Chapter 11:
Micahamaru Melwasu and Naruto Uzumaki sat back to back in the middle of a six point star circle. Runes were painted onto the stone floor and on their bare torsos.
Master Kwai was finishing up putting symbols on Naruto's face and was arching the rune towards his back where he continued it on Mica's neck and face.
"This is taking forever." Naruto complained.
"The beginning of the spell is alchemy, it's a lost science from generations past. Some of which has been rediscovered, but the true mastery of it was lost in wars long ago." Kwai said as he continued to draw designs on the boys, his feet deftly stepping over the painted lines and runes on the floor.
"And hold still." He admonished Naruto who was about to scratch his nose, but the shaolin slapped his hand. "Don't smear those or I'll have to wash you down and start over from the beginning."
"My butt fell asleep." Naruto complained. "Hey, Mica, how you doing?" Naruto asked. A soft snore was his only answer.
"You bastard, wake up."
Mica snorted and opened his eyes. "We ready yet?" he asked yawning, Kwai pulled the brush back and glared at the pair before him.
"No. stop moving and no talking. This is delicate work and a sigil designed wrong could kill you…or worse."
"Worse? You never mentioned worse Kwai-ojiisan." Naruto said.
"I did, you were just too busy picking your nose. Remind Lord Kyuubi that you both will feel pain during the process."
Hey Kyu…
"I heard him the first time kit. Meditate like your friend."
Mica wasn't meditating, he was sleeping. Naruto countered.
"Or he meditated so deep it looked like he was asleep." The Kyuubi said and Naruto could hear the chuckle in the demon fox's voice.
Teme. I'm surrounded by Teme's and perverts. Naruto mentally pouted.
Since he'd been there he learned Master Kwai enjoyed reading those orange books, but at least he now only did it in his room since Mica and Naruto tried to get it away from him for reading it in the garden.
Naruto also learned Kyu was a pervert and tried to get Naruto to look for a decent mate. Naruto threatened to put him in a pink collar and seal him in a room with disgusting childish things he'd seen other kids with when he was growing up. So far that kept Kyu silent.
It was Mica that surprised him. His best friend when they went to the village was always surrounded by older women who asked him to play his flute. It was during that time that Naruto found out while he played Mica would use his wind affinity to have the air massage the women.
"Got to admit, he knows how to get them worked up." Kyuubi said.
Stop. I can't believe he was doing that. Naruto griped.
"Kit, they enjoyed it, and it also helped him learn control." Kyuubi snickered. "Remember the bakers wife?"
Naruto scowled.
"Oh, don't be like that Kit. Her moans were something, and she looked ravishing biting her lip while surrounded by the other women trying to keep quiet."
Naruto shook his head. Kyu and Mica had given him a talk about sex. Mica using a scroll from Master Kwai's vast library and explaining how they should wait until at least sixteen.
Kyu on the other had was pushing information on how to attract a mate, how to please her and how to bring her to multiple orgasms.
Hentai Fox…ero-Kyu. Naruto thought.
"And proud of it." Kyuubi answered. "Say, kit, if you write to the toad pervert, see if he'll send you his complete works. From what I've seen of the one's Kwai has…"
"ERO-FOX!" Naruto yelled out loud and Kwai paused in mid-brushstroke and looked at Naruto. Mica chuckled as he knew what was going on as Naruto had shared everything with him about the fox.
"Asking for Icha Icha again?" Mica asked, his voice low, a hint of a laugh in it.
"Damn pervy-Kyuubi." Naruto mumbled and Kwai raised an eyebrow then chuckled.
Naruto sulked. "Perverts. Surrounded by perverts." He muttered.
Mica laughed outright. "Bro, everyone's a pervert on some level. Even you."
Naruto would have jumped up, but the glare from Kwai kept him in his place, if barely.
"Nearly done with the preparations boys." He told them.
Naruto sighed. He'd thought about sending a message to Jiraiya several times and some of his friends back in Konoha, but he figured that they were all probably all glad he was gone.
I don't want to put Ero-sannin in a position to chose between me and Tsunade. Naruto thought sadly.
He still remembered seeing her signature and the Hokage seal at the bottom of the scroll. It hurt every time he thought about it.
"Your afraid. Afraid that the Toad Sannin would chose Tsunade over you. You don't want to know if he would choose you." Kyu said sadly.
Why would he chose me over his teammate? Natuto thought. I'm just an orphan with a demon in his belly. An exile that no one wanted in their precious village.
"Kit…when your stronger, when I've taught you and Micahamaru the way of the Zate, build an army and level it then. They don't care about you, so return the favor and the pain one hundred fold."
But what about my friends?
"What friends? The only one I've seen in your memories to treat you with any respect was that Hyuga girl and Micahamaru and the Third Hokage. Fuck the rest of them." Kyu said.
I earned the respect of the others over time…
"Bullshit kit. When that pink haired harridan attacked you after bringing back the Uchiha, not one of them stopped her from beating you down, adding to the wounds you had. The Hyuga girl spoke up, if she had more confidence she would make a fine mate, but she's so timid she scares herself."
Hinata-chan just lacks confidence. You heard how her cousin talked to her and from what I've seen over the years, her whole family treated her like that.
Naruto from the shadows had seen how the others interacted with the families, his blue eyes held a hint of longing every day when the other students would be picked up by their mothers or fathers, or older siblings.
Except Hinata. Naruto thought. She would be picked up by a branch member or that red eyed woman who became her Jonin Instructor.
"Village full of favoritism. The Uchiha will probably be made Hokage if he wakes up from that coma we put him in." Kyu taunted.
Why are you sounding like this now? Naruto asked.
"Because Kit. They hurt you. All your life. You've viewed your memories of the beatings, of the abuse over all the years. Even after you beat Gaara and Shukaku, they gave that win to the Uchiha. They called your win over the Hyuga prodigy a fluke. You went with the Toad Hermit and brought back the Slug Sannin to be Hokage and still it got you nothing but contempt and scorn. Tell me kit, one thing that the leaf village has done for you."
I…Konohamaru recognized me as a friend and rival. He sees me as his older brother. Hinata's always been nice to me, even if she's a bit weird. Iruka-sensei…
"Ah, yes. Umino. Let's talk about him for a moment. Did he help you over the years? No. He made fun of you in class and wouldn't help you learn. When you asked he'd make fun of you and leave you on your own. He did nothing till it was nearly too late. I'll give him that, but he doesn't deserve the term of sensei kit. It took nearly fifteen months to clean up your taijutsu of constant work, the same with your chakra control. If he had been a sensei, he would have taught you properly, not wait to care till you had a powerful scroll in your hands to keep it out of others hands." Kyuubi said.
"We'll talk more of this when I'm out and about kit. The monk is ready I believe."
Naruto opened his eyes and saw Kwai out of the circle and putting his brush and paint aside. He took several deep breaths.
"Are you both ready?" he asked
"Hai." Mica said and Naruto could feel him tremble against his back slightly.
"Bring it on Kwai-ojiisan." Naruto said flashing the shaolin a fox like grin.
"Brace yourselves, here comes the pain." Kwai said and his hands were a blur of motion as he did nearly a hundred hand signs in less than half a minute.
He clapped his hands together and slammed them down onto the circle on a pair of runes.
There was a flash of light and Naruto saw red energy crackle before he and Mica were screaming in pain. In his mind he could hear Kyuubi's own pain filled cry mix with his.
The runes on their bodies glowed with a red white light and lightening crackled over their skin.
Both were soon surrounded by kit-fire and Naruto's yells became growls and behind him Mica could be heard growling as well.
Kwai looked on, his hands still planted on the runes, his wizened eyes watching. Naruto's blue eyes became red with slits and the mirror that Kwai set up he could see Mica's face and saw the golden eyes become reptilian and red veins form around the iris.
Both boys arched their backs and their howls of pain became mixed. Wind whipped around and Kwai saw that the candles were being lifted into the air, but they didn't warble once.
He saw cracks appearing along the floor and the nearby trees seemed to be reaching out. Kwai wondered which of the two that was.
It could have been an eternity, or it could have been a couple of minutes, but slowly the red light faded as did the white lightening. The candles lowered back down. Kwai watched as the runes melted into the boys skin.
The last of the red energy faded and both boys slumped back, smoke rising from their skin.
Kwai finally sat back and saw his hands were red as if blistered. He stroked a hand thru his beard and quirked an eyebrow. "Now, we wait." He muttered.
Konoha…
Tsunade looked at the new village council, and she was not impressed.
Wonder if I can get Hinata in here to do clean up again? Tsunade thought as the new group were just as short sighted as the previous group.
"He should be marked as a missing nin." Koko Haruno yelled.
Tsunade sighed. Why did they have to put that loud pink haired banshee on the council. I swear Kami hates me. Tsunade thought.
"Uzumaki Naruto will not be marked as a missing nin." Tsunade said loudly cutting off everyone. "The previous council forged my signature and stole the Hokage seal to exile him. I have teams on the lookout for him to get him back here. Naruto is a hero of this village and you people better shape up."
"Or what Lady Tsunade?" one arrogant merchant asked.
"You will meet the same fate as your predecessors"
Everyone turned to a shadowed form near the entrance and many of them shifted their seats back as Hinata stepped further into the room.
Tsunade looked at her apprentice and nodded to her. Hinata shifted back to normal in an eye blink.
"Ano…Shizune asked me to remind you Lady Tsunade that Gaara wishes to speak with you after your done with these people." Hinata said giving the Hokage a bow, while her eyes showed disdain for the gathered council.
Hinata turned to go, she stopped hearing a council member mutter "Damn demon whore should be run out of town."
"And pray tell honorable Bulma-san, are you to go against a creation of Kami?"
Several people could be heard swallowing as Hinata turned once more to face the gathered council.
"Lady Tsunade allowed this council to be reformed out of the kindness of her heart. You fools all need to remember the council is here to advise and help with the administration of paper work, not dictate affairs. Less than a month gathered and already you are making the same mistakes as the previous council."
Tsunade shook her head. Hinata had become very protective of people she knew were precious to Naruto before his exile.
"Don't waste the chance you've been given, and should any of you go against the Hokage, or Naruto-kun, then you go against me." With that Hinata shushined out of the room.
Tsunade looked at the gathered council. "Now, you all will report to the Hokage tower for assignments. I will no longer be doing everyone's paperwork. I will only be doing what is needed to be done by the Hokage. Village matters like merchants and day to day operations are yours. The ninja and overall is mine. If I find any more paperwork for foolish matters on my desk, or if one of you inserts a replication rune on a paper on my desk again, I will deal with you personally."
Tsunade punched the wall behind her and it exploded into gravel. "And if any of you try anything against Hinata…well I'm sure she won't leave much of you to deal with. She is Vengeance given flesh. She's very protective of Naruto and those he felt were precious to him. And there are nin in this village that are the same way. If this council becomes a hindrance I will dissolve it."
"You can't…the fire daimyo…"
"I have his full support. He was most displeased to hear what this village has done not only to a hero like Naruto, but to a son of a Hokage."
"You lie!" Haruno screeched. "THAT THING ISN'T NAMIKAZE'S SON! IT'S ALL PROPAGANDA!"
"Nope. It is the truth. But then again, you need to be stupid not to see the resemblance. But I guess Konoha isn't as special as everyone thinks. If you missed the lesson a year ago, then you truly are stupid." Tsunade turned and walked away. "See Iruka for your assigned stations, and I hope you all know how to write your names, cause your going to be doing a lot of paperwork."
AN:
New council, same stupidity. (Gee, do they breed stupid or is it in the water?)
Well, the ritual is done…did it work? (heh) Find out next time in the next installment of Konoha Exiles.
P.S.
I am sorry about my rant at the end of last chapter. It just rubbed me the wrong way. I know something's are misspelled, but this isn't something I'm being paid for, nor selling. This is just to clear my head while I work on my own works. I mean things that are easy to mess up are understandable. Again thanks for the reviews and kind words. PM flames will be cursed…and I know a lot of good curses, in hume, klingon, elvish, Albhed and pig latin. (now only if they were useable in day to day life.)