I own nothing except my OCs

Before I get started on this chapter, two things:

One, the timeline in Naruto is sometimes a little fuzzy when comes to parallel events, so some things might be off to you, but this is my decision regarding it after viewing certain events.

Two, reviews are very important to me. Even a small "good job!" will do. That way I know if I am going well with this story.

Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome! BETA NEEDED!

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – human thought

' ' – demon thought

" " – demon speech

-Obscuro-

Chapter 7 – Rain Country Part 1

Last time on Obscuro…

Turning to Obscuro, he saw the board with a message "We have arrived. Beyond those rainy plains is what we seek. We shall have to tread by foot here, for I do not know if anything has changed.

But we shall have to be cautious. This is a boundary country with many ninja lurking about. This country even has its own hidden village."

Naruto asked "What's its name?" For some reason, the answer sent a shiver down his spine.

"Amegakure – the village hidden in the rain"

-Obscuro-

Naruto just gazed at the rainy plains in front of him. The sky was grey, with not an ounce of sunlight in sight. The air had a scent of blood to it, with even some of the grass being red. All in all, a very depressing picture.

Turning to Obscuro, the board read "I have checked the vicinity. There is no trap or anomaly up ahead. You may proceed forward."

Naruto gave the board an unsure stare "Just like that? Forward?"

"Yes, forward. At least until you arrive at some sort of shelter." Sighing in resignation, Naruto leapt into the rain.

As Naruto dashed through the rain, he noticed that the landscape pretty much stayed constant no matter where he looked. The occasional hill or boulder maybe, but still a lot of grasslands.

He kept running for what seemed like half an hour, trying to ignore the fact that he was getting soggier by the minute, when he came across a large, pointed boulder. The boulder was pointed diagonally so there was a small space beneath it. A small, dry, space.

Within a second, Naruto dashed into the space. Hands on his knees, he panted in exhaustion.

'This is getting ridiculous. I'm running in the rain here with no end in sight and I have no idea where exactly am I going!" he thought in exasperation. Turning his head, he saw no sign of the shadow-demon or his board.

"Figures" he muttered "I really need to get binoculars or learn some detection jutsu."

Naruto slumped down and gazed upon the rainy plains, trying to find some sign of life. Some minutes later (He didn't really know, the sun was nowhere to be seen), the rain lessened.

Seeing the horizon become clearer, Naruto got up and dashed forward. Despite his misgivings about the situation, Obscuro gave him the only (as of now) reasonable instruction: forward.

After a while of running, he saw a grove of small trees and a river. Stopping by the river, he saw that it ran into the grove. Entering the grove, he followed it until he came to a shocking site.

It was a ruined village. Wooden houses were strewn all over the place, broken and charred. The roofs were split open or caved in. The nearby trees were bereft of leaves and the branches were black with soot. As he walked between the houses, he saw to his horror the odd skeletal hand or corpse sticking out of the mud.

As he tried to regain his bearings, Naruto recalled what Obscuro had mentioned earlier. 'This country is a border country, so there must be a lot of fighting around.'

He then saw a house that was relatively intact. The walls and door were splintered, but the roof seemed whole and the structure didn't look very charred. Shrugging, he entered.

The inside was mostly bare. There was a small table and three chairs, two of them broken. The ceiling was dripping in a few places, but held on against the rain. Turning, he saw a dirty futon lying on the ground, with bit chewed off presumably by rats. He didn't complain. He had slept in worse.

Naruto sat down on the futon and called "Hey, I found shelter! Can you come out now?"

The board popped out of the shadows in an instant. The blond just sent it an angry glare. "Did you know this place was here?"

The shadow-demon wrote back "What makes you say that?" As Naruto was about to shoot a remark, Obscuro kept writing "Regardless, even if I did know this place was here, I did not expect it to be in this state."

That last statement made Naruto frown as he recalled the remains of the dead that he found amongst the ruins. "What now?"

"You shall stay here and rest for an hour or two. Use that time for whatever you wish, just don't leave this shack. I shall go scout ahead." Naruto nodded, but then he realized something. Obscuro was way faster than him so…"Why couldn't you have scouted for this place earlier?" But the board (and Obscuro subsequently) were gone.

He huffed in annoyance "go ahead. Leave me in the abandoned scary village. Sure." Looking around and seeing nothing interesting, he unsealed his notebook. As he was skimming through its contents, the decrepit surroundings made him think back on his life.

'I wonder what would have happened to had Obscuro not taken me in. Would I still be sleeping on the streets? Would I have been found by the Hokage? Would I even be still alive? What with the villagers trying to kill me every chance they get, probably not. Kyuubi or no, they would have eventually got me' Naruto begrudgingly thought 'But maybe I could have thought of something. I taught myself how to read and write, and I managed to evade the ninja most of time. Would I have been able to get out of the village? I don't know. It's not that I'm ungrateful but…'

Despite the fact that the shadow-demon has done much for him, Naruto still didn't completely trust Obscuro. His reasoning for this had three points: First, the paranoia from his village-dwelling days still lingered. It wasn't that he was afraid that Obscuro might kill him, but rather the fact that he is maybe being used for something unsettled him. Second, which is tied to the first, the reason for saving him was too simplistic. 'I looked "interesting"? I get the fact that he's never seen a jinchuuriki before, but this is beyond a simple curiosity. This is just reinforcing the idea that he (Naruto was told of the shadow-demon's lack of gender, but preferred calling it a "he") is using me for something. But what on earth could it be for?' Finally, despite his denial of this, a small part of the blonde didn't want to get attached. If Obscuro was using him for something, he didn't want to blindly follow his instructions. He had read how loyalty can negatively affect a person, and he was far too fond of his own life to willingly throw it away. 'I have survived this long in my life. I'm not about to throw it away just because I was told to by my…by my…what exactly?' This prompted the next question in Naruto's mind: what was Obscuro to him?

Due to the lack of experience in being properly raised, Naruto was not sure how to define Obscuro's relationship to him. He couldn't really call him a father, as he seemed too distant to be one. Nor could he really call him an uncle or any blood-relative in fact. The aforementioned factors prevented the blond from forming a familial bond with the demon. 'A teacher maybe? But he's given me a home and fed me for more than a year. That's not something a teacher would do.' Eventually Naruto shrugged. He realized he was worrying too much on what might happen instead of what is happening. Up until now his…guardian…had helped him in so many ways, so he wasn't about to just spit in his face.

With his worries temporarily put aside, he kept reviewing his notes. After a while, he dozed off.

Naruto was awoken by the familiar sensation of a pebble pelting his forehead. Rubbing his eyes, he got up from the futon to see the board floating in front of him, with the message "I have scouted ahead and made several decisions. We shall keep moving west (straight) towards Ishigakure, a small ninja village. We will not go there, but rather to the border between there and Rain Country."

"What do you expect to find there?" Naruto asked.

"If my memory serves me right and no major events have caused the land to change, there should be an old ritual site hidden there."

Unfamiliar with the term, Naruto inquired. Obscuro wrote "Make sure to write this down. This will have some importance."

Nodding, Naruto pulled a pencil out and began writing. "A ritual site or aether hotspot is an area where rituals tend to work better. The aether that flows within the world is generally even, but there are some spots where the aether is closer to the land, and thus is more easily accessible for performing rituals. Repeated usage of rituals in any specific area will cause the aether to be "pulled" closer to the surface, so it is possible to create a hotspot artificially."

Taking notice of the last sentence, Naruto recalled something. Obscuro once asked him to perform the Wood Growth Ritual within the forest, but he had found it harder to pull aether unlike when he was in the house's area. "The house. You made the house an aether hotspot."

"Correct. I have frequented that area quite often, enough to saturate my essence in it. Along with the fact that I performed various large rituals there, including the defence system around the house, I have managed to make into a rather decent hotspot if I say so myself."

Processing this information, Naruto finished writing and resealed his utilities. "There is shelter further down our path. You should reach it by dusk."

Naruto hummed before suddenly asking "Why can't you just take me there?"

Obscuro simply replied "I want you to learn how to do things yourself. I will not always be around. I'm a lot of things, but omnipresent is not one of them." Soundlessly, the board vanished.

Begrudgingly accepting those words, Naruto headed out of the village.

The rain kept going, but it retained its lightness. Thanks to that, Naruto covered more ground than he had expected. As he kept running, he noticed that signs of conflict began to appear more and more.

A body here. Broken or rusty weapons there. Charred or bloodstained grass. Even a destroyed bunker peeked out of a hillside.

Despite the fact that it was rainy and cloudy, Naruto could see hints of the passing day. The sky grew dimmer with each passing hour, but he stayed his path.

Sure enough, he eventually arrived at a desolate hut just as the sky grew dark. Thankfully, the roof was intact.

The interior of the hut was much like the house at the village, but with no futon. He did however, notice some hay piled up in the corner. After checking if it was dry, Naruto plopped down and unsealed some food and a blanket.

As he began to eat, he saw Obscuro's board pop out of the corner with the message "Make a fire after eating. All that rain could prove detrimental in the future. Don't worry, I won't let it burn this hut."

Grabbing some of the hay and pulling out a matchbox, Naruto lit a small fire in the center of the room. After seeing the shadows gather around it, he pulled the blanket over him and fell fast asleep.

The next morning, Naruto woke up on his own. The rain was constant, even through the night. After rubbing his eyes and stretching, he saw that the fire went out.

Getting up and eating a small snack, Naruto headed back out. He kept running for two hours until he saw a large mass in the horizon. He squinted his eyes, and saw that as he was getting closer, the mass took the form of very tall buildings. 'That must be Amegakure'

He was about to keep going but was suddenly yanked backwards by a shadowy tendril. The blond got up from the muddy ground and asked "What's the big idea!?"

A black dome suddenly rose above him, and in its center was the board with one word: "DANGER!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. Danger? Obscuro erased the word and wrote "I have detected a massive amount of chakra surrounding this village. It was all one chakra, meaning it belonged to one source. If you had continued, the chakra would have felt the disturbance and I would not like to know what will happen."

Paling at the nasty revelation, Naruto asked in a shaky voice "W-what do m-m-mean surround-d-ing the village?"

"The rain. The rain that surrounds the village is infused with chakra, all coming from one source. A human source."

Shaken by that statement, Naruto said "I have got to find some way to detect that."

"Understandable. I have a few ideas. But for now, I shall provide cover for you. Go around the village. Do NOT enter it."

Nodding, the blond felt the shadowy form of Obscuro cloaking him before the dome receded. Feeling the cloak tugging a bit left, Naruto turned in that direction and ran as fast as he could.

As he ran, he felt the rain hitting the cloak but not getting him wet. Taking advantage of the cloak, Naruto used the shadows from the clouds to give himself a little more speed.

After an hour, they managed to reach the other side of the village. Naruto didn't take his cloak off, but he did stop and took a closer look at the metallic mass that was Amegakure.

Unlike Konoha, Ame seemed heavily industrialized. Its buildings were entirely made out of steel, towering over the land. A large moat encircled it, filled with water and possibly traps. In the center of the village, a large steel spire stood taller than any building that Naruto had ever seen. The spire sent shivers down the young jinchuuriki's spine as he stared it. It was as though a powerful, foreboding presence was residing in that tower, watching over the village.

Reminding himself that Obscuro did mention that the chakra came from a human source, Naruto wondered what kind of person could exude that much power.

Not wanting to find out, Naruto dashed forward, the steel village slowly shrinking behind him until it became a hazy mass once more.

Soon, he came across a small settlement. Unlike what he had seen previously, this one was inhabited. The main street was flanked by market booths and customers, with steel bunker-like houses standing behind them (all of course, equipped for rain). People were going around, buying or just walking from place to place. What was strange though was the atmosphere that engulfed the town. He could see it on nearly half the people there – an air of oppression hung over the town.

Sticking to the shadows, Naruto skilfully weaved his way through the masses, avoiding being seen. He passed by an alley and was about to continue when he heard a yell of pain.

His curiosity nagging at him, Naruto looked inside the alley. Two large men stood there with their faces to the wall. One had brown, spiky hair and the other and short black hair. They both wore blue coats with large grey belts, grey armguards, black shinobi sandals and white scarves. Their most striking features were the metal headband they wore on their foreheads and the respirator-like masks the black-haired one wore on the lower half of his face.

They both stood, looking down at the form of a little girl. She wore a light, purple-colored kimono shirt, grey pants and sandals. Her purple hair was arranged in an onion-like bun style, with her bangs covering her forehead. Her light-green eyes had a spark of fear in them, but mostly defiance as she stared back at the two men, clutching in her arms what was presumably some food.

"You thought it was smart to steal from us kid?" the brown-haired one asked with a sneer. "We are Hanzo's men! Mere thieves cannot escape us!"

The girl shot back "Hanzo is dead! Why don't you learn that!?"

The black-haired one answered in soft, eerie voice "It does not matter. His vision lives on, and Ame shall embody it. No 'angel' or 'god' is going to stop it."

The brown-haired one asked his partner "Oi Nagi, can I teach this brat a lesson? Maybe have some fun with her?"

Nagi just sighed. "Ringo, must you be so vile? But I suppose you are right. We can't have any riff-raff making us look weak. Don't damage her too much though, I hate seeing people suffer."

Ringo just chuckled nastily and took a step closer to the girl, who scampered against the wall.

After hearing that last exchange, Naruto narrowed his eyes. He may not be the kind of guy who would risk his life for a stranger, but he knew what the brown-haired guy – Ringo – meant by "fun". He had seen once a group of men walking out of a similar alley in Konoha's red-light district saying stuff like "she was fun", and when he looked in there, the woman's battered body and look of sheer despair haunted him.

Now Naruto knew that the same situation could happen to girl in front of him. 'Not on my watch' he thought.

He pulled out his two Kris and leapt towards Ringo, cloak still on. He stabbed the man in the side and in the head, moving the daggers around for good measure. Letting out a muffled cry, Ringo fell dead.

Nagi heard the muffled cries of his partner and turned. What he saw completely confused and frightened him. It was a small form, covered in swirling black smoke, holding two wavy daggers. Pulling out a kunai he cried "W-what are you!?" But before he could blink, pain erupted in his stomach and throat. Attempting to focus, he saw two red-tinged blue eyes staring him down, as though looking into the depths of his soul.

Naruto had just stabbed Nagi in the neck and stomach before staring into his eyes. The man's eye widened in horror before whispering in a choked voice "D-d-demon…" Gritting his teeth at the memories of hurt those words arose, he whispered back "True demons are scum like you."

Dragging the dagger across the man's neck, Nagi fell down. Although the sight of the dead body made his nose scrunch up, he had grown used to seeing gore thanks to Obscuro's training and the incident with the attackers a year ago.

Turning his head, he saw the girl staring at him with a look of fright on her face. Looking down at his hands and realizing that this look is scaring her. Mentally asking Obscuro for assistance, the blond felt as the cloak slipped from his body. 'Must be a sign that the massive chakra doesn't reach here.'

The girl now had a surprised look instead of a frightened one. Sheathing his daggers, he asked her in what he assumed was a soft tone "Are you OK?"

That must've been a soft tone, because the girl blinked and stood up clutching her food. "Y-yes."

The two just stared at each other for a while. Then, it began raining harder than the last two days. Grimacing, he looked around for shelter.

Suddenly, the girl grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the street.

Surprised at this sudden action, Naruto asked "Hey, what are you doing!?" But either the girl didn't hear him or chose not to, because he found himself being dragged into another alley, facing a broken door. Pushing the door aside, the girl pulled him in.

The room he was pulled into was again, bare. With a single bulb illuminating it, the room had a sleeping bag, a tatami mat, a small table and a chair. (Heh, rhyme!)

After she closed the door, he sat down on the floor and she on the futon, and continued staring at each other. After a minute of doing so, Naruto said "Um…nice place."

One thing to know about our young Uzumaki was the fact that despite his lessons with Yugao, he was rather socially inept. As such, holding a conversation with another human was rather awkward for him.

The girl blinked and replied with a question "You aren't from Ame are you? You don't look like anyone around here."

Agreeing that blond hair was a bit out of place here, where dull colors were more common, he nodded. Noting that they didn't know each other, he introduced himself. "I'm Naruto"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Fishcake?"

This caused his eyebrow to twitch. Ever since finding out that little titbit, he was annoyed that his parents, whoever they may be, named him like that. Not that he would give it up of course. "It's 'maelstrom'" he muttered.

The girl said nothing for a few seconds, before speaking "Ajisai. I'm Ajisai."

Naruto tilted his head "What kind of a name is that?" "What kind of a name is fishcake?"

Conceding, Naruto just shrugged. "I'm not from Ame, I'm just…traveling." If she heard his hesitation, she didn't show it. Her stoic face remained unchanged.

Feeling the blood on his shirt, Naruto asked her "What happened back there? Who's Hanzo?"

Ajisai frowned "They were the men of the one who's controlling this town. They went bossing people and took stuff from the market. I just stole something they stole.

Hanzo was the tyrant who ruled this country. A civil war broke out a few years ago and he died recently. Some of his men are still alive though. They say an angel and her god came down and punished him and are now freeing the country."

'Must be the massive chakra' Naruto thought "What now?"

"The other men are going to find the bodies. They will probably search the whole town till they find the killer."

Naruto thought that he should leave immediately. But two things deterred him: The heavy rain outside that will wear him down, and for some reason, the fear that they might find out about Ajisai. He didn't save her just so she could be caught again.

Knowing he was asking an obvious question, he asked her "Your parents are dead, right?" It made sense with her living space.

"Can I stay here just for a day? I will leave tomorrow morning and I have some food with me if you want" Seeing her straighten up at the mention of food, he pulled out a scroll and unsealed some jerky.

Handing it over to her, he watched her with some amusement and familiarity as she quickly scarfed it all up. Unsealing some apples, he handed one to her as he began eating as well.

After finishing their meals, Naruto put back his scrolls before he came to a realization. 'I killed those two men not long ago, so there's still time before this gets out. I need to leave immediately!' Again, though, the thought of leaving Ajisai here disturbed him. Knowing this might slow him down, Naruto asked "Do you want to come with me?"

She gave him a shocked look. "Those men might find you and link you to the murders. I don't want that thing weighing on me. Besides, what do you have keeping you here?"

Unable to reply, Ajisai just sat there with her mouth open. After a few seconds she closed it and replied "Yes. I'll go with you. I don't have anything here anyways."

'That's what I just said' Naruto thought as he saw her pulling up a loose board under her futon and pulling out a few kunais. Stuffing them in her pant pockets, she said "I'm ready."

Nodding, Naruto went over to the sleeping bag and sealed it into a scroll. When he turned around, he noticed that Ajisai had an intrigued look on her face. Making a note of that, he went to the door.

Just as they were about to head out, Naruto asked her "Do you know any shelters in a direction which is not headed towards Ame?"

"There is a small forest a several hours hike from here" she replied "But we're going to run, so it might take less time."

Nodding, they both headed out into the rainy main street. Just as he predicted, there was no commotion outside. They dashed out of the alley and ran out of the town. Once they were a good distance away, Naruto gestured at his back and said "Climb on. We need to go fast and you're not fast enough."

Ajisai climbed onto his back while wrapping her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. 'She's light' he thought. Making sure she was secure, Naruto dashed.

After a few hours of running through the rain, with stops to breathe at the occasional tree or so, the two children arrived at the forest Ajisai mentioned. Entering it, he ran through the trees until he came across a small cave.

Naruto dropped the girl, and entered the cave. After making sure there were no animals there, he motioned for her to enter it. Both of them lay down on the ground, panting with exhaustion.

Unsealing the sleeping bag and the blanket, Naruto lay it out on the ground. "You can have the bag, I'll sleep on the ground."

Ajisai shook her head. "You saved me, so you should have it." Naruto was about to counter when a cold breeze blew into the cave. Shivering, he was about to relent when he noticed her shivering too, even more so since she wore simpler clothing than him.

Remembering something he read, he suggested "You know we could share body heat." That statement caused Ajisai to frown at him.

"I believe it is improper for a girl to sleep with a boy" Naruto furrowed his brow at this, but he wasn't going to press her further. Give the day's happenings it did make sense. Shrugging, he pulled out a book and began to read.

Ajisai must have been curious, because she then asked "What are you reading?" Looking at her curious expression, Naruto replied.

"It's called Inferno. It's about demons." Naruto was about to keep reading when a thought came up. "You can read?"

Seeing her nod, he tossed the girl a book in Japanese. "It's a collection of old fairy tales. It's fun." He then settled back to reading.

After a while, the sky grew dark. Naruto closed the book and yawned. Heading to the blanket, he covered himself and fell asleep.

Ajisai soon followed his example and entered the sleeping bag. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep. She looked over to Naruto and saw him peacefully sleeping away, completely unaware of her annoyance and suddenly recalled his offer. Scoffing, she would not resort this; sleeping with a man, especially after today's events.

But the offer still echoed in her mind, also Naruto looked really warm…

With much trepidation, she got up from her sleeping back and went to Naruto's side. His peaceful expression caused her to soften for a moment, but then she shook her head. She lifted the side of his blanket and lay down by his side. Naruto reached out and subconsciously hugged the new source of heat, desperately trying to ignore the cold.

Ajisai was startled as Naruto hugged her, and was about to push him back when she saw his sleepy expression and relaxed. She wouldn't admit it but the feeling of Naruto hugging made her feel warm and protected. Resigning to the fact that she caused this, she soon fell fast asleep.

-Obscuro-

Ta-da! No, she isn't an OC, Ajisai is very much a real Naruto character! Look her up in the Naruto Wiki to find out. To those who recognize it, I used a tiny fragment from Digitize27's story "Yellow and Red Makes" at the end, adjusting it so it won't be a copy-paste. (Remarkable NaruTayuya story)

Read and Review. Review. REEEEEEEEEEEVVIIEEEEEWWWWWW!