The Contract
Chapter 32
Two Days Prior to Naruto's Return From Suna…
Uzumaki Naruto was not, by nature, a patient person.
In fact, his lack of patience was practically hereditary (as anyone who knew Kushina would have attested to) and was the primary reason he had played truant more often than not during his Academy days.
After all, what was the benefit of sitting still and listening to old people drone on about even older things when he could be out there kicking butts and taking names? He wasn't a noob dammit!
Nature, however, could be subverted by nurturing and that was exactly what Jiraiya and Erza had done during his training period using a wide range of techniques.
From meditation to combat scenarios where patience was the only path to victory, they had ensured that he had shed the vast majority of his impatient nature, at least insofar as it concerned a mission.
The Naruto clone in charge of combing through the vast Archives found himself thankful for that training because without it, he was dead certain that he would either have given up, gone insane or simply set the building ablaze, consequences be damned.
"Uzumaki-san we have been at this for well over two weeks, a time period which, thanks to your use of clones, essentially equals about two months of exhaustive research, all to no avail." Shiho sighed as she rubbed her temples. The past week had been the most exhausting one in her life, moreso than even the vetting period prior to her being given the role of the Archivist. Between her oscillating thoughts about whether or not this search would pan out and her duties as a member of the Cryptography unit, her mind had been stretched thin.
"I understand that I am stretching your patience, Shiho-san," -as I am doing the same to myself- "but I cannot shake the feeling that there is something wrong about the demise of the Senju." The clone sighed as it pulled out yet another tome of clan censuses from the shelf he was working through. "I've already noted a somewhat steady decline in their population since the beginning of the Second War. And, before you try to put up an argument-" he smirked behind the frame of the book when he heard her teeth grind shut. "-I've already created and compared their population graphs with those of other clans and the rate doesn't match. Not even the Uchiha, arguably the only clan with an equal -if not greater- degree of notoriety experienced such a decline. In fact, the Uchiha clan population graph experiences a slight upward curve."
Shiho goggled at him as she tried to wrap her mind around what she had just heard.
Even without her six-month stint studying the statistics of populations, common sense would have pointed out the glaring problem he had just dug up: people died during wars, moreso among shinobi than the civilians they protected. Amongst them, high-end clans like the Uchiha, the Senju and the Hyuga were expected to suffer greater losses simply by virtue of their reputation: when any one from those clans stepped out onto the battlefield, the enemies usually redoubled their efforts to kill them.
For the Uchiha clan to have experienced such an upward curve, no matter how slight, meant that there was some form of foul play going on.
Just like that, her brain kicked into overdrive.
"We need mission records from-"
"I have a batch of clones searching for mission records that might help shed light on it." Naruto cut in only to be on the receiving end of a truly fearsome scowl.
"Do you have them searching as far back as in the aftermath of the First War?" When he meekly shook his head, she grunted and spun away, headed into another section of the Archives. "I need every last mission record and post-mission report from the year after Shodaime-sama's death as well as complete population statistics and anything else you think might help!" Her tone had escalated into a yell by the end because she was already racing into the deepest sections of the Archives, her mind tearing through tremendous chunks of data at nigh-impossible speeds.
Anyone who glanced at her thoughts right then would have thought her insane; hell a portion of her own mind questioned the path she was taking but her heart was set on it and she would see it through.
The time period where Naruto had made his observations coincided with the only time in unrecorded history that an Uchiha held the position of the ANBU Commander, though their identity, in line with the tradition, had never been revealed.
It was also the period during which Yamanaka Inojin, one of the few people to possess an intellect greater than a Nara's, served as the Village's Jonin Commander.
She needed to find the Pre-Konoha records: the set of documents tendered by the founding families of the Village.
Because, if memory served her right (and she desperately hoped it didn't), the Yamanaka had served most of the Warring Clans era as vassals of the Uchiha.
‹‹‡››
The Present…
Hana once again found herself stunned by the aura of calm confidence Naruto seemed to have grown into as he stood before four of the most powerful people in Konoha, weathering their stoic gazes without so much as a flinch.
"Chūnin Inuzuka, you have been summoned here due to your role as Chūnin Uzumaki's second in command on mission B-1547C9." Tsunade stated, kicking things off. "Your role is to verify the details of said mission as we proceed and to point out any discrepancies as is noted."
"Understood, Hokage-sama."
"Over to you Nara-san."
"Chūnin Uzumaki," Shikaku began, holding up a scroll that held all the relevant details to the day's hearing. The Jōnin Commander considered the action needlessly redundant, seeing as he had already memorized its content yet traditions had to be maintained. "You led the team of Hatake Kakashi, Yamanaka Ino, Shiranui Genma, Inuzuka Hana, Hyuga Neji and Haruno Sakura on mission B-1547C9 correct?"
"Yes, Commander."
"The above mentioned mission was a joint rescue operation between your team, representing Konohagakure no Sato and a team from Sunagakure no Sato, correct?"
"Yes Commander."
"The Sunagakure operatives were the Grand Mistress of the Chikamatsu Troupe, Lady Chiyo and Sabaku no Temari and your objective was to retrieve the Kazekage from the hands of the duo of Iwagakure's Mad Bomber, Deidara and Sunagakure's own Sasori of the Red Sands. Is this correct?"
"Yes Commander."
The sequence of needless questions droned on and Hana found herself fighting away the deliciously tempting fingers of sleep that tugged at her.
The question jolted the Inuzuka back to her surroundings and she noticed that, rather than the Jōnin Commander, the last question had been posed by the Head of the Advisory Council.
Shimura Danzō.
"And what exactly are these retainers of yours?"
Hana found herself suppressing a shudder as her gaze rested -for just the briefest of moments- on the crippled old man and she wished she could trade him out for the old Danzō; the man that had helped her train for the Academy when she was just a wet behind the ears brat that couldn't hold a kunai right. She missed the man that had trained her mother into the hard as nails bitch she was without making her lose an ounce of the passion that so crucially defined her mother.
She missed the old Danzō even though she now understood that this was the real Danzō and her memories were built around a facade.
In the real world, Naruto answered the question as easily as he had the others, not seeming even the slightest bit fazed. "They are the last of a dying summoning clan."
The answer, one they had each suspected during their individual perusals of the mission reports, had three of the Four lean back into their chair.
For the first time since the briefing had begun, the ANBU Commander made his presence known.
The latest in a long line of operatives bearing the 'Tora' mask, the Commander was a nondescript looking man with such an easygoing demeanour that every batch of new recruits thought they could take him for a ride.
They learned the hard way why the leader's call-sign was that of a tiger.
"Which clan would that be?" The ANBU commander asked.
"They aren't so much of a clan as they are a species." Naruto clarified. "At least, that's what Jiraiya told me when I discussed this matter with him. They call themselves the 'Etherious.'"
Hana's mind raced through its databanks, seeking any references to the term and drew a blank.
It was the same for all the others in the room save Naruto himself.
The Godaime Hokage sat forward, her honey-brown eyes boring into Naruto. "Explain."
And so he did, telling them of how, during his travels with the Toad Sage, they had stumbled upon a group that Jiraiya had deemed capable of one day challenging the Great Five and their subsequent dismantling of the 'Village Hidden in the Sky'. He regaled them with the tale of his battle with Ishidate that had pushed him to his limits and had ended in the ruins of a forgotten civilization with the foreign ninja killed and himself on the verge of death. He explained how he had awoken in the hut of a mysterious woman whose name he knew not and how she had nursed him back to health in exchange for his assistance in locating her lost children. He had explained all this to Jiraiya and the Toad Sage, as a way of paying her back, had kept his ear to the ground, seeking the two in question.
"We found them, as I reported, in a bandit's camp and rescued them. When we returned them to the land I had first met their mother, she was ready to move on and she begged me to keep them in my care." Naruto finished. "I signed the summoning contract their mother provided and swore to keep their secret as long as it did not hamper my responsibilities."
It sounded like nothing short of a fantastical tale, something one would pen down as mere fiction yet, as Hana knew, no one truly understood how summoning creatures were first found. In most cases, the contracts were passed down within families or from master to student and the rare few that had found the contracts were known to staunchly refuse to tell others how they were obtained.
As she stared at the Four, Hana realized that they had the same thoughts: no one knew precisely how the contracts were found and so none could truly argue with Naruto's account.
"How powerful do you think they are?" 'Tora' asked. "And how much of a threat do they pose to the Village?"
"After a spar with each of them, Jiraiya ranked them as mid-S rank in terms of their overall combat ability." Naruto replied immediately. "As regards their threat to the Village, they have assured me that they mean no harm to us. They will not hesitate to defend themselves should they be pushed that far but they have sworn to utilize lethal force only if they are threatened with the same."
"They seem like a threat waiting to happen." Danzō stated, eliciting just the tiniest scowl from Naruto.
"As Tora-sotaichō will ascertain, they haven't been even the slightest bit of trouble since they joined the Village." The blond rejoined, staring the War Hawk dead in the eyes as he hinted at the fact that he knew that his summons had been under surveillance since his return.
The Hokage, the Jōnin Commander, the ANBU Commander and the Head of the Advisory Committee: four of the most powerful people in the Village and they could only stare at him.
"We will decide on the next line of action in light of this new information." Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples. "Naruto, you are to return in an hour. Hana, you have the day off."
Both chūnin nodded and walked out of the Hokage's office before departing after a final greeting, Hana taking the scenic route while Naruto raced home with a few shunshin jumps .
The instant he opened the door to his apartment, he was staring into Erza's dark brown eyes.
"How did it go?"
He shrugged at the question, taking his sandals off by the door before slipping past her into his little living room. "About as well as we expected." He plopped into his sofa and opened his arms invitingly, an offer that she was glad to take seeing as they were the only ones at home. "It's a good thing we thought about this happening during our time with Jiraiya or things would have gone very bad, very fast."
"He has his uses." She said softly as she snuggled deep into his arms, enjoying the steady throb of his heartbeat beneath her ear. Then, she froze as she realized that she had just complimented a self-proclaimed, fully deserving, Super Pervert. "That is, of course, to say that even a disgusting piece of filth can be useful in the right circumstances."
Naruto just hummed noncommittally at her comment, knowing how much she loved to malign the Perverted Sage. That she even agreed that he could be useful was a indicative of how relaxed she had become in his arms, a state of being she would often fight tooth and nail in the presence of others -especially Mirajane.
"I expect that your presence will yet be required?"
"In an hour, take a few minutes." He agreed. "They're conferring on what steps they should take regarding this matter."
The Knightwalker, as a former soldier and then a general easily understood what he meant: he had brought in two people and introduced them as one thing where the reality was something else. Potential assets to the village or not, the fact remained that her new-found love had lied to the ranking authorities and that was something that couldn't easily be swept beneath the carpet. "I expect that the Hokage will do her best to shield you from excessively harsh punishments."
"I hope so but I still don't expect to get out of this with a tap on the wrist." He sighed. "I put Baa-chan in a difficult position especially if she ends up being the only one siding with me. If she tries to get the others to drop the matter then it'll imply favoritism and that could undermine her reputation but the other option will hurt her emotionally." He sighed again as he buried his face in her hair. "Damn it."
The redhead froze again as she felt his muscles tighten up: this matter seemed to truly trouble him and while she wasn't horrific at talking to others, she knew that Mira was light years better at discussing and easing the minds of those around her. As such, she wracked her mind for a few moments until she stumbled upon a little matter that ought to cheer him up.
"Levy's just about ready to cross over." She started. Knowing how much of his effort he had diverted into gaining an audience with the runes-mistress, she was certain that the current line of discussion would draw his attention.
And she was dead on: the instant she mentioned her name, Naruto had lifted the Knightwalker until she was straddling his legs and stared up at her. "Really?"
Erza was only too happy to nod. "She returned from her expedition yesterday and sent word that she'd be ready later today."
"Erza that's wonderful!" He laughed as he pulled her into a hug. "That's really fucking awesome!"
His happiness, she had discovered, was infectious and this was no different. "I was thinking we should summon her later, perhaps after Mira returns from Ichiraku's."
"Oh hell yes!"
‹‹‡››
While Naruto laughed at his good fortune, Tsunade nursed a headache, wishing -not for the first time- that she had simply stayed away from the damned Hat.
'At least those idiots took the time to explain this whole Kyubi-summons thing to me.' She groaned mentally. "So, final thoughts on this matter?"
"As I stated earlier, I'm of the opinion that this should be given A-class security clearance and tossed under the rug." Shikaku shrugged lazily as he slapped his dossier shut. "In the end, his actions haven't hurt anyone."
"On the contrary, they might very well have strengthened our reputation before our allies." Tora nodded in agreement. "After all, the witnesses from Sunagakure, both high-ranking and well respected in their Village, saw him summon two women who defeated two infamous S-ranked missing nin. Given time, I fully expect this to develop into a rumor that will cast doubts on the minds of those who seek to threaten us."
"Perhaps. However, it is conceivable that neither Hoshigaki nor the Uchiha were at full strength." Danzō rebutted. "That could dampen the effectiveness of this rumor."
"By whose account?" Tora rejoined. "After all, it is highly unlikely that the Akatsuki, going by what we have heard of them, would send worthless pawns out to secure a key goal of theirs."
Shikaku clearly agreed with that line of thought. "Even if they weren't at full strength, it is very likely that whatever technique they utilized only dampened their overall stats by a single rank."
"In that case, these Etherious, as Naruto called them, were able to handily defeat A-rank threats." Tsunade summarized.
"And that's not factoring Jiraiya's assessment in ours." Shikaku added to which Danzō frowned.
"We cannot take the boy's claims into account until we speak with Jiraiya himself."
"Which is why we didn't." Shikaku stated. He understood what the Elder meant: they couldn't afford to make decisions based on hearsay until they spoke to the Toad Sage himself.
"As much as I agree with Shikaku-san, however, I believe a measure of discipline must be enforced upon Uzumaki-san." Tora continued, prompting Tsunade to restrain a groan.
Things just couldn't be easy could they?
"He withheld vital information from his superiors." Danzō agreed. "Perhaps not critical information but all shinobi are expected to notify their ranking commander, jōnin or ANBU, of the acquisition of new summons."
It was an old law of the Village, dating back to the early days of the Shodai Hokage, that ensured that those shinobi with active contracts were known. It didn't matter whether they chose to go as far as notifying their commander of the specific contract they held, the important part was that their commander knew.
Certain missions had come up that required shinobi with summoning contracts and it helped the respective commanders to know who to draft to such.
Naruto had broken that law.
"The punishment for such is a withholding of the pay for whatever mission they revealed their summons on." The other three nodded at Tora's words and so the man continued. "I say we stick to that. There is no need to go further."
"I concur. However, we must decide what to do about these summons of his." Danzō added. "They pose a degree of danger to our internal security that must be addressed."
Once again, the other three nodded and they delved into the new issue.
‹‹‡››
"You really do enjoy giving me headaches don't you?"
Naruto smiled at the woman he had come to see as a mother. "I try."
Tsunade snorted. "Yeah. I shudder to think of what you would be like if you were to succeed."
The two chuckled at that, utterly relaxed in each others presence in the Hokage's Office.
"I really am sorry for putting you on the spot like that." Naruto sighed as the laughter wound down. "I just... I didn't have a choice with everything happening so fast."
"Don't worry about it." Tsunade waved casually. "Combat situations often throw curveballs and your ability to respond to them is what separates typical shinobi from the exceptional ones."
"So, no pay from the Kazekage rescue, fifty percent pay docked from my next three B-rank and up missions and ninety D-ranks to be completed at a rate of two missions per day." Naruto shook his head in amusement. "Geez, you really wanted it to sink in huh?"
Tsunade just arched an eyebrow at him. "Would you have preferred some of the options Tora offered? Because believe me, even Danzō shuddered at those."
Naruto flinched at that. Having experienced Danzō's form of training, the idea that a form of punishment had the War Hawk shuddering was downright terrifying.
"Yeah, glad you dodged that bullet aren't you?" Tsunade smirked. "So, what now?"
That question presented a conundrum to Naruto. On one hand, while Tsunade and Jiraiya knew about his summons and of Kyubi's true nature, he hadn't shared his intention of releasing her with either of them. On the other hand, he wasn't sure his conscience would let him lie to Tsunade, not after she had once more stuck her neck out for him.
"I'm working on a few things at the moment." He finally said, masking his anxiety with a smile.
Most others would not have noticed the slight moment of hesitation before he spoke and they would have been fooled by his smile.
Tsunade was not of their sort: she could tell by his hesitation and his smile that he was hiding something.
She could have -should have confronted him over it.
Instead, she laid a hand on his shoulder, stared straight into his eyes and smiled. "Just don't do anything stupid brat. I'd hate to have to cave your skull in."
It was an odd thing to say but Naruto understood the underlying meaning and, to him, that was the important thing.
‹‹‡››
Hours later, in the dead of the night and beneath a dual layered sealing barrier to keep prying eyes out, Naruto prepared to perform a summoning.
"You ready?" Mira asked as he built up his chakra.
"Ready as I'll ever be." With that, he flashed through the required handseals and slammed his palm onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
The requisite explosion of smoke occured.
And then things nosedived when an insane pressure threatened to crush them into the ground.
Were it not for the sealing barrier Naruto had erected around the house, the entirety of Konoha's hinobi forces would have descended on that spot because the pressure being exerted was slightly less than that of Kyubi's during her rampage through Konoha all those years ago.
"So this is where you two have been slinking away to." An absolutely frosty voice rang out of the now sub-zero mist that enshrouded whoever Naruto had summoned. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
Prostrate on the ground and choking beneath the insane pressure, Erza and Mira still had the presence of mind to shudder.
The Regina Glacies had found them.
‹‹‡››
The third guardian arrives.
Guess who?
Hint: Regina Glacies is Latin for Ice Queen
Happy new year people.
Read &Review Please.
The Separation