Warning Signs

Written by: Hayling

Beta: Kelenas, Cornuthaum

Note: Thanks for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, only the plot of the stories I write and possible original characters.

Chapter 10:

oOoOo

The relationship between Naruto and Temari, as it turned out, was peculiar. It was not that they disliked each other, despite their forced engagement, far from it in fact. But it was somewhat disturbing that the moments where they got along the most was when they tried to beat the snot out of one another on the deserted field where Temari usually used to practice her jutsu alone.

One could say that their fervour for training together was fast approaching proportions of the Gai and Lee kind, which would usually be a bad thing, but the effect it had on their development could not be denied. Naruto still spent a lot of time in the day training with Yugito - and Baki two times a week - but when he was finally allowed to train on his own, he was quick to drag Temari along.

The resulting sparring sessions between them improved both Naruto's and Temari's skill in taijutsu by leaps and bounds, if only for the fact that they just spent so many hours exchanging blows.

Naruto also found out that Temari boasted a wealth of knowledge that rivalled Baki on his best day. He would have said her skill with wind jutsu topped the turbaned Jounin, but he had learned to never speak ill of the man. Usually on the pain of becoming the target of said element and finding himself flying high through the air before crashing to the earth once again because of it. Needless to say, after the first time Baki was forced to use it on him after he failed to pay attention to his lectures, Naruto became quite a bit more attentive.

Still, Temari wasn't called Wind Mistress for nothing, and her tips on chakra manipulation to obtain the maximum result with wind based techniques were invaluable. His sessions with Baki certainly helped as well, but it was still theory, and he hoped they were going to move past that soon. Naruto always had been more of a hands-on person when it came to studying.

As far as his ninjutsu were concerned, he had had been taught several more low ranked techniques from Yugito after he had proven that he was able to perform the Rasengan one-handed. Yet he continued to practice with it, because if he would be able to form one in each hand at the same time, she had promised to teach him a technique of her own design, one that really made things go… boom. Well, there were many ways to motivate Naruto, but that one was definitely one of the main contenders. He even managed to get some headway into turning the jutsu some of the Sand-nin used to cool themselves off into his own personalized "ultimate defense".

Yugito had quickly squashed the idea of it becoming anywhere near ultimate, but he wasn't going to be deterred. He tried teaching it to Temari as well, but she had just stared at him, incredulously. Apparently only those with a very large amount of chakra or exceptional chakra control could afford to use the technique even sparingly. Kankuro had, apparently, failed to mention that particular fact and Temari was amazed that Naruto was planning to take it quite a step further.

The days were long and tough, but very fruitful. Temari insisted on taking enough breaks now and again though. Naruto had objected, but found that a stinging tirade on the necessity of those interludes was possibly even worse than a trademarked Sakura-punch applied to his skull. He promptly agreed to the Temari's suggestions.

Often they would just walk through Sunagakure, talking about everything they could think of. Sometimes they were joined by Yugito, who rarely offered anything in the way of personal history, but was always there to listen to them should they need it and gave plenty of advice. This was especially true for Naruto concerning matters of the fairer sex. Other times they were joined by Kankuro when he was off-duty, and Gaara's older brother was always in for a joke or two.

Rarely though, and much to Naruto's disappointment, did Gaara find time to spend with them. Naruto was optimistic that that might change soon enough. After all, aside from his duties as Kazekage, the redhead had a lot of sleep to catch up on.

A month went by in the blink of an eye like this, so it was with a modicum of surprise that one day, Baki simply announced that the time for theory was done… for the moment. It was late in the afternoon and the two were heading towards training-field twenty-three.

"Naruto." Baki glanced at the blonde beside him. "I will have to leave for a while in two days, so this will be the last opportunity for me to instruct you for some time."

"But all we've done is study theory on jutsu creation, manipulation and execution!" Naruto cried out in indignation. "…uh… sir." He added, quailing under the Jounin's even stare.

Baki could be scarier than all his other teachers combined without even trying.

"And those lessons will serve you well. Otherwise I would not have imparted such knowledge to you."

Naruto couldn't say anything to deny it. It had helped him with fine-tuning and further understanding the techniques he already knew and no doubt those he was still going to learn. On top of that, it gave him some ideas for creating his own techniques.

The boy's attention was drawn to his surroundings once they entered the training-field, which was pretty standard if not for a much larger amount of target dummies lined up on the far side.

"So, uh, what are we going to do today then, Baki-sensei?" Naruto asked. He fought to keep a grin off of his face, knowing that only one thing could come after so much theory.

Baki stared at him for a moment longer before answering. "Today I will instruct you on a technique that is known as the Shunshin."

Naruto's eyebrow rose on its own accord, he hadn't been expecting that. "That teleport thing?"

Baki seemed almost disappointed by Naruto's question. "I suppose that comes as close as any other word."

"Uhm…"

"Tell me what you think you know about the technique." Baki pressed.

Naruto frowned and rubbed his chin. "Well… When I saw it, the person… disappeared from where he or she was standing and reappeared somewhere else. That's kinda… teleport-y, isn't it?"

Baki let out a deep breath through his nose. "You should work on your perception, Naruto. You still take things at face-value and that will get you killed." He motioned for the boy to sit. "The Shunshin technique is performed by focusing a large burst of chakra into the movement of your body. Of course, the human brain and body cannot keep up with this high speed for long so it can't be used for anything other than short distance travel."

Naruto rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forwards, craning his neck to look up at Baki's visible eye. "So you just move really, really fast?"

"Fast enough for it to become nearly instantaneous, yes." Baki walked a little further away from the blonde. "The chakra requirement and strain it puts on the human body are extraordinary. Like I said it is used for short distance travelling, but it could be used for a surprise attack or escaping for instance." He smiled lightly. "There is only one person known to have used it effectively in battle for longer periods of time."

"Who?" Naruto asked, perplexed.

"Shunshin no Shisui."

Naruto's lips parted slightly and he blinked in surprise. "Er… who?"

Baki grunted. "Perhaps you wouldn't know, but he was one of the strongest of the Uchiha."

"Oh." Naruto didn't really know how to respond to that.

"Now, are you ready to begin?"

"Like you need to ask, Baki-sensei!" Naruto crowed, happy that he was going to learn such a useful technique and scrambled to his feet. "Let's do it!"

"Hmmph." The Jounin snorted at his excitement. "Sit back down, Naruto, I'll need to tell you the theory behind it first."

Naruto groaned in despair but did as he was commanded.

The explanation for the Shunshin was surprisingly simple though, even if the execution for it wasn't. It mainly consisted of amassing a considerable amount of chakra in your body and expending it all in a quick burst of movement. It required complete focus and a severe degree of chakra control. Thankfully, Naruto was less worried about his control as he had once been, his daily routine of constantly fine tuning the amount of chakra used in everything he did had improved his control phenomenally. But even that couldn't prevent a shudder that ran through his frame as he pictured his limbs being blown off by excess chakra build-up.

His first attempt had nonetheless been… enlightening. When he had regained consciousness after running straight into one of the target dummies, Baki merely said that he needed to work on his focus and try again and again for experience would be as much a factor as anything else. Increase in speed was all well and good, but you also needed to develop the reflexes to cope with it.

The initial try, painful though it had been, only served to spur Naruto on to spend all night trying it almost non-stop until he got it right. Baki. in turn, expected no less. But before the older man left, since he had no intention on missing out on his sleep, he gave Naruto one final piece of advice.

"You have more chakra than anyone I have ever met, Naruto. Use it."

oOoOo

"Temari-chan!" Naruto yelled up the stairs, eager to get underway. "Temari-chan, hurry up!"

"I'm coming, keep your pants on!" Came the muffled shout from above.

Naruto tapped his foot on the hardwood floor impatiently. Yugito was busy assisting Gaara, though she wouldn't say with what, and Baki was gone for some kind of long term mission along with Kankuro. That left a whole day for personal training! Well… with Temari anyway, which was even more fun.

'Maybe today she'll let me use her fan again!' Naruto wondered, even though the first - and last - time he had been able to try and use the large weapon the results had been disastrous. The backlash of his failed attempt at her trademark Kamaitachi technique left him with a multitude of gashes and a mild concussion. Temari had scolded him for over an hour, worried that he might have damaged her fan, but more importantly, himself. It had taken Naruto by surprise when the girl attended to his wounds and fussed about his stupidity and lack of common-sense.

Soft footfalls shook him out of his reverie and he swiveled his head to look at Temari coming down the steps of the staircase. "About time!" He mocked her good-naturedly.

Temari tried to glare. "Don't make me hit you already, Naruto-kun."

"Like you could." Naruto retorted, sticking out his tongue.

The girl punched his shoulder lightly and chuckled. "Are you ready to go then?"

"I was ready ten minutes ago, you were the one who took ages to get dressed." Naruto grinned and pointed at Temari as he eyed her up and down.

Temari had foregone the traditional shift she used to several weeks ago. It was simply impractical in the extensive training sessions with Naruto. Instead, she had opted to wear beige, skin-tight shorts along with a tan wrap-around skirt. A matching tan sports-bra covered by a simple beige t-shirt cut-off at her midriff finished the outfit. Though it brought perhaps a little too much attention to her well-toned stomach than Temari would have liked, it was very comfortable and offered her the freedom of movement she needed to keep up with Naruto.

The first time he saw it, Naruto had swallow several times to wet a suddenly dry throat. Temari smiled at the memory and traced her fingers along her four pigtails to make sure they were still bound in place properly and moved out of the living room into the hallway with Naruto right behind her.

Arriving at the front door, she reached down and put on her sandals. When she rose to her full length again, Temari tapped her feet toe-first on the ground lightly and hefted her battle-fan over her shoulder. She had left it next to the entrance after a particularly gruelling training session the evening before.

She watched Naruto pull on his own sandals and idly wished that Naruto would wear the mesh shirt she had picked out for him when they first went shopping together. A shame he went with a normal white t-shirt during their training sessions nowadays.

Temari shook her head to clear it of those thoughts and slid the front door open, nodding to Naruto. "Let's go, Naruto-kun."

oOoOo

"Fuuton: Dai Kamaitachi!"

Naruto watched in awe as Temari's technique wreaked havoc on their surroundings. A whirlwind burst forth from where she had swung her fan and ripped forwards in a great arc. Large gashes were carved in the ground and dust spew into the air wherever the blades of wind touched the earth.

"Go Temari-chan!" He yelled, waving his arms wildly as the technique dissipated.

"Heh." Temari snapped her fan closed and walked over to Naruto who was grinning broadly. "Your turn."

The boy nodded eagerly and summoned five shadow clones. Without a word, though with a few dirty looks, the clones ran a small distance away and transformed into simple wooden training dummies.

Temari shook her head at the display. "Show off."

"You're just upset that you can't summon as many as I can." Naruto said teasingly.

He had taught his favoured technique to Temari some time ago. And although she would never be able to summon quite as many as Naruto, he had been surprised when she had been able to summon at least twenty with quite some effort. Temari had explained that she possessed the largest pool of chakra out of the three Suna siblings, barely, but even she wouldn't be able to do much after summoning that many clones. At least she did if Gaara didn't tap into his additional demonic source in any case.

Naruto shook his head and focused on the training dummies. With a flurry of movement, his hands darted through a short series of seals and puffed up his chest, cheeks billowing out comically.

'Fuuton: Tenkuu Dangan!'

He jerked forwards and spat out several great balls of swirling, compressed air in rapid succession. With a loud whoosh, they shot out towards the arrayed line of targets with high speed. The first impacted on the outer right and tore through the midsection like it was nothing more than paper, the next one got decapitated neatly and the next two followed the fate of the first, exploding into smoke a second after the technique hit.

The fifth clone apparently didn't want to perish in the same way. He dispelled the transformation and ducked, allowing the last ball of air to pass harmlessly overhead. As soon as it did, the replica jumped to his feet, shaking his fist at Naruto and Temari. "Haha, you can't get me you ba-…"

A scowling Naruto had expected this and sent an additional air bullet the clone's way, killing it instantly when it got up again. He turned to Temari who raised a questioning eyebrow. "They're so annoying sometimes!" Naruto huffed.

The situation with his Kage Bunshin technique was getting really ridiculous. Every time he summoned a small group of them to do anything, they started displaying what seemed to be exaggerated parts of Naruto's personality. And oddly enough, this was absent when he produced a great deal of them. He had asked Yugito about it, but she had shrugged, explaining she didn't know what was going on either.

Naruto moved over to the backpack he had brought with a sigh and reached into it, extracting his canteen before sitting down underneath the shade of the park's tree line. Temari joined him a moment later and he handed her his canteen after taking a swig of water.

She took it with visible gratitude and wiped her brow. "Naruto-kun, I've been meaning to ask you something." She spoke after drinking some of the liquid herself.

"Hmm? What about?" Naruto leaned backwards, propping himself on his elbows and spreading his legs out comfortably.

"Well, Jiraiya gave you some scrolls right?" Temari noticed Naruto stiffening slightly but didn't comment on it. "Did you ever read them?"

"…not yet." Naruto murmured. "Ero-sennin left a note with it, he said I couldn't open them unless Yugito-sensei was there with me."

"Why haven't you done that yet?" Temari asked, nonplussed. "Aren't you curious?"

"I know I am." A voice told them from above.

The two teens immediately looked up. Sitting on a thick branch of the tree Naruto and Temari found themselves under was Yugito. She smiled down at the teens, a picture of perfect innocence.

"You need a hobby, Yugito-sensei." Naruto frowned.

"What, I can't spy on my student?" Yugito placed a hand on her chest, right above her heart. "I'm disappointed, Naruto, you wound me."

Naruto's eyebrow began to tick violently. Over the past month, Yugito had gotten increasingly more forward with her teasing. Including…

"Besides, I need to make sure that you and your future wife don't do anything improper before you get married, after all."

"Sensei…" Naruto growled warningly.

Temari hid her laughter behind a series of loud coughs.

"Oh loosen up, Naruto." Yugito swung backwards, hooking her legs on the branch and frowned at him as she hung upside down, which ruined the effect. "How about we take a look at the scrolls now then?"

Temari tilted her head. "Shall I leave?"

"No, no." Naruto sighed. "Please stay."

Yugito unhooked her legs and flipped her body in the air to land silently in a crouch. "You brought them with you, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Naruto affirmed and reached for his backpack. He rummaged around for a moment, peering inside, and took out three differently coloured scrolls. With a grunt, he sat back down, squinting against a stray beam of sunlight breaking through the canopy. He set down the two smallest scrolls on his lap and unfurled the largest of the three.

Yugito was, by this point, peering over his shoulder. "Oh…" She nodded as she recognized its contents. "Better save that one for last, Naruto."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, pausing from trying to figure out what the long list of symbols painted on the inside of the scroll meant. "Why?"

"That's a storage scroll, Naruto-kun." Temari piped in, leaning over slightly and nodding.

"It could contain anything really."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the scroll and rolled it back up for now. "It had better not have his pervy books sealed inside."

Yugito chortled. "I highly doubt it."

"Open the other two." Temari urged.

"Alright, alright." Naruto picked up one of the smaller scrolls and scanned its contents.

"Ah, I see." Yugito snatched the scroll from the boy, ignoring his ensuing protests, and smiled. "I think Jiraiya-sama wants you to start on sealing in earnest, Naruto."

Naruto was more than a little surprised at that. "Eh? Why all of a sudden…?"

Yugito grabbed the remaining scroll and nodded as if her suspicions were confirmed when she read what was written inside. "These two scrolls contain basic teachings of sealing techniques." She lifted one of the two scrolls. "Tag seal creation and manipulation." Yugito held up the other. "And storage sealing."

"That's really useful!" Temari exclaimed, folding her arms in front of her chest. "I'm a little jealous, Naruto-kun."

Naruto stared at Temari as if she'd grown a second head. "Why would you be jealous? You can learn this stuff with me! Uh, right, Yugito-sensei?"

The Kumo-nin shrugged. "Why not? I doubt Jiraiya-sama would mind." She flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder and tossed the two scrolls back to Naruto. "It makes sense now that he didn't want you to get started on it without me present. Seals are very easy to make mistakes with, and I don't want you going off and blowing off your hands with a faulty self-made explosive tag."

"…" Naruto was silent for a few seconds until quite possibly the broadest grin of his life threatened to split his face in two. It severely disturbed the two females present. "I could make my own explosive tags?" He asked, barely believing Yugito's words.

Yugito scowled and bonked him on the head.

"Ow!" Naruto yelped and rubbed his scalp. "What was that for?"

"Don't get any weird ideas!" Temari warned him with a glare to accompany Yugito's blow. She was going to nip this in the bud before it even started. "I don't want to marry some kind of mad bomber, got it?"

"Aw come on, I wouldn't do that." The boy complained and coughed as he averted his eyes when the females present clearly didn't believe him. "…really."

Yugito cleared her throat, attempting to regain the attention of the two. "Ahem. As I was saying, I don't want you to attempt to create anything without my direct supervision. I don't want to explain to Jiraiya-sama that I let his student blow himself up, okay?"

Naruto sighed and nodded.

Yugito looked at him shrewdly for a moment then continued. "Aside from explosive tags there are some instructions on elemental enhancement seals but those will come later. I think Jiraiya-sama wants you to learn how to make and use storage seals to obtain whatever is inside of the larger scroll. It is most likely keyed to your blood in any case."

Naruto scratched the side of his nose. "Uhm, okay."

"Alright then." Yugito watched Naruto stuff the three scrolls back into his pack. "I think we'll start in a day or two." She offered a nod to Temari and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "I'll leave the two of you be for now. I'm sure you still have a lot to do." She halted and smirked. "Temari, I hope for you Naruto's stamina is as great in other areas as it is in training."

"Yugito-sensei!" Naruto bellowed, his face beet-red, though Yugito had vanished immediately after that last comment.

Temari didn't bother to hide her laughter this time, nor the pink tinge on her cheeks.

oOoOo

In the week that followed, Naruto learned a new definition on the word precise. Seals required a finesse that he never bothered to acquire and it especially required patience, something Naruto lacked for the most part. At least the meditation sessions helped whenever he grew frustrated with it all.

This proved especially true when Yugito and Temari had to drill some extra calligraphy lessons into his head. To an onlooker, it might have been somewhat funny, but the crash course had been anything but to Naruto. Having two women explaining how the gentle and steady flow of an ink brush on paper should come natural to him, and then barely holding back their laughter as he clumsily drew symbols on said paper was almost more than he could take.

It had taken a grand total of eighty-seven snapped brushes, about a great oak's worth of paper and around ten litres of ink before Naruto had finally gained some expertise in calligraphy. Still, he forced himself to sit down and grit his teeth, fully intent on mastering these basic sealing techniques. Especially after Temari picked it up much quicker than he had.

Explosive tags and elemental enhancement tags – like the ones that could add an electric charge to a thrown kunai – were very finicky. There was no room for error, and if one was made then at best a seal wouldn't work at all. In the worst case scenario, the seal could loop on itself and overload with varying results. Naruto liked explosions, sure, but not ones that could take his life or those that he cared about.

At least he picked up the methods behind sealing items and the like into scrolls much faster. As for the scroll containing a sealed… something though, he set that aside. He was curious on what it might obtain, but for some reason he felt like he should wait a little while before finding out what it was.

That night, a week after starting to study seals, Naruto was in his room, doing something he thought he would never do until he became Hokage. He sat at a simple desk, one of the few pieces of furniture placed in the guest bedroom, ink brush in hand, staring at small pieces of paper in front of him. Aside from a futon, desk and two cabinets there was nothing else of note and left Naruto with plenty of free space to move around. Just the way he liked it, though he rather missed having some plants to take care of.

His brush movements slowed momentarily, and wondered if he should ask Gaara about getting some. Then realizing just what he was doing, Naruto shook his head and continued. He didn't want to make a mistake in the seal this time. It was a relative simple one; a low yield explosive tag. Or at least, that was what it was supposed to be, he'd have to let Yugito inspect it before he would try it out.

Naruto dipped the tip of the brush in his inkwell and squinted down at the tag, or would be tag, rather. He was about to add another tiny symbol until his concentration was shattered when someone knocked on his bedroom door. His hand slipped and Naruto swore under his breath.

"Come in!" He called out after crumpling the tag up in a small paper wad and tossing it in the garbage bin set at his feet. It was already half full with previously failed pieces of paper.

The door swung open smoothly, and Yugito stepped inside. She glanced around and grinned slightly when she noted his numerous erroneous and scrapped attempts at sealing. "Hello Naruto, I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"Nah." Naruto dismissed her worries and set his brush and ink to the side so he wouldn't accidentally tip anything over. "I was just trying some things, that's all."

"You just like cursing for no reason then, huh?" Yugito remarked.

The boy's eyebrow twitched. "It's nothing." He affirmed. "So uh…" Naruto rotated his chair until he faced his teacher. "What brings you here, Yugito-sensei?"

"I think…" Yugito began and fixed Naruto with a piercing stare, all business. "…it's time we meet this demon of yours."

That took Naruto by surprise and his eyes widened. "Wha?"

Yugito sat down on his futon. "Don't you remember what I said in the hospital?"

Naruto, in fact, didn't until now. Or maybe he just didn't want to. "Yugito-sensei…" He lowered his gaze and grasped his knees tightly with his hands. "Do we have to?"

"Hmm." Yugito sighed, resigned that this was going to happen. "Naruto, as much as you don't want it to be, Kyuubi is a part of your life, and sooner or later you're going to have to use its power."

"But I thought-!"

"Let me finish." Yugito held up a hand and forestalled his incoming complaints. "I'm not saying you should rely entirely on it. You're still going to focus on improving yourself, but if you're attacked by Akatsuki members, there is just no way to win without Kyuubi's help."

Naruto looked downcast but she continued.

"Akatsuki is comprised of S-rank missing-nin, and although you've improved a great deal since we met, there is just no way you're going to reach that level on your own in the short amount of time that we have to prepare."

"So… it's all for nothing?" Naruto whispered.

Yugito laughed. "Think, Naruto. All you've had to truly judge your strength against were Jiraiya-sama and I. And we are, let's face it, very strong." She put a fist on her hip, grinning. "Even though Temari's not a close-combat type, to be able to keep up with her puts you at around high Chuunin level, I think."

"Really?"

"Hey, don't get ahead of yourself, that rank is just an example." Yugito said immediately, recognizing the glint in Naruto's eyes. "It is just in terms of fighting ability, understand? Don't go thinking you're a hot-shot ninja now because you know how to punch people in the face. You're still years away from your goal since there is a lot more to a Shinobi's life than just fighting."

Naruto scowled. "I know that!"

"Good." Yugito patted her hand on the futon, inviting Naruto to sit with her. "Now I want you to know that the reason that we're training you up so hard is that while the Kyuubi could, in theory, supply you with a lot of power." She prodded him in the stomach as soon as he sat down. "That power is going to run around unchecked if you are not in control. And even if you are in control, you won't be able to do much with it if you don't know how to fight."

Naruto nodded. "Okay, I get it. But that doesn't mean I like it."

"No-one is saying you should." Yugito leaned into him for a moment. "Tonight, all we're going to do is have a talk with Kyuubi. We'll have to see how we go from there once we've done so."

Letting out a heavy exhale, Naruto nodded again.

"Alright, now…" She grasped his chin and tilted his head towards hers. "Just look into my eyes."

"Uhm…" Naruto was a little uncomfortable with her proximity.

"Relax." Yugito murmured. "Focus on your breathing and look into my eyes…" She repeated.

He did as she said and began counting his breaths, swallowing nervously.

Gold flecks started appearing in her ghostly pale-blue eyes, slowly but gradually crowding out the original colour. Naruto found himself slowly becoming mesmerized and idly noted that his and Yugito's breathing were now in synch. He fought his urge to blink when Yugito's pupil's turned into thin feline slits.

"Breathe in… Breathe out… Slow and steady…" Yugito's voice instructed him from somewhere.

Naruto swallowed, or he thought he did. His eyes began to water…

"Breathe…"

He blinked...

…and suddenly found himself in an all too familiar surrounding.

It was dark, damp and flooded with murky water that reached to just under his knees. As he looked around, he noted there were several tunnels led off to parts unknown from the vast and cavernous chamber he stood in. The water that soaked his lower legs would have been bad enough on its own, but there was a distinct stench of blood and…evil permeating the air.

"What the hell?" Naruto cried out in surprise with his voice echoing around him. "How…?"

A chuckle diverted his attention and he spun on his feet. With a gasp, he drew back once he saw the person next to him. It was Yugito, only… not. Her voice was off and her eyes were still a practically radiating a golden glow.

"Yu-Yugito-sensei…" He started, reaching for her arm with his hand to check if she were really there.

The… not-Yugito grinned, flashing slightly longer fangs than normal for a human being and purred at Naruto. "Hello child."

Naruto arrested his movements and stumbled back slightly. "W-who are you?"

"You already know." She shot him a wink and chuckled again. "I see what you meant by sewer, child. Though I did not truly expect something so… unbefitting one of your prisoner's stature."

She turned her attention to the gigantic gate before her and Naruto, in turn, did so as well. The not-Yugito approached it calmly, but Naruto knew better even as he followed her with caution.

"Don't get too close!" He warned.

She looked back at him over her shoulder before a loud, booming voice resounded from behind the gate, followed by the sudden appearance of two massive eyes, dark-rimmed and flashing blood red, hovering high above them. The orbs focused on the two intruders and as if in displeasure, they narrowed. A row of teeth too sharp and large to be considered normal were displayed as the Kyuubi's lips were pulled back in a murderous grin.

"Ah, the kitten and the brat. I had been wondering when the two of you would grace me with your presence."

Naruto remembered that voice, too.

The boy watched the not-Yugito approach the demonic entity with a casual sway in her step. She stopped when she reached a respectful distance of the large ornate gate however, and studied the small scrap of paper that served as the lock for the strongest being that had ever prowled the Elemental Countries and beyond.

The woman peered at the seal for a moment longer until she smiled up at the nine-tailed demon fox. "Hello, Kyuubi. It's been a while."

oOoOo

Chapter end.

oOoOo

Technique list:

Shunshin - Body Flicker
Fuuton: Dai Kamaitachi – Wind Element: Great Cutting Whirlwind
Fuuton: Tenkuu Dangan – Wind Element: Air Bullet