I do not own any of the characters in this story, nor this world where this story resides.
Thoughts
(Authors notes)
Thoughts of Demon/Inner Sakura
Demon/Inner Sakura speaks
Revelations
Chapter 4
"Oi… dobe… do you know why Kakashi told us to meet him here?" Sasuke moodily asked (they are meeting in training grounds 3, where they conducted the 2 bells teamwork test) as he is sitting with his back to one of the three wood posts (Naruto was tied up to the center one) while Naruto was sitting against the far one.
"No, teme… I know about as much as you do," Naruto answered.
"Whatever," Sasuke grumbled, as he continued to wait with his signature dour expression.
Naruto wasn't in the mood to play his usual games with "the avenger" today; his mind is too preoccupied with other pressing matters.
"Where am I going to get extra money…? I need so much for food… an apartment… prank supplies… where am I going to get the extra money for ninja equipment?" Naruto fretted.
"Get a roommate to split the cost of the apartment, than you can get a better apartment as well… duh," Kyubi replied with exasperation.
"Easier said than done," Naruto thought in reply.
"Not my problem," Kyubi taunted before returning to whatever he was doing before.
"Some help you are," Naruto thought as Kakashi and an unknown female suddenly shushined in front of him.
"I wonder who she is," Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously shared the same thought as they looked at her. They both noticed that she is a pale-skinned female with black short straight hair with the tips ending about her chin. She has a round black spot that surrounds her left eye. She wears a long-sleeved black top with a high waist, light purple skirt apron, with black shorts underneath, and sandals with dark stockings that stop at her thighs. They also noticed that she is wearing a backpack (Kakashi helped her fetch her belongings that she had left in a side hospital storage room, before coming to meet the guys).
"Here are the guys," Kakashi mentioned as he started to introduce Mito to the guys. "The broody one over there is Sasuke," Kakashi said as he pointed to each one, "and this one is Naruto. Guys… this is your new teammate… Mito."
"What about Sakura?" Naruto pointed out with concern for his former teammate. "What's going to happen to her?"
"Don't worry about her… the Hokage is making arrangement to get her a new sensei and new team to help her with her new handicap," Kakashi replied as he turned to Mito who had walked over to sit with her back to the third wood post that is between Sasuke and Naruto's posts.
"Well that's one less fan girl for me to be bothered by," Sasuke says to no one in particular.
"Ok guys… start with the introductions like last time… and don't ask me to show you how because you already know how… I'll be over here reading… so you start broody," Kakashi said as he pointed to Sasuke while going off to the side to stand and read his book.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," He said after standing up, "my likes… well… my dislikes… well… having to repeat myself is one… Hobbies… are irrelevant… and my dream is to restore my clan and to kill a certain someone."
"Well… at least you said something new," Naruto replied as he stood up and Sasuke scowled at him as he sat down. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto… my likes… eating ramen… dislikes… waiting to eat ramen… and I dream of becoming the greatest Hokage in the history of Konoha."
"Yeah… keep dreaming dobe," Sasuke verbally sniped with a smirk.
Before Naruto could respond Mito stood up. "Well… My name is Senju Mito (when she says this Sasuke starts to look at her as if she is some kind of bug that just landed on his food)… my likes are…," Mito started as Naruto sat down, "Dango… and juggling my kunai (somewhere in Konoha, Anko is suddenly getting a warm fuzzy feeling)… my dislikes… are drunken men and rapists… my hobbies are juggling my kunai and meditating… the meditating helps me center my chakra… and my dream… is to get my parents back together and become the best kunoichi I can be."
"Meh… you juggle kunai… I find that hard to believe," Sasuke sneered.
Mito doesn't say anything. She just starts pulling out kunai and starts juggling them. First, two kunais, then three, four, five, six, then after she had seven in the air, she started to put them away. When she was back down to three she suddenly stopped with her arms spread out with a kunai in each hand and caught the third one on the tip of her nose (with the tip of the kunai resting on the tip of her nose). "Ta-dah," she said with a flourish.
Suddenly Kakashi was next to her. "Don't do that again, Rin… uh…Mito," Kakashi said as he snatched the kunai off her nose. "So you like to play with kunai… well no time like the present. Do a substitution jutsu," he ordered as he threw the kunai at her.
With a puff of smoke, the kunai struck a log that had been lying on the ground nearby.
"Now what?" asked a Naruto that was standing next to Naruto.
"Well I guess I don't have to ask you to perform a Henge," Kakashi said with a chuckle, "but can you do a Bunshin?"
"Why of course," said the third Naruto that was suddenly standing on the other side of the actual Naruto.
"Stop that," snarled Sasuke, as he came up behind them and slammed all three of their heads together. "One dobe is enough."
"Ow," Mito and Naruto yelped at the same time, as she went back to her normal form and the third Naruto poofed away while they rubbed their own heads.
"Well, I think that is enough for today. Take the rest of the day off because we will probably have plenty of D-ranked missions to do tomorrow," Kakashi said, "So try to get some rest."
"Speaking of which… I don't have a place to live yet?" Mito replied.
"Oi… What you need a boulder dropped on your head… say something," Kyubi sneered to Naruto.
Fortunately Naruto didn't need a boulder to drop on his head to hear opportunity knocking.
"Uh… Kakashi-sensei… I have been thinking about getting a roommate recently… to help me with my expenses… but I would need a two room apartment and I don't think I would be able to get a place," Naruto pointed out.
"Hmm… I think I will be able to help both of you in this matter," Kakashi offered. "I wonder why Sasuke is looking at Mito in such a manner… She hasn't been here long enough to have offended him already… Well since nobody else is offering to help," Kakashi said as he looked at Sasuke, who was trying his best to look uninterested. " Sasuke, I'll see you later… you two come with me, we'll go to the Hokage and we'll see what he can do…. Shall we?"
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~(.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
~Later in the day on the road outside the Uchiha Compound~
"Where is he?" Sasuke thought as he stood outside of his family's compound waiting for Kakashi. "Why must he be late all of the time…? I could be training right now," he thought.
Suddenly, Kakashi arrived in front of him.
"Sensei, where have you been? I have other things I could do," Sasuke muttered.
"Walk with me," Kakashi ordered, then started to walk side by side with Sasuke down the road. "What is your problem with the Mito?"
"Meh… one would think that you and the Hokage would have remembered Konoha's clan history… particularly when it comes to the clan rivalry between the Uchihas and the Senjus." Kakashi listened very carefully as Sasuke explained how the rivalry extended all the way back to the two clan's founders the famous Senju brothers that had started it all.
Little did they know that Sasuke is always followed by spies for the council… spies that heard every word about the rivalry… but more importantly that a member of one of the founding clans has returned to the village.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~(.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
~Later at the Hokage's office~
As Kakashi walked up to the third's secretary's desk (so he can ask to speak with the Hokage), a group of grumbling councilmen, which was leaving the Hokage' office with an Anbu escort, brushed past him.
"He has not heard the last of this," Kakashi over hears one of the councilmen complaining to another as they walk by.
"It looks like you stirred up a hornet's nest," the secretary says with an annoyed expression, "they have been in and out of his office for the last hour since the emergency council meeting."
"What are you talking about," Kakashi muttered.
"Oh, go on in… I imagine the Hokage has something that he wants to discuss with you," she said as she shoos him towards the Hokage's office.
As Kakashi walked in, he saw the Hokage sitting and resting his elbows on his deck while rubbing his temples with his fingers.
"Can you even imagine the storm you started…? I would think that a person of your experience would know better than to discuss such matters on the street," the Hokage growled. "Once the council had found out about Mito and her lineage… They first wanted me to either marry her off to Sasuke… to restart the Uchiha and Senju clans… or draft her into one of Konoha's Shinobi teams. I got them calmed down when I was finally able to convince them that she was here as an independent agent and they would get their way faster by not antagonizing her, or her Parents… How they found out that her parents are Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya… I never will know."
"Well, you won't have to worry about her getting married off to Sasuke… He hates her."
"Why would he hate her… she's pretty enough… he barely knows her."
"I guess he knows more about his clan's history than you do… or have you forgotten about the infamous Uchiha-Senju feud."
"He knows about that?"
"Of course, he does… he lives alone on the Uchiha compound and has nothing to do at night other than to train and consult the Uchiha clan library. Oh by the way were you able to set Mito and Naruto up with a new apartment."
"Yes… the council was so eager to get on her good side that they arranged for one of the old Senju clan homes be returned to her clan. She and Naruto are set up in a nice two bedroom house; it has two floors so the bedrooms are upstairs. Now get out of here… I have to send a letter to Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya, to advise them that they or at least one of them may need to live here to be able to watch out for Mito's interests, so the council can't rope her into something worse. It will probably be Lady Tsunade, since she is the present head of the Senju clan."
Kakashi just shook his head, in amazement at everything that had transpired in just a few hours, as he left the Hokage's office.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~(.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
~a week later~
After finishing a D-level mission at the hospital, a tired Mito is returning to the house to find Naruto try to juggle kunai… again.
"What are you doing?" Mito asked with an exasperated tone, "I told you that it took me months to learn how to juggle seven kunai."
"I was bored and I wanted something to do."
"Come here… sit down… I have someone I want you to meet… but before I do… can you keep a secret?"
"Yeah, sure…"
"I really mean it… can you keep a secret?"
"On my honor… I will keep whatever you reveal to me a secret… until you tell me otherwise."
"I think the easiest way to do this is just to show you… but in order to show you will require someone's help."
"Who's help?"
"Don't worry just come over here and sit down," Mito said as she sat down cross legged on the living room floor and patted the floor in front of her.
Naruto sat down cross legged in front of her and clasped her hands that were reaching out to him.
"Remember that meditation technique I showed you a couple of days ago?" Mito asked.
"Yeah… to help me center my chakra…"
"We're going to use that meditation technique to make a connection on the mental plane… I know this sounds complicated, but it only is for the first time… just trust me… someone I trust is doing all of the work… we just need to get in the right state of mind to help things along…ok?"
Naruto just shrugged his shoulders, closed his eyes, and started taking slow deep breathes
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ (.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
When Naruto opened his eyes he found himself standing, in a vast open grassy plain, holding hands with Mito.
"Where are we?" Naruto asked in wonderment as he looked around.
"Deep within my mind," Mito answered as she let go of his hands and motioned to everything with a wave of her hand, "This is my mindscape."
"How did we get here?"
"I brought you here,"a feminine voice said.
Naruto turned, and saw a female teen suddenly appear, this female is wearing a white kimono with a sparkling gold obi. "Who are you?" Naruto asked the stranger.
"I am Mito's guardian… my name is Akane."
"This is whom I wanted you to meet, Naruto," Mito confessed, "She has been my guardian since birth…You could say she was placed inside of me when I was an infant."
"An infant… this is starting to sound a little too familiar…," Naruto replied.
"Mito… this boy has a familiar energy about him…," Akane noted, "I think we should visit his mindscape…"
"No… wait… don't…," Naruto gasped right before the three of them disappeared.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~(.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Suddenly, they reappeared in a sewer. "This is your mindscape," Akane asked Naruto.
"Uh… yeah… I guess… I never really thought about it," Naruto admitted.
"Why are we here?" Mito asked.
"Perhaps… what you should be asking Naruto… is why he has a Bijuu in side of him."
"How do you know that," Naruto wondered.
"Entities like me can sense others of our kind… and no… I am not a bijuu," Akane answered defensively.
"A what… what's a Bijuu? And what does that go to do with you?" Mito asked Naruto.
"A bijuu is a demon and long time ago one for some reason was placed inside of me… Well… at least that's what I could figure out from the ramblings of drunks and the ranting of mobs that used to try to kill me when I was a lot younger," Naruto explained.
"But why is one inside of… you," Mito persisted.
"I still haven't figured that part out yet," Naruto admitted.
"Why don't we just go ask the bijuu,"Akane suggested, "Take us to him, Naruto… please."
"Ok, just a warning… he's not always the friendliest," Naruto warned.
The three started to walk down one sewer until they came to a huge iron cage that had a large seal with Kanji writing on it that was posted on the cage's door.
"Finally, decided to pay me a visit kit," the Kyubi growled menacingly, "and who did you bring with you."
"We are friends of Naruto's," Akane said as she approached and stop in front of Kyubi's cage.
"What does the Kami of another world want of me?", Kyubi growled as he changed his form to look like a teen shinobi the same age as Naruto.
"Leave us… we have much to discuss and your presence is not needed," Akane said to Mito and Naruto and with a wave of her hand sent them back to Mito's mindscape.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~(.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"I wonder what their going to talk about?" Mito wondered.
"They're probably talking about us and she didn't want us to hear their conversation," Naruto figured, "So what do we do now?"
"Instead of wasting time… I should meditate and you should probably practice controlling your chakra."
"Huh?"
"Practice controlling your chakra with this," Mito said with a wave of her hand as a tree appeared a few feet away from them.
"How do I do that?"
After Mito explained to Naruto the way to perform the tree walking exercise, and watching him perform the exercise a few times to make sure he was doing it right, Mito sat down to meditate and wait for Akane to return.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~(.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
After what seemed to be a few hours Akane returned a bit disheveled, and in a very good mood.
"After a vigorous… uh … discussion… we decided to cooperate with each other," Akane said with a smirk.
"So what does that mean?" Naruto asked with a puzzled expression.
"It means that if I explain to you why I am here and help you all I can… she will also help you both where she can," Kyubi's disembodied voice explained.
"What do you get out of it for your cooperation," Mito cynically asked.
"Let's just say it gets awful lonely being stuck inside the body of a teenager… heh… she promised to… visit me more often," Kyubi chuckled as Akane blushed.
"Yada yada yada… less bragging and more explaining about Naruto," Mito grumbled.
"Be careful how you speak to me… bug," Kyubi growled.
"And you will be careful to how you speak to my charge… Kyubi… or must I give you another lesson in humility…," Akane warned sternly.
Kyubi voice was silent for a moment, then he was heard to sulkingly say, "Fine… Almost 13 years ago, someone… I don't know who… summoned me. The person did something to me that cause me to fly into a blind rage and while I was enraged, they aimed me at Konoha. Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, fought against me to defend his beloved village and his family…"
"His family… who is his family…?" Naruto asked in a hushed tone.
"He was fighting for his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, and his newborn son…"
"What happened then…?" Naruto asked.
"He soon realized that the only way that he could truly conquer the beast was to seal the demon into his newborn son… yes, you are his son… Naruto."
"What happened to my oka-san?"
"She died very soon after your otô-san sealed me inside of you."
"And my otô-san…?"
"The price for sealing a bijuu… is the life of another… your otô-san died to save those he loved. It was his dying wish that you be seen as a hero… ironic that the town repaid his sacrifice by trying to make a pariah out of you."
"So … he just left me alone?" Naruto muttered.
"No… He named two people to be your godparents… Why they abandoned their charge… I have no answer for that question."
"Who are they?"
"Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade…," Akane answered.
"My oka-san and otô-san are his godparents…," Mito said in astonishment as she looked towards Naruto.
"…So you are my nee-chan… I always wanted a nee-chan," Naruto said with a chuckle.
"I fulfilled part of my bargain…so don't forget your part… Akane," Kyubi warned.
"I won't… you old grouch (a small disembodied voice can be heard saying, " I heard that.")… Meh… Naruto I noticed that your control over your chakra is lacking to say the least. Mito needs to help you in that area, but for now it has been a long day… go and get some sleep," Akane said as she sent them back.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~(.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Mito and Naruto opened their eyes, saw that they were back and still holding hands while sitting on the floor. As they released their hands, Naruto leaned over and gave Mito a big hug.
"I'm glad you're my nee-chan," Naruto said with a huge smile.
"Well… I better write a letter to both of my parents and let them know what's going on… I think they may have a few questions for the Hokage regarding you and how you have been treated for the last twelve years," Mito said with a knowing smirk.