**Enjoy and please review; it's the only way I can improve on my writing!**
SUMMERY: Years after the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto comes across a situation that will change his life forever. When he listens to the Kyuubi's suggestion, it puts Naruto in a situation he won't be able to escape from. Now with someone new by his side, he has to prepare himself and his fellow companion for the newest threat to jeopardize the world. What does this organization strive for when all they do is leave a trail of death and chaos? What could they truly be hiding and what does it have to do with the ruined temples of the past? With this threat to the peace that blankets the land; how will the ninjas of the Joint Shinobi Army react to an attack on what they all stood for in the last war? Fallow as Naruto and the other ninja try to piece together what they are truly up against before it's too late…
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto! If I did, I wouldn't have such a dead-end job. What a drag…
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(Chapter 1)
-The Long Road Home-
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A mysterious figure wrapped in a black traveler's cloak kept a modest pace on a dirt path snaking its way through thick woodlands. As he grew closer and closer to the Fire Country's border, a light touch of water hit the individual's brow and ran down his face. Looking up to the clouds, he watched as they opened up around him in a sudden down pour. Smiling, he quickly sought proper shelter until the rain had passed. Seeing a large over-hanging branch ahead, the unknown gentleman changed direction and headed for the dry shelter of the tree's canopy as fast as he could.
Lowering his hood, he appeared to be in his early 20's and had scruffs of facial hair poking out from his chin in a pathetic manner. Running his hand through his blond hair, he roughed it up from the flattened state it had taken on, and returned it to its natural spiky mess. It could be seen that Naruto had grown it out since his youth. His hair now came down to his shoulders and looked much like his father's. At times Naruto had contemplated about growing it even longer, like his late sensei's hair. Yet, he would always cast that thought aside, deciding he wouldn't like it getting in his way.
Looking up at the passing clouds, Naruto figured the rain was about to end, and started heading out once again. Decided to leave his hood off, he continued his journey towards Konoha. Grinning from the thoughts of home, he enjoyed the small sprinkles of rain that would hit his face from time to time. He found himself thinking of the woods around the village after it had rained back home. There was a certain tree Naruto had come accustomed to using. He would stay perch up in that tree for hours, usually lost in some Fuuinjutsu book that he had been studying at the time.
"It's a nice day out, huh, Kurama?" Naruto asked to the tenant within him. To anyone else, he seemed to just be deep in thought and talking to himself while walking. No one would imagine he'd be having a conversation with the most feared Fox Demon of all; The Kyuubi-no-Kitsune.
The Kyuubi just groaned as she never was as upbeat as her container. "How can you say it's a nice day while it's raining, baka? I figured you would rather there be sunshine."
Naruto just grinned while placing a hand behind his head. "It's simple Kurama; I enjoy the simple smells of the forest after it's rained." "You never noticed till you had my sense of smell."Kurama answered with slight annoyance in her voice. "I don't know why I ever bothered giving you my full power."
"That's simple; you were just too much of a sucker for me once I learned your name from Son Goku."
"Damn that ape, always was one for opening his mouth." She cursed openly to herself.
Content with rousing the fox, Naruto continued on his way home. Even though he may still act childish at times, he really had grown up a lot from his younger days. No longer would he rush into a situation without thinking, or at least, he tried his best not to anymore.
His attire had changed from his younger days as well; he got rid of his older outfit's full neon orange, instead choosing to tone down the use of his favorite color. As for now, his new uniform consisted of black ninja pants that came to his mid shin. Where the pants cut off, he then wrapped his exposed skin down to his heel and wore standard black ninja sandals, like he had worn in the past. Around his thighs, he had similar bandages underneath kunai packs that he had strapped to both legs. However they were not your average kunai packs. These had been altered to house both regular kunai and his father's triple kunai.
Being a Jonin now, he wore a flak jacket befitting his rank. However his was a unique dark bluish grey instead of the standard green of Konoha. Made for him by a fellow Uzumaki, he was proud to wear the same color's Uzushiogakure had once used with their Jonin. The vest had been customized for him, showing nine orange fox tails encircling the red swirl on his back. Shaped like small wisps of fire blowing in the wind, it emblemized him as the one who had tamed Kurama. Under Naruto's flak jacket, he wore a new shirt. Black and orange like his old uniform. The sleeves themselves were two parts, the top half black while orange finished off the long sleeves. Double red stripes ran up the sides of the shirt, while a single red line went from his collar to his elbow. Underneath his vest was a red hidden leaf symbol that finished off the look of his new shirt.
Even Naruto's traveler's cloak was unique to him, seeing as it was similar to the Akatsuki's cloaks in shape and not the tan cape most Konoha Shinobi used. It was hooded unlike the original high collars from the original design Akatsuki had used. There were no red clouds on the exterior of this cloak. Instead the infamous design had been moved to the inside of the shroud, as well as being changed to black and white clouds over a red background. The outside was now only black with a thick line in the same orange of his Jonin uniform down the edges of the robe. With the weather bleak during his mission, or in this case, the snowy mountains of Lighting Country giving him a chill this early in spring; he was glad he had this cloak to keep him warm.
Most of the time, if Naruto wore a jacket at all, he wore his Toad Sage trench coat just like his father's. Naruto's trench coat even looked much like the Yondaime Hokage's, but with some differences. The flames were black, while the rest of the jacket was a dark shade of red. Yellow with white outlined kanji symbols for 'The Sage of Sages' was across the back instead of the writing for the Yondaime Hokage. On his shoulders, he had wooden crests for both the Uzumaki Clan and Namikaze Clan tide into the sleeves while on the sides of jackets' raised collar the 'Abura' kanji symbol was emblazoned on its tips. It was the same symbol that Master Jiraiya once wore for oil years ago.
As Naruto continued on his way home, he thought back to when Tsunade had asked him to report for this mission. He was rather surprised he was being sent back out after being gone for so long. However, after what he had just gone through, he could understand why she had sent him.
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(Flash Back)
Nearly a month ago, Naruto stood in front of the Hokage's desk, looking at the pictures of the previous Hokages. Regarding the old murals, he contemplated the idea of his father and Sarutobi-sensei looking down on him as he grew. Wondering if Jiraiya ever did the same, Naruto could only hope that they all watched in on him and his shinobi career from time to time.
Tsunade, on the other hand, was admiring Naruto from behind her desk. She noticed how much he had grown to look like the Yondaime Hokage, the father he never got to truly know. He had just returned to the village not even a week ago, and she was already sending him out for another long mission. Luckily, this one would be nothing like his last, and he wouldn't be away from the village for over two years. She was curious though to see how he was doing, knowing how much he had changed last time he traveled the nations with Jiraiya.
"So Naruto, I've read the report from your extended traveling. Tell me now, how's the Joint Shinobi Forces doing in the smaller countries?" asked Tsunade as she situated her elbows on her desk. Looking toward Naruto for her reply, she rested her chin on her outstretched thumbs,
Coming out of his thoughts, Naruto looked at Tsunade dumbfounded, "What was that Baa-san?"
Shocked, Tsunade plunged back into her chair in disbelief. "WHAT!" she screamed, "I'm in the middle of discussing your last mission and you're off in your own little world. Pay attention BRAT!" Tsunade ordered, saying the last part with a little more aggravation in her voice then the rest. 'Good grief, Naruto is still dense some times, he hasn't changed one bit,' Tsunade thought as she collected herself.
"Hey, I'm not a brat you OLD FOSSIL." Naruto replied as he glared back intently towards the increasingly flustered Hokage.
Tsunade froze in sheer shock and rage, her irritation apparent across her face as a large vain throbbed on her forehead. "Watch who you call old fossil you little brat; unless you want to end up in the hands of the medics, shut that trap of yours!" Scowling at the blond, Tsunade snorted in frustration before both of them turned away from each other.
"Humph," Naruto complained as he looked away mockingly. "As for your question, the new system of units seems to be working. The smaller countries have reported that since implemented the Joint Shinobi Forces to patrol their territories, they have seen a decrease in crime across their lands."
Tsunade attempted to cool down while taking in what Naruto had stated. She was pleased to hear about the success of the Tsuchikage's plan. Returning her focus on the file from Naruto's' travels, she came across something interested added by Kakashi. Reading it, she soon lost all aggression towards the blond standing in her office. 'It would seem both men ran into a bit of trouble with the local women of a few small towns. Who would guess that both of them would've been kidnapped and held captive for marriage arrangements, and not just on one occasion?' Laughing to herself, she had to save this bit of info to tease her adoptive grandson later.
"So from this report, I see both you and Kakashi got into a bit of a mess with the local townswomen." Smiling, she watched as a bit of color left Naruto's face. "I knew Kakashi was a pervert, but who would have thought Jiraiya had rubbed off on you so much?" Laughing a little more, she continued, leaving a confused Naruto staring at her.
"So, I asked you here not for your run in with women, but because I have a special mission in mind that suits your…" Pausing for a second, a smile came to her face as she continued. "Enthusiasm; I need you to do an escort mission up to Kumo with an unruly client."
Pale and with a cold sweat rolling off his brow, Naruto tapped his index fingers together as he tried figuring out what that random comment was about. 'Damn it Kakashi, why did you have to tell her about that?' Taking in an even breath of air, he calmed his nerves for the moment. He still wasn't thrilled that during his entire mission, both he and Kakashi had to constantly look over their shoulders. Not for enemy ninja or bandits, but from the single women who wanted them for husbands. He hated Sasuke as a kid for all his fan girls who'd followed him back at the academy, but now, he felt sorry for Sasuke. Naruto now knew first hand just how much fan girls could be a pain in the ass.
Pulling another file out of her desk, Tsunade flipped it open to the clients' details. "His name is Usanara Ikuto, and he happens to be a wealthy business man from Bear Country. He is traveling up to Kumo with his daughter who is to be married. I'm assigning you guard detail for the remainder of their trip. Sakura escorted them this far, but I'm having you finish the job. There are other things I want you to keep a look out for while on your journey."
Leaning back in her chair, Tsunade tapped at her desk irritably as she mulled over the details of Naruto's secrete mission. 'This unknown organization seems to be coming out of the wood works. Whatever their plan is, it seems they have started to put it in motion.' Looking up from her desk, she stared at the blond for a moment before continuing on.
"I have a scroll for you to deliver personally to the Raikage." Tsunade explained while pulling a scroll out of her desk. "There seems to be activity from a new organization that might jeopardize all that we have created since the war." Handing the scroll over, she continued to explain. "I want you to keep an eye out on your travels north for any activities that might be related to this group."
(End)
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Naruto was still traveling down the path that would lead him to Konoha. But often when he had time to be alone with his thoughts, he would reflect on how much life had changed for him since the war. His former teammate and friend, Sasuke Uchiha had come back to fight alone side him during the final battle. It had been slightly over three years since his final battle with the last two Uchiha. The Fourth Great Shinobi War had ended with the death of Madara and Obito Uchiha. However, Naruto was deeply devastated at being unable to have his friend return to Konoha at the end of the war. His beliefs were still misguided, and what he wanted to do with the ninja world was too cruel. The last of the true Uchiha remained too far gone for Naruto to rationalize with. His mind was filled with too much hate for the way the world worked. After the war he and his comrades disappeared and still to this day are registered as missing-nins.
In the past two years Naruto has spent his time traveling the different nations. He has gotten to see the actions of Joint Shinobi Forces first hand and the effects it's had on all the countries, both great and small. Since the alliance of the five Kages had now turned into an alliance of all nations, a group task force of the Joint Shinobi Army was formed under a decree the Tsuchikage put in place. It was comprised of ninja rom every nation, and worked similar to a normal three man cell. They simply traveled between the nations, going from small towns to large villages providing any needed services.
The JSF wasn't the only thing created out of the alliance. A special group of ANBU called 'Karasu' was formed. The group compiled of loners, all of who were either A or S-ranked ninja. Working in two man cells much like Akatsuki once had, it made them rather good at tracking rouge-nins. Reporting to the leader of whatever country they happened to be in, the special ANBU mainly conveyed any information gathered to the Kages much like a well-oiled spy network.
Naruto was still walking on his seamlessly never ending journey back home when his legs began to cramp up. Decided to take a break on the side of the path, he found a good spot to sit and reflect. 'Fuck, I'm sore!' He thought as he rubbed at his left leg thoughtfully; he just wished the pain he was feeling would end. 'I think I might have broken the bone in my last spar.' Wincing from the sharp pain he received, he turned his thoughts inward, 'Hey Kurama, why the hell aren't you letting my leg heal?'
The giant fox within growled at her host, hating the fact that she was being disturbed to answer yet another annoying question of his. The Kyuubi might like her container now, but she still held a grudge to the rest of humanity. Being imprisoned and controlled for years, she was at least happy her new jailer was nothing like the rest.
"Shut up you baka!" Kurama roared, "It would only take me a second to heal you, but then again, I'd rather you suffer through it seeing this was your own doing." Putting on her best foxy grin, the Kyuubi knew Naruto was stunned and about to give her one of his annoying rants.
Naruto simply fell backwards from hearing the Kyuubi's answer. "What? You want me to suffer? Why? Naruto cried histrionically. "This isn't my fault." He pronounced while pointing at his thigh. "It's not like I kicked a tree too hard without using chakra to strengthen my leg." Naruto began to pout as he thought about it. "I was the tree… I was the one kicked."
Regaining his seat upon the log he found, Naruto crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and steadied his breathing. When Naruto re-opened his eyes, he stood inside his mindscape before Kurama. The great fox demon Kyuubi-no-Kitsune rested on top of a large rock shelf that protruded out of a large hilltop. With Naruto absorbing and fusing with her chakra, it resulted in him changing his inner mindscape for her. She rather liked the feeling of her new home, it no longer being the sewers it had been before, Locked behind a cage. It had now been replaced with an ancient forest of the largest trees anyone had ever seen, so large that it even made the giant fox look tiny on top of her rock.
Naruto could see the Kyuubi through the trees, lying out across her shelf. As he walked out from the forest and around her to a familiar spot, he sat down onto a rock he had used plenty of times when conversing with her. Crossing his arms after a few minutes, Naruto began to grow more impatient the longer he waited for the fox to answer him.
Kurama, on the other hand, took her time seeing she was in no hurry to answer the kid. She knew the wait was only causing him to get increasingly aggravated the longer he sat there waiting on her. She continued on with her guise of resting peacefully, and plainly ignored his presence.
After a short while of silence, the Kyuubi snickered before finally glared at Naruto. "It is your fault baka. You were the one to pull that prank on Killer Bee and then stupidly lower your guard afterword." Grinning, she knew Naruto wouldn't argue back after that statement. "You've now let yourself be knocked around twice in one month you idiot!"
She was right; Naruto turned his head, not even wanting to acknowledge the incident that happened the other day. He reflected on how he lowered his guard too soon, but still he thought Bee-sama held back some of his strength. He thought it was because Killer Bee still had the image of those fox-girls running through his head.
"Well I figured I'd do it since we were evenly matched." Grinning, he returned the same roguish look he was receiving from the fox. "I needed to do something to end our fight." Naruto just started to laugh as he thought back to his mission to Kumogakure-no-sato in the Land of Lightning…
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(Flash Back)
Inside a massive Sumo circle, both Naruto and Killer Bee were locked in battle. Neither of them showed any sign of giving up as both pushed on the other. The match had gone on long enough as both dug in deep, trying to keep their stances. Extending their chakra-laced arms, tentacles wrapped around orange fox legs as Bee attempted to get an upper hand. Feeling his grip slipping, Naruto completed the last of his hands signs in hopes of winning the match.
Now with a foxy looking grin stretched across his face, he finished his jutsu, and hoped his plan would work. "Haaremu no Jutsu!"
Puffs of smoke suddenly surrounded Killer Bee, catching the Jinchuuriki off guard. Throwing his arms up in defense, he prepared himself to be hit with a shadow clone barrage, which would break the rules, ending their fight. However when the smoke cleared, he froze from the nine beautiful sights that stood before him. Naruto had created nine naked vixens who's beauty could ensnare any man instead of shadow clones. As they covered themselves seductively, the girls slowly began forcing Bee closer and closer to the edge of circle without him noticing.
Feeling the presence of liquid on his upper lip, he paid no mind to the bit of blood dribbling from his nose. He was far too occupied in looking at the women meant for him, never noticing his loss in focus causing his tentacles to retreat back into his body. Killer Bee gradually analyzed each girl, studying their slender bodies and admiring their oversized breasts. Impeccable, round, and perky, he couldn't look away. He was sure these nine vixens' tits were bigger than Samui-chan's. Luckily Samui still had the advantage with her un-matched sexy curvy hips that Bee was so fond of.
Raising an eyebrow, Bee smiled when he finally took noticed that each girl had a bushy fox tail and little pointy ears nestled atop their long flowing red hair. Ashamed he had fallen to such a trick, Bee called out to his tenant sealed within him.
"Hey Eight-O..." Bee chanted while sitting on top of the Hachibi, "Do you see what sights are out before me? These lovely ladies cannot be, that fox gots brains and plays things tricky."
The Hachibi just grinned and shook his head. "We are supposed to be in the middle of a Sumo match and you're getting distracted by these fox-girls. I thought you weren't perverted Bee-san."Hachibi stated before laughing loudly.
"Hey, don't call me a pervert. I don't go sneaking aro-…"
Killer-Bee was suddenly cut off mid-sentence when the nine fox-girls started wrapping their arms around him. He couldn't move, too stunned he could only watch their devilish tricks as his eyes bounced around in his head. He followed each girl as they all started on their own mission and soon lost him in the blissfulness of each girls caress. Lifting up his shirt, some of the girls massaged their warm hands into his stomach and chest while three others kissed his neck.
However, it was the last one who was the true seductress. She kissed Bee softly on his lips, her tongue sliding across them, begging for entrance. As the girl pulled her lips away she batted her eyelashes and asked in a seductively sweet voice, "Kil-ler-Bee-kun, with all these pretty girls on you, why don't you stop this silly match and come with us?" Leaning close into his ear, she whispered, "Do you think you can satisfy all nine of us?" Letting the last part hiss out, she began to nibble softly on his ear.
Killer-Bee couldn't handle it any longer and was hurtled back by a massive nose bleed to land face first into the dirt outside the ring. His body collapsed upon itself, as his eyes remained closed. Blood still trickled from his nose as he remained pale and unresponsive. But as he lay there, reflecting on everything that just happen, he began to smile like a fool. He was picturing just what he'd have done to the nine vixens given the chance, even pulling some of his inspiration from things he had read in Icha-Icha Paradise. He remained on the ground for some time, lost in his own thoughts.
"Get your ass up Bee; you're making us look bad!"The Hachibi yelled as he looked out at Naruto from within Killer-Bee's mindscape. 'Who would have thought a technique like that would put Bee-san out cold. I guess this is why they started calling the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki -The Cunning Fox of Konoha-. He's a tricky little bastard, that's for sure.' Laughing for a moment, he returned to his efforts in waking Bee.
Naruto on the other hand, was holding his sides from the pain he was in after laughing so hard. He would have never thought his plan to work until he heard about Omoi giving Killer Bee his late sensei's book collection of Icha-Icha. Naruto couldn't stop laughing, but once Killer Bee had stood up with blood still on his upper lip, he started to laugh even harder.
"I-I never t-took y-you as a p-pervert Bee-sama!" He sputtered between laughs as he finally cancelled the sexy no jutsu.
Doubled over in laughter, Naruto didn't see Killer Bee move, and before he could fully react, his fellow Jinchuuriki had landed a kick to his leg. Naruto was sent flying into the boulders that piled around the Sumo ring and crashed hard into the granite, burying him under a pile of rubble.
Bee wiped his nose with the back of his hand before looking in Naruto's direction with a half grin. "Yo yo yo!" He shouted with one fist in the air, "The rules we set simply stated, no Nin or Genjutsus, so don't be hate'n. You lose by default, making your joke seem so cool, well I still kicked you across this field, cause you're a fool, fool, fool " Killer Bee just laughed after he finished with his rap. 'If it wasn't for that jutsu stopping the fight, we could have gone long into the night. Who knew the kid had gotten that strong? I'll bet he'll reach his dreams before too long.'
Sighing, the Hachibi agreed with Killer Bee. "Yes. I think you're right. He has grown much since we had first met him four years ago."Bee nodded his head in agreement, 'This peace we are in is because of his will, to never give up and to never mindlessly kill.' Satisfied, Killer Bee began to walk off, leaving the training ground and an unconscious Naruto…
(End)
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Naruto came out of his thoughts about the fight with Bee; though it was fun, he was still a little worried about the first half of his mission. Officially,his mission was to escort a client to Kumogakure, some VIP business man. The whole way up, however, Naruto's patience was running thin with this particular civilian. Seems the man had come to make a lot of money after the war, and now flaunted his wealth pompously. His ego was so big, he thought himself superior to all ninja, and insulted their life style, saying it was pointless.
"You're pathetic, the whole lot of you." He had once told Naruto. "To risk your life for others is just a waste of a life. A man should make his mark in this world with wealth and success!" Looking down upon Naruto from his carriage window, he frowned at him before further insulting him. "Just do the job I paid you for and stop talking to me like we could be friends."
It had really struck a nerve with Naruto, but he let it slide knowing everyone had their own way of life. The man was doing no good to anyone by being a pompous ass and therefore didn't deserve anything Naruto had been wishing to do. However, guarding a civilian wasn't his main goal; Tsunade had given Naruto a scroll to deliver to the Raikage. It had seemed that something or someone was blocking the messenger hawks from reaching Kumogakure. He was tasked with finding out what might be the cause. When they had reached the neck of Frost Country, south of the great mountain ranges of Lightning Country, Naruto had snuck off one night. Creating a hundred clones, he sent them out in every direction, tasked with the objective to find any clues of the missing birds. He had done this at several intervals throughout the trip, always at night as to not wanting to draw any attention from the client or his crew.
However, this time in Frost Country, Naruto found some real evidence when one of his clones released itself and a flood of memories returned to him. It had seemed the clone came upon a dead hawk with a longbow shaft through its side. The message it had carried stolen off its corpse, leaving the information it contained in unknown hands. Shortly enough, other clones were finding the same thing. Naruto wrote it all down in a scroll for his records. He counted a total of five hawks, only half of what had been missing. Concluding the same had happened to the others as what had happened to these five, Naruto released the remaining clones and returned to camp.
Still sitting alongside the Kyuubi, Naruto noticed the fox had gone back to sleep and realized his leg had still yet to be healed. Deciding to take up his thoughts at another time, he returned to pestering the fox about his broken leg.
"You might be right about what had happened during the match with Octopops; however, I'm already a day behind schedule and I really need to get back to the village by tonight." He informed her before standing and walking over to the left of her head.
Kurama started to laugh some more as she opened one eye to stare back at Naruto. "If you weren't so dense, you could have learned medical ninjutsu from Sakura-chan when she tried to teach you, and heal your own damn leg." Returning to ignoring Naruto, she closed her eye once again and tried to drift off into sleep.
Narrowing his eyes, Naruto knew that at least for the time being he wasn't going to get any help from the fox. "Fine, I guess I'll just take it easy." Lowering his head in defeat, he grumbled to himself, "I can still get to Konoha before it's too late…" Closing his eyes, Naruto left his inner mind and found himself back on the side of the path.
After limping for another hour, Naruto decided to keep a steadier pace to Konoha, and dealt with the aches and pains coming from his thigh. It was already late in the afternoon, and he had figured he was about ten hours from the village and probably wouldn't see home till morning. Then again, if he could push it, he might just get home before midnight and get to sleep in a real bed. At the moment though, he was lost in one of his Fuuinjutsu books, reading up on some old seals when he stopped dead in his tracks.
As lost as he was in reading his book, he became suspicious after catching the faintest sound of someone running towards him. Not being able to tell who or what it was, Naruto tried to sniff them out and search for any scent he might recognize. Yet, he had no luck with identifying the pursuers or their exact position. No options left to him, Naruto focused back on the noise and could finally distinguish where they were running on the ground. 'It's a good thing I've been practicing with my enhanced hearing. Learning this trick from Kurama makes this a bit easier,' Naruto thought as he focused all his efforts into the thick woodlands.
They were hard to follow; the small group seemed to be moving erratically and heading in his general direction. Suddenly it dawned on him; he heard the grunts and huffs of a pack of wolves. He could only guess then that they must be hunting down some prey. Focusing harder, he finally caught a bit of noise and found the sounds of their prey. Whatever they were chasing, the prey was good enough to keep ahead of the pack. Figuring this was no threat to him; he returned his attention to his book and continued on his way.
It was only moments later, and a little ways down the path; Naruto realized the packs prey was right up on him. From under one bush dashed out a small, light orange fox cub, no bigger than a small house cat. Without stopping at the sight of Naruto, the fox kept running right at him. Stunned at what he was looking at, Naruto heard the fox yip once before the small creature jumped right at him. Dropping his book, he froze in shock, surprised that the little kit would even attempt an attack at him. Landing on Naruto's left knee, the fox pushed himself off the leg and onto the blonde's shoulder. Digging his claws deep into the black cloak the fox perched himself on top of Naruto.
"What the…? It's a fox. This is the prey those wolves were cha-"
Before Naruto could finish his sentence, he was taken out at the knees and tossed up into the air, crashing down onto the ground face-first. Lying dazed and face down in the dirt, Naruto rolled over onto his back to stare up at the tree canopy. Trying to gather his thoughts, he suddenly remembered the fox who was just sitting on his shoulder.
The Kyuubi was laughing hysterically in Naruto's mind. Slowly she managed to control herself and catch her breath before speaking to Naruto. "It seems you still haven't learned to keep your guard up baka." Kurama was grinning gleefully, knowing just how to push Naruto when it suited her entertainment. Waiting to see if her container would play into her hands, she was hoping to cause Naruto to go off into one of his ridicules rants.
"Stuff it fox. I don't care what you have to say right now!" Naruto screamed in reply.
Searching around him, he found the small fox was still by his side. Yet now they also had the company of a rather large pack of wolves circled around them both. As if there was an unseen command, the wolves attacked at once. They were on top of Naruto before he could fully react. Several wolves sank their teeth into his flesh. Pinned and barely able to move, he released the Kyuubi's chakra he merged with years ago. His body became surrounded with the demonic chakra, altering his looks to resemble a certain sage of legend. Glowing in an awe-inspiring aura, Naruto's body shone brightly in shades of yellow, orange, and red. The wolves that once held him down went flying through the air as Naruto pushed them away with extended chakra arms. The small fox attempted at that moment to make his escape. Dashing in between the pack of wolves closest to him, he tried to make it to the cover of the woods once again. Despite his best efforts though, one of the wolves was far too fast for him. It seemed to be the alpha of this pack as he appeared ruthless with his attack. Grabbing the young pup by his neck, he forced the kit to the ground, pinning him to the dirt of the path. Crying out in pain the small fox screamed as the wolf sank its fangs deep into his neck and shoulders. But as the alpha picked him up and began shaking the fox in his mouth, his screams turned more frantic, then horrifying as the poor creature began to gag and choke on its own blood.
Taking action immediately before the neck could snap, Naruto threw one of his triple kunai at the wolf, catching him off guard. The Flying-Thunder-God kunai caught one of the alpha's ears perfectly, removing that body part from its head. In a flash of yellow, Naruto now stood in front of the surprised wolf. Shocked by the sudden pain it found itself in, the alpha dropped the lifeless body from its mouth and faced Naruto in challenge and leapt for his throat. Naruto obliged the wolf's wishes and continued his onslaught. A simple chakra induced kick was all that it took, sending the alpha spiraling overhead of his pack and into the forest behind them. The large wolf slammed into the canopy of a large tree, and howled out as he fell, hitting every branch on the way down before colliding with the ground in a lifeless mass of blood and fur. Making no movement, the alpha remained unconscious under the heap of broken braches that followed him down.
Now standing between the fox and remaining wolves, Naruto sneaked a peak at the young fox and clenched his fist. Blood soaked its fur around its neck, and he saw no indication that it was even still breathing. The poor creature was likely dead and at the present moment there was nothing Naruto could do about it. A few of the wolves started closing in around him as even one more attempted to go after the wounded animal behind him.
"I should do the same to you all!" Naruto called out to the others.
Watching as some of the wolves started to retreat; Naruto waited for an attack as a few continued to grow closer. With four wolves challenging him, Naruto held back a little with the mutts before him on account of a certain loud mouthed friend of his. 'If it wasn't for Kiba, I think I'd kill these four wolves in a heartbeat.'
With that thought, Naruto pulled out several more kunai, and began spinning one of them on his finger tip as he waited. Agrin crossed his face that matched the evil glare burning in his eyes. 'I'll just have to settle on making them run tucking their tails.' In one fluid motion, he released all the kunai, cutting off an ear on every wolf that remained so they now match their alpha in appearance.
It was more than enough to scare off the pack as they all fled the area, never to look back; leaving behind the pieces of flesh they'd lost. With the threat gone, Naruto returned his attention back to the small cub. He took off the cloak he was wearing to wrap the injured animal. Placing his hands over the lacerations, he attempted to stop the bleeding as best that he could. Blood began to cover his hands as the dark liquid soaked his jacket. Keeping pressure on the dying fox's neck, Naruto knew he was failing in his efforts to save the fox. 'If only Kiba's sister were here. She'd know what to do.'
Naruto felt the warmth leave the small body in his hands. His shoulders sank in defeat as he stopped applying pressure. The fox was dead, and he felt miserable for it. Sure it was nature, but he hated watching what that fox had just gone through.
"What are you doing Naruto? The fox is dead, pull yourself together." Sitting up on her rock, Kurama looked out into the real world through Naruto's mind. She wondered to herself whether or not she should tell Naruto of the way he could give this fox a new life.
"Why does it matter to you Kurama?" Naruto answered back. If all she was going to do was pester him, he'd rather not hear it. "I'm too late anyways; I can't save him." Pulling the cub into his arms, Naruto wished he only could have done more.
"What if it isn't too late?" Kurama smiled as she knew Naruto wouldn't understand.'The kid is clueless. I wonder how long it will take him to figure out I can help him.'
"W-What do you mean? There is nothing I can do." Entering his inner mindscape, he figured it couldn't hurt to hear what Kurama wanted to talk about.
The Kyuubi lingered on her rock, watching Naruto the whole time. Her tails whipped behind her as she prepared herself for the next move. "There is still an option to choose from, although there is only a small chance of it working."Kurama stated with a stolid face, giving Naruto no trace of her true thoughts. 'At least some part of me will continue. Once I'm reborn, I might no longer be a fox. I might take on a new form like the others had.'
"Why the sudden concern in saving this fox, huh?" He asked skeptically as he eyed the Kitsune in front of him. "You've never shown any interest in anything that doesn't concern you before."
"Humph, you caught me" Kurama answered with a smirk, "Go back to your body and I'll tell you my plan." She continued as she watched him shimmer out and leave.
Though it had been minutes in his mind, in the real world it had only been seconds. Now prepared to do whatever it took to save the young fox, Naruto linked with Kurama as he opened his eyes. "Okay Kurama. What's your plan?" He asked hesitantly.
"With the upcoming threat we are about to face, I figure it would do you some good to have a new comrade." Kurama stated, "If you use my chakra to heal the fox, in theory he should gain my powers and a new life as a Kitsune. Though if it doesn't work, it may just kill him." She finished with a smirk.
"Huh?" Naruto asked looking a bit bewildered, "How so? I don't know any medical nin-jutsus." Scratching at his goatee, he pondered on what she had just said. "Not to mention, why do we have to use your chakra?"
"That fox there in your hands is still just a pup and his chakra network is still being formed." She stated impatiently. "Here's what I want you to do: replace his chakra with mine, and it should return life to his system."
"So then explain to me why you feel like I need this pup as a partner" Naruto asked as he looked back to the lifeless body.
"With the information the Raikage has given us, it seems that this new organization that threatens the shinobi world plans to use the Spirits and Demons of the old world." Kurama explained with little enthusiasm. "With the added help of this soon-to-be newly formed Kitsune, it just might give us an upper hand with our enemy."
"I can see your point there." Naruto stated as he pondered on the possibilities having a Kitsune as a partner might be. 'This pup and I can end up being as great a duo like Kiba and Akamaru are.' He mused happily.
"I want you to create a seal in your own blood. I'm thinking the Three-Pointed Trigram Seal you just read about in that scroll might do the trick." Frowning, she thought over her approach one last time, "Although I'm uncertain what will actually happen. You could use clones to add your own Wind chakra, along with Natural energy from your toad transformation. Combining them with my own chakra, you should be able to create a strong enough seal." Scratching with one of her long claws, Kurama scribed the needed seal on top of her rock, before placing both hands into the circle. "Hopefully his body can contain such a large amount of life force seeing how small he is."
"So your plan is to use a forbidden Fuuinjutsu technique and attach a part of your life force onto the kit along with your chakra?" Naruto confirmed as he thought it over. "It might just work, but there's a risk to the giver of this jutsu as well." Crossing his arms, Naruto recalled what he had read about this Fuuinjutsu. "You can go into shock I believe; you are, in essence, slicing a part of yourself off in order to bring back life into a body." Looking back down once again towards the fox, Naruto decided to go through with the ritual. "If this is what you want to do, then I say let's give it a shot!" He shouted out to Kurama.
"Let's stop talking about it, and get the show on the road already!" Kurama replied while snickering. "I know the risks I take."
Biting his finger tip with his large fang and drawing blood, Naruto wrote the three pointed seal on the fox's head. Walking over to a large, flat, rectangular boulder, he placed the kit on top of the rock and tossed his stained jacket off to the side. Next, Naruto created two clones; both knew what to do next, as they held out their hands. Though he hadn't attempted it yet, Naruto felt confident enough in his abilities as he wrote the needed signs on the palms of both clones. Writing the same symbol on his palm, Naruto took a seat beside the fox.
"We need to gather the same amount of chakra to perform this jutsu correctly." Naruto explained to his two clones.
"Right!" the two replied as they took their seats as well. One closed his eyes and gathered the Natural energy around him while the other started collecting Wind chakra into the symbols on his hands. The original Naruto concentrated hard, never having really used the Kyuubi's power like this before. Gathering and condensing a mass of yellow chakra into the same symbols on his hands. With the clones finishing their own preparations, the surrounding area became washed out in brilliant lights of white, blue, and orange. Each held in their hands a mass collection of chakra and energy. Wind combined with Nature and Spiritual energy would form the three pillars locking a bit of Kurama's chakra and life force into the fox, or so the plan was.
In unison, the three Naruto's along with Kurama flashed through the 63 hand-signs before slamming their palms down on the ground and activating the sealing jutsu. Black markings crawled across the ground, linking the three in a circle before drawing in on itself to surround the fox. The seal written in blood upon the fox grew to engulf the whole body in lines and symbols of unknown origins and connected to the circle around it. Bringing his other hand over the small body before him, Naruto pushed Kurama's chakra into the fox cub, surrounding it in blood red chakra. Slowly, the dense collection of Spiritual chakra began to absorb into the body, burning and singeing some of the hair in the process with its overwhelming power.
"This is a lot harder than I thought it be..." Naruto gasped in between ragged breaths.
Watching one of her nine tails slowly decrease in size, Kurama continued to funnel her life force into the seal. "That's it Naruto, looks like it's going ta work. This isn't going to be easy, so get yourself comfortable; it's going to be a long haul."
They sat there for another hour, only focusing on the slow feed of Spiritual chakra into the small fox. At some time during the sealing, the fox began to show signs of the jutsu's success. His body had begun to transform entirely as he absorbed more and more of Kurama's essence. His fur coat was the first thing to change, darkening to different shades of red, while his white underbelly turned to a blood orange. His color change was the least surprising thing Naruto took witness of during the sealing. Towards the end, Naruto watched in discomfort as the fox's tail began to split, leaving the new Kitsune with three long bushy tails.
By the time the ritual came to an end, Naruto and his clones where exhausted. He felt woozy while the clones were nearly out of power and close to releasing themselves. Kurama wasn't in any better of shape as she sat hunched over the seal, swaying from side to side and feeling slightly light headed. With her tail fully absorbed, she stopped releasing her chakra and immediately collapsed to her side unconsciously.
After a moment, Naruto stopped the transfer, giving time for the chakra to disappear into the fox's new seal. Naruto, along with his two clones went through another series of hand signs, sealing Kurama's chakra and life essence into the body of the small fox forever. The markings on both the ground and fox receded quickly to form the Three-Pointed Trigram Seal between the ears of the young kit. Three lines leading from the Kanji's for Wind, Nature, and Spirit came together and formed a swirl inside a circle before slowly fading away beneath the fur.
The fox remained lifeless on top of the rock. Once catching his breath, the Leaf-nin leaned forward and looked over the body for any signs that something had gone wrong. Running his fingers through the fox's hair, Naruto saw no sign of the previously open wounds. Giving a thumbs up to his two clones, they released themselves when they saw that the Fuuinjutsu had worked.
"I take it we're done now?" Naruto asked as he stood up and looked around for a better place to set the fox. "I'm surprised that his body was able to contain such a large fragment of your soul."
"It seems like it has kid." Kurama strained to say. "But we won't know for sure until the fox wakes." Hurt, she suddenly winced when she tried moving. "That is, if he wakes up. Let's just see if the pup fully recovers overnight."Laying down on her rock, Kurama struggled to curl her remaining eight tails around herself. Enduring the pain and aches she felt all over her body, she closed her heavy lidded eyes in hopes of recovering by tomorrow.
'Seems like my plan worked. But I never thought that jutsu would make such a powerful entity as such as myself feel so drained. My whole body feels as if it's being ripped apart.' She thought before letting the sleep she longed for claim her.
Naruto sighed, feeling equally drained. "Well, I guess I'm not getting to Konoha tonight." He laughed to himself as he picked up his new companion into his arms.
Staggering down the path towards the village, a horrifying thought crossed his mind, stopping Naruto dead in his tracks. "Shit, Sakura-chan's birthday is coming up in two days…"
Paling, he flinched with the sudden realization of what Sakura might do to him if he missed it. Imagining how it was when they were younger, she'd most likely put him through a wall for not coming home on time.
"Even worse, she might not want to see me at all!"
Hetried not to think about how much their friendship had been strained over the years, but it wasn't easy seeing her the day he left on his mission. It felt rather awkward and it had been bugging him the whole time since he'd left the village.
Ignoring his self-doubt and rather just call it a night, meant he needed to find a place to camp close by. Managing only to create a half dozen clones, Naruto sent them out in search of a place to camp nearby. Tired, he leaned up against a tree, bracing his weary body and stared back down at the fox in his arms. Naruto was relieved at the sight of steady breathing coming from the newly formed three tailed fox. Though he didn't know where his decisions might take him, he knew his actions would cause waves of uncertainty throughout the village. He was going to have to keep a tight leash on the young Kitsune. But, all that could wait for tomorrow as he received a good location to camp from a released clone. All he wanted to do now was sleep, and as he picked up the sleeping fox, he took pity on him for the experience he had gone through today. Jumping into the trees, Naruto and his new companion were headed in the direction of a good night's sleep, and a new chapter in both their lives…
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