Hey everyone. New writer here trying to make the Naruto fandom a better place. I couldn't find any good fics and in order to pass time I just thought I'd write my own. Hope you all enjoy it.
This first chapter might look a little rushed.
Disclaimer: Naruto is Kishimoto's. Not mine, never will be mine.
Chapter one: The power of fear
Naruto's heart threatened to break through his ribcage as his feet carried him as quickly as he could through the forest. His eyes were wide with fear as he jumped over bushes and weaved in between the trees. Iruka, his teacher, was behind him stumbling along and trying to keep up with him as best as he could despite his injuries.
All the while Naruto could feel the unimaginable weight that bore down on him threatening to send him to his knees if he even stopped moving for a second. He could hear their footsteps and it most definitely did not sound like they were running. They were walking and he was running! They were playing with him!
Naruto had been in danger before. He had been in a near-death situation before. He knew fear. Today he had been introduced to terror brought about by two men who could put the fear of god into men. One minute he had been crying with joy at finally achieving his goal of being a ninja. The next, well, it wasn't something he could describe with words.
His toes crashed painfully against a thick root which stuck up through the ground and he in turn hit the ground hard. In a panicked motion he pulled his face up from the ground and the first thing he saw were two feet covered in Shinobi sandals. Praying to every Kami in existence that this was not who he thought it was he let his gaze travel upwards. However he knew it was hopeless when he continued to feel the intense pressure that was killing intent bear down on him and when he caught sight of the black cloak with red clouds.
Before he knew it he found himself staring into the visage of Uchiha Itachi. Blue eyes met coal-black ones and Naruto instinctively launched himself backwards but only succeeded in tripping again and falling on his back. Nevertheless he scrambled back desperate to get as far away as he could from this man.
Itachi narrowed his eyes at the boy. He was never one to show expression but this was ridiculous. Before he…left…he had known that Konoha's jinchuriki had nothing in the way of fighting skills but that had been when the boy had just started at the ninja academy. Apparently Naruto had not benefited from those four years at all. He had actually found out now what he carried within him and no doubt this was Sarutobi's doing. The old Hokage was still too soft it seemed.
He watched with disdain as the blonde boy moved back and then as he started whipping his head round looking for some form salvation.
His voice shaking, Naruto whispered softly, "Iruka-sensei?" He turned to look behind him hoping against all odds his teacher was still with him. It was not to be however, as he found himself looking up at the large figure of Hoshigaki Kisame.
The large blue-skinned man glared down at him, the disappointment showing more prominently on his shark-like features. Naruto felt his heart drop a little further.
Itachi frowned as he watched Naruto look round for his teacher. How bad was the blonde's situational awareness? Had he really not heard the his teacher shout his name when Itachi took him out with a kunai to the back of the knee? At the time the missing nin had believed that Naruto had abandoned the man but obviously that was not the case. Simply put Naruto's fear had been so great that he just hadn't heard his teacher nor noticed that he had been running alone for close to five minutes.
Other ninja may have actually found delight in the fact that their killing intent was that strong but not Itachi. He knew he shouldn't have but he had been expecting a little bit more. This boy after all housed a being whose killing intent dwarfed Itachi's by a huge margin. But here he was scaring the shit out of the small boy without even trying. He hadn't even seen the need to activate his Sharingan.
It was sad really.
Nevertheless he did not let up on the killing intent. Naruto had had his chance to fight and it was gone now. Every second that passed increased the chances of some leaf nin finding them. It also increased the chances that Kisame might kill the boy simply for not presenting any sort of challenge. He could see the rage in his partner's eyes.
"Can you do anything!" Kisame spat out. "Can you fight! Do you even know how to throw a punch!" Naruto shook with fear as he scrambled up to his feet trying to run away but Kisame's hand grabbed his collar. Naruto was then lifted a good six feet into the air. If anything this served to terrify him more because he was almost sure now that the crazy shark man would eat him if those sharp teeth were any indication.
"You hold the strongest bijuu in the elemental nations in that tiny body of yours and all you can do is shake!" Itachi suppressed a wince. Kisame's leaking even more killing intent and Naruto's hands were doing all sorts of things to Kisame's right arm so that he would let go. Nothing worked.
"Kisame don't-"With a roar of rage, Kisame's fist made contact with Naruto's left cheek snapping the boy's head back and very nearly breaking his neck and cracking his jaw, "-kill him." Itachi muttered the last part.
Naruto's hands fell to his side and his struggles stopped as he entered the sweet realm of unconsciousness. Itachi didn't need the sharp clarity of the Sharingan to see the ugly bruise that blossomed on Naruto's cheek. He would be feeling that for days-since his Bijuu's chakra wouldn't heal it because they would seal it off- days that Naruto would spend in captivity until they had finished with all the other jinchuriki.
Kisame slung Naruto over his shoulder and begun walking away muttering things about useless tree-huggers and something that sounded like 'didn't even get a good fucking fight'. Itachi put one foot forward to follow when he sensed chakra flaring slightly. Kisame felt it too for he had already turned round before the log that used to be Naruto fell to the ground.
"What the hell?" Kisame yelled indignantly. Itachi's eyes narrowed as he stared down at the log. A rescue obviously orchestrated by a leaf nin. One he knew all too well since he had been saved exactly the same way a few years ago and to this day he hadn't heard or seen any other leaf nin using that method.
Some distance away from the clearing a large black bull dog looked intently at its master as it shifted the weight on its back a little to better accommodate it.
"Bull, take Naruto back to Konoha as fast as you can. Pakkun will be right beside you, right Pakkun?"
The small brown pug nodded understanding the severity of the situation. "Yeah boss". The two canines then took off into the trees bounding from branch to branch with ease born of years of practice.
The master of the dogs, their summoner, stood up and turned round to face the direction he had just come from. His gravity-defying silver hair shone in the moonlight. He was dressed in the standard leaf jounin uniform with the flak jacket except he had a mask covering half his face from the chin and his hitai-ate was slanted over his left eye. However as he waited for the inevitable battle one hand rose to pull up the hitai-ate revealing an eye which had a blood-red iris with three tomoe spinning around a black pupil.
Faster than the common eye could see his hands blurred through hand seals and finished by slamming his palms onto the ground.
"Doton: Doryuheki!" (Earth release: Earth-style wall)
A large earthen wall rose from the earth before him, so big it towered over the trees barring the path of two individuals who had been trying to sneak past him. One black blur simply bounced back off the wall to land in a graceful crouch to reveal Itachi.
The other, Kisame, decided he was going through the wall. With speed that belied his size he drew the large white sword on his back, Samehada, and smashed it through the wall in a downward arc all in one motion.
That maneuver however had left him open resulting in his jaw being introduced to the silver-haired jounin's boot in a spectacular fashion. He flew back through the hole he had created managing to land on his feet beside Itachi.
Itachi's eyes already morphed into the Sharingan scanned the wall before resting on the figure that stood on top of it. "Kakashi-senpai, it is good to see you."
Kakashi spoke back, voice deadly serious, "Itachi, it's good to see you too though its somewhat dulled by the circumstances."
"Being on opposite sides can do that." His voice then matched Kakashi's in all its seriousness. "You know what we're here for."
"Unfortunately I do and I can't allow that to happen." He visibly prepared himself, "you understand that, right Itachi?"
Itachi nodded and Kisame who was rubbing his jaw chose that moment to speak up, "You hit me in the face. Finally it looks like I get a challenge but I hope you know that you will pay for that."
Itachi spoke before Kakashi could reply, "Kisame, go after Naruto. I will handle this."
"But-"
"Go Kisame," Itachi ordered in a tone that left no room for discussion.
Kisame grumbled a little bit before forming a hand seal and disappearing in a burst of water. Kakashi made to turn round and go after him but the moment he turned round he came face to face with another Itachi.
He spoke only two words.
"Bunshin Daibakuha" (Clone great explosion)
A little ways off
An old man clad in black battle armor watched his Anbu guard of four escort Kakashi's summons and Naruto back to the village. Inwardly he was quite grateful for this turn of events. They had simply knocked Naruto out giving him a very nasty bruise. If he knew the boy's healing ability which he did that bruise would be gone by morning. He had recovered from far worse in an even shorter span of time.
In any case he had to hand it to Itachi and his partner. They couldn't have chosen a better moment to strike. Itachi had actually cleared this section of the forest of all Anbu who were on guard duty. Sarutobi himself might never have realized this was happening if he hadn't been watching the boy through the crystal ball. It had been a moment of pride for him seeing Naruto learn a jounin technique in only the span of an hour only for it to be crushed when the two S-class nin revealed themselves. He had definitely not expected Naruto to face such problems so soon but it seemed that Naruto would have to do a lot of growing up both mentally and in skills if he was to survive.
The exact thing he had been hoping to prevent.
The old man sighed and turned to face the direction he knew his opponent for the day would be coming from. He hoped it wasn't Itachi. He wasn't in the mood to face the boy especially with their…history. Such a meeting would be awkward.
Ask and thou shall receive for it was the blue-skinned man who burst through the foliage. Immediately he saw the person he was facing a shark-like grin graced his features.
"Hoshigaki Kisame, the monster of Kiri" Sarutobi spoke in way of greeting.
Kisame chuckled, "Sarutobi Hiruzen, the god of Shinobi" Kisame returned his voice full of glee. "I actually thought I wouldn't get a real fight after seeing how useless your jinchuriki was but now I get to fight you," Sarutobi thought Kisame would squeal like a little girl, "Screw Itachi and the copy nin. This will be way more interesting." Wordlessly Sarutobi flashed through hand seals after biting his thumb.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
A poof of smoke later and a monkey which stood at an inch taller than Kisame stood beside Sarutobi. "Sarutobi," Enma, the monkey king spoke, "it's been a while."
"Indeed it has Enma. He is our opponent. Prepare yourself." Another poof of smoke engulfed both Sarutobi and Enma and when it cleared Sarutobi stood in a ready stance with a long black pole in hands.
If it was possible Kisame's grin grew wider. "HAHA! The god vs the monster!" he drew Samehada, "Come on!"
A little ways off
The scarred chunin academy instructor dragged himself back to the village all the while trying to calm his racing heart. His every limb screamed in agony but worst of all was his leg, the one Itachi had plunged a kunai into. He couldn't feel his knee anymore- there was only a white hot blinding pain, one that was severely hampering his thinking abilities.
Although he couldn't think straight he knew his best option was to go back to Konoha and report this so that the Hokage could send all able ninja after them. Hopefully he would get some reasonable ninja who would actually listen to him other than say 'good riddance'.
So he struggled on, the pain getting worse all the while. His groans of pain were muffled by the ground he moved on since the strength to actually raise his head off the ground was disappearing fast. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead as he grit his teeth. He had to be strong for Naruto. This was Naruto's day. He had just become a ninja. He had mastered a jounin level technique. He had defeated a traitorous chunin. Iruka would let it be ruined by Naruto having to wake up in some strange place, bound hand and feet with no hope of escape.
For all his determination, Iruka didn't notice when he blacked out. He also didn't notice an Anbu operative drop down before him while issuing out orders.
Kisame versus Sarutobi
Kisame stood outside a large cloud of mist, the biggest grin ever gracing his features. He had actually wanted a small lake but this would do just nicely. Actually that had been what he was aiming for. The mist was a product of a collision between his 'water release: exploding water shockwave' and Sarutobi's 'fire release: fire dragon flame bullet'. Apparently put those two B-rank jutsu together and you get a cloud of mist denser and bigger than most Kiri nin could make with the actual mist technique.
But that wasn't what thrilled him. If his sharp chakra sensing abilities were correct Sarutobi was still in the mist and the amount of water vapor was enough for one truly devastating attack.
"Suiton: Senjikizame!" (Water release: A thousand feeding sharks)
The mist immediately condensed and formed a circular wall of sharks that crashed down on the centre of the mist, Sarutobi's position.
Kisame didn't even budge as the resulting explosion of water crashed into him. He let it wash over him as if it was refreshing him. Even as it calmed down he felt reinvigorated ready to go for another round that is if Sarutobi had survived that.
Kisame was sorely disappointed however. The water disappeared into the earth and surrounding vegetation. In the crater where the sharks had crashed down, one could still see a hole big enough for a human to pass through.
"Damn!"
He turned round just as Sarutobi and Enma burst from the ground behind him going through the motion of a back flip. While in the air Enma returned to his staff form which Sarutobi gracefully caught before landing in one of his stances.
"Shit!"
Kisame then noticed the dozen chakra signatures approaching their position and in a matter of seconds, he was surrounded by Anbu operatives.
"Fuck!"
Kisame noted that the operatives were positioned in such a way that all escape routes were blocked. However he still raised Samehada to in a defensive stance, although now he was actually thinking of ways to get out of this mess. He didn't need to do that.
There was a slight shift of wind and Itachi now stood beside the blue missing nin. Everyone in the clearing tensed, even Kisame.
"Kisame, I told you that we were not here to fight a war and I find you fighting, of all people, the Hokage?" Itachi asked though the surprise usually associated with such questions was absent from his voice.
Kisame actually pouted, "He started it."
Sarutobi wanted to grin at that but the urge was quickly erased when Itachi blinked. The normal Sharingan was gone replaced by a pinwheel-shuriken like shape. He knew something bad was about to happen and yelled,
"EVERYONE GET BACK!" mere seconds before there was an explosion of black fire.
The next day
Kakashi walked up the stairs to the Hokage's office all the while massaging his right shoulder. It had been a while but Itachi had not lost any of his taijutsu skill. If anything he had become better, way better. Itachi was no longer the rookie Anbu who Kakashi would kick around while teaching him life lessons. He was a true example of the example of the expression 'the student has surpassed the master' in a sense.
That made Kakashi grimace. He knew it was inevitable, they would fight again. Itachi had said it himself, right before he burned off his flak jacket. Kakashi had to return to training again, if only so he could protect his sensei's legacy. To do that he would have to make a few sacrifices, two sacrifices in fact and that almost made him reconsider.
He opened the door without knocking since the secretary had told him that the Hokage had told her that she should tell him to just enter. He entered to find the Hokage and his student Jiraiya in a heated discussion. Jiraiya stood directly before the old man, arms crossed and mouth in a thin line. It wasn't the father-son like talk the two usually had. This was a discussion between two legendary ninjas.
Kakashi had come in just as Jiraiya was saying, "You say that like he's not going to be in Kakashi's team."
The copy nin raised an eyebrow at that. It was obvious who they were talking about but why wouldn't they put him on his team?
Both men carried on as if he wasn't even there so Kakashi just leaned back on the wall and folded his arms like Jiraiya. He was sure that even if they didn't show it, they had noticed his presence the second he put his fingers on the doorknob. He would be addressed when they were ready to address him. For now he would just follow the conversation.
"He won't." was the reply.
"So you want me to train him!"
"Like I said," Sarutobi continued in his calm collected voice, "Akatsuki is more dangerous than I thought. I need you to focus on your spy network and collect any information you can on Akatsuki."
"Then who will train him!"
Sarutobi sighed and stood up before turning his back on Jiraiya to gaze at his village through the window. He ran an old tired hand across his old tired face. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this but it's what Minato wanted." He turned back to look Jiraiya directly in the eye then Kakashi, finally acknowledging his presence. "Do any of you two remember operation 'fox in the clouds'?"
Kakashi's eye widened while Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. They did remember. They watched as Sarutobi summoned a messenger hawk before writing something small on a piece of paper and tying that piece of paper to the bird's leg. He carried the bird to the window before turning back to the other occupants of the room.
"Do any of you object to this?" he asked.
Both looked like they were at a loss for words. "He still has a chance here, Hokage-sama. We can still-"
Sarutobi cut Kakashi off by raising his hand. "Kakashi, even I did not expect them to strike this early. We all know that the reason Naruto is still with us is because we both got there in time. Next time…we might not be so lucky. Next time, Naruto might have no one to protect him. Naruto needs to get stronger and quickly so that he can protect himself when the time comes."
With a sad shake of his head, Jiraiya nodded. "I agree. I cannot train him. Akatsuki is still too much of an unknown factor in all of this and I have to work overtime to change that. You could make him strong Kakashi but not quickly enough. Sarutobi… enough said."
Kakashi bowed his head before he looked back at Jiraiya and Sarutobi, his eyes shining with acceptance and determination. The window opened and Sarutobi let the bird fly. Its journey to the North-east of Konoha would be long.
"Operation fox in the clouds is officially a-go" with that Sarutobi turned to face Kakashi.
"Kakashi, team assignments will be postponed to a week from now. That way we will be able to find a replacement to fill the void on your team. That is all." Kakashi bowed as a sign of respect before leaving the office.
He couldn't reconsider now. The sacrifices would have to be made. That meant he would be seeing a book a bit less and he would have to make an appointment with a certain green jounin.
Hospital
Uzumaki Naruto walked out of the hospital with a dejected look on his face. Minutes ago he had been discharged by this really kind doctor. Naruto wondered why he had never met the man during his other rare visits to Konoha General Hospital. Maybe then he wouldn't hate the place as much. Naruto thought the man was awesome.
But still a kind doctor was not enough to raise Naruto's low spirits. He hadn't had the best of nights and it clearly showed. There were bags under his eyes and it was barely noticeable but he looked a bit paler. This was due to the nightmares that had plagued him.
He didn't know why it disturbed him so much but Naruto knew that it would be a long time before he forgot those red eyes. The crushing pressure that came when he stood in the presence of the man who owned those eyes and his companion. It was still there- the feeling of wanting to throw up yet being too paralyzed to do so, the feeling that he could wet his bowels at any time yet not notice, the feeling that stripped him of any rational thought.
Iruka-sensei –they had shared the same room- had asked him what he remembered and Naruto in a moment of invulnerability had told him of the pressure, the fear while shaking. Iruka had told him that was just killing intent, a technique that implants fear in the enemy if it is strong enough.
Well Naruto didn't think that it was just killing intent. The fear he had felt which he still felt now would haunt him until the end of his days. It didn't take a psychiatrist to see that.
But Naruto still had one philosophy: when he was down, he would do whatever it took to get himself back up and forget about it. What better way to do that than get himself a Hokage-sized bowl of ramen from the great Ichiraku-sama? In a matter of minutes Naruto stood outside the ramen stand. He took a deep breath before placing his usual large grin on his face then stepped in.
Inside he found Ayame leaning against the counter with her head being held up by her right hand. She was staring off into space. Naruto didn't waste a second.
"HEY AYAME-CHAN!"
With speed many ninja would have envied Ayame jumped back, visibly startled. She looked ready to kill the fool who had dared startled her and Naruto began to sweat a little until her eyes landed on him. Then suddenly she had dragged Naruto over the counter and into a hug. Naruto felt himself sink into her arms. He was long used to her violent displays of affection. After all weren't all women violent? In everything they did?
"Naruto, I was so worried! I heard you were in the hospital! Are you ok?" She held Naruto at arm's length her eyes going over every inch of his small body. Absentmindedly Naruto rubbed his jaw-the place where Kisame had punched him. The bruise was non-existent now but it still felt a little sore. It was a miracle that the bone wasn't even cracked.
"I'm alright Ayame-chan. Completely healthy as usual see?" He beamed at her to prove his point until his stomach gave a loud rumble. Naruto looked up sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I might be suffering from starvation."
The brown-haired girl giggled before releasing the blonde. "Silly boy, you don't-" she was cut off by another voice.
"Ayame, I heard a voice. Is it who I think it is?" Teuchi appeared holding the very thing Naruto had come for. The blonde gazed upon it as a monk would gaze at his god. "Naruto!" the old man boomed. "Welcome back!"
"Awww Teuchi-jiji! You know just how to cheer me up!" Naruto then held out his hands for the ramen as a child would for their mother.
The smile dropped off of Teuchi's face for a second as he handed Naruto his meal and chopsticks. After whispering his thanks, Naruto dug in like an animal.
"Why would you need cheering up Naruto?" Ayame asked. Unlike her father her smile had dropped completely off her face.
Naruto paused for a second before continuing. The two were barely able to make out a muffled stream of words that sounded like, "It's nothing."
Teuchi continued, "I mean after all you're a ninja now. Wasn't that part of your dream? A stepping stone to becoming Hokage? What happened that would make you need some cheering up?"
Naruto stopped eating completely. A hand rose up and touched the leaf hitai-ate on his forehead. He was a ninja now! He had completely forgot about that. He couldn't even remember the time he put it on. It all seemed so small compared to the events that followed. He tried remembering what had happened but he quickly found out that it wasn't that easy to remember this and not remember that. An image of those red eyes flashed in his mind and Naruto began to shake. His blue eyes widened in fright.
Teuchi, seeing this reached over the counter and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. Just as quickly as he left, Naruto came back to reality glancing down at Teuchi's hand. A second later a grin wide enough to split his face automatically appeared and Naruto shook Teuchi's hand off.
Naruto briefly considered telling them but remembered an Anbu operative's words. The black ops nin had been sent to tell him that the events of last night were an official S-class secret. Naruto knew enough to know that if he said anything about that he would be in big trouble.
"It's alright Teuchi-jiji! Nothing to worry about! All that's happened is that I'm one step closer to being Hokage!" with that he dug once more into his ramen praying to Kami that they would let him eat in peace.
Teuchi and Ayame both noted that his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.
The next day
Sarutobi walked out of the council chamber his robes fluttering out behind him. This was one of the few times he was actually leaving a quiet room where there was no angry muttering. In fact not one person was glaring at him. It was silent yet one could think they could hear the cogs of their minds turning at speeds unknown.
Sarutobi had told them of Akatsuki's attempt to capture Naruto. He told them exactly who had been assigned to capture the boy and had to squash down the urge to grin when he saw Koharu and Homura flinch at hearing Itachi's name. Danzo was ever the statue-'The bastard' Sarutobi thought- obviously having received this information from his sources prior to the meeting.
He told them every detail making sure to outline Naruto's 'pathetic'-it was not a word he really wanted to use- performance throughout the whole ordeal in the most subtle way imaginable. By the end of it he was relatively sure he had broken the council's faith in Naruto.
He had then revealed to them his solution for the problem placed before them. The timing had never been better. In an effort to improve relations since the Hyuga incident the Raikage of the village hidden in the clouds had offered to take their jinchuriki and train him for them.
This at once caused an uproar. Everyone had immediately shook their heads. They couldn't trust Kumo, they said. Koharu had stood up and asked just how Kumo knew that they had a jinchuriki. After all hadn't they spread the story that the Fourth had defeated the beast?
Sarutobi replied by saying that they knew there was no way to kill the beast. They had found that out when they themselves had tried to capture it many years ago. Koharu didn't look like she believed it for one second but it still managed to keep her quiet. Shikaku, of all people, stood up saying that Kumo could not be trusted. They had after all come under the guise of some diplomatic mission only for them to make an attempt on the clan heir of the Hyuga clan.
Many others agreed with him until the Hokage said Kumo would lend them their jinchuriki for the two-tailed demon cat for the time being- a fully trained jinchuriki.
This managed to shut everyone up in the council chambers except for Danzo who stood up immediately saying that they instead should demand for the jinchuriki of the eight-tailed ox octopus. Sarutobi had calmly replied by saying that that particular jinchuriki would be the one training their own. Who better to train him than the perfect jinchuriki?
He went on to say that Naruto would be trained for a period of four months after which he would return to Konoha. Two months later the chunin exams would commence, here in Konoha.
They asked what his training would entail and Sarutobi said they would be informed within the week should they approve. Without missing a beat he added saying that their approval would be needed by the end of the day.
Should they approve Naruto would be gone by the end of the week and he would have Jiraiya of the legendary Sannin to escort him so that nothing funny would happen. Kumo's jinchuriki would meet them at the border where they would finalize a few issues before they each left for their respective destinations.
Pleased that it looked like everything was going to plan but not showing it, Sarutobi had stood up and informed them that he was all for the idea. This would make the two villages allies and an alliance between the two strongest villages was definitely a good thing.
That was when he walked out, the smallest smirk on his features. He wouldn't admit it but he loved manipulating the council. It made an old man like him feel powerful.
It would be an hour before the council finally approved.
Many, many miles away another Kage was walking out of the council chambers of his village. He was a large man with olive skin and white hair that had also been trimmed into an impressive goatee. Another difference between him and Konoha's Kage was that he had not manipulated his council into doing anything. He had laid down the law and that was that.
Sure some violent displays of aggression were involved but as they say, the ends justify the means.
At the Hokage's office
Naruto trudged up to the Hokage's office without his usual cheer. A frown adorned his face, but he didn't quite care since he was alone. At the moment there was no one he needed to fool into thinking he was still a happy child.
Lately it had been even more difficult to put on his mask. It was hard to believe all this stemmed from his 'graduation' yet it had affected him more than he knew. The thought that those two would be back for him made his heart beat a little faster and not in a good way. He was terrified, frightened, alone and even though he knew talking about it to someone would help, his sense of morality would always win. He would never be a burden to someone.
His mind cleared up when he found himself standing before the door to the Hokage's office. He couldn't look weak now. He couldn't let them know that those events still bothered him. Once again he found himself taking a slow deep breath. He was doing that a lot these days.
He opened the door quickly before he lost his composure his face breaking into a wide grin.
"Hey Hokage-jiji!" Naruto yelled but even he knew that it wasn't his usual tone. It hadn't been for a while now.
The aged Hokage also noticed but he gave no indication that he did. He only greeted the boy with his warmest smile. "Hello Naruto-kun. I trust you are well?"
Naruto threw himself onto the couch in the office. "I'm doing great dattebayo!" Sarutobi also noticed how the boy didn't elaborate. Nothing about all the ramen he had eaten or the pranks he had pulled.
"When you said he was loud old man, I didn't think he would be that loud."
Naruto literally jumped off the couch. Visibly frightened the blonde searched frantically for the source of the voice before his cerulean eyes landed on the large white haired man dressed in green and red leaning back against the wall by the door. The frightened look disappeared off his face as quickly as it had come, replaced by a mask of annoyance.
"Who are you?" he asked rather rudely.
The man stood up to his full height and walked forward. Annoyance was written all over his face. "A bit rude too. Well no matter. I've dealt with brats like you before. As for whom I am. Let me enlighten you!"
Sarutobi sighed. "Jiraiya please-"
"Not know old man!"
He drew blood from his hand and performed a few hand seals before slamming them down on the ground. Smoke burst forth engulfing him. Naruto, his interest caught opened his mouth in amazement.
His voice rang out from the smoke, "From the North to the South he is unbeatable. From the West to the East he is invincible." Confetti started raining down on the amazed Naruto and exasperated Hokage. "No man can oppose him, no woman can resist him. LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS AND GAZE IN FEAR AND AWE FOR YOU STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF…"
Naruto began to wonder why the smoke hadn't cleared yet. He was pretty sure the window was open.
"THE GREAT TOAD SAGE, JIRAAAAAH!" Sarutobi hid a small smile as the sound of someone sneezing rang through the office. The smoke was quickly dispersed to reveal Jiraiya just as his face made contact with the floor. Naruto could feel the floor vibrating through his feet.
A large green toad stood behind Jiraiya rubbing its nostrils."Sorry Jiraiya" it muttered. Jiraiya's response to that was to moan through the floor.
It took a few seconds for Naruto to completely comprehend the situation but when he did he burst into fits of laughter. Holding his ribs Naruto sank to his knees and Sarutobi even though he had witnessed this dozens of times couldn't help but join in as well- though he only chuckled. Naruto's laughter was very contagious.
Jiraiya stood up as the toad dismissed itself and went back to its realm. He grimaced as he watched his teacher and godson laugh at him. "Yeah yeah, laugh all you want. One day I'll get it right then we'll see whose laughing when I really do make them stare in awe."
This only made Naruto laugh all the more harder. Jiraiya looked as if he had smelled something foul which did not help matters.
THWAP!
Jiraiya's hand smacked the back of Naruto's head sharply. Naruto would have glared back at the man defiantly if his leaf hitai-ate hadn't fallen off. Naruto watched it fall in slow motion. He was pulled back to reality when the metal plate hit the carpet covered floor.
"- brat," Jiraiya had been speaking, "No respect for elders. Can't even tie a hitai-ate right."
All traces of humor however had disappeared off the face of Sarutobi who was watching Naruto with the intensity of a predator watching its prey. Naruto was staring at its hitai-ate and there was a hint of…fear in his eyes. It took less than a second for the old man to realize that.
Jiraiya wasn't too far behind as he had easily noticed that he was talking to no one.
"Naruto," the Third began, "why don't you pick up your hitai-ate so we can begin?"
The Third had chosen his words carefully in order to gauge the young boy's response. Naruto was snapped out of his trance and he gave Sarutobi a rather blank look.
"What? Oh yeah, I can do that." He said before looking back down at the piece of cloth and metal.
The two adults in the room noticed how those words were spoken as if Naruto was trying to encourage himself. Unbidden, Sarutobi could hear Iruka's words in his head again.
It was…it was terrifying Hokage-sama. Immediately when I put my hitai-ate on Naruto's head, this intense pressure- their killing intent- crashed down on us.
"Jiraiya," Sarutobi called. The toad sage turned to him. Sarutobi's expression plainly said, 'help him'.
Jiraiya obeyed that order.
"Here you go brat," he picked up the hitai-ate and tied it around Naruto's forehead. He didn't stop when Naruto flinched at the touch of the soft cloth. "Now that's how you tie a hitai-ate!" Jiraiya smiled at Naruto's grateful expression.
"Naruto, could you come here?" Sarutobi asked.
Without a second thought Naruto stepped forward. As he moved to stand before his Hokage he couldn't help but give an audible sigh. It had been too much to hope but it looked like this wouldn't affect him for a short time only. Those red eyes would haunt him for a very long time.
Standing before the Hokage he ended up looking right into the old man's eyes. He saw more kindness and understanding in them than he had seen in years.
"Naruto we have a lot of things to discuss. I'm sure you have a lot of questions concerning what Mizuki told you."
Naruto was a bit confused for a second before it finally clicked. It took him another second to recall what the traitor had even said. In all honesty he had completely forgotten about the man's story that he had the nine-tailed fox in him.
It felt incomparable to what had happened next.
It even dwarfed the villagers' attitude towards him.
Naruto gulped, "Is is true?"
Sarutobi didn't miss a beat.
"Yes Naruto." Sarutobi launched into his tale. At the end of it, Naruto's expression hadn't changed one bit which was impressive for one usually as brash as him.
"So the fox was sealed in me?"
"Yes"
"Because there was no other way?"
"Yes"
"And that's why the villagers hate me?"
Sarutobi sighed, "You have to understand Naruto. A lot of loved ones were lost that night. Many people's lives were ruined. Sadly it is not so easy for humans to put the past behind them and there is always the need to blame someone or something."
"It's alright Hokage-jiji." Naruto's voice sounded almost resigned.
"I simply don't…care anymore."
Sarutobi and Jiraiya both felt their heart plummet at this. They knew it was bad but they didn't think it would be this bad.
The boy was definitely suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He had already shown two symptoms.
The first was increased arousal or in Naruto's case, hypervigilance. This had been seen when Naruto was visibly startled by Jiraiya's appearance in the room.
The second was persistent avoidance and emotional numbing which Naruto had shown when his hitai-ate had fallen to the floor and just now respectively.
Sarutobi was almost half tempted to call for a therapist this instant but he knew that right now Naruto wouldn't really care about what a therapist from Konoha would say, whichever their attitude towards him.
Naruto broke the cold silence that had been hanging over them.
"So those two m-…Those two," he started afresh, "had come after me because of the Kyuubi?"
Sarutobi answered feeling worse than he had in years. "Yes Naruto. That was why they came after you. I don't know why they did but I'm sure it wasn't for a good cause if they had to resort to capturing you. I'm also sure that the extraction process, how they would take the kyuubi out of you," he elaborated at Naruto's confused expression, "would not be…pleasant."
Naruto didn't look like he was about to say anything so Sarutobi continued.
"And because of that we have come up with a solution." Naruto looked up at this. "Naruto, you need to become stronger. They will return." The boy shuddered. Sarutobi continued nonetheless.
"Because of that, we want to send you to another hidden village, just like ours. It's called Kumogakure, the village hidden in the clouds."
"Clouds?"
"Yes Naruto. It's quite far from here. That would mean several days on the road."
"Why there? Why can't I just train here?"
"Well Naruto," Sarutobi wondered how to explain without making the phrase 'people like you' sound like a bad thing, "Kumogakure is better qualified at training people with your talents." Jiraiya scoffed at this but Sarutobi ignored him.
"What are you saying, Hokage-jiji?"
"What I mean is that Kumogakure has someone who can understand you better than most people here in the hidden leaf. He also has a tailed beast sealed within him."
Naruto was visibly taken aback. "He does? Is he hated by his villagers' too?" Naruto asked the question exactly like a child would except it lacked on thing.
Innocence.
The innocence he had had last week.
It chilled the old man to the bone.
"I do not believe he is hated now but I can tell you now Naruto, he has lived your life. That's why I can say he will understand you probably more than anyone in this village."
Jiraiya who had moved to stand beside the old man searched the boy's eyes for any reaction to those words.
He found none.
Sarutobi went on. "If you accept Naruto, you will be leaving at the end of this week. That's less than four days from now. You will be gone for a period of four months after which you will return to Konoha. You don't have to accept now. We can give you-"
"I accept."
"Pardon me?"
Naruto repeated himself a little more forcefully. "I accept old man. I'll go to Kumo."
Sarutobi didn't dare ask for his reasons. He knew Naruto would appreciate it also if he didn't.
"I see. You should then begin preparing. Jiraiya here will help you with that."
"I, I have one more question." Sarutobi and Jiraiya looked at him with puzzled expressions. What else could Naruto possibly ask them for?
The blonde swallowed before beginning. "Why did he choose me?"
The question caught both men by surprise. Even though it was not clear they both knew what he was asking. It was too obvious.
Sarutobi looked into Naruto's eyes and his heart broke. He knew that right there and then he couldn't lie to the boy. No, that was impossible.
He knew Jiraiya wouldn't answer since the man had barely spoken a word throughout this entire meeting.
He couldn't lie, he just couldn't. Half truths wouldn't do either.
"Naruto, I-I promise that I'll tell you before you leave for Kumo. If I don't then Jiraiya will."
Naruto looked from Sarutobi to Jiraiya then to Sarutobi again. Deeming this satisfactory the boy proceeded to walk out, forgetting to excuse himself or bid the two farewell.
Sarutobi buried his face in his hands. "I overestimated Naruto's spirit. Apparently there are things even he can't bounce back from."
Jiraiya placed a soothing hand on the old man. "Don't worry too much old man. All this has done is force him to grow up a little. A little emotional scarring won't stop him from smiling and laughing. He just needs to get away from here for a while. Kumo can do that for us."
Sarutobi grimaced, "I hope so Jiraiya, for Naruto's sake."
To answer a few questions I know you might have: no, Naruto is not emo. He's just going through a little depression which will clear up soon. He might not be as loud but he'll still be a little bit silly. I hope I got his character development right.
I wrote this fic because I noted that there are few Kumo fics and I haven't seen many stories with Killer bee in them. The one Kumo Naruto story I found,(and I'm looking forward to most) Naruto isn't even a ninja yet.