Temporary Alliance

If you were wondering why Kurotsuchi was so willing to work with Konoha Shinobi out of all people, the answer was simple.

They're working together to prevent a Great Ninja War from happening. The world doesn't need a world war, every single Great Nation has a shortage of war potential, even Kumo who is still amassing power and Kurotsuchi would much rather not face Konoha or Kumo Shinobi.

Currently, they were rushing through the forests of Konoha trying to find Gantetsu. Unfortunately for them, they found no sign of them.

And it was getting late so they decided to camp out for the night. There was awkward around the atmosphere as Iwa and Konoha Shinobi sat around the campfire.

Kurotsuchi subtly looked at Kakashi who noticed her stare but didn't say anything. She remembered that Kakashi's sensei, Minato was the one who destroyed Kanabi Bridge in Kusagakure with, cutting off Iwagakure's supply line in its war with Konoha.

Remembering about Minato made her remember about that time where the man single-handedly stopped an invasion consisting of a thousand Iwa shinobi. His stunning actions made her grandfather, the Third Tsuchikage accept the peace treaty.

Remembering about that one sided battle made her remember about her mother who was killed in it. She then looked at Naruto who was roasting some marshmallows while staring at the fire with a bored expression.

'He kinda looks like the Fourth Hokage with the blonde hair and blue eyes.' Kurotsuchi pointed out before opening her mouth to speak to him.

"What's with those whiskers, blondie?" Kurotsuchi asked while pointing at Naruto's three whisker marks on each side of his cheeks. Naruto smiled at her. He got a good look at her. Kurotsuchi has short, black hair and distinctly pink eyes which are accentuated by her eyelashes running upwards at the corners.

She wears the standard attire of the Iwa-nin consisting of a red uniform with her right sleeve missing and a lapel over her right leg, the brown Iwagakure flak jacket, fishnet tights and a skirt over them. She also wears regular shinobi sandals and a pair of gloves.

"I had it since I was born. And it's not Blondie, it's Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konoha!" Naruto declared confidently. Kurotsuchi snorted at Naruto's name.

"Naruto? Like the swirly fish cake?" She asked with an amused smirk on her face. Naruto blushed in embarrassment before scowling at her.

"It means Maelstrom damnit." Naruto grumbled while crossing his arms, making Kurotsuchi giggle.

"You know, your name reminds me about a guy in a novel I read a week ago. It's called The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi written by Jiraiya of yhe Sannin. " Kurotsuchi revealed. Kakashi tilted his head at the mention of Jiraiya's name.

"I've never heard of that book before. When was it released?" Kakashi asked her. Kurotsuchi shook her head.

" It stopped being sold at book stores a long while ago. The book sold poorly, and nobody attended the book signing. I'm lucky enough to have it. " Kurotsuchi explained.

" What's it about? " Naruto asked, getting interested about it.

"The story follows the adventures of a ninja named Naruto that vows to free the world from a cycle of hatred. Naruto never gives up and vows to break the 'curse', which represents the cycles of war, conflict, and hatred that occupies the ninja world." Kurotsuchi explained to him.

" That sounds like a fun book to read! Can I borrow it for a while? " Naruto asked, making Kurotsuchi laugh loudly. Kakashi was very amused by Naruto's question.

"How the hell am I gonna do that, Naruto? I live in Iwa and you in Konoha. And I don't think Iwa will allow Konoha Shinobi to enter. Sorry." Kurotsuchi smiled wryly at Naruto's disappointed expression.

"Nah, it's alright. Maybe there's a few copies left, I'll try to find them so that I won't need to ask you to borrow it to me anymore! Believe it!" Naruto suddenly brightened up and grinned broadly at Kurotsuchi, surprising her and Akatsuchi at how fast he can change his emotions.

"Whatever you say, Blondie." Kurotsuchi smiled at him as Naruto got angry again at his nickname.

"It's not Blondie goddammit! It's Naruto!!"

.

.

.

The next morning, the Konoha and Iwa Shinobi quickly ate breakfast and cleaned up the camp they made before continuing on their chase after the missing-nin.

Naruto had sent a group of Shadow Clones to scout ahead for the man. Kurotsuchi was surprised when he used the Jutsu. She thought it was supposed to be chakra taxing, so how was the blonde able to create 5 of them and still keep going like he never lost an ounce of his chakra?

She shrugged it off and set off with Akatsuchi by her side and the Konoha Shinobi jumping from tree to tree alongside them.

Naruto widened his eyes as he received memories from his Shadow Clones. Je processed them and looked at Kakashi sensei.

"Sensei! He's hiding in a cave not far from here! The clones dispelled before he could find out about us so we still have the element of surprise on our side! " Naruto reported. Kakashi nodded.

" Well done, Naruto. Are you all ready?" Kakashi asked the Iwa Shinobi, Sakura and Satsuki. All of them nodded back at him with serious expressions on their faces.

Naruto raised his hand. "I got a plan."

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"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!!"

Gantetsu widened his eyes as he looked at a large fireball that came out of nowhere heading his way. He jumped back to avoid getting killed by the fireball.

While he was in the middle of jumping back, Sakura suddenly appeared behind him and slammed her hands onto the ground after forming the necessary hand seals for her Jutsu.

"Earth Style Barrier!!" She declared and created a solid wall that rose up from the ground. Gantetsu cursed as he slammed the back of his body into the wall Sakura created.

He looked at the fireball inching closer and closer to him. Sakura disappeared using the Body Flicker Jutsu to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

*BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!*

A giant explosion happened with the solid wall Sakura created crumbling dowm from the fireball attack. The Konoha and Iwa Shinobi landed on the ground.

Naruto noticed the small chunks of bark on the ground and immediately deduced that Gantetsu used the Substitution Jutsu. He close his eyes and used his Chakra Pulse technique, he sent a pulse of chakra in all directions.

"Over there!" Naruto who sensed Gantetsu's chakra with the technique, pointed at a bush.

"Earth Style: Rising Rock Jutsu!!" Two huge rocks flew out of the bush and crashed into Kakashi sending him flying away into the forest.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed as Gantetsu leaped towards him with a psychotic grin on his face. The blonde Jinchuriki took out his tri-pronged kunai and created multiple Shadow Clones around him.

Gantetsu started dealing with the clones easily. He then set his sights on the real Naruto and took out a kunai from his pouches bef more charging towards him.

*SHIK!!!*

Naruto gasped as he was stabbed in the stomach by Gantetsu's kunai. Strangely, no one reacted to this with shocked and horrified expressions.

Akatsuchi appeared beside Gantetsu and Naruto. He quickly formed a snake hand seal before slamming his hands onto the ground. "Earth Style: Earth Dome Jutsu!"

Instantly, earth rose from the ground and formed a dome that covered Akatsuchi, Gantetsu and Naruto with it.

Gantetsu widened his eyes as Naruto grabbed his hand tightly and his body started glowing. The blonde pulled his shirt away a little, revealing that his body was covered in exploding tags.

Just before Naruto exploded, Akatsuchi quickly sunk into the earth using Earth Style: Hidden Mole Jutsu. Naruto grinned menacingly at Gantetsu.

"Boom."

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!*

The Shinobi outside needed to shield their faces from the rocks and dust flying towards them. Smoke covered the battlefield for a while before it cleared on it's own.

The real Naruto received the memories of his Shadow Clone that acted as a suicide bomber. It was an interesting memory to process to say the least.

He looked at Gantetsu who was leaning his body against a tree. His right arm that held the kunai to stab the suicide bomber Shadow Clone was blown into bits and pieces.

His chest had small chunks of it missing and his mesh armor was nonexistent. Gantetsu coughed out blood and looked at Naruto.

"He's supposed to be a jonin?" Naruto wondered to himself. It was at that moment that he realized that strategy could really change the whole course of the battle.

"Give up now Gantetsu, and maybe I'll give you a quick death." Kurotsuchi said while walking towards him. Gantetsu looked up at her.

He gritted his teeth angrily and roared loudly. With his left hand, he took out a kunai and lunged towards the Iwa jonin.

"Die goddammit!!" He screamed as Kurotsuchi looked at him with a shocked expression. Suddenly, Kakashi jumped in between them and grabbed Gantetsu's left wrist with his left hand. He looked at the missing-nin with his visible eye with a bored expression on his face.

"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder."

" AHHH!!!! " Gantetsu screamed in agony as Kakashi created a wave of electricity from his left hand. The surge of electricity shocked Gantetsu, making him spasm uncontrollably.

Kurotsuchi appeared behind the spasming Gantetsu with a menacing expression on her face. "Earth Style: Stone Fist Jutsu." She muttered as her right arm was encased in rock.

She punched straight through Gantetsu's chest, killing him instantly. She pulled her fist out as the dead Gantetsu fell onto the ground lifelessly.

Kurotsuchi checked his body and took out a scroll that was in Gantetsu's pouch. She read the contents of the scroll. She looked back at Akatsuchi and the Konoha Shinobi with a smirk on her face..

"Mission success!"

To be continued...