AN: As I said before I'm going to be jumping around a little bit since this is just an Interlude into the cannon. You get to have an idea of some of the later arcs as well as some of the characters and how they will be.
But don't worry you won't have to wait for the Wave arc to start since this is….Drum Roll Please…A double feature upload. That's why it took a while. Moving on!
NightSlayer04: Musōgen, Dream Vision as you say. hmm I'm not opposed to the idea I mean you're not wrong with your explanation either since I was modeling the idea after Naruto and Naruko being twins. I'm going to hold onto that name since this arc is just starting and we have at least two more to find something. Might even make it a poll or something.
EndingF4te: Dude to me it will always be Eagle Vision, I'll never forget staring at the wall in Abstergo after Desmond unlocks it going wtf. I had thought about it but the more I thought on it I'm like nope not going to do it since the Desmond timeline was long before and names change over the years.
Zoran:(At this point I'm just going to say Zoran just like I should with Spark) Just like I said above it's not that I don't wanna name it something like that, it's that I feel like for this time period it needs to be changed. And like you said I refuse to trust google for any kinda real translation.
Gajeel-of-Iron: Sight of Truth, Perception of God, and Veil Peircer...hmm not opposed to any of these either. Just need the translation of them and I really don't trust google. I mean the only name so far that is 'English' was Gretty and that was just because I had it stuck in my damn head when I was thinking of names.
"Welcome" – Normal
'Welcome'- Thoughts
"Welcome"- None living entity
"Welcome"- Living entity
Before I we start massive shout out to SilverStreak93242 for offering to become a beta for this story. Seriously thank you!
(Started 10/20/22 Finished 10/27/22)
The sound of flesh hitting wood could be heard echoing through the mountains of Tsuchi no Kuni. High above the low laying clouds was a secluded log hut with two people outside, a teenage girl and an older man.
The man was close to six feet tall and wore a set of dirty brown clothes and off red cloak. The most notable feature he had was his long white hair that was tied back under the cloak. He was leaned against a long walking stick watching the younger girl train. "Again." he said to the girl who just nodded and went through the kata again. His eyes were hard and calculating as he watched her train.
'One, two, three, fo-' she thought going through the motions again. Her tan shirt soaked with sweat and her black pants were caked with mud from the constant training. Her hair was coal black and pulled back into a short spiky ponytail, but if one was to look closely enough, they could see traces of red hidden below the black. A pair of blue eyes fully focused on the training dummy with a tattoo with the kanji for eye right beside her right eye.
"Enough Naruko." the man said reaching under his cloak he pulled out an oddly shaped wrist blade "We will finish with a spar then head into town."
"Understood Ero-sensei…" Naruko said breathlessly as she caught the kunai blade. "Can I release the seal?" she asked strapping the wrist blade on before slinging her wrist and inspecting the blade.
"You have ten minutes no more, and for the love of all things holy quit calling me Ero-sensei!" he said before he unbuttoned his cloak and set it off to the side. The cloth didn't even touch the ground before he was forced to block a strike with his walking stick. "Nice try kiddo."
"You would think that after three years I could at least get close…" she reached up and touched the kanji with her left hand. They locked eyes as black eyes met blue and gold. 'Kick with right leg' she barely reacted in time to dodge the sideways kick.
"Good reaction time. Question is can you keep it up?" Jiraiya asked before shooting off towards Naruko with blinding speeds. Bringing his walking stick up he struck out forcing her to block, the strike rattling her wrist as the kunai bracer met hard wood.
Grabbing ahold of the walking stick she tried to pin it in place long enough for another quick strike. She couldn't let go fast enough as he lifted her up and threw her across the yard. Flipping over in midair she slid for a few feet before stopping and looking up at a charging Jiraiya.
He had the advantage of both strength and speed over her, and it was proven blatantly clear as she tried to backpedal and give herself some space. Left, right, kick, punch, each step she took back he pressed the advantage further strike after strike. She knew how he would move but she couldn't keep up with the onslaught of attacks.
"Seeing an attack coming is useless against a superior attacker." Jiraiya said before dropping low and doing a sweeping kick with his leg forcing Naruko to jump "Once your airborne the attacker has the advantage." she could see the strike coming the second she jumped but knew there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Jiraiya's walking stick struck her hard in the side as he used the momentum from his kick to increase the speed of the strike. She could feel her ribs scream as she was sent flying into the dirt. Dust and rocks flew as she skidded to a stop up against the side of the cabin.
"Dead." Jiraiya said taking his stick and pressing it against her chest. "For the next week we will go back and focus, and refresh your mind on combat etiquette, because you didn't listen the first time…"
Glaring up at the Sannin, Naruko sighed in defeat before closing her right eye. "Well forgive me if the way you teach is boring. I swear old man Fuka is more exciting in teaching when he is talking about senjutsu." Naruko said before retracting her blade and reaching up to reactivate the seal on her eye.
"He is just teaching you the basics right now. It will take you years to master it. Hell, look at me I'm in my fifties and I still haven't mastered it." Jiraiya said holding out his hand to help her up. Still glaring she accepted his hand. "How's your ribs?"
Touching the tender and maybe broken ribs she just shrugged "Maybe an hour or two and I'll be fine, you never told me how I can heal that fast." even now there were things she didn't know about her past, maybe it was for the better.
"Someday I will, go get cleaned up and we can head into town okay Hirumi." he told her intentionally using the fakes names they had come up with.
"Fine fine, you just want to hurry up and go peep at the bathhouse eh grandpa Rio?" she didn't even stay around to hear his response knowing he would say something perverted. Even now she still wondered how someone like him was still alive with all the beatings he got.
Watching her walk away he turned and faced the mountains in thought. The only reason she was easy for him to beat was because he had basically written the book on her Dōjutsu. He knew how it worked, what its limit was, and how to counter it. If he was to guess she would be pushing mid to high chunin, low jonin with the use of her eye. 'Nearly time for her to gain some real experience as a shinobi.'
After all he had an entire spy network so getting an easy job in her skill range would be simple. Maybe a good bandit hunt, courier mission, or merchant escort would be enough to wet her feet.
The Creed Reborn
The soft orange glow of a torch could be seen making its way through caverns that ran under Uzushiro. Everywhere one looked there was signs of a fight that took place here. Skeletons laid against the old floors, dried flaky blood coated walls, and rusty weapons were strewn about everywhere.
A pair of hooded figures could be seen walking with torches in hand, eyes hidden in shadow as they tried to locate their next objective. Pulling his hood down on his forest green cloak the first figure kneeled beside a skeleton with a Uzu headband its bony hands still firmly wrapped around the kunai in its vest.
"I think this is him." the male said he was about five foot seven with spiky blond hair and red tips. Over the years they had been stuck on the island he had to make do with whatever clothes he could either make or find. His old green shirt had been swapped for a tan woolen shirt and his pants were black shinobi pants he had patched. His shoes were old farming boots that he had found as well. Around his waist was a pair of short swords he had found in the ruins. The only thing that hadn't changed was an eye patch over his left eye.
"Does he have the key?" a female asked before removing her own hood, she was about four foot eight. Like her counterpart she had changed too, her red eyes now sporting a pair of glasses and her hair braided going down her back. She was wearing green gray woven woolen pants with a dirt-colored shirt. On her back was a rifle that had been modified over the years to suit her needs.
"Karin, bring the torch closer I can't see if he does or not." the male said before flexing his wrist, a blade silently extending from under his wrist. Carefully he used the blade to cut away the weathered flack vest. Retracting his blade, he reached down and held up the key they had been looking for.
"Naruto your luck never seems to run out, does it?" Karin said as she looked down at the old key. They had been spending the past three years diving deeper and deeper into the old ruins of Uzu trying to find a way to shut down the defenses that both protected the island and trapped those that live here.
"If we hadn't fou-" Naruto whipped his head around and peered into the darkness "Karin kill the torches!" he loudly whispered before tossing his torch into the water.
Karin followed suit and tossed her torch before swiftly unslinging her rifle and taking cover. The cave going dark once more as she peered into the darkness that surrounded them. Faintly she could hear the sound of footsteps nearing them, but they weren't human sounding they clanked like a suit of armor.
Slowly their eyes adjusted to the dimly lit cave as the sound of armored footsteps neared. Through a different corridor an armored figure entered the room, there was an inhuman glow to its charka powered eyes as it looked around the room.
Almost as if it was satisfied the armored figure turned and walked back the way it came. The glow of a seal illuminated the hall as it retreated. Both of the hidden figures in the room let out a breath they had unconsciously been holding.
"Damn that was close…" Naruto mumbled as he stepped out from behind the rock he had been using for cover. "I had been hoping to avoid the watchers today."
"Well, what would you expect from our clan, I mean they were masters with seals." Karin replied, eyes still watching the corridor that the Watcher had went down. "How many do you think are still around anyways?"
"If the papers from the council hall were accurate then there has to at least be a couple hundred left." Naruto said as he tried to light the torch he had thrown in the water. He grimaced as spark after spark just bounced off the wet cloth.
"Hold on." Karin said before she pulled out a cartridge from her pouch and poured some of the powder on the wet cloth.
Striking the flint again the pair smiled as the torch flared to life. "Let's get back to the village we can come back tomorrow and use the key." Naruto said as he looked around and tried to remember what path they had taken to get here.
"Which key was it that we found?" Karin asked looking over her shoulder again back towards the tunnel the charka powered construct had gone down.
"With any luck this should be the Sensors key. We still need to find the Historians and Main branches keys, but at least with this we can shut down the whirlpools." Naruto said as they started back towards exit of the underground labyrinth.
"Yeah, the only thing the Medical branches key done was shut down the bio metric seals...and because of that we now have to deal with those Watchers." Karin replied as she followed the blond. "If nothing else our family sure knew how to layer their security."
"Yeah, before we were the only ones who could even get near the ruins, now even we have to play hide and seek with those walking tin cans." Naruto said as the neared the exit, he could hear the sounds of gulls coming from ahead. "I would hate to think about the security a place like Bakemono has if the mainland is like this."
Pulling their hoods up they walked out of the caves the sun setting in the sky cast a burnt orange glow over the city of the dead. It would take decades for the city of Uzushiro to be restored, that was assuming that all of the island's defenses were shut off first, and even then, it would be generations before people could live there.
Seeing the dingy they had tied to a tree the pair smiled slightly, maybe soon they could get back onto the open water and feel the wind rush through their hair.
The Creed Reborn
Jiraiya and Naruko were walking back up the path to their mountain cabin. They had just gone into the small mining town for their monthly supply run. He smiled slightly as Naruko tried to balance the large cans and walk at the same time.
His mood was slightly soured when he thought back to the info his network had managed to scrape together on a certain blond monster. The same blond that ordered a kill on sight for him and nearly a forty million ryo bounty for both Naruko and Naruto.
In the three years that they had been on the run his network had yet to find a single hair of the blond. It was as if he was a ghost after he left Arakawa, and he wouldn't have even heard about that if his traveling partner hadn't started a fight about pancakes.
The other person he had been looking for was equally as much of a ghost as the blond teen. Itachi Uchiha, he had been hoping that he could find him and maybe recruit him to their cause, but no one had seen him since the Uchiha murder.
"Ero-sensei look someone's at the cabin." he heard Naruko say before raising his head and seeing who it was. A sigh of relief left his lips when he realized that the man was indeed a friend.
"Naruko head on and take the supplies inside will you. I need to speak to our guest for a little bit." Jiraiya told her as he started walking towards the man. Not needing to be told twice, Naruko just shrugged and went on to into the cabin.
The man had ashen blue hair that he had slicked back and wore a green haori with a gray turtleneck sweater underneath. Two talismans were blowing slightly in the wind as he looked out over the valley, each one inscribed with the words 'To Hear'. Unlike most shinobi who carried their supply pouch on the right rear side of their belt he carried his on the front left.
"Ao…" Jiraiya said as he stepped up beside the man. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the eye patch that hid his byakugan, a prize he had yet to learn the origins of. "I take it something has come up that a messenger hawk couldn't bring?"
"Hai, Mei sent me here to tell you we have a problem." The middle-aged shinobi said turning to Jiraiya "The Kiri Loyalist have deployed a new weapon and we don't have a way to counter it. Mei asked me to locate you and see if you and your network could find the source of the ships bringing it into the country."
"Thats it?" Jiraiya said bluntly "You want me to drop everything and locate a new weapon that has been giving the bloodline faction trouble, what is it some new explosive note, or maybe one of those rapid-fire kunai launchers from Snow."
Shaking his head Ao looked down solemnly. "That's just it we don't know…"
"What do you mean you don't know, there has to be someone who has seen…" Jiraiya stopped and looked at the blue haired man "No one ever survives right?" the silence told him everything he needed to know.
"When we learn of it, it's already too late everyone that gets hit with it is already dead. The first time we thought it was a case of loyalists infiltrating one of our bases, but after the third hit we knew it was some kind of invisible weapon." Ao said pulling out a folder with a detailed report on the three attacks. "It's about once every two months, meaning that in about a month now they will strike again."
"Total dead?" Jiraiya asked as he started to read the reports, nothing in them was good and just reading them painted a dark scene.
"Right now, about three hundred shinobi and roughly five hundred civilian sympathizers." Ao said looking back towards the valley "We are sorry that we had to ask you to do this for us, even after all of the support you have given us, but we don't have anyone else to turn to."
"No, I understand, what's the timetable look like?" reading the files would give him some insight into what he was dealing with, but only the Bloodline Faction would know the state of things on the ground "How long until word starts to spread about this new weapon?"
"We figured it out after the second attack, and by the third everyone found out about it. Our biggest concern isn't our fighters but the people that help us since many ain't willing to die like we are." basically you lose the support of the people you lose the war "I think the biggest hit to us isn't the weapon itself but the paranoia that it could be you next. It's causing our people to lose sleep trying to keep an eye out for this new weapon."
"Fatigue huh? Couple that with a bit of paranoia and a hint of insanity and you have yourself a lost war…" Jiraiya said thinking back to the third war where he watched many green chunin get killed due to lack of rest. "What else can you tell me about this new weapon, anything unofficial…"
Ao being the soldier that he was knew what the old spymaster was getting at. "Off the record, the only thing we have managed to guess at is that the weapon is getting sent in by ship because all the targets were towns on the coast. But we can't confirm that."
"Because if you said that in the official report every ship would be sunk before it neared port, right." Jiraiya thought about the situation that the rebels were facing and info he had been given. 'Just that narrowed down the list by a large margin…'
"I'll tell Mei that you are working on this as soon as I get back, how long until you think you might have something actionable for us?" Ao asked as he turned to walk away not trying to overstay his welcome. It was a week back to Kiri after all.
"I'll send word via the usual methods once I have something. Tell Mei that I still want her help with one of my books when you see her again." Jiraiya told the man knowing full well that if he brought that up the woman would kill him.
"In my day-" He started before he realized that his usual speech wouldn't work on a man twenty years his senior. "I'll pass it along…"
"You do that…" Jiraiya said with a grin before walking back into the cabin. He had a trip to plan and a list of suspects to narrow down.
The Creed Reborn
In the caves under Uzushiro there was a shrine to the four families that led the island during its glory days. To most it would be just that an overly fancy shrine that used never ending torches to light the shrine, but to those that knew the truth it was the location for each of the master seals for the four branches.
Walking up to the shine of the sensors Karin pulled out a knife and pricked her thumb spreading the blood over the key before lifting the seal of the Uzumaki and inserting it into the hole behind it. The world around them rumbled as the blood seal took effect lifting one of the four locks on the island.
"Let's get out of here, every watcher in the area is going to be coming to check the shrine after that." Karin said turning to walk away from the shrine. Briefly she wondered what her life could have been like if the siege hadn't taken the life of their clan.
"Yeah, don't need a repeat of last time…" Naruto said as he peered out the door watching for any of the aforementioned watchers. "Clear." he opened the door and they both took off running down the tunnels headed back to the surface.
As they ran, both of them were thinking roughly the same thing, about the Uzumaki and their seals. Itachi and Tayuya were back up top searching through the old city trying to find anything of use. When nearly a year ago neither of them could enter the city without the Watchers immediately swarming them. Now with the bio seal that the Uzumaki built lifted they could enter freely, but now the Watchers didn't even recognize the two Uzumaki as friendlies.
The Watchers as the survivors of the siege had taken to calling them were really charka powered suits of armor that couldn't be killed unless you broke the etched seal at the base of their neck, and even then, it would just stun them until the seal reformed. Unlike the charka constructs that the main family used like Kushina's chains, the Watchers were powered using filtered charka from nature. So, in a sense the world was the Uzumaki powering it.
They hadn't figured out the seal for the Historian branch yet, but even with everything they had found neither would put it past them if their seal pertained to the library that was somewhere on the island.
Hearing something up ahead Naruto was broken out of his trance when an armored arm struck out from the darkness. Dropping to his knees he slid underneath, never breaking the speed that he was running at, he glanced over his shoulder he watched as Karin used the outstretched arm as a springboard and caught up to him.
"Wasn't expecting a smart tin can!" she yelled as she followed behind Naruto. Glancing over her shoulder she watched as the sentient suit sprinted at nearly the same speed as they were running.
"Well, I don't think either one of us was expecting to play a game of tag either!" Naruto said before turning down one of the side paths. "Tag!" he yelled turning around and cupping his hands allowing Karin to use it to gain the high ground above him.
"Your It!" she yelled in the air as she used charka to stick to the side of the cave above Naruto. Her rifle coming up and already trained at the corner they had just come around.
Naruto unsheathed his swords and held them at the ready before the feint sound of screeching could be heard coming from them. The air around them distorted as Naruto focused his own charka into the blades. He wasn't much use in an extended fight, but he could hold his own using a combo of stealth and speed attacks and maintain a good fight that way.
But as a team though, the pair were unmatched, while Naruto would attack it would give Karin time to reload, and when she was ready, he would fall back allowing her to cover him. Then they would rinse and repeat, it would have taken both Itachi and Deisui to surpass them if they didn't use their sharingan.
Taking a knee Naruto swung his swords and cut deeply into the leg of the armored suit sending it flying past him, exposing the lightly glowing seal on its neck to Karin. Not missing a beat, she pulled the trigger sending the lead ball down the bore of the rifle.
They watched as the charka armor spasmed and fell lifelessly to the hard floor. Karin let go of the wall and fell silently beside the now temporarily broken armor. She touched the end of her rifle to the suit. "Tag your it. That's what fourteen to zero right Naru?"
"Something like that." he said chuckling slightly at the antics of the red headed sniper. They both knew that the suit would repair but for now it was 'dead' "Come on, lets hurry and get back topside before the rest of the tin cans get here."
Taking back off down the tunnels the pair couldn't help but smile. It didn't take them long to get back to their small watercraft where a pair of people were waiting. Both carrying backpacks full of supplies for the village.
"Well, you fuckers are in a good mood." Tayuya said looking at the pair. She still kept her head wrapped with a bandanna, but now red hair showed underneath the coal covered bandanna. The red hair made everyone wonder if she was an Uzumaki, but it was proven false when she tried to enter the city with the pair beforehand. She wore faded black jeans with a kunai holder sewn into the side right and a supply pouch on her right hip. Her dark red shirt was stained with coal making it somewhere between red and black. "What? Did ya finally tie the knot?"
"I- We" the pair started at the same time before looking at each other and shutting up. Even under the hood Tayuya could tell the blond was just as red in the face as Karin.
"Taya leave em alone we need to get back soon." Itachi said taking his bag off and sitting it down in the dingy. Itachi for the most part hadn't changed with the exception of the shinobi gear that he had been wearing for the past three years getting more and more run down forcing him to have someone patch it. "I found those books on seals you were after in the academy for you Naruto."
Still trying to make sense of his feelings Naruto just nodded limply and got in the boat. Prompting the two girls to follow behind them. An idea striking one of the two redheads making Karin just grin.
She elbowed Tayuya and motioned for her to come closer. "So, when can we expect the next generation of Uchiha? Or have you not asked him yet?" she whispered into her ear making the usually foul-mouthed girl stammer like a fish. 'Payback's a bitch…' Karin mouthed as she got in the boat and sat down and picked up a paddle.
The sixteen-year-old couldn't say anything as she stole a few glances at the man she loved. Just like Naruto and Karin, she and Itachi were inseparable since the second she had recovered that day back on the ship.
Itachi was none the wiser of the drama that was going on behind him.
The Creed Reborn
"Thank you come again!" the elderly shop keeper told Naruko and Jiraiya as they walked away with their months' worth of supplies. It had been three months since Ao had come to visit and like they had predicted last month was another of the strange attacks.
The pattern was nearly too perfect and because of that the rebel forces had prepared using the pattern. Meaning two things. One the Loyalist faction wasn't the ones calling the shots on the attack, and two the person who was definitely wasn't a shinobi because even a genin wouldn't make the mistake of having a pattern. Hell, even halfway competent people would realize that.
Well, there was three things really, the third was more of a coincidence then it was anything. At every port that was attacked there was two companies that always had ships either in port or leave port prior to the attack. One company was the Mizu Ferry service, they were responsible for the transport of goods across the various islands that made up Mizu no Kuni.
The second was the company that if Jiraiya was to bet, was the true importer of the weapon. Gato International Shipping, the only worldwide shipping company. It was also the largest company that dealt in black market goods and services. Drugs, arms, body parts, and slaves, nothing was off limit for Gato when it came to shipping.
Oddly enough his biggest competition Captain Shiro of Shiro Shipping was found dead at a port city in Hi no Kuni almost four years ago, along with nearly every one of his crew members.
"Hey Ero-gramps, why did we need all the dried goods we bought?" Hirumi asked pulling him out of his thoughts. They were nearly out of town now, but even on the outskirts there were people who could overhear them.
"I mean Winter is coming Hirumi and even if it is August, it never hurts to have a good stockpile for the Hard Times ahead." he told her putting a little more emphasis on hard times. They had stayed a long time in the mountain village and even she knew that staying rooted for much longer would lead to people finding them.
"When we get back, I'll make sure everything is packed away in the cabinets." She replied as they picked up their walking pace to hurry back. "When will the food spoil anyways?"
Grinning slightly at the understanding that they still had to speak in code he just held up a finger. "One day, you have one day to eat your fill of fresh food."
They would leave tomorrow and head towards the coast of Yu no Kuni to gather more info on the shipping company. He would have to use tonight to plan their course since even crossing into Hi no Kuni was out and he was sure the Samurai of Tetsu no Kuni wouldn't like them crossing their boarders either, but they might not have a choice.
Arriving back at their cabin Naruko pulled out a notebook. The book had seen its fair share of use over the years, and she just kept stuffing page after page into it making the bindings start to give way. But out of everything she owned this book was her most prized possession, it was the only thing that documented her life before she had met the Sages and Ero-Sensei.
It was the only thing that told her that her father, the Hokage of Konoha couldn't be trusted. It was the only thing that told her she had a brother, Naruto, even if everything that Jiraiya found pointed to him being dead. The book in her hands was her life, everything she wanted to remember put down on paper.
Setting it to the side she pulled out a new leather-bound notebook. It was time to start a new chapter in her life, one where she can do whatever she wants. Naruko Uzumaki Namikaze died on September 26th close to four years ago. Now she was just Naruko and her newest chapter was just starting.
'August 14th, Book of' she had to set the pen down and think of what to even call this book. She had called the last one the book of sanity and she really didn't know what to call this one. 'Ah hell I'll figure it out later.'
'August 14th name to be determined
Hello world its Naruko, and this is the start of a new chapter in my life.
We are leaving our cabin tomorrow headed for who knows where, and I have to say I won't miss this place.
Don't get me wrong this place has been home to me, I learned how to use charka here, how to climb a tree with no hands, how to sic the women at the bath house on Ero-Sensei, ok that I learned in town, I think the best thing I learned in this cabin was how to live again.
When I came to and met Ma and Pa for the first time, I didn't know who I was. I didn't know my name, or anything, even now there are things that I doubt I will ever remember. That's fine if the first nineteen days of the last book gave me chills just reading it, I would hate to think what the actual days were really like.
As many memories as I have of this place it never truly felt like home to me. The winters too cold and the summers nothing but storm after storm. There was always something that felt like it was missing, something I can't remember or feel like it needs.
I'm going to find that something.'
She closed her newest book and sealed it away knowing that soon there would be more to write about then just hello. She was heading into the unknown and the story she would tell was just starting.
The Creed Reborn
"Quarter Sail, pull in the rigging! Take her smoothly into port lads!" Naruto yelled as he held the wheel of the schooner. Hard to believe that it had been almost four years since he had last set eyes on the port they were headed into. The port that had given him his freedom.
"Well done lad, yer a natural. Tell me how does it feel being the one that truly guided this ole ship back to the mainland?" Deisui said standing beside the helm looking over the crew as they shored up the ship. Even now he wore his old pea coat and black pants with greasy hair, but unlike last time he was in this port there was life in his eyes.
"It feels good." Naruto said as he turned the wheel and drifted the ship beside the pier. "You sure Himeko isn't going to kill me for taking you with us?" he had known the woman for years now and she was firmly set as number one on the scariest thing on Uzu list. Even higher than the hundreds of tin cans in the ruins.
"Eh she knows, told er this was gonna be the last run to the mainland fer me since I wanted to make sure you and the lass knew the path through the pools." Deisui said, before taking a swig from his flask and coughing slightly.
"Uh-huh and I'm sure the idea of getting real sake and not that swill your son calls shine had nothing to do with the trip." Karin said looking over at the man from the other side of the helm her rifle leaning in the corner of the railing.
"Maybe it did maybe it didn't, who's ta say. Besides this port was the only one we had enough provisions to reach anyway and I kinda wanted to say bye to the ole bat." They watched as the crew members lowered the gangplank and the workers on the docks tied off the ship. "The other thing was I had to make sure that ya got a fair price for all the random salvage yer selling."
They had spent a long time searching the old ruins around the village for items of use. Originally Karin, with the help of many of the crew, used what she could to build a better life for the people on the island. Waterwheels pressurized pipes that supplied the town with running water, irrigation canals allowed for a constant flow of fresh water into the fields, enhanced smithing, coupled with her engineering skills gave way to designs of new tools, but her goal in all this was simple.
She needed to modernize the island so that when the world figured out that Uzu no Kuni wasn't the grave that the world thought it was they could be ready. On her table back home was hundreds of blueprints for weapons that she could make using what was already available to them. All she needed was a steady source of supplies.
"Well, if you're heading that way I might as well go with you and tell her hi as well, I mean if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have met you old man." Karin said as she picked up her rifle and slung it over her shoulder. "Besides couldn't have you going an getting too drunk."
"Heh, as if lass. I member what you an the lad said 'Never compromise the brotherhood' an all that. Ya really think that I would risk Himeko and Ichirou all cuz of some sake?" Deisui asked walking down the stairs behind Karin 'Even if that little shit ain't forgiven me.'
"Well, have fun, I'll stay with the ship and make sure that everything gets off loaded. Oh, an Karin while your there ask her about current events." Naruto said as he leaned against the wheel.
"Sure thing Naru!" Karin yelled back before she took off down the gangplank.
Walking through the town the pair looked around at the coming and going of people. To Karin it was like the port never changed, but Deisui who had lived here for the longest instantly recognized the change.
'This port has gotten seedier…' the old sailor thought as he glanced from left to right. There were people everywhere just like any normal day, but in the shadows trying to blend in with the rest were people with a more questionable lifestyle.
"Hey look it's The Drunken Sailor!" Karin said cheerfully pulling him out of his thoughts about the people he was seeing. "Wonder how Gretty is doing?"
"Knowing that ole bat she's still bustin' people over the head and drinkin' her profits." Deisui said pushing the door in to allow Karin entrance into the bar. Karin never had a chance to step forward before a body got thrown out the door in between the two.
"An stay out ya good fer nothings!" an angry female's voice came from inside the bar. "Thanks fer holdin the door there come on in an yer first rounds on me, it's cheaper than a new door!"
Poking her head in Karin looked around at the patrons of the bar, none of them even paid a bit of mind to her or the person that just got launched out of the door. But as soon as Deisui stepped in the door the bar got quiet, nearly everyone in the bar acted as if they had just seen a ghost.
Noticing the shift Gretty turned back around to the door and grinned ear to ear, "Scratch the first round…" she said "ROUND FER EVERYONE A LEGEND RETURNS!" the bar lost it as they started pouring glass after glass of sake.
Finding a nice corner table to sit at Karin watched as people flocked around the old sailor every one of them asking the same thing 'Where ya been?', but not once did he tell them.
"Now ya see I went fishin the next morn and hooked this big arse whale, I mean the dam thing was as wide as the room…" he had the room enthralled by the tall tale when Karin noticed Gretty break off and start walking her way.
"Never thought I'd see you again lass, much less with the old coot." She said sitting a bottle down on the table and a pair of cups. "Figured ya'd both be at the bottom of the drink with the way he walked out here."
Gretty poured a pair of glasses and set one in front of her, she looked down at the clear liquid and involuntarily shivered thinking back to the homemade liquor on the island. "No not yet." she said as she picked up the glass and knocked it back. "It's not as bad as I remember…"
"Same swill I was servin' last time you were here, where's that boy ya were talkin' bout last time?" Gretty asked pouring another one for them.
"Naru stayed back with the ship, we left Uzu because there was nothing there but dead bodies. Under the guidance of Deisui we've been trading from Numa no Kuni back over to here." Karin smoothly lied "How have things been over here since the last time we met?"
"Well, the conflict in Mizu no Kuni has ramped up since both sides started usin' some new weapon. Heard a town outside of the capital got hit with it and now the Diamyo an his samurai are marching against both sides, but we both know who'll win that fight." Gretty said pouring another drink.
Karin's eyes narrowed at the news, what sort of weapon was dangerous enough for a Diamyo to get involved in a shinobi war? Pouring herself another glass Karin decided to press on and figure it out, not seeing a small grin that Gretty had when she poured a glass of her own free will.
The Creed Reborn
Jiraiya and Naruko were staying in a hotel in Yu no Kuni. The room was run down and the wallpaper was coming off, but for what the pair needed it for it was perfect. They looked down at a map of the town they were in and were planning their next move.
"This building here is Gato's main office, from what I've been told by my spies the man keeps an extremely detailed log of every transaction made and he keeps the legal logs open for any auditor that is sent to check in." picking up the pen Jiraiya drew a rough sketch of the building interior "Because the man is so damn paranoid my mole couldn't get a blueprint of the building out. Our goal is here…" he pointed to the bathroom on the first floor.
"Why wou-" she sneezed halfway through the sentence "Damn eggs..."It had taken Naruko the better part of a week to get use to the smell of rotten eggs coming from the hot springs that covered the lands around them and even now she wasn't fully over it.
"Think about it, the best place to hide something you don't want found is somewhere you don't spend long at. And with a bathroom you can easily pass it off as you were just using it. Making it the perfect place to hide your dirty things." the longer the man talked the less and less it became about the mission and the more it became about his next book.
"Ero-Sensei I swear if you can't keep you mind off girls for two seconds, I'll burn every manuscript you have!" Naruko said angrily "Even the ones you keep hidden in your bathroom bag…"
"You would never…"
"Try me…" her smirk said that she would indeed burn them all. "I know where you hid them and unless you get to talking, I'll burn them all."
"Fine fine…" then a thought just crossed his mind "How do you know where they are hidden if you weren't looking to read them?" the slight blush on her face told him all he needed to know before she lost it and summoned a blue ball of flames.
"Oh Ero-Sensei you say the dumbest things…" she said in a singsong voice that promised pain as she held the ball of fire in her hand. "Any last words?"
"Um…" his mind was racing as he tried to think of a way to get away from the utterly terrifying girl in front of him. Thankfully something else saved him as a piece of paper was slid under the door catching the pairs attention.
Walking over and picking up the paper, his face hardened as he read its contents. "Playtime is over." he said handing Naruko the paper. He watched as her face contorted as she was reading the short message.
'Gato on Nami. Mizu Diamyo entered war. Civilians being killed by the thousands.'
Burning the paper, the pair packed their things and quietly left the room that they had been staying at. Each second lost was another second the war in Mizu no Kuni escalated further then what could be salvaged. They had to get to Nami and figure out what was going on and how a shipping giant was involved in all this.
"How long until we reach Nami?" Naruko asked as they jumped from roof to roof. All joking was out of her voice when she asked, in its place was the person he had trained her to be.
"As soon as we find a ship to take us." he said as he glared out at the rising moon. Its red hue not helping his mood in the slightest. Landing on a roof he looked out over the port hoping that there was a person who would be willing to get them close to Nami no Kuni.
The Creed Reborn
Deisui was walking back to the ship with a very very drunk red head slung over his shoulder. He was laughing to himself about the irony of the situation, the person who was supposed to be keeping him from getting drunk was now the person who was drunk.
Finally getting into eyesight of the ship he saw the hooded blond directing the people who were loading the ship from up on the deck of the ship. Each crate loaded with who knows what from the shopping list that Karin had made.
"Hey Lad come over here an get yer girl!" he yelled catching the attention of the blond, even under the hood he was wearing he could tell Naruto was dumbfounded.
"How did you let this happen?" Naruto asked as he picked up the drunk Karin. She reeked of sake and secondhand smoke from the bar she was at. He swore that the girl snuggled in closer when he picked her up.
"Don't look at me, maybe Ichirou's shine made her think that the sake couldn't get to 'er. I was busy keepin people away from her and the ole bat so they could talk." Deisui said as he watched Karin grab onto Naruto's coat and tuck her head in tighter.
"I'll take her below deck, can you watch over things here?" he asked the old Uchiha as he turned to walk back onto the ship.
Snapping his heels together the semi drunk man stood at attention and saluted him "Aye aye Cappin!" he said with a grin, acting more like a teen then an old man with grand kids. "You heard the Cappin lads let's get this shit loaded!"
Naruto was shaking his head as he walked below deck and went towards Karin's quarters. Ducking his head, he parted the curtains that blocked off her room from the rest of the ship. The room was covered in books, papers and maps, if one didn't know better, they would say this was the Captain's cabin.
But he knew it wasn't because even if he was at the helm of the ship for this outing the real captain was Deisui for his last voyage. Everything here was just Karin being herself. Looking down at the sleeping girl he couldn't help but smile at her before sitting her down on her bunk and taking off her glasses.
Taking one last look around the cabin he turned to walk out but never made it because of a hand reaching out and grabbing his own. Looking at the hand he followed it back to the drunk red head who was looking up at him with blurry eyes.
"Don't goes anywhere Naru…" she mumbled as she tugged at his arm. "Pwease?"
"Karin you are drunk and you need sleep." Naruto said as he tried to walk away again only this time the arm pulled him hard enough to make him fall over into the bed with the girl. He couldn't react fast enough to stop the girl from pulling him into a bear hug stopping his movements. 'Damn it when did she get this strong?'
"Must be another, yawn, one of those human mating rituals." he heard a voice in the back of his head say. "You can always get away if you use a bit of charka."
'Fuck you fox.' Naruto spat back as he tried to get out of the death hug that he was in.
He felt her tuck in tighter the more he moved and tried to get free. "Naru…pillow…" she mumbled making the fox laugh at the blond's situation.
"Kit, you know she's a keeper, why haven't you asked her to be your mate yet?" If Naruto could smack his head he would have at this point. Between the fox and Karin, he couldn't believe his bad luck.
A shadow moved in front of the port hole outside, before another, then another and before Naruto could register what was going on there was six sets of eyes all watching him struggle against the red head. "No one say a word…"
"Oi fella's come over ere an get a load of this!" one of the crew members yelled. At this point Naruto just resigned himself to the fate that awaited him and the fox completely lost it.
The Creed Reborn
Deisui felt the wind through his hair as he guided the ship out to sea the next morning. He figured Karin was still hung over and Naruto, well he was still a little tied up, leaving him to be the one who steered the ship back out to sea.
He couldn't help but chuckle at the fate of the young blond. It was one of the worst kept secrets that the pair liked each other, but it was almost comical as the pair also didn't know how to convey those same feelings. Almost like another young couple he knew.
'Mmm...just like that Naru…' Karin was in the middle of a vivid dream when she started to feel the world start to shake. 'Five more minutes of you brushing…'
"Karin…" she heard from faraway, her mind still wrapped up in the vivid dream she was having. Once more the shaking continued but this time it came with the feeling of someone trying to push up on her.
'Why did you stop brushing my hair Naru?' in her dream she turned to look back at the blond as he looked out a window. The light was blinding to her but beyond it she could hear the sounds of water crashing against something.
Slowly the world around her began to shift as she came out of her dream. "Karin…up?" she could tell someone was trying to tell her something but in her hungover state she was only able to make out a few of the words.
"Five more minutes… my head is killing me…" she mumbled as she tried to fluff the pillow she was laying on. 'Why am I using leather as a pillow?' was her thoughts as she felt her pillow. 'Must have used my ammo pouch as one last night…'
"KARIN!" she heard the voice yell. Opening her blurry eye's she looked down at the tan wool blanket and leather strap she was using for a pillow. Slowly following the strap up, she looked into the blue eye of Naruto and smiled at him.
"Morning Naru, five more minutes please." she mumbled to him again and placed her face down on his chest. Slowly her mind began to pull itself together and process the info it had just received. Rising her head once more she blinked a few times to clear her sight and make sure that there was indeed a blond-haired blue-eyed man in her bed. "Am I in your room?"
"No, we're in yours…" he said finally glad the red head was awake. He had tried for hours last night to get her off of him before she finally rolled over on top of him making him just give up at that point.
"Uh huh…" she said as she looked down at the position she was in, thankfully both of them were still wearing their clothes. But that didn't stop her mind from going all over the place, nor did it stop the warning bells from going off in the blond's head. "Tell me something…"
"Uh sure…" Naruto said as she picked herself up and swung her legs over the railing of the bed they were on. He couldn't move fast enough to dodge the hand that latched on to his shirt and picked him up and stared him in the eye.
"Why were you sleeping in my bed?" she asked in a voice that promised pain if he didn't have some good excuse.
"Um...because you were drunk...and you used me as a be-" he couldn't finish as he was launched across the cabin. 'Damn her perfect charka control!' was the only thought running through his head as he watched Karin get further away in what seemed like slow motion. His back hit the wall on the other side of the room and he slid down and landed on the floor.
"DAMN IT KARIN!" he yelled as he used what little strength he had to dodge the stock of a rifle. "YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO THROW ME LIKE A BALL!" he couldn't get out of the way in time as the rifle stock came back around and clocked him in the side of his head sending him skidding down the floor.
He crashed into some of the barrels of hard tack and before he could get up a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and tossed him up the stairs outside.
Deisui watched as the bay door to the decks below flew open and a frazzled blond landed on deck followed by a blushing red head who was standing on the top of the stairs. The crew on duty clapping and whistling at the pair "If I had an ole tin type camera, I'd have taken that picture and nailed it on the front of the Cappin's cabin with the way yer were sleeping last night!"
"Here here old man." one of the crew yelled back raising a bottle of water in the air. One of them helping their young blond Captain up before handing him a bottle "To the next generation of 'Maki's!" the rest of the crew followed suit as they each cheered and jeered the two.
Naruto couldn't help but glare at Deisui as he walked up the stairs to the helm and took the wheel of the ship from him. "I'll pay you back one day old man, that goes for the rest of ya as well!" Naruto yelled making the crew laugh. They all knew that he would make good on that promise but none of them cared for now.
"We'll look forward to it, bout as much as your wedding!" another member yelled making Karin shrink further into herself. She took up her spot beside the helm before pulling up her own hood to hide the blush and sideways glances at Naruto from the rest of the people on deck.
"That's nuff y'all, I think we all got shit to do!" Deisui yelled down to the crew, but even he couldn't help but laugh at the pair.
Naruto rolled his shoulders and looked up at the sails and noticed they were still at half. "Full sail! Let's cut through those waves!" he yelled out his voice had lost all of the joking that was there before hand and in its place was a captain of the ship.
'Waves...wave…OH SHIT!' Karin thought her mind finally remembering why she was in such a state last night. "Naruto, we need to change course and head for Nami no Kuni!" she all but yelled at the blond as he rested his arm on the wheel.
"What's going on there? Is there something there we need for the shop back home?" Naruto asked as he turned to face her. There was something in her voice that worried him though.
"Gato International Shipping has been shipping barrels of stuff to Mizu no Kuni." Karin told them making Deisui raise an eyebrow.
"Lass that man has been sending barrels of stuff all over the world fer years now. What makes these so damn special?" Deisui asked her trying to figure out what she was getting at.
"What makes these special is that after his ship left port after offloading them the port was wiped out by means unknown." Karin said making Naruto's blood go cold at the thought of what it might be.
"Karin, are you thinking it could be That?" Naruto asked his blue eye seeming to glow as he looked at her.
"Gretty didn't know what it was, but what made the shipment odd for the ship was that their only destination after picking it up in Nami no Kuni was one of the villages that got hit." Karin told them. "The crew of the ship were paid nearly five times the going rate for shipping just that and dropping off."
"Let me guess, yer crew picked up a few more loads and left port after dropping it off cuz no self respectin shipping vessal is gonna make a trip just to drop off one thing." Deisui said already having a feeling where this story was going. "An when they came back the whole port was dead…"
"Yeah, one of the crew members of that ship told Gretty to pass it on to any of the freelance ships that anything sent to Mizu no Kuni was bad news." Karin watched as Naruto pulled out his compass and set it on the wheel of the schooner.
"Old man, your wife might kill me but we need to get to wave…" Naruto said as he looked down at the needle of the compass. "Nami is what, due south of port?"
"Aye it was a four day jump from there. Use to fish my way down an back each month." Deisui said as he and the rest of the crew felt the ship pitch hard starboard "Lad we headed to wave? You sure? We ain't outfitted her yet for war."
"Karin, do we have those things down below?" Naruto asked as he straightened up the ship and closed the compass. They had never planned on fighting this soon, but the threat of that gas was enough to make him change course.
It was time for him and Karin to put an end to that gas.
The Creed Reborn
Jiraiya and Naruko were at the second port on the coast of Yu no Kuni just a little ways away from the border of Hi no Kuni. Wearing a wooden ANBU style mask with the image of a wolf on it Naruko walked beside her sensei as they went from ship to ship trying to get a passage to Nami.
"You must be crazy if ya think I'd get near Nami what with all those goons about!" one of the few fishermen with a ship big enough to take the pair told Jiraiya. It was the same story at each of the ships they went to. None of them were willing to take them to the island, much less go near it.
"I'll pay you whatever you want, here's a blank check!" Jiraiya told him waving around his checkbook in front of the man.
"Nope, ain't worth it. Nuff said." the fisherman got up and started walking back onto his ship "And don't ask again!"
Jiraiya sighed as he watched the man walk away. "Well, that went over well." he mumbled to Naruko who just nodded her head and started to walk on down the pier.
"It's the same with everyone we ask, no one is willing to go no matter the cost." Naruko told him "And we can't go any further south than this so we have to find someone here."
"Oi, herd ya looking to get to Nami!" a voice yelled out from behind them causing Jiraiya and Naruko to look around at the people behind them. There was a pair of rough looking men with old katanas loosely hanging from their belts.
"One male and one young female wearing a mask, looks like these are the pair the boss wanted eh Waraji?" said a light skinned man with blueish eyes that had tattoos under them. He was wearing a black beanie and blue jacket.
"I guess so Zori, I thought the man was supposed to have a sword or something?" the brute of a man beside him said. Unlike his partner he was tanned and muscular with tattoos going all up and down his body. He had an air about him that just reeked with blood.
"Yeah, supposed to meet up with yer boss to do a job for him. A bloody one…" Jiraiya said, instantly putting on a facade of a blood thirsty shinobi looking to make a buck. 'I can't believe my luck, if my last name was Senju, I would be running for the hills!'
"Aye so it was them. We have a ship waiting fer ya at the end of the pier." the one named Zori said as he motioned for the pair to follow him "I'll tell ya the details over the next five days, but for someone of your caliber it shouldn't be an issue."
"Fine by me, my partner here doesn't talk much but don't get on her bad side the wolf isn't just for show." Jiraiya said making Naruko understand that she wasn't supposed to talk.
"Wasn't there supposed to be four of ya?" Waraji said looking around for the rest of the people they were supposed to meet at the port.
Jiraiya just grinned and made a motion with his hand across the lower part of his neck "They got annoying so I killed one and my partner used the other for target practice, didn't like sharing money with 'em anyways."
Waraji just grinned at the pair "I know the feeling, we're going to get along, I can see it…"
"Indeed we will…" Jiraiya said matching the smile of the man. Once again, he was reminded that espionage was one of the best parts of his job, even if he didn't know what they needed from him yet.
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