Kurobachi's POV (Nearby Shino's Group)
"There's no way I'm seeing things properly." Jibachi whispered angrily. "Not only are we not the only group here, but they have an Aburame. Should we rush in and kill the lot of them?"
Kurobachi whacked his younger brother roughly on the head. "Let me think, fool," he barked. Jibachi bitterly went silent, and as Kurobachi's peace returned, his anger stilled. Kurobachi used to be the next head of one of the most prominent clans in all of Iwa. Now, he was an old man.
His hair still held its darkness and thickness. He still uses his preferred split styling, and his stache and beard are as healthy as ever. And yet he felt each and every one of his years. Kurobachi's life had changed drastically after the last war. First, his clan had been nearly destroyed by the Aburame, then Irminsul by their own home village, and finally, he had been surpassed by his younger sister.
Now, his sister had claimed to have found a job to redeem the lot of them. Kurobachi, a proud member of the Kamizuru clan, could not ignore this. Even their petulant youngest brother was present. His spectacle-wearing blonde sibling had also sought to redeem their name.
Now, things have changed drastically. They had not only arrived at their destination, but Kurobachi had stumbled upon their hated rivals and a promising clan. A numberless powerful insect faction would do nicely for the Kamizuru clan. Even better, it may restore him as the rightful heir…
But how do you approach the situation? The ants seemed at peace with Aburame and the Hyuga. They seemed young and would surely be weaker than them, but the ants were unknown. If they join the battle, it may make things difficult. Already, his bees were struggling to keep the group hidden from Aburame's drones and the gaze of that woman…
"We won't attack for now. Make no mistake, by both our contract and the need for vengeance, we will kill the two. Part of our job is to eliminate any found humans and find new summons. But we have no clue how the ants will react. Send some drones in as close as you can. We'll follow and listen in, waiting for our moment."
"I suppose that makes sense, you grumpy bastard. As long as we get to kill Aburame, I'll wait. Makes this job worth it, finally." Jibachi spat. He seemed to think for a second before sending off some bee drones. "Should I not send some to find Suzumebachi? Our "fearless" leader will probably want to hear about this."
"No need. If we fail, she may succeed elsewhere." Kurobachi answered convincingly. He had to stop his smile when Jabachi nodded.
Suzumebachi didn't need to know… the glory would be his…*11*
Naruto's POV (Irminsul Wildlands - South Swamps)
Naruto sighed as he carefully hopped through the moss and vine-covered trees. The constant overgrowth and moisture made the branches slippery, slowing his progress massively. The heat was also unrelenting, and Naruto had removed his coat and tied it to his waist. His hair drooping slightly due to the sweat, soon Naruto was wishing he had been taken anyway but a moist, hot, nasty swamp.
Since his exciting run-in with the crocodiles, he had only seen a little wildlife. This was odd, as Muri had described it as a land ruled not by man but by various creatures. Yet other than his crocodilian foes and that arrant bird, he hadn't seen much life. Perhaps those damn crocs had run the others off.
Naruto closed his eyes and used his chakra to try to scan the area but felt nothing. With his surplus chakra reserves, Naruto had never been much of a sensor. But feeling nothing entirely was off; it was as if something was blocking it… For now, he was content to keep going until he found a clan, a friend, or Muri found him.
Naruto flinched, however, when he heard a whistle through the air. He paused on his branch, cautiously scanning for anything. What kinda creature made a whistling sound? Or was it simply his imagination? It had almost sounded like something cutting through the air. With a seal, Naruto activated the Personal Atmosphere and pushed air subtly throughout the area. Suddenly, he felt violent ripples through his wind nature chakra. Something was nearby and moving fast!
"Come out whatever you are!" Naruto roared as he drew Riptide. "I'm not in the mood for any games, ya know?!"
There was only silence for a moment before another whistle sounded. Naruto dived off his branch, landing on the water below as the tree he had been standing on was suddenly pierced straight through. Naruto glanced, attempting to catch an eye of what that had been before two more of it hovered before him making the effort for naught. They were mosquitoes but larger than most deer. Their wings were as large as Naruto's and moved so fast they were hard to even see. *12*
In an instant, the insects flew in, thrusting their sword like proboscis toward him. Naruto stood his ground, managing to track the speedy insects with ease. They were much slower than Gaara had been. He deflected the first proboscis with a flick and ducked the other, only for the first mosquito to return flying in while he was open.
"Bug off!" Naruto roared as he willed a massive wave of wind to slam into the insect, sending it careening into a tree in an explosion of body parts. He spun to dodge the second, managing to sever its wing as he did so, and with dept timing and massive strength, caught the thrust of the last. The force of the lunge sent the two sliding back as the insect tried to spear him through. However, Naruto kept his hold on it, and as they slowed, he frowned deeply, bothered with what he had to do. Another species that was aggressive for no reason. With this speed and power Naruto couldn't justify letting them leave. Less they become a threat to his friends later. Perhaps sensing the trouble it was in, the mosquito tried to pull its proboscis back. Naruto held firm, however, and thrusted Riptide into its body mercilessly. The insect shuddered horribly before falling to the ground. Naruto turned and panted as he examined the other dead and the injured mosquito. The blonde was shocked to see the last mosquito, even without its wings, attempting to crawl over to the blonde. While Naruto saw no great intelligence in its eyes, it clearly was full of nothing but bloodlust and hate. Naruto sighed as he slashed with his free hand; this caused a blade of wind to form and slice the head of the last remaining mosquito.
"Kami, I thought Muri said they would be attempting to bribe or capture us. Those damn bugs had no plans but to spear me through. They should be looking for summoners…" Naruto complained.
"Not quite." A familiar, deep voice sounded. With a silent curse, Naruto turned to see the same four crocodiles from earlier staring him down. In fact, their numbers had more than doubled; there quickly now were a dozen giant crocodiles offering crooked and hungry smiles. "Not all clans see humans as some great creatures. They can certainly be useful, but they taste good enough to be prey just as well as they can be help. I will not offer you mercy again; prepare to die, summoner; perhaps in your next life, you may serve the Krookorook clan as more than a meal." This decree brought a significant bout of laughter from the assembled crocodiles.
"That's where you're wrong. You were the one given an out, not me!" Naruto countered. "Besides, this isn't a good fight; it would be unfair!"
"Unfair. We know of the power of shinobi, as such I gathered all the members of our clan. While it will be overkill and lower the amount of meat I get, it will be worth it to finally try a chakra enhanced human." The leader of the group roared.
"Wrong again." Naruto sounded with a frown. He would prefer to avoid unneeded conflict, but the crocodiles would likely continue to follow him. Now, they have even expressed interest in eating humans. Naruto needed to ensure they wouldn't follow or potentially threaten his friends in the future. Naruto is required to end this… "I mean, it was unfair for you. Should've brought more, ya know?!" The Blonde roared as the crocodiles began to race towards him.
Lee's POV (Irminsul Wildlands - East Forest)
"1,996!" Lee called as he did Gai's infamous handstand push-up. It was a mere warm-up; a full workout would be untoward due to the situation.
It had been an odd couple of days for Lee. He and Sakura had been on their way to the Iron Fair to warn the others of their newly missing comrades. Before suddenly, smoke erupted around him; somehow, Sakura and Lee were utterly surrounded by unseen creatures. Whatever they had been, they were violent and had attempted to maul Sakura and Lee. Not trying to kill them for whatever reason, but disable and restrain them. Luckily, Lee's training had come in handy, and Lee had somehow managed to protect them both. Somehow, during the scrap and subsequent teleportation, they had been separated, both his foes and the beautiful Sakura.
"1,997!"
Unfortunately, Lee had been injured significantly. Fortunately, he had arrived in a friendly location. Lee had awakened in a random tree house surrounded by raccoons of various sizes. He had attempted to excuse his interruption but had passed out. A full day later, I had awakened. Apparently, the raccoon home I had stumbled upon was called the Okama. This was a hideout they used as a flank base of sorts. A summoning clan that worked to keep the balance of the Wildlands in check, but now somehow a clan was reverse summoning nonsummoners. Which apparently had been what happened to him and Sakura. Clearly one of the clans were intending to force a large group of people to be their summoners. This place called the Wildlands was in deep turmoil and now Lee was involved, luckily there was help coming from Naruto and an assembled team. Lee had wished to immediately venture out and find the others taken and assemble with the Recovery Team; however, he had been preoccupied by a discovery as well as needing time to fully heal. The raccoons could use chakra even better than he; it was not a shocking discovery, but it became such when he noticed they didn't use hand signs. Apparently, Summoning Animals used chakra differently. It was due to their chakra coils being nearly as undeveloped as his own. At first, a fact that didn't mean much, until Lee considered what that could mean for him…
"1,998!"
If Lee could master such a method of chakra use perhaps he could use it to boost his current style. Develop a style that embraced the Strong Style given to him from Gai. But also offered him the growth he so desperately desired. As a nonsummoner, the Okama clan wouldn't teach it to him, but they did offer him some very light starters. Merely to flow chakra and absorb it from the surroundings around him. It was shocking how intuitive it was for Lee. Typically, even using chakras for tree walking or water walking was somewhat strenuous for him. But he was shocked that he could do this new version quickly. And with the council of the Okama they had used the new knowledge to perfect his new technique. The very one he had failed to use against Fuu.
"1,999!"
With this in mind and with help on the way, Lee made a terrible choice. I want to spend the time before help arrives to train. It was selfish of him, in a way Guy-sensei would surely disapprove of. But Lee needed to become stronger. He could not deal with more failure. At least this way, he could finally face his allies in success, to smile not only for pride but because he was prideful.
"2,000!" Lee cried with pride as he shoved himself with enough upper body strength to launch his body in the air, deftly landing on his feet. He stretched to relieve the tension in his muscles. And happily hummed enjoying the fading rush of a good workout.
"Hey, hu- I mean Lee. The elder keeps telling me to be more respectful towards you humans. Especially since we'll likely be seeing more of you." A feminine and slightly annoyed voice sounded out. Lee could not stop the smile from blossoming on his face. Muuni was a female raccoon, and she had been assigned to keep an eye on him for the good of him and the clan. While the female raccoon clearly didn't trust him, Lee respected her youthful vigor. "Anyway, Human Lee, there appears to be another human. We hoped you could see if it is an ally. She apparently lost her headband."
"Excellent, it must be one of my friends! This is a most wondrous event!" Lee said excitedly.
"Or a random human. It is a female with brown hair. Sound familiar?" Muuni replied with her usual odd attitude.
"With buns?" Lee asked.
"What in the world is buns?"
Lee smiled at the odd creature as he and it continued on. Lee hoped it was Tenten! *13*
X-X
1.) I will admit that Kurobachi and Jabachi are basically OOC personalities. But even after checking wikis and watching the episodes, I can tell they don't have one. So be forgiving… please… lol.
2.) Mosquitoes are an example of a summoning clan so far behind that they are quite literally savage. They are only concerned with feeding and reproducing. Also, giant mosquitoes are low-key nightmare fuel.
3.) It's not Tenten lol. Also, some functions are being briefly brought up now. This will be explained further, but for now, it just gives some breadcrumbs for theorist types.