Naruto the Scarecrow

Chapter 18

Kurama was meditating inside his cage. It was a habit of his that was born out of boredom but it did help him organise his thoughts. Even though Kurama would've preferred to talk to Naruto, Kurama couldn't begrudge his host from the recent decline in their communication.

Kurama knew it was petty but he was jealous. Jealous of the amount of time and focus Naruto was giving to other people when for the majority of Naruto's life, Kurama had been the only person Naruto could talk to.

'Naruto needs his new friends far more than me right now. He knows that I will be around, it's not like I'm going anywhere.'

Kurama's eyes flew open, he had detected a surge of malicious intent and it was extremely close!

Kurama screamed at Naruto in the loudest voice he had ever used, "NARUTO WAKE UP! AN ENEMY IS NEAR!"

Naruto's eyes flew open and the first thing he saw was a hand with a strange seal cupped in its palm, descending towards his forehead. Instinct took over and Naruto rolled to his left while flaring out Kurama's chakra to drive off the unknown assailant to his right.

Performing a kip up on his bed, Naruto spun to face his attacker. They wore a half mask to hide their identity however; Kurama could sense real, harmful intent and told Naruto so. Naruto used a Flicker to try and flank his opponent but they managed to read his movements and deflected his Gentle Fist attack.

Roaring in fury, Naruto began his assault. Using the refined movements that Guy had showed him, Naruto attacked with everything he had. The unknown attacker managed to avoid almost all damage, save for the single chakra point that Naruto managed to strike on their left forearm.

In response to Naruto's furious roar, two different bedroom doors down the hallway flew open and Mikoto and Sasuke rushed towards Naruto's room. A second enemy that Naruto had failed to notice engaged Mikoto while Sasuke performed several hand signs to back up Naruto.

A large fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth and Naruto's attacker was forced to jump away from Naruto. In rapid response, Naruto's original attacker used the fastest Body Flicker Naruto had ever seen and performed a quick chop to the back of Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke, somehow, managed to maintain consciousness but failed to stop himself from falling to the floor face first. Finding the strength to roll onto his back, Sasuke watched in horror as his attacker plunged a kunai down towards him. A sudden blur occurred and the next thing Sasuke knew, Naruto was standing above him, taking the kunai that was aimed at Sasuke's heart. Sasuke couldn't see where exactly Naruto had been stabbed as his blood splashed down on Sasuke's face.

Before Sasuke was able to say anything, Naruto's entire body was engulfed in searing flame and he launched a fiery blast that was so hot that it burned blue. The unknown attacker managed to grab Naruto's wrist and direct the scorching flames towards to ceiling.

Unbeknownst to everyone inside, the sudden light that resulted from Naruto's attack, which happened to demolish the house's roof and flare upwards for at least twenty feet, attracted a lot of attention. Akari cursed and sent another member of her party into the house in the hope that she could settle matters before they got out of hand. They couldn't afford to waste time but she also needed to cover their backs.

Atop the Hokage tower, the senior ANBU on guard told his subordinates to alert the Hokage to a security breach. Having done his duty, Tenzo summoned a wood clone to alert his friend Kakashi before rushing with all haste towards the Uchiha district.