My mom banned me from com, and she still is.
Chapter XV
The sky above carries the heavy weight of impending rain, a sign that bodes both ill and joy from those around, depending on a person's upbringing and emotions. The wind blows softly, but everyone knows that the wind will whip up anytime soon, leaving a trail of destruction in it's path. The waters began to rage, and the waves got stronger quickly. Naruto has since spent a month travelling north, barely avoiding chasing hunters. The lands where he is now, is not as peaceful as Konoha, because of the disorder that thrives in these lands, and so, he is also forced to watch his back for greedy thieves, stalking robbers and their lot.
But he is far from any of those towns where such disorder is much more apparent, and here, he could just have a short moment of peace, before moving on again.
The waves violently breaks on the rocky, jagged cliifs, and for a moment, the waves and cliffs seem to roar in unison.
Naruto's blonde hair whipped in the wind, and he felt a small tinge of regret. Running away alone has eroded his soul, and isolation is not good for a young soul as him, but he knew again that this is the responsibilities he has to shoulder, and he will bear the pain. But when the darkened skies thundered, he wondered how long he could push the pain aside.
"Don't worry about that yet, brat. Once we get far enough from the five ninja nations, we will begin the next phase, as we planned."
Naruto sighed, "I know, I know. But what makes you think the people there will agree to our plam?"
"Tempt them, with power, glory and money." Kyubi answered.
"Or influence them, with honor, duty and ideals." Kagizume resumed.
"Or control them with fear and threat." Kyubi continued.
Naruto offered a glance to the brewing storm above the horizon, "I prefer the second one, but again, I still do not like manipulating them."
"Sacrifice your ideals, brat, for the survival of your kind. In this situation, the end justifies the means." The nine-tailed fox replied, and the blonde breathed another sigh of sorrow.
II
The inn that seems to be in middle of nowhere, is the perfect place for a person like Gaara to lay low, and plan his next move. The inn, inconspicous and hidden, a place where not many visits often, but also the place where he can avoid escape, for a while. The barkeep or the bar is an ordinary man, old and bearded, and from the thick smell of beer in the air, Gaara could tell he likes beer much. Again, the inn is lacking in customers, and the eerie silence of the bar area evoked thought that this is the place where those who lost their aim remained. The bar is a place for those who lost hope, a place of false escape.
Gaara walked slowly to sit on a bar stool, and quickly asked for a simple unalcoholic drink, knowing that the chance of being robbed while drunk is still existent, although unlikely with the presence of Shukaku.
For half an hour, Gaara kept his eyes on the map he requested, taking a sip of what appears to be simple water every now and then, then returns to his planning.
"Well, what do you know? I seeked for the demon for more than a month, and when I was about to give up, he is in fornt of me." A voice broked the frozen silence, and Gaara quickly eyed the intruding person.
The person walked quickly, and sat next to Gaara, thus inviting Gaara's response. "What do you want?"
"Well, I have heard of you, but I doubt you have heard of me. I am Hitoku, and I came to perhaps ally myself with you."
'Hitoku... Wait... My last mission with Baki was to eradicate Hitoku, the mist demon or more accurately, the coral kraken.' Gaara smiled slightly, "Ah, I have heard of you. Perhaps we can talk somewhere else?"
"Here is fine."
"What do you stand to gain by allying yourself with me? I believe you are informed that I am a missing-nin now. You will only be hunted."
"Can we not talk so formally? I am also a missing-nin and that was before I knew you left your countrymen behind." Hitoku seemed to frown for a while.
Gaara observed the person in front of him, a man of around 16 to 18, a dark haired, blue eyed warrior armed with swords sheathed and attached to his belt. " Not a problem. So, what brings you to me?"
"We are both demon vessels, and perhaps we can aid each other with our combined might." Perhaps for a moment, the air around them seemed to strangely cold.
III '
Meetings... Tsunade never liked them, because they are often very predictable, and for a gambler like her, taking risks is all that really matters. But meetings lack the thrill and adrenaline of risks, but as leader of a village, she has to, regardless of her own opinions on troublesome and lengthy meetings. Yet this time around, she left Konoha for a meeting that others deem unimportant, but to her, and some others, it is crucial.
A month ago, Kakashi reported of how Naruto seemed to escape the grasps of stone, as if Stone deliberately set him free. Naruto, no matter how, can never escape or outrun a group of trained jounins, what more when the jounins have environmental advantage and knowledge of the land. Furthermore, with Stone's history of capturing missing-nins and trading them for rewards, why would they allow a wanted ninja high on Konoha's hitlist, to escape when they have much to gain?
Stone never sets a ninja free, unless there are certain hidden agendas.
Tsunade was here this time, to unravel the agendas that might be there. Although leaving the country is a huge risk, but with Jiraiya guarding Konoha, and Kakashi escorting her, there isn't much for her to worry about.
The hall where the two kages will meet, is a grand place, decorated with paintings, and most importantly, marble or gem sculptures that represent the ancient gods which they worship, or heroes that have served the nation and world. The floor is polished, and Tsunade felt slightly small at the sight of it.
Tsunade took her seat, and Kakashi stood next to her, constantly monitoring, while the tsuchikage came in with an old man, and a jounin.
"Welcome to Stone, Tsunade-sama, but I wonder what brings you to my small nation."
'Small? That is a blatant lie.' Tsunade thought, "Yes. Let's get straight to why I am here."
"Trade?" The Tsuchikage asked, but he knew inside that the Hokage would never come for something of moderate importance.
"No. It concerns the missing-nin of Konoha, Naruto."
"Ah. Explain your position, Hokage-sama."
"Your ninjas have him right where he could not escape, yet somehow, he miraculously did. It led me to wonder about the true intent of setting him free."
"He could escape because we were too concentrated on Itachi and Kisame."
'Another blatant lie, Tsuchikage.' Tsunade wondered. "Well, I do not think so. Come on, just tell me the truth, not some twisted idea of politics that you might use to cover whatever you want. Are you trying to use Naruto, the same way Akatsuki is?"
"He is free, and I have no intent of using him, although the idea is quite attractive."
"What the..." Tsunade was fuming.
Then, the old man seemed to whisper into the Tsuchikage's ears, and the kage motioned the Jounin to leave.
'What is this? Leaaving the guard outside?'
"Tsunade. Naruto is free because we have a reason that is solid enough for us to free him. Although he is a criminal, but we have our reasons, and I can give my word that it has no malevolent intent towards anyone. Naruto is free, and he has told me he is leaving the area of the five great nations."
'What? Sudden change of heart?'
"If you have any score to settle, seek him in those areas. But it is a wide place, and I have no idea where he is. I can reveal no more."
III
The tsuchikage stared silently at the setting sun, and he pondered his next plan while restudying his reasons.
"I can't tell her that Naruto will have to save the world, because I do not know much of Tsunade, and telling her might lead her to use Naruto as a bargaining tool with other nations. Yet if I don't, Naruto will have more enemies to face. Furthermore, the prediction might still be wrong." He then resumed to stare at the red sun as it slowly vanishes, consumed by the horizon.
"I could not help, because I have no idea where he is. Even if I did, I could not really trust all of my ninjas, as some of them have doubtful loyalties... What a village have I created... "
IV
Raindrops fall, on the leaves of the trees by the roadside, raindrops fall, on the roofs of the houses of wood, and raindrops fall, on the cold stone by the riverbed. Neji remained indoors, watching his two female teammates train. The indoor training grounds were well utilized, and Neji could see Shikamaru, Tenten, Hinata, Kiba and Chouji train. Yet somehow, it still remained a largely dull affair.
Neji was on missions frequently these days, and it has been a while since he had seen Shino and Naruto. Shimo's so-called vacation has yet to end, and Naruto has still remained... missing. As a chuunin, he knew that Konoha is in one hell of a trouble. Sasuke, who became his mission partner on one of those missions, changed little, but at least his loyalty isn't questionable anymore. But Sasuke has yet to restore Neji's respect in him, but Sasuke doesn't really care. Neji, Lee and Sasuke has been assigned together once, and it was then, Neji realized how much the three of them have become in terms of capablitiies.
Still... Is it enough to bring Naruto back?
V
Orange skies of dusk invite the mind for a period of reflection on it's own past, and such is the implications that it brings along. Naruto slowly tread along the beach, his footsteps in the sand fade when the rising tide washes in. The blue sea took a hue of gold painted by the sun as it slowly sets, and he reflects on the plan ahead.
The trees beside rustled when the wind came along, and so did the bushes and flowers by the sand. The sand is caught between the rising tide, and the extending vegetation, squeezed smaller every time a new plant grows from the seed, or the waves erode away the soil underneath.
Kyubi looked at Kagizume shortly before directing his visions to the plant infested halls in his mind, and the solemn mood of Kagizume is well indicated by the plants that seem to move in it's command.
"Are you sure the kid can hold on? Seems to me he is slowly losing it." Kagizume asked, slight worry in the tones between his phrases.
"He will. He must."
"So, let's do a little statistic check. How much is his chakra now?"
"178 percent increase since the beginning of the competition. Still short of the 300 pc we targetted. Speed increased by a miniscule amount of only 83 percent. We aren't making much progress, for both of us."
"Sense range increased by 280 percent, but the rest is small and far between. Furthermore, his detection range is small to begin with, so the increase is actually small if we put them in range."
"This isn't working. The brat is too worried and too lonely to actually have the drive to do what we wanted. Hopefully when we begin to form the organization as we planned, somebody there will give him that drive." Kyubi stated flatly, still contemplating the future.
"..."
"He seriously needs motivation. In fact, he needs some sort of companionship."
Again, Kagizume remained quiet.
"Hey! You have any ideas?"
"... I'm finding for one."
"...Damn."
"Why don't we just make the organization earlier?"
"Not good location-wise. Still too close to Cloud for comfort."
"Ask Stone for help?"
"No. They might have hidden agendas, so it's best for us to let them know nothing about our plans."
"... Would a fear based motivation help?"
"... Wait. Yeah. It would..."
VI
Naruto was snapped out from his reminiscence by a loud call from Kyubi.
"Naruto. This will be good for you, trust me."
All the sudden, his body felt incredible pain and misery...
"ARGGGGHH!!!!" He screamed.
Then, he slowly saw Sasuke, his eyes opening...
"Snake eyes..." He felt incredibly pained inside, and again, he screamed.
Afterwards, he saw Konoha, burning in flames, and corpses piled on the floor. The walls and drains were painted in blood, and the thick stench sickened him inside...
"Kyubi... What is this about???" His body felt incredibly numb and his senses were distorted. One by one, he saw the bodies of people he knew on the floor, ripped away of their hands, feet and eyes...
One body, which belongs to Tsunade, limped slowly before collapsing in front of Naruto.
"KYUBI!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!!" He screamed, yet Kyubi did not answer.
Then, it all froze, and scattered into a countless pieces...
Naruto breathed heavily, looking at his surroundings, the reddish stretch of sand, and the golden sky. His hand did not stop from shaking...
"What the hell did you do that for?" Naruto asked, heavily.
Kagizume replied, "We have to. You are not putting effort, and that was a possible future that might happen, should you remain as weak as you are now."
"What... the..."
"If you don't achieve the target we set, we would gladly show you another version, a more brutal and chaotic one, and if you keep failing, we can keep lengthening the vision." Kyubi answered.
"Damn."
Inside, he heard Kyubi chuckle happily.
VII
Kyubi laughed, "Well, it worked."
IIIIIIIIII
Chapter XV
The sky above carries the heavy weight of impending rain, a sign that bodes both ill and joy from those around, depending on a person's upbringing and emotions. The wind blows softly, but everyone knows that the wind will whip up anytime soon, leaving a trail of destruction in it's path. The waters began to rage, and the waves got stronger quickly. Naruto has since spent a month travelling north, barely avoiding chasing hunters. The lands where he is now, is not as peaceful as Konoha, because of the disorder that thrives in these lands, and so, he is also forced to watch his back for greedy thieves, stalking robbers and their lot.
But he is far from any of those towns where such disorder is much more apparent, and here, he could just have a short moment of peace, before moving on again.
The waves violently breaks on the rocky, jagged cliifs, and for a moment, the waves and cliffs seem to roar in unison.
Naruto's blonde hair whipped in the wind, and he felt a small tinge of regret. Running away alone has eroded his soul, and isolation is not good for a young soul as him, but he knew again that this is the responsibilities he has to shoulder, and he will bear the pain. But when the darkened skies thundered, he wondered how long he could push the pain aside.
"Don't worry about that yet, brat. Once we get far enough from the five ninja nations, we will begin the next phase, as we planned."
Naruto sighed, "I know, I know. But what makes you think the people there will agree to our plam?"
"Tempt them, with power, glory and money." Kyubi answered.
"Or influence them, with honor, duty and ideals." Kagizume resumed.
"Or control them with fear and threat." Kyubi continued.
Naruto offered a glance to the brewing storm above the horizon, "I prefer the second one, but again, I still do not like manipulating them."
"Sacrifice your ideals, brat, for the survival of your kind. In this situation, the end justifies the means." The nine-tailed fox replied, and the blonde breathed another sigh of sorrow.
II
The inn that seems to be in middle of nowhere, is the perfect place for a person like Gaara to lay low, and plan his next move. The inn, inconspicous and hidden, a place where not many visits often, but also the place where he can avoid escape, for a while. The barkeep or the bar is an ordinary man, old and bearded, and from the thick smell of beer in the air, Gaara could tell he likes beer much. Again, the inn is lacking in customers, and the eerie silence of the bar area evoked thought that this is the place where those who lost their aim remained. The bar is a place for those who lost hope, a place of false escape.
Gaara walked slowly to sit on a bar stool, and quickly asked for a simple unalcoholic drink, knowing that the chance of being robbed while drunk is still existent, although unlikely with the presence of Shukaku.
For half an hour, Gaara kept his eyes on the map he requested, taking a sip of what appears to be simple water every now and then, then returns to his planning.
"Well, what do you know? I seeked for the demon for more than a month, and when I was about to give up, he is in fornt of me." A voice broked the frozen silence, and Gaara quickly eyed the intruding person.
The person walked quickly, and sat next to Gaara, thus inviting Gaara's response. "What do you want?"
"Well, I have heard of you, but I doubt you have heard of me. I am Hitoku, and I came to perhaps ally myself with you."
'Hitoku... Wait... My last mission with Baki was to eradicate Hitoku, the mist demon or more accurately, the coral kraken.' Gaara smiled slightly, "Ah, I have heard of you. Perhaps we can talk somewhere else?"
"Here is fine."
"What do you stand to gain by allying yourself with me? I believe you are informed that I am a missing-nin now. You will only be hunted."
"Can we not talk so formally? I am also a missing-nin and that was before I knew you left your countrymen behind." Hitoku seemed to frown for a while.
Gaara observed the person in front of him, a man of around 16 to 18, a dark haired, blue eyed warrior armed with swords sheathed and attached to his belt. " Not a problem. So, what brings you to me?"
"We are both demon vessels, and perhaps we can aid each other with our combined might." Perhaps for a moment, the air around them seemed to strangely cold.
III '
Meetings... Tsunade never liked them, because they are often very predictable, and for a gambler like her, taking risks is all that really matters. But meetings lack the thrill and adrenaline of risks, but as leader of a village, she has to, regardless of her own opinions on troublesome and lengthy meetings. Yet this time around, she left Konoha for a meeting that others deem unimportant, but to her, and some others, it is crucial.
A month ago, Kakashi reported of how Naruto seemed to escape the grasps of stone, as if Stone deliberately set him free. Naruto, no matter how, can never escape or outrun a group of trained jounins, what more when the jounins have environmental advantage and knowledge of the land. Furthermore, with Stone's history of capturing missing-nins and trading them for rewards, why would they allow a wanted ninja high on Konoha's hitlist, to escape when they have much to gain?
Stone never sets a ninja free, unless there are certain hidden agendas.
Tsunade was here this time, to unravel the agendas that might be there. Although leaving the country is a huge risk, but with Jiraiya guarding Konoha, and Kakashi escorting her, there isn't much for her to worry about.
The hall where the two kages will meet, is a grand place, decorated with paintings, and most importantly, marble or gem sculptures that represent the ancient gods which they worship, or heroes that have served the nation and world. The floor is polished, and Tsunade felt slightly small at the sight of it.
Tsunade took her seat, and Kakashi stood next to her, constantly monitoring, while the tsuchikage came in with an old man, and a jounin.
"Welcome to Stone, Tsunade-sama, but I wonder what brings you to my small nation."
'Small? That is a blatant lie.' Tsunade thought, "Yes. Let's get straight to why I am here."
"Trade?" The Tsuchikage asked, but he knew inside that the Hokage would never come for something of moderate importance.
"No. It concerns the missing-nin of Konoha, Naruto."
"Ah. Explain your position, Hokage-sama."
"Your ninjas have him right where he could not escape, yet somehow, he miraculously did. It led me to wonder about the true intent of setting him free."
"He could escape because we were too concentrated on Itachi and Kisame."
'Another blatant lie, Tsuchikage.' Tsunade wondered. "Well, I do not think so. Come on, just tell me the truth, not some twisted idea of politics that you might use to cover whatever you want. Are you trying to use Naruto, the same way Akatsuki is?"
"He is free, and I have no intent of using him, although the idea is quite attractive."
"What the..." Tsunade was fuming.
Then, the old man seemed to whisper into the Tsuchikage's ears, and the kage motioned the Jounin to leave.
'What is this? Leaaving the guard outside?'
"Tsunade. Naruto is free because we have a reason that is solid enough for us to free him. Although he is a criminal, but we have our reasons, and I can give my word that it has no malevolent intent towards anyone. Naruto is free, and he has told me he is leaving the area of the five great nations."
'What? Sudden change of heart?'
"If you have any score to settle, seek him in those areas. But it is a wide place, and I have no idea where he is. I can reveal no more."
III
The tsuchikage stared silently at the setting sun, and he pondered his next plan while restudying his reasons.
"I can't tell her that Naruto will have to save the world, because I do not know much of Tsunade, and telling her might lead her to use Naruto as a bargaining tool with other nations. Yet if I don't, Naruto will have more enemies to face. Furthermore, the prediction might still be wrong." He then resumed to stare at the red sun as it slowly vanishes, consumed by the horizon.
"I could not help, because I have no idea where he is. Even if I did, I could not really trust all of my ninjas, as some of them have doubtful loyalties... What a village have I created... "
IV
Raindrops fall, on the leaves of the trees by the roadside, raindrops fall, on the roofs of the houses of wood, and raindrops fall, on the cold stone by the riverbed. Neji remained indoors, watching his two female teammates train. The indoor training grounds were well utilized, and Neji could see Shikamaru, Tenten, Hinata, Kiba and Chouji train. Yet somehow, it still remained a largely dull affair.
Neji was on missions frequently these days, and it has been a while since he had seen Shino and Naruto. Shimo's so-called vacation has yet to end, and Naruto has still remained... missing. As a chuunin, he knew that Konoha is in one hell of a trouble. Sasuke, who became his mission partner on one of those missions, changed little, but at least his loyalty isn't questionable anymore. But Sasuke has yet to restore Neji's respect in him, but Sasuke doesn't really care. Neji, Lee and Sasuke has been assigned together once, and it was then, Neji realized how much the three of them have become in terms of capablitiies.
Still... Is it enough to bring Naruto back?
V
Orange skies of dusk invite the mind for a period of reflection on it's own past, and such is the implications that it brings along. Naruto slowly tread along the beach, his footsteps in the sand fade when the rising tide washes in. The blue sea took a hue of gold painted by the sun as it slowly sets, and he reflects on the plan ahead.
The trees beside rustled when the wind came along, and so did the bushes and flowers by the sand. The sand is caught between the rising tide, and the extending vegetation, squeezed smaller every time a new plant grows from the seed, or the waves erode away the soil underneath.
Kyubi looked at Kagizume shortly before directing his visions to the plant infested halls in his mind, and the solemn mood of Kagizume is well indicated by the plants that seem to move in it's command.
"Are you sure the kid can hold on? Seems to me he is slowly losing it." Kagizume asked, slight worry in the tones between his phrases.
"He will. He must."
"So, let's do a little statistic check. How much is his chakra now?"
"178 percent increase since the beginning of the competition. Still short of the 300 pc we targetted. Speed increased by a miniscule amount of only 83 percent. We aren't making much progress, for both of us."
"Sense range increased by 280 percent, but the rest is small and far between. Furthermore, his detection range is small to begin with, so the increase is actually small if we put them in range."
"This isn't working. The brat is too worried and too lonely to actually have the drive to do what we wanted. Hopefully when we begin to form the organization as we planned, somebody there will give him that drive." Kyubi stated flatly, still contemplating the future.
"..."
"He seriously needs motivation. In fact, he needs some sort of companionship."
Again, Kagizume remained quiet.
"Hey! You have any ideas?"
"... I'm finding for one."
"...Damn."
"Why don't we just make the organization earlier?"
"Not good location-wise. Still too close to Cloud for comfort."
"Ask Stone for help?"
"No. They might have hidden agendas, so it's best for us to let them know nothing about our plans."
"... Would a fear based motivation help?"
"... Wait. Yeah. It would..."
VI
Naruto was snapped out from his reminiscence by a loud call from Kyubi.
"Naruto. This will be good for you, trust me."
All the sudden, his body felt incredible pain and misery...
"ARGGGGHH!!!!" He screamed.
Then, he slowly saw Sasuke, his eyes opening...
"Snake eyes..." He felt incredibly pained inside, and again, he screamed.
Afterwards, he saw Konoha, burning in flames, and corpses piled on the floor. The walls and drains were painted in blood, and the thick stench sickened him inside...
"Kyubi... What is this about???" His body felt incredibly numb and his senses were distorted. One by one, he saw the bodies of people he knew on the floor, ripped away of their hands, feet and eyes...
One body, which belongs to Tsunade, limped slowly before collapsing in front of Naruto.
"KYUBI!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!!" He screamed, yet Kyubi did not answer.
Then, it all froze, and scattered into a countless pieces...
Naruto breathed heavily, looking at his surroundings, the reddish stretch of sand, and the golden sky. His hand did not stop from shaking...
"What the hell did you do that for?" Naruto asked, heavily.
Kagizume replied, "We have to. You are not putting effort, and that was a possible future that might happen, should you remain as weak as you are now."
"What... the..."
"If you don't achieve the target we set, we would gladly show you another version, a more brutal and chaotic one, and if you keep failing, we can keep lengthening the vision." Kyubi answered.
"Damn."
Inside, he heard Kyubi chuckle happily.
VII
Kyubi laughed, "Well, it worked."
IIIIIIIIII