Author's Note: Hello everyone. Another chapter in and things have started to get thick in this one, as you'll see at the end of this chapter.
If anyone knows their Japanese folklore, they'll probably have an idea as to what exactly shows up at the end of this chapter. Just a little something I took inspiration from, from the Hellboy Sword of Storms movie. The name of it is in the arc anyway.
NARUTO
Maoyū
Demon Fishing
(Early next morning)
Having spent the night sleeping under a maple tree in a random patch of forest along the side of the road, Naruto went through his usual wake-up routine of stretches, pushups, sit ups, shadow sparring, and a quick spot of breakfast. Building a small fire and cooking a pot of oats and honey, he split the share between himself and Tama, upon which the two of them then sat back to enjoy the sight of the sun peaking over the distant horizon. Once the young traveler and his friend were done, he then packed up his duffle bag and continued on north, keeping the sun on his right and a skip in each stride.
After his little scuffle with the Kirigakure kunoichi the other day, Naruto had needed to make a quick stop by a chemist to get some medical tape for his wound. It was a quick clean up, especially since he knew that it would get better overnight. Sure enough, when he removed the patch he'd slapped over his brow later that morning, he discovered that the wound had been healed. So in the end, all the fight had left him was a great memory, a worthwhile experience, and a cool looking scar across his left eyebrow.
He couldn't wait to get home to tell Tayuya all about it… though he still wasn't sure whether she approved of his absence.
But before he did that, he had other business to attend to, namely returning Tama to her homeland. Having already made good progress the day before, the youngster didn't have that much further to go in order to reach his destination in the Land of Hot Water.
A brisk march through the northern heights and rolling hills in the upper part of the state, and Naruto was soon descending into another country. Finding a completely flat landscape covered in dense forests, geyser fields, and mountains stretching from one horizon line to the next, the jinchuriki set upon the villages bordering the capital hub of Yugakure. It was on his journey through the countryside that he noticed the land didn't have as big an agriculture or population center as the Land of Fire. In fact, what this state had most of were landmarks and hot spots, all of which were ideal for tourism.
There were dozens of hot spring villages and hotels, entertainment venues surrounding wells and geysers, volcanic tours, nature reserves, and a whole mess of other exotic locations. It quickly became apparent to the youngster that this country made most of its money from the people that visited it and, from what he could see on his way through the nation's borders, it was obviously an incredibly lucrative enterprise. He actually made a note to himself to stop at a few of these places on his way back, as he was currently focused on getting to where he needed to be first.
It didn't take him long to arrive at his destination. After passing through various junctions along the winding country highways and asking a few locals for directions, the boy soon found himself wandering through a village situated in a lush, forested area at the base of a mountain. A quick hike through an area resembling Sichuan Danba and Hakone in summer, both Naruto and Tama then came across a rundown Torii gateway and a rocky sando staircase leading up to a large temple.
The white vixen barked and hopped off of the blonde's shoulder to scamper up the path, while Naruto removed his damaged straw hat. Her actions telling the would-be jinchuriki that this was the place she wanted to go, he followed her, keeping his hands in his pockets as he marched up the rocky, uneven stairs. Taking note of how overgrown the area was, Naruto soon reached the top of the steep, forest hill, where he found a completely dilapidated and damaged shrine waiting for him.
Its paint eaten and burnt away, and its entire west side collapsed, the large temple looked like something that'd survived the aftermath of a battle. Walking across the tiled estate, passing by numerous statues, sessha and massha, Naruto suddenly felt his foot scrape against something and, picking up the plank of wood he'd trodden on, squinted at the writing etched into its surface.
"Genno Temple?" He then looked up at the archway where the sign would normally be hung, before promptly setting it aside and making his way across the sacred site's courtyard.
Hearing the birds singing happily in the nearby trees and watching the butterflies dance over the flower groves, Naruto scoped the entire place from top to bottom. After taking a minute to pay tribute to the empty temple box and ringing the bell hanging lopsidedly from the damaged rope, the blond then clapped his hands together in a small prayer. When he was done asking the temple guardians for an auspicious future, he then had his attention drawn from the shrine's walkway to the footpath leading around the building, where he saw Tama standing and waiting for him.
Walking through the sanctuary grounds and gardens circling the ruined structure, and passing under a line of about three dozen Torii, Naruto and Tama soon came upon a smaller, less conspicuous shrine. The cobblestone footpath circling the reliquary was decorated by broken stone lanterns, pillars and fences, lined with slightly overgrown bushes and a forest of maple trees. The shrine itself was sitting in the middle of a pond on a little island mound, with two broken kitsune statues standing guard over a large stone boulder, which had been essentially split and broken into several pieces.
After walking a couple of laps around the sacred spot, Naruto came across an information sign nailed to the shrine's tamagaki. He then proceeded to read it.
"The Sessho-seki (Killing Stone), circa 1155 B.S (Before Sage)… renamed the Joka Ishi (Purifying Stone) in 112 A.S (After Sage)… is a stone believed to contain the spirit of Tamamo no Mae, a wandering trickster kitsune, and a demon of mischief, lust, fortune, and sexual desire. After being discovered sleeping with Emperor Konoe's wife, the demon Tamamo was defeated in battle by the group of heroes Princess Kaguya Otsutsuki, General Guan Yu, samurai Miura no Suki, and High Priestess Miroku, upon which she was sealed inside this stone and imprisoned in this shrine for all eternity. For thousands of years this boulder has resided in the heart of Genno Temple, transforming from an object of calamity into an artefact of prosperity, and has since served as a rallying point for pilgrims and people seeking luck and good fortune from all across the mainland." After reading this over a couple of times, the blond then pulled out his notebook and, finding a spare page, scribbled the text down for posterity.
As he did, he saw Tama walk around the shrine's pond with her tail wagging behind her as she hopped up onto the island. Whereupon she then ambled up to the shattered boulder and broken kitsune statues, sat down next to them, and turned to Naruto.
When the blond saw his friend lift her front paw, place it against the shattered rock and yip at him, he quickly realized what she was trying to tell him and pointed towards it. "Was this… the place that you came from?" Another yip from the vixen had Naruto stop for a moment, before his eyes widened and he looked down at the sign he was copying. "Tamamo no Mae… Tamamo… Tama…" His gaze snapped back to the fox. "You're… you're her aren't you? The kitsune from the story." When he saw the fox nod, a smile then spread over his lips. "Damn… that's so cool."
The delinquent then watched as the white fox hopped up onto the shattered boulder, her tail swishing through the air as she did a couple of laps of what was once her home and prison.
Tama's explorations of the tiny island allowed Naruto to finish copying the story in his book, as well as make a quick sketch of the area. During which time a puzzled look then fell upon his profile. "This seemed like a really important place a few years ago. I wonder what happened here."
"War. War happened." The voice of a young woman chimed in, drawing the boy's attention behind him. It was there he quickly spotted a raven haired girl with a hime-style cut, and wearing the white and red robes of a shrine maiden walking towards him. Hands folded in front of her, the stranger stopped at the edge of the auxiliary shrine and beamed. "Hi there. I… I noticed you were praying over at the main building a couple minutes ago and decided to come out to greet you."
"Oh. G-Good day. I'm… sorry for intruding," Naruto returned with a bow, earning one in kind from the elegant young girl. "Do you live around here?"
"Yes. Over by the small house sitting alongside the shrine," the eighteen-year-old replied cheerfully and without hesitation. "I'm studying here with my grandma and grandpa, and helping them to look after the temple. Even though it's no longer an active place of worship, it's still an important landmark to this village. Priests and maidens from other sects all across the mainland still pay visits to this area, for both research and spiritual enlightenment."
Walking towards the woman, Naruto closed up his notebook and gestured to the pond beside them. "Could you… tell me exactly what happened here? Why is the temple and all the other shrines around this forest so badly damaged?" More precisely he wanted to find out the reason why Tamamo's shrine had been cracked open.
The maiden in the robes beamed as she looked around the woods. When Naruto followed her gaze, he saw other little fox statues hiding and lying amongst the undergrowth, which had him blink in surprise as he listened to the girl speak. "About fourteen years ago, during the Third Great Shinobi War, the village of Kumogakure used this area as a staging ground for their assault on the Land of Fire to the south and the Land of Earth to the west. This temple in particular was occupied by their troops as a base, due to its high ground and position overlooking the northern highways." Looking back at the blond, she saw him glance back at her intently. "During the final months of the war, a battalion from Konohagakure made an assault on this temple, destroying the main building and many of its smaller shrines… at the same time forcing the defending garrison to retreat. The temple has since been rebranded as a war memorial and has remained this way ever since."
"I see…" Naruto murmured, at the same time looking at the pond and the shattered stone boulder sitting on top of the mound. Noticing the scars of war scattered about the place, including a couple of rusty kunai embedded in several rocks and pillars, the blond breathed a heavy sigh. "This must have been one hell of a battle."
"Yes. This spot in particular served as a location for several skirmishes between squads from both villages," the shrine maiden informed while gesturing towards the pond. "This shrine, a relic that has stood the test of time for over three thousand years, ended up being destroyed in the crossfire." She then shook her head sadly. "My grandmother used to come out here a lot when she was younger. She would tell me all these stories about a young woman with dark skin and white hair who would wander around the temple at night, and transform into a little white fox during the day. She told me that it was the ghost of Tamamo no Mae, who was trapped inside the stone boulder and had learned to project herself in spirit form."
"Really?" Naruto asked, earning a nod from the young woman that put a wide grin on the blonde's face. "Have you… seen this mysterious ghost woman for yourself?"
The maiden shook her head. "I snuck out a couple of times at night to see if I could catch a glimpse of her… but every time I did, I couldn't find anyone."
The 'jinchuriki' then pocketed his book and took a step back. "Well… I think I can help you with that." Naruto then turned to the boulder behind him and whistled. "Tama-chan!" A split second later, much to the shrine maiden's complete surprise, she saw a white fox bound out from behind the boulder and dart over to where the blond was standing, before hiking up his body and onto his shoulder. The boy then turned to the young woman with a smile. "I believe this is the person your grandmother told you about."
Stepping towards the boy slowly, the girl in the robes smiled warmly as she reached out to the fox, who she gave a gentle pat on the head. When she felt the little animal respond in kind, she giggled happily. "Hey there, Tama-chan." The fox licked her palm and yipped happily at the gesture, earning a cheerful look from the woman. "My name is Sayuka. Are you, by any chance, the same little fox my grandmother met all those years ago? The one who helped find her way back home when she got lost in the woods?"
Her answer came when the fox swished her tail and produced a familiar ball of blue fire at the tip, before the tiny mammal sprang into the air. Seeing her burst into blue flames during her impossibly high jump, both Naruto and Sayuka then saw her land on top of the massive Torii behind them, only she was no longer a little white fox. When the flames surrounding her dissipated, they revealed a gorgeous, curvaceous, naked woman with dark skin, a head of short white hair with two fox ears protruding from it, and a long fluffy tail that waved elegantly behind her. Perching herself on the edge of the Torii's ledge, Tama crossed her legs in a seductive manner and smiled down at the two youngsters, the oldest of which she could see was gaping up at her.
Naruto, completely ignoring the fact that his vixen friend was naked, chuckled as he placed his hands on his hips and watched her cover herself with her tail, "You're such a show off, Tama-chan."
The woman with fox ears giggled. "I know." She then winked at the blond.
When the jinchuriki eventually looked back at Sayuka, he then shrugged. "So… does that answer your question?"
Turning back to the visitor from afar, the shrine maiden quickly shook herself out of her stunned reverie and smiled brightly. "Yes. Most definitely." It was in that moment Naruto saw the touching sight of Sayuka's eyes glittering with delight and wonder, which served to lift his own spirits.
In the end Sayuka took Naruto and Tama on a personal tour of the destroyed temple and the forests surrounding it, showing them both the damages the war had caused to the grounds, as well as the places that were the most visited. Eventually the young shrine maiden asked the pair to join her and her grandparents for lunch, to which the duo accepted and were guided back to the little house at the edge of the temple's estate. Though the grandmother was stunned to see Tamamo again after so many years, she nevertheless invited both her and Naruto into her home with open arms, and treated them to an excellent meal of fried rice, roast pork belly, and vegetable stir fry.
All in all, even though he was faced with a potential scolding from the Hokage and Iruka-sensei when he returned home, Naruto could say without a shadow of a doubt that this trip had definitely been worth it.
OOO
(Evening)
The stay at the little house turned out to be a very educational experience for Naruto. In speaking with the elderly couple, he was able to learn a great deal about the history of the temple and the village it was built in. He was also able to find out more about Tama and how she came to interact with them. In exchange for these tales, including the magnificent lunch they'd given him, he told them about how he found Tama, nursed her back to health, and how she'd become one of the most important people in his life. Though his story paled in comparison to the grandmother's recollections, they were still good memories nonetheless.
After sharing tea and cake with the shrine maiden and her grandparents, Naruto quickly saw how late it was getting and told them all that he had to leave. Though Sayuka and the old couple offered the child to spend the night, as they were more than happy to roll out an extra bed for him, the jinchuriki said that he didn't want to take advantage of their kindness and overstay his welcome, as they'd already gone through the trouble of feeding him. Wanting to see more of the countryside before his eventual hike back to Konoha, he instead asked the family if there were any inns close by.
Sayuka pointed him in the direction of a hotel with an excellent hot spring and view of the surrounding countryside, and also gave the boy a discount voucher so that he didn't have to pay full price for it. Thanking her for the gift, and making sure to write down her details so that he could stay in touch with her, Naruto and Tama then left Genno Temple and headed for the hotel.
The lodging was only a couple of hills over from where the temple was and, much to the delinquent's delight, it was much bigger and classier than he original anticipated. A large, traditional oriental style building with an enormous garden, tatami mat rooms, eating facilities, and a large bathing area in the back overlooking a stretch of valleys and forests beyond. After checking into the facility at the front desk and being shown a room, Naruto wasted no time in stripping down, grabbing a towel, and heading straight for the onsens at the rear of the property.
Tama followed after him, and after getting a bit lost inside the halls thanks to there being no signs posted anywhere, found the entrance to the bathing areas… though not the kind of entryway he was expecting. Leaving his bathrobe and gear on the shelves and baskets provided, the jinchuriki then slipped into the open area, scrubbed himself down at the washing station, and then stepped into the hot pool of water.
A loud sigh left the blonde's lips as his body sunk into the pond, his muscles immediately loosening up as they were submerged in the herbal tide. "Aaaahh… man… this is awesome." Placing a folded up towel on top of his head, the youngster then made himself comfortable, as he knew he was going to be here for a while. "If I was to die right now, at this very moment, I wouldn't care."
He was already in heaven.
Tama meanwhile hopped into the bath as well, and after a bit of a swim around, found a spot underneath a miniature manmade waterfall. It was here she hopped up, shook herself dry, and decided to have a quick nap on the rocks.
Seeing this had Naruto laugh, as he then lay into his sitting area and took a look out over the fence. Beneath the sparkling chandelier of the night sky, the jinchuriki saw snowcapped mountains in the distance, vast fields and rolling hills at their bases and, as the land drew closer, enormous, thick patches of forests stretching from one vanishing point to the next. The sight of steam clouds also rising into the night air showed Naruto the number of hot spots there were in the region, indicating that there were more geyser pools nearby.
"I have to remember to bring Tayuya-chan here sometime in the future. I bet she would love this," Naruto sighed. He the closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Nothing beats a nice, relaxing dip in the hot springs after a long day of traveling."
"I completely agree. You can almost feel all the stress and anxiety being washed from your body," a new voice spoke up from directly beside him.
Naruto chuckled and raised a hand, "I know, right?" He then looked over at the person sharing the spring with him, only to freeze the instant he noticed the individual sitting directly beside him was a very cute, fair-skinned young girl about the same age as him, with a head of straight blonde hair cut into an asymmetrical bob style, and a pair of cool, sharp, captivating blue eyes that seemed to pierce the cloud of steam hanging between them.
Back resting against the rocks, the girl was currently looking across at the young traveler with a calm, neutral expression in play, despite both of them being completely naked and in such close proximity with one another.
Blinking as he stared back at the person just three feet from him in surprise, Naruto slowly raised a hand and waved. "Uh… hi there?" He could be thankful for the fact that most of her body, particularly her chest, was submerged in water, otherwise this would've been far more awkward than it already was.
A small smile sprang upon the blonde girl's lips as she replied casually, "Hello. How are you this evening?"
"I'm fine. How about you?" the 'jinchuriki' returned gracelessly, not really quite knowing where this interaction was going to go, but hoping it didn't result in him being punched… or thrown out. He just got here for crying out loud. "Enjoying yourself?"
The beautiful stranger answered with a shrug. "I can't complain. As you said earlier, this basin is a very nice and relaxing place to be. The hot water mixed in with the salts are doing wonders in relieving the tension from my back and shoulders," the blonde informed, closing her eyes while at the same time rolling her back against the rocks. "All we need now is some koto music in the background and this would be perfect."
"Oh yeah. That would be pretty great." Appearing curious, Naruto then cracked an intrigued smile. "You really like hot springs too, huh?"
The mysterious girl nodded dreamily. "They're somewhere at the top of my list, yes. But of course, who doesn't enjoy a trip to the onsen at the end of an exhausting day?" She then slid open an eye and glanced at the spiky haired boy with the cloth folded on top of his head and scar across his left eyebrow. "Problem?"
"Nah. Not at all," Naruto replied with a quick head shake, during which he felt the boiling waters suck him back in. "I think it's great to meet someone who enjoys a hot bath just as much as I do." He then held a hand up and counted on his fingers. "Not only does it help clear your skin and boost your blood circulation levels, it also reduces muscle pain, stress, fatigue, and increases your vitality and improves your general wellbeing."
This earned an appreciative look from the girl. "You seem to have quite a bit of knowledge about this area yourself."
"I've researched a few things," Naruto replied while lazily reaching up to scrub his wet hair. "Since I do a lot of exercising and heavy lifting, I figured it would be good for me to know a few of the things I can use to mend my body, and make sure it doesn't break down on me during training. After all, you can't be a good fighter if you don't take good care of yourself."
"That's true," the girl replied understandingly. "Better to be safe than sorry."
"Yeah. Heh-heh," Naruto laughed, seconds until his voice petered out and left him sitting in uncomfortable silence. As the steam of the hot spring continued to whirl and cloud around them, the still smiling jinchuriki raised a hand and pointed down at the water. "I'm… not on the men's side, am I?"
His answer came in an amused head shake from the girl and a straightforward, "No."
"And… the whole time I was washing up… you've just been sitting here?"
"Yes."
"So that means you heard and saw-"
"Everything."
"Okay." After a moment of pause, the blond gave a weary sigh. "Well… shit," Naruto groaned, leaning back against the rocks and scrunching his face up irritably. "Not much I can do about it now. I'm already here, sitting in the water in a really comfortable spot… so I ain't movin'." He then glanced across at the girl, half inquisitively and half hopefully. "You don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all. It's always nice to have some company, especially in the onsen," the girl remarked, before then cocking her head to the side. "However, I don't think my teammate will appreciate it very much when she shows up in the next few minutes and finds you sitting here, talking with me. She said she would be meeting up with me after she's finished dinner, which will probably take a while considering how much she loves the food in this place."
"Ah. I see." Naruto then blinked when his mind finally processed that last bit of information. "You're a kunoichi?"
"Indeed," the blonde responded, placing her hands upon her submerged thighs, turning to him, and bowing in a proper manner. "My name is Samui… Samui Shimizu of Kumogakure. Nice to meet you."
Clumsily returning the elegant gesture, Naruto responded with a cheerful grin. "Ditto. Although… I only wish I was better dressed for the occasion." He chuckled as he saw the girl straighten up where she was sitting. "Wearing only a towel and a washcloth isn't exactly how I imagined meeting a cute girl for the first time. It's so un-cool."
Samui giggled at the end as she readjusted her position once more. "I'm flattered by your compliment. But all things considered, you seem to be holding your composure rather well. By that disposition alone you're probably far better off than I am."
Naruto scoffed as he leaned back against the stone wall, resting his arms and elbows above the water in a rather roguish manner. "I highly doubt that." He then smiled and pointed a thumb at himself. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki; resident delinquent, street-fighter and all-around troublemaker."
"Lovely titles," Samui commented with a bit of a humorous smirk. "I'm assuming they were all earned?"
"More or less," Naruto chuckled, dropping one hand back into the water to soak his forearm. "I take what I can get wherever I can… especially since I don't really have anything else to add to my name. No home. No family. No reputation. I'm just a nobody, really."
The Genin tilted her head. "Don't sell yourself short. From what I can tell, you're an incredibly thoughtful, practical, and honorable man of noble bearing. Individual qualities that should not be forsaken so easily," Samui informed with a sincere tone of voice.
Hearing this had Naruto tilt his head and smile graciously. "Thanks. That… really means a lot coming from you. Honest." He then gestured towards her observantly. "I can tell you're a very smart and sophisticated person as well. Do you study a lot?"
Samui beamed in a subdued, mischievous manner, "I've been known for it."
"Cool. I've always admired smart people… especially my friend Tayuya. She has a very level head on her shoulders and can do a lot of stuff that I can't. Like figure out problems by thinking outside the box and remembering incredibly long formulas. Frankly, I have no idea where she keeps it all," Naruto said, at the same time gazing across at the girl deferentially. "To me, you seem to be the kind of person who's clever, headstrong, and has a good sense of things around her all in one. Those are the kinds of stuff that make for a great kunoichi and a great leader. I think that's really awesome."
His words had Samui's cheeks redden somewhat as she lowered her head to her bathing companion amiably, "Thanks."
Grinning at being able to stay on the girl's good side, Naruto then threw her a puzzled look. "Shimizu?" Repeating that in his head a couple of times, the child then came upon an answer. "That name translates to 'Pure Water' doesn't it? 'Shi' stands for 'clear' and 'mizu' means 'water', right?"
"Indeed. It's an old name… and one that not many people from other countries would be familiar with," the blonde girl replied, cupping her hand and bringing some water up from the spring. She then proceeded to wash her arm while engaging in informative dialogue with her male company. "My family has been part of the hidden cloud ever since our village was founded by the First Raikage over a hundred years ago. In that time, we've made a name for ourselves for producing some of the most efficient strategists and swordsmen in our military. The name of our family in particular reflects the physical and mental clarity of our clan members, emphasizing our high regard for propriety and efficiency. Though… for some cases, these qualities tend to fall a little bit short." Like her brother for example.
He was the more hot-headed member of their family, and didn't exactly take their teachings to heart.
At this exposition Naruto couldn't help but grin. "Well, you certainly live up to those expectations. I can tell you that right now." He then moved his head to the side and threw her his signature smile. "Smart, pretty, and you have a cool name to boot. That's three-for-three on my checklist so far."
His additional compliment had the Genin kunoichi stare at him for a moment, before then giving him a warm smile and a well-earned blush. "You really know how to lay on the charms, don't you?"
Naruto shrugged. "I'm kind of well-known in my village for being honest and straightforward… though I think my teacher uses a different word to describe my character." He then snapped his fingers a couple of times in infuriating thought, before then pointing across at Samui triumphantly. "Direct! That's it!"
Samui giggled at his answer. "Sometimes less is better than more. Even though you may be incredibly candid with your words, I should tell you that your remarks in this instance are greatly appreciated."
The blond delinquent gave a nervous laugh. "To be fair, I'm just doing everything I can to avoid getting punched in the face or having my eyes gauged out. Seeing as how we're sitting in the same bath together, I'm still in something of a tight spot." He then leaned away a little and cringed, as if anticipating an attack. "Is it working?"
Much to his pleasant surprise, the blonde girl responded to his worried question by tentatively brushing several strands of hair behind her ear and edging closer to him. The added proximity had Naruto blink in surprise and blush when her shoulder came into contact with his.
"It is."
Naruto was, in a word, ecstatic. After about half a day of traveling and another half being spent hanging out at Sakuya's grandparents' home in Tama's temple, the youngster had thought his string of good fortune had come to an abrupt end when he accidentally found himself on the wrong side of the hot springs at what was to be his overnight halt. However, much to his pleasant disbelief, he was now engaging in a very enlightening conversation with a kunoichi from a village other than Konohagakure.
His first run in with another ninja from a different country had boiled down to the two of them demolishing an entire market square and nearly having his eye taken out. But the day after this event, Naruto was unexpectedly thrust into the extraordinary position of discussing tourism, geography, and training regiments with a person who would normally be considered an enemy by his village.
It was this fact that worried him the most when he eventually revealed to Samui that he actually came from Konoha's Shinobi Academy and that he hadn't even graduated yet. Of course, the delinquent once again had all his fears thrown back at him when she simply waved it off in favor of their conversation, which made their time in the spring a hell of a lot more enjoyable. She also promised to keep this information strictly between them, and to not reveal his origins to her team.
The best bit about their talk however wasn't just how the pair seemed to hit it off right away, but also the context of their discussions. Naruto found great enjoyment talking with the well-mannered, incredibly articulate and sophisticated Samui, as her personality seemed to compliment his laidback, casual manner of banter, and open-hearted temperament so well. Unlike with guys like Sasuke and Choji, Naruto was able to have a far more mentally stimulating conversation with her, as they were able to talk in a more mature and holistic way. Also, by slipping in the occasional joke and jab at the other's expense, also brought a great deal of humor to their communication. From a distance their teasing seemed a lot more like underdeveloped flirting than anything else, even though there were no underlying motivations.
Nevertheless, both children were easily and completely taken with the other, and as their conversation evolved, so did its content.
"So you plan on becoming a strong shinobi one day, is that it?" Samui asked, at the same time looking at the boy next to her with interest.
"Yeah. I want to become strong enough to defend my village and my friends from anyone that tries to attack them. Perhaps… even become strong enough to be recognized around the world," Naruto replied, still resting back with his washcloth still sitting on his head. "I also want to prove that my brand of fighting can go the distance in the shinobi profession. Even if I fail, I'll just pick myself back up, try again, and keep on going… just like I always have."
The kunoichi from Kumo frowned a little, "As a shinobi, you might not get the chance to pick yourself back up if you fail. A lot of bad and unexpected things can happen to you on a mission." Samui shrugged. "You might even end up being killed."
"Yeah. That's definitely a possibility," Naruto said with a sigh, before then giving the Genin a positive smile. "But, if something like that were to end up happening, at least my last day on this planet was interesting."
Samui's lips quirked upwards in amusement, "Such optimism."
"I don't intend on dying though," the blond stated, crossing his arms firmly while still smirking. "Not until I've fulfilled all of my goals."
"Well, for that I wish you the best of luck," the Kumo Genin said with the best of intentions.
"And to you too," Naruto replied in kind. As the pair continued to sit and enjoy the spa, with Tama also deciding to hop in for another dip in the shallows, the 'jinchuriki' then gave a groan and a stretch. "So… you said your team was on some kind of mission to a village near here?"
Samui nodded, "That's right."
"Though I know it's not really any of my business, seeing as how I'm a civilian and everything, but I am curious as to what kind of mission you're on. The last group I ran into was on some kind of delivery job from Kirigakure. I don't know what they were carrying, but it must've been something pretty important. What about you guys?"
The kunoichi frowned and looked up thoughtfully. "Our village received a B-Rank request from a small settlement to the west of here. Apparently they're having some kind of problem with a large carnivorous fish of some kind that's attacking their people and scaring away all the smaller animals in the lake, and they want us to come and take care of it."
"A fish?" Naruto laughed a little. "They called you all the way down here for something like that?"
"A job is a job," Samui replied with a shrug. "This is just one of the kinds of missions that your village may send you on when you graduate and become a Genin. D-Rank missions for example can range from a series of odd chores including painting houses, finding lost things, fixing doors and chasing animals. These will normally keep you inside of your village's borders and away from danger. C-Rank and B-Rank missions on the other hand will take you out of the country and to other places that are far more perilous, whether they be delivery jobs, parcel pick-ups, hunting excursions, escorts, or taking care of various problems. Either way, every assignment is an experience."
Naruto, vaguely noticing Tama swim over to clamber up the rocks behind him, then crossed his arms and smiled. "This sounds like something I'd like to see firsthand." He then nodded towards her. "Would you and your team mind if I tagged along? You guys are heading in the direction I'm going to be walking anyway, so I could at least follow you down to the village to see what's up."
Thinking on it for a moment, the blonde girl then shared with the boy a smile. "I certainly wouldn't mind it. But I'm not sure what the rest of my team would have to say…"
"Say what, Samui?"
The new voice quickly had the pair turn to look across the bathing area, where they saw another figure had arrived on the scene. Naruto almost swallowed his own tongue when, standing a few feet from them, he saw a dark-skinned, curvaceous young woman with green eyes and short white hair that had the two longest bangs reaching down to her shoulders. What's more, not only was she not wearing anything other than a towel wrapped tightly around her chest and torso, the white sheet wasn't covering up much either. This meant that her long, slender legs were exposed below the hip, and the frame of her slim waist and bountiful cleavage was also outlined perfectly through the fabric.
Needless to say, even though Naruto had met a great deal of attractive females in his time, this woman was still incredibly stunning.
As Naruto did his best to regain his composure, Samui smiled at the older kunoichi standing nearby. "My new friend here is wondering if it would be possible for him to accompany us on our mission, since all of us are going to be travelling down the same road he'll be following down south. Would that be okay with you, Mabui-sensei?"
"A traveler, huh?" Cocking an eyebrow, the cool looking Jonin in the towel glanced down at Naruto, who'd managed to calm down enough to stare firmly back at her. "Are you heading home to your village, young man?"
The young jinchuriki nodded. "Y-Yeah. I… live down south in the Land of Fire, just a two-day walk from here. I came up to this village to visit a friend's place in a nearby temple."
"You do understand I cannot allow any civilians slowing us down or interfering with our mission," Mabui replied, her face remaining calm despite her current state of dress. However, considering the boy in front of her was just a kid, she had very little to be worried about by way of modesty. "We're running on a tight enough schedule as it is and cannot afford any delays. That means we won't be taking any breaks or detours along the highway."
"I know," Naruto responded quickly and with a pleasant expression in play. "Don't worry. I can keep up with you guys, no problem… and I promise I won't get in the way of your mission."
Accepting his answer, Mabui nodded before exhaling and promptly removing her towel. Once again Naruto almost suffered from multiple strokes when all the blood in his body seemingly rushed up to his face at seeing the twenty-five year old woman disrobe and step into the spring. Samui giggled when she watched the blond collapse against the stone wall of the pool with a dazed expression in play, while Tama sat up on the ground nearby with an amused grin stretched over her snout.
The white haired woman sighed as she leant back against the stone, moments before her gaze turned over to Samui and her newfound companion. "We set out first thing tomorrow morning at six. I trust you to make sure Omoi, Karui and yourself are ready by then, as we'll be heading straight to Karatsu Village from here."
Samui nodded in understanding, while Naruto straightened up and listened in to the woman's instructions as well. "Hai, sensei."
"GAAAH! WHAT THE HELL!" The sudden shout from the onsen entrance had the three people present turn around, where they instantly spotted another young girl with dark skin and dark red hair, wrapped in a white towel, trying to hide behind one of the bamboo barricades. Blushing to the roots of her hair and looking quite shocked, the obviously alarmed girl turned her attention to her teammate. "W-WHY IS THERE A BOY IN HERE, SAMUI?!"
In spite of the girl's anger, the three people and the little fox present all remained completely calm. The blonde Genin in particular simply smiled at her embarrassed friend and spoke casually. "What does it look like? He's taking a bath with us."
"Yes! I can see that! But why in here?! This is the girl's hot springs!" Karui snapped back, her face virtually glowing at this point as she did her best to keep her towel firmly wrapped around her body. "Why haven't you two tossed him over the wall or murdered him yet?"
Mabui merely shrugged and went back to enjoying the spring. "It's really nothing to get excited about, Karui. After all, he's just a child and I'm an adult. Not to mention Samui here has been enjoying the pleasure of his company for the last several minutes without any complaints or reservations, so what's the big deal?"
The redheaded girl coughed on her words, "E-Enjoying his company?" What was this madness she was hearing?
Figuring he'd now spent enough time here, especially since the situation was now becoming quite hazardous, Naruto sighed and stood up, making sure his towel was wrapped firmly around him as he did. "Well… I guess it's time for me to turn in for the night." As he rose from the water dripping wet, he noticed Samui checking him out from her spot next to him, which prompted him to smile. "I'll meet you guys tomorrow at the front gate, yeah?"
Upon getting Samui's answer, the jinchuriki then climbed up the rocks and onto the floor, causing Karui to squeak and duck behind her hiding spot as he approached. Tama trotted after her human companion, making sure to stay in step with him as he passed the Kumo Genin and into the changing rooms.
Stopping for a moment, Naruto turned to the newcomer and grinned, "Nice to meet you-"
"Yeah! Fine! Whatever! Just leave already, you pervert!" Karui shouted at him.
"Alright! Alright! Leaving!" Thanks to that ferocious response, the jinchuriki was encouraged to leave even fast, lest he suffer the wrath of the half-naked, angry girl. He managed to leg it just in time to avoid being hit over the head by the scrubbing brush Karui chucked after him.
The entire ordeal served to make Mabui chuckle and Samui laugh into her hand, as the sight of seeing Naruto scamper away holding his towel was quite entertaining.
XXX
(Next morning)
At the crack of dawn, following a quick breakfast of rice and fruit, Naruto met up with his newfound friends at the front gate of the hotel. Being the first to wake up, the jinchuriki was able to greet the team from Kumogakure as they came ambling down the footpath. However, following last night's rather turbulent series of events, even though all of the girls were wearing clothes this time around, it didn't stop the jinchuriki from blushing brightly when he waved to both Samui and Mabui. A quick head shake and a few deep breaths quickly got him back to ground level.
After being introduced to the sole male member of Samui's team, Omoi, and receiving a hateful glare from Karui when he attempted to apologize to her for last night, the blond then fell in line with them as the squad from the hidden cloud began making their way southward. Hitting the same dirt road Naruto had used to travel to this part of the country in the first place, the team of shinobi eventually broke right when they came across a fork, and began passing through a very hilly, forested area. With Mabui following the map provided to her by the Raikage, the woman kept the team on course, while the students she was in charge of engaged in conversation with their unexpected tagalong.
"I heard you got into a bit of a tense situation with one of my teammates last night," the dark-skinned young male Omoi spoke up, rolling the lollipop he had between his lips while throwing Naruto an amused grin. "I have to say, it takes a lot of stones to get into a hot spring with a kunoichi from my village… especially with one of these three ladies."
The period they were walking had given Naruto time to reflect upon and admire the group's respective uniforms. Being such a tightknit team from such a stand-up village, all of them were dressed similarly to one another and each bore the headband of their place of origin. Their Jonin sensei Mabui had gone for a grey, drop-shoulder crop top that exposed her shoulders, cleavage and taut midriff, black tight spandex pants, white forearm guards, shin guards, sandals, two pouches on her belt behind her waist, and a tantō sheathed directly over her shoulder. Karui had gone for a greyish-green winter jacket, black spandex pants, white waist armor with a single shoulder strap on the left, and a katana sheathed onto her back. Omoi wore a greyish-green coat with a fur collar, black pants, waist armor, shin guards, and a katana at his side. And finally, Samui had adorned a grey kimono top over a form-fitting fishnet armor, a pair of black spandex shorts, red wrist guards, shin guards, and her own custom design waist armor with no straps. She also had a tantō fixed to the back of her own belt.
Needless to say, all of them were well-dressed and armed to the teeth, telling everyone they passed on the road that they were not to be messed with.
Naruto chuckled, keeping his hands in his pockets and Tama balanced comfortably atop his left shoulder. "I'm surprised I wasn't beaten up the moment I stepped into that bath." As he walked along, he failed to notice Samui staring intently at the white vixen perched on his collar, who was also tentatively reaching over to pet her on the head. "The girls back in my hometown wouldn't think twice about beating up a guy for walking in on them while they were naked."
In response, the gruff looking Karui glared at the young traveler. "I take it you know from personal experience."
Realizing he'd been put in check, the delinquent raised his hands abruptly, "No. No. I mean from seeing other guys do it firsthand. On one day in particular, when the girls in the springs discovered a group of teenage boys peeping into their side of the bath, they came after them armed with wash buckets and brushes."
Overhearing their conversation, a previously quiet Mabui chuckled in the background. "The women of Kumogakure would do the same thing too. Only they'd come after you with swords and kunai, and a zero chance of running away from them."
Naruto paled at this news, upon which he then turned his attention to Samui. "You guys… really don't mess around, do you?"
The blonde kunoichi smiled devilishly and shook her head. "It's not in our nature to take it easy. We pride ourselves on the strength of our teachings and our unbreakable will of iron."
"Though a lot of people say Konohagakure has produced some of the strongest shinobi in history, our village of Kumogakure has also had its own fair share of formidable ninja. This includes our Kenjutsu master and teacher, Killer Bee-sensei," Omoi informed, keeping his hands in his pockets as they continued to march along the winding road.
"He's one of the best warriors to come from the hidden cloud and is regarded as our people's greatest hero. Every single person in Kumogakure looks up to him," Karui stated, her voice filled with wonder, pride, and admiration, while her expression reflected an unwavering sense of confidence. "I don't think there's a shinobi alive who can stand up to his strength…"
"Except maybe Raikage-sama," Omoi said at the end, glancing across at Karui to see his female teammate's expression drop. "Even though they are comrades and brothers-in-arms, it is clear out of the two of them who's the strongest. Killer Bee-sensei has always done what Raikage-sama has asked of him and takes all of his warnings and counsel to heart." This then led to the boy with white hair to reach up and massage his chin thoughtfully. "Although… Bee-sensei does have a tendency to ignore many of our village leader's commands and has a habit of wandering off on a day-to-day basis. As much as he respects Raikage-sama's authority, he very frequently shrugs off or outright ignores his lectures. Perhaps he's much more knowledgeable about the world than Raikage-sama thinks… or perhaps he overestimates his own-"
"Omoi, I swear to Kami, if you start rambling on again, I will punch you in the spleen," Karui growled, raising a fist to the boy and shaking it at him. Her threat immediately had Omoi shut up, while the kunoichi glared daggers in his direction. "Geez. If you keep that up, one of these days you're going to have a nervous breakdown, or worse… I might just end up killing you myself."
"What? For being more forward thinking than you are?
"No. For being a royal pain in the ass! That's what!"
While the boy went on to argue with his red haired teammate over his methods of problem solving and the merits of consideration, a keenly observing Naruto leaned over to whisper to an unconcerned Samui. "Are they always like that?"
The blonde girl closed her eyes, "Sadly… yes. But you get used to it after a while."
Glancing back at their Jonin instructor, who was seemingly allowing their loud discussion to carry on unabated, the observant Naruto then tilted his head. "This Killer Bee person… is he your main instructor or something?"
Samui nodded and looked back at the boy proudly. "Yes. He is our official team leader and our most regular teacher. Unfortunately, due to his importance to the village and standing in the governing council, the Raikage does not allow him to take us outside the village or beyond our borders."
"Oh. So then… instead of your regular sensei, your Raikage assigned you another team leader for missions outside of Kumogakure?" Naruto asked, putting two-and-two together while also taking a glance back at Mabui.
"That's correct. Mabui-sensei is our supplementary instructor… and is also an assistant to the Fourth Raikage. That means she is a very capable and effective kunoichi. Perhaps the best in all of the hidden cloud," Samui informed, obviously holding the woman in very high regard.
"I'll bet," Naruto remarked, tearing his eyes away from the gorgeous, white-haired Jonin to smile at Samui. "I can tell that you guys work really well together… and that all three of you are really strong." Hopefully the team he was eventually assigned to would be a great one too. He was hoping for it… counting on it.
Smiling at the boy's appraisal, the young blonde with the bob cut then looked back towards the road they were following with a faraway expression. "We train, learn and practice drills together, and emphasize the importance of cooperation every day. It's not just about how strong we are as individuals… but teamwork, and knowing how to fight together, is fundamentally the most important thing for us shinobi to know."
Taking this information to heart as something he could use for the future, Naruto continued his conversation with the blonde, as well as with both Omoi and Karui once the two of them had stopped bickering. Now that a lot of the stress and disagreements had been effectively dispelled from their circle, the squad from Kumo was able to have a more relaxed and cordial trek towards their destination. When they eventually passed over the last hill and down towards the town, what they came across was something they didn't quite expect.
The group descended into a wide, flat area surrounded by rolling hills covered in forests and a couple of rivers converging on an enormous lake, which seemed to stretch five to ten miles across in all directions. Despite being in such a lush, bright, and healthy-looking area, with a series of beautiful mountains lining the horizon and white clouds drifting overhead, the village itself and the fields surrounding it looked as though they'd seen better days. With the muddy roads, boggy crops, and damp, rundown buildings making up the majority of the small community, the entire settlement looked as though it'd been sent back to the medieval periods; where plagues were all the rage and the entire place was run by peasants with pitchforks.
The group weren't that far off from their observations either, for as soon as they started passing through the beaten up town, they could see exhausted, frightened villagers peering out of their homes and watching them from the shadows. Initially put off by the sight of the miserable, disheveled people around them, and the fact that most of the place was deserted, the Kumogakure team then stopped in the middle of the highway, just a few hundred meters away from the pier leading out onto the lake.
"Geez… what's with this place?" Naruto wondered out loud, placing his hands on his hips while Tama also looked around quizzically. "Why is everyone acting so scared? Is it because we're here?" He directed this question towards Samui and the others.
"I don't think so," Mabui answered, also feeling a tad bit concerned at what she was seeing.
"You know that fork in the road about a mile back?" Karui asked, at the same time pointing over her shoulder and back up the hill. "Did we take a wrong turn or something? Because I don't think we're in the right place."
"No," Mabui shook her head, deciding at that moment that it was best for her to take point, and stepped forward. "This is the Karatsu Village on the map we were following. I'm sure of it." She then turned towards a nearby house and addressed the woman she could see poking her head through the dark entrance. "Excuse me! Do you know where we can find the village chieftain? He sent a message out to Kumogakure requesting a squad of shinobi for a pest problem!"
For about a minute the Jonin didn't receive a response, except for seeing a few more people step out into the open and begin filling the road. Taking note of the haggard states of the civilians, the group soon had their attention drawn to the middle of the dirt path when they saw a middle-aged man with a goatee, a straw hat, wearing a dark blue fishing kimono, brown pants, and wooden sandals approach them from around the bend.
Tipping his hat up, the man with the facial hair spoke, "Are the four of you… Team Bee?"
As the youngsters stepped back, Mabui edged past them and walked up to the man, at the same time pulling a scroll out from her back pouch. "Yes." She then held out the document to him for verification. "I take it you're Tenzen-san… the one who sent Kumogakure the request?"
"Yes. That's me." The village leader nodded before exhaling deeply in relief. "I'm so glad you managed to come. Though I was hoping your village would send a larger force, I guess you guys will have to do."
When Tenzen took the scroll, the female Jonin frowned. "Could you tell us what's going on around here? Why is your village in such a poor and rundown state?"
Analyzing the surrounding buildings and noticing a few of them had recently been repaired, Omoi then turned and spoke up. "It looks like you guys were attacked by someone… or something."
"And judging from the buildings and surrounding crops… I'd say quite recently," Samui also noted, spotting a collapsed building nearby with a couple of people trying to retrieve some of the remaining intact furniture and possessions from the debris.
As more people gathered on the main road, the bulky village leader Tenzen inhaled deeply and walked around the group. "Come with me." He then beckoned the team to follow him, which they immediately did.
Walking down the road, the four out of town ninja and lone traveler came upon the town's fishing quarter by the lake. When they arrived, Naruto and everyone discovered to their bewilderment an utterly ruined jetty, various abandoned shacks and stalls, and almost every single boat tied up by the wharf sunk or capsized. From large sail boats to single-seater rowboats, nothing was left floating on the water. If that wasn't baffling enough, when the group came to the shore just several yards down from the pier, they found a skinny old man with grey, scraggly hair, wearing a brown headband, khaki kimono top, pants, and obi, squatting by the water and tossing cucumbers into it.
Using a small whittling knife, the old man would carve something into the side of each vegetable, bow to the lake, and then throw the aforementioned offering into it, where he would ten watch it float out into the open. Naruto, Samui and the rest of the group stopped and observed the elder do this for a couple of minutes, not really sure how to respond to this until Karui spoke.
"What is he doing?"
"From what I can tell… fishing," Naruto murmured, watching the dozen cucumbers the man had carved float out over the water with his hands in his pockets. Tama also whined a little in confusion.
Mabui then glanced across at the taller Tenzen, "What is he doing, exactly?"
The village leader sighed, "He's making an offering." When he saw the group of youngsters look around at one another in confusion, Tenzen proceeded to clarify the situation. "About two years ago, during a time when food was plentiful and the village was thriving, the fishermen out on the lake were suddenly attacked by some kind of creature from the water. At first we thought it was some sort of large salamander or giant cat fish, as it would drag people into the lake through their fishing lines or from the shallows. But when it started coming out of the water and attacking the people on the land, we quickly realized that this was no ordinary predator…"
Omoi blinked, pulling his hands out of his pockets. "What is it? A crocodile?"
"No. Not a crocodile. A demon," the elder by the water spoke, drawing the group's attention to him. Looking over his shoulder with cucumber and knife in hand, the old man gave the new arrivals a foreboding look. "A master of the rivers and waters; a suijin who preys upon those who stray too close to its domain. It hunts from the depths of the lagoon, beyond our sight and sound. As soon as it sees your shadow peering over the banks or drifting overhead in a boat, it'll pounce… and pull you down into the crushing depths of its dwelling, where it'll feast upon you… body and soul." Continuing to carve into the vegetable, he then set aside the knife, bowed to the lake, and threw it in. "To it, we humans are nothing more than food and game to sate its monstrous appetite."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "And you're feeding it?"
The elder lowered his head sadly. "He has already eaten many of my family." He then picked up another offering from the basket next to him. "But, if I write the names of all of us that are left on these cucumbers… the monster takes the vegetables and leaves us alone… for a month." A quick glance back at the youngsters told them all the severity of their position. "He really likes cucumbers."
Taking in this information, Mabui then gave Tenzen a puzzled look. "So… you're saying that this… thing… came out of the lake and started rampaging through your village?"
The chief nodded gravely. "After realizing it was going after the people fishing out on the lake, we stopped all traffic over the water to cut off its food supply, in a hopes that it would starve or go away. But that only made things worse." Tenzen then glared across the enormous pond stretching out in front of them. "It began moving onto shore and attacking the settlements around the lake, dragging people into the water. We tried hiring expert hunters and fishermen to catch and kill the beast, but every single person has tried and failed. Now everyone is terrified of even going near the area."
Samui turned and looked up at the man. "Why don't you people just move from here?"
"And go where?" Tenzen asked, shaking his head at the young girl. "We're a simple fishing village. We have nowhere else to go… nor the means to financially support ourselves. And even if we could, we can't." He then turned and faced Mabui seriously. "When we started sending people away, the monster became angry and started ambushing the families leaving via the roads and outlying bridges. Whatever this thing is… it knows exactly how many people are in its hunting grounds; by scent and by name. Now it's keeping all of us here prisoner… like fresh stock to feed on if we ever stopped giving it offerings."
Not liking this news one bit, Mabui and the rest of the group turned back to the lake, which they regarded cautiously. At first they were expecting this to be just a simple pest-extermination mission, where they would hunt down whatever animal was causing all the disturbances in the area, kill it, and then be on their way. But as it turns out, the situation was far worse than they'd imagined.
"I'm assuming we won't be able to leave here then," Mabui murmured, a bead of nervous sweat running down the side of her face. "Not without endangering ourselves and the rest of the village." She then glanced at Tenzen, who was appearing just as nervous as she was. "If the situation was this bad, why didn't you ask for shinobi from Yugakure… or pay for an S-Rank mission instead?"
Tenzen held up his hands defensively, "We're a small town… and we're very poor. My people and I scraped together everything we had in this village just to pay for this mission. Since we had so little, we had no choice but to ask for a B-Rank application. We tried asking Yugakure, but their prices were too steep, and much of their shinobi force has been retired. So we sent a message to Kumogakure, as we knew your village would have ninja capable of dealing with something like this." He then lowered his hands when he saw Mabui's expression falter. "I took a big risk sending that message. We're incredibly fortunate it managed to get through."
Taking a moment to think about it, Mabui surveyed both the lake and the village behind them. With the situation fully explained and the stakes set, the kunoichi was left with very few options. She'd brought her team on this village under the pretenses of a simple catch-and-kill animal job. But, after finally entering the town and speaking with the locals, they quickly discovered that this was no longer the case, and that this job's initial ranking went beyond that of a poultry B-Rank job. Since they'd also entered this creature's hunting area, her and her squad ran the risk of angering it if they left. So with leaving being too dangerous and hanging back to wait for help not giving them much room to work, Mabui quickly knew what she had to do.
Apparently the rest of her squad did too.
"We have to catch this thing," Naruto spoke up, a determined expression on his and Tama's faces as they looked across at the Kumogakure group they'd journeyed to this town with. "Catch it and kill it."
Completely in agreement with the delinquent, Samui turned to address her team leader. "We can't let this monster- whatever it is- continue roaming around the area, attacking people in the town and on the road."
"I'm with Naruto and Samui on this one," Omoi also said, with both him and Karui looking up at their Jonin instructor resolutely. "We need to get this thing and stop it from killing anyone else."
Breathing a heavy sigh, Mabui reached up and rubbed the back of her head. "Guess we don't have much choice." She then placed her hands on her hips and looked down at her squad. "Alright. We're going to go with a bait-and-trap, crossbow formation; lure this thing to the surface of the lake and take it down with two separate waves of attacks from two lines. This is a strategy we've used multiple times on B-Rank missions involving the capturing of large amphibious creatures, so I'm going to need all of you to work with me on this." She then turned towards Tenzen and the old man still squatting by the lake. "Do you have any weapons?"
The village leader nodded, "Yes. Although they are rudimentary at best."
"That's fine," Mabui spoke, gesturing to him like an officer in the army. "I want you to arm every able-bodied man in the village and have all of them wait along the edge of town by the pier. Send all the women and children to the back, and keep them off the streets." When she saw Tenzen nod and proceed to lead the old man by the shallows away, the Jonin then turned to Naruto. When she saw the blond staring up at her, she considered him carefully for a moment. Noticing the Bo staff holster at his side and accurately guessing at his profession, the woman spoke. "Do you want to help?"
The blond clenched his fists and nodded. "Yes."
"Okay. Here's what I need you to do…"
OOO
(An hour later)
After some time of running around and getting the entire area setup for their plan, the Kumogakure squad then broke off to their respective points of attack. Mabui and Omoi took to the rooftops of the town closest to the lake with a view of both the pier and the shore, while the fishermen formed a wide semi-circle around their village's dock, out of sight of the waterfront. There was a large gap of open ground between the dock and the town, meaning that all those gathered by the buildings had a good view of things down by the lake. Samui, Naruto and Karui meanwhile had taken up position on the moldy jetty itself, and had brought with them one of the fishermen brave enough to try and lure the creature in the lake to the surface.
They did this by positioning themselves directly at the end of the pier and had arranged themselves into a defensive circle around the middle-aged townsman in the long-sleeved, oriental shirt, pants and headband, who had a fishing line cast towards the water. Tenzen explained that this was the most common scenario in which the fishermen of the area had been taken before; sitting on a boat with a rod and bait primed. Sure, it didn't seem that impressive, but it was the best they had.
So with all the pieces arranged, it was only a matter of waiting to see if they would get a bite.
However, after about twenty minutes of standing, waiting, and watching the fishing float bob up and down several meters away on the water, they got nothing.
With Tama standing on the walkway next to him, Naruto kept his eyes fixed on the line and his hands firmly in his jacket pockets. As the sun beat down on them from overhead and the silence of the setting bringing further tension to the moment, the blond delinquent took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"What do you think is really out there?" the young traveler asked. "My guess is some kind of giant reptile."
Samui, also having her hands at her sides, shrugged thoughtfully. "It could be a new species of amphibian we've never encountered before." She then glanced across at Naruto to see the boy with his gaze fixed sternly on the lake. "I've heard stories of various monsters and vengeful spirits living inside of underwater caves and rivers across the mainland; ones that would prey on humans and animals foolish enough to come too close to their homes. Most of these stories though were embellished tales of fiction and folklore… as the predators responsible for the attacks turned out to be just some kind of large carnivore."
Tearing his gaze away from his line, the fisherman sitting on the crate in front of the children glanced back at them. "Believe me, this is no ordinary animal." His words drew the attention of all three kids. "Though I never got a good look at it myself, the survivors claimed that this creature walks on two feet like a man, has scales like a fish, claws like meat hooks, teeth as sharp as blades, and stands at four to twenty meters tall."
That last bit of information had Naruto's eyes widen. "Whoa. It's that big?"
Karui narrowed her eyes doubtfully. "I think that might be an over-exaggeration."
Samui's own gaze narrowed back onto the lake as she rested her hands on her hips. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
And that's exactly what they did.
But, by the time another forty-five minutes went by and nothing, the trio had gradually started losing their edge. The tranquility of the scene and the peacefulness of the water only served to relax them, causing the group to begin shuffling and pacing about in their own respective manners. Karui started drumming her fingers against her bicep and checking her nails, Samui was half-heartedly observing the scenery, and Naruto started kicking at the walkway and trying to get one of the pieces of wood out of the rotting planks. Even the fisherman that was sitting in front of them was starting to slack off a little, as a loud yawn of boredom escaped his mouth and his body hunched forward.
When the epidemic of dullness started to catch on, Naruto gave a low groan of frustration.
"Damn it. What the hell is taking this thing so long? Where is it?"
"Maybe we're doing something wrong?" Karui remarked, arms crossed and an annoyed look slapped across her face.
"Fishing requires a great deal of patience and resilience," Samui informed her friends, though admittedly even she was starting to get irked at how long this was actually taking. "Just like how a shinobi is expected to wait for the opportune moment to strike, capturing an animal hiding in the water takes a lot of time and effort."
"Yeah, well, the wait is still frustrating," Karui grumbled under her breath.
Her impatience was only emphasized by Tama giving a yawn as well before laying her tiny body across the walkway, where her tail proceeded to lower to the ground.
As the clouds drifted slowly overhead and the birds in the nearby tree chirped and sung their usual chorus, a quietly waiting Naruto then narrowed his eyes on the water and turned to the fisherman. "You guys make regular offerings to this thing once a month, right?"
Head perking up, the villager looked over at the blond and nodded. "Yes. We do. Nori-san always remembers to feed the demon every four weeks to let it know that we're still here and that it can leave us alone." His expression then fell somewhat. "However… last month, when Nori-san forgot to add the name of one of the newborn children to the cucumbers, the beast came out of the water an hour later and attacked the village, killing two of the villagers."
"So… if that happened and it knew one of you were missing… then it actually reads the names on all the cucumbers thrown into the lake," Samui said, her gaze lowering as she pondered this information. "In other words, it's able to communicate and understand human language."
"That's right," the fisherman nodded.
Thinking on it for a moment, Naruto was suddenly struck by an idea. In the midst of their pondering, Samui and the others then proceeded to watch as the blond marched off the pier and towards the stack of crates and boxes piled up at the end. After rummaging through the containers for a few seconds, he then returned with a cucumber in hand and a rusty old knife. When he stopped beside the girls, he proceeded to carve something into the vegetable, with both Karui and Samui peering over his shoulder to see what he was doing.
His message read, 'Come and get some, you ugly fish.'
After finishing with an exclamation mark and a drawing of a hand giving the middle finger, Naruto stuck the knife in the pier's pillar, cocked his arm back, and ditched the cucumber across the lake, where it landed far away with a small splash.
"There," the delinquent said with a smirk, dusting his hands together. "That ought to get its attention."
Samui snickered at the boy's incredibly hostile message. "I doubt our friend is going to like that very much."
Finding his gesture to be rather off-putting, Karui then stared at the blond. "Are you an idiot? Why the heck would you do that?"
Naruto looked back at the girl oddly and gestured towards the water. "What? I'm just trying to speed things along."
"By trying to piss it off?" Karui asked. "Do you honestly think that will work?"
"Hey, I've been known to be pretty good at it," the traveler replied, at the same time giving another nod to the lake. "I mean, heck, it's worth a try. That thing is hiding somewhere out there in the water eating anything that floats its way and we need to get it to show its face somehow."
The sword-using girl sighed and slapped her forehead protector. "And the first idea that pops into your head is to send it a written invitation? Geez, we don't even know if this thing can actually read or not. Maybe it just keeps count of the food it eats and the people on the shore." She then held a hand out to the blond delinquent. "What kind of a guy would go and do something like that?"
Sharing a look with Naruto, Samui then glanced back at her teammate and shrugged. "Bee-sensei springs to mind."
"That's beside the point!"
As Karui proceeded to chide Naruto for his actions and let loose her anger on him, the group failed to notice Tama's head perk up when she saw a shadow suddenly wading towards them through the water. It was only when it got close enough that the fox jumped up and she started growling at the water. When the dark mass drew even closer, causing a rippling wave across the tides, a blue flame quickly ignited on the end of the animal's tail, her hair standing on end and her snarling growing louder, drawing the attention of the fisherman beside her.
Of course Naruto and Samui were unable to hear the fox's distress as Karui was still chewing the former out at full volume.
"In any case, I highly doubt carving a message into a cucumber and throwing it into the lake is going to do anything. The creature is probably full after eating the vegetables already given to it and has gone to sleep. Heck, it might even have run away," Karui exclaimed, completely missing the sound of waves crashing against the pier beneath them. "Since all three of us are standing out here on the jetty and waiting for it to pop up, I don't think that it… it… it…it…" The girl trailed off mid-sentence, her eyes slowly widening in horror and gaze turning upwards when she saw a massive shadow rise up from the shallows at the end of the pier. When it stood at full height, Karui stopped outright. "Shiii~t."
Naruto, Samui and the fisherman also spotted the problem, and when their gazes slowly trailed up the towering black mass in front of them, their expressions slowly turned to shock and fright.
Standing directly in front of the pier, holding the fishing line in its right hand and the cucumber Naruto had thrown in its left, was a massive, scaled creature of impossible size and scale. Humanoid in shape and appearance, the beast had the rippling mass of a body builder on steroids, with layers upon layers of bulging, sleek muscles running from its neck and down to its legs. Sharp nails lined its very human-like hands, with spiky fins sitting up on its forearms. It didn't escape anyone's notice that it also had a ten-pack and a solid chest, which heaved up and down with every breath it took. Aquamarine, fishlike scales also covered the creature's arms, legs and back, with its pectorals and stomach sporting a much lighter shade of tough skin. It also had fins on either side of its lightly colored face in place of ears, sharp yellow eyes, and a very human nose and mouth, with the latter lined with razor sharp teeth. On top of its bald head, it also had a mess of coral arranged into a makeshift crown, with seaweed draped randomly over its bulging shoulders, and a small turtle shell on its upper back.
As the beast leered down at the stunned group on the end of the jetty, Naruto and the others couldn't help but see how tall this thing was. The pier was about a meter and a half above the water, with the lake beneath them being only several feet deep. However, this monster still managed to tower over them by about two full grown men.
Samui estimated that this thing was four times larger than her village's Raikage.
The sight of the creature immediately had all the kids take a step back, while Tama continued growling fiercely at it. Even Mabui and Omoi watching from the rooftops were gaping at the sheer size of the animal.
Its eyes glancing over the newcomers, the hulking, amphibious creature then brought up the cucumber it'd grabbed and held it forward. After looking down at it and the writing engraved upon its surface, it then glanced towards the children.
"Did someone call me out?" it asked in a deep, low and intimidating voice.
Despite the terror of the moment, Naruto couldn't help but give an amused, yet noticeably weak laugh. "What do you know? It worked." His voice actually broke when he made that nervous remark.
Getting a good look at what she accurately guessed as the monster that was attacking the village, a trembling Karui leaned forward and hissed to the fisherman sitting beneath its shadow. "Okay. G-Give it to me straight. Am I hallucinating?"
The terrified villager holding the fishing rod gulped. "N-N-No…"
"Oh. Good. That makes me feel so much better," Karui whispered before speaking quickly and frantically, "What the fuck is this thing?"
"I h-have… no idea… but it's big," the fisherman stammered, slowly lowering his fishing rod and setting it on the ground. Since the monster was still holding the line, there was no way he wanted to be on the other end of it.
That still didn't change the fact that he was at the front of the group.
"Well that's very perceptive. Now how the hell do we kill it?!" Naruto hissed back at them anxiously.
Being the one to fully comprehend exactly what they were staring at, Karui gritted her teeth, crouched down, reached up, and grabbed the sword hanging from her back. "Easy! Like THIS!" She then sprang from the walkway and flew right up at the monster's head. Her take off quickly had Naruto and Samui step forward in alarm.
"KARUI! WAIT!" the blond girl shouted. But it was too late.
With a gutsy yell, the airborne girl drew her sword from its sheath and swung out at the creature's head. "Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri!" (Cloud Style Front Beheading) Her blade cut through the air in the form of a blinding white flash, which then struck the creature right across the face in a shower of sparks, sending a spray of purple blood across the water and knocking its head to the side. Seeing the animal get hit, everyone thought for sure that when Karui landed safely back onto the pier that she'd cleaved its head in two.
However, when Karui looked up at her target and saw it turn its face back to her, she watched the blood spilling from the large gash in its cheek suck back into the wound and heal itself shut in three seconds flat. When it did, the creature smiled, as if nothing had even happened.
"That smarts," the creature spoke with a menacing leer. "Why would you do this?"
A fearful sweat broke out on every single person present, with Tama taking several paces back when the creature took a lumbering step towards them.
Karui meanwhile was beyond shocked. "What in the… I put everything I had into that swing! And it had zero effect!" She then took a cautious step back herself, her sword shaking in her grip as she brought it up into a defensive position. "This thing… this isn't just a monster…!"
The aquatic monster then tilted its head curiously. "Who are you all?"
With her teammates still gaping up at it, Karui grinned nervously and shuffled back a little more. "W-We're shinobi from Kumogakure, hired by the people of this village to kill you!" She then brought her sword up, aiming the tip of her blade directly at its face. "Come out and fight us, demon!"
At this, the beast gave the group on the pier a toothy grin. "Fight you? Very well."
Karui, swallowing nervously, then whispered back to her teammates. "Naruto. Samui. As soon as this thing moves, run for it. With its size, we should be able to-!" The Genin was effectively cut off by what could only be described as a howitzer going off when a massive fist the size of a shopping cart slammed into her stomach, causing the kunoichi to give a strangled cry of pain and sending her flying down the pier past her friends. "GUUOOHH!" Reaching speeds well over a hundred miles per hour, the girl flew across the open ground between her and the village, before crashing into the wall of a house, where she punched a hole into the wood and ended up buried under a pile of splinters and debris.
Lying inside the ruined house, Karui could be seen staring up at the ceiling, her sword lying beside her, blood running out of her mouth, and her torso armor cracked and split in half. "W-What happened?" Completely in a daze, the girl's fingers twitched. "I can't feel my body."
"KARUI!" Samui shouted, looking behind her at where her friend had crashed and completely missing the sight of the enormous beast in front of them crouching down and springing high into the sky.
Looking up in alarm, Naruto quickly grabbed the blonde kunoichi by the arm and the fisherman by the scruff of his collar. "SAMUI! MOVE!" He then leapt back as fast as he could, at the same time the enormous humanoid lake monster dropped down from the sky and slammed both its legs into the jetty. Like a depth charge going off, a massive shockwave rippled down the pier, tearing it apart and sending debris flying through the air like confetti. As a cloud of dust and water covered the shore, Naruto, Samui and Tama came jumping out of it to skid to a stop across the open, with the former dragging the hapless villager with him.
Dropping the man to the floor, Naruto quickly shouted at him. "Go! Get out of here!" He then watched the middle aged man scamper away with a terrified whimper, before the blonde's gaze quickly shot back to the wall of dust in front of them. "Damn it. I wasn't expecting this."
"This creature isn't just strong. Its large, hulking body belies its ridiculous speed, and it knows how to use both of them really well," Samui informed, dropping into a stance while reaching for her tantō. "This is not going to be an easy fight."
"No," Naruto replied, shaking his head in agreement. "It's not."
Just as the trio were staring at the cloud of dust, they suddenly saw wall of dust part violently and a large, ruined sail boat come flying at them. Eyes widening, Naruto, Samui and Tama leapt out of the way as the vessel tumbled past them, before then crashing into the side of another house and bringing down its roof.
Rolling across the ground and landing in a crouched position, Tama's head then snapped upwards when she saw another mass flying at them from the cloud, only to see the monster burst through the wall and thrust both hands out to grab her. Springing off of the floor, the white vixen darted to the right in a flicker when its hands slammed together with a loud 'slap'. Upon which the enormous creature then began lashing out at the air, his own arms blurring together as it attempted to catch the little white speck that was the fox darting between its swipes.
Stunned by its speed, Tama did her best to stay out of reach of its claws and fists. However, after quickly hiking off of its forearm and dodging another of its hooks, the creature suddenly swung its hitting arm outwards mid-throw, chopping at the fox and catching her during her dodge. The fox was hit by the force of a train and was sent flying towards the woods, where she slammed into the side of a tree.
Cracking against it, the fox dropped to the floor with a thud, battered and bruised. Shaking as she attempted to stand up, the tiny little fox then spat up blood from her mouth and gave a pained whimper, as the blow had caught her right in the ribs.
Gaping across at his friend, a shocked Naruto gritted his teeth. "Tama-chan!" Unfortunately he didn't have time to worry about his friend.
"Look out, Naruto!" Samui's shout of warning came as a shadow suddenly fell over him.
Looking up with a start, the blond traveler saw the lake monster flying at him with a big grin on its face and a wild haymaker in full motion. Quickly timing the attack's speed and approach, Naruto crouched low and leapt straight into the air, avoiding its blow that instead struck the ground and punched a crater into the earth.
Dropping down from the air after getting above the creature's defenses, the delinquent dropped down at it in a corkscrew motion, swinging his leg around into a diagonal spin before driving his knee straight into the monster's face the moment it looked up at him.
"Kūken: Oyasumi Hiza!" (Void Fist: Goodnight Knee) The momentum of Naruto's spin drove his knee right into the creature's mug, caving in its face, and causing a deafening shockwave that split the ground beneath it and the beast to lurch backwards under the weight of the blow.
The force of the attack was so great that even Samui lost balance when the floor shook beneath her, causing her to stumble forward and gape across at the boy in surprise.
Dropping to the ground, Naruto looked up with his fists clenched and teeth bared, as he saw the monster turn to him with its nose crushed and blood leaking from its crooked mouth. "Eh… oh my…" The sound of bones crunching filling the air, everyone present in the area watched morbidly as the creature's nose and jaw reset, and its blood faded into its skin. A threatening grin then spread across the monster's lips. "I felt that… just a little."
Widening his stance, the nervous Naruto then snarled. "Oh yeah? Then how about this one?!" With a shout, the boy charged right at the creature, jumping into the air and throwing himself into yet another spin. His leg swung out as he approached the monster with a yell. "Kūken: Cheisa!" (Void Fist: Chaser) He then nailed the beast in base of its neck with a crushing roundhouse kick, which caused the large humanoid fish to lurch to the side and the bones in its collar to crack from the force of the attack.
However, just when it seemed like Naruto had killed it, the monster suddenly brought its arm up and, in blur of speed, smashed the boy from above with a chopping hammer blow to the body. The force of the fist dropping into him slammed the blond into the floor with such force it not only punched a crater into the floor, but caused him to bounce upwards.
Eyes wide in agony, a spray of blood shot out of Naruto's mouth like a geyser, which filled the air and caused the water demon standing over him to grin murderously.
"You'll have to do a lot better than that!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note: Before anyone says anything, yes, I'm aware that Samui and Mabui are supposed to be the same age.
I liked it better when everyone thought Samui, Karui and Omoi were on the same team, and I'm sticking with that formula.
So far, the fight has started and everyone has taken a big hit, Karui, Tama and Naruto.
Again, to the person who can guess what this species of demon is. lol
CHARACTER PROFILE:
Name: Tamamo no Mae or Tama
Epithet(s): The Wandering Fox, Lady Kayo, Tama
Gender: Female
Clan: Unknown
Occupation: Demon/Shrine God/Guardian Spirit
Rank: N/A
Hair Color: White
Skin Color: Tanned/Dark brown
Age: Appears 20 but is centuries older
Nature Type(s): Celestial Chakra/Magic
Specialization (s): Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Transformations, Chakra blasts, Space-Time Jutsu
Missions Completed: N/A
History: According to historical records, Tamamo no Mae is a legendary figure in Japanese mythology, whose tales are told in various works of fiction, and has a history tracing all the way back to mainland China.
In Naruto: Maoyu, Tamamo no Mae is one of many demons and deities that have appeared throughout the Naruto storyline. Sharing similar origins to Kaguya, Momoshiki, Moryu and Miroku (Naruto Shippuden The Movie) as an extra-dimensional being, the woman has been around since the earliest days of man, disguising herself amongst the people, wandering from continent to continent, causing mischief and chaos, and casting spells upon humans. She even made a habit of disguising herself as different women and sleeping with their husbands, particularly the daimyo, to sate her animalistic and erotic tendencies. When she was found out by the authorities, she was defeated and sealed inside of a stone boulders by the heroes Princess Kaguya, samurai hero Miura no Suki, legendary general and future God of War Guan Yu, and High Priestess Miroku, Shion's ancestor.
For thousands of years her stone tablet stood in the Genno Temple of the country that is now called the Land of Hot Water, where people came and prayed to her, asking her for protection, guidance, and their deepest desires to be granted. They even confessed to her the various losses and misfortunes in their lives. It was here Tama saw through the eyes of the many who came to her the value in human life and, from the people's sadness, grief, anger and joy, she learned humility and the reason for living. She soon referred to herself as a Shrine God, and became the guardian of the temple she resided in. Her presence soon brought good luck to the region, spiritual enlightenment and healing, and the people prospered.
However, during the Third Shinobi World War, her temple was used as a base by Kumogakure forces as a staging ground for their attack on Konohagakure. When Konoha forces mounted an assault on the village and the base, the entire temple was destroyed, and Tamamo no Mae was freed.
Left to wander the world once again and with no home to return to, Tama took to the lands for many years, trying to find a new meaning to her existence. Somehow she ended up being snuck up on by another spirit, a Tengu, which tried to kill her and was gravely injured. This was when Naruto found her and brought her into his care.
As an extra-dimensional being like Kaguya, Tamamo possesses a unique and powerful chakra unlike the chakra used by ordinary shinobi, which she refers to as Celestial Chakra. This chakra, aside from granting her the same abilities a lot of other shinobi use, also gives her a range of other unique techniques; such as astral projection and space shifting, which allows her to produce a specter of herself between spaces and manipulate chakra in between dimensional walls. It is this same ability that allows her to nullify Space-Time Jutsu by affecting the surface of the current plain she's on, preventing herself or anything else from crossing into other spaces by canceling it out.
It was a technique she learned from her three thousand year imprisonment in the Sessho-seki (Killing Stone), in which she learned how to project herself as a 'ghost' to interact with the physical world.
Another unique trait of her Celestial Chakra is that she can use it to alter her own personal gravity, without affecting the rest of the environment around her. She also cannot be sensed or detected by other people, as the energy she uses is different from the brand used by Kaguya and her multiple descendants. When manipulating her chakra in different ways, she can also alter probability and the laws of luck and misfortune, which has allowed her to change people's luck and futures for thousands of years (though she cannot use this on herself). It also renders her impervious to genjutsu.
Being a demon of mischief, Tamamo is also capable of transforming into multiple forms. Her most used form is that of a little white fox (or Little Tama form), which looks like an ordinary snow vixen. However, whenever she's using Celestial Chakra, a blue ethereal flame appears on the end of her tail, increasing her speed and strength several times over. By drawing on more of it, she's able to transform into her Giant Fox form, which is a massive kitsune with multiple tails. The more chakra she uses, the more tails she produces. She is also able to transform into a human or pseudo-human forms. The first is an attractive, dark-skinned woman with white hair, which is her Tamamo no Mae form, which she can enhance with fox ears and a tail. Her other form is that of an attractive, anthropomorphic humanoid fox form, or Demi Tama form, which allows her access to more chakra and her various beastly instincts that increases her fighting abilities.
Aside from also being fiercely strong, about as strong as a biju, her speed and flexibility are also of a different class, as she's able to go toe-to-toe with people like Obito and Itachi, while also catching Danzo by surprise.
However, in spite of her unique abilities, she does have several major weaknesses. Despite being able to live for hundreds of years without aging or withering in the slightest, if she is damaged enough Tamamo can still be killed in the conventional manner, as her organs are the same as any other human or animal. So any shinobi tricky, lucky, or fast enough to catch her by surprise, has a good chance of killing her in a direct confrontation.
Because she is a demon, Tama is susceptible to the same kind of damages that humans suffer when pitted against another member of her kind. That means most of the advantages she has against humans are nullified when fighting against other demons, spirits, and ancient deities. When she receives damage from another member of her species, it takes an incredibly long time for her to heal. She is also susceptible to Shion's clan-based sealing techniques and jutsu, as they were what sealed her in the Sessho-seki stone in the first place.
Sacred weapons and celestial artefacts are also capable of slaying her, such as Guan Yu's guandao and the Tonbukiri wielded by Miroku. What's more, every month at the full moon, Tama goes into heat, rendering her bedridden and confined to her room, which leaves her temporarily vulnerable.
