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This chapter was brought to you by Team Outback (Kakarot Son and Razamataz22).
…
"So, you're probably all wondering why I've called you here," said Naruto, looking around to no-one in particular as he grinned in the manner that only he could. Despite not having gotten much sleep - having been punished for his previous nights antics by cleaning the monument without the usage of his clones - Naruto was focused to the point where some of his former classmates were a little shocked.
"I swear, if this is some stupid prank or something I will set Akamaru loose on you," said Kiba, cradling his dog as it barked in warning.
"I really do miss the days when I used to pull pranks," said Naruto, a contemplative look upon his face. "But no, this is a little more serious."
"Serious enough that you had to gather all of us here?" asked Sakura, not quite understanding what was so important. Then again, this was Naruto and he was anything but predictable.
"Yeah, what's Team Gai doing here? They're not even rookies," said Kiba as he accusingly pointed a finger towards Neji and Lee. Tenten wasn't standing with them, but if she were, Kiba would have been pointing at the girl too - despite the fact that she, unlike her two male teammates, was equal in rank to the rest of the Genin present.
"Technically, none of us are anymore," Shikamaru, the only rookie Genin to have been promoted, noted absentmindedly.
"That's enough of that. Don't go stealing my limelight," Naruto cut both of them off. "But to answer your questions, I'm good friends with Neji, and when I was looking for Sasuke I found him and Tenten together so I had to invite her. By then I figured that it would be rude to not invite Lee."
"And most unyouthful too!" chimed in the spandex-clad Chunin.
"Now that we've got the introductions out of the way, let's get down to it," exclaimed Naruto. "I've gathered you, my various friends, over here to make an announcement... erm, two announcements."
Ino's mind, which had been wondering what exactly Sasuke and Tenten - an odd combination if there ever was one - had been doing together, paused. A smirk came to her face as she realised that the dinner at the Hyuuga Clan may have been successful in multiple ways for the young Uzumaki.
"Well, get on with it," said Sasuke boredly. He'd never been one for drama, unless Itachi's death was somehow involved. He would make that as dramatic and long as possible.
"Right," said Naruto, unsure of which announcement to make first. "Well, firstly, I guess I should say that this is probably going to be one of the last times I'll see any of you for a long time."
Puzzled looks crossed the faces of the young teenagers. "Are you going on a holiday or something?" asked Kiba.
"Something like that," answered Naruto. "I'm actually going to go on a training journey with Jiraiya."
"Wait, you mean the Jiraiya, the Sannin!" shouted Kiba in disbelief.
"I must admit this is most intriguing," stated Shino.
Sakura and Sasuke shared a glance with one another, somehow understanding where this conversation was quickly going. The real question, though, was whether or not they would hear Naruto reveal a secret he had only shared with them. They had been willing to hold the fact he was the Jinchuuriki close to their hearts, understanding how difficult it would have been for Naruto to admit it in the first place. To tell everybody here, however, some people that he had only seen on rare occasions… There was no telling how they would react.
"So I imagine that you're going with Jiraiya because he has something to teach you that only he is able to," declared Shikamaru as he stretched his shoulder. Sasuke shot a quick look at the Nara and knew that he had hit the nail on the head. Given Shikamaru's knowledge on the topic, though, he knew the the black-haired Chunin wouldn't push it further. Hopefully.
"How long are you going to be gone for?" Though her voice was more confident than ever, it was easy to pick up the small stutter in Hinata's voice.
"Ero-sennin didn't know exactly how long but I'd guess a couple of years at the least," shrugged Naruto, a sad look on his face. As tempting as the opportunity to learn a bunch of awesome Jutsu and become a badass ninja was, he didn't exactly want to leave all his friends behind.
"What about the Chunin Exams?" asked Sakura suddenly. "I mean, considering the one in Iwa is only a few months away it would be pointless, but the one in Kumo could definitely be on your cards."
"Yeah, Ero-sennin said we could take a break so I could make Chunin. You gotta rise up the ranks if you're going to be Hokage, after all."
Kiba snorted. "You wish, dobe."
"I guess we'll see you there, then?" asked Choji uncertainly as he munched on some chips.
"Well, I've still got one big announcement to make," said Naruto dramatically as he placed his hands behind his back.
Sasuke and Sakura shared another glance, this one more curious than worried. What else could Naruto have up his sleeve?
"Well, get on with it," said Tenten, her patience beginning to wear thin. Naruto seemed nice enough, but they weren't exactly close friends, so she couldn't help but feel bored.
"I guess a couple of you already know about this, but for the rest I figured that it's best you find out the right way," said Naruto, unable to prevent a characteristic grin from breaking out across his face.
"Don't tell me…" muttered Sakura as he raised a palm to her forehead.
"I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."
"Huh?" asked Ino in confusion. A few others shared her confounded look while others had their eyebrows raised in surprise. Shino nodded ever-so-slightly in understanding. Both Sasuke and Sakura stared at Naruto in shock, unable to believe that he'd actually revealed his secret. Shikamaru just sighed.
"I believe it has something to do with human sacrifice," said Neji, unable to recall exactly where he had heard the word before.
Hinata's eyes were wide and shocked, but for some reason, Naruto couldn't help but note that she didn't seem all too surprised.
"Do you want to explain, you idiot?" asked Kiba, growing infuriated with Naruto's explanation or lack thereof. "Don't tell me you worship the devil or something."
"Uhh, right," said Naruto as his eyes snapped away from Hinata. He would've given up his apartment to get an inkling as to what was going through the Hyuuga's unreadable mind. "Well, I'm sure you guys all know the story of the Kyuubi and the Yondaime, right?"
"That's like asking like if the sky is blue, you moron," said Ino, also growing tired of the suspense. As Konoha-nin, they'd heard the tale of the Kyuubi's attack more than any fairy tale.
"Yeah, but you guys don't know what really happened. The Yondaime was a strong ninja, - probably the strongest ever - but even he couldn't kill the Kyuubi when it attacked, so he was left with no other option but to seal it into a newborn baby."
"What?" asked Tenten in disbelief. Naruto had to be playing some kind of joke. In every single iteration of the story they had heard the Yondaime had taken down the Kyuubi through the use of a powerful suicide Jutsu because of his love for the village.
"You heard me," said Naruto before pointing himself with his thumb. "I think Iruka-sensei said that it had to be a newborn kid, no more than a week old, because their chakra coils haven't developed by that point."
"That makes sense," said Shino. "Attempting to seal as large and potent a chakra as that of the Kyuubi's within developed chakra coils would promptly cause them to implode."
"I'm confused," said Kiba, a look of bewilderment upon his face as he began to understand the wider implications of Naruto's words. "Does this mean that you're the Kyuubi or something?"
"I guess it kind of does, but at the same time… it doesn't?" said Naruto, sounding unsure of himself.
Sakura cleared her throat, realising that she had to step in before Naruto said something stupid and led everyone down the wrong trail of thought, which was looking pretty likely at this point. "What Naruto means to say is that he is merely the Kyuubi's container. It's still very much alive, and the only thing separating it from us is Naruto."
"So that's why…" whispered Hinata, too softly for anyone but Naruto to hear. He tried to evaluate what was going through her mind, but she refused to meet his eyes.
"That doesn't make much sense, though," said Tenten, finally glad to have gained something useful from the whole meeting. "You're making it sound like Naruto's some kind of hero, so why does the village shun him? I mean I guess they don't know the truth, but it's not like we've not ha-"
"They know," Naruto cut her off. "Or at least they know most of the story, but I still represent the Kyuubi and all the bad things it did all those years ago. I can't really blame them."
Ino snorted. "Well, that's pretty stupid of them."
"Perhaps the rest of Konoha has yet to truly understand your plight, Naruto, but rest assured that I do," said Shino kindly. "This does, however, provide some much needed perspective on where you stand within the village and why."
"That goes double for me!" exclaimed Lee. "I always knew there was something exceptionally youthful about you."
The rest of the group nodded in agreement, and Naruto couldn't help but feel flustered at all the support he was receiving. Most of them had been his classmates a year ago, but now they felt like family.
"Thanks guys, it means the world to me," said Naruto with a grin.
...
Sarutobi couldn't help but smile as he watched the scene before him play about. Having received word from Jiraiya that Naruto was going to spill his greatest secret to his friends, there was no way that he couldn't watch it. Not only that, but he had invited all of their respective teachers in to watch the emotional display.
One, however, was much more emotional than the rest of them.
"Naruto, your flames of youth shall forever burn brighter from this moment forth!" shouted Gai as tears streamed down his face, soaking his prestigious training equipment.
"Knock it off will ya," said Anko as she pushed herself away from the green clad ninja, lest she become drenched in the man's tears.
"Needless to say," said Sarutobi as he took a puff of his pipe, "this meeting has gone down a lot better than many would have originally imagined."
"Agreed," said Kakashi as he watched the projection, the Genin and Chunin seemingly making plans to have some sort of final farewell for Naruto before he left on his journey. "One could imagine that if he had revealed this information when he had first learned of it, his peers' responses may have been quite different."
"Agreed," said Asuma wiping at the bridge of his nose with his knuckle. "I can't help but chuckle about how little Shikamaru reacted to the whole situation."
"You think somebody may have told him?" asked Kurenai.
"Doubt it," said Asuma. "Lad probably figured it out by himself. A little research past the academy standard and it quickly becomes clear that the Kyuubi is something that cannot be killed - at least by any human. He probably figured that if it wasn't killed that day it had to go somewhere, and before he even would have had the time to mutter that catchphrase of his, he would have already connected all the dots."
"True, plus we must give him credit for keeping such a touchy subject a secret without letting anything spill beforehand," stated Sarutobi as he tapped some of the ash from his pipe. "Undoubtedly, he will make Jonin in the coming years. Perhaps even replace his father as Jonin Commander one day."
"Provided he can give that lazy ass attitude a kick up the rear," said Anko as she picked at some gunk in her ears.
"I could say the same for you," said Sarutobi as his gaze hardened. "I believe I did ask of you to look after Hinata and teach her how to cope with Orochimaru's seal."
"Must've slipped my mind," said Anko, knowing full well that she had indeed been given instructions to look after the Hyuuga girl. "You never really should have asked me, though. I haven't accessed the stupid thing in years, I can't even remember what it feels like to be that power hungry."
"So what, we just leave her to her own thing then?" asked Kurenai, worried about the safety of her student.
"Send her off with Jiraiya and the brat," said Anko as if it was common knowledge. There was an awkward silence as everybody looked at the interrogation expert in confusion. "Well, if Orochimaru wants to use her as a hist, she'd probably be safer constantly on the move than locked up in one place for fear of her lashing out again. Plus, this'd put her with her boytoy and they can all live happily ever after."
"I think you're skipping a few steps there," said Kakashi nonchalantly.
Kurenai chose to ignore Kakashi's comment. "Her clan would never allow it."
"She does seem to be happiest the most around Naruto, though," said Asuma as he looked at the crystal ball where Hinata was currently embracing the orange clad ninja with a hug.
"It all depends if you want to take this chance to piss off the Hyuuga clan," said Anko, still not really caring. With her comments in mind, Sarutobi placed his pipe upon his table and laced his fingers, his brain hard at work. Looking to the corner of the room, an ANBU appeared from the shadows as if having been summoned by a glance alone.
"Send for Hiashi."
As the ANBU vanished from sight, Kurenai's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious," she stammered.
"Indeed I am," said Sarutobi as he looked at the Genjutsu specialist. "If you're worried about the fact that your team will be unable to function without a third member I am certain that Sakura would be more than happy to take Hinata's place for missions, provided that's alright with Anko and Ibiki."
"After a few days I'm pretty sure pinky will get sick of cleaning vomit out of the cells. She'll need fresh air every once in a while," said Anko, managing to cause a look of disgust to cross Gai's face.
"That's not my problem!" shouted Kurenai as she slammed her hands on the table in frustration. "My problem is that you're going to make a huge mistake and pretty much gift wrap her for Orochimaru."
"That will not be the case," said Sarutobi. "I have confidence that if Hinata is to stay with Naruto and Jiraiya, she will be much safer than if she were here. Plus less likely to fall under the seal's influence."
"But what about..."
"That is enough, Kurenai," said Sarutobi causing the red-eyed woman to fall silent. "She can only go, however, if both Hiashi and Jiraiya are willing to allow her to leave, and it will only be for a year at most when we can monitor the progress she has made at the Chunin exams."
Kurenai almost growled in annoyance but held it back lest she invoke the wrath of the Hokage upon herself. She silently prayed, though, that either Hiashi or Jiraiya would put an end to this madness once and for all.
…
"So I guess there's more to your teammate than meets the eye, huh?" asked Tenten as she walked alongside Sasuke. The Uchiha had chosen to break away from the rest of the group before Lee challenged him to fan his flames of youth again.
After breaking away from the group to return to the Uchiha compound, Sasuke had been surprised to find Tenten following him. He wasn't really complaining, though, because she was annoying in a different kind of way to most of the other girls he knew.
"I guess you could say that," he lazily eyed the kunai holster strapped to Tenten's thigh. From what he could see, there were a few kunai bulging from it despite the fact that there were several hidden pockets in her attire that she could spread the weight to. He couldn't really understand the reasoning behind the choice, but he reasoned that she was, after all, an expert when it came to weaponry. "But then again, you could say the same about most of us too."
"Tell me what about you doesn't meet the eye, Sasuke Uchiha?" Tenten asked. "I mean, there's not much more to you than the massacre of your family and your burning ambition to avenge them, right?"
"I suppose you know me quite well then," said Sasuke as he quickened his pace, leaving her for the dust.
She caught up. "Wait, I didn't mean to offend you or anything. It's just that's kinda how you come across. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I mean it's totally unders-"
Sasuke sighed, cutting her off. "A few days ago, maybe a week ago, I'd have been inclined to agree with you. I was a bull and Itachi was the red cloth I was charging at."
"So... what changed?"
"I guess something finally brought me back down to Earth," said Sasuke. He wasn't going to be able take down Itachi. Not anytime soon. "I mean his partner took on the three of us, and Kakashi-sensei still lost his arm. Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya are easily two of - if not - Konoha's most powerful ninja."
"Oh yeah, Gai-sensei was telling us about that," said Tenten, thinking back to the day and how sad Gai had been to discover that his youthful rival had suffered such an incredible and unfair setback. "Neji actually raised similar concerns to you, and Gai-sensei pretty much said that even though it's important to make ourselves powerful, there's nothing more powerful than the circumstances surrounding a battle. He went on a lecture about how an academy student could kill a Kage, but I'm sure you get the point."
"That actually makes sense," said Sasuke, surprised that such an eccentric man had the brains to back up his brawn. "Kisame was simply stalling for time and keeping us put while Jiraiya and Kakashi-sensei were probably both trying to make sure they'd be in enough of a fighting state to take care of Itachi. And I…. I was never really in the battle to begin with."
"Still, to land the killing blow to an S-ranked ninja is nothing if not impressive." Tenten whistled appreciatively. "And I mean the guy you killed… he wielded the Samehada. Rumour has it that it'll only accept one person in the entire world as its owner per generation. I would have killed to have even laid my eyes upon it."
"If it really means that much to you, I'm sure I could get you in a position to at least try and swing it around," said Sasuke absentmindedly.
Tenten looked at him quizzically as if she didn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. Then, a few seconds later she looked at him as though he'd grown a second head.
"Since I dealt the final blow to Kisame, I technically inherited his sword," said Sasuke as Tenten's eyes became so bright that Sasuke could have sworn they had turned into stars. "Well, I did kinda give it back to the Hokage so he could return it to the mist, but I'm sure he'll let you have a look."
"You what?" asked Tenten in disbelief. The Samehada was a legendary weapon, quite possibly worth more than entire villages themselves, and the boy standing before her had just tossed it away like a rusty kunai.
…
Hinata did her best not to skip through the streets, knowing full well that despite everything that had happened she had to do her best to remain calm on the outside. Internally, however, she was jumping of joy knowing that everything that had occurred the previous night was nothing more than a big misunderstanding and that Naruto truly did love her.
Her mind dwelled back to many weeks prior when she had been "kidnapped" by her crush and he had shown her the seal upon his stomach. While she really hadn't been able to contemplate what it was at the time he had been willing to reveal all the answers to her only minutes ago with the rest of the group. She had done her best not to allow her feelings to overflow while they had all been together, and she was thankful that Chouji had suggested that they all split up and meet at his favourite barbecue joint that night for dinner together. This had allowed her the time to compress her urges for just a few minutes more before she had burst into giggles worthy of a schoolgirl.
After all that, however, she wasn't currently on her way back to her family compound. Rather she had another place in mind, or more specifically another person. From what she had learned the best place to locate him would be by the bathhouses. Needless to say she had been right on the money when she walked up and tapped Jiraiya on the shoulder.
The man, in the process of peeking on the women in the hotsprings, did a doubletake. "I-I swear I wasn't doing anything."
Hinata ignored him. "Jiraiya-sama, I was wondering if I could make a request."
"Well, sure kid. I don't see why not?" said Jiraiya. "I've never understood why you Hyuuga are so formal. You, back before Danzo decided to kidnap you, were probably the only Hyuuga I'd ever met who didn't talk like they were from seven centuries ago."
Hinata blushed a little, unsure how to respond to that. So she didn't. "You are planning to take Naruto with you on a training trip, right?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
Hinata tried to start speaking but no words came out of her mouth. She spluttered something incoherent and when Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, finally burst out. "Let me come with you!" exclaimed Hinata, an even deeper blush rising to her cheeks immediately.
"Okay, I take back what I said before about you being formal," conceded Jiraiya with a grin. "But unfortunately, no can do kid."
"What?" the girl asked softly in disbelief. It felt as though her dreams had been crushed; going on a training camp with Naruto would remain something that she could only fantasise about.
"You heard me," said Jiraiya, wincing a little as he tried to shoot down the girl's ambitions gently. "We're going to be doing some serious training on the trip, and unfortunately, I can't allow Naruto to have any distractions. Some very powerful ninja are after him, and it'll be for his own good if I can strengthen him to the point where he could at least escape from combat with such ninja without having his head detached. Besides, aren't you a Clan Heiress? You've got a bright future ahead of you, kid, don't waste it on some stupid training trip."
"Naruto-kun is going to be Hokage one day, so I'm sure the trip won't be that useless," Hinata pointed out.
"Well, you've got me there, kid," Jiraiya chuckled. "But I'm afraid that there'll be all kinds of screwed up Hyuuga politics you'll miss out on if you tag along. I'd love to have you, the brat could probably do with some social interaction that isn't little old me, but I doubt your clan - even your father - share the same enthusiasm for it as you."
"If I could convince my father to let me go on the trip, would you let me come then?" pleaded Hinata.
Jiraiya sighed. "Sure, kid, whatever floats your boat. But I've known Hiashi for a lot longer than you, and trust me, you've got as much of a chance as a squad of Iwa nin against the Yondaime."
…
"Maybe he just likes older women," said Ino suspiciously.
"Are you serious? Tenten's only a year older than us!" exclaimed Sakura.
When they had arrived to Naruto's little meeting together, they hadn't thought too much of it. Then Naruto proceeded to say that his clones had found them hanging out together, and then they left together. At strike number three, neither Ino nor Sakura were willing to simply look past it.
"Forehead," said Ino as she eyed the spot where Tenten and Sasuke had both been standing. "We've got to call a temporary truce until we can get this to blow over. As much as I'd hate for Sasuke to date anyone but me, I'd rather it be one of us two than anyone else."
Sakura couldn't help but feel it was back to old ways with her friend. She'd almost given up on her romantic endeavours with Sasuke, but there was something alluring about the prospect of having the dark-haired boy hold her in his strong arms. "Agreed. So where do we start?"
"Well, a little birdie once told me that Tenten has a thing for Neji…"
…
"Absolutely not."
"But Father, Jiraiya-sama would be able to help me control my cursed seal," Hinata tried to bargain with her father for the umpteenth time, but evidently he was having none of it.
"Let's cut the games here, Hinata. We both know that the only reason you want to go on this trip is so that you can be in the presence of Uzumaki," said Hiashi, calmly. "While I make it a point to not meddle in your day-to-day affairs with the boy, I cannot allow you to leave the village for such a long time."
'Some very powerful ninja are after him.'
Ever since Jiraiya had uttered those words, Hinata hadn't been able to stop them from ringing in her head. She needed to be there with Naruto. She didn't know what she'd do with herself if it turned out the last time she'd ever see Naruto was as his back was slowly retreating out the main gates and into the jaws of death.
"Father, I promise I'll come back a strong kunoichi as ever," declared Hinata, knowing if there was one thing that impressed Hiashi, it was strength.
"I'm sorry, Hinata, but your role within this clan has already been decided. You are to stay here to begin your Clan Head training," said Hiashi.
Hinata sighed dejectedly. "Alright."
...
"Naruto, walk with me," stated Sasuke as he stood outside of the Uzumaki's household. The blond-haired Jinchuuriki blinked a couple of times at the odd request, despite knowing that the two of them had been invited for dinner in only a few minutes time.
"Alright Sasuke, what's up?" asked Naruto as he closed the door behind him, wondering why the Uchiha had come out to this part of the town to talk with him.
"There's something I wanted to tell you before I told anybody else," said Sasuke, causing Naruto's curiosity to peak as the two of them began their walk through the relatively desolate street, the town painted in orange almost bright enough to rival Naruto's attire. "I talked to the Third earlier, and after the Chunin exams he wants me to join ANBU."
"Holy shit, no way," said Naruto in disbelief. "That's awesome!"
"Basically, though, what I wanted to say was this," said Sasuke ensuring to keep his voice quiet in order to not alert any bystanders of the important news. "After I become Chunin I'm going to be given every possible opportunity thrown at me in order to become the captain of the Hokage's elite."
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Naruto, wondering why Sasuke hadn't announced this when the rest of the group had been around.
"Because when you get back from your training I want to fight you again," declared Sasuke. "Know that I consider you my rival, and as such if I so much as hear a whisper of you slacking off on your trip with Jiraiya, I will jump leaps and bounds ahead. So it doesn't matter if he's gone to perv on ladies or whatever, because I will only accept you as Hokage if you're worthy of being my leader."
To enunciate his point, Sasuke held out his hand at stomach height as if waiting for Naruto to take it. He didn't have to wait long.
"You know what Sasuke?" said Naruto as he clasped Sasuke's hand firmly. "You got yourself a deal."
…
The tone of this chapter is probably a little different to those that preceded it, but given that this will be the story's penultimate chapter, we figured that it'd be okay.
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