Chapter 255: Flying To the Rescue
Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 255: Flying To the Rescue
"Yamato?" Naruto could tell, based on his chakra signature.
"He looks worried. You should open the door," Hinata said, seeing him clearly through the door.
As soon as Naruto unlocked the main door of his house, Yamato began speaking. "There you are! Why did you take so long to answer the d—" His eyes moved from Naruto to Hinata, who was standing right behind him. "Oh… were you two… busy?"
"Focus, Yamato… what did you come here for?" Naruto said.
"Right. The Hokage needs you in her office immediately. It's about Asuma and his team—they may be in trouble."
"Ino is in trouble?!" Hinata exclaimed.
"May be in trouble? So you don't know?" Naruto frowned. Ino had his Flying Thunder God formula with her. If she was in any real danger, she was smart enough to use it immediately.
"I don't know all the details. They just received a report, and she sent me here to fetch you. It's best if you g—"
"I'll send this information to the original. He'll take care of it," Naruto said. As soon as he finished his sentence, he burst into a cloud of smoke.
Yamato stared at it for a moment. "A clone?..."
"He has them all over Konoha," Hinata told him.
"But where is the original, then?" Yamato asked.
Hinata shrugged. She didn't know either. "He shouldn't be too far away. Anyways, let's go. I want to speak with the Hokage as well."
"But she only called for Naruto."
"In seven days, I will be Naruto's wife and the next Lady Hyuga. Lady Tsunade won't turn me down," Hinata said with confidence.
"...What?!" Yamato almost fell on his butt.
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"What happened?" Naruto jumped through the window of the Hokage's office.
Other than Tsunade herself, he also found Kakashi sitting on a nearby chair.
"See? I told you to leave the window open," Kakashi commented.
"Yamato said that Ino's team was in danger. But she would have called for me if that was true," Naruto told her.
"He would have told you that they 'may' be in trouble. We can't know for sure yet, but the chances are high," Kakashi added.
"Okay, explain," Naruto decided to hear them out properly.
"As you know, Asuma's team was sent on a mission to the northwest of Konoha. There had been a series of murders in several villages and towns in that area," Tsunade explained.
"Yes, I was aware of that part," Naruto nodded.
"We just received some troubling news from one of our agents stationed in the Hidden Waterfall Village. Their Jinchuriki has been kidnapped by two Akatsuki members," Tsunade said.
"The Jinchuriki of the Waterfall Village? That would be a girl named Fu, who holds the Six-Tails, right?" Naruto asked for confirmation.
"You are well informed... For a long time, the Waterfall Village has been our ally, so they've sent a request for help," Tsunade said.
"Did you send Ino's team to confront those Akatsuki members?" Naruto asked.
"Of course not!" Tsunade hurried to say. "As much as I trust in Asuma's skills as well as his team, we're talking about dealing with some of the most dangerous missing-nin on the continent. And we don't even know which Akatsuki members we're dealing with in the first place."
"Lady Tsunade may not have told Asuma and his team to intervene, but… the Waterfall Village is situated northwest of Konoha. In fact, the place they were investigating was very close to the border with the Waterfall Country. We could even assume that those murders they were investigating are related to the appearance of Akatsuki in the area," Kakashi explained.
"I see. So you believe there's a good chance that Ino's team will end up running into these dangerous guys," Naruto said.
"That is the case, yes," Tsunade nodded. "We decided to call you because we know that you can get there faster than anyone else. And if they've encountered the Akatsuki members, you are our best bet to defeat them and rescue the Jinchuriki."
"If you were thinking about the Flying Thunder God, then I can't use it unless Ino calls for me," Naruto said.
"Doesn't she have one of these?" Tsunade showed him the special kunai that Naruto had given her.
"She has something like that one, except it's inscribed onto her body. The way those work is that they have to be activated with chakra. Only then can I teleport to the location. I call those 'Rescue Formulas,'" Naruto explained, showing her another one he took from his belt. "These are different. They already have a sliver of my chakra in them, so I can teleport to them anytime. These are 'Combat Formulas.' But the downside is that they're only good for a few weeks, and then they have to be recharged or remade. The ones I left with Ino and you, those will last forever."
"I see… so if Ino doesn't activate her brand, you won't be able to get to where she is," Kakashi said.
Tsunade's expression turned grimmer. "Even my fastest ANBU squad will take over two hours to arrive at that location, and then they'll need to find the team."
"Just leave it to me. I'll handle this situation," Naruto told her.
"But you said that you can't g—"
"I said I can't teleport," Naruto interrupted her before walking closer to the window. "I have other ways of traveling now." He jumped off the window, but instead of falling down, his body remained levitating in the air. "Knowing the general location, I'll be able to find them in less than five minutes. The country is not that big."
"Hold on… since when can you f—"
Naruto's body shot out toward the sky and disappeared in less than a second.
"...Fly," Tsunade glanced at Kakashi. "Did you know about this?"
"I knew he could levitate a bit. But this is new," Kakashi responded, also wondering what else Naruto could do that they didn't know about.
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