And we can finally get to the bulk of the story. This chapter concludes the babies part of the story. Next chapter, we get to the real business. Of course, most of the story is going to be Naruto centric, so some of the other Jinchuuriki will appear much later on. So... Enjoy the first snippet!
Leadership
Book I, Chapter V: The pledge
"So... Yeah, she's not that bad... I mean, she probably feels worse than Fu. If she didn't like her, she wouldn't have had to do what she's doing, after all." After returning to his room after dinner, Naruto had found Gaara and started narrating the small conversation he had had with Fu about Yugito, hoping that he would calm him and maybe cheer him up a little.
"I-I see..." Gaara nodded, taking in all the story while he absent-mindedly played with his sand, making it form various shapes, ever-shifting and changing. Every now and then, subconsciously, the sand took the shapes of two figures fighting each other, resembling Gaara and Naruto too much for the redhead's comfort. "... So, she still wants to be her friend."
"Yes. That's the whole point of her recent behaviour... Woah." Naruto suddenly let out an expression of surprise, and that earned Gaara's attention. The blond was staring at his feet as he had just realized something really, really surprising. "Where did I learn those difficult words?"
Gaara stared and then snorted before laughing loudly, falling on his back, much to Naruto's embarassment. He rolled around, and put a hand to his eyes to rub away the tears and then his hand chanced upon the kanji on his forehead. That immediately calmed him down. "Oh..." Friendship. He recalled the day almost an year before when he had voluntarily given himself that scar.
He remembered why he did it and how he felt when he did it. It was to help him remind himself that he would always had a friend in Naruto, no matter what happened along the road and even if they were apart. The thought brought a smile to his face. "... Naruto."
"Yes?" Naruto had observed the whole thing and he liked the fact that now Gaara was smiling at him.
"We'll be best friends forever, right?" The question surprised the blonde, but he grinned nonetheless. He was just seven years old, he didn't know much of the world or of anything else, but he was positive, he felt with every fibre of his being...
"Of course." That no matter what happened or came his way, their way, he and Gaara would always be friends. "And if we ever have to fight each other... We'll think about what to do on the spot, right? I mean, we don't even know if that will really happen!"
"Heheheh, right. It could never happen, too." Thinking about this scene in the years to come, both Naruto and Gaara would smile and then laugh.
"And if it comes to that... I'll be sure to kick your ass!" Then they would get hysterical when they got at this point. At the moment, Gaara just giggled before a knock on their door made itself heard. The two children's heads shot in the direction of the door as one.
"Huh... Come in?" Gaara said tentatively. The door slowly opened revealing the visage of Uchiha Itachi.
"Naruto. Gaara-san. You should come with me." Itachi explained, earning confusion from the two younger boys. "There's something I think you should see."
-Breakline-
"So... What was that all about yesterday, Yagura?" The short boy didn't reply focusing his attention on a nearby potted plant, the leaves twitching every so slightly every few seconds as he kept his gaze on them. "The things you were talking about with Naruto and Gaara."
"Nothing much." He didn't modify his cross-legged position on his bed, keeping his eyes glued to the small plant. Utakata sighed and dismissed his bubbles before walking to Yagura's bed, focusing his own attention on his fellow compatriot, fully.
"Yagura, are you thinking of doing something... Drastic?" Utakata tentatively tried to open a conversation with the younger Jinchuuriki. "Not right now, I can understand that... But you're thinking about it."
"... When I'm strong enough." Yagura simply replied, confirming Utakata's thoughts. There was something drastic in Yagura's plans for the future, and he couldn't say he had never thought about something among those lines either.
Kiri's treatment of their weapons was excellent. They weren't malnourished or beaten or anything like that, but they were just that. Weapons. They were treated and sharpened with care because sooner or later they would have to be used and like they didn't have a choice now because they were weaker than most shinobi in the village, he was sure that they would find another method of keeping them under control once they grew too strong to be simply intimidated.
Yagura knew this as well, of that he was certain. The young Jinchuuriki was smarter than most adults he knew. So, whatever he had in mind, would have a time-limit, and they didn't even know what the limit date was. They were at a disadvantage, but he was pretty sure that Yagura wouldn't go down without a fight, not before taking a shot of being free, really free.
"... Just try to not do everything on your own, alright?" Maybe it was a bit selfish of him, mostly because he had never even thought of doing anything to change his situation. Becoming a missing nin didn't suit his taste much, unless something really bad happened to the point of making him get disgusted with even the concept of being a Kiri ninja. Though, he really worried about Yagura and...
"Utakata-nii! Yagura!" That was when the door opened, revealing a pretty bewildered Naruto. "Come! Hurry!"
"Huh? Naruto, what is it?" That had the effect of breaking Yagura's concentration as he stopped dedicating himself to the plant and turned around to face the blonde.
"Hurry! There's no time! Follow me!"
-Breakline-
"You know... I never actually focused on it, apart that night we talked with Gaara-san about stars..." Fu was skipping on the sand, her eyes focused on the night sky above, enjoying how the clouds slowly moved to the side revealing the myriad of bright dots. "But your country has a beautiful sky. It's also different from the one I usually see back in my country."
"That's probably because the lightning country is further up north than the waterfall village." Yugito commented, her heart beating in her chest and a sinking feeling in her stomach. She grimaced at the situation. Why? Why was the world out to get her? Why it seemed like Fu was doing everything in her power to approach her demise. Her demise at her hands.
"Yeah. That must be it." Fu nodded as she stopped right in front of the lake's shore. She stared at the night sky a bit more, her hands still crossed behind her back, keeping the silence for a little while. "Yu-chan, do you mind if I talk first?"
"I-It's alright." She tensed as she felt a familiar chakra flare. She tensed and started to sweat as she realized that she was watching them. The time was just right. She swallowed. She needed time. Time to think.
"Well, I've noticed that... In the last days... You've been acting kind of a jerk." That struck home, and Yugito's concentration broke again as she dropped her head and gaze.
"R-Really?"
"You've been avoiding me and answering rudely to all my questions, when you answer. You've mostly cut me off immediately." She gritted her teeth as Fu continued to talk, much to her chagrin. That's right. She had been acting like a jerk. She wanted to cut all and any ties in case... Something like this happened.
Yes... This is for the best. She said to herself as she started gathering chakra in her right hand. She had managed to give off the impression that she wanted. A cold, machine-like, jerk. Someone that she didn't like, that no one would like. She had managed to alienate her.
"At first I thought I had done something to anger you." That made her pause and widen her eyes. She had been acting like a jerk and Fu thought that she had been the one who had done something bad? "Then... I got to talk with Naruto-san."
"... Him." That made her eyes go back to normal and chuckle darkly to herself. If she talked to Naruto, then everything was perfect. Perfectly ruined. The small talk she had had with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki had left the boy with quite the impression of herself, and he had probably shared it with Fu.
"Yes. I am thankful. That made me understand." She tensed, her mind resigned to the inevitable. The flames around her right hand burned brighter as she summoned more chakra and then... "Why do you worry so much?"
"Heh?" She paused again, that simple question startling her.
"Naruto-san made me understand that you were acting like this because you were afraid if we could be best friends forever." That made her jaws go slack. She had already pictured the younger boy picturing her as some kind of heartless monster, and she found the picture not that far from the truth, in her mind. "You worry too much. It's true that once... Well, from this year on, actually, since this is your last year... We won't be able to see each other much again, and that when we become ninja we could... Meet in other circumstances, but... So?"
"So?" She gasped, losing her focus and temper. "So? Do you understand..."
"Yu-chan will always be Yu-chan to me." Then she turned around, grinning and her words died in her throat. "No matter what happens and no matter how much time passes, you will always be my best friend... Well, unless you start bad-mouthing the Gutsy Ninja! Then I will be merciless!"
"I can't..." Yugito pulled on the hair on her head with her left hand, gritting her teeth to the point of them hurting. "I can't believe what you're saying! What if... What if I ever got the order to kill you?" That seemed to give Fu pause, this time, the grin replaced with a confused expression. "That's right! Assassination missions happen! What if that happens? What then? Would you still say that I'm your friend?"
"... I don't think Yu-chan would ever go through with that." Fu commented, and Yugito's right hand twitched, the flame still flaring unnoticed. Then, the aquamarine-haired girl smiled warmly. "But if that happened... I think I would let you do it."
"You... You..." That did it. Just as Fu finally noticed tha gathering of chakra in her right hand, Yugito fell to her knees, biting on her lower lip, barely restrained sobs rocking her body as she tried to breath normally, which only came out as some kind of whimper.
"Y-Yu-chan?" Fu knelt in front of her older friend immediately after, only to receive a solid blow to her chest. "Ow!"
"You stupid... Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" She punched the younger girl on the chest again and again and again as she didn't try to restrain tears any more, letting them flow freely down her face. "You should hate me! Why do you think I did all this? Even before, I did it so you wouldn't think of me as a friend any more! And then you go and drop a bomb like this on me? You said you would place your life in my hands? How can you! How can you!"
"Yu-chan..." Fu managed to grab her wrists, and like before, Yugito found herself unable to move them. So she just whimpered pitifully and dropped her forehead on top of Fu's head, keeping on crying. Once she was sure that Yugito would no longer go crazy, she relaxed and hugged as much as she could of her friend. "You worry just too much."
"What's the meaning of this?" The sudden appearance of a voice, familiar only to Yugito, made the two girls immediately tense. Yugito let go of Fu and turned around, standing up again her back to her friend, protectively. "Nii Yugito."
"... Fu, don't move." She ignored the question and pulled out a kunai from her weapon pouch, as she narrowed her tear-stricken eyes at the Anbu.
"Answer me. You've been given a precise order. To assassinate the waterfall Jinchuuriki." Hearing those words, Yugito swallowed and Fu gasped softly. "Why aren't you carrying out your orders?"
"... Because..." Yugito narrowed her eyes at the Anbu in front of her, and she noticed that the hand holding the kunai was trembling. Though, it wasn't with fear. She knew fear, she had known it in the last days. This was something much more familiar. "Because I don't want to." That answer seemed to surprise the Anbu if the body language was clear enough. "Do I need another reason to not do it?"
"... Are you seriously defying your village's direct orders... The Raikage's will... On a whim?" It was anger. She was sure of that.
"Not on a whim. For a friend." She corrected him, lowering her stance even more. Dropping her free hand on the ground. That was her favourite guarding position. Probably another side-effect of having a hell-cat or something sealed in your body.
"... A friend. It seems that you're not a good ninja, after all. And an even worse Jinchuuriki." She gritted her teeth in annoyance. She suspected a ranting about what a ninja is supposed to act like was coming. "A ninja is supposed to be a tool. A Jinchuuriki a human weapon. If normal ninja aren't supposed to feel emotions, that goes double for you containers. And yet... You failed to abide by those teachings." She could feel his glare even through the mask. "Even worse, you've made friends with another weapon that also happens to be a target of an assassination mission, from another village."
"You gonna do something about it or just talk about it?" She replied with a smirk, trying to be defiant in the face of darkness. She knew what waited for her. He was probably going to take the mission in his own hands, now. He wanted to kill Fu and she was probably going to be punished once they went back to the Hidden Cloud. At least she could hope to enrage him.
"... Very well." The Anbu moved his right hand over and behind his head, grabbing onto the handle of his tantou. "I shall..."
"Fuck off and die." The Anbu stopped moving as he turned to the side and backstepped to dodge an incoming jet of something that looked dangerous. As he backstepped he observed the substance, identifying it as sand of a different colour than the one on the beach.
"Huh, Naruto, what does that mean?" He turned into the direction the voices were coming from, and he saw four small silhouettes approaching their position.
"Ehm... I don't know. I just heard some of the older kids during lunch break say it. Since they were fighting, I guess it's some kind of insult." One shorter than the other, but they all had something in common. They were all containers. The two from Kiri were focused on him, while the blonde one and the red-haired on were seemingly distracted, talking to each other. What he really noticed was the wooden sword the blonde one was carrying.
"Yes, it's indeed an insult, Naruto-san." The oldest one held something in his mouth. It looked like a pipe of some kind, but instead of smoke, he could see small soap bubbles floating out of it. "One that I'd prefer you didn't repeat."
"We're here to help." The smallest, youngest one declared as the small group reached the two girls' side, whose stares had been on them for a while, now.
"You... You four." Yugito didn't know if to be glad or surprised or... Then she realized that she had been crying and that her faces probably had signs of that. She immediately threw her arm to her face to clean it with the back of the appendage. This earned her a grin from Naruto.
"Aw, the big bad ninja girl was crying?" He teased, and Yugito answered with a growl. A real albeit low one.
"Shut up, you..." Then she noticed his expression. He was smiling, but it wasn't a smile that went with the teasing she had just been subject to. That confused her even more. "... What? What are you staring at?"
"Nah, nothing. I'm just... Well, I'm happy." That didn't clear much of her confusion, but he decided to elaborate further. "We saw everything, you know." That caused surprise and shame. She blushed and turned her head around. "So, I'm happy about being wrong. You're not the worst. You're a good friend."
"S-Shut up." She shook her head to clear her mind, focusing back on the most pressing problem. The adult ninja standing in front of them a few meters away, who was silently observing everything.
"... You say you've come to help, Jinchuuriki?" Those words made him the focus of all the children once again. "What goes... I mean, what possesses all of you to declare something like this? Are you really that naïve? You're all from different villages, you're all being bred with the same purpose in mind... How can you spout so easily nonsense about friendship?"
The assorted group of Jinchuuriki in front of him just stared back. "We're in a world that holds itself on conflict and war, and soon you..."
"Ehm... Anbu-san, you do realize you're talking to children here, right?" That stopped him, and if the mask was off, they could see him raising an eyebrow. "I mean, all that stuff you say about war, and conflict, and... Policies?"
"Politics, Naruto-san."
"Right, politics. That's stuff we don't know anything about. We're still children." Naruto continued once Utakata corrected him. "We don't know nothing about that, and I don't think we could even understand if someone told us. We're too young... And am I glad. I mean, Yugito probably does..." Naruto turned his face to the side to stare at the blonde haired girl. "And look what a mess she was."
"... Your point being?" The Anbu pressed Naruto on.
"What I mean is that we don't understand what you say to us! Even when Yugito was telling me, all I understood was that she was willing to hurt Fu because someone told her to do so! That was what got me angry! But now, I see that she wasn't really honest." Naruto raised the hand holding the bokken and pointed it at the Anbu. "Even now. I don't see anything but someone trying to hurt my friends. That's all that that I see... And that's enough for me to beat you up!"
"... Beat me up, you say." The Anbu seemed to have had enough, as he had finally extracted his weapon. "I understand that there's no way for me to convince you to just turn around and leave, but... Do you really think six children, none of which are genin yet can 'beat up' an Anbu?"
"Learn to count, or I'll sneak attack you!" The new voice surprised everyone on the shore. The Anbu turned around and had to parry a flurry of blows delivered by a trio of very-sharp looking swords. In the end, one managed to nick him on his left arm, and the attacker pivoted in the air and somersaulted till he landed in front of the other children, earning gasps from Naruto, Gaara and Fu and shocked look from the others. "That's what you deserve! You bad man, you!"
"... This rap... It can't be..." Yugito whimpered, placing a hand on her forehead.
"Bee-nii!" Naruto shouted out loud his new made on the spot nickname for the black-skinned youth, who turned around and flashed them a toothy grin. "You're here!"
"Of course! No village will keep me from me maties! Not when you're just a few kilometers away!"
"A few...! The Hidden Cloud is hundred of miles away from this location, you dolt!" The sudden appearance of the Cloud genin seemed to have made Yugito alive again. "How the hell did you persuade Raikage-sama to give you..."
"The Eight doesn't need no permission for visiting! Wryyyyyy! Oh, wait. That sounds wrong..." Yugito groaned and palmed her face with both hands. "Whatever! Yo! You! Underpaid idiot! I can't believe my bro would order something like that! I call bullshit or going behind his back on this! And so I'm kicking your ass! Yo!"
"... Kirabi-sama too... I can't believe this..." The sudden flare of chakra and the angry tone translated to everyone in the clearing that the Anbu was getting deadly serious. "Very well. I acquiesce. I will just have to slay you all and then bring Kirabi and Yugito back... For some serious punishing."
"Yeah, you try that, you idiot! Ch...!" Naruto found Kirabi's hand in front of his face and his head shaking from side to side. "W-What?"
"This is not your battle, 'Ruto." Naruto looked positively outraged. "Yugito, you with me."
"... Yes." Yugito nodded as she recovered and got ready to attack.
"Bubbles, Sand. You stay here and protect, but try to get some shots in on this guy. We can do this if we work together."
"H-Hey! What about me?" Kirabi sighed and placed a hand on top of Naruto's head.
"You're too young for bouting with him, yo. Same goes for Green hair and silent boy." The blonde gasped and pointed an accusing finger at Gaara.
"But he's my same age!"
"But he can attack from afar. You can only swing that wodden thing. Easy kill for an adult ninja." Naruto growled but acquiesced, dropping on the ground with a pot, Yagura right beside him. "Good boy." Kirabi suddenly got out three other swords, catching them with impossible to look at joints grips. "Now! Let's get this group bout started!"
-Breakline-
"Hey!" Itachi had just arrived to the room of the other Anbu and the senior Jinchuuriki, confident that he could find it faster than the younger children. He opened the door with a slam, finding all the Anbu, including Yamato, enjoying the company of Han who turned around to face the appeared Itachi. "We have a problem."
"Oh? What do you mean, Uchiha-san?" Han inquired, and Itachi blinked at how calm the older ninja was when he had just told him...
"The children are in danger. A foreign ninja is threatening them." He raised an eyebrow when he noticed that still, no one but Han was reacting to what he was saying. That irked him. Their mission was to protect the containers, so why were they silent?
"I see... Well, there's nothing to worry about." That made Itachi even more suspicious. He activated his Sharingan on instinct and his eyes widened. "Roshi is taking care of it."
-Breakline-
"... This sucks." Naruto gritted his teeth and bit on his lower lip as he observed the battle unfolding in front of him. He was getting increasingly frustrated and worried, just looking without being able to do anything.
Kirabi and Yugito were awesome in their eyes. The former had improved on his form, adding more swords to his particular style and fluidity to his moves, along with unpredictability. Who was even more impressive was Yugito, though. He was pretty sure most spines didn't allow for some of the thing she did as she bent, moved and jumped, her arms covered in what looked like blue fire, judging from the burns on the Anbu's clothes.
Also, there was whatever Utakata was doing. He could only see him puffing into his pipe, the bubbles disappearing right after into the night, and then small explosions each now and then resounding in the air around the fighters. What was even more impressive was that they were managing to do everything at once without hitting each other even once.
"Damn it..." Still, Naruto was worried. The battle had been going on for a few minutes, right now, but they still hadn't landed a solid hit in, none of the two sides, but till now the Anbu had done nothing but slash with his tanto, dodge and block. He had to be holding back, he was sure, probably because Yugito and Kirabi were from his village. The moment he managed to land a good hit on one of the two... "This will end badly... I think."
"But... What can we do?" Gaara said with a whine, sad that he hadn't been able to attack even once. They were on a beach and he hadn't enough control and confidence to be able to attack the man without hitting the others in the process.
"They were right... We aren't good enough yet to not get in their way..." Fu said with a pout, her eyes glued to the figure of Yugito, who, she kept on reminding herself, was fighting for her sake.
"Ahhh! If only I could thwack him on the head with this! Just once! For justice!" Naruto moaned, and in the meanwhile, Yagura was being strangely silent, observing everything around him, including his comrades. His young eyes suddenly stopped on Naruto's bokken. He leaned his hands forward and grabbed it, startling the Konoha Jinchuuriki. "Huh? What..."
"I can stop him." Naruto blinked at that, and Fu and Gaara also turned into his direction. Yagura seemed to have focused completely on the wooden sword that Naruto had let him grab with both hands, holding it horizontal on his lap. Then...
"Eh?" Naruto was confused as he saw Yagura bend over and open his mouth... And then he screamed in outrage. "HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOI-"
"EEEEK!"
"EEEEEEEEEW! GROSS!"
Yagura had just let a big, fat drop of drool fall on the flat side of Naruto's bokken. As the thing settled, Naruto immediately snatched the weapon back from Yagura's arms, meeting no opposition from the younger Jinchuuriki. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? AHHHH! I TOUCHED YAGURA DROOL!"
"No. It's dry." Yagura replied and Naruto stopped freaking out and laid his eyes on his bokken again, finding that, indeed, the thing was dry, no trace of drool was left.
"Eh? Where..." He turned it around in his hands, looking for traces of what he knew had just come out of Yagura's mouth. "Where did it go?"
"If you hit him, I can stop him, now." The words made no sense to Naruto, who just scratched the top of his head in confusion.
"Hit him, you say... But the problem stands." He turned his head in the direction of the battle, where Yugito had just been hit in the face by the Anbu's right backhand. "How can I get close enough to him without getting killed? Ah! Good work, Bee-nii!" Naruto exclaimed as he saw Kirabi managing to break the blade of the enemy's tantou, rendering it unusable.
As a reply, Yagura just pointed at Gaara, who mimicked him, pointing at himself. "Me? But how can I... Oh." Then he realized it. "Right! I can use my sand to move you!"
"Genius! Hey, I want to help too!" Fu perked up and raised and waved her right arm from left to right in the air. "If he's lost his weapon, I can help! I can block his attacks no sweat! Well, the physical ones..."
"Hmm... Alright, group huddle!" Naruto declared, grabbing Fu and Yagura by the shoulders and pulling them towards Gaara, and the four started to whisper to each other. If Utakata hadn't been focused on the battle, he would have been clearly amused.
-Breakline-
"This is getting really tedious." The Anbu said as he dodged Kirabi's slashes and then countered with a blow to his face.
"Ow!" The punch hit home, but Kirabi just somersaulted, going with the motion do diminish the damage. "That hurt!"
"Raaah!" Yugito tried an axe drop-kick from above, and the Anbu jumped back, dodging that too.
"Huh!" He was then thrown forward by an sudden explosion coming from right behind him. He landed on one knee to the ground, and the two Kumo Jinchuuriki were upon him in a split second. "... This is getting tiresome."
The two hit the ground with their techniques, only to find that they had just destroyed a log. The substitution technique. Kirabi reacted first, turning around and laying his eyes on the man again, who was going through a series of handseals. His eyes widened behind his sunglasses. "Sh-"
"It's over." The Anbu slammed both his hands onto the ground and suddenly the two Kumo Jinchuuriki felt the ground under their feet shift. They cursed as they didn't get away fast enough, and one foot each got stuck into what looked and felt dangerously like quicksand. "Don't worry, it's not deep enough for you to sink in."
"Mother..." Yugito was panicking, but not for herself. If they were unable to move, he would naturally turn his attention to the others. She narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to burn through the sticky mud. "If you even lay a hand on her...!"
"What are you going to do?" The Anbu ignored her as he straightened his posture. "That technique is going to hold you in place long enough for me to..."
"Hey! Ugly!" Then, that voice. That nagging voice. He turned his head up and around and even behind the mask, he had to raise an eyebrow. "Up here! Yeah!" The scene was incredibly strange.
Naruto, holding the bokken diagonally behind his back with one hand, was standing crouched on what couldn't be described as anything else as a cloud made out of golden sand, which shifted and moved under his feet, spiky hair moving in the wind. Right behind him, latched around his waist with both hands, stood the Waterfall Jinchuuriki. He couldn't for the life of himself remember where he had seen something like that before. "We're coming to get you!"
"Now, Gaara-san!" Obedient, Gaara manipulated the golden cloud so that it shot down towards the Kumo Anbu at high speed, in a straight line. Yugito gasped at the sight.
"No! Run! Run away!" She struggled against the mud's hold, trying desperately to free herself, but in vain.
"... A good tactic, but..." The Anbu crouched down, ready to counter-attack. "Charging in a straight line? Wouldn't it have been better if you used that thing's mobility to try to find an opening?"
"Aaaaaaand... Drop!" Just as the duo were about to get into his range, they suddenly dropped out of his sight. The Anbu blinked as he realized what had just happened. The Cloud had just disappeared, making the two kids drop to the ground, out of his reach for that split second that they needed to... "Now, Fu-chan!"
"On it! Fu Poweeeeeeeeeeeeer..." And suddenly, the Anbu found himself seeing, feeling something that shouldn't have been possible. He saw a girl many years younger and many pounds lighter than him... "Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!" Grab onto his right leg, lift him off the ground and swing him around like he was a rag doll.
"Alright! U-Zu-Ma-Ki!" As the girl let go of him just to launch him towards the blonde kid, he saw the Konoha child get into a position that looked dangerously like it belonged into the kata of a swordsmanship style. "Naruto Issatsu!" Even when throw through the air, he managed to get his hands in front of the sword, blocking the strike.
They surprised me. I guess I can finish this, now...
"Get longer." Those whispered words from afar surprised him as he fell to the ground, Naruto's wooden weapon still pressing against him and then... It lengthened. It was like it was obeying orders. The Bokken got longer and struck him in the mask. Then, something else happened. It didn't grow any longer, but...
"W-W-W-What the hell?" Naruto seemed as surprised as anyone else when a bunch of branches, vines and flowers suddenly started sprouting from his weapon, wrapping themselves around him and effectively constricting and blocking his movements. "T-This is why you spat on my bokken? But how does this work?"
"Sufficient to say... It works." Utakata commented, as he finally relaxed and used his bubbles to get rid of the mud around Yugito and Bee's ankles. The two Kumo Jinchuuriki immediately jumped away from the puddle and then headed to Fu and the captured Anbu, respectively. "A thank you? Nothing? Oh, well."
"Are you alright? That was crazy!" Yugito said as she checked Fu's body for injuries, but found nothing of the sort. Then she remembered what had just happened. "... Fu. How the hell are you that strong?"
"Hehehehe..." The aquamarine girl just giggled and shook her right index finger from side to side. "Now, Yugito-chan... You think you and Gaara-san are the only ones who got special abilities from their bijuu?"
"You mean... It's not only the hard skin?" Yugito commented, while Bee was spouting rap in the Anbu's face who let out a sigh.
"Well done, children. You got me." Bee laughed out loud before dropping his hands on Yagura and Naruto's heads, skipping the latter on to Gaara right after.
"Ah! These are my followers! Good work, guys! I take back what I said about age! You kicked ass!" Naruto beamed at the praise, while Gaara blushed in embarrassment and Yagura shrugged his shoulders, and only Utakata noticed the beginning of a smirk. The black-skinned Jiinchuriki then turned his attention back to the Anbu. "Now, let us see who's hiding behind that mask! To better report who's failed his task!"
"Do you really need to rhyme that too?" Yugito commented while the Genin grabbed onto the mask and pulled it up and away, revealing the wrinkled face of the Anbu along with his read hair... Wait.
"Good work, children." As the 'Anbu' spoke, the whole group of Jinchuuriki couldn't help but stare. And stare. And Yugito understood she had been well and truly played, and gasped.
"YOU?" Her rant was interrupted as suddenly, the plants and Naruto's bokken disintegrated in a burst of fire, from which the younger Jinchuuriki protected themselves on instinct by raising their arms to cover their eyes. "It was you all along?"
"Yes, it was." With the flame burst, Roshi had also dispelled the transformation technique that had made him appear as a Cloud Anbu, and immediately placed one of his giant cigars between his lips. "That was an impressive display of teamwork. Congratulations, children."
"T-Thanks... Hey! Don't change the subject!" Naruto recovered soon after and pointed roughly at Roshi. "Why did you do this... This... Why did you trick us? Why did you ask Yu-chan to do something that terrible?"
"To see if she would really do it." Another voice, this one familiar only to Naruto and Gaara, made the whole group turn into the other direction. It belonged to a certain Konoha Anbu not that older than anyone in their group. "That's what everything was about, right?"
"Itachi-nii? You knew of this too?" The Anbu shook his head from side to side.
"No. Han-san explained everything to me just a few minutes ago." He declared turning his head to point at the tall Jinchuuriki. "I must say... That's an intriguing form of Genjutsu."
"Comes with the beast." Han chuckled while the younger containers just kept on getting more and more confused.
"Ahhh! I don't understand!" Naruto shouted out, ever the spontaneous one. "Why did you need to see if Yugito would do... What you asked of her? Why the... Carcadè?"
"Charade, Naruto..." Gaara felt really strange, having to correct the words of someone his own age. Either he was too knowledgeable for his age or Naruto wanted to use words too difficult for his age. Probably both.
"That! Why?" Roshi chuckled at Naruto's enthusiasm and then turned to Han.
"Han. How much time is left before the Genjutsu break?" The giant put a hand to his chin to think about it.
"... I'd say it's enough time. To be on the safe side, though... Itachi-san, may I request your assistance in keeping an eye on them?" Itachi thought about the request for a few seconds before nodding. He had accepted of being extraneous to the whole matter when he had decided to keep for himself the first conversation between Roshi and Yugito, and now that he had confirmed that it wasn't anything dangerous, he owed to Naruto his privacy. This was something between friends... And he had some thinking of his own to do.
Once the Anbu shunshined away, not before nodding in Naruto's direction, Roshi and Han invited all the Jinchuuriki to sit in a circle on the beach. "So... Time for explanations. You're probably wondering why we've forced Yugito here... To become so miserable." The subject of his sentence suddenly stiffened and Fu grabbed one of her hands on instinct, glaring at the Iwa nin. "The point is... Well, you realize that, as your trainers, we've been observing you."
"But we didn't just observe your physical growth. We also focused on what's been going on in your heads... We had another objective, we admit." Han continued, picking up were Roshi finished. They had been doing speeches like this for a long time. "We noticed that all of you have been forming ties... Friendships, but Yugito was the only one who didn't accept it. While we may have reinforced your... Bad moods, we weren't the start of it, right?"
"... No." The blonde container admitted, lowering her head to stare at the ground.
"We needed to see if effectively you had already been turned into a true shinobi or you valued the bond you've made with Fu. You didn't disappoint your friend." Roshi continued, smiling at Yugito. Fu mimicked the older Jinchuuriki, and the Kumo kunoichi to be seemed to regain a bit of her colour. "You see... This camp was thought out as a façade for something else. Probably to put the blame of Gaara's assassination on someone else."
"I... I thought so too." Gaara admitted. He had heard that it had been his father to propose the plan in the first place, after all.
"But where everyone else saw a field for political warfare, me and Han saw an opportunity. We saw it as soon as we saw Gaara and Naruto get friendly to each other. That opportunity got confirmed on the last day, when we saw Gaara, Naruto and Yagura hug each other and cry." The forementioned youngsters blushed at the memory. "And when Kirabi and Utakata acknowledged that they respected each other, and when Fu and Yugito started to bond over the works of Jiraiya-sama."
"Hmm... I prefer his other books." Han suddenly found two female gazes on him at that comment, and he cursed silently since they weren't children-friendly books. "N-Nevermind that! We could go on for hours on making examples, but the point is, you bonded!"
"Not as ninja, but as real friends. This is the first time that all the bijuu, exception made for ourselves, are sealed inside someone so young and are able to meet before their training is complete." Roshi continued, his cigar lighting up and smoke puffing out of his mouth as he talked. "On something Yugito was right. Jinchuuriki are weapons. Barring Naruto's case... They're nurtured as such. What's expected of you is to be at best a deterrent for enemies by being scary, at worst to lay waste to armies with your powers. And most of the times, just another Jinchuuriki can oppose a Jinchuuriki, or at least they prefer to make it so."
"True. That's been ingrained in mine and Yagura's mind ever since... Well, ever." Utakata commented, not really able to remember the start of his lessons about his being a walking weapon that needed to be sharpened.
"Exactly. Most of the times, they manage to persuade anyone of that because most of the times... His duty, his village, is everything that a Jinchuuriki has. This time, that's not the case." Han finished, sending his gaze all around the circle, taking in the focused appearance of each and every Jinchuuriki in the room. "By chance... All of us have met, and we've formed bonds. All of us have something that right now matters more than obedience. You proved that earlier, in that fight."
"Hmm... So true-a! I wasn't really convinced that wasn't an Anbu sent by my brother!" Bee admitted with a groan as he slumped to the ground on his back. "He was the one who ordered to try and kidnap the Hyuuga kid three years ago!"
"... Yes. I did." Yugito continued, squeezing Fu's hand back. "And I would do it again. All over... Well, not the hesitation part..."
"Hell yeah! I finally have friends, and I'm never going to do anything bad to them just because someone tells me so! Hands here!" Showing a bit of hyperactive language maybe a bit too advanced for his age, Naruto threw his hands forward. Yagura smiled slightly and was the first one to understand and place his own tiny hand on top of Naruto's own one, followed right after by Gaara.
Kirabi recovered from his slumped posture and with a grin put his own hand on top of the bundle, and then Fu did the same bringing Yugito's held hand with her own one. Utakata was the last one to join in, smiling all the way. He had never seen Yagura so eager and happy. When he was around Naruto and Gaara was maybe the only time he saw him smiling for real. "Though... What was the point in all this? Checking if we were the best of friends for the chance of future reunion parties or something?"
"... Something like that, yes." Roshi admitted with a chuckle, surprising most of the other Jinchuuriki. "What we want from you is just a pledge, actually."
"A pledge?" Naruto commented, raising an eyebrow. Han nodded.
"Yes. A promise, a vow. We want you to pledge right here, right now, that you'll always value your friends more than anything else." Han voiced out his thoughts, earning once again the attention of everyone on that small patch of beach.
"I pledge that." Unsurprisingly, the effect of recent events still fresh in her mind, the first to go with it was Yugito. Fu beamed and hugged her with her free arm.
"I do that too! Me and Yu-chan are best friends forever!"
"We promise!" Naruto, Gaara and Yagura were the next ones, making their pledges all at the same time, earning laughter out of each other.
"Yo! I risked the wrath of my brotha twice! Not pledging this now wouldn't be nice!" Kirabi mimicked the others in his own particular style.
"I do." Utakata declared, ending the series and then patted his younger compatriot on the head, earning a flush of embarrassment from Yagura. Han and Roshi smiled. Their work was done, at least the part concerning cementing the bonds between their younger counterparts.
"Ohh! I know! I got an idea!" Naruto suddenly broke the solemn silence that had just ensued, breaking the hands-joining by raising his hand up, the others mimicking him as a consequence. "We're sorta like... A secret club, now! Right? So, we should... We should get a name! And code-names and stuff!"
"A... Secret club?" Yugito's warmth and affection-induced trance had been broken just like that. She restrained herself from punching the top of Naruto's head and settled for scoffing. "That's so child..."
"Cool! Then, what about, 'The Gutsy Ninjas'?" Only to be cut off by Fu's enthusiasm. She pouted and turned to the side. She would have to go with it, it seems.
"Nah! What about 'Warriors of Rap'?" As long as that wasn't the name.
"Hmm... What about something less... Noticeable." Utakata suggesting, putting the point of his pipe to his chin, tapping it lightly. "Hmm, I remember of a trio of legendary ninjas from Naruto's village who simply called themselves the 'Sannin', the three ninja."
"Ah, right! Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru! They were the old man's students! We've studied it this year!" Naruto acknowledged. "Then... What about we call ourselves the nine ninja! The Kyuunin!"
"Oooh? We're included too?" Roshi said in mock surprise while Han laughed. Naruto just grinned.
"Of course! So? What do you say?" Yugito just nodded. It was simple enough and it served the purpose. Gaara, Utakata and Yagura nodded with a smile, and Kirabi was a little more enthusiastic in his agreement. "Great! Now, for code-names! Hmmm..."
"Hey! I know!" Fu raised her hand again. "What about... The things Gaara-san told us?"
"Heh?" Gaara was surprised by the suggestion, then it downed on him. "You mean... The things I told you about stars?"
"Yes! There were some cool names in there! We can use those as code-names!"
"Woah! Yeah, they were awesome!" Naruto agreed and slapped the Gaara's back a bit harshly. "Alright! Gaara, you decide our code-names!"
"E-Eh? I have to?" That left him bewildered. He looked around to find help, something opposing the fact, but they were all waiting for him to speak, it seemed. He blushed and started fidgeting. "Ehm... Alright. Aaaah..." He bit his lower lip, thinking about proper names for each and everyone. Then he started trying to go by elimination. One at a time. "Well... Since I stay awake most of the night and-and I'm deciding your names... I guess that makes me the moon."
"Just moon?" Naruto inquired, and Gaara 'hmm'-ed.
"Well... Wu-Xing. Like the different elemental classification. Yes, I will be Wu-Xing, the Moon." He next turned to Yagura next, finding the perfect name for him, knowing how his bijuu looked like. "Yagura can be Genbu, the Black Tortoise."
"Tortoise?" Yagura raised an eyebrow and the realized why. He chuckled and nodded.
"Then... Yugito-san can be the White Tiger, Byakko." Gaara continued, earning a nod from the girl. "And Fu-san can be the Golden Dragon, Huang Long."
"The one at the center, right? But why?" Fu inquired, not really understanding the logic.
"Huu... Huang Long makes the seasons change, and you made Yugito-san change, so..." Gaara explained, blushing all the while. He continued with the naming. "Bii-san can be the Vermilion Bird, Suzaku. You told me that you like summer the best, so..."
"Woooh! I'm winged ox, now! Niiiice!"
"And Utakata-san can be Seiryuu, the Azure Dragon. You always wear that colour." Utakata chuckled and nodded, accepting the new name.
"Hey! What about me?" Naruto felt left out since he had been the last one to be named of the younger containers.
"Well... You, Han-san and Roshi-sensei can be the three enclosures. The ones that can be seen all year long." That made Naruto pipe down. "Roshi-san can be Purple Forbidden, since..."
"I always wear purple. Ahahah, it's fine by me."
"Han-san is Supreme Palace... And... That makes you, Naruto, Heavenly Market." Naruto blinked and then thought about it for a while... And then pouted.
"... You gave me the only name that sucks, Gaara." Gaara wanted to feel bad, but the face Naruto was making was just too much. He laughed. "What's so funny? I'm a market! What's cool about a market?"
"But Naruto! It's a market from heaven!" Fu told him, which only served to enrage him further and make everyone but him laugh. He would pout and sulk for a while, but in the end, he would go with it.
"Ahahahah! Well, I guess this concludes the first official meeting of the Kyuunin!" Roshi said, getting up from his seat on the sand. "I suggest we now get back to bed before..."
"BEEEEE!" That broke everyone's good humor and Bee positively shuddered.
"Oh, hell! It's A!"
"Who's A, nii-san?"
"A is..."
"YOU DUMB IDIOT!" In a flash of lightning and a cloud of raised sand, the most enormous man Naruto had ever seen had descended upon them and grabbed onto Bee, and was now shaking him like a rag doll. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING GOING OFF ON YOUR OWN? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"
"... Raikage-sama." Yugito acknowledged, bowing her head as other presences arrived on the place. Noticing the other young Jinchuuriki looking at her expectantly, she elaborated. "This is A. Bee's older brother and the current Raikage."
"Oh." Naruto turned his attention back to the currently unconscious form of Bee, trapped into a headlock by his older brother. "They look alike." Bee was in for a long night.
-Breakline-
The next days passed by in a flash for the newly named 'Kyuunin' and their escorts. Yugito found herself smiling a lot more now that her mind was free of all those thoughts weighting on her, and everyone was more relaxed and at ease, unless they were doing Roshi's training from hell. But even full of bee-stings and the occasional injury from getting too close to the skin of the summoned shark, the children laughed between each other. Seems like A had allowed Bee to stay if Roshi made him get followed around by two sharks instead of one.
In the end, the final day of camp arrived, and that meant that Kumo was officially out of the agreement, both of their Jinchuuriki having reached the maximum age, cue Yugito getting sad and teary once again. Fu was a lot more cheerful, comforting the older girl and telling her that she would write her lots and they would always have their bond over the work of Jiraiya-sama to connect them for the ages to come.
Again, Bee was having a moment with the three youngest Jinchuuriki, who just grinned up at him as he cried what he called 'manly tears' at the prospect of not seeing them any more. That day there was a general exchange of mail addresses. Also, the Kumo Jinchuuriki earned a promise out of Utakata of a match once he became a Genin and they met.
And then, it was like everyone kept their most dear goodbye for last. Naruto and Gaara got it easy since they had to do a part of the trip back together. The day they had to part they hugged each other tightly before grinning.
"So... To next year! And I'll have become even stronger by that time, I bet!" Naruto commented, and Gaara nodded.
"And I bet that I will be able to make even more things with my sand! Like that Golden Cloud! Ah! I'm sorry about your Nyoi-Bo..." Naruto just stared, and Gaara thought back on his words. "Your bokken, I mean. Where did that come from...?"
"It's okay. It's just wood. I can get another one! Ah!" In his impetus, Naruto's backpack had opened slightly and something had just fallen out of it. A book that was really familiar to Gaara, having it seen in the hands of a certain Jinchuuriki from Taki many times. Naruto gasped and picked it up immediately, brushing any dirt off of it.
"Naruto... Is that...?"
"Yeah. Fu-chan's book. She gave it to me." Gaara was surprised with how many times she read it, he knew that the girl treasured that book. "She said it was... A thank you."
"Oh... Well, she must have been really grateful." Gaara observed, missing how Naruto's blushed right after. The book had been just the first thing Fu had given him. Right after that, Yugito had, grudgingly thanked him too by kissing his right cheek. Not wanting to be upstaged, the Taki Jinchuuriki had immediately said 'Me too!' and locked lips for a brief second with the now wreck of a seven years old. He yucked and hoped that the stories about cooties weren't true.
Their conversation was interrupted by the Suna Anbu calling out to Gaara, signalling that it was time to move on. Gaara nodded in their direction and stole one last hug from his best friend. "See you next year, Naruto!"
"Yeah! Bye, Gaara!" The redhead waved at Naruto as he started retreating, then he suddenly stopped as he remembered something else.
"Hey, Naruto." The blonde stopped and turned around again. "About... I mean, what did Roshi-sensei wanted to talk to you about?"
"... Ah." Yes. He hadn't told Gaara about that conversation...
-Flashback-
"Uhm... So, why did you tell me about my parents?"
"Hmmm, a good question." Roshi acknowledged as he and Naruto talked privately, away from the rest of the group. "Well, it was an order from madame Tsuchikage, actually. She wanted you to lose trust in your village."
"... Well, I kind of did. At least in some people..." Naruto pouted as he recalled the conversation he had had with Yugito. "But... Why would she want that?"
"To make you run to us the next year, actually, when the camp will be held in Iwa." That made Naruto blinked. "You see... Technically, you're still a civilian, since you aren't in any particular training program apart this camp that for all intents and purposes doesn't exist, and you don't have a legal guardian. Your defection wouldn't have any ill effect on Iwa, and we would get a third Jinchuuriki that it's also the son of our worst historical enemy. Can you imagine... Well, not yet, I guess."
Naruto was silent for a few seconds, thinking about it. Roshi interrupted his thoughts as soon as possible. "Don't even think about it, Naruto." He advised, snapping Naruto out of his reverie. "Jinchuuriki are treated like Jinchuuriki everywhere. It wouldn't change much, apart the fact that in Iwa you would be trained to become what Yugito now dreads to become. An unemotional weapon."
"... No, I wasn't thinking about that. I wouldn't. I mean..." Naruto's mind pictured a picture of a smiling blue haired girl his own age. "I have a friend in Konoha too, and... I can't leave her alone. She only has me. She's lonelier than I am... Woah! I said it right! Lonelierlonelierlonelier..." Roshi's amused stare told him he was getting sidetracked. "Ehm... The point is... I still don't understand why you're doing all this for us? Both you, and Han-san."
"... It's still too soon to tell you. You wouldn't understand." Roshi answered, patting the top of Naruto's head affectionately. "Suffice to say... By their very nature of containers, Jinchuuriki always find themselves in the middle of big historical events, and next time that happens, I'd like you lot to make your own choices."
"... Roshi-sensei, you've lost me." The older man chuckled at that and then started pushing him back to the others.
"It's fine. Now, come on. Me and Han have a surprise for you."
-End Flashback-
"Ah, we were talking about next year's training! It's going to be awesome! But be sure to bring a pair of new hands!" That made Gaara go pale and whine as he slumped his posture and walked away, waving at Naruto with all the energy of a death row inmate. Naruto laughed and he waved back, skipping to Itachi's side.
"... Had fun, Naruto-kun?" The blonde nodded energetically, earning a tiny smile from the blonde Jinchuuriki. "So... That was quite the strange game you found yourself into."
"He... I'm just happy that it all ended well!" He replied, and Itachi, even if he realized that he was asking this to a seven years old, couldn't help but ask him that question.
"Naruto, did you really mean what you said?" Itachi inquired, earning a confused face from the younger Konoha citizen. "About your friends."
"Ah, that? Well, yes, of course. I mean... My friends are what's most important to me. Why wouldn't I choose to defend them?" Naruto answered honestly, and Itachi acknowledged his resolve.
"... I see. Thank you." The thirteen years old Anbu focused back on the road with his eyes, but his mind was on something else. What was most important to him... That was a question that he still hadn't found an answer to. He valued peace, but was that what really was the most important thing to him?
-Breakline-
"Back. The mission was successful, Hokage-sama." Yamato had already decided, although, to avoid putting in the report the little detail of the evening the whole Anbu contingent got drunk, with the exception of Itachi.
"I can see that. Welcome back, Naruto." He had been thinking about how he would react when he saw the Sandaime again ever since Roshi had told him about the little stupid stunts he had pulled regarding his secrets and his heritage. He knew he should be a little angry, maybe pissed off... Then, he remembered all the times he had comforted him, had been nice to him. He had tried to make up for it, at least so he thought.
"Hey, jiji! This year was even more fun than the last!" So, he settled for hugging him around the waist as usual. The fire shadow smiled and picked him up in his arms. "It was so fun! Kirabi-nii-san was there too!"
"Really? But didn't he reach the maximum age last year?" Naruto snickered at that, earning an amused expression from the Hokage. "I bet there's a story behind that."
"You betcha! Wanna hear it?" As Naruto started recounting the story, he suddenly stopped when he noticed that there was someone his own age that had come to the gates to receive their party. A boy who looked a bit like Itachi, which the older boy picked up like the Sandaime did for him. Maybe it was the younger brother the Anbu had talked about. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned his attention back to the Sandaime. He had lots of things to tell him.
-Breakline-
"Ahhh... Home, sweet h..."
"Surprise!"
"ACK!" Naruto had just walked through his front door when he was attacked from behind by a tag team made out of a stuffed bear and a girl. "A-Ami! What the hell?"
"I wanted to surprise you! I did, didn't I?" He groaned and remembered that he had indeed given her the keys to his apartment. As she got off him, she looked at her face. He knew that grin. It was the 'I know something you don't and I'm going to tell you' grin.
"Something good happened?" Ami nodded eagerly.
"Yes! Want to come out with me and eat? I'm meeting with my older sister and I'd like you to meet her!" That earned surprise from the blonde Jinchuuriki.
"Huh, sure. Just let me unpack first." Naruto replied as he started opening his backpack and putting away his things. "Where are we eating?"
"Some place called Ichiraku." That was the beginning of a life-long love.
-Breakline-
"Aniki... Who was that blonde boy? I think I remember him from the academy." Observant as ever. Itachi just smiled at his younger brother.
"He was the person I had to escort. I can't tell you anything else." There it was again. His pout. He shook his head and then decided to tease him a bit. "Well... He liked my pocky very much." That earned him an outrage gasp from his younger sibling.
"Your pocky? You never give anyone your pocky!" He was assaulted immediately after by the youngest member of his family, and he held him at bay by simply stretching his arm forward. "No fair! Gimme gimme gimme!"
"Sorry, Sasuke. Maybe next time." That only made the young Uchiha renew his efforts in trying to bodily reach his older sibling.
"Itachi, dear." The struggle was interrupted by the appearance of their mother. Itachi raised his head to look at her. "Someone from the Hokage's office just dropped by. Seems like they require your presence."
"Understood. Thanks, mom." Itachi nodded in approval and then returned his attention to Sasuke. He guessed he had a little time for playing with him before seeing what the Hokage wanted.
CHILDHOOD END
"Hmmm... Damn thing..." As the sun set over Konoha, a hand groggily shout out from under a bunch of covers, fumbling around to try and find the right button to press upon a very noisy alarm clock. Why the hell did he buy one with such a fastidious tone in the first place? "... Right. It was a gift."
He groaned as he threw off the cover, stretching out his back as he raised his hands and opened his mouth wide to let out a mix between a yawn and a growl. He was just too nice of a guy. Because it was a gift, he just had to use it, didn't he? He sighed as he walked out of his bedroom and into the main living room, heading for the bathroom.
"Morning, guys." He muttered, still a bit sleepy but never sleepy enough not to smile as he laid eyes on the bunch of framed photographs stuck to the wall. He passed a quick glance over all of them, but as usual, he focused on the top one, the group shot they had taken at the end of the second year of camp, last year they had all been gathered together. He remembered how awkward Itachi had looked when he had asked him to get into the photo as well.
He smiled at the fond memories and that woke him up completely. "Alright! Time to get ready!"
-Breakline-
"Alright! Clothes, check!" He checked for one last time that his clothes were all in order. Short orange pants, blue t-shirt, sleeveless orange jacket. No crumbs, no stains, no anything. "Oral hygiene, check!" He pulled on his lips and exposed his teeth, white as little else in the room or the whole city, for that matter. "Weapons, check!" The holsters were all securely in place, one attached to his belt, another tied with bandages around his right tight. "Forehead protector, check!" He tapped the metal of the object wrapped securely around his forehead, grinning at the cool sensation under his skin.
He then lowered himself and pulled out a long wooden box from under his bed, grinning like a loon all the while. He slowly opened the box and whistled as he laid eyes on the object contained in it. "Old man, you're the best."
Just as asked, the scabbard was in reality two scabbards attached one to the other, all connected to a long strap that he would proceed to tie around his waist, aligning the objects horizontally to the ground. Then, he laid eyes on the hilt coming out from one of the scabbards. Dark green, with the metal parts golden in colour. He was tempted of pulling it out, lay eyes on the blade itself, but he had promised himself that he would do it only when he would need to draw it. Smirking, he closed the box and tied the object around his waist.
"Alright! Last thing..." With a quick check of his house to be sure that he had closed again all the windows, he opened his front door and locked it behind him right after. He then crouched down and smirked before running in the direction of the edge of the walking part of his floor, jumping out into the sky towards the next building, a few meters below. "Yeah! The world better be ready for this! Uzumaki Naruto has graduated!"
Continue...
In the next chapter...
Leaving behind the experiences of childhood, Naruto starts adventuring himself in the world of a ninja, alongside his team-mates and Jounin sensei. What challenges await him? Well, at first, not many. Stay tuned!