Brief A/N: I've changed the spelling I use for Chōji Akimichi. Texts I've read have it as shown to the left here but I've altered it to now read Chouji for both this fanfic and "No More." Eventually, I'll get around to making all of the previous corrections, but, for now, I'm pressing forward as is.
~Siva'a
Chapter 14: A Place to Call My Own
~I I I~
Tamami felt the world fall out from underneath her with a stomach-dropping lurch, her body landing with a very non-graceful thud on a red velvet surface far larger and softer than anything she'd ever rested upon. Golden eyes blinking without focus, she flinched reflexively as a soft hand brushed against her cheek, her body seeking to open space. She was groggy, disoriented, and the only thing working appeared to be her excellent sense of smell; even before her eyes could begin to focus her brain recognized the scent and aura of the nine-tailed Kitsune Queen, her Lady of the Youkai.
She was in the seal despite having drifted off hours ago with Taichou wrapped in her arms.
Nearly a century of training turned into autonomous response took over and the still sleepy vixen shifted until she was on her knees with her torso bent far enough forward to place her forehead atop the backs of her hands. Her graceful ears automatically flipped backwards along the sides of her head and both tails straightened out and unfurled behind her at opposing forty-five-degree angles, the perfect position of submission.
It would have been enticing to the redhead watching her prostrate herself if she were male. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards and Kyuubi clearly had other things on her mind.
As Tamami's sluggish metabolism began to catch up with her surroundings, the soft surface she was on shifted with her mistress's movements clueing her into her exact location. The Two-tails had jealously eyed the soft bed tucked away in a corner of the seal and two plus two finally added up to four as she fought the urge to stretch out and succumb to her mind's desire to surrender consciousness. That would have been the height of rudeness to her mistress who clearly wanted to speak with her at a time when they would not be interrupted.
"You summoned me, Kōgō-sama?" Kyūbi's tinkling laughter sent a pleasant shiver up her spine.
Tamami, much to her surprise, had to stifle a yelp when the bed shifted once more and she could feel the warmth of the Nine-tail's presence to her immediate left, a pair of soft hands grabbing her shoulders to gently, yet forcefully, pull her tangled mess of hair into the more powerful entity's lap. For a moment, the younger Kitsune was shocked by the firm softness of her mistress's lap as Kyūbi spent an inordinate amount of time situating her servant so that Tamami was comfortably resting on her side with the back of her head tucked up next to Kyūbi's stomach.
The combination of warmth and comfort the gesture provided sent another shiver along her spine even as she listened to the slightly distorted sound of her Queen's voice as heard through the representation of her leg and abdomen. It almost sounded like hearing sound when underwater yet it was oddly...soothing.
"Tell me, Tama-chan, what are your thoughts on our new Taichou."
Though almost conversational in tone, Tamami did not regard it as a request. "I think the humans of this village are too small-minded to appreciate the generous soul that he is, Kōgō-sama."
"Hmmm." Her Queen seemed to chew on that thought for a moment as if to savor it. "You do not see him in the same light as the Tenth?"
Despite her snug position with the warm hand of her Mistress stroking the soft waves of her golden mane, Tamami's head shook in what could only be regarded as a firm "NO!" the hand pausing above her temple until her movements calmed once again.
"No, Kōgō-sama. Even with this nasty business with the men that attacked him, his heart is still large and open to those he loves and wants to protect."
"Hmmm."
Same consideration but a bit longer pause before another comment. It mattered not to Tamami as she'd wait as long as it takes for her Queen. Besides, the gentle stroking of her hair was lulling her back in the deep arms... of...
"That brings me to one of the points I brought you here to discuss, my little Aga-chan."
The gentle tone of Kyūbi's voice was enough to jerk the exhausted Kitsune back to the Land of the Mostly Awake producing another tinkling of laughter. Her brain was delving back into the land of sluggish-comprehension but her sleep-drugged smile let the Nine-tails know that her handmaiden caught her reference to the nickname bestowed upon the rare vixen upon the event of their very first meeting[1].
"Forgive me, Tama-chan. I will attempt to be brief so that you can return to your rest."
"F-Forgive-."
Kyūbi's gentle shushing stopped her from a round of profuse apologizing. It was Kyūbi's fault after all that she'd been torn rudely from a deep, comfy sleep though she'd never verbalize that. The life of a servant was filled with inconvenience.
"None of that now." The warm palm resumed its pampering and Tamami wondered briefly if she could convince Taichou to do something similar. "Two things, Aga-chan. I need you to pay extra attention during his schooling so that you can help him master his human training. We can't afford to let him become too reliant on Kitsune techniques or his human chakra network will atrophy."
"Hnh, atrophy..."
Kyūbi chuckled knowing she would lose her completely before too long. "Second and most important to me..." She paused to lean forward enough to see poor Tamami's nearly closed eyes. "Can you hear me, Aga-chan?"
"Hnh... Kōgō...sama..."
"Close enough." She did lean closer to the gorgeous vixen to whisper directly into her ear. "I need you to make sure your clan does not die out. I have seen Tatsua's gradual shift in feelings towards Taichou but you, my beautiful butterfly, must not fail me in this."
"Hnh... never... fail...Kōgō-sama..." Tamami couldn't resist the powerful yawn punctuating her solemn vow.
"I know, Tama-chan. I know."
The last thing Tamami could remember from her uniquely bizarre dream was the mellowing sound of the Nine-tails humming lullabies until oblivion claimed her awareness.
~III~
Their last summer in the academy was moving by all too quickly. Naruto was working in the shop four days a week and on one day of the weekend, leaving two days to rest and recover, so he really enjoyed the six or so hours Tatsua gave him between training sessions to relax. This day was special, however, as she'd given him the whole day off once their morning session was done. He was so happy he could have kissed her, and, on impulse, he did just that.
He was very surprised when she initially tensed up in his embrace, so he very awkwardly released her and slowly backed away. Since he had no idea how to truly kiss a woman, it hadn't been more than him pressing his puckered lips against her own and, when he looked up into her very surprised face, the still very stunned Kitsune puckered up (after the fact) and blew a belated kiss into the air, her eyes very wide and unblinking as a tingling sensation tickled at the back of her mind. It was like a faint dream, a half-memory of something she was supposed to do...
Naruto merely sighed and quietly stalked off with his fingers snapping in between the nervous clapping of palms that didn't know what to do with themselves. 'It could have been worse, right? She could have attacked me. I know the girls in Sasuke's fan club have been hostile for far less.' Deciding not to press his luck, the nervously-smiling Taichou decided to move on with the rest of his day.
~oOo~
It was awkward as is to be expected of his first real kiss, but she honestly didn't mind. In fact, she found herself strangely disappointed that there wasn't more to it all as the sudden bout of PDA took her completely by surprise. With one last empty kiss to the wind, the shorter Kitsune sauntered off to the kitchen to fix herself a calming cup of tea, the blush of her cheeks waging war against her sister's constant sniggering.
Tatsua would never be caught so flat-footed. Of course not, but she wasn't twitter-painted over "the Stump" to begin with. Pftt! Not her.
The more athletic Kitsune quickly ducked back behind her scroll on basic taijutsu forms hoping no one noticed her jealous blush as their "fearless Stumpy" snatched up his backpack and rushed out the front door.
Tamami, however, puttered about the kitchen wondering if she needed to brush up on the differences between human and Kitsune development. A Kitsune male reached sexual maturity much sooner than a human one did (proportionally at least) despite the fact they lived considerably longer but that was the extent of her knowledge.
Any Kitsune entering its one-hundredth naming day (that's two hundred years of age for the normal human) had the equivalent physical age of a human pre-teen but that development of a second tail meant that they were considered mature enough to partake in Kitsune society. Young males that survived the clan life began to attend meetings, provide input in clan decisions (at least in the less restrictive clans) and began taking part in the Bōka, or "Leavening[2]." In Kitsune society, they were considered young adults with full rights and privileges.
'How old was he anyway? He was attacked at the human age of six and we were summoned later that same year. Being what the humans call a winter baby, he had to wait an extra year and turned nine during his first semester of school meaning he had to be... going on thirteen this winter? Yes, that sounded about right?'
Humans, despite their fractionally equivalent lifespans, developed at a slower pace and buffered their children from adult practices for as long as possible. She found it foolish to restrain them feeling that it delayed their maturity - at least until she began observing Taichou's classmates - but it was not her society to judge. Perhaps it better prepared them later on in life? For Inari's sake, they didn't introduce human anatomy until late in his third year of the curriculum and, if Iruka's parting comments right before the summer break held true, they'd only receive a week on seduction and sexual education training, the former focused primarily on the kunoichi.
Were the males not expected to perform that role? Tamami found that both sexist and abhorrent. Her Taichou would not be so handicapped, especially in the deceptive world of the Kitsune where he was expected to be able to either foil or execute seduction attempts with Vixen seeking to secure his seed as a political advantage to their clans. He would face threats from more than the Thirteen, perhaps more so from the lesser clans tottering on the edge of extinction.
He did, after all, have two - she immediately amended that thought while glancing over to her sister trying so very hard to hide her emotions behind a large scroll. Tatsua may be overly passionate in expressing herself but her heart was truly in the right place. As much as the woman loudly denied her growing affections for the "male stump" she claimed kept her trapped in a hell of human making, Tamami could see him worming his way into her heart. Perhaps he'd even be the one to help heal the wounds caused by that evil bastard someday.
Gently shaking her head to clear old feelings of loss, Tamami turned her mind back to the current issue. They'd need to keep up his academy training, even with as much as her sister disparaged it, and that included the heavily neglected sexual education portion of it. Taichou had at least one very willing participant living in his apartment at that very moment, both very surprised at the sudden display of physical affection and the implications thereof. Would, no, could Tatsua eventually come around to accept him as more than just a burden to bear until another Queen could emerge for the Kitsune nation?
Tamami desperately hoped from her perch at the kitchen table that his opinion of the fairer gender was changing for the positive. She was also very happy to discover a few days ago that the ANBU watch had disappeared as quietly as they arrived. With them no longer watching their every move, she hoped to lure him back into her lap pillow as a means of comfort after a frustrating day at the academy. She missed those bonding moments and felt they were losing that connection as he focused more and more on finding the last three men that attacked him years before.
Call her selfish but she liked that gentle side of her Taichou, an odd thing to have in a Kitsune Warlord but there you had it and she very much wanted to keep it.
There would be plenty of time for killing later.
~oOo~
With a nervous chuckle and very red cheeks spreading down into the v-cut of his tee-shirt, Naruto grabbed up his backpack stuffed with picnic items squirreled away in several storage seals (compliments of Tama-chan, hence the odd kiss earlier) and headed out the door. The twins were going to enjoy the day off as well – if he needed them, he could either call or summon them through a summoning jutsu, so they were never too far away in an emergency.
Naruto, thanks to the surprising shock of the kiss followed by his hasty exit, was an hour early leaving his apartment. Not wanting to be a nuisance picking up Hinata early, he decided to pay a visit to Hokage-jiji, something he'd neglected once he got busy with school and the forge.
Okay, admittedly he was a little pissed finding out about the chakra entity being stuffed in his gut while on his deathbed and hadn't spoken to the old man since he blew up at him two days before being released. It hurt badly finding out that he'd been lied to pretty much his entire short life by the one man he thought he could trust implicitly.
Call it village security if you like. Complain that you didn't think a six-year-old could be trusted to keep a secret that huge a secret and he'd probably nod his head and agree with you. Don't, however, claim that you kept him in the dark because his parents, parents that the old man still refused to reveal to him, had powerful enemies and your anonymity was necessary in order to keep you safe from external hostiles while an entire village tried its darndest to kill you every year of your life.
That pig just couldn't fly without a lot of ninja wire and Jutsu especially when the village made next to no effort to keep you safe from angry mobs and your trusted adult figure kept suggesting that you forgive them because they acted out of ignorance and fear.
Excuse me?
Naruto took a deep breath pausing on the sturdy roof of an administrative building catering to civilian licensing and permits. He was slipping again long after he felt confident that he'd moved past that initial hurt and that wouldn't do on such a nice day. It wasn't like he was training to become a police officer. He was going to become a shinobi, a jack of all trades in the deadly arts of death and deception.
If he was going to be so butt-hurt over potential hazards of his chosen profession being used against him, then perhaps it was time to settle down and open his own Ramen stand in the Red Light. Someone needed to enlighten the grungy masses to the goodness that was the Kami-given-gift to man.
Ahhh, ramen!
And just like that the building doom and gloom parted allowing a much lighter Naruto to resume his rooftop journey to the Hokage Complex housing the mansion, the administrative office, and the co-joined academy grounds.
Landing on the ground instead of the balcony, Naruto raced up the stairs to the receptionist's desk outside his office and, with his usual foxy grin, shot right past the frustrated woman and into the office of the most powerful shinobi in the village.
"Oi! Jiji!"
Hiruzen, busy rebelling against a fresh supply of paperwork, was contentedly puffing on his pipe. Happy to have any excuse to delay the ultimately unavoidable, he smiled at his unofficially adopted charge and waved him to a chair in front of his desk.
"This is a pleasant surprise, Naruto. It has been some time since we last visited and you've grown quite a bit." Aware of their recent estrangement, the old man didn't want to get his hopes up despite the familiar address.
Naruto's overinflated grin compressed to a more natural one, his hand sheepishly rubbing the back of his blonde mop of hair. The Hokage was the closest thing he had to family, barring his growing relationship with the Kitsune world, and allowed a great many lapses in decorum with their shared history. Naruto was well aware that these impromptu visits would have most nin carted out of the large office in ANBU chakra-restricted bindings, but Naruto had a standing invitation providing the Hokage was not officially detained or otherwise engaged, which is why the ANBU guarding the door rarely stopped him.
"What brings you my way today? Will I be following this meeting with an angry mob bearing pitchforks and screaming for your head?"
Naruto laughed it off. "Not today, Jiji. I'm off to a picnic with some friends from the academy." He dropped his pack onto the floor between his feet. "I just wanted to see how you were and ask if I could return the favor of all those meals you got for me when I was a hungry orphan. I have money now and good work with Higurashi-san, so you don't have to worry about me so much."
Naruto set a lacquered box on the Hokage's desk, one with the very popular crest of a certain tobacco importer rumored to be favorited by the village leader.
The old man's wrinkled face took on a look of sublime warmth. He recognized the significance of the gift, the engraved spiral indicating a rare and expensive gift of tobacco from Wave country. No one ever went as far as verifying the strain of leaf being native to old-world Uzushiogakure stock, but it was some of the best smoke as to be found anywhere. The fact that an orphan, who virtually grew up in poverty, could afford this was impressive. The fact that he would gift it to the Hokage spoke volumes of their bond. It touched him to his very core as no other gesture could. It implied that the giver knew him on a personal level and took measures above and beyond cordial means to bestow a present fit for close family… or nobility.
"Oh, Naruto," the Hokage whispered as his eyes took in every highly-polished line of the rather expensive gift. "This is... you should not have." Hiruzen took the box in both hands and, after several moments of gazing lovingly at the container, placed it safely inside his desk, using the excuse to blink away a tear before it could run the tracks of his weathered cheeks.
"I am at a loss for the gift Naruto and I thank you. Perhaps we can break bread tonight before your employment starts."
"That's great! Besides, I have a day off today, well… after the picnic anyway." Naruto waved off the gift. "Besides, you're the closest I have to family and I've never once given you a birthday present. I figured this would be a nice way to 'catch up' my dues."
"I am honored and thankful for such an insightful present."
Naruto's left hand shot up to the back of his head in a familiar gesture the Hokage was well familiar with. "Well, I kinda needed to apologize for being a total ass back in the hospital, Jiji." The boy's deep blue eyes were downcast. "I would have no one if it weren't for you. Family doesn't treat family that way, 'ttebayo."
A massive struggle ensued behind the eyes of the Shinobi Professor and the academy student bore witness to it all. Doubt, regret, fear, and something else he couldn't recognize flickered across the old man's face while the youngest person in the office fidgeted under the intense scrutiny. As Naruto was about to ask if he was okay, the old man rose from his desk and swiftly covered the expanse of his office and pushed aside the portrait of the Fourth Hokage to expose a seal array. Turning to the boy he loved as much as his flesh and blood grandson, he called him over.
Naruto recognized it as a storage seal on the wall, but it had extra symbology in the array with symbols referring to family or strong heraldic ties. A confused look up to the Hokage produced a wince from the older man as his courage momentarily flagged. With a tightening of his aged lips, he pushed on.
"Naruto, before we attempt to open this I must ask your understanding and, in advance, your forgiveness. There is a great deal you do not know about your heritage and, as I stated before for your own safety, was intentional by the Fourth Hokage."
Naruto's eyebrows were slowly creeping their way up to his hairline. Why would the Fourth want something kept from Naruto?
"All of that information will be yours if you can successfully open this blood seal." Now Naruto was familiar with the context of a blood seal. His introductory texts on Fūinjutsu purchased by a disguised Tamami explained their uses and basic functions, effectively locking a storage seal until someone of the correct bloodline appears and unlocks it, usually through direct application of their blood on the seal in question.
Usually, they are employed to protect something of great value to an individual, family or clan making theft of the item, or items in question, nigh impossible unless someone with the correct DNA markers in their blood gains access to the seal. Now the method isn't foolproof as anyone with access to sufficient amounts of the correct blood can also break the seal, but this means blood theft through commonly obtained medical containers (vials, beakers, and other absorbent materials) or other methods of transporting blood. Nothing is foolproof to ninja.
Whatever was in this seal was important. Furthermore, if he could open it this would tie him somehow to the Fourth Hokage's… something? He inhaled sharply, bit his thumb and rubbed it across the seal before the blood could dry. His blood hissed, filled out to fill in the black lines of the seal converting them to red then the whole seal pulsed once before twisting into a spiral shape. The spiral opened starting at the center becoming in seconds a circular hole over a meter in diameter. Inside the hole sat a long box of richly stained wood, a good-sized scroll and a small keyring with a weird key fob shaped like a three-pronged kunai.
His eyes immediately took in the detailed seal on the key fob shaped in the trademark kunai of the Yondaime Hokage.
The Sandaime Hokage exhaled a shuddering breath and turned from the storage pocket, very much feeling his age and numbly sliding into the chair at his desk. With a confused shrug, Naruto lifted out the items and swung the picture back in place, the opening in the wall reversing its spiral and closing up minus the seal returning. Taking his chair again, Naruto looked up to the one he called "Old Man" and waited for an explanation.
"I had hoped to delay this information until your sixteenth birthday, however, events are rapidly spiraling out of my control. Your progressing strength is making certain members of note anxious and I fear a return to the days of grief we shared in your youth." Hiruzen took a deep puff from his pipe.
His cryptic reference was not lost on Naruto. He was still "in his youth" but was also not surprised to hear that he had enemies within Konoha as this was very old news. He was surprised to hear that he had powerful enemies. He didn't think his earlier pranking rated that kind of hatred, but you never knew these days.
"To that end, you and your Kitsune friends," the Hokage gave a look that said he clearly knew about Tamami and Tatsua, "…will need every advantage you can and that includes your clan heritage." The shocked face sitting across from the Hokage slowly melted into a quiet rage, a fit of anger he knew he rightfully deserved.
"My clan?"
"Per the wishes of the Fourth Hokage," Hiruzen pressed on trying to ignore the judgmental glare from his quasi-grandson, "you were not to be told of your family or that information to be made public as you would inherit your clan's equally powerful enemies, enemies within and without the village of Konoha, that you could not hope to fight as a lone orphan and that I could not adequately guard you against even as the Hokage. This became painfully evident to me upon the eve of your sixth birthday when I announced to the Council my decision to revoke the law prohibiting discussion of your heritage and the truth behind the attack of the Kyuubi no Youko on our village. That very night you were brutally attacked and nearly killed."
The Hokage hung his head in shame. "To my eternal suffering, I was forced to leave the law in place."
At this, Naruto's rage faltered. The old man was admitting that he had planned to tell him the truth before the Yondaime said he could. He was admitting that he planned to reveal the truth to the entire village and someone, more likely a group of "someones" had actively moved to oppose it at the expense of his personal well-being. A look up from the floor back to the eyes of the Third Hokage proved how much pain this caused him but, in the end, the damage to their relationship had been done.
The Hokage continued. "What you hold in your hands are the keys to your family legacy. The keys are to the clan home of Namikaze Minato, your father."
The fact that Naruto's face never changed shocked Hiruzen. Did the boy know and, if so, how long had he known?
"The box is from your mother's ancestral home, Uzushiogakure, in the Land of Whirpools."
Naruto lightly traced the incomplete seals on the lid of the box. "The scroll is a parting letter from your mother and father from the night you were born. It will explain the rest of what you need to know."
The two friends sat in silence while Naruto digested this information. Truth be told, Kyuubi had shared memories with the boy showing much, but not all, of what the Hokage had confessed. He had images of the box being given to his mother by a young shinobi with red triangles under his eye wearing a green vest and a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "oil" on it. He also had a few memories, most benign but some fairly racy, of his mother with a blonde-haired shinobi that could only be the Fourth Hokage. He knew exactly who his parents were, but he'd waited almost three years now for the Hokage to finally admit the truth about it. The victory was bittersweet and now that he'd heard the whole truth, as known by the Hokage, he was torn.
And the betrayal of all the times he'd asked, no… begged the man to tell him since the night of that attack came back to constrict his throat.
Wordlessly, Naruto stood while clutching his newest possessions, priceless gifts from his past, and bowed deeply at the waist until he was parallel to the floor. He held it for three seconds while fighting back bitter tears, then calmly rose and left the office of the most powerful man in the village without saying a word, a fresh shadow clone manifesting to carry his backpack once he was clear of the office.
Inside, Sarutobi Hiruzen reached into another drawer of his desk for his prized bottle of sake and wondered if he'd done the right thing, or if his relationship with Uzumaki Naruto would survive the betrayal of an entire village that began with the hypocrisy and deceit of his office.
Outside the office, Naruto took a deep breath to calm his nerves before stowing the scroll and keys in his backpack and the long box in the seal array on his right forearm. Without a glance at the glaring receptionist, he woodenly trudged downstairs and out of the tower before taking off to the roofs and across town to training area twenty-three.
~oOo~
Once he had vanished, the receptionist's face melted from her recurring distaste to pull out a thick leather-bound journal. Opening it to a marked page near the center, she began to write in a flowing script not native to Konoha.
"Year 22 Day 157: The vessel entered to speak with the Hokage and departed shortly thereafter most somber of tone and clutching the lacquered box taken from Uzushiogakure on the day of its fall. It would appear that events are moving forward…
~oOo~
At Training Area Twenty-Three…
It didn't take long to find the group at the lake. Chouji had set up a grill he'd borrowed from his dad and had provided the beef grilling delights while Shika brought hot dogs and venison from the Nara herd. Everyone else was pulling out favorite dishes to share. Naruto unsealed sweetened dango he'd made with the assistance of several Kage bunshins. Hinata had proven her talent in the culinary arts and brought fresh katsu and dragon rolls. Ino brought cutlery and drinks. Shino was the big surprise with a multi-layered chocolate swirl cake in rich dark chocolate frosting - apparently, his bugs had a serious sweet tooth.
Once Naruto had dropped off his additions, he turned from the table in time to get a chest full of bluenette affection and concern. Her big eyes broke through his inner turmoil and, like magic, the clouds lifted somewhat, and his shoulders relaxed immediately. As his arms wrapped around her shoulders, she squeezed his midsection, her arms reaching around just enough to link her hands and smiled up with care into his deep blue eyes.
"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Her voice was like soft silk when she wasn't being hamstrung by her stutter.
"It's not important right now and you make everything better."
Ino tried not to stare too much at their affection, her teeth worrying at her lower lip.
Hinata didn't look like she believed him, so he gave a concession. "If you promise to wait until after the picnic, I'll take you with me when I have to investigate something. I'll share everything with you."
She paused, her eyes glancing from his left to his right pupil hoping one or the other would give something away before nodding in agreement. "Hai."
Too bad he didn't remember much of the day as it went by in a haze. His mind stayed wrapped up in what he already knew to be true while it tried to work out the depth of betrayal at the hands of the village he'd loved his whole life, or at least he thought he loved… didn't he?
Come to think of it what did he love about it? It didn't take long to boil that down to the barest truth centering around the five people there with him at the lake, the two in his apartment (but they could always leave with him), the dozen or so hospital staff that had helped him over the years, old man Teuchi and Ayame nee-chan, old man Higurashi and Tenten, and finally the Hokage. At that last name, he paused and mulled it over a good while.
He still loved the old man, but did he trust him anymore? He understood why Jiji felt he needed to lie but what else had he lied about and were there other things he was still lying about?
Pfft! He was a shinobi leader so of course there were. Only time would tell though. One thing remained irrefutable in that among a village of thousands his reasons for staying or caring amounted to two dozen people.
With Hinata pulling him out of his periodic moping, he found himself all too soon walking down the road that led to her family estates. Confused that he might have forgotten something, she politely tried to jog his memory.
"Ano, Naruto-kun… are we not going to look into your problem from earlier today?" Naruto merely lifted his eyes from the ground and smiled at the lavender-eyed heiress.
"We are, Hinata-chan. It just so happens that this place we're going is very close to your home." Her eyes got very big at that and her heart skipped a beat.
They indeed marched right past the gates to her family estates at a leisurely pace, which moments later led to a very confused Hyuuga Hiashi, followed by an equally confused Hanabi and Neji wondering why the clan head suddenly stopped their afternoon training session to walk outside in a daze only to then follow the two pariahs up the less trodden path to the gates of a sealed estate less than a mile away.
As a collective, the group found themselves before the family estates bearing the well-known Namikaze crest, a confused Hinata glancing at the keys in Naruto's hands as an outraged Neji began to question the village outcast as to what he was doing unwanted in clan territory. Naruto merely responded with scorn as he bit his thumb and spread fresh blood over the seal at the gate plate joining to the two halves. Hinata took clear note of her still silent father and his look of supreme concentration as he watched Naruto's every move.
The seal's response was instantaneous as it was in the Hokage's office and, as the gates swung silently open, the Hokage stepped out of his flawless Body Flicker and said in a clear voice that automatically silenced Neji's wheedling, "Welcome home Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. Welcome to your family home, the family estates of both the Namikaze, once established in Konohagakure as one of its founding clans, and the Uzumaki, formerly of Uzushiogakure no Sato and as another of Konoha's founding alliances."
You could have heard a pin drop if not for the cool breeze along the path. Instead, the trees rustled and seemed to urge him on to explore a place that he should have called home all those years ago. Neji, Hanabi, and Hinata were all gape-jawed.
None of them noticed the single tear running down the left side of Hiashi's face as he bowed somberly to the young boy and spun on his heels back to his own estates. He would spend the rest of the night in his office with several warm bottles of sake speaking to and seeing no one below the rank of Hokage for the rest of the day.
Naruto, without a word, closed the gate and resealed it with his blood and a pulse of his chakra to reset the clan seals. Hinata and Hiruzen both, being shocked by the action, looked on with a questioning gaze only to receive a negative shake from the boy in return as he slowly backed away from the ornate gates of his ancestral home.
It was too soon, too much to take in today.
He would come back when he was more prepared. He pocketed the keys, shouldered his backpack, and held a hand out to Hinata who took it without hesitation. After walking her back to her family estate, he turned, hugged her tightly, gave a kiss to her cheek to wipe away the tears on her face, before leaping away to find some peace and quiet.
Once he was gone, Hinata turned with venom in her voice and threatened that her two closest relatives would never see the poison that took their lives if they breathed a word of what they'd seen to another soul. She hadn't needed to as the Hokage took them all inside and reiterated to all four, Hiashi included, that what they had seen was still an SS-class secret and that spreading of the information would mean their death by beheading, but it remained a potent threat nonetheless. Hanabi and Neji had never seen Hinata so cold and determined, the image momentarily shocking them into silence.
~oOo~
Naruto ended up spending the majority of his off-days with Hinata as he found comfort in her arms. Eventually, she even coaxed him into exploring the home, opening up its secrets and discovering what was in the scroll and box he'd inherited. By the end of summer, he had moved into the estate as the security was much improved (it even included ANBU alarmed response) and plenty of privacy for training in isolation from the village. What's more, he now had access to his family library which, aside from higher-ranked elemental scrolls (Minato was partial to Fuuton and Raiton jutsu while his mother was partial to Doton and Suiton jutsu) he found a wealth of tomes and scrolls on Fūinjutsu. Both of his parents were experts in the field with his father being an acknowledged master in Konoha.
His studies were about to take a significant step forward.
The clan home had enough space for ten individual occupants apart from the master suite, each smaller room as large as his new apartment. On the fair-sized grounds were lodging for servants, a four-room guest home and separate clan houses for both Namikazes and Uzumakis wishing to dwell in the large village. It took up very little space considering the large acreage it occupied (though not nearly as big as either of the Uchiha or Hyuuga estates). It was still more than a single orphan could effectively use. The twins were ecstatic and, except when Naruto had company, enjoyed the newfound freedom to roam.
Hinata spent most of her spare time with Naruto helping him acclimate and, to her, it was only fair to include emotional support in the form of kissing and hugging, which they were doing a lot of lately. Naruto was also surprised by how much she hid under that bulky jacket when she was comfortable enough to remove it once inside – she was pleasantly curvy and well-cushioned as compared to other girls her age but he tried not to make of conscientious of the fact by staring (more than was reasonable anyway).
They weren't even officially a couple yet for Kami's sake!
It was because of the growing sense of physical affection brought on by raging pre-pubescent hormones and after a weekend of particularly spirited snogging that Naruto found himself standing at the gates to the Hyuuga estates in a new haori of royal blue silk. With a hakama of charcoal grey, an obi of sparkling white underneath to match the juban, or kimono undergarment, and with his heart in his throat, the clan child was trying to screw up his courage to do the respectable thing before he and Hinata made a mess of things. His three-kamon crests, for today, were all of the Uzumaki clan, two on the chest and one in the center of his back.
He'd been slowly acquiring formal attire with the help of the Twins, as he was eventually to be established in the registry as a clan head at the age of sixteen, much to the shock of the council as they were threatened by the Hokage no less than a dozen times under violation of the Third's law from releasing his new pending status publicly. There would be more of varying complexity and quality incorporating both Namikaze and Uzumaki crests but, for today, he wanted there to be no doubt as to where the orphan originated from.
He also spent the entire day recalling what he could from the books he'd read on decorum, social graces, table manners, and politics. Realizing that it wasn't much given his earlier study foci, he resolved to correct that later. He was rather grateful that Kyuubi had forced him to read what little he did or this would have been an utter shit-show.
Of that much he was certain.
With one hand depressing the tile connected to the doorbell and the other holding lavender-colored tulips, the Namikaze clan head of one squared his shoulders and swallowed his fear one last time. 'Too late to run now.'
The surprised, and pleasantly surprised for once, face of a branch member blinked back shock noting his polished appearance before remembering enough of her manners to politely ask his reason for being there.
"Please advise Hiashi-sama that Uzumaki Naruto, heir to the Uzumaki clan, seeks audience to discuss something of great import to both houses." His manner was clear, concise and delivered in the taciturn timbre of an heir that expected compliance.
Without the normal disdain he received when looking for the heiress, the servant bowed crisply and showed him into the foyer, something that had never happened before. Once sending off another servant for tea was complete, for which he received a strained look of confusion before they vanished into said kitchens, the middle-aged woman hustled off to inform the clan head. She returned as Naruto was enjoying the mild herbal brew to inform him that Hiashi-sama would indeed receive him in his office.
Naruto rose and inclined his head just the right amount to indicate he was ready to proceed. He emptied the cup and returned it to the second servant with both hands, also with another small bow, before reclaiming the tulips and following his guide to the office suites. The servant knocked and after waiting a prescribed amount of time, kneeled to the side and slid the door to the study open. Once Naruto stepped inside, she closed the door and padded off into another section of the house to deliver an urgent message to a young woman that very much meant the world to the aging woman with no children of her own.
Naruto inclined his head marginally more than he did to the servants that greeted him, as one clan head to another.
"Greetings, Hiashi-san. I thank you for your hospitality on short notice and hope you are well." He hoped he wasn't butchering this too badly but Kyuubi said he would have to get used to it. He was important now even if no one in the village knew about it yet or cared.
"I am well, Naruto-san." He returned the inclined head and neck just a hair short of the original offering. "I am honored by your concern regarding my health and your visit." His eyes lit on the flowers and a smirk caught the corners of his mouth. It didn't take a master of the Byakugan to see what the boy wanted.
"Let's cut to the chase, shall we? You are clearly uncomfortable, and I have much to do as the clan head of a rather large clan."
The implication was clear. You are clearly unimportant as a clan head in a clan of one.
Not moving to sit, Naruto dropped the façade and came clean. "I'd like to ask your permission to court Hinata."
"No."
Naruto was about to blurt out a rude query, all civility forgotten, when Hiashi raised a hand to forestall the outburst. "While she is no great loss as an heir and her 'hopeful' marriage to you clears the way peacefully for Hanabi to become my true heir," Naruto scowled here, "…her being seen with a penniless heir like you hurts our reputation. She better serves me, and her clan, being married off to one of the many wealthy suitors clamoring for her hand in a political marriage."
He motioned to a discarded stack of proposals on his desk.
Naruto reached into his sleeves and tossed a small scroll onto the pile, this one specially prepared for this very meeting and bearing the official crest of the Uzumaki. He figured he would need leverage to win the man's permission, worthless bastard that he was, but he wasn't going to give him access to original documents. Hell, he wasn't planning on letting the man keep this summary copy of his estate's net worth. And when Hiashi opened and read the scroll, twice because his shock the first time wouldn't let his pride acknowledge what he read, he literally had to close his mouth with a soft click.
As an Uzumaki and the son of Kushina, he was, in fact, the last heir of the ruling line from Uzushiogakure, which controlled all of Uzu no Kuni. As such, he held all rights and titles to the deserted island nation held in escrow by the Daimyo of Waves, an account that had been growing in the care of trustees since the fall of that once-great village. The account was worth half a billion to an heir that could prove proper lineage, which he had in the form of birth documents signed and notarized by the Third Hokage and bearing the royal sigil of the Honorable Flame of Hi no Kuni himself.
Additionally, as the heir to both Namikaze and Uzumaki estates, his inheritance included profits from the Namikaze seals patented by the Arashi Seal Consortium, which meant every seal in use in Konoha and most of the shinobi nations, through the office of trustees in the Fire Daimyo's palace. Included was a copy of notice, signed by the Daimyo of Flames himself, looking forward to the return of the Uzumaki seal masters that produced seals still in effect, a vast portion of which continued to feed their family accounts and were worth a considerable sum almost equal to double the fishing and tobacco rights of his clan.
The boy was connected at the highest levels of government to three nations (he knew full well the close ties between Wave and Water), had a royal pedigree to match as the sole survivor of the royal Uzumaki line, and was worth more than five Hyuuga clans once he claimed his birthright. His immediately accessible holdings, according to the bank tallies, was not insubstantial. He was definitely worth more without his birthright than that smelly Inuzuka brat Tsume was trying to peddle off on to him at last night's dinner function and the boy at least cleaned up markedly better.
His manners were also a sight better and he would be presentable before the crown with a bit more polish. Hiashi blinked in shock as one key thought kept rolling through his conflicted mind.
He was actual royalty by birth, all still kept under strict classification rules pending his attainment of Chunin or age sixteen (if he failed out of the academy) but, given reports of his growing strength and current standing, that was not expected to take very long. His graduation, at a minimum, was all but assured if the idiots trying to sabotage him could be curbed.
He was already rumored to be a powerful shinobi. His capture during his second year at the academy of the rogue Mizuki alone attested to that.
He would come into his own soon enough and an alliance with the impressionable (controllable dare he think?) youth would cost him very little - just the sacrificial lamb of a worthless daughter sitting not thirty yards from his very office. Hiashi tried to clear his throat as he rose and offered back the scroll to its owner.
He absolutely could not risk insulting the powerful heir. Furthermore, he'd need to meet with the elders and insure, under pain of caging if necessary, that his entire clan did the same.
Glancing down into the surprisingly sharp stare of the boy two-thirds his height, he didn't think his clan would have an issue with his current plan.
"That changes everything, Naruto-san…sama." He bowed stiffly at the waist. "I accept your request and grant you permission to court my daughter. Please conduct yourself as a proper gentleman when in public." Naruto returned the bow with a nod, then spun on his heels and exited the office.
He felt soiled, violated on an intimate level by a man he considered lower than dirt. There was only one way to correct that and his eyes immediately sought out-.
"Naruto-kun!" He turned to see a very shocked Hinata, a Hinata whose eyes continually took in the fancy garb and clean grooming until they finally settled on the bouquet of flowers in his hand, which he promptly stepped forward and held out to her with both of his own. Once she took them, he took her left hand in his, knelt to the ground, leaned forward to gently kiss the back of said hand, and looked up into her sparkling eyes now as big around as they could go.
"Hinata-chan, you are the strength I find to lift myself from despair and sorrow. Yours is the face I hope to spend the rest of my days looking upon in awe until darkness claims my last breath." He tried not to blush as he recited the words Tamami was speaking directly into his mind via their spirit link.
"I want to walk by your side, through good and bad, until I no longer can or until you send me away to my ultimate despair. With this pledge of my heart I ask, will you be my girlfriend with the hopes of one day making me the happiest man alive when you become my beloved wife?"
This was the waking fulfillment of her every frenzied fantasy involving her blond crush. How many days and nights had her mind foisted just this scenario on her? How she longed to hear these words, or some very similar, from his lips and envisioned him kneeling before her asking for her hand. Her only reply was a stuttering, "Y-Y-Yesss," as she passed out, falling directly onto him and knocking them both to the floor amongst the ecstatic shrieks of concerned nannies squealing in delight.
That night he spoiled his Hyuuga princess. Still dressed in his fancy kimono (once female attendants of her clan brushed him immaculately clean to his raging embarrassment), he took her to the nicest restaurant he could find. Despite not immediately recognizing the Kyuubi brat, they couldn't risk antagonizing the Hyuuga heiress, therefore the host had to let them in. Together the two dined by candlelight and talked of happy times to come together and the looks on the faces of their friends next time they all got together next week. Hinata, in particular, couldn't wait to see Ino again.
Several familiar faces, including Kurenai and a very hopeful Asuma, recognized the couple while sharing smiling glances and knowing winks of their own. Many other unknowns simply pointed and scowled.
Naruto and Hinata were oblivious to it all and left after having the best night of both their lives. A quiet walk through the parks as the sun set behind burning clouds and Naruto scooped up his lovely girlfriend bridal style before going from rooftop to monument mountain face straight to the top of the Fourth Hokage's image where they sat, and kissed, to the burning sacrifice of the Konoha sun.
It was a perfect day and Naruto pointedly ignored the adoring sighs from kunoichi who had stalked them from dinner and were now hiding in the bushes behind them.
The two spent the rest of the summer getting very acquainted with each other but, before things got hot and heavy, Naruto decided it was time to come clean. If anyone deserved to know the unadulterated truth it was Hinata. So, it was one night in the living room of his family home that he sat her down, after prying her lips from his own and her arms from around his neck, that he asked for her undivided attention. She had wanted to slip into her bathing suit and drag him into the onsen, which the Hyuugas did not have and she not-so-secretly loved, and she was growing frustrated with his reluctance towards her stripping off her garments for his benefit. Was she not attractive enough? This was bordering on the questionable orientation side of things and sending up warning flares. Naruto raised his hands asking for her patience as he rolled into a bit of history.
"Before we take this any further, you still have a way out." She blinked, her face a mask of worry. This was not starting out well.
"Hinata, you have a right to know all my secrets."
"Please tell me you're not gay!" she blurted out before her hand could cover her insolent mouth. He chuckled and smothered her with a passionate kiss that took the air from her lungs and, just like that, he broke away to finish the conversation. He could hear her sigh of relief.
"No, I'm not gay." To emphasize his point, one finger traced the corner of her lip, down the slender lines of her throat, over the bump of her collar and along the sloping line of her breast to swirl gentle circles around the growing nub poking through her shirt. "I am most definitely not gay." His face got very serious and he sat across from her and took her hands into his own. Her body shivered, and her mouth pouted once he took that lovely sensation from her chest, but she waited patiently for him to continue.
"Tell me what you know of the Kyuubi." Her response was automatic, almost clinical despite the apparent random change in topic and its twisting of her eyebrows, one high and one low.
"The Kyuubi attacked Konohagakure on October tenth, eleven... no, twelve years ago today and was defeated by Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage." He nodded allowing that the academy answer was accurate as taught.
"The Kyuubi never died." When her head snapped back to his eyes, she was shocked and concerned for him. "The Kyuubi was a bijuu, one of the "Great Nine" and the most powerful to boot. No mere mortal could kill her." She barely noticed the chibi fox now laying in between the two of them as focused as she was on his words.
"So… what happened to the Kyuubi no Youko?"
Naruto released one of her hands and lifted his shirt exposing his solid stomach. While she drooled just a bit at this, her eyebrows shot to the top of her head once he channeled chakra forcing it into his stomach and bringing the tetragram seal matrix to the surface in all of its complicated malevolence.
Knowing that he had her attention he continued. "The Fourth Hokage sealed the demon's chakra into the body and still developing chakra coils of a baby only hours old," he paused for effect, "…into his own baby son."
~I I I~
A/N: Behind the Scenes - Complicated Relationships
The Kitsune Chronicles continue in the hopes that I can help ease your quarantine blues wherever you are.
This chapter focused on the added complications that can occur in relationships whether the participants are ninja or youkai. Life is complicated by itself and people can mess it up without too much effort. That doesn't get any easier when you're an uber-powered assassin in training and things are about to grow increasingly complicated for our hero in ways he hasn't yet envisioned.
Now, whether it's my highly-complex (at I think it is) "No More" or this, my first and considerably less convoluted story plot, how the interplay of the characters with each other emerges still affects how the story develops. Bad guys still do bad things outside of our protagonist's sphere of influence and even supporting characters get a vote. For simplicity's sake, I opted to streamline a lot of that in the first draft which led to it becoming a two-story production. With my revised story map, we now see a slightly more complex rendition as things are brought to light in almost real-time.
This should also deepen the supporting cast for our hero.
[1] Kyuubi calling Tamami "Aga-chan" refers to her initial meeting of the Twins prior to her interrupted Awakening trip. It was during that meeting that the newly-initiated vessel for the Nine-tails was so stricken with the curvy vixen's gentle spirit, enchanting beauty, and goddess-like figure that she likened her to the Papilio Machaon (also referred to as the Yellow Swallowtail butterfly, which I believe in Japanese is "Agahachō" - someone much more familiar with the language would have to advise me on this), a beautiful golden creature found in Japan. Tamami's love of blue items comes from the gentle shades found on the lower wings of this delicate insect.
[2] Bōka, or "The Leavening" is a Kitsune tradition intended to reverse the horrific damage forced upon the male Kitsune populace by the Tenth (and final) male Taichou. His warlike tendencies took the once predominately male portion of the population from its comfortable 3 to 1 male-to-female ratio to its current 1 to 1,000. The Leavening is held once every human decade and there are two such events, one for the general Kitsune populace and one for the ruling elite (The Taichou and the royals of the clans, though the official number of the latter is difficult to verify). The first is held every five years after the Royal event so that, between the two, there is a sharing of the Kitsune gene pool using the strongest males to impregnate mature females available every five years, one of the only times that clan allegiances are left out of the equation. Given the incredibly low birth rates among Kitsune, they're lucky if one or two births occur from these gathering of Kitsune, which are needed to provide more strong-blooded males to remove females from the fighting force once the population balance is restored (killing off strong females in battle is seen as an idiotic way to reduce and already limited way to create more Kitsune thereby hastening the extinction of the Kitsune race).
- Ja Ne!