4 - Power Rings vs. The Immortals
Naruto and Sakura landed quietly in front of the prison scoping it out, aside from the fact that it was built into the side of a mountain, which both had to admit was rather ingenious saved on building materials and nigh impregnable against anything but earth jutsu, which many Hidden Leaf shinobi didn't use the only ones Naruto could off the top of his head who could penetrate this base would be the Akimichi clan, Kakashi, Sakura-chan, and his favorite granny. However if a Hidden Stone Shinobi or Hidden Mist Shinobi decided to storm this prison it be toast water could erode the walls and the stone shinobi used mostly earth jutsu. Still it was an impressive sight, entering through the front doors not really expecting a trap. It was a prison not a base, hence it contained either botched experiments or prisoners Orochimaru wanted to experiment on later. If anything Naruto felt both he and Sakura would be a welcomed sight to the inmates. Still both had their guard and senses up and alert as they walked through the first hall.
They didn't have to wait long before the lone overseer of said prison appeared holding a kunai in both her hands casually, using her right index finger to push her glasses further up, glancing at them cautiously. "What do I owe the honor of two Leaf shinobi coming into this place?"
"Came looking for you Karin Uzumaki," Naruto smiled softly, "Naruto Uzumaki and this is Sakura Haruno." He stated introducing himself and his rosette haired teammate watching her reactions. He wasn't disappointed the girl's rose colored eyes widen slightly at mention of his surname. Before her face turned dark and her hands clutched the kunai tightly enough to turn them white.
"T-T-That bastard he told me I was the last Uzumaki left, that the Fourth Hokage killed my aunt and their unborn son," Karin's eyes watered. Naruto quietly walked up to her gently laying both his hands on her shoulders she looked up into his eyes she saw those same eyes in a picture when she was five before her parents were killed before Orochimaru ordered her to burn the last of her possessions when he took her in, he said he would train to take revenge on the village that took her last living relative away from her. "I could sense he was lying when he first found me and I still believed him, but I wanted to belong."
Naruto smiled sadly, "He's good at that, whispering with that forked tongue of his, my mom died and my father with her to save our village and to save me."
Her eyes widen again, "She died fighting the Kyuubi."
"No she died trying to reseal the Kyuubi inside her, but the seal was too messed up, some man in an Orange spiraled masked forced the fox out at her weakest moment just after giving birth. My dad and my mom sacrificed themselves to reseal the fox into me, they did what any parent would do," Naruto's tears began stream down his face his dropped his hands from Karin's shoulder to wipe them away noting her eyes were focused on the Green Lantern ring. "This ring is how I found out about it and it would take a lot longer to explain," he chuckled noting his cousin smirked. He glanced over his shoulder seeing Sakura's stunned expression. "Didn't your ring know that?"
Sakura shook her head, "the Star Sapphire ring was more concerned about waiting for your ring to make a choice then watching planetary events. I only know about things I've read in the history books and what Lady Tsunade told me."
Naruto nodded, "I guess that makes sense, the Green Lantern rings were created by the Guardians of Oa and they had a love of knowledge so naturally their rings would gather information before choosing a bearer. Star Sapphires often chose their bearers as a counterpart of the Green Lantern wielders they never really look at histories until it's time to choose that counterpart."
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Okay so how long does your information date back to?"
"Before the beginning of the shinobi society," Naruto explained causing both Karin and Sakura eyes to pop out and their jaws to drop.
"Naruto, that's nearly twelve hundred years' plus worth of information how can you sort through all of it?" Sakura asked.
The whisker marked blonde chuckled, "Fifteen hundred plus years actually Sakura-chan, and it took nearly a month to sort through it all," he looked a bit guiltily at his rosette haired counterpart. "I-I was in a coma the entire time."
"WHAT!?" Sakura's eyes laced with shock, worry, and a little anger. "Why didn't Jiraiya contact Lady Tsunade?"
Karin watched the exchange while she did show some concern, after all Naruto was her cousin and the familial bonding was starting. She found her cousin's mannerisms to be much like her mother's and his chakra was the warmest and calmest she's ever felt even with the torrent of malicious chakra focused on his belly. However watching the two exchange words, Naruto trying to placate the growing anxiety in the rosette haired girl who was having none of it. It was only until her cousin put his arms around the other girl that seemed to calm the growing panic and fear once the two embraced their two chakra signatures merged, what she felt was amazing closing her eyes to bask in the feel of the chakra.
"Karin-chan are you okay?" came Naruto's question she opened her eyes looking at her cousin's face who looked both amused and concerned.
"I'm a sensor Naruto, and what I felt when you and Sakura hugged was like nothing I could ever describe in my life it was such a warm inviting feeling," Karin stated softly. This caused Sakura to blush having never heard such a thing about her before and the fact that she got to share such praise with Naruto was a plus.
The whiskered marked blond chuckled scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment, it wasn't often he got praised for anything even if it was because he had good chakra. "Well let's get you to your real home Karin-chan." The red haired girl nodded putting away her kunai, and walked over to a set of storage lockers; opening them she rifled through bringing out a storage scroll and started putting items on top of it before sealing them in the scroll.
Karin then walked over to a console holding her finger above a large switch, "Orochimaru I tender my resignation and let you deal with this you damned snake," she growled softly flipping the switch she turned back to her cousin and his girlfriend. "All of his future non-experimented on prisoners were just released, I doubt we'll get much flak from them but let's get out of here before they show up," with that she untied her sound headband before throwing it to the ground and stomping on it. The trio rushed out of the prison and down the hill until they reached the forest. "It's going to be a long trek to the hidden leaf from here." Before she could say more she found herself surrounded by a green bubble and was lifted in the air followed by her cousin who was glowing green and his pink haired girlfriend surrounded in a violet aura.
"Who said you needed to walk or tree hop when you can fly, Karin-chan," Naruto stated with a wide grin. As both he and Sakura took off into the air with Karin's green bubble floating behind them. She looked down at the ground far below them in awe the fact she couldn't feel any momentum as she floated there was amazing. The flight however ended abruptly when all three saw a large dark purple fireball in the distance. The Green Lantern halted as his ring assessed the threat.
"Biju chakra signature detected, matching that of the Nibi. Correction two Biju chakra signatures detected Seven-tailed Stag beetle in proximity of two-tailed Fire Cat. Warning Akatsuki presence also detected, Hidan and Kakuzu powers neutralize both two-tail and seven-tails abilities, recommendation send Hidan into sun and simultaneously stab Kakuzu through all six hearts," the GL ring stated Naruto growled and nodded he looked over at his counterpart who's eyes were blazing violet.
XXX
Kakuzu was a greedy man he gave up his team during his first Chunin exams just so he could collect a bounty on a Hidden Stone ninja before the start of the second Ninja war, it was the reason he was declared a traitor by the previous leader of the Hidden Waterfall village, why that man's cowardly son kept the hunter-nins after him and why he was currently teamed with the loud mouth Jashin cultist. He loved money and had a huge stock pile waiting for him whenever he decided to quit which would never happen because regardless of how much he had he always wanted more. What he hadn't expected though was for the Two-tailed jinchuuriki and his adopted daughter the Seven-tailed jinchuuriki to meet nor had he expected the two-tailed woman to blab to Fu about why he adopted her or what he truly intended to do he also wasn't expecting it though he should have would be that both attacked him and Hidan, but all in all it would be futile, his abilities neutralize the Two-tailed and Hidan with his blasted spewing of Jashin could neutralized Fu, however a few minutes into the battle the two jinchuuriki realized this and switched opponents.
It was beyond annoying and a waste of resources, Kakuzu hated this kind of thing it was the reason he adopted the little demon, so he would lure Fu into a trap and Hidan would incapacitate the demon, they could extract the seven-tail, the girl dies, he'd take the body and get the bounty on her head no real effort needed cept coaxing the girl, but no the two tail just had to show and botch an otherwise perfect plan, now he was wasting needless amounts chakra on his own adopted daughter just to get the end result. Life could be so unfair sometimes; he launched another fire based jutsu off at the girl who was weakening however before the blast could hit a wall of violet crystal came between the seven-tail and the jutsu. Looking up he saw a young girl maybe a year or two younger than Fu land between her and him, looking around wondering how the girl could land since the closest tree was a hundred yards away.
"Damn it, fuck me, let me go!" Hidan screamed in his vile uncouth voice turning Kakuzu saw the nine-tailed jinchuuriki slowly lower himself to ground a green construct of energy in the form of a strait jacket holding Hidan's arms at bay which was pretty bad Hidan needed his arms to perform his Jashin ritual, use his scythe, and kill his opponents, a bubble of energy dissipated revealing a red haired girl looking strangely like the woman he and Orochimaru had killed ten years ago, however it was the cold look from the nine-tails that made his six different bloods freeze, this wasn't the same shinobi he had seen in that underground cavern a month ago, for one the clothing didn't match looking eerily like only man Kakuzu would never face the 4th Hokage and two he felt different a lot stronger again feeling like the 4th.
The nine-tailed looked over his shoulder assessing his fellow jinchuuriki's status who was bleeding from the wounds Hidan had inflicted upon it. "Karin can you heal her in anyway?" Kakuzu scoffed mentally why refer to that demon as anything than an it was beyond him. He noted that Hidan was getting nowhere in freeing himself whatever that energy was it was very strong.
"Yeah, I can my chakra has healing properties, if I can get her to bite me she should heal quickly especially with her biju," the one known as Karin stated, that wouldn't do however he was paralyzed at the moment unsure who his opponent was, like the nine-tails the girl could create a construct strong enough to halt his most powerful fire jutsu. Without more information he was fighting blind and going into a battle as such was a mistake.
"Good I'm going to kill this guy and send a message to that hypocrite," the nine-tails growled causing the ex-Hidden waterfall jonin to wonder what he meant.
"HA! You can't kill me I'm blessed by Lord Jashin!" Hidan smirked and scoffed rather loudly. What Kakuzu saw in the nine-tails sudden fox like smirk didn't bode well for his comrade.
"Let's test that theory shall we, I bet spending an eternity in the sun would change your opinion you'll hope you Lord Jashin will give up his blessing and let you die because if not you'll be in a butt load pain for a very long time," with that the nine-tails launched straight into the air at a speed the ex-Waterfall shinobi had never seen before, a few seconds later the green glowing jinchuuriki was gone.
"Looks like I have to deal with mister creepy eyes, what I do for the man I love," he turned to see the pink haired girl sigh in fake annoyance. "Oh well," before he could react six beams of light shot out from her ring and slammed into his body, he notice almost immediately something was wrong, glancing behind him he saw all six hearts had been destroyed.
"H-How did you know?" he gasped out as the light was quickly leaving his eyes.
"A little green birdy told me," the rosette smiled brightly as the Akatsuki crashed to the ground lifeless.
XXX
No sooner had the constructs vanish Naruto landed face still grim as he walked over to Fu. "Fu-chan it's me Naruto," he stated kneeling down and gently shaking her, he had met her during his three year training trip with Jiraiya and bonded pretty well with his fellow jinchuuriki like having a slightly older sister.
The older teen opened her milky pink eyes, "N-Naruto-kun," she whispered her smile weak the last attack her adopted father put her through had her weakened her and she only remained conscious long enough to see a wall of fire crash into a violet crystal shield. Looking up she saw a slight glare from the pink haired girl behind Naruto aimed at her. "How did you know I was in trouble?"
Naruto's foxy grin appeared, "Hey a brother knows when his sister needs him, believe it!" This stopped Sakura's glare which changed into one of amusement. "Truthfully, I was in the area found a member of my family convinced her to come with me back home, saw a huge flame from where we were came to investigate, glad we did."
Fu smiled slowly sitting up looking at a red haired tending to Yugito, "Yugito saved me from getting ambushed by my own adoptive father, told me what he was," her eyes watered. "He said he only adopted me because it was a waste of energy to actually have to fight me for the seven-tailed," she buried her face into Naruto's shoulder sobbing uncontrollably, the whisker marked blonde gently put his arms around the teal haired girl.
Sakura bristled slightly taking deep breaths to come herself down, reminding herself this girl wasn't trying to steal Naruto away from her and Naruto thought of the girl as family. Why am I suddenly jealous?
That would be the fault of being a Star Sapphire; our powers are tied to our feelings for our counterpart which usually means the Green or Blue Lanterns that we are in love with. As such until mating has been completed we often drift irrationally towards jealously whenever another female comes in contact with our lover, The SS ring explained.
I didn't feel jealous when he was close to Karin, explain that one to me, Sakura asked.
She is a blood relative of your counterpart she is no threat to you, this Fu however is strong, has strong ties to your counterpart and is equally attractive, these parameters match dangerously close to your own hence you feelings of jealously, the same will be said for the Hyuga, the Gaara's sister if she cared for him, and your fellow apprentice under Lady Tsunade, the ring explained further. To answer you're the question you will no doubt ask, she holds Naruto in high regard because he broke your mutual master out of her melancholy, finds him attractive and has sported a minor crush on him because of his actions.
Nani? Shizune has a crush on Naruto, she's Kakashi-sensei's age roughly what sparked that? Sakura felt a little disturbed by it.
What noble event sparked your first interest in him?The ring countered Sakura quickly went through what first made her feel genuine affection for her love and the ring seemed to almost nod in her mind. Shortly after meeting her and Tsunade he saved her life from Kabuto, it sparked some mild feelings in her but nothing more than that. Sakura sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose as Karin and the blond cloud nin walked up to them.
"T-Thanks for the rescue," the blonde cloud kunoichi said in shaky voice. "On my way home after a mission when I came upon those two trying to get that girl, when I found out who she was did what I could to give her the same warning Lord Jiraiya gave all the Hidden Villages."
"If your village knew about the Akatsuki why did they send you out on your own?" Sakura asked.
Yugito looked down fiddling with her fingers, "my teammates were all sick so I agreed on a short mission to help them get their medication," she opened are pouch showing them to Sakura.
Sakura looked at the various packets and nodded most of these were for a few illnesses you get in the north and were specially remedies made in the Hidden Grass. "Glad to know your village treats you a bit better than ours does to Naruto," she said sadly. Watching as Naruto helped Fu up who looked to have calmed down. "You think Shibuki will take her into the village, Naruto?"
Naruto's face creased into a deep frown shaking his head, "No, his advisors practically demanded him to keep her in the blasted hut the last time I was there, it's how we first met. Looks like they don't even care if she's missing," he clenched his hand into a fist. "This is the last straw, as head of the Uzumaki clan I'm granting Fu-chan amnesty and sanctuary with my clan, if the Hidden Leaf council has a problem with that they can kiss my sweet ass. Fu you're now officially a member of the Uzumaki clan."
Fu's eyes shined brightly wrapping her arms around her new clan mate before giggling happily in joy. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."
Naruto nods turning to Yugito, "We'll gladly escort you to the nearest Hidden Cloud outpost."
The blonde cloud kunoichi smiled and nodded still not feeling one hundred percent after her near death experience. Yugito had to admit she felt safer with her nine-tailed and seven-tailed counterparts then she had in a long time except when she was with her teammates. It took the group roughly a few hours to reach to the closest Cloud outpost located on the border between the Lightning and Fire countries. The outpost had been once been a buffer zone between the Hidden Whirlpool village and the Lightning countries it was at this outpost the Hidden Cloud came into the knowledge that the Hidden Leaf had created a new jinchuuriki after Mito Uzumaki had died and sent A as well as his brother Bee to try and obtain the girl only to be beaten by Minato Namikaze whose very son was now escorting her back to her home. They stopped in front the outpost and waited until a small detachment of CIRI appeared Hidden Cloud's equivalent of the Leaf's ANBU. "Well this is where we part ways, Yugito-chan," the blonde ring wielder smiled brightly missing the blush on the older girl's face.
"Thank you for the timely rescue Naruto-san," Yugito smiled.
Naruto shrugged as a green bubble surrounded Fu and Karin before he lifted into the air, "What can I say Yugito-chan the hero always arrives at the last moment to save the day, see ya around." With that Yugito watched as the green and violet lights quickly vanished from view.
"Yugito the Raikage was worried about you, we were organizing a detachment to go look for you," the lead CIRI stated.
The blonde kunoichi gave the masked man a glare, "Not fast enough but I'm not surprised at all, I got rescued by Minato's son of all people," she smirked slightly at the tensed feeling she got. "Kind of ironic being saved by the son of the jinchuuriki we tried to kidnap forty years ago, not only did he save me but he and his pink haired girlfriend beat two Akatsuki like they were nothing, I need to inform the Raikage quickly."
Author's Note: Another brief edit mostly to fix mistakes I made earlier.