Chapter 6: The Mockingbird
The Mockingbird symbolizes one finding one's Purpose of one's Soul. One needs a
Purpose. Otherwise one is just walking on the
falling bridge of Life.
Sakura and Tsunade stared in shock.
Tsukiyomi blinked in confusion.
Sakura and Tsunade gaped like they just saw an alien.
Tsukiyomi frowned.
Sakura pointed at the flopping hammerhead shark in shock.
Tsunade looked at Tsukiyomi in disbelief.
Tsukiyomi scowled. "What?"
"You revived a hammerhead shark on your first try!" Sakura exclaimed. "How the hell do you pick everything up so fast?!"
The brunette blinked, tipping his head. "Well, I did give the animals Chunin-level knowledge. The wolves and wildcats absorbed it more, and they ended up evolving to average Jounin-level."
Tsunade closed her mouth. "Well, I am very impressed. How do you have such amazing chakra control?"
"Well, my mother was a Jounin before she died..." Tsukiyomi quietly stated. He twitched his nose. "She had a special chakra. I guess I inherited it...?"
"Maybe you did," she stated. "Well, you did a good job here. Now, I want you to try and heal a wound that was inflicted on a human."
Tsukiyomi nodded, and followed the Hokage and Sakura out of the tower towards Konoha's hospital.
For three days, he's been learning to become a healing shinobi. Since there were no available kunoichi or shinobi to teach him, Tsunade and Sakura taught him. It turns out he was a natural. His chakra control was high Chunin-level and was on his way to Jounin-level. Pretty soon he would have the strength of Tsunade and Sakura.
Also, he was learning how to work out with the two wolves that followed him. Kiba Inuzuka got permission from the head of the Inuzuka clan to teach him some of their techniques. It was coming along nicely.
Tsukiyomi also decided to name the wolves. The mother was named Ban, and the pup was named Yoru. 'Ban' as in 'evening' and 'Yoru' as in 'night'. It fit them, because they both had brown fur. Ban's fur had a beige tint with brown splotches here and there, while Yoru had a dark brown—almost black—coat.
"Tsukiyomi," Tsunade said. "Try to heal this man's gash. When you are finished, we can try a broken bone."
He nodded, and lifted his arms to the man's gash on his arm. His hands glowed green, and slowly the gash closed up. After a minute or so, the wound was nothing more than a raw scab.
The male smiled, bowing his head. "Thank you very much."
Tsukiyomi nodded. "You're welcome."
The man pulled down his sleeve, walking out of the hospital room and off to whatever he was doing.
Tsunade nodded her approval. "Good, good. Now, moving on—"
But she was cut off when an ANBU ran into the room, panicked and breathless. "H-Hokage-sama! I-it's urgent! The Jinchuuriki! H-he's...!"
"What about Naruto?!" Sakura exclaimed.
The ANBU took a deep breath, quickly preparing for the worst. "H-he's out of control! He is on the brink of transforming to the Kyuubi itself!"
Tsunade gaped. "What?!"
Are you sure about this? Kurama asked. We could die.
Naruto sighed, slipping on the cloak. It's better than being a normal citizen.
I enjoy being normal. Unlike you, gaki. He retorted.
That's because you're old. I am only sixteen. This will be a game of life, Kurama. Naruto stated. Do not, under any circumstances, kill any shinobi or fatally harm them. I don't mind if the council dies, though.
Whatever. I can't guarantee complete annihilation, though. Kurama grumbled. The seal can give you access all nine tails out of control in its current condition. Six tails in control.
Man, the seal has really weakened...
Maybe your stupidity did something.
Oh, shut up and just give me the nine freaking tails, fluffy.
Che, yes mom.
Almost instantly, Naruto was engulfed completely in red chakra.
At one tail, it was just a cloak of red chakra. Two and three were the exact same. But by four tails, he looked like a mini Kyuubi. At five tails, bones formed that resembled a fox. At six tails, he turned the size of the Kyuubi, causing the building to be crushed. At seven, his power grew over by ten times, the red chakra becoming more tainted and stronger. At the eighth tail, muscles, eyes, teeth and claws formed as well as his body being drenched in gravity-defying crimson liquid. Finally, at the ninth tail, red fur grew within seconds.
True, he was half the size and power, but that didn't mean he wasn't weak.
People screamed, scrambling away from the Kyuubi. Shinobi tried to attack with their jutsu's, but they were all thrown away by his tails. The newly formed Kyuubi thrashed it's tails, crushing buildings within a one thousand meter radius. He lifted his human-like hand, aiming people and more buildings.
The Kyuubi roared, and continued to kill, crush and rampage.
Inside of Naruto's mind, it was pretty chaotic. The walls and ceiling were falling apart and the water thrashed about. Naruto just stood where he was, his eyes glazed over.
Kurama was no different. His eyes were also glazed over as his hand lifted, subconsciously destroying the gate bars. He blinked a moment later, realizing what he was doing. He growled in annoyance, and roared. Naruto jumped in surprise. He, too, snapped out of it.
The sewer's stopped falling apart, but it never regenerated like normal.
"Why are you destroying the seal?" he asked.
"I don't know. Why weren't you stopping me?" Kurama shot back.
Naruto stuck his tongue out, crossing his arms and pouting.
"I'm going to be honest with you, gaki, this thing is a nuisance. It restrains my movements too much and it wouldn't make a difference whether it's on or off," he stated.
"Didn't you say that dad would show up if I took the seal off?" Naruto asked.
"As I said before, it makes no difference. It only happens once, so when he disappears, try again," the Kyuubi pointed out. "Besides, I need to stretch."
Naruto blinked. "Actually, I want you to give dad some chakra. I wanna catch up with him. If you do that, I'll let you have a full day of sleep."
Kurama hummed thoughtfully. "Sure, I guess. A full day's worth of sleep is rare to get with you around."
"Oh, shut up!"
"Why are you so whiny?"
"I'm not whiny!"
"Then why is your voiced pitched in a whining manner? Hm?"
"W-well...that's 'cause..."
"Exactly."
Naruto snorted, making his way towards the gate. He reached up, his fingers merely pinching the paper. Growling in annoyance, he jumped up. The blonde got a good grip, but a hand grabbed his wrist.
"What are you doing?" they questioned.
Naruto turned his head, and grinned in happiness. "Catching up with my dad. What are you doing?"
"Tsukiyomi! Sakura! Heal as many people as you can, do not hesitate to go all out against the Kyuubi!" Tsunade ordered.
She received two nods from her apprentices, and they disappeared in a shunshin. The Hokage ran full speed towards the Kyuubi. It's teeth were bared and it's tails were thrashing. It wasn't as big as it was sixteen years ago, but it was still big.
Tsunade jumped up, creating eight other clones. They gripped the Kyuubi's tails, and in unison, they threw the Kyuubi outside of Konoha into the forest. It flipped in the air, gracefully landing on its hind legs. It's lips drew back even more, showing it's gums.
The Hokage shunshined down at it's feet, not hesitating to punch the ground. It split open, causing the bijuu to stumbled a little. Tsunade took the chance to punch it in the jaw, but it easily dodged.
Tsunade was wide open, yet, it didn't attack. She stared in surprise. When she looked into the red eyes in that split second, she saw neutrality, calmness and loyalty.
What is going on...?!
"You...what?" the Yondaime asked in surprise. He jumped down, Naruto roughly landing on his rear with a grunt.
"Ow..." he grumbled. He glanced at the blonde Hokage and grinned again. "You heard me, I want to catch up with my dad."
Minato blinked, not sure what just happened. He actually thought that his son would hate him, but instead he was happy.
Naruto glanced up to the calm Kyuubi no Kitsune. "Can you lend him a bit of your chakra? Like, a full tails worth of it?"
"The transformation will revert back a tail," Kurama stated. His furry head tipped. "You OK with that, gaki?"
"I don't really care, to be honest. We just need to ensure they slow down," he pointed out.
The fox snorted. "I'm blaming you if we die."
"Sure, sure," he grumbled.
Kurama slipped a finger through the bars, and tapped the confused and startled Minato. He was engulfed in a red cloak, and it was absorbed into his body.
The Yondaime blinked in confusion. "Why is the Kyuubi being so kind?"
"Unlike Mito and Kushina, I actually owe your little annoying punk ass gaki son. Now, leave this old fox be. I shall sleep away the day as you promised," he stated. He closed his eyes, but they opened up a second later. "By the way, that wolfboy is a Uzumaki, specifically Kushina's first son."
He stared in shock. "What?!"
"It's true, Kushina was raped on a mission at one point," Minato said quietly. "I guess you have a half brother, Naruto."
"Now, leave this old fox be, or I shall sing till my heart's content!" Kurama shouted.
"Shut the hell up!" Naruto shouted back. He waved a finger at the Kitsune. "Your singing sucks!"
"...Quit being a dobe," he sarcastically responded. His eyes closed again and his shape slipped into the darkness of the cage.
"So you befriended the Kyuubi?" Minato asked. "For how long?"
"Thirteen years," Naruto replied. "I was attacked by an angry mob and went blind because of them. He felt sympathy for me and taught me how to somewhat defend myself. Don't ask why or how, it just kind of happened."
"I had a feeling that would happen..." he murmured. "So, have you made any friends?"
"Plenty," the young blonde stated. "They're all really kind and they except me, even though I am a Jinchuuriki. But we all have our crack moments..."
Minato sighed in relief. "Thank the heavens. I thought you were still alone."
Naruto smiled, leaning back against his hands. "Recently the council voted to force a retirement on me. Granny Tsunade's vote was overwritten and that leads to now."
"Yeah, why are you destroying Konoha?" Minato asked.
"To slow them down. I'm going after Itachi sensei. But he's in an enemy organization because he supposedly killed all of the Uchiha's," his son explained. "I made it clear to Kurama to not kill anyone, even if it costs our lives. But I wouldn't mind if the council died. They're annoying."
The Yondaime sighed, joining Naruto's side. "Hm...that's rough. How do you manage?"
"I picked up the ability to literally see emotions. I can also see the color of a person. It depends on their personality and how pure their soul is," Naruto explained. "Like Kurama's color is a dark navy blue, but it shines white every now and then. That means he's leading a rough life, thus, the navy blue. The shining means he can still escape from that darkness."
"What about me?" Minato asked curiously.
Naruto looked at his dad, briefly scanning him. "Your color is...pure sapphire. That's pretty unique. The only person I saw with this color was Itachi, only his was a darker shade."
"What does the pure sapphire mean?"
"Hm...well, it means you lived happily. You got what you wanted, but you lived a few hardships. However, you did not let it get to you," he stated. "In other words, you've got a 'pure' soul."
Minato grinned with a small giggle. "Nice... So, question out of the blue... Have you had your first kiss yet?"
"Don't even get him started on that," Kurama rumbled. "I watched it happen, too. That was even worse."
Naruto cleared his throat. "You're exaggerating it. It was a complete mistake, nothing more."
"Really, now? Well, whenever I bring it up, your face gets redder than a tomato and you have the pleasure of ranting and screaming in my ear for a half an hour."
"I did not."
"And that's only the beginning. Wait till you hear about how he almost got caught peeking in the girl's—"
"Oh, shut up, fluffy!"
"Rude. I was just about to tell your father about how that retarded girl stuck your face in her cleavage."
"I told you to keep quiet about that!"
"You enjoyed it."
"I did not!"
Minato glanced at the two, and started laughing. They gave him confused looks, not sure why he was laughing.
"What is so funny, little man?" Kurama questioned.
"Y-you two fight like a married couple...!" he laughed. "I-I'm sorry, i-it's...just too funny to watch!"
Naruto crossed his arms, pouting. "Thanks for backing me up, dad."
"Gaki, I need to hurry up. I'm running out of chakra because I'm rapid firing right now and not to mention your body won't be able to take much more. You are currently at your limit," Kurama warned.
He sighed, closing his cerulean eyes. "In that case, retreat. Head in any direction, I honestly don't care where."
"I already am. But wolfboy is persistent. He's chasing after me."
"Then let me take over."
"Retards aren't allowed to do something such as that."
"I am not retarded. I knew how the seal would react."
"That's because I told you."
"Well... Oh yeah! I did remember that Itachi sensei was the best person so go to."
"That's because I told you."
"Not true—"
"Okay! Time to sing!"
"What?! No! Don't!"
Kurama grinned, and opened his mouth to sing.
Tsunade landed back down on the ground, confused. She was sure she felt killing intent. So why was the Kyuubi holding back?
She stared in shock when it started to shoot mini bijuudama all over the Konoha. She was helpless if he rapid fired. All she could do was throw him off balance.
The Hokage ran forward, kicking the bijuu. It stopped rapid firing, explosions occurring across the village, the forest surrounding it and near the Hokage Mountain. Suddenly, it's fur and skin peeled off, the ninth tail disappearing and gravity-defying blood coating it's body. Confused, Tsunade jumped back.
"What just happened...?" she wondered out loud.
"He lost a tails worth of power," a voice stated.
The Hokage glanced over her shoulder and saw Tsukiyomi.
"How, though?" Tsunade questioned.
"I don't know," he grumbled. "Anyway, you need to assist the citizens and shinobi. They're all in a tight spot and they need your healing abilities."
"What about the Kyuubi and Naruto?" she asked.
"I will take care of him. Remember, my kekkei genkai can allow me to control, numb and detect senses," Tsukiyomi responded. "Go on, Tsunade-sama. Everybody needs you."
She sighed, and nodded. "Fine. Don't die on me, okay?"
He smiled. "Of course. I don't plan to die, and besides, I'd say I can hold up against the Kyuubi long enough for you to heal everyone up."
"You don't know any jutsu's," she stated.
Tsukiyomi snickered. "That is true. But as I said before, I can control the senses. A Kitsune makes no difference, Tsunade-sama."
As if that was a queue, the Kyuubi roared, causing a shock wave to push the two back.
"Hurry!" Tsukiyomi shouted.
Tsunade nodded, running back towards Konoha with a frown.
The shinobi formed the dog, hare, ox, boar, and dragon hand seals, shouting, "Sense Manipulation Jutsu!"
Black flames formed twelve wolves, six on each side. They bore their teeth, growling and barking. The Kyuubi returned the favor by snarling and snapping it's jaws. But the beasts did not even flinch. Tsukiyomi flicked his wrist, and the wolves barked all at once in unison.
Suddenly, the Kyuubi's legs weakened. It's body lowered and it growled, not too sure what just happened. It's eyes widened, and using what little strength it had left, it bolted.
Tsukiyomi growled in annoyance, ordering the wolves to attack. Five wolves bit the Kyuubi on it's right hind leg, but they were easily shaken off. The flames were special, though. They canceled out the healing abilities. However, the Kyuubi continued running away.
"He's pretty fast and strong..." Tsukiyomi commented. He jumped on to Ban, Yoru joining the ride. "Follow him! We need to get Naruto back!"
Ban barked, and bolted off at high speeds after the blood-soaked Kyuubi.
The chase continued for almost an hour, and Ban was slowing down. But so was the bijuu. It's tails were disappearing. It was reduced to four tails, so the Kyuubi was now a human sized fox, covered with pure chakra. Of course, the chakra was slowly disappearing and it didn't go unnoticed by Tsukiyomi.
But suddenly the chakra completely disappeared, Naruto crashing into a bush. Ban skidded to a stop, both Yoru and Tsukiyomi almost falling forward.
"Thanks, Ban," he said. "Rest. I will handle Naruto."
She weakly barked, panting. Ban didn't hesitate to sit down, Tsukiyomi sighing and getting off. Yoru joined her mother's side, her blue eyes half closed.
Tsukiyomi walked up to the bush. He pulled the injured blonde out. He stared in shock. He had a nasty concussion and his right thigh was soaked in his blood with teeth marked bites.
I hadn't thought that the Kyuubi's injuries would be inflicted on Naruto, too... Tsukiyomi thought.
The brunette set Naruto down, his hands looming over the wounds. They started glowing green and he started to heal the five bite marks.
Itachi walked into the Forest of Death. He made his way to a snake infested meadow, and stared in surprise. There was a child sitting against a boulder in the middle of the clearing.
His arms were wrapped around his knee's and his chin was resting on his arms. It looked like he was sulking. He slipped on his ANBU mask and quietly made his way to the little toddler. He looked to be around four or five. It was extremely shocking. How did a toddler get into the Forest of Death, unharmed?
Itachi made sure his chakra signature was down to nothing, and walked towards the sulking toddler. But he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a red and green poisonous snake slither in the toddler's direction. He was about to kill the snake, but the toddler suddenly reached out a hand, but stopped halfway.
His head tipped. "Oh, it's just you."
The Uchiha cocked his head in interest. The snake wasn't showing any signs of attacking and the toddler wasn't scared.
"There's a few mice and rats a few hundred meters south. You can find some food over there," he said. "Good luck, hebi."
The snake surprisingly slithered off towards mentioned direction, disappearing in the tall meadow grass.
Itachi narrowed his eyes, walking towards the kid. "So, tell me, how is a four year old toddler in the Forest of Death is talking with a poisonous snake?"
The toddler shot up, frantically looking around.
"Calm down. I'm right here," he said.
The boy looked to his right, blue eyes staring at nothing and everything. He backed away. "No, stay away!"
Itachi blinked in confusion. "I'm not going to hurt you."
He growled. "That's what they all say! You're going to attack me like everyone else!"
"Who's 'they'?"
"The villagers, shinobi, ANBU...all of them!" he shouted. "And you're gonna attack me, aren't you?! Calling me demon and shit, what the hell did I ever do?! I'm blind now! I'm practically defenseless!"
Itachi stared in surprise. It makes sense. He sighed, recovering from his shock. "As I said before, I am not going to hurt you. Demon or not, I have no reason to harm you."
The young boy stopped. "Y-you really mean it?"
He nodded. "My name is Itachi."
The boy sat back down. "My name is Naruto—as in whirlpools and maelstroms, not the fish cake."
Itachi joined the blonde, slipping off his mask. "So, Naruto, you said something about being blind. What happened?"
"About a year ago, villagers attacked me. They damaged my eyes to the point where even a med-nin couldn't heal it," he responded. "I haven't been managing very well. So I often come here to avoid everyone."
Itachi blinked, shocked. He thoughtfully sighed. "Naruto, how about I teach you how to defend yourself? I can also help you get around with your blindness."
Naruto brightened up, almost jumping on top of Itachi. "Seriously?! You would do that?!"
He leaned away, pushing the grinning blonde off. "S-sure...I mean, why not? But I am in the ANBU, so I can't always be there."
His grin grew, and he jumped up. "Yes! I am gonna be trained by an ANBU! Woo!"
Itachi blinked again. He was sulking a moment ago...now he's jumping around like he just got a girlfriend... he thought. Naruto, huh? The current Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune...
Itachi smiled as a mockingbird swooped down by the young and energetic Naruto.
"A purpose found..."
O shit. Sayonara Konoha!? What the hell is Naru-chan thinking, doing that? Who knows? Not even me!
And this is how Ita-chan and Naru-chan met. Like it? Hate it?
Also, I plan to keep Mina-chan around for a while; maybe even the whole story with brief appearances. But I'm not depending on that. What's dead is dead. No excuses.
Anyway, reviews and critics are welcome. :3