Chapter Four: The mystery deepens.
In the village of Konoha, at the gates more specifically, the forms of the Eternal Chunin, Kotetsu and Izumo could be seen at their usual station keeping an eye on people that come and go through the village gates. Today was rather on the slow side as the pair could be seen playing cards to pass the time. "Been kinda quiet these past few days." Kotetsu muttered absent-mindedly as he stared at his cards.
"Yeah. Heard that Naruto hasn't pulled any pranks lately. He might be planning a big one." Izumo replied back to his long-time partner. They had always found the boy's pranks rather entertaining, even if they were part of the 'task force' that was meant to chase the kid down after one of his big pranks, it was all in good fun. Sometimes it was said that if it weren't for Naruto's pranking sprees, most of the Chunin in Konoha would likely be out of shape.
Their musing was broken when a soft voice spoke "Excuse me? Am I interrupting?" The two Chunin turned to face the source of the voice, and found themselves blushing upon seeing that their visitor was an individual with a cute, feminine looking face and soft delicate features. They quickly set their cards aside and straightened up, greeting the newcomer with warm and welcoming smiles.
"Not at all! Not at all! What might your name be, Ms?" Izumo asked, trying to be as professional as possible.
The stranger giggled and replied back "I am called Haku, it is a pleasure to meet you both. I suppose you'll be needing this?" The now identified Haku then handed over a passport, allowing Kotetsu to examine it carefully while his partner kept an eye on this attractive specimen of a human being, much to his own delight.
"What brings you to Konoha Haku-san?" He asked since that was one of the standard questions they were supposed to ask any and all visitors that came through the gates. The Ice user gave a little smile and answered "I'm here to tour around Konoha."
"Tourist huh? We get a lot of those. Word to the wise? Be careful around the Red Light District, especially late at night. Can't tell you the number of times ignorant tourists got robbed blind there." Kotetsu spoke as he returned Haku's passport since he didn't see anything suspicious about it. The Ice user simply smiled again and gave a friendly wave before departing.
Now that that piece of business was taken care of… it was time to head make a bee-line for the Konoha Academy and to seek out this Naruto Uzumaki for information. 'I'll try to be quick Zabuza-sama. I will not disappoint you.'
Meanwhile. Aboard the Uzu Express.
"Kill. Me. Now." Muttered the form of Naruto as he was now sitting in the library car, his appearance almost skeletal in nature and his soul leaking from his mouth after Asagi took it upon herself to teach him about the Birds and the Bees… it was almost as if someone from the heavens was mocking him.
"Geez Naruto-kun. It wasn't THAT bad." Sakura spoke as she leaned back in a chair, her hands clasped behind her head. The Uzumaki glared at the Igawa siblings and wondered if they had just gone through the whole 'birds and bees' shtick just to mess with him. "I hate you both right now." he muttered bitterly, which earned some giggles from the siblings.
"Sorry Naruto-kun. We were just having a little fun. We'll move on to more practical lessons tomorrow. You must be feeling drained after what we did to you." Asagi spoke with a small blush, with her younger sister nodding cheekily and the Jinchuuriki himself blushing profusely at the obvious implications as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Right. Well, I guess as a Shinobi, it'd be a good idea to have a range of skills. Still, I was hoping to learn Ninjutsu and stuff, though that's not an option in here. Enclosed space and all that, not to mention there might be defenses in place to keep us from busting out that way." The whiskered teen mused to himself as he glared at the walls. Kami, he wished he could use a Fire Jutsu to melt his way through, unfortunately such knowledge wasn't available to him.
"We'll find a way out of here. We should be arriving at your village soon." Asagi spoke as she sat down and grabbed a book off of the shelves to pass the time.
"That reminds me… if I remember right, the Graduation exam should be any day now. Not that it'll matter I guess, I can never get that Clone Jutsu." He spoke with venom in his voice since that one jutsu and the negligence of the teachers had always been his downfall at the Konoha Academy.
"Mou, don't be all gloomy Naruto-kun. Remember our promise? We said we'd take you in at our school and that's what we'll do! I think you'll like it there! There's lots and lots of cute girls that I bet would love to meet you." Sakura teased with a wink, her words making the blonde blush a bit but then… that certainly didn't sound so bad.
"Heh. Don't be jealous if other girls start fighting for my attention." He teased back, which seemed to make the siblings laugh in response as they waved him off.
"I can see you're all enjoying yourselves." spoke an unwelcome voice that cut into their conversation, making the trio glare up at the ceiling. "By the by, congrats to you ladies, you seem to be taking on your new roles rather well given your activities in the spa." Glados continued, her voice sounding exceptionally pleased.
"Don't get all cocky! We only did it because we wanted to." Asagi spit back venomously… which only seemed to amuse Glados more as she chuckled darkly.
"Yes. You did. You wanted to." Glados answered gleefully, which sent chills down the Igawa siblings' backs, their faces paling slightly as they glanced at each other. However, they quickly shook this off and continued glaring up at the ceiling defiantly.
"What do you want, Glados? You gonna report something or are you just gonna keep antagonizing the girls?" Naruto asked impatiently, the sooner that stupid AI finished what it had to say, the better. Kami that damn machine was a menace.
"Oh, I just wanted to inform you that we'll be reaching our destination in a few hours. So get comfy." Glados replied evenly before falling silent, leaving the trio in silent agreement that they all hated that machine very deeply.
"Not much farther to go." Naruto sighed tiredly, feeling grateful for the chance to finally get off of this damn train… but he was expecting there to be some kind of a catch. However, they would have to take any chance that was provided to them if they were gonna get out of here.
The group sat in a comfortable silence with Asagi reading from a book and Sakura listening to music through a set of headphones she had acquired minutes ago, bobbing her head to the beat. Naruto glanced out the window, seeing nothing but trees passing by as he quietly mused to himself. He certainly wasn't looking forward to being back in Konoha, but at least then he could say some proper goodbyes to the few he cherished… and flip the bird to the majority of his class and his 'teachers' back home. That'd be good for a laugh.
Who knows? Maybe Asagi could pull a few strings and give his buddy Anko a job at her academy. He was certain that his good friend would leap at the chance for a fresh start. He heard something above him slide open, prompting him to look up and see a tentacle-like cable lower something down to him, a PDA of some kind he supposed. The PDA blinked to life and some words appeared that read 'For your perusal, Conductor.'
Growing curious, the blonde accepted the PDA, causing the cable-tentacle to retreat back into the ceiling. He tapped on the screen causing it to blink a few more times and then more words appeared which read as follows: 'As the Conductor, one of your responsibilities is to periodically choose new passengers to bring aboard the train. If you do not choose anyone, the system shall choose candidates for you.'
"Crap." He muttered under his breath, now realizing that he was going to be forced to choose people that were to be brought aboard this train. He saw the names and pictures of numerous women appear on the PDA, some of which he recognized immediately. At the very top, labeled 'recommended' were the names 'Anko Mitarashi' and 'Ino Yamanaka'.
No. No. No. Hell fucking no. He was not going to bring his friend Anko aboard this hell train. He quickly turned off the PDA with a push of a button on the side and stuffed it into his pocket. All the while glaring up at the ceiling as he thought to himself 'Yeah, nice try Glados. I'm not gonna force anyone aboard this train. Plus, I'm sure as shit not stepping back on board when I finally get out.'
He gave himself a self-assured smile and straightened up in his seat, he wasn't gonna play Glados' sick little games. The PDA then beeped rapidly in his pocket which annoyed the blonde as he fished it out to see what was wrong with it now. He was surprised to see more text appear across the screen that read: 'Oh. Don't be that way Conductor. Why can't you just accept this as your new home? What is home to you anyway? You wanna know a secret? You DO have family. Too bad your 'family' didn't want anything to do with you.'
The blonde blinked in confusion and then, the picture of a man with white hair appeared on the screen with the name 'Jiraiya'. Naruto instantly recognized his face from a picture the Sandaime kept on his desk, and the name was familiar to him as well… this man could only be the Toad Sannin, one of the few to lock horns with Hanzo the Salamander and live, in fact it was Hanzo himself who gave the three Sannin their titles.
What did a famous Shinobi like that have to do with him? Was… was he really family? Suddenly the screen changed to a video showing the Sannin speaking to a very familiar Chunin.
"Okay Iruka, here's the deal. I know who that kid's parents are and what his potential is. If he grows too strong too fast, that could be a problem." Jiraiya spoke with his arms crossed before reaching into his pocket and tossing out a fat wad of cash in front of the Chunin.
Iruka 'discreetly' pocketed the money and asked "So who are his parents anyway? I heard that some folks are taking bets that his mother was a cheap prostitute or something."
The Sannin let out a small snicker as he replied "I wish given how attractive she was, but I digress. That info is need-to-know, and you don't need to know. All you have to do is keep an eye on the little brat and make sure he stays there till I say he can graduate. If my suspicions are correct, he should have massive chakra reserves that'll make higher level jutsu a snap for him, but he won't be able to perform the basic Academy Clone Jutsu. Use that against him to keep him from graduating."
The scarred Chunin nodded in understanding as he spoke "Yeah, no problem. He won't be going anywhere. Even if he does well on any written exams, I can always rig those too if need be; but the most important part's the Jutsu portion of the exam. By the way, are you really his godfather?"
"Yeah. It was easy for me to convince the brat's dad to name me 'godfather', his mother had strong reservations though, not that it really matters. I can pretty much do whatever I want to the brat if it's for the good of the village. Hell, when I'm done with him, I could probably drop him off a cliff and he'd be fine with it. If anyone gives you trouble, you call me and I'll clear it up. Otherwise? Just do what I'm paying you to do." The Sannin spoke and pointed to another wad of bills in his pocket for extra emphasis.
This earned a cruel smile from the scarred Chunin who replied with a smug expression "Please. The money is just a bonus, a man's gotta eat and live after all. If I didn't need money, I'd happily do this for free to make him suffer."
After that, the video ended and Naruto's eyes were wide with horror. He had always known that deep down, Iruka Umino, like so many other people, must have held a grudge against him for carrying the Kyuubi. But he never would have imagined that his godfather was one of the Sannin… and that he also had a major role in his suffering. A small part of him wondered if this might be fake, another trick by Glados… but something in his gut told him that this was for real. It all just… made a weird kind of sense to him.
"Naruto-kun? Are you alright? You're… you're shaking." Asagi asked in a worried voice, having just overheard the video that was played on the screen, even her sister was giving a concerned look as she had stopped listening to her music and noticed the blonde's body language.
"N…no… no I am not… I… I need to… go…" He muttered angrily as he tossed the PDA to the side and stormed off, leaving the two Kunoichi behind with worried expressions on their face. They wanted to say something to comfort him, but couldn't find the words. That aside, they decided to give him the space he needed to be alone so he could vent out his feelings before speaking to him again. If he needed a shoulder to cry on or an ear to hear and listen to him, then they would be available to him.
Meanwhile. Konoha Academy.
"Ugh. Finally." Haku muttered quietly after finally arriving at the Academy, not that it was difficult finding it or getting there… but for some reason countless recruiters for hostess clubs, modeling agencies and whatnot kept on trying to recruit the Ice User. It was quite flattering to be considered so attractive and desirable, but damn the persistent ones are always the most annoying. Being blessed with an attractive face was also a curse in some ways.
Now it was a matter of finding this 'Naruto' and questioning him about what he knew. As luck would have it, there appeared to be some students here, a group of girls who seemed to be gossiping about their crush. Haku approached them and asked "Excuse me? Could I have a moment of your time?"
The girls all glared at the orphaned Ice user venomously, a girl with bright pink hair stomped forward and spoke in an aggressive manner "What the hell do you want? You some loose hussy here to steal Sasuke-kun?" The self-proclaimed tool balked at that and sweat-dropped slightly, evidently these girls were hardcore fangirls.
Zabuza had spoken about them and warned that they were becoming bigger and bigger problem in the younger generations of Shinobi, a result of lax teachers and lack of discipline in the Major Villages who were becoming too comfy with their own power and authority. "I… honestly don't even know who this 'Sasuke' is." Haku replied sincerely, which shocked the Fangirls who all stared at the 'tool' in disbelief.
"No. Nuh-uh. Impossible! UNBELIEVABLE! HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW WHO SASUKE-KUN IS?!" The pinkette screeched at the top of her lungs which almost sent the ice user flying away in an animated fashion. The black haired 'tool' believed that if any windows were around, they likely would have instantly shattered… and now the pink haired Fangirl was going on a long rant about her Sasuke-kun with her clique nodding mindlessly along with her words.
'Dear Kami… I have met all sorts of characters as Zabuza-sama's tool… but these fangirls? They're… something else.' The black haired Ninja thought and shuddered in disgust, a mental image of a hangman's noose appearing overhead.
Haku then cut off the pinkette and spoke as calmly as possible "Please, I'm looking for a student called Naruto Uzumaki, if you could just tell me where…"
"WHAT?! Naruto-baka?! What's your business with that loser? You his girlfriend or something? Sheesh, if you're that desperate for a boyfriend then you must be scraping the bottom of the barrel." The pink haired girl interrupted and spoke with a disgusted expression, while her clique in the background were making ugly faces and obscene gestures.
"What? No! I don't have that kind of relationship with him! I don't even know him except for his name. I just want to ask him some questions. Please just tell me how to find him and I'll leave." Haku spoke in a pleading voice, becoming increasingly irritated and vexed by the rudeness of these girls.
"You want to ask HIM questions? What are you, stupid? You'd have better luck talking to a brick wall than getting anything worthwhile out of that baka. I'm amazed he can even clothe himself with how stupid he is." The pinkette spoke and then laughed mockingly with her brainless clique following her example.
Haku's eyebrow twitched in anger and clenched a fist before speaking "You are very rude, and it isn't nice to talk about people like that. If you won't help, I'll find someone that will. Also… if you don't learn to be nice to people, don't be surprised when people aren't nice to you." With that, the ice user walked away with a huff of annoyance, while silently wishing that annoying and bratty fangirl to someday get her just desserts. What a waste of time.
After slipping into a random hallway, the black haired 'tool' almost bumped into somebody. "My apologies." Haku spoke, and then saw that the person they almost walked into was none other than Naruto Uzumaki himself. Finally, something was going right. "Hey, no problem. You okay? Thought I heard a certain Haruno screeching at somebody. That somebody happen to be you?" The whiskered teen asked, earning a nod from the self-proclaimed 'tool'.
"Regrettably, yes. If that girl continues treating people that way, she'll find herself in a lot of trouble. At any rate, you are Naruto Uzumaki, yes? I would like to ask you some questions, if you don't mind." Haku spoke, earning a curious expression from the blonde, prompting the Ice user to show him a pair of pictures of two women, one with maroon colored hair and the other with short blonde hair and asked "Have you seen these two women?"
The Uzumaki stared at the pictures, and then his eyes widened in recognition. He looked around the hallway a few times as if checking to see if anyone was watching and listening before making a 'follow me' gesture. Haku nodded and followed the blonde, glad to see that he was going to cooperate. That made things much easier. They ducked into another classroom, the heavy layer of dust on the floor and desks suggesting that it hadn't been used in a long time.
The whiskered teen then pulled a cigarette from his pocket and brought it to his lips which caused Haku to say "You shouldn't smoke those. They're bad for your health."
Naruto then smirked as he replied in a sly voice "Bad for me? No, but this'll be bad for you." At that, the ice user raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what he meant, but then an audible 'pop' sound was heard as the black haired Ninja felt a sharp pain in the neck region. Kami, Haku didn't see that one coming, a cigarette disguised as a mini-dart gun. Clever.
The ice user stumbled and fell to the floor, quickly growing limp as the blonde seemed to hover overhead. "I knew someone would be looking into their disappearances, though I didn't think it would be this fast. Still, given who they are, I guess it's not surprising. Even better… I bagged another cutie for the Conductor."
Haku tried to speak, but no words would come out, and then within seconds, everything faded to black. The self-proclaimed tool's last conscious thoughts were 'Zabuza-sama… I'm sorry… for being so useless to you… I failed.'
A while later. Aboard the Uzu Express.
"Hey… do you think we should check on Naruto-kun? I'm kinda worried, he seemed really angry earlier. Do you know what that was about?" The younger Igawa sibling asked her elder sister, they had waited some time for the blonde to come back.
"For the most part, I got the gist. Apparently a man called 'Jiraiya' who was meant to be his godfather deliberately neglected him and even bribed his teacher 'Iruka' to keep him trapped in his school. I can't imagine how he must be feeling after learning about that. I can't even fathom what kind of a person would be so cruel to a child." Asagi muttered angrily as she and her sister came to the shared conclusion that they should at least check on the blonde.
"What if it was fake?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow, believing that Glados was trying to trick the poor boy. As if on cue, the voice of the train's AI chimed in overhead "Oh, it wasn't. I promise you. Lying about that would be counterproductive. Also, before you ask, you can find the Conductor in the dining car at the bar area. I think he is trying… and failing to drink himself into a coma."
At Glados' words, the Igawa siblings quickly rushed over towards the indicated car as fast as possible. As the AI had said, they found him at the bar, surrounded by a large number of empty bottles of booze and he was chugging away at yet another one which he quickly drained before tossing the bottle away with a belch. "Oh… hey girls." He greeted in a bitter tone, although his words didn't sound slurred at all, and his anger certainly wasn't directed at them.
They waved at him with slight hesitation with the elder sibling asking "Naruto-kun? Are… you all right?" At that, the blonde raised a lone finger as if to say 'wait a sec' and then patted the bar a few times with his hand, causing the robot barkeep to place another bottle of booze in front of the Uzumaki and pop it open for him.
The whiskered teen brought it up to his lips and chugged the liquor down with several big gulps. "Umm… Naruto-kun? How much have you been drinking?" Sakura asked as she tried counting the number of bottles littering the floor but kept on losing track.
"Not sure. I stopped counting after a while. Here's the funny thing though, the bots assure me that this is real alcohol and everything, but I can't for the life of me seem to get drunk. I can't even get a buzz. Right when I could really use it too." Naruto muttered angrily at the end and continued drinking his booze.
The Igawa siblings glanced at each other and carefully approached, being sure to avoid stepping on the bottles… and their noses crinkled at the stench of alcohol that could be easily smelled from the blonde. "Naruto-kun, I think you should stop. It isn't healthy to drink that much. Drunk or not you could hurt yourself." Asagi spoke as she reached towards the bottle of his hand, only for him to glare harshly at her.
"And who the fuck are you?! My fucking mother?!" The blonde lashed out angrily and then threw the bottle at the wall in a rage, causing the two Kunoichi to leap back a bit in surprise. Naruto then let out a laugh, a broken laugh filled with despair, sadness and anger as he spoke "Isn't it hilarious? All one big fucking joke, isn't it?! My fucking godfather, the man who was supposed to take care of me, fucking left me in that shithole of a village and sabotaged my education. WHY?! For what reason? What reason on this earth would he have to do that to me?! What have I ever done to anyone to deserve being treated like this?
Because I'm the Kyuubi container?! I was just a fucking baby! I wasn't given any choice! This shit was forced on me! I didn't ask for this! I never killed those people on that night, and yet people act like I was fucking complicit in it all! SHIT! FUUUUUUUUCK!" Naruto screamed out at the end while slamming his fists against the bar several times with enough force to make the bottles on the display shelf shake and rattle.
The Igawa siblings could do nothing but listen to his enraged ranting, giving him looks of sympathy. They could tell that he had been holding in his feelings for many years, and what he had just learned about his 'godfather' was finally the straw that broke the camel's back. With the floodgates now open, the blonde let loose everything that he had held in, and then he broke down sobbing uncontrollably, repeatedly asking no one in particular 'Why? Why me? Why do I deserve this?' over and over again.
Seeing the depressed state he was in, the Igawa siblings carefully approached him, then wrapped him up in a warm and gentle embrace as they soothingly rubbed his back. "It'll be okay. So long as we're around, no one will ever be able to hurt you again. If anyone hurts you, I'll beat the crap out of them for you." The orangette spoke in a sweet voice.
"She's right. No one will ever treat you like that ever again. Just let everything out Naruto-kun. Cry away until all your sorrows are gone. We'll never, ever, leave you." Asagi promised and placed her head atop Naruto's as she hummed softly while her younger sister placed her head against his shoulder. The only sounds that could be heard now was Asagi's gentle humming and the Uzumaki occasionally sniffling.
After a while of remaining in this position, Naruto got up from his seat, prompting the siblings to break off the embrace. "Feel any better?" Asagi asked while gently rubbing the top of his head. The blonde teen sniffled once more, his eyes red and puffy from crying as he replied "I don't feel good, but not as bad as before. Progress and baby steps, I guess."
"Ah. It'll be okay Naruto-kun. Promise. If this Jiraiya guy ever shows up and tries anything with you, I'll kick him so hard in the nuts he'll grow a vagina." Sakura promised and kicked upward for emphasis, which made the Uzumaki laugh a bit since he would gladly pay to see that happen.
"Thanks girls… I'm really glad to have met you both. Oh… and… I'm sorry for yelling and snapping at you" He spoke in a grateful and apologetic voice, feeling happy for their gentle care and support. Something that was often denied to him in his life. While the circumstances were far from ideal… he was still happy to have them as his friends. He also felt terrible for snapping at them, they didn't deserve that.
The siblings both smiled at him and nodded with Asagi replying "Think nothing of it Naruto-kun, people do and say things they don't really mean when they're angry or hurting. Your apology is accepted. For what it's worth… we are sorry you lived in such misery."
Suddenly, a 'bing-bong' sound chimed overhead as an automated voice spoke "Attention all passengers and to the Conductor. We shall be arriving at our destination in approximately ten minutes. Please prepare to disembark."
At the announcement, Naruto sniffled and straightened up, readjusting his clothes since they were minutes away from his village. "Will you be okay?" Asagi asked him while placing a hand on his shoulder, prompting the Jinchuuriki to nod and reply "Yeah. I'll be fine. It'll be nice to see the old man and Anko-chan. Also… will you two be okay? You still don't have any clothes."
He gestured towards their bodies with a lone finger, which were still dressed in only their birthday suits which caused the girls to blush red in embarrassment. While they felt fine in the buck around him, they didn't wish to expose themselves towards an entire village, least of all to any and all potential pervs in said village.
The voice of Glados then chimed overhead "No need to worry! I sent some drones ahead to gather the needed materials for your passengers. Here are their new clothes." At that, two openings in the ceiling appeared and a pair of outfits appeared for the two Kunoichi… clothes which were a perfect match for their original skin tight bodysuits that they wore. Either that damned AI had lied about their clothes being destroyed, or these were simply duplicates.
"Wait a sec! Didn't you say that our outfits were 'inappropriate' and that we couldn't wear them? What gives? Have you been messing with us the whole time you stupid AI?" Sakura demanded with a clenched fist.
"I changed my mind." Was all Glados said which made the Igawa sisters face-vault and started cursing the AI once more under their breath.
Well, regardless of the case, at least they wouldn't be prancing around in the nude, so the two Kunoichi wordlessly accepted their respective outfits and quickly slipped them on. Once they were finished getting dressed, they felt the train coming to a smooth stop and once again a 'bing-bong' sound chimed as an automated voice spoke "We have arrived at the Village of Konoha, please enjoy your day and feel free to rejoin us on the Uzu Express."
Once the announcement was finished, a section of the wall in the dining car opened up, allowing the trio to quickly run out with all haste before they could be trapped inside again. They couldn't help but contain their glee as they felt the sunlight wash over their faces. Naruto grinned as he looked up towards the familiar sight of the village gates, then briefly glanced behind him towards the train.
The silvery sheen of the train's metal cars shined in the sunlight, then shimmered as it slowly vanished out of sight like a mirage, making the blonde guess that it must have some kind of camouflage system for when it got close to populated areas, he then heard a soft humming sound which soon grew more distant and farther away, suggesting that the train had gone off somewhere.
"I don't believe it… we're here. We're finally here… we made it… we survived that hell. We're free now." Sakura spoke in disbelief and then she jumped in the air, squealing happily at their newfound freedom with Asagi laughing in amusement and clapping her hands together as they then scooped the blonde teen up in a happy embrace and began raining kisses of affection on his whiskered cheeks.
After a few moments they sighed in relief and collected themselves as they took in their surroundings. "So this is Konoha, eh? Seems like a nice enough place. Nice climate too." Asagi commented as she scanned the gates and the streets in front of the group.
"Yeah, but don't let the pleasant atmosphere fool you for a second. The people here can be extremely petty and vindictive. I should know." Naruto spoke in a cautioning voice, reminding the ladies of his past treatment, causing them to nod in understanding.
"Say… isn't it… rather quiet?" Sakura asked, noticing the lack of activity in the area… which was further emphasized by a tumbleweed that blew past the village entrance.
"You're right… Even from the village entrance you can hear the people in the market when it's in full swing." Naruto noted suspiciously, finding it strange that they couldn't hear any sounds of people or signs of life in general.
"Something doesn't feel right… be on your guard. This might be another trick." Naruto spoke in a cautious voice, with the Siblings nodding in agreement as they stuck close to him, their body language now showing that they were prepared to spring into action at a moment's notice. They slowly and carefully entered the village, passing by the unmanned guard booth as they walked on.
Little by little, they got deeper and deeper into the village, and found not a single soul to be seen. Even in the marketplace there wasn't a single person around. "I don't get it… where is everybody? This is all kinds of weird. Place is a ghost town." Naruto muttered in confusion, for so many years he had walked these streets and felt the piercing eyes of the villagers or overheard their whispers… for some reason, he found it deeply disturbing to see the village empty like this.
"No signs of damage or traces of battle either. Even stranger." Asagi mused aloud as she scanned the area. No markings left behind by weapons, no scorch marks of explosions, not even a single drop of blood to be seen. It was almost as if… everyone just disappeared like dust in the wind.
"H-how's that even possible?! How can an entire population just vanish? Not even the mastermind could pull that off… right?" Sakura questioned her tone becoming a little fearful at the implications.
"Hard to say… we don't know who is behind all this, nor do we know their full capabilities or the technology or resources they have. Though given the advanced nature of the train, and the fact they left behind duplicates of us to hide our kidnappings… there's no telling what they're capable of. It could even be within their power to do… this." Asagi muttered thoughtfully then performed a sweeping gesture across the village.
"Holy shit…" Came a new voice of a female nature, causing the trio to turn around, and Naruto's eyes widened upon seeing a pair of familiar faces, one of which he was especially glad to see. "ANKO!" Naruto screamed out as he charged towards the Dango Lover, his arms outstretched as if to embrace her… only for the Jinchuuriki to suddenly find himself sprawled out on the ground with the wind knocked out of him.
Anko had her hands wrapped tight around his throat as she stared at him with fury in her eyes "You! What did you do to my Naruto-kun?! What happened to all the people? Talk you fake bastard!" The snake user yelled out furiously, the Igawa siblings almost pounced upon the Snake mistress, but was stopped when the Uzumaki raised his hand as if telling them to stop. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together and realize that Anko believed him to be an imposter.
"Anko… Anko-chan! It's me! Your best pal! Whisker-kun! Please Anko. You always did right by me. You were one of the only people I could count on when I needed you." He spoke in a pleading voice, hoping that she would see reason… and as luck would have it, she quickly came to her senses as she saw the sincerity and pure emotion in his eyes.
"Wh…whisker-kun? Kami… it's really you. Isn't it?" Anko whispered, tears brimming in her eyes as a horrified look crossed her face, now realizing that she could have strangled her best friend. She let out a quiet sob and quickly pulled him up into a tight hug, kissing the side of his cheek in relief before releasing him and helping him back up on his feet.
As she brushed the dust and dirt off of him Naruto asked "Anko… what happened? Where is everyone?"
At his questioning, the form of Ino Yamanaka piped in "Hell if we know. The last thing we remembered is getting drugged by you… or at least, someone that looked and acted like you. We woke up in a basement, and Anko managed to slip her ninja wire. We found out the basement was under your apartment building… and then… well… the whole village… It was empty. There's nobody here, and yes, we searched everywhere!"
At that, Naruto could only blink his eyes, his mind running a million miles a minute. How could an entire Shinobi village population just up and vanish? Why were Anko and Ino left behind? What had become of all the people? As much as he hated to admit it… there was only one entity that may have any answers. Glados. Glados had to be behind this, or at the least was involved in some way.
He was snapped from his thought when Anko asked him "What the hell happened to you? Where did you go? Where's that fake? And… who're these two with you?" At that last question, the blonde raised a lone finger and was about to answer, but the Igawa siblings beat him to the punch as Sakura quickly sidled up to him and hugged him from behind, her huge tits squishing against the top of his head.
"I'm Sakura Igawa. This is my older sister Asagi! We're Naruto-kun's friends. So you're his precious Anko-chan, he talks about you pretty fondly." The orangette spoke in a bubbly voice, which made the purple haired Kunoichi grin fiendishly and almost immediately liked this girl.
"Oh? Friends eh? You sure you're not more than friends? You seem pretty comfy around my Whisker-kun. How about it Whisker-kun? You have some fun with those hot pieces of ass? Bet they really get your blood pumping in all the right places with those skin tight outfits." The Dango lover spoke in a teasing voice while poking at the Uzumaki's cheeks, causing him to blush deeply.
Ino blushed slightly but quickly shook her head and stomped her foot as she cried out in dismay "Will you focus already?! We're in a ghost town and all of our friends and family are gone! What the hell happened to them?! Who would do this?!"
At this, Naruto gained a serious expression as he pulled away from Sakura and answered calmly "I dunno… but I think I might know who'll have the answers… I hate to say it… but it seems that we don't have any choice but to board that damn train again." He spoke the last part ruefully, he didn't want to go back to that mobile prison, and he certainly didn't want to force the girls to come aboard as well. However, unless they knew where to look for their lost friends and family… they could spend a long, long time searching fruitlessly. Unfortunately, Glados was the only one who might have information.
"Huh? Train? What train? The hell are you talking about..? WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Ino screamed out the last part in shock as she pointed towards something that was flying out of the sky, it appeared to be mechanical in nature, in the shape of a basketball as it approached. Naruto guessed that it was some type of scouting robot or drone that Glados sent… talk about unusually impeccable timing.
"Hello, hello, hello Conductor-san! Are you enjoying your stay in Konoha?" Spoke the familiar voice of Glados, the damned AI's voice having a strong mocking tone to it that was utterly unmistakable. While Anko and Ino stared in amazement at this device, both Naruto and the Igawa siblings glared at it with pure hatred.
"Start talking Glados. What did you do to the people of Konoha?" He asked with clenched fists, the drone wobbled and bounced a bit in mid-air, almost as if it were laughing at him for a moment.
"The people? What people? Ohhhhh, those 'people'? We killed them, processed them into fast food meat and are selling them across the world." Glados answered darkly, if she had a face, one could safely assume that she'd be giving a menacing shark-like grin.
The group stared in horror, wondering if that was true… until the drone bobbed around in the air again like it was laughing and Glados continued speaking "Juuuuuust kidding! Or was I? Eh, who cares? Why do you care? Does it really matter what happens to a bunch of bottom-feeding humans who would treat a child with such cold and harsh cruelty? People like that deserve whatever ill fate awaits them."
Naruto scowled deeply and briefly noted that the AI was acting way more energetic than usual… evidently this must be fun for her. He shook his head and then spoke as calmly as possible "A lot of people treated me badly, sure. But there are also people that at least were neutral to me and didn't treat me like trash, and even a small handful that were nice to me. Like the old man and the Ichiraku's. Now tell us what you did to them!"
"Nope. Sorry. You won't get anything out of me! Ha ha! What makes you think I had anything to do with this anyway? I'm just a train dummy. My function is to take you where you wanna go and ensure the safety and comfort of my beloved Conductor and passengers. Though… if you want some answers, I think you already know what you gotta do, yeah?" Glados spoke in a malicious voice, her words making the blonde swallow dryly at the implication.
"We can just leave, you know. Look for them on our own." The Jinchuuriki countered, which caused the drone to bob around and 'laugh' at him again.
"Sure. Sure you could. Where would you even look? Hot Spring country? Land of Keys? Kiri? Taki? Suna? Kumo? Oto? Snow Country? If any of the Shinobi villages catch wind of your Jinchuuriki status, they'll descend on you like locusts, looking to snatch you up and devour you and use you for all you're worth. You might wanna rethink that plan of yours." Glados replied in a matter-of-fact tone, and loathed as the Uzumaki was to admit it, she made a solid point. A lone Jinchuuriki without the protection of a village would be an all-too tempting target. Especially given the fact he held the Kyuubi, the most powerful of the lot.
"I'm so confused… that… that's a machine… right? A self-aware machine?" Ino asked as she pointed towards the drone, prompting the Igawa siblings to nod.
"Ah. Glados. She is an Artificial Intelligence that operates a highly advanced train that is decades, maybe even centuries ahead of current technology. We were trapped aboard and came here hoping for help from the outside to escape it… but it seems that we have been hoodwinked from the start." Asagi explained as she crossed her arms beneath her bust, glaring heatedly at the drone.
"I wonder, how long will it be before people figure out what is happening? This might be a dangerous place for you to stay. Why don't you climb aboard the train again and we can continue our fun little journey together?" The AI spoke with sadistic glee.
"I wouldn't call that prison 'fun'." Sakura growled deeply as she flipped off the drone. Naruto glanced between the group and the drone and sighed as he rubbed the back of his head since the AI made a point. Once word got out that this village was abandoned, the other Shinobi Nations would swarm and bulldoze the place to get their slice of the pie; and if they were caught in the middle of it all… they'd be fucked.
He'd likely be slapped with a slave seal or something, and… Kami knows what'd happen to the girls. "Seems we don't have much choice… you girls… you go on. Go. Go back home. You don't have to come with me aboard that prison train again. I'll be okay, Glados won't do anything bad to me. If you stay then Glados might use…" He spoke, and was about to warn them about that damned classroom, but was cut off when an angry buzzing came from the drone.
It zipped over next to his ear with Glados whispering "Nope, nope, nope! No spoilers about my nice little classroom, or there will be consequences for those girls." The ominous threat caused the Jinchuuriki's mouth to close shut, fearing that her threat was sincere… not good… not good at all.
"Oi now! Don't go talking like that! We aren't gonna leave you there all alone! We promised that we wouldn't leave you, and we're gonna keep that promise!" Sakura shouted, with her sister nodding in agreement, a look of determination on both of their faces.
"Hell if I know what's going on, but I finally got back with my Whisker-kun, I sure as shit ain't leaving you again for anything. I'm with ya all the way through thick and thin! 'Sides… whatever happens, I've been through worse." Anko spoke while rubbing her shoulder where a certain mark burned against her skin.
"This… this is all so overwhelming. It's like we're in some kind of crazy manga or something… but I wanna go too! I want to find my friends and my dad. Wherever they are, I want to help find them, and beat the pants off whoever took them!" Ino spoke as she pumped a fist in the ear, her nostrils flaring as she imagined giving the kidnapper(s) her signature sixteen hit combo.
Seeing that the others refused to leave him, the blonde sighed since he couldn't force them to stay behind either. "Well… it seems we're all going then. Glados, if you do anything to hurt them, I swear, I'll find a way to tear you apart even if it takes my whole damn life." Naruto spoke, promising to dismantle the AI.
"One thing I know for certain, my beloved Conductor and I may have mentioned this before but… given enough time, patience, resources, and tried-and-true determination, one can accomplish anything. Now climb aboard, oh, and don't forget this." Glados spoke in a sage-like and almost affectionate manner, and then the bottom of the drone opened up, revealing the PDA that the whiskered teen had been given earlier on the train.
He accepted it and turned it on, revealing a list of potential passengers as he saw earlier. On closer inspection, he saw that they were categorized by their respective villages. Unsurprisingly, they were all female. The ones at the top of Konoha's list were all labeled 'High compatibility' most of which he recognized. And of course, at the very top of the lists… was the 'recommended section' with both Anko and Ino's names and pictures. With great reluctance, he sighed deeply and tapped on their pictures, causing check marks to appear over them and then they were both labeled as 'approved'.
He didn't want them to come, knowing what awaited them, but he couldn't force them to stay behind either… largely because he was certain that if he did try, Glados would probably do something awful to them. He could only hope that he could protect them somehow.
A humming sound suddenly approached and the train reappeared before their very eyes, with one of the cars having an opening for them to enter inside with. Both Anko and Ino marveled at the train and its capabilities, noting its camouflage capabilities and the fact that it hovered over the ground, eliminating the need for tracks. Aside from the humming noise, it moved so silently… like a phantom.
"Come on… there's nothing for us here." Naruto spoke as he ushered his passengers aboard the train, the Igawa siblings gave him reassuring looks as they boarded, Ino almost ran past him and hopped aboard, hoping for the chance to reunite with her missing father as quickly as possible. Anko was the last to approach the train, then she turned towards Naruto and spoke with a grin "I didn't wanna say anything before and ruin our happy reunion but… you stink of booze Whisker-kun. You finally have your first drink without me?" She asked teasingly… but then her face fell when the blonde gave her a serious look.
He glanced around the empty village one last time and wondered how an entire populace could disappear so quickly… and why leave behind a double of himself if they were gonna kidnap the village anyway? Sabotage? Spying? He wasn't sure. He then turned back to his oldest and dearest friend and replied "There's a reason behind that… come on, we have a lot to talk about." With that said, the two pariahs boarded the train, the opening closing shut behind them in the fraction of a second.
And with that… the long ride aboard the Uzu express resumed unabated.
End chapter four.