Of Bone And Ice - Chapter 15

Another year had gone by since the day Fuyona had returned from his mission. The Mizukage had even praised him for his efforts and his success. Fuyona was sad at the loss of his team but he knew no good would come dwelling on it, they all knew the risks and they all agreed to come. At least that was what he told himself.

Fu was given a new position leading a unit of his own Anbu members who reported directly to the Mizukage himself The station was on pare with the seven swordsmen its self and came with a lot of perks. Speaking of the seven only three of them were left. After a battle with a Might Duy of the hidden leaf who had used the eight inner gates, he was able to kill four of their members leaving only three left. Juzo, Fuguki and Raiga. It had decreased the military might of the hidden mist and they now held a grudge against the leaf.

Word had been spreading about the attack on the hidden leaf by the nine-tailed fox. Rumour had it that the 4th Hokage had even sacrificed himself to save the whole village and was hailed a hero. Of course, the higher-ups of the village were glad to hear of his death as it greatly reduced the strength of their village. Fu knew what that signified and knew that Naruto had now been born and the nine tails sealed within him.

A part of him felt sad as he never got to meet Miniato but he was also kind of glad as he was pretty sure if they met it would not have been for a friendly chat. Fu had received a summons from the Mizukage and headed to his chambers with his new team.

Once inside he was met by the 4th Mizukage and the elders of the village. The elders stopped talking as Fu and the others entered bowing their heads. The Mizukage told them to rise and they waited for his orders.

“As you have probably heard the hidden leaf was attacked by the nine tails and the 4th Hokage is dead. This is an excellent opportunity to strike.” The Mizukage said.

One of the elders also spoke up giving some details. “Intel shows that the new jinchuuriki is but a newborn child.”

Fu got an uneasy feeling and couldn’t help but feel he was about to be tasked with kidnapping Naruto.

“Your mission is a top-secret S rank. Kidnap the new jinchuuriki of the nine tails.” The 4th Mizukage said standing from his chair and walking over to Fuyona.

“Can I count on you to fulfil this mission?”

Fu took a second to answer. “Yes Lord Mizukage, it will be done.” He said deciding not to ask any questions. He had an uneasy feeling and couldn’t help feel like he was being sent on an impossible task.

With that Fu and his team were dismissed leaving the Mizukages mansion to make their preparations. Fu didn’t know anyone in his team as they were a top-secret Anbu unit and even their identity was a mystery. Instead, they each had a code name ȧssigned to them. Of course, they knew who Fu was as his reputation and age proceeded him among the other shinobi in the village. Fu had instructed his unit to meet at set co-ordinates where they would cross the sea to the land of fire in secret the next day. They all nodded and dispersed leaving Fu alone.

“So they want me to try and kidnap Naruto?” He thought to himself as he returned to his home to prepare his gear. “Surely the Mizukage knows the success rate of this mission is near zero. Is he trying to send me to my death again?” Fu spoke unobtrusively reflecting on his last mission given by the Mizukage.

He knew he didn’t have any option but was pretty sure the mission would fail. He couldn’t risk kidnapping Naruto and changing the path of the world to such a drastic extent. At the same time, he couldn’t risk betraying his village as death would most likely follow. No instead he knew he had to find a reason for this mission to fail but how?

He finished making the preparations and set off heading for the rendezvous point. Once all team members arrived they entered a small boat and set sail crossing the sea towards the land of fire. It was a full days journey at most but to do it unseen would take a little longer.

The others chatted amongst themselves and the current topic was the death of the 4th Hokage. “I’m sure glad I never faced him in battle!” One of them said with a little chuckle.

“Tell me about it he was a monster.” Another said behind his mask. One of the others who was a woman spoke up, “I saw him in action once back in the war… He was so fast… and handsome…” She said the others teasing her laughing.

Fu had decided to remain silent and instead meditated on the mission at hand. “Even if we were able to get through the hidden leafs defences and into the village it’s self they would still be facing huge threats. Not only was the 3rd Hokage still alive but also the Uchiha clan. It was as if this mission was meant to fail.” Fu thought to himself.

He was snapped out of it by his teammates as they asked a question. “Captian…” One of them said seeming hesitant. Fu turned to look at the three of them.

“Do you think we can pull this mission off?” One of the men asked. The other punched him in the arm. “Are you questioning lord Mizukage himself!?” He bellowed. The two started to argue while the woman stayed out of it, Fu decided that was enough and stepped in stopping them both.

“All I know is that we are to gather intel and retrieve the nine tails jinchuuriki if possible. Though I highly doubt we will be able to walk right in. At the very least you should be prepared for a fight.”

“I think lord Mizukage is still sore about what happened to the seven.” The woman said placing her hands on her hɨps. Everyone went silent for a moment before Fuyona spoke.

“The hidden leaf are known for their powerful shinobi they should never have let their guard down in the first place.” He said turning away from the others.

The others were a little shocked by his outburst and one was about to speak up, however, the other male grabbed his arm and shook his head knowing it was best not to. Fu had proven his abilities and was considered on pare with the seven themselves.

Fu sat back down and started to think about the upcoming mission. He was pretty sure they wouldn’t even be able to step foot in the village, his and the lives of his team were on the line.

“Do I have to make these decisions again… Do I have to watch as my men die?” He said under his breath so the others couldn’t hear him. The sun was setting in the distance and the others were preparing food for their evening meal.

Fu made his decision and sat with his new unit to eat. He had not long known them but he knew he didn’t want to see them die. They were forbidden to remove their masks and reveal their identity to anyone other than the Mizukage himself. Therefore they had to eat by lifting their mask just enough so they could place the food into their mouths. They all ate in silence and once finished the woman whos code name was Aka and one of the other men whos code name was Murasakino took the first watch.

Fu and the other man whose code name was Midori hit the hay to get some rest until it was their turn to take watch. Fu’s code name was Shiroi which meant the colour white. The others all also meant a colour and Fu had no idea as to why they were named after colours but decided not to think about it too hard.

Before they knew it the sun had risen and the land of fire was in their view. They docked the boat as they quietly approached the shoreline, it was hidden by a cliff and rocky terrain not ideal for docking but this way they would remain out of sight.

The team ȧssembled around Fu and they stayed low in the tree line as Fu pulled out a map of the land of fire. “Alright squad listen up, our current position is here on the edge of the land of fire given the speed we will be travelling at and add in time for rest we are about two days away from the village hidden in the leaves. It is imperative that we remain under the radar as much as possible.”

The others nodded as they listened to Fu’s plan and honestly, they were impressed. “We will move in formation B.” also known as a zigzag formation. “That way we will be harder to ambush. I will take lead followed by Midori, then Aka and last will be Murasakino. Any questions?” He asked as he rolled up the map and placed it in his weapons holder on his hip.

The others shuck their heads as Fu had covered every detail and left no questions unanswered. “Good, let’s move out!” Fu said as he used the body flicker to disappear and start the journey to the hidden leaf. The others followed suit and ȧssembled in the zigzag formation keeping the correct distance away from one another in case of an ambush. This tactic allowed them to move quickly but stealthy at the same time and if ambushed it also allowed quick reaction time and lessened the casualty rate of the squad due to the large spacing between troops.

The squad had travelled for a full day before they stopped to rest and so far they had encountered no hidden leaf patrols. They set up camp and they all prepared their meals for the evening, ration bars and food pills were all they could eat as a fire was out of the question and could give away their position.

They had all taken it in turns to keep watch as the others slept through the night rotating just once each. it was just before the crack of dawn when Fuyona had given the orders to move out. It was a smart decision to move out before first light allowing them to gain more ground hidden in the darkness.

They were still a day away from the hidden leafs boarders and now had to be more careful. The damage from the nail tails attack could be seen from even this far out, Fu could only imagine how much damage it had done to the village its self and how many lives were lost. Fu was sure it was a 50/50 whether they had increased border patrols or whether all units had been gathered in the village to help with the cleanup.

Fu felt a sudden jolt run down his spine

as he stopped and halted his team, not a second later a storm of shuriken rained upon them blocking out the light as they fell from the sky.

The other Anbu members drew their weapons as fast as they could, “There is too many!” Aka shouted sounding a little panicked.

Fuyona quickly made the hand signs and domes of ice formed around him and his teammates protecting them from the storm of shuriken. Once it was over the ice shattered and Fu shouted orders. “Back to back now!” All of them did as they were told forming a back to back-formation ready for what came next.

A man dressed in the hidden leaf flak jacket with dark pants and a long-sleeve shirt landed on a tree branch overlooking Fu and the others. “Well, it seems you were able to defend against my shadow shuriken storm.” He said in a gruff voice.

The man had dark hair which he wore in a topknot and dark eyes with pronounced tear troughs, Fu also noticed that his arm sleeve was emblazoned with the symbol of the hidden leaf Police Force. Which meant only one thing.

“Be on your guard this guy is a member of the Konoha police force meaning he is an Uchiha,” Fu said as he focused his chakra ready for an attack.

Suddenly two more Konoha shinobi appeared next to the Uchiha one was a woman who had silver hair and red fang marks down her cheeks, she wore the standard Konoha battle gear same as the Uchiha. It was obvious she was a member of the Inuzuka clan as she was accompanied by a massive black war dog with scars down its face and on its huge ċhėst. It was a massive black mastiff of some kind and it looked battle-hardened.

“Man your as fast as always Yakumi.” The woman said as she crossed her arms over her ċhėst looking down at us with a vicious smile. “Well look what the cat dragged in.” She said her eyes hungry for battle. The large beast of a dog next to her snarled as if saying something itself.

The other was a large man that looked kind of plump almost fat, Fuyona recognized that he was a member of the Akimichi clan. He is very robust and wears a samurai-like outfit with the kanji for “food” on the front of his battle armour. He covers his medium, green spiky hair with a Konoha forehead protector that he wore like a bandana.

“looks like hidden mist tracker units…” He said in a deep voice. Yakumi nodded and crossed his arms over his ċhėst.

“What are you doing so close to our village?” He said waiting for an answer.

Fu decided to stay quiet and it seemed to piss the female Inuzuka member off. “Forget it Yakumi lets just finish them right here and drag them back for interrogation.”

“Calm down Hara, it won’t be that easy you know?” The Akimichi clan member spoke. Yakumi who seemed to be the leader nodded in agreement with the fat one. “Toujou is right Hara, but still, we can not let them go any further.” He said his eyes suddenly turning red as he activated his Sharingan.

“Don’t look into his eyes no matter what!” Fu shouted to his team stressing the matter. The others felt tense at the fact their captain seemed stressed himself.

Fu had a lot of quick thinking to do, not only did he quickly have to weigh up the enemies strengths and abilities but his own squads, deciding who was best suited to take on who. Fu had read each file about each member of his squad and knew all of their strengths and weaknesses now he had to decide what to do with them.

Aka who was the sole female of the group was skilled in ninjutsu mainly water style she was a long-distance combat expert and wouldn’t fare well against any of the hidden leaf forces in front of them. Next was Murasakino who was a large well-built man his strengths lying in Taijutsu and Kenjutsu taking advantage of his physical strength. He was also well versatile in earth style and water style. He was best suited to take on the Akimichi guy as his abilities were mostly physical.

Last was Midori who was the other male in Fu’s unit, he was an all-rounder and didn’t specialize in any area but was more a jack of all trades. That made him best suited to take on the Inuzuka and her war hound Fu would also have Aka support him from the back as Fu had a bad feeling about her ninja hound. He looked pretty strong.

That left the Uchiha and Fuyona himself, truth be told he had wanted to see just how strong the Uchiha were and wanted to fight this guy one on one to test his abilities against the famed Sharingan.

“Alright listen up you lot!” Fu shouted gaining the attention of his squad. “Aka and Midori will take the woman and hound, Aka you support Midori from the rear and try and keep the Ninken separated from its master. Murasakino you take the fat one from the Akimichi and watch out he will be very strong.” He finished taking a breath.

“But captain what about you?” Aka asked.

“I’ll handle the Uchiha by myself. Now get ready!” He said lowering his stance. “Now!” He shouted as he rushed towards his adversary ready for battle.

Fu locked into a kunai clash with the Uchiha making sure to only look at his ċhėst and not his face. “You’re young for a blood mist Anbu kid,” Yakumi said as he was surprised by Fu’s strength. Fu smiled from behind his mask and suddenly his body started turning into ice taking Yakumi by surprise.

“What the hell?” He shouted as his Sharingan spotted that it was an ice clone. Fu had secretly allowed one of his ice clones to lead the squad the whole time while he kept well at the back just in case something like this happened.

BOOM! The ice clone suddenly exploded and razor-sharp icicles shot out in all directions, Yakumi with the use of his Sharingan was about to jump out of the way at the last second and deflect all the projectiles that came his way. He landed smoothly on a large tree branch and suddenly Fu was on him pressing the attack.

Yakumi was only still alive thanks to his Sharingan as Fu was spinning and attacking with bones that suddenly sprouted from every area of his body and then suddenly disappeared just as fast. It was almost too much to keep track of but Yakumi was able to pull it off. He blocked and dodged with supreme skill Fu’s attacks only grazing him at most as he struggled to land a blow.

“Fire style, fireball jutsu!” He shouted as he unleashed a large ball of fire heading right towards Fuyona. He was expecting as much as he already knew that the Uchiha were well versed in fire style.

Forming his own hand signs he quickly raised a huge wall of water to protect from the fireball. “Water style water wall!” He shouted as the amount of water became greater and extinguished the fire style with ease.

“That’s not all, Water style giant vortex jutsu!” Fuyona shouted as he formed the hand signs with the utmost speed and skill. Yakumi landed back down on a tree branch and could see Fuyona making the hand signs rapidly. “I have to counter it or I’m done for!” He shouted as he started quickly forming his hand signs.

“Earth style, mud wall!” He shouted as he flipped backwards landing on the ground and slamming his hands down. A wall of solid earth erected out of the ground just in time to protect him from the massive water style that Fuyona had unleashed.

Meanwhile…

Aka and Midori had charged into battle with the Inuzuka and her Ninken Midori had taken the lead while Aka stayed at the back to help support him. “Hidden mist jutsu!” She shouted as she made the signs allowing the mist to cover the area they were doing battle in.

The Inuzuka woman smiled, “You see that Ryōken, they think if we can’t see them we can’t find them. Let’s show them what we are made of!” She shouted as she kneeled down onto all fours.

The large dog barked as it did the same bearing its large fangs. “Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry all-Fours Jutsu!” She shouted as her chakra became wilder, her teeth grew sharp and her nails turned into claws. “Now Ryōken let’s go!” She shouted as she suddenly disappeared from view.

Aka had lost track of both her and the Ninken and placed her back against a large tree for cover. “Where in the hell did they go?” She said quietly to her self.

She spotted a red glow through the mist and ducked at the last second. It was Ryōken, he had charged through the mist at high speed and gone for the kill with his massive fangs. Aka had avoided the blow and the tree that Ryōken sank his chakra enhanced bite into was toppling over the force of it slamming against the ground caused the mist to disperse and all was visible again.

Ryōken was back on the attack and growled as it circled Aka with vicious intent. “Did you really think we couldn’t find you in that mist, Our sense of smell is well beyond that of what your pitiful mist can hide,” Hara said as she slashed Aka in the back with her razor-sharp nails. Ryōken darted in for the attack from the other side to finish her but Midori appeared in front of the beast blocking its bite with his sword. To his surprise, he was being pushed back by the Ninkens strength and turned to Aka, “Now!” He shouted quickly turning back to the Ninken that was gained ground on him.

“Right! Water style..” She was cut off as Hara suddenly darted back hitting Aka again knocking her to the ground and darting off again. “I don’t think so bitch!” She shouted as she vanished once more. She was using standard hit and run tactics taking advantage of her speed.

The Ninken snapped Midori’s sword and sank his fangs into his shoulder getting a loud scream. Suddenly Midori burst into white smoke his shadow clone undoing from the damage from the Ninken.

Ryōken growled and quickly jumped high into the air avoiding a jumping slash attack from Midori who quickly rushed to Aka picking her up and rushing off trying to gain some ground. “Come on Aka wake up I cant beat these two alone!” He shouted as

he carried her unconscious body further into the forest.

“Fang over fang!”

Suddenly a rapid body of rotating razor-sharp fangs and claws zoomed past Midori clipping his arm causing him to drop Aka. “Shit!” He shouted as he turned around ready for the second attack that was incoming.

He pulled out four shurikens and infused them with lightning style chakra quickly tossing them into the ground to form the corners of a square. “You fell for it!” He shouted as he quickly made the hand signs. “Lightning style lighting box!”

As Hara and Ryōken spun into the square using the fang over fang they were suddenly encased in a lighting field that formed a box trapping them, failing to stop in time they hit the barrier and were both electrocuted and slammed to the ground hard. Hara had taken a hard hit and couldn’t move for the moment while Ryōken was already up and was glaring at Midori.

“It’s over there is no escape from this jutsu, if you touch the barrier you will be fried,” Midori said as he walked over to Aka who was slowly getting up.

“you ok?” He asked as he helped her up. She looked at him and nodded, “Yeah I’m okay, thanks.”

Ryōken suddenly jumped at the barrier wall and the lightning started zapping the beast with all its power. “I’ll say that mut sure is strong…” He was cut off as the Ninken broke through the lightning barrier and charged right for him its massive chakra enhanced fangs ready for the kill.

“Look out!”

Murasakino was currently locked in a contest of strength with the Akimichi both of there hands and fingers were locked in a power struggle both trying to gain ground on the other. “Give it up fat boy!” Murasakino Shouted trying to taunt his opponent.

The Akimichi member suddenly went red in the face as he lost his concentration for a second, that was all Murasakino needed though. He smashed his knee into Toujou’s gut knocking the wind out of him. “Earth style stone fist!” He shouted as he smashed his fist that was reinforced by earth style chakra into Toujou’s face sending him flying through the air smashing into a tree hard.

“Ha! Is that all you got?!” Murasakino said as he cracked his knuckles. Toujou pulled himself out of the tree he had been stuck in and spat blood onto the floor. “You’ll pay for that!” He shouted. “Expansion jutsu!” Toujou shouted as both his arms and legs grew very large. He lunged rapid towards Murasakino and slammed one of his huge fists into him.

Murasakino had crossed both his arms across his body to try and block the attack but the force was too great and he was sent flying through the air crashing into the ground and skidding along it. He didn’t have much time to react as Toujou was on him again using his massive legs to increase his jumping power and then attacking with the power of his arms it was surprisingly effective.

Murasakino rolled out of the way the shockwave of the blow smashing the ground he was just led on. He quickly punched both hands into the soft ground pulling them back out covered in solid earth and rock. “Earth style stone gauntlets jutsu!” He said as he pulled his arm back smashing his fist against Toujous fist evening the playing field.

The two of them exchanging blow for blow their fists clashing against each other in a vicious contest of strength. Toujous fists were battered and bleeding after clashing with the solid stone gauntlets around Murasakino’s fists, thanks to the chakra enhancement they were as strong as steel and Toujou of the Akimichi clan had yet to put a scratch on them and Murasakino pressed his advantage landing a huge body hook to the liver stunning Toujou and then following through with a big right hand to the face sending him flying through the air.

Toujou hit the ground hard and bounce rolling like a ragdoll until he was able to stop on his hands and knees. He couched up blood from the body shot and was pretty sure his liver had been ruptured from the blow. “I only have one chance left or its over…” he said breathing heavily.

Murasakino walked over slowly banging his stone fists together, “Looks like your finished fat boy.” He said mockingly.

Toujou exhaled hard and spat out more blood onto the ground. “It’s not over…” He mumbled.

“What was that fat boy?” Murasakino said not quiet hearing him.

“I SAID IT’S NOT OVER! SUPER EXPANSION JUTSU!” He screamed at the top of his lungs as he slapped his hands together focusing all his chakra suddenly growing into a giant towering over even the trees in the forest.

Murasakino was knocked back by the force of his chakra alone and was forced to look up in fear as his giant opponent stood before him ċȯċking his fist ready to smash it into his opponent with all his might.

Murasakino was unable to dodge the blow and the force of it crushed him breaking every bone in his body killing him instantly, the shock wave of the blow smashed a huge creator into the ground and unearthed trees sending them scattering into the distance.

The force of the blow even interrupted Fuyona’s battle with Yakumi Uchiha sending both of them flying through the air, Fu was headed for a large tree and quickly formed an ice mirror to catch him and then slip out onto the ground to safety, Yakumi was not so lucky and was forced to pull out a grappling hook and attach it to a thick tree truck until the shock wave passed.

“Looks like Toujou finished things off over there,” Yakumi said as he recovered turning to find Fuyona standing in front of him. Fuyona made a single hand sign and ice mirrors formed around them both like a dome caging the two inside.

“This is the end for you Uchiha, not even your Sharingan will protect you from this jutsu,” Fuyona said as he slipped into one of the mirrors his reflection appearing in all of them.

Yakumi took a defensive position with his kunai raised his eyes flickering from mirror to mirror trying to work out where the real one was.

“This kid’s abilities are too strong for me to take on alone…” He thought as he suddenly saw movement. Out of each mirror, a clone of Fuyona appeared surrounding Yakumi.

“These are solid clones what the hell is this kid planning?” He said as he Sharingan noticed the unstable chakra inside each of them like the one that exploded on him.

“It’s no use, you can’t escape from this jutsu,” Fuyona said his voice echoing around the ice prison.

“This jutsu will use a large amount of chakra but it is the only way I can defeat him quickly…” Fu said to himself. Yakumi took one last look around trying to find a way out even looking to use his earth style for a way out, “Damn this brat he has even frozen the moisture under the ground to stop me escaping underground… I can’t escape this.”

All of Fu’s ice clones charged into attack Yakumi quickly exploding at the same time sending sharp icicles flying in all directions Fu had even linked all of the mirrors so when the icicles flew into one of the mirrors they flew out another one almost creating a never-ending barrage of ice spikes only stopping when they hit their target.

Yakumi was unable to defend against such an attack and was ripped to shredding being skewered at all angles finally hitting the ground once all of the projectiles had hit him.

To Fu’s surprise, he was still alive taking his last breaths. Fu noticed his Sharingan was still active and was careful not to look into his eyes until the very end. The thought crossed his mind rather suddenly that he could take the Sharingan eyes for himself and he was sure they would come in handy in the future, after all, it was one of the most OP abilities in this world.

Fu had released his jutsu so not to waste anymore chakra and kneeled down over Yakumi’s body. He reached out his fingers extended about to gouge out Yakumi’s eyeballs when Fu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, jumping high into the air he was able to dodge as sudden lightning thrust attack.

Fu flipped in the air and landed in a spiderman pose looking at his new enemy. “Kakashi Hatake….” He muttered under his breath.