CHAPTER 52: THE PLAN AND EXECUTE

Chapter 52: The Plan and Execute

~~~

"What a troublesome blond," said Shikamaru, eyeing at the newly-promoted Tokubetsu Jonin. The new went around quick.

Who started? That remains unknown.

But it was clear to Naruto that the majority reason why he got promoted to a Tokubetsu Jonin was because of Danzo vouching for him.

And now Naruto was sitting in the middle of a group of people. He got invited to celebrate for everyone's promotion.

Naruto sat with Satsuki, both preferring to be left alone and were not the biggest fans of crowds of people.

"How was it like?" Asked Satsuki, getting a raised eyebrow from Naruto as he ate the meat that they were cooking.

"Be more specific."

"What I meant was -- how did it feel when you fought my brother and his partner?" Naruto saw the saddened look on Satsuki's face.

Naruto stayed silent for a moment, thinking of a way to describe the fight.

"It was like looking in a mirror." Now it was Satsuki's turn to raise their eyebrows. She was confused what he meant by that.

"When I fought Itachi, it was like fighting myself but with power greater than my own. I then felt fear when I fought them both. They both outclassed me." Naruto unconsciously clenched the chopsticks.

Maybe it was the thought of inferior that made him do this. Or maybe was it because he was just simply mad that he was still too weak to carry out his plans.

Naruto took a glance at Satsuki. It seemed like she wanted to say something.

"I hate it," she said bluntly. Naruto knew what she meant. "I hate the fact that I'm still too weak to kill him. The amount of time I've poured into training equaled to nothing in front of his unstoppable power." He understood what she was saying.

After all, he was also feeling this way for years.

"I get what you mean." Naruto took another bite of the barbecue that they were cooking themselves.

"You know, you and I are more alike than I've realized," Naruto told her, making the sides of her mouth go upwards to form a smile.

For a moment, it was only the two of them, alone as they ate pieces of barbecue. Naruto knew Satsuki was envious of his skill.

Some would say it's a bad thing, but Naruto would consider it a good thing. As long as she has motivation to improve on her abilities, she will have constant growth in no time.

"Satsuki," called out Naruto. She turned her head at Naruto, wondering what he was going to say to her.

"Did Orochimaru come in contact with you while I was in the hospital?" Satsuki froze at that question being brought up to her.

"Why are you asking?"

"It's because of the way you're talking. You usually don't say things like this because you like keeping it under control and tamed within you. So, tell me, did he come in contact with you?" He asked again.

Naruto became amused at Satsuki as she glared at him, sharpening her gaze at Naruto while tensing up right next to him.

"What is it to you?" Naruto ate another piece of barbecue.

"I'll be honest, you will fail if you're not prepared." Naruto saw Satsuki clench her fist as she stared at him.

"His henchmen -- they're going to protect me while escaping," Naruto raised an eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders.

"How strong are they?" Satsuki shrugged back, not sure how strong they exactly were.

"People like Rock Lee are overwhelmingly strong to the point where I too will surely struggle to fight against them. Will you be able to survive against him?"

"There's four people that will be helping, Naruto." Her voice was getting aggressive due to Naruto's continuous pressure.

"I can list 4 strong people in the Konoha 12 that are powerful or intelligent." Satsuki finally had it and stabbed Naruto with her chopsticks.

"Look," her voice aggressive with a hiss. "You can't stop me from turning rogue." Her face looking straight at Naruto.

"I don't mind, Satsuki. Albeit, people will undoubtedly want to bring you back. Don't forget that you're an Uchiha and are important to the village. Well, you do you."

Maybe it was bad for Naruto to simply not care. After all, Satsuki's was Naruto's closest friend all the way up to now.

"Funny, I'd thought you would try and play hero." Naruto raised an eyebrow, clearly confused why she would think he'd play hero.

"There's no 'heroes' in this world, Satsuki. There's only people -- people who are trying to survive every day." Satsuki stayed silent through those words.

"People view the Fourth Hokage as a hero because he saved the village from the Kyuubi Attack. But is it really heroism when he's doing his duty? To protect the village he calls home?" Naruto took a sip of water.

"Though people would define that has a 'hero'. I do not because in the end of the day, he still spilled blood over the course of his life. To protect his home, of course."

People have different ideas of being a hero, but a common definition would be describing someone as a courageous person who risks life for others.

In the end, being a hero is impossible. Naruto thought to himself, wanting the day to be over already. It was already crowding enough.

"Why? Why are you even okay with me deserting the village?" Asked Satsuki, taking a small glance at Naruto.

"Hm? No reason. People want different things and want to do different things in life. There's no reason for me to force someone to do something when they are consciously authorizing themselves to do what they want."

Satsuki looked down.

"That's why I'll offer you my assistance in your escape." She widened her eyes, amazed that Naruto offer her his assistance in her escape.

Before Satsuki could protest, Naruto cut her off.

"There will be times where your plan could fail unexpectedly -- I'll be there to pull the string so the plan doesn't fail whatsoever." He had his mind resolved to help Satsuki.

"When's your departure?" Naruto asked her.

"In 2 days. At midnight."

~~~

Naruto looked at his equipment. He had everything he needed when Satsuki planned her escape.

It didn't take too long for her to give up and let Naruto help with her escape. Although she was reluctant, she did saw the many benefits having him beside her.

And it was quite evident to Naruto that she favored him more than anyone else in her life.

"Touching," said Naruto, slightly amused at that. Immediately after, Naruto sighed, remembering that he was now a Tokubetsu Jonin.

"That means Team 7 as a whole will disband due to my rise in ranks and to Satsuki's soon-to-be escape from Konoha." And it was only the beginning to the crumbling.

"Soon enough, the Hokage will send me on mission on teams of equal ranks or just me by myself." Naruto let himself fall down on his mattress bed, his eyes becoming heavier by the second.

"What a long day," Naruto muttered before sleeping and appearing in his mind once again.

"You do have a plan, right?" Naruto nodded his head at Kurama. He knew that Kurama didn't fully trust him, but it was quite a start.

"Yes. My plans probably deviates from their own plan. But I wouldn't be too wary of our plans clashing because I won't be fighting until the very end." Naruto knew he still had to relay his part of the plan to Satsuki.

"This plan was created only because I need a way to over freely while being undetected as an accomplice." Kurama continued to listen to the words that Naruto was spitting.

"So you're planning to work behind the scenes and have yourself not go on the mission that will happen when your girlfriend escapes?" Naruto ignored the comment on Satsuki being his 'girlfriend'.

"But until the day she escapes, I'll be training on refining my skills -- most notably my kenjutsu and my fuinjutsu." Naruto sighed, seeing as there will be a lot of work for him in the next couple of days.

He couldn't just simply overdo himself while training because that'll hinder him while helping Satsuki.

And the last thing he wanted was to become a burden. With that, Naruto continued to plan his tactics take himself out of the scenario of being involved in the mission.

Naruto knew what he needed to do.

"I must render myself unfit to fight to the eyes of Konoha."

~~~

Naruto lowered his body, dodging a kick from his own clone. Staying silent, Naruto unsealed his blade and thrusted it upwards to disperse the clone.

He had a full day before he had to initiate a plan.

The clone shifted body back, dodging the blade that Naruto had thrusted. Naruto maneuvered to the side, analyzing the movement of his clone.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto leaped and swung his left leg towards the head of the clone. Their eyes were sharp and dangerous.

The clone reacted with a kick of his own. The kicks clashing, a loud thunk was created from their contact.

It still wasn't enough for Naruto to disperse the clone completely.

All of a sudden, a kunai was thrown at him in a separate direction that was not from the clone. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto caught the kunai effortlessly.

His hair swayed through the air as a person with 6 arms came jumped out of the tree and towards Naruto.

A large grin was plastered on his face.

Letting his clone disperse, Naruto decided to handle this guy all on his own. His hand clasped around the sharp blade, Naruto disappeared from his sight.

"Stop," said Naruto, appearing right above the person with 6 arms. Tendrils of lightning appearing all over the blade.

"It's over." Naruto struck his blade, electrocuting him without any hesitation laced within his mind. The dirt from the ground rose to the air, creating a cloud of dust inhabiting the area.

3 other individuals appeared from the trees, landing right outside the perimeter, holding their guards up as they saw two individuals emerge from the clouds.

"Orochimaru's henchmen." Naruto appeared, standing right on the back of the 6-armed guy that Naruto had defeated in mere seconds.

"Good to see you," said Naruto, his hair swaying from the fresh breeze around him. It was evident to them that he was not messing around.

"We were informed by the Uchiha that you will be assisting us on her escape." Naruto nodded, walking off of the back of his opponent. He took a single step to them, his blade and cloak following behind.

"That is correct. From here on out, I'll be helping you 4 help her escape. Hope we can get along." Naruto sealed his blade in his seal.

"What's your motive?" Naruto turned to the voice of a sharp-sounding girl, who looked to around his age. Her hair was long and red -- or was it pink?

It didn't matter.

"My motive?" Naruto mirrored her sharp tongue, copying the sound of her voice. Almost as if he mocking her.

"We want to know why you're doing this? A way for you to get favor?" Maybe there was hidden strings that Naruto himself attached, but a favor is far from the reason why he was doing this.

"I don't need a favor. Shouldn't it make you feel safe knowing that I have no ulterior motives behind my actions?" Naruto walked closer, adding an ominous pressure to them.

Naruto knew that they didn't trust him. But that was fine with him.

"Stop spouting bullshit!" Naruto turned to the same girl from earlier, her mouth spouting foul words at Naruto.

"I don't need you to trust me because this cooperation of ours will only be a one-time deal." Naruto continued talking afterwards.

"And once this deal is over, I won't hesitate to kill you all the next time I see you in battle." Everyone became silent, feeling the pressure of Naruto's words cling onto them.

"Fine by us. We are the Sound Four -- I'm Jirobo, the red-haired one is Tayuya, the one on the ground behind you is named Kidomaru. The last one is Sakon and Ukon. We serve Orochimaru." Naruto took a small glance at them all for a brief moment.

"Greetings, I'm sure Satsuki has already informed you of my existence. This closes our introductions." Naruto could tell from their language.

They were very wary of him. And they should. This was only a temporary truths that they will be holding until the end.

Once it was over, they were back to being enemies.

And when the time comes, Naruto will be the one to finish them off from the face of the Earth. Soon enough, the Sound Four's visit came to a close. He then went back to fighting a clone.

Naruto sighed, trying to find any potential holes in his plan as he was fighting his own clone. And one of the holes within his plan was the use of Shadow Clones.

No matter what, I can't let my replacement clone to be dispersed by anyone while I'm out there fighting. Naruto thought to himself, jumping in the air.

And if my clone does get dispersed, then it could jeopardize everything. Naruto caught a kunai that his clone had thrown at him.

I let that happen. Naruto landed on the ground, seeing his clone rush towards him. Pushing himself off the ground, Naruto shifted his body to the right, dodging a blow.

I can't fail.

Unsealing his dagger, Naruto swiftly threw the dagger at staggering speeds. His clone moved to the side, somewhat copying what Naruto did a few seconds ago.

I'll do whatever's necessary.

Letting the dagger pass him, the real Naruto appeared behind him, taking the dagger that had missed and completely redirecting it at his clone.

Silently, but deadly, Naruto thrusted the dagger through his clone's head, making the clone disperse in a cloud of smoke.

Whatever it takes.

Whatever it takes.

~~~

It was the next day.

Naruto stood in front of Satsuki, informing her of his plan. He could tell that she was eager to leave the village for the power that Orochimaru would give her.

"So you want me to break your arm?" She asked him, making Naruto nod his head in confirmation to her question.

"Yes, I need an excuse for me to be left out during the mission, letting me leave a Shadow Clone in the hospital while I'm out and about roaming around with you all." Naruto did not have much time to form an actual plan, but this will work well enough.

Naruto saw the hesitation plastered on her face.

"You seem to be reluctant on the idea of hurting me. We've fought before and you've hurt me quite a few times -- what's stopping you now?" His voice was low, almost a whisper.

Even then, she was reluctant.

"I haven't hurt you this badly before, you know. Something could go wrong -- the mission to get me out of Konoha could go wrong without you." Naruto raised an eyebrow, wondering the change of heart about him being on the mission.

"Quite flattered, but are you really reluctant hurting because of the possibility of jeopardizing the mission?" Naruto questioned, seemingly questioning her words.

"Or are you reluctant due to me being your best and only friend?" Naruto suddenly felt a large and sharp pain explode on his left hand.

Wincing, he noticed that Satsuki had finally took the courage to personally break his arm.

Mind not influencing my healing? Wait until an hour before the escape. Naruto spoke to Kurama within his mind.

Tch. I'm already on it. Kurama spoke, sleeping once again. If Kurama was being honest, he was quite intrigued with Naruto's plan.

He'd usually try and make a very intricate plan that will give him what he wanted, but this was different.

This was a plan being made last minute. It wasn't anything special, but the events after the plan will correspond to the success of his plan.

(A/N: The better the following events and outcome will decide how good his plan was.)

And to think he'd go out of his to help Satsuki to escape Konoha and become a rogue-nin was something Kurama found amusing.

Kurama revealed his fangs.

"But, then again, what is a King without his Queen?" Kurama kept these words silent, not letting Naruto hear a pint of the words that were being spoken out loud.

Kurama knew it.

That deep inside Naruto was a person who wanted a peaceful life. Why else would he be trying to attain peace aside from just proving Madara wrong?

Kurama was certainly amused by Naruto and how he was currently intwined by the strings of aging.

Or just the strings of puberty.

Naruto winced once again, feeling the pain from the hit that Satsuki had just served. Getting hit by Satsuki every 10 minutes or two to further the injury that he was going to sustain.

He wondered if this would actually heal in the end. After finally arriving to the hospital, Naruto's whole arm was swollen to the bone.

Naruto fared Satsuki goodbye, getting escorted by the nurses to his room. It did look pretty bad on their part.

"This will take some time to heal," said the nurse. Naruto nodded, understanding what she had just said. Luckily, people like Tsunade couldn't go and heal him because she had priorities as the Hokage.

Naruto was thankful for that. And soon enough, people came to check on him -- most notably. . . everyone?

"Hm? Satsuki's not here," Sakura spoke out, making the fact known. Everyone heard this and wondered why she wasn't here.

Though Naruto already had a solution on that topic.

"She was the one that escorted me here and she was the first to visit me." This satisfied the curiosities from within their mind.

Naruto noticed the look on Kakashi's face. It seems he was worried about the state that Satsuki was in. That'll be dangerous.

Certain people of The Konoha 12 will be the probable people that will be sent to retrieve Satsuki. They'd probably think she would be more willing to come back with someone she was familiar with. Now that Naruto thought about it, he would be very invaluable in this mission.

His friendship with Satsuki would be something people would resort to when thinking of retrieving Satsuki.

But the people that I would choose to go on this mission would be Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Kiba, and Shino. Naruto mused, considering their strengths.

Neji, Kiba, and Shino were both fit for tracking Satsuki and were offensively powerful -- especially Neji.

Choji was someone who could overwhelm someone in offensive power. And Shikamaru was quite obvious.

He would be the strategist of the group with intellect that could only be followed up by Neji. It was a pretty good team that covers essential coverings for a team.

Naruto sighed, seeing the sun almost withering away for the day. Everyone from before soon left to home or to continue their night.

Naruto had a scroll in his holster that was holding his clothing for this secret mission that he was going to be an accomplice on.

Looking at the clock, Naruto sat that it was just about to hit 10 PM. Nodding his head, Naruto began to mentally communicate with Kurama.

Start the healing. Naruto thought, telling Kurama to start healing. He just had 2 hours left before his assistance was needed for the mission.

Naruto sighed, letting his head lay back.

~~~

Satsuki packed up her things. She was getting ready for the inevitable. It was was just about a few minutes before 11 PM.

Was she going to miss the times she had experienced at Konoha? Maybe or maybe not. Although she does know that this was an opportunity for her to become stronger.

So she could Itachi.

Putting the backpack behind her back, Satsuki walked out of the doors of her house. Placing her hands into her pockets, Satsuki made her way to the spot that she was told to meet at.

Her thoughts moved to Naruto, wondering how he was going to prevent himself from getting caught being an accomplice with them.

"He'll find a way. I know he will." A slight smile appeared on her face, continuing her walk towards the spot.

On her way, she heard some footstep earlier.

"Satsuki. . ." A voice from behind called out to her. Looking back, she saw the slender figure of Sakura standing just a few meters away from her.

"What are you. . . doing?" Sakura questioned her.

"I'm going for a. . . walk," responded Satsuki, trying to make up an excuse as she stared at Sakura with much silent.

"A walk with your backpack?" Sakura pressed further. Satsuki stayed silent, no longer trying to deny the fact that she was deserting the village.

"You're lying, aren't you? You're planning on leaving the village." Satsuki stayed silent just for a few seconds before she responded.

"Yes." Her voice was considerably flat and blunt.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" She asked a following question. Satsuki looked away slightly from her face like what Sakura was doing.

"I have a goal and this village is only hindering me and my growth," stated Satsuki, looking back at Sakura's face as tears formed in Sakura's eyes.

She walked towards Satsuki just a few inches before stopping once again.

"I'll scream if you go." Satsuki was not effected by those words, only seemingly amused by those. "Sorry," said Satsuki, appearing right behind Sakura.

"But this is the end." Knocking Sakura out and positioning her on the stone bench that was right next to them.

After a walk that took almost an hour, she appeared walking on a landscape that was on the borderline of the village.

Satsuki caught sight of the 4 of them standing, waiting for her to arrive.

"Where's the accomplice?" Asked Kidomaru, seeing as Satsuki appeared alone without anyone walking along her.

"I'm here." They heard the monotonous tone right behind them. Turning around, they all saw Naruto walking towards them.

He had his cloak and the a new and blank mask with absolutely no features covering his face. One side of the mask was black and the other was white.

The only thing visible was his bright azure eyes.

"Let's go."

~~~