The Tale of Uzumaki
Well the latest update hope it is up to par. Just to let ya all know, this chapter should blend into the next fairly easily. and the plot is thickening!
Chapter 7.
Two weeks had past since Naruto's awakening. Two extremely long weeks Tsunade thought. She had examined the now strawberry blonde ninja throughly while Jiraiya had studied everything about the seal. In the end, both sannin concluded that Naruto did die, at least his body started to. That had caused the seal to release and in the last moment, what had caused Kyuubi to give his life to the boy. Unfortunately it had side affects, all of which were being discussed in the office of the Hokage at that moment. Hinata and Neji plus Kakashi and an ANBU guard were the only ones present. Naruto and Sakura were missing from the group as they were purposely given a mission with the chuunin team of Konohamaru, Meogi, and Udon to get them away from the village.
Looking up from both Kakashi's and Neji's reports, she looked shocked. "So, what your saying is that he is faster than both of you?"
"Actually he can beat the Sharingan and the Byakugan at the same time," was Neji's reply. Kakashi felt the need to explain more though, "Due to his enhanced scenes, he can see things happen as fast as possible it seems. Plus Naruto's speed is equal to Lee's. If these traits become Kekkei Genkai.," He left the statement hanging.
Tsunade just nodded, it was understood that Naruto had gained a lot of Kyuubi's powers, and some annoying quirks too. She looked over to Hinata and the ANBU guard standing behind her. The guard was wearing the standard issue cloak and a snake mask. He stepped forward and gave his report.
"Lady Hokage, I find that this could cause a problem if the dobe, um Naruto ever gets close to me." Hinata spoke up in that shy voice of hers, "Na-Naruto has been able to smell his presence on me. He said to me one time that I should be careful because the smell reminded him of someone that um, hurt him once. If Naruto finds out that Sas-" The older woman cut her off with a look and sighed. "I know its risky, but no one outside this room must know. Including Naruto and Sakura, especially them given the implications of Naruto's current state and Sakura's decision to be with him." They all looked at her like she was mad Neji was the first to speak it, "Those two are nothing more than friends. I do not see how it can be a problem."
With a sigh Tsunade shook her head and stood up to look out over Konoha before answering, "She confided in me three days ago. Naruto asked her out again, and she accepted. She wanted advice being she truly never had much experience in these matters." She smirked at the thoughts and then looked at them over her shoulder, "She also asked me if I would think any less of her if she called off the search. I told her no and that I support her fully. I honestly hope she could move on and I don't think the Hyuuga clan or the future Uchiha clan will object."
The three Chuunin and two Jounin leisurely walked through the woods toward the border of Fire and Sound. The mission was to gather intelligence reports from the border teams, then return them to Konoha. In all honesty, it was a easy C-ranked mission, but with the possibility of running into Sound ninja, it was classified as a B. Naruto didn't mind though. He had been off missions for almost a month and honestly was beginning to get stir crazy. Of course this was a simple pick up, but the pay was decent and he was with his favorite teammate and the chuunin were that bad either.
Konohamaru chuckled to himself, admiring his "boss". This of course caught the attention of Meogi, his red headed teammate. She looked at him funny for a sec before realizing he was watching Naruto and Sakura. "They make a cute couple," she whispered to him. "Yep, about time they found each other. They had been dancing around the whole thing ever since he came back from training with Master Jiraiya," was his whispered reply. What they didn't know was that Naruto was smirking cause he heard the whole exchanged perfectly. Sakura looked at him questioningly before he just tilted his head back and mouthed 'Their talking about us'. Sakura smiled and just watched the trees for trouble and enjoyed the walk.
They had reached the border and walked halfway back with the reports when it started to get dark. Setting up camp went as well as expected until it came to sleeping arrangements. Five people and two tents, lead to many questions about how to do it. Meogi suggest that the chuunin in one the jounin in the other. Unfortunately for the older couple, Udon protested and suggested a guy/girl split.
"And why is it that you only packed one tent?" Naruto asked nonchalantly. Konohamaru turned right around and asked the exact same thing of the two jounin. All the while trying not to smirk or laugh.
Sakura blushed lightly then chimed in, "Um, Because jounin are made of tougher stuff and-" she was cut off by Meogi, "And your dating each other! You know it isn't some great ninja secret. Hell half of Konoha knows about it already. And you two make such a cute couple!" this had both Sakura blushing and Naruto nervously scratching the back of his head while looking around. It was one thing to be dating, it was another to have a 14 year old telling you it to your face less than a week after it was official.
The rest of the night went with out much trouble as they all sat and chatted lightly before heading to bed. Naruto took the first watch and decided that he would let them all sleep first. It was well past midnight before anything caught his eye. "You might as well come out, I know your there. And judging from the sent and you looks i would say you must be Karen Maki, Daniel's younger sister." at that statement, the shocked blonde woman stepped out of hiding before finally taking the offered seat across the fire from him. She stared at him for a while before speaking up, "You are the Kyuubi container, but how is it that you are not affected by the seal placed on you by my former clansman?" Naruto's sadness was apparent as he looked at her with those slitted blue eyes that he now had. "He sacrificed himself so that I may live. In the end, the demon that destroyed Konohagure gave his life to save his Jailer's"
Karen nodded at this and stared off into the distance, "Funny how that happens from time to time. Also funny how two distantly related people can find each other. I'm Karen Uzumaki, originally from the Maki clan of Bikenneil, I take the name Uzumaki for I am now a ronin. You are Naruto Uzumaki, correct?" He just nodded at her statement allowing her to continue, "I have come to seek out the original Uzumaki clan that left Bikenneil many years ago to enlist their help in fighting the Maki clan that only wishes the destruction of our clan. I am also afraid that their malice will lead to them trying to destroy the ninja that help the Uzumaki before."
Naruto just grunted and looked at her, "Sorry to say this, but there isn't any clan. I'm the only one left if there ever was. Your the first Uzumaki I have met."
"You, the last one? Then how will the name survive?"
He looked at her questioningly before he guessed at her meaning, "Through me, Konoha has only patriarchal clans. So I would give the name to my children."
The blonde ronin woman nodded to show her understanding when a pink haired figure slowly wrapped her arms around Naruto and kissed his cheek. "Who's your friend?" Sakura asked. After the whole tale was told again, Sakura just looked at Karen and stated, "Your Daniel's sister then. He is in Konoha looking for the same thing as you are." She looked at Naruto's questioning looked, "I met him during a meeting with Tsunade-sensei." She looked away quickly before standing, "You should get some sleep, I'll take the next watch." Naruto just looked at her before curling up into a ball by the fire. Both women grimaced at the slight popping sounds as he kept his hips perpendicular to the ground and twisted his shoulders so they were parallel to it. Truth be told, he looked like a cat or a dog sleeping than a young man. Sakura sighed and went to the edge of the camp to look out on the forest. There was so much he needed to know.
Tsunade sat their drinking her sake thinking over the day's problems. Naruto was still a full mystery at the moment. She had a very bad feeling about all this. If he was able to sense him in the village, how would he take it? That on top of the fact that the blonde shinobi was probably now faster than anyone in Konohagure. Yes a very bad feeling indeed.
A/N How's that for ya? now for my little contest. Can you guess the ANBU guard's identity and the relationship with Hinata? any reveiws and emails are welcome for the answers. untill next update Read And Review, because I, Like many authors, live off of reviews. They are my food source and feed my insperation!
