[The Renegade] Chapter 17 - Dark Clouds (Patreon)

Chapter 17 - Dark Clouds

“Ah, this place brings back some memories I forgot I had,"  Naruto said in wonder as he looked down at the small mining town.

“Have you been here before?” Konan asked.

“Yes, a few years ago, it wasn’t long after Sasuke defected from the village. I think I was 13 or 14. We had a mission to remove a criminal family who took over this town. Raiga, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, was here too.”

As the two of them flew above the town, Naruto narrated to her the story of Raiga and Ranmaru, making her break into soft laughter more than once.

“It’s surprising to hear that a handful of genins managed to defeat one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist,” she said.

“Looking back, he wasn’t that strong. He was an amateur at wielding twin swords. What was annoying about him was that his swords allowed him to control natural lightning. I think he was the weakest of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. At least among the ones I’ve met.”

Due to how busy Konan had been after the Land of Rain occupied the Land of Rivers, the two of them had not spent much time together over the past two weeks. While the military matters were settled within three days, the bureaucratic ones were far more troublesome and time-consuming. Therefore, it was only now, after the dust had settled somewhat, that they were finally able to catch up and spend some much-needed time together.

“Looks like you’re getting increasingly familiar with your Deva Path abilities,” she said as they momentarily stopped flying and landed on one of the many rocky formations of the gorge.

“I’ve gotten better at it but can’t use my flight in combat yet. It’s difficult to make sharp turns or suddenly increase my altitude.”

He didn’t remember his fight against Pain’s Deva Path because Kyuubi had made him berserk back then, but, from what the fox had told him, Nagato had been a master at controlling the attractive and repulsive forces of his Rinnegan, allowing him to fly with incredible speed and dexterity to avoid his attacks. He hadn’t reached Nagato’s level of mastery just yet, but he was getting there.

“All in due time. If my memory serves me well, you have mastered the abilities of the Rinnegan much faster than Nagato. I have no doubt you will reach his level soon.”

He grinned at her words. He would never tire of hearing how much faith and confidence she had in him. Taking her hand in his, he started swinging their hands lightly. His happiness was so pure and radiant that it was almost childlike.

“You’re in a great mood today.”

“Can you blame me? We’re finally out on a date!”

She chuckled at him, his grin infecting her with his good mood too.

“This isn’t a date, I’ve come here with business, you know?”

“Oh, come on! The gold mine isn’t going anywhere! Give me only two hours of your time! Let’s have some fun!” he said and, still holding her hand, he dragged her after him and he jumped off the cliffs surrounding Katabami Town.

“Good grief,” she said, letting out a long, suffering sigh, but she couldn’t even get mad at his exuberance.

⁂

“What is this place?”

“This, my lady, is the second-best restaurant in the world,” he said with an air of great importance.

“Let me guess: the first would be Ichiraku?” She asked as if he hadn’t told her about his love for ramen several dozen times before.

He laughed, not missing the teasing tone in her voice.

“Trust me, you’re going to love this.”

Konan adopted an unsure expression on her face as she looked at the rather shabby appearance of the restaurant, but she decided not to think too much about it. Naruto had never given her any reason to distrust him.

As they entered the small restaurant, the clerk’s voice welcomed them merrily:

“Hello, and welcome to the Curry of-”

But the boy suddenly stopped his greeting midway startled.

“Naruto-san?! Is that really you??”

“Ranmaru, you haven’t forgotten me!” Naruto also exclaimed happily.

“How could I? But it’s been so long, and you’ve changed so much! If not for my special abilities, I might not have recognized you!”

“You’re one to talk? You’ve grown like a weed! Look at yourself, you’re almost as tall as me now!”

The malnourished, gloomy, and depressed little boy was nowhere to be seen. Ranmaru was 14 years old now and he looked like a handsome and healthy teenager.

“By the way, this is my girlfriend, Shizuka. Shizuka, this is Ranmaru.”

If Konan was surprised by his lie about her name, she didn’t let it show on her face.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said and smiled slightly, going with the flow.

“N-Nice to meet you too!” the boy said, his cheeks quickly becoming red. He had never seen a woman as pretty as her in his entire life.

Picking up on Ranmaru’s sudden shyness, Naruto came to his rescue:

“What about obaa-san and Karashi? How are they doing?”

Still visibly flustered by Konan’s presence, the boy did his best to avoid looking in her direction as he said:

“Obaa-san passed away last year.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“She was very old. But I’m glad it was peaceful; she passed away in her sleep. As for Karashi-nii-san, he went to restock our supplies of rice. After the Land of Rain occupied our country, some things unexpectedly got better! Can you believe it?”

“Really now?” Naruto asked and exchanged a look with Konan.

“Yes, really! Karashi-nii-san told me that rice and fish are now almost 30% cheaper than before! I heard some of our customers saying that the Land of Rain has an abundance of food, so now that the Lady of Amegakure has occupied our country, we’re benefiting from that too.”

“How is that by the way? How do you feel about the Land of Rain taking over?” Konan asked.

The boy scratched his cheek with his hand and shrugged his shoulders as he said:

“I don’t know much about the country’s affairs, so I’m not sure what to say. But most of the people in our town are hopeful about it. The price of food going down is an incredible boon and, lately, the rogue ninjas who used to wreak havoc everywhere have disappeared too. All we can do is hope that these changes aren't temporary.”

“I see. I’m glad to hear you’re doing well. I hope the Land of Rivers will get better after the change in leadership. I wish I could’ve seen Karashi too if possible, but it is what it is…”

“You could always visit us again, couldn’t you?” Ranmaru said hopefully.

“Well, if you offer to treat us to a few portions of curry for free, I might consider it," Naruto said jokingly.

“You don’t ever have to pay us here!” the boy said categorically. “You saved everyone in this town from Raiga. The least I could do is treat our hero to a meal.”

“Okay, I hope you don’t go back on your word!” the blonde laughed.

“I won’t, I promise! Now, how about I serve you some curry? Karashi-nii-san developed an even richer and tastier curry than before!”

“Really??” Naruto said in excitement. “Then, please make for us two portions!”

“Alrighty~. I’ll be back in 10 minutes!”

As he led Konan towards a table and they took a sit across each other, Naruto said, all the while grinning from one ear to another:

“I promise you that you’ve never eaten anything like this before in your whole life.”

“That’s some really high praise. If I didn’t know any better, I’d be tempted to think you like this local curry even more than ramen.”

“Okay, let’s not exaggerate now,” Naruto said seriously, as if that was a line that should never be crossed.

“What’s with the new name? And who is Shizuka? What are you not telling me, huh?”

Naruto laughed awkwardly, trying to avoid answering, but, as Konan stood up slightly and leaned over the table, he found himself unable to ignore her persistent look.

“It was just a name that popped into my head at that time. Didn't want to scare Ranmaru by telling him you're Lady Konan, the leader of Rain and Rivers."

"Did you now?"

"Honest. Shizuka was just a girl who tried to kill me a year or two ago. I’ve never seen her since. I’d never go behind your back with someone else, I swear. You’re the only one-”

But as the corners of her lips curled into a smirk, he realized that she was teasing him so he stopped rambling.

“Do continue. I very much enjoy hearing you proclaim your adoration for me.”

“Not cool, Konan, not cool!”

“It’s Shizuka, dummy.”

“Right. Shizuka,” he said, fake coughing into his fist in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

Soon, Ranmaru returned from the kitchen with two plates filled to the brim with curry.

“Enjoy your meal!”

“Thanks.”

“Thank you.”

But after the boy left, Konan threw a long glance at the food and then at Naruto. The rice looked ordinary, but the curry on top of it had a violently red colour. The steam coming off from it was actually distorting the air above the plate.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go on, dig in!” Naruto said, putting his elbows on the table as he watched her, giving her his full attention.

At his egging, she grabbed the spoon and took a small portion of rice and curry, bringing it slowly to her lips. But as the spoon got closer to her mouth, her hand started shaking outside of her control.

She had been a kunoichi for two decades already, and she had been through many life-and-death battles in her past. All shinobi and kunoichi who had lived on the battlefield for so long developed a sort of sixth sense. Their instincts were as sharp as those of a beast, they could tell when their life was being endangered.

At that moment, the survival instincts that Konan had honed on the battlefield over the course of twenty years were warning her that something terrible was about to happen.

But, as she raised her head to look at her boyfriend, Konan melted at the expectant look on his face.

‘Ah, he’s adorable.’

She couldn’t find the strength in her heart to break his expectations. The thought of seeing his expression of enthusiasm turn into one of disappointment was unbearable.

Fighting against her instincts that were screaming danger at her, Konan took a deep breath and brought the spoon to her mouth, taking in all contents in one go. She didn’t even try to chew it or taste it, she swallowed everything right away.

An evil grin crept up on Naruto’s face when he saw her bringing the spoon to her mouth.

As she swallowed that spoonful of Curry of Life, Konan froze like a statue and dropped the spoon from her hand. Her normally pale face suddenly turned as red as lava. One second later, her eyes rolled in the back of her head, and she collapsed on her side like a sack of potatoes, unconscious, foaming at the mouth.

“Bwahaha!”

He was laughing uproariously. The more he thought about how her face had turned a burning red, the harder his sides started hurting.

“She fainted! Ahahah!”

He couldn’t stop laughing. He had never pranked Konan before so, despite the signs she had subconsciously picked up that something was wrong, she went ahead and ate the curry as he had told her. She had never suspected any foul play from him. (1)

⁂ One hour later ⁂

“Come on, Konan, don’t be mad. It was a joke!”

“I am not mad.”

“Kurama’s senses are telling me you want to kill me now.”

“It must be your imagination. Look at me, I‘m perfectly calm.”

To her credit, Konan’s poker face was perfect. If not for the ability that Kyuubi had shared with him to sense negative emotions, Naruto would have never been able to tell that she was actually boiling with embarrassment and a thirst for revenge deep inside.

“Now, I have to go back to work. We came to this town not for leisure but for the sake of checking the state of the gold mine. My subordinates are waiting for me there.”

Seeing Naruto let out a sad sigh, despite the mixture of embarrassment and annoyance inside of her, Konan couldn’t stay angry at him.

“We’ll spend more time together next week, I promise. For now, we have to go, okay?” she said and pressed her lips on his cheek.

⁂

Due to the fact that Amegakure had no reserves of coal, oil, or other precious resources, Konan’s subordinates didn’t have the expertise required to assess the state of the Katabami Gold Mine. As for the supervisors from the previous government of the Land of Rivers, Konan didn't trust them.

'They've been extracting gold from this mine for nearly a decade. How is it possible that after all these years, the townspeople still live in such poverty?'

Before her first visit to Katabami Town, Konan had expected a certain level of prosperity, but what greeted her were dirt and gravel roads, old houses in a state of disrepair, and thin and pale-faced people, most of them wearing rags for clothes.

'Greed, avarice, and corruption, that's how!' she answered her own question.

All the people holding management positions in the mine were fired and arrested. Now, they were awaiting trial. For the moment, all activity in the gold mine had been stopped, but it was necessary in order for her to find people that she trusted to manage it.

With that being said, the closest country with ninjas who had qualifications in the mining industry was the Land of Earth. However, with Ame and Iwa being on the brink of war after Naruto killed their Tsuchikage, it was impossible to hire anyone’s services from there.

That was the reason why nearly two weeks passed after Ame occupied the Land of Rivers before Konan finally got the chance to properly assess the Katabami Gold Mine. She had been forced to hire mining experts from the Land of Mountains which was located rather far away from the Land of Rivers.

“Greetings, Lady Konan. We have finished our inspection. According to our diagnosis jutsu, the concentration of gold in the material mined from the already existing tunnels is rather lacklustre. The true deposit of gold is located much deeper. We suggest digging to a depth of at least 300 metres.”

“What about the stability of the existing tunnels?”

“They need consolidation. However, that can be done easily with the help of a skilled Doton user.”

“At what depth is the water table?”

“I’m afraid digging deeper than 30 metres may prove challenging. This is the Land of Rivers; the water table isn’t far from the surface. If you wish to proceed with digging to a depth of 300 metres, you will need specialized personnel capable of dewatering the mine.”

[...]

As Konan became engrossed in her business talk with the mining experts from the Land of Mountains, Naruto decided to summon himself to Takumi Village via the Shadow Clone that he had stationed there. The things they were talking about sounded like a foreign language to him, he was completely out of his depth. Therefore, he decided to do something productive with his time instead and use that small window to allow the ninja tool craftsman to study his Asura Path for the sake of developing new weapons and devices that would aid the Rain Nins in the upcoming war prophecised by the Great Elder Toad.

Shortly after acquiring the Rinnegan, creating Shadow Clones had been extremely troublesome because all clones shared their sight with him, the original. However, as time passed, he became accustomed to it. Gradually, the number of clones he could use simultaneously without suffering from sensory overload increased, and he even developed the mental ability to tune out the visuals coming from his clones.

Nowadays, aside from the clones he would use in his daily training sessions, Naruto had Shadow Clones stationed in Amegakure, Takumi Village from the Land of Rivers, and at Ame's border with the Land of Earth at all times.

⁂

A few minutes after finishing her discussion with the mining experts from the Land of Mountains, Konan spread her large white paper wings and took to the air, leaving Katabami Town behind her.

She flew at a leisurely pace for nearly 10 kilometres before she came to a stop and landed on the top of a cliff, at the edge of a V-shaped valley.

“Come out. You can’t hide from my senses.”

At her words, the surface of the soil at her side turned into a viscous substance, almost like a swamp, and a monster-like being jumped out from it.

“What brings you here, Kisame?” Konan asked.

She had recognized the technique and its user before he even revealed his appearance. It was Hoshikage Kisame’s Subterranean Voyage Jutsu.

Shaking the wet mud off his clothes, Kisame changed his shark-like appearance back into one that resembled a human being more and strapped his large sword on his back.

“I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to sneak up on you, but it didn’t hurt to try,” Kisame said, his grin revealing his razor-sharp teeth.

Konan didn’t share his amusement. “I won’t ask again. Why did you seek me out today?"

“So cold. And here I thought we were comrades.”

“Akatsuki is no more. There is nothing tying us together anymore.”

Saying those words, Konan’s face and body split like a book fluttering in the wind, filling the sky with countless paper tags.

Not letting his guard down, Kisame immediately grabbed the handle of his sword and got into a fighting stance.

“I didn’t come to fight,” he said seriously, dropping the laid-back, joking tone from before. “I came here looking for answers.”

As the wielder of Samehada,  an S-ranked Rogue Nin, and a chakra powerhouse, Hoshikage Kisame was not afraid of anyone. However, fighting Konan was something he wished to avoid if possible, not out of fear but due to how time-consuming and wasteful such an endeavour was.

Unless he ambushed her when she didn’t expect it (which he had already failed), there was virtually no way for him to harm her due to one very simple reason: she could fly and her Paper Kawarimi made her almost untouchable as long as she had chakra. Meanwhile, seeing as he was grounded, he would become little more than a target for her paper projectiles and explosives. Konan’s skillset was a bad match for his.

“And what makes you think I’d give you any answers?”

“Look, we can either talk it out, or we can fight it out. It’s your choice. I know you aren’t weak because you’re the one who forced Sasori to join the Akatsuki. But they don’t call me the Tailless Tailed Beast for no reason. Your flying ability is troublesome to deal with but you don’t have a sure-fire way of hurting me either. Our fight is bound to become a battle of attrition, and I know that neither of us wants that now.”

Konan and Kisame were locked in a staring contest for ten very long seconds.

“I came bearing important information as well. Crucial information. I won’t ask for answers without offering anything in exchange.”

When he added those words, Konan absorbed the paper tags filling the sky back into her body and let herself float down on the ground. Kisame strapped his sword on his back again and relaxed his stance too.

“What happened to Uchiha Madara? I heard he was killed, but I find it hard to believe.”

“That wasn’t the real Madara. It was an imposter. He died at the hands of Uzumaki Naruto.”

“So what the Raikage said was true,” Kisame murmured, seemingly completely indifferent to hearing the fact that the deceased Tobi wasn’t who he had claimed to be.

“I answered your question. Now it’s my turn to ask you something: How did you come into contact with the Raikage?” asked Konan.

“After Uchiha Sasuke got duped by the Hachibi Jinchuuriki, I was tasked to capture him myself. It took me a while to track him down, and when I did, he proved to be stronger than I anticipated. Even without his bijuu, he wasn’t much weaker than a kage. Still, I had the upper hand up until the moment when he transformed into the full form of the Eight-Tailed Demon Beast.”

“At that point, my options were to either flee or die. But I chose a third option. When he fired a tailed beast bomb in my direction, I hid inside my sword, Samehada, and faked my death. Killer Bee took my blade with him to Kumo as a trophy, not knowing that I was still alive, watching and listening to everything around us.”

That new development caught Konan’s attention.

“It’s my turn now. What is happening with the bijuu right now? What do you plan on doing with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path? And what of the Eye of the Moon plan?”

That last question made Konan narrow her eyes at him.

“Who told you about the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan?”

“I knew about it from the very beginning,” Kisame said, shrugging. “I hate being lied to, used, and manipulated. Therefore, before joining the Akatsuki, I demanded that Tobi told me the truth if he wanted my loyalty. The full truth. So he showed me his face and divulged to me his real identity. I’ve known from the start that he wasn’t the real Madara. But I kept his secret because I agreed with his plan. So tell me, Konan, is this still your goal? Do you still wish to bring the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan to fruition?”

“The Eye of the Moon plan was never our end game. Pain and I have never trusted Obito,” she said coldly. “We never intended to go through with that madness. Our plan was to control the full-powered Gedo Mazo and inflict pain upon those who desired war until they all learned what suffering feels like. Until they learned to understand one another. We used Obito in the same way he used us. Our loyalty was never to him but to the ideals of the Akatsuki, the organisation that we had created.”

Konan’s answer made Kisame grit his sharp teeth.

“This word is truly full of lies and deception… You’re saying that the Eye of the Moon plan is ‘madness’ but how is what Pain desired any different?”

“The difference is that our peace would have been real, a peace based on people understanding each other’s suffering and pain. The Eye of the Moon plan won’t bring real peace. It would be just an illusion, a genjutsu.”

For a moment, the two of them sank into silence, their conversation coming to a lull.

“You said you have valuable intel for me, crucial information. So far, none of the things you told me were particularly intriguing.”

Kisame was a man of his word, so, despite the deep disappointment he felt at Konan’s answer regarding the Eye of the Moon plan, he didn’t back out of their deal.

“The Eight-Tails Jinchuuriki revealed to the Raikage the fact that the bijuu that the Akatsuki had captured are all stored inside a statue, the Gedo Mazo. They’re already suspecting that it’s a weapon. So far, they haven’t found out who owns that statue, but, all clues indicate that you, who used to be Pain’s right hand should know how to control it. You have a target on your back now, Konan. Three out of the Five Great Nations have set their eyes on you now.”

Considering that the Hidden Rain and the Hidden Leaf had recently signed a pact of non-aggression and a trading agreement, and the fact that Suna and Konoha had a strong alliance, it was clear to Konan who were the three powers targeting her now: Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure.

“If I said it was nice to see you again, I would be lying. Farewell, Konan.”

“Where are you going now?” she asked, her eyes narrowing at him again.

“To the other Akatsuki, of course.”

“What other Akatsuki? I told you, Akatsuki is no more.”

“Oh, you haven’t heard? Zetsu had broken Uchiha Sasuke out of Konoha’s prison. They are still calling themselves Akatsuki, and they offered me to join them… but, as I said, I hate being lied to and manipulated. And my instincts are telling me that Zetsu is hiding things from me. I cannot trust him. I had hoped that you would be willing to continue with Obito’s Eye of the Moon plan, that’s why I contacted you. I would much rather join your side instead of his. However, your refusal gives me no other choice but to go back to them. The Infinite Tsukuyomi is the only way through which peace could ever be achieved in our world.”

But, as Kisame turned around to leave, the air was suddenly swarmed with a myriad of paper tags, blocking his way.

“Are you really going to do this?” Kisame said, unsheathing Samehada from its bandages.

“Taking a page out of your book, you’re giving me no other choice, Kisame,” Konan said calmly. “How could I possibly let you go after you told me that you're planning on joining my enemy?”

She raised her hand at him and clenched it into a fist, triggering a chain of explosions all around him.

But, at the same time, Kisame also shouted:

“Suiton: Bakusui Shoha”

Just as the exploding tags mixed with her papers were triggered, a massive torrent of water poured out of Kisame’s mouth, creating a gigantic tsunami wave seemingly out of thin air and dousing all the exploding tags in the surroundings.

⁂⁂⁂⁂

AN: search on youtube “neji curry of life”, you’ll have a good laugh