Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the Characters that are written of therein, my only concession to any ownership is my oc and the story plot that I am putting out there for others to read for their own enjoyment and amusement.
In case anyone is wondering, I would have posted this earlier but my computer or the website was doing funny things. Sorry.
Chapter 3: New Friends and Old
Six months later, Kurenai and her team were on their way back home from a mission when someone called Hinata's name from the woods that they were passing. Everyone stopped and looked back at where the voice had come from to find a small reddish-brown kitsune kit. When the kit saw that they had seen him he transformed into a boy and slowly approached.
"Are you Hinata?" the boy asked as he got closer to the group.
"Hai, is…is there something that I can do for you?" Hinata asked as the kit turned boy stopped in front of her.
"Kodama sent me to find you and deliver a message. It's for Hokage-sama as well but Kori-sama thought it best that none of the kitsunes try to enter Konoha until she apologized formerly for the actions of her imoto… Kagami was a little rash, running away like that but she was just trying to protect her ototo, she thought that your Council may do something to him to extract information. Oh forgive me, I haven't even introduced myself, my name is Kagu." the young boy bowed.
"I'm Hyuuga Hinata, as you know and these are my teammates Abrume Shino," Shino nodded his head to the boy, "Inuzuka Kiba and his partner Akamaru," Kiba stared at the kit in human form and Akamaru barked, "and this is our sensei Yuhei Kurenai." Hinata finished as Kurenai bowed her head.
"Kori-sama told me to give you this," Kagu said holding out a scroll, "and to inform you that Tsurara-san and Tatsumaki-san will be arriving at your village two weeks from now and that they will be bringing a… well I guess you could say it's an apology for what happened with Kagami and Kodama."
"Who are Tsurara and Tatsumaki?" Shino asked in a monotone.
"They are very close friends of Kori-sama's family. They are the main human speakers for all the clans that live in The Seishin Woods. Tsurara-san is the daughter of Tsuyu-san, and Tatsumaki-san is her adopted brother." Kagu answered as he approached closer to hand the scroll to Kurenai he was careful to skirt far around Akamaru who watched him closely but didn't offer to bite him.
"Why did they send you to find us, why didn't Kagami or Kodama come themselves?" Kiba asked also watching the human-looking kitsune closely.
"Kagami is with Kaeru-san, she was reprimanded for her behavior and so she has to stay with Kaeru-san until she gives your Hokage an official apology, Kori-sama called it probation. She also said that the only reason that she isn't grounded in the Seishin Woods until then is because she's needed to follow some Oto-nins. Only her special abilities will allow her to do this job and that is the only reason she is not confined to the Seishin Woods right now. As for Kodama, he is also on a mission, but he happens to be traveling with Tsurara-san and Tatsumaki-san so he'll be arriving in two weeks with them. Is there anything else I can explain or may I go?" Kagu asked, obviously nervous about being so close to Akamaru.
"You didn't explain why they sent you to find us." Kiba reminded.
"Kurenai-san, Kodama said that you know a little about the kitsune culture because of your sensei, would you care to explain the purpose of my name?" Kagu said looking at the red-eyed woman.
"The only thing that I know about that is that quiet often you adopt a name that reflects your strongest ability."
"Correct Kurenai-san. I am Kagu because my sense of smell is so keen, I mean the other kitsunes have a great sense of smell but mine is especially keen. Kodama is great at copying the voices that he hears and Kagami can appear to be anyone that she wants as long as she has at least seen a picture. Of course the two of them have something of a cross ability also. Kodama can change his appearance but he isn't as good as Kagami and Kagami can copy voices but she can't do it as well as Kodama. It is a shame what happened to Asahi and Toge, if they had lived so much would have been better."
"Who is that?" Shino asked shocking his teammates that he would actually ask a stranger two questions.
"Asahi and Toge were Kodama's and Kagami's parents. They didn't have any special abilities but their family was well respected for all the abilities that they had brought to the Kitsune clan.
"Hinata mentioned that something happened to their parents when Kagami arrived months ago, but she never said what happened." Kiba explained now wondering what had happened.
"Toge and Asahi were doing some reconnaissance for Kannon-sama and Kabau-sama but it wasn't supposed to be anything dangerous so they took their kits along, they died trying to protect a little blond haired blue eyed boy from some of the Konoha villagers."
"Who are Kannon and Kabau? And why would villagers attack a little boy?" Kiba asked totally dumbfounded.
"Kannon-sama and Kabau-sama were Kyuubi-sama's parents and I can't answer for what those ningens did as I wasn't there." Kagu hedged. "If there is nothing else, I have several other things that I must do before I can return home; I want to go home as soon as possible, as you may know most kitsunes don't like to be away from home. So I'll wish you good day and I hope to see you in the Seishin Woods when Tsunade-sama comes to discuss the treaty with Kori-sama."
When Kurenai's team arrived home and delivered the scroll that they had been given, they were slightly shocked that she immediately opened it without checking for traps.
"What does it say, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked, further shocking her teammates.
"It's actually from Kori, she asks that we forgive her for allowing Kagami to come here and take Kodama away. It says that she would have never have allowed something like that to occur. It goes on to say that she is sending a friend of hers to lead us to her and to give us a 'gift' to apologize for her imoto's behavior." she finished as she put the scroll down, as soon as she had removed her hands from the scroll it burst into flames, turned to ash before anyone could react.
Two weeks later Tsunade had sent out all available ninjas to keep an eye out for the approaching visitors and it was Sakura and Team Asuma that discovered them.
Sakura was teamed with Ino and Shikamaru and Chouji were a few feet away keeping a look-out for any approaching visitors when they heard a crashing noise coming from deeper in the woods. All looked at each other then took off for the location of the noises. When they reached the place were the noises had originated they were shocked to find an unconscious Uchiha Sasuke on the ground, they approached cautiously but when Sakura was close enough to positively identify Sasuke, she forgot caution and rushed to his side.
"Sasuke is breathing okay, his pulse is strong and he doesn't seem to be injured in any way so why is he unconscious and how did he get here?" Sakura asked as she assessed her old crush.
"I'm not sure…shhh… did you hear that?" Shikamaru asked as there was a rustle in the nearby woods.
"Kodama, have you found him yet?" They all heard from farther away.
"Gomen Tatsu-kun, still no sign of him, has Tsu-chan had any luck?" someone called from closer than the previous voice.
"No, but he can't have gotten far, the seal should have knocked him out by now." the more distant voice called back.
The four chunins looked at each other after the voice died down then Shikamaru called into the trees. "Kodama-san, is that you?" The rustling stopped and there was a moment of silence before Kodama parted the brush not far away and stepped into view. He looked at the four ninja standing before him then noticed the unconscious Uchiha on the ground at their feet and turned to the trees that he had emerged from.
"Tatsumaki-kun, Tsurara-chan he's over here. The Konoha ninja have him." he called before turning back to the four young ninja. "Ohayo mina, gomen for what happened before, but nee-chan can be a little overprotective. Do you think that Tsunade-sama will like Kori-nee-chan's gift?"
"This is the gift that you all have been talking about?" Shikamaru asked, totally flabbergasted, which was rare for him.
"Hai, what are we going to do with him, he's been nothing but trouble since we captured him, although he did get a little better after Kaji-sama and Kori-nee-chan blocked the curse seal." Everyone heard more rustling in the bushes and the four junior ninja turned quickly to face it, but relaxed slightly when a young woman and a boy that appeared to be their age emerged with their hands held away from their bodies so as not to alarm the ninja. The young woman appeared to be in her mid-twenties, she had light brown hair with streaks of copper and blond in it and she had one blue eye and one green eye, the boy that was with her had copper hair the color of a newly minted coin and his eyes were the reddish-brown of dried blood. The two strangers looked to Kodama expectantly. "Gomen, Haruno-san, Yamanka-san, Nara-san, Akamichi-san, May I introduce Tsurara and Tatsumaki, the official liaisons of the clan heads of the Seishin Woods. Tsu-chan, Tatsu-kun, May I introduce Haruno Sakura, Yamanka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akamichi Chouji."
"Please, don't be so formal; call us by our given names. I don't know about everyone else but it makes me feel old to be referred to by my family name." Ino explained looking at her teammates and friend and seeing them nod.
"Arigato and you may call me Tsu, or Tsu-chan if you prefer and…" she looked at the boy beside her.
Letting out a put upon sigh he said, "And you can call me Tatsu if you must." he growled
"Now, now T don't be that way, I know that you have trouble making friends but at least give them a chance." Tsurara replied giving her brother a playful push then Sasuke groaned and shifted, then pushed himself off the ground. "Well, look who woke up, did you learn your lesson this time Uchiha-kun or are you going to try running away again? Every time you get too far away from either T of I then you're gonna pass out."
"And you won't wake up until we find you, so until someone manages to cancel the seal that Kori and Kaji placed on you you're stuck with us." Tatsumaki finished, scowling at the dark haired Uchiha that was still on the ground, Sasuke growled and launched himself at the other boy and was quickly knocked back to the ground by a now smirking Tatsumaki.
"Tatsu, how many times must I ask you not to aggravate him, I know that your angry at him for what he did, but if you continue to pick at him he's going to end up doing something stupid and then I'll have to deal with him again." Sasuke flinched at these words and settled down almost instantly looking at the slightly older young woman warily. "Now then, could you lead us back to your village and help us ensure that Uchiha-kun here doesn't attempt to run away again."
"I wasn't running away," Sasuke growled, speaking for the first time, "I was going ahead to see if I could find the dobe and settle things with him once and for all."
Sakura's face immediately fell and she refused to look anyone in the eye. Sasuke didn't notice as he continued to scowl at the two humans that had escorted him here, everyone tensed when a puff of smoke appeared nearby and relaxed slightly when it cleared to reveal Kakashi and Asuma.
"Yo," Kakashi said as he waved his hand lazily at the group, he didn't notice Sasuke until the youth stood up and scowled at him.
"Still showing up late, eh Kakashi. I should have guessed that time wouldn't change you, now where is the dobe, he and I have a few things to discuss, telling those stupid foxes to capture me and bring me back here." Everyone gasped at this revelation and looked at the three strangers.
"I told you that we would discuss that later Uchiha," Tsurara replied in a calm and quiet voice, totally changing her demeanor startling both Tatsumaki and Kodama.
Sasuke started to reply, but Kodama ran over and slapped a hand over his mouth before he could say a word. "I suggest that you keep quiet, Uchiha-san. You don't want to upset Tsu-chan anymore than you already have or she may do something drastic and I very much doubt that anyone here would enjoy seeing that." he whispered in the boy's ear, when Sasuke relaxed slightly he released the taller boy and turned to the two jounins that were watching intently and bowed.
"Welcome back, Kodama. It's good to see you again; I would love to know how you and your sister got away before." Kakashi called turning his attention to the young kitsune, trying to help diffuse the situation. The kitsune grinned at the older man, then was engulfed in a puff of smoke and when he was visible once again he looked totally different, in fact Kakashi was sure that he had seen the same face when guarding/watching the two kitsunes before, the kitsune grinned at everyone and returned to his former appearance still grinning.
"I'm sorry I disappeared like that Hatake-san but I did try to get your attention when nee-chan was dragging me away, you were busy reading a little orange book and giggling like a little girl." At this, Tatsumaki snorted and Tsurara tried to turn a snicker into a cough.
"Well as interesting as all this is, I really think that we need to be heading back to the village." Asuma called, trying to be the voice of reason.
"Are you ready to face your punishment Uchiha-kun, or are you going to try to run away again?" Tsurara asked sweetly.
"I'm not going to run away, I wasn't trying to run away before, I told you that already, I just wanted to see the dobe before I faced Hokage-sama and received my punishment." Sasuke replied sullenly not looking at anyone and so not seeing everyone flinch at his once again mentioning wanting to see Naruto.
"Do you need us to restrain him?" Chouji asked.
"No need, he can't get more than ten feet away from either T or I before he collapses and he traveled all this way without misbehaving to much, I think that discussion that Kaji had with him really made a difference."
"Yeah, well being threatened by a Kitsune Clan leader like that will have that effect on most people, especially when he's taller than you on all fours and weighs three times what you do." Tatsumaki replied, snickering.
"We really should get going; Hokage-sama is expecting us. Kurenai went on ahead to let her know that you had arrived so she could call in the other greeting parties." Asuma called trying once again to get everyone going.
"You're right ninja-san, we should get going." Tsurara replied seriously.
Twenty minutes later the whole group stood before the Hokage in her office, Kurenai and her team stood off to the side and Kodama waved at Hinata discretely.
"I understand from the letter that I received that your names are Tsurara and Tatsumaki and that you two are here to deliver a 'gift' which I'm going to assume is Uchiha here and it also said that you were going to lead us through the Seishin Woods to have a meeting with Kori about reaching a truce and possibly an alliance."
"Hai, Tsunade-sama. Kori asked T and I to lead you and some of your ninja to the meeting, she also suggested that you may want to contact Suna and invite them along to join in the negotiations." Tsurara replied, "May I also suggest that you try not to bring along any ninja that have a dim view of kitsunes as that may cause tension with the clan. I don't mean to be rude but Kori has had to fight long and hard to convince some of the elders to agree to this meeting and if things go wrong it may cause problems with the negotiations, in fact when we all discussed this and Kodama gave his report on what had happened, it was suggested that you bring along the ninja that helped guard Kodama when he was injured. Now this is just a suggestion and you don't have to follow it if you chose not to but the part that is not negotiable is that Uchiha-kun must return with us…" here Tsunade started to say something, "Now before you say anything, the reason for this is that if he gets to far away from me and Tatsu then he will fall into a coma and may never wake up. When we left the woods Kaji and Kori placed a seal on all three of us that controls how far away we can get from him without causing him to fall unconscious." Tsurara finished explaining, and then pulled her dark green shirt away from her left shoulder to show the seal there, it looked to be written in gold ink and contained several strange symbols surrounded by a circle of more strange symbols. Tsunade turned to Tatsumaki and he held up his left arm showing the same seal on his inner forearm and when Sasuke only rolled his eyes, he gave a sigh and yanked his shirt sideways to show another seal on his right shoulder but this was written in black ink.
"And what about the cursed seal that Orochimaru placed on you Uchiha, am I supposed to believe that you suddenly see the error of your ways and won't run off again. I don't know how dumb you think I am but I'm not so foolish as to allow you to do that again."
"No need to worry about that, Kori, Kaji and the entire Council all worked together to permanently seal it, the only ones who can break the containment seal are the ones who placed it and that they will never do." Tatsumaki assured the blond Hokage before she could get too worked up about the matter.
"Enough of this, where is the dobe. I want to see him and ask him why he told those stupid kitsunes to capture me. Where is he anyway I figured that he would be here gloating." Sasuke yelled and was jabbed in the ribs by Tatsumaki, but when everyone else remained silent Sasuke looked around to figure out why.
"Uzumaki Naruto was killed in an accident on the way back from a mission several months ago. He and a team of others were passing by the Seishin Woods when they were attacked by enemy Nins and he fell off a cliff and shattered his spine. When his teammates went to retrieve him, they were stopped by some inhabitants of the Woods and were ordered to leave, the only thing that we received of his was a scratched hitai-ate." Tsunade explained coldly, pulling out a drawer on her desk and pulling out a box covered in intricate carvings and removing a scratched and battered hitai-ate to show to the shocked Uchiha. "This is part of the reason why I am seeking to meet with the Kitsune Clan, so I can get Naruto's remains back and give him a proper burial."
"Kori realizes that and she asked me to assure you that all will be answered when she meets with you. Now is there anything else that you need to discuss with us?" Tsurara asked.
"Nothing that I can think of at this time, I hope you don't mind waiting a few days, I did send a message to Suna and was informed that their new Kazekage will be arriving soon to participate in the negations as well, the group should be arriving today or tomorrow and we will leave as soon as possible after that." Tsunade replied trying to think of a way to insure that these people didn't pull a disappearing act like Kodama and Kagami had. Her question was answered when Tatsumaki nudged his sister.
"Oh yes, arigato T, Tsunade-sama Kori was thinking that you may be hesitant to allow us our freedom while we were here so she gave us this," Tsurara pulled out two identical scrolls, "these contain a powerful seal, much like the one that keeps the Uchiha from escaping, if you would prefer you can choose someone to act as guard and they will receive the same seal as T and I have and you may choose either of us to receive the seal that Uchiha carries so that if we attempt to leave we will be knocked unconscious."
"What is the range on this seal?" Tsunade asked cautiously.
"The range is normally ten feet, but seeing as that might be difficult for everyone involved it has been extended to whatever you think is appropriate, you just have to decide who you want the two seals to be placed on and have them think of the distance when they apply the seal and that is the distance that the seal will enforce." Tatsumaki explained as he had been studying with Kaji on these types of seals and had helped create this one.
"Well then I suppose that I'll be the one to take the seal and I would prefer that you take the other half. Is that a problem?" Tsunade decided, making all her ninja startle at this news.
"Do you think that's best, Tsunade-sama? Perhaps you should allow one of us to take the seal instead." Kurenai suggested.
"Are you worried that this is some kind of plot to kill your Kage?" Tatsumaki asked coldly, glaring at everyone.
"Now T, I'm sure they weren't implying anything of the sort, I know that you helped Kaji make this seal but I doubt that they know that so you shouldn't take it personally." Tsurara assured the younger boy as she glared at the kunoichi, "if you would prefer that it be you who takes the seal then I'm sure that would be fine. I wouldn't want anyone to think that I would ever cause anyone harm. Now is there anything else that anyone would like to say to either of us?"
"I apologize for offending you, I didn't mean to imply that you had any intention of harming anyone, but I have never even seen a seal like this…"
"Then perhaps you should have that Ero-sennin take a look at my work since you don't trust it, Kori-chan tells me that Tsunade's teammate is rather good with seals when he's not busy writing those dirty novels of his. Since I am obviously untrustworthy you should get someone you do trust to inspect my work and in the meantime I'm going for a walk." Tatsumaki replied, disappearing in a cloud of smoke when he had finished speaking.
"Well I hope you all are happy, I have enough trouble getting him to trust people without your dismissing his work like that, and accusing us of trying to cause injury to your Kage is a low thing to do. You don't see me commenting on what you all did to Kyuubi, or what happened to Uzumaki when he lived here. So I suggest the next time you think before you say something, now if you'll excuse me I need to go and find him before he does something that we'll all regret, Uchiha are you going to come with me or are you going to stay here and fall unconscious." Tsurara threw the two scrolls down on Tsunade's desk and stormed out of the office, Sasuke followed a moment later, not willing to fall unconscious again if he could help it.
"Kakashi, please follow our guests and make sure they don't get into any trouble." Tsunade called quickly.
Kakashi walked out the door and shut it behind him. "I think you should apologize the next time you see Tatsu, he's had a very hard life and he has trouble trusting people with his secrets, but I think that he wants to trust you. That's rare from him, he hasn't really trusted anyone since he saved Kaji; he only recently came to trust me. I just learned the last of his secrets a few days ago and…well if you knew anything about what he's gone through, but of course you don't, and you probably don't care either, just like all the other ningens of this village. I should have known when Kori-nee-chan told me what had happened to Naruto that this place would never change." Kodama yelled, and then he too stormed out and slammed the door behind him.
"I didn't mean to insult him; I just thought that it would be best to let someone else take the seal in case there was some kind of side effects." Kurenai explained.
"Yes, but my reasoning is that a good leader should ask nothing of their subordinate that they are not willing to do themselves, and further more it would be more difficult for me to be taken out of the village quietly than one of you. That is why I suggested myself for the seal instead of asking for volunteers. Now I think its best that we all get some rest for now and we'll meet again when Kazekage-sama and his group arrive and I'll try to explain what happened to our guests, Kurenai I think that you should apologize to Tatsumaki when you get a chance." The dark haired jounin nodded and turned to leave with her team.
Kakashi found both of the visitors and his former student on top of the Hokage Monument. Tatsumaki sat on top of the Yondaime's head looking out over the village below, he remained in the shadows, not wanting to be seen.
"I know that you're upset, but you can't blame them. They don't know what is going on and they're just trying to keep their leader safe, they didn't know that you helped Kaji with the seal and they weren't trying to put you down. I'm sure that if you give them a chance they'll apologize and that they will try to be your friends, I know that you've been having trouble with everything that has happened but things are about to change. Once we've reached an agreement we won't have to worry so much about secrets, and I'm sure when they learn about the advantage that being our allies offers they'll jump at the chance. I mean the biggest reason we've been able to hold back Orochimaru for so long is because of the agreement that we reached with the hebis before all of this started. If it weren't for that Manda and his subordinates would have attacked us by now. So, give them a chance. I know that this is hard for you, but I'll be here for you and Kaji isn't going to leave you either. We've been with you from the beginning and we're not going to leave you now, so just remember no matter what happens here or back in the Woods nothing can change what Kaji and I feel for you, I think even Sasuke here is getting to like us, so just try to keep your hopes up. They didn't mean to hurt you, isn't that right Kakashi-san." Tsurara called, turning to face the jounin as he walked out of the shadows and sat down beside the young man.
"Your sister is right; I know that Kurenai didn't mean to hurt you. We just have a little trouble trusting strangers."
"You mean you have trouble trusting kitsunes, Tsu told me the story about what happened to Kyuubi. I know that it's difficult to trust someone when you believe that they would do something like that with a malicious intent, but Kyuubi didn't do it for the reasons that you all think, and from what I understand he paid for his mistake. There have been mistakes from both sides so I'll forgive Kurenai-san and give everyone else another chance, but I would suggest that you not allow things to go like this when we arrive at the Seishin Woods or things might not go very well." with that Tatsumaki stood and walked away, "I'll see you later nee-chan, I'm going to go find something to eat. Com'on Uchiha, let's go find a nice restaurant, although we'll have to apply a henge on you so you won't be recognized. Wouldn't want you to have any trouble with you fan club after all, who knows what they might do to you after your absence. It would be a shame for us to drag you all the way back here just for you to be injured by some silly civilian girls, hopefully for you we don't run into any of your kunoichi admirers, I don't suppose you'd want a kitsune henge as they're stronger and can't be broken by ningens that don't know what they're dealing with."
"Hn perhaps that would be best. Where are we staying until we leave?" Sasuke asked looking at the jounin that was still sitting on the ground near Tsurara.
"I'm not sure but Tsunade-sama will probably insist that you stay with her. I'll find you and Tatsumaki after Tsurara and I discuss a few things."
"I think it's best if we go and get something to eat as well, if I don't eat soon I won't be able to function soon." Tsurara replied, rubbing her fingers across her forehead and squinting a bit.
"Nee-chan, why didn't you say anything, I would have gone with you to get you something to eat."
"What's going on?" Kakashi asked perplexed.
"Nee-chan gets very bad headaches when she doesn't eat regularly, if we don't get her something to eat soon she'll have to take her medicine and sleep for almost 24 hours in order to get rid of the headache." Tatsumaki explained as he walked over to his sister and pulled her up. "Is there a place nearby that we can go and get something to eat?"
Kakashi pushed himself to his feet and placed a hand on Tsurara's shoulder then placed the other on Sasuke's and everyone disappeared in a puff of smoke, to reappear in Tsunade's office.
Tsunade looked up as she heard someone appear in her office, she was shocked to see Kakashi and Sasuke standing in the middle of her office with Tatsumaki behind them supporting Tsurara.
"What happened?" Tsunade asked as she came around her desk to check the young woman for any injuries.
"Nee-chan waited to long in between meals and now she's having a migraine, can you get her something to eat and a quiet place to lie down? If she doesn't eat something and take a nap she'll be miserable for a few days." Tatsumaki explained, leading the slightly taller young woman to a chair in front of Tsunade's desk.
"Its fine T, I'm not that bad yet. The headache is just starting. I'll be fine as soon as I eat a little something; you need to stop worrying about me so much. It's just a little headache," Tsurara explained then winced as Tsunade lifted her head to look into her eyes.
"How long have you had these headaches?" Tsunade asked as she preformed a diagnostic jutsu on the young woman.
"Since I was 10, they started right after Orochimaru tried to kidnap Kori and me."
"You were almost kidnapped by Orochimaru? Why would he want you?" Kakashi asked surprised.
"I am the last of a clan of ice benders that used to call Kiri home. My mother Tsuyu escaped from the Bloodline Genocide. She didn't know that she was pregnant with me at the time. When she found herself a 'guest' of the Kitsune Clan she realized that she was pregnant and after befriending Kannon who was pregnant with Kori at the time she was accepted as a member of the clan. I was raised among the kitsunes, I am one of the clan, which is why I am trusted and allowed to come and go in the Seishin Woods at will. I was the only human to be so honored until T here saved Kaji and he was adopted into the clan as well for his bravery. Tatsumaki is not my true brother; he is Kaji's adopted brother, as I was adopted by Kannon after my mother's death, in honor of her bravery and my sacrifice."
"How long ago was this?" Tsunade asked suspiciously.
Tsurara tried to look up at the younger man standing near her but winced again when she raised her head and grabbed her head suddenly as she jerked back. "T, can you please get into my bag and get out the green bottle." she whispered as she burrowed her head into her arms to block out the light from the large picture windows behind Tsunade's desk.
Tatsumaki nodded and pulled out a scroll with a strange seal on it, then whispered, "Nee-chan I need some of your blood to release the seal, I can't get your stuff out without it."
Tsurara started to cry and rock back and forth, as she did this Sasuke pulled a kunai out of Kakashi's pouch and tossed it to Tatsumaki, before anyone could react he grabbed one of Tsurara's hands and pushed a finger to the point until a bead of blood came, then pressed the bleeding finger to the seal. Instantly there was a puff of smoke and a large traveling bag landed on the floor with a thud, Tsurara winced again at the sound. Tatsumaki quickly opened the top pouch and rummaged around in the bag for a moment before pulling out a small green bottle and a spoon.
"Close your eyes and lift your head nee-chan, I've got your medicine." Tsurara did as she was told without any argument, and when she lifted her head everyone could see that she was extremely pale and covered in a cold sweat. Tatsumaki poured a small amount of a strange milky substance into the spoon and carefully lifted it to her mouth, "Okay, nee-chan just open you mouth and swallow and you'll be asleep in no time.
"Arigato, T." she whispered as she did what she was told, a moment after swallowing the substance all the tension went out of her body and she slumped in the chair.
Tatsumaki turned a glare on a startled Tsunade. "Why did you continue to question her when I told you what was happening, you should have had someone get her something to eat before you started asking questions," he turned the glare onto Kakashi who lowered his head in shame.
"Will she be alright?" Tsunade asked worriedly looking at the slumped figure.
"She'll be fine," Tatsumaki growled putting the bottle and spoon back in the bag that he had gotten them out of, "come here Uchiha."
For once Sasuke did as he was told and watched as Tatsumaki pressed his thumb to the borrowed kunai, bringing blood. When Sasuke stopped in front of the copper haired boy Tatsumaki took the bloody digit and swiped it across the seal on his shoulder that kept him near one of the strangers, when Tatsumaki's blood touched the seal it turned crimson, "There, you have 30 minutes to find someone to attach yourself to before that seal turns back on and you go into a coma permanently, just place a hand somewhere on the person that you choose and think about the seal and the distance you want to have between you, and make sure that the person you chose is someone that you can stand because this seal can't be tampered with anymore, the only choice you have afterwards is getting it removed and the only one able to do that is Kaji. Have a good life." With that Tatsumaki hefted the bag and settled it onto his back before gathering up the limp form in the chair and heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Tsunade demanded as Tatsumaki reached the door.
"Back to The Woods, forget about the alliance, if this place still hasn't changed even after what happened to Naruto then you don't deserve to be allied with us. Don't worry though, the kitsunes aren't going to attack you, but as your not allied to us we don't have to stop the hebis from attacking you anymore so good luck beating Orochimaru. At least you don't have to worry about him getting the Sharigan, Uchiha here will never be able to go back to him and Itachi is to strong for him to beat. Now I need to get Tsu back home so Fuji and Fujiiro can look at her and make sure that she's okay." Tatsumaki opened the door and started to leave when he felt a hand on his elbow. He turned to find a livid blond Hokage standing in front of him.
"What do you know about Naruto?" Tsunade growled not releasing the glaring boy that couldn't fight back without first dropping his unconscious burden.
"It isn't any of your business; you and this village are despicable." Tatsumaki growled back, Tsunade didn't give him a chance to continue; she punched him across the hall then motioned to Kakashi to help her. She gathered up the still sleeping Tsurara as Kakashi lifted the now unconscious Tatsumaki. The two elder ninja walked back into Tsunade's office where Sasuke still stood, shocked at Tatsumaki's outburst. Tsunade settled the young woman on a couch near the wall of her office while Kakashi wrapped Tatsumaki in chakra ropes and placed him in one of the chairs facing the desk.
"Hatake, I want you to go and gather everyone back here. It's time we found out what is going on once and for all," Kakashi nodded and disappeared in another puff of smoke, "Uchiha you better stay here, it seems at least that they aren't willingly trying to put you in a coma and if you stay linked to them then perhaps we can convince them to stay a little longer." Sasuke nodded and walked over to place his hand on Tatsumaki forearm where the seal was located, when his hand made contact both seals flashed silver for a moment then resumed their former appearance. Tsunade looked up when Shizune appeared in the doorway and she gestured for her to take a look at the still unconscious Tatsumaki. Shizune gave her teacher a confused look before doing as she had been told.
"He'll be fine, Tsunade-sama. He should wake up in a few minutes. What happened?" she asked as she walked over to check on the unconscious Tsurara.
"Tsurara didn't eat as she should have and ended up with an excruciating migraine, when Kakashi brought us back here Tsunade and Kakashi got distracted asking questions and Tsurara got worse, so Tatsumaki gave her something to make her sleep and started to leave, but he mentioned something about the dope before leaving and when Tsunade asked him what he knew he refused to answer and started to leave, that is until Tsunade introduced him to the wall with her fist." Sasuke explained shocking all those who were conscious in the room which now included Shikamaru and Chouji. While the four stared at the Uchiha in shock Ino and Sakura walked into the room and looked around curiously.
"What is going on Tsunade-shisou?"
"We're going to find out what is going on, once and for all. And I'm going to find out what happened to Naruto, Tatsumaki here mentioned him before attempting to storm out of here now we're going to wait for everyone else to arrive before I'll say anything else." Tsunade explained before turning to face the windows and the Hokage Monument beyond it.
It took only another five minutes for everyone else to make their way to the Hokage's office. Surprisingly the last one to arrive was Jiraiya, everyone was shocked that Kakashi didn't take forever but no one questioned him on it as he had been one of the ones to miss Naruto the most. It was a few moments after Jiraiya walked in and leaned against the wall near a still sleeping Tsurara that Tatsumaki started to stir. "Itai, what hit me?"
"That would be me gaki and you have some explaining to do. Now I want to know what you know about Naruto and anything else that you may be keeping from me."
"Are you sure you want everyone in this room to know what I know about Naruto, I mean I would hate to get into trouble for breaking Sandaime's law, not to mention how your newest group of ninja are going to feel once they know the truth of the matter." Tatsumaki sneered.
"You are not part of this village so you can't actually be punished, for one. Two is I don't believe that anyone here is ever going to think of Naruto any differently just because of a secret that they should have learned about several months ago when the kitsune first showed up, and I don't think the truth will affect their way of thinking about us."
"I don't know, it certainly changed the way I thought about this place, but if you insist." Tatsumaki turned to face his peers. "Do you all know the story of Kyuubi and Yondaime?"
"Of course, we learned that in school. Kyuubi attacked Konoha and was killed by Yondaime who died to do it, duh." Kiba smarted off.
"Is that what you're still teaching them, even after Kodama set you straight on why Kyuubi attacked?"
"What are you talking about and why is it that you don't refer to him as Kyuubi-sama like all the other kitsunes."
"Kodama and the others call him sama in respect of what he did and what he was before he attacked this village and I don't because one I'm related to him by adoption and two I don't know what he did as I wasn't around before he attacked Konoha, I was born the year that he attacked, which makes me 14 and a 1/2. And as for what I'm talking about Kyuubi only attacked this village because Orochimaru came to the kitsunes and attempted to capture some of them to experiment on, when he failed in that he attempted to just get Kori and nee-chan and when that failed he attacked Kori and nearly killed her. Now the last that Kyuubi knew about Orochimaru he was still a Konoha ninja and so he came here to get his revenge. Now to continue the story, Kyuubi was not killed by Yondaime, he was sealed into a newborn. Naruto was his container, but no one in this village with a very, very few exceptions saw Naruto as any different from Kyuubi so the villagers tried several time to kill him, which is how Kodama's parents were killed. Some of the villagers had attacked Naruto, he escaped into the surrounding woods to try to get away, he was discovered by Kodama's family and when the villagers found the supposed 'Kyuubi' consorting with other foxes then of course those foxes had to be destroyed before they could go and raise an army and attack the village once again. So Naruto grew up in this village, being abused and mistreated because of his burden, and then came the Akatsuki, who wanted Kyuubi for their own reasons. So when Naruto and some of his teammates were returning from a mission Itachi and his partner took their opportunity to attack and accidentally caused Naruto to fall off a cliff, shattering his spine. And where should this happen but right outside the Seishin Woods and it just so happens that a group of kitsunes were passing by at the time and found the injured boy. Naruto spoke to Komuin, one of the head foxes and then he met Kori, he explained what had happened and told her of his promise to his female teammate to retrieve his teme teammate. Kori promised to fulfill his promise for him and had some of the kitsunes bring him into the woods so she and some of the others could try to heal him; unfortunately this wasn't a complete success."
"Matte, are you saying that Naruto is alive." Sakura exclaimed.
"No I'm saying he isn't dead, I'm not really sure what he is or isn't. You would have to ask Kori about that one. Now will someone please untie these stupid chakra ropes so I can check on Tsu and make sure the medicine is working okay." Kakashi looked to Tsunade and received a nod before doing as Tatsumaki asked. As soon as he was free the boy pushed Kakashi away and rushed over to where his sister lay on a couch. He laid a hand on her forehead and jerked it away quickly when she moaned and shifted, he hovered over her as she opened her eyes and immediately closed them again.
"T, can you please get me my sunglasses and something to eat, I feel a little better but if I don't eat something soon I'm going to be useless for days." she had just finished speaking when the doors opened and Kodama walked through the door carrying a small bowl of ramen and with a large take-out sack looped over his wrist.
"Please tell me something in that take-out bag is for nee-chan." Tatsumaki said as he rushed over to the kitsune.
"Of course, Tatsu-kun, I had a feeling that you and Tsu-chan would forget to eat anything so I went and found this great ramen stand, where I met this nice brown-haired man with a scar over his nose and he bought me a bowl of ramen, then I ordered you a beef ramen and asked the ramen chef to make Tsu-chan some wonton soup." he explained pulling out a bowl of ramen for Tatsumaki who set it down and waited for the bowl that Kodama had gotten for Tsurara. As soon as he had it and a pair of chopsticks he rushed back to her and handed over the set. While she was breaking apart the chopsticks he turned to the blond Hokage. "Is there anyway for you to close the windows or block the sunlight a little bit, nee-chan is going to be a little light sensitive for the rest of the day and if she gets another migraine she might not be able to travel when the Kazekage and his entourage arrive."
"Of course," Tsunade clapped her hands together in a seal and instantly the windows were shadowed as though covered by sheers.
"Arigato Tsunade-sama," Tsurara said as she sipped some of her broth and fished a noodle out of the broth and swallowed it almost whole.
"Are you sure that you're okay nee-chan?" Tatsumaki asked hoping that they could leave as soon as possible.
"Fine and we can't leave," Tatsumaki's face showed puzzlement at her statement. "Wondering how I knew? My seal is gone, which would only happen if you tried to release the seal, unfortunately for you, it would appear that Uchiha has decided to stay attached to you, and so we can't leave until everyone is ready, otherwise we'll break our promise and we would never do that would we ototo." Tsurara replied giving Tatsumaki's forearm a meaningful glance. Tatsumaki looked at the seal which had reappeared on his forearm and noticed that it was slightly altered, he turned a glare on the Uchiha which didn't faze the dark haired young man one bit.
"So, now that I've eaten something and we've explained a little is there somewhere that I can take a nap and clean up a little? We've been traveling since early this morning and I'm feeling a little grungy."
"Of course, Shizune will show you to my home where the three of you will be staying for the time being, when the Kazekage arrives he and I shall meet with you once again so we may discuss the trip and our travel plans then we'll go from there. Do you have any other questions?" Tsunade asked, speaking primarily to Tsurara as she was still a little angry with Tatsumaki.
"You do realize that Uchiha will have to stay with Tatsu correct? If we separate them now there's no telling what the consequences will be."
"Of course, Uchiha," Sasuke turned to face the blonde Hokage. "You and Tatsumaki will share a room until we can get that seal removed and once we return you shall face your punishment for your disloyalty. Now Shizune please show these four to our house and make sure they're comfortable, I'll be home soon, I just have a little more to take care of and I need to discuss a few thing with the others here."
"Hai Tsunade-sama, I'll go ahead and start preparing dinner for all of us." Shizune bowed to her mentor and lead the visitors and the Uchiha out of the double doors and down the hall.
"What did you want to discuss Tsunade, there is obviously something bothering you or you would not have such a pensive look on your face." Jiraiya commented as he settled himself in the chair that Tatsumaki had been tied up in.
"All of you get comfortable, I need to share some information with you and it may take a little while to get it all out."
"Why weren't we told what Naruto harbored, and why would the villagers treat him in such a cruel manner?" Neji asked, wondering about how someone that was so mistreated could end up the wonderful person that he had been.
"The answer to your first question is that Sandaime made a law that forbid your generation from being told what was inside Naruto, and as for the second part of your question who knows why anyone would treat a child in such a manner, although partly it is due to fear. When Naruto was born, our village was in a great deal of danger of being wiped out and Yondaime had little choice in the matter, he did however request that the village treat Naruto as a hero, unfortunately for everyone none of the villagers listened, I also regret that quite a few of the ninja of this village don't see him as the young man he is but as a monster. Now, as the sensei of Yondaime I take partial blame for his decisions, that is part of the reason that I was teaching Naruto, and I hope to continue his education some day."
"But, I thought he was dead." Kiba explained.
"Not according to what Tatsumaki and Tsurara were explaining to us, I hope that he'll be willing to return to this village after these negotiations, until then I'll do as I have to and hope for the best." Jiraiya answered.
"So, we're going to bring the loudmouth back, good, I've kinda missed him, I'll be happy to see Whiskers again." Kiba exclaimed, Akamaru barked his acknowledgment of that statement and wagged his tail.
"The only question is, will he want to come back with us? I mean, he's been with the kitsunes almost a year now and no one has heard a peep from him, maybe he doesn't want to be here anymore." Tenten commented.
"Don't talk like that Tenten , Naruto's our friend and would never betray us like that, I mean he did keep his promise, Uchiha-kun is back in the village, just as Naruto-kun promised and he always swore that he would become Hokage someday, so he must come back." Lee exclaimed.
"Yes, Lee. That is true, but you must remember what Tatsumaki said. He may no longer be the boy that we all remember him as, until we see him again there's no telling what he'll do, we'll just have to wait and see. I want all of you to prepare yourselves for a diplomatic mission. The Suna delegation should be arriving sometime tomorrow and we will be leaving the day after tomorrow for the Seishin Woods, if we hurry, we should reach them before sundown, but we can't be sure how long the negotiations will take, so pack for several day, probably two weeks to be on the safe side. Dismissed." Tsunade said as she rubbed her temples, trying to stave off a headache.