A/N: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.
First of all, congratulations to the reviewer 'R-Rated' for correctly guessing where Naruto's move came from. The jutsu is indeed based on a character from Prince of Tennis again, Marui Bunta of Rikkaidai. Good job, you get your cookie for that :)
Tayuya seems to be fairly well received, as the last woman in Naruto's harem and also as one of the remaining Uzumaki members scattered around the Elemental Nations. I know some of you found it hard to believe that Naruto wasn't aware of her spying on him with the Diva, but her first encounter with the blond was not supposed to lead to a direct confrontation between them.
I know I said Naruto was an S-Ranked warrior and all but genjutsu will still be his weakest shinobi art, he is not unbeatable, well not yet at least. Compared to that, the Diva have great mastery in the illusion arts, so let's just leave it at that for now.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.
Chapter 11 : Meetings
Flashback : Unknown island, fifteen years ago
Naruto suddenly woke up, as he felt something very cold touching his feet. Everything around was bright and he felt light headed, after standing up too quickly. Looking around, he was stunned to see that he was all alone and apparently on a beach. The cold sensation he felt earlier on his feet was the water from the sea, and, judging from its low temperature and the current position of the sun, it was still quite early in the morning.
The boy was confused now, the last thing he remembered was the ship that he and Jiji took for the special mission the old man had to do. He went to sleep and the next thing he knows he's here, on this beach all by himself. His young mind couldn't understand what was going on so he did what a lost boy would do in his shoes. He started to run frantically all around the beach, shouting 'Jiji' and looking around to see if he could locate his surrogate grandfather.
The boy ran around like this for hours, his abnormally high stamina allowing him to do so. When he finally spent all of his remaining energy, he fell to his knees with tears in his eyes. He completely ignored the burning sensation on his naked feet from running non stop on the now burning sand of the beach. In his chase he never noticed that he ran in a circle, all around a medium sized island.
That's when he realized something, did his Jiji abandon him too ? He couldn't help but wonder, it was too nice to be true. The old man never had the time to stick with him and suddenly, he asked him if he wanted to come on a vacation trip with him. Naruto started to doubt, maybe this was his fault too, he always played pranks and never listened to the old man, perhaps it was a punishment for him.
The six year old boy continued to despair on his current situation when something shiny caught his attention. He immediately recognized the item, growing up in a shinobi village, he knew what that small knife was, a kunai. It was like a sign from the Gods themselves and, in his current emotional state, some dangerous thoughts started to wander in his young and fragile mind.
It would be so easy to end his suffering, he was not stupid, he knew about life and death. Living in one of the poorest section of the village, he had already come across crime scenes quite often in the past. A particular memory flashed in his mind, about a sad looking man plunging a kunai in his own heart to never wake up again after that.
The blond made up his mind and slowly raised the kunai in front of him, pointing its blade toward his chest, as he had seen the man do back in the village. He prepared his move, one last thought in his head about his Jiji then closed his eyes and moved his hands.
"Stop right there !" A strong voice yelled, making him freeze in his position and drop the kunai on the ground. Turning around he saw no one and wondered who just called out to him. That's when a searing pain erupted in his head and he blacked out shortly after that.
Naruto's Mindscape
The blond opened his eyes and found himself in a strange looking place yet again. He was in a dark room that looked like a sewer to him. Of course he knew what a sewer would look like, having been thrown in one by a drunk villager in the past or hiding in there when he needed an emergency exit.
Naruto never questioned the fact that one second he was on a deserted beach and the next moment he finds himself in this place. Curiosity and his childish naivety overcame any sense of logic his young mind could possibly have at this time and he decided to move on without looking back.
Contrary to the sewer in Konoha, this place was not much of a maze since there was only one way to go. He followed the path, straight ahead to find himself in a much larger room, with a gigantic cage in the center. There was a sign on the cage's lock, unfortunately for him though, Naruto didn't know how to read so the meaning of the writing on it was lost to him.
"So we finally meet, Naruto." The same loud voice that stopped him earlier echoed throughout the room. Naruto couldn't determine its origin but he could only guess that it was coming from the dark space inside the cage.
"W-Who is it ?" The boy asked fearfully while looking inside the cage.
When his eyes finally got used to the darkness around, what he saw inside the cage stunned him even more than the beach from earlier. In front of him stood a giant fox with nine tails flowing behind its back.
"Now that you see me, do you have any idea of whom you are talking to ?" The creature asked him, crouching down and bringing its face close to the ground to appear right in front of the cage's lock.
"Kyuubi, but I thought the Yondaime killed you. Every year the villagers celebrate your death, I'm sure of this since it's the same day as my birthday." Naruto replied, not sure in what to believe any longer.
"Yeah well, I'm not so easily killed boy. The Hokage did the next best thing he could, he sealed me. Do you know where ?" The fox asked him.
"M-Me ?" Naruto said, too shocked to say anything else. Everything fell into place with this piece of information. The hate and everything else was a result of that fateful day six years ago when the Yondaime sealed the most powerful demon to have ever walked the earth in his gut.
"That's right, monkey. Because of that our fates are now linked, if you die I die. Now, what on earth were you trying to pull earlier with that kunai ? Do you know how much I had to spare in order to save our lives when you were thrown into the sea ?" The fox yelled at him, angered by his previous actions.
"I-I'm sorry, please don't be mad at me. I thought I was all alone again, I thought Jiji left me to die because I did something wrong." Naruto replied, tears in his eyes. The next thing he did surprised the fox greatly, as the little blond leaped forward and tried to hug its face.
Seeing this, the creature froze for a moment, never in its long captive life had a host been so close and careless. Of course Naruto was still young and didn't realize how dangerous the Kyuubi could be. Seeing the weeping boy, the creature sighed, knowing it would be difficult to proceed with the blond in this state.
Naruto was surprised and had to take a few steps back, out of the cage when the body of the fox in front of him started to glow in a bright red light. The boy was blinded for a few seconds before the light disappeared. What he saw then was even more surprising than everything that had led to this moment, for in front if him stood a woman instead of the giant fox.
"There, it should be easier to speak with you with this form." The woman said. She had long red straight hair that reached her waists. Her eyes were also bright red, with a slit right in the middle. The only physical differences between her and a normal human woman were the two fox ears she had and the nine tails that came out behind her. The only clothing she had was a black kimono, it barely covered her body but Naruto was both too young and distracted to notice such things.
"Kyuubi, is that you ? How is this possible, I thought you were a demon fox ?" Naruto stuttered out as he continued to stare.
"No, I'm Santa Claus." Replied the woman with a sigh. Her eyebrows twitched when she saw the confusion in his eyes, most likely not getting her reference.
"Santa what ?" The boy asked, oblivious to the joke.
"You know Santa Claus, fat old man with red clothes and the white beard … Never mind, just call me Natsuki." The now identified Natsuki replied. She closed her eyes and, out of nowhere, a couch materialized itself right behind her and she sat down on it.
"Where are we Natsuki-chan ?" Naruto wondered, not noticing the suffix he just added to her name even though she did but let it slide for now.
"We are in your mind, I had to bring you here before you tried to hurt yourself again, fool." Natsuki said, still mad about almost dying because of her host's weakness. She had to calm herself though, when the boy started to look down with tears in his eyes.
"Listen, I have a deal for you. You obviously can't handle the situation outside on your own and I don't want to die because you were too weak to defend yourself. What I propose is this, I will train you, making you stronger and smarter and in return you will obey my rules." She said with a heavy sigh.
"What rules, Natsuki-chan ?" Naruto asked, he had already decided to accept her deal, since he was too happy to finally have some company and the prospect of being trained by a demon fox or girl was very appealing to him too, regardless of the rules she was about to lay down for him.
"First, you will always obey my orders without discussion when it comes to training. Second, you are not allowed to hurt yourself like you tried earlier with that kunai, never. Last, until I say otherwise, you are not allowed to hurt others with the things I will teach you. So, will you agree with my terms ?" She announced.
"Yes, I accept but I have one condition too. I want you to promise me that you will never leave me alone." Naruto fired back instantly, jumping around like an idiot in doing so when she nodded back to him. Natsuki saw this and couldn't hold back a chuckle. The next few years would be interesting, the red head knew she had just lied to him but he didn't need to know that just yet.
"Very well, I will send you back to the outside world. Now that we made our first contact, it will be easier for us to communicate. Just think what you want to say to me and I will answer you through the same way." She told him before kicking him out of his mindscape.
End of Flashback
Hot Spring Country - Port town, nowadays
Naruto woke up from his sleep with a single tear falling down on his cheek. It had been a long time since he last had a dream about Natsuki. Thinking back about those times still brought out smiles and tears for him. This was a part of his past no one knew about, not even his wives. He knew he would have to tell them at one point. Not now though, he got out of bed and prepared himself for the day.
One day had passed ever since their arrival in Hot Spring country and Naruto had informed the girls about his encounter with the woman named Yuya. He also told them about the little workout he had after that, and, needless to say they were all pissed that he didn't wait for them before he had his fun with those idiots. The crew was currently all assembled in Naruto's room, discussing the very next step of the blond's plan in order to locate the missing members of his clan.
"Miya-chan, would you bring me the scroll on that table please ?" Naruto said, showing a small red scroll with a complex looking seal on top of it. Miya nodded to her husband and went to retrieve the item for him.
"Thank you, now all of you take a step back, I will perform the testing." Naruto said as he took out a ring from his pocket. It was the one he wore the day before, when he took a sample from Tayuya's blood in the restaurant. He very carefully applied a drop of the sample on the seal and waited for the result to come out.
As soon as the drop of blood came into contact with the seal, it glowed red for a moment before the scroll was unlocked in front on Naruto and his girls' eyes. The women anxiously waited for Naruto's reaction to the news of him finally finding a member of his clan. His hands were trembling and he had his eyes closed but after ten long seconds, a smile appeared on his face as he slowly sealed the scroll back into its initial state.
"Will you be alright, Naruto-kun ?" Kazehana was the first to speak to him, embracing her husband from behind. She could feel him tremble from the hug, as she let the warmth from her own body transfer to him.
"Yes, I'm fine don't worry, it's just that after so long I didn't think I would succeed in finding them." He replied as he turned around and hugged her back. It was one of the rare times where Kazehana would not appear as her playful persona, instead, she was the gentle and loving wife of Uzumaki Naruto. It was a side of her she would never show anyone else than her family, meaning Naruto and the other women currently in that room.
"I'm glad for you too, Naruto-kun. Now, how are we going to proceed from here on ? If that Yuya really is a member of the Uzumaki clan then we need to find her but then what ? Do you think she will agree with your plan and follow you, leaving her old life behind ?" Miria asked him.
"I'd like to know more about her before I reveal myself as an Uzumaki. We know almost nothing about her. I need to know if it's really worth it, for me to barge into her life and involve her with our problems. Rana and Stella, I want you two to find and observe her, it should be easy since she is the only one in town with red hair." Naruto said to the two younger girls who nodded and immediately went to start their mission.
In another part of the town, with Tayuya
The red head was currently resting in the room that she shared with Kin, in a hotel of the city. The three other girls were also sharing a room, the one right next to hers. They had just gone through a meeting in order to discuss their next move.
Two things were discussed during that meeting, the results of their search for information about the Kuro Kitsune and the brutal fight they witnessed after that, right before they decided to call it a day and come back into this hotel. They didn't think much about Naruto, as he didn't really fit with the descriptions they were given about their target. However, his fighting style did impress them a lot, Tayuya more so than the others but for other reasons unknown to them.
Contrary to Naruto, Tayuya had not revealed to her teammates that she had met with him just before they had seen him in the street, dispatching that group of thugs. The same scums who had assaulted her in the restaurant earlier, and, even if she didn't really needed his help, Naruto did intervene and prevented them from further harassing her. Even though she had never been in any type of danger, he had saved her from blowing her cover. She didn't want to tell her teammates how she had been in the the position of the damsel in distress, they never would have let it slide and would mercilessly tease her about it.
Back to the reason why they are staying in this small town in the first place, none of them had found anything of note about the Kuro Kitsune. The people they asked did know who he was, or what he looked like but it was the same as what could already be seen from his Bingo book's profile. Their mission was to stay here for the week and then report back all their findings to Kabuto after that.
Konohagakure Council Chamber
The honorable High Council of Konohagakure was going through the village annual budget's audit, since the preparations for the War had considerably increased their expenses while the commercial trade incomes had severely decreased, due to the tension between the villages. The numbers would have to be revised once more, since they had also raised a huge amount of gold for the capture of the one named Kuro Kitsune in the international Bingo book.
Danzo may have had a say in the military affairs of the village, however, when it came to money he was stuck with the civilian representatives, for he needed their approval to increase the taxes. They were currently negotiating their 'support' to his project of tax raising, with things like getting more lands for themselves once the Leaf won the war or their cut of the gold they would seize from their enemies for instance.
During all this the Shinobi Council members, who were also in attendance, were bored out of their mind. Having to listen to these civilians, elders and the Hokage bickering among themselves about things they didn't even own yet was quite uninteresting. Even the famed apprentice of the Hokage, Uchiha Sasuke, seemed to be about to doze off, since he too was forced to attend to the meeting as the head of the Uchiha clan.
Danzo was about to call for a recess when the doors of the room suddenly flung open, as a squad of ANBU entered with a man in chains in their custody and Ibiki Morino, following after them, with a bored expression on his face. The head of the T&I department motioned for the ANBU to drop their captive in the center of the room while he went to sit in the guests area.
"What's the meaning of this, Ibiki ?" Danzo asked, not enjoying the man's carefree behavior.
"One of the patrols found this one drifting in the water near the coats toward Wave Country, during that mission. It's about Kuro Kitsune so, believe me, you want to listen to what this man has to say." Ibiki said as he waited for the information to sink into the minds of every council members and his Hokage. He was not disappointed, merely a few seconds after he had announced the Kuro Kitsune name, the whole room fell silent and every eyes were fixed on that prisoner covered in chains who was brought before them.
The man looked to be in his fifties, he seemed injured and bled from several places, but nothing life threatening for the moment, indicating he had a nice chat with Ibiki before coming here. He couldn't talk for now, since he had a gag preventing him from doing so, consequently, Ibiki came to him and removed the device.
"Now, who are you and what do you know about the Kuro Kitsune ?" Danzo asked him.
A/N : That's it for now. I know I didn't release a chapter last week, I have no real excuse other than being busy with other things. Please continue to read and review, this is by far the best support you can give me to speed up my release rate :)
First peak into Naruto's past and especially about his jinchuriki condition. Now my regular readers know Female Kyuubi is among my favorite pairings for Naruto so it shouldn't come as a surprise to you how I portray her in this story. There is a twist about her relationship with Naruto though, as some of you may have guessed after reading this chapter.
Flashbacks will come about the other parts of his life prior to his return in the Elemental Nations, I will try to always have parts of the chapters still taking place in the current timeline, so that it isn't entirely focused in the past. I know chapters full of flashbacks can quickly become annoying to read so don't worry about that.
Well, what will the Leaf learn about Naruto and his crew ? How will Tayuya react to the second meeting she will most definitely have with the blond Uzumaki ? Read the next issue to find out :)
