CHAPTER TWELVE – Present day, human world, village of Konohagakure
(the page has numerous fingerprints that have soaked in)
Hanabi approached the bedroom of Naruto when the sun came up. "Naruto-san, it's time to get up and...eep!" She saw Hinata curled up next to him. Her first instinct was to scream loudly of them having a wild, torrid affair, but then she stopped and noticed that they were both fully clothed. Naruto's obstructive jacket prevented any sort of activity, and his pants were completely fastened. Naruto stirred, and opened his eyes, and that came as her cue to leave. The blonde ninja groggily rose to a seated position. He smiled when he saw Hinata curled up in the blankets. Moving off the bed stirred her to awareness.
"Good m...morning, Naruto-kun," she vocalized. "Tha...thank you for your guiding words last night."
He shook his head. "No, Hinata-chan, don't thank me, you just needed to hear the truth." He saw the bucket of hot water and the toothbrush and he cringed. His morning duty had arrived. "I'd love to talk to you but I have work to do, and I can't leave your father waiting." He left the room, and she went to the kitchen to eat. She had never been quite as close to Naruto as she had that night, and she wished she could've spent a much longer amount of time in his arms.
On the other side of the village, Kyuubi lectured to a group of academy students when she caught sight of Yondaime marching towards the gate. He had a steady pace which meant he had a very important goal in mind. She interrupted the lecture to approach him. He drew his jacket and walked, looking slightly peeved. "Arashi? Arashi! Where are you going? I'll accompany you!"
He didn't stop, just shook his head. "Sorry, Kyuubi-chan, matters which require my attention are at hand. Political shit. I must go alone." She watched as he showed a piece of paper to the gate guard, who motioned and the large gate crept open. Immediately outside the village, the large gate slid shut. She walked towards the lecture group with confusion on her mind. This is the second time in a month he's left for "matters which require" his attention. It's a bit confusing. I wonder how Naruto's doing. It was so unprofessional of Hiashi to do what he did.
Naruto finished his bit of dinner (a small bit it was) and began his afternoon training. Only an hour did he have and his body ached from the work, so he did little more than meditate. Deep in a trance he engrossed himself. Hinata stood several feet away, watching him. She stared at him focusing on his meditation; such devotion to training, even in pain. It amazed her. Without opening his eyes, he interrupted his trance and said, "Hinata, don't stand there staring. I can tell you want something."
"Oh, um, d...do you m...mind helping me with my training? I haven't made m...much progress. I know if you help me I'll go far." He glanced at her, and she became nervous. "Uh...um...th...that is...if I...it's not too much trouble."
"I'd be happy to," he spoke. "I notice you use Hyuuga style gentle fist, so power won't be much help. You have good chakra, so that isn't your main problem. If I were you I'd focus on your speed. Attack me." She propelled her hand forward to strike his chest, and he effortlessly dodged in sync with her attack. "Yeah, I'm right. Your speed is key, so let me help you." He cut her thumb and drew four symbols, one on each wrist and one above each ankle. "This will make you feel weighed down. Practice with these and when you get used to them, use your blood to wash them off." They continued to spar.
Kyuubi paced around in her office. Something did not add up. "Ebisu-san," she said to the jounin in her presence. "Yondaime-sama's been leaving at bizarre times. It's not that I don't trust him, it's that I can't afford to be left out of the loop."
Ebisu nodded. "So you want me to find Yondaime-sama and secretly find out his business?"
She gave a reassuring smile. "Yes. Don't let him find you."
He saluted. "Yes, Kyuubi-sama!" In a puff he left. She didn't understand why Yondaime, who she'd never received mistrust or manipulation from, would leave and not include her. Her Arashi could tell her damn near everything. Such mutual openness she'd never felt. So his recent behaviour mystified her.
"Arrgh, I just can't move with these weight symbols!" Hinata uttered, trying to hit an elusive Naruto. He grinned.
"Working with weights, even weight symbols, is hard at first," he explained. "In a few weeks you'll get the hang of it." During training, Naruto felt a presence approaching. Hinata's tensing up warned of Hiashi. She instinctively covered the markings he'd formed with her blood.
"Thank you for your training of Hinata, Naruto-san," Hiashi praised, "but you're wasting your time on a lost cause. Hinata is a hopeless waste of blood."
Naruto glared at him. "I'd prefer if you didn't bash my pupil when I'm training her."
Hiashi chuckled. "Your PUPIL? What qualifies you, servant?"
"Unless you're short of memory, recall that I'm a sensei-type jounin. Training is my job description."
"No, training is Kakashi's job description. It's Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, Ebisu, their job description." He pointed at the blonde nin's face. "What you do, I believe, is cleaning and manual labor. Now go do the elders committee's hair. One needs a cut and the other four need washing." An evil grin appeared. "Unless you want another week."
Naruto bowed. "I am happy to serve, lord Hiashi-sama." He shuffled off, muttering all the evil ways of human dismemberment, imagining how tasty his flesh had to be.
Ebisu continued through the woods. Yondaime had been difficult to track. It seemed to the jounin that the fourth hokage had tried—uncharacteristically sloppily—to cover his tracks. Following what clues he could, the closet pervert went in the directions he believed his superior to be going. By directions, he meant many. Yondaime changed paths at least six times in the previous hour. The quality of the clues varied. It confused him. Why would Yondaime-sama do such a poor job of concealing his tracks if he didn't want to be followed? An alternative came to him. Or, maybe he's already being followed, and whoever is following him is uncovering his trail for others to find. If someone else is tracking Yondaime-sama, could they be misleading me on purpose? He discarded that option. No, if someone is following him, leaving a correct trail would allow for backup to come. Ebisu grinned. Although, against Yondaime's hiraishin, there's a fat lot of good backup would do.
Soon, he came upon an edge to the woods. Rather, an opening to a clearing. It came to a ledge, where thick bushes preceded a thirty foot drop. An open clearing lay below, where a cave entrance stuck slightly out. Two ninja stood immediately outside. From files on enemy ninja, he at once recognized them. Staying quieter than he believed possible, he hid himself.
"So, Sasori, your group is still searching?"
Sasori rolled his eyes. "Deidara, you know the answer to that. Yes." He fumbled in his pocket and produced a lighter. "Here."
"Thanks," Deidara remarked, igniting the marijuana cigarette in his mouth. A deep inhalation followed by a smooth exhalation, and he was back to talking. "Orochimaru-sama will be pleased when it's finally found." he spat on the ground. "Which reminds me, where's he at?"
"With his 'higher allegiance.' Won't tell us a damned thing."
Deidara let a moment's laugh. "Hmph." Boy did his fellow Akatsuki tell the truth. "No shit. All the damn secrecy. We're the hands and feet of Oro-sama's operation, and he keeps us out of the fucking loop. Ya know what? Akatsuki was way better off without Orochimaru." he took another puff and let it out. "Oh well, I just can't wait until we've got the damn thing."
"Yeah, hopefully soon we'll get the aura."
Ebisu saw a sight he did not expect within Akatsuki's vicinity: Yondaime. Yondaime-sama's personally spying on Akatsuki? Does he not know of the risk he is taking? To mention nothing of the risk he's putting our village at! The closet pervert sensed the air move, a tell-tale reminder of a presence. He prepared for a silent attack. The figure slid a piece of paper in front of Ebisu. It read, "Don't make a clamor. I am on your side. Walk backwards very quietly and listen. I have information vital to the Leaf." Complying, out of necessity, he stealthily crept backwards until they were deep in the forest. Ebisu faced the figure; had he not kept self-control, he'd have shouted.
"I am on your side," the man whispered.
"My God!" Ebisu whispered. "You...you're dead! Yondaime killed you! I was there that day! We buried you and..." The figure shoved a scroll in the prevert's hands.
"That was a tragic day, but thankfully I did not die. Send this scroll to its source and leave it in lady Kyuubi's hands. If she gets it you will likely have prevented a disaster."
"Wha...what disaster?"
"Akatsuki...Orochimaru specifically, is attempting to gain both halves of the Great Aura of the Earth. Only the Alpha Male of a great clan may use it; its activation will place all the world in danger."
"Alpha male? Wait! I have more questions!"
"All will be answered in time! Now go...oh, and tell Kyuubi it's from 'Big Brother on the Inside.'" Ebisu didn't know whether to completely trust this man, but he had little other choice. Not being attacked symbolized an attempt at trust, although a weak one. He questioned the need for an additional spy with Yondaime gathering info. Still, any help was help. "Tell no one save Lady Kyuubi...promise?"
That request made him nervous. Still he complied. "My vow I give," he promised, and found himself off. He made his way back to Konoha free of problem.
Naruto lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. His body had taken plenty of abuse that day. The egregious demands of Hyuuga siblings took their toll. A familiar sight drew his attention and brought a smile. "Hinata-chan!" he whispered. "You're doing great, I swear if the next few weeks come fast enough, I may be able to move onto more complicated training." She smiled.
"I...I hope I get strong, Na...Naruto-k...kun," she admitted. Her stuttering fell to a minimum around him, as his radiant self-pride and confidence ebbed into her. "I wanna be stronger than Neji-kun, m...maybe stronger than Kiba. If nothing...else."
"Your speed is omni-important," he explained. "How powerful you are is amazingly connected more to speed than any other characteristic. Rather than focusing on beating Neji, you should focus on being quicker than and outmaneuvering someone."
"Y...you mean...like Shino-kun?"
He shook his head. "Set your goals higher. I was thinking Lee."
She practically fell over. "Lee-kun?...! Na...Naruto-kun, I...I'll never be faster than Lee!"
"You can be better than any of your peers. Everyone possesses the power to change their destiny at will. It will probably take years, but there is absolutely no such thing,among your fellow mortals, anyway, as an unbridgeable gap." He noticed the night gown she wore covered her like a tarp; completely unflattering, it struck the eye like a fist. It looked as though she were a boat being concealed under a sheet. "You shouldn't wear thick coats and heavy outfits to hide yourself. No one is truly ugly. " He rubbed her hand. "Hate to sound like a pervert, but I like to admire women. Tasteful clothing can still be sexy."
"Y...you don't like my clothing?"
"It's not that I don't like you, it's that what you've got on is marring your beauty." He examined her face. "You've got a beautiful face. That rag you call a night gown clashes with your elegant face."
She blushed, clasping her hands together as she glanced at him shyly. "You...you think I'm pretty? You really do?"
He nodded. "You're a beautiful girl, Hinata." He motioned with his hand. "Come here." She approached, leaning in. In a swift motion he lifted his head and gingerly kissed her on the lips. "Good night, Hinata."
"G...G...Good...N..night, Na...Naruto-kun," she struggled to say. Leaving to go to her own room, that moment burned through her mind. Does he care about me? Does he love me? N...no, it isn't that far yet. I'm just being drifty with my thoughts. She touched her lips, bringing her fingers into her field of view, expecting some movie-ish twinkle. So small an act, and yet, it held so much meaning. Her love for him was a secret she and no one else held. Yet everyone saw her admiration of him. Most wrote it off as a girlish fascination, or a fangirl of his prominent position as Honorable Son. If only they knew, she would wonder. Her love for him could outshine the morning sun. It had all the force of a wildfire, and yet, with his relative ignorance to its existence, it only burned her heart. She despised the action her father had taken. At the same time, however, she thanked God for the chance to have him notice her and to get close to him. Inside her room, she opened her closet. Her gown seemed a sheet concealing a painting.
You've got a beautiful face. That rug you call a night gown clashes with your elegant face.
I am...beautiful? With a force of might she tore off the gown off. As it streaked up into the air and wafted down gently like a leaf, she stood in the mirror in her underwear. I am beautiful! She picked a slender gown and pulled it down over her head. It clung like a small child to her curves. She plopped into bed. "Naruto-kun, thank you."
Ebisu finally made it back through the main gates of Konoha by midnight. "Lady Kyuubi!" His screeches as he tore through the palace aroused many an ear. His intended target, however, managed to hear, as intended. Approaching the office, he saw it surprisingly inhabited by its owner. That she remained awake at this hour proved she desperately wanted answers. "I have information for you!"
She pulled him in and shut the door. "You found Yondaime? What is he doing?"
Ebisu caught his breath. "He...he is spying on Akatsuki!" He fumbled into his pocket and produced the scroll. Kyuubi read it instantly. "Oh, this is information from...'Big Brother on the Inside.'" She looked left and right, confused.
"Big broth..." Her eyes widened a moment. The pervert's interrogation skills told him her realization had startled her. She pondered the implications of her current thought process, then realized Ebisu remained. "Thank you very much, Ebisu, you may go."
"My lady, if you don't mind, what is..."
She smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Ebisu, you may go."
He bowed. "You're welcome, my lady." He exited. Alpha Male? Great Aura? What is going on? He shook it off. Such concerns were for morning.
With Ebisu gone, she unreeled the scroll again. With devoted eyes she read the scroll carefully.
Lady Kyuubi, it has come to my attention that Akatsuki is planning something horrendous. As you well know, the Great Aura of the Earth is an ancient artifact representing the power of our planet. Orochimaru—our leader, and a complete asshole—is sparing no expense, wasting no effort in his attempt to find it. He's gathered a "Higher Allegiance" who's supporting the damned search. Data is written below, it's all I have access to. Yondaime's been doing a hell of a lot of spying on Akatsuki lately and it makes me uneasy that he has to do it. I wish he knew I could help him. Well I probably won't be able to get back with you for a while, but I'll keep going. Your eyes in Akatsuki, Big Brother on the Inside.
Over time, the general routine sank in and the day-to-day grind became habitual. A month passed. Life went back to whatever form of normal it had been. Naruto, who initially despised his work suddenly began to find that with each passing day it became slightly easier. His body grew accustomed to the labor and Hiashi, predictably, upped the work load. Hinata trained daily on her speed. While she wasn't anywhere near as fast as Lee, she impressed her father in being able to keep up with a power suppressed Naruto. Despite life being far from enjoyable, everyone found their niche and stuck to it. Another month passed. Tsunade's special treatment paid off: Neji could walk again without assistance of any kind. He still did not function at a hundred percent, but he'd be able to fight again in six weeks. One Friday morning, Hiashi gave in and released Naruto from his servitude.
"Naruto-san, I hope you appreciate the opportunity you've been given, not to mention the honor you should feel in serving the Hyuuga," Hiashi explained.
"I believe I am much stronger due to the weighted jacket and power suppression, but your attitude taught me that I can't trust even someone I respect. You're shown that by your selfish manner and enslavement of me."
"Don't forget what I've given you," and with that, Naruto was a free man once more. "You have my permission to keep training Hinata, but if I ever catch any funny stuff..."
"I'm not a perv!" Naruto left the Hyuuga household with a sense of happiness over his release. Yondaime met his son at the ramen stand.
"Son, I'm glad we were able to correlate your release from servitude with another occurrence: The crackdown on Akatsuki."
Naruto beamed as he regathered his headband and gear. "We have their position?...!" He seemed amazed; Akatsuki prided themselves on their elusiveness. "Sixteen years our village has tried and failed to locate a large group of them. We're actually close?"
Yondaime nodded. "I'm assembling a team of our finest jounin and we are going to crush those bastards once and for all, or at least put a huge dent! Naruto, I'm officially black booking you for this mission."
Naruto squealed like a girl. "OHMYGOD! I'm...I'm gonna be in the Black Book of Potential Hokage?"
"Should you succeed. You and Iruka, Gai, Kakashi, Ibiki, Asuma, Anko, and Kurenai, along with seventeen ANBU, will track down the primary division of high-ranking Akatsuki officers and conduct a termination. Give no quarter, show no mercy. Iruka will be team leader."
In an abandoned farm house far away, the dozen officers in Akatsuki sat. In the center of a circle of chairs, their leader, sannin and S-rank criminal Orochimaru sat. "Tell me news. Please. I want to be up to date."
"Lord Orochimaru," Deidara said, pushing his blonde locks out of the way. "We are in the vicinity of the first half." He lied. In truth they had nearly fallen into a trap. They discovered it while spelunking. Had Sasori not acted, sixty men would've died. Orochimaru somehow knew. He did not betray his knowledge.
"Good," he played along. "Now, an important item has been located. I have given a map to those I want to go find it. The rest will go to our next base." They shuffled out. Sasori set fire to the building as instructed to destroy any evidence of them being there. Orochimaru and several of his closest subordinates went towards their next locale, while Deidara and Sasori lead a significantly larger group in the opposite direction.
The Konoha team sat in the prep area, catching a few minutes' respite before their mission began. To Naruto, it came as relaxing, as the target would require a huge portion, if not all, of his true power. As quite likely the most powerful member of the team, he'd be primarily in charge of anti-personnel. But despite Naruto's usefulness, each couldn't help but cross-analyze his or her own skills with the known Akatsuki files. A chain is only as powerful as its weakest link, and they all rationalized that it was not them. None of them could imagine failure. The assembled might have been the most skilled assassination group ever put together in the village's history. Many of the leaf's finest. Iruka entered from the bathroom. "Are we all ready, then?" Many intense looks came his way. This day they'd prepared for. The dedication couldn't have been higher, nor the stakes. Failure meant a nigh-irreparable blow to the Leaf.
Close to three dozen Akatsuki foot soldiers roamed the forest, accompanying Deidara, the group leader. The six or so upper officers kept their eyes and senses attune for anything out of the ordinary. A mild case of confusion spread like a creeping vine through all present. They had arrived on scene—the map said they'd reached the spot—but all they saw was forest behind them and grassland in front. A figure hid itself in the forest canopy, watching and waiting.
Iruka and the Konoha group tore through the forest on Naruto's back. In full demon form, he carried them many times faster than their running speed. Wind blasted by them rapidly, as none of them had traveled so fast before, many had to keep their eyes shut. The demon ground to a halt. "We're at the hearing distance. From here we walk to avoid alerting them," Iruka relayed to everyone. Naruto shifted back into human form. They all were ready. Tension built in their muscles as the adrenaline flowed in response to expectation. In a collection of minutes the border of trees, the point at which the majestic forest died and the consistent grasslands came into being, approached. Preparing, they pounced into the open, ready to attack.
What they saw, shocked even the most experienced of them. All the Akatsuki group were dead. "The fuck is going on?" Heads shook but no words came in response to Iruka's question. Corpses lay in various positions, various locations, all with a common slash mark on their throat. Many of the dead were frozen in a look of surprise or terror.
"Whoever killed them," Ibiki noted, "they were once allies with and he betrayed them. I can tell."
Naruto examined the corpses as he strolled through the field of them. Stepping over a body he heard a weak, ragged breath. Slowly he looked down. One was still alive. I...ITACHI!...? Impossible! Yondaime killed you years ago at the Uchiha Clan Massacre! Regardless of what he knew to be true, his eyes did not lie. Unable to move, the Uchiha motioned with his eyes. Naruto understood.
"Do...do you mind if I feast on this one?" Scooping up the Akatsuki double agent, he waited for a nod of approval, and off he went, back into the woods as the rest destroyed the bodies of the Akatsuki.
On a tree, dozens of yards from the group, Naruto set down the Uchiha. "Now, Itachi, how are you alive? Yondaime killed you." Realizing the man couldn't speak, he read his thoughts. Naruto saw the ordeal through Itachi's memories.
"YOU!" Deidara screamed. "We trusted you! You betrayed us all?"
The figure, who Itachi didn't see quite clearly, distinctly had blonde hair and blue eyes...he had to be an Uzumaki. "You should have anticpiated this." The rest was a blur as the figure ripped through the group.
"So, you survived the massacre because Yondaime wasn't thorough? And you're some double agent helping us?"
Itachi gave a faint nod, then died. Naruto hadn't expected much depth or detail to a dying man's memories. But the group had been killed by an Uzumaki? That confused him further. He removed the clothes and consumed the body.
Pow. The sound of limbs breaking off trees and hitting the ground. Naruto pounced.
However, he very quickly stopped.
"O...oh...m...my...G...God..." he struggled to say, quivering in terror. "You...you...mu...must be..."
The blonde-haired figure stood at least seven feet tall in human form. At four and a half feet wide, he was a mountain of muscle. Without a shirt, only a pair of animal hide pants, his imposing physique would put terror into anyone. Not to mention the positively monstrous chakra he suppressed to avoid attracting attention. Facially, he looked exactly like a much more physically mature Naruto. His eyes were penetratingly focused. On his mouth, sat a cold grin.
"You've heard stories of me," the huge figure boomed in a deep, earthy voice. "I am your true father."
Naruto could not help but convulse. He'd never stood in the presence of such a terrifyingly powerful being.
"My name is Kenzo."