Second Chapter
*Flashback*
When Monster had come to his senses, after the hits taken by the kunais and the shurikens, he had realized he was still alive. Somewhere, a part of him was regretting that. Somewhere else, he knew that this simply meant he was alive to take another beating. He slowly opened one eye, not even much, just a little, that a voice, the same voice of the man that had given him out, came into his ears.
"The kid woke up." He wanted to refuse waking up actually, to tell him he was wrong, and that he could feign sleeping, or a near death comatose state, pretty well, he had a lot of practice on those.
Still, Monster knew he had no choice, but to slowly open both eyes, and then nearly let out a scream, nearly, because the muscle-bound freak had swiftly placed a hand on his mouth, hushing him into silence. Oh hell, he knew what this was, he knew it, he didn't want to, and he had gotten lucky till then, but now he knew it, that big bad horrible man was going to…
"You hungry?" Offer him food? Well, Monster knew it was either that or an innuendo of something that made him cringe inside.
Still, he thought it would be polite not to comment on the fact, and wait until the man realized he was keeping his primary oxygen resource closed, thankfully Danzo-sama had trained him pretty well with torture. Heck, he had even congratulated him on surviving so long on being literally burned alive by scorching hot irons. He didn't mention the years of practice to actually achieve said goal, even before entering the ROOT training program, unwanted practice no doubt.
"B-sensei, if you don't remove your hand you might suffocate him." The dark skinned white haired man commented, which got him first a surprised look from B, then a swift removal of the hand.
Monster could finally breathe in air again, finally!
"Sorry for B-sensei, kid." As the white haired man said that, a small tick appeared on Monster's forehead.
"Well kiddo, you won't warn your family we're trespassing in the Land of Sound, right?" as the hulking macho finished talking, another figure, more graceful, moved closer to him and looked at him with a sympathetic smile.
Monster nodded. He wasn't actually lying; Danzo-sama wasn't his family, he didn't need something that weak. He no longer had any sadness or ill sentiment towards this thing called family that others had and he hadn't, as many ROOT operative didn't have a family and were strong. Danzo-sama had told him that family made one weak, and that only obeying was strength, that, and becoming a perfect weapon. He had particularly stressed the importance for him to learn how to use a strange red chakra, which he managed to get when his emotions rampaged out of control, into a more stable form. He had gotten angry once when he had been deemed a failure in the Bunshin technique, and had been called *Worthless*. Since he was Monster, and he had to become the perfect weapon, being called worthless made him angry, really angry. He should have called him Monster, it was his name, Danzo-sama had decided that, and that was final! He was not called Worthless!
Danzo-sama had calmed him after he had killed the sensei, who Danzo-sama had then deemed weak for having failed. That was when he had been patted on the head by Danzo-sama, and that was a really fond memory he wouldn't forget, ever, as Danzo-sama has said that he was Monster, and that he was going to be the perfect weapon without fail.
"Why did you have a radio set?" the *sensor* guy queried once more, and Monster cocked his head slightly to the side.
Was he referring to the *Talkie-Talkie* thing? Push the button and talk only when they talk to you first? He had been trained not to mind, equipment either worked or did not, latter of which it wasn't meant to work in the first place and it was a test to see who was worthless and who was to become the perfect weapon.
"He doesn't seem to be the speaking type, B-sensei: we could give him breakfast and then send him on his way." As the blond haired kunoichi suggested that, C shook his head.
"He was jumping from tree branch to tree branch, and faint as it was, there was the smell of blood on the kid."
The tick mark on Monster grew bigger.
"He's just a kid, C!" the white haired guy commented.
"Darui, he's not a kid." The C guy was starting to be his favorite now, still the tick mark of nervousness stood there.
"Yeah, and what is he, a Sannin?" Yugito took that moment to make some sarcasm, but, too bad for her, Monster looked at her perplexed.
"What is a Sannin?" he asked, interested. Was it better than Monster, like Perfect weapon? Or was it like Worthless?
"You don't know? It's the term used to define the legendary trio from Konoh…" B had barely said the last letter that Monster had already charged him with his right fist, flying in a blind rage.
B had parried the fist with ease, but the Gaki had then summersaulted using the fist as a focal movement, cracking his own dam wrist in an effort to throw a kneecap on the back of the muscle macho.
When he was blocked in his attempt by Darui, the first to actually intervene, blocking him with his right arm, he could feel both him being pulled backwards, but also the boy's very own bones break.
"What is…" going on, Yugito couldn't reply, as B, taking the offense, gave the boy a quick punch in the stomach, sending him to the land of dreams.
"Did you see that?" C muttered.
"One moment he's all *what is a Sannin?*" Yugito muttered, "The other he charges through like a beast. What could that be?"
"Mental conditioning," Darui muttered, "whatever it is, it has to do with the word *Konoha*" as soon as he said that, he actually assumed a defensive position, because the boy, no matter the hit from B, actually twitched at the word.
"It seems to have an effect even when fainted? Just who'd do such a thing? And why?" C whispered getting closer to the boy, who now, thanks to B's punch, certainly needed to have his ribs checked.
"What do we do with him?" Yugito queried.
"Well, we carried a Gaki till here and we'll carry him till there.
And if he won't wake up here, and he won't wake up there,
Then we'll rap a song and wake him up in Kumogakure!" as B finished rapping, he saw the gaze of his students, already full -fledged Chuunins, all disapprove.
"I don't care, we're doing this…" especially because he felt the chakra of a tailed beast, as the Hachibi had told him, but that, B kept to his own thoughts.
"Should I heal him?" C queried, but B shook his head.
"Not now, first we get away from the Land of Sound, then we can take our time, your healing Jutsus are still a bit rusty, and I don't want you accidentally killing him, you know? Plus, with a broken wrist there are less chances he tries something. Splint his arm and hand, so he doesn't move the bone wrong, but let's leave him nice and unconscious for a while."
"Hai, B-sensei"
It was a little bit after the third night, that Monster actually came back to his senses. It was actually a miracle he hadn't died, depending on which version you'd listen to the story. On one side, Yugito said that the boy should have already been dead, with broken ribs puncturing lungs and the like, and that not happening was just a sign of Kami that the boy would lose all his luck. B on the other hand commented that throwing a boy high in the sky and running over a mountain's wall to grab him and jump downwards the other side was perfectly normal, healthy, and reinforced the spirit.
When Monster actually woke up, he was at a camp, deep within a set of mountains, his right hand seemed stiff, and, staring at his, he realized it had been splinted pretty well, by expert hands too. Much better than what he usually did to his own broken bones, as he had self-taught himself, like any other kid in root, the means of first-aid.
"Where?" He queried with a puzzled look, the question hang in his mouth for a moment, as he was indeed surprised of the scenery. All he saw were mountains, rocks, and more mountains. Was it Iwa? No, it should be Kumo, as memories of the last events entered his brain, he recalled the Kumo ninja's, unless they had been feigning being from Kumo, in which case he'd be anywhere with mountains, even the land of Earth could do, and that would actually mean Iwa. Or maybe they were rogue ninjas who had kidnapped him, and were planning on exchanging him back to Konoha with information or jutsus? He had to do what Danzo-sama had instructed him to do.
Still, he had spoken first instead of thinking, so now they knew he was awake, the sensor ninja certainly would have already said it, but looking around, Monster realized he was alone with the blond girl, who was pouting and cursing by the fire of the camp, and hadn't even heard him ask the question.
That was his chance. He slowly began to crawl away, careful not to make even the slightest pebble move under the weight of his feet, as he took small steady breathes to ignore the sharp pain in his stomach. He thanked his regenerative powers that he was still alive, but still, he had to make it down that damn mountain and back to Danzo-sama.
He had to become the perfect weapon for Danzo-sama, so he would help him stop being hit by the people in the village. That's when his right foot barely misplaced a small rock pebble. He froze on the spot. He should think about escaping, not about his future. He wasn't going to be captured alive. Danzo-sama had told him to run, and if he was being hunted closely, to kill himself.
He turned around, and silently thanked Kami that a Monster like him had managed to get that far from the fire pit, only to turn around and let out a scream, as Yugito's face was mere inches away from his, and she was grinning.
"Going somewhere, kid?" she said in a teasing tone, but before she could finish and grab him, Monster had already thrown himself to the side, to the side of the mountain, to the ravine below, to a deadly fall of over a thousand meters. Yugito cursed Kami, on the other hand, and began running downwards, while using explosive tags to make a side of the mountain crumple and scatter the rock pieces far from the mountain's side, so that she could run on top of them, grab the kid, and then run back on them with un-human agility to the mountain's side, holding the kid by the neck.
"Anf…no more than five years old, and with a death wish already?" as she slowly made her way back up, she was pretty sure, a certainty that became manifest when B-sensei, Darui and C Shunshin'd back to camp, that she had made enough noise to attract any ninja in a kilometer's good radius.
"We move camp, you explain later, I hold the kid" B ordered, as the camp was quickly dismantled, and the muscle bound freak grabbed the boy, Monster didn't protest, the man was stronger than him, and he was being held with a strength enough to bend his ribs, if he just applied a little bit more of force, he might just as swell snap him in two. The camp moving had been a quick event: they had barely set up camp once more, this time in a narrow cave, where Monster was brought down from the tanned man's shoulder and on eye-level with him.
"You have eaten nothing for three days straight, nor drank, and yet you make all this noise? What are you, a real Sannin?" as B queried that, Monster looked at him with a puzzled look, again with that question?
"I'm Monster." He replied, with a bit of pride.
"Monster? That's your nickname. Are you an academy trainee of Oto?" B queried, puzzled.
"No, Monster is Monster." Monster replied matter of fact, again with this stuff of the nicknames, it was getting old.
"So, who trained you?" B asked.
"Monster can't say. He promised not to, or he becomes Worthless, and Worthless gets killed. Worthless always gets killed." Monster hoped it was enough to let him go back to Danzo-sama.
"Well…What's your name then? I'm B, and I am the best rapper of Kumo," which earned him a set of roll-over eyes from his students, "that one over there is Darui-kun, then we have our sonar/radar ninja C-kun, and finally we have our good little Yugito-chan!"
Monster thought about this, it had already happened once, didn't it? Someone asking him his name, he hadn't even come up for an answer. It had been an entire year.
"Monster," He replied sure of him.
"No, that's a nickname, a name is something like…A, D, J, X," B tried.
"Samui, Darui, Karui," Darui actually suggested his own name.
"Yoko, Saya, or the likes, those are names." Yugito pointed out, "Not *Monster*."
Monster nodded for a minute, then said:
"Demon," What he got in reply was a perplexed look.
"Repeat that?" C queried, B was actually pretty much sure his hunch was proving right, as the Hachibi was telling him the same stuff.
"Demon? Monster? Fox Demon, Trash, I was called Monster though, most of the time, so I thought it was my n…" Yugito actually clung to him after a brief moment of hesitation, hugging him. Monster didn't know how to react to this: was it a hold? A wrestling move? Was it a bone breaker Taijutsu? Was she taking a Kunai out of her sleeve and stabbing him on the back? He didn't know what to do, so he did nothing, staying in wait, frozen, a fact which did wasn't missed by the other Kumo ninjas, who simply saw the boy stiffen and his eyes grew cold and worried.
"Hmm…would you mind lifting up your shirt…Monster-kun?" B asked the question trying his best not to rap, which came really difficult to him, only to be shot down by Yugito's hardened glare. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
"What did they call you except that? Hospital bills? What name did they tell you to use in the hospitals?" releasing the boy from the hug, but keeping her hands on the boy's shoulders, and getting on her knees to see into his eyes, Yugito hoped the boy actually went to a hospital, once, he wasn't more than six years old, surely at least for the blood check, or if he ever got sick...no, she was sure that if he had been sick they'd have left him sick. She just knew how some people reacted to Jinchuurikis, and it wasn't at all how it was in Kumo, at least, sure, the Hachibi had gone mad a couple of time, but there was more respect for them than scorn, in the end both side knew it wasn't anyone's fault, lest of all the Jinchuurikis, and so it simply came down to personal feelings, more than outright ignorance.
"The Headmistress said to me that, when I was meeting the Hokage or I was in the hospital, I should be called Naruto…because I was a worthless ramen topping to be discarded, that she said." Monster simply nodded in recollection of the words of the Headmistress, yet why was the young woman sobbing? Did he do something wrong now?
"A Ninja should steel its emotions." B stated, more like a whisper, to Yugito, who took a moment to recollect her thoughts, and calm Matabi down from going on a rampage against those who'd, her words, *Dare harm such a cute little innocent boy I'd just snatch away to cuddle in a corner*, before saying with a small smile. The worst *she* had been called was *fur ball*, and even then, that was more of a tease than an actual insult.
"Then your name is Naruto, but not because you are discarded as a ramen topping, they are actually quite good to eat, you got that, Naruto-kun?" as Yugito smiled at him, Monster didn't understand it, yet, but he had just been named once more. Still, he felt a strange warm sensation in the back of his stomach, as he kept up a frowning and not understanding face…
*End of flashback*
"Otou-san! Otou-san!" Naruto was happily chuckling as he held the neck of his adoptive father with a wide grin, obviously, had A wanted to, he'd throw the boy out of the window with less than a second of thought, but the boy would probably just climb back up, and do that again. So he simply decided to keep the boy on his back, it was still exercise, of some sorts.
"Well then, I've got you lot a nice easy work as a first mission…you all ready?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, Otou-san, does that mean…" as Yugito smiled at the thought of actually being with her practically adopted little brother, she actually had a frown on her face seconds later, just as B instead simply started the set of complicated hand motions that he and Naruto had practiced on for when they had to clap their hands for important stuff.
"Raikage-sama, isn't it risky to send us all out at once, in the same group?" as Yugito asked that, the Raikage smiled for a moment.
"It would need a lot of fools to even think to defeat a trio like yours, plus, I did think I told Karui to go grab C, he'll act as your medic-nin and Sensor,"
"Otou-san, why are you sending out three Jounins with a Genin?" Naruto was happy, really, he was, but he kind of wondered why he'd get preferential treatment, at least that was his thought, and he didn't want that, he wanted to be treated like the other kids!
"You have yet to master control of the Kyuubi Chakra, Naruto…since it's considered to be far more powerful than that of the Nibi or the Hachibi, if you go mad while training it would be best to have two other Jinchuuriki nearby to calm you, and a medic-nin to heal any wounds." The Raikage had slowly gotten on his knees, smiling at the boy.
"Otou-san…" Naruto looked with pleading eyes at A, who rolled his eyes over.
"That's final! Anyway, you've got a C-rank mission straight from the beginning, so no whining! Your mission is going to be in the land of waves, which is far and near…" he stopped for a moment seeing both Yugito and B gasp, "that other hidden village. You have been given permission papers, so all you actually need to do is just to show up at this point, on the map…which I'm giving to the most trustworthy of you." As he said that, folding a map in a scroll, he went to hand it over to Yugito, who was smiling, until the scroll passed over her to C, who had just arrived.
She frowned and B and Naruto chuckled at that.
"You should protect the Bridge Builder Tazuna-san from harm, he's going to be in *that* village for supplies, and then he's going to meet you on the road, since we won't be escorting him from the beginning, he only pays us for a D-mission, which is perfect for Naruto-kun here." Then, his tone darkened.
"Since it will take you a month to get over there, you'd better stock up on supplies, and while you're at it, start training the Gaki…once you get out of the land of Lightning, I don't want to have to rebuild an entire apartment complex, because *someone* forgot to keep his chakra levels low!" as A said that, he looked at both Yugito and B, while Naruto whistled and C sweat-dropped.
"Furthermore, if any ninja from that *village* try anything funny, I want you to point out that this blond haired brat is MY son. You got that Bro? Keep an eye out for your nephew." As A said that, B grinned when the two Bro-Fisted, sending small sonic waves around, as Naruto raised an eyebrow, but, as with the things he didn't understand, decided not to question his Otou-san.
"Now, Naruto, go and get ready while I finish speaking with the rest of your team-mates." The boy nodded, hugging one last time A before departing as swiftly as he had arrived.
Turning his serious Raikage face on, he said:
"I know your complaints, but he needs to get used to hearing that word and seeing that headband, the fact that right now there are no trades, nor words of alliance or not between us and Konoha doesn't mean that in the future it will still be like that, there is a distension policy in action, so keep your cool." As A pointed that out, B was about to rap something, before getting Iron Clawed to the ground, again.
"Anyway, Tazuna *might* or might have not hired some Konoha Nins too, so you've got a month to get the boy calm and nice with the idea of being together with other ninjas...In any case, keep in mind that he's a Kumo Shinobi, he was one from the moment he walked through that door and told me he wanted to stay here and from the moment I adopted him, if anyone tries something funny to him, then have no mercy and bring him back. Got it?"
The three nodded.
"Good, now you're dismissed."
As they all Shunshin'd away, the Raikage turned back to his desk, letting a memory wash over him.
*Flashback*
The door had opened with a loud bang, as always, and as always A was ready to Iron Claw his brother, only to stop mid-way, when he saw that B was carrying a brat no more than six years old on his shoulder. He stopped because of the eyes, the eyes that stared at him and had a mixture of sadness yes, but understanding, it was like the boy expected *him* to be the target of the Iron Claw, and as such, A had simply stopped. He couldn't do it with those eyes looking straight at him.
"Bro?" B had already prepared himself to being hit, and realizing he wasn't, he had actually been worried that maybe A had been sick or something.
"Can't hit you with a brat on the shoulder," A replied, "where did you get him?"
"Well bro, we were going through Oto,
Dashing through the Oto Nins!
We did the mission in toto,
And we tried to leave and he comes in!
Jumping branch to branch,
He stops and C gives the sign,
So when the kunais get laun…" A had most silently grabbed the boy, had given him over to Yugito, and had them Iron Clawed B twice.
"Without RAPPING!" as A finished muttering curses, his brother had gotten back up, and had replied.
"Well we wounded him by mistake, and since we thought he was a civilian kid we brought him with us, then turns out he's a packed package, you know." Touching his own stomach, B winked at his brother, who looked surprised.
"A Jinchuuriki?"
"Yeah, and he doesn't know that, but he wasn't from Oto, or they'd keep him tight, so I heard his soul and felt his plight and…" as B was actually starting to rap again, A ignored him, and looked over Darui.
"Explain…" while massaging his temples.
"He was probably conditioned mentally, when a specific word is heard…" Yugito looked at Darui, with a murderous glare, which made the white haired teen roll his eyes over and continue, "He gets homicidal, really a lot, with no care for himself, he actually goes as far as breaking his own bones if he needs to."
"So basically it's one mess of a Jinchuuriki."
"Naruto." The boy replied nodding.
"What?" the Raikage queried.
"Not Jinchuuriki, my name is Naruto. First it was Monster, then Demon, then Monster, then Perfect Weapon, then Kid, then Brat, then Naruto. She named me Naruto." As the boy said that, he pointed without bias or anything at Yugito, who looked down at the brown spiked boy with a slight blush.
"I don't think he's been trained in controlling his Bijuu chakra, and we suspect he might be…" Yugito started, but didn't finish, because B interrupted her.
"Well, Bro, he said he's the Demon Fox, so that leaves us with…" B was interrupted by the Raikage.
"The Kyuubi? The Nine-Tails?" A stared at the boy, the weak, frail boy who seemed he could use some meat on his bones, and who was looking at him like expecting something. A moved his right hand, and the boy actually made the imperceptible movement of bringing his cheek forward, like he was expecting to be hit, and he wanted to make it…easier.
"Well, it seems that damn spiky blond idiot,"
Someone in Konoha, five years before, sneezed.
"Actually didn't kill the beast, as he had the news go around…Kid, when were you born?" Naruto stared at the man, trying to think, this didn't actually pertaining a question Danzo-sama had told him not to answer, so he answered.
"Ten of October…is my name Kid now?" he asked slowly.
"No, it's still Naruto." Yugito snapped in, before the Raikage could reply. "It is, and will always be Naruto. *Kid* is…a nickname."
"Nickname…what's a nickname?" Naruto queried.
"Well…I'm Yugito Nii, it's my name and surname, my nickname is *Cat*, it's what my friends call me."
"Friends?" Naruto queried once more.
"…" the general silence in the area was more than enough, for the moment, as A coughed.
"Well so the date the Kyuubi attacked Konoha is…" at that moment, A raised his right hand, as Naruto had all but dashed, furiously, to body slam against the Raikage, jumping straight against him right hand in a fist, ready to hit him in the face.
"BRO!" B actually managed to grab Naruto's leg and pulled him away just in time for A to *not* punch him in the stomach, B's punches and A's punches were different stuff altogether, and the Raikage's one would have probably left the boy in the hospital for weeks.
"So it's the word of that village huh? Suspected as much…" The Raikage muttered looking at the boy that was being held by B, and who didn't even seem to consider himself, going as far as having his clothes torn if necessary, just to get onto him, even dislocating his own shoulders, it had to hurt, but to the kid it didn't even seem to matter at all.
No sense of preservation…what bastard could do this to a kid?
"I like his balls though," A muttered, "fine, first we take care of him, some food, a checkup in the hospital, then I want someone to keep an eye on him and get him…well, I don't say normal, but bearable." As he rolled his eyes over, Darui gave a quick hand-chop to Naruto's neck, sending him to faint on the ground, only for Yugito to actually grab him and give her team-mate a scornful stare.
"Well, *Cat* here can take care of the boy. You lot, I expect a written report on my desk by tomorrow, dismissed!" as A turned his back on the desk, he waited until his brother's team was gone, to stare out of the window of his office, into the view of Kumogakure.
"Those eyes…" he muttered simply, getting back to the work load on his desk.
*Flashback end – Kumo front gate*
"So, first we go through Shimo no kuni, then through Yu no kuni, and then we go through Hi no kuni for a while, till the meeting point," no reaction from Naruto made everyone happy, "and finally we reach Nami no kuni. Got that down?" as C asked that, holding the map, he received nods from everyone.
"Yes! When are we going to train C-san?"
"Naruto-kun, this is our first mission, as a team, I say B-san can be the Sensei, alright?" as Yugito suggested that, the boy nodded.
"Fine by me! So…" Naruto smiled and turned to B, "When are we going to train B-sensei?"
"Yo! Let's get some distance between us and the city, you heard the boss! Then later we make camp and I'll teach ya!" as B signaled them to start moving, they dashed off.
*Konoha*
"Kushina-hime, please…let me explain!" Minato was on his knees on a bag of beans, looking miserable in front of his wife, who had kept slapping at him for a good part of the day, and, after coming home, in the Namikaze estate, she had thrown him to sleep on the couch, and had refused speaking to him at all.
As she was cooking dinner, every chop she made cut deeper into the wooden surface of the table, finally, she grabbed the knife and exasperated, launched it against the head of Minato, who moved his head to the left, avoiding it by the length of a hair.
"Our Katsumi-chan is going to come back any moment now, from the academy. She's going to smile and tell us everything is fine and speak about fashion and boys. Meanwhile, somewhere, there's a young boy who is just like her, but is scared, probably hungry, and left alone in the woods, left to die as a weapon for that bastard Danzo! And all of this is happening because his father chose to let him suffer alone." Kushina looked at the fourth Hokage with a saddened expression, and then went back to preparing dinner.
Minato knew he had little excuses, but it had to be done, he was in the right with his decision.
"What then? He would still have ended up as a weapon for Danzo, to be used by him to bring me down of my position as Fourth, and then Katsumi-chan would have had to leave with the social stigma of having a Jinchuuriki as a brother. She would have hated her brother for her sufferings, and you would…"
"Don't speak for me!" Kushina exclaimed back, "I cried tears of pain when you told me he died at birth, and I cried tears of joy when you told me he hadn't, and then when I went and didn't find him there, I cried again at having lost him once more! You kept him hidden for another year from my arms, and I couldn't even see him once as he grew up!" The red-haired woman's eyes turned watery, as she shook her head.
"If Jiraiya-sama finds him, and pray for Kami he does, I want you to recognize him as my son. I don't care about Danzo, I can snap his neck if he even says a word. I want my son back, Minato. Give him back to me, his mother, and maybe, if he does, I'll forgive you too." As she finished speaking, Kushina stared down at the food she should have been preparing.
Well, she had placed the salt with the sugar and had mixed the custard with the mayo, and had then chopped a raw piece of meat in the middle of an onigiri, an onigiri which was *moving* across the table.
She sighed, shaking her head.
"I can't cook tonight." She muttered.
"I could order Ramen Takeaway." Minato suggested getting up, as Kushina stared at him angrily, when they both heard the door open, and a female voice yell from the hallway:
"Kaa-san, Otou-san, I'm back!" Kushina's face was a mixture of nervousness and sadness: she didn't know wherever to tell her daughter that she had a brother whom her father sent to die. She shook her head, letting her red hair move slowly on her shoulder. She'd tell her after her Genin exams, next year.
Still, she couldn't fathom staying too close to her, the wound still fresh in her heart, and as she looked towards Minato, she silently lip-spoke:
"I want a mission out of Konoha."
*Land of Snow-Days later*
The groups of Kumo ninja were walking on a snow-covered hill in the land of frost, which was positioned nearby a small meadow, with, at a slight distance, a cold stream of frozen water, and a cave. Killer Bee was the first of the line, with C behind and Darui in the back, his hands in his pocket and grinning at the sight Naruto walking with his *weight*, and Yugito next to him, watching with a small grin the young Genin work.
"So, I get it, I've got wind affinity. Yes, I need chakra control. Still…why are walking into this damn cold and Kami be damned country and I'm the only one with weights!" as Naruto exclaimed that, he was carrying on his back a large iron pot, whom he had no idea where C had taken it out from. The exercise was pretty simple: he'd have to send enough chakra to remain on the snow, and not too much to actually crush it and send him knee-deep in the cold white stuff.
"Yo Kiddo, this is training! You heard da-boss!" B replied, rapping, "C-kun is everything alright near us?"
"Sensei, there's nothing around us for miles" C muttered, having sensed nothing.
"We make camp then, Naruto, go and fill the kettle with snow, then we'll have Yugito-chan turn it to water, and we'll have instant ramen! The food of champions, yo!"
"Alright!" Naruto actually dashed, reaching for the frozen river with the iron pot, eager to get some food into his stomach.
"Ramen? B-Sensei, ramen isn't good every day as breakfast, lunch, and dinner." Yugito muttered.
"Sensei, I say we can start training him some jutsu…just look at him running back." Darui said; pointing out how, even with the thin ice, Naruto had actually managed to reach a broken area of the ice, where it was, by nature, thinner, and after having filled it with the water, was already making his way back, without falling in the snow.
Yugito rolled her eyes, sighing, "For Ramen he'd learn S-rank prohibited Jutsus in a day."
When Naruto got back, he grinned looking at the group of Kumo ninja, as he slowly placed the pot down, he saw B throw him a scroll.
"Look Kiddo, you know I'd love to help you, but no-one here has got Wind Affinity, so you're on your own with that scroll there, should teach you a jutsu called Futon: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)…now, what we can do is train you until you get going with lightning affinity. So, first off, focus chakra on the tip of your right index." As B showed him his right hand's index, which started glowing a bright blue hue, Naruto tried doing the same, obtaining a fading and shaking blue color, and looked at B in wait for the next step, as he did, however, he lost control and the chakra dissipated.
"Well, once you got that down, you start making your chakra vibrate, until it starts to spark," as B said that, the blue hue started becoming brighter and brighter, until sparks of electricity began to dance along all the length of the finger.
"Once you do this with both hands," as B said that, both his hands started sparkling with electricity, "you can release the Raiton: Jibashi!" (Electromagnetic murder) as B touched the ground, the sparks moved a little, before dying out.
"The more chakra you put in it, the stronger it becomes. It can go from shocking to out-right killing boy, so be careful on that!"
"Which brings up the jutsu I am going to teach you: Raiton: Kangekiha, (Wave of Inspiration)." As Darui did a couple of hand signs, he then showed his hands glowing brightly with electricity, that he discharged on the iron pot, sending the water inside to jump outside and fall on Naruto, who had been pretty much warm and cozy and NOT drenched till seconds before.
Yugito looked at the scene, raising a twitching eyebrow, while Naruto started shivering and batting his teethes.
"Good Kami, I've been banded together with idiots." With a set of quick signs, a flame wave emerged from Yugito's mouth, hitting the pot and what water remained inside, while Naruto had moved closer to the flame, to dry himself off.
Yugito kept it going for just a couple of minutes more, and then finished the technique.
"Thanks Yugito-oneechan!" Naruto smiled at the blond woman, who sighed.
"What would you lot do without me." She grinned slightly at the thought.
"Anyway, when you train with lightning, know that the moment it leaves your body it becomes slower, as Wind affinity is actually strong against Lightning Affinity because it's a natural insulated material." As B finished explaining, Naruto nodded then sat down next to the pot, and began concentrating, keeping his eyes fixed on his right finger. He'd make it work, he was sure of it.
Darui and B went to scout ahead, while C remained in his sensor mode and Yugito actually growled, as they had silently made her the instant ramen cook.
She had just barely grabbed the powdered ramen from her backpack, that a spark caught her attention, as it caught that of C, who, being the sensor, was actually seeing Naruto's coil concentrate their Chakra to his right hand extremity.
Another spark, then another, then his hand began sparkling with raw current, as Yugito stared in silence at such an impossible feat: in less than an hour? That was impossible!
Naruto was concentrating, hard. He didn't want B to think he was weak and couldn't do it. He didn't want C to think he was weak, nor Darui, or Yugito. He wanted to show them he was a full-fledged ninja of Kumo, as he wanted to show he was going to be able to do it. He felt his hand going slightly numb, as he poured as much chakra as possible in it, feeling the sparks increase in number, until, in the end, he opened his eyes to be greeted with a slightly glowing hand, with small sparks of electricity flying across his palm.
"Well done, Naruto-kun, I'm impressed." Yugito muttered, looking at the boy's eyes suddenly lighting up in glee, and making such a beautiful smile, she couldn't help but slightly grin to.
She would have hugged him, following Nibi's suggestion if only her hair hadn't been perking up from her sides, a clear sign that there was a lot of static electricity in the air.
"Naruto, you should discharge that." C said, pointing at Naruto's hand.
The blond spiked kid nodded, moving a bit away from camp, heading towards the meadow.
"He actually flooded the entire area with his chakra, would you believe it?" C was puzzled: it was a strange sign even for Yugito.
"Well, it happens in the beginning, to miscalculate the amount." Yugito replied, getting back to the instant ramen.
"You don't get it: the entire area, till that river over there." C pointed at the stream, "is slightly filled with his chakra. He's got enormous reserves, not counting his tenant, I even have to concentrate to see through it, and let me tell you it's not an easy task." With that, Yugito simply nodded and went back to making sure the water didn't freeze while the ramen cooked.
"The coast is clear, sorry we're late." Darui replied a couple of minutes later.
"Yo! Where's the kid?" B queried.
"He's not with you?" Yugito dreaded the reply of B.
"No, sorry," Darui replied, shaking his head.
"Calm down, it's not like there is anything here that wants him dead, he's going to be fine." C replied, as he did, however, he started scanning the area as much as he could.
*Fortress of the Snow Daimyo, prisons*
The floor was cold, dirty, and with pieces of wet and cold hay scattered around. The walls were grey and cold to the touch, as anything else in there was too.
He would have been angry. He should have been angry. The truth was however that he felt more embarrassment than anything else at the moment. He had *discharged* his hand against a tree bark, earning himself a slight shock too, and as his hand has gone a bit numb with the electricity, he had decided he could take a quick *relief trip* behind a bush.
Said bush had swiftly provided to knock the wind out of him before he could even react, worst of all, when he had his pants down.
When he had woken up, he was both glad and saddened. Glad, because there wasn't a really pissed Yugito who had warned him time and time again to double check his surroundings before doing anything, even yawn, and saddened, because he was in a prison cell, with a strange mechanical device that seemed to enjoy staying tightly attached to his right arm.
Furthermore, he felt his legs hurt. It had been a while since he had last felt his leg actually hurt, as he could take normal pain levels easily, and only higher degrees of pain could actually make him wince, or outright cry, and, as he gave them a quick glance, and then averted his sight, he bitterly thought about how, maybe, broken legs wouldn't be that easily repaired in a night by the Kyuubi's chakra.
He knew of the Kyuubi, inside of him, since he had been seven years old, and had trained with B to at the very least not go into a rampage. He had never spoken to the demon, the seal on his body was still too strong for that, and, maybe, it was luck that he hadn't turned a mad jabbering mess. The seal was the handy work of the fourth Hokage, he had been told that, he knew it, he knew who was to blame for all of his sufferance and pain, and he kind of wanted him to suffer the same way he had, but then he shook his head, biting his lower lip removing the dark thoughts of inescapable tortures and darkness.
This time it was going to go differently, yes, this time there was someone who was caring for him, and they'd come and save him, they'd come and rescue him from where he was, certainly, they wouldn't deliver him straight into the hands of the enemy, and then leave without even considering what was going to happen to him. That red-haired woman, Kushina, was it? She still haunted his dreams at night, and he never had pleasant dreams, not most of the time. He had lost count of the time he had woken up startled by something he had seen, or felt, his dreams were so damn real he could swear they still hurt. Right now, however, he had to keep his mind busy with happy thoughts, or he'd crack. He would have laughed at the irony of using the ROOT procedure to resist torture, when they had been the prime source of the torture itself, and were now going to safe his ass from being tortured. He'd die rather than reveal anything on Kumo, or on B or Yugito, or C, or Darui, or Otou-san, or anyone else.
Within the next hour, thoughts of how any moment now the Hachibi form of B would break up the wall and free him came into his mind, as he realized he no longer had much of his clothing on, and cold *was* cold. He felt from a high above small window, riddled with iron bars, a hellishly freezing wind, that just seemed to enjoy coming around him.
He looked at his arm, where they had placed the strange mechanical device, and only then, when he tried to pamper with is some more, he heard a voice.
"I wouldn't do it: it might just as well explode." The reply came from a female voice, which sounded prideful and haughty.
As Naruto moved his head slightly to the side he looked surprised, there was a girl there. Dressed in strange clothing, of blue and red, but she did look having been a bit roughed around the edges.
"So…who are you?" The question, quite actually, was posed by both the individuals at the same time.
"I'm Naruto." The boy replied, with a nod.
"I'm Yukie…you don't know who I am, right?" she queried, actually surprised the boy hadn't tried to get an autograph from her.
"Should I?" At first, Naruto tried to recall the bingo book, but shook that dreaded thought out of his head, no, bad Naruto, no remembering things you don't want to remember, then, seeing how he couldn't he simply shrugged the thought off.
"You ever watched a movie?" the girl queried him once more.
"No." Naruto actually replied, "I'm not much on televisions or films… Why am I here?"
"If you don't know, what makes you think I know?" Yukie rolled her eyes in a scornful way, muttering something about idiots.
"So, why are you here?" Naruto asked once more, giving the girl an analytical look, she didn't seem to have the same thing he had on his arm.
"None of your business," she replied, hastily turning around and outright ignoring him.
"Hey! You could try and be a little gentler to a fellow prisoner!" Naruto replied, staring at the bars, and then, realizing he actually *hadn't* been tied up, strange, he grinned.
"I'm getting us out of here." Then he crawled, ignoring the pain that was being shot towards his brain by his broken limbs.
He tried to concentrate chakra on the palm of his hand.
The next moment, an electrical shock happened, only, it wasn't on his hand, but on all of his body, sending him screaming as he contorted, and in contorting he worsened the already bad situation of his broken limbs, sending agonizing pain all through his body, till he fainted once more, foam at the corner of his mouth.
I hate you, kid. A voice boomed, slowly letting the words echo through the gallery of the sewer-like system he had ended up in. From a prison to a sewer, that was quite an interesting change of scenery.
"Is this what B called the mindscape?" Naruto muttered to himself, being till his waist in the water, and yet not feeling cold, or even wet.
Yes The voice came from a set of high metal bars, a gate, which had a seal to act as a key.
"You are…the Kyuubi?" Naruto was hesitant, after all, in front of him stood the towering beast of chakra and malice and darkness that had given him hell to pay for half of his life, and that was the reason his soul had been scarred to levels he himself deemed highly impossible to repair.
No, I'm the tooth fairy. What else do you expect me to be? A pair of enormous red eyes appeared in the pitch-black darkness on the other side of the gate, the tone of the voice was caustic, to say the least, as it spoke grievously and with a menacing growl.
"So…why are we speaking?" Naruto had no clue why he was there…did he die?
Because I hate you, kid. I now have to give you some of my chakra, or you'll actually die. As he said that, matter of fact, Naruto let the new of his probable death loom in the air for a moment; he kind of felt…relief. He shook his head hard, no, there were people who waited for him, who'd come and save him. There were people who loved him, called him friend. How could he betray them for his selfish whims?
"Great…I suppose?" What was he meant to say? That he'd prefer to die?
There's only a problem. The seal hasn't weakened enough, so it will take time and it *will* hurt you, it will be unbearable, and you will wish you had died... unless you actually remove this piece of parchment here, and then I'll come and help you painlessly. You don't want pain, do you?
Naruto was actually tempted to avoid the pain, but between being tempted and actually doing it, there was a difference. He had to mentally thank B for having explained it to him, or he'd actually fall for his trick, as the fox hadn't given much of a word about him taking control of him if he let loose the symbol, or actually destroying him when the fox's chakra would enter his own chakra coils, and a nine tail demons' chakra was far more than his own chakra coils could handle.
"Give me the pain and let's be done with it." He muttered.
You sure? You could…oh, he told you, didn't you?
"That he did." Naruto nodded.
Well, can you fault me for trying to leave a brat's body?
"I'd be pretty pissed to and being enchained and enslaved without a way out…like I am now." Naruto pointed that out.
The thing on your arm will have to go. Nice thing is that while it *will* discharge on you, you're already knocked out cold, so I'll overcharge it…oh, if I give you too much, please do think angry thoughts and hateful words, it helps controlling the chakra.
"…why do you think it's going to work if B already told me of the tricks of the tailed beasts?"
A Fox can dream.
Author's notes
Saddening chapters *will* come around (much to your dismay, I'm sure, as I've got something planned that will tear your hearts out...)