Iwa of leaf

19

-Konoha's Streets-

Naruto wasn't in the best of moods. He had been looking everywhere to see if any of his friends could come with him on his mission, and just like yesterday, all his efforts had been a failure. And unlike the day before he wasn't being accompanied by Kurotsuchi or Yugao, and looking by himself was far more boring. He frowned with melancholy at being reminded of the pink-eyed girl. Last time he saw her he made her angry and he had yet to go and apologize as he didn't know what to say to her. She had been pretty mad and he was afraid that he would only make the situation worse if he didn't properly word his regrets.

The Jinchuuriki turned the corner of yet another building, hoping that maybe, this time, he would find someone. He groaned in disappointment when he couldn't spot anyone he knew, again. In fact, he didn't see anyone at all, it was an empty street. Not surprising since that particular area of Konoha was very old and run down so not many people lived there anymore. He was debating on where to go now since he had looked almost everywhere, when suddenly, he heard something approaching him from behind, and fast. He turned around and stared in shock as a large white and black tiger leaped at him with his fangs bared. The tiger landed on the blond and with a mighty bite he took a good chunk of the boy's torso, only for the wounded boy to disappear and a splintered log took his place.

The beast didn't even have time to search for the Jinchuuriki as a Fuma Shuriken sliced it in half and the bizarre animal dissolved into a black substance.

Naruto landed on the ground from the rooftop he had just been standing and proceeded to retrieve the Fuma Shuriken he had previously thrown.

''That was a close one!'' He just barely managed to pull off a Kawarimi(Substitution) with how fast the tiger showed up. He examined his weapon and wondered what was the stuff that the creature had turned into when he slew it. He used two fingers to wipe a bit of the dark stuff clinging to the blades of the Fuma Shuriken. ''Is this ink?'' Thought Naruto as he inspected the liquid.

However, he couldn't think on it too much when he noticed several tigers just like the last one rushing at him from the other side of the street. But now that he had his guard up he wasn't going to let them get the drop on him again. He brought his hands together to make the hand seal for the Shadow Clone Technique, and around the blond appeared numerous copies of himself. The doppelgangers got to work as soon as they came into existence and gathered in pairs to form Rasengans. When the beasts had almost reached them, the clones lunged at the fake animals with their Chakra spheres. The Rasengans clashed with the tigers and tore them to shreds, splattering the surrounding buildings with ink.

With that threat taken care of, Naruto hastily started looking around the vicinity. Since someone had to be making these creatures, whoever it was couldn't be far. It just took him a few seconds to notice a guy sitting on the roof of one of the far off buildings. The boy was very pale and had an open scroll on his lap. Naruto guessed that he had to be the one responsible for these attacks, and along with his clones, he rushed at the pale boy to make him answer for this unprovoked assault.

The strange young man saw that Naruto finally noticed his presence. Took him long enough. He took his brush and scribbled on his scroll with impressive speed, then he made a single hand seal ''Ninpo: Choju Giga(Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitating Drawing)'' With that action, several black and white wolves materialized from the paper in the scroll before sending them after the blonds.

Naruto saw the ink canines approaching him fast, and in response, he rapidly made a few more clones who he sent to keep the wolves busy.

The doppelgangers and the ink creatures met violently in the middle of the street as clones and beasts were being destroyed left and right, covering the area in smoke and black ink.