I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters of the Manga or Anime. If I did I wouldn't have so many damn fillers.
A Price for Peace
Chapter 26: The District Capital
Naruto got changed his silence, his mind racing. 'It's nothing, I just have spent so long alone with Karin-chan that we've become so close. That's all, nothing else. I just need to clear my head.' He told himself after pulling on a black and white woollen shirt that was more like a thick jumper than a shirt. Like all the other clothes that he had in his pack, it was designed for the sub zero temperatures of the mountains not in the humidity of the forest.
'Funny I thought you spent most of your time with a clear head.' Kurama chuckled.
'Are you saying that I'm an idiot?' Naruto asked indignantly.
'What can I say, I call them as I see them.' The for replied calmly.
'Well that make sen- Hey I am not an Idiot!'
Kurama couldn't help but laugh at the blondes denseness. 'Idiot or not, you're are going to be late if you don't get a move on.' He warned.
'Oh yeah, I better go check to see if Karin-chan has finished getting ready yet.' Naruto quickly made for their room. He was about to open the door but stopped himself before turning the handle. "Hey Karin-chan, are you ready yet?" He asked through to door.
"Just a second, I'm almost done." She called back.
"Alright I'll just wait out here then. We don't have long before Isho's group needs to leave." The blonde said.
He wasn't waiting long, less than ten seconds later the door opened and Karin walked out. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail that hid the normally unique way one half of her hair would always end up in a mess while the other stayed perfectly tidy. Naruto had found it quite funny on the few occasions that she had tried to brush her hair, no matter how long she sat there fretting over it, it always ended up in the same state a few minutes later.
She was wearing a black T shirt that clung tightly to her curves accenting her shapely figure, a short purple skirt that cut off just above the knees, and black stockings that allowed for her to move freely without worrying about exposing more than she was comfortable with. Normally she would wear something baggy over the top being slightly self conscious, but today she decided against it.
Her decision worked a charm as Naruto blushed lightly at her choice of attire. "You look nice." He said far more timidly than she had ever heard him speak in the past.
"Thank you Naruto-kun, so do you. still I think you may want to buy some new clothes while we are out. i mean you must be uncomfortable in something so thick.
"Yeah I was thinking the same thing, it's been really hot wearing these over the last few days." Naruto replied, indicating his thermal clothing while opening the door out of Cho's home. There was a nice cool breeze blowing in the early morning that came off the mountain. It was enough to tell the two adventurers that the village would become quite cold during the winter. Now however the sound of birds merrily chirping in the trees and the sting of the early morning sun gave all the hallmarks of a country town in the throws of an early summer.
They found their travel companions, not too far from the village centre heading North. Isho was out the front with Rea and her brother in between Tenji "You're late." Rea said flatly, clearly annoyed with the blonde not breaking her stride, forcing the whole group to keep moving at the same speed.
"Yeah sorry about that, we had a late night and I guess I kind of slept in." Naruto admitted, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"I don't care about your excuses, if you say you are going to be somewhere then make sure you are there." Rea replied sternly, her eyes were cold as she stared at the blonde teen.
"Don't be too harsh on them Rea-chan, they are not that late. Besides it didn't have any affect on our schedule." The middle aged man, Tenji said kindly. "Glad to have you both along. I had a good talk with Cho about the two of you last night, he really seems to think that you are both something special." He added, not going into any detail about what he and Cho had discussed.
"You're too soft on everyone Tenji-sempai, you think they are trustworthy just because they were able to convince your drinking buddy Cho." Rea said disapprovingly.
"Ah liven up Rea, you'll live longer." Tenji replied in a carefree manner.
"I see no evidence of that being the case." Rea replied passively, earning a sweat drop from the elder men in the group coming to a halt to marvel at the apathetic nature of the young woman.
Soon after the group left the outskirts of the village the group began traveling at a sprinters pace. For Naruto and Karin it was nothing but a light jog, but when they considered that the four people of the hunting party had no training in using chakra it was impressive to say the least, nothing more so than their stamina, able to run at their top speed for hours on end.
They passed the large village they saw on their first day in no time at all, passing by the old mercenary hideout that had been burnt down in the time that had passed. 'Odd, I don't remember burning their hideout down. Although maybe I did... Oh Kami what it Kurama was right?.. Maybe I am an idiot.' Naruto thought, ignoring the full blown bouts of laughter from his internal companion as they passed the charred remains. He didn't have any time to investigate though as the hunting group began heading east, away from the newly made ruins.
The civilians were unable to converse while they ran so the trip was in almost complete silence, Naruto didn't mind so much, the trip alone was full of interesting sights. It was almost midday when they eventually slowed down. "We're almost there. It's just over this next hill." Tenji explained to Naruto in a friendly manner.
Naruto and Karin were both curious to see what they would find, and they were not disappointed. The capital was massive, several times the size of Konoha with thick walls that rose high enough to obscure the site of the city itself save some of the larger buildings, which towered impressively over the landscape. "Wow!" Naruto gasped.
"The district capital, in the past it was a military outpost of the southern kingdom, but after the fall of the four monarchs it was repurposed as a place of government for the empire in this sector. It also contains the richest members of the outer rims as well as the most dangerous thieves. Chances are the ringleaders of the band of mercenaries you put away are somewhere in this city." Isho explained upon seeing the looks of stunned awe on the faces of the two shinobi.
"This place is massive! There must be thousands of people inside those walls." Naruto replied. He was already eager to have a look around inside.
"Ten's of thousands. Meaning there are that many people who wouldn't think twice about robbing you blind and leaving you to die." Rea scoffed at the blondes youthful excitement.
"Is it really that bad?" Karin asked skeptically.
Tenji sighed and nodded his head. "Sadly it is. Everyone that is sent to this region is placed in the capital, a good number are able to leave and find residence in a smaller village like ours. However by doing so they give up all hope of moving to the better regions of the empire."
"Because of the excessive so called taxes placed on them?" The red head asked sadly.
"That is part of it. It's mostly because you need items of value to move up in the world, but they are so rare outside of the capital that acquiring enough to move to the next level is just not possible. Then there is the crime, the police force is essentially non existent apart from those that guard the entrance to the city, and large areas of the city are controlled by rivalling gangs. The gangs supported by groups in wealthier sectors of the empire control larger areas, and attract the wealthier businessmen who can afford more protection pay offs." Isho, the eldest member of the group explained.
"So in other words, don't go starting trouble or else things will turn ugly fast." Rea ordered.
"I'll do my best." Naruto said with a smile.
"Forgive me if I am not filled with confidence." The young woman sighed before turning to her younger brother who had not made a single noise in the time Naruto had been with them. "Come on Haji, we should get in there and sell our pelts before it becomes dark." She said, her tone changing from the harshness that she spoke to Naruto with, to one that was kind and gentle as she interacted with her brother.
The younger boy nodded animatedly and the two siblings began to walk down the hill towards the giant gates that bordered the city. They were not welcoming like those that bordered Konoha, Naruto smiled at the fond memory of returning from a mission and seeing Izumo and Kotetsu wake up from a nap and welcome the blonde and his team home. The walls were not made of wood either, on close inspection Naruto could see they were a dark metal that seemed incredibly heavy, it would be an impressive feat to move them even with the aid of chakra.
At the gates they were met by a group of heavily musclebound men in a poor excuse for a uniform, each wore tattered red robes with a small silver lion embroidered on their tops. "Halt!" the tallest and ugliest of the group commanded with a loud booming voice. "State your business here?"
"We have products to sell to the stores of the capital." Isho said calmly, if he was intimidated at all by the large man he didn't show it.
The guards paused for a moment analysing the group. "Very well, remember that once you are inside the city your safety is in your own hands, we are in no way responsible for your protection." The giant like man said in his booming voice.
Isho nodded in agreement and the group entered the city. 'Those thugs seemed a little different to the mercenaries I faced the other day.' Naruto thought. But he was soon distracted from those thoughts as he saw the capital. Most of the buildings were almost as tall as the walls, each rising at least five stories into the sky. The city itself was incredibly dirty, and covered in graffiti that nobody had ever thought to clean off.
"Alright, we want to be done here before nightfall. Head to as many stores as you can to find the best deal for our pelts. As for you two, you will want to head to the western quarter of the capital, that is where all the building supplies are sold." Isho explained.
"Don't be late this time, because we will not wait for you. If your not back in time we're leaving." Rea said flatly.
"Yeah I get it, don't worry about us." Naruto replied casually.
"I was hardly worried." Rea scoffed.
"While Rea-chan was a little harsh, she does have a point, it's too dangerous to be out here at night so if you're late back you will have to find your own way back to the village." Tenji said, sounding a little sorry he had to be the bearer of bad news.
"Got it we will be back here in no time, all we have to do is head to west right, that will take us to the area that will sell the things we need right?" Naruto questioned.
"That's the general idea, it shouldn't be hard to find the right place once you are in the western district." Isho explained.
Without further word the hunters left, moving at an impressive speed through the village streets. "I guess we shouldn't waste any time either huh, you still need to get something that will be cooler to wear before we leave." Karin suggested.
"Yeah let's not waste any time, I have enough sealing scrolls for us to get enough stuff to finish both houses, and heaps of money left over from those mercenary thugs." Naruto said just quietly enough that they couldn't be overheard much to the relief of the kunoichi.
The massive buildings or rather towers that littered the city entrance slowly became smaller the further west the pair went, and eventually they found themselves in what more closely resembled farm's, however these were farms on a massive scale, packed in tightly for maximum food production. Thousands of people were working on picking the food with a few well armed guards keeping watch.
"This must be the western sector, but where do we go now? Isho said it would be obvious." Karin questioned. She did not want to get close to the armed guards. She wasn't frightened by any means, more not wanting to risk being put in a position where she or Naruto would have to defend themselves.
Naruto looked around, hoping to see any signs of a store that would sell the things that they would need, but no such luck. "Maybe it is and we just haven't seen it yet." He guessed. The teens continued to head towards the western border of the village, constantly scanning for signs of their target, and it wasn't long before they found it. A massive fenced off area that had a large sign that read 'Capital Buildings'. "Looks like this is the place."
The compound was huge, wall to wall of thick metal's and wood. Naruto let out a sign of relief knowing that he already knew what he needed and how much of each, all they needed to do was find the salesman to help him. Eventually one arrived, a man dressed in far more expensive clothes than he had seen from any of the people he had met so far. He was wearing a dark suit and and had his hair black hair well groomed and combed back. "You two seem to be looking for something?" the man said with an air of superiority.
"Um yeah, we need the stuff on this list." Naruto said handing a piece of paper with the necessary items and quantities printed on them.
The man nodded once he had finished reading. "I believe I can help you with this." He added. The man raised his right arm and clicked his fingers once. A few seconds later five men arrived, unlike the first arrival, these men were wearing simple black shirts and work jeans.
"Did you want something Sariko-sama?" One of the men, a tall darked haired man asked.
"Yes I want you all to collect the items on this list and have them delivered to the front gate." The obvious business owner said before turning back to face Naruto. "Now if you would follow me, we can discuss a payment plan."
"Actually we have money." Naruto said.
"You do!?" he asked skeptically. Naruto produced a fist full of notes as evidence. "Oh please forgive me, you must be a visitor to this area, did you come here with the latest batch of graduates from the military schools, I forgot that they had arrived this week, again excuse my ignorance I am sometimes out of the loop spending so much time out in the furthest reaches of the empire."
"Uh yeah, we did." Naruto said not wanting to arouse any more suspicion, he just prayed their was no follow up question as he really didn't have a clue what he was talking about.
"Fantastic, I am always glad when the new recruits arrive for their month of field work. These peasants in the outer rims are as lawless as they come, they all need some discipline if you ask me." Sariko said with a hint of disgust in his voice.
"Then why are you here?" Karin asked calmly.
"I work here yes, but I live in one of the inner sectors, this is one of the best paying jobs in the empire because you need to stay in such a filthy dangerous place. A few more years working here and I will be able to move into the real capital, never having to work again. I will be rubbing shoulders with Royalty then." The man declared with a cocky smirk.
Naruto didn't like this guys attitude, he looked down on people just because they have less money and lived in a poorer area than he did. Still he knew he didn't have a choice and reluctantly paid for the supplies to finish his and Karin's new home.
Once they assured the owner that they would be able to take care of the delivery without any help they found the giant pile of material waiting for them by the gate. "Wow there is more here than I thought it would be." Naruto said a little impressed by the sheer magnitude of what they had just brought. "Here, help me seal this stuff away." He added, tossing a sealing scroll over to the kunoichi.
The process took awhile, separating and sealing everything that they would need. "Well I'm glad that's over, so where too now?" Naruto asked.
"To get you some new clothes of course." Karin answered.
"Right, but uh, where do we go to do that?" Naruto questioned while placing the sealing scrolls safely away.
"Well I am going to say it's not in this section of the city, let's head back towards the gate and search from there." Karin said confident in her decision.
"Seems like as good a place to start as any." Naruto shrugged in agreement. When they returned to the gate there were a few small groups of people racing around, never staying in one place too long. "So where to now?" Naruto asked.
"Maybe we can ask someone?" Karin suggested.
"Somehow I don't think that will be all that easy, everyone seems really spooked, even the people carrying weapons. This place surely can't be that bad... Right?" Naruto replied questioningly.
"So what we just wonder around in any random direction hoping we get lucky?" Karin said sarcastically. Apparently sarcasm was lost on the blonde as he quickly chose a direction and headed towards the centre of the capital. "Hey where are you going?" Karin called out.
"I chose a direction, and now I'm going to look this way." Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Karin let out a sigh and followed after him. 'With any luck I can at least find someone to ask along the way.' She thought. Her expectations were not realised, the two shinobi continued to head towards the centre of the city and there were very few people out on the streets, those that were would sink into the shadows at the sight of another person. Things continued this way until suddenly the giant towers seemed to disappear and the road opened up into a giant open area with market stalls lining the streets and small shops bordering the edges of the extremely busy market.
"Well what do you know, I guess right." Naruto chuckled.
"Lucky guess, and you don't know if there are any clothing stores around here." Karin replied a little shocked at the fact that they had found a busy market place.
"Actually it wasn't all that much of a gamble, Ero-sennin explained once that in civilian villages, the main markets and shopping districts are usually in the middle of the village because it is the easiest place to find and tourists will have to pass by if they are just traveling through the village. I just figured it would be worth a shot to see if this place was designed the same way." Naruto explained.
Karin nodded accepting Naruto's explanation. "Huh I guess it makes sense, get maximum exposure to the stores. So should we take a look around?"
"Yeah why not." Naruto replied. The market was the largest either shinobi had ever seen, it was built to cater the needs of the entire population of the sector capital and then some, most stalls were evidently targeting the poorer customer, but there were a select few that had more expensive objects on display. These higher market stalls were all guarded by guards that Naruto guessed worked for what ever gang owned the stall. He wanted to think that it was hard working families, but from what he had seen of this world so far, that wasn't going to be the case.
"Naruto-kun, over here." Karin called, waving the blonde over to where she was standing in front of one of the few buildings in the open market area. "I found a place that sells clothes."
Naruto looked into the store, it was certainly full of clothing of all forms, the truth was Naruto longed for the armoured jacket and pants that Jiraiya had brought for him before returning to Konoha after their trip. He knew that was wishful thinking, but this store seemed as good as any. "It's probably run by one of these gangs you know that right?" He said quietly.
Karin nodded. "I know it is. But at this point what choice do you have?" She replied.
"Yeah I guess you're right." Naruto sighed and he pushed the door open and entered the store.
The moment they entered all eyes were on the pair. "Can I help you?" The man behind the counter asked a little stiffly.
"Just looking for some clothes thanks." Naruto replied in as friendly a tone as he could.
"Well you certainly came to the right place, we have have outfits for all occasions, and some pretty dresses for the beautiful lady as well." The store clerk said, his eyes lingering over Karin a little too long for Naruto's liking. He was also aware of the glares he was getting from the two guards that were doing a poor job of concealing several large knives.
Karin was aware of this as well and had no desire to be in this store any longer than she needed too. "Actually he's the only one who needs new clothes, we uh... can't afford to buy for both of us." She said calmly, trying to ignore their stares.
"That is such a shame, a fine young woman like yourself would look superb in one of our high end dresses, perhaps enough to earn the favour of one of this cities higher class residence." The clerk said with evident hunger in his eyes.
Naruto bit back a small possessive growl that threatened to break to the surface, a symptom of being Kurama's jinchuuriki no doubt. "Maybe we should shop somewhere else Karin-chan? I think one of the more higher class residence would make better use of our money."
The store clerk glared at the blonde but graciously bowed a few seconds later. "Excuse my rudeness, please feel free to shop in peace, I got ahead of myself."
Naruto nodded back stiffly and began to examine the store. Most things were designed to look fancy, while having several signs of being poorly made. Still Naruto grabbed a few sets of black heavy duty trousers that would withstand his daily training regime. Finding a top was harder than he thought it would be, nothing stood out to him. 'There's nothing orange, even if their was I doubt it would be good enough to pass as ninja armour.' He sighed putting back a light blue buttoned shirt.
'Because you are looking for something that will not exist here. Buy something that you can wear while you are not training, and ask your toads to make you some proper armour in the future.' Kurama suggested.
'I don't really want to ask Shima-baachan and Fukusaku-sensei to do anything more for me, they have done enough to help me out already.'
'I do not think that they will mind one bit. You are their representative, besides they have made you clothes in the past, your sage robe for one.'
'I guess it can't hurt to ask. Or... I could just pay Gamakichi to go to a ninja supply store in the Elemental Nations and buy me a bunch of ninja tools for me.'
'Well that couldn't possibly go wrong.'
'You really think so?'
'Of course not idiot! You may as well just go tell everyone that you're not really dead at all. I swear you just have no idea about anything except fighting.'
'Fine I'm sorry, I'll just grab a few T shirts then so I can get changed out of this jumper.' Naruto grabbed a few shirts of different colours and went to pay the store clerk.
"You don't wish to try these on?" He asked in a slightly condesending tone.
"No thanks I know my size. But I would like to get changed after I pay for these." Naruto replied.
"Then go right ahead and feel free to use our changing rooms." The clerk said with a bow. But Naruto noticed the small signal that he sent to the two guards by the door.
"No thanks, I think I'll pass actually. I can stay in these until I get home." The blonde said collecting his change.
"No, I insist, go get changed." The store clerk said with more authority. The two guards locked the doors and shut the blinds before stalking towards the two teens. "You two must not be from around here, walking into a store like this without paying the toll."
"Fine you want more money, I'll pay it, we don't need to fight." Naruto said openly pulling out more money.
"I never said anything about money. It's not every day you see someone with such striking features as this young lady. I'll be taking her as paym-" The clerks voice was lost mid sentence as he felt his breath leave him, he only had enough time to look down and see a bright blue orb crush his ribcage.
The two guards were at a loss for words, each stuttering at what they had just seen. But they didn't have enough time for anything else as they soon found themselves to be laid out in a similar fashion. "Why did you do that!?" Karin gasped in shock.
"They wanted too... I would never let them lay a hand on you... I guess I just lost it." Naruto admitted.
Karin blushed, she couldn't help herself, even in a situation like this having Naruto protect her made the red head feel so special. "Thank you, but I could of handled myself." She said not wanting to sound like she was a damsel in distress that constantly needed saving.
Naruto sighed and nodded. "I know, but just the thought of them doing... what they were going to do to you... It made my blood boil. I couldn't help myself." The blonde stuttered not sure how to properly explain himself.
"Just them, or anyone?" Karin teased feeling a little bold.
Naruto went a little pink in the face and quickly averted his gaze "Anyone that you don't want to... touch you, in uh... that way. I will stop them, I promise." He stuttered.
The kunoichi leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, causing both teens to blush fiercely. "Thank you." She whispered before turning her back to him, pretending to be interested in some of the dresses they had on display.
Naruto's hand reached up and stopped on the place where he had just been kissed, his heart racing faster than ever before. "Uh... yeah." He said dumbly.
Karin was still too embarrassed to show her face to the blonde. "We should uh, take what we can. It's no use to them and then if others from their gang find them they will think it was a robbery." She said quickly stripping the cash register and picking out a few nicer items of clothing.
"But won't that just come back and hurt some of the civilians?" Naruto asked a little apprehensively.
"Naruto-kun, that was on the cards from the moment you hit that pig with your jutsu. Our best option now is to make this look like a robbery performed by one of the rival gangs. With any luck they will take each other out and leave the innocent civilians alone.
Naruto sighed knowing she was right. "Okay, grab what you can, I'll look for another way out to make it harder to be identified."
"Are you a ninja or not?" Karin asked with a deadpan.
"Hey I was next in line to be Hokage... well after Kakashi-sensei, and I needed to take a on Genin team before I became eligible... but I would have been the next Hokage, believe it!" Naruto replied.
"Well then super ninja. Why not exit out the front door using a Henge? Nobody will be able to detect us, and it will give anyone who asks questions a possible lead that will go nowhere." The kunoichi explained.
"Why do you always have to make me feel like an idiot?" Naruto sighed while giving a small chuckle.
"Because, I need you to protect me. You can't have both or else I would feel like I'm not needed." Karin replied with a smile in good humour.
"I guess we make a perfect team then." Naruto added with a small chuckle. Without further discussion the two teens Henged into a middle aged balled man and a short dark haired woman around the same age. The only feature that would give either away would be the thin whisker marks on the mans face and crimson eyes that could only belong to Karin.
End Chapter!
Back from my small holiday, hope everyone has had a good Xmas and Happy New Year to all my readers.
I wrote most of this chapter while I was away on my Ipad, so if there are any stupid mistakes I'm sorry, I did give it a quick once over to correct any issues that stood out but as always I don't really edit properly.
Still building the new world, it's really difficult, but I am trying to get the story moving forward at a faster rate, I hope to develop things a little better next chapter with any luck.
Next week will be a chapter of Nightfall. Thank you all for reading and once more I hope you all have a great year.
Spoiler Alert!
No chapters for the last few weeks which is kind of annoying, but I must say Kishimoto is really streamlining the plot hole development process. Early in the last chapter Zetsu said that it would be easier to seal the lower level Bijuu first, as the higher level Bijuu could take some time. Then end of the chapter, He takes Kurama in about two seconds... That is if the Kyuubi has actually been taken, someone could have stepped in, I struggle to believe that everyone else would just stand there while Madara attempts to steal the Bijuu.
Never mind that is exactly what seems to happen, all the time. You would think Tobirama would have used his Hirashin to attack Madara by now, or at the very least pulled the chakra rods from his brother.
Still plot hole aside I am interested in seeing what is going to happen next. Don't think Naruto will die, he will be like Kushina was, extremely weak but still alive. He also still has chakra from the other Bijuu so that might help, can see this ending with Naruto becoming the container for all the Bijuu without the Gedo Statue/Juubi letting them retain their individual forms. I can also see Madara completing the Moons Eye Plan. (Gayest Jutsu Ever) But Naruto will break out of it somehow.