Disclaimer: I know I don't own it, you know I don't own it, and everyone involved in making it knows I don't own it. So why do I have to tell you this if everyone that matters already knows?
As far as pairings go, this story will definitely NOT be a Naruto x Sakura. Nothing against the pairing - I enjoy reading it sometimes - but in this fic, Sakura will view Naruto as a little/big brother (acts like a little kid when safe, but a protective big brother when in danger), not a love interest. And Naruto will accept that and finally move on. Sasuke x Sakura is also out. Naruto x FemKyuubi or OC are possibilities, as are some of the filler arc girls. Right now, except for the exceptions of NaruSaku or SasuSaku, the pairings are wide open. Oh, and since this is my first fic, it WILL NOT be a harem fic. At the most, Naruto might end up with two women in his life, but that's only if I get a strong enough request from my audience for it.
Also, for those who questioned the whole law involving Naruto's banishment, press 'CTRL + F' and search for 'SIFMA' (yes it's all in capital letters). Then read the conversation from there until you get to the next 'SIFMA' and all those questions of yours should be explained. Or you could just start reading and keep going until you get to that part, your choice.
Last chapter...
Having sensed the use of chakra in the nearby forest, the three Konoha ninja went off the road to the city to investigate it. Right as they were within sight of the small clearing Naruto sat in, they heard him say something.
"First Path of Sacrifice."
There was a large puff of smoke, which cleared to reveal a level two curse seal Kimimaro facing Naruto, his eyes a vibrant blue with one black ring in the iris.
The kunoichi shrieked and the two shinobi gasped, "A demon!"
Naruto's eyes snapped open and both his heads jerked towards the sound of those voices. Naruto and his other body (Kimimaro) were face to face with Jiraiya, Sakura, and Kakashi.
Chapter 2
For a split second, no one moved. Unfortunately, shinobi don't stay still for very long.
Sakura began trembling, staring at the face of the 'demon' next to Naruto, her arms reflexively curling in front of her to protect herself as she took slow, trembling steps backwards. Kakashi reacted almost the opposite way, headband up and preparing to perform the Raikiri on the demon threatening his former and current students, ready to give up his life if it was necessary to protect his precious people from a demon, like his sensei did.
Jiraiya's reaction was probably the most mild of the three. As he looked between Naruto's eyes and the 'demon's' eyes, rapidly dawning comprehension passed across his features, mixed with some surprise as well.
Naruto found himself in the worst spot he could imagine. Because he had no time to train himself in controlling the second body, or receiving sensory input from it, he couldn't even distinguish between Kimimaro's POV and his own. So it seemed to him as though Kakashi's and Sakura's reactions were pointed at himself. 'Guess they already told my generation about the Kyuubi, if Sakura's reaction is anything to go by. And I thought Kakashi-sensei actually cared about me, but judging from the look on his face - it's like he's waited his whole life to get the opportunity to do this to me... Great. I wouldn't stand a chance of fighting Kakashi normally, and between this feeling of disorientation and my inexperience with fighting with my bloodline, I'll have even less than that.' Looking over to Jiraiya, Naruto saw the only sight that held any hope of getting out of this situation alive.
Fortunately, Jiraiya was aware of his companion's actions and reacted before things escalated to the point of no return. His right arm shot in front of Kakashi and blocked him from a straight-on-assault. His left hand found it's way to Sakura's right shoulder, giving a comforting squeeze. When both turned to look at him, he gave a grandfatherly smile, the kind the Sandaime used to be known for, the kind that made you feel like everything was going to be okay. Sakura's fears seemed to ebb away, and Kakashi's desperate aggressiveness calmed.
"Calm down, Kakashi, Sakura. Things aren't what they seem at first glance." A confused look crossed the two's faces at Jiraiya's statement, and as they turned back to face Naruto they took more defensive, less aggressive stances, waiting for Jiraiya's explanation of his strange statement.
Instead of launching the explanation right away, he struck up a conversation with the still and silent Naruto. "So, when did you activate the Rin'neggan, Naruto? And how come you never told me?" The other three looked stunned, two of them wondering 'What's the Rin'neggan?' and Naruto thinking 'He knows what the Rin'neggan is by sight of it alone?'
"It happened on - the way here, so - I couldn't really - tell you - before now. And - how - did you - know what - it was, anyway? - Even she - hadn't seen it in this - world since - the Six - Paths - Sage," Naruto and his other body spoke back and forth, having trouble with distinguishing the separate vocal cords and mouth muscles. Sakura looked confused, but the other two grew alarmed at the implication of Naruto having conversations with the kitsune, and treating it like it was an everyday occurrence.
"Naruto... how long have you been in communication with... her?" Jiraiya asked, trying to be subtle about the Kyuubi with the presently unknowing audience.
"Who is this woman you're all talking about? How could she have seen the Six Paths Sage and still be alive right now?" Sakura blurted out, hating being out of the loop and a little freaked by the way the 'demon' and Naruto talked in turns between each other.
Jiraiya and Kakashi stiffened at the thought of breeching that secret with Sakura, while both of Naruto's bodies started to chuckle. When all three looked at him odd, he explained, "I would - have thought - the council revoked - that law the - first chance - they got. - I'm sur-prised she doesn't - already know - about it just - yet. That's - what I find - so funny."
"Don't know about what yet? What law?"
"That - I am - the con-tainer the Yon-daime sealed - the Kyuubi - no Kitsune - into."
That statement prompted an uncomfortable, shocked silence. Followed by Sakura fainting standing up.
"Well, - at least - we can continue - the con-versa-tion without - needing to - hide things - anymore..." Jiraiya and Kakashi sweatdropped at that.
Jiraiya quickly pressed his earlier question, "So when did you start conversing with the Kyuubi?"
"Shortly after - the Rin'neggan - activated... she - seems nicer now - that I - have it..." a puzzled look crossed 'Kimimaro's' face.
"Alright, not to change topics, but what does the Rin'neggan have to do with the current situation?" Kakashi asked, still confused about Naruto's other body.
"The 'demon' body standing next to Naruto isn't a demon at all. The Rin'neggan allows Naruto to take a powerful corpse and turn it into a new body for himself to control, among other abilities. Even if the body used to hold a demon's mind, the body is now fully subservient to Naruto's mind and will. It isn't any more threatening than Naruto himself is, so unless Naruto plans to attack us, the 'demon' body won't do so either."
"... how do - you know even - that much - about the - Rin'neggan? You recognized - it by sight, - and you - mentioned it had - more abilities than - those linked - to the bodies? - She didn't men-tion any-thing like - that..."?
"...at the time I started teaching the boy who would become the Yondaime, I had picked up two other students. They were orphans, a boy and a girl. The boy, Nagato, was a distant relative of your father's, and he had the Rin'neggan. Most of what I know about it, I learned from teaching him and researching the Six Paths Sage to help find ways to better train him. Unfortunately, during the war, there were many casualties, and Nagato and the girl were two of them. Despite the fact that Nagato and your father were related, your father never activated the Rin'neggan, so all who knew about it simply assumed he didn't have the genes for it. I guess now I know it was simply a fluke that he never awakened it."
A shock went through Naruto's system, 'Kimimaro' puffed out of existence and his Rin'neggan turned off as the truth of Jiraiya's statement hit him like a ton of bricks. Not that Jiraiya had seen another Rin'neggan user or trained him, but that Jiraiya knew who Naruto's father is or was. Shock gave way to anger in the blink of an eye, and Naruto's fists clenched tight. His face twisted into a scowl and he lowered it so his eyes couldn't be seen through his bangs. "You knew..." he growled out. "...and you never told me."
Jiraiya could feel the sweat roll down his forehead as he realized the monumental screw-up of a slip of the tongue he'd pulled off now. Prior to this occasion, he'd made certain to never, ever mention Naruto's parents as such in anyone's presence. When Naruto had asked him about it, or if he knew where the Yondaime had got him at the last minute like that, he'd even lied to his face and told him he didn't know. Jiraiya realized he had one chance to do damage control on his trust relationship with Naruto right now. And that was by telling him the absolute truth right here and now.
"Naruto... your parents... they were Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, and Uzumaki Kushina, formerly of Whirlpool. Your mother died giving childbirth and your father... you know how he died."
Naruto looked like he won the lotto only to have his puppy get run over. Kakashi looked like somebody had transplanted a dinner plate in place of his 'good' eye. And Sakura, who had begun to come to right before Jiraiya made that statement, fainted again, this time falling down.
The soft 'thump' of Sakura hitting the ground, brought all their attention to her, and Jiraiya quickly made a decision. "We should carry out this conversation somewhere more private. Let's go to the nearby town and take residence up at the inn."
Kakashi shouldered Sakura and headed back to the road, followed by Jiraiya a few seconds later. Naruto stood still, staring at the ground for a minute, then took off after them. 'I have to know more.'
Inn at the village
Kakashi laid Sakura down on one of the beds in the room he'd be sharing with her, then went to the room for Naruto and Jiraiya, so they could continue the conversation as a group - and so he'd be able to put off answering Sakura's many questions that were sure to come once she woke up.
Once Kakashi was in the room, Jiraiya shut the door and performed that silence and blindness seal, which kept all sounds and sights inside the room in while still letting such from outside in. Naruto was sitting on one bed, and Kakashi and Jiraiya sat on the other bed, facing him.
"So, Naruto... what are you doing in this country, anyway? Wave or Suna, I could see, but you headed to the country we suspect Orochimaru keeps his base in. Why is that?" Kakashi questioned.
Naruto's eyes widened a bit at the knowledge that Orochimaru keeping his base in this country was almost certain now, but was quick to answer. "I honestly wasn't certain if Orochimaru's base was here or in the following countries, but I figured if the council sent their dogs after me, this is the last direction they'd expect me to go. I planned to hightail it out of here at the first definite sign that Orochimaru has set up shop here, though. Between his... unnerving obsession with little boys and his equal obsession with kekkei genkai, I wouldn't want to chance him taking any... 'interests' in me." Naruto shuddered at the thought.
"So, what are you three doing out here where you suspect Orochimaru's base is?"
"Well," Jiraiya said, "it like this, see..."
Konoha, Hokage's Office
"Tsunade-sama, are you sure it was wise to send those three out to retrieve the Uchiha?" Shizune asked, looking troubled.
"It has less to do with the Uchiha and more to do with Naruto. Sakura's plan wasn't foolproof, but it's better than sitting around doing nothing. Even if it fails, we'll still have a kunoichi undergoing real training out there, and Jiraiya and Sakura can keep a lookout for Naruto to help him out some. It's a win-win situation. Either Naruto gets back his rights as a Konoha shinobi or they can offer Naruto support and training." Tsunade said across her steepled fingers.
"H-hai, Tsunade-sama."
Unnoticed by either of them, a man wearing an ANBU mask bearing the mark of 'Ne' eavesdropped on the conversation, and went to report it to his master.
Back at the inn...
"So you see, that's the main plan. It was mostly Sakura's idea, but after hearing it, the rest of us jumped on board and refined it."
"Now that we've found Naruto, we can change the backup plan some to account for you not having to look for him, Jiraiya-sama."
"Yeah, we can..."
"...what's this backup plan and how does me being here change it?"
Jiraiya cleared his throat, then said, "In the event that the 'second Sasuke retrieval mission' meets failure, I am to take Sakura as my 'official apprentice' and you as my unofficial apprentice, and then I am to train both of you to be strong enough to take down Sasuke on your own. Kakashi will return to Konoha to give a report on the mission's failure and Sakura's status as my apprentice immediately after the mission fails."
"Ah..." Naruto mumbled. "So. We start out to find Sasuke tomorrow, yeah."
"Yeah, so let's try to get a good night's sleep, gaki."
Kakashi went back to the other room, and sighed when he saw Sakura awake and aware. 'I really doubt I'll be getting a lot of sleep tonight.' As soon as he finished this thought, the questioning began.
As Naruto laid down in bed, he realized that amidst the back and forth questions, he'd forgotten all about the questions he really wanted the answers to. 'Dammit! I forgot to ask for more about my parents. I'll have to spend the rest of the mission pestering them with questions to get back at them for distracting me like that! Heheh...'
TIMESKIP of a few days
All went less than well, as Sasuke was nowhere to be found in the base that they'd searched and Sasame's friend was beyond saving. Naruto hadn't even gotten in any practice with his bloodline, figuring that 'Kimimaro's' former body would definitely freak Sasame out.
Outside Orochimaru's newly ruined lair...
Sakura and Naruto were doing there best to comfort a crying Sasame, while Jiraiya and Kakashi stood off to the side talking quietly.
"Kakashi, I need you to do something for me before you return to Konoha."
"Hm? What for?"
"It'll help in training Naruto's kekkei genkai in a way I cannot easily do alone. And it will help Naruto's kekkei genkai itself. It shouldn't take you too long."
"...alright, then. What is it you need me to do?"
An hour later, Sasame is reunited with the anti-Orochimaru Fuuma clan members, and the four who once called Konoha their home were leaving the village the Fuuma clan was based in. About ten minutes walk out, Jiraiya suddenly stops walking. Everyone else stops and looks back at him.
Jiraiya pulls out a scroll and says, "It's time we got the two of you training." Then he tosses the scroll to Sakura, and says, "That scroll contains exercises to increase your chakra capacity and physical capabilities. Until you can complete all the exercises in that scroll, you won't be ready for personal training of any kind under me, Sakura."
She opens the scroll and looks at it for a minute before looking back up at Jiraiya, pale-faced. "EH!" Jiraiya motions to the woods to the right, and Sakura trudges off into them with her head down to work on the exercises in the scroll.
Once she was out of sight, Jiraiya and Kakashi both look at Naruto, whom is practically jumping out of his skin from containing his excitement for training. Suddenly, Naruto looks at Kakashi like something clicked in his head. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei. Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Konoha to give those reports?"
"Actually... yes. But Jiraiya here asked me to do something to help with your training, a specific task, and I agreed, so I'll be around you for a little longer."
"Hm?" Naruto looked at Jiraiya, who had his arms crossed and a smug grin on his face.
"Naruto," Jiraiya began, "the first part of your training in the Rin'neggan must be to get you accustomed enough to having multiple bodies that you can effectively use them in combat situations. When I used this training with Nagato, we called it 'long distance and multiple places training'. In order to perform this training, we first need you to call out one of your bodies."
"Right!" 'Hey, Kyuubi! How do I do this again?'
"*sigh* Just push chakra out your eyes and say -"
"The First Path of Sacrifice!"
When the poof of smoke cleared, the level two curse seal form of Kimimaro's was once again revealed to the two shinobi.
"So what - DO I DO - now?" Naruto and 'Kimimaro' asked.
"You probably notice you are having a difficult time telling which body is giving you which set of sensory input, right?" Naruto just nodded his head to Jiraiya's question. "This is because you are receiving the exact same information through two set of senses that are a mere two feet apart, creating a disagreement in what they perceive as one view is just slightly askew of the other, messing with your mind. The best way to deal with this is to move one body to a completely different area, then get used to using two bodies with one mind. Once your mind has gotten acquainted with this exercise, it can recognize each body's unique signature, and it will be possible to have two of your bodies next to each other without the input messing up your coordination. In other words, it's easier to start with your bodies separated and then work towards each other."
"...um, okay..."
"What your second body and Kakashi will be doing is going back with these," here Jiraiya held up four scrolls with seals written all over them, "and picking up the corpses of those other members of the Oto Four to use later for more bodies. While you get used to normal ninja movement with your unusual second body (it has a tail) with Kakashi, I'll be training the main you right here in various things as well as talking about what all I'll be teaching you while you're with me. That should help you adjust to using two bodies simultaneously much faster."
"Ah, I think - I get it, but..." Naruto attempted to move 'Kimimaro's' foot, but wound up stumbling forward himself. "How am I - SUPPOSED TO - even follow - Kakashi away from - here when I can't even - coordinate my move-ments well enough - to walk the - right body?"
Kakashi took a few steps forward and placed one hand on 'Kimimaro', the other forming a basic one handed seal. "You don't. I take care of that." With a swirl of leaves Kakashi had shunshined 'Kimimaro' and himself closer to the border between Rice and Fire Country, leaving behind a momentarily disoriented Naruto and a smiling Jiraiya.
Jiraiya pats Naruto on the shoulder and gestures to a bench by the side of the road. "Let's sit down and talk about what you'll be learning under me in the foreseeable future." Naruto slowly made his way to the bench and sat down almost gingerly, looking at Jiraiya the whole while. Jiraiya sat next to him, relaxing on the bench before he looked at Naruto seriously. "We'll be going over a lot, so to make it easier for you to remember I'll split it into two simple categories - training to help you with your Rin'neggan, and training that has pretty much nothing to do with your Rin'neggan. For the Rin'neggan, I'll be teaching you the proper way to use those eyes, chakra control, elemental chakra training, taijutsu, strategy, and various ninjutsu to help out with the main weakness of the Rin'neggan for you."
"Wait... what weakness... is that?" Naruto was beginning to adjust to having two separate bodies now that they weren't in constant conflict with each other.
"While using the secondary body powers of the Rin'neggan, it is dangerous for you to use the Kage Bunshin or any variation thereof."
"WHAT! WHY?"
"While the body is out, the section of the mind that that body is connected to is separated from the rest of your mind by a sort of 'bubble' that allows you to discern sensory input and directions given to that body from your others. When you perform Kage Bunshin and its variations, it divides up your mind randomly. If it's random division cuts into that bubble, your connection with that body will be permanently lost. It's the only way for you to permanently kill one of your secondary bodies."
"But... but... most of my skills and strategies in a fight revolve around my use of Kage Bunshin and the mass version. I can't even use the Rasengan without a Kage Bunshin there to hold it together for me. Alls I have left is henge, kawamiri, and low-level chakra control exercises."
"Which is exactly why we'll be working on that weakness by having you learn better taijutsu and more ninjutsu. I can tell you that other than the variations of Kage Bunshin, other clone jutsus, like the elemental clones, can still be used since they don't divide your mind, but rather make a temporary quick copy of it, which doesn't burst any of the 'bubbles' for your other bodies' mind segments."
"Whew... that's kind of a relief. So... what else will I be training in?" Naruto said. 'If I can learn a different clone technique, I can still use numbers to overwhelm my opponents.'
"Well, as far as training that doesn't have to do with the Rin'neggan directly, I'll be working with you on your stealth, espionage skills, dispelling genjutsu, using the Kage Bunshin to the full potential it was made for, some Toad Sage arts if we have the time, politics, economics, debate logic, manners and customs, and your 'people skills'."
Naruto had furrowed eyebrows and a frown on his face at the end of Jiraiya's list. "Not to sound ungrateful, but why do I need... any help or training with those things towards the end? And I thought we just agreed my Kage Bunshin... were a danger to use."
Jiraiya frowned and began waving a finger in the air, as though scolding a child. "Listen more carefully to what I say and think about things before you assume anything. Kage Bunshin have uses other than those you are familiar with and it's only dangerous to use them while you have any secondary bodies out. As for everything from politics onward, consider those skills that are part of everyday life for wandering nins like yourself, and they are also a necessary part of your espionage and infiltration skills. What good would having an excellent false background story and a flawless disguise do if you knew nothing about the politics of the area you claim to be from? How can you pretend to run a business if you have no idea how to do it for real; or how would you even know which kind of business to claim you're looking to set up if you have no idea about the economics of the supply and demand balance in the area for various goods and services? How will you pretend to belong to high society if your manners are atrocious and you follow none of the customs because you don't know them? How can you expect your cover to not be blown if you resolve all your arguments with fists instead of words?"
Naruto found himself speechless, unsure of what to say as his sensei lectured him about the importance of those things he had questioned the value of learning.
Jiraiya sighed before continuing, "even when not on an infiltration mission, wandering nin need to have skills and knowledge in all those areas in order to keep themselves alive."
Naruto looked at Jiraiya, head tilted to the side and eyes wide open, and asked, "What do you mean, sensei? How could not knowing those things kill me?"
Jiraiya got a thoughtful frown on his face and crossed his arms over his chest in a serious manner. "Many different ways. Say you didn't consider the political environment of the country you were fleeing into before you went there. If you had fled to Water Country or Earth Country, you could very easily be dead right now. Due to all the civil wars and the bloodline purge, people in Water Country barely trust the person across the street in their house, so you can guess how well they trust outsiders, not to mention outsiders with kekkei genkai. To them wandering nin and missing nin are equally as threatening and equally as hated. Don't get me started on how Iwa would react to a wandering nin who was practically the spitting image of the Yondaime Hokage. As for economics, you need to know how to make money if you plan on anything other than becoming a completely self-sufficient hermit who lives only off the land and what he makes with his own two hands or becoming a petty thief like those Fuuma clan members were acting like before I set them straight. If you do get clients, being able to be mannerly, observing the proper customs, and having good people skills are necessary to maintain a good reputation with clients so they might recommend you to their associates or friends. And solving all your problems with your fists first and your brain second is a good way to wind up in bingo books, and then any bounty hunter or ninja looking for a quick buck will look to kill you at the first opportunity. You don't exactly have a village you can run to if you get in a tough spot, now do you?"
Naruto bowed his head. "No... I don't." Suddenly his head jerked up, "Eh! She isn't there?!"
Jiraiya blinked at Naruto's sudden random statement, confused for the moment.
With Kakashi and 'Kimimaro'
After looking for about ten minutes among the chopped up trees, Kakashi decided to speed things up manually. Performing the necessary handseals and using some of his blood, Kakashi summoned his nin-dogs. Naruto looked over to see what the puff of smoke was about..
"Oy, Kakashi. What is it you summoned us for this time?" Pakkun asked.
"There should be the body of a young woman in this general area, but me and Naruto can't find her anywhere. Can you help me out, please?" Kakashi asked, knowing being polite to his summons helped.
The summoned dogs spread out and quickly began searching for any trace of a young woman's scent in the area. After a minute one of the dogs signaled and Kakashi, Naruto and Pakkun all moved over to the dog. Pakkun sniffed the ground at that spot and nodded to the dogs that had gathered round. "Kakashi, a young women was laying in this spot for about five days straight before someone came and moved her two days ago. And Kakashi, whoever this lady is was still alive when they moved her."
Kakashi and Naruto stiffened at the news, it was an unplanned for twist in what they expected. Kakashi asked, "can you track the scent?"
"Yeah, it hasn't rained since then, so unless they tried to lose their scent there'll be no problem with that."
"Good. Everyone but Pakkun will follow the scent and signal when you get within 100 yards of the target, but don't allow anyone to see you. Pakkun will come with me and Naruto as he can hear the signal from farther away than either of us." Pakkun hopped on Kakashi's shoulder and the rest of the dogs took off after the scent.
As Naruto and Kakashi jumped off into the trees and headed towards the valley where Sakon's and Ukon's corpses were supposed to be, Pakkun took notice of the strange lack of orange and the cloaked form traveling with them in plain sight, as Naruto had borrowed a cloak to hide his unusual features as well as some kunai and shuriken from Kakashi right after the shunshin. "So where's Naruto and who's Mr. Mysterious on our left here?"
"Believe it or not, Pakkun, that guy is Naruto." Kakashi could feel the disbelieving look Pakkun directed at him. "It's part of a bloodline he activated a few days ago. Gives him secondary bodies that differ completely from the original."
"Hmm..." Pakkun appeared to be thinking.
With Jiraiya and Naruto
After Naruto had explained his little outburst - which prompted Jiraiya to have pleasant recollections of his late student doing similar things - Jiraiya had decided to have Naruto perform a multi-function exercise. Naruto would learn about politics... while performing squats... sticking to the bottom of a branch and holding leaves in various places around his body with chakra.
Yeah. Naruto thinks Jiraiya's a slave driver, too, but he loves the training and attention more than he hates the near impossibility of the task. That and he thrives on challenges.
Kakashi and 'Kimimaro'
Having arrived at the spot where Kankuro dumped the corpses out of his puppet, Naruto and Kakashi were relieved and not-so-relieved to find the bodies of Sakon and Ukon laying there. The unsettling part was the smell. (Remember - it's been over a week and it rained heavily the day they were deposited here; a pair of soggy rotting corpses would absolutely reek after a week) Despite being a nin-dog who could handle the smell of death, Pakkun still had a strong preference to avoid the smell if it had time to fester. "I'll let you two handle this. I'll regroup with you when you're done." Pakkun leapt off of Kakashi and ran to someplace upwind of the decay.
Trying not to tear up at the smell, Kakashi looked over at Naruto, and seeing that it was taking everything he had to not heave, decided to take some pity on him. Quickly looking over the scrolls Jiraiya had given them, Kakashi noticed one was labeled 'double body'. He quickly sealed the attached bodies of the brothers into the preservation storage scroll, the performed a low level Fuuton jutsu to blow the stench downwind completely.
Naruto was still dry heaving, but this time it was because of the writhing mass of maggots where the brothers' bodies were just minutes before. The sealing only took certain things in. Bacteria, viruses, insects in any form and parasites were all filtered out by the seals on the scrolls. It helped the preservation seals do their job. But it also left behind a nasty mess to see.
Jiraiya and Naruto
After Naruto was past the dry heaving fit he had had - which had earned a merciful break from Jiraiya when he was able to explain it between heaves - Jiraiya made Naruto return to what they were doing before.
SIFMA
"So, where should we start with the lesson on politics?"
"Not that I'd want it to happen, but how about explaining the whole deal with me being banished when no one else on my team was."
"Alright, but this issue is complex, so prepare yourself for a very long conversation."
Naruto simply nodded as he continued his upside-down squats with chakra control exercise.
"First of all, the law we're talking about gave the council the power to single out shinobi on a group mission that failed for individual or separate punishments if the right conditions were met. There were three major conditions to be met in order for the council to have this power. First, the shinobi must have been involved in a failed mission of C-rank or greater. Second, the majority of the council, the majority of the shinobi population, and the majority of the civilian population must each agree, via three separate voting pools, that the council has the right to punish that specific shinobi in a specific way. Third, the punishment must either be banishment or public service without pay - basically being required to do so many hours of missions one rank lower than you're qualified for before you're allowed to go back to regular paid missions."
"You were involved in the failed 'Sasuke retrieval mission', which was higher than a C-rank, and your punishment was banishment, so the first and third conditions were quite obviously met. I'm guessing you're wondering about the second condition, though."
Naruto nodded his head, though he had a good idea of the cause.
"Okay. First, the council's vote. We both know exactly why and how much the majority of them hate you, Naruto, so I shouldn't have to explain how that voting pool got passed."
Naruto sighed and nodded, figuring it was going to be more of the same for the other two as well.
"Second, the civilian's vote. When people are faced with a horrible and/or personally traumatizing tragedy, it is human nature to have a need for someone or something to vent the pain, fear, and anger on. When the rightful person or thing to blame isn't within their power to vent upon, they find what they recognize as the next best thing - usually called a scapegoat. All the civilians who lived in Konoha before, during, and after the Kyuubi's attack would have needed such a scapegoat, and you were the most convenient. So it shouldn't be hard to figure out why the majority of the civilians voted to have you banished."
Naruto's squats had begun to slow down, not from exhaustion but from a growing pain in his soul. The matter of fact way his sensei spoke about this was like he was saying it was fated to be like this - and Naruto was starting to believe it himself.
"Third, the shinobi vote. This was where things got iffy and people had to be convinced to make it go through. Shinobi, at least the good ones, are trained to separate their emotional and logical responses to a situation and choose the logical one in such occasions as this vote. So the majority of them wouldn't have allowed their pain or anger to cloud their judgment to vote to banish a perfectly good shinobi. Which was why Danzo had to step in before the vote and 'inform' them of certain facts. Danzo took the mission reports for the Sasuke retrieval mission and convinced those logical shinobi that the seal must be weakening if that much of Kyuubi's chakra was leaking out into you. Even though they still didn't see you as Kyuubi incarnate, with Danzo giving them his version of the facts they would be forced to see you as a primed explosive tag that would release the Kyuubi on those around you when you went off. What's the most logical thing to do with an explosive tag that cannot be destroyed or disarmed that is in your home, near your precious people?"
"Get it as far away as possible." Naruto said. 'I don't know whether to feel sad that they saw me that way, or happy that they didn't throw me out because of blind hatred.' Naruto's head suddenly snapped up, and he lost a few leaves in a moment of surprising realization. "Wait a second! How the hell did Danzo get his hands on the mission report when only the Hokage is supposed to have access to those? And how did he know about me using the Kyuubi's chakra? I didn't have a chance to give my official report before the council handed down my sentence and no other than Sasuke was there when I used it. I really doubt Sasuke decided to mail Konoha a letter telling them I used the red chakra."
Jiraiya sighed. "Remember that you were accused of letting Sasuke go intentionally, which would be insubordination by willing sabotage of the primary objective of the mission. In order to determine the accuracy of the charge, the council would receive access to three things in relation to it - hard evidence, of which there was none; an eyewitness, and given that the only two were either a missing nin or the accused, they chose to not bother hearing it; and the mission reports regarding the mission. Logically, since Danzo was on the council, and the council had access to the mission reports, Danzo had access to the mission reports. Also, while it is true that no Konoha-loyal shinobi saw you using the Kyuubi's chakra, Kakashi did sense it as he approached the Valley of the End, and he would have included this fact in his unbiased report."
Naruto didn't know how to take this information. He had been banished most likely because of something Kakashi-sensei had written in his part of the mission report. He understood why his sensei had done it and he knew Kakashi never would have expected it to have these consequences for his student, but it still hurt some inside. "So... why just me? Was it just the Kyuubi, or...?"
"While it is true that you were singled out by the council because of the Kyuubi, there are two reasons they could give those who accused them of bigotry. First, assuming that the council actually votes them as being at fault for the failed mission, the odds that the civilian and shinobi populace would decide the same are extremely slim. Everyone else on that team was an heir or prodigy of an important clan in Konoha, so they all had social status with the civilians and strategic importance to the shinobi, without the drawbacks of the 'Kyuubi factor'. Second, when a mission has multiple parts to it, and everyone except one person succeeds at doing their part of the mission, any mission failure will be blamed on the one who failed their part. Throughout the retrieval mission, your teammates' parts in the mission gradually became 'keep this Sound Four/Five member from interfering in the primary mission.' If you look at it that way, everyone but you succeeded in their part of the mission, even if Shikamaru, Kiba, and Lee had help from the Suna Siblings to do so. The only one who failed his part of the mission, technically, was you. So the failure of the mission could easily be pinned on you."
SIFMA
Kakashi and 'Kimimaro'
Having just sealed the huge guy from the crater Choji made (Jirobo) and having sealed the six armed guy already (Kidomaru), Naruto and Kakashi were ready to backtrack to Tayuya's former location to wait for the dogs to signal they'd locate her when Pakkun's ears perked up a bit.
Without seeing it Kakashi still knew it happened. "Which direction and how far are they signaling from, Pakkun?"
After a moment Pakkun pointed about 40 degrees to the left of their current heading and said, "about 2 kilometers in that direction."
Kakashi and Naruto took off that way at a fast pace.
Five minutes later...
As Kakashi and Naruto drop into the spot where the summon dogs are waiting for them, a hail of kunai come out of seemingly nowhere and dispel the summon dogs on the ground.
"Pakkun. You're not a fighter, so get out of here. I'll resummon you some time after this is over."
As the cloud of dispelled summons dissipated, three Konoha ANBU with the mark of 'Ne' on their masks became visible. "Stranger-san, it would be in your best interest to leave here now. Our business is with Kakashi-san," the one on the left spoke.
"I apologize, but I can't abandon my escort any more than he can abandon me," Naruto said.
"Then I apologize that you had to become a victim of circumstance. Kakashi-san, under orders of Danzo we are to eliminate yourself, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto at the first opportunity upon which any or all of you are separated from Jiraiya-san. For becoming a security threat to Konoha and aiding in the empowerment of said threat is the reason for your sentence." The three ROOT ANBU charge at Kakashi and Naruto, one straight on and one flanking each side.
'Crap! I'm nowhere near ready for combat with this body yet!'
"Did you forget we're here to offer some help?" the voice of Kimimaro sounded out in Naruto's head.
Naruto and Jiraiya
"Um... ero-sennin, I have to take a time out on training here. Kakashi and I just got attacked by ROOT, and I kinda need my full attention available for this fight to help Kakashi."
"Alright. Sit at the base of the tree and meditate. I'll go see how Sakura's coming along with her conditioning."
Kakashi and 'Kimimaro'
Practically snapping the down side of his headband up and flying through the handseals faster than Naruto could blink while charging towards the ANBU who was going straight down the middle at them, Kakashi activated his Chidori and plowed it through the ROOT ANBU's head in the same instant. All three living spectators to the event give pause as they are stunned by the suddenness of it, giving Kakashi the second needed to yank his arm out of the corpses' head and jump back close to his starting position.
"Kakashi, I didn't know you could form a chidori that fast."
"Normally I can't. I had to use twice as much chakra as a normal chidori to pull that off, but it was worth it."
"Kakashi-san is correct, Naruto-san. Instead of one three-on-two fight, you now have two one-to-one fights."
Turning back to the ANBU that was charging his side, Naruto catches the tail end of the handseals the ANBU was forming while Naruto was distracted. 'CRAP!'
"Doton: Doryu Dango no Jutsu!" the ANBU called out.
"Naruto! Focus your eyes on the brownish energy forming in front of him. You feel that pressure in your mind?"
'Yeah.'
"When that thing comes up, push against the pressure in your head with all your might!"
As a dragon began to form out of the ground in front of the ANBU, Naruto started pushing as hard as he could. Seeing nothing happening as the dragon reared it's head back to hurl the boulders bulging in its neck at him, Naruto pushed with everything he had. At the last second, the dragon jerked around and fired two boulders at the ANBU that was behind it. Being so surprised at the reversal of his own ninjutsu, he had no way to dodge either boulder, only to guard out of reflex. There was a slight crunching noise and a small grunt, but the ANBU stood mostly unshaken.
'What the heck? I just burned off like half my chakra to do that and he shrugs it off!'
"Not all is as it appears, Naruto-san. You may not notice but he has very slightly shifted his weight to the right and he isn't as quick in the movements of his left hand. Most likely he has some hairline fractures in his left limbs and possibly some bruising of his ribs. He is slightly injured, as well as being off-balance from the reversal of his ninjutsu. Given the stance he is taking and the way he has drawn kunai in both hands, it would appear that he is afraid of using any further ninjutsu and is going for an up close fight. This is fortunate for us."
'And how exactly is going up close and personal with ANBU a good thing for us?' Naruto thought, drawing a kunai in each of his hands and holding them in a reverse grip.
"One, he won't be using ninjutsu against us with both his hands occupied and that's our major weakness right now. Two, he is injured and assuming that with our power we're a ninjutsu expert who would be weak against close range fighters. Three, my body is your kenjutsu body so it does slightly better at close armed combat than your own would. Four, your chakra control is good enough that you should be able to form some weak bone masks under the skin with my body's bloodline, giving you a defensive advantage."
While Kimimaro was talking to Naruto, Naruto was having a fight for his life. He barely dodged several critical strikes, and he knew if it weren't for this guy's injuries and his kenjutsu body being the one fighting, he would already be dead. ' Care to... inform me... on how to pull off this... bone mask thing?'
"Push chakra inside the bones the mask will form from, then pull the chakra out in the shape and place the bone mask will take. The denser and better controlled the chakra, the denser the bone mask and the faster it will form."
'Thanks.' Deciding to try it out, Naruto formed a bone mask in the spaces between his ribs. Unfortunately, this reduced the flexibility of his torso and required a bit of his focus getting taken off the fight. Fortunately for Naruto, the ANBU was taking this opportunity to take a shot at Naruto's heart and the kunai in his right hand partially penetrated the bone mask before getting stuck on it.
Seeing the opportunity, Naruto stabbed the ANBU's right bicep out of reflex, disabling that limb completely. With one of his opponent's arms useless and the other injured by the reversed ninjutsu earlier, Naruto found himself with a bit more breathing room than he had before. Yet he still berated himself. 'Damnit! All I've done so far was get lucky! I'm really going to have to train like nobody's business when this is through if I ever want to have a chance against Akatsuki.'
Naruto was quick to press his advantage, pressing with all his strength and speed in his attack on his enemy now that he didn't have to worry about counterattacks from the other hand. The ANBU meanwhile was struggling to hold his own, the hairline fracture he had from the boulder crashing into his arm earlier was beginning to spread and get worse from absorbing the impact of the blows he was blocking. The only thing keeping the fracture together at this point was the thousand miniature chakra strings he had silently formed in his arm to reinforce the bones and hold them in place together, just like he had done with his leg, but he was starting to tire from both physical and chakra exhaustion.
Everything added up in their fight fairly quickly, and one slice that the ANBU failed to both block and dodge later, Naruto had a fair amount of blood on his arm with splatter on his face and the ANBU lay on the ground bleeding out through his jugular and choking on his own blood. Naruto stood stunned as blood dripped from his arm and kunai, the sound of Kakashi and his opponent clashing echoing in the clearing behind him. Hearing Kakashi grunt in exertion, Naruto turned around and saw him pressing kunai to kunai with his opponent, the two trying to overpower each other.
The two saw a blur moving in from the corner of their visions and, neither letting up on the pressure, they both turned their heads to see a half dozen shuriken coming in on the ROOT ANBU. The instant Kakashi felt his opponent let up on the pressure, he dropped his kunai and grabbed the ANBU by the wrists. Using his sharingan to predict the ANBU's movements, he held his ground for the second it took the shuriken to hit their target. With the ROOT ANBU disabled by his injuries, Kakashi released his wrists, disarmed him of his kunai, and plunged it into the ANBU's heart in a single smooth motion.
Panting, Kakashi quickly pulled his headband back over his sharingan and sat down. The three ROOT operatives sent to kill him and both his former students were dead, so he felt pretty safe for the moment despite the nagging voice in the back of his head that he was forgetting something important. Looking over to his bloody former student, he recognized the look on his face. "What's wrong, Naruto? I know that wasn't exactly your first kill..."
Naruto looked up at Kakashi, trying to find the words to express his emotions at the moment. "I-I... it wasn't the same as the other times. The Ame jounin and that tyrant in Snow Country... when I hit them with the Rasengan they flew away and died out of sight, without any mess like this. This time... he was laying there, his blood on me, struggling to live... I saw him get weaker and weaker... until he just stopped."
Kakashi bowed his head at that. "Yeah. There's always a difference between knowing you killed someone... and actually seeing the life leave him. But remember, if you didn't kill him, he would have killed that body, helped his partner kill me, and then he would have regrouped and gone after you and Sakura. Which do you prefer, getting bloody and knowing Sakura's safer for it, or staying clean and always worrying for her safety?"
Naruto sat next to Kakashi, facing the opposite way to watch for trouble while they recuperated from the fight. They could wait to continue tracking down Tayuya until they were in better condition. Besides, they'd have a hard time finding her without Kakashi's summons and he needed to recover enough chakra to summon them and still be able to put up a decent fight if they ran into more trouble.
Unseen by the two in the clearing, the last ROOT ANBU of the four man squad left the area to report to Danzo about this strange man with unusual powers that was helping the little group they were sent to exterminate. He felt no guilt for sending his squad to its death to test out the unknown male, because like they say: in the shinobi world, information can mean more than many lives.
Naruto and Jiraiya
Naruto was telling Jiraiya all the details of what had happened before, during, and after the fight while Jiraiya was writing it in a report he'd send by summon to Tsunade so she knew what was going on behind her back.
Author's Endnote: What will Kakashi and 'Kimimaro' find when they get to the place where Tayuya is at? What will Danzo do with the new information he receives from the surviving ROOT that encountered Kakashi and 'Kimimaro'? What will Tsunade do with the information Jiraiya is sending her, or will it even get there? What will Jiraiya do for Naruto and Sakura's training next, especially now that they have to actively watch for trouble from ROOT now? To find out, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to come out. So please review my work and let me know what you think. Also, that was my very first fight scene, so any reviews or constructive criticism regarding it would be especially appreciated. Constructive criticism appreciated, compliments welcome, and flames will be either laughed at or ignored.
As far as suggestions from my reviewers go: Pein is in Akatsuki, so Naruto has a relative in the Akatsuki, but a distant relative at that; while I can't say Naruto won't help Konoha, I can say that it won't be out of the goodness of his heart; Inner Sakura talking with Kyuubi would be fairly humorous to read imho, but I can't think of a way to make it plausible in this story without contorting this story for that single scene, so I'll reserve the suggestion for an omake or another fic; for the body suggestions, Zabuza is out (you'll see why later), and Raiga isn't likely, I actually have 10/11 bodies picked out and am considering more, and Haku is one; Jiraiya definitely will train Naruto more than he did in canon.
In regards to the other abilities the Rin'neggan is supposed to have that I didn't have Kyuubi mention, yes Naruto will gain those abilities. Right now he has the middle ring (compared to Pein's eyes) which gives him the abilities regarding the secondary bodies. When he gains the outer ring on his original body's eyes, he'll have the ability to manipulate all chakra elements with his original body. When he gains the inner ring on his original body's eyes, he'll gain the ability to master techniques in very little/ almost no time. Also, he'll gain a fourth ring, a ring of blue inside his pupil; when he gains it, he'll have access to the improvements Kyuubi made for his bloodline. All these rings, however, are gained by hard work. In order to gain the regular three rings, Naruto will have to master six different bodies' type of jutsu and six different bodies' elemental chakra control. When Naruto masters a certain body's jutsu type, that body will have the inner ring appear in it's eyes; when he masters a certain body's elemental chakra control, that body will have the outer ring appear in it's eyes. As such, all of Naruto's bodies may have different rings in their eyes, the middle ring they start out with being the only common factor. The fourth ring will only appear in Naruto's original body's eyes, but I'll keep what it does and what it requires to activate it a secret for now.