The Purple Flash of Kumo Chapter 39 (Wave) (Patreon)

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"You called for us, Lord Raikage?" Darui asked dully as they all stepped into the Raikage's office. The man sitting behind his desk merely grunted as Mabui closed the door to give them some space; her eyes stayed on Naruto for a moment before she fully closed the door.

The man fumbled with one of the many papers until he found the report he was looking for; he flattened it on the oak surface, and his eyes flickered at Naruto, but the blonde's eyes remained blank, and instead of looking at the Raikage, they remained focused on the wall above his shoulder. Ay wished to say something, but nothing was coming to his mind right now. A week had passed since his grandson learned the truth, and he had yet to return to his home.

"Your mission is an A-Rank Mission. You know the Wave town?" The Raikage started; behind him was a map holder. Wooden furniture with floors, each floor had one set of wooden arms on them with 'u' pits on the edge for the map scrolls to rest; the Raikage spun his chair around and grabbed the map in the middle before flatting it on the desk, covering the entire surface. He pointed at the Wave Town, located near the ocean's shore. The Genins of Team Darui were paying close attention, except for Naruto, who heard a few words, but his mind was far away from this office.

"We have reports that Gato has a base near this town, and is using it for his own profit. Your job is to destroy this base, collect everything there that might be worth collecting, eleminate any danger, and then I want you to meet the Bridge Builder of Wave-" He stopped explaining, pulling out a photo to show it to them, giving it to Darui who gave it a look, before looking at the Raikage over the edge of the photo.

"His name is Tazuna. I want you to contact him and convince him to sign this contract that the Country of Lightning has formulated for him." The Raikage explained. Sliding the paper to Darui's side of the desk, he gave it a look before sealing it inside the Space Holder that he carried on his Jonin vest.

"Lord Raikage, why is this an A Mission? As far as I know, Wave country has no Shinobis, and this Gato has an army of goons that even a Genin could handle." Omoi asked respectfully, stepping forward. His eyes flickered at Naruto, but his friend remained silent and didn't seem to want to talk with anyone.

"You are right, Omoi, but we have received information that Gato might have hired Zabuza of the Bloody Mist, and the Demon Brothers. We are not sure if they are part of his army now, or they are hired only to kill someone, we don't know, but is not important. If you happened to make contact with them. You will give them a deal. They could become part of Kumo, and join our Ranks. If they refuse, then you are to eliminate them. Their bounties are quite good, and Zabuza holds Kubikiribōchō, a special weapon from the Lands of Wave. Now you can leave." The Raikage finished his explanation with a dismissive wave, but before they could leave.

"Lord Raikage, what exactly is this deal that you are offering the Land of Waves?" Naruto spoke for the first time as he walked past Omoi and stood side by side with Darui. His voice came out blank, and his eyes remained emotionless.

The Raikage seemed saddened that Naruto was not addressing him with 'Jiji,' but he quickly stifled it as he knitted his hands together in front of his face, his elbows resting on the oak surface of the desk. "The Wave country has no military, no means of protecting its territory. It's been like that for many decades, and they have always relied on Konoha to help them with every crisis that happened to them. If they sign this contract, their territory will be part of The Land of Lightning, and as one of us, they will receive protection without paying anything, they will receive supplies, and most importantly. A group of Shinobi will always be there to protect them. In return, they will have to pay a monthly fee to the land of Lightning, and that's all." The Raikage explained with what sounded like sincere words.

Naruto said nothing, but he seemed a little suspicious. He decided not to let them know, so he shuffled behind and remained quiet.

"You can leave now." The Raikage said commandingly. The team left without saying a word. Once the door closed, Ay rubbed his forehead, hoping he was doing the right thing. 

Naruto

After traveling for two days through the land of Lightning, they finally reached the borders. Once they passed the borders, one of them stayed as guard all night. They were no longer in their own territory. They were in danger and needed to keep their guard up all the time.

But for the three days they traveled after leaving the borders, they never encountered anyone and had no problems.

This was the first time they were leaving the lands of Kumo. The mountains faded away into the horizon behind them, the hills were much less frequent, and the large endless fields were much more numerous. They passed through many working fields and small towns. The more they traveled towards the ocean, the heavier and moister the air felt in their lungs. The temperatures were rising, and the group found themselves in a town called 'PassingTown.'

They all decided to take a break here, rest the whole night, and continue traveling tomorrow. The Land of Kumo was never one with cold temperatures like the Land of Iron with their Samurais, but it often started snowing before Autumn fully ended. That's why Autumn was the shortest season in the Lands of the North, like Kumo and The Land of Iron.

Naruto felt the sweat on his face and his clothes clutched uncomfortably against his skin. The air felt moist and somehow heavier, and the sun felt like it was burning his skin. He wondered how people lived in this place every day.

"Have you ever been this close to the ocean?" Naruto asked, sounding much more energetic than he did back at the office. This broke the boring silence amongst the group.

For the past week, he had tried to come to terms with what he had learned. He still found it difficult to believe he was never one of them. While his anger was still there, Naruto refused to do nothing but stay grumpy all the time. It would do him no good. Right now, he wasn't even sure what he wanted anymore, but smiling and having fun with his friends was a start.

"Not really, but I didn't think it would be like this." Omoi answered airily as he looked around. People were walking around the streets, their clothes consisting of simple shirts and pants, and some were walking around without shirts at all. Naruto was sure he caught sight of girls walking around with only bras to cover their breasts on the horizon, beyond the buildings of this town. They could see the shore and the ocean. They could see many ships docked near the shore.

"What did you think it would be like?" Yugito asked from behind them, not looking at them, busy reading a book about the towns around this place. Naruto wondered what was so fascinating about that book.

"Not so Hot. Seriusly. I feel I'm melting like sugar," Omoi complained, and for the tenth time, he used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, now looking even more irritated.

"Like sugar, pfff, if anything you will melt like salt." Yugito teased, looking up from her book, closing it, and putting it under her arm.

Naruto chuckled slightly when Omoi gave their friend a deadpan look over his shoulder. "Well, then you will melt like sour milk."

"Omoi, that doesn't even make sense." Naruto quickly commented with a snicker when Yugito rolled her eyes.

"Well, then she will melt like ice."

"Why like ice?" Yugito asked, wondering what her friend was even trying to say.

"Because ice is just frozen water and has no taste, just like you," Omoi explained with a grin that grew when Yugito glared at him as if he had insulted everything she stood for.

"Oh, boy," Naruto and Darui mumbled under their breath when Yugito glared at Omoi with her Bijuu eyes. Thankfully, there was no Bijuu Chakra leak from her this time; otherwise, everyone around them would have noticed something wrong with the girl, unlike normal Chakra. Bijuu Chakra was much denser, had an effect on the air itself, and could be felt by even people who had never used Chakra when it was not contained and was leaking out of a Jinchuuriki.

"I have the best taste, Omoi. You are the one wearing crappy clothes." Yugito quickly retorted, looking ready to slap her friend, but Omoi showed no signs that he was afraid of her threat; if anything, he seemed amused.

"Pfff, only a blind man would compliment your choice of clothes, hell, even they might know the clothes are crappy." Omoi continued his teasing, increasing the chances of getting a slap from his friend.

Naruto, meanwhile, stopped paying attention to them when he heard a round of gasps from the civilians around them.

Darui and Naruto looked forward and quickly saw why people were moving out of the road. Some stumbled on their feet as they shuffled away. The red smoke was the first sign of them, and the second was the woman in the front leading the group of believers.

"Huh!!" Omoi stopped bickering with Yugito when he, too, noticed the small group of people wearing red clothes marching through the road. The blonde watched as many kneeled to them, their hands on the ground, their eyes looking up at the sky. Their murmurs grew louder the more people started praying.

"The Faith of the Three Stars," Naruto mumbled as Darui quickly motioned at his group to move out of their way.

The woman leading them was wearing a red gown with golden and purple threads around her arms' sleeves and the bottom edge near her feet. On their chest, the sigil of The Faith was proudly displayed: three falling stars with a grey background. The woman was wearing a mang tikka with a glittering purple stone on her forehead. She was beautiful and taller than his grandfather, and she wore red lipstick. Her eyes were closed as she mumbled something that Naruto couldn't hear.

Behind this woman was a group of nine people, all wearing similar clothes, but unlike the woman, they were wearing black cloaks. They were holding what seemed like torches, with red smoke coming out of them and flickering purple flames. The heat radiating from the flames made him wince.

The group was split into three rows of three people, with the woman leading them. The three people in the middle were carrying a large golden box, and only now did Naruto notice they were the only ones here not bowing to them as they passed the road. Suddenly, he felt powerful Chakra; he quickly looked behind, and just as he expected, Nibi's Chakra was leaking out of Yugito, whose eyes had turned that of the Bijuu. Her nails had grown, almost like knives, glaring at the believers like she wanted to tear them apart.

"Yugito, stop it. Even the Raikage doesn't want us to interfere with them; just let them pass," Naruto quickly told her commandingly, grasping her wrist when she tried to march forward.

"These bastards are nothing but liars. They ARE LIARS!!" Her shout was heard throughout the entire street, gasps were heard around them, and suddenly, it was complete silence.

Naruto cursed under his breath when he felt the glare of everyone around them. All of them had stopped praying. He thought this would be a good opportunity to just leave and not stay in this place for a minute longer when he noticed the woman had stopped walking. Her eyes remained closed as she turned to face them.

"Dear child, what is your ire with our brothers and sisters?" The woman asked softly, but her kind words and voice seemed to only anger Yugito even more; she tried to march again towards them when Naruto tightened his grip around her wrist even more.

"You All Are Nothing But—" "Yugito, as your Sensei, I'm ordering you to be quiet," Darui said commandly, looking at his student over his shoulder. Yugito seemed like she wanted to disobey him, but her blonde friend quickly gave her a look, and she let out a resigned sigh, stepping away in defeat.

"Please forgive my teammate. She just had a bad day." Omoi apologized, stepping forward and bowing his head respectfully before pulling out the necklace he was wearing, hidden under his clothes. The necklace had the same sigil as that of the Faith.

"To the Stars." He added with a small voice. Naruto wasn't sure what that meant, but the people around them seemed happy to hear Omoi say that, and quickly, the rumors changed from 'Faithless' and 'Godless' to 'A Shinobi Believer.' 'We have a Brother Shinobi.' From their faces, they all seemed ecstatic that a Shinobi of Kumo appeared to be a believer.

"To The Stars, dear brother," the woman said in return before she resumed her walking. Within a few minutes, they had walked far enough away, and the road returned to normal.

Naruto sighed in relief, but from the way Darui was pinning Yugito with a glare, he knew it was out of the question to stay in this town for the night, especially since people were still glaring at them. He wondered if the entire town already knew what Yugito had said.

"Omoi, what was that you said?" Naruto questioned, trying to keep his distance from his Sensei while Yugito had fallen dead silent and didn't seem in the mood to talk, so he figured he might ask why everyone suddenly seemed so happy that he said those words.

"It's a pray, Naruto. The Faith of the Stairs believes that we all came from the stars a long time ago, and when we leave our mortal flesh, we will all rejoin with our loved ones in the Gardens of Seirai. The Mother of all Souls." Omoi explained with a hint of passion in his voice, but his words were cut short when they heard a snarl behind them.

"Any problem, Yugito?" Omoi asked with a snarl, looking back at the blonde girl who wore an angry scowl on her face.

"It's all lies, Omoi. I don't understand how you can ever believe such nonsense." Yugito said with a sneer before shaking her head as if she were a parent and scolding her son for bad behavior.

Naruto expected Omoi to get on the defensive and try to change her mind and convince her that believing in such things wasn't wrong, but instead, Omoi merely shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, that's your opinion. Whatever you believe or not is entirely up to you." He said dismissively. This seemed to have caught Yugito off guard, and from her expression, she even seemed disappointed that Omoi wasn't trying to fight back; instead, he just gave up.

"So you found nothing wrong that I don't believe in the faith, and think they all are liars and only use the money for their own selfish desires, even the Holy Priest." Yugito had never spoken with more disgust and mockery in her life, and Naruto knew she was trying really hard to get a reaction from Omoi, even insulting the highest Rank of the Faith. Still, Omoi's only reaction was, once again, a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"I don't care, Yugito. Faith is not something that should be forced upon people. I believe you don't believe. We can still be friends. I don't see you any differently," Omoi said dismissively. From his tone, it was clear that he wanted Yugito to stop this conversation; it was clear that she was trying to make him angry.

Yugito opened her mouth, ready to say something else, but Darui had enough of her. "Enough. No more Talk until we reach The Wave Country." Darui ordered, looking at his students.

"Wait what! But the Wave country is still too far, it will take the whole night for us to arrive there." Naruto quickly pointed out, wondering why his Sensei suddenly wanted to exhaust them.

"Well, that's your punishment for getting the whole town angry with us," Darui quickly said with a cheeky grin.

"It's not fair," Naruto said with a huff, before sending Yugito an annoyed look for opening her big mouth. The blonde girl looked away, and from her stance, he knew she still believed she was in the right for saying all that to the group of the Faith.

Seven Hours Later

"Holy crap! We Are Finally Here!!" Naruto said, exhausted, amidst heavy breathing, slapping his knees. With sweat rolling down his face, his entire face felt hot, like a fire was burning inside his cheeks.

"Yeah, this was a good exercise." Darui said with a grin, looking back at his students, who quickly glared at the man for saying that.

"Exercise, you are trying to kill us." Yugito accused him as she stretched her body. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to take a bath and get rid of the bad smell. She knew the sweat wasn't helping with the smell, and the cloth under her arms was soaked wet from the sweat, feeling quite uncomfortable.

Omoi chuckled at the exasperated expression of his friend before turning to face the town before them.

They were walking a road that went downwards, and at the bottom of the road was a large sign with the town's name. The town was nothing special; if anything, it looked more like a small civil village. They quickly noticed the bridge they were trying to build; the bridge would have to be at least half a kilometer long to connect this town with the Tengoku town on the other side, unlike Wave Town. The town of Tengoku was much richer due to its caves full of gold, silver, and other valuable minerals, as well as the many deals they had with towns nearby.

Wave Town was the poorest town in this place. No wonder the biggest structure they could see belonged to Gato; it was pretty noticeable, with no 'Hide Me' Seals or anything that would have made the building less noticeable, not even a Distract Seal.

Naruto was disappointed. When he heard Gato was a rich man, he expected someone cunning, not someone who made it so obvious he was rich. The building was almost begging for someone to rob it. He wondered how it was possible that no Ninja had ever passed through this town with the thought of robbing the entire Gato building.

"Well, I guess we don't have to look hard. So, should we split, or destroy the place right now." Omoi suggested as he stretched his limbs, ready to destroy the entire thing, with Yugito doing the same, but they seemed to have completely forgotten about the first part of the mission.

"No. First we must make contact with the Bridge Builder, and talk to him about the deal, and then deal with Gato." Darui stopped them before they could take off running like blind idiots.

"And don't forget that Gato hired Zabuza, I read about him when we were still inside the borders and he is one of the Seven Legendary Swordsman of the Mist. The book even mentioned that he might have a disciple with him, but is nothing confirmed." Naruto quickly added, with Darui nodding along.

"Soooo-" She dragged the word 'So' before continuing."-We Find the Bridge Builder, find out if Gato hired Zabuza and then kick Gato's ass." Yugito summed it up with a cute grin.

"Pretty much," Darui confirmed with a small chuckle, liking his team. While they had some bickering here and there, it was nothing serious. Every team always had bickering; it was impossible to find a team that didn't bicker with one another about something.

The Kumo Team walked past the sign with the town's name written on it. The dirt roads, the people running inside their houses, the market missing the 't' in its sign. Even the sun was engulfed by clouds, and without the sun brightening the place, the sweat under their clothes suddenly felt ice cold. Naruto shuddered slightly, suddenly wishing he had a way to warm himself.

They started asking around about the bridge builder, but the people refused to say anything. After asking twenty more houses, Yugito started to get annoyed and lose her patience. She was ready to suggest that they should just destroy the Gato building first. When Naruto felt a release of Chakra nearby, he stopped dead in his tracks, grabbing his team's attention.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Darui quickly asked when he noticed the focused expression on the blonde's face.

"Someone is using chakra nearby," Naruto informed them as he closed his eyes, sensing Chakra wasn't something he was good at yet, but whoever was using Chakra wasn't good at hiding it, so he figured that this person was either someone not that dangerous or many people were using Chakra in the same place.

"This Way," Naruto said urgently, pointing in a certain direction, but Darui stopped him by grabbing his shoulder before he could take off running.

"I will be first. You three. Attack Formation." The three quickly formed a danger triangle, with Naruto in the front, Yugito on his right, and Omoi on his left.

It didn't take long to find the source of the Chakra, and soon, they were looking down at Konoha Shinobi.

"Okay, this is bullshit. Why out of all things, why Konoha Shinobi? Again??" Omoi complained with a shout-whisper.

Naruto ignored his friend as he looked down at the scene below them. He could see what seemed like a group of Konoha genins, who he assumed to be the Jonin based on his Jonin vest, and the fifth one appeared to be a civilian based on his clothes. They all seemed exhausted, as if they just finished a battle, but they couldn't see any dead body nearby to indicate who they had been fighting.

"Sensei, that's Kakashi, the Copy Ninja of the Hidden Leaf," Yugito informed with a slight edge in her voice as she peered down at the person who seemed the most exhausted and had a small wound on his arm. Darui remained silent, with a thoughtful expression as he let out a quiet 'huh.'

"Maybe we should just leave, maybe whatever their mission is doesn't have anything to do with ours." Omoi quickly suggested, and Naruto had to agree with that; the last thing he wanted right now was to encounter or maybe fight Konoha shinobis once again; he hoped this wasn't another case of them fighting the Knoha team.

But just as Darui was ready to order his team to leave, one of the Genins spoke. "Mister Tazuna, are you alright?" The one with pink hair asked, approaching the man while the one wearing civilian clothes rubbed his forehead nervously.

"I have been better, but we should not stay here. My house is nearby," the one named Tazuna said, looking around to see if anyone else was hiding.

Great. If there's a god, he sure loves making pranks; Naruto thought as he looked at the expression of his friends. "We should follow them, find out where he lives, talk to him when the Konoha team is not around, and not make contact with them." He suggested with a whisper, audible enough for his team to hear.

"How long will you four hide up there. I know you are hiding. Come Out."

Shit! Naruto cursed under his breath; he quickly looked at his Sensei, the same for Omoi and Yugito, who awaited instruction. Darui gestured with his hand, and they all jumped down from the tree branch.

Upon landing, Naruto saw the faces of the Konoha team from up close. The Genins were around Tazune, each one holding a Kunai, while Kakashi stood in front of them, seemingly ignoring the pain in his arms. However, the blonde quickly noticed another thing that took him by surprise.

"Sharingan!" Omoi drawled, looking at the Genin, who seemed to be the same age as them.

He has spiky black hair with a blue tint. His hair is long and has hung over his face as bangs. He was wearing a navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar, white shorts, and white arm warmers.

"Might I know what Kumo Shinobis are doing here?" Kakashi asked demandingly, his Sharingan making Naruto feel a little uneasy. He could almost hear Kyuubi roaring inside. He knew his Bijuu wasn't the biggest fan of the Sharingan.

"My name is Darui, the Black Lightning of Kumo." Saying his name had the desired effect on the Konoha Jonin. Darui noticed the way Kakashi's eyes widened for a brief moment, but then something strange happened: the three tomoes of his Sharingan started spinning before the three tomoes fused together, forming something else: three scythes where the tomoes had been. Darui didn't know what this meant, but he didn't like it one bit.

"And why are you here?" Kakashi asked, his voice void of emotions, and Naruto felt a shudder in his body; he felt cold spreading in his chest, almost suffocating him; the same was for Yugito and Omoi; his hands started shaking as he felt an invisible hand closing around his lungs.

"Naruto is his Killing Intent. Let me help you." Kyuubi suddenly spoke.

The cold disappeared, and the feeling of numbness faded away. Naruto could suddenly move easily once again. The same was true for Yugito, whose eyes had turned into Nibi's, while Darui glared at the Jonin, knowing what he was doing.

"There's no need for this, Kakashi Hatake. We are not enemies here. We are here under the orders of our Raikage, we have to talk with the Bridge Builder, but we are not here to cause harm to him. Now, will you drop your KI, or I will kill you right now. I don't care if wars break out because of this." Darui threatened with a growl like a panther, his hands reaching out to the pommel of his great sword strapped to his back, ready to use it.

The Killing Intent disappeared completely, and Omoi could finally move again as he slumped down, breathing heavily, his hands shaking. Yugito quickly placed her hand on his shoulder, sharing a little of her Bijuu chakra, causing him to stop shaking, the fear in his eyes to disappear, and the color of his face returned.

"Thank you, Yugito." Omoi stammered as Darui turned to face the Bridge Builder.

"Kakashi-Sensei. What should we do?" the pink girl asked with a hint of fright in her voice.

"All of you stand down. They are not our enemies." The moment he said that the pink girl dropped to her knees, seemingly exhausted, while the boy with Sharingan was still watching them warily; the third one seemed the oddest among the Konoha team.

His smile was as fake as Karui's beauty.

"W-What do you want from me?" Tazuna stammered.

"Well, our job here is to destroy Gato and his entire company, but maybe we can talk more somewhere else," Darui said casually, while the man's jaw fell from his mouth like a rock. He looked gobsmacked.

"You are fooling me right? Destroy Gato! Is that even possible?!" Tazui said with disbelief.

Yugito snorted at his words. She wanted to say that the man was nothing but a worm compared to a shinobi, but she decided to keep her mouth shut, especially since it would look bad for her Sensei if she spoke out of turn when her Sensei was the one being addressed by the man and not her.

"It is, but we can talk somewhere else.

"...Sure...Follow me." The two teams started following him behind while keeping a good enough distance from one another.

"What are your names?" the odd one asked. With a fake smile on his face, Naruto groaned. The way he was smiling was irritating him; there was nothing worse than someone like him.

"Did no one teach you to introduce yourself before asking someone else about their names?" Naruto asked with a huff, causing the boy with pale skin like milk to step back, but the smile did not leave his face.

"Right, my name is Sai." Bullshit, Naruto wanted to call him out, he knew he was lying.

"My name is Sakura." The pink girl introduced herself with a small wave of her hand, still looking insecure about them.

"Name is Sasuke Uchiha."

Huh, so he is the last survivor of the Uchiha Clan. I wonder why he wasn't killed like the rest, Naruto thought, but he quickly decided to drop that thought; it didn't really matter to him.

"Omoi."

"Yugito."

"Naruto."

The moment he said that name, the Konoha Jonin staggered for a moment, something only Darui noticed, and he noticed the way Kakashi's eyes flickered at Naruto for a brief moment.

This can't end well, Darui thought, knowing he needed to keep his entire team as far away as possible from the Konoha team.

Outer Town 

"This place looks like a mess, even the water seems dirty. I hate dirty water. What do you think Itachi? Should we go for a swim?" The Shark grin on his face as he teased, looking at the partner beside him.

"We are not here to swim, Kisame."

"Man, you are no fun, Itachi. You know, you should smile more often. Is not going to kill you, trust me." Kisame teased with a growing grin, but Itachi ignored him as he looked down at the town.

Sasuke. Little Brother. I can't wait to see how much you have grown...

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