Chapter 17 – Kyuubi? Kyuubi who?
Naruto woke and felt an empty feeling, quite a bit different than being hungry, as if he was missing something. He also noticed a pain, a pain where the seal for the Kyuubi was. He tried to move but both of his arms were pinned down. He opened his eyes slowly as he felt a breeze touch his face. At first he saw Katara and Sokka as they sat in the front of the saddle for Appa. Naruto looked left to find a familiar mop of dark blue hair, Naruto smiled as he looked to his right and was surprised to find a second mop of hair, red hair. The really surprising thing was the set of ears on top of the head, dog or fox-like. 'Wait, dog or fox-like ears. Did we pick up someone along the way that's this different? Hey you damn fox wake up!' Naruto thought inwardly. The ears twitched at his thoughts and the person groaned. Naruto then groaned inwardly, 'Great I have a guy with fox ears laying on me.'
"Did you say something Naruto-kun?" A definitely female voice came from the direction of the red hair.
"Naruto-kun? Just who are you?" Naruto asked as Katara and Sokka turned to greet their friend.
"So you have returned to the land of the living? We were worried for you there, Naruto," Sokka stated happily.
Naruto looked back down to the female that sat up and looked at him with red eyes that had slits for pupils. "I have no idea who I am. I only know you Naruto-kun, and Hinata-oneesan. I'm sorry," The girl responded in a dejected tone.
"Best we could figure is that she is Kyuubi, because there was a bright flash of red light that exited you and went through Hinata. It bounced off the barrier that Haibi and Aang erected. Then she appeared next to you. All three of you were naked as the day you were born," Sokka sighed. "I'm sorry for looking at Hinata while she was naked." Sokka admitted, and then added. "You both have scars on your stomachs, though."
Naruto's anger rose. "You looked at my wife naked?"he growled angrily.
"Hey take it easy there, Naruto! All of you had your clothes blown off! We had to dress you ourselves! Katara even saw you naked, so there! I'm sure that Hinata wouldn't be happy about that but there was nothing we could do, since Aang said we needed to get to the fire temple to meet former Avatar Roku!" Sokka replied in his defense as Katara blushed.
Naruto sighed in recognition. "Okay you're forgiven for now, but how did Kyuubi get out?" Naruto asked as he looked at the new girl.
"I'm Kyuubi? What a strange name," the girl said.
Naruto then noticed a pair of tails that wagged behind her. "Ah man! She has tails, too!" Naruto groaned as he slapped his forehead in annoyance.
"Don't you have a tail, Naruto-kun?" Kyuubi asked.
"Ah man. How am I supposed to get mad at someone so cute when she has no memory of how she affected my life?" Naruto asked nobody in particular.
Naruto lifted his hand and began to form a Rasengan, it quickly formed with fewer problems that he had before. "Wow that was easy!" Naruto exclaimed as he released the jutsu.
"What was that Naruto-kun?" Kyuubi asked.
Naruto laughed. "It was a Rasengan, a jutsu that my father made. I have never been able to do that before. Guess not having you inside of me has its perks!" Naruto commented as Kyuubi looked at him with a confused look on her face.
"Why would I be inside of you, Naruto-kun?" Kyuubi asked.
Naruto sighed. "It's a long story and apparently, you have no memory. The first thing we need to do is figure out a way to hide your tails and ears so that they don't call attention to you. I'm sure the red hair will be enough to do that," Naruto admitted.
Hinata groaned as her hand moved to her stomach. "Naruto-kun, are you all right?" she asked. She had not even opened her eyes but grimaced as she tried to sit up.
Naruto looked at Sokka and pointed at his pack. "Get me the medical jutsu scroll out of my pack," Naruto ordered as Sokka returned with the requested scroll. "Good thing I studied anatomy with you just in case I could get my chakra under control," Naruto said, then opened up the scroll and found what he was looking for. His hand flashed through several hand seals. His hand was surrounded by green chakra and he moved his hand over Hinata. "Hm… your chakra system has had a shock and is almost healed from being stretched. No chakra exhaustion, but you are suffering from mild mental strain as far as I can figure. It looks like you have scarring on your stomach, but other than that you're in good health," Naruto explained, then moved his hand over his body, a surprised look crossed his face. Then he explained his concern. "I have scarring at the site of the seal. This isn't good."
"What does that mean, Naruto-kun?" Kyuubi asked.
Naruto lifted his shirt showing burnt skin in the outline of a seal. "This is what I mean. Now will you let me scan you?" Naruto asked almost expecting Kyuubi to refuse.
"Yes, please Naruto-kun!" Kyuubi replied excitedly. Naruto began by moving his hand over her head and she quickly began to giggle. "That tickles!" Kyuubi exclaimed as she tried to keep still.
Naruto smirked. "Hinata-chan, can you take a look at her chakra coils?" Naruto asked as Hinata swallowed a pill to help alleviate the pain from a headache she had.
Hinata engaged her Byakugan and looked at the new girl. To Hinata's surprise, the Kyuubi's chakra network was even larger than Naruto's, and it extended into her tails. The chakra was red instead of the familiar blue of most people. She could also tell the chakra affinity of a person as they used jutsu. White-blue usually signified wind chakra, deep blue was for water, brown for earth, a yellowish-blue would be for lightning and a light red for fire. This girl's chakra, however, was a red-orange similar to when Naruto accessed the Kyuubi's chakra. "Naruto-kun, I think she really is the Kyuubi. Her chakra network is even larger than yours, and she has more chakra points than you do. Her chakra is also the color of Kyuubi's. Other than that, I see no injuries. She does have an unusual skull because her ears and ear bones are located near the top of her skull. The tails are connected to her chakra network and the bones in her spine and tails are set in such a way as to not impede her from lying on her back," Hinata clinically reported her findings.
Naruto nodded as he heard the information. "She is suffering from fatigue caused by her chakra coils going through quick expansion. The thing I can't understand is why am I getting a reading that she is both thousands of years old and only a few days old?" Naruto pondered out loud.
Aang spoke up at this point. "It might have to do with her being the Kyuubi being born of flesh or something like that," Aang stated boldly.
Naruto disengaged the jutsu and wore a frustrated look on his face. "I don't understand it. My control is better than it has ever been, but I also feel that my reserves are a lot greater than they used to be," Naruto proclaimed as he scratched his head.
Katara just sighed at all this information she was hearing. "Why don't we try to figure things out by asking her?" Katara suggested as she turned to Kyuubi. "Do you know what your name is?"
The girl shook her head. "All I know is Naruto-kun, and Hinata-oneesan." Kyuubi answered.
Hinata looked at Kyuubi, confused. "Why are you calling me sister?" She asked.
Kyuubi just shrugged. "It was that or okaasan," Kyuubi answered happily.
Hinata blushed at being called mother. 'That would mean either she was produced from her and Naruto or…' Hinata cut off that train of thought as she wasn't sure she wanted to go there at least not yet. "We need a name for her other and Kyuubi, if we ever get back it would be too evident and she would be attacked," Hinata stated as Kyuubi looked at her confused.
Naruto shouted out his frustration. "Ah! Why do weird things always happen to me?" Naruto complained.
Hinata cupped his face and kissed him gently. "You just attract it, Naruto-kun," Hinata answered with a smile.
Kyuubi looked at this interaction with a confused look on her face. She then cupped Naruto's face and kissed him full on the lips as everyone watched and gaped at this. She finished the kiss and looked at Hinata. "I don't see why you did that to Naruto-kun. It was pleasant, yes, but I didn't experience the pleasure that you appear to gain from it," Kyuubi stated, then turned to Naruto and asked, "Did you enjoy my kiss as much as you enjoyed Hinata-oneesan's, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto looked at Kyuubi and didn't know how to answer the question. Sure, it was a kiss but it wasn't as good as kissing Hinata, but it wasn't as terrible as kissing Sasuke, either. Naruto sighed. "No, it wasn't as good as kissing Hinata-chan. I'm sorry I just love Hinata-chan and so I don't have those feelings towards you." Naruto answered.
Kyuubi smiled and nodded. "Good, I know I don't love you, like, yes, love no. I don't know many other things though." Kyuubi stated sadly.
Sokka moved closer to Kyuubi and looked her in the eyes. "Naruto, she has those eyes you get when you're really mad," Sokka explained.
Naruto looked directly at Sokka who flinched at the sight of Naruto's eyes. Naruto's eyes were still blue but instead of round pupils they appeared to be similar to when he went feral using the Kyuubi's chakra. "Well that is understandable. She is the Kyuubi in human form. What? Why are you staring at me Sokka?" Naruto asked, and then looked around as Katara gasped.
Hinata looked at his eyes and smiled. "Naruto-kun, your eyes, they've changed," Hinata came closer to Naruto so he could look at her eyes.
Naruto looked deeply into her eyes. "Yours have changed too! Looks like Kyuubi escaping from the seal caused more than just chakra increases in our bodies. How is your control, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked with concern laced in his voice.
Hinata began a Rasengan in her hand. The ball of chakra initially formed, but she had to put her other hand on top of the ball to help stabilize it, and it took several minutes to complete the jutsu. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. My control has gone down," Hinata apologized as Naruto embraced her in a hug.
Kyuubi moved over to Sokka and attempted to imitate what Naruto was doing to Hinata but Sokka kept on pulling away. "Hey, what are you doing? I don't need comforting." Sokka exclaimed.
Tears appeared in Kyuubi's eyes. Sokka sighed and allowed her to 'comfort' him, much to his chagrin. "Is that better, Sokka?" Kyuubi asked in an attempted comforting tone.
Sokka rolled his eyes as Katara and Aang laughed at his plight. "Yes… much better," Sokka sarcastically retorted.
Naruto's eyes lit up. "How about we call her Akemi?" Naruto asked, and then looked at Kyuubi who smiled and nodded to the name. Naruto grinned, and said, "Okay Akemi it is!"
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The trip to the Fire Temple took the group to several islands to make sure that Appa had enough food to last him. Hinata and Naruto began to train Akemi in chakra use and control. She was a natural which surprised everyone. She learned Naruto's form of transformation but she also appeared be excellent at genjutsu. Naruto made a guess that since she was a fox, she was a natural trickster, and thus might be naturally inclined to that type of jutsu. Naruto also got into working on his sealing training again as he had gotten a couple new books from Jiraiya. Naruto and Hinata didn't know what to do with the other book they received, which was a copy of 'Icha-Icha Paradise'. The sealing book they could deal with but not Kakashi's porn.
It took a week to reach their destination. Appa landed on the island about a mile away from the temple. The group moved quietly and carefully to the temple. They used chakra to walk up the walls and find the chamber they needed to get into. Naruto changed into a copy of Momo and then did a switch with Aang so that he could go into the chamber and talk to Roku. Naruto then guided the rest of the group back down to the entrance. Naruto transformed into Aang and smiled and smiled at his little trick.
Naruto walked into the main entrance and yelled, "Hey, the Avatar is here and needs guidance to the chamber so I can contact Avatar Roku!" Naruto smiled as Katara and Sokka cringed. "Think that should buy him enough time?" Naruto asked Katara as he winked at Hinata who hid with Akemi just outside the temple.
"Remind me why Katara and I are here with you," Sokka asked.
"Do you think they would chase after me alone? Also, who is going to keep Akemi entertained and out of trouble so Aang can talk to Roku?" Naruto countered.
"You do have a point. It sounds like company is coming. I suggest we run left when they start throwing fireballs," Sokka suggested with a meek smile.
Four fire temple priests came running along with a dozen guards. The lead priest stepped forward. "Halt, surrender yourself to the deference of the Fire Lord," the man stated in a pompous voice.
Naruto shook his head. "Nope, I thought you guys were here to help the Avatar. I guess you guys have failed your test of loyalty to me," Naruto stated.
"We are loyal to the Fire Lord," The man answered.
"Then you should be soldiers for the Fire Lord not temple priests. Your loyalty should be to the Avatar," Naruto retorted.
"Why should we be loyal to the Avatar? He hasn't been around for over a hundred years," The man countered.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and blushed. "Yeah, sorry about that, I sort of got held up, literally," he retorted as he continued to play his part.
"Enough of this chatter, capture the Avatar!" The man exclaimed as he threw a fireball at Naruto.
Naruto used airbending to avert the fireball to their right as the three ran left. Naruto stuck his tongue out as he ran away. The guards threw more fireballs at the fleeing teens. "Keep running, if you find any stairs take them!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Don't let them escape or get to the temple sanctuary!" The head priest yelled as all of the Fire Nation priests and soldiers chased after Naruto, Sokka, and Katara, thinking they were after Aang and his friends.
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Hinata watched Akemi begin to squirm as Naruto and the others were attacked. "That looks like fun. Can I go and play too?" Akemi asked.
Hinata just shook her head at Akemi's question. "No, Akemi-chan, you may not. Naruto-kun knows what needs to be done and doesn't want you to get hurt in your first fight," Hinata explained.
"But oneesan…." Akemi whined.
Hinata took a stern visage. "I said no, and I meant no. Now stay here and work on your chakra exercises," she ordered.
Akemi became frustrated. "Why does Naruto-kun get to have all the fun?" Akemi whined.
"What you think of as fun is actually dangerous and we do not want you to get hurt. Jeez, sometimes I think you have a worse attention span than Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered to herself.
"What was that oneesan?" Akemi asked with a smirk.
Hinata blushed embarrassment. "Nothing Akemi-chan," she stammered.
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Naruto missed a turn as he didn't pay attention to where Sokka and Katara had turned and found himself stuck in a dead end hallway. Naruto turned around only to find six Fire Nation soldiers slowly moving towards him. Naruto rolled his eyes, "Can't we talk about this?"
The soldiers shook their heads. "No. We have orders to take you in dead or alive Avatar. Preferably dead," one of the soldiers answered.
Naruto sighed. "I was afraid you were going to say that," Naruto stated as he gathered chakra and moved through a single kata, sending a huge blast of air down the corridor. This blast of air sent the soldiers flying into the wall at the end of the corridor. All of them slumped after falling to the ground. "I did ask if we could talk it over. Oh well," Naruto lectured to the unconscious soldiers, before he ran off in another direction.
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Katara and Sokka had found a staircase and hid behind the stairs as guards and priests ran by, some took the stairs, while the others continued on the same level.
Sokka looked at Katara with a worried look. "Now that we have lost them, we have also lost Naruto. What do we do now?" Sokka questioned his sister.
"He can take care of himself. He is a ninja after all," Katara answered.
Sokka shook his head. "He isn't the one I'm worried about. He has more combat experience than the two of us combined, and if we get in trouble, who will bail us out? He can always create more of himself!" Sokka ranted in a depressed tone, but suddenly his face lit up.
"Should I be afraid or happy with you looking like that?" Katara asked her brother nervously.
Sokka smiled broadly, almost reminiscent of a certain blonde, "We just need to distract them, right?" Sokka asked as he formed his hands into a seal. "Clone jutsu," Sokka whispered as a clone appeared and ran off towards the other hall.
A cry rang out, "There's one of them! Get him!" Suddenly three soldiers and two priests ran after the clone.
"That should distract them for a little bit. Let's find Naruto," Sokka stated as he grabbed his sister's hand and ran the other direction from the Fire Nation buffoons.
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"I really need to get a supply of ninja wire or have Ero-sennin send me more. I go through too much with some of these engagements and I can't replace it!" Naruto complained to no one in particular as he left another half dozen Fire Nation soldiers unconscious in the halls, but this time he tied them up to prevent them from following him anytime soon. Naruto turned the corner and saw two figures and set himself into a defensive stance only to notice one taking a waterbender stance. "Katara, Sokka, am I glad to see you guys."
Sokka smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "Where have you been? We have been looking all over the place for you!" Sokka asked expecting a quick answer.
Naruto shook his head as he began to answer. "There must be like fifty soldiers in this place. They have the upper levels locked down tight and I'm not sure we can get up there," Naruto stated as he quickly turned to a bowing Fire Temple priest.
"Then allow me to help guide you, Avatar," the priest stated humbly, and then explained. "My father and his father were loyal priests and do not like the way the others follow the Fire Lord blindly. It would be my honor to lead you to the chamber, but we have little time, so follow me and do not make a sound," the priest stated as he pulled a torch holder down to reveal a hidden passage. The four entered the passage to find the area was much hotter than the hallway. "This is the lava that keeps the temple warm in winter. The temple is riddled with secret passages that only those loyal to the Avatar know about. Come with me up to the top floor." The priest said in a helpful tone.
The man led them to a stairwell that ran up several floors and ended up in the antechamber to the main chamber for the Avatar. There was only one problem, four priests and several guards were standing outside of the door only to be complaining that they could not open the door until after the Avatar talked to Roku. The priest looked at Naruto only to see him change back to himself. "Hi, we were running interference for Aang, but thanks for helping us get here to help him, I would suggest that you go hide and leave the rest up to us," Naruto suggested as the priest just nodded and returned to the stairs and slipped away. "I will have to remember him when we come back after freeing the Fire Nation," Naruto stated to no one in particular.
A bright light began to push the door open, and the fire priests and guards prepare to fire at Aang. Suddenly, all of them were uprooted by a blast of air from the side and then a blast of air from the doorway, throwing them against the wall. A white silhouette of Avatar Roku was standing in the doorway. "I'm disappointed in you. You have betrayed the Avatar and such you are no longer trusted. The Avatar is not for one nation, nor are the priests. They are for maintaining the balance and you have disrupted that balance. For that you will pay the price!" Roku said, then raised his hands and the fire Nation goons screamed as their hands were burnt. "You will never bend again," Roku proclaimed as the light slowly faded to reveal a tired looking Aang.
Katara was there to catch him as he fell over from exhaustion. "Did you get the information you needed?" Katara asked as Aang nodded.
"Hate to spoil the party but we have to go. I could take them all on but we want as little fanfare as possible so we can be on our way. Okay out the window!" Naruto shouted as he jumped out the window.
Sokka looked at Katara and shrugged as he too jumped out the window. Katara set Aang on the windowsill only to have him pulled up as she climbed out the window. Naruto held Aang as they climbed the walls. When they reached the top they found Hinata, Akemi, Momo, and Appa on the roof ready to leave. As soon as they all were aboard, Appa took off and headed towards the Earth kingdom.
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Akemi slept on the side of the saddle with her tails wrapped around her. Sokka watched in morbid or at least weird fascination at the girl. "How can she do that?" he asked curiously.
"She has tails," Aang answered in a cheery voice.
"No, that isn't what I mean, but that is interesting too. No, what I'm talking about is sleeping without having any memory of who you are," Sokka stated in a confused tone.
"Well you can either worry yourself to death or just deal with it, I think she is just dealing with it because she doesn't know where to start asking the questions," Naruto stated as if knowing.
Hinata smiled warmly at the girl. "She is doing her best with a trying situation. She doesn't know what is going on other than she knows Naruto-kun and myself. I know she isn't lying I could tell from how she was holding herself!" Hinata proclaimed.
"How do you know that?" Sokka asked.
Hinata pointed to her eyes. "The Hyuuga have prided themselves on these eyes. For years we have been able to see the subtle things, especially if someone is lying to us," Hinata stated emphatically.
"But she isn't even human." Sokka states as he pointed with both of his hand.
Hinata and Naruto's faces became dark. "She is as human as we are. She just has some accessories," Naruto stated in an angry tone.
Sokka swallowed hard as he knew he would lose this argument, and he put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, you win. I apologize for my statement," Sokka replied with a sigh.
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Azula was not pleased, not pleased at all. She had made best time to get to the Fire Temple but was beaten by both her brother, who had already come and left, and by the Avatar and his party. She now was looking down on the fire priests with anger in her eyes. "You mean to tell me that the Avatar and his party were able to fool all of you? A company of a hundred soldiers and a dozen or so priests?" Azula asked and raised her hand to stop any answers from those who prostrated themselves before her, and muttered. "I don't want to hear it. You can send your apologies to my father for failing him."
"Yes princess." The head priest whimpered out as Azula turned and walked out of the temple.
Azula looked at her bodyguard. "Remind me why no one has captured the Avatar, yet?" she asked.
"The Avatar has seemed to have gotten a very strong ally. He has decimated several companies of full benders all by himself," The man answered quickly.
"And do we have any description of this ally?" Azula questioned.
"Yes. The Avatar is accompanied by two teens from the water tribes, and another couple from places unknown. The male has golden hair and is quite powerful. He is the one who keeps on taking down our troops. Only a few have died from his attacks. The other is said to be blind girl who can disable anybody who gets close to her. As a team they appear unbeatable. Latest intelligence comes from your brother in that the boy is also an airbender like the Avatar," The man reported.
Azula nodded the man's report. "So we will head back home to pick up a couple of people I will need to help us with this hunt," Azula stated with an evil smile on her face.
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A/N: Well here is the latest chapter, hope you liked it. I know I seem to be in a filler mood but next chapter will be 'Play with fire and you WILL get burned…' And, yes, Aang will burn Katara, so don't ask… I'm following cannon for Avatar as a guide, as it is a really good story on its own. I will be working with cannon as I see fit and changing what I like. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.