In Which:
Naruto meets the villagers- Gaara discovers some interesting information- Naruto prepares for a mission.
The storm had lasted for four hours before tapering off, and Naruto had not paused once in his dance with the elements.
Finally, an hour after dawn, the purple-black clouds had faded to grey, the rain was barely at a drizzle, and under the eyes of almost every inhabitant of sound Uzumaki Naruto glided slowly to a stop three meters above the ground.
Hovering in the middle of the street, Naruto looked around for the first time since that wild joy had taken hold of him. There were people everywhere. Villagers. Ninja. Shopkeepers, children, mothers, fathers, workers, genin, chunin, jonin, even Orochimaru himself.
Naruto stared at them. They stared back.
"Er…hi?"
Naruto's voice broke the tense silence, and the crowd surged forwards, shouting questions, laughing, completely unafraid.
"What's you're name?"
'Are you a ninja?"
'What were you doing?"
How did you do that?"
"Why are your eyes-"
"What's with the cla-"
"Who's the-"
"Why're-"
"What-"
"Who-"
"QUIET!" Orochimaru's voice silenced the excited crowd immediately. He walked calmly through the mass of people, easily making it to the small empty space left around the blond. "He can hardly answer your questions if you don't give him a chance to speak."
He sent an encouraging smirk to Naruto, who lost his wide-eyed surprise and took a deep breath. "Um…okay. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I'm a chunin, and I have a demon sealed inside me. He's the reason for the…um, the incident. The furball just kinda got overexcited or something."
Naruto scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by the attention. He sent Orochimaru an obviously desperate look, which wasn't missed by the crowd. A ripple of laughter went through them at his discomfort and the fact that he was looking to Orochimaru of all people for protection.
"Um…" Naruto was growing increasingly desperate under the eyes of so many people, flustered and fidgeting, searching frantically for an escape. Luckily for him, Sakura and Sasuke chose this moment to descend from the apartment and explode at their poor teammate.
"NARUTO! What do you think-"
"Damnit, dobe, why the hell-"
They stopped, and looked at each other. Wordlessly, each grabbed an ear and hauled the protesting blond back inside for questioning.
Orochimaru watched, amused, then turned back to the still-curious crowd. Naruto's open demeanor had mostly dissipated the tension caused by his display of power, the people of Sound wouldn't be satisfied by so little information. He could capitalize on their curiosity to make sure the little ninja would have a good reception from the villagers.
After all, the more comfortable the blond was, the less likely Orochimaru was to loose such a powerful resource.
So the leader of Sound settled comfortable on a nearby bench, and told the gathering a much-simplified version of Naruto's story. And an hour later, the crowd dissipated to tell their friends and family of the loyalty and power of a little blond jinchurikki…
Gaara sat beside the window in the large council room, listening to his advisors argue over something trivial.
Barely an hour ago, a wash of power had shocked him upright from a half-doze as one of his senior councilors droned on. None of the other people in the room, civilians and ninja alike, had reacted to it. For a moment, this had puzzled him, and then he detected the distinctive flavor of Naruto's chakra in the electrical wave of power. Not a second later, he had felt Shukuka rear up in the back of his mind and roar in return.
It stood to reason that this was another of the incidents Gaara and his siblings had dubbed 'Naruto-osities'. Things that were just too weird to consider without giving yourself a headache were jokingly blamed on the blond, with a high rate of turning out correct.
A knock on the tall doors to the council room distracted the redhead from his thoughts. Relieved to find something other than the tedious meeting to focus on, he called, "Come in." before his advisors could dismiss the messenger.
The doors creaked open, and an out-of-breath genin focused on Gaara. He executed a quick bow to the young Kazekage. "Kazekage-sama, a missive from Tora-san has come in. A jinchurikki has been captured by missing-nins!"
Gaara frowned and rose, following the genin to his office and ignoring the councilors. As soon as he had taken up his father's robes, the redhead had put the vast spy network at his disposal to finding others like himself. They were told to find them, watch them, and report back. No interference unless absolutely necessary.
Tora was the codename used by the agent he had posted on the border of Fire and Lightning country. He turned to the genin as he entered his office.
"I have a job for you. Low C-class. Go to Oto, the front gates, don't enter. Tell the guards to tell Uzumaki Naruto that a brother is in danger, and to meet me in Hosatura as soon as possible. Go!" The genin nodded, and turned towards the mission room to grab his team.
Hosatura was a tiny village that sat on the border of Lightning and Fire, and was the perfect starting point for a retrieval mission. No ninja, no local lord, and enough shops to stock up from for a mission.
Gaara opened the door to his office, and didn't bother to sit down before he snapped "Report!" to the agent standing in front of his desk.
He listened, frowning. Twelve missing-nin, four A-class, the rest B-class. They were planning to travel to the heart of Fire country and sell their captive to the Akatsuki. Were they fools? The Akatsuki would rip them apart. And how were they containing the jinchurikki? According to his sources, even the weakest of those found so far would be able to escape long enough to find a place to hide.
As soon as his agent stopped talking, he paged the mission office. " A-class mission, I need a team of three or four competent ninjas, chunin or high genin class for a retrieval. I will be accompanying the team, as what we need to retrieve is a jinchurikki. Uzumaki Naruto will also be meeting us in the village of Hosatura. Opponents are four A-class and eight B-class missing-nins."
Gaara's curt voice was loud in the mission room, and every nin there heard. His secretary squawked, "B-but, Kazekage-sama! Surely you'll need more backup!"
Gaara snorted. "Even without my sand, do you remember the reports from the last mission Uzumaki Naruto was involved in? I can beat all of the jonins and most of the ANBU in a straight battle, and he put me in the hospital for three weeks. The backup is already overkill."
He cut the line, and nodded to the agent. "You're to give the team they choose a rundown on the path the missing-nins have taken and where you think they'll go from where they are now. After that, you're dismissed."
The other ninja bowed and left.
Gaara sighed. Hefting his sand-gourd onto his back, the jinchurikki made his way to the mission room to meet his backup.
This mission was going to be filed under 'Naruto-osities', he just knew it.
Naruto sent a sheepish glance at his teammates.
In the hour it had taken for the blond to adequately explain the events of the night before, the changes Kyuubi's chakra had wrought on his body had slowly reversed themselves, until the only evidence of its presence in his body was slightly pointed ears and pointy nails.
He was left feeling strangely empty without the connection to the natural world the demon had provided. He winced. Of course, that was nothing compared to the sheepish guilt Sakura's lecture about his tenant had evoked.
"Come on, Sakura! You know the grumpy old fox can't take over. And it's not like I'm relying on his power or anything!" Naruto pouted, and both Sasuke and Sakura rolled their eyes.
"Oh, all right…" Sakura relented, and stopped glaring at the blond.
Turning, all three of them gazed out over the road and forest. They were sprawled out directly above the main gate of the first wall, much to the jonin-guards' amusement. Staring at nothing as the morning sun beat down on his face, Naruto frowned slightly.
He knew that Sakura and Sasuke wouldn't like it, but the link the furball had given him to the world around him had been amazing. He had been so much more aware! Maybe, if he could do it without depending on the furball…
Oi, furball!
What?
Could I do what you did?
…Eh?
That connect-y thingy you did to let me get energy from the rain! Could I do that, y'know, all the time?
Naruto felt the demon's caution and a strange apprehension. He frowned. Why would the fox be nervous? After a moment, it dawned on him.
Don't worry! I'll still let you feel and see and hear and stuff! The deal isn't off or anything, I just want to be all aware of everything the way I was during the storm without having to use your chakra.
Hmmm. Well, I suppose you are supposed to be my vessel. And since I can't get rid of you…Fine, but choose a focus now. I want this over with.
What?
Fool. Choose a part of your body for me to change permanently. Once the proper chakra paths have been carved, you won't need me to induce the connection.
Eh, fine. Ummm…my eye! My left eye. That way I'll get the connection thingy and look cool too!
…Fool. This will hurt.
With no further warning, Kyuubi's chakra unfurled and shot into his eye. Naruto sat up and let out a yelp as sudden, sharp pain registered. In concern, both his teammates and the jonins on guard duty turned towards him. Naruto clutched his head, covering his eye. After a moment the pain faded and the strange extra sense that he had discovered during the storm returned.
Done. Do not disturb me unless there is a fight, nigen.
Naruto lifted his hands away from his face, and blinked his tingling eye. Sakura gasped. "Your eye!"
Naruto blinked again, this time in confusion. His eye was just the usual red that went with using the Kyuubi's power, right? The jonin on his right, whom he recognized as the one he had nickname Ghost, offered him a small handheld mirror, usually used to flash signals to the other guards. Naruto peered into it.
"Purple. The furball…turned my eye purple." Naruto's voice was perfectly flat.
"Naruto, why was the demon messing with your eyes anyways?! You shouldn't let the Kyuubi do anything, let alone mess with your body!" Sakura's voice was slightly shrill.
Across from them, Sasuke snorted. "Calm down. He's obviously not hurt, the seal won't break, and the demon's power is useful to him. The dobe is old enough to make his own decisions."
Naruto cast Sasuke a grateful look, and explained. " Don't worry, furball's chakra was only for making it, it's not running on his energy. My eye is a …a focus, he said. I can sense stuff, like natural chakra and auras and other weird things. It's like, normal senses, then BAM! There's a whole 'nother dimension to everything! It's really cool!"
Before Sakura could respond, the jonins abruptly straightened, and Sasuke shaded his eyes to peer down at the road. Three genins and their jonin instructor were jogging quickly towards Sound. All were wearing Suna headbands. The jonins exchanged a glance over Team Seven's heads, and then one disappeared to get Orochimaru.
Gaara wasn't the only one able to anticipate Naruto-influenced events.
The group stopped a good distance from the wall. The lead genin, a tall boy with short black hair stepped forward, cupping his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hello! Ummm… A message for Uzumaki Naruto! Kazekage-sama says a brother is in trouble! He says he'll Meet Uzumaki at Hosatura village as soon as possible!"
Naruto frowned at the genin for a moment, thinking over the message. A brother in trouble? His eyes widened. A jinchurikki! He turned to one of the jonins. "Look, I got to go. Tell Orochimaru-"
"I'm right here, Naruto-kun. I heard." Orochimaru leant over the wall, and shouted down to the Suna team, "Message received! He'll join the Kazekage as soon as possible!"
Apparently, this was all the assurance the group needed, as they immediately turned away and headed back the way they came. Orochimaru turned back to the three chunins, smirking. "This will be for Naruto alone, I'm afraid. Sakura-san needs to finish the paperwork needed to make her a Sound ninja, and Sasuke-kun has training with my elite for the next five hours. "
The snake summoner took in the hidden disappointment in Sasuke's face and the open resignation on Sakura's. He sighed. "The next mission, you will do together." He turned to Naruto. "When you get back, I expect those trade agreements you promised me to be cemented to Sound's advantage. We will also speak of your…other plan, involving Konoha."
He regarded them for a moment, and nodded to himself. Yes, they would prove to be a very useful resource. "Naruto-kun, change into mission clothes and go. You know where Hosatura is? Good. I will expect you back in no more than two days. If you are longer, send a message or I will send a search team. "
Orochimaru turned away, walking towards the center of Sound once more. Sasuke nodded to Naruto and followed. Sakura gave him a warm hug, then she too followed.
Naruto sighed, and went back to the apartment he had been sharing with Green-chan to change and grab his pack. Time to get moving.
…ugh. This chapter just didn't want to end, and half the stuff I wanted to happen wouldn't fit! Oh well... It just means that the next update will be quicker than usual. -Heliotropic