Someone Like Me?
Prologue: Yugito Nii… (Part 1)
"Hey, Nekobaa?" Naruto's curiosity hadn't stopped itching in his mind since the old, catlike woman had mentioned something earlier in the day, before Team 7 had set out to 'subtly' invade a town of ninja cats. "I… Kinda have a question about something you said earlier…"
Shame is, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno hardly ever did anything subtly, as MANY would attest to.
"Ugh, Naruto, we really should be getting back to Konoha soon to report the success of our mission." Sakura groused at the blonde, the pink haired girl as usual less than pleased with her teammates general attitude.
Sasuke was of no help to them, fists clenched at the knowledge that the mission they'd just taken on had been a test of all things from Itachi Uchiha, the man responsible for the incident labeled the Uchiha Massacre.
"It'll just take a sec Sakura!" Naruto tried to assure the pinkette, making her huff and turn away in irritation.
"What is it lad?" Nekobaa asked with a kind smile as he approached, and his teammates impatiently left the supply shop to prepare to leave.
"Well… It's about that paw print you got before Nekomata's…" Naruto shifted slightly uncomfortably, but pressed on, the name of that cat had gotten his interest.
"The Nibi? Yes, I got help from a kunoichi from the Hidden Cloud to get her paw print!" Nekobaa smiled in that warm and kind way that old ladies tended to, encouraging Naruto to continue.
"That's… that's the Two-Tailed Cat…" He suddenly found the floor beneath his shinobi sandals rather interesting. "By any chance is it… related to the Nine-Tailed Fox? A… creature like it?"
Nekobaa opened her eyes slightly as she took another look at the blonde and realized there was no doubt about it, she knew who this 'Uzumaki Naruto' was, she did after all pay attention to Konoha despite living in the 'abandoned' black market city Sora-ku.
"A Bijuu, a Tailed Beast you mean?" At his nod she figured he may as well be given this much hope. "Yes, the Nibi is the Two-Tailed Hellcat, a creature of incredible power much like the Nine-Tails… And sealed in a Jinchuuriki just like it."
"W-what?! No way, the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi!" Naruto had no idea what 'Jinchuuriki' meant, but he knew enough that she was talking about him, so objected with the official story of the Fourth Hokage slaying the beast, rather than the truth that he sacrificed himself to seal it within the blonde on the day of his birth…
"I may be old but I am not dumb." At the stern words he looked down apologetically.
"R-right… so, someone else out there has a Bijuu in them? Besides me and Gaara?" It would surprise Naruto, how… calm he was, when really he wanted nothing more than to sprint towards the Hidden Cloud village as fast as he could to meet this person.
To be fair, it would help if he knew where the Land of Lightning was, much less the Hidden Cloud!
So as such he struggled to remain patient despite the annoyance bubbling in him that Nekobaa wasn't just being straight with him.
"Well, yes… the one I speak of is Yugito Nii, a Shinobi of the Hidden Cloud." She finally told him, making Naruto perk up, a wide grin stretching across the Genin's face.
"Yugito Nii… thanks old lady, I appreciate it!" And with that he left to the irritated hisses and even yowls of her cats at the blatant disrespect, zooming past Sakura trying to ask out the still deep in thought Sasuke. "Come on guys, let's hurry up!"
"Hn." Sasuke spoke eloquently as always, and started to follow the blonde.
"Hey! Sasuke? Naruto!" Sakura grew irritated at being left behind by the duo (Mostly Naruto, since Sasuke could do no wrong towards her), but Naruto could barely think of anything but the idea that there was someone like him out there.
Someone that would hopefully not be a killer from loneliness and pain like Gaara had been.
Saving Gaara from himself during the Sand/Sound invasion of the Leaf Village, it had opened his eyes that he wasn't the only one cursed to be a… Jinchuuriki, Nekobaa had called them, the containers of the monstrous Tailed Beasts…
And now he knew there was one more out there, and where he could find them! A new Promise filled his heart as he looked to the sky dramatically, that he WOULD find Yugito and show her that she isn't alone either!
Whoo, I have returned! As you may be able to tell, I've been watching Naruto Shippuden again, and got back to the Stories from the Leaf Village Filler arc immediately following the Pein battle. Which gave me this idea here, what if Naruto took an interest in Nekobaa's mentioning of the Two-Tails, and thus learning of Yugito Nii in the Hidden Cloud Village! What will he do with this information? Now THAT right there is the question isn't it?