I Do not own Naruto, If I did I wouldn't bother writing Fan Fiction.
A Price for Peace
Chapter: 11: Early Morning Revelations
Once more Karin found herself on the large bridge in the Land of Iron, Danzo had her trapped, using her as a human shield for Sasuke's attacks. "Sorry boy, I can't afford die just yet, I have just been made hokage." Danzo said contently.
"You make it seem like you actually have a chance to escape with your life." Sasuke sneered, his smirk seemed darker than usual.
"If you value the life of your comrade then you will back away." Danzo replied firmly.
Sasuke chuckled darkly. "Comrade huh, tell me, what use is a comrade who get's themselves captured?" Danzo paled slightly. Sasuke's way of thinking was not all that different from how he trained his own men to think. The mission always came first any losses were acceptable as long as the mission was a success. "Karin don't move." Sasuke raised his hand and a spear of electricity shot through her body.
Karin shot up in bed, cold sweat dripping from her forehead. "That dream again. Why can't I just forget? Is that even how it went down?" she asked herself in light sobs. She suddenly had a the feeling that she was all alone. To calm her nerves she spread out her chakra sensory ability to the next room, for what ever reason she craved just to feel the warmth of Naruto's chakra. Quietly she questioned if it was possible for someone's chakra to be addictive, a thought that was soon forgotten as she realized that his room was empty. 'He's not there!' she panicked, she instantly spread her Minds Eye throughout the cabin, and even the surrounding area. She found the blond downstairs in the underground part of the outpost.
Quickly hopping out of bed Karin wrapped a blanket around her body to escape the cold and exited the room. The sun had not made it's appearance yet but she could tell from the small windows in the cabin that it was not far off, a small pale light crossed the sky indicating the day was upon them. As Karin slowly made her way down the steep stairs she didn't need her sensory ability to feel Naruto's chakra anymore, the air was thick with it. Calm and restrained, yet powerful, like a horse in the gates before a race, just waiting to explode. She felt the effects of his chakra almost immediately, the anxiety she felt was gone, in it's place was a feeling of security, like nothing bad could go wrong while he was around. The feeling was intoxicating. While she was in her tired state the scarlet eyed kunoichi didn't even attempt to shy away from the young jinchuuriki as she slowly approached the room in which his chakra was emanating.
Naruto had woken almost an hour earlier, knowing he wouldn't get any more sleep he decided the best use of his time would be to train with Kurama. He wanted to let his traveling companion sleep as long as she could, he knew that despite the convenience of the underground tunnel system it was still going to be a long day of traveling. His solution was to increase the distance between himself and Karin to avoid waking the sleeping kunoichi, that way he could train without restraint.
The blonds spar was not going well. By his own suggestion Naruto had decided to fight without the use of senjutsu and this was proving to be a rather poor decision to make. Time after time Kurama simply swatted him away, his regular rasengan did little to no damage to the giant fox and despite the numbers advantage gained by his now expert use of shadow clones every exchange ended in the same way. Naruto lay beaten on the ground.
"You're still one hundred years too early to fight me without Senjutsu. Although I do commend your willingness to try." Kurama said catching Naruto with one of his tails as he fell after yet another failed attack.
"Yeah I guess I still have a lot to learn. I wish Kakashi-sensei was here, he would know what I needed to improve on. Granted he would do a half arsed job and spend more time reading his porn than actually training me. But he always knew the best way for me to improve." Naruto sighed.
"Don't look to the past Naruto, those who do that are always filled with regrets. Focus on what you have now, look to the future." Kurama lectured.
"Big words coming from someone who has held a grudge for over a century" Naruto laughed jokingly.
"Shut it brat, I could kill you right now and take your body." The giant fox said threateningly.
Naruto wasn't convinced however, they had become close friends and now the blond could always sense the difference between Kurama's fake anger and the full might of rage that the Bijuu could produce. "Aw don't get upset, I was only joking." he replied playing along.
"I was not upset, I was simply stating fact." Kurama replied in a far more relaxed tone.
Both parties were startled by a loud and worried yell. "What was that?" Naruto asked while wondering if that came from inside his mindspace. For most people that would be an absurd thought, but Naruto had already had two people show up out of the blue and he had long since denied the possibility that his father may have left him one more surprise for him to find in his own time.
"It was outside. I swear your brain is becoming slower by the day. Maybe Madara hit you on the head one too many times?" The large fox scoffed. He had wasted little time in discovering the source of their interruption.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes and came face to face with a shocked and very worried Karin. "Uh, hi." Naruto greeted slowly, he was slightly confused with the look on the kunoichi's face.
Karin opened her mouth to speak but the words seemed to be lost in the back of her throat. All that came out was audible gibberish.
"Karin are you alright?" Naruto asked now slightly concerned for the state of his travel companion.
"Am I alright? What about you!?" Karin yelled finally finding her voice.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked curiously.
"You're all cut up and bleeding, what happened to you?" Karin said tossing the blond a small pocket mirror so he could see the state of his face.
Naruto was still puzzled as he picked up the mirror but he soon understood. His face was bleeding from several areas, in fact it was a miracle that he was even able to see. "Whoa how did this happen!?" he yelled in disbelief.
Karin looked at the clueless jinchuuriki with a sweat drop. "You mean you don't know? Kami it looks like you have been run over by one of Orochimaru's snake summons." she deadpanned.
Naruto scratched his head trying to think how he could have ended up in such a condition. 'Kurama why am I in such bad shape? I haven't moved from this spot since we started training.'
'It would appear that you are not as indestructible in your mindscape as we predicted. While the damage done is considerably less your physical body is still affected. It is a good thing that we have found this out now, should you have died during our spar your physical body could die. It's a shame, as far as training goes nothing is better than fighting with your life on the line, it is a shame we will not be able to exploit this for our gain.' The large fox assessed.
Naruto nodded in understanding. Then he realized that Karin was still looking at him expecting some sort of explanation. 'Say, what do I tell Karin?'
'The truth of course. I see no reason to hide the fact you were training with me.' Kurama replied simply. 'With any luck it will scare her off. If she knows Naruto has back up anything she may be planing to do to him will be abandoned.' he added to himself.
Naruto began to rub the back of his neck in slight embarrassment as his wounds began to heal. "I guess I hurt myself training with Kurama." he said sheepishly.
"Kurama?" Karin questioned half expecting someone to pop out of nowhere having followed the pair in secret for weeks.
"Kurama, is my Bijuu. The Kyuubi." Naruto said simply.
If this was a simple explanation it didn't show for Karin who gawked while looking completely lost. What do you mean the Kyuubi? You train with a Bijuu!?" she stammered slowly.
"Yeah, he's not a bad guy, or should I say fox. He can be grumpy though, and if you even think the word Uchiha he destroys something. That might just be me though as our minds are linked." Naruto mused.
"Are you serious? Why are you so calm about having contact with your Bijuu. Jinchuuriki are supposed to keep their Bijuu inside not become friends with it." Karin exclaimed flatly.
"Why not? If people took the time to try and understand the Bijuu then maybe they wouldn't have such a bad attitude towards humans. Kurama is a friend, no different that anyone else... Well apart from the fact he lives in my mind and when released is the size of a small mountain." Naruto replied.
"You mean you're really friends with the Kyuubi, the strongest Bijuu?" Karin asked skeptically.
"Yeah. I can't say we have always seen eye to eye. But we needed to cooperate during the war, and from that we began to understand each other. He's even started to lighten up a bit." the blond answered as if the topic in question was no weirder than Karin asking the time of day.
The kunoichi took a seat on the ground, it appeared that the conversation had made it to a point where the kunoichi could no longer stand. "I don't belive this. You're talking about the Kyuubi, the strongest of the Bijuu, like it was some delinquent child that was simply misunderstood."
"Well he's certainly not a child, but I would agree that Kurama is misunderstood. If we were further away from Iwa I would let you meet him. But when I use my Fox Cloak the chakra is so strong it can be felt for miles." the jinchuuriki agreed casually.
Karin opened her mouth to ask what his 'Fox Cloak'was, but then an image crossed her mind of Naruto standing over her deflecting a potentially fatal wound, glowing bright gold with what looked like flames licking his torso. "That's what you used to defeat Asahi so quickly." she said calming herself slightly. If Karin was being honest she had been slightly worried that the Kyuubi had been manipulating Naruto into this quest to leave the elemental nations. When she thought of that incident however she was somewhat reassured. His chakra was overwhelming, it suffocated the air, but it was still Naruto in control. 'That darkness, it must have been his Bijuu. Naruto was able to tame and befriend something so dark... Amazing.' she realized. "Alright I think I get it, but you're still hurt. Here bite down on my arm. It will heal you up good as new." she said, quickly exposing her arm, that was still riddled with slowly fading bite marks.
This time it was Naruto's turn to gasp. "Karin what happened to your arms!?" he asked in concerned horror.
"It's alright the bruises don't hurt. Well not anymore." Karin admitted seeing the look on her companions face.
"This is why Sasuke wanted you in his group?" Naruto asked. He had never felt hatred towards Sasuke, sure he had been angered by several things the ill fated Uchiha had done but despite all this he still considered the Uchiha a brother. Seeing Karin's arms bruised in such away however was pushing him close to wishing the Uchiha was still alive just so he could kick his ass again.
"No Sasuke wanted me for my tracking skills, this was just a bonus. Orochimaru however found my ability very useful, most of these marks are still left over from me healing his experiments." Karin answered hesitantly.
"How long do the marks last?" Naruto questioned quietly.
"A few months, these have almost fully faded. But each time I use the technique the other marks darken slightly. It's been almost a year since I had arms without bite marks." she admitted.
"Don't use that anymore. Not unless it's an emergency. See I am perfectly fine now, I heal fast, something about being an Uzumaki plus having Kurama in me makes me heal from minor wounds in a few minutes." Naruto said wiping the blood away from his face to reveal unblemished skin. "I won't need to use that medical ability of yours. Besides you're far too pretty to have such bruises all over your arms." Naruto said without thinking.
Karin paused and blushed slightly. 'Did he just call me pretty?' she asked herself blissfully unaware that her heart had skipped a beat.
Meanwhile in Naruto's mind Kurama was far less pleased about Naruto's compliment. 'I warned that fool not to get attached to this girl, I can only see this ending badly. Either she dies on the journey and Naruto is upset, she betrays him in some vein attempt to capture me. Or Kami forbid, she ends up as his mate. I can see it now, a bunch of full blooded Uzumaki kits running around inventing new seals to make my life miserable. Well at least Naruto doesn't know how to use any sealing techniques that he can teach them. Actually now that I think about it seems odd that he doesn't. The perverted toad and his parents were all seal masters. Yet not once has anyone given Naruto any information on seals.' Kurama thought apprehensively. It was needless to say that Kurama had not warmed up to Karin and she would not be the foxes first choice when it came to Naruto's partner.
Once Karin's blush subsided she slowly found her feet and grabbed Naruto's arm to pull him up. "Well if you don't want me to use my healing jutsu I am going to have to look at your wounds the old fashioned way. There is a first aid kit upstairs." she said while pulling the blond to his feet.
"I've almost healed, that's not really necessary is it?" Naruto asked.
"Probably not but it's better to be safe than sorry. Besides like you said yourself we have a long day ahead of us, last thing we need is you collapsing injured." Karin replied slightly smugly.
"Uh, fine I guess you're right." Naruto admitted and slowly made his way towards the stairs. They moved in silence focusing on the steep steps softly illuminated by their torches. They stayed silent as they entered the living area of the cabin. Karin grabbed the old field medic kit that the Iwa shinobi had left behind. The contents were a lot like any normal first aid kit. However there were some rather advanced looking additions. A chakra scanner that simulated a standard diagnostic jutsu while a second instrument applied an advanced healing salve to heal most minor wounds.
"I guess you should probably lie down on a table. I know enough medical jutsu to not need these instruments but I might used them anyway to be on the safe side." Karin mused.
Naruto paused before nodding. He slowly lay down on the large dining table. "Uh, do I need to take my top off?" Naruto asked reluctantly.
Karin paused a small pink hue spread across her face still she nodded quickly. "Yes, I'll need to check to see if you have any broken ribs." She said in almost a whisper. 'What the hell is wrong with me. I have seen countless people without their shirts on, hell I have dissected a fair number, I cant fall apart because of something so simple.' She lectured herself to regain some composure.
Naruto removed his top slowly and soon came to realize just how cold the room really was, almost immediately he began to feel goosebumps on his skin. He didn't complain however and closed his eyes waiting for the kunoichi to begin her work. He was confident that he was no longer injured at all, still he would humor Karin rather than be stuck in an argument about if he was hurt or not. "You don't seem to be out off or surprised that I have Kurama sealed in me, or that I talk to him, why?"
The question sparked Karin back into reality, whether she had realized it or not she had been in a daze exploring Naruto's bare chest. "Huh? Oh, well I already knew you were a jinchuuriki. Sasuke told me and so did that masked man in the Akatsuki, so I knew for quite awhile. As for you talking to the Kyuubi, well to tell you the truth that was a shock. But I can tell it's still you in control, so I don't mind in the slightest. I have no right to judge you on anything, not with some of the horrible things I have been forced to do in my life. Besides you didn't have a choice in becoming the Kyuubi jinchuuriki so how can anyone think less of you for that?"
Naruto opened his eyes a crack and raised an eyebrow. "You are far more accepting than I would have thought." he admitted.
"Is it really that surprising? Look at the people I have had as team mates and my leaders. Juugo became a blood thirsty monster, Sasuke had an unquenchable thirst for revenge. I don't think I need to go into all the twisted things that Orochimaru would do. When you have spent a life with people like that a small thing like someone being a jinchuuriki isn't really all that overly shocking or disturbing." Karin answered. By now she was tracing the diagnostic equipment over his body very slowly.
Kurama was now very lightly pumping a small amount of chakra through Naruto's body to keep him warm as the intense snow storm that had started the night before was still raging outside making the room almost at freezing point. "I guess if you see some of the worst of humanity there is always less to shock you. Well for once I am glad for that fact. It took me a long time to win over the people of Konoha. So it's nice to know that you have accepted me for who I am." Naruto said honestly.
Karin smiled in response but turned he focus to the medical scan she was performing. The red haired kunoichi was in disbelief that no injuries had shown up. When she walked in on Naruto's training he was so badly beaten he looked like he had replaced one of Lee and Gai's training posts. Yet no matter how careful she was with the scan it had failed to pick anything up. "I must say your healing rate is truly remarkable. I can't find anything wrong with you." she said admitting defeat.
"Well I rushed the process by channeling a small amount of nature chakra through my body and Kurama can accelerate it with his chakra. It's really useful because I hate hospitals." Naruto admitted with a slight shiver.
Karin giggled at the last statement. "Please tell me you are not afraid of hospitals. Or is it needles you can't stand. Either way I find it funny that someone so strong could feel uneasy about something like that."
Naruto shook his head. "I am not afraid of them, I just hate the waiting that Tsunade-Baachan and Sakura-chan always forced me to endure, it was so damn boring! Are we done? It's freezing in here without my top on. Besides the sun is starting to rise so we should get a move on. We should be able to cover twice as much distance through the tunnels as we would in all the snow."
Karin nodded and passed the blond his shirt and jacket. "Yeah, I'm ready to go, just need to get changed and then we can be off." Naruto nodded and they both split up into their separate bedrooms to get ready for the next stage of their journey.
(Meanwhile)
It was not only Naruto and Karin that were up before the sun rose. In Iwa a secret meeting was being held, in truth this meeting had lasted several days and so far had accomplished nothing.
"This is getting us nowhere. Enough time has passed since the war yet unlike the other villages we have accomplished nothing." a tall man with dark brown hair black eyes and a rather bulbous nose said harshly.
"If that is how you feel then perhaps you should pull out of the running to be Tsuchikage then, Kitsuchi." a shorter bald man with ocean blue eyes declared.
Kitsuchi folded his arms in defiance. "I am running because I feel I am the right man to take Iwa into any discussions with the other four villages about an alliance. I was selected as a general in the Joint Shinobi Army for a reason. The other Kage trust me."
"Who says we should agree to join any shinobi alliance anyway? We survived perfectly well on our own for over a hundred years. Your father would say the same thing." a elderly woman with curly gray hair wearing rather official looking robes in the traditional dark red that the Iwa shinobi wore.
"We have lost over half of our shinobi during the war, it is not a given that we are the strongest village in the region. The other villages see that as well, that is why this alliance is important. Also if we exclude ourselves from this then we may be targeted in the future. Oonoki would have seen that. The Joint Shinobi Alliance must go ahead with Iwa included. Because of this Kitsuchi is our best choice for the Yondaime Tsuchikage, he is respected by the the other villages and will have more pulling power when it come to what Iwa will put in and take from any alliance." an old man said. He seemed to be about the same age as Oonoki was, well into his ninth decade, but twice the height of the former Kage.
"To have one of the village elders cave to such an atrocity. Without Naruto we can establish ourselves as the major military force in the elemental nations. There is no need to join the other villages." The short bald man declared.
"And that is why you are not suitable to be the next Tsuchikage, Shuuto. We will have saved the world just to have you undo all of our hard work. In the end what would the difference be if the world bows to you over Madara Uchiha?" Kitsuchi asked sternly.
"The Difference is they will bow to Iwa." the now named Shuuto declared. The true weight of what he had said only dawned on him after it had left his mouth. The stress and fatigue of weeks of talks and the fall of the other candidates had finally gotten to him.
"That is enough. While I was hesitant about joining any alliance I can not sit by while you threaten another war on Iwa so soon after the horrors of the Fourth Shinobi War." the female elder declared solemnly.
"It seems your opposition has put his foot into his mouth Kitsuchi. You were always the best choice. As Oonoki's son you have grown up with his teachings. You are also one of if not the strongest shinobi in the village." the other elder said firmly.
"Yes, the village is in no shape to be dragged into another war over something so futile as village superiority. Kitsuchi, you will be our Yondaime Tsuchikage." the elderly Kunoichi declared somewhat reluctantly. She still had her reservations about joining an alliance with the other villages. But with the other candidates having pulled out of the running or deemed unsuitable, her only choice was to agree that Kitsuchi was to be the next Kage of Iwa.
"The Daimyo will be thrilled that we have finally come to a decision on this matter. The other Kages will also be pleased." the elder man said. He was quite pleased with the outcome. He had supported Kitsuchi from the start. In his mind there was nobody better to take over Oonoki's work than his own son. He also supported the idea of a joint village alliance. Most of the shinobi population were in agreement with him on this fact. He was old, he had seen four great wars come and go in his lifetime and was in no hurry to see a fifth. The desire to live out his remaining days in peace were strong, so he knew the best chance that they had for such a life was to join the other village together and let old grievances be in the past.
"It matters little now, but the words I spoke a moment ago were not my actual thoughts. I have no desire to see the world brought back to war. Regardless I concede defeat." Shuuto declared calmly.
"It is good to know that you do not think that way Shuuto. However as you have already guessed we cannot ignore such statements. Kitsuchi you will start as acting Tsuchikage immediately and we will complete the process within a week to make an official declaration. You are both dismissed." the elderly man said.
"Well I may have lost, but at least I get to go to sleep now. You have to go deal with all the paperwork that has amassed since the start of the war, Kitsuchi-sama." Shuuto chuckled patting the new Kage on the back as realization dawned on him as to what he had just gotten himself into.
(Later that Day)
In a poorly lit underground complex a group of Konoha shinobi sat around a long table, several objects sat in front of them.
"So she was definitely here then?" Neji asked the group.
"No doubt about it. She must have used this base as either a staging ground or she stayed here until the supplies ran out." Kiba replied.
"I do not think she stayed here for long." Sai said calmly.
"Why is that Sai?" Neji questioned.
The stoic Anbu pointed at a large map that was built into the wall. She came to this specific hideout for a reason. On the map several points were marked, if they were marked by Karin or not they couldn't tell. But what they could see was the exact location of the Joint Shinobi Army headquarters in the Land of Lightning. The skeleton graveyard that Obito used to stage his attack and also other locations that Naruto had been including the Turtle island. "She was either hunting Naruto or marking areas to avoid. But if it was the second one why would she risk coming this close to the Land of Lightning?" Sai answered.
"You think she was hunting for Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. She was less than happy, to put it lightly, of the thought that someone might still be hunting the blond.
Sai nodded, his usual fake smiling mask was discarded but rather than the fake smile the former Root shinobi showed nothing. "I would say the information points that way. The only question is does she know that he has died and how close to the Joint Shinobi headquarters did she travel. Orochimaru had a base in the Land of Lightning, that would be the best place to start the next stage of the search, but we are running out of time." he spoke as casually as the highly trained Root Anbu that he was.
"What do you mean we're running out of time? I didn't think this mission had a limit." Kiba questioned.
"Of course it has a limit. It was not given because it will last until we are recalled to the village." Neji explained.
"Then how do you know that we are running out of time?" Kiba asked.
To the Inuzuka's surprise it was Hinata who answered first. "That's because Kakashi-sama did not know how long it would take to arrange Naruto-kun's funeral. He let us go until they were ready but we will be called back so we do not miss it."
"Hinata-sama is right, Sai was on Naruto's team I have been expecting to be called back for the past week. Hokage-sama must be delaying the funeral for some reason. My guess is in hopes that Tsunade-sama wakes up." Neji agreed.
"Then what are we waiting for? Lets get moving. It will take a few days to get tot the Land of Lightning." Kiba replied. The small group from Konoha nodded in agreement before briskly heading for the exit.
(Meanwhile)
"Wow this tunnel is so long." Naruto spoke as the underground passageway opened for the two teenage Uzumaki.
"It makes sense. They build a straight path to save time in moving from outpost to outpost. It's dark but with a path like this we could cover the same distance in one day that we would in three outside. It is also considerably warmer down here." Karin mused.
"I guess that makes sense. Did you get a copy of the map?" the blond asked.
"Of course I did. Last thing I want is us getting lost down here." the red haired kunoichi answered.
Naruto nodded and took several steps forward into the dark tunnel. "Then we're all set for the next stage of our journey. Too bad things will become far more difficult after this."
End Chapter!
Another chapter down. It was mostly fluff but I wanted to address if only briefly the other sub plots that have been running for awhile. I felt that a sufficient amount of time had passed that it would make no sense for Iwa to still be without a Kage. I also wanted to give the tracking group from Konoha a lead on Karin. Had to fix a small error, it's what I get for not double checking my facts. Thanks for pointing out my mistake it should be better now.
Thanks for reading.