Raiders of the Lost Sandcastle, Part 3
The sand bubble bumped along the ground as Gaara forced it to move to the nearest water cistern. Once over it, Gaara made it spread out from the bottom so Naruto was standing on sandy top of an old water cistern. Gaara held the flashlight while Naruto started forming chakra into a Rasengan. The blue orb glowed brighter than the flashlight as Naruto got ready to slam it into the ground to rip open the cistern.
Gaara looked to one side of his bubble when it dented in deeply from an impact. Gaara's eyes went wide as a voice of Shukaku yelled in his head. "No, don't kill the babies!"
"Naruto, wait!" Gaara cried out as he dropped the flashlight and sand wrapped around Naruto's forearm.
The blonde teen paused. He had been about to make the hole in the tank the pair was standing on.
"What's wrong Gaara?" he asked puzzled.
"Not this one. We need to find another tank to get water from. I think this one has something else besides water in it. Shukaku screamed about babies so this must be where your wife saw the sand creatures," Gaara said in his raspy voice.
Naruto nodded but slowly absorbed the chakra from the Rasengan back into his body. Gaara searched outwards with his sand but soon he was disappointed.
"The other cisterns are all holed or rotted out. This is the only intact one remaining," he said with a frown.
"If those tanuki are inside of the tank, then there is a way in, right? We can see if the water is still flowing into it," Naruto suggested.
Gaara nodded and sent sand probes out once more. Naruto picked up the fallen flashlight while Gaara concentrated. He shut it off to conserve the batteries and put it in his pocket. The air was starting to feel a bit stifling when the redhead announced, "Found it."
The sand bubble moved off the top of the cistern and down along one side until an outflow pipe was reached. The pipe was blocked on the inside by the sand body of a tanuki like the one they had encountered earlier. The ninja flared his chakra and the creature fled leaving the gap open for the boys to enter.
The interior of the cistern was dark as no natural light filtered into it. Naruto pulled out the flashlight and lit it once more. The area was a cylinder and twenty yards across and roughly ten yards high. A covering of sand lined the edges and a clear pool of water filled the floor at the lowest point.
On the point furthest away from the boys sat a pair of the sand tanuki. The pair of larger adults looked just like mini clones of the monster he had fought outside of Konoha a few months prior. They were standing over what appeared to be a trio of half formed young. Naruto watch in awe as one would be pulling itself together on one part while another part crumbled. The larger of the adults hissed at the intruders but maintained its distance.
Gaara went still as he listened to Shukaku before relaying the information to Naruto.
"The young ones don't have enough chakra to stay alive on their own. We bijuu are indepenant living chakra entities and regenerate our chakra from the ambient energy around us. Since energy cannot be destroyed, any let out remains in the area it was released at unless gathered. Oni like this are formed when the chakra residue left behind by a bijuu is large enough. The small ones cannot gather any more to become self sustaining because there is not enough life in the area to provide it. The adults created the strange sand around this town to trap and funnel the chakra of anything it catches into the babies. It is enough to keep them alive but not enough to get them to the point of being self sustaining."
"Couldn't the grownups give the little ones some chakra?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face.
Gaara listened again.
"If the big ones fed any chakra directly to the babies, they would end up absorbing them instead since the babies are not fully formed yet. They need an outside source. Once they have enough of their own, they can take in chakra from the big ones to grow."
"Man, that's complicated," Naruto grumbled.
Gaara pulled out the canteens the group had given him and moved toward the pool of water. The larger tanuki hissed once more but didn't attack. The boy filled the canteens and moved back to Naruto. The blonde looked deep in thought during all of this.
"Gaara, what if we gave the little ones some chakra? Would the big ones leave the area with them? You know, take them someplace they could find something to eat," the blonde suggested.
Gaara flinched as Shukaku shouted for joy in his head at the idea.
"Well, Shukaku claims they might. There would have to be a whole lot of chakra involved, Naruto. It would take more than our entire group combined to do that," Gaara told him.
"Not ours, Gaara, some of Shukaku's chakra. You said that these things came from the chakra it left behind. So if you gave them just enough of it to let them so find food somewhere else, they would leave right?"
Gaara frowned at the idea of letting any part of his bijuu's chakra loose. The rants of the demon he held captive changed their tone now. They were becoming pleas to help the babies. After a long time considering the possibilities, three large globs of Gaara's sand seemed to glow yellow for a moment before flying off to the far side of the cistern. Each landed on a half formed tanuki and sunk into them.
The whines of the adults stopped at that point. As the boys watched, each of the small ones solidified into additional miniature versions of Shukaku. The sound coming from all five of the mini bijuu clones changed to what Naruto and Gaara took as happiness. The second largest moved closer to Gaara must as a dog would to its owner. Shukaku told Gaara that the tanuki was trying to thank him.
Gaara channeled a bit more chakra and focused the idea that the deep desert away from all people should be a perfect place to feed the small ones. There was enough life there that they could live undisturbed as long as they did not grow so large they would attract attention. Once that chakra was pushed into a ball of sand, Gaara tossed it to the tanuki groveling before him.
The minor demon called out to the other four as the boys climbed out of the cistern with the full canteens. Gaara pushed the sand bubble to the surface and both boys welcomed the fresh air of the desert evening.
Back in Konoha, the evening brought out a sense of relief to another person as well. Kakashi called a halt to the day's exercises. Sakura had managed to keep on her feet through the afternoon as she and Sasuke did laps around the training field wearing the weights. This was the end of the second day that she had been told to expect when Kakashi had carried her home.
"That ends today's training," Kakashi called out to his genin.
Sasuke just glowered at his teacher while Sakura sat to catch her breath. She looked up when she heard a person approach. The dark hair of Yuhi Kurenai, the jonin sensei of Team 8 was visible against the sunset as she walked into the training area.
"Ah, right on time Kurenai-san," Kakashi said as he smiled under his mask.
"I was waiting for you to call a halt first, Kakashi," she replied. "She passes I presume?"
"Yes, she does," Kakashi said before turning to Sakura.
"Sakura, effective tomorrow morning, you are being reassigned to Team 8. You will fill in the gap left by the departure of Hyuuga, excuse me, Uzumaki Hinata. I recall that you are a natural genjutsu type and seeing as Kurenai is the most gifted we have in genjutsu in Konoha at this time, it should be a good fit for you," Kakashi said while smiling.
"But Kaka-sensei, what about what you always said about abandoning your teammates?" she asked as she looked at Sasuke then back at Kakashi.
The jonin nodded.
"It does not apply in this case, Sakura. You are merely being re-assigned to a different squad. It will happen often enough in your career as you remain a ninja. Just give me the weights before you leave. I hope you will be a better teammate in the future for anyone you work with, Sakura," Kakashi said as he held out his hand.
Sakura pulled the weight belts off of her arms legs and hips to hand them to Kakashi. The teacher commented to the pink haired girl in a voice too low for the grousing Sasuke to hear.
"You have earned this second chance with Kurenai, Sakura. Make the best of it. You have earned it through your own merits. I am proud of you Haruno Sakura."
Sakura let go of the weights in her hand to Kakashi's stronger grip. She felt much lighter than she had in weeks as another weight she had not known existed fell from her heart and soul. She was ready to move on now. The girl walked to Kurenai who led her away from that barren training area and she never looked back.
Jiraiya looked over the village as night fell. Things were not progressing as quickly he had planned. The Daimyo had executed the three Councilors who had been sent to him and their assets sold off to recoup the money lost from their embezzlement. The remaining members of the Council closed ranks against Jiraiya and blamed the deaths squarely on him. The auditors had not found any further misdeeds in regards to village finances but the damage was done there.
Several smaller clans began to side with the Council against Jiraiya. All that remained of his support within the village were the seven clans who had voted against banishing Naruto. That amounted to a mere quarter of active ninja on 'his' side. Trouble was brewing and quickly. His latest message to the Daimyo with the auditor had not been replied to yet. Jiraiya was going to have to reveal the change of leadership scroll sooner than he had planned.
Once it was known that Tsunade had stepped down and was a free agent in the Elemental countries, there would be a mad scramble for her services among all existing hidden villages.
Tsunade sneezed as the group set up camp outside of the strange sand trap.
'Too much dust in the air,' she thought.
The boys relayed their experience in the cistern and Tsunade frowned.
"You should have come up and asked for advice but I cannot really disagree with your final result. We have most of the treasury and more than enough water to reach the next town. Those sand tanuki trouble me but everything living wants to keep on living. Even demons I guess," she said as Hinata and Shizune passed out dinner.
Naruto grinned in the old smile the former Hokage had not seen in weeks. The boy always managed to lift her spirits when something turned up working out.
During the night, a wind picked up in the desert and a small sandstorm came from nowhere to hide any view past the campsite. The person on watch could do nothing but sit with Gaara and wait for it to pass. The redhead still would not sleep at night but he now knew a meditation that would mimic sleep and allow his mind to cope with the lack of it. It would not do for him to slide into madness once more.
Dawn arrived and the sandstorm had cleared up. Hinata was on watch when the sun rose. As she looked around she gasped and the sight and called to wake the others. The sight was one they would recall for a long time.
Where the strange chakra sand had been was now an open circular basin more than two miles across and down to the ground level from before the sand had engulfed the region. The remains of the town littered the ground around the mostly intact castle. Down the edges of various spots around the basin could be seen the remains of many wagons and bodies of expeditions to find the hidden town. As the party stood in silence, the sunlight spilled down to touch the floor of the basin. Various small springs could be seen glistening in the sunshine and wetting the sand.
"They actually left," Naruto said in awe.
"The storm must have been the sand tanuki releasing their trap and moving to where they could find something to eat and be safe," Shizune mused.
Tsunade tried to hide her own awe and get things moving once more.
"We need to continue on and get this treasure to the Daimyo and claim our reward. Once it is known that the town has been reclaimed there should be a bonus for us," she said thinking of the money and renown they might get for this.
It turned out that Tsunade was right in the idea that they would be rewarded. The Wind daimyo was thrilled to have the treasury of the castle returned to his coffers. He paid Tsunade and the group the equivalent of an A-rank mission for their efforts. Temari took the time to present the scroll of the samurai who had remained behind in the castle to the leader. In turn, he called in the grandson of the man who was also in the service of the daimyo, a samurai just as the fallen man had been. The samurai was moved to tears at the presentation and requested the honor of leading a team to recover the fallen and reclaim the town in the daimyo's name. The leader took it one step further and named the middle aged man to be the captain of the guard at the now renamed Shingen Castle. The samurai knelt and bowed with his forehead touching the ground before his leader vowing that he would serve the daimyo until his death at that castle just as his ancestor had.
Tsunade decided that she and her apprentices did not need an entire town. She suggested that anything which could be salvaged from the ruins be used to bring the town back to life. As an oasis, it would take a week off of the civilian travel time between the capitals of the Wind and Fire countries. It would be years before it could be rebuilt but it would be well worth the effort.
In Konoha, another upheaval was taking place. Jiraiya finally divulged the resignation of Tsunade to the Council. The group were astounded and thrilled at first until the Toad Sage revealed the next scroll naming him the Hokage with full power at once. His first order of business with the full authority of the title of Hokage was to dismiss the Council and tell it he would call them in when he wanted any advice.
The former Council met on their own shortly after their dismissal.
"How dare that jumped up boy treat us like his minions," Homura commented angrily.
"There is not much we can do about it," replied a former civilian member.
"Actually, there is something we can do about it," Danzo said with a sly grin on his face. The one eyed cripple outlined a plan that had most of the once all powerful Council grinning as they wanted back the power that had once been theirs.
The first step in his plan was accomplished within hours. The majority of jonin that sided with the Council voted and relieved Nara Shikaku of his position as lead jonin. The laid back man merely said it was troublesome but accepted the vote. It was noted by several that the vote fell almost eerily similar to the one that had banished Naruto from Konoha. Only the clans of Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Nara, Sarutobi, and Yamanaka voted in Shikaku's favor. There were few jonin beyond those that stayed on his side.
However, the biggest surprise came in the form of the vote of Hatake Kakashi. It was noted by many that he showed up three hours late like always but then he voted to depose his friend. Many saw that his vote against Shikaku and his continued training of the Uchiha boy meant he was on their side.
Tsunade and company headed for Suna with the Sand Siblings after leaving the Wind daimyo. The trip took them a mere day at ninja speeds and they were glad to see the carts of medical supplies awaiting them. The events later that day was something that Naruto would recall for the rest of his life.
It began simply enough. Yuugao was giving Hinata and Naruto physical training. The heat of the desert day was stifling and both teens were wearing the same attire they normally did in Konoha. Yuugao noticed them both sweating and overheating so she made a training decision.
"Kids, lose the jackets!" she called out.
Both teens looked at their instructor for a moment. Naruto shrugged and removed his orange jacket to show his black t-shirt underneath. Sweat ahd the fabric clinging to his skin. Hinata on the other hand was much more hesitant.
"I'm fine, Yuugao-sensei. Really I am. I can keep it on and still train," she said nervously.
"Did I give you a choice, chunin?" Yuugao said as she hovered over the much shorter girl.
Trembling, Hinata removed her heavy jacket. Once the coat fell to the sand, there was little the body shy former heiress could do to hide her curves. Naruto could only stare in shock. Up until now, the most he had seen of Hinata had been baggy shirts and her sleep attire only gave a hint of her true shape underneath.
Now, he could see her sweat covered shirt sticking close to her body and outlining every curve and contour. Her waist was narrow while her hips flared out and the material stuck to her skin showing that her figure rivaled a girl closer to 16 than 13. 'Whoa, she is even bigger than Ino,' was all his mind could process before he passed out smiling.
Yuugao could only look from one teen to the other as Hinata rushed over to comfort her husband and wake him up. The former ANBU was concerned but also noticed before it faded that a certain part of Naruto's anatomy had registered its approval of his wife.
Chakra lessons the next day with Shizune continued the acorn training. Naruto could finally manage the half hour that Hinata had accomplished the first day. Shizune increased the training to a second acorn on each hand before having the teens start to do something other than merely focus on the acorns. She had Naruto studying his basics of math, science and language that he had passed up learning in the Academy. She reminded him that the basics were needed to get to medical training. She quizzed the pair on what they would read during each half hour while maintaining the chakra holding the acorns. Splitting the focus of their attention meant they needed to accomplish more with their minds each day.
The teachers soon found that Naruto was not stupid. He simply had blown off many of his classes or been given poor reports on his progress. People who did not wish him to succeed had been hounding him most of his life and it showed in his class ranking. Tsunade thought it funny that if they had not done so Naruto would have been ranked about one third of the way up the ranks and been placed on a team that had eventually failed and been sent back to the Academy or failed out completely. Sarutobi had been canny in assigning him to the Uchiha's team when based on scores Kiba would have been on that team instead. People would not allow the failure of 'the last loyal Uchiha'.
The group stayed in Suna for two weeks before word reached them that Jiraiya had announced the change in Hokage. Once that happened, Tsunade knew that they would need to move on.
"Kuso," Tsunade growled once the news was heard in Suna. "I had hoped he could keep a lid on this for a couple of months longer. Things must not be going well in Konoha if he needs to tell about my stepping down. The news of Naruto's heritage would be reaching the ears of the other nations as well through diplomatic channels soon.
In the Land of Spring, Koyuki chuckled at the news of her favorite blonde gaki being of royal blood. 'Someone like that would make a worthy consort if only he had not been married already,' she pondered. The news from Konoha was direr. The resignation of Tsunade over the banishment of said gaki form Konoha. Coupled together, the pair of blondes were free to roam the lands, free from any entanglement and could go anywhere they pleased.
"Get me a messenger and a tracker. The fastest ones we have. I have an offer to present to a certain hero of the Land of Spring," she commanded.
In the Land of Water, the newly titled Godaime Mizukage frowned at the news. A royal survivor of the Land of Whirlpool had turned up. The island nation was still barren but who knew what could happen if he should decide to return to the land of his ancestors. The remnants of the citizens lived in many countries along the coast; Fire, Wave, Sea, Water, Tea and Lightning all boasted families and clans from that destroyed nation. All they lacked was a rallying point to bring them together once more. A member of the royal line could be that point.
To make things worse, the boy was a ninja and accompanied by the legendary medic Tsunade. That could mean a revival of that cursed Uzushiogakure as well. The business to the Mist village had tripled when that village had been destroyed. She needed to protect her own interests.
"Fetch me my hunter ninja. I have a job for them," she instructed.
In the Land of Earth, an old man yelled in anger at hearing the news.
"The spawn of that butcher Namikaze is not just a rumor. He lives and I cannot even touch him! The blasted daimyo has forbidden it! The brat is a relation to him. The blasted Leaf village however has that fool Jiraiya in charge of it now. We shall see if we cannot destroy two thorns with one blow. If there is an attack on the Leaf we shall see how the spawn reacts. Who knows what can happen in a war zone?"
An evil chuckle sounded from the man and his granddaughter wondered if the man had completely lost his mind.
Leaders and ninja in a half dozen other countries and hidden villages took in the news of Tsunade and Naruto. Different plans were made in each case but there was a common thread throughout.
They wanted to find the blonde and either to secure his services or to prevent another group from doing so
End Notes:
I said it would not take 5 months for an update. I took 15, so there, ha! Um wait a second, that doesn't sound right. Well, a lot has happened and I have gone back and edited a bit in the previous four chapters. There are no significant changes but rather fleshed out a few points.
I did notice as I was doing final edits that two other Missing Hokage stories updated as well. I guess other people had the same idea to get back on it like I had,
The scene of Hinata removing her jacket and the sweaty shirt sticking to her body to show her contours is a homage to the Hinata waterfall scene in episode 148
Author Notes:
My writing overall is picking up again. My stories are flowing slowly and I hope to keep updates coming often enough to satisfy the readers. I am pushing for 15k words a month right now which is an update on any 3 stories of my active ones. That is not my all time best but it should be reachable and not burn me out. That of course does not take into account any concept ideas I write down.