Title: Odds Against You, Naruto!
Genre: Romance/Drama/Suspense
Rating: From PG13 to Fanfiction M
Summary: When everyone is against you. When no one, not even your own family, believes in you. When demons are out to get you and people turn their backs on you. Then you must be Naruto Uzumaki. Black sheep of the Namikaze-Uzumaki family, shadow of his rival, Sasuke, and complete outcast of Konoha.
Chapter: 10
The village was quiet.
And bleak.
Since the attack there has been a cloud of depression over everyone and everything. That very day that that demon was taken down by Naruto, the sun didn't rise. It couldn't. Not when their own piece of sunshine was in so much pain and in danger. Since then its been cloudy.
It was odd for this time of the year to have storm clouds, but with all that's happened it seemed appropriate.
Tsunade walked down the streets of Konoha and just observed all around her. There really wasn't any activity like there usually would. If there was any activity it was mandatory or an attempt of distraction.
The feeling of safety that Konoha once held was gone. Though the residents of Konoha, ninja and civilian alike, didn't feel any danger towards them. The danger that was towards them was defeated by their hero. The hero who almost gave his life for them without a second thought. The one who was attacked soon after fighting a nightmare from hell. The one who was now missing after being treated like a second class citizen by his own people when he should have been treated like royalty.
She would have gone with the rest in the search for Naruto, but they managed to convince her to stay. For one, they had every available Jonin and some of the best Chunin going after Naruto. Two, considering reason number one it was better for her to stay as a safety precaution. And three...the elders needed to talk to her. She still hasn't yet, but Jiraiya told her what they wanted.
Since the demon attack there seems to be a new light on Naruto. And now everyone is looking down on Minato and Kushina and putting all of the blame on them for not standing up for their son. Granted they should have, but there shouldn't have been a reason for them to stand up for him at all. Anyway, the Elders think that perhaps it was wise that Minato step down...for a while.
They had first asked Jiraiya but he declined. He was never one to be tied down too long to anything, and especially hold a position where he would be forced to act respectable at all times. It would interfere with his writing and research, he claimed to them, but Tsunade knew that a part of him also couldn't run a city that had hurt his beloved godson so horribly. So now they were looking at her to take the place of Hokage.
Tsunade sighed. She really wanted to just go to a bar and get pissed drunk, but couldn't. As she continued to walk through the village she ultimately made it out to the Memorial Stone. She dreaded to think it but perhaps this is where she would come and visit Naruto as well. The thought stung her, no, it wounded her deeply, but sadly it was a possibility right now. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised to see someone else there.
"Sarutobi is probably very upset and saddened with us up there," Kushina whispered with her gazed lowered towards the stone.
Tsunade on the other hand looked up at the darkened cloudy sky. Its been cloudy, but it only rains at night, "I doubt anyone could have guess any of this to happen."
"Because it should have never gotten to this point. It's been two days since Minato left after Naruto...the Elders have told me about some rumors going on in the council," Kushina said.
"What have they said?" Tsunade asked curiously.
"If Minato lets his guilt and pride keep him from returning because he fails to bring Naruto back..." she stopped and Tsunade heard a sob, "Oh Tsunade...they don't even think he'd stay away because he's a failure as a father but because of his pride!" Kushina covered her face with her hands, "God, what they must think of me..."
Tsunade sighed. "You're right. The old man would probably be very disappointed in the two of you if he were still alive, but not just the two of you...he'd be disappointed in the whole village as well." Kushina sniffed and made a whimper noise, "But if he were still alive he'd chide you with millions of reasons on how this behavior you have now is wrong."
"How is it wrong?" Kushina demanded.
"Self pity and hatred to yourselves won't bring Naruto home Kushina. You have to look past your failures and become better. Naruto will be brought back. If not by Minato then by Kakashi or Iruka or Anko or one of Naruto's other friends...I wouldn't be surprised it the Uchiha brat might join in the search soon. But you two have to do what they have been doing all along...
"You have to work to make this place what it should have been since the beginning. A place where he feels safe. Naruto needs a place to return to Kushina...Naruto needs a home to return to," Tsunade said as she looked at the redhead.
Kushina raised her eyes and stared at the blonde with tear filled eyes, "He'll be back...right?"
Tsunade touched the place on her chest where her necklace used to be and looked up at the sky again. The one she had given Dan, the one she had given her baby brother, and the one that Naruto now had. They all shared that carefree smile that made you think the world was still a happy place, that hero attitude that made you smile, and they all shared the same dream.
"He's got a promise to keep," Tsunade said
Jiraiya approached the camp base with the group of ninja that he was in charge of. This was one of the reason he had refused the offer that the Elders had made him. He was never one to sit by and do nothing. When he was waiting for Naruto to come out of surgery when he was first attacked, Jiraiya thought he was going to punch a few holes in the wall because of the insanity that the just waiting caused in him. He liked being in the field. He liked running and jumping and searching and fighting. He liked doing something! Sitting behind a desk while others made progress wasn't for him.
"What are our orders sir?" one of his ninja asked.
Jiraiya looked around and took in everything he could. He sighed and said solemnly, "Looks like we've hit a dead end. Set up camp like the other groups. I'll go find Minato and see what I can find."
"Hai," the ninja all bowed and followed their orders.
It didn't take long for him to spot his former student. Waking up to him, Jiraiya didn't know if it was justified or not to see Minato so broken. His ex-student was slumped under a tree with a forlorn look on his face, eyes distant, and lips thinned out in a straight line.
"The trail ends here...they just...disappeared," Minato whispered.
"You sound defeated," Jiraiya commented as he took a seat next to Minato.
"I don't want to but since this is the second day with nothing! Not a single footprint, or scent, or chakra signature...It's hard to keep hope alive," Minato whispered.
"Giving up on hope means giving up on Naruto..."Jiraiya paused before he said, "But that's not hard for you is it?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Minato rose and demanded from his sensei.
"Face it Minato, you failed," Jiraiya said as he too stood and stared his former student down.
"Shut up," Minato hissed.
"Naruto has always needed you. Needed to hear your advice, needed to know your knowledge, needed to hear comfort that only you could give him. He needed to know that you wouldn't let anyone hurt him...he needed to know that you loved him. But you failed. He never knew any of that!" Jiraiya exclaimed.
"Enough! I don't have time for this," Minato said as he tried to walk away but Jiraiya grabbed his wrist and pulled him back in place.
"I'm not Naruto. I'm not afraid of you. I will not be brushed off and you will listen to me," Jiraiya said serious.
"Naruto...Naruto didn't fear me..." Minato whispered.
"Really? Are you sure? Maybe not in the sense that you think but Naruto did fear you. He feared you'd banish him, he feared that you would take him away from Kakashi, Iruka, and Sasuke. He feared you'd allow him to be killed without any justice to his name," Jiraiya said solemnly.
"Why are you telling me this?" Minato asked defeated. He looked at Jiraiya, not as the Hokage, but as the lost little boy he used to be.
Jiraiya crossed his arms and said, "You can't move passed this until you admit it ever happened. You need to admit that you failed...and what you failed at. Otherwise this whole mission will be compromise by your guilt."
"I failed alright!" Minato exclaimed, causing a few people to look his way, "I wasn't the father Naruto wanted...I wasn't the father Naruto needed. I let him down and it's all my fault. I should have been there more for him but I wasn't and now...now...it took a fucking demon attack and him being attached to all sorts of machines and tubes and wires to help him breathe! For me to realize...God...I think back on the days leading up to the attack...I...I could've prevented all of this...Naruto could be at home...safe...now he could be...Oh God..."
Jiraiya watched in silence as his former student had a small breakdown. Once he was calm enough Jiraiya pulled Minato up and grabbed him by his shoulders and said, "Okay Minato, you've got to pull yourself together now. Now that you've admitted your failure, now you know what you need to do. We have to find him. You need to be strong. You need to find your boy and bring him home to his mother."
Minato gulped a breath of air and nodded.
"The trail end here though," Minato said.
"Are you sure?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes," Minato nodded.
"Then we head back to Konoha," Jiraiya said loudly enough to be heard by everyone.
"No!" Kakashi said, "Naruto needs us!"
"I know that Kakashi, but wasting time here won't find him either," Jiraiya said.
"Why the hell is everyone giving up on him?!" Kakashi demanded.
Jiraiya sighed, "No one is giving up on him. Search teams will remain here and take off in all directions in hope of picking up a lead. The rest of us will head back. If the trail of that demon ends here we'll find another with the first demon."
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked.
"That demon attack at the village wasn't an ordinary attack, even by demon standards. Something that powerful doesn't just wonder by. If we find what that demon was, we'll find who can summon it. Whoever summoned it is the one after Naruto. Find him and we'll find Naruto," Jiraiya explained.
"He'll live then?" Kakashi asked.
"As much trouble as the Kyuubi has caused him in his life, it'll save him this time," Jiraiya said.
Sasuke panted as the fire from his multiple attacks died down. He glared at nothing and everything all at once.
"I brought you some lunch," Sakura whispered from his left.
"I'm not hungry," Sasuke deadpanned.
Since Naruto was taken Sasuke doesn't speak with anyone who wasn't Iruka or Sakura. Anyone else will be faced with either his glare, or if he's feeling extra moody, his fist or verbal insults.
Sakura sighed, "He wouldn't want you to starve yourself Sasuke..."
"Well he's not here to tell me himself now is he?" Sasuke hissed.
"I miss him too..."
Sasuke looked back at him and saw Sakura with bloodshot eyes and bags under them as well. He sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. She immediately hugged him and Sasuke awkwardly hugged her back. They were friends, and now they were like brother and sister.
"Why isn't he back yet?" Sakura whispered into Sasuke shirt.
"I don't know...but I can't keep waiting here," Sasuke said and Sakura moved a step back to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"I can't...I can't stay in the village without him...I can't be here while he could be..." Sasuke said.
"But Sasuke...you haven't been ordered to help look," Sakura said.
"I don't care. I'll go anyway!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"And risk becoming a rogue?"
Sakura and Sasuke looked behind them to find their sensei.
"Sensei! Have you found Naruto? Is he back?" Sakura asked with glee at seeing her sensei return after days of them being gone.
Kakashi gave a very tiring sigh, "No...the demon disappeared without leaving a trace."
"You...you lost Naruto's trail?" Sasuke whispered as he stared in disbelief at his sensei. Despite Kakashi's laziness, he was a strong and powerful ninja who knew over a thousand jutsu and who possessed the Sharingan and...and...and if he lost Naruto's trail...then...
"For the moment. But not the lead," Kakashi said.
At that the remaining members of team 7's heads snapped back up in attention.
"We'll be looking for information. Jiraiya-Sama will be looking for intel outside of the city and with some of his resources. You'll two will head to the library while I go speak with a few people within Konoha who may have some information we could use," Kakashi explained.
"Okay. What information are we looking for exactly?" Sakura asked.
"The first attack that Naruto was in. Sasuke was there to witness it so he could describe what you'll be looking for. This thing doesn't appear out of nowhere or by accident. Find out what this is, what it needs in order for it to be summoned. Once we find that, we can make a list of people who are capable of doing it. This person or demon or whatever needs Naruto alive. That gives us hope. We find this son of a bitch, we'll find Naruto," Kakashi explained.
"How do we know they need Naruto...alive?" Sakura asked.
"There was a marking on Naruto's side that was caused by the demon behind this whole scheme. The one we're trying to find who's after Naruto. Jiraiya-Sama is certain that they needed Naruto because of the Kyuubi. They want someone for something...an experiment or ritual. What better experiment subject than the Kyuubi vessel who's nearly indestructible and heals just as instantly? That marking would have killed anyone else immediately," Kakashi answered.
"Fine...come on Sakura, we need to hurry," Sasuke said. A knot forming in his stomach at the thought of Naruto being used like that.
"Sakura, you go on ahead. I need a word with Sasuke," Kakashi said. Sakura looked at the two of them warily before making her way out of the training grounds and into the city, towards the library.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked as he looked at his sensei in the eye.
"You didn't answer my question Sasuke," Kakashi said as he leaned against a tree and crossed is arms.
"Which one?" Sasuke asked as he crossed his own arms.
"Would you be willing to become a rogue if it meant going after Naruto?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke opened his mouth to instantly reply with a yes. He'd do anything for Naruto. He loved him...but he was also a ninja of Konoha...betrayal was something they didn't do. It was dishonorable and pathetic...
But hadn't the village betrayed Naruto? And if he was going after Naruto...would that really be considered treason?
"Well?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke lowered his arms to his side and clenched his fist and looked down for a minute and then looked back up at his sensei.
"Naruto is the only thing I really have left. I love him sensei...I'll do anything for him," Sasuke declared.
Kakashi couldn't say he was shocked to hear Sasuke say those words but yet he was. To actually hear them and with such devotion and passion.
"Hn," was Kakashi's reply before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Naruto laid on the bed surrounded by healers and demons of the sort. They were all emitting their power and energy to match his and Kyuubi's. Naruto was only wearing his boxers all the while. His body covered in markings,runes, and symbols.
"Nervous Naruto-Sama?" Solomon asked.
"Sort of..." Naruto whispered.
Solomon smiled kindly at him, "I know it's a bit nerve wrecking but rest assured that everything will be fine in the end."
"And Kyuubi will be fine too?" Naruto asked.
"Of course. The king himself request that you and Kyuubi-Sama visit his throne room once everything is done with and both of you are settled," Solomon said.
"Alright. I'm ready," Naruto said as he close his eyes to calm his nerve.
"Everything will be fine...no more troubles Naruto-Sama," Solomon waved his hand over Naruto's mind and Naruto fell unconscious.
Hours later Naruto awoke feeling...lighter. When he rose in his bed he found himself dressed in a simple ruby red silk Yukata. He blinked away whatever sleep remained and got out of bed.
"Finally awake, kit?" Naruto turned around at the voice. It was still as deep and ancient as it sounded in his head, but different.
Naruto turned around and found himself staring almost at his own reflexion. Almost. Though it could have been a clone, it wasn't. And Naruto didn't mean that Kyuubi just took his face and just replaced his blonde locks with red hair and his blue eyes with green. No, even though they looked alike they weren't. They were like real brothers who looked similar, with similar enough features, but different.
"So...what so you think?" Kyuubi asked as he twirled around in his emerald green Yukata..
Naruto ran up to him and said, "You're really here...you're real."
Kyuubi hugged Naruto and Naruto hugged back. Kyuubi said, "Yeah, I'm real kit." and ruffled Naruto's hair.
Naruto then noticed that Kyuubi was a bit taller...and older looking.
"So...I'm the little brother in this?" Naruto asked with a smile. A smile that Kyuubi hasn't seen in a long time.
"You didn't really think I'd let myself be short did you? I'm the great and powerful Kyuubi! I'm thousands of years old and I am mega awesome!" Kyuubi said with a smirk.
"You're so full of yourself," Naruto said as he playfully punched Kyuubi.
"Excuse me sirs, but the king is waiting," a servant came and informed them with a bow.
"Of course." Kyuubi said as he followed the servant to the throne room, with Naruto behind him.
The servant bowed as he showed them a big set of wooden doors. Kyuubi nodded and opened the door and walked in like he owned the place. Naruto walked behind Kyuubi. Not as arrogantly, but still with pride and grace. Being the son of the Hokage, he needed to know how to act around royalty and nobility.
When they entered Naruto saw five thrones. In the center Naruto saw who he assumed to be the king. Though in mortal years he looked to be in his mid twenties, Naruto knew and sensed his years of wisdom and knowledge. He had dark black hair and piercing blue eyes. To his right was a beautiful blonde woman with equally memorizing blue eyes. To his left was a young man who resembled his father but had his mother's blonde hair. To the mothers right was a girl, Naruto would guess around his age with black hair and blue eyes, and to the young mans left was Hisakata.
Both him and Kyuubi arrived at the base of the throne's stairs and bowed on one knee.
"Rise the both of you," The king said in a serious tone, but his seriousness left his face as he let out a chuckle and rose from his throne with a mischievous smirk and went to hug Kyuubi.
"Kyuubi my old friend! You look well," the king said.
"This is the best I've felt in over a decade," Kyuubi replied. And then turned to Naruto, "Naruto this is the royal family. You've already met Hisakata."
Hisakata rose and bowed and sat back down.
"Next to her is the heir to the throne and the kingdom and her older half brother, Yukito."
Yukito rose and bowed and sat back down.
"The lovely queen, Keokoku," she too rose, bowed, and sat back down.
"The king himself Ryoku," Ryoku nodded his head towards Naruto.
"And I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the youngest," Kyuubi said.
Ryoku chuckled and said, "That is because my dear friend, Yuri-chan is a mere babe. Only thirteen years old."
Naruto didn't think it was that young. Not young enough to call her a baby. But he supposed for demons who have lived thousands of years, being barely in the double digit numbers was still infancy.
"Very recent. Has she been introduced to the kingdom yet?" Kyuubi asked and Naruto felt like he was at one of his father's Hokage meetings, just being there; quiet and listening.
"Not yet. Once she comes of age and chooses a mate, then we'll show her to everyone. Until then only those in the castle shall see her." Ryoku replied.
Naruto understood that too. Usually royal and noble children were kept under the radar unless times were good and prosperous. But other times it was dangerous because the children were used as tools for negotiation, which sometimes didn't end well. Sometimes Naruto wished his father had kept him from the village.
Naruto looked at the girl who apparently had a a caring father, more caring than his anyway, and sent her a small smile. When he looked at her though he found that she had been staring at him, and when he looked up, she had looked down with a blush. Naruto didn't know why, but he blushed as well.
"Come now! We mustn't be late!" King Ryoku said as he lead the way out of the room, and Kyuubi tugging at his arm.
"Where are we going?" Naruto whispered to Kyuubi.
"You'll see," Kyuubi replied and Naruto frowned.
The king led them towards a balcony and motioned them to stop before actually stepping on it. Naruto gave Kyuubi a glance but all Kyuubi did was smile.
When the doors to the balcony opened, Naruto hear cheering. Then the king began to speak.
"My fellow people! For years we've asked ourselves 'what has become of our great and fearless warrior Kyuubi'? I too have asked what had happened about my friend...but now, my questions have been answered. He is here! He is found! He...is...home. And with him he brings someone. Someone with great power...A Jinchuriki!" there was audible gasps and more cheering.
Kyuubi pulled Naruto's arm and they both stepped out on the balcony. "I present to you...Kyuubi-Sama and Naruto-Sama!Our new warriors! Our new saviors! Our new family!"
Masses of people had gathered and they all were looking up at them. Suddenly, like a wave, they all bowed on both of their knees. Naruto looked at everything with awe. They were doing this for him.
"Welcome to the life you deserve kit...welcome home," Kyuubi said.
"All hail Kyuubi! All hail Naruto!" the chanting started and Naruto walked over to the edge and gripped the railing.
"Home..."