Naruto was still shaken after being startled by that crazy woman, Anko.
"If I had to sleep next to that woman at night... I probably wouldn't even know how I died."
Shuddering, Naruto quickly fled from that haunted place. He couldn't stay there a second longer.
"Haku, open up!"
He yelled, and the moment Haku opened the door, Naruto rushed in and scooped her up in his arms.
"Naruto-kunsan, what's wrong?"
Haku, like a gentle kitten, curled up in Naruto's embrace and asked sweetly.
"Haku, don't move... just let me hold you for a while."
Naruto needed Haku's calming presence to soothe the chaos in his heart.
"Okay..."
With a soft reply, Haku held onto Naruto's shirt and rested her head against his chest. She loved this feeling.
"Haku, have you eaten dinner yet?"
Naruto asked gently, still holding her close.
"Not yet... but Naruto-kunsan, I've already made dinner. Let's go eat together."
Hiding in his arms, Haku gave him a soft smile, a little joy blossoming in her heart.
Being able to do something for Naruto, even something small, made Haku genuinely happy.
"Oh? You can cook, Haku?"
Naruto was a little surprised. "You didn't even know how to use chopsticks before. How could you cook?"
"Mm. I just learned over the past couple of days."
Haku blushed slightly and smiled up at him.
"Heh, you're such a good girl."
Naruto felt a wave of emotion well up inside him.
"Hehe..."
Haku giggled softly, lowering her head in shy delight, like a little girl being praised.
"All right then, let me taste just how good my Haku's cooking really is."
Naruto grinned and carried her over to the dining table.
…
Night fell silently.
Holding the already sleeping Haku in his arms, Naruto felt at peace.
"So this is what life's supposed to feel like..."
He let out a quiet sigh of contentment.
"Hm?"
Frowning slightly, Naruto sensed chakra drifting in from the open window beside him. He immediately realized, someone had just passed by.
Gently laying Haku to the side and tucking her in, he flipped out the window, quietly pulling it almost closed behind him.
Whoosh!
Tracking the fading chakra signature, Naruto's figure streaked across the moonlit night like a shooting star.
Clang! Crash!
A sharp sound rang out clearly beneath the quiet moonlight.
Hiding against a wall, Naruto peered toward the source.
Two masked Anbu agents were locked in a standoff.
One of them, with long purple hair and a graceful figure, was clearly a woman.
"Who are you? Why have you infiltrated the Anbu?"
The purple-haired woman barked at the man in the gray hooded cloak opposite her. Her crisp voice struck Naruto, he'd definitely heard it somewhere before.
"Heh... That's none of your business. Besides, Anbu security is laughably weak, I slipped in without any effort at all."
A sinister chuckle rang out.
Naruto's eyes widened. "Kabuto Yakushi?"
"You bastard! Still running your mouth when death is at your door?"
She hurled a kunai at Kabuto and swiftly formed hand seals. "Ninja Art: Nairoken Technique!"
Clang!
Kabuto swatted the kunai aside with a smile, but in the next instant, his body froze in place, completely rigid.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
BOOM!
The purple-haired woman unleashed a roaring blaze along a straight path toward Kabuto. The intense heat and the resulting blast that sent dust flying everywhere showed just how powerful and fast her Fire Style technique was.
"My, my... that was dangerous."
Kabuto's voice echoed chillingly from within the smoke, startling the woman.
Whoosh! Boom!
A flash of blue light clashed with red in mid-air. The next moment, the figure radiating blue light was blasted back like a cannonball, smashing straight through the far wall.
"Who's there?!"
Climbing out of the rubble, Kabuto dismissed his chakra scalpel. His mask-covered face was filled with shock. "Such overwhelming power..."
"And you are?"
The purple-haired woman stared at the boy now standing between her and Kabuto, stunned by the strength he had just displayed.
"You okay?"
Naruto turned and looked at her with his fox-like eyes.
"Naruto...?…"
She gasped when she recognized those eyes. When did The Nine-tails Jinchuriki grow this powerful?
"It's me."
Naruto nodded. He wasn't surprised she knew who he was, she was Anbu, after all.
"Cough, cough... That brat from the Chūnin Exams?"
Kabuto narrowed his eyes on Naruto. Before the exams started, he had already gathered intelligence on Naruto using his ninja info cards.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Genin of Konoha. Completed one C-rank mission. Strength unknown..."
Kabuto's face darkened as the meager data on Naruto flashed through his mind. "This brat... is strong."
"Kabuto Yakushi, right?"
Naruto looked at him with open disdain. "Feeling smug, are you?"
"What?!"
Kabuto's pupils contracted. When did this kid learn my name?!
"Too bad for you, you're done."
Naruto smirked and rapidly formed hand seals. "Wood Style: Binding Throne!"
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Thick vines burst from the ground, wrapping around Kabuto and instantly slamming him to the earth, locking him down.
Glurp!
Kabuto's body turned to sludge the next moment.
"Earth Style: Earth Prison Dome!"
RUMBLE!
A hollow earth sphere quickly formed. Naruto pressed his hands against it.
"Damn it!"
Kabuto's furious voice echoed from inside.
Unlike Jirōbō's technique, Naruto's version of the Earth Prison Dome was a flawless sphere, no escape.
Buzz...
Chakra began flowing from the dome into Naruto, he was siphoning Kabuto's chakra directly.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Kabuto roared, and then, silence.
"Escaped, huh?"
Naruto ended the technique. "Oh well, at least I gave him something to remember."
"Thank you, Naruto."
The purple-haired woman walked over and thanked him gently.
"It's nothing, sis. His name is Kabuto Yakushi, he's one of Orochimaru's men. He was probably here to steal intel or something."
Naruto gave her just enough information to be helpful, but not too much, he didn't want to raise suspicions.
"I see. Thank you, Naruto."
She nodded slightly, understanding the gravity of the situation.
"Ah! I remember now, you're Yugao Uzuki!"
Naruto smacked his forehead and exclaimed loudly.
⚔────────
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The Mountain of Ice and Fire (GOT) – 56 advanced chapters!
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