Chapter Six
Saying goodbye to everyone, Naruto hoped that they would cope well without him there for a couple of days. He knew they were capable of caring for themselves but he couldn't help but worry. The trek to Suna would take a while but hopefully there would be no trouble along the way.
Sadly fate had a different plan in store as they faced hordes of thieves and bandits, hunter ninjas and dangerous criminals, all ending up the same. Dead. It was easy sweeping them away. So as they left behind stunned faces of locals curious about the faces underneath the shadows of black cloaks, word spread of the three invincible ninjas.
When word spread of them throughout the nations, some grew worried about the possible trouble the three could pose. Were they merely travelers protecting themselves or possible enemies of the shinobi nations? No one could quite pin point their exact reasons for going around concealing their identities but everyone made sure to maintain caution.
Nobuo snickered. The things he kept hearing only made him so much more entertained. Not only
were some of the theories so off the target they were in a whole new world, that only further added to the amusement. How did any of these people come up with the lies being told?
"What are you laughing about over there, Nobuo? It's creepy you know." Suzume felt creeped out about his self laughing. He had been doing it for the past ten minutes nonstop. "If there's something so funny, just tell us and let us in on the joke instead of laughing with yourself."
Nobuo stopped and stuck his tongue out at her. "I'm just thinking over something. It's not important now."
Ignoring the two who continued to chat behind him, Naruto kept his eyes straight on the path. The desert spread on all side of them and the midday sun beat down. You could see the waves of blistering heat while winds swept up the sands. But thankfully not too far off in the distance, there stood brown walls like warning signs in the seemingly empty space.
"Suzume." He interjected between the two who still were talking. She looked up at the sound of her name. "I need you to change forms." Understanding the need, Suzume followed the order. Naruto was the only person Suzume would take orders from, even Nobuo does the same.
Transforming into a desert hawk, Suzume perched herself on Naruto's shoulder, her eyes scanning ever inch of the horizon. Nobuo only followed closely, cautious of any dangers that could pop out and harm the team.
Approaching the entrance of the village, Naruto was immediately stopped by the guards. With their Sand logo head guard, the men stared them down with hard glares. "Who are you? Show your faces."
"I prefer not to. I only came to have a small chat with your Kazekage. I mean no harm to your or this village." Dropping his weapons ouch to the ground, he looked at Nobuo to do the same as him. The blue haired shinobi followed suit.
Looking down at the weapons, one guard only laughed at the sight. "Don't make me laugh. It doesn't matter whether or not you do something this stupid, you still aren't going to see the kage any time soon, boy."
Naruto sighed. How else could he get Gaara's attention without having to reveal his true identity to anyone. "Just tell him that a fellow comrade and friend is looking forward to seeing him soon." There he stood, waiting for the message to be delivered.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." Gaara apologized. "If I had known earlier that it was you, I wouldn't have let the guards make you stand out there so long." Giving Temari and Kankuro a look, the two elder siblings order the rest of the people out of the room until it was only the six of them.
Naruto laughed. "You really can clear a room, Gaara."
Nobuo whistled at the sheer power of the young kage's words. He was more than what the rumors said of him. The guy oozed power and part of that was because he had once been the Jinchuriki of Shukaku. Naruto did know some powerful people, that's for sure.
"What exactly are you here for though, Naruto? I know you wouldn't risk your safety or that of your friend to just suddenly appear here."
"You're right." Suzume perched herself on Nobuo's shoulder as Naruto flipped back the hood. "I need some help. Maybe some advise too." Gaara and his siblings didn't respond to the request. Naruto saw that as a sign to continue talking. "We've been traveling until only a little while ago, meeting other people still affected by the after effects of wars and battles created by us shinobi. One day though, my friend here thought of an idea."
"What's the idea?" Kankuro asked.
Making eye contact with all three of them, "To recreate the Land of Whirlpools."
Temari's eyes grew round at the even thought of something that dangerous. "Are you insane? Even if you manage to rebuild that country, how do you manage defending it or even running it. You don't know anything about being a leader."
Kankuro grabbed her arm. "Knock it off, Temari. Naruto did say advise." His sister huffed but complied. "What do you think, Gaara?" The youngest sibling stood there behind his desk, thinking about how to answer the question.
"...Alright. The sand will help you Naruto. But as long as we can be guaranteed an alliance with you."
Happily smiling, Naruto accepted. "I wouldn't imagine it any other way between us." The two shook hands with the view of the sand village as a background to the negotiation.
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"That was fun." Nobuo mused.
Suzume chirped. Flapping her wings she tool off into the air.
Nobuo and Naruto stopped, leaning on each others backs poised to fight. Suzume had taken off to locate each of the hidden attackers. When she cane back, there was five pursuers.
"You take two and I'll take the other three." Naruto didn't know who exactly the spies were but they should be prepared to go home broken at best.
"No fair, I want three."
With a screech from Suzume, the figures each appeared in front of the two still standing together. And that's when Naruto gasped. Standing before him was Kakashi and Gai sensei accompanied by Shikamaru, Neji, and Lee. The team of five still hadn't recognized the figures beneath the hoods but all they could figure was that they were the targets.
"Reveal yourselves!" Kakashi ordered them. Nabuo sneaked a peek under the hood of his partner, subtle and unnoticed. When Naruto made no move to remove the only thing keeping their identity intact to the outside world, Nabuo did the same. "Fine, we'll just have to do this the hard way then. Be warned, we won't go easy on you."
With that, it began. Nabuo gladly handed over the problem of facing the two senseis. Naruto smirked at his cowardly move but could understand. The challenge he would be facing against the two of them would be avoiding using jutsus that could travel directly to him. So with that in mind, Naruto struggled heavily with keeping himself alive.
Watching from high above in the sky, Suzume saw what was happening to Naruto. She knew this encounter was dangerous enough as it stands but the addition of Leaf ninjas never crossed her mind in the least. All three of them had to return to Whirlpools before the night set in. Being right outside the border of the fire nation may have been a bad decision but it was the only other fast route possible to get home unless the group wanted to cut straight through the country.
Knowing that this had to end quickly, Suzume changed into her human self and landed on top of Gai. Gracefully stepping off of him and throwing his body into the bushes, she turned to Kakashi. Even though she transforms between human and animal, her clothing never changed so the black good still covered her face.
Nabuo had managed to defeat the three young shinobi with minor scratches and bruises though he looked like the match had been painful enough. Making sure to securely tie them up to three individual trees, he partnered up with the other two to fight the senseis.
Kakashi used his famous lightning jutsu and Gai chose to unlock the first gate. Nabuo countered with his water cannon and Suzume used her earth style mud pocket. Naruto chose to hang back, only throwing shurikens and kunais to guide the men to his desirable position for the jutsus to be used effectively.
In the end, it was rhanks to Suzume's mud pocket that stopped the movement of kakashi and gai by burying their body in quick drying mud up to their necks. This gave them enough time to make a get away.
They landed on the shore of Whirlpool country just in time to start seeing the familiar red and orange and yellow of a changing sky.
The people stood on the banks, waving and welcoming them back home. Children ran to them, engulfing their legs in hugs. With then clinging and showing no sign of releasing, Naruto dragged the bunch one slow step at a time all the way to the village. In the short span of time spent gone they had all managed to create a bit more space and started the foundations for a headquarters.
Awe weaved through every word he said when he complimented everyone. "Wow. You guys did an amazing job. You did all of that in two days?"
"Yup." A middle aged man named Hitoshi answered, walking up from behind Naruto. "Didn't think we could build that much in the short amount of time you left but we did. Think of it as a welcome back home present." Hitoshi had been one of the first people to accept Naruto's proposal of reforming the Land of Whirlpools. Being a husband and a father to two small children, he would do anything if there was a single chance of it being beneficial to his family. Only recently did they find out that his wife was pregnant with their third child, being seven weeks in already.
"How is your wife doing so far though? Is she and the kids adjusting well to the new home?" Naruto inquired, curious as to how the family was getting along. "If you have any problems, just talk to me and ill see what I can do for you."
Hitoshi looked down at the blonde teen. "Thank you very much for that offer but I think they're settling in just fine. Only yesterday my daughter would go on forever about the friends she's made and the fun places to play at. It was the first time she looked so happy like this and talking so much." A loving look brightened up his eyes. "Its thanks to you and your two friends that something incredible as this could happen to us of all people."
"You deserve every happy thing coming your way now, Hitoshi." was the only reply Naruto gave before smiling away.
"That boy just gives and gives."
Sitting around the fire, the small community laughed together and danced together and sang together. The scene could remind one of a family camp reunion. Food was being roasted over the spit fire, smoke rising into the clear navy blue sky of the night, stars twinkling just as bright as the first night.
Naruto stood up and cleared his throat, making the gathering hush where only the crickets chirped somewhere in the grass. "Everyone, I would just like to say some things before we finish up here with dinner." Suzume nudged Nabuo, telling him to pay attention. "I know these last two weeks have been chaotic and sometimes tiring but I appreciate how much effort each and every one of you have put into this village. None of thus would be here if it weren't for you all." With the embarrassing speech done, Naruto sat back down on the log.
Everyone from the youngest to oldest cheered. They were happy about how things were progressing. Not much further down the road in the future the Land of Whirlpools would be running smoothly.
Back in konoha
"What happened Kakashi, Gai? How did you and the rest of your team end up this beaten?" Koharu stood shocked as the two jounin looked straight forward. "You are telling me that three young shinobi were capable of taking out all five you with minimal amount of damage compared to all of you?"
"Unbelievable! How is that possible?!" Homura had just about had enough of those three rogue shinobi. "What should we do, Koharu? They could pose a serious threat to this village if not taken care of."
The old woman agreed completely, if they chose to side with an enemy, things would look highly unfavorable to Konoha. By finding out their true identities, the key to defeating them once and for all would be revealed to them.
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