AN: Well happy New Year everyone! I finally managed to get an update out for this story and I hope you all enjoy it and leave a review or comment at the end. I currently have been writing a number of other stories, check them out if you want, recently and am somewhat on a roll so I will try to keep it up.
Hope you all enjoy my longest chapter yet.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
( - )
(Last Time)
"Who are you?" Naruto asked bluntly, squaring himself as he moved so he was just shielding Kin. His amber eyes flashing to red as he activated his Doujutsu, almost immediately being taken aback as he saw the sheer power this man exuded. Being able to see it, was a lot more intense than just being able to feel it.
The orange haired man looked Naruto in the eyes as he heard that, revealing to Naruto for the first time the purple ripples that his eyes seemed to be made of. The eyes radiating with so much power, that for Naruto it looked like the man had two suns in his skull. It seemed the source of the man's power might be a set of Doujutsu.
"I am god. I am the one who will bring peace to this pathetic world. I am Pain." The man introduced himself, his voice deep, catching their attention immediately. While the man's claim to be god was ridiculous, something about the way he carried himself and the power he exuded made Naruto wary. "I am the leader of a group known as Akatsuki, comprised of a select group of powerful individuals. We cooperate for our own purposes, but my ultimate goal is to bring peace to this world. I am offering the two of you a place within the organization." Pain continued in a tone that brokered no argument.
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he heard that. "And how would you go about doing that?"
"Peace shall be achieved through the Jinchuuriki, or more specifically, the Tailed Beasts. Akatsuki shall hunt them down and capture, before controlling them to create an era of peace." Pain said with absolute conviction in his tone. "Will you stand alongside us?"
"So you are hiring people to hunt down Jinchuuriki?" Naruto asked in interest, ignoring the fact that he himself was one. After all his constant use of Sage Mode allowed him to complete mask the Bijuu sealed within him. Instead he focused on the chances this opportunity held, if he took this 'Pain' up on his offer.
"Yes, now will you join me?" Pain asked, his ringed purple eyes locked on Naruto's own.
( - )
Chapter 5
( - )
(In the Land of Forests)
Letting out a slight sigh Naruto brought a bottle of rice wine up to his lips and took a long swig, his face scrunching up at the taste of the alcohol. Putting the bottle down on the table in front of him, he then slid it over to Kin, who like him grabbed the bottle and took a drink, her own reaction somewhat milder than Naruto's due to her senses not being as sharp.
"So what are you going to do?" Kin asked as she handed the bottle back to Naruto, a curious expression on her face as she referred to the invitation they had received earlier that day. "Are you going to join up with those Akatsuki guys? Or tell them to go fuck themselves?"
Naruto snorted in amusement at that, absentmindedly picking the bottle up again. Not drinking from it this time though, instead merely toying around with the bottle. Not really paying attention to much else.
Currently the two of them were sat in a bar in Nagasota, the Capital City of the Land of Forests. All around them there were dozens of soldiers, all of them celebrating, cheering and drinking, toasting their victorious campaign against the Root Shinobi. The journey back from the military camp after the fall of the last base had been swift, especially for Kin and Naruto, who as Shinobi could far outpace normal people. Even now twelve hours later there were still soldiers returning from the camp and likely would be for several hours to come.
The two of them had originally come to Nagasota to collect the money owed to them for services rendered, a million ryo enough money to comfortably live off for a year or so. Normally after collecting the money from their client, or the Daimyo's treasurer in this case, they would be off. Naruto not liking being in overly crowded cities, usually preferring small towns, rural villages or woodlands, quieter places where his senses would not be overwhelmed by the noise and stench of humanity. With Kin happily accompanying him, preferring his company to that of anyone else, plus having grown up in a small logging camp she too was not entirely comfortable with big cities.
This time however they had chosen to remain within the city, finding a small bar in one of the seedier parts of the settlement they had set up camp. Kin ordering some food and drinks as they monopolized a table in the corner of the room. Ignoring the revelries of the returning soldiers as they instead focused on the issues at hand.
Earlier that day, just after the destruction of the final Root base. Naruto, Kin and another Shinobi, Deidara, a brash and obnoxious Missing-nin who had been working with them, had been given an offer. A man by the name of Pain had approached them, offering them a position in his organisation, the Akatsuki. An organisation that was apparently formed of S-rank Shinobi and whose purpose was primarily to hunt down and capture Jinchuuriki, all in the quest of reaching some kind of 'true peace', as if that ever actually existed.
According to their brief conversation with Pain, members of the organisation in return for their compliance were offered anything they wanted, whether it be money, research material, literally anything they wanted they were given. All they had to do was fulfil the missions given to them, whether that be taking on high paying jobs to build up the Akatsuki's finances or hunt down and capture Jinchuuriki, all for some as of yet unknown reason. Though judging by what they had seen of Pain so far, it would not be pleasant for the Jinchuuriki.
When Kin had first heard the offer she had assumed that Naruto would take it up immediately. After all Naruto was all about the hunt, he loved hunting down and fighting powerful opponents, using them as a benchmark to test his strength. On top of that he would be able to continue his bounty missions and mercenary work, only this time he would have the support of an organisation of S-rank Shinobi at his back. This group seemed like something Naruto would be happy to be a part of, even if only for a while.
Instead though Naruto hadn't replied at first, instead simply stating that he had to collect his payment for the mission. Hearing that Kin had been worried that this Pain man, the Shinobi who proclaimed himself a god would kickoff.
After all the man hadn't looked like the patient type. Which considering the sheer amount of power he emitted, more than even Naruto, would probably not work out well for them. Yes, just being in his presence Kin had come to the conclusion that as they were now neither teen stood much of a chance of beating Pain, not even if they worked together. Plus on the off chance that they did beat him, they would then have an organisation of –rank Shinobi after their heads.
Surprisingly though in response to Naruto's statement, Pain had only nodded his head, before emotionlessly telling them that they could collect their payment and then he would expect an answer the next day. The way he had said it though gave Kin no illusions about just what answer he expected.
This was why they were here, hidden away in a dark and shady bar, drinking, because tomorrow they knew that Naruto would have to give Pain his answer. Their other companion Deidara he had not been anywhere near as cautious as the other two. After hearing just a brief description of what the group was about he had signed up, declaring it an opportunity to hone his skills and show the world just what true art was.
Pausing for a second after hearing Kin's question, Naruto eventually replied, a slight frown etched on his face as he turned to look at her. His amber eyes trailing down Kin's lithe form before coming to rest on her face, looking into her eyes as he simply shrugged. "I'm not sure."
Kin paused as she heard that, a look of concern passing across her face. In the time she had known Naruto he had never once shown a moment of doubt. He was always sure of himself, making decisions quickly and then sticking with it come what may. That was one of the things she respected most about Naruto, his conviction, once he had decided on something he would never falter.
Kin was proof enough of that, Naruto had decided to take her on as a companion, and not once in all the time they had spent together had he shown any doubts on his decision. Even when Kin had lost her temper at him, or had made a mistake. Once in one of her weaker moments she had asked him why this was, why he didn't just ditch her, after all he was without a doubt strong enough to do whatever he wanted, with her only acting as a burden.
In response he had only said that she was a member of his pack. That was all he had said, but the sheer conviction with which he had said it, well she had known then and there that she would never leave him no matter what. As she could tell he would never do the same to her.
It was because of this that she was so concerned, as since he had been given the offer Naruto had not been as decisive as usual. For one reason or another Pain's offer had caused him to worry and she didn't like seeing him worry.
"Why? I would have thought this was something you would really want, you would have the chance to hunt down some of the strongest Shinobi around?" Kin replied, trying to find out what had him so concerned.
"That's true." Naruto replied with a nod of his head, putting the bottle down and absentmindedly looking around, noticing as he did that there was a large circle of space around them. Naruto's baleful presence having scared off any revelers.
Kin waited for a moment and when it didn't look like Naruto was going to continue she rolled her eyes. "So what's the problem then? Why are you so concerned?" Kin pressed, her dark eyes on Naruto, noticing as she did that his own amber eyes had shifted to a glowing red showing that he was now using his Doujutsu for some reason.
Glancing around the room, Naruto then turned his attention back to Kin. A strange expression on his face as he considered what he would say next. As he was doing this he was thinking himself about just what he would do. A part of him wanted to join the Akatsuki, he could hone his skills tracking down Jinchuuriki plus fighting the Village Shinobi who would no doubt try and protect their prized weapons. On top of that it would give him an opportunity to check out some S-rank Shinobi, allowing him to assess their skills in case he ever decided he wanted to fight them. Already he could feel his blood pumping faster at the very thought, ever since he had first left the Black Forest and heard of the existence he had wanted to track down and fight an S-rank Shinobi. The strongest of the strong.
On the other hand though he was a Jinchuuriki himself, although the Nine Tails presence was fully masked by his constant usage of Sage Mode that didn't stop him from being what he was. This meant that if the Akatsuki were capturing the Tailed Beasts, then they would need the Nine Tails and Naruto was not about to let himself be captured. This meant that if Naruto did join the Akatsuki he would be in constant danger of being discovered.
This gave Naruto two options, the first was that he could join the Akatsuki and track down other Jinchuuriki, honing his skill as he did so all the while hiding his own status as a Jinchuuriki. With his abilities Naruto was very confident that he could hide the existence of the Nine Tails, and if anyone ever did find out by then he hopefully would be strong enough and knowledgeable enough about the other members by then to kill them if they threatened him or Kin. That was his first option, his second option was to reject the offer entirely and hope for the best.
If he did that he strongly suspected that Pain wouldn't accept his rejection and would attack him and try to kill him. After all the Akatsuki were going after the Tailed Beasts, the creatures were incredibly powerful weapons wielded by the most powerful of the Shinobi Villages. It was likely that this Pain would want to keep his group's existence a secret for as long as he could before revealing himself. This meant that there could be no loose end so either Pain would try to force Naruto into joining or he would attempt to silence him.
At the moment Naruto knew he would lose if he faced off with Pain. Naruto wasn't exactly sure why but something about the man worried him, it wasn't just the sheer amount of power he exuded no it was those eyes he had. Just looking into them Naruto knew he would not be able to defeat the man, not yet, not until he knew more about his abilities.
Not that Naruto was about to voice these concerns out loud, after all he was being watched and had been since he had left Pain's presence. He didn't know what it was but something was watching him, his Doujustu had picked them up. What they were though he had no idea, it didn't look human but nor did it look or feel like anything he had ever seen before. Even now as he and Kin sat here drinking he knew the creature was watching them, potentially listening into their conversation.
More than that whatever it was would likely report everything it had seen and heard to Pain meaning Naruto would have to watch what he says. Which was something Naruto didn't like doing at all, still for the sake of Kin and himself he had to do it.
Letting out a sigh Naruto knew his only real choice for the moment was to adapt and survive. His decision made Naruto turned to look at Kin, a slight smile tugging its way across his face as he noted the well concealed concern on the girl's face, shaking his head Naruto finally replied. "I don't like the idea of joining, but somehow I don't think we have much of a choice."
"You picked up on that too did you?" Kin replied dryly, taking the bottle from Naruto and having another swig. "I say we join up, make a ton of money and then get out when we can."
"You're saying that like you think they will let us leave." Naruto replied in amusement almost certain that this is the kind of group that one does not simply leave. Not that it would stop Naruto from trying if he found he didn't like it.
Kin shrugged at that, not sure what else to say. She couldn't really see a major problem with joining up, it would give a bit more purpose to their lives than just roaming around the different countries taking mercenary jobs and hunting bounties. Then again she knew that joining up would mean there would now be some restrictions on them, as although they would be able to do as they pleased, they would be assigned missions occasionally that they would have no choice but to take. She knew that that would grate on both her and Naruto. Still to Kin it seemed that the pros outweighed the cons, or at least they did at the moment.
Before anything else could be said between them they were interrupted by the unwelcome sight of Deidara walking into the bar. The blonde haired teen now wearing a knee length black cloak with red clouds on it as he swaggered forwards, his long blonde hair standing out against the darkness of his outfit.
Looking around the room as he entered Deidara quickly locked on to where Naruto and Kin were sitting, a smirk passing across his face at the sight of his two former companions. Turning Deidara began to approach them, ignoring the scowl on Naruto's face as he instead waltzed forward and took a seat on their table without a care in the world.
"So still sulking in here yeah!" Deidara said a grin on his face as he looked over at Naruto, before turning to look at Kin. "Ever think about ditching the savage and hooking up with a real man?"
Kin rolled her eyes as she heard that, easily shrugging off Deidara's clumsy attempt at flirting. He was not the first guy to try it on, over her time travelling with Naruto a number of men had tried it on with her. Most of them only tried it once. "Tell me Deidara have you ever seen a man be beaten to death with his own spinal cord?"
Deidara frowned as he heard that, a look of confusion passing across his face. "What no, why did you ask something like that?"
Kin smiled sweetly as she heard that, her louder than normal comment having attracted the attention of more than Deidara as a number of other patrons looked over at her. Noticing her dark eyes, pale flawless skin, raven coloured knee length hair, and sharp striking features. "Because the last guy to try it on with me… well the last time a guy attempted anything untoward with me, Naruto ripped his spine out and flayed him to death with it…"
Deidara paused as he heard that, his one visible eye widening slightly as he looked over at Naruto remembering as he did the man's monstrous strength as he tore through a solid metal door and ripped skilled Shinobi to pieces with his clawed hands. The man was a literal Juggernaut, an unstoppable killing machine. Not someone Deidara would want to fight, especially since he suspected that only his most destructive of techniques would affect Naruto.
Seeing the suddenly wary look Deidara was sending him Naruto sent him a grin, revealing his unusually sharp canines and glowing red eyes as he did so.
Deidara flinched slightly as he looked into those red eyes, almost as unnerved by them as he had been by Pain's ringed purple eyes. "Yeah… well I was only being friendly…"
Kin smiled as she heard that enjoying the sudden nervousness the usually brash young man was showing. She always enjoyed playing this game on people, especially the over confident ones. As of yet Naruto had never needed to step in and kill someone for flirting with her, after all she was more than capable of looking after herself. Still it didn't hurt to put up a façade, after all if people thought she needed Naruto to protect her well then they would never suspect it when she slit their throat from behind.
That being said Deidara probably already knew she was strong, after all they had just worked together earlier that day. Still she could try and play around with his male ego, so many men liked to think of women as weaker and meeker than them, those men wouldn't last long in a fight with a Kunoichi.
"So what are you doing here Deidara?" Naruto spoke up, a hint of amusement in his voice as he watched Kin have her fun. He knew more than most just how deadly a women could be, Akela did not become the leader of the Direwolf Clan just through her sparkling personality. No she had won her positon through strength, cunning and pure ferocity and this was the same reason she had remained in power for centuries now.
"Can't I drop by and chat to old friends?" Deidara replied an easy smile passing across his face, his previous wariness forgotten as he reached out to take the bottle of rice wine from Kin. Only for the girl to take a long swig from it, a grimace passing across her face as she downed the bottle. Before with a smirk she handed it over to Deidara.
"Yeah I wouldn't say we were friends." Kin spoke up the grimace on her face fading as she instead just smirked at the slightly peeved expression on Deidara's face as he dropped the empty bottle onto the dirt floor.
"And there I was thinking we made a good team." Deidara replied a slightly whiny note in his voice.
"What's with the getup?" Naruto suddenly asked, his question blunt and to the point cutting through Kin and Deidara's sniping.
"Well what do you think it is? They're my Akatsuki robes, yeah!" Deidara replied with a smirk, casually brushing some none existent dust from the shoulder.
"They're a bit tacky don't you think?" Kin spoke up a slight frown on her face as she leant forward and looked at what Deidara was wearing.
"Hn! Well I think they look cool yeah!" The Missing-nin replied sending Kin a slight scowl.
"You look like a clown." Naruto said brusquely, before forging on as he saw Deidara open his mouth to respond. "What are you doing here Deidara?"
Deidara paused here a contemplative expression crossing his face as he thought about what to say. "Pain sent me. He knows you have collected your bounty and he wants an answer from you."
Naruto nodded at that, having suspected that much already. No doubt their little stalker had been keeping Pain abreast of just what they were doing, probably so that Pain would know if they tried to run. "Where is he?"
Deidara stood up from his chair at that, straightening his robes before looking down on Naruto with a smirk. "He's outside the city, you're to come to him at once and give him your decision."
Naruto nodded at that, pushing himself to his feet his back cracking as did so. Before he turned and grabbed his sword from where it had been resting on the floor. "Might as well get this over with then."
Deidara nodded at that, his smirk dimming slightly as he glanced at the sword in Naruto's hand. "I take it you aren't planning on fighting?"
Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he heard that, surprised to sense genuine concern in Deidara's comment. "Why you worried about me?"
Kin looked over at Naruto at that, a slight frown on her face as she heard the slight hint of surprise in his voice. Anyone else would likely miss it, but over the months Kin had become very much attuned to Naruto's emotions and something Deidara had said surprised him.
Deidara scoffed in response, "As if, though if you are going to try anything I would suggest you don't. This guy is beyond either of us, he is the real deal. I'm talking ridiculously powerful here, and that's coming from me the former apprentice of the Tsuchikage!"
"You were the Tsuchikage's former apprentice?" Kin suddenly asked disbelievingly, looking him up and down an amused expression on her face.
"Hn! Yeah of course!" Deidara said a grin on his face as he misinterpreted Kin's disbelief for intrigue.
Seeing this Naruto rolled his eyes, instead walking forwards and passing by Deidara, Kin moving so she was alongside him. This left Deidara behind for a moment, before with a shout he ran after them trying to keep up.
"So what do you reckon of that Deidara guy?" Naruto asked curiously, a slightly unfamiliar feeling bubbling up in him as he and Kin continued through the crowds of soldiers. People making way for Naruto intimidating presence of Naruto before closing back in. Allowing Naruto and Kin to move much more swiftly through the city than Deidara who had to fight through the crowded streets, shouting the occasionally obscenity.
A look of confusion passed across Kin's face as she heard this. "The guy's a tool, but he's also a skilled Shinobi. I reckon he would be a slippery one to kill if we have to, but not hard once we neutralise those flying, exploding clays things he uses."
Naruto nodded at that having come to the same conclusion. Before they could say anymore the Shinobi in question caught up with them. Deidara having had to use his chakra to run up and along the walls, bypassing the crowds and allowing him to catch up with Naruto and Kin just before the main gates.
Barely giving him a glance Naruto passed through the gates, Deidara and Kin following him as he mentally prepared himself for his meeting with Pain.
( - )
(Outside of the City)
Pain as it soon appeared had been waiting for them in a small grove not far outside of Nagasota, a blank emotionless expression on his face as he stood in the centre of the grove the wind whipping at his Akatsuki robes. His ringed purple eyes locked on Naruto as he, Kin and Deidara entered the grove, the three of them slowly approaching the silent yet still intimidating figure of Pain.
Coming to a stop a few feet away from Pain, Naruto watched as Deidara walked past him and went to stand just to the side and behind the leader of the Akatsuki. Seeing this Naruto then shifted his attention onto Pain, his eyes narrowing slightly as he did so.
"So do you accept my offer of membership into the Akatsuki?" Pain said getting straight to the point, his deep voice completely empty of any emotion and his purple eyes boring in Naruto's.
"Well I'm not an S-rank so wouldn't that be a problem." Naruto replied, a curious expression on his face as he tried to figure this Pain guy out.
"You are an S-rank in everything but name." Pain said bluntly, his expression still stoic. "Will you accept my offer?"
'Offer', Naruto thought in amusement, before he shook the thought out of his head and instead just nodded his head. "We'll join your little group, for now."
Pain stared at Naruto at that, before his gaze moved away from him and instead fixed on Kin. "The offer was for you, not for her."
"Well here's the thing, we're a team, so you either accept both of us, or you get neither of us." Naruto replied bluntly, this was something he would not compromise on.
Pain's expression didn't change as he heard this. "Very well."
Naruto cocked an eyebrow at that, his hands clenching into fists, even as he tensed up. He wasn't sure what Pain was thinking, but if it came down to a fight he wouldn't go down meekly. He would give it everything he had, using his Sage Mode, Doujutsu, swordsmanship, taijutsu and Summons to the maximum. If it came down to a fight Naruto may not win, but neither would Pain, as if he did lose Naruto would make sure to rip the man's head off before he died.
If Pain noticed any of this he didn't show it, instead he just continued speaking. "You may both join, however she will remain with you, you will count as one member within this organization."
Naruto frowned in confusion as he heard that, why would it matter if there was another member in the organization and why did he phrase it like he had. Naruto was completely unable to read this man, he displayed no outer emotion and his Sage enhanced sensory abilities were able to pick up nothing from the man. Well nothing expect the insane amount of Chakra that was flowing through him, the chakra being based around Pain's eyes and the black piercings that covered his body.
Glancing sideways, Naruto met Kin's gaze. The girl in question giving Naruto a slight nod as she took a step closer to him. Looking back over to Pain, Naruto unclenched his fists, before he nodded his head. "Very well then, we'll join the Akatsuki."
Pain nodded at that, his expression once again not changing. Deidara meanwhile gave Naruto and Kin a grin and a thumbs up.
Glancing at the two Naruto's expression remained stoic as he began to make plans about what to do next, and how he would deal with being in the Akatsuki.
( - )
(A few years later in Konoha)
It was day like any other in the Hidden Leaf village, the streets were busy as off duty Shinobi and civilians milled about, shopping and chatting and generally enjoying their lives. The place was idyllic, and had been for more than a decade now. The Hidden Leaf as it stood now, was the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, an enviable positon, but one they clung onto despite the stiff competition from the most powerful competitors the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Rock Villages.
Currently Iruka Umino, a Chunin in his mid-twenties, was in the Shinobi Academy, doing his duty as a teacher for the up-and-coming Shinobi of the future. The next generation of Shinobi who like their parents would go onto to represent Konoha on the world stage.
Now Iruka was one of the few Shinobi that was entirely content with where he was in life. He had achieved the rank of Chunin at the age of sixteen and a few years after that had gone on to become a teacher to the next generation of Shinobi in the Hidden Leaf Village. This had taken him of the career track of course, the lack of fieldwork involved making it all but impossible for him to rise from a Chunin to a Special Jounin or a full Jounin. Still this wasn't a concern to Iruka, after all the majority of Shinobi finished their career as Chunin. With only an exceptional few, the elite progressing beyond that.
Letting out a sigh Iruka looked around the classroom as he continued his lecture on the most efficient way to move through desert terrain. The contented smile on his face fading slightly as he looked around at his class, noticing as he did that a number of his students were either not paying attention or in one case actually sleeping.
Gritting his teeth in irritation, Iruka decided he had had enough, bouncing the eraser for his whiteboard up and down in his hand, he then proceeded to hurl it like one would a kunai at one of the repeat offenders. His target, a skinny, blue haired academy student letting out a sudden yelp as the eraser struck him on head, his reaction caused more by shock than any real pain. Iruka having thrown the eraser only hard enough to make the boy wake up, and not enough to actually cause him harm.
"Sora, perhaps you could tell us the best way a Shinobi team could inconspicuously traverse through the desert regions of Suna?" Iruka asked a vein on his forehead beginning to bulge as he saw the bored look Sora sent him, the look slowly turning into a lazy smirk as he noticed how irritated his teacher appeared to be.
"How the hell should I know? I mean aren't you supposed to be the teacher? If you're asking a student for help, maybe someone needs to tell the Hokage about how bad the teachers here in the Academy are." Sora replied sarcastically, a grin on his face as he looked around the room. A couple of the other students chuckling nervously, whilst other winced as they heard Sora's obnoxious comment.
Bringing his hand to his head and beginning to massage his temple, Iruka let out a sigh, attempting as he did so to calm himself down before he lost his temper. After all a teacher should never lose control in front of their students, that was as self-destructive as was possible as it would show the students that they had gotten to him.
Dropping his hand to his side Iruka fixed his eyes on the boy in question, Sora. The boy was always rude, even to people he liked. Not that he had many that liked him, after all if his obnoxious personality didn't drive them away then having the Nine Tails sealed inside him certainly would.
The mindless tailed beast had originally disappeared sixteen years ago, soon after Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage and his, as it later turned out, pregnant wife Kushina both died stopping the beast. The two of them going down in the annals of the Hidden Leaf's history for their selfless and heroic actions. The beast though had not been gone for long, as seven years later the beasts power was discovered to have been trapped inside Sora.
Apparently it had taken all twelve of the Guardian Shinobi, all of them strong and talented Shinobi who had sworn their lives to the protection of the Fire Daimyo and the Land of Fire, to defeat the beast. When the dust cleared, only four people were left alive, one of them being the young Sora, who soon after was picked up by Jiraiya of the Sannin and brought back to the Hidden Leaf Village for his own safety.
Those in the class and the majority of the civilian population didn't know why Sora's right hand was bandaged like it was, the Hokage having passed a law prohibiting the Shinobi who were aware from speaking of it, all in order to ensure Sora could live as good a life as possible. But those who were there years ago when Sora was first brought to the Hidden Leaf knew of the beast-like arm hidden beneath. A small portion of the Village's population knew and although they never did anything directly they still viewed the boy with an air of suspicion, something that the rest of the Village caught onto and like mindless sheep copied.
Iruka as the boy's teacher had been informed by the Hokage of what Sora was, just in case of an incident. Still though, Iruka saw himself as a teacher first. Which meant he treated Sora as any other student and not as the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails, even if his past experiences made that a little bit difficult.
"You would know answer Sora if you had actually been paying attention, after all it's what the class has been covering for the last half an hour. Maybe if you were awake, you would know answer. Sakura, could you please tell me the best way for a Shinobi team to pass through desert territory?" Mizuki, Iruka's teaching assistant spoke up. A slight frown on his face as he looked over at Sora, Mizuki having far less sympathy for Sora than Iruka had, despite him not knowing just what the boy was.
"Ermm, well a Shinobi should travel during the night when the desert temperature is lower and with the darkness providing more cover." Sakura, a skinny girl with long pink hair around the same age as Sora began. A bit startled at first, but getting more confident as she recited what Iruka had literally just taught them. "When necessary a Shinobi should sleep during the day time, using a camouflage sheet to protect them from the sun and allow them to blend in with the surrounding sand, this would allow for the Shinobi to conserve water and-"
"Nerd!" Sora interrupted loudly, an angry expression on his face as Sakura showed him up. His face flushing red in embarrassment as he heard a couple of the other students around him sniggering into their hands.
"Sora! Detention!" Iruka shouted in response, having had enough with Sora for the day. After all he had decided to treat him as any other student, meaning if he made a fool of himself and interrupted the class than he would receive the same punishment any other student would get.
( - )
(A half an hour later)
It was around thirty minutes later that the class ended and seeing the exodus of the other students as a potential opportunity to avoid punishment Sora tried to use the confusion created to escape out of the window, unfortunately for the boy though he was at a Shinobi Academy.
Meaning that Iruka was easily able to notice Sora's actions and grab the wayward student by the scruff of his shirt before he could disappear and escape his punishment.
Currently Sora was in the process of fulfilling that punishment, the boy in question being forced to prepare the classroom for tomorrow's graduation test. Which involved bringing in logs that could be used for testing the Replacement Technique, as well as a number of other easy yet tedious tasks that weren't hard but still had to be done.
All of this was being done under the watchful eye of Iruka, who was sat at his desk at the front of the classroom writing out the questions that would be on the written portion of the graduation test, after all you couldn't just have a set exam that an enterprising student could steal and copy before passing around, you had to make a new one up every year to ensure that only the best and brightest past.
Looking up from his task Iruka let out a slight sigh as he saw the truculent expression on Sora's face. "You know Sora, your grades as they are won't be able to cushion a failing grade on any portion of the exam tomorrow. I mean even Shikamaru's grades are higher than yours and he purposefully coasts through lessons."
"So what, you think I can't make the cut, huh!?" Sora retorted, a scowl on his face as Iruka pointed out his failings as a student. Not aware that his teacher was about to try and help him, instead only seeing Iruka as being someone out to get him.
Iruka sighed as he heard Sora's response. The boy had a real chip on his shoulder, often assuming that people were out to get him and never understanding that sometimes people were just trying to help. "It's not that you can't make the cut. You have the potential to be a splendid Shinobi, maybe even the best of your generation. But you won't be able to leave the academy let alone become the best Shinobi that you can be unless you start putting more effort in. It's not a threat, this is just a suggestion from teacher to student." Iruka said before he let out another sigh. "You're a bright kid Sora and have a lot of potential, I just don't want to see you wasting it."
"Look you don't have to pretend to care. I'm used to it." Sora suddenly snapped as he turned around, his temper flaring.
"I'm not pretending, Sora." Iruka replied holding back another sigh as he knew Sora would likely have this reaction, the boy only seemed to hear what he wanted to hear. "I really do-"
"Looks like I'm done. See you tomorrow." Sora suddenly said, cutting Iruka off as he looked around and saw he had finished his last task, using it as an excuse to leave the room and avoid the 'caring' teacher lecture. Sora knew what happened when he got close to people; either they got hurt or they hurt him. Sora had decided long ago to go without friends, he didn't need them or want them.
( - )
(With Sora sometime later)
A couple of hours later a once again calmed down Sora was currently napping in one of the trees that bordered Training Ground Seven, very close to the Memorial Stone that honoured Shinobi who had died serving their village.
He had been here for a while, originally coming her to blow of some steam, before deciding to take a nap. Not that his nap lasted long as Sora was soon woken up by the arrival of another person entering the Training Ground. Looking down from his position in a tree Sora looked over irritably at the intruder, quickly recognizing just who it was.
The man who had just entered the clearing appeared to be in his early thirties, with a brawny physique and heavily muscled arms, over his shoulder the man carried a large staff on his back. The sides of this man's head was shaven, leaving some longish brown hair on only the top of his head. Over a simple black shirt though the man wore a Jonin flak jacket, though even more prominently displayed was the waist-cloth he was wearing that was adorned with the kanji for fire.
Looking down at him Sora easily recognized him as Kitane, one of the three surviving members of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi and someone who Sora had only met a couple of times before when he was much younger.
Coming to a stop in front of the tree, the man patiently waited for Sora to acknowledge his presence before speaking.
"Didn't your teacher recommend studying? I'm not sure sleeping in trees will be on the test tomorrow." Kitane, the somewhat famous A-rank Shinobi said, a slight grin on his face as he looked up at Sora.
"Doesn't matter. Everyone hates me for whatever reason. I doubt they'd let me be a Shinobi, even if I was the best in the class." Sora replied bitterly, going off the treatment he received from a number of other Shinobi he had come across he knew he would not be welcomed within the ranks.
Kitane nodded at that, his smile not dropping.
"You know Sora, I knew your father back in the day." Kitane began, putting up his hand to stop the question on Sora's tongue as his smile became somewhat fixed. "His name was Kazuma, and not only was he one of my comrades, he was also one of my friends."
"Wait, does that mean my dad was one of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi?!" Sora asked in shock, a stunned expression on his face as he tried to comprehend this new information. "Why did no one ever tell me?"
"Only Asuma, Chiriku, and I know. Asuma served the Feudal Lord until recently; he probably forgot you were still around. You can't blame Chiriku either; he lives at the Fire Temple up in the mountains doing monk stuff. You were only very young when he died. But still I thought you were old enough to remember, and for that I apologize. Only recently did I hear that you had no idea." Kitane said, a sorrowful note entering his tone at the thought of leaving a friend's son without any knowledge of just who he is and who his father was.
Hearing all this Sora was completely speechless, only staring down at Kitane. His expression not changing when the older man began to speak again. "Though if I knew Kazuma, he wouldn't want his only son to fail the Academy Exams. If you manage to pass the test tomorrow, I managed to get an old friend to agree to take you as his student."
"Did he know my father?" Sora asked quickly, desperate for any more information about the father he never knew.
"Asuma and Kazuma were as good of friends as they come. I was never quite as close to Kazuma as Asuma was," Kitane said with a slight shrug an earnest expression on his face as he continued to look up at Sora. "Asuma will be able to tell you more about your father than I ever could, so pass the test tomorrow and I'll introduce you."
"Wow." Sora said suddenly filled with excitement at the thought of hearing more about his father, it was an excitement only an orphan could understand. "I'm definitely gonna pass that test tomorrow!" Sora continued on excitedly.
"Hold up." Kitane said in amusement, holding up his hands to emphasize his point. "Asuma did say you had to pass one test to prove that you're more than just Kazuma's son. Asuma wants to see if your Kazuma's heir."
"What does that mean?" Sora asked, torn between being furious that there was a catch and confused as to what Kitane meant.
"Like I said earlier, Asuma hasn't heard of you since he's been in the Capital of Land of Fire this whole time. He trusts me, but he wants to make sure. There's a technique known only by your father and Asuma. He wants to see if you can pull it off. It isn't a complicated technique, but Asuma has the only remaining scroll detailing how to use it. But we both want you to succeed, so I'll tell you where he keeps it." Kitane finished, the smile never leaving his face as he looked up at the Jinchuuriki perched up in the tree above him.
Sora was too ecstatic to have heard about his father and have the hope of finding out more to notice anything suspicious with Kitane's story. Instead he only nodded his head, caught up in the enthusiasm.
( - )
(Sometime later)
Sora had been having a great day ever since Kitane had talked to him earlier, his previous frustration with Iruka and his general situation forgotten as he got caught up in the excitement of finding out who he was, and who his father was.
Asuma's apartment had been surprisingly easy to break into. The scroll had been somewhat harder to find, but Kitane's instructions hadn't led him wrong, and he had headed out of the village soon after acquiring it, heading to one of the training grounds in the woods.
He had forgotten the specific training ground in the excitement of learning a new Technique on top of finding out about his father. Sora figured he'd see if this Asuma was all that. If he couldn't find Sora practicing a destructive Technique in the woods, then Sora would likely get all the information about Kazuma he could and then train under someone more competent. At the moment though Sora was just too happy to care about anything beyond learning about his father.
Cracking open the scroll Sora began to read about the 'Flying Swallow' technique.
After more than an hour of practice, Sora was beginning to feel like Kitane had lied to him. This technique wasn't easy at all! Channeling chakra was difficult enough, but wind chakra was proving to be impossible, he hadn't even known that chakra could have an elemental affinity. He had been at it for nearly an hour now, and the claw marks from his weapon, a steel claw, were strewn around the clearing he was training in.
Currently Sora was taking a short break to recover his chakra, after all he didn't have a huge amount maybe just about that of an experienced Chunin and this was a very chakra consuming technique. In fact he had used so much chakra that he was currently feeling a little tired, which is why after a couple of minutes of trying to fight off sleep he decided to give into it and have a quick nap.
( - )
(Sometime Later)
"You know, I wasn't sure what to think when Kazuma's son decided to try and steal from a Jounin's home in broad daylight, especially when that home belongs to me." A deep voice suddenly spoke up from just above Sora, waking him up from his nap a startled expression on his face. "If the Uchiha Military Police were still around, you'd be sleeping in a jail cell, not a forest."
Sora sat up and opened his eyes to take in the new arrival, instantly feeling a little tense as he felt an aura of danger surrounding this man in front of him.
The man wore a Jounin's flak jacket with a Leaf Village forehead protector tied around his head identifying him as a Hidden Leaf Shinobi. A burning cigarette hung from the man's mouth, and his brown hair stretched down from the top of his head to the bottom of his chin in large sideburns and a small goatee.
All of this was lost on Sora though once he saw the waist cloth the man was wearing, the one with the kanji for fire emblazoned on it. Sora quickly identifying this man as one of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi. Other than Kitane, the only living members were Asuma and Chiriku, and since Chiriku was apparently living in some monastery somewhere, this could only be Asuma, his father's old friend.
Understanding this and sensing the man's irritation, Sora began to feel slightly afraid of being punished by the man he had stolen from. But as the fear began to grow within him, the dangerous aura around Asuma dissipated, the man chuckling slightly as he looked down at Sora, Asuma seeming more amused than angry.
"I decided to follow the little squirt who thought he could steal from me, set on stopping a potential spy. But I must say, even if you are Kazuma's kid, learning the Flying Swallow to this degree in such a short time is impressive." Asuma spoke again, his tone slightly more friendly as he looked around the clearing, noting all of the gouges and slices on both the ground and surrounding trees as he did so.
Before Sora could respond, three poles struck the ground in a triangle around him. Lightning springing from each of the staffs, forming an electric blue cage around the shocked Sora. The action also caused Asuma to suddenly leap backwards his guard raised as he landed in a crouch a few metres away his eyes narrowed as he looked into the surrounding woods.
"Asuma, glad you showed up. Now we can finish this." Kitane spoke up, the man stepping out of the trees his friendly façade from before fading to revealing a cold expression on his face and flinty eyes as he looked over at Sora.
"Finish what? What are you on about?" Asuma asked in confusion as he looked between his old friend and the trapped Sora. Not at all sure just what was going on here, but definitely ready to get to the bottom of it.
"We can avenge Kazuma. We can kill the Nine Tails." Kitane said a wild look entering his eyes as he looked form the scared looking Sora to the frowning Asuma, his hands clenched into fists.
"What are you talking about?!" Sora asked, even more confused by just what the hell was going on than Asuma, especially when the dread beast that attacked the village just over sixteen years ago, before Sora was even alive, was mentioned. "Where does the Nine Tails come into any of this?!"
"Oh come on Sora! Don't tell me you couldn't figure it out. Your right arm, the looks of distrust, the 'mysterious' disappearance of the Nine Tails? No one knows where the Nine Tails went right after the attack all those years ago, but it resurfaced to attack the Twelve Guardian Shinobi years later. Putting two and two together yet, Sora?" Kitane shouted his eyes wide and a vicious expression on his face, as he saw Sora's eyes widen with the realization of what Kitane was implying.
"Let me spell it out for you then beast! You aren't Kazuma's son Sora, you just took that form after we defeated you. You are the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, the beast that killed our comrades all those years ago, including both Sora and his father Kazuma! Nauma, Seito, Tou, and I defeated you using Limelight long enough for the Third Hokage and Jiraiya to seal you back up, but that arm is proof that you'll just break that seal soon enough. But now we can end it, me and Asuma have you at our mercy, weakened and alone. Now we can finish you off once and for all!" Kitane shouted blood beginning to drip down from his clenched fists, all rational thought quickly leaving his mind.
"What! What are you talking about Kitane? My dad and Jiraiya might not be the seal master the Fourth was, but they knows what they're doing. This is Sora, and if you kill him, the beast he's been holding back all these years will be released! It took so much sacrifice to stop the beast before, and you'd see that wasted for some misaimed revenge?" Asuma said in disbelief before drawing two trench knives out of his kunai pouch his eyes narrowing as he prepared to fight. "I'm sorry Kitane, but I won't let the others have died in vain."
"Fool!" Kitane snarled spitting on the floor at Asuma's feet. "It has you tricked Asuma! But if you can't see the truth then you are just in my way! I'm sorry old friend, but you'll have to die alongside the Nine Tails!"
With that said Kitane drew another staff from his back, the tip splitting into three prongs, lightning arching between them as he pointed the weapon at his old comrade who in response began to channel wind chakra into his knives.
Meanwhile as this was happening, Sora was feeling paralyzed, shocked by the deluge of information he was receiving. Kitane hadn't meant a word he had said earlier. Kitane hadn't wanted to watch over him, or help him become a Shinobi. He had just wanted to exhaust Sora for an easy kill. That was why he had lured Sora and Asuma out here and tricked him into trying to learn that ridiculous technique. All so he could weaken Sora before killing him with Asuma's help.
As these thoughts were running thought Sora's mind, Asuma and Kitane had engaged one another in combat. The Hokage's son's trench knives clashing repeatedly with Kitane's lightning enshrouded staff. The wind chakra coating the blade giving Asuma the technical advantage as wind was strong against lightning. At the same time though, the length of Kitane's staff and his skill with the weapon kept Asuma at a safe distance, creating somewhat of a stalemate as they fought.
"Just give it up Asuma! Just let me kill the Nine Tails. There's no need for us to fight." Kitane shouted over the crackling of the lightning as he swung his staff round, the chakra metal staff being repelled by Asuma's wind infused blades.
"Not a chance!" Asuma shot back, jumping back to try and tip the scales. Asuma's hands flying through a number of rapid hand seals as he did so.
This was an action Kitane copied as they faced off several metres apart, both of them completing their two different elemental techniques at the same time.
Fire Style: Ash Pile Burning!
Lightning Style: Raging Bolt!
A large sphere of lightning formed over Kitane's head as he unleashed his attack, the lightning orb crackling with power before it exploded, a bolt of lightning hurtling through the air towards Asuma.
In response Asuma opened his mouth and breathed out large black cloud of what looked like smoke at Kitane, the smoke acting as a cover that allowed Asuma to deftly avoid Kitane's attack before retreating from sight.
"I always knew you were a coward, but this is a new low! Even for you Asuma!" Kitane shouted his voice almost hysterical as he whirled around in the smoke, clearly searching for Asuma.
Suddenly, Asuma spoke up, his voice coming from seemingly every direction making Kitane twirl around his crackling weapon held up in front of him. "Shame you were always too focused on your berserker charges to notice the end of this technique." Asuma said the tone of his voice flat, neither victorious nor angry.
With that said, an audible click was heard as Asuma hit the flint he had embedded in his tooth, a spark being released.
The resulting spark was enough to expose the smoke for what it actually was, a highly flammable ash. The resulting explosion destroyed the area, and for once Sora was glad for the lightning walls surrounding him. As the walls provided him with protection from the fiery explosion that tore up the ground and blackened the surrounding trees.
Asuma spoke again as the smoke cleared. "Looks like you let your guard down at the end." With that said he leaped down from the tree he had been crouched in, entering the clearing cautiously as he looked around for any sign of Kitane. Seeing none he walked over to Sora's prison and sliced one of the pillars of the lightning field clean in half, ending the technique.
"Who let his guard down at the end!? 'Lightning Style: Lightning Eruption!'" Kitane's voice suddenly shouted, making Sora and Asuma twist around in shock.
"What!?" Asuma exclaimed as the ground beneath his feet exploded, bolts of lightning erupting upwards. Kitane emerged from the remaining smoke, several dark red burns on his arms and face and his clothing badly burnt and shredded, but otherwise unharmed.
The electricity from Kitane's technique shot up from the ground, electrocuting Asuma and bringing him to his knees with a gasp, blood spraying forth from his mouth. As it was, Asuma had only managed to remain conscious through copious amounts of wind chakra being pumped through his body, the best he was able to do at such short notice.
Kitane laughed at his former comrade's sorry state, any compassion he might have felt worn away by the madness that had gripped him. "As if I didn't know what your techniques do! We were comrades for years. Now move aside so I can end the Nine Tails once and for all!"
"No. Kazuma wouldn't want this Kitane! Sora isn't the Nine Tails. I can't say I know him well, but Sora is Sora, no one else. And Sora is our friend's son! I'll die before I let you kill him!" Asuma shouted, awkwardly staggering to his feet his grip on his trench knives tightening.
"Well then I'll just kill you first.' Lightning Style: Thunder Clap'!" Lightning began to cover Kitane's hands as he finished the hand seals for his technique.
Withuot pausing Kitane rushed forward his arms held behind him ready to be brought forward, lightning running up and down them as he closed in on Asuma, preparing to kill the man with a single final blow.
Sora's eyes widened as he saw this taking place, a look of horror crossing in his face, before without any thought at all he lunged forward.
Kitane's eyes flickered to Sora as he saw his movements, an ugly look crossing his face as he saw Sora make a desperate slash at him with his claw like weapon. It only took Kitane a single look to see that the attack would fall at least a good foot short of him.
Shifting himself mid attack, Kitane went to strike Sora instead of Asuma, hoping to kill the beast now and finish this whole tragic affair. Allowing the boy's metal claws to pass by harmlessly, Kitane went in for the kill.
Or he would have, if a sharp pain hadn't suddenly spread across his chest. Looking over at Sora, Kitane quickly noticed the red chakra coating the blades of his claws, extending a good foot and a half past the end of the tip of the serrated blades.
Looking down, Kitane noticed the three parallel slashes running across the front of his chest. He had only a second to marvel at the fact that Sora had somehow managed to pull off a bastardized version of the Flying Swallow technique despite having had the scroll for barely more than an hour. That was the last thought he had before a far stronger, and far more experienced user of the Flying Swallow struck him square in the chest.
"Flying Swallow: Straight Line!" Asuma muttered to himself as his twin blades struck Kitane's chest, the wind sharpened blades cutting through flesh, muscle and bone like a hot knife through butter. With a final grunt Asuma followed through with his strike, the two blades tearing out of Kitane's body, causing his top half to fall backwards to the ground with a sickening thud, whilst his lower half collapsed forward. Asuma's wind blades having cut Kitane in half.
From the side, the exhausted Sora looked at the scene in front of him with shock, his eyes widening as blood began to pool out of Kitane's body and soak into the ground. Feeling the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, Sora wretched once before turning to the side and throwing up
"Come on, Sora. As much as I'd love to collapse here and rest, we'd best report this to the Hokage." Asuma said placing a strong hand on Sora's shoulder.
Sora could only swallow and nod as Asuma started to walk away, Sora stumbling after him wiping the bile from around his mouth.
Looking over his shoulder at the young blue haired boy, Asuma gave him a faint smile. "Good work back there Sora. The Flying Swallow isn't easy to learn, so… good job."
Despite all that he had been through, Sora found a grin creeping cross his face.
( - )
(In the Hokage's Tower)
Within the Hokage's Tower in the centre of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi the Third Hokage and current leader of the Hidden Leaf looked into a small crystal ball in front of him, a slight frown on his face as he cut off his chakra. The technique he had been fueling fading away, just as the image of Asuma's and Sora disappeared. Hiruzen having just watched the entire confrontation with Kitane after having been clued into Sora's actions by his son, Asuma.
Settling back into his chair his pipe in his hand, Hiruzen used a low level fire technique to light his pipe. Absentmindedly sucking on the wooden tip, puffing out a bit of smoke as he did so a slight frown on his face.
The story of Sora was truly a sad one, one that only Jiraiya, Chiriku and himself knew fully, and if Hiruzen had anything to say about it that was how it would remain. After all this secret involved the safety and prosperity of the Hidden Leaf and was a secret worth killing over.
During the Nine-Tails' attack on the Leaf Village sixteen years ago, some of the beast's chakra was scattered throughout the village. Sora's father, Kazuma who had been a Jounin here at the time, had taken the initiative and collected the chakra beforesealed it into Sora's body a few years after the attack, all in the hope of producing a partial copy of the Nine Tails, turning Sora into a pseudo-Jinchuuriki. It was an action that Hiruzen had sanctioned after Kazuma had told him what he had done.
After all from what Jiraiya had discovered from his Toad Summons, Minato on the night of the Nine Tail's attack had attempted to seal the Nine Tails within his son. Whether he succeeded or not was unknown, but what Hiruzen did know was that Minato and Kushina were dead as too was their new born son. As for the Nine Tails, that was gone, completely vanished.
This had left the Hidden Leaf without a Jinchuuriki, which for a Great Village was a major problem. After all for all the rhetoric and stigma surrounding them, Jinchuuriki were principally incredibly powerful weapons/Shinobi and war deterrents. If it were found that the Hidden Leaf no longer possessed the strongest of them, well the other Shinobi Villages would begin circling them like vultures. It would put the entire village in danger, as such Hiruzen had begrudgingly agreed to Kazuma's actions.
Of course a few years after the implantation of the Nine Tail's chakra, Sora had gone berserk, the demonic chakra sealed within him getting loose and almost taking control. This had ended up destroying the Fire Temple where Sora was being kept for the time being, a place otherwise believed to be an indestructible fortress. It had taken all Twelve Guardian Shinobi to stop Sora's rampage giving both Jiraiya and himself time to seal the beast up, limited as they were by the need to keep him alive.
This had led to a number of them dying and Hiruzen making the choice to have Jiraiya redo Sora's seal, replacing Kazuma's version with his own one, based off of the notes Minato had left behind. After that he had kept Sora here in the Hidden Leaf, somewhere where he could keep an eye on the pseudo-Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails.
Letting out another puff of smoke, Hiruzen couldn't help but lament the deaths and pain caused by his decisions. Unfortunately though it had to be done, for the good of the Hidden Leaf. He could only wish that Minato's son had survived, after all with his Uzumaki heritage and his parentage he would truly have been a sight to behold.
( - )
(In a hidden location)
Miles away from the Hidden Leaf, ten shadowy figures gathered atop the fingertips of a massive statue, their bodies seemingly made of darkish purple energy with only their eyes being clearly visible through the technique that allowed them all to gather here.
The leader of the group, a figure stood atop the right thumb was the first one to speak, his purple ringed eyes looking around at the other figures he had summoned before him. "Since we are gathered here, I can only assume that Zetsu and Sasori have found the targets. Am I correct?" Pain finally asked his deep voice echoing around the cave as he looked over at the left hand.
"Indeed, we've just located the Nine Tails Jinchuuriki. Yeah, he was really good at hiding, but we finally got him to use the Nine Tail's chakra. Yeah, thanks for letting us use that Kitane guy Sasori!" Answered the figure standing on the little finger of the right hand, his yellow eyes looking around the room as he spoke with two distinct voices, one of which was deep and serious, with the other being higher pitched.
A hunched over figure standing on the left thumb of the statue spoke up next in a deep, raspy voice. "Well you're not welcome. That one was a useful spy, not that he knew. But desperate times call for desperate measures. The Nine Tails has certainly kept us waiting, and I hate waiting."
"Now that we have identified the targets, it will be up to you to gather them. Wait until the beast before yours has been captured to move, but once that requirement is met, take as much time as you will. It will make little difference. But do not strike in a way to draw attention. The Akatsuki must remain in the shadows a bit longer if we are to succeed in bringing true peace to this word." Pain spoke again, his voice echoing around the cavern.
"I'm just surprised you managed to find him at all. He's successfully evaded the two best spymasters on the continent for over sixteen years?" A tall, heavily muscled figure that stood on the left little finger said, his amber eyes narrowed and a sharp tone in his voice as he fixed his eyes on the figure with two voices.
"We are Akatsuki." A female voice spoke up from the right middle finger her voice sounding slightly bored as her unique orange eyes fixed on the one who had just spoken and odd emotion hidden with their depths. "The only time we do not do 'good' jobs is when we do 'perfect' jobs."
"Collect the information on your targets. We start with the Seven Tails. Dismissed." Pain said suddenly cutting off all other conversation, the tone of his voice brooking no compromise. Nodding their heads the shadowy figures began faded into nothingness, the demonic statue slipping into the ground, leaving no evidence that anyone had ever been there.
( - )
(With Naruto in the Land of Water)
Opening his eyes Naruto once again became fully aware of his surroundings, even after three years he was still not fully sure of Pain's communication technique. Often finding it very disorientating. Stretching slightly Naruto pushed himself up from where he had been previously sat, leaning against the trunk of a tree. His actions causing Deidara who like him was coming out of the trance caused by Pain's technique, to fall to the side and land in the dirt, the blonde haired man sprawling on the ground and letting out several curses.
Deidara having been assigned as Naruto and Kin's partner, the mad bomber having become somewhat friends with the two even if Kin ignored his every attempt at flirting and Naruto threatened him with death or dismemberment every other day. Theirs was a strange friendship, though maybe not when it came to dealing with S-rank Shinobi, which by this point all three of them could easily be classified as.
"So how did the meeting go?" Kin asked from a few feet away, causing Naruto to turn to look at her, ignoring the still cursing Deidara as he did so. His eyes locking on Kin, even as a sudden heat began to flood his body.
The now sixteen year old Kin, now clad in Akatsuki robes, was crouched over next to a campfire. Her raven hair tied back in a ponytail. Her dark eyes turning to look at Naruto, the light of the fire revealing her flawless porcelain skin, and her delicate beautiful features.
A slight smirk tugged at her features as she saw Naruto looking, Kin absentmindedly pushing herself to her feet. Enjoying the feeling on Naruto's piercing amber eyes as he followed her movements, her heart beginning to beat faster as she did so. The now six foot two tall, man who like her was wearing Akatsuki robes, was standing just a few feet from the five foot two Kin, his wild silver hair and amber eyes gleaming in the light of the nearby fire.
"Well?" Kin asked putting her hand on her hip as she gave Naruto an expectant look, pushing aside any irritation she was previously feeling at being unable to take part in the meeting herself, due to her not wearing the Akatsuki ring. Instead she was happy that Naruto was once again up and about, even if that did mean she would have to tolerate Deidara presence.
"We're ready to begin. They've found the Nine Tails." Naruto finally replied an oddly relieved grin spreading across his face.
Interpreting his grin to mean he was happy that their three years of waiting and wandering was over, three years of pretty much doing exactly what they were doing before, only with the added irritant of Deidara's presence. Finally they were going to start the exciting stuff. "I was getting bored of waiting."
"Yeah me too." Naruto replied sending Kin a grin, as much as he enjoyed taking S-class jobs he was starting to get restless. Now though things could really start happening, especially now the Akatsuki had somehow found a Nine Tails Jinchuuriki. Despite Naruto being positive that he was in fact the only one, something that no human, not even Kin his closest friend and confidant knew. After all the knowledge of that particular secret could put her in danger and the Naruto would rather die than let that happen.
"So what happens now then?" Kin asked as she sidled up to Naruto, her hand absentmindedly trailing down his chest.
Fighting down the desire he felt rising up in him at his friend's actions, Naruto instead focused on the question. "Now, now we start hunting Jinchuuriki."
( - )
AN: And that is the chapter what did you all think? I hope you enjoyed it.
I would just like to answer a few questions people might have quickly. The inclusion of Sora (a canon character) in this story was something I really liked form Panory Bro's original story. It made sense to me that when Konoha found out they had lost their Jinchuuriki that they would attempt to get a new one or find another way to mitigate this. With Hiruzen in command they would not go to war y trying to steal one, creating a new one though is a possibility. Specially if a Shinobi worked off their own initiative and tried to do it themselves even if their motives may not be pure. This was an idea I though made a lot of sense and something I very much enjoyed about Dawn's Sage.
On the character of Sora he will not be a rip off of Canon Naruto, nor will he be anywhere near as powerful as a true Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails. Sora as a character will remain periphery, a point of view that shows what is going on in Konoha. He won't be a focus and Naruto, Kin and others in their group will remain the main focus for this story going forwards.
In terms of joining the Akatsuki this was something I saw as none optional. Pain after all isn't the most forgiving of people, and not only is he himself an overpowered character he has an entire group of S-rank Shinobi behind him.
In terms of time skips we have now reach a point where they will no longer be anymore yearlong time skips. We will have Naruto's adventures going forwards though as well as his relationships with his companions which will be fun to write.
So with that said I hope you all enjoyed the chapter it is my longest one yet and I enjoyed writing it. I hope you all leave a comment or a review too to tell me what you think.
So yeah other than that I will see you all later.
Seagate.
