Naruto appeared by a large river and sat down on the edge looking into the water with a sad look on his face: "A ryo for your thoughts Naruto-sama?" Naruto looked to his side and saw Sai sitting next to him with a curious look on his face: "I am fine Sai I am just missing my Kabuto so much. This will be the first time in sixteen years that he was not around for my birthday. He was even there on the day I was born." "Well you do know that you are the son of Shinigami now since you almost absorbed your siblings the Big 3." "I know that Sai but I do not want to be a bother to father Byakuya with a request like this. Now to change the subject: what is the Kurokage of the Darkness village doing pretending to be a Konoha genin? You did not do this to get away from the paperwork again did you?" Sai laughed lightly and said as they tossed stones across the water: "No I did not Naruto I was sent to keep an eye on Konoha since our spy was ill and we could not find another in time. We wanted to see for ourselves if they were worthy of an alliance but they are most certainly not. Their academy is weak and their ninja are lazy bastards."
Naruto nodded and said as he threw another stone: "I noticed that when we arrived. They would not be able to survive the preliminary rounds of IronFist or even a qualifying round to get into first round preliminaries. And before I forget your village should be getting their invitation soon so you may want to go and get it." Sai just sat for a moment and then a smile lit up his face and he disappeared into a dark portal to get his people ready and to Konoha in time to compete, leaving Naruto to sit there and think about his beloved Kabuto. He just sat there thinking for a moment longer and then decided to wander around the village to think some more and see some of the sights. In another part of the village Jiraiya was walking and looking around for his grandson Naruto. He and Tsunade had gone home for lunch and found their son Minato sobbing his heart out on the top of the Hokage Tower and when they asked him about it he only uttered the name of Naruto and continued to cry so Tsunade stayed with him while Jiraiya went to see if he could find his grandson for an explanation on what happened.
He had been wandering around the village for quite some time when he noticed something on top of the Hokage Monument so he used the shun-shin to get there and looked around to find Naruto sitting on the head of the third Hokage while writing in a thick notebook that had scraps of all shapes and sizes sticking out of it. Jiraiya just stood there watching for a few minutes but before he could speak he heard: "May I help you Toad-san? Is there something that you would like some help with? Your aura seems full of questions for me." Jiraiya jumped, sat down next to the young man and said: "What are you writing there Naru-chan?"
Naruto just kept writing and said as he pulled out another notebook that seemed as messy as the first one if not even more so: "I have a series of books and manga out there and I am putting down some ideas for them before I forget." He looked up from his work for a moment, eyed Jiraiya up and down and said in a voice that made Jiraiya slightly angry: "My demon bat Gonnin and his son are big fans of your Icha Icha series but the others think that it is just pure shit and smut just like I do." Jiraiya made an angry face and said as he sat back: "I guess none of you can appreciate true art. So tell me what series that you are writing then. I highly doubt that it can be any better than Icha Icha." a flash of anger and a flame surrounded Naruto for a moment and he said: "Do not put my works in the same category as your shit and smut you Ero-bastard! I can have your work banned from Element publishing and the Nations all together for insulting my work." the two stood an inch apart in anger and Jiraiya said with anger and another emotion in his eyes as they got closer to the edge: "You cannot do something like that Yakushi! You do not have the power to do it so stop with the empty threats!" Naruto grabbed him by the collar and said in an angry voice that made Jiraiya go pale: "I own Elements Publishing and am the one who approved your books and can rescind it just as fast. Now does that seem like an empty threat to you?"
Jiraiya backed up a little and when Naruto let him go he fell off of the stone head, his chakra not working for him as he was very afraid: "Ero-bastard!" Jiraiya closed his eyes and accepted the fact that he was going to hit the ground and die when he suddenly felt that he stopped falling. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Naruto holding him tightly, his gorgeous silver diamond wings flapping behind him and the villagers cheering at what he had just done to save the Sennin. The two landed softly on the ground and Naruto asked as he let go: "Are you injured in any way Jiraiya?" Said man held him in a tight hug and said in a small voice: "Thank you so very much for saving my life Naru-chan! I cannot stand heights like that so my chakra would not work for me as it should have." Naruto let himself be hugged for a few moments and then backed away and retracted his wings, a lone feather staying behind and landing in his hand. He looked around and after a moment saw a young girl that looked like a younger version of Hinata standing with Hiashi, an awestruck look on her face. He squatted down in front of her and said with a smile and in a soft voice: "You are Hanabi am I correct little one?" she hid her face in the robes of her father and nodded shyly, Naruto holding out the feather with a smile on his face: "This feather is for you if you would like to keep it little one." Her eyes went wide with joy and she took it with a shy smile before giving him a short hug before hiding once again.
Naruto stood up, dusted his clothes off, inclined his head to Hiashi slightly and took off down the road with Jiraiya close behind: "So what happened between you and my son? When Tsunade and I went looking for him we found him crying his eyes out on the viewing platform of the Hokage Tower. Did the two of you get into some kind of argument?" The two sat down in a tea shop and once they had ordered Naruto said: "He is insistent that I call him father when I do not see him as such. I did not know that he would take my words as he did." Jiraiya took a sip of his tea and said as Naruto ate a small tea cake: "He has had everyone looking for you since the day you were taken from the Namikaze complex. We had to sedate him many times so he would not work himself into the hospital or try to sneak out of the village to search for you himself." Naruto took another bite of a different cake and said: "I was told by some people that he did something like that. But according to some of my Sound shinobi that I have here he never seemed upset or anything like that."
Jiraiya took a sip of tea and after a moment he processed what had just been said: "Are you saying that you have spies here?" "Yes we have ten people from Sound who were keeping an eye on Konoha to see if they were worthy of an alliance or even entry into our tournament. But in the twelve years that they have been here we could not find one worth person here." after a few moments of silence Naruto ordered some dango, red bean paste soup and a bottle of sake and then turned to the older man: "Now please get your work done on time from now on Ero-bastard. The printers and the distributors always hassle me when you do not turn in work on time." He put money on the table to pay for everything and disappeared in a white flash once he had his order, Jiraiya sitting in shock that the young man knew a move that only the Yondaime was supposed to know.
On the outskirts of Training Grounds 44 or the Forest of Death Naruto was looking around for someone when he spotted a figure with familiar purple hair: "MOMMA!" Anko turned around and her eyes sparkled happily when she saw her son Naruto standing by one of the entrances to the Forest of Death, tears of happiness shining in his eyes and rolling down her face: "Oh my little Naru-chan you are finally here and are able to talk again!" She dashed forward and he had just enough time to put his bag down before she almost tackled him to the ground. When the two finally pulled apart they went to a far bench where he gave her the things he bought for her, which she took with a big smile. After a few minutes she looked away from her plates and asked: "Where is Kabuto hiding Naru-chan? I hardly ever see the two of you apart." Naruto started to cry and he explained about the mission with Princess Yuki in Spring Country, the face of Anko glowing red with anger, especially after he told her of his coming children: "Why that little slut! How DARE she lie and make my son a widower! If I ever see her then I am going to make her into a widow!"
Later that day the village was okay because they had been told that the were going to be able to host the 16th annual IronFist tournament. The vendors and spectators from the invited villages were already arriving and setting up stands for the nine day festival that was held during the tournament. The birthday of Naruto was on opening day and he was excited because this year it was going to be a challenge tournament on the first day only, which meant he could accept and and all challenged from anyone that he wanted: "Excuse me Otokage-sama I did not wish to disturb you sire." Naruto opened his eyes and stepped out of the waterfall to see a falcon masked ANBU standing on the shore a small distance away, the man glad he was wearing a mask to hide the blush: "What may I do for you Hizashi...I mean Falcon-san?" Falcon just stood in amusement for a moment but then he shook his head and said: "Hokage-sama wishes for you to attend a council meeting in an hour." "He does know that I am not one of his shinobi correct?" "Yes he does sire but they say that it is about the security for the tournament."
Half an hour later Minato, the shinobi council and the civilian council as well as the two remaining Sennin were talking with one another when an ANBU appeared and said: "Yakushi-sama is here to see you as requested Hokage-sama." Minato nodded and said: "Please let him in then Falcon." the ANBU disappeared and a few moments later the door opened to let Orochimaru and Kakashi into the room. The two stood to the side and the jaws of all of those in the room dropped when Naruto walked in , Kage robes of the purest white over clothes that were white as well with dark purple flames on the bottom. And instead of wearing a hat like other leaders he was wearing a white chain with the kanji for 'sound shadow' made of amethyst in the middle of his forehead. Everyone just sat there for a few moments and Naruto said: "So may I ask what this meeting is really about Hokage-san? You know that we are handling everything for IronFist as we do every year and we do not need you to bother us." Minato nodded and said: "It was for three different reasons actually Yakushi-san. The first is that I wish to thank you for helping my father when he fell off of the Hokage Monument." "There is nothing you need to thank me for Namikaze-san. I could not let an innocent shinobi die like that. And do not worry about anything Ero-bastard I would never carry out the threat that I made earlier about your books."
Jiraiya slumped into his seat in relief and Minato said: "The second reason is that my father said that you had some people watching over the village seeing if we were worthy of an alliance or entry into your tournament. Can we have the names of these people so we can speak with them about a few things." Naruto looked over at Orochimaru and after communicating through their seal for a moment Naruto turned to the others and said: "You can meet them at the opening ceremony of the tournament and not before." Everyone in the room started to protest and tried to order him to do what they said but he slammed a fist on the table in front of him and said in a voice that shut them up: "ENOUGH! They were able to infiltrate your village without suspicion so what does that say about the security of your village? And I am the Shodaime Otokage of the Village Hidden in the Sound so you have no right to try and order me around like some common shinobi! Now fuck that the third reason you called me for is I am leaving right now." He slammed his fist down again and the three walked out of the council room, the table he had hit freezing over and shattering into silver dust that caught fire and turned to black ash, no one able to make a sound and not noticing that Falcon and Tiger disappeared to follow their true leader.
A few hours later Naruto was still in the training grounds behind their new house trying to vent his frustrations by training with his clones, Kakashi and Haku out there making sure that he did not overwork himself and hurt himself or his children in any way. Inside Orochimaru was making something for dinner while Zabuza was in the library with Inari, Tobi, the newly arrived Shisui and the newly arrived Gaara going around the house destroying all of the seals and things that allowed Konoha to monitor their new home. Once they had finished with all of it they came back to sit down at the kitchen table and Tobi removed his mask, Obito Uchiha underneath: "So what has Senpai so angry Orochimaru-dono?" The older man sighed and said as he looked down into his tea: "The Hokage tried to order my son to a council meeting and he went, but only after clearing up that he was not a ninja here and was not at their beck and call. But once he got there it turned out that he was lied to about the purpose of the meeting and when he refused to divulge the information they wanted from him they tried to order him to give up the information like some common genin. Now he is very angry and is training to let off some steam so he does not hurt someone." "What in the worlds are you doing here! This is private property you know!"
Tobi threw his mask back on and they all ran outside to the front where Naruto, Kakashi and Haku were blocking the front gate where they saw Inoichi Yamanaka, Chouza Akamichi and Shikaku Nara along with councilwoman Haruno trying to get in: "We are only here to apologize for what happened at the council meeting Otokage-sama. May we come in so we can talk about it please?" Naruto just looked at them for a moment and then he said: "You can go ahead and go into the house but I must speak with councilwoman Haruno before she does in." the three others went inside and once all but Kakashi had gone inside Naruto said with a smile on his face: "You can drop the henge now Sakumo your mission is now complete." 'She' breathed a sigh of relief and said in a deep voice: "Oh thank the stars that it is over! It was an absolute horror having to deal with being that woman and having to deal with that bitch of a daughter and ass of a husband." There was a puff of smoke and tears came to the eye of Kakashi when the smoke cleared and he saw his twin brother Sakumo standing there instead of the woman: "How have you been doing brother?" Kakashi just looked at him for a moment but then he burst into tears and grabbed him in a fierce hug, Naruto going inside to let the two brothers have some time alone to reconnect with one another.
He went inside and sat down across from the three who had been served tea by the others with a serum in it that made them tell the truth but they did not know that: "Now what may I ask do three clan heads of the Shinobi council want with little old me?" The three smiled softly and Shikaku said: "We just wanted to apologize for what happened during the council meeting Lord Otokage. We had no right to try and order anything from you." "There is nothing to worry about sirs. I would also like to apologize for doing what I did in the council room. My 'condition' at the moment is causing my emotions to fluctuate wildly." The four of them talked for a little while and then they had to head home so he escorted the to the door and once they were gone he said: "Falcon, Tiger how long do you plan on hiding like that? Tiger please come inside to eat but Hizashi your son and his beloved Hinata are waiting for you so that they can announce their engagement. And as you requested the Branch House seal and the Hyuuga elders will be destroyed once the announcement is made." Falcon jumped down from where he was hiding, hugged Naruto tightly and the disappeared while Tiger went inside with Naruto so they could eat and prepare for the tournament preparations.
The Next Afternoon...
During their break on the last day before the tournament Orochimaru sat down next to his son and said: "Naru-chan there is something that I would like to tell you about son.'" Naruto finished the banner he had been hanging and sat down next to his father and drink his bottle of milk: "What is the matter father? You sound nervous and you are not usually nervous unless...what is the matter father?" Orochimaru took a deep breath, turned back to his son and said in a firm voice: "Once the tournament is over your mother, Haku, Zabuza, Gai and I are returning to rebuild Sound but you and the others are going to have to remain here." Naruto spit his milk out everywhere and he said as he looked at his father: "You mean I have to see you leave me behind again? Why can I not come and help you rebuild Sound as well? It is my home village after all father!" Orochimaru hugged his son tightly and said: "We know that you want to help out but you are with child and we cannot risk your health or the health of your babies over this."
Naruto just stood there for a moment with his head down and then his milk bottle shattered and he took to the air, his wings shining in the light and his tears falling to the ground like rain: "Naruto wait please!" When his son disappeared into the distance Orochimaru rushed to an empty field, bit his thumb and slammed his hand into the ground: "Manda-sama I need your help!" There was an enormous cloud of dust and when it disappeared the boss snake summon was there looking down at his summoner with a concerned look in his huge eyes: 'Yosho-chan what is the matter? You normally do not summon me unless it is an emergency.' "I am sorry Manda-sama but this is about my son Naruto." Manda widened his eyes and listened to everything. After a few moments he finished by saying: "And because we are leaving in ten days he grew upset and flew away crying. Do you think that you can go and look for him Manda-sama? You are one of his greatest friends and he most likely does not want to see me right now." Manda nodded, shrank down to a smaller size and slithered in the direction Orochimaru had pointed out, said man hoping that his son was going to be alright before he went back to finish the preparations for the opening of the IronFist tournament in the morning.
Outside of the gates of Konoha Kyuubi, the leader of the Village Hidden in Spirits and his council as well as their competing shinobi and kunoichi were at the gates signing in and showing their papers when Kyuubi turned to see his friend Manda slithering quickly through the woods on the other side of the gate: "Manda what is the matter my friend? I can feel the worry pouring off of you all the way from here." Manda stopped short and turned into his human form which was a tall pale man with long black hair golden eyes and silver robes with snakes on them: "Ryo! Have you seen His Majesty? Yosho-chan said that he was angry with something and then took off in this direction." "I have not see him but I will help you look for him." He quickly explained everything to the others as they made their way to a place to stay and then he turned around and took to the trees with Manda, both with worried looks on their faces. They searched for ages and had been joined by Sai who was on his ink birds, Benitora of the Light Village on a light hawk and Dante Sparda of Blood Village on a vampire bat, each of them wearing mobile communicators in case one of them found something.
It was already dark and they had almost decided to give up when Dante spotted a blue light glittering in the distance. When he got to the makeshift arena in what Konoha called the Valley of the End he found Naruto curled up in a ball asleep with a blue outline of Shiva floating over him, glowing brightly and hoping that she could catch their attention. Dante turned on his communicator and said in a relief filled voice: 'I have found His Majesty and we will meet all of you at the Konoha gates in about ten minutes.' There were a bunch of clicks and he jumped down and bowed in front of the form of Shiva, who smiled: 'Thank you so much Shiva-sama for keeping His Majesty safe until we were able to find him.' The outline of Shiva nodded, gently gave her youngest brother a kiss on the forehead and disappeared back into the seal to regain the energy she used to come out of the seal. Dante carefully covered the young man in his red coat and carefully got back onto the bat with him in his arms, a tear rolling down the sleeping face of Naruto: "Kabuto..."
When they reached the gate they found all of the other leaders and Orochimaru as well as Jiraiya and Minato, who asked: "Who are you and what are you doing with my son?" Orochimaru rolled his eyes with an annoyed look on his face and said: "He is my son and will be so forevermore so stop trying to claim what does not belong to you." Dante gave Naruto to Orochimaru and said as he put his coat back on: 'You are all pathetic wastes of space that do not deserve to even lick the mud off of the boots of His majesty so do not talk to me assholes.' Minato and Jiraiya did not understand the language Dante was speaking so Orochimaru said: "He is the leader and trainer for his team that has been allowed to enter the tournament. Now we have to go and get some rest before the opening ceremonies in the morning." He inclined his head slightly, held his son closely and disappeared in a whistle of the wind, Manda going back to the summon realm, the two standing there wondering what was going on and what was the matter with Naruto.
Here is another chapter for all of you in FanFiction land! I know many of you are waiting for other stories but I am busy at the moment but for those who are waiting for The Wandering Master I should have the new chapter finished by Saturday and hopefully posted by next Wednesday! Enjoy this until then! Obi-Chan