Naruto flew across the rocky plateau but contrary to how that might have gone six months ago he managed to twist his body in the air and land on both feet in a solid three-point stance. Immediately he had to use his one grounded hand to flip himself up and forwards over his brutish attacker to avoid the knee that would have sure impacted with his chin otherwise. Once again he had barely moments to stay on the ground before he was forced to evasively dodge to one side, rolling along his shoulder to soften the impact.
Currently he was stripped down to just his normal shinobi pants and sandals; the only other thing he was wearing was a sheen of sweat which glistened over his bare torso. They had been at this for hours, the intense physical exercise enough to even overcome the chill of the late-winter air this high in the mountains. Finally he caught a break as he slid to the ground in an impressive split letting his attacker's fist sail over his head. He grabbed said extended limb before scissoring his legs together along the ground to capture his opponent's legs.
Using the man's large body as leverage he flipped himself around to land firmly on the man's exposed back, mindful of the swords that were strapped there. He still had a grip on the man's arm and pulled it around sharply to hold him in a painful submission hold, one that would allow his teammates to tie him up in that scenario. He smirked but his slight overconfidence got the better of him as the man overpowered his hold with brute force alone and threw Naruto back. Once again he dropped down into a ready stance that would have allowed him to attack or defend but his sparring partner held up a hand.
"That's enough for today Naruto, I think it's about time we go. Yugito been teachin' you some killer moves, it really been helping out yo groove." Naruto just smiled at the compliment, going over to where their gear was stashed and throwing his lightweight training shirt on.
"Alright Bee-sensei, Fuu and Yugito should be finishing up now, we can go swing by them." The large muscled man nodded his agreement, pulling on the rest of his own equipment. He also beamed a little, one of the man's favourite things about Naruto was the sensei title; it made him feel good to impart his knowledge. Much to his displeasure Naruto hadn't quite taken to rap as his first encounter would have him believe. However unlike most he didn't completely dismiss Bee for it either which he was appreciative of.
They jogged out of their training ground towards another further down the mountain where the air was a bit thicker. It had taken Naruto a while to get used to the high altitude that training in Kumo required but once he had he found fighting lower down even easier. He was told it had something to do with oxygen and adjusted dependencies but he wasn't too bothered with the specifics as long as it worked.
One of his favourite training grounds was the one at the very top of the second tallest mountain in Kumo. It was the most peaceful place Naruto had ever visited without any animals of people for ages in any direction. He was surrounded by the chilled air and the fluffy white clouds below him; Fuu also seemed to like it when he took her up there one night. Naruto smiled as he thought of his surrogate sister, the two of them had really bonded in their time in Kumo and he couldn't wait to introduce her to Tayuya.
That name brought him a small frown; it had been six months since he had left Sunagakure and he had yet to hear from Gaara or his girlfriend. He understood that it might be difficult to locate him and that she was on a difficult and dangerous mission but he thought this was long enough. He sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do about it without going back to Suna himself which he wouldn't do. He had promised to return stronger and he didn't believe he was there yet.
That wasn't to say his training wasn't effective; he trained with both Bee and Yugito, after she had warmed up to him of course. Bee would put him through his paces with physical exercise and training his rapidly growing lightning affinity. Yugito would help him with his overall flexibility and his taijutsu; he had managed to incorporate aspects of her very bendy style into his own. They shared the fact that their main style was on all fours a lot of the time due to their respective biju. Both of them would help him with his jinchuuriki specific training, working with Kyuubi's chakra.
He had now mastered the fourth tail, being able to call upon it without losing his mind. The power boost he got during that state was unimaginable; it still hurt like hell afterwards but now that his and Kyuubi's chakras were more in sync there was less damage. Fuu had also begun her training in being a jinchuuriki, taking her first meditative steps into her own mindscape not a week after arriving in Kumo. Chomei's chakra was now steadily flowing through her coils, widening them and vastly improving her already decent reserves for somebody with minimum training.
That wasn't the only area she was trained in; Yugito had practically taken the girl under her wing. She was trained in every element of being a Kunoichi, Yugito's taijutsu mixed with Naruto's ninjutsu and her all-around stamina made her effective. She was still inexperienced and a little rough around the edges but she was advancing quickly much to Naruto's satisfaction. He and Bee helped out where they could, offering tips from their own experiences handling a high-tailed biju but in the end it just seemed Yugito could do more for her.
That wasn't the only way the two had bonded, before too long the girls were inseparable and not long after that Yugito had accepted Fuu calling her Oneesan. Naruto wasn't jealous though, he still got to spend as much time as he liked with his imouto and he enjoyed that time immensely. For as long as he could remember he had wanted a family; he had something like that with Gaara but to have it on this level was indescribable. Gaara would always be his best friend and he could never look at Tayuya like that again so his relationship with Fuu was truly unique.
"Hey guys!" They had slid and jumped down the mountain to the lower training grounds where they found an equally sweaty Fuu and Yugito sitting on a boulder chatting. With a blush Naruto couldn't help but notice the way the sweat shimmered on Yugito's skin, catching the sun. He loved Tayuya with all his heart but he was still a fifteen year old boy and Yugito was a very attractive nineteen years old. He hid his blush as he walked over, waving back to Fuu who had spotted him immediately.
"Hey Oniisan! You missed Yugito-sensei do something awesome!" Naruto just smiled, when training Fuu always called her mentor and surrogate sister sensei, it stopped her associating the harsh training she was put through with her loving sister.
"Oh really? What'd I miss?" He jumped onto the large boulder they were sitting and plopped down next to them, throwing an arm around Fuu's shoulders which she snuggled into.
"She changed into Matatabi, like full on and everything!" Naruto just looked around his gushing sister to a now embarrassed Yugito, a little bit of awe in his eyes.
"Fuu are you sure this wasn't one of Yugito's genjutsus? Remember that one that made you believe you lived on a pirate ship where men could stretch their limbs like rubber?" Fuu just sighed exasperatedly; Naruto would never give that up after she came home excited about it after one training session.
"No, I'm serious." She turned to Yugito in a huff. "Come on Yugito-sensei, show Naruto that awesome flaming cat form!" Said woman just chuckled to herself.
"Fuu is right Naruto, I am able to transform into my biju. Its one of the many perks of being in full control." Naruto's eyes widened at that, honestly he had really thought it was a prank of some kind, but that she could actually transform into the Nibi itself was impressive.
"Wow, okay that's cool. I'd love to see that!" Yugito just shook her head while smirking, gaining Naruto's narrowed eyes.
"I can't do it that often. It takes a lot out of me and Matatabi." Naruto just nodded slowly, a little disappointed before he spun on the boulder to ask in Bee could do it but he had already taken the opportunity to vanish.
"Hey Kurama, could we do that someday?" He felt the old vixen shake her head sadly and Naruto frowned. "Why not?"
"You forget Naruto, half of my chakra is sealed away in the stomach of the Shinigami. Even if you master all of the chakra inside your body that is still only one half of my original power. Without my Yin chakra we could never transform back into myself completely. If you really wanted to, when you reach that level of control you could use my chakra to simply henge into me if you wanted; I guess I might find that flattering." Naruto shared a laugh with his tenant; it was a disappointing revelation but it did get him thinking.
"What's it like to be separated from half of your chakra?" He felt the shudder from inside of him; it must have been an unpleasant experience to make a creature like the Kyuubi act in such a way.
"Not pleasant kit, the damn Shinigami literally dragged it out of my body and it felt like I had forever lost a source of heat in my own body. Still though, even without my Yin I am more powerful than any of my siblings." That also made Naruto think, Kyuubi was an incredibly powerful entity, even now; she must have been positively immense before the sealing.
"It must be very... unbalancing." He felt her sigh and just decided to drop the conversation that was obviously causing the biju displeasure. "Sorry, just curious." He felt her nod before she went quiet, probably slinking off to a corner of his mindscape.
"Uhh Oniisan?" His eyes came back into focus to see Fuu's caramel hand waving in front of his face and he blushed from being caught dazing.
"Sorry, just talking to Kyuubi." He shook his head and looked at Fuu and Yugito again with a smile. "Anyway I would like to see that sometime Yugito, it would be cool." The girl nodded with a small smile, reminding Naruto why it was worth it to befriend the woman. "Anyway Fuu, eventually you should be able to transform into Chomei by yourself, how cool would that be?" The mint-haired girls' eyes seemed to sparkle, not having thought of that. Yugito quickly nipped it in the bud though, not wanting to get the girls hopes up so soon.
"That won't be for a long time Fuu. I had to spend years refining my control over Matatabi's chakra and your biju has more tails so in theory it should be even more difficult. Naruto is only able to do what he does because of the way his seal is designed so unless you get a master fuinjutsu user to alter your seal it's going to be long and hard training ahead of you." Fuu pouted a little, drawing out her puppy-dog eyes without even realizing it and turning to Naruto.
"Oniisan, you know seals right? Could you help me?" Naruto almost wanted to say yes under such a powerful attack from her watery orange eyes but he managed a chuckle.
"I'm a bit too humble to call myself a fuinjutsu master..." He looked away in thought "...but I have been rather neglecting the field and it has always interested me. Hell, after the Fujin no Iki showed me what I could do with it I'm almost surprised I didn't lock myself away for another year to study it." He looked back at Fuu. "I'm going to train myself in sealing more, maybe then I could help you." Fuu beamed brightly, all hint of her puppy-dog eyes gone as she enveloped her brother in a hug. 'After all, how hard could it be to find a fuinjutsu master to train me?'
It had been three months since Naruto had thought that fateful line and he cursed himself every day for it. It turned out that fuinjutsu might as well have been a dying art; there was literally no masters of it left except for Jiraiya of the Sannin. Of course all the ones he knew who were proficient on the art lived in Suna, no help there then. He made do with the scrolls he found in Kumo's library which were surprisingly effective. He read as much as he could when he could, absorbing everything with ease.
He had once been told he had an almost unnatural knack for the subject, surprising and surpassing most that tried to teach him. He just simply understood it; how the various arrays worked, how they fit together and what could or couldn't be tweaked. In fact recently, fiddling with already existing seals was a pass time, something he did if he had a spare moment. Already he had managed to increase the power and range of the standard exploding tags Kumo used with only a minor modification.
This action elicited a response from the Raikage, namely to allow him access to many of the older and more valuable sealing scrolls he had in his personal library. This was in exchange for any breakthroughs Naruto made during his stay in Kumo which he was happy to agree to if it gave him more to study and learn. Fuu had once told him it was like he was addicted to the art and Naruto had a hard time arguing with the girl. The feeling he got when he finally unlocked the mysteries of a complex array, or designed one for himself were nearly euphoric.
He also had an ulterior motive to his work, while he enjoyed it for himself he also knew that with the more he learned the better equipped he would be to finally help Tayuya rid herself of the cursed seal. It was one of the many goals that kept driving him forward in finding more and more information. Before he knew it he was standing over Fuu's prone body with her on her stomach on the bed. Her shirt was raised up allowing him to see the intricate and spiraling seal that adorned her right shoulder blade.
He looked it over with a now trained eye, noticing the complex and subtle layering within the seal itself that allowed for the chakra absorption and suppression of the Nanabi. He had been doing this a lot for the last week and the stack of notes building up on the small desk next to him was proof of that. He had promised Fuu that he would adjust her seal to allow more chakra flow and that was exactly what he planned to do. He was just lucky that this wasn't the type of seal that needed a key or he wouldn't have been able to do anything.
As it was he was now in the process of tracing out complicated kanji in specific orders around the so often he would have a trail of them emerging from the rings he created to wind further around her body. Luckily he planned it so he wouldn't have to draw anywhere indecent, he wasn't Jiraiya after all and Fuu was his little sister, even if not in blood. It took almost half an hour with Fuu staying perfectly still and him drawing with his tickling ink brush before he could stand back, a satisfied grin on his features.
He looked around to Yugito and Bee who actually looked rather bored having to wait this long. They were there in case something went wrong, Naruto found it a little insulting that they didn't trust his skills but he was young so he understood their position. He took a deep breath to alert them that he was ready before moving back over to where Fuu was waiting a bit more patiently.
"Alright imouto, I'm ready to do this. If it all goes how I want it to this should increase the rate Nanabi can input her chakra into your system. Not by too much of course, I wouldn't want to hurt you. Even so I figure that isn't going to be the most pleasant of experiences but I have to ask that you try and keep as still as possible while the seal is still completing itself." Fuu nodded, biting her lip out of worry; she trusted her brother but he had told her repeatedly that forcefully expanding one's chakra coils would not be pleasant.
With one last check to make sure absolutely everything was perfect Naruto pulled in a deep breath and channeled chakra to his finger. It took nearly all his chakra control just to manage this but a small blue flame appeared around his digit which he quickly used to inscribe over Fuu's seal. He added some parts that would be needed as well as removing a few others that weren't critical to its integrity. Finally he gave a small flick of his wrist to ever so slightly decrease the size of the swirl at the centre of the seal.
With a burst of chakra from his entire palm all the kanji he had drawn began to writhe over Fuu's body. They snaked inwards in a large circle before they combined into intricate arrays that Bee and Yugito couldn't follow. They were quickly absorbed into the original seal before Fuu let out a gasp of pain as she felt fire enter her blood and travel through her whole body. Naruto put a firm hand on her shoulder, trying to ease her tension as much as he could. A soft yellow glow began to appear over Fuu's body and in the corner of the room Yugito and Bee looked worried, fearing that the Nanabi might have been released.
Naruto just narrowed his eyes, still holding firmly to Fuu's shoulder as the last of the extra seals disappeared under the original and Fuu thankfully slumped back into the bed, yellow glow gone. Naruto smiled kindly down at her; she would probably be unconscious for a few hours but when she woke up she would feel the effects of the altered seal. He also smiled to himself, this was his first step as a fuinjutsu user and he couldn't be happier about it.
Naruto slid down the banister of the staircase in the Raikage mansion, followed shortly after by Fuu. They both laughed as they slid down the polished wood, ending in small but graceful flips from the two of them. Naruto managed to land in front of a squad that was just now getting back from a mission and stared at him and the mint-haired girl behind him oddly. He just smiled back at them, already knowing who they were thanks to introductions from Yugito.
"Hey Karui, Samui, Omoi, you just get back?" The three older shinobi and kunoichi nodded, Karui with a smile, Omoi with his usual bored look and Samui with her indifferent expression. Despite how she acted around people Naruto knew Samui was a good person at heart, she cared for her teammates and their sensei even though it wasn't obvious from the way she acted.
"Hey Naruto, Fuu. What were you talking to Raikage-sama about?" Naruto just smirked at Karui; she had become a great friend for him, not to mention and excellent sparring partner. She wasn't as skilled with kenjutsu as Bee was so it was good to hone his skills against her making the fights with Bee that little bit easier. Sometimes he would take on Omoi, Samui, and her all at once to get them to somewhat emulate Bee's multiple sword fighting style.
"Not a lot, just returning a scroll I borrowed" Karui just nodded in understanding, Naruto's passion for all things fuinjutsu was legendary by now, some people actually coming to him with jobs of the nature. He was about to continue when all five of them heard an incredibly high pitched squawk coming from the entrance to the Raikage tower. They turned in time to see a rather large falcon burst through the doors quite spectacularly and start to circle around the ceiling.
"Um, shouldn't that be at the bird tower?" The three Kumo shinobi just nodded dumbly staring at the strange sight of the bird circling indoors. Suddenly its lively eyes caught Naruto's body and in a flash it's head swivelled and its wings tilted. Much to Naruto's surprise the bird suddenly came crashing down on him and would have bowled him over without Bee's endurance training. Instead he managed to catch the large falcon with one hand around its neck and the other around its feet.
He immediately noticed the scroll attached to the bird's back and quickly slid it out of the little carrier case it came in. Then to everybody's surprise the bird just up and burst into a small cloud of smoke. After everybody was done coughing and swatting the annoying white cloud away Naruto stared dumbly at the roll of paper in his hand.
"Huh, must've been a summon." Fuu was now behind him on her tippy-toes trying to peak over his shoulder at the scroll. She had grown in the ten months they had been in Kumo but then again, so had Naruto.
"What's it say?" Naruto turned the strange scroll over in his hand, surprisingly finding 'For Shithead' written on the side. His face lit up in a gleaming smile as he looked over the scroll again as team Samui came over to look at it.
"Who's it for?" Naruto kept his grin on his face.
"It's for me." Samui just seemed confused as she read the message on the side, especially after seeing Naruto's grin.
"Then why does it say for Shithead?" Naruto just grinned even wider.
"It's from my girlfriend." Again he got some very strange looks from the three Cloud shinobi; Fuu was more understanding as Naruto had told her a lot about Tayuya. "It was great seeing you guys, I'll catch you around but I'm gonna head home and check out the scroll." Team Samui just shared a collective shrug and nod before brushing past him to climb the stairs he had moments ago slid down. Naruto paid them no mind after that, he simply pulled Fuu onto his shoulders like he used to do and sped off.
"Hey, I'm not a little kid anymore; you don't have to carry me!" Naruto just smirked as he carried on running.
"Oh, and who was it that said it's part of a brother's job to be a taxi service? Anyway I know you love it." Fuu quietened down, he was right; she really did love it when he would do this for her. She was a shinobi-in-training now so she could run quickly but that was nothing compared to Naruto, he was impossibly fast and she liked the wind rushing past her at these high speeds. She noticed he was climbing higher instead of moving towards the house and she smirked, he must have really wanted to get home quickly.
When they reached a point where they could both make out Yugito's house far below them on the mountain Naruto threw his special kunai with deadly accuracy. It struck the side of the house without a sound, Naruto having already completed his silencing seal and adding them to his weapons. A brief tingling across Fuu's skin later and they were outside the house, Naruto already removing the kunai form the wall.
"You know Oneesan hates it when you do that, it leaves marks in the walls." Naruto just shrugged with Fuu still on his back.
"I'll buy her some sashimi later and she'll forget all about it." The girl was addicted to the stuff, it wasn't even funny. Naruto thought he could pack away the food but Yugito was on another level to him entirely. She said it was because he had yet to find his soul mate of foods but he just found her a little weird whenever she spoke like that. Everybody just figured it was because of the cat-like influences she got from Matatabi, and those weren't even the only thing she got.
Naruto walked into the house with a smile on his face; bee had been taking it fairly easy today so he wasn't nearly as worn out as usual. He stepped across the threshold, immediately looking for Fuu and Yugito. He was glad the two were getting along even if he and Yugito hadn't quite found common ground after their first day. The woman was just cold to him, she trusted Fuu because she was young and innocent while it wasn't nearly as easy to let Naruto in.
He wasn't too worried, she would come around eventually; Naruto had once been told that he just had a natural way of bringing people around, of making friends out of enemies. He checked the ground floor and couldn't see them; he was a bit sad as he thought he could use his extra energy to do something with Fuu. He shrugged it off and decided to go find a fuinjutsu scroll to curl up with and study.
He was suddenly put on alert as he heard strange sounds from upstairs; he rushed up in case it was attackers or burglars. As he approached he once again noticed the strangeness of the sounds, it was like a growling or a moan that sounded bestial but yet was definitely human. The sounds came from Yugito's bedroom and, worrying that she was in danger, he burst through the wooden door. The sight that met his eyes would not have crossed his mind, nor would it leave it, in years.
Yugito was spread out on her bed, clutching her sheets as her body arched up and down in supposed agony. However the first thing Naruto noticed was the fact that the woman was wearing nothing but her headband. Naruto's eyes nearly shot out of their sockets as he immediately swivelled on his foot, hands already firmly clasped over his eyes.
"Sorry Yugito, I heard noises and... There were shouts and... I'm sorry!" He tried to stumble out of the room but he heard the pained panting behind him stop and he could almost feel Yugito's eyes boring into his skull.
"Naruto!" Naruto's eyes opened even further behind his hands as he continued to fumble his way out of the room. "Naruto wait!" He froze mid-step, his mind overloading from that simple statement as he failed to understand what was going on. From what he knew of women they didn't like guys walking in on them like this; that meant she was stopping him so she could punish him.
"Yugito, I'm sorr-" he was cut off mid-sentence as he felt Yugito's body press up against his back, her very warm, sweaty and naked body. A finger was pressed up against his lips to silence him, not that he could even make a sound as his brain nearly exploded from the contact.
"Naruto, I need you." Her voice was a mix between a whisper and a moan as she turned him around with her hands and slowly pried his hand away from his face. His eyes were clenched firmly shut; still not knowing what was going on and whether or not it was a test. He just hoped she wasn't like Anko, teasing him only so that she could punish and humiliate him later.
"Yugito what is-?" Her finger was once again placed sensually against his lips to silence him as she leaned her whole body against him. Naruto gulped loudly as two soft yet firm mounds pressed up against his chest as he idly noticed his pants were becoming tighter.
"What is it Naruto? Don't you like me?" He just stuttered out something unintelligible, his eyes still closed out of confusion and fear. "Then why won't you look at me?" He just shook his head firmly and he could almost imagine her cute yet convincing pout, filled with sexual energy. "I just need you for a little while Naruto, that's all." Naruto's eye twitched dangerously behind his closed eyelids as he wondered just how many guys would kill to be in this situation with a beautiful woman like Yugito.
She took his hand and he unintentionally opened his eyes a crack to see what she was doing only to regret it instantly. At that moment she firmly took his hand and planted it right on her ample breast, using her own hands to knead it into the soft flesh. Naruto nearly fainted there and then but a sudden burst of adrenaline had him yank the hand out of her strong grasp, turn promptly and run out of her room. He ran straight out of the house, not stopping for anything or anybody until he reached his training ground where he collapsed to the ground, confusion overtaking him.
Killer Bee had later explained to him that Matatabi had a certain effect on Yugito on specific days in the month. He compared it to a cat going into heat and Naruto had to agree with his analogy after witnessing it firsthand. Luckily that was exactly the moment that the ice broke between him and Yugito, the two of them becoming good, if not slightyl awkward, friends not too soon after. Of course if Tayuya ever found out he was certain to at least lose a limb so after a long and difficult internal debate of about two seconds he reasoned that it was perfectly natural to have a few secrets.
He and Fuu walked into the house, greeting Yugito warmly when they saw her cooking up some food in the kitchen. She was curious about the scroll in Naruto's hands but he simply explained it was from his girlfriend. The reaction he got was a little strange but he couldn't explain it; Yugito blushed a little before looking away almost guiltily. Naruto usually would have put more thought into it but he was too excited by the message from Tayuya.
He laid the scroll down on the table and opened it up after cracking the fairly poor seal on its front. He smirked as he read the first words: 'Hey Shithead...' Well that was always a good start.