Raijin

Chapter I

Aaaah, the long arduous task of completing Fuujin like I originally envisioned it is complete. Now, I'll start with the longer second book, Raijin. Before you jump into Raijin, I highly recommend you read the first book, otherwise you'll be at a complete loss at what's happening. I intend for this book to be further reaching than the first; now that a large chunk of the backstory has been introduced, I can work on interaction between the characters. That isn't saying that all of the backstory has been completed, though; Jin is going to eventually reach epic length. That, however, will most likely take place in the final part of the series, Kaajin. Should I receive a great deal of support, I'm thinking of expanding the jin series for the community into an all-encompassing alternate universe, with a uniquely intricate backstory, and a uinique way at looking at the cast of characters in Naruto.

Disclaimer: This isn't my stuff, only some of this stuff is original, and I'm not claiming profits on this thang. This be Kishimoto's work, and he's the big-balla profit-makah.

Kusagakure was a large village in size and wealth, but not in shinobi. Considered one of the weakest of the villages, the shinobi ratio was about one in every five hundred, as to Konoha's one to fifty ratio. Nevertheless, the Kusa-nin were well qualified shinobi of Konoha-caliber, a standard by which all villages were compared to. Most of its shinobi were aligned to earth and wind, with a little fire thrown in as well. They also had a penchant for poisons, and it was a tradition amongst those living in the Village to receive their first poison recipe on graduation from the Academy. Kusa was spread over an approximate area of ten miles, with medium-height domiciles and dwellings, giving the effect of stone rising from the great verdant plains of Kusa no kuni.

This was the sight that greeted Uzumaki Naruto as he stepped out from the bordering forests. The plains were so flat, even the skyline was visible from tens of miles away. Jiraiya followed quickly behind him, desperate to break from the monotony of the trees. He was secretly dreading the entrance onto the Great Plain of Kusa, though, because he was leaving one monotonous scene and entering another or endless sky and endless grass.

Naruto threw his arms out wide and delighted as the gentle breeze caressed his whiskered cheeks, his orange trenchcoat fluttering behind him gaily. He opened his mouth and laughed the laugh of true happiness. His best friends were only a few miles away, and he had not seen them for a little less than a year, and he was itching to see Sasuke's scowl and Sakura's pretty smile. Jiraiya clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Go ahead, kid," he said, grinning at his apprentice. "I'll be right behind you."

Naruto returned the grin as he turned to look at his sensei, the Fuujin windmills growing from the pupil and extending outward in his eyes.

"Don't take too long, sensei!"

His outstretched arms flung out behind him as he ran, speeding like a bullet over the plains with the wind forcing him along at superhuman speed.

Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke broke from the tree line at nearly the same time as Naruto, a few miles east of his position. The trio stepped lightly onto the grass, incredibly happy to be out of the forest, which they too had thought monotonous. Kakashi, who had just finished Icha-Icha Tactics, was particularly glad to be rid of the woods. He hadn't felt right while traversing the branches and boughs. Something eerily creepy and at the same time, disgustingly familiar had been out there, or so his instinct had told him.

His instincts had never lied to him before.

He couldn't shake the feeling that whatever it had been, it was dangerous. Not necessarily an immediate threat, just a looming, disconcerting, and all around unpleasant thing. He shook the feeling off, though. They were out of the forest, and that's all he could ask for.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was less focused on the behind, and more on the ahead. When they had exited the forest, he caught a glimpse of orange to his west. Not the muted orange of the sunlight through the trees, but the glaring, brilliant orange one finds on jumpsuits and targets that say 'Hit me!' His eyes transformed into the Sharingan as he gazed across the plains, the outline of an orange figure sprinting across the fields obvious against the deep green and light blue background.

"Naruto..." Sasuke trailed off.

He threw a quick glance at Sakura and Kakashi.

"I'll be in Kusa. Don't be late."

Sasuke took one large leap into the field, then shot off toward the orange beacon on the horizon, flashing across the plains like a lightning bolt.

Naruto sped along, covering the distance between him and Kusa in huge leaps and bounds as the Fuujin pushed him along. The whole way he grinned, laughing at the fun it was to finally see how fast he could push himself. The training at the Sanctum, as Kaze had put it, had really paid off in earnest. His control was much greater, and he was able to move faster than ever before. His eyes were so focused on their destination, they barely saw the flickering of red and black in the sun, or the flash of the white blade as it nearly crashed into him.

Naruto threw himself into a sideroll, legs uncoiling powerfully to avert his momentum and throw him in a separate direction. As he completed his roll, he allowed the wind to push him forward again, spitting him back into a high speed run. He looked to the left and saw his rival and best friend staring him down with the Sharingan. Feet back on the ground, his own blade, Byakaze, flashed from its sheath and tore through the air. Sasuke brought the White Fang up in an effort to block it, but nearly dropped the blade from the ringing in his hands. Naruto had hit. Hard.

Their feet matching pace perfectly, they turned their torsos and locked blades, staring each other down. The grass under them was passing at a frighteningly fast rate, and Kusa was less than ten miles out. Could one of them win in time?

They broke apart, Sasuke hopping back and Naruto pushing himself away with a burst of wind as a huge rock cut between their path. Being dashed to bits on a rock was not something a shinobi would consider an honorable death. As the rock parted them, they both felt what could only be described as elation to have finally been able to play that first part, the opening sword duel between rivals. Nothing in the world had compared to that one hand-stinging moment when their blades had met, sending buzzing sensations through their hands. They knew each other was real just from that moment, and that it wasn't a cruel trick of their eyes.

Sasuke, in his red, sleeveless, undershirtless vest and black shinobi pants, and Naruto in his orange trenchcoat, holding the curious blue-silver blade he had worn through determination and skill, and Sasuke holding the White Fang, the supreme gift of the Hatake clan. Opponents made for each other, ones that would always accompany each other in every battle, every fight until the end.

Naruto grinned and Sasuke smirked as their blades clashed again, still in the mad dash for Kusa. The city was looming above them now, and in a few footfalls, they'd hit the gate.

The walls were coming dangerously close as they met again, sparks flying from the brief, intense encounter as they jabbed and dodged, slashed and parried in a show of silver and white, clanging and shrieking as the air was displaced by their lightning fast moves. They had found a solid match in each other with Sasuke's speed and Naruto's enhanced quickness from the Fuujin. It had been a long time since Sasuke had seen those blue and black eyes; the last time he had seen them, he'd been punched in the face right afterwards, knocking him unconscious.

The Mangekyou Sharingan whirled in his eyes. He had no intention of harming Naruto, but he knew Naruto was thinking the same as he was. The last time Naruto had seen those eyes, he'd knocked Sasuke unconscious. He could tell, because Naruto's eyes widened briefly before returning to their normal size, but now they carried something else with them. Something happier, because he knew Sasuke had been fully rehabilitated from Orochimaru's clutches. The lurking malevolence was gone from those eyes of Sasuke's, and Naruto knew it.

Grinning, both the boys ground to a halt before the Kusa Chuunin guarding the gate, sheathing their blades in the process and deactivating their doujutsu as well. The chuunin raised an eyebrow at their antics.

"Papers?" he asked, tone fraught with the apathy and total boredom that came with guarding the gate of one of the smallest ninja villages.

Naruto and Sasuke both fished around in their pockets for their identification cards and Chuunin exam registration papers before finally producing the documents. The guard looked at each of their photos and then back up to their faces. The two pictures had changed just a little, but Naruto's had changed the most. The picture was his original genin registration picture, and showed all the signs of a preadolescent boy, chubby faced and bright. Now, the face that the Chuunin saw was lean, as if the teen had spent most of his days training like a madman, which had been the case over the past few months. Even as they walked through the deserts of Suna and the bordering countries of Kusa, Naruto would work on his control and capacity, as well as his other jutsu, often aiming at trees and small rocks on the way. He had even glassed a small piece of land out in the deserts with a katon jutsu.

All the baby fat had melted from his body, leaving a cut and toned shape, with deep lines of definition. His cheeks were gaunt with the absence of fat, and his features were sharp.

Sasuke, like Naruto, had also lost some fat, but not anywhere near as much. He had already been lean to begin with.

"Step through."

The gate opened to reveal the inner city of Kusagakure, Village Hidden in the Grass.

As evening pursued the midday sun, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves in a small tearoom located just off the main street in Kusa's merchant district. After meeting up with their teammates and sensei, respectively, they had decided an afternoon of rest would be in order after their run across the plains. They had smiled when they had entered The House of Green Leaves; there was a pair of extremely pretty girls in the corner. They were obviously shinobi, wearing their hitai-ate proudly on their forehead, and from the lack of Chuunin vests, the two teens could only assume they were genin, too. They even looked to be the same age as Naruto and Sasuke, who were halfway between thirteen and fourteen.

Sasuke smirked and waved in their direction; they were pleased to see the girls wave back. Naruto rolled his eyes and sat at a table, pushing Byakaze behind his back as he sat in the chair. The hilt stuck out at the perfect angle to draw on the fly. Sasuke was equally as cautious, even going so far as to sit a quarter of the way out of his seat so the White Fang could hang loosely at his side. An older lady, apparently opposed to the idea of serving Konoha ninja, took their orders with a barely concealed sneer on her face.

Sasuke and Naruto chatted for a while, reminiscing and reliving, as if they were two old fellows who hadn't seen each other for many, many years. There was something between them now, like before Sasuke had tried to leave. A common bond of brotherhood, Sasuke and Naruto's substitute for the brother they never truly had. The old woman brought out their tea, and they sat, enjoying the soft music playing from the streets outside, the taste of their tea and the smell of cooking beef from the upper balcony of the tearoom.

It was Naruto who broke the silence, asking, "So how's Sakura?"

He honestly wasn't quite sure why he hadn't asked about Kakashi in the same sentence.

Sasuke shrugged. "You know," he said, leaning back in his chair, "the usual. Being bossy, being a know-it-all. She's grown, though. She's a more competent shinobi since the Chuunin Exams."

He grinned. "And I know something you don't know about her." Sasuke enjoyed the look in Naruto's eyes. The look of someone who had been crawling through the desert with a bottle of water dangling in front of their eyes.

"What?"

Sasuke shook his head, smirking.

"Can't tell you."

"What? Why not?" Naruto was looking hurt in a mock pout. Sasuke shrugged.

"I promised I wouldn't tell," he chuckled. "Deal with it," he said, crossing his arms.

Naruto was about to yell at him for being a prick, but before he could say anything, a pair of hands slammed themselves on their table.

The room went deathly silent. Not a muscle moved. Only the two teens' eyes made any sort of movement at all, travelling up the arms to the face of the person who had so rudely interrupted their conversation. The arms, which were long and well defined, were attached to a teen their age, who made Neji's glare look like a childish pout. His deep emerald eyes gleamed with hate in the evening sun, the light catching them in such a way that they seemed to shine in the half-light of the room.

"Get the hell out, Konoha-nin," the teen demanded.

Behind him stood two others, one short and fat, the other as tall as their leader, but considerably bulkier. The closest body shape Naruto could identify with the teen was that of Hoshigaki Kisame, but shorter and most likely less strong. Much less.

The leader was dressed like a throwback to Naruto's old jumpsuit, but this one was black and separated into two pieces... thus making it not a jumpsuit. The jacket was just like the upper part of his former orange monstrosity, sans the spiral on the shoulder. The zipper had been cartoonishly enlarged, and hung at the bottom, leaving the jacket open to reveal a yellow shirt. The pants and sleeves were longer (and tighter) and flared at the ends to a pair of the newly coined 'shinobi sneakers' and gloves, respectively.

Sasuke snorted. "I hate Emo...," he muttered to himself.

The teen just continued to stare at them, black hair falling over one of his green eyes.

"We don't have to leave," Naruto deadpanned. "We paid."

A burst of motion and the emo-nin had flipped the table, yelling, "I'll make you leave!"

Naruto and Sasuke kicked hard against the floor, pushing themselves in opposite directions as they drew their blades, Byakaze and White Fang humming through the air as the two left their chairs in the same motion. The two nin accompanying the enemy genin had disappeared, but as Sasuke's Sharingan and Naruto's Fuujin activated, where they had left to became apparent. The two Kusa-nin were much faster than they appeared, and had already gotten around Sasuke and Naruto, preparing to strike at the two brothers' unprotected back.

Byakaze sang as its blue-silver blade sliced through the air, aimed at the head of the Nin behind him, while Naruto's other arm outstretched to Sasuke. At the moment Sasuke's opponent was about to strike, Naruto snapped his fingers. He didn't even bother to turn around and watch his handiwork as his attention became focused on his own opponent. Sasuke's was kneeling on the ground, roaring in pain and clutching his ears. Naruto had burst his eardrums with a localized sonic boom inside his inner ear.

Sasuke, satisfied that Naruto had taken out his own opponent, focused his own attention on the emo-nin, who was flying through handseals. His Sharingan caught the tail end of them and recognized them as being very familiar. He jumped to the side quickly, in order to dodge the attack.

"Katon: Goukakyu!" the teen yelled, spitting a huge fireball in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke cleared the fireball, but only by a few inches. He could feel the heat seep into his shoes as the fire whizzed past him. Rolling under a table, he sliced two of the legs off. The table fell into a sort of barrier that hid the technique he was completing.

Two Sasukes jumped from behind the table, each rushing the Emo-nin, White Fang raised in anticipation of a strike. The teen was fast, though. Twirling two kunai from his pouch, he flung them at the two Uchiha, expecting one to at least hit the original.

Both Bunshin faded from existence as Sasuke swept the legs out from underneath the leader, pinning him with White Fang at his neck.

Naruto was still caught up in his own battle. The large bodied opponent was proving to be a difficult one. He had some type of device attached to his arm that covered the hand in a metallic casing. His right arm, which Naruto expected was his prominent one, was the only appendage to have this device attached to it. Naruto recognized it as looking like one of the strong arms from the Cyberpunk comics he read when he was little.

He brought up Byakaze again and slashed at the Kusa-nin, only to have the teen raise his arm and the blade to clang off of it harmlessly. Grinning, Naruto hopped back and disappeared. The wind carried him swiftly around the building as he held the vacuum in the nin's ears. As long as he couldn't hear the wind, Naruto could move fast enough to avoid detection while he prepared the final strike.

Holding his hand away from his body, he concentrated, bringing all of his chakra into the destructive little orb known as the Rasengan. The Yondaime's legendary technique, it was what had inspired Kakashi's Chidori. Now, Naruto would use it to dispatch another enemy, adding to his already long laundry list of defeated foes.

The orb crackled with chakra as it spun, sucking in visible strings of chakra from Naruto's body.

He ran even as he landed on solid ground, bringing the Rasengan in front of him.

The orb of chakra caught the teen in the chest as he turned around, sensing the presence of Naruto behind him. The nin was dumbfounded for a moment, but the expression changed to one of shock as he exploded from the building and out into the street below.

Naruto stood up from his kneeling position and uttered a single word, grinning.

"Pwned."

Sasuke high-fived him as he came to rest beside his teammate, who still had the leader by the throat. Naruto crouched beside the teen's head. "What's your deal, dude?"

The teen just continued to struggle. "Lemme go," he yelled indignantly. "Motherless bastards!"

Had they not just kicked his whole team's ass, the two would have been slightly offended by the insult. They really were motherless, and Naruto just happened to be the literal meaning of the word 'Bastard.' They decided, however, that kicking this kid's ass again would mean little in the long run, so they decided to press the questions. They could hear approaching footsteps, too. The old granny had probably called the Kusa Anbu on them for roughing up a Kusa team and destroying her property.

Naruto chuckled. Tsunade would have a lot of paperwork to fill out.

"He asked you what your problem was," Sasuke deadpanned, forcing the blade of the White Fang a little further down on the kid's neck. Not enough to draw blood, but enough for the kid to know that it really was a sword at his neck.

"You. Konoha-nin. We don't like your kind around here. At all."

The kid had the gall to spit in Sasuke's face. Bad move, considering he was a very proud person. Naruto could see that brooding anger welling up in Sasuke's eyes, a throwback to previous attitudes. Suddenly, the emo-nin noticed, the blade was drawing red teardrops of blood.

"You son of a bitch," Sasuke glared, his Sharingan flaring to life once more in an angry surge. "I should kill you for that."

Naruto was taken aback. Never once had he heard Sasuke curse. The Uchiha had always kept his calm and poise in any situation. Well, most of them. His fight with Orochimaru was not one of those times. The blond grabbed the Uchiha on the shoulder and pulled him away. He could still see the thinly veiled hate in those eyes. "Let's go, Sasuke," he said softly. The sight of that expression had brought something back to him that he'd forgotten. The malicious side of Sasuke. He didn't like it.

The black-clothed teen got up and brushed his outfit off.

"My name is Akira. If you know what's good for you, watch your ass in the Exam."

The teen and his teammates extracted themselves soon after, leaving a thoroughly perplexed Naruto and a still-brooding Sasuke standing in the wake of their battle, which wasn't very bad, considering how brutal the fight had been... On the other team. Naruto smirked. They had done a good job.

"Come on, Sasuke. Let's get outta here."

He grabbed Sasuke by the arm and with a sharp yank, Sasuke felt himself being pushed to the roof on the other side of the street. As effortlessly as he had pulled Sasuke along, Naruto set them down on the roof and the two began a sprint to the hotel their team had booked. Knowing Jiraiya, Naruto concluded that the man had found a hotel/brothel to stay in, because let's face it. Jiraiya's horny.

They found Sakura in the lobby of the hotel, which in Naruto's opinion, was very nice. It was decorated in a western style, full of tiled floors and an open villa in the middle, where trees and and a small patch of grass grew as a relaxation area.

But it wasn't any of that that held his interest.

It was Haruno Sakura, third member of Team 7, and in Naruto's humble opinion, the most beautiful girl he'd lain eyes on. Over the past year, she had developed into a full-fledged kunoichi, sporting the body, mind, and prowess inherent in every female ninja. And to Naruto's secret pleasure, she had developed in other ways, too.

Her former 'red dress thingie,' as Naruto had eloquently called it at one point, had been replaced by a khaki skirt and red vest, with long boots, a skirt, and a pair of black gloves. She had even kept her hair short while he had been away.

"Naruto!"

Sakura flung herself from the lobby's couch and into his arms, hugging him for all she was worth. She inhaled deeply, as quietly as she could, to remind herself of his scent, even as he hugged her back. Looking up, she caught Sasuke's eye. He made a 'hmph' noise and smirked. She hugged Naruto even tighter so he couldn't see her blush.

She had missed him so terribly over the past year, that she had tried to find every piece of his life that he had left behind to try and remind herself of him. She had missed everything he was and everything he meant, and now that he was here... She didn't want to let him go.

"Ummm... Sakura?"

The pinkette snapped back to reality as she realized she was still in his arms. Jumping back, she blushed deeply, rubbing the back of her head in a sheepish manner. "Sorry," she muttered, staring at her toes. "I kinda zoned out there for a second... WHOA!"

Naruto had picked her up at the waist and was swinging her around, much like a couple who had finally seen each other after a long absence. She couldn't help but giggle at his antics.

"I missed you, Sakura!" Naruto yelled, bringing them to a stop. He looked up and met her seafoam-colored eyes, her pink hair falling from their sudden rotation, framing her face perfectly.

Sakura felt the world around them slow to a complete stop as they looked into each other's eyes, blue on green. Nothing else mattered in that instant. Not Sasuke, leaning against the receptionist's counter, watching their little moment, not Kakashi, stepping lightly down the hall, intent on catching the moment on film, or any of the outside world, for that matter. It was just the two of them, because both of them could feel it. That connection two people share when they've known each other for a long time, but have only just realized what was brewing in them.

Naruto smiled, and Sakura felt her insides turn to mush.

She could always remember obsessing over Sasuke, denying Naruto's badgering for dates, and turning around to ask the Uchiha out on them, only to be rejected herself. But she knew now that that would never be the case again. Even if it took them a while, she knew they'd end up together in some form or fashion. All good things in time, her mother used to say.

Naruto sat her down gently, holding her in his arms for a moment longer than necessary. He could feel the warmth she gave off, like a beacon in the dark, or a blanket in the cold. He supposed that's what made him smile. That all-encompassing feeling of compassion and in the same moment, passion itself. He had desperately wished he could have kissed her, but he knew it wasn't the time. For once in his life, Naruto would show restraint, and wait until the time was right.

A bright flash snapped their little semi-reality into pieces, and the image of Sakura in Naruto's arms was forever burned into film, saved until the very day that Kakashi felt he could part with it.

'Hell no," Kakashi thought, mentally dancing in his mind. 'This is priceless!'

He would soon think otherwise.

Sakura had developed a tick on her forehead.

Agony and Despair were soon to follow.

"So, I bet you're wondering whatever became of the curse seal, huh, Naruto?"

Sasuke was leaning against the kitchen counter in their hotel room, arms crossed against his red vest. The subject wasn't particularly painful for him anymore; he had long since come to grips with the fact that Orochimaru could never have anything to do with his life again, and that had made Sasuke a happy person indeed. Sasuke was immensely proud of himself for turning his back on the snake-sannin; he knew that the path to greatness no longer lied in the clutches of that man. Sasuke's path to greatness was in his own palms.

Naruto looked up from his dinner.

"Yeah, actually," he said after he took a bite from his fried rice. "I just hadn't wanted to ask, in case it brought up any painful memories… That wasn't that long ago, you know? Two years isn't exactly a long stretch of time." He took another bite of his rice as Sasuke started his story.

"Well, it all takes place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…"

Naruto stifled a laugh as Sasuke began his narrative. Naruto loved inside jokes.

"After you brought me back from Rice Country, there was a period of time when my chakra was black, like it had been corrupted completely. Kakashi had been worried at first that if they sealed the Curse mark any further, it would cut off my chakra supply and kill me. Yet, he knew a risk had to be taken quickly, otherwise I'd be eaten alive by the corrupted chakra and turned into something much, much darker."

He paused as he rubbed the area of skin between his shoulder and back.

"You were out for a few days, Naruto. I was out for two weeks. Kakashi, while you had been asleep, had contacted Jiraiya and told him he needed a seal master to perform a true sealing of the Curse mark. One that would constantly purify the black chakra of Orochimaru as it was being pumped through my system. Jiraiya delivered, of course, and performed a seal to end all purification seals."

Sasuke pulled his shirt down and showed off an impossibly intricate seal around the original curse mark; it paled in comparison to the Shikifuujin, but was still an impressive show of sealing ability. The seal itself resembled a circular pattern of angel wings, nine in number and stylized so it didn't look like a tattoo, radiating out from the central mark.

"Jiraiya called it, 'The True Seal of Heaven.' It was an intensely painful experience; way more painful than when I was originally bitten, and just as painful as my transformation into the second stage of the Curse Seal. It forced me into a coma for around two weeks, like I said."

Naruto whistled.

"That's impressive," he said as he got up to take a closer look at the seal. "I can't imagine how long it took to fully ink you out. Jiraiya had said Kakashi had done a good job of sealing the original mark. He said it took Kakashi some three hours to fully finish all of the sealing marks on the floor. This one looks like it took a day."

Sasuke nodded.

"I'm not entirely sure," he said. "I was going in and out of consciousness for two or three days, so I don't know how long the actual sealing took. All I know is that when it was started, it hurt like hell."

"I can imagine," Naruto said, chuckling. "You deserved it, you dick." He laughed as he sat back down to his rice. Sasuke shot him a glare that gradually softened.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I did."

Naruto shook his head and chuckled again.

"Look, man, it's really not that big of a deal. People fuck up, bro. That's the way life is. I'm just glad I could bring you back. I told you I'd break your legs if I had to."

Sasuke laughed with him.

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed again. "I guess you did."

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I liked writing it. I even added a never before seen section to the end there. I'm really enjoying going through these stories again and working on them. I hope they entertain you as much as they entertain me. Leave me spectacular reviews! Remember, flames and criticism are welcomed, as well. They'll be responded to in a way that will hopefully make everyone happy. -Hangovergoblin