Chapter Six:
Frozen Hearts Melt and Stone Hearts Grumble. part 1 of 4
Alright here is my first time doing a Quadrilogy. (i never knew that was an actual word... go firgure.) please know that since this arch is where two of naruto's love intrests come in to play, this will be while for me to write. maybe two-three weeks depend on my working hours, and writting "Vengence Shall Be Mine". also i will be trying to get rid of the writters block on my other stories.
Now Lets... AMP IT... UP!
Naruto stood at the west gate, waiting for his two older brothers to show up with Hsi Wu. since he found out that Hsi Wu was techinically a genin due to how young he looked, which pissed him off to no end, much to the amusement of his other siblings.
"You speak ONE word about me being a child, Naruto. and I will make living at the estate a living hell for you." said Hsi Wu how looked to be 12 years old, while naruto was 14.
"I wont tell anyone." said naruto almost to innocently.
"Thank y-"
"Except maybe the whole village." he said while switching places with a log that was cut up by Hsi Wu's demonic like claws.
"You insolent little brat!" yelled the demon imp turn human as he tried to kick of the log that was stuck to his hand. "well atlest im taller then you, you midget!"
"silence you two." said Tchang as he lifted Hsi Wu and Naruto by the collars shirts. "i would much rather travel in silence then listen to you two bicker like dogs."
the KI that flowed from Tchang shut them up.
"Now, Hsi Wu. I want you to fly up head, alert us if there are any enemies near by. Dai Gui, you head under ground and do the same, since you can feel the roots of the trees and plants when Hsi Wu can not see from where he will be flying."
"umm, Tchang-Nii. what should i do?" asked naruto as he titled his head to the side, this action made Tchang Zu use every bit of self control he had, to not pick Naruto up and swing him around like he did when Shendu was still young. playing it off with a snarl. he answered "You, will be with me."
with that Tchang stormed off ahead, leaving naruto standing there, thinking he did something to make his Eldest brother mad.
"Dai-Nii, do you know why Tchang-nii is always angry with me?" asked Naruto feeling a little hurt.
"Naru-chan, Dai Gui could only say that Brother Tchang is not angry with you. but is Angry with himself." said Dai Gui as he ruffled naruto's hair. "remember little brother, Brother Tchang is mostly mad at himself because of what happend when Shendu gain his power."
"What happened?" naruto asked looking up to Dai gui.
"because Shendu be came power hungery and thought he could lead us when he challanged Tchang to his brithright, sad to say. Shendu fail and Tchang won. with Tchang being upset, since he felt like he was betrayed by shendu. since those two were closer then the most of us." said Hsi Wu as he streached his wings. "Kami, that feels good, I have not had time to Streach theses bad boys out since i came here. anyway back to my point, Tchang although he may seem mad, he just does not feel like letting anyone in at the momment, You remind him of Shendu when he was young. i just think it brings up some bad memories he would like to forget."
"Oh..." was all naruto could say as he still felt like it was his fault.
"little Brother, Hurry up we must make it to Wave by nightfall!" roared Tchang a few dozen yards away.
"Coming, BIg Brother." said naruto as he rushed to catch up to his most visible brother.
-time skip-
"finally we are at the boarder of fire and wave." said Tchang as he glanced up. "Hsi Wu, What do your eyes see from up there?"
"Nothing, just small islands the main land is about an hour by foot or 15 mins by air... I AM NOT CARRYING DAI GUI LIKE LAST TIME!" yelled Hsi Wu at the end since last time he had to carry Dai Gui, he could not fly the same way for atlest a better part of 10 years.
"then take Naruto, I will deal with Dai Gui." said Tchang as he knew if he had to carry Dai Gui Naruto would have to go with Hsi Wu.
"Clime on, geki."
"Hey, your the geki remember. Mr. 10 years old." said naruto teasingly just to get a glare from Hsi Wu, who later sighed knowing that no matter what his little brother will just make fun of him anyway.
"tch, whatever."
as the two left leaving Dai Gui and Tchang Zu behind.
"Brother, why do you treat Naruto the way you do?" asked Dai Gui, who took notice of Tchang when he flinched at the question. "Is it because you see how shendu use to be, before he became arrogent or is it because you fear that he may become what Shendu is?"
after a moment of silence between the two tchang only gave a sigh before he answered in a guilty tone.
"both, brother. i fear both." said Tchang with a bit of fear in his voice.
"then brother, you are a fool." said Dai Gui as he; for the first time since they become the Haichi-oni, glared at Tchang with disgust. "Naru-chan is not Shendu, you have seen it both when tarakudo gave us insight into his past and when you trained him. He has all our powers and yet is more Humble then brother Tso lan, while being just as stuborn as you brother."
"I know. it is just that i still see that if something were to happen to him, i dont know if i would become apathetic. its that which i fear the most." said tchang as he and Dai Gui traveled throught the air on a thunder cloud.
"Dai Gui believes if anything were to happen to Naru-chan... Dai Gui will lose control and become beserk... Brother Tchang would also become so... same with the others... well... sister Bai will be far more troublesome." said Dai Gui as tchang let out a chuckle as he knew that would be the case with his sister. Hell hasth no fury like that of woman's scorn.
"that is true, still i can not shack the feeling of something bad is going to happen before this mission is over." he said as he looked a head seeing that Hsi Wu and Naruto have already landed and started their arguement up again. letting out another sigh from himself and his earth demon brother, they hoped nothing truly aweful was going to happend.
-time skip to Tzune's house.-
Knock. Knock.
the door open showing a beautiful woman in her mid 20s, with long black hair.
"yes?" she asked.
"evening Ma'am. I am Tchang Zu, Jonin from Konoha with my team, we have gotten a message from one..." said Tchang as he drew a puse and looked to naruto, "hey brat, what was that scarecrow's name?"
*facepalm*
"his name is his nick name." said naruto as he now had a bright red mark on his forehead.
"...Kakashi? now that is just lame, next you are going to say that the girl with the pink hair is cherry blossom." snarked Tchang only to see naruto giving him a deadpan look. "you got to be F-"
"Mr. Tchang, I would appreciate if you reframe from foul languge in this house." said the Woman giving him a smile that seems just a little bit too sweet.
"what i ment was 'you got to be kidding me.' he-he." he said with a nervous chuckle.
"thank you, for being so thoughtful. my Name is Tsunami, my father is still working with the pale boy and the silver haired man, the other two are training right now." said tsunami as she gestured them to come in. "may i know your names?"
"I am Hsi wu, Genin... and before you assume anything woman i am not 10 years old, I am 15." said Hsi Wu as he casted a glare at naruto who began to giggle at Hsi Wu's behavior.
"I am Dai Gui. Dai Gui is Chunin of Konoha. younger brother to Tchan Zu and older brother to these two." he said as he point from tchang toward Hsi Wu and Naruto.
"And I am Naruto Uzumaki, Brother-in-Law to these guys. but more or less i just call them brothers." said naruto with a wide grin that seemed to pass on to the others in the room.
"My, Married alread at such a young age."
"well i am not married, but i will once i reach Chunin, but until then i am still engaged to their sister Bai Tza."
"really to have three older brothers and a wife seems like a hand full." she said with smile.
"actuall. thats six older brothers, one older sister, and my future wife."
"...my that does seem like a big family. must be hard living with them." she said with a nervous laugh at the size of the boys future in-laws. "oh, you said you are an Uzumaki correct?"
"Uh-Uh. why do you ask?" naruto said as he narrowed his eyes a bit.
"well you see, Wave was under Uzushio's control, but after the second Ninja war it became apart of the land of fire."
"really? cool. would you know what happend to the land of Uzushio?"
"it sank beneithe the waves during the start of the war, when it fall to the joint forces of Kumo and Iwa and the minor villages." she said.
it was around this part that Tchang heard, as he remember the part of the Prophecy that he and his sibling talked about earlier that week when shendu told them as he recalled another part of said prophecy.
"As it were a great mountian raging with Lightning and Fire;
Arose from the sea, Rebirthing the land of divine warrior's name sake.
he brought forth the fury of heaven and the wrath of hell;
on to his allies turned enemies."
'so it would seem shendu's hobby for studying those scrolls has come in handy.' he thought as he now knew that naruto might resurrect his homeland sometime in the future... hopeful not now, since he might kill himself just from the strain just bringing up a single mountain, let alone a whole damn Island.
-next day-
"Kakashi, what did you train your students in?" asked Tchang as he looked at the lone uchiha and his fangirl.
chuckling nervously he replied. "I only tought them tree walking s-"
"WHAT, YOU ONLY TOUGHT THEM SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN TOUGHT AT THE VERY BEGINING?" yelled Tchang as he look at kakashi in disbelief.
"well... i was teaching them team work exercises." kakashi admitted while still reading his book, which went up in smoke as Tchang set it a blaze with a lightning bolt.
"When talking with someone who can kill you like a fly on the wall with an explosive tag, Kakashi. it would be best if you made it look like you were paying attention." tchang said with pure hate flowing form him.
shacken badly by the display of KI that was beyond Kage-Level was frighting.
"H-hai!" squeeked Kakashi because as far as he knew the man infornt of him was more then he appeard to be, which was not far off the mark.
"good, now when my team and i, get back to Konoha i will be taking over the training of these brats, and dont think i know you were planning on putting them in this years Chunin Exams. because right now, Naruto could kill them with such ease, my siblings and I, already have him at a low Jonin in over all skill. it is the fact that this is his first mission that is stopping the Old man from promoting him to his respected level of skill." said Tchang as he growled out in distain toward the silver haired jonin.
"surely you jest..." said Kakashi a little nervously.
"No, Naruto's blood line continues to grow more powerful as he trains, he has all five standard elements plus three sub elements, such as Metal, Crystal. and Gravity. hell his Genjutsu is just as good at the raven haired woman that my brother is Courting. when in a spar his taijutsu at the begining was piss poor, but after a month of training he could go toe to toe with that walking turtle and his students,"
"IMPOSSIBLE! Gai is the best Taijutsu user in konoha if not all the elemental nations."
"Hardly, he and his apprentice use the Goken, and his other students use either weapons or the Jukken. Naruto uses the Uzuken the very same style that gave birth to the Goken and the Jukken. the fact he master his mother's fighting style proves that naruto-kun is not just a genin." said Tchang said without realizing he added '-kun' to naruto's name.
then the 'last' Uchiha barged into the room walking right up to Tchang.
"I Demand that you train me. I will NOT have a Clanless Loser surpass me." Sasuke Demanded in a disrespectful tone.
that did not sit well with Tchang, as he reached out and lifted the Uchiha up, above his own head in a single handed choke hold while putting a little bit more pressure.
"Listen here, Runt. I am Tchang-Zu Haichi-Oni and i am the brother-in-law to the Ryoshu of Uzushio, I tought him what is to be know to the lord and master of the Uzumaki clan. A clan I mind you need the combine force of six shinobi villages. Unlike your clan that was killed off by one of it's own. tell me, did your brother spare you on a whim or did he think you were unworthy of being killed since you are so pathatic that killing you would make him look far more pathatic then you right now?" he said as he threw the uchiha to a wall as he walked out of the room but only turned and looked at kakashi.
"Kakashi, I take what i said back. I will Not train them from what i can see, they deserve to die. pathatic, dispicable, and most of all... not worth the air they breath." with that he left the room completely.
this caused Kakashi to turn to the uchiha, who was glaring where tchang once stood.
"Sasuke, you are forbidden to talk to anyone of the Haichi-Oni clan. they will not teach you... also the council can't force them either they are Uzushio nins. if they buckle on him ment anything." said Kakashi as he took in the glare the intensified at being told he could not get what he wanted.
"that power should be mine, not the Dope's." muttered the Uchiha.
-later that evening-
while Naruto and his in-laws talked and joked, the same with team 7 but on the other end of the table. they were enjoying the peace, until...
"Why are you all trying so hard" Inari muttered quietly as his shoulders were shaking with repressed emotion.
"You say something kid" Naruto asked him.
"Why are you all trying so hard when Gato will just slaughter you all. You should just give up" Inari yelled at him as his eyes started to water.
"I don't know about you kid, but I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees. And besides I won't fall before some shitstain like Gato, I've got too much to live for" Naruto told him with a confident grin, though his good mood from tonight's events was starting to leave him.
"Shut up. You'll die like everyone else who fought Gato. What do you know anyway? What do you know about suffering?" he yelled at him as stood up and he started to cry.
And with that little statement of his Naruto's mood vanished faster than the last piece of barbeque beef at an Akimichi eating contest. Everyone who knew of Naruto's life all winced at that statement. Tchang could feel his anger rising and Dai Gui and Hsi Wu were not far behind him. Both knew what Naruto went through as a child, Tchang more so than the others since he spent his time getting to know the kid's yang half, but the fact remained that they were downright pissed off at the little gaki. Kakashi was pissed as well however he was watching Naruto carefully.
"Kid, have you ever had to live on the streets with no one to help you" Naruto asked quietly, his hair shadowing his eyes and his voice a having a slight edge to it.
"No" he muttered.
"Have you ever been so hungry, that you had to dig through trashcans for any half rotten food you can find?" Naruto asked him, the edge in his voice being just that little bit sharper.
"No" he muttered.
"Have you ever been beaten just for looking at someone, just for being somewhere, just for existing?" Naruto asked him the edge in voice being sharper than ever, downright dangerous
"No" he said quietly.
"Then don't you dare tell me I know nothing of suffering, you little coward" Naruto told him the edge in his voice being sharper than the finest katana blade made in Uzushio.
Inari sat back down in his chair while Naruto sighed angrily before taking a deep breath in an obvious effort to calm himself down.
"I'll be outside blowing off some steam. Don't look for me. I'll be back when I've calmed down" Naruto said as he walked out the door and slammed it behind him with enough force to shake the entire house.
"Tchang-san, was what he said true?" asked tsunami a little shacken.
"No." said Hsi Wu though his mischeivious additude was now long gone.
"then, why would he lie about something about that?" she asked.
"because that was the sugar coated version of what has happend to him until two days after he became a shinobi. from what we saw after performing a jutsu that allows knowledge to be seen by others. we saw things that would make living here look like paradise... did you know in his first week of life he had 539 assassination attemps, 10, 948 mob beats that would kill a normal child of the ages of 3 to 8, he had been sold rotten food for a price five times the normal price for fresh food, and the only cloathing they sold him was an unholy Neon Orange jumpsuit just so they can spot him easier just to beat him." Tchang said as he looked at the little boy sitting at the end of the table looking a little green.
"w-what of his parents."
"Little brother's mother and father died the night of the Kyuubi attack 14 years ago. little brother's grandfather died the night he became a genin. and only had at most three hours to spend with him." said Dai Gui as he release his grip on a tin cup that was now crushed.
"But he was always so cheerfull back at the academy." said Sakura trying to point out his old behavior.
"Silly Girl, think of it like this. which character in a play that is offen over looked but proves vital to every thing?" asked Hsi Wu as he glared at the pinkette.
"the jester?"
"and pray tell, what is a jester by another name?" he asked again.
"the cheerfull... fool." said Sakura as she felt her heart break now knowing that the naruto she and the other grew up with was nothing but an act.
"did you know naruto, is actual was is know as a selective genius?" asked Tchang.
"Uh?" was the reply from team 7.
"it's true, he may not be a text book genius, but when it comes to combat and thinking on the fly. naruto will out think everyone, hell. He beat Tso Lan in game of shogi."
"what does that mean?" asked Kakashi.
"it means He. Beat. Tso Lan. no body could beat him, not even the Nara clan, and trust us, we had to deal with him mopping about that for a few days." said Tchang as he leand back in the chair. "But you boy, you are lucky to have family left. Naruto would sell his soul and his power just to have one minute with his."
"Dai Gui is going to bed... troublesome this night has become." said Dai Gui as he got up and headed upstairs to the room he and his brothers shared.
"coming with you brother." said Hsi Wu as he took off right behind Dai Gui, before turning around and bowed to tsunami. "goodnight."
"-sigh-, I will stay up, encase he comes back." said Tchang as he got up and leaned against the wall with his eyes shut.
"I stay up too." said Sakura in a voice that was just above a whisper.
"Hn." grunted the uchiha as he went up to his shared room alone with the remaining team 7.
-in the woods.-
"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGH!" roared naruto as he tore up the ground using wind, fire, and earth attacks desmating a fifty meters of forest as he tried to clam down for his raged induced behavior. "stupid kid, what does he know. it not like he doesnt have parents or lived my life."
he began to choke on his own words as tears or anger and sorrow after years of being alone threatend to fall freely.
"mom, dad... i wish... i wish i could just have a moment... with you..." he said as he began to sob to himself. not knowing that tchang was near by watching,
"keep strong kid..." he said as he went back to the house.
-next morning.-
"hey, wake up. you'll catch a cold if you stay out all night." said a soft voice.
"ano?" said a grogy blond as he slowly got up wipping the sleep form his eyes as he looked to the stranger.
"Boy, your eyes are red... were you crying?" asked the teenaged girl that looked a year older than himself. her long black hair framed her pale moon skin that made her chocolate brown eyes shine like stars at night.
"yeah... I just wish i had time to spend with my mother and father before they died." said naruto as he looked up seeing that it was a cloudless morning.
"surely you have spent time with them growing up." said the girl.
"yea the first hours after i was born." said naruto bitterly which caused the girl to flinch at that.
"I am so sorry, I-I didnt know." she said trying to apologize.
"it's alright, No body knows everybody just thinks the mask i wear is the real me, and do not take the time to see what is beneithe. no one does." he said looking down while his hair covered his eyes.
she could see tears slowly falling from his face, this caused her to be a little hesitent in what to do, as she slowly reached out and gently cupped his cheek.
"I am Haku, what is your name?" she asked with a slight smile, she did not know why this boy caused her heart to reach out to him, it felt like the ice the flowed in her vains slowly began to melt with him just being there beside her.
"name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze." he said as he couldnt help but take in her beauty, while Bai Tza was an Amazon beauty, Haku was like a porcelian doll that would break if not treated with careful hands.
what happend next shocked both of them as naruto leand forward and kissed haku gently on her lips. while the kiss was in no way romantic like the ones he had with Bai, it was just an almost quick peck on the lips.
"s-sorry..." said naruto as he blushed up a storm.
"I-its quite alright." said Haku as looked away, blushing just as bad as naruto.
"So, what brings you here?" he asked.
"Oh, just picking medical herbs that seemed to grow here..." looking around notices the area was toren asunder. "but, it looks as if a small storm hit this part of the forest."
naruto quickly realizing that he was at fault said. "Sorry, I was... Training last night and thought i was in a normal clearing." looking around for the herbs she was looking for. "um, what kind of herbs do you need?"
"I just need a few that could help treat some poisons, and what not." she said while not giving out to much infomation.
"Oh, Okay." he said with a grin. "Here stand back."
with that she gave him a questionable look with, was answered as he drew his fist into the ground causing a massive tremor to shacken the area. before she could question him on what he did, he slowly pulled his hand up from the ground allowing the once barren area to spring to life, growing all sorts of plants and herbs that could be used.
"M-mokuton?" she studdered.
"Nah, just a pure earth element, see i have a few bloodlines that allow me full control over the five basic element as well as wood, crystal, metal, and gravity." he said while scratching the back of his head in embarassment. "but i dont really know how to control them all, since my teachers told me, that i have passed my training but will have to learn to control them myself."
"A-amazing. to have such a bloodline, would mean your clan was strong." she said looking at him as he created a gem out of thin air.
"No strong enough though... my clan was all but wipped out at the start of the second shinobi war. I believe i am the last, funny it took six shinobi villages to destory my clan's home of Uzushio." said naruto as he once again looked up to the sky.
"i'm sorry."
"dont be, its the past, and nothing can change it... just have to move forward and try to make a better day for the next." he said letting out a sigh.
"Naruto-kun, are you strong?" she asked look at him.
"my senseis say i am, but i dont think so. i train hard day in and day out, to the point were my bones ache and cant move, just so i can protect what matter to me." he said as he laid back on the ground.
"what is it you want to protect?"
"my friends, and those that are precoius to me." he said as he looked over to haku who was getting up.
"then you already know what it means to truly be strong." she said as began to leave and stopped at the forest's edge. "oh, by the way... I'm a boy."
and he continued to walk away leaving naruto there with his face set in stone.
"she is a he... but... but... she is just as Cute as Bai-chan!" he thought as the color in his face began to fade and fade until he was white as a ghost.
"well, Kid. how did it feel?" asked a familiar voice behind naruto, who turned to see it was Tchang with a shit eating grin on his face.
"i-i dont k-know what you are t-talking about." said naruto trying to hide the blush on his face.
"Kid, I been here since that little lip lock you had with him." he said but the grin never left, until he felt the KI radiating off of naruto.
"YOU. WILL. NOT. TELL. ANYBODY. are we clear." said naruto as he his eyes turned pure red for a spilt second, which was enough for Tchang to agree.
-part one end-