Uhh...
Chapter 11: Naruto's Human Form
Naruto's single tail waved in the breeze, and the new Ichibi would have to get used to a stalk of flesh sticking out of his ass that had never been there before.
Taking all of the Shukaku's power had felt good, so good that it was almost intoxicating. No longer was he the Bijuu without a tail, and there was one less Bijuu to worry about coming after him.
He was sticking out like a sore thumb though, with his size on this particular landscape, and his chakra spike could be felt for miles around, probably all the way back to Konoha. He couldn't linger here for an overly long period of time, lest he be discovered. He didn't have enough tails to be able to declare war on a village yet, and he hoped it wouldn't have to come to that.
Still, he was free now. No more cramped living space within his youngest sister's mind, no more subjugation by humans. For now, at least. Naruto knew that there would come a time when the humans would once again invade his life, probably in another ridiculous attempt to seal him.
Hopefully he would be powerful enough to deal with it by then. He had practically walked into his sealing last time.
But for now, he had to take refuge, and get some information.
He flexed his muscles; he hadn't done this in quite some time. Being in a cage and pinned down by spikes constricted his movements tremendously, and when he took on a human form it was a painful experience.
His shoulder spikes bristled, and he put his front claws together, in the Bijuu's version of a handseal. He molded his chakra into his hands and closed his eyes, humming to himself in his mind.
After a few seconds, his body began to deconstruct.
His chakra body began to waver and contort, gradually getting smaller and smaller as it condensed.
It was always strange, transforming like this. His body was made of pure chakra after all, but it had always given off the impression that it was made of flesh. In his transformation stage, there was no such feeling. His body felt lighter, with a wispy quality to it.
It truly felt like he was made of chakra, an energy being.
He hadn't perfected this technique yet, so it took a few minutes to fully change from a Bijuu to a human. Though after those few minutes, his chakra body began to solidify into a human form.
When he was finished, the gigantic lizard that was standing on the landscape could no longer be seen. For Naruto had morphed down to a completely human size and body, even if he was a little different than the average human.
The human Naruto leaned on a tree, breathing heavily. Changing into a human took quite a bit of chakra, but once the technique was complete he could maintain his form for quite a while.
He would have to work on maintaining it for even longer though, as he would have to move around like this. It wouldn't do for him to track down other Bijuu at his normal size.
He waved a hand in front of his face, testing out the appendage. While it seemed natural to him, other people would find something slightly off with his body. His skin had a very slight transparency to it, enough to fool the standard onlooker, but not enough to fool the trained eye.
His other features wouldn't even fool the untrained eye. He knew the moment he was out of the seal that taking on a human form and trying to blend in with humans was going to be a huge problem.
For one, his scales didn't completely disappear. They weren't nearly as pronounced as when he was in his full Bijuu form, but his skin also had a slight lacertilian quality to it. It wasn't human skin, most definitely.
Naruto opened his mouth, showing off more of his non-human body.
He did not have human teeth... at all. Rather, all of his teeth were the same reptilian style that he also had in his Bijuu form, being long, incredibly sharp incisors, every last one of them.
He didn't have the almond-shaped eyes of a human, either. They were lizard eyes, completely round in shape with a long, vertical pupil instead of the black dot of a human eye.
Naruto stumbled ahead, nearly toppling over after what was just one simple step. He had been cooped up in the seal for so long, but he had also been on four-legs for over eleven years. He wasn't used to being bipedal. It would take some getting used to, and he needed to test out which abilities had carried over from his transformation.
He caught himself from falling by pushing on a nearby tree with his right arm. His arm was also a little bit different than a normal human one, due to the shiny claws that adorned his fingers. But there was something else about it that Naruto noted with interest; something that hadn't been there before.
His wrist was covered in very familiar markings, blue lines that almost resembled veins. Naruto waved the appendage around slightly, looking at the marks. They were identical to the ones that Shukaku had had all over his body, but Naruto's were only located on his wrists, at least in human form, mind.
He supposed it made sense. He was the Ichibi now, and Shukaku was no longer among the existing, even if there was this bizarre presence in the back of Naruto's mind. It might've been the remnants of Shukaku's consciouness and will, but Naruto couldn't say for certain yet.
The power that he had felt while going through the transformation was still coursing through him, but Naruto didn't have any idea on what to do next. He was lucky that he had run into the Ichibi directly after being released, but he didn't know the location of the other tailed beasts, save for Kyuubi. But going after the fox now would be suicide for him. Hell, even going after the Sanbi would be suicide, so there was only one other option left.
Naruto silently cursed this structured hierarchy of power, and in his gut he had the sinking feeling that he would one day have to fight a Bijuu that was far more powerful than himself.
A thought crossed his mind. It was a simple plan of action, but it was necessary. He had to leave the scene as soon as possible, and maybe the Hi no Kuni while he was at it. Word would travel fast about the Bijuu battle, and the scene would no doubt be investigated.
He also got the feeling that he should have a connection with the other Bijuu, but he didn't. His mind was telling him that he knew where the others were, but he kept drawing blanks. He could go with his gut instinct and let it lead him, but he had the feeling that wouldn't work.
If that was the case, he'd have to ask a human about the Bijuu, but his appearance meant that he couldn't ask just anyone. It was a pickle, but at least he had a clear motive for the time being.
He could cross that bridge once he was successfully out of the Hi no Kuni...
Yukiko's eyes fluttered open as her sensei carried her wounded body throughout the sea of trees. Her vision was blurry, and she felt an intense burning pain near her stomach area.
She attempted to move her arm in order to clutch it, but her muscles weren't responded to her brain's commands. The pain in her stomach finally got so bad she cried out loudly.
That quiet scream drew the attention of her teammate and sensei, who now were concerned about the wide-awake girl.
"Yukiko-chan, you're awake!" Moegi cried out, as Hinata adjusted her student to accommodate her thrashing. Her screaming got louder, as it felt like a hole was being burned in her stomach.
"Hinata-sensei, what's happening to her?! I thought the old woman's jutsu was supposed to heal her!" Moegi shouted, as Yukiko continued to thrash on Hinata's back. She was getting too much out-of-control.
Hinata gasped as one of Yukiko's feet connected with her body as she thrashed about, and Hinata knew what had to be done. She hoisted the young girl off of her body and held her in her arms, before she delivered a quick neck chop to the rabid girl, immediately putting her out of her misery. She sighed in exasperation and relief, while Moegi looked at her in surprise.
"We can't have her panicking right now. While it is clear that Chiyo-baa's jutsu saved her life, she is in clear pain. We need to get her back to Konoha as quickly as possible. Hurry, Moegi, we're going to increase our speed..." Hinata ordered her only conscious student, and they took off into the trees again.
Hinata had gotten a look at Yukiko with her Byakugan, and it wasn't pretty. Although the jutsu had indeed saved her life, Chiyo wasn't able to completely reverse the damage. Yukiko's life was still in jeopardy.
The village of Konoha had become visible as Hinata and her students exited the treeline and came down onto the main road before the village gates. Hinata nodded to the Chuunin guards as she rushed into the village, making a beeline for the hospital.
Her heart was pounding in her ears, and she heard a few people call out to her, but she was only concerned about getting her student to the hospital on time.
She burst through the doors of the hospital, and there was one person there she had been praying to meet there. The Hokage was checking himself in at the front door, but when he saw Hinata rushing through the doors he dropped everything.
"Y-Yukiko!" he managed to get out as he tentatively walked up to his daughter. His face was a portrait of concern, sensing the serious condition she was in.
"W-What happened?!" he cried out, refraining from shaking Hinata in order to prevent jostling the girl on her back. Hinata stared at the man in pity, her lavender eyes quivering as she realized what she was going to tell him later.
"L-Later, Hokage-sama! Yukiko's condition comes first! We need to get her some treatment quickly!" she said. Minato looked at them for a moment, before he calmed down and nodded in agreement.
"You're right! Saving my daughter's life is the most important factor right now..." he trailed off, putting a finger to his forehead in deep thought. His eyes flashed open, before he turned around.
"I need a medical squad over here, pronto!" he shouted at the receptionist, who scurried off at the orders from the Hokage. Minato grit his teeth; he just hoped it would be enough.
As the medical squad rushed away with his daughter on a stretcher, he wondered what he was going to have to do. He needed to call Kushina and Haruki here first; they deserved to know what was going on.
Minato sighed as he watched his daughter sleep soundly. The medical team had just finished operating on her, and it was clear that she would survive. However, she also had to rest for a few weeks.
Sitting in the room other than him was his wife, Kushina, his daughter, Haruki, and his other daughter's Jounin-sensei, Hinata. His family members were there because of concern about Yukiko, while Hinata was needed to give a report on the mission.
Haruki was rapidly flipping away at a magazine while sitting next to her sister's bedside, while Hinata was in the middle of the room, twiddling her thumbs nervously. Kushina was on the other side of her daughter's bed.
Minato let out another sigh.
"Why don't you tell us what happened, Hinata?" he asked softly. Hinata seemed to find the floor particularly interesting, and she refused to lock eyes with her leader.
Minato looked at his wife, and she stared back at him.
"Hinata..." he said, a little more forcefully.
Hinata seemed to cow at that, so she sighed and opened her mouth.
"The mission to escort Chiyo-baa-sama turned out to be a trap by the Sand." she began. Minato nodded; it wasn't unheard of for the other villages to pull something like this, but he got the feeling that Hinata wasn't finished yet.
"And they wanted to capture Yukiko's Bijuu..." she said after a slight pause.
Both Minato and Kushina's eyes snapped open when they heard that, and they stood up from their seats forcefully. Haruki reached over the bed, clutching her sister in concern.
"Did they...?" Kushina asked, voicing the question on everybody's mind.
"Y-Yes and no..."
Minato squinted his eyes in slight anger.
"What do you mean, "yes and no"."
"Once we crossed the border into Kaze no Kuni, we were attacked by three ninja whom Chiyo claimed to be missing-nin from their village, though this turned out to be a lie. One of them was the Jinchuuriki of Suna, who was supposed to fight Yukiko. Chiyo-baa-sama was the one to unseal the Reibi from Yukiko..." she paused.
"It went as planned for them. The Suna Jinchuuriki defeated Yukiko, and Chiyo-baa-sama successfully unsealed the Reibi from Yukiko..." she paused again, allowing the words to sink in to the concerned Hokage.
"After that, things went awry. Although they successful removed the Bijuu from Yukiko and put her in the state you see right now, they were unable to seal the Reibi into their desired container. On top of that, their own Jinchuuriki became out of control. Right now, it's safe to assume that the Reibi is completely free right now..."
Minato rose from his seat at that fact, and threw a punch that impacted the wall. His face was red with frustration, and he was gritting his teeth in pure anger.
"Damn them!" he shouted, presumably about Suna. Honestly, this was probably a much worse situation than if Suna had successfully captured the Bijuu and created a new Jinchuuriki.
"Minato, does this mean...?" Kushina asked, concerned about the issues that this could possibly raise. Minato breathed out deeply, allowing himself to calm down at the news.
"Um, Hokage-sama..." Hinata asked nervously, a little afraid of the outburst.
"I'm sorry, everyone, but this is a bad situation. With the Reibi free out there, we have lost one of Konoha's two Bijuu, and it removes the advantage Konoha had over the other villages. But, that's not the main problem..." he added.
"You're worried about what the Reibi may do once it's out there..." Kushina said, voicing Minato's thoughts. He nodded in agreement.
"I'm worried that the Reibi may attack Konohagakure no Sato once again. Best case scenario, we seal it back into Yukiko just like last time, but something tells me it won't be that easy. Worst case scenario, another village gets a hold of the Reibi..."
"And that will tip the balance of power in their favor," Hinata finished.
"Exactly."
The group went silent for a moment.
"Is that true? My Bijuu really is gone?" piped up a new voice, and one the group did not expect to hear this early.
"Yukiko, you're alright!" Kushina yelled, forgetting that she was in a hospital.
"Mother, remember that you're in a hospital," Haruki admonished, glaring forcefully at her mother. Yukiko didn't seem to mind the loud noise though, and she sat up in her bed, looking ragged.
"The Reibi... is gone? I'm no longer a Jinchuuriki?"
Her voice was wavering, like she couldn't decide whether to be happy or disappointed by that. The Reibi had been a blessing for her entire life, but the recent attack made her realize that being a Jinchuuriki had some unexpected side effects.
Not to mention, the thing that had killed her brother had been allowed to roam free now. Who knew what it could do while out there?
Her parents looked at each other, worried about her wellbeing. She didn't seem to be taking this news very well.
Kushina nodded at her husband, and Minato said a few words that he would later come to regret.
"Yukiko, the capture of your Bijuu may have resulted in some tough times. Just listen to what I have to say..." he began. Yukiko was hanging on to his every word.
"The Bijuu play an important role in both the politics and the infrastructure of the Hiddle Villages. When you were just a baby, the village of Konoha gained the Reibi, and in an event a second Bijuu. The mere existence of the Reibi was enough to throw the balance of power off-center, with Konoha taking the lead as the strongest Hidden Village."
"With this Bijuu out in the wild though, it's open for another hidden village to capture it for their own benefit, as Suna itself tried to do. Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that we as a village regain the Reibi."
"Are you asking me to reclaim my Bijuu and once again become its Jinchuuriki?" she asked her father. Her voice was tinged with neither anger nor happiness. It was just a simple question.
Minato looked away from her.
"As your Hokage, and more importantly, as your father, I can't order you to become the Jinchuuriki of the Reibi once again. I'm requesting it. If you so desire, we can have another willing person become the Jinchuuriki..." he finished.
Yukiko took her eyes off her father, staring at her hands. She had never thought the life of a Jinchuuriki was a bad one, but there was something else to this that her father wasn't telling her.
"You want me to at least track it down, right?" she asked.
Minato stood up, walking over to the door. He gestured for Hinata to leave the room, something she did promptly. He then turned back towards his family, and more specifically, both of his daughters.
"Listen to me carefully, Haruki, because this affects you too," he began. That seemed to surprise his elder daughter.
"What do you mean, father?
"I didn't want to tell you this until you were either old enough, or developed total mastery over the Kyuubi's chakra, but with this situation it looks like I'll have to tell you anyway..." His daughters listened with rapt attention.
"About the prophecy..."
Naruto took a deep breath as he stood on the outskirts of the village. His appearance would undoubtedly frighten off some of the locals, but it would likely be a safe place away from things.
He had considered taking shelter in one of the border towns near the site of his battle with Shukaku, but that probably wasn't a smart move. There was no doubt that even civilians could feel that battle at their distance, and seeing a strange young man that hardly looked human walk into town right after that would be suspicious.
His battle with Shukaku had taken place near the border of Hi no Kuni and Kawa no Kuni three days ago, but he had moved towards the northwestern part of the Hi no Kuni for the time being. Shukaku had been Suna's Bijuu, and it was unlikely that they had another. Perhaps Iwa had one though? He needed to ask around first, but Tsuchi no Kuni was the closest of the other Five Great Counties now.
He looked around as he entered the gateway into the village.
By Hi no Kuni standard's it was fairly poor. It was nowhere near the size of a large city such as Tanzaku, and naturally it wasn't as rich or robust either. In fact, the whole place seemed kind of grubby.
Naruto scoffed; the daimyo was painfully unaware of what happened outside of his own mansion and his capital of Konoha. The village was a disgrace. But then again, Naruto didn't particularly care about the lives of humans.
The sign on the gateway read Akamon Village, and he could see that the big red gate was likely the most noticeable part of the village. Everything else was just a dump.
A group of five or so children playing kicked a ball that landed near his feet. One of them ran up to him, not really paying attention until he saw the shadow that was overcasting him.
Although he was short in stature, Naruto's face could be scary, and when the kid looked up after grabbing the ball, he screamed in alarm and fear, trying to get away from Naruto as quickly as possible. He rank over to his friends, and when they got a good look at him, they too screamed and ran.
Naruto forced a smile onto his face and tried to think happy thoughts.
"Should've expected that..." he thought. The screaming children had brought him to the attention of some of the other villagers in the vicinity. So much for entering the village without making a scene.
He heard a door slam shut over to the side; the adults of the village weren't running away like the children were, but they were clearly wary of the mysterious stranger, herding their screaming children inside as the streets became more and more barren.
At least, those who had houses would do that. The apparent homeless of the village would just duck inside the alleys.
Naruto's eyes darted over to a couple of figures who were walking in the opposite direction of him. He looked up at the shiny metal protector on their foreheads.
"Iwa shinobi? What are they doing here?" he thought to himself. He heard the door open to a building that he just past; the two Iwa shinobi had just entered it. Naruto looked over and saw that it was a bar, and likely the biggest building in the entire village, or at least this section of it. An idea popped in Naruto's head.
But he drew too much attention to himself as is. He needed to take care of a few things first, and then he could go. The Iwa shinobi weren't the ones he was interested in per say, but this town seemed to be a kind of hotspot for shinobi on their missions. Perhaps it was at the crossroads between several important villages? He spotted another shinobi straight up ahead, this time from Kusa.
He couldn't expect any civilians from this village to even know what a Bijuu is, let alone where he could find one of them. The shinobi would have to do, but shinobi were... unpleasant, as a rule of thumb. He doubted they would willingly give up information if he asked them directly, especially with the way he looked.
He would have to wait until the sun went down in order to truly move. He ducked inside an unoccupied back alley for the time being, hiding behind a few boxes and trash cans. There may have been something in those that he could use later.
He kicked over one of the boxes; they were filled with old clothes that someone had apparently thrown away. Well, one man's trash was another man's treasure, so Naruto could probably make something work with them. He leafed through a few old shirts, some raggedy pants, and holey socks before stumbling upon a dusty black robe at the bottom.
"This could work..."
It was a little big for his body, but the hood concealed most of his face while the cloak shielded both his lizard qualities and his transparency. The only things he couldn't really hide were the claws on his hands.
There were few lights in the village, but the main source of light was coming from the bar that he had noticed earlier, and a few people were apparently heading towards it. Most of them were just plain villagers, but upon closer inspection there seemed to be one or two shinobi heading there as well.
Maybe the bar also functioned as an inn?
He put the black robe on; it turned out it was in fact too big for him, but it would get the job done. After a few hours inside the darkness of the back alley, he stepped towards the light of the bar.
For such a small and poor town, the place was fairly packed, possibly because it was a Friday night. The depressed villagers he had seen earlier seemed to be completely gone, and in their place was a loud and jovial bunch. Men laughed with each other at the table set around the bar, a few women hanging off their sides. There were a few groups of shinobi inside the bar, each from different villages, and Naruto saw one of them head upstairs a few minutes after he had entered the bar.
He made a beeline for the counter, where another pair of shinobi sat. They were Kumo shinobi from the looks of things, and they seemed to be talking about something in slurred whispers.
Naruto ordered a drink from the bartender, who thankfully didn't question him about his age. This seemed to be a relatively lawless village, so anyone could probably drink, though he also probably wouldn't even tell what age he was even if he got a glimpse at his face. The Kumo shinobi didn't pay any attention to him.
The bartender returned with a bottle of liquor, some foreign brand that Naruto couldn't pronounce the name of. He prepared to set a shot cup normally used for sake in front of him, but Naruto waved his hand in front of him. The bartender raised an eyebrow, before reaching under the counter and pulling out a much larger glass, which he then poured the liquor into.
Naruto swirled it around a little, before putting it to his mouth. It was flavorless, just like he expected. He couldn't really taste anything in this form, or... ever really. It wasn't like he needed to eat.
"And have you heard about Suna?" whispered one of the shinobi over to the side. Naruto's eyes subtly panned over there; this could lead somewhere.
"No, what?"
"I heard that they tried to capture Konoha's second Bijuu for themselves, but failed. The Raikage is saying that this could mean a potential war between Konoha and Suna, something that Kumo might get dragged into as well!" one of them said. Naruto casually sipped his drink through half-lidded eyes.
"No way! Are you serious?!" said the other.
"And that's not even the weirdest part!"
"What do you mean?"
"I've heard rumors swirling around that Suna just straight up lost their Bijuu. They were using the Ichibi to engage the Reibi, Konoha's second Bijuu, but something happened that I don't know the circumstances of, and now they don't have the Ichibi anymore!"
"Do you think Konoha may have something to do with it?"
"Maybe, but it seems like even Suna doesn't know what happened to its Bijuu. Whatever the case, things are changing in the ninja world, but thankfully we still have our Jinchuuriki."
"That's true. Yugito and Kirabi are insanely strong; I don't think that anyone would be dumb enough to attack them..."
Naruto clutched his glass; that was a particularly enticing bit of information. He tuned out the rest of their conversation; they seemed to be going off-topic now anyway.
He downed the rest of his drink, waiting for the right moment. He knew that there were two Jinchuuriki in Kumogakure, apparently named Yugito and Kirabi. What he didn't know was which Bijuu they held. His next logical step was to take the Nibi, but there was the chance that both of them held a much stronger Bijuu, one that he wasn't ready to take down yet.
The bartender took his empty glass. He didn't have any money, but that didn't matter. He could flatten this village into the ground if he wanted to, but he figured he'd just run away if they round up a mob.
He just needed to wait now. The two Kumo shinobi continued to talk, and about an hour later they stood up and left, leaving some money on the counter.
When they had exited the building, Naruto himself stood up while the bartender was in the back room, and rushed out the door, intent on cornering the two Kumo shinobi.
Another update to this one finally. It's been forever again, hasn't it? Well, for any followers of Amenaza, you'd know that I cleaned up that story a bit, and I just did the same for this one as well, so that sort of set me back.
Anyway, that's all for now.
Alban55