"Are you sure you would not like to reconsider Naruto-kun?"
"Yes, yes, I'm pretty damn sure! You've asked me a thousand times and my answer will still and always be no!" Naruto growled at the blue-haired woman at the foot of his bed, her face schooled into its usual stoicism.
The paper flower tucked in her hair clashed with the no-nonsense black-with-red-trim cloak she wore, but neither that nor her emotionlessness managed to detract from the odd aura of mysterious beauty she possessed.
Konan ignored his hostile manner; she was used to it.
"Soon, Naruto-kun, you'll realize soon enough the great blessing being laid before you." She stood up and strode over to the door, the clacks of her heels interrupting the steady pitter patter of the raindrops outside. She paid no heed to the twelve-year old burning a hole through the back of her head with his gaze.
Of course, he wasn't Itachi, so it really was nothing more than childish pouting. Some might have even said the Uzumaki looked rather adorable.
Naruto remained silent until Konan shut the door behind her, the lock clicking into place like it always did. The Ame-nin would come by and give him the same offer, and every time he would say no. Then she'd leave him alone in the room until the following day, when she'd do the same thing again. And again.
It had been a month since their first meeting.
xxxxx
"Uzumaki Naruto?" the woman asked with a... concerned voice? "My name is Konan. If you're feeling better, I would like to talk to you."
"Konan, huh?" Naruto asked warily. "Well what do you want?"
She ignored his brusqueness, moving to stand in front of his bed. "I'm here to make you an offer." she explained.
"What offer?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. So far, this lady didn't look too dangerous, but she wore the same red clouds that those two bastards Hidan and Kakuzu wore. Who knew what secrets she was hiding?
"What do you know of the Akatsuki?" Konan began.
'Daybreak?' Naruto ran it over in his head. 'That sounds familiar...'
"It's the name of their group, idiot,"Kyuubi supplied. "The silver-haired one said so while he was trying to slaughter your friends."The jinchuuriki could feel the fox grinning evilly in his mind. "Such dedication to his art. Now he is a mortal I can respect."
"From the look on your face, I would say not much then," Konan concluded, unaware of what the Kyuubi had just said. "Those two missing-nin you fought are a member of the Akatsuki. We are a group of S-Rank shinobi from across the Elemental nations united together for one goal."
She paused as if prompting Naruto to ask a question. It didn't come, but Konan proceeded anyway. "Our goal is to acquire the nine Bijuu in order to bring peace and unity to the Elemental Nations."
Naruto waited, expecting the Kyuubi to comment on this. Nothing came.
"Uh, Kyuubi?"
"Shush boy, let her continue," the fox muttered. "I want to hear about this."
"As we are composed of ten S-rank ninja, we can take high-paying missions from several private companies, and the occasional Hidden Village-"
"Tell me more about what you'll do with the Bijuu," Naruto interrupted. Facing Konan's icy stare for his interjection, he explained. "The- uh, I mean I want to hear more about this."
She fixed him with a long, curious look, before speaking again. "I see, you can communicate with the Kyuubi then?" She dismissed his shocked look with a wave of her hand. "Please, if we didn't already know you had him then Kakuzu and Hidan wouldn't have bothered bringing you back alive. Well, this is an interesting development."
"Well then tell me what do the bijuu have to do with why they killed Tazuna-san and Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto snarled. "If you were after me then they didn't have to die."
"We had no idea at all that you were there, to be honest," Konan admitted. "That was a stroke of sheer luck on our parts. No, those two were there because, as we are composed of ten S-rank ninja, we can take high-paying missions from several private companies, and the occasional Hidden Village, that most ninja wouldn't even dare touch."
"What mission was that?" Naruto inquired, calming down.
"To kill the bridge builder Tazuna."
"...why did you have to kill Kakashi-sensei then?"
"Because he was in the way."
"So that's it?" roared Naruto. "He was in the way. How can you just kill people like that? Kakashi-sensei and Tazuna weren't bad people!"
"But Hidan and Kakuzu are ninja, Naruto. And ninja follow their missions to the letter. What?" she questioned. "Did you think all your missions would be D-ranks and escorts? No, as ninja, you have to kill. They had to kill."
"But what about peace? Didn't you say earlier the Akatsuki was all about peace?"
"To believe in a world where everyone is buddy-buddy with one another is a naive and childish dream. Wherever there are people, there are dreams, ideas, beliefs. And when those beliefs clash," Konan paused. "there are misunderstandings. It is only through each nation suffering through the pain that comes from losing a loved one can they truly understand one another."
She swiftly twisted around and walked back to the door. Just as she was about to leave, Naruto shouted. "Wait! What was that offer you were mentioning earlier?"
She stopped. She turned around. She gave him the offer.
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"Crazy woman," thought Naruto, shaking his head to clear the thoughts of her.
Once he was sure he couldn't hear her anymore, he slipped out of the covers and sneaked over to the door. He wore the black shirt and boxers that he normally wore under his jumpsuit, which, halfway into the month, began to smell terrible. It wasn't as if anyone besides Konan would see him anyway, and he was usually still in bed when she'd walk in.
Konan had provided him with a standard uniform for most Hidden Rain ninja, but Naruto refused to wear that hideous jumpsuit. It was a horrible shade of yellow, and had massive stitches going down the front like some mockery of a corset. I mean, he wore a gaudy orange jumpsuit, but it was because that was all he could afford from the shopkeepers overcharging him all the time. Who would wear this stuff by choice?
Regardless, today, he'd begin his escape from the room that had been his home for the past month. Oh, he'd tried to escape several times before only for Konan to haul him back to his nice little room in under a quarter of a minute each time. In between attempts, he even had to rest for several days to recover from the damage Konan would do to him.
The first time, he got up early and bolted out the door the moment she opened it. Then he used Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Multiple Shadow Clone Technique) to try to throw her off in his mad dash. Imagine his surprise when all 511 clones were taken out in ten seconds by flying paper airplanes. He'd laughed at the paper ninjutsu (What kind of ninja uses paper) for all of five seconds before Konan caught him and tossed him back in his room.
The second time, he tried to use Oiroke no Jutsu(Sexy Technique) and a full out Harem Jutsu to try to distract her. You know, on the off chance she swung the other way. He lasted for a glorious three seconds before an unamused Konan nearly asphyxiated him with her paper.
The third time really was more a half-hearted attempt as Naruto sheepishly realized he didn't have any other jutsu in his arsenal. He was caught and dragged back before he made it to the end of the corridor.
He hadn't tried to escape since then, merely staying in his room plotting. And a plotting Naruto was not something to be taken lightly, especially now that he had the Kyuubi to talk to. After all, this was the genin who regularly snuck into (Naruto usually made air quotes with his fingers as he said this) high security places in Konoha such as the Academy Faculty Room, the Jounin Headquarters, the ANBU Headquarters, and the Hokage Tower.
This time, he was gonna escape.
He took in a long, deep breath, and closed his eyes. Gently, he pooled his chakra into his belly, and, reaching out with it, began to tug gently at the seal. Suddenly, the seal yanked back with a mighty jerk and Naruto was pulled into the subconscious of his own mind.
He stood in a giant sewer-like area. The floor, for the most part though, had dried up, leaving only puddles of water scattered here and there. Most notable though, was the giant orange demon fox lazily resting behind massive bars.
"So, the kit finally decided to ask for my chakra," the Kyuubi said. "It's about damn time. These past few days were beginning to get quite boring."
"Just a little bit of chakra," Naruto asked pleadingly. "Just enough to break down the door."
The mindscape rumbled as the Kyuubi exploded with laughter. "Oh I'm sure you'll be able to break down the door when I'm done."
Back in the real world, Naruto's body erupted with chakra.
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"It's no use Hokage-sama," a blonde-haired man in a white lab coat sighed. "If you thought Sasuke-san was bad before, you should see him now. Zero emotion. He's been single-minded obsessed with training and getting stronger, and in the process he's been shutting everyone out." The man shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets. "He may not have acted like it, Hokage-same, but the Uzumaki seemed to have meant a lot to him."
The Sandaime sighed and took another whiff from his pipe. Ever since the encounter with Kakuzu and Hidan a month ago, nothing had really been the same in Konoha.
The joint-funeral for Kakashi and Naruto had been swift and sorrowful. Many of the ANBU in particular came to pay their respects to their beloved Hound-taichou. The jounin and special jounin were all hit by the loss of their eccentric spiky-haired pervert, but none as much as Gai.
Dressed in black mourning attire, it was the first time the Green Beast had been seen not in his spandex suit. No spouts about Youth, or the blooming of the youthful Lotus, or the beauty of the eternal springtime of Youth. Even in the following weeks, Konoha's Green Beast couldn't fully recover. His smiles were strained and tired, and his speeches less enthusiastic, as if he didn't believe them himself.
Ino awkwardly stood by Sakura as her old friend bawled into her shoulder. She gently stroked the pink-haired girl's back while trying, fruitlessly, to comfort her; part of her wondered why they stopped being friends in the first place over something as silly as s boy.
Hinata... was shattered. Naruto-kun, her one inspiration... was gone.
And Sasuke...
"Inoichi, did he awaken the...?" The Mangekyou Sharingan. The accursed bloodline that Itachi used to slaughter his clan.
"He awakened his Sharingan, yes Hokage-sama," the Yamanaka head answered. "Two tomoe upon activation is quite impressive, actually, from what I've heard. Though we actually wouldn't be able to tell if he's activated the Mangekyou or not. We've had our best iryounin and Hyuuga check him over, though, and his chakra pathways, especially those of his eyes, look no different than normal Sharingan eyes."
"Thank goodness," muttered the Hokage. That sort of cursed power... no, Konoha didn't need that. And from what young Itachi had told him, the Mangekyou caused crippling damage to its user as much as it did to its victims. No, they were overall better off without it.
"This, Hiruzen, is why you're not fit for the position of Hokage," a new voice stated. Inoichi and the Sandaime stiffened as the door opened and a new figure entered the room. Half of his face and an entire arm bandaged, the elderly man spoke with a steely edge that disillusioned any ideas of a harmless old man.
Danzo.
"Shimura-sama, excuse me, but this is a private meeting between me and-"
"You are talking of the Uchiha boy," the elder cut in. "As the last remaining Uchiha and bearer of the Sharingan in Konoha, this is business of the Head Elder of the Konoha Council as well."
"And before you ask, my answer is no, Danzo." The Hokage stared disapprovingly at his former friend. "I've heard stories of ROOT before I had it disbanded, and I will not let you turn Sasuke-kun into one of your mindless drones."
"He bears the last Sharingan." Danzo replied calmly. "As an invaluable asset to Konoha-"
"Sasuke is a child," Hiruzen gritted out. "He is not a weapon, he is not an asset, he is a person above all else."
Turning to Inoichi, Danzo asked, "Yamanaka-san, I believe Uchiha-san has previously said his dream is to kill his brother and avenge his clan. Has this changed in the slightest?"
Still slightly miffed at having been interrupted, Inoichi glanced at his reports. "Well, Sasuke still expressed a great desire to defeat his brother; possibly an even greater vengeance than before. However, he has also shown to want to kill-"
"That is classified information Inoichi and not to be discussed," the Hokage broke in.
"As Head of the Council, I believe I have proper clearance."
"And as Hokage, I say you do not," Hiruzen overruled.
A brief silence. "Very well then," Danzo continued, unruffled. "At the very least, I am very likely to believe that this would be hatred towards the group that killed the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and the Hatake."
The Hokage and the Yamanaka neither confirmed nor denied this statement.
"By taking away two of our largest sources of power, this group has obviously shown itself as a threat to Konoha. It must be eliminated." Danzo stared Hiruzen straight in the eye. "To train Uchiha-san to defeat Itachi and this group will only be beneficial to Konoha."
"I've said it before, Danzo, and my answer is still no." He matched the bandaged man's gaze with a hard look of his own.
There was silence for several moments. Then,
"The last time you said no to me," whispered Danzo. "You would not let me train the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. And what happened to him? Killed on his first mission out of the village, in one fell swoop taking away the legacy of the Yellow Flash and our possession of the most powerful Tailed Beast!"
"They were S-Rank missing nin," defended Sandaime.
"Whom, with his pedigree, the Naruto-san should have been able to defeat, or at least not die against," countered Danzo. "Do you think no one will be out to take the Sharingan eyes from a genin? The Uchiha Massacre is no secret, Hiruzen, and Iwa and Kumo in particular would like to get their hands on the most powerful doujutsu in existence. This is as much for the boy's sake as it for Konoha's."
Silence again. Inoichi glanced nervously between the two veterans, unmoving and locked in ocular battle. Finally, the Sandaime brought his pipe to his lips and inhaled.
"Fine, you may train the boy."
Inochi's eyes widened. "Hokage-sama-"
"However." The Sandaime fixed Danzo with a long, hard look. "You will train him and that is it. You will not turn him into a mindless robot. He will have teammates like anyone else and he will learn to pass on the Will of Fire like any Konoha shinobi. I do not want a reprisal of Root, is this understood?"
Smiling triumphantly, Danzo nodded in understand. "Very well, Hiruzen."
"From this moment forth Shimura Danzo is the new jounin-sensei of Team Seven!"
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'I wonder if this counts as taking a shower already.'
Trying to sneak through the heart of Ame was easier than Naruto would've thought. For one, there hardly seemed to be any ninja on patrol on this side of town. Occasionally, there would be a genin team or a few jounin on patrol, but most Ame ninja didn't linger too long outside without good reason. They probably wanted to stay out of the never-ending rain. The same rain, which, Naruto noted, was soaking into his clothes right now.
He'd seen Amegakure multiple times out of the little window in his room, but to see the massive skyscrapers towering high and the metal pipes crisscrossing and snaking up and down the streets and buildings in person...
"Kyuubi, I don't think we're in Konoha anymore."
"Shut up, mortal. You're centuries too young to be making that reference."
The village was just so cold, and it wasn't just the rain. There weren't any children playing in the streets, or people greeting each other, or merchants trying to reel in customers with their various curios. No, in Ame, you looked forward and kept your head down and didn't bother anyone who wasn't your business. Even the atmosphere was constantly dark and gloomy, as if reflecting the dispositions of its inhabitants the same way Konoha's sunny weather did with Hers.
Naruto saw, with a pang in his heart, an old woman sitting by the sidewalk with a cardboard flap over her head to shield her from the downpour. And the others walked by without sparing her a second glance. It just hurt to watch. As bad as Konoha was to him, they were never like this.
"Open your eyes, kit. This is the world."
The Uzumaki ignored his tenant as he crept along the shadows, staying out of sight until he could get out. He'd make it to the gate and once he was out, make a mad dash straight to Konoha, where hopefully, they'd welcome him back.
Of course he had to swipe a map from one of the stalls because geography was Sakura-chan's thing and not his. He'd considered getting himself some pants but decided against stealing stuff he didn't need that badly. The economy here seemed bad enough, no need for him to make it worse and have it weighing on his conscience.
Soon enough, the blonde made it to the towering walls that separated the main village of Amegakure from the wetlands that surrounded it. Through careful and creative application of Henge and Kage Bunshin, Naruto managed to grab a hold of the various nooks and holes in the wall and climb all the way to the top without drawing the attention of the sentry guards. A little part in the back of his mind warned him that this was easy, too easy, but Naruto decided he was just being paranoid about it.
'Look out, Konoha!' he screamed in his head. 'Your Hokage is coming back!'
Because that's who he was: Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konoha, and the genin who managed to escape from another Hidden Village completely unnoticed.
Or so he thought.
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'Kami, I'm exhausted.' Those who knew him would have thought it impossible for Uzumaki Naruto to ever, ever be exhausted. But non-stop sprinting through the wetlands of Rain Country took a toll on anyone, even the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Small country as it was, reaching the Rain-Fire border in a day, without any breaks, was as impressive as it was physically demanding.
'Thank kami there are trees.' Naruto collapsed against the familiar bark of one of Konoha's towering trees as his muscles melted off of him from the strain he'd put them under. 'Never again. Never. Again. My legs feel like they're gonna die.'
"Humans," scoffed the Kyuubi. "You're about to die from a little bit of physical exertion?"
Naruto responded with what was the mental version of giving his tenant the finger, as his large, heaving breaths tried to make up for the spent oxygen. At this point, he wanted nothing more than to just take a long, long, nap.
Of course, less than ten minutes of rest and destiny already had different plans in store for him.
"Kit, KIT, get up," the Kyuubi growled. "I can sense someone... three people... shinobi!"
"Too... tired..." whimpered Naruto. "I bet they're Leaf ninja anyway, no need to worry too much..:"
"Kit, I swear," the demon fox roared from within the blonde's mind. "I am not going to get myself killed because my idiot of a container exhausted running across a country. GET. UP."
Too late.
From the treetops, three hooded figures dropped down around the worn-out blond. A long-sleeved black robe concealed most of their body and their faces were covered by... animal masks!
'Ha,' cheered Naruto in his mind. 'Konoha ANBU! I knew it! They'll be able to take me back to Konoha and I can meet Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme again!"
"Hey," Naruto weakly called out. "ANBU-san, thank goodness. It's me, Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha genin. I got captured by Rain nin, but I managed to escape... Could you guys take me back to Konoha?"
He didn't expect the masked figures to stare at him in silence. They then turned to each other, signing with ANBU code until one of them verbally spoke, "It is him."
"Kit, I've got a bad feeling about this..." The Kyuubi sounded wary as its centuries of experience took over. "This doesn't seem right..."
"What are you talking about? They're Konoha ANBU, here to help me. The other ninja may hate me but I know the ANBU have never held a grudge towards me. They even helped me out of a few rough spots when I was a kid."
"Uzumaki Naruto," intoned one of them, the one with the Mole mask. Soundlessly, he drew a tipless tanto from his back and raised it in the air above Naruto, poised to strike. "We were told that if ever we found you... you were to die."
The boy's eyes widened. 'No.' He refused to believe it. 'No, no, something's wrong. This shouldn't be happening. ANBU are supposed to protect Konoha, why would they want to kill me?' The steel of the sword glinted in the earliest rays of the sun that had just begun to peek out from over the horizon. 'H-He wouldn't really kill me, would he?"
"Yes he would!" growled the Fox. "You're forgetting that your jiji isn't some doting grandfather; he's the damn Hokage!"
'But...'
"Just shut up and get the hell out of the way!"
"I can't... too... tired..."
"MOVE YOU DAMN IDIOT!"
"Goodbye, Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." The sword was sent slashing at the helpless, who tried his best to muster up any energy to dodge it. Hints of demonic chakra began to leak out but it wasn't enough to deter the ANBU.
All he could do now was close his eyes and wait for the cold steel to make contact. And he waited. And waited. But the blade never came.
Tentatively, he slowly opened his eyes and found himself amazed at the sight he saw. The tanto was a few mere millimeters above his face, held in the air by a folded sheet of paper. Like a swarm of bees more sheets began to flutter in from the surrounding treeline until the air was a storm of vicious slips of paper.
The paper began to envelop Mole, restricting him from struggling until it clasped around his mouth and cut off his air flow. A few spasms later and the ANBU wasn't resisting anymore.
Before they could react, Mole's two teammates were struck by paper shuriken in the base of their necks; they never knew what hit them.
The sheet began to fold together, layering on top of each other one on top of the other in mid-air as if covering an invisible papier mâché base. Slowly, they began to take color as the entire thing acquired shape and Naruto blinked in surprise at who had saved him. Konan.
"Naruto-kun," she nodded at him as if in greeting.
"Konan," Naruto rasped out as she picked him up off the floor. Vaguely he could catch what seemed like paper wings form behind her, almost like an angel's. "I... I'm sorry I left."
"Well?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Take me back to Ame. I... I accept your offer. I will become a member of the Akatsuki."
xxx
Henge (変化の術) Transformation Technique: E-Rank ninjutsu. One of the first jutsu Konoha ninja are taught in the academy, and one of the three needed for one to pass. A rudimentary form of genjutsu is applied on the user to take on the appearance of another person. Despite its low level, it is one of the hardest jutsu to use to maximum effectiveness due to the constant emission of chakra needed to sustain the illusion and the mental strain on the user as they have to take into account every possible factor in their illusion. this becomes even more difficult if the Henge'd user interacts with the environment. Skilled shinobi and novice sensors can pick up on the chakra disruption and know if a Henge is present. More advanced forms of the Henge are actual ninjutsu, allowing physical transformation, but such variations are mostly chakra-costly and more difficult to maintain.
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (影分身の術) Shadow Clone Technique: B-Rank ninjutsu. Naruto's trademark ninjutsu that allows one to create corporeal clones rather than mere illusions. The user allocates a portion of their chakra (by default their chakra is evenly divided into each clone but with practice more control can be achieved over chakra distribution) into these clones, which are exact duplicates of the original. A clone dispels when it runs out of chakra or if hit with enough force; the required force decreases as the clone loses chakra. When dispelled, any remaining chakra from the clone returns to the user, which also lets the user acquire the memories of dispelled clones (subsequently, if the chakra does not return for whatever reason or there is no chakra to return, the user does not acquire the clone's memories). A-Rank version Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (多重影分身の術) Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Oiroke no Jutsu (おいろけの術) Sexy Technique: E-Rank ninjutsu (can be SS-Rank if used properly). The jutsu that Naruto created back in the days of the Academy, the Sexy Technique applies the Henge to transform Naruto into a nude or scantily clad female. Effects may vary depending on the gender and perversion level of the target. Used in conjunction with Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, it also allows Naruto to use the even deadlier Harem no Jutsu.
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Japanese terms:
Iryounin: Medic-nin
Taichou: Captain (usually of a squad)
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UWAAAAAAAH I'm so sorry this took so long ;_; I kept putting it off over and over and... yeah pretty soon five months had passed. I have no excuses.
I worked pretty hard on this chapter. It was pretty interesting to write, but I'd like to know you guys' opinions so leave a review! It's the only way I'll know if I 'm doing something wrong :P
Thanks to those who bothered to continue reading this and I'LL SEE YOU SOON :D