Chapter 07

A shadow darting from the right across a line of rooftops told the swallow that it was being followed and it quickly made a sharp, ninety degree turn to avoid the blonde boy diving at it from above again, hand outstretched and aiming to catch it. The Uzumaki laughed out when he landed on a length of gutters lining another roof and began sliding along them like he was on a skateboard skidding down poles.

"You're not getting away from me this time!" Naruto shouted, reaching the end and flying off of the pipe right at the bird, which darted out of his reach again and into the trees. "COME BACK HERE!" He dove after it.

Completely ignoring the results of the commotion he was probably causing, Naruto pursued the bird through the trees relentlessly. He saw its red dot of a back dodge and weave gracefully through the smallest of gaps in the trees' branches it was flying through and, being the persistent son of a bitch that he was, he spared no effort in going after it. Amazingly enough, for the majority of his pursuit, he was following the exact same path the bird was without even snapping a twig.

This showed just how nimble as a human being he actually was.

Bursting out of the treetops right on the bird's forked tail, Naruto's hands grabbed at the air ferociously trying to catch the damn swift as it flew circles around him just within reach, avoiding the lashing claws of his determination. It was like the boy was attacking the air itself, his body twisting, contorting, warping and spinning as he tried to nab the critter, but all in vein. He growled out when he tried slapping it between his hands, only to catch nothing.

"Shit! Damn it! Gah… STOP FLYING AROUND ME!" Naruto shouted, completely ignoring the fact that he was now following the path of a full twenty story drop. It was when the bird finally shot off in some random direction when he finally noticed his main problem. "Oh SHIT!"

Eyes trained towards the ground, the blonde gritted his teeth and took action. He began a corkscrew spin, turning his body horizontal to the floor and slowing his drop. Once satisfied at the rate of his fall, he then threw all his limbs out in a sprawl, his right arm cocking out further to reveal a brace around his wrist. He flicked his hand once and produced a hook wrapped in rubber, which he snagged onto a power line.

Spinning around, he kicked off a nearby wall and shot down the cable, continuing pursuit of his quarry. "I'm not done yet!"

Able to keep tabs on the bird's movements, he made it to the end of the line and flung himself off, retracting the hook from his grip and barrel rolling onto a roof to absorb the impact. He jumped back into the hunt, chasing the bird now zigzagging its way in between the buildings once more.

Why this creature just didn't take off into the skies to completely outrun the blonde was beyond comprehension. Perhaps it took too much time to gain altitude to avoid a persistent foe, that it wasted energy, or that its favored method of losing air-capable predators was by sticking as close to the ground as possible and take the risk of ducking in and around the tightest of turns. Its aerial acrobatics and stunts were really impressive, especially as it was able to perform them while being struck at by Naruto's claw-like hands.

In any case, their cat and mouse game was undoubtedly intense as hell and soon enough, Naruto was back on its tail.

The pair danced across the air above Konohagakure for the next fifteen minutes, dodging traffic, avoiding clothes-lines, despite Naruto hilariously crashing into one and draping himself in all sorts of horrendous garments, scaring house pets and startling a lot of civilians.

Eventually, all the maneuvers and zipping around corners surprisingly began to wear on the usually more energetic swallow, which slowed down just enough to catch its breath before deciding it had had enough.

It began to climb.

As predicted however, even with a swooping start it risked not only an attack from above but the build-up was excruciatingly slow, as opposed to its earlier maneuvers. Despite knowing this, it gunned its engines and went for it, completely missing Naruto leap across the gap between the buildings further down below before springing straight at it in one fluent move.

This was the 'mistake' the jinchuriki was waiting for the bird to make.

Sweating up a storm and covered in all kinds of crap from running after the bird across the entire village, Naruto flew right up at the climbing swallow and flipped through the air right over its head in a cart-wheeling motion. His swift left hand flew out from behind him along the exact same path the moment he was in reach, intercepting the bird, blindsiding it, and catching it.

"HA!" A laugh of triumph escaped the teen's lips before he went spiraling back towards the ground a dozen stories below.

Timing his descent, Naruto corkscrewed through a netting of power lines crisscrossing the main highway at arrow speed before balling up and spinning towards ground zero. In a frightening display of ferocity, momentum and grace, the blonde opened up just feet above the ground and slammed into it with a crouching stance, right into the road. He slid several feet forward before coming to a cloudy stop, throwing dust in all directions and scaring the shit out of nearby villagers.

Families and shopkeepers, as well as several Chunin that happened to be in the vicinity, instinctively leapt away at the sight of the boy.