"Nagato!" Iruka smiles, "Are you one of the other ninjas we heard about?"
"I am indeed," says Nagato, heading over to Iruka, Naruto, Sparky and Neji. "My apprentice is also here. I brought her here for a holiday, so you can finally meet her. What are you doing here?"
"We're on a mission," says Naruto. "Grandpa is visiting all of the Whirlpool Temples for his research, 'tebayo. Iruka-nii, Neji, Shisui and me are his bodyguards. We also picked up some extras ones our way here."
"Cool," nods Nagato, smiling. "Oh, you brought Sparky with you," he says, petting Sparky. "There is a phoenix in this zoo, come, I'll show you." Nagato heads off, waving at them to follow.
Naruto, Iruka and Shisui all look at Sparky. "Is that phoenix a friend of Sparky's?" wonders Naruto. "Is that why he was trying to come here, 'tebayo?"
Sparky flies up into the air and hovers, waiting for Naruto to keep walking. Naruto follows Nagato, and Neji and Iruka follow along too. Sparky hovers majestically above them as they walk. Nagato leads them to an enclosure in which a sparkly purple unicorn is lying in the grass while a phoenix nestles in the grass nearby, fast asleep.
"Sparky, I'm going to let you off the leash," says Iruka-nii, softly. "If you know that phoenix, stay put. If you know the unicorn, land on Naruto's shoulder. If you know them both, land on mine, okay?"
Sparky looks down at Iruka-nii and waits for Iruka to undo the leash. Once Iruka has undone the leash, Sparky flies down onto Iruka's shoulder and ruffles his feathers pointedly.
"He knows the unicorn too?" says Neji. "Wait...Sparky, is that Mrs. Sparky and Mrs. Sparkles over there?"
Sparky flies over to Neji's shoulder and rubs his head against Sparky' s face.
"I'll get the Guard," says Nagato. "He has the keys." Nagato vanishes and reappears a minute later with the gate guard.
The guard says, "So these two are friends of your pet then?" he asks. "So do you want me to let him in, or them out?"
"Let them out," says Iruka.
"Ahh…" the guard seems doubtful about whether or not he should. "I don't think the boss would like that."
"Look, Susu," says Nagato, putting his arm around the guard's shoulders. "We just need the gates open for a tiny bit. We'll shut them again when we are finished. And don't worry, we'll talk to the boss for you."
"Ah...okay." The guard, Susu, goes over to the gate and unlocks it.
Sparky flies into the enclosure and makes a sound quite unlike his usual squawks. The other phoenix and the unicorn lift their heads and look up at him. The phoenix flies up onto the air and circles around Sparky. The two fire birds fly around each other, and then fly to the ground. Tiny drops of pure gold fall from their eyes as they wrap their tails together and rubs their heads together. Sparky tucks the other phoenix under his wing and makes the same cooing noises he makes to Naruto when Naruto is upset. The unicorn gets up and trots over, nickering softly, but a bit desperately, Naruto thinks.
Neji goes over to the unicorn and puts his hand out. "Hello," he says gently. "I am Neji. My cousin is looking after Sparkles. I will take you to him when we head home."
The unicorn whinnies and shakes her mane.
Sparky squawks something in reply.
The unicorn bumps her head against Neji's shoulder and knickers softly. Neji strokes the unicorn's nose and smiles.
"How did you know they were here, Sparky?" asks Naruto heading over to Sparky and Mrs. Sparky. He sits down in the grass beside them and stares at the two phoenixes, thinking how magical they look.
Sparky squawks at Naruto condescendingly.
"Aw, I wish I knew what you were saying, 'tebayo," sighs Naruto, pulling a face.
He says he'd tell you, but you can't understand, chimes in Mr. Kurama smugly.
"Mr. Kurama, you can understand Sparky, dattebayo!?" Naruto yells, forgetting that only he can hear Mr. Kurama.
Sparky squawks again and looks at Naruto expectantly.
"What'shesay? What'shesay?" says Naruto, blurring his words together.
He says he figured I'd probably be able to understand him, says Mr. Kurama, smugly. But for a magical brd with an IQ over 300, he really isn't all that sensible. He could have gotten you to follow him on one of his searches instead of running off on his own. Tell him that.
Yes Mr. Kurama, sighs Naruto. Aloud, he says, "Sparky, Mr. Kurama says you should've got me to go with you to look for Mrs. Sparky instead of running off on your own."
Sparky puffs out his feathers and squawks something long winged back at Mr. Kurama that sounds very rude.
You tell that damned fire bird that he may be the smartest creature in this world, but I am one of the oldest in this world! Snaps Mr. Kurama. He can be the most intelligent creature in the universe, but he hasn't got a shred of sense! Even I know that in some situations you need to team up with people!
Naruto relays the message.
Mrs. Sparky nips Sparky's neck and stops him from replying in kind. She squawks something of her own.
The bird woman told him to shut up and stop arguing with the ancient chakra being, who is obviously wiser than Sparky is smart, says Mr. Kurama, chuckling.
I don't get it, Naruto tells Mr. Kurama, crossing his arms and screwing his face up in confusion.
That's because you're 13 and don't know anything, replies Mr. Kurama, without missing a beat.
I know the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu and fuuinjutsu, says Naruto, sticking his bottom lip out.
And not a lot else, but sometimes that's a good thing.
Naruto is sure he just got insulted, but he cannot figure out how he got insulted.
The sound of tapping catches Naruto's attention. He turns to see an old man appear in the enclosure's gateway. The man is about as old as Gramps pants, but this old guy is dressed in a smart-looking suit, and has a red fez on his head. The fez has the Uzumaki clan symbol on it, as does the head of the old man's walking stick. The old man has a very square jaw sporting a five o'clock shadow and tufts of white hair sticking out from under his silly hat.
"Hi, boss," says Susu.
Naruto stands up and grins at the old man. "Are you the head of the Order of Dave? I am Naruto Uzumaki, head of the Order of Jashin by accident and member of the Order of Steve by choice, 'tebayo. Nice to meet you."
"Yes, I'm the head of the Order of Dave," says the old man. "My name's Gurunku. Kid, your handler must be something else if you know manners."
"I am not sure if I should be pleased you think I'm something else or offended you called me his handler," says Iruka-nii, face palming gracefully.
"And you are?" asks Gurunku, pointing his walking stick at Iruka-nii.
"Iruka Umino, head of the Umino clan, member of the Order of Steve," replies Iruka, jumping on the status listing bandwagon. "Naruto's...handler."
"And Uncle and brother," adds Naruto. "He's adopted. Twice. That's how much we love Iruka-nii."
Iruka face palms again.
"What about this one?" Gurunku points his walking stick at Neji.
"I am Neji Hyuga," says Neji, bowing in greeting. "I too, am a Member of the Order of Steve. I would like to take this unicorn to my cousin Hinata. She and this unicorn's mate are business partners."
"I summoned Sparky and Sparkles while I was leaning fuuinjutsu, 'tebayo," chimes in Naruto. "These two you have in your zoo are Mrs. Sparky and Mrs. Sparkles. They are gonna come back to the Hidden Leaf with us so all four of them can be reunited."
"Why can't the other unicorn come here and be in my zoo?"demands Gurunku, frowning. "I need to make money off the little girls who want unicorn rides."
"Yeah, and Hinata needs to make money off the brides who want a unicorn at their wedding," says Neji, crossing his arms.
"Why don't you summon an entire herd of unicorns through that secret portal of yours and let the kids have these two?" suggests Iruka.
"We can't control what comes out of the portal," says Gurunku. "If we could, there would be an infinite pizza dispenser here."
Iruka-nii sighs. "Stand aside," he says, waving everyone out of his way. Then he pulls out a brush and inc, draws a seal on the air, activates the seal. The seal turns into a shiny portal and out gallops a herd of unicorns. The portal closes just as a man on a horse who has a long spear in one hand gallops through. Iruka-nii promptly stabs the man in the face before he can harm the unicorns. The unicorns stop their wild flight when they see Neji standing calmly with one of their own. They take in their surroundings, then start grazing and drinking water from the stream in the enclosure. The horse joins them.
"I am badass," says Nagato, staring in awe. "But I don't think I will ever be casually-summons-a-herd-of-unicorns badass."
"Nope, only Iruka-nii," says Naruto proudly. "So now can we have Mrs. Sparkles and Mrs. Sparky?" he asks Gurunku.
"Ah, fine," agrees Gurunku. "But only if your handler also summons me a flock of phoenixes."
Iruka does exactly that before Gurunku has even finished saying 'phoenixes'.
I no longer doubt that this guy could drain the ocean if he wanted to, says Mr. Kurama.