The young Naruto plodded along behind the taller jounin. The jounin would occasionally glance back to make sure Naruto was following him. They would be passing though non-ninja territories. The first of these territories, The Land of Wheat, (I'm making this up), would provide a bit of a challenge. The only ninja villages they were in contact with were Sound, and Konoha. Lightning was separated form them by The Land of Tea. (Again, making up these countries. For reference check out the "Naruto Geography" on Wikipedia.) The jounin realized they would require disguises. Even though Naruto wasn't known in these countries Konoha would be looking for him. And Lightning did not want a war from Konoha, only their bloodlines. The jounin took another glance behind him and sighed. The kid was hopping around making as much noise as he possibly could. Didn't they teach these kids stealth at the academy? Any kid at his age worth his salt in Lightning would be trailing behind with as little noise as possible. Hell, a teacher would probably fail a student in their stealth test with that kind of performance. A look of realization dawned on the jounin. The reason this kid was a genin at age 8 was because he had passed every test flawlessly no matter what his performance. 1 Those BASTARDS wanted the kid to get killed! The jounin took a deep breath and turned around to Naruto.
"Hey kid, what do you know about stealth?"
Naruto looked up and gave him a blank stare. "What's that?" The jounin nearly fell over but caught himself. The kid didn't even know what stealth was! The jounin took another deep breath before speaking again.
"Stealth is a ninja's most important tool. No, kunai and shuriken aren't as useful as stealth. And jutsu? Psh, without stealth you'll have 15 knives in your head before you can make a hand sign. Stealth is the art of trickery. Stealth involves blending into your surroundings, making absolutely no noise. Stealth makes a ninja. Now, for you to learn stealth I want you to follow behind me and make as little noise as possible. And I'll randomly turn around, and before I do, yes, you have to anticipate when I'll move, I want you to hide from my sight. This will help you practice stealth, ok?" the jounin took a large breath after his long-winded talk. The boy opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and nodded his head vigorously. The jounin smiled, the boy was getting it already.
The jounin kept walking. He occasionally turned around to see Naruto attempting to hide behind a bush or a tree. One time, he spun around, and couldn't see Naruto anywhere. He puzzled over it for a few minutes, then looked down and saw Naruto sitting on the ground. He had been expecting to be hiding so much, that he didn't think to look right in front if himself. He realized the best place to hide something IS in plain sight. He kept walking. An hour or so later he turned around and couldn't see Naruto anywhere, and he did check right in front of him. He shrugged, and turned around figuring he would follow him when suddenly he pooped up in his face.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" the jounin screamed holding his breath afterwards.
"Excuse me Mr. Kumo-Man, what's your name?" Naruto asked innocently. The jounin blinked. He hadn't told the kid his name? Well of course if the kid was calling him "Mr. Cloud Man."
"Well, you see my name is actually Akakumo. (Red Cloud)"
"Aka…kumo?" Naruto mouthed the word a few times to get the taste of it.
"Yes Naruto, Akakumo. But you know, your name doesn't fit very well. Why not think of a new one? A new identity for a new start eh?"
Naruto thought hard for a minute. "Kurokoori."2 Akakumo blinked once or twice before grinning. "Black Ice eh? Red Cloud and Black Ice, ya know, this is the start of something grand don'tcha think so Kurokoori?" Kurokoori grinned back at Akakumo.
"Just call me Kuro Aka, it's easier to say." Kuro grinned. Aka grinned back at him, accepting his new name. The two continued their walk to Kumo. As they walked, if one looked very closely with eyes sharper than any Sharingan, then they just might have noticed a slight glimmer of red around Akakumo, and the tiniest hint of black by Kurokoori. (I'd end it here, but I know how you guys love lengthy chapters, and I still haven't reached where I wanna be, so, onto Lightning!)
Several Hours later in the Ninja Village of Kumogakure
Aka and Kuro walked through a small mountain passageway coming up to the entranceway to Kumo. "Aka, I don't see what's so great about this place a bunch of rocks here and there. And I thought Kumo was going to be exciting." Kuro pouted.
"Oh just you wait and see Kuro." Aka said as they turned another corner. When they did, Kuro's mouth hit the floor. In front of him was something he would have never suspected, guessed, or known was up here, or could even exist here.
It was a large indention into the mountain top forming a large bowl. In the bowl was a large island. Surrounding the island was a large moat intensely hot steaming water. Several people could be seen swimming in the water. Encompassing the island were large caramel colored gates. There were 4 gates Facing North, East, South, and West. There was no clear bridge or walkway leading to the island. But what was truly mesmerizing, was the sprawling utopia on the island. In the center was a large tower that was built much higher than the other buildings in the area. Not to say the other buildings were short by any means. Every building towered over the landscape. The shortest building could easily outdo the Hokage Tower back in Konoha. The tallest tower was obviously the Raikage's tower. Its height symbolized its importance. Not to mention the Kumo symbol with a lightning bolt crossing it adorning the South wall. (They are approaching the village form the South.) The buildings shone magnificently. Many people could be seen going about their days. One man was even seen diving off a large building to land in the water below among a group of people. Aka turned to Kuro smiling expecting to him ecstatic, but instead, he got tears.
"Kuro, is there something wrong? You seem sad." Aka was concerned. He thought bringing the boy to Kumo had been good for him. But if he was acting like this maybe it wasn't the right thing to do…
"There's nothing wrong Aka-aniki. 3 It's just, something about this place feels…right. It reminds me of a family."
"A family? How so?"
"Always there for you in your time of need. There to comfort you, always having a shoulder to cry on, and a wall to beat on. It's just…good. There's no other way to describe it."
Aka smiled at him before grinning. "Race ya to the water!" He took off running as fast as he could. Well, not really. This was just for fun. Kuro blinked before taking off after him. "No fair Aka-aniki!"
As they hit the edge of the water they stopped. Kuro was about to jump in before Aka grabbed him by the back of his shirt.
"Not until we see the Raikage." Kuro just crossed his arms and pouted. Aka laughed before turning to the gate.
"Hey! Open up!"
A voice responded from the other side. "Akakumo? Why do you need the bridge? You can get across just fine!"
"Yeah I know, but I have someone with me who needs to see the Raikage and he can't walk across, so open up!" The voice grumbled before a figure appeared on top of the gates. A second figure appeared on the opposite side. Gathering chakra they slammed their hands into the pillars. Kuro was about to respond to how nothing had happened, but just then the gates began to slide open with no noise. In front of them a large bridge of yellow appeared before them. It had lightning running through it, and this was when Kuro realized it was a bridge of chakra. The chakra was being held together by the electricity coursing through it. Aka calmly walked across while Kuro trailed behind him staring in wonder at the bridge and everything around him. Kuro looked to the side to see people splashing and laughing in the hot water. There was a small dock with a much smaller gate, obviously the entrance to that particular area of the water. Kuro thought it was stupid at first but then realized its ingenuity. Having a side door for everyone in the water allowed people to freely move in and out without having to extend the bridge for any civilians. The bridge itself was also a matter of technological ingenuity. By having two shinobi focus chakra into the generators based on top of the gates it created an electrical current and expelled excess chakra creating the bridge. Kuro also realized the gates were made of metal meaning the bridge could be extended all around the entire village in case it was needed, in a case such as a large wall. Kuro may not have been a genius, but when it came to deductive abilities, someone in his place had to be on his toes at all times. And the best time to practice observational skills was in the middle of day. You never know what you might find…
"Kuro! Hurry up!" Aka yelled from in front of him. Kuro hurried to catch up to Aka.
As they walked through the city Kuro marveled at the ingenuity of the place. There were mechanical marvels that he had never heard of before. He watched as civilians flew by on boards that hovered a few inches above the ground. Shinobi rode them a foot or more. Some were even flying them far above the streets. Teenagers could be seen on ramps doing flips and twists. Kuro just wondered how these people could do these things. What also surprised him were the contraptions on the sides of buildings. People would step in, press a button, and the contraption would move to another level of the building and the people would enter the building. Aka watched the amazement on Kuro's face and just chuckled.
"I'm sure the Raikage can answer any questions you have about our village here Kuro." Aka reassured him. Kuro just slightly nodded still amazed at the marvels of Kumo.
A Short While Later in the Yondaime Raikage's Office 4
The Raikage looked at the two figures standing in front of him. He folded his hands and leaned back in his chair. "So…Aka. Please explain to me how my Elite ANBU failed to retrieve either a Hyuuga or an Uchiha and instead brings me this… this… whatever the hell he is! One thing is for sure; he has no bloodline limit, and is therefore useless to us! I trusted you would be able to retrieve one of them since you were one of my Elite ANBU squad. I guess I was wrong." Before the Raikage could elaborate the temperature in the room dropped several degrees and everyone's attention was drawn towards the shorter figure of Kuro.
As he spoke his chakra flared out around him, red mixing with blue, with black seeping in 5. His anger was evident from his tone. "How DARE you! You fucking little prick. Aka-aniki saved my life, and brought me here so I could actually live a normal life as a shinobi of the cloud, but if you're going to put me down, and even go so far as to insult Aka-aniki then with Kami as my witness heaven help me I will fucking kill you where you sit!" Kuro's chakra flailed malevolently around him. The black chakra quickly overtook the blue chakra and enveloped it, while the red chakra still defied attempts at assimilation. The Raikage blinked, and Aka stared an appalled look on his face.
"Raikage-sama! I am so sorry I'm sure he didn't mean any disrespect I will…"
Before Aka could finish the Raikage began to laugh. "You'll kill me for that will you kid? I like your spunk! Cloud can always use shinobi like you boy! However, you're far too weak even for a genin at the moment boy. Although, I'm sure Aka wouldn't mind training you for a while. You two seemed attached to each other already! But first, tell me boy, what's with your black and red chakra? I've heard of red chakra usually associated with demons, but black chakra, never have I heard something of that sort."
"I… I don't really know Rai-sama. I just got angry and it was there. And the red… I… I… I'm not a demon! I know I'm not! Back in Konoha everyone used to hate me, and call me demon, and hurt me, but I'm not a demon, I'm not! I'm not! I'm not!!" Kuro was getting quite upset over all of this. Then, the Raikage did something Aka never expected, he hugged the boy.
"There there, I don't think of you as a demon at all! The only people that are demons are the ones who would hurt you for no reason. So tell me, where are you from again6"
"I… I'm from K-Konoha."
The Raikage began muttering to himself. "From Konoha… red chakra… seen as a demon…" the Raikage cleared his throat and stood up. "Very well then, Aka, I want you to take this boy out around town for a little while. When I ask you to come back, I'll have a residence set up for the boy and a plan as to what happens next. Good day Akakumo." With that, the Raikage ushered them out of his office.
