Chapter Seven
Naruto stopped his pace as he saw the looming gate of Kohana appear right before his eyes as they made their way out of the forest.
There it was, just a few steps away until he reached his old stomping grounds where he feared the worst to happen. Where the person he wanted to never see might be there, waiting for his return and become his executioner. He could feel the blood in his veins rapidly pulsing inside him, the fear that he was feeling as well as sensing how much he hate the smell of his own coming off his body. Kyuubi could sense it too from within her own prison of her holder.
'Don't fret too much my kit. Don't let fear be in the way of your courage. Think this is your sacrifice; your sacrifices to let your kitlings to grow within their own happiness, to let them live their own lives as you could only do so much as their father.'
'Thank you Kyuubi, I know that but still the only thing that is terrorizing in my heart right at this very moment is if I have to see him here in this village again.'
Kyuubi growled at the mention of what Naruto said to be true.
Whether that said person was still living there or not was still an immediate threat to not only to them, but their children. He and Kyuubi would rather stand grounds now and take the full attack and fight to the death than let the bastard try to kidnap his own flesh and blood.
Even if half of them were of his as well.
No, they did not, they would not be his! Naruto anger rose as he clenched his fist tight and felt his nails punctured deep in the flesh. No he would not let his children be taken away by that, that monster.
Jiraya sense the boy's tense anxiety and pitied him. What was it that caused the boy to change so much. Naruto, his pupil once was now gone and as a man changed with hidden secrets behind those blue hues along with the one that Jiraya planned to keep quiet about unless Naruto wished to speak to of about with the Hokage.
Poor Naruto, what happened to you was something unspeakable but to leave the village was still against the law and a he was a ninja so he had to face it like one himself. Even if the punishment was to be placed to death, whatever the trial stand for him with Tsunade.
He sighed and turned around to stare at Naruto.
"Naruto, listen to me, and listen well as I am about to explain to you this once. You were once an annoying brat that I couldn't stand, a brat whom I taught so long ago but still you proved to be full of surprise to everything you did for everyone. There are people here willing to forgive you for your actions of running away without telling, however chances of being punished are still for your likelihood as to whatever Tsunade decides."
"Yeah I know the law pervert Toad. I known it since the day I ran away and believed to never come back. But I guess I was wrong then to think that way, like I wrong to believe…" He became silent and looked far from to behind them.
He knew it since the day he left that he might be stripped of all his ninja status after working so hard to achieve it and gain some respect from these people, but that had been before, that had been all but a dream when crushed.
He wondered now how his sons and daughters were handling the news. He hoped that they were safe and all right with Tazuna and being good for the Wave country. For all he knew, the boys could be pulling another prank on another unsuspecting fool. He smiled at the thought of the boys pulling something on someone and wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Then he thought of Kagura.
He hoped she would be getting better along with her sisters now without him.
Poor Kagura, poor Naruko, Yondaime, Haku, everyone he loved and cherished all these years would be all that had left for them as he would never see them maybe never.
If chances were that his punishment was execution, than the chances for his children to live in a bright future now with no fear and worry was something he would hope for the rest of his life.
If it was to end tonight.
Tsunade, the fifth hokage sat inside her office, her face on the book, drool hanging out and before she knew it Shizune came rushing in, crying her name. "Tsunade! Hokage-sama!" Tsunade woke up with a start, saying 'I didn't fall asleep, I was merely catching some information that seem to be needing closer examination since the words are all written so small like and..."
Like Shizune believe that, but that's not what she had come to the Hokage's office with her running from the front desk and shaking. "Hokage-sama, it's Jiraya…He's..."
"Jiraya? What did that perverted old man do this time? I thought he left Kohana a few days ago."
"He did and he's back!"
"Right, so give him a sake that says 'Welcome back Jiraya.' And leave me in peace. Like I care what that drunkard pervert be doing kami only knows." But Shizune was shaking her head wildly. "No, no that's not what I meant. I meant that Jiraya came back and brought him back. Naruto's back."
"Naruto. Naruto's back!" And before Shizune had time to reply, Tsunade rushed past her to the front of her secretary's desk was and saw Jiraya standing alongside him a tall blonde man with blue eyes and whisker scars on his cheek.
Whiskered cheeks she recognized anywhere. "Naruto. That really you Naruto?" Naruto looked up when his name was called and stared into the eyes of the woman of the fifth Hokage.
"Hey oba-saan, long time no see and you don't look a day older except your breast which seem to be sagging down—"
"Naruto!" Jiraya smacked his ex-pupils head and bowed to the Hokage. "Forgive Naruto, I mean I found him on my way to Wave Country while…"
She listened to Jiraya's explanation and sometimes looked over at Naruto through the corner of her eyes.
He had changed a lot over the last few years. He had gotten taller, his dark clothes outlining the taunt muscles under and his tan skin was absolutely glowing from long days in the sun, his blue eyes still like the sky, but something seem different in those pupils.
They seem to be hiding something and was that…fear she saw? His hands seem to be shaking nervously and his feet fidget slightly as if he was afraid there was about to be something to come and grab him.
Had something in the village caused him to run away so? It was no secret how some had thought 'good riddance to the demon boy' and how those people had treated him in the past.
But beside cold looks and endless ridicule, what else could have caused this sweet young ninja to leave so sudden. Just when Jiraya finished his tale, Tsunade looked over at Shizune.
"Shizune, tell anyone in need of me that no one is to be speak to me until I ask for them. Have no one disturb us or try to come in." Shizune nodded as Tsunade led Jiraya and Naruto towards her office to speak more in the matter of the question running in her head. Why Naruto, why did you leave your village and how is it that you have changed?
She wished to hear Naruto's story and wanted nothing but the truth from the hunted nin.
Yondaime and Haku were sitting on top in front of Kori's head as they rode through from their home, escaping in the dead of night and followed the trail to which the scent of their father's and the 'other' were heading.
Their plan seem to go well when they all agreed to during dinner to slip some sleeping powder inside the teas of Tazuna, Tsumani and Inari which was a different drink as all the Kitsune children all drank water instead watching as the three top every last drop of the potion. Soon the effect of the powder came in the last minute and all three adults fell asleep in the chairs to where they sat.
"Now, everyone, gather the supplies we need. Tools, food, anything reasonable for our mission."
"Hai." Everyone said and all the children scattered around the house, grabbing their scrolls, their kunais and knives set, Kagura grabbing her kyuubi doll while her sister grabbed the last sort of items of food for their long time on their adventure. As soon as everyone gather in the kitchen to check the adults, Haku quickly placed a note with the entire kits signature and their goodbyes on the table. And they were off on their first ever mission in their young lives.
After they crossed the bridge and headed into new land they've never seen before, Yondaime took the first summon to call his fox demon to catch the wavering scents and rode on their backs to catch up with their father as they used a lot of their energy to form from one tiny kit to a large fox to carry everyone on.
And then the other partner was to summon their own when the other's charka was getting low and then the next would take over after them and summon theirs.
Naruko and Haku, Diaya and Hana, Iruka and Saru, and then Ramne and Kagura, that was the order to follow exact when the other member felt faint of lost charka. Kagura did not have a good control on hers, so Naruko took over for her when she sense her sister's distressing charka.
The recovering groups would take long rest in between and eat to gain some charka to summon up again but other time they would have to link with everyone. The link would work to gain everybody's charkas in a group and allowed them to control over time until they could feel little and have to allow the next group to link.
And thanks to being half demon, they could easily heal faster and recover what had been lost in an hour less.
By the time they made it out of Wave country and into a new forest heading, some of them were tired and had little charka left to stand.
"How-huff long till-huff we find father." Ramne said as he held Kagura by the shoulder as they rode behind of Kori's body, his nine long tails holding them from falling off his back. Diaya and Iruka were in the middle of the large fox, holding up supplies and handing the two a cup of ramens each to refuel themselves. Everybody else had eaten and already Haku had taken lead with his most likely restore while others were just regaining from the last.
"Probably not too long, I can sense father's energy wave nearing and we are coming close out of this forest." Hana replied as she stared ahead of what seem to be their exit out of the forest. Just as they were about to make it out, Kori stopped in his pace and sniffed the air.
"Kori what is it?" Haku asked inside the large fox's ears, "What is it you sense?" He knew that something was out there up ahead of them and his brothers and sisters felt it too. "There are two charkas that are guarding at the gates?"
Kori nodded his massive head. "It will be hard to get them out with what little charka you have now and my body would only lead more others of that village to hearing your commotion. Best to go with stealth through if possible as long as you do not waste all your charka until your real battle Haku? I suggest you devise a plan, in the meantime, let your body regain what is lost as I return to you. Until next time my master." Everybody jumped off the large black fox and watched as it disappeared into a puff of smoke not long before heading towards Haku and surrounding around him.
When the smoke clear, Haku opened his eyes, glowing ice gems then back to their normal ones as he looked towards everyone. "Ok everyone listen up. There are two people outside guarding that big gate and some of us are kinda low on power right at the moment but there must be some way to get past them? Anyone has an idea or so, please speak up."
Saru and Ramne shrugged their shoulders while Iruka and Yondaime scrounged their faces, locked into thinking. Diaya scowled at them as Hana and Naruko the liberty to discuss of an idea of perhaps of their own while Kagura stood on the sideline watching them all trying to come up with a plan, wishing she did.
Oh papa, if only you could help us. If only you could tell us how to help you…Diaya placed her hands on her hips. "Yeah so let's get this straight: we need some sort of tactic, something to catch the guards off and not use any too if not too much of our charka because chances are we might need to if we go against real live ninja that are much skilled and experienced than we are. That's pretty hard and complicate to do from how much each of us stands now at this limit. But we all got to find something, some plan to use to get to father for father's sake."
A lot of them agreed and Haku looked over the bunch to where Hana and Naruko stood. He saw that only Hana didn't seem too wasted out of her charka though it was an unusual gift she had, the wave thing it is. It was if it had more capability than one would think…
Yondaime noticed where his brother's stare seem to be set on and turn to see Hana, then suddenly getting the idea and looked back at Haku. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Haku nodded. "Yeah, I think I just got an idea."
At the gate two guards stood at their post, seeing nothing in the clearing until fog started to swerve around them. Before the guards knew what was happening, two-three needles hit directly into one of the guard's neck while the other stood shocked.
"What the—" Then he was hit by unusual up struck of lighting that seem to pop right into his skull. Both men fell to the ground, twitching slightly and barely able to detect the nine young children that appeared through the fog.
Haku went over to the one with needles sticking out and looked at his handiwork. He plucked out the two needles and stuff them back in his knapsack, then placed two fingers on the neck.
"Well he looks ok at least I hope I didn't kill him." He felt a pulse and knew he hit direct target, putting the man in unconscious and have a bit of a sore of a neck in the days after. Hana looked at the other with her expressionless face and said, "Same here but I was only not planning to use all my denpa powers until we find the pervert man and kill him with them, painfully and slowly." The others looked at her carefully.
They definitely had gotten the pictures. Soon they walked through the gate, after seeing the coast clear and made their way through to where they could sense their father's being.
"So Naruto tell me, I just want to know something. Why did you like Kohana, why did you leave your home?" Naruto wanted to snort at the question that the fifth hokage asked him as they made their way to her office. The three took a seat in the three chairs that were in there. Tsunade and Jiraya looked solemn and were waiting for Naruto's reply. Naruto didn't respond until Tsunade asked again.
"Naruto please answer my question. As the hokage of the fire village and you once part of this village as well, why did you leave with no regards to your very whereabouts. Why is it that you left us no idea as to why you wanted to be gone from the home you love, the people that cherish you…"
Yeah right, Naruto wanted to laugh at what he was hearing.
The home that loved me for the past thirteen years before, people who hated me and called me 'monster' or 'demon' behind my back. A person who I once believe to be true but later betray everything I had because of what happened!
He clenched his fist angrily and Tsunade saw this and wondered if perhaps a part of it was a sign of what happened to him in the past.
What had happened and why he left had been in her mind these last five years.
He had been her hope since bringing her to take this job, to the friends that he encourage to understand him better and let people see behind the real Naruto, not the demon but the boy that the Fourth proclaimed the hero for this village's sake.
"Why…why I left you asked Fifth Hokage. Is it you asking me to tell you about my departure or does everyone else who wondered where the 'demon boy' went off to, probably to release his inner demon and cause havoc on another innocent village but I'm sure the village wouldn't want to be happy to be pointed finger at for if the other top villages found out where that demon came from."
"Naruto!" Tsunade was shocked, she never seen Naruto angry before than when she had taunt him in the past for believing in becoming the next hokage. She could see it in his eyes, his eyes burning with the fiery hate for what seem to been buried deep, deeper than she would have imagine. But now she was seeing it, she was seeing it come alive in those turned blood red eyes of his.
"Naruto…"
"You want to know why I ran away from this place? Well I guess half of the percent should go to these people in this village. No matter how much I tried to change their view on me, people still saw me as a monster! Not even as a child or a ninja, heck I bet nobody wants a demon ruling over this village unless they wanted to be slaves to a monster such as myself. My life here was a living hell house I tell you that much, no one care for me or at least saw to it I was giving happiness so being the fool, I acted as one. To grab people's attention through the pranks and have some people see me." He stared accusingly at the two people who were surprised to hear all this boy's piped in angry.
Angry towards the village, the people…everything that had made this boy miserable yet had hidden smiles and pride to becoming a ninja.
He looked away from the two people he felt closest in the world yet felt so far from their reach.
People like Jiraya, Tsunade, Iruka, Kakashi, his friends, or at least some, had all been close now he wish he had a knife to cut the ties between everything so he could go to what he had once had, the family that he left behind.
"Because of this, it was only half of it. The other could be pointed to only another but I'm sure you wouldn't dare point fingers there. All others would just say I was making it up or lying or something. But I had been dealt with and I had gained something over the last five years that gave me such joy and happiness I could ever achieved in a lifetime." He placed one hand over his stomach where once life had been but now rest right outside this village, safe away from harm. He would pay the price and his children wouldn't have to bear the pain of their demon father any longer. They would perhaps live normal lives if they could, as best they can.
He prayed that would be when his ends.
"But now I am at your mercy Hokage, so do what you wish. End me of suffering or let the village take care of it."
Tsunade listened very well to what Naruto said and then looked at Jiraya. What did Naruto mean, what did he gained in five years from this village? Suddenly she heard a loud shriek coming from up front and then the doors bursting open with a bang. What the!
"FATHER! THE CALAVERY HAS ARRIVED!" Yelled Saru and Ramne who whisked in the room faster than a cannon and hitting the old perverted man that they recognized anywhere.
"You going to pay for taking daddy!" Yondaime rushed over and gave a lean kick right into Jiraya's shin. To being a half demon fox, these kids were ten times stronger than any other ninja in the village and Jiraya found that out the hard way.
"YEOW!" Jiraya was struggling with two small misfits mini Naruto as they went to scratching his arms and shoulders with their claws.
Soon a deck of cards and needles came flying in the air and scattered to fly in every direction of where Jiraya stand. The cards and needles made slashes and cuts all over his body and hit against the wall. Tsunade couldn't believe her eyes as she and Naruto were both with shocked to see a small band of blond and dark haired children rushing into the room and attacking Jiraya.
"DADDY!" A small girl holding a fox doll cried as she run straight away to Naruto, tears running down her face. Naruto saw the little girl and watch her approach. He stood up in his seat, watching what was happening in all the chaos happening in the Hokage's office.
"Kagura-what's everybody doing here? You guys shouldn't be here!" But he stopped when Kagura went right over and he bent down so she would be in his arms and held her. She sobbed into his chest. "But dad-daddy we were so worried about you…when-when grandpa told us you were leaving on a trip, we-we knew he was lying. You always told us before you left, remember? Why did you daddy, why?" Naruto stared into his daughter's innocent blue eyes and couldn't hold back the tears that had brimmed in his own as he embraced her. He had hurt them in a way that he had wished not to. What have I done?
"Oh honey, I-I just, I didn't want you to worry. I didn't want you to worry because I was going to be in trouble and I didn't want you guys to suffer." He patted Kagura's back as she cried in his hug. "Forgive me Kagura, forgive me for lying and being a bad father to you…"
"You're not bad daddy, not a bad one, you're always good to us." He felt Kagura crushed her face deeper into his chest and felt Kyuubi purred low in her throat, feeling the motherly Kitsune glad to have her nine young kitlings back, once again a family as before.
Tsunade watched the scene between Jiraya's beating and Naruto and the young child embrace.
Was this what she think it was? Could these be the reason why he left? She stared closely at the child in Naruto's arm, something on top the child's head flicked up and down under Naruto's chin.
Were those, they couldn't be…
She then turned around to see a young dark haired girl dressed all in black, with two small fox ears on her head walking over to Jiraya where he had both his arms and legs grabbed by the other seven children with one around his throat to, trying to cut off his circulation.
They had ears too! They all had fox's ears!
"You're the man that took father away? For that you must be punished…" And without warning Jiraya felt his body jittering with waves unknown to him as his body sparked with lighting coming all the way through.
Tsunade watched as Jiraya stood for maybe a second or two before falling forward on his face.
"Timber!" The kids jumped off and watch as the man twitched on the ground. Then one of the blond boys walked over to the body and placed his foot over the backside of the head.
"Victory to us, the Uzumaki family for defeating stinking toad man!" He then held two fingers up in the air and held a fox whiskered grin to everyone around him.
"Ya we kicked his ass good, didn't we Yondaime!" Ramne cried happy while slapping a high-five to Saru next to him. Tsunade then knew what she figured was when she looked over to Naruto when he saw her looking over to him.
"Naruto, are these…"
He nodded slowly, before lifting his daughter in his arms, her Kitsune ears flicking nervously as she and then the rest of the children came over towards him.
"Yes Hokage-sama, the reason I left my village was to raise the ones that me and Kyuubi had carried within my womb, the ones I brought into this world five years ago. My children."