A/N: Yo! Sorry I'm late! I got lost on the road known as life...
Readers: LIAR!
Ahem, anyways... No real notes to put here apart from answers to questions/reviews. Oh and I finally figured I have to go to my registered email address to find my PMs! Sorry for not answering to all you people before, I thought FF would have some sort of pop up box with 'YOU GOT MAIL' or somesuch. Also, I stupidly forgot that Hotaru was a ninjutsu and taijutsu user, not just ninjutsu, so I've updated the bio with the info plus some of her taijutsu moves. Also, she doesn't just specialise in normal taijutsu, let's just say that. BTW, I found out what a badger and a weazel call their young. Seriously, you think with the power of the english language, they could come up with something other than 'kit' for both of them. Also, I found out that 'cub' is what a shark calls it's young. Anywho, Reviews/Questions:
Katana Haibane: ARG! I would say I hate you, but I could never hate a reader/fan. You have found my one and only weakness in writing creative literature. My inability to describe things. That was pretty much the only thing that stopped me getting 90 percent or above for my english HSC (aussie equivalent of the Finals) I appologise profusely for my complete inability to put what I see in my mind's eye into words, but I'm almost unable to do it. I could do it, however I would have to review each chapter 10 plus times to make sure I did it right. Basically, how it happens is that my fingers are typing almost non stop until I finish the chapter, so I get what most people would call the bare skeleton down. However, my 'bare skeleton' would be considered by most to be very close to a final copy. I do it so fast because I know if I stop for any length of time to try and describe what I picture in my mind I will lose the flow of the plot, meaning I have to improvise, which all my teachers have said is really bad, even by the average student's standards. All thought my acedemic life, my teachers have always said I lack the ability to describe things. However, recently, I've been trying a new method that I'm surprised didn't come to me earlier. What I do is I do my bare bones, and then go back and describe what I imagined in my mind when I was writing it. The only problem is that last time I tried this, I ended up changing huge chunks of the story, meaning I ended up with one of my sub par creations of literature. However, I think I can fix that with some restraint. I'm almost tempted to get a beta reader, however if I do, I will chose one myself. Damn, sometimes being Ino, Itachi or Kakashi would be useful. (some sort of mind transfer jutsu or Tsukiyomi would be immensly helpful.) Oh and as for everyone hating Gara, if I remember the manga right, when Naruto went to save Gaara, not only did the younger generation love him, and the older ones at least tolerate him, but he actually had a fan club much like one Uchiha Sasuke (not sure about the last one but the first two were definates). In my mind, the Akatsuki attack in my story went exactly like in the manga, however there were two differences. 1: Akatsuki was forced to retreat. 2: It happened almost 2 years earlier than the manga. The actual battle apart from Gaara being knocked unconcious was identical, even Deidra dropping the massive clay bomb onto the village, only to have Gaara send his sand to form a giant shield over the village. I guess the villagers realised that if Gaara would have still been the bloodlusting psychopath he used to be, he would have let the bomb hit the village. Also, Gaara told the village that it was thanks to one Uzumaki Naruto that he had 'seen the light' that meant that you could only become strong when protecting your precious ones, and not when fighting to love only yourself. So the villagers essentially had to thank Naruto for their Godaime Kazekage. As for Gaara's appearances, you guessed exactly what I was going to do. Oh and sorry for spelling your name wrong. Also, as the bios said, they only show their trademark and known techniques, which means that those are the jutsus they are most known for and also what they have been seen to use before, it however, does not mean that is all of their jutsus. I don't include basic stuff like henge, kawarmi etc. Also, since they're demon containers, once they use their dead demon seals (or demonic gates in Naruto's case) they use chakra to form attacks that don't have names, however, they're still damn powerful. Hope this answeres your questions.
SABOTH: O.O You seriously think my story's better than the anime and manga? Wow. I'm touched. I really am. I don't know what to say... Um... Thanks? (slash lame (sorry, it's an obscure World of Warcraft reference. Whenever I say slash something, I mean it like this /lame... I really hope that backslash appeared before lame)) I really don't know what to say... I've never had such words said to me before... as Lee and Gai would say at about this time: MY SPIRIT OF YOUTH BURNS BRIGHTLY... or something...
MoOn-ShInE-LoRd: He he he. I'm so evil. So you want answers? I'll answer the four possible options you gave me:
A: Incorrect.
B: Incorrect.
C: Incorrect.
D: Incorrect.
OOOOOOOOO! I bet you're curious as to how this is going to pan out now, eh? I think you need to get that Sharingan of yours checked. I'm not going to spoil it, but I think what will come to pass is most logical and believable to everyone... Except gay people. (Sorry, I have nothing against homosexuals, I was using a line from Bonus Stage from another one of my heros, Joel. He seems to have a thing against homosexuals though. Apart from that, he's awesome.) Oh and please don't get the idea that you or anyone can just guess until you get it right. Essentially, you just used up everyone's guesses. Sorry, but you'll have to wait and see.
God in a box: Well thank you for that review, much appreciated. You answered a lot of questions I've been trying to find out for a while now, so thanks mate. I hope you do keep reading it, thanks for all the pointers and stuff.
Rokudaime quote for this chapter (OH NOES! I forgot one last chapter...): NARUTO: hugs Gaara MY FWIEND! GAARA: o.o!
Also if you want to know where Fujin and Raijin came from, there's a small part of the filler ark where Mizuki. Mizuki had two acomlices, the legendary stupid brothers, Fujin and Raijiun. They were, as Naruto called them, a few noodles short or a ramen bowl, however, as strong a a sannin.
As always, I hope my creativity gives you some semblance of pleasure too read. (I'm gonna REALLY try this chapter to take Katana Haibane's point on board. Coming from a fan meant so much more than coming from a teacher.)
Legend:
'...Thoughts...'
"...Speaking..."
"...TWO PEOPLE CASTING THE SAME JUTSU..."
'...Biju Thoughts...'
"...Biju Talking..."
&&&&&&&&&...Scene Change...&&&&&&&&&&
A Tail of Two Bijus:
Chapter 20:
Lead up to Doomsday:
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3 Weeks Later, Out the Front of Suna:
It was 5 am in the morning on the 3rd of July. The morning sun was threatening to spill it's light over the desert surrounding Suna any at moment. There was no wind or storms, making for the perfect opportunity to leave. The group had decided a policy of mimimum fuss was best, so only those closest to the four demon containers were allowed to see them off. This consisted mainly of Baki, Temari, Kankuro and the blacksmith. Although the smith wasn't close to them, he still was required to give Sora her swords. The smith approached Sora.
"I'm sorry for taking so long. Please inspect the swords to see if they are to your liking."
Sora smiled and accepted the swords from the smith. The swords were wrapped in a silk bag, as was customary when blacksmiths handed swords to their owner after forging them. Sora carefully undid the string that held the bags closed and pulled the swords out of their bags. The swords were in scabards. Unlike traditional Japanese swords however, these swords were perfectly straight, not curved. Sora looked over the beautifully decorated scabards. Raijin was held in a mainly black scabard with intricate gold designs etched into the sides. Fujin's scabbard was a mirror image of Raijin's. Sora unsheathed Raijin slowly. The sword's blade was silverish with a hint of blue from the platinum in it. Sora pointed the sword away from everyone and conerntraited a small amount of her demonic chakra into it. The blade began to crackle with electricity, Sora held the sword up in the air, whispering the name of her technique.
"Raiton: Raizou Ikazuchi wo utte!"
The electricity around the sword began to leave the sword, forming an arc. Like a dragon rearing it's head, the arc's end came up and shot towards a lone tree nearby. When the lightening hit the tree, the general vicinity around the tree exploded and vaporised. Once the smoke cleared, there was a small crater, of which, the base had turned to glass. Sora beamed.
"Perfect. I won't test Fujin here, because I think calling forth a vicious thunder storm will make Suna think something is up, but I have no doubts it will work just as flawlessly as Raijin did. Good job."
The smith bowed and smiled, his face forming smile wrinkles showing his age.
"Thank you for your kind words. I wish you all the best of luck on your journey."
With that, the smith made his way back inside Suna. Sora sheathed Raijin and attached it and Fujin to her belt. She turned back to her friends as they were talking to Gaara's siblings and Sensei. Baki spoke up.
"As much as the people of Suna want you to stay, Gaara, I think it would be good for you to go out and experience what the world has to offer. The only request I will make is that you bring yourself home safe."
Gaara nodded.
"I will make sure I do, Sensei. Please make sure that Kankuro and Temari do their jobs properly."
Baki smiled and nodded. Temari turned to Naruto.
"Naruto. I want you to take care of our little brother. If he gets hurt, you'll wish your journey never ended, because when you get back here, I will tourture you in ways that will leave you begging for mercy."
Naruto laughed and smiled.
"With the four of us watching his back, he'll be fine. No need to worry."
Kankuro decided to say something to his little brother.
"Hey Gaara. I hope by the time you come back these guys will have brought you out of your shell somewhat."
Gaara was puzzled by this, and tilted his head to the side in what was getting to be a very familiar manner.
"Shell?"
Kankuro face faulted. He quickly recovered though and smiled.
"Yeah. I hope by the time you come back, you won't be so reserved in showing your emotions."
Gaara nodded. Temair decided to try something that not so long ago, she wouldn't have dared to do. She approached Gaara and put her arms around him. Gaara stiffend slightly, before he instinctivly wrapped his arms around his sister. Temari wispered so only he could hear.
"Be safe, brother. I expect you to come back from your journey with a girl you like."
Gaara litterally went OO Temari let go of Gaara and smiled. With everything out of the way that needed to be said, the four Jinchuriki faced the others and smiled. Finally, Jiraiya called to the four of them.
"Ok guys, let's go!"
The four of them waved and turned towards where Jiraiya was and began walking. Baki and his other two students waved until the other five were out of sight. Once they lost sight of Suna, Naruto walked up beside Jiraiya.
"Neh, Ero-Sennin?"
"What is it?"
"Where are we going to go next?"
Jiraiya thought for a moment.
"We're going to the edge of the Fire Country."
"Eh? Why?"
Jiraiya sighed.
"I want to be as far away from civilization as possible when your seals break."
Naruto smiled sadly. Yukiko who was next to him put his arm around Naruto, and kissed him lightly. Naruto pulled out of the kiss and hugged his girlfriend. They broke the hug and ran to catch up with the rest of them. Jiraiya turned to his charges.
"I want to try and make it as close to the Fire Country as possible, if not be at it's borders by nightfall."
The others nodded and sped up. To make it to the borders by nightfall, they would have to step on the gas. Jiraiya was thinking the same thing as he increased his speed dramatically. The four children had no trouble keeping up as the surrounding desert sped past them in a yellowish blur.
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At Nightfall, at the edge of the Wind and Fire Country Border:
It was twilight when the five of them caught sight of the Fire Country's border. They sped up. Just as the reached the Fire Country and entered the forest. After a while, Jiraiya stopped, and turned to Yukiko and nodded.
Yukiko formed some quick hand seals and slammed her palm into the ground.
"Mokuton: Shichuka no Jutsu!"
The ground began to rumble and split apart. Everyone could see roots of trees churning and forming some sort of structure just below the ground, before the structure in question shot out of the ground. A very elaborate wooden house rose into view. It was a two story pagoda. The entire house was made out of very earthy colours, mainly dark brown and yellowish brown. Everyone walked inside and noticed that although this house lacked the bare utilities, like running water, a toilet and electricity, it sure as hell beat sleeping outside. Yukiko took Naruto's arm and began walking towards the stairs that led to the second level. She turned back to the others.
"We're going to go get our room. The other rooms are next to ours, so when you're ready just go and pick one."
The others nodded and decided to follow the couple upstairs to get a room for themselves. Yukiko walked along the corridor and stopped outside a room roughly in the middle of the others. Yukiko pushed open the door. Inside, there was no funiture, not even a bed. Yukiko walked in and unpacked her half of the giant sleeping bag. When they came to Suna, they decided that one of the regular sized sleeping bags wasn't really big enough for them, so they bought an industrial sized sleeping bag. Naruto removed his half of the giant sleeping bag, and attached the zipper to the end of Yukiko's sleeping bag and proceeded to zip it up. Once they had done that, they put the sleeping bag on the ground and walked back outside the room. Naruto went to Gaara's and Jiraiya's room and told them he was going to go get some food. They both acknowledged him and continued their unpacking. Yukiko did the same thing to Sora, and they both went back down the stairs and bit their thumbs, drawing blood and went through the hand seals.
"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"
Naruto had summoned three white one tailed kitsunes, and Yukiko had summoned two one tailed black cats. The five summoned animals sat on their haunches, waiting for their orders. Naruto directed his kitsunes to go and find some food. Yukiko told her cats to do the same. The others came downstairs to see what was going to be for dinner. Naruto and Yukiko once again bit their thumbs and summoned more creatures. However, this time they summoned only one each. Naruto and Yukiko directed them to find a source of fresh water for drinking. The two animals darted outside the house and split off to search. After that, everyone just sit in silence, none of them wanting to talk about their two best friend's impending doom. Jiraiya finally spoke his mind.
"Naruto, Yukiko, as much as it pains me to say this, we cannot afford to have Kyubi and Nibi roaming the world again. If it comes to it, I will have to kill you before they are released-"
Jiraiya did not even get to finish his sentence as he was slammed up against the wall by a wave of Gaara's sand, which held him in place by forming shackles and Sora pointed one of her swords at Jiraiya, which was crackling with a large amount of electricity. Both of them looked like they were ready to kill Jiraiya without second though if he so much as uttered another word. Gaara spoke first.
"I don't care if you're one of Konoha's legendary Sannin. If you ever DARE threaten my best friends like that again, not only will I kill you, I will nullify the peace contract between Konoha and Suna. As the Kazekage, it is well within my power."
Sora hissed.
"How could you ever even CONSIDER that? I've lost all of the little amount of respect I had for you Jiraiya. Like Gaara, if you so much as lay a finger on them, I will kill you."
Jiraiya gulped. He may be a Sannin, but he couldn't take on these four and expect to live. He sighed and slumped his shoulders in defeat.
"You two really have no idea what a loose demon lord can do, however, even I couldn't beat the four of you if you were to come at me."
Naruto smiled sadly and spoke up.
"Gaara, Sora, thanks for helping us, but I'd rather let Ero-Sennin kill us than let Kyubi and Nibi free again."
Sora turned and walked over to Naruto and pulled him off the ground by the collar.
"Do you seriously think it would be ok if you died? Did you even stop to think of what your friends back home would feel if you were killed? Or us for that matter? Naruto, you're one of the three or four other people left in this world who knows the pain we went though. If you even consider letting Jiraiya kill you, I'll electrocute you until your jumbled brain gets a kick start and begins to think rationally, do you hear me?"
Naruto smiled sadly and nodded. Sora put Naruto back onto the ground gently and hugged him.
"Naruto, I'm BEGGING you to try and live. Please try... For us, ok?"
Naruto smiled a genuine smile and nodded. At that point, a slight thump was heard and everyone looked at Naruto's feet to see one of the kitsune's sitting on it's haunches with a rabbit infront of it, waiting for some sort of acknowledgement or praise. Naruto smiled and bent down, giving the Kitsune a scratch between the ears, which the kitsune purred at. Naruto praised the kit.
"Good job. Take the night off."
The kitsune gave a yip and dissapeared in a puff of smoke. With a few minutes in between each one, a stream of cats and kitsunes came in with food. Naruto and Yukiko repeated the proccess that Naruto had with the first Kitsune. Now all they had to do was wait for the cat and kitsune who were sent to seach for water. The kitsune came in first and tugged at Naruto's pants leg, indicating he wanted Naruto to follow. Naruto smiled and turned to Jiraiya.
"Ero-Sennin, I want you to go fill up the water."
Jiraiya looked at Naruto in interest.
"Since when did I start taking orders from you, Naruto?"
"It's not an order, it's a request. I want to have a talk with Sora, Gaara and Yukiko-Chan without you around."
Jiraiya sighed and took everyon'es canteens before following the kitsune to the source of water that it had found. Naruto made sure he couldn't sense Jiraiya before he turned back to the others with a deadly serious look on his face.
"Guys, I know I was willing to die before, but Sora reminded me of those that really care about me. I want you both of you to make a promise to Yukiko-Chan and myself."
The others nodded to show they would.
"If Ero-Sennin tries to kill us, I want you to restrain him. Not kill him, but restrain him until the seals break. Will you do this for us?"
Sora answerd first.
"Naruto I'm not going to promise you that."
Naruto and Yukiko looked at her in horror until she smiled.
"Even if you hadn't asked us to do it, I would have done it anyway. The only difference from what I would have done is I would have killed him, however I know how much he means to you, so I'm just going to modify what my original intention was slightly. I'll let him live, however, he will find himnself in desperate need of medical attention if he tries something."
Gaara nodded in agreement.
"I was thinking exactly the same thing. Naruto, Yukiko, we won't let him harm you in any way. Both of you have taught me so much, yet I have a feeling I can learn so much more from you. I'm not going to let either of you die."
Naruto let a stray tear run down his cheek before he jumped at Gaara and Sora and hugged them. Yukiko quicky did the same and joined the group hug. Gaara still wasn't quite used to the idea of hugging, but he quickly put his arms around Naruto and Yukiko. Sora had put her arms around them as soon as they had embraced her. Naruto broke away quickly, causing the others to look at him questioningly. Naruto put a finger to his lips and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. They knew what this meant, and so they all sat in a circle, and looked up when the felt Jiraiya enter the room. Jiraiya handed the bottles of water to them and then took the food the kitsunes and cats had caught outside. The others followed him and collected kindling to start a fire. Once they had collected enough, they placed the twigs in a pyramid shaped structure. Naruto formed a few hand seals and announced his technique.
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"
Naruto shot out a single small fireball at the twigs, which burst into flames the moment the ball of fire came into contact with them. Jiraiya came from out of the bushes holding several sticks that had been used as skewers for the rabbits. He put them over the fire and watched them slowly cook. When they were ready, each of them grabbed one and began to eat. At various points throught the meal, one person or another stopped to take a swig of their water. After they finished their meal, Yukiko stood up and faced the fire. She took a deep breath in and spat out a small ball of water, which put the fire out instantly. The five of them walked back into the house and climbed the stairs to get to their rooms to turn in for the night. Gaara lightly put his hand on Sora's shoulder indiciating he wanted her to wait. Sora turned around and looked at him seriously, knowing what this was going to be about.
"How do you propose to protect them during the night, Gaara?"
Gaara had been thinking about this all night, and he had come up with serveral solutions.
"Either one of us watches them for a night while the other sleeps, or we can take it in shifts of half a night each. My room is inbetween Jiraiya's and Naruto and Yukiko's room. I'll watch them for tonight if you want."
Sora however, had come up with an idea that would be able to let them both sleep.
"What if we create a bunshin each and have them keep watch? We'll both be able to sleep, and if they spot anything that goes wrong, or if Jiraiya attacks them, we'll know instantly."
Gaara nodded.
"A bunshin each it is. We probably should station them on either side of Naruto and Yukiko's door. If we post them outside Jiraiya's room, he'll figure it out soon enough."
Sora nodded in agreement and they both made a single hand seal. A puff of smoke appeared next to Sora while the sand in Gaara's gourd began forming a suna bunshin next to him. Both of the bunshins took up position either side of the couple's door, while the real Gaara and Sora turned in for the night.
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7 am, the Next Morning:
The next morning, everyone seemed to have made the unconcious decision to wake up late. Yukiko was the first to stir. She was half awake, however, she pushed herself into Naruto harder, trying to enjoy the feeling of hearing his heart beat and share his body warmth. This however, woke Naruto up. He groaned and opened his eyes to see Yukiko snuggled up against him. He sighed contently, and ran a hand softly through her hair. Yukiko looked up and smiled at Naruto before claiming her first kiss of the day.
"Good morning, Naruto-Kun."
"Good morning, Yukiko-Chan."
With that said, they just held each other for several minutes before getting a knock on the door. Naruto grumbled and slowly got out to see who it was. Yukiko pouted at him, but let him go. When Naruto opened the door, he saw two very tired looking bunshins. The Sora bunshin spoke first.
"Morning, Naruto. Since you're awake that means our job is done."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Job?"
Gaara replied.
"The real versions of us told us to guard your door while you two sleep to make sure Jiraiya didn't try anything."
Naruto smiled.
"Thanks guys, it means a lot to me."
They both nodded. The Sora clone puffed into smoke and the Gaara clone turned to the colour of sand and then crumpled to the floor before the sand made it's way back across the floor and under the door to Gaara's room. Naruto turned around and closed the door, hoping to get to hold Yukiko in his arms for just a little while longer before they were forced to get up. He got back into the sleeping bag and cuddled up with Yukiko. They both felt so comfortable in that position, that they both fell back asleep. After several hours, Naruto woke up to find his hand on something. He gave a test squeeze, and found that whatever it was in his hand was very soft and had the stability of jelly. He gave another test squeeze.
'What the hell is this?'
Naruto heard the fox in the back of his mind snickering.
'Squeeze it again, kit.'
Naruto decided to follow the fox's advice, however when he squeezed it again, he heard a moan escape from Yukiko's lips. Yukiko started mumbling before a few coherent words came of her mouth.
"Naruto-Kun... It feels good..."
Naruto suddenly had a pretty good idea what went 'squish'. He immediately withdrew his hand like it was about to be severed and turned beat red. The fox was laughing so hard that he was rolling around on the floor of his cage.
'Damn you fox!'
The fox managed to supress his fit of laughter just enough to reply.
'You should have learnt by now not to trust me, kit. You had that coming.'
The fox went back to howling with laughter while Naruto felt guilty. He felt like he had just taken something from Yukiko which he had no right to take without her concent. At this point, Yukiko woke up and smiled at Naruto. She leaned in for a kiss, but found that Naruto pulled away before she could put her lips to his. She frowned.
"Naruto-Kun? Is something wrong?"
Naruto turned away from her with a pained expression on his face.
"I'm... Sorry... Yukiko-Chan..."
"What for?"
"I... Um... Well..."
Yukiko had no idea what was causing Naruto to behave like this. Needless to say, she was very worried.
"Naruto-Kun, please tell me what's wrong. I won't do anything, I promise."
Naruto looked at her and tried to gather his courage.
"Well... I um... IwassleepingandwhenIwokeupmyhandwasonyourbreastandIhadnoideawhatitwassoIsqueezeditseveraltimesandthenyoumoanedandIpulledmyhandback."
Yukiko had no idea what that string of words that were basically moulded into one meant, but based on Naruto's reaction, and that rather... Explicit dream she had that felt so realistic, she could guess what had happened. She leaned to put her mouth next to his ear so she could whisper her reply quietly to him.
"So, you touched my chest, big deal. I actually quite enjoyed it. Did you?"
Naruto's eyes buldged so wide that Yukiko was scared they'd pop out of his head. Naruto turned even redder than before. Yukiko sighed.
"Naruto-Kun, you are possibly the most pure minded man I have ever met. Even I'm not that innocent. It was bound to happen sometime, but it just happened now. Please don't be embarrased about it. I'm just glad we could try taking the relationship to the next stage before we-"
Naruto clapped his hand over her mouth, preventing her from saying the next word.
"No, we will not die before we do that. I promise you that we will both live through this, I'll find a way god damn it, no matter the price."
Yukiko shed a tear, knowing what Naruto had meant by that.
"Even if it means sacrificing you life?"
Naruto nodded slowly. Yukiko just broke down into tears. Naruto pulled her into a hug, trying to comfort her. Yukiko suddenly got very angry.
"Naruto-Kun, how could you? Did you ever stop to think that if you sacrifice your life to save me, I might end up thinking life isn't worth living without you around?"
Naruto shook his head.
"Please don't say things like that, Yukiko-Chan."
"Than don't you ever DARE suggest sacrificing your life to save me again. If you die, I'm dieing with you, and that's final. When one of us goes onto the next world, the other has to join them."
Naruto smiled sadly.
"And when we have kids, who's going to look after them if both of us are dead? Would you really want our kids to have the same childhood we did?"
The fact that Naruto had said 'when' and not 'if' melted Yukiko's heart, however, the rest of the sentence brought great sorrow to Yukiko. She really didn't want their children to go through any of the hardships she had, she'd hate herself if she put any of her children through that. Slowly, Yukiko nodded.
"Then, if we're going to have children..."
Naruto shook his head.
"Not yet. We're too young."
Yukiko nodded. However, that left her with one burning question.
"If we're not going to have children yet, then how will we survive our birthday?"
Naruto smiled.
"I have faith in my dad. I know he wouldn't do this to us without good reason."
Yukiko believed every word of it. Arashi from his letters to Naruto had seemed like the most kind hearted man apart from Naruto she had ever heard of. She hugged Naruto again and decided to start the day. She slowly untanlged herself from Naruto's arms and slid out of the bed. Naruto groaned and got up as well. They finally realised that in this room, there were no side rooms or other rooms they could get changed in. They both blushed at the thought of seeing each other naked for the first time ever, but both of them quickly dismissed the thought from their minds. Yukiko turned to Naruto.
"Ano, Naruto-Kun, I can put up a temporary dividing wall for us if you want..."
Naruto lept at the idea immediately. He may have been smarter than he was two years ago, but he still had no little clue as to the hidden meaning behind Yukiko's question. He nodded and smiled. Yukiko looked sad for a moment before forming a single hand seal and bringing up a wall in between them. Naruto, although dense wasn't completely stupid. He'd seen the look on her face and knew he had answered her question incorrectly.
'The only thing I don't get is why she didn't really want the wall there...'
His tenant sighed.
'Are you really that stupid, kit?'
'Eh? What are you talking about?'
'Think about what happened this morning and take a guess.'
Naruto thought through the rather limited number of events that took place this morning and realised what Yukiko really meant by asking that question.
'She asked me that question for my sake. She actually didn't want to put the wall up...'
'Seems you're not entirely stupid, kit.'
Naruto sighed and walked around the wall, and saw that Yukiko had pretty much completely dressed already. She looked up when she felt Naruto come around the wall. Naruto scratched the back of his head in the way that Yukiko found rather cute.
"Eh heh heh, I didn't realise what you actually meant by that question at first, Yukiko-Chan. I'm sorry, I didn't-"
Yukiko smiled and kissed Naruto to stop him trying to explain his actions. She put a finger to his lips after she pulled back.
"It's ok Naruto-Kun. Now that you've realised what I meant, it's ok."
Naruto smiled and walked back around the wall and got changed. Once he had, he came back around and smiled at Yukiko. He took her hand and led her out the door and downstairs. When they got down there, they saw a note attached to the front door.
'Naruto, Yukiko, I've taken Gaara and Sora about half a mile north of here to continue training. If you two feel up to it, join us.
Jiraiya.'
Naruto smiled and led Yukiko out the door in the direction Jiraiya had indicated. When they were almost there, they saw a huge thunderstorm appear out of nowhere and a massive lightning bolt arc down towards the earth. When they arrived at the place where the lightning bolt had stuck, they saw Sora panting, with a golden blade that could only be Fujin pointing towards the area that had been stuck. The crater was huge, at least 100 foot in diameter. Trees were blown to smitherines and smoke was rising off the crater from numerous fires that had ignited on impact from the sheer power of the thunder striking the ground. Sora turned to Naruto and Yukiko and smirked.
"How was that?"
Naruto shook his head in disbelievement.
"Wow, that was crazy. How much chakra did you use for that?"
Sora smiled.
"None."
Naruto looked at her dubiusly, so Sora explained.
"Raijin converts my demonic chakra into electricity, however, Fujin requires no chakra and I can use the lightning at will, however, the only down side is that the surrounding air pressure must be suitable to induce a storm. For example, if I had tried using this in the middle of the Wind country, I would have been lucky to form a fluffy white cloud in the sky."
Naruto still didn't get some of it.
"Suitable air pressure? What would be classified as 'suitable'?"
Sora explained.
"Basically, when a storm approaches, one of the early warning signs is a change in air pressure. Most people don't notice it or those that do usually pass it off as a 'funny feeling'. However, when I feel it, I know I can use Fujin at will."
Naruto nodded, now understanding it.
"So until then, you have to use Raijin to convert your demon's chakra into electricity?"
Sora nodded. Naruto suddenly stiffened as he sensed two chakra sources nearby sending him killer intent that were definitely not Gaara or Jiraiya. It seems that Yukiko and Sora had sensed them too. Naruto brought out Kyubi's chakra to open the first demonic gate. Yukiko brought out Nibi's chakra to release the first level of the Dead Demon seal, and Sora brought out Rokubi's chakra to get the same effect as Yukiko. They announced their techniques as they fired them at the chakra sources that had sent a small amount of killer intent at them just before.
"Fox Fire!"
"Acid Cannon!"
"Lightning Strike!"
The two attacks from Naruto and Yukiko flew into the trees and dissapeared. A lightning bolt from the storm overhead struck down and intercepted Naruto and Yukiko's attacks, detonating them approximately two meters from where their targets were standing, causing a hundred foot wide crater to form. Naruto knew better than to think they were dead.
"So, who did Akatsuki send us this time?"
As if on queue, two figurescameinto existance at the opposite end of the clearing, roughly 30 meters from the trio. Naruto laughed at the sight.
"Itachi and Kisame, eh? You're not getting us now, or ever. Just give up."
Itachi looked at Naruto.
"Naruto-Kun, contrary to what you think we did not come here to fight."
Naruto laughed.
"Do you really expect me to buy that?"
Kisame sighed.
"Listen punk. We came with a warning. We know what's happening to your seals. We came to tell you that on your birthday, the seals will break, and you will die."
Naruto scowled.
"Oh? And how do you know that?"
Itachi answered.
"We have an extensive collection of knowledge, Naruto-Kun. Part of that collection contains information on your seal."
Naruto 'hmph'ed and turned his head to the side.
"My bloodline gives me all the knowledge on the seals. You would never have information that this wouldn't give me."
Itachi was getting fustraited, however, he kept his calm exterior.
"Naruto-Kun, you may have the 'Seal Eye' but it is not yet at the level required to understand what is happenening to you. We also come with a proposition."
Naruto sighed.
"What do you want? IF you want me to hand myself over so you can drain it, then leave now before I kill you."
Kisame growled.
"Kid, do you ever shut up? You have no idea what we're trying to do."
"Oh, I know EXACTLY what you're trying to do, fishface."
Kisame sneered and put his hand on the handle of Samehada, however Itachi shook his head. Kisame sighed and released his grip on the sword, dropping his hand by his side. Itachi spoke again.
"Naruto-Kun. I know that you do not want the Kyubi to attack Konoha. Personally, I couldn't care less if it leveled it, however, at this point in time it seems our goals are roughly the same."
Naruto looked at Itachi in slight interest.
"When are our goals even remotely similar?"
"Both of us want the Kyubi out of view of the public. You want him to stay in your body to keep him from ravenging the country, while we want him for our own purposes. Our proposal is this: At midnight on your 14th brithday, Kyubi will be unleashed once again, however, we want to take up positions in the gerneral area to seal the Kyubi like we did with the rest of the Bijus. Since Nibi will also be there, we will do the same thing to her. If you want to look at it this way, at least Konoha and the Snow will survive."
Naruto actually had to conceed it to him. His plan was a very tempting offer. On the other hand, Naruto had no doubt that they would use the Kyubi for some sort of world domination or something, however once he died, there was no one else who could stop Kyubi and Nibi. He sighed in defeat.
"I agree on three conditions."
"What would they be, Naruto-Kun?"
"One, you leave our friends alone. Two, you leave us alone until after we die. Three, if the Kyubi and Nibi do not get released, you will leave the area immediately."
Itachi thought through the possibilites of the last condition and what Naruto had meant by it.
"We agree with the first two conditions, however, the third is unnecesay, as nothing of the sort will happen."
Naruto growled.
"All three conditions must be agreed to, or no deal."
Kisame laughed.
"You realise that you're not in any real condition to bargain, brat."
Itachi shook his head.
"If it makes you accept the deal, then we will agree with the third as well."
Naruto nodded.
"Anything else?"
Itachi shook his head.
"That is all."
Naruto smirked.
"However, I have one question about a certain member of Akatsuki."
Itachi looked at Naruto in mild interest.
"Kisame has some connection with Sanbi, doesn't he?"
Everyone stiffened slightly at that, even Kisame and Itachi. Itachi decided to try and get an answer as to where Naruto had picked the clues up from.
"Naruto-Kun, why do you say that?"
Naruto smirked and told Itachi all the things that lead him up to the discovery.
"The sanbi is a three finned Isondre. The Isondre is said to have a subordinate called Samehanda. Also, from what I've been able to find out, a lot of Kisame's attacks involve the word shark in them. Also, his physical appearance is very shark-like. Hell, he even REEKS of shark. I'd even be willing to bet that Kisame has signed the summoning contract of marine life, of which, Sanbi is the boss of. Kisame also means devil shark. Also, those three lines below each eye are not just for decoration, are they, Kisame?"
Itachi was amazed by Naruto's deductions. There was no point denying it now.
"Yes, Kisame is connected to Sanbi."
Naruto spat his next word.
"Traitor."
Kisame felt a small twinge of guilt, however he quickly shook it off.
"So what if I didn't join your merry group of friends? What are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing."
Everyone perked up in the obvious change in voices.
"Eh?"
"Nothing. I'm not angry at you, however I'm very dissapointed in you, Sanbi."
Kisame decided to let the former demon friends speek to each other. When Sanbi's voice came out, it was very gravelly and rough, just like a shark's skin.
"Hah, you've grown soft since you were sealed in that cub, Kyubi."
"Get out of my sight both of you before I decided to kill you."
"Heh, I look forward to seeing you in your true form again, Kyubi."
With that, Kisame/Sanbi and Itachivanished into thin air. Naruto, Yukiko and Sora stopped drawing on their demonic powers and went back to their completely human forms. A few minutes later, Gaara and Jiraiya appeared in the clearing. Gaara noticed Naruto's look.
"You just met Akatsuki again, didn't you?"
Naruto nodded. Jiraiya noticed that the look on his face was very different to the look he lad on his face all the other times he fought Akatsuki.
"It seems that you're almost depressed about meeting them. What happened?"
Naruto sighed.
"Sanbi's container betrayed us and joined Akatuki."
Jiraiya and Gaara raised an eyebrow at this, or in Gaara's case, the skin where an eyebrow should be.
"Sanbi?"
Naruto sighed.
"You're not too smart for a Sannin, you know that, Ero-Sennin?"
Jiraiya ignored the comment, but Gaara already had a fair idea what Naruto was taking about.
"So, Kisame was Sanbi's container after all."
Jiraiya turned to Gaara.
"Kisame was Sanbi's container?"
Naruto wanted to rip his hair out.
"What exactly do you do when you go 'information gathering', Ero-Sennin? Are you so blind that you couldn't even figure that out? If all the Sannin are like you, I should have been Hokage two years ago."
Jiraiya was getting pissed off at Naruto questioning his intelligence. He decided to question what they wanted, however, Naruto interrupted before he could.
"Give me one good reason why I should tell you what they wanted."
Jiraiya wasn't used to taking this sort of talk from a teenager, and was about to go give Naruto a punch to the head to wake him up when he sensed four waves of killer intent. Yukiko spoke for the group.
"Since you threatened to kill both Naruto-Kun and myself, we refuse to treat you as someone who deserves even an ouce of respect until you prove you've earnt it, Sannin title or not."
Sora and Gaara nodded. Jiraiya could see where they were coming from, but he had no intention of killing them for any reason other than saving the rest of the world. Even if he did kill them, he would hardly be able to live with himself for killing his students only son. Jiraiya sighed.
"Fine, however, I really hope that you have a plan that you will use when the day comes."
Naruto smirked.
"I have a plan alright. Several of them."
"I doubt you will tell me, but I'm interested in how you plan on stopping them."
Naruto looked up at Jiraiya.
"Nothing."
Jiraiya looked at the boy like he was mad.
"Nothing?"
"Ero-Sennin, you said it yourself. Dad's seals never failed. How can you have so little faith in him?"
Jiraiya could see the boy's point. Arashi's seals never failed, and it'd be very uncharacteristic of him to make his most elaborate seal that would be the only one to fail him. But if Jiraiya knew Naruto, there would be more than just hoping.
"There's a backup plan, isn't there."
It was a statement, not a question. Naruto nodded and looked at Sora and Yukiko, who both nodded. Naruto turned back to Jiraiya.
"Akatsuki."
Jiraiya was seriously beginning to question the boy's sanity.
"Akatsuki?"
Naruto sighed.
"What would you rather, should my dad's seal, god forbid, break? Two major demons running around leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake with no one even remotely capeable of stopping them, or the demons in possesion of a group that will at least ensure the survival of the world for at least a few years longer until they get the rest of them?"
Jiraiya saw that the boy had had to make a terrible decision between two evils. Naturally, he had taken the lesser one.
"I see what you mean. Both choices have consequences, however, it seems you were able to side with our worst enemy in order to save the rest of the world. Most people will view you as a traitor, however, they will never know the real truth. I guess all I can say is you made the right choice."
With that, Jiraiya turned away from them.
"I'm heading back to the house. If you four want to come, then let's get moving. However, if you want to stay, then feel free to."
With that, Jiraiya left.
The other's decided to stop their training and think about what had happened today. They travelled through the trees as a pack. Once they got back to the house, they walked up to the front door and saw a note on it.
'Sorry for the abruptness of this, but I've gone to the nearest town for about a week to pick up some supplies and other things. I know you guys can manage without me for the time I'm gone, so try to enjoy yourselves.
Jiraiya.'
Naruto sighed and took the note down once they had all finished reading it. They went through the same proceedure as they did last night for dinner. Once the kitsunes and cats got back, they built a fire and cooked the prey the kitsunes had caught. Once they finished eating, they put the fire out and went upstairs to go to sleep. Since Jiraiya was not here, there was no need for bunshin guards. They all turned in and promptly went to sleep.
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7:30 am Nearly a Week Later:
Naruto was first to wake to another all too familiar 'CRACK'. He sighed and went to visit his tenant. When he arrived there, he saw that there was indeed another crack in the seal. The fox smiled at his container.
"Well, kit, that makes exactly one quarter of the seal destroyed. Why aren't you living your life to the fullest? Not mating with your girlfriend, not destroying entire towns-"
"Shut it. I'm living my life the way I want. Touching Yukiko-Chan was bad enough. I'm not going to let my mind be corrupted."
The fox sneered.
"How noble. Too bad it won't do you any good. You've got three months to enjoy life. Kit, seriously stop moping around. You seem to forget that I feel everything you feel too."
"All the better. Then you'll get an idea of what it's like for those you kill."
"Ha. I'm not going to play your game of guilt trips, so don't bother kit. Now get lost, I'm going back to sleep."
Naruto sighed and went back to the real world. He woke up to see that Yukiko's seal had done the same thing as his had done. Naruto hugged Yukiko.
"The only thing we can do is believe in my dad."
Yukiko nodded and pushed her head further into his chest. Suddenly, they both felt three very large chakra sources nearby. They both gout out of bed and threw some clothes on over the top of their sleep wear. They burst out of the door to see that Gaara and Sora had felt the presences as well. They nodded and ran down the stairs and out the door. Once they got outside, they saw in the direction of the chakra souces a wall of flames. Every now and then, another explosion would go off. They charged in a diamon formation towards the source of the fight. When they arrived there, Gaara saw a girl fly out of the bushes as slam into a tree. He headed off in the direction the girl had landed and the others changed course to match him. Gaara was almost there when he saw some very familiar clay birds flying at the girl. The cork sealing his gourd popped off and a wall of sand shot out to absorb the explosion. The girl was obviously in a lot of pain, as she was bleeding profusely from a lot of cuts and she was also scratched in a lot of places. The four of them stood in front of the girl.The girl looked up in a silent thank you to her saviors. She warned them of who they were facing.
"Be careful, those guys are god damn strong."
Gaara nodded.
"They are, however, I managed to beat one of them by myself not too long ago."
The girl's eyes widened. Gaara turned to Yukiko.
"Yukiko, please heal the girl. We'll take care of these two."
Yukiko nodded and bent down administering healing chakra to the girl's scratches. Gaara turned back to the direction the two members of Akatsuki.
"Deidra, Sasori, come out."
They both came out of the trees and frowned at Gaara.
"Gaara, please don't get involved in this. We'd rather do this with no fuss involved."
Gaara's eyes narrowed.
"Since you're after this girl, I'd assume she's another demon container?"
Said girl's eyes widened. Deidra answered.
"Yeah, she's the container for Shichibi no Suzaku, yeah."
Gaara shook his head.
"I won't let you pass. It's bad enough that our kind are treated as demons by the people of our own village, but we don't need fools like you hunting us down every second of our lives as well."
The girl visably relaxed. Sasori and Deidra weighed their options.
"Heh, we can't win against over half the demon containers. It's unlikely that even most of Akatsuki could do it."
Naruto snarled.
"You guys are getting Kyubi and Nibi in three months, can't you guys wait until then?"
Deidra smiled.
"Yeah, we can wait. Just so you know, you're the last of the demon containers left alive, yeah. We'll see you in three months, yeah."
With that, Deidra and Sasorimade themselves scarce, leaving one of Deidra's clay birds behind. Gaara shot his sand out to encompase the bird, which promptly exploded, casung the sand to bulge. Once Gaara was sure that the threat had been dealt with, he retracted his sand and turned back to the girl he had just saved.
She was rather tall for her age, and she had long red hair that reached down to her lower back (don't see many red heads in Naruto, do you?). Her eyes were hazel. She wore a white shirt that had a phoenix embroided on the back and a pair of cargo pants. She sighed.
"Thanks for saving me. Those guys have been chasing me on and off for years."
Gaara nodded.
"What's your name?"
"Yamamoto Hotaru. As that clay using guy said, I'm the container for the Shichibi no Suzaku."
Hotaru smiled as she looked over the group.
"I guess by the wisker marks that you're the Kyubi no Kitsune's container."
Naruto nodded. The girl turned to Sora.
"Judging by the swords, you'd be the Rokubi no Raiju's container."
Sora nodded dumbly. She turned to Yukiko.
"Judging by the slight aura of death you're giving off, I'd say you're the Nibi no Nekomata's container."
Yukiko nodded. Finally, the girl turned to Gaara.
"And from the gourd and the black rings around your eyes, you're the container for Ichibi no Shukaku, right?"
Gaara nodded. Hotaru slowly stood up, looking directly at Gaara.
'He's kind of cute...'
'Is it because he's a red head like you?'
'Maybe...'
Gaara noticed her staring at him and raised his eyebrowless eyebrow (if that makes any sense...)
"Is there any reason you're staring at me like that?"
The girl blushed slightly before shaking her head.
"No, not really."
Everyone lapsed into silence for a while. After a while, Hotaru spoke up.
"Ano, sorry if this is a weird request, but could I possibly... Come with you guys?"
The other four looked at each other. Naruto spoke.
"I don't see why not. Oh, before we go any further, I'll introduce us. I'm Uzumaki Naruto."
Hotaru nodded, and Naruto put his arm around Yukiko's waist.
"This is my girlfriend, Yakushi Yukiko."
Yukiko waved at her. Hotaru smiled and waved back. Naruto looked at Sora.
"To Yukiko's right is Saito Sora."
Sora smiled and held up a hand in greeting (think Sasuke at the mission to the Wave when he recovers from being stabbed into unconciousness by those senbon needles) Hotaru nodded. As
Naruto indicated to Gaara with a nod of his head, Hotaru focused on the red head, very interested in his name.
"And tall, dark and scary over there is Sabaku no Gaara."
Gaara tilted his head to the side.
"Tall dark and scary?"
Naruto chuckled.
"It's an expression. When used in this sense, it's meant to tease you."
Hotaru had her own question.
"Sabaku no Gaara? No surname?"
Gara shook his head. Hotaru smiled.
"Ok. Well, it's nice to meet all of you. Unfortunately, I can guess we all had a similar childhood, which I guess is what forced at least some of us to flee from our Villages..."
"What Village did you come from?"
Hotaru narrowed her eyes and turned her head to the side.
"I... Don't want to talk about it."
Naruto nodded.
"Fair enough."
At that point, they felt a rather large chakra signature not too far away. They turned to see Jiraiya come out of the bushes not too far away. True to his note, he was carrying a backpack full of stuff. Jiraiya took interest in the new edition to the crew.
"Hmmm, another one? I don't think I can keep up with teaching all of you..."
Naruto sighed.
"We ran into Akatsuki again. According to them, this is all of us."
Jiraiya nodded. And introduced himself in a far less... Extreme manner than he normally did.
"Hey, I'm Jiraiya, one of the three Sannin of Konoha. Judging by the aura of warmth you're giving off... You'd be the Shichibi no Suzaku's container, right?"
Hotaru nodded. Jiraiya nodded and turned back to the others, mainly Naruto.
"Naruto, Yukiko. I was wondering if I could have a talk with you in private."
The other two tensed up, thinking Jiraiya was going to make his move. Hotaru looked at them strangely, but Jiraiya just waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.
"No, I'm not going to try anything."
Naruto nodded and walked forward with Yukiko, turning to face the others when he was in between them and Jiraiya.
"Guys, head back to the house, We'll be a few minutes before we join you."
They nodded and took off, leaving Naruto and Yukiko alone with Jiraiya.
"What did you want?"
Jiraiya sighed.
"I just wanted to appologise to you for saying I would kill you before. I've been thinking about it the whole time I was away, which was the real reason I left. I really shouldn't doubt Arashi like that. I got ahead of myself and though about the saftey of those back home."
Naruto nodded.
"Fine, however I don't think I can forgive you yet... Maybe with time..."
Jiraiya looked at Yukiko.
"I'm the same as Naruto-Kun."
Jiraiya sighed and turned back towards the house.
"Fair enough. We'll I'm going back, so let's get going."
They nodded and followed just behind Jiraiya. Once the house came into view, they saw the others waiting on the front doorstep. They looked up when the saw the trio approach and smiled. They turned back and walked inside, with Jiraiya, Naruto and Yukiko right behind them. It was about 1 pm in the afternoon, and everyone was starving. Naruto went to bite his thumb, but Jiraiya put up a hand to stop him.
"Some of the supplies I brought were food, and proper food at that. Jiraiya got his pack and undid the clips holding it closed. He brought out cup ramen, trays of dango and sushi, and various other types of food, all fresh food apart from the ramen, which got Yukiko wondering.
"Jiraiya, if this is all fresh food, how exactly are we going to keep it fresh?"
Jiraiya smiled.
"I didn't spend ten years travelling the world without learning jutsus that are meant for survival and not combat. Yukiko, could you please make some sort of fridge shaped container from wood?"
Yukiko nodded dumbly and put her hands in a hebi seal. The ground in the corner of the room warped to form a fridge shaped box. Jiraiya went over to it and found that it even had a working door. He opened it and formed a few hand seals and announced his jutsu.
"Hyoton: Ice Freezing Technique!"
Jiraiya blew stremes of water vapor out of his mouth that quickly froze when they touched the insides of the freezer. When he stopped, he closed the freezer door and went back to the food he had brought out of his pack, taking it to the freezer and putting it in. He looked at the others.
"Mind giving me a hand?"
They got up and helped him put the food into the freezer. Once they had put most of it away, they settled down to eat what was left out. Naruto and Gaara instincivly went for a bowl of cup ramen each, while Yukiko and Sora went for a tray of sushi. Hotaru went for a tray of dango while Jiraiya went for a bowl of what seemed to be mixed vegitables. Naruto and Gaara realised something. There ws no water, let alone something to boil it. Naruto looked up at Jiraiya.
"Ano... Ero-Sennin..."
Jiraiya looked up.
"Oh, water and something to boil it with right? Don't worry, I couldn't carry everything back here, so I got some help."
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"Help?"
Just then, they heard the sound of webbed feet outside the door. Jiraiya smiled.
"Seems they just arrived."
Jiraiya went to the door and opened it to see two roughly human sized frogs with custom made backpacks for them. The packs were bulging. The frogs were orange in colour, but they had black swilrs on their body for decoration. Jiraiya smiled.
"Thanks, you two."
"No problem, Jiraiya."
The frogs dumped the packs and waved at the group.
"Catch you around!"
They both dissapeared in a puff of smoke, leaving their packs on the door step as the only sign that they had been there. Jiraiya pulled both packs in and put them next to the one he had brought with him. He opened one to find a portable gas cooker with an attached gas cylinder, which he put in the middle of the group. He dug further into the bag and found a kettle. Now there was only one problem. Water. By now, Naruto was getting impatient waiting to eat ramen for the first time in a week, so he took the kettle and used one of his trademark jutsus.
"Hirashin no Jutsu!"
With that, he sped out the door and oof in the direction of the nearby lake. Hotaru's eyes widended considerably.
"That... That was..."
Gaara nodded.
"Hirashin no Jutsu. It was created and belonged to the Yondaime Hokage, and now, Naruto is the only one in the world who knows it."
Hotaru's eyes narrowed.
"But then that would mean that Naruto is the Yondaime's son..."
Gaara nodded.
"That is correct."
Hotaru shook her head.
"Amazing."
Just then, the yellow blur that had left not 30 seconds ago was back, with a kettle full of water. He put it on the cooker and turned it on. After three minutes, they heard the familiar sound of the kettle beginning to whistle. Once it had fully boiled, Naruto turned the stove off and pulled the kettle off, pouring the boiling water into Gaara's cup of ramen. Naruto did the same with his, and then pulled the pair of plastic chopstics that came attached to the side of the bowl. He said his usual statement before he ate.
"Itadakimasu."
With that, everyone dug in. Sora and Yukiko finished two trays of sushi, while Hotaru finished three trays of dango. Jiraiya had finished his cup of mixed vegitables and they all turned to Naruto and Gaara who were on their third bowl of cup ramen. Jiraiya sighed.
"There's no way I could keep these two fed with ramen if they ate like this all the time."
Once Naruto and Gaara had finished their fourth bowl, they sat back, signifying they had finished. Jiraiya nodded, noticing that everyone had finished. They sat there in silence before Naruto, being the former loud hyperactive ninja he used to be, couldn't let his old habit die, so he broke the silence.
"Ano, I'm going upstairs to look through my dad's box."
With that Naruto got up and walked towards the stairs. Yukiko decided to follow him.
"I'm going with him."
With that, the others decided to go to their rooms as well. When Sora remembered that there were no spare rooms that Hotaru could use, she smiled.
"You can share my room with me if you want."
Hotaru nodded and smiled.
"Thanks."
With that, both of them walked into Sora's room.
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Half an Hour Later, in Naruto and Yukiko's Room:
Naruto had been going through all of his father's scrolls, desperately looking to see if there was something, ANYTHING he had missed. Yukiko was helping Naruto look over one half of the scroll while Naruto looked over the other half. When Naruto got to his half of the scrolls he slumped. He hadn't missed anything. Naruto decided to once again consult his Ingan (seal eye). After another hour, he had almost exauhsted the entire eye of it's knowledge, and he cursed, focusing more chakra to his eyes.
'There has to be something I'm missing... Focus...'
Yukiko noticed the look of pure and utter determination on Naruto's face and smiled sadly at him. However, Yukiko was getting worried at the amount of strain Naruto was putting on himself and activated her Bloodline Limit to check if he was ok. When she activated it, she was surprised to see the amount of chakra Naruto was focusing to his eyes. If Naruto kept it up, he would suffer a mild case of chakra exhaustion. Yukiko disabled her Doujutsu and looked at Naruto's eyes. She noticed that the triangles on either side of his eye were moving slightly, and she looked in wonder as a third one appeared, forming an equalateral triangle with each of the traingles as an apex. Yukiko beemed at Naruto, who seemed to be in some sort of daze.
"Congratulations, Naruto-Kun. You just activated stage three Ingan."
Naruto smiled at her.
"Thanks, Yukiko-Chan. The amount of knowledge I have on seals has practically doubled, however, I'm too tired to go through it now."
Yukiko nodded, leaned over and gave Naruto a hug. Naruto stripped down to his boxers and got in the sleeping bag. Yukiko stripped down to her t-shirt and panties, and got in after Naruto. They both snuggled up to each other, listening to the other's breathing, which they both found quite relaxing. Eventually, they both fell asleep.
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A/N: Score, another chapter out of the way. I hope this one is long enough for you guys. This one was 27 pages and almost 11k words. Next chapter will fast forward to Naruto and Yukiko's 14th birthday. Not much else to put down here, so I guess until next time my avid readers!
Ja ne,
Specula.