A/N
Well. After a bit of a delay, I'm FINALLY done with this chapter. I think it's a little too much of an explanation chapter, really. But you get to meet Deidara and you get to learn about Naruto's family! Yay!
But with that said, it's now even harder for me to pick the pairing. Currently, the votes are:
Naruto x Sasuke - 7
Naruto x Yugito - 4
Naruto x Temari - 3
Naruto x Hidan - 3
Naruto x Gaara - 6
Naruto x Sai - 2
Naruto x Fu - 2
The last one, Naruto x Fu, is making me think. She's also a Jinchuuriki, and we don't know her age so I could make her around Naruto's age. She's also fairly pretty. I don't really want to write Naruto x Yugito, as she's much older. She would be a better choice for Hidan, maybe.
But I STILL LOVE NARUTO X SASUKE AND NARUTO X GAARA! I think I actually like Naruto x Gaara more...
Heh, what about Naruto x Gaara x Fu? That could be interesting. LOLOLOL JINCHUURIKI HAREM XD XD. (Yes, that was a joke... can you imagine Kirabi and Han and Roshi in the harem? Blech!)
Naruto x Sasuke may be in the lead, but that doesn't mean I'm going to pick it. I still have a while to decide, seeing as NARUTO IS FOUR.
You may be able to tell that the Jinchuuriki are going to play a very different role in this story. I will be using many facts from canon, but it's a bit AU anyway so... yeah.
Anyway. Haku, do the disclaimer.
Haku: ...Where am I? Why am I even in this story?
Because of my awesome foreshadowing skills.
Haku: Um...
Just do the bloody disclaimer!
Haku: Hanhula does not own Naruto. If she did, she would help me find out which gender I am! I'M SO CONFUSED!
Deidara: I know how you feel, un.
Itachi: Same here... How many men have ponytails and long eyelashes?
Neji: I have to wear a SKIRT. How do you think I feel?
Fu: At least Masashi Kishimoto knows which gender you are! Although people are leaning towards female...
Haku: Oh, I pity you. You should find a precious person to help you find out.
Deidara: Or just look down your pants.
Itachi: You are crude.
Hidan: SOMEBODY SAY MY MOTHERFUCKING NAME, BITCHES? Oh, it's the tranny gang. I'm outta here, fuckers!
Uh... The hell...? Hidan is weird...
Deidara: Agreed, un.
Naruto Uzumaki: Son of the Akatsuki
Chapter 4: Family and Deidara
Thanks to the Kyuubi's healing power, Naruto was feeling fine again within days. Itachi had also recovered. They were relaxing with Kisame in his and Itachi's room when Sasori entered.
"Leader-sama has a mission for us. We are to go and recruit a new member, in place of Orochimaru." He said. At some point, Sasori had got back inside of Hiruko, one of his favourite puppets. This form was much more intimidating than his normal puppet form.
"Which of us, Sasori-sensei?" asked Naruto. He had begun to call Sasori his sensei when the puppet had started teaching him medical ninjutsu. Sasori smirked, although it was unseen by the others.
"Me, Itachi, Kisame and you," he replied. Naruto's face lit up. He was finally going to get to go on a mission! Naruto did a mental happy dance.
"So, who's the new member? What's he like?" asked Kisame.
"His name is Deidara. He is an ex-Iwa ninja, and he is eight years old. He has the Explosion Release kekkei genkai, and he also has two extra sets of mouths – one on each hand. He uses them to model clay into sculptures. Thanks to a scroll he stole from Iwa, he can bring his creations to life and detonate them. He calls it 'art' and is very proud of it."
"Another child member, huh? Jeez, there are so many kids in Akatsuki now!" complained the older ninja.
"That just proves that the younger generation are better, doesn't it?" Itachi said, smirking. "Besides, you are hardly an adult yourself. You're 21."
"I guess you're right, Itachi. Well, I'm all set for the mission. You guys all ready?" Kisame asked.
"Um... what do I need to bring?" questioned Naruto. Sasori facepalmed from inside Hiruko. He had forgotten that Naruto knew almost nothing about missions. He still didn't know why Leader-sama had told him to bring Naruto with them.
"I've already packed your things. Sasori, are you ready?" said Itachi, glancing over to the puppet.
"Yes, I am. Let's go then." Naruto silently cheered in his head that he was on a mission! Finally! He wondered what Deidara would be like. Maybe he could make a new friend?
Deidara sneezed. Great. He was already uncomfortable because he was in Hi no Kuni, and now he was getting a cold, too? Just what he needed. He blew up more of his clay sculptures, and enjoyed the fleeting moment of beauty that they showed him. His art was truly wonderful in his eyes.
On the way to Hi no Kuni, Naruto decided to ask Sasori and Kisame about their home villages.
"Sasori-sensei? What was it like in Suna?" he asked, innocently. Sasori closed his eyes for a second, remembering.
"It was very hot there. And very sandy. It was practically summer all year around. The nights were freezing cold, though," he answered after a moment. "Suna forced all children to study at the ninja academy. If they were good enough, they would be promoted to genin. If they weren't, they would remain civilians. I graduated from the Academy very young, and started to create puppets thanks to my grandmother, a woman named Chiyo."
"What about your parents?" Sasori froze for a minute.
"My parents were killed by the White Fang of Konoha," he answered. "I was very young when it happened."
"...oh." There was silence for a few moments, before Naruto spoke again. "Kisame-sensei, what about Kiri? What was it like there?"
"It was pretty awful. It was always misty, so it was always hard for foreign ninjas to find us. I left Kiri when I found out that my master was selling information to the enemy. I killed him and took Samehada. The Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura, congratulated me, but I yelled at him. I was hardly loyal to the village if I was killing its own ninja. Then HE revealed himself, and his plan. I decided I wanted in on it, and soon I joined Akatsuki." said the shark-nin. Sasori and Naruto wondered who 'he' was. "Hey, Naruto. How 'bout you tell us about Konoha? You too, Itachi."
"It's surrounded by a really big forest with lots of scary animals! Once, I found a fox out there and it snuggled up to me, but the villagers saw and threw more stones at me. They were all mean to me. Jiji told me to prove that I was better than them and try and become Hokage one day, but I don't want to anymore!"
"Was anyone nice to you in Konoha, Naruto?"
"Well, Jiji was. And so was Itachi-nii-san! His little brother was silly, though. He had hair like a duck's butt! Oh, and Iruka-sensei was nice to me too! And some of the ANBU. There were a few other people, too – one of Jiji's sons who always smoked and wore a weird sash, a pretty lady with red eyes, a guy with weird spiky white hair who always wore a mask, a really funny woman with purple hair, and..." Naruto shuddered. "The green THING!" Itachi chuckled at Naruto's name for Maito Gai. Sasori and Kisame looked confused.
"Naruto, you mean Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai, Hatake Kakashi, Mitarashi Anko and Maito Gai. And I see what you mean about Sasuke's hair. It does look rather like the behind of a duck, doesn't it?"
"Who is Maito Gai and why does Naruto call him 'the green thing'?" Kisame asked.
"He's a taijutsu specialist who wears a bright green jumpsuit. He is extremely annoying and never shuts up about 'the power of youth'." Itachi replied. "As for what Konoha was like, most of the villagers hated Naruto for what he has sealed inside of him. They wouldn't dare to do anything whilst I was around, though. The wonderful Uchiha prodigy, that's all I was." Itachi's face twisted into a grim smile. "I don't think many of Konoha's citizens actually see people for who they are."
"I wonder how Suna's jinchuuriki is being treated? When I left, he was only 3 and yet people were maltreating him." pondered Sasori. "Maybe we should ask Leader-sama about taking the younger jinchuuriki and training them together? They would be a formidable force in the future."
"We should just go on and find the strongest children, then. Make an army out of those who are rejected by their villages. Hey, Itachi, we could get your brother to come along." Kisame added. His and Sasori's plan was fairly insane. They were only partially joking.
"Leader-sama might agree to the jinchuuriki children being taken, but I do not think we would be permitted to create a child army." Itachi said. Kisame smirked.
"Nii-san, you never told me what a jinchuuriki was. Is it something to do with Kitsune-chan?" Naruto asked. The three older ninja froze.
"Who's Kitsune-chan?" queried Sasori, breaking the silence. Naruto grinned and hugged himself.
"He's a really big fox who helps get rid of the hebi-teme!" He rubbed his tummy. "He says he lives in here!" Sasori, Kisame and Itachi exchanged glances.
"We will talk about this when we return to the base, Naruto." Itachi said, in a tone that left no room for argument.
"Okay, nii-san!"
A few hours later, the group of Akatsuki found Deidara in a strange temple-like place. Sasori was the first to speak.
"Hello, Deidara-san. We are from Akatsuki. I trust that you know who we are?"
"Y-you're Akasuna no Sasori! And you're Hoshigaki Kisame! And you're Uchiha Itachi and-"Deidara paused. He looked at Naruto in shock, before continuing. "- Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, un."
"Wait, what? My name's Uzumaki Naruto, not Namikaze-Uzumaki!" Naruto yelled.
"What, don't you know your own name, un?"
"...Huh?"
"Enough of this banter. We came here to ask you to join us, Deidara-san." Itachi spoke calmly. Deidara glared at the raven-haired Uchiha. Deidara had heard of the Uchiha clan, with their Sharingan eyes.
"And why should I, un? What's in it for me?" hissed the younger ninja. Itachi looked rather bored.
"We won't kill you." he answered.
"NII-SAN! Don't be mean! Deidara-san, you should join! It's really fun and we're going to take over the world and stop all the bad stuff!" yelled Naruto. The three older Akatsuki members mentally facepalmed at Naruto's words. No sane person would actually listen to him.
"Wow, really? Do you think I'd be able to use my art?" gushed Deidara. Well, it seemed that Deidara wasn't quite sane. Sasori turned to face him.
"You are also an artist?" he asked. Sasori already knew the answer, but he wanted a demonstration.
"Yeah! Look!" Deidara held up his hands, revealing a mouth on each palm. He reached one hand into the bag at his side. He brought it out, moved his hand around a bit and opened his hand. A small clay bird flew from his palm. Naruto gaped. Deidara made a hand sign, and yelled.
"Katsu!" There was a small explosion as Deidara detonated the clay bird. Naruto's eyes sparkled in delight.
"Wow! Deidara-san, that was so awesome!"
"It's my art. Thanks to a scroll from Iwa, I can combine my chakra with clay, and use it to make the sculptures, un. They come to life, and I can detonate them at any time. Fine art is the beauty of one fleeting moment, un!" he exclaimed. Sasori snorted.
"Art is eternal. Art is meant to last long into the future... That is true art."
"That may be your way of viewing art, but I prefer mine, un."
"So, are you going to join Akatsuki willingly or are we going to have to make you?" asked Kisame, fingering Samehada. The blonde looked thoughtful.
"Can I fight one of you to see whether if it would be worth my while, un? If they win, I'll join. If I win, you leave me alone."
"That sounds fair. Your opponent will be me." Itachi said, stepping forward. The others backed against the wall.
"Go, nii-san!" cheered Naruto.
The fight between Deidara and Itachi was fairly quick. Itachi managed to catch Deidara in a genjutsu using his Sharingan, and knocked the younger ninja unconscious.
"I have to admit, he is smart. If I did not possess the Sharingan, he would have blown me to pieces." noted Itachi. Sasori woke the blonde up.
"Ugh... My head, un..." he moaned. Naruto laughed.
"Deidara-san! Get up, get up! You're joining the Akatsuki now!" The four of them started to head back to the base. After a while, Deidara broke the silence.
"Question. Why is there a four year old in Akatsuki, un?" Sasori sighed. Kisame decided to answer.
"When Itachi left Konoha, he brought Naruto along with him. Leader-sama decided to let him join for some reason. He's actually fairly powerful, for a four year old."
"Deidara-san-" Naruto began, only to be cut off by Deidara.
"Stop with the 'Deidara-san' thing! I don't need an honorific, un!"
"Sorry... Anyway, who's my dad and how do you know him?"
"Your dad was Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash of Konoha and the Yondaime Hokage. Every Iwa shinobi knows his name. I only know he's your dad because I stole some stuff from Konoha once, un. How come you don't know who he was?"
"I don't know either of my parents! Jiji said they were both really strong ninja, but I don't know anything else!"
"Well, I know that your dad was deadly in the war. He decimated Iwa's forces on his own using a weird technique. I don't know anything about your mum though. I thought the Uzumaki clan had died out, un."
"We all thought they had been wiped out with Uzushiogakure," said Kisame. "It seems that there were some survivors. Hey, Itachi, do you know who Naruto's mum was?"
"Yes. She was Uzumaki Kushina, the previous Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox. She was a very strong kunoichi. She and Minato were both very kind." Itachi said. Naruto looked at him in surprise.
"You knew my parents, nii-san?"
"Only vaguely. I remember your father hiding in the forest where I was training once."
"Why was he hiding?" asked Kisame, curiously.
"He was hiding from the paperwork, apparently. He found me, and helped me train. I was five at the time. Your mother ran in, yelling something along the lines of 'MINATO! GET YOUR ASS BACK TO THE HOKAGE'S OFFICE, DATTEBANE!'"
"And he was the Hokage? ...Wow." Kisame obviously did not think highly of the Yondaime Hokage.
"We're almost at the base. Deidara, Naruto, here are your rings." Sasori handed Deidara a teal ring bearing the kanji for green or blue, and Naruto received a slate blue ring bearing the kanji for sky or void. "Deidara, put yours on your right index finger. Naruto, yours goes on your left little finger." The two put on their rings. Naruto kept looking at his, amazed that he had gotten a ring at all. He recognised it as the one Orochimaru had worn.
"Huh? How come Naruto's getting a ring already?" Kisame asked. Sasori shrugged.
"I suppose Leader-sama decided to make Naruto a full member. I'm not sure where Deidara's came from, though - I haven't seen that ring before." Itachi dispelled the genjutsu on the base, and the group entered. Kakuzu and Hidan were fighting in the main room. Hidan was using his scythe to cut Kakuzu's threads to stop them from coming anywhere near him. Zetsu was eating something very bloody at the table. Pein and Konan were sat on one of the sofas, watching TV. (Even the leader of an evil organisation needs to relax sometimes.) Everyone looked over at the five who had just returned. Kakuzu used the distraction to grab Hidan, and slice his head off. Deidara's jaw dropped. Naruto looked terrified.
"OW! FUCKING HELL KAKUZU! WHY THE BLOODY FUCK DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO CHOP MY FUCKING HEAD OFF? GO FUCK YOURSELF OR SOMETHING, OLD MAN!" yelled Hidan's head. Everyone sweatdropped. "Hey, we got another girl in the organisation! Fuck yeah!" Deidara let out a huge blast of killer intent. Even Pein flinched slightly.
"I. Am. Not. A. Girl. Un." He said, throwing a white clay spider at Hidan's body. "Katsu." There was a loud explosion, and pieces of Hidan's body rained down.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO?" he shrieked, eyes wide.
"I believe he blew up your body. I like you, new kid." Kakuzu said, laughing slightly. Deidara backed away.
"PAEDOPHILE, UN!" Naruto, Kisame and Hidan burst out laughing. Itachi and Sasori smirked. Pein rolled his eyes, and Konan smiled. Zetsu chuckled, and went back to eating the mysterious bloody thing. Kakuzu growled.
"No, Orochimaru was the paedophile. Literally. Why do you think I never slept in the same room as him?" Sasori said, deadly serious. The room went silent.
"Maybe it was a good thing that he left..." Konan mumbled. The others agreed in silence.
"So, what the fuck is your name then, blondie?" Hidan's head said.
"I'm Deidara, and who the hell are you, asshole?"
"I'm Hidan. The paedo-" Kakuzu kicked Hidan's head. "OW! -Is Kakuzu. The plant-guy with two personalities is Zetsu. The guy with awesome piercings is Leader-sama, and the blue-haired chick is Konan. I'm guessing you already know Pinocchio, Sharkboy, the Queen Emo, and Spaz." Hidan had evidently taken it upon himself to introduce everyone. Deidara and Naruto laughed at the nicknames Hidan had given to everyone.
"Kakuzu, can you sew Hidan back together? I want to kick his ass." Kisame snarled, grinning at the same time. Hidan looked scared, and started to edge towards the door.
"Yes, please do. I'd like to test out my new puppets." Sasori added.
"And I have some new techniques I'd like to practice." Itachi said coldly
"Enough." Everyone looked at Pein. "Sasori, take Deidara to his and your room. Deidara, please don't blow anything up inside. We have an outside training area, you can use that. Naruto, please come with me." He got up and headed towards the door. Naruto followed. Pein walked to his office, and beckoned Naruto inside.
"I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here." he began. Naruto nodded. "Well, it's about your family. I understand that Deidara and Itachi told you who they were?"
"Yeah, they did! Do you know more about them?"
"I know little of them, but I can teach you some of their jutsus when you are older. It's your mother's clan that I would like to talk to you about. The Uzumaki clan."
"There's an Uzumaki clan?"
"There was. A while ago, there was a very strong ninja village in Uzu no Kuni. The ninja there were extremely strong, and very talented with fuinjutsu. But their strength caused many to hate them. The village of Uzushiogakure was attacked, and destroyed. There were very few survivors. There are only a few that I know of. A few Uzumaki, like your mother, settled in Konoha. The other Uzumaki that I know of... were my parents. I don't remember their names. You see, I am Uzumaki Nagato. You and I are the last known members of the Uzumaki clan."
Naruto was stunned into silence. The leader of the Akatsuki... was related to him. It was a little too much to take in. Naruto had never had a proper family. Sure, he had some friends amongst the jounin who looked after him sometimes, but no family. He wasn't even sure what family was like.
"You mean... I have family?" he whispered. Pein nodded. "I don't... I've never had family... I don't really know what family is like..."
"Your family takes care of you. They look after you and make sure you are happy. I lost my family when I was very young. It was Konoha's shinobi who killed them. This incident was my first pain. It caused me to awaken my Rinnegan."
"Oh. So Konoha is bad? And... what do I call you now? You're too old to be my brother... And what's a Rinnegan?"
"Some of Konoha is bad. Not all. The Rinnegan is the Uzumaki clan's Kekkei Genkai - or bloodline limit. As it is an eye technique, it is known as a doujutsu. It's the purple circles in my eye. And as for what you should call me... I don't really know. Maybe just call me... father?" Pein sounded a little nervous as he finished speaking. Naruto looked thoughtful. His face broke into a big smile after a few moments.
"Otou-san. Yeah! It sounds right! Will I ever get the Rinnegan, then? I'm an Uzumaki too!"
"I truly hope you never have to experience that kind of pain, Naruto. But if you do... well, we shall see. For now though, I am going to train you." Naruto looked at his new otousan in shock.
"You're going to train me? But.. I'm four years old!"
"You are extremely mature and smart for a four year old. Your training will begin now. I believe some of the other members have taught you some techniques?"
"Yeah! Niisan taught me how to use Kage Bunshin and the basic Henge no jutsu as well as some chakra control, and Kisame-sensei taught me some basic taijutsu. Sasori-sensei started to teach me a bit of medical ninjutsu, too!"
"So you know a bit of ninjutsu and taijutsu, as well as some medical ninjutsu. I will have Itachi train you in genjutsu, as that is his speciality. Sasori, Kakuzu and Konan will be able to teach you medical ninjutsu. Kisame will teach you kenjutsu and taijutsu, and I shall train you in elemental ninjutsu and fuinjutsu. I think Deidara and Hidan will need a bit of training as well, so they shall be your training partners when none of you are on missions. Does this sound fair to you, Naruto?"
"Hai, otousan!" Naruto was beaming. Pein smiled slightly.
"Another thing. What do you know of the Kyuubi no Youko?"
"What's the Kyuubi? Deidara mentioned it too. Is it something to do with me being a jin... jinchuuriki?"
"Yes. The Kyuubi no Youko is the Nine-Tailed Fox demon. It is one of nine bijuu, or tailed beasts. Four years ago on October 10th, the Kyuubi broke free from its jinchuuriki and attacked Konoha. Its previous jinchuuriki was your mother, by the way. Your father sacrificed himself to seal it inside you. This makes you its current jinchuuriki. A jinchuuriki is a demon container, someone who has a demon sealed inside of him or her. Most of the time, they are hated by their villages. I know of three other jinchuuriki around your age – a Suna boy named Gaara who possesses the Ichibi, a Kumo girl named Yugito who possesses the Nibi and a Taki girl named Fuu who possesses the Nanabi. I am telling you about this as the Akatsuki aim to capture all the jinchuuriki eventually. Also, you will slowly learn how to control the Kyuubi's power and use it as your own. I understand that you have already met the Kyuubi?" Naruto was beginning to get a headache from all the information.
"Um, if you mean Kitsune-chan, then yeah! He's a really big fox who helps gets rid of that hebi-teme!"
"That sounds about right. Who is the 'hebi-teme'?"
"The white snake! I think Oro-teme controls it. It tells me to give in to its power and to go to Orochimaru. I don't like it. It hurts me. It almost took over once." Pein froze in shock. The seal. It has to be. I must find a way to seal that mark so it won't hurt Naruto anymore.
"Hmm. I will try and think of a way to stop that. Come and see me tomorrow, and I will see what I can do. It sounds like Orochimaru has placed a seal on you."
"Okay, otousan!"
"You will have one week to relax until your training begins. Go have fun, Naruto-kun." Naruto grinned, and ran out the door. Pein sighed. Naruto had given him a lot to think about.
A/N
Holy shit. Over 4000 words? Whaaat.
I really hope you all like this. It's a little late, I've been busy with school. But now it's the holidays! Hooray!
I have serious writer's block for my other story, though... I think I'm just going to upload what I have on it.
So as I said at the start of the chapter, I still don't really know what pairing to do. If you are going to vote for a pairing, REVIEW CHAPTER 3. Any votes on this chapter or any later chapter will be ignored.
Also, to whoever decided to anonymously vote for Temari about 40 times, I am only counting your vote ONCE. I'm not stupid, guys!
Hope you enjoyed this ridiculously long chapter. Please review! I'll make you watch Justin Bieber's Never Say Never if you don't!
Oh, and next chapter will either be a 3 year time jump, or a training chapter. Not sure yet.