Naruto's Weakening Seal and the Darkness Shinobi :
Part I of the Darkness Chronicles
Written by Entei Artist, Devdog47, and Senacku
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Notes: In order to contact Devdog47 or Senacku, please send your message through my profile page, Entei Artist. I will be sure to forward it to them.
This story is written in three perspectives. Kyoka is written by Devdog47, Natari is written by Senacku, and Mikomi is written by Entei Artist. Chapters will have different writing styles because of the variation of authors.
Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, nor its characters, places, etc., etc.
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Chapter 13
Told by Kyoka Keitaro
Mikomi offered me the bottle of sake. Yay! I forgot mine at home! I thought. I really like sake; it's like a replacement for caffeine or candy. I did bring a lot of candy, though. I took a sip and handed it back. "You sure that's all you want?" Mikomi asked.
"Yeah, I wasn't too thirsty," I said. Really, I was incredibly thirsty, but I didn't want to one: get drunk when Itachi and Hoshigaki could show up and two: I didn't want to be a burden. If I drank all the sake, the others wouldn't have any to drink. Mikomi offered the sake bottle to Eureka.
"No, thanks," Eureka said. Mikomi shrugged and took a swing. Crap, when Mikomi gets drunk, she goes overboard, I thought. I should know. I looked at Natari and Naruto. I sighed and looked through my pack I had some medicine in there for cases like this. It would let them sleep easy because if they did sleep they would most likely have nightmares. That reminded me – I had no nightmare the night before; it felt refreshing. I found the medicine.
"Hey, everybody, do you think we should camp here, or should we go on?" I said.
"I wanna stay here," Natari's slurred voice rang out.
"Me, too," Naruto said, in the same connected speech.
"I say we go on, there's a lot of daylight left," Mikomi said.
"I agree with Mikomi," Eureka said.
I sighed. "I knew this would happen. Natari, Naruto, do you think you can go a little farther?" They nodded. I continued, "It's settled then, let's pack up." After we packed everything up, we headed down the river, again. When the sun started to set, I said, "Ok, we camp here."
"But the sun is still up! Come on Kyoka," Mikomi whined.
"Shut up, Mikomi, we're gonna listen to her," Natari said, still drunk.
"Mikomi, we're going to need a lot of sleep, so we're going to bed early," I told her.
"Why?" she asked.
"We're rising and setting with the sun," I said.
"Ok," Mikomi said, setting down her sleeping bag.
"WHAT?" Natari yelled.
"I've never gotten up that early," Naruto shouted after her. They looked at each other, put their arms around each other's shoulders and started laughing.
"See, Kyoka, they love each other," Mikomi whispered to me. I sighed; they were more drunk than I thought. I was going to lay their sleeping bags down, when I noticed Natari's sleeping bag wasn't in her pack.
"Natari, where's your sleeping bag," I asked.
"Left it at home," she said in a cheerful voice. She was really drunk. She and Naruto had been dancing around the portable stove and when Mikomi asked, they said they were doing the 'rain dance'. I sighed; instead, I laid down my sleeping bag for her. Eureka gave me Naruto's sleeping bag and I laid it next to mine, which Natari would use.
"Natari, Naruto, come here! I've got some medicine for you and then, you'll have to go to sleep," I said. I took out the medicine, as they came stumbling over.
"You mean we go beddy bye," Naruto questioned.
"Yes, you go 'beddy bye'. Now, open your mouths," I said. They did. I poured the medicine in and put it up. They started to bound off; I grabbed the backs of their shirts.
"You guys have to go to sleep! Natari, you can sleep in my sleeping bag! Now, go to sleep," I said. They fell down onto the sleeping bags and fell asleep.
"You don't have to be so nice, Kyoka. You could've let her sleep on the ground," Mikomi said. I took out a blanket and put it on top of the two.
"Don't worry, I slept on the ground for almost all of this mission-," I said, but Mikomi interrupted me, "Yeah and did you notice every time you slept on the ground, you've woken up screaming and in a cold sweat. I don't think you should sleep on the ground tonight, maybe that's it." She looked worried.
"It's ok! It's probably not that, I've probably been having nightmares about Itachi and Hoshigaki, or even my time at Konoha! I'm fine," I said. Mikomi smiled.
"How could you have nightmares about that gorgeous Itachi," she whispered.
"I have my ways. Well, goodnight Mikomi, Eureka," I said.
"Goodnight," Mikomi said.
"Goodnight," Eureka said, yawning. I sat against a tree and looked out at the moon, it was beautiful. Maybe Mikomi is right, but why would I have nightmares because I slept on the ground, I asked myself. Because you're human, a voice said, but I didn't listen, I was already asleep. I jerked awake, breathing hard. I looked around. Everyone was fast asleep. The sun was going to rise soon, so I got up and washed my face in the river. I looked at my reflection in the water. I was shaking. I put my finger on the surface of the water and swirled the water around, until my reflection was no more. I took out my water testing kit. I had packed, in case something like the whole poison in the river thing. I put some water in a test tube and lazily tested it. It was fine, of course. I used my hands as a cup and drank some water. I also filled my canteen. I took out some canned beans, started up Mikomi's stove, put some water in it and started cooking the beans in a pan that I had packed. I saw that the sun was starting to rise. I gently touched everyone's face to get them up. It worked.
"Huh? Why does my head hurt? I can't remember anything," Natari said.
"Grr… Me, too," Naruto said.
"You must have a hangover. Mikomi, how much sake did you put in there," I asked, irritated. Mikomi just smiled. I passed out the beans and we started to eat.
"These are good, thanks, Kyoka," Mikomi said, smiling.
"Hey, what did you use to boil them in," Eureka asked, looking at his bowl suspiciously. I smiled.
"Mikomi's sake! Just kidding, I used water from the river," I said.
"After what happened," Mikomi said, her eyes wide.
"Don't worry, this time, I was prepared. I brought a water testing kit. The water in the river is just fine," I said, cheerfully. After we ate, we filled our canteens in the river and headed off, again.
It was about noon, when…
"I'm hungry," Natari said.
"Me, too," Naruto said.
"We're not eating until the sun sets," I said.
"Why," Mikomi asked.
"I want to get this mission over with. Over the past few days, I've been so worried about not being able to help you guys if Itachi and Hoshigaki show up," I said.
"Don't worry, I can take em," Natari said.
"No, you can't! They'll kill you with out even trying! They'd kill all of you and take Naruto! Mikomi, even though you were a spy in Akatsuki, they wouldn't hold back one bit! You four could never fight them," I yelled. The others just stared at me. I could feel Mikomi's stare, one that said 'how-the-crap-did-you-find-out-about-that?' We didn't talk much for the rest of the day. When the sun was setting, we stopped for camp and ate dinner.
"So, Naruto, where do you want us to drop you off," I asked.
"Well, me and Jiraiya were going on a mission to find some lady. Could you drop me off with him," Naruto asked.
"Sure," I said with uncertainty. We said 'goodnight' and I fell asleep with my eyes open. I woke up, again, breathing hard. My heart was pounding in my chest. Everyone was of course asleep. It was pitch-dark. I decided to go for a short walk to ease my mind.
I went into the forest and found a blackberry bramble. I picked a lot of them and took them back to our camp. I set them beside Mikomi's stove and looked up to see the sun peeking over the horizon. I woke everyone up.
"Ok, we're having berries for breakfast," I said, cheerfully.
"Where did you find them," Natari asked, reaching for one.
"In the woods. They're blackberries," I said, smiling. We all ate a bunch and headed off. The next few days went the same way. I woke up every mourning, breathing hard and my heart pounding. We would eat breakfast and head off. Eventually, we came to the Fire country border, and then we went to the lodging town where we found Naruto in the first place to look for clues. We went to the hotel that Naruto had stayed in.
"Clerk, did you see an old man come back in here, he had already rented a room," Naruto said. The clerk thought for a moment.
"Yeah, he said something about going to Tanzaku City," the clerk said, smiling.
"Thank you," Naruto said. I knew where that town was, so I led the group at a fast pace, I didn't want to be here in the Fire country. I was extremely lucky that no one knew I was a missing nin. I really didn't want to leave, it was just, so many things happened and so I ran. I ran away from it all like a coward, afraid to face my fears. I was thinking of this when we came into Tanzaku City. A loud sound erupted through the city. It sounded like something huge fell down onto the concrete.
"I bet that's where Jiraiya is," Naruto said. I gave him a funny look and we ran toward the sound. The sound repeated as it got further and further away from the city. Soon, we couldn't hear it at all. We were just about to give up, when…
"Jiraiya! Jiraiya! I came back," Naruto yelled. He gestured for us to follow and Jiraiya was in a field. There were four other people there. Two of them were pretty young, while the other two were adults. They all stared at us, except the woman, who was staring at her hands, shaking. Her hands were covered in blood.
"Ero-sennin, these people kidnapped me and-" Naruto began, but I covered his mouth with my hand.
"Heh, heh. Naruto, what did I tell you? You can't tell anyone about what happened," I whispered in Naruto's ear. I removed my hand.
"Who are you," Jiraiya said.
"She's the fourth Sanin," Naruto said, smiling. Everyone had a strange expression on their faces.
"What are you talking about, Naruto, there are," I lied, trying to cover it up, but then, I realized something. "How did you know," I blurted out then, I covered my mouth.
"I read the note," Naruto said, smiling.
"You little brat! Why did you go through my stuff," I yelled.
"Well, it was when I was drunk," Naruto said. I sighed.
"There's a fourth Sanin," Jiraiya said, questioningly.
"Of course there is! Kyoka is the fourth Sanin. She has a note from the Fourth Hokage," Natari yelled. She had seen the note a long time ago. I started to hit my head against a tree. My secret was out.
"Hey, I just realized something, she's the fourth Sanin and she was given the title by the Fourth Hokage," Naruto said, smiling.
"That's exactly what he said," I sighed.
"Wait-that's impossible, the Fourth died 12 years ago, you are too young to have become a Sanin, 12 years ago," Jiraiya said.
"I'm not as young as I look. I just aged well. Of course, I'm not as old as the other Sanins, but I'm sort-of old," I said.
"Hey, hey, Ero-sennin, who are all those people," Naruto said.
"Might as well tell you, those two," Jiraiya began, pointing at the woman on the ground and the other adult. He continued, "Are the other two Sanin, Orochimaru and Tsunade." Crap! All three of the other Sanin are here, I thought. "That," he pointed at the girl tending to Tsunade. "is Shizune, Tsunade's attendant. And-"
"Hey! That's Kabuto! What are you doing here Kabuto," Naruto yelled.
"You know him," Natari asked.
"Yeah, he's a Konoha nin, but what is he doing here," Naruto asked.
"Look at his forehead," Jiraiya said. Instead of a Konoha forehead-protector, there was a Sound forehead-protector.
"Huh," Naruto said. I rubbed his hair.
"He was a spy, in case you haven't noticed Naruto," I said.
"Really," Naruto asked.
"You bet, I would've guessed by his hair color," I said.
"How," Naruto asked.
"No one in Konoha has gray hair at that age. He would have to have come from another village, therefore stating he's a spy. And since Konoha can't necessarily tell, tons of spies live in Konoha. Like spies from her village," I said, pointing to Natari.
Jiraiya's eyes widened. "What village are you three from? I don't recognize your forehead-protectors. And where did you take Naruto?" I sighed, it would be hard to get out of these, but I could do it.
"Ok. Our mission was to bring Naruto to my other village and bring him back. I can tell you no more and don't expect to force it out of me, I am a Sanin," I said. I hoped he would take my bluff and not asked any questions.
"What are you talking about, 'other village'," Jiraiya asked.
"When the Fourth died, I left Konoha, but I'm still with it. I went to their village and stayed there ever since," I said. There was a pause. I continued, "Well, I don't want to get meddled with your affairs, so I'll be off."
"Wait-if your still with Konoha, you'd stay here. Orochimaru killed the Third. He was asking Tsunade to fix his arms, which are injured. She is the only one who can do it. If he gets his arms back, he'll destroy Konoha," Jiraiya said.
"Why can't you take care of it," I said. I was worried, but I knew that staying wouldn't be the greatest idea.
"Because I may have to fight Tsunade and Orochimaru," Jiraiya said. I sighed.
"Ok, but I have to tell you that Akatsuki is after Naruto," I said.
"I know, but how do you," Jiraiya said.
"Itachi and Hoshigaki, they're part of Akatsuki, attacked us, several times. I held them off, but just barely. When I leave, you better watch him," I said.
"You held him off," Orochimaru yelled. His eyes were wide. I don't think he meant to say that out loud.
"You bet," I said. He started shaking. I didn't really know what was going on.
"Hey, Kyoka, what should we do," Mikomi asked me.
"I want you to go back, this situation is under control, it's not like last time when I was sick," I said, getting ready to fight.
"But I can fight," Natari said.
"You're outmatched. You're the same level as Naruto-" I said.
"That's my point! He gets to stay here and fight, but I have to leave," Natari said.
"Natari, who said he's going to fight, he's outmatched, too. Oh, yeah, if you run into Itachi and the gay person, tell them you don't have Naruto. Tell them I do. Tell them anything to get them to leave you alone, I don't want you getting hurt," I said.
"Hey, before we go, are you coming back," Mikomi asked.
"I'll try, but if I don't, I'll probably be in jail or something. Maybe I won't be, I don't like jail," I said. Mikomi gave me a weak smile. Then, the three ran off.
"Bye, Natari, Mikomi, Eureka! Be safe from those two gay people, especially you, Eureka, they're gay, remember that," Naruto yelled. I playfully elbowed him.
"Saying goodbye to your girlfriend, eh, Naruto," I said.
"Shut up! She's not my girlfriend," Naruto yelled.
"So, Naruto has a girlfriend. Natari, was her name," Jiraiya said.
"Now you've started it! Crap," Naruto yelled.
"Ok, now to get serious. Naruto, protect Tsunade," Jiraiya said.
"But I want to fight," Naruto said.
"Just as that girl says, you're outmatched. Now, do as I say. Shizune, can you fight Kabuto," Jiraiya said. I'm going into a fight between all the Sanins, great, I thought…
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End Notes: Sorry for not post for so long. I was on vacation. Since school has started, I will be posting a little slower than I used to. Thanks for your patience!
Love, EA