A/N: This chapter picks up right where the cliffhanger in the last one stopped off. I'm trying to used to using the Japanese honorifics so please be patient if I mess up as I'm also trying to stay accurate to how the characters speak. Enjoy and please leave a review if you have any thoughts and/or opinions on the fic! P.S I thought I'd add a touch of Halloween elements into the chp since the holiday is coming up.
Guest reviewer: If you see this chapter thank you for the reviews. I usually pm people to thank them personally but I couldn't with you. They were simple and cracked me up for whatever reason. XD
Naruto was already going to tell the group that he was the jinchuriki. The nerves he now felt, however, was greater than before. It wasn't something he was was doing one hundred percent from his own free will. He had to do it to save a friend, and for that, he would do anything- even if it meant losing almost everyone close to him.
He shamefully walked towards Ino and the people that were with her so they'd be able to hear as well. All of the gennin stood in front of him with the exception of Ino and Hinata. The Hyuga sat with Ino's head in her lap so she would at least be slightly more comfortable while dealing with the pain. Ino wasn't being as vocal as when Torune first put the rinkaichū on her body, but it was still clear that she was in an intense amount of pain.
Shikamaru wasn't able to keep the jutsu going any longer and was forced to drop it. When he did Anko and Guy flanked the root member on opposite sides so he wouldn't be able to escape. In an effort to intimidate the man, Anko hadn't returned her arm to its normal state so it was still compromised of snakes.
Jiraiya and Tsunade stood behind Naruto on opposite sides. Neither of them thought any of the teens would have negative reactions, but there was always a chance for the unlikely to happen. They made sure to keep a short amount of distance from Naruto so that he wouldn't feel suffocated.
Naruto was basically in the middle of a deformed oval. He was thankful for the people that stood behind him, but he was able to pull little strength from them. The jinchuriki anxiously balled up his fist while kneading his palm with his fingers. There had been few times when he felt as nervous as he currently was.
"Does whatever he was talking about have to do with that red chakra that was around you earlier?" Sakura asked while looking back and forth between Naruto and the ANBU member. She couldn't figure out why the man would know something about Naruto that she didn't since she'd known the blond since they were younger. She remembered that he was about to tell them all something before they were attacked.
"Is it the same thing you were going to tell us before we were attacked?" Sakura added. All of the gennin looked at her as she asked the questions then turned their gazes back to Naruto.
Naruto took a breath, closed his eyes, then nodded slowly. "When I was a born... I-I... the f-fourth Hokage..." Naruto flinched slightly when he felt a hand on each of his shoulders. Both Tsunade and Jiraiya stood behind him and each of them gave a supportive nod when Naruto turned his head. It had taken the boy a while to figure it out, but he had eventually figured out the two were under a transformation jutsu. Even if the legendary ninjas didn't look like themselves, the general aura that was given off by the two was the same.
"When I was born the Kyuubi was sealed inside of me... I am the nine tails jinchuriki." Naruto managed to say it without further stuttering. He felt like he couldn't breathe. All of the people that were new to the revelation all had shocked expressions adorning their faces. Naruto froze completely when Sakura started to walk towards him. He couldn't quite read the expression on her face and that only caused him to feel even more unsettled.
Sakura stopped when she was a few short paces away from Naruto.
Naruto closed his eyes, preparing himself to be hit but not wanted to see it from someone he actually cared about. No heavy blow was landed on him but something did happen. It took a couple of seconds for it to register in Naruto's head that the touch he felt was not rough but gentle. He didn't realize he was holding his breath and immediately released it as he slumped further into Sakura's embrace.
One by one the remaining gennin followed suit and wrapped their arms around Naruto. Choji remained by Ino but never took his eyes off of the moving gesture. Ino, who had heard and acknowledged every word, did the same thing.
Guy and Anko escorted Torune to Ino. The man kept his word and began moving towards the girl the second Naruto revealed that he was the jinchuriki.
Everyone turned around while remaining close to Naruto. He moved forwards so he could see exactly what the ANBU member was doing. He no longer sensed ay ill will from the man but he was taking no chances.
Torune made the process appear so simple. He placed a finger where the bugs where they appeared to be sucked back into his body. When he pulled away, Ino's face returned to its usual clearness. She was relieved that the pain was finally gone. Never before had she felt something even close to that. The blonde looked at Naruto and held her arm out. When she only got an apprehensive stare in response she rolled her eyes and said, "When a girl holds her arm out you're supposed to help her up."
Naruto reached out and easily pulled the girl up. Ino used the momentum to lean forward and give him a hug of her own. Choji stood and patted Naruto on the shoulder before moving to stand next to Shikamaru.
Relief flooded every vein in Naruto's body. When he and Ino separated they met eyes for a moment. Naruto examined her face to make sure that she indeed was no longer in harm's way. While he did not personally hurt her, he still felt bad for the pain Ino had to endure. He would have dealt with the brunt of the pain if the opportunity presented itself. He looked at everyone else. They were all supplying him with gentle smiles. Jiraiya gave him a double thumbs up and a wide grin.
After the heartwarming moment passed, Tsunade looked at the ANBU member. Before she could decide what to do, the man very noticeably swallowed something; a second later he was on the ground.
"He didn't move, how did he take another pill?" Anko questioned. She had made sure to watch him and was certain that the only time he moved was to help Ino.
"The man never intended to make it out of the situation." Tsunade guessed. "He must've already had the pill under his tongue." Torune's actions caused Tsunade to question the entire incident. She wondered if the two ANBU had purposely been caught, to begin with. It didn't seem strategic, but they could have underestimated who all they were going to be up against. All Tsunade was sure of was that everyone was safe, and that was more important than anything.
XXX
Shizune and Kakashi had just gotten out of a meeting. For a while, the two dreaded the thought that it would last all day- luckily that was not the case.
One very important thing was found out however, Danzo did not have as much power as he claimed. He was only an interim Hokage, but he had been nominated to become the fifth.
Just when the two were about to exit the Hokage tower someone bumped into Shizune. It was Koharu, one of the council members. She was accompanied by Homura. The both of them shared similar bored looking expressions.
"My apologies, Tsunade-hime," the woman said while grabbing one of Shizune's hands.
Shizune briefly slipped her hand in under the scarf around her waist while on the way to flick something off her arm.
Since Tsunade was the sole inheritor of everything passed down from the Senju clan, the Senju compound was left for Shizune and Kakashi to rest in. Shizune felt strange having to imposter Tsunade, but it was necessary. What felt even more bizarre was stepping foot in an area no one had in over a decade. The only time she had ever been there was when Tsunade took her and Dan on a tour throughout it.
The worst thing about having act like Jiraiya for Kakashi was that he couldn't read the Icha Icha books in public. He had never once sen the sage read one of his own books, but he did research for future novels more than enough. Kakashi made sure to do the same flirty advances when he passed a pretty person.
Once they returned to where they were staying and were indoors Shizune reached behind her scarf and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Her and Kakashi both dropped their transformation jutsus as the medical ninja read over the neatly written words.
As you know, Danzo has created an alliance of sorts with Akatsuki. They say they want to get rid of all of the tailed beasts. We think they have a hidden agenda, however. When Danzo was told of this he denied it. We think his judgment is clouded by hate. At the bottom of this paper are the signatures of everyone who supports your claim to Hokage. Get this paper to the daimyō.
At the bottom of the note was several signatures from different clan heads: Yamanaka, Akimichi, Nara, Inuzuka, and Aburame. Along with them were the signatures of Homura and Koharu.
Shizune's eyes widened. She didn't think they would have such a high amount of supporters. The thing about Konoha was that not everyone had an established clan in the village. A lot of people came from various locations when the village was first formed.
Kakashi that one important clan was not on the list- Hyūga. His own clan also had no clan head in the city so Hatake also was not on the list. The Sarutobi clan was in a similar situation but that was what Asuma was for, he would be able to personally speak to the daimyō.
The copy ninja summoned two ninja dogs and respectfully ordered the first to take the document to the fire daimyō. The second was told to track and inform Tsunade of the latest revelations relating to what was going on.
XXX
Torune and Fū had been leaned against a tree so that they could easily be found. The group considered burying the ANBU members themselves but decided against it. They had simply been following orders from their leader, and even if they weren't agreeable, the two deserved a proper funeral in Konoha.
The trek continued on. Naruto opted to remain at the back of the line. He still felt a shred of guilt from everything that went down. The blond re-ran through everything that occurred several times. Each time Naruto found something he wished he had done differently.
Everyone noticed the quietness of the atmosphere with Naruto being in the back. Several people thought about going to talk to him but didn't know what to say while others wanted to give hime space. Tsunade wanted to but her place was in the middle with Lee since he was still injured and the position remained the best for protecting the youthful boy.
Jiraiya still needed to talk to Naruto but saw Ino heading him right when he was about to do so. The man chuckled while wondering if anything romantic was possible between the two gennin. It would be an interesting pairing indeed. Tsunade looked back at him but Jiraiya pretended like he hadn't been doing anything other than searching the trees.
"Looking at your feet isn't a good way to keep watch you know?" Ino asked jokingly. She had always excelled when it came to sensing the feelings of others, and a lot of negative ones were coming from Naruto.
Naruto looked up. Ino was walking beside him and he hadn't even noticed her coming. "Huh oh yeah you're right," he replied.
Ino frowned, Naruto's usual upbeat attitude was missing and it affected the atmosphere in general. She sight before saying, "You know what happened back there isn't your fault, right?"
The blond shook his head. "You got hurt. Tsunade got hurt. Neither of those things would have happened if I wasn't there."
Ino's response was immediate. "We are ninjas, it could happen at any time." She paused to think about the best words to use next. "I don't blame you, and I'm sure Tsunade-sama feels the same way, so don't blame yourself. I could have stayed in the village if I wanted to but I chose otherwise. You are worth the few minutes of pain I had to deal with."
Both Naruto and Ino blushed at her words. Ino's rosy cheeks were because she had not completely thought through what she was saying. Naruto's blush was from the fact that no one had ever said anything like that to him and he didn't know how to respond in any other way.
Jiraiya looked back again just in time to see the exchange and chuckled again.
"What do you keep laughing at?" Tsunade inquired. It was the second time she had heard the sage laugh in under a few minutes as was curious as to what he found so entertaining.
"Oh nothing," Jiraiya replied.
Tsunade was slightly annoyed and rolled her eyes before turning back around.
The journey was quiet for the most part, it was no longer awkward but kind of peaceful. Shikamaru and Choji would talk on occasion. No one could figure out how Choji had managed to bring enough food to constantly be snacking on something. Guy would also break the silence every once in a while to talk about youth. Lee would always join in on Guy's conversation. Ino decided to stay back with Naruto, who while was still quiet was in an obviously improved mood.
"Hey, Naruto-kun?" Ino prompted.
"Huh?" Naruto replied while turning to look at her. He noticed the curious look on her face and that only made him more curious as to what she had to ask.
Ino didn't see much harm being able to come from the question, so she asked, "Are the whisker looking marks on your cheeks from the Kyuubi?"
Naruto hadn't ever really thought too much on the subject. Before he found out that he was the jinchuriki the blond always thought they were just some weird type of birthmark. After the revelation came to light he did wonder the same thing, however.
"Yeah I think so," Naruto replied.
Ino hummed in thought. She turned around so that she was walking backwards in front of Naruto then followed by placing her hands over each set of the whisker marks.
"I'm trying to see what you'd look like without them," Ino said when Naruto supplied her with a confused expression. Her hands didn't completely match his tanner skin tone but Ino was able to fill in the blank spaces. She couldn't see a big difference. Without them, something just seemed to be missing though. A shred of light illuminated Naruto's blue eyes and Ino became entranced in the color. A combination of that and not paying attention to where she was going caused Ino to trip over a tree root.
Naruto quickly reached out to catch her but ended up overstepping and tripped on the same root. They both tumbled to the ground but Naruto was quick enough to turn them around so that he wouldn't land on Ino.
To make matters worse everyone heard the thump the fall made and turned around to see what and happened.
Because of his previous thoughts, Jiraiya immediately started to laugh at the sight. "I didn't take you for a bottom-" was all the man got out before a punch sent him flying into the nearest tree.
Tsunade's attack provided the perfect distraction for the two gennin to regain their footing without anyone noticing.
"I'm gonna just.." Ino stuttered while pointing forwards. Nothing else came from her mouth she just turned around and walked towards the front of the line, her blush getting more red the further she walked.
Naruto awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't even know how to reply so he just remained quiet.
"Smooth kid, real smooth," Anko said from behind him.
The proximity combined with the surprise caused Naruto to jump. Luckily he did not yell from being startled, the boy had had enough unwanted attention for the time being.
"Where did you even come from?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
Anko nodded her head behind them. "Didn't want to give up my position as the tail end of this party. Looks like it was a good idea because you were clueless to my presence."
Naruto's face turned into a pout and he glared at the woman. He however still felt unease around Anko after what happened during the chuunin exams so he too decided to move further up the line, eventually settling near Tsunade.
Anko simply laughed in response.
Tsunade turned her head when she heard someone come up next to her. When she saw that it was only Naruto she said, "You should watch your footing next time." There was the slightest hint of a smirk on her lips.
"Yeah yeah," Naruto mumbled. He kicked at the dirt with his feet, the pout still hadn't left his face.
More talk ensued after Naruto and Ino's little incident. Jiraiya hadn't said anything else since he didn't want to deal with the chance of getting punched again.
After a while, Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly. He obviously hadn't had the opportunity to get any food while they were back in Konoha for two reasons: It was too late when they were still there and he had been rendered useless when they were leaving the village. The blond cringed while holding onto his stomach.
Tsunade, who heard the noise, took her bag off of her shoulder and handed it to Naruto. "I bought some food while we were still in that town from last night."
Naruto quickly thanked her while eagerly taking the bag. "You're the best!" He exclaimed after he pulled out an apple and a small bag of chips.
Jiraiya smiled at the sight, he had been worried that the pairs equal bullheadedness would get in the way of them getting along. He had never been so glad to be wrong, but that's not to say that they wouldn't argue at some point; that was inevitable.
As Naruto ate his mood further returned to what was considered normal for him. More conversations started up as time passed by.
Once evening came around all the walking became tedious for Naruto, and several others at that but he was the only one to say something about it.
"Hey, how long is it gonna take us to get to this place anyway?" Naruto asked loudly.
Tsunade glanced at him for a second before looking forwards again. If they kept on going at the speed they were currently at they'd be able to make it there around midnight. She looked at Lee, who to his credit was going at a good pace for being on crutches. He showed no sign of fatigue but he still shouldn't have been moving as much as he was.
"Depends" was all Tsunade said.
Naruto groaned. "That's barely an answer though."
"Well it's all you're going to get right now," Tsunade replied.
Naruto was about to say something else but commotion ahead alerted him of something ahead. Tsunade too looked to see what was happening. A group of people was running towards them. Everyone tensed up when they seemed to be running at them. The people further up in the line all readied their fighting stances.
"Ruuun! The forest is haunted!" One man from the group yelled. By the look on his face, he didn't seem to be playing. The other people that were with him looked equally terrified.
"It took one of our traveling companions," another yelled.
"Ghosts!" A woman yelled.
"Ghosts?! Naruto asked nervously while taking a step closer to Tsunade. Everyone had already run by so no affirmation was given to him. The boy's face visually paled.
As the group on ninja continued forward Anko asked, "Isn't this near where a lot of people have gone missing lately?" Everyone stopped and looked back at her.
Some people looked at her with annoyed looks, thinking Anko was just trying to screw with them. Others either tried to hide their fear with indifferent expression or clearly showed it.
"I shit you not, there have been reports from a place that's at least close to here," Anko added. "The Third had a mission for me to check it out after the chuunin exams but I was ordered otherwise after everything that happened." Anko's hands were held up in defense. She wasn't sure if she believed people were actually going missing, but enough was happening for the leaf village to be contracted to take care of it.
A few more minutes passed by when Jiraiya decided it would be a good idea to do something stupid. "Hey Tsunade," he began with a mischievous tone. "Aren't you scared of ghosts?"
Tsunade's deadly glare did not wipe the grin off of the sage's face.
"Where would you get that idea?" She would admit nothing, especially around so many other people.
Jiraiya hummed, pretending to be in thought. "Well we were only teammates for years, plus you have goosebumps."
Tsunade didn't know how Jiraiya knew she had goosebumps. Her arms were covered in her signature green haori. Her calves were still relatively open but she didn't think he was looking there. Whatever the answer was Tsunade didn't really care to find out.
"I'm just cold," the legendary kunoichi evaded. It wasn't a complete lie either- there was a slight breeze. After she was nudged in the side Tsunade turned her head to see Naruto offering her his jacket. Tsunade couldn't help but be glad that he turned out so selfless after being dealt such a poor hand at life. Before she could decide whether or not to actually take the garment Jiraiya suddenly dropped in front of her and Naruto."
"Boolahyahhhyahh!" The man yelled while waving his hands around crazily. The outrageous act had an easily expected reaction.
Naruto jumped and screamed. He coughed afterwards, pretending as if Jiraiya's actions hadn't actually scared him.
Tsunade's response was a bit cruder. "Baka! You fucking asshole!" She exclaimed when she realized what was happening. Jiraiya didn't even have the chance to blink before he was nailed in the stomach. He didn't just stumble but soared and tumbled through the trees until he could no longer be seen.
When Jiraiya didn't come back after a minute, Tsunade assumed he was messing with him. She signaled for everyone to move, and after what she did to her former teammate no one wanted to argue.
Minutes passed by and there was still no sign of Jiraiya. Tsunade had to hand it to the man, he was determined, but she was still pissed of from the first time he scared her. While the sage wasn't stupid, he did have his moments, and trying to frighten her again would be one of them.
Suddenly, several tree branches started to me. Several people stiffened.
Guy turned around with a half-hearted smile while saying, "It's just the wind." He gave a thumbs up to further lighten the mood, but nothing he did helped.
Everyone seemed to subconsciously begin walking close together. Ino and Sakura had linked arms. Akamaru whimpered as he walked side by side with Kiba. Shikamaru continued to look bored. Choji, well, he was nervously hugging a bag of chips. Tsunade and Naruto were still next to each other, and while Tsunade could control herself, Naruto kept skittishly looking over his shoulder. Hinata was as quiet as she usually was, so there wasn't much of a difference with her. Neji had the same stoic look he always wore.
"What the-"
The group turned around. Anko was now missing as well.
"Oh coommme on!" Naruto cried out. Before he could say anything else, a noise registered in his ears. It sounded like someone was asking for help. "Do y'all hear that?" He asked no one in particular.
Sakura looked at Naruto with squinted eyes. "NARUTO!" She yelled angrily, thinking that Naruto too was trying to scare everyone. It wasn't passed the blond to play pranks.
Naruto held up his hands. "I'm being serious!" He quickly replied since he was not being in the mood to be hit as well. The same sound happened again, but this time it was much more audible. Someone was certainly calling for help.
"Byakugan!" Neji searched through the trees only to come up empty. "There's no one out there," he directed at Naruto.
Naruto was about to give up, thinking he was just making himself hear things, but then it happened again and he ran towards the voice.
"Damn it, Naruto!" Tsunade yelled. He didn't always think things through and the woman feared that would lead to his eventual downfall.
Naruto continued to run. As his speed increased the trees all seemed to blur together. The voices became clearer as Naruto neared the edge of the tree line. He emerged to see three children, two boys and a girl, playing. There was also a tan man with his back to them while looking over the side of the cliff.
The elder of the boys, who was on the ground with the other two sitting on his back, looked up at Naruto and whined, "Help me, Okaa-san!" As a dramatic flair, he held out his hand and acted like he was suffocating. The younger boy and the girl laughed away.
"Huhhh?" Naruto asked with one eyebrow raised high. The blond looked all around him to see if anyone else was around for the children to be calling out to.
A figure suddenly seemed to walk through him while saying, "Didn't I tell you not to start something with your siblings if you weren't willing to finish it?"
Naruto screamed while throwing his hands out and kicking at the air. He was sure no one else was around except for those other four people. After the man turned around turned around, Naruto was able to get an idea of what was going on.
Hashirama Senju was facing the newcomer with a smile and shrugged slightly. "Kids will be kids." He held out his hand and the woman that Naruto now recognized as Mito stepped forward to take it. The kids continued to play as Mito leaned on Hashirama's shoulder and looked at the sunset.
The reverie faded away when Naruto heard someone yell his name.
"Naruto!"
Ino ran out from the tree line. While she had partially trailed after him to make sure he didn't get into trouble, but also begrudgingly went because everyone else seemed to be too nervous to break away from the group. She wasn't one to talk to, she too had been nervous until she saw Tsunade ready to take off. It would be bad for something to happen to the only medical ninja in the group so Ino said she'd handle it instead.
"Baka!" Ino shouted before punching Naruto in the shoulder. "You need to learn to stop acting so rash. See," she said while waving her arms around the area. "No one's here." Ino sighed before continuing. "Why'd you scream anyways?" She implored.
"Uhhh.." It was a lot to explain, especially since he didn't know the Kyuubi's intentions with showing him the memory, so he sheepishly scratched at the back of his next while replying, "It's kinda a long story," he concluded with a small laugh. Naruto then looked at the sunset. It would disappear in the next few minutes and bathe the land in darkness so he wanted to savor the moment.
"It's nice, isn't it?" Naruto asked.
Ino looked at him confused until she followed his line of sight. The setting sun indeed was pretty. "Yeah, it is."
Ino wondered how the sight looked from Konoha, probably no different since they weren't all that too far away. The blonde used to love laying down in the flower beds near her house while looking up at the evening sky. A thought suddenly hit her and she wondered if Naruto had ever done the same thing. Ino looked at Naruto to ask at the same moment he seemed to do the same thing and got lost in his blue eyes. They looked different than when the small amount of light had hit them earlier. The blue hue wasn't as bright, but deeper. The sight of that and the colorful sky reflecting in them drew Ino close.
Naruto was just as entranced in Ino as she was in his eyes. The remaining sunlight made Ino's hair look as if it was glowing and her eyes were doing the same thing as his.
They both drew closer and closer together, eyes closed, but just before they could meet someone interrupted them and caused the two to jump apart.
Akamaru sprinted out from behind the trees with Kiba on his back. "There you are! Let's get out of here already, this place gives me the creeps." He looked at them with an odd expression when he noticed that they were both breathing heavily. "What's wrong with you two?"
"Nothing!" Ino replied loudly. Naruto quickly nodded along.
Kiba shrugged. "Whatever, let's just go back." Akamaru barked then turned around and ran back in the direction he came from.
Naruto awkwardly shifted on his feet while Ino avoided his eyes. "Uhh… so..." The boy struggled to find the right words. He had no clue at how to reply to what just happened, or rather what almost happened.
Ino turned around and walked back towards the trees. She was even more confused than Naruto was. They had actually almost kissed. The only person she'd ever imagined that happening with was Sasuke. Before she got too far Naruto grabbed her wrist and stopped her from continuing further.
"Wait!" Naruto said a bit louder than he had intended to. When he had Ino's attention he quickly sprinted towards the edge of the cliff, close to where he had seen Hashirama and Mito standing with their children. Several flowers were blooming and he picked one up before running back to Ino.
Ino's mouth dropped slightly when she saw Naruto holding out a flower to her. His eyes were closed and he was grinning goofily. She realized she must've stood there too long without responding when Naruto's expression fell.
"Sorr-" Naruto began to apologize while retracting his hand.
No," Ino replied. She reached out and took the flower. "It's beautiful, thank you." In all honesty, the flower was pretty ordinary but the beauty came from the gesture itself.
The two ran back. Naruto was excited when he could see the group but the feeling faded when Tsunade pulled him towards her by the ear.
Tsunade leaned towards Naruto's ear while yelling, "Stop running off, brat!"
When his ear was released Naruto held onto it and groaned in pain. The act proved to be the perfect distraction for Ino to slip back into the front of the group. She wasn't completely unnoticed, however.
"Hey Ino-chan, where did you get that flower from?" Sakura questioned.
Ino touched the side of her head where the flower was. The blonde had put it there before she and Naruto began to run and didn't think anyone would notice. She blushing before replying, "Oh you know, it was over there somewhere." Ino could tell that Sakura knew she was leaving something out so she whispered, "I'll tell you later." Ino let out a silent gust of air when Sakura didn't ask anything more on the subject.
Everyone seemed to be less intimidated by the so-called haunted forest for the time being. Jiraiya and Anko were still missing but the ninja all still thought a prank was being played on them.
When Naruto was sure Tsunade wasn't mad anymore he slid next to her and asked, "Did one of your parents have two siblings?"
Tsunade regarded the question with confusion. It was oddly specific and she couldn't figure out why Naruto would ask. "My Otou-san had a brother and a sister."
Naruto nodded and tried to figure out which of the boys he had seen was Tsunade's father. The elder of the two had long red hair while the younger one had shorter black hair. They shared the same dark brown eyes and slender figures.
"Did he have long red hair?" Naruto was playing a guessing game at this point while trying to figure out who was who.
Tsunade began to reminisce about her father. She'd always loved his hair and when she was younger had wished it was passed on down to her. "Yeah." It suddenly hit her that Naruto must've again been affected by the nine tails somehow. "Did the Kyuubi show you another memory?"
Naruto nodded but before he could respond any further the fox piped up.
"I," The letter was spoken with a sense of superiority. "showed you nothing, boy. I don't control the memories. Whatever leaks into your consciousness is because you pulled at it."
"I didn't pull at anything," Naruto silently replied.
The Kyuubi growled, very clearly losing his patience. "Call it déjà vu. Years ago, to the day and time, when that woman acted as my vessel, she walked the same path you're currently on."
While the answer wasn't bluntly put, Naruto was able to figure out what the fox was saying. That didn't explain one thing though. "Why am I just now seeing these?"
"If I remain sealed in you long enough then you will figure it out."
Naruto growled. "What's that supposed to mean?" He mentally yelled.
"I will affect more than one generation after you."
The jinchuriki could tell that was the best answer he'd get for the time being. The fox was done talking. When he looked to his side Tsunade was still looking at him for a more elaborate answer.
"The fox told me it was from being in the same place as Mito. I guess years ago she was here too with the first Hokage and their kids." Naruto left out the last thing that the Kyuubi said since he didn't know what it meant anyways.
Shikamaru had been thinking about everything that was going on. There was nowhere the missing people could've gone. Nowhere except… "Stop," he told everyone. In turn, the group looked back at him. "Neji, Hinata, direct your byakugans to the trees." No one had looked up until that moment. While they usually jumped from tree to tree, that wasn't possible since Lee was injured. They had been on the ground the entire time.
"T-they're," Hinata stuttered.
"Monkeys," Neji finished. He knew there were primates in the area but didn't expect to see what he was currently looking at.
Naruto was the first to jump into the trees. The sight to greet him was… unexpected to say the least. Jiraiya was being groomed by two monkeys while Anko was munching on an assortment of fruits and berries. Some unknown man was also up there and watching little monkeys jump around. "WHAATT!" He yelled, causing several more people to jump up and Jiraiya and Anko to look at him.
Tsunade was actually speechless, she had no clue as to how to respond. At least the forest wasn't actually haunted. Kiba had to hold Akamaru back as the dog barked and tried to lunge forward. The monkeys weren't even phased by the other animal. When Ino and Sakura jumped up the two monkeys that had been tending to Jiraiya abandoned him and went to them instead. The one that went to Ino gently touched the flower in her hair. Neji and Hinata relayed everything that was happening back to the people that stayed on the ground.
"Hey no fair," the man complained.
"Y'all are both up here why?" Tsunade implored. She had finally regained her voice.
Jiraiya and Anko both looked at each other. Since Anko's mouth was still full of food the sage shrugged and replied, "I think it started out as a prank, Monkeys are mischievous you know. I think they enjoyed the company."
"So you decided to hang out with monkeys instead of remain with us," Tsunade asked incredulously.
Anko held out her hands. "They have food!"
Jiraiya added, "That and they don't go punching people into oblivion." The man held up his arm to show Tsunade the gash that was there. Various cuts littered the rest of his body as well.
Tsunade crossed her arms and looked on stubbornly. "It's not my fault you decided to tried to scare me." He had survived worse and they both knew it so the subject was dropped. "OK well say bye to your friends, we've wasted enough time as is.
Jiraiya and Anko were going to argue until the deadly look in Tsunade's eyes convinced them otherwise. Before Jiraiya could stand from where he was sitting on a branch, one of the monkeys pushed him back down and pointed at the cut on his arm.
Since Tsunade did not feel like arguing with a monkey she jumped to the branch next to the one Jiraiya rested on and healed his arm.
"It's like old times huh Tsunade?" Orochimaru obviously wasn't with them and neither was Hiruzen, but the monkeys reminded Jiraiya of his former sensei.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "I am only doing this so we don't waste any more time." That was a lie, she would've done at some point it if her former teammate hadn't antiquated himself with monkeys.
When asked if he needed any help, the man that no one knew said he was alright with the monkeys and that he'd stay for the time being.
Once everyone was on the ground, and the whole situation was put behind him, the group continued forwards. Jiraiya talked about the monkeys as if they were from some epic fairy tale, some people listened some didn't.
Not much time passed before Akamaru looked behind him and barked happily.
"It's another dog," Kiba announced before anyone acted out.
Pakkun, the ninja dog that Kakashi sent, ran by everyone and only stopped when he stood in front of Tsunade.
Tsunade bent down and took the scroll that was tied connected to a sheath on the dog's back. Hope filled the kunoichi when she found out everything Kakashi relayed back to her in the note.
A/N: Sooo I introduced the first possible love interest for Naruto. I am still experimenting with him and others though so let me know what y'all think! As of now, nothing is set in stone, but I do like the direction I'm taking.