Almost ten years had passed since Naruto disappeared from Konoha, and Sarutobi, the (again) reigning Hokage had to admit that it was a lot more peaceful than he'd expect.
They found the body of Mizuki, along with traces of blood that matched Naruto. Putting two and two together, they assumed Naruto killed the man and then fled, fearing punishment. Sarutobi was sure that the boy would get away with claiming self-defense, but they couldn't find hide nor hair of the child.
They had sent search parties, of course. The boy was the child of their former Hokage, as well as the only deterrent against other village's Jinchūriki, being one himself. The latter fact, even more so than the former, made him invaluable, and even the Civilian Council had to admit to that.
S they had kept the disappearance of their Jinchūriki as quiet as they could from the other nations, and especially from the boy's own godparents, Jiraiya and Tsunade, the only remaining loyal Sannin.
Which was why Sarutobi was now sweating a little under the glare of his old student.
"What the hell do you mean gone?" Jiraiya's voice was oddly calm, which honestly worried the old Hokage more than if he were to yell.
"Just as I said, gone. Ran away. Turned his back on his home." The only hope Sarutobi now had was to spin the story and hope Jiraiya, or heaven forbid Tsunade, never find out the truth.
"And why, exactly, would he do that? Hm, sensei?" Unfortunately the Toad Sage wasn't buying it.
"It's obvious the boy didn't hold any loyalty to the village, even after everything we've done for him."
"By everything you of course mean beatings, keeping his family secret from him, and constantly refusing my requests to take him along on my travels. Yes?" Well shit.
"You know very well I couldn't allow him to leave the village. His father had too many enemies in the outside world to allow his only son to walk around freely."
"Bullshit, sensei." Jiraiya cut him off. "I allowed you to go on, hoping you'd come to your senses. But it was obviously a mistake to allow you a second term after Minato died."
"Watch it Jiraiya. You're getting dangerously close to treason."
"I don't care. The only reason I sent this clone here is to inform you to keep Danzo from sending any more of his Root Anbu. Naruto's patience is wearing thin."
"You know where he is?"
"Of course I do. I'm his godfather, and the greatest spymaster still alive. I found him years ago. And we told Tsunade." The Hokage's face froze for a moment, before he schooled his expression. Jiraiya grinned.
"She must, of course, see that what I did, I did for the village her grandfather built."
"You know that family has been more important than anything for her. It took me two weeks to stop her from coming here and killing you."
"So all three of my students betrayed me?" Sarutobi sighed, glaring at Jiraiya.
"Don't you dare compare me to him. You betrayed your own teachings the moment you let an innocent child suffer. And for what? To appease the Civilian Council? The Council that exists only because you're getting too old to be a proper Hokage?" Jiraiya took two metal plates engraved with the leaf symbol. "My original headband, and Tsunade's. We've been loyal ninja of Konoha for almost fifty years now. And we quit." The clone burst into smoke.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the two plates for a few moments before throwing them angrily at the wall opposite his table. He had only one thought on his mind.
They will pay for dishonoring me.
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In Tanzaku, the second largest city in Fire Country, in the onsen of one of the most expensive hotels, Jiraiya grinned in satisfaction when he got his clone's memories. He then promptly got back to the small hole he made in the divider between the male and female side, hoping to catch a hotty all exposed.
Too bad for him it was mixed bathing day, so everyone was in the other onsen.
Naruto groaned when he felt the hot water on his muscles. Granted, it felt too cold to him to call it a hotsprings, but it was the principle that counted.
He would admit to enjoying spending time with his human godparents, but they could get rather difficult. He and Shizune, his godmother's apprentice, deserved a break. That was why they got his godmother drunk, hadn't told his godfather it was mixed bathing day, and took the day to themselves. The last he heard of her she was going to some bar. He had a feeling she was a lesbian.
The sixteen-year-old sighed again, massaging his sore shoulder muscles. Ten years had passed since he met his mother for the first time, and he spent almost every waking hour training and practicing. And it showed, even in his fully human form.
He had grown to almost his godfather's height, and his hair had also grown as long, colored in a deep crimson. His entire body was now lean and muscular, like something he'd expect from a professional martial artist these human civilians were so fond of. His demon form, of course, was something else entirely.
In it he stood at almost eight foot tall, and at least twice as wide as Jiraiya. His hair would disappear, ad he would get five sets of horns. One set pointing down from his cheeks, one larger pointing up, and a single horn in-between the two larger ones. His eyes would light up in fiery red, and large, leathery wings would burst from his back. A carapace-like material would grow over his chest, shoulders and upper arms. A large golden plate would appear over his abdomen, covering only it and his sides and lower back. In the front of it were two thin swords crossed, his personal symbol, and chains hung from it, all the way to his shins, in memory of his mother. Tattered red cloths hung from the large armor plate, down to his knees and all around his body, and a single demonic skull was on one side, with four more places reserved. Completing his terrifying image were large, sharp teeth in his maw, and glowing, fiery veins running all over his arms and legs.
When he first transformed, Naruto was sad to see he looked nothing like his mother's own demonic form. His only solace was the long red hair, which he took care of zealously.
Jiraiya once tried to dye it blonde. He woke up three days later with most of his body in a cast.
Lost in thought, he almost failed to register a presence walking into the onsen.
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Samui was not having a good day.
The Kumo Chūnin kunoichi was put in charge of her very first team, consisting of her old Genin teammates Karui and Omoi, and the village's worst kept secret, the Nībi Jinchūriki, Yugito Nī.
Now the mission was simple enough. It was only recon to the village of Konoha, to confirm the rumors about their own Jinchūriki disappearing, but between Omoi's complaining, Karui's violent temper, and looking over their shoulders every five minutes to make sure nobody figured out Yugito's identity, it was an increasing hassle. Add to that her ever-present back aches, and she was grumpy most of the day.
So she jumped at the opportunity to relax at an onsen on one of their stops. Karui was confined to her bedroom, Yugito was told to stay mostly indoors, and Omoi was told to shut up. The fact that it was mixed bathing day did nothing to deter her.
She was surprised to find only one rather tall redhead inside it, though.
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"Hello there." Naruto opened one eye to look over the, admittedly very beautiful, woman that had just entered, before closing it again.
"Hello." She muttered back, sinking into the water with a satisfied sigh. She rubbed the back of her shoulders for a moment.
"Back pains?"
"I always have them. It's because my... Why am I talking to you about this?" She glanced suspiciously at him.
"Who knows? Maybe I manipulated your brain into trusting me easily. Maybe I cast a spell on you." She watched him for a few moments, before letting a few giggles loose.
"Not cool."
"I'm rarely cool." He grinned. "Mostly I'm on fire." He chuckled at the rather poor joke. "Do you want me to give you a backrub?" Startled by the offer, she glared at him for a few moments.
"No funny business."
"On my honor." She relented, the prospect of alleviating her pain winning over her inherent doubtfulness as a kunoichi.
It was heaven. His touch was so warm against her skin, and it did wonders to alleviate the ache in her muscles, even more so than the hot waters of the onsen. In fact, she almost looked like she was dead to the world.
"Watch it buddy." Almost.
"Sorry." Naruto chuckled. "But I am a being of lust, and there is plenty to be lustful about." He ran his fingers on her sides, sending a shiver down her spine.
"Some kind of succubus demon?" She asked half-jokingly.
"The technical term is 'incubus'; but no, I meant a man. But while we're on the subject." The surrounding temperature got hotter, and his hands got bigger and rougher. "A demon I am." She let out a moan when he raked her clawed hands over her back. "Let me show you."
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There was an eerie quiet about the hotel, accompanied by the odd tremor that shook every person in the waiting room, consisting of a newly-awake and still quite hung-over Tsunade, a disappointed Jiraiya and somewhat cranky Shizune at one side, and a weary Yugito, worried Omoi and angry Karui at the other.
"So where's the brat?" Tsunade asked her assistant.
"Onsen. Relaxing."
"What's the matter with you?" All that got her was a quick glare. "Well, anyhow, let's go get him, we've stayed here enough as it is."
"Can't." Jiraiya sighed sadly. "He locked the onsen with some of his voodoo. I tried already."
"Is that why you're all depressed?" Tsunade glared at him. "Because you couldn't get into the mixed bathing part."
"Of course I am." The group completely ignored the three Kumo ninja, which was a good thing, because Jiraiya had broken down in tears by that point. "It's just not fair. I saw a beautiful, busty girl walk in, and I can't even scan her properly because my apprentice won't let me in. She actually reminded me a little of you."
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" If Jiraiya were a sensible man, he would've taken the Senju's icy tone as warning.
"Well, she was blonde and had huge boobs." But in his rather long life as a ninja no one had ever accused Jiraiya of being sensible. "Oh I so wanted to suckle on those-" A fist to the face stopped him from finishing the sentence.
However, his comments were loud enough to catch the attention of the Kumo ninja, causing them to walk over to the formerly-Konoha group.
"Oy, did that pervert just mention a blonde with huge jugs?" Karui asked, walking up to Tsunade. "Other than you?"
"Yes, he did." The girl in front of her was asking for a good beating. "Try the hotsprings. And leave us alone."
Whatever response the volatile redhead was about to give was cut off by the door to the onsen sliding open, showing a mostly-dressed Naruto carrying a blissfully unconscious Samui covered in a towel.
"Is all this commotion really necessary?" He raised an eyebrow at the steaming Kumo kunoichi that appeared in front of him in a flash, glaring daggers at him. "Can I help you?"