himself.

The kunoichi opened her mouth to respond, but she stopped as she noticed one of the Kurosuki Family gang members charging at her. She quickly jumped into the air, avoiding his attack, before unsheathing her katana and stabbing him in the heart. He groaned in pain before dying instantly.

"Well, we can focus on that later. Let's get rid of the rest of his grunts before we go check on how she is doing with Raiga." Kahyō suggested.

Zabuza nodded in agreement. The two Kirigakure shinobi then turned their full attention back to the remaining members of the Kurosuki Family gang as they all prepared to fight.

Anko and Raiga continued to clash at each other with their swords. Anko's Shibuki collided with Raiga's Kiba blades. Her blast-sword released another wave of explosive tags and detonated them, but Raiga didn't bother to move. The electricity surrounding his body protected him from the attack. He, instead, focused his attempt on applying more force to his twin blades, trying to overpower Anko and her blast-sword in their clash.

As both shinobi tried to break through their stalemate, the fire and lightning that surrounded their respective bodies began to scatter, trying to do damage to the other. Neither shinobi were fazed, as the flames and electricity canceled each other out.

A few stray lightning bolts left Raiga's body and collided with the ground around them, hitting the various graves in the area, destroying them. Similarly, flames from Anko's body began to fall around her, colliding with trees and catching them on fire.

"DIE AREADY!" Raiga screamed as he applied even more force onto his twin blades.

Finally, the stalemate seemed to be ending as the former Kirigakure Shinobi began to get an edge on the conflict. As he began to overpower her, Anko proceeded to undo another wave of explosive tags from the blast-sword. The explosive tags went down to her feet before detonating.

The explosion seemingly had no effect on Raiga, as the electricity surrounding his body protected him, but the force of the blast managed to propel Anko into the air, creating distance between herself and Raiga.

"Fire Style: Widespread Ruin!"

The scattered flames that were burning trees began to rush forward directly at Raiga's body. The flames quickly engulfed him, making contact with the armor of electricity around him. The lightning maintained, keeping most of the flames away from him. However, the fire began to slowly overpower the lightning, causing Raiga to get burned.

'Shit! She's overpowering it! How?' Raiga shook his head. He then proceeded to draw the Kiba blades together and held them up in the air. 'This has to end already! I'm not dying like this!'

"Lightning Dragon Tornado!"

Electricity quickly surrounded the two Kiba blades and began to radiate from the swords. The amount of electricity being generated overpowered the flames around Raiga's body, causing them to dissipate. Raiga then proceeded to rotate his body in place, causing the electric currents from the swords to surround his body. Within seconds, the lightning formed an electrical vortex that took on the shape of a dragon's head.

"DIE!" Raiga screamed.

The electrical vortex rushed forward at Anko, the 'dragon's head' shape opening its mouth as if it was trying to suck her in. Anko proceeded to jump away, avoiding the attack. As the dragon flew by her, stray lightning bolts were released from the vortex, aimed directly at her. The Konoha jōnin proceeded to side-step each of them.

"WHY AREN'T YOU DYING YET?" Raiga screamed as he began to spit body around quicker.

This caused the dragon to rush forward again at Anko at a faster speed. She dodged again, but she was nearly pulled into the vortex. The vortex then proceeded to release even more stray lightning bolts. These stray bolts did make contact, piercing the flare aura surrounding her and striking at her back, causing her to groan in pain and nearly knocked her over.

'Damn, that hurt more than I thought it would. Guess I can't let myself get hit by the actual lightning dragon itself. I need to handle this quickly then.' Anko told herself. Her eyes narrowed as the dragon head turned around and was rushing for her once again. Her eyes widened in realization as a smirk quickly developed. 'Wait, I have an idea. This might hurt me a bit, but I can guarantee this'll be worse for Raiga!'

Instead of jumping away, Anko remained still as the dragon's head opened its mouth to suck her in. She gripped Shibuki tightly. Just as the dragon was about to hit her, she swung the sword down on the ground in front of her.

"Explosive Blade Technique: Explosion Rain!"

Upon contact with the ground, the blast-sword released multiple explosive tags. The lightning dragon then sucked Anko and her explosive tags into the vortex. Anko closed her eyes and winced in pain as the storm tore into her, cutting through the aura around her and slicing at her skin. The explosive tags, however, were sucked further into the vortex. They rushed through the dragon's body until they reached the very center of the storm: Raiga's body. They then began to glow, causing his eyes to widen.

"Wait, what-"

The tags activated, creating a massive explosion surrounding Raiga. The force released from the detonation was enough to overpower the lightning dragon, dispelling the vortex and freeing Anko. Smoke surrounded the very center where the tags had activated; where Raiga was located. Anko proceeded to grip Shibuki tightly, waiting to see if Raiga was still standing before moving.

To her surprise, Raiga was still alive, barely. The vest and the bandages on her body were nothing but ash and his completely exposed torso was covered in massive burn marks. Raiga was breathing heavily, as if he were struggling to stay standing and struggling even harder to maintain his grip on the two Kiba blades. He proceeded to glare at Anko,

"You…" Raiga groaned. "H-How dare you!"

Raiga proceeded to take a step forward towards Anko, but his injuries proved too much. He quickly fell to the ground, dropping both of the Kiba blades. He then began to crawl on the ground towards them.

"I had found a life worth living for. I finally understood what it mean to be alive. And here you are, taking it away from me. What gave you that right?" He snarled at her.

"What gave you the right to bury people alive? What gave you the right to just kill just because you felt like it?" Anko countered as she walked forward. "At least I'm doing a mission and killing you, a traitor to Kiri, and reclaiming your swords. I have a reason. You, on the other hand, just killed because you enjoyed it. That's the only thing you enjoyed!"

"That's not true!" Raiga snarled. Tears began to roll down his eyes as his eyes focused on the one, solitary grave by the largest tree in the area. It was, luckily, unharmed from the battle he had with Anko. "Ranmaru…"

The shinobi said nothing as Anko proceeded to walk forward towards him. He simply remained focused on the grave, crying silently as she approached. When she finally reached his body, he looked up to her.

"… If you are killing me… I have one request." Raiga spoke-up quietly. "We… we ruined this graveyard. Please… take the body in the grave by the tree and bury it somewhere else. Take it somewhere beautiful where it can rest in peace."

Anko's eyes widened in response at the request: "Why? Why would you care about one grave?"

Raiga remained quiet for a few seconds. He then proceeded to shake his head: "Because… you were wrong. Funerals weren't the only thing that meant something to me…"

Realization dawned on Anko's face.

"His name was Ranmaru and he did nothing to Kiri or to Konoha. I can assure you that." Raiga explained. "He's just a boy… a boy with poor health that was doomed. He had little peace in this life. Please; give him a better grave than this. Let his afterlife be as peaceful as possible."

To her surprise, she felt a degree of sympathy for the man in front of her as she nodded her head.

"I suppose even the worst of us still have at least one person we cared about. That's what it really means to be alive." Anko mumbled to herself. She then proceeded to nod her head as she brought Shibuki down to Raiga's neck, placing the edge of the blade there. "You have my word that I'll find your friend a good burial ground."

"… Heh." Raiga let out a humorless chuckle. "I actually believe you, for some reason. Maybe I was wrong about the new Kirigakure and the Swordsmen. Or maybe it's because you're not from Kiri…" The man attempted to shake his head, but he found himself unable to do the blade against his neck. "Whatever. Mitarashi Anko, was it? Please; begin my funeral."

"Sure thing." Anko stated. She then raised Shibuki slightly in the air before going downward hard, cutting off Raiga's head. "Here lies Kurosuki Raiga. May you rot in hell."

Anko remained still for a few minutes after killing Raiga. Her eyes moved from his body to the grave that Raiga had requested for her to dig-up. After a few minutes, she sighed and walked over to it. She then began digging.

'A person like Raiga… there is no redeeming them. He deserves his death and deserves no peace in death.' She told herself. 'But someone he cared about? Someone innocent to his sins? They deserve some peace…'

Minutes passed by before Zabuza and Kahyō arrived. The two Kirigakure shinobi's eyes wandered from her to the Kiba blades, lying on the ground, to Raiga's decapitated head and corpse.

"Good. And the bastard is dead." Zabuza nodded his head in approval, smirking behind his bandages.

Anko turned her attention away from the grave and smiled back at Zabuza: "Hell yeah he is."

Zabuza bent down and proceeded to pick up the Kiba blades. He held each of them in his hands. He then turned towards Kahyō and nodded at her.

"With Kurosuki Raiga dead, the Kiba blades now back in the hands of Kirigakure, they must move on to a new owner." He declared. He extended the blades out towards Kahyō. "We will have a proper ceremony upon returning to Kirigakure with paperwork, but unofficially, you are now a member of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure. May you hold the Kiba blades proudly and use them to keep Kirigakure protected from all danger."

A smile graced Kahyō's lips as she nodded her head in understanding. She then took the Kiba blades, one in each hand, and held them tightly.

"I… I wish I could have fought for the right to take them myself, but I am more than honored to have them. Thank you, Zabuza-san." Kahyō bowed her head respectfully. She then turned her head to Anko. "When we return to Kiri, I would love the chance to spar with you, Anko-san. I'd love to see where I stand up to you, the woman who killed Raiga and took back my swords for Kiri."

"I'd be more than willing to fight." Anko replied with a grin. She then gave a confused look. "Wait, I'm going back with you all to Kiri? Zabuza, you didn't mention that."

"… I figured that it was obvious." He replied bluntly. "We completed the mission of assassinating a traitor from the Seven Swordsmen and we are going to have an official induction for another member to our roster. I want all the current members present for it." He then raised his eyebrows at her. "Do you have other business to attend to or something? You'd return to Konoha as soon as you like after the ceremony."

"I don't have any business. Just didn't know the plans. I can go." Anko replied, her grin growing wider. "Hell, I'd love to."

Anko proceeded to return her attention back to the grave. She quickly began going at it at a faster, more forceful pace until she managed to find what she was looking for. She then pulled out a sealing scroll from her pocket and sealed the body within the scroll.

"What were you doing there, Anko?" Zabuza questioned, his eyes narrowed on the scroll in her hands.

"Just doing a favor for the dead." Anko answered dismissively.

The Konoha jōnin then picked herself up and pocked the scroll for now. She then walked over to Zabuza's and Kahyō's and smiled.

"So, we gotta get to Kiri. You all ready?" She questioned with a smirk.

"So, are you all getting used to training yet?" Naruto questioned his students.

As Naruto had planned, Team Nine had gotten into the routine of visiting Ichiraku's Ramen each day after their training sessions were finished. None of his students minded in the slightest; they were all more than eager to eat after his extensive training.

The group was currently sitting at the seats, waiting on their orders to arrive.

"I mean, I'm getting used to it." Katsumi replied with a shrug, her eyes focused on Teuchi as she eagerly awaited her bowl of ramen. "Granted, it's only the fourth day, but I feel like it is getting easier every day."

"Easier?" The Uzumaki frowned in response. "I'll have to bump up my plans a bit for next time, then."

Katsumi immediately turned her full attention back to her sensei. Her eyes widened at his answer and she gulped: "Uh… o-okay."

"Thanks Katsumi-san…" Both Hanabi and Hebihiro mumbled in unison in frustration.

"Ooh boy. I can't wait." Kanji replied dryly. He then proceeded to gesture to his arms and legs. "I love leaving training with absolutely no feeling in my body."

"Heh. This brings me back to when I first started as a genin." Naruto snickered to himself. His three genin looked to him, as if anticipating a story, but the blonde proceeded to shake his head. "Although, I will say, you all need to be welcoming to this stuff. Yeah, I know it's tough and I've been trying to be tough, but it's this type of training that's gonna save your neck when you need it. I want to make you all as strong as possible; both to make you all great shinobi and to make sure that you are all safe on missions."

"We know. We know." Katsumi nodded her head in acknowledgment. A small, satisfied smile then developed on her face. "And yeah, your training is hard, but I have to admit, I do feel a lot stronger after it. I do feel like I'm actually making progress." The kunoichi then clapped her hands together and her eyes seemed to twinkle. "And I'm making really good progress with that jutsu you gave me! I really, really think I can have it ready by the end of the week! Absolutely no later than that, though!"

"Heh. I'm making progress with the lighting jutsu you gave me too, Naruto-sensei." Kanji admitted with a chuckle. "I know, I know; shocking, isn't it?"

The excitement in Katsumi's face was quickly replaced with annoyance as she turned her head to her teammate: "Really?"

The Yamanaka, in response, looked at her in confusion: "What? Would you prefer if I had a rockier time?"

Both Naruto and Hanabi laughed in response to the joke. Katsumi, on the other, proceeded to roll her eyes and sigh.

"Elemental affinity puns? Are you fuc-" The civilian-born shinobi's eyes immediately wandered to Hanabi, who was looking at her intently. Katsumi coughed slightly before shaking her head. "Are you ever serious?"

"Oh, of course. I'm actually a completely serious person; I just happen to have a sense of humor." Kanji said with a shrug. He then turned his attention to Naruto and nodded his head. "Like I meant it; I am making a lot of progress with the jutsu you gave me and it legitimately surprises me how quickly I'm working with it."

"Hanabi-san has also been doing very well with the poison senbon jutsu you gave her." Hebihiro spoke-up. "As have I. We should have the jutsu ready by tomorrow."

Hanabi nodded her head in agreement, but proceeded to frown slightly: "If I only was making that good of progress with medical ninjutsu…"

"You'll get there. It just takes time, and it's your first time working with it." Naruto said with a smile. "I actually am super proud of how all of you are working. You're putting a lot of effort into training and I can't wait to see what type of shinobi you all become when it's all done!"

Hanabi, Hebihiro, Katsumi, and Kanji all smiled in response to the praise. The three genin exchanged a look between each other before nodding their heads in agreement.

"You know what, Naruto-sensei? Toughen up our training even more. We're ready. We can take it!" Katsumi declared as she crossed her arms confidently. "Or at least I can!"

"So can I." Kanji replied with a shrug.

"Same!" Hanabi clapped her hands in agreement. Hebihiro nodded in agreement with her.

"Ha. That's good to hear you want to take it more serious." Naruto chuckled in response. "Although, I can tell that you'll regret that later. I'll make sure you do."

The genin all tensed up at his statement.

Before anyone could respond back to their sensei, Teuchi came walking forward with four bowls of ramen. He immediately placed each of the bowls directly in front of his patrons.

"Here you all go. Enjoy." Teuchi said with a smile. He then turned to Naruto and gave him a curious look. "I'm actually surprised you got the chicken curry ramen. Didn't think you liked spicy foods much."

"Well, I want to experiment. This is Han-nii's favorite whenever he's here." The Uzumaki shrugged in response.

"Well, as I said earlier, enjoy." Teuchi said with a chuckle. He then placed a large cup of water down in front of Naruto. "Oh. You may need this. Trust me; it's actually very hot."

Naruto nodded in understanding. As the ramen chef walked away, the members of Team Nine grabbed their chopsticks and took their first bite of their respective ramen.

Naruto, Hanabi, and Katsumi continued to eat at a relaxed pace. Kanji, on the other hand, stopped after the first couple of bites as an incredibly hot sensation rushed through his body. His eyes began to water and he felt as if his mouth was on fire. He opened his mouth to say something, but he felt himself unable to speak.

"Hmm… My ramen isn't that hot. I wonder why. It kinda takes like miso ramen." Naruto mumbled, snickering to himself slightly."

"Is something wrong, Kanji-san?" Hanabi questioned as she looked at her teammate in confusion.

He did not reply. His eyes then focused on the cup of water in front of Naruto. Within a second, he reached for the cup and began drinking it.

"Oh! Didn't you order miso ramen instead? Hehehe, looks like you accidentally started eating from my curry chicken ramen bowl and I ate from your bowl!" Naruto said, bringing his hands to his mouth to try and hide his laughter. "I, heh, wonder how that could have happened… HA!"

Naruto could not hold himself back and began laughing loudly as he watched his student finish the water. Once Kanji finished the water, he immediately signaled for Teuchi to bring him out another cup.

"Y-You switched the bowls…" Kanji mumbled, finally finding his voice.

"Maaaaaaybe." Naruto replied, still laughing.

Kanji was about to reply, but Teuchi arrived at the scene with another cup for him. The Yamanaka immediately dropped the topic and instead began rapidly drinking the water, hoping to cool down.

"HA!" Katsumi snorted, trying to contain her own laughter. "Well played, sensei!"

"Naruto-sensei, that's mean." Hanabi frowned in response.

"Hey, I warned you all about pranks. Consider this just one more." Naruto shrugged in response. He then turned his attention back to the ramen. "Anyway, let's finish up our bowls and go visit the Hokage. We need to go check if the cat, Tora, needs to be rescued again!"

Immediately, Katsumi's amusement stopped. She and Hanabi were both looking at the jōnin in horror.

"… Please tell me you are kidding." Hanabi mumbled as she clapped her hands together in prayer.

"You gave them the Tora mission again?" Hinata gasped. "Naruto-kun, what kind of horrible sensei are you?"

Naruto proceeded to laugh and shake his head: "I didn't give them it. It wasn't available." His laughter got a little louder as a grin developed on his face. "There was a runaway dog mission, though, so I got Ero-sennin to give them that instead."

Hinata proceeded to sigh. The two shinobi had met up shortly after Naruto had dismissed his genin squad and they were now walking through the village. The sun was just beginning to set as they made their way through the streets in no particular direction.

"I hope you know that Hanabi speaks very highly of you as a jōnin-sensei… until she gets to the end of the day where she discusses missions." The Hyūga mumbled. "I'm probably going to have another long night of listening to her theories on why Naruto-sensei is torturing them."

"I wouldn't call it torture. I'd just call it being a genin that's gotta do D-rank missions." Naruto replied, his grin still plastered on his face. "I do like them overreacting to missions, though. It's the only thing keeping me sane from having to do these worthless types of missions again."

"Hehehe." Hinata giggled to herself. "Glad I'm done with those."

"You'll have to deal with them again if you ever pick up a genin squad yourself." The blonde informed her.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." Hinata replied, sticking her tongue out playfully as she continued to giggle. "Anyway, you've talked a lot about your team, but how has your training been going? Has Masakado-san been working with you on the sealing chains?"

"Yes, he has." Naruto nodded his head. "I've been working on them mostly by myself, but he occasionally comes by when I practice to see my progress. I think I'm getting there. At the very least, I'm not hurting myself anymore. I just can't seem to keep the chains solidified outside of my body for too long."

"But you're making more progress than you were. That's all that matters." Hinata said.

Once again, Naruto nodded his head: "True. I think if I keep up my pace, I'll be ready to use the jutsu by maybe a week? Hopefully not much longer than that." He then let out a small chuckle. "That'll be something when I finally get it down."

"Hmm?" Hinata gestured her head at his comment.

"According to Masakado-jī-san, the Adamantine Sealing Chains are a big deal to the Uzumaki Clan. Outside of the general fūinjutsu specialty, that's what we were known for. Learning how to make and use the chains is almost like a rite of passage." He said.

"Well, I'd say that's one rite you don't have to worry about." Hinata replied, smiling. "Your clan is really getting a name again. There'll be day soon where the Uzumaki clan returns back to its former reputation, and at the rate you are getting stronger at, I think it'll be soon!"

"Heh." Naruto rubbed his nose slightly as he smirked back in response. "And if Tayuya-nee can find any more Uzumaki, then it'll come even faster!"

The two lovers entered a comfortable silence as they continued to walk through the village. This lasted for a few moments until they walked by the restaurant, Dangoya. Both shinobi smiled at the site of the place.

"I wonder what that place's business is like whenever Anko-sensei isn't in the village." Naruto wondered. "It has to suffer at least a little bit."

"Probably." Hinata giggled. "But she more than makes up for it when she's here!"

"Yeah, yeah." He nodded in agreement. "Wonder how she's doing? Did you hear anything about the mission she's on?"

"From what I heard from Jiraiya-sama when I asked him, he said it was a mission related to the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure." The Hyūga answered.

"Ah!" Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "Wonder how that's going…"

"… I think this'll do." Anko mumbled to herself.

After stopping for the night at an inn in the middle of Hi no Kuni, Anko scouted the area for a good area to lay a person to rest. After searching for roughly twenty minutes, she found an ideal spot.

The area she found was covered in bright, colorful flowers with very few trees in sight. To her, it appeared like a carefully-prepared garden. She would have easily believed it to be one if she did not confirm that nobody lived nearby it or owned the land. It was just simply a chunk of land that was beautiful by itself. The moon in the sky illuminated the land, shining off the flowers and adding a tranquil air to the land.

It was the perfect location for a grave.

Anko quickly prepared a hole in the ground between the flowers, making sure not to dig up any roots. Upon finishing, she pulled out her scroll and laid it in the ground. She unsealed the scroll, revealing the body of the young boy Raiga had requested for her to bury.

As Anko began covering the hole with dirt, she felt a presence arrive in the area. She turned her head, seeing Zabuza walking behind her. The man was looking at her intently.

"… I am surprised you went all of the way out here for a favor for Raiga." He admitted.

"He was a fucked up guy, but he had a point. After our little battle in that forest, that place was not a suitable graveyard." Anko said. A frown then developed on her face. "… I probably should have dug up the other bodies too. I feel like an ass now…"

Zabuzadid not say anything. He walked forward towards Anko and the hole. He looked down at the body of the young boy before he shook his head.

"Wonder how a kid ended up in Raiga's gang." He mumbled to himself. "Raiga's not the type to let someone hang around him that isn't as fucked up as he is."

"Don't really know why." Anko shrugged her shoulders as she got back to filling up the hole with dirt. "He seemed to care for him, though. He said the boy's name was Ranmaru and that the kid had poor health. I think he probably took care of him."

Zabuza's eyes focused back on the corpse in the grave. After staring for roughly a minute, he closed his eyes. A small smirk developed on his face, behind his bandages.

"You're a good person, Anko." Zabuza admitted. "I know I wouldn't be doing this, especially if Raiga asked. I'd probably desecrate the grave just because he asked. But this kid really hasn't done anything. He deserves a good resting place." Once again, the Kirigakure jōnin shook his head. "I wonder… when I was on the run with Haku, if the two of us ever passed away, would anybody have bothered to bury him in some peaceful place?"

"… We probably will never have answers to those kinds of questions." Anko answered.

"Heh, I suppose." Zabuza chuckled in response. "Haku was a good kid. Still is. I don't really know if I'd care about something like a good resting place for myself, but I know he would have deserved one."

"So do you, though." The Konoha jōnin informed him, turning her head to face him. "You're a good guy, too. Don't forget that."

"Good guy? That's a laugh." He snorted in response.

Anko's eyes narrowed: "Laugh all you want, but I meant it. You're an asshole, yeah, but that doesn't mean you don't care about the people important to you and your village." Her eyes softened slightly as she let a small smile develop on her face. "I'll say it again, Zabuza; you're a good guy."

Zabuza's eyes widened slightly at her comment. They quickly closed shut in thought as Anko turned her attention back to the grave. After a few more seconds, she filled the hole with dirt again. She closed her eyes in silent prayer, before she turned back to Zabuza.

"Well, you can stand around here and think about depressing things and questioning your self-worth as long as you want, but I think I'm going to head back to the inn." She informed with a chuckle.

The Snake Summoner proceeded to walk off away from the flowers. Zabuza remained still for a few more seconds before he finally shook his head.

"Anko?" He called out to her. She stopped walking and looked back to him. "… The bar by the inn is open. Want to stop by for a drink?"

A smirk developed on Anko's face as she nodded her head: "Sure; I'm always good for some sake."

Behind his bandages, Zabuza returned her smirk with one of her own as he walked over to her side. The two shinobi then walked off together, heading towards the bar.

Three days later...

The door to the Hokage's office opened up. Jiraiya looked up, hastily hiding a notebook and a pen and pulling out paperwork and placing it on his desk. Naruto walked into the room and shook his head with a laugh.

"It's just me, Ero-sennin. No need to pretend like you weren't working on your next smut novel." Naruto stated.

"It's not smut; it's erotic literature, and a high-quality level one too-" Jiraiya stopped mid-sentence. He then proceeded to shake his head. "Never mind, I'm not even going to bother. I know you don't care." A smile then developed on the Hokage's face as he urged Naruto to come forward. "Thanks for coming by so quickly, Naruto."

"Yeah, no problem. I rushed over as soon as I was told you wanted to talk to me." The Uzumaki said as he walked towards the man.

For a moment, Jiraiya turned his attention back to his desk. He quickly grabbed two scrolls and placed them on his desk. Naruto eyed them curiously. The Hokage then turned his attention to Naruto again with a more serious demeanor.

"Naruto, are your genin ready for a C-rank mission yet?" He questioned.

"Yeah." Naruto shrugged in response. "I've just been waiting for them to ask for it. They've gotten into the routine of D-ranks and just accept me giving them to them now, so I was going to wait until they decided to question me about it, but they're more than ready. Why?"

"I have a mission for you, in particular, Naruto. Not a difficult one, but it's one requested for you." Jiraiya stated. "As you are aware, Akatsuki is an organization that Konoha has been keeping tabs on. They are not ready yet, but I fear that they are going to step into the shadows in a much more dramatic fashion than any previous encounters with them. As such, I've began sharing certain information to the villages with jinchūriki."

"Makes sense." Naruto nodded in understanding. "So, where do I come into this?"

"As I said, I've sent the information out to all villages. Kiri and Iwa, obviously, responded favorably and began sharing information of their own. Taki was also grateful and I plan on meeting with their leader, Shibuki, soon. Kumo has not responded at all, even though I have confirmed they received the information." Jiraiya shook his head. "That leaves one village left: Suna. They did respond and, like Taki, were grateful. However, the Kazekage requested to meet with the jinchūriki of Konoha to discuss the information."

"… The Kazekage wants to meet with me?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.

The blonde had not thought much of Sunagakure since the invasion during his Chūnin Exams. He had not been assigned any missions to Kaze no Kuni and, as such, it became an irrelevant topic of thought. Hearing the name, however, brought forth images in his head of his fight with the Ichibi jinchūriki, Gaara.

"Why does the Kazekage want to meet with me?" He asked.

"Do you know anything about the Godaime Kazekage, Naruto?" Jiraiya questioned.

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but he stopped when he realized he did not have a proper answer. He then shook his head.

"No, I don't." He admitted. "The last time I heard anything about Suna, they didn't have a Kazekage appointed."

"To be fair, that is correct. Suna went a long time as they tried to figure out who should take the title. The invasion, along with the death of the Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa, and the fact that Orochimaru got away with impersonating him for a while, had them paranoid about who they chose to elect. The Godaime Kazekage was actually finally chosen just a little more than a week ago." Jiraiya explained. "Based off the impression I got, the Godaime is someone who can be trusted and is somebody I think you'd really enjoy meeting with."

"… You are being vague with me on purpose." Naruto sighed. "Fine. Whatever. If you have information you need to tell the guy and he wants me to be the messenger, I can do it." The blonde's eyebrows rose slightly. "Although, what does this have to do with my genin team? You said you wanted to know if they could do a C-rank mission."

"That's because I actually have a C-rank mission in Suna." Jiraiya explained as he raised his hands, showing off the scrolls he was holding. "A merchant in Suna has requested merchandise to be delivered from here to be put in his store. It's a straightforward mission and requires no escort. All the goods are in this scroll and the mission will be complete as soon as it's delivered. The only reason the mission is marked as C-rank is because it requires travel to another village." A smile then developed on the Godaime's face. "I don't really need to give it to your team; I just figured if I was going to ask you to go to Suna, you might want to have your brats with you. Give them a chance to see the world a bit and interact in another village. It'd be a good experience for them."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto nodded in agreement. "Sure, what the hell? I'll be going there anyway; at least this means we won't be missing out on team-stuff. Yeah, I'll take the mission."

"Great." Jiraiya chuckled in response. He then placed the two scrolls on his desk. "As I just showed you, both scrolls here contain the commodities that the merchant had ordered. You can take them now. I ask that your team report here tomorrow, though. I'll prepare a scroll with the information I'd like you to discuss with the Kazekage."

"Alright." Naruto nodded his head in response as he took the two scrolls from the Hokage's desk. "Then I'll guess I'll be back tomorrow. See you later Ero-sennin!"

With those words, the blonde walked out of the room. With him gone, Jiraiya proceeded to pick up his notebook and pen. He was about to start writing again, but he stopped himself. A frown developed on his face as he moved it away.

"Time and place, Jiraiya. Time and place." He told himself as he put his writing away again.

The Sannin proceeded to pick up another scroll on his desk. He opened it and began skimming the information on it.

'I'm not concerned about this mission. Based on Tayuya's last report, Akatsuki's plans should not involve Suna. However, it can't hurt to be cautious just in case...' He realized.

The Hokage proceeded to pull out a list of all the currently active, available shinobi in the village.

"Sasori-sama, it is a pleasure to see you again."

A large, hulking figure walked into a large, open area within a cave. The man, Sasori, wore a straw hat and a black cloak with red clouds that covered nearly his entire, hunched-over body. He walked into the center of the room, stepping over puddles of water, before he raised his head, revealing a brown mask.

"You are here. Good." He stated sharply. "I-"

"-Hate waiting. I recall."

Another figure appeared in the room. Walking up the hunched-over man was a grinning Yakushi Kabuto.

"If you remember that, then you must also remember that I hate keeping other people waiting." Sasori said. "So let's keep this quick. I don't have the time to be wasting it here in a cave in Kaze no Kuni."

"You're already in a rush? You don't have business with Akatsuki somewhere else, do you?" Kabuto questioned.

Behind the mask, Sasori glared at the man in front of him.

"Don't talk so freely about me and my schedule, Kabuto. You were just a sleeper agent of mine sent to Orochimaru to spy on him for me. I know you had your memories restored and that you sided with him over Akatsuki. Disregarding that, though; with Orochimaru dead, I do not have any use for you." He said, shaking his head slightly. "Honestly, I do not know how you managed to contact me. Regardless, I'm here now because you expressed a desire to discuss something with me; what is it?"

"Heh." Kabuto chuckled to himself, adjusting his glasses. "You always speak so bluntly about what you are feeling, Sasori-sama, yet still manage to be professional and keep things on point. That is something I have always appreciated-"

"Cut the flattery." The Akatsuki member interrupted. "If this really was a waste of my time, I will kill you."

Despite the threat, Kabuto smirked in response. "I have a proposition for you that would benefit the both of us."

"What exactly?" Sasori asked.

"As you said, Orochimaru-sama is dead. I decided, shortly after, that I want to be his spiritual successor and continue his research and perfect it. I want to accomplish everything that he sought out to do and more." The former Otogakure right-hand said, his smirk growing into a grin. "I've devoted every moment of my time since his death to training myself physically and continuing his research. With all of the time and my newly found resolve to surpass him, I believe I have made incredible head-way. I would like to continue this research further."

"And how am I involved in this? What do you want from me?" Sasori questioned. "And what do I get from this?"

The glasses-wearing shinobi reached into his pants and pulled out a scroll. He opened the scroll and unsealed it, revealing the corpse of a pale-skinned boy with white hair.

"This is Kaguya Kimimaro and, within his blood, lies the shikotsumyaku: the dead bone pulse kekkei genkai." He explained. "I offer to you his body to turn into one of your human puppets."

Sasori remained quiet for a few moments. The man walked over to Kimimaro's body and placed his hand on the boy's face. It went down his body slowly before he looked back up at his former spy.

"I knew Orochimaru had a Kaguya in his roster, but I never expected to have access to the body. This will make an excellent puppet." Sasori stated. "You've done a good job keeping his body intact; there is no sign of decomposition anywhere."

Despite the neutral tone-of-voice, Kabuto knew that behind the mask, Sasori was smiling and was excited. This caused Kabuto's grin to grow even further.

"I've already done my research him and taken the blood samples I've needed. You can have the body now." He stated. "I would like to work with you, Sasori-sama. I would like access to your spy network across the different villages. I would like to work with you and set up a system where I obtain access to villages, obtain bodies of shinobi with kekkei genkai, and after I finish my research with them and take the samples I need for myself, I will reward you by giving you the bodies to add to your collection."

"Hmph." Sasori let a small chuckle out. "While I enjoy the idea of having someone like you retrieving corpses for me to use as puppets, I know you, Kabuto. I know you are a good enough spy that you could sneak into the villages without my assistance. What exactly do you need me for?"

"You overestimate me, Sasori-sama." The grey-haired man said with a chuckle of his own.

"Maybe, but I do feel as if you have another reason, so I'll ask you again; why do you specifically need my assistance for something of this nature?" Sasori repeated his question.

"Well, I simply would like a partner to work with that I could reliably work with forever." Kabuto answered. "After all, I know from what Orochimaru-sama has told me, that you were experimenting with the idea of turning yourself into a puppet to create immortality with yourself. I, too, am after a similar goal of immortality. The two of us can establish a partnership that has strong benefits to both us; you supply me with the resources for my research and, in return, I give you corpses for you 'art'."

Sasori remained quiet for a few moments. He lowered his head and closed his eyes in thought, processing Kabuto's words.

'He's avoiding my question and not elaborating further why he wants to work with me. However, he has a point; our partnership benefits both of us.' The Akatsuki member realized. 'He would be a fool to turn against me and I would be a fool to simply deny a manner to obtain more corpses for my art.'

A minute passed by before he nodded his head.

"I'm willing to see if you can be of any benefit to me, so very well. Bring me a corpse interesting enough for a good puppet and I'll start actively working with you." Sasori stated.

"Excellent!" Kabuto exclaimed as he adjusted his glasses. "So, if you do not mind, I would like to get to work right away, and we might as well start with the village of the country we are in. Do you think you could reactivate the memories of your sleeper agents in Suna?"