Worried this might get to angst or hurt/comfort with what I have planned for it. Not sure yet, but if it does it will only be temporary. If you are one of the people who read the first posting of Chapter 2, sorry, I forgot to correct some mistakes and had to take it down for a couple minutes.
Chapter 2:
Walking down the streets of Konoha, Pakura attempted to figure out what she would do with the remaining half of her day, as she planned to leave for her home the following afternoon. It was only the afternoon of her second day there, yet, she figured her time in Konoha had already been a waste. 'What a waste of a trip' she thought, as she mindlessly sat down at a food stand for lunch.
"Would you like to place an order?" a brown-haired waitress asked, while smiling gently. The waitress looked to be about a teenager, wearing a white apron, and a small white hat that rested on top of her long brown hair.
Pakura nodded, "Sure, I'll have an order of your miso ramen."
"One order of the miso!" the brown-haired girl shouted, into the depths of what Pakura now knew to be a ramen stand.
"I'm Ayame" the waitress introduced herself, "Have you seen a boy with blonde hair, dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit running around Konoha by any chance?" Ayame asked, "He missed his regular time for lunch here, and I've been asking all of our customers to try and locate him."
"I'm Pakura, and as a matter of fact I just saw a boy similar to that description on top of the Hokage monument." Pakura told the waitress. Hoping to at least make herself feel good on an otherwise failure of a day Pakura asked, "Would you like me to go see if he's alright after I finish my lunch?" After all, loyal Suna shinobi didn't get much chances for uplifting moments anyways.
"If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it" Ayame answered, as she chuckled, "He hasn't missed one of his ramen appointments yet, and he's been coming here for years."
"No problem, I'll take care of it after I eat." Pakura answered curtly. "We can't have Naruto missing out on his ramen appointments, now can we?" She joked, using his name that he'd mentioned to her earlier. 'Regular ramen appointments sure explain his lack of height' she thought, smirking.
"One miso, for the pretty lady" the chef said as he delivered her ramen. He was an older man, with wrinkles that gave little room for doubting his old age. He wore the same outfit as the waitress, save for a chef hat located on top of his head.
As the steaming bowl of ramen sat in front of her Pakura was shocked, 'How's that boy not fat yet if he eats this daily! Even with my own ninja training, if I ate this everyday I'd gain weight!' Pakura thought as she gawked briefly, before beginning to eat her meal.
"Something wrong with your food?" Ayame asked
"No, I was just surprised that boy isn't fat yet if he eats this daily." Pakura mentioned between bites.
"Ahh, don't worry about his weight. He has some kind of super metabolism." Ayame said giggling, before she left to wash dishes.
Pakura finished her meal soon after she was left alone. Leaving the payment on the countertop, she left to find the blond-haired boy she met earlier.
It was still raining. Suna rarely, if ever, received rain; In addition, Pakura's Scorch and Fire release were both weakened by water, and as a result, Pakura hated the rain. 'I don't understand what these tree-huggers love about this weather' she thought, sighing. Pakura hated water, period; Konoha just wasn't for her. 'At least the rain can't get any worse than this' she thought, sighing again.
As Pakura reached the Hokage monument, it started to rain harder than she thought was possible. Splat, splat, splat, splat.
"Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!" She yelled, as she looked for cover. 'Is this a Water Jutsu?' she thought, looking around frantically. To investigate her suspicions, she took a peak at the sky, and was rewarded with two water droplets in her amber eyes. Temporarily blinded, she slowly stomped to where she'd noticed cover was. For once, she regretted not having a jacket with her. Grumbling incoherent curses as she finished rubbing the water out of her eyes, she decided to proceed with her self-imposed mission. As she continued to where she last saw the blonde-haired boy, she could only hope he was still there.
As she reached the Yondaime's statue, she saw Naruto laying on top of the Yondaime's head, snoring quietly. She couldn't help but notice the dampness of his orange jump-suit, and realized that he must've been sleeping out in the rain since she'd last seen him. With an urgency to get the boy warm, she dragged him to the tree she'd used previously to shelter from the rain. Using basic fire manipulation, she lit a fire near the tree to provide him warmth.
'I can't believe this boy managed to fall asleep, while being rained on! He must be either incredibly stupid, a really heavy sleeper, or unnaturally warm, in order to sleep during this kind of weather' She thought, while placing the clothes near the newly formed flame.
After 30 minutes of waiting his once-damp clothes were finally dry. Pakura was pleased with herself, 'At least, now I've done something right today" she thought, smiling to herself. She then retrieved his orange jumpsuit and went to place it back on the boy.
Midway to Naruto, she paused, having noticed a seal on the boy's belly. 'Is he... a jinchuuriki? It'd certainly explain how he didn't have frostbite after remaining in the rain for near 4 hours, and those whisker marks too.' she pondered while touching the aforementioned marks, 'Yes, he must be. Kazekage-sama would salivate at having another jinchuuriki in his arsenal, one who's not insane. I just need to get to know the boy, and then he'll certainly come back with me. Jinchuurikis are never treated well, anyways.'
Suddenly she heard a shifting next to her, looking to her left as she noticed the boy beginning to sit up.
"Hey Pakura!" Naruto said while yawning. "Where am I? What're you doing here?" Naruto asked, interrogating her.
"A certain ramen stand waitress told me I should come find you, as you'd missed your daily ramen" She told him, bending down from her height of 5'5 to his 5-foot stature.
"Ah! I forgot! Gotta go see Ayame, see you later Pakura!" Naruto shouted, attempting to run off to Ichiraku's, before Pakura grabbed his wrist.
"Naruto, I want to talk to you, can you sit down for a second, you already missed your normal lunch time anyways?" Pakura asked, gesturing to the ground beneath them.
"Ehhh? Sure, I guess. What do you want to talk about hmm?" Naruto asked cautiously before sitting down, few people had ever shown interest in him before.
"I just want to ask you a few things, and get to know you a little better. Us orange-lovers have to stick together, right?" She asked him, smiling, as she lowered her fist to him.
"That's right! Orange is the best color, believe it! Fire away!" Naruto shouted, fist-bumping her fist.
"Great, why don't we start with basic introductions: likes, dislikes, goals, hobbies. I'll go first." She said while sitting down across from him. "My name's Pakura, as you know. I like cacti, tomato soup, and reading, and the color orange as it reminds me of the hot-desert of Suna. My hobbies include: gardening, reading, and cooking, as well as assisting at the Suna academy. I dislike people who're mean to children, rain, snow, hail, and anything that's cold" she said, shivering at each mention of cold weather. "My life's goal is to continue being a loyal kunoichi to Suna", "Now, your turn." She said while gesturing towards Naruto.
A distance away, behind some bushes, crouched two ANBU members, monitoring Naruto as ordered by their Hokage. On the left was a Bear masked ANBU, and to his right crouched his teammate, a Cat masked ANBU.
"I'm sure we can leave, she's a kunoichi of Suna. Suna couldn't afford anything that would harm their already shaky relationship with us." Cat said turning to her Bear-masked partner.
"Hmmm. The Hokage did mention we don't have to monitor him around the clock. When he's with trusted-individuals or sleeping, we can take breaks. And she was trusted to meet with the Hokage himself. I think a break sounds good Cat." Bear said, "We can resume in the morning" Bear said, before he took off towards his home.
"What a boring task…." Cat grumbled, before taking off in the same direction as her partner.
Oblivious to the fact that the two ANBU watching him had left, Naruto proceeded with his introduction.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen, orange, Iruka-sensei, the old man, and my plants. My hobbies are watering my plants, eating ramen at Ichiraku's, and pranking! I dislike mean people, being made fun of, and Sasuke-teme! Naruto exclaimed, "My goal is to take the old man's hat and be Hokage, believe it!" Naruto shouted, determination showing in his sky-blue eyes.
'The old man he's talking about must be the Hokage' Pakura thought, smirking at the idea of the infamous "God of Shinobi" being called an old man. 'I bet he loves that title' Pakura thought with sarcasm.
"Those are good goals. I'm sure you'll become Hokage one day" Pakura told him, 'Not if I succeed in getting you to Suna. It's a shame, he seems like a nice boy; loyalty to Suna always come first, though.'
"Do you like the people of Konoha that much, that you'd want to be Hokage" Pakura asked him.
"I want them to like me? Does that count? Then we'll like each other, right?" Naruto asked, scrunching up his face in confusion.
'Ah so Konoha's jinchuuriki isn't treated well either' Pakura thought. "Maybe. But if they don't appreciate you now, why would you ever want to give your life for them?". Pakura said, while leaning back to stretch. 'The seed of doubt is planted' She thought mischievously.
"I guess so…." Naruto said looking dejected, "I still want to take the old man's hat though." Naruto said regaining some of his usual confidence.
'Baby steps.' Pakura thought, "You know where I'm from in Suna, we treat our ninjas a lot better", 'Half- truth?' "If you wanted to come with me when I return, I'm sure you'd be a lot happier" Pakura told him.
"I can't leave! Konoha's my home!" Naruto shouted. "I'm sure Suna is great and all, but they don't have a Hokage monument, or Ichira- "Naruto, rambled, before Pakura snuck up behind him and hit him in the head, knocking him out.
"I was never the most patient anyways, and it's not like anyone is around." Pakura stated as she began to remove the bandages surrounding her midriff; she had noticed the ANBU leave earlier. 'I need to make him unrecognizable if I'm going to sneak him out of the village' she thought as she wrapped said bandages around his spiky blonde hair. 'Now that his hair is out of view I need to get rid of his easily identifiable jumpsuit. Aha I know what to do' she thought as she took his orange jacket off exposing his black shirt that he wore underneath. She sealed the orange jacket away in a scroll, 'He'll probably want to keep it' she thought.
Next, to disguise his pants, she took them off him and rolled them around in the mud, which was in abundance due to the downpour overhead. As she placed them back on him she was finished; 'If anyone asks he's my apprentice, and he came with me on a diplomatic mission' she went over in her head. Smirking at the beginning of a successful capture, Pakura threw Naruto over her shoulder and began to head to the hotel, 'He should be out for another hour, and then I'll administer the paralyzing agent Lady Chiyo gave us for hostages. I have five doses; If I leave tomorrow, they should last until we reach Suna.' She thought making her way back to the hotel. It had stopped raining as soon as she began to leave the Hokage monument.
Naruto, now, looked completely different. He had bandages surrounding his head and one of his eyes. He wore a black t-shirt, and muddy brown and green pants. If you were to look at him, he looked to be exhausted from a training session; not in the process of being kidnapped by a foreign shinobi.
Pakura reached her hotel without incident. The hotel was provided to her by Konoha, as she was on a diplomatic mission. It was now around ten, and she had just administered Naruto's first dosage of the paralysis. According to Chiyo, subjects that received the paralysis would be limited to moving only their eyes for 24 hours.
Meanwhile inside Naruto's mindscape a demon fox pondered his container's current situation. 'If she gets the brat to Suna, he'll be away from the damned village that imprisoned me. His father would be rolling around in his grave if he ever found it. Yes, yes, I like this plan, I won't interfere, yet.'
Pakura figured she needed to acquire some new clothes for Naruto, incase Konoha-nin used his scent to track their position. She figured she had around eight or nine hours until the ANBU would return to their duty.
Walking around the city at night proved uneventful as most of the villagers had gone asleep, leaving the streets, and stores unattended. Knowing no stores would be open that late in the night, Pakura was forced to break into a store called, "Shinobi Gear and Tools". Breaking into a civilian-owned store was effortless for an Elite Jounin, like Pakura.
Once inside, she decided on a set of plain dark green t-shirts, brown shorts, and a pair of black sandals for her traveling 'companion'. 'He'd probably complain if he didn't have something orange' Pakura thought as she picked up a set of orange t-shirts, 'He won't be able to wear these until we get to Suna, but I think he'll appreciate these. Maybe these will help ensure his loyalty" she mused silently, as she also acquired some more bandages, to replace the ones across her midsection.
Now finished, she sealed her newly acquired clothes and supplies, and headed back to the hotel where her traveling companion awaited.
Pakura arrived back at the hotel around eleven in the evening. She cautiously opened the door to her room in case of potential intruders breaking into her apartment. If she was caught attempting to steal Konoha's jinchuuriki, it'd lead to war, and she'd be executed. She couldn't afford that.
Pakura replaced Naruto's pants and shirt with the new clothes she purchased, and slowly took his blue sandals off, to replace them with his new black ones. She sealed all of his old clothes, including his Konoha forehead protector (which she planned to burn later), to avoid his old clothes being used to track them down. She would've burned them, but, she didn't want to draw attention to their hotel room. She kept the bandages on, in order to avoid drawing attention to his bright blonde hair. 'I'm pretty sure he's the only one in Konoha with spiky blonde hair' She thought. 'If I leave now, the guard rotation will be different from when I entered the village, as they'll be the night-shift rotation. They'll have no way of knowing Naruto didn't enter the village with me' she thought smirking.
Finally, ready to leave, she tossed Naruto over her back, making sure his eyes were turned towards the ground, and headed for the Main Gate. She walked slowly towards the gates, as to not arouse suspicion. 'I've never captured someone from their own village before' she mused.
As she reached the gate she saw two shinobi guarding the gate. 'Definitely different guards from when I entered the village. Probably Chunin-level nins judging by their vests. If things went south, I could easily take them both out.' She thought calmly. Her experience allowed her to seem calm even in the most stressful of situations.
"Hello miss, what is your business leaving Konoha?" The man on the right of the gate asked her.
"I was here in order to attempt to better the relationship between Konoha and Suna. Now that my mission has finished, I'd like to return to my home in Suna. This boy on my shoulder, is my apprentice" She stated, pointing with her other hand at Naruto. "He left his Suna headband at home, like a dunce. He would've been able to tell you this, if he hadn't overworked himself training" She said, sighing.
She handed the guard on the right her Shinobi Registration I.D. "I'm Pakura, and he's Idate Hagani."
The inspection, and subsequent wait for approval, seemed like an eternity for Pakura. Just because she seemed calm, didn't mean she was by any means. She was freaking out on the inside. 'This is it, for Suna's sake I hope we get past these pesky guards' she thought as the guard began to open his mouth.
"You can proceed." The right guard motioned for her to leave, "Just remember, if you come to the village another time, remember to check in around this time. Wouldn't want to miss a beautiful face like you again now would we, Izumo?" the guard said smiling lecherously.
"Stop, Kotetsu." The guard on the left, now known as Izumo stated. "Don't pay any attention to him, he had a little too much to drink before we were on duty. You guys are free to go" Izumo stated motioning towards the open gates.
"Thanks." Pakura said, giving Izumo a brief wave, as she sprinted into the forests.
Pakura kept a Jounin's pace the entire trip to Suna. With Naruto on her back, it took her about three and a half days to reach her home. She was ecstatic at the success of her self-appointed mission, and couldn't even begin to imagine the Kazekage's reaction to their new asset.
She waved to the guards as she entered the gate, not bothering to stop, as they recognized her immediately. She was fairly well-known around the village, being an Elite Jounin, and possessing a rare bloodline limit.
Pakura burst into the Kazekage's offices.
Sitting in front of her sat Rasa, the Yondaime Kazekage, infamous for using his Magnet Release. He had red hair, and wore the typical green Kazekage robes and hat.
"Hello, Pakura. How was your mission, and who is your souvenir there?" He said gesturing to the boy over her shoulder.
"Kazekage-sama." Pakura said, bowing to her leader, "The mission was a mixed bag of results. Konoha refused to part with any of the missions that the Wind Daimyo has been giving them, instead of us. At the same time, however, I was able to escape with Konoha's jinchuuriki, of what I believe to be the nine-tailed fox. He is stable, to the best of my knowledge, and I believe he can be an asset to our village." Pakura told the man before her.
"Another jinchuuriki, huh? It would be beneficial, to our village's security if we had two demon containers. He would be a valuable weapon for our village, especially if the leaf village doesn't know we possess him.", the Kazekage stated. "Please take him to a cell and we'll begin the process of making him loyal to Suna" the Kazekage told her.
Pakura cringed at the boy on her back being called a weapon. Yet, she knew, sacrifices would have to be made in order to ensure the safety of her home. 'I just hope he's treated like a human being while they 'ensure his loyalty'.' she thought glancing at the boy on her back as she took off towards his new home. 'I can check on him from time to time, and make sure he stays sane. I can even take some time off between missions, and spend some time in his cell with him' she thought as she opened the door to his sand cell. 'I haven't had much, if any, time for making friends in the past few years, anyways.' She thought, as she placed him on the bed. 'I just hope he forgives me for taking him away from his village, I was just doing my duty as a loyal kunoichi to Suna, after all.' She contemplated as she closed the door to his new home.
Meanwhile, in Konoha a Bear-masked ANBU entered the Hokage's offices.
"Hokage-sama we have a problem." Bear frantically told the Hokage.
"Yes, what is it?" Hiruzen asked, gesturing for Bear to continue with his report.
"Naruto's missing, sir, we can't find him anywhere." Bear told him, sighing.