Chapter 8: The Missing Tail

Vocab:

Kazuhito: Benevolent One

Ryu Sennin: Dragon Sage

Pendragon: Chief Dragon

Juubi: Ten-tailed beast

Demon speaking

Demon thought

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Naruto wouldn't be Naruto

recap:

"You have chosen well, Hokage of the leaf."

end recap.

The deep voice cut thru the conversations going on after Danzo was removed from the council chamber. Everyone looked at the source of the words, and what they saw scared them.

Hiranor was looking terrifying. His eyes had slits like a lizard with grey surrounding the iris. He had two fiery wings stretching out of his back. His body was wreathed in flames, and from his back a single tail waved back and forth.

Tsunade blanched. When she had heard the story of the ten demons from her grandfather she had been told that the number of tales signified the amount of power the demon has. Over the last thousand years there had been reports of them being seen all over the world. The first nine made their presence known by attacking all the nations of the world. The tenth however deigned only to show himself when someone got too strong for their own good and appeared to take them down a notch. But over the centuries people had forgotten about the last tail and simply dismissed it as a myth and went on with their lives. But standing before them was that tenth tail; the greatest of all tailed beasts. But what was his name? Oh, that was it.

"Pendragon," Tsunade whispered none too quietly. The people nearest to her heard her whisper the name. And couldn't help but wonder where she had heard it, and how she knew who he was.

Hiranor looked at her, curiosity all but evident in his face. "So, you know my name do you? I find that quite amusing, seeing as how I went to great lengths to keep myself hidden all these years. Well, no matter. I feel I must express gratitude on my host's behalf."

"And why can't he just say it himself?" Asked a very scared Hiashi (I know, right, Hiashi Hyuuga shaking like a little girl).

Hiranor grinned, "Well, you see he is has a very low tolerance for councilors. He just had a bout with a few of them last year and he still hasn't gotten over it. Long story short they tried to take over the village, they failed, and are now wasting away in our high security prison. And I must say after seeing this recent action taken by your own council I must agree with him."

He growled, which send a shockwave rippling outward shaking the entire building. Scaring two Root members from their positions on the other side of the chamber doors where they were about to set explosives. Subsequently setting them off and killing them in the process. The loud boom that was heard startled everyone except for Hiranor, Hiashi (because he could see them thru the door), and Tsume (cause of her superior dog nose).

"Now that that is settled I would like to get across the fact that my host's loyalty is not up for debate. Nor is mine. Besides, I have been sleeping for far too long for me to actually care what village he supports. He made his decision years ago and I will support him in any way I can. But do not think that I will allow you to force him into serving you either. I have seen what lengths humans will go to to acquire more power. And with me being the king of demons I find it most disturbing."

Many of the people in the room looked at him oddly. "King of demons? Isn't that the title of the Nine-tailed Fox?"

Hiranor chuckled. "Nine-tails, the king of demons?" Hiranor threw back his head and laughed, "That has got to be the funniest thing I have ever heard. I am the Ten-tailed Dragon. Do you really think that he is stronger than me?"

Just then the doors to the chamber burst open, revealing a young man with bright blond hair with three whisker-marks on each cheek. But what threw the councilors off was that his eyes were red and the pupil was slitted, his nails were more akin to claws and his body was radiating red chakra. As soon as the boy saw Hiranor, he walked up to him and stretched out his hand, which Pendragon promptly shook. And when he took it away, there wasn't a burn to show for it.

Hiranor chuckled. "It has been quite some time since we met face to face, eh Kazuhito?"

The Nine-tailed Fox's host chuckled, "That it has Pendragon, that it has. Tell me, how has Kazan been treating you?"

"Quite well actually, considering that I have been asleep for the last hundred years or so. It was so troublesome trying to stay awake in that cursed volcano, although I am impressed with the ingenuity, it still irks me to no end that they found a weakness to the ten tailed beasts.

Hiashi Hyuuga was the first to speak. "Lord Pendragon, we are curious as to how you know so much about one of our noble clans." The others were nodding their heads in agreement with the question.

"You all wish to know how I know what I know?" they all nodded their heads. Hiranor chuckled, "Very well, let me start by asking you all a question. Do you all know the tale of the Tagerasu clan?"

"Tagerasu? I have never heard that name before." Tsume Inuzuka said scratching her head.

"It is the name of an ancient clan that existed over two-hundred years ago but was killed off during a hunt that was being carried out by all the major nations. They were renowned for being the best psychologists in the world. But because of their ability to sense other people's emotions they were targeted by many powerful clans and the nations followed suit." Tsunade said, startling many with her knowledge.

"You are correct Lady Tsunade, and how you know that is a question for another time. However you left something out."

"And what would that be Pendragon?"

"That it was from the Tagerasu clan that all the major Doujutsu clans were sprung." A gasp was heard coming from everyone's mouths while Kazuhito and Pendragon merely chuckled. It never failed to amuse them the lack of knowledge the humans seemed to keep in their tiny little heads. "Yes, it is true, and the Rinnegan remains alone as the only Doujutsu not bred from my host's line, seeing as how it was around before my host's clan came into being, granted that didn't take long as the Sage of the Six Paths decided to settle down. He imparted on the Tagerasu clan the most powerful of the ten Demons: me. But I have said too much as it is. And we must return to my host's people. They have been kept waiting long enough I think. So we will return to them now. You many follow if you wish, but I suggest that you do not take any hostile actions toward any in our number, we will respond in kind and I do not believe that you have recovered completely since last year."

With that the dragon lord walked over to a wall of the chamber, made a hole, spread his wings, and took to the sky. Many of the clan heads bowed their heads in respect to Tsunade before following after Hiranor; and soon after she followed them.

_A Fiery Passion_

When Hiranor set down in front of his party, suffice to say they were startled by his arrival in his dragon form. Gaara and Sakura had of course seen him take it's form, but it was generally agreed upon that he would not do so as it might start a hunt for the 'extinct species' that collectors simply had to have on their wall. But as soon as he touched the ground, he changed back into his human form, and his legs promptly gave out on him. Gaara's sand caught him before he fell, cushioning the impact.

"That took a lot more out of me then I thought it would," Hiranor said between breaths.

Sakura shook her head sighing as a green glow enveloped her hands and she started to heal any damage the possession might have done to his body.

"So," she began, "When were you going to tell us that you were a jinjuriki?"

"Well, technically I'm not," He took a deep breath, "But that is the least of our worries." As soon as the words left his lips the clan heads and a number of the ninja in their employ appeared in front of the party, with Lady Tsunade. A pink haired woman, as soon as she appeared on the ground, looked across at Hiranor being tended to by another pink haired one, albeit a much younger one.

"S-S-Sakura?" She gasped.

Said girl raised her head, and locked eyes with the older woman. Her eyes widened. "Mom? Mom!" She shrieked happily as she raced toward her mother at incredible speeds, and ran into her waiting arms. They stayed like that for a few moments before they control of their emotions and separated. But what happened next did not go as well. Sakura looked up at her mother, "Hey mom, I want you to meet my boyfriend." She ran toward Gaara and Hiranor with her mother in tow and let go of her hand so she could run over and stand by Gaara, and coincidentally Hiranor who was standing on her other side.

Oka Haruno was actually quite pleased when she saw her standing next to the powerful man that had introduced himself to them just moments before, although they still didn't know his name. But just as she was about to congratulate her daughter on finding such a 'fine' specimen Tsunade approached the group from Kazan, and Hiranor, because he had gone into demon form without being really prepared, was assisted by Gaara and Sakura and carried to greet her properly. Unfortunately, as soon as they got close enough, some of the ninjas recognized Gaara from the year before and couldn't help but growl at him.

And Gaara would have responded to them however Sakura put her hand on his arm, calming him down. Tsunade approached them, and so Sakura and Gaara carried Hiranor up to meet her. Tsunade was the first to speak.

"From what I hear you have the Sand Jinjuriki with you, and it also appears that you have one of our ninja as well. I am curious as to how that happened. But before we get to that I think that introductions are in order, as we never actually heard your name."

He chuckled, "I apologize, in all the commotion I forgot my manners." Shakily he removed his arms from their shoulders and bowed deeply, he would have fallen over had Gaara not caught him. When he was upright again, he said, "I am the Kyudaime Kazankage of Kazangakure no Sato. I am also known as the Ryu Sennin, I am also, although mistakenly, referred to as the jinjuriki of the One-tailed Dragon. And I am the last of my clan. My name is Hiranor Tagerasu and I am the leader of these people."

A collective gasp came up from the clan heads. They had heard the description of the Tagerasu clan in the council room from Pendragon but having someone from the actual clan was something else entirely.

Hiashi Hyuuga stepped forward, as he was the diplomat of the village, and with a nod from Tsunade, went into his I-can-make-anyone-an-ally-while-still-being-stuck-up mode.

"My lord Kazankage, my name is Hiashi Hyuuga. Seeing as how you did not get a welcome in your initial approach we of Konoha wish to extend our hospitality to you and your people." He shot a look at Gaara and frowned, "However I must ask that you turn the demon boy over to us." What he got in response was quite the opposite of what he was expecting. He had expected the man to leap for joy at having the jinjuriki taken away from him. Too bad he forgot that the Kazankage was a jinjuriki too, however loosely the term might fit.

Hiranor openly glared at Hiashi, fire coming out of his eyes, making it the best death glare any had ever seen. Many ninja peed their pants at the sight of it. "You have a lot of nerve giving me orders lord Hyuuga. And I do not like how you have just attacked my good friend Gaara. And have you already forgotten who and what I am, fool? I possess the One-tailed Dragon! And you have the nerve to call a fellow beast holder a demon? I am afraid that I must decline your offer. If this is how you treat guests from a neighboring village, I won't feel safe leaving my people in your care. I think I shall visit Gaara's village instead. Suna was it?" Said jinjuriki nodded, "Well, I guess we're off. Sakura, what is your choice? I know you have friends here but from what I have seen I don't think the adults would approve of your relationship with a jinjuriki."

Sakura nodded wearily, she knew before they had arrived that they wouldn't allow her relationship with Gaara. She moved to go with them but was stopped when Tsunade cleared her throat. Hiranor had Gaara turn him around to face her.

"I want to apologize on behalf of the Hyuuga. They are our village diplomats but it seems that they are lacking in that department at the moment." Hiashi moved to protest but was silenced by a death glare from his superior. "I realize that you have a demon container in your midst and I want to thank you for everything you have done for him. His life growing up was not a happy one, much like our own." She sent another death glare behind her, this time directed at all the ninja that were of age when Naruto was growing up and made his life hell. There was a collective gulp. "I also wish to apologize for any misconceptions that our village might have engendered. And even if you were to leave I would be required to keep Ms. Haruno with us seeing as how she is a ninja of our village."

"Who you obviously didn't know about until she showed up and everyone told you she was."

"That doesn't matter, what DOES matter is that you have one of our own in your company and unless I have proof that you did not place a Genjutsu on her I will not allow her to go anywhere with you."

"Then I guess we will be staying for a while now won't we?"

"Well I hope you have a nice trip… wait did you just say you'll stay?" his words finally making it to her brain.

He smiled, "Yes that is what I said. I would never dream of parting Sakura from her beloved. And that is what would happen if I left her in your care, as well as the fact that she happens to know village secrets that I am not about to allow you to know. So as long as she is with you, so are we." To make it clear he turned his head toward his people and yelled, "We are staying here for a little while. So please make your way inside the village in an orderly fashion."

Homura stepped forward to protest, "I must protest. Why should we be forced to take in all these people? There are too many of them. We cannot possibly be expected to find housing for each of them."

Tsunade glared at him, "Are you trying to start a war Homura? These people are potential allies and you know how much we need those at the moment, so don't even start on that. And besides, what with all the construction being done we could quite easily set up an extra building or three for our guests. And if anyone else has something stupid they want to say say it now, because I don't have enough patience to deal with this crap for much longer." Silence and a fuming Homura greeted her. She nodded, glad that that was over.

"I am disturbed to see this blatant disregard for authority, Lady Hokage. After all, should your voice not be the final one? But seeing as the moment has passed I can let that abide for now. In the meantime I would like my people to have a tour of the village. Seeing as how we have never been here before."

"I think that is doable. I would also like to extend to you the offer of sleeping in the room reserved for visiting Kages, seeing as how you are one. "

Hiranor smiled, "It would be an honor lady Tsunade."

Tsunade called for a few Chuunin to take the villagers on a tour of Konoha while she escorted Hiranor and his bodyguards to his quarters. When Gaara and Sakura moved to join them Mrs. Haruno and several other ninja stepped in front of the group, bringing it to a halt.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "What do you think you are doing? These people are our guests. Would you deny them entrance?"

Mrs. Haruno shook her head, "No, that's not the problem." She lifted a finger and pointed it at Gaara, "He is. We will not allow that demon to enter this village again. Not after what he did last year."

Sakura looked at her mother in shock. She had thought that she was better than this. Obviously she was wrong. "Mother," Oka looked at her daughter, "Gaara changed. He is not the same person you knew a year ago. He is better now. And I love him. That should be enough for you."

Suffice to say Oka Haruno was not happy. She had really thought she had raised her daughter better than this. She thought she had taught her not to fraternize with demons, but apparently she didn't get the message across very well. She looked at Sakura, anger showing on her face, "You love him?" she spat on the ground, "Demons don't know how to love. They exist to kill and only kill, they don't know the first thing about love. And I thought I taught you better. Demons are evil. They deserve to die for everything they have done."

Now, to be brutally honest, Sakura felt she no longer knew her mother, in fact she questioned that she had ever really known her. Anyone that could call another human being a demon and say they deserve to die is not someone she would want to have anything to do with. She loved her mother, the one she knew before she left, but this was not her. Sakura glared at her. But before she could say a word, Tsunade walked up to her Oka Haruno and whacked her on the head, sending her to the ground hard. She glared down at her, "I don't know what to make of you. I thought you were better than this. But obviously you like to start wars with other nations. Or did you forget that the leader of our esteemed guests is in fact a demon container?"

Oka glared back up in response as she shakily got back up to her feet. "He is the exception. The ten-tailed beast was known to only fight people who got too powerful for their own good. That THING on the other hand has killed hundred for no better reason then they looked at him wrong. And he still hasn't answered for what he did last year."

Tsunade's glare intensified tenfold, "You idiot! The actions taken last year were already forgiven. It is well-known that Orochimaru made them participate after killing the Yondaime Kazekage. You would do well to pick your next words carefully. I have no problem handing you over to Ibiki. Now, will you let Gaara Sabaku go into our village?"

Mrs. Haruno blanched, she might hate the demon boy, but she fears Ibiki even more. He wasn't the head of the interrogation squad for nothing. She gulped, "I-I w-will l-let him e-enter our village."

"Good!" Tsunade beamed, "Now that that is settled, we will continue on our way. Oh and for security reasons Sakura will be staying with the Kazan delegation."

Because of her outburst she was in no position to argue with the Hokage, although she did suddenly decide to try and come up with a way to get back at her.

The party passed the gates and entered the village. While walking down the main street, many people looked up at the group and recognized Gaara. Some of them screamed "Kill the demon!" and "Destroy the monster!" while other people, who noticed that Tsunade was with him, merely bowed their heads in acknowledgement before resuming their previous activities. And then there was a small percentage of people who wet themselves and some members of this group actually fainted in terror at seeing the One-tailed Tanuki back after around a year of being reported missing.

During the entire ordeal Sakura was standing beside Gaara, holding his hand and giving it a squeeze every time he would tense, calming his nerves and reminding him that he was not alone anymore so he didn't have to worry about what these people said, even though it still hurt to hear it.

Because of a move by a very stupid villager, he decided to try to kill Gaara, and was promptly encased in fire before he could get too close. Tsunade was not pleased, but even more then her was Sakura. Because you just don't mess with a medic-nin's boyfriend. Hiranor kindly (or in the case of the villager not so kind) released the fires folding him. And he was face-to-face with a very angry pinkette who suddenly decided he wasn't worthy of bearing kids. Suffice to say he didn't walk home. That done Sakura turned on her heels and returned to Gaara's side, grabbed his hand, and continued on their way.

Please Review! I want to know what you think! Criticism approved! And if you do have some, please explain what needs to be improved. I can't read your mind thru a computer.