Naruto: The Namikaze Resurgence

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I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

Philippians 4:13

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Happy New Year folks!

***

Drawing simultaneous breaths in anticipation, the squad's horrified eyes reflected the buried individual.

Their shared horror mainly stemmed from the notorious insignia etched on the headband; the symbol of Konoha.

Without further ado, Saruto motioned upward with his finger, and the pillar erupted, bringing with it the mangled carcass!

The light of the outside world outlined the maggot-infested features, and though dressed in mud and worms, the carcass was clad in the standard attire of a Chunin. Abundant worms slithered from the mouth of the corpse, and his lifeless eyes were hung open.

The team embraced a moment of silence for their fallen comrade. With clasped hands, Saruto expressed his condolences.

"Rest in peace," he murmured.

"Rest in peace," Kaede mimicked, and the rest followed.

After the short prayer, Genma addressed, "This is looking grim. Do you notice anything else?"

Kaede shook her head, "No."

She had long deactivated her mangekyo sharingan, as prolonged use would lead to irreversible damage.

Kaede felt a firm grip on her shoulder, and Saruto wisped worriedly, "Kaede, take it easy, okay?"

"Y-Yeah," Kaede stuttered.

As indifferent as she may try to appear, she was the most unnerved by it all.

"We should give him a proper burial," Shisui voiced, to which everyone simply nodded.

...

Taking refuge in the steep cliff, the squad buried the deceased ninja.

With time to spare, the team continued their search. They were several kilometres away from the Silent Ravine, and due to several signs of battle, they searched far and wide.

They split into several groups, and one of such was Aoba and Shisui exploring one part of the forest.

"Things would be much easier if we had a Hyuga with us," Shisui remarked.

He was currently kneeling, caressing the trunk of a tree.

Aoba, who had his back turned and was rummaging a bush, concurred, "I agree, and that was the plan, but apparently there's some sort of strife in the clan right now."

Standing up, Shisui couldn't help but follow up with a dejected sigh, "All this clan stuff and politics, why are there always these problems?"

Aoba turned to the youth with an incredulous expression, and quipped, "You tell me."

"Haha," Shisui laughed, before raising a hand that clutched onto a filthy kunai which carried a dangling ornament on the hilt.

Aoba's eyes widened behind his black glasses, and before he could say anything, Shisui intercepted, "If we had a Hyuga, we could've found this with ease..."

Tightening his grip on the kunai, Shisui inferred, "This belongs to Shinji-san."

...

Under the dull grey skies, the squad of 5 sought respite in a deserted region of the vast forest.

Kaede's lips turned dry as her flickering pupils reflected the familiar kunai resting in her clutch.

Under both eyes was a stained lining of red; it was blood.

The moment Kaede retrieved the kunai, she immediately speculated the site herself, thus, exerting her mangekyo sharingan.

Unfortunately, it came to no avail, and she was forced to stop due to the overbearing fatigue.

She felt a familiar grip on her shoulder, and a worried tone whispered in her ears, "Dear, I know how bad this seems, but please try to relax... I know how hard it is."

It belonged to Saruto.

However, Kaede seemed absent-minded to the message, her unwavering focus lingering on the kunai.

Genma and Shisui were conversing, studying the map and terrain layout to discern possible regions of skirmish.

Aoba was preoccupied with detailing the contents, alerting the Hokage of their findings, before handing the paper to Saruto.

Reviewing the data, Saruto hummed in satisfaction and performed a seal with both hands.

After waiting half a minute or so, the paper vanished, hinting at the deployment of the Hiraishin no Jutsu.

He had marked the table of the Hokage office during the last visit, and the aged man was also aware of the marking; it was simply to send messages faster to the Hokage.

Saruto was not as adept compared to Minato, which was the reason for the extended time.

While he had practiced and honed the jutsu to the best of his ability, it wasn't his primary jutsu, hence, he could never be as adept as Minato who poured almost his whole life into it.

Covering short distances was a simple feat, but long-distance teleportation has proven to be slightly challenging.

Saruto would have to wait several days to obtain a response from Hiruzen...

Or he could go to the aged elder himself to get news, but he abstained against it. He knew from experience that anything could happen in the small time frame while he was gone. There's no doubt that his allies were strong, but still, he had to be careful. Their lives were his responsibility the moment he had taken the mantle as leader. 

The climate seemed to dim considerably, and the rapid darkening of the skies hinted at an upcoming downpour. Hence, the squad sought refuge in a spacious cave.

Nobody was in their right mind to speak as they delved into deep thought, pondering on their next course of action.

They searched far and wide around the entirety of the silent ravine, but it came to no avail.

The only clue they managed to retrieve was Shinji's kunai. The ornament that dangled around the hilt of the kunai was what distinguished it from the typical kunai; it was an Uchiha emblem embroidered in a sword on its centre that pulsed with lightning. The ornament was made by Kaede herself. 

Even though it had lost its lustre due to the dense filth of the forest, without a doubt, that was Shinji's kunai.

The many scratches and mottles on the surface were testimonies to the valiant skirmishes it had endured with its wielder, but this time, the familiar wielder was absent.

Kaede's void black eyes reflected the weapon, and her heart raced in trepidation as she thought back on the horrid carcass from earlier.

Her agitation only calmed when Saruto placed a hand on her shoulder, and informed, "Kaede, I know exactly how you're feeling... But let's gather our thoughts. We can only take a step forward if we think rationally."

Kaede lingered for a moment, before shakily nodding her head.

Soon enough, the squad engaged in discourse, sharing the map that Saruto had handed earlier to observe the expanse surrounding the ravine.

The conversation started with the nature of the mission itself; that is to say, 'Operation: Mountain's End.'

2 squads had been dispatched, totalling 6 members. This was a conjoined mission after all.

Among them, 2 were Uchiha, 1 was a Hyuga, and 1 was an Inazuka.

Saruto and the rest concluded that an ambush had been incited at the forest near the ravine which housed the crude results of a campsite that most likely belonged to the Konoha squads.

In an effort to shake off the pursuers, the members must have scattered into different directions to shake off their tailers.

One of them ended up dying; the man buried in the Silent Ravine, while the status of the remaining 5 was unknown.

***

Soon enough, a rain shower could be heard outside, albeit lightly.

Observing the cloud formation, Genma commented on the weather, "We could still go on and survey the areas. I doubt it would be heavy."

"Agreed," Aoba concurred.

Alas, everybody agreed and traversed the barren landscape, doing their utmost to locate any more clues.

Hours had passed, and their efforts seemed to end in futility, but they persisted.

...

Genma's eyes widened, and ominously muttered, "Over here."

Everyone hopped around Genma, and a sharp exclamation rang in the air as the squad stumbled upon something less crude.

Reflected before their eyes was a clobbered puppet that seemed to be blown to smithereens. It was located through a small fissure wide through a menhir situated near a river.

"A puppet?" Aoba murmured, reminiscing the same puppet that they had stumbled upon back in the Twin Peaks Mountain, and the one Kaede had mysteriously abolished in the Silent Ravine.

The lifeless puppet was sprawled on the floor with several limbs abnormally twisted, while most limbs were scattered elsewhere.

Subjecting herself to visual strain, Kaede activated her sharingan. As she was heavily damaged both mentally and physically due to her [Neural Resonance], she was unable to use it for now.

As such, she proceeded with the sharingan in hopes of locating residual chakra, but there was nothing.

The chakra threads connecting the puppet had long been extinguished, and there was no way of garnering evidence with this crippled piece of scrap.

Shisui quickly deduced, "We're close. There must be more trails, and we might find something..."

Gazing skyward, he noticed that the area had significantly dimmed, obstructing their vision!

"Let's be quick. We gotta set camp soon," Shisui professed.

Everyone explored with vigour, until the midnight dew painted the velvet in a starry indigo.

As a result, the squad agreed to set camp in the forest...

Well, only Saruto proposed the idea, but the rest seemed to be in rebuttal.

"Camp over here? We may very well be in enemy territory," Shisui raised a brow at Saruto's idea.

The possibility that this region was enemy territory still loitered, shrouding the squad in grim apprehension.

They had even discovered a mangled puppet nearby which only added to the gloom.

Saruto raised his hands in surrender, and explained, "That is exactly the point."

"What?!" Aoba exclaimed. 

"By putting our lives on the line, you're hoping to lure in anyone that comes," Genma intercepted.

Saruto's expression became stern, and he nodded, "Yes..."

Then he shrugged his shoulders in nonchalance, "Well, let's see who has the gall to challenge us. We're a mighty team ya know."

...

The campsite was set, and the blazing fire in the centre bloomed with fervour, highlighting the 3 tents that were around.

Kaede, Genma, Aoba, and Shisui went to sleep.

Meanwhile, Saruto volunteered to play watchman for the night; everyone had agreed to survey in turns, so Saruto was first. He was seated on the branch, legs dangling in mid-air while he hummed a melody to soothe his mind.

It was then, he noticed something in the skies, almost blending with the night sky. Digging his hand into his pouch of shurikens, he calmly analysed the anomaly, and he was thankful he had not acted rashly. 

The figure's arms outstretched...

No, wings.

The figure swiftly manoeuvred through the branches, before gracefully perching on the man's shoulder.

It was a hawk with a mini scroll attached to its talon. Saruto's eyes widened, before he mentally remarked, 'Lord Third.'

*TWEEP*

The bird chirped in Saruto's ear before settling beside him, as though asking to remove the mini scroll attached to its feet.

Without haste, Saruto unwound the scroll, and perused the contents; it read as follows:

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Thank you for your service. The shinobi's family have been informed of the accident. I advise that you exercise utmost caution.

Take Care.

Lord Third.

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Saruto burned the parchment, and let the bird fly.

...

Several hours had elapsed, and the fatigue was slowly starting to build up in the red-haired man, who let out a yawn.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and like a knight in shining armour, a childlike tone appeased him of his suffering; "I'll take over, captain Saruto."

Saruto looked at the youth from his spot, and expressed gratifyingly, "Ahh, Shisui. Thank you."

Stretching his limbs, he moaned in satisfaction, while Shisui had already taken a seat beside him.

Both of them embraced the momentary silence, and finally, Saruto decided to break it; "It's been a long while, hasn't it?"

"Yes," Shisui nodded.

Saruto chortled, "So tell me, how's it like being a respected prodigy?"

"Haha, you're even more incredible sensei," Shisui blurted.

"Haha, I know I am," Saruto vehemently admitted with not a shred of humility.

"But one day, I'll be a lot more incredible," Shisui clenched his fist, looking at the man with admiration.

"Good luck with that," Saruto challenged with a grin.

Turning his gaze to the vista of the starry sky, Saruto continued, "Seems like while I was gone, you've earned yourself quite the moniker, Shisui the Teleporter?"

Shisui rubbed the bridge of his lip pridefully, and declared, "I'm better than you at the Zanzo Bunshin."

[Zanzo Bunshin- Afterimage Clone]

Veins bulged by Saruto's temple, and he snapped back, "I taught you that, ya brat. Plus, I'm still faster than you."

"Hehe," Shisui snickered.

"Haha," Saruto laughed

The duo relished in the momentary peace, and laughed for a while. They forgot about the mission, and indulged in this sense of peace and bonding.

And so, they conversed for a while until Saruto finally decided to get some rest.

...

Dawn had rekindled, and the squad immediately tended to their search for clues.

Hours passed, and they expanded their search domain.

Unfortunately, this time, they weren't able to garner clues and reconvened at their approved site to recuperate and strategise.

The scent of roasted fish wafted in the air, tempting the tastebuds of all, and causing their stomachs to rumble in protest.

Without further ado, they all started eating.

*FLAP*

A familiar flapping sound permeated in the air, and a shadow of an aerial creature was in front of Saruto.

Hovering above the squad was a familiar bird, which landed beside Saruto with a note attached to its leg.

"Hmm, what news do we have I wonder?" Genma questioned while indulging in the meal.

"Ha, imagine that the squad has returned," Shisui quipped while munching on the meal.

"That would be great," Saruto commented as he set the roasted fish to the side. It hadn't even been a second, but his visage immediately dropped.

Noticing his odd reaction, Kaede stopped blowing the steam that erupted from her meal, and inquired, "What is it?"

Allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, she leaned beside the man, and her eyes too, widened at the information. 

"What?!" She exclaimed. 

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3 members have returned early this morning:

Inazuka Miyori

Toshi Sendo

Uchiha Hiroto

The status Uchiha Shinji, and Hyuga Arata are unknown.

I suggest you return as soon as possible.

Lord Third.

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***

Sorry that it took so long. I was immersed in another project of mine, so this was kinda sidelined. I'll try to keep a better schedule. To be honest, it might be tight since I'm focusing on multiple things. I will try my best to keep a better schedule. 

I was also planning to upload more chapters, but they still require a lot of editing... Sigh.

If you notice mistakes in this chapter, feel free to let me know. 

Well, that's all. 

Cheers to a New Year folks!