I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters from the Manga or Anime.
A Price for Peace
Chapter 38 Afters
Naruto and Karin were asleep in each others arms as the sun began to rise, lightly illuminating the small village. The red head was using his chest as her pillow, their hands clasped together while her leg draped across his waist. All in all they were the perfect picture of a loving couple, at least they were in the moments before there was a loud bang at the front door sparked them both awake. Naruto jumped in front of the bed a defensive stance carefully positioning himself between the door and Karin.
When the door burst open Naruto relaxed seeing that it was only Tsunade. "Kami, Baa-chan you scared me half to death," he said, breathing out a sigh of relief. "So why are you making such a racket so early in the morning. We were trying to sleep."
"Oh I'm sorry did I possibly do something that stopped you from sleeping, I couldn't possibly know what that is like," Tsunade said sarcastically with an irritated scowl. "Because of the noise I couldn't get to sleep last night."
Naruto looked confused. "I don't remember hearing any-" he stopped mid sentence and turned to Karin, clutching the bedsheets to her torso in an attempt to hide her bare chest. As if in unison a look of embarrassed horror growing on both of their faces, soon they were both blushing such a deep shade of red that their facesmatched the kunoichi's hair. "Oh Kami no," they both groaned, realising that Tsunade must have heard, them the night before.
"I'm afraid so Gaki's. Now Naruto, grab some clothes and then... get out!" Tsunade ordered.
"What why!?" Naruto asked, not entirely sure that Karin would be safe if he left.
"Because Karin and I need to have a little talk, and then I am going to give her a physical to make sure she is healthy," Tsunade spat back. "Now get out, I will get to you later."
Naruto gulped audibly, he didn't like the sound of that, quite frankly he would prefer to be facing Madara again, at least he had some idea of what he was up against with the once more diciest Uchiha. "Okay, but Karin-chan if you need me for anything just yell and I'll be back in a flash," he said before grabbing a white shirt and some black cargo pants from his draws and leaving the room.
"Well well, seems like he is willing to protect you, even from me... I find myself kind of jealous," Tsunade said with a smile, her features had softened as soon as Naruto had left the room. Karin still hadn't moved, not sure if the legendary kunoichi would yell scald or even hit her. "Oh relax girl, your perfectly fine, I won't hurt you. But if I give the gaki and inch he will take a mile, disrespectful little shit," Tsunade pouted with a mock scowl.
For the first time since they had met Karin smiled, breaking out into a small muted laugh. She stopped when she noticed the Godaime Hokage eying her suspiciously. "Sorry, but that just seems so like Naruto-kun, but that's just part of who he is, and I think if he didn't respect you then he wouldn't treat you that way at all."
"You have a good read on him, then again seeing as you two are a couple that is a good thing," Tsunade replied.
"I can read his chakra, it's like second nature to me now, at least where Naruto-kun is involved," Karin admitted with a slight blush.
"How do you do that?" Tsunade asked in genuine interest.
Karin shrugged knowing this would probably be the least invasive portion of their little conversation that morning, besides she didn't mind sharing the information anyway. "It's a technique that I use as a sensor I can see peoples chakra, it allows me to find someone over massive distances, it's how I was able to find Naruto after the war was over. With practice I can also read someone's emotions, but it's very difficult if I don't know the target well."
"Hm I can see why Orochimaru kept you around, that would be a useful ability in finding victims," Tsunade said with a small scowl that was not directed at Karin at all.
"Well with Orochimaru you were either useful to him or a prisoner, I really didn't want to be treated like he treated the prisoners," Karin admitted hoping she wasn't digging a grave for herself.
Tsunade could feel the nervousness practically rolling off the teen that she assumed to be completely naked under the covers of her and Naruto's bed. "I told you to relax, you're not on trial and even if you were all that would happen is Naruto would come busting in here playing the hero again to save you."
Karin quietly liked the sound of that but relaxed as Tsunade suggested. "So uh what did you want to talk about?"
"Nothing in particular, I just thought I would get to know you considering you have decided to have a relationship with someone I consider to be my family, which I guess makes you family as well," Tsunade replied. "Now how about we start with why you were looking for Naruto after the war."
Karin really had nothing to hide, but the way Tsunade spoke definitely made it feel like an interrogation, she paled slightly and answered with the truth knowing that by the time this was over she would probably have to recount their whole journey together. 'This is not how I pictured this morning turning out, Naruto-kun save me!' she thought pleadingly with an audible sigh.
Naruto on the other hand had decided not to wait around in the house, he was still mentally berating himself for forgetting about placing silencing seals in his room, they were one of the few sealing techniques Jiraiya had taught him because as he said, they were essential. Naruto never really understood why, but he sure did now. 'I bet you're laughing your ass off up there Ero-Sennin,'
'He's not the only one,' Kurama interjected with very thinly veiled mirth. Naruto could hear the sheer amusement in the foxes voice as it reverberated in the back of his mind.
'Hey, it's not funny, it's damn near traumatising,' Naruto replied defensively.
'Are you kidding that was most amusing thing I have seen in years. I would have warned you, but you were not so forgetful as to leave our connection open last night.'
'Baa-chan hearing it is bad enough, I wouldn't be able to live it down with your brand of colour commentary,' the blond huffed in response. He continued to wonder around the village barely paying any attention to where he was going and soon found himself at the town gate where he was greeted by the two villagers on guard duty, Rea who seemed to have her usual scowl and the elderly member of the old hunter team Isho.
"You're up early Naruto," the older man said eying the blond with a firm expression.
"Not off to bring home another stray are you?" Rea asked with a stiff face.
"Huh, sorry I wasn't paying any attention, what were you talking about?" Naruto asked being broken from his revelry.
"I'm talking about that woman you invited into our village. Just because you say she's some relative of yours doesn't mean anything to me," the young woman said eyeing her fellow blond suspiciously.
"Calm down Rea, Naruto has not done anything to make us not trust him and if he says she can be trusted then I am prepared to believe him," Isho lectured Rea.
"It's alright, Isho, she does have a point, I shouldn't have brought Baa-chan here uninvited," Naruto replied.
"No you shouldn't have," Rea added curtly.
Naruto ignored her final dig at his laxness in following protocols and turned back to the older man. "Anyway I just came out for an early morning walk to clear my head, I'll see you both around."
"See you around Naruto," Isho said as Naruto turned back around heading back the way he came, he waited until the blond was almost out of earshot before adding, "Oh and that's an interesting mark on your neck," he added with a large smirk.
Naruto didn't know what the old man was talking about, and unconsciously rubbed his neck and was surprised to feel a small sore patch just above his collarbone. 'What the hell is this? Kurama, why didn't this heal?'
'I felt that particular wound should stay for awhile. It's nothing major, I just stopped your regenerative ability in that area for awhile. That particular wound has a specific meaning behind it, it shows that your vixen as claimed you as her own,' Kurama explained. Suddenly Naruto realised what it was having read about love bites or hickeys as they were commonly referred to in Jiraiya's novels, and he blushed taking off towards the river.
"He's such a fool, How could he be so sure it wasn't someone in disguise pretending to to be his grandmother, or some illusion cast by a member of the military," Rea scoffed as Naruto walked away back in deep thought.
"Maybe," Isho replied with an non committal grunt.
"He's too trusting and it's going to come back and hurt him one day," the young woman said.
"Yes that is perfectly possible. But cant you see the benefit of being able to trust. There are times when you could be a little less judgemental, that boy did save your life didn't he?" Isho answered rhetorically.
"That doesn't make him any less of an idiot," Rea scoffed. Isho decided not to answer and let the conversation slide, there was no point in trying to convince her otherwise.
In the end Naruto passed the time down at the river by catching fish as they swam by. "You know you could catch more if use used your Fuuton manipulation to cut the water." Naruto was startled and almost fell over when Tsunade spoke from behind him.
"Geez Baa-chan you almost gave me a heart attack," Naruto said letting out a breath of air he had no idea that he was even holding.
"Good to know that I still scare you at least," the former Hokage smirked.
Naruto sighed and quickly hopped out of the river, enjoying the feeling of the breeze blowing against his wet ankles. "Are you kidding me, you're absolutely terrifying. If I had to choose between you and facing Madara again, you would win nine times out of ten," Naruto joked.
"Why only nine times?" Tsunade asked casually.
"Did you see his face whenever he talked about the Shodai... not something I ever want to experience ever again," Naruto said honestly causing both Konoha shinobi to break out in laughter.
"Dammit kid," she said with a light hearted smile before lightly whacking him atop his head without the use of her super human strength. "Why didn't you use any silencing seals? I know that old pervert would have taught them to you for exactly this situation."
"I was ambushed, and I sort of... forgot," He admitted a deep blush painting his cheeks cherry red.
"Well I installed some all purpose ones this morning after I finished with Karin, you could shove both Lee and Gai in there and tell them it would be 'Youthful' if they could make enough noise to wake Kakashi, and you wouldn't be able to hear a thing," Tsunade said shaking her head at the boys forgetfulness.
Naruto chuckled at the analogy but was grateful all the same, "Thanks Baa-chan it saves me the effort. So where is Karin now?" he asked.
"Back in bed resting," Tsunade replied.
Naruto looked a little worried, he was relatively sure Tsunade wouldn't have hurt his girlfriend but, she did have a short fuse. "You didn't do anything to here did you? Maybe I should go check on her."
Naruto didn't make it two feet from where he was standing before a strong yet feminine hand yanked him back by his collar. "Oh no, we have different plans for today, I haven't had a decent punching bag since Jiraiya passed away, but you seem to be strong enough now to be my sparring partner," Tsunade said with a sickly sweet smile.
Naruto paled considerably yesterday was bad enough and he almost broke his arm from catching just one of Tsunade's super punches. "Uh well as much as I would love to Baa-chan I really should check on Karin-chan." He struggled to free himself from the former Hokage's vice like grip but it was no good.
"No, I have already cleared this with Karin, you're mine for the rest of the day," Tsunade said while dragging her fellow blond off into the woods.
By the end of the day Naruto knew one thing, he was not strong enough to take on Tsunade without the help of Sage Mode or using his Bijuu cloak, at least not for an extended period of time. The young blond limped in defeat back to the village sporting the trademark signs of a battle gone wrong, beside him Tsunade strolled confidently, in truth she was not faring all that much better than the young man, but she refused to let him know that. "Well that was fun wasn't Gaki?" she said happily as they approached the front door of Naruto's house.
"Well I think I have an appreciation as to how tough Ero-Sennin really was," Naruto groaned rubbing his left arm as he felt his regenerative abilities get to work.
"It wasn't that bad, and I'm sure you will do even better tomorrow," Tsunade said. Naruto had a look of abstract horror as Tsunade opened the door entering the house while her fellow blond was stuck torn between running away and following after the busty blond and trying to escape another day like today.
Naruto would like to say that he was successful at doing either, but sadly that was not the case, for the rest of the week, Naruto would returne home in the same shape. 'Kami-sama what did I do to deserve this?... Oh right the whole letting my Baa-chan hear thing. Kami-sama, why cant you just be cool,' He thought after the latest day of what he could only consider some cruel form of torture.
In fact the only thing that had made the the week better was that every night after his torturous training sessions with Tsunade, was that Karin would dote on him every night, nursing him back to full health, only for the circle to begin again. Naruto was currently lying on a couch in their living room his head resting on Karin's lap as she ran her slender fingers through his golden locks. "It's over now Naruto-kun, I'll take care of you," the red head said softly gazing down at the blond lovingly.
"Oh don't baby him Karin, he's fine," Tsunade scoffed. Naruto sent a light glare toward Tsunade but his eyes widened slightly when he saw Katsuyu sitting obediently on the Senju princess's shoulder.
"Whoa, your not going to attack me with Katsuyu now, because that's unfair," Naruto said defensively.
"So you really did find him Tsunade-hime, he's grown a lot, a bit jumpy though," the small slug said.
Tsunade shook her head at the blonds overreaction. "Oh he's just over reacting. Naruto Katsuyu has brought me something that I want to give to you."
"Really what is it?" Naruto asked.
Tsunade withdrew a small scroll from her pouch and with a puff of smoke there appeared a Konoha forehead protector and a letter with an official looking seal. "This belongs to you, don't throw it away again," she said throwing Naruto the Hetai-ate. "As for the letter, it's from Kakashi."
"Really? does Kakashi-sensei know you found me?" the blond asked.
"Yes, I have reported everything that you have told me to him, using Katsuyu as a messenger. He just wrote back," Tsunade informed the jinchuuriki.
"Really what does it say," Naruto asked.
"I don't know there is a time release seal on it. Looks like we will have to wait to find out what he has to say," Tsunade shrugged.
"What, ah man what a rip, only Kakashi would keep me waiting for him when he isn't even around," the younger blond huffed earning a small giggle from Karin and a reluctant nod of agreement from Tsunade. "So when does that seal break?"
Tsunade shrugged again. "Couple of months, if I had to bet I would say it will break on your eighteenth birthday," she said.
"Well that means you're wrong then. As soon as you start gambling you start losing," Naruto sighed, while secretly knowing that it was certainly something Kakashi would do.
"Well it will just add to the excitement of the day that you finally come of age, you won't be my little gaki anymore," Tsunade replied wiping away a fake tear from her eyes.
Naruto sent a fake glare at Tsunade for once again referring to him as a brat, but it was softened at the motherly undertones. "Uh I became an 'adult' when I graduated from the academy, maybe you're going senile in your old age." Naruto replied defensively.
Tsunade for once ignored Naruto's dig at her age and kept a someone serene smile on her face. "Well officially yes, but how many places other than ninja villages treated you like one, especially if you took off your Konoha markings?" The former Hokage pointed out. "It doesn't just effect you, shinobi must be at least eighteen to assume roles in the higher specialty fields in Konoha, or have a seat on the council. Clan heads will begin pushing for their heirs to marry and strengthen the clans."
"Wow I had no idea that being eighteen was such a big deal, I guess if I ever head back to Konoha now all my friends will have married, they will probably even become sensei to their own teams... although I don't think Shikamaru will go that far." Naruto said thinking fondly of all his friends.
"Well that's not necessarily true, they will be encouraged to marry and will be forced to meet many potential suiters, but Konoha law gives everyone the right to refuse a marriage, although the clan's and the village elders don't react well when that happens," Tsunade explained, she was after all the last member of her clan, and had turned down numerous suitors over the years, the most frequent of which being Jiraiya.
"Still I'm glad I wouldn't have to go through all that," the blond sighed felling a little sympathetic, as most of his friends were in fact heirs to their respective clans.
"From what I can see, you're as good as married already, so don't feel too bad for them," Tsunade smirked.
"Yeah but at least I got to choose without any pressure on me, so I know I made the right choice," Naruto beamed confidently, with a foxlike grin that was just so him.
Naruto was surprised when the next day Tsunade didn't come and drag him off for training, nor the day after that. Iw wasn't that he was worried but he was starting to wonder if there had been some reason why the busty former Hokage had halted their sparring sessions. During this time Tsunade had gotten to know many of the villagers, needless to say the single male population, as well as a large portion of those that were spoken for seemed all too ready to welcome her into the village.
But it would have taken a brave man indeed to even think something inappropriate around the last Senju, that had been made perfectly clear when she gave a large group of the villagers that had gathered around to greet her a demonstration that she was every bit as deadly as she was beautiful.
She was even fast becoming a matriarchal figure in the village, with her uncanny ability to keep Naruto in line. The blond was happy that the village for the most part welcomed Tsunade without any real difficulties. Still their was a nagging feeling at the back of his head that there must be some reason Tsunade had stopped their sparring sessions. 'Maybe she just decided I wasn't strong enough yet,' He thought when walking home with Karin after their own private training session.
'Unlikely, she knows you were holding back, or at least not fighting with your chakra enhancements,' Kurama interjected, casually.
'Then what do you think it is, am I forgetting something?'
'undoubtably, but with you that could be one of so many things,' the fox teased.
"Hey Karin-chan?" the blond said quizzically to gain the red head's attention.
"Hm" she hummed in reply.
"Do you know why Tsunade-Baachan stopped our afternoon sparring sessions?" he asked.
"Oh I thought that would have been obvious, she's finished testing you," Karin replied.
"Huh a test!?" Naruto gasped, they were never words that ended well for him.
"Well we have to leave tomorrow to get to those imperial exams on time. Tsunade, wanted to make sure you were strong enough incase something went wrong," Karin replied.
"Oh, damn I forgot all about the placement exams," Naruto said with a face palm. "Still I wonder why she decided to do that, I mean she didn't pull any punches, and her punches hurt mountains."
"I asked her to," Karin said honestly.
"You what!?" Naruto gasped not believing his ears. "I basically had to crawl home every night."
"I just wanted to make sure you were, safe. It's been awhile since you were in a real fight so I to make sure you weren't rusty I thought a proper spar with Tsunade-sama would be a good thing. I'm not good enough to challenge you yet and I don't want to see you get hurt because of overconfidence or you make a silly mistake because you haven't fought in awhile," Karin said honestly, desperately hoping that Naruto wasn't that mad at her.
And as much as Naruto might want to be mad for her going behind his back like that, he just couldn't stay mad at her, especially when she was doing it for his own safety. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't enjoy sparring with Tsunade, he just wish she didn't hit so hard. "Thank you," he said after a lengthy pause. "I've never had someone want me beaten up for my own good before," he added with a chuckle a moment later, leaning over to give her a quick kiss.
"Well if you're going to react like that I may have to do it more often," Karin replied standing up on her tippy toes to steal a kiss for herself.
"Hey I don't care how cute you two think you are, doing that in public is just not on," came Tenji's voice from behind the pair.
Karin blushed but Naruto was strangely unaffected by his teasing. "You're just jealous," he replied.
"Damn straight I am," Tenji said with a happy smile. "Karin-chan when you gonna drop this loser and come live with me," he joked.
Karin could tell he was just kidding but had no real desire to play along. "Thank's but no thanks, Tenji. Besides I love Naruto-kun, you could never compete," she said with a smirk.
"You wound me deep Karin-chan," he sighed in a fake hurt tone. His mood then changed suddenly. "So you guys ready to leave tomorrow? It should be fun, they have never let lower class civilians see the exams before I bet it will be amazing."
"Actually I forgot all about it until a minute ago," Naruto admitted sheepishly, his hand instinctively running thought his long yet still spiky hair. "I'll have to get ready tonight. Who else is going?"
"Well other than the three of us, only Rea has a ticket, but she's quite adamant about not going. I think she will though, because as stubborn as she is she can't resist an adventure. She will just make some excuse to make at sound like she has to come for some reason," Tenji chuckled as light hearted as always.
"That's not many I thought there would be more, then again I guess Tetsu and his team were going to quite a few villages," Naruto reasoned.
"Are these exams usually big events?" Karin asked tentatively.
"Hard to say but judging by how worked up everyone usually gets over them and their potential to make money, I would say yes. They usually broadcast the finals on Tv but nobody in the village has had a working television in years," Tenji answered, his excitement practically rolling off of him.
Up until now Naruto hadn't even thought they had television here, he couldn't say that he missed it. When he was younger he had enjoyed the Princess Gail movies, being a kid he liked anything about ninja, but since he had become a shinobi he had lost interest in the series along with most activities that civilians used to entertain themselves. "Do you want one?" he asked.
"Sure most people in the village would want a love a Television, but they're extremely rare, still with the way the village has been improving, it might not be long before people can start to improve their own situation. We could see one soon enough," Tenji replied honestly.
"Well let's hope so, as long as we're here then I won't let this place get pushed around anymore," Naruto said with full confidence. "Plus with Tsunade-Baachan in the village anyone who even thinks about pushing people around, will end up on the wrong end of one of her super punches... not a pleasant experience."
"I can imagine," Tenji agreed with a deadpan. The trio split up when they came to Tenji's house, agreeing to meet at the gate early the next morning and get a head start on making it to the exams.
(Meanwhile)
Tetsu had just finished a spar against his young students, tying all three of the young teens together back to back. "Man I really thought we had him that time," Koha pouted, struggling in his bindings.
"Every time we get close it's like he seems to get faster, it's clear that Tetsu-sensei is really holding back during our spars," Kara added calmly. She rested her head back against her teammates fully aware that they would not be getting out until Tetsu freed them.
"Speaking of Sensei... where is he? We have been sitting here for almost ten minutes now," Muki sighed, tying to ignore Koha struggling behind him. He would not be reduced to someone fighting such a hopeless cause, particularly when Tetsu would come and free then soon enough.
Tetsu as it happens was sitting in a nearby tree with Shougo observing his students. "Well they're not bad, I'm sure they will all at the very least survive," Shougo commented as he cast an analytical eye over his friends students.
"Yes they have the potential to go far, but they could still be stronger. If they are put up against members of your family then I doubt they will come out unscathed," Tetsu replied.
"You're probably right there, my family is barbaric and the way we are trained from the time we can walk is almost barbaric. It's no wonder we all have some kind of mental issues," Shougo agreed darkly.
"Not exactly sitting on the fence are we? If you hate it so much why not try and change things, I know for a fact that you are stronger than you let on," Tetsu questioned.
"You're giving me too much credit, I'm nothing special, hell I'm only Gouhara-sama's bodyguard, you even outrank me," the dark haired man said calmly. "Besides, all being in a position of power means for our family is that you have to watch your back all the time and expect to have to fight to stay alive at least once a year. If I have to go thought all that to be able to change things, then I will always pass," Shougo sighed.
"You always did shy away from the more violent missions, are you that concerned with staying alive? It's not wise to live in fear," Tetsu replied.
"It's better to be safe than sorry, and you can't live at all if you're dead," Shougo reasoned. "So are you going to untie them anytime soon?"
"Yeah I probably should, is it strange that I rather enjoy watching my younger brother struggle?" Tetsu asked with a good deal of mirth.
"I think it would be strange if you didn't enjoy this," Shougo chuckled.
End Chapter!
Bit of a filler chapter, story will pick up again next chapter and it should see the start of the exams. I was hoping to start it this chapter, but I still need some more time while considering some of the bloodlines and the first task.
Spoiler Alert.
Well surprise surprise, Sasuke is still a complete dick. He used his Rinnegan twice in the fight with Kaguya and now he can trap all the Bijuu and trap them in a Genjutsu without an issue and use Chibaku Tensei that well. Meanwhile Naruto can't even use his Geodama as weapons like Madara could. The major difference being that Naruto isn't an Uchiha. I really want Sasuke to die now, but judging by his appearance on the promotion poster for the final movie it's just not going to happen. Naruto will "Save" him.
Still its yet another example of flawed character development and even worse reasoning since the fight with Pein. At this stage I swear if an Uchiha grazes their knee and someone chuckles at them, then they will burn their house down just for the sake of revenge. I mean just look at the reaction Karin had to seeing Sasuke after he had stabbed her in the chest, she acted like a retarded whore, throwing herself at him and basically setting the cause for women equality back twenty years. Potential chance for real development that could lead to a potentially top character, instead we were fed the same BS.
There seems to be only two character types for the female characters. love sick women that care more about their crush than doing the right thing... or women who overreact to everything in violent outbursts. Yes I know that I have brought this up before, but I can see this becoming an issue as we will no doubt be shown Sakura having to choose between Naruto and Sasuke, when it shouldn't even be an issue. Now I know there is a stereotype that women are attracted to assholes, but this is taking it to the levels of insanity.