disclaimer: emo fox ATTACK still does not own Naruto.
Chapter 2
EDIT: the chapter has been edited for minor grammar and structural errors ((I forgot to add some of those line things to break the chapter up ))
The seal was weakening. Naruto knew this. Jiraiya knew this. Tsunade knew this.
No one else knew this and they planned to keep it that way.
The seal was still in tact, of course; neither the Hakke Fuuin Siki or Shisou Fuuin had eroded enough for the Kyuubi to even dream of escaping from its prison. But the seal was weaker, due to both the passage of time and the destructive quality of the Kyuubi psyche. The deterioration of the seal had increased once he became a genin and the Kyuubi had first forced its way to the forefront of his mind, increased again after the Valley of the End, and increased even further when he attained the four-tailed state during his travels with Jiraiya.
"You need to be careful. It is wholly possible for you to achieve the full nine-tailed state, thus completely shattering the seal, destroying your body and releasing the Kyuubi to devour your soul and destroy Konoha. It's our job to make sure that never happens."
The Yondaime had been a true prodigy amongst seal masters; he was peerless when he was living, and peerless still even years after his death. It was a truly risky gamble in trying to seal away a being as powerful as the Kyuubi; the Shiki Fuujin was not entirely reliable, and the power of the Shinigami levied a price that not many were willing to pay.
"It's truly amazing that the seal has lasted as long as it has."
His chakra was mingling with the Kyuubi's, but a complete merger was impossible: the demonic chakra was far too sinister and corroding to be incorporated fully and completely into the chakra system of a human, even that of a Jinchuuriki that had been exposed to the demonic presence since birth. The periodic bursts of the Kyuubi chakra that he utilized in desperate situations was detrimental enough, causing rapid cell death and regeneration, ultimately shortening his overall lifespan. Any attempt at a full chakra merger, or even a partial chakra merger, was a suicidal fool's fancy.
"Thank Kami-sama the Kyuubi wasn't placed in Sasuke," Naruto sighed.
Although a complete merger between human and demon was impossible, the Kyuubi's influence was far more apparent in Naruto than it was in years past. His hair, gold as ever, had a subtle deep red undertone that was readily apparent in the sunlight, his canines were noticeably larger than normal, and his nails seemed thicker, sharper, more clawlike; his face was thinner and sharper and distinctly vulpine now with the whisker marks that were a tad darker than they used to be. His eyes were the most disturbing, however: they were more slanted, and the iris had darkened to an iridescent purple with an odd pinkish rim about the pupil.
All of these changes were small ones, but together on the same person they were startling.
He looked feral. The villagers, surprisingly enough, seemed not to care.
He had not been called a monster in a long time: the whispering was still there, but less venomous and more of a habit. The people were tired. Their hatred had been diverted, back to the Snake Sannin that had killed their beloved Sandaime, plotted to destroy their glorious village, and seduced away their only Uchiha. In these unhappy times, even the presence of the demon brat was overlooked.
"Perhaps my dream isn't impossible," Naruto whispered to himself.
"What was that Naruto?" He looked to his right and smiled his squinty-eyed, toothy smile.
"Nothing, Sakura-chan. Hey, will you spar with me, please? I need to work off some energy!"
"Yeah, I'll spar with you: I can't stay too long, because Ino invited me over for dinner."
"Yeah, yeah! You're the best, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura laughed.
Team Kakashi still went out on missions together. Sakura and Naruto had recently been promoted to Jounin, so the title of team captain fell on Kakashi. They had been assigned a simple A rank assassination mission in the Grass Country. The mission however, turned out to be a fake and Team Kakashi was now fighting for their lives.
"Kakashi, we need to retreat!"
"Taichou, I'll buy us some time! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Twenty clones appeared and they moved rapidly, dodging and twisting through volleys of senbon that were raining from the sky as they engaged the enemy nin, allowing Kakashi and Sakura to retreat to a safe distance as Naruto manipulated his bunshins from the precarious camouflage of a leafy branch. He hissed as a frantically flung shuriken embedded itself in his hand and in the second that his concentration broke his clones were dispelled and the earth was rent asunder.
"Doton: Retsudo Tenshou!"
"K'so!"
Naruto leapt into the sky as the tree he had been perched in splintered and toppled into the shifting, groaning ground, twisting awkwardly as splinters of stone and dirt flew into his eyes and nose. He grunted as he slammed into the lower hanging branch of a tree that was outside the perimeter of destruction and panted heavily as his eyes watered from the dust that had risen. He felt a small vibration run through his body and then his breathing stopped: the ground beneath Naruto's new tree exploded and the tree was being sucked down into the earth.
He jumped down to the ground and landed heavily as he looked about wildly. No Sakura, no Kakashi, no enemy in sight…
"Fuck, the son of a bitch is underground!"
Naruto leaned back and not a second later a fist adorned with iron knuckles, which were channeling crackling blue chakra, whizzed past where his head had been a moment ago. He blocked a barrage of choppy taijutsu assaults before leaping back and flying through a set of familiar seals.
Tora, Saru, Ouso-buta, Uma, Tora. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
The jutsu was magnificent to watch, a large glowing sphere of fire in which yellow and gold and orange swirled and melded beautifully as it hurled towards the enemy ninja who stared at it in an awed shock before throwing his hands up. Naruto waited expectantly for the jutsu to dissipate and to see the charred remains of the enemy so that he could go find Sakura and Kakashi, but such was not the case. The enemy ninja had encased himself in thick walls of mud that slowly melted away, revealing his relieved, smirking face. Naruto frowned and his eyes narrowed dangerously as he gave a humorless chuckle.
"Stubborn guy, aren't you asshole?"
Daiichi was the only one left.
The mission had gone downhill after the blonde had summoned shadow clones. Twenty clones was insane. The guy must have a sick kekkei genkai or something. One by one, his teammates had fallen; the captain had been hit by the kunoichi, and Daiichi had watched in horror as his skull cracked open from the force and he collapsed where he stood and twitched pathetically as his brains leaked out through the cracks.
The masked man had taken out three of his comrades with a strange jutsu that was blue and white like lightning and shrieked like angry birds. He had felt the faint stirrings of déjà vu, as if he should know who that man was. He was panicking, and hurled a flurry of kunai and shuriken to bide some time as he went through a series of familiar hand signs and launched one of his most powerful doton jutsu.
Half Ram, Ground Push. "Doton: Retsudo Tenshou!"
The blonde leapt into the sky as the tree he had been perched in splintered and was sucked into the shifting, groaning whirlpool of dirt and rock. He twisted awkwardly as splinters of stone and dirt flecked into his eyes, and Daiichi saw his chance as the blonde grappled desperately for leverage in a new tree. He grunted as he extended his chakra, recharging the jutsu and guiding it past its first boundary, extending the perimeter of destruction a further 75 yards and sucking the blonde's second tree down into the grinding death trap.
He snarled as the blonde avoided his assault again and dug himself into the ground, hissing in pain as his fingernails were ripped backwards and he burst up through the ground to break the jaw of the insufferable blond, only to have him dodge again and launch a katon that he only just blocked with a hasty Doryuuheki. He was exhausted, his chakra was low, and the blonde was laughing. Things did not look good.
He snarled as the blonde ninja advanced, twirling a kunai on his pinky as he smiled, flashing gleaming canines like those of a wolf. He snarled and launched a flurry of shuriken at the blonde which were blocked by a kunai that spiraled out of nowhere and dug itself into his shoulder. He grunted in pain and blinked as he was bound by wire. The kunoichi landed beside the blonde, and the silver man stood off to the side reading a book.
"That the last one, Naruto?"
The blonde nodded cheerfully. "Yeah." The kunoichi snorted.
"Naruto, you need to stop playing around and just get the job done."
"Sorry, Sakura-chan."
Daiichi stared at the three and hate welled up in his heart. He looked at the blonde's neck, and the gleaming metal plate of his hitai-ate with the Konoha leaf glinted mockingly at him.
"You'll all get yours!" Daiichi screamed and the three Konoha nin all turned back to him with blank, mocking eyes. "You'll all get yours," he said again as his voice cracked with a sob. The kunoichi and silver ninja twitched restlessly and the blonde seemed torn.
"Naruto, Sakura and I will clean up the rest. Deal with him."
"Hai, Kaka-taichou." His voice was soft.
They were alone again, and Daiichi's angry, wet eyes met the blonde's sad blue eyes. "You'll all get yours," he whispered viciously. The blonde cocked his head to the side.
"Sorry kid," he said. At that moment, Daiichi wished he could apologize to Tousan for his failure.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
Naruto did not miss this time, and Daiichi did not block.
To say that the Godaime was furious upon hearing the team mission report was a serious understatement.
"You were ambushed? The mission was a ruse to kill you? Who did you encounter?" She demanded hotly.
Kakashi stepped forward. "They were Iwa nin, Hokagesama."
Her eyes darted to Kakashi. "Are you absolutely sure they were of the Stone. This is a heavy offense, and to lay an accusation of such levity if there is even a fraction of doubt …"
"They were Iwa nin, Lady Hokage," Kakashi said firmly.
Tsunade's face was twisted with rage and, for a moment, her genjutsu flickered, revealing tired wrinkles and angry furrows that faded back into a smooth, young visage. She slowly swiveled in her chair, turning her back to the three Jounin. Her voice was soft and velvety when she spoke again, causing Naruto and Sakura to shiver.
"You killed them all, then? All of the Iwa nin that ambushed you are dead?" Kakashi nodded and spoke cautiously.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"And the bodies?"
"Incinerated by a Katon."
"The Iwa nin will surely notice damage caused by a Katon and surmise what occurred, regardless of the lack of bodies, if they truly were behind it," Tsunade mused.
Naruto coughed. "No worries, Baachan. I took care of that. There's no trace of us, them, or the fight at all."
Tsunade shot Naruto a probing look which he met shakily.
"A jutsu I picked up when I was off with Jiraiya," he said and Tsunade left it at that.
She sighed and thumbed through the thick leaflets of mission details on her desk. "A simple A rank assassination turned into a surprise ambush from Iwagakure…hmm…Iwa…all of them…dead…"
She stood up suddenly and walked over to the large bay windows of her office and stared up at the Hokage monument. Naruto craned over to see her face, and was vaguely disturbed by her serene visage and the little satisfied quirk of her lips.
"Team Kakashi, you're dismissed."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
They filed out silently and Naruto, who normally stayed after mission reports to chat with Tsunade realized that now was not the time. She looked preoccupied, and Naruto had learned enough to know that nothing unimportant could hold the thoughts of the Godaime long.
As he stood in the doorway, he heard Tsunade whisper sibilantly, "Iwagakure no Sato…"
She looked up for a moment, and in that instant hazel locked with blue. They stared at one another for a moment and Tsunade's satisfied expression faltered for a moment. She opened her mouth slightly then looked away as a furrow creased her forehead again.
"Go home and sleep, gaki; we need to talk tomorrow."
She looked out the window and Naruto closed the door.
Hakke Fuuin Shiki: Eight Divination Signs Seal Style: eight pronged seal used in conjunction with the Shiki Fuujin techinque Shisou Fuuin seal. Allows the Shisou Fuuin to leak Kyuubi chakra to Naruto's system.
Shisou Fuuin: Four Image Seal: four pronged seal used in conjunction with the Shiki Fuujin technique and the Hakke Fuuin Shiki to seal the Kyuubi into Naruto.
Doton: Retsudo Tenshou: Earth Technique: Splitting Earth Force
Doton: Doryuuheki: Earth Technique: Earth Rising Wall (Mudslide Barrier)
Okay, I know this is kinda a big departure from the first chapter, which focused on the politics of Konoha. Trust me, politics are going to be rampant in this story; this chapter just wasn't about that aspect. Oh, and I know my attempts at action are a bit lackluster; writing fighting scenes is most definitely not my forte.
symbiotic: you were my first review, and for that I will always love you huggles And I just pulled those politics out of my ass. They sounded official, so yeah.
BlackRosex: Thank you sou much!! I tried searching for that fic you reccommended, but I couldn't find it (I think my computer was screwing me). I promptly named the council members after I read your review, so thanks again for the motivation.
spyder: You made me groan with your technical analysis, for I realized that yes, my clause did in fact void the check-and-balance thing I had going. Damn, curse you evil inconsistencies I must now fix!! ((I'll fix it...eventually:D) But really, thanks for pointing that out. Like I said earlier, I just pulled that stuff out my ass and hoped it worked. I was thinking along the premise that most of the council members were indeed ninja, and that if a Hokage grew to powerful to their liking, they could arrange an accident of sorts, honorary powers or not.
Okay, I hope this chapter didn't suck to much (I kinda liked it, not really though...). Once again, if you see any technical inconsistencies or grammar mistakes, please tell me and I'll fix it (or try to talk my way around fixing it like I did my spyder, lol). REVIEW,REVIEW,REVIEW!!!
Peace,
emo fox ATTACK