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.
Reading some of the comments from the reviews really made me wonder if some of the things I'm trying to portray are really understood by the readers. Now, I could understand that there are people unsatisfied that I'm not killing off Sasuke, however, what ever gave you the impression that I'd have Konohagakure forgive him or Sakura for their crimes ?
According to the prophecy from the toads, you all know that either Madara or Sasuke would be chosen to become Naruto's Nemesis in my story, something to do with a "man with powerful eyes". There is but one man that can fill that position as the perfect opposite to our blond hero, there will be a twist to it that I won't spoil, but I think that it should be quite original once revealed.
I see some criticism about powering up or even just developing some background for Sasuke or any villain I might chose to oppose to Naruto. Well, I really see no point in having a truly strong or maybe godlike Naruto, only to have him win against weak or dumb enemies. It needs to be "fair" enough and I hope you'll agree with me on this. That said, and up until now, no one really comes close to Naruto in terms of character development, as well as skill improvements, so there's really no need to complain about this just yet.
Finally, the unsigned reviewer 'anon' left a really interesting review after cruising through the entire story in the span of a few hours. His conclusion so far is that my writing style improved nicely from the first chapters up to this one. He advised me a rewrite of the first ten chapters to improve them with what I've learned from experience so far. I considered it since it is absolutely true that those chapters do have flaws, but on the other hand it's still my first story, I'm not looking for perfection if that even exists. I enjoy seeing my progression through this story from its beginning.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 48 : The Root of Evil
Amegakure
The newcomer stood behind Sasuke and Suigetsu who were, themselves, standing right in front of Naruto. The blond could feel that Konan was lightly trembling against his body, most likely in fear of that man. He wearing the Akatsuki's clothes and an orange mask. The name of Uchiha Madara also took him by surprise, remembering the things he had read about that man in the past.
"I'm not quite sure I heard you correctly, Konan. Who is this man again ?" Naruto asked his companion.
"T-That's Uchiha Madara. Famous as the founder of the Uchiha clan and for his part in the creation of Konohagakure. However, he is also the one who is secretly leading the Akatsuki's organization as the agent codename Tobi. Use your memory, Nagato also warned you about him." Konan replied to Naruto.
"Do you know where he stands, in terms of power, compared to Nagato ?" The blond asked.
"He is stronger for sure, but to what extend remains unknown, even to me. Be very careful from now on, for just like you and your father, he can use Space/Time techniques. He has the ability to place his body "out of phase" for a maximal period of five minutes, during that time he cannot be touched by any physical attacks. Finally, he most likely possesses additional unknown Sharingan powers. Make sure you don't look him right in the eyes for as long as you are in his presence, he is the one who put a hypnosis genjutsu on both Yagura and the Sandaime Tsuchikage." The Amekage said.
Naruto's eyes widened as he listened to Konan's description of their newest enemy. No one up until now had been able to use Space/Time jutsu against him, the thought of fighting such a strong foe almost made him enjoy the situation. He sobered up soon enough though, as he could still feel the frail body of Konan against his own and knew that he wouldn't be able to fight off those three in front of him, while covering up for an exhausted Konan at the same time.
"It's been such a long time, we finally meet again, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto." Tobi said.
"I don't think we've met, I'm pretty sure I would remember meeting a freak like you, whoever it is hiding behind that lame ass mask." Naruto said with a smirk, trying to get a reaction from the legendary Uchiha "ego".
"Can't really blame you for this, since you were just born the last time we met. Maybe I should have eliminated you instead of just your parents on that day, seeing how much trouble you've caused me ever since you became a ninja." The masked man said.
Konan, Sasuke and Suigetsu were stunned by what they just heard. The masked man was the one who was responsible for the Yondaime Hokage's and his wife's deaths. Everyone knew that the Yondaime lost his life against the Kyuubi, so it was quite easy to see what he was trying to say.
"You're the one who used the power of the Kyuubi against Konoha that day, and forced my father to seal it inside me ..." Naruto said as he connected the dots. He still left aside the part about Kyuubi being Natsuki or more importantly, that she was now freed from the seal, even if her youki was still locked inside him.
Tobi was quite impressed by the fact that Naruto didn't charge at him in a fit of anger, the blond seemed to be much more level headed than what he supposed he would be. He knew that Naruto was dangerous, in a one on one fight he may have been able to win but there were external parameters here that needed to be considered first.
For one, he couldn't afford to lose Sasuke, that would be catastrophic for his plans. The younger Uchiha was currently too unstable, contrary to the Namikaze and it was only a matter of time before he would snap and charge against his blond rival. Tobi also remembered that he didn't come here for this, he originally came to retrieve another key piece that he needed for his plan.
"I don't know what they're planning but we have to get the hell out of this place, Konan." Naruto said discretely.
"We can't leave, he came here to steal Nagato's body, or more specifically the Rinnegan." She argued with Naruto, refusing to leave Nagato's body behind.
"Look, from what I've seen on my way here, you're the only one left from Amegakure. All your men died and the civilians have already fled from the village. You life is more important than the Rinnegan and I promised Nagato that I would look after you. I beg of you, I don't want to fail my cousin's last wish." Naruto pleaded with her.
Meanwhile – Konohagakure, Namikaze Compound
The Namikaze manor was as calm as ever, since Naruto modified its entrance seal, only people with Uzumaki blood could come inside his home. This was mainly because doing so would only allow one person other than himself to enter, Tsunade, as the Godaime was the granddaughter of Uzumaki Mito. However, the silence was suddenly interrupted by a noise coming from the master bedroom.
Natsuki stirred inside the bed she had been placed in, slowly awaking from her extended slumber. The red head opened her eyes, only to find herself in an unfamiliar place, all alone. Her memories were still confused, the last thing she remembered was the voice of Naruto yelling through their link as the pain submerged the both of them during the unsealing.
"Naruto !" She suddenly yelled, literally jumping out of the bed only to immediately fall back down on the ground in front of her. Judging from her inability to move her legs, she could guess that some time must have passed since the unsealing.
She did her best to climb back into the bed and managed to do so after quite some time and lots of efforts. Looking around, her eyes fell upon the giant portrait of her previous container, Uzumaki Kushina with the man who sealed her inside Naruto, his father Namikaze Minato.
"This must be inside the Namikaze Compound in Konohagakure. This is most likely the master bedroom of the manor. Why am I here, all alone and where the hell is Naru-kun ?" She thought, not taking her eyes off the picture.
After some time and bored out of her mind, she decided to try moving her legs again. This time she tried to access her youki reserves to help but found that they were either completely depleted or maybe she simply didn't have youki anymore. This was something she had considered a possibility when Naruto discussed the unsealing ritual and its possible outcomes with her.
Seeing that her attempts to channel youki had failed, she then decided to try with regular chakra. The sensation was new to her, however, since she was the one who taught Naruto how to access his own chakra, the memory of how he did it was still engraved in her memories. She knew that if she had no youki left, then the only possibility for her to even be alive was that she might have another source of energy, thus she tried to gather chakra.
This time it worked, she succeeded in moving her legs thanks to the chakra she channeled. As a infant taking his first steps, Natsuki started to walk around the room, testing the limit of her new form. This made her wonder about her current status, what was she ? Was she still a demonic entity or had she become a human ? Maybe a little bit of both, like a jinchuriki.
When she found herself satisfied with her current mobility, she decided to go take a bath as it must have been some time since she had this new body and whoever was taking care of her must have only gave her the basic care in that field. Plus, taking a good bath would most likely help in relaxing her body and by so increase her control over it. Once done she returned to the bedroom.
Taking a better look at herself in a mirror, she saw that the only clothing she had was a nightgown and panties. She blushed at the thought of her beloved, Naruto, being the one who put those clothes on her. She decided to look through Kushina's stuff, in order to find something more decent to wear. She managed to find a nice looking yukata, it was white with a red obi that went really well with her own red hair. It had a strange small emblem in the back, in the form of a blue lightning bolt. She paid it no mind and focused her attention on finding new underwear and shoes.
Once fully clothed, she decided to go out and explore a bit to find out the whereabouts of her fiancee as well as knowing more of what happened in the world while she was asleep. Some of the shared memories she had from Naruto about the house and its defense mechanism made her carefully test the different seals she found inside the house to see whether she could still get back inside if she needed to. Luckily, it seems that creating a body for her from inside Naruto had made it possible for her to be accepted by every seal that protected the Namikaze domain.
With everything in order, she finally made her way out of the compound, taking her first steps inside Konoha ever since the attack almost seventeen years ago. This time there was no Sharingan to force her to attack people against her will, she decided she would try to be a little more discrete.
Back in Amegakure
"Well, I thought you wanted to get out of here, why are we still here ? Can't you just move us back to the Leaf the same way you arrived here, with the Hiraishin ?" Konan asked.
"It's not that easy, believe me I would if I could. I had to transport myself to the kunai you left in that Kage Tower of yours, it takes a lot more chakra to use that jutsu when I have to transport someone else with me, plus to travel over a great distance such as the one between Konohagakure and this place is also chakra consuming. We will have to wait for my chakra to replenish a little bit more before we can safely attempt another jump." Naruto replied, as he continued to walk away with her on his back.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to risk your life for me. Now it's even worse, you still came but you're severely handicapped by unnecessarily wasting energy for that jutsu and now protecting me at the same time." Konan said in sadness.
"Don't worry about it, you're not a burden to me. Furthermore, I've launched a pretty strong genjutsu field around us, they won't be able to locate us for the time being, even with those damn eyes of theirs. It's called Kyouka Suigetsu and it's strong enough to hide the both of us until I can use my jutsu again." Naruto said with a reassuring tone.
Meanwhile, with the Oto delegation, Sasuke was furious.
"How the hell did they just vanish in front of us, my eyes couldn't detect anything." The Otokage said in anger.
"No idea, maybe he used that famous Space/Time jutsu of his, the Hiraishin ?" Suigetsu suggested.
"I'm afraid you're both wrong, he neither just vanished nor did he transported himself away with that jutsu." Tobi said.
"Then what happened ? How did they disappeared from right in front of us ?" Sasuke asked.
"I've been told by a spy of mine that witnessed several of Naruto's fights that he can most likely use special genjutsu techniques that can even fool the Sharingan. I think that he just managed to prove that theory right." Tobi said before he saw a lightning sword pierce right through his neck while another familiar one, the Samehada, passed through his chest.
The attacks failed as the masked man had moved out of phase, surprising both of his attackers.
"You're still as predictable as ever, Sasuke. Come and find me when you're ready to talk ..." Tobi said as he phased through the ground, leaving Sasuke and Suigetsu alone.
Konohagakure
Natsuki was currently enjoying her first meal since she got her new body, in a familiar Dango restaurant. She was currently at her fifth plate, getting surprised looks from the other customers and the restaurant's staff.
"Hmm delicious, so this is called Dango, I love it !" Said the red head as she finished her meal.
"Would you like to have anything else ?" A waitress asked her.
"No, I'm good thank you." Natsuki replied with a smile.
"That will be 10,000 Ryo, please." The waitress said.
Natsuki's eyes widened as she heard the price, she had forgotten to bring money with her when she left the compound. The concept of money was totally foreign to her but being sealed inside three human hosts made her understand it a little. Still, she knew it would take some time for her to remember every little detail like this if she ever wanted to live among other human beings.
Seeing Natsuki's embarrassed expression, the waitress immediately understood that the red head couldn't pay for her meal. She had no choice but to call for her boss. A man came out of the private part of the restaurant and the waitress explained the situation to him.
The boss was about to call the ninja police when two familiar faces appeared behind him.
"What's the matter boss, I've been waiting for my Dango for too long." Anko said.
"You're such a child Anko." Kurenai told her friend.
"Ah, perfect timing Anko. I've got a customer who ordered 10,000 Ryo worth of Dango but can't pay the bill. I was going to call for a ninja but since you guys are here maybe you could help." The boss said to his number one customer.
The purple haired kunoichi was about to arrest Natsuki when Kurenai suddenly blocked her way.
"What are you doing, Kurenai ?" Anko asked her friend. Dango was sacred to her, not paying for it was a serious crime to her.
"Where did you get that yukata, miss ?" Kurenai asked, recognizing the Namikaze crest on Natsuki's clothes.
"I'm so sorry, I forgot to bring money with me when I left Naruto's house." Natsuki replied.
Kurenai and Anko were surprised when they heard the name of her former student. This confirmed her suspicion about the red haired woman being somehow related to Naruto. Having been selected by Naruto to act as a representative for him on council meetings when he couldn't attend made Kurenai familiar with the Namikaze Clan and its crest.
"Are you related to Uzumaki Naruto ?" Kurenai asked.
"Yes, he's my fiance ! Are you a friend of Naru-kun ? Where is he, please tell me !" Yelled Natsuki as soon as Kurenai pronounced the name of her mate.
Kurenai was confused at first but decided to help anyway, paying for the bill.
"I think we have things to discuss. Come with me please, I'll lead you to Hokage-sama, she will know where Naruto is." She said to Natsuki who nodded back and followed after her towards the Hokage Tower.
A/N : What do you think ?
More of an introduction chapter between Tobi and Naruto than the fight some of you anticipated. Neither side was ready to fight, nothing to worry about, there's always a next time.
Introduced a new parameter in the Hiraishin I felt was not addressed before, the "throwing the kunai" thing. It's not clear in my head if the kunai needs to simply be thrown or if chakra needs to be channeled through it too. Anyway, I also wondered if it was still possible to move to it if it wasn't thrown so I took the liberty to add this limitation thing when the person Naruto gives the kunai to doesn't throw it. Feel free to comment on this in your reviews if you have more info on this issue.
Now, our favorite red head vixen is finally back ! I was considering having her enjoying her first meal at Ichiraku but the Dango place was a better place for her to meet someone who could recognize her with the Namikaze symbol. I'm still clueless on the currencies used in the Naruto verse so I went with the Yen value for the approximate amount of money needed for Natsuki's meal.
How will Naruto and Konan get the hell out of Amegakure without being detected by either Oto or Tobi ?
Will Sasuke accept to join force with Tobi ?
Whatever happened to Danzo ?
Read the next issue to find out and as usual please Read and Review.