A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
Okay got mixed reactions in the reviews about Kisame's and Itachi's fights during the previous chapter, I guess that was to be expected. Still, let's try to answer the questions and comments.
The reviewer 'noshadowone' asked how Taka could "sneak up" on Naruto and the Raikage, stealing the Samehada just under their nose, making it a "terrible plot device". I'm not sure I understand why it would be such an unrealistic feat. I'm pretty sure I wrote that Naruto and A took off after they eliminated Kisame, not caring for the sword or the body. There was nothing preventing anyone from taking away the unclaimed "spoils of war" after that. Anyway would have replied to you by private message but you disabled it in you profile.
Some of you felt that Kisame and Itachi went down a little bit too easily, well that's true. For Itachi, it was his conviction that no one could counter his Sharingan genjutsu that doomed him in his confrontation with Bee, that and we all know how powerful an unexpected Lariat is. For Kisame, well I will concede that he should have felt them coming. Even then, with the Hiraishin and the Raiton no Yoroi, Naruto and A are now the fastest men in the Elemental Nations, I think they could pull this off.
Finally, there were concerns about the lack of interactions between Natsuki and Naruto. Those are totally justified, I'll admit that Romance wasn't really well developed in this story. I'm working on it and the "unsealing" scene should be coming soon. I have an original concept planned for it and I hope it will please those who have eagerly been waiting for it.
The other questions should be answered by reading this chapter :)
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 41 : Preparation and Engagement
Turtle Island
Naruto woke up in an unfamiliar bed, looking around he didn't recognize the room he was sleeping in neither. Getting out of bed, he finally remembered where he was and also why. He took a fast shower and then changed into his ninja gears before leaving the room. He went downstairs and saw that his two new comrades were already awake and waiting for him in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Uzumaki-san." Came a first voice when he entered the kitchen.
"Good morning to you too, and please, call me Naruto." Replied Naruto in his usual cheerful tone.
"Sure, as long as you call me Yugito." The woman he was talking to replied, getting a nod from Naruto.
"How are you feeling Bee-san ? Are your injuries healed yet ?" Naruto asked the other person in the room.
"I'm feeling great kid, how about you, are you ready to start you jinchuriki training ?" Killer Bee asked Naruto.
"Actually ..." Naruto was thinking about his next words and how he managed to find himself in this situation.
Flashback – Kage Meeting
After Naruto joined them, the Raikage and a still unconscious Bee decided to go back to the Samurai's Fortress, where the other Kage were waiting for them.
When they arrived, Naruto told everyone about the fight and how they managed to save Killer Bee from Kisame and Itachi. He also revealed that someone somehow stole the bodies and equipment of the missing nins before he came back to check on Itachi.
"What now ? We decided to not attack Amegakure without solid evidence, what can we do other than waiting for them to attack one of us first ?" Asked Kurotsuchi.
"Prepare ourselves to war, share our resources and information to get everything we can about Akatsuki." Gaara said.
"Let's meet again in a month, this will give us the time to make the appropriate arrangements. I'm sure we all need to report to our respective councils, about the recent developments." Mei added.
Before Mifune could announce the end of the meeting Naruto suddenly stood up.
"Raikage-dono, I'd like to ask a favor." Said the young leaf jonin, getting a nod from the A.
"Now that we managed to find Bee-san, I would like to request for him to teach me how to control my powers as a jinchuriki, I'm well aware that he has a perfect mastery over his own powers." Naruto said.
"Very well, but the place for such a training is a secret base. Even in Kumogakure, only a few of us know of its existence and I would like to keep it that way. You are allowed to come with us, but I cannot reveal to everyone the location where you will be training." A replied.
Before Tsunade could protest, not liking the fact that she wouldn't know where Naruto would be, the newly appointed Alliance's Leader spoke again.
"I accept your conditions, thank you very much." He said to the Raikage, then he went to talk with Tsunade.
"Are you sure about this, Naruto ?" Asked the Hokage with a worried look on her face.
"Don't worry Ba-chan, I feel that I can trust them. This is for Ero-sennin and his dream, together we will make his dream a reality." Replied the Uzumaki to his last relative alive.
Tsunade could not deny him when he started to mention the old pervert, it was a sensible subject for both of them so she reluctantly agreed to let him go with the Kumo nins.
The Suna, Kiri and Iwa delegations were already gone, before Tsunade with her two bodyguards could leave Naruto stopped them before going through hand signs.
"Ninpo : Kuchiyose no Jutsu !" He yelled. A very small dragon appeared out of the smoke and Naruto handed it to Tsunade.
"Here take him with you, this is Ryubin a messenger class dragon. You can contact me through him in case of emergency." Naruto said to his Kage.
Tsunade took the small summon creature and then left to get back to Konoha with her escort.
End of Flashback
They arrived on the island yesterday, Yugito was tagging along under A's orders to keep Naruto and Bee from killing each other. It also helped that she too, had a perfect control of her jinchuriki powers and was one of the few who could handle Bee when he went overboard. It was already late when they disembarked from the boat that led them there so they decided to sleep early.
"Well, I can already control all the nine tails of youki from my bijuu." Naruto admitted.
"You WHAT ?" Yugito yelled back to him while Bee had a scowl on his face.
Naruto then told them about his story with Natsuki and that they were mates.
"You're planning to release it, aren't you ?" Said the Hachibi jinchuriki, once again shocking Yugito.
Naruto's eyes widened at Killer Bee's words, surprised that he had already guessed his true intentions.
"Yes I do, and let me remind you that it's not "it" but "her", Kyuubi's real name is Natsuki." Naruto said.
There was a long break, Yugito and Killer Bee were obviously interrogating their respective bijuu about Naruto's claims. After a few minutes more minutes of silence, Yugito was the first to speak.
"Very well, Nibi or should I say Matatabi has confirmed that what you said about Natsuki is true." She said.
"Gyuki says hello as well, however, how do you even plan to free her without losing your own life in the process ?" Killer Bee asked.
"When a bijuu is sealed into a human being, the jinchuriki will receive a certain amount of youki with the distribution system that goes along with it. Our body will adapt to it and that's why if someone tries to forcefully remove the youki from our body, we will die in the process. It would be the same as completely removing all the chakra from a human being, a human cannot function without chakra and we jinchuriki can't live without youki anymore." Naruto started.
"That's where you guys come in. I've created a new seal that will contain the surge of youki once I destroy my Shiki Fuujin. The seal will be powered by your youki, you guys have perfect control over your respective youki so with your combined powers you should be able to contain Natsuki's powers." Naruto finished.
"But what will happen to Natsuki if you keep the youki inside your body ?" Yugito asked.
"Natsuki will get back a physical form as soon as I destroy the Shiki Fuujin, but she will no longer be a bijuu after that. I guess that you could say she will become someone closer to us jinchuriki, not human but not an immortal anymore either, I'm not sure what level of youki she will have after that. She is fully aware of these facts and wanted to proceed." Naruto replied.
"Would you be able to do the same for me too ?" Yugito asked again, even surprising Bee.
"I'm not sure, we don't have the same jinchuriki seal but I could look into it if you want." Naruto told her.
They then spent most of the day to prepare the unsealing ritual, Naruto had to draw an extremely intricate looking seal on the ground while Yugito and Bee prepared the room and rest their bodies for the event.
"I guess we'll stop for today, the seal is ready but I'm a little exhausted, both physically and mentally. We'll proceed with the unsealing tomorrow if that's fine with you guys ?" Naruto said as he stood up from his position on the ground.
Yugito and Bee both nodded to Naruto and they all made their way back towards the cabin they were using as a temporary house on that island. The dinner went on quite silently, even Bee toned down his rapping habits and they all went to sleep early.
Naruto's Mindscape
The young blond appeared in his mindscape that night right after he went to sleep. He quickly made his way towards the house he designed for Natsuki, only to find her waiting for him near the entrance. She immediately ran to him and brought him in a bone crushing hug.
"Hi Na-chan, it's finally time." Naruto happily said as he spotted the vixen. No matter how tired or sad he was, meeting with her always brought joy to his heart.
"Naru-kun, are you sure you want to proceed ? I'm really worried, not for me but for you. I don't want to lose you at the cost of my freedom." Natsuki replied, tears already forming in her beautiful red eyes.
"You will have to trust me on this, I've work hard and trained myself for that moment for the better part of my life. Ever since I fell in love with you, this has been a dream of mine to be able to hold you in the real world. I want this, more than becoming a Hokage, even more than bringing peace to this world. You will have to believe in me as I believe in us." Naruto replied, while gently kissing the tears away from the corners of Natsuki's eyes.
"You've really become skilled with the words Naru-kun, I believe in you, in us." Natsuki said with a smile.
"Are you sure you don't mind losing your immortality, once we proceed you will become a mortal just like me and you could die." Naruto asked.
"I would rather live and die knowing that I could hold and love you in the real world than live forever as a ghost inside a seal." Natsuki reassuringly told him.
"Then there's only one thing left for me to do." Naruto said before gently pulled back from the hug.
The blond slowly got down on one knee and took Natsuki's left in his own.
"I know we already consider ourselves as each other's mates but I would like to take this moment to formally tell you what's been in my mind and in my heart for quite some time now." Started Naruto as Natsuki nodded back to him.
"You've always been here for me, I don't know where or what I would have become if you weren't. I love you with all my heart, no matter what happens once we reach the real world I want to remain by my side. Natsuki, would you do me the honor of marrying me ?" Naruto asked her.
"Hai, I would love to become your wife Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto." Natsuki replied with tears of joy in her eyes this time.
"I'm sorry I don't have a ring for you, we're in my mindscape and I didn't want to create a ring that wouldn't be the one you would wear in the real world when you get out. I can do this though." Naruto said as he started to gather chakra through his finger and brought it to Natsuki left hand. A seal soon appeared on her finger, on the spot where an engagement ring would be placed. It had a circular form, appeared to be just like a ring if someone was looking at it from afar.
"This is a modified version of the Hiraishin, I have the other part of the seal on my finger too. With it, we can instantly transport ourselves to each other, no matter the distance. This seal will remain even after the unsealing from tomorrow, we may not be connected by the Shiki Fuujin anymore but we will still be able to instantly reach each other with it." Naruto told her.
"This is even better than any ring in the world, I love you so much and I can't wait to hold you in my arms." Natsuki said.
They hugged each other again after that and spent the night making out and talking about their future together. Before he left, she spoke to him again.
"You know you're still gonna have to buy me that ring when the unsealing is done, right ?" Natsuki said with a smile that still said she was serious to her future husband.
"Of course, my love." Naruto said with a chuckle, as he left his mindscape for the last time.
Amegakure
Tobi or Madara was not happy about the latest developments, according to Zetsu, they had lost not only Hidan and Kakuzu but also Itachi and Kisame. Furthermore, Iwagakure managed to reestablish diplomatic relations with the other major villages, thanks to their newly appointed Tsuchikage and the participation of one Uzumaki Naruto as the mediator.
The loss of the immortal combo was surprising, he had seen the both of them live through some nasty things and he did not think possible for either of them to die. However, losing Kisame and worse than that, losing Itachi was a major set back in his plans. He had also planned to use Iwa as an advanced base for his army once the chaos and aftermath of the Kage Meeting would be revealed but that was quite impossible now, he knew that Amegakure and its forces were not enough.
Zetsu had told him all about both battles, how the Kyuubi jinchuriki single-handedly eliminated both Hidan and Kakuzu. He silently listened to the report about Naruto's newest powers and cursed at his inability to understand them. Then he learned how Itachi was surprised by Killer Bee's immunity to genjutsu and finally how Kisame lost against the combined powers of both the Yondaime Raikage and once again Uzumaki Naruto.
The true Akatsuki mastermind thought about the situation and there was one thing that came to him.
"Uzumaki Naruto, he is the common thread. Nagato and his plan to use him was good for a time but now, we created a monster and I don't even know the extend of his true powers." Tobi said.
"I've lost track of him, the Nibi and Hachibi once they got within the borders of Lightning Country. I still have a clone trailing the Kazekage though, he is back in Sunagakure and hasn't moved from there ever since." Zetsu reported.
"Transmit the following orders to Nagato, I will assign him the mission to take on the Ichibi while I go secure another alliance for us." Tobi said, Zetsu nodded before slowly disappearing into the ground.
Konoha – Hokage Office
Konoha was in a state of emergency, it wasn't the highest level of alert but close enough. Martial law was the highest one, only to be instated during active war times.
Tsunade had started procedures and drills to organize the village in case of an attack by the enemy, her policy now was to hope for the best but plan for the worst. Missions outside the village were now reserved to the higher level ninja while missions outside Fire Country were simply refused. Reserved troops were being slowly drafted in to re actualize their level of skill and preparation.
The Hokage had to attend to meetings with the council almost everyday now, she was rather surprised to see the Namikaze Clan's seat occupied by Yuhi Kurenai, the young jonin kunoichi having been nominated by Naruto, the clan's head, as his proxy during his absence. Kurenai did a good job at representing her former student in the council, proud, independent and never backing down before the civilian council.
Tsunade let her mind drift to Naruto, wondering if it was a good idea to let him leave with the Kumo delegation after the Kage Meeting. She did not have much time to think about it, since she was suddenly interrupted by Shizune entering her office.
"Tsunade-sama, I know that sounds like déjà vu but you need to take a look at this, again." Said her disciple as she was handed a bingo book. Already knowing which section to open she directly went to Naruto's profile page. It read :
Name : Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto
Nickname : Konoha's Kaze No Kami
Kiri's Eighth Blade
Leader of the Shinobi Alliance
Age : 16
Rank : SS
Status : Jonin
Attributes: Kenjutsu(S), Ninjutsu(S), Genjutsu(S), Taijutsu(S) and Fuinjutsu(S)
Affinities : Wind
Bloodline : Unknown
Description : Has a very high affinity to the Wind element
Sage of the mythical Dragon summoning contract
Casts unbreakable genjutsu
Member of Kirigakure's Eight Swordsmen
Son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina
Defeated A-Rank Kiri Nukenin Momochi Zabuza the Kirigakure No Kijin
Defeated Sabaku no Gaara the Suna's Ichibi Jinchuriki
Defeated S-Rank Konoha Nukenin Uchiha Itachi the Sharingan Prodigy
Defeated S-Rank Iwa Nukenin Deidara the Mad Bomber
Defeated S-Rank Kiri Yondaime Mizukage Yagura the Sanbi's Jinchuriki
Defeated S-Rank Iwa Sandaime Tsuchikage Onoki the Fence Sitter
Defeated S-Rank Taki Nukenin Kakuzu the Immortal Heart Stealer
Defeated S-Rank Yuga Nukenin Hidan the Immortal Jashinist
Defeated S-Rank Kiri Nukenin Hoshigaki Kisame the Kirigakure No Kaijin
Action : Flee on sight
Bounty : 100,000,000 Ryo in Oto and Ame Dead or Alive
"So the whole world knows about the survival of the Yondaime Hokage's son now ..." Tsunade said.
A/N : What do yo think ?
The unsealing is finally coming, now most story have Naruto turning into a Hanyou when he frees a female Kyuubi from his seal, tried to go the other way and have her turn "human". Formally cemented it with a "human" type engagement too :)
I would like to know what the readers want about Yugito and Bee and their bijuu, we know their names thanks to the recent manga chapters but since I'm doing the unsealing for Naruto, should I do it for them too, having Nibi and Hachibi assume genders and all ?
Tobi/Madara is on the move, what is his next move on the Elemental Nations chess board ? Is Gaara in trouble now that he's the only obvious remaining jinchuriki on the Akatsuki's radar ?
What's up with Oto and how will the world / Konoha react to Naruto's newly revealed lineage ?
New rank in the bingo book, since the Hiraishin and Namikaze things were revealed and well, took down a bunch of S-Ranks powerhouses too, that's one hell of a resume he got there.
Read the next issue to know :)
As usual please Read and Review.