A/N: This one's long. Really long. Sorry for taking so much time! I've been supa busy lately…
Last chapter got 20 reviews. I love you all so much! XD Thanks to all those who reviewed! Oh yeah, and those who thought I'd stop writing if I didn't get enough comments…I was kidding damnit! XD
Pairings:
ShikaIno: 1
ShikaTema: 8 (Shieez, I never knew this one was so popular xD)
LeeTemari: 1
LeeSaku: 1
KibaIno: 3
SaiIno: 3
NejiTen: 6
JiraiyaTsunade: 5
SasuSaku: 6
KibaFemaleHaku: 5
GaaraOc: 1
LeeOc: 1
KankuroOc: 1
ShinoOc: 1
KibaTen: 1
NejiShizu: 1
SasuTen: 1
(I've noticed…is my fic a nest for crack-pairing lovers? XD It's not that I don't like 'em…I just think it's funny :3)
The reaction the people present in the Hokage Tower had was, to say at least, quite varied.
The Sandaime, for example, wasn't the least impressed about the request. After all, Morino Ibiki had told him all he had managed to get out of Gashir.
Half of Konoha's council seemed actually happy, while the other half seemed ready to jump over the Raikage and behead him. How dare he, trying to steal our weapon? They probably thought.
Meanwhile, the Kumo nin simply smirked and a very nostalgic already-mentioned Morino Ibiki looked at the roof with a smile on his face, remembering the good time he had passed torturing the Cloud Ninja, while the Hyuuga clan started screaming like little girls.
However, a pair of small eyes was lifted, shinning with hope.
At the Raikage's left side, a small girl, no older than 9 or 10 years, stood, nervous. She was blonde, with pale skin and brown eyes. A ninja headband was placed in her forehead, while she wore a Chuunin vest, something hard to see in someone so young. For the average villager, there was nothing weird about her, except for her rank at such an age. But for an experienced ninja, there were few things more dangerous.
For she held the Niibi, the two tailed demon cat, one of the most powerful beings ever born, inside her. Why was she there, being such a valuable "tool" for her village?
The answer was simple: The Raikage couldn't go anywhere without here, he felt completely defenceless. She was, in a way, the most important member of their leader's bodyguards.
In her village, she wasn't treated badly at all; The Niibi, unlike the Kyuubi, didn't attack Kumogakure: it was simply…"passing by" when a hundred of ninja attacked it and trapped it inside the village. A monk who had spent his whole life creating seals had told the Raikage that he could be able to contain the beast inside a newborn if they let him, and he did. Unlike the Yondaime, the monk didn't have to sacrifice his life in order to seal the Niibi; he used a different technique(1), one that didn't kill him, and used a simpler seal, one that would let the Host take almost full control of the beast inside it. (2)
But even if she had had a better treatment that her fellow jinchuuriki, she didn't feel happy at all: People often looked at her as if she were a god, a higher being, with a blind admiration that hurt her. And that was one of the reasons why she couldn't help but wish the Raikage would win the discussion. Her greatest desire was to meet someone…who was like her. Someone who could understand how having a demon inside you felt, someone who could understand how being treated differently from others felt. But that was the only thing she could do: Hope.
"Why you…!" a very, very Anko shouted at the Raikage. She would have jumped over him if Kakashi hadn't retained her, even though he himself wanted to do the same. The Hokage hadn't told them about that part of the Raikage's plan, the part of requesting for Naruto to be handed to him. If they had been (actually just Kakashi) more hot headed, they would have attacked Kumogakure's leader right there, not caring about his bodyguards or the delicate balance the alliance between their two villages lay in.
"Let me go, Kakashi! I'm going to kill him!" The black haired woman said, completely mad.
The Raikage looked around, searching for the cause of the ruckus, with a bored expression on his face. When he saw who it was, he smirked. "I remember you." He said simply. Anko froze. The Raikage paid no more attention to her, and turned to where the Hokage was. "So, Sarutobi…will you satisfy my request…or not?"
The Sandaime smiled in a fatherly way, which sent shivers through Kokuzoku's spine. What could he be planning? He asked himself.
The Hokage didn't answer his question. He simply kept smiling…and smiling…and smiling…until… "Damn it Ibiki! I've been trying to intimidate the Raikage with this expression and you still don't do what we planned!"
Said man sweat dropped, along with everyone else present in the reunion. "Uh…sure, Hokage-sama." He sighed. He had been happy, thinking about his time with Gashir…
FLASHBACK
"Welcome to hell, mother fucker." Morino Ibiki said cheerfully. "This night will be full of non-stop fun. Are you ready?"
They were inside Konoha's torture chamber, and hell, it was big. Obviously, thousands of horrendous tools lay scattered on the ground.
Since the Cloud Shinobi said nothing, the commanding officer of the Konoha ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force repeated. "Are you ready?" Again, the Kumo nin gave no answer. Ibiki sighed, walked to where Gashir was standing, with shackles on his arms and legs, and kicked him. "And now? Are you ready?" Silence. He kicked him again. This time he was greeted with a grunt. "That's better." He turned to where his torture tools where. He picked the smallest of them, a hammer of the size of his finger, and showed it to his prisoner. "We'll begin with this one; at first, we'll be like acquaintances: I will hardly believe any thing you say." He picked another tool, this time slightly bigger. "When we get to this one, we'll be like friends: I'll believe some things you say." Ibiki searched for his other tool, the "nutcracker" as he had nicknamed it affectively. He found it near the pointy things. "When we reach this one, we'll be like brothers: I'll believe most of the things you'll say." Finally, Ibiki thought happily. He stretched his hand to grab something that seemed a combination of all the torture tools in the chamber. "Ah, my favorite, Pain Incarnate. With this one, we'll be like soul mates: Everything you say, I will believe." He smiled when he saw the look of fear in the Cloud Ninja's eyes. Oh yes, he was going to enjoy this.
END FLASHBACK
And he had. Ah, the pleasure of hearing Gashir's screams…
But what the Kumo nin had revealed had been truly interesting. Kumogakure had planned kidnapping a Hyuuga even before signing an alliance treaty with Konoha. Gashir was supposed to enter the clan's mansion, take the girl, escape, hand the girl to another Cloud Ninja, who would be standing outside the village and act as if nothing had happened. Fortunately, he never managed to complete his mission, courtesy of Hiashi.
However, what had really impressed the Torture Leader was the interest the Cloud had taken in Naruto, and that he was constantly in contact with the Raikage. While it was worldwide known that Kumogakure had always longed for the Byakugan, wanting a demon container to join their ranks was something new. Now, how…
"Ibiki, damn it! Stop daydreaming! Bring him now!" An angry voice said. Ibiki gulped. "Sorry, Hokage-sama. Saika!" A female ninja, apparently a jounin, jumped out of nowhere, carrying the body of Gashir. She gently placed it at the Sandaime's side.
The Raikage looked at the Hokage, astonished. "What does this mean, Sarutobi?"
The old man simply smiled again. "Look at him closely." Kokuzoku did. Everyone present gasped. The Cloud Ninja sported a big amount of wounds, but…he was breathing, though he was unconscious. "So he's still alive…" The Raikage muttered. He wasn't happy, no. This could hinder our plans…He thought.
"But that doesn't change the fact that you attacked him, Sarutobi!" He would get that damn Byakugan and the jinchuuriki, no matter what!
The old man sighed. Was the Raikage really that stubborn? Was he really willing to push him to the limits of his patience and probably start a war? It seemed he had no choice but to… "Kurenai." A woman with dark hair approached the Hokage. She was of average height for a woman, around 5'5 or 5'6, and was wearing a jounin vest. (3) But what stood out from her face were her eyes, of a red color, very much like Kokuzoku's. The Raikage stirred, intrigued. Could she have the same roots he had? Did she descend from them too? And what the heck was she doing?
Kurenai had crouched at Gashir's side, and started making hand seals…
Darkness. That was all he saw, all he felt…he was lost in the void of nothingness. He didn't know who he was, or what he was, he was just there…waiting…
And then he saw a light. It was weak, but it stood out of the darkness a lot. He walked towards it…
And Gashir found himself in another place. Not in a tower full of people looking at him expectantly, but in a land full of beautiful and gigantic mountains, with rivers in every corner…
He was standing in his native country: Kaminari no Kuni(4), near the great Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds. And ahead of him, the Fifth Raikage, Kokuzoku, was calmly sitting in a huge rock, looking at the sky.
Gashir immediately ran to where his leader stood. Not even once he thought he was trapped in a genjutsu.
"Raikage-sama! I didn't manage to kidnap the Hyuuga nor the jinchuuriki! Please forgive me!" He said, bowing deeply. He knew Kokuzoku's ire had no limits if failure in a mission was concerned. The Raikage simply continued to look at the sky. Gashir found this unnerving. "I know I am a shame to our village! Such an honor was given to me, and I failed…I failed you, Kokuzoku-sama." Gashir was really a cheesy person. But that wasn't one of his major flaws, no. His major flaw was rushing into everything, without stopping for a minute and think about what was happening. It was a mystery to everyone in his village how someone like that could be so good at stealth. Gashir didn't even wonder for a second what was he doing in his homeland, free, instead of being a prisoner in Konoha.
Silence filled the tower when the Cloud Nin finished talking.
The Raikage was shaking with pure anger. So that had been Sarutobi's plan, huh? Using a genjutsu master (mistress, in this case) to make Gashir "spill the beans". If looks could kill, all of Konoha's council would be nothing more than a couple of fried roosters, and Sarutobi would be a pile of ashes. With the Hokage's robes on.
"I…I will return to my village now, Sarutobi." The Raikage said his voice full of hatred…and fear at the same time. All his plans had been ruined so…stupidly? Was a war going to start…so stupidly? He could have had continued to invent stupid excuses to obtain what he wanted, but he felt it was already time to stop. He didn't want to push his luck anymore.
Sarutobi simply smiled. "I hope you enjoyed your stay, Kokuzoku-san." He would let the Kumo nin go freely, without any fight. It was always the best to prevent a war. Plus, there had been no real harm done, right?
The Raikage nodded, relieved. He picked Gashir, who was still talking with the air, and exited the tower, with all his bodyguards following him, as if nothing had happened.
Again, silence filled the tower.
But the Raikage refused to leave Konoha with his hands empty.
Kakashi sighed. "Well, at least nothing bad happened…" He looked at the Hokage with slight admiration. "There are probably many reasons why he is called "The Professor"…right Anko?" He asked the black haired woman. She was the one who knew him the most, aside from his family, of course. She basically grew up at his side…at his side and Orochimaru's.
Anko didn't answer. She was staring at the floor, with a troubled expression on her face. Was the Raikage related to her in any way? He seemed to know her…but she didn't know him. Or at least, she didn't remember who he was. Could he…?
"Are you okay?" She felt a soft squeeze on her shoulder. She looked up to see a concerned/carefree (is that even possible?) Kakashi (at least his eye showed he was a bit worried). "Eh? Yeah, yeah…" But the white-haired man knew she wasn't. He sighed again. "I am going to pick Naruto up; he must be really hungry by now. I'll be in Ichiraku if you need me." He said, waving. He knew that when Anko had internal problems, she had to be left alone.
Argh! This must be the most boring day I've ever had! Thought an angry Naruto as he wandered around Kakashi's apartment. He had been doing so for the past 3 hours, trying to find something to do. Unfortunately for him, the place was small, with only four rooms. Why do I have to stay here anyway? He pouted. Hey…isn't that the book onii-san's always reading? He stretched his hand and stood on his tip-toes to pick it, since it was on top of the closet, but he couldn't reach it. Frowning, he searched for a chair and climbed on it, but he still was too short. Blah! Naruto kicked the closet angrily, and the book fell. He blinked. Yay. He crouched to pick the book from the floor, and looked at the cover. Naruto pouted again. He didn't know how to read yet…he opened the book and…
"Don't." Naruto jumped, screaming. "Stop doing that, onii-san! You'll kill me one of these days…" Naruto had always wondered how Kakashi did to appear out of nowhere…
The white haired man smiled. He couldn't let Naruto see the graphic content of Icha Icha Paradise…Anko would kill him if he did. "C'mon, let's go to eat some ramen. I'm sure you're hungry."
"Raikage-sama…where are we going?" The blonde chuunin girl asked Kokuzoku. They (He, she, and half of his bodyguards) were jumping through the roofs of Konoha. At first, the girl had thought they were going to leave the village, but she began doubting this when suddenly the group of Cloud Ninja divided in two and took different paths. Did the Raikage still want to obtain the Byakugan and the Kyuubi junchuuriki? An hour ago he had been thankful Sarutobi had let them go! And now he was again doing things that could start a war…
Kokuzoku smiled, but remained silent. The girl shivered involuntarily. His face held the expression of a madman…
"Yugito." The Raikage abruptly said. The girl raised her head to look at Kokuzoku. "Yes Raikage-sama?"
"Tell everyone that IT is at only 2 minutes more of travel." Yugito nodded. Slowing her pace, she told the nearest ninja, a jounin with dark hair, what the Raikage had said. The man nodded too, and proceeded to tell the others the same.
"Um, Raikage-sama…what is IT?" Yugito asked. Kokuzoku simply stared at her. "You'll see exactly…now." The Raikage landed in a small, white building, of around 4 or 5 stories tall. The ninjas following him did the same in the surrounding area. "It seems he isn't inside right now, so let's wait." And they did. 1 hour passed…2…3…until…
"Yatta! That was delicious…thanks onii-san. I'm so full…"
"I am impressed, Naruto. Today you broke your record…and you left my wallet empty…"
"Hm? What did you say onii-san?"
"Nothing, nothing…"
All the Cloud Ninja suddenly tensed when two figures, one very small and the other tall, appeared, slowly approaching the bulding, and Yugito thought she knew why: The short one emitted an inhuman amount of chakra. Someone like that could only be a jinchuuriki! She smiled, happy. So the Raikage refused to leave without the Kyuubi container huh? Who cared about war! Maybe she would finally meet someone like her! Even if that someone was like 6 years younger than her…
"Raikage-sama…the man accompanying him is Sharingan Kakashi…" a ninja told Kokuzoku, his voice tinted with fear.
"I know." The Raikage smiled. Of course he did, he had placed spies all over Konoha to find where the Kyuubi container lived. It had been a disgusting surprise to find that his caretaker was the legendary Copy Ninja, indeed. But that didn't mean it was impossible to capture the jinchuuriki. He, the Godaime Raikage, would take care of Kakashi while his ninja took the Kyuubi kid, and then they would escape before Konoha noticed what they had been doing. He just hoped the Kumo nin in the Hyuuga compound managed to escape too…
"Get ready." Kokuzoku said, and started making hand seals. The white-haired man below him suddenly stiffened, and raised his head. Too late! The Raikage thought with a smile as he screamed. "Raiton: Raikurai no Ju-(5)"
Hatake Kakashi had always considered himself as a man that knew when danger was near. Obviously, as a ninja, you had to.
That was one of the many reasons why he shivered when he entered Ichiraku with Naruto. Somehow, he felt it would be hard to look at his wallet after this…
"Ah! Naruto! Kakashi! Welcome!" The restaurant's owner greeted them. Teuchi was a man in his mid-40s, of average height, small eyes (like -), and grey hair. He was one of the few people in Konoha that didn't see Naruto as a demon; in fact, he saw the boy as a genius. Being only four years old, he was almost capable of talking perfectly and coherently. He didn't remember Ayame being able to do that when she was his age…
"What would you like to order?" He asked his clients.
"Eh…the usual, Teuchi-san." Answered Kakashi. Teuchi nodded. (6)
The white-haired man turned his head to Naruto. "So…what did you do today?"
The blonde boy stared at him with a bored expression on his face. "Absolutely nothing. Your apartment is really boring, onii-san!"
Kakashi gave him a sad smile. "Sorry for that." Naruto simply sighed and leaned on Ichiraku's table. "Maybe we could buy a pet one of these days; that way you won't get bored that easily." The ANBU captain smiled when Naruto's face brightened. "A cat would be nice…it could take care of itself…" Kakashi said. He didn't really want to be responsible with anything…
"Here's your order, Kakashi!" Teuchi shouted, even if that wasn't completely necessary, for his clients were at two steps from him. He handed the bowls to them. "Thank you, Teuchi-san."
"Yeah, thank you Oji-san!" Teuchi smiled. He had already cooked 5 bowls more of ramen: With Naruto, you always had to be prepared.
Kakashi stared dumfounded at the 34 bowls of ramen that lay at Naruto's side. Oh yes, this was really going to hurt his wallet…
"O-oi Naruto, that's amazing…" The white haired man heard Teuchi say. The jinchuuriki simply belched as an answer, with a satisfied smile on his face.
Kakashi twitched. He was sure he was the one that kept Ichiraku running…sighing, he pulled out his wallet from his pocket, and paid the bill of the food (which was ridiculously big). Teuchi smiled devilishly. "Hope you enjoyed your food!" Kakashi stared at him.
Sighing again, he exited the restaurant with Naruto, who, had he lacked extremities, could have simply rolled instead of walking. The blonde boy had eaten so much, Kakashi feared he would explode. Not that he didn't wonder why he didn't every time they went to Ichiraku. They headed to Kakashi's apartment.
"Yatta! That was delicious…thanks onii-san. I'm so full…" Naruto said cheerfully as he patted his belly.
"I am impressed, Naruto. Today you broke your record…and you left my wallet empty…" Kakashi whispered.
"Hm? What did you say onii-san?"
"Nothing, nothing…" He said with a small smile. However, his face became gloomy for a second. Something's not right…He felt a stingy sensation on his neck…he raised his head…
Shit!
"Raiton: Raikurai no Ju-"
The Raikage never finished his technique. In that exact moment, a giant dragon, made of fire, hit him and half of his ninja, destroying a big part of the building they were standing on in the process.
"S-Sarutobi! You…!" Kokuzoku angrily shouted, coughing blood. How…?
"I am greatly disappointed in you, Kokuzoku-san. What you just tried to do is one of the most foolish things I've ever seen." In the top of a tree, the Sandaime Hokage stood proudly, with an angry expression on his face. Behind him, nearly a thousand ANBU were waiting for his orders. It was impressive how so many people managed to approach the Kumo nin without being noticed..."You are risking so much…what will your village think about this? A true kage would…"
"Attack! Get the Kyuubi kid!" He shouted to his ninja. The Kumo nin hesitated, but obeyed anyway, jumping towards their enemies.
Sarutobi sighed. "Try not to kill any of them." He told the ANBU, who doubled the Cloud Ninja in numbers. "I'll try to knock some sense into the Raikage…" even though Kumogakure's leader had done more than enough to anger him, he understood his actions, mostly because he knew of his past. Kokuzoku's father, the Sandaime Raikage, had been a jinchuuriki himself. Before dying, he had liberated the beast inside him, and had made his son promise him that he would gather all the Demon Containers in the world and make Kumogakure the strongest of all the Ninja villages. Apparently, Kokuzoku was trying to fulfill that promise. That was one of the reasons why Sarutobi had been so patient with him; He had always sympathized with people that had made promises of a life-time. He himself had had one…
With a flash, the Hokage disappeared from the tree (7), reappeared at the Raikage's side, kicked him hard, and sent him flying to another building.
Even though Kokuzoku had the advantage of being younger, Sarutobi had experience on his side. And really, experience was being a pain in the ass for the Raikage.
"Raiton, Akari Raimei no Jutsu! (8)" Kokuzoku shouted, putting his left hand on the earth. Almost immediately, a huge thunder came out of it and directed itself to where the Hokage was at a blinding speed. Sarutobi managed to dodge, but the attack destroyed three small houses. The Sandaime frowned. He had to take Kokuzoku far away from there, or many innocent lives would be lost.
Ho shit. Kakashi dodged yet another Kumo nin that had tried to take Naruto from him. With a simple twist of his body, he kicked the Cloud Ninja in the neck and rendered him unconscious. He had been running for like an hour trying to escape from the Kumo Nin that tried to kidnap Naruto, even though most of the Cloud's soldiers had stayed fighting with the ANBU. He sighed when he saw another 20 Kumo Chuunin jump over him. I think this is getting a bit exaggerated…
"O-onii-san! What the heck is happening?" Kakashi looked at the boy he was carrying. "Let's say Halloween arrived a bit too early this year." The kid stared at him, confused. "Huh?"
"Never mind."
The white-haired man crouched and kicked another Cloud Ninja. This is going to be eternal…With his hands full, it was hard to fight, and he couldn't use his Sharingan (9). At this rate…hey, is that Anko?
Indeed, it was Anko who he saw in the distance, waving her hands desperately.
"Kakashi, what the fuck is happening?" She said when she reached him, repeating Naruto's question in a less courteous manner.
"Language, Anko." The white haired man said care freely, sending a quick glance to Naruto, who already had a curious expression on his face.
"Kakashi, you scold me for my language at a time like this?!"
"There's no time, take Naruto and ruuuuun!" He said, his face suddenly changing from calm to dramatic, and handed the blonde boy to the black haired woman.
"Eh?" Asked a confused Anko, but Kakashi was already gone. "What the…"
"Nee-chan, what's "fuck"?" The black haired woman froze. Shit. Damn you, Kakashi!
"Em…it's…uh…look! A bird!"
Already far away, a white haired ninja snickered. Oh yeah, that had been brilliant. He just hoped Anko wouldn't kick him there later like when she found out the Hokage hadn't called for her, the day in which he "adopted" Naruto. In had been painful, indeed.
With his left hand, he lifted his headband to reveal his hidden eye, the one that held the Sharingan. Suddenly, everything seemed slower, and the simplest details of all that surrounded him were now completely visible for him. He closed his right eye; it was hard to see with it now.
"Raiton: Kôsenya no jutsu (10)!" He heard a voice at his right side say. Kakashi moved just in time to avoid a thunder that would have hit his back if he hadn't.
Kakashi turned and saw who his attacker was: A Cloud Ninja of average height, with brown hair and green eyes, apparently of Jounin level or higher.
Kakashi threw a couple of shurikens and kunais at his attacker, who deflected them with his own. The Kumo nin then started making hand seals, unaware of what his opponent's weird eye could do. Kakashi frowned. Wasn't he like, super famous? Usually, when someone recognized who he was, they started fighting cautiously, trying not to use any jutsu. And this guy here was basically…meh, the easier, the better.
"Ôkki Kôsen!" The Kumo nin shouted, a huge thunder coming out of his mouth. Kakashi began to make a set of hand seals at an inhuman speed, and said "Doton Kabeiwa no jutsu (11)" just before the Cloud Ninja's attack hit him, creating a wall of earth that blocked it. The Kumo nin seemed angered by this, and began to cast yet another technique. Kakashi took advantage of this and created 4 Kage Bunshins, and ordered one to go to where his opponent was. The fool thought it was the original and immediately used the jutsu he had been doing on the clone.
Kakashi smirked when a poof, followed by a "huh?" reached his ears. Ordering his other Bunshins to do the same, he jumped over the wall of earth and threw again a couple of kunais at the Cloud Nin. The Kumo ninja was apparently tired already, probably having exhausted most of his chakra, and clumsily dodged Kakashi's projectiles. However, he was unable to avoid getting hit by his enemies' clones' kunais, which engraved in his back, and fell to the floor, bleeding.
Kakashi's muscles relaxed and his bunshins dissipated in a cloud of smoke. He looked at the Kumo nin. That's what he got for wasting so much chakra in such a stupid way. He raised his head. It seems I'm still far from where the true battle is. This guy was probably just looking around for Naruto. He sighed. Even though he was in a hurry, he knew there was practically no reason to fear for who the winner of the battle would be. Kumogakure was obviously going to lose, whatever they did. They were outnumbered at least 1 to 30. Why the Raikage tried to do something so stupid was a wonder to him. Sighing again, he started running.
"Raiton: Dai Raiken!(12)" A voice shouted in the middle of a badly burnt forest. There was a huge explosion as a fist collided with the ground.
The Raikage stared at the crater on the ground. This time he had hit Sarutobi directly…but was not impressed to see a wooden log where the old man's body had been.
Kokuzoku moved just in time to avoid his head from being chopped off.
"You know this is pointless, Kokuzoku-san." The Hokage said. The Raikage grumbled.
The whole fight had been like that. Avoid, dodge, use a replacement jutsu, attack, avoid, and dodge over and over again…a battle between kages could be eternal.
Kokuzoku started making hand seals and shouted "Raiton: Rai Bakuhatsu! (13)". From the Raikage's mouth, not one, but hundreds of thunders came out and headed to Sarutobi. The old man tried to dodge all of them, but got hit repeatedly. His hand grasped his chest, as he winced and screamed, being electrocuted. However, he rapidly recovered and stabbed the Raikage in the chest with a kunai.
The Sandaime blinked when Kokuzoku's body disappeared and he felt another charge of electricity on his body, although this time it was weaker. Rai Bunshin? When?
He crouched to avoid getting hit by yet another Raiton jutsu that came from the bushes. Sarutobi logically expected for the Raikage to come out from there, and certainly wasn't ready when Kokuzoku attacked him from behind. Or so Kumogakure's leader thought. He frowned when yet again a wooden log appeared where the Hokage should have been. This is going to be a very, very long day…
"Thanks a lot Asuma. They almost got me…" Anko said exhausted. At first she had been running everywhere trying to find a safe place to leave Naruto in, to no avail, thanks to a group of Cloud Ninja that had been following her. Even though she was strong, she was no where near Kakashi's level, she was just a chuunin! The Kumo nin would have completely destroyed her if Sarutobi Asuma, the Hokage's son, hadn't suddenly appeared from the nothing and defeated them all with his badass trench knives.
"Dad would have killed me if I hadn't helped you two." He said with a smile, with a cigarette on his hand. Not even when fighting he stopped smoking. "I don't know about the others, but the ANBU at the Hyuuga compound already defeated their opponents. It was quite easy, in fact. You should go there; it's the safest place in this village for now." He said, heading to where the other fight was.
Anko watched him as he leaved. Did Kakashi go to the Hyuuga compound or to the other place?
"Nee-chan…isn't the Hyuuga thingie where Hinata lives?"
"Eh? Oh yeah. We're going there now."
"That was a great fight, Kokuzoku-san, but it was still pointless." The Sandaime said, holding a staff on the Raikage's neck.
Sarutobi had summoned the monkey King, Enma, while Kokuzoku had summoned a huge cat, since he didn't have any kind of control over the cats' king. The winner of the battle had obviously been Enma, who, even if he had a disadvantage for being way smaller, was also way stronger than his opponent.
Kokuzoku stared expressionless at the Hokage. His weakness had always been summons…had the Sandaime figured that out, or did he simply call out Enma on desperation?
"We were perfectly even, Kokuzoku-san."
"Stop talking and kill me already."
The Sandaime laughed goodheartedly. "I am not going to kill you, Kokuzoku-san."
The Raikage blinked. "I'll let you live with one condition: Hand me the Niibi's jinchuuriki. Yes, Kokuzoku-san, I know you brought her."
The Raikage was about to complain, but the Sandaime spoke again. "Think about it; I have more than enough reasons to kill you here and now, and do the same with your ninja. Your village would be greatly weakened with the loss of their Kage, and then it'd be easy for Konoha to attack it and conquer it. Do you want that?" The Raikage shook his head. Sarutobi smiled, and continued. "Of course not, Kokuzoku-san. Handing the jinchuuriki to us as a way of saying sorry is better, isn't it? It'll take you a longer time to fulfill your promise, indeed, but you can't fulfill a promise if you're dead, can you?"
The Raikage nodded. "That's good. And now, I have to ask you, why did you do something so stupid? You are young, yes, but what you did is…"
The Raikage raised an eyebrow. Minutes ago, they had been trying to kill each other, and now the old man was scolding him like a grandfather would do to his grandchildren…
Notes/Meanings:
1: Eh, I'm still thinking about that one.
2. But the Host would also be easily influenced by the demon. Is there a particular reason why the Yondaime tried to use a different seal on Naruto? 83 Nieheh…
3. Which it is shown that she only wears in special occasions.
4. Land of Lighting.
5. "Technique of the Lightning", a cloud forms above the enemy, and sends a thunder that hits fleetingly its body. It's so fast, it's almost impossible to dodge. Jutsu not made by me. Credits to its creator. If you find the description weird, blame me. I suck at translating (the jutsu was in Spanish).
6. Note that Ayame is not around. Too young to be working XD
7. Sorry for that. There's been a DBZ fever on my school and I had just finished watching Broly's movie when I started writing this…XD
8. The Shinobi uses the necessary seals and later concentrates chakra in his hand, places his/her hand on the ground and an energy ray moves below the ground until it arrives at the enemy, the ray leaves the Earth and strikes the enemy. Again, not my creation.
9. Naruto's chakra would blind him. Kakashi knows and understands many things, that will be explained in a chapter that I'll name "Kakashi's notes". XD
And the truth of what happened when the Yondaime messed up the seal will be explained too, but a long time will pass before I get to that. So please be patient.
10. A thunder is created from the hand of the user. Not my creation either.
11. A wall of earth of 200x300x100 is created. Earth is needed. Nope, not mine.
12. "Great Thunder Fist". Not mine.
Woof, that was a long chapter wasn't it? So how was it? Weird, nice, horrible? I forgot to thank sika'sheart-sama when I thanked my most loyal reviewers D'x Sorry!
Anyway, why is Sarutobi so foolishly forgiving Kokuzoku? Some might consider this unreal, and they may be right, but I've always seen Sarutobi as an extremely forgiving person, who gives second opportunities to everyone. Even if the Raikage betrayed their alliance, Konoha was practically unharmed by the incident. And since Kumogakure was the one losing, he forgave them. Plus, now he has Kokuzoku's respect. However, he is, as one of my reviewers said, "A crafty old bastard" in this story. Er, I hope my "explanation" helped or something.
Also, I had planned to kill Kokuzoku, but heck, I became interested in him. So yeah, for now he'll live.
Em, anyway, a reviewer asked if Kuromaru was an OC. He is not. Just look for him in wikipedia.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Ja ne!