1 Chapter no.1

"Leave it to the bastard to go running into the village infested with enemies," Naruto muttered as he leaped down the cliff from boulder to boulder in pursuit of Rokusuke. The village was set in a valley surrounded by cliffs on all sides with the mine situated in one end, and a large field devoid of any plant life full of graves in between it and the village. The ground itself was a depressing grey, adding to the gloomy atmosphere as clouds rolled in.

The five of them landed on an outcrop of rocks sitting above the mine. Below, who Naruto assumed were villagers went about toting minerals out. "I guess the gold mining business is booming."

Neji surveyed the area with his Byakugan. "Look!" Karin whispered, pointing at an elderly man that had fallen to the ground. The rocks in the buckets he carried on his shoulder spilled onto the ground. As the four gang members below surrounded him, Naruto slid his tantō a few inches out of its sheath.

"Wait," Neji interrupted him. "We shouldn't rush in."

"You do realize they'll just stand there and beat him, yes?"

"I'll handle it!" Lee exclaimed, shooting one fist into the air as he leaped up.

"Wait, you idiot-" Karin hissed. She cut off when he disappeared into thin air, making her facepalm.

One of the men on the ground raised his fist to strike the old man. Lee's fist slammed into his ribcage, making his eyes go wide as he froze briefly before letting out a strangled cry of pain and slumping to the ground. In mere seconds, the other three had fallen to Lee's fist, making Naruto shake his head before following the genin down. He definitely belongs with Sakura…

"You shouldn't have done that!" wept the old man. "Quickly, hit me too! Knock me down!"

"Um, excuse me?" TenTen raised an eyebrow at him in clear disbelief. Neji turned and activated his dojutsu again, while Naruto just rubbed his temples.

"They'll think I was responsible! If you won't do it, I will, they'll hold a funeral for me!"

"Wait! Don't!" Lee caught the man's hands as he tried to begin hitting himself. "What do you mean funeral?"

The man stared up at him with wide, terrified eyes. With shaking hands, he turned and pointed towards the village, cringing. "The Kurosuki gang. They came in and removed the men controlling this town. At first we were overjoyed, because they'd relieved us of the extorting taxes they'd made us pay, but their leader Raiga gives anyone who disobeys him a funeral and buries them alive!"

"Buries them alive? That's horrible!" Disgust made TenTen's shoulders creep up towards her ears as she shuddered. She'd love to deck the infamous Raiga a good one at that moment.

The beat of a gong filled the air. "Looks like they're having another 'funeral' right now," Neji said. Naruto looked up from handing Karin several exploding tags, watching several figures in the distance. "And it's for Rokusuke."

There were six men giving Rokusuke his sick "funeral", all of which had rudimentary shinobi skills but were quite easy to deal with. While Lee dealt with his friend, Naruto pried the top of the coffin off.

"O-oh g-god," Rokusuke shuddered out, sitting up with a pale complexion. "T-thank you so much. They were going to bury me!"

"Yep, kinda obvious, buddy."

"I'm sorry. I only wanted to help my friend." The man looked down in shame, shoulders hunched. "They buried him as we were leaving. I thought…"

A bit more sympathetic, Naruto patted him on the shoulder. "It's all right. I'd do the same if it were my cousin over there."

"Naruto, there are several more closing in on our position," Neji called.

"All right, Karashi," Naruto said, dragging Lee's friend over by the collar. He didn't trust him a bit. "Watch Rokusuke for us."

"A-all right!"

The five ninja leaped away under guidance of Neji's Byakugan, spreading out to take care of the figures he'd spotted as a mist rolled in.

Naruto recognized it- Zabuza used the very same technique. So he really is one of the Seven Swordsman? If he's as strong as Kisame or Zabuza, that might present a problem.

He mused to himself as he dropped down on his target, stabbing his tantō into a tree branch. Blinking, he lifted his blade from the bark and looked around. "That's odd," he muttered. He could clearly feel a chakra network directly in front of him- he should have hit it directly. The two chakras on the cliff weren't moving, so he figured that was Raiga and his right-hand- but what were the other gang members doing to hide themselves?

He paused. Oh, crap.

He could feel chakra shooting towards him over the ground like a snake, an acidic quality to it he recognized as very potent lightning chakra. There were mere seconds before it reached him at the speed it was going-

He jumped and flipped himself so he could perform a handstand, driving his tantō into the ground as the blade crackled with electricity. He balanced on the handle and gritted his teeth as stray shocks of electricity zapped him- he hadn't had time to switch it out for the Raijin no Ken, which would have blocked anything that made it to the handle.

"Your reflexes are quick, at least."

"GAH!" With a scream, he tumbled to the ground, nearly cracking his head open on a rock.

A suppressed chuckle. Scowling, Naruto shoved himself to his feet and pointed at Raiga in an accusing way. "Are you tryin' to kill me?"

"Yes, I'm trying to commit homicide from beyond the grave. Astute observation."

"What're you doing here anyway?"

"Bo-"

"If you say 'boredom' or anything related to it so help me-"

"Your little friends are unconscious, you know."

"Oh." Naruto stared blankly through the mist, watching the distant form of Rock Lee battle a much taller figure. "I should probably help that."

He took off with a new ghosty companion, resolving to give this Raiga fellow a good punch to the eye for nearly electrocuting him into unconsciousness.

"How the ever-loving hell is he fighting unconscious?"