Chapter 2
"Normal Conversation"
"Kyuubi or Summon Talking"
: Naruto Mentally Conversing with Kyuubi :
: Kyuubi Mentally Conversing with Naruto :
'Normal thoughts'
'Kyuubi's thoughts'
'Jutsu'
Disclaimer! I am not saying it again
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The sun had risen long ago, now high in the sky. The sky was amazingly clear and its light blue color lulled the blonde Shinobi, who was currently 'celebrating' his birthday, to sleep. He sighed contentedly as he lay on the soft grassy clearing, that he and Kyuubi had found earlier, his head pillowed against a soft furry 'cushion'.
Said 'cushion' turned his head towards the boy and nuzzled his cheek.
"This was really a good idea, Kyuu…" He told the fox as he continued to watch the clear, unreachable sky.
"I know," The Queen of Demons' reply was laced with smugness that was easily noticed by the young Shinobi with her.
"Aren't we modest today?" Sarcasm was clear in Naruto's voice as he looked at the fox's head out of the corner of his eyes.
"Always," The both laughed for a few good minutes before Naruto sighed contentedly once again.
He looked at the sky once more before he closed his eyes and began to take a nap while Kyuubi remained awake as a look out. Before Naruto was completely sucked into the world of dreams though, he had one lucid thought.
'Today's going to be a good day…'
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'Today's a complete and utter catastrophe…' The Godaime Hokage thought as she waited for a certain someone to arrive in her office.
The villagers were currently celebrating thinking that the 'Kyuubi-brat' had gone and killed himself or finally left the village for good. However, the aging Hokage and her guests were worried to the core. Well, not all of them…
"You checked his apartment, the training fields, the bridge, the Hokage monument and the ramen stand and still, there was no sign of him?" She asked the group in front of her. The answer was positive. Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temple.
In any case, if they didn't find the said brat, Tsunade might just send some of her best ANBU to look for him.
'Where on earth is that boy?!' Was the collective thought before there was a resounding knock on the door.
"Enter," A brown haired, brown-eyed Chuunin with a scar bisected nose appeared in the doorway.
"Where is he?!" Tsunade immediately questioned said Chuunin before he could even close the door.
"Who?" Was the answer/question. "Naruto?"
"Yes! Naruto! The blonde haired blue-eyed brat of a Genin that didn't come barging into my office; didn't show up for training and can't be located in any of his usual hang-outs! Where is he? Have you seen him?" Tsunade's voice was now laced with concern that she had been suppressing since they began their search for the blonde boy.
Iruka's face became thoughtful for a minute before he blinked and looked at all of the occupants of the room. "I haven't seen him today but I think I know where he is…"
"Would you care to enlighten us?" A certain silver-haired lazy porn loving Jounin asked the Chuunin, his face covered by his beloved novel.
… "No," Iruka immediately sensed danger thus, high-tailed out of the office, via Shunshin.
"UMINO IRUKA! GET YOUR ASS BACK IN THIS OFFICE THIS INSTANT!!!" The entire village looked towards the Hokage Tower before they all returned to their daily tasks, some of them shivering as they knew that their Kage was pissed. Extremely pissed…'Poor Iruka-sensi' was the collective thought, some making a mental note to add there prayers that day.
The man in question, however, ignored this and continued with what he was doing. He knew where Naruto had gone and he knew that he would return when he wanted to or when he was ready. And when he did come back, Iruka would be there waiting with a smile and a gift.
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"UMINO IRUKA! GET YOUR ASS BACK IN THIS OFFICE THIS INSTANT!!!" The yell had managed to penetrate the blankness of his mind.
'Someone brave, or stupide managed to piss off Tsunade…' He though as he forced his eyes open. 'Glad I'm not him… or her…'
He rolled onto his back and yelled out in pain as it shot throughout his body almost enough to make him pass out again. He may have gotten out of his 'prison' but; he would not be able to move due to the stress that his body had received and even if he was able to talk, no one would hear him.
He focused his eyes on the ceiling and immediately recognized it. There was no way he would forget that ceiling after all, he was in his house. Then, realization hit him. Hard.
He was alone. Kushina had died giving birth to their son, minutes before the sealing occurred. Depression seeped into his heart and mind although it was almost immediately destroyed as he remembered something else.
'Naruto!' That name brought him out of his reverie. He certainly didn't have time to mourn for something he cannot change; instead, he had to find his son!
However, when he attempted to move, his body protested and was again racked with pain. He wouldn't be able to move for a while yet and he really wanted to see his son already. Oh well… Sarutobi could just take care of the boy, but still… 'Ugh! I won't be able to do anything in this condition!'
He had to rest if he wanted to move about and look for his son and then, no one and nothing would stand in his way. Not even a Kage would be able to take away his right to his son… He smiled as he closed his eyes finally giving in to sleep.
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"Kit, time to go home…" Kyuubi spoke as she packed the last of their materials since she had already begun prior. Naruto, on the other hand, looked at the sky, only to find out that the sun was just about to set.
"But Kyuu," Naruto remonstrated, stretching his muscles as he did so. "What if one of those idiot villagers decides to come tonight,"
"Idiot," Kyuubi chided the blonde teen. "Have you forgotten that we will be staying with your foster father on nights like this?"
Naruto sweat dropped as Kyuubi finally finished her task. "Right… I forgot about that… Iruka-youfu did say something about having a place for me there…" [1]
Kyuubi sighed as she rubbed her temple. "Are your sure that that idiot thing is just an act? Sometimes, you act like it's real…"
Naruto laughed as Kyuubi watched him in silence. As mentioned previously, Naruto had never been and will never be an idiot. Everything he did in front of the crowd was just an act. A mask of deception… A façade to protect him from the small minded fools that called themselves villagers…
In reality, a racity that only a handful of people knew, he was more than they thought. He was a prodigy close to Shikamaru's level or a little higher. At first, Sandaime was the only one who knew of this until he decided to tell Iruka since the Chunin was like a father to him.
Now, even Jiraiya and Tsunade know. Jiraiya had been told by Naruto during their training trip and Tsunade having been told by Jiraiya with the teen's permission since, and I quote:
"I would personally torture and kill you if you hide something of importance to me. You got that, you two?"
The advantage of having some people know of this was that he didn't have to act like a fool in their presence unless there was someone else there. However, it also had a disadvantage since they all kept urging him to tell his friends about it.
Thoughts of his friends led to his team which specifically led to Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto had managed to drag him back to Konoha, shortly after his return with Jiraiya. Also, with Jiraiya's help, he had managed to remove both Sasuke's and Anko's curse mark also thanks to the Fuuin lessons he had received from the Toad Sannin and the notes that were left for him by his father.
'Now, all we have to do is to wait for the backlash from Hebi-teme…' [2]Naruto immediately shook that thought aside and looked at Kyuubi who was still watching him. He wouldn't dare ruin this perfect day with such trivial thoughts.
"Alright Kyuu, let's go back…"
The fox return to the seal and remained there. After all, if anyone saw her, they would freak out and cause a large riot. Naruto began trekking back to the village, heading straight for his foster father's apartment.
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Knock, knock
"Coming," A cheerful voice came from the other side of the door. A few minutes later and some shuffling from inside, the door opened revealing Iruka, who currently had a smile on his face like Cheshire cat's.
"Good evening Naruto," Iruka greeted, stepping out of his apartment, "Had a good day?"
"Yup!" Naruto nodded as he grinned. "Kyuu got me to go swimming, race her and have a picnic outside of Konoha's borders!"
"Well… That's… good to hear then… So, how about we go and get a bite to eat?" Iruka asked the teen although he briefly wondered if he had heard Naruto right earlier. After all, it wasn't like the Kyuubi to ask Naruto to do those things with her. It was almost as though she was the one who had asked him to have FUN.
In any case, as soon as the word 'eat' left his mouth, a shout of glee and ramen was heard. Iruka chuckled and ruffled his foster son's hair as they both began walking towards the ramen stand.
"Hey! Not the hair! You're messing it all up!" Naruto whined as he attempted to 'fix' his hair.
"It's already as messy as it can get, Naruto…" Iruka replied as he continued to chuckle at Naruto's 'predicament'.
A few good minutes of walking later, they arrived at Ichiraku ramen bar. As soon as they entered the stand, they saw Teuchi, the ramen stand owner and his daughter, Ayame, waiting for them.
"Two bowls for my best customers." Teuchi revealed two steaming bowls waiting to be eaten. "On the house,"
"Thank you very much!" Both 'father and son' replied before taking a seat and digging in.
…
"Happy Birthday, Naruto-kun…" Ayame greeted as she gave Naruto his fourth bowl.
"Thanks, Ayame-nee-chan!" [3] Naruto gave her one of his real grins and dug into his bowl of steaming hot ramen.
…
A few more minutes, close to half an hour, and twelve bowls of ramen later, Naruto and Iruka were ready to go. They were about to leave the stand when they were stopped by Teuchi.
"Here," Teuchi handed Naruto a blue wrapped box tied with a light orange bow.
Naruto blinked and looked at the gift before he looked back at the ramen stand owner. "Thanks!"
Opening the gift carefully, he was greeted by a stack of ramen coupons and an outfit. It was a deep blue shirt with a golden dragon embroidered on the front and the Kanji for courage embroidered on the back of the shirt in gold. The pair pants were ANBU styled with fiery blue flames at the bottom.
Naruto handed to box to Iruka to hold on to for a while and hugged Teuchi and Ayame. They all shared a short laugh before it was really time for them to head home. The ramen bar owner ruffled Naruto's hair before they entered back the stand after biding the two goodbye.
…
When they reached Iruka's apartment, Iruka led Naruto to the couch and had him sit down.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked as his foster father headed to his room.
"Just sit there and wait," Iruka replied. Shuffling was heard coming from the room and a few more minutes later, Iruka reappeared holding a small box.
Handing the box to Naruto, Iruka sat down and watched as Naruto's expression turned from curiosity to shock, after he had opened the box. Inside was a piece of jewelry of some sort. A gold and blue arm band to be exact…
Naruto looked at his foster father in shock and back at his gift then back again.
"This has been in my family for years. It's like a family heirloom now. And by the way, the gems are sapphire." Iruka looked at Naruto and smiled as his face transformed into that of awe.
"Wow," Iruka took the band and placed it around Naruto's left bicep. He took his right hand, and before Naruto could even react, Iruka cut his hand and his own before he mixed the blood and ran it along the band.
Said band flashed blue, gold and white before it returned to its original color. "What was that?"
Iruka smiled. "That was what you could call a pact. You're now a member of the Umino family and you gained another affinity; water. Also, you now have the ability to summon dolphins. It will allow you to breathe underwater without using any jutsu or any of the like and just a small amount of chakra will do. It also cuts down the chakra needed to perform a water jutsu to well, at least a half."
"Nice," Naruto looked at his foster father then the band on his arm before he remembered something.
: Hey, Kyuu… : Naruto opened the mental link in order to talk to Kyuubi. : What? :
: Is this ok? I mean, I already have the Toad Contract and you just gave me the Fox Contract today… Is this still allowed? :
Kyuubi appeared to be thinking for a while and almost a minute later, she replied. : I really don't mind, so long as your other summons doesn't mess with the foxes. You had better ask them instead… :
Kyuubi cut off the mental link and Naruto could have sworn he heard snoring at the back of his mind. Ignoring that for now, Naruto looked at his adoptive father.
"Um, Iruka-youfu… I already have the Toad Contract and Kyuu just gave me the Fox Contract today… Is this still allowed? I mean, I already have two contracts…" Naruto told the scarred man, who in turn, only smiled at him.
"Really…? I thought she would… Any case, you needn't worry since I talked it out with the Dolphin boss and Jiraiya-sama cleared it with the Toad boss. So, all you need to worry about is the foxes." Iruka ruffled Naruto's hair before he got up although he didn't get far.
Naruto had glomped him and was now on the floor with Naruto, smiling and saying 'thank you' over and over again. Iruka laughed and patted him on the back.
"Alright, Naruto, alright…" Iruka sat up as Naruto finally released him. "You're welcome. Now, time to go to bed. Oh, and by the way, you better prepare yourself and your explanation since Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama and your team were out looking for you this morning."
Naruto groaned while Iruka laughed at his predicament as they headed to their rooms after they had given their good nights. Drifting off to sleep both had the same thought.
'Today was truly a good day…'
Glossary:
Youfu – Stepfather
Hebi-teme – Snake-bastard
Ayame-nee-chan – Big sister Ayame