Chapter 8:
Naruto's Back in Town!
Suigetsu opened his eyes, blearily looking at the sunlight cascading through the window. He tumbled out of bed and just lied on the ground for a few more moments, staring at the ceiling. Weekends were going to be difficult for him from now on.
"So, you're finally up."
Suigetsu craned his head to see Karin working on some seals. He sat up and stretched his arms out while staring at his partner in disbelief.
"You could be doing anything you want today, and you chose to sit in here and make seals?"
"Suigetsu, shut up." Karin threw the brush she was using at Suigetsu, who calmly caught it between his fingers. However, he began sputtering due to some of the ink getting in his mouth. "So where did you run off to last night?"
Suigetsu finally got the ink out of his mouth, before he stood up with a confident smirk and pointed at himself with his thumb. "This guy got a job."
Silence ensued for exactly three seconds before Karin began laughing, She fell out of her seat and was clutching her stomach. Whenever she gained a few seconds, she would gasp for breath before continuing to laugh.
"What's so funny?!" Suigetsu yelled, causing Karin to laugh even harder.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but you don't have to come up with such an obvious lie."
Suigetsu glared dryly at her. "I really hate you, Karin."
She stuck her tongue out at him, and Suigetsu launched himself at her. Limbs and insults flew as the two began their first fight of the day. Karin managed to get on top of Suigetsu and smirked victoriously.
Suigetsu thought quickly and liquefied his body, slipping from Karin's grasp. Now on top of her, he acted fast and pinned her to the ground.
"Hah, whatcha you gonna do now?"
"Hey, Karin, I was wondering if I could borrow-" The two turned their sight on Yang, who was standing in the now opened door. She looked at the two of them before backing out slowly with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry about that. I'll just leave you two alone."
It took a second for that to process through Karin and Suigetsu's head before dread filled their veins. They took off running after Yang in an attempt to explain the situation.
"Yang! Come back!" Karin shouted. There was no way in heck that she'd ever do anything like that with Suigetsu.
Ruby admired the beautiful forest around her, walking several steps ahead of Naruto and Jiraiya on the dirt path. The trees towered over her and cast thick shadows onto the ground. The sounds of birds and insects filled the air, and there was no sign of any Grimm whatsoever.
It was strange how peaceful it was. Back in Vale, they'd have to be careful about Grimm. Here was an entirely different story, and it was a nice change of pace.
She spun around to face the others. "Come on, you two! You said we were almost there, and I want to get back in my body!"
Naruto chuckled at his friend, before turning to Jiraiya. "Hey, Ero-sennin, do you think that she was right?"
"About what?"
"You know, the Nine-tails. What if-"
"Naruto, that's a dangerous thought. The Nine-tails is nothing more than a malevolent being who would do anything to free himself from you. You can't ignore the fact that he attacked the Leaf on the day you were born and killed hundreds of people."
Naruto remained silent. He wanted to agree with that, but he just couldn't right now. He wondered if there was another part of the story, a reason that the Nine-tails had attacked that no one really knew about.
Great… Now he felt like he had become just like the villagers, hating and ignoring someone because of what he had been told. How could he hope to get rid of the hatred of this world while he himself hated the Nine-tails?
Several minutes later, the massive walls surrounding Konohagakure loomed overhead, and Ruby gasped in astonishment. Naruto grinned too as the three of them passed through the gate. Right from the start, he could already see one major thing that had changed in his absence.
"Looks like they got Tsunade-baachan's face onto the mountain." Naruto looked up at the large monument with a grin. "Just you wait. One day, it'll be my face up there."
Naruto stumbled when he felt Jiraiya pat him on the shoulder. "First things first, we need to go see Tsunade."
Naruto nodded, and the three of them began walking towards the large building near the Hokage Monument. As they walked past shops and restaurants, Naruto could already feel the gaze of the villagers. Some of them were whispering to each other, and they would look away whenever Naruto tried to make eye contact. It was just like always.
"Naruto? Is that you?"
Naruto pivoted on his feet at the sound of his teammate's voice. He ran towards her with a large grin.
"Sakura!" Sliding to a standstill, he began talking rapidly in excitement, not noticing the pink-haired girl looking slightly weirded out, as if some stranger had just run up to her... Oh, wait, he wasn't in his own body, and he was just a stranger to Sakura at the moment... Crud.
Jiraiya and Ruby came over, and Jiraiya explained the situation to Sakura. She nodded her head, and Naruto helped translate introductions between her and Ruby.
"Man, it's so great to see you again," Naruto said, and Sakura smiled. "You haven't changed a bit."
A vein popped out on Sakura's temple while Jiraiya facepalmed. He grabbed Naruto by the back of the hood and began dragging him back towards the Hokage Tower. Sakura followed close behind, muttering under her breath. Naruto really hadn't changed that much from the dense idiot who had left Konoha 3 years prior.
"Naruto, I've got to teach you a thing or two about girls before you get yourself killed." Jiraiya rubbed his forehead, sighing at his student's tendency to anger girls without meaning to.
"What?" Naruto questioned. "I don't think Karin or Tsunade-baachan would be thrilled with what you'd teach me."
Naruto was rewarded with a quick slap to the back of his head. "That's not what I meant!"
"Please don't damage my body," Ruby said to Jiraiya, who quickly apologized.
The four of them soon reached the large tower and were greeted by the receptionist inside. Naruto walked right behind Jiraiya, while Ruby admired the building and its design. As they passed the pictures of the past Hokages, Ruby looked at each one as they passed.
So these were the past leaders of this village? They all looked so different, yet she could clearly tell that they had all been kind people. Well, except maybe for that white haired one. He looked sterner than any of the other three. The strangest one though was the person in the fourth picture, who looked remarkably similar to Naruto.
Ruby looked below the frame to see the name of the person. A memory flashed through her head at the foreign name, and she heard the Nine-tails growl something out, "Minato Namikaze."
Ruby glanced up at the picture, figuring that Minato must have been this man's name. She stared at it inquisitively, before shrugging her shoulders. They may have looked similar, but they had different surnames. She couldn't help but wonder how confusing it could be for people sometimes, and whether they ever accidentally called Naruto by this person's name or something.
With a chuckle, Ruby quickly ran to catch back up with the other three.
Jugo sat down patiently as he waited for the guards to bring the woman out. With aura-binding handcuffs around her wrists, she sat down across from Jugo. It was times like this that Jugo was glad he had a connection with the famous —or infamous, depending on who you asked— Toad Sage, Jiraiya.
Rosaria glared at him, but Jugo was also able to detect the tiniest traces of fear in her eyes.
"You're one of Uzumaki's teammates." The woman tried to fold her arms, but the cuffs prevented her from doing so. "What do you want?"
Jugo ignored her rude attitude, folding his hands in his lap. "I was hoping you could tell me something about the people who visited you the other day."
Her entire body tensed and began shaking slightly. Her pupils dilated, and she dug her nails into the palms of her hands. Jiraiya was surprised by her reaction
"They were no one," she finally said, avoiding eye contact. "Why do you care?"
"You're scared." Jugo stood up to stretch his legs, also knowing it tended to put others off guard. Jiraiya may have had some… questionable tendencies, but Jugo had picked up on some of his interrogation tactics. Her behavior made him wonder if she had been threatened.
Rosaria didn't answer, and Jugo crossed his arms in front of him. He didn't want to resort to more forceful tactics, but he needed to get this information. Someone who could frighten a person like this woman had to be powerful. And Jugo had to figure out whether they were any danger to his comrades.
"If you just tell us whatever you know, Professor Ozpin can get you under protection."
"You can't fight against the Zodiac! Even Devourer is afraid of them!" She quickly realized her slip of her tongue and ducked her head, as if she was afraid that she was going to drop dead any second.
However, Jugo was more focused on an interesting choice in her grammar. "'Is afraid'?"
He heard her mutter a curse under her breath. He had come for information on this "Zodiac" group, but it would seem like there was something else that he could glean from her. He repeated his offer, asking her to tell him anything she knew about the Zodiac and Devourer.
The look in her eyes indicated that she was having a mental struggle. Jugo felt sympathy for her, because he could see himself in Rosaria. She was loyal to Devourer, to the level that he was to Kimimaro and Naruto. He hated having to ask her to break that bond, but there was no other choice if this group she was so afraid of was really that powerful.
"I'm sorry," Jugo told her. "I know that this can't be an easy choice for you to make."
Rosaria leaned back into her seat, cradling her head in her hands. "I had a hard life until I met Devourer. Not only was I a Faunus, but I was an insect Faunus. If you think how most people treat other faunus is bad, then you don't even want to imagine what it's like for those like me. I grew up with no parents thanks to the Grimm, and I was constantly told that I was inferior… And I believed that. But then he came along and gave me purpose, gave me something to live and fight for. How can I just betray all that he's done for me?"
Jugo remained silent, not trusting himself to speak, and the two of them stared at each other for several moments. After a period of brief silence, Rosaria slouched back into her seat. She didn't know why, but she felt some weird sort of connection to this kid. She felt at ease around him. He had this… natural vibe to him.
"Fine," she gave in. "Take me to Ozpin, and I'll tell you what you want to know... if you're willing to do me a favor or two."
Tsunade rubbed her forehead, pushing platinum blonde bangs out of her way, as Jiraiya and Naruto explained the situation to her. These two idiots were going to be the death of her.
"Naruto, you've been back hardly five minutes, and I already feel like I need a drink." She threw a glance over at Shizune.
"Not while you're on duty, Lady Tsunade," her assistant replied sheepishly.
Tsunade mumbled a curse under her breath, before taking her time realize just how much Naruto had grown from the short, loudmouthed kid that she had last seen. How the time had flown.
Yet if one thing hadn't changed, it was that Naruto still managed to find himself getting into some ridiculous situations.
Meanwhile, Sakura was using her limited knowledge of the language she had picked up under Tsunade's tutelage to try to talk with Ruby. Naruto cut in every so often to help translate some things that either Sakura or Ruby couldn't understand.
"So you're fifteen?" Sakura questioned, getting a nod of confirmation from Naruto's new friend. Sakura took a moment to process that and turned to look at where Naruto was bugging Tsunade about where the Yamanaka she had called was. Then she looked down at herself.
'How?! And she's younger than me!'
Meanwhile, across the sea, a certain snow-themed heiress stopped what she was doing. She felt like someone, somewhere in the world was going through something similar to what she had gone through at one point. She also felt inexplicably angry at Ruby for some reason, even though she wasn't even in Vale.
"Something wrong, Weiss?" Yang questioned, sitting next to Blake while the latter read "The Man with Two Souls."
"Nothing…" Weiss looked out the window. 'Stay strong, whoever you are.'
Back in Konoha, Naruto let out a loud cheer as the office door opened and Ino's dad walked in. Tsunade let out a sigh of relief as Naruto shifted his attention to pestering the one who was going to be switching their minds back. He may have grown up in some areas, but at heart, Naruto was still that little kid bouncing around all over the place and driving people insane.
"Lady Tsunade," the blond haired man greeted, keeping a wary eye on Naruto. He had been on the receiving end of more than a few of the Uzumaki's pranks, and he had learned to be careful around the young Jinchuuriki.
"Inoichi, thank you for coming in." Tsunade grabbed Ruby and Naruto pushing them in front of Inoichi. "We were hoping that you'd be able to something about these two."
Tsunade watched the head of the Yamanaka clan walk up to the two children and study them briefly.
"You said their minds were swapped, right?" He looked back at Tsunade. "I'm not exactly sure how long it could take, but I should be able to get them back."
"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. Finally, he would be back in his nice, testosterone-filled body.
Tsunade watched Inoichi sit the two of them down and place his hands on their heads. All three sets of eyes closed as the master of mind jutsus began his work.
Tsunade leaned back in her seat and looked over to Jiraiya. "So, tell me how the past three years have been for the two of you."
"Naruto's grown a lot over the course of our training, and I've begun training him in wind jutsu. I'm thinking of letting him talk to Asuma before we leave."
Tsunade folded her hands under her chin. "So you're not staying?"
Jiraiya shook his head as he leaned against the window. "As much as Naruto wants to go search for Sasuke, we can't let the Akatsuki get their hands on him. So we'll be heading back overseas once we're done here. The farther away Naruto is from this place, the better."
Tsunade closed her eyes. She hated to admit it, but Jiraiya was right. Naruto couldn't be allowed to fall into the Akatsuki's clutches, even if it meant that Sasuke became Orochimaru's new body. As dangerous as Orochimaru was, the Akatsuki were the greater threat at the moment, and Sasuke had willingly left the village anyway.
"Although," Jiraiya spoke up with a gleam in his eye, "we also have an edge against Orochimaru now. Three, actually."
Now she was curious. Jiraiya could be a bit of a show-off and overconfident, but he wouldn't lie when it came to something like this. She listened carefully as Jiraiya told her about the three of Orochimaru's former subordinates that Naruto had somehow managed to earn the trust of and get to betray the snake Sannin.
Tsunade chuckled. Of course that blond idiot would manage this. He really was an amazing kid. She looked over at Naruto with a smile, thinking about how great a Hokage he would make because of his kindness and acceptance of everyone. In a way, he reminded her a lot of her grandfather. Both even had to deal with an Uchiha gone rogue.
"Jiraiya, what's your opinion of those three?"
"They're good kids, and I firmly believe that they'll stay at Naruto's side till the day they die."
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, and the wheels in her head began to turn. She would have to think about it some more and fill out the necessary paperwork. Jiraiya and Naruto would probably stick around for a little bit anyway before heading back, so she'd have plenty of time to give it to her teammate.
Several minutes later, Inoichi's eyes snapped open, and he stood up. Then Naruto and Ruby's eyes opened, and Jiraiya and Tsunade waited with bated breath to see the results.
"We're back!" They shouted joyously, practically jumping on Inoichi for helping them. Tsunade smiled, glad that that problem was fixed. She thanked Inoichi before he left, and then she tried to get Naruto to calm down for a bit.
"Naruto, why don't you go show your new friend around." Tsunade threw a glance over to Jiraiya. "I've got to talk with Jiraiya, and I don't want you interrupting because you were bored."
Naruto nodded with a smile and grabbed Ruby's hand, dragging her out the window. "Come on, Ruby! First stop, Ichiraku Ramen!"
Naruto led Ruby through bustling streets towards his favorite ramen restaurant in the entire world. As he pushed his way into the modest stall, Teuchi turned from whatever he was fixing.
"Welcome to Ich-" His eyes widened as he saw Naruto. "Naruto, you're back! I hardly recognize you now."
"Yeah, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Naruto sat down on one of the stools. "You already know what I want."
"Coming right up." Teuchi started preparing, before craning his neck to face Ruby. "And what about you?"
Ruby tilted her head, and Naruto translated. She thought for several long moments before finally deciding to have what Naruto was having.
"Where's Ayame?" Naruto questioned, looking over the counter to see how close the ramen was to completion.
"She's out on an errand, but should be back soon." Teuchi finished up the meals and placed the bowls in front of his two customers. "Enjoy!"
Naruto broke apart his chopsticks. "Thanks for the meal!"
Ruby looked at the ramen and broth, and she picked up several noodles with her chopsticks. There was no way this could be better than the stuff at A Simple Wo-
Behind the counter, Teuchi grinned as he saw his new customer's eyes go wide and she began eating at a rate that almost rivaled Naruto. Picking up the bowl and drinking the last of the broth down, Ruby let out a content sigh.
"So good!" She exclaimed at the same time as Naruto. He smiled and ordered several more bowls. Ruby tried telling him that she was full, but he didn't cancel the orders. So this was what Karin meant when she said that Naruto had an insatiable appetite when it came to ramen.
"I heard people talking, but I'm pleasantly surprised to see that you're back." Naruto turned at the sound of the familiar voice, and he practically leaped out of his seat to greet his silver-haired teacher.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto looked at the mask covering his teacher's face, plotting some way to get it off. "Long time no see."
"Welcome back." Kakashi took a seat and ordered a bowl. "You've grown up a lot since you left."
"Yeah, I'm actually taller than Sakura now!" Realization struck Naruto, and he laughed. "Hah, take that Tazuna! Can't call me a loudmouthed runt anymore."
Kakashi chuckled at Naruto's antics. The kid just couldn't let go of some things, even something as trivial as that.
Naruto introduced Ruby to Kakashi, and they were even able to converse a little. Naruto began telling his teacher about the training trip, his three teammates, some of the things he had learned, and about Beacon.
"Oh, and you'll never believe it! I managed to complete the Rasengan." Naruto enjoyed watching how wide Kakashi's eyes got. "Jiraiya told me about chakra natures and how the Rasengan was only an incomplete jutsu, so I began learning how to complete it. At first, I needed Jugo's help to add the wind chakra, but now I can do it with just the help of my clones."
Even though a mask covered his face, Kakashi's smile was evident just from his eyes. "I'm proud of you, Naruto."
"Well, I wouldn't have been able to do it without the stuff you taught me, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto slurped down another mouthful of noodles. "I know you weren't able to train us much before everything with Sasuke happened, but I wouldn't have asked for anyone else to be our teacher. Even if some of the things I learned was just from watching you fight. Remembering how you fought against Zabuza gave me ideas for training with Suigetsu."
Ruby watched in silence as the two talked, unable to understand a word they said other than the occasional name being spoken. Looking at the two of them, watching Kakashi smile as Naruto exclaimed something boisterously, Ruby was reminded of her own training under Uncle Qrow. She shifted her gaze to Crescent Rose, memories of the time and frustration she had poured into making it. She still remembered her first attempt at testing out the rifle portion, and it had blown up in her face.
Of course, her uncle had been there right away to help narrow down which part needed to be fixed without directly helping her. It was Qrow's specialty, being able to help someone while still letting them do almost all the work. Ruby hoped that he was doing okay on that super secret mission thing that she had overheard him talking about.
Reed sighed in annoyance as he put away his scroll. Curse that woman and her plan. He would have to hurry, and probably start traveling at night too just to make her happy. Why'd Cinder have to be so difficult? It wasn't his fault that he was running low on power. He had been having to use his ability absorption a lot recently because of what SHE had been telling him to do.
"Woman problems?" A voice to his right asked, sounding just the slightest bit drunk.
"Ugh, you don't know the half of it." Reed turned to see who he was talking to, and saw a young man with dark gray hair drinking from a glass.
"Been there." The man looked over to the bartender and slapped some lien on the counter. "Oi! Get this guy some of the strongest stuff you got."
Reed was soon faced with a glass filled near to the brim. With a sigh, he picked it up and chugged it down. He quickly learned that he couldn't hold his liquor well, because he was quickly finding that his brain had stopped cooperating for some reason.
"Hah! Well, that must have been one heck of a problem." The mystery man remarked, chugging down his own glass as well. "Name's Qrow."
"Re-hic-ed." Reed slouched leaned over the counter and ordered another glass. He needed a little break from everything, and what better way than to get completely drunk. Consequences be darned, he deserved this. Soon he was drinking the night away and doing things that he was going to be thankful would be forgotten once he returned to being sober.
Meanwhile, back in Vale, Jugo had finished talking to both Rosaria and Professor Ozpin and was utterly exhausted. He began heading back to his dorm, still thinking about the conversation he had had with Karin earlier over their Scrolls. Had Suigetsu really gotten hired someplace, or was he just saying that? With a sigh, Jugo scratched the back of his head. He'd ask Suigetsu when he got back tomorrow.
As Jugo was walking down the hallway, he accidentally ended up bumping into someone. Jugo quickly apologized and helped the person get back on their feet.
"Ah, sorry about that," the person said, pushing platinum blonde hair out of his eyes. "I really should watch where I'm going."
Jugo looked at the boy, trying to remember if he had ever seen him before, but was unable to put a name to the person's face. "Are you a new student?"
"Hmm? No. To be honest, I snuck on campus to meet a student who goes here, Suigetsu Hozuki, have you heard of him?"
Jugo's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Yes, we're actually on the same team."
The kid's eyes lit up, making Jugo take a step back as the stranger brought out a newspaper about Team JNKS defeating Devourer. "Really? So you're part of that super strong team that took down that Devourer person?"
"...Yes," Jugo replied tentatively.
"Then can you please introduce me to Suigetsu. It would be my dream to meet a swordsman as great as him."
Jugo gave the boy an apologetic look. "Sorry, but Suigetsu's not around right now. Maybe another time."
The young boy sighed and clicked his tongue. "Ah, well. Sorry for wasting your time. Bye!"
Jugo watched the dark-skinned boy leave, and a single question arose in his mind. "Wait, how did he know that Suigetsu was a swordsman?"
I apologize for the wait! National Novel Writing Month kept me busy for a super long time, and I didn't really have time to work on this. But now that November has passed, I should be able to focus on this more.
Anyway, just a few things before ending this chapter. The thing about Rosaria feeling more at ease around Jugo was actually inspired by a reviewer, whose name I can't remember for the life of me. But essentially, since Faunus do have those bestial traits, this makes them feel more at ease around Jugo who is pretty much in Sage mode 24-7.
Second, despite what it may seem like, Kurama and Naruto are not going to be all buddy-buddy right away. Naruto does realize that there could be potentially more to the giant fuzzball, but if there is one thing we all know it's that Kurama is a stubborn tailed beast.
As for Reed/Devourer, plans have changed for him. While I originally hadn't planned on him coming back until the end of the events at Volume 2, I decided that I wanted to grow and explore his character a little more due to some of my future plans being changed due to what has been revealed so far in volume 4. So he'll occasionally appear a few more times than I had originally planned.
Also just in case people were wondering, as I never did explain it outright, Rosaria is an Ant Faunus. I also have some interesting plans for her character.
Coming up next chapter, Ruby will meet some more of Naruto's friends, information about Reed/Devourer is revealed, Suigetsu goes shopping with Ren before getting interrupted, and Naruto finds out that all of his friends from Konoha have gotten promotions.