Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"I'm home!" Raiden heard Naruto call.
"Welcome home, Naruto. Satoshi and I have something we want to talk with you about, is that okay?" Naruto looked nervous.
"Don't worry, Naruto, it's nothing bad," Satoshi said. "Here, have a snack." Satoshi handed Naruto a handful of rice crackers, which he accepted gratefully.
"We were thinking," Raiden said, "that since I travel a lot and Satoshi is going to be staying here long-term that maybe we could get a bigger apartment or a house for all of us to share. That way it'll be cheaper for all of us and we get to stay with each other. How does that sound?"
Naruto's eyes widened. "You mean it? I'll get to stay with you?"
"Sure. Why not?" Satoshi said. "There'll just be a couple of rules – make sure you help clean up sometimes and do well in school. Pretty good deal, right?"
Naruto burst into tears and ran to hug Satoshi, who pulled him up on his lap and held him, making comforting noises. Raiden raised an eyebrow, and Satoshi shrugged slightly. He guessed he'd leave the comforting to Satoshi, then.
With only a couple of prompts from the both of them, Naruto started on his homework and with their help was able to complete it.
"All right then, what next?" Satoshi asked. "His homework is done, I have the day off, and you don't have to be anywhere, right Raiden?" Raiden nodded. The three of them sat there, mostly at a loss of what to do. There weren't many things that spanned the interests of an nineteen-year-old, a sixteen-year-old, and a six-year-old. And then Raiden thought of something extremely important.
"Oh, I know! Let's play hide-and-seek!"
The other two looked at him like he was crazy.
"I don't think it's gonna work," Naruto said. "I think it's too easy in here." Satoshi nodded his agreement.
"I don't mean in here," Raiden said. "Outside. We'll make it so that you have to stay on a certain street – the one with the farmer's market, where there's lots of people. Oh, and the hiders will be disguised."
A smile grew on Satoshi's face, but Naruto looked dismayed. "But – I don't know how to disguise myself. I don't even know how to do my catra yet."
Satoshi and Raiden both chuckled. "Chakra, Naruto," Raiden corrected gently. "That's okay, though. I'll explain it better. One of us," he said, gesturing to Satoshi and himself, "will be the seeker. The other person will help you get disguised and teach you how to do different disguises as well as disguising themselves. Each round you'll get half an hour to get disguised and the seeker will get ten minutes to find you. How does that sound?"
Naruto's face had steadily grown lighter throughout the explanation until he was positively beaming. "That sounds like a lot of fun!" He said. "What are we waiting for!"
For the first round, Satoshi was the one to help Naruto. He made a pretty good disguise – Naruto's hair was dyed a pale green, his whisker marks covered by smudged dirt and his clothes changed to blue shorts and a light green jacket as opposed to his previous black t-shirt and tan shorts. He was playing in the small playground just off the street – points to Satoshi for interpreting the rules creatively. Satoshi had inverted the colors on his clothes, as they were fairly nondescript, and had put on a bandana to cover his blazing hair. Simple, but effective.
Raiden wandered around for the better part of five minutes, examining some of the stalls there – those pears looked particularly juicy – before heading over to the park and tapping Satoshi on the shoulder. "Hey," he said, and Naruto stood up and pouted at him.
"The time was almost up!" He whined, and Raiden bopped him lightly on the head.
"Don't whine. Besides – you did pretty good for a first time. If you want to blame anyone - " he grinned, " - blame Satoshi."
"Hey!" The teen yelled, and Raiden and Naruto both laughed. "I'd like to see you do better," he grumbled. Raiden's smile turned predatory.
"Okay then. Just remember, you wished for it."
Raiden waited for Satoshi to go out of sight before he made a move. "Transform!" When the smoke cleared, Naruto gaped. Raiden had turned himself into a woman a bit older than his actual age. Average height, brown hair of an average length, dark brown eyes. She was wearing a modest but expensive-looking dress and civilian sandals.
"What – Raiden?" The woman winked.
"Shhh – call me mom. You're Inari, all right?"
"Um, okay." Raiden then took his hand and led him towards a store. A makeup store.
"Why are we going here?"
"You can't do a transformation jutsu yet, so we're disguising you the old-fashioned way. It's a good skill to have if you want to be a ninja, because some ninja can sense when you use chakra."
"That makes sense," Naruto said, nodding.
"We have to cover up your whisker marks, so we have to find a bit of makeup that will match your skin tone to put over them. And new hair dye, of course – we'll make your hair a little darker than mine. The eyes we can't do much about, as you're still a little young for contacts."
"Okay then," Naruto said. "I'll go along with it, as long as it isn't too itchy."
"Of course," Raiden said, amusement coloring his tone. He went in and headed straight to where they kept their makeup and grabbed the one he always used when he needed to disguise himself. Thankfully, the brand was actually available and in the same spot as it was in the future. It was also fortunate that he had the same skin tone at age six as he did at age eighteen. He also picked up a bottle of hair dye on his way to the checkout.
Once those purchases were made, Raiden took Naruto back to the apartment, dropped the transformation, and washed him off and applied the dye and makeup.
"You look totally different already!" Raiden announced, letting Naruto see himself in the mirror. The boy's eyes widened and he touched his face.
"Woah."
Raiden redid his transformation. "One more thing," he said. "What do you notice about the dress?"
"It looks expensive," Naruto replied.
"And what about your clothes?"
"They're not as expensive and a lot dirtier." His face lit up. "We don't match! I need to change clothes, right?"
"That's right!" Raiden said with a note of approval. "But you don't have really fancy-looking clothes, so we're going to go get some really quickly."
"A-are you sure?" Naruto asked hesitantly. "It's a lot of money..."
"It'll be fine," Raiden said. "I've got plenty." And he could always go catch a couple nukenin if he wanted more.
One new outfit later, Naruto looked like a proper little rich civilian and twenty-seven minutes had passed. It was time to go wander the street. "Naruto – remember, your name is Inari, I'm going to be acting like your mother, and you are going to get to act like a spoiled little kid who's bored out of his mind."
They walked around, Raiden skipping some of the cheaper stalls and staying longer at the more costly booths. Naruto played his part to a tee, scuffing his shoes on the ground and sighing and tugging on Raiden's sleeves, the occasional complaint added in.
At one point Satoshi even bumped into Raiden, but he chewed him out, complaining about 'her' dress and how much it cost, which cowed Satoshi so thoroughly he didn't so much as glance in Naruto's direction and hurried away. Once he'd gotten far enough away, they looked at each other and snickered before continuing along the street. Soon enough, ten minutes was up, and they went back to Naruto's apartment to wait for Satoshi.
"What took you so long?" Naruto asked as soon as they caught a glimpse of Satoshi's red hair. Satoshi looked up and gaped, at which Raiden dropped his transformation.
"That was you?" He said incredulously. Naruto burst out laughing, and even Raiden couldn't keep the smile off of his face.
"Sure was!"
"I thought I was dead meat!" Satoshi exclaimed, coming closer, and Naruto started laughing as well. And of course, Naruto's laughter was contagious so they were all laughing as they entered the apartment.
Naruto collapsed onto the couch and Raiden and Satoshi both sat down on chairs. It took a while, but eventually they were all calm enough to speak.
"Shall I make dinner, then?" Raiden asked. Satoshi and Naruto nodded, small lines of drool appearing at the corners of their mouths. Raiden laughed before standing and heading into the kitchen. He popped his head back out again a few seconds later.
"If you want to eat tonight, you'd better come in here and help."
Naruto was at school again and Satoshi was back at work, so Raiden was left alone. He had several options of what to do with his day and was at a loss about what he should do first. House-hunting was a viable option, but so was getting some training in – he hadn't had a proper spar since Danzo. There was also the task of writing down all the different recipes he knew (at least, the ones that were healthy), because he didn't know how good of a cook Satoshi was and he wanted Naruto to get proper nutrition.
He'd start with house-hunting. He'd prefer a house for rent; if they had to move because of additions it would be less of a hassle than trying to re-sell a house. Now where to go for that... the Hokage's office couldn't be the only room in that giant building, right?
So he made his way over to the administrative building, stopping occasionally to look at things he found interesting. There was a store dedicated just to selling umbrellas, who knew?
He was stopped at a candy store, debating whether or not to go inside and get something for Naruto and Satoshi (and maybe indulge his own sweet tooth) when a hand clapped him on the shoulder. Raiden turned to see a man quite a bit bigger than himself – at least 15 cm taller and 10 kg heavier – staring down at him.
"Do you see the sign?" The man asked imperiously.
"What sign?" The man pointed at a sign on the shopfront window. No loitering. Apparently it was a crime to stand in front of the shop?
"Sorry about that," Raiden said, extricating himself from the man's grip. He backed away, but while doing so caught sight of the insignia on the man's shoulder. "Uchiha-san."
The man grunted, giving him a last sharp look, and Raiden looked at the ground, deep in thought, as he continued towards the Hokage tower. The Uchiha were still alive. Alive. This was something he needed to deliberate on. From his reckoning of the current date, he still had just over a year before the massacre happened. So at this point the coup was nothing more than whisperings in the dark.
From what Raiden remembered, it was the elders that had been pressuring the clan the hardest to revolt. Any drastic action that would have to be taken would have to happen soon, and it would have to take out the elders of the clan. He didn't want to risk taking the issue to the Hokage, as he was technically a newcomer to the village. Danzo was even more out of the question, as he had supported the Massacre (even going so far as to steal eyes from the corpses) and, of course, there was the teeny-tiny problem of having fought him in Ame...
Well, that would have to wait. He looked up at the round red walls and smiled. It was nice to see it again; this building in which he had spent so much time as a child.
He walked in and stopped at the front desk, which was maybe the third or fourth time he'd done it in his entire life.
"Excuse me," he said politely. "Where would I go to find a property to rent?"
The old lady didn't even look up as she said, "Third door on the left."
"Thanks?" Raiden turned away from the cranky desk lady and made his way to the housing office. Hopefully the person there would be of a better disposition.
As it turned out, he was lucky – the person running the housing office was a younger woman, though still rather no-nonsense. Still, that no-nonsense attitude was beneficial to an office setting, as it translated into greater efficiency. Which was good for everyone, because it took less time to figure things out.
Raiden left only a couple hours later with a folder under his arm and a list of addresses in his hand to check out that he quickly sealed into his belt. He'd do that later, though; he wasn't going to choose a place to live without both Naruto and Satoshi's input. And that would have to wait until both Satoshi and Naruto were free, which wouldn't be for a several hours yet.
Plenty of time to wander around and get re-acquainted with the Leaf Village from his youth. He wasn't overly-familiar with the layout, as it had been almost three years from his perspective since the village had been destroyed by Pain, and he had only been in the village for a couple months before that, having just returned from his training journey with Jiraiya. Not to mention the general change that happened in larger villages constantly.
Up one street, down another – there was the ninja supplies shop! Now that he thought about it, that was where Satoshi was working... had he worked there when Raiden was young? Or was it because of his arrival in this time that he'd decided to come to Konoha?
The next street over was the higher-end shopping district – really only affordable to the really rich civvies and those tokujo or above, so, not something he'd be visiting often. Ooh, that was a nice neighborhood. Going straight past the clan district was a must – the clans didn't move and weren't appreciative of outsiders lurking around their land. Although, he did catch sight of the Uchiha district through the gate opening; that was weird.
After he felt he'd sufficiently reacquainted himself with the village, Raiden decided to peruse the training grounds for a suitable sparring partner. He headed to the nearest one, training ground 9, and heard the distinctive swish-clink-thud that characterized shuriken techniques. Excellent, someone was there.
He made his way to the edge of the clearing and was surprised to see an Uchiha his own age standing in deep concentration, holding several shuriken. The Uchiha's eyes snapped open and he let loose, flinging the shuriken in several different directions, causing them to ricochet into the various targets around the edges of the clearing.
Raiden only noticed at the last second that one was heading for his face and batted it away with the metal plate on the back of his glove.
"Nice," he said, appreciative of the level of skill that went into mastering a jutsu like that. Raiden still had less patience for that sort of thing, preferring to utilize his massive chakra stores and stamina in blunt-force ninjutsu and taijutsu attacks rather than develop the finesse needed for shuriken and other weapon attacks.
"Who are you?" The guy said in an easy-going manner, but Raiden saw the hint of steel in his expression.
"Raiden Uzumaki, here as a messenger from Ame," he said. "Don't worry, I'm legal. I was just looking for someone to spar with while I wait for the Hokage and Council to process the message I was sent with."
The Uchiha's posture relaxed slightly, even though the suspicion hadn't completely disappeared from his eyes. "All right then. I'm Shisui Uchiha. I'm assuming you want to spar right now?"
Shisui... the name sounded familiar...
"That's right," Raiden said, a smile growing on his face. "Don't want to get soft, do I?"
Shisui laughed. "I'll let you warm up. No sense in starting when you're not ready, right?" Raiden nodded, welcoming the banter. He knew he wouldn't be able to rely on nature chakra or any of Kurama's, so he'd warm up properly in order to get the most out of the spar. He had no idea what Shisui was capable of, and wasn't about to underestimate him. That was just asking for a beatdown.
"Any rules?" Raiden asked.
"Taijutsu only?" Shisui suggested. "That way at least there's a smaller chance of us accidentally killing each other."
Raiden nodded. It sounded good to him.
Eventually Raiden was finished warming up, and he and Shusui took up positions on the opposite side of the clearing. A single leaf detached itself from the tree, and as soon as it hit the ground the two of them moved.
There was a blur of fists and feet that lasted barely a second and the two of them separated.
"You're fast," the both of them said at the same time, then grinned at each other. Raiden touched his jaw where a bruise was forming and Shisui wiped a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth, then both of them rushed at each other again.
An hour later, the two of them were flopped on the ground. Raiden was grinning and he could hear Shisui laughing breathlessly.
"We have to do this again sometime," Shisui said once they'd rested for a couple of minutes.
"Agreed," Raiden affirmed. "I'm not going to be here for too long, though, a couple more weeks at most."
"That sucks," Shisui said. "Well, come on."
Raiden accepted the hand Shisui was holding out and got pulled into an upright position.
"What's your rank?" Shisui asked, looking at him curiously. Raiden smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
"Um... I don't have one."
Shisui stopped dead. "What do you mean you don't have one? We were on pretty equal grounds back there, and I'm no lightweight."
"Yeah, you're ANBU, right?" Raiden asked. Shisui gave him a sharp look and Raiden explained hurriedly. "I mean – you're wearing short sleeves, and it's not really hard to see..."
Shisui's suspicion visibly lessened as he replied. "Yeah, I'm ANBU. Which makes it so odd that you're so strong and not ranked." They turned the corner of the street, heading into the village proper.
"Well," Raiden said, getting ready to recount his 'backstory', "I grew up around a lot of missing-nin, and there was one that was my teacher for a while, so I acquired some skills and have been working on them for a while. Not to mention my Uzumaki blood..."
"Yeah, that's right. Uzumaki. Does that mean you have a bloodline, then?" Raiden shrugged.
"Kind of. The Uzumaki clan is really different than a lot of the more traditional clans. We generally have more potent chakra, as well as more chakra in general, which causes us to be more long-lived. There's also the sealing – all Uzumaki have a particular affinity for the sealing arts, so it's more of an instinctual thing. As for bloodlines, well, we don't have a particular bloodline but almost all of the members develop some sort of special ability."
"What's yours?" Shisui asked, his curiosity piqued. Raiden recalled that the Academy didn't really teach anything about the Uzumaki clan.
"Well, that's kind of personal," he informed him, "but I don't mind it. I happen to have a particular affinity for nature chakra – basically, I'm a Sage."
Raiden really enjoyed the way Shisui's jaw dropped. "What – but – ! How old are you?"
"Nineteen." Shisui's eyes bugged out.
"You're the same age as me! And a Sage!"
"If it helps, I first learned to fully control my Sage abilities when I was sixteen."
Shisui shook his head. "And they say the Uchiha clan is the strongest... geez." Raiden just laughed.
The time until Raiden's departure passed in a blur of activity. They were able to decide on a small house to rent, and while Naruto was at school and Satoshi at work Raiden would clean it up and make sure everything worked. Once that was done, he started moving the furniture over, which his seals and shadow clones made infinitely easier.
Moving and cleaning, however, was not an easy task, and so Raiden would take breaks in which he would seek out his new-found friend for a spar or just to hang out while a clone continued the work. It was really a good system.
On day eleven of his stay in Konoha, he returned to the Hokage's office to collect the response to Yahiko's missive. The Hokage gravely informed him that his own response would be given to Raiden just before he left, as he didn't want the letter floating around the village. Raiden gave him a sheepish grin; he'd noticed the ANBU tailing him and figured the Old Man was keeping track of his actions and had inferred that Raiden didn't plan to leave before his visa expired.
Raiden woke up. The sun was bright, streaming through the gap in the curtains to illuminate a strip of the ceiling. Today was the day he would have to leave, and he was dreading saying goodbye. He marveled at the strength of the attachments he'd formed in his short time.
Satoshi, Naruto – even Shisui. He'd miss them.
He got out of bed and went into the kitchen, pulling out the ingredients for pancakes, which Naruto had shown a particular inclination for. He didn't make them often as they weren't particularly healthy, but he wanted to do as much for Naruto as he could in reparation for his immediate departure.
The sleepy boy soon stumbled into the kitchen, shortly followed by a yawning but slightly more awake Satoshi.
"Mm, smells good," Satoshi said, and Naruto perked up as he caught the scent of breakfast.
"You made pancakes? Yes!" Raiden smiled, flipping three at once onto a plate and handing it to Naruto, who set it on the table and promptly drowned it in syrup. He sighed. Satoshi chuckled and got his own plate and proceeded to do the exact same thing.
Well. If he couldn't beat them, he might as well join them, right? He sat with a small stack of his own, leaving the pan on the cooling stove.
"I have to leave today," Raiden announced abruptly. "I have to deliver something back to Ame. I'll probably be gone for a few weeks, at least, before I come back here."
Naruto's eyes were shiny, and Satoshi frowned.
"Do you have to go, Raiden?" He asked. Raiden reached over and ruffled his hair.
"I'm afraid I do, Naruto," he said. "But don't worry, I'll be back before you know it. And if you have any trouble, just go to Satoshi. He's pretty cool too, ya know."
Still, it was awfully quiet for the rest of the time until Naruto left for school. Satoshi helped him clean up from breakfast, and then punched his shoulder. "You better come back, you hear?" He said purposefully, then left for his own job.
Raiden made his way over to the Hokage's tower and then up to the Old Man's office; he needed to get the details of the mission and he assumed that there would be a small party of Leaf Ninja accompanying him as well that he would have to meet.
Sure enough, once he actually entered the office he was introduced to the three ninja that were to go along with him. Two were a couple years older; he recognized them faintly from the Fourth War – Aoba Yamashiro and Raido Namiashi. The third was younger, maybe even younger than Raiden was – he'd been the proctor for the third stage of the genin exam. Hayate-something.
"I have assigned Namiashi-san, Yamashiro-san, and Hayate-san will be traveling with you to Ame as added security and a show of good faith. I hope this will not prove a problem?" The Hokage asked gravely.
"Should be fine," Raiden replied.
"Then here is your message," he said, handing Raiden a rather surprisingly thick scroll. Raiden accepted it and slipped it into his pocket.
"That's it?" He asked. The Hokage nodded, looking faintly amused.
"That's it."
"Well, guys," Raiden said, turning to the three ninja behind him, "ready to go?" The three of them looked at each other and then turned back to him and nodded, a bit confused at his rather unprofessional behavior. "All right then. Follow me."
Raiden walked all the way to the gate, where he waved to the guards at the security station cheekily. He looked back – good, they were all right behind him.
"Okay then," he started, turning around so he could walk and speak to them at the same time. "As you probably already know, I'm Raiden Uzumaki, and we're delivering an important document to Ame, which I am a citizen of. We can probably make it there in about four days if we keep a good pace."
"Sounds good to me," Aoba said. "I'm Aoba Yamashiro, by the way."
"Raido Namiashi."
"And I'm Gekko Hayate. It's nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san."
"Please, just call me Raiden. I never was one for formalities." They nodded their assent. "...What do you all think about staying in Tanzaku tonight? I know it's got a reputation, but it's got really nice places to stay."
Aoba and Raido grinned; Hayate looked faintly disapproving. He'd learn.
Raiden got them checked into a hotel easily, one only needed a bit of cash to speed things up and they got two decent rooms. Nothing fancy, but they had separate beds and the rooms weren't too costly. They'd made it there earlier than Raiden had expected, however, so he decided to add to his stock of money. He'd burned all the money he'd had from the future, literally burning it, as in charred to ashes, as he didn't want to get labeled as a counterfeiter – after all, the date was wrong on the bills – and so he was running a little short on cash, especially after setting aside most of the rent money for the apartment in Konoha.
He knocked on the door to the other room – he and Hayate were together in one room, the other was Aoba and Raido – and stuck his head in. "Anyone want some quick cash?" He asked. "I've never lost a game of chance, so if you want some money come now. We've still got a couple hours to burn."
The two of them stood and followed him out. "What about the scroll?" Hayate asked, appearing from the other room. Raiden grinned.
"Don't worry about it – it's sealed into my belt. And trust me, I'm no civilian." So the four of them went out to one of the gambling halls. Raiden was really the only one who did any betting or actual playing, but he shared the profits equally with the other three, on the grounds that they were his 'moral support'.
It wasn't long until he found himself participating in a game of poker with several other people. The game was about to begin when someone sat across the table from him.
"I'd like to play too," he heard, and looked up from the table to see none other than Tsunade. He stood quickly, nearly toppling his chair.
"What are you doing here?" He said, before remembering that Tsunade wasn't actually the Hokage at that point in time (he didn't know why he didn't remember – he'd seen the Third just that morning).
She looked at him critically. "Do I know you?"
He sat back down, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Not really... I've heard of you, though... "
"Well, get ready to be disappointed, kid, whatever you've heard about me probably isn't true." She picked up her hand and the game began. A smile grew on Raiden's face.
"How about this – if I win, you talk to me. If I lose, I won't ever bother you again."
"I take that bet," Tsunade said confidently. "I'm not going to lose – I've already won something today, and my luck runs in streaks."
So they played, and to nobody's surprise, Raiden was the winner. Tsunade growled and smacked the table. "What do you want to talk about then – if I don't want to talk about it, I'm leaving, and if you try to follow me I'll smack you black and blue."
"Calm down, baa-chan," Raiden said, and winced as her killer intent formed a visible aura around her. Lucky for him, Shizune appeared right at that moment.
"Tsunade-sama," she hissed, "You have to calm down!" The aura subsided, and Raiden chanced a glance back at his temporary teammates. They were wide-eyed, impressed at whatever he'd just exhibited – even Raiden himself wasn't sure if it was daring or just plain stupidity.
"Let's go somewhere more private and talk. And I mean that in the most literal way, as right here is rather crowded and noisy and doesn't smell all too great." So Raiden led their small group back to the hotel room they'd gotten for the night, collecting his tall stack of cash on his way out of the gambling hall. Shizune and Tsunade sat on the edge of one of the beds, Hayate and himself on another, and Aoba and Raido on chairs.
"Can you tell me... about Mito?" Raiden asked.
"Mito?" Tsunade's face was a mask of confusion. "Why... oh. That red hair – you're an Uzumaki, aren't you?"
"Sure am!" Raiden said proudly. "And you are too, aren't you? At least a little bit. She was your grandmother, right, Tsunade of the Sannin?" Hayate gasped and Raido and Aoba stilled – they apparently hadn't recognized her either. Maybe they were expecting her to look older...
She let out a huff of amusement. "That's all it is, then? Fine, I'll tell you a few stories."
Raiden listened, enraptured, as he heard about one of his ancestors for the first time. It was illuminating; he learned several aspects of Uzumaki culture he hadn't heard about before – including something about a Temple of Masks.
Aoba and Raido left about halfway through the story-telling, but as Hayate was sleeping in the room they were in, he sat and listened.
Eventually, though, the clock struck eleven and Raiden had to interrupt – they had to be up early the next day, as the next leg of their journey was the longest and would take the most time to travel. Tsunade and Shizune left, and as Shizune passed Raiden she hugged him and thanked him, saying, "She hasn't looked so - well, happy isn't the right word – maybe at peace? in a long time."
After they left, he sprawled out on his bed, exhausted. It had been an exciting day – meeting a new team, several hours of travel, a couple hours of gambling resulting in a hefty addition to his wallet, a small but explosive confrontation with a wayward relative, and a wealth of stories about a prominent member of his clan. Not bad.
The next day, as expected, started quite early, none of the ninja suffering in any way from the excitement of the night before, thanks to Raiden's watch on the time and refusal to let them touch any alcohol.
They traveled most of the day, stopping only for the occasional bathroom break as well as a break for lunch. They ended up camping that night, stopping to set up camp just before it got dark.
A small fire jutsu got the fire started, and Raiden pulled out some soup flavoring packets and a pot from the seals on his belt. Aoba caught a couple of rabbits, Hayate got some water, and they made stew.
"Wow, Raiden," Aoba said. "Do you just put everything into your seals?"
Raiden laughed self-consciously. "Well, kind of," he admitted. "When I first got to Konoha I went to deliver the message to the Hokage and I couldn't find it – it took me several hours to sort through all the stuff I had in here before I remembered I'd put it in my actual pocket for convenience."
They laughed at him then; even Raido, who was unusually taciturn, cracked a smile.
They slept soon after that; Raiden set up security seals around the campsite so only one person would have to stand watch at a time.
The next morning they decided not to sleep in; the sooner they left, the sooner they would arrive in Ame the day after.
They spent the day similar to the one previous; not too much talking, all of them intent on getting to Ame as soon as possible.
The fourth day of travel was the one in which they would arrive in Amegakure. The night before, the landscape had begun to transition, becoming less forested and more flat. Raiden cautioned them as they approached.
"It gets quite slick here sometimes, as it rains so much and there's a lot of mud, so watch your step." He pulled out a waterproofed cloak from his seal and wrapped it around his shoulders. He looked at his companions, who all looked a bit travel-weary and confused, and pulled out a scroll from a seal on his belt and opened it, looking through all the different storage seals.
He made a sound of triumph and held up another scroll, unsealing a further four waterproof cloaks from the scroll, re-sealing one and handing out the three to the Leaf ninja. "Put them on, you're gonna want them when it rains."
And not twenty minutes after that is started pouring. Raiden put his hood up, looking back at his companions who were all looking very grateful and very dry under the hoods of their own cloaks.
Barely an hour after it had started raining, Raiden began to see the jagged skyline emerge on the horizon.
"We're getting close, guys," he said. "Don't worry about security – you're with me, so you'll be let in no problem." Aoba and Raiden nodded, but Hayate looked a little concerned.
"But – we're ninja from a different village, and we're carrying weapons. Why would being with you make a difference, especially since there are three of us and only one of you?"
Raiden smirked. "It doesn't make a difference because they know if you made a move against me or the leader, you would all be incapacitated in a split-second." He said this innocently, with barely a touch of killing intent, which didn't really reassure Hayate in the slightest. Raiden knew none of the members of the team had seen any of his advanced skills – they knew he could use chakra to augment his muscles and climb on trees and use storage seals, but those were among the most basic of a shinobi's skills. They would be in for a rude awakening if he ever did decide to exhibit some of his more impressive jutsu.
"Just follow me and you'll be fine."
They made it to the small city easily enough and were stopped at the gates by a couple of guards. Raiden dropped his hood and flashed his ID.
"Sorry, Raiden," one said.
"We didn't know it was you," the other explained.
"That's fine," he replied. "It's good; it shows you're taking your job seriously." The guards beamed, and Raiden knew the Leaf ninja were watching his interactions with a close eye. "They're with me," he added, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb at the three bedraggled-looking figures that were the rest of his team.
"Well then, welcome back," the first guard said, and Raiden entered the village. He turned back to his temporary teammates. He spread his arms out as if to encompass the view of the city.
"Welcome to Amegakure."
AN: Fair warning, this story is being put on the backburner until I finish my Blue Exorcist fic (which I'm really excited about), so I may not update next month...but then again, I frequently surprise myself, so who knows?