Sealkeeper: He Who Binds

Chapter 99 – By Raven's Wings

The raven seemed perfectly content with its chosen perch, swaying back and forth with every step the Wolf took. Said Wolf was less than thrilled that the bird had decided to land on the top edge of his mask instead of the arm he had extended for it.

Cheeky thing.

Quick steps devoured the distance between the two and the intended recipient of the raven's message and the Wolf continued to remind themselves that they were not running to Tsukuyomi for help. Communications from his spy could be vital, after all, it was only natural to bring this matter to his attention with haste.

Above him the raven gave a smug caw.

Evidently it didn't agree.

Mai's slender fingers elicited a happy caw with their ministrations, softly stroking through inky black feathers of a satisfied raven. Naruto watched from the corner of his eye as he scanned over the letter it had carried from Amegakure. He quickly found himself giving it his full attention.

She was-

Gods damnit.

Godsmotherfuckingdamnit!

They hadn't even discussed this, though looking back he damn well should have.

It wasn't that he saw anything wrong with her killing off Itachi- he supported her getting her revenge 100%- or even the matter of her leaving Akatsuki- he hadn't really needed that in the first place, even if this last letter had news that made having a spy in their midst an attractive concept for the imminent future- but the fact that she hadn't given him any time to arrange any kind of support.

She wasn't just trying to assassinate Uchiha Itachi, she was doublecrossing an organization composed of S-rank Shinobi in the process. The chances of something going wrong were astronomical and he didn't have so much as a pair of Wolves to help her exfiltrate Amegakure safely.

He also had no reliable method of contacting her if she was on the move. Her ravens were good, but it would still take them time to figure out where she was.

Time she might not have.

Gods above, he didn't even know if she had succeeded!

For all he knew she could have been killed before her raven had managed to get out of Amegakure, a possibility that did not please him.

He couldn't even summon a child of Au to check on her because what was left of the original's blood had already dried up.

Naruto frowned down at the paper for a moment more before tossing it onto his desk with a sigh. Worrying about it wasn't going to do anyone any good at this point but it was going to be damn difficult not to.

"Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?" Mai looked up from the raven- who squawked indignantly at the sudden lack of attention- and gave him a concerned frown. Too much had been going wrong lately for the young Daimyo and she wasn't sure how much more he could shoulder before it broke him.

"Its' no- well, don't worry about it." He corrected himself. It definitely wasn't nothing but there was nothing to be done about it until he heard from the Uchiha matriarch again. "Just a complication with one of our agents that only time will show the full ramifications of."

It wasn't as much information as she would like but she did appreciate that he hadn't tried to completely hide it from her attention. Even so...

"If you want to talk about it, Naruto-kun..." She offered which earned her a small smile.

"Thank you Mai, but I don't think that will be necessary. Probably be better if I don't think about it for a while, too."

That gave Mai some relief because if Naruto was comfortable setting the matter aside it wasn't anything close to critical. Still, the frown on his face didn't seem to be leaving and something in his golden eyes told her that the news was troubling him more than he'd care to admit even to himself.

Setting the raven onto the back of a chair in his office something wicked flashed through her eyes and a sultry smirk pulled at her lips. If he didn't want to think about it, well, she had a few ideas on how she could keep him...distracted.

The matter of Mikoto and the news that Akatsuki would soon be looking for his son would stand no chance against Mai's onslaught-

At least for a few hours.

But sometimes a few hours away from your problems was all you needed to come up with a solution.

And if not?

Well, Naruto was willing to keep trying. He was sure Mai wouldn't object to the idea either.

Fields of white seemed to stretch on forever, broken only by the occasional spot of exposed rock from buried mountains. What few trees were visible did their best to blend into the white nothingness, their burdens laying heavy on aging branches and relentless specks of winter stuck to every nook and cranny of their bark.

In the distance the glow of fires escaped the windows of Shimo no Kuni's southernmost town, Shira, inviting travelers to stop by and escape the cold.

Gaara wasn't interested in that in the slightest.

He had heard of snow before, of course. He understood it conceptually.

Experiencing it was a completely different matter.

It was soft but crunchy, a solid that quickly liquefied in his grasp. And the cold, the desert dropped pretty low during winter nights but the snow here was so cold that his fingers began to burn.

He loved it.

Turning back to his amused siblings he paid no mind to Rasa staring distastefully at the white landscape nor the bright red that stained his nose and cheeks. Kankurō gave a shake of his head, a thin smile pulling at his lips while Temari brought him in for a hug before wrapping a length of cloth around his neck.

He didn't know what it was but it was warm and soft, just like his mothers.

A pair of lips briefly touched his nose followed by his forehead and before he knew it slender fingers through his hair were replaced by some sort of hat. Gaara looked up into the green eyes of his mother to find a pair of mittens being held out to him. He put them on without question, immediately noting how much warmer his entire body felt.

Kankurō gave an amused snort but otherwise remained silent.

"Oh, aren't you just the cutest?" Temari patted his cheek with her own bare hands before gesturing back to the fields of white snow. "Go on," She prompted him. "Enjoy."

He didn't need to be told twice.

Gaara had always wondered what it would be like to make a snowman.

"You think that's them then, yeah?" He asked, three sets of teeth chattering in the cold. His partner just grunted and continued shuffling forward, paying the small family no mind.

"The Ichibi Jinchuriki is a homicidal psychopath, not some kid being introduced to snow to the first time by his family."

"Hmm." Deidara could see that, but something about them simply seemed off. Maybe it was their age, kids sure were forcing themselves to grow up faster these days. Back in his day that young woman would have had a good few years before she even had a kid, never mind the fact that he was obviously well past the toddler stage. Was he just getting old? "You sure it cant' be both, yeah?"

"It could be." Sasori shrugged. "But I doubt it."

"Should we check?"

"If you want to." Sasori shrugged again. "I don't care if you want to waste your time, just don't waste mine."

"They might have seen something..."

"I already told you to check if you want to."

"Yeah, but it would be weird for me to just pop up out of nowhere to ask them."

"So you want me to go with you?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"How does it make it any less weird to have two strange men approach a young family in the middle of nowhere?" Sasori gave his younger partner an unamused look. Well, his puppet did anyway. "It would probably be best if you just pretended to be lost.

"Aren't we?"

The large puppet that housed him paused in the snow, a small dusting collecting on its curved back.

"...Let's go ask for directions."

She rapped her knuckles against the wooden door, practically bouncing in excitement both for what she had done and what she was going to be able to do.

It had been far too long since she had seen Naruto.

The sounds of locks disengaging went on for a bit before the door creaked open to show the mask of a Wolf. They seemed...less than pleased to see a raven mask staring back.

"Can I help you?"

"No, you can't. I'm here for Naruto-kun."

He stared at her for a moment. "And you are...?"

"His mother."

"Ah." The Wolf looked into the hallway behind him as if seeking advice from comrades that weren't there. Well, he supposed it was okay. Naruto-sama sure was popular these last few days, he normally didn't get so many visitors.

"..Please come in. Naruto-sama has a guest at a moment so I'll see if he's free."

"He'll be free," Mikoto assured the Wolf as she walk into the apartment. "He's always free for me."

The Wolf thought that might be more accurate for Mai, Anko, or perhaps even Orochimaru but who was he to question Tsukuyomi's mother? Huh, did that make her his grandmother? What a strange idea.

Of all things she had expected to see upon entering his room, a naked young woman draped over him was not one of them. Mikoto hesitated in the doorway, her black eyes tracing the two nude figures whose modesty was only saved by a thin black sheet that twisted around them.

They actually looked really good together a traitorous part of her chimed in. She couldn't disagree.

The deep black and burning red of their hair stood out wonderfully from pale flesh, her son's tattoo-like seals cutting across his torso and the arms that held his sleeping companion to it.

Mikoto couldn't quite place the burning feeling in her stomach, somewhere between pride and jealousy. Some part of her felt as though her place was being stolen from her but another argued that this was what it was like to have a son grow up. Gods know the other two had never gotten this far.

He seemed happy, even sleeping, so she supposed she was glad he had found...actually, she couldn't quite recall her name. With a frown she realized they probably had never met- which was understandable- but even so she should have heard some mention of her from Naruto.

Especially if they were this close already.

At least it wasn't that Inuzuka from back in Nami, Mikoto definitely hadn't gotten off on the right foot with that one so learning that they had become her...daughter-in-law...would have been irritating.

Actually, learning that there was a possibility of her having a daughter-in-law this way was more than a little irritating too.

But, again, they looked rather cute together and the exposed flesh of the sleeping couple seemed soft, warm, and inviting. Mikoto herself was tempted to join the two of them, something not helped by the fact that she had rushed here immediately after bidding farewell to Kisame and was feeling rather drained from the trip.

Would it be weird for her to join them?

If she woke up first there would be no problem, if Naruto woke up he'd be in bed naked with his lover and his mother, and if the girl woke up she would be in bed with both her lover and her lover's mother.

Putting it like that made it seem like a bad idea, but a wicked part of her thought it would be terribly amusing. She usually called that part of her the Tobi-half but her Tobi-half was a good girl and certainly had a lot more fun than she had ever had as Mikoto.

Maybe Tobi's idea wasn't so bad after all...

Ensuring the hallway was clear a smirk tugged at her lips and she entered the room. She had become used to wearing very little beneath her cloak in the muggy humidity of Amegakure so she was very nearly naked herself before the door closed with a click.

She wouldn't take everything off, though. Even Tobi thought that was a bad idea. A pair of panties would serve well enough and brought with it memories of that night so long ago. It was still a horrible memory, but the comfort she received from Naruto afterwards remained one of the best in her possession.

Slipping into bed with the two, she pressed herself into Naruto's free side and gathered what sheets she could over herself. She was going to make sure she was comfortable, naturally, but that didn't mean she had to give anyone who came looking for her son a show.

The last thought she had was of how wonderful it felt to have someone to hold again.

"Excuse me, yeah?" Kankurō turned to look at the approaching figures who crunched their way over through the snow. Just by sight they were obviously Shinobi of some sort and, based on the scratched headbands, they were obviously not the legitimate kind.

Legal kind?

Endorsed?

Huh, now that he thought about it the whole concept of rogue Shinobi was sort of strange. They were supposed to be sneaky, back-stabbing mercenaries looking out for their own interests above all, weren't they? So why was the idea of leaving the village one was raised in for better opportunities frowned upon? If anything it should have been applauded.

He was getting distracted.

"Can I help you?" Kankurō was aware of Temari placing herself between the two strangers and Gaara, who was still enjoying the snow without a care in the world. Evidently Temari wanted to keep it that way.

"I hope so, yeah." The taller one scratched the back of his blond hair, idly brushing off the snow that was already starting to accumulate again. "My companion and I are a bit...er...lost...Hehe." He gave an embarrassed chuckle. "We were heading towards Shira and then up through Shimo no Kuni to Kaminari no Kuni, we're trying to find someone who we think might have headed that way, yeah."

It was actually a surprisingly honest answer, which earned a raised brow from Sasori. He couldn't be two surprised, though, as the best lies were timeless and Deidera wasn't really good with the whole "permanence" thing.

At least he was playing his strengths.

Or avoiding his weaknesses, he supposed.

Pein thought that Gaara might have headed towards Kumogakure no Sato after Suna had been captured by Konoha, mostly because there had been no word of a sand monster devouring the Konoha Shinobi nor tales of some sort of desert god rising in the midst of chaos.

Sasori hated it when Pein got poetic, mostly because he never wrote or saved those speeches. If you were going to make art make it last, damnit. Otherwise it was just a waste.

But with the lack of those it was determined that he probably hadn't remained- and possibly never returned to- Kaze no Kuni. The next logical place for him to go, apparently, was Kumogakure. Something about the safety of a major village and the fact that they took the best care of their Jinchuriki. Sasori really hadn't been paying close attention but was personally of the opinion that any Jinchuriki that managed to find themselves outside the authority of a village probably wasn't about to exchange that freedom to a village just because they were the most tolerant of your existence.

Then again, not all Shinobi were intelligent. Hidan was a prime example of that.

And with the Ichibi Jinchuriki supposedly a blood-crazed psycho they probably weren't thinking about the most logical course of action.

Naturally that meant Pein's prediction of Kumo wouldn't mean anything either because they wouldn't

be looking for safety but who was Sasori to question the boss-man? Some of his Puppeteering supplies were damn expensive and Akatsuki payed very handsomely to maintain a roster of S-ranked Shinobi.

"Huh." Kankurō's posture relaxed a bit though he didn't drop his guard. "Well that's Shira there," He pointed to the distant lights. "and if you keep going that way you should hit Kaminari no Kuni before long."

"We appreciate it, yeah." Deidara gave him a grateful smile. "Neither of us is used to this sort of weather so wondering around lost would have been a real pain, yeah."

"No problem." Kankurō gave a shrug before his eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the talkative blond. "Say, who were you guys looking for, anyway?"

"Oh, just the Ichibi Jinchuriki." Deidara didn't even hesitate, nor did he notice the way that everyone but the young man currently building some sort of snow sculpture tensed at hearing it. Sasori did. "We hadn't heard any news of him back in Kaze no Kuni so Upper Management thinks they might have gone this way towards Kumo."

Hidan was an idiot but Deidara wasn't much better Sasori admitted. He still gave an amused snort. Upper management? The worst part was that technically he wasn't wrong though he highly doubted any of the members of 'Upper Management' would appreciate being called such.

"That so? Interesting."

"Yeah, to be honest I'm not even sure why but I didn't have many options after I left my village and this gig pays pretty well." Deidara gave a shrug as if he was speculating about tonight's weather. "Well, thanks again for the directions, it was nice meeting you all, yeah." he gave a short laugh. "And it's a good thing none of ya have a Chakra spirit sealed into ya, yeah. I would hate to have to fight."

Sasori didn't even try to disguise the pained groan that somehow managed to draw itself from decorative lungs.

"Y-yeah, that's good. Best of luck with your sear-"

"I did, but she's gone now."

"Huh?" Deidara turned towards the young man putting the finishing touches on a sculpture of a woman with a rather suspicious tail. "You had what now, yeah?"

"I had mother." Gaara repeated, earning a groan from his brother and an exasperated sigh from his sister. "But she's not with me any more. Shes' spending time with Tou-sama these days. Sometimes she visits still, though."

Well, it had been a relatively civilized conversation so far Sasori didn't see why that had to change just yet. There was still a chance of this being a misunderstanding, he supposed, but he was damn sure the man standing off to the side and watching them was the Yondaime Kazekage- excuse him, the former Yondaime Kazekage- so there was a damn good chance this was the man's family. The fact that he made his son the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi was pretty well known.

"Just to clarify," Sasori's gravely voice cut in. "This 'mother' was the Ichibi no Tanuki, correct?"

"Yeah." Gaara nodded before pointing to his sculpture. "She has a tail."

And a rather generous bust compared to the rest of her body, Sasori noted. Purely from a professional perspective, of course. Bodies were kind of his thing.

"And she's no longer with you?" It sounded ridiculous, but so did placing Biju within people in the first place, so who was he to judge?

"No, Tou-sama took her."

So he was really claiming to no longer be a Jinchuriki. Sasori really didn't have any way to check that but he was inclined to believe it. It might explain why the infamous mass murderer seemed so docile at the moment.

Actually, that was a bad comparison. Kisame was pretty chill usually and his hobbies included shredding the skin off of his opponents. Still, what he was seeing was a far cry from how the young man was supposed to be and as far as he was concerned that was as likely a reason for it as any.

"Is that possible?" Deidara turned to his Senpai who just shrugged.

"But you said she visits you..."

"Yeah, Tou-sama took her from my seal but she can still visit it. Sometimes Tou-sama has been there too."

That...was unlike anything Sasori had ever heard. As far as he was aware it shouldn't have been possible and he should just consider the fact that the kid was delusional and still held the Ichibi.

If he didn't, however, it would be a massive waste of time. Sasori hated wasting his time.

"I see." Sasori thought for a moment, trying to decide how to proceed, when Deidara decided to ask his own question.

"So who is this Tou-sama, yeah?" Asked the Iwa native. "We probably need to have a talk with him if he's the one with the Ichibi."

"Tou-sama is Tou-sama." Gaara seemed honestly confused at the question and his answer earned a smile from Temari.

"Like, what's his name, yeah?"

"...Tou-sama?"

Before Deidara could get too heated in an argument against a child Sasori's voice cut in.

"Puppeteer, what's his name?"

Kankurō shared a look with his sister who gave a shrug that Gaara copied more out of his own confusion than any sort of agreement. But if Temari thought Naruto could handle it and he was the man to make Gaara calm down- and, you know, was currently in possession of a Biju- then Kankurō supposed he could probably take care of himself.

"His name's Naruto, of Konoha." Kankurō answered. "I'd be careful, there's something about him that was able to scare a Biju." It was completely truthful, which was more than a little unnerving for the two Akatsuki members. Rasa chose this time to add in his own two cents, though it didn't look like they would really be needed.

"He's the godson of Orochimaru, too." He commented. "And was able to convince them to abandon the invasion of Konoha they had been planning for years."

Sasori and Deidara shared a look. This really was sounding less and less fun.

"Is he good with seals then?" Sasori was now asking more out of general curiosity than trying to learn more about a possible enemy on the future. The more he heard of this 'Naruto' the more impossible he seemed.

Kankurō gave a brief chuckle. "Good? I'd hope so, his entire torso is covered in 'em. They have a tendency to start glowing real ominously when he gets pissed."

That...sounded awfully like a Jinchuriki, but he couldn't have two Biju, could he?

"...And that was before he took possession of...mother?"

"Yeah, when we first met him." Kankurō spared a look back to Temari and Gaara only to see that his brother's attention was back to his sculptures and Temari had been recruited to aid him. This really was a bizarre situation, it almost didn't seem real that he was standing here in the snow chatting with S-ranked Rogue Shinobi who were hunting down the Biju.

Maybe Konoha's green had more of an effect on him than he had realized.

"And this Naruto, he's not a Jinchuriki, is he?" They had a general idea of who most of them were, and he knew Konoha's Jinchuriki had been covered in one of the briefings. He distinctly remembered they were female. Name was similar though.

Kankurō shrugged. "Not sure about when we met him but now? Based on what Gaara's said he's probably the Ichibi Jinchuriki now." He shuddered a bit. "Gods, what a horrible thought. Could you imagine a Jinchuriki with two Biju? I remember Gaara with one!"

"...Quite." This probably needed to be reported to Pein, after which they would go hunt down this 'Naruto'. Sasori's eyes met Deidara's and it was obvious they felt the same about the situation. They really didn't want to deal with this mess. This Naruto was sounding more and more unpredictable with every description and some of the resources he seemed to have at his disposal increased the danger of that unpredictability exponentially.

Akatsuki teams were put together to neutralize specific Jinchuriki, how the fuck were they supposed to counter someone with two Biju at their disposal. Biju that, from the sound of it, liked their Jinchuriki? Well, at least one did.

Almost as if to convince them that it was a bad idea Gaara spoke up from his work, green eyes bright and nose red. "Mother mentioned that Tou-sama used to speak with the Kyuubi but that she's being punished."

The Akatsuki shared another look. Sounded like ten tails of nope to them.

"Well," Sasori swept his gaze over the Suna Shinobi. "I suppose we'll just have to keep looking for Subaku no Gaara, Jinchuriki of the Ichibi."

Kankurō gave an amused snort. Why wasn't he surprised that the man who could make Biju submit to him was able to scare off a couple S-rank Shinobi?

"That's right, yeah!" Deidara gave a nod. "Leader-sama gave us very clear instructions, we need to make sure we follow them carefully, yeah." Consensus reached Deidara moved off into the snow to try his own hand at building something- temporary, of course- from the fluffy white substance.

Sasori and Kankurō stood in the snow watching the three of them in the snow for a while in silence before the Master Puppeteer turned to his younger counterpart.

"Have you ever considered making puppets out of human bodies?"

"No," Kankurō's attention remained fixated on the work his siblings were doing, a contemplative frown on his lips. "Have you considered making them out of snowmen?"

"...I...have not." Sasori blinked at the question more out of a need for accuracy in his work than an involuntary action of surprise. "...Would that even be efficient?"

Kankurō shrugged. "What does efficiency matter when we're exploring the limits of our trade?"

It was a fair point, he supposed, but now he was going to spend way too much time considering such an inane idea. How the hell would he ever make use of an army of puppet snowmen?

Behind them all Rasa returned to starring at the snow in disdain. This future-water was nearly bad as its melted counterpart and he hated every part of it. Maybe he should have just stayed in Nami, at least there he could hide indoors from the accursed liquid.

Danzō knocked twice but didn't hesitate in reaching for the door. Naruto and Mai hadn't been in the office when he stopped by and one of the Wolves- one of the few around these days- mentioned that she might have managed to get him into bed to rest.

Apparently that was something pretty normal around here and as strange as it seemed he believed it. If Naruto was anything like he was- and it was pretty undeniable- than the young man probably worked himself past what should be considered healthy. If it was such a regular occurrence that everyone here was used to it than maybe he needed to have a talk with him about not being a moron.

Then again, Mai seemed to have things pretty well under control. Maybe a talk with her first, then. If she wasn't having any trouble he'd leave it alone but if she was he'd talk to Naruto to make it easier on the girl. Gods above he would have to do little more than mention how much trouble it was causing her to get Naruto's cooperation.

It was obvious the two cared a great deal for eachother and it warmed his heart to know that the future of the darkness had such support to rely on. If Danzō could manage to keep Naruto here in Konoha- which meant more or less stopping Asuma's well-meaning but terribly stupid ideas- than he could rest easy knowing her future was secured.

If not, well, at least the ways of the true Shinobi wouldn't completely die out.

The wooden door creaked quietly until it revealed a room filled with soft light which briefly made Danzō doubt whether or not Naruto was currently resting within. It seemed odd to sleep in the light but maybe that was just Danzō. He had never really been a fan of it.

One benefit of the light, he had to admit, was that it made it really easy to see things.

He had not been expecting the sight that greeted him. Not at all.

Naruto napping? Sure.

Shirtless? Whatever, Danzō had always slept in the buff.

Cuddled up with Mai? He wouldn't really have been surprised and, really, had half expected it anyway. How else would she manage to get him to stay in bed? It was only logical that the best way to keep a young man in bed was to have a young woman in it with him.

Mai shirtless? Well, no. No, he hadn't expected something like that at all. She always struck him as too reserved for that.

Completely naked? The two were young and in bed together, he probably should have seen that coming.

With a third partner? That was probably what surprised him the most. The older woman looked pretty similar to Mai, too, which only made it seem even more strange. He moved to close the door and return their privacy to them but stopped short and looked back up at the older woman with them.

Wait a minute, was that...?

Oh sweet merciful gods above, Uchiha Mikoto was currently in bed with Naruto.

And from the looks of it she was naked too.

Forget talking to Mai first, he now had plenty of questions he needed answered from Naruto.

Where his ROOT agents would be allowed to bunk during their stay had just been pushed to the back of that list.

Gods, he needed a drink. He was getting too old for these surprises Naruto kept springing on him.

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Until I next have your attention,

–Eyazahrid