Chapter 21: Behind the Scenes
Hey everyone, I know it's been a while since I last posted—just over a month by my count—but I'd like to let you all know that we've finally reached 1,000 reviews. Thanks for all your support throughout this journey and I hope you enjoy the chapter, it's a pretty long one and might get a little wordy at times but I personally think it should be worth the wait.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, One Piece, or any material from other franchises that will be mixed into this story.
The Will of Fire Still Burns: Behind the Scenes
'Well, I suppose some things will never change.' Naruto thought to himself as he felt his body being embraced from both sides by the two younger Uzumaki-Namikaze females. Natsuki was latching tightly onto his left side, his arm resting comfortably against her developing chest. Narumi, on the other hand, enveloped his right side, bringing him into a deep hug. He supposed something of this nature was to be expected.
He inhaled a breath of air before releasing a deep sigh. Truly, these girls were always far too affectionate with him. Though he supposed he didn't mind it as much now. Back during his time as a genin—or even long before then—such contact would have been deserving venomous verbal lashing from him or perhaps brushing them off and ignoring them altogether. Time and experience really does change people.
Opening up his left eye and pointedly ignoring the displeased look that Satsuki was sending his way, Naruto noted that the others that had entered along with Natsuki and Narumi were now taking their respective seats at the large wooden table. There were two faces that he didn't exactly recognize, but the feel of their chakra told a different tale. Kakashi being here didn't leave much of an impact on him, but he was surprised to see Kushina here. Naruto had never pegged Kushina as the type to go along with this ragtag group, meaning she could only be here because of her daughters. That damnable woman was sure to cause him a few headaches, knowing her.
"Naruto-Oniisan..." He heard Natsuki sniffle into his shoulder. "Is...Is that really you...? No, I know it is...It has to be."
That was just like her, always the more emotional of the two sisters. On his other side, he didn't hear Narumi breathe out a single word, though he could feel her smaller hands tightly clenching onto his overcoat as she trembled slightly. The feeling of dampness bleeding through his clothing was all he needed to see why she wouldn't dare bring her head out of his shoulder. Women really were troublesome...
"I get that you missed me...but do you really need to cry? I'm starting to feel a little bad here."
"I'm sorry Onii-san." Natsuki apologized as she pulled away from him and stepped back a bit. "It's just...we were worried about you because you didn't look so good the last time we saw you...and you left before we could say goodbye."
Upon mention of this, Naruto could feel his other sister's nails digging into his skin through the fabric of his jacket. Really, this girl...
"I guess I can somewhat understand. Narumi-chan..." Naruto waved her off before turning to the girl still clinging to him. "I think we're supposed to be having a meeting right now, so you'll have to get off."
The girl shook her head into his shoulder, refusing to even look up at him.
"I suppose I have no choice then..." Naruto sighed to himself before bringing his hands toward the girl's sides. "Just remember, I gave you your chance to escape on your own terms."
Narumi bashfully looked up at her older brother, confusion showing on her face. She had been listening, but just what was her brother talking about?
"Aniki? What are you—" Narumi tried to question before an uncontrollable laughter escape from her lips. Unable to stop herself from succumbing to her brother's roaming hands. If anything, she was incredibly ticklish. "HAHAHA! Stop it, Aniki! HAHAHA! Aniki, I'm ticklish there! HAHAHAHA!"
"Sorry, but I gave you a chance earlier. You're probably wishing you listened to me now, aren't you?" Despite his teasing tone, Naruto found himself enjoying this rare moment. Perhaps these were the kind of moments that he could have enjoyed had he not been so quick to turn on his own flesh and blood...No, that wasn't it. He had done this very same thing with Satsuki countless times before. Perhaps he just felt a little relieved that he could finally interact with these girls without that ever-present tension being there.
Natsuki stood off to the side awkwardly, not knowing what to do in this particular situation. Her eyes a little wide as she was not used to seeing her elder brother interacting with them in such a way. Perhaps she could join in...
"Oh? It seems that under that tough exterior you really are quite cute." Naruto teased the poor girl as he looked down at her flushed face and listened to her heavy breathing as she calmed down.
If possible, Narumi's face reddened even more. Though she couldn't help it earlier as she was being subjected to some form of odd punishment that involved tickling. Really, even now he was treating her like a child. "H-Hey! What do you think you're saying?!"
Kushina was watching the scene with a small smile on her face from her seat at the table. This was the first time that she had witnessed her children act in the way that normal siblings should. It was rather endearing, though this being the first time that she had witnessed them acting in such a fashion only served to remind her how estranged their family was. Now even her husband fell into such a category.
"Alright you two, settle down." Obito chose this moment to interrupt. "As touching as this little reunion is, you'll have plenty of time to catch up later."
During the time that Naruto, Natsuki, and Narumi were greeting each other, Obito had been unsealing numerous files and reports from the confines of a sealing scroll at the head of the table. These documents contained all the information that the village had on each shinobi that were now members of the Ōzokutokumu, paperwork that they would have to complete, guidelines that they were to follow, and so on. While he had given all of the members a general overview of their duties and what the position would entail, it was time for the finer details to be ironed out.
Narumi released her brother's arm and moved toward an empty seat, but not before looking back and giving him a threatening glare. Well, threatening had it been anyone other than Naruto. He actually found that look to be more along the lines of a pout, based upon her usual demeanor. Natsuki followed suit soon after, taking up an empty seat next to her sister.
Now that things had settled down, all eyes were on Obito. Picking up the stack of files, he walked around the table placing a smaller stack of files in front of each person before retaking his position at the head of the table.
Naruto took a look at the top file of his pile while the rest of the group chose to wait for Obito to make the announcements. It seemed they were personnel files, the top one being labelled as Uzuki Yūgao. Opening it up, he noticed the picture of the very same purple-haired woman that was sitting diagonally from him. Closing that file up, Naruto went through the rest purely out of curiosity. Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsuki, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Satsuki, Uzumaki Kushina, Uzumaki-Namikaze Narumi, Yamato, Uzuki Yūgao, Portgas D. Naruto, the personnel files of all the shinobi in the room were present, minus Obito's. Even his own was present within the stack. It seemed that they were meant to become quite familiar with each other if they were being given access to everyone's entire personal and professional history.
After looking over the files very briefly, Naruto closed them up and leaned back in his seat. Despite his outwardly calm and relaxed demeanor, he was quite interested in learning more of what his duties entailed. He was well aware of the basics, but he had yet to learn of their limitations. To enjoy his job to the fullest, he needed to learn what restrictions they would be placed under. After all, this is what he had spent so long training for.
"Alright, let's begin the first official meeting of the Ōzokutokumu." Obito announced with a clap of his hands. "I've already informed each of you of the general overview of the Ōzokutokumu—for most that was only a few hours ago—but to make things short, the purpose of this division is to remind the world that Konohagakure is still a threat. That we are not weak and that we will deal back any kind of damage we receive tenfold. Essentially, to stop a war we need to start a war, with you eight being our only soldiers."
Obito glanced over each of the shinobi sitting before him as he stood in front of the group. He was grateful to have such a group of shinobi who were willing to go so far for their home.
"Of course, that is the overall objective of this division for the time being. The road to that objective will be one paved in blood and bodies. I can tell you this will be a job that even the most seasoned ANBU operatives would be hesitant in taking. I'm not asking you to tip-toe around or assassinate potential threats in the dead of night...What I'm asking for in nothing short of genocide. You are to terminate any opposition with extreme prejudice and to make an example out of them for the world to see...You will understand what I mean once you receive your first missions."
Obito sighed lightly before continuing. "I'm not like my predecessors, my way of viewing things is much different. I don't believe in world peace. I don't believe that one day we will all come to understand each other. And I think that the current situation of the world speaks to that if such concepts do exist, they are in the far off future. One that we will never see, and one that our people should never see if things continue the way they are."
"In order to ensure the future of Konohagakure and its people, such measures are necessary." Obito continued speaking, making sure to look directly at each of the people in the room. "You report to no one, you answer to no one, and the Hokage is your one and only authority. With the ANBU forces spread thin as they are this division will become increasingly busy quite quickly, so I hope that you are all prepared for what you've signed up for."
Naruto shifted his gaze from his sensei to that of his little sister. Satsuki didn't look deterred in the slightest from the speech, in fact she looked a little excited. That was good. He was thankful that she was as hungry for battle and excitement as he was, it was one of the things that would always keep them together no matter what. She shied away from nothing and would continue to fight by his side with as much intensity as she possessed. He was proud to have a sister that would stand by his side, rather than one that always needed to be protected and shielded from the world. It was a shame that some of the other members of the group looked to be a little anxious and unnerved upon learning of the nature of the division.
"Obito-kun, I can understand where you're coming from...but is there not a more suitable choice of personnel? Half of us here aren't even jounin yet, while my daughters are still only genin!" It was Kushina who spoke, as she was most definitely more concerned with the well-being of her children rather than any of the other issues that had been previously presented.
"If it is your daughters that you are speaking for, then try not to worry too much." Obito turned toward Kushina and her daughters, who were sitting on her right side. "While this division is a classified secret as of now, people will eventually learn of its existence and its exploits. It wouldn't do well to have genin, fresh out of the academy, believing that they have a chance of being recruited. That may work for ANBU, but not here. This information is in those files, but as of now, Natsuki and Narumi are probationary operatives who must be accompanied by at least one fully-fledged member for any mission they receive, no matter the rank."
Both Uzumaki-Namikaze daughters' eyes widened at the mention of their current restrictions. Sitting straight up, Narumi and Natsuki quickly scrambled through their stack of files until they found the one with their respective names at the top. They almost immediately deflated after opening up their files and seeing a large red stamp over the text reading: Probationary Agent.
"The other two, on the other hand, are an entirely different matter. Satsuki was able to fight on par with you, Kushina, even if the two of you weren't going all out. And Naruto..." Obito shifted his line of sight from Kushina—and to a lesser extent, her daughters—to the entirety of the table. "Naruto was able to defeat Jiraiya in his assessment, Satsuki and myself were witnesses to such."
Naruto—who had previously been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed—suddenly felt as though he were now the focus of attention. Opening up his right eye, he was greeted with wide-eyed stares and looks of disbelief, the only ones showing no reaction being Obito and Satsuki. Actually, both of them were smirking as they knew this would earn him quite a bit of attention. Damn them.
Naruto let out a small sigh. He supposed it was foolish for him to believe for a second that Obito would keep quiet, the bragging rights would go to him after all since Naruto was his student, if only for a short period time.
"It would seem that his combat skills have grow rusty over the years. Quite the disappointment if I were being honest." Naruto said with a shrug. "...though I suppose that's to be expected. Other than gathering information here and there, all he's really been doing is peeking on women and writing his smut novels. Who knows when the last time he's had a real battle, other than the invasion a year ago. It's probably about the equivalent to becoming Hokage and being forced to sit behind a desk, filling out paperwork each and every day with no time to polish up on actual practical abilities."
"You have no idea how true you are, my student. I barely have any time anymore to read those so-called 'smut novels'." Obito followed up on Naruto's comparison before letting out a deep sigh. "Even with technology so deeply engraved into out society now, they still manage to hand me never-ending stacks of paperwork that should've depleted all of our forests by now!" Obito looked over at Naruto with a skeptical look. "Though I suppose it would be redundant to inform you of the troubles of paperwork. I distinctly remember any paperwork I had you fill out was returned to me as a pile of charred ashes. I suppose it was foolish of me to hand important mission-related paperwork to a boy made of fire."
Seemingly ignoring the looks the rest at the table were giving him, Naruto gave Obito an irritated response upon remembering the times the man had tried to hand off all of his paperwork on him. "Huh, the hell are you talking about Sensei? That only happened cause I was pissed you were trying to dump all of your paperwork on me. Being the team leader my ass. You were the jounin-sensei, therefore it was your responsibility." Naruto sighed in exasperation. "How did such an irresponsible man ever become Hokage?"
Obito seemingly sighed in defeat, childishly slouching up against one of the large columns that supported the framework of the structure. Though it seemed that the previous subject had yet to be dismissed by the onlookers.
"Naruto..." Naruto turned towards the voice, only to find Kushina staring at him with unblinking eyes. "Just what could you have possibly done in only a year to improve so much? You were a genin for less than six months before you left..."
Naruto rested his head against his hand with his elbow propped up on the table, a small smirk spread across his lips. "I told you all the day we received orders for our departure, I had neither the time nor intention to fool around with Jiraiya when I could actually be doing something productive." His smirk grew a bit upon feeling the strength coursing through his body. "And productive it was."
Obito cleared his throat as he stood up in front of the group once more, earning the attention of all those at the table. "We've diverged a bit from the main purpose of this meeting, so it's high-time we get back on track. Twice, now, I have covered the overview and objectives of the Ōzokutokumu, meaning that we can move onto the finer details."
Picking up a single personnel file off of the table, Obito raised it up for all to see.
"Each of you have a stack of these personnel files in front of you. These contain the known personal and professional information of all those assigned to the Ōzokutokumu—excluding classified information of course—including mission history, fields of specialization, known jutsu, graduation age, academy ranking, current ranking, familial ties, romantic history, and much more. I suggest that you get used to each other since you'll be spending the vast majority of your time together from now on."
Obtio threw the file back onto the table and saw that the majority of the members looked to be appraising each other, gauging each other's strength. The older ones in particular paying close attention to the younger ones for varying reasons. He resisted the urge to sigh when he saw that Satsuki and Natsuki were locked in an intense stare down. He supposed that some things would never change, no matter the time that passes.
"Yūgao and Yamato will act as liaisons between the Ōzokutokumu and the ANBU, as well as coordinating mission assignments and other such matters as they are already accustomed to doing so. While this may seem as though they are in charge, that is not the case. Unlike the ANBU, this division will have no higher authority other than the Hokage. All fully-fledged members are equal in rank within the division, no matter if they are jounin of chūnin. Probationary agents, on the other hand, are a rank below fully-fledged members, though I do not plan on allowing any genin into the division after Natsuki and Narumi. However, you two will be required to participate in the next Chūnin Exams and are required to pass. Any member, chūnin in rank or above will be considered a fully-fledged member, is that understood?"
Obito received a nod of the head in understanding from each of the shinobi that surrounded the table. An understanding in rank was important because oftentimes those who were of a higher ranking would look down on those who were lower in rank. The same could be said of age due to the differences of experience. The ANBU was a prime example of this as there was often discord within teams because of such feelings of superiority. This was especially the case when dealing with up and coming prodigies or those who were recruited because of their immense potential in a particular field, as the older seasoned members felt the need to assert their position within their squad.
"This mountain will act as your base of operations. On all days that you are on duty you are to live here, while on days that you off you may return to your homes. The rotation for your days of leave are located within those files, as is most information that relates to the Ōzokutokumu. You have no set duties other than what is required for your missions as the ANBU are responsible for border patrol, patrolling the village, and protecting individuals such as councilors and myself, which brings me to my next point and one of your greatest privileges." Obito paused before speaking once more. "Fully-fledged members will be granted with traveling rights equivalent to that of Jiraiya's. Though as explained before, probationary agents must be accompanied by a fully-fledged member at all times."
Shock and surprise was evident in the eyes of the shinobi at the table. Even the usually calm and collected Naruto couldn't help but be taken by surprise at benefit. In such a militaristic society it was quite dangerous letting those who knew the inner-workings of a village to roam free. Jiraiya had been allowed this privilege for a few decades now, and at one point Tsunade had been absent from the village for a number of years after the death of her lover. However, they were special cases and this was not something offered to every shinobi who was employed by the village.
"Is that really okay, Obito?" It was Kakashi who chose to ask this question.
Obito looked toward his long-time friend and nodded in affirmation. "Yes, though in the end I could have overruled them, everything had already been approved by the council." He said making Kushina widen her eyes as her husband was a valued member of that very council. "For instance, if one of you were to complete a mission in one of the minor countries and then hear some disturbing news or rumors regarding the actions of a major shinobi village in that area, you would be able to investigate that. These traveling rights are to be used when in regards to your position, they are not to be used for something like a paid vacation."
Naruto noticed Obito's gaze land on him as he said those last few words. 'Oi, why are you looking at me with those eyes? Is this about me leaving the village for an entire month before the Chūnin Exams? Or maybe because I always preferred doing things on my own and tend to go overboard...? Okay, I suppose that look is somewhat justified.'
"Oh and while we're on the topic of payment, I should inform you that you will be getting paid handsomely." Obito stated, addressing the entirety of the group once more. "The majority of the missions that will be assigned to you will range from B-rank to S-rank, so you shouldn't have any monetary issues for a while...Other than that, there isn't much else to say that you couldn't find in those files...So any questions?"
The length of the meeting was fairly long and covered quite a bit of information on a variety of different areas, so most were contented with processing the information they had already been handed. That and the new division was experimental, meaning that none had ever been a part of something like this before and, thus, were at a loss of exactly what more details they needed. Finally it was Naruto who spoke up.
"Yeah. Obito-sensei, you sounded like you wanted us to distinguish ourselves from the main forces, but how exactly do you want us to go about doing that? Do we get a uniform or something like that, or do you just want us to wear the standard hitai-ate...? Because I think I lost mine a while back actually..."
Obito rested his hand against his temples as if trying to hold back a headache. "I don't know why I would expect anything less..." Obito mumbled to himself with a deep sigh. "There is no standard uniform nor is a hitai-ate specifically required, but within the file that contains information about the Ōzokutokumu you'll immediately find a document with a large seal inscribed into it. Activating it will mark you in a way similar to which the ANBU are. As long as that mark is visible on your body, a uniform is not needed."
Obito looked around to see if there were any more requests for clarification, but it seemed that there were no more questions that needed to be answered. In fact, most seemed to either be lost in thought or eager to dive into their research. He took this as his time to leave them to their own devices.
"The only thing I have left to say is be careful and watch each other's backs." Those were the final words that Obito said before space started to distort around him, drawing his body into the spiraling void that was his right eye, marking the use of his signature space-time ninjutsu.
Naruto shifted his gaze from the now empty space towards the stack of thick files and groaned internally. Though he had to admit he was interested in what they contained, there must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of pages stacked in front of him.
'This might take a while.'
Naruto rubbed his eye as he placed the last sheet of paper in front of him. He didn't know how long he had been reading for, but several hours had to have passed at the very least. The others had opted only to have read the file pertaining to the Ōzokutokumu—as even that was enough information to take in for a single day—and had each gone to their respective homes to gather their belongings. Even Satsuki had returned to her room for a quick nap, complaining that having to read this much made her feel like the was in the academy again. He remembered that academics had always left her exhausted, which was most likely the case now as well.
The files that he had already read were stacked neatly off to the side, his eye focused solely on the single sheet of paper that was left in front of him. This was the document that Naruto had inquired about earlier that day. He supposed he should be thankful that this marking would be the only required part of the uniform. Having to wear matching outfits with the rest of the team didn't sound very appealing to him, after all.
His Sharingan eye instinctively analyzed the structure of the seal, neatly inscribed onto the otherwise blank piece of paper. It was far from the the most complex seal formula he had ever seen—in fact any amateur fūinjutsu practitioner could probably create the very same one in twenty minutes or so—however, it was showed great ingenuity. Within the design, a communication seal and a tracking seal were integrated, which was quite practical in regards to the nature of the division.
Naruto removed the glove on his right hand before rolling up his sleeve and unraveling the bandages that covered his hand and forearm. As the bandages fell to the floor, they revealed the pale white 'skin' of his prosthetic arm. He usually tended to cover up its existence as much as he could, as he didn't care for its appearance. Every time he looked at its pale toning, he couldn't help but associate it with the arm that Danzō possessed from the memories that Shisui had implanted into him. He supposed that he would have to get used to having it out in the open more often now.
"Still can't help but miss the feeling of an actual arm." Naruto mumbled to himself, opening and closing his prosthetic fist a few times. "Oh well. Gotta play the cards you're dealt."
As per the instructions that he had previously read, Naruto removed the glove from his left hand and bit down on his thumb hard enough to draw blood. He watched on in interest as the drops of blood from his hand landed on the seal and was absorbed by the ink. He let out just enough blood on the seal for it to change from the black color of the ink until it matched the color of the blood it absorbed, after which he let his regeneration close the wound. After covering his left hand with his glove once again, Naruto placed his right hand onto the seal and raised an eyebrow as the formula radiated outwards and jumped off the page. He watched on in surprise as the characters danced up his forearm until the settled into a place of their liking and shifted into another design altogether.
"That's certainly interesting..."
Naruto shifted his arm around in curiosity, inspecting every inch of his forearm as he felt the markings sear themselves into his 'skin'. The process was previously described as being incredibly painful, but Naruto didn't so much as flinch. He had suffered far worse. The tingling feeling in his forearm subsided, revealing crisscrossing, deep red tribal markings that wrapped themselves around his entire forearm. The markings were shaped into three diamonds stacked on top of each other with a smaller, solid diamond within each of the larger ones. The edges of the top and bottom diamonds on each side wrapped around and connected with the three diamonds on the other side, covering nearly the entirety of his forearm.
Naruto rubbed his hand over the marking, though as expected, it didn't smear or rub off in the slightest. Mixing blood with the ink was something that he had never seen before. The result of it being similar to that of chakra tattooing. It seemed that the blood would mix in with the ink and then bind itself to the host of that blood. Quite interesting, and the results couldn't replicated by those who had seen it since the consistency of red ink was vastly different from that of blood.
"Hm, back already?" Naruto questioned, looking over his shoulder. His eye was naturally drawn to her vibrant purple hair as it wasn't the most common of traits, before his Sharingan eye locked with her one chocolatey-brown ones. Her lips—adorned with a shade of bright red lipstick—shifted upwards in a small smile, upon noticing the moment of brief eye contact. Naruto, however, broke their gaze as he turned back towards the near barren table and covered his prosthetic hand with his glove once again. "I hadn't realized I had been reading long enough for someone to have returned already."
"They are quite something, aren't they? These marks I mean." Yūgao seemingly ignored Naruto's inquiry and shifted the line of conversation as she had noticed the young man admiring the design when she entered. "I don't know quite how to feel about them myself, to be honest. They are certainly unique, though I think the small and simple design of the ANBU tattoos are more to my liking."
Kneeling down to one knee, Naruto retrieved his discarded bandages before standing up once more and tossing them into the waste bin at the foot of one of the pillars that supported the structure. He then turned around to face the woman, noticing that her tattoo was located on her upper right arm, though it did look to be smaller than his own. "Well, I suppose I'm used to the idea of tattoos so nothing like that had even come to mind. Besides, my body is already pretty messed up. A few new marks here and there aren't really going to change much."
Yūgao smiled at the boy and closed the distance between them. "You've grown quite a bit since we last met. Though we haven't been properly introduced as of yet. Uzuki Yūgao, please call me Yūgao. It's a pleasure to meet you." With her introduction, Yūgao offered a small, polite bow.
"You already know my name. Portgas D. Naruto, though just call me Naruto." Naruto responded in kind with a small smile. "You know, I never did thank you."
"Thank me?"
"For watching over me when I was younger."
A brief expression of surprise washed over Yūgao's face before she regained her composure. "You...You knew?"
"Only after I had unlocked my chakra, I'm a sensor type. But I managed to start evading you by the time I was around eight since I had pretty good control of my chakra." Naruto answered with an amused shrug.
"I can't tell you how much trouble you caused me. Back then I was always assigned to guard duties and patrols by the ANBU Commander for always losing track of you." Yūgao let out a small sigh, though those smallest hints of a smile never left her face. "You really were such a pain back then. Though I do wish I could have watched how you grew up. I was reassigned to watch over Sandaime-sama's grandson, Konohamaru, not long after your ninth birthday."
Ah yes, he remembered now that Yūgao had stopped watching over him a few months after he turned nine. He was incredibly sad about that for a time, but it actually turned out to be a blessing. Had he still been constantly monitored by the ANBU, Shisui probably would have never taken him under his wing.
But still...
"Hehe, sorry about that Yūgao-san." Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I really didn't have many friends back then, so playing with the ANBU—even if they didn't know it—was one of the few things that made me feel like a normal kid. I remember having seen some kids in the park playing hide and seek one day and I wanted to try it out as well. That's when our little game of cat and mouse began."
The older of the two was silent for a moment as she thought back to her times watching over the boy. Though young man would be the more accurate word to describe him now as he several inches taller than her. She didn't quite know what to say as she was aware that his childhood was not something he was fond of. After what felt like minutes, she spoke up once again. "Yūgao."
"Huh?"
"I told you to just call me Yūgao. Though I am aware of your fondness for nicknames, so I shall allow you to do such if you wish." She noticed Naruto's utterly confused expression so she chose to elaborate further. "Despite having never been personally introduced until today, we have known each other for nearly a decade. I believe that makes us friends of sorts. As such, you have no need to address me so formally."
Naruto couldn't help but sweatdrop. He had dealt with a lot of people in his time, but never before had he met someone so unbelievably straightforward. He had no doubt that at this moment she was speaking whatever it was that immediately came to the forefront of her mind.
"Um, I guess that makes sense...in a very odd way, mind you..." Naruto could've sworn he saw her cheeks puff up a bit. Was...was she pouting? Choosing to ignore that, Naruto noticed the handful of sealing scrolls that were slightly sticking out of the thin pockets of her flak jacket. "Anyways Yūgao, you're back early since you already finished picking up your personal items, right?"
Her long purple hair swayed with her every movement as she nodded her head. "I just needed to clear out my living quarters at ANBU Headquarters. It was nothing more than a few sets of clothing, a few pictures, and a few personal items, so it didn't require very much time."
"You heading up to pick a room now then?"
"That is what I had intended."
"Good luck. The place is huge, so I'd recommend exploring it a little. Aside from the dozens of rooms, there's still plenty to check out. Me and Satsuki both have rooms on the top floor—she's actually probably sleeping up there right about now—other than that though, everywhere else is unoccupied." Naruto said, motioning to the large stairway that lead up to the living quarters. "I think I'll be heading out for a bit, now that I'm done with those files. There are some things that I need to pick up now that I'm back in the village."
"It was good seeing you again after so long." Yūgao spoke with a small smile.
"Yeah, same here." Naruto returned the gesture before moving to leave. He raised a hand over his shoulder in farewell. "I should be back by the time everyone else gets here, but if not tell them not to coming looking for me. At the very latest, I'll see you all at dinner."
Kushina stared across the pristine white room and at the hospital bed with seemingly apathetic eyes, more so at the man that occupied it than anything else. The man was wrapped from head to toe in medical bandages and lacked the long white mane that had become synonymous with his image, in its place was mop of shaggy white hair styled in a way that closely resembled her husband's. The picture painted before her differed greatly from that of the Gallant Jiraiya, or so he proclaimed himself to be.
"So Obito wasn't just exaggerating, huh?" Kushina mused to herself as she entered the hospital room. "I half-expected this to be like one of those excuses that he came up with as a genin whenever he turned up late, yet here we are."
Jiraiya's head turned away from the open window and the fluttering curtains, allowing his eyes to lock onto Kushina. "Oh, Kushina? You've come to visit me as well?"
"What the hell happened to you Jiraiya?" Kushina asked, making her way toward his bedside. She idly noted the original copy of Icha Icha Paradise next to the bed, though she couldn't imagine that it would be an enjoyable read with only one eye and his mouth left un-bandaged. Though she had witnessed Kakashi accomplish that feat more times than she would care to remember.
That was what she had come to find out. Well to be more precise, she had wanted to learn if her son had really progressed that much in such a short amount of time as she was against his involvement in Obito's little group as well. Really all she wanted was for her children to leave these kinds of matters alone, though Jiraiya laying in a hospital bed wrapped up like a mummy from one of those horror movies had already given her the answer she had originally wanted answered.
But that in itself rose more questions than answers. Like how Naruto had beaten Jiraiya to such an extent that the man needed an extended stay in a hospital with the best medical-nin in the Elemental Nations? Then again medical ninjutsu wasn't magic, the human body didn't heal so easily. It had been a shot in the dark that Kushina had been able to find Jiraiya without much effort. She had come to the hospital to question Tsunade about whether the man had already left the village to manage his spy network once again but, lo and behold, he was currently a patient of the hospital.
"Too many things Kushina." An exhausted, weary sigh escaped from Jiraiya. "I've had a lot of time to think since I woke up. A lot of time to think back on all those rookie mistakes that, at this point in time, I should have never made. And a lot of time to think of how much I've changed since the great shinobi wars came to pass."
"..."
"In these years of temporary peacetime I've grown rusty. My battle instincts have dulled to the point where not even sage mode was enough to match my strength all those years ago. I can't even remember the last time I've fought someone worthwhile. I can't believe how pathetic I've become..." Jiraiya stared up at the ceiling, his eyes holding no disappointment or bitterness. The only thing they reflected was reality, the truths that he had been neglecting to see for so many years now and he would not allow himself to close them again. "I underestimated him...I expected Naruto to be on the same level as that of his sisters. I was mistaken. He fought fast and hard, his fighting style refined to the point where not a single movement was wasted, and fought me as much mentally as he did physically, playing on my pride and perceived strength. That's what you wanted to hear, right? You wanted to know about him."
The redhead sighed at the explanation she received. This was both good news and bad news. Good because Naruto would be able to take care of himself and that she wouldn't need to worry about his well-being every time he left the village. Bad because if he was as strong as Jiraiya claimed him to be, then he would end up taking missions that veteran ANBU wouldn't touch with a ten-foot bo-staff.
"More or less..." Kushina mumbled as she absentmindedly toyed with a stray lock of her deep red hair. "You know about the new division that Obito put together don't you?"
Jiraiya nodded, turning his head back towards the only other occupant of the room. "I've been informed of the basics. Just enough so that we won't cause problems for each other if we happen to meet outside the village walls. Other than that, I don't know much. From what I got out of our conversation though, it's supposed to be some top secret stuff."
"That makes things easier then. Natsuki-chan, Narumi-chan, Naruto, and myself were all recruited by him for this. At first I did everything I could to lead my daughters in a different direction, but they were adamant in joining. And now that they've found out that their brother will be their as well, everything has all but been decided. You know how deep their...fascination—for lack of a better word—for him runs. But now I'm thinking that this may be a good opportunity to start rebuilding our relationship...I just don't know how to start going about that. Natsuki-chan and Narumi-chan already look to have wormed their way into his heart, even if only a little...but I don't think I'll have such an easy time."
Jiraiya remained silent, moving himself into a sitting upright position against the headboard of the bed.
"I want to know what Minato is thinking. I can't understand what's going through his head anymore, and you're the only one outside of family that he'd confide in or trust with that information. Even though you spent the last year training with Natsuki-chan and Narumi-chan, you've probably been in contact with him through the toad summons, am I correct?"
"..." Jiraiya shifted his gaze back towards the window, not uttering a single word. There was no reason for Kushina to be read in on what was going on behind the scenes. Though wouldn't it be better for her to know the truth from the start, rather than trying to find answers on her own and tipping off those under suspicion in the process? The woman may have been an excellent shinobi, though she was anything but subtle. The situation was incredibly delicate and just a single slip of information or a conversation that led to suspicious inquiries could send everything crashing down.
"Jiraiya, I need to know what's going on. What are the two of you keeping from me?" Kushina all but demanded.
In the end it seemed that he really didn't have a choice in the matter. Forming a single hand seal with his right hand, Jiraiya erected a transparent silencing barrier around them so that no unwanted ears would be privy to such sensitive information. This brand of particular jutsu was a personal favorite of his as it was incredibly useful in his trade of spycraft.
Information and secrets were the difference between life and death in his trade. Though he was about to break one of his own rules: Never reveal sensitive information to those who do not need to know of its existence, it will only lead to complications later on. A secret became less of a secret each time it was spoken aloud as even if there were no unwanted ears listening in, the person who one was briefing may not be as trustworthy or mindful as they are expected to be.
"Are you sure you ant to know? Once I tell you everything, you may never be able to look at some people you are quite familiar with in the same light." Jiraiya questioned, giving Kushina one last chance to back out. Honestly it would be best if she were to remain blissfully unaware of these particular suspicions. Either that or aware of all information and theory that was out on the table. The worst possible position was to have her sitting in the middle, where she was only aware of bits and pieces which forced her to come to an off-base conclusion on her own.
Kushina's violet eyes burned directly into Jiraiya's own black ones. She held no uncertainty or hesitance, wanting to hear nothing but the truth.
"Hm. Stubborn as ever I see." Jiraiya commented with a bit of good-natured humor—in his own opinion at least—knowing full well that everything would be rocky from there on out. "It's not as if we were keeping anything from you without reason. It's little more than speculation at this point in time, but it's enough suspicion to warrant drastic action...It's about Portgas D. Naruto, formerly Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. In other words, your son is under suspicion of high treason."
Kushina froze in place and her expression shifted into one of terror. Her mind drew a blank as she tried to comprehend what she had just heard. She admitted that she did not know her son as well as she would like to, really knowing nothing more than his base personality and tendencies—though even that knowledge was shattered completely earlier today when she witnessed her wayward son welcome his biological sisters into his arms and even wage a tickle war with her rather tomboyish daughter—though what she did know of him was that he was not capable of treason.
Naruto was a boy—no, that wasn't right. He was man who treasured his family more than anything else. He treated his former teammates and surrogate little sisters as if they were no less than princesses, showering them with words that should only be reserved for those who had the same blood running through their veins and spoiling them rotten. He was a man who was broken when the people he had spent his happiest days of childhood with were massacred and was shattered completely when his surrogate mother, Mikoto, had died right before his eyes.
Even though admitting all this to herself only solidified the fact that she had no place in her son's life, Kushina knew that he was not capable of something as heinous as high treason. While his heart had always been ice cold to her—nothing less than what she deserved—she had seen the warmth and happiness that radiated off of those whose lives he had touched. Especially on those special occasions when she had, by chance, witnessed him and all of those orphaned Uchiha children playing in the streets or starting a food fight in some restaurant before getting kicked out. Naruto just didn't have it in his heart to throw all of that away.
"Don't screw with me Jiraiya." Kushina threatened with unrestrained anger in her voice. She clenched her fists at her sides, doing her best to keep her voice even. "I want to know everything and if I don't get the truth from you, I'll get it from my husband."
Jiraiya looked directly at Kushina before closing his eyes and sighing lightly. This was another reason why he didn't want to explain anything to her, because it involved her son she would try to refute any sound evidence that they had. Though if she went to Minato for an answer, Jiraiya was sure that it would end in the worst case scenario. "I see talking with you is going to be difficult. I guess I can understand why. Some old man known to never take anything seriously suddenly starts making all these shocking accusations..."
Jiraiya opened his eyes once more and turned his head back towards Kushina. His grave expression displayed that he was in no way making light of the situation.
"But I assure you, I speak what I believe to be true. As I said before, as of now we have no concrete proof to support these accusations which is why we are merely keeping an eye on things for the time being, but the circumstantial evidence is undeniable." Jiraiya saw Kushina's eyes narrow at him. Surely carelessly throwing out words such as 'circumstantial' and 'speculation' would not convince a headstrong and stubborn woman like Kushina, especially when it was in regards to one of her children. To those who weren't 'in the know' it would most likely feel as though he was pulling information out of a magic hat. "I see you won't believe me easily. How about something simple to start off then? Do you know why Minato joined the village council? Do you know why he spends so much time traveling the village streets and at institutions like the academy and mission assignment desk?"
This line of questioning piqued Kushina's attention at the mere mention of Minato's near obsessive involvement with the village, especially politically, was enough to make her body go rigid.
"Did you think that there was no backlash from Nawaki's defection a year ago? No, it was especially bad since it was the presumed clan heir that defected. After that a full-scale investigation was launched with the aim to uncover any and all information that may be linked to treasonous intent, the target being your family. Of course, we had Minato's permission for this as he believed that no member of his family had anything to hide. You may ask who the 'we' in all of this is now that I think about it. Simply put, the new village council was at the head of all this, meaning myself, Tsunade, Minato, Obito, the various clan heads, and the ANBU Comander as he was in charge of the investigation. Even though Minato is now one of the Hokage's advisors, back then you had given him express written consent to represent the Uzumaki clan as you had no longer cared to deal with the political nature of the council due to your position as a jounin-sensei."
Kushina grit her teeth and her eyes narrowed dangerously. She had remembered transferring clan representation over to her husband in order to become her childrens' jounin-sensei since—aside from the Hokage since they may need to travel to other villages on occasion—council members needed to remain in the village at all times in case something were to come up. Having an active duty shinobi as a part of the council would only serve to delay important matters.
"It seems I've gotten myself a bit off track." Jiraiya noted, bringing his mind back onto the original line of discussion. "Anyways, you and Minato were cleared of suspicion almost immediately. The same could be said for the girls, though there was the minor issue of their curse marks...However, when Naruto was put under suspicion...some things just didn't add up. The deeper the investigative team dug, the messier things got and the more his actions came into question."
"Naruto and I have not been close for a number of years now, but I don't recall him doing anything that would garner this level of suspicion! You, yourself, said that you have nothing beyond speculation at this point! If his actions are so questionable then why are you doing all this sneaking around instead of confronting him?!" Kushina finally couldn't hold it in anymore. She had been waiting patiently to hear the reasoning behind her own son's future being put on the line like this, but all she was hearing was suspicion this or speculation that!
Jiraiya chuckled dryly at Kushina's outburst, causing her to narrow her eyes at him. "You make it sound like everyone's against him. That he's all alone in the world. That we've all but decided he's guilty and are just waiting on an execution date...Minato may not qualify for father of the year, but he's doing everything he can to protect his son. He accepted the position as one of Obito's advisors because an advisory position was held in higher opinion than that of a common clan head or councilor. It is also quite respected by shinobi and civilian alike, so it isn't as though he's disappeared from public sight after he stepped down as Hokage. He's been helping out at the academy in order to connect with the future generations of shinobi. He helps out with mission assignments so he's still a familiar face with the administration and the shinobi who come to receive their missions. He walks the streets as a common man to greet the working civilians every morning."
Jiraiya paused to calm himself down, he had began to start ranting there for a moment. He had never expected to become so impassioned when defending Naruto of all people, though he could maintain his dignity as he could simply pass it off as defending his apprentice's intentions.
"His each and every action is keeping him in the light of the public and earning both their favor and their trust. Because of that, they would be outraged if his son were to be convicted of treason just because the council couldn't explain some of his actions. Because Minato is such a prominent figure within the village, we need to be absolutely sure about everything, else the people may begin to lose faith in us and may even start to distrust us. He knows that he's been neglecting his own marriage in order to maintain his place in the spotlight and he doesn't expect you to fully understand his reasoning. He just wants to protect his family to the best of his ability, even if that means having to make some sacrifice in the process."
Kushina dumbly stood there with her eyes wide and her mouth agape. She didn't know whether to break down in tears, curse Minato's name in frustration, or to be outright furious. She was relieved that her husband wasn't spending as much time away from home simply because he wanted to, but she couldn't exactly say that she could forget about everything she went through this past year. Why did everyone feel the need to keep everything a secret from her?! She was a grown woman and a veteran shinobi, there was no need to keep things from her. Especially if it was in regards to her family.
"Of course, Minato isn't the only one on Naruto's side. Obito trusts the kid in the same way that I trust Minato, he sees a lot of himself in Naruto. Tsunade also wants everything to turn out alright for him, she did train him for a bit while he was still in the academy, you know?" Jiraiya looked away from Kushina at this point. "Hell, even I don't want to see the kid get caught up in all this. I may not like him much personally, but I don't want to watch as someone who may very well be innocent becomes a victim purely because of fear."
Jiraiya turned his head back towards Kushina once more, a thin frown crossing over his features. He was one of Obito's advisors along with Minato and Tsunade, so he knew better than anyone how delicate things were in the council right now. The world was on the brink or war meaning that every able-bodied shinobi needed to be doing their part, however, one of their most capable was suspected of treacherous intent. As for the evidence...
"Though we do have our own personal feelings on the matter, we can't simply discount the evidence. It is circumstantial evidence, however it is still far more than no evidence. And with the amount of circumstantial evidence piled up, clearing him of all charges as we did with the rest of the family is out of the question. Sure if it was something as small as having the cursed mark like your daughters did, overlooking it wouldn't be too difficult as they hadn't actively gone looking for it...but Naruto's situation is hardly that simple."
"Please just get to the point already! I'm tired of hearing you just allude to the existence of this so-called 'evidence'! My heart can't take it anymore, please just tell me already! I know that my baby couldn't have done whatever it is that you say it is, so stop trying to reason and rationalize with me!" Kushina had finally had enough of these long-winded explanations. She had been told right off the bat that her own flesh and blood was being investigated for treason, yet she had yet to receive an actual reason why! If she hadn't been an Uzumaki, she probably would have had several heart attacks by now.
Jiraiya sighed, knowing that he had indeed probably been unconsciously drawing out the explanation longer than necessary. It didn't help though that the woman was not exactly known for her extraordinary patience. "It's not like we've been suspicious of him from the very beginning, it's only natural to dig into a person's past when they're under investigation...His actions were only truly brought into questioning after the Uchiha Massacre..."
Jiraiya leaned back against the headboard of the hospital bed as he recalled the various instances that were brought into question by the investigative team and later presented to the reformed council.
"Naruto had always been rather close to the Uchiha clan—the main family in particular—so it was only natural that after the massacre, he take some time off to get away from things and learn to cope. However, after he returned to ordinary life at the academy is where the discrepancies begin. During his three years in the academy after that incident, Naruto only attended about half the time. Normally that would be a problem, but his instructors dismissed it since his grades and skill far surpassed that of the rest of the class. Had he attended the majority of the time, he would have been a shoo-in for the Rookie of the Year title. What we find odd is that for days—sometimes even a week—on end he would seemingly disappear off the face of the earth, only to reappear the following week at class. Some of the other students such as the Akamichi clan heir, the Inuzuka clan heir, and the Nara clan heir had a habit of constantly skipping out on class, however, we don't think the answer for Naruto's constant disappearing act is quite as simple."
Kushina frowned at the mention of this. Indeed she had listened to her daughters tell her many times that their estranged brother would skip out on class, but she didn't think it was to such an extent. Even she had to wonder just what it was that he was doing all that time.
"If you remember correctly, before graduation it was revealed that one of the instructors at the academy, Mizuki, was in fact a loyal follower of Orochimaru. The only reason we could gather as to why he would need eyes in the academy would be to monitor the progress of your children as we now know that the genes of an Uzumaki were what he had been after. However, he wasn't after just any Uzumaki, as we managed to retrieve evidence of him already having a female Uzumaki within his ranks from one of his abandoned hideouts. No, we believe that he was after someone who was both an Uzumaki and a jinchūriki. It would only make sense if immortality were his goal."
Kushina eyebrows furrowed in confusion before her eyes widened as a lightbulb seemingly lit up in her head. "You think that Naruto is working for Orochimaru, don't you? You think that this Mizuki brought him into Orochimaru's following and turned him against his own family." Though her words were phrased as a question, she already knew the answer and was only waiting for confirmation. The silence that she received was more than enough of an answer for her. "You can't be serious! He may never see us as a family because of what we put him through as a child, but he would never sell out his own flesh and blood! What possible reason would there be to all it?!"
If Jiraiya was affected by Kushina's outburst, he didn't outwardly show it. "Uchiha Itachi. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that Itachi may very well be Naruto's endgame, even if only to protect Satsuki from falling into a life of hatred and loneliness. Taking on the burden of vengeance so that surrogate little sister does not have to carry that weight on her shoulders. That sounds like something he would do."
"What does Itachi have to do with any of this? Even if all that was Naruto's plan, it seems redundant now that he knows that Itachi is a member of the Akatsuki and that they'll eventually come for the Kyuubi sealed inside of Natsuki-chan and Narumi-chan." Kushina questioned, though she didn't buy the whole revenge spiel. Yes, taking on the burden of revenge in place of Satsuki did sound like something that Naruto would do, but Satsuki didn't seem to have even thought of Itachi in years, save for when he was brought up when the Akatsuki was discussed after the Banaro Mission.
"I can't pretend to know everything that goes through his head. All I know is that when all the facts are pieced together like this, they begin to make a great deal of sense." Jiraiya sighed out. Personally, he believed that there was something they were overlooking, something that would lead to a vastly different conclusion and explain everything...but until they found that piece, he would be forced to go by what they currently knew. "You don't know this bit of information, but from my sources I learned that Orochimaru was once a member of the Akatsuki when Itachi first joined. After some time Orochimaru finally saw the chance to overtake Itachi's body with that soul transferring jutsu of his, however he didn't anticipate Itachi having long since surpassed his level of strength and was forced to flee from the organization following his defeat."
Kushina looked at Jiraiya in surprise. She was briefly aware of Itachi's feats as he was among the most talented that the village had ever produced. A natural prodigy in the shinobi arts, praised as the best of his generation. At the age of seven he graduated the academy at the top of his class, chūnin by the age of ten, at the age of eleven he was recruited into the ANBU division, and was promoted to ANBU captain by the time he was thirteen. However, to hear that someone surpassed a Sannin so early on in life was not something one heard everyday. The Sannin were all Kage-level shinobi who were personally trained by the Sandaime Hokage and known to be three of the strongest shinobi to have existed within the Elemental Nations. To hear that someone had surpassed their level was quite unsettling.
"While he did try to obtain Itachi's body in order to get his hands on the Sharingan, it wasn't for the reasons that I had originally thought. It is said that those who have fully mastered the Sharingan have the potential to tame even the Bijū. I had thought that he wanted those eyes to control one of the Bijū after it was extracted and recreate the event that cost Sarutobi-sensei his life nearly eighteen years ago, exacting his revenge on the village in the process. Though, judging from his more recent actions I have come to a much different conclusion. If that really was Orochimaru's plan and Naruto really was a spy for him, then wouldn't Orochimaru have had Naruto use his Sharingan on either Natsuki or Nawaki to release the Kyuubi during the Chūnin Exams? Naruto's match in the final tournament against Nawaki would have been a perfect opportunity, which is why I don't believe that to be Orochimaru's goal."
Kushina furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. A lot of Jiraiya's statements seemed to contradict each other. "Wouldn't that also prove that Naruto isn't associated with Orochimaru? I don't think he would have approved of Naruto nearly killing one of the people he had taken an interest in."
"One would think so, however, do you remember what happened after their battle in the final tournament?"
Kushina pondered that line of questioning for a moment. So much had happened in that short time and so much had followed that it was difficult to recall every particular instance that occurred during those exams. Not to mention the fact that over a year had passed since that time. She recalled the outcome of that particular battle though. Naruto had come out victorious and Nawaki had suffered severe burns from that final jutsu that would never fully heal, Uzumaki regeneration or not. That was one of the events that had led to Nawaki's fall from grace and his ultimate defection.
Perhaps that was what Jiraiya was referring to. No, that didn't feel quite right. To be more precise, there was a lot more that happened in the short time after that battle. Neither Natsuki and Satsuki nor Naruto and Hana's matches really felt important enough to have an impact in this particular line of questioning, so that left the invasion.
Kushina's eyes widened as her mind came across two particular events that seemed to have a direct correlation with the debriefing.
"Nawaki's half of the Kyuubi's chakra ripping itself out of its seal before with its other half inside Natsuki and Naruto's defeat of the Ichibi. That's what you mean, don't you Jiraiya?"
Jiraiya nodded in confirmation. "Don't you find it a little odd that only after their fight was the Kyuubi able to destroy Nawaki's seal and find its other half? Separating the yin and yang halves was a mistake from the get-go, a mistake that should never have been made. However, why did it take so long for them to reunite themselves? Why did the yang half go looking for the yin instead of the reverse? Then there's the fact that we don't really know went on in the forest between Naruto, Natsuki, and the Ichibi jinchūriki. Natsuki was somehow rendered unconscious by the Ichibi jinchūriki before he could release his Bijū, leaving us no witness account besides Naruto's."
Jiraiya absentmindedly ran a hand through his now short, white hair. As much as he wanted to trust the kid, the situation was undoubtedly suspicious and only became more confusing the more he went over it in his mind.
"Villages do whatever it takes to get their hands on a Bijū for a reason. They're forces of nature that are capable of wiping out entire villages with their immense power, Konoha nearly suffered that same fate on the day the Kyuubi broke free from your seal, Kushina. So I find it hard to believe, no matter how strong he had shown himself to be, that a lone boy was able to single-handedly defeat a Bijū, even if it was the weakest among them." Jiraiya said, making his point as clear as he could. It had taken him several times going over the information he had to come up with this conclusion and he had gone over it countless times since in an attempt to find some possible alternative. There were indeed a few, but none of them were nearly as plausible. "Unless of course he was capable of taming the beast and then dealt with it while it was weak and immobilized."
Kushina couldn't believe her ears. Was this man actually claiming that her son was capable of controlling a Bijū? She knew better than anyone that the Bijū were just masses of near endless chakra given shape. For her entire life she entered that mindscape of hers and received nothing but silence from that fox. They were beings that acted on instinct alone, any other time than that they were mindless creatures. "You're working off of the assumption that my son had already mastered the Sharingan at this point in time. A barely sixteen year-old boy when all this went down. You can't be serious can you, Jiraiya? Kakashi has had his Sharingan implanted for nearly two decades and he admits to being nowhere as skilled with it as a natural-born Uchiha. Hell, he even collapses from chakra exhaustion after using it for prolonged periods of time. What makes you think Naruto would be any different?"
Jiraiya let out a sigh, something he seemed to be doing a lot of today. He would like to get through at least one explanation without being sidetracked with refuting Kushina's claims. She didn't seem to fully accept that he was on Naruto's side as well, though he really didn't expect her to and it didn't exactly seem like it with the amount of accusations he appeared to be throwing in the boy's direction.
"There is much that we still do not know about the Sharingan. However, there was something that Tsunade told me long ago during the Second Shinobi World War before we were named Sannin by Hanzō. From reading her grandfather, Shodaime-sama's, journals, she learned much about his history with Uchiha Madara and even more about the countless times that they had fought each other. It truly is a miracle that such writings have lasted as long as they have, especially since nearly no documentation of the era of warring states exists today." Jiraiya reminisced, as a writer he possessed a vastly different view of written text than that of an everyday shinobi. "She spoke of an evolution to the Sharingan that allowed Madara to far surpass that of his fellow clansmen and set him on par with her grandfather, even allowing him to surpass Shodaim-sama in some aspects. Something that Madara called the Mangekyō Sharingan...I've noticed at times that Obito's Sharingan takes on a different appearance than that of the standard Sharingan seal. I've asked him about it before, but he believed it to be a blessing if the information were to die with him and no one were to ever awaken those eyes again, so I never received a confirmation from him. I believe that to be the Mangekyō Sharingan and what allows him to use that unique space-time ninjutsu of his as it seems to originate from the center of his eyes. I don't know whether Naruto is in possession of these eyes or not, but if he is then he certainly has the aptitude to control one of the Bijū."
He did not know much about this rumored Mangekyō Sharingan. According to Tsunade, not much about it made sense within the journal either as it was written in a very cryptic style that he was quite familiar with as he had been on the receiving end of those prophecies from the Great Toad Sage. Only an Uchiha would probably be able to understand what that writing really meant as it would be out of context for anyone else.
One thing he did know, however, was that such eyes were dangerous and that even an Uchiha like Obito was aware of such dangers. Though the fact that he did not truly know what these eyes were capable of was proof that very few Uchiha had every reached that evolution.
"Whether he has these eyes or not, the fact is that Nawaki's seal only started acting up after his battle with Naruto. That Naruto was with Natsuki when the fusion of yin and yang halves took place, and that he was capable of subduing and defeating a Bijū in a very small window of time." Jiraiya counted up the facts that he had presented for the chūnin exam period in a serious tone. "These facts alone are enough to garner suspicion and this was all in the course of a single day. However, there is a bit more...While much harder to prove, we believe that Naruto may be responsible for Nawaki's mental deterioration and eventual defection."
Kushina blinked. She heard the words that Jiraiya had spoken—quite clearly in fact—her brain just couldn't seem to process them. Naruto responsible for Nawaki's mental instability and defection to Orochimaru? It took her a minute to come to an understanding with these words.
"WHAT!? Jiraiya I've tolerated these accusations so far just to get a better understanding of what you think my son did!" Kushina yelled, throwing all previous restraint out the window and letting out her pure, raw, and unadulterated emotions. "But I draw the line at you blaming Nawaki's mental state at him! And how could Naruto be responsible for his defection?! He was in a damn coma for Kami's sake! He didn't even regain consciousness until everything was long over!"
Jiraiya, to his credit, didn't so much as flinch from the overwhelming amount of rage that was being directed at him. He was well aware that this was the part where he would lose Kushina. That was why he had wanted to explain it last, so he could have at least some grounds to his claim. "Kushina, I know this isn't something you want to hear, but know that I'm not just sitting here telling you whatever comes to the top of my head at any given moment. And know that I'm not solely the one who came up with these conclusions, I'm just the one relaying them to you so that you aren't left in the dark. Hell, I've spent more time trying to come up with theories to counter these conclusions than to help the investigation!"
"..." Kushina bit her lower lip so hard that she drew blood, the same could be said for the clenched fists at her sides. She reigned in her anger as she listened to Jiraiya's pleas. In truth, her anger was not directed directly at him, but at the entire situation surrounding her son. It pained her to think of him right now. He was probably leisurely going about his everyday activities, not aware in the slightest at how everything around him could come crashing down at any given moment. The one thing that she could do right now for her son was find out just how deep these misconstrued conspiracy theories ran.
"While Nawaki had been a bit arrogant and hated losing to anyone, he had never showed these traits to such extremes that they made those around him question his mental state. Those traits would seem natural to someone with his upbringing. If that is taken into account, then his mental deterioration would make sense after such a devastating defeat and the loss of what gave him an edge over everyone else, the Kyuubi. Then take into account the fact that the one sibling who hadn't housed a portion of the Kyuubi from birth was pretty much thrown to the side for the sake of the others. With that and so many other factors weighing on his mind, an understanding of his mentality at the time becomes quite clear."
"Then why—" Kushina began to say before she was interrupted by Jiraiya.
"Or at least that's what we were meant to think." Jiraiya interjected, continuing his line of thought not wanting to sidetracked by Kushina's questioning yet again. "Remember that I mentioned earlier that I didn't think the complete destruction of Konoha was Orochimaru's goal? He had all the resources for a complete invasion. He had all of Sunagakure on his side, possessed the means to reanimate the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage as well as the Nidaime Mizukage, all of Otogakure who were most likely disposable to him, and even had a mentally unstable jinchūriki who was capable of releasing his Bijū...So what reason did he have to retreat? Sure we had managed to infiltrate his barrier, but he and the Yondaime Kazekage had yet to even get involved in the fight. Orochimaru isn't the type to retreat as soon as reinforcements arrive—in fact he's incredibly meticulous in his planning and had most likely been expecting such—so why did he fall back so suddenly?"
Kushina perked up at the mention of that particular fact. She, too, had found it odd that Orochimaru and the Kazekage had retreated without much struggle, but hadn't put much thought into it until now. The fallout of the invasion was so grand in scale that she hadn't wondered why Orochimaru hadn't caused more trouble.
"The only reason I can think of is that the invasion was never his endgame, it was only a distraction." Jiraiya muttered darkly. He clenched his fists in frustration at how, once again, Orochimaru had been one step ahead of them. "In the midst of all the chaos, his plans were able to come into fruition as the perfect host for his soul transference ritual was created in the form of Nawaki. While I said earlier that Orochimaru was after a host who was both an Uzumaki and a Jinchūriki, reality seems to counteract that doesn't it?"
"No, not exactly." Kushina refuted with a shake of her head, her crimson hair swaying with her every movement. "Even though I haven't been a jinchūriki for nearly eighteen years, I'm still able to access nearly all of the abilities that I received when I became one because the seal so deeply intertwined our chakras. Actually, I've transcended that in a way since I'm able to use all of those abilities freely without the side effect losing myself to my own negative emotions or the Kyuubi trying to take over my body."
Jiraiya smirked lifelessly at Kushina's unknowing affirmation. "I believe that same process is what Orochimaru is trying to recreate. We recovered files on Yakushi Kabuto from Danzō's abandoned ROOT base. Apparently, the boy was an accomplished spy had become too dangerous an asset that was set to be assassinated before being taken in by Orochimaru as his right hand. From the little knowledge we received from Orochimaru and the reports from Naruto's team during the Chūnin Exams, Naruto's team met up with Kabuto's within the Forest of Death and killed them as supported by the other members of the former Team 11. However, we do know that the members of each team were separated and forced to fight one-on-one to the death. We believe that during this time, Kabuto relayed Orochimaru's orders to Naruto before Naruto killed Kabuto for the same reasons that the boy was set to be killed by Danzō. That and it would be suspicious to the rest of his team if Naruto let him live due to his past track record."
Kushina eyed Jiraiya uncertainly. "So you have no alternative where Naruto isn't a spy for Orochimaru...and one of the reasons for this is because he was the only member of the family who wasn't marked by Orochimaru, even though his brother and sisters were?"
"There's also the fact that the Kazekage's siblings—more specifically the Suna jinchūriki—seemed to already be familiar with Naruto. From the witness accounts that we have from your other children as well as Haruno Sakura, the boy actually seemed to be incredibly scared of him. A stark contrast from the demeanor that he displayed toward all others he came into contact with. The only way that he could have previously encountered them would be if he had met them after their arrival in Konoha but before that particular instance, if his team had encountered them on a mission, or if he had been to Suna on his own time before. And with the first two options having direct opposition to them, the last seems the most likely, especially when counting his frequent disappearances during his time at the academy. They would have also had to have encountered each other on more than a single occasion to instill that kind of fear into the boy, especially since he was a jinchūriki."
Kushina narrowed her eyes at that. She did in fact recall hearing her daughters tell her about that particular meeting with their brother and the Suna jinchūriki, though they hadn't known that to be his identity at the time. However, Jiraiya's argument was a little out there as it meant that Naruto would have had to sneak out of and back into the village every few days. The foundation that these suspicions were built on felt rocky at best.
"You might still be questioning what would make Nawaki a perfect host in Orochimaru's quest for immortality and why he would go in such a roundabout way of doing things, but when looking at facts and potential it's not all that complex." Jiraiya added in, making his way back to the point that he had previously been on. "What makes the Kyuubi's chakra unique compared to that of the other Bijū? You should know the answer better than anyone, Kushina...What makes the Kyuubi's chakra special is the near absolute regenerative abilities that it grants to it's jinchūriki. I think you can see why Orochimaru would be interested in this ability alone...If truly mastered, the user can control their vitality at will, making it seem as if they never grow old due to the renewal of their cells. Add onto that his own Uzumaki DNA and with that a body strong enough to support sage mode as well as constant human experimentation."
Kushina looked down at her hand to see that where she had drawn blood earlier had long since regenerated. Her Uzumaki body naturally regenerated any wound that she may suffer, and having her own chakra fused with a portion of the Kyuubi's within her heightened that ability to the extremes. She was aware of what Jiraiya was speaking of, but had decided to never meddle with that particular ability. She had decided early on that she wanted to live normally with her husband, grow old together, and eventually pass on together. Mito-sama had lived the same way before her and cemented that decision by passing the Kyuubi onto her. Though, Kushina knew that not all people would make that same decision if given the opportunity.
"Orochimaru knew though that gaining such control over the Kyuubi's actual abilities with it still residing within Nawaki's body would be next to impossible. He didn't want the beast, just it's chakra. For that reason he had Naruto, sometime during his fight with Nawaki, put the Kyuubi under his control and give it the order to break through the seal after a set amount of time, more specifically after the invasion began. Seals aren't so easy to break though—even for a beast as strong as the Kyuubi—and to deal with that, after defeating the Ichibi jinchūriki, he placed the Kyuubi within Natsuki under his control as well in order to have it draw its other half into her...As for the reason he chose to reseal the other half into her, I do not know and neither does she as she was unconscious during the entire ordeal."
"And what about him causing Nawaki's mental instability?" Kushina asked, though she didn't believe for a second that Naruto had truly done any of this. The explanations for Orochimaru wanting Nawaki as his next vessel indeed made sense, no matter how much it disgusted her. However, she just couldn't picture Naruto behind these things. She had already learned her lesson to remain unbiased even if her own children were involved, but even so she couldn't see Naruto as the one responsible for these developments. Even though things added up, they also didn't. "How could he have been responsible for that if he was in a comatose state?"
Jiraiya's eyebrows scrunched together at the mention of Kushina's counter argument. "Well...as I said before this bit is a bit harder to come to a decisive conclusion on, but it has been theorized that he could have done this in the same window of time that he used to take control of the Kyuubi. It's hard to tell since it was done with the Sharingan, but he's shown to be proficient enough with that eye to even put someone of my caliber in a powerful web of genjutsu without even realizing it until he wanted me to. Had I not entered sage mode, who knows how long I would have been stuck within those illusions...Doing something like sowing the seeds of doubt into a person's mind would be child's play for him."
"Why...?" Kushina whispered out, her voice barely audible. "You've given me all these reasons and explanations of how he's committed...these treasonous crimes, but you've just barely gotten into the why. What reason was there for him to become Orochimaru's spy? He's doing all this for Satsuki's sake? I've seen the kind of person he can be and how much he cares for the people around him...but isn't so kind-hearted a person that he would throw his own life away on the off-chance that Satsuki might want revenge on Itachi! For someone who is as smart as Naruto is, would he really do all this knowing that the consequence would be imprisonment and execution? Especially knowing that Satsuki would be even worse off after that...? So I ask again, why?"
Jiraiya was silent for a moment. The reason that he hadn't wanted to reveal this bit of information was because it was based solely upon a rumor. A rumor that fit quite well into the timeline, but a rumor nonetheless. He sighed before opening his mouth to speak. "Nearly a decade ago there was a rumor circulating around the ANBU division that Itachi had taken on a student, unofficially of course. It was all but forgotten until recently, however, one of the members in the ANBU investigative squad recalled this particular rumor and found that it fit rather well with the information we have on Naruto's relationship with the Uchiha...The time that this rumor started was the same time that Naruto's presence became more common in the Uchiha district and around the time that Naruto could be seen walking the streets with Uchiha Satsuki. And as he was close with Satsuki, it would only make sense that Naruto would be familiar with the brother as well. Thus came the speculation that Naruto was, in fact, the student that Itachi was rumored to have taken on."
Kushina's eyes widened a bit at that statement. However, Jiraiya paid no attention to her reaction and continued on with his explanation.
"Should that rumor be taken into account, then Naruto's motivations begin to make a bit more sense. He had become Orochimaru's spy in exchange for information about Itachi as Orochimaru seems to be keeping tabs on his old organization, so it would make sense for him to have more information on Itachi and the Akatsuki's movements." Jiraiya tilted his head so that he was now looking out the open window. It seemed they had been talking longer than he had thought. "It also gives Naruto a reason to go after Itachi for his own sake, rather than solely Satsuki's. Though, after Mikoto's death I wouldn't be surprised if he were after the Akatsuki as a whole now."
He didn't know much about the past between Naruto, Satsuki, and Itachi, but he figured it would be similar to the one shared between Anko and Orochimaru. Neither Naruto nor Satsuki seem to actively have an 'avenger; mentality and seem content with living their everyday lives, but there are doubt feelings of resentment and outright hatred underneath that exterior.
"Wait, when did all of this even take place? You were on a training trip with Natsuki-chan and Narumi-chan this past year and Naruto couldn't have left more than a little over a week after Nawaki's defection...That window of time seems too short for a full-scale investigation to take place." Kushina asked. It was something that just came to mind, but if all this was called into question within that period of a week, Naruto would have definitely been imprisoned for the mere suspicion of all this. And it seemed like all this information came from reports, witness accounts, and theories, rather than interrogation or something of that nature.
"There was a ten day window of time between Nawaki defecting the village and the day of departure for the training trip. It had taken about a week, but in that time you, Minato, and the girls were cleared of any suspicious action. Think about that, it took only around a week for the investigative team to dig through your entire lives and turn them upside down. It was on the eighth day of investigation that Naruto's files were then opened up and that's where things got messy."
Kushina listened intently and motioned for him to continue.
"The minute the slightest piece of information out of place was found, the Akimichi, Inuzuka, and Hyūga clan heads were calling for him to be brought in. They were biased in that account as all three clans had members who nearly died on the mission to retrieve Nawaki, two of them being clan heirs. However, once things kept escalating and discrepancies kept piling up, we knew what we had to do. Minato, Obito, and I had discussed sending Narumi and Natsuki on a training trip at the end of the month, but moved it up to the tenth day of the investigation and added in Naruto and Satsuki so they could get out of the village while the investigation was going on."
Kushina grit her teeth in frustration. So they were keeping this from her even back then? She recalled that conversation over a year ago regarding the training trip and found not a word or facial expression to be out of place. Wait! Then why did Obito allow those two to go off on their own?
"I think I know what's going through your head right now, so try not to worry about it too much now. Everything is already said and done." Jiraiya commented offhandedly after seeing the myriad of expressions that crossed Kushina's face. "Obito explained to Minato and myself that Naruto and Satsuki were both in possession of a summoning contract and that they would be training alone there. It actually explains a lot, like why he refused to sign the toad contract. I wasn't too adverse to the idea as I had done the same thing when I was younger. Just so long as they remained unaware of the suspicion they had been placed under...well, mainly Naruto."
"I see..." Kushina muttered. "And what about now...? What is the council going to do about Naruto as of now?"
"I explained most of it earlier, so I don't see the need to go into any more detail than I already have." Jiraiya mentioned, though it must have been hours since they started this discussion. "As of now, we are only keeping an eye on him...We don't have any conclusive proof, only speculation at this point, so everything is left up to the Hokage and Obito trusts the kid. He's working with some of our most trusted shinobi now as well, isn't he? We trust you to do what is necessary if he should do something like kill one of his teammates, though I don't really see that happening."
"So what do you expect me to do now that I've been read into this investigation of yours? Are you expecting me to turn on my own son just because of something that may or may not have happened?" Kushina crossed her arms over her chest as she stared down at Jiraiya.
"No, I don't expect you to do anything. Just keep an eye on him will you? I don't want to see this end with an execution."
The moon was as brilliant as ever. Its luminescent light shone down on him as he sat atop the Hokage Monument, overlooking the village. Dinner had long since passed and by all means he should be in bed at this point, especially since the very next day was when the Ōzokutokumu would officially begin operations. However, he had learned long ago that on nights where the night sky was illuminated by a full moon he would become rather restless. He supposed it shouldn't surprise him any longer, but it had been so long since he had seen the terrestrial body in all its glory.
Naruto kicked his feet back and forth as they hung over the edge of the cliff face in a way similar to that of a child on a swing set. He smiled brightly as he let out a relaxed sigh, inhaling in a deep breath of the cool night air only a moment later.
It had been a good day. He had woken up with his little sister in his arms, gone out shopping for a bit with said little sister, gotten reunited with his childhood bodyguard, played around a bit with Natsuki and Narumi, and finished the day with a nice relaxing dinner. There were a few little details in between each event, but those were the things that made the day feel like it was worth waking up in the morning.
Naruto felt the familiar feeling stirring inside him as his partner finally decided to come out and play. It was an odd sensation, only comparable to that of losing your shadow or having your soul divided into two separate beings. If he had to describe how this process worked to an outsider—as he would eventually get to doing with Satsuki—he'd probably just end up explaining how the Rinbo: Hengoku (Limbo: Border Jail) worked with a few minor adjustments as they were near identical processes.
He felt her form emerge from his back and hover behind him in the air for a moment. Only for that single moment though, as the very next he felt her rest her body against his back and wrap her arms around his neck. He shivered a little as he felt her silky long hair gloss over his exposed neck area when she rested her head on his shoulder. Though he didn't look it, he was quite ticklish. That was why he knew the exact spots to hit when doing the same with Narumi hours earlier.
"Morning Naru-chan⁓" He heard her yawn out. Seriously, even after being partners for nearly three years her sleeping habits hadn't changed in the slightest. Sometimes he found it hard to believe that she was several millennia older than him. Scratch that, it was definitely most of the time.
"It's nearly midnight, you can hardly call that morning." Naruto lightly argued back. "Though since you've been asleep nearly most of the day, I'll humor you. Good morning Kaguya-hime, lovely weather we're having aren't we?"
"Naru-chan⁓" He was still gazing out at the village skyline, but if he were looking at his partner he was sure he would have seen her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel's as she pouted like a small child that she most certainly was not. Her pouting face couldn't pull at his heartstrings the way Satsuki's could. "Our bodies and souls are one, I have devoted myself to you and become your eternal ally, and will never leave you. Until our dying breath—which may very well never come to pass—we'll be partners. Even if everyone else is dead or turned their backs on you, even if you burn down the world, even if you become the enemy of the world, we'll always be by each other's side...So why do you still refuse to call me Kaa-chan?!"
"You're still going on about that? It's been nearly three years since we first started this conversation, will you ever get over it?"
"I'm immortal, three years is nothing for me." Kaguya stated proudly. "And I'm known to be very strong-willed."
"Well you were the princess forced to watch the world from her prison in the moon until I came along. A damsel with no other option than to wait patiently for her knight in shining armor to come along and rescue her. Therefore Kaguya-hime fits you quite nicely, courtesy of your prince."
"Hmph. Fine." Kaguya huffed, withdrawing from Naruto's back and crossing her arms over her chest. "I shall concede and allow you to call me Ka-chan. It is short for Kaguya."
"You idiot." Naruto reached over to her and bopped her on the top of the head, though he made sure to avoid her horns. "That's literally the same thing. All you did was take an '-a' off of the end."
Naruto sighed before a light smile took over his face. Though she genuinely good natured and caring woman, she was actually quite mischievous and lighthearted. Honestly, she was probably the primary reason for his drastic shift in personality.
"Uuuu Naru-chan hit Kaa-chan⁓" She whined, rubbing her head slightly before latching back onto Naruto. "For the record, I wasn't sleeping the whole day. Cat naps Naru-chan, cat naps. I slept for all the boring parts, but I was playing close attention to all the important developments."
"For some reason I don't think you're talking about the division briefing. I can feel that smirk of yours without even looking at you."
"I know you were enjoying yourself when you were feeling up that blonde earlier today. Narumi, was it? Yeah, you were having quite the time with little Narumi-chan. Your fingers trailing down her body as if playing the finest instrument, those hands of yours lingering for longer than they should, that melodic laughter of hers as she felt your magic fingers." Kaguya gave Naruto a mega-watt smirk as his Sharingan eye bore into her Byakugan ones. "You know what they say, incest is wincest."
"Stupid rabbit." Naruto muttered under his breath, though that serene smile never left his face. These were what the days should feel like. Spending the precious time that you have together with those you love, making amends with those that you once hated with all your heart, wasting the day away as if nothing in the world mattered. Though, he was no fool. He knew these days of peace would never last, no matter how much he wished them so.
Chapter End
We had lots going on this chapter, with a lot of the dialogue and information revealed tying back into chapters that you all have probably longs since forgotten about. I'd be lying if I said I had this planned since I wrote those very first chapters, but it fits really well since this suspicion ties in really well with something that I had previously planned a bit further down the road.
It's currently 3:28 here on the west coast as these final words are written and I can honestly say that I have never felt so good after getting a chapter done. This past weekend (and Monday) I've had to have written almost 12,000 words of this chapter, something that I never plan to do in such a short amount of time ever again. My room is littered with empty cans of Baja Mountain Dew, finished cups of coffee, and I honestly feel like passing out. I really should have used my time more wisely.
A lot of you are probably thinking: why did you cram everything into one weekend when you haven't updated in over a month? I honestly have no excuse besides I've gotten real sidetracked. Especially with so many new ideas coming into my head for other stories, it's been a struggle getting myself to the computer and getting inspiration for this story. For that reason I do plan on starting some of these other stories because they are just constantly in my head and gaining inspiration rather than this one.
So if any of you are interested in these other stories that I will be getting into, make sure to keep an eye out for them.
As always, PM me if you feel the need to and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.