Naruto decided that he had too much chakra, and that being strong wasn't always the best thing to be. He'd spent almost three weeks supressing his chakra now, and it was getting continuously harder. As he walked, he tried to let out just a small bit so the pressure wasn't weighing on him so much, but that was a big mistake.
It hurt so fucking bad it almost brought him to his knees, and he had to stop in the middle of a dusty road leading out of the Land of Wind to the Land of Rivers. He pressed his hand against his mouth and tried to stifle his coughing, but that didn't work at all, because blood starting spilling between the cracks in his fingers anyway. Shitfuck, he hoped they'd get to this Tsunade lady soon.
"Naruto?" Itachi asked, and when he turned back his face creased in worry. He and Kisame hurried over, Kisame grabbing Naruto just as he was about to fall over. Okay, so no more releasing chakra.
"I'm fine," he managed to get out, but it wasn't like he could hide the scarlet flecks around his mouth. Kisame and Itachi exchanged glances, then Kisame reached over his back and pulled his sword, Samehada out. He unwrapped some of it and offered it to Naruto silently. Wondering what the whole thing was about, Naruto accepted the sword and immediately felt all his pent up chakra begin to disappear.
"Woah," Naruto breathed out. "Your sword is super fu—uh, super freaking cool."
Kisame chuckled at Naruto's little slip up and Itachi gave him a half-hearted glare.
"You're a walking disaster," Itachi said affectionately, reaching out to poke Naruto in the forehead. Naruto puffed out his cheeks as if annoyed, but truthfully travelling with Kisame and Itachi was his favourite. Itachi was usually quieter, happy to let Kisame do all the talking, and the two of them got along better than almost any team in the Akatsuki. Being with them made Naruto feel just a little lighter.
"You're too tiny to handle that much sword, so you may as well climb on my back," Kisame sighed. He strapped Samehada to his back and knelt down for Naruto to climb on. Naruto obliged, wrapping his arms around Kisame's neck as the shark man stood up, up, up. Kisame was the tallest guy in the entire organization, and since Naruto was shorter than most people it was really fun being this high. He made a face at Itachi, who was at least a foot shorter at the moment, and Itachi chuckled.
"Now, this is a one-time thing, you hear?" Kisame asked, but Naruto could hear a smile in his voice too. He hugged Kisame tight, laughing at how he could see the whole world from here. No wonder Kisame was so confident in his fighting abilities; he quite literally looked down on everyone!
"Tell me a story about the Hidden Mist and the Seven Swordsmen," Naruto said. Those were some of his favourite stories, and he always remembered Juzo fondly. Kisame had come after Juzo was gone, so he'd never known Juzo in the Akatsuki the way Naruto and Itachi had. Naruto had spent a lot of his first few months with Nagato and Konan, so he hadn't gotten to know Juzo really well, but from what he'd seen he liked the man. Juzo's obsessions with formations had been funny, and Itachi had liked him.
"Hmph, I'm sure I've told you all of them," Kisame snorted. "But if you insist, there was this one time we went to the Land of Tea…"
Naruto listened intently; Kisame said he'd told Naruto every story, but there were always more adventures to be heard. Even Itachi seemed absorbed in the story, because Kisame was an awesome storyteller, one of the best in the Akatsuki. After the story was over, Naruto felt his eyelids droop, lulled into sleep by the rhythm of Kisame's steps, and he fell asleep on Kisame's back, feeling warm and safe.
"It's just for a little while," Jiraiya said, practically drooling. They'd searched three villages so far, and there had been neither head nor tail of the legendary Sannin kunoichi. Jiraiya, tired and dusty, had decided they all needed a bath and he'd chosen a communal bathhouse, mostly because he was the biggest pervert Sasuke had ever met. Sakura raised an eyebrow, then shook her head, electing to sit this one out.
"I don't care about you so much," Jiraiya told Sakura. "But Sasuke and Sai, you're the bait. Your faces aren't bad so you'll attract all the women! Come on, it'll be nice. Lots of hot water, nice chicks, relaxing times…"
"I'll pass," Sasuke muttered. "I've got training to do."
"Then so will I," Sai agreed, and they went to join Sakura. Sasuke heard Jiraiya huff behind him, and what the pervy old man said next stopped Sasuke dead in his tracks.
"If you join me, I'll teach you one of the strongest jutsus in the world."
Sasuke turned a little, frowning at the lecherous grin on Jiraiya's face. He didn't want to believe that this man could teach him anything he couldn't learn on his own, but Jiraiya was considered one of the legendary Sannin. It was possible that Jiraiya actually knew something useful, although Sasuke was skeptical.
"Is it a real jutsu or is it something dumb, like turning into a woman or something?"
"A jutsu that turns you into a sexy woman? Gimme," Jiraiya said, his expression lewd. Sasuke sighed; sitting naked in a communal bath with an old man wasn't exactly his idea of fun. He wondered what Kaze would think of it, and he could picture Kaze dying of laughter, banging a fist full of broken fingers on the ground then wincing before continuing to laugh.
"Oh? Is that smile because you're imagining a sexy little minx?" Jiraiya asked, elbowing Sasuke eagerly. "What's she like? Lots of curves?"
More like a fox, Sasuke almost blurted out, then felt his face grow warm. He hadn't been thinking of Kaze like that, but he was so used to shooting back whatever answers came to mind that he'd automatically thought up a clever response. It was Jiraiya's fault for using a word that sounded like minks, as in the animals. It would've been a funny quip if he'd said it to Kaze. Or actually, no, no, that really wouldn't have been a good thing to say to Kaze at all.
"I'll come with you, so shut up already," Sasuke mumbled, still embarrassed by his own thoughts. Sai decided to stay with Sakura, not interested in any new jutsus, and Sasuke ended up sitting in the bathhouse alone with Jiraiya. After half an hour, some women actually did show up, like Jiraiya had predicted. They came into the bath and fussed over Sasuke, but he had no interest in big-breasted, eyelash-fluttering women fawning over him. He wished Kaze were here, because Kaze could make him laugh like no one's business.
"Hey, kid…" Jiraiya murmured to Sasuke in a lull between women. Sasuke offered Jiraiya his most unimpressed smile. "Stop glaring at me like that or your face'll get stuck that way. Now, tell me… are you even into women?"
"I'm leaving," Sasuke said abruptly, rising to go.
"No, no, no, never mind. Sit down and let me tell you about the jutsu. It's called the Rasengan, and it was developed by Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage."
The name of the Fourth sounded familiar, but Sasuke couldn't quite put his finger on why. Putting it to the back of his mind, he leaned forward and listened to what Jiraiya had to say. As far as jutsus went, it actually wasn't bad. In fact, it was pretty amazing. Sasuke was determined to learn it before Jiraiya had even finished explaining it. He couldn't wait to show it to Kaze when they next found each other.
The nightmares were back for the first time since he'd conked out in the Chuunin Exams. They always started the same; long, red hair curtaining him and drops of crimson running down a white face as a woman smiled down sadly at him. He felt safe with her and he reached up for her, but suddenly she was ripped away with a scream and replaced by the leering face of a fox. In the fox's eyes, Naruto saw horrible things; wars, deaths, sobbing ninjas, ninjas screaming in hatred.
He stumbled back, suddenly old enough to move away, and then turned to run. But when he turned he ran smack into an older ninja with long brown hair cut short on top, who was looking at him with wide red eyes. He didn't know how he knew, but somehow he thought that this must be the end because the shinobi was using Mangekyou Sharingan.
"Indra," he pleaded, but it was like the man couldn't hear him. Behind Indra, there was a shadow with its hand on his shoulder, and it was whispering into his ear.
"Please listen to me," Naruto begged, and for a second Indra looked unsure. Then the whispering grew louder and he turned the full force of the Mangekyou on Naruto. Things became distorted after that, and Naruto screamed and screamed as the suffering of hundreds of shinobi was displayed before him in vivid detail. He could feel his own personality beginning to break down until he was swept up in a dark tide of hatred and sorrow, and everything that he was became unravelled.
"That's enough," a deep voice rumbled through Naruto's suffering, and then everything faded away until Naruto was standing just outside of Kurama's prison. This had been how he'd first met Kurama too—the fox had saved him from the exact same dream. Breathing hard and trembling, Naruto stumbled up to the prison bars and pressed his face against them, looking at the massive fox.
"Why does this keep happening to me?" Naruto whispered. He didn't understand the dreams that came almost nightly. Even sleeping in the same hideout as the entire Akatsuki hadn't made him feel safe when he slept, although he never brought it up. The only time he hadn't had the dreams was when he'd spent all that time with Sasuke, as if Sasuke was some kind of nightmare-repeller. Right now, he really wished the young Uchiha was with him.
"Your destiny is far greater than even the Akatsuki realizes," Kurama growled. "Zetsu believes he knows the extent of it, but even he's wrong. You will play a role perhaps as great as Hagoromo."
"Who's that?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Ah, little kit, you have much to learn. For now, rest. I will watch over your dreams."
Naruto wanted to ask more, but he suddenly felt sleepy and he fell back, stopped from hitting the water by a cushion of Kurama's chakra. The rest of the night was peaceful, his dreams containing only scenes where Itachi instructed him and Sasuke on how to properly control chakra. It was boring, and it was one of the best dreams Naruto ever had in his life.
Six days later, when Tsunade was sure Shizune must have dragged her around to see every single twig and rock in the small town, the two of them were packing up to leave the inn. Tsunade was chucking folded up clothes at Shizune, and Shizune was shaking her head as she was forced to refold them and pack them into bags.
"I was sure that shirt was around here somewhere…" Tsunade was muttering, digging through her wardrobe. A sudden thought made her freeze. "Shizune, I didn't take off my shirt or anything while I was drunk, did I?"
"Of course no—"
A knock at the door interrupted Shizune and both women turned to face it. Tsunade glowered at Shizune, willing her to answer the door, but Shizune held up the clothes Tsunade had been throwing around, which she was still folding. With a roll of her eyes, Tsunade stomped over the door, ready to tell the innkeeper that they technically had another six minutes to check out, but when she flung the door open the people standing there didn't resemble the plump, old innkeeper in the slightest.
One of them looked like a human fish, blue scales where skin should be and things that looked like gills under his eyes. The other one was handsome and familiar in a way Tsunade couldn't place, but he looked like he hadn't slept in about a hundred years. The third was a tiny boy who was squinting up at Tsunade as if she wasn't at all what he was expecting. They didn't seem like the type of people who would usually be seen together, but the two men were dressed in similar robes and the boy's clothes were also a somber black. Tsunade sighed, crossing her arms over he breasts.
"Really, your type always bring a kid with them. Is it supposed to make me sympathetic? This kid isn't even cute."
"Hey, listen here, you old bag," the kid began, and Tsunade stiffened, not hearing anything else he said. Old bag? Old bag? Tsunade drew her fist back and let it fly at the squirt, ready to reduce him to nothing with a single punch. Since he was tiny and weak-looking, she expected him to take the hit and go flying, but he jumped out of the way with a cluck of his tongue, shaking his head.
"That's fuckin' dangerous, you!" he yelped, but she wasn't finished with him yet. She used chakra to make herself quicker and spun on her heel, bringing a leg up to kick the brat in the face. He went flying that time, but unfortunately Tsunade hadn't been paying much attention and she'd ended up kicking him straight into her room. He was about to hit the wall, and Tsunade panicked a little, wondering if it would make him bleed. Until the handsome ninja was suddenly behind him, catching his little body before it could hit anything. The other one—the one who looked like a shark—had shifted his humongous sword when she'd attacked and now it was at her throat.
"And here I thought you were just religious freaks," Tsunade growled, her eyes taking in the huge fishy man's threatening stance. "Do you really mean to come in here and threaten me, daughter of the First and one of the three legendary Sannin?"
"Kisame," the dark-haired ninja said warningly from where he held the wincing little boy. "Stand down. We're not here to fight with anyone."
The fish man—Kisame—lowered his sword immediately, but not without a glare that said he could have it up just as fast if Tsunade tried anything. Tsunade scoffed at his look; he seemed strong, but she was confident she could defeat him. The one she felt more power from was actually the quieter of the two, who was now watching her with intense dark eyes, his brow furrowed thoughtfully.
"If you wanna hear about religion, I can tell you about Jashin!" the kid spoke into the silence, and he gave a radiant smile that made Tsunade's heart begin to ache. It shocked her at first, and it took her a second to realize that it was because the smile made him look like Nawaki.
"I told you not to talk about Jashin," the dark-haired ninja sighed, and the kid pulled a face. As he was set back on his own two feet, dark cloak swishing down about his ankles, he seemed like Tsunade's kick hadn't really affected him that much. He hadn't had time to dodge, but Tsunade realized now that she thought back that he'd managed to get one arm up. For a kid, he was pretty impressive. Tsunade turned her back on sword-fish-guy and studied the kid, who studied her in return.
"Don't tell me you're one of those little fools with a big dream," Tsunade muttered. She could feel Shizune's eyes on her, but her assistant remained silent.
"Dreams don't make people foolish," the kid snapped, rising to the bait.
"Oh? So what, you're going to get super strong, gain everyone's respect, and become Hokage? Is that it?"
"Hokage?" the kid snarled, bristling with anger. "Don't joke around. My dream is much bigger than that."
Tsunade didn't know why she'd expected the kid to want to become Hokage—now that she looked, the Leaf headband the dark-haired ninja wore had a slash through it. She must be losing it, thinking that this kid was like Nawaki and Dan. He was clearly a lot darker, and both of his guardians were rogue shinobi. She twitched her fingers slightly in a silent gesture to Shizune. She was sure she'd been subtle, but the dark-haired ninja caught it. He cast a glance at Shizune, and suddenly Tsunade's assistant gasped and slumped to the side.
"Shizune!" Tsunade cried out, then turned to find herself face-to-face with the lethal power of a Mangekyou Sharingan. She cursed herself as she froze, unable to move her body. Of course he'd looked familiar—those were the features of an Uchiha, and a rogue Uchiha could be none other than Itachi. A slight hangover had made her mind too dulled to realize it, and now she'd be killed. Well, served her right, but Shizune didn't deserve this!
"I'm not going to hurt you," Itachi Uchiha said in a deep, inflectionless voice as his Mangekyou faded into a normal Sharingan and he came to stand right in front of Tsunade. This man was a genius who could easily be considered equal to a Sannin, so Tsunade didn't have many options. If she wanted to save Shizune and have even a chance of escape, she'd have to use her Strength of a Hundred Seal. Would it even release under these circumstances?
"I need your medical expertise."
She could try it anyway, because even if Itachi was strong, his chakra control couldn't be—
"Huh?" Tsunade asked, her mind finally catching up to what Itachi had just said. She squinted at him suspiciously, waiting for him to say he was joking and attempting to kill her, but his face remained stony and impassive.
"My companion," he gestured to the boy, "needs your help mending his chakra network."
Tsunade looked between Itachi and the boy about fifteen times, completely baffled now. From what she'd heard, Itachi had massacred his entire family in cold blood just to test out his strength. He was a killer with a heart made of ice, and he lived in the darkest parts of the shinobi world, one where even the brightest hearts could get lost in. Supposedly.
Also, he was supposed to have at least a modicum of intelligence.
"I may be one of the country's—if not the world's—best healers, but even I can't heal a chakra network," Tsunade sniffed, trying to look like she was confident in her abilities. It could still come to a fight if Itachi was stupid enough to think she was refusing out of spite.
"He ain't asking you to fix it for me, lady!" the kid said, stepping forward to glare at her childishly. "I just need you to block the holes long enough for my chakra to heal it."
Itachi didn't laugh. The kid didn't laugh. Swordfish (she may as well call him that, since he was a fish with a sword) didn't laugh. So it certainly wasn't supposed to be a joke. Yet Tsunade couldn't help it—she burst out laughing at the three fools who were probably as strong as a Hokage if they were put together, clutching her stomach as tears of mirth pooled in her eyes.
"W-what exactly d-do you think chakra is?" she laughed helplessly. "Magic?"
Itachi suddenly closed his eyes with a long sigh, releasing her from being frozen, and the room seemed to relax a little. Or at least, everyone in the room save the brat, who looked insulted beyond belief, as if he couldn't believe she'd laughed at him. Before he could start yelling again, Tsunade made her way over to the bed and checked Shizune carefully. The woman was fine—the genjutsu Itachi used seemed to be some pleasant little dream just to put her out.
"Hey, listen to me!" the kid started yelling at Tsunade's back, just like she'd thought he would. "Do you know who I am?"
No. For some odd reason, she didn't know who this twelve-year-old boy who hadn't had time to make a name for himself was. Huh. Funny.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"
He let the name hang in the air for a few seconds, as if expecting her to leap for joy or scream or something. When she arched one eyebrow with a nonchalant shrug, his shoulders drooped and all the air seemed to leave him. Well, now she kind of understood why Itachi kept the brat around—he was certainly fun to bug.
However, Tsunade did recognize the name, and now she realized what the marks on the kid's face were. He was the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails and the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. She'd heard through the grapevine that he'd gone missing at some point, but since she'd stopped caring about Konoha's affairs a long time ago, she hadn't paid much attention. Studying the scene before her, she thought she might've heard that he'd disappeared around the time Itachi had slaughtered his clan. It was clear now that Itachi must've taken the little jinchuuriki with him for whatever reason. Power, probably.
"Well, Naruto Uzumaki, I see absolutely no reason to help you," Tsunade stated blandly, hiding a smile as Naruto continued to sag even lower. There were actually two good reasons to help him—Swordfish and Itachi, who could kill Shizune—but mentioning that didn't seem like a particularly good thing to do at this juncture.
Knowing he had a bijuu inside him made the entire thing a little less ridiculous, too, considering that Tsunade had heard tales of how Tailed Beasts could grant their vessels legendary regenerative powers. Like skin, chakra networks couldn't heal because the regenerative powers required to heal them needed to be faster than any human healing, but theoretically if Tsunade held the holes together it could work with the Nine-Tail's chakra.
"I could use force, but I was hoping it wouldn't come to that," Itachi said carefully, and Tsunade was a little shocked at how polite he seemed. From what she'd heard, he was the type of guy who would already be slicing fingers off Shizune to 'encourage' Tsunade to help. Instead, he was watching her warily, looking like he actually didn't want to fight. She glanced back at the kid, who was now looking at Itachi with shining eyes, as if Itachi was some kind of hero.
"Tell me what your dream is," Tsunade said, sitting on the bed beside Shizune and pretending she didn't hear Itachi. It was because Naruto reminded her of Nawaki, yes, but also because if the rumours about Itachi weren't true, and there were underlying circumstances behind his clan's massacre… If that were the case, then the dark-haired shinobi standing before her must have walked on the outskirts of hell. For that reason alone, she may as well hear them out.
"My dream?" Naruto asked, all silliness gone from expression as he straightened. His mouth opened, and then he paused. He seemed to fight with what to say, and when he finally told her what his dream was, Tsunade understood why. It was frightening, beautiful, and terrible. The entire time he spoke, Swordfish and Itachi had to look away, as if they couldn't bear what he was saying.
"I…" Tsunade began. She swallowed thickly; she couldn't say it was childish dream, because children didn't think the way he did. She found she really couldn't say anything at all; in a weird way, it still reminded her of Dan and Nawaki, if their dreams had been twisted and reflected back at them in the darkest way possible. Yet it wasn't an evil dream, not really. It was wholly selfless, to the degree that it made Tsunade's heart stutter sadly. The war was over. People weren't supposed to think like this.
"Very well," Tsunade rasped, finding it hard to speak into the heavy silence. "I'll help you."
