Advisor to the current Hokage, Senju Tsunade, tried once again to get his successor to pay attention to what he was saying. But she was stubborn and still didn't want the position. Luckily, him, Homura, and Koharu didn't give her a choice in the matter. "Tsunade, the Hokage has to appear more dignified than this."
"I don't give a shit, Old Man," she yelled at him, throwing an empty sake bottle at him. "You want someone that is 'dignified' and gives a damn about the title, then get someone else to do it!" Growling, she grabbed the first page atop her mount of paperwork, read it, growled some more, before throwing the pile off her desk. "Shizune, why the hell am I getting paperwork about if Okkoto's Shrimp wants a new type of shrimp! If those lazy asses in the whatever department sends me something like this again, I will knock them head over heels so fast they will wish I sent them on a suicide mission instead!"
"Yes Lady Tsunade," Katō Shizune said breathlessly as she tried to duck the ire of her mentor. Not that she really feared that Tsunade would hurt her but the Sannin had been most upset since those three dropped this on her.
"Tsunade-hime, please calm down," Koharu said to.
"I am calm! You see this face, this is a calm face! I am a calm person!"
"No, you are not calm," Koharu told her, undeterred.
"And why should I be? With the shit storm he left for me," she shouted, pointing at Sarutobi accusingly. "I'm surprised I can go home at night sometimes!"
"I know this seems bad," Hiruzen tried to plactate.
"Shut up! I don't want to hear it!" She looked like she might have literally blown up like a volcano at the rate she was going but something decided to throw itself at her to vent her anger. An assassin. From the window a kunai on a chain came, aimed right for her jugular. It looked like Tsunade wouldn't see it in time but the woman without slammed her fist down on the edge of a book, flipping it up and blocking the weapon. Grabbing the chain, she gave a hard yank and pulled her would be killer inside. Unsurprising the person was wearing a cloak. What was surprising was their clawed hands holding the weapon. Flipping to his feet, the assassin somehow slipped his weapon from her grasp.
"Senju Tsunade, Konoha has been a danger to my home for too long, I will kill you and end that threat now," the attacker said in a young man's voice.
"Like hell you will, I'm not dying until I get out of this and can drink myself to death!" She didn't go for a weapon or call for aid, she just kicked her desk at him. The man was nimble, he took a step on the flying desk and flipped in the air, throwing the kama at the other end of the chain this time. To the shock of many, the weapon was blocked not by Tsunade but by Koharu, spinning around a weapon she hadn't used in nearly two decades, a bladed tonfa. Her spinning the weapon a few times to wrap the chain around the blade, she raised her other arm, holding the second of the paired blades, and brought it down on the chain, snapping it. Holding herself at the ready, Tsunade behind her prepared as well, and Sarutobi a heartbeat behind, the attacker decided to flee.
Crouching down on all fours, he jumped at the wall, landed with his hand and pushed off it with his feet, getting around them. Breaking through a window, he landed on the railing of the balcony, looking back, his tiger tail puffed up in agitation. "You have a reprieve, Tsunade, but don't think this if over!" He ducked down, avoiding his own kama that was throwing at him, and letting the weapon catch his hood. It was pulled back to reveal a yellow furred face with yellow hair, red stripes in his hair and two red whiskers on each cheek, and gold eyes.
"Naruto," Koharu called in shock, having trouble understanding what this was.
The young woren looked at her without recognition before flipping backwards over the edge and vanishing. Koharu ran to the edge and didn't see him. "This can't be right, there is no way that Naruto would attack us," Sarutobi muttered.
"You know who that was," Tsunade demanded.
"Uzumaki Naruto, the son of Kushina and Minato," Sarutobi continued. "But he has never done something like this…"
"And he never would," Koharu said, turning back to them. "Whoever that was, that wasn't Uzumaki Naruto, he didn't recognize me or Sarutobi." She slid her tonfa's back in their sheaths and rubbed her hands to help take the aching away.
"…I'm surprised you can still use those," Hiruzen said in wonder. "You couldn't ten years ago."
"Some tea Naruto gave me to help restore some movements. I think I'm going to need two cups tonight. Regardless, someone is using Naruto's likeness to attack us, why?"
"…Because he is the last Jinchuuriki," Tsunade said as she grabbed her desk and pulled it back into place. "Someone wants him out of Uzu no Kuni, probably to take what he has or to use him for something. And I doubt they would count on one attack to do the job. Where else do you think they have done it and who do you think is is?"
"…If it was me, I would choose…every one of the great five. So that no one could argue over who would get him. If I wasn't one of them, that is."
"Attack all of them?" Tsunade sat back down with a frown. "If they know who supposedly attacked them…that would mean he would be sent somewhere…Hōzukijo Castle."
—oo000oo—
"Let me see if I understand this correctly," Dorogan said, meeting with all five Kage's at once at the port Naruto used all those years ago to get to Uzu. Behind him and to the right were Rei and Naruto. To the left were Sora Aoi, eyebrow arched and not looking too impressed, and Rand Althor. "You five all are demanding that I hand over the son of one of the elders of Uzu no Kuni, to be tried, judged and punished by you ninja, is that it?"
"It is," Ōnokitold him. "He tried to assassinate all of us."
"I see…tell me, young man, could you honestly tell the difference between one Woren and another," Dorogan asked.
"He said his name," Ē told them.
"…Frankly, I think this is some attempt to take the last jinchuuriki for yourselves," Althor told them. "Naruto doesn't use a kama and kunai."
"I wouldn't have failed, either," Naruto told them all.
"Tell me, how many of you actually think it was Naruto," Aoi asked them.
"…Honestly, it seems like a set up to me," Yagura stated. "As an assassin, it was amateurish."
"I also don't believe it," Tsunade stated. "Some people that know Naruto were with me during the attack yet he didn't recognize them."
Baki closed his eye and considered this. "I have evidence that it was. Hair and blood." He held up a file.
"Let me see that," Aoi said, taking the file and reading it. "They have a hair sample that is a match to some they collected during the chuunin exams you participated in. They need a sample to compare the blood to though." She looked to the boy that one of her clan members had completely fallen for and didn't like where this was going.
"I wouldn't care if you have pictures," Rei stated. "Or a confession! There is no way on this earth or any other that I will let you have my son! Like hell will I send him to any of your villages, especially yours Ōnoki!"
"My village is ready to go to war for this," the Tsuchikage swore.
"Your village would be a smoldering crater before the end of the day," Rei promised.
"…Tousan," Naruto whispered to him. He said something to his ear that not even Dorogan could understand that made the elder woren snort.
"Fine. Give us your evidence and twenty four hours to consider this. But I want to know one thing, what I said before still holds. He is not going to any of your villages. So where would he go?"
"Normally, criminals in matters similar to this would be sent to Hōzukijo, a prison castle ran by Kusagakure," Yagura informed him.
"…Better than the great five at least," Rei said before turning around and leading his son away.
"If even one thing is wrong with this," Aoi said, motioning to the file, "I'll burn it and you'll never get to see Naruto in anything other than the enemy fighting you." She turned and headed back to see it taken care of.
Dorogan watched them leave before turning back to the five gathered there. "If that is all, I suggest you return to your villages. Tsunade, Yagura, I would like a word with you two in private."
"I am not leaving without…" Ē started to say but was interrupted by Althor.
"You would be killed for pushing this, I promise you. You have made your case, we will consider it, and if we find the case good enough, we shall act on it. So, I suggest you leave. Now."
"Aren't you the least bit concerned that we might go to war over this," Baki asked.
"Not in the least. It won't be in our country that the fighting will take place in," Althor assured them.
"…You know, these subhumans talk a lot but I don't see them actually backing up much of it," Ōnoki stated. Though he was glared at by Dorogan and Althor, it was looks of shock from Tsunade and Yagura that he would even suggest it.
"Maybe we don't…but then we did fight in the Battle for Konoha as well as that battle in Ami," Dorogan told him. "So, young man, I suggest you keep such thoughts to yourself. If you feel we aren't as strong as we make ourselves to be, then by all means throw the first stone. I would enjoy wiping you from the face of the earth."
Baki stepped away from the old man, not wanting to be anywhere near him if something happened. He still remembered what the Kazekage's house looked like after one of them was done in there. Ōnoki looked to him and then to Ē as he inched away. He knew the big man wasn't afraid but he likely didn't want to get caught in the attack either. "Fine, I'll leave it be, for now."
"Good," Dorogan said with a fake smile. "Now you three leave."
—oo000oo—
Dorogan stood before Deis, Rei, and Naruto, having told them everything he knew about what was going on. "Someone has gone through a great length to implicate Naruto in these attempted assassinations. Not that anyone in Uzu no Kuni would believe he would do such a thing."
"Yeah, kaasan would kill me for trying," Naruto told him. "Anyone using magic could track where I've been in the last week. This is so full of holes it's not even funny."
"But it does present a problem," Rei stated. "Like Dorogan said, they are going through trouble to get you to that prison. So I doubt they are going to give up. Deis, Dorogan, while I doubt they could become a danger in trying to get Naruto, do you agree they could and will become a nuisance for all from Uzu?"
"That much is clear," Deis growled. "So, we deal with them now."
"Hold it, Kaasan, you are not going to blast the whole of Kusagakure into nothing," Naruto said to her.
"I wouldn't," she denied.
"Yes you would," Naruto replied. "If they became a big enough problem you would. Not to say that we shouldn't but what if it isn't all of them?"
"The only way we could find out is if we send someone there," Deis stated. When Naruto nodded and cross his arms, she said, "No, not a chance, Naruto!"
"Kaasan, you and I both know I wouldn't be in any real danger."
"I am not sending my son to prison."
"Nor would I ask you to, I'm asking you to let me hunt down the people that are hunting me."
"…It's a good idea," Rei said after considering it. "No way we would send him in alone, I doubt they would let him go in armed. Have a few people flying above him waiting for a signal to come down and extract him."
"Rei!"
"Love, its either we let him now or he does it alone in a few years," Rei told her against her protest.
Deis frowned but said, "You're right. Okay, Naruto. I'll set you up with a contingency spell to get you out in an emergency and will get some of the Pathfinders and Shadows to watch over you."
"Also to escort you there," Dorogan added. "I wouldn't doubt it if they wanted you for it regardless of you going to the prison or not."
Naruto nodded, took off his belt with daggers and saber. "When do we get ready?"
"Now, they're still waiting," Dorogan told him.
—oo000oo—
Naruto stood before the gathered Kages, looking disgruntled as restraints were placed on his hands.
"I will take possession of the prisoner," Ē said, stepping forward only to be stopped by Velve drawing his ax and poking him in the chest with it.
"I don t think so," Velve growled. "There isn't a one of you we will trust with this task, we will take him ourselves."
"You? Members of his own country," Ōnoki shouted.
"Damn right," Talinth, the elementalist Ryu princess, replied. "There is no way we would let you do it. What, are you afraid that we will try and steal him back?"
"We are the ones giving him up," Dinzt told them. "If we didn't want you to have Naruto, we would've kept him to ourselves. Ōnoki, your ninja have sworn revenge against the Yondiame Hokage. Ē, your ninja tried to kidnap his mother, as well as several ninja from Konoha under the pretense of peaceful negotiations. And Baki, your ninja have attacked a prominent member of Uzu on her one and only visit to Sunagakure. An action that cost the Yondiame Kazekage his life. Frankly, all of you have a stake in making sure he doesn't reach his destination beyond the Bijuu sealed inside him."
"Actually, I want to know why your country is the only one still in possession of one of the Nine Tailed Beast," Ē demanded.
"Ask Akatsuki," Naruto told them. "They tried to kidnap me when I was younger to extract it from me."
"Akatsuki," Baki asked. "They are the ones…" He fell silent when he remembered giving them the information about the Bijuu. "I see."
"Kazekage, do you know something," Ōnoki asked.
"If he does or doesn t, I don t care," Naruto growled. "Let's just go to that damn prison and get this over with."
"Just a minute boy," Ē said, stopping him before he took a step. "Just need to do something first. Darui, check him over, would you?"
One of the Kumo shinobi stepped forward, wearing a blank clay mask over his eyes and nose. "Dull," he muttered. "This mask lets me see magic. I just mutter the incantation and… Bloody hell!" Durai threw his head to the side, dislodging the mask, and rubbed his eyes. "Crap…"
"Darui," Ē asked in concern.
"Hah, you used a mask that let you see magic," Velve asked them while laughing. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's blind now for looking at him." He pointed to Dinzt who shrugged.
"Wouldn't be the first time," the hawk like Sora clan member said as he rubbed his left cheek under the eye patch.
"Wait, couldn't he have meant you, Velve," Talinth asked.
The Dark Knight was going to say no when he considered how many fel-weapons he carried. "Ano…I guess he could be. And you, Talinth, how much magic are you carrying?"
"Enough," she said with a smirk.
"Alright, alright, enough already," Ē growled. "Step away from him and let Darui check him over."
"If he can still see," Dinzt muttered before moving aside, followed by the others.
"Can you still see," Naruto asked Darui while stepping up to him.
"Yeah…didn t expect to see that though." Darui shook his head and carefully glanced at Naruto. "Magic clothing. I'm not seeing anything else at the moment."
"Take them off boy," Ē commanded.
Naruto hesitated but started removing his shirt while Dinzt took off his hat and grabbed something from the underside of the cap. A girl from Iwa grabbed his arm, "What are you…" She knocked it from his hand and it fell to the ground, growing larger as it did.
"Oh no," Dinzt said, jumping back and covering his eyes with his hands…before cracking his fingers to watch. The cloth hit the ground and a hole opened up beneath the ninja, dropping them a few feet. The girl climbed out first and glared at him. "I was just grabbing him a change of clothes," he said innocently. "And do tell, what is your name, oh impatient one?
"Kurotsuchi," she growled, trying to be angry at him. "Sorry, grandfather." Ōnoki floated out, looking unhappy.
"...Can there be one day concerning Uzu no Kuni without the ground dropping out from under us or something of the like," Ōnoki asked.
"No," all of them from the country said at once. Dinzt dropped down into the hole, opened a sack, and pulled out a vest, slacks, and some wraps. Throwing the remaining ninja out of the hole, sometimes literally, he got out, grabbed the edge of it, and lifted it up, the hole becoming a piece of cloth once more. "Here, Naruto, these should fit you."
"…Yeah." Sighing, he pulled off his shirt, revealing several ruins on his arms and shoulders.
"Whoa, hold it," Darui, said, looking them over. "Damn, just how many protection spells are on you?
"A dozen," Naruto muttered. "...I think."
"We can't remove them," Velve lied.
"That's alright," Ē said with a smile. "We can. Samui, if you would be so kind."
"Of course, Raikage-sama." A blond woman came up to Naruto holding two shawls. One of them she placed on his shoulders, the other she placed on her own. "Ra." Upon uttering that word, the spells on Naruto were pulled from him and placed on her. Naruto was so surprised his mana spiked out, throwing the wind around him. Samui stumbled a moment as it took effect on her. "What was that…I feel weaker."
"Those," Naruto asked with a smirk. "Protections, limiters, restraints." 'Tracking, teleportation, contingency, and half a dozen other leashes as well,' he finished in his mind. "Good luck getting them broken, my mother is the second strongest spell caster on the planet."
"Why would you need limiters," Darui asked.
"Well, that…is a secret," Naruto replied, smirking like the cat that caught the canary. "Now, ladies, unless you want to watch me strip down, I suggest you turn away." Naruto rolled his shoulders, unused to the feel of being without some sort of spell or another. Pulling off his boots and his pants, he replaced his clothing with what was given to him by Dinzt, and wrapped his hands and feet with the strips. There, satisfied?
"Almost," Ē told him. "Check his hair for picks."
"Sure, Bosu," Darui said before pulling out a piece of metal and pressing a rune. Magnetic mana came off it, pulling at the metal armor and buttons on those around it but leaving Naruto alone.
"Didn't think you would need basic tools, did you," Ē taunted. "Thought your magic could get you out of it?"
"Raikage... shut up you blow hard. I told you I didn't do it, I still say I didn't do it, and considering the spells your lieutenant now has on her, she'll believe it too soon enough."
Ē looked to Samui and said, "What spells exactly?"
"Figure it out yourself; you have magic of your own. Let's go." He walked around the Kages and ninja, not caring one way or another. "Oh, miss, enjoy the leash."
—oo000oo—
Standing before the warden of the prison with the other new inmates, Naruto wasn t impressed. "Attenion," the fat man said, "the owner of the Hōzukijo Castle, Mui-sama, will be addressing you now! Listen well!"
A man in a cloak stepped forward and Naruto was still unimpressed. "I am Mui, the man in charge of this prison. The fact that you have been sent here means that you have lost the complete trust of your village."
"I didn't lose it, it's just more convenient for me to be here," Naruto interrupted.
"Only speak when spoken too, boy," the fat warden shouted.
"Screw you," he snapped right back.
The warden grabbed his tonfa to hit him with but Mui held out his arm to stop him. "You say that you haven't lost it?"
"Of course," Naruto replied, pulling out the key to his manacles and unlocking them. "I volunteered for this, to make these loud jackasses behind me happy." Ē and Ōnoki bristled with indignation. "My mother knows for a fact that I didn't do it, hell she was more for destroying this place and keeping me home than me coming here." Tossing the handcuffs over his shoulder to Velve, he dusted his hands off. "So skip the 'your soul belongs to god, everything else belongs to me' speech and show me my damn cell."
"Hmm…" Mui suddenly sprang forward, his arm held out to grab Naruto by his chest with a sealing fire on his hand. Naruto though didn't want to be touched.
"Forget that," Naruto said, slipping to the side, grabbing his wrist, slamming his palm to the underside to break his elbow, hit his left shoulder to numb that arm, his right shoulder to numb that arm, an upper cut to open up his neck and finally an elbow down on his collar bone right beneath his throat to choke him a bit, dropping him to the ground. "No one touches me if I don't want them," he told the man on the ground. Looking to the Kages, he smirked. "Like I said before, I wouldn't have failed." Naruto smirked as people around him got upset and even looked ready to attack him. "This should be interesting," he said before the hiss of a sword being pulled from its sheath made everyone look to Velve as he drew as he got a weapon ready for Naruto.
"If this is going to break down into a fight, say so," he told them all. "I would be happy to take Naruto back home." Dinzt also grabbed his two sabers while the elements began to float around Talinth.
People were tense, the guards especially. With Mui-sama's ability to seal chakra away, they hadn't had to fight against truly powerful fighters in years. Some, like the Warden, were in no shape to fight at all. "Excuse me," Baki said, getting everyone to look to him. "Naruto, as I understand it, you claim you are doing this voluntarily, correct?"
"Yes," Naruto said slowly.
"Then you agreed to be taken into a prison as a prisoner. Will you let them do their job?"
"…Whatever he was going to try to do to me, you can just forget it, but I will calm down," Naruto said to them all, stepping back from Mui. "Can we continue now?"
Mui stumbled back to his feet and said, "Why are you willing to stay here but adamant against being sealed?"
"Simple, them," Naruto motioned to the three Kage's. "Quite frankly, I trust them about as far as I trust you. Not even to be in the same room with them willingly. Well, maybe I do with Baki but the others…I trust tyrants more. If I am beyond the safety of my home, then I will not be there powerless."
"…I can't let you have that power while here," Mui told him. "You are a danger to the guards and the other inmates."
"As long as I'm left alone, I'm a danger to no one," Naruto growled.
"I still won't…"
"Mui," Ē interrupted. "Leave him be. If he becomes a problem, inform us and we shall deal with him."
Mui frowned but nodded. "Very well, if you are taking responsibility for him, I shall."
"Besides, he's a swordsman with no sword. How much trouble could he be," Ōnoki asked. Naruto looked to him and began to smile like the Cheshire Cat. "…Yes?"
"Oh nothing," Naruto said, still smiling, "said the cat that ate the canary."
—oo000oo—
Sitting on a bench in a hall in processing, Naruto was leaning back with his arms folded behind his head and his eyes closed. Stretched out as he was, it looked like to all the world that he was asleep…until a guard tried to strike him. Falling to the side, Naruto raised a foot up and kicked, stopping with his heel just about to break his nose. "Do I have your attention," Naruto asked him. "I suggest you don't try that again."
"You," the Warden shouted at him. "Stop that at once! I don't care if you have your abilities or not, continue to cause problems and we'll throw you in solitary confinement!"
Looking at him, Naruto smirked as he sat back down. "Sure thing, bosu, you're the man. What you say goes here. But I'm not going to let anyone touch me here, is that understood?"
He frowned and walked up to him. "And if I say for them to hit you?"
Naruto grinned, showing off his fangs, "Then they better be prepared to lose the hand, even if I have to bite it off."
The two stared each other in the eyes for several moments before the Warden said, "Pheh, don't cause trouble!"
"Whatever you say, Bosu," Naruto said with a smirk again. He sat back down and relaxed again. After a few seconds, the Warden nodded to the guard who got ready to try and hit him again. He stopped when Naruto yawned, showing fangs like inch long little daggers. When he hesitated, Naruto licked his lips and said, "Not going to try? Guess I can wait to eat something." Naruto opened his golden eyes and watched the guard move away. When they were gone, he glanced to the one new prisoners, the one with a bandana. He didn't look because this one was watching him, they all were. He looked because of what his nose told him. "Keep staring at me like you are and I might start to think you like me. Sorry, guys, I'm not into men, older or otherwise." Closing his eyes and still reclined, he heard most of them turn away save for the one with the bandana. His lips began to move as if speaking but he made no sound. "But pretty girls like you at the end I might make an exception for." He knew she read his lips when she suddenly turned away as well.
—oo000oo—
Stepping out into the courtyard, Naruto knew he would draw a lot of attention. No seal on his chest and being a woren, he stood out like a sore thumb. Going to the wall, he leaned back against it and waited. "So, you are one of the Uzu," a man with a brand of Iwa burned into his shoulder said to him.
"I must be," Naruto said to him, seeing three others beginning to encircle him.
"Heard you're not just an Uzu but the Uzu. Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, grandson of Uzumaki Rei and Deis."
Naruto smiled at him and said, "Really? Now where did you hear that?"
"Oh, around. You know, your father killed my brother."
"You don't say."
"I do say," he insisted, smiling as well. "As well as the family of those around you."
Naruto looked at them all and finally back to him. "…What did the Tsuchikage promise you? Pardon?"
"That and more," he said with a grin. "Me, once I found out who you are, I almost agreed to do it for free."
Naruto nodded and said, "Gonna be hard to claim that reward, I promise you."
"Not that hard," someone said before rushing him from the side, pulling out a shiv from his sleeve. Naruto caught the arm by the wrist and pushed it in front of his chest, kicked him in the ribs to dislocate the shoulder, making him drop the chipped stone dagger into Naruto's waiting hand while throwing him away. Naruto faced his other side, kicked the dagger out of the hand of his second attacker up into the air followed by a roundhouse kick to the face. Finally facing the one with the brand, Naruto raised his left arm to block his right, also holding a shiv, and stabbed with his left only for him to make the same block as Naruto. They pushed against each other a moment, unable to get the advantage before the second shiv fell back down, was caught by Naruto's tail, as was stabbed into the former Iwa ninja's side, making him jerk forward. Naruto jumped on him and using his last free weapon, his fangs, and tore out his throat. As he stumbled back, Naruto looked at him without mercy, pulled the shiv from his gut, and kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Hearing more footsteps, Naruto turned to him only to find someone giving him a lariat, throwing him to the ground.
The man that stopped the fourth attacker turned to Naruto, not at all disturbed by the blood, and said, "There are Inmates and there are Convicts. A convict has a certain code and he knows how to show a certain…" he gave a kick to the down man's chin, "respect. An inmate, on the other hand, pulls the pin on his fellow man. Does the guards work for them. Brings shame to the game." He stepped up to Naruto and asked, "So which are you going to be?"
Naruto considered him silently a moment before spitting out the inmate's vocal cords. "Me, I'm just passing through." Ripping off the dead man's shirt, he used it to wipe the blood off and walked away, a path clearing for him.
"…No one passes through Hōzukijo," Maroi said behind him before walking away.
—oo000oo—
That even, a gong was rang to call everyone inside to go to their cells. As Naruto headed in, two guards stopped him. "We heard there was an altercation and you gained two knives, hand them over."
"I don't have them anymore," Naruto told them honestly. "I threw them over the wall."
"Don't give me that crap," the second guard said to him.
"Guys, it's true," another guard said, coming up to him. "I watched him do it, they're outside in the field. Check him over, if he's clean then he has no weapons."
"…Alright, spread your arms and legs…and tail," the first guard said before patting him down. When satisfied there wasn't any on his body, he said, "Open your mouth." Arching an eyebrow, Naruto did as instructed. The man looked at his fangs and said, "You are not keeping those." Naruto's mouth snapped shut with a growl.
"You can have mine if I can have yours," Naruto replied. "And I'll be collecting more than just a few if you try it," he promised.
"Guys, easy," the third guard tried to placate. "I don't want to get in a fight with this guy, do either of you?"
"Not me, I saw him bite that inmate's throat," the second guard stated. "…You've had your shots, right?"
"Now that is just insulting," Naruto muttered. "I might look like a tiger but I'm only as much of an animal as you guys are."
"Gonna have to argue that," the first stated. "…Fine, fine, just no more biting."
"If I can help it," Naruto told him. "Frankly, I don't care too much for the taste of blood."
They stepped back and the two waved him through. Following his orders, he went to his cell, entered, and waited for lights out. When it happened, Naruto changed into a raven, flew to the windowsill, landed on it, and closed his eyes. Sleeping for several hours, he snapped awake when a man opened his cell door. He looked around for Naruto before rushing away in total silence. It wasn't a guard because he would have called an alarm. Hopping back inside, he looked after him before dropping to the bed, changed back, and went back to sleep. Several minutes later, alarms went off as guards began searching for him outside. It got more chaotic the rest of the night while Naruto slept through it all, smirking as he did. Waking up in the morning, Naruto stepped out his cell when it opened, stood on the line with the others. As the one with the roster went by, he asked, "Sumimasen, what are all the guards in a panic for? I could barely sleep last night."
"There was…" He looked to Naruto looking at him curiously before slapping a hand over his eyes.
—oo000oo—
"As I told the guards, Bosu, I was in my cell the whole night," Naruto repeated to the Warden.
"Then why the hell did the break out alarm go off," he shouted.
"I don't know," Naruto replied. "I was asleep, in my bed. Maybe you should ask who set it off."
He wanted to continue shouting at him but he was right. "Captain, who set off the alarm?"
"I don't know sir, I will find out at once!" The captain ran from the room.
Naruto looked to him before facing the Warden. "So…can I go Bosu?"
"…No! Three days in solitary!"
Naruto blinked but shrugged. "Whatever you say, Bosu." Several guards came and grabbed Naruto by his arms. "So you guys are going to drag me to my room? Can I go kicking and screaming?"
"Uh…I guess," one of them said.
"Cool. Ahem, AAAGGGHHH!"
They took Naruto away before throwing him into the small stone chamber. As they were walking away, Naruto pulled a ball from his pocket and started throwing it against the wall… and waited for everyone to leave. When it did, he slipped out of his cell, snuck into the armory, stole several small weapons, and returned to his room. Really, the Raikage thought he couldn't handle himself without his magical armor and weapons?
—oo000oo—
Naruto was asleep that night when he woke up to some cracking noises. "Huh?" Looking at the wall across from him, he stared a moment until threads broke through the wall. "What on earth?" The threads wrapped around each other in a circle taller than he was before they suddenly pulled, breaking open the wall, and wrapped around Naruto's arms, legs, and tail before binding his mouth like a muzzle.
"Hello, Uzumaki Naruto," a man with silver eyes and a slashed headband from Taki said to him. Naruto growled at him, unable to speak but making his anger clear. "I am Kakuzu of Akatsuki, you remember us, don't you?" Now Naruto glared daggers at him. "You do, good, then this will be short. I am of course, not here to extract the Kyuubi out of you, that would be useless. No, I want something else." Taking Naruto down a tunnel he made, he dropped down several floors and opened a sliding wall panel leading to a secret stairway. At the bottom of it, Naruto saw a chamber with an ominous door in a back and a table that looked more like an altar. It didn't make him feel at ease. "I have brought him," Kakuzu said to the shadows.
"Good," Mui said, stepping into the light with several others, all of them wearing mask of animals.
"You have done well, Kakuzu," the one wearing the ox mask said to him. "As promised, you may have him when we are done."
"I don't think so," Kakuzu told them all. "I said I would question him then hand him over, that was the arrangement. Don't worry, he shall be in the same condition as he is now for you to use the Nine Tails' chakra." Naruto arched an eyebrow at hearing that and nearly laughed. The bastard knew he didn't possess the fox anymore and was letting these punks believe he did.
The four masked men and women considered it a moment and consented. "Very well, but if you try anything, you will die for it."
Kakuzu nodded as he removed that thread over Naruto's mouth. "I know that Uzu no Kuni possesses all Nine of the Bijuu. Who keeps them and where?"
"Okay, down the street from my home, there's a pharmacy. Go there and ask the guy behind the counter for something called Viagra…and it'll help you go screw yourself, old man!" Kakuzu mustn't have been amused by the insult because several of the threads wrapped into a whip and slashed him across the chest. "Agh, that hurt!"
"Once more, Uzumaki Naruto, where are the bijuu kept and by who?"
"Nowhere, we scattered them to the winds ashes," Naruto shouted only to get another whip. "Son of a crap!"
"…How about we try a different question, what do you know of the goddess known as Kardis?"
"…You want to know about her," Naruto asked as he hung limply. "She's evil, one of those things we wish were never created. Her domain is hatred and all it involves, murder, and destruction. Lady Myria is the lady of the dead and scales, she judges those that die, Kardis is death herself. Every murder, every act of hatred, is said to strengthen her. She seeks to bath the world in fire to become all powerful and strike down every other god and goddess to replace Ladon himself as the All Father." He was silent a moment before asking, "What could you possibly want with her? She doesn't even seek worshipper, she doesn't share power, doesn't grant it to her priest and priestesses. Every evil act is done in her name, she doesn't need it!"
"Why we seek her…is a secret," he said with a cruel smile. "For the last time, where are the Bijuu?"
"You have a better change of kissing Myria and seeing the next day than finding that out," Naruto promised him.
"…Fine. He is all yours," Kakuzu said, slamming Naruto down on the altar.
"Thank you, Kakuzu," the one wearing a goat mask said to him. "Mui, begin."
"…You know, I got just one question," Naruto panted to them. "I get what Akatsuki is here for. Mercenaries that deal with jinchuuriki is rare. But why go through all this trouble to get me here," Naruto asked them.
Mui remained silent as he got it ready. The others though decided to gloat. "We needed you because the demon fox you possess could open the door to the Gokuraku no Hakō," the one with the wolf mask taunted. "It takes chakra, more chakra than even a hundred ninja could give it. But a demon, they could easily do it."
"Hmm, Mui, what's your part in this?"
"He has been trying to break it open for more than twelve years," the ox mask wearer laughed. "Even sacrificed his son for this day!"
"I see…" Naruto said looking back to see Kakuzu had already left. "I'm sorry but what is this box supposed to do?"
"It will grant one wish to the one that opens it," Mui finally spoke in a whisper meant only for Naruto. "I want my son back. I do not wish to sacrifice you for him but if I must then I shall."
"No kidding? This box is a wish granter, huh? And that's what it meant for?"
"The Gokuraku no Hakō is a secret weapon from the age of the Rikudo Sennin," the goat mask wearing told him. "It once allowed Kusagakure to be the most powerful ninja village before it was destroyed! And with this weapon once more in our hands, Kusa will rule the world! Not even Uzu no Kuni shall be able to stop us!"
"Uh huh, neat," Naruto muttered. "Hey, old man Mui, any luck drawing out any chakra, mine or the Fox's?"
"…None," Mui said, his face screwed in concentration yet still the door didn't react to him.
"That is impossible, Mui," the wolf wearing denied.
"Not really," Naruto said before turning to mist and slipping from his restraints and reformed crouching on another table. I haven't had the Kyuubi for…oh, eight years now. Hell, Akatsuki and Kakuzu knows it, that's why he wanted his payment first."
Mui looked shocked while the four behind him shouted in outrage. "Where is the fox," the wolf wearer demanded, stomping up to Naruto as if to threaten him.
"Somewhere," Naruto told him, grinning and showing off his fangs. "Catch me if you can and maybe I'll tell you!" Lunging forward, Naruto changed into an actual tiger as he landed on the Kusa ninja, raised a claw, and brought it down on her mask, tearing it and her face apart. Snarling, he hopped off, dodging kunai and other weapons. Jumping over a table for the stairs, one of the other mask wearers, this one with a mask of a snake, stabbed up into his chest with a sword. For an instant it looked like he got him but from the center of Naruto's chest where the sword pierced, his body turned to mist, moved around the blade, and changed back to normal. "Hah! You honestly think I'll be that easy to catch? Think again!" Reaching into his vest, he grabbed sever shurikens and threw them, easily digging them into the chest and throat of his attacker. Flipping the table on its side for an impromptu shield, Naruto clapped his hands in a handsign similar to the tora symbol and chanted, "Tagawa sunka, tagawa sunka!" Darkness flew up around him before condensing into the shape of Naruto. As the shadow drew a pair of ulak knives from the back of his vest and attacked the three remaining ninjas, Naruto changed into a crow the size of an eagle and flew up out of the dungeon, cawing his laugher back to them.
—oo000oo—
Instead of leaving, Naruto stayed there and waited. He had no way to signal that he was ready to be pulled out now, nor were all of his hunters dead. So instead of hiding, he waited in the courtyard for Mui. Seeing him, Naruto changed back to normal and called him out. "Mui, I want to talk to you."
"Uzumaki Naruto," Mui said harshly. "…I am surprised you did not leave."
"Not done yet, the people that want me are still here."
"So…this is why you agreed to come here, to kill me and the Flower Group."
"I guess so," Naruto said with a shrug. "So, where are the other two I left alive? They must be pissed all to hell." Not even Naruto heard them as the two appeared behind him and fired two jutsu at him.
"Behind you," the girl from processing called to him. Again, Naruto turned to mist to dodge the attack and reformed while looking behind him.
"There they are. Time for the full collection."
"We aren't alone this time," Ox growled. "The Raikage and Tsuchikage said if you gave us trouble to inform them." At that cue, two dozen ninja from both villages appeared, including the Tuchikage.
Looking at them all, Naruto let out a whistle. "Yeah, that might just be enough. Old Man, what are you doing here? Aren't you going to throw out your hip trying to play with us youngsters?"
"Call it a score left unsettled," Ōnoki shouted.
"Well, I guess you can settle it here. Question, going to try and claim the Kyuubi for yourself? Because if you are, forget that. What these idiots failed to mention is that last night, they tried to extract it themselves and failed because I don't have it anymore!"
Ōnoki looked to the two with mask and demanded, "Is this true!"
"The Jinchuuriki is lying, Tuchikage-sama!"
"It is," Mui interrupted. "It was all a ploy to get Naruto in this prison for his Bijuu. We tried to claim it and found it was gone."
"Then are these two the source of the assassin," Ōnoki asked Mui.
"Yes," he said without hesitation, his eyes locked on Naruto.
"You dare betray us, Mui," the Goat wearer shouted.
"I was never loyal after this ambition took my son away," Mui said, facing them. "This was my hope of getting him back, it failed, so there is no longer a reason to pretend."
"…Tsuchikage-sama, he knows where the bijuu are, all of them, and is still the son of your hated enemy, Namikaze Minato," Ox shouted.
"…All true," Naruto told him. "So, if we are going to do something, let's do something!" Reaching behind his back, he pulled out the ulak knives with a smirk. "Some toys I stole from your armory, I hope you don't mind." Standing in the open, proudly declaring himself the son of who killed so many, he expected to be attacked soon and was. This many people rushing at one person with the air filled with killing intent, it was bound to attack attention. That attention was a black dragon landing behind him with several people on her.
Naruto swung his weapons left and right, slashing throat, punching between ribs, and kicking and twisting in place, getting a wide area opening around him. When a big man from Iwa came at him, he was stopped when Konan landed a dive kick on his chest. "Nya!"
"Konan, you have perfect timing, as always," Naruto said with a laugh.
"Lady Luck be kind," Hinata said, throwing some dice and they came up seven. "You boys win!" Five ninja suddenly stumbled to the ground, no longer seeing what was around them and instead seeing what they have always wanted to. Hinata twisted around, throwing a hand of cards, driving them through armor and flesh.
"Stone skin," Din called out, placing the protective spell on those there with her. Dinzt flashed around, coming and going like the wind, Velve held off several ninja at once, the dead rising up to fight with him, and Talinth, the dragon, simply took a deep breath and let loose a keening wail, one that had those around her without Din's protections grabbing their ears and falling to the ground.
Looking around, Naruto was able to see Mui standing back and not fighting while the two in the mask were trying to escape in the confusion. Running forward, Naruto ran up the side of the castle and on the roof they were on. "I have a bone to pick with you," Naruto shouted. One of them turned and shot a lightning jutsu at Naruto. Knowing that would hit him in his mist form, Naruto kicked up a tile and reflected it away. Grabbing another, he threw it and hit the ninja in the elbow, breaking it.
"Ah! You broke my arm!"
"Not done yet," Naruto dismissed running after the other only for the girl to come up from below and hit him hard enough in the face to break the mask. "Oro?"
"Lord Akuya, Lord Moto, you are both under arrest for conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and for threatening the peace of the Elemental Continent!" Naruto blinked a few times before digging a foot into a tile beneath his feet and kicking it back, connecting with the head of the other one.
"…Okay, now I am confused."
She looked at him and said, "My name is Ryūzetsu, Uzumaki Naruto, I am an ANBU from Kusa. I intended to stop these two, members of the Hana group of Kusa, from trying to open the Gokuraku no Hakō. I just didn't dream that was also what you were here for, indirect though it may be."
"…Well damn, a ninja I don't hate," Naruto said, scratching his hair. Looking behind him, he said that most of the fighting was over, only Ōnoki still stood. "So, really, does that box grant any wish?"
"Maybe it does or doesn't, but the armies of the world destroyed our village because of that box. It should've been thrown away into the bottom of the ocean."
"…Nice," Naruto said, looking at her. "You know, it would be a shame if I left without even a goodbye. So, come by Uzu some time, it's a great place to come and relax. Maybe get to know each other."
"Are you flirting with me, Mister Uzumaki?"
"No. If I was, I would comment on how gorgeous your eyes are. But I'm not, so I won't." He chuckled before dropping down from the wall and heading to Talinth. Passing by Ōnoki, he said, "Still believe I tried to kill you?"
"…No, not anymore."
"Good, then we can put this whole thing behind us, don't you agree," Talinth asked, leaning down to look him in the eyes with her own the size of a shield. Acid dripped from her mouth, sizzling as it hit the stone.
"…Yes."
"Nya, nya, told you we weren't bluffing," Konan told him before climbing up on Talinth's back. As everyone got up on her, Naruto spotted Maroi.
"Said I was passing through," he called to him as Talinth flapped her wings and took to the air.
—oo000oo—
Ashram, the Mercenary King, looked at the man before him while holding a picture. "And this staff, mister…"
"I'm Nobody," he said to him with a smile.
"Yes, Nobody, this staff you would like for us to procure. From what I understand you excel in brokering deals in selling weapons, not getting them."
"Well, in dealing arms you must also buy them at some point," Nobody dismissed. "A client of mine has requested this staff."
"I see. And this staff is called?"
"It's hard to pronounce. The Kuk d'Tigar'zimut, I believe."
"The Staff of Dominance," Ashram asked to be certain, his eyebrows rising. "I didn't believe such a thing still existed."
"Will that be a problem," Nobody asked.
"No problem," Ashram assured him. "Just going to cost more is all. It is held by the father of Deis of Uzu no Kuni after all."
—oo000oo—
Author's Notes, My loyal readers, some of you may have noticed that I now have a picture up top by the title. This picture was made by the owners of the Breath of Fire series, which isn't me, for the purpose of Breath of Fire IV. It is a tribe of Woren that Ryu meets in the game. While I wanted one that had Rei (in the place of Naruto) and the transformed Katt (in the place of Konan), I couldn't find one. So this is what I have until I can.
Clearly, this chapter was inspired by the latest movie, Blood Prison. Okay, potential to be a good movie but there at the end with Naruto's reaction, totally and completely unreal. No way in hell would anyone act that forgiving. They treated him like a murderer, shipped him off to a stone that without him was just a stone, forced him to feel all that pain, just to get the box out of their hands? More likely out of Kusa hands and into their own was the original plan before they found out the source of its power. Obviously, the trust and respect Naruto gives them is more than they deserve or isn't reciprocated. Couldn't at least Kiba or someone say, 'Oi, Naruto, told Tsunade-sama this was a bad idea, are you alright?' or something like that. He was sent to prison! Caning and flogging is still used around the world in places. If this is supposed to be like Feudal Japan, Naruto would've probably gotten whipped going in and out of solitary.