I don't own Naruto and I never have, probably never will. Can never tell for sure though.
Nightfall!
Chapter 53: Konoha And The Yoinokuchi
Naruto and the other shinobi stood in the Hokage's office. "Your mission is to find and eliminate the ninja responsible for attacking the Fire Temple. You're to leave at once, we have no time to waste, so Kakashi if you don't show up on time I will demote you to genin serving under, Ebisu" Tsunade ordered.
Kakashi shuddered at the thought, Ebisu was a highly skilled trainer, but his skills in combat were questionable, as such he never took on any interesting missions. "I will arrive on time Tsunade-sama" he said.
"Good, now with that said, as you will be working with Naruto and Akimi who are not Konoha ninja and you all hold the same rank within this village there will be no team leader, I expect you can all handle that?" the Hokage asked. The shinobi standing around the office murmured in agreement. "Good now you're all dismissed, and good luck" she added.
"Well, how about we meet at the eastern gate in half an hour?" Asuma suggested.
"That's fine with me" Naruto said and the others quickly agreed.
Naruto and Akimi left the office via the same window that they had entered while the others left using the more conventional means of the door. "It's going to be interesting to see just what the kid can do" Asuma said as the three Konoha shinobi walked out of the Hokage tower.
"Well, I saw him fight on even ground against the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage when Orochimaru summoned them to face Sarutobi-sama three years ago, even if they were holding back as much as possible it was incredibly impressive for one so young" Yamato said.
"Well, it is to be expected that he is strong, just look at who his sensei is, eight years of tutelage under someone like Jiraiya-sama and you're bound to be an impressive shinobi. Then there is the fact that he has the Rinnegan, eyes that hold more secrets than I am sure Naruto even knows" Kakashi said a hint of respect and admiration in his voice.
The three split up going to collect their things for what could be a long trip, with nobody knowing just how long it would take to locate Kakuzu and Hidan.
"We shouldn't have agreed to this, they will slow us down" Akimi said while she and Naruto awaited the arrival of the Konoha ninja at the gate. She was sitting in a nearby tree looking down on Naruto who rested in the shade to escape the heat of the day.
"Maybe in terms of running speed, but you couldn't ask for much better back up than Kakashi and Asuma, and I am sure that the Anbu captain will not be dead weight. Besides the more help we have with tracking them the less time it will take" Naruto said calmly, raising his head to look at the kunoichi.
"I guess so, but sitting around doing nothing while those bastards are out there makes me sick" she said angrily before dropping from the tree branch and taking a seat next to the blond.
"I know how you feel, I felt the same after my adoptive family were killed. Well I did after I got over the shock. But Jiraiya sensei taught me that the best thing I can do for the people I have lost is to live a long and happy life, so there sacrifice wasn't for nothing. It was hard but I eventually got over my hatred from Kumo ninja, although they are still not my favorite people" Naruto said ending with a small laugh.
"Well I can't see myself ever forgiving the Akatsuki for what they have done" Akimi said.
"I'm not going to ask you to either. What they have done, and what they are trying to do is unforgivable. It would take something monumental to allow me to forgive them for all the pain that they have caused" Naruto replied.
Asuma was the first to arrive a backpack filled with supplies. "You guys ready?" he asked when he saw the only things Naruto seemed to have on him were his robes.
Naruto nodded in reply. "I have everything sealed away inside this cloak. And I don't really need to carry a tent anyway" Naruto said.
"Really why?" Asuma asked.
Naruto simply held out his hand and a performed the seal for Doton with one hand. From the ground a small house appeared made from stone, it even had crystal windows. "Stone House Jutsu, large enough to house a small family" Naruto said smugly.
"Impressive, that isn't a jutsu that came from Konoha that's for sure" Asuma said.
"Indeed, it would be a good one to learn, isn't that right Tenzo?" Kakashi said as he made his presence known along with that of Yamato who was now whispering in Kakashi's ear about not using his real name during the mission.
"It's useful enough, I stole the scroll from some Iwa ninja when I was traveling with Jiraiya sensei. It's good because despite being a Doton, and Katon type, Jiraiya sensei didn't have all that many jutsu that he could teach me for earth manipulation, although the ones he did were great" Naruto explained before performing the seal for Doton again and causing the house to sink back into the ground.
"Well look at that Yamato, between the pair of you, you could create anyone's dream home" Asuma chuckled.
Kakashi joined in but Naruto and Akimi were puzzled by what Asuma had meant by that. Shaking off the confusion Naruto stood up and offered Akimi a hand for her to pull herself up from the ground as well. "No sense in wasting anymore time here, we need to get to the Fire Temple, as soon as we can. If we are looking for the trail of the Akatsuki that would be the best place to start" Naruto said.
"Agreed, no time to waste here it will take around a day to reach the fire temple anyway" Kakashi said.
(Elsewhere)
Jiraiya had also left the village although he hadn't planned on going far. His destination was a small village a couple of hours run from Konoha. This village was a favorite spot for the old Toad Sage, and not just because it had a mixed bathing spa, this village contained one of his most trusted spy's and informants.
The village was built into the side of a mountain with only half exposed to the outside. Jiraiya avoided the main entrance so as to not be seen entering and quickly made his way to one of of the more seedy and dark pubs in the village.
The Rusty Kunai, was one of the first buildings put up in the construction of the town, a large building with three floors, a sign on the door claimed that inside you could find anything that you desired. Jiraiya could attest to that, as he opened the door into a very dimly lit room. The patrons all seemed to blend into their seats, doing the best they could to become invisible at the sight of Jiraiya stalking through the door. Several scantly clad women however were quickly approaching the Toad Sage, they knew he was somewhat a regular and always gave very generous tips to those that served him.
"Can I help get you a drink sir?" One of the waitresses asked in a rather seductive tone.
Jiraiya grinned perversely but quickly shook his head. "Sorry, not today, I'm looking for your boss, is he in?" he said a small hint of remorse in his voice.
The waitress looked a little downcast but nodded her head. "Yes he is upstairs in his office, shall I get him for you?" she asked.
"Oh no, that won't be necessary. We are old friends so it will not be that much of a surprise, me dropping in like this" Jiraiya replied and slowly made his way to the corner where an old spiraling staircase was built into the wall.
Jiraiya came to the third floor which opened up into a separate bar although this was far more luxurious , the room was well lit and it screamed class. "You have been busy Saito" Jiraiya said loudly as he entered the room.
"Should have known I couldn't hide from you Jiraiya" came a males voice from behind the bar. Standing up revealed a man around the same age as Jiraiya who was balding slightly, he wore a casual black suit with matching pants and a gray button up shirt. "What do you want this time?" he said taking out a small saucer and filling it with Sake.
Jiraiya took a seat at the bar and Saito placed the drink in front of the Toad Sage. "Information" Jiraiya replied.
"Well that's no big surprise, you rarely come here just to see me" the bartender joked.
"Orochimaru, I need his current location and the people he usually travels with" Jiraiya replied seriously.
Saito's eyes widened. "I thought you had given up on chasing him around after you picked up the Yondaime Hokage's son?" he said apprehensive of giving out the information.
"I did, but something has come up and I need to find Orochimaru. Only he has the answers we need" Jiraiya replied.
Saito sighed and poured another saucer of Sake, this time for himself. "Orochimaru has become very paranoid lately, never staying in the same hideout for more than a week. Knowing where he is going to be is impossible. What I can tell you is that he only ever travels with Sasuke Uchiha and Kabuto Yakushi regularly, sometimes they are joined by one or two others but it is never a permanent arrangement" he said taking a sip from the saucer.
Jiraiya nodded. "And what about the locations of those bases?" the Toad Sage asked.
"Uncertain, he has multiple hideouts but there are only four main hideouts that are superbly hidden, there is one in Grass country but that is all that I know" Saito admitted.
Jiraiya nodded and took a sip of his sake. "Well I guess while I am here I should ask you about the Akatsuki" he said.
"I knew that was coming, leaving most of your spy's to report in to me is a pain you know. So far the Akatsuki have only been able to capture the Yonbi, but they have stepped up their efforts in recent weeks. A team was sent to the Land of Lightning but an attack on Kumo prevented the Akatsuki from encountering the Nibi jinchuuriki. Since then they have turned there attention on the Land of Fire, I assume you have heard of the attack on the Fire Temple by now" Saito said.
Jiraiya nodded sternly. "How many?" he asked.
"Six, three teams of two. Reports of your little group were not going to stay quiet forever. Two members of the akatuski are after each one of the homeless jinchuuriki in the Land of Fire. Reports are a little vague on who they have sent but there has been a reported sighting of the Monster of Kiri Kisame Hoshigaki being seen in the eastern areas near the ports" Saito said.
"I see, thanks for the heads up, I'll make sure to get some back up to the teams in the field as soon as I can" Jiraiya said and finishing the rest of his drink in one gulp stood up and turned to leave.
"Oh but I have more" Saito said with a smug smile on his face. "A rumor has reached my well tuned ears of the location of the leader of the Akatsuki" he added.
"Really?" Jiraiya said turning slowly face the bartender.
"That's right, It's in an area I think you know quite well... Amegakure, I mean after all what better place to hide than in the middle of a country with closed off borders. The question is what would someone like Hanzou the Salamander do if he caught you in his country? Besides it was just a rumor anyway" Saito said.
"Heh, maybe, but there is very rarely smoke without fire. Thanks for the information. And don't worry your payment will be on time" Jiraiya said as he turned and walked from the room. 'So Ame huh, it's been a long time since I have been to that war torn country. In any event I can't just run off and go there now, not when the others are in danger. Itachi, you better hurry up and get those eyes of yours healed, if the Akatsuki have three teams in the Land of Fire searching then it's only a matter of time before the others run into them!' He thought darkly as he quickly left the Rusted Kunai and took off as quickly as he could back to Konoha.
(Later that Day)
It was approaching nightfall and despite making good progress during the day the group of Naruto, Akimi and the Konoha ninja had not yet made it to the Fire temple. They ran on for a few more hours until it was getting too dark to see without extra light. When they finally came to a halt it was at the base of a small hill in an open field.
"We better make camp here, it won't help us at all if we arrive at the Fire Temple too tired to search for any tracks that the Akatsuki may have left behind" Kakashi said taking a seat on the grass before removing his favorite accessory, the small Icha Icha novel that he carried with him at all times.
Akimi thought of complaining, knowing that they were only a few more hours away, but sighed in agreement when she saw Naruto drop onto the grass. "It will be easier to search in daylight anyway" Naruto said looking up into the stars and folding his hands behind his head as he lay back.
"Well we should get our camp built. "Ten- Yamato, if you would do the honors" Asuma said catching himself before using the Anbu's real name like Kakashi did back in Konoha.
Tenzo nodded and formed a few hand seals ending on a peculiar one that Naruto had sworn he had seen before, but couldn't put his finger on when. His eyes widened considerably when four wooden walls shot out of the ground and a large house twice the size of the one Naruto had constructed earlier that day appeared before him. "Mokuton! How is that possible!" Naruto said getting up on his feet and looking between the three Konoha ninja.
"It's a long story Naruto" Kakashi said signaling for the blond to return to his relaxed position.
"It isn't that long Kakashi sempai" Yamato said before turning to Naruto. "When Orochimaru was caught by Sandaime-sama he had been abducting babies from the hospital and orphanages. As well as cloning ninja and attempting to grow them in test tubes" he explained.
"Fortunately none of those experiments worked" Asuma said darkly.
"Yes Orochimaru was unable to clone any ninja so he changed his objective to injecting the stem cells of other ninja into the children that he had kidnapped. His first goal was to inject the cells of the Shodai Hokage into a group of babies. The experiment was a failure and all the children died, or so Orochimaru thought. He had been caught by the Sandaime and was forced to flee before he could check on the last of his experiments, the one child who survived, me. Because of this I have several traits that the Shodai possessed including Mokuton" Yamato explained.
Naruto nodded in understanding and he kept his expression calm. On the inside however his mind was in overdrive thinking about what Tenzo had told him. 'If Orochimaru had been experimenting with Hashirama's DNA, all those years ago, then there is a possibility that he continued his research and while maybe not perfecting the operation made it possible to mix the DNA of a person in a certain area. And then if someone had seen Yamato's ability to use Mokuton and coveted it for themselves. Someone like Danzo who cares about nothing but his own power and the power of Konoha would have no problems in making a deal with the snake, maybe to perhaps get rid of the Hokage so he could take over as the leader of the village' he thought darkly as he added the information to what he already knew about Danzo's arm.
Naruto got up to inspect the building, it was perfect quality, and the wood was as strong as steel. 'Not only is it Mokuton the quality of the manipulation is top notch as well, it really is just like the Shodai Hokage' the blond thought in awe. "This is amazing!" Naruto said looking around inside to find the house fully furbished and even area to add chakra powered lights.
"That's usually why Yamato's team are chosen for missions far away from Konoha, it saves the village on accommodation" Kakashi said not taking his eyes from his book.
Naruto chuckled. "I can see why it would. I bet he saves heaps on village reconstruction as well" he replied.
Akimi who had followed Naruto inside the house was equally impressed. "Uh how many bedrooms are there?" she asked.
"Five, we each get our own room, we even have our own bathrooms with running water, but its not heated sorry, I'm a Suiton and Doton type, not a Katon" Tenzo said proudly indicating several doors that were upstairs.
Akimi nodded her head but at the same time felt a little uneasy. When she was away from Naruto her thoughts would drift back to her brother and it would hurt to think about it. She wanted to sleep with the blond again so she could forget the aching in her heart, at least for a little while. "Oh that's awesome, it will be good to have a shower in the morning" Akimi said with a fake smile that not even Naruto could see through.
It was not an easy night for Akimi, the amount that Naruto helped her cope with the loss of her brother was obvious the moment he would leave the room to hunt for dinner or to grab more firewood from outside. When this happened she subconsciously moved to almost cling onto the blond when he returned.
As she lay in bed that night the only thoughts that were running through her head were replays of Akaru being killed, each time the visions ran through her mind it hurt just the same as it did when she first saw him killed. The pain in her chest quickly became unbearable for the Swift release kunoichi and she soon bolted from her room, tears streaming out of her eyes.
Naruto had not yet fallen asleep, his mind still full of him trying to figure out what Danzo had been up to with Hashirama Senju's DNA along with the sharingan. He knew Danzo was one hundred percent loyal to Konoha, but that loyalty definitely didn't extend to the Hokage, past or present. He was a power hungry man and for all Naruto knew was planning to not only take over Konoha but capture him and his friends, something the blond would not allow.
Suddenly there was a loud knock on the blonds door. Naruto already knew who it would be, the way she had acted when ever he left her side that night was a fair indicator of that. Getting out of bed Naruto walked over to the wooden door and opened it to allow Akimi in.
She hugged him as soon as the kunoichi was in the room tears falling freely from her eyes. "Why does it have to hurt so much" she cried into his chest as Naruto readily returned the hug and began lovingly stroking her hair.
Naruto didn't know how to answer, he knew that shinobi had to deal with death, and too accept that those close to you may die. And so did Akimi, but he couldn't tell her that, it would be too heartless. She had been blessed in many ways, a hidden village has a ninja killed at least once a month. With the Yoinokuchi she had never experienced that side of ninja life. "It's okay Akimi-chan, it hurts because you loved him, he was your brother after all. In time the pain will go away, but never let yourself forget him, he was part of who you are, helped mold you into the beautiful person you are today" Naruto said shaking off the urge to kiss her thinking it would be inappropriate.
Akimi's wails soon turned into light sobs and finally the tears stopped all together. "Can I stay with you?" she asked quietly.
"For as long as you want" the blond replied with a smile.
"Thank you" she whispered while inside she was thinking that she never wanted to leave. His mere presence had calmed her, without him she was alone, lost to the world, but it was like he gave her meaning again.
"Come on, let's get you to bed" Naruto said and gently picked her up and carried her over to his bed, slightly surprised she didn't complain about being carried.
Naruto lay beside Akimi and she immediately moved to close the gap between them wrapping her arms around his body and using his chest as her pillow. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at how she positioned herself subconsciously in the most comfortable position whilst trapping the blond so he couldn't move at all without disturbing her.
The pain had gone, although she hated herself for it, Akaru was no longer in her mind. Now he was replaced with the warmth of Naruto and the steady rise and fall of his chest along with the rhythmic beating of his heart. This was her favorite place, nothing could harm her. The confidence and calm that Naruto seemed to exude spread through her body and she quickly grew tired.
Just as she was fading off to sleep she gave Naruto's chest a quick kiss. "I love you, Naruto-kun" She whispered almost inaudible as the last of her consciousness left her.
Naruto smiled warmly down at her. "And I love you too" he replied quietly, kissing the top of her head.
His declaration was left unheard however as the kunoichi was already fast asleep, but subconsciously she tightened her grip on the blond making him smile.
(Outside Konoha)
"The eyes are almost healed, tomorrow afternoon at the latest" Tsunade said after finishing the final round of healing on Itachi's transplanted eyes.
Jiraiya had sat quietly in the corner going over all the information that he had been given on the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. Internally he was weighing up each option in his head. 'Who do I go after' he thought in frustration. 'Danzo could be a real threat to Konoha, but the Akatsuki are after Naruto, Gaara, and Fuu, not to mention all the other Bijuu. Still if Danzo is scheming something to do with Konoha then I can guarantee that he will want Naruto out of the way or under his control!' He continued weighing up his two options, unable to decide when Tsunade hit him on the side of his head sending him tumbling across the room. "Ow what the hell" Jiraiya said rubbing the cheek where Tsunade had hit him.
"Hm sorry about that, but you weren't answering, and that was the only way I could get your attention" Tsunade said with a smile feeling slightly satisfied after striking the old Toad Sage.
"Alright, well you got my attention now. So what do you want?" Jiraiya asked.
"Tomorrow, you will need to be here with Itachi all day to check on his eyes. Itachi should be able to feel it when the healing is complete. As the chakra supply will return and his sharingan should activate by itself. This could also harm Itachi which is why you need to be here, also be careful, we have no idea what his new eyes will do, the only thing we can assume is he will retain most of if not all his original skills with the sharingan. It could be dangerous, so when it is time make sure you are not in Itachi's line of sight" Tsunade suggested.
"Sounds easy enough, stay put until the new sharingan comes to life. I think I can handle that" Jiraiya replied.
"Good see that you do. Oh and try to not make this a regular occurrence, it's hard enough to get time off as the Hokage and head medic, spending it looking after you lot is not my idea of relaxation time" Tsunade replied, adding some killer intent to emphasize her point. Then after grabbing one of Jiraiya's bottle's of Sake she stalked out of the room before either Jiraiya or Itachi could reply.
"She can be rather intimidating" Itachi said, his voice calm even though he could still feel the effects of Tsunade's warning.
"That's nothing, you should see her when she is really pissed" Jiraiya replied with a shudder thinking about the time she caught him peeking on her.
End Chapter!
Okay shorter chapter I know, but action will pick up again over the next few chapters. Anyway hope you enjoyed it. Any complaints or suggestions feel free to tell me what you think.
