Chapter Thirty-Four
"So the procedure was a success?" Lord Hiruzen asked, taking a draw from his pipe as he listened.
"It would seem so," Ken answered seriously. He and Tomoko had delivered their verbal mission report together, offering insights on the demeanor of the Sand ninjas and the apparent results of the mission. "Lord Rasa had his other two children spar with Gaara after he woke up. It was pretty brutal."
He had done so supposedly to test if Ken's seal continued to function so well while under stress. He had also commented outside the childrens' hearing that he wanted to ensure that the seal did not cut Gaara off from the powers of the Tanuki, such as its chakra and control over sand.
It had been fun to watch the kids fight. Temari wielded an iron war fan that she used as a conduit for Wind Release, her skills mainly relegated to gusts to buffet opponents, but Baki had assured the Leaf nin with a mischievous grin that he would be working on her cutting-style techniques soon enough.
Kankuro had displayed his talents with Sunagakure Puppetry, using basic training puppets that resembled wood-and-steel mannequins to attack from a distance. Both Leaf ninjas had heard stories of the Hidden Sand's famed Puppet Brigade, a force of elite shinobi puppeteers whose skill with trap-heavy puppets was said to be the best in the world. While Kankuro was not at that level, being eleven and not quite a genin, he showed remarkable dexterity with his practice puppets.
Gaara's approach to the spar had been similar to how he attacked Team TAK, with waves, streams, and shuriken of sand while he remained stationary and his sand protected him. His expression had remained as neutral as ever during the fight with no visible hint at Shukaku's influence.
"But the weirdest thing was that Lord Rasa and Baki thought it was less brutal than it would have been before the seal change. They said he was less violent and not out for blood," Tomoko said. "And I felt nothing in their internal chakra flow to indicate they were lying." She winced a bit. "It really makes you wonder what the kid was like before."
"That is not our business unless it threatens our village," Hiruzen noted. "But we can hope that the boy will be in a better mental place from here on out. And that this event will help better relations with the Hidden Sand." Lord Hiruzen continued thumbing through their written report, eyes narrow with thought as he turned everything over in his mind. When he reached the end, he pushed it all to the back of his mind and nodded to Team TAK in dismissal. Both shinobi bowed in return before leaving.
"You know, I kind of wish we could have brought Naruto with us," Tomoko commented. "It might have been good for both of them to know they were not alone in their 'village roles'."
"Your uncle never would have gone for that," Ken reasoned. "Except maybe with a whole team of ANBU with us. And that would have given the wrong impression in a diplomatic mission."
"True enough," Tomoko conceded. "But it still would have been good for them both."
Ken thought over Tomoko's words as they walked. "Should I tell Naruto about Gaara, though?" Ken asked. Tomoko glanced at him curiously. "I mean, maybe it would be good for him to know that there are others like him. I mean, I only know about Gaara for sure, but … I've heard stories about other jinchuriki. Maybe I should tell him about them. And maybe even what I know of the other Tailed Beasts."
"That's not a bad idea," Tomoko said with a smile.
The pair continued to discuss the mission as they made their way to Ichiraku Ramen. With Naruo and Karin still in the Academy for the day, Ken could get his own ramen fix without Naruto pestering him. But as he held the curtain to the ramen stand aside for Tomoko to enter, they stopped at the sight of a familiar face.
"Ken, Tomoko," Kaori said warmly as she snapped the chopsticks for her noodles. "Welcome home. I do hope your mission was fruitful."
"It was, actually," Tomoko said with a smile, taking a seat next to the Uzumaki mother while Ken decided to take her other side.
"And how have you and the kids been since we left?" Ken asked, gesturing to Teuchi for his and Tomoko's usual orders. Being a frequent customer had its perks.
"It's been fine," Kaori replied. "Naruto had another playdate with little Hinata, and he invited her to his next meetup with Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru." Kaori giggled. "I thought the girl might pass out, but she agreed to it with the most adorable little smile." Ken traded an aware smile with Tomoko at that. "I also passed my final exam for my preliminary medical ninjutsu course," Kaori added lightly.
"Really?" Both Ken and Tomoko looked up at Teuchi's exclamation. "Congratulations, Mrs. Kaori." He rubbed his chin before smiling a bit wider. "You know what? Your first bowl is on the house to celebrate."
"Only the first?" Ken asked.
"Oh, ho, ho," Teuchi chuckled. "I have long learned my lesson. If Naruto is any indication, you Uzumaki would eat me out of house and home if I give you the chance."
"Guilty," Kaori and Ken said in unison. Ayame took that moment to appear with Team TAK's orders, and the two of them snapped their chopsticks and said "Itatakimas" before digging in in near-perfect unison.
"Well," Kaori said, her bowl empty as she stood up with her purse, "I need to get to the market before I head back to the house. Ken," she patted his shoulder, "I'll see you there." She glanced at Tomoko. "Ms. Sarutobi, a pleasure as always."
"Good day, Mrs. Uzumaki," Teuchi said from the kitchen door.
"And you too, Mr. Teuchi," Kaori said with a faint wave and warm smile. As she left, Tomoko glanced between the curtain and the ramen chef with pursed lips before a wicked smile quirked her lips and she giggled into her fingertips.
"Wha's f'nny?" Ken asked through a mouthful of noodles.
"Nothing," Tomoko replied as she strung up a serving of her dish. "… Yet."
"Winner: Karin Uzumaki!"
Karin huffed out a breath of relief and untied the blindfold from over her eyes. Ken had suggested trying to spar using only her mind's eye a few weeks ago and she had been trying to take his advice. It was nice to know this new approach was seeing results. "I'm good to go one more time," Karin announced.
"Very well," the instructor conceded. "Does anyone volunteer to spar with Karin?"
"I will."
Karin paled ever so slightly at the sound of a cool voice everyone in the class was familiar with. The top student of the class stepped forward, the one and only Neji Hyuga. With his beige jacket and brown pants, and that headband he was never seen without, he stood before her with his usual chill confidence. But she felt something different this time. Like he was … assessing her?
Karin shook it off and took on her Uzumaki-style stance. At the instructor's command, they both formed the seal of confrontation. "Hajime! Fight!"
Neji's eyes hardened and the veins around his temples stook stark before he lunged forward with terrifying speed. Or terrifying for a cadet, at least. But Karin had been training with Cousin Ken, who was no slouch in speed himself and a chunin besides — for her it was merely shocking. She sidestepped out of the way of his palm strike, instinctively opening her mind's eye just enough to perceive the shroud of chakra around his hand that would have cut off her tenketsu.
She backtracked a bit and tried keeping her mind's eye partly open to sense his chakra without losing sight of him. But dodging another series of palm strikes by a hair's breadth showed that she'd need way more practice before using that in any real situation.
Karin's breathing was starting to become haggard as she struggled to stay out of Neji's range. She hadn't been struck yet, which was no small thing, but she knew she was closing in on a mistake, a misstep, a twitch in the wrong direction that would spell a nasty attack to her insides. She knew the basics of the Gentle Fist from Cousin Ken and his friend Tomoko from when she'd asked during one of Naruto's play dates with little Hinata. And a single palm strike could-
Wait a minute …! An idea suddenly struck her and she decided to take a gamble. When Neji lunged at her, palm forward, Karin evaded just enough to avoid contact before grabbing his wrist and holding on for dear life. And before she had even secured her grip she was moving to take his other wrist and immobilize his arms. He pulled back but she stood her ground and kept him both from escaping and from drawing closer.
"You think you've got me, Uzumaki," Neji said, a sneer in his tone behind his stoic facade. "Now what?"
Karin narrowed her eyes before jerking backward and pulling against his wrists. He stepped forward to compensate … but that's what she was hoping for. As he stepped forward, she switched her body's momentum but kept pulling and dragged him closer, even as she struck with her forehead and smashed it into his nose. Neji grunted and his lips twisted with anger … and then Karin cried out in pain as her hands seemed to catch fire! She jerked backward and looked at them, swelling and reddening as if burned. A quick glance with her mind's eye showed foreign chakra in her system. How did-?
That brief distraction left more than enough of an opening for Neji to close the distance and jab at eight of her chakra points that left major muscles contracting and aching to send her crashing to the ground with a pained groan.
The instructor winced and sighed. "Winner: Neji Hyuga," she announced before rushing to check on Karin. She gave Neji's bleeding nose a cursory glance before her hands began to glow with the Mystical Palm Technique, which she brushed over Neji's nose to fix it up before kneeling to address Karin. Her hands still glowing, she gently pressed them over the points Neji had struck to clear the foreign chakra from her system and mend the damage to her muscles.
Karin grunted and rolled onto her back, then rose into a sitting position. She carefully pushed the instructor's hand away and stook shakily to her feet. "I'll be alright, ma'am," she assured. "I'm an Uzumaki. We heal fast." Karin grimaced and formed the seal of reconciliation, through her body language made it seem more a challenge than anything.
Neji narrowed his eyes and returned the hand sign, nodding with something almost like respect. Then he winced as Rock Lee challenged him to a spar for his "unbecoming" ferocity in an Academy match. As Karin returned to the line and prepared to watch the match with a critical eye — perhaps she would find a flaw in the famed Gentle Fist that she could exploit — a single thought remained at the front of her mind.
How was gentle little Hinata related to that piece of work?
In another part of the Academy, Naruto drummed his fingers as the school day drew to a close. Given it was Friday, and it was almost the end of the year, Instructor Iruka had given the class time for small talk at the end of the day and Naruto was keeping to himself for once as he worked up the nerve to ask someone for a favor.
Naruto had a small wallet-sized photo of him and his new clan, taken for them all to have a reminder of their family wherever they went. Naruto and Karin were in the bottom, Karin laughing as Naruto smushed their faces together for the camera with his trademark toothy grin that was as real as could be. Ken and Kaori were in the top of the frame with wide smiles of their own.
But Naruto was less concerned with how happy he remembered being and more with the one thing that looked out of place in the photo: his blond hair. Ken, Karin and Kaori all had vibrant red hair that Ken had mentioned in passing was common and well-known for the Uzumaki clan. Naruto himself had apparently gotten his golden locks from his still-unnamed father.
As the last bell finally rung and everyone began heading for the door, Naruto nodded to himself and ran to catch up with his target. "Hey, Ino!" he shouted, drawing his fellow blonde's attention. Naruto slowed down and checked his pocket to make sure he still had it. "You know everything about fashion and junk, right?" he asked.
Ino preened a bit at the question. "Pretty much, yeah," she said with no small amount of pride. "Why?"
Naruto removed his hand from his pocket to show them something he had forgotten about until recently. Something Tomoko had given him at the end of his first birthday party. "I need a favor."
In the center of an unclaimed territory to the far west, nestled between the Lands of Earth, Sand, and Rocks, a massive mountain sat with remote stolidity. The slope was gentle for quite some distance, then sharply rose into a cone that touched the sky. And while all of the mountain was lush and full of plants and animals, all humans knew to avoid it.
For this was the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers. The homeland and demesden of the monkey tribe.
A river raged downward from the upper peaks and cut through its path around and down the mountain until falling down and away onto the gentler slope of the base. Behind this waterfall lay the entrance to a cave, the Water Curtain Cave, and past it lay a truly massive cavern filled for a few hours a day with sunlight from the hollow mountaintop, otherwise lit by glowing crystals that permeated the cave walls.
In this cave, past an iron bridge that crossed another smaller river that flowed from the interior of the peak, sat a massive stone manor that housed the tribe. The cave was otherwise as lush and covered in greenery as the mountain outside, natural orchards dotting the cave floor and tall grasses growing between them all and the land dotted with massive boulders and slabs of stone that had lain there for centuries like pieces in a humongous rock garden.
Along the banks of the gentler river that flowed across the cave before tumbling out and merging with the waterfall of the mountain strode the famed and respected Enma, King of the Monkeys. The largest and strongest of his people, he stood at a massive height for a monkey and bore a powerful muscular build, clad in his tiger-skin sleeveless kimono trimmed with white fur that matched his own, over a black bodysuit and mesh armor. A Konohagakure headband sat on his brow in respect to his dear friend Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the tribe's close relationship to the Sarutobi clan.
Beside the monkey king ambled Sir Yama, one of Enma's oldest friends and most trusted lieutenants.
"The little one tells me the youngest Uzumaki is progressing quite well under his elder cousin's tutelage," Yama reported. "Though Ken has decided to hold off on the training, I have a feeling that Naruto will make a fine jinchuriki."
Enma hummed in thought, the sound more like a growl. The duo turned away from the river and began crossing to the walls of the cavern as the rest of the tribe awoke and began to go about their day with training, cultivation of their crops, and any number of artistic pursuits. The better part of an hour's walk brought them to a set of steps carved into the stone that in turn led to a smaller recess in the farside of the cavern, one that had been shorn away by massive nails and melted smooth by tremendous heat. A bed of scorched earth lay in the back of the recess and little else.
Yama and Enma remained respectfully silent before this place, the home of an ally of the tribe that they had been unable to save many years before.
Enma and Yama left before they spoke again. "Hiruzen has said much the same," Enma picked up from their conversation long before. "I trust his judgment for the most part — at the very least I am certain that he and the Sarutobi would never lie to me or to us — but Hiruzen has grown old and made … less than rational decisions in the past." Neither had to say the wretched name "Orochimaru" out loud. "It is pleasing to have another set of eyes on the matter that could free our lost brother."
As they spoke, they passed a massive carving of a huge simian creature bellowing flames, a crown of horns at its brow and four small tails at its back.
"Don't worry, my king," Yama said with a smile as he pictured Tomoko with the Uzumaki clan. "I have a feeling everything will work out."
"So, how's it look?" Naruto asked as he removed an old towel from his head.
Ino and her mother blinked with no expression before Ino smirked and Natsumi smiled proudly with a faint nod. "You look quite dashing, Naruto," she complimented primly. "If I do say so myself."
"Darn right he looks good," Ino said, crossing her arms with a full-on grin. "We did all the work!"
The familiar tinkling of the Yamanaka Flower Shop's door chime rang through the store, and Natsumi held up a hand seal to focus her chakra sense. "It seems Ken has arrived," she noted.
In the storefront, Ken was tapping his foot as he waited. He'd been surprised when Naruto had met him outside the Academy to tell him he'd be hanging out with Ino at her parents' flower shop. Good-surprised, as he was happy to hear that Naruto was earning himself more and more friends.
"Good evening, Ken," Natsumi said, strolling into the storefront.
"Lady Natsumi," he greeted. Despite meeting her several times, and having been officially named a clan head, he couldn't stop himself from referring to his new … peers … by their titles. Natsumi elegantly rolled her eyes at the title and moved aside to reveal her daughter and … his ward.
"Naruto?" Ken asked in shock at his appearance.
In place of his golden spikes that were synonymous with his own "Naruto-ness," Naruto's hair fell into smaller, narrower spikes that were now a dark carmine-red hue. The effect contrasted his sapphire eyes and complimented his tanner-then-typical Uzumaki skin tone.
"Hey, Cousin Ken," Naruto said with a nervous smile. "Wh-what, uh … What do you think?"
Ken blinked and remained silent as he processed what he was seeing. "Naruto," he asked without a hint of emotion in his voice, "what happened?"
Naruto chuckled nervously, a little worried at his reaction, or lack thereof. "Um, well, Tomo may have given me this at my birthday party," he held up the small bottle he'd received — a bottle of red hair dye, "and I honestly forgot about it for a while and then I remembered and I thought, 'Y'know, every Uzuamki has red hair but me.' And then I thought I'd, um, fix that …?"
Ken remained still for a moment before he crossed the distance between them and settled into a crouch to be eye-level with Naruto. "There's nothing to fix, Naruto," he said firmly, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Naruto, you don't have to have red hair to be an Uzuamki. Lady Tsunade is the granddaughter of Lady Mito and she has hair even lighter blonde than yours." His grip tightened. "You are an Uzuamki through and through, Cousin. Never doubt that."
Naruto's eyes were shining as he launched himself at Ken in a powerful hug. "Thanks, Cousin Ken," he whispered into Ken's shoulder.
"You're welcome, kiddo," he said with a smile. He drew Naruto away and narrowed his eyes at the boy's hair. "I'm guessing this is permanent?" he asked.
"Until his hair grows back out, yes," Natsumi confirmed.
"So do you like it or not?" Ino demanded, her hands on her hips. "'Cause we worked real hard on it!"
Ken laughed and stood up. "I don't dislike it at all," Ken admitted. "I think it makes you look quite distinguished." Ken's smile faltered as another thought crossed his mind. Naruto's natural blond hair had been inherited from his father, Minato Namikaze. And judging by the colored painting and photographs he'd seen of the late Lord Fourth, Naruto was shaping up to look even more like a miniature carbon copy of the Yellow Flash. But with his hair like this, he had to admit that the resemblance was blurred quite a bit.
"I'll tell you what, Naruto," he said. "I'll leave it up to you. You'll have about six or seven weeks before your roots become really noticeable, and I'll let you decide whether you keep up the dye or let your blond hair grow out again." He ruffled the newly-carmine locks. "Whatever you pick, I'll support it."
Naruto smiled with stars in his eyes. "Thanks, Cuz!" He hugged Ken's waist. "You're the best!"
"Yeah, yeah," Ken groused. "Ladies, thank you for looking after him."
"It was our pleasure, Ken," Natsumi said.
"Yeah, Naruto's kinda cool sometimes," Ino said with a shrug. "At least he's fun."
"I knew you liked me," Naruto teased, pointing accusingly at Ino with a wide grin. "I'll see ya at school." He turned to Natsumi with a half-bow. "Bye Lady Natsumi! Thanks for the help."
"Any time, Naruto," she smiled before ushering them out the door.
"C'mon, kiddo," Ken said as they left, "let's go show Kaori and Karin you new look." Naruto's cheers faded down the street and Natsumi closed the shop door to return to work.
"Hey, Mom?" Ino asked, suddenly looking very serious.
"Yes, dear?" Natsumi asked as she began sorting through seedlings in small paper cups for repotting.
"You seemed really eager to help dye Naruto's hair," Ino noted. "What's up with that?"
Natsumi took a moment to collect her thoughts and weave a small half-truth. The genuine reason had been much along the lines of Ken's observations about Naruto's resemblance to his father, a fact that Natsumi was very much aware of. But Naruto's parentage was still an S-class secret of the village, and telling Ino would be violating her oath as a Konoha shinobi. And so … "Well, honey, I've always enjoyed working with hair. Many of my schoolmates said that I should have become a hairdresser after I retired from active service."
"So why the flower shop?" she asked.
"Your father loves flowers, and so do I," she explained, in all honesty. "We planned for some time to open a business when I retired and your father does not care for hair care." She chuckled. "At least not others' hair care. He puts quite a bit of effort into his own for a man. And so we compromised on something we would both enjoy."
Ino mulled her mother's story over. Something wasn't sitting right with all of this, but she knew for a fact that her mother was far too canny to fall for any of her attempts to weasel it out of her. And so, for now, she decided to let it go. "Cool," she said with a small smile. "Do you need any help around here, or would you mind if I visited Sakura?"
Natsumi lifted an eyebrow, the gears in her mind turning. Her daughter was suspicious. "Go ahead and play with Sakura," she decided. "I have things covered." Ino smiled and hugged her mom before leaving the shop.
Natsumi pursed her lips as her daughter left, wondering if she had made a mistake.
Chapter Thirty-Four is here!
*Neji burning Karin's hands with chakra is something I came up with myself. The Hyuga have a second kekki genkai that allows them to expel chakra from every release point on their body at once, facilitating the Heavenly Spin and One-Body Blow. Neji used it as an indirect Gentle fist strike.
*And we finally see the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers! I've been eager to share this facet of the story for some time. I based it as heavily on "Journey to the West" as I could, placing it to the far left of the map of Narutoverse's geography.
*The idea of Natsumi and the other clan leaders and their spouses knowing about Naruto makes sense to me. Call it fanon.
As always, I hope you enjoyed this! Leave a review - they always make me happy!