Ghost of Past

Hunters

Welcome back, guys!!

Now let's go into the story ;)

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"We're going to meet our contact near Ta no Kuni (Land of Rice Fields)," Kakuzu grumbled in his deep voice. Two months had passed since Naruto had joined Akatsuki, although he had to conclude that his joining the organization had changed very little. In fact, the more he trained, the more boring the bounties became. "After that, you are going to retrieve our target. The secondary target is mine."

"Cooperation? With you?" Naruto asked mockingly. Kakuzu had a bad temper, but Naruto couldn't really care. Annoying the old man was one of the few joys in life. Besides, the boy only really had memories of Zetsu and Kakuzu, plus some short meetings with people like Konan and the targets he hunted, so he had no way of knowing what was considered normal.

"Laugh it up. I'm going after a different bounty- a live one," Kakuzu spat. Naruto knew Kakuzu hated it to capture people alive. Corpses were much easier to transport, and killing, as Kakuzu once put it, was part of the thrill of his profession. "Those retards from Kiri stole a brat, and now Orochimaru wants him back. He was even willing to pay me a part in advance."

"Orochimaru?" Naruto frowned. The name left a very bad taste in his mouth for some reason, every time Kakuzu mentioned him. Kakuzu had, at sparse times when he was somewhat talkative, spoken about his colleagues within Akatsuki. Orochimaru and Hidan were two of the people whom Kakazu seemed to despise most.

Judging by the size of the boulder that Kakuzu threw his way, it did indeed piss him off severely. 'So Kakuzu is acting on orders. Oh well, not that it matters. This could be entertaining. Last bounty was boring as hell.'

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Kunomori.

He found it rather funny that Zetsu had picked such an alias for him. Naruto was already an odd name. Perhaps Kunomori was a better name for who he was now, while Naruto was a better name for the person he was before he... well, before whatever happened that caused him to lose his memories. Naruto had asked Zetsu about how he was found several times, and the Zetsu (both black and white) were willing to tell how they used Tobi to heal his broken body, how Naruto and Tobi had merged, with Tobi drastically altering this body: Kunomori's body.

Mokuton was, as Zetsu explained, something of which Tobi was capable. Naruto, however, had the power to drastically improve the kekkei genkai. It was some complex matter of yin and yang energies, which Naruto hadn't really understood. It was obvious, though, that Naruto was still inferior compared to the last person who had possessed the wood release.

After Naruto had learned the basics, Zetsu started to bring documents; secret documents, ones which even Kakuzu wasn't supposed to see. There were diaries and scrolls, written by a legend of old: Uchiha Madara. Zetsu recounted how the old Uchiha was the one who started the real Akatsuki, with goals that even Kakuzu didn't know.

Naruto couldn't find in himself to care about the goals and plans of others. He was just a grunt, Kunomori, one of the ten members of Akatsuki. Although, 'grunt' wasn't the word to describe him by normal standards, considering how Akatsuki only held members who were terrifying. But, Naruto held no illusions. In his current condition, he wouldn't be able to beat Kakuzu; if this 'Pein' could make Kakuzu listen...

The boy sighed and fiddled with the flower he had plucked while he had aimlessly wandered to the edge of the field. Kakuzu was resting. Sleep wasn't the word to describe it, as Kakuzu was still to some degree aware of his surroundings. The man had been used to living alone, after all. Naruto was a different case. Sleep was an obstacle. Sometimes he had nights in which he could rest peacefully, but more often than not he was haunted by nightmares, dreams, or perhaps memories. But elusive as dreams were, Naruto could never really recall them- not in detail, at least.