Pre-word: So it's been a while. Like I said last time, my update speed is going to slow down for some time, but I am still writing when I have the time.
So here we go, kicking off the first chapter of the new arc for this fic.
Heart Under Shadow
Road to Takigakure
It was peaceful here.
Naruto couldn't help but think that as he and Kaguya sat on the porch of some building in a nearby town.
Kakuzu was inside, completing his transaction. In other words, he was dropping off the corpses of Hatake Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma in exchange for some hard cash. Which didn't sound all that peaceful when Naruto thought about it, but no one had seemed to realize what they had been transporting, the corpses having since been wrapped in tarp.
It had been slow going the past couple days. Kakuzu wasn't able to move very quickly while dragging those corpses along and they were forced to take back paths or travel late at night to avoid suspicion, but he refused to part ways with them. That was how dedicated he was to getting paid. Naruto couldn't say he shared in his enthusiasm for traveling with the corpses of people he once knew.
Traveling wasn't exactly easy to begin with considering how worn down Naruto was after his battle. On the way they had at least been able to procure cloaks, hiding his otherwise slightly downtrodden form. Naruto would have liked a shirt, but Kakuzu assured him after his transaction was done they could get that. Along with all the other things they would need to complete the rest of the journey.
The journey to Takigakure no Sato.
"You really think things will go better in Taki?" Naruto couldn't help but ask. Kaguya sat on his lap, her long white hair in his hands as he slowly, meticulously braided it for her. He liked the feeling of her silk-like hair and when bored would often play with it like this. However, chances while in Konoha had been rather scarce, Kaguya only coming out of his shadow at night when there were minimum outlookers.
"We do." Kaguya answered, having been humming a quiet tune up until Naruto's question. Like Naruto, she was enjoying the newfound peace. For her, it had been forever since she could lounge freely under the sun and feel its warm embrace. Naruto had also become rather good at playing with her hair, having in the past been too rough and tugging on it roughly. Now he skillfully twirled it into a braid, working slowly but carefully.
She opened her eyes, watching as the people passed by. There were a couple cursory glances sent in their direction, but they were far from the hateful glares and looks of scorn that Naruto was accustomed to. Naruto and Kaguya certainly made an interesting pair, sitting so obviously in front of an unmarked building that most didn't know the purpose of. A little blond boy with whiskers and an even younger looking girl with horns.
"...I guess I can kind of see why you think that." Naruto had followed her gaze, watching the passersby. One girl appearing about Kaguya's size met his gaze, waving excitedly at them as their mother pulled her along. Naruto couldn't help but smile and give a little wave back. Had it been Konoha, the mother would have immediately chided their daughter or thrown a curse his way. Instead, the woman merely giggled at the interaction as if it was cute.
No one had any idea who he was. All the stigma that had plagued him his whole life really didn't exist out here. In a village that had been so close to him. Had he known such paradise existed outside the walls of Konoha, he would have run away long before now. Nevermind that he wouldn't have been allowed to in the first place. When he thought about it like that, he felt truly liberated.
Naruto was glad that Konohagakure no Sato was gone.
He knew he shouldn't have felt that way. These feelings of his were immoral. However, in exchange for all those lives, Naruto had obtained a kind of true peace that he never would have been able to get had that village remained. Even if it was wrong for him to take comfort in that, he wouldn't let it stop him. This was the only way forward for him now.
"In the first place, Takigakure is a much smaller village than Konoha. This is also ideal for us." Kaguya explained, peeking up at Naruto from over the top of her own head. "Thou do not need to form many bonds… but strong ones would be best."
Naruto snorted as if finding something funny. "It seems weird to hear you talk about making friends. I thought before you said the only thing I needed was you?" To be honest with himself, Naruto had truly resolved himself to that. As it was, he didn't even know if he deserved something like friends after what he had done.
"That was in Konoha." Kaguya crossed her arms and huffed, clearly upset at being laughed at. "Making any kind of connections in that village was always going to cause complications. We tried to warn thou of that, but in the end failed to prevent it despite our efforts."
"I see…" Naruto felt a shiver run up his spine as he briefly pictured Sakura's burnt corpse again. No matter how many times he tried to bury the image, it kept coming back and each time he thought it might cause him to throw up.
"Well, what is done is done." Kaguya sighed, noticing Naruto's suddenly pale complexion. She knew she couldn't be too rough on him, his emotions still fragile and only hanging on by a thread. "For now we should just look forward."
"Yeah, you're right." Naruto smiled weakly. "Speaking of done… ta dah!" He tied the final knot at the end of Kaguya's long braided hair and held it up for her to see. "How's that?" He asked, clearly proud of his own work.
"Let us see." Kaguya hopped from Naruto's lap, manipulating his shadow by pumping chakra into it to make a large circle in the area around him to give her room to freely frolic as she pleased. As if dancing, she twirled around, letting the braided tail swing like a whip. "Yes, this will do nicely. As expected of our Aruji-sama." She praised, putting her arms behind her back as she leaned forward and smiled at him.
"Hehe!" Naruto chuckled and returned the smile back with a large one of his own. It wasn't completely natural, having to force it a little. But it really felt like as long as he was with Kaguya things would somehow get better a little at a time.
"Oh! A Hyuga!?" One of the passersby suddenly called, running up to the two of them. Or rather, up to Kaguya specifically. He was a young man, no older than his twenties going by the looks of him, and by all appearances nothing more than a civilian.
All the same, Kaguya quickly jogged up to Naruto, withdrawing his shadow as she hopped back on the porch and hid behind him. It was cute in a way, like his shy little sister acting all scared of some stranger suddenly calling out to her. At least, it would be cute if Kaguya couldn't turn this guy to ash with a point of the finger. Naruto was surprised that wasn't her first instinct, but he was glad to see that the urge of hers to kill everyone that saw her seemed somewhat lessened now that they weren't in Konoha.
"Ah, I'm so sorry." The man stopped in front of Naruto, bowing deeply to him. "I just… you guys, you're from Konohagakure no Sato, right?" He asked, not so quietly. Many of the other passersby in the immediate vicinity seemed to take notice, a small crowd gathering.
"Yeah…" Naruto admitted softly, blue eyes darting to the man's feet. There was no denying it, although he had hidden his ninja hitai-ate for the time being to try and avoid attention such as this being drawn to them. It couldn't be helped, however, that Kaguya's Byakugan eyes were so distinct as to easily be noticed by even a civilian outside of Konoha.
"So then… you saw it, right?" A different person asked this time, murmuring starting to break out among the gathering group. "They say it's like a new moon, tall as a mountain. Just floating where Konoha used to be. It can't be true… right?" There was a slight tremor in his voice.
However, Naruto could offer him no comfort as he shook his head. "It's true… Konoha is gone." And he had been the one to do it. There was a sudden swelling as the murmurs grew into loud gossip, everyone attempting to talk over one another, some of them shouting questions at Naruto directly.
He couldn't possibly keep up with the barrage of questions, let alone even hear them all. Yet he did feel sympathy for these people. They had to know it as well. If Konoha was gone, it was entirely possible this village would soon follow. Not because another gravity orb would suck it into the sky, but a much more grounded threat: War.
With no one else to rely on, the village was going to have to hire help from outside villages to protect them. However, it was unlikely to be enough. If the four great nations descended on this land, there would be no force great enough to keep them at bay.
"Oi, Oi, Oi!" Kakuzu shouted, walking up behind Naruto and Kaguya. He had a metallic briefcase thrown over his shoulder, red and green eyes glaring down at the gathered crowd. They were all silenced immediately, taking several steps back from this new and intimidating presence. "Back off from the kids. They're under my protection." He seethed, planting a foot down extra hard directly next to Naruto.
The intimidation factor seemed to work, the crowd quickly dissipating only a moment later. Several of them continued to glance over their shoulders as they fled, but for the moment it seemed Naruto and Kaguya were safe from anymore inquiries. Something he was incredibly grateful for, as he didn't want to remember that floating rock anymore than he had to.
"Geez, what the hell are you brats doing?" Kakuzu cursed, turning his glare down at them now. "You're going to make my job more difficult if you don't keep a low profile. And if my job gets more difficult, I'm going to charge you the extra cost. You understand me?"
Kaguya didn't respond to Kakuzu right away, instead waiting as she spread her arms out wide and spun her back to Naruto. "Aruji-sama." She said impatiently.
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto signed, lifting Kaguya up over his head, placing her upper legs on his shoulders. Even at their combined height and Kaguya's eyeline didn't reach Kakuzu's. This didn't stop her from looking down her nose at him anyways.
"Listen to us, thou brute!" Kaguya pointed at him dramatically. "We did nothing wrong, it is not our fault the common folk are drawn to our royal presence. In addition, complications are part of the job. We believe that crow was 'worth more than we can imagine' as thou so put it. Certainly that covers any kind of insurance fee-"
"Alright, alright!" Kakuzu growled, cutting her off. "I get it already, just quit with your holier than thou crap already."
"Hmph!" Kaguya grunted, folding her arms and turning away from him. "We would not expect one so young and impetulant to understand, but we are in fact holier than thou."
"I'm over a hundred years old dammit…" Kakuzu grumbled, giving up on fighting any further as he started to walk out into the street. It was a fight he had already lost before, not that he seemed to believe her when she claimed to be over a thousand. Maybe a thousand days old if barely, but definitely not years.
"Where are we going?" Naruto asked, following after Kakuzu with Kaguya still on his shoulders. Now that she actually preferred to be out in the open and not within his shadows, this was how she usually liked to be transported around.
"You still need clothes, don't you?" Kakuzu snapped back, his voice still harsh. Despite having for the most part gotten off on the right foot, Kakuzu's rough personality had pretty quickly come out and it seemed like any conversation to be had with him was more of an argument.
As far as Naruto could tell, it didn't seem to be against him personally. This was just how Kakuzu was with everyone that wasn't about to hand him money. So while it may have been grating to deal with from time to time, Naruto had a hard time bringing himself to care. It was actually kind of nice, being hated for a reason that had absolutely nothing to do with him.
"You really know your way around this place, huh?" Naruto noticed as Kakuzu easily navigated the streets, taking them to a nearby clothing shop.
"Once you've been in the business as along as I have, you learn a couple things." Kakuzu said, being vague as he usually was. Getting any kind of information out of him was like pulling teeth. Even if you did get something out of him, he threatened to charge you for it immediately after.
They entered Kakuzu's recommended clothes shop soon after. Upon walking inside, Naruto lifted Kaguya off his shoulders and placed her on the ground so she could walk around as she pleased. "Now that I think about it, do you need to change clothes?" Naruto asked.
The whole time he knew her she had never changed out of her outfit. Nor had she showered or needed to do anything that could be viewed as hygienic. Yet she never smelled or appeared to get dirty.
"We can cleanse ourself with chakra alone." Kaguya responded, although he had no idea what to make of such an answer. Something she seemed to realize. "Remember, we are not human, but a moon rabbit. The same rules do not apply to us."
"...Sure." Naruto shrugged, only understanding that it wasn't something he could understand to begin with. "Now that I think about it, do you poo-"
"Finish that question and we will turn thou to ash next."
"Yeah, fair enough." Naruto nodded, accepting that as the only appropriate response. With that, he decided to focus on searching for some shirts for the time being. He had until Kakuzu picked out his stuff. If Naruto didn't have it on the counter by the time his protector did, then he was going to be on his own in paying for it. Which would be a little difficult since he wasn't what you would call liquid at the moment.
As he split from Kaguya to go into the men's section, she stretched their shadow, leaving it connected by a thin, barely visible line. She had gotten good at manipulating his shadow in such a way, to the point their movements weren't even bound together.
"Can I help you, young man?" Naruto nearly jumped, the voice of a kind elderly man coming from behind him.
"I- umm…. What?" Naruto didn't know what to do in such a situation. He had assumed the man had come to yell at him for a second. Or maybe he had come to check if he was stealing? A moment later Naruto remembered that he wasn't in Konoha. The look of genuine concern on the man's face reminded him of this fact.
"Just uh… looking for some black shirts. Also, some fishnet armor if you have any." Naruto found he couldn't look the man in the eye, his vision darting every which way. Despite realizing this wasn't Konoha, he still expected the man to tell him to go find it himself or act like he was being a nuisance. Instead…
"Ah, is that all?" The man appeared all too happy. "Right this way, young man. I will guide you right to them. Also, we have a fitting room. So please, feel free to try on anything that you may be interested in." He talked as he showed him the way. Naruto was stunned speechless, unable to believe service of this level existed.
Any question Naruto asked; such as for a backpack for travel, camping gear, anything at all was met with a courteous response and if they had it, the elderly man guided him there. He was quick on his feet for an older fellow too, Naruto practically having to jog to keep up with him. In no time at all, Naruto had everything he had been needing to grab and by coincidence, ended up at the counter the same time as Kakuzu.
"Put it all on the same bill." Kakuzu said, earning a small look of shock from his young escort. "Don't get used to it." The Nukenin grumbled as he held up several wads of cash. "You did help transport those… assets-" In other words; corpses. "This is just compensation for the heavy lifting you did. Nothing more."
"Thanks." Naruto attempted not to smile, but in the end couldn't quite fight it down. As much of a bastard as Kakuzu pretended to be, he was at least fair. Naruto couldn't say he disliked this type of person at all.
"It's not anything worth giving words of gratitude over." Kakuzu finished paying and threw the bag of Naruto's stuff at him, hard enough that it nearly knocked the wind out of the blond as he caught it. "It's just good business. Nothing more." He then began to stalk out of the store, his mood appearing to have soured. Probably because he had just been forced to part with some of his hard-earned money.
"Kaguya-chan!" Naruto called as he hurried after him. She met him by the entrance and he picked her back up to throw her over his shoulders as they set out once again into the busy streets of the village.
Dusk had come while they were in the store, casting the sky in an orange light as the sun began to sink below the treeline. "We should get moving… make as much progress as we can before turning in for the night." Kakuzu said, his pace brisk. "You were recognized earlier and word travels fast around these parts. If anyone is looking for people from Konoha right now, you can bet they'll be all over this place before long."
They took the north exit out of the village. The whole time Naruto kept glancing around nervously, Kakuzu's words from earlier having gotten to him. The thought of running into others from Konoha… it was both an oddly comforting idea while at the same time terrifying.
"Calm down, Aruji-sama." Kaguya rubbed his head soothingly from atop her perch. "Thou will only attract more attention. We will keep an eye out for any potential pursuers… and if need be, we shall deal with them." So it really was going to come back down to that again. Of course, at this point they had already wiped out a whole village. In the face of that, what were a couple more lives?
"I just can't wait to get to Takigakure so we can finally relax." Naruto sighed, perhaps for the first time looking forward to getting to their supposed new home. Assuming they would even take them in, of course. Nothing was even certain on that front.
Kakuzu let out a snort of derision. "You're deceiving yourself if you think all your worries are going to disappear just because you made it into Taki."
"What do you mean?" Naruto already had enough concerns about running away to some new village. The last thing he needed was Kakuzu compiling onto that. Not that it was going to stop him from doing it anyways.
"Consider this a service; I'm gonna tell you some facts, free of charge." Kakuzu glanced back at Naruto from over his shoulder. "First of all, you're not the only ones that are gonna think about going to Taki, you got that? Any former Konoha Shinobi with half a brain are going to pick that village over any of the others."
"Such facts are within our calculations. The numbers shall be small enough to not even be a hindrance." Kaguya countered. What Kakuzu said wasn't wrong, most surviving Shinobi would indeed pick Taki over any of the other villages. This was for the same reasons she would have Naruto go there; Namely in that it was going to be the best place to avoid the upcoming war.
However, not everyone was necessarily going to want to avoid that war. There were going to be Konoha Shinobi that wanted to defend their homeland. This meant some of them would band together and attempt to form a new village. Others would join Sunagakure, as Konoha's strongest ally. These were going to be people blinded by pride and greed.
Then there would be those who would prefer to become Nukenin, not pledging their allegiance to any village and instead roaming the world without a master. All in all, there were many paths open to the only handful of survivors. So they would hardly come in numbers that Kaguya and Naruto would have to worry about.
"Isn't even having a couple of them a problem?" Naruto glanced up at Kaguya. His status as the Kyubi Jinchuriki wasn't exactly a secret to those within the village. What's more, they would have questions for Kaguya once they met her. She had killed people for less already, so he didn't see how this was going to end any differently.
"This is why it is imperative we are the first to arrive." Kaguya pointed straight ahead as if to encourage them forward. "We control the narrative if we are the ones to begin the dialogue. Even if others arrive after and claim that thou are a Jinchuriki, the Kyubi is no longer there. This is an absolute fact, so their word will be put into question." In other words, no one would be able to trust anything they said and they might even begin to doubt the rumors about Naruto themselves.
A problem that would solve itself.
"That sounds nice in theory." Kakuzu shook his head, not buying into Kaguya's confidence even if Naruto was. "However, humans aren't logical creatures that are going to just do what you want because you're right. People hate being proven wrong and they hate it even more when it's someone like you telling them that they're wrong. What happens then?"
"We shall cross that bridge when we come to it." Kaguya answered coolly, but Naruto already knew what was at the other end of that bridge. It was more piles of ash and if they hit that slippery slope again there was also going to be another village sized rock. He had to make sure they avoided that.
"Anyways, you're from Takigakure in the first place, aren't you?" Naruto decided to change the subject. "Is everyone there nice?" He would rather know more about the people he was going to meet. The people Kaguya seemed to think he would become close enough to that he would one day consider them worth protecting. People so precious he would never risk getting them caught up in a Chibaku Tensei.
"Hell if I know." Kakuzu spat. "I left there many decades ago. You think I betrayed my village and became a Nukenin because I got along with all of them? There are bad people in every village and there are good ones. Back then, I would say I killed most of the bad when I left, but who knows how much they've corrected course since then."
"...Oh." Naruto didn't know what else to say, head falling to stare at the ground as they walked. All he wanted was to believe things were going to be better the next time. For him, he didn't need anyone to get close to in particular. He would just be happy if they wouldn't treat him like some kind of monster.
"That reminds me…" Kakuzu said as if he just remembered it. "Takigakure has had control of a Biju for quite some time now. The only Biju not in the hands of one of the five great nations. Odds are that Biju is in a Jinchuriki of its own. Isn't that good for you? I imagine you two will make quick friends, at least." It seemed to be Kakuzu's way of an apology, trying to give Naruto good news after having just snapped at him.
For Naruto though, this information didn't bring glad tidings of a possible friend. But rather fear that there was someone else out there that had been as mistreated as he had been. He hadn't even considered the possibility before. That there were more like him, suffering in the same way that he once did. For them, there would be no one like Kaguya to come save them. At least… until now.
"Another Jinchuriki!? You're sure about that?" He clarified, jogging up and around Kakuzu to get in front of his path. The Nukenin stopped, looking down at Naruto silently for several seconds before letting out a big sigh.
"I told you already, we're in a rush." He walked around Naruto, seemingly choosing to ignore this question. Only to actually answer it a moment later. "Since I haven't been there in a while, it's impossible for me to know whether or not they still have that Biju. If they do, you can guarantee it will be in a Jinchuriki though. That's the only way up until now we've known how to control them."
"I see…" Naruto grumbled as if talking to himself. As he started again after Kakuzu, he said nothing further, instead thinking quietly to himself.
"Aruji-sama?" Kaguya asked, trying to lean forward as far as possible to get a better look at Naruto's expression. For once, she had no idea what he might be thinking about. Until now, Naruto's line of thought was always easy to follow. That was because despite himself, he always thought about others before he considered himself.
In a way, this was also saving himself, although he likely didn't realize it. Naruto was always too busy looking at the problem directly in front of him. The past and the future… Those were things Naruto didn't really consider when making his decisions. He simply acted on his whims or what his gut was telling him.
Now he was thinking about someone he hadn't even met yet, let alone knew. That person might not even be real for all he could tell. The only thing he had was the word of some Nukenin that had left the village long before Naruto was even born.
Yet he thought for this person anyways.
"Kaguya-chan…" Naruto spoke as he was still forming the idea. "You said you ate Kyubi… isn't it possible you could eat whatever Biju is in this person too? You can save them from being a Jinchuriki, can't you?"
"...It is possible." Kaguya admitted. If she was being honest, doing so may even be of benefit to her. The Biju were the result of her son having separated her chakra in the past. By reclaiming that chakra, she could likely reclaim more of her past strength. Perhaps even her size. "However, we would not recommend pursuing such an avenue." So it was hard for her to say those next words.
"Why!?" Naruto yelled, gritting his teeth so hard she could hear it. "If we can save this person from being hated for something that isn't their fault, then shouldn't we? Otherwise, they'll end up making the same mistake I did one day!" He didn't want anyone else to have to go through the pain of knowing what it was like to destroy your own village.
"Would thou still ask us to consume the Biju, knowing it would kill the Jinchuriki host?" She asked. Naruto's silence was the only answer she needed. "Thou are a special case, Aruji-sama. We said it before, but when consuming the Kyubi no Yoko we made a mistake and ended up bound to thy shadow. This saved thy life. Had we not ended up this way, thou would have perished."
"Damn it." Naruto cursed to himself. He knew he should be grateful to Kaguya for saving his life. She had literally been saving him from the moment they became bound together, even though he never knew it. However, now wasn't the time to think about himself. He had to think about how to save this other Jinchuriki.
"We understand thy feelings, Aruji-sama, but thou need to calm down first." Kaguya reached down, pinching at Naruto's cheeks. Not hard, but enough to string and bring his concentration into focus. "It is true, Jinchuriki are not traditionally loved by their village. In thy case it was especially true because of the Kyubi attack on the day of thy birth. That does not mean it is the same in Takigakure."
"...You're right." Naruto finally relented, taking a deep breath in an attempt to reign in his emotions. "As always, you're right."
"We are not always correct." Kaguya shook her head, turning her gaze in the direction of Konoha. "If we were, then we would have not put thou on the path we are on now." If she had just gone about things differently, maybe she wouldn't have pushed Naruto into destroying his home. It was too late for such thoughts now. She had for better or worse nudged Naruto down a dark road.
Kaguya would do now what she could to nudge him back in the right direction. Anything to make sure he didn't end up like her. And it looked like he had just taken the first step onto that new path. Naruto for the first time began thinking about his future in this new village. He thought not for the past and all that hurt him in Konoha, but the one hurting in the village ahead.
The path to Naruto's redemption might very well rely on Takigakure's Jinchuriki.
Chapter End
Post-word: Just kind of a bridging chapter here, setting up some of the new plot points and establishing some early character motivations. Not much else to say with this chapter, although I did try to put in a bit more of just Naruto and Kaguya hanging out.
One problem I ran into early on was that it was kind of hard to have Naruto and Kaguya hang out openly in public because there was just so much baggage they both had while in Konoha. Now that I've essentially wiped the record clean there, I think I can deliver on those moments more freely and hope to include much more of those kind of interactions going forward.
So please look forward to more of that.
