A/N: OH MY GOOOOOD! I'm such an idiot. To my readers, I sincerely and humbly apologize. See this is what happens when you write four different stories at one time. Wow... I'm such an imbecile. For those of you who are wondering "What the heck is he talking about", well, the last section of the last chapter of Hero was totally wrong. I fixed it now, so if you try to look at it you'll find nothing, but before, I wrote this dramatic thing about Shin taking over Akatsuki. I totally forgot that Shin was the main character of my other story, Insatiable Instability. So please forget about Shin, and again, accept my apologies.
NOTE: I also fixed some mistakes in the first chapter. So that's okay now. Read the A/N in the end for information about the power levels.
Without further ado, here's the next chapter.
Blah blah: Thinking
Blah blah: Demon talking
Chapter 7: Interaction, Kidnapping, and Feelings, Oh my!
Naruto felt water trickle down his throat slowly, each droplet sliding against his rough and scratchy esophagus. Tasting the pristine liquid, he opened his eyes and tried to look around. However, the room was incredibly dark with very little light. He was, however, able to make out a small shadow standing over him. It was a shadow he knew almost too well.
"Yu-Yumi?" His voice was gruff and horse. The figure suddenly gasped in surprise and a few seconds later, the light turned on. Now that he could see clearly, Naruto saw that the person who had been feeding him was actually a boy. A very cute boy.
Where the hell did that come from. Am I turning gay?
It did strike me as odd that you never pursued any girls at that stupid village of yours.
Shut up fox.
Realizing his manners, Naruto tried to get up but found that he couldn't. After a minute or two of trying to stand, he finally settled for kneeling instead. Bowing, he graciously thanked her and introduced himself. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto. Thank you for helping me. What's your name?"
Two things were currently dancing around in Yumi's mind at that moment. The first was that he was not a pursuer and thus did not know her. The second was that she still hadn't taken a bath, and was therefore, extremely hot and smelly from her day's work. Self conscious, she inched away and sat at the furtherest possible distance. Which in her case was only about six feet due to the small size of her house.
"My name's Yum... I mean, Yami. I've lived here my whole life and I found you half buried in the river. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?"
Naruto laughed as he scratched his head and leaned against the wall. "Well, I had originally come for some ramen, but that pretty much went to pieces when I met these two men. They tried to kidnap me and we basically fought. In the end, I'm not to sure what happened, but I guess they left and I fainted. That's pretty much it. But did you carry me all the way here by yourself? You must be pretty strong!"
Yumi smiled as she shook her head. It wasn't too hard. I'm used to carrying things. After all, it's my job."
Naruto whistled as he stood up. "Well, you could have taken off all of my weights beforehand. Since I placed seals on them, I can just summon them whenever I need them."
Yumi froze for a second before giving a half smile. "...Weights?"
Naruto nodded as he started to take off his shirt. Yumi immediately blushed and turned away, much to the puzzlement of Naruto. However, he pulled it off completely, showing a vest full of weights on top of a black muscle suit. Taking off the weighted vest, he then took off some more weights on his ankles and wrists, altogether causing a giant heap of black to gather next to her bed.
"Ahhh... I usually take off my weights when sleeping. No blood flow you know?"
Yumi simply gawked at him as she tried to count the weights. No wonder he was heavy.
"Umm... Naruto. Exactly how much do you weigh? With the weights I mean?"
Naruto thought for a second before smiling. "Well, I weight around 140 without my weights... I always try to wear double my weight so... 420 pounds. I also wear gravity seals, but those never come off. All in all, I have about 750 -850 lbs of resistance on me."
Yumi almost collapsed as she grabbed onto the corner of the table. "8...850? What exactly are you?"
Naruto immediately jumped up and switched into a pose that he had practiced for the last sixteen years of his life. "Future Hokage of the Leaf village... Uzumaki Naruto!"
Yumi smiled as she observed his almost child-like antics. It was nice to see someone energetic for a change.
"Well, future Hokage Uzumaki Naruto of the leaf village, I have to go take a bath now. I think I might have some food in the cupboard. Though it's not much, I hope it'll be enough for now." She intentionally kept out the fact that it was supposed to be her food for the next day. However, his answer was one she definitely did not expect.
"I'll go take a bath with you!" Chirped Naruto happily. "After all, I'm pretty dirty from the fight as well!"
Yumi turned several shades of red before finding the words to speak. "It's...okay."
Naruto grinned as he stood up and punched her chest. "Come on! In Konoha, I went to the hot springs with my buddies almost everyday! It'll be fun and-"
Yumi wrapped her arms around her chest as she quickly ran out of the house. This whole "disguising as a boy" thing was starting to have some negative aspects.
Naruto meanwhile stood in a slight stupor as she saw a dust trail leading out the door. What was his problem? From the back of his mind Naruto heard Kyuubi snicker, but put it off as he worried about his new friend.
I hope I didn't push him away. He really seemed like a nice guy. Really familiar too...
Kyuubi was meanwhile laughing his tails off. All nine of them. Kid... You're so stupid. Oh my gosh I can't believe how naïve you are.
Heyyy! Don't make fun of me for no reason! Even I don't do that!
Kyuubi's laughter died down somewhat as the great fox managed to calm down. Okay, but seriously. Take a look at her, I mean, his home.
Naruto missed the small let-up, and focused on what the fox said. Yeah? What about it? I mean, it's small, but I've seen houses this small before.
You're really dense aren't you? Obviously "he's" really poor.
Naruto sweatdropped as he looked at the small amount of food in the cupboard. So I shouldn't eat the food?
What do you think?
Naruto thought for a second before answering slowly. No...?
Kyuubi smiled as he mentally pat Naruto's head. Good job. You've now reached the mentality of a first grader.
Naruto grinned as he stepped outside the door. Yeah whatever fox. Anyways, I still need a bath. And technically, Yami didn't say that I couldn't go. I'm sure it'll be fine.
Kyuubi meanwhile remained silent as he snickered softly. This would be fun.
OooOo
Yumi sighed as she took off her wig and clothes. Stepping into the refreshing hot water, she smiled in happiness as she put a towel on her forehead. The wounds still hurt a little, but all in all, it was okay. Thankfully, the hot springs were usually empty at night. There was also no closing time, so she was able to bathe in her leisure. However, this particular day, she found that she couldn't relax completely. After all, a strange new person had been dumped into her life, and quite frankly, she didn't know what to do with him.
"Uzumaki Naruto..." She played the words off of her tongue as she thought about the blond enigma. She didn't even know that there were such people in existence. Her whole life she had been under the control of the Yakuza, so she theoretically knew very little about the outside world. In fact, she was lucky that she got a job in the first place. Life was hard, but it was still better than before. But that boy... she couldn't help but feel that she knew him. It was strange, almost as if they had been best friends in a past life or-
"Heeeey! Nice hot springs!"
Yumi froze as she heard the voice. It was him! Quickly grabbing her wig and clothes, she was about to run away when she suddenly heard his voice enter the pool area. Not knowing what to do, she shoved the messy brown wig onto her head and went as deeply into the water as possible.
"Ah! There you are!"
Yumi weakly waved as she kept her face barely above the water. Naruto soon entered the pool and leaned against the rocks. "Ahhhhh... This is great."
Yumi nodded as she scooted as far away as possible. "Yeah, great."
Naruto continued to be blissfully unaware of Yumi's discomfort as he waded towards her. "So you never really told me about yourself. I mean, I know your name, but besides that..."
Yumi gulped at his close proximity and tried to appear calm. "Well, there isn't much to know about me."
Naruto nodded as he thought a little. "What about your parents? Where are they?"
Yumi suddenly forgot about her predicament as she looked downcast. "I'd rather not talk about them. Let's just say that they deserted me."
Naruto's mouth formed an "O" as he turned away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. But if its any consolation, I don't have any parents either! In fact, the majority of the people in my village hate me."
The blond smiled brightly while saying this, causing Yumi to once again doubt his sanity.
"Who would hate you though? I mean you're so happy and nice! I can't think of anyone-" Yumi suddenly shut her mouth as she blushed. She was usually so reserved and calm. Yep. There was something definitely strange about this guy. Deciding to withhold from any more emotional outbursts, she decided to ask a more generic question. "So... Why do you want to be the Hokage then? Aren't they supposed to protect the village?"
Naruto nodded as he looked up at the stars. "Precious people. In the beginning, I thought that I wouldn't have any here. But I quickly found out that I was wrong. Sakura-chan, Kakashi-san, Granny Tsunade, Shikamaru and the rest of the gang... I've made a lot of new friends that I'd die to protect, and that's what counts."
Yumi half smiled as she watched the handsome youth's face. "This...Sakura-chan. Is she your girlfriend?"
Naruto looked at her curiously before his head sank halfway into the water. "Not really. She's just a friend."
Yumi sighed in relief as she looked away. She certainly did not have any romantic feelings for the boy, but for some reason...
"Anyways! What can I do to help? After all, I should repay you for helping me at least!"
Yumi shook her head as she smiled. "No, it's fine. I was happy to help you. Did you eat yet?"
Naruto smiled as he shook his head. "My stomach hurts a little, so I'll be fine if I just rest. But really, I can help with work! Tomorrow, I'll go to work with you and help you out for the day! You said that you lift stuff right? Manual labor is right up my corner of work!"
Yumi stared at Naruto for a second before shaking her headWas this guy for real? Under different circumstances, she would have definitely labeled him as the perfect knight in shining armor for her. However, if he was a knight, then she was a pauper.
Don't get ahead of yourself Yumi. You know this.
The girl sighed as she rested her head against the rocks. For some reason, the water felt especially nice that night.
OooOo
Naruto awoke with a start as he suddenly sat up and looked around. Rotating his head around like a sprinkler head, he quietly mumbled some words that sounded strangely like "ramen" and "Yumi" before falling backwards to sleep again. A couple minutes later, Naruto finally got up as he looked around.
Oh yeah... I'm at that one dude's house.
"Ah, Naruto! You've woken up!"
Naruto turned around to see Yumi walk through the door with a bag full of herbs. Pointing to them, he yawned loudly. "What are those for?"
The girl giggled a little before putting them on the table. "Oh these? I've got some injuries, from work (she quickly added), so I'm using these herbs to heal faster."
Naruto nodded as he got up and stretched. "Well since you're injured, that's all the more reason for me to work instead of you today. Where do you work?"
Yumi immediately got up as she shook her head. "You don't have to do that. I'll be okay."
Naruto smiled as he put on his weights. "Nah, it's fine. I need to get warmed up anyways. I have to head back to Konoha today, so I might as well pay you back for your troubles."
Yumi thought for a second as she weighed her options. Finally giving in, she sighed as she took out a paper and pencil. "These are the directions to the place. Basically, I bring sacks of straw and other agricultural products to people's homes. You get payed per delivery, but don't push yourself!"
Naruto immediately took the paper and saluted her. "I'll do my best Yami-san, so please recover quickly!" The blond then dashed out of the house and flew towards the designated area while Yumi held her head. Having a person in the house like him... was not so bad. Smiling, she whistled as she continued to stir the herbs together. It wasn't bad at all.
Naruto walked into the farm area as he searched for the main owner. After a couple minutes of asking around, he finally found the woman sitting in a chair.
"Excuse me miss, but I'm here today in Yami's place."
"Oh my," the old woman replied. "Did something happen to the child?" Being sharp, she immediately recognized that the boy thought that Yami was a guy. Really, did the poor child expect to fool people with that disguise? Shaking her head, she smiled as she saw the blond grin expectantly. Okay, so she fooled him. For now, she would play along with it.
Naruto smiled as he bowed. "He's not feeling well, so I volunteered to help instead. Would that be okay with you?"
The woman nodded as she pointed to some bundles. "The addresses are on each bundle, so simply deliver them. Now Yami, though frail, is actually my best worker. Most of my helpers average only around six bundles a day, but he always manages to do at least ten. I hope you'll work just as hard."
Naruto bowed again as he smiled. "Are these all of the bundles?"
The woman shook her head as she pointed to the barn next to the piles. "There are still about a couple hundred more bundles inside the barn. But you'll be hard pressed to finish the ones that are already outside."
Naruto grinned as he gave her a thumbs up. "Not to worry m'am. Future Hokage Uzumaki Naruto will take care of it!"
Future...Hokage?
Naruto turned from the elderly woman as he formed a familiar cross shaped hand seal. "I'll finish delivering all of the bundles in thirty minutes."
The woman laughed as she waved her hand. "No no child. That's..."
"TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"
"Impossible..." The old woman barely managed to breath out. Surrounding the area were about two hundred clones each with the same grin. "Uzumaki style, mass bundle labor delivery technique!"
At once, all of the clones went to pick up the bundles. To the woman's greater shock, each one easily lifted the bundles onto their shoulders as if they weighed nothing. Deciding that it was too much for her aged brain, the woman sat back and promptly fell unconscious.
(Exactly thirty minutes later)
Naruto lightly tapped the shoulder of the woman. Eventually she stirred and woke up to see the bright blue eyes of the boy. "Oh, hello child. That's interesting... I just had a ridiculous dream that a person who looked just like you came and made about a hundred copies of himself. Hahaha, what a strange dream."
"Actually, it was two hundred ma'am."
"..."
The woman looked around her farm as she saw none of the bundles. They were all gone.
"Then, that dream was real?"
Naruto nodded.
"Heavens. How on earth did you do that child? Who did you say you were?"
Naruto beamed as he went into his special practiced pose. "Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage of the leaf village!"
The elderly woman nodded as she smiled. "Ah, I remember now. Well, I guess I should pay you for everything. There were two hundred and fifty bundles altogether so... This should be the correct amount."
Naruto took the money as he bowed respectfully. Thank you and have a good day."
The woman smiled as she nodded him away. Bowing one last time, Naruto then suddenly vanished in a plume of smoke, causing the woman to fall back unconscious again.
OooOo
"Yami! Look look! I finished with work!"
Yumi didn't bother to look around her as she continued to stir the soup. "Already? How many bundles did you deliver?"
"All of them!"
"All of them, good job." Yumi continued to stir as if nothing had happened until she realized what he had said. Turning around she saw the gigantic pile of money on her table and almost fainted. "What the heck did you do?"
Naruto grinned sheepishly as he scratched his head. "Well, I wanted to finish as quickly as possible. Is there anything wrong with that?"
Yumi stammered as she looked at all the money. "N-no... But how?"
Naruto was about to go into the his special pose when she suddenly stopped him. "Wait, let me guess. Because you're the future Hokage of Konoha?"
Naruto beamed as he gave her a thumbs up sign. "Correct!"
Yumi shook her head as she went back to making her soup. Yep, having a guy like him was definitely not a bad thing.
OooOo
Shikamaru gathered everyone around as he handed out the wireless communicators. "All of you are to search for Naruto. If you find him alone, bring him back immediately. Neji, Kiba, could you transform into the two ninja you saw earlier?"
Neji and Kiba looked at each other before transforming into Itachi and Kisame respectively.
"Everyone, memorize these faces. If you see them with Naruto, do not engage them. No matter what the circumstance, we can't take risks. This will be our meeting station."
Shikamaru looked at Sakura. He could tell that the girl was conflicted. After all, she boasted the closest relationship to the blond. Looking at her especially, he sighed. "Don't let your emotions get in the way of our mission. These two ninja are in the S Class missing-nin bingo book, so don't think that they're regular ninja. No matter what, if you see them, do not confront them.
Four affirmative "hai's" sounded, and all five ninja flew away in their own direction. Shikamaru made sure that his own receiver was properly placed as he ran around the streets. Geez Naruto. This is all because you just had to come to this town. So troublesome.
OooOo
Naruto and Yumi walked together down the marketplace. Thanks to Naruto's earnings, the day had become shopping day. However, to the blond it was the most boring experience he had ever lived through.
"Naaah... Yami-kun. When are we finished? I'm so bored."
Yumi continued to place items into the bag that Naruto was carrying before answering briefly. "I'm almost finished. This is great you know. At this rate, the food will last at least a month!"
Naruto looked at the food in the bag before staring at her critically. "This... lasts you a month? No wonder you're so skinny! I eat more than this for breakfast!"
Yumi laughed half-heartedly as she looked around. "Well, that's all the more reason to buy more food. I'm not used to having guests after all."
Naruto was about to answer when he suddenly saw a snack booth nearby. Checking his wallet, he found just enough money for some octopus snacks. Hoping to surprise his new friend, Naruto quietly stalked off towards the stand. However, as he walked away, he didn't notice that there was also a group of men walking towards Yumi.
"Hey Naruto, what do you think about this?" The girl turned around as she held up a giant pear. However, the blond was no where to be seen. Instead, there were a bunch of men in classic Yakuza garb sneering at her. Instinctively she turned to escape, but she had gotten careless. A group of eight men had surrounded her, each one the size of a tank.
These must be his men... Dammit! Right when I thought I was finally free. But where's Naruto? I hope he got away at least.
(At the local octopus stand)
Naruto was in a predicament. Looking around at all of the different types, he sighed as he examined each one carefully. "Would Yami like a spicy octopus or a sweet octopus? Hm... What a tough decision. I wonder..." Reaching for a sweet one, he suddenly retracted his hand and thought twice. This would take a while.
(Back with Yumi)
"Just come quietly and there won't be any trouble. But if you make a sound..."
The three men in front of her showed their knives.
"I think you get the picture. Now hurry up. The boss is waiting."
The townspeople pitied the girl as she disappeared from their view. It seemed a little much that there were about eight people escorting a single girl, but this was the Yakuza. Even if someone wanted to help her, who in the world would have been stupid enough to even try and confront the powerful gang figures? No, no, it wasn't their place. When dealing with the Yakuza, it was nobody's place.
(A good three hours later)
"YAMI-KUUUUUUN!!!" All the townspeople turned as the saw a grinning blond skip towards them. "Where are you Yami-kun? I bought us some snacks!" It had taken him forever to choose the perfect flavors, but in the end, he finally found the right ones. He simply had bought one spicy and one sweet snack. This way, Yami could choose which one he wanted, since the blond like both anyways. However, as he looked around, he couldn't find his friend anywhere. The fact that something might have happened while he had been gone for about three hours didn't occur to him as he continued to walk through the streets. "HELLOOOOOOO?" Finally, someone looked harshly at him and shushed him. Wondering what that was about, he walked boldly towards the person and looked at them curiously. "I'm sorry, but do you know where my friend Yami is? He's about a foot shorter than me, probably around the same age, kinda looks like a girl, has really girlish features, extremely skinny..."
Everyone in the market sweatdropped as they all thought simultaneously. That's obviously a girl...
Finally, one of the older women stepped forward as she called out to him. "Young man! Aren't you that helper from this morning?"
Naruto looked at her before beaming. "Oh! Hi again! I don't know why, but the villagers keep ignoring me. Do you know where my friend Yami went? The one who works for you!"
The old woman frowned as she quickly hushed him. "The Yakuza took her."
Naruto's eyes widened. The fact that she used "her" totally flew past him. At the moment, he was simply worried about his new friend.
"Listen child. If it were anyone else, I would probably just tell them to forget about her and leave. But since it's you... I have a feeling that you'll be able to do it. Now see here." Taking out a town map, she pointed to the largest complex on it. "You'll find this building way up the river, past this town, and into the next. The giant building is their main compound, so if you keep a good pace, you might be able to get there soon. By horse it's about half a day. Expect it to be around two days if you go by foot. But I warn you... These people aren't nice and forgiving. You'll be lucky if your friend is still sane after they're done with her. Just make sure that you go as quickly as possible. In fact, I'll even lend you my horse."
Naruto looked somber for a second before nodding. So it was the Yakuza... During his time at his old Konoha, not this one, he had often explored the underground world to further his understanding of the crime lords and drug dealers. After all, it was essential for the Hokage to understand every aspect of his village and the towns surrounding the village. Thinking over a quick plan, Naruto clenched his fists as he looked at the old woman seriously. "Thank you very much, but I won't be needing a horse."
"Whatever do you mean? Don't you want to catch up to her?"
Naruto smiled as he shook his head silently. "Trust me. I'm the future Hokage of the leaf remember? Thank you for your help. I will definitely repay you one day."
Naruto suddenly dashed off as he flew towards the outer gates of the city. Not even bothering to wait for the gate to open, the blond scaled the village walls and cleared them while maintaining his running speed. The townspeople watched in awe as they all murmured to each other. Being a small village, they had never seen anything like it before. The old woman clenched her fists as she closed her eyes. Good luck... future Hokage.
OooOo
Shikamaru looked around as he tried to find traces of the blond. He immediately headed towards the ramen stand in the beginning, but found that he had left prematurely with the two missing-nins. Shikamaru groaned as he scratched his head. If the guy actually got kidnapped... Deciding to check the town over one more time, he towards the market place to try and ask questions.
OooOo
Sakura asked around as her worry continued to grow. Not only was the blond missing, but for some reason, she also felt her woman's intuition spike. This usually meant that he was either in really deep trouble, or was actually with another girl. Secretly she hoped it was the former, but she still worried a lot about him either way. She just couldn't imagine life without the happy blond. It was after all these years that she had finally realized her true feelings. But now... It seemed as if they were going to be for naught. Swearing on her pride as a woman, she decided that if they found him, the first thing she would tell him would be her true feelings.
Just... be safe Naruto. We still need our Rokudaime.
OooOo
Naruto ran, faster than he had ever run before, through the sandy dunes as he kept his line of sight on the moving river. Crimson blood seeped from Naruto's hands as he clenched his fists. For some reason, he felt as though he had let down Yumi. He had no idea where that thought had come from, but either way, he knew that he would do anything in his power, (and the fox's), to save Yami. How could he be so careless! Swearing that he would save his new friend, he unconsciously transformed into his demon form and tripled his speed. After all, he was a good four hours behind. Deciding that he was still too slow, he barked at the fox. Their voices were identical now.
"Kyuubi! Give me
more chakra!"
Hey hey. I don't think that's such a good-
"KYUUBI! GIVE ME MORE CHAKRA NOW!"
Whimpering, the great fox yielded as it sent a steady stream of chakra to the boy. Naruto felt his speed increase further as he created a whirlwind of sand behind him. Even from far away, the tornado itself seemed to emit murderous intent.
After all, someone was going to pay.
TBC...
A/N: Gosh... I'm just throwing out chapters now aren't I? This one was really long too... I'm thinking, REVIEWS! Well, next chapter will be super action packed. I have a general idea on what's going to happen, but... well, we'll see. To all you Hero fans, I'm sorry for not updating. I'll try to work harder. Next update is Rurouni Naruto (Rurouni Naruto fans rejoice), and I think it'll be either Kaze no Kami Sama or Hero after that. My inspiration for Insatiable Instability is lacking at the moment. Oh, and one reviewer told me that my power level scale was off. I think the person said that "One tail is equal to a Kage". If I have any defense on that, I can only say that it's Kishimoto's fault. That guy... has some strength issues. First of all, do you think that the canon Naruto and Sasuke in their one tailed demon form/curse seal level two form are stronger than Kage's? I barely think that they were stronger than Kakashi. Furthermore, Naruto still couldn't beat Orochimaru with four tails in the manga, though he was pwning him. And we all know that Orochimaru's barely above the level of a Kage. He only beat the third Hokage because the old man was...old. So that's my defense. If 3-3.5 tails is about Kage level strength, then that's that. Also, Jiraiya's weaker than Orochimaru (in my opinion), so let's just say that my numbers are right. After all, it is fanfiction. Even if it's a little off, well, yeah.
So POWER LEVELS!
Naruto with weights: 9.3
Naruto without weights and gravity seals: 11.2
Naruto Kazamarasengan: 14
Itachi: 9.8
Itachi with Amaterasu and Mangenkyo Sharingan: 14
Kisame: 9.4
Kyuubi: 18
Kyuubi six tails: 16
Unleashed Kyuubi?
Sakura: 5.5
Neji: 5.9
Lee: 5.8
Shikamaru: 3.2
Kiba: 5.0
Yumi: 1.0
And I think that's everyone. Thank you so much for reviewing! Those who have been reviewing up to now have my sincerest thanks. Oh, and I've taken a habit to replying your reviews. So if you have questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer them right away.
