Byakuya
Chapter 21
Character Profile:
Name: Hidorikawa "Drake" Minoru.
Age: 17 (Male)
Status: A ninja raised in the hidden village of trees, in the grass country, specialty knives.
Jinchuuriki: Host of the Hachibi No Hachimata, the eight tailed demon snake.
Looks: Blond hair and green eyes with a tint of yellow.
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When Naruto finally emerged from the shower, all his thoughts about him and Sasuke were long gone as he tried to dry his hair with one hand and get his boxers on with the other.
Damn Ero-sennin couldn't even teach me one fire jutsu to dry my hair with. Naruto whined to himself as he finally threw the towel behind the sofa, knowing that more drying wouldn't actually dry his hair. Wonder if that's how Sasuke-bastard dries his hair? Bet he set his hair on fire the first time, Naruto snickered while settling on his knees in front of the second box that was lying by the doorway, knowing it had been his aloof teacher that had brought the boxes into his apartment. Moulding some chakra he made the seal for boar that made the box glow red this time. Smiling brightly to himself at the thought of anybody trying to steal his clothes and various other objects from a box sealed with the Kyuubi's chakra; something that he doubted would ever happen.
Pushing aside the luscious wedding kimono that had belonged to his mother he pulled forth one of his most simple, but finer Kimonos. The light crimson silk yukata with black triangles at the bottom and by the collar was one of the most formal looking summer kimonos Naruto owned. As a ninja he almost never preferred to wear a kimono as it hindered his movements; something that could be fatal should a battle situation rise.
But seeing as Jiriya had not only taught Naruto to fight, but to be able to adapt in different battle situations as well, Naruto was proud to say he could fight in his kimonos. Each and every one of them had a slightly lighter seam on the sides, so that if pulled would rip easier; except for the wedding kimonos of course, something Naruto could barely force himself to touch.
Pulling forth also a pair of tabi(white cotton socks), a nagajuban(the under-kimono) and the datemaki belt the under-kimono was tied with; Naruto resumed to dress, only stopping to search for a tank top he could put under the light summer adapted clothes. Tying the datemaki belt was easy, seeing as it wasn't as stiff or as hard to pull around his waist as the black obi of the yukata, but Naruto had to sigh as he finally was finished and prepared to put the yukata on. Slipping the garment over his shoulders and settling it comfortably, he folded the left side of the yukata over the right side, before summoning a kage bunshin to tie the obi comfortably around him.
Naruto walked to the full length mirror he had in his bedroom and took some time to style his hair so that it didn't stick everywhere too much, before putting on some invisible lip gloss. Smacking his lips to himself and stepping into the living room again he reached into the third box after a quick horse seal, and reached for his sword and blades along with several kunai and shuriken.
He raised his left arm so that he could slip the shuriken and kunai into the tamoto, the sleeve pouch. He pulled up the hem of the yukata so that he could but the sword strap of his issue ANBU sword around his hips. The sword was the model that the ANBU most often used. With the sheath it was almost three feet long, thin and completely black except for the red quadrates at the hilt. Letting his Yukata fall down so that it covered the sword he started to look into the box for the arm holders for his blades.
Finding the black leather bracelets he tied them to his both forearms and attached the blades into them so that they were easy to reach. The blades were about eight inches long, one inch wide and very thin, and filled more the purpose of a senbon than that of a kunai. The blades were good for a silent assassination, as they made no sound even as they imbedded into wood, unlike kunai that always made a small thwack sound.
Nodding silently to himself Naruto nodded and left his apartment, locking the door behind him, not bothering with the sealing as anything of worth in his apartment was actually in the boxes. Then, when Naruto started to ascend the staircase, he stumbled on his black, three inches high geta shoes. Blushing furiously at himself and thanking the Hokages for not letting Jiriya see him stumble as the old man would have just laughed at his stupidity.
When did I wear geta shoes last time, anyway? Naruto questioned himself, before realizing it was probably the last time he had been in an official event, like the tea ceremony he and his pervert sensei had taken part of almost two years ago. Naruto frowned shortly for himself, before he realized he had no choice but to put chakra into his shoes so that he wouldn't fall. Because frankly, falling on geta shoes would be just embarrassing as everyone learned to walk on them when they were small.
Everyone except Naruto that is.
Shaking away his grumpy expression off his face he finally stepped into the outside air. The air was still slightly chilly as the summer had just begun, but the sun made walking outside quite comfortable. The streets were full of people doing chores and setting up their shops and carts, and generally the mood was happy.
Naruto brightened when he noticed that nobody recognized him. The yukata made him look so completely different that nobody connected him to the demon host. There were no glares and even though Naruto disliked wearing kimonos he was hit by a thought. Perhaps he should start wearing kimonos all the time and he would be spared of the glares? His thought of line was stopped by a surprised voice however.
"U-Uzumaki?" There was a slight stutter to the male voice, Naruto thought amusedly as he turned to face Kiba, Hinata and Shino. Kiba's mouth was open in shock, Hinata blushed furiously and Shino looked as always; expressionless. The blonde fought a laugh as he saw Kiba check him out.
"Inuzuka." Naruto greeted politely, his polite mask somehow following with the kimono. One just couldn't act as hyper and obnoxious while wearing a kimono. Akamaru, now waist high, huge dog barked once. If Kiba looked surprised, it was nothing compared to his expression as Naruto barked back.
This time Naruto let out a loose laugh as both the dog and the dog looked at him stupefied as he barked the usual relaxed tune meaning he was no danger. Good thing Kisho taught me that one, Naruto thought.
Kiba had changed most of them all, Naruto supposed as he gave them a good look-over. He was wearing lack ninja shoes and dark green chuunin pants with his calves wrapped with bandages. He was also wearing a black sleeved shirt with the chuunin vest over it. His face had narrowed and his once bush looking hair was pulled, surprisingly, into a braid.
And where Lee's braid was thick and shoulder-length, Kiba's braid was small and long and almost reached his waist. Some excess hair had escaped the braid and framed his face nicely, the black bringing out the red stripes on his cheeks.
Kiba's turned into a hunk, Naruto couldn't help but to think stupefied. His body reacted to the hot-guy alert though. His stance relaxed slightly, his eyes turned slightly hazier, his shoulders leaned back and he made a show of looking Kiba over better.
And then Naruto wolf-whistled; drawing a blush from Kiba. Hinata looked shell shocked that Naruto would whistle to a guy, before remembering that she really should get over her crush on Naruto, considering that she was engaged now.
"N-Naruto-kun, you're back." Hinata stuttered. Naruto tuned to the blue haired girl that looked the same as three years ago, except for her now shoulder length hair and bigger figure. Naruto nodded dimly, still shocked about Kiba, before something glimmering caught his eye. Turning to look more closely on Hinata's hand he tugged the hand sharply to himself before smiling brightly.
"Kyaah, Hinata-chaan! Who's the lucky guy?" Naruto giggled, and seeing Kiba's surprised look realized that he must really come off as more feminine now.
God, I've spent too much time with Yuki, Naruto groaned to himself.
"Shino-kun…" Hinata stuttered blushing while Shino looked slightly impassive, but moved closer to Hinata however. Naruto's face fell finally before disgust spread on his face, and utter hurt spread over Hinata's face. She knew Shino wasn't the most normal human there was, but that didn't make their relationship disgusting. Whatever insults Hinata expected from Naruto's mouth, it wasn't this.
"Yuck! Think about the baby! Think, first you're having this utter cute Hinata baby whose got its whole Byakugan thing going on, and then you're just going to leave it for the bugs to eat?" Naruto exclaimed shocked. Hinata and Shino looked stupefied. Shino cleared his throat.
"Naruto-san, we don't leave our babies for the bugs to eat." Shino answered sweatdropping. Naruto choked, before getting confused.
"You don't?"
"No they don't, you baka!" Kiba sighed before hitting Naruto on the head. Naruto looked confused before laughing sheepishly.
"Should've realized it couldn't be true." Naruto laughed, before muttering to himself.
"Stupid Ero-sennin…"
"It's an urban tale." Shino confirmed.
Then Naruto realized that Kiba had just hit him and tackled the Inuzuka into the pavement where they started to hit and kick each other, and even bit each other. Hinata looked slightly horrified.
"Kiba-kun! Naruto-kun! Stop!" Hinata yelled, and the blonde and the brunette scrambled on their feet. Hinata started to boil a bit, and Naruto recognizing the expression from Sakura's face, hurried to distract Hinata.
"Nee, that wasn't so bad. If we fight like that, thing just how kinky the sex will be…" Naruto grinned, bringing shocked and blushing expressions on Hinata's and Kiba's faces. Even Shino looked a bit surprised. And then for the big escape before Kiba realizes what I said, Naruto snickered to himself. "Ano sa, I have a meeting now, see you soon, minna-san!" Naruto exclaimed before making a run for it.
He had almost reached the Hokage tower when he heard Kiba's indicant yell.
"I AM NOT HAVING SEX WITH YOU, UZUMAKI!"
Theehee, bet he's blushing now, everyone must've heard that.
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"Uzumaki. We have came to an understanding that in effort to make sure the seal is working and your control over the Kyuubi absolute that you must report what you have been doing these three and half years with Jiriya-sama." Counsellor Aburame said from his chair. Naruto was kneeling in the middle of the huge hall that would've fit his house many times over. The nine members out of the total twelve were sitting behind a high desk, which was in front of the hokage's desk. Tsunade gave Naruto an encouraging smile.
Naruto nodded before clearing his throat and settling more comfortable on the floor, sitting cross-legged.
"Permission to speak freely? If I'm going to have to refer to every as of their whole names, we are going to sit here all day." Naruto asked. Hiashi Hyuuga nodded and gave him permission.
"Three and half years ago, after I lost momentarily control over the Kyuubi's chakra and almost killed Uchiha Sasuke, Jiriya came to me. It was agreed that Sasuke's mind was to be wiped of memories of the incident and that Ero-sennin, excuse me, Jiriya, would train me until my control of the Kyuubi is absolute."
"So does that mean your control over the Kyuubi is absolute now?" Counsellor Nara, Shikamaru's father asked from his seat where he was slouching in a comfortable position. Naruto tilted his head, as if weighing the question.
"It depends. You don't control something like the Kyuubi no Yoko. You can learn to…synchronise with it." Naruto answered half heartedly, before ignoring better explanations. "You'll hear in a bit."
"I first breached Kyuubi's chakra in my first C turned B mission. We were against Haku and Zabuza, both of them missing-nins from the mist. Haku, as I saw it, killed Sasuke before my eyes." Naruto's voice cracked slightly, his mind full of pictures of Sasuke's dead eyes, and how the Uchiha had jumped in front of the senbon to protect him. "I snapped. All I wanted to do was to tear Haku in to pieces for daring to touch my… team-mate."
"Kyuubi's chakra is, without a doubt, evil. It emerges from the seal into my chakra coils and wraps around me like another being. The chakra is, in essence the Kyuubi, because if I slip, and my control over it wavers, the chakra gets a mind of its own."
"There is pain. Awful, tearing pain that makes me peg for death just to end it." Naruto admitted, and he could see Tsunade's eyes widen, and could even see some of the council members look surprised at hearing the defeat in his voice.
"But then the power comes. It's addicting, and it makes you feel like you're on top of the food chain, which the Kyuubi, ironically is. But, before I killed Haku, I had time to confirm my control over it. You see, there is a reason why all the great nine-tails were sealed into new or unborn babies. I like several others, have been made demon hosts at birth. That's why the chakra doesn't kill me, and I don't lose control of it in the same way, because it has, essentially, for me, always been there. I'm able to control that chakra, and bend it into my will. There are limitations however."
"It all has to do with my state of mind; example if I were to go mad, you would have a very pissed off Kyuubi in your village. If I were to lose someone near me, I would probably spend weeks mourning, and you would have a pissed off Kyuubi in your village, and if someone were to threaten my pakku, then you would have a pissed off Kyuubi in your village who wouldn't stop at anything until the threat had been…eliminated. Catch the pattern here? Piss me off, piss Kyuubi off."
"So in effort not to lose control of the chakra, I would have to make sure not to lose my control over my emotions. Something I wasn't used to, which you know as I've met you all at least once a year. I was ignorant, obnoxious and mostly, naïve brat. For Hokages sake, I even attacked Orochimaru, just because Sasuke wanted to give away our heaven scroll in the Chuunin exam. No plan, no tactics, just pure rage. One swipe of his tongue and my chakra was sealed away, which resulted in Sasuke getting the curse-seal. Yay." Naruto sighted, his voice becoming stronger and more haunted as he spoke. It was good and almost therapeutic to talk about it like this, he supposed; to let his quilt out, but it wore him out also.
Tsunade frowned. "Naruto, it wasn't your fault, Orochimaru would've gotten Sasuke at some point anyway." Naruto snorted.
"Well, seeing that the village security is what it is, I don't doubt that."
"Watch you tongue, boy." One of the counsellor members bristled, one of the few that almost never spoke. Naruto rolled his eyes before resuming his story.
"I'd trained with Ero-sennin for about a half a year, in which I almost succeeded in killing him twice." Naruto admitted, and one of the counsellors gasped. Jiriya was, after all a respected sannin, and Naruto had had the power to almost kill him?
"It became soon oblivious that this was not the way to harvest the Kyuubi's power under my control. Then, one night, Subaku No Gaara showed up."
"Subaku No Gaara, the current kazekage? What does this have to do with this?" One of the council members said, and Tsunade flinched in her seat. She had heard about the sand-boy being a demon host, but hadn't actually had any evidence about it, and so, for the sake of the peace she had 'forgotten' to mention the council about it. Perfect time for it to come and bite me back, she sighed.
"Gaara is one of us. A Jinchuuriki. He is the host of the one-tailed Ichibi No Shukaku, the racoon demon." Naruto explained, and the council exploded with surprise, horror and outrage. Tsunade buried her face into her hands.
"WHAT?"
"We have a treaty with a demon!"
"Always thought there was something wrong with him…"
"Demon"
"Shukaku"
"The Tanuki…"
"SHUT UP!" Naruto finally roared. The council members looked at him with slight surprise; Naruto had, after all, always showed the utter respect to them, knowing that if he did not swallow his pride that the council could easily execute him. "Gaara is, in utter control of the demon. Unlike the other great tailed demons, Shukaku is, in fact, the weakest. I fought with Shukaku's true from when I was a genin. Shukaku was sealed into Gaara while he was still in his womb, and the seal used was a crude two point three seal, with a basic eight point seal on top of it. It means that Gaara has almost no access to Shukaku's chakra except for the sand, which he can control perfectly. Shukaku, however, can take over when Gaara sleeps." Naruto explained, before frowning to himself.
"Which is, probably; essentially why Gaara hasn't slept since he was six." The council was looking at him with wide eyes, before Hiashi's left eyebrow twitched.
"Wait a minute…" Hiashi began, shock spreading on his face. "You said 'one of us. A Jinchuuriki'" Comprehension started to spread among the council "…How many of you are there, and what exactly is their relationship with you…?" Naruto sighted.
"As you haven't heard of any rampaging demons lately, I would presume all nine of us are sealed. So far I've met with Ichibi No Shukaku, Hachibi No Hachimata, Yonbi No Shokou, Nibi No Nekomata, Rokubi No Raijuu and Hobi No Houkou. In fact, the only Jinchuuriki I haven't met is the hosts of Sanbi No Isonade and Shichibi No Kaku." Naruto said, and the council was silent.
"And where are these Jinchuuriki?" Someone whispered hesitantly, and Naruto breathed in the scent of fear in the air. Naruto tilted his head to the side, childishly.
"Why at the Coven of course."
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A/N: Ah, the long awaited talk with the council… I hope this is going to clear out some things about what happened to Naruto before, but I know it is just going to raise some more questions.
Sorry about not making the fight with Naruto and Sasuke yet... I realized I really need to put this stuff in first, and besides, I'm going to have to figure out how Sasuke's fighting style has changed in three years (it must've changed drastically, 'cause this is Sasuke we're talking about)
And more stuff about the Coven in the next chapter. Heh, loved writing Kiba, gotta draw him a bigger part in this story…
You know, my minds starting to stray a bit. I got plans for Kiba already (I think) but then I realized that Naruto doesn't necessarily have to be with Sasuke. I mean, don't you just get a bit bored of the same pairing over and over again?
So, I'm holding a vote here!
Naruto-Sasuke
Naruto-Neji
Naruto-Kiba
Naruto-Gaara
Heck, if you want, I think I can push in a bit of an angsty Naruto-Itachi... xD
So tell me what you think. That means REVIEW PEOPLE!
--Dark
