Chapter 10
Eimi and Jinsei had moved out a little over three months ago and after his down payment Naruto now owned almost half of the equity—granted he would be paying off loans for the next ten years or so, but at least now he could honestly say he was a home owner at sixteen.
The first thing he did to christen his new house was to repaint the upstairs using a ton of shadow clones so that he and Hitomi could move in as soon as possible. It wasn't a second too late either; her fangs were starting to grow in and her toys were being mauled daily. Fortunately, Juhi was still blaming everything on rats.
The downstairs was underway by now; the few pieces of furniture the elderly couple were kind enough to leave him were covered in plastic and there was painter's tape lining the corners of the walls and edges of the windows. He had chosen a robin-egg blue for the living room and a pale yellow for the kitchen. When he finished painting all the walls he planned to go shopping for a new couch and some other furniture because, to be honest, the house was rather bare at the moment.
But today the sun was shining over clear skies and Juhi had convinced him to leave his home project for a day and have a picnic with her in the park. Naruto was now seated next to the older woman on a grassy hill, his shoes thrown off to the side as he watched Hitomi wobbling around the edge of the playground picking through the gravel. She had only been walking for barely a month but she loved to move around as much as she could. Occasionally the youngster would toddle back to him with a few pebbles and put them in his hand before going back to get some more. Naruto now had a pile of rocks next to his leg.
He had the most bizarre child.
"Yo! Naruto!"
The pair twisted their torsos from their seats to look behind them and Naruto couldn't help but release a groan, earning a playful elbow in the side from Juhi.
Kogaku Yasei was approaching and, while looking quite a bit less intimidating without his posse, still carried his usual aura of confidence and youth.
"Hey," Naruto responded casually, without making any move to get up. Likewise, Yasei didn't join him on the grass, instead standing over the he and Juhi in an imposing fashion. Naruto didn't know who Yasei was trying to impress; the blonde had fought academy students scarier than him.
"Ah, you're Mikon's boy, aren't you?" Juhi piped up, squinting against the sun's rays that showered over Yasei's shoulder.
"Uh, er, yes ma'am," Yasei answered, his demeanor suddenly turning into that of a bashful young man when he addressed her directly. The respectful look morphed into one of cockiness as Yasei turned to Naruto once again.
"Me and the gang are gonna be hanging at the water tower tonight. We wanted to know if you wanted to tag along?" he asked, sounding confident that this time Naruto would accept.
Naruto's lips quirked in amusement.
"And your idea of 'tonight' would be...?"
Yasei couldn't help but wince as he answered, "...eleven?"
"Well then you already know my answer."
"Oh come on!" Yasei suddenly yelled, drawing the attention of a few kids by the swing set, "You can't be serious! You can spend one night out. Just one! You're not going to pass out and fall into a coma if you stay up just a little later!"
Naruto's brow twitched as Juhi boomed with laughter beside him.
"It's not about that..." he muttered, a small blush dusting his cheeks, "I just have other responsibilities."
"We all work, Naruto, its called 'time off'," the brunette countered. Naruto almost snorted at the misconception.
"My job is hardly the issue here—"
"Dada!"
As if to prove his point Hitomi came bounding up to him as fast as a ten-month old could; her chubby little feet only able to life a couple inches off the ground in her hast to reach her father.
"Hey!" Naruto's voice was suddenly light and soft, his character switching from annoyed to loving in no time, "What'cha got for me?"
She answered by dropping three tiny stones into his hand with a wide, proud smile and immediately turned tail to hunt for more before he could even utter a "thank you".
A sudden understanding seemed to dawn on the older man as Yasei witnessed the exchange, and he began to draw in the similarities between the young child and his target.
"She's...she's not your sister, is she?" he asked quietly.
Naruto smiled and shook his head. Yasei looked back to the baby, who was carefully picking up each stone and examining it. A rueful grin graced his slightly-chapped lips.
"Heh, I heard the rumors of course, but I never actually thought...I mean...wow..."
The blonde nodded and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of the sunlight warming his back through his shirt. He was used to such a reaction by now; at least Yasei would stop pestering him to hang out now that he knew where his priorities lay—
"Well, there is a such thing as a babysitter you know," Yasei declared, undeterred and shocking Naruto out of his previous thought, "Just because you have a kid at god-knows how old, doesn't mean your life is over."
"Eh? W-well, I know that, but—"
"You know, I wouldn't mind watching Hitomi," Juhi threw in with agreement.
"Juhi..." Naruto whined at the betrayal. He knew it probably looked like he was making up lame excuses not to hang out with Yasei and his friends, but it wasn't like he could just tell them the truth—that he was afraid to let Hitomi out of his sight, that there was the possibility of S-rank criminals finding him and killing him and his daughter, that he had to spend as much of his free time as possible training and studying, not wasting energy on socializing.
"I'm just putting it out there," the aged woman placated once she saw how agitated he was becoming, "Personally, I think it would be good for you to get out and interact with people your own age. You're too serious for your own good."
"Thank you!" Yasei blew out in exaggerated gratitude. Naruto frowned at the both of them, feeling unjustly ganged up on.
He had grown quite comfortable with his current schedule. Training, working, and taking care of Hitomi had become the standard routine for him and he was finding himself perfectly content with it. It's not that he was against having friends, but the more people he interacted with, the more people would know who—and where—he was. It was risky enough that he was playing the "simple" card to its fullest. His whole plan was banking on the Akatsuki—and everyone else for that matter—to think that his absence was a well-thought out and intricate plot to keep him out of their hands, not a last minute move to the neighboring town. The more people he became familiar with, the less comfortable he felt about it.
He opened his mouth to decline for the last time, before he caught sight of both Juhi and Yasei. There was nothing wrong with Yasei; the young man seemed like any normal eighteen year old and at the right moment even reminded Naruto of himself or Kiba. And Juhi...he didn't want her to keep worrying about him like she did. Ever since he came to her Inn almost a year ago she had been voicing her concerns about him not getting a proper childhood and needing to get out and make some real friends. He didn't have the heart to tell her just what kind of childhood he had.
He supposed it wouldn't kill him to appease them both...but he would definitely be using a clone. After all, the last time he could remember hanging out with anyone remotely close to his own age was on his three-year training trip. Back then he was wild and carefree, much like Yasei behaved now; there was no one he had to be responsible for except himself (and sometimes Jiraiya, who would drink himself to oblivion every few nights).
"Alright, maybe some other time," he conceded slowly, hoping that he wouldn't regret subjecting his poor clone to a re-introduction into teenage life.
"Good enough for me!" Yasei grinned, "I'll check in with you later then, Isamu will be happy! See you around old man!"
"Huh—who? Hey—!"
But Yasei had already taken off, leaving an indignant and sputtering Naruto with Juhi's laughter and an ever growing pile of rocks. Scowling, the blonde crossed his arms and began pouting much like he did back in his team 7 days. If Juhi wasn't laughing so much at his expense she would have been awed at how young it made him look.
"Juhi..."
"Oh come on!" Juhi giggled trying to defend herself, "you've got to admit, he had a point. An old coot like me has more of a social life that you do...and I'm practically a senior citizen!"
"I'm perfectly fine with my social life as it is, thank you," Naruto sniffed, turning away from her to demonstrate his displeasure. But Juhi would have none of it and knocked his shoulder back with a thick fist.
"It'll be good for ya'. Besides, Yasei's a good kid, if not a little rough around the edges. Who knows, you might make some friends your own age."
Naruto looked at her dryly, "I really, really don't think I'll have anything in common with them, seeing as I don't find stealing beer from parents and getting trashed in the woods fun anymore..."
Juhi shrugged, "Ya' never know. I'm trying to give you a little push towards some fun. Heaven knows you need it."
"Yeah, well, maybe I won't need you to help me buy furniture!"
"Aw, come on, now. Don't be like that. You know you need my help; you don't know what couches would match that shade of blue you have on those walls."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "They left us a couch, remember?"
Juhi restrained from face-palming.
"Boy, tell me you aren't serious. That couch is even outdated for me. We're definitely getting a new one. And on the subject, that dishwasher there seems like it might need replacing," she added offhandedly, talking, of course, of his new kitchen. Naruto shrugged and picked at a piece of grass next to his knee.
"Maybe. I think it will last another year or two at least...Hitomi! Don't do that!"
The little girl stopped in the midst of putting a handful of grass in her mouth and looked at him. Slowly, she moved her hand closer to her mouth, keeping her weary eyes trained on her father.
"Hey! Put it down," he told her and shockingly—though reluctantly—she obeyed, soon returning to fishing for pebbles.
"Good eye," Juhi laughed causing Naruto to crack a grin as well.
"She'll put anything in her mouth if she can get away with it," he said, shaking his head fondly.
A gentle breeze pushed through his hair, whipping the long, thick strands across his eyes. The sound of laughing children in the background and the smell of fresh cut grass and blooming flowers set a peaceful mood about the park and yet...something was off.
Discretely, he sat up straighter. There was something out there; he could sense it. Ninja honed instincts and demonic intuition rose along with the hairs on the back of his neck. His eyes surveyed the area around him in complete discretion, looking for anything out of the ordinary. A foreboding feeling bubbled in the pit of his stomach as the worst case scenario popped up in his mind. What if it was Akatsuki?
Whatever it was knew it had been sensed and it took off. It was faint, and extremely well hidden, but Naruto still felt the chakra source darting away from the edge of the forest not too far off from where he was situated.
"Juhi, will you keep an eye on Hitomi? I'll be right back," he said in a rush, jumping to his feet.
"Okay but—wait, Naruto, where are you—?"
The next thing she knew, she was talking to no one; just his sandals remained on the grass besides her. She had to wonder where he would go is such a hurry without his shoes.
"That boy...he's the strangest child I've ever met..." she muttered to herself, wondering how she always attracted such people into her bar.
"Whah dada?"
Hitomi was standing before her on partially steady legs, a fist full of rocks in her miniature hand.
"Daddy's coming back, honey," Juhi answered gently, taking the offered rocks placing them in their special pile, "Why don't you go get more rocks?"
"Rah'!" she yipped, her missing father forgotten as she moved back toward the playgrounds, "Rah', rah', rah'..."
'Never mind,' Juhi thought to herself, 'that is the strangest child I've ever met.'
"Back!"
The wizened woman jumped at the loud voice behind her and turned to see Naruto standing in the sunlight, hands on his hips and a squinty-eyed grin on his face.
"Where did you go?" Juhi asked as he settled himself back between her and the rock pile.
"Bathroom," he replied with a sheepish shrug.
Juhi let out a great booming laugh, "You really had to go, huh? Geez, boy, from the way you ran off I thought something horrible had happened!"
0o0o0o
0o0o0o
Naruto flew through the thick branches, his bare feet easily contorting to the rounded, rough bark of each push-off site. He had just sent back a specialized shadow clone to keep Juhi from being suspicious; he didn't know how long this would take. The pursuit had been going on for over five minutes now and he was quickly gaining ground on his target as the chakra signature started to slip in their haste, making it easier to track them down.
The sun was still high in the sky, making it easier to see where he was going at such speeds. They were heading towards the string of mountains that were just visible to the southwest of the village, the peaks towering over the treetops. Naruto had the advantage in the forest because it was his most familiar fighting territory—he had to stop the spy before they breached the woods and entered the mountain range; there was no telling what kind of hidden benefit or reinforcements that lay in those rocks.
A shape was just becoming visible through the shaded trees and with wide eyes Naruto realized that the dark figure was flying through the trunks of the trees rather than having to swerve around them. Naruto sharply sucked in a small breath when a short clearing in the leaves above illuminated the figure for the briefest of moments, just enough to show him the bright red clouds on the dark cloak and the large, tong-like protrusion at the head.
It was Aloe Vera, Akatsuki's information gatherer. Now it was clearer than ever that the plant-ninja was heading towards the sanctity of the mountains so that he could report Naruto's whereabouts to the Akatsuki.
That just wasn't acceptable.
Naruto decided that he was far enough from the village to get away with a full blown battle. He gracefully flipped off the last branch his feet hit and landed in a crouch, one hand slapping the Earth with splayed fingers.
"Gohirarora no jutsu!"
Five bolts of energy-chakra flew out of the tip of each finger, gaining speed and size as they barreled down everything in their paths. The center bolt of energy hit the very tree that Zetsu was trying to escape into to transport away from and was blown to bits, throwing the missing-nin from its security.
Zetsu recovered from the blast in mid air, twisting his body and landing on his feet a ways away from his assailant. He took a moment to take in the damage the Jinchuuriki's attack wrought; nearly an acre wide circle of trees were knocked down.
"So, it's a fight you want, huh?" the white side spoke, "That's fine; leader will be pleased that we will be the one to bring you to him."
"Yes, yes!" the black side leered, "He is just a baby Jinchuuriki, after all. This will be easy."
Naruto almost didn't move in time for a spiked vine to rip up from the ground and grab at where his ankle had been a moment before.
"Shit—!" he was so distracted by the sudden appearance of the attacking vine from below that he didn't see the two shoot out from different treetops and bind his left arm and leg.
Since when did oak trees have vines?!
"They're from this body," white-Zetsu said in response to his unspoken question. Still struggling against the writhing creepers, Naruto took the time to really look at his opponent; sure enough, the ends of thick vines were protruding from the Akatsuki cloak as well as from his feet and disappearing into the ground where, no doubt, Zetsu was having them travel to attack at different angles.
The two vines that caught him gripped his wrist and leg, the barbs digging into his skin, tightening and tightening, threatening to crush each appendage until—
POP
"A clone?" the black side muttered, round, orange eyes dilating as a high-pitched whirl made itself known behind him. He hadn't even sensed the boy move!
The number of vines he had sent out quickly retreated back into his body, all except one that was connected to his left foot. He pivoted just a second too late.
"Oodama Rasengan!"
The large blue and white ball of spinning chakra was thrust into his ribs, cutting away at the cloak and tearing through a part of the right wing of his Venus-fly trap. Naruto powered through the weak resistance, add miniscule spikes of wind-chakra to the power-ball and aiming to cleave the top half of Zetsu's body away from the legs. His arm was outstretched, his body slightly off balance as he pushed off on one leg.
The pointed end of a vine—the lone vine that Zetsu had kept active—struck out from the side the second the rasengan reached Zetsu's actual body. It hit Naruto clean in the solar-plexus, immediately knocking the wind from him and loosening his control over the super-powered rasengan. The jutsu destabilized and exploded, throwing both men in opposite directions and crashing into separate trees.
Zestu pulled himself to his feet first; his clothes and the outside of his head-trap burned and scarred from the blast, but his face unharmed from his unique plant-protection.
"Crazy brat," the white half spat, glaring at the dripping green-blood that pattered out of the shredded plant structure and hissed upon contact of the ground—it appeared to have acidic properties.
"Eat him! Let us eat him!" the corner of black lips demanded.
"No," white side hissed back, "We must bring him to leader first!"
Zetsu had allowed the boy to follow him through the forest, instead of straight teleporting back to headquarters, hoping to lead the brat into the mountains to take him out of his comfort zone and mess with him a little. As it turned out, his information on the boy was clearly outdated—for which the long disappearance was to blame—because the child was far faster and had more control of his power than was previously recorded. The brat had knowingly added carefully measured amounts of wind-based chakra to that last attack for Pein's sake! Who could do that?
Naruto groaned as this was going on and cautiously lifted himself from the ground, bits and pieces of his body releasing steam as he healed from his own blast-induced injuries; the explosion had left several patches of charred and bleeding skin that made it hurt to move and his chest was bleeding profusely from where the vine had broken through his ribs, only just scraping between his heart and lung.
He wasn't worried; he'd fought with worse before.
What he had noticed, instead, was that Zetsu had limited movement with that one vine feeding from his body through the ground. Zetsu had to retract all the other vines back in his body before he could leave the spot he was currently standing in. The more vines he pulled out of his body and sent through the ground the longer it would take for him to move. Zetsu couldn't attack someone with those vines—as dangerous as they were—without rendering himself immobile. Either he was evasive and unoffending, or attacking and effectively defenseless. It was no wonder the Akatsuki didn't have him paired up and actively hunting bijuu—he was only good for reconnaissance.
That meant...if he could get Zetsu to use a lot of those vines, then he would be grounded and more likely to be hit!
Shaking his head clear from the pain and returning his focus to the battle, Naruto made his favorite 'T' sign.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Seventy shadow clones flooded the small area, all attacking the Akatsuki ninja at once while Naruto hung back and recovered as fast as he could. Zetsu was on the defense immediately. At least twenty vines had sprung out from all over the clearing, zigzagging through the decoys with imperceptible speed and tearing through them at all angles with frightening agility.
"Com'mon, com'mon..." Naruto muttered, clutching at his chest as he tried to focus his chakra there, willing it to heal faster—he had to take advantage of Zetsu's distraction while he could. The trickle of blood leaking between his fingers began to lessen and his breathing became less labored—that was good enough for him.
The chaotic movement around him suddenly stopped, bringing his attention to the cloudy area; the haze of his dispelled clones made it difficult to see for the moment. He blinked and squinted and realized, to his immense horror, that there was nothing before him.
"Fuck!" he swore, expanding his senses in mounting panic, praying to any god out there that Zetsu decided to teleport back to the Akatsuki HQ...
And then he detected it behind him; the presence that was obtruding from the tree nearest to his back. He sprang forward in a dive as the vine swept underneath him; his body twisted like a cat's as another shot out from his left, and a one-handed spring-turned-back flip had helped him elude the clutches of two more beneath him. His hand came together to create shadow clones, but this time Zetsu would have none of it. With lightning-quick reflexes, three vines had whipped out of the surrounding trees, one of which finally caught the blonde by the middle. Zetsu slowly materialized from the trunk, the smooth green of his strange trap contrasting with the rough, brown bark.
The vine that had caught Naruto's waist was soon joined by more, slapping his arms and legs together and winding around his body. He didn't know where the slack was coming from but they began to wrap him up as though to put him in a thick, thorny cocoon.
"Now you will come with us," the white face declared. Zetsu fully stepped out of the tree as he focused on pumping chakra into the vines. The girth of each vine slowly increased, yet tightened at the same time, causing the thorns to tear into the body trapped within.
Naruto was finding it difficult to breathe as his ribs were gradually being crushed; his arms were plastered to his side, deterring the use of any jutsu. He could no longer see due to the moving plant-life obscuring his view, but he was aware of being steadily drawn towards the ground.
Suddenly and piercingly, it occurred to Naruto what was really happening to him at that moment; Zetsu could transport him directly to the Akatsuki's base! Hitomi would be defenseless and in danger now that Zetsu knew about her. He couldn't lose her—he just couldn't! He would not lose anyone else to his own incompetence!
His efforts to escape doubled, but no matter what he tried it appeared to be futile. He was getting dizzy; it was becoming increasingly difficult to breath.
His feet were being drawn into the ground and he let out a frustrated growl with what little breath he had left. He could feel something tugging on his conscious—trying to pull him into the seal...
No! He would NOT rely on Kyuubi, he would not!
But falling victim to the Akatsuki wasn't an option either!
What could he do when he was practically paralyzed? These were chakra vines that had ensnared him; even if he could move his arms, kunai or weapons would be useless in cutting through them. And it wasn't like he even had any kunai to begin with—
Naruto's eyes reopened as an epiphany occurred to him and he was amazed to find that he had run through that rampant thought process in the span of a few seconds; he was only pulled down into the ground to his knees at that point.
Wasting no more time, he focused on sharpening his chakra against itself at any surface of his body. It was difficult since he had only been using his palms in releasing wind chakra, but, gradually, he began to build up a cutting pressure, particularly along his arms where it was more familiar to him. The wind chakra radiating off his arms began to chisel away at the bindings without him meaning to and he scrambled to hold it in check; it would take too long to saw at each vine surrounding him—he needed to break them all at once. He could feel the cold and hot vibes of chakra running against each other along his skin as he forced more and more chakra to press into itself, making the friction of wind chakra build as rapidly as he could. The pressure was mounting to the point of where it hurt—his chakra canals burned from expending chakra with such a foreign manipulation; if he ever survived this he would surely have to practice this technique.
His thighs were being swallowed by the ground now but he could hold on a little longer...
Zetsu's voice was muffled though the casing he was trapped in—still, he could hear the deep, mocking voice of the black side...
"...Leader will let us feast upon your body..."
The unstable violent chakra rolling over the skin of his arms began to backlash, causing deep gashes to appear along his body and tear through his clothes.
'Just a little more power...com'mon...build it up a little more...I can do this...'
"...you are the last one...after this our plans will be complete and nothing will stop us from—"
"NOW!"
The cocoon of chakra-vines exploded outwards in a huge, white blast, shredded in a single instant and releasing its captive from his prison. Naruto sprang from the ground the very second he was able to, pulling himself out of the transportation jutsu and landing a safe distance away from the shrieking plant-man, covered in his own blood from the repercussions of such an attack.
It was clear to anyone with eyes that Zetsu was simply furious. The Venus-fly contraption on his head quivered and opened, expressing intense ire and exposing more of Zetsu's actual torso. Hundreds of deep cuts adorned his body; the green ooze that was his blood seeped out of the torn cloak and dripped along the forest floor. Never before had anyone destroyed his vines—they were an extension of his chakra system after all—and that one, dreadful child had just obliterated a substantial chunk of his reserves. It would take days to replenish that!
"Wretched thing," the black face snarled. If he had known that the child could utilize wind chakra—the most dangerous type of chakra to any chakra-composed constituent—so skillfully then he wouldn't have stuck around to play with the boy. It wasn't like he could leave now, now that the boy knew Akatsuki was onto him; he certainly wasn't willing to face the wrath of the leader for losing track of the brat for another year. His only option left was to take the Jinchuuriki out before he could ensnare and transport him, and he was going to make sure it would be messy.
Naruto could feel the frenzied movement beneath his feet and around him as the chakra vines began to recompose themselves with the renewed chakra that pumped out of Zetsu's body. The blonde was still trying to catch his breath, but his energy reserves were easily replenished thanks to his great stamina.
"We were going to be kind and bring you in one piece, but clearly you are ungrateful," the white side cackled and, as Zetsu raised his arm, the vines that had reanimated in a surrounding fashion raised as well, their sharpened tips pointing at Naruto in preparation to impale him from every which angle. From above, below, at every side, there was no visible escape.
In the brief instant before Zetsu made his move, Naruto ran though his options in his mind. He knew that Zetsu wouldn't hesitate long enough for the chance to make seals for a jutsu and there were far too many of them for him to try and take out using taijutsu or even wind chakra after that last blast, his skin still hadn't quite recovered. His best bet would be to attack the source—Zetsu—head on before he became Swiss cheese.
"Die!" both halves of the face hissed in perfect sync, the cutting vines rearing back as if they were snakes about to strike.
And then they plunged.
What happen next, neither of the two battlers had anticipated.
Naruto's body had moved on its own accord; he lunged forward while twisting to grab a fallen branch on the ground. He didn't think; it was purely on instinct from all his training and training and training that caused him to suddenly utilize such a simple component of nature. He whipped the length of wood around like a bo-staff across his opponent's face, channeling wind chakra through it as he did so until a sharp spike of chakra protruded from the end of the branch.
The results were instantaneous.
Thinking nothing could come of being hit with a simple stick, Zetsu didn't bother to dodge. In fact, he almost outright laughed when the poor boy, trapped by his overwhelming odds, resorted to swinging a fallen branch at his face that ended up several inches off its mark anyhow.
Then his head exploded in a smattering of blood and brains as it was slashed clean in two, separating the nose apart from the mouth.
The remainder of Zetsu's body swayed for a moment, the jaw still working in wordless horror even without a brain to command it to do so, before it slumped to the ground, a hissing, steaming, photosynthetic liquid spilling out of the corpse as all the chakra vines in surrounding exploded out of existence.
Naruto was frozen in place, unable to move except for the harsh panting that heaved his chest back and forth, his wide eyes fixated on the dead body of the Akatsuki member. It wasn't changing into some replacement body; this was the real thing. He could only stare numbly as he tried to process the fact that he had just defeated an Akatsuki member without using any of the Kyuubi's chakra. He had hardly even used jutsu; just pure manipulation of wind chakra. Granted, Zetsu was probably just used for reconnaissance and not much of a fighter compared to the others, but still...had he really improved that much? This was the first time in almost a year that he had fought someone other than himself so...
He turned his attention to the slab of tree in his hand, still resting comfortably in his grip. It didn't look like much, being about the size of a walking stick—a little above chin high and about an inch or two in diameter—but somehow it was enough to take out an Akatsuki agent. To the eye it looked frail, but the inside was still a bit green, obviously being prematurely cut from its tree during Naruto's first attack.
He liked this stick, he decided, as he switched it easily from hand to hand, watching the wood pass through the air cleanly. It wasn't smooth like one of those kendo sticks, but rough and gnarled as any thin, tree sprig would be, and yet, it didn't agitate his skin. It felt as right to hold as it was for him to be barefoot.
Slamming one end of the timber into the ground and holding it parallel from his body, Naruto took an impressive stance amidst the destruction of his makeshift battlefield.
"I shall call you...Stick!"
And he then laughed. He laughed until he could do nothing else but laugh despite the burning of the acidic, green gunk in his still bleeding wounds, despite the torn and gory remains of his clothing, despite knowing that this may have just drawn more attention from the Akatsuki to this area...he laughed.
That day a little bit of the insecurities he carried around with him disappeared and he got a little bit of the confidence back that he used to bear so much of before he became a father.
0o0o0o
0o0o0o
He had taken his time getting back home, making sure to allow most of his wounds would heal before he showed himself to his daughter (granted, his clothes were such a torn and bloodied mess it probably wouldn't have mattered). When he finally reached his house around four in the afternoon he found that his clone had taken returned with Hitomi from the park and had settled her down for a nap. "Stick" was left by the kitchen slider next to his forgotten shoes and he shuffled up the stairs to the bathroom, stripping the ruined clothes from his body the second he walked through the door.
Before discarding his pants, he reached into his pocket and took out the "black" Akatsuki ring that he had pulled from Zetsu's right pinky finger and placed it on the countertop. Next was the scroll he had sent a shadow clone to fetch while he was still at the war site. Inside were Zetsu's remains; he may have destroyed Kisame's body for his own selfish reasons but he knew Tsunade would appreciate giving her forensic scientists something to study.
Leaving the door slightly ajar incase Hitomi needed him, he stepped into the scorching spray, hissing slightly as the heat pounded into his still raw wounds. His eyes closed as he finally let his body release the tension it had been holding ever since he first detected Zetsu.
He always knew that he couldn't stay hidden forever, but that didn't mean he was ready to reveal himself yet. He still had a long way to go before he would be confident enough to expose Hitomi in such a way. There was still Pein left to defeat, and then there was that Tobi character, and Jiraiya's file mentioned something about a woman named Konan. And Sasuke...
His hand gripped the bar of soap he had begun to lather himself with and he clenched his teeth. Akatsuki: the merry band of bastards who seemed to do everything in their power to keep him from living a normal life. And, because Sasuke had joined them, he was officially no longer a friend to Naruto. Anyone that posed the slightest threat to Hitomi could not receive any leniency from him. If Sasuke chose that path then it was his choice, but Naruto could no longer afford to focus his efforts on saving someone who was a threat to his family. Now he could see that even if there was a chance of redemption for Sasuke, it wouldn't be coming from him. Second (or fifth) chances came from friends, not fathers.
He would continue to train, especially on honing his wind chakra now that he found so many possibilities with it. He also had to finish painting the downstairs. And he should see what Nokku could do about getting some lumber to start on a back deck. Or he could always just cut his own using wind chakra. Nokku's memories gave him a pretty extensive knowledge on woodwork.
Oh yes, and he promised Juhi earlier that he would go shopping with her for new furniture; she seemed so much more excited about it than he felt. Plus he had to get Hitomi a new high chair since she had somehow chewed through the plastic table of her old one. Now he knew better than to keep her waiting when she was hungry.
He also had to set up those safety barriers he had been meaning to get around to for the last week. Child gates were not going to keep Hitomi from falling down the stairs (or jumping) so he had been studying some seals he could place between walls that would create an invisible barrier keyed into only her...
Ah, the endless duties of a parent.
0o0o0o
0o0o0o
When Tsunade received her next personal letter from Naruto (as in not intel related) it had been over a year since last one. Accompanying it was a scroll which was immediately discarded to the side in her haste to hear from him. Every month that went by without word brought her anxiety up a little higher; she was going to kill him for all the wrinkles he had been giving her as of late.
Just the sight of his familiar messy writing warmed her heart.
Hey Baa-chan,
Well, I guess a lot's happened. I finally bought a house (see, shadow clones are brilliant!) and Hitomi is almost fourteen months now. She's learned to both talk and walk—which means she never shuts up and I have to keep her on a leash. Seriously, just the other day I found her stuck to a lampshade five feet off the ground. I swear, I turn my back for one minute...
She also enjoys putting anything she finds on the ground in her mouth. Kyuubi mentioned that she would be teething for up to a couple years, which is why I find teeth marks and scratch marks all over the furniture. Sometimes I feel like I'm disciplining a pet.
I threw in another picture because somehow I know you and Juhi share some grandmotherly obsession with having evidence that we exist. Juhi took it the day we moved into our house. Right now I'm working on building a deck for the back yard; it's slow going but it will be awesome when I finish!
On a darker note, Akatsuki's recon man found me. Calm down! I caught up to him before he could relay any information and took him out. The good news is that I did it without using any of the Kyuubi's chakra. I guess all the training I've been doing has been paying off—though I feel I still have a ways to go.
The other scroll is what I sealed Zetsu's body into (both halves). I didn't have you around to encode your DNA into the release seal, so I just programmed it so that only people with blonde hair could open it. Hopefully someone else who's blonde won't somehow get it before you do—they'd be in for a bit of a nasty surprise. I would have sent it sooner, but life's been keeping me pretty busy and I wanted to gather a bit more information on the eight tails before I sent this. Sadly, 'Killer Bee' (I think he's called) has been captured by "Hawk" and that means I'm now on the top of their target list. Time to up the ante, eh?
Writing to you makes me feel like I'm writing in a diary, so I'm going to stop now. Sorry for taking so long!
Love, Naruto (and Hitomi)
Tsunade couldn't help but laughed out loud at certain points in his letter. Even the disturbing news about the Akatsuki was overshadowed by his ingenuity with the release key; Blondes were quite rare as it was in these parts.
If receiving intel from him helped to reassure her about sending him away on this mission, then the personal letters (and pictures) helped to settle her nerves about her decision to let raise his daughter. There was no doubt in her mind that he was right in that it would have been hard to find someone who would put up with that sort of behavior from an infant. Chewing through plastic? Hanging off lampshades? She certainly didn't envy her fellow blonde, that much she was sure of.
Shaking her head from the silly thoughts, she eagerly pulled out the picture from the envelope.
"Oh!" Tsunade sighed, a wide smile stretching over her face as she saw the most adorable child she had ever laid eyes on. Hitomi was in a pink and orange summer dress, her plump little feet bare against the countertop she stood on, round cheeks adorned with twin whiskers flanked pouty lips partially open in bewilderment. Her hair had grown so that it flipped at the nape of her neck and her eyes were a striking shade of cerulean, matching her father's almost exactly, whose face was right next to hers as he held her sides.
Naruto looked as if he had grown several inches, his face already appearing to be leaner—though she had to wonder how much of that was puberty and how much was from fatherhood. His hair had become a mix between spiky and shaggy—in serious need of a haircut, in her opinion—falling into his eyes, and the slightest hint of facial hair was just barely visible around his jaw.
He seemed much more carefree in this letter than in his last one as well, as if some of the old, goofy Naruto was shining out beneath that rough exterior of responsibility and anxiety that had taken over. It made her happy to see him recovering, even if it had to be away from her.
She stood from her chair and grabbed the scroll, making sure to lock up the picture and letter in her personal drawer before heading off to the ANBU division.
It was time to see just what that boy was capable of.
0o0o0o
0o0o0o
Gohirarora no jutsu translates to something like "five palm strike"; even though he only used one palm o.O
Ah yes, Zetsu's anticlimactic end. Ugh, now we're back to the fight scenes; not the best I've ever written, but it doesn't matter—I only needed it for Naruto to get "Stick". Hahaha, and you all thought it would be some classic weapon. Hells no...Stick will be the coolest weapon ever because it's only as powerful as Naruto makes it. And it's a stick. You just can't beat that.
And, as a tribute to Stick...
http : // strider714 . deviantart . com / art / Naruto-Meets-Stick-100821916
My editor—aka strider714, who once again slapped some sense into this fic—photoshoped this comic. This just went so well with this chapter that I laughed uproariously for far longer than necessary.
There's also a doodle of Moegi's new hairstyle on my dev-art account, I just forgot about it.
Next chapter: well, I guess we can say the cat's out of the drawer...uh...I mean, bag.
Do you see that sweet new button just below here for reviewing? It's like BAM right there, so no one can miss it. Why don't you test it out? Tell me how it works X3