Red Clouds: A Naruto Story

Potential Threats

     The sun gleamed off the glassy blue river, fracturing into rainbow shards of a thousand colors. Naruto stuffed the small house key into his pocket as he stared down the river. True to his carefree childlike nature, he playfully swung his legs back and forth over the banister he was sitting on. He smiled at his rippling reflection; he was truly, and wholly alone. He loved the Akatsuki, they were everything to him but...it just felt amazing to be out on his own. Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep, refreshing breath of the cool breeze. Completely alone. He was completely alone. He let out a long sigh of contentment. 

     "Alright...back to work." Naruto said to himself. He hopped down from the bridge's banister onto the water. The peaceful river rippled around his feet as he landed. "Oooookayyy...Get in the village? Check. No suspicions? Check...? Eh well, good enough." Naruto put his hands behind his head, closed his eyes, and began walking down the river without a care in the world. "Get on a genin team? Hmmm...Iruka-sensei said he'd notify me when they found  a team for me but-" Naruto's conversation with himself was cut short by the sounds of...giggling?

     Naruto shifted his weight, turning to look towards the grassy left bank of the river. A boy, around Naruto's own age, clad in a kimono, and topped with spiked, jet-black hair walked solemnly, his hands stuffed in his pockets, and his head down. Naruto couldn't help but stare at the boy, his dark, glassy eyes fixated on the dirt beneath him as he swept across the grassy stones. As Naruto took a closer look, he noticed...is that the Uchiha crest? Then that must be Itachi's youn--Naruto's concentration was abruptly broken by those same sounds of giggling. Naruto's sharp eyes flicked behind the boy, a small gaggle of girls were creeping behind him, giggling behind extended fingers. Naruto rolled his eyes. He sighed and begrudgingly took in their features, he knew he had to, they might be important later on but c'moooonn! Naruto hated these kinds of people. He sighed again and flicked his eyes back onto the girls.

     One: slender features, slight, athletic build, blonde hair pushed over to the right side over one eye and ponytail, blue eyes, purple crop top, purple skirt, fishnet thigh highs and elbow...thingies. 

     Two: slightly sharper features, an athletic, more muscular build, distinct pink hair cut short above the shoulders, striking green eyes, maroon tank top with a slight turtleneck, off pink, cloth elbow thingies, dark grey gloves, and the same off pink colored skirt. 

     The blonde one was likely apart of the Leaf's Yamanaka clan, the pale blonde hair and sharp blue eyes were easy giveaways. Long to medium range jutsu, most, if not all, mind centered. Counter strategy: don't let her get lines of sight, get up close, easy taijutsu knockout. As for the pink-haired one...Naruto wasn't sure. She was definitely a shinobi, she had her headband up over her hair, revealing her rather large forehead. Her more muscular build hinted she was probably taijutsu focused. His best counter strategy at the moment, with what little information he could pick up on, would just be to bombard her at longer ranges, distract with shadow clones, and then...hmm...Naruto wasn't sure. He'd...keep an eye on her. Be ready for surprises. 

     There were a few other girls in the group but none of them appeared to be shinobi and therefore not really a potential threat. Naruto sat down, crossed legged, onto the calm, flowing water beneath him, and finally focused back on Itachi's kid brother, Sasuki? Saucegei? Sasuke...! Right. Sparring against Itachi for years had given Naruto quite a lot of practice against the Sharingan but Naruto had no idea what else could be up this guy's sleeve. Being apart of the Uchiha, he most likely knew at least fire style fireball jutsu, if not more. Unfortunately, Naruto didn't possess water style, and his wind style would just intensify the flames. He'd have to most likely use the environment and shadow clones to counter. Naruto also noticed some slight burn marks on Sasuke's hands. They didn't seem to be from a fire style however, more like burns from a lightning style jutsu. The burns were sliced all over Sasuke's hands, as if his hands had been completely engulfed in lightning...Naruto'd have to also definetely keep an eye on Sasuke.