Uzumaki Clan's Rebirth
Chapter 25
Escalation of Hostilities, Fist Diplomacy!
Naruto escalates the battle in Snow, will his gamble turn a victory? Kakashi's true colors show, what will the consequence be?
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!
"speaking"
'thinking'
"Jutsu"
"Tailed Beast Speak"
"Radio Speak"
NaruxMei
BLOODLINE WARNING: Naruto uses Lava and Boil Release in this story. He has three elements in total because of his bloodlimit, Fire, Water, and Earth.
Arc: Uzu no Kuni, 6th Elemental Nation!
000
Land of Snow
Kazahana Castle
Sugihara's Bed Chambers
The urge to sneeze, that was what woke Sugihara up. She leaned up in the comfortable bed and looked around, not remembering how she got there. The memories came back to her quickly, the discovery of her teammates and the Uzukage picking her up and bringing her back to the castle. She smiled at the caring nature of Naruto, he didn't even have to bring her back and he did.
'He even..whispered those encouraging words to me. He told me I was strong, even when I had failed to protect my team; he didn't think about that.' Her thoughts were interrupted by a light knocking on her door.
She checked herself and blushed scarlet upon the discovery she had been dressed in a silk robe. Inappropriate thoughts of what the Uzukage was doing while he was changing her flooded through her mind before she remembered the person at the door.
"Yes, please come in!" The door creaked open and Naruto popped his head in, much to Sugihara's embarrassment.
"Ah! Good to see you up Sugihara-san, I brought you some tea." Naruto walked in, still in his ANBU armor, carrying a tray of tea cups.
Sugihara blushed and looked away as he came closer and laid the plate down on her nightstand. Her room was luxurious as it was inside of the castle, lit by numerous lights hanging from the walls. Her bed was a large, four posts surrounded it and allowed her to pull a curtain around herself. Upon her arrival, she thought the idea silly to hide yourself in a bed; now she was beginning to rethink her statement.
"Now I wasn't sure if you liked this tea or not so I added a little su-" He was interrupted when she slapped him on the cheek, enough to leave a mark.
He turned towards her, astonished at what she had just done. Her gray eyes were wide in sudden recognition of who she had just hit and bowed her head low. The tears began to fall as she realized she had just insulted the Uzukage and she tried to explain.
"I-I'm sorry..Uzukage-sama..I just..how I got my clothes on..you brought me back. I just thought you were..and you act so nonchalant about it." Her arms protectively encircled around her chest as Naruto realized what she was trying to say.
'Oh, she thinks I'm a pervert or something and took a peek. I may act like a pervert around Mei, but I wouldn't think of doing such a thing to one of my own shinobi.'
"Ah, I understand Sugihara. I'll leave you alone.." Naruto got up from his position near her bed and moved to the door.
As he prepared to leave, Sugihara looked up and watched. She couldn't bring herself to say anything because she was afraid it would only make things worse. What surprised her the most was when he smiled when he looked at her over his shoulder.
"If it makes you feel any better, I had one of the female hurricanes change you, not me. Please rest, I'm going to take care of the rest of this rebellion so that you don't have to cry anymore." She didn't understand what he meant by that but clearly saw her mistake of slapping him.
She reached a hand out to stop him as he left out the door.
"Wait! Uzukage-sama..I-" She quieted herself when she realized it was too late, he was already gone behind the shut door.
Feeling even further in shame, she turned her head towards the tea. Despite herself, she smiled at the thought of the Uzukage to personally bring her tea. She looked next to it and saw some tissues, also brought by the Uzukage. From being outside for so long, she had indeed contracted a cold.
Picking up the tea, she looked at her reflection in the warm liquid. Her tears made splashes as they hit the water and she drank some of the concoction made by Naruto. Her face warmed upon the sweet taste, no doubt from the sugar added by the Uzukage. Her tears began to fade as she drank more and more of the tea, slowly finding herself falling asleep.
"Thank you..Uzukage-sama."
000
Land of Snow
Kazahana Castle
War Room
Naruto walked the halls as he left the room of Sugihara. He felt for her as he probably wouldn't have been able to bear the deaths of teammates either. He didn't want her to feel so sad though, he was going to make sure to avenge her comrades deaths. That was what he was going to plan in the improvised war room made within the castle.
Every loyalist who was left was there, along with Koyuki. Even though he had suggested she go to bed and get some rest, she refused. She wanted to be part of what he was doing, no matter what it entailed to bring her people back under her sway. In reality, very few of the people actually hated Koyuki enough to rebel; they were uncomfortable with her other job, yes, but not enough to kill her.
'So that means it is a small rebellion lead by old Dotou supporters. Their first target must have been the spring generator, either destroying it or turning it off. That lead them to have their ice release ability back and that gave them the power to overthrow Koyuki. Looks like the primary battle is going to be at the generator itself.'
He could feel his shadows following him closely behind. As quiet as they were, Naruto had grown accustomed to sensing their presence. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't hide from their Uzukage.
He knocked on a door to gain access to the war room. Because they had only driven back the enemy attack and not routed them entirely, the castle was still on alert. Naruto had little doubt though that if the enemy attacked now with him there, they would be utterly destroyed. With the past few hours of quiet, it seemed as though they also had figured that out.
Two samurai opened the door and peeked around the corner to confirm Naruto's identity. They moved to either side of the entrance and bowed as he walked inside. Their eyes just barely catching a glimpse of six blurs that entered right after him, culminating in the appearance of the cloaked hurricanes.
The war room itself was quite barren, probably a room of storage before. Crates were stacked in the corners of the large stone room and the few loyalists remaining sat on barrels or crates. Their eyes carefully tracked Naruto's movement over to the table in the center of the room that had a single map of snow on it.
Koyuki sat at the head of the table in a large chair, a sad attempt by the samurai to emulate her throne. A battle worn general stood next to the table, using small flags to indicate his forces and the enemies. From what Naruto could tell from the grimace on his face and the fact that each and every blue flag was surrounded by a dozen red ones was that they were in trouble.
"General Kabuki." The man looked up to see Naruto approach and he immediately saluted the Uzukage.
"Uzukage-sama." Naruto looked at the map, placing a hand on his chin as he wracked his brain for ideas.
"It doesn't look like we are the winning side this time around huh?" Naruto muttered, carefully observing each location and noticing the dire straits they were in.
General Kabuki sighed, his voice worn and tired. "No, we most definitely aren't. Almost every single scout I still have left alive have reported in that droving war bands of these snow shinobi are taking over all the villages in the countryside. When the rebellion first started, our defense of the generator was heavy.." He moved a finger to point at the location, now surrounded by over a dozen red flags.
"The snow shinobi attacked with kunai and shuriken while we fought back with sword and arrows. It was an even match before..well before they attacked with the kunai guns. You see, we extended our railroad coverage after Daimyo Kazahana was placed in charge of the country. It was of course for peaceful means, to facilitate and increase trade. The snow shinobi, however, were able to get their hands on an old weapons car and used it against us, right next to the generator. We never stood a chance." Naruto nodded, he remembered exactly what that thing had done to the rebels when he first came.
Koyuki also visibly stiffened, remembering Sandayu's sacrifice at the hands of Dotou. It was still a sore spot for her, even if she had acted coldly at that point in time. After reflecting upon her past once she became Daimyo, Koyuki quickly realized that Sandayu was the closest thing she had to a father during the majority of her life.
"Well then, looks like we need to move from here.." Naruto picked up the blue flag that lay inside of the capital city and moved it over to the generator; a few miles away. "To here, and annihilate any resistance given by the snow shinobi. Once we get the generator operational again, they can be routed easily." The general was surprised at how confident and easy Naruto made it sound.
"With all due respect sir, breaking out of the city is nigh impossible let alone reaching the generator. For all we know, they could have destroyed it by now. We don't have the manpower to-" Kabuki was cut off by a hand raised by Koyuki, she looked at Naruto.
"You must have confidence in the Uzukage. He would not have come to help without an idea or the strength to get the job done, he never goes back on his word. Right, Naruto?" Naruto smiled at the young woman, she still remembered his ninja way.
"That's right, I have a plan too. First though.." Naruto swept a hand down onto the map and made all the red flags fall around the capital city; he smirked. "We have to take down all the guys that still threaten this castle. Hurricanes, you are with me! Let's go to the roof for a look." One of the hurricanes threw Naruto his red cloak and he placed it on to cover himself from the inevitable cold.
Koyuki watched as he left, her smile radiated across the room. He was still like the same old Naruto that came to Snow the first time, just a little more mature and better at hiding his excitable personality. She could tell that he was excited about the fight coming up, figuring it would be a great challenge. Her thoughts were interrupted by Kabuki.
"Ma'am, shouldn't some of my men go with him? I mean..this is our country, shouldn't we be trying to get it back too?" Koyuki held her head in one hand as she thought about it.
"Of course we should, but I doubt Naruto needs our help. You would probably just get in the way." Kabuki recoiled, not expecting the negative comment.
"Naruto is in a league of his own, I dare say he could be the most powerful ninja alive." Koyuki whispered, a smile tugging at her lips.
000
Land of Snow
Kazahana Castle
Roof
Naruto and his men quickly got onto the roof and he prepared for his plan. He made a dozen shadow clones and ordered them all to take out their three-pronged kunai. The hurricanes just stood there as Naruto ushered his clones into position around the building's roof.
"Ranmaru, I need you to pinpoint the location of every single snow shinobi inside and around the capital. Uzumaki and Hyo, you guys will stay here and protect the Ranmaru as they do this." The men were shocked by his order's magnitude.
"What will you do sir?" One of them asked.
"I will fight the snow shinobi head on with my technique, just make sure you find every single one of them. I'm going to kill every. single. one." They shifted uncomfortably from his tone, he was actually quite frightening.
"Yes, Uzukage-sama." The two Ranmaru sat down and began to focus their chakra while the other four took up spots around them.
Naruto's clones listened as they called out each and every location. Naruto's clones then threw themselves up into the air and showered the city with the kunai, spreading Naruto's influence everywhere. There would not be a single avenue of escape for the snow shinobi. Naruto unsheathed his trusty two-sided greatsword from his back and disappeared in a flash of light.
It would be over in a second.
000
"What are these strange kunai?" Asked one of the men on patrol around the castle. His superior came over and took a look at it for himself.
"Hm, dunno. Did anyone see where it came from?"
"Well I think it came from-" The man was interrupted when a loud gurgling sound was brought to their attention and they turned to face in its direction.
They saw their leader, the one holding the kunai, now holding his throat in an attempt to stop the bleeding. There was no sign of the aggressor but he couldn't have gone far. Out of a corner of their eyes a flash of light and a slash of steel was all that could be seen. They dropped like flies, unable to even utter a word of warning to the others.
It did not matter though, there was no escape from the city. Kunai were spread everywhere, on roofs, through broken windows, on the street, lodged in bodies or armor. Naruto would find and finish them all, it was a mere token of payback for what they did to his men.
Not once did Naruto feel pity for those he struck down, not once did he shed a tear for the traitors of Spring.
000
Land of Waves
Tazuna Lake
"Almost there..." The leader gasped out as he released the final dregs of demon chakra from his system into the scroll.
Luckily, no one had arrived yet to interrupt them and they were able to almost complete the sealing. It had been exactly two days since they had arrived, the men had been forced to handle the elements unprotected. They sat, both in rain and sun, going through hand signs and taking overwhelming pain. It brought a source of pride for the beast tamers to think they could do what others couldn't.
Suddenly, it was over. Their masks reverted back to blank husks and the scroll lit up with the kanji for 'contained'. The leader quickly rolled up the scroll and slung it over his back. He did not like remaining in these woods without any backup.
"Let's move out." The eight tamers dispersed, heading straight back to Uzu.
Only a few minutes later, the Konoha recovery squad arrived. They had asked the local populace where the lake's location was and only received angry glares and misdirection. Thanks to the locals, they were a day late behind schedule. Shizune and her team immediately got to work locating the beast while Kakashi's team stayed on shore.
He looked around suspiciously as he had felt chakra sources nearby when they arrived. There was also a strong taint of demon chakra near where he stood, although it could have been from the lake. Still, it was odd for others to be out here near such a dangerous place.
'I think someone else may have gotten here first. Was it Akatsuki?'
"Kakashi-sensei, what are we supposed to do?" The scarecrow turned to look at Rock Lee, a member of his squad.
"We are to protect the sealing team, keep watch around the lake for trouble." Rock Lee looked out on the lake and saw Sakura dutifully performing the barrier technique. Tenten sighed as hearts appeared in his eyes and he sniffled in reverence to her beauty.
"If my duty is to protect my blossom, than it is my pleasure! Nothing will stand in the way of my BURNING PASSION OF LO-" He was pounded on the head by an irate Tenten who was annoyed by his yelling.
"Shut up Lee! Kakashi-sensei can you please..do..something..?" Tenten turned around to find no Kakashi, Shino was standing off to the side as if he didn't notice her stare.
"Where did Kakashi-sensei go?" Shino looked over to her, finding it somewhat comical that she asked while holding a dazed Lee by the nape of the neck.
"He said he had some business to look into on the island and that he wouldn't be long. Also, I suggest you let go of Lee before he chokes to death." She turned around to see him growing blue in the face and gasped, releasing him from her death grip.
"Tenten, your blossom is so harsh to the touch! No matter how I attempt to approach it it always pricks me with its thorns.." Lee spoke of in a half-conscious daze, making Tenten look down at him blushing.
'Was he just hitting on me right there? I just can't understand this guy..'
000
Land of Waves
Forest
Akeru pushed his men to move faster through the forest. He could easily sense a presence following them from the lake and that meant they knew what happened. His men were exhausted and ineffective, but there was a chance that they could bluff the enemy into retreating. One of his men jumped closer to him on the path they were moving.
"Sir, you know there is an enemy approaching us? What are our orders?" Akeru continued to move forward until they reached a patch of grass.
He flew down to the ground and his men landed around him in a rough circle. He quickly made quick hand signals and his men dispersed around the area and prepared scrolls for the aggressor. Akeru remained in the middle of the green patch, he had replaced the actual beast scroll with one of his subordinates and instead had a disguised log.
Kakashi appeared in the field and Akeru visibly lowered his guard somewhat. The unique man looked familiar, as if he..the memory came flooding back to the captain.
'Wait, this man is that leaf shinobi at the Uzukage's wedding. What is he doing here? Wait..he might have orders to take the Three Tails from us, we have to remain on our guard.'
"How do you do, Konoha-san. May I ask why you are following us?" Kakashi had his hands in his pockets and his sharingan still hidden behind his headband.
Kakashi shrugged as he nonchalantly looked around in the trees and sensed seven other presences, although they cloaked themselves well.
'Uzu ANBU, these guys are an interesting bunch. I suppose they already took the Three Tails and they are careful to see if I want it for the Leaf. They are smart and cautious even in front of a potential ally, Naruto trained them well.'
"I want to confirm that you have the Three Tails with you, is that true?" Akeru stiffened and Kakashi had his answer. He saw the beast tamer move for a scroll on his armor and held up a hand in defense, his eye in a crescent smile to act in a disarming fashion.
"Hey now, no need to go for hostilities. You may not be part of the four-village alliance but that doesn't make us enemies does it?" Akeru wasn't convinced and scoffed at Kakashi's attempt at peace.
'This man is good, he has already sensed my men and he has a sharingan underneath that damn headband. It would be great if we could take him down here, but combat isn't our forte especially in our condition. Any village could want this tailed beast for its power, I doubt they would even be willing to tell the other villages that they have it in the first place.'
"The Uzukage told us to be wary of other village's involvements, especially Konoha's. I have nothing to discuss with you either than to tell you to stop following us and allow us to get to Uzu without your team's interference." Kakashi's eye went from a smile to a dead serious gaze into the hidden eyes of Akeru.
"You know, its impolite to get rid of a guest like that. I know that Wave has some sort of alliance with Uzu but that doesn't mean I can't walk on this ground here. On orders from my Hokage, I should grab that tailed beast from you..forcibly if I have to." Akeru tensed again and his men prepared their backup plan.
"We have orders from our Uzukage as well, we will not be stopped even if we must defeat one of his old friends." The two continued in a standoffish fashion for a while, neither moving.
"What can you do.." Kakashi started to say as he took his hand off of his kunai holster and placed it back in his pocket, inclining his head down to look at the ground. "When you do not wish to fight but have orders from your leader to accomplish the objective no matter what even if it means war? Do you listen to your leader..or do you listen to your heart?" Akeru thought the question was obvious, listen to your leader without question.
"You listen to the leader of your village, without question. Their wisdom is enough and their order is absolute, that is why we have ranking systems." Kakashi looked back up at Akeru and eye smiled again.
"I'm sorry ANBU-san, the question actually was more to myself than to you. You know..I would have answered the same as you back when I was young. Now that I'm older though..I have a different outlook on that question. Would you like to hear it?" Akeru eyed the man carefully but nodded anyway.
"I believe its better to listen to your heart in such a delicate situation. Your leader is not always right and sometimes just one mistake can destroy a village..or a friendship. I lost almost everything when I was young, but the one thing that stuck with me was the strength I received from relying on my comrades. That is why.." Kakashi's seriousness shocked Akeru as he listened enraptured by the man's heartfelt speech. "I will not betray my comrade Naruto and attack you. I will no doubt be disciplined when I go home to Konoha but if my decision saves us from war, I have done my job as a jonin. And.." His eyes took a more reverent look.
Akeru was beginning to understand just what Kakashi was trying to say and felt the lesson resonate in his heart. His men were also very enraptured in the speech as Kakashi finished it.
"If my decision saves my friendship with Naruto that I treasure so dearly well..then I couldn't ask for more. Please be on your way Uzu-san, I will keep my squads in the dark of our meeting." Akeru could only watch in astonishment as the sharingan user left without another word.
He scratched the back of his head and just watched the direction his chakra moved, farther and farther away from them. His men assembled around him and one of them handed him the real tailed beast scroll.
'Kakashi Hatake huh?..Interesting guy. The Uzukage made a good choice in befriending him, how ever he did that though and how he got the bond to be so deep..I will never know.'
"What does this mean sir?" Asked one of his men to which Akeru chuckled.
"I think we just got permission to go back home. Let's go."
000
Land of Waves
Tazuna Lake
Shizune and her squad had already given up on trying to find the tailed beast, it was as if it was completely missing. The two squads were now on shore waiting for Kakashi to come back. With little else to do, they were going to have to go home in failure.
"Our intel could have been off, right Shizune?" Sakura suggested to her squad leader only to hear her sigh in exasperation.
"I'm not so sure Sakura, somehow I get the feeling someone got here first." The squads shifted uncomfortably, thinking of the possibility of Akatsuki nabbing another tailed beast when they could have stopped them.
"Now whatever could give you that idea?" The group of shinobi turned to see Kakashi nonchalantly come out of a tree and give a little wave. "Yo."
"Kakashi-sensei, where have you been?" Sakura yelled in his ear, leading him to pick at it a little in mocking Sakura.
"Sorry, got lost on the road of life. By the way, I don't really think Akatsuki took the tailed beast. Our intel suggests they still didn't know of its location." Hinata coughed a little, bringing Kakashi to look at her in curiosity.
"Something to add, Hinata?" She blushed at acknowledgment but nodded anyway, raising her voice slightly to be heard.
"What..makes you say that Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi scratched the back of his head in an attempt to think of something to say.
'I can't betray Naruto's trust but..I don't really feel like being thrown in jail either.'
"Let's just say I have a hunch..that it is in a safe place." They looked at one another, everyone in confusion and not really buying it. "Now come on, how about I treat you all to some food in town before we head back?" Choji quickly jumped on that idea.
"ALRIGHT! Let's go, I can't wait to see the restaurants this place has got!" Kakashi was thankful they had the Akamichi on the team, his announcement made everyone forget about his words before.
Shizune eyed Kakashi suspiciously as he began to walk off with the rest of the squad. There was obviously something stressed in his story, something she couldn't put her finger on though. He turned to look at her, recognition crossing his face as he realized just what she was thinking.
"Coming Shizune?" She woke up and saw Kakashi lagging behind to wait for her; she blushed in embarrassment before running to catch up.
"Yes Kakashi-san."
'I will have to speak with Lady Tsunade.'
000
Uzugakure
Uzumaki Compound
Inner Estate
Mei gently rocked Roshi to bed, or at least tried to. She and her son were sitting in the family room and he just wouldn't stop crying. The morning after Naruto left, he just wouldn't stop crying and it led her to believe that her little boy was a daddy's boy; she smirked at the thought.
"Shhhh...please stop crying baby. Daddy's coming back soon, mommy promises." He quieted down for a few moments and led Mei to sigh in happiness with the quiet.
She soon realized that it was only to catch his breathe as he began a new crying fit. Mei stood up and began to pace around the room, purposely exaggerating her walking to bounce him up and down. His tears turned into cries of joy as he smiled for the first time in the past few days. His mother smiled and kissed his forehead with affection only a mother could show.
"Thank you baby, mommy's so happy that you stopped crying. Now I can feed you.." Mei sat back down and undid her shirt to reveal a swelled breast to which her son again cried in joy.
'He is such a pervert..just like his father.'
She sighed in happiness as the baby began to suck, filling the house with the quiet smacking sounds of his mouth against her nipple. The tension had grown in her breasts from swelling so much, she was sure Naruto would joke that they were Tsunade's size when he came back. She would have to make sure he 'fed' from her as well just to get rid of the pain.
'The doctors said it wouldn't last forever but it sure likes to drag on and on. Oh Roshi..why can't you be big already?'
While the baby himself was plump, it was a cakewalk for her to hold and care for him. She was sure it would be difficult for a small child to hold him but he would eventually work off all that fat when she and Naruto began to train him in shinobi arts. Mei really couldn't wait either, she knew her son would be strong just like his father.
Her thoughts came to an end when there was a loud knocking on the door. She stood up and quickly headed upstairs to place the baby in his crib. He wasn't happy to have his feeding cut short but somehow knew to keep quiet. Mei swiftly moved downstairs to the door and carefully began to open it in case of an unknown intruder.
To her surprise the loud knocking was because of the visitor's large hands. Yomara stood before her, the first Lava Monkey she had come into contact with personally. He was smiling, or at least as far as Mei could tell with his animal face.
"Hello matriarch-sama, it has been some time since I last laid eyes on you. How have things been since that ritual you did a few days ago?" Mei smiled at the monkey's friendly attitude.
"Well, Naru-koi had to leave for a mission in Spring so he hasn't been here for the past few days.." She was surprised when Yomara beat his fist into the ground angrily.
"What? That is totally inappropriate for the alpha of your troop to leave so soon especially after the infant's birth! Unacceptable..if you will pardon my language matriarch-sama." Mei waved his concerns off, she actually agreed with the large red ape.
"I don't like him leaving the village either, but we both have accepted its necessary for the moment. With our manpower so low, Naruto's strength is needed on missions outside of the village." Yomara still looked combative on the subject.
"Yes but still, it is inappropriate for-" Mei held up a hand for quiet, to which the monkey reluctantly obeyed her wishes; Mei gave an innocent smile to the summon.
"Thank you for your concerned Yomara, but it really isn't necessary. Naruto promised me that he would never leave me, for as long as he draws breathe this village is his home. He will protect it with his life, just as anyone living here would attest to the same thing. He said it relates to something from Konoha..the will of fire..he jokingly referred to it as the strength of the vortex." Yomara smiled, Mei really made a good female for Naruto-sama, so understanding of his position.
"Well I'm sure you didn't come here just to talk Yomara, what would you like to know?" The monkey seemed confused until he suddenly remembered his original purpose.
"Ah yes, I wanted to talk to Naruto-sama actually but since the patriarch isn't here..well..I suppose I can talk to you and have you tell him for me?" Mei giggled and nodded, encouraging the monkey to continue.
"Yes, what is your message Yomara?" He turned somewhat serious all of a sudden, clearing his throat and standing somewhat straighter. Mei could see the sudden change and also became serious.
"Please Mei-sama, you must be uncomfortable standing on your porch. At least sit down as my message might take a while." Mei shrugged and sat down in front of the monkey who in turn decided to sit as well.
"Now, if you may remember, the first time Naruto-sama summoned me I relayed to you the status of the island. I also gave you some background on the lava monkeys and mentioned something of training.." Mei wracked her brain to remember, Yomara waited patiently until her face came to sudden recognition.
"Ah yes! I remember now, you mentioned something of lava training? Harnessing geothermal energy or something along those lines, right?" Yomara nodded excitedly, glad she remembered after so much time.
"Yes matriarch-sama, I came here to bring the good news to Naruto-sama that it is now the time for such training. We are not blind, we have heard and seen the destruction the Akatsuki as you call them have wreaked in the world. While we will willingly fight alongside you, we could not bare to see Naruto-sama go into battle with their leader if we could do something to make him stronger." Mei pondered this information, he could make her Naruto stronger?
"So this training, you make it sound as if it is quite a strength booster? What exactly does it entail and why is Naruto the only one to have it suggested to? Has anyone else done this before?" Yomara was hit by the barrage of questions like a brick and panicked; Mei giggled at his confusion.
"Just answer one at a time please Yomara, we have plenty of time." The monkey took a moment to collect himself before continuing.
"Yes matriarch-sama, it is a strength booster but it is much more. It can further boost his ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu to enormous levels and gives him a larger reservoir of chakra to call on. It also includes a protective layer of lava over his entire body, protecting him from physical attacks." Mei thought it sounded too good to be true, it also looked like Yomara was hesitant to continue.
"Why is Naruto the only one so far asked and who else has done it?" Yomara gulped and shifted his body uncomfortably.
"Well you see...the risks are great for patriarch-sama. The previous ones who have tried have all..died." Mei's eyes widened in surprise and she physically recoiled from the monkey as if he was poisonous.
"What...did you say?" She asked quietly, Yomara could hear the obvious disbelief in her voice though.
"I meant to say..those who have tried to attain perfect avatar form have..died horrible deaths. You see the final trial entails fully submerging oneself in the lava of a volcano and well..that is obviously very lethal to humans.." Mei began to glare at Yomara, making him shrink even further.
"No. I refuse to allow my husband to do something like that." Yomara was shocked, he began to stutter in argument.
"Bu-bu-but matriarch-sama, surely you realize the importance of the trai-" He was stopped when Mei raised her voice further.
"NO! I have said no, I will not allow my husband to risk everything just like that for some power that he already doesn't need! We have a child now, I don't want to lose him and I know our baby doesn't." Yomara could do nothing against that, he decided to at least put up a front for a little longer though.
"But-" Mei would have none of it and pointed at the door that would lead him out of the clan head's compound.
"Out now." The seriousness of her tone made any thought of argument nill. Yomara bowed in apology as he headed out.
"Excuse me for my rudeness Mei-sama, I only wished to help." With that over with, Mei entered the house only to hear her baby crying again.
She ran up to the room to find him in his crib, probably awoken from his mother's loud voice. Mei picked him up and began to rock him, laying kisses all over his face. He opened her eyes and showed her the beautiful blues she had fallen in love with five years ago.
"Shhh..everything's fine baby. Mommy isn't mad, she just had to make the big bad monkey leave." Her rocking settled the baby down who began to mewl; Mei looked up as she continued to talk to the baby and unknowingly to herself.
"Daddy isn't going anywhere..mommy won't let him do something stupid like that. Daddy isn't leaving us..no he isn't." She knew Naruto would be combative, but she would stand her ground on this subject.
Patriarch of the family be damned, the Uzumaki woman was not about to let her man die a needless death.
000
Land of Snow
Outskirts of Heat Generator
Naruto had lead his party over the stretch of snow to the generator with his strength and anger alone. He had not allowed anyone else to partake in the battle, only allowing himself to do the fighting. While the hurricanes were concerned, they had to admit the Uzukage could make progress. He had already killed over one hundred enemy shinobi and his kill count was continuing.
It seemed as if his anger over losing men had consumed him, even though he still acted quite friendly to his men when he took a few minutes of break. The teleporting actually did not use much chakra at all, it was the physical toll on his body that was getting to him. While the snow shinobi were completely helpless to his assault, Naruto's large sword was still very tiring to use in such a long amount of time.
Because of his anger, he was also needlessly butchering them more than he had to. An extra swing here, cutting off the optional appendage there, it was too much for the Uzukage to handle.
"We're almost there, push forward!" Naruto threw a kunai into the chest of one shinobi only to teleport into the group that had followed behind him; no survivors were left.
The entourage following him, the hurricanes and a small group of warriors sent by Koyuki, could only step over the bodies and watch helplessly as he continued his rampage. One of the loyalist snow shinobi politely nudged one of the hurricanes and pointed towards the avatar of destruction that was fighting atop a literal mound of dead snow shinobi bodies. He ducked under a kunai throw and burned through an ice jutsu with his lava attack.
"Is he..always like this?" The hurricane only shook their head negatively, this was the first time they had seen the Uzukage so..ruthless.
"I believe losing his men affected him more than we had foreseen. It just shows how big of a heart the Uzukage has." The snow shinobi merely nodded in agreement, absently fearing that the Uzukage might confuse him as a traitor with his uniform on.
As they approached the large pillars that surrounded the heat generator, they found that it was miraculously intact. It appeared as though the snow shinobi had merely shut it down, not destroyed it as they had at first thought. Naruto soon realized that the snow shinobi were either all dead or had begun to retreat as he struck down what seemed to be the last one.
As he approached the generator, he felt a rumbling and began to sense chakra at his feet. His eyes widened in recognition as he remembered just where he had first seen this, back on his first visit to Snow. He turned around to warn the unsuspecting others.
"Get out of here! The enemy are using the railways!" The Uzu shinobi were confused but the loyalist snow were not, they quickly began to run uphill to escape the coming attack.
The Hurricanes quickly followed suit, leaving Naruto as the only one standing on the tracks. He saw a tunnel, hollowed out from ice making up a mountain, illuminated by an oncoming train. He bit his thumb and went through the summoning hand signs, calling on a massive amount of chakra to come forth.
"Summoning Technique!" A large puff of smoke, something akin to Gamabunta's size, appeared to Naruto's side.
He looked up in wonder as the smoke disappeared to find a three-tailed Lava Monkey. Its tails swished around in confusion and its back was covered in crimson fur showing its place as a dominant troop member.
"Who has summoned me?" Naruto quickly ran up its arm and stood on top of the Lava Monkey's head.
At first, the monkey was annoyed that some human just nonchalantly ran up on his head. Upon looking up and seeing the face of the human though, his demeanor quickly changed to that of a respectful one.
"Uzumaki-sama, it is good to see you! What have you summoned the boss monkey, Yokyo, for?" Naruto pointed towards the ice tunnel where the train was beginning to emerge; on its presence course it would run straight into the lava monkey's feet.
"I want your help taking that thing out!" Yokyo looked down at the diminutive human machine and chuckled, the monkey cracked his knuckles and stood at the ready.
"As you wish, Uzumaki-sama!" The monkey picked up the lead train car and threw it onto the ground, permanently derailing that ride for the traitors. The monkey looked ready to squash each car with its foot when Naruto stopped it with a stressed cry.
"No don't! They might attempt to blow up the train or something if you try something like that. Let's finish it off from a distance." Yokyo seemed to take it into consideration before deviously smirking.
"I like the way you think patriarch-sama!" They both went through simultaneous hand signs before launching a sheet of lava over the entire train.
"Lava Release: Melting Apparition Wave!" The lava covered the entire train and began to melt the entire train and its occupants.
Naruto could not hear their cries from his elevation and did not care to. He instead just sat there on Yokyo's head, watching the destruction with a sharp glare. As the attack dissipated and the train was nothing but ash, Naruto jumped off the monkey's head and headed down to the generator around the large mirrored pillars.
Yokyo remained as the others came down from uphill and stood near the Uzukage. Naruto attempted to turn it on by turning the key that Koyuki had at one point worn around her neck. His eyes widened in surprise when the key broke, lodging what was left of the stone inside of the key permanently.
"No!"
"The key stone!"
"Without it, we will never return to spring!" The snow shinobi began to cry, they believed the mission failed.
Naruto had to admit, it was a dirty final trick by the traitors. However, they had not expected there to be a lava user amongst those who came to Spring's rescue. Naruto signaled for the two Uzumaki Hurricanes to follow him back over to Yokyo. They all climbed on top of his head and discussed Naruto's formulated plan.
"What can we do Uzukage-sama?" They asked, wanting to do whatever they could to help.
"What must be done to melt ice and warm a land? What defeats ice pure and simple? Remember, that heat generator was all that was needed to warm Spring again." The two hurricanes wracked their brains for a moment as did Yokyo before he began to laugh loudly.
"You are a shrewd man patriarch-sama! I can see now why the Uzumaki have put you in charge of the village." The two hurricanes were still confused while Naruto just smiled and petted the top of Yokyo's head.
"Thank you Yokyo, I'm glad you can see the beauty in simplicity."
"What are you planning to do Uzukage-sama?" Naruto smirked as he explained.
"We will pool our chakra together and create a large volcano here at the center of Snow! It will spread the lava under the earth and mix with the dormant heat stored beneath Spring leading it to warm up. Let's see those bastards try and sabotage a volcano!" The hurricanes nodded in agreement, it was a simple but in theory correct plan.
"Alright, all together now go through the right hand signs!" The humans dropped to the ground and simultaneously went through over forty hand signs before stopping and slamming their hands onto the ground. It began to shake as Yokyo slammed his own onto the ground leading to a small earthquake from his size.
"Lava Release: Volcano Eruption!" The ground began to tremble until the earth began to rise up high into the sky to form the basis of the volcano. The chakra quickly mixed and created lava within and it melted through the earth and ran all under Spring.
The change was unnoticeable at first, but slowly over the next hour, the snow began to melt away and reveal spring. The snow shinobi cheered and the hurricanes applauded their Uzukage for a brilliant plan. The sun revealed itself from the previously gray skies and Naruto was given the front row seat to the sight of dozens of bloody pools of bodies surrounding him. He gulped and felt an odd feeling in his stomach before immediately throwing up at the sight. The shinobi around him quickly flocked to his aid, surprised by his reaction.
"I..I can't believe I did that..I..killed them all?..I killed them all..didn't I?" His eyes were quivering and it looked as though he would heave again.
"I'm sorry Uzukage-sama, but yes you did. You said we should not interfere, you were protecting us by taking on the responsibility yourself." Naruto looked at the hurricane that explained, his eyes tearing up.
"I..was so taken over..by hatred..has Kyuubi really taken over me?" The hurricane smiled under her mask, she of the Ranmaru could not detect a single trace of Kyuubi's influence.
"No sir, I could see with my own eyes that Kyuubi held no sway over you." Naruto looked even worse after that.
"So..I enjoyed this..doing this with my own anger? I'm..a monster." She set a hand on his shoulder as did the other hurricanes to reassure him he was wrong.
"No sir, you just care so much for your fellow shinobi..you are willing to take any means necessary to protect us. Since you failed to protect the three ANBU of Sugihara's squad, you took it upon yourself to be their harbinger of justice so to speak and killed those you found guilty. You have done nothing wrong Uzukage-sama." Naruto collapsed onto the ground, physically and emotionally exhausted, the hurricanes quickly picked him up and began to take him back to Koyuki's castle.
Yokyo smiled as they walked away and dispersed himself back home.
'Patriarch-sama..he had such a big heart it even surprised him.'
000
Land of Spring
Kazahana Castle
(Rebuilt) Throne Room
"So Naruto, what may I do to repay Uzugakure's overwhelming service to Spring?" Koyuki asked Naruto who stood before her throne.
He remained in Spring for the next few days after his victory at the generator to make sure everything went according to plan. While waiting for Koyuki to calm the populace, Naruto and his hurricanes dispersed across the country and repaired any damages caused by them or the snow shinobi. It made the spring citizens to enjoy the Uzugakure company very much. Sugihara also had recovered from her sickness and stood with Naruto's hurricanes ready to return home.
Naruto smiled as she posed the question. While he did not like to think he had such a high power over someone as he did in this particular situation, it still felt good.
"Well, there are a few things that Uzu no Kuni would appreciate if you could do for us." Koyuki inclined her head and slightly waved her hand to signal him to continue.
"Anything Naruto, I promised to help you in any way I could." Naruto kept his smile as he explained their top needs.
"I seem to remember your country produced chakra armor, would you still happen to have the schematics for the design? It would be much appreciated if we could work with you and set up a trading contract for it. Also, your country is highly industrialized and I wish to know if I could borrow some of your engineers to come to my own country and help us incorporate technology into our city. Last but not least, I wish to expand the Uzu presence here and establish a permanent recruiting center for shinobi here. It will be similar to a hidden village except it will be smaller and the shinobi will only come to Uzugakure for advanced training if they wish. Think of it as your own personal defense force dedicated to you by Uzu." Koyuki seemed to think over the terms for a few moments while her flustered advisers were about to talk her into saying no.
"Done, done, and done. I actually was going to ask something similar to your third term anyway so I'm glad it worked out. Please feel free to come visit us some time here in Spring Naruto, we already named that volcano after you, before you know it you will be the talk of all of Spring!" Naruto smiled as he placed his cloak back on and covered his face with the hood.
"I'll look forward to it Koyuki-chan. See ya." With his goodbye said, Naruto and his men disappeared leaving a blushing Koyuki.
'Bastard, if only he wasn't married.'
000
Uzu Island
Uzugakure
Uzukage's Bed Chambers
Naruto arrived in Uzu a few days after his departure and returned feeling much more refreshed. He was actually quite homesick and wanted to see his family after being gone for more than a week.
He had received the news from Akeru that the capture had been successful, in no small thanks to Kakashi Hatake. He stored the Three Tails inside the old vault he had found his kage robes in, thinking it the safest place for such a delicate treasure.
Upon his return, Mei had been ecstatic. There was something off about her though, Naruto sensed. She seemed..tense after something as if an argument went on. He couldn't put his finger on it specifically though.
Right now, Naruto sat at his desk within their bed chambers. His wife was busy putting on her night gown and he was in only his boxers. Their baby was sound asleep and all that was left to do was to go to bed themselves.
Naruto was contemplating the future war against Akatsuki while Mei continued to fret over Naruto discovering what she kept from him. She had cried many times when he was away, arguing with herself on whether she should let him know or not. In the end, she decided she would not tell him and if he did find out, she would personally forbid him from following through on it.
The tense atmosphere between them was mainly emanated from Mei though. Her awkwardness was slowly pushing Naruto away and her cheerful personality was riddled with guilt over lying to her husband. He decided to get into bed without her and lay there, waiting for her to come out.
When she exited, Naruto smiled at her chosen attire. It was a short, provocative night dress that revealed all of her legs and almost all of her cleavage. She laid down with a mask of happiness that Naruto immediately recognized but played off as nothing. He ran his hands up and down her arm, sensuously rubbing her arms in an attempt to entice her into sex.
Mei was not in the mood though for the first time in their relationship, her stress was too much to think about. Naruto did not seem to take the hint and Mei rolled over and whispered good night.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but I don't feel like it tonight." Naruto was surprised, no, shocked at her response.
Not once had they been like this, he had to truly wonder what had happened while he was gone. He knew better than to approach Mei when she was in such a mood though, rolling over himself to face in the opposite direction.
"Alright then, good night." He immediately fell asleep, albeit troubled with the situation.
Mei had lied when she said she was asleep and rolled over to look at him. This was the first time he had not wrapped his arms around her, she felt so lonely. She regretfully reminded herself though that it was mainly her fault, being so Uzumaki stubborn over something like this. It took all her willpower to remind her just why she was acting this way and ended up crying herself to sleep.
'I'm sorry Naruto, but this has to be done. I don't like it either but..if I don't want to lose you then I have to stay strong!'
000
Kirigakure
Secret Meeting Room
"So, the snow rebellion was a failure?" Madara asked rhetorically, having already heard Zetzu's report.
The spy grimaced at his failure and how Madara blatantly pointed it out.
"Yes sir, I was able to incite a rebellion amongst the populace but the Uzukage himself came to the Daimyo's rescue. He was able to completely crush them single handed and brought heat back to them even after I broke the damn generator. I failed sir." Madara shifted in his chair a bit, pondering out loud his thoughts.
"Naruto Uzumaki huh? What a pest. Let's just hope Sasuke and Kisame accomplish their objectives."
000
Tension between Uzumaki, I thought it wouldn't happen but I guess it was inevitable. Mei doesn't want Naruto to do the dangerous training and her chipper mood is affected by the stress of lying. Naruto doesn't even know what's the matter, how will they break the ice and connect again. I was even planning on writing a lemon this chapter, damn you Mei and your womanly feelings!
On a lighter note, I loved the most recent chapter of the Naruto manga and the bonding between mother and son. Naruto even complimented his mom on being a 'babe'. It really gave me some ideas for my NaruKushi story that will be released some time after this one's completion.
See ya!
Review!