A/N: Ok, yikes, I have to clear up a few things real quick about the "Jinchuuriki" thing. First of all I'm not making up new Jinchuuriki, although that idea is related to the conception of this story. I know that according to the Naruto universe only those with a Bijuu sealed within them is considered a Jinchuuriki, I'm not changing that (thank you Super Saiyan). The definition I gave in the prologue is made up by the Feudal Lords, who are meddling in things that are beyond their understanding (bless them), and that will be explained in more depth later in the story.
Secondly, concerning the OCs I warned you about. Like I said they are not here to carry the story although they do have their rolls to play. This is my made up AU brain-vomit story after all. As for whether or not they will turn out to be Mary Sue/Gary Stu . . . well, that is a possibility, this is my first real attempt at writing OCs that aren't villains. But I trust you all to let me know if that happens and I'll fix it (especially with one in particular, she ran away with me the little scamp). I'm working really hard to make sure that doesn't happen, though, so crossed fingers. (And none of them are more powerful than the kyuubi, thor94, no worries.)
Right, ok, do we feel any better now? Fears soothed for the moment? Good, great, now Chapter One.
Hurry Up and Wait
When Naruto was called into the Hokage's temporary headquarters, he was naturally expecting to see Tsunade, not a bunch of people in black uniforms who surrounded him as soon as he walked in. It was a bit disconcerting, to say the least.
Naruto, quickly tensed for a fight, glanced around at the black-clad people, unable to see any of their faces due to the masks that covered every inch of their faces, only leaving slits for their eyes. Naruto figured there were at least a dozen he could see, but had enough experience to know there must be more elsewhere.
His eyes landed on the only other uncovered face in the room, a gray haired man who looked to be in his late fifties, sitting arrogantly at the Hokage's desk. He was dressed in the same all black uniform as the others and was staring at a scroll in his hands, not looking at Naruto.
"Um," Naruto began elegantly when his access to the door was cut off, "What's going on? Where's Grandma Tsunade?" About a thousand other question crowded into his head for attention as well, but by the look of his situation he'd have to pick and choose.
The gray-haired man still didn't look at him and ignored his questions, asking his own, "You are Uzumaki Naruto, correct?"
"Yeah, that's me," Naruto answered, now officially annoyed, "And you are?"
"That is none of your business," The man said evenly, finally setting down his scroll and looking up at the blonde, studying him carefully for a moment. Naruto had to fight not to squirm under the man's iron gray eyes. It reminded him to much of the T&I Shinobi.
"But," the stranger continued, "I will tell you that if you cooperate with me this will go much easier. For you and your village," the man paused, giving a considering look to the room they were in, "Well, what's left of it, anyway." The unprovoked glare he leveled at Naruto then would've made Ibiki cringe.
Naruto only tensed further at the mention of the village. Were they in danger again?
"Well, spit it out then," Naruto said, impatience getting the better of him, "What do you want? Is this about the Akatsuki?" His question spilled out unbidden and he was only able to stop when the man held up a hand.
"Yes and no," the man said cryptically, lowering his arm to rest behind his back, "But as for what we want. It is quite simple," he stood then to his full height (which was more significant than Naruto thought while the man had been sitting) and, back straight and chin raised, said clearly and deliberately, "You, Uzumaki Naruto, being the container of the Nine-tails demon fox, are hereby ordered to leave Konohagakure immediately and never to return. This is by order of the Fire Daimyo. We have been dispatched to make sure this order is carried out swiftly. We have been licensed to use force if we have to."
The man fell silent after his speech and watched Naruto expectantly.
Naruto, for his part, wasn't sure he'd just heard right. That or this guy was cracked.
In fact, his so called "order" was so ridiculous that Naruto, so true to form it was painful, laughed. A short bark of a thing that spoke more of disbelief than humor, but laughter all the same.
It seemed to startle the gray haired man more than anything else Naruto could have done, "I fail to see the humor, boy," he hissed.
Naruto snorted again, he couldn't help it, "You can't be serious. You can't order me out of my own village, I've done nothing wrong, for one." At least nothing lately that would piss Tsunade off enough to throw him out, of that he was sure.
Tsunade isn't here, though.
Then the mysterious man said something that chilled Naruto right to his core, "You are a Jinchuuriki. That's more than enough. The Daimyo has ordered your removal, and I will see to it that his order is carried out."
All laughter faded from him as Naruto finally let the man's words sink in.
They were going to make him leave Konoha.
They were exiling him.
"He has been a Jinchuuriki his entire life, in case it escaped your notice," A voice from behind Naruto said clearly, "What has changed now?"
Naruto turned toward the new voice and was more confused than ever. Danzo stood just inside the door, also surrounded by some very confused black-clad soldiers. He moved farther inside, past Naruto (still too stunned to question the elder's presence), and right up to the gray-haired leader. One look at the leader of these strangers and Naruto knew he was just as confused as to how Danzo had gotten into the secluded room as he was.
"I am an elder of this village," Danzo said levelly, "You will answer my question." Naruto didn't know much about Danzo (no one did, really) just that Lady Tsunade didn't like him, and he was into some pretty shady stuff (hang around Sai for five minutes). And Naruto also knew that if Danzo was coming to his defense, he was in more trouble than he thought.
The leader's eyes narrowed but he did answer, "The Jinchuuriki have been declared by your superiors to be too dangerous to inhabit a village with other humans," Naruto felt himself physically flinch at that, "They are too unpredictable. I would think you would understand after everything that has happened."
Danzo seemed to take a moment to consider this before he answered, "The Uzumaki boy had nothing to do with - "
"My orders are to remove him," Gray Hair cut him off, "I will not argue technicalities with you. This is the order of the Daimyo. Nothing you say now will change it."
Danzo's grip tightened on his cane. It wasn't often he was disrespected, "The Daimyo, you say?" Danzo paused again, "Tell me, where is Lady Tsunade? It is most unusual for her not to be present for something of this importance."
"The Hokage is in an Emergency Meeting with the Fire Daimyo concerning the recent destruction," Gray Hair said simply.
There was a pause where Naruto could practically hear the gears in Danzo's head turning.
"I see," Danzo finally said quietly, something in his voice resonating with Naruto. It was as if Danzo had just uncovered something filthy and didn't know how to get rid of it.
I see . . .
Naruto felt something click in his head at those words and a horrible, awful possibility occurred to him.
Where was Granny Tsunade? Where was anyone?
Danzo was the only person here defending him against these strangers and Naruto was under no delusion as to why. Danzo saw him, the Jinchuuriki, as a military weapon, always had. He would fight tooth and nail to keep Naruto in the village for that and nothing else.
But Granny Tsunade . . . was at a meeting with the Daimyo.
The Daimyo who was apparently ordering him out of his village, his home.
Does Tsunade think I'm too . . . dangerous . . .
Naruto shook his head. No, that couldn't be, it just couldn't. Tsunade cared about him, was proud of him. She wouldn't go along with this.
Then why isn't she here, hm?
Naruto shook his head again and realized Danzo and Gray Hair had begun arguing while he'd been lost in thought.
"This is outrageous," Danzo was saying, voice very nearly rising, "You cannot expect us to just take this lying down - "
"And you should know," Gray Hair said over him again, "That I am authorized to use force. I do not think your village is in any condition for another fight. Do you?"
Danzo went quiet, and Naruto knew the answer.
No, they couldn't.
Despite Nagato's last act, the village had suffered heavy casualties and had only just started rebuilding. Half the population that had survived were still living in tents or at best in smaller neighboring villages.
Naruto didn't know the extent these guys would go to carry out their orders and he didn't want to test them.
Danzo had just opened his mouth to speak again when Naruto finally found his voice.
"I'll go."
Every head turned to the blonde.
Gray Hair cocked an eyebrow at him suspiciously, "Oh, really? I hadn't thought you could be so reasonable."
Naruto spared the stranger a glare before turning his eyes to Danzo, his next point being to convince him (and myself), "We can't get into it with the Daimyo right now. I know that, we need all the help we can get and I . . ." Naruto paused trying to find words, "I'm just one person, we have to think of the village. I'll leave and - and trust Grandma Tsunade to work it out."
Danza stared at Naruto for a very long time, lips pursed and cane gripped too tight in his hand. Danzo, for all his secrecy and dislike for the Hokage, did what he did to protect the village. Always. Naruto knew he must be having an internal battle right now: save the village from another fight or hang on to the Jinchuuriki?
The blonde saw it in the line of the older man's shoulders when he came to his decision.
Naruto meant it, every word, but it still hurt when Danzo sighed and nodded in agreement. Naruto though it said something about his situation that he could actually want Danzo of all people to argue on his behalf.
Well, there's no one else here, so . . .
Naruto shook his head.
Danzo was speaking to Gray Hair again, "Very well, we will cooperate. For now." What Naruto could see of Danzo's face was thunderous.
Gray Hair nodded as if that was the only conclusion that would come of this. When he turned back to Naruto he made some hand gesture to the other people in the room, looking nearly smug, "We will escort you to the gate."
"Now?" Naruto finally started feeling an edge of panic as the black-clad strangers moved closer to him, "Can't I - "
"Immediately," Gray Hair said severely and came out from behind the desk to stand directly in front of Naruto, "We will not be delayed any longer, now come."
Naruto had to use every ounce of restraint he possessed not to attack when two solders walked up, grabbed his arms, and started dragging him to the door.
Apparently he wasn't even allowed to pack.
Where is everyone?
Once they were to the door Naruto saw the answer to his question. The streets immediately outside the building were deserted.
Taking precautions for the big bad Jinchuuriki, no doubt.
One of the men gave a jerky tug to his arm and Naruto snatched it out of his grasp.
"I get the picture," the blonde hissed, "I don't need your escort, but thanks so much for your consideration."
With that Naruto leapt up to the nearest roof (one that probably hadn't even been there yesterday) and began to run full tilt toward the gates. The Daimyo's soldiers chased after him, but they couldn't keep up with an angry Naruto.
That and when they realized he was indeed running toward the gates, they seemed content to just keep eyes on him.
Naruto felt an unprecedented amount of satisfaction when he dispatched a shadow clone right under their noses. The clone managed to slip away to Naruto's apartment for his mission bag, always pre-packed with the essentials for last minute for those last minute missions. The least these jerks could have done was let him pack.
Knowing his clone would meet him at a designated spot in the forrest later Naruto picked up the pace, trying to at least make these jerks work before he lost them. For all he knew they'd try to kill him as soon as he got far enough away from the village.
With that lovely parting thought Naruto shut off his brain and ran for the gates on memory and instinct.
He was tired of thinking.
Where is everyone?
Later, Shikamaru thought he should get the Yamanaka Clan to examine his head, because he had to have had a brief stroke not to notice something was wrong sooner.
To be fair, though, Shikamaru had asked his father why the Daimyo's were suddenly in the village. He recognized them from the few diplomatic trips he'd been to as part of the Hokage's company. Shikaku had stared at the black-clad group walking orderly into the village and shrugged.
"If the Hokage had wanted us to know what was going on, she'd of told us before she left," the elder Nara had said. And Shikamaru had accepted it.
In hindsight Shikamaru thought he deserved a kunai to the head for that slip.
The Nara was with Ino, Sakura, and Choji in the make-shift market place that had been set up in the middle of the make-shift town when he saw, out of his peripheral, something fast and orange fly overhead. Looking up he saw that it was indeed Naruto, being chased it seemed, by at least a dozen people in all black, featureless clothing.
Now, Naruto got chased quite often, he tended to piss people off like that. That's not what was scary. What unsettled Shikamaru was the look he saw on his friend's face and the fact that Naruto was running like the devil himself was behind him.
"Hey," Sakura apparently noticed too as she stepped up next to Shikamaru and stared after Naruto, "What's going on? Who are those people?"
"They're the Daimyo's personal soldiers," Shikamaru said just loud enough for his companions to hear, "We need to help him." Ino and Choji finally turned at the urgency in the Nara's normally bored voice.
The other three nodded but before any of them could make a move to go after them, they were stopped by yet another of the black-clad men.
"Please, do not interfere," the man said holding up a hand, "We do not want to hurt anyone but we will if we have to." That was when Shikamaru actually saw.
The men were everywhere, the streets were crawling with them.
How could no one have noticed . . .
"That's our friend," Sakura all but growled, "Why are you chasing Naruto?"
The man's eyes, the only part of him they could see, narrowed at them, "We are sent by the Daimyo. Please, do not interfere."
"Interfere with what?" Ino stepped up next to Sakura, a hand on the pink-haired girl's shoulder.
"With the removal of the Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto," another soldier, perhaps higher ranking, but one couldn't tell by any defining mark, "No harm will come to him or you if you cooperate. We are authorized to restrain or incapacitate if need be."
"How dare — "
"Sakura," Shikamaru cut her off, fear turning his gut, "We can't." He looked the kinoichi in the eye, trying to convey his seriousness through that look, "The Hokage is not in the village, and we can't afford a fight right now," the last was said in a whisper as the Nara gave a significant glance around the market-place, at the agitated workers and civilians alike. They had just barely started to bounce back from Pein's attack, they couldn't instigate anything with the Daimyo's men.
Seeming to understand, Sakura cast one last worried glance at where Naruto had disappeared, before nodding.
Seeming satisfied that they would comply, the Daimyo soldiers stepped back into the shadows of the street, still vigilantly watching.
"What's happening Shikamaru?" Choji asked in a whisper behind him, Sakura and Ino both turning to him as well.
"I don't know," Shikamaru admitted, the fact grating his nerves, "But we need to find a Jounin, they'll know what to do," Shikamaru didn't know that for a fact, but he was hopeful, "Hurry."
And the four sped off in search of one of the village Jounin.
What have you gotten yourself into this time, Naruto? Troublesome.
Hinata tried to get Kiba to calm down, but neither she, Shino, or the black-clad Daimyo soldiers were having any luck.
"Kiba, please, we don't know —" Hinata started, but was shut down once again by her loudest friend.
"No way!" Kiba was yelling at the strange soldiers surrounding them, "You think you can just waltz into our village and do what you want? You haven't given me a single good reason why I should "cooperate" or why your after Naruto!" Akamaru was doing his level best to back Kiba up by growling all the right places, "I want answers! What's going on!"
They'd just witnessed Naruto being chased over the rooftops by a large group of strangers. When Team 10 tried to step in they were stopped by more of the soldiers at which point Kiba had become belligerent. The situation just got worse from there and all Hinata could do was wonder at what was happening.
Then Kiba did the dumbest thing he could have in the given situation. He took a threatening step toward the Daimyo's men and they struck.
"Kiba, stop," But Shino's almost shout was too late.
Kiba dodged the first few soldiers who came at him but there were too many and one got in a shot to the back of his head. As Kiba went limp one of the men got Akamaru with a tranquilizer, and the ninkin went down as well.
"Oh, no," Hinata whispered. She moved to help her teammates but was stopped by Shino's arm in front of her.
"That was not necessary," Shino said calmly to the the strangers.
"We apologize," one black-clad man said as he lifted Kiba over his shoulder. He didn't sound sorry at all, "But he was a threat to our mission."
"What are you going to do with him?" Hinata asked as steadily as she could.
Another answered as Akamaru was hoisted up as well, "We will lock him up until our mission is carried out and we have gone."
With that, they left, leaving Hinata and Shino in the street.
Iruka waved to the Kotetsu and Izumo guarding the newly rebuilt gates as he pulled out the message scroll he was delivering. They smiled and waved back.
When he got to them though, they weren't looking at him, but over his shoulder.
"What the . . ." Kotetsu trailed off, getting to his feet.
Iruka turned, suddenly hearing the commotion they must have been seeing.
Naruto was running for the gate at a speed Iruka was pretty sure only the highest level Jounin saved for special missions.
More alarming was the dozen or so men keeping pace with him.
Naruto and what Iruka finally recognized as person soldiers of the Daimyo, had swept past them in seconds, no one but Naruto sparing the Leaf Shinobi any acknowledgment.
Naruto looked back just in time to catch Iruka's eye.
Iruka had already taken three steps after him and was opening his mouth to call out but a hand wrapping around his wrist and stopped him. The academy teacher had the briefest sight of Naruto closing his eyes and turning away from him before he turned to the person holding his arm.
"Hatake-san?" Iruka stared in disbelief at the Copy-Nin still holding him back, "What are you doing?! He's in trouble." Iruka jerked his arm away and the other man let him go without a fight.
Kakashi wasn't looking at him but watching the backs of the fleeing group as they disappeared into the trees. As usual only a quarter of his face was showing but even that looked highly troubled.
"We can't," Kakashi finally said as Kotetsu and Izumo also began protesting, "We have to wait for the Hokage. Those are the Daimyo's men . . ."
Just when Iruka was about to have one of his infamous temper flares and tell the Jounin exactly how much he cared whose men they were Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, and Choji ran up, having been following Kakashi.
"You can't just let them leave!" Sakura puffed when she stopped beside them.
"What's the Daimyo got to do with this?" Iruka demanded, "Is Naruto in danger?"
Kakashi looked as unsure as Iruka had ever seen him as he said, "Naruto can handle himself. We need the whole story, but we have to wait."
Iruka stared at him a moment longer then looked out to where Naruto could no longer be seen. His anger cooled as he realized that no one else really understood what had just happened either.
"Wait for what exactly?" Iruka barely whispered.
A/N: Finished this chapter a lot faster than I thought I was going to so I'll go ahead and post. From now on it'll probably be a once a week thing, at least that's what I'm shooting for.
I should also let you know that I don't intend to pull any pairings into this story but if you see Kakashi and Iruka interacting, feel free to put your ship goggles on. Or not, I'll try to control myself so you can ignore it if you no likey the KakaIru. Same may go for NaruHina, just saying.
Right, so, hope I cleared up any worries you guys had about the Jinchuuriki or OCs, I don't want to say too much, because then there would be no point in writing the story. Any other questions, feel free to ask! Please review!