Disclaimer: [put witty disclaimer about not owning Naruto here]
Heya all. Sorry it took so long for this to get out. College, writer's block.. life in general as well as one of the scenes being incredibly difficult to put together.
Anyways, I hope this works all of your minds as it did mine.
Now on to the fic...
Chapter 21: A Dream and a Mission
Naruto and the Hokage had been at it for a while now, and they had come no further then what they have already tried. Well, to be fair, the old man thought of some ways that MIGHT work, but he had only been egging Naruto in the right direction with questions like "Well, why don't you try it backwards?" or "Have you tried to go in the opposite order for the buttons?" Still the two were breaking down from the monotony that is staring at a wall. For all they had done, they might as well have watched paint dry.
The old man stood up and stretched as he noted the time from the sun over head. "Naruto, I think it's time for a lunch break."
"Oh, c'mon, Ji-ji! I'm close. I can feel it. Just give me a bit more time." As if to answer the old man, Naruto's stomach growled. The silver haired boy glared at his belly's betrayal.
The old man chuckled. "Come along, Naruto-kun. Let's go see if Ichiruka's is still standing."
Naruto immediately latched onto the idea. "WOOOO! RAMEN!"
XXXXXX
Nelrim watched the kid and the Hokage walk out of the Hokage's valley. The way Naruto smiled whenever he was around the old man brought memories back to the cat's mind.
Flashback (every word said is in Spanish, I just translated some into English)
"Grigio," A black haired, tanned boy called out as he ran up to a tall and old Hispanic man.
The man smiled as he dropped his bag, and picked up the boy like he was 20 instead of 80. "Hola mocosa, ¿cómo estás," he asked.
"Feliz! Usted está en casa!"
"Well, of course you little brat. You think you could get rid of me that easily?" the old man chuckled. He put the kid down, and grabbed his bag. He rifled through it, and then pulled something out, but quickly hid it behind his back. "I have a present for you, mocosa."
"What is it? What is it?" The kid asked excitedly.
The man brought his hand out in front, and in his hand was a small brass ring.
The boy's jaw dropped.
In the Blanco Impulsar Clan, getting a ring meant that you were ready to learn the ways of the liger and their specialty transformation. Color of the metal was not very specific; however, brass was the best conductor for their magical gifts, and as such, very highly treasured.
Since brass was such a soft metal, you couldn't always put the symbols meant for conduction in it easily without bending the rest of the metal. As a result, the metal was very expensive, almost equal in weight of gold. However, it is worth it. Brass is a very malleable metal, and, through that property, the shape-shifters themselves learn to make their bodies bend and twist so that they can change shape. There are thousands upon thousands of shifting clans all across the world, and ligers were among the strongest and highly respected. To get a brass ring so early on, meant that the boy would become strong in the future.
The boy slowly took the ring from the old man's hand, and gently held in it his palm. He could feel the soft hum of warm power in it as the symbols on the ring shifted slightly. The boy slowly took it to his right ear, and the ring glided through the skin until it was in the middle of the earlobe. The ring hummed with power once more as it locked to his body. The boy lowered his shaking hands, and tears started to form in his eyes with a smile on his face that no sword could wipe away. He hugged the old man around his neck. "GRACIAS! GRACIAS!"
End flashback
Nelrim smiled sadly at the memory as his right ear twitched a little…
XXXXX
Hinata loved the smell of flowers. Her favorite had to be lilies. They had such a sweet scent.
She looked down at the garden before her. The flowers looked so happy. She had spent days upon days in this garden of hers that was given to her by her mother.
A flash of her memory showed a woman smiling down at her as she reached up to hug the woman. Petals danced in the wind around the woman. Her mother.
She had raised this garden with what she remembered from her mother and through trial and error. She had poured her love into this garden and it had shown. The guards always loved to come by and gaze upon the peaceful sight built by soft hands.
Hinata took her hand away from the lily that was the center piece of her garden. She stood up, and brushed her clothes off and looked down at her garden again.
She noticed a spot of red on one of the lily's petals. She moved her hand toward the red spot and touched the lily, and then pulled her hand back. Her finger had blood on it.
The blood spread until it covered her hand in it, she reached up with her other hand to try and get it off, but her other hand had was covered in blood as well. The blood started to fill up the garden until she had to stand to keep her mouth above the blood. Just when the blood was about to consume her, she saw something reach out for her, and she desperately tried to grab it. The figure grabbed her hand, and she thought she was saved.
The figure's eyes opened. Nothing. There was nothing but black that felt as if it would consume her soul. The figure opened its mouth wide, more so then any human could possibly achieve. She struggled to get free from its grasp. The blood was over her mouth now, and she couldn't breathe.
It descended upon her.
–
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Hinata awoke with a scream. She shivered and pulled her legs close to her body and her hands on her face not covering her eyes. One of her guards was kneeling next to her, but she couldn't hear anything he was saying. She watched his mouth move for a little while. She couldn't think. Her mind refused to go over what had just happened.
"-ta-sama! HINATA-SAMA!" The guard yelled. "Hinata-sama, what's wrong? Come on, Hinata-sama! Snap out of it!"
Hinata closed her eyes and shook her head to calm herself. The guard stopped talking to notice that she tried to mouth a few words. At first she couldn't speak, but finally she managed to get some coherent words out. "Wh-where am I," Her voice quivered as she asked. She looked around. Her vision was blurry.
"You're in the Hyuuga Gardens, Lady Hinata." The kneeling guard calmly told her, trying to calm the girl down through example. He turned and said something to the other guards, but Hinata didn't hear him as she was in her own thoughts.
'That's right; I came out to the gardens to look over the plants.' "What happened?" She asked. She noticed two of the other three guards left for something.
"I don't know, Hinata-sama. One moment you were standing over the flowers, the next you collapsed. You came too just a few moments later screaming. Are you alright, Hinata-sama?" The guard asked.
Hinata lowered her head, and slowly calmed herself down telling herself it was only a dream. "Hikaru, you there? Hikaru? Are you still asleep?" She called for her for a few moments, but it was no use. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. When she finally felt calm enough to respond she said, "Thank you for looking over me, Johan-san. It was just nothing really." She told herself more then the guard.
Johan nodded, and offered his hand to help her up. She gladly took it, and slowly stood up. "Anytime, Hinata-sama. I'm glad you're alright." The other two guards came back with a wash bucket, a towel, and a blanket. When they noticed she was fine, they sighed in relief and smiled.
She felt a little dizzy. "Could you help me to my room, Johan-san? I'm feeling a bit tired."
The guard nodded. "Of course, Hinata-sama. Right this way." He took her hand and led her to her room with the other three guards following around her loosely. She glanced back at the main lily in her garden before leaving.
It was only a dream, right?
–
I looked down at Konohagakura. The air over it was always lovely, as the thousands upon thousands of trees that surrounded it made the land all that much more natural to her senses. The cloud right above me drifted slowly and lazily. I felt someone watching me, and checked around. Sure enough, Shikamaru was doing his daily cloud watching. He was looking at her, but even with heightened senses he wouldn't be able to tell who I am.
I was sitting on this world's book. It was always a comfy chair.
I turned to my left as I felt a familiar presence warp in using blood magic. Nelrim.
"Hello, Nelrim."
"Hello, Yosome-sama. I was looking for you ever since I felt your power, but you've been a busy deity." Nelrim said as he sat down on the book next to me and looked down at the town below.
"Oh? And why is that?"
"I wanted to know what you were doing here. You usually just check up on things and leave, but lately you've been meddling. I know that the one who holds Fate is a meddler, but I didn't think you would take up your hand in it, Yosome, holder of Destiny," he said slowly, as if he thought he would never utter those words.
I chuckled, "Well, life is like that, kitty." Nelrim's fur bristled when I said that last word, but I acted like I didn't notice. "You would be surprised how Father Time can change things, for he is a patient deity. I would know, his wife goes on and on about things the rest of us could care less about."
Right when I finished saying that, a crow landed on my head and pecked it three times. "Ow, Ow, Ow!" The bird then flew off.
Nelrim broke out laughing and fell off of the book. He reappeared a moment later with a stoic face, but I could see his eyes were still laughing. I glared at him for a few seconds, but I sighed.
"I hope I wouldn't need to remind you, but Mother Nature has ears everywhere. I would be careful on how you would speak about your godmother." Nelrim said with a monotone, but I could feel his laugh in it somewhere.
"I'll get her back later by calling on a favor that the -snicker- "Oogakari" clan owes me. Now, back on topic, to answer the question you have, well… I don't need to tell you yet. My plans are my own, and they are still in the works. No one knows my true plans; however, I have been giving hints to those around Konoha. If you do realize what my plan will end with, then please be quiet about it."
"Fair enough, Yosome-sama. Just know that I will keep an eye on Naruto for you. The little brat is a giant trouble magnet."
"Please do. Oh, and by the way, try not to die. That's an order."
Nelrim chuckled. "At least you're still not trying to make me your personal kitty like Death did with the two tailed demon."
I smiled at the thought. "At least consider it. If you did become my personal kitty, I would be able to give you back your transformation abilities, including your human form."
"And work for you for eternity? I would rather jump into a volcano." He said playfully.
"Alright then, the option is always open." I giggled. He was always fun to tease lightly. I scratched him behind his ears, and he purred softly. After I dropped my hand down, he disappeared. That was our usual good-bye. I looked back over Konoha. "Now, what shall I do next?"
–
At the ramen bar, Naruto was busy wolfing down his twelfth bowl of ramen while the hokage was just finishing his second. When the old man put the bowl down, he spoke, "Naruto-kun, I have a favor of you to ask."
"Hm," he slurped the last of his noodles in, "What is it Oji-san?"
He considered his next words carefully. "I want you to go with your godfather to find a woman for me."
"Who is it?" Naruto asked, glee filling his eyes. He always loved going outside the village.
"I want you to find and bring back a woman named Senju Tsunade, Jiraiya's teammate." He said.
"You mean the most famous medic nin?" he asked.
"The same."
"Why? She seemed pretty adamant about not coming back to the village," Naruto thought back to his history lessons.
"Well, I need you to bring her back so that she can become the next Hokage."
Naruto's features steeled for a bit. He knew the man was on his last leg in life, but he seriously thought he could make it in time. Now that the time has come for him to finally turn in his hat, Naruto knew he couldn't take up the mantle yet. He would just have to bide his time. 'Patience.' Nelrim's voice echoed through his head from a past memory. 'Have patience with life, Naruto-san. Everything will come with time and work.' "Sure thing old man." Naruto responded with a smile.
The "Professor" was honestly surprised at the reaction. He was expecting an outburst almost. Like that Naruto should have boasted out at the top of his lungs that he was available. But he knew Naruto was better then that. Maybe in another reality where Nelrim didn't exist.
–
In another Dimension.
Naruto sneezed. He was currently hiding from the "she-devils." He had been recently transformed once more against his will, causing his fluffy fox tail and ears to come out.
Unfortunately, the two girls chasing him down heard him sneeze and dashed after him with hearts for eyes.
Shadow and Hinata.
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
–
'Yeah,' the hokage thought, 'Maybe in another world.' "So, can you be ready to leave the village by tomorrow morning?" he received a nod. "Great, show up at the east gate at 8 in the morning."
"How long will the mission be?" Naruto asked.
"About a month or so. Give or take a week." Sarutobi replied.
"What about the scrolls Oji-san?" Naruto asked. He wanted to at least see what the first 6 were about.
The old professor lifted his arm up, and made his arm flow over the counter in front of him. "Here you go, Natuo-kun. These are yours to keep. I expect great things out of you... I know you will surpass them." On the counter appeared the six scrolls.
"Thanks, Oji-san," Naruto smiled brightly and basked in the old man's praise. Hey he was gonna take the praise where he could get it, damn it. Naruto took the six scrolls and placed each one gently onto another scroll he brought out. "FUIN!" The six scrolls disappeared in a puff of smoke. He stuffed it into his grey cloak for now.
"Well, Naruto. Go get ready. Remember this is an S-ranked mission. So don't talk about it if you can."
Naruto nodded. He got up and left with a "see ya later" to the old man and dashed off.
The old man chuckled to himself as he turned back to his ramen bowl... which was now empty.
–
"NARUTO!"
The boy heard the old man scream out. He snickered for a second glad he could get a one up on the old man. He felt a twinge of regret in the back of his head for what he did. Then squashed it when he thought of what the old man's faced must've looked like. He fell down laughing. After pulling his sides together, he ran off to get ready for the next day.
He passed by the Hyuuga mansion on the way there, and shrugged to himself. He walked up to one of the guards that was standing at attention. "Hey, can I go speak to Hinata-chan?"
One of the branch members raised his eyebrow, but then looked over to the other guard and made a twitch with his eye. The other guard then left.
'Damn, stick up their ass people.' Naruto thought when he saw the interaction. He waited for a few moments before the guard came back.
"I'm sorry to inform you, Naruto-san, but Lady Hinata is resting for the day." The branch member said with a slightly stoic tone.
Naruto nodded. "Alright then, can leave a message for her saying that I'll be out of town for about a month or so?"
"I will inform Lady Hinata when the opportunity arises."
"Thanks, see ya!" Naruto yelled out when he left.
'Better inform Shino and Kurenai-sensei, too.' Naruto paused for a moment. 'Wait... this is an S-ranked mission!'
–
The next morning, we find our once blond hero running up to the gate in question. Naruto decided to change up his clothes for this mission.
He was wearing loose black pants and a skin tight dark blue muscle shirt. Over this he wore a new over coat that was dark red in design and went down his his shins. This one also had a hood which the boy wore over his head to keep the unusually hot sun from bearing down on him. On the back was the usual kanji for sage. None of his tails were coming out the back end like they usually did. On his back was a small bag that looked like it had a few scrolls in it, as well as one large one sitting on his lower back.
Once he arrived at the gate, he looked around to find Jiraiya. The boy sensed he was nearby through his seventh sense, but didn't know where. 'not behind, not right, not left, not in front.' Naruto's frown formed as he then looked up. There, the older sage was sleeping his head off in what looked to be an uncomfortable position.
"OI!" The old man was startled by the loud voice directly in his ear. "WAKE UP YOU OLD PERVERT!"
Jiraiya unceremoniously fell off the gate and onto the ground with a heavy 'thud' singing in Naruto's ears. Naruto was currently perched on the gate where the old man was. He jumped down and landed gracefully. "Good, you're awake."
Jiraiya mumbled under his breath as he got up. "So, you're finally here, brat. Good. Let's get on the road." As he checked with the guards with his pass, and pointed at the boy. The guard nodded, and the two headed out.
–
About two hours later.
"So, where are we going," Naruto asked. The two were traveling on the 'ninja high road' at high chuunin speeds.
"Our first stop will be a large village on the boarder of tea country south east from our village. We'll actually be going south of your mission from wave country. The town is called Dofugen. My spy network's track is cold at the moment for Tsunade, so I have to go where I last heard about her."
"How cold is the trail," Naruto asked wanting to get an estimate of about how long this would take.
"I got this information about seven months ago." Naruto was surprised it was that long ago. "Don't be surprised, gaki. She has her own spy network as well. How else do you think she hides from her debt collectors?"
Naruto formed and 'oh' with his mouth and looked ahead.
"After we find out where she headed next, we'll launch right away." Jiraiya was quiet for a moment. "We're going to try something out while we're doing this." He handed a small scroll to Naruto. "Here."
The blond took it and opened it. Inside was a large seal. As Naruto looked it over he came to a small conclusion. "It's a summoning seal."
"Correct, Gaki. What I'm about to tell you is something that is only told between student and master. Do NOT share this with anyone else. Not even your girlfriend. Got it?"
Naruto nodded, wondering what the big secret was.
"This is one of the most advanced theories on sealing to date. But once I tell it to you, it should click in your head just like it did with your father, mother, Sarutobi-sensei and me."
Naruto was practically giddy. It's not everyday you learn something on this level of importance.
"The secret is simple. All seals can be converted to handsigns as well as all handsigns for a jutsu can be converted into a seal. Now why is that?" A smirk appeared on his face as Naruto's eyes widened.
Naruto's mind was going a million miles an hour trying to keep up with thoughts and ideas that were streaming through his head. He actually had to stop tree hopping as it the ideas took too much of his mind.
Jiraiya knew this would happen. It always did with a being who had a large amount of potential for sealing.
Naruto was putting things together in his head as he finally got his ideas under control. He had a smile on his face that no proud mother could rival. He quickly looked at the scroll in his hands, and quickly deciphered it much faster then he had before. Everything seemed to click into place. All the studying before hand that was nearly lost to time came back full force. He quickly jumped to the ground and put the scroll on the ground. Jiraiya following right after him. The boy looked at the seal one more time, and then started performing hand seals at speeds of a high jounin. Naruto had to know if this theory would work. Ten handsigns. Twenty handsigns. Fifty handsigns. 100 handsigns. 150 handsigns. He wondered why he never saw this before. His mind was reeling in excitement as he finally understood all of the theories, all the symbols, the kanji, the lines, the MEANING. He performed the last hand sings of 250, bit his thumb and slammed it on the ground. "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"
A large puff of smoke appeared covering Naruto's form. Once it cleared, Jiraiya's smirk grew. Naruto now stood on top of Gamaken. A toad. On a contract that Naruto had no relations with. Jiraiya knew it would work.
"Jiraiya, why have I been summoned," the toad asked.
"It's nothing, Gamaken. To think though, he summoned you on his first try, and even awakened his hidden ability," Jiraiya said to both of them.
Naruto hopped down in front of the toad. "It worked... It actually worked."
"So, Naruto-kun. Do you think you understand seals now," Jiraiya asked.
"Who is this kid, Jiraiya," the toad asked.
"He was the one that summoned you," Jiraiya informed. The kid still looked lost in deep thought.
"I don't feel any contract connections to this one," the warrior toad stated.
"Hold on one moment, Gamaken. You can relax your guard for now. No enemies are nearby. I have to tell the gaki something, and then you can go back once I give a message to you."
"Hai, Jiraiya-san," the toad stated before he put his shield and sword back.
"Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze," Jiraiya said aloud. The toad's eyes widened as the boy looked to his mentor.
"Yea?"
"Tell me, how did you reach the conclusion about the hand signs and the seals? How did you know how it would work?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk on his face. If the boy answered correctly, there would be another seals master in town.
"I first remembered back to how the handsigns changed the chakra flow slightly. Through that, and the theory you just told me, I focused on how the chakra would flow through the seal itself. That's how I figured it out. The similarity between the two was the flow of chakra. I just proved that with this case as I took a seal of unknown origin, and studied how it flowed, then I copied and translated that into handsigns. Once I did that, it was quite easy to make my chakra flow in the right way. It's a lot more complicated then that, but I don't want to go into an hour long discussion, but it all comes down to the same conclusion. The reason why both seals and handsigns can be made into one another is that they only alter the flow of chakra," He declared.
Jiraiya nodded. "Correct. Now Naruto, I have been giving you all of those seal books knowing that you would have them teeter on the edge of your memory this entire time. I gave you one book after another in a certain order. I even made you go back and look over the same books a few times. I knew that eventually I would give you this secret, but to think that just after I said that you unlocked the secret to your bloodline."
Naruto was confused. "What do you mean? Kagedoushinkai?"
"No, Uzumaki. Your other one. Your mother's side."
"Secret bloodline?"
"Yes. If it were me, Sarutobi, or your father, Minato, it would have taken use nearly four days to do the same thing you just did. You have your mother's talent. You have one of the most secret bloodlines in the world, Naruto. The Shi-Ryuu(Flowing seal)."
"Shi-Ryuu." Naruto tested out the name. Instantly, the world changed around him. Time didn't speed up or slow down. The air didn't change. The only thing that changed was the blond's perspective of the world around him. He stared in wonder at how seemingly an infinite number of seals appeared everywhere. On the trees, in the sky, on the clouds, on the ground on his clothes, on the toad before him. He could SEE them but at the same time he couldn't FOCUS on them either. As soon as he looked at a particular seal on the ground, it would get hazy and be unreadable. He quickly looked at the seal in the scroll that Jiraiya gave him, and he instantly saw how inefficient the seal was. Where it could be modified to enhance the focus of the chakra and produce a slightly stronger outcome. Somehow, the boy knew that from now on, he would be able to recall this exact seal and the versions of it he created would be accessible to him from now on. He pulled out one of his other scrolls that stored his explosive tags. He went to unseal the tags, when he noted the storage seal itself. It, too, was forever ingrained into his mind as well as upgraded versions. He then unsealed the tags from his, in his opinion, crudely drawn storage seal, and looked at them. He instantly noted all of the version he ever created from his practicing, and then found how he could improve them and make them stronger or more efficient. He quickly took his over coat off, and then lifted up his muscle shirt to look at his now exposed belly. He was instantly lost in many theories about the seal itself. How it worked. It's hidden functions. The power to work it. It was all laid bare before Naruto. But he didn't understand it all.
Naruto then put his muscle shirt back on. He wasn't done memorizing it, but he knew he would get a headache from looking at it too long. So much information in one little seal. He was actually surprised when he saw that the visible part was only one SMALL portion of the actual seal. In reality... he quickly looked at his arms, and lifted up his pant legs... in reality, the seal covered his WHOLE BODY! He grabbed another of his storage scrolls again, and unsealed a small mirror. He looked at his face, and moved his head from side to side. All over his face was an intricate design that belong to the now large body seal. He noted that the place where the fox's mind and soul was ACTUALLY located on the base of his neck, and that lines flowed out from it in a sealing pattern far beyond his own abilities. He noted how the point that was on his stomach was actually the center control point, thus being the only part that was able to become visible.
He came to a conclusion just then. When he stated that he was a walking fuinjutsu, he had no idea how RIGHT that actually was! Even his hands had seal lines flowing along them.
He heard a large poof go off behind him, and the world changed back to normal as his concentration was broken now. Behind him was Jiraiya standing near a bit of lingering smoke where the toad had been.
"So," Jiraiya started as he walked back over to Naruto, "How was your first trip into the world of seals?"
"Amazing." The boy said meaning every bit of the word. He was about to go into a rave about what he had just learned when the man put his hand over the boy's mouth.
"Stop. If you're about to go into a long explanation like you mother did every time she came out of it, then there's a good chance you'll lose me. Better just to save your breath alright?" The boy nodded, and the man slowly pulled his hand away, as if afraid of the inevitable. Surprise went across the man's face as the boy didn't do what he had feared. A snore lecture. "Right then. I guess you're ready to learn more advanced seals?" The boy nodded. "Good, then I'll be giving you seals when we finally take a break tonight. It takes a while for the bloodline to actually activate, and when it does, I want you to look at those seals."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "Doesn't it activate on command?" He put his coat back on.
Jiraiya sighed, "That's one of the downsides to this bloodline. It only activates temporarily and randomly."
Naruto lifted an eyebrow. 'Weird. Why does the bloodline do that?' he asked mentally.
"No one knows why it does that. They were trying for a long time to figure out how to make it so that it could be activated by command," Jiraiya answered the unasked question.
Naruto looked down at the storage scroll. "So what's this thing you want to try out?"
Jiraiya smirked. "I heard that you can travel at super sonic speeds. I never got to see it all for myself, but how long can you travel at that speed?"
Naruto scrunched his forehead in concentration as he tried to think of how long he could hold it. "I dunno, maybe half an hour? Then I'd have to sit down and rest for a while."
Jiraiya held his hand to his mouth as he did a few mathematical calculations. "You should be able to get to anywhere in fire country within minutes at super sonic speeds, and that's what we'll need."
"What do you have planned?"
Jiraiya smirked. He pulled out another scroll and tossed it to the boy. "Here gaki, look at this."
Naruto caught it and opened it. He looked it over, and realized that it was a summoning scroll meant for a specific toad. "What do I do with this?"
"When we get to town, we'll see my contacts. Once I find out our next lead, I'll give you the town's name and location on a map that I'll provide. You'll use your super sonic speed jutsu, or whatever you call it and make it to just outside of your destination, and then channel chakra into that scroll. A toad and I will pop up once you do. This way we can cut that 7 months cold trail down in no time," Jiraiya exclaimed.
"But I've never used Taishissou(Great dash) for long distances before. And when I did use it to travel a long way back in the forest of death, I had tunnel vision. I almost turned myself into a pancake!"
Jiraiya looked confused at this. "Your father never had a problem when he used the Hiraishin."
Naruto looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"The Hiraishin was sort of a tunneling time-space seal. He would have a seal planted in a location. He would think of the location that the seal was in, and then activated both ends of the seal. I don't know how it worked other then that. But I do know he had to use his bloodline to make sure that he had enough time to calculate everything."
Naruto quirked his brows. "Huh?"
Jiraiya sighed. "Have you tried using your bloodline in minute amounts to counter the tunnel vision?"
Naruto palmed his forehead.
"Feel like an idiot now?"
"That's what Nelrim meant by using your head." Naruto mumbled. "Yeah, I got it now. It'll be cool to actually go that far in a matter of minutes."
Jiraiya nodded, though a smirk was present on his face. "Anyways, gaki," he pointed behind him, "We'll get into town. You go ahead and head over to the Serion restaurant. I'll meet up with you there in a couple hours." He pulled the big scroll to the front of him, and opened it up. He unsealed a few things from inside of it. "Here, kid. You study these. Now that you've unlocked your bloodline, you'll be able to understand these a bit easier now. Study them all, and don't use your clones for this part. You need to memorize this stuff in the order that they come in," he said as he handed two scrolls. They were marked one and two.
Naruto nodded as he took them, "I'll see you in a while then."
–
A clone of Sarutobi entered the Hokage's office. He sighed as this felt like the millionth time he had walked into this office. 'Oh well, time to get to work.'
An hour later, just as he was about to slap a big fat NO on a document that would give the council more power, he heard a knock. "Enter," he slammed the stamp onto the paper and put it to the side three individuals walked in.
In walked Chouji and Lee, the new tokubetsu chuunin, as well as an older tokubetsu chuunin named Nii Seiyu. The 14 year old girl had long blond hair and dark brown eyes just like her older sister. "You needed us, Hokage-sama," the girl asked.
"Yes, I called you here today to tell you about your responsibilities as sub-leaders of your teams," he said as he saw Seiyu light up at the chance of getting a team.
–
Sasuke's PoV
Sasuke had been dangling for the past two days now. He had fainted several times due to severe blood pressure going through his skull, and he was sure his foot had turned black... Why hadn't anyone come to look for him?
He heard a giggle go through the air. FINALLY! He was going to run that girl through with a fire technique as soon as he was let down.
"So," the girl said as she appeared in front of him again... in the EXACT same spot, "Are you ready to be polite now," she asked in a sweet tone.
Sasuke swallowed his pride, "Please let me down."
"There you go," she said as he felt himself get turned right side up and then lowered to the ground gently, "Now was that so hard?"
"Yes."
She giggled at his answer. "Now, are you ready to get the answer to your heart's question?"
He had to swallow both his pride and his bile as he thought about what he had to say, "Please tell me why Naruto is so strong," he said in a sweet voice of his own.
"Much better. I can see that the blood finally got through to your brain. Anyways," She snapped her finger, and the book she was sitting on levitated from beneath her to in front of him. The book opened up at another snap of her fingers, and a bright light consumed him.
–
Naruto was sitting at the Serion restaurant waiting for the old pervert to show up. He had already eaten his fill, and took to studying the book. Once in a while, he would activate his bloodline in a subtle manner and slowed down the world around him. He was careful not to move his own arms too fast. After sitting like that for five minutes in real time and 20 minutes in his time, he would deactivate his bloodline. All this time he would be studying his book. It was the second one named "B" as the first one was called "A" from scroll number 1. He took a peak, and saw that there was all the way up to "Y" in the first scroll and the second scroll had only 8. A-F and then S and SS with F coming first. He figured that it was rank order of seals.
He had to say, now that he knew the secret, all of these theories and ideas had become much easier to grasp. The Kanji also had become easier to understand as he figured out that they are the key to how the chakra moves. He thought of several things and ideas, but he probably should get them inspected by Jiraiya before he put them in use.
He looked up as he felt the old man's signature walk into the room. "Heya, Ero-ji-san!" He yelled out.
Half the ladies now looked at the old man in disgust. He mumbled ho he was gonna kill a certain brat slowly and painfully. "Hey, gaki. Come, let's get moving I Know where the next town to look for is."
Out side the town they stopped.
He pulled out a map that had writing on it. "Here ya go, Gaki," he pointed to a spot on the map. "This is where we are now," he pointed to another spot, "This is where you'll go. Remember, stop about a mile outside of this town called Shijou. Take out the scroll and pour chakra into it. You'll need quite a bit because you'll be summoning and another toad named Shima. She's a toad elder, which means it takes a lot of chakra to summon her. She'll be the one to actually summon me where you are."
Naruto nodded. He knew about elder's as he had taken the time to get to know them when he was training to be a sage. Though they were the fox kind. "Alright. I know about elder's somewhat from my own summoning clan. I guess I'll get ready to take off."
Jiraiya nodded, and backed up a bit. He wanted to see this jutsu full scale. It's not everyday you get to see something that literally breaks the sound barrier.
Naruto got into a stable stance that would let him be propelled forward. He put up his hands into a ram sign and yelled "KAI!" he had dropped his gravity and chakra seals all at once. He took a moment to get use to feeling lighter then usual as he brought his chakra under control once more. He started to gather the energy needed for the initial boost.
Jiraiya's eyes widened as he felt the power surge that is Naruto. He felt a large amount of the energy then be forced into dense areas on his back and legs.
"Taishissou," Naruto muttered.
To all of Jiraiya's sense, the boy just disappeared completely. The only evidence that the boy was even there was a small whip of a dust cloud where he had been just a moment ago. Jiraiya then performed a few handsigns. And summoned a small frog. "Hey, Gamakichi."
"Heya Jiraiya, whatcha need?"
"Can you tell Shima that she needs to reverse summon me now?"
"Sure thing, Jiraiya!" he then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
A few moments later, Jiraiya disappeared as well in a poof of smoke.
–
Naruto felt great.
He was using his bloodline to slow down time just a smidgen. It got rid of the tunnel vision but it still felt like he was flying through the air. He was jumping along the coast line now. The Taishissou was indeed a super sonic speed booster, but that's just the beginning. After the intial boost all Naruto only had to use just a fraction of chakra to keep it going at the same speed.
To anyone else he was just a low rumble a few seconds after he was actually there. Funny thing is, Itachi felt Naruto go right by him, and then felt and heard a low rumble that was hard to hear. He stopped, and turned around.
"What's up, Itachi?" Kisame looked at him.
Itachi kept quiet, but started to run after Naruto in the direction that the blond had just gone in.
"Seriously. Did you even talk to your mother at all?" was all Kisame said before running after him.
–
Naruto had found the town quite easily, and did as he was instructed. He had poured a lot of chakra into the scroll. After he did that, nothing happened for a moment, but he knew it was enough. He took the time to reactivate the seals on his body that he used for training. He then pulled out the book he was currently studying.
A few moments later, Naruto heard a couple of small bangs go off, and looked up. There stood Jiraiya and a small toad that looked old.
"Good job brat. You actually called us faster then we anticipated." Jiraiya said.
The toad walked up to Naruto. "So you're the one, eh? Doesn't look like much. Are you sure he's eating enough, Jiraiya-gaki?"
Jiraiya felt a stabbing pain in his wallet. "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Who are you?" Naruto asked as he bent down.
"The name's Shima, lad. It's good to meet the kid that Jiraiya has been going on about. Oh, and I see that you're a sage as well! Jiraiya why didn't you tell me you had a sage friend."
"Shima," Jiraiya said in an exasperated tone.
"So, which clan are you a sage of?" Shima asked, ignoring Jiraiya.
"Um, the kitsune clan." Naruto said.
"Oh my. Been a while since they chose a summoner for them. A long time. You must be the second ever seen! Ah, I got to go! Lunch will be burning if I don't hurry back! Bye!" She poofed out.
Naruto stared at where she was. "Weird."
"Yeah, they're all like that. But they're good souls," Jiraiya said with a smile, "Even if her cooking could kill," Jiraiya shivered for a moment. "Anyways, let's go, gaki. It'll be a few hours this time as well. Just meet at Silk's Will in two hours. It's a small shop at the south end of the city."
Naruto nodded, and the two entered the city.
–
The book closed slowly as Sasuke's eyes got used to the amount of light again. He couldn't believe what he had seen. It was just unreal what the 'dobe' had done.
Sasuke looked at the girl, "There's no way Naruto could ever get that powerful. He's just a dobe." was all the boy said before looking at the girl.
"Well, to be truthful, that time line never existed. But, if all had been as predicted, it would've been true," the girl responded, "however, I don't know which time line's Naruto is more powerful at this exact moment. The Naruto you see now, or the Naruto in this book," she said as she tapped it with a finger.
"So, may I have the Honor of asking who the lady is before me." Sasuke said. He wanted to puke, he truly truly did.
"Hehehe, no, you don't. And to answer your unasked question, no I'm not a doll, nor am I dead. My power runs on a different wavelength then what your eyes are attuned to, therefore you can't see it." She smirked. "Now, enough about me. I know you have other questions."
"Yeah, I do. Why, in that world, am I stronger then I am in reality?"
She giggled as if this was all a game to her. "Yes, that is the true question for the ages. Think, Sasuke. Use that brain of yours. What did that Sasuke have that you don't?" She asked. "I'll give you a hint. Even a little girl can see through you and find your true strength." with that she disappeared, her giggle echoing through the air.
At that moment he felt a presence appear next to him. He looked to see that it was an ANBU. "Uchiha Sasuke. You are to meet your new team in one hour at the academy. You are in team 7. Good day." with that he left.
'Team 7 again? Let's hope that I get people who can actually help me.' he said as he walked off towards the academy.
He needed to train. He needed to figure out what she meant by a little girl seeing through him.
–
Asuma let out a breath as he was finally able to release the genjutsu placed on him. He collapsed onto the bar counter he was sitting at. He weakly got up, but fell over as soon as he stood up fully. "Help!" He called out on his way down. Instantly several nin caught him before he hit the floor.
"What's wrong?" a generic chunin asked.
"Tell the Hokage, that the 'red clouds' are on the move for the ninth," was all he said before he passed out from shock.
"MEDIC!"
–
"Hokage-sama!" a chunin burst into his office yelling.
The Hokage looked up. "What is it?"
"Jounin Sarutobi Asuma collapsed from shock. He only said a few words before he passed out from shock," he said.
"What were those words," Sarutobi was worried at this point. Not much can put a jounin into shock.
"He said some thing about "the 'red clouds' are on the move for the ninth." Do you know what that means?"
The Hokage nodded. He told the chunin to report to him if any changes occurred to his son. On the outside, he was calm and collected, breathing nice and evenly. But on this inside, his mind was on overdrive. He knew this would make trouble for the boss. He created a shadow clone, and then dispelled it to tell his boss.
–
Sarutobi stopped in mid-swing as he received the knowledge the dispelled clone gave. His fist was exactly one inch away from the dummies face in his own private training grounds.
One word escaped his mouth. "Shit."
He dashed into the house to get his Hokage robes on and then made a beeline for the exit to the hokage's valley.
–
The double doors burst wide open as he ran into the hospital full tilt. He went right by the receptionist desk and into the personal wing for certain ninjas.
He slowed as he made it the room designated for the Sarutobi family. He opened the door quietly as he walked in. On the bed was his boy. He walked up to check the body with his senses and sighed in relief as it didn't seem that his son's life was in danger. He knew full well that a ninja's life was full of hazards. He just wanted at least ONE of his kid's to outlive him and have a family.
A nurse walked in a moment later and was startled by the sight of the Hokage being in the room. "Hokage-sama." was all she said and then went to work on the machines designated for him. "We did the preliminary check on him. All vitals are normal, and there is no poison in his blood. Blood flow is unrestricted, and he seems to be just fine."
"So why is he in shock?" the old man asked.
"We don't know," she replied, and then she left the room.
He was quiet for a moment. He motioned to one of the corners in the room. An ANBU bowed as he disengaged his cloak. "Bring me Yamanaka Inoichi. Priority 2."
"Hah!" the ANBU said and disappeared.
A few minutes later, Inoichi came into the room along with the ANBU. "You called, Hokage-sama?"
"Can you do a full mental scan on Asuma here," he asked. It was for the safety of the village. He can do this.
The blond man nodded, and moved to the downed man's side. He did a few quick handsigns, and put his hand on the forehead.
The old man waited patiently for the Yamanaka to finish. An hour later the Yamanka came out of it. "Well," he swallowed, "He's going to be alright, but he'll be in a coma for a few days," got up and wiped the sweat from his brow. "He came into contact with one Uchiha Itachi who used a Sharingan technique called Tsukuyomi. There he was tortured for information, and Asuma just muttered that Naruto had left the village. After that, he was placed into a high A-ranked Genjutsu that took him four hours to undo. The stress on his mind sent him into a coma to hopefully repair the damage done to him," The clan head stated.
"Is that all?" He asked.
"Itachi was traveling with a strange person, but I couldn't see much. Just blue skin and a large object on his back. Other then that, I can't get anything else out of him."
Hiruzen nodded. "All information that you gathered from his mind is an S-ranked secret. Please do not indulge that out."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," he nodded, "As always."
"Then you are free to go. Thank you, Inoichi."
The Yamanaka left the room as the Hokage looked over his son. With him out of danger the Hokage's mind was now trying to figure out what to do for Naruto's safety. He may be strong, but not strong enough to fight an S-ranked missing nin and an unknown partner despite having Jiraiya at his side. He left the and told the nurse at the receptionist desk to tell him if any changes occur to his son immediately.
With that he walked out the front door to the hospital. He narrowed his eyes on the actions he could take. All of his squad ANBU were out for missions or were not in the shape he required for this sort of mission. He needed something more along the lines of a shadow. He took off to the private residence district.
Halfway across the village later, The Hokage stopped in front of a small but roomy home. He just stood there for a few minutes, and then spoke, "In times of need, you said I should call you, my old teammate."
"Indeed I did, Sarutobi," a voice called back as Shimura Danzo walked out of the shadows of a tree right by his house.
The Hokage made three signs, and then channeled his chakra. The two were now surrounded by nothing but pitch black darkness. Danzo did not look surprised by this action. "It's been a long time, since we discussed using this old Genjutsu. We talked all the time using this thing. By my account, you are still the only one able to do it. How, I don't know."
"As I said every time, it's an old Sarutobi secret. Now, I need the use of the roots of Konoha."
Danzo's one eye narrowed.
"Oh don't act surprised that I know this, Danzo. I used to always beat you at strategy games. You didn't think I would just let go of a program that worked, did you? I don't agree with the morals of this system, but I do agree to keeping this village safe. With that in mind, I made my moves as such to make sure that you still existed, but your presence was minimal. You trained your soldiers better instead of going for quality. It also gave you the boost of a lifetime making people believe that ROOT is gone so you could work more easily from the shadows." The Hokage explained.
Danzo just sighed. "Why I was never able to beat you, I don't know. It's so infuriating to always lose to the monkey."
The Hokage chuckled, "Yes, but I didn't call you here to explain my moves nor to talk about the past. I called you here because I need your help keeping the nine tailed fox out of enemy hands. And more importantly, one of the strongest ninja of the next generation alive."
Danzo looked on, "What do you mean? You sent him off with Jiraiya correct?"
"Yes, but it looks likes there was a player that moved out of turn. The Akatsuki."
Danzo's eye stared straight. "Are you saying that they have already made their move? I was led to believe they would be quiet for a few more years."
"As was I, but my son just had an encounter with two of them today," Sarutobi said.
"I was wondering what could put a jounin into a hospital," he said.
Sarutobi nodded, "Yes, and now the part where I ask for your assistance. I want you to send a small squad that has high amounts of stealth and speed. They will need it to catch up and intercept Itachi."
Danzo's eye winces, "Is Itachi still in on your plans?"
"Yes, but for all accounts and purposes, he must still act the predator as he has a member with him at all times. One who I don't know. Intercept him and make him back off. This is something that I can't do due to political standards. That is why I had you hide. So that you could take the missions that would otherwise ruin us," Sarutobi said.
"And why would the capture of one Namikaze Naruto be something that would be a danger to the village?" Danzo, always one for facts.
"From what I know, the Akatsuki want Naruto for something. What that is, I don't know exactly. All I do now is that something that requires all of the spirits then it would have a devastating effect on the village. Possibly wiping out all of the hidden villages at once," Sarutobi said.
"I'll do it on one term," said Danzo slowly.
"And that is?"
"Change the the patrol squad's route three degrees north at sector 73."
"You will guard this slight change, correct?" Saurtobi narrowed his eyes. The task he asked would leave a big enough gap for enemies to get through the defenses. Too big in his mind.
"Yes, it will also allow more freedom for my squads. I will have my own patrol set up there to block the hole through the ground."
"Alright. I do this in hopes that the leaves and the roots may still work together, even if it is secretly," Sarutobi held out his hand.
"Agreed," Danzo took his hand, and the genjutsu was released as both parties disappeared.
In reality, only a few seconds had passed by as this conversation took place. To any outsider, it would look like the Hokage and Danzo just met, shook hands and left under the afternoon sun.
–
Naruto had spent the time he could at a nice looking tree to study under. He was coming to conclusions he long discarded as impossible. He looked long and hard at the book in his hand. Could he really do that? Would it be possible? He would need to learn more seals.
He looked up at the time. He was a five minute walk from that strange Silk's Will place. Silk wasn't sold there, but lots of ladies went in and out of it for some reason. He shrugged. Adults are weird.
He got up, and brushed the back of his coat off as he walked over to the store. Jiraiya stood in font of it. "Good, right on time, gaki. We have the next location."
–
TBC...
Well that's it for now, folks. Read, worship the log, and review.
…
Yea, I got nothing really witty to say... Brain's technically fried due to damn essays I have to write.