I Do not own Naruto, If I did I wouldn't bother writing Fan Fiction.
A Price for Peace
Chapter: 12: The Insurmountable Peaks pt 2
It had been a long day for Naruto and Karin. They may not have had any issues with difficult terrain that may have occurred crossing the mountains, but it was pitch black in the tunnel. They had to make extra care not to get turned around, fortunately there were maps carved into the wall whenever they found a junction. Even so, all they could tell was that they were heading north. They guessed that the fastest way through would be to go as far north as they could in the tunnels before they traveled the rest of the way over the insurmountable peaks.
"How long have we been walking for?" Karin asked, with a weary sigh.
Naruto shrugged the truth was that in the pitch black passageway there was no way of telling what the time of day was. "I don't know. It could be two minutes, it could be two days, we have traveled pretty far north so with any luck we should be getting close to the end soon." he said once he realized that Karin couldn't see him shrug.
'Well my guess is you have been walking for at the very least a full day now. If you were by yourself and moving at top speed we could have been far further north by now, I would say we would have hit the half way point in this mountains.' Kurama said casually.
'Maybe, but we wouldn't have found this underground tunnel.' the blond retorted.
'Oh lets rejoice we have a tunnel. I would rather be safe in the knowledge that your so called travel companion isn't trying to kill you. But what do I know, I'm only hundreds of years old.' The fox scoffed.
'Just because you're old, doesn't mean that you're smart.' Naruto replied.
'This coming from someone who has failed almost every written exam in his life.' Kurama laughed.
Naruto face vaulted in defeat. 'I may not be book smart, but I can tell when someone is trying to make up for their mistakes. This journey is far more dangerous for Karin than it is for me. Thanks to you I can't freeze to death, I wont get sick from some disease. Despite this she decided to follow me anyway.' Naruto reasoned.
'The choice between a big risk and certain death isn't very difficult.' Kurama said sternly.
Naruto was confused by this statement. 'What do you mean?'
'You remember why she decided to join you right? No matter how long she hid it was only a matter of time before shinobi from one of the five great nations found her. When that happened she would have been executed faster than she could deny the fact that she was a member of the Akatsuki. Given the choice it's no wonder she decided to follow you. You were on the run as well, and unlike that poor excuse for a kunoichi had a plan. So now put yourself in her shoes, you either risk traveling over a mountain range that has never been crossed before, or you hide and hope that you are never discovered by a shinobi for the rest of your life.' Kurama explained.
Naruto was about to reply when he was brought back to reality by Karin. "Hey looks like we're at the end of the line." she said pointing to where a small light seemed to emanate in the distance.
Naruto let out a silent sigh of relief that the light was dim and still far away, because after being in the pitch black with only torchlight for the last twenty four hours his eyes were not accustomed to light making the small speck of sunlight difficult to look at directly. "Shouldn't there be an outpost here?" Naruto asked.
Karin nodded in agreement. "Yes but it seems that something has happened to this one. The Insurmountable peaks are considered extremely dangerous for a reason. It's not that hard to believe that a landslide or a storm could destroy one of the building."
"I was kinda hoping for one more night in a bed, looks like it's not to be, still we have our tent and thermal sleeping bags so we will at least be warm. But we will be postponing our stop until we find somewhere to set up a camp." Naruto sighed.
"Then why not just rest here?" Karin asked.
"I've had enough of this darkness. It would be nice to see some sunlight. Besides we shouldn't stop here just because it's convenient. It would be best to at least see what time of day it is." Naruto answered.
"I guess you're right. It will be too dangerous to travel at night time from now on so it's best to make the most of the light we are given. That said, to be on the safe side we should remember to find a campsite early so we're not forced to set up in the dark." Karin replied.
They approached the edge of the source of light, that seemed to be blinding them from it's brightness. So much so that when they reached the edge they couldn't see the edge of the tunnel, but someone could. 'Naruto stop!' Kurama yelled.
Naruto did as he was told and grabbed Karin's arm as she stepped in front of him. Karin screamed as she almost pulled him along with her as she fell but Naruto's body strength saved them both, channeling chakra into his feet to prevent sliding.. "Woah, easy there." 'Thanks for that Kurama. You really saved us.' He sighed.
'Don't mention it. Just wait for your eyes to adjust before you move on.' the large fox said calmly.
Naruto pulled Karin up to safety and she immediately clung to his jacket shaking from the shock. "It's alright, let's just calm down and see what we're dealing with." he said lightly squeezing the kunoichi to help calm her down.
"H-h-how did y-you know." Karin stuttered.
"Kurama told me, looks like he saved both of us." Naruto answered taking a seat on the ground, his own heartbeat still racing from the fright. Slowly his eyes began adjusting to the light, the white blur starting to take some noticeable shapes he could see the outline of several mountains against the white background. After that the world came into view quickly, at the edge of the tunnel where Naruto and Karin were sitting still panting heavily a massive gorge stretched out in front of them. At the far side they saw what remained of a small hut and end of the tunnel. "What the hell happened here?" Naruto gasped in wonder.
"It looks like the mountain collapsed taking the tunnel with it." Karin replied looking equally as stunned.
"So what do you think our options are?" the blond asked. He looked over the edge of the crater but he could not see the bottom.
"It's way to far to jump, we could always walk around against the wall, it's bound to end at some point." Karin suggested.
"Well I have one idea, but it's a bit of a risk. If I channel some Fuuton chakra into my kunai and wrap a rope around the handle I will be able anchor a rope to the other side of the gorge. We tie the other end to this side and use the rope as a bridge." Naruto suggested.
Karin paused, she was silently weighing up the positives and negatives as well as how much she trusted Naruto to be able to pull this off successfully. 'It is the fastest way across and there is no telling how far we would have to go out of the way to get to the other side otherwise. But if it doesn't take the weight then we would definitely die.' she let out a frustrated sigh before nodding. "Alright I'll go along with it. I hope you know what you're doing." she said eventually if not somewhat reluctantly.
"It will work. I'll cross first and leave a clone behind, that way if the worst happens and it won't take the weight it will be me risking myself, then I'll be on both sides and able to pull you across should anything happen while you are crossing." Naruto said reassuringly.
Karin nodded in acceptance as Naruto threaded a long rope through the a ring at the end of the handle of his kunai making sure to tie a secure knot testing it several times. 'I am going to use a little bit of your chakra to enhance the strength of my throw, we should be far enough away from civilization by now right?'
'I would think so, there is a gap around the size of the Land of Fire between where we are and Iwa so my guess is that a small amount of my chakra won't be felt.' Kurama guessed.
Naruto stood up forcing his Fuuton chakra through the kunai, he silently noted how much more difficult the process was than when attempting the same thing with Asuma's chakra blades. 'Must be the difference between this and chakra conducting metal.' Naruto sighed as he looked for a stable looking target to anchor the rope.
'Aim for the roof of the tunnel on the other side. It is the best bet on not collapsing from the weight.' Kurama informed his host.
Naruto nodded silently thanking the fox for his suggestion while taking aim. At the moment he threw the blade Naruto's eyes glowed a slitted red color for the smallest of seconds but that was enough for Karin to feel the overwhelming presence of the oppressive chakra. Even knowing that Naruto was fully in control and the Bijuu would not try to escape and kill them didn't make the experience any less terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
The kunai crossed the gap in under a second and embedded deeply into the rock of the other side. "Alright I did it!" Naruto cheered giving the rope a few tugs to check the stability. Once satisfied he created a clone and tied the loose end of the rope to the edge of the cave and jumped across grabbing the rope with his hands so he hang down like he was using the monkey bars in the playgrounds back in Konoha. Slowly he edged his way across the gorge.
'This place smells vile, it was not caused by a natural disaster. Something or someone caused this destruction. But it was done such a long time ago I cannot tell what did it.' Kurama informed the blond.
"Well heres hoping we don't run into whatever it was." Naruto replied. As he was on his own he didn't mind talking to the Kyuubi out loud.
There was a powerful wind blowing that shook Naruto as he slowly crossed the gap. To counter this effect Naruto channeled chakra into his hands which allowed him to pull himself across the rope much faster. It took him less than a minute to cross the gap and he let out an audible sigh of relief upon his feet touching the ground. "Alright Karin, it's safe come on over, just channel your chakra into your hands so you don't slip off." He called out. Unfortunately thanks to the wind and darkness of the cave Karin could barely see Naruto let alone hear him. It took the him longer than he was proud to admit to realize that she couldn't hear him. Upon making that realization he made a clone letting it dispel instantly.
On the other side of the valley Naruto's clone received the information from his clone dispelling on the other side. "You can go now. Boss made it to the other side... Oh and use chakra on your hands, it makes it easier to cross" the clone said. Karin nodded, she was very nervous and it became obvious as she hesitated, she looked hesitantly at rope that was swaying from the intense wind that seemed to be getting stronger by the second. "Relax Karin, you can do this, besides boss made to the other side so if anything happens he'll save you."
"How can you be so sure." she asked.
Naruto's clone laughed with a chuckle. "That's easy. It's because I am him, and I know that I wouldn't let a friend fall if I could help it. Really I thought you were smart, you should have known that much about clones already."
Karin turned around quickly and jumped, the words of encouragement took away the fear of falling quite effectively. 'What am I doing, this is insane I'm hanging over what would appear to be a bottomless pit supported only by a thin rope held up by a kunai and what remains of a tunnel's support beam. Why the hell did I have to listen to him, and why does he always make me feel so safe all the time. This is definitely not a safe position, hell even if I do cross this damn chasm things will just become more and more dangerous, yet I continue to go along with this.' She thought while edging across the rope.
"She sure is taking a long time. I do hope she's safe." Naruto sighed while he watched the kunoichi hanging from the rope.
'You could always just cut the rope, she may not die you know. She can go her own way, once she crosses over here there is no turning back, she will travel with you until she inevitably freezes to death as we travel deeper into the mountains. When you think about it, it's really for the best.' Kurama replied.
"Sorry, Kurama. I know you don't trust her, but you know me well enough to never think that I would abandon someone like that." He replied.
'I know, as much as it pains me to say it, I have come to accept the fact that she is going to be with us for the foreseeable future.' Kurama answered with a huff.
(Meanwhile)
The tracking team from Konoha arrived at the entrance to the Joint Shinobi Task Force Headquarters. "Wow, I am surprised this place is still up and running." Kiba said in wonder.
"Yes a shadow staff is still in place taking care of most inter village corespondents. Each of the five Kage's have left representatives that they trust to organize the alliance to the point that the Kage's can decide on the future of the alliance." Sai informed the group.
"So who has Kakashi-sama left in charge?" Kiba asked.
Kiba's answer came in the most horrifying way that any man could think of, the angry yell of their mother. "Kiba what the hell are you doing here!" Tsume Inuzuka, the head of the Inuzuka clan yelled from a fair way away, her large ninja hound standing by her side imposingly.
Kiba paled and seemed to shrink, wishing his question could have been left unanswered. Sai being the ever observant man that he was took out his little book and started writing down the human behavior. "It seems that it is not just Shikamaru who fears his mother, this is a common occurrence among male shinobi." he said with his unnerving smile plastered across his face.
Tsume Inuzuka marched over to the tracking group as they entered the complex that they had spent several weeks calling home. "I wasn't expecting any teams from Konoha today. What's the meaning of this?" she asked with some authority.
"We're tracking an escaped kunoichi who was the last member of the Akatuski, we have some evidence that she may have attempted to come here in search of her target." Neji informed the Inuzuka head.
"Akatsuki huh, you would think that they would all be dead by now. So who was the target?" Tsume asked.
"Naruto Uzumaki." Sai said expressionlessly. Tsume arched an eyebrow in interest but remained quiet hoping to hear more. "We believe that she was looking for Naruto in hopes of finding Sasuke. Or she was hoping to remove him as an obstacle for the Uchiha." Sai added, for once correctly reading another persons body language.
Tsume nodded in understanding. "It wouldn't have been all that hard to sneak into camp during the final stages of the war. So many people came in wounded or without their identification. Still someone watching the gates must have seen her enter, it was still policy to let the guards see your face when returning from the front lines." she said confidently.
"That may be but how can you be sure that the person on gate duty is still here?" Neji questioned.
"All shinobi posted as guards for headquarters are still here on duty until the future of the alliance has been decided. If that girl was here we will know." Tsume insisted. She turned to walk towards the command tent marked with the symbol for all five nations. "Follow me, we can call all the guards in one at a time for questioning. Oh and Kiba, I hope you were not planning on leaving before telling me how everything is going with the clan back in Konoha."
(North of The Land of Earth)
Karin had successfully crossed the valley and the pair now stood in what remained of the last Iwa outpost. For awhile Naruto had wondered why they had stopped exploring and tunneling further north but he now had his answer. Deep shelves of ice made the terrain appear like massive blade protruded into the sky. In contrast deep cuts in the earth from landslides and avalanches made the ground unstable.
"Wow" Karin gasped at the sight, she had seen mountain ranges before but nothing as imposing as this.
"Yeah, it's amazing isn't it." Naruto agreed. By now the sun was getting low in the sky, and the temperature was dropping considerably.
"Maybe we should make camp here for the night? The cabin might be useless as shelter but at least we know the ground is stable." Karin suggested. She shivered from the cold wind on her face.
Naruto hesitated, if he was being honest he wanted to move further north while they still had some light. 'I agree with her. Up here, the weather can change incredibly quickly. We also have no idea how long it will be before we can find another suitable place to make camp.' Kurama said, adding his thoughts on the matter.
"Yeah I guess you're right." Naruto said answering both his companions. Naruto took off his backpack and withdrew a sealing scroll and summoned up a pre made tent. The tent was quite large judging on camping standards, Naruto had made sure to get the largest one that he could so that he and Karin would have their own space. It also gave them an extra room so Karin could get dressed in private. "It's not much, but I guess this is home now." he sighed.
"I'm sure it's fine. It might be a little cramped, but it's big enough for the two of us." Kain said kindly.
"It's designed to keep heat in to survive in the coldest climates, but that doesn't mean that it's perfect. I have few heaters that run off chakra to keep us warm." Naruto said opening the front of a tent while summoning a small heater that he placed in the center of the room that held two futons, one on each side of the tent.
Karin shut the tent behind her. She then lay back on her bed to relax, it had been a long day and she was only now realizing just how exhausted she was. "Kami my arms are sore from pulling myself across that damn valley." she sighed while stretching out on her futon.
"Yeah, unfortunately it's not going to get any easier on us. Still we can make it through this." The blond replied.
"What do you think we will find on the other side of these mountains? I mean they can't stretch on forever." Karin asked rubbing her arms. 'I have been relaxing too much, a small thing like that shouldn't tire me out. Maybe the altitude up here is getting to me.'
(Iwa)
The sun had set a few hours ago, yet Kitsuchi was still in his new office he hadn't left it since he taken over as Tsuchikage. He had only had three hours sleep in the last two days and that was interrupted by his new assistant bringing in a new set of papers for him to sign.
Kitsuchi sighed in frustration, the elders had left him days of paperwork to catch up on. He was already regretting his decision to become Tsuchikage. 'So much damn work.' He grumbled signing another mission request form.
The door to his office opened and two shinobi walked in holding a piece of paper. Both wore white lab coats over their standard Iwa jounin outfits. Kitsuchi immediately groaned at the sight of the two. "Kitsuchi-sama, we found something." One of the shinobi said urgently.
"What is it?" Kitsuchi asked. The last thing he needed was some emergency to happen right now.
"Uh... Um, we're scientists working in the chakra sensing and development department. I am Inaka and this is my partner Kouta. A few days ago we picked up a massive spike in chakra up north. It was far to large for any normal shinobi. The only thing we have on record that came close have been the Bijuu." The scientist said the urgency was still in his voice.
"That's impossible, the Bijuu are gone the only one whos location is known would be the Hachibi, are you sure of this?" The new Tsuchikage asked.
"We can't be sure, the spike in cakra only lasted for a few seconds. We have been attempting to find a chakra signature that it would sync with, but nothing in our database comes close." The other scientist, Kouta explained.
"Where in the north was it?" Kitsuchi asked.
"We have been able to pin point it's origin to just outside of Iwame the north most village in the Land of Earth." Inaka said honestly.
Kitsuchi nodded, rubbing his chin. "Yes I know the place, when I was young we held survival exercises using Iwame as a base camp. And before my father became Tsuchikage it was a major outpost for our shinobi."
"Yes we are aware of this, that is why we would like to request two shinobi to form a team and accompany us to the site. We wish to test for any lingering traces of chakra so that if it should appear again it would be less of a surprise, and will give us our best chance at capturing the source. If it is the early signs of a Bijuu reforming after it's container has been killed then it is invaluable research material." Inaka said eagerly.
Kitsuchi was never really big on science. Like his father he was a fighter, but he knew when he had taken the job as Tsuchikage, that he would have to listen to requests that didn't necessarily interest him. "Very well, I will grant you permission to investigate the chakra spike. You have tomorrow to prepare and two weeks to complete your assessment. However if it does turn out to be a Bijuu, then you are to consider the information as classified and return here. Is that understood?" The new Tsuchikage ordered.
"Hai Tsuchikage-sama." Both scientists chorused with a small hint of fear in their voices.
Kitsuchi let out a satisfied grunt, this was the first time that he was able to give an order as a Kage and he had to admit that it felt rather good. "Good, you have your orders, when you find the two men you wish to accompany you on this mission." He said turning his attention back to the still staggeringly large pile of papers he needed to finish. A few moments later he realized that the two scientists were still standing in front of him. "You're dismissed." he said firmly. The pair of shinobi nodded feverishly before scampering out the door. 'Wow you sure had everyone frightened of you old man. I just hope I can do half a good a job in running this place as you did.'
(Joint Shinobi HQ)
The Konoha tracking team had spent the last few hours interviewing various guards from all the different villages. Most of them had attempted to be helpful but it was of little surprise that they had not seen anyone that matched the picture they had of Karin. The only piece of usable information they had received so far, from what the trackers could tell, had come an elderly jounin from Kiri. All he had said was "The members of that clan all look the same don't they. Used to be hundreds of them walking around, before their home was destroyed."
"What are you talking about, have you seen this girl or not!? Who cares about that other stuff." Kiba yelled angrily.
"Kiba be quiet. I am well aware of what this man is talking about. Time was that red hair was a common site in Konoha." Tsume said sternly.
"That it would be. Best of friends the Senju and Uzumaki clan." The Kiri guard said in an nonchalant manner.
All of the teens eyes widened at this piece of information, even Sai who had been taking down everything that had been said for reference paused with his quill for a split second. "She's an Uzumaki? She looks nothing like Naruto-kun." Hinata gasped.
"That's because Naruto-sama took his fathers traits, rather rare for any Uzumaki to not have red hair, was a symbol of their clan and because of the powerful life affirming chakra that gave them the title of the clan of longevity regardless of parentage ninety percent had red hair. The only ones that didn't were the children born from shinobi with equally powerful chakra, the children of the Shodai Hokage for one." the guard said, he seemed all to happy to keep talking about this subject.
"You know an awful lot about this stuff." Tsume said. She passed a accusatory eye over the man. Konoha and Kiri may be somewhat of allies at the moment but it was possible that he was once a spy.
"Oh I work in the bloodline research department in Kiri. As a non combatant all I am good for here is working at the gates. "Anyway part of my work is researching potential bloodlines by searching out particular ninja with sets of unique skills that may be passed down to the next generation. I haven't always been proud of my work, during the bloodline wars we were tasked with finding people in Kiri that contained bloodline carrying genes and, exposing them. But now I can make amends, by finding surviving clan members and brining them together again." The guard said.
"As fascinating, and horrifying as that is, we have a mission to continue on with here. Now if you don't mind answer our original question, have you seen the kunoichi in this photo." Neji said with a slight scowl.
The Kiri shinobi nodded and picked up the picture examining it closely. "I can't say that I have seen her, but those eyes. Scarlet red eyes, I did see them. The person was wearing a hood and walking from the center of the camp at the end of the war. I thought whoever it was just didn't want to see the bodies of Naruto-sama and the Uchiha they brought back with him."
"If you're right then that means she was here, so one of the guards would have had to see her face in order to let her into the camp. It seems you were of more help than we had expected." Neji declared.
"Oh it's no problem, the Uzumaki clan was one of the most unique clans to have existed so I was bound to know something." The elderly man said while beginning to stand.
"Um, if you don't mind what do you mean by that?" Hinata asked in a timid manner.
The guard smiled and sat back down. "Well for one every generation seemed to have a bunch of children with unique abilities, that while similar could not be considered a bloodline. Occasionally one of them would appear with abilities that made no sense at all. A famous case was Kushina Uzumaki, she had the ability to suppress Bijuu just like the Shodai hokage, I never saw the technique but from our records she could summon chains that she would make from her chakra. Such an ability is unheard of, only Yin Yang release should be able to achieve something like that."
"Is it really that special?" Kiba asked skeptically.
"Of course it is." Tsume said whacking her son lightly across the back of his head to punish his stupidity. "Yin-Yang release is creating something from nothing, only the Rinnegan and to a lesser degree Sharingan have been known to have that power." Tsume only knew this from reading the well documented reports post war on the enemies abilities.
"Precisely. Although it could be said that the Shodai's Mokuton abilities were similar. However it was caused by an overwhelming amount of Yang chakra. The same overwhelming physical power that Naruto-sama exerted when he used the Kyuubi's chakra. The reported effect he had on the Zetsu clone army as well as other Mokuton jutsu proves that fact." The Kiri ninja said happily.
"So um, what happened to Kushina Uzumaki? If she was so amazing why weren't we told about her." Kiba asked.
Surprisingly it was Sai that answered this time. "She died. And you do not know of her, because they didn't want people to know about her."
"Sounds like Danzo was not to fussed about keeping secrets from his men." Tsume huffed in annoyance. As leader of the Inuzuka clan she was an extremely loyal shinobi, she had always seen Danzo and his Root ninja as unnecessary and sole power of the shinobi in Konoha should have gone to the Hokage.
"We were not permitted to give away secrets or talk about Danzo-sama thanks to the seal he placed on our tongues. It stands to reason he felt no misgivings in talking about village secrets." Sai replied with his fake smile firmly in place.
"Hey what village secret are you talking about?" Kiba asked.
Tsume sighed knowing that it would be easier to just tell them. "The law has been removed, so we can now talk about it now. But that does not mean that we will." she said harshly. Her features softened slightly at the downhearted look on her sons face. "Bijuu can't be killed, you know that right." she sighed.
"Yes, that is why Yondaime-sama sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto-kun." Hinata said.
Tsume nodded approvingly. "That's right, but that was only the final part of the story. Naruto was the third jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi in Konoha."
"You mean that there were two Kyuubi jinchuuriki before Naruto? I wonder who they were, if Naruto was anything to go on I bet the others were really amazing." Kiba said.
"They were, but that is enough for now, we may be an allied village but giving sensitive history away to shinobi from another nation could still be considered treason. Even if he does know most of it anyway." Tsume replied.
"I understand completely. I hope your search goes well, but don't get your hopes up. Fantastic sensing abilities the Uzumaki clan had, couldn't sneak up on a trained one if they were blind, death, and dumb." the Kiri ninja said as he left the Konoha comand tent.
"Obviously he never spent any time with Naruto then." Kiba chuckled once he was gone.
"Actually upon completing his senjutsu training Naruto became an incredibly skilled sensor ninja. Even my Kikai beetles couldn't get close without him detecting them." Shino said speaking for the first time.
Kiba shrugged passing the information off as nothing important. "Anyway now that he's gone tell us about the other Kyuubi jinchuuriki."
"Very well. I'll tell you. After you find someone with a solid lead on that target of yours. Don't get side tracked." Tsume said impatiently and walked outside to grab the next guard they had waiting for questioning.
End Chapter!
I think I may be moving this along a little slowly. So I'll try speed things up. Over the next few chapters. Tell me what you think, I have some plans of how I want the next few chapters to play out but I am always open to suggestions.