CHAPTER TWO

Fuu, ssu!

XXX

As anticipated, Naruto reached the Hidden Waterfall Village just as the sun was setting over the nearby mountains. Or at least he thought he did. True, there was a lofty waterfall towering over his exhausted frame but there was no village in sight. He shot a glare at Gaara, who shrugged and reached for his map. While the redhead was scanning his map for answers Naruto decided to start climbing a tree, hoping he'd see the village from his vantage point.

Nothing.

"Do you see anything, Naruto-kun?" Hinata, also physically exhausted from all the walking she'd just done, asked. Naruto cupped his hands over his eyes to form makeshift binoculars. Nope. All he could see for kilometres was the cliff that stood before him and the acres of trees surrounding him.

"Nope!" he replied before leaping off the tree and landing next to Gaara, "I thought you said there was supposed to be a village here."

"There is."

"Well… where is it? Did it hear we were coming and decide to pack up and leave overnight?"

Gaara rolled his eyes before putting his map away. "If I remember correctly, Baki told me the Village Hidden in the Waterfall was located at the base of the tallest waterfall in the ninja world." His eyes wandered over to the tall, sinewy waterfall that loomed over the clearing, the churning water at its base drowning out the sound of his own thoughts. "There's the waterfall… where's the hidden village?"

Three figures appeared from the shadows. Gaara was quick to grab his kunai. Naruto's first instinct was to protect Hinata.

No need. It was just a group of older men dressed in light grey armour. Their leader, a middle-aged man with his hands in his pockets nonchalantly asked them, "Who the hell are you kids? State your business."

Gaara lowered his guard upon noticing the Taki headband on the man's forehead. He returned his kunai to its pouch before muttering, "Calm down, Naruto. They're just Takigakure shinobi."

As he lowered his guard, they raised theirs. The middle-aged Taki shinobi stiffened his frame as he unsheathed his sword a little, "I won't be asking you again. Who the hell are you? State your business."

Gaara stepped in front of Naruto to explain the situation, "We're genin from Konoha. There was an invasion in Konoha by Suna and Oto shinobi, so we were sent here to escort the Hyuuga heiress to safety." Naruto's brow furrowed. Gaara backed his case up by pulling Hinata closer to reveal her lavender eyes. "We just thought we got lost is all, because we don't see any village. If you don't mind, could you show us where Taki is, we're a little exhausted?"

The three men exchanged concerned stares before stepping forward and past the trio, "Our apologies. Follow us into the village."

"Nice work, Gaara," Naruto grinned.

"Lower your voice," Gaara groaned. The three men were still within earshot, or at least they would have been were it not for the thunderous roar of the falls.

"Hurry up!" the older man demanded as he approached the waterfall. Naruto followed the Taki shinobi to an entranceway behind the falls that took him to a system of underwater caves and caverns he had to dive into to reach the actual village. It was amazing. Takigakure had found a way to take their status as the 'village hidden in the waterfall' to the next level by actually hiding their entire village within a waterfall.

Naruto exhaled harshly as he emerged from a large lake in the centre of the village. He climbed onto the bank and got a good look around. No wonder he couldn't see anything from the surface. There was a colossal tree in the middle of the village that submerged the village's roof in a thick layer of foliage. The entire village fit neatly in the chasm behind the cliff with rays of bright orange sunlight creeping in through the central tree's dense canopy. Gaara and Hinata emerged from the lake after the knucklehead, and after being given time to take everything in they were escorted to the village head's residence, a large wooden cottage on a hill overlooking the village's centre.

"Hisen-sama, I bring you three Konoha genin we found on the outskirts of the village. Apparently, they were sent here to keep the Hyuuga heiress safe after the Konoha invasion."

Hisen, a greying man probably in his 50s, waved the shinobi off, telling him, "That's okay. You're excused." The border guards exited the village head's residence leaving Naruto, Gaara, and Hinata alone with the much older man, who just sat there, relaxed, in his throne. After a moment of silence, he shifted his attention to the teenagers, "So, why are you three really here?"

Gaara's eyes widened. He slowly lifted his head to stare at the village leader, "What… what do you mean?"

Hisen chuckled, "Kids, you're wearing your headbands… you've literally got a Suna forehead protector on your sash, and both of your headbands have lines through them. The only reason I didn't have the guards arrest you on the spot is that you have the Hyuuga girl with you, and kidnapping the Hyuuga heiress isn't an easy feat and she's not under any genjutsu either, so odds are she's following you guys willingly," the village leader sat upon his chair to ask his question one more time, "So, why are you three really here?"

Gaara glared at Naruto. A large drop of sweat trickled down the side of his head as his mind raced at a hundred miles per hour. There was no point in lying anymore, so he just said flat-out, "We're here for the Seven-Tails."

Hisen sat back a little, "The Seven-Tails? What for?"

"I'm the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, and Gaara here is the jinchuuriki of the One-Tailed… Creature. After both being mistreated by our villages for as long as we can remember, we decided to run away from the village system forever… and along the way, we want to liberate as many of our fellow jinchuuriki as we can."

"What? Like some kind of revolution?"

Naruto shook his head vigorously, "No, no, we're just… we just don't want people like us to suffer anymore. We just want to be normal people."

The older man closed his eyes, let out a little laugh and shrugged, "Fine."

"Fine?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah, it's fine by me… but the final decision doesn't lie with me, it lies with the jinchuuriki you're here for. They're probably asleep by now but I'll bring them in tomorrow morning and ask them if they want to join you guys. For now, you look horrible… get some rest. My servants will escort you to the guest room."

Naruto was a little surprised that that worked. At the same time though, Taki wasn't a major shinobi nation, so he didn't even know why they needed a tailed beast to begin with. No matter the reason, a lot of things that could've gone bad, didn't, and that's all that mattered.

The Uzumaki let out a long, drawn-out groan as his body melted into one of the guest room's beds. He felt his muscles relax for the first time in hours. After that big battle and the hours of walking, he needed this. Hinata sat on another bed as Gaara took the one near the window.

"At least everything worked out in the end," Hinata said.

"Yes. Unfortunately, I have a feeling it won't be this easy for the other jinchuuriki," Gaara noted.

"It will. Just as long as you let my amazing charm do the talking," Naruto grinned.

"Sure, when the Tsuchikage is threatening to destroy you on a molecular level for trying to steal his jinchuuriki, we'll see how far the talking gets you."

"Thank you for having so much confidence in me," Naruto smirked. Gaara turned back to stare at him in mild disgust before looking back out the window.

"I have confidence in you, Naruto-kun."

The fatigued Uzumaki gave her a thumbs-up, "Yeah, see, Hinata has confidence in me, dattebayo."

Hinata turned her attention to Gaara, "What do you know about the Seven-Tails jinchuuriki?"

"Not much. My knowledge of the jinchuuriki doesn't extend much further than which jinchuuriki are in which villages. Let's just hope they agrees to come with us."

"I'm sure they will," Hinata replied, lowering herself onto her bed. "Anyway, you should get some sleep, so you can have energy for tomorrow."

"I will," Gaara assured her.

"You too Naru…" Naruto was out for the count. Hinata could do nothing but giggle before falling asleep herself.

Gaara continued to stare out the window at the quiet village below.

XXX

A stray ray of sunshine broke through the tall window frame to strike Naruto directly on the eyelid. The Uzumaki let off an annoyed growl before rolling over only the ray's heat to now heat up his ear. "Someone turn the sun off please," he requested. The universe obliged as a shadow rolled over the beam of sunlight, shrouding the jinchuuriki in darkness once more. "Thank you… wait, what?" he sat up, almost headbutting the girl who was watching over him.

"Whoa there!" the green-haired ball of energy exclaimed, casually floating away after sprouting a pair of wings. She fluttered back over to the blonde missing-nin, making sure to shatter the very concept of personal space as she stared him down, "Try not to injure your new travel partner before the journey even begins, ssu."

"Who are you?" Naruto wondered, backing up until the back of his head was pressed firmly against the headboard.

"Me? I'm Fuu, ssu! The host of the Seven-Tailed Bug, Lucky Number Seven Choumei!"

The young woman's energy completely drained the fatigued Uzumaki, it was like talking to the female version of himself. "Wait, did you say Seven-Tails? You're the Seven-Tails jinchuuriki?"

"I sure am! Not just that but I'm your new travel partner! This will be the first time I ever leave the village and I'm so excited, ssu!" Hinata shoved the floating jinchuuriki, finally giving Naruto space to breathe. Fuu landed on her feet before turning to face the Hyuuga. She took off again to tackle the half-asleep Byakugan user, "You're the Hyuuga! You're finally awake!"

"Eh! Our noses are touching!" Hinata shrieked as all the blood in her body rushed to redden her face.

"I'm glad to see you're all finally awake," Hisen said entering the room.

Naruto, returning to reality, finally looked around the room and realised he wasn't in his bedroom anymore. He was a missing-nin now. An enemy of the state. A runaway. And that was the jinchuuriki of the Seven-Tails. "Wait, where's Gaara?"

Fuu stood up to answer, allowing Hinata to breathe, "He's taking a bath. You can join him if you want. Come, I'll take you there."

"Good idea, Fuu. Take them to the bathroom and allow them to freshen up. I'll have a new set of clothes waiting for you when you get back," Hisen said.

Hisen's guest bathroom was larger than most Konoha bathhouses. The piping hot room was spacious enough to fit at least fifty people, with enough seats for thirty people to wash themselves and a bath large enough to fit another twenty if they didn't mind a little skin on skin. If this was his guest bathroom Naruto couldn't even imagine what his main bathroom looked like. The spoils of being a village leader.

"Ahh, this water hits the spot," Naruto moaned sinking into the steaming-hot bath. He placed his towel on his head before sinking into the water until only the top of his head was visible. Hinata sat on one of the stools, too embarrassed to drop her towel below her shoulders. Fuu had given her the option of waiting until the guys finished but she didn't want to be a burden on the team by showering after everyone else.

Gaara on the other hand was as annoyed as always, "You seemed clean enough, to begin with, I don't understand why you decided to come in here," he said whilst engaged in a game of tug-o-war with Fuu over his water bucket.

"Bathing together is a good team-bonding exercise," she said pulling on the bucket.

"Not, it's not! I've been in teams, and this isn't a part of the team-bonding process," Gaara pulled.

"You've never bathed with your teammates?" Fuu pulled.

"Well… I have, but that's because they were my siblings," Gaara pulled.

"Well then, pretend we're siblings, ssu!" Fuu pulled.

"I hated my siblings."

"Yikes."

"If you want to bathe with us, sit down and bathe yourself," Gaara pulled it back towards him.

"I want to pour it on top of you so you can go soak," Fuu pulled.

"Go pour it on the Hyuuga heiress, so she can soak," Gaara replied.

"That's a good idea," Fuu let go of the bucket just as Gaara pulled on it. The redhead toppled over, covering himself in soapy water. He sat there in defeat. What had he gotten himself into? Fuu almost slipped sprinting across the room to Hinata's side.

The Hyuuga heiress shrieked as Fuu ripped the towel off her to bathe her. Naruto, who'd been watching the whole ordeal, quickly looked away as a pink hue ran across his face. A grumpy Gaara stumbled over to the bath. Instead of sinking into it, he sat on the bath's edge and dipped his feet in it. Naruto lifted his head out of the water.

"Where to from here?" Naruto wondered.

"We're heading west to the Hidden Stone Village. That's where we'll find the Yonbi and Gobi."

"Yonbi isn't in the Hidden Stone Village," Fuu yelled from across the room.

"What was that?"

"The Four-Tails. He left Iwagakure years ago to better understand the power of the tailed beasts."

"How do you know?" Naruto asked.

"I've been stuck in Taki all my life, I needed something to do to pass the time… so I spent years researching the tailed beasts and their jinchuuriki," Fuu explained running her soapy hands along Hinata's silky smooth pale skin. "Most of the research was a bit outdated, but I know who and where six of the nine jinchuuriki are."

"Six?" Gaara wondered.

"I know where you two are, I know where I am, I know where the Five-Tails is, I know where the Two-Tails is, and I know where the Eight-Tails is. Not much is known about Kiri's jinchuuriki and as I said, no one really knows where the Four-Tails is," she said, finally letting go of Hinata, who rushed to collect her towel off the floor and wrap it around herself. Fuu, who was also wearing nothing but her towel, walked over to the bath and took a sit on the bath's edge, dipping her feet in the water. The moisture in the air meant she wouldn't be able to sprout wings and take off, so the young woman slipped and slid across the slippery flooring until she got to the pair.

"That's… that's actually… pretty useful information," Gaara's eyes widened, "It's only been a day and you're already proving more useful than Uzumaki."

"Hey!"

Fuu's eyes fixated on the blonde. There was a twinkle in her eye. She clasped her hands together, intertwining her fingers, "I can't believe I'm gonna be out there… in the world… with One-Tailed jinchuuriki… and the Nine-Tailed jinchuuriki… and a Hyuuga heiress…" Fuu looked around. Hinata was still seated on her little stool, "Oi, Hinata, come sit here with us, we're bonding, ssu!" Fuu demanded.

"I… I can hear everything from here," she replied.

Fuu was about to get up and retrieve the heiress, but Naruto interrupted her by asking, "Wait, have you never left Taki?"

"Nope. Never," she replied placing her hands behind her head.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Beats me. All I know is this is the first time Hisen-sama's allowed me out of the village and I'm not going to let this opportunity slip through my fingers," Fuu's eyes widened, "I haven't even packed yet. What am I doing?" she got up and disappeared into the steam.

Gaara palmed his face, "Oh man, it's going to be like having two Narutos isn't it."

"Oi!" Naruto slapped the water, splashing the former Suna shinobi, "Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?" he asked pushing himself up and out of the steaming-hot water. He wrapped his towel around his waist, making sure to dry himself a little before tying a knot to keep it up.

Gaara kicked some water at the Uzumaki in return before getting up himself. "I said what I said. Interpret it how you wish," Gaara replied. "Where's the Hyuuga heiress?" he asked scanning the room for the younger woman.

Naruto shrugged, "That's weird. She probably left while we were talking. Or she was running away from Fuu."

A few minutes later, Naruto walked out of his bedroom wearing a much blander grey jumpsuit than he was used to, but there was no way he was going to reject a fresh pair of clothes because his jumpsuit was nothing more than tattered rags at that point.

It was time for them to leave Taki. According to Gaara, if they left now, they'd reach Iwa by midday, so time was against them. Naruto walked into the throne room to see Gaara and Hinata seated at Hisen's table. A feast awaited them. "Naruto… right?" Hisen turned to him and flashed a warm smile, "I decided that while Fuu gets everything sorted, why not sit down for some breakfast."

Naruto hadn't eaten in hours. He took a seat at the table and dug in after thankfully shouting, "Itadakimasu!"

"Gaara and I were just discussing your plan to escape the village system," Hisen explained. "I've always been in a tricky situation when it came to Fuu-chan. See, Takigakure has had the Seven-Tails for nearly 100 years after being the only village outside of the five great shinobi nations who was able to afford it when the First Hokage distributed the tailed beasts. Many countries and missing-nin see our relatively smaller size as an easy opportunity to steal a tailed beast, but since its conception Taki has never been invaded."

Naruto stopped eating for a moment to say, "That's amazing."

"It is, and every member of the village is as proud of that fact as I am. Unfortunately, it's much easier for us to stop an invasion of our village than it is to stop an ambush outside it, so to protect her we've never allowed her to leave the village."

"Yeah, she had informed us," Gaara stated, pushing his empty bowl to one side. "I'm guessing that's why she's so excited to be leaving with us."

"Aren't you a bit scared? I mean, you're entrusting your tailed beast to a bunch of kids," Naruto wondered. Gaara glared daggers into the back of Naruto's head. Why was he giving the village leader a reason to say no?

Hisen waved it off, "I don't care about the tailed beast inside of her. I just care about Fuu-chan… I just want to give her the childhood she'd never have if she stayed in this village… she's a big girl, I know she'll be able to deal with anything that comes her way," the green-haired woman kicked the village head's doors open and stood in front of the entranceway with a massive red scroll on her back and an even bigger white smile on her face, "I have nothing to worry about."

XXX

"Iwagakure is about six hours northwest of here," Gaara began, walking out into the clearing in front of Taki's waterfall, "We should still be able to make it by sundown if we get going now." Hinata emerged from behind the falls with Naruto, Fuu, and Hisen in tow.

"Fuu-chan, I gave you some money for things like accommodation and food in Iwa. Don't waste it all on toys or anything of the sort," Hisen said.

"I know, I know, I'm a grown woman. You don't need to worry about me anymore," Fuu explained.

"If you run out of funds, don't be afraid to come back to Taki. If you run into hard times in Iwa… or… or if you get hurt, just remember where the falls are and-."

"Hisen… I know," Fuu replied.

A slight smile crept across the older man's face. "You've always been like a daughter to me."

She gave an exaggerated salute before shouting, "You've always been like a father to me."

Hisen chuckled, "What am I doing holding you guys back?" the village elder took a step back to stare at the group with teary eyes, "Be safe… all of you."

"Will do, ssu!" Fuu replied.

"Thank you," Hinata bowed.

"You can bet on it!" Naruto punched the air.

"Hm," Gaara grunted before disappearing into the forest.

"Oi! Slow down!" Naruto yelled following after him. Hinata vanished into the trees, leaving Fuu with Hisen. She waved him goodbye one last time before chasing after her new teammates.