***Some of you may have noticed that I just changed the story properties from Naruto and Sakura to just Naruto. This is because I want to focus just on Naruto before I introduce any pairings, regardless of who they involve. I just feel that my story is not at a point yet where he would be able to handle a stable relationship. I will change the story properties back once I've decided and then included the pairing. Thanks for reading this, and sorry that some of you may have been expecting Chapter 13 to be up already. It'll come shortly though, don't worry.***
Hey guys, long time no see. Here's the latest chapter- enjoy.
'Thinking'
"Talking"
"Demon Talking" =can be heard by everyone
'Demon Talking' = can only be heard in Naruto's mind
LOUD SOUND / Jutsu
The slow inhaling and exhaling of someone sleeping was the only sound in the otherwise silent room. Miniscule dust particles, too numerable to count, coated most of the surfaces in the room and fluttered idly in the air with each gentle breath.
Outside, the sun was steadily rising, but inside, the darkness was impenetrable. Thick navy curtains shielded the room from any light, repelling any of the cheery warmth from the confines of the home. If anyone were to tour this building complex, they would have easily been able to tell that it had been uninhabited for quite a long time, despite the obvious grandeur even in its current state. A red and white fan design, obviously a clan crest, was visible on many objects throughout this house. Though, you couldn't really call it a house- it was a mansion.
Many rooms and twisting hallways, hidden or apparent, were located in this manor, enough to accommodate a small army. However, every single one of these rooms was devoid of life, well, all but one.
On the second floor in that one bedroom lay a certain blonde ninja, obviously not an Uchiha if the pictures of the once-many dark-haired clan members that littered the walls were anything to go by. Startlingly blue eyes flashed open, pupils contracted and chest heaving. His hands gripped the dark silk sheets in a death grip, fingers twisted violently in the fabric. It took all of ten seconds for the Uzumaki to calm down, realize where he was, and relinquish his unyielding grip on the sheets, and take a few slow, deep breaths.
Sure, waking up in an unfamiliar place was always disconcerting at the least, but it had been that dream that really got to him. Naruto, finally calmed down, wiped the sheen of sweat from his forehead and continued to breathe regularly. His bare chest rose and then fell languidly as he tried to recall the nightmare. It had been calm at first, nothing strange or out of the ordinary, but then something had changed. But, as hard as he tried, Naruto just couldn't remember what had caused his peaceful dream to morph into a vicious nightmare.
After a few minutes he gave up, figuring anything important would come back to him later on. Naruto closed his eyes for a brief moment, assessing his chakra, and confirmed that Kyuubi was still resting. Stretching his muscular arms, Naruto heard a few joints stretch with a satisfying pop. He then rose from the bed, changed into some nondescript black training clothes, and headed out into the hall. Surprisingly, neither the darkness nor the eerie silence bothered the blonde jinchuriki. A younger version of him might have nosily protested such a dreary atmosphere, but Naruto didn't really mind. Honestly, the lack of sound was a welcome solace in his tremulous life.
Sighing, Naruto wondered why this dusty, abandoned mansion felt vaguely like home. It took a short while, but the nine-tailed jinchuriki finally found the door he was looking for. It seemed to be in a different place than when he had mapped out the house last night. Shrugging, Naruto opened the door to what could most definitely prove to be a very useful place: the private Uchiha training grounds. Grinning, he stepped outside.
Ino Yamanaka strolled quietly through Konoha. Her pallid hands were buried deep into the pockets of her deep purple fighting kimono. To anyone around her, it would appear like the relaxed-looking bleach-blonde was simply taking a morning walk, but that was not the case. The young woman of the mind-manipulating clan was walking with a purpose. She knew the way to her destination by heart despite not having been there in many years; apparently her academy days of stalking a certain broody genin had ingrained it into her memory.
But something was troubling Ino. 'Lady Tsunade…she's been in such a depression since yesterday afternoon. And this morning, she looked horrible, eyes red as if she'd been crying all night. Anyone could tell she hadn't gotten much, if any, sleep.'
Shikamaru, being her teammate and childhood friend, had given into her 'troubling' prompting and told Ino some of what had occurred the day before in Tsunade's office. And frankly, she was worried about the Hokage. And then, there was what had happened this morning.
[FLASHBACK]
Ino knocked lightly on the door to the Godaime's office. She had been called here very early, which had been a shock in itself since Tsunade was no early riser. "Come in," called the Hokage's voice, sounding oddly strained. Ino stifled a yawn as she let herself in.
"What did you need me for, Lady Tsunade?" inquired the Yamanaka as she stood before the heavy wooden desk. She pretended not to notice the deep bags etched into the Hokage's skin, or the suspicious redness in her eyes.
"Well Ino, I've got something I need you to do for me. The others are either out on missions, taking a much-needed rest, or recovering from injuries." At this point, Tsunade ran a hand through her hair before gazing up at Ino once again. Her eyes held no glint of steel in their weary depths.
"I need you to… to go to the Uchiha district, I'm sure you know where that is." Ino willed herself not to blush at the reminder of her genin days. "I need you to locate Naruto and bring him to your father."
Ino's eyes widened. "You mean at Torture and Interrogation? Lady Tsunade, why the heck would you want to send Naruto there?"
The Hokage looked up at her with regret in the depths of her eyes. "Ino, this has nothing to do with what I want, remember that. Let's just say that there was a bit of a… disagreement between me and two council members late last night. We had opposing viewpoints, and I, frankly, lost. Their arguments overpowered mine, and I was forced to concede. Now go, and don't leave Naruto alone until he is secured within the walls of T & I."
Still shocked, Ino turned around and left the office. The Hokage, Tsunade of the Leaf, had backed off? Had given up? What was happening?
Still deep in thought, Ino bumped into Shizune in the hallway. The Godaime's assistant looked equally as tired and emotionally drained. Ino bit her tongue to resist the urge to ask, knowing that what she got out of Shikamaru would have to suffice. The Yamanaka picked up a sheet of paper that had escaped Shizune's hands and handed it back to the brunette.
"Good morning, Shizune," she said quietly. The other kunoichi glanced up at her, flashed a bad attempt at a smile, and returned the greeting.
"I'm sorry," Shizune began, "I really should be paying more attention to where I'm walking. It's just that…" here, the smile slid off of her face, and her eyes slowly slid to look at the partially-closed door to the Godaime's office. Shizune's voice lowered to a whisper. "Lady Tsunade has been having a hard time lately. And it's beginning to affect her work, so I have to pick up the slack so no one knows anything's wrong! But it's just so hard! Look," Shizune held out the piece of paper that Ino had handed back to her.
Ino examined the words on the parchment. There were splotches of ink all over the document, check marks where there shouldn't have been, blank areas where there should have been checkmarks, and a sloppy signature that didn't even come close to the indicated line. She met Shizune's eyes with an equally worried face.
"I know what's wrong, but…but I just don't know what I can do! I mean, it isn't me, so there really isn't anything that I can do, and that's killing me! I've always been able to help Lady Tsunade, yet I honestly have no idea what I can do to help her through this. And the only person that could possibly help her has no desire to whatsoever!" Shizune bit her lip and looked away, clamping her mouth shut before anything else could spill out of her trembling lips.
Ino's eyes softened at the woman's miserable face. She gave the Hokage's aid a quick hug and spoke some reassuring words. "Look, Shizune, I know this is really frustrating for you, but just hand in there. It's not your fault, and you just wait, because everything's going to work out…."
[END FLASHBACK]
Ino cleared her mind of the scene and tried to look more aware to passer-bys. Everyone who worked directly with the Godaime would have to do their job twice, hell even three times as well to compensate and hide the problems of any..inner workings.
It was obvious to Ino what was going on. And she fiercely hoped that no one else would find out or exploit the Godaime because of it. Because Tsunade Senju was cracking, and her iron- clad willpower was crumbling under her control.
It must have been late morning by the time Naruto finished his regular exercises. The gleam of sweat covered his body as he sat down to take a breather. The blonde picked up the towel he had brought with him and used it to wipe the sweat off of his face. It felt great to get some good exercise now that he was alone. If the blonde had picked anywhere else to stay, he was sure Konoha would have had him under constant surveillance, but the Uchiha District made that physically impossible. That clan was particularly cautious and secretive, and had multiple long-term jutsus in place that literally forbid others to keep tabs on them.
Realizing the time, Naruto figured he might as well check in with …friends. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. Naruto then lifted his hands from the ground and performed fifty handsigns without even looking, those same fifty handsigns that had become so familiar to him throughout his years of exile. An indistinct phrase ghosted past his lips as the blonde sent out a low-frequency burst of chakra. The strange feeling of wind blowing past his eyes stopped as soon as it had started. The jinchuuriki slowly opened his eyes, yet they were glazed and unseeing as if deep in thought.
However, Naruto was seeing the landscape, just not the one that was in front of him. However, unlike last time, it was not the golden sands of the desert near Suna. No, this time he saw a landscape of deep caves and caverns, the area completely barren of any vegetation. Rocks covered the dry, cracked ground, and stone fragments littered the area, dangerous as mines on a battlefield. Two figures were crouched down behind a barrier of large boulders, squinting into the distance. If one were to look very hard, they would be able to see the faint outline of a city in the far west. The deep red clouds on their cloaks were barely visible due to the obstruction jutsu that had been placed over their hiding spot in order to conceal their presence. But, Naruto saw right through it.
"Itachi, Kisame," he greeted in a quiet but superior voice. The figure on the left only gave a barely perceptible twitch to show his surprise, while the person on the right jumped and spun around spastically with wide eyes. However, both knew there was no one to be seen. "Leader-sama," they greeted and gave slight bows.
"Is there any news?" asked Naruto's deep timbre, deceptively silky smooth. Itachi was the one to answer. "Yes. It appears that this village has very tight security. They do not appear to trust the few outsiders that actually visit the city, and keep them under constant surveillance. Permission has to be given to anyone in order for them to gain entrance, as a unique earth-style jutsu must be used in order to uncover the entryway. We should be able to enter fairly easily, however, given Zetsu's specialty. His presence would be most...appreciated." The eldest living Uchiha drawled out in an emotionless voice.
"I see," was the leader's reply. He thought for a moment, and then asked, "and our target?"
Kisame answered this one. "He hasn't left the city for the time we have been watching, so it's safe to say that they realize the danger he's in. Though, there are a certain number of... rumors that have been of interest to us. Apparently he is an older man who spent most of his life traveling, but came home to his birthplace of Iwagakure recently. The bijuu locked inside of him apparently allows him to create and control lava."
A single blonde eyebrow rose, miles away from the two Akatsuki members. "Lava?"
Here, Kisame started to sweat. He merely nodded, praying that the information was correct, as it would be his head on the chopping block otherwise.
"That's... unusual," Naruto mused. Then, turning his attention back to his two followers, Naruto spoke again, this time in a more commanding voice. "I will send for Zetsu immediately. As for you two, I expect you to be inside of the Hidden Stone Village and tracking the target within two days time. On the third day, I the Yonbi should be secured. Understood?"
Two identical nods answered his statement.
As an afterthought, Naruto added "Oh, and by the way Itachi, your house is much more comfortable than I would have expected."
Then, with a slight twitch of his hands, the jutsu was cancelled. Naruto blinked and then rubbed the dryness out of his eyes. There was still a hint of a smile on his lips, not quite the Cheshire grin of his prankster days.
Itachi Uchiha found it hard to stop his left eye from twitching.
'It appears that everything is going as planned...good. I hope it stays that way,' thought Naruto.
He then walked back inside the building complex and rummaged through some drawers. After a few minutes, he finally pulled out a blank piece of paper. He soon found a pen to accompany it. Naruto scribbled a quick message on the paper and then held it between his thumb and forefinger and stared at it intently. His bright blue eyes narrowed in concentration as he channeled chakra to his fingertips. Multiple tongues of flame appeared and slowly started to spread across the surface of the paper. Once the small flame completely consumed the paper, all that was left was the charred skeleton of the note. His eyes dancing, Naruto leaned forward and blew gently on the ashes in his hand. They immediately rose up and scattered, disappearing from sight. Satisfied, Naruto strolled back outside to continue his training.
Somewhere, in an incredibly dense area of forest, a palm-sized area of air seemed to catch on fire. The flame did not expand, but gradually got brighter and brighter until with a slight whoosh they vanished. From that exact spot, a small sheet of paper lazily drifted downwards. When it was about five feet from the ground, a black and green hand that was most definitely not there before, shot out of a tree trunk and snatched the paper out of the air. Two glowing yellow dots appeared above the hand, slowly materializing into pupil-less eyes. The eyes angled downwards and moved slightly from side to side as they read the note. The rest of a strangely colored face appeared as Zetsu finished reading the note. 'It appears that Leader-sama requires our assistance...' he murmured to himself. Then, the strange being crumpled the note into a ball, raised it to his lips, and shoved it down his throat. 'Mmmm...tasty.'
There was a loud knocking at the door. One, two, three times. An almost undetectable pulse of energy was sent out with each touch, racing quickly through the walls of the mansion. Out in the training area, Naruto's keen senses detected the beats as the house gave them off. 'Interesting... I would never have guessed what lengths the Uchiha Clan went through to stay informed. Even the house is programmed with jutsus to notify them of every change in the area.'
Naruto wiped away some sweat with the towel and pulled a black shirt on over his head. 'I guess it's time to deal with whatever's been sent my way.'
The blonde formed a single seal and arrived behind the front door in a matter of seconds. Slinging the towel over one shoulder, he grasped the doorknob and pulled it open. Standing before him, idly twirling a piece of blonde hair, was Ino Yamanaka, one of what used to be the Rookie Nine. With one look in her perpetually gossip-hungry eyes, Naruto already knew this was going to be a very long day.
"Ino," he greeted quietly.
The blonde woman smiled brightly at this. She schooled her features carefully free of suspicion, and put on a bright demeanor as if she wasn't just seeing him for the first time in five years. Though, of course, this did not stop her from slowly running her gaze up and down his handsome frame. "Hey Naruto! I was sent here to escort you this morning. The Hokage had to have you checked out, now that you're, you know, back in the village."
Naruto nodded and cut in before the bleach blonde could start babbling like he remembered from their genin days. "I'll be out in a minute," he drawled before closing the door in her face. Outside, Ino huffed, but did not comment and remained undeterred. She mentally slapped herself to stop from thinking about what was happening behind that door. 'This is NARUTO you're daydreaming about,' she reminded herself.
Meanwhile, Naruto had wandered back upstairs and found the bedroom where he had stored some belongings in. He quickly slipped out of his training clothes and changed into some new ones. If anyone were to glance in the mirror on the wall at that moment, they would see a very experienced-looking ninja. Loose black paints scattered with pockets designed to hide many secrets covered Naruto's lower half. His black kunai pouch was strapped across his waist, resting lazily on his left hip. Lastly, a coal-grey t-shirt clung to his well-developed chest. Without a glance in the reflective surface, he made his way back to the front of the house. Naruto reopened the door, stepped outside, and closed it behind him. Unsurprisingly, Ino was still there, waiting. He had to admit, a little part of him had wished that she had just left but alas, he was not that lucky.
"Where are we going?" Naruto asked, looking her right in the eye. A pink flush momentarily dusted Ino's cheeks before she willed it away. 'Wow,' she thought shamelessly, 'it seems that Naruto's turned out to be quite the catch.'
"The Torture and Interrogation Complex," Ino replied after gently clearing her throat. It was a pretty awkward thing to say, and she had been hoping to avoid it for as long as possible. "Tsunade-sama requires your...thorough evaluation." The blonde kunoichi averted her eyes and started walking. To her relief, Naruto followed and appeared next to her without any prodding. Due to this, she failed to see the way his eyes hardened at the mention of the Hokage. To Ino's surprise, he did not answer, but only nodded in acceptance.
'I suppose this wasn't completely unexpected,' he said mentally. 'We'll just have to best them at their own game then, kit,' replied a deep voice from his mindscape.
'Ah, Kyuubi, I see you've finally woken up,' Naruto stated.
'Mmhmm. It's nice to get back in my den for a rest, and by my den, I mean your head,' Kyuubi's voice rumbled.
Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes. He glanced to the left, and watched with some amusement as Ino quickly dropped her gaze the moment their eyes met. It appeared that she had been staring at him the entire time.
'Naruto's actually... hot,' she thought after her thorough examination of the man walking silently next to her.
They walked for about twenty minutes more in silence. Tsunade had specifically requested that they refrain from running so that they could keep Naruto from using as much chakra as possible. She remembered what the Godaime had said about trying to wean him off of chakra in an effort to protect the village and prevent him from practicing any jutsus. However, what confused her was that they knew for a fact that Naruto had not left the Uchiha Distract at all, yet when he answered the door he was soaked with sweat. That implied that he had been training, but the closest training ground was being used during that time. Perhaps there was a hidden Uchiha training ground that he had traveled across that did not record or report his chakra.
Breaking away from this train of thought, Ino absently wondered what was going on inside of Naruto's mind. What really had happened over these past years? Despite taking him to Torture and Interrogation, she felt the urge to find out for herself.
Focusing a small amount of chakra, Ino looked at her companion and brushed at the mental barriers of his mind, hoping to skim the surface of some of his thoughts. Her sly actions, however, did not go unnoticed by the sharp shinobi. He purposefully opened up his mind a bit, allowing her more access. Naruto then sent the equivalent of a mental poke to Kyuubi. If Ino was careless enough to forget that there was a bloodthirsty demon fox residing in his mind, then oh well...her mistake.
Ino was surprised about how easy it was to enter Naruto's mind. Her father would surely make quick work of this if he was so easy to read. She reached out to grasp a thought streaming by, but was surprised to see it recede and divert its path away from her. She tried and tried again, getting sloppier each time. Slightly frustrated, Ino delved deeper into the Uzumaki's mind, getting a hold of one of his thoughts.
When Kyuubi found that the young Yamanaka was now within reach, he smirked and slowly rose to his full height. Deciding he needed to look as threatening as possible, Kyuubi bared his teeth and hissed menacingly. In response to his growing annoyance, his hackles rose like a cat's and his muscles tensed. Breathing in deeply, the Kyuubi reached out with one enormous paw toward the picture of the stumbling girl that he had been watching.
Ino's eyes widened as she felt an unknown presence pulling her towards a certain part of Naruto's mind. Before she even had time to try to resist, her senses were suddenly overloaded with a dark, malignant chakra. Her legs trembled, and the Yamanaka suddenly found that she could not support herself under the weight of the killing intent that was being exuded. Red chakra swirled around her, and Ino suddenly found that she had trouble breathing. Her vision was starting to turn black. Panicked, Ino wildly tried to escape. The last thing she remembered was a deep cackling and an overwhelming amount of crimson chakra before she was thrust out of Naruto's mind.
Eyes wide with shock and terror, Ino stumbled as she tried to regain her senses and appear as if nothing had happened. Surely, Naruto must have felt that. She felt his eyes on her and felt incredibly embarrassed at being caught. But..what was that evil presence inside of his mindscape? And then, the answer hit her like a ton of bricks. 'You idiot! That was the Kyuubi no Yoko! The freaking demon that practically destroyed Konoha!' Ino realized that she really had not been anticipating the beast to be so close to the surface of Naruto's mind. Honestly, the thought did not even occur to her!
When she finally got up enough courage to meet the taller blonde's waiting gaze, she had to fight with herself to keep walking. Because Naruto's normally blue eyes were...red! He sent her a knowing smirk that made her feel worse than a child who had been caught trying to steal a cookie from the cookie jar. She was now certain that he had known what was going on the entire time, and had been able to lead her into his mind while still keeping all of his thoughts hidden. 'Dear God,' she mused, 'just what are we dealing with here?'
It was about ten minutes later when Ino stopped walking and motioned for Naruto to do the same. He stared at the normal-looking rock in front of them. "Kai," Ino said in a confident voice. The genjutsu peeled away to reveal a very large door, easily twenty feet high. The door looked very out of place, protruding from a random rock. Ino placed her palm on the door and thrust some of her chakra into the metal. Most likely recognizing her chakra signature, the door slowly unlocked, allowing Ino the pull it open. She nodded for Naruto to go first and then followed him in, keeping a close eye on the other blonde.
"This way, Naruto," Ino said in a calm voice as she led him easily through the labyrinth of hallways. She weaved her way though the many different rooms, following the mental map she had formed after her brief internship here. Naruto followed the sound of her footsteps through the dark corridor while discreetly examining his surroundings. All around him appeared to be a dark abyss, yet he could sense the wall a mere six feet away on either side. 'Strange.'
The footsteps stopped and Naruto looked ahead to see Ino twisting the handle on a door he had not realized was even there. Perhaps the darkness was meant to scare people into admitting their deepest truths. People without his advanced senses, that was. Kyuubi chuckled darkly in agreement.
He was led into a dark room with a single light hovering over a black chair. Taking the hint, Naruto sat down and made himself comfortable. He supposed that this was an interrogation room. Well, whatever techniques Inoichi Yamanaka was planning to use on him to get him to reveal his most heavily guarded secrets, they were not going to work. The head of the Yamanaka clan, after all, had no reason to believe that man and demon were working together to keep certain secrets hidden.
Ino made three quick handsigns, and whispered a few words that Naruto could just barely hear. "Body Binding Jutsu."
Metal cuffs rose up from the chair and latched tightly onto both his wrists and ankles, securing him to the chair. When he struggled with his right hand, a painful jolt of electricity coursed through his system. 'Well, I guess this is the ideal time to observe the Leaf's interrogation techniques.'
Ino looked at him with slightly worried eyes and whispered, almost too quietly for him to hear, "Sorry Naruto." The blonde kunoichi then turned her back, long hair sweeping behind her, and exited the same door they had come in. Her purple battle kimono was the last thing he saw before he was thrust into nearly complete darkness except for that annoying light that was still dangling above his head. 'Cliche much?'
Twenty minutes, two sighs, and two zaps later, Naruto was still lying in the exact same position. He figured that waiting in this 'scary' room was supposed to intimidate him. However, he was not intimidated. Let's just say that you're not afraid of things that go bump in the night when you house the very 'monster' that frightens people in their darkest nightmares.
After twenty more minutes and a few jokes with Kyuubi, the door was thrust open. Naruto's body gave an involuntary jump at the bang the metal door made when it slammed into the wall, and he had to bite his lip to keep from crying out at the electricity that was coursing through his body.
Inoichi Yamanaka, with his Konoha headband glinting in the small amount of light, entered the room. He was dressed completely in black, and so his body was barely visible in the darkness. The Yamanaka clan head walked forward with strong, purposeful strides, and placed a hand roughly on the top of the restrained jinchuuriki's head.
"Well, well, Naruto Uzumaki," Inoichi's face twisted into a cruel smirk, "let's see what your mind can tell us."
Well, I hope that chapter satisfies whatever Akatsuki-leader Naruto cravings you've been having for the moment. Chapter 12 wasn't actually supposed to be this short, but it's all I had time for so everything else that was supposed to happen will be in Chapter 13. Thank you so much for reading my story! See you next time, guys!
Reviews make my day, so please, if you have a heart,
R
E
V
I
E
W
!
... i love you?
