Tobi and Deidera: YOSH! CHAPTER TEN IS HERE! AW YEAH!
JRL: I would like to thank everyone for their support. Hopefully I'll be okay now. Anyway, here's Chapter 10 for you all :)
Chapter Ten: The Madness Within
Sunagakure, Kazekage Office
"Are you kids ready?"
"Hai. Please, let us get to Uzushiogakure already. My headache's getting worse because of the Shukaku. It won't stop screaming." Gaara said impatiently as he scratched his head.
"Alright then." Minato replied as he chuckled. "Kazekage-dono, we will take good care of your children, so you have nothing to worry about."
"I know you will, Minato-san. I trust they will be in good hands and will learn a lot. And thank you." The Kazekage replied as he bid his children goodbye.
"Right then. Gaara, Temari, Kankuro. Hold hands." Minato ordered and waited for them to. Gaara was in the middle so Minato held Temari and Kankuro's other free hand and channeled his jutsu. A few moments later there was a flash of yellow and the Kazekage was left alone at his office.
"Soon, Sunagakure will rise higher than the Leaf. Konoha, you will pay for your crimes." The Kazekage thought as he sat down and returned to his paperwork.
Uzushiogakure, Uzukage Office
The Uzukage along with her four older children were waiting for the arrival of the Kazekage's children.
"They should be here in a few moments. Where are Naruto-kun and Fu-chan?" She asked as she tapped at her desk. Everyone looked up as the door of the office opened and revealed Naruto and Fu with Sasuke and Hinata following behind.
Sasuke and Hinata have been already informed about Naruto and Fu's jinchuuriki statuses. Sasuke, Hinata, and Naruto have become easily attached to each other and were inseparable. Since they were all from Konoha, they had something that linked the three of them with each other. When Sasuke and Hinata were taught about the Tailed Beasts and the Jinchuurikis, they immediately understood their kind of situation. They felt sorry for the jinchuuriki as their life was harsh and had to endure something great at a young age. Thankfully, they also figured out that the jinchuurikis were not harmful and were not the tailed beasts themselves. As they thought more about it, they realized that the description about them could be related with Naruto and Fu. After a while, the two newcomers were summoned at the Uzukage's office and were informed about her two children's jinchuuriki status. Sasuke and Hinata, thankfully, did not become hostile after and became friendlier with Naruto and Fu. This made the two jinchuurikis happy and made their bonds stronger together. Now that another jinchuuriki was coming, they now know something about their kind.
"Sorry we're late." Naruto grinned as they entered the room. "Where are they?"
Just as he asked his question, there was a flash of yellow and out came his father along with three children. One of them was a girl with a fan on her back. One was a boy who looked like a cat because of his clothing, and the last one was a red haired boy who radiated an aura and had dark circles around his eyes. As the four newcomers got familiar with the new place, Naruto was the first to greet them.
"Hello! Welcome to Uzushoigakure! The name's Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, the future Uzukage! Believe it!" Naruto cheerfully said making the other people in the room smile.
"Hello, I'm Kankuro." The catman said as he offered a hand.
"Wow! Seriously, for a moment I thought you were a half cat with make-up…" The blonde muttered as he shook hands with him. Kankuro sweatdropped while his siblings tried not to laugh but failed at it.
"Hahaha! Woah, cutie. I like you already. I'm Subaku no Temari." The girl said while she was still trying to stifle her laugh. "Commenting about Kankuro's looks at first sight! Hahaha! I like you, yes I do."
"Hehe, sorry about that Kankuro-san."
"Don't worry about it. Everyone thinks he is a catman with make-up." The red haired boy said as he tried to quit laughing. "I'm Subaku no Gaara." The two young jinchuurikis shook hands as they shared their laughter.
The Kazekage's children were acquainted with the other people in the room after their interaction with Naruto. The Uzukage formally welcomed them to Uzushiogakure and they got into a friendly conversation. As the Uzukage's children were talking with the Uzumaki-Namikaze family members, a certain someone was screaming for bloody murder.
Naruto was telling them a story when suddenly he became silent. Naruto and Fu got tense and stared at Gaara.
"Naruto-kun / Fu, there's something wrong. Gaara has something sealed inside him aside our brother Shukaku." Chomei and Kurama both said to their hosts.
The Uzukage noticed her son's tensed stance and inquired.
"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?"
Naruto stared at his mother and was not able to respond, only giving her a scared look. This made the Uzukage, Minato, and Naruto's siblings alert.
"Your head hurts, doesn't it? And you're also sleepy." Naruto asked the red haired boy, making him widen his eyes in surprise.
"How did you know?" Gaara asked.
"Kurama-chan and I can feel it. Shukaku's screaming, we can almost hear it. Something off is radiating."
"Yes. Chomei says the same thing." Fu added.
"Kaa-chan, something is wrong. We need to get Gaara-san into an open area where there are no people. NOW."
The Uzukage understood what her son meant and immediately called for the STORM hidden inside the office. "I want two sealing teams at the Sealing Ground One immediately."
Minato made two clones and had one of them Hiraishin Hinata and Sasuke out of the office and brought to the mansion while the other clone went for Mio and Miho.
"Tou-san, we're coming. We'd like to help." Minako and Narumi said.
"Hey, what's going on?" Temari asked, now worried.
"Shukaku and another one is going out of Gaara-san." Replied Naruto.
"Another one?" Kankuro asked, completely baffled.
"Yes." Fu replied.
Just then, Gaara screamed in agony while he clutched his head. Minato grabbed him and quickly Hiraishined to Sealing Ground One. Kushina followed and vanished in a red flash. Minako grabbed Naruto and Fu while Narumi took Kankuro and Temari's hands. They followed the Uzukage and Hiraishined out of the office.
Sealing Ground One
Sealing ground one is a huge open space meant for sealing tailed beasts and keeping them at bay. It has been applied with numerous amounts of seals in order to suppress a tailed beast's chakra and to keep it from rampaging. The place is located on another island away from the village for added safety.
Minato quickly put down Gaara in the middle of the island where a hexagonal seal was drawn. As soon as Gaara touched the floor, the seals in the island began to glow. The hexagonal seal in the middle rose and formed a prism, holding the red haired boy in a grip-like hold but not hurting him.
The Uzukage appeared in a red flash followed by Naruto and the others. A few moments later eight more people came via shunshin.
"BLOOD! YES! BLOOD! KILL THEM ALL! PROVE OUR EXISTENCE!" Gaara screamed in pain and lost consciousness. This caused the Shukaku to come out of his seal faster.
"FREEDOM! YES! BUWAHAHAHAHA! TIME TO KILL! YES! LET US KILL SOME FILTHY MORTALS! BUWAHAHAHAHA-ACK! WHAT IS THIS?!"
"GET THIS SEALS OFF! AAAACK!"
"WE CANNOT BE FULLY AWAKE WITH THESE SEALS!"
"'WE?' What is this?" Kurama wondered. "I can feel another presence. It's the same one earlier. It's not from the boy. It radiates from Shukaku himself."
"Yo, sis." Chomei said as Naruto and Fu got linked. "The aura doesn't feel like it's immortal."
"Yes. It's only mortal… but powerful. I wonder."
"Prepare to knock out the Shukaku!" The Uzukage ordered as she, Minato, Minako, Narumi, and the eight other STORM got into a double hexagonal formation with the beast at the middle. Kankuro and Temari were ordered to keep distance as they restrained the giant raccoon.
"Uzumaki Art: Double Hexagonal Seal!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I JUST WOKE UP! MY EXISTENCE! I HAVE TO PROVE MY EXISTENCE!" Shukaku bellowed as a double hexagonal seal lit up. From the twelve people's positions, a different colored beam shot out of the sky and connected forming two hexagonal prisms. One inside and another one bigger outside. The prism started to move towards the middle as it slowly shrunk, encasing the one tailed beast and causing it to lose hold.
"LET US OUT! WE NEED TO PROVE OUR EXISTENCE!"
"DIEEEEEE YOU FILTHY MORTALS! I SHALL PUNISH YOU WITH THE LIGHT! AAACK!" It stopped screaming as its head hit the ceiling of the prism and got pushed down. The prism glowed a brighter color and more seals appeared inside the prism. The Ichibi tried to fight but was overpowered by the seal. After a few minutes it lost consciousness and returned back inside Gaara's seal. The prison remained active for about three more minutes to make sure the Ichibi was resealed back inside and will go to sleep.
Gaara woke up a few minutes after the seals went off. Temari and Kankuro was immediately by his side and was fussing over him.
"Okay, whoever did your seal, he or she really sucked." Naruto commented as he too got near Gaara.
"The seal was faulty. The one who did it must have been a low level sealer or probably wanted Gaara dead." Minato told the Subaku Siblings while Kushina applied some healing seals on Gaara.
"Gaara, how are you feeling now?"
"I'm fine now. Thank you, Uzukage-sama. The Shukaku has gone silent now. I think it's asleep."
"Let's go back to the village. I want you and your siblings to stay at the hospital for a while as we check on your health conditions. We will also have your seal checked so we can begin overwriting it as soon as possible."
They all returned to the village and the Subaku Siblings were confined to the hospital for a few hours before they got released. Gaara was placed inside a room with seals to keep the Shukaku at bay and not bother him. Sasuke, Hinata, Naruto, and Fu visited the red haired boy and they shared stories. Meanwhile, Chomei and Kurama was having a conversation through their hosts' mental links. They were discussing about the strange entity they felt earlier when their brother Shukaku got out from Gaara's seal. They noticed that the beast was talking strangely and was saying "we" instead of "I". They didn't fail to take note when he screamed something about punishing mortals with the Light. It was just not him. They knew Shukaku never talked like that.
Kumogakure
It was a normal day at Kumogakure. The villagers and shinobi were doing their own businesses when one of the glasses of the Raikage's office exploded followed by what looked like a human being tossed out. Everyone in the village could almost hear their leader's angry outburst.
"WHAT?! WHAT DO MEAN YOU DO NOT HAVE THE HEIRESS?!"
Mabui, the Raikage's assistant, can also be heard trying to calm her boss down so the whole village won't have to hear him.
"Raikage-sama, please, you need to calm down. And please put down Jay down. He's going to die from suffocation."
The Raikage just grunted in response but thankfully he put down the Kumo Kidnapper Captain.
Raikage Office
The Raikage took a deep breath and ordered his shinobi to report.
Jay coughed up a bit and straightened himself before taking a long breath.
"Report. We were successfully able to infiltrate Konoha without any problems. We got inside the Hyuuga Compound and saw it empty. We waited in the shadows for some time and finally saw the Heiress unconscious carried by two Hyuuga slaves. Two of us followed them and silently killed the two Branch Members and then placed the Heiress inside the bag. We got outside the Hyuuga Compound without any problems and immediately headed for the way out. As we were escaping, the alarms went on and we found ourselves cornered near the Uchiha Compound. Before we got cornered, we bumped into one of the Uchiha heir, we also had him knocked unconscious and placed inside our sack for bonus. As we prepared to fight, we also found two Iwa nins, one of them carrying an unconscious boy. The leader of the two asked for a team up as we escaped Konoha. She figured that we were also kidnapping someone and didn't give a thing about it as long as we helped each other out. I agreed and both of our teams battled together against Konoha nin and some civilians who decided to get in our way. We easily wiped them out and managed to escape to the forests. We lost the pursuers for some time but they were able to catch up on us as we got near the Fire Border. There we decided to halt and face our pursuers. As we prepared for a fight, they were able to snatch the children we were kidnapping and we had to chase after them. We followed them and found ourselves cornered by more Konoha nin. We battled for a good ten minutes and destroyed the forest in the process. In the end, we got our tenketsu points sealed off by the Hyuuga and we got overpowered by the Uchihas' sharingan. Before we lost consciousness we saw the Konoha nin get killed. When we woke up, we found their dead bodies and the children we were kidnapping gone. My team suspected Iwa of treachery but decided to call it off as we saw them as confused as we were when we woke up. We all woke up the same time and searched the area for some traces but found none. In the end we decided to call the search off and go our separate ways and go back to our own villages."
"So that's it? That's how you lost your captives?"
"H-hai. Raikage-sama." Jay replied nervously as he could feel his boss' killer intent leaking again.
"Bro, you need to calm down. I don't want you to throw out another fool outside. These poor fools are saying the truth. I know because I am Killer Bee the Jinchuuriki of the Hachibi. Yeah, baby." Raikage's brother, Bee, said while rapping.
"Hmmm, I wonder who killed those Konoha-nin?"
"We do not know yet, bruthah. Hachibi says he's also trying to figure it out yo."
Their meeting was interrupted when the door flew open revealing a panting jonin who looked nervous.
"Raikage-sama, forgive me for the sudden intrusion. But I got urgent news. We just received a letter from the Hokage delivered by one of their fastest messenger birds." The jonin said as he shakily handed the letter to the Raikage.
The Raikage took the scroll and glared at the jonin.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Get the hell out of here!" The Raikage shouted as he grabbed the poor jonin and threw him outside his office by the glass window.
Killer Bee watched in amusement as the jonin got thrown outside. He took out a notepad and began writing rhymes on it.
Iwagakure
Tsuchikage Office
The Tsuchikage was happily waiting inside his office when he heard that his granddaughter and her partner have returned from their mission. His happy face immediately fell when Kurotsuchi entered the office with a smug look, followed by Akatsuchi who looked nervous.
"Do I need to ask that you do not have the boy?" Ohnoki looked at his granddaughter with a frown.
Kurotsuchi didn't respond but instead sat by the chair opposite her grandfathers'.
"Tsuchikage-sama." Akatsuchi said as he bowed. Ohnoki nodded in response and motioned for him to take a seat.
"Alright, tell me what happened."
"Report. We managed to get inside the Fire Country without any problems. We made camp near Konoha's forests and had four clones scout the village. By nightfall we took down our camp and infiltrated the village. As we got inside we immediately saw a huge mob chasing after a boy. That boy was our target, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. Kurotsuchi immediately sprung in action to help, attacking the mob and summoning a dome to protect the boy. I rushed by her side and fought the civilians. We had to kill them since we could not risk the boy getting harmed. And they were also bent on trying to murder us two as well. We easily killed the mob and urgently headed out. As we got near the Uchiha Compound, we found ourselves face to face with a team of Kumo Shinobi who happened to be kidnapping the Hyuuga Heiress and the Uchiha Head's youngest son. We got cornered by more civilians who tried to fight us and by some Konoha nin who were chasing the Kumo-nin. We easily killed them off as we have decided to team up. We got outside to the forests and were pursued by Konoha nin. As we got near by the Fire Border, we decided to fight our pursuers. They managed to snatch the children from our grasps and we had to chase after them. We got surrounded by more Konoha nin and battled them for a good ten minutes. We destroyed the forest in the process but in the end we got defeated by the combined power of the Byakugan and the Sharingan. Before we lost consciousness, we saw the Konoha nin get slaughtered. When we woke up, we found their dead bodies but there was no sign of the children we were kidnapping. We searched for them but found no trace. Kurotsuchi and I suspected Kumo of treachery but decided to call it off as we realized they were as just confused as we were. Both our teams woke up at the same time. In the end we decided to part ways and head back to our own villages."
"I see. Hmmm, I wonder... Curious… Very curious… Could be Konoha trying to misguide us." The Tsuchikage murmured to himself while the two watched him.
He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard a knock. The knock sounded urgent so he immediately ordered for the person to get inside the office.
"Tsuchikage-sama. Urgent message from Konoha. It was brought by one of their fastest messenger birds." The jonin said as he handed his leader a scroll.
"Thank you." Ohnoki said as the jonin nodded and exited the room. He unsealed the scroll and began reading it.
Konohagakure
Hokage Office
"Hokage-sama. The messenger birds have returned. They have gotten our messages." A figure said as he kneeled. The Hokage was facing the window while he blew on his pipe.
"Good. Now, I want you to find Jiraiya and tell him to see me immediately." The Hokage replied without looking at the ANBU.
"Hai."
Flashback, Last Night
"Raikage-dono / Tsucihkage-dono,
I regret to inform you that I am deeply offended by your recent actions. To attack Konoha during a time of peace is simply outrageous. When you raided the village we were obviously caught off guard and were surprised. And to add to the fact that you took some of our scrolls, the Uzumaki and the Namikaze Clans' scrolls, to be exact. You also had the gall to blow up the Yondaime Hokage's Face and destroyed the Uzumaki and Namikaze Clans' mansions after you took what you wanted. We had our suspicions that Iwa and Kumo were the ones who did the raid on us but I decided not to press on it as I didn't want our villages to get into a misunderstanding. But now that you have returned and decided to kidnap important people from our village, I can no longer ignore the fact that you have committed great offenses against us.
I am a peaceful man. I wish to keep the peace between the Five Great Nations. I hope you feel the same. Konohagakure would be very grateful if you returned the items and people that you have taken. I would also like to let you know that I, the Sandaime Hokage, still respects the treaty and wishes for it to continue. Return what you have taken and Konohagakure will forget about the recent events.
Sarutobi Hiruzen,
Sandaime Hokage."
The Hokage straightened up as he finished writing the letters addressed to the Iwa and Kumo leaders.
"Shikaku, I would like you to read this and tell me if it is alright."
The lazy Nara Head yawned and thought it was too troublesome but took the letter from the Hokage and read it anyway.
"Hmmm. Seems fine to me. The threat is still there even if it is hidden."
The Hokage nodded and looked at Shikaku. "Tell me, what do you think shall we do if they do not return them?"
"We cannot go into physical confrontation at the moment. So our best move against them would be politically. We'll try to drag other nations to this and ask them for help. We'll try to pressure them as much as possible. We'll threaten to cut off trades and routes if they do not cooperate. That should work."
"That's a bit risky." Sarutobi commented.
"Risky, yes. But it is our best option." Shikaku shrugged as he told the Hokage. "By the way, Hokage-sama, how are the talks going with Suna?"
"Suna hasn't responded to any of our messages ever since the raid."
"You don't think-?" Shikaku said, not finishing the sentence as it was already obvious.
"I hope not, Shikaku. If Suna is also involved, then I'm afraid to say that Konoha would be at a disadvantage. We could take on two villages at the same time. But if you'll make it three, we will have problems. Even if we say we have allies, fighting against three of the Five Great Nations will be difficult. That's unless we ally with Kirigakure."
"An alliance with Kiri would be beneficial if Suna is really our possible enemy now."
"Yes. I'll look into that. I'll start making preparations for a possible alliance between Konoha and Kiri. For now let us hope that Kumo and Iwa return what they have taken from us." Sarutobi said, deciding to finish the meeting. "Shikaku, have these letters sent by our fastest messengers birds." The Hokage ordered as he finished sealing the scrolls. One copy for the Raikage, and another one for the Tsuchikage.
"Hai. Good night, Hokage-sama. I'll see you again tomorrow."
"Good night, Shikaku." Sarutobi said as the Nara Head exited the office. The Hokage cleaned up his desk and also got out of the office for bed.
Flashback End
Uzushiogakure
"We will have to set the Shukaku free. We will contain it while we erase the seal from Gaara. After erasing the seal we will immediately perform the Double Hexagonal Sealing on him so the Shukaku won't bother Gaara too much when he gets sealed once again." The Uzukage explained to Gaara and his siblings with Naruto and Fu also there listening.
"Kaa-chan. Kurama-chan says she's got something important to tell you." Naruto said as he waited for his mother's response.
"Alright, what is it?"
Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated, letting Kurama take over for the moment so she could relay the message easier.
"Kushina. When my brother Shukaku got out of his seal earlier, Chomei and I noticed something. Shukaku was talking in a manner he shouldn't be. He was talking about himself but saying "we" instead of "I". He also mentioned something about purging mortals with the Light. Shukaku was never the religious type. There was something else in him."
"Yes." Chomei said through Fu who also joined in the conversation. "If I recall correctly, Shukaku's first jinchuuriki was a priest. And the seal was unstable. Ever since, Shukaku changed and became weird."
"From what we have observed, Shukaku's probably channeling the spirit of his first jinchuuriki. It is also possible that a part of the priest's soul has been sealed within Shukaku's mind as the seal was a failure." Kurama said. "If we're going to unleash Shukaku, we must extract the priest from him first before we reseal him back inside Gaara."
Kurama and Chomei finished, switching back and allowing Naruto and Fu regain control of their bodies.
"So the story about the priest is true then." Kushina said to herself. "Has the priest always been mad?" The Uzukage asked.
"Kurama-chan says she's not sure."
"Alright. So we will have to extract the priest from Shukaku first before we reseal him inside Gaara."
"Excuse me." Gaara interrupted. "I can feel the Shukaku stirring. I think he is about to wake up."
"Alright then. We will do it in ten minutes. I'll have some people come over to assist."
"Kaa-chan. I would like to watch. I want to be there with Gaara for some support." Naruto requested to his mother while doing the Puppy Eyes Jutsu making his mother's heart melt.
"Alright, Naruto-kun. Just stay on a distance when the process start, alright?"
"Alright. Thanks Kaa-chan." The boy replied and hugged his mother.
"Ummm. Can I come too?" Fu said.
Ten Minutes Later, Back to Sealing Ground One
"Gaara, are you ready?" The Uzukage asked as the boy laid down with his shirt off making the seal on his stomach visible.
"Hai, Uzugake-sama. Please begin."
The Uzukage nodded to the STORM in the island signaling them to get ready as she made hand seals.
"Fuin: Release!" She said as she slammed her palm on Gaara's seal, making it glow. The Uzukage also applied a sleeping seal on Gaara to help Shukaku get out faster. Within a few minutes the Ichibi have finally got out. Gaara was immediately brought to a safe distance and was surrounded by STORM where two of them were erasing his current seal.
"BUWAHAHAHAHA! YES! FREEDOM, AT LAST! NOW, WE CAN PROVE OUR EXISTENCE! WAHAHAHAHA!" The Ichibi cackled madly as it began scanning its surroundings. It sensed the other living beings in the island and immediately headed to the location where the Uzukage was waiting.
"HAHAHAHA! WE FOUND YOU, MORTAL! YOU SUCK AT HIDING! MUWAHAHAHA! NOW, TIME TO PROVE OUR EXISTENCE… DIE, MORTAL! DIE BY THE LIGHT! MUWAHAHAHA!" It laughed madly as it opened its mouth gathering chakra. The Uzukage immediately recognized it as a Bijudama. She activated her Rinnegan and waited for the attack to be unleashed at her.
"Gakido (Petra Path)." The Uzukage called as the Bijudama headed towards her. She held out her palms as the Tailed Beast Bomb neared her. A vacuum-like sphere appeared in front of her palms and began sucking the energy ball. The Bijudama began to shrink as it got sucked by the Gakido.
"Ughh. This is too much chakra." The Uzukage thought as the ball got fully absorbed. She now felt dizzy and heavy.
"WHAAAAAAAAAT?! YOU ABSORBED IT! AWWW, NEVERMIND. WE WILL SEE IF YOU CAN ABSORB ANOTHER ONE!" The demon laughed as it began to create another tailed beast bomb.
The Ichibi blasted it towards the Uzukage and once again she tried to absorb it but as it got smaller, about one-fourth the size of it before, it exploded, sending her flying away and crashing into a wall.
"I am such an idiot. Note to self: The Petra Path isn't that effective against Bijudamas." Kushina thought as she scrambled up. She now released the chakra she absorbed earlier and felt light again.
"Here it comes…" She thought as the Ichibi found her and roared towards her.
"YOU'RE STILL ALIVE? ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!" It forgot about making another tailed beast bomb and simply decided to attack the Uzukage using physical attacks.
Kushina dodged a tail swipe that was aimed towards her destroying the wall in the process.
"Alright. You wanna play, huh?" She said as she unsheathed her katana.
"Now, Ichibi-san, let me show you why I'm called the Red Death." She smirked and began laughing maniacally. "Let's dance." She said as she bowed and vanished.
The Uzukage began slashing and stabbing at the Ichibi at random spots, vanishing and reappearing with a flash of red. This infuriated the Ichibi making it roar in frustration.
"Now, to level up this dance session…" She said as she produced three shadow clones. The four Kushinas charged at the demon and began attacking it relentlessly while the Shukaku got annoyed and started shooting small tailed beast bombs at random locations hoping it will hit the mortal attacking it.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WE CANNOT LOSE TO A MORTAL!" It roared in frustration as the Uzukage continued on with her dance.
"Great. I'll just have to tire it so I could begin with the extraction." She thought as she made five more clones and had them attack the Ichibi using the five different elements.
The battle have been ongoing for ten minutes now.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Naruto was watching the STORM as they finished erasing the current seal drawn on Gaara. They were now preparing to place a new and stable seal on him.
"I wonder how Kaa-chan is doing." Naruto said as he looked at the other side of the island where explosions are coming from.
"She'll be fine." Fu, who was also watching said. Chomei insisted on her coming as she was curious about the new seal the Uzu people were going to apply on Gaara.
Then without warning, Naruto just dropped to the floor unconscious.
"Naruto-kun!" Fu shouted in panic as she tried to wake the boy.
Suddenly, Naruto began floating with his head hung low. The STORM who was with them watched in awe and fear as Naruto opened his eyes, revealing purple ringed ones.
"By the gods…" Chomei said as she watched the scene happen through Fu's eyes.
Fu's Inner Mindscape
"What the-? How come I can see Naruto-kun on a different point of view?" Kurama asked herself and looked around. She noticed that she was on a different place.
"Who's there? How come you're inside Fu's mind?" A voice said.
"Chomei-kun?" Kurama asked, recognizing her sister's voice.
"Kurama nee-chan. What are you doing here? How is this possible?"
"I do not know…"
Outside Fu's Mindscape
Everyone in the area was now shaking in fear as Naruto was radiating a very powerful aura.
"Fear not." Naruto said as he made the peace sign towards the STORM. His voice sounded deep and ancient and echoed. "Return to your work. The seal must be ready when I extract the priest from my son."
"What in the world-?" Kurama and Chomei both said as they watched the scene unfold. Naruto then began floating towards the area where his mother and the Ichibi were battling.
"Fu! Follow him!" Chomei said as she channeled her chakra out for Fu. The girl then grew wings and flew after Naruto.
Kushina's POV
Kushina had been battling the Ichibi for twenty minutes now and noticed that her attacks were doing little damage. Every time she lands a hit on the Ichibi, a whitish aura comes out of it. She figured that it was some kind of shield. After some time, she found out that it was probably the "Light" that the priest inside Shukaku that was talking about that was protecting it as she could not recognize it as one of the Ichibi's powers.
As she prepared to launch another wave of attack, she felt a very strong chakra signature approaching towards her. She looked at its direction and found her son floating with Fu following after him. She was very shocked as she saw her son's eyes. She found herself unable to move as her son touched her face.
"My child, let me handle this. Bring the boy here and prepare to reseal my son inside him. I will be the one to extract the priest from Shukaku."
Normal POV
Naruto did not wait for a reply and immediately floated towards the Ichibi.
"WHAT IS THIS?! RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Time for you to go to the afterlife. You have prolonged your stay in this realm. Leave my son be." Naruto said as he floated towards the Shukaku's head and held out his hand.
"Ningendo (Human Path)."
"Noooooooooooooo! I don't want to go there yet! I am protected by the lord's light! I shall stay here as he commands! I must prove my existence!" A voice said as Naruto began to pull out something that looked like a soul. Soon it materialized and formed into a bald man wearing a suit and tie.
"Seal: Hold."
Naruto said as a ghost-like chain wrapped around the priest preventing it from moving.
"Kuchiyose: Shinigami."
A huge spectral form appeared in front of him and bowed. Naruto nodded and held out his arm and motioned at the priest. The creature then bowed and floated towards the mad priest. The priest started to scream in panic as the Shinigami grabbed him. He was eaten and was locked inside its stomach the same way Minato experienced when he sealed the Kyuubi inside Naruto.
"Now, you are finally free of your burden." Naruto spoke to the Ichibi as it started to stir. "Sleep, my son. When you wake, you will be sealed inside Gaara once again. Be friends with him." He said as his voice started to fade off.
Kushina, who was too dumbstruck did not move earlier to fetch Gaara. She was rooted at her spot and watched as her son talked in a different kind of way and extracted the priest out of Shukaku. Thankfully the STORM followed after Naruto and Fu and carried Gaara with them.
Kushina began to regain herself as she watched Naruto's aura began to weaken and return to normal. She was able to catch her son when he finally lost consciousness.
Fu's Mindscape
"Oh, look. What is this?" Kurama said as she felt a tugging sensation. "I guess I'm going back inside Naruto-kun."
Chomei, who was also dumbstruck wasn't able to respond as Kurama vanished and returned to Naruto's mind.
Outside Fu's Mindscape
Everyone was staring at Naruto's unconscious form in disbelief. Most of the STORM were still shaken after witnessing the things he did earlier. They were awakened from their stupor as they heard the Shukaku roar.
"Everyone, on your positions!" Kushina said as she made a clone and had it carry Naruto away. Fu followed after them while the Uzukage and the STORM started resealing the Ichibi back inside Gaara.
"Uzumaki Art: Double Hexagonal Seal!" Two hexagonal prisms appeared, one bigger and one smaller. The bigger one floated towards the Ichibi and trapped it inside while the smaller one floated towards Gaara and did the same thing. A double hexagonal seal appeared on the boy's stomach and connected with the two prisms. The bigger prism started to shrink as Shukaku was once again sealed inside Gaara.
The seal glowed brightly and slowly died out as the seal began to stabilize.
"We're done here. Everyone, come with me immediately to my office." The Uzukage said seriously as she made two clones and had the one carry Gaara and the other one go after Fu.
The Next Day
Konohagakure
The Hokage was puffing smoke with his pipe as he thought of words to write in his letter for the Mizukage. Shikaku, along with the other clan heads were also there present. They have been discussing about their planned alliance proposal with Kiri. They have been also waiting for a response from the Iwa and Kumo leaders.
Hiashi have already assured the other people in the room about the Caged Bird Seal. He told them about it being branded on Hinata. Konoha wouldn't have to worry about Kumo now discovering the Byakugan's secrets and making more by having Hinata used by Kumo as a breeding factory. The Uchiha, on the other hand have expressed their concerns about the Sharingan. Fugaku couldn't care less about his son but was worried about their Kekkei Genkai being stolen by other people not from Konoha.
The Hokage straightened up as he finished his letter and called for one ANBU and ordered it to have the letter delivered to Kirigakure. A few seconds after the ANBU left, there was a knock on the door. A jonin entered the room and handed Sarutobi a scroll.
The old monkey inspected it and found the Earth Seal inscribed on it, meaning it was from the Tsuchikage.
"Iwagakure has responded." The Hokage announced, calling the attention of everyone inside the room. He unsealed it and read it aloud for everyone in the room to hear.
"Greetings, Hokage-dono,
First of all, I would like to inform you that I am deeply wounded by your words. You accused Iwa of attacking Konoha while my village has nothing to do about it. I too, am a man of peace. I do not wish war between the Five Great Nations. So I would like to tell you that Iwa is innocent.
Second, we have received intelligence about Iwa-nin near your village. I want Konoha to know that those shinobi are rogue and were no longer affiliated with Iwa when the attacks on your village happened. It could be possible that it was them who did it but once again, I tell you that Iwa has nothing to do about the offensive moves against Konohagakure
I do hope that we could continue the peace between both our villages and clear some misunderstandings that have begun to form.
Ohnoki of Both Scales,
Sandaime Tsuchikage."
The Hokage finished reading and put the scroll down. He stared at the council before him and took a deep breath.
"Iwa has chosen to play as innocent." He remarked.
"Hai. We can just pretend that we did not receive the Tsuchikage's reply." Shikaku suggested.
"I was thinking of the same thing. Ignore the letter and send another one after a few days." Replied Sarutobi.
Just then, there was another knock on the door. The person was let inside and handed the Hokage another scroll.
"Hokage-sama, a message from Kumo." The jonin said as he presented a scroll with the Rai seal on it. The Hokage took it from the jonin and unsealed it, reading its content. Compared to the Tsuchikage's message, the Raikage's response was obviously more aggressive and straightforward.
"Hokage-dono,
You are making grave accusations. Kumo does not like it. We may have tried something three years ago but raiding and stealing from Konoha is simply not our style. I have heard about the Yondaime's face getting blown up and the Namikaze and Uzumaki's belongings taken. Kumo has nothing to do with it. Feel free to visit Kumo and inspect every single area here and you will only find nothing.
Perhaps you should try considering looking for your lost items again. Search your whole village. I do not wish for our current status to go into an unfriendly state. As the Raikage, I only wish what's best for my village. And including that is not going to war.
Ay,
Yondaime Raikage."
Sarutobi just sighed and announced, "Kumo also wants to play innocent. But they are obviously hinting war."
"I think it would be best if we do not respond for now. Our top priority will be Kirigakure. We need to make a deal with the Mizukage. And fast." Shukaku stated, earning nods of agreement from the other clan heads.
"I did not expect them to respond like this. If we insist about them being guilty it will only give them reason to declare open war." The Hokage said. "For now we will need to contact Kiri and make an alliance with them as soon as possible."
"Hiashi and Fugaku, I am assigning you two as diplomats to Kirigakure. You will deliver the letter I will be writing and some gifts for them."
"Understood." The two dojutsu clan heads replied.
Uzushiogakure
A day has passed since the incident about Naruto happened. The Uzukage immediately called for a meeting with the STORM that was present in the island. She made a strict order for them to keep everything a secret. They are not to tell anyone about what they saw. Kushina also spoke to Fu and also told her the same thing. The girl understood and agreed as Chomei also told her to keep things secret. Chomei and Kurama were still shocked about what happened and still needed time to think about it.
Naruto was currently at the Uzukage mansion, his room surrounded by three squads of STORM. Ever since his mysterious transformation yesterday, he still hasn't regained consciousness. His mother was now extremely worried for his well-being. Doctors are checking up on him twenty-four seven. Kushina also showed the memory of the events yesterday to her family. After watching the memory, Arashi left the room speechless while Minato, Minako, Narumi, Miho, and Mio remained inside the room with Kushina and discussed about it. Kaede left the room some time later after hearing Minato and Kushina suggest some theories and went to the library to check some books.
Gaara was now stable and had no memories of the events yesterday. He woke up in the morning feeling far better than before. He could hear the Shukaku peacefully snoring inside his mind. Gaara decided to try and contact his biju later. He was currently with his siblings Kankuro and Temari strolling around the village.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Hinata were with Fu, currently at a private room in the library reading books about the Uzumaki Clan and the Sage of the Six Paths. The Uzukage have already explained to them about their clan's secret dojutsu and some information about it. So here they are, at the library reading for more information while waiting for their friend Naruto to recover since nobody was allowed to enter his room except the Uzukage, her husband, the former Uzukage, and the Head of the STORM.
Uzushiogakure Office
A Kushina clone was currently doing paper work while her original was watching over Naruto. Minato was also at the office reading books about the Sage's connection with the Tailed Beasts, while he was also helping the Kushina clone at the same time.
Just then, a ripple of water appeared on the floor and on it a kneeling figure appeared.
"Uzukage-sama, we have received intelligence about Konoha contacting Kumo and Iwa. The Hokage planned on blackmailing them but apparently it backfired. Here are the copies of the message and their responses." The watery figure said as it took out four scrolls and handed it to the Uzukage.
The Kushina clone and Minato unsealed the scrolls and read them. After reading, the clone dispelled herself and transferred the memories to the original.
"Good. Kumo and Iwa will be acting cold against Konoha while the Leaf will do the same. Their relationship with each other will be now on thin ice that is about to break. When the time comes, it will be easier for Uzushiogakure to destroy them all at the same time." The Uzukage thought to herself as she waited for Naruto to wake up.
Chapter Ten End
Author's Notes:
1. If you have some questions regarding the story feel free to message me and I will respond as soon as I can.
2. Thank you so much for your continued support. I hope you liked Chapter Ten: The Madness Within. I'll see you guys next chapter! Stay tuned.
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