The Wanderers
Chapter 57 – Moving towards Kirigakure
A/N: Apologies for the delay, turns out it was a waste of time anyway. Back on the horse. I think I'll make the schedule of releases between 7-9 days from now on, I'm going to be busier and I don't want to rush and produce bad writing. Thanks for your patience.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, zombies would have no intelligence or talking ability.
***Previously-On***
While he was happy to be back in the shinobi continent, Naruto could not contain himself until he saw what had happened to his original home. Leaving a pair of clones at the border, Naruto uses his teleportation ability to break through the Quiraji border at the Land of Fire without being detected. After a day of travelling and avoiding patrols, it occurs to Naruto that he wouldn't be able to move further while the Quiraji forces are so condensed, so he works out an idea for a major distraction. With clever use of clones and a prepared lightning technique, Naruto was able to destroy the Quiraji's major port in the coastal line, though it drew the attention of a strange female Shouri that he hadn't encountered before. Fleeing the scene, Naruto spends a while avoiding her trackers, finding himself in a small town that had been turned into a military base. Using some…questionable methods, Naruto was able to discover a point of significant interest, though he found Shouri's pursuit difficult to shrug off, suffering several blows and scars in the process. Driving through the bodyguards at the entrance, Naruto broke into the Home of the Four. He saw a strange situation of a man in red breaking out of a glass tube and disappears before coming to a computer screen and was confronted with the voice of the Quiraji leader. Naruto baited him and was able to find out his name, Benkei, before the communication was cut and the building came down on top of him. Having gotten what he came for, Naruto used his Hiraishin technique to leave the country.
***End Summary***
Hinata sighed loudly and placed her hands behind her head, letting the hot water settle on top of her body to help heal her sore muscles. It had been days since Naruto had left for their old home, and while it was hardly something she wasn't used to, she did sometimes tire of her husband going off on his own adventures.
Husband? Even after so long, it still feels weird to say. I wonder what Neji would say?
Taking a long breath she undid the tie at the top of her head and let her head fall into the bath, it felt like a strange privilege to have a normal bath again she wasn't sure what to do first. She'd spent so much time in the makeshift 'ladies shower room' on the Dread Lady that she'd almost forgotten how to take a bath like a proper lady.
Though Naruto constantly finding ways to sneak into the shower room had made the efforts far more difficult than they should have been.
I wouldn't mind if he tried that now. Could be interesting…
As if summoning divine providence, Hinata watched as a bolt of lightning struck in the room and her husband appeared in the room in an instant. Naruto opened his eyes and immediately put a hand over them and turned to the door.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to…" Naruto frowned and pulled down his hand, "Wait, what am I doing? I'm allowed to see you naked."
Hinata chuckled and crossed her arms over her chest, allowing herself some modicum of dignity as the blonde shinobi turned around and smiled warmly as his bathing wife. She had to stop herself from launching out of the bathtub in concern as she saw the damage on his face, though her expression said everything she needed to.
Naruto could see the concern on her face and smiled, "It's okay, I'm okay. It's just a few scratches."
He watched as she gracefully got out of the tub and wrapped herself with a towel, reaching up with a hand to feel at his face gently. "My love, what did they do to you…"
Naruto's smile widened as he enjoyed her touch, "It's okay, I just got a bit careless, that's all."
"The Kyuubi didn't heal you?" she asked with a slight frown, running her hands over his face to see the top of his ear missing as well. The scar on his face she could live with, but that one was a bit much. She didn't say it, but if he didn't let her heal it now she would do it in his sleep.
Naruto could only shrug in response, "I dunno, I kind of like the nose one. It makes me look like Iruka-sensei."
His wife shook her head and dropped her hand to slip it into his, "I missed you…don't scare me like that again."
Naruto turned her around and hugged her from behind, leaning his head beside her face, "I won't, I promise."
"Are you going to join me in the bath?"
Her husband chuckled slightly, "I seem to recall a shy timid girl who would faint at the mere thought of doing anything like this."
"I can still be shy if I want to," said Hinata with a sly look, though she knew he didn't believe her. Their relationship was so difficult than how she had thought it could have been when they were Genin, and nothing like how she had fantasised about.
It was better.
"I will always have the memory of you standing on the front of the ship, topless, shouting at the rain and lightning to shut up so that we could have sex in peace and quiet."
Hinata could only shake her head; there would never be a way for her to get past that, particularly since her husband took great delight in reminding her. "I still say that was Grace's fault for spiking the rum. The captain took a particular pleasure in messing with the two of us."
"Keep telling yourself that honey, eventually it will be true. Let's get in the bath, my muscles are killing me."
After an hour of perfectly wholesome married couple time, the two of them emerged from the bathroom, and Naruto kissed his wife goodnight as she left for their shared room and he got his bearings in the town the group was staying at. They'd hadn't had the chance to talk too much about where they were, as Naruto knew how tired she was.
Besides, he liked walking around at night. It was soothing.
They were staying at a small village in the old Land of Fire near the very east, where the Quiraji had no presence, and after a few minutes it was clear they were living in an upper class part of the village. Naruto was impressed, he hadn't seen places like this in a long time, they had bathrooms for every bedroom.
He turned a corner and nearly jumped fifty feet in the air as he found himself confronted with the massive image of the giant Iwagakure Tailed Beast container. His brown eyes seemed to bear holes into Naruto's soul as he was staring at his red armour plates, and while he counted himself a big personality he felt like a tiny speck on the ground under his stare.
"You have returned," said Han with a deliberately slow tone.
Naruto stood his ground, it had been a long time since he'd been intimidated by someone and he wasn't about to let this man run over him. "Yes, I have. How have things been going with the group?"
"Adequate, for the time being. Perhaps with your return we shall move towards our main objective at a reasonable pace?"
The blonde shinobi had to resist showing Han the shiver running up his spine, "It looks likely."
Han slowly nodded and walked past the Nine-Tails container towards the rooms in the nearby corridor. Naruto watched him walk away before realising that he was holding his breath. He let it go with a gasp and spun around.
Something about him just creeps me out. How did he become a Tailed Beast container?
"The same way anyone does. Either they are forced into it, or they chose to be so for personal power."
Do you know something about this Kyuubi?
He heard a deep chuckle in his head as the Kyuubi failed to respond, telling Naruto everything he was ever going to get from the Tailed Beast. Sometimes the Kyuubi just drove him up the wall.
Naruto rubbed at his shoulders sorely, he was more tired than he realised. The bath had helped a bit, but he wasn't the kind of stamina machine he had been. He knew he should lie down in a bed and sleep for a good twelve hours or so, but Hinata had told him to speak to Gaara and he didn't make it a habit of ignoring his wife.
She tended to find out when he did, and he hated the expression on her face when she did.
After a few minutes of arguing with the reception lady, who kept calling him 'crazy blonde man', Naruto found his old companion's room number. He also discovered that their visit was being paid for by the ex-Mizukage, who appeared to have both deep pockets and a clever mind, they had all been given fake names and identities, and despite his previous absence Naruto had been included as well.
This is a nice setup, though I'm surprised they didn't get further along while I was away. I was out for nearly three days, but they barely made it out of the Land of Tea.
Naruto knocked at the Kazekage's door several times, but without a response he figured there was little chance he was actually inside. Remembering that Gaara rarely slept because of his Tailed Beast, he figured he would find him outside and he wasn't disappointed.
"It would appear that even after four years, you haven't changed," said Naruto with a grin, looking up to see Gaara sitting on the roof of the hotel, his gourd sitting at his side. "You were sitting in the same way back then too."
The Kazekage turned his gaze slowly down to his blonde friend, "Some things change, and some things stay the same. It is good to see you again, Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto smiled as he leapt up to the roof and stood in front of the Sunagakure leader. "As with you, Gaara. We didn't get the chance to talk before I left, did we?"
The Kazekage's expression didn't change, but Naruto knew him well enough to see when the quiet shinobi was amused. "I wouldn't expect any less from you, Naruto. You always did your own thing, even when conventional wisdom dictated otherwise."
"I still say that was one of my better plans. It won me the fight and everything."
Despite himself, Gaara was unable to hide his frustration upon remembering their previous encounter. "Jumping into a sand cocoon covered in explosion tags is not what I would call a good plan, Naruto. You took far more damage than I did, and only caused me to transform further."
The blonde shrugged, nearly of them had been in a particularly good state during that battle, particularly at that stage. "Yes well, that was my plan and it worked didn't it? That's the main point."
"I gather you came here to discuss something other than the distant past though, am I right?"
Naruto nodded and took a seat beside him, "We have a lot to talk about."
Gaara motioned to him with an empty hand, "That we do. Anything in particular you want to start with?"
His old friend reached into his jacket and produced a metal flask, screwing it open and letting the powerful smell of the rum fill his nostrils. In stereotypical fashion both he and Hinata had developed a taste for the alcohol, though finding that particular vintage was difficult outside of the naval scene.
He handed the flask to Gaara with a characteristic grin, "So, you seeing anyone?"
Staring at the flask suspiciously, Gaara eventually grasped it and took a cautious sip, screwing up his face at the strength of the drink. "There is…gods, what was in that?" He coughed violently and handed back the flask to Naruto, who couldn't contain his laughter.
After recovering, Gaara shook his head and reassessed his friend's question. "As the Kazekage, I haven't had time to…indulge in such matters. We are fighting a war after all."
He never considered himself a student of psychology, but Naruto could tell more about his friend than anyone else, despite having really only known him for about a month. They shared a connection that he couldn't explain, even to his wife.
Naruto knew exactly what Gaara meant.
"What's her name?"
Gaara glared at him with dark eyes, it still annoyed him how the blonde shinobi could do that, even after all these years. He'd done the same thing in the hospital after their fight, and it had driven him up the wall then too.
"It's of no concern. She is a subordinate and it would be inappropriate."
Naruto scoffed and took a swig from his flask. His plan was to finish it off before the night was over, that way he wouldn't have to share it with his wife. Some things were meant for sharing, and others were not.
"Take advice from me, Gaara. Go for anything you can. People like us probably won't have the luxury of long lives."
The Kazekage stared at his companion again, his previous statement was truer than he had expected. Even now, Naruto surprised him. "That's true, I guess. Is that how you ended up with the heir to the Hyuuga clan? By 'going for it'?"
The Nine-Tails container chuckled, that was probably closer to the truth than he would have liked. "Something like that. I don't regret anything though, and I doubt you would either." He didn't need to say it, but they both knew what he really meant.
They were probably going to be dead at some point in the next few years.
"What happened in the Land of Fire?" asked Gaara, trying to change the subject.
"Before that, do you know anything about our friends? If you are the Kazekage surely you would have heard something about them?"
Naruto had to stop himself from wincing as Gaara thought about his question, considering what he and Hinata had to do to survive the separation of the group; he knew it was likely that some of them might not have made it.
Gaara took a long breath, there was a lot to tell and he didn't know where to even begin. "Anyone in particular you want to start with? I know a fair amount, Naruto."
That caused his companion to relax slightly; the look on Gaara's face didn't necessitate bad news. "Well everyone, but start with my old team. Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi?"
"They are all well. Uchiha Sasuke is currently fighting a rebellion in the Land of Earth, he's part of a rather strange group by normal standards. I believe Hatake Kakashi is with him, though I could not say for certain. They have both been through many trials."
Naruto felt relieved, he was glad the teme had found a place for himself. Kakashi he wasn't concerned about, his teacher always seemed to have a plan. "What about Sakura?"
"She works in Suna, as the head doctor of our hospital." Gaara breathed out slowly, "She has been through a lot…but she has a stubborn streak that reminds me of you sometimes. I know what it is like to not have a home, so I didn't have an issue providing one for her and the others."
"That she does," said Naruto, happy that Sakura was okay. "What about everyone else?"
"The Uchiha's brother is with him in the Land of Earth and the medical shinobi Shizune…I wouldn't even know how to explain her situation. Let's just keep it to saying she is safe and well."
Naruto drained the last of the rum in his flask and felt a great emptiness. He knew better than to ask why it was gone, the captain used to threaten him with lashes if he made that joke.
"Yamanaka Ino also works in the hospital with Sakura, I'll leave it to your wife to explain the details to you, we spoke rather extensively on the subject. Her teammate, the large one…we don't know where he is. I believe he is safe, but there is nothing else I can tell you about him."
Naruto was worried that he didn't know where Chouji was, but considering where Hinata and he had been sent, the Akimichi heir could be anywhere. "What about Shikamaru? How's he going?"
"He's doing well for himself, in a manner of speaking." Gaara indicated to the forehead protector that sat on his satchel, a relic of his younger days that he felt was appropriate given his lack of official uniform. "He is my top advisor in Sunagakure. He's now as much a Suna shinobi as he was a Konoha shinobi."
Naruto stared at him for a moment before bursting out into laughter. "Oh, that's just precious. I'll bet he hates it too. That's just like him to get into that kind of position."
Gaara had to agree, "He's also married to my sister."
"The crazy one?"
Despite agreeing with him, Gaara still gave him the look his comment deserved. "I only have one sister, Naruto."
The blonde shinobi put up his hands defensively, "And she was quite a beauty so I can see…" His sentence trailed off as the Kazekage's expression darkened further. "…I just mean that she was clearly a looker and Shikamaru isn't stupid…okay, let's just forget that I said anything, okay?"
Gaara nodded slowly, his friend was beginning to get it. "Rock Lee…is also doing his own thing. He liaisons with Suna occasionally, but he has his own reasons for attacking the Quiraji as furiously as he does."
Naruto grinned upon hearing that Lee was doing well, it sounded exactly like the kind of thing Lee would do. He made a habit of obsessing over things; it was something he rather liked about the taijutsu specialist's personality. He could have done without the sunset hugging and crying though.
"What about Hinata's cousin, Neji? He was the one that got injured in the Second Exam. If he's…dead…then I would have you tell me."
Gaara's face betrayed a slight hesitation, though Naruto didn't see it as a bad thing, he knew Gaara wouldn't lead him on.
"I couldn't even begin to explain how he managed it, as I don't know myself. But Neji is, for the time being, the First Otokage of the Hidden Village of the Sound, which has replaced Konoha as one of the Great Shinobi Villages."
"What?!" Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing, it almost sounded like a joke. "Is he being controlled? I know our attack wasn't completely effective, but how could he have been captured? Surely he was right behind us…this doesn't make any sense…"
Gaara put up a hand to stop him from guessing, "It isn't like that at all. Hyuuga Neji…has become a powerful figure in the world in his own right. His village has thrived, and no-one knows how he did it. His supporters are loyal to him and he plays the game as well as any of us."
Naruto gave his companion a suspicious look, but he knew Gaara wasn't the kind of person to make jokes. "I guess things really have changed around here. What the hell did we miss?"
Gaara leaned forward slightly and clasped his hands together, "It isn't all good news, Naruto. Two of your teachers, Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai are both dead."
That brought a sad look onto Naruto's face; it now made sense why Hinata had been quiet earlier. He knew she had seen Kurenai as a second mother after her own died and her father had practically disowned her, but for them to have retired and then be killed made it even worse.
"Who…who killed them?"
Gaara stared at him intently, he wasn't sure Naruto would be able to understand the complexities of that issue without actually talking to the culprit herself. "The matter has been dealt with, that's all I can say. Before you ask, their daughter is safe and well with your old companion Ino."
"I guess it was too much to hope that we all would have been okay." Naruto sighed sadly, "It has been years since we've been together…" Naruto brought up a leg and leaned on his knee, staring into the night sky. "Why do we live in such a world? It would be so much better if no-one had to die."
"It's the fate of all shinobi," said Gaara quietly. "We don't have the luxury of quiet lives, even if we remove ourselves from the world. You know this, Naruto, even if you don't want to admit it."
"Yeah…" Naruto looked down at his hands, staring at the ring on his finger. He refused to entertain the idea of such a fate falling on his wife, even if it meant sacrificing himself in the meantime. "What are we meant to do? How can we protect the people we care about?"
Gaara thought back to his people, remembering the proud faces he had seen when he had returned home. He would sacrifice anything for them, which was partially why he was with this group in the first place; the benefit for his people was greater than what he could do from the village itself.
"We fight until our last breath, and then we fight some more. Your wife spoke on some of the battles you fought over the past few years; it sounds like you have already fought your share of the war."
Naruto felt at the scar on his nose, it was still tender from not having healed properly, "It wasn't enough though. People still died."
"People will always die, that can't be avoided. We can only delay it as much as possible. Save who we can."
The blonde shinobi let out a long sigh and stared up at the sky, "Sometimes I feel like I've aged a hundred years, and all I want to do is watch my kids grow old or something."
Gaara nodded grimly, "I know what you mean. Sometimes I lament the fact that these times are ours, but it couldn't have gone any other way."
"I guess you are right." Naruto looked at his friend with a sad expression, "I gather you didn't mention Shino because…"
"…he is, I'm sorry. He held out for as long as he could…"
"I understand," said Naruto. "He was a good guy. I feel awful that I never got to know him that well." He wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that three of the people he had been with were gone; it both saddened and angered him at the same time.
"You should speak to Hinata about it; she was quite disturbed by the news."
Naruto knew that she was hurting; he had seen it in her eyes before, but he had also sensed she wasn't ready to talk just yet. Hinata didn't share her grief unless she wanted to; they had only ever discussed her father and sister on a few occasions. He would wait for her and discuss it when she felt comfortable.
"I will, when I go back to our room. Is there anything else you can tell me about my friends?"
Gaara shook his head slowly, "Nothing in this kind of environment. There are too many ears for me to go into any specific details."
Naruto sighed again; he understood the need for secrecy. "I guess you want to know what happened in the Land of Fire, huh?"
"Judging from your appearance, you seemed to have a hard time."
His blonde friend let out a small chuckle, "That isn't the half of it."
oOoOoOo
Gaara waited for Naruto to finish his story and took in everything the Konoha shinobi had told him without suspecting him of making anything up. The blonde shinobi was occasionally prone to exaggeration, but Gaara could tell what he truly meant throughout his story.
"This talk of the Quiraji leaders is troubling indeed. When Shouri reappeared I was afraid that was the case, but she was so different from when the original was killed I thought he had just been replaced."
"Someone killed the original Shouri? Who?" Naruto and Hinata had fought the Quiraji leader years ago and it had nearly killed them, so anyone who could take him out deserved his respect and a few questions on how they did it.
"Uchiha Itachi did, about two years ago. He tracked him down in a massive battle and used his weaknesses against him. Itachi claimed that he was only able to do so because the leader was already damaged."
"Itachi, huh? That makes sense," smiled Naruto proudly, he was glad that Itachi had been able to exploit what he and Hinata had begun. It still wasn't clear how the female Shouri had come into being, but he was at least happy that the one that separated them was no longer a factor.
"Does that mean that red man had also been killed?"
"No more than a month ago," said Gaara with a drawn out sigh. "It wasn't easy, and it took some extreme measures by Rock Lee to take her down. If she has already been replaced…I hate to think what he is capable of."
Naruto slammed a fist into his open hand, "We'll take them all down."
"Never lacking in enthusiasm, are you?"
His blonde companion grinned widely in response, "Never."
Gaara thought back over Naruto's story, there were a few things that still bothered him. "Do you think this person calling himself Benkei is the real leader of the Quiraji?"
Naruto dropped his grin and remembered the conversation he had had with the computer screen. "I don't know, though I doubt that is his real name. But I think that it's something we should keep to ourselves. He hasn't waited to reveal himself until now for any good reason. It was probably to rattle our cages and cause disruption."
"Or cause us to unite so he could crush us in a single blow. It would probably be good to inform your old Hyuuga companion about it though, besides my own village his village is on the forefront of the war and the most intelligence on the Quiraji themselves."
"I'll talk to Hinata about it, but we'll want to go see him after this regardless. He's the only family she has left, whatever their previous history she still loves him like a sibling."
Reaching out with a hand, Gaara indicated to the small ring on Naruto's hand, "He isn't the only family she has, Naruto. You should remember that."
"Yeah, I guess so," said Naruto sheepishly. It still didn't feel real.
"What bothers me is this talk of an invasion force heading towards Kirigakure. What did you say the name of the commander was?"
Naruto thought about it for a moment, he had tried to block that memory so that his wife didn't find out how he came about the information. "I think it was Kyou…something. I didn't recognise the name, but judging by the serious nature of the note I would say he is someone dangerous."
"Was it Kyoukou? That's one of the main Quiraji leaders, Naruto. I told you about him, remember? He's the one making the deal with the fake Mizukage and the reason for this whole mission."
Naruto frowned for a moment before failing to remember the conversation they'd had completely. "I guess that must have slipped my mind. Regardless, I know this is a serious concern for us specifically. The others have to be told."
The Kazekage hesitated in responding, that one piece of information changed everything about their current objective. If one of the Four was on the move, they had to avoid them at all costs. The only reason he had survived the Kage summit was because of Lee's timely intervention. He had no doubt Sensou would have been able to take out everything there without being so much as threatened, and she was the scientist of their organisation.
He didn't dare hope that the Quiraji negotiator was a weaker opponent. They didn't have that kind of luck.
"Do we tell the others?"
Gaara thought about it for a moment before shaking his head and standing up and picking his gourd up with one hand. "Not yet. It's possible they allowed you to acquire this information to put us off, though I find that unlikely. It doesn't hurt to be cautious, particularly with so much at stake."
Naruto looked at him for a moment before letting out a long breath and standing up beside his friend. He wasn't a complete fool; he could tell what Gaara was really saying. "I guess you're right. If we say something now, the others might give up without hearing us out."
Not one to smile much, Gaara afforded himself a slight smirk, "It's no wonder people underestimate you, Naruto. You are never given the credit you deserve."
His friend could only chuckle in response, "Hinata's been telling me that for years."
He stole a glance back at his ring again before turning back to Gaara with a knowing smile, "You should really try and find someone, Gaara. Maybe that girl you were talking about earlier."
"Maybe," said Gaara, with no confidence whatsoever. "My focus is otherwise occupied at the moment."
"Don't let that stop you," said Naruto as the two of them jumped down to the ground. "For us, life is too short."
"That it is."
The group seemed to accept Naruto's return without much frivolity, though he found himself demonstrating his ability to use the Hiraishin as to explain his sudden reappearance. Both the Kumogakure shinobi and Roshi from Iwagakure recognised the technique immediately, and after some quick probing he unintentionally revealed who his father had been.
Gaara was initially surprised at the revelation, but he was more surprised to see Roshi walk forward and grab at the Nine-Tails container's jacket dramatically.
"What is your problem?" asked Naruto, though he could see that the Four-Tails container wasn't exactly angry with him, more annoyed than anything else.
"Your father killed a lot of my friends in the last war, boy. Perhaps I should avenge them here and now."
Naruto slowly reached up and grasped at the older man's hand, using his physical energy to peel away his grip with little effort. "That was a time of war."
"And that excuses his actions?!"
Both Gaara and Hinata stood by Naruto's side, while the others of the group took a cautious step back.
At the back of the confrontation, Yagura bit at his lip in annoyance, he was worried that bringing shinobi from different villages together would cause these kinds of conflicts, but his occupant had been adamant that the Tailed Beasts participate in saving his home.
"We can't afford to fight here, you guys," said Fu, who hated any kind of conflict on general principle.
Naruto and Roshi stared at each other intently, but both recognised that now was not the time. The group had only just come into the east side of the Land of Fire that beside the ocean, and they didn't have as much time as they would have liked.
Eventually the blonde shinobi relaxed his composure and reached out with a hand in a peaceful manner, "After this mission, you can come at me and we will fight it out like true shinobi. Until then, we will have to work together."
The red haired shinobi glared down at his hand for a few seconds before snorting and walking past him, shoving him with his shoulder and forcing him to stumble backwards slightly.
"Sleep with one eye open, Konoha boy."
Naruto frowned and turned around to watch him walk in the direction they were going, not sure what he was meant to make of him.
"Are you going to be okay?" asked Gaara beside him.
Hinata placed a concerned hand on her husband's shoulder, but Naruto gave both of them a reassuring nod. With the situation temporarily resolved, the group moved out again, though things were no less tense between them.
After a few minutes Naruto decided he should speak to the organiser of their group, walking up to the front to walk beside the young-looking ex-Mizukage.
"Something on your mind?" asked Yagura, still not sure what he was meant to make of the container of the Nine-Tails. He had encountered the previous container of the Kyuubi on several occasions, and he could tell the similarities between the two of them.
"I don't know if you've already told the others, but I'd like to know where we are going."
"They haven't asked," admitted Yagura, though he knew that was no excuse. He'd been deliberately keeping the group from reaching the place he was aiming for before Naruto returned, as he didn't want to cross the ocean without full group and he wasn't sure whether the blonde shinobi would even return in time.
As they walked along the road, Yagura pulled out a small map and handed it to Naruto. "The borders of the Land of Fire have obviously changed, but the best place to cross the ocean and move on to the Land of Water is at this small island to the east of the Land of Fire."
Naruto stared at the map for a few seconds before his eyes widened and a smile crept onto his face. "The Wave Country…man, it's been way too long…"
The ex-Mizukage frowned at his companion, "You've been there before?"
His smile widened as he handed the map back to their de facto leader. "It was one of my first missions as a Genin. The others might not be here, but I'm sure the friends I made would be happy to welcome us in."
Yagura hesitated, and Naruto noticed it immediately. "What? What is it?"
"I guess there is no easy way to say this. Naruto, the Wave Country was one of the first places hit once Konoha disappeared. They fought back…but they didn't stand a chance."
Naruto stopped in his tracks and stared down at the dirt in front of him with a horrified look on his face. "That…that can't be true. We…we were nearby, we could have helped them…"
Yagura turned around as the group started to catch up with them, "They aren't the only ones, Naruto. The civilians of all the land have suffered as much as the shinobi have."
Naruto nodded slowly, he understood that much but that didn't help. "They weren't fighters; they had nothing to do with this whole thing. Why were they killed and we weren't? Where is the justice in that?"
The short Tailed Beast container looked at Naruto with a serious gaze, "How long have you been a shinobi, Naruto?"
"A number of years, why?"
"As someone who has a significant number of years on you, both as a shinobi and as a leader, I can tell you what you should already know. The only justice that exists is one that you create for yourself. There are some things we cannot control, and people we can't protect."
Naruto let out a long sigh, he already knew that. The destruction of Konoha had taught him that, but nearly losing the one he loved had given him perspective.
After a few moments, Naruto started to walk again, his fists clenched by his side. "Do we have time to stop off at a certain fishing village before we move on? I'd like to pay my respects."
"Of course," said Yagura, feeling bad for his new friend. "But not for long, every day that man is in charge of my village is another day they fall into chaos."
oOoOoOo
They eventually came to the bridge that was named after the Kyuubi container, but there was almost nothing about it that he recognised. The place where they had written the name of the bridge had been taken down and it had clearly fallen into disrepair, despite being only four years old. Naruto found himself shaking with anger, and he only calmed down when Hinata slipped a hand into his and held onto him tightly, providing the comforting environment he needed.
He couldn't see the village from the Land of Fire side of the bridge, but judging from the exterior of the bridge and the areas around it, Naruto already knew what had happened.
They had burnt the whole place down, and left it for ashes.
"What have they done…"
"We should keep moving," said Yugito, looking around the area quickly. "I can't smell anything, but we can't be sure of anything here."
The others didn't seem so sure, but they recognised that she was probably better at detection than the rest of them. Looking around at the group, Yagura figured most of them were hard hitters in combat, though over the past few days of travel and discussion he had been able to work their skills into his plan. At first they had been resistant to him not revealing his complete plan, but the older members of their group had understood that he had his reasons.
Walking over the bridge, the group of Tailed Beast containers made their out of the old Land of Fire into the ruins of the old Wave Country. The village that Naruto had come to know before he had departed to Suna for the Chuunin Exams was nowhere to be seen, but after nearly an hour of travel Naruto began to recognise specific landmarks like the forest he had learned how to climb trees in, and the rivers he had swum in to recover his strength.
"Are you going to be okay?" asked Hinata, worried about her husband's grief over his lost friends.
Naruto took in a long breath and pointed to a cliff facing overlooking the larger destroyed area. "I…I want to check something out."
She squeezed his hand tightly, "I'll come with you, okay?"
Her husband smiled in response and they both turned to the group leader, who nodded slowly.
"We should check out the area anyway," said Utakata, feeling a bit left out of the group. He had kept to himself for the most part, though the younger girl of the group had taken an unnatural interest in him and it was getting more and more difficult to keep her at bay.
"There is something up ahead," said Fu, not needing to make a handseal for three pairs of insect wings to appear on her back. "I'm gonna go have a look."
Pulling out his weapon, Utakata blew out a bubble and stood on top of it to float beside her, "You shouldn't go alone."
The two of them flew ahead of the group, while Naruto and Hinata moved towards the cliff he had indicated to earlier.
"Not the most cohesive group, is it?" said Roshi dryly, watching the two groups go their own way.
"They'll work well together when it comes down to the wire," said Yagura, though he wasn't sure how true that would actually be. "We'll cross tomorrow."
"So we have to find somewhere to stay then?" said Gaara, taking a slow breath as he looked around at the devastation around them. "That may not be easy."
Killer Bee indicated to the sky with his pen, "The two birds are coming back; they must have found some place to nest."
"Good, I could use a bath," said Yugito, running a hand through her hair. "This weather is making my hair all greasy…"
"You never cared about your looks in the past, Yugito," observed Killer Bee with a measure of surprise. "Perhaps you are more feminine than I thought."
The feline Tailed Beast container ignored Killer Bee's baiting; she knew he was just looking for attention. "Let's get moving."
As they began moving closer to the ocean, they were joined again by Fu and Utakata, though their news was not good.
"The only place around is a settlement that looks only a few months old," said Fu, letting her wings fold into her back. "There isn't anything resembling a hotel, just some broken down buildings and makeshift houses."
"And the people are not residents of the area," added Utakata. "They bear a resemblance to people who used to live in the Land of Fire."
The Kazekage frowned upon hearing that, "How can you tell?"
"My Tailed Beast has that ability," lied Utakata. He didn't want them to know that he recognised some of the people from his exile.
Gaara wasn't able to argue with that, though he wondered what that meant. "They must be refugees. We should make ourselves known so they don't think we are here to hurt them."
The rest of the group nodded in agreement, though Han kept any comments he had to himself as usual.
oOoOoOo
Naruto stared at the two graves with a frown on his face, "This doesn't make sense."
Looking at the crosses on the edge in front of them, Hinata wasn't sure what he meant. She didn't recognise the names on the crosses, though Naruto didn't speak much about the C-rank mission he had done before leaving for the Chuunin Exams.
"Did you know these two?"
Her husband took a long breath and stepped back to stand by her side, "I helped kill them, in a manner of speaking."
Hinata didn't say anything in response; she knew she didn't need to.
"This is where I decided to follow my own path, to make my own 'way of the ninja'. They seem like such empty words now…"
"Don't say that Naruto, you've done amazing things because of your way of the ninja. If it weren't for you, I would be dead several times over, and so would a good number of others."
Naruto turned to her with a sad look on his face, "But I couldn't save them all. What good am I if I can't do that?"
His wife reached up and slowly touched his face before tracing her hands over his healed ear and onto the back of his neck. "You are my husband, and the strongest person I know. We need you Naruto, just like you need us. I'll always be here for you, and that is that."
Naruto smiled slowly, "You always know how to cheer me up."
"That's one of a wife's jobs, remember?"
After a few moments Naruto shook his head in confusion as he realised what had been wrong earlier. "Someone has been here."
His wife slowly moved a hand to his shoulder and stared at the graves, "You know they have, Naruto. That's how all this happened here."
"No, that's not what I meant," said Naruto, indicating to a hole in the ground in front of the rightmost grave. "When we buried Zabuza and Haku here, I put the large Executioner Blade in front just here. But it isn't here anymore."
"The Quiraji wouldn't be interested in a shinobi weapon…" observed Hinata. "They seem to despise everything about us."
"It doesn't matter, I guess," said Naruto. "It isn't as if Inari or old man Tazuna were given proper burials either…"
"Would you like to do that now? We have time."
Naruto shut his eyes and smiled sadly, "Yeah. That sounds good."
Deep into the night, huddling in the side of the broken alley, the young woman stared up at him with a confused look on her face, as her younger brother clutched at her legs.
"Such an odd specimen…" muttered Han, reaching down with a gloved hand towards her face. "If I still had my lab I would've loved to spend time getting to know you, but unfortunately such is not the case."
"Uh…what do you want?" stammered the terrified woman, recoiling from the thought of his touching her face. "We didn't do anything wrong did we? If it's about Niki stealing that loaf of bread he didn't mean it! We were just so hungry…"
Han withdrew his hand and crossed his hands over his chest. "Your theft, whether true or not, bares no consequence with me. Your presence here, however, does. It is curious that you were allowed to survive where others were not. Most curious…"
"Don't you touch my sister!" yelled the little boy, removing himself from her leg and standing up as tall as he could, up to Han's waist.
The Tailed Beast container furrowed his brow and uncrossed his arms, placing a hand towards the boy's head as if to push him away. To his credit the boy stood his ground, though it didn't matter as the gloved hand touched the top of his head.
The boy burst into a column of steam and disappeared in a manner of seconds.
He didn't make a peep.
The young woman opened her mouth to scream but Han reached out and grabbed at her throat, causing her to choke and sputter before he released his grip and placed her firmly on the ground. She tried to scream again, but found her voice lost in her throat.
Han's eyes showed his amusement, "I cut your vocal cord with a chakra knife. Interesting that even without chakra that still works. Most curious…"
The woman seemed to shake in fear, and if Han was a normal shinobi the look she gave him would have broken his heart.
Luckily for him, that wasn't a problem.
"Now, I already have all the male specimens I need, but I'd rather fit my correlation with a female group. As you are in relatively short supply, I have to take what I can get."
He placed his hands together into a handseal and a large scroll appeared at his side. Changing his handseal, the scroll began to unravel and cover the young woman. With the loss of her voice she seemed to be unable to resist him, which suited him just fine.
"There is much work to be done…"
oOoOoOo
Han threw his bloody scalpel into the metal pan besides the slab and began writing on his notepad with a frown on his face. He did the math, and then did it again just to be sure before closing it and shoving it into his back pocket.
"No point in conducting any more experiments."
He looked down at the body, unable to see her as the woman he had taken from the makeshift village.
You tried to hide them, but I found out all your secrets.
Clapping his hands together he watched as the body dissolved in acidic steam, Han found himself wondering if it was too late to get something decent to eat. He couldn't expect reasonable cuisine in such a pathetic excuse for a settlement, but by the time he sorted things out here getting even the sludge of the masses would be a task.
It'll be an interesting conversation if the other Tailed Beast containers discovered my work. It's a crude setup, but effective.
Once he confirmed her body was completely gone, Han pulled out a tag and threw it into the middle of the small room. One of the advantages of his armour and mask is that he couldn't smell the horrible stench within the room he had temporarily 'acquired'.
The Tailed Beast container placed his hand inside his vest as was his habit and walked out to the main part of the settlement. He took in a deep breath; there was a nice taste of moisture in the night air that filtered through his mask.
With a small burst of chakra, he set the tag alight within the room. Any evidence of his experiments was going up in flames, a speciality of his to be able to destroy the insides without burning down the actual building itself. He knew people wouldn't understand why he did the things he did, but Han didn't answer to them.
He didn't answer to anyone.
The only thing that matters was his curiosity.
It was barely an hour's walk to the coast from the settlement, so when they came to the end of the ocean Yagura decided it was time.
"This is the border between the Wave Country and the Land of Water. If anyone isn't committed to this mission, speak your peace now. After this, we will be completely in enemy territory."
"Don't oversell it, ex-Mizukage," said Yugito. "Let's just do this thing. We've wasted enough time already."
The others in the group echoed her sentiment, which Yagura had to confess he agreed with. Now that his goal was in sight it almost felt unreal.
"Am I the only one that thought those people were a bit odd?" asked Fu, wringing her hands together slowly. "They were strangely quiet and nervous."
"Yeah, I noticed those people were pretty weird too," said Killer Bee. "They didn't crunch on my rhymes like normal people should."
Some of the group already groaned, over the past few days they had been exposed to the large man's 'music', and like any reasonable person they had yearned for earplugs the moment he started.
"Did you notice anything?" asked Naruto of his young wife.
Hinata thought about it for a moment, "They were scared of us, that much was clear. They were forced out of the Land of Fire, out of their homes. What else do you expect?"
"No, I think there was something actually wrong with them," said Fu. "They weren't like the people in the Land of Tea. Something was different."
From the outside of the group, Han took a small step closer inwards, "That's because they are different. They cannot use chakra. That is why they were spared. They might as well be Quiraji civilians by comparison to normal civilians."
"How do you know that?" asked Roshi, staring at his Iwagakure companion suspiciously.
"It doesn't matter; the point is it is true. The Quiraji are repurposing the land and its people for their own benefits. They intend to stay."
The others weren't entirely convinced of his statement, but the two leaders knew he was right. Everything their enemy had done so far seemed to be towards that goal.
"This is worse than we thought," said Gaara, taking a glance at a young couple whispering to themselves near the middle of the settlement. "It may come to a point where the civilians turn against us."
He was reminded of Naruto's Uchiha friend and Cascading Flow's rebellion against Iwagakure. Having heard why they were fighting from the daughter of the leader herself, he found himself agreeing with their actions. If he didn't think he needed Iwagakure for the war, he would support their efforts. No-one deserved that kind of treatment.
At the side of the group, Naruto's eyes unfocused, it was clear his occupant wanted to speak to him, and it wasn't going to wait for a pause in the group's conversation to do so.
"You have to be wary of that one, boy. He is not what he seems."
What the hell does that mean, Kyuubi? Sure he's creepy, but he hasn't done anything wrong.
He could almost hear the Kyuubi roll its eyes at him within his head.
"Like always, you know nothing. When we were split apart each of us was a specific aspect of the greater beast."
The Kyuubi flashed an image in front of Naruto's eyes, showing him the same array of creatures he had seen in the previous battle he had shown him. As if demonstrating its point, the Kyuubi appeared in a female human form and motioned to the Tailed Beasts one at a time.
"Shukaku, the sand raccoon, was its madness. Matatabi, the fiery cat, was its agility. Isobu, the great turtle, was its ferocity. Son Goku, the lava ape, was its strength. Saiken, the slimy slug, was its endurance. Choumei, the armoured insect, was its deceptiveness. Gyuki, the ugly ox, was its brutality. I was its rage, in case that wasn't obvious."
Naruto nodded to himself, most of the information was completely meaningless to him, but the Kyuubi seemed to be talking and that was enough for him. It was interesting to hear the names of the Tailed Beasts, though he found it was intriguing that the Kyuubi didn't say its own name. Naruto wasn't sure whether the Kyuubi was his ally or enemy, though he knew that at the end of things he would probably have to fight the Tailed Beast.
You missed one. That horse…thing.
The human Kyuubi nodded with a snarl, "I was getting to that. That is Kokuou. It was the beast's ambition."
And this matter to me how exactly?
The image disappeared from in front of his eyes and the Kyuubi made a sound that Naruto wouldn't dream of repeating to anyone outside of his mind.
"This is a creature that nearly destroyed the world, boy. What do you think a creature with that kind of ambition would do?"
Naruto's eyes refocused on the group in front of him, but he found himself looking at Han with a deeper level of suspicion than before. He took everything the Kyuubi said with a massive grain of salt, but he couldn't help but wonder what it meant if the Kyuubi was telling the truth.
"The people won't turn on us unless they are given no other option," said Yagura, though the news disturbed him greatly. "It would take years for that to happen, and I doubt this will last that long."
"You seriously think we'll be able to beat them in such a short period of time?" asked Utakata with a suspicious look on his face.
"Or we'll all be dead," said Roshi dryly. "Doubt it'll be any kind of middle ground."
"I wouldn't put it that way, but it isn't inaccurate either," said Yagura, giving the Four-Tails container a glare before turning back to the group. "Either way, we have to cross the ocean here to get to Kirigakure. Now here is my plan…"
"Ah, you guys should know something first," said Naruto.
oOoOoOo
"I don't understand, what are you guys trying to say?"
Naruto held back a frown and turned his gaze to the young girl, "There is a force of Quiraji soldiers moving towards our target, led by one of their leaders. That's what we mean."
Fu rolled her eyes, "You don't have to sound so happy about it…"
"Something about that has been bothering me," interjected Hinata, causing the group to turn. "If the Quiraji are going to attack Kirigakure, won't that require them to cross the ocean?"
"Ah, that's a good point," said Yagura, placing a hand to his chin. "Perhaps there is an opportunity for us to…hmm…"
"They aren't like us, they can't walk on water," commented Gaara, seeing where the ex-Mizukage's line of thought was going. He was concerned that Yagura wasn't showing any worry over his village being attacked, though he reckoned that was because he had already anticipated that move.
"They'll need ships to fly on," said Killer Bee at the back, scratching at the side of his face. "So they'll probably have a port set up on the coast."
Several of the group began discussing the idea of destroying the port before they could get their main force to it, but Yagura dismissed the idea out of hand.
"What? Why not?" protested Fu, resisting the urge to stand a foot at the absurdity of being told what to do by the young-looking Tailed Beast container. "They wouldn't be able to attack without ships."
Thinking about it, Naruto already knew what they were planning to do. He turned to Gaara with a frown, "That's pretty risky, Gaara, even for us."
The Kazekage didn't smile, but his eyes betrayed his amusement. "You sound almost scared, Naruto."
Naruto's face broke out into a grin that would have been more appropriate to his occupant's. "Excited, Gaara. Excited. Sounds interesting. I volunteer."
At the side of their little group, the Four-Tails container spat on the ground in frustration, "If you brats are done whispering, maybe you can tell the rest of us what you are planning?"
"He's right, we are meant to be working together," said Yugito.
The others echoed her statement, caused the ex-Mizukage to put up his hands to stop them. "Okay, okay. Killer Bee is right; the Quiraji will have to cross the sea using ships from the nearby port. We could take out the port, but then there would be a very angry Quiraji force that would take out their frustrations on the people in the area."
"We can't allow that," said Naruto. "These people are under our protection, regardless of country."
"A nice sentiment," said Han slowly. "But one that will get you killed. These people are a burden, nothing more."
Many of the group gave him a suspicious gaze, but some of them found themselves agreeing with him.
"Regardless of what we think, there is an opportunity here," said Gaara. He indicated in front of the group to the ocean, "The Quiraji army will have to spend at least a day travelling on the sea, and during this time…"
"We can attack them without discretion!" interrupted Fu with a jump. The group all stared at her with concern, causing the young woman to blush in embarrassment and withdraw her enthusiasm.
As opposed to the others, Naruto smiled, she reminded him of himself. "She's right though, it's the best chance we have to do some serious damage. I'll lead the attack."
"No, Naruto, you are no good in the ocean, remember?" said Hinata, trying to sound as soothing as possible.
Her husband bit at his lip in frustration, she was right as usual. "Then who?"
Yagura frowned, "I'm the best in the water, but I'm needed at the village, otherwise we won't get in at all. We need a few of us to hold off the Quiraji while we sort out the trouble in Kirigakure."
"Why not attack with all of us then move onto the village?" asked Utakata, wary of splitting up their group. 'Splitting up is how people get killed."
The ex-Mizukage took a deep breath, he hadn't wanted to reveal this, but it was clear that they would find out anyway and he needed their help. There wasn't anyone else.
"When I was the Mizukage, I was under the influence of a man who I did not know. He was immensely powerful and persuasive, and he is the one who has taken direct control of the village."
"I'm failing to see what this has to do with splitting up the group," said Yugito.
"He's trying to hand control of the village over to the Quiraji. If they get control of the village, they can use shinobi in battle against us, without worrying about their own casualties. There was also something I couldn't make out, but this move is part of their endgame, and we can't let that happen."
That caused the group to quiet down as they tried to process what that meant. If Kirigakure was removed from the war, it would turn from a hard fight to an impossible fight overnight.
Gaara kept the fact that he highly doubted the Quiraji had the ability to convert shinobi again with both Sensou dead and the facility destroyed to himself, he could see that this only compounded the group's motivation to help the beguiled village.
"We have to take him out then," said Naruto after a few moments. "So how do we do this? Anyone have any ideas?"
There were only a few.
Author's Note:
I don't want to say this was a filler chapter, because it really wasn't, but I know there wasn't too much going on in this chapter. Unfortunately I'd forgotten how difficult it is to write with a cast of ten or more characters in a scene at once and give justice to them all.
I wasn't sure whether I went too far with the scene with Han, there are levels of description that I won't go to, but I think I conveyed what I needed to without breaking the rating. What do you guys think?
I want to get this out there. I thought Tobi was a good villain, until his identity was revealed, then it was dumb. I don't intend on doing that. I know I said he wouldn't be in this story quite early on, but I changed my mind as I was writing it. However he won't be how he is in the manga. All I can say is that I want to do the character some justice that I feel the main story didn't provide.
I just came up with the best idea for a Bonus Chapter ever. I can't wait to write it, though I'll keep with my schedule and put it up after the 60th. Gods, I can't believe there have been so many chapters. I clearly have a problem.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to take each review into account, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.