Oni Hogosha

Disclaimer: Naruto is a product of Masashi Kishimoto, so I don't own him.
Legend: "": quote, "italic": thought, italic: new Japanese word (check glossary), underline: techniques.

Chapter 8: Awaited reunion

After their return, ANBU team 12 started to gain fame. Thanks to the people of Wave who added them as part of their heroes tribute with a sculpture made by a local artist showing the 4 ANBUs in their attire. From that day the legend of the Kokuei Issen no Konoha, started to roam around, as the hero of Wave.

A few days later, Shikamaru announced to Naruto that he had been accepted in ANBU, Naruto knew about it already but decided to act surprised, after all the it would be his turn to surprise them later tonight. He had set up a meeting for all division X members to introduce himself and explain his goals as their leader. Shikamaru was surprised indeed he almost fainted when Naruto presented himself. Naruto began to explain his goal, which was to turn them into the best ANBU division in Konoha. Their roles were to perform their duties for the glory of the village while hiding their identity from the others. He explained that from now on, each member would have a code name attributed to them and they were only to speak with those code names when they are in their attire. They were to keep their identity and the identity of all their others secret from even their own family. He then presented their new member Nara Shikamaru who will be now known as Nouzui, while he was Kokuei.

He then announced that Nouzui would be the division's Konoha Senryakujou Kyoshu Senmonka (KSKS). The KSKS was the strategic and tactical mastermind of Konoha's defense. Basically their job was to plan and build Konoha's defense as well as give tactical advices in wartimes. They were a special group of ANBU, one from each division and her under the leadership of Hatake Kakashi. It was a force that Naruto created with the agreement of Tsunade to improve Konoha's defense. The job settled well for Shikamaru, since he loved strategies and his 200 IQ knowledge would be well spent in it.

During the meeting Naruto also announced that he was creating a training guide for the whole ANBU force in collaboration with the other divisional leaders to make them tougher and increase their efficiency. So he asked that everyone start training regularly as they would not like to get caught when the training system starts. He also announced that since the divisions were unbalanced, there might be changes in teams in the futures.


After two weeks, Neji, Shino and Lee were also added in division X, much to Naruto's dismay. He fought hard against Tsunade but still lost thanks to her secret weapon: He's guilty conscious. She loved slamming him with it. But Naruto still had the last laugh, as he put them, now known as team 21, on standby duties. This meant that they had to work as guards since they could be requested to defend the village at any times. He code-named them Larry, Curly and Moe, also known as the Stooges, a name that they hated. The reason for his decision was based on their current skills, which was taijutsu and heavy reliance on bloodline skills while ignoring the other jutsus. Sure they were very good at it even the best, but this was ANBU in here you cannot afford to go in fights with only your bloodlines, you must know a variety of jutsus, such as elemental jutsus and neither of them had those or simply ignored them. One-tracked minds can get you killed and that's specifically what they were. They protested a lot but Naruto did not budge, nor did he meet them. They were usually informed by one of the other captains, who told them to train better if they wanted to be active. But apparently they took it as an insult on their bloodlines and protested to the Hokage, who constantly ignored them. Even Hiashi protested, who now added Kokuei as his second biggest complain after Uzumaki Naruto. Tsunade used to laugh every time he would bash one after the other, if only he knew that both were the same person.
A month had passed during which ANBU team 12 did missions continuously. In fact they were barely at home. The team also had a perfect record. They had accumulated 2S ranks, 5A ranks and 1B rank missions during the month, all successful and highly praised. These missions went from assassinations to even high ranked rescue operations and they were all done swiftly. The team was fast and their teamwork was amongst the best in ANBU history. Everyone knew their roles and they even knew the reactions of their other colleagues, they had truly become a one-unit force. Naruto's fame was also rising fast although he hid his identity very well; no one knew who KokueiIssen was apart that he was an ANBU Captain of Konoha. Well Shikamaru did and so did the other jounins but they all kept their mouth shut as the last thing they wanted was to face his wrath. Tsunade was surprised how well he had managed to keep himself low profiled in the village, even under the radars on Hyuuga Hiashi who displeased that Neji and Shino were left in the village while Uzumaki Naruto was heard to be constantly in missions.
Naruto was still the talk in Ino's "Super 12" parties. It was the name she gave to the former rookie 9 and team Gai, who usually met at each Saturdays when they were free. The gossip about his physique and mysterious attitude was the talk of the girls, while the guys concentrated on his success in missions and strength. This weeks meeting was a bit special as they had invited all their jounin sensei's along, of course the only one missing was the eluded Naruto who had yet to set foot in any of their gatherings.

The party started with the introduction of Gai-Lee segment where the student and his sensei ran towards each others screaming their names repeatedly. Neji, Tenten and Shino shook their heads in shame while the others gave them the odd look. Then the 3 ANBU began their usual complaints about their evil leader. Their comments made Shikamaru and Kakashi laugh for which they received death glares. They pretty much ignored them after well how can anyone be scared after being called the Stooges.

Gai on the other hand understood his students' displeasure after all even he was surprised to learn the teen's exploit. Sure he had expected such things from Kakashi's student, his eternal rival, but not from Naruto. He felt somewhat jealous of his rival's luck; it's not everyday that your three students become apprentices of the legendary Sannin. However, he still felt sorry for Kakashi, as he knew he's rival still had to live with the fact that he's favorite student became a traitor and losing the remaining ones to a Sannin was also no fun.

The bashing under the Uzumaki name soon followed, as the Stooges claimed that he was getting unfair treatments since he knew Tsunade. Sakura and Ino added more flame claiming that Tsunade said that he was her favorite person, which Sakura said with a hiss.

She knew that she was her favorite pupil but still she was no comparison to Naruto. Kakashi feeling bad that the teen was getting bashed for the wrong reasons gave them some reason for getting in Tsunade's attention.

"If you guys want to bash him know some facts first, he is the only reason Tsunade is the Hokage. If you didn't know yet it was because of Naruto that she took the title. He is also favored because he is much stronger then all of you. He is the pupil of Jiraiya-sama for nothing you know, he his arsenal of jutsus varies from toad jutsus to fire, earth and even water jutsus. Hell even Jiraiya has no clue how many jutsus he actually possesses. He is also fast and his taijutsu is amongst the best, if not the best. If you want to bash him, first reach his level, then talk", said copycat Kakashi.

The silver haired jounin's comment made the crowd silent. They figured they better stop their bashing for the night and enjoy the party. After all what's the point of bashing him he isn't even present. Sakura on the other hand felt depressed, she had learned a few elemental jutsus but most of them are C rank and a few B ranks at best. She figured she would go look up for Jiraiya tomorrow, maybe he could teach her a trick or two.


The next day, she found Jiraiya at his usual location, the bathhouses and asked him to teach her one of his stronger elemental jutsus, as Tsunade didn't teach her any. The pervert soon understood the reason, which was Uzumaki Naruto. So he told her that to best way to defeat Naruto was to use his perverted jutsu against him, which earned him a Tsunade style beating. She scolded him as a pervert, which he corrected to "Super pervert". She finally gave up and went to seek Tsunade.

Tsunade finally agreed to help her favorite pupil noticing her desperation. She feared that if she waited any longer Sakura might lose it, after all she had been kept in the dark for the last two years. However, due to a certain promise she had made, she could not tell her directly. So she figured she would use Naruto to tell her indirectly by himself. She made her promise to not reveal any information she would receive during this special mission, which Sakura agreed. The plan was simple, Sakura would ease drop on their conversation while hiding in the closet. The ANBU captain was back from his latest mission and was on his way to give his weekly report.

He, unaware of the plot, gave his report about division X and its current status. Meanwhile, Sakura was a bit lost. She was having difficulty understanding why he, Uzumaki Naruto, was reporting for Division X, till he started to add more information allowing Sakura to solve the puzzle.

"Lee said their division leader ignored them. Shikamaru on the other hand was not ignored just like Naruto. So the leader must be him, since he was in team 12 and trusts Shikamaru. Plus Kokuei means silhouette another term for shadow and Naruto was the master of shadow clones. This would coincide with Kakashi-sensei's comments, about Naruto being stronger", she thought.

However, something was still unclear, why would Naruto go on so much trouble to hide his status? He should be proud to show that he had advanced this far. Then she figured it was probably because Naruto wanted to be left alone. He already had too many stuffs to handle as it is. Having persistent people like Lee and Ino more on his shoulders would simply worsen his social life, which he barely had if any. Suddenly she felt bad for ease dropping on him, as it was obvious that he doesn't want her to learn about this. Since she hangs around those people and her being a girl didn't help either, unlike Shikamaru's case. She did not know how to handle the situation so she remained quiet.

After the conversation Naruto was about to leave when Tsunade announced him of her decision of giving the team a break specifically giving him a break.

"What do you mean take a break? We can't take a break now, Team 12 is the only one currently prepared to take on tough missions the others are not ready yet. I am not going to send my men to their deaths by doing dangerous missions like ours", he yelled.

"I know that, sure the other teams might not have the same discipline as your team, but understand that the chuunin selection exam is coming up, the first in two years and I need you to be rested for it. Don't worry, if the missions are too dangerous I'll use the jounin ranked shinobis. Kakashi had last week off this week is yours. Just enjoy the week Naruto. By the way, when are you planning to part with team 12? You are a jounin now and as division leader and ANBU-Captain you can do your missions on your own like you wanted", she said with a smile.

"Ah he did? Yeah about that I was thinking that Shikamaru and me can come and talk about it tomorrow, will it be okay? Well then I guess I will use this time to catch up on some office work and finish up the training guide…" said Naruto.

"Tomorrow will be fine. Damn, you make me look bad in front of everyone you know. I am telling to take a break and your still thinking about working. Do you know how much times I get scolded by Sakura, because she blames me for your anti-social behaviors?" interrupted the Hokage.

"I thought that subject was forbidden or do you wish me to actually show the people of Konoha how bad a Hokage you really are? Don't forget about our deal obaasan, you shut up about the Sakura story and I don't post that picture of yours", grunted Naruto as he left the room.

Tsunade shrieked, she almost broke her promise and Sakura was still in the room, now was not the time to mess up. After a few minutes, Sakura got out of her hiding. She gave her sensei a disgraceful look. It was true that Tsunade had managed to shut everyone about her sleeping during work problem but it seems there was an exception. Since she didn't want to disgrace herself she bribed. She had made a deal with Naruto that she would help keep his profile low while he kept silent about that matter. Even though she had fixed her habit the deal still remained as Naruto still had the picture. That picture would automatically label her as the worst Hokage in Konoha's history. After all who else would sleep on her desk mouth open and saliva coming out of it.

Sakura was amazed at her ex-teammates exploits an ANBU-Captain and division leader and a jounin and he is only 15. She on the other hand was still a genin and this really made her feel weak.

"You shouldn't measure with him Sakura. He is simply in another level, sure I know it's hard to understand how the class worst genin managed to achieve all this so quick. Just think of it as the pressure of responsibilities. The Naruto of old times does not exist anymore, he destroyed that part of himself because he did not wish to fail again. So remember that and don't reveal what you know or else I'll be in serious trouble and he will treat you even worst. He doesn't hate you or anyone, he just doesn't want anyone to notice him, I don't know why though. Something about if people know about him they will expose themselves into more danger or something. So keep the matter quiet please", asked the Hokage.

Sakura understood and agreed not to reveal any information. In return she asked that she be trained harder, which Tsunade gladly accepted.


It was true that Naruto needed the break. He had not been to Onimakai for the last two weeks and he barely managed to keep his guardian duties in check. The foxes had helped him a lot, they had been his eyes and ears when it came to data gathering. But the price of keeping he's two job was high, he had almost no time for anything else, he was as Tsunade called him a bionic freak. Both Tsunade and Yuki feared his hectic life of no girls, no parties, and no enjoyment whatsoever. The only times he was happy was when he was surrounded by his foxes or the gatherings at Onimakai, which he attended whenever he was free.

The Sasuke problem did not help him much either. Naruto felt depressed whenever he heard about Sasuke's evolution to Orochimaru. The Uchiha avenger was reaching new peak in his dark ambitions by participating in Orochimaru's various atrocities towards the people of Sound. How to save a guy when he was enjoying his life in the dark side? At this rate he would have to kill him and he did not want that, he knew his only hope was to bring that bastard to Sakura but even that seems dangerous now. How will she accept this murderer? If there is one this Haruno Sakura must never know about is Uchiha Sasuke's current passion. At least he was happy to know that Orochimaru was delaying his takeover over the Uchiha. The Snake Sannin was worried about Konoha's recent success and constant treat from their common enemies, Akatsuki.


The war between Konoha and Oto remained a cold war. Orochimaru had managed to ally himself with Iwa, Kumo and Ame. Iwa and Kumo were rebuilt to their former strength and they were itching to take their long awaited vengeance and Sound's last success gave them great hopes. Konoha still had their alliance of the last great shinobi war with Suna, Kusa and Taki. But a major player still remained undecided, Kiri, who was still neutral. If they joined the Iwa alliance then it would end up being a repeat of the last great shinobi war. A war where Konoha barely survived thanks to the peace deal made with Kiri, who having lost to many souls decided to put their participation to an end and with Water country out of the picture and rising Konoha heroes the war came to an abrupt end.

Although the deal cost Mist greatly: their former allies felt betrayed and even their own shinobi felt ashamed of Mizukage's decision, which resulted to civil war. The outcome of it was the whip out of its many bloodline clan, famous clan such as the Suisou and many assassination attempts of the Mizukage himself. If they rejoin Iwa they would have fight Konoha and that could be devastating especially with their recent raise in defense not to mention revival of war heroes, such as Shiroi Shikon Kakashi, Jiraiya and the heavily rumored Kokuei Issen, meant trouble. In the last war, people such as the original Shiroi Shikon, Kiiroi Issen and the Sannin alone made Konoha a deathtrap. The new ones are considered to be even stronger then their predecessors. If they joined Konoha then it was certain that Kumo would take their long awaited vengeance on them. If they joined it would also create a stalemate in the region. Numbers disadvantaged the Konoha alliance and Kiri would fill that gap if they joined. They could not attack Oto which such disadvantages.


This upcoming war was one of the main concerns of Naruto. The ANBU had to get ready, they were making new recruits but many were untrained and that had to be fixed. Out of the 5 divisions and its 130 ANBUs only division X and S were somewhat ready for the war the rest were far behind.

The next day Tsunade, Naruto and Shikamaru spent an hour discussing the new changes. Naruto and the other division leaders were already reforming the teams by adding members that had different field expertise. The categories were trackers, assassins, spies and tactician as each division had 6 teams of 4 ANBU. Naruto's problem was that he was still lacking 2 more members. Tsunade wanted to add Kiba and Tenten in his division, if they passed at the chuunin exam. The blond shinobi didn't like the idea but he finally agreed. Team 12, required a tracker while team 21 required a tactician. It was finally decided that Neji would be transferred to team 12, while Kiba and Tenten would be moved to team 21. The reason was because Neji was a fast learner and unlike team 21, team 12 was a very active squad. Naruto then announced that the training guide was almost complete and he was going to present it to his division this Sunday along with the new team changes.


The day after the blond shinobi received Yuki's visit, whom he hadn't seen for two weeks. She decided to take him to dinner at the ramen shop, now a restaurant. While walking towards the location they were spotted by Ino. Ino, being known for her curiousness, decided to investigate the matter. Of course unknown to her she was already discovered and the teen and his aunt decided to act their role while leaving the discussions about Onimakai from their chat.

"Damn kid, you are working way too much, look at you, you are fifteen and you still don't have a girlfriend. At your age I had Takeo begged me for dates. You definitely need a girl", complained the aunt.

"A girlfriend? No thanks I got enough to handle already. Don't need another pain in the butt", replied the teen as he ate his ramen.

"Asura, stop acting like a bionic freak, if there is no girl that interests in this village why not snatch one from elsewhere. I hear you are getting famous around the world", she replied with a smirk.

Ino on the other hand was confused why Yuki kept calling him Asura, till she remembered the event a few months ago. She knew that Naruto had a habit of treating people close to him as family members and Yuki was sure one of those person, after all she was his fashion designer. She figured that if she behaved nicely in front of Yuki, she might get recommended to Naruto. She kept listening to their conversation.

"I really don't need that kind trouble right now aunt. Besides I am not meant to be loved, I was meant to live a life of solitude", replied the blond haired teen.

"None sense, stop talking like that. God you and my sister are both the same. Even if all the guys in the world would offer their hearts to her, she would still ignore them with a comment like that", said Yuki, as she sipped her ramen.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I don't think I will have her luck. There isn't anyone in this world that can satisfy my cursed soul. Let's just drop the subject, okay? Man this is why I hate eating in this village there is always an annoying pig around" said the teen.

Realizing that he was referring to her, Ino pretended to act like a customer and ordered some ramen. She wanted to clobber him, but she already knew that she would not be able to touch him, so why bother. Besides she was butting into his private life so its not like she was innocent.

"Don't change the subject Asura, or else I will post your picture to every damsel in the nation", replied Yuki.

"Okay, tell you what, if I ever find someone who can come close to my high standards we will talk about again, till then drop it okay? After all aren't you the one who said love happens by miracle? So wait for it", laughed the teen.

"Damn boy, miracle only happens when you look forward for it. At your rate you will never find that type of person. Like mother like son I guess. At least you tried to search for your love Kikyo oneesan. What am I to do with this ignorant boy, I don't want to see him lonely anymore. If only there was a person like you around... The Jingi were too harsh on their decision. If you were around things would have been much different, I am seriously not a good mother figure as you were…" thought Yuki.

After eating their ramen, Naruto paid and then they both disappeared in the crowd causing Ino to lose their tracks. She decided to head home instead, after all she had some juicy gossips to tell for her next party now. Yuki decided to stay at the Uzumaki residence for the night. This way people won't suspect her. The couple was still a month away before moving to Konoha, their house was nearly renovated and some of the furniture had already arrived. Seeing the popularity of her fashion designs, Yuki decided to transform the first floor into a boutique, this way she could process the commands she would receive. It wasn't that she needed any money but she loved designing as it helped her pass time. Thus having the boutique would allow her to work on her passion and make some free cash.

Naruto decided that he would spend the night with the foxes at the waterfalls. He was their guardian and he needed to keep in touch. He already felt bad that he could not bring them home or keep them around him, as it would raise suspicion in the village. The night was also beautiful, perfect for stargazing. As he reached the falls and sat down at his favorite place near the hill, the foxes gathered around the location and lay besides him. After an hour of stargazing he finally fell as sleep.


As the night grew, Naruto found himself back at his dream. It was a field covered by sakura leaves near a beautiful crystal clear lake. The sky was pink, as there were plenty of cheery trees surrounding the area and as he gazed around him, always fascinated by the location, he saw her. She was like always sitting near the lake surrounded by her loyal companions. Naruto approached near her and gazed at her beauty. She was really beautiful, with long black hair flowing in the winds, red eyes, pale face and her blue kimono. The scenery made her look like a princess. The beautiful maiden finally gave him a sign to sit besides her.

"I see that you finally decided to stop running, while you be staying long this time? Come closer and let me have a look at you. My you have grown Naruto, I have been waiting to see you for 15 years. You really do look like your father", said the maiden as she touched his face.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a hand on his right shoulders. He almost froze at the sight, as the blond haired man sat near him.

"He may look like me but he still has your eyes. Still a bit slow on his detection though. I see you have been grown into a strong man son, just as I expected of you", said Arashi.

"Are you guys real? Or is my mind playing a trick on me?" asked the boy.

"We are real Naruto, well real in your mind that is. Sorry we kept you waiting but we are here for an important task today. It is time you learn about us and learn how and why your life had been altered…", said Kikyo as she hugged her son.

For the first time in his life, Naruto felt happy. Tears were flowing from his eyes. Ever since he was little he always watched parent and children relations from a far always wondering what it felt like. Today he was feeling it, the tears from his eyes were tears of joy. Both Kikyo and Arashi understood the boy's emotion after all he had been waiting for this moment for 15 long years.

"Today, I am about to tell you a story Naruto, our story. This was a deal we managed to pull out from the Jingi. They agreed to let us explain you our reasons for abandoning you in this world. So listen carefully okay?" smiled his mother.

"Is this our final reunion?" asked the boy, he knew the answer already but always hoped there was an alternative.

"You might say that, we really don't know to tell you the truth, we are just great full that we can see you for once and tell you the reasons of our decisions so that you don't hate us for the wrong reasons", whispered Arashi.

Both parents held his hands as the leaves began to flow in the winds. A windstorm struck the location and as the clod breeze struck him, Naruto felt as he was flaying. As he opened his eyes, he noticed the scenery had changed.

"Where am I?" was his last thought.


End of chapter 8
Please review! If there are any words you do not understand, check the glossary or check previous chapters for explications. Thanks for all the reviews. This chapter has been edited. Okay fixed the story a bit more, gave more details, added some new sections. The next chapter will remain in tact I guess apart some name changes. But as you noticed chapter 10 will be changed, as I already added some of its elements here. This way I can make the battle better I guess.


Character Re-Introduction
Hatake Kakashi/Maneshi Kakashi/Shiroi Shikon no Konoha: He was the former sensei of Naruto and team 7. He is a famous jounin from Konoha; he likes to read perverted books but is a genius in the battlefields. He has a sharingan on his left eye, a gift from his best friend Uchiha Obito. He is said to know over 1000 jutsus. He is also known as White Fang or Copycat Kakashi. Nara Shikamaru/Nouzui: Member of ANBU division X and one of the closest friends of Naruto. He has an IQ of 200 and is very lazy. He's the KSKS member for the division, also known as the Brain, for his brilliant strategies. Shinku Asura/Uzumaki Naruto/Kokuei Issen no Konoha: Labeled as the demon fox boy, he is the son of Kikyo and Arashi. He was supposed to be considered as a hero, but the villagers did not accept him. He lived 13 years of hell, before he encountered the Kyuubi who revealed him his hidden secrets. Now he sole desire to live is to accomplish the desires of his parents. He is the hero of this epic adventure. He is also known as the Silhouette Flash of Konoha.


Glossary

Ame: Rain.

Iwa: Stone.

Kiri: Mist.

Konoha Senryakujou Kyoshu Senmonka (KSKS): Leaf's Strategic Defense Specialist. A specialist team for ANBU. They are in charge of planning Konoha's defense and offense.

Stooges: Hit comedy series the Stooges about three comedians/clowns Larry, Curly and Moe.

Kumo: Cloud.

Kusa: Grass.

Oto: Sound.

Taki: Waterfall.