CH 8
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Sasuke was lying on his bed with his hands behind his head, thinking about the D-Class missions that they'd been doing recently. 'That little blond idiot was right,' he thought. 'I didn't want to know about Tora. Stupid cat! What a pain! Sakura's attitude bothers me. She's doesn't listen, tries to make Naruto look bad by arguing with him all the time and is so weak that it feels like we're going to be doing twice the amount of work because of lack of effort.'
He rolled over and still tried to figure out how come the blond was never winded in anything that he'd been doing with the team. Suddenly his eyes opened and he wanted to kick himself. "That bastard," he said out loud. "The little rat bastard!"
'He's been a Genin for more than two years, so of course he'd be better trained or disciplined. That little shit. He was taught. Why isn't Kakashi-sensei teaching us any of the things that Naruto knows…' He sighed because of his confused thoughts.
He rolled over to look out of his bedroom window. He thought about all of the times, that Naruto displayed above normal skills and that's when he sat up in his bed realizing, "Kakashi-sensei doesn't know!"
He flopped back down and looked out the window again, thinking. 'If Kakashi-sensei's not interested in teaching us, I wonder if Naruto'd tell me some of his tricks or maybe help to figure out a training routine that would suit me. A second opinion would be nice in this case.'
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Sakura tried to fall asleep. She usually hugged her pillow imagining that it was her beloved Sasuke, but this time she could only picture him saying, "Let go of me." The expression he'd had wasn't all that loving, but scornful and one that said, 'You're completely useless.'
'It's the fault of that Naruto,' she began to think, but then she'd remember that it wasn't Naruto that slowed them down, it was her. Too slow, don't know enough hand-to-hand and still dieting, which weakened her even more. 'What can I do, I need to change, but what…Akiko was Genin before her accident. Maybe she'd be willing to give me a few pointers…I should go to see her soon…' Eventually she managed to drift off with an idea to improve and that eased her mind some.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Naruto just continued his normal physical routines. None of his teammates, including his Jounin-sensei, were aware of just how much he knew and what he'd been learning on his own. His runs around the outside of Konoha had allowed him to meet up with certain people that he'd met during his C-Class missions with Team Eleven. Those people were working a special project for him, but soon he was about to break into something quite big that would help a few missing nins in the very near future and deal with that Gato guy.
Also he wasn't ready to activate his elements yet, but he was doing just fine in configuring his Nen Jutsu to his needs. Thankfully he'd fully realized that he'd been spied on, by the Hokage, for a while and therefore he'd found another place to practice his unconventional Jutsu. He was close to starting 'Hatsu', which was the final step before the full first stage of learning Nen Jutsu was done.
'Ten,' he thought and opened all his inner aura or chakra points. He then formed it into a barrier, forcing the energy to remain contained within him as he increased its emanation or 'inflammation' out put. The more he could control it in that state the more he had access to without worry of chakra exhaustion. He'd mastered this technique quickly because he'd been used to doing it in the past with his aged body. His younger body was more open to new ideas though and learnt this at a faster rate.
'Ren,' he thought, bringing up the next step in the Nen Jutsu. He relaxed the barrier and opened his chakra to flare and become slightly visible. In doing this quickly and going between the Ren and Ten techniques he was able to maintain his control for longer periods of time. Also doing in this increased his awareness of just how much he had access to.
He practiced these two techniques, but was fully aware that the time frame between Ren and Ten needed to be narrower because of his daily use of chakra in the normal Ninja activities, like climbing trees or adding power to his Taijutsu forms. Although adding chakra to his attacks was also a form of Nen Jutsu and he was being careful because he didn't the others to try the same without having learned chakra control like he'd done. There was also the possibility that they could learn some of the base Nen Jutsu techniques because that particular technique had been absorbed into the everyday training that the Ninja Arts required.
'That's something to think about when I'm retired again,' he thought. 'Now for the next step.' He activated the 'Gyo' that he'd been using for a long time.
He smiled when he remembered the last time Team Eleven had met during one of his breaks from Team Seven. His old team had chosen to go camping in one of the parks outside of Konoha in order to examine the 'Treasures' that they'd brought back from the Buried Palace in Sand Country.
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Flash Back
"Why are we camping out again," Akiko complained mildly, only joking with her old teammates. "It has been a while for me."
"We don't want to be spied on," Naruto told her. "Someone added the fact that we were permitted to extract treasure from the Buried Palace into their reports and the old man asked me about it."
"That was me," Tokuma-sensei told them. "I had to report that because Team Six's sensei would have done the same and did. Although I don't know why the Hokage thinks you took anything out of the Palace. You'd have told me..." He looked at their faces and knew then that they didn't tell him about what they may have taken from the Palace. "You three didn't…"
"Honestly," Risa said shifting in her seat. "We don't know what we got, so technically we didn't get anything that could be considered 'Treasure', now did we. Besides he could have been asking because we'd been on the team that had come out of there severely injured compared to all others."
Tokuma pinched his mouth to stop the chuckle that wanted to escape, but it was too late because he smiled at them and then laughed with them. "All right," he said. "Show me what it is."
Naruto pulled out the four small storage scrolls that contained a pot of something in each. "These are only pots," he told his old sensei. "I saw that they had auras or chakra emanations coming from them."
"I collected them into these scrolls separately," Risa continued because she'd been the one to get them. "We didn't know if they were dangerous or not and we didn't know what they would or wouldn't contain. Naruto only saw that these had chakra around them and probably thought they'd be the more valuable ones."
"They could also be traps that are chakra based," Akiko told the man. "So we didn't want them all in the same scroll in case one was destructive. We were hoping to get your aid in revealing what's inside them and maybe in figuring out how to disarm the traps or…"
Tokuma nodded. Some of his colleagues had had missions of that nature. Sometimes they succeeded and sometimes they came back with interesting stories about traps that they couldn't disable. There were some that never came back from some of those missions because they'd been able to take successfully disable some of the traps, but at an extreme cost, usually their own lives.
"All right," the man said looking at the scrolls. "Let's analyze the area you found these in and since you were able to remove the items there's a chance that whatever those pots contain, could actually be of use."
"Yeah," Naruto said. "Unless it's one of those things that just absorbed the makers emotions and chakra emanations as he created the pots. They could just be plain old pots with nothing in them, but looked valuable because of the creator who made them because the cared."
"He does have a point," Risa said.
Akiko asked, "Is there a way to check for that?"
Tokuma thought about and nodded slowly. "There is, but unfortunately you'll have to release them from the scrolls." He paused and then asked, "Naruto did you bring your old tent?"
"Yep," the blond replied. "You never when you'd need an extra bit of cover."
"Do you mind sacrificing it for this," his old sensei asked.
"Not at all," the blond said and took out his old tent. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was getting worn down and sometime the damp just didn't stay out of the thing. "Do you want me to paint some sigils on it? You know for protection or something."
"Good idea," Tokuma told him. He pulled out a couple of scrolls and said, "In these there are a couple of power words that will help, but since you've the instinct for Fujin Jutsu, I'll let you select which ones to place where on your old tent."
"Okay," Naruto said and took a look at the words and meanings. There were a few that he could combine into a protective seal for the tent. The girls had added explanations for a few that the blond didn't think to choose.
He took out his ink, brush and old tent. He'd decided not to put up the tent until it had been marked in such a way that it was turned into almost a bomb shelter or bomb containment unit. Then he erected the tent and in doing so the seal on it was activated and looked to be waiting for more instruction.
"Do I pull out all four vases in there?" He asked them for their opinion in this matter because it was something that they had to do as a team.
"I wouldn't," Akiko said. "But…"
"I know," Naruto replied.
"The first one could ruin your tent and then we wouldn't be able to check out the rest without sacrificing the rest of our tents," Risa said. "Pull out all four. That's how we carried them out of the Palace."
Hyuga Tokuma only indicated that the decision was theirs to make. "I will recommend that Naruto be the one to release them, as he's still the fastest of all of us."
The girls nodded and then turned to look at the blond boy that was currently removing his over outfit. "You're going to need a new under suit," Akiko said. "Tell you what? I'll reduce the price for making you a new one, if you bring me any clothing that no longer fits you. I can overhaul almost anything and then we can give them to the orphanage or town's clothing bin."
"Deal," Naruto said. "I know that I'm going to need a new jumpsuit too and soon. The shoulders on this one are tight now and it's beginning to restrict my movements."
"I'm going to need some new threads too," Risa said. Her old teammates looked at her. She blushed and said, "I think that I'm close to bonding with a nin-dog. He comes from a new batch that's close to being weaned."
"How can you tell," Akiko asked.
"Sometimes we can just sense when one of them is compatible," Risa said pointing to her head and then her heart. "There's something that resonates in these areas."
"I'm ready to go," Naruto said.
"Remove your weights," Tokuma advised.
"Right," the blond said, dropping his wrist and ankle weights. He then put on a pair of ankle cuffs with rings and rope attached. "That's so you guys can pull me out fast when I tell you to." The two girls held onto right rope attached to his right ankle and his old sensei did the same for the one on his left ankle.
Naruto took off his goggles because he wanted to see everything naturally and not through glass. His Nen Jutsu technique was strong enough now that he could shield himself better than before they'd left for the Chunin exams.
"Here I go," he said. He got down on all fours and crawled into the small tent. He pulled out the four small scrolls and released their contents simultaneously. There in front of him were the same four pots that looked like they imitated all others that they had seen from the chamber, but only these had very visible auras.
"They're out of the scrolls now," Naruto said giving them a slight commentary of what he was doing. "Do you want me to break them or spill their contents?"
"Do whatever you think you should do," Risa said. "I do know that one of the pots has a cover on it, but I couldn't tell if it was plugged or not."
"It's plugged," Naruto told her after he checked out. "I'll save that one for last. I'm going to check one of the others now."
He pulled one towards him and felt the outside of the jar. There were no seems or hinges that his sensitive fingers could detect. He peered into it and could barely make out something glittering at the bottom of the pot. He turned it over and out came a necklace of unknown marbled looking stones in various muted colours. The stones were glowing, but the centre piece had the largest emanation and looked to have been composed of three other stones. He put it and the jar aside.
"The first is done," he told them. He repeated the process with the second and third pots with different items being found at the bottom. The second contained several precious stones and coins. The coins looked like they came from a foreign nation and time.
The third contained, surprisingly sewing needles and glowing thread, under his Gyo active eyes. There was a scroll in that jar too that explained what it was and how it worked. There was nothing malicious in that one and he felt that he could take that one out to show them immediately.
'That one will belong to Akiko,' he thought. He backed out of the tent with that pot in one hand and its contents in another. "Here," he handed them to Sakura's older cousin. "This one is definitely for you."
"Why," she asked and then looked at what was in her hands. "Oh wow," she looked at the funny needles and thread.
"The scroll explains how to use them," Naruto told her. "It basically shows you how to sew and weave with chakra and how to alter the purpose of the chakra with the colour of the thread used. It's quite interesting, but I think you've already discovered how to do most of this already."
"That's true," Akiko confirmed. "That was mostly trial and error though. This should help me greatly to improve what I already know."
The others agreed and then he told them about the gems and coins, as well as the necklace. "I don't know what that necklace will do," he said. "But I bet that with a bit of research it wouldn't take too long to figure it out."
They looked at them from the tents opening.
The Hyuga had his Byakugan activated and pointed out that several of the gems in the pile, shone with chakra. Tokuma was curious about those and wondering why they emanated chakra when the rest didn't.
Risa was looking at that necklace with interest because she had a curious nature. Even if her goal was to open a physical training centre, it didn't mean that she had no other interests.
They all noticed that the last pot hadn't been touched. "Take out the others and then only go back in there to deal with the last jar," Risa suggested. "I'll take the necklace and the pot that it came in. Sensei?"
"I'll admit that I'm curious about the gems," he told them. "The coins could be sold to collectors and we could all share in the profit to make it fair to all of us."
"I agree," Naruto said. Thinking of all the ways that the money could be used, especially in a couple of important ways for the small Kitsune Company Ltd business. It was a venture that he'd begun almost nearly as soon as he'd gone back in time because it was the one thing that kept his mind occupied and also helped him to practice dealing with large numbers of people. Only this time it was a game of patience and something that he knew he couldn't do or make any move to fast. He was just getting certain pieces in place for a very special reason.
"But Naruto, you'd be stuck with that one," Akiko said and pointed to the lone pot in the tent.
"That's just how things work sometimes," he said with a shrug. "I know that I can sew well enough now to make a few base things, but I wouldn't be able to make good use of those." He pointed to the items in her hands. "I don't care about the necklace enough to investigate it, so just be careful with it. Please, Risa, it did come from Suna," he asked of her and the girl nodded. "Sharing the profit from coins that are not important to us is fine, although I think that I'd like to keep a few as a remembrance of our Chunin adventure."
Tokuma nodded and said, "I was planning to do that too. Okay get those items out of the tent and once we've put them away, you can go back to investigate the last pot."
Naruto did that quickly and said, "I'm going to mediate for a bit before checking that last one. So take your time to check out your new toys."
The others laughed and noted that the blond was already seated comfortably and had tuned everything out with deeper breaths. He knew that he could do that because these three were some of his precious people now and he knew that they would guard him while he was in that semi-vulnerable state. They were counted in the past as important because they'd belonged to Konoha, but in this time frame they now had a place in his heart with the old Team Seven as he remembered them.
His new Team Seven were slowly beginning to grow on him, as some things changed, like his own skills and abilities.
Sasuke was talking more and asking him more questions. The dark haired boy still didn't think he knew much though and it was funny to Naruto to think about it sometimes.
Sakura was the strange one of the group and he wondered what would be needed to wake her up from that 'helpless maiden' syndrome that she thinks she needed to be.
Kakashi-sensei was the same as always, but somehow the blond could sense that he was watching over all of them more than he'd done in the past.
(…Yes…) The Fox said. (…What's the matter…)
(…Nothing really…) Naruto told him. (…I just thought that I'd warn you that I'm about to do something potentially dangerous…)
(...How polite…) Kurama looked down at the boy, who still fluctuated from boy to teenager to grey haired old man. (…I really wish you'd stop doing that. Pick a form and stick with it would you…)
(…What are you talking about…) Naruto asked, not aware that'd he'd been shifting through the ages of his past life.
(…Never mind…) The Yoko replied. (…Tell me what you're about to do and why…)
It was then that Naruto explained about the Chunin exams and what happened in the Buried Palace. He told the fox about the treasure and what they'd discovered in three of the pots. The blond showed the fox what the items looked like and what he could sense from them.
(…The necklace is an elemental amplifier…) The fox told him with honesty. (…Your friend should check for her elemental affinities and then call upon them once the necklace is placed around her neck. She should practice her elements first to properly learn to control them before trying to amplify them. The stones will shift to match the colour of her elements and the necklace will effectively imprint on her, staying with her until the day she dies, meaning that once it's on it can't even be given away…)
(…Thanks…) Naruto said. (…Can she change the necklace and say make bracelets out of the stones?...)
(…Of course…) The fox said. (…Those gems that came with the coins, the ones that you were talking about do the same thing as the stones in the necklace to amplify an element, but only if the element matches the actual colour of the gem. They don't have the same properties, as the ones in the necklace, like imprinting on one owner. Although you should know only someone that hasn't tested for their elemental affinity can unstring that necklace and re-work it…)
(…She's about to bond with a nin-dog. Will the necklace affect her bond with the dog…) Naruto asked.
(…No…) Kurama told him. (…Those dogs usually only bond with someone of similar affinity or a complementary element to balance out the Ninja they bond with…)
(…You're unusually forthcoming today…) Naruto stated. (…Is there something about the fourth pot or jar that you think I should know…)
The fox looked away and sighed. The creature paused and then looked back at the shifting boy and said in a very serious non-menacing tone. (…If it's what I think it is… and I could be very wrong... but if the jar is sealed and truly looks like the others, I have a feeling that it may actually contain the offspring of a Biju…)
Naruto blinked and then asked. (...Can Biju beget offspring?...)
(…Yes…) The Fox replied. (…In days long passed, we used to mingle with regular creatures of our own natures. That's why some animals seem to have more intelligence or may be born differently like having too many tails. However this one's been locked away for who knows how long. It might not be sane anymore…)
(…Oh…) Naruto said. He paused and then looked at the demon. (…Do you want to be present for this in a mingled form?...)
(…We would have a greater chance to survive, if it is a starved Biju child...) The demon told him.
The blond nodded and said. (…I'll pull you forth once I have the jar open…)
Naruto's awareness came back and he noted that the others were patiently waiting for him to continue with his last task. He took up his ink and brush once more, to add more to the seal on the old tent. 'It doesn't hurt to be prepared,' he thought. 'Just in case…'
"I'm nearly ready," he said and felt the agreement from his prisoner. "Don't pull me out until I tell that you can. I have the feeling that this last one will be a challenge." He paused and then asked Risa, "Do you know your elemental affinity?"
"Not yet," she told them. "I wanted to wait to see if I will actually be bonded with a nin-dog first."
"Good plan," Naruto told her. "You can take that necklace apart if you don't know what your element affinity is, so make it into whatever other jewelry you want before learning what your elements are, if you don't like how it looks at the moment. The stones will augment your elemental affinities, including that of your nin-dog companion. It seems that once you've activated your element the stones will change colour to match and imprint on you. It's not transferable until you die, just thought you'd like to know."
Risa looked at him wide-eyed and wondered just how he got the information so quickly and then he patted his stomach. That was the signal that told them he found something out from the contained nine-tailed fox demon.
They'd learnt about him being the Jinchuriki of the Demon Fox, in the beginning of being a team and before they'd done too many missions together.
Akiko had only commented that it was no wonder some people treated him like shit and then she promised that she'd never do anything like that. Risa was of the same opinion.
Their sensei had confessed that he was there to keep an eye on things, but that he knew about it too. It was then that he'd explained the decree in the village and that it was up to Naruto on whether his Jounin-sensei would add any of that information to his mission report.
The blond didn't want that information known, since he'd told them that he'd always had his suspicions about it. He'd shrugged back then and said, "I talk to him sometimes, but you needn't worry because he's fully sealed and can't escape. I'm just glad that someone's around to make sure he doesn't through chance."
There wasn't anything else that they could have said to that. They'd done their missions and had fully accepted the fact that Naruto spoke to the demon confined within him, from time to time. It was a good thing too because now Risa knew where to begin looking for information on that necklace that she'd just gotten from the Buried Palace of Suna.
"All right," Tokuma said. "You be careful with that last pot."
"Yes sensei," Naruto told the man as he crawled back into his old tent. He sat cross legged in the middle of it, after he'd closed the tent flaps, much to the irritation of his concerned friends that had wanted him to leave it open.
He'd already run his hands over the item, but this time he did so calling forth the demon's burning chakra, adding it to his Nen Jutsu abilities. The fox was present in his mind in such a way that it was able to comment on the jar and how it was plugged.
(…Interesting…) It said. (…I haven't seen that design for several centuries. It is quite unique and yes it does contain a baby Biju, although it's very weak at the moment because it has no chakra to feed upon…)
(…If I release it, will it attack…) Naruto asked.
(…I don't know…) Kurama told him. (…I cannot even tell you which one of us sired him…)
(…Oh well…) Naruto said and then he positioned himself in such a way to intercept the baby Biju before it could do any damage. He used his Nen Jutsu techniques to unseal the jar. Pale red smoke poured from the jar and then what fell out into his lap was nothing bigger than his longest finger.
(…It's one of mine…) The fox said with tears pouring down Naruto's face, as they had partially mingled in order to contain what could have been a serious danger. (…It cannot be saved like this either…) The demon continued to cry.
Naruto called forth his Nen Jutsu and very slowly added some of the Ren or life force back into the super tiny kit. The little creature uncurled and began to breath easier, but once the force outside force was removed it returned to its unmoving, near dying formation.
(…There has to be a way to save it…) Naruto said to his prisoner. (…There's no way that they wouldn't have been prepared to extract it and keep it alive…)
(…Well you could always add him to your seal…) The fox said.
(…Making him a prisoner too?...) Naruto frowned. (…I don't think that I'd agree with something like that, not even to save his life…)
(…No, he wouldn't be caged like me…) The adult fox said. (…He'd be able to come and go, as he wanted after he'd absorbed some of my chakra to make him stronger…)
(…I don't know that the villagers would approve of something like that…) Naruto said. (…I wouldn't want him to get hurt because the humans in my village would be afraid of a fox running around town, even if he is very tiny...)
The demon fox, Kurama thought about another path and wondered if that would allow him more freedom than being stuck within the belly of the strange, physically shifting kid. He hesitated only a moment, but knew that in order to save the baby Biju, that he'd allow the changes to occur should it be presented to him.
(…Did you know that many of the Biju children. I talking about those that were strong or perhaps too strong and had special skills had been gathered into the first scrolls of summoning…) The Yoko asked him. The blond boy looked at him startled. (…The child needs to be stronger. You could add him to your seal. Let the child live with me and learn from me. As soon as he's strong enough, you create a summoning scroll for the FOX and add him to it. You do have that ability within you…)
(…Create a summon scroll…) Naruto said in wonder. (…Are you sure? Don't summons need to have a finite number inside them or something…)
(…In the beginning summoning scrolls started only with one animal…) The fox explained. (…Biju animals that have various skills will all know when a scroll has been created for those of their nature. For many it was their choice to be bound in such a way and therefore extend their lives because of it. It also granted them a place to live outside of the norm, like pocket dimensions where the spirits exist…)
Naruto thought about it and then thought about the Akatsuki that were going to appear in the future to hunt him down because of Kurama. 'If he chooses the summon option,' he thought. 'Could he still be used by those creeps? Should I offer him that option too?'
(…So you're saying that the first summoning scrolls created were done with the consent of the Biju children…) Naruto asked.
(…Of course not…) The fox snapped his sharp teeth at him. (…Only some were done with consent, most were done by force, but eventually many saw the advantages of their longer lives under that kind of contract, however those that were forced into those scrolls may be more vicious or the ones harder to control…)
Naruto looked at the tiny kit and wondered about how to go about speaking to it, to find out what it wanted.
(…It's not aware of anything yet…) The demon told him. (…It's still too under developed. Just add him to the seal and we'll take care of him. The chakra and technique you're currently using isn't enough to make it well or to make it grow in the outside world. Let me take care of him for now…please…)
'It's strange, but I think that I'm going to enjoy this new development,' Naruto thought. He exposed his stomach seal and scratched a couple of the markings to open the chakra and parts of the conditions of the seal. He let the fox's chakra take over.
The red aura was extremely visible and affected many that were sensitive to the fact that it truly belonged to the Fox and not the vessel. However the feeling from it was very different from anything that the humans in the area had ever felt before, so many dismissed it as not being the demon fox. A couple of ANBU had been dispatched to check it out, though.
"Come on little kit," the fox said through the voice of the human. "Open your eyes and your chakra points, we can help you."
The tiny little thing opened its red eyes and gazed into extremely similar ones in the face of a blond human boy. "Papa," it said. "Help, pleas…"
"Come on," Naruto said coaxing more Nen into the little fox. "You need to open up your own chakra in order for the seal to do its job." He lay down and placed the little thing on his bleeding stomach. His hands moved with such speeds through the hand signs to activate the Seal, that even his Kakashi-sensei would have been jealous at the precision before the man attempted to try and copy them.
The baby fox lapped up of the blood, absorbed the Nen and the mixed chakra that surrounded him. He watched the seals and saw the cage form inside the tent. It was limited to the size of the tent, but it was enough. A ghostly human figure picked up the fox kit and passed the fox baby through the bars of the cage to the much larger fox that only pick it up gently and settled in on one of its remaining large chakra tails.
The cage disappeared quickly and then the wounds from the cut seal were immediately healed. A hand wiped away the blood, but the body in the tent didn't move. A human sighed as he started to get a headache from the strain of containing two demonic foxes, but this was only going to be for a short while.
Naruto sat up and then looked at the pot. It was still intact, but the aura from it had completely dissipated. He peeked on the inside of it and found a band of metal with sigils on it. Reading what they were he hissed in anger.
It was a chakra eating collar. It was this that confined the baby and nearly destroyed the child. He sealed it inside a scroll to inspect the marking before finding a way to destroy it. He looked again inside the pot and saw that there was nothing left in there. He wanted to keep the pot anyway, so he put it away in another scroll before he walked out of the tent.
"Hey guys," he said as he stepped out of the tent and hid the scroll.
They'd received visitors because of the fox chakra that had been sensed. Akiko and Risa were standing guard at the tent's entrance, while Tokuma had been arguing with two of the ANBU guards that had shown up on orders from the Hokage. They all turned to him and wondered if he was all right.
"What's going on," he asked in seeming ignorance.
"I'll ask him," Tokuma said to the guard. His old sensei had knelt in front of him and then asked, "Did you tap into…"
"Ah," Naruto shifted, rubbed the back of his head looking away and upset. He looked guilty and sad at the same time. "That couldn't be helped it. It was the contents of that last pot."
"What was it," Tokuma asked.
"Before I tell you could you please destroy the tent," Naruto asked. "What came out should be allowed to receive a decent burial."
"All right," Tokuma said and nodded at the girls. They'd been prepared for that since anything marked in Fujin sigils should always be destroyed after being used otherwise some things would be hard to keep secret.
Akiko and Risa, each took a readied branch from their campfire, lit the corners of the tent and watch as it burned. As soon as the tent was no longer there, they'd mixed the tent's charred bits with the earth under it in order to cover the fact that something had been burnt there.
Then they all looked at Naruto, who forced more tears from his eyes, although it wasn't all that hard to do, because of the upheaval of emotions that he'd received from the fox. "It was a fox baby," Naruto told them all softly. "I had to kill it, but it was of Biju origins." He patted his stomach and continued. "It wasn't happy because it had to die. I'm sorry if I caused anyone any worries."
The ANBU were shocked to hear that. "Genin Uzumaki, are you in any danger?"
"No," Naruto said. "I feel pretty much like I always did. I was just sadder and angrier because of what I had to do."
"You killed something," the ANBU asked. "What was it?"
"I don't know what it was, but it had to be done," Naruto told them. It was a whopping big lie, but it wasn't like they needed to know anything about this either. "The chakra came from something that we'd brought back from Suna, but it was bad. I almost died in there, but then I passed out for a bit and when I woke up, whatever it was, was dead and I couldn't do anything more, but get rid of the remains."
The ANBU guards nodded at the logic. Despite the fact that the blond had been a Genin for nearly two years, they'd chosen at this moment to underestimate his understanding of the situation. "We'll report this to the Hokage," one of the said. "Don't worry about it."
"You can probably expect to be summoned to explain what happened here," the other said.
"I'd be glad to," Naruto said with a nod and a sniffle.
His teammates were silent about the whole thing and wondered just was it was that the blond had lied about. No else knew it, but this Jinchuriki could lie with the best of swindlers and it was interesting to know that the only thing you ever knew was that a lie had been told, but you could never guess what the true lie had been.
The two ANBU guards left and after a short while later, the old Team Eleven were treated to some of the facts. "Yes it did contain something," Naruto told them. "It was the body of a baby fox with demon origins, but it was too late. I found a collar at the bottom of the jar that had Fujin Seal markings on it, so I'll study those before destroying the collar. I think I'm going to keep the pot at a reminder of how cruel some humans in the world can be."
"Why," Akiko asked.
"A Hokage should be aware of the nature of man," Naruto said, as though quoting something he'd read before. "Oh by the way, Tokuma-sensei those gems that have a chakra aura are actually elemental booster gems. They're the colour of the elements that they'll augment, like Risa's stones. Only they're no able to be bound to one person, like her necklace or alter to match the element of the person they're bound to. I believe they could be made into things to boost someone's element."
Tokuma looked at one of the blue-white gems that had glowed and said, "This one is lightening based. Interesting, I'm going to have to review these. You two," he spoke to Akiko and Naruto. "Tell me what your elemental affinities are when you find out, all right. That way I can give each of you a gem or two."
"Okay," Akiko said.
"That sounds cool," Naruto said with a grin.
"How about we continue our camp out and you can tell us all about your new team members," Tokuma-sensei said, earning him an affected tragic groan from the blond boy and giggles from the girls. The Jounin looked at his old team, he thought, 'I've missed this and them.'
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
Flash Forward
Naruto smiled as he meditated and remembered that time. Although the kit was still too small to do much, it had gotten into the habit of leaving the cage and popping into the real world to sleep with the other person feeding it the chakra he needed to grow. It was only when the blond was alone in his apartment and bundled under his covers that anyone looking it would think that he'd slept with a bright red scarf around his neck.
Sometimes, like tonight, when he meditated the babe would pop out and curl in his lap in order to be petted. It wasn't a child despite its child like appearance. It was much like Naruto in that sense, but until its body was back at a reasonable size and power, it had chosen to remain with the canny old demon fox and the sneaky blond Konoha Jinchuriki.
Naruto pet the strangely soft fur of the fox, trying to figure out what to do about Sakura. 'When the past did she finally grow up or change her obsession,' he thought. 'We've been doing D-Class missions for a while now, but it was when...'
Then he rolled his eyes and slapped himself on the forehead. "The mission to Wave," he said out loud.
He looked on his calendar and the recalled the day he threw one fine tantrum in the Missions Office. "Geez, a lot of things will be happening in that area. I'll still have to go slow and hope that those two will side with my needs and accept my offer."
'That'll happen in about one month's time,' he calculated. 'I guess I'll just have to keep an eye out for Tazuna the drunken old fart. At least this time around I won't have to throw that stupid tantrum because Jiji-Hokage owes me big time for babysitting his brat grandson and brat's little buddies.'
Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old
TBC…