Chapter Seven: Goodbyes
An hour and a half later, Konoha was gathered around the Hokage tower, staring up at their leader, who was on top of the building, with an unusually large ANBU escort. As the last of the stragglers shuffled into the courtyard at the base of the tower, the crowd settled down as Tsunade cleared her throat.
"Citizens and shinobi of Konoha, today we have regained a long lost comrade, and he brings us even more comrades, which he has saved from Orochimaru's grasp. Today, we welcome Tayuya, Kabuto, and Sasuke Uchiha back into Konoha!" At the first two names, the citizens and shinobi were confused, even more so when the two had stepped forward. However, upon hearing and seeing Sasuke, the village erupted in cheers. After a few minutes of cheering, Tsunade raised her hand, and the crowd slowly calmed down. "Ahem. There is still more good news. As many of you, I'm sure, heard, most of Akatsuki has been killed. We have one of our own to thank for this." Before Tsunade could finish, the crowd roared in pleasure and cries of "Way to go Sasuke!" and "We knew you were the best Sasuke!" could be heard clearly over and over again.
Sasuke stepped forward, and the crowd instinctively went silent once again. "You fools. I am not the one who beat Akatsuki. I am no where near strong enough, not even under the guidance I had these past two years. The fact that the man who did used to be from Konoha must've confused you. He is not yet returning to this village. He has not yet forgiven you."
The crowd took offense to this, and many people shouted, "What are you talking about!? We would never insult someone that strong and noble!"
"Silence!" The crowd was quiet once more in an instant, the malice in Sasuke's voice clearly scaring them, even the shinobi. "You act as though you're the greatest people on the planet. You're arrogant and selfish, and I'm now surprised as to how this tainted me but not the one we are talking about. I'm tired of dealing with you, I'll let he himself speak now."
The crowd watched as Tayuya, Kabuto, Sasuke, and Tsunade stepped back, out of sight. Then, they grew enraged at who stepped forward.
"What is this? Another of your damn pranks, Demon!?" The man's outburst encouraged the crowd, save some of the smarter shinobi. As the crowd got rowdier and rowdier, the ANBU were about to mobilize, but the now frowning Naruto held them back. Seeing this, the crowd got scared, fearing the Kyuubi brat had corrupted their leaders.
"This is no prank. All but three, well, eight technically, of the Akatsuki are dead by my hand. I did so by combining my power with the Kyuubi's. You have no reason to fear me, as the Kyuubi is no longer of this world. I can prove it, too." Naruto didn't give the crowd a chance to question him, as he took off his shirt, revealing his torso, and jumped down to one of the lower ledges on the tower. He then brought his hands together, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five new Naruto's popped into existence. Naruto returned his hands to his pockets and released his clones.
One of the idiots in the crowd was not convinced, "What's that supposed to prove?! You just did your damn jutsu like you always do!" Others in the crowd began to jeer in agreement.
Naruto spoke much more loudly this time, "What this prove, my good friend, is that the Fourth's seal no longer appears on my stomach when I perform jutsu. Ask Jiraiya, he's seen it appear on my stomach before." The mood of the crowd went from angry to remorseful and then to down right murderous at Naruto mentioning Jiraiya.
"How dare you! Jiraiya died fighting a noble battle against Itachi!" One of the crowd members yelled. This rocked Naruto to the very core, and it was evident. Some of the more intelligent people in the crowd, mostly the ones that didn't hate Naruto, picked up on this.
The rest of the crowd took Naruto's expression as a sign they had been right, and that he'd been lying. "See? I knew it! He was lying, just look at his face!" Before the crowd could mobilize against Naruto, Inoichi Yamanaka landed in the front of the crowd, along with Ibiki and two ANBU escorting.
"Not so fast. I happen to believe Naruto, and I'm willing to put my mind on the line by checking Naruto's for any trace of the Kyuubi." This shocked the crowd, and none of them could find any way to discredit the idea.
"Well then, let's begin. Hawk-san, if you would?" The Hawk-masked ANBU next to him nodded, and went through a series of handseals before yelling, "ANBU Interrogation Jutsu: Mind Reading Dome!" A big, white dome encased the Tower and its courtyard, before Inoichi began to glow faintly. The crowd's eyes glazed over, and Inoichi began, "Naruto, stand still, please. Ninja Art: Mind Possession Jutsu!" Inoichi's body slumped to the ground, caught by the other ANBU escort, one in a Bear mask. After a moment, the crowd gasped in shock, as they saw Naruto's mindscape, through Inoichi's eyes.
Inoichi was standing in a wet sewer, and before Inoichi could start exploring, Naruto had appeared beside him. "Don't bother wandering around, Inoichi-san. I have a pretty good grasp on my mind, you wouldn't get far on your own, no offense. I'll lead you to the seal." Inoichi, although stunned by Nartuos appearance, and then insulted (even though Naruto said not to be) by Naruto's declaration, decided to follow.
After what seemed like an eternity, a change became evident in the sewer. The lights got darker, the smell got fouler, and the condition of the walls had begun to worsen. Inoichi could tell they were getting close. After a few more minutes of wandering, they finally emerged in a great room. The room was barely lit, but it was still possible to make out the enormous cage, with only a piece of paper holding it closed. Inoichi stopped, but Naruto continued forward. Naruto reached the gate, and without missing a beat tore off the seal, and let the gate swing open. A small amount of red, Demonic Chakra seeped out steadily, but Naruto paid it no attention. He strode into the cage, before the gate and barred walls evaporated.
Inoichi stood still, stunned, as the room shrank, and brightened. As more and more candles flickered on, Inoichi began to make out the far end of the room. Standing up against the wall, Naruto was staring back at Inoichi. Inoichi finally got up enough nerve to walk forward, slowly examining the now reasonably sized room. Before Inoichi could make it to Naruto, said entity spoke, jarring Inoichi from his observations and thoughts, "You should go. This part of my mind is about to collapse and reform itself now that the seal is gone. Here, let me…" And with that, Inoichi awoke in his own body.
Before any of the villagers could regain consciousness, Naruto signaled a third ANBU. The man nodded, and the Hawk ANBU moved slightly. The glow on Inoichi faded, but the new ANBU began to glow instead. The ANBU went through a short series of hand seals before yelling, "Byakugan!" The villagers' eyes glazed over once again, as they saw Naruto's chakra network, with bright blue chakra flowing through it. Some of the more observant noticed a few traces of Red Chakra in certain areas, too. After several minutes, both ANBU deactivated their jutsu, and the dome faded as everyone's eyes returned to normal.
"Is that enough proof?" Naruto asked irritably. He got no response, but, judging from the grumbles and uncomfortable looks, "I'll take that as a yes. Very well, I shall be on my way now, then. And he was gone, but several hundred villagers had been knocked down by a terribly strong breeze that happened to blow the very second Naruto had said his goodbye.
Well, thats all I have had written on paper so far, so one of two things may happen, I'll start writing on paper some more, or I'll just type it up as I think it up.
I think I'll start a poll for who you want Naruto to be paired with, so post who you want in a review (annonymous reviews are accepted):
Ayame
Hinata
Sakura
Ino
Tenten
Shizune
Sasame (filler char)
Isaribi (filler char)
Shion (I'll work her in somehow if she wins)
Other (post, try to avoid older women like Anko and Tsunade, I'd prefer not to write about them, but if 95% of you say you want them or something, then so be it)
