Disclaimer: You know the drill so why do I bother for each chapter, if you forgot check chapter 1…
Without further ado…
Chapter 10 – Seeking treasures…
Six months had passed and things had changed. Anko was sporting both a ring and a slightly extended belly. Tsunade had officially left the Hidden Leaf Village to much fanfare and chagrin for the council. Teams were swapped, as skills need for various missions were carefully applied. Shizune had started a nursing class for the village and there had been several takers, as nurses were paid by the 'Senju' fund. The clinic and compound had been completed, as were the labs in both facilities. Itachi had made a single visit only to be treated for Tuberculosis and damages caused by his Sharingan, as a parting gift Itachi agreed to send messages to Tsunade about Akatsuki, he also asked to be allowed visits with Ayane, who readily accepted.
Naruto's control continued to improve, as he and Akemi had figured out how to block unwanted memories from clones. The double Uzumaki wedding was set for a few days after Hinata's sixteenth birthday. The Kurama clan had moved into village, only to find that Naruto and Akemi had a calming influence upon the heir to that clan, Yakumo.
Right now most of the shinobi were off on a special mission for Tsunade, and she was giddy at the prospect of completion of said missions. The first team was Naruto, Yugito, Kirabi, and one of the Kumo shinobi, and they were right now in the capital of the Land of Lighting, Kumogakure no Sato to meet with the Raikage. The second team was Gaara, Temari, Matsuri and the other Suna nin, and they were currently in Sunagakure no Sato. Team three, was Roushi, Shizune and two rock nin, and they were in Iwagakure no Sato. Team four consisted of Haku, Hinata, Akemi, Hiuo, and Kimera, who all went to Nagi Island near Tea country.
Tsunade, Anko and the remaining shinobi worked with the village population to raise their general abilities in self-defense. Anko by now had lost her curse seal mark, as her wedding night with Roushi, burned her out, along with the curse seal, Anko woke the next day in the clinic with the biggest grin on her face, saying that 'it was worth it'. Orochimaru on the other hand didn't enjoy Anko's honeymoon, as much as she did, he felt the pain of his mark being burned off and destroyed, as a piece of his soul was destroyed, and any power he may have had over Anko was also destroyed.
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Naruto was fidgeting, as his team waited to see the Raikage. "What is taking him so long to see us?" he asked, as his impatience showed.
Yugito put a reassuring hand upon his shoulder and smiled. "Take it easy, Naruto-kun. He always does this, unless it's an emergency. We both know what our mission is, but also Tsunade-sama wanted us to talk to him and see if he had any advice for you if you can go back to Konoha and become Hokage, so that our villages could coexist more peacefully," she said in a calm voice.
Another twenty minutes of Naruto fidgeting would pass before they were allowed to enter the Raikage's office. Yugito had to stymie a giggle, as she watched Naruto go stiff as a board when he got a good look at the Raikage, a dark-skinned man nearly six and a half feet tall and bulging everywhere with muscles.
The Raikage eyed Naruto after a quick glance at Kirabi, who was leaning against the wall. "Is this the whelp?" he asked, while looking directly into Naruto eyes.
All fear was forgotten at being called a 'whelp'. "Hey! Old man! What do you mean calling me a whelp?" he demanded, as the Raikage raised an eyebrow.
"What he be, is the holder of the Kyuubi, a whole lot more, than he is less," Kirabi replied, as Yugito and the Raikage both sighed at the attempted rap.
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Gaara smiled, as they had finished their report to the council and had gotten their objective, after saying 'hi' to Kankarou. They left as quickly, as they came, and leaving little evidence of their return or departure, other than a light spot on the wall where something was supposed to be hung.
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Roushi finally came out of the office with two scrolls in his hand, and a scowl on his face. The Tsuchikage apparently wasn't happy with his reports, she said they were too short and lacked enough detail for her to make a determination on whether to attack Konoha or Wave, or both. Their argument had lasted the better part of an hour.
Shizune wore a worried look upon her face, as she asked, "Did you get it?"
Roushi's face turned into a grin that could rival Naruto's. "I got it and she's none the wiser, she also wanted to know if she could have a border skirmish with Konoha," he replied without batting an eye.
Shizune giggled at this question, as she knew who Jiraiya would send to the border to help with that type of dispute, and all she could do was smile and shake her head.
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Haku stood sweating profusely as he continued hold the waters back from members of his team. He had created an ice wall and cleared the water from it just off the coast of island. Hiuo had found the object they were looking for but could not dislodge it from the sea floor. It took the combined effort of Akemi, Hinata and Ayane to get the object, as Kimera held a towel around a shivering Hiuo.
Akemi climbed the last few feet as the base of the ice tunnel began to collapse and water rushed in. Akemi jumped to the ledge, as Haku collapsed and Akemi smiled, as she caught him. "Mission accomplished love, now we can rest then head home," she said with a smile and then kissed Haku passionately.
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Tsunade sat at the desk, as she surveyed her teams. "Report, Naruto, you first," she ordered.
Naruto sighed, but began to speak, "The Raikage had a lot of wisdom he wanted to impart upon me. Also he willing gave me his hat, as a token of us sending him some volunteer Hyuuga if I get back and become Hokage. I told him I would talk it over with the Hyuuga and see if it were possible, but promised nothing."
Tsunade nodded impressed that he actually didn't give away the store while accomplishing his mission in getting the Raikage's hat. "Gaara, you're next. How was the visit home?"
Gaara stood impassively, as he replied, "Warm and dry."
The Suna team, Akemi, Naruto, and a few others began to laugh.
"Did you accomplish the mission?" Tsunade asked, as Gaara nodded and handed her the Kazekage's hat. "So, how did the council feel about your proposal, Temari?"
Temari blushed, but quickly suppressed the emotional outburst. "They thought it was… interesting, but they do not oppose it. They also hoped that my children would eventually take up residence in Suna, when they were old enough," she answered.
Tsunade nodded, and then looked at Roushi who wore a scowl. She nodded for him to begin.
Roushi handed her two scrolls, and threw his hands up in exasperation. "That woman drives me nuts," he said, as Tsunade raised an eyebrow. He then continued, "Yes, even more than you do."
Tsunade began to giggle at the man's anger.
"Yeah, laugh all you want, but here are her hat and her demands," he said, as Tsunade again raised an eyebrow. He nodded and continued, "You make requests, she demands, I swear the only woman I can stand is Anko-chan."
Tsunade unsealed the hat and put it up on a shelf with the other Kage hats she now had, only the Mizukage hat was missing from her collection. She opened the scroll with Tsuchikage's demands, and then looked wide eyed at Roushi, who only nodded. She turned to Naruto and said, "Looks like you're wanted by another Kage."
Naruto smacked his head, and said, "So what does she want, my left testicle or me to just give a donation?"
Tsunade scowled at the comment, but understood that he now understood what she was getting at. "Well, she wants you to father a child in her village and then she wants your head, the blonde one, on a silver platter."
Naruto opened his mouth in shock, but composed himself quickly. "Hey I didn't agree to father a ton of kids all around the elemental nations. There are three women that I've promised to father children too, you, Hinata-chan and Temari-chan. She can wait for them to grow up and see if they can stand an Iwa citizen and have their own kids. As for my head on a platter, ain't going to happen," he replied, as Roushi nodded.
Tsunade nodded at his answer and looked at Ayane, and asked, "So how did your mission go?"
Ayane's team was all smiles. "We got Raijin with only a cold child, and a tired ice user. No injuries or other problems, and Aoi is sleeping with the fish, we found his body and the fish seem to like him well enough," she replied, as she handed Tsunade the legendary sword of her great-uncle.
"Now for the final mission, and getting the Mizukage's hat. Since we are on bad terms with that country we might as well make it a mission to remember, they don't like bloodlines or jinchuuriki," Tsunade explained. A menacing grin crossed her face, as she continued, "I want an extra large team to head to Water, and get me that hat."
The group looked at Tsunade as if she had lost her mind, and then the door opened. A young girl a little older than Naruto walked in, she wore a white tank top, white pants, and a Waterfall headband on her right arm, with a red bundle on her back. She meekly waved, and said, "Hi, I'm Nijiko and I'm here to help Tsunade-sama where ever I can."
Everyone looked back at Tsunade whose grin just got bigger. "Now that we have them assembled, I want the Ichibi, Nibi, Yonbi, Hachibi jinchuuriki and Kyuubi to meet the Shichibi jinchuuriki. Now after I give you your assignment you can all meet each other and work on getting along," she explained to the group's surprise. She then continued, "I want all of you to go to Kirigakure and steal his hat. Six jinchuuriki, with three at jounin level should be enough to slip in and get the hat, while slipping out without too much trouble and be able to handle the trouble if it arises."
All wore looks of shock on their faces, as Tsunade laughed like a mad woman. Here she had assembled force on par with Akatsuki and if they eventually all got control of their bijuu like Kirabi, Roushi and Yugito did they would be unstoppable. If they damaged the village while they took the hat, it was all the better.
The next hour was filled with the ninjas introducing themselves and getting to know the newest person in the group.
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Two weeks later… Naruto was in a totally black outfit along with a black bandanna covering his hair he was not happy. Nijiko also wore a black outfit, and also shared her new friend's attitude. Kirabi and Roushi had insisted that all of them wear black outfits, and this was to help in concealing them during the mission.
They had slipped into the village easy enough, but what they found was pushing Naruto to his limits. People milled around the village happily enough, but what was causing Naruto to be mad was the sight of people standing naked in pillory and stocks. People would come by and spit on them or hit them calling them 'blood parasites'. Naruto began to argue to free them, but Roushi countered his suggestion in that it would endanger the mission and piss off Kiri even more.
As they avoided the patrols and neared the Mizukage's tower they saw a man in the window finishing up paperwork. He then left the office and headed deeper into the building. Kirabi, Yugito and Roushi left the three younger jinchuuriki to be guards, as they acquired the hat.
Gaara noticed Naruto's anger continuing to mount, looked at him and said, "When the mist rolls in replace the prisoners with clones or just free them. I don't care what you do, just calm down, we don't need the local ANBU on our heads, even if we could kill them all."
Naruto suddenly calmed and created a hundred clones, all of them then transformed into civilians from around the town. The clones headed out into the darkness towards the jail and the stockade where the people were being held.
Nijiko looked at Gaara with a confused look, and asked, "Why did you do that?"
Gaara continued to look around for trouble, but then whispered, "You must understand Naruto to understand why I did that. You as a fellow jinchuuriki have experienced the cruelty of humanity and don't like suffering. I did at one time enjoy it and believed that it confirmed my existence. Naruto showed me the error in my ways, and changed me. I understand the need to kill, but I also understand what it means to protect those who I feel are precious to me. Naruto is among those few I allow close to me."
Nijiko nodded, as she began to understand the person who she believed only to be an idiot, and he was much deeper than she had initially thought he was. She watched intently, as a smile crossed Naruto's face, confused, she asked, "Naruto-san, why are you smiling?"
Naruto turned to Nijiko and said, "All of them have bloodlines and want to leave, they are scheduled for execution tomorrow, but there is also a resistance in the city that would love to free them and send them away. I freed them all and have them outside the walls now. My clones will carry them and we can get them away from here."
Nijiko shook her head at his antics. He had taken at least a dozen prisoners out of a guarded stockade and moved them outside the walls in less than a dozen minutes.
Kirabi suddenly appeared next to Naruto and said, "We're out of here, now." He made his point by jumping in a straight line for the wall, not caring if he crossed any of the local patrols. Naruto, Gaara and Nijiko all followed as fast as they could.
Outside the walls at the staging area, they found Yugito yelling at a Naruto clone. "No, we can't take them! One, we don't have enough food, two, we don't have enough room in the boat, and third, this will bring the hunter nin on our butts. Fist a cloak now this. What else could go wrong?"
Naruto created another hundred clones and took clothing that was on several of the former prisoners and ran off to the south, he then laid down several scent blockers, as he and his clones took the newly freed prisoners west towards the coast. Naruto looked at the team and asked, "Are you coming or what? We can either steal or charter some boats to get away."
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Several hours later, Naruto pointed to several boats waiting on the coast. "That looks like a good place to leave Water," he exclaimed.
The fleet of about fifty fishing boats was moored in a small protected bay. Naruto was loading the freed people onto the boats, as Kirabi put a hand on his shoulder. "You know that Kiri will blame us for this," he explained.
Naruto shook his head and said, "Nope, I left some souvenirs from Oto. That should give Orochimaru-teme some troubles."
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Two days later in Wave, Tsunade was livid, as she read the reports from the team. First Naruto and the team show up with a hundred plus refugees from Water, all with bloodlines, and now she read the reports filed by Kirabi, Yugito and Roushi. All of the reports showed the same troubling thing, the Mizukage was in league with Akatsuki, if not a full-fledged member.
She did get a slight chuckle at Naruto leaving some snake scales and other paraphernalia that would come from Oto. There were times that Naruto could be a genius, and this was one of those times, as he had pushed the blame away from wave and on to Orochimaru. It served him right for having marked Sasuke and gotten Naruto nearly killed by trying to have Sasuke defect. The sealed bodies of the Sound five were currently being examined in the lab.
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Orochimaru wasn't happy. No he wasn't happy at all. He found out that the Village Hidden in the Mist had found evidence that he had taken several prisoners scheduled for execution, as they had bloodlines. The thing that worried him was that he hadn't thought of it first and taken them, so he would be legitimately blamed for something he had done. No, the Mizukage had raised his bounty and those for Oto shinobi. While this could cause problems with his lower ranked shinobi it wouldn't bother his more experienced shinobi or his missing nin.
"Kabuto, we need to find out who took those prisoners from Water, and get them here so I can experiment with them," Orochimaru explained.
Kabuto bowed, but then asked, "Are we putting getting out Sasuke-kun on hold or are we doing both?"
Orochimaru pondered this for a moment than smiled evilly. "Give priority to Sasuke-kun, as my teammate is a buffoon," he exclaimed.
"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied, as he bowed and left the room.
Orochimaru licked his lips with is grotesquely large tongue. 'You will be mine soon enough Sasuke-kun…' he thought to himself.
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Sasuke shivered in his cell, as he felt that someone was thinking of him in a way he was sure he wanted to be thought about. 'List of things to do: Kill dobe, steal contract with toad and make them work for me, screw the pink banshee, if for no other reason than to shut her up, and finally go to Orochimaru and get the training I deserve,' he thought to himself.
Sasuke continued to do push-ups, as he contemplated what he was going to do. Soon afterwards he did some taijutsu kata in an attempt to increase his skill and speed, as his chakra was sealed away for the time being, so he made do with what he could. If he couldn't use chakra then he would work on his physical body.
The guards outside his cell kept a close eye on the 'Great' and 'Loyal' Uchiha, as he continued to keep himself entertained. If he doesn't bother them then it was okay for them to ignore him, as the council was now in charge of his prison term.
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Naruto was not in a place he had figured he would be in when he rescued the people from Water country. Hinata and Temari, while not truly mad at him, they were a little annoyed at the end results. He was getting offers from every female that he had brought back, even the married ones. The offer was to give him a child, if not more than one, with their bloodline. The two girls smiled, as Naruto graciously turned down yet another group of girls and women the chance to let them bare his children. It would have been funny if it didn't include their Naruto-kun.
The worst part was that Naruto had to stop being a doctor for a week at the clinic, as he became the preferred gynecologist for these females. "Hinata-chan, should we just kill them or figure a way to show that Naruto-kun is ours?"Temari asked loud enough for the assembled females to hear her. Most had the good graces to blush, but others looked angrily at the doctor, Hinata, and her assistant, Temari.
Hinata looked down at the charts and then looked at Temari, and said, "Naruto-kun is a good man. I'm sure he could handle all the women, but he couldn't understand them. So let's get a sample of their blood and get the information on their bloodlines so that we can work on getting them their own men."
Temari nodded at this. Naruto sat and watched this conversation in total confusion, as Hinata leaned down and kissed him passionately, followed by Temari. "You did good, Naruto-kun. We'll figure it out eventually for you," Temari explained.
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Akemi looked at the summoning contract for Lizards and then at the contract for Slugs, as Haku sat next to her outside the compound. She then bit her finger and did several hand seals, and then called out, "Summoning Jutsu!"
A huge lizard the size of the compound appeared in a cloud of smoke. It looked like a Komodo dragon and looked down on the blonde girl and her brunet fiancé. "You summoned mistress? What can I do for you, as the one who freed Kamereon from his torturous task? He also sends his thanks to you," the large lizard said in a booming, but kind voice.
Akemi smiled and then looked the lizard in the eye. "You're the boss of the lizard summons, correct?" she asked, as the lizard nodded. She then continued, "I then want to ask a few questions if I may." She waited for the lizard to nod, and then she continued, "May I sign other contracts, such as the slug or toad contracts?"
The lizard looked up, as if to ponder the question, and then answered, "Yes you may sign either of those contracts, if they will have you, as we do not have a problem with either of those summons. I would however, not allow you, to sign the snake contract. If that is all you may call me Kyokaneki, Akemi-chan. And good luck with the toads, I hear Gamabunta has a new summoner who was able to ride him the whole day," Kyokaneki said with mirth.
Akemi smiled, and said, "Yeah, that was my niisan. Can I allow people to also sign the contract too?"
The lizard nodded, and replied, "Yes, but you must first feel that they are worthy. The young man next to you is one such person we lizards wouldn't mind having as summoner, but try and have him find his families summons scroll first. Last I heard it was in the northern portion of the land of lighting. Good luck little ones."
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Naruto rolled his eyes, as a six year old girl asked if he would be her husband, right after her mother had asked him the same thing. Naruto then smiled and ruffled the child's hair, and said, "Nope sorry kid, I'm already spoken for, but thanks for the offer. I'm sure you'll make some man happy to be your husband."
The girl at first looked destroyed until he said the second part and then she jumped up and hugged him vigorously. "You really think so, niisan?" she asked happily, as the mother looked at Naruto longingly.
Naruto smiled warmly at the mother then waited for the girl to let him go and sit back down, and said, "Yes, I'm sure of it. You just listen to your mother and things will go better now." Naruto turned to the mother, as Temari lead the child out of the room, and said, "She will be fine, you just feed her the foods I told you and your bloodline will no longer eat either of you alive. I also took a sample of both of your blood so that we can see if there is a way for us to limit your bloodlust. While your bloodline is a fearsome one it also eats you alive, so keep up with the high iron diet I proscribed, it should keep your condition in check," he explained.
The woman smiled warmly showing off her elongated canine teeth. "Thank you doctor Naruto-kun. We were in your debt before, now we could never repay you. The offer still stands, I would bare you a child, as you would only need to ask," she explained.
Naruto smiled, and said, "Thank you for the offer, but my fiancés would be mad if I agreed to your offer, but you could take care of your daughter and that would make me happy, and be payment enough for what I've done. I'm just sorry I couldn't get your husband out."
The woman shook her head, and replied, "He died a year ago. Again thank you, for everything. Good day, Naruto-kun."
Naruto smiled, as he led the woman to the lobby to her waiting daughter, but she also slipped a piece of paper into Naruto's hands. He looked at the paper, and smiled warmly.
Doctor Naruto-kun,
I must thank you for saving me and my little Mae-chan. I know you will refuse to allow me to bear you a child, as I also know why you would say no, and thankfully not because of our heinous bloodline, but because of your intendeds. It is for that reason I'm giving you this map to the hidden treasure of the Koumori clan, may it serve you well. Oh, and it will require some blood and a few hand seals to realize the treasure.
Thank you,
Airi-chan
Naruto put the note, with the map in his coat pocket, and smiled again. Temari wrapped an arm around Naruto's waist and asked, "Another note for a late night liaison?" she asked seductively.
Naruto shook his head, and replied, "No, just a happy mother, trying to redeem her clan, if she can. Here get this to Obasan. She might be interested in it."
He handed her the note and headed to the next patients room. "So Mr. Tsuku, I hear you're suffering from back pain, would you like to tell me a little more about this?" he asked, as he entered the room and Temari headed to Tsunade's office.
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Tsunade looked at the note that Temari had just given her. 'So the Kyuuketsuki clan has a treasure they want to give Naru-chan?' she thought, as she read the note, and a smile crept up on her face. "You realize that this woman only offered to save face, right Temari?" she asked the younger kunoichi.
Temari nodded, and then said, "I read the note and was pleased in how koi-kun handled the situation. He is becoming a good doctor. Now we have several clans her in Wave and with Kiri looking at Oto for their troubles. I guess he is truly a good man."
"If we don't go back to Konoha, he can always become the Second Namikage," Tsunade said, as both women laughed at the prospect of Naruto becoming a leader. This laugh was not a demeaning one, rather a laugh at Konoha's stupidity.
Naruto had rescued over a hundred people from the Kiri stockade and prison. He had left evidence that Orochimaru was behind it, as the only prisoners that were taken had bloodlines.
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Orochimaru wasn't happy, he had lost the support or at least the marginal support of Kiri, as several of his trusted jounin lay dead and he had done nothing wrong. Whoever was behind the framing of him was an absolute genius in misdirection. The possible candidates were Akatsuki, Konoha and Tsunade. With the missing bloodlines not showing up in Konoha, as his spies could reliably tell him that no one new, was in town, so he would have to either point the blame either at her former teammate or Akatsuki. With both in somewhat hiding he would not get an answer anytime soon, unless it was a new player on the block.
"Kabuto?" Orochimaru called out to his assistant. "Is Sasuke-kun ready for extraction yet, I feel the need to 'train' him."
Kabuto smiled at the comment, but only nodded.
"Good, then send someone to fetch him, now," Orochimaru ordered.
Kabuto bowed and left the room with a large grin on his face.
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A/N: Well looking at the story so far, I hope you continue to enjoy it. Yes I know I did a double look at Orochimaru, but hey it's fun to tease him.
I do know that in cannon that the Mizukage is a woman, but I'm going on the assumption that Madara is the Mizukage, so that is what I'm sticking with. Also I know now that the Tsuchikage is an old man, but who cares when it works for my storyline, right?
EDelta88: I know which one you're talking about, Betazed. As for Naruto, he gets only Hinata and Temari, while Haku gets Akemi and Temari, no others will be allowed. Also the relationship between Naruto and Temari will be less serious than Hinata and Naruto. Temari knows that she is second woman in both relationships, so she will act as support for both her sisters in marriage.
The wandering Sould of 1014: I will eventually address what Jiraiya knows, and when he knew it, but it isn't in this chapter, sorry.
Iwannabeahero: You're funny as you said you read all 8 chapters on your comment on chapter 9, now I'm publishing chapter 10… My readers can be silly sometimes.
Nijiko – (Niji) Rainbow, (ko) child