Chapter 108 : Hope's Blade (1)

He ran as fast as he could, gasping for air as his lungs burned. He'd been running for so long now, but no matter how fast he was, no matter how far he made it, they were always right behind him, always there. He couldn't escape… no one could.

Fear.

He felt fear the likes of which he had never felt before, so scared, so terrified that they'd inevitably grow tired of this cruel game of cat and mouse and finally catch him… he was the mouse…

The fact that he had lasted this long was something of a miracle, if he was an honest man. Considering that he was a shinobi, though, he would swear that he was just too skilled for them, that is, if he survived. And he wasn't a stupid ninja, either.

He knew what was coming after him, what was hunting him. There wasn't a more terrifying predator out there, not that he knew of, at least. Death followed him, whether it would be quick and painless, or slow and excruciating was still to be determined. The odds were slim, all but nonexistent, but when one felt fear such as this, logic went out the window.

So he ran.

They had found him in a backwater dump that was almost too pitiful to call an actual village – he didn't even know the damn name – a few days ago, and ever since, he had been on the run, trying, fruitlessly, to escape.

They had already gotten his team… their screams still echoed in his mind, terrorizing his nightmares. He had only been able to sleep once since they started following him, and only for an hour, but that hour had been nothing but terrible nightmares.

Even as he ran, he could still hear the agonizing screams of his teammates, their shouts of pain and sorrow causing him to twitch every other second.

His shinobi training told him that his current condition was a mixture of an unhealthy amount of adrenaline and sleep deprivation, probably coupled with his already certifiable paranoia. All those things were practically in the shinobi job description, and shouldn't affect him as much as it was.

But again, logic and clear-headedness was long gone, and all he could think of at the moment was how scared his was.

It was almost pitiful, really. He was a damn jonin, elite of his village, a veteran of ten years in his own right. He shouldn't have been so terrified… but… what was chasing him wasn't average shinobi. No.

The things that were hunting him were not human. They were what went bump in the night. They were what people whispered about, "the monsters in the shadows". They were what every enemy of Konoha had nightmares about.

His musings were instantly stopped when a sharp sensation in his leg caused him to scream out in pain. It felt like multiple, razor sharp teeth had chomped down on his calf.

Looking down, he realized that it was exactly that. A dog – which looked more wolf than a dog – had his leg in its maw, its fangs sunk deep into exposed flesh.

Blood gushed, and more screams were given to the world, as the beast twisted and jerked, shredding his leg into tender pieces of bloody meat. It was a gruesome sight, for anyone.

The canine's low growls were a scary addition to its already frightening visage of terrifyingly sharp teeth. He fell to the earth below the trees, groaning in pain as he hit the ground with a loud thud. He was still.

The large wolf-dog landed next to him, growling at him menacingly. The beast was huge, larger than normal dogs or wolves, big enough to be mounted, really.

The canine crept closer and closer to the man, not yet finished with tearing his flesh apart. Suddenly, a loud whistle rang out – from a person's lips, no doubt – and the beast immediately stopped. The man still wasn't moving, but he could not hide his fear.

It was almost palpable, and nothing could escape them.

That's when they landed, one after the other, surrounding the man they had just hunted. Nine of them stood around him, and even though he didn't know it, they could see into his very soul – or feel it.

"There's no reason to pretend that you are unconscious, Gin." One of them spoke to him, using his name no less.

"We know you are not."

Gin slowly turned, having landed on his stomach, and almost lost his breath when he saw their eyes…

All of their eyes were molten gold… even the dog's…

"Why are Iwagakure shinobi occupying Kusagakure again?" another spoke, his voice young but commanding. His tone was deep, the voice of a commander, of a legend.

"I… we… I don't…" Gin tried to speak, but the fear overwhelmed him. So many golden eyes staring down at him… it was too much for him to handle. He was never prepared for this.

There was no training that could have helped him in this situation. He was a dead man, and he knew it.

"Enough." A third voice spoke. He looked at the one next to him. "Take the information by force." He ordered. And with that, Gin was met with gilded eyes that made his entire world turn red.

"Done." The man ordered to take the information responded. It had only been a single second.

"Always impressive, Karasu." The one to give the order replied.

"Let us leave this place." The one who asked Gin the question began.

With a nod, all nine of them – plus the dog – disappeared, the body of Gin going with them. After they were gone, it was like they had never been there. No trace of their chakra, no trace of their footprints, nothing. They were ghosts in the wind, and nothing could find them.

More importantly, nothing could stop them. Nothing.

...

Terumi Mei sighed. It had nearly been four years – three years and six months, to be exact – since the last time she had seen or even heard from the person she loved.

Sitting at her desk in her office – even after so many years, the Godaime Mizukage still couldn't get used to paperwork – Mei's mind couldn't help but wonder.

The blond shinobi was always on her mind, and if she knew Anko at all as much as she thought she did – and she did, Naruto saw to that years ago – then they were both in the same boat. They missed him. They missed Uzumaki Naruto.

Anko had stayed in the village ever since she was requested for an S-ranked mission.

It took some deceptive convincing before the Hokage would allow one of her jonin to stay in another village for so long, but after Naruto's father vouched for the importance of Anko's task, Tsunade relented.

Mitarashi Anko was tasked with strengthening the ties with Konoha and Kiri for the coming war.

Mei could only chuckle at that. Kirigakure – no, Mizu no Kuni as a whole was indebted to the Bringer of Hope.

His actions in Konoha – personally protecting the Mizukage during a foreign invasion – reached the water country fairly quickly, and the act only made the people of Mizu remember how much they loved their savior.

Uzumaki Naruto's name was sang and shouted to the heavens, not a child in the entire country forgot his name. He was revered in both Hi no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni as a hero, an icon.

That, however, had led to the heart wrenching decision she and Anko had made three years ago. It hurt their heart to keep something from him, to keep this away from him, but they told themselves that it was for his sake as much as hers.

If the information left Kiri, it could have been used against Naruto, to hurt him. She would not be responsible for harming him, and Anko thoroughly agreed, if reluctant at first. Thus, they compromised.

Anko would stay silent if she could stay in Kiri, and assist the woman she became to care for a great deal with anything she needed. Mei accepted, gratefully, and Anko moved in the day she decided. She wasn't going to leave Mei in her time of need.

It wasn't easy, either, to keep something like that a secret, even from her own village and country. Only a handful of trusted people knew. Ao, her most trusted and loyal shinobi, had been the first person – besides Naruto's father and Anko – Mei trusted to know.

His assistance was crucial for them to pull it all off, after all. Then Anko got tired of running all of the errands, so Mei had to trust another, ending with her telling the only members of the newly formed Seven Swordsmen of Kiri – Chojuro and Zabuza.

And whatever Zabuza knew, Haku knew, so that made six people – including Anko and Minato – who knew her tremendous secret.

Again, Mei sighed as she signed off on another piece of paper, unable to get Naruto out of her head. Even now, nearly four years later, she could still remember his warm skin against hers.

She could still remember the way his heart beat, so strong and unwavering. She could still remember all the naughty things she and Anko did to him, did with him.

Mei immediately shook her head of those thoughts. She was on the job, as boring as it may be, she couldn't afford to get… well… horny.

A knock at the door made her sigh in relief. She needed something to take her mind off the person she loved. "Come in." she spoke gently.

The door opened and Ao walked in, a serious and grim look on his face. "Mizukage-sama," he began. "An ambassador… from Iwa has just entered the village." He explained. Mei's eyes narrowed.

Iwagakure had declared open war on Konoha with their failed invasion. Whenever any country tried to contact them, they were completely silent. Their borders were closed off to outsiders, and all trade was immediately stopped. It had been like that for four years now.

So why was an Iwagakure ambassador walking into her village? "We spotted him five minutes ago. Asked him for his papers – he seems smug, Mei-sama, like he has something we can't afford to decline. I have no idea what that something is, but I don't think we're going to like it."

"Where is he now?" Mei asked.

"He's checked himself into a room." Ao replied. "I have our Hunter-nin watching as we speak."

"How many guards?" she asked.

"Ten. They look like jonin – professionals, that's for sure." Ao explained.

Mei let a deep breath slip past her lips. "Get me Chojuro, Zabuza and Haku." The Mizukage ordered. "I'll meet you all in the Blue Room."

The Blue Room was a secret bunker that was built underneath the Mizukage's office during the founding of Kirigakure.

S-ranked missions were given in the Blue Room, and shinobi had to have the highest level of clearance to even know about the existence of the place.