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"I hope you know that you will be expected to take up our position of cabin boy once more." Sasuke informed Naruto over dinner. The newly sized crew was sitting in a circle on the deck. It had just reached twilight and the crew was sitting down to a nice stew medley by their wonderful chef. Naruto's clothing problem had been solved thanks to the lovely Temari. She had taken all of the extra clothes she could find, washed them much to Naruto's happiness, and made a few creations that Naruto would enjoy. He now sported a pair of dark brown cotton kapris, and a light blue shirt that was actually Temari's, so it showed off his figure nicely, accenting the curve in his hips and his supple, thin waist. That meant of course that Sai was sitting right next to him.
"Yeah yeah yeah. Just as long as I don't have to wash anymore underwear." Naruto said distractedly. He was busy enjoying his meal. Sasuke grunted to himself and continued to eat.
"So captain, where to next?" Kankuro mock saluted Sasuke.
"Oi, that reminds me. What exactly do you do? You never told me the specifics since you called me a 'A temporary addition to the idiocracy that is your crew'". Naruto said once he had finished shoveling food into his mouth.
"Well, we are pirates. We do the occasional pillaging, but we never kill unless ordered to, nor do we take from those who don't deserve it. Basically, we spend periods of time in a certain place, looking for corruption and then dealing with accordingly by stealing and/or maiming them." Sai said. Iruka shot him a glare.
"Don't listen to him Naruto. We aren't like that. We are sort of informant among many people. We can be classified as spies. We are hired by clients to do whatever they want, and if we see fit to follow their requests then we take on the job. When we are between clients, which is rare since we are efficient, we stay in villages raiding the corrupt rich. We are a very political group." Iruka smiled at Naruto who returned it.
"But since Sasuke wants to keep up his name, we go around killing people, stealing their money, and kidnapping fair youths such as this one right Sasuke." Kakashi's one visible twinkled with mirth as he pointed to Naruto. Sasuke snorted at his comment and returned to his meal.
"So, where are we going?" Kankuro asked once again.
"We are actually going to Fire Country, courtesy of your brother." Neji answered.
Naruto was really getting annoyed with the fact that Sasuke never said anything. Everyone answered for him. 'I guess Sasuke is only fluent in grunts. Talking like normal people might be a little challenging for him.' Naruto snickered to himself scaring everyone. The light was cast upon him in such a way that he was glowing red, and the random snickering added to the slightly evil effect. Sai and Kiba edged away from him.
"So now Gaara is going to Konoha to sign a treaty that would ensure an alliance between Suna and Konoha. And then from there in a nearby village we have another client that awaits us." Kakashi explained. Naruto paled at the thought of going back to Konoha. He had been their before with the Kyuubi crew, and it was not pleasant. But he shook the feeling off, thinking that since he started a new life and that everything would start fresh. Naruto grinned at everyone and felt happiness swell within him.
~Aw kit. Why is it so warm in here? And mushy? I swear I can see little hearts floating around.~
-Kyuubi?-
~No.~
-KYUUBI?-
~Heh. Sorry kid. But what's going on?~
-You mean to tell me you have been sleeping all this time?-
~……Pretty much yeah.~
-ARGHHH! Look at my memories your damn self. There's no way in hell I am repeating everything. I was wondering why you have been so quiet.-
~Yeah. I needed some rest. I had to keep us alive. You know you were drowning when the ship was attacked. I had to release some chakra to make you float. Then we were attacked by Akatsuki and I had to keep us alive~
-Thanks. But that doesn't mean you get to sleep whenever you want.-
~Actually it does. Now go to sleep. It is easier to look at your memories without you commenting on them.~
-What. I do not comment on them!-
~Actually you do. Remember when I told you about your history? You had to say something or ask something every 5 seconds.~
-Shut up! Fine, I'll be going to bed soon.-
~Good. Oh, and I wanted to tell you something.~
-What?-
~Let me think. I wanted to tell you earlier before, but then I fell asleep and forgot.~
-Thanks Kyuu. But you know what would be really helpful? If you were to tell me now!-
~Ahh that's right. It happened when you were crying. And not the good type of crying. The bad type.~
-Kyuu!-
~I wanted to tell you that you're safe with these people. They are all chakra users. Very high level ones in fact. They all can protect themselves. Extremely well. So your in safe hands, so please stop being so…angsty? I hate it when you do that. Then you sulk in your mind all day and I have to hear your thoughts echoing within this empty shell you call a skull.~
The rest of the crew watched in fascination as Naruto's eyes glazed over and his face went through a series of emotions.
"What is he doing? Why isn't he moving. Did something happen to him? Oh my god, he's possessed. I knew there was something wrong with him. Why else would he faint? Gah. Naru-chan?" Kiba asked frantically poking Naruto's side.
"Don't worry. He is talking to Kyuubi. Shukaku tells me he has been sleeping since his presence was faint." Gaara explained. Everyone 'oh-ed' continued to watch Naruto. Kiba was still worried. He didn't want Naru-chan hurt. Naruto slowly came out of his conversation with Kyuubi to find everyone staring intently at him. Now much like anyone coming out of a deep sleep or a trance, they follow the first instincts that come to their mind.
"PERVERTS!" Naruto screamed, blushed and ducked behind Iruka who patted him on the back fondly.
"Thank you!" Sai and Kakashi chimed in. That earned them each a smack from one flushing blond and one raging Iruka.
Naruto glared hard at Sai and Kakashi and looked at everyone. They each were casting him worried looks.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Naruto wiped his mouth with the back of his hand a couple times.
"You were talking to Kyuubi. They freaked." Gaara smirked. Yep, Gaara stoic #1 actually made a facial expression. You could see the corners of his lips twitch up for a millisecond.
"Oh." Naruto shrugged and went back to eating.
"What do you mean 'oh'? Every time I turn around you are fainting!" Kiba yelled at Naruto.
"I do not faint! I have only done that twice you idiot!" Naruto yelled back.
"So? That was two to many. When have you seen me faint?"
"I saw you have a nosebleed twice."
"That's not the same!"
"Yes it is."
"Not it's not!"
"Fine, your right. It's not the same because your nosebleeds indicate what a horny dog you are. PERVERT!!"
Kiba reddened and huffed, turning away. Naruto grinned triumphantly and continued eating.
"Kiba's right. We can't have you fainting on us." Shino said from across Naruto.
"For the last time. I. Don't. Faint. I was drained of power from Kakuzu, and now I was in a trance." Naruto stuck his fork into his food harshly on every syllable.
"Actually you woke up thrice since you have been back on board. Every time you woke up, a minute later you fainted." Shino went on.
"I was drained." Naruto replied.
"Why?" Lee asked.
"Why what?"
"Why were you drained?" Everyone wanted to know why Naruto suddenly collapsed during the fight.
"Oh. Well, he had the medallion." Naruto stated as if everyone knew what it was. Naruto realized everyone was clueless and decided to elaborate.
"You mentioned something about a medallion earlier." Chouji said in between bites of stew.
"Each of the tailed demons has their own medallion that has control over them. Now each medallion comes in two parts. They come in different shapes. The outer part which is the larger shape is made out of a metal, and the inner shape is a solid jewel. The outer portion of the medallion controls the body of the container. The inner portion controls the mind. They can be split up in two. It seems that Kakuzu had the inner portion of my medallion, which was why I fainted. I wonder how he got it too. If he had both then I would have definitely be dead right now. Kyuubi was weak from keeping us alive. I've only just gone back to my normal chakra level." Naruto thought aloud as if he were discussing the weather. "I wonder if they have both parts. They might, and gave each piece to two teams in case they ran into me. Wonder where they got it."
"What does your medallion look like?" Chouji asked looking at Naruto and Gaara.
"I contain the one-tailed demon. My shape is a pyramid. The outer part is gold and the inner is ruby." Gaara said pulling out his medallion. He kept it on his person always. Everyone stared in wonder and the beautiful jewel before them.
"How did you get it?" Sai asked.
"Well that is complicated. When the demon is contained in a child, they know if it was a successful sealing if a light shines on the child's chest. Then the medallion forms. The medallion is used to control the demon. Wow. Not that complicated." Naruto asked.
"Yes it is. Your case was." Gaara looked pointedly at Naruto.
"Right. Since I wasn't a new born, mine didn't appear. I only know that I have one, and what it looks like because Itachi flaunted it in front of my face at times." Naruto grimaced at the memories of the reasons 'why' Itachi flaunted it. "The medallions give the containers relief when they are in pain because the chakra of the demon is too much. Or they help channel chakra to specific places if you were too weak that even your demon could not help you. It absorbs chakra from the surroundings and channels it into your bodies."
"So what does yours look like?"
"I hold the leader of the demons, so my outer part is a mixture of platinum, silver and gold. My inner part is made up of two shades of sapphire stone. The shape is a circle." Naruto said.
"Wow. It sounds so pretty!" Temari exclaimed.
"So that is why I fainted." Naruto finished his story with a flourish of his hand. "Satisfy you?"
"Hn."
"BASTARD!!!"
Everyone chuckled at the blond's attempts to throw the eating utensils at Sasuke who dodged them with ease. Soon Naruto realized that his attempt at murder was futile and gave up. Kiba opened his mouth. He had another question.
"No more questions. Wait till tomorrow. I'll wake up early to wash the dishes. Tired." Naruto yawned and went under deck to his little pallet so he could sleep.
"How did he know that?" Kiba asked astonished.
"You always have questions." Neji said his theory as if it were written in the stars.
"Shut up pretty boy."
"Stop it you two. What was your question?" Temari chided.
"How did he learn how to fight?"
"Ooooh. Good question. We have to ask later." Temari nodded in approval at the question. It was a good one. Since Naruto was shackled up all the time, it is a wonder how he ever learned how to fight.
"Lee first watch. Neji second." Sasuke ordered and made his way to the helm.
Groans were heard, the clanking of pots made an orchestra of noise and people went to their beds.
"No talking." Neji ordered. Kiba clapped his mouth shut and wondered how the boy had known. It was dark and he was facing the wall. He shook his head and laid down, determined to sleep and forget about the creepiness that is Neji.
"You know by telling him to stay, we are now put in a compromising position." Sasuke said as Kakashi and Iruka walked past him.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Kakashi grinned and tugged Iruka down to his room.
Sasuke looked around discreetly and allowed himself a little chuckle. Well, at least Inner Sasuke did. He too, wouldn't have preferred their situation any other way.
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