I'M SO SORRY!! SO SO SORRY!! I'm late, I know, but my science teacher called my parents, then they got on my back about working harder, then exams came, and I had no time to write, I IS SO SORRY!!... Ahem... You didn't see anything...
Alright, chapter three is now here. I got a couple complaints about Tayuya hitting Naruto too much, and Naruto being oblivious to her embarrassment of her affectionate actions. To this, I respond:
Naruto, no matter how much smarter he has gotten, is still severely lacking in human contact. He only knows when someone hates him, or is indifferent to him. If he had experienced other emotions towards him, then he might have been different. Right now, Naruto's problem is not that he is an idiot, (not in my story at least) but that he has no wisdom or experience in these things. Now, since he is smarter, he will recognize these emotions sooner, but not as soon as they happen. Intelligence is not the same thing as social maturity.
Oh, and I embarrassed Tayuya in the last chapter, just so that she would not hit him any more. She is in much the same boat as Naruto, lacking in emotional maturity.
I do not own Naruto or the Phoenix contract and related ideas. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto and the Phoenix belongs to azad439's 'The Phoenix Sannin'
Loss of a Demon, Loss of a Hero
Chapter Three
Inazuma Tate
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"Are we there yet?" Naruto whined.
"No" Tayuya responded, keeping her gaze locked on the ground in front of her. Things had gone from weird to worse, in her opinion. Mere hours after leaving Konoha, Naruto had admitted that he had no idea where he was headed. So she took over and headed towards the nearest town, which happened to be Tanzaku. However, that was not the strangest thing to her. In her mind, the true oddity was why she was refusing to look at him, or even hit him for being an idiot. She just couldn't do it. 'Dammit, what the hell is wrong with me? My logic is perfect! When Naruto does something idiotic, I hit him! It's not the hardest thing to do... Or it wasn't. What happened?' Tayuya's train of thought was interrupted when she realized that Naruto had not spoken for several minutes. She looked up. "Naruto? You still alive?" She turned her head to her side, where Naruto was walking. She saw him walking with his head hanging low. "What's wrong Naruto?" He stopped in the middle of the road and looked up at her, his deep blue eyes piercing through her facade of aloofness.
"I... left them. All of my friends were there, in Konoha, and I left the-" Tayuya interrupted.
"If they couldn't stop your council from putting the Memory seal on you; if they couldn't protect you when you couldn't protect yourself, then they don't deserve your friendship." Naruto sat down sharply, looking dumbfounded. Tayuya couldn't help but let out an uncharacteristic giggle at the sight of Naruto's jaw unhinging itself as he stared at her in disbelief. She quickly put a hand over her mouth to muffle the noise. Naruto stood up slowly, dusting himself off and shaking his head.
"Well... I guess we should get going then, right?" Tayuya nodded, and began walking towards Tanzaku, but not before grabbing Naruto's hand and forcibly dragging him along the road. Naruto stood up and stumbled before catching himself and doing his best to keep up.
"Tayuya, why don't I just use the summoning contract I got from the Kyuubi? The summons can fly, right?" Tayuya stopped so abruptly that he crashed into her back.
"What summoning contract?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.
"Eheh... The Phoenix summoning contract." Tayuya turned.
"You mean to say the we have been walking all this time when instead we could have been flying?" Tayuya's left eye twitched. "NARUTO!!" Naruto backpedaled quickly.
"Tayuya!! I'm summoning, I'm summoning!" Naruto bit his thumb and went through the hand seals.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
An extremely large smoke cloud billowed out from Naruto's hands, obscuring Tayuya's vision. As the smoke began to clear, a deafening screech exploded out from the epicenter of the smoke, blowing away the rest of it.
Naruto stood atop of a giant bird made of black fire, the giant flames licking at the air with a hungry intensity. The bird stretched its wings, beating the air around it at the ground Tayuya was hard pressed to continue breathing. The Phoenix let forth another earth shattering screech before opening its flaming beak, and forming words.
"Why have I been summoned?" The Phoenix leaned forwards, forcing Naruto to the ground in an uncontrollable tumble. The Phoenix eyed the blonde boy with disdain. "You are my summoner? The Phoenix contract is not meant to be held by one as puny as you." Naruto's eye twitched.
"I'M NOT SHORT YOU FLAMING TURD PILE!!" Tayuya crept up behind Naruto.
"Naruto... I don't think that you should argue with a giant flaming bird that could easily kill us." Naruto looked down at her sheepishly.
"Well, if you put it that way..." The Phoenix chuckled.
"You are an interesting one, Naruto. However, before you can summon the noble Phoenix Clans, you must pass a test." Naruto paled considerably.
"A-a-a test? Oh man, I'm no good at tests. How about a ramen eating contest instead?" Naruto's proposal elicited another rumbling chuckle from the immortal bird.
"I was thinking more along the lines of a test of your integrity. How would you use the strength of the Phoenix Clan?" Naruto put his hand on his chin in a thinking pose.
"I would protect my friends. None of my friends will suffer for as long as I live, and for as long as they are my friends, I will protect them." The fire bird seemed slightly surprised at this statement.
"Odd... I can sense a taint on you, but your ideals are pure and truthful. Not even your fiery friend behind you is corrupt, despite the demonic chakra I can sense emanating from the both of you... Hmmm... Very well, you have passed the test. My name is Fenikkusueiyo. Now, what is it you summoned me for?" Naruto scratched the back of his head.
"We needed a lift." It was quite a sight to see, a five story bird composed entirely of fire, sweat dropping.
"You called me here... To get a lift?" Naruto nodded sheepishly. "Well, I am not going to be your steed, but I know one Phoenix who is eager enough to. Mind you, she doesn't get out much." Fenikkusueiyo expelled a ball of fire from his beak. On its way to the ground, the fire morphed into a much smaller Phoenix. The small Phoenix looked up at Fenikkusueiyo expectantly.
"Hikoutei, meet the new Phoenix summoner." Hikoutei nodded towards Naruto. "You are to be his familiar here in the Elemental countries. Naruto, Hikoutei is young, by our standards, but she is eager to see the world. You two have fun." Naruto nodded, and was blasted back by a gust of air from one of Fenikkusueiyo wings.
"Oi, shithead... What the hell do you think you're doing?" Naruto looked confused as he lied on the ground before realizing just what Tayuya was talking about. Looking at the position he was in, he instantly blushed. The gust of wind had bowled him over, right into Tayuya, and as he fell he put his hands out to break his fall, with his hands landing on... "PERVERT! Get your hands off my chest you Hentai!!" Naruto jumped up so fast, he almost tripped again.
"Neh, Tayuya, it was an accident, I swear!" Tayuya glowered.
"It damn well have better been. You can't touch me unless I give permission.!" Naruto had a blank look on his face.
"You would let me?" Tayuya froze.
"N-no!" Naruto smiled. Well, more of bared his teeth.
"Suuuure Tayuya-chan, sure." Tayuya was about to retort, but was interrupted by a hail of shuriken aimed at Naruto. Naruto and Tayuya were both swept on to the back of Hikoutei. As she took flight, in an attempt to get away from their attacker. She landed down the road, and Naruto jumped off to face his unseen foe. Out of the tree line, stepped one Uchiha Sasuke.
"So then, here you are, dobe." Sasuke sneered before looking at the boss Phoenix summon that was standing silently between the two rivals. Sasuke spoke again. "You... You are a Phoenix! An immortal bird of flame!" Fenikkusueiyo nodded.
"That is so." Sasuke smirked at Naruto before returning his attention back to Fenikkusueiyo.
"I am giving you the opportunity to serve me," The last Uchiha spoke to the Phoenix. "If you give me your power... I will let you become the Uchiha clan summon. Fenikkusueiyo simply roared.
"Your corruption runs exceedingly deep, almost as deep as your narrow minded arrogance. I would never serve anyone, let alone ally myself with scum such as you!" Sasuke's face showed only rage.
"You would turn down the chance to serve me? To serve the Uchiha clan? Once I kill Uzumaki you will see the error of your ways! To serve the Uchiha clan is the greatest honour that can be bestowed upon another!" Sasuke roared. Yet another new voice cut in.
"Foolish little brother... You still know nothing of true strength. When I left you all those years ago, you were to use your rage, not let it consume you. You will never become strong." Itachi spoke as he stepped out of the foliage, with Kisame at his side. Sasuke took a step forward and hissed.
"Itachi... TODAY YOU DIE!!" Sasuke sprinted towards Itachi, who still had yet to move at all. Suddenly, Itachi held his hand out, and sent Sasuke flying backwards with a flick of his finger.
"Kisame... I have everything under control here. Get Naruto out of here." Kisame nodded, releasing his hold on the handle of his sword. "Now little brother... Allow me to show you the extent of my true strength, compared to your rage driven fanaticism." With that, Itachi blurred out of existence, and reappeared behind Sasuke, swiftly giving him a hard chop on the back of the neck. Sasuke slumped to the ground, unconscious. "Pitiful..."
Kisame reached Naruto and Tayuya. "You two have been given the chance to join another hidden village, Kumorigakure" He reached into his pockets and pulled out two Hitai-ate with the symbol of a Whirlpool on it. Naruto looked suspiciously at him.
"What the hell? Aren't you the guys trying to kill me?" Kisame sighed, and was about to answer when a voice came from right behind Naruto.
"We do not actually follow Akatsuki, Naruto. A few of Akatsuki's members, are not what they appear. In the beginning, the cause of the organization was much more... Noble. Something has happened however, and the leader has become corrupted." Itachi loomed out from behind Naruto. "We follow one who has the power to stop the wrongdoings of Akatsuki. In this frame of mind, our leader has created Kumorigakure. You shall journey there. Akatsuki's leader does not know of its existence, and you will be safe there." Tayuya took the hitai-ate's from Kisame.
"How can we trust you? How do we know that you are not just going to lead us to our deaths?" Kisame growled.
"You stupid brat! We could have killed you at any time, and instead we waited. Besides, where else are you going to go? You both were abandoned by your respective villages, and if they find out you are alive the-"
Tayuya interrupted, "What do you mean? Why would anyone think we are dead?" Itachi's eyes widened slightly.
"So... You left before the incident... Interesting..." This time it was Naruto who interrupted.
"What incident?" Kisame answered
"It must have been mere hours after you left your village, the villagers burned your house to the ground, and attempted to kill anyone they deemed of being 'Demon Lovers'. There were no real ninja in this mob, so they were unable to" Naruto's eyes widened.
"That means... How many people were killed?" Itachi stepped in front of Naruto.
"A few mobbers, and a ramen stand was burned down..." Naruto stopped breathing.
"Was... Did anybody die?" Itachi shook his head.
"Tsunade had received information on the mobs creation, and evacuated anyone who could have fit the criteria of a 'Demon Lover'" Naruto nodded.
"Sounds like Baachan all right... Well, what do you think about this, Fenikkusueiyo?" The aforementioned Phoenix cocked his head to the side.
"They mean no harm, and their story makes sense. Otherwise, I would have wondered what Isonade was doing, allowing his subordinate to join his enemies, and along with the Chakra Devourer, Samehada." Kisame's eyes widened.
"A-a b-but how?" The Phoenix shook its head.
"Have you looked in a mirror recently? Anyway, I'm off. But before I go..." A stream of condensed fire shot from the beak of the Phoenix. The flames split into two streams, before impacting both Naruto's and Tayuya's right arms. The flames seemed to create a design, and the small group watched in a morbid fascination as the flames turned into tattoos of a phoenix. Naruto and Tayuya were both knocked unconscious as the flames finished the design, and disappeared
"Those are chakra batteries, they can only be used for summoning Phoenix Clan members, and Phoenix Fire techniques. Tell those two this once they wake." With that, the fire bird disappeared in an implosion of heat and fire. Kisame kicked Naruto's unconscious form.
"Dammit... Now we have to carry them all the way to Kumori... Itachi?" Itachi was already summoning a crow.
"Come Kisame... We should be there by nightfall. Bring the two of them, and place them on the crow." Kisame did so, but grumbled something about lazy partners under his breath. After all was secured in place, the crow took off with a quick word from Itachi. They were followed by a small Phoenix, and left one Uchiha lying face down in a pile of mud.
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Naruto awoke like he always did, his senses slowly sending him information, until they caught up to his brain. He opened his eyes, and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a rather large apartment, and one that appeared to have multiple rooms. He attempted to get off of the couch he was lying on, before he realized that he was being pinned down by something that seemed to cover his entire body. He looked down without moving to see... Tayuya. With her head on his chest and arms wrapped around him, she was pinning him to the couch. Fortunately, Naruto could still use his hands, so he made a Kage Bunshin, and Kawarmied with it so that he could look for a window. He soon found one, and looked out into a large town. The town appeared to be mostly hidden by the shadow of the overhanging cliff, but since it was daylight, Naruto could easily view the village in all of its grandeur.
Most, if not all of the buildings had black or navy blue roofs. From Naruto's perspective, he was completely surrounded by a city, with roads and pathways that stretched like a spiders threads, out into the horizon.
"I had the same look on my face when I first looked out on the town as well." Naruto whirled around.
"Who said that?" From the shadows, a figure took a step out into the light streaming from the window. Naruto's eyes widened slightly.
"Itachi." Itachi nodded.
"Yes, Naruto. You see, this is a village that has become populated from outcasts, mostly Kekkei Genkai holders from Kiri; we accepted no one who had committed crimes." Naruto raised his eyebrow at this.
"You killed an entire clan, and they accepted you? What do these people deem as a crime?" Itachi smiled, a sight which looked strangely out of place on the usually emotionless face.
"In all actuality, Naruto, I only killed ten people of the Uchiha clan. The Clan Elders, Shisui, and Fugaku. I let Sasuke go because I had already used Tsukiyomi to implant images of the entire clans slaughter. In fact, most of the remainder of the Uchiha clan live in this very building." Naruto was about to speak, when someone interrupted him.
"NARUTO! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU SHITHEAD?" Itachi and Naruto winced simultaneously. Itachi wiggled his finger inside his ear.
"You sure picked a loud girlfriend, didn't you." Naruto shrugged helplessly, before the meaning of the sentence made it into his mind.
Naruto tried to speak, "She's not... We're not... It's... GAAAHHH! SCREW YOU ITACHI!!" Itachi cackled maniacally.
"You two have seven days to get settled here, and no, Naruto, there is no more room in this apartment complex, so you two will be living together," Itachi began to laugh again, but quickly silenced himself, "You two are to be tested on your abilities, and then placed on a genin team. Since Konoha is the closest village, you two will participate in the Chuunin exams, along with a third member. You three, while genin ranked, have already proven yourselves to be at a much higher skill level." Itachi walked towards the door beside the windows. "You three, will be expected to work as a team, therefore, you will share all of your skills, fighting styles, and specialties. While you are in Konoha, for safety reasons, you two will change your appearance, and go by code names. Naruto is to be codename Byakko, and Tayuya will be Sanoni. Your third member's name is Kuro. He was found by the Ikikage, and was shown to have a chakra bloodline. You will learn about his bloodline when you three meet." Tayuya suddenly barged into the room, surprising both ninja.
"What the hell do you mean by chakra bloodline, emo-shit?" Itachi stood, slightly stunned for a second by Tayuya's choice of words. He quickly shook his head and chuckled.
"Tayuya-san, while there are many bloodlines in the world, they can all be classified into three categories. Eye Techniques, Body Techniques, and Chakra Techniques (A/N If anyone can get me the translations for those last two, that'd be great. I didn't change Doujutsu for Eye Techniques, because it would be too different to switch between Japanese and English for them). A few examples of eye techniques would be my Sharingan, and the Byakugan of Konoha. A Body Technique, would be what your former comrade, Kaguya Kimmimaro, utilized. The Chakra Techniques would have been Mokuton, Hyouton, or in Kuro's case, Youso Koutai. Anyways, you two lovebirds have fun!" Itachi Shunshined out of the apartment, barely disappearing in time to dodge a hail of shuriken that embedded themselves on the door.
Naruto shook his head. 'Why do people always go for the door, and then not use it?' He noticed Tayuya looking at him strangely. "What?" Tayuya looked away.
"First thing's first. We are getting ninja clothing." Naruto grinned.
"I wonder if they have anything in orange..." TWACK. "OWOOOOW, Tayuya!! What was that for?"
Tayuya was standing over Naruto, holding a shoe in her hand. "You will not be wearing orange as a ninja. It is not a ninja colour, it is a 'Kill Me Now' sign on a dopey kid. You will NOT BE WEARING ORANGE!! DO WE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING?" Naruto gulped.
"Yes, Tayuya." Tayuya smiled.
"Good. Now let's go get some clothes." Naruto ducked out of the door right after Tayuya.
"We also have to learn Shunshin." Tayuya nodded in agreement as she walked down the underpopulated street.
"I agree. It would greatly improve our travel time." Naruto smiled.
"I just think it's cool." Tayuya sweat dropped.
"Dumbass shithead blonde..." Tayuya muttered, "Here's a clothing store Naruto. Let's see what we got."
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"Naruto, get the fuck out here!" Tayuya banged on the door to the dressing room. The two had visited just about every store in Kumori, before she realized that Naruto was still aiming for something orange. While they had refilled their kunai and shuriken stocks, both had realized that they should change their styles slightly. Tayuya and Naruto both purchased an O-Katana. Tayuya had realized that she depended too much on her Doki and Genjutsu, and sometimes they didn't quite cut it, as the lazy Konoha nin had proven to her. Naruto had gotten one, because, in deciding to learn kenjutsu, he would further confuse anyone who was looking for him. Tayuya had to admit, however grudgingly, that Naruto wasn't as stupid as most gave him credit for. Unless it came to his precious orange.
"I don't want to come out, I feel weird!" Tayuya sighed, and bashed her head on the door.
"Just because it doesn't have orange on it doesn't mean it's not good. It's actually the opposite." Tayuya took a step back as the change room door unlocked.
"All right Tayuya, I'm coming out, but I'm warning you... It won't be pretty." Naruto stepped out from behind the door, making Tayuya go slack jawed at his transformation. While Naruto had never been good looking, she had never really believed it to be the fault of the hideous orange jumpsuit that he wore, but standing right in front of her was undeniable proof of that fact. Naruto was dressed in a black leather duster, which had metal plates sewn in certain places, to protect the vital organs. Underneath the duster, he was wearing a tight black shirt, which had fishnet sleeves going down to his elbows. He had also put on fingerless gloves to compliment his O-Katana; the gloves had one blade each that sprang out when chakra was run through them. When they were not in combat mode, the tips of the blades simply looked like a plate of metal on the back of his glove. His pants, which had changed into a dark green colour, had hundreds of pockets, just about everywhere you could think of. Naruto was also sporting black combat boots, with metal plates placed inside the soles as well as the toes.
Naruto was fidgeting nervously under Tayuya's scrutinizing stare, unconsciously fingering the O-Katana strapped to his back. "Well? How is it? Tayuya? Tayuuuyaaaa?" Naruto was waving his fingers in front of her face. He gave up trying to get her attention, and started poking her in the forehead repeatedly. She snapped out of her daze almost instantly, grabbing his hand as he went to poke her again.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Tayuya hissed, tightening her grip on his hand, crushing it into submission. Naruto was about to answer when the old woman who ran the clothing store came past. She looked at the two nin and smiled.
"You two really do make a sweet couple you know that? There aren't many ninja who would go around holding hands in public, you know." She ambled past Naruto and Tayuya, humming to herself. Naruto and Tayuya began blushing. Tayuya seemed to realize that she was still holding his hand, and immediately let go as if she was burned.
"I-I'll see you later, s-shithead." She mumbled as she ran out of the store faster than Hiraishin. Naruto could only stand there looking stunned. Then a dopey smile made its way onto his face. 'She is pretty cute. It's too bad I can't tell her that without being pounded.' Naruto walked out of the store, the smile still on his face. 'I suppose I should train before I finish up for the day.'
Tayuya was sprinting down the street, dodging random people who stood in her way. She was only doing this subconsciously, her mind was more focused on what was happening to her. 'What the hell is going on? I'm not supposed to get embarrassed, I'm supposed to be the one embarrassing him! So why the hell do I get so... Disoriented around him?' Tayuya turned a corner, and began jumping up the stairs towards her apartment. 'Naruto's and my apartment.' She reminded herself. 'With only one bed. Ugh. This is not going to be fucking fun... Although waking up in his arms felt pretty nice... FUUUCK! I'm starting to... to... Like him. DAMMIT' Tayuya slammed the door to the apartment and moved for the bed. 'I think I'll sleep on it. I'll feel better in the morning.'
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Duh duh duh!!
In the next chapter, there might be some NaruTayu fluff, although if anyone thinks that I am changing anyone's character too much, then I apologize. After all, I did only get 67 in English class. Besides, I don't know romance, Which reminds me!! I NEED A BETA READER!! Pm me to apply. I need someone who is good at fluff scenes, and who I can bounce ideas off of. Thank you for reading, I shall update weekly.
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