Chapter 3
Mornings were always a quiet time at the Aburame clan "hives" as people called them. Truthfully the clan homes were always quiet, with the exception of the soft buzzing from the actual hives that spawned new swarms for newborn members or those whose swarms were destroyed by things like poison or electrocution.
But in the home of the clan head things seemed tense, and while outsiders wouldn't be able to tell the difference in Shibi's usually stoic demeanor, but son could almost as soon as he sat for breakfast.
Shino studied his father for a while as they ate alone in silence; Shino's mother was out of the village researching a few insects that might be good additions to the hive.
"Father, is something bothering you?" Shino asked quietly.
Shibi sighed lightly, "Son, what do you know about Uzumaki Naruto? What is your relationship with him?"
A bit confused by the question, Shino answered, "I consider him an ally, and a friend. We don't spend much time together, and he has always been a bit strange, but he has been gaining strength at a surprising rate for having been the last of our class. He is a good person as I have heard. One of my teammates used to get into trouble pulling pranks with him, and the other is, attracted to him. Why do you ask?"
"I trust you know the details of his most recent mission."
Shino nodded, "Uchiha Sasuke attempted to defect to Otogakure with the help of Oto-nin, they were stopped by Naruto, Kiba, a few of my other former classmates, and a few ninja from Suna. Hinata was crushed when she heard Naruto was in critical condition and she was unable to visit him at the time."
"Yes, I am pleased you know the truth, several in the village were spreading rumors that he was kidnapped. But, due to certain events during that mission, those of the civilian council are convinced that Uzumaki has become a threat, and, against the judgment of the majority of the clan heads as well as myself, they saw fit to sentence him to be banished in one week's time.
"I see no logic in that," Shino said in his usual monotone, "as little time as I have spent personally with him, it is glaringly obvious that he would do nothing to bring harm to the village, in truth, he would die to keep it safe."
"As true as that may be, there are certain circumstances that prevent people from seeing that. The civilians on the council fear him because of these circumstances, and that is not likely to change."
"Father, these 'circumstances', does it have to do with the strange chakra he used against Neji in the chunin exams."
"What sort of 'strange chakra'?"
Shino shook his head, "I am not sure, but my insects didn't like it, it seemed almost…inhuman."
Shibi raised his brow, his son had gotten close to the truth, "I am sorry, but I am not allowed to speak of it, so you will have to ask Naruto-san himself for the answer. But, I can say this, what was meant to mark him as a hero, has brought him nothing but the hatred and abuse of many in this village, and, in social acceptance, has made him a little like us. I have tried to help him before and adopt him as your brother, but that other chakra of his is poisonous for our Kikaichu, and my attempts, as well as those of many other clan heads, were blocked by those who fear him. They felt allowing him into any clan would make him stronger, and that is not something they wanted."
Shino, although he didn't show it, was greatly surprised at the idea; he had always wanted a sibling when he was growing up. Because of the insects in his body, not many wanted to try being his friend, so the thought of someday having a brother or sister that he could talk to, he could teach, he could have fun with, brought a slight smile to his face in his younger days. And who knows, adoption into the Aburame clan could have made Naruto into a whole different person, and the thought of seeing Naruto as a trench coat clad, quiet, calculating Aburame was… amusing to say the least. "So they wish to be rid of him because of these ignorant fears they have?" His father nodded, "And is there anything we can do?"
"At the moment, I have a few clan members searching the legal records for any precedence that may help, but the prospects are bleak at best."
Shino rose from his seat, "Please excuse me, father, I wish to think over these things." And he left the room, thinking, Naruto, what are you hiding?
^~^~^~^~^~^~^-------------------
Sakura showed up at the training ground early and was trying to get in some exorcises, knowing she had a long way to go after near starving herself to look good. She spent some time trying to figure out the strength trick she had smashed the training post with, but so far she just ended up with some scraped knuckles, it seemed so far she could only use it when she was really pissed or upset, and even then it seemed to only be good for a burst like a punch or kick. Maybe I can get Neji or Hinata to check my chakra when I try again.
"You're early," Sakura turned to see her new bun-haired teacher walking towards her, "Glad to see you didn't pick up any of your teacher's bad habits."
At least she doesn't know about the book hidden in the back of my dresser, Sakura thought before bowing politely, "Thank you, Tenten-sensei, and thank you for teaching me, I know I have a way to go."
"No problem, Sakura, like you said yesterday, with Lee and Neji in the hospital and Gai-sensei on a mission, I don't have much to do. Now did you decide what weapon you want to start with?"
The pinkette nodded, "I looked over the list and thought I should start with the Bo staff, I thought it would be a good, balanced weapon to start with," she scratched the back of her head in a very Naruto-like gesture before adding, "and at least with that I don't have to worry about an accidental stab wound."
Tenten smiled, she's starting to take all this seriously, she thought, the weapons specialist always cringed a little when she thought back to the pitiful slap-fest between her new student and the Yaminaka, and at least the blonde had bothered to learn a jutsu outside of the base academy three. The brunette unsealed a pair of staves and tossed one to Sakura, "Well then, let's see what I have to work with," she said with a devious glint in her eye that, frankly, scared Sakura.
The young Haruno knew she would be in quite a bit of pain come lunchtime.
^~^~^~^~^~^~^-------------------
Naruto blinked his eyes open as the first rays of dawn shone through the windows. He turned his head just enough to get his eyes out of the light, in his half asleep state, he just thought, These hospital pillows have gotten comfier, and softer, but as he adjusted his head to get more comfortable, he was greeted with a soft moan. It was then he remembered the sleeping arrangements before he fell asleep, and realized what the 'pillows' probably were.
But before he could move, a pair of arms around his chest as Anko whispered groggily into his ear, "Good morning, Naruto-kun, now go back to sleep." He tried to get free, but was held down, "You're not going anywhere, except back to sleep."
"C'mon, Anko-chan, I know I can't leave the hospital, but can't I just go for a walk? If I stay here in bed for days I'll go crazy."
Anko propped herself on an elbow and looked at the boy, at this point she didn't feel like arguing, and she understood how hard it would be to stay still for him. She ran through a few hand signs and summoned a pair of vipers, each about three feet long, one was a light orange with grey blue stripes, the other with the reversed colors.
The mainly orange one spoke first, "You called, Mistressss."
The other wasn't so nice, "Why the hell are you calling usss at this ungodly hour, mistresss?"
Anko addressed the three, "Naruto-kun, this is Euryale," she motioned to the light orange one, who she addressed next, "You are to make sure Naruto doesn't leave the hospital, and you are also to protect him, there are those around the hospital who aren't as fond of him as I am. And Euryale, be clear, I like this kid and so do a fair number of powerful people, if something happens to him, you'll probably end up as a belt, understand?" The serpent nodded and Anko turned to the other snake, "Stheno, you will stay with me, and alert me if Naruto and your sister get into trouble, and the same threat goes for you, got it?" The other snake nodded. The lighter colored viper slithered up and around Naruto's neck. "Run along, gaki, so I can go back to sleep."
Naruto stood with a confused look, "How will we alert you?"
Anko opened one slightly blood shot eye and the snake on his shoulder spoke, "Naruto-sssan, I will explain while you walk, ssso as not to disturb Mistressss." Naruto nodded and left with the snake, a part of him noticing the missing pig from the room. Once they were in the hall, a light snore came from the room as Naruto started walking the halls. The snake spoke again, "Thank you, Naruto-sssan, the Mistressss can be a little…disagreeable when she doesn't get enough sssleep. Now, to answer your question, if there is trouble, we will be able to contact them through my sisster. We are twinsss, two who are born of the sssame egg, and we share a sort of mental connection, so we can contact each other over great distances."
"Wow," Naruto said in awe, "I wish had a twin I could do that with."
Euryale put on an expression that reminded Naruto of a smile, "Yess, it iss cool, but sometimes my sisster can be a little annoying with it, she can be very brash at times."
Naruto took a moment to see where his feet had taken him; the hallway was empty save for a single ANBU next to a door, who seemed to be asleep, leaning against the wall. Naruto walked up and waved his hand in front of the masked face, I don't believe it, asleep on the job. And who's he guarding? Naruto peeked in the door and saw a familiar redhead with her legs in casts. He walked in, still trying to remember where he knew her from and wondering what happened to her. When he was beside her, an eye cracked open.
"What the fuck do you want, Blondie?" The young woman asked, sounding very pissed off, "Now they send little fucking kids to interrogate me?"
"Hey, you're not that much older than me!" Naruto yelled, before he realized who this was, "Hey, you're that lady who was helping Sasuke try to run!"
"Well congratulations, dumbass, you got it in one. Now can you leave me to rot in fucking peace?"
"Well excuse me for worrying lady! I saw your ANBU guard asleep and thought there might be trouble!"
Tayuya was silenced, not many people would yell back at her, and then she saw the orange snake. She remembered something from her earlier years, bright colored bugs and lizards are usually colored like that for a reason, Monarch butterflies, poison arrow frogs, they had bright colors to warn predators they were poisonous, the same could probably be said of this snake. She sneered at the boy, "So that fucking bastard sent one of his little spies to finish me off, huh? Well eat shit, fucker, that blonde cock sucker already did that mind scan thing, so they already know what I do, so you're too late."
Naruto turned to the snake, "Do you know what she's talking about?"
Euryale looked to the redhead, "Well, Naruto-ssan, I think she believes that we work for the traitor Orochimaru."
He turned to the sound kunoichi, "Why the hell would I work for that bastard? Last time I saw him he almost killed baa-chan to get me."
The redhead looked confused, "Why the hell would he bother with a little bitch like you?"
Naruto put his hands on his hips, "Because Kabuto-teme was out cold after I put him through a bolder."
"And you expect me to believe a leaf headed punk beat Kabuto-hentai?" Tayuya asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"I don't care if you believe it, it's the truth. I blasted him through a bolder with my Rasengan."
Euryale decided to re-enter the conversation, "And I would appreciate it if you didn't insinuate any sort of connection between myself and that giant worm Manda." She put so much venom into that name that some seemed to drip from her fangs.
Tayuya looked between the two for a moment, "Then what the fuck are you two doing here?"
"Naruto-ssan wanted to take a walk, and he is not to be left to his own devices, should he get into trouble," the serpent took note and chuckled at the indignant look on the blonds face before continuing, "And since Mistressss is not quite a morning person, she summoned me to keep him out of trouble."
"So you're this fucking brat's babysitter?"
"Hey," Naruto interjected, "I don't need a babysitter! Euryale is just here in case I get attacked while I'm recovering from getting hit with two, TWO, chidori hits, so why don't you just shut it lady!?"
The redhead chuckled, "So that Sharingan brat used a chidori on you? I remember seeing him use that in the exams before our attack, the red eyed fuck must have pussed out if you're still standing here."
She was surprised to see the anger drain from his face, replaced with sadness, "You're wrong," he moved a hand to his chest, "he was right on target, he hit me here," he moved his hand down to his stomach, "and here. I saw him as a brother, and he used an assassination jutsu on me twice."
Tayuya crossed her arms and turned her head away, there seemed to be something in this kids expression that she couldn't stand to look directly at, "Che…we're ninja, kid, we market in deceit and death, so get used to it and grow a pair, or give it up. What, you spoiled leaf brats think it's all glory and taking down the bad guy, becoming a hero?" Naruto chuckled a little, "And what the hell is so funny, fuck nut?"
"Of all things to describe my life, spoiled definitely isn't one of them." She turned and looked at the blond whose eyes seemed to ooze pain, "Lady, outside of missions, how many assassination attempts have been targeted right at you, with only you as a target?" He saw a look of confusion cross her face as he continued, "By the time I was five years old, there had been about twenty or thirty that I can remember, and that's not counting all the times the orphanage workers gave me rotten food, if any at all. When I was five, I was forced out of the orphanage, and by the time I was ten there had been a total of around ninety to a hundred outright tries to kill me. And when I graduated the academy, it was only because a teacher tricked me and tried to kill me and another teacher before I kicked his ass. You said you were at the Chunin Exams, right?" Tayuya nodded, a bit too taken aback by the quiet outburst to use words, "And you saw my match, right?" She nodded again, "That guy I fought was supposed to be the greatest prodigy of his generation, the top of his class, and I, the guy with the lowest passing grades of my class, beat him with just my shadow clone jutsu, after that I fought and beat Garra of the sand, even after he let out that damn Tanuki. Want to guess what rank I still am?"
The redheads eyes widened when tears started to fall from Naruto's, "I helped to defeat Gato and his thugs in the Land of Waves, I saved the princess of snow, I helped the Wasabi clan get back in control of their land, I helped save Takigakure from that jerk Suien, and most in this village still act like I should be thanking them for letting me live this long. Let me tell you, I am a lot of things, but spoiled isn't one of them."
For one of the few times in her life, Tayuya actually felt bad for someone else, for someone who, by all rights, should be her enemy, and it didn't help that, of the sound four, she was probably the only one to have anything resembling morals or a conscience. "If all that crap is true, then why in the fuck are you still here? If you can beat the Uchiha bastard, and he managed to get out, then just fucking bolt on out of here."
A small smile came across Naruto's face, "You know, you're the second person to ask me that since yesterday, and you'll get the same answer. I stay for the same reason I am a ninja, so I can protect those I care about and those who are precious to me, and to someday become the Hokage."
Tayuya looked the kid over, seeking any sign of deception. When she couldn't find any hint of a lie, she felt a small, grudging respect for the blond appear. She smirked, "What's your name again brat?"
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"Well, Uzumaki, maybe you aren't as much of a worthless little bitch as I thought you were."
)()()()()()()(
Inside her cage, Kyuubi sat in her human form in a meditative stance. She had heard bits and pieces of what was going on outside, and she had to agree with one thing she had heard, Naruto was little. Plainly put, the boy seemed too underdeveloped, and if anything, her presence should have boosted his growth rate. Even with the years of malnutrition, he should have been one of the taller and more muscular kids in his class.
Kyuubi slowly reached a tendril of her chakra out of the cage and through the halls of her hosts mind, slowly feeling its way around and inspecting for anything out of the ordinary. After a while, she hit pay dirt as the tendril brushed against something that definitely shouldn't be there, an imprint of somebody else's chakra. It wasn't hers or Naruto's, and it wasn't the same as the Yondaime's, which was still present in her own seal, and whatever it was doing, she couldn't believe it was good.
Slowly, the tendril brushed against the mark, looking for a weakness she could use to destroy it.
)()()()()()()(
Tsunade woke in her office chair covered in a blanket she assumed had been draped over her by her assistant. She had worked on her plans late into the night, and had not gotten to sleep until early in the morning. She reached up for a half filled glass of cold coffee and downed it before calling out for her assistant, "Shizune, more coffee," knowing she would need her energy for today.
After a new pot was brought to her, the blond looked over her work so far, she had to be careful in her planning so as to leave as few openings for Naruto's enemies as possible, but deep down she was just delaying the inevitable. No matter what, she would have to tell the young Uzumaki of his sentence, and help him get things in order, as well as get things straightened out with his friends and the business with the Inuzuka clan. She wondered what Tsume might be planning, hoping the feral woman wasn't too serious about Naruto marrying into her clan, leaving the village with a litter of hyperactive Inuzuka kids with a penchant for pranks.
A knock came to the door before Shizune came in, "Shishou, Jiraiya is here."
Tsunade downed another cup of coffee before answering, "Alright, send him in."
The white haired Sannin came in with a grin, "I knew you couldn't resist my charms forever, Hime, but wasn't an ANBU retrieval a bit much."
"Shut it, pervert, I'm not in the mood to deal with your crap right now. First off, in their infinite stupidity, the council majority has decided that Naruto is beginning to pose a threat to them, so they held a vote for his execution."
"WHAT!?" the toad sage roared, his Hari Jizō accidentally activating and firing a few needles at the wall behind him.
"But Danzo changed it to banishment until he can prove he is no threat. And the fact that it was Danzo who suggested banishment means he's planning something for Naruto that he wouldn't be willing to try when he's here in the village."
"Well screw that," Jiraiya growled, "I'm going with him, and Danzo's little punks aren't gonna get through me."
"You're not going anywhere," Tsunade said as she handed him a stack of papers.
Jiraiya read through them for a moment, his eyes widening every few pages, "And what makes you so sure I'm going to go along with this? I denied the job once, so why should I take it now?"
In a second the blond had him pinned against the wall, his neck in one hand and a scalpel in the other, "I'll give you three good reasons. First, because it's best for Naruto, second, because you're better at all this hand in the shadows, cloak and dagger bullshit than I am, and finally because, if you don't, I will finish what I started years ago and remove your other testicle, is that good enough?" The toad sage, who was sweating profusely at this point, nodded, "Good." She released him and he fell to his feet, shielding the threatened treasure he had left as the Godaime continued, "Look on the bright side, it's only temporary, and you can make trouble for whoever goes after you." Her expression turned solemn, "Now we have to go tell him about all this, and it would be a good idea to have you there too." And the two left for the hospital, both knowing they were about to crush a young boys world.
)()()()()()()(
In one corner of the village of Konoha, there stood a house, and in that house lived Hasegawa Daisuke and his wife Michiko. Daisuke was a simple carpenter and his wife was a homemaker, or at least that was what everyone thought. In reality, they were what the couple called "watchers", to everyone else they where a sort of spy. The two of them weren't big infiltration, file stealing, cloak and dagger spies, they were simply paid to keep an eye on the village and report about the goings on within the village, and since the two of them were never ninja, it wasn't against any type of peace treaty. At the moment, the couple was working on their report on the recent events surrounding the last Uchiha, a few clan heirs, and one Uzumaki Naruto. At first Daisuke wasn't really planning on mentioning Uzumaki, but the recent decision to banish the boy changed that, after which Michiko pointed out that the possibility of a gennin who was trained favored by two Sannin and trained by one after which he defeated the last Uchiha. And after that, she reminded her husband of what happened to the last person who omitted information the spy mistakenly deemed useless to the new Tsuchikage.
Last they heard, he had just stopped shitting gravel.
With the threat in mind, they included all they could find about the young outcast blond, before putting it in the hidden storage blood seal on a messenger hawks back before the bird flew off.
)()()()()()()(
Two thirds of the legendary three walked into the room that should hold their young charge, to find only a sleeping Anko Mitarashi. A tick mark appearing on her head, Tsunade walked towards the dreaming Jonin and landed a good thump on her head. Just as Anko was about to start yelling she noticed who it was she was about to threaten with death, a pissed off looking Tsunade.
"Anko," the medic said with a strained voice, "Is there any part of 'keep an eye on Naruto' that you don't understand?"
The snake jonin chuckled nervously, "Relax, Tsunade, I'm tracking him," she looked to her side at the snake who had just woke and lifted its head, "Stheno, where is your sister and Naruto?"
The viper was silent for a few seconds before replying, "Sisster and the blond are two floors up and twenty feet to the wessst, Euryale says Naruto is talking to a kunoichi with red hair and broken legsss."
Anko turned to her boss, "See, the brats just making friends with someone."
Tsunade seethed for a moment, "Anko, he's talking to the captured Oto-nin, the curse marked one."
)()()()()()()(
Naruto rubbed an ache on the back of his head as he continued talking with his new acquaintance. She was a little rough, and difficult to get used to, but Tayuya, as she had introduced herself, wasn't so bad. And once you manage to filter out her cursing, she was nice for conversation.
Tayuya herself wasn't doing so bad herself. Her legs still tingled, but the drugs helped a lot. And the blond she was talking to wasn't so bad. She realized she probably wasn't going anywhere, especially since she had nowhere to go, Orochimaru didn't like failure, and with her the last of the Sound Five he may just decide to start fresh. Her best case scenario would be a quick death, and worst case would be a slow one from his sick experiments.
They were talking pleasantly enough, at least by their respective standards, when suddenly they heard a woman's voice yelling outside, "You aren't getting paid to be sleeping, you idiot!" after which the ANBU from the hall sailed in through the door and out the window, in the doorway, Naruto saw Tsunade, Jiraiya and Anko, the blond looked pissed, Anko was snickering at the ANBU and Jiraiya looked uncharacteristically serious.
"Hey Ero-sennin, Anko-chan, Tsunade-baa-chan," Naruto said smiling, not noticing the strange look from the redhead.
TSUNADE-BAA-CHAN? This little fucker's granny is the snake bastard's teammate? Tayuya was suddenly very nervous, if this was Tsunade, then chances where the old man was Jiraiya, and if Naruto could get away with openly calling them names like that, they were probably close to him.
Anko was the first to speak, "Naruto," she said in a fake hurt voice, "I can't believe you left me alone and came here just to be with another girl," she sniffled and wiped away a fake tear, "what would Hinata think?"
Naruto and Tayuya both turned bright red, and Tayuya temporarily forgot who was in the room when she screamed, "IT AIN'T FUCKIN LIKE THAT, I AIN'T SOME STUPID WHORE WHO SPREADS HER LEGS ANY IDIOT LIKE THAT!" The redhead's eyes widened and she immediately slapped a hand over her own mouth as she saw the two Sannin glare at her, Anko just giggled and Naruto stayed silent, his face red enough to put Hinata to shame.
Tsunade decided to ignore the Oto-nin's outburst for the moment and turned to Naruto, "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay in bed?"
Naruto sighed, "C'mon, Baa-chan, I was just stretching my legs, and I didn't leave the hospital, and Euryale was with me."
"Naruto, you just had a very near-death experience, anyone else would have died. You may heal fast, but you need to rest like anyone else or you could hurt yourself."
Naruto saw the concern etched in the elder blonds face, "Sorry, Baa-chan, but I just wanted to take a walk."
The Hokage sighed, "Well, are you feeling alright?'
Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Well, I have a bit of a headache."
"Let me take a look, last thing we need is for you to survive a hole through your gut only to die from a brain aneurism." The medic-nin's hands began to glow green as she ran them around the boys head, stopping at the base of the skull. She suddenly got very angry, as evidenced by the fact that she put a fist through a wall, "Jiraiya, come here," she said in a strained voice as she brought him to a corner of the room.
The two whispered to each other too quietly for the others to hear, Naruto was worried as Anko put a hand on his shoulder, and Tayuya was a little worried about him, but was mostly freaked out by the fact that Tsunade just punched through a solid wall.
When the two stopped talking, they turned to the boy. Tsunade spoke first, "Naruto, I need to shave the back of your head."
"What!?" of all the things he might have expected, that wasn't it.
The hokage looked to him with pleading eyes, "Just trust me, Naruto, I can stimulate growth and have your hair back to normal in a shortly, but this is important."
The younger blond looked at her for a moment before sitting in a chair, "Make it quick please."
Tsunade formed a chakra scalpel and shaved a strip on the back of Naruto's head and Anko gasped at what she saw. Jiraiya stepped behind him, spending a little time inspecting his scalp before turning to his old teammate, "You're right, it's angled a little low, so it is possible."
Naruto was getting a little worried, "What's going on back there?"
Tsunade ignored him for the moment, "Jiraiya, can you remove it?"
"Of course, Hime, it won't be pleasant, and with it…"
"Her."
"What?"
Tsunade sighed, "Her, not it, I'll explain later, continue."
Jiraiya was quiet for a second, "Right, anyway, her interference is what revealed it and seems to be weakening it. I can remove it easy, but it won't be painless."
Anko Finally spoke herself, "Is that what I think it is?" she asked, a little fear and anger evident in her voice.
"WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE JUST FUCKING TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?" Naruto yelled, getting everyone's attention.
Tayuya for on, chuckled, I must be rubbing off on the kid a little.
The chuckle got Tsunade's attention, "Naruto, maybe we should talk back in your room."
Naruto crossed his arms, "I am not moving until you tell me what is going on, I don't care what Tayuya hears."
Tsunade sighed and pulled up her own chair to sit in front of him, "Naruto, in the ANBU level prison, there is a special seal used on the prisoners, a Restriction Seal that is normally linked to the aggression centers of the brain. This is done to lesson aggressive behavior in violent criminals. However," She continues, anger dripping from her voice," it seems SOMEONE saw fit at some point earlier in your life, to place that seal on you, but instead of linking it to that section of your brain they, either by blind stupid luck or precise aim, linked it to restrict your pituitary gland, retarding puberties effects and your physical growth, probably to make you weak. We may have never noticed it if not for the fact that she seems to have found it and is trying to break it herself. The pervert should be able to remove it, but it will hurt."
"What kind of sick fucking bastard puts a seal like that on a kid!?" Tayuya exclaimed, her curse seal may not be pleasant, but at least it had benefits.
Jiraiya shook his head, "Unfortunately, that list is way too long."
Tayuya looked at the young Uzumaki, "Seals, assassination attempts, rank sabotage, what the fuck did you do to piss people off?"
"HE didn't do anything," Anko hissed, which was echoed by her summoned snakes, "This village is just full of idiots who see a kunai instead of a scroll."
"Anyway," Jiraiya said, diverting the conversation, "A certain someone knocked the seal loose, so it should be quick and easy to remove, it'll just hurt like hell. I can do it now, if you're ready?" Naruto thought for a moment and nodded. Jiraiya took out a bottle of ink and began to scribble on the back of his head, after a minute, Naruto dropped to the ground, clutching his head in pain. After a couple minutes he lay on the ground motionless.
After a moment, Tayuya broke the silence, "Is he…alive?"
"Yeah, he'll be out for a few minutes," the toad sage replied as Tsunade picked Naruto up and placed him in a chair, placing glowing hands on the back of his head, "I had to use a counterseal method and let them cancel each other out, since I couldn't cut it off without killing him, sealing this seal would be useless, and it isn't the type of seal that can just be released."
"I guess it's a good thing the fox bitch found the damned thing, huh?" Tayuya saw the others in the room look at her with surprise, "What? I ain't fucking stupid, the snake bastard said the fox was sealed in someone, the brat has had a shit life, and please 'SHE found it' 'HER interference' and the 'kunai not the scroll' bit, you old fucks ain't very good at keeping secrets."
While Jiraiya was holding Tsunade back, as she tried to get Tayuya for the age insult, Anko dismissed her summons and looked to the redhead, "Before you open you big mouth again, there is a law in place that, under pain of death, prevents you from talking about it to those who don't already know."
"Who the hell am I gonna fucking tell anyways?" The redhead asked, "I'm a prisoner, and I certainly am not walking out of here."
Anko glared a little at the captured kunoichi, but was cut off by Tsunade, "Anko, Take Naruto back to his room, Jiraiya, go with her and make sure the seal is completely gone."
"What, no faith in my seal skills Hime?"
The pervert shrank under the blond woman's glare, "Just go." Jiraiya disappeared out the door after Naruto and Anko. Alone with the prisoner, Tsunade spoke, "What did he say to you before we got here?" She asked in a tone that promised pain if she was lied to.
Tayuya gulped, fearing the wrong answer would have her buried in a coffin, dead or alive, "When he got here, I saw the snake and thought the snake bastard got another spy past your shitty security. I insulted him and he got all pissy about the Uchiha trying to kill him," her expression fell, "then I said something I sorta…regret now, and it ain't often I regret my words." She saw a questioning look on the older woman's face and elaborated, "I called him spoiled. I've spent most of my life on the streets, and Oto wasn't exactly a five star resort, when I was a kid I always thought of the Five Shinobi Nations as these great and powerful rich groups of pompous, spoiled, tight assed, selfish ninja assholes. Now in comes this brat from what is supposed to be the 'Greatest Shinobi Nation' who's been through shit that makes Oto look almost like a loving daycare, just had a teammate try to fucking kill him, and the whole time had a seal on him to keep him as some undeveloped midget, and you know why he was here? He was worried for someone else because the fucking ANBU was asleep on the job. If half the shit he implied was true it's a fucking wonder he can feel any emotion for himself, let alone someone who is supposed to be his enemy."
The female hokage sighed, "Yeah, that seems to be a pattern, he fights someone and later they somehow end up his friends. He even tried fighting me when we first met," Tayuya looked at her like she was crazy, "Yeah, he egged me into a fight, I won, but a week later he saved my ass when we fought Orochimaru." The blond smirked, "Believe it or not, that little idiot has also fought Orochimaru too, and he lived."
Tayuya's eyes couldn't get any wider, "That little bastard either has balls of steel or rocks for brains."
Tsunade chuckled, "I think it's just a little of each, but he can be pretty clever when he can focus." The medic turned serious again, "I have a question for you, and I will have honest answers, understand?" Tayuya nodded vigorously, "Good, what would you do if you got out of here?"
"Fuck if I know, I can't go back to Oto I'm the last of the team and the snake bastard would probably want to just start over, and would probably use me for those fucked up experiments of his, you'd be doing me a favor just killing me now."
An almost creepy smile spread across the slug Sannin's face, "How about I make you an offer…"
)()()()()()()(
Naruto groaned as he came to, he saw Jiraiya and Anko, "What hit me?"
"How do you feel Kit?"
"Like boss toad hit me." He thought a moment when he saw the confused looks of the other shinobi before he realized, that wasn't Anko's voice or Jiraiya's, "Kyuubi?"
Jiraiya looked a bit nervous when Naruto heard an answer, "You can hear me now?"
Naruto looked to the Sannin, "Ero-sennin, why can I hear Kyuubi in my head?"
Anko giggled a bit as Jiraiya did a quick check on Naruto's seal, after thinking for a moment he answered, "The seal seems fine, so I might guess that you were supposed to be able to talk to her at some point anyways, but the Restriction Seal I just removed might have blocked it. Since it wasn't meant to be used like that it may have messed with other parts of your mind, even when it is used right on prisoners it sometimes causes stuff like memory loss and attention deficits. Just be careful talking to her," Anko burst out laughing, "what the hell is so funny."
Anko stopped laughing just long enough to look at Naruto and say, "You've got a voice stuck in your head now." Before she started laughing again, but she stopped when Tsunade came in with a distinctly solemn look on her face.
"How are you feeling Naruto?"
"Well, I still have a bit of a headache and I hear Kyuubi when I'm awake now."
Tsunade looked shocked at the last bit, "You said you trust her, Right?" He nodded, "Then just be careful of what she says."
"You'd think she didn't trust me," Kyuubi said to her vessel.
Before he could react, Tsunade continued, "Naruto, I'm afraid I have some bad news."
The way she had said it made Naruto pale, "I…I'm not dying am I?"
The two Sannin sighed as Tsunade spoke, "No, Naruto, you aren't dying. Against my wishes and most of the clan heads, and by only a very slight majority, the council of Konoha has decided that in a week's time…you will be banished from the walls of Konoha."
All was silent in the room for a few moments as Naruto wore a blank expression, as tears formed in his eyes it was actually Anko who reacted first, "WHAT!? WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE FOSSILS THINKING?"
"They are actually using Kyuubi as an excuse, they think since Naruto used her power that he is losing control and he should be banished until he can prove to them that he won't be a threat."
The snake jonin was fuming, "They'll never accept that he won't be a threat, the only reason he would be allowed back into the village is so they can dance on his grave."
"Originally they were moving to execute him, and we barely avoided that." She pulled Naruto into a hug that, for a second, made Jiraiya green with envy, until the youth began sobbing into the medics chest, "Naruto, I'm sorry about this," She pulled the boy up and looked him in the eye, "Naruto, do you trust me?" slowly he nodded, "Then I need to tell you that I'm working on something to help you, I can't tell you what at the moment, but I will not just throw you out into the cold. Is there anyone outside of the village that you know you can trust, who you know will take you in?"
Naruto sniffled and thought for a moment before answering, "Yeah, I know I can trust Tazuna and his family in Wave and Koyuki, and I should be able to trust the Wasabi Clan as well."
"Alright, you have a week to get things in order, and I have a week to get things ready, when you do have to leave I want you to head towards Wave, understand?"
"Why baa-chan?"
"Because Wave is closest, other than that I just need you to trust me, okay," Before she could continue there was a knock on the door.
Anko moved to open it and when she did there was an indefinable orange blur and a distinct cry of "Boss" before Naruto was nearly knocked out of his hospital bed. There with her arms around Naruto's waist and her tearful eyes buried in his chest was a young pig-tailed girl crying, "You can't leave us, Boss, you just can't."
"Moegi?" Naruto exclaimed before a voice came from the door.
"I'm sorry, she got away from me," everyone but Moegi turned to see Koharu in the door, "we would have been here sooner but I let her sleep in since she had been up late crying."
Anko's eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here?"
The old woman sighed, "I merely came to bring my granddaughter to visit her 'Boss' and extend my apologies to him for what the council has done."
Tsunade stepped next to the elder kunoichi, "So this is your little treasure, huh?"
Koharu nodded and spoke quietly, "She is all I have left to remember my late daughter. A few days before the chunin exams, when the nominations where held and Kakashi nominated his team, an academy instructor spoke out feeling the young ones where not ready. That night my little Moegi told me about this bad Ame-nin that kidnapped her and how 'Boss' had risked his life to save her. Apparently the instructor was the Ame-nin and was testing Naruto, but he didn't know that. He risked himself against an unknown enemy to save Moegi-chan, and for that I am grateful."
Anko scowled, "So he's only a monster until he helps you? So what is he now, a guard dog?" Anko growled, "I wonder what your 'little treasure' would think if she knew what you're responsible for when it comes to her boss."
"Anko-chan," The women turned to Naruto, who seemed to be in the middle of a conversation and was staring intently at Anko and shook his head before turning to Tsunade, "Baa-chan, am I going to be able to leave today?"
Tsunade nodded, "Yes, and Tsume wanted you to come by this afternoon, she said she has something to give you."
Naruto turned to his younger friend, "Moegi, do you still have your key?" the girl nodded, "then would you mind running to my place and getting me some new clothes, my old ones are a little torn up from my mission. We can talk more after that."
Moegi sniffled and nodded before heading out the door, "I'll be right back boss, Gam-gam."
After he was sure the young girl was gone, Naruto turned to the snake jonin, "Anko-chan, don't say anything like that to Moegi, I don't want her to lose a grandmother over me."
All of the elder four where surprised as Jiraiya spoke, "Naruto, you could hear them?"
The young blond nodded and looked to Koharu, "I'm not doing this for you, but if Moegi found out it would just make things harder for her. And you had better be there for her."
Koharu nodded and smiled, I don't see how I could have thought he was a demon at all.
Tsunade stepped up to Naruto, "While that's very noble of you, Naruto," she made a few hand signs as her hands began to glow and placed them over his ears, "I'm wondering how you where able to hear us though."
"Maybe that seal Ero-sennin was talking about screwed with my hearing."
Koharu blinked, "What seal?"
Tsunade turned to her elder Kunoichi, "Someone put a prison level Restriction seal on Naruto, only it was restricting his Pituitary gland. I don't suppose you would know anything about that, would you 'Elder Koharu'?"
The elder shook her head, "I didn't have anything to do with it if that's what you're asking. If I had to guess it would be either my former teammate Homura or one of the civilian council who gave the order, those on the Shinobi half of the council either support the boy or are not powerful enough to think they can get away with it, and Danzo sees him as a weapon, so weakening a weapons of his own wouldn't fit his personality."
"I suppose not," Tsunade admitted.
"Who's Danzo?" Naruto asked.
Tsunade sighed, "A royal pain in the ass."
At that moment Moegi burst in the door, flushed and out of breath, with Naruto's usual clothes in her arms, "Here… (Pant)…Here ya go Boss."
"Thanks Moegi." He waited a moment, "Can I have some privacy or do you guys plan to watch me change?" Everyone left the room, Moegi, and to a lesser extent Anko, with a blush. Once the door was closed Naruto.
"How are you feeling kit?" He heard from within his head.
"I'm still a little sore and my chest itches from the hit," he thought.
"That's not what I meant and you know it."
Naruto sighed, "I don't know yet. Just when I'm making new friends, this happens. Anko-chan, Tsume-san, Ino, Hinata-chan, and now I have to leave them behind."
Kyuubi could sense the tears forming in his eyes, "Don't hold it in, Naruto-kun, you have people that are here for you, and I believe you should trust the slug woman, I sense she may be up to some sort of trickery that would make any fox proud."
Meanwhile, outside the door, Tsunade sneezed.
"Bless you, Tsunade-sama," the little girl piped in.
"Thank you, Moegi." She turned to the snake jonin, "Now, Anko, what where you saying earlier about Hinata?"
)()()()()()()()(
Inuzuka Hana was a little confused. She woke up this morning to her mother telling her that she was giving it to someone. From her studies as heiress of the clan, it hadn't been given to someone in decades, since her great grandfather's time. And if that wasn't strange enough, it was going to one Uzumaki Naruto, someone who was not even as old as her brother Kiba. But when she asked her mother why, the matriarch would reply, "Because he deserves it after the shit he's been through, now fetch damn it."
Her entire way to the hospital Hana wondered what her mother had meant. She had heard a few good things about the blond from Kiba, and it was commonly known that two of the Sannin had taken a shine to him, with Jiraiya teaching him and Tsunade claiming him as the reason for her return, but she still wasn't sure if all that was enough to earn it.
As she came to the room number her mother had told her, Hana saw a glimpse at how well connected the kid must have been, outside the room was two of the Sannin, Mitarashi Anko, who was an interrogation legend in her own right, and one of the village elders as well as a little girl.
Tsunade caught sight of the heiress as she approached, "Hello, Hana. Are you here for Naruto?" The dog kunoichi nodded, "Well, he's changing at the moment, and should be out in a moment."
A few seconds later the door opened and Naruto stepped out, and looked at the new face, "Hello."
"Hello Naruto-san, I am Inuzuka Hana, my mother sent me to bring you to our home," she looked at the group, "I am sorry, but I am only supposed to bring Naruto-san and Tsunade-sama."
The young girl looked downcast before Naruto knelt next to her, "Don't worry, Moegi. I'll tell you what, you bring Udon and Konohamaru to the park and we'll all spend the day together, okay?"
The young girl nodded and gave Naruto a tearful hug before leaving with her grandmother. Jiraiya turned to the others, "I have some things to get straightened out," he looked to Tsunade, "and I see if I can figure out who's behind the seal." And he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Anko stretched her arms, "I'm gonna try and get some sleep, and I have someone to pay a visit to and things to think about." She placed a hand on Naruto's head and ruffled his hair, "I'll see you soon kid, take care." And she too left in a swirl of leaves.
The trio left for the Inuzuka compound, at a slower than normal pace at Tsunade's insistence, seeing as Naruto just got out of the hospital. Along the way Naruto asked Hana why they wanted him at her home, but she always answered that it is not something they like to speak of outside the clan, and Naruto was silenced after the second time by a knock on the head from Tsunade.
When they reached the head house they were greeted by Tsume, Kuromaru and three strange grey dogs that Hana introduced as her partners, the Haimaru Sankyodai (the grey triplets).
Tsume greeted the blonds as she led them into a sitting room, "Thank you two for coming. Now Naruto-kun, I'm sure you're wondering why you're here." Shyly, the boy nodded, "And I am sure Tsunade-sama has informed you of the council's decision." Again he nodded, but Hana had a confused look as her mother continued, "Well, while I am vehemently against this, and I am sure Tsunade-sama is up to something," you could almost see a halo above the Sannin's head, "But I am truly sorry about your banishment." Hana's eyes shot open at this and, seeing this, Tsume asked, "With your permission, can I tell my daughter the whole story."
Naruto looked worried, but Tsunade put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Naruto, Hana has a good head on her shoulders." Naruto thought for a moment and nodded, the Hokage turned to the vet, "Hana, what you are about to be told is an S-class secret, protected on pain of death by a law put in place by my predecessor, even I couldn't talk about it without Naruto's permission." Hana's eyes widened at the gravity of that statement, if even the Hokage couldn't speak of it.
Tsume cleared her throat, "You remember what you were told of the Kyuubi's fate, right?" her daughter nodded, "It was a lie in order to keep in line with the law Tsunade mentioned. In truth, the Yondaime wasn't able to kill Kyuubi, so the fox was sealed within Naruto, the same way we seal things into scrolls, only with a much stronger seal." Hana looked strangely at the boy before her mother got her attention, "That does NOT mean he is the Kyuubi, nor that he is a demon or a fox, he was just unlucky to be born on that day."
Hana thought for a moment before asking, "Mom, what did you mean this morning by the, uh, things he's been through?"
Tsume growled, "A lot of people in the village are idiots, do you remember that time I beat you cousin into that month long coma?" Hana gulped and nodded, "He helped a mob of villagers track Naruto so they could try to kill him, ANBU managed to save him and arrest the villagers, but your cousin thought he could get away with it by calling for punishment from me," She smiled evilly, "almost no one was dumb enough to try one of their little 'fox hunts' again." Hana stared at Naruto as Tsume continued, "But we've gotten a bit off topic. Now as to why you are here, Naruto, I want to give you a something, something our clan hasn't given since my grandfather's time as it can only be given by the clan head, and only if their canine partner agrees. I want to give you a special seal mark," she saw a suspicious look on his face, "don't worry, it's kind of a glorified tattoo, what it does is marks you as an honorary member of the Inuzuka clan of high standing, putting you in equal position within the pack as Hana and Kiba," She smirked a bit, "And you can have first swing at becoming Hana's mate if you want." Satisfied with the bright shade of red the two teens had turned, she continued, "Aside from that, you can count on members of our clan to come to your aid outside of the village if they are close by. You can also have a canine partner of your own if you want, but that will have to wait, we have some pups, but they won't reach bonding age for a couple months yet, once they do I, personally, will bring the picks of the litter for you to choose. So this is up to you whether you want to take the seal or not."
Tsunade spoke before Naruto could, "Does that mean he would have to answer to your clan?"
"Only if he was to actually marry into the clan, otherwise he is like an outside member, and the only time he would have to answer to anyone is if he mistreats his partner, then he would have to answer to the canines, not me. And he can lose his status within the clan, as well as his partner, in the same way anyone else can, that's why we don't do this often."
The women looked at Naruto, who seemed to be staring at the floor, he looked up and there were tears on the edges of his eyes, "So, it'd be like joining your family?" Tsume smiled and nodded, and the boy gave an ear to ear grin, "Let's do this."
A few minutes later, Naruto was shirtless, alone in a room with Tsume and Kuromaru. Behind him, the matriarch was making hand signs as Kuromaru dipped his paw in a bowl that held a little blood from each of the three and made a print between Naruto's shoulder blades. After she finished the signs, she placed her hand over the paw print with a whispered, "Inugami no Shukufuku (blessing of the dog god)." There was a slight burning sensation where the mark was that spread to his face. When the feeling subsided, Tsume pulled a mirror from somewhere and held it in front of Naruto. There, below imposed under his whisker marks, where the red triangle marks of the Inuzuka.
"Congratulations, kid, you're an Inuzuka." Tsume said with a smile before the blond wrapped her in a hug.
"Thanks, Tsume-ba-san." Kuromaru chuckled at this, at least until Naruto latched on to him, calling him, "Kuromaru-ji-san," Before they laughed themselves to tears.
)()()()()()()(
Hinata woke late; she had had trouble sleeping through the night from nightmares, nightmares of what her life might become, of what might happen to Naruto outside the village. She groggily went through her morning routine, even though it was close to noon. She dressed, brushed her teeth, at a quick breakfast/lunch before heading out. She needed to find the Hokage; she needed to find some way to help her Naruto.
She arrived to the Hokage's office to find only her assistant Shizune asleep on her desk, her pig Tonton licking something out of a cup. When the pig noticed Hinata she nudged her owner awake. Shizune's head shot up, her hair a mess and her eyes a bit bloodshot before reaching for the cup, finding it empty. She growled at the little pig, who immediately hid under a chair. After walking to a coffee pot and downing the contents, Shizune turned to the guest, her eyes clear and her hair normal, looking magically nothing like she had a minute ago, "How may I help you, Hinata-san?"
Hinata blinked a bit at the transformation before answering, "I w-was wondering if I could s-see Hokage-sama about Naruto-kun's b-b-banishment?"
Shizune could see tears in the girl's eyes and stains on her face that said she had been crying before as well, "I'm sorry, but Tsunade-sama isn't in, at the moment she's with Naruto on business with the Inuzuka clan head
Hinata nodded with a quick thank you and left. Shizune watched the girl leave thinking, I wonder if Tsunade-sama would mind a few changes to the plan.
)()()()()()()(
A.N. Sorry about the long time to update, aside from partially working on other stories, reading others on the site and good old fashioned American laziness, my family is working on a new house we'll be moving to soon.
A quick note on the new mark and the Inuzuka induction, With the placement of a special seal mark, one that can only be placed by the current clan head with the approval of their partner, a person can become an honorary Inuzuka clan member of high standing, on equal grounds with the heir/ess within the pack. That person has the choice of taking a partner or not, but is considered part of the clan for life, barring any action that would result in a member's banishment, as such those of the Inuzuka will lend aid whenever possible. The new inductee also can have first attempt to claim the heir/ess as a mate if they wish, as such this mark isn't given lightly, and is given only in cases of people who have shown the true spirit of a warrior and Inuzuka, those who have shown honor, mental and physical strength and loyalty beyond all bounds.
Now a lot of people have been asking about the harem, the only girls I know for sure are Hinata and another I won't mention (it'll ruin the surprise). All others (Ino, Sakura, Tayuya, Anko, Tenten, Kyuubi, etc. etc.) are undecided, albeit some are leaning towards membership.
Well, I'll probably update one of my other stories before this, and might post one of the others I've been creating. Until then…
What was the offer to Tayuya? Will the rest of the rookies learn of Naruto's secret? Will Jiraiya get to keep his last nut? All this and more on Hokage on the Run!