Kaibunkage
Arc II
Chapter X
"When a person has something important they want to protect… That's when they can become truly strong."
- Yuki Haku
Shiori bounced around the room, glad that Naruto had decided to spend a full day within Konoha without any meetings. While Naruto wrote down a report of the meeting yesterday, Sakura eyed the hyper blonde moving quickly in and out the rooms of the hotel. Ranmaru also watched with a small smile.
"Shiori-chan," Naruto's words caused the little girl to stop her celebration immediately, turning to look at her father with hopeful eyes. The kage smiled. "How would you like to go meet my sensei?"
If possible, the girl's eyes grew wider than they were when Naruto had stated that he would stay in Konoha an extra day for vocational purposes. It was clear to Sakura that her former teammate still held a grudge with those on the council for the rough childhood, but he pushed it aside for the sake of his daughter. Then again, Sakura figured that the only reason she was able to wear a Kemuri hitai-ate was due to Shiori as well.
"When are we going Daddy?" Shiori asked as Naruto summoned a small toad.
"Take this to Sumaru." the summoned amphibian nodded, swallowing the scroll Naruto handed it, and watched the toad hop off. The Kaibunkage then rose from the small desk and grinned down at his daughter. "Alright Shiori-chan, let's go find my former teacher."
"Yay!" Shiori cheered. "Come on Sakura-chan and Ran-nii! We're going to find Daddy's sensei!"
"Naruto-sensei," Ranmaru stated. "Your talk with the council has placed several Leaf ANBU around us. Do you think it's safe to just go walking around?"
Naruto placed his kage hat on his head with a smile.
"I'm positive. Now let's go. I want to be at Ichiraku's by lunch time." Ranmaru only nodded at his former sensei's words. He had a feeling that something wrong was going to happen soon.
The man walked down the dirt paths that were soon to be roads, his dark brown eyes on one object; a wide tower near the center of the construction. His brown hooded robe covered his body from the shoulders down, his arms swallowed by the sleeves. His long spiky black hair flowed behind him as he walked towards the building.
He was Kagami Matsuo, son of Kagami D ōsame.
"What are you doing here, Matsuo?" the man growled and turned to see Sasuke standing with Kabuto to his right and Sai to his left.
"Where is Orochimaru?" Matsuo asked angrily.
"He's dead. Why?" Sasuke questioned.
"That bastard got my father killed!" Matsuo called. "And since I can't take his life in my father's place… I'll take yours instead!"
"As much as I hated your foolish old man," spoke Sasuke. "Neither I nor Orochimaru played a part in his death. Kemurigakure no Sato did. They killed him." Matsuo gave a grunt of disapproval. "If you're here trying to find him, then you're at the wrong place."
"It was your leader, Orochimaru, that sent him to that doom. Now I'm-"
"Going to do nothing." Matsuo was cut off by an annoyed Sasuke. "If you want my help to avenge your father's death, so be it. But if you're here to destroy a part of my village…" Sasuke finished his sentenced, activating his newly acquired Mangekyo Sharingan.
Kabuto raised a brow at Sasuke's statement. The Uchiha did not seem as selfish as he normally was, hinting that he was going to stop Matsuo from destroying the under-construction village rather than for his own life. Very Hokage-ish, Kabuto thought.
As for Matsuo, he could sense those in hiding around him. Surely he was outnumbered with one of those foes having the Sharingan.
"Revenge. Give me revenge." Matsuo ordered.
Sasuke gave a small smirk. "Come with me. I'll explain to you about the upcoming war."
Jiraiya stared. Shiori stared. Naruto sighed and shook his head.
"I want you to know," Jiraiya spoke. "I've been spying for years. Not blinking is part of my training."
Naruto saw that Shiori was seconds away from losing and moved behind his daughter. Holding a familiar hand sign, he used the Sexy Jutsu, something that caught Jiraiya and all his pervertedness off guard. Then again, what male would not stop and stare at a nude Tsunade hugging an equally nude Yuhi Kurenai?
"Gah!" Jiraiya said falling back with a trickle of blood coming from his nose. Naruto had improved the technique greatly.
"Ha! I win!" Shiori cheered, Naruto ending the technique before his daughter turned to him. "I'm better than Ero-sennin!"
Jiraiya sat up wiping his nose. "That was a low-blow Naruto."
The Kaibunkage shrugged. "She won fair and square. Stop being a sore loser."
"Pervert." The older Uzumaki gave his pink-haired escort a small uncaring glance, her face showing her hatred for the technique used.
"Daddy, can I go play at the park again?" Shiori asked.
Naruto looked at Ranmaru, who nodded.
"Come Shiori-chan." Ranmaru called.
The small blonde did not hesitate to move towards Ranmaru, the teen walking her away from the Kaibunkage, Sakura, and Jiraiya.
"So, she's your daughter with the priestess eh?" Naruto nodded at the older Toad Sage. "It must be tough on the little one…" Again Naruto nodded. "You do know that Akatsuki will go after her as soon as possible. Do you have any hidden safe houses for her?"
"We're currently searching for the perfect location in Ash Country. But I don't want to scare her with the thoughts of war." answered Naruto. "And you? What are you going to do about Akatsuki?"
"I got word where one of the Akatsuki bases is located, Amegakure no Sato." Jiraiya answered. "I was going to head out there and check it out later. If I can find out their base of operations and find out more information about them, it will aid the alliance greatly."
Sakura nodded. "That's true. I fought Hidan who attacked the Sanbi not too long ago. He had some strange ritual that forced his opponents to take whatever damage he received."
"Really? How'd you managed to beat him?" questioned Jiraiya.
"I couldn't understand his seal. Something about… Jashin?" Jiraiya frowned and crossed his arms.
"I've heard about that before. They are deranged people with harmful practices." Jiraiya said. "Just how did you defeat them?"
"Sparring against Kaibunkage-sama, I learned that sometimes breaking the item that the seal is on, such as a tag, can ruin the seal altogether. Ibuse destroyed the ground that the seal was on, giving me the time to attack." Sakura said. "I decapitated him with a Chidori."
"You didn't kill him?" Sakura frowned at Jiraiya's question.
"His head-"
"Sakura, Hidan is immortal." This caused the Kaibunkage and his former teammate to frown. "I've heard that he has taken several mortal wounds, decapitation being one of them, and surviving. Hell, Asuma beheaded him once and barely escaped with his life."
"So this guy is still running about?" Jiraiya nodded.
"Naruto, if you don't find him now, the Sanbi and its tenant could be in trouble." Jiraiya said.
"Baa-chan sent someone out to Takigakure," Naruto stated. "Who?"
Jiraiya smirked. "Only three of Konoha's best. You should know them all well since they all looked after your training at one point of time."
Naruto took a moment to think before grinning.
"Looks like she's going all in." the Shodai Kaibunkage said.
"Oh yeah. She's going all in." Jiraiya responded. "Which reminds me…" Naruto's brows rose. "Your village is quite secretive. We will have to learn something about the Hidden Smoke so we can balance out its strengths and weaknesses."
Naruto laughed. "Good one."
"I was being serious…" spoke the white-haired man.
"Jiraiya," Naruto said. "Never in a million years would I just blab about my entire village, especially not to Konoha. Hell, Sumaru and I have a few secrets that we keep away from each other that I don't pressure him in knowing and he's practically the only kage I would trust with my daughter."
Jiraiya would have questioned why Tsunade was not included in that statement, but dropped it due to the serious tone Naruto had spoken in. He knew that there was probably going to be some animosity between the blond Smoke Shadow and the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
"We don't need to know everything. Just enough to work alongside your village." Jiraiya said. "Besides, it wouldn't kill you to let me and Tsunade in on a couple of secrets, would it?"
"Nothing against you, Jiraiya, or Baa-chan," Naruto replied. "But a lot of my friends somehow, someway, attempt to kill me. My two teammates are prime examples of this theory…" Sakura saw Naruto glance at her before turning back towards Jiraiya. "So forgive me if I'm not as trusting or gullible as I once was."
Jiraiya analyzed that piece of information. He knew what Naruto must be thinking after the whole Sasuke defection thing and it really did not help that Sakura mourned over Sasuke leaving more than she did an injured Naruto who had literally done everything except summoning toads to stop Sasuke.
Jiraiya blinked. Why didn't he use toads to stop Orochimaru…?
"Lord Kaibunkage," Naruto gave Sakura his attention, his brows rising. "I wish… To see my parents before we leave."
"Go." Naruto said with a wave of his hand.
"Thank you, Naruto." Sakura said before dashing off.
Jiraiya smirked. "How long can you keep that act up?"
"I don't know what you're talking about Ero-sennin." Naruto responded. "No clue at all."
"Sure you don't." Jiraiya chuckled.
Sakura waited until the door opened. Her green eyes stared into the blue ones of her mother's, Haruno Ume.
"Sakura…" Ume's voice came out as a whisper.
"Hi-"
"What are you doing here?" Sakura was not ready for the plum-red haired woman's shout. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? You can't be here! If anyone knows-"
"Mom, I'm alright." Sakura said. "I'm now a Smoke jonin and I'm here on official business with the Kaibunkage." Ume gave her daughter a confused stare. "Can I come in? I'll explain more inside."
Nodding, Ume stepped aside allowing Sakura to return to her parents' home for the first time in years. Sakura noticed that not much had changed save for the colors on the walls and curtains. Then again, her mother always attempted to stay "trendy" as she liked to call it.
Sitting on the couch, Sakura released a sigh.
"It's been a while… Where's Dad?" Ume smiled sadly.
"Mission." Sakura frowned at the response. "After you became part of the Unspeakable Three, he had to become an active shinobi again to help pay for things around here. As well as…" Ume paused. "Well, you know how your father is about honor."
"He's out there because of me?" Ume flinched and then nodded at her daughter's reaction. "Does he know why I did it?"
"Honey," Ume said with a sigh. "We understand that you were in love with Sasuke. But Naruto? He has never done anything for you and-"
"He's the reason I'm here." Sakura interrupted with a slight growl in her voice. "Had it not been for him, I would have died by Sasuke and his team when they came for me."
Ume frowned. "Sasuke attempted to kill you?"
"Yes! I refused to help him for free." Sakura explained. "And now he's gone off in an attempt to kill his injured brother."
"Itachi is injured? How? Have you told the Hokage that news? We could kill the first Uchiha traitor." Ume said.
Sakura sighed. "I'm not allowed to reveal those secrets to the Hokage. I'm not a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village anymore." Ume gave a small movement of her head, showing she understood but was not too thrilled about the idea. "I can't say that I'm mad about my current living condition. Sure working at the academy and then the hospital is a bit tedious, especially when Shiori pops up every now and again, but the pay is good. And my wanted status has dropped in places such as Hoshi. Plus I get to meet some great people."
"Sakura… Two weeks ago, Ino came here telling me that you had almost died against the Mizukage, only to die by the hands of Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura had an idea of where this was going and did not like it one bit. "I understand your motives. You want your team back. And I understand their motives to a degree. But they have both attacked you. Who's to say what the Curse Seal or the Kyubi might get them to do?"
Sakura knew that her mother had a small hatred for Naruto due to the Nine-tailed Fox. It was one of those unexplainable things that she learned as she got older and closer to the blond. She also knew that like her former self, Ume blamed Orochimaru and the Curse Seal for Sasuke's defection. At first, Sakura thought her mother, and father for that matter, said those things to make her feel better. And then she started to see that they really believed those words. But Sakura knew differently now. Sasuke and Naruto had control over their actions then just like they do now.
"I understand." was all the Smoke Nin said to her mother.
"It was bad enough when Naruto attacked you when-"
"That was an accident!" Sakura quickly cut her mother off. "Mom, I'm serious. He's not turning into the Kyubi. He's got more control over it."
A silence blanketed over mother and daughter before Sakura rose.
"I'm sorry, but I'm still on duty guarding the Kaibunkage and his daughter," Sakura's voice was filled with neutral formality instead of the emotion-filled tones she had been using earlier. "I have to go."
"Sakura." Sakura paused at the door, not daring to look her blue-eyed mother in the face. "I hope you're right about him."
"Hai." Sakura said while leaving.
Umino Iruka was in a mixed state of emotions. He was glad to see Naruto alive and well and currently present in his classroom again. Yet, at the same time, he was deeply enraged by the constant chattering and questions that the students had, dismissing his lesson altogether.
Naruto grinned. "No, I'm sure Lady Hokage could give me a run for my money."
"But you beat the Kazekage as a kid!" the hyperactive boy said to Naruto. "I'm sure you could give the old lady a serious beating!"
Iruka saw Naruto tense up a bit.
"Uh, kid, between you and me," spoke the Kaibunkage. "Never call her that again or she'll knock you all the way to Suna with just one finger. I know because she almost did that to me after I defeated Gaara."
"Whoa…" a few kids gasped.
"Daddy," Shiori said tugging at his sleeve. "Were you the best in your class?"
Jiraiya, who stood near the window, snorted.
"Not hardly Shiori. See your dad liked to goof off in class and skip, which caused him to fail quite a lot." Naruto glared at the other Toad Sage.
"No one asked you, you old perv." Naruto stated. Naruto then looked at Shiori. "And to answer your question, no, I wasn't the best. But I'm sure I could take all of them now."
"Did you kill the Godaime Hokage?" a girl questioned.
Iruka chose that moment to speak up.
"No, Lord Kaibunkage was not responsible for the Fifth's death. In fact, what actually happened was-"
"Yes." Naruto interrupted. "Danzo was in pursuit of someone who led him into a deadly blow. I didn't make the blow that killed him, but I did order for the attack. And that's why I'm here today."
"Why?" the same girl asked.
"Because the best power that any shinobi can have is forgiveness." Naruto stated. "It's a power so great that only those like Tsunade and Jiraiya can wield it. Even I can't use it properly."
The hyperactive boy from earlier frowned. "Forgiveness? You can't use that on the battlefield!"
Naruto smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah!" the boy replied with certitude.
"Well," Naruto said. "What if you and I were paired against one another because you said something mean to my daughter? Do you think that you could actually beat me physically?" The boy shook his head. "So your best choice is to ask for forgiveness, right?"
"I guess…"
Iruka grinned at Naruto's words. He remembered a time when a child Naruto would have fought anyone that went against him, not matter why or how strong his opponent was. Now he seemed more mature and calm.
"So let's be thankful that there are people like Jiraiya and Tsunade." Naruto said.
Jiraiya chuckled. "You make us sound old and rare."
"You are old. You were my daddy's daddy's sensei." Shiori stated.
Naruto and Iruka began laughing as Jiraiya thought of some retort that he could say to the little girl, though she had a very strong point. Jiraiya had seen three generations of the Namikaze family in their childhood; Minato, Naruto, and now Shiori. He was old.
"Whatever." Jiraiya said quietly.
Gyaku walked down a tree-covered path, his black hair pouring over his face. Behind the curtain of hair, he smirked. Having the Demonic Lightning to paralyze an enemy, jinchuriki or not, made his job a lot easier. Of course, he would have loved take Utakata's soul with his Reihando or just slashed the jinchuriki's body into pieces. But of course Tobi had something about keeping their bodies and soul in tact for the extraction.
He mildly wondered where the Mist guards were. Sure, Utakata's location was in a location that no one would have probably guessed or found without proper directions, but he was still unguarded for the most part. Gyaku felt that something was wrong.
Looking towards the heavy clouds above him, Gyaku walked through the soggy marsh with the jinchuriki over his shoulder, unaware of the men they followed.
Slowly rising from the marsh, the two Demon Brothers looked at one another, nodded, and then reformed with the murky water. The plan was simple enough; follow Gyaku to the Akatsuki hideout, capture the Rokubi container, and head home. They had two ANBU accompanying them, one from the Hozuki Clan, so that made their jobs a lot easier.
Besides, they did not want the wrath of the Mizukage on their hands…
Sakura sat in a field, staring at three posts. A smile graced her face as she pictured Naruto tied to the middle post, kicking and struggling with his restraints. Who would have thought that that blond knucklehead would become Shodai Kaibunkage?
"Sakura!" Sakura's smile twitched a bit. Boy, Shiori sure had some lungs on her. "Sakura-chan, guess what! Daddy showed me his old school! And you went there!"
"I know." Sakura said turning to see Shiori running towards her with Ranmaru not too far behind. "I was on his genin team." Shiori dropped into a seated position in front of Sakura, her smile never faltering. "Where's your dad?"
"Talking to Old Lady Hokage." Sakura flinched. Tsunade would never hit a child this young for such a statement, but Naruto was fair-game for his daughter's words.
"Sakura-san, how did the talk with your parents go?" Ranmaru asked.
Sakura sighed. "They are… Biased." Ranmaru nodded at her statement. "But I forgive them. They're parents. They're bound to slip up once or twice."
"Some people will never learn Naruto-sensei like we do. We should be lucky." Sakura grinned at Ranmaru's words.
"I know a couple of people like that." responded Sakura. "For instance, your dojutsu is greater than the Byakugan and can see through most, if not all, of my genjutsu. Sayuri's bloodline is also quite fascinating and how she takes a one-shot killing technique and uses it to just paralyze her opponents is pretty smart." Sakura paused and thought. "Mei is a strong kunoichi, an inspirational to a lot of the future kunoichi in the academy. Kazudan is a very powerful opponent and Marashu is one of the best trackers I know."
"What about me?" Shiori asked happily.
Sakura smiled at the girl. "You're probably going to be stronger than your parents someday."
"Even stronger than you?" questioned Shiori.
"Even stronger than me." Shiori immediately bounced up.
"I'm going to be the strongest in the world!" Shiori cheered as she ran and danced around the three posts.
"You're right about her, you know." Ranmaru said as he carefully eyed Shiori. "Some think it's due to her lineage and ability to restrain biju. But there is just something about Shiori that just… Changes people. It got Sayuri to stop chasing after her brother."
"She gets it from her father." Sakura responded as her eyes traveled to the Hokage Monument.
Standing atop on the Hokage Monument, Naruto stood next to Tsunade while both of them were in their respective kage robes.
"I'm going to be honest with you Baa-chan," spoke the First Ash Shadow. "I'm not here to save a few buildings and streets. I could careless about this monument or that rundown apartment that somehow remained standing. But, I do care about your and a few others' well-being."
"I'm not asking you to save me every time something goes wrong." the Hokage replied. "I'm asking you to join me while we defeat Akatsuki. The same people that murdered Shion."
Naruto stood quietly before speaking again. "There won't be another time for our villages to align… After this, we go on our separate ways."
"It doesn't have to be like that." Tsunade told him. "There are many things Konoha and Kemuri can do for each other."
"No offense Granny, but with the way the Leaf council has been running things, I think we're better off separated." Naruto said.
The Hokage gave a nod. "I see… There's really no way in changing your answer." The two blonds turned to view the village beneath them. "You know Naruto, years ago the Senju and the Uzumaki clans did not live in the same village. But they were allies… As well as cousins…"
"Shion told me something about that." Naruto responded.
"Their villages, Konoha and Uzushio were allies," Tsunade continued. "Which is why we placed the Uzushiogakure insignia on our chunin and jonin vests. To show our alliance to them." Tsunade looked at Naruto. "As the last Senju and you, the last Uzumaki, it might be a good thing to honor our ancestors so that when we cross the other side, there won't be a line of people waiting to beat us."
Naruto thought for a moment, staring at Tsunade's grinning face. He closed his eyes and grinned as well before looking outwards at the village once more.
"To have such bad luck, you know how to strike gold in making me feel guilty." Naruto said.
Tsunade turned her eyes to her village.
"There will be another meeting with the other kage soon. Will you be there, Naruto?" The Kaibunkage shrugged at Tsunade's question. "It would be pointless to make Gaara your errand boy, don't you think?"
"I guess you're right…" Naruto said. "Well then, Lady Hokage, I guess you have my word that I will be at the next kage meeting."
As a gentle breeze blew across the mountain top, Tsunade felt relieved for a moment. Not only did she get the most stubborn man on the face of the planet to cave in and sign a temporary alliance with a village that showed him much scorn as a child, but she got him to come to the next meeting with the Gokage.
Maybe there was still hope for a permanent alliance between Leaf and Smoke?
"Darui!" Darui paused in midstep and turned to look at the oncoming shinobi, Jei. "Where are you headed?"
"Sending a message from Raikage-dono." Darui responded. "Bee-sama and Yugito-sama are well-guarded, right?" Jei nodded. "Good. We wouldn't want Akatsuki to find them."
Jei gave a small smile. "You know the turtle will continue moving."
"Yes. I know this." Darui said. "I must get going or… Well, Raikage-dono will not be pleased."
"Right. Go." Jei responded.
Darui took off for the direction his message had to be delivered. It was quite the message at that, one that would change the war if the enemy should eavesdrop and hear this. The location of the two jinchuriki was vital.
Slipping into the home where he had to deliver the message, Darui waited before the plant-man known as Zetsu made himself known.
"Well Aku? What did you learn?" the White-half questioned.
"They're on Turtle Island." Aku, who was currently in possession of Darui's body, said. "The island is heading east."
"Those damn Cloud Nin… We should hurry to catch them…" Zetsu's two halves said. "Why rush? It's a damn turtle! In water… Point…"
Aku glared quietly at the two. Gyaku was a bit annoying, Deidara was a nuisance, but this guy was one he hardly cared for.
"The report on Uzumaki Kushina is here," Aku said. "I'll find it before switching back and heading out." Zetsu nodded. "Afterwards, we will capture the Two-tails and then the Eight-tails."
Zetsu left Aku, not giving a parting statement. Aku walked to a mirror and stared at Darui's face before turning his body slightly to see the tattoo on Darui's arm.
"Black Lightning… You're mine now…" Aku said quietly.
Fu stumbled onto the ground, too tired and beaten to continue. She turned to see Kakuzu and his masks rejoining. She had managed to destroy the Water-mask, but the other four along with Kakuzu proved to be a harder task.
"You put up a fight. A worthless and futile fight, but a fight nonetheless." Kakuzu said. "So stop running and come quietly. Or else."
Fu grunted before a wooden barrier surrounded her. She and her opponent turned to see three men standing yards away from her.
"So we meet again… Sarutobi…" Kakuzu said.
"Yeah," Asuma said exhaling a pile of smoke. "This time, I brought some friends of mine."
"Hatake Kakashi… Orochimaru's Hashirama clone… And a guardian…" Kakuzu said. "This mission has just become more profitable."
"Tenzo, keep Fu-san safe." Kakashi said revealing his Sharingan. "Asuma, let's take care of this guy."
Asuma flicked his cigarette away and glared at the Akatsuki member.
"I'm ready."