Disclaimer-See Chapter 1
-BREAK-
"I don't know why you're fighting me on this, it would solve so many problems, and no one likes the stupid thing anyway."
Lifting up the pet carrier in his hand as he was saying this, Naruto made an exaggerated show of licking his lips at the cat inside, making its eyes widen in fear as it pressed itself to the back of the cage to get away from him. He hear Kushina let out a sigh, and could almost feel his sisters rolling their eyes at him, before the carrier was snatched out of his hands by a frowning Erza.
"You are not eating Tora-kun's Soul Onii-chan, he's the Fire Daimyo's wife's pet, and she pays a lot for a ninja team to find him when he runs away."
Shrugging, Naruto turned to look away from them, ignoring the villagers that waved to them as they made their way to the Missions Office at the Hokage tower.
It had been a month since his Seal had been fix, and in that time they had taken on average two D-Rank missions a day, ranging from painting fences to babysitting. This was the fourth time they had caught Tora, and Naruto was getting tired of the little monster always running away the moment he was handed over to the Daimyo's wife, even if she paid several times the actual mission cost for his return every time.
Farming and physical labor missions didn't bother him much anymore, it was good training and gave him more opportunities to practice creating the larger Spirits to help, and he could now create spirits the size of a living mutant gorilla one at a time without needing to take a breath.
There was also one mission that proved to be useful, where they were hired to kill all the rats in a barn, he had collected over a hundred rat Souls in one afternoon. While they didn't have much chakra, they were useful as quickly created spirits, and made good scouts.
His parents had also seemed to come to some kind of silent agreement not to try and push themselves on him, though his mum would sometimes have a moment where she looked like she wanted to say something but didn't, and though not close to his sisters Naruto was able to be in the same room with them without wanting to punch something.
He never really realized just how much the Seal had been affecting him until it was fixed, all those years hating everyone around him, and for what? It all just seemed so pointless when he looked back on it now.
It didn't take more than a few minutes for them to arrive at the Mission Office and hand Tora over to the overly joyous woman waiting for them, and just like Naruto expected not twenty seconds later the cat had already jumped out of a window and ran off into the distance, his owner crying as she called after him.
Without even bothering to look back, Team 13 moved to the Missions desk to collect their next job, only for Naruto to interrupt the chunin about to hand his mother the same scroll she had just gave him for the Tora mission.
"If you send us after that cat again, I will kill him and eat his Soul."
Sending a clearly scared look to Kushina, silently asking with his eyes if Naruto was being serious, the chunin gave a quick nod and tossed the mission scroll over his shoulder. Before he could reach for another D-Rank, the redheaded jounin spoke, getting both the Chuunin's and her team/children's attention.
"Actually, I would like to formally request for Team 13 to be assigned their first C-Rank mission, after completing the minimum requirement of D-Rank missions."
All there heard this, including the three young Namikaze, turned to look at Kushina in surprise. Normally, even when reaching the minimum of D-Ranks, a genin team wouldn't be assigned their first C-Rank until at least their second or even third month of active service.
After getting over his surprise, the chunin shrugged his shoulders and stood up, moving to the shelf that held the C-Rank mission scrolls. He took a few minutes, taking several out before returning them with a shake of his head, until finally finding one and handing it over.
"This mission came in this morning, just your average protection/guarding request, nothing more than the odd bandit. The client's name is Tazuna, a bridge builder from the Land of Wave, and wants protection until his latest project is finished."
Taking the scroll, Kushina quickly read what it said, before nodding and rolling it back up.
"This should do fine, please have Tazuna-san meet us at the North Gate at 9 tomorrow morning, we will leave first thing."
-BREAK-
After being told to pack for an extended C-Rank mission, Naruto left without a word, and made his way to the Forest of Death. He slipped into his hideaway without slowing in the slightest, making his way to his study, and moving straight to the still living gorilla lying on the desk.
Except it didn't look like a gorilla anymore, and more like a formless human body without a face or hair, with only a pair of nostrils one it's otherwise blank face so it could breath. It didn't even have a bellybutton or genitals, just perfectly smooth skin, the only sign it was alive being the slow rise and fall of its chest.
This was what was going to be the basis of his Jutsu, his loophole to avoid the need to sacrifice a living human, the Homunculus. It had taken a month to figure out the process of converting the gorilla into an empty human body just waiting to be filled, but if it work would mean he could place a human Soul into it and the Homunculus would change to match the Soul.
From the Scroll he had been given, Naruto was able to discover that the reason a person brought back using the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu didn't die even if their body was destroyed was because instead of the Soul forming a second layer under the skin, it formed outside the skin, holding the body together and anchoring it to the Soul.
The fact that it was created by someone that couldn't actually see Souls was impressive, but also disturbing, and Naruto found himself holding the Second Hokage in deep respect. The man was a genius, plain and simple, yet was always in the shadow of his brother the first Hokage.
Without pausing, Naruto grabbed a Sealing scroll and moved to the Homunculus, Sealing it away and putting it into his kunai pouch. He then grabbed another scroll from a different shelf that held another homunculus, the process being easy enough to replicate once he knew what to do, before leaving and making his way home to finish packing.
-BREAK-
The next morning Naruto arrived at the North Gate about two hours before they were set to meet the client, Tazuna, and settled himself in a nearby tree to wait. It was just over an hour later that he got his first look at the man they were going to be protecting, which was soon followed by his first smell. The man was covered in a strong smell of sake, with bags under his eyes and a hand clutching the side of his head, clearly nursing a hangover.
Naruto wasn't impressed, and was actually considering refusing the mission based on the client's ability to arrive in an appropriate state. The fact he had another bottle of sake in his hand, that he kept taking sips from every other minute or so, didn't help either.
He stayed out of sight of the man, watching him from his spot in the tree as the man grumbled to himself and continued to drink, shifting around nervously.
During his observations, Naruto decided to create a hawk Spirit, having it fly into the forest ahead of them so it could start scouting their planned path.
When his mum arrived with Mito and Erza ten minutes before they were meant to meet, the man made another mistake when he scowled at them as he tried to hide his sake, his eyes locking on each before he started to rant.
"I pay good money for a ninja guard, and not only do you make me wait, they send a couple of kids?! What the hell kind of village is this, or are you joking with me, because this is unacceptable!"
Frowning himself, Naruto got into a crouch and, slowly so as not to be seen pulled his scythe from his back. The look on Tazuna's face when said blade stuck into the ground an inch in front of his right foot, was priceless, and even though Naruto didn't laugh himself both Mito and Erza did.
He jumped down from the tree, getting the others attention at the sound of his feet hitting the floor and moved to stand with his sisters, grabbing his scythe as he passed it without a glance at the old man.
"When the hell did you get here?!"
"Long enough to see you spend the last hour or so drinking that sake you just put in your back pocket, as far as I'm concerned this mission is now invalid and we should just send you on your way…unfortunately it's not up to me."
The fear in the man's eyes when he mentioned not doing the mission made Naruto wonder just what the man was so afraid of, because according to the mission scroll they were only meant to protect him from the odd bandit that might cross their path, and the way he was acting suggested something more was going on.
But before he could say anything Kushina sent him a small, almost unseen nod showing that she noticed it too, before turning her attention to the now pale Tazuna.
"I'm afraid he is right Tazuna-san, given both your behavior and current state of inebriation, we would be within our rights to refuse you further service."
"I-I didn't mean anything by it, really! I-"
"Luckily for you, I am willing to ignore both of these things and proceed with the mission, provided you refrain from drinking until we at least arrive at your home."
"Of course, thank you!"
Nodding his head rapidly, Tazuna took his bottle out and threw it away, and clearly not wanting to risk them changing their mind started out of the gate without another word.
-BREAK-
Despite the uneasy feeling he had before, several hours had passed and nothing happened, they didn't even run into any bandits yet. It would take them a day and a half to reach Wave, several hours of which would involve taking a boat to the island country, though it would have been quicker if they weren't forced to go at a civilian pass.
Naruto also didn't like the fact they were using the road, which would make them a predictable target for any bandits that thought to set up an ambush along it, and was less direct than simply moving through the forest. They had set themselves in the standard diamond formation around Tazuna, with Naruto at the front, Mito to the bridge builders left, Erza on his right and Kushina bringing up the rear.
He could hear his sisters talking to the now sober, if slightly hungover, Tazuna about Wave Country. Again, he didn't miss the man's odd behavior as he talked, seeming to avoid any specifics about his home.
It was while they were talking that Naruto felt a slight pressure in the back of his head, indicating that the Spirit he had made before they left was trying to show him something, and without stopping closed his eyes and made the bird hand seal to link his vision with the Spirit's.
The blackness of his eyelids gave way to a world of black, white and grey, and suddenly he was looking down on the road about two mile ahead of them. There he saw two ninja, both with slashed Kiri headbands, in the process of hiding themselves in a Genjutsu. It wasn't even a good one either, just a puddle in the middle of the road, the fact it hadn't rained in the area for over a month seeming to have escaped the two.
Opening his eyes Naruto stopped walking without warning, getting the attention of the rest of his group as they stopped too, a frown on his face as he looked to his mother.
"I need to talk to you about something…in private."
Quickly getting over her shock at him actually wanting to talk to her, Kushina seemed to notice his mood and nodded her head off to the side.
"Mito-chan, Erza-chan, please stay with Tazuna-san for a moment while I have a word with your brother…"
Without waiting for a response, Naruto started walking in the direction Kushina had indicated, not even bothering to look to make sure she was following him.
The moment they were out of earshot, Naruto turned to face his mum, and decided to just get it over with.
"There are two missing Mist-ninja setting a trap for us two miles up the road, they are using a Genjutsu to disguise themselves as a puddle in the middle of the road. From what I could see before they activated it, they both had a metal claw on one hand with a spiked chain connecting it, and had metal horn designs on their headbands."
Her eyes widening in shock and confusion, Kushina seemed to struggle for a moment before pulling herself together enough to speak.
"How do you know this?"
"I created a hawk Spirit and sent it ahead to scout for us, it sent me a mental nudge to let me know it found something, and linked my eyes with its own so I could see."
By the time he had finished explaining, Kushina seemed to have recovered and put her 'work face' back on, her whole body coiling as if expecting an attack at any second.
"I see…for now we continue as if we don't know, I will inform Erza-chan and Mito-chan though hand signals so they are prepared, but until they attack we can't know who their target is. It might be us instead of Tazuna-san, and the only way to know for sure is to spring the trap and see what happens."
Nodding in understand, Naruto turned away without another word and made his way back to the group, ignoring both his sisters searching looks and Tazuna's question about what had happened.
They continued on as if nothing was different, though after his mum explained what was happening to both Erza and Mito he didn't miss their slightly stiff movements, or how their eyes had started to dart around looking for any attackers. And just like he said, when they reached the two mile mark from where he had seen it, was a single puddle in the middle of the road.
Now that he could see it with his own eyes instead of through his Spirit's, Naruto could clearly see the two Souls of the ninja inside the Genjutsu, both of which surprisingly still had almost half of them being Blue instead of red. Now, he had never actually seen a Missing-nin's Soul first hand, but based on how most of them were little more than the scum of the earth, he was expecting them to be more 'corrupt', then what he was seeing.
His eyes narrowing slightly, he stepped around the puddle as if barely registering it being there, fighting the need to look back at it to be sure they weren't about to attack him from behind.
It wasn't until they had all passed that the two Missing-nin acted, silently raising out of the water, one on the others back. Without pause, the one on the others back jumped forward, aiming his clawed hand at Kushina. Just as the first claw was about to hit, the redheaded jounin stepped to the side and aimed a kick right into his stomach, only for the other one to pull on the chain connecting them together and pull the man away at the last minute.
Seeming to realize that their surprise attack had failed, the one that had pulled the other away from Kushina's kick started to swing, who Naruto could only assume was his brother based on how similar they look, over his head before literally throwing him over Kushina's head and at Tazuna.
Moving fast, Naruto ran to intercept the man, using Tazuna's back as a springboard to jump into the air and kick the clawed hand wide. He was about to follow up with a clawed strike at the back of Naruto's head, but missed when he was once again pulled away by his brother. However, this time, instead of being pulled all the way back, he was intercepted when Erza summoned a whip and caught the chain, stopping his retreat right in front of Kushina.
This time, her kick did land, and the missing-nin was sent back to his brother after skidding on the ground for about five foot.
"Gozu and Mezu, the Demon Brothers of the Bloody Mist, what are you doing here."
The younger brother Mezu, who it seemed had been the one being thrown around by the chain, got to his feet and moved to stand with his older brother in a crouched stance before they started talking at the same time.
"We have no business with you Leaf-nin, give us the old man and go in peace."
Apparently, the two missing-nin didn't realize they were talking to a Kage level Kunoichi, a mistake they wouldn't have time to regret. Without a word Kushina ran forward, closing the space between them faster than even the two chunin could follow, while drawing a pair of kunai from her ouch for each hand.
The Demon Brothers had just enough time to bring up their gauntlets to block the kunai, only to be sent flying back when she jumped into the air and licked them both in the stomach, the chain connecting them getting wrapped around a tree stopping their momentum before then went too far.
Recovering quickly, they both reached for a button of their weapons, the chain disconnecting with a hiss, before running forward again, crossing each other in random patterns in an attempt to confuse Kushina. Unfortunately, it worked enough for Gozu to get passed her before Mezu started to attach her wildly, swiping at her with his clawed hand.
Unfortunately for Gozu, before he could reach Tazuna, Naruto slammed his elbow against Gozu's chest, and with a loud popping noise that got the attention of everyone else the man's Soul shot out of his back and landed on the ground at his brother's feet.
"…G-Gozu?"
Mezu had just enough time to look from the orb in front of him to the now seeming motionless form of his brother, before Kushina knocked him out with the butt of her kunai to his face.
Ignoring the looks both his family and Tazuna were sending him now that the fight was over, Naruto walked over to the Soul of Gozu, before grabbing it and lifting it up to his mouth.
"Naruto-kun wait-!"
Before his mum could stop him, Naruto shoved the Soul into his mouth and swallowed, everything seeming to go quiet as if waiting for something to happen.
And it did.
The moment the Soul hit his stomach and spread out into his own chakra coils, every muscle in Naruto's body started to erupt in pain, and he was forced to his knees as a scream tore its way out of his throat.
"Naruto-Oniichan/kun!"
His mum and sisters were at his side instantly, but didn't dare touch him without knowing what was wrong, as Tazuna backed away and watched with a mixture of confusion and fear.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Naruto started to convulse on the ground as if he was having a fit, his entire body clenched tightly. Then the feeling of having thousands of worms crawling under his skin started, bring more pain and discomfort as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his fingers dug into the skin of his palms deep enough to draw blood. This went on for about five minutes, the pain getting more intense about half way through before slowly shrinking to a dull ache.
The moment he could move again, Naruto jumped to his feet and ran to the side of the road, reaching it just in time to puke into a bush, before falling to his butt and panting deeply.
He turned to look at the other over his shoulder, only to see four faces staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths, none seeming able to speak.
Erza didn't know what was happening when Naruto started to convulse on the ground, only that it had something to do with him eating the Soul of the missing-nin after somehow making it pop out of his body, and whatever was happening was hurting him. When it looked like something started to crawl under his skin, she had forced herself not to scream in horror, and was pulled further back along with Mito by their Mother.
They watched as he continued to thrash around wildly, and when it got the point it looked like he might hurt himself she felt her mother tighten her grip on her, stopping Erza from running over to him and trying to hold him still. But when it finally stopped, she could only stare at Naruto in complete shock, which was mirrored by both her sister a mother.
Where stood a skinny boy not a few minutes ago, was now a healthy teen, every inch covered in tightly packed muscles that strained against his now too small clothes. Naruto looked to be in perfect condition, better than perfect even, as if the last few years of his body wasting away had never happened.
It took Naruto about ten seconds before he followed their eyes, his own widening in shock at the sight of his body suddenly looking strong and health for the first time in his life, before voicing his surprise in barely a whisper.
"What the hell…"
"It's a reaction to you finally eating a human Soul, the animals you have had over the last few years were enough to keep you going, but now that you have a Human Soul inside to feed off, your body can get everything it needs."
Eyes widening, Naruto turned his head slightly so the others would see his lips moving, his voice too low for them to hear.
"Is this going to happen every time I eat a human Soul?"
"No, the only reason it did this time was because your body was starving all these years, and the sudden power rush forced it to compensate. It shouldn't happen again…"
Nodding to himself, Naruto used the fact that his family was still in shock to run over to Mezu, who was still lying on the ground. Without pausing, he slammed his chakra coated hand into the man's chest, before wrenching it away with a minimal amount of effort, the missing-nin's Soul now in his hand.
This time the Soul was down his throat before anyone could say anything against it, and instead of pain this time his body was filled with a gentle warming sensation as the chakra mingled with his own, easing what soreness was left in his body after its changes.
"They were hired by a man named Gato to kill Tazuna before he can build his bridge, there is another missing-nin to, but they were never told who it was. They didn't ask any questions when they took the job."
"Understood, where did you put them?"
"I haven't yet, still going through their heads, but it seems they aren't actually as 'Demonic' as their reputation would suggest. They have been working with the Kiri Resistance and raising money for the war effort…"
Frowning, Naruto turned back to the others, only now there were only three shocked faces. The one that was different was his mum's, which had turned red in anger, her eyes moving from the two missing-nin, then back to Naruto.
"What were you thinking?! Not only did you basically kill the two men, but after eating the first's Soul and practically killing yourself, you went and eat the other one too? What if it had killed you?! Did you even think about that?!"
Leaning against a tree, Naruto stayed silent as Kushina continued to rant about him being stupid, seeming to forget that he was now healthier than he had even been in his life.
"Not only did you put yourself at risk, but now we have no way to interrogate either of them, they may still have a heartbeat but that is it!"
"They were sent to kill Tazuna by a man named Gato, they didn't ask any questions but knew there was another Missing-nin working for him, and that if they failed he would be sent next."
Freezing at his words, Kushina turned wide eyes to her son, her mouth hanging open for a moment before she could get it to work.
"Are you telling me you get their memories when you ate their Souls?"
"No, I don't, but Shin is able to look through their head when they appear in my mindscape so he can put them in either the Heaven or Hell aspect of my inner world. I can see them anytime I want, all I have to do is meditate…"
Seeming to struggle with this new information, Kushina decided to push it to the back of her mind until later, they had more important things to do for the moment.
XXX
Alright that's the last of Jinx777's content for this story! The next chapter will be up when I finish it. I will try to match my writing style to their's for a easier transition between him/her writing and my own.