Author's Note: This is word emphasis

This is conversations between Jinchuriki and their bijuu

This is book, song, movie, video game titles and anything that is copy written

Chapter 4

Viridian Forest:

After an hour of falling off of his designated tree, but managing to flip around to land on his feet Ash takes a break from training himself to train his pokémon. Naruko had Izanami working on her endurance by running around their campsite at full speed until she couldn't anymore while Kuwa was working on her aim. This meant Naruko could continue to work on her chakra control, especially since she happened to have a shit ton of chakra. Ash has Caterpie working on his Tackles against a different tree, Pikachu and his Poochyena were running with Izanami while Tentacool is working on her aim as well. He had Magikarp working on learning Bounce, as Magikarp only learned Tackle at level fifteen, until then they only had Splash, and Splash was basically useless in battle.

Shino has his Weedle and Caterpie working on their climbing speed up trees, and using String Shot to dodge quicker. His Poochyena and Krabby were helping Weedle and Caterpie in this endeavor by aiming their attacks at them. It helped the bugs with their evasion and situational awareness while the other two got to work on hitting moving targets. This was so Shino could set up camp, and find the kindling necessary to light a fire. Ash sees that his pokémon are all on task, so he starts to hunt for edible plant life not too far from camp. He did grab his backpack so he would have the containers he needed to store everything in for transport.

They had all studied intensely just so they could live off the land. Until they started earning money by challenging gyms, pick up battles, tournaments, and in Naruko's case Contests the more they could get from nature the better. This also meant that they could let their pokémon forage. Well, they'd gather the leaves for the Caterpie, and Shino's Weedle themselves as they could get eaten. Shino had, had his Weedle for a while, and Ash would hate for Shino to lose his starter to anything other than natural causes, or going down with one helluva fight. Naruko was actually cutting off some weaker limbs, and then tossing them down to Shino for their herbivores. Once the Caterpie and Weedle evolved they could forage for themselves. No sane pokémon would dare to piss off a Beedrill. Even Ursaring turned tail and ran from an angry Beedrill.

He left the mushrooms alone because he still had a hard time telling poisonous from non-poisonous, wild vegetables and herbs on the other hand along with fruits and berries were very much on the list, though he left Tamato Berries alone, he didn't think he had any pokémon that liked their food that spicy. He returns to camp once he has gathered enough for everyone. Naruko carried water purification tablets with her, just in case, but they did have filled thermoses with water. " Not a bad haul, Ash. " Naruko says from her perch on a sturdy tree branch.

Shino just nods, and Naruko jumps down to the ground lightly, " Guess it's time to eat. "

" Indeed. " Shino says, and the three friends quickly concoct their meals while letting their pokémon other than the bugs go forage for themselves.

" How long can we stay and train? " Ash asks.

Shino pulls out his PokéGear, " We can stay for eight days, then we need to make our way to Pewter City, that will give Naruko ample enough time to get a Contest Pass, and register for the Pewter City Contest. "

Ash nods thoughtfully at this, and just then a Delibird arrives, handing Ash a package. Naruko tosses Delibird an Occa Berry, and Delibird caws happily before heading out. " Hand me the Rainbow Wing, Ash. Once I have the Wing on the chain only a blood Uzumaki, or you, yourself can remove it from you. High level Fuuinjutsu was used in the making of this strong, thin chain. "

Ash hands the package and Rainbow Wing over to Naruko, he trusted her and Shino implicitly. They believed in his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, and Shino had already told him that he would be one of Ash's Elite Four once he became a Champion of a Region. Naruko hands Ash's new Rainbow Wing necklace to him, and Ash manages to work the clasp on his own, it wasn't quite big enough to go on over his head for a reason. The clasp sealed the chain to Ash's own unique chakra, though it also took in his Aura as well. Naruko had mentioned that Ash had powerful Aura as well, so the sealing array on his chain was altered to make it even harder to remove it from him, and only the owner could remove it of their own free will. Genjutsu and psychic suggestion were taken into account when the sealing arrays for the chains were made.

There was a reason why the Uzumakis were the only ones whom could make chains for Legendary Artifacts like a Rainbow Wing. Though Naruko had been sent books on the sealing arts as all Uzumaki were taught, as she was an orphan her education was behind that of others in her age group. Once her fellow clansmen find out she is the last mainline Uzumaki they'd make damned sure to train her up, though she did send a request for a special jacket in the same style as Shino's that would protect his kikaichū from all elements.

Ash admires his new necklace, especially the chain, it was thin, but looked incredibly strong, " How did you get this for free? "

" When my extended family I have yet to meet was informed one of my traveling companions got a Rainbow Wing directly from Ho-oh they offered the service for free. There are a lot of unscrupulous people that would just love to get their hands on something like your Rainbow Wing, Ash. My maternal clan specializes in the Sealing Arts, and very intricate sealing arrays are used for the chains they make for Legendary Artifacts, yours is slightly more specialized due to your inborn talent for Aura as well. I can't really go into too many specifics because in the sealing arts for my maternal heritage I'm quite far behind, but sealing comes easily for an Uzumaki, just like you seem to have a gift for battling. "

Ash thinks this over, " That makes sense, and I do get my battling talent from my father. "

Blue Point Isle, later that day:

" Hey, Aki, that Delibird we sent out just got back. The Uzumaki Lugia saved has an Aburame with her. She sent a picture of his jacket, and requested one that would protect his kikaichū from the elements. Apparently Lugia saved him as well. " a random Uzumaki says.

Uzumaki Aki blinks, " Huh, there are plenty of orphaned Uzumaki in the Elemental Nations, I suppose a few could have settled in Konoha. I'll get to work on the jacket right away, we do this right we could gain an alliance with the Aburame, depending on whom is with the replanted Uzumaki. " Aki happened to be the head Tailor/Seamstress so sending her the request was a no brainer. The Uzumaki on Blue Point Island would be in for one helluva shock once they found out exactly whom the replanted Uzumaki happened to be. None of them were in the know about the fact that Kushina, the Clan Heiress, had been the one sent to Konoha to become the new Jinchuriki, and that her daughter, the new Heiress, was the replanted Uzumaki traveling with an Aburame, the Aburame Heir to be exact.

Mt. Silver:

Red, The Fighter, sighs wearily, while happy his son was finally setting out on his journey he was also concerned about the fact that Team Rocket activity was on the rise. Apparently Giovani had done the smart thing, and bided his time to rebuild his empire. The last thing Red wanted was for Ash to have to deal with Team Rocket. Of course, any member of Team Rocket old enough to have been a member when he was just starting out on his journey was going to be flat out terrified he'd curb stomp them again. Admittedly Gold had done the curb stomping in Johto, but Team Rocket members still feared to speak his name. One instance of them going after his son that he heard about, and he was coming down off of Mt. Silver, and reminding Giovani that The Fighter still lived.

Viridian Forest:

Naruko and Ash have taken to sparring with what little of Taijutsu they know. Shibi had ensured that his son and Naruko had the Academy Taijutsu style memorized correctly, as the academy had kept trying to sabotage Naruko for her tenant. Shino heads out to hunt for Berries, recalling his bug types, no need to borrow trouble after all. He was hoping his surrogate sister would take the opportunity to tell Ash about her tenant. He understood why she was terrified to do so though. Konoha had done her no favors with how they had treated her. Only himself and his clan, along with Lord Third, and the Ichirakus had actually treated her decently. Her having trust Issues was to be expected.

Ash blocks a roundhouse kick, and dodges a left hook before catching Naruko's arm with his, and sweeps her feet out from under her. Naruko pulls him down on top of her, only Ash quickly releases her, and somersaults over her, placing his hands firmly on the ground he pushes off into a handspring, " Did you really think you'd get me with that again? " Ash asks her.

Naruko grins, " I had to take the chance, Ash. I give it a few more years for your hormones to kick in fully, and then you'll be letting me pull that off. "

Ash has to laugh at this, " Fair point, Naruko. "

The raven haired boy moves his head to the side as the blonde girl was suddenly in front of him, and shifts to his left just enough to block the knee that would have impacted his gonads rather painfully even as he sends his left elbow towards Naruko's nose. The blonde leans her head back, and brings her left leg up in a kick that Ash blocks with his right arm. Ash had picked up Taijutsu rather quickly, and happened to have the instincts of a true shinobi. They leap back from each other grinning, while he knew whatever had happened to bring Naruko and Shino into his life was bad, he could only be grateful he'd met them. Brown eyes take in the blonde across from him, " Naruko, I've never asked, but why were you and Shino brought to Pallet Town from the Elemental Nations? " Ash asks her.

Naruko sighs at this question, " To understand that you would need the back story. Short of it is that due to something outside of my control that happened on the very day I was born, I was the Village Pariah with Shino as my only friend. Not only did the humans attack me, so did the Pokémon, wild and partnered. Shino was constantly having to use his Kikkaichū to drain the mobbing pokémon to the point of unconsciousness that were attacking me. It came to a head when Lugia acted to save myself, Shino, and Shino's Weedle. One of our Chunin instructors in Pokémon battling had his Magmar or Magmortar, I honestly don't remember anymore, use Fire Blast against Shino and his Weedle to psychologically wound me. As Shino happened to be my only damned friend at the time I interposed myself in between. Lugia blocked the Fire Blast with Aero Blast, and brought us to Pallet Town. "

Ash cocks his head to the side, " What the Hell happened on the day you were born to cause you to become the Village Pariah? "

" Have you ever heard of the Bijuu, Ash? " Naruko asks instead, running a hand through her blonde bangs.

" I read about them in one of Shino's scrolls he happened to have with him, how there are nine beasts made of chakra that have one to nine tails, and that they were divided between the Elemental Nations as a deterrent to war by the Shodaime Hokage Senju Hashirama. Why? "

" Was the term Jinchuriki mentioned in that scroll? " Naruko asks.

Ash searches his memory, " It was mentioned that the Shodaime's wife, Uzumaki Mito had sealed the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside herself…" Ash trails off, " A Jinchuriki is in essence a sealing scroll for a Tailed Beast or Bijuu, right? "

Naruko nods at this, " My mother was the second for the Kyuubi, and only an Uzumaki can actually handle the Kyuubi. The only time a Jinchuriki's seal weakens is in childbirth. Dad had no choice but to reseal Kyuubi into me after he was extracted from mom. Kyuubi was placed under a rather potent Genjutsu and used as a weapon against the village. Someone decided to reveal my status to the adults..."

Ash swears under his breath, " They saw you as the Kunai instead of the Scroll? What the Hell were they getting stoned on, and where can we get some? This changes nothing, Naruko. "

The ravenette male swears internally at the palpable relief that washes over the blonde female. Konoha's citizens had royally fucked her over. No wonder Shino had been exceedingly quick to put a stop to any form of harassment towards his surrogate sister. He'd basically been forced to stand back and watch her be belittled, battered, bruised, and abused all so morons could have a convenient scapegoat for their misplaced feelings, be they grief, anger, despair...why adults had to be so damned stupid all the time Ash would never understand. Making sure Naruko sees him coming he pulls her into a hug, the blonde had been starved of positive physical affection for her entire life pretty much. Ash knew Shino and his Clan would have done what they could, along with the select few others that actually treated Naruko as a person, like the Ichirakus she'd mentioned on occasion.

Ash frowns at how tense Naruko was before she'd relaxed in his arms. He was going to need to talk to Shino to try and get a grasp on how horrific Naruko's childhood had actually been. Naruko had been orphaned on the very day she was born, and Ash knew he couldn't even begin to come close to understanding what that was like as he still had both of his parents. Yeah, his Dad had to leave when he was four for his own safety, but it had been his Dad to give him The Talk, and he still received gifts. His dad still made his presence felt, even if he had to keep his distance. Naruko didn't even have that in her life, a blood relative that was absent for her own safety.

Naruko's Pokémon:

Kuwa- female Murkrow

Raiu- male Chinchou

Bōfū- male Magikarp

Izanami- female Poochyena

Rattata- male(at Oak's Lab)

Vulpix Egg

Zorua Egg

Shino's Pokémon:

Weedle- male

Krabby- male

Poochyena- male

Shiny Caterpie- female

Horsea x5- (at Oak's lab)

Rattata-(at Oak's Lab)

Heracross Egg

Ash's Pokémon:

Pikachu- male

Tentacool- female

Chinchou- female

Magikarp- male

Poochyena- male

Caterpie- male

Rattata-(at Oak's Lab)

Riolu Egg(unknown to Ash)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or Naruto.