Chapter 11 – How to Rent a Ship

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" " – human speech/writing

' ' – human thought

' ' – demon thought

" " – demon speech

-Obscuro-

Just as the Hokage predicted, that very same night, only a couple of hours later, he had received word from his ANBU that a council meeting was about to take place, issued by Danzo. Mentally furious at his old friend that he had called a council meeting without his permission (again), he stormed the council chambers just as everyone was settling down.

He took a second to eye everyone in the room. A full summons it seems, with all the ninja clan heads and most of the civilian councilmen present.

"Ah, Hiruzen. How good of you to join us. I would have sent a request for a meeting later, but this is quite urgent," said Danzo with an emotionless voice, completely hiding any intent he may have had.

"That is Hokage-sama to you, Danzo. I'm not an idiot. I know that you called several council meetings without me in attendance, which is illegal according to Konoha's charter. I will have you arrested if you keep violating the rules just because you think you're an Elder."

Danzo didn't even twitch, although he did bristle inwardly.

The Hokage pulled out his pipe and drew a long breath. "Now that that has been settled, can you enlighten me as to why has the council been gathered at this late hour?"

Danzo stood up from his chair. "There have been reports of a large disturbance this evening occurring in the western Konoha woods. When several chunin were deployed to investigate, they found the mutilated corpses of several dozen Konoha citizens."

Whispers and mutterings filled the room. The civilian councilmen started to turn their heads around with worried expressions on their faces. The clan heads were far more composed, with only slight murmurings and occasional glances being thrown. Hearing no interruptions, Danzo continued.

"As this became a matter of internal village security, I have done a thorough investigation on this matter. From what I have gathered, the massacre took place in front of a house that was not listed in the village's construction plans. Furthermore…" The room seemed to stop breathing in anticipation.

"…according to the chunins' report, they have listed the resident of said as one Naruto Uzumaki."

The entire room exploded in screams and clamours, mostly from the civilians' side, all claiming that the demon fox had finally broken free and was beginning to rampage on the village. The clan heads simply raised an eyebrow or started to from thoughts in their heads.

Hiruzen nearly face palmed at the sheer idiocy of the civilian councilmen. He was beginning to get tired of their accusations towards Naruto. Deciding that this was the best time to do some damage control, he let out a small burst of Killing Intent, silencing the room.

"While I will have another word with you about sending ninja on an unsanctioned assignment, I can tell you all right now that Naruto didn't do any of that."

Shikaku Nara, the Nara clan head asked "How do you know that, Hokage-sama?" While he had nothing against the kid, a second massacre in the span of one month was rather disconcerting.

"I personally received word from my ANBU about the disturbance and managed to arrive there just as it ended." The Hokage took a moment to figure out how he was going to say what, or rather who, he had seen.

"The assumed perpetrator of this massacre was an unknown, male teenager who seemed to be the main resident of the house. According to him and Naruto, the villagers were there for the intent to harm the boy, so he claimed self-defence."

Seeing as how the civilians were about to protest, he raised his hand to silence them and kept talking.

"In addition, both of them had claimed that the villagers called Naruto a demon and other such derogatory names. In accordance with the S-ranked law I put in place, they had hinted to Naruto about his 'condition' and I would have executed them on the spot.

The fact that they are already dead just spared them from a death at my hands."

The civilians simply stewed in silence knowing that Hokage was right. Although they had managed to circumvent that law a few times, this time the actions done would have been unavoidable.

The clan heads completely understood the situation, as they would have defended their own homes with just as much (maybe a little less) force. However, the Hokage's comment about the unknown teen piqued their curiosity.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama," Hiashi Hyuuga asked, "but could you elaborate about this unknown teen that was with the boy? Maybe give a description of him?"

Hiruzen gave them all a description of the teen, even used his crystal ball to project his memories to them.

The entire council looked confused as they had never seen anyone with such unique features in the village. Maybe he was a native of Lightning Country? That thought was disturbing, particularly thanks to the Kumo-Hyuuga Affair that happened several years ago.

The clan heads though, focused less on the teen's physical attributes and more to the way he carried himself. His posture seemed rather relaxed for someone who supposedly killed that many people, but they saw that his other arm, the arm not grasping the blond child's shoulder, was tense; as though it was ready strike out at any given moment.

Shikaku spoke up again, "May we see the entirety of the memory, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen simply focused and the memory started to play, beginning from just before they had entered the clearing and ending just after he left it.

Although outward reactions were mixed, the entire chamber was horrified at seeing so many corpses mutilated in such a manner. Even more disturbing were the expressions on the corpses' faces and the sheer amount of blood that covered the ground.

At hearing the warning the teen gave the Hokage and the star that flashed above the house, the civilians were equally part terrified and outraged that someone had the nerve to insult the Hokage in that manner (hypocrites). The clan heads were left a little morose that the teen was right about the village failing Naruto, but that feeling quickly vanished as the star appeared.

The memory ended and the Hokage withdrew his crystal ball. Danzo decided that this was a good time to speak up.

"This boy is obviously a threat to the village. I move that we send a recovery mission to apprehend the two." Hiruzen flashed a stern look to the old war hawk.

"You will do no such thing. As I have said, they have acted in self-defence so none of them will be punished. I will talk with them tomorrow morning though, so ease any worries you might have."

Tsume Inuzuka, the Inuzuka clan head, a fierce-looking woman with shaggy brown hair and fangs, got up and asked the question that plagued most of the clan heads' thoughts:

"How exactly did those people die?"

Hiruzen tried to reply, but remembered that through his entire encounter with the teen, there were no signs of anything on him that might hint as being used for the killing. Also, his body didn't look like it had been injured or just slain several dozen people.

In short: he had no idea.

"I'm not exactly sure. But the evidence is strongly suggesting some sort of jutsu."

This rustled the clan heads in their seats. A jutsu that can kill that many people in such a manner? It had to be truly terrifying.

"I believe it is best that we continue with this matter tomorrow. I for one need a good night's rest, as do all of you I imagine. I will interrogate Naruto tomorrow morning, and we will have some answers. This meeting is adjourned."

The councilmembers all got up and left. Soon, the only two people left were the Hokage and Danzo. The former walked toward the latter with a flash of anger in his eyes.

"I don't know exactly how you managed to track down Naruto's house, but I do know that you probably leaked the information to the villagers! Damn you Danzo, you went too far!" he shouted.

The old war hawk turned away and said: "It was for the good of Konoha. Your refusal to hand him over to me is simply weakening this village. But I have done you a favour Hiruzen. I have managed to flush out the reason why the boy is so protected."

The Hokage shook his head. "You have done more harm than good. Now Naruto has even less of a reason to trust the village! If you even so much as attempt to provoke him, directly or indirectly, or the village drives him out, it will be on YOUR head!"

With those words, Hiruzen stormed out of the chamber, mentally promising to assign an ANBU squad to watch Danzo. As much as he hated to admit it though, Danzo did have a point: they now had a reason as to why Naruto stayed alive.

The next morning…

Thanks to the rather late council session, Hiruzen woke up later than he had intended, at 9:00 rather than 7:00. Cursing Danzo once again for his insubordination, he got ready to head out to Naruto's house. Arriving at his office, he was surprised (read: shocked) to see Shikaku Nara waiting outside the door.

Seeing the look on the Hokage's face, Shikaku said, "It's troublesome, but my curiosity got piqued the other night. I hope you'll let me join you, Hokage-sama."

Dazed by the black-haired strategist's presence, Hiruzen shook himself a little bit before replying, "Of course Shikaku-san. You might be able to help me with this investigation."

He cleared his throat and called, "Cat!"

The purple-haired ANBU appeared before the men, along with two other ANBU.

"Take us to Naruto-kun's home." She nodded, grabbed the two men and vanished, with the other ANBU following her.

Within minutes they were at the house. Hiruzen took a look and immediately noticed some changes. First, the corpses started to attract flies. He would have to take care of that.

Second, there was much less blood on the ground than the last time. Not dried up, but less blood in all. Strange.

Third, which was the most odd of the three and a tad disconcerting, was the large sign that was hammered to the ground, several meters in front of the entrance. It had a blood-soaked skull adorning its top, with the sign itself reading, in big red paint (?), "KEEP OUT OR DIE!"

Well, that was a simple message.

"Naruto-kun! Can you come out please? I simply wish to talk!"

No answer came. Knowing that someone should have heard him, he tried again.

"Naruto-kun! I promise that no one here will harm you! I just want to know what happened!"

Silence, again. Frowning, he turned to one of the ANBU, who wore a bird mask with a long beak.

"Crane, can you try and see if he's home?"

The ANBU – Crane – jumped from his spot and went for a window. But before he reached halfway there…

SMACK!

He slammed into something invisible mid-air and got knocked backwards.

A bit rattled, he got up and tried again, only to be met with the same result.

Shikaku and the Hokage were puzzled. What on earth just happened? Was there a barrier or some other protection here? Then, Hiruzen remembered the teen's words, as well as the star from last night.

"Let this be a warning to you, to anyone from Konoha or anyone who tries to harm us. Should anyone try to intrude on this ground…they will die, and their blood shall water the earth like rain."

For some reason, the last part, with "blood shall water the earth", got him thinking. Was it a hint? Shikaku must have thought the same thing, because he saw the Nara pull out a kunai and cut his palm, letting blood drip on the ground.

A few seconds later, the red glow from last night appeared. There was no star, but sparks did flash near them. Shikaku kept looking at the blood that he dripped before noticing something:

The blood was disappearing, or rather, sinking.

Just as the final drop of blood sunk into the ground, the glow vanished and everything became calm. Shikaku and the Hokage had different thoughts running through their heads, but one of them passed in both their heads.

'I see…it seems that whatever is here draws power from blood. Very clever.'

Hiruzen turned to Crane and asked, "You are a sensor if I'm not mistaken?" The ANBU nodded, "can you check if his chakra is there?"

Crane made a hand sign and gazed at the house. After a few seconds, he released the hand sign and shook his head. Hiruzen just sighed, although some part of him knew that this might happen. He was about to leave when Shikaku spoke up.

"Troublesome. I wouldn't worry too much Hokage-sama, Naruto will most likely return. The fact that there's a sign here means that he intends to return, and is trying to ward off people in the future."

Accepting the Jounin's reasoning, finding it logical as well, he turned to Cat. "Crane is now assigned to your squad. The moment anyone enters that house, inform me immediately."

She nodded and vanished along with the two ANBU. Hiruzen and Shikaku soon followed them back to the village. On the way, Shikaku said to him:

"Don't worry Hokage-sama; he'll probably come back tomorrow or later on in the evening."

The old man let out a small, hopeful smile. "I hope so Shikaku, I certainly hope so…"

Oh, the things humans think of to make themselves happy…

-Obscuro-

Unlike what the Hokage thought, Naruto was quite a fair distance away from Konoha. He was sitting against a tree, reading his notebook peacefully while listening to Ajisai as she tried to calm down her body and not to vomit by doing the most rational thing she could think of:

Splashing it with water until she sneezed.

"AH-CHOO!"

Wow, that was quick.

This comedic little scene was the result of a morning shadow-travel attempt with Obscuro. After the…massacre…back at the House and Obscuro's little announcement, the two children packed their things for such a journey before sleeping in their bed, trying to forget the night's horrific events.

It had been a calm night. No visions, no nightmares, just the warm feeling of someone pressed close to him.

Apparently they must have held on to each other for the night, because when Obscuro woke Naruto up via shadow-tendril express, they both fell out of the bed.

That caused some swearing with a side of blushing for breakfast.

After the short morning debacle and a quick breakfast, the two children retrieved their things (sealed in ninja scrolls) and waited for what would come next in the main hall.

Sure enough, Obscuro had appeared, manifesting in all of his winged, demonic glory. After checking if they were ready, he grabbed the two and vanished from the house.

It was interesting to note that Ajisai was not used to taking long distance trips via shadow-travel. She was too used to the short bursts to and from the village that only lasted a fleeting second. So after an hour or so of flying through the shadow-world, the purplenette complained about a stomach-ache. So here he was, trying to relax his own mind as he ignored her shudders.

Naruto looked up from his notebook to see that Ajisai managed to calm herself down. He stood up and walked over to her. He grasped her shoulder gently.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a hint of concern. She sniffed a little and nodded, though the expression on her face did worry Naruto a little.

"Do you think you can make the rest of the trip?" he asked.

"I-I don't know, but I will try" she replied with a shudder.

Naruto just shook his head. It was obvious that the trip was heavily disorienting her, and that could prove dangerous should they enter a combat situation. So he tried to think of a way that she will endure the trip with no setbacks.

He thought for a little while until he remembered the first time she shadow-travelled with him back in Rain. That gave him an idea.

He turned Ajisai so that she looked straight at him and said: "I have an idea that might help you. Remember when you first shadow-travelled, you fell asleep and didn't have any aches?"

She nodded. "Well, what if I knocked you out for the duration of the trip? You won't suffer any aches and we can keep going uninterrupted."

Although a bit insulted at the accusation that she was slowing him down, she understood his point.

"If I do agree to this, how will you knock me out?"

Naruto did not think of that. "Um…"

Before he could say anything else however, she suddenly collapsed backwards and nearly hit the ground, but he managed to catch her at the last second.

He saw a black tendril stand where Ajisai was and sent it an accusing glare. The tendril simply tilted sideways as if asking 'What?' A vein throbbed on his forehead.

Continuing to glare for a few more seconds, Naruto then sighed. At least that part was over with. Looking at the tendril again, he nodded. The two children were immediately swallowed by the shadows as they vanished from sight.

The trip continued uneventfully. Still clutching Ajisai to his side, Naruto remained expressionless (he thought so at least) throughout the journey. He looked to Ajisai's sleeping form as he clutched her, and thoughts formed in his head.

He didn't really dwell on it too much before, but Ajisai joining him and Obscuro was one of the best moments of his life. Not to say that life with the shadow-demon alone wasn't great, but his guardian was just too silent, too unrelatable to stoke the small ember of loneliness that burnt inside of him. He remembered from his village days that he used to watch enviously as all the other children played with one another, laughing and smiling. No matter how much he was grateful, a room full of books and a silent watcher didn't truly quell Naruto's desire for a friend.

Ajisai came in though, and he couldn't have asked for a better friend. She shared his love of books and knowledge, she was open-minded and had similar views on the world as him, but not that similar so they could engage in their frequent debates. She may sometimes be silent as Obscuro, but her presence seemed to lessen the gloominess of the mansion.

What was the 'cherry-on-top' in Naruto's opinion, was the fact that she was always there to comfort him or hold him when he was upset or angry. She gave him the one thing that Obscuro could never give: a shoulder to cry on, both literally and figuratively. While the shadow-demon sometimes offered short words of comfort and assurance, that could never compare to what she did for him. She may rarely talk, but her touch was all that was needed for him to calm down.

Not that he would tell that to her, not anytime soon at least.

The shadows rushed past him for what seemed like a few more hours, when suddenly the shadows spit him and Ajisai out. Thinking that they have arrived, he was about to thank Obscuro when he noticed something very prominent:

Instead of a murky beach, a small port town was laid out in front of him. Boats and ships of different sizes flanked the docks, sailors drunkenly wandered the wet streets and houses were crammed together alongside the small hill that lumbered over the town. Hearing the scratching of the board, Naruto turned to see Obscuro's message:

"We shall have to find a ship here to take us to Water Country. With the abundance of them, it shouldn't be too hard."

Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow as he turned to look at the ships. "Why can't you just take us there?"

"I cannot cross large bodies of water unaided."

Naruto face-vaulted at that revelation. Recovering, he nearly screamed at the board. "WHAT?! You can't swim? W-why didn't you tell me this before?"

"It never seemed important until now. That, and you never asked."

Naruto just glared at the board, his face slowly heating up. Not important? Well of course that was important! Not being able to cross water when you could practically teleport was not something you leave out!

Naruto was about to curse the demon when he heard Ajisai waking up. She rubbed her eyes as she slowly stood, nearly stumbling in her daze.

"Uhh…what happened?"

"We're at some port town in Fire Country. Apparently, SOMEONE (cue accusing glare) forgot to mention to us that he can't swim."

Ajisai just raised an eyebrow at that little titbit of info. "Did he knock me out as well?"

Naruto nodded. She shrugged. "Figures. Why didn't you tell us this sooner?"

Obscuro wrote back. "Well, now you know, don't ask why. What's important now is acquiring the services of a ship that will take us to Water Country."

"Just how are we going to do that? I don't think they'll take requests from 9-year-old kids. That, or they'll try to cheat us out of money."

Instead of replying, the board vanished and a swirl of shadows rose from where it once hovered. A human-shaped outline appeared in the vortex before it receded, revealing the teenaged form that the shadow-demon took last night during the confrontation with the villagers.

"Leave that to me. I have ways of persuading people." With those words he started treading towards the town. Making mental notes to ask Obscuro about that particular ability, they followed him.

The odd-looking trio soon arrived at a dingy old tavern where they had seen some sailors enter.

"Stay close to me, do not wander off," Obscuro said. Then they entered the bar.

It was a rather dirty place, with a wet wooden floor and mouldy walls. The smell of booze permeated the air, the small lightbulbs giving off little light. Yet despite the gloominess, an air of light-heartedness and merriment hung over the place, evident by the cheerful looks on the sailors faces and their laughs as they gambled and drank.

The three headed towards the bar where a muscular man stood cleaning mugs. He had short-cut brown hair and a stubble, with small tattoos on his arms. He wore a white shirt underneath a green, dirty apron. Most likely the barkeeper.

Obscuro sat down at a stool with the children right behind him. The barkeeper looked up from his now-polished mug and asked, "You underage?"

"No," Obscuro replied, with no falter to his (now-human) voice.

The barkeep just looked at him with appraising eyes before going back to his mug. "What can I get you?"

Obscuro leaned on the counter and replied, "Me and companions here," he gestured to the two children, "are looking for a ship."

"Where to?" the bartender asked, eyes not leaving his work.

"Water Country. I can pay," he replied, lowering his voice.

The bartender stopped polishing the mug before giving him a questioning glance. "Tough luck, then. You won't find a crew here that'll be willing to take you there, not unless you got a lot of coin."

"Why?"

"Haven't you heard? There's a civil war going on there. Rebels against Kirigakure, the resident ninja village. Something about 'cursed blood' or some shit. Ships and boats are attacked and pillaged by both sides. It's a total bloodbath."

This was news to all of them. Although in hindsight, they haven't really paid attention to the outside world that much, what with them staying in the House.

"Water Country is made up of islands and Kiri is in the biggest one, right?" The bartender nodded.

"We don't want to go to Kiri, rather to one of the smaller islands. Is there any fighting there?"

The bartender hummed in thought. "Hmm…well, some ships do know a few routes that avoid the main battlegrounds. Maybe one of them can take you." He then returned to his mug as though nothing happened.

Deciding to give a little incentive, Obscuro pulled a gold coin from his black cloak and set it on the bar. The bartender took a quick look at it before picking it up. He bit it once, rubbed it a few times and pocketed it. He then pointed to a table on the far side of the tavern, near a window. Six men sat around it, drinking booze.

"These guys did a few jobs to Water Country recently and came back unscathed. If anyone can help you, it's them."

Obscuro nodded in thanks. He got up and went to the table, accompanied by the two kids. When he arrived, the men were still drinking, although he noticed they did it with less fervour than the other customers. He cleared his throat.

One of the sailors, a thin man with green hair, turned his head and asked, "What do you want, kid?"

"I'm looking for a ship to Water Country. I was told that you could make the trip."

By then the entire table had quieted down. A man with ponytailed brown hair and a moustache spoke up.

"Suppose that we could. What's in it for us?"

Obscuro reached into his cloak ad this time pulled out a small pouch. He spilled its contents on the table, revealing a handful of gold coins. The men widened their eyes in shock and greed as the moustached man performed the same inspection that the bartender did. He looked to the teen and grinned.

"In that case, we can definitely take you there. Kirigakure, I presume? It'll cost a little more, what with all the fighting there but – "

Obscuro cut him off. "Me and my companions actually want to head to one of the smaller islands, away from the war."

"Where to?"

"Do you have a map?" The man pulled out of a small bag hanging from his chair a large rolled-up piece of parchment. He unrolled it to reveal a map of the eastern Elemental Nations, showing eastern Fire Country, all of Water, and a little of southern Lightning Country. Just as Obscuro said, Water was made up of islands that all ringed a larger island.

"Do any of the islands have a murky beach?" he inquired.

The crew let out a laugh and Moustache replied "Yeah, almost all of them."

"Do any of them have limestone cliffs? A high number of them?"

Moustache didn't laugh this time and paused to think. Limestone in Water Country was rare, unused as it was. Not enough to form cliffs. However, …

He pointed to a small island on the southernmost point of the country. "That island, it's a small fishing town, usually uninterrupted by the war. I was there before and I saw some limestone there, more than the rest of the islands. A few cliffs maybe, but not a high number. But there could be more nearby. I can take you there and you can look for whatever it is you're looking for."

"Done. When do we leave?" Moustache and the rest cracked a smile.

"Dusk, with the high tide. A little before that if you want. There's a boat outside with the name The Green Mizuchi. Meet us there."

He reached out to grab the coins but the teen swiped them from the table and pocketed them back.

"You will receive pay when we arrive. I don't take chances."

Instead of being angry, Moustache cracked a smile. "You've got spunk kid, I like that. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Captain Takeo Tochimura and these are my men. What are your names?"

The dark-haired teen pointed to the children. "The blond is Naruto and she's Ajisai. I'm…Ryōshi (Hunter)."

Takeo and his men got up. "The ship will be ready in a couple of hours. Take your time, explore the town. Come find us when you're ready." They then left the bar, taking their bottles with them.

The teen turned to the two children, who seemed to still gaze at the table. "I trust that you have watched my interactions with them?" They nodded.

"Good, remember this when dealing with humans. When you make a deal, give them what they want, but don't hesitate to stand your ground. That way you can dictate terms and retain some measure of control. If you need to pay, make sure to pay after the job's been done."

With those words, the three headed out of the tavern side-by-side and out into the streets. As they looked at the town, Naruto spoke up.

"So…Ryōshi, huh? Kind of fits you, I suppose. By the way, just how are you able to do that?"

The disguised demon shrugged. "It came to me in the spur of the moment, but I can see what you mean by that. As for this form…there is much about me which you do not know, both of you. Perhaps if you are lucky and I am generous, I will tell you more about me one day."

Naruto and Ajisai pouted and crossed their arms. He couldn't help but smirk, it was so fun to annoy those two. 'Come to think of it,' he thought, 'this is the first time I have had fun without slaughtering anyone. Heh, perhaps I can benefit from this little project more than I had originally hoped.'

He kept smirking as he glanced at the two. Maybe mess with them a little more?

"Do you know what happens to sailors who spend too much time at sea?"

-Obscuro-

A little light-heartedness to compensate for last chapter.

Check out my other story and my challneges!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all and thak you for being with me on this journey!

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