Welcome to Ch. 6, this is going to be where we re-join cannon for a little bit and see some of the other characters and their personalities without Naruto present…
Chapter 6: Revelations and Return
The Yondaime Raikage looked at the… thing… on the floor of his office. "Mind explaining what the fuck that is… It's eating the floor!"
With a single hand seal, the creature disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "That, Raikage-sama, is called an xenomorph…" Yugito went on to give a verbal report as her genin went to the hospital to treat their wounds.
It took her almost an hour to finish the report and the Raikage looked furious. Yugito was shocked he hadn't destroyed his desk yet. "You're telling me that Orochimaru had scientists in The Land of Lightning, experimenting on children!" Yugito gave a slight nod, unsure of what had Ei more furious than usual. After a few minutes he calmed down. "Yugito, I want you to go get Darui and Dodai." Yugito was slightly surprised but she nodded and left.
It only took a few minutes to find the two and return, when they did, in the office was Ei and Mabui.
"Good, Yugito, while you were gone, Orochimaru visited and attempted to broker an alliance between us and his new village, the Village Hidden in the Sound Waves. He made the alliance heavily in our favor and has planned the destruction of Konoha… We're going to join him…"
The jonin around the room looked shocked at his decision. Yugito stepped forward, a deep frown on her face. "Raikage-sama, that is not a good idea! This could ruin Naruto's thoughts of us! He may not hold Konoha in high regard, but he will not agree with its destruction for no reason!"
Yugito didn't notice his smirk was more devious than it usually was. "He's going to attack the leaf and when he does, we're going to get what we want. We're going to extort the key to Naruto's seal from the Hokage…"
Yugito stopped, her eyes wide as she played out everything in her head. "Once the invasion starts… You offer assistance in exchange for the key… It's brilliant!" Ei nodded. "I thought so too, the snake hinted at having another of the major villages already set in the invasion… However, he refused to inform me of which one. The Hokage will have no choice but to agree to my terms."
Yugito nodded. "Will I be going to Konoha?" Ei gave her a smirk. "Yeah, you and your team will be partaking in the Chunin Exams…"
*Following Morning
Team Yugito walked into the Raikage's office and gave the man a quick bow. Yugito stepped forward slightly. "Ei-sama, Team Yugito, here as requested."
Ei looked at her for a few minutes before replying. "Yugito, your team is leaving for Konoha in one week." The eyes of the genin widened to impossible lengths. "WHAT?" Ei was unsurprised by all three ninjas' outburst. "Your team will be given the time off to make any necessary preparations…" Their confusion was still clear. "Your team will be attending the chunin exams in Konoha. They take place in 2 weeks" Suddenly all the genin's eyes widened before a smirk crossed Karui's and Omoi's faces. However, worry crossed Naruto's while Yugito's was full of concern as she rested her hand on Naruto's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
Ei spoke, getting their attention on him, again. "Naruto, it is time you informed your team of your past." That was when Omoi and Karui noticed Naruto's nervousness, something that hasn't occurred too often in the last 4 years.
"What's wrong Naruto?" Naruto gave a sigh as he sat down in one of the chairs.
"Do you remember that day we met? I told you I lived in a small village before my uncle came and found me?" Both Omoi and Karui nodded, they vaguely remembered his story. "That, that was all a lie. The truth is, I'm from Konoha…" With that, he spent 10 minutes explaining how he was kidnapped and given a choice to stay or go… When he was finally done, Karui and Omoi had a look of shock on their faces. "You were a citizen of Konoha!?" Naruto just nodded, slightly worried about their reaction. However, Omoi was confused. "No offence, but why would Ei-sama want to kidnap you?" There it was, the question Naruto was dreading.
Naruto seemed to be trying to close in on himself when he felt Yugito give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. 'That's right! This isn't Konoha! I won't be hated for such a stupid reason!'
"I'm the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox."
Dead silence…
When Naruto finally built up the nerve to look Karui and Omoi in the eyes, he saw them staring at him, jaw dropped, however, looking into their eyes, he was relieved when he didn't see any fear. "That's crazy! Why didn't you tell us before?" The slightly hurt look on their faces had Naruto looking down.
"That would be because of me…" Everyone looked towards the Raikage in question. "If it was revealed that Naruto was in fact, the Naruto that went missing from Konoha, we could have very well had a war on our hands. Even in our village, only six people know, and they had a need to know." Realization dawned on the two genin.
However, something wasn't adding up for Omoi. "If Konoha learns of Naruto, they may want to start a war… Raikage-sama, are you trying to start a war by tempting fate?" A slight frown crossed Ei's face, worrying Omoi. However, it didn't last long as he let out a low chuckle. "Your perceptiveness is well beyond your years, boy, no doubt your father's keen intellect has been passed onto you. No, I'm preparing for a war. When the Yondaime Hokage sealed the Nine-tails into Naruto, he used a seal so advanced, that Sealmaster has never even heard of anything like it. However, within the seal, is a key which can either reinforce the seal to hold the Nine-tails back, or it can loosen the seal and allow Naruto to draw on more of the beast's chakra. As of now, Naruto has advanced as far as he possibly can but the seal interrupts when he attempts to pull on any more of the beast's chakra. I know Konoha has the key, I'm hoping that during the chunin exams, there will be an opportunity for us to find out where it is, or how to make one…"
Ei stared at the three genin as they all seemed to be in deep thought. "Why don't you guys take the day off, you can start preparing tomorrow, do whatever you need to do, to clear the air between yourselves."
The genin left the office and the air of silence surrounded them. Yugito looked at the three with sadness in her eyes. However, after only a second, she turned to her leader. "Why didn't you tell them the real plan?" Ei smirked slightly. "Skilled or not, they're still genin and we can have nothing giving away our plan. They will not find out until the morning of the attack, I received word from the snake, we attack at the finals…"
*With Genin
While it seemed aimless, they ended up at Naruto's training ground. When they stopped outside, he beckoned them in, much to their shock. The land next to training ground one was off limits to everyone. It was a capital crime to enter without express permission from the Raikage himself.
"This is a training ground Ei-sama had commissioned for me, so Yugito could train me in the use of Kyubi's chakra without having to go all the way to the Valley of Lightning and Clouds; where she mastered the Nibi's chakra. It is surrounded with chakra barrier seals to stop the chakra from being felt by even the most skilled sensor ninja." Omoi and Karui nodded in understanding. However, soon, their eyes went wide when they felt a chakra unlike any they had ever felt before. It was so dense they had trouble breathing, the KI that permeated the air had Omoi's hands shaking slightly.
When the two genin looked to their teammate, what they saw shocked them. Naruto was standing proud, coated in a bubbly orange chakra that took the form of a two-tailed fox. Before long, the chakra merely faded away.
"I just thought you should see it in case you want to stay my teammate…" It took a few moments for Naruto's words to register in their heads. "What!? You think we'd want a new teammate!?" Naruto gave a slight shrug and before he realized what was happening, Karui's fist slammed into his head. "Is that all you think of us!? You think we're so petty that we'd want a new teammate!?" Naruto had no response, so he just lowered his head in slight shame.
Soon, he felt two hands on his shoulders. When he looked up, he saw the smiling faces of Omoi and Karui. "Naruto…" Karui spoke in the gentlest tone he had ever heard from her. "I don't care what other people thought of you because of it. We are a team and nothing is going to change that!"
"She's right, you know. We're a team…" All three genin turned around and saw Yugito standing there with a smirk.
Slowly, Naruto nodded, a few tears escaping his eyes as he realized, even with all his secrets, he could still have friends. 'Getting taken to Kumo is the best thing that ever happened to me…'
After he calmed down, Yugito spoke. "I want you all to rest up, make sure you gather your best supplies and make sure you're ready. This will be the first time Kumo has ever joined in on the Chunin exams so it is likely you will be monitored closely and possibly even set up to fail…" The genin nodded before they left the training ground. Naruto to get some sleep and the two others had to swing by a blacksmith and commission two new swords.
*One Week Later
Naruto looked around at the group, he was surprised when he saw who was going. "So, Yugito-sensei is our guard and you and C are Yugito's guards?" Darui just raised an eyebrow at his 'nephew' before sighing tiredly.
In front of them were Ei and Mabui. The Raikage stepped forward, grasping Darui's shoulder. "I'm counting on you to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens until the third round." Darui gave the man a short not. "You can count on me, Boss." Ei then turned to the genin. "Now then, remember what needs to happen, technically I only need one ninja in the finals and I can attend. However, I want to rub it in Konoha's face that every ninja I sent is chunin level!" The man got several smirks as the genin punched the air. "You got it! Raikage-sama!"
Without another word, the group of six turned and started the four day trip to Konoha.
*5 Days Later
Karui stretched her back out as the group walked slowly up the single path to Konoha. "I'm glad we decided to rest up for the night instead of heading straight in, eh G?" Karui's slightly giggle that followed had Naruto's eyebrow twitching.
Just before he could blow up on his teammate, Yugito placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "While I do agree that Raikage-sama chose an amusing name, if his real name is heard by any of the higher ups that knew the boy, it will be game over for us. For all intents and purpose, Naruto is G until I say otherwise, even amongst us. Understood?" Karui and the others nodded, though Naruto's eyebrow still twitched.
"How dull, I see the gate… Be prepared, just in case." Darui may have appeared unchanged, but in reality, his hand was already half way to his cleaver in the form of lacing his fingers behind his head. They passed the threshold of the village and Yugito narrowed her eyes as she felt four ninja around jonin level prepare for a fight. However, they made no move of going on the offensive. Of the two gate guards, only one was awake. He seemed to have found something he likes.
"Hello, gorgeous, welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village, here for the chunin exams I presume? Well, the exams don't start until tomorrow, maybe I can show you around?"
It took every ounce of Naruto's self-control to stay put, however, the chunin backed off when he heard a low growl. He glanced over, and saw the boy's eyes flash red for an instant, causing him to gulp and sit back down.
In an instant, Yugito placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder, instantly calming him down as he got his breathing under control. She lowered her head, placed her lips so close to Naruto's ear that her hot breath left goose bumps on his neck. "You need to calm down, G. Don't worry, I can take care of myself…" After a few moments, he gave a small nod. "Thanks, Yugito…" She gave her fellow jinchuuriki a small smile as she stood back to her full height.
*In the bushes overlooking the village entrance
An ANBU with long purple hair, wearing standard gear and a cat mask, a katana strapped to her back looked over to the ANBU next to her and shook her head slightly. He had shaggy brown hair wore a similar mask, but his was covered in red and green marks. "I believe we should notify the Hokage of this. His actions are showing very poor presence to possible enemies." The man shook his head slightly. "No, his actions are merely to inspire bravery in anyone attempting to sneak in. Kotetsu and Izumo are in fact very skilled chunin. However, they don't have the most impressive aura and they use that to their advantage… They are often underestimated and have defeated several powerful shinobi of note because of it."
*With Team Yugito
"So, you're the sensei… Yugito Nii, these are the three genin, who are these two?" By this point, both chunin were awake and taking their job seriously.
Yugito gave the two men an annoyed look. "These two are here in the off chance your village thinks it is a good idea to attempt something against Kumogakure… Darui of the Black Lightning and C…" As the two chunin looked over the ids in their possession, they glanced towards a particular corner, after several seconds there was a single flash of light so small that Yugito almost missed it. "Ok, you guys are good to go. If you have any questions I'm sure one of our ninja would be glad to show you to your room." The Kumo ninja nodded and went in.
The group easily found their hotel, it was only the grandest hotel in all of Konoha. As they got their room, the ninja couldn't believe what they were seeing. Karui ran forward before jumping onto the bed, sinking almost completely. "This is absolutely amazing! Why would Raikage-sama pay for such an extravagant room?" It was Darui, whom was glancing out the window that responded. "Because, it puts us at a strategic advantage if we are attacked. He requested the top floor because it is higher than any of the surrounding buildings, it is also less than a ¼ mile from the village wall. Konoha will have trouble with surveillance while we're in the room and if they try anything while we have our guard down, we are close to the exit. I'm sure the council was none too happy when they learned how much this room would cost…"
The genin nodded in understanding. The three genin heard C ruffling through his bag as he pulled out a small box. He opened it and revealed a stack of 60 seal tags. Naruto looked over his shoulder slightly. "What are those?" C smirked as he stuck one to the wall on the bottom corner. "These are portable barrier seals. Usually, creating a secure room, costs millions of ryo and about a month, however, Sealmaster created these. They can be placed around a room in about an hour and will make this room as secure as Raikage-sama's office." The genins' eyes widened in shock, before they could comment, C's stomach started to growl. "Well, when I'm done, I'll go grab a bite to eat." However, Naruto's stomach followed. "Hey, while you guys set the room up, I'll go grab some food for everyone…" Yugito narrowed her eyes slightly, but nodded. "Take Omoi with you, just in case…"
The two boys nodded and left. As the two were walking down through the village, they were both checking out the sights. However, they couldn't find any place that sold food. Omoi looked around and shrugged. "I guess I'll ask the next person I see." Naruto nodded in agreement. However, when he saw a man walk around the corner, he froze. He was a tall man wearing standard Konoha chunin gear with a bandana over his silver hair. 'I know him…'
Flashback-4 Year Old Naruto
Naruto stood up as he glared at the man in front of him, blood slowly leaked from a cut on his forehead. "What the hell are you even doing here, Demon-boy!? You're never going to become a ninja, why don't you just go find a hole to die in!" Faster than Naruto could blink, the man's foot slammed into his nose, force of the blow sent Naruto flying back, his head impacting a tree…
Naruto slowly raised his head and sent a scathing glare at the man's back as he slowly walked away. The boy's glare never dropped until the chunin entered the building he was trying to get in, large letters over the building said exactly what it was. Konohagakure Ninja Academy
End Flashback
It took everything Naruto had to reign in his chakra as he could feel the Nine-tails in the back of his mind, urging him to destroy the man that had dared cause him harm. However, after only a few seconds, the man looked from Omoi to Naruto and a bead of sweat fell from his forehead as he locked eyes with the boy. He could feel the boy's barely repressed power.
For some reason, he knew he needed to stay away from him…
"Let's go Omoi…" Without wasting a second, Naruto was gone, Omoi having to jog to catch up. "Hey, Nar… G, you ok?" Naruto ignored him as he continued to walk through the village, doing everything he could to keep his mind off the man he just saw.
However, it wasn't long when Omoi got tired of it, he grabbed Naruto's shoulder and pulled him to a stop. "What's wrong!?" Naruto took a quick glance around before he spoke quietly. "I used to know him… From before…" A look of understanding crossed Omoi's face. "You good?" Naruto gave a short nod and they were about to head off, when someone ran into him from behind.
Naruto turned around and saw a boy. He had brown hair and was wearing a long blue scarf with a yellow shirt. "Watch where you're going, kid." Naruto turned around and started to leave when he felt something impact his leg.
Naruto turned around and saw that the boy had kicked his leg and was looking at him with a glare. "Apologize! Foreigner!" Naruto's eyebrow twitched in irritation, he was not in the mood.
Faster than the boy could react, Naruto grabbed the boy's shirt, holding him eye level. "You need to learn to respect your betters, boy…" Naruto let his statement hang as he began releasing some chakra, practically smothering the boy. In an instant he stopped, moving the boy only slightly, directly into the path of a stone that was thrown from a tree.
"AH! That hurt!" However, Naruto completely ignored the boy in favor of staring at the tree. After an instant, a boy dropped down, he was a little shy of 5 foot with black hair and a blue hoodie, his obsidian eyes glared at Naruto in disdain.
"Is there something you want?" The boy continued to glare at Naruto as Omoi just stood off to the side, his mind working through every possible outcome that could occur.
Sasuke spoke for the first time since making his appearance known. "What are you doing here, Cloud ninja? We may have a non-aggression pact with you, but that hardly gives you the right to enter our village freely." Naruto's continued to stare at the boy, hardly registering Konohamaru's renewed struggling.
"If you intend to go around attacking every foreign ninja in your village, you're going to be busy. We're here for the chunin exams…" It was at that moment that two girls walked around the corner, one of them with pink hair and a red dress, the other had black hair with a hint of blue and a purple jacket her eyes identified her as a Hyuga.
The girl with pink hair tilted her head slightly to the side. "Chunin exams, what's that?" Naruto scoffed and ignored her.
Before anyone else could retort, four people dropped to the ground around them. They each wore identical uniforms, the only distinguishing marks being their slightly different masks and their hair. The one directly in front of Naruto stepped forward slightly, his hand resting on his ninjato behind his back. He wore bird mask and had short brown hair. "Release the Sandaime Hokage's grandson, or pay with your life." Naruto stared at the man for an instant before he released his grip, allowing Konohamaru to hit the ground hard. "Happy? Tell that old man to teach his grandson some manners before it gets the brat hurt..." Naruto let his sentence hang and turned around, walking away.
The bird-masked ANBU held an unseen glare on his face. 'No one disrespects Sandaime-sama!" With great speed, he charged forward, pulling out his ninjato as he moved. His eyes caught the blade as he spun it around. 'No reason to kill the fool.' Just as the blade was about to impact Naruto's shoulder, a hand shot out and caught his wrist, stopping the blade. The ANBU was shocked when he also saw another hand holding the boy's wrist, a strange t-handled kunai between two fingers, less than three inches from his neck, ready to kill him.
"ANBU-san, you should work on your emotional control. You may not have been going in for a kill, but my student was." Everyone turned slightly, focusing on the new arrival, the ANBU recognized her instantly. She was Yugito Nii, the strongest ninja in Kumo, outside of the Raikage himself.
The three ninja stood in a deadlock for a full minute when another ANBU dropped down, this one wearing a 'boar' mask with a white cloak. "ANBU team 2, report!" From the sidelines the three ANBU gave their report. When they finished, they all heard the captain click his tongue. "Ninja of Kumo, you have Konoha's sincerest apologies, please release my soldier so I may discipline him… You may be on your way." Yugito looked at the man for an instant before she gave a slight nod and the three disappeared around a corner. Once they were out of earshot, Yugito stopped them.
"What the hell is the matter with you!? We're here on an important assignment and you try to kill an ANBU!?" Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly at his sensei. "I thought he was trying to kill me, I was merely returning the favor…" Yugito gave a sigh. "All that could have been avoided if you would have just walked away from the boy…" Naruto lowered his head slightly. "He reminded me of before…" With that, he took off, heading down the road… Yugito sighed as she watched him go. 'He doesn't know how to deal with it anymore. He went from being an outcast to just an average boy overnight.'
Yugito looked towards Omoi with a sigh. "If you follow this road down, you'll pass a BBQ place, grab everyone food and head back to the room… I'm gonna go check on him." Omoi nodded and she took off.
*Ten Minutes Later: Top of the Hokage Monument
Yugito walked up slowly, slightly surprised to find Naruto sitting on the head of the Yondaime Hokage. "You didn't have to follow me…" Yugito just shook her head at her stubborn student. "Yes I did… I left you alone for 20 minutes and you almost beat up the Hokage's grandson and killed an ANBU, imagine what you could do with an hour…" Naruto let out a dry chuckle as Yugito sat next to him.
"You wanna talk about it?" Naruto remained silent for a few minutes, prompting Yugito to lay back, enjoying the mild winter weather of The Land of Fire. After a few minutes of just relaxing, Naruto spoke. "I just thought it was over, you know? Ever since I 'went home' I've just been another kid. Then I ran into a jerk I used to know, and then the brat… I just don't know how I used to deal with it all…" Yugito sat up, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Just remember, nobody cares. It doesn't matter what you are… You're you and that's all that matters. Now than, lay down." Naruto gave her a confused look as she leaned up, forcing him onto his back. "I need a pillow." With that, she stretched his arm out and rested her head on his chest.
A bright blush rose onto Naruto's face as his sensei made herself at home, using his chest as a pillow. It was without a doubt, the most intimate thing he had ever done. "W-what are you doing?"
Without a care, she brought her arm around, placing a finger against Naruto's lips. "Shh, time for a cat nap…" With that, she dropped her arm, wrapping it around Naruto's stomach as she started to snore slightly.
Slowly, a small smile appeared on Naruto's face as the day's activities were completely forgotten. He couldn't stop himself from reaching up and brushing a group of bangs behind her ear. "Sweet dreams, Yugito…" With that, Naruto relaxed, wrapping his arm around her lightly.
*Hotel Room
"Really? You think so?" C was looking at Karui and Omoi with something akin to shock. Karui sent the jonin a smirk. "Hell yeah, 'G' has it bad for our sensei…" Darui nodded slightly. "I wouldn't be surprised; he has spent several hours nearly every day with her since he was 6… She's always been something of an idol to him ever since he was younger… I can see that turning into a crush…" Karui shook her head. "This isn't just some crush… Honestly, I think she might even like him too…" Now that had all three shinobi shocked.
"You expect me to believe, that 21 year old Yugito Nii, one of the hottest women in the world, has a thing for her 12 year old genin student?" Karui gave the three a smirk. "I may act like one of the boys, but I'm a girl, through and through. She may not know it, and even if she did, she'd never admit it. But she likes him…"
Darui looked at the time and frowned. "C, I apologize but, can you get a lock on them?" C nodded and closed his eyes. "I got them… I think they're sleeping…" Darui sighed. "Where?" C closed his eyes again, this time for a few seconds. "The Hokage Monument…" Darui nodded and looked to Karui and Omoi. "You guys have a busy day tomorrow so you should get some sleep too. I'm gonna go, I'll keep an eye on them until they wake up." C nodded as Darui left the room.
He sighed as he ran through the village, he wasn't in a huge hurry, but he didn't want to leave them unmonitored for too long. He arrived in less than two minutes and what he saw had him sighing. "Dull…" He climbed a nearby tree and took a seat on one of the branches with a perfect vantage point of the two sleeping jinchuuriki.
*7 Hours Later
Slowly, Naruto began to awaken, he was kind of cold, but also incredibly warm and it was a very unique sensation as he rejoined the world of the conscious. Slowly, his eyes opened. He was shocked into alertness when he felt hot breath fan against his neck. There she was, his sensei and… Well, his sensei, she was wrapped in his arms as her head rested on his chest, her legs tangled up in his own. That was when he figured it out. 'Everywhere that's warm is because of her…'
His face became a new shade of red, as he realized his hand was resting on her butt. He couldn't help himself as he gave it a slight squeeze, causing Yugito to give off a light moan in her sleep. However, soon, the horror of what he just did caught up with him and all he could feel was shame. 'I just groped her in her sleep, that's wrong!'
Before he could admonish himself anymore, Yugito shifted and spoke in a sleepy haze. "Hmm, Naruto-kun…"
Faster than he thought was possible, he shot up, waking his bedmate in the process. 'She just said my name! She was dreaming about me!?'
Yugito slowly shook her head as she was thrown into the world of the living. "What's going on? Who woke me up?" Naruto stared at the woman that was practically sitting on his lap as her chest was less than an inch from his face as she stretched out. "S-s-s-sorry Y-yu-yugito-s-sensei." Yugito's eyes widened as she felt Naruto's breath fan over her covered breasts. Naruto quickly took note of the sun's position. "But I think we are going to be late…" Darui chose that time to show himself. "G is right. Karui and Omoi are on their way to the academy, you have 15 minutes to get there… Good luck, I know you'll do great."
The two stood and didn't say a word as Naruto stretched and checked his gear before nodding and taking off.
Yugito dropped to the ground with her face in her hands as she thought about what just happened. Before long, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Darui looking at her with a sympathetic look on his face. "I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better, but I've never been good at matters of the heart. Hell, Mabui practically had to jump me before I realized she liked me… If you follow your heart, you'll be alright…"
Yugito didn't say anything as Darui left, making his way to the Ninja Academy that the first round would occur in.
That's it! I threw in some Naruto/Yugito touchy-feely there, just wanted to get the romance started a little, not much.
If you don't like how the whole thing went down, it started out with Yugito just trying to comfort Naruto and get his mind off the past and she later realized what she did… Imagine your response if you just realized that you are falling for someone 9 years younger than you… I don't know about you guys, but that would put a girl at 14 for me and I can see myself freaking the fuck out.
Anyways, read and review, let me know what you thought of it!
