"W—what is it?" – the shinobi squeezed out, who was about to speak out against the intruders, but suddenly froze in place. His comrades froze in the same way as if stuck to the spot. Their mouths opened in surprise, and their eyes widened in horror.
A giant wave was approaching the brave defenders of Suna, which appeared right in the middle of the village literally out of nowhere. Under other circumstances, the ninjas would have been delighted with such an amount of water, which in these desert lands had a much higher price than in other countries, but now, when all these uncountable cubic meters soared up and rushed at them in the form of a ridge, circumstances have changed.
Right before the ninja's eyes, the water demolished several buildings, turning them back into shapeless sand that settled to the ground, swallowed the residents who did not have time to escape and continued its movement with a threatening roar, only increasing in size.
— Who is able to create so much water out of nothing? – whispered one of the observers, who thought that the technique could be stopped with the help of some stone wall. However, the size of the jutsu raised doubts that this idea would work.
— Run! – the first Shinobi blurted out, whose legs trembled treacherously, after which, turning around a hundred and eighty degrees, he rushed in the opposite direction, shouting at the top of his voice to warn the residents who were in their homes.
The comrades did not become heroic and rushed after him, hoping for a miracle. And the wave was chasing them on their heels, destroying everything in its path.
"It's a pitiful sight," Kisame muttered, appraisingly looking at the place he had cleared, as soon as he and Itachi came out of the crevice in the wall, which is the only entrance to and exit from the Suna.
— So, you see, there will be nothing left of the village, — the second Akatsuki commented on what he saw, looking at the consequences of the technique continuing its movement deep into the Suna.
Suddenly, the water ridge shuddered, as if it had met some more significant obstacle on its way, and then the water crashed onto the sand, spreading over it, partially seeping into it, and partially evaporating in the scorching sun.
Kisame and Itachi exchanged glances, turning their gaze to where Hoshigaki's technique was interrupted. What they saw would make any treasure hunter choke on his own snot. It was a huge wall of gold, glistening in the sun. The incredible jutsu stretching across the entire breadth of the village, which neither Uchiha nor Kisame had ever seen in their lives, extinguished the Kisame wave at once. Akatsuki did not have time to approach the barrier, when suddenly it broke up into many shiny particles and, forming into a cloud, hovered in the sky over a half-destroyed village. A man in a black shirt and trousers with brown hair and lightning-throwing eyes, who appeared in front of the enemies as soon as the barrier transformed into a new form, himself stepped towards them.
Hoshigaki chuckled as he felt the hilt of the sword in his hand shake with impatience. This meant that their new opponent had a huge supply of chakra. And Samehada couldn't resist feasting on the energy of someone like that.
— Well, finally someone worthy of our attention has come across. Apparently, this is our jinchuriki," the swordsman said, licking his lips and throwing his sword on his shoulder. He did not take his admiring predatory gaze off the daredevil approaching them.
— No, — Uchiha disappointed him, carefully watching the man in black with the help of activated sharingans. – I've heard of a shinobi capable of controlling gold. It looks like it's none other than the Fourth Kazekage himself.
Shinobi stopped ten meters in front of them.
— You're not wrong, Itachi Uchiha. I am Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure. But I also have some information," he replied after hearing Akatsuki's last remark. "I know who you are. And I know that Konoha will pay well for your head.
Kisame laughed, wondering how their interlocutor managed to keep such a straight face at the same time with bold threats against his partner.
"And you, Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, will pay for what you did to my village," Rasa continued in an equally cold voice.
Uchiha squinted at his partner and found that Hoshigaki's predatory smile had become even more predatory. A sparkle flickered in her small eyes.
— Suna is in the hands of a real Shinobi. You have a lot of courage, Race. But keep in mind, your self—confidence will ruin you," Hoshigaki turned to Kazekage.
The fourth calmly shifted his gaze to Uchiha.
"I know why you're here. And rest assured, Shukaku is safely hidden, and you won't get it," he said.
— You talk a lot, — Kisame was offended by the complete disregard for his address. Itachi did not expect that he would lose his temper so quickly and rush forward.
The sword instantly jumped off his shoulder, a lightning swing preceded an equally quick blow, which seemed impossible with the dimensions of this weapon. But Rasa was faster and deftly jumped back a meter, dodging the attack a moment before the bandaged Samehada roared through the air.
The next moment, the Fourth Kazekage bounced back again, after which he jumped into the air, landing on a small cloud of golden sand hanging there. He raised his hand up, and then abruptly lowered it, pointing his palm at the enemies, and in the next moment all the golden grains of sand hanging in a cloud over the dilapidated Suna rushed into two Akatsuki, connecting with each other and turning into giant cylinders with sharp, spear-like tips.
Now it was Itachi and Kisame's turn to retreat, and several shells, without hitting the target, crashed into the sand, turning into several piles of gold. The fourth Kazekage did not lose his head and made several new movements with his hands, after which the golden sand figures flying from the sky turned into a single stream of grains of sand and instead of covering two Akatsuki, they began to surround them, twisting around the nukenins in the form of a whole vortex.
— Damn it! Kisame swore, wincing at the gold particles that got into his eyes. Itachi was smarter, so he just closed them.
Meanwhile, the tornado of golden sand surrounding the Akatsuki began to narrow, scratching the victims and stripping their clothes. Rasa grinned contentedly, knowing for sure that in a couple of moments the two Shinobi would simply turn into mincemeat. But suddenly a red-orange flash exploded a vortex of crushed gold from the inside.
Uchiha, as well as his partner, were unharmed. They were inside the rib box of a giant translucent skeleton sticking out of the ground to the waist. The demonic technique was terrifying in its very appearance, and also did not allow gold to get to Kisame and Itachi, serving them as absolute protection.
—Susanoo," Itachi whispered, a bloody tear rolling down his cheek from his eye. Yellow lights lit up in the empty eye sockets of Susanoo's ghostly skull, after which translucent muscle tissues appeared on the skeleton, and on top of them – armor and a cape. In one of the four hands, Totsuka's sword flashed with fierce fire.
Kisame, who saw this technique of his partner for the first time, looked in surprise at Itachi, who concentrated his gaze on the enemy, who continued futile attempts to attack them with golden sand from afar. The swordsman felt an unpleasant chill spread throughout his body. It was uncomfortable inside Susanoo.
Uchiha gave a mental command, and the ghost warrior swung his sword, dropping a formidable weapon on the Fourth Kazekage. But again the enemy was too fast. The cloud on which he was floating flew away, and Rasa was unharmed.
After casting an appraising glance at Susanoo, the leader of Suna decided to change his strategy, again making some passes with his hands. Before Kisame and Itachi could blink an eye, golden sand began to fall asleep on them from all sides, turning into a whole pyramid.
"This is bad," Uchiha muttered, guessing what the Race was planning. The only question was whether the sealing technique of the Fourth would work on Susanoo.
— I'll take care of it, — Kisame grinned, tearing off the bandages from Samehada and rushing towards the enemy. He jumped out of the ghost warrior through the gap in the pyramid of gold that had not yet had time to tighten and, surprising the enemy with a sudden appearance, struck a blow from which the hesitating Kazekage could not dodge.
The sword spikes ripped through the Fourth's clothes and left several bleeding scratches. He himself flew back and fell into a pile of his own golden sand, which, following the wishes of the owner, turned into something like a pillow.
Itachi, who was no longer threatened by the interrupted sealing technique of the enemy, dispelled Susanoo and jumped out before he was overwhelmed by the remnants of the jutsu Race.
"I'll figure it out," Kisame told him, looking over his shoulder. – Find the jinchuriki.
Uchiha nodded briefly and rushed to the surviving part of the village. The rising Kazekage wanted to prevent him, but a powerful jet of water crashed into him, knocking the man over again.
— Element of Water: Water projectile technique!
Kisame wiped the water dripping from his lips with the sleeve of his raincoat with satisfaction in his eyes, after which he swung his sword, which bared his teeth.
— We will have something to eat, Samehada. However, you have already managed to absorb a lot of this fool's chakra," the swordsman said, rewarding the Kazekage who was getting to his feet with a shark smile.
— What are you talking about? – he asked, putting his palm to the bleeding wound on his stomach and at the same time thinking over a plan for further actions.
— My sword has sucked a lot of chakra out of your techniques, which you showered so generously on us. I think you used up a lot of chakra, but for me it was just a warm-up," Hoshigaki informed him with bloodthirsty superiority shining in his small eyes.
The blue-skinned man grabbed the collar of his raincoat and pulled off the garment, exposing his torso and showing off his prominent muscles. Kazekage saw how the handle of the Samehada changed shape, stretching and wrapping around the wrist, elbow and shoulder of the owner. He thought that this was how the sword passed the sucked chakra to Kisame, but then he realized that things were much worse. Samehada merged with her master, and soon a creature appeared to the eyes of the Fourth Kazekage, even less resembling a man, but more and more resembling a shark.
Two sharks chasing Kazekage, and it was them, crashed into the barrier that rose from the bottom, dissolving into white smoke. And the third, slightly caught on the golden wall, floated on. Rasa saw the gaping jaws with many teeth, and then a terrible pain pierced his shoulder because it was into him that they pierced. The creature dragged him somewhere behind it, biting into the flesh, biting deeper and deeper into it. Blood oozed from the wounds, turning the water red. From the pain, Kazekage exhaled all the air he had left and began to choke on water. There was a whistling and ringing in his ears, the pain became so strong that it blocked all other feelings. Including fear.
Suddenly, the shark's jaws closed with even greater force, and the bone, which the small teeth had reached by this moment, broke. The predator swam away with the bitten limb of the Fourth, leaving a trail of blood behind it. And Rasa, who opened his eyes, suddenly saw Kisame appear from a bloody haze scattered in the water.
"It's time to die," he said, feeling fine under the water and realizing that the advantage was now completely on his side.
His tenacious webbed paw grabbed Kazekage by the throat, after which Akatsuki threw the already almost defeated enemy down, forcing him to crash his back into the bottom. Having met with sand, Kazekage raised a pile of dust, which mixed with water, which made it impossible to see anything.
But Kisame didn't need it. He felt the warmth of his victim's body, and remained at the bottom. He rushed down like lightning and, hanging over the man sprawled on the sand, grabbed him again and sent him flying upwards. The water killer did not lag behind the Kazekage, appearing from different sides and striking blows, repeatedly knocking out the last remnants of life from him.
Folding the seals, Hoshigaki prepared to deliver the final blow, using his favorite technique.
— The element of Water: Shark bom ... — but Kisame did not have time to finish, because his body was shackled by a cramp. It seemed as if the blood froze in his veins, and an unknown force squeezed his organs. Before he could be surprised, a giant bubble-prison burst, freeing two opponents from captivity.
The water spilled in all directions, soaking into the sand. Finally, Kazekage and Akatsuki were also on land. Rasa rolled over on his side with the last of his strength, and then on his stomach and coughed up the water that filled his lungs. It took some time, followed by convulsive breaths. The man gritted his teeth and, using the last remnants of the chakra, stopped bleeding from the terrible wound, covering it with golden sand. He sat down on his knees with difficulty and rested his surviving hand on the sand so as not to fall.
—Wh... what did you do?" Kisame, who was lying next to him, muttered without moving. His eyes were fixed on a single point in the sky.
— My gold… It mixed with the water when I came into contact with the sand. You swallowed gold particles, and with them I paralyzed your body. Now you can only move your lips," Rasa croaked. "And now I'm going to kill you if your friend doesn't bring my son back."
Hoshigaki forced a mocking smile on his face.
— Oh, so jinchuriki is your son? What a pity. This is a bad plan. You don't know Itachi well," Akatsuki informed his interlocutor.
— Kazekage-sama! Kazekage-sama! – shouts were heard from the surviving part of the village.
It was Shinobi and a squad of medics rushing to the rescue. A few moments later, they were already in place.
— Shukaku. Where is he? Suna's leader croaked.
— Mr. Gaara is nowhere to be found. Like the second Akatsuki, — Rasa received the expected answer.
Kisame laughed, but his laughter turned into a wheeze, and then a gurgle. Hoshigaki was choking on his own blood. In an instant, all his internal organs burst under the influence of the golden sand.
Kazekage threw a hateful look at the swordsman, whose body had left life, and then turned to his shinobi.
— Search the village again. And send out a patrol! He couldn't have gone far!
For the first time, the leader of Suna's voice faltered, because he doubted that his people would catch up with Itachi.
And a man in a black cloak with a pattern of red clouds was already outside the village. With a red-haired boy slung over his shoulder, who managed to threaten him with death and immediately immersed in the world of Tsukuyomi, he wandered through the newly risen sandstorm, leaving behind both Suna and Kisame, who sacrificed his life for the benefit of Akatsuki and their great goal.
***
Two weeks have passed since the return of our heroes from their first mission. They were allowed to rest for a while, but then, when the short vacation was over, they had to return to their usual business. These were daily training and missions inside the village, which any self-respecting genin could handle. But both Sasuke, Naruto, and Mikoto wanted to be in some amazing country again, to experience the spirit of adventure. Kakashi respected the desire of his students for new achievements, but all the time referred to the fact that they still have a lot to learn in order not to lose face on the next mission.
No one else remembered the incident that ended the first serious battle in the life of the Genins. Although sometimes Naruto caught strange glances from his comrades, however, he quickly forgot about it. It seems that despite everything they've been through, they still got along well. They found interesting topics for everyone to talk about, for example, how Kakashi-sensei looks under a mask, joked, walked…
Training fights with Kakashi-sensei became more fierce. Now each of the genins imagined what a real Shinobi battle was, and sought to become stronger as soon as possible. Sasuke and Mikoto learned how to use the sharingan awakened on a mission. Kakashi, either by coincidence or according to the original plan of the Third, turned out to be exactly the person who could teach them all the tricks of using dojutsu. However, Hatake has been silent about how he got this eye until now.
By another happy coincidence, the element of Mikoto and, as it turned out, the second element of Sasuke coincided with one of the elements that Sensei owned. Kunoichi, as the mission showed, has already succeeded quite well in mastering electric jutsu. And Sasuke had to learn the basics. He was determined to learn a new technique. Mikoto decided to develop her genjutsu skills, which is why she participated in training with the Kurenai team several times. Well, Naruto, who was not going to lag behind his comrades, continued to replenish the arsenal of his techniques, and he borrowed some from Kakashi-sensei. Thanks to the amazing sealing technique of Mito Uzumaki, Naruto didn't care what kind of element this or that jutsu had. He could just as easily seal it into a map and then use it in battle.
The third Hokage jokingly nicknamed team number seven the "copying squad", since each of its members could somehow copy almost any technique. The old man was convinced that Kakashi's team had huge potential. The only thing that was unclear was why he was delaying in order to send promising genins to a new serious task.
Late in the evening, when everyone had gone home for a long time, only three genins were awake, continuing grueling workouts. When the sun finally disappeared below the horizon, and the moon and the lights of the stars shone brightly in the dark sky, Kakashi was forced to say goodbye to his students and leave. However, some of them are also tired enough to continue tormenting their bodies and souls.
— Well, are you coming, Sasuke? Mikoto called out to Uchiha when she and Naruto were about to go home.
"I'll catch up with you," Uchiha replied.
He looked at his palm, then clenched it into a fist, concentrating the chakra in it. The fist sparked faintly with lightning. When this happened, Sasuke took off and rushed to the nearest tree, after which he struck him without hesitation.
— Chidori!
The lightning flashed a little brighter, and a small crack passed along the trunk of the tree. However, maybe it was an existing crack in the bark. It was so dark that Naruto couldn't figure it out.
"Here it is, sharingan in action. Sasuke managed to understand the principle of Kakashi's Raikiri, and he was even able to invent his own technique, almost identical to that one. But even with all this knowledge, he will not be able to use this jutsu until his body is adapted for Chidori," Kurama commented on this spectacle.
"My cards are much more advantageous in this regard,— Naruto agreed. "However, I'm not capable of much without training either."
Sasuke sighed and returned to the starting position, intending to repeat the technique until he completely used up his chakra.
"I'll catch up with you," he said, looking back at his friends and returning to his occupation.
"Why is he so persistent?" Naruto asked the Nine—Tailed One.
"Isn't it obvious? He doesn't want to give in to you, you idiot," he replied. — Or... to his brother."
Naruto shuddered with displeasure for himself, remembering the black shadow with red glowing eyes over the bodies of Sasuke's parents. "
Yes. At Sasuke's age, he showed incredible success. Unfortunately, your friend is far from Itachi. And if the one he wants to "destroy" is Itachi, I'm very sorry for Sasuke," Kurama explained.
Uzumaki thought about it.
"I believe in Sasuke. If he wants something, he will do it by all means," he thought.
— Okay, let's go, Naruto? Mikoto suggested, pulling the boy, who was immersed in a dialogue with the Nine–Tailed, by the sleeve. – Everything is the same as yesterday.
The blond man, returning to reality, nodded. Let Sasuke continue training as he did yesterday and the day before yesterday. In the end, it will bear some fruit.
— I'll walk you out, — muttered Naruto, nodding and having time to catch the eye of both Sasuke, who had suspended his training, and Mikoto, surprised by this proposal, who in the end just smiled and nodded.
"All right," she agreed. Saying goodbye to Sasuke, they wandered away.
They walked halfway in silence until Naruto, a little scared by Kurama's sudden rebuke, jumped on the spot.
"So you're going to go with your mouth sewn shut? Entertain her somehow if you want to arouse interest in yourself!" Uzumaki was surprised. And why is Kurama suddenly sharing advice on such a part with him? Does he really care what Naruto feels for the young Uchiha?
— What are you doing? Mikoto grinned, stopping under a street lamp, which made the artificial light illuminate her face and make her eyes sparkle.
The blond man was frantically digging in his memory. And finally, it dawned on him. He remembered that Mikoto always liked the tricks he showed with cards.
— Do you want a trick? Uzumaki suggested, and after waiting for an interested smile and a nod from the girl, he took a card out of his pants pocket.
Glancing at the drawing, so as not to accidentally create something terrible like an explosion, Naruto made sure that everything was in order and handed the map to Mikoto.
— And then what? – she was surprised.
Before Naruto's insidious smile betrayed him, he managed to fold the seal of concentration, and instead of a card, a bouquet of flowers appeared in Uchiha's hand. She jumped in surprise and almost threw him into the air.
— You should have seen your face, — Uzumaki grinned, thinking that he should come up with something even more fun next time.
Mikoto waved the bouquet threateningly, although she suddenly changed her mind and, smiling tenderly and standing on her toes, kissed Naruto on the cheek. Now it was his turn to be surprised.
— Well, Joker, here we are, will you surprise me with something tomorrow? – she smiled, pulling away and preparing to turn onto her street.
Naruto couldn't help but smile too. For a moment he was torn between surprising Mikoto with an unexpected kiss in return and rejecting this idea, but in the end, he preferred the latter, thinking that it was not worth rushing things.
— I'll think of something.