Chapter 9: Something Unexpected
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A/N: Remember to read all the way down. I have added a little something to you people.
"Here you go, boy." An elderly woman said while placing a plate on the bench where her customer was sitting. It was just a small road-side teashop with some small bakery products. She had ran that shop for years now with her husband and son. "What brings a boy like yourself on a road trip like this?" She asked the boy who was now eating her hand-made dango. The boy was wearing a green overcoat with the kanji 'heal' labeled on its back. Under that he wore a grey t-shirt. "Going somewhere? Not running away from home are you?"
Naruto snorted. "Not quite. My mom asked me to take care of some business in the Tea country so I'm going there now."
"How sweet of you to help your mother like that." Old woman smiled happily. "I wish my son would be like that too. But no. I have to force him to do almost everything. And he always tries to skip his chores. Such a troublesome son. Chasing after girls all the time." Then she leaned closer to Narutos ear. "I'm starting to think that he has some hanky-panky going on with the daughter of Yatsuki family. You know them? They are farmers nearby. The same family that won the horse races at the festival last year. They have this huge red barn at the back of that mountain. You must know them." She pointed forward towards some mountain.
"Eeh… sure. Why not." Naruto mumbled. He actually had no idea what she was talking about. He didn't know any Yatsukis or any horse races either. And this woman went on and on about random stuff.
"And then that thing went like this and boom!" She spread her hands imitating an explosion. "Like a fireworks. You like fireworks? They have such a lovely show every year at the festival. Did I mention the festival? Ones there…" Naruto closed his mind. 'Ninpo: Ero-sennin oogi no jutsu (A/N: Pervy sage secret technique): Brains Off Technique.' Basically it meant that now he kept thinking about random stuff himself while his body reacted on its own. Like nodding and shrugging and answering in the most neutral matter as possible like: 'I guess' and 'I understand' or 'what do you mean'? It was an excellent technique when he had to remain still.
Naruto stood up. "Well, thank you for the tea." He smiled and placed some money to the plate. "I on the other hand have to go now."
"Oh that's a shame." The woman sighed and took the plate back. "You young people are always in a hurry. Just yesterday a group of kids from Konoha passed here and left in such a hurry that I wondered what was going on."
"Well Konoha is such a place I guess." Naruto shrugged and took his walking stick and his shoulder bag. "See ya."
"Have a safe trip." Woman waved her hand to him as he disappeared from her sight.
Naruto was feeling happier than he had been for the past few weeks. Spending most of his life on the road, being tied down to one place like Konoha had slowly started to suffocate him. He hadn't even noticed it until he was hours away from the village. Open road ahead, blue sky above and dirt road beneath and green forest around him. This was the life he loved more than anything. What would he find around the next corner? A girl in need of help? Bandits? Missing-nin? A festival? Who knew and that was the best part. He kept walking forward happily for chance to review all things that had happened during last month.
Konoha… Haku… Festivals… Wind princess… so many things had happened in such a small area in such a short time.
Konoha… even he had to admit it was a nice place to live. It peaceful atmosphere, green scenery, simple lives, freedom to move around the village, its friendly relationships to its neighbors (most of them at least) and the feeling of being protected from all the bad things in the world. If there was a possibility for perfection to a ninja village to reach, Konoha was closest thing Naruto could think of. As it was, its best quality was it also its downfall.
Naruto sighed when he unconsciously rubbed his abdomen. Over his scar. When a place reaches its perfection as Konoha did, it had to be protected from strange things and… change. Like a living relic of an enormous demon in its peaceful scenery was something people didn't allow to remain. When something stood out in that perfection, it had to be removed any means possible to reestablish the wanted perfection. That was the greatest flaw in their perfection. Just like inbred clans and such who never allowed people to marry outside their clans.
Naruto grabbed his shirt. People were such idiots! Konoha refused to believe his innocence no matter how many times it was told. They feared the Kyuubi. He had to snort. He had met more scary looking housecats than that caged fox.
--Flashback--
Young Naruto walked through the corridors of his mind to the great cage of the Kyuubi who was glaring down to him.
"So… you're the 'great demon' who ruined my life?" Naruto muttered indifferently. He was only four at the time. His mother had yet to find him. His body lied currently on a middle of the street half dead waiting for it heal itself. He had heard what people around had said to him just before his body had lied unconscious. It all made sense now. Everything. "How does it feel to be inside of someone like me?" He asked again with his indifferent voice.
Kyuubi only glared at him.
"Cat caught your tongue?" Naruto asked.
"Silence, you useless human trash!" Kyuubi growled and its voice echoed through corridors Naruto who remained unfazed. "Do you not understand your situation?"
"I understand." Naruto muttered. "That because you're inside there, I'm hated for something you did." He turned away. "Let's keep this as our first and last meeting ever, shall we?"
"What? You dare to turn your back to me?" Kyuubi growled to his back. "You filth! You're going to let them treat you like this? With my power you could bring justice on them! Justice against crimes they did to you! Release the seal now!"
But Naruto left the corridors and regained his consciousness. His body had just healed enough for him to walk. He took a step. Towards the gates of the village. And another. And yet another. The pain in his abdomen was unbearable but so was the thought of living in this village. Another step. And another. Slowly the speed of his steps started growing and slowly started running. He ran like never before. He wanted to get out.
--End Flashback--
"Want to buy some buns?" A vendor yelled to him as he passed by. He had reached some small village on the road but didn't want to stop now so he just ignored the vendor who didn't even care, just started looking for new customers. Narutos eye's caught the sight of a small boy who was looking like he hadn't eaten in days. A beggar. An orphan. Naruto took a small note out of his Gama-chan, and threw it to the boy. He seemed shocked but Naruto had moved on before he could see anything. He could hear the boy thanking him before dashing away with the money. It wasn't anything amazing but enough to buy him some food.
Naruto didn't have a special soft spot for beggars and poor people. Where had other people been when he had been hated? He survived mostly on his own. Before his mother showed up that is. But that didn't mean he would have to start helping everyone in need. He was a doctor, not some world saver.
That boy had just reminded of what Haku had told her of her own early life. How she had lived before Zabuza had picked her up. Naruto thought about the girl who had slowly become his best friend. Just the idea made him feel cold and little scared. And it only became worse when he realized how lonely he felt without her by her side trying to act as useful as possible. And teasing her was one of his favorite hobbies at late. He sighed. When it had become like that?
And even bigger mystery was… why didn't he want to sleep with her? Or why didn't he feel any kind of sexual attraction to the girl. She was pretty, given that. And he had seen her naked. It was purely professional you perverted idiots! First when Haku had started her recuperation, Naruto and Shizune had given her a full body surgery to let her muscles to start growing. Of course by then, Naruto was on 'doctor mode' meaning that even if Mitarashi Anko and Yuhi Kurenai had come and started fool around in front of him, he wouldn't even flinch. He would just ask what was wrong. And soon as he was done he would jump on to join them. That was also something that made Naruto think. He had no problems sleeping with his patients. Long as they filled his requirements and they were fully healed.
But not with Haku. After all this time the thought of him making a move on her felt kind of… sick. Even by his standards. He stopped and leaned to a tree along the road. Naruto rarely felt comfortable around people like he did with Haku. Even his mother and Nee-chan started to piss him off eventually but that was to be expected. But not Haku. No matter how long he was with her, she didn't seem a bother at all. He actually looked forward to it.
"Wait a minute!" He said to himself. "Does this mean I'm turning into a human being?" Then he snorted. "Not a chance." He continued his walk. He ran into a group of bandits. All men. "How boring."
"Okay little brat. Give us all you got and-" Big bandit number 1 was knocked out by Narutos fist which sent him flying far away.
"Get him!" Big bandit number 1 got company in his sleep when his whole group was taken out in under two minutes. After that, Naruto did the only reasonable thing to do. He stole everything interesting from them and moved on. "What a lousy group of bandits." He muttered with disgusted voice. "Not even a decent amount of cash on them. Or anything else worth stealing." He found some pendant which could be useful for gaining some girls favor. Nothing else.
He continued his walk and his thoughts. The festival and the Wind princess… nothing left to say. It was fun. Fun. And then boring.
"Expect for that small matter." Naruto muttered when he remembered his 'welcoming party' arranged by that blondie. The idea was nice but that was the only thing that was. And Naruto never cared if the 'idea was nice'. So the whole thing sucked. He had showed so much emotion in front of strangers just because… he was brought up. He spat just at the thought. Why couldn't he have been someone else's son? Even Ero-sennin was better. At least they had a lot in common even though he would never admit it. But for some weird reason he had to be son of the 'Yondaime' or the 'Yellow flash of Konoha'. The greatest hero of the Fire country.
He sighed. From all the men in the world, he had to have his blue eyes and his spiky blond hair. He spat again to get rid of the bad taste in his mouth. Why? Because he couldn't find any answers, he moved on the road.
--
In Konoha Haku was currently helping Shizune with some minor patients. She wanted to keep herself busy so she wouldn't think of absence of her master. It had been bothering Shizune for some time now and when she was done with her last patient before lunch, she had to ask.
"Why do you care for Naruto-kun so much?" She asked while they sat in her current consulting room. "Do you have a crush on him?"
"What? No!" Haku yelled in shock. "Why do you ask? Is there something wrong with me wanting to be near him?"
Shizune shook her head. "Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for you. Naruto-kun… is Naruto-kun as you must have noticed. So that's why I'm happy that you're there for him. For once there's a person who can stand his personality longer than two seconds. It's just that…" She kept a pause. Haku waited patiently for her to arrange her mind. "You think him as your master, right?"
"Of course." Haku nodded firmly. "What's wrong with it?"
"Well, I guess nothing for now." Shizune muttered and turned back to some files she had been arranging. 'But will she ever treat him as a friend?' She thought silently. "I want you to take this file. It's just a routine check-up of a kunoichi." She gave her a file. "Hyuuga Hinata had heart problems from her match during the chunin exams. Just ask if she had any problems lately and take an echo of her heart and bring them to me. That should be enough with her. Then you can discharge her. Can you do that?"
"Of course." Haku nodded and stood up carrying the file. "By the way… there was this another Hyuuga who had her blindness that had to be taken care of but there were some… complications."
"You mean Hikari-san?" Shizune asked. "I heard of her, yes."
"Did… she… what did she decide?"
"She is thinking about it." Shizune shrugged. "But I think she wants to keep it."
"Oh… that's… good I guess." She muttered.
"Something wrong?"
"No it's just that I thought she would want to terminate it." Haku looked up. "I personally can't imagine of having a child and think of continuing my career as Naruto-sama's assistant."
Shizune perked her ears to this. It sounded almost like she didn't feel worth of something like that. "Like to know what I heard?" She looked at Haku who turned towards her. "Haku-chan has already quite a few admirers." She winked. "Maybe you should try and go and have a date with one of them. That Akimichi boy seems cute, don't you think?"
Haku didn't answer but walked out of the room leaving Shizune alone in her office to sigh by herself. "Back to work I guess."
She checked on patients while Haku walked to the reception room. "Hyuuga Hinata." She exclaimed with clear voice.
"Here!" Older woman raised her hand and stood up. "Come on."
Young girl with short hair and pale eyes stood up with her jonin sensei. "Thank you Kurenai-sensei, but I think I can manage on my own." She whispered with a weak voice.
"Are you sure? I'm not in any hurry or anything. The boys are too busy with their clans so I'm pretty much free."
"W-well if you insist." Hinata complied and nodded. They walked to Haku who guided them to an empty room. "Take that jacket off please and sit on the stool." She guided her while readying her equipment. After a short training, Haku had become quite knowledgeable of most of the gadgets in the hospital. "Are there any pain or troubles breathing?" She asked while listening her chest with stethoscope.
"… no." She heard the answer. "I've been doing pretty good lately."
"That's good. Now, breathe in and hold it." She muttered and kept listening. "Everything seems normal. But let's do the echo to be safe, shall we?" She smiled kindly to Hinata who only glared back. She obviously recognized the girl sitting in front of her. "Is something in the matter?"
"What are you to Naruto-sensei?" Hinata asked with angry voice making her teacher to raise an eyebrow. Had she just heard Hinata using a tone? No way. "Are you his girlfriend?"
"What!?" Haku turned around shocked. "No! Why do people always think that?"
Kurenai looked interested at her students and her doctor. "Is there something I should know?"
Hinata ignored her and leaned closer. "I see you following Naruto-sensei all the time! If you're not his girlfriend then what you are?"
"His assistant!" She had almost said 'his tool' but had changed it for the sake of her master. "It's my job to take care of him. There's nothing more to say. Now then, can we continue the exam?"
Hinata glared at her for a moment before giving in and sighed. "I-im s-sorry." She whispered and reverted back to her normal self.
Haku changed confused looks with Kurenai who only shrugged like saying: 'This is my first time seeing this.'
"W-w-where is N-naruto-sen-sensei now? I h-haven't seen him fo-for a wh-while." She asked.
"Naruto-sama has a job outside the village at the moment." Haku muttered little too annoyed than she had originally supposed to. "He will be back in few days."
"I see…" Hinata looked depressed to the floor.
"May I ask… what is it that you like so much about him?"
Hinata looked up to her and Kurenai raised an eyebrow. 'Good question.' She thought herself.
"I mean most of the time he is just running around, picking up girls and ignoring everything else."
"Point to Haku." Kurenai muttered triumphantly. She too was curious to find out why her student was so taken by 'the Son' as so many in the village liked to call him. It sounded a lot like it when most of Hinatas peers were in crazy about the Uchiha.
Hinata puffed. "Y-you shouldn't insult Na-naruto-sensei like t-that." She said with firm voice. "He m-may act like that to most of the people, b-but I know the truth."
"The truth?" Haku and Kurenai asked simultaneously.
Hinata looked at the floor and started playing with her fingers. "H-he's kinder than most t-think. He li-likes to help people. He likes animals. I saw him playing with birds once. And when he helps people h-his e-eyes look so concentrated that it makes me dizzy."
Haku had to exchange looks with her jonin sensei once again who had to shrug. "Point to Hinata." She whispered depressed.
--
Naruto was walking around the town where he was supposed to find Jirocho's kumi. But he wasn't sure where to look first. Normally he would only need to sit down to a bar and before he even knew it, he was in a middle of a toba (A/N: illegal gambling house run by Yakuzas). But not today. He didn't get the 'vibes' from this town like he usually gets when in a Yakuza town. Slight tingling of expected excitement when entering a town full of criminals. He had never before visited Jirochos kumi. They had always met on the road. Jirocho liked relaxing in different onsen towns so it wasn't a great surprise they often met each other. But now when he for once was going to meet them, he couldn't even find them.
He sighed and decided to use a trick he had learned from Jiraiya. He walked into a bar and straight to the counter. As usual, bartender treated him like a normal kid. He had to throw out some idiots who thought they could mug him before people started taking him seriously. After all, not every day a boy able to sent three grown men flying with one leg comes around.
"So, what can I do for you, boy? If you're looking for a job I can-" Bartender continued with more serious tone but not amazed.
"I'm looking for Jirocho."
"What you want of him?" Bartender asked raising an eyebrow.
"He is the love of my life." Naruto answered with a bored voice. "I haven't seen him for a while so I had to come and see him."
"Fine, it's none of my business anyway." The bartender muttered sulking and walked away. "Too bad for you, everyone is gone now."
"Gone?"
"There is this big race you must have heard of." He continued.
"The Shrine race? It's now?" Naruto asked and felt like slapping himself. "I totally forgot."
"Well, everyone's gone to Todoroki Shrine waiting for the results. They should be back in couple days."
"Couple days?"
"Well, maybe a week." The bartender shrugged. "Depends how fast the runners run of course."
"Of course." Naruto sighed disappointed. He had hoped to get back to the Fire country before the end of the week. Now he would have to wait another before he could even do nothing. Patience wasn't one of Narutos virtues.
"So, youngster, what are you gonna do?"
Naruto shrugged. "Don't feel like waiting for couple days." He said and walked off. "I'm heading to the shrine myself."
He exited the bar with a direction to go. Todoroki shrine was about a week walk away with his current pace. It had already taken one week to get here. Sure, in a hurry he could be halfway back to Konoha by now but he never enjoyed hurrying either. Haste makes waste. He liked doing his things with his own pace. So he continued his walk.
He arrived at a port town where he bought himself a boat to cross the ocean.
While the ocean winds pushed his little boat towards the finishing line, he remembered his last time at the ocean.
--Flashback--
Naruto and Isaribi were playing in a small bay. Naruto was disappointed. He had really hoped to see her in a bikini or at least in a swimming suit. But he had to be disappointed because she seemed to like to swim in her usual clothes.
They didn't actually swim that much. She didn't seem to like it that much. She did enjoy sitting on a beach and playing with the sand. Naruto of course enjoyed of seeing her smile. They were currently searching for clams and she was owning him.
"Here's another!" She yelled as she dug up another clam and putting it into her bucket. "Naruto-kun, you really suck at this."
"Well excuse me." He pouted and looked away. "I'm just letting you win."
They were silent for a while before they both started laughing and sat to the beach.
"Do you like it in here?" She asked quietly.
"It's okay I guess." Naruto muttered and shrugged. "I have seen many places but this is the first time I feel like being for a little longer than usual."
"That's good to hear." She whispered happily.
"Did you say something?"
"Nothing. Look! Here another!" She picked up another clam just next to herself.
"You cheated!" Naruto yelled. "You dropped one from your bucket. I'm sure of it!"
"Then prove it. Blaah!" She shoved her tongue to him.
--End Flashback--
Naruto woke up when he felt something passing by. He wasn't sure what was going, he moved it out of his mind. Without any more interest, he turned away and continued his dream. But unfortunately, the dream wouldn't come to him and he was forced to stay awake until he reached another small port town, just like the one where he had left just a day ago. He made some calculations in his head and was sure that he was in the right place.
Then he continued his walk towards the finishing line, where people were gathering. The shrine was amazing place. Full of people and life and everyone was keenly waiting for the results of the race. He noticed Jirocho standing in a middle of his group looking quite a bit anxious. Naruto made his way up to him. "Yo! Ossan! What's up?"
He could feel how the crowd froze as he spoke so disrespectfully to the respected man. "Ah! Naruto-kun! What brings you here today? Coming to watch the race?"
"Sorry but sweaty men running wildly while panting isn't exactly what I call a fantasy." Naruto smirked as he stepped next to him. "I'm here because of my mom."
"Oh! So Tsunade-hime wants another loan? Well, I'm sorry Naruto-kun but now isn't really-"
"Wrong! My mom sent me here to PAY you BACK." Naruto ransacked his shoulder bag, finding a scroll where them money was sealed in. "Here."
Jirocho blinked. "Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Really?"
"Really."
There was an awkward silence. "Are-"
"Yes it's real!" He yelled angrily and handed the scroll over. One of Jirocho's goons took it. "My mom found some source of money and made me come to pay you back as soon as possible."
"Well how nice of you." Jirocho smiled. "Thanks to you, my day might not be a complete waste."
"What you mean? Are you going to lose?"
"Our runner has disappeared." Jirocho sighed worried. "I'm not sure what we're going to do if we lose."
Naruto shrugged. "You will figure it out. You're a smart man."
"They're here! They're here!" Someone yelled and the crowd started cheering their favorites. Naruto stepped aside and watched as the two people ran towards the finishing line. The first one had a slight advantage but the second was gaining up on him every second.
With minor interest Naruto moved away from the crowd to some stand where they were selling some octopus balls. He ate them as he saw how Jirocho's boy won the race easily. Then there was some trouble with some rules but the local daimyo put an end to them and everything worked out. He had done what he was supposed to so when Jirocho was walking to him, he was going to say good bye and start his way back home.
Then he noticed how serious Jircho looked like when he walked to him and he stopped eating. "Has something happened?"
"Actually there is…"
The team guarding the runner had ended up in trouble. A traitor ninja from Konoha had appeared in front of them and tried to kill the runner. Team 7 had blocked his attacks and made an opening for the boy. They hadn't been seen since then.
"So troublesome." Naruto muttered and started walking down the stairs of the shrine. "Stay healthy, Oji-san." He waved his hands and started running. It was a pain but he had to check those kids were okay. They better not have themselves killed, were his thoughts as he ran the track backwards.
He soon noticed a couple that was leaning to each other. He recognized both of them being the freaky kid with that creepy smile and who he was helping to walk was Sakura. They were both beaten pretty badly. "What happened?" He asked as he rushed to them. He took barely conscious Sakura from Sai and laid her to the ground.
"Naruto-sensei… what are you doing here?" Sai asked as he crashed to the ground.
"My mom had some business with your client. Then he told me that something had happened to you." Naruto explained as he checked their wounds. Then he looked around. "Where's the Uchiha?"
"We don't know." Sai answered. "When I woke up, I could only find Sakura-san unconcious on the ground but couldn't find even one hint about him. Nor could I find anything about that missing-nin. Something must have happened to them both if our client was able to finish the race."
"I see." Naruto muttered and stood up. "I guess I should go check."
"N-n-naruto-san…" Sakura was coming to. "P-please help S-sasuke-kun…" Then she passed out again.
"I'll see what I can do. Kage bushin no jutsu!" He yelled and formed the hand seal. Two exact copies of him burst to existence. They knew exactly what to do and raised their patients from the ground. "They will help you to the shrine where you should get some first aid. It doesn't seem that either of you is in any real-life threatening situation so I will leave you like that while I seek out that Uchiha."
"I understand." Sai nodded as the other clone helped him to stand. Naruto said good bye to them and rushed ahead. He arrived to the bridge where they had held the battle. Naruto looked around. "Nothing seems out of the ordinary…" Then he heard a muffled scream. Naruto walked to the woods where he found something unexpected. A girl with red hair and some freaky costume was lying on the ground while her stomach was bleeding severely and tied up and gagged while some other male ninja was holding a kunai to her neck. "Now, bitch. I will pay you back for what you did to me last time!" He yelled and was ready to stab before a fist sent him flying through trees.
"You okay?" Naruto asked as he looked to the girl in the ground. She was obviously hurt and had a big wound in her abdomen. Naruto knelt to her side and started checking her wound more closely. "What the hell happened to you? This is not your regular sword wound, is it?" There was more muffled screams as the girl struggled against her bonds. "Oh yeah. Sorry." He apologized and removed her gag. "You okay?"
"Of course I'm not fucking okay! I have a fucking hole in my stomach! How do you think I am?!" The red head started ranting to him furiously.
Naruto blinked.
"Get these damn things off me now or I will kill you!" She yelled and struggled again.
"You shouldn't do that. You will only harm yourself more." Naruto tried to stop her while opening her bonds.
"What are you? A fucking doctor?"
"Yeah." Naruto nodded surprising her. "Or learning at least." He started healing her stomach. 'Multiply bleeding sources… this will be bad. She needs to get some surgical attention and fast.' He thought.
"What? Then heal me already you fuckface!"
"What happened?" Naruto asked ignoring her insults and glanced at the unconscious man who he had sent flying. "There seem to have been some sort of quarrel with you two."
"Has nothing to do with you!" She yelled and flinched from the pain. "Hurry up!"
"This isn't something I can just hurry!" Naruto snapped back surprising her. "This wound goes all the way to your spine. It's possible that you won't walk ever again! Now I ask, what the hell happened?"
The girl looked away angrily. "Me and my… team had an errand to run for our leader." She muttered. Naruto noticed the hesitation in her voice. "We arrived when we found our… target fighting with that guy." She spat at the unconscious ninja. "He was using this freak ass sword of something and was owning him. He was just about to finish him off when my beloved fucking teammates decided to use me as a meat shield." She spat again. "Those whores! They let me to take the hit and then just run away with the target like it was nothing! I'll fucking kill them! And that brat! I don't care even if that fucking pedophile wants him! I'll kill them all!" She flinched again. "What the hell is taking you so long?"
Naruto took a moment to evaluate the situation. "You need medical attention."
"No shit, Sherlock!" She screamed flustered. "You must be a fucking doctor!"
Naruto ignored her rant. "I mean some far more superior skills that I have. My moms."
"Your moms?" She asked disbelieving. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
"You know you have a quite a mouth, sweetheart." He said starting to get annoyed by her attitude.
"Don't call me a sweetheart, fuckface!"
"Don't call me a fuckface, bitch!"
"Who're you calling bitch?!"
"You're my bitch!" Naruto smirked and stood up. "But foreplay can wait until you're healed. I have given you some emergency treatment so you should be okay for a while. Now I need to get you, and that guy back to the shrine." Then he brushed his hair. "This is getting so troublesome. Then there's that Uchiha bastard I need to find."
"What did you say?" The red head asked narrowing her eyes. "Just who are you?"
Naruto smirked. "The soon-to-be world's greatest pervert and soon-to-be greatest medic. Ups. I shouldn't have said that."
"The first part or the second?" She asked.
"The first part." Naruto blushed and cleared his throat. "Anyway, do you know something? I'm looking for an Uchiha. He has a dark hair that looks similar to a chicken butt, frowning all the time and has this… 'I hate everything that moves and even some immobile objects' kind of smirk on his face all the time. Oh yeah, he has this fan on his back. Rings any bells?" There was a moment of silence when Naruto realized it. "He was your target, wasn't he?"
The red head didn't answer. Just looked away.
"That pedophile…" He continued. "Who was he exactly?"
"Just who are you? I haven't got your name yet, fuckface!"
"My name isn't fuckface. It's Senju. Senju Naruto." He waited for her reaction.
"S-s-senju?" Tayuyas eyes widened in shock. "As in Senju Tsunade… one of the S-sannin?"
"My mom." Naruto muttered. "You're talking about Orochimaru, aren't you?"
"How-"
"Only a person in a direct contact with one of the three knows the magnitude of their power." Naruto explained. "But because I know you're not with my mom, and I can pretty much figure out that you're not with Ero-sennin that only leaves our favorite snake charmer." Naruto knelt closer. "Now, tell me, where is the Uchiha?"
"Long gone by now." She whispered. "Orochimaru wants Sharingan. Your Uchiha is the only one available. He sent me and my team to get him."
"So you kidnapped him?"
Tayuya gave out a sorrowful laugh. "Like we needed to. What I saw from the ground, I could tell that he was more than willing to leave when he saw how strong they were." She took a deep breath. "They are now heading towards the Sound village."
"This sucks." Naruto shrugged. "In any case, you obviously need more attention than he does." He created another pair of shadow clones and told them to carry both the girl and the unconscious ninja away. "I never got your name."
"Let go of me! Now! I don't need to you carry me!" When her words fell to death ears, she looked away. "Tayuya. Now let me go!"
"Nice to meet you, Tayuya." Naruto smiled kindly and ignored her words again.
"Nice to meet you, Fuckface."
Naruto sighed and told his clones to carry them both to the shrine. "I will take a little scout ahead and see if I can catch up with them." He told and turned around.
"What? Who do you think you are?"
"No one special." Naruto muttered and walked off. "But if my instinct is correct, I can't just let it go."
"Don't come crying to me when you get your ass raped by them!" Tayuya screamed after the real Naruto run away. "What the hell is a matter with you?" She asked from his clone who was carrying her.
"Don't know really." Naruto-clone shrugged. "If it were me I would just let that snake bastard let his way with him."
"It's not like he cares about him." The other one agreed.
"Then why in hell does he do that?"
"Because there's a pretty girl who is asking for a favor." They said in unison and smirked. "No gentleman like myself could go back to her and tell her that I couldn't do it because someone told me it's a no-go."
Tayuya puffed. "Go fuck yourself."
"I don't need to." Naruto-clones yelled proudly.
--
The real Naruto was running full speed ahead trying to guess where his target was going. If what Tayuya said was true, he had gone by his own will and they didn't need to restrain him. But they wouldn't be in much of a hurry to get out of here either. They couldn't think of anyone would come after them so quickly. And they must be tired for running for so long. Yes, they were what woke him up back then at the boat. They were running over the sea. Even with Narutos control it would be hard (A/N: Narutos trick for his high control because he ejects most of his chakra out of his body so his reserves are not bigger than regular chunin or jonin but he can use them more effectively. Just a little heads up again). He looked around the island, creating several shadow clones making himself panting at one point.
But he couldn't find one trace of them. The island was empty.
--
Tsunade was doing some work in her office. Shizune and Haku were doing their best to help her.
"Then you have to check these." Shizune handed over some documents. "And Haku has the report about the ANBU investigation of the movements of the Sound village."
"Damn." She cursed and stamped them quickly. "Done! Anything else?"
"Well, nothing at the moment…" The door was knocked and Haku rushed to answer it.
"Tsunade-sama, the elderly advisors are asking for an audience." She turned her head.
Tsunade sighed and leaned to her another hand. "Let them in."
"Glad to see you're taking your job seriously, Tsunade-hime." Koharu said as she and Homura walked in.
"What do you want?" Tsunade asked. "I don't have all day."
"We want to talk about Kumo." Homura said. "Or more about the possible alliance with them."
Tsunade sighed. "Go on."
Just when the advisors we're about to start to talking about the benefits of the alliance, a slug puffed to the table.
"WAAAAZZZZUP!!!" It screamed with very loud voice. "Is everybody ready to party?!"
Tsunades eyebrow tugged. "Why are you here?"
Haku watched wide eyed as the slug talked and was doing some… dance moves on the table. A SLUG!!! "W-w-w-what-"
Shizune placed her hand to her shoulder calming her down. "That's a summon. Naruto-kun uses this particular individual as a messenger. Her name is Katsuya. But…"
"But what?"
"We don't know where she got her personality from. The head summon, Katsuyu-san is very serene person like most her other slugs. Yet for some reason, Naruto-kun always prefers her above other slugs."
Tsunade slammed her hand to the table ending the show. "I know why he favors you." She glared at the small slug who looked up with its tentacle eyes. It was so obvious to her. 'The brat must have some ability to push my buttons while not even in the village. I bet he is the one who corrupted this slug too.' "But what are you doing here? Did something happen?"
"Yo! Yo! Yo!" The slug greeted her and did a back flip very spiritedly. "Wazup Baa-chan! Katsuya-sama is here to rock the HOUSE!!!" She screamed.
"Enough!" Tsunade yelled and slammed again to her desk. This time with her fist. "Why-are-you-here."
The great hole in the desk might have shaken the little slug badly because she started nodding furiously. "Okay, okay. No need to go for a stroke. Man! Can't a poor slug get a little slack here? I mean is that too much? I'm asking for just a little appreciation here! Do you have any idea how hard is it to gain a rep of a beat killing rapper if you only get few minutes screen time once in awhile? Do you?"
"I have to talk with your mother about this." Tsunade rubbed her temples. "Do you really have to do this?"
"If you don't want me to leave without telling my message, then yes."
"Tsunade-hime. It seems that this is a personal matter so we will take our leave and return when-"
"Stay right there!" Slug snapped suddenly. "I finally get some new faces around and they are going to listen when I sing or I'm going leave here and never come back!"
"And what a great devastating loss it would be." Tsunade sighed and pointed at the advisors. "Stay."
"But-"
"This will only take a minute, right?"
"If I'm allowed to finish, then yes." Katsuya took a deep breath. "Okay, here goes. And a one and a two and-" Half an hour later the slug finally stopped singing and dancing.
There was a moment of silence until Shizune, Haku and even Homaru clapped their hands. Even he had to raise his hat to the little slug who tried so hard. Tsunade on the other hand was about to explode. "What's the message?" She asked with an alarmingly deep voice.
"Oh yeah." Slug obviously was satisfied with herself. "Well, Naruto told me something about being able to hand over the money. Some trouble with the some ninja business. Some Uchiha went missing. Can't really remember that much."
"What?!" Everyone in the room asked shocked. "What was that you said?"
"Well you know how it is when you're thinking new songs-"
"BEFORE THAT!!!" Everyone yelled so loud that Haku had to cover her ears.
"Some Uchiha had gone missing." The slug shrugged. "I don't really remember that much. I do remember him telling that he would be arriving to Fire country soon with a missing-nin and remains of the team that was there."
"Anything else?"
"Well I do have another song I could sing-"
Tsunade glared with all her might.
"I guess not." Katsuya laughed nervously and disappeared.
"Tsunade-hime-" Both advisors walked closer.
"I know." Tsunade nodded. "Shizune! Get the first team available! Haku! Go and find Kakashi now! "
"We understand!" Both women nodded and rushed out of the office.
--
Naruto arrived to the shrine where he was greeted with all her patients who were receiving emergency treatment from the village doctor while Jirocho and one of Narutos clones observed. When Naruto walked up the stairs, Sakura pushed the old man aside and rushed to him.
"Naruto-sensei!" She jumped almost into him. "Sasuke-kun? Where is Sasuke-kun?!"
Naruto only shook his head and walked pass her leaving her to cry by herself.
"N-no way… it… it can't be…" She crushed to the ground crying.
"Couldn't find them, Fuckface?" Tayuya asked arrogantly. Her stomach was covered with bandages. Naruto had told her to keep her background as a secret until he could figure out what to do. The missing-nin, Aoi, was tied up very neatly and was glaring everything around while Sai was standing behind him on guard duty. Out of everyone there, he had the least injuries.
"They were already too far away." Naruto explained while he sat next to her to check her wound. "I used my summons to contact Konoha. They should be aware of our situation right now."
"Did you tell them?" She nodded at Sakura who was getting comforted by the nurse who had helped the doctor.
"No." Naruto shook his head. "They are already too far away. They are not anywhere near this island or hiding too well for me to find them. In any case, those genins would only get themselves into trouble if they went running after him. It's better for them to wait for orders from the village. I'll go change few words with Jirocho. I'll be right back."
"Fine." Tayuya puffed. "See if I care. I'll just wait here to bleed to death."
Naruto walked to Jirocho who was waiting for him a little further away. "I'm sorry to hear of your loss." He nodded.
"Not my loss frankly." Naruto said uncaringly. "Anyway, can you arrange a boat to the main land? I need to get her to Konoha soon as possible." He nodded at Tayuya who was cursing the doctor for doing a bad job for treating her and feeling her up and molesting her and etc. "And she needs a friend seriously." He nodded at Sakura who was still crying at the place where Naruto had left her. Idate had walked over to her to offer some comfort.
"I can see that too." Jirocho muttered. "I will see what I can do." He left the shrine. "Thank your mother for paying her debt so soon."
"Don't mention it." Naruto muttered and walked back to his patient. "Sai."
"Yes?" He answered. "Is there something I can do?"
"Yes. Go and help your teammate." Naruto muttered. "I'll look after him."
"But-"
"Your teammate needs you." Naruto said with a firm voice.
Sai nodded slowly and walked to Sakura who was currently hugging the first thing in sight, Idate. And it was obviously painful to him because he was turning blue. And that wasn't a metaphor
Naruto walked to the prisoner who was glaring at him. "Who're you, brat?"
"It's not your concern." Naruto answered and gathered some chakra into his palm. "This will be painless." He slightly touched his forehead. "Fuuin!" He sealed all his memories of the last few days to be sure. He didn't want any more conflicts long as he was in charge. And the seal could be easily undone by any jonin or ANBU level ninja so he didn't need to worry about that. He glanced at Tayuya. If Sakura were to find out her involvement in Sasukes disappearance, there might be bodies on the way. First he would have to deal with the wound in her abdomen, and then they could start torturing all he cared.
"What are you looking at, Fuckface!?" Tayuya snapped agitated when he kept starting at her. "Are you getting a hard on?"
"You must be popular among boys." He muttered. "With a mouth like that."
"Something wrong with the way I speak, Cocksucker!?"
"Never mind." Naruto muttered and walked away. "Try not to stress yourself too much, okay. That kind of wound can be fatal if not taken seriously."
She only spat into his feet and looked away.
During the boat trip, Naruto kept Sakura busy for his own sake. He didn't feel like making excuses why he couldn't find Sasuke so he kept treating Tayuya and became more familiar with her. She still spat in his face when ever had enough strength to gather the saliva so he couldn't call her friendly. She had demanded to know why he was dragging her ass to Konoha. All the usual options where suggested like torture and interrogation, slavery at a brothel, his personal sex toy etc. You know, the likely reasons you expected.
Naruto had assured her that he wouldn't let anything to happen to her long as she was his patient. "I don't care even if you were the Snake himself. Long as I'm your doctor, I will make everything in my power to make you better. And until you do, they better come with an army or something because nothing less won't make able to touch you."
Something in his words must have assured her quite a bit so she didn't rant about the subject anymore. Of course she kept ranting about everything else in the world.
"And besides, my mom is the Hokage. I can always convince her with the way I want." He smiled. "So rest assured. Long as you're in Konoha, you're under my wing until you leave fully healed."
"But…" Tayuya avoided his gaze. "I…"
"What?"
"I helped killing that Old fart of yours." She spat quietly. "There. I told you."
"What?"
"That's right. I helped Orochimaru to kill that old Hokage of yours by sealing him inside that cube on the stadium. Now, kill me. That's what you want right? Revenge? Well, lucky you don't have to do much. Just finish me and be done with it."
Tayuya looked up to Narutos eyes like waiting to see hate in them so she wasn't surprised when she couldn't see them. Then he raised his eyes and smiled. "That's irrelevant."
"What?"
"Didn't I say that I didn't matter even if you were Orochimaru himself? All I care is that you're now my patient and that's it. Even if I have to go to war with Hidden villages, I will make you better." He smiled to her. "And besides, he wasn't my Hokage." He leaned back. "You still might want to keep that down while in Konoha. People in there aren't as open minded as I am."
That night Sakura was sitting in a middle of a boat looking up to the starry sky. Naruto made a mistake of staying up for little longer.
"It happened when I was seven." She began with a weak voice.
"What?" Naruto asked regretting it immediately.
"When I fell in love with Sasuke-kun." She whispered. "All the other girls were crazy about her too but I loved him. Do you know why?" She didn't wait for an answer. "When I was in the academy doing a test, I glanced at him quietly. He was so lonely. It was about a year after the loose of his family. He was so lonely yet so determined to become the best. He tried his best at every time and most of the time he was the best."
"Great." Naruto muttered.
"Then this one time, I did better than him in a test." She continued her story. "He came to me. I thought he was angry but he smiled to me." Naruto raised an eyebrow. It was almost impossible to imagine the Uchiha smiling. "He said he was impressed and asked about my name. Then he told that he wouldn't lose ever again. That was when I fell in love with him." Naruto could see the sparkly tears running down her cheeks. "Is he really-"
"I searched the whole island." Naruto told truthfully and let it there. She started to cry louder.
"Dick move, Fuckface. Dick move." Tayuya commented. "Now I can't sleep."
The next day Naruto and the group arrived to a port town in the Fire country. They had quite a welcoming party. Ibiki and two guard chunins had come for the prisoner Aoi, while Kakashi and Team 10 were there waiting for details about Sasuke. They only knew that he had gone missing and that there was a missing-nin in the boat. And of course Haku was there too. Tsunade had first tried to convince her to do otherwise but she didn't give in. She had even tried of sneaking off but Shizune had cleared her when she was stopped at the gates.
Soon as the boat connected with the dock, Haku jumped on to the boat to Narutos side. "Are you okay, Naruto-sama?"
"I'm fine." He nodded as he watched the welcoming comity coming onboard. "Look after the girl over there. Don't mind about what she says. She has a dirty mouth."
"Understood." Haku nodded and rushed to Tayuya who demanded to know what was going on. Loud.
First one to step to the boat was Kakashi and right behind him Team 10. "Naruto-san, Sasuke-"
Naruto raised his hand to silence him and nodding at Sakura who was still sweeping silently. Ino had rushed to comfort her friend. Shikamaru and Chouji followed. "We should talk a little further away."
Asuma noticed how Kakashi and Naruto moved further away from the group and nodded to Ibiki who nodded back. They walked to them as Naruto was about to start explaining what he knew. Chunins walked to Aoi taking him into custody.
"What happened to Sasuke?" Kakashi asked. "And why is that Sound ninja onboard unrestrained."
"So you noticed huh?" Naruto asked.
"Maybe you didn't know but she was one of the four who helped Orochimaru to kills Sandaime."
"Really? Had no idea." Naruto answered with a flat voice which caused several eyebrows to rise in shock.
"You knew?"
"She has a big mouth and even worse personality." He answered. "Is something in the matter?"
Asuma seemed to be a little agitated. "We need to restrain her now and take her to the ANBU to be interrogated."
"No." Naruto said with clear voice.
"I'm sorry but that's not your call."
"Actually it is." Naruto hardened his gaze. "Because now she is my patient. And long as she is my patient, I-don't-care-what-she-has-done. All I see is a teenage female with a severe wound in her abdomen of size of my fist. I don't know about you but I don't think many people would be able to move too much around with that." He swiftly glared at Kakashi who flinched slightly. "And besides, I'm taking her to Konoha with me to receive treatment. You can ask everything you want there."
"But what about Sasuke? What happened to him?" Kakashi asked.
"He was either kidnapped or he went willingly with the other three after they abandoned her." Naruto explained.
"What you mean 'went willingly'?" Ibiki asked. "Who would go willingly to the enemy's base?"
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not a ninja. I'm just telling you what I know."
"And what do you know?"
"Orochimaru wants Sharingan." Everyone's eyes widened. "She told me." He nodded at Tayuya. She was currently arguing with Haku of seriousness of her injuries. "She also told me something about body transfer and that Orochimaru is in need of a new body soon." He continued with a grim voice. "I don't know all the facts and I don't want to. But I searched the whole island before leaving it. There was no sign of them anywhere near the place."
Kakashi looked at Sakura. "Does she know?"
"Only that I couldn't find Sasuke. I left everything else to her imagination." He shrugged. "I have told everything I know. Now if you excuse me, my patient is waiting for me." He walked to Haku and Tayuya.
"And I'm telling you that I'm fucking fine!" Tayuya fought against Haku.
"Problems?" Naruto asked.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-sama but the patient isn't co-operating with me."
"No surprise there." Naruto muttered.
"Says high and mighty 'Naruto-sama'. Fuckface." Tayuya spat again. Haku was about to retaliate when Naruto summoned a big slug. "What the…" The slug jumped over the unsuspecting girl and sucked it inside.
"Finally!" Naruto yelled. "Some sweet silence! That girl has been at it nonstop ever since we left."
"What just happened?" Haku asked jumping away as the slug disappeared with a burst of smoke.
"Slugs can be used to deliver patients. They can emit a tranquilizing substance that can preserve the body for hours. And she will be unconscious until further notice so it will be quiet around here. Shall we?" He stepped to the land with Haku leaving shinobis to do their business.
They arrived to Konoha soon enough and Naruto was marched directly into the council room. The word what had happened had arrived before him. So Naruto had to explain everything that had happened to a room full of people consisting Hokage, elderly advisors, council and other important people of Konoha. "And that's when we arrived landed to the Fire Country."
"Was that all?" Cold eyes glared at him. These were the only people in the village who knew who he really was. And they didn't like it at all that he was there.
"Yes."
"Where is that Sound kunoichi you found?" Danzo asked slowly. "I don't remember seeing her."
"She is in a safe place. Don't worry." Naruto answered.
"Where."
"On Slug Island." Naruto answered. "I sent her there before I can start operating her."
"That's very… admirable of you, Naruto-kun." One of the councilors strained a smile. "But we need you to summon her back so we can interrogate her."
"No." Naruto said before he had ended.
"Excuse me?"
"I won't allow you to interrogate her. Not until she is fully healed."
"Just with authority you think you can-" Danzo began.
"With an authority of her doctor who is me." Naruto with sudden strength in his voice. "Moment I found her bound the ground, wounded, she became my patient. What happened before or what happens after she is healed, is no concern of mine. But everything that happens in between, is." He gave a glare to everyone in the room.
"So what are you going to do?" Danzo asked leaning forward. "Just let her spend rest of her life at the 'Slug Island'?"
"No. I would like to go to the hospital, summon the slug I sealed her inside with and perform a surgery so I can fully heal her." Naruto explained.
Tsunade leaned forward. "What kind of wound is it?"
Naruto quickly explained the manner of the wound. Tsunade made few notes ignoring disapproving looks she received from the council. "I see. That is pretty bad."
"Can we question her, Hokage-sama?" One of the councilors asked.
"Interrogation is out of question if that's what you want to know." Tsunade flipped through her notes. "She has already lost of lot of blood and her wound has already started to infect. If Naruto hadn't summoned the slug, she would be dead by now. We need to perform a surgery soon as possible."
"What about-"
"If what we heard from this girl… Tayuya, it is true Uchiha Sasuke went with them from his own free will." Tsunade gave it a thought.
"It must be the cursed seal that is affecting his mind." One of the councilors said loudly.
"Even if it is, he is gone by now." Tsunade leaned back. "We should now decide if we should declare him as a missing-nin or if not then what should we do."
"Wait." Sudden croak interrupted them. "Jiraiya tells you to wait before doing anything decisive."
"Who-" Councilors saw a small toad sitting in a middle of a table. "One of Jiraiya-samas summons?"
"What he wants?" Tsunade asked.
"Yo!" Toad greeted them. "Jiraiya just wanted to tell you that he has gotten some serious information about the Orochimaru and your Uchiha who he saw moving along with a group Sound nins." This raised some interest in the room. "He didn't get him, if that's what you want to know. He just saw them by flash when scouting an enemy territory."
"So, what is the information he wants to share with us?" Tsunade asked.
Toad shrugged. "Don't know. He didn't tell me. He said he was in too much of a hurry at the moment. He just told me to repeat the message and tell you to wait for him to come back or to contact you. See ya!" He disappeared from the table.
"That decides it then." Tsunade stood up and the councilors followed her. "We wait for him to to contact us and then make our decision. Until then, we keep everything we have found out in this room as a secret. Understood? Even that girl's identity and her involvement in this." She looked at Naruto. "We will question her after the surgery and we will place a twenty-four hours ANBU guarding around her. To guard and protect her. Orochimaru isn't the type to ignore a loose thread. Can we agree to this, Naruto?"
Naruto nodded quietly.
"Good. And with that, we are adjourned. Shizune, tell my orders to Ibiki, Asuma and Kakashi. I want to talk with him personally after the surgery. Understood?"
"Of course, Hokage-sama." Shizune nodded.
They left the council room. Haku was waiting by the door. They exited the Hokage tower and entered the village. "You okay?" Tsunade asked from her son.
"Yeah. Just can't take those guys." Naruto muttered looking around. The news had started to spread about rumored death of the 'last Uchiha'. Far as Naruto could make it, his involvement wasn't yet a rumor.
"I healed Lee, by the way." Tsunade said suddenly. "His leg and arm. Just yesterday."
"That's great." He nodded. "How did you do it?"
"As you originally planned." She smiled proudly to him. "Thanks to you, Lee can return to active duty in few days time."
"Woppy doo." Naruto muttered sarcastically.
"Did you make the drop, by the way?"
"Yes. He wanted to thank you for paying him so quickly. I still would like to know where did you get that money."
"None of your concern." Tsunade said firmly. He didn't need to know that she was selling Jiraiya some 'peeping time'.
They arrived at the hospital. At the doors Tsunade stopped him. "It's okay now, Naruto. You can summon her back."
Naruto formed the summoning and the slug jumped back to the scene. Everyone around were shocked when the slug appeared suddenly like that. Even Haku who had seen a summoning before thought it was too weird.
"You want me to release her?" The slug asked.
"Yes. Thanks, Katsuya-chan." He smiled and waited as the slug peeled off from the Sound girl.
"Bring a stretcher!" Tsunade yelled to nurses who were gathered around as unconscious Tayuya appeared from inside. "And prepare an OR." She looked at Naruto. "Let the fun begin." Who nodded back.
Chapter END
A/N: Well, wasn't expecting that were you, huh? Everyone was just thinking that 'aww! just another boring chapter about the filler' or something like that. Well here's a surprise for you. I completely skipped Sasukes' retrieval arc. You must want to know why? Because 99% percent of all the Naruto fics has that arc written over and over again like it was in the series. First Chouji fights that fat guy. Then Neji that spider, Kiba against that two face while Shikamaru takes out Tayuya and Naruto rushes forwards fighting first against Kimimaro before Lee comes along and then he rushes to fight Sasuke. See? There it was. The whole arc in a nutshell. And why does everyone have to write it always? Of course there are some minor changes considering what kind of person authors the Naruto fanfic. But I decided to skip that whole thing. And this way was more effective. First, Sound Four didn't have to risk the capture. Nor did they had to wait for any rescue party coming along. Now they could just cross the ocean, run fast as they could through few countries to Oto where they would be heroes for five minutes.
A/N: I know many of you must have waited for Naruto vs Sasuke all out fight at the Valley of the End. Well, sorry. Not gonna happen. I'm going to keep fight scenes in this fic in a pure minimum. My Naruto is a pacifist by nature. And even I had followed the original plot where they had proceed to a fight, then what? Naruto is a medic. Not a shinobi. Especially from Leaf. Why would he go to get some selfless jerk back when he clearly wanted to go? When there's no connection between them? I have nothing against Sasuke. I understand him greatly. True, many ninjas had a painful past but c'mon! First, your whole CLAN is killed by your older brother and THEN you go through that genjutsu that Itachi put him through. If that happened somewhere during this day and age, he would had been admitted to an asylum where he would be drawing monster with his own blood. So his vengeance is understandable. To me at least. And when you start thinking that 'Naruto had gone through worse and come out better' or stuff, think how lucky he was! And it must have taken a lot of effort from Tsunade and Shizune to open him up. And even still he is still kind of a screwed up person. And back to Sasuke, in the series, Naruto was there for him. Naruto, a person who was able to convince Pain that what he did was wrong, wasn't there. Naruto, the sun of the series wasn't there to help him. Sasuke was the only person who was lonely in Konoha. No Naruto to annoy him. No Naruto to compete against him. And especially, Naruto, his teammate, wasn't there for him. As Orochimaru said to Kabuto during preliminaries: 'He is very influential to Sasuke-kun' in episode 51. See if you don't believe it. That's enough about him.
A/N: Sorry about that just now. I started ranting again. There still few things I would like to make clear. I added the Sakura scene in order to make tell everyone that I like Sakura. She is an important character in the series even if she isn't in this fic. So to all who think that Sakura is just some useless bitch, I will have this message: 'TAKE YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS, please.' Thank you. Most of the people think that Sakura liked Sasuke just because everyone else liked Sasuke. Did anyone read these few chapters in manga recently? She had some serious feelings for him. What will happen I will leave to the higher power but I just HATE fics where Sakura is made some useless bitch who can't even walk straight. She has great talent and even if she doesn't end up with Naruto, that doesn't mean she is a useless bitch. Sorry… I started ranting again. Anyway, I wanted to give her a reason to like Sasuke. That's why I added the scene at the boat. So you people wouldn't think badly of her.
A/N: Third thing. This is a message to all Naruto+Tayuya fans out there. They aren't the couple, yet at least! I just thought her for a moment and decided to give her a role in this fic. What kind, will be revealed when the story goes on.
A/N: Fourth thing. Poll winner was obviously this fic so I updated it now.
A/N: Fifth thing, did you read the latest chapter in manga? Danzo had a Sharingan? Who would have guessed that? What does it mean? Is he Madara? I don't think so. If he were, he could have destroyed Konoha long ago, couldn't he? Danzo is Hokage finally. What he wanted. Why would he want that if he wanted to destroy the place? So if he isn't Madara, how does he have the Sharingan? I just let that hang in the air.
A/N: I noticed that only a few people voted for my new fic that I'm thinking on writing so I decided to add a little Omake. It's the fight of the Valley of the End. It's pretty much from the middle of the that story but it can work as a pilot. If you like the idea, I will write it but remember, this is an Omake. It may change somewhat before my fic reaches that point. So here it is… I have to think of a good title for it… anyway, This is a fic where Naruto is beaten as a child and a person who finds him after that. He is an OC. Time goes on, and Naruto becomes a ninja. A lot happens (Hard to write without giving a lot of the plot). Well, here it goes:
OMAKE: Promises made
"So you came, dope." Sasuke said while sitting on the head of Uchiha Madara. He looked to other side of the river. The dope, in his grey hakama. Eye-pad over his eyes while holding his red umbrella.
Naruto standing over the head of Shodaime, smirked. "I'm here and you know it has nothing to do with Konoha."
Sasuke thought it for a moment. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you let me go? I'm deserting Konoha here."
--Flashback--
Sasuke placed Sakura to the bench before turning around. He saw a glimpse of a red umbrella walking besides him. He turned around quickly to see the dope walking down the street his usual uninterested look on his face. "Remember to come outside. It would be a pain if she got pregnant." He said and walked away like nothing interesting happened.
--End Flashback--
"Because of two reasons." He raised two fingers and then changed it to one. "First reason is, it had nothing to do with me. The second, is because you have the look."
"The look?"
"The look that even if I had knocked you out right there and dragged to the Hokage, the first chance you got, you would have bailed on the village. The look," Their eyes met. "of ambition. You have to kill your brother. Your heart is set on that. Nothing we do can change that." He glanced over his shoulder. "The strength you need and want cannot be provided from the village. You know that too."
"I could just turn all my new strength against Konoha or Orochimaru could take over my body. That could be a big problem in the future."
"I can't see to the future. If I could, life would be boring." Naruto smirked. "No one can be proven guilty to something they might do in the future. You might slip and hit your head the next moment and die. Nothing is certain. When and if something attacks Konoha, I will be protecting it. Even if it's you or anything else."
"Why?"
"What?"
"Why do you protect that place? I've seen how they treat you. Yet for some reason, you're very loyal to them."
Naruto looked up and saw some birds flying high. "Konoha maybe isn't my home. Nor do I want to live there. But so many people I respect and love have put so much into it. I just can't let someone ruin the place as long as I live there if so many people have sacrificed their lives to protect that place." He imagined Ero-sennin, toads, his mother, Kushina and even the cursed Yondaime who ruined his life, his father. He imagined his jounin sensei and teammates and of course, his older brother. "Before I find my place in this world that will do just fine." He smiled. "We have talked enough. Shall we begin?"
Sasuke activated his Sharingan. "You know, out of everyone in the village, you're the only person I'm going to miss and regret killing of."
"Why thank you." Naruto smiled and threw his umbrella into the air. "You too." While the umbrella remained floating in the air, he pulled out his tonfas.
Sasuke threw kunais and charged ahead. Naruto blocked them easily with his weapons and charged too. They jumped from their footings and met just over the river. Naruto aimed for his neck while Sasuke saw it coming and kicked his guts. Naruto blocked his leg with his own while Sasuke dodged his attack. They exchanged attacks in the mid air before crashing loudly into the lake. Sasuke was able to stand but Naruto flew right through.
"Pathetic as usual." He taunted as Naruto pulled himself over the surface with trouble. Naruto charged again and Sasuke countered. They started a furious taijutsu fight over the lake. That was before Sasuke was able to see Narutos move in advance and grabbed his hand. "It's over." He formed Chidori into his hand and punctured Narutos shoulder with it. There was a clear hole in there. He let Naruto go who crushed to the ground, clutching to his shoulder.
"That hurts." He panted. Sasuke stepped forward. "I can't go on like this." He reached for his eye-pad.
"So you had a trick in your sleeve. Let me see it. Even though there's nothing you can do without your other hand."
Naruto ripped his eye-pad off and seal became undone. His injury from childhood started leaking red chakra that quickly covered him completely. His face became more feral and his fangs grew longer.
"Y-you have two eyes? I thought you said you had lost your eye in an accident? Why are you wearing an eye-pad if you don't need it? Trying to imitate Kakashi?" Sasuke asked shocked. 'And what is with that chakra. His wound… it's healing so fast I can see it!'
"I did lose it." Naruto smirked and picked up his tonfa he had dropped while just now. "I was training alone. Some… missing-nin became rushing right through our home. There was a fight and an accident caused me to lose my eye. An explosive tag to my face. My special chakra saved my face but my eye lost its ability to hold it back." He picked his eye-pad of the ground. "My Aniki made this. It holds back that chakra." His chakra was starting to form a tail behind him. "I hate using this though but you're using the cursed seal while I'm using this. I guess you can say we're equal." He lowered his weight point and prepared to attack. "Round two. Go!" He charged ahead with incredible speed and punched Sasuke to a face. It was like he was completely a different person without his eye-pad. His moves became more brutal and unforgiving. He made lot of sweep moves. Sasuke was having more hard time at keeping up with him. Until suddenly Sasuke saw it. He could see it coming. He was able to avoid it and attack before Naruto was able to counter. Naruto was sent flying far away. He had reached the cursed seal level two.
Naruto threw away his tonfas. "Let's finish this." He brought out his hand and chakra started swirling in it.
Sasuke made hands sings and his hand started sparkling.
They charged at each other with the best attacks they could master. Naruto in his one-tailed form and Sasuke in his winged cursed seal lvl 2 form. Their attacks connected. There was a big flash of light and explosion. Then suddenly. Everything became silent.
The lake became still. Everything ended.
Omake END
A/N: So, how do you like it? I know I rushed it and there must be like dozens of questions you have in mind but I hope you will get the general idea my fic will proceed. I was thinking of writing a summary like this: "Name Aoshi was called a genius before Kyuubi attacked. Now he has lost everything. His family. His friends. His career. Everything. And tonight, he will have his revenge. Or will he…?" Does that raise any curiosity? Does it? If you're worried that I will ignore this fic like others, don't worry. I HAVEN'T abandoned any of them. Naruto has a new 'pet' will be continued when I get wind of it. Most likely I will re-write it from scratch. Codename: Fox, I will continue also. I promised to continue my Bleach-Naruto crossover when I got the chance and get wind of it. I'm currently thinking how to continue it. And I will continue this fic of course as promised. I have every intention to fulfill all my fics and promises. I'll hope you enjoyed this chapter and didn't mind me writing all this. If anyone could actually finish this, remember to review. Thank you.
See you again soon!
