Searching For Her
Kurama talking/ other bijū
sounds
'thoughts'
XXXXXXXXXXX
Jiraiya sat in the office of the Hokage, waiting on the new Chūnin hopefuls that he had sent the ANBU out to collect, it was roughly 10 o'clock and he knew that the children would be, hopefully, awake by now.
Jiraiya looked down and began writing out forms for missions 'God this is boring, how did sensei keep up with it?!' Jiraiya mentally yelled within his head. Just as he was finished with a stack an ANBU appeared within the room causing a small wind to kick up and blow the papers onto the floor. Jiraiya let out an audible sigh, looking at the papers before turning to the ANBU in question and staring at them.
The ANBU felt a shiver run down his spine, which he couldn't suppress. "I-I'll get those." the ANBU stated before he got to work picking up the papers whilst Jiraiya smiled at him in an unnerving way.
Just then the other ANBU appeared. Jiraiya sat back and looked at the children before him. After a few moments of silence Sakura spoke up first saying "Why have you called us here Lord Jiraiya?"
"The reason why I have called for you all is because some of you have been given the pass into Chūnin rank." Jiraiya said with a smile. "First Yamanaka Ino, Your tactics and ability to change according to your surroundings have given you the rank of Chūnin well done." Jiraiya then pushed forward a scroll which had the vest contained within it.
"Second is Haruno Sakura, You were very hard to judge because of the fact that none of those present actually seen you fight," this caused Sakura to gulp audibly "however by instantly tricking your opponent into a Genjutsu isn't something just anyone can do, this and the fact you got recognition from a Kage because of this, Haruno Sakura you are awarded the rank of Chūnin." Sakura ran and grabbed the scroll before tearing the flack jacket out of the seal in order to wear it.
"Third is Aburame Shino, you were able to utilise your hive in order to not allow Shikamaru time to plan accordingly, but when he got far enough you made sure to take advantage and use your insects in the fundamentals of trapping him after he ran for you however you showed no real signs of force or skill other than what was mentioned. You are not awarded the rank, I'm sorry." Shino nodded and stood still taking in the information.
"Fourth is Nara Shikamaru, your genius and very fast planning allowed you to get the drop on Shino, literally, however you failed to notice that whilst he gave you time to plan while he set his trap. Your personal build is that of a team player so you lack, to my knowledge, any offensive jutsu. I'm sorry to say that you don't get the rank." Shikamaru sighed but nodded, Jiraiya could see the 'troublesome' thoughts going through the boys mind.
"Fifth is Hyūga Neji, you showed skill in the gentle fist style that the Hyūga are common to use however you failed to think that the Hyūga jutsu could be impenetrable by any form of attack, whilst Naruto's new jutsu would be ranked at least an A, you still failed to notice how deadly the attack was. You are only alive due to Naruto not aiming for you but the Kaiten itself. You need to learn more before you are promoted." The words hit Neji hard but he ultimately understood why he would be a Genin and not promoted. Neji had also touched his side while that attack was mentioned.
"What about Naruto? He's not here." Shikamaru stated in a calm tone which made everyone else aware that the blonde was in fact not in the room.
Jiraiya frowned at the question before rising and walking around the desk to stand before the children, no shinobi. "Naruto is a special case as some of you may know," Jiraiya looked at Sakura and Ino. "others may have already guessed at it." Shikamaru got a quick glance. "He will need to be at a council meeting before he can get what he should have gotten a while ago due to the Gaki's skill." Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh at the end.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto was just about to dive into his sixth bowl of ramen when he had to quickly turn to avoid sneezing into the food of Kami. "Someone talking about you?" Tayuya asked.
Rubbing his nose Naruto nodded "Might be Ero-sennin, I don't know." Tayuya nodded and started eating her ramen again, she stopped after a few bites.
"I'm being let out soon and going into the academy, fucking sucks that I, One of the mother fucking four that HE trained have been put lower than some snivelling little shits!" Tayuya announced snapping her chopsticks in the process.
Naruto couldn't help but laugh at his family member, he stopped they hadn't stated what family they could be. "Hey Tayuya what member of family are we?" Naruto asked as he looked at her.
Tayuya coughed on the mouthful of ramen she had just taken, her eyes opened wide before she looked at him "I don't know shit for brains, how am I meant to?" replied gaining a few laughs from the kitchen, Naruto and Tayuya both turned to face the kitchen.
Ayame walked out with another pair of bowls before placing them before the two Uzumaki's, both looking at her with raised eyebrows "I'm laughing because, you in particular Tayuya-san, talk and shout like siblings." with that said Ayame headed back into the kitchen leaving Naruto and Tayuya to themselves.
The two just sat in peace eating their ramen rather slowly. Time seemed to pass very slowly as the two ate, just before Naruto spoke up an ANBU walked up to Naruto "Naruto-san you have been called to a meeting with the council. I shall take you there." the ANBU reached forward ready to grab Naruto's arm and take him to the council before he stopped dead, the feeling of nothingness caught him as he was about to touch Naruto and made the wise decision not to do as he had intended.
"I will go see what they want, you will look after Tayuya in my stead. Anything happens you're cleaning up the mess that follows. See ya latter Tayuya-nee." Naruto said before flashing away.
"Dirt bag!" Tayuya shouted 'Latter Naruto-nii.' Tayuya thought to herself.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Council chambers -
Naruto appeared in a flash of gold and looked around the chamber to see the clan heads, which he bowed his head to- slightly, and the civilian council members on the other side. Naruto couldn't help but notice that Jiraiya was not present.
"Okay why am I here?" Naruto asked to no one in particular.
"Shut up Kyūbi brat, you will talk when spoke to or asked!" one of the civilian members shouted out only to gain a grunt of annoyance from Naruto.
"Hey, Tsume-sama, would Jiji's law still be in effect?" Naruto pondered whist tapping his chin.
After a few moments Tsume spoke up "I think it would still be in effect. For the hundredth time it's just Tsume or Tsume-sensei!" she scolded only for Naruto to quickly bow in apology.
After getting up Naruto withdrew a kunai and threw it at the council member embedding it in his forehead before he fell forward forcing the kunai further into his skull. The civilian council members were in shock while the clan heads were impassive as they had known what law Naruto was talking about and had agreed in his decision to uphold the law.
"Yo..You will pay for killing a member of this council, this meeting is no longer about whether or not you get that rank but for you to be kicked out of the ninja corps altogether!" One of the female merchants shouted out.
Jiraiya had just entered at this point to hear that and witness a, had been, council member now dead on his desk. Jiraiya let out a sigh as he walked towards the Hokage's seat. "Nice to you waited for me." Jiraiya joked. "Now what was that about kicking Naruto out?"
"The boy just killed Hiro in cold blood." The woman stated with all of the civilian council members bar Haruno Kizashi agreeing to her defence.
Jiraiya looked over to the ones who didn't agree "Would you like to voice what you think?" Jiraiya asked. His first thought was that Shikaku would say something as he was the voice of the clan heads as he seemed to talk first and quick.
Surprisingly it was Kizashi who spoke "Naruto-san had upheld the law when Hiro had stated that which the third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had judged that should not be mentioned in regards to Naruto here." everyone was surprised to say the least.
"Okay then, thank you ermm..." Jiraiya started.
"Oh, I'm Haruno Kizashi, Sakura's father and civilian council member for the past fifteen years." Kizashi stated.
"Your Sakura's dad? Damn that's some hair style man, I like it! You can drop the formalities as well." Naruto stated with a smile. Kazashi reached up to touch his hair, he had put it in the style of a five pointed star while his side burns came down to his cheeks and took a ninety degree turn to form his moustache which held a gap before they had met.
"Th-thank you Naruto." Kazashi stated.
Cough, cough. Everyone turned to face Jiraiya "If indeed Hiro had broken that law then Naruto was in every right to carry out the law. Just because the man who made the law is gone doesn't mean the law itself is gone too." The clan heads nodded at this along with Kazashi. "Now let us move onto the fact why I had call you all here, Naruto's promotion.
As you all saw during the exam and through personal means that Naruto has the credibility to be a Chūnin. Now I will go on to say that during the fight with Neji Naruto had used a jutsu that should be ranked at least A in terms of how little we seen and how much power it possessed, and that he hadn't used it on Neji just the Kaiten. Hiashi would you like to talk first?" Jiraiya asked.
Hiashi nodded and looked straight at Naruto who stood in the centre of the table. "You had shown that you have an uncanny ability to pick apart our ocular capability to the extent that you have actually recreated it using seals," This caused quite a few conversations to start within the room "yet if memory serves me right you acquired the Sharingan before the Byakugan. This knowledge of in-depth sealing combinations could and would be very potent if we could get him to teach what he knew to a younger generation." Hiashi stated before he faced Jiraiya "On a side note we should incorporate Fuinjutsu into the academy. Back to my point Naruto has proven through Fuinjutsu that he is more than a Genin so he deserves, in my eyes, Chūnin at least. Tsume."
"Thank you Hiashi. I have trained Naruto in Taijutsu before the academy and was always proud of what he could do and how quickly he learned it, without his Shadow Clones. I failed to notice however that Naruto wore weighted clothing from an early age and just before he and my son joined the academy I had them fight with no holding back while keeping it Taijutsu based only, I was shocked to see that he had enough weights on to make two creators in my yards caused by how much he wore. He handed Kiba his ass on a silver plater. I saw that he has improved since then while watching him in the Chūnin exams. He is definitely ready for more." Tsume summarised.
Shikaku sighed when he saw he had to talk. "I taught Naruto tactics from an early age, he's ready for what ever anyone throws at him, hell he'd throw it back from what Tsume said." no one was surprised by how little Shikaku said.
Inoichi sat forward "Naruto had been training my daughter as well as Kazashi's, at first I was unsure when I saw how Ino had came home but when she told me that she and Sakura were getting better and realised why they wanted to become a kunoichi again I let it slide. I'm glad I did after all my princess is now Chūnin thanks to Naruto. I will back him." Inoichi said as he nodded to Naruto who was smiling at all the praise he was getting.
Chōza was next in the line so he looked at Naruto sternly before he relaxed. "The kid, well I can't call you that any more really, is good I mean good. I had asked Chōji why he was smiling so much one day and he told me that Naruto understood why our clan is the way it is. For that I'm backing him. That and he's tough I can see that just by looking at him, I doubt I could win against him without pulling something out from the forbidden side of my clan."
Every one turned to Shibi who looked uncomfortable under everyone's watch, he nodded at Jiraiya.
"Okay from what you have all told me and my own knowledge of the boy's skills is that he exceeds that of a Chūnin by miles and is more along the lines of a Jōnin, what would you say to promoting Naruto straight to Jōnin specifically a Tokubetsu Jōnin." Jiraiya stated "All those in favour raise your hands," All the clan heads, Kazashi and Jiraiya raised their hands. "All those against," Danzo, Koharu and Homura as well as the two remaining civilian council members raised their hands. "With nine votes to five, Uzumaki–Namikaze Naruto you are here by promoted to Tokubetsu Jōnin well done Gaki!" Jiraiya shouted as he dug into his kimono and threw Naruto a scroll. Naruto unravelled it and unsealed it's contents, a Chūnin flack jacket and his fathers coat. Naruto looked over at Jiraiya who smiled. "Your first mission, see to the Uchiha's curse seal." Naruto nodded and was gone in a golden flash.
"I have got to learn that move!" Jiraiya shouted out gaining a few nods from the shinobi in the room.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Konoha hospital, room 301 -
Sasuke lay unmoving in the hospital bed as he stared at the ceiling. His thoughts were running rampant how was he so weak, he had the Sharingan he should be strong. "Hey duck butt." came a voice from a blinding light that appeared out of no where. Sasuke grunted at the voice.
"What are you doing dobe." Sasuke retorted as he looked away.
"My first mission as Jōnin." Naruto stated as he walked towards the prone Sasuke. Before Sasuke could retort Naruto had flipped him round so that he could get a better angle at the curse seal. "Who placed the protective seal on this? And Orochi-phile sure done a number on you huh."
"Kakashi set the seal on and how did you know who did this, dobe?" Sasuke stated more than asked.
"Trust him to botch it up, let me guess it hurt," Sasuke gave a weak nod "damn. Anyway I know it was him because I can remove them after I studied what he had left in one of his bases that the third had salvaged." after a few moments of inspecting the seal Naruto sat in the seat beside the bed.
Sasuke turned his head to look at the blonde, Sasuke's eyes widened at just how much Naruto resembled the Fourth Hokage. "Can you seal it." Sasuke stated.
"Nope," Naruto said with a smile, a smile that made Sasuke mad "I can do better I can rewrite it." Naruto stated as he cracked his fingers. "Downside is it'll hurt like, that, probably." Naruto said as he pointed to Sasuke's legs.
Sasuke was conflicted for the first time in a while. He wanted the power to kill Itachi but his legs still hurt and his legs still haven't healed. "Sure. But tell me what you're going to do."
Naruto nodded as he got up and reached into his side pouch and pulled out a bottle of oil, paintbrush and a kunai and placed them on the bedside table. "First thing that will need to be done is remove Orochimaru from the seal, it's not all of him just a fragment of his mind that would turn you crazy eventually. That will hurt the most I'm guessing considering that Kakashi only sealed the chakra in it.
The next step will be to convert the chakra from what you feel when you use it, the painful chakra into correct nature chakra. This chakra is all around us at every moment even now. Nature chakra can boost your abilities the downside, or so I've been is that you turn into a statue of whatever animal you have an affinity for. Kakashi for example would turn into a statue of a dog.
The third and final step would be to make sure that the seal is pure and that you can use it without any repercussions. Did you get that?" Naruto stated as he was walking around Sasuke's bed.
Sasuke nodded after he had gotten round to face Naruto and watch him pace back and front. He had boiled it down to, use to much you die. He didn't want to die not till his brother was dead.
"You still want to kill him don't you." Naruto stated as he looked at Sasuke from the end of his bed. "Tell you what, I'll give you the documents on that night if you stop being such a dick."
"Ho- How would you have access to those documents. Only the Hokage would have access to those." Sasuke said with wide eyes.
"Oh come on Sasuke how many clones do I have running around doing chores. I know because I help store some document I know a lot of the villages secrets and that's one that you should know." Naruto stated as he walked over to his tools. "Now lie down, face down and try not to scream when I cut you as I need your blood for the seal as well as my own to overwrite it." Naruto said just as he slit the area where Sasuke's curse seal was making him scream.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Next day -
Sasuke was barely conscious now after all the pain he was feeling. "Conscious... how?" Sasuke croaked out as he barely managed to lift his head from his mow blood stained pillow.
"Kami knows, maybe the pain?" Naruto stated in return as he sat on the seat and looked at the Uchiha. Sasuke had held his tongue a lot through the procedure, only screaming out in pain when Orochimaru's mind was torn out and when Naruto had to purge Sasuke's entire chakra network.
Naruto looked up to the roof and dug into one of his pockets and tossed a scroll at Sasuke, who was hit in the face with it. After a growl and a lot of strength Sasuke turned over and sat up. Upon opening the scroll Sasuke showed more expressions on his face than ever before, anger, sorrow, wonder, betrayal and confusion at the start.
'Information has been brought to my attention that the Uchiha clan are attempting a coup d'etat over the village and were prepared to slaughter any civilian and or shinobi who chose to go against them, this information had been provided by one Uchiha Itachi. Itachi is a young prodigy from the Uchiha clan and has proved on many occasions now that he is loyal to the village.
After receiving this information I can't help but feel like I have once again failed everyone in this village and I have given the unfortunate task to Itachi to remove the problem from the village, he knows that he will become classed as an S-rank missing nin after doing so and has accepted his last mission with only one condition: that his younger brother Sasuke can live. Personally I feel like he is sparing his brother because from what I have seen and know about the boy is that he is the closest person he has left in this village.
I will make sure that Sasuke is looked after to honour Itachi's wishes, I only hope everyone can forgive me.
The third Hokage.'
After reading the contents over a few times Sasuke turned to Naruto "I know you said before but how?"
"Well being the son of a Kage, the surrogate grandson of another and being one of the last surviving members of a Hokage's wife's clan really helps." Naruto said with a smile while Sasuke stared wide eyed at the boy.
"W-what?" Sasuke asked as his head fell to the side.
"My full name is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi, son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina previous Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi, surrogate grandson to Sarutobi Hiruzen and related to Uzumaki Mito the first Hokage's wife and seconds sister in law." Naruto said as he stood up and walked to the window.
"Oh, wow." Sasuke stated as he looked at Naruto, now he saw why Naruto and the Fourth looked so similar.
"I can't stay any longer one of my clones dispelled and I've got to go to the village gates asap. See ya-" Naruto was caught off guard as an explosion was heard in the distance.
Sasuke watched Naruto develop a twitch as he stood near the window and before he could ask why he was twitching Naruto had turned and opened the window "Stop blowing up my training grounds CLONES!"
"Why did they blow up?" Sasuke asked as he watched Naruto scratch his head.
"My clones are trying to get lightning chakra, it's the only one I'm missing." Naruto revealed with a pout.
"How are you trying to make it?" Sasuke asked which caught Naruto off guard.
"I don't know to be honest, why do you know how to make lightning chakra?" Naruto asked he didn't expect Sasuke to nod. Narrowing his eyes Naruto hovered over Sasuke "How?"
Gulping Sasuke sighed "Lightning is uncontrollable and acts in unknowing ways thus you have to make your chakra resemble that of lightning, like static energy when two things rub together energy will be made. Try it like that." Naruto nodded then disappeared in a flash of gold.
"I need to learn how to do that!" Sasuke shouted to himself "Heal damn it!" Sasuke shouted to his legs.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Village gates -
Naruto arrived at the gates in a flash of gold, stopping a few inches before colliding with Jiraiya and Tayuya. "So what do you want Ero-sennin?" Naruto said as he skidded to a halt.
Jiraiya sighed he really hated that name "We are off to find my old team mate Tsunade, she'll become the next Hokage. She'll be better than me any day of the week." Jiraiya admitted "We're bringing Tayuya too considering that you are all family members and you said you want to play that card on her." Jiraiya couldn't help but smirk at that bit.
"So let me get this shit straight, we're going to find some old bat who will probably croak before she gets back here or her hip breaks, great just fucking great." Tayuya stated as she walked next to Naruto.
"You got her location?" Naruto asked Jiraiya only for the old man to shake his head. "Give me a sec," Naruto then created a Shadow Clone only for it to disappear instantly "Okay the broadcast is out."
"What do you mean broadcast?" Jiraiya asked as the group began to head out.
"Oh that, I created a clone with the new memory of 'If you see Tsunade make a clone with the knowledge of where you are.'" Naruto replied as he brought out a scroll and tossed it over to Tayuya. "I'll be teaching you some things now that we are out of the village Tayuya, be ready because I'm going to drill everything into your head starting with my person favourite: The Shadow Clone Jutsu." Naruto stated with a smile as Tayuya opened the scroll and began to read over the jutsu before her.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Clone 491 -
The Naruto clone was currently under a henge as an old man called Dan was sitting in a pub corner, 'Dan' was an information broker and a very good one at that. He had all different people come to him as he made no attempts to hide himself, not that he had many people coming after him. Residing in Tanzaku town is a very well paying place as a lot of people tend to pass through it.
'If you see Tsunade make a clone with the knowledge of where you are' came a new memory for Dan. Dan shook his head then picked up his keys and headed out of his small apartment and towards the local casino whilst holding his cane in his left hand.
'Why am I feeling like this is going to result in one of us finding her very-' Dan was cut of hid thought as he bumped into a woman, adjusting his glasses and squinting slightly Dan's eyes widened. 'Holy shit that was fast!'
"I apologise lass my eyes be failing me." Dan said with a bow, making sure that he started to wobble slightly as being bent over for long periods of time actually caused Dan to lose some of his balance.
"It's not a problem in fact I should be the one to apologise." Tsunade rebutted only for Dan to shake his head.
"You young 'uns have to be running around, probably off to your boyfriends to go off somewhere and have fun," Dan gave an elderly man's laugh at Tsunade's face turning slightly red. "I've kept you long enough now off you go." Dan instructed and walked off and round a corner. He quickly summoned a clone with the necessary information and dismissed it before heading into a ramen stand.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Day two, with Naruto's group -
Naruto hadn't slept that night as he prepared the second thing he was going to teach Tayuya while Jiraiya would teach her the Rasengan. Thankfully it was a running trait in the Uzumaki clan that their chakra reserves were ungodly large, this meant that Tayuya had managed to learn the shadow clone jutsu quite quickly- it helped that she had very good control over her reserves as well.
Naruto heard a branch snap and he turned his head to face the sound with a kunai drawn. He relaxed when he saw a clone carrying three rabbits which would be the groups breakfast in a few hours.
Naruto looked back at his scroll and looked over it. First thing was teaching Tayuya the Shadow Clone Jutsu, there was a tick beside it. Next was the Rasengan, Jiraiya's name beside that one with a warning label. The third one would be finding out her element, thankfully Naruto had some chakra paper with him. Then it would be teaching her jutsu of that element while improving her current one's.
The hours quickly passed as Naruto watched the sun rise slowly, he could see why Shikamaru enjoyed it. There was a yawn from one of the nearby tents quickly followed by a head of darkened pink hair popped out slowly followed by the rest of a body on their stomach.
"You know that has to be one of the oddest things I have ever seen." Naruto commented as Tayuya kept crawling on her stomach but not before raising an arm and giving Naruto the bird.
"Food" Tayuya drooled out.
"It wont be long, go and get sorted then we'll eat and begin training while we head for Tanzaku town." Naruto informed her, Tayuya nodded, stood up then re entered her tent to get dressed.
Jiraiya popped out of his tent fully dressed then sat on a log stump near the fire. "So Tanzaku town huh, should have known there's a gambling tournament there in the next few days. Tsunade would be chancing her arm at it."
Naruto nodded before he turned to face Jiraiya "Jiraiya I want you to teach Tayuya the basics of the Rasengan. I know what you are going to say but she's family and I want her prepared in case we stumble upon a snake that rubbed her the wrong way. I wont leave my family unable to protect themselves." Naruto's voice was cold and calculated, the protest that Jiraiya was going to say died in his throat when he saw the look in Naruto's eyes.
Jiraiya knew what it was like to be out on his own as he was an orphan like Naruto in a sense, his team became his family and he always had tabs on Tsunade, even if his tabs didn't have all the information he wanted. Sighing and shaking his head Jiraiya ran a hand through his long hair. "Fine but everything else is all you."
"Fine by me." Naruto commented just as Tayuya exited her tent fully dressed. Digging into his hip pouch Naruto retrieved a bit of chakra paper and passed it to Tayuya.
"What's this shit?"
"Chakra paper, channel chakra to the paper it tells us what element you are, we train you, you get better and kick more ass."
"Fucking awesome."
Jiraiya laughed at the exchange the two had, it kind of reminded him of how Kushina acted while Naruto had a lot of Minato's qualities. Jiraiya and Naruto watched as Tayuya's paper started to become moist before it crumpled under it's own weight.
"Double task huh, right Tayuya you'll be training in the first stage of the Rasengan," with that the blue orb of chakra sprang to life in Naruto's hand "this is a jutsu made by my father, it was modelled after a bijū bomb as such it has incredible power and uses. I've not yet managed to get an element infused with it but I hope to soon." with that the orb vanished, returning to Naruto's chakra network.
Jiraiya then began to talk "The first step is to pop a water filled balloon by only using the water inside of it, this can also be used as a method for increasing your water affinity. You'll be doing this as we walk to Tanzaku town, should take us a day or two judging by how fast we go. Where we will find Tsunade and convince her to return to Konoha to become the next Hokage."
Tayuya just nodded throughout the entire conversation but paid more attention to the cooked rabbit stew in her hands as she was wolfing it down.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Several hours later -
Two cloaked figures were walking on an old dirt road, the left cloak wearer had something strapped to their back and looked like they were itching for something to happen.
"Come on Itachi can't we just kill someone I'm so bored." the left man said while sighing afterwards.
"No, Kisame. We have been given a mission by Lord Pein and and it will be carried out. No distractions. You don't want me to use that Genjutsu on you again do you?" Itachi said in a monotone voice only to accentuate the word 'Genjutsu' causing Kisame to shudder slightly.
"Hell no that jutsu is freaky as shit, fine I'll try and keep my trap shut." Kisame retorted showing off his razor sharp, pointed teeth.
"That would be preferable." Itachi countered with.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"We there yet?" Kisame asked causing Itachi's eye to twitch slightly.
'I swear when we find the Kyūbi Jinchūriki I hope he can punch Kisame really Kami damn hard!' Itachi shouted within his head yet outside no changes were made as thanks to his years in the ANBU before he left the village.
XXXXXXXXXXX – First stop -
The group made camp for tonight and Naruto pulled up his left sleeve revealing a storage seal, bit his finger and ran it down his for arm making a bowl of pre-heated ramen appear in a plume of smoke – chopsticks included.
Jiraiya and Tayuya both stared at Naruto who was, for the first time, slowly savouring the ramen he held in his hand.
"Give me." Tayuya stated before she sat beside Naruto who popped another bowl out of the seal on his arm. Tucking into the bowl Tayuya heard the sighing of the old pervert, who she qickly gave the finger to.
Jiraiya was about to speak up before a scroll was tossed his way via Naruto. Shaking his head the older man unfurled the scroll he was given and began to inspect the contents. His eyes soon widened at the sealing array Naruto had constructed before him. From what Jiraiya could grasp it locked of the persons chakra, yet they could still produce it. The locked chakra would then funnel into the outer seals which seemed to be basic chakra storage seals, yet they looked complex enough that no one bar maybe him and Naruto could reconstruct it.
Jiraiya sat looking at the man before him gone was the young prankster who snuck into the Hyūga compound and dyed their underwear neon pink. The man before him physically resembled that of Minato yet he acted like Kushina. 'Minato, Kushina your son is brilliant.' the toad sage said to himself.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Back in Konoha -
Ino was just about to lock up the family shop when a knock was heard at the door. Not thinking anything of it Ino walked over to the door and opened it.
In an instant she was no longer at the door but in a field. Naruto stood before her. "Why are we in a field Naruto?" Ino asked cautiously.
"I can't very well summon a snake in the village now can I? Besides I'm a clone so I'll disappear when I bring you home." the Naruto clone stated.
Before Ino could ask about what he had meant the clone had flew through the hand signs and hit the ground causing the area to overflow with smoke, once the smoke cleared Aona was beside Naruto clone both looking at Ino.
"Ino, you are wanting to be a poison using shinobi am I correct?" Naruto clone asked, causing Ino to nod. "Aona you told me that your body can change the potency of the venom that you use, correct?" this time it was Aona that nodded.
Letting out a breath Naruto clone took a few steps back and nodded to Aona, who choked up a scroll causing Ino to just manage to hold down her dinner.
"Aona will you accept Yamanaka Ino as your new summoner in my stead? As well as furthering her knowledge in poison?" Naruto clone asked.
"I shall."
"Yamanaka Ino, do you accept this summoning contract and the knowledge that shall be given to you through her teachings?"
"Of course!"
"Now you may sign the contract." 'heh sounds like they just got married' Naruto clone stated as Ino signed her name in blood to fulfil the summoning contract.
"I'd recommend you summon me soon, I have a lot to teach." Aona commented before returning to her own own realm.
"Okay, home time!" Naruto clone stated as he grabbed Ino and flashed back to her house before he turned into a pile of smoke.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Tanzaku town gates -
"Fucking finally!" Tayuya shouted only to get hit on her head by Naruto, giving her a stern look in the process.
"Right I'm going to go-" Jiraiya began before he felt a slap on his cheek.
"No brothels or you get zapped." Naruto stated as he began to walk forwards. "Tayuya we're going to the casino 'Gōrduro', where we're going to check there first and maybe win some money." Tayuya quickly jogged after Naruto while Jiraiya stood there sighing at just how restricted he was now.
"Guess I'll go book some rooms then." Jiraiya said to himself as he walked over to the nearest hotel only for the seal to zap him. "Wrong kind of hotel then. How does he know how to make these seals?"
XXXXXXXXXXX – Hours later -
Naruto was sitting at the poker table while Tayuya was off at another, so far Naruto had roughly 600,000 ryō (£1.13 mil) while Tayuya wasn't that far behind him.
Currently a blonde haired, busty woman was sitting at Naruto's table, Tsunade, their mark. Tayuya eventually got up from her table and walked over towards Naruto's and Tsunade's table. "Mind if I sit here?" she asked, neither blonde disagreed with her so she sat down.
The dealer sighed looking at the difference between Naruto and Tayuya's chips compared to Tsunade's. "Okay 21 is the goal, closest gets the money, unless I am nearer." all nodded.
After getting dealt the cards Naruto pulled the tops up. 'King and a Queen, not bad.'
Tayuya glanced at hers 'Hmm a nine and a ten, not bad.'
Tsunade however was trying to not break down. 'How shitty is my luck that I have two two's?'
The dealer looked at Naruto "Twist or stick?"
Glancing at his card again he nodded "Twist." the card that was turned over was an ace. Nodding Naruto waved his hand over the cards to signify that he was happy.
The dealer turned to Tayuya and posed the same question which got the same reply. Her card proved to be a two. Tayuya also copied Naruto in her hand motion.
"Twist?" the dealer asked Tsunade.
'Shit I gotta go for it, this guy is sucking me dry!' Tsunade shouted mentally, outwardly she nodded. A nine was turned over 'Great all I need is an eight. Come on luck!' Tsunade tapped the table and another card was dealt.
A nine.
Tsunade's head hit the table with that much force that it carried on through the table and towards the floor. Thankfully however Naruto grabbed her and held her aloft.
The dealer then turned her cards showing that she had nineteen, the rules of the dealer forced her to twist, she dealt herself an eight. Shrugging she motioned for Naruto and Tayuya to reveal their hands. Both had 21.
The money was split between them and they left to cash their money. Not before whispering something in Tsunade's ear.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Half an hour later, local ramen stand -
Naruto and Tayuya were both digging into their tenth bowl of ramen, not paying attention to their surroundings until a hand touched their bags of money.
Before the thieves could react both of them found that their hand had been impaled by the chopsticks that the two were using, they drank up the broth before tossing a smaller bag towards the stand owner. They left shortly afterwards towards the town centre.
It was only a few minutes walk before the two arrived in the centre, which had an elegantly crafted water feature present. The sculpture was that of an angel holding a jug of water that flowed down over the heads of infants into the water below.
Tsunade stood before the fountain with Shizune and Tonton.
"Okay I'm here now what do you want?" Tsunade barked at the two. Naruto and Tayuya shared a glance.
Naruto was the first to speak up. "We just wanted to see if you would be willing to return to Konoha, Sarutobi passed and named is second successor." Naruto stated as he moved the bag of money back onto his shoulders.
Tsunade was about to retort when a group of men in suits walked towards them, all the men were rather buff with shaven heads, black suits with black ties, ear pieces and dark tinted sunglasses.
One walked forward. "Sir and madam we regret to inform you that Mr Don'yoku (greed) has requested that he would like his money returned." The larger man cracked a smile showing that he had pearly white teeth.
Tsunade gulped, she had heard of Don'yoku. He was the kind of man that would sell his own mother into service if it gave profit. Some stories say that he already had. That and he was short, really short.
"I'm sorry but this Don guy can fuck the crap off, ya piss head mother fucker!" Tayuya stated as she squared up to the guy. Naruto couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose, Tayuya still had a colourful vocabulary.
"Well missy, boys I think we can do this the hard way." The larger man from before backed into the group.
Tayuya was pissed off at the men before her and whipped out her flute and quickly played a tune from which summoned her Doki, The club one seemed more than ready to smack someone. Naruto mean while created a clone and tossed his money sack to it.
The group of men paused for a second before encircling the two humans, leaving a gap near the Doki. One by one they charged towards them, Naruto started to quickstep in between the men, slapping them in the face occasionally. Tayuya however slide amongst the charging males whilst her Doki would hit them in the chest with minimal force, just enough to make them unable to continue.
The group was in two, half riled up whilst the others were unconscious. Tayuya dismissed her Doki and turned to Naruto. "Really you're letting them stand, how in the seven rings of Orochimaru's lab could I beat them before you beat yours?" Tayuya questioned.
Naruto smirked and and shaped the half ram sign. Seals started to appear on the men before them. "Fuinjutsu: chains of binding." once Naruto had called out his technique chains of chakra shot from the seals and engulfed the men. All proceeded to try and squirm their way out of them.
Ignoring the attempted reclaiming of their winnings Naruto and Tayuya turned to Tsunade. "We have a deal, you come back to Konoha and you keep the money we won today." Naruto stated earning wide eyes from Tsunade and daggers from Tayuya. "What do you say Bā -chan?"
"Baa-chan, I ain't your granny pipsqueak!" Tsunade retorted with.
"Nah your right, more along the lines of our aunt I'd guess." This caught Tsunade off guard. This wasn't the usual 'Oh that happened' off guard this was full force 'What the crap' off guard.
"What?" Tsunade screamed out.
"He should be hear soon." Naruto stated to Tayuya, now just ignoring Tsunade.
A few moments later and one perverted hermit dropped from a roof into the grouping of bound men. Looking around Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh. "Really Gaki not even a day goes by before you have people bound? And you I'm guessing that the unconscious ones, even the one floating in the fountain, are your handy work?"
Naruto and Tayuya both answered with "Maybe/ Fuck's it got to do with you?" at the same time. Naruto hit Tayuya on the head again. "Less colourful." he chided.
"J-Jiraiya?" Tsunade croaked out. "Great fucking great, both team mates in the same day." she commented the three tensed at Tsunade's words and turned to face her.
"What do you mean 'both team mates'?" Jiraiya asked.
"That snake asked me to heal his arms, wouldn't say what happened though. We're going to meet in a clearing on the west side of town tomorrow." Tsunade revealed, Naruto instantly made several clones and they all ran off in a westerly direction.
"Tsunade-hime, we have a lot to talk about."
XXXXXXXXXXX – That night in the hotel -
Naruto was sitting working on his newest Fuinjutsu project when there was a chap at the door, shaking his head Naruto walked over and looked through the peep hole. Two cloaked figures stood at the other side of the door, black cloaks with red clouds on them.
The Akatsuki. Naruto knew who these were, they were a band of missing nin from all over the shinobi world, most S-rank, he also knew that there were reports of Jinchūriki missing from some villages. He linked that to the sudden influx of appearances that the group had.
None the less Naruto opened the door "I'm sorry I didn't order any room service, try the next room along." he stated casually and closed the door on them. Once the door was closed two things happened: those on the outside were confused as to what had just happened while Naruto on the inside was starting to laugh.
There came a knock again so Naruto opened the door. "Uzumaki we have come for you." the right one said in a very calm and empty voice.
"Hey Itachi how have you been?" Naruto retorted with while he just looked at the Uchiha before him.
To say Itachi was expecting this would be true. He had snuck into the village on several occasions using some of the old tunnels from the second shinobi war. Those lead straight into the forest area behind the Hokage mountain. When Itachi had returned home he saw that his brother had became cold and distant with everyone, forcing training upon himself.
Naruto caught his attention, the reports the group had on Naruto were that of a dumb, hyperactive and really slow to grasp things. Itachi needed to talk with with the groups information gatherer.
"Come sit, I've just made tea. Kisame leave Samehada by the door I shall leave Kubikiribōchō there as well." Naruto stated as he let the men enter his room.
The two men stood there for a while before Kisame shrugged and walked in, "What you got kid, Itachi wouldn't let us stop to eat?" Kisame said as he dropped Samehada by the door and walk to the window before sitting there, Naruto had brought out a bowl of ramen from his arm and passed it over to him. Kisame stared at the food presented to him, he was about to retort with how stupid it is, his stomach however betrayed him and growled for the food in his hands. Kisame shook his head and started to dig into the bowl before him.
Itachi walked to the seat the was sitting opposite of Naruto. "So … Tsukuyomi!"
XXXXXXXXXXX – Genjutsu world -
When Naruto parted his eyes the first thing he noticed was the red sky above him. Naruto tried to walk forward yet found that he couldn't.
"I have you chained to a boulder, Naruto. I am sorry for this but it is the safest way to talk while Kisame is present." Itachi stated as he slowly faded into existence.
Naruto smirked and looked over to Itachi, Sharingan active. Itachi's eyes widened upon seeing this but what shocked him more was that Naruto had broken his restraints and had now dropped from the boulder to the ground that Itachi was stood on.
"You don't have to worry, the Sharingan are fake - Replicated by seals. I had originally deactivated them after an injury to my left eye, which I have subsequently repaired and reapplied." Naruto said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Sasuke knows why you did what you did back then too."
Itachi nodded "It was that or all of Konoha would have became red. I am proud to have done what I did. Even if it haunts my every waking and sleeping moment." Itachi was staring off into the unknown when he felt the hand on his shoulder. "He still has that stick up his ass doesn't he?"
"Eh, kinda."
"Kinda? Better than a definitive yes."
"Tell Lord Jiraiya that I shall leave some info for him at dead drop seven." Naruto nodded before Itachi turned.
"Your ill aren't you?"
"What makes you say that, Naruto?"
"Your shallow breathing shows that you are struggling to breath, meaning something is wrong with your respiratory tract. Another thing is that you are slightly more hunched than before when I seen you, weasel. Sasuke would be shocked to see his elder brother in pain when he gets to see you again." Naruto concluded only for Itachi to grasp his chest and scowl slightly.
"I will release you, soon. That is unless you wish to try and break out?" Itachi commented once he had returned to his more common stance.
Naruto just ran his hand across his face and once he had his entire demeanour change in an instant. The world around Itachi started to quake and small tears began to become visible and grow gradually larger.
'This is impossible, the raw power needed would be insane. Almost... Kyūbi level.' Itachi thought to himself as the walls around dissipated into the void of the jutsu.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Real world -
A second later for Kisame, Itachi who was sitting upright was nearly falling off the seat and clutching his head in pain. Kisame had no idea that Tsukuyomi could back fire. Kisame however kept slurping up the noodles in the bowl.
"I think you should take him away and get him checked. Don't touch my Kubikiribōchō. Keep the bowl too." Naruto stated as he walked to the door, not bothering to look behind him at the still seated Kisame.
Looking at the prone form of Itachi Kisame couldn't help but want to fight this guy who could do this to the one who slaughtered his clan in one night. The rational side however won out and Kisame slung Itachi over his shoulder and walked to the door. Samehada slithered up Kisame's back to return to it's resting spot. "Thanks for the food. Can I have one to go, for Itachi?" Kisame stated but not wanting to show Naruto his current facial expression of absolute delight at how delicious the food that he was currently eating was.
Naruto laughed and pulled out a scroll and slid it into Kisame's pocket. "Come again soon." Naruto waved to Kisame as he walked down the corridor and towards the stairwell.
XXXXXXXXXXX – Next day, Town gates -
Naruto, Tayuya and a sleepy Jiraiya all stood waiting on Tsunade and Shizune. Tayuya for one was getting rather impatient on the older women.
"Where is the old granny, and miss 'I can carry a pig'. The thing has leg, It can fucking walk or get in my stomach!" Tayuya shouted aloud and if on cue one Tsunade, Shizune and one Tonton all came from behind the nearest building.
Tsunade was cracking her knuckles as she walked towards the now red haired girl. The better diet seemed to have restored her hair's natural colour. "Who is old you ingrate little shit?" Tsunade questioned as she approached while letting out some KI.
"I don't know, do you have it written down on a pad because you can't remember?" Tayuya countered. Before either could continue Jiraiya made the mistake of trying to interject into their argument, this sent Jiraiya flying after both women punched him – one high the other low. The battle itself was now becoming a staring contest which also meant that the women were leaking out KI, knocking several civilians in the area out cold.
"Are we leaving or what?" Naruto quipped at the two causing them to look away from each other.
"Yeah let's go, I'll leave that snake bastard to wallow in self pity. For being the smartest he sure has became stupid. Messing with sensei what was he thinking." Tsunade vocalised as she made way out of the small town and onto the road for Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves.
"Wait up," came a weak croaking voice. "ow."
XXXXXXXXXXX
And that's this done. Not sure if there will be the Sasuke retrieval arc in this as Sasuke has his own seal now. Tayuya's needs edited but I can do that 'off-screen' if need be.
So what did all you think, Was it worth the wait, was it not? Let me know and I will see all of you lovely people in the next chapter, if I write one.
Side note I've been thinking about doing a sequel to this, should I?
Word count- 8820. Longest one yet.
Anyway a bit of advice from me to you,
"If you find something that you love, never let it go."
Kieran Aitken – April 2015
Ja Mata Ne!