PLEASE READ
A quick thank you to Cupricanka who helped this story along.
Also, a warning; I have taken creative liberties with the characters and some of the plot points of the manga. So, any marked differences between what we've all (at least I would assume so) read about Naruto and the others are simply necessary to my story but are in no way intended as an insult to the original work.
Lastly, this story will probably end up an epic, and, as such, will mean a lot of plot points to explore, absolutely no crack (at least, not if I can help it) and a lot of drama. There will be more adult themed scenes coming up, but they will take a while for the story to progress. This isn't porn, certainly not porn without a plot, but erotic fiction. So, all those looking for quick, clichéd, or porn-like sex rather than the way it truly happens, please exit quietly at the back of the theatre. Thank you and enjoy!
Chapter 2
No Rest for the Wicked . . . or the Good
Having rifled through the majority of the journal, Naruto became fixated on the last few pages. Written in a hurried scrawl and spotted with dark brown stains suspiciously like dried blood, the last entry had no date.
But, from the words themselves Naruto divined that it had been written the day of the Kyuubi attack. What seemed more than strange to him was the familiarity with which it had been written. Minato Namikaze, also known as The Fourth Hokage, his name and status having been written on the inside cover, spoke of his family in the journal. His wife, Kushina, and a newborn son he'd been expecting. There were lessons he'd hoped to teach his son, musings on politics, poetry, and his teacher's dirty stories. Naruto read parts of it, not having time to be systematic, but it was interesting, something he wanted to know more about.
There were also letters. Written in the same untidy scrawl he'd found so familiar to Jiraiya's, they read as if Minato truly intended to give them to his son and wife, but had stayed inside the confines of his journal. Perhaps they were only a guide to Minato? Or, maybe they were meant to be delivered after his death? But, if that was the case, then why was the journal here? Why not somewhere it would be found earlier?
Of course, all questions seemed to dissolve like sugar in water once he laid eyes on the last entry; this one was solely for Naruto.
His name glared back at him from the top of the page. Mouth dry, Naruto, sluggish as his brain sometimes was, began to read and finally, finally understand. Kyuubi had been more once. They all had been more and could be more again.
Naruto swallowed thickly, though his mouth tasted oddly of sand. He wondered, idly, whether Gaara would have chosen this path had he known about it. Wiping a trembling hand across his now sweating brow, Naruto leafed through the pages once more, hardening his resolve as much as he could. There wasn't time for doubts. There would be no second-guessing. Kyuubi would not betray the oath they had taken, Naruto was almost sure of it. And, although he would rather swallow his own tongue than give that fox anymore power than he already had, he could feel that this was the right course. He was doing the right thing.
Squinting down at the text on the last few pages, Naruto skimmed over the lines of dozens of high-powered techniques: close combat attacks, medium and long distance attacks, hyper movement, even a couple for defense. He already had his clones working on about a dozen of them; those he thought would be the most useful, including the barrier techniques. They were pretty close to mastering them, too, seeing as he'd sent about two thousand each to training grounds A, B and D; he could afford it, the sage training had definitely boosted his chakra reserves, if nothing else.
Now, for this last one, Naruto stared at the page, perplexed. It read like a power boost technique according to the hand seals, but the text at the top had the words 'Kyuubi' and 'use only when all else is done'. That didn't make any sense; Naruto snorted and gnashed his teeth. The handwriting was different for this part, too, crooked and uneven in the way it usually is when a person is in a great hurry or sick, which meant that Minato had probably already sealed the Kyuubi inside him.
Wait, hadn't there been something in Minato's letter to him? Naruto flicked back a few pages until he found it and started reading, only more slowly this time.
The mantra that Jiraiya had tried to beat into him during training came unbidden to his mind, causing a dull ache to throb in his chest at the same time as he smiled.
'Words can be more precious than the finest of wines and yet more troublesome than an infected wound. You see, like wine they should be savored, though too much of the cheap stuff and you'll be reacquainting yourself with dinner. Of course, say the wrong thing or in the wrong way and it'll burrow its way through someone's heart faster than it takes a woman to succumb to the charm that is the Toad Sage.' Saying that, the perverted man had leered (his version of a grin, Naruto supposed) and stuck his fingers out in victory. All this had been incredibly funny seeing as how Naruto had never actually seen Jiraiya land a girl for more than it took for his hand to latch onto her ass or even her hip and he'd go flying.
Realizing he'd zoned out, Naruto shook his head and concentrated his attention back on the text as well as drinking in the results of his clones' training.
Dear Naruto,
It may seem strange to you, my writing a letter that you will only receive after my death and from a former leader of Konoha, no less. But, there are things I've wanted to say to you for so long. Now that my time is almost done, the sand has almost all run out, there are things you need to know . . . so many things.
I wish I could teach them to you, all those lessons sons learn from fathers. I wish I could watch you grow strong. I asked Sarutobi (that's Sandaime to you) to give you the name you hold because my teacher, I can only hope you never meet him (he's a pervert and a lecher and not someone you need any guidance from, even if he is a Sannin), wrote a story once. In this story, a hero used his strength and unyielding determination to outwit or outfight every enemy he came across. All this so that he would be heralded as a great ninja, winning the praise and acknowledgement of his hometown. I'm sure you will have more in common with that character than I ever hoped or wanted. I want you to remember something for me, though, Naruto. Every time you are injured, every time they look at you and you are afraid or angry, remember this; you are loved, you were wanted.
I know this, just as I know that both your parents are dead. That does not mean they do not watch out for and over you. Time is so short and now even shorter still. I must go. When you find this journal, either through your own determined spirit or by way of the Toad container, Gamayouki, I wish you luck and love and a long, happy life. Should you find yourself lost, ask the Great Sage or one of his offspring. Whatever happens, remember what is written here. Just simply knowing it as truth is all that you will need because even when we die, that feeling, while it might seem to add to the pain of loss, is the one thing telling us how special that bond was so that we might cherish it when it comes again.
I hope not to see you for a long time, but when I do, I hope to hear some grand stories the like of which the world will turn to legend.
Always with you,
Minato
Naruto sat back against the hard wood of the chair and scratched the back of his head, then pulled at the messy locks in consternation. What the hell did Jiraiya and his perverted books have to do with anything? And, what, in God's name, was the Fourth talking about?
It sounded almost as if the man was trying to explain himself and his actions to Naruto alone. Naruto could understand Minato's desire to vindicate his sealing of a thousand year old demon inside an infant boy, especially knowing his village would most assuredly transfer all that anger and hatred to him. But, the man was talking as if he were somehow involved in Naruto's life, or had wanted to be, at any rate.
Naruto shook his head confusedly. This didn't make any sense, but there were other things to deal with at the moment. He sighed, shifting his gaze toward the late afternoon sunlight drifting through the window on his left. A new training schedule just after returning to the village and research involving techniques to stop Akatsuki once and for all notwithstanding, he hadn't had anything to eat since morning. Thinking of food made him think of Ichiraku's which in turn made him think of Iruka, who he'd promised to have a meal with upon his return from training, so they could discuss it. He hadn't seen or heard from Sakura yet, either.
Naruto closed his eyes as he felt the last of his clones dissipate, absorbing all their knowledge of the techniques he'd sent them out to learn. Smiling again, he rose, stretched and prepared to make his way to dinner. Almost as an afterthought, he tucked the worn notebook into a side pocket of his long, black coat. He was very proud of his new outfit. It had taken some doing to get it made, but he felt it reflected a ninja better than all the brighter clothing he'd been so used to wearing until recently.
Long, loose black pants were tucked into bandages at his shins and a black, ribbed shirt emblazoned with a flame design that seemed to shift when he moved, as if it were made of truly living fire. And, of course, there was the coat, made from something close to angora, but lighter, freer in its movement, it nearly swept the floor when Naruto stood fully and served to hide his leg movements from enemies. It looked absolutely perfect with the rest of his ensemble, complimenting all the dark clothing nicely. The flame pattern at the bottom that swirled up to mid thigh and the spiral adorning the middle of his back certainly didn't hurt the effect, either.
He'd cut his hair, too, tired of listening to Gamakitchi whine about its unkempt appearance unbefitting a ninja, especially one trying to outdo so many powerful players like the one, or rather six, they called Pain; and, of course, there was Madara. It now rested close to his head, though he still kept up the spiked style he'd been known for.
Smiling, Naruto exited the library with barely a sound, allowing a little chakra to infuse his feet to make his steps quiet and quick. Barely contained nerves seemed to pour out of him as his legs appeared almost to skip every other step, taking him from rooftop to rooftop. He wanted so badly to see Iruka and perhaps Sakura, too. Dinner, preferably at the aforementioned ramen shop, would be the sweet end to his day. But, he had a nagging feeling Tsunade would want to hear what he'd found and learned. She was good to him, letting him into the library without explanations, so Naruto felt he owed her at least something more than all the irritation and worry he'd been giving her. Finding out where the hell Kakashi had gotten to was probably a good idea, too, even if Naruto still thought he could learn a lot more on his own than from that lazy ass, even if he did do it slower.
The feeling of foreboding nearly doubled as he skirted a group of trees nestled in someone's front yard, leapt onto the home's second floor veranda and powered a jump clear to the next roof, nearly two hundred meters away.
Naruto stopped short at the base of the Hokage tower, listening. The air seemed charged, like it did before a storm, and he didn't like it. Something just wasn't right here, today. Huffing out a breath and shaking his head, then his shoulders, Naruto resumed his walk only to feel the presence of another's chakra; strong chakra. Kakashi, he thought.
The silver haired Jounin stepped out from seemingly nowhere to greet him, a hard edge to his eyes that made Naruto want to shiver. He resisted.
"Yo." That was it, no hand wave, no fleeting look of absolute boredom, not even a smile; well, Kakashi's version of a smile couldn't really be called one since nearly his entire face was covered by that infernal mask. The thought that Naruto still didn't know what lay beyond it or why he wore it (this thought had never even occurred to him until recently; he didn't know why it hadn't or why it did now) rankled him.
"New mission," Kakashi continued without preamble.
"Where the hell did you run off to?" Naruto narrowed his eyes in his best estimation of the glare he'd seen Sasuke use to quell the older man. "And, what do you mean new mission? I thought I was supposed to check in with Granny before I could even be assigned another one. What's going on?"
The sense of dread from earlier, never having entirely gone away, had now tripled in strength. He actually felt the thin hairs at the back of his neck rising, a thing that had not happened since his first encounter with Gaara. Feigning a need to stretch his neck, he rolled it from side to side trying to liberate himself of the feeling. If Kakashi noticed, he revealed nothing.
"Our new mission takes precedence over that as well as your training. Though you should have cleared the use of all those training grounds with me, at the very least, to say nothing of the Fifth. I'm sorry that I didn't come to get you sooner, but the meeting ran long. I didn't even get time to search for the books I was going to bring you, not that I thought they'd be of much use. Legends, while some may hold more than a little truth, cannot be fully relied upon. And, what little is known about the demon-beasts from before has been obscured through centuries of fear, pride, arrogance and hatred." Naruto could see Kakashi was impatient, but taking the time to calm himself which in turn calmed Naruto. It could not be all that horrid a mission if he was willing to do that. Kakashi's next words, however, threw that idea right out the window, and then stomped it flat for good measure.
"Pain, his traveling companion Konan and all five of his bodies have reached the edge of the forest outside Konoha. By all estimates, they've been there for about a week, laying in wait." Here, Kakashi paused and Naruto cursed the jounin's sense of drawing out the theatrics. "They've been waiting . . . for you."
Suddenly, all his training, all the research and the tireless hours spent with Fukusaku, Jiraiya and even Kakashi; all that, and here they were, faced with the very thing he was working so hard to prevent. Naruto narrowed his eyes once again, flashing the look Kakashi had grown to love; limitless determination.
Kakashi sent his eyes skyward. He hoped that the Fourth could see them, see what was about to transpire. Because, Kakashi knew - he knew that the culmination of all their efforts, of all Naruto's training, Kakashi's resolve to push through his earlier years and the pain it had brought down on him would work to their benefit. And it can perhaps become the decimation of all Konoha's enemies in what Kakashi hoped to be a long future, with Naruto leading the way.
But to reach that future, they had to survive today. There was no more time for nostalgia; the enemy was on their doorstep and they had to face them in order to protect their people.