Chapter 25

Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head as his mother finished a set of hand signs. "Water Style: Thousand Needle Attack!"

Needles of water formed out of nowhere above Meara's head and flew toward the thirty or so men that were attacking them. Scared out of their minds, they jumped backwards, trying to avoid the projectiles. The needles dissolved seconds before hitting the men. Brows knit in confusion, the band looked around, wondering where the next attack would come from.

Already into her next jutsu, Meara shouted, "Now, Tama!"

On the other side of the attackers, Tama stood charging her fist with chakra. Naruto stared. Was this his sister? The Tama he'd come to know was a regular teenage girl, but this Tama was someone he didn't know. Her green eyes were cold and hard; her jaw was set firm and unrelenting. She was a statue of ice and power. Never had he seen her as a ninja, but now he couldn't help it. His jaw hit the dirt as, in a move Naruto had seen before, the blonde woman slammed her fist into the ground. The chakra she'd collected spread throughout the ground, but instead of creating a crater like Tsunade or Sakura would, Tama manipulated her chakra so that the ground broke into pebble-sized chunks.

The second that happened, Meara finished her jutsu. If Tama had been ice, Meara was fire. Her eyes were blazing hot and fierce, her lips were drawn back into a feral snarl. Blue chakra and green Areah Broah swirled around her, sending her hair and any loose clothing flying as if in a strong wind.

In a voice reverberating with fury and power, she bellowed, "Uzumaki Style: Trapping Earth Vortex!"

She slammed both hands into the ground.

Naruto felt Kenji grab tight onto his arm as the ground beneath them shook. The little pebbles that Tama had created began to spin around the men, turning to dust and sucking the attackers down. The men howled and tried to claw their way out. Most could find no leverage in the spinning earth and continued to sink. The few on the edges scrambled up, but could not stand on the shaking ground.

When the trapped men were chest-deep in the ground, it stopped swirling around them and solidified. The ground was like quicksand, as much as they tried, they couldn't find any purchase to pull themselves up. The few on the edges tried to run away once the shaking stopped, but again, Naruto was surprised by his mother.

"You think you're getting away?" The woman Body-Flickered in front of them. The men who remained on their feet whimpered and tried to back away or get around her. She let none escape.

"Don't!" Meara crashed her fist into one man's face, sending him careening into two of his comrades. One of them got up and charged toward her, but she dropped into a crouch and brought her right leg straight up, catching him in the jaw.

"You!"He went flying up into the air and came down hard, but before he'd even begun to come down, Meara was on the move again.

"Ever!"She punched a man in the gut then kneed his face with her right kneecap when he doubled over. A man came up behind her and she shot her crooked leg back, sending her heel into his solar plexus.

"Hurt!" The Hokage's wife twisted, planting her hands on the ground and swinging her left leg up to kick his jaw and send him to unconsciousness. There was only one left and he was shaking in fear. Meara created a shadow clone.

"My!" The clone charged forward and slammed her fist into his gut, bending him in half. The original ran forward and, using the clone as a platform, launched herself high into the air. As she came down, she brought her right leg up.

"Children!"Her leg came down hard on the final man's back. With a pained cry, his face was shoved into the dirt, blood and teeth falling out of his mouth. He held onto consciousness for a moment before slumping over with a moan.

Naruto stared at his mother, eyes wide and jaw open. Meara stood, hands still clenched, hair falling in her face. She looked around and, seeing all of her opponents down and out, turned to her children. "Naruto!" she screamed.

He blinked. "Huh?"

"Don't just sit there like a moron! Find Raidon!" she shouted.

The name snapped Naruto out of his stupor and the sight of his brother's short body being hit with kunai flashed before his eyes. He began to search the underbrush in the general direction that Raidon had been thrown. Images of blond hair stained with blood ran through his head and bile rose in his throat. Naruto forced it down and focused on finding Raidon.

After an eternity of looking, Naruto spotted something yellow behind a bush. "Raidon!"

He dove forward, brambles digging into his skin and rocks scraping through his pants. He finally reached the small boy, covered in kunais. Don't move him. If he's hurt, don't move him.

Naruto knocked the stray weapons away and gently pulled down the collar of the coat, which was covering all but the tips of his hair. The bright hair was clean and Naruto tried to get a pulse with shaking hands. When he finally felt the steady beat beneath his fingers, the elder blond nearly fell apart with relief. "Thank god. He's alive!" he called to his family.

Kenji came crashing to him through the bushes. His face was unusually pale and he looked infinitely younger with his blue eyes huge and terrified. His lower lip trembled, but Kenji bit down hard and controlled it. Naruto turned his attention back to his youngest brother. He carefully began to peel the coat down, checking his body for any injuries. Relief and amazement grew as he discovered not a scratch on the little boy.

"What?" he whispered. "How?"

Naruto pulled the brown coat completely off Raidon, throwing it to the side. With a sigh of relief, he scooped the boy up and ran back to the clearing. Meara finished tying up the attackers and sprinted toward the two. Tama joined her a minute later and the two medics checked him out.

Kenji stepped into the clearing and held the coat in front of them. There were a few kunai caught in the fabric and some holes where the kunais had already fallen out. He swallowed hard and showed them the protective spell that had been embroidered on the hem. The thread was glowing green, but it began to fade as the weapons were removed from the coat.

"The coat protected him?" Naruto asked.

Kenji simply nodded, plucking the last of the blades from where they'd gotten caught in the weave. "The spell."

"Then why is he knocked out?" Naruto asked. "If the spell protected him, then, why?"

"It only stopped the blades from cutting him," Meara explained. "The coat blunted the weapons, but they still hit him." She pulled up his shirt and showed the bruises from the impact.

"So some hit his head," Tama murmured. She ran her hands over his head. "He doesn't have a concussion."

Meara breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god."

She gathered him into his arms for a moment, closing her eyes and kissing his forehead. "Alright, Tama and Kenji, take Raidon down the road for a little while," she ordered. "Heal his wounds and wait there for Naruto and me."

Tama nodded and picked Raidon out of her mother's arms. She and Kenji stood and began to walk down the road, casting glances over their shoulders.

"Mom, what are we going to do?" Naruto asked when they were out of earshot.

"What do you think?" she snapped, rolling up her sleeves. "We're going to take care of them."

The conscious men shook slightly as the blonde woman stalked to them. "Talk."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked over the captured men. None of them wore headbands at all, and their kunai and shuriken were old and rusted. Naruto realized that not even a single counter jutsu had been attempted. Finally, the men were actually whimpering in fear as no ninja worth his salt would and Naruto came to a conclusion. "Hold on, are you guys even ninjas?"

One of the men trapped in the ground shook his head. "No, no we're not. W-will you let us go now?"

"Let you GO?!" Naruto and Meara shouted at the same time.

Enraged, Meara grabbed the front of the man's shirt and dragged him out of the ground. "Like Hell!" She drew her fist back and channeled chakra into it. One punch sent the idiot smashing through several trees and Naruto was pretty sure he heard a bone or two snap.

Taking a deep breath to calm down, Meara stepped up to another one. "If you're not ninjas, what are you?"

"B-b-bandits," the man whispered. He chewed on his lip hard enough to draw blood and closed his eyes. "We, uh, we surrender."

"You don't surrender after you've already been beaten, idiot," Naruto snapped, resisting the urge to kick him in the head. I guess I'm not low enough to beat a man who can't fight back.

"What group, then?" Meara demanded. "I know there are many bandit groups running around these woods."

Another man piped up. "We won't tell you."

The one who'd confessed to being a bandit shouted back at him. "Don't be stupid! You saw what she can do!"

"It doesn't matter," Meara interrupted. "We'll get a reward for you morons no matter what. Just tell me, are there any more of you in these woods?"

Confessor swallowed and chewed his lip again. "No, we run the place. From the mountains to the river is our territory," he answered.

Meara grabbed his chin and forced him to look her in the eye. "Is this your whole band?"

The man nodded feverishly and after considering him a moment, Meara let his chin go. "Fine. Naruto, there's a town about an hour east of here. Take your sister and brothers there and send the local authorities out here," she ordered.

"But what about you, Mom?" he asked.

Meara sighed and grabbed his chin. "Do you really think I need protection from thugs?"

Naruto pursed his lips. "Nope. But I think Dad would kill me if I left you here alone."

"And I'd kill you if you let your siblings go there alone," she replied. "Tama will be exhausted from the fight and the healing, her chakra reserves aren't that high. Kenji is still too young to defend anyone properly and Raidon is injured."

Naruto saw her reasoning, but it still didn't sit well with him. "I'll leave two clones here," he compromised. "So that if you need help, one'll dissipate and let me know and the other will fight with you."

Meara smiled. "Deal."

A moment later, two shadow clones of Naruto appeared and sat down on opposite ends of the clearing, keeping an eye out in all directions. Naruto himself hurried down the path his siblings had taken to where they gathered, sitting on the ground. Kenji stood up as he came.

"Well, what did they want?" he asked.

"Money," Naruto answered. "They were just highway robbers looking for easy targets."

Tama rolled her eyes. "They sure don't know how to pick their targets, do they?"

"Yeah, right. Mom told us to go to a town about an hour east of here," he explained. "We're going to send the police or whoever takes care of the town to pick up the guys."

Kenji bit his knuckle in a childish manner that Naruto hadn't seen before. "But what about Mommy—Mom?"

Naruto reached over and ruffled his soft hair. "Don't worry, she can take care of herself, but I left some shadow clones with her anyways," he assured the boy, smiling brightly.

Kenji sighed heavily. "I guess that's alright," he murmured.

"Do you guys still have your packs and stuff?"

They nodded. Naruto wrapped Raidon in the coat again and handed the boy's pack to Kenji. He scooped the smallest blonde up and shifted him into a piggy-back position. How did I end up doing this again? "Okay, let's head out," Naruto decided.

The four set off to the direct east, Naruto sending out shadow clones in various directions, as both guards and scouts. As they walked, Naruto kept channeling chakra to his ears and his nose, knowing that in the woods, those two senses were most reliable. He never would have thought to sniff out the enemy, but Kiba and Kakashi had proven him wrong many times.

They had been walking for about forty-five minutes when Naruto noticed Tama was falling behind. "Hey, keep up, Tama. We're almost there," he encouraged, shifting the boy on his back and giving her the Nice Guy Pose 21, sparkling teeth included. "You can do it."

She shook her head. "I don't have as much chakra or stamina as you do, Naruto," she muttered, slowly catching up to her brothers. "I swear, you stole all of mine in the womb. That's why you have so much and I have so little."

Naruto frowned in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean? I have as much chakra as anyone else."

Tama rolled her eyes. "Don't be modest. Dad said even as a kid, your chakra levels and healing abilities were not normal. Especially your chakra. When you were twelve, you could summon up more chakra than a few Jounins, remember? It's just you being freaky."

As she reached them, they began to walk again, though at a slower pace. Naruto frowned, considering what she'd just revealed.

I have high chakra here, too? I always thought it was just Kyuubi amping it up. That's what Tsunade and Kakashi always indicated. What did they say about the seal?

The swirly part was to suppress the fox's chakra. If any escaped that seal, the other eight-pronged one would let it mingle with my own chakra. I've always had lots of chakra and lots of energy. I didn't think about it too much when I was young, but I figured later it was just the fox giving me a leg up all the time, like he'd always heal me.

Naruto's eyes narrowed in thought. But Tama just said that happened here, too. Now, I know I never had a demon sealed inside me here, so what was it? "Just you being freaky."

So, does that mean that I was born with high chakra or something? How does that happen? Is it really possible some of her chakra transferred to me before we were born?

The teen closed his eyes briefly and sighed. But no one here would know about the other world, would they? The only one who could tell me anything would be Kyuubi, but I haven't been able to get to him in ages.

It's probably because of the device thing—damn, I gotta come up with a name for that—that changed the world. The seal used the power of the Shinigami, but the, the, uh, World Change Box can't override the power of the Death God, so we're still connected, just not nearly as strong.

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Hmm." I wonder where Kyuubi is here. Is he, like floating in some blank vacuum, with nothing to do or see? Can he still possess regular foxes, like he did with the little fox I found in the animal shelter? Or is he turning into the Kyuubi of this world?

I wonder what this Kyuubi would be like? Would he still be a temperamental furball

What did Kyuubi do before he attacked Konoha? I mean, sure there's a lot of uncivilized land in the world, but it's not like a giant red demon fox the size of a mountain that oozes killer intent can go unnoticed for centuries until he decides to step on a few humans.

"Tch, dumb fox," Naruto muttered, making a face into the middle distance. He never could give me a straight answer, could he? No, it was always just, "I was angry" or "I wanted to destroy that little village." Once he mentioned something about snakes, which got me thinking about Orochimaru, but I figured he was getting the past and the present mixed up. Destroying a village and countless lives for no reason. He really is a psychopath, isn't he?

Naruto dropped his eyes to the ground again, brows knitting together in consternation. No wonder everyone hated him. I mean, he did kill so many people. But, still, was it reall—

"Naruto!"

He snapped his head up, blinking several times to re-orient himself. He had gotten so lost in thoughts, he hadn't paid any attention to where he was going. Looking ahead, he spotted a pair of tall city gates and two men standing at the gate.

"Oh, we're here," he said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Kenji snapped. "Now, let's go and get someone out to Mom. I don't like her being there alone."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, come on." They trudged up to the gates.

The guards snapped to attention. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"My name is Namikaze Naruto, my family and I were traveling from the mountains and we were attacked by robbers. We took care of them, well, my mother did, and then she sent us here to get you," Naruto explained.

One of the guards blinked, then his eyes widened in astonishment. "Really? They attacked you? And everyone is alright?"

"They knocked my brother out," Naruto said, indicating the sleeping boy on his back. "But other than that we're fine. Listen, my mother is waiting there for some help from the local authorities. Send back up already!"

"Okay, uh," the other guard stuttered. Clearly they had not had to deal with a situation like this before.

Naruto took charge. "Listen. Do you have a local police force or something?"

They nodded. "Good," he snapped. He looked at the stuttering one. "You will take me there, then you will show my family to the nearest hotel so they can rest. Okay?"

He nodded and turned to lead them through the city. The four siblings followed him to a large, brown building. "Is this it?" Naruto asked.

At the guard's nod, he knelt down and woke up Raidon, who had come back from unconsciousness only to fall asleep on his brother's shoulder. "Hey, wake up and go with Tama and Kenji, okay?"

Raidon rubbed his eyes and let Kenji lead him away. Naruto hurried into the police station. "Hey! I need some help here!"

A man sitting at a desk near the front door snorted. "Yeah, who doesn't? Fill out these forms and wait in line for us to get to you." He pointed at a series of paper stacks on the desk and the line around the room.

Naruto stared, then turned back to the desk clerk. "I don't have time for that! My mo—"

"No one has time," the desk clerk replied. "Do you?" he called out to the line of people, who all responded with "no" or some creative suggestions and glares at Naruto.

Naruto slammed his palms down in front of the clerk. "Will. You. Listen. My family was traveling home from vacation and we were attacked by bandits."

The man sighed and re-adjusted his glasses. "We get bandit attacks all the time. Fill this form out." He shoved paper in his face.

"No, you don't understand! We're ninjas and we caught them! We need someone to come out and arrest them or something!" Naruto shouted.

The clerk stared at him for several seconds, then burst out laughing. "You—ahaha- you expect me to believe that some snot-nosed punk took out the bandits? Bah! Hahahaha!" He pulled his glasses off and cleaned them on his shirt, still chortling.

Seriously ticked off, Naruto did a handsign. Suddenly, the waiting room was filled with pissed off Chuunins. All noise stopped. The twenty or so Narutos folded their arms. "Well?"

The clerk stared at all of them, eyes wide. He slowly put his glasses back on and blinked a couple of times. Naruto smirked, knowing that he'd finally convinced the man. To Naruto's frustration, he regained his composure and smirked back. "Well, if you can make that many copies of yourselves, why don't you bring the bandits in yourself? We can't afford that many officers."

He went back to his paperwork. With a colossal puff, all but one Naruto disappeared. "What? You're not going to help?"

"I told you, we can't afford to send out that many officers," he snapped. "Go bring them in yourself."

Naruto stared open-mouthed at him, then snapped it shut. "Fine. I will." He spun around and stormed out, to the applause of the other people in line. His face flamed red with anger and embarrassment. Blowing air out of lungs, he jumped to the rooftops and began to sprint along them, out of the little city and into the forest.

Damn idiot clerk. I'll tie him up with red tape and stuff those forms down his throat when I get back! Naruto flew through the forest, arriving at the site with his mother and the bandits in a record-breaking ten minutes. He landed next to his mother, who looked up at him in surprise.

"Where are—"

"They wouldn't come," Naruto answered. "Said since we were ninjas, we could bring them in without help."

Meara rolled her eyes. "Fantastic. Always trust local government to be helpful," she muttered. "Alright, can you make a lot of shadow clones?"

Naruto nodded. "And I can keep them up until we get there," he answered.

"I guess it's a good thing I tied them all up while we were waiting," Meara said, brushing her hands off.

The pair dragged all of the tied up bandits to their feet. Using the remaining twine and rope, they looped the thirty-four men together in a long line and began the march. Naruto created ten more shadow clones in addition to the two that had been standing guard with his mother. They patrolled on either side of the long lines of bandits, giving them menacing glares and making faces. Meara just rolled her eyes and ignored all the Narutos.

After an hour of walking and a few ill-planned escape attempts that just ended up tangling the ropes, they arrived at the gates. Naruto nodded at the other guard, who remembered him from before and led the bandits through the city streets. As they walked, a crowd gathered and began to follow them. Some of the crowd shouted things at the bandits they remembered, others glared and some still cheered for their capture.

Finally, Naruto stepped into the police station. The pissy clerk was still there. He raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

Naruto reached behind him and dragged in the first of the bandits. "Still need me to fill out forms?"