Chapter 11: Departure from Konohagakure
Naruto ran down the road to the village gate as fast as he could. The sun was still rising and the sky had a soft blue tint to it. For the first time in his life, Naruto woke up early, and was prepared almost immediately, the excitement of his first real mission keeping him from getting any sort of actual sleep. Around this time, no one was really awake, so the village streets were mostly bare. He got to the gate in almost no time at all, but was disappointed to see he wasn't the first one the there.
"Oi, Naruto-kun, I didn't take you for a morning person!" Yoshi yelled as he approached with a small backpack over his shoulder. He was covered in sweat and panting a little, but still managed to smile as he reached for a handshake.
Naruto shook his hand, "Gomen, I'm not, am I disturbing something?"
Yoshi laughed, "Not at all, actually, you're just on time, I was getting in a little training before the mission and I could use a sparring partner, up for it, Naruto-kun?" he asked, setting his backpack against the wall inside the gate. He removed his shirt before running into the forest, not waiting for an answer. Naruto sighed, before following suit and removing his jacket, disappearing shortly after him.
XxX
Hinata and Kakashi walked briskly down the road to the gate, sidestepping the early risers. The sun rested comfortably in the sky, having crawled just high enough to awaken late sleepers, but not high enough to announce mid-day. They walked in comfortable silence, neither having anything much to say to each other after their initial greetings. When they arrived at the gate, they looked around to see that they were the only ones there. Kakashi sighed, "Seems like they aren't here…"
"I didn't think Naruto-kun would be late for this… he was so excited…" Hinata answered, slightly disappointed. She was about to turn around to go look for him when she noticed something orange sitting off next to the gate, "Kakashi-sensei! Over there… isn't that Naruto-kun's jacket?"
Kakashi looked and confirmed the jacket and backpacks, he picked them up off the ground and walked in the direction of the forest.
"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Hinata asked, worried.
"I'm sure we will find them if we looked hard enough" then Kakashi smiled, "didn't Kurenai teach you tracking abilities?"
XxX
Explosions and falling trees could be heard as the two boys "sparred". In all truth, it really did start off as a friendly sparring match between the two, but it quickly escalated as the two started arguing over the best tasting flavor of ramen.
"Beef!" Naruto shouted as he sent several shadow clones bearing kunai towards the red haired ninja.
"Shrimp!" Yoshi responded, as several electrically charged notes were sent to the blond one.
The two attacks clashed and made craters in the ground, throwing dirt and smoke everywhere. When it cleared, the two young ninja stared each other down on the ends of their new battlefield, newly created. Debris of trees and gravel lay strewn everywhere.
"Why are you so arrogant?" Naruto yelled, starting his new jutsu. His hands flashed through hand seals with an unmatchable speed. Yoshi blinked as he saw the hands blur, but he held his ground.
"I could ask the same to you!" he shouted back, starting his own hand seals. He was definitely slower, but he was sure his jutsu was shorter.
True enough, the two attacks finished at the same time, and an explosion was heard ringing through the forest again.
When Hinata and Kakashi arrived on the scene, to say they were surprised would be an understatement. Laying on the ground in several yards of fallen trees were the two ninjas, exhausted and unconscious.
"I wonder who won?" Kakashi asked as he picked up Yoshi mid-stride, hurling him over his shoulder. A summoned nin-dog appeared in a poof of smoke right after him and picked up Naruto, and they continued on their way to the village. Hinata laughed, "Kakashi-sensei… what about our escort?"
Kakashi stopped his walk suddenly, before turning around and walking in the direction of the village.
XxX
"Ne… I won that one…" Naruto shouted to no one in particular as they walked through the forest on their way to the village of waves.
"If I recall correctly, you fell first." Yoshi responded, his eyes half closed. He let out a yawn.
"Whatever", Naruto replied, his hands now behind his head. He walked in front of the client, an elderly man by the name of Tazuna. He was a bridge builder from the Land of Waves and it was Team Kakashi's job to escort him back home. To the client's left walked Yoshi, eyes now fully closed, and to his right walked Hinata. Behind Tazuna walked Kakashi, and they formed a protective formation around him as they walked.
As they came closer to the border of the Land of Fire and closer to Wave, a deep fog rolled around and restricted vision. The trees became noticeably thicker and the ground became littered with puddles. Naruto stepped in a few on purpose, trying to splash water on those behind him.
"What are you doing, idiot?" asked Yoshi, eyes still closed.
"Having a little fun on this dull mission." Naruto responded, not caring to turn around. Hinata chuckled a bit at Naruto's antics while Kakashi remained silent. This process continued until they were a way into the fog. Naruto stepped in another puddle and immediately Yoshi's eyes snapped open. He made a short nod to Naruto who responded with his own, before turning back to the front. Kakashi, bringing up the rear, made no movements, but acknowledged their movements with a wink.
Kakashi continued on, stepping in the same puddle Naruto had stepped in seconds before. A hand shot out of the puddle and grabbed Kakashi's leg. Kakashi tried to pull his leg free, but to no avail. After a few seconds, chains shot out of the thick forest around them and wrapped around the one eyed jonin. The chains were pulled, and Kakashi was no more, ripped to shreds by the spiked chains.
"Kakashi-sensei, no!" Naruto yelled, running to the place where his teacher once stood. The ground was now stained in blood. Naruto grunted as a pained expression crept across his face.
"You will pay for this!" he yelled, turning back around to see two similar ninjas jump out of the forest and onto the road.
"Who are you?" Yoshi asked the two figures as they stood straight up. They wore gray, impassive clothing and had masks covering the lower half of their face, similar to Kakashi's. On their alternating arms they wore some kind of metal gauntlets, one on the right and on the other the left. The chains from before could be seen retracting into the gauntlets, now slightly stained with blood…
'That blood… Its Kakashi-sensei's!'
"We are the…" The two ninja started in unison, before they were cut off.
"Aaaaargh!" Naruto screamed as he dashed at them, pulling out a kunai. He could feel a familiar rage build up inside him as he ran, and with that rage he felt a power pushing him forward…
Pushing him to kill…
Within an instant he was in front of the two enemy ninjas with his kunai pointed at their throats. He made a cut for their necks, but the more experienced ninja were able to dodge just in time. The kunai instead slit their chest lightly as they jumped back.
'Whoa, that's not his normal speed' thought Yoshi. He pulled out his own kunai, "Hinata, you guard the client, I'll help Naruto." Yoshi said before reappearing next to the orange ninja. Hinata just nodded before brandishing her own kunai and standing before Tazuna.
"Hey kid, how did you become so fast?" Yoshi asked Naruto, but he seemed to be in a daze, "Hey idiot, are you okay?"
"You may be fast… but…" one of the enemy ninja started.
"We're faster!" the other finished. They both jumped off in different directions and into the woods.
XxX
Naruto opened his eyes to a large dark room. He couldn't see very far, but he knew where he was. After he realized, the room slowly got brighter until a large cage could be seen directly in front of him, a tag sealing the gates shut.
"Baka fox, what do you want? I didn't get really angry; I didn't fill the requirements for your power." Naruto said to the darkness behind the bars. There was no response, so Naruto continued, "If you're not gonna answer me then I'll just be on my way, I have ninjas to fight." He said as he turned to walk away. Before he got more than two steps, large red eyes poked through the darkness and an earth shaking roar rang through the cell.
"I LIKED KUSHINA BETTER, BRAT" the booming voice said, "SHE HAD MORE RESPECT"
"You know, you keep rambling on about Mom. Do you have some sort of crush on her or something?"
Kyuubi's booming laugh resonated from behind the bars, "NO KIT, ITS NOTHING LIKE THAT. YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT KUSHINA AND I IN DUE TIME. BUT, NO, BELIEVE IT OR NOT I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT MY MATE RIGHT NOW."
Naruto caught the hint, "So now you're trying to get me a girlfriend? I don't think you've noticed it, but girls can't stand me. You should really make your mind up, kill me, not kill me… I think our relationship can really progress if you just pick one."
By now the fox snapped, "SHUT UP YOU IDIOT! JUST LOOK FOR YOURSELF THEN…" it yelled, then showed an image of what was going on outside Naruto's head.
XxX
"Baka! Wake up!" Yoshi yelled as he jumped out of the way of another spiked chain. It had been only thirty seconds to him since the fight started, but to ninjas that could mean an eternity. Since then Yoshi had been dodging and deflecting almost nonstop chains aiming for Naruto with his kunai, but he was quickly getting tired. Speed was something he was not too shabby with, but it wasn't his specialty. Fighting two speedy chuunin ninja was taking its toll, and after a minute he was getting scratched all over.
"Die brat!" one yelled, and another spiked chain came shooting out the forest. Yoshi tried to block it with another kunai, but he was a second too late. He manage to parry the chain, but it knocked his blade out his hand; immediately after another chain sprang from the forest in another direction, aiming straight for Naruto.
'Damn' Yoshi though as he jumped in front of the blade. He reached out and grabbed it, and managed to stop it just before it pierced right through him.
"My turn, Thunder Jutsu: Stream of Thunder" he screamed, before his hands glowed with chakra. Seconds later electricity shot down the chain and screams of agony were heard. It was silent for a few seconds, before the masked ninja with the gauntlet on his left hand fell out of a bush, completely fried.
'One down' Yoshi thought, looking around for the next one. No matter where he looked, however, he couldn't find him. He decided to take this time to let go of the chain, only to find immense pain when he tried to do so.
"Yoshi-san!" Hinata gasped when she heard Yoshi scream. She was about to run over to help him when Yoshi refuted the idea.
"Stop Hinata! The other one is still around here. If you leave then the old man won't have any protection!" he screamed. He tried again to let the chain go, but the spikes were deep in his palms. With all of his willpower he managed to wrestle his left hand off, but as soon as he did, the blood started to flow. He bit back the pain that was gushing in his hand and started doing a one-handed jutsu.
"Thunder Style: Electro-sensory Jutsu" he said. Small electric pulses started to emit from his body, and Yoshi closed his eyes so he could use the jutsu to its fullest. This jutsu sent images to his mind and immediately Yoshi could get a picture of his surroundings in about a half mile radius. For a while he couldn't see anything, but eventually he could see a blur from a half mile away. It was hard to keep track of at first, but eventually he got a lock on it. The blur got closer and closer, until it was obvious it was making a beeline on their position.
Yoshi's eyes shot open, "Hino! He's coming back! Get ready!" No sooner said, had the Mist ninja emerged from the forest. With unbelievable speed, he rushed past Yoshi and straight for Tazuna.
"Kaiten!" Hinata screamed as she started her technique. She managed to push back the ninja, having him fall on the ground in a daze, but he recovered quickly, starting to get back up almost immediately. Before he managed to, however, a small music note floated in front of him and exploded, thunder floating amongst the smoke.
"Bastard… how do you like my Thunder Style: Single Songbird Jutsu? I can only make one at a time with one hand, but that's enough!" Yoshi said triumphantly. He looked over to Hinata, who had stopped spinning. She looked happy, but the happiness only lasted for a second before a look of horror came over her face. Yoshi wondered what it was before he was hit on the back of the head.
XxX
Hinata watched in horror as the first Mist ninja rose from the ground and made his way over to her partner. Fear overcame her voice, preventing her from telling Yoshi what was happening. Before she knew it, the Mist ninja had knocked Yoshi out, and was removing the spiked chain from his hand and letting it retract into its gauntlet. Hinata could feel herself shaking… she was now alone against a ninja of chuunin rank. Her basic instinct took over, and she turned to run, but something stopped her. She looked at the terrified face of Tazuna, and turned back towards her opponent.
'No Hinata! You can't run, not now! You've trained hard so you could protect innocent people like this. No matter what you cannot run!' she thought to herself, pulling out a kunai.
The mist ninja laughed, "So you think you can take me on by yourself? Fine then…" he muttered before dashing forward. He swung his arm to attempt to backhand her, but Hinata ducked under his strike and, Byakugan blazing, connected two Gentle Fist strikes to the ninja's upper arm, the part not covered by the gauntlet. The mist ninja jumped back in fear, and found he was unable to move his arm anymore.
"So you really are a Hyuuga, you little brat… and not from the branch family it seems… This ought to be fun…" he snickered before charging at Hinata again. With his free hand he aimed a fist at her head, which Hinata dodged by leaning to the left, but as soon as she had done so, the mist ninja kicked her with his right foot, sending her flying. Before she had time to recover, the mist ninja was already there. He kicked her a few times in the stomach, before stomping her in the head once, making sure she was unconscious.
"Finally out, huh? Hey brother, you can come out now" the mist ninja shouted. His brother emerged from the wreckage caused by the Songbird Jutsu shortly after, making his way over to where his brother stood over Hinata. When he reached there, he picked Hinata up by her hair.
"So, how much do you think the little brat will fetch for?" he asked.
"Hmm, 5,000,000 ryo for her eyes, we could probably fetch a little more if we sell her whole body to some sick bastard."
"Man… its nice when a job gets you some extra income on the side" the mist ninja holding Hinata sneered. He looked over to Naruto, who was still standing in a daze, "So what do we do about him?"
"Nothing" his brother answered, "He wasn't a part of our mission so we don't need to kill him. He was no real trouble anyway. After we kill the bridge builder we can take the Hyuuga and be on our way."
Tazuna stood there horrified, petrified from fear. He watched as the Mist ninja not holding Hinata made his way over to the unconscious body of Yoshi, and used his working arm to aim the gauntlet at the heart of the boy.
"Let me kill him then, bro, this brat fried me and you both, it would be good to get some stess relief."
"Fine, but do it quickly"
XxX
Inside Naruto's Head
"Baka fox! Let me out!" Naruto screamed at the giant red entity sitting before him. No matter how loud he screamed, the fox just sat there, looking disinterested.
"C'mon! Please! Hinata and Yoshi… they're in danger! C'mon you stupid furball! Let me out!" he yelled, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. The fox seemed to start to retreat into his cage when Naruto got desperate.
"Fine, you stupid fox! I'll… I'll use your power… just let me go…"
Kyuubi grinned a mad grin, letting his power flow through the bars and engulf the figure of Naruto. The red chakra swirled around Naruto and engulfed him. Naruto could feel a power he never felt before. His body felt… lighter? And there was a power in his muscles which he felt he could lift mountains with. Something, however, felt wrong. The chakra swirled closer and closer until Naruto felt almost constrained by it. After a couple seconds, Naruto couldn't move at all.
"What's going on?" he yelled, but the Kyuubi only chuckled.
"All I needed you to do was accept" he chuckled.
XxX
Outside Naruto's head
"Dine in hell, brat" the Mist ninja said as he prepared to finish off Yoshi before moving on to Tazuna. Right before he released the trigger, however, he felt a huge amount of killing intent (KI) behind him. He turned around, and he saw that the last remaining kid was letting off gigantic amounts of chakra. The chakra… it felt evil, even to him. The mist ninja rubbed his eyes a bit before looking again. Was the chakra, red?
The second Mist ninja dropped Hinata as his body became drenched in sweat. For the first time in a long time, he felt fear. He backed up slowly away from the kid, "Hey… what's going on with him?"
"How the hell should I know?" he answered, backing up as well. The chakra seemed to have an odd effect on the boy. His nails grew longer, and the whisker marks on his face seemed to become deeper. His previously normal blond hair became bristled and wild. He started to snarl, and it could be seen that his canines grew longer. The two mist ninja became freaked out, and backed up even more. After a short while, Naruto's eyes open to reveal slit red pupils instead of the normal blue ones. With this transformation, the boy Naruto used to be was replaced with a more feral version.
"W-what the hell?" one of the brothers remarked while flexing his newly rejuvenated arm, his brother doing the same. "Well, whatever, weird red chakra or not, you still can't outrun the both of us!" he yelled before both disappeared into the trees once again. Sounds of movement could be heard all around as the two ninjas bounded back and forth, circling Naruto. A couple of shurikens came shooting out from all directions, and all bounced harmlessly off the red coat of chakra. The two ninja looked surprised, before trying something else. A chain shot out of the forest shooting straight for Naruto. Before it hit, Naruto leaned back, having it miss him by mere inches. Before it could be recoiled, however, it was grabbed by his clawed hand and held there tightly. A wicked grin appeared on Naruto's face slowly. He grabbed on the chain with both hands and pulled, dragging the Mist ninja out of hiding. When the ninja flew within punching range, Naruto gave him a right straight to the face, sending him rocketing back into the forest. The force of the blow caused the chain to break into pieces as Naruto was still holding one end, and the other was attached to the ninja spiraling through trees.
The remaining brother could feel the pressure and killing intent grow from the feral boy. Deciding to cut his losses, he turned tail to run when he was knocked out by a strike to the neck from behind.
XxX
The feral Naruto turned around to see his other prey being carried unconscious out of the forest by another person. Looking up, he saw that it was none other than Kakashi.
"Naruto… what happened?" Kakashi asked, concern in his voice. He placed the ninja down in front of him and tried to get closer to his student, but stopped when said student started growling. "Naruto" started chuckling maniacally at this, and decided now was time to talk.
"I don't think Naruto is the appropriate name for me right now, Hatake" said "Naruto" his voice sounding demonic and slurred. Kakashi flinched, at the bloodlust seeming to leak out of every word, "I see you got to my prey before me. I don't appreciate that very much, so you're going to have to make up for it" he continued, getting down on all fours. The cloak of red chakra started to mutate, before it resembled a mutated fox with a single, bubbly chakra tail. Before Kakashi could answer, the demonic being reappeared in front of Kakashi, kicking him to the side of his head. Kakashi barely had time to guard, and was such blasted into a tree.
'So fast' Kakashi thought, recovering from the hit, 'No, he was fast already, the demon's chakra just made him faster'. Swiftly, Kakashi removed his forehead protector to reveal his secret weapon, the Sharingan. As he was about to retaliate, the demonic Naruto raised his hand, signaling him to stop.
"You're already getting serious, huh? As he is now, I don't think the pup could handle this battle with only one tail. I'll retreat, but this won't be the last you see of me" The fox said, a tone of seriousness in his voice for the first time that day. The cloak started to retreat, and with it Naruto's appearance returned to normal as well. When it completely disappeared, Naruto's eyes returned to their normal blue hue, before rolling to the back of his head as he collapsed. Kakashi caught him before he did. He looked around at his other students, and sighed, "I guess this is where we camp tonight?"
"Damn right!" Tazuna growled.
"Oh… I kinda forgot you were there…"
XxX
Inside Naruto's head
Naruto gasped as the red chakra receded back into the cage and he regained control of his body. He fell to his knees as the chakra dropped him to the ground, "Dammit fox! That didn't happen last time!"
"Last time we never made a contract" he sneered
"What do you mean? I never agreed to a contract!"
"It's not my fault you're stupid"
"First off, yes it is! It's in every way, shape and form your fault! And second, what do you mean?"
"I thought it was common knowledge that when you borrowed something from a demon, you gave something in return. In return for my power, I accepted control of your body. I would have kept it had that Hatake ninja not interrupted me. Get stronger, pup, so the next time you summon me I can use more than one tail."
"What? The hell, fox! I don't agree to these terms!"
"Doesn't matter, the penalty to breaking a contract with a demon is death, something neither of us want."
Naruto grumbled, but the fox just continued, "Now I'm not gonna be able to just give you power anymore, I'm about to teach you a very important word, don't forget it, it allows you to use my power."
Naruto covered his ears, "Why would I ever want to learn the way to do that!"
"Because if it weren't for me you would be dead right now, so listen up. The word you need to remember is, "Kurama""
Naruto couldn't help but overhear the word of the booming voice of the fox demon. At first he was mortified, but then he keeled over from laughter, "Wh-what kinda word is that? It sounds so stupid!"
The fox stood there, a vein throbbing on his head.
"Like… its so silly! I feel bad if that's a name… the person must be so ashamed! He must have no friends!"
Again, the nine tailed fox stood in silence.
"I was a little scared before, but there's no way I would be caught dead saying that word!"
By now the fox reached his limit as he roared his next words, "SHUT UP IDIOT, ITS MY NAME!"
Naruto sat there on the ground terrified, sweat appeared on his brow, but not out of terror. After a while he started laughing again, "HAAHAHA! I was scared I couldn't hold it in… That's hilarious!"
Kurama groaned, "Names are power for sages, magicians and demons, use it to summon my power at any time. Until then, refer to me as the Nine Tailed Fox or Master, either one is appropriate runt, now get out!" he yelled, kicking Naruto out of his own mind.
XxX
Naruto's eyes opened as he regained consciousness. He looked around to see that it was nighttime, and he was sitting propped up against a tree in front of a roaring fire. He could see that this was where they had decided to make camp for the night, and didn't think more on the fact. He began to move, brushing the cover that was draped over him off, when Kakashi appeared in front of him.
"AAH!" Naruto yelled, "Warn people next time you do that!"
Kakashi eye smiled, then sat down next to Naruto, "Rough day today, huh?"
Naruto groaned, "You don't know the half of it" he said while getting up to stretch.
Kakashi pushed him back down with one hand, "You're right, I don't, care to elaborate?" he asked, the mood becoming serious. Naruto knew there was no escaping it, so he told Kakashi what happened. Kakashi's emotions went from normal, to shocked, to terrified and back again.
"Naruto… I knew there was a reason you had no injuries…"
"You can thank me later, pup" Kurama's voice rang from the back of his head, but Naruto ignored it.
"Listen Naruto, whatever you do, you can never say whatever word the Nine-Tailed fox told you. We don't know his power, as he easily took out two chuunin rank ninjas at his weakest. The demon is the cause of many deaths in Konoha in the past, and letting him loose would be a huge problem to all of us, okay?"
Naruto nodded, "I understand, Kakashi-sensei. But you should actually hear it! Its so funny it's a little hilarious! The word is actually hilarious, its Kurama!" Naruto laughed, before becoming deathly still. His pupils became slitted and red and his canines grew longer. Kakashi jumped away, drawing his kunai, but the fox just lifted a hand.
"Chill Hatake. I only have about as much power as Naruto has right now. I wasn't expecting the idiot to just blurb it out so I couldn't gather any energy. I'm sure you have a lot of questions but I can answer them later. I finally have some freedom after all these years and I don't plan on losing it."
Kakashi nodded, but never let down his guard.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'll retreat back into Naruto's mind. Besides, I don't think you want to fight either, not with the pup's mate waking up or anything" Kurama stated, pointing to the tent Hinata was sleeping in. Noticing it was moving, Kakashi put away his kunai, not wanting to alert Hinata. During this time, Kurama reappeared next to Kakashi, and started whispering, "But next time you pull a weapon on me, I will kill you, Hatake." Kakashi whipped back around as Hinata was leaving the tent. Seeing Naruto awake, she glomped him without thinking, unable to see the red eyes. Kurama chuckled, and just winked at Kakashi, before closing his eyes. When they reopened, they were once again blue, and rather surprised.
"Hinata? You're awake? Are you alright?"
"Y-yes Naruto-kun, I'm made of tougher stuff than that!" she joked, never letting go. Naruto started hugging back, her embrace seeming more healing than the fox's. Kakashi sighed before turning to leave, "We're leaving at sunrise, we're talking more later, Naruto, understand?"