"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Bijū speaking(inside subconscious)"
'Bijū thinking(inside subconscious)'
(Hi no Kuni - Konohagakure - Hokage office – May 14 - 2:52 PM)
Tsunade was in her office, all around her empty bottles of sake were scattered and tears were rolling down her cheeks.
'How could this happen…right behind my back they…' She thought and took another gulp of the alcohol trying to easy her nerves but without effect, on her desk was a scroll signed by the Fire Daimyo saying that Naruto is banished from Konohagakure, she already send for Jiraya and Naruto to explain everything.
Few minutes later she heard knocking onto her office doors.
"Enter!" The doors opened and Jiraya walked in with Naruto in tow, Naruto began to worry upon seeing all this bottles scattered everywhere around her desk.
"What happened Obaa-san, that's a lot of bottles you downed." Tsunade looked at him with teary eyes.
"Naruto…I'm sorry…" She pushed the scroll toward the two of them, Jiraya took the scroll and began to read, as he was reading through the contest his eyes were growing larger and larger from shock, finally he slammed the scroll back onto the desk.
"This is bullshit! Naruto isn't dangerous!" Jiraya shouted in anger, Naruto took the scroll and read through it.
"What? Banishment…but why?" Tsunade looked at him.
"The council…they send the scroll to Daimyo and he signed it…" She said and looked at Jiraya.
"I can't do anything right now…you must give him everything his father left him…please." Naruto looked at them with eyes wide from shock.
"You knew who my father is?!" He asked with anger clearly present in his voice, Jiraya nodded slightly and looked at Naruto.
"Yes, your father, was fourth Hokage…Minato Namikaze and your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, I wanted to tell you everything when everything would settle down…but now I have no choice, your father and mother sacrificed themselves to protect you…" Jiraya stopped for a moment to look at Naruto and saw a small smile on his face.
"I see…that would explain some things…so what do we do now?" Naruto asked.
"There's nothing we can do right now but I believe Tsunade will find a way to bring you back." Jiraya said and looked at Tsunade who gave a slight nod.
"I will, but for few years you should stay away from the village…I will also send someone trusted to deliver the scrolls your parents left to you." Naruto looked at the ground and sighed.
'There's nothing I can do, hey Kurama…where should we go now?' A small growl echoed in his mind.
"I don't know, maybe Kirigakure would be nice but the bloodline purge is still going on there…and with your ice release you would be an easy target." Kurama said and waited for response.
'Maybe…but I'm not the same weak kid like before, I can take care of myself.' Naruto turned around and began to walk off.
"I will go pack my things…by night I won't be here anymore." He said and walked out leaving Jiraya and Tsunade alone.
"He will be alright…right?" Jiraya asked, Tsunade wiped off few tears that still hanged at the corner of her eyes.
"I don't know what to do anymore…how could they hate him so much…"
(Hi no Kuni – Konohagakure - Naruto's apartment – May 14 - 3:41 PM)
Naruto sealed all the things inside a large scroll with dark green cover, the scroll is hanging horizontally on his lower back and have a belt with few holsters for smaller scrolls.
'That should be everything.' Naruto thought and walked toward the door, he was about to walk out when he heard knocking onto the doors.
"Oh come on!" Naruto shouted in frustration, he quickly walked up to the doors and opened them only to see Kakashi looking at him.
"Hello Naruto…I brought the scrolls that you will need…" He handed Naruto three small scrolls, Naruto took them and looked at Kakashi.
"Is that everything or you want to say something more?" Naruto asked, Kakashi sighed and placed his hands on his shoulders.
"Look…I…I just wanted to say that you are one of few people that I trust and I…I just wanted to wish you good luck." Naruto chuckled darkly.
"Yeah…very good luck considering that now I don't have a goal in my life anymore." Kakashi looked at him with wide eye.
"What are you saying, you will find a new goal right away, maybe you will find yourself a girlfriend." Naruto blushed slightly and looked at the ground.
"Stupid pervert…" Naruto muttered under his breath, after few seconds he smiled lightly.
"Sensei, tell everyone I will miss them…thank you for everything till now…goodbye." He walked past Kakashi and toward the main gate of Konoha, he put the scrolls into the holsters on the scroll belt and walked through the streets of Konoha, few minutes later he was already at the gate, he looked up at the gate and sighed.
'Well…here goes nothing.' Naruto thought and took a step forward.
(Somewhere near Mizu no Kuni – boat deck – May 20 - 1:31 PM)
Naruto was standing on the deck looking toward the front.
'Hey Kurama…maybe it wasn't a good idea…' Naruto heard a sigh inside his head.
"Listen kid, with Akatsuki hunting for Jinchūriki you must train even harder than you did with that perverted old man, with the constant fights going in Kirigakure you will have a good practice." Naruto nodded slightly.
'You're right but I would also like if you teach me too' There was a silence for few moments before Kurama finally said something.
"Get here now."
(Naruto subconsciousness)
Naruto found himself before the cage containing a Kyuubi.
"Are you serious Naruto, you really want me to train you?" He asked with his eyes fixed on Naruto.
"You must know that my training would be very hard, even training with this Jiraya would look like a child's play…are you still sure about your decision?" Naruto looked at the fox for few seconds before nodding.
"If I wasn't sure then I wouldn't ask in the first place, training with you will be a honor." Kurama laughed at the kid before him.
"I wasn't expecting any other answer from you, now go back because the boat is docking." Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, few seconds later he disappeared, Kurama smiled and lay down.
'This kid…he will do great things in the future…he's just like father.' He thought and fall asleep.
(Mizu no Kuni - west from Kirigakure – May 21 - 7:11 PM)
Naruto break up a camp to rest for the night but the sleep didn't come.
'I doubt that I will sleep in the middle of the forest, the atmosphere here is somehow weird.' Naruto thought while looking around, the forest was silent…too silent, there wasn't and sounds…only darkness slightly illuminated by the burning campfire, Naruto reached for the smaller scrolls and looked at them, the opened the one with the note 'parents'.
'Hello Naruto, if you're reading this then probably me and your mother are dead, my name is Minato Namikaze and I'm the fourth Hokage, together with your mother we wrote this message in case something would happened to us, first…we're truly sorry for not being there with you, when we find out about you we were so happy, we immediately began preparing for everything that could happen, your mother was writing down every jutsu and seal she knows about, you wouldn't believe how she was…'
In this moment the text looks like someone was fighting over the scroll.
'My small little Naruto, I'm your mother Kushina Uzumaki, oh how I wish to see you right now, I can only hope that your godfather,Jiraya will take care of you in our place…'
Naruto looked at the scroll in shock.
'Jiraya is my godfather?!' Kurama winced slightly from this.
"Damn you Naruto, so what if that pervert is your…oh…now I see…" Naruto growled in frustration.
'Of all people they must have choose him as my godfather, good thing that not many people knows about it.' Naruto sighed slightly and continued to read.
'We would do everything to be with you but fate must have decided otherwise, we just hope that you will grow up to be a kind and strong-willed person, I wanted to be with you and see you growing up but at least I hope you're reading this and you're safe, we're sorry for not being with you…just stay health and found yourself a girl who you would protect and care about.
Your loving mother and caring father.'
Naruto saw few drops of water falling down onto the scroll, he brought his hands to his eyes and felt tears falling down from them, Naruto smiled slightly and looked up.
'Oh god, how I wanted to hear this, now I know that they cared for me and not…abandoned me…' A laugh from inside his mind brought Naruto out from his thoughts.
"They wouldn't abandon you even if they would have to die for you, Kushina was my previous Jinchūriki and I was with her through everything." Kurama said with a hint of happiness in his voice, Naruto was about to say something but an explosion went off nearby, he quickly closed the scroll and placed it in the holster then he gathered his things and rushed where the explosion went off, it didn't took him longer than four minutes to reach a small forest clearing.
There he saw two men fighting with each other, one of them is a shinobi with short black hair and black mask covering his face, he wears forehead protector with Kirigakure symbol on it, black pants, black shirt, black sandals and dark blue Chūnin vest, in his hand was a kunai.
The other man is a middle aged man with blue hair which is styled in a moused-up manner, his left eye is blue while the right one is hidden by the eye-patch, he wore a talisman in each ear with the kanji written on them twice on each side, he also wore the standard striped, grey suit, with a green haori that had white trimmings that stop halfway down, over them. He has a black forehead protector with Kirigakure symbol on it, in his hands are two black tanto in a reverse grip.
'What the hell, why two Kirigakure shinobi are fighting with each other?' Naruto wondered before Kurama sighed.
"Bloodline purge…Kirigakure split into two factions fighting over control…let's catch and interrogate them." Kurama suggested, Naruto pumped some chakra into his feet and jumped into the air, the two fighter noticed the shadow growing on the ground so they quickly moved away from each other, Naruto jumped between them and went through the series of hand signs.
"Ice Release: Ice Bounding!" He shouted and slammed his hands into the ground, Instantly after the mist near the ground became ice and it shoot toward the two Kiri ninja at enormous speed, the one with talisman earrings managed to dodge but the other wasn't so lucky, the ice covered him from toes to his waist.
"What the…another bloodline scum!" The masked man shouted and tried to break the ice with his kunai but it only bounced from the surface, the other man slowly walked up to Naruto and bowed slightly.
"Thank you young man, if not for you then this…scum…would go back to Kiri and inform the others about our camp." Naruto raised his eyebrows.
"Our?" The man nodded.
"Yes, we are what they call rebels, this guy is under the command of current Mizukage…the one that ordered the purge." Naruto quickly looked at the ice restrained man, the Kiri ninja glared at them.
"You will die no matter what, Yagura-sama will find you all you bloodline scu…!" Before the ninja could rant more one of Naruto clones sneaked behind him and knocked him out with a chop to his neck.
"Jeez…do they always have to be so loud…by the way my name is Naruto Uzumaki Nami…" Naruto stopped himself before he said the surname of his father, the man raised his eyebrow but shrugged his shoulders after few seconds.
"Whatever, can you…release him, we can't let him go but we can force some information out of him." Naruto nodded and did a Tiger hand-seal, the ice shattered like a glass and the unconscious man fall forward hitting the ground with a loud thud, the other man picked him up and throw him onto his shoulder.
"Let's go kid, we don't have all day." He simply said and began to walk out.
"Why should I go with you?" Naruto asked and crossed his arms, the older man turned toward him and smiled.
"Because you have a bloodline and a pretty rare one…now let's go kid…it's already getting dark and I don't want to spend a night in this forest." Naruto looked around at the forest around them and shivered slightly.
"Okay okay…I will go." He started to follow the man through the forest, they walked side by side in silence for few minutes, finally Naruto had enough of that.
"What's your name by the way…you didn't told me before." He said causing Ao to look at him with raised eyebrow.
"I didn't…?" Naruto shook his head.
"Then I'm telling you now, it's Ao…why are you in Mizu no Kuni by the way, you're from Konoha so shouldn't you be with your team or something?" Naruto chuckled darkly at the question.
"I…don't have a team anymore, scratch that I'm not even Konoha ninja now, they banished me for nothing." Ao looked at him curiously.
"Really? From what I saw they wouldn't let someone with bloodline go." Naruto looked at the sky and smiled slightly.
"I didn't show them…but now that I'm away from them I can start a new life." He said with a hint of happiness in his voice, Ao smiled slightly and looked ahead of them.
"Then it's good you found me, you can start new life here…we're here." He said and stopped immediately, upon looking around he put the unconscious ninja on the ground and performed few hand signs, the mist cleared creating a path ahead of them.
"Wow…is that Genjutsu?" Naruto asked, "Yes…and no, it's more like a barrier preventing anyone who don't know the hand signs from entering, it's the only reason why Kirigakure didn't get rid of us by now." Ao stated still looking ahead, after few more seconds a large camp with hundreds of tents came into view.
"Once more…wow…it's amazing…" Naruto said in awe earning a chuckle from Ao.
"Yes it is…come kid, you should met Terumi-sama."
(Mizu no Kuni – Kirigakure rebels camp – May 21 - 7:42 PM)
Naruto and Ao were walking toward the biggest tent in the camp, nearly every ninja bowed to Ao as he passed by.
"Are you someone important?" Naruto asked earning a nod from Ao.
"I was fighting in Third Shinobi World War, I still remember some people that I was fighting, one of them was Shisui Uchiha, he was truly powerful shinobi but one encounter I won't forget no matter what…I was fighting with Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze." Naruto nearly tripped upon hearing that which didn't go unnoticed by Ao.
'Is this kid…no it's impossible…but…he looks like him…and he is from Konoha…I must find out.' Ao thought, They entered the biggest tent and they were greeted with a sight of two people standing by the table with map placed on it, one of them was a man not much higher than Naruto with short blue hair and dark eyes, he wears square black-rimmed glasses connected to ear protectors, black sandals, blue pin-striped shirt and camouflage pattern pants, he have a vest like holster with his forehead protector on it, on his back is something resembling a sword wrapped in bandages with double hilts visible, on both of his legs are shuriken holsters.
However what catched Naruto attention was a tall, slender and very beautiful woman with green eyes, and ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front, two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other on her bust, just below her chin.
She wears a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees, it seems to be closed at the front with a zipper, and is kept open on the front-right side from the waist down, the dress only covers up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts, underneath she wears a mesh armour that covers slightly more of her upper body than her dress.
She also wears a skirt in the same colour as her dress and, underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees, around her waist, she wears a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue polish on her fingers and toes and purple lipstick.
"Terumi-sama, I came back from the patrol." Ao said causing the woman to look at him with a smile.
"I told you so many times to call me Mei, what took you so…long…" She looked at Naruto with raised eyebrows then at Ao.
"You didn't told me you have a son." Mei said causing both Ao and Naruto to facepalm.
"I'm not his son, my name is Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said, Mei nodded slightly in acknowledgement.
"I see…so what a Konoha shinobi is doing here?" She asked, Naruto looked at the ground visibly sad.
"I…I was banished from Konoha…" Guilt washed over her from asking.
"Sorry…so you came here to join us?" She asked, Naruto looked at her with determination in his eyes, lightly hitting his chest with his fist Naruto said.
"Yes, I have a bloodline myself so I will be helpful, I promise to not let you down." He grinned causing Mei to blush lightly but she quickly shook her head.
'No, bad Mei, he is too young for you…but he's so cute…NO! I shouldn't go that way!' Mei started her internal combat shutting off everything else, her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a hand on her left shoulder, she looked at the person before her and nearly had an heart attack, standing few centimeters from her was Naruto with concerned look on his face.
"Are you alright…your face is red." Naruto said worriedly, Ao sighed and looked at the other person.
"Let's go Chōjūrō, I need your help with this guy." Ao said pointing at the unconscious ninja on his shoulder, Chōjūrō nodded and two of them walked out, Mei looked Naruto right in the eyes and straightened herself.
"I'm…I'm alright…can you tell me how old are you?" Mei asked.
"17, is something wrong with that?" She quickly shook her head.
'Oh thanks god, maybe I should have some fun with him.' She thought while giggling seductively, Naruto shivered slightly and took few steps back.
"So can I join you?" He asked, Mei nodded before she started to walk toward him, she outstretched her hand for him to shake it.
"I will be very pleased." She said with a smile on her face.
'In a more way than you think.' She thought, Naruto sighed in relieve and shook her hand.
"Thank you…how should I call you?" Mei giggled slightly before moving closer toward him.
"You can just call me however you want but I can call you Naruto-kun…deal?" Naruto nodded and grinned.
"Of course Mei-chan." Mei blushed at the addition of '-chan' to her name.
'Now it's settled, I have to make sure Naruto will be mine.'
(To be continued...)
