Minato's brows furrowed and his lips formed a scowl as he rolled around his bed. One eye peeked open, checking the time and he thanked the gods when he remembered it was Sunday. 10:35 AM. He must have been dead tired from his mission last night. Groaning, he tried to get up but realized he couldn't; he couldn't move his arms, hands, or feet, and when he finally opened his eyes, he realized why. The blanket had been firmly wrapped around his body, making him look like a white caterpillar. He rolled over to the side and glanced at the mirror.
Eyes widened with horror at the sight of his face.
He had blinding red lipstick on, and his brows were thickly colored grey, making him look like he had a bushy unibrow. Two black circles had been drawn around his eyes, hot pink swirls painted on his cheeks, a black moustache marked on under his nose...
Oh god. These weren't put on with permanent markers were they?
Knowing that brat, they probably were.
"Kakashi!"
Sakumo, who was sat in his favorite plushy couch with a cup of hot coffee, raised a brow at the screech coming from the bedrooms, and raised a brow inquiringly at his son. The boy merely shrugged as he sipped his cocoa and continued doing his homework on the sofa. Sighing, Sakumo got up with his cup and walked to Minato's room.
He heard a loud thud, and when he opened the door, looked around to find that the blond wasn't in. The Hatake noticed that the covers were mysteriously gone from the bed, too.
He sipped some more of his coffee while walking to the other side of the bed, before his eyes widened at the large, cocoon-like bundle on the floor. He crouched and turned it over, taking another mouthful of his caffein, and spat it back out.
Sakumo bellowed with laughter, clutching his sides, and Minato scowled in anger and disgust, face slightly burning from the drops of hot coffee on his face. "Stop laughing and help me, Sakumo!"
"It's 'sempai,' remember, Minato? But then again, with that moustache, I'm not so sure anymore!" Sakumo tried to support himself by leaning against the bed, unable to contain his amusement. "Oh, gods! Kakashi! Get me the camera!"
Sharply thirty seconds later, the young boy came in, camera and pictures in hand. "I've already gotten some of before and after his makeover."
"That's my boy, Kakashi! Come on, take some more, will ya? He's on the floor!"
Minato rolled over and glared daggers at the wall.
A smirk crossed her lips before she prepared to jump. She crouched on her toes, and tightly held the scroll that was now in her left hand.
Using chakra, she flew hard and high.
The Hanzo army gawked up at her, their eyes following her figure as she soared up till she was high above them. The young girl unraveled her scroll in one sweep midair, eyes narrowed in concentration as she bit her lip and slammed her hand on the middle of it. They saw a tint of red around her hands before the whole area was surrounded by clouds.
Still held back by Hanzo whose arm was around her neck rather tightly, 'Konan' unlatched the small seal from the scroll Jiraiya had given her, and, with a smirk much similar to Naruto's, she unrolled it. Not wasting even a mere second stopped the solid henge by unlatching the seal on her thigh.
She suddenly transformed into the form of Naruto, whose body was much, much smaller. Much to Hanzo's shock and horror, she was able to fall from his grasp, slam the thick, long parchment onto the man that previously held her hostage. She could see a quickly growing shadow of a man, and quickly realized that it was probably Jiraiya.
As she was instructed by her mentor earlier, she immediately fled away, making sure she didn't collide with any enemies. She avoided any silhouettes she came across, casting a veil over her chakra, and went back to her where her original body came flying down from.
Reaching the spot, she could see where the giant shadow of Gamabunta was in the clouds that were quickly disappearing. Now her tasks were completed. With a grin, she 'poof'ed away.
Her eyes snapped open, and Naruto smirked; there was still a good amount of smoke left, which should be enough to get rid of enough enemies. They should all be clear and gone by now, she thought, and tapped her foot lightly on the gigantic toad she stood on. Applying chakra to her feet, she stuck onto him like glue and tried not to wince every time the toad went around to squash crowds of Hanzo's ninjas. She also helped, forming clones and making them fly down to the unsuspecting enemies and knocking them off.
They and Gamabunta got rid of the number of opponents at a frightening speed, and Naruto wondered just how many would be left after the smoke has been completely cleared up. The air was still foggy, and a normal person would just be able to see the figure of another from a little far off. Naruto guessed it would be time to send Gamabunta back... but she also guessed it wouldn't hurt to have him get rid of just a few more people...
She knew she was enjoying the ride on top of his head a little too much, probably because of the feeling of superiorityーher present height wasn't doing her any goodーbut who cares, really? Well, other than the grumpy toad boss under her muddy sandals?
She can aim a seal pretty well, Jiraiya admitted. He studied the cuboid trap around Hanzo carefully with a scrutinizing glare before grumbling as he got out a scroll. But before she can even think about learning advanced seals, he continued his train of thought irritably, Naruto should learn how to write properly. Luckily this seal wasn't particularly picky on that part, and Naruto's handwriting was just good enough to pass.
Shaking his head, he activated the seal on his arm, waiting for it to collect down to his hand before shoving it against the purple cage. He continued to push, and after a while a few dribbles of sweat rolled down the sides of his face. The more chakra he pressed in, the smaller the box shrunk, suffocating the trapped man. Jiraiya ignored how gruesome this tactic wasーit was quite possibly the easiest and most efficient way to kill Hanzo and keep the poisons from spreading.
The cuboid trap seal was nothing more than what it looked likeーa cage. What was important here was the seal Jiraiya held against it. The shrinks the box as well as squish what's inside it and, with more chakra from the user, takes away the victim's chakra and makes it evaporate into the air. This was one of the fuuinjutsu Jiraiya barely uses, seeing as it takes pretty much two to three quarters of his chakra.
The sage refused to wipe away the sweat trickling down his face, and let the seal continue to drain his chakra. As tiring as this was, it made the job of killing Hanzo less complicated. The man was fully trapped, with no where to go. If Jiraiya had to say anything about this, he'd say this is easy. Almost much too easy, in fact.
But I might seriously be out of chakra soon... Jiraiya cringed, to think that he has this much chakra...
As if sensing his crisis, Kushina appeared. She was clearly angry, but it was mostly out of worry, and he can tell from how her brows were so tightly knit together. "How much more idiotic can you get, Jiraiya-sama! Just look at yourself!"
She all but shoved to replace him, and pushed in her chakra to the seal as he had been doing just a few seconds prior. "With the state you're in, you shouldn't even be able to stand!" Kushina focused solely on the seal and her hands, not taking even a peak at the quickly shrinking box and the agony Hanzo was in.
She knew he must have been in a lot of pain, and out of pride and years of training wasn't letting out a single cry or grunt of pain. She had to hand it to the man; he was very brave. Not that it would help him in this situation, but still made her give Hanzo more respect. "How long?"
"Hm?" Jiraiya grunted unintelligently, and his exhaustion was clear from his tone and posture.
"I mean, how long have you pumped chakra into this thing?"
"Oh, I lost track."
Kushina growled in frustration, before thinking deeply. He must have started soon after Naruto, who had been 'henge'ed into Konan at the time, casted the caging seal, which was probably about thirty to forty-five minutes ago. How on earth could he still be standing? Kushina frowned; the seal sucked too much chakra. Even she was sure she'll feel slightly tired by fifteen minutes, and she had lots of it.
She turned her head to see that the fog had pretty much been cleared completely. Naruto and Gamabunta stood in the middle of the battlefield, and the grounds looked like it was painted black from all the fallen Amegakure ninjas. She could see that her daughter was heavily breathing, hunching over slightly. Of course even Naruto would be tiredーshe had summoned the great toad boss by summoning up Kyuubi's chakra, which, even if it wasn't hers, would still tire her out mentally. Adding onto that the chakra exhaustion from using so many clones to fight off the remaining bunch of enemies, which were still a large number, Naruto, a physically five year old girl would of course be on the thin shreds of consciousness.
The giant toad disappeared, and much to Kushina's horror, Naruto fell, completely knocked out. "NARUTO!" She can't lose her! Her mind screamed and Kushina cried again, her hands almost slipping off the white slip of paper.
If it hadn't been for Yahiko, who landed below the girl and caught her just in time, the woman would have let go of the seal. Sighing with relief, the woman got back to focusing on only her workーshe couldn't afford to take her hands away from it. That would mean letting the seal break along with the cage, and set Hanzo free. She couldn't let that happen.
She can trust Naruto with Yahiko. He'll keep her safe, Kushina just knew, even if they hadn't interacted much with him.
She almost jumped at the sudden voice behind her. "Although I'm here now, you better be on your guard." She turned her head to see Konan and frowned in confusion. The purple haired Akatsuki founder merely cocked her head to behind them, and when Kushina twisted to see what she was indicating, she froze.
Far off, heading towards them were a small group of Hanzo's ninjas, most likely sent for backup. A curse slipped her lips, and Kushina pushed her chakra into the seal even more. Growing impatient, she finally raised her head to see that the formerly transparent box had turned pitch black. She cringed, realizing that it was now the size that would only fit a child the size of Naruto.
Thank goodness the color had made it impossible to see what was going on inside. She would probably not be able to take it if she saw what had become of Hanzo.
She was about to let her hands down, before Jiraiya's voice stopped her.
"Don't." At Kushina's confusedーand most probably exhaustedーlook, he elaborated. "To a normal person, leaving it to here would be fine. But this is Hanzo we're facing. His poison can spread immediately and kill us all this instant."
Realization dawned on the her. It had been written on one of the information filled papers the spies had stacked on the discussing table of the Akatsuki's headquarters. The man had implanted the venom sac of a black salamander into his own body. When cut, he can release the poisonous gas and kill everyone exposed to it.
Kushina nodded weakly. She was also still queasy about the fact that Hanzo was dead inside that black box. It seemed so surreal. Everything probably went to their advantage easily because he hadn't expected any of it. Naruto's sudden change might have also triggered something in his heart, though that's just what she was thinking.
She watched Konan wave her origami butterflies towards the group of enemy ninjas, and when her slender hands closed, the dainty little white creatures exploded. Some had anticipated this and jumped, avoiding the attack swiftly before one of them whipped wind blades down towards the two women.
Kushina widened her eyes, only to see that Konan had formed a thick barrier of paper. I didn't think that would be possible, she looked on in awe, before feeling a heavy weight fall on her shoulders, weakening her legs.
The seal was taking much more chakra now. Why? She was about to ask Jiraiya, only to find that he was barely fending off the enemies. Dammit. She had no choice.
She'll have to use his help.
Nagato ran to them, brows furrowed in worry. Yahiko smiled slightly, and set the girl down against the tree he stood by. "Don't worry, she's fine. It's merely small chakra exhaustion and slight stress." He crouched down to brush the bangs from Naruto's closed eyes. "Konan came by earlier to check on her and said so."
"I... see." Nagato frowned, turning around to see a crowd of other Amegakure shinobi far off from them. "They don't seem to be our allies. Where are the others?"
"They're still waiting for Hanzo's backup to come. We're also expecting some of Danzo's Root to fight us as well, so they decided to come down on them when the right time comes."
He sighed wearily, "Alright. Keep an eye on her, will you? I'll try to see how I can help them."
Yahiko nodded, watching as the other man disappeared, via shunshin.
Turning to the sleeping Naruto, he raised a brow amusedly. He shook his head, and adjusted the girl's position so she would be leaning against the tree more comfortably.
He wondered what she was dreaming about to be smiling so serenely.
The raven watched her pluck some more flowers with a small smile. She blinked, glancing up when she noticed him standing far off, and grinned widely up at the boy. Her blonde hair fluttered gently in the wind, making her look like an angel in her white dress as se sat in the middle of the emerald meadow. The little boy, like her, was most likely five or six years old. She also noticed his hair was shaped oddly, almost like aー
The boy was scowling, and pawed at his head self-consciously. "I know, it looks like a duck's behind."
"You're a mind-reader!" She giggled, the flowers she picked clutched in her hands.
The boy's scowl turned into a pout. "You told me that it looked like a duck's butt when we saw each other in a class. You don't remember?"
The blonde was silent for a moment before her fist hit her other hand's palm in realization, sapphire eyes wide and shining. "Oh, I do! I remember! When our classes were mixed together, I saw you... and your head! Your name was... Uchiwa... Sasuke?"
He scowled again. "Uchiha," he emphasized loudly, and Naruto smiled apologetically. "But at least you got my first name right." He said that rather shyly making the girl cock her head to the side, confused.
Sasuke looked away and explained. "Normally everyone would remember my clan name first..."
"Really? Huh, that's weird." Last names were harder to remember than given names in her opinion. Shaking her head, she stood and skipped to him in glee. To think that this boy would actually talk to her without anything strange in his eyes or voice! "So what brings you all the way out here?"
He raised a brow, "Same for you."
"Oh! I forgot, I haven't told you my name yet, have I? It's Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Uzumaki... Naruto."
"Yep!" Naruto grinned. "And I'm here 'cause I like it! I've only found it a few days ago, though."
"Hmm..." Sasuke looked around, "I came 'cause I thought Niisan would be here, but..."
"Niisan? You have an older brother?"
"Yeah! The best there ever is!" The black haired boy boasted pridefully. "He's Itachi!"
She tilted her head to the side, before jumping when someone spoke behind her. "Sasuke, there you are." A boy of ages maybe thirteen to fourteen panted, obviously tired from running around.
"Niisan!"
Naruto looked up shyly, before widening her eyes by a fraction. Sasuke's older brother had super long eyelashes! Hers was longer, but... He had super long eyelashes! Boys don't have that! It's weird, she decided in her head, for boys to look pretty. When his gaze was now focused on her, a small, pink blush lightened her cheeks.
"Oh, you made a new friend?" The boy smiled at her. "Hello, I'm Uchiha Itachi."
"S-same here! My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" She stuttered, and noticed that she had dropped a flower.
He bent over to pick it up and, after examining it, he tucked it in one of Naruto's twin blonde tails. Her face had the exact same shade of a tomato, before she abruptly looked down at the ground and mumbled a thanks.
Itachi drew his brows closer in confusion at her response, but shrugged it off and smiled again, "Well, Naruto, it was nice to meet you today, but we'll have to leave now."
"Oh... okay, see you guys some other time, then!" She grinned, waving happily. Sasuke waved back, just as enthusiastic, and walked away with his hand clutching his older brother's.
Naruto watched the two's retreating back with smile, shoving away the pang of loneliness the scene plagued her with. She made two new friends!
She didn't know that exactly a year later, their warmth would disappear.
Naruto fluttered her eyes open, only to jump at the sudden explosions that shook the ground. "What the heck?"
Wait a minute, why was she sleeping? She was sleeping while the others were fighting for their lives! She whipped her head around from side to side and was horribly relieved to see Yahiko standing across from her, watching the scene below on the battlefield. Her eyes squinted, and she spotted sorrow and regret in his eyes.
"How long was I out?" Naruto seemed to have surprised him, and the look on his face dissolved into a light smile.
"Not too long. Are you ready to fight?"
"Yup!" Naruto stood up and brushed the leaves from her pants. She watched the Akatsuki members fight Hanzo's shinobi with a bemused frown, "I thought OyaーGamabunta-sama and I had finished them?"
"You did, but more came. Come on, we better go down and help."
Naruto nodded, and followed him and ran down the cliff. She watched him in Yahiko in awe, still unable to grasp the fact that he was alive and walking on his own will. With a blush, the blonde's sixteen year old mind had to admit that the man is kind of good looking without the horrible pierces.
She shook her head furiously; Naruto was five years old now. She can't have such thoughts, and right now it's a mini-war here. Regaining her focus back on the situation, she slipped her hand in her weapon pouch to take out a few kunais.
Yahiko looked back at her for a moment, before rummaging through his own holster. "You're a wind user, weren't you? I remember seeing you practice a little with Jiraiya-sensei." At her nod, he passed her a pair of trench knives, which Naruto recognized instantlyーAsuma-sensei had similar ones. "Use these; they're for beginners, so even if you only just started training your elemental chakra, you can still use it. All you have to do is channel wind chakra into them."
"Oh, thanks!" Naruto grinned and put them on, flexing her fingers. She did as he instructed and blinked. She had only just started elemental chakra manipulation a few days agoーshe couldn't even form a simple wind blade eitherーand yet it was easy to channel wind chakra into the weapons. She could get used to these; they were really light, too. Naruto reminded herself that she was merely borrowing it, and looked longingly at the knives.
A small mob of ninjas came after them, the weaker ones of the bunch aiming at Naruto for obvious reasons. The 'little girl' scowled, and sliced her way through them.
Naruto frowned, searching for any signs of Root. Cursing, she realized they had all fled to return to Danzo. Most likely to tell him that we found out, Naruto thought darkly. It would be rather complicated to stick a black mark on that bandaged old geezer if he had the time to think of escape routes. Damn it all, they didn't even have evidence! Persuading the other advisors that what the darn rat did would bring misfortune in the future would be almost impossible, seeing as they couldn't reveal to them that Naruto had time travelled. They would surely try to take advantage of it and pester her, which Naruto did not want.
She had other, more important things to deal with than to satisfy their desires.
Growling at the less than pleasant memories of the pointless arguments she had gotten herself into with them, she took out some of her irritation on the enemies, piercing and slicing with her borrowed trench knives. It wasn't as awesome as Asuma's were, given that it's for beginners to get used to them, they still did their jobs perfectly. Though Naruto did not have much experience with sharp pointy things (Sakura had been weary about giving them to her), she could tell these were well made.
They were pretty tough, but Hanzo's ninjas were finally defeated by the Akatsuki plus Konoha group. Naruto noticed with a relieved grin that they hadn't killed them off and, instead, merely knocked them out. For possibly several long hours.
It would be pretty muddy by the time they woke up (possibly by the feel of worms squiggling in their hair and shirt, she thought with a shiver and cringe of pity.
By the time Naruto had went to see her mother and Jiraiya, she immediately jumped to help supply chakra into the seal Kushina was working on. The woman was practically sleep-standing, and it was a wonder how chakra was still being sucked in. "Kaa-chan! It's fine, I got this!"Konan, who had only just finished checking whether the area was clear of enemies, widened her eyes at Kushina's critical state.
Clicking her tongue in disapproval, she took Kushina's weight by slinging the woman's arm over her shoulders. "Didn't I say not to push yourself too much? Honestly." She tipped her head back to see Naruto, "Hey, don't be reckless and use all of the energy you have left. Just use enough to make sure that its safe to finish the seals up."
She nodded, confused as to what she was really doing other than shoving her chakra into the small, thin piece of paper. As she continued to push in her glowing blue chakra, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what the box was.
And, after a minute of the task, Naruto realized a familiar scent in the air. A scent she knew all to well in the battlefield. And once she became aware of it, the smell became more and more prominent; so much that she wondered how on earth she hadn't realized before. A chill shuddered its way up her spine.
Blood. Lots of it.
Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod, a silent scream pierced her mind when it came to her. What was really inside that tiny, tiny, so deceivingly innocent box. Konan seemed to realize the sudden paleness of Naruto's face, and immediately pulled the little girl away. How could she forget even for a moment that this little child was still five? "It's enough, Naruto. Go with Yahiko and Nagatoーthey're bringing Jiraiya-sensei and Kushina-san back to the tower."
The small Uzumaki numbly nodded, eyes still wide with horror, and walked to the solemnly waiting men. Halfway through the walk back, Naruto managed to regain some of her composure and think properly.
She avoided anything related to the man inside theーjutsu, and pondered silently on something else. It seemed that her emotions and mind was also affected by her five year old state, and not only her appearance. She guessed that made some sense, since it would be impossible to have a mature, full sixteen year old mind cramped inside a child's body.
She could live with it. Even if gruesome things that she had gotten used to before would disturb her greatly from now on.
"Are you alright there?"
Naruto twitched, and raised her head to meet Yahiko's worried gaze. "I'm fine," she barely managed to say without her voice getting too shaky. She took a gulp of air, and continued, "Are they okay?" She indicated who 'they' are by flicking her eyes over Jiraiya and Kushina.
Nagato answered for her. "They are, though Jiraiya has slightly severe chakra exhaustion. It would take him a few days to wake up." He thought for a moment, before stating his estimation. "Three to four days at most."
Yahiko smiled and ruffled her spiky bangs. "You did well today. If it wasn't for you, Kushina-san, and Jiraiya-sensei, I probably wouldn't be alive."
She now copied his smile, and it gradually grew larger. The stress that had previously tensed up her shoulders left, relaxing her posture. Nagato seemed relieved at this, and he feigned disinterest while commenting. "We should have a celebratory feast tonight."
"Yeah, we should!" The orange haired man whooped. "Any suggestions?"
"Ramen," came Naruto's instant reply.
A pause, before Yahiko barked with laughter, "Sure, sure! Oh, and we should do some fishing! Look, the clouds are clearing up!" Nagato did, and a ghost of a smile was on his face.
"Amegakure's been having a good weather recently, hasn't it? Today in particular."
"They're coming back in two weeks' time! The Hokage said so~!" Minato sung happily, skipping, oblivious to the graffiti all over his back and face. "Naruto and Kushina are coming back!"
The newspaper obscuring Sakumo's figure shook suspiciously, as the Hatake peeked from above it. Kakashi knew immediately that his father was trying to hold back from laughing his lungs out. "Oh really?" Sakumo asked lightly, not actually seeing the vigorous nodding and instead focusing on the lovely art drawn all over the other man.
Kakashi thought of a great idea just then. He pretended to look as if he remembered something, and turned to Minato. "I think my homeroom teacher wanted to talk to you about Naruto. Seems urgent."
"He knows what that word means?"
Sakumo nodded, "I used it a lot with the ANBU messengers."
"Ah." Minato patted the boy's head, grinning, "Okay, I'll go see what that teacher needs, then!" He trotted out of the house and down the public streets, still oblivious to the reactions of the people around him.
When Minato entered the classroom, he did not expect to be greeted with twenty-one stares directed towards him, and he did not expect the owners of those said stares to explode with laughter. The teacher, who had apparently been hosting a meeting with the parents of another class, was reduced to slamming his desk, finding the state of his sempai too hilarious to resist.
He didn't know what was going on, but Minato fled from the room anyways.
At the Akatsuki's announcement of winning the battle with Hanzo, the village roared with happiness and cheers. The sun got out from hiding and shone the large crowds, a pleasant and rare sight to see around these areas. Finally, Yahiko told them, there will be no more hunger, no more violence amongst the village, and no more suffering.
The grins on the little children's faces melted Naruto's heart, and she had on a cheesy grin of her own. She turned to her mother, who held her hand tightly, and then looked up at Jiraiya. He had finally woken up on the third day of rest, immediately asking for water in a raspy voice. She had to admit, Naruto found it rather funny to see Jiraiya so rustled upーespecially with his hair all over the place.
"We couldn't have done it without these three," Yahiko said, waving his arm over to them with a smile, "and if it hadn't been for them, Konoha, not all of the founders of the Akatsuki would be here, standing in front of you all.
"With their warnings, we stopped Hanzo's ambush from happening, and now we plan on freeing this village, Amegakure, from its tightly bound chains!"
Another round of whoops and cheers erupted, and it overwhelmed Naruto greatly, reminding her of the time after she talked to Nagato, when Konoha welcomed her as she was held on Kakashi's back. Nostalgia and longing took over her features for a moment, before she caught herself and resumed her normal, wide grin.
While she thought no one had noticed, one did. Kushina couldn't stop the sense of grief and regret from bubbling up at seeing such a look on her daughter's face. Clenching her jaw, the woman grasped Naruto's small, perfect hand.
At the girl's innocent, shining smile, Kushina only tightened her grip.
"Doing some advanced origami making now, are we?" Kushina asked lightly, a grin on her lips as she took the open seat next to Konan, who nodded in a greeting. "I haven't really had the chance to say this before, but your fighting style is really gorgeous."
"Thank you," the usually stoic woman said with a rare smile. "Would you like to try? I can show you how to make a rose." She passed the stack of colorful, glittering square papers across the table toward her, and Kushina took one gingerly.
"I was never really elegant or feminine, so I guess that this would help." The red-haired woman laughed, "Especially since I'm being taught by the epitome of grace itself!"
Konan's lips settled into an amused smile, shaking her head at the compliment. "You're elegant as well, Kushina-san, even if you don't realize it." Before the other woman could reject her words, Konan held a lavender colored paper, "Shall we begin?"
Kushina followed the Ame kunoichi's hands and successfully folded her origami paper well. They made intricate roses, cranes, and lotus flowers. Konan watched her with a thoughtful gaze, and broke the silence. "You're quite the fast learner; and almost all the creations you made were folded perfectly." Kushina turned slightly red and scratched the back of her head with a grin at the praise.
"Why, thank you! This is actually pretty relaxingーI could really get used to this." She gently piled up her handiwork to the side and leaned forward, resting her chin on a palm. A knowing smirk curled her lips as her dark blue eyes gazed up at the other woman. "So... when are you and Yahiko-san getting together, hm?"
Konan widened her eyes, opening and closing her mouth as she tried to think of what to say. "I-I'm sorry?" She stuttered, even though she knew full well of what Kushina had asked.
Oh, the little lady was just so cute when embarrassed! Kushina grinned, "I saw the way you two looked at each other, and how you're practically on cloud nine when talking to him aloneーI just happened to be there, by the way, helping out at the kitchen." She paused, taking in the increasing blush on Konan's cheeks, smirking again. "You two are killing me with all the fluffiness in the air. Oh, are you two together already? That would make sense, huh?"
Uncharacteristically, the young woman nodded timidly, but a small, almost unnoticeable smile on her face. Talking with Kushina was rather fun. Maybe it was because she had been mostly surrounded by boys throughout most of her life? It wasn't like there weren't any kunoichis in the Akatsuki; quite the opposite really, and they were quite formidable. It was just that she supposed she had an atmosphere that practically screamed, 'don't waste my time!' if they didn't know her well enough. "We have, though we keep quiet about it when we work, of course. But... were we that... obvious?"
Kushina had on a Cheshire grin, "No, it was probably just because of my superb sixth sense!"
Konan decided not to tell the slightly older woman that having a sixth sense meant you can sense supernatural beings. "Right..." When she looked up at Kushina's face, laughter escaped from her lips, much to both women's surprise. Instead of abruptly stopping, however, Konan let it out. How long has it been since she last laughed like this? Now that she thought about it, the other woman wasn't much olderーa couple of years at most.
She only laughed harder when Kushina began to laugh as well, when it was obvious she didn't know exactly why. Being with her was like taking a breath of fresh air. "I guess it is true when people say laughter is contagious," Kushina said, grinning with slightly red cheeks from cracking up so much.
Konan smiled, listening with interest as Kushina began talking about herself.
In another room, Yahiko watched Naruto continuously feed the silent pup, finding amusement at how it resisted stubbornly, until finally succumbing to the temptation. The little girl's eyes sparkled, face brightening up instantly, and pampered him with more treats. "Hey, Yahiko-niichan?"
Said man blinked in surprise at being called before smiling. "Yes, Naruto?"
"What's his name?"
He paused, blinking once again. "We never really did give him a name, now that I thought about it."
"What! That'sーall living things should have a name!" Naruto huffed, looking down at the dog seeking agreement. "Can I name him, then?"
"Sure, be my guest."
Naruto grinned down at the dog and picked it up, apparently oblivious to his growling. "Well, since he's so tinyー" the growling got louder, "ーhow about Chibi?"
Chomp.
"OWWWW!"
When Naruto yanked her hand away and clutched it in pain, she missed the way Yahiko had widened his eyes at the name. It was the same one of the puppy he, Nagato, and Konan had taken care of as children. With a grin, he ruffled the blonde's hair. "Well, Chibi it is, then."
"So... mind telling me why you haven't contacted me all this time?" Jiraiya asked as he leaned against the door frame, partly serious, though his voice did have some lightness in it; meaning he wasn't upset, just curious. "I would have marked you three dead, you know. Since I heard nothing from you guys."
Nagato frowned, before stacking away his papers and facing the man. "Well, first off," he said rather dryly, "We didn't know where you were, and knew that you traveled quite a lot."
"Oh, right." Jiraiya chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm staying at Konoha for the next few months though, so when you're dying to hear from me you can send a message within that time period; probably four months at most. And if I'm gone by then Naruto can send it for you using the toad summons."
"Alright, we'll be sure to write, then."
Jiraiya thought for a moment, "Ah, that's right, the Hokage wanted to form an alliance between Konoha and Ame." He grinned down at the wide eyed redhead, "Does it sound alright with you?"
"It will be our pleasure to have Konohagakure as our ally, but would that be fine with their leader? Amegakure is, though I do not like to admit it, rather weak at the moment, and won't be much help to Konoha during this war."
The white haired man scowled, "I thought you knew better than that, Nagato. What do you think is the main reason he wants to have an alliance between countries?" Jiraiya sighed heavily. "Of course, power for the Nation is important, but isn't uniting the shinobi villages, thus the world, a better goal?"
"So he's having this alliance for peace, then?" Nagato asked in confirmation, not being able to hide away the sliver of hope in his voice at the prospect of having his lifelong dream fulfilled.
"Of course. It's meaningless to go off and kill our own kind, isn't it? Just because they're assembled on a land far from us?" Jiraiya scoffed, "If you look at it that way, it's pretty stupid."
Nagato nodded, his face lighter than it had been before when he was working furiously on his job. Talking to hisーformerーteacher always did brighten up his day, especially when they talked about their dreams of world peace. "They probably all realized it too, at some point in their time, before it was stashed away again at the pain from losing a loved one." He knew the feeling all too well. Witnessing his parents being killed by Konoha ninja had clouded his vision, and he didn't register the fact that it was all an accident, of course. The hatred and pain overwhelmed him to the point he had no idea what he was doing, nor could he recall what he ended up doing.
Shaking his head to clear the unpleasant memories, he leaned back on his chair. Jiraiya walked to him, a sheet of paper in hand. "Here's the form for the alliance. Once both parties sign, both villages will be friends. Happily ever after."
Scoffing in amusement, Nagato took it and read through briefly before signing the line at the bottom. "Is this all I have to do?" He asked, surprised.
"Well, usually you'd have to go on countless, boring meetings, but since the two villages are too far we'll settle with sending messenger birds or summonsーwhich reminds me; I have to place a seal around here so one of my toads would reach you. Birds aren't very reliable during war, after all."
Nagato stared as Jiraiya skipped off to find a place to slam his now seal covered hand against.
Clutching her bag's left strap with her hand and using the other to wave goodbye to the Akatsuki, Naruto grinned. Her hairpin reflected the sun, which again wasn't hiding behind clouds much to everyone's pleasure. She had hugged the life out of the three Ame orphans already, so now she, Jiraiya and Kushina were about to set off for their travel back to their home.
As they walked down the path, free from the heavy guarding system they had encountered upon entering the village, Naruto pondered briefly on how the people back in Konoha were doing.
No one noticed the dog silently trotting after the three Leaf ninjas.
And chapter eight is finally done! Did it seem rushed? I tried to get it all in one chapter so it wouldn't be too much of a disappointment, but did it backfire? DX
Yeah, you know what, don't listen to any of my promises and just hope that I can update as fast as I can. Sorry for the late updates! But I think I found a balanced schedule of posting up a chapter every three weeksーOf course, I'll try to get them done earlier than that.
Originally, I was going to post this chapter with just 4000 ish words last saturday, but it felt far too short and abrupt. Sorry about that... and it's not like this chapter was as long as the last, either (about three hundred words too short)... I'll try to reach 7500 for the next chapter, but, again, no promises!
And, as always, thank you all very much for the support!
TheNSIGirl TvT... O.O... D-Don't worry! I won't give up this story! Ever! (T 0 T)ノ Thanks for the review!
PervertAnimeOtaku Thanks! Sorry it was late!
Oenix I'm super happy you think so! I was worried about the pacing and how I'm making Naruto look... Thanks for the review!
ShadowRealmTriforce Haha, doesn't he? And I'll try to speed things up without rushing too much, so hang in there! xD
pizzafan123 Thanks! Sorry yet again for another late update... I'm glad you liked the last chapter!
Theia Pallas Thank you very much for the review! How was this chapter? Was it disappointing? Too rushed? Ahhh the paranoia is getting me (probably right, too)~! Thank you for being so understanding TvT
Shikuroaka Heh, you're welcome, and thanks for reviewing! Haha, I can just see the two counterparts meeting! I'm glad you're happy about the last chapter! I adore the dog now (because of a certain anime)! Yeah, sorry about the late chapter once again... updating every three weeks would probably become the schedule from now on (I'll try to update quicker though). Thanks for the support as always!
Tsume Yuki Thank you very much for the review! I'm happy you like him! xD
Animefreak Amii Thanks for being so understanding TvT Did I put him into the chapter enough? It was pretty hard finding a reason more to, so I kinda gave up... D: Thank you very much again! XD
Quoted (Guest) Haha, you're welcome, and thank you for reviewing! Yeah, keeping up grades is hard... T^T Sorry for the late update!
Sora Tsuiki THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Sorry, it wasn't the two weeks I promised again. I suck, don't I? Yeah... and I still haven't done my homework... Again, thanks always for your awesome reviews!
Shelbylol (Guest) Thanks! Yes, I know, I'll be including that part in this story seeing as by the time the Kyuubi attack time happens in this story that would be common knowledge. So yes, I plan on using the Tobi=Obito part in this fanfic. I think you'll be surprised with how I handle it (or, I hope ^^"). Well, thanks for the review again!
Omodor Actually, that's exactly what I plan to do, maybe in the epilogue or something. I'm sorry, I don't know ones where she does become a teacher! Thank you for the review!
Mcnitra Thanks! Well, here you go :)
mugu Thank you very much for writing all of that! I'm very happy you took the time! Actually, it is still war time (around the middle of it) now in this story, though you are right about the part where the kids were kinda too mature... But I hope the war thing can account for that... And no, Mikoto isn't pregnant at around this time. By the time the Kyuubi Attack in cannon happens, Itachi is six, and Naruto and Kakashi will be about fourteen to fifteen years old. Which means Itachi would be born when they are eight/nine... You might want to study back on the timeline (you can search it up easily in .com, and it actually gets fun when reading XD). I actually wasn't thinking of RaynexHatake when I was writing the fighting scene or thought it up, but the idea might have been unconsciously triggered by it ^^" Also, I believe it can also be killer intent, by the way. Thanks for the praises, and sorry everything's so cramped and jumbled up in this one paragraph!
ChaosIdeals Thanks! I'm glad you're happy with it! XD
And... did anyone notice the similarity between Chibi and a certain dog from a certain anime that ended just recently? XD
Also, finally, should I start putting the responses to the reviews and author note at the top so you guys won't be disappointed at how short the chapter really is?