Still don't own Naruto
Chapter 89: A Mission at Last!
In Konoha most of the ninja were talking about what squadrons they were going to be in as they prepared to move out for war. As ninja were mostly sensationalized based on what style of fighter they were most teams were split up in terms of their commanding officers, but had been reunited when the personal assignments were given out. As it stood all that they were waiting for was the arrival of information declaring the whereabouts of the akatsuki hideout. They knew they still all had to travel to the Land of Lightening where they had constructed the Joint Shinobi Alliance HQ. They had chosen the Land of Lightening because that was where the jinchuuriki were hidden and they needed to be close should anything go wrong.
Elsewhere in the village Tsunade was in a meeting with Gaara. "Gaara-dono, how good to see you again" Tsunade said happily as Gaara entered her rebuilt office along with Kankuro, Temari who had also come for the trip to Konoha decided not to join them and went for a walk around the village.
"It is a pleasure to see you again as well Tsunade-dono" Gaara replied with a respectful bow.
"So what is this meeting about?" surely you must be preparing to head for HQ, you are after all the commanding general of the joint shinobi army" Tsunade said.
"Yes I will be heading there any day now, I am here on behalf of the puppeteers of my village" Gaara informed the Hokage.
"Is that so... we have no puppeteers in Konoha nor do we supply part's readily, so how is it that we can help?" Tsunade asked.
"Well, it might be better if Kankuro explains it" Gaara said.
"Very well, so Kankuro, what is your request?" Tsunade asked again.
"Um, you see there was this old watchtower out in the desert in the Land of Wind, that used to be home to a village filled with highly talented puppeteers. I think that there might still be some working puppet's there or at least rare parts that could be added to the existing Suna ninja's puppet's, this could be a great bonus in the war" Kankuro explained.
"I see, that does sound interesting, but how does it involve Konoha?" Tsunade asked.
"Well at current count Konoha has the most teams out in the field actively searching for the Akatsuki, the problem we have at the moment in Suna is we have not been able to put together a search party to investigate the ruin's or we risk falling behind in the preparations for war, I would ask that you please do us a favor and investigate this site as it could lead to an increase of the fighting strength of quite a few Suna ninja, and that could lead to more lives saved in the war" Gaara said taking over for his brother.
"Hm, it could be empty though, but I think I can help you, we do after all have five ninja who are currently just sitting back on an island somewhere just waiting for a mission" Tsunade said.
"Ah yes, an excellent idea, I believe a mission would do Naruto good, I am sure the more of these types of missions you can find the better, it will mean Naruto will be less likely to do something rash on the battlefield and will keep him sharp" Gaara said approvingly.
"Very well then, I will send a letter with the mission information to Jiraiya at once then I will send a carrier hawk to drop one of Naruto's kunai at the location of this tower" Tsunade said before taking out a map and waiting to be given a location.
(Turtle Island)
Naruto was currently working on more of his jutsu in his fox chakra mode. However while he was hard at work the same could not be said about Jiraiya and Yugito. That pair had decided to find time to relax and the fact that they had a bunch of genin from Kumo that had to do what ever they said meant that they had their very own butlers.
"Alright Naruto lets go back to the sealing chamber room, it's time for the final part of your training to resume!" Bee said when he found Naruto training in several Fuuton jutsu.
"Alright, what are you going to teach me now?" Naruto asked.
"I'm gonna teach you the strongest move a jinchuuriki can lean, you good to go?" Bee said as they walked over to the large Hachibi statue and Naruto stuck his head inside.
You turn into the tailed beast itself while in Bijuu Mode! That is the first step down the road" Bee said, before transforming into the mammoth half Ox half Octopus.
"Hm I guess I don't have much of a choice. To be honest I'm kinda scared to turn into the fox" Naruto admitted.
"Muthafuka I know you got this! You pull out the pure chakra and it wont go wild, you can't miss!" Bee rapped in reply.
"Alright then here goes nothing!" Naruto said and he entered his Fox Mode.
Naruto struggled to change but he just felt like the chakra resisted him. Eventually there was a small transformation but rather than becoming the strongest of the Bijuu Naruto more closely resembled a plush toy that was given away at carnivals.
"Gah" Naruto groaned as he left the transformation drop.
"That was a good try... No I'm sorry that was a lie, that really blows. I guess since you're not actually friendly with the Kyuubi the transformation just implodes!" Bee rapped in his full Hachibi form.
'Bee, How are you going to teach him the Bijudama now?' Hachibi asked.
'I don't know Eight-o for now I will just have to work with his other jutsu and go from there, hopefully Naruto and Kyuubi will learn to be friends and we have time to spare' Bee replied.
Bee slowly transformed back into his original form. "Looks like we have to give up until you and the Kyuubi become friends, we will just have to continue work on your own jutsu and see how this end's" Bee said.
"Well, I think I have gotten the hand of most of my Fuuton jutsu, and even my Suiton jutsu seems to be working well enough. I guess I will try a rasengan then. Naruto said and began concentrating the Kyuubi's chakra into the palm of his hand. But something was going wrong, Naruto had never felt the rasengan to be this heavy before.
Suddenly Naruto lost control of the jutsu and it blew him away something that hadn't happened since he was first working on the jutsu back when he first met Jiraiya.
"Woah kid who taught you that jutsu?" Bee said.
"Huh the Rasengan? Jiraiya sensei taught it to me but it was originally created by my father the Yondaime Hokage" Naruto said.
"It has the same process as the Bijuudama in full! He must have created it after observing the Bijuu's own special attack. It's like he invented it, just so the Bijuudama can be passed on to you!" Bee said.
"Yeah but it didn't feel right? Does this mean I cant use my normal Rasengan anymore?" Naruto asked.
"Not at all, the Bijuudama uses the Bijuu's unique black, positive chakra as well as white negative chakra. But because you don't know how to balance them at all yet you wont know how to separate them to form your normal attacks. Looks like we have some training to do, you should have your Rasengan back usable before too long" Bee informed the blond.
"Ok so what do I have to do then?" Naruto asked.
"It's easy enough to do when you're transformed, but the shape manipulation is too hard in human form. And then you have to add rotation and stabilize the storm!" Bee said.
"Well that does sound like how you perform the Rasengan, but it doesn't feel the same" Naruto replied.
"You need to learn how it feels to pull out and separate the Kyuubi's negative and possitive chakra, once you can do that you need to pull out a ratio of eight part's black to two parts white when you compress. Do that properly and the tailed beast ball will be a success! Now let's give it a try" Bee informed Naruto.
"Alright!" Naruto said and he eagerly got to work.
The training was difficult however and he wasn't getting anywhere very quickly. Stabilizing and adding the rotation to the compressed ball of chakra was far harder than anything Naruto had ever attempted. He had even gone about creating two chakra claws to help him rotate while he stabilized but it was still not working.
"That's enough for today Mr Nine, if you keep it up you will get it in time!" Bee rapped.
"Alright, I need a rest anyway, that is tough and I'm kinda getting sick of that thing blowing up in my face and sending me flying" Naruto complained.
"Don't whine, this training will work fine!, soon you will be a master of that jutsu and it will wreak havoc on the front line" Bee said.
"Yeah you're right, on the plus side I think I learned how to seperate the two types of chakra so I can perform the rasengan again" Naruto said.
"Cool Yo!, team jinchuuriki is all set to go!" Bee rapped as they left the chamber exiting through the waterfall of truth and made their way back to the homes they were given.
Naruto arrived to see the rather funny scene of Jiraiya using a genin to fetch the pair of Yugito and Jiraiya a drink while they sat around sun baking.
"You should really treat the genin nicer you know" Naruto said.
"I didn't here you complain when you were making them cook you dinner last night" Yugito said.
"Well that was different, I was exhausted from my training and I was... um" Naruto said mumbling at the last part.
"You were being lazy, don't try and deny it" Jiraiya said.
"Uh fine, when he get's back make sure he grabs me a drink as well" Naruto said as he took a seat beside Yugito and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"So what did you do today?" Jiraiya asked.
"I started learning how to perform a Bijuudama, at first I was supposed to transform, but it appears that is impossible as long as Kyuubi is being uncooperative and an over all jerk" Naruto said.
'What was that Naruto!, do you really think I would ever help you!' Kyuubi spoke up.
'Oh hello Kyuubi, nice day isn't it?' Naruto replied offhandedly.
'I have no time for your pathetic lightheartedness' Kyuubi replied.
'Really? Do you have somewhere else to be?' Naruto asked.
'Naruto I will kill you one day!' Kyuubi roared and closed the connection.
'I really don't know why he bothers, it's not very difficult to get a demon that say's himself is nothing but a mass of hatred, angry. He will come around eventually, he helped me once, so there is still hope for him' Naruto thought as he began enjoying the sun through a clearing in the trees.
"So how did you get around the problem of not being able to transform?" Jiraiya asked.
"It turns out the Rasengan is based on the same principle, so when I used the pure chakra of the Kyuubi I started creating a Bijuudama without even realizing what I was doing" Naruto replied.
"Amazing, but what about using the Rasengan? Does that mean it is impossible?" Yugito asked.
"Nah, I just have to separate parts of the Kyuubi's chakra and I can use the Rasengan, or any of my variations" Naruto said happily.
"So did you complete the Bijuudama?" Yugito questioned eagerly.
"Not yet, but I will get it. By the way, has anyone seen Yamato Teichou today?" Naruto asked.
"I think he went exploring with the guardian of this place Motoi" Yugito answered.
"Yeah he said something about looking for unique wood that he could ass to his Mokuton abilities" Jiraiya added.
"Oh at least he is keeping himself busy, unlike you two" Naruto said.
"Hey we have been very busy, I mean I learned a new technique with hair jutsu today" Yugito said.
"Really?" Naruto asked skeptically.
"Well... No but I had planned on doing that" Yugito replied.
(Konoha)
The former rookies and team Gai had gathered at the newly reopened Barbeque restaurant to discuss what teams they were put in. joining them were Kankuro and Temari, Gaara was in a long distance meeting between the other five heads of the villages involved in the alliance.
"So What teams did everyone get put in?" Ino asked looking to open up the discussion.
"Well everyone already knows my group, second in command of the long range division, so troublesome" Shikamaru complained.
"I was pit in the long range division as well" Temari said.
"Troublesome" was Shikamaru's only response, mumbled under his breath.
"What was that you lazy ass" Temari said glaring at the Nara.
'Man what a troublesome woman' "I didn't say anything" Shikamaru said defensively.
"I was placed in Gai sensei's team. Yosh with him as second in command to Kakashi sensei I am sure our division will be most youthful" Lee said showing his enthusiasm.
"I don't know who I feel more sorry for, Kakashi Hatake who is the commander of the unit, or the people who will have to put up with both Kakashi and Gai" Kankuro whispered to Kiba who let out a small laugh.
"I was placed in the close combat squad, I believe most of the Hyuuga have been placed there as well" Neji said in an attempt to change the topic away from his teammates 'explosions of youth'
"Yes I too have been put in the close combat division" Hinata added.
"Well Shino and I got placed in the special operations, isn't that right Shino!" Kiba said happily.
"Yes that is correct, but I believe our division along with the long distance division will be widely seperated so that the close and mid range fighters have adequate support" Shino said.
"Yeah that's whats going to happen, we are divided into six main forces then when we find out where the Akatsuki are striking from the divisions will be separated into smaller or larger forces appropriate to the situation" Kankuro informed the group.
"You're the commander of the Ambush squad's right Kankuro? So is anyone here in your squad?" Ino asked.
"Yeah Sai is. We are only a small squadron about two teams worth of shinobi from each village" Kankuro explained.
"So why did they pick you Sai? Do you know?" Tenten asked.
"I believe it is because of my ability to covertly send intel and my skill with genjutsu. As the ambush team should anything go wrong I will need to inform the main forces quickly, I believe that was my role in the squad" Sai informed the group.
The night went on like this with the group of ninja talking happily amongst themselves and asking what they knew about the other villages. And they didn't leave the restaurant until the early morning when they were finally kicked out.
(Turtle Island the Following Morning)
Naruto and Yugito had slept in, in fact they had done this every day since the day after they arrived and Yugito let Bee know what would happen should they disturb her sleep early in the morning again.
When the young couple finally rose it was getting close to the middle of the day. As Naruto exited their hose he was greeted by a rather unusual sight. Tenzo was sitting there arms crossed looking every bit upset.
"Uh hi Yamato teichou, what's up?" Naruto asked.
"We received a mission early this morning and I need you ready to go before the messenger hawk reaches the missions destination" Yamato said.
"A mission? Has the war started already?" Naruto asked.
"No not yet, but it wont be long now, we have a mission to search an old ruins for any usable puppet's or supply's that could be useful to the war effort and deliver them to the Joint Shinobi HQ in the Land of Lightening. You should be ready to go, by now! You could receive the call any minute" Tenzo said grumpily.
"Well what about everyone else. Look Jiraiya sensei is sleeping under that tree" Naruto said defensively pointing to a large tree that was supplying the older toad sage with shelter.
"This is a two man mission, just us two. Jiraiya is staying here, so is Kirabi and Yugito" Tenzo explained.
"So why do I have to go!" Naruto whined forgetting the very obvious reason that it has to be him.
"You are the only person who can get us two and from the destination! Not hurry up and pack we need to be ready to leave the moment your kunai arrives" Tenzo explained.
"Alright Fine!" Naruto said grumpily and turned back into the house to get his things together.
'Well if I am going on a mission I may as well take my sword, who knows I might even be able to practice some kenjutsu while I am away' Naruto thought before summoning Gamakichi.
"Heya Boss! What do ya need?" the large red toad asked.
"Hey Kichi, I need you to go find me a sword from my armory, it has a blue blade and has the words 'God of the Sea' engraved near the hilt, I need you to bring it too me as quickly as possible, can you do that?" Naruto asked.
"Sure thing Boss, I'll be back before you know it" Gamakichi said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
'Oh thank kami I didn't get stuck with Tatsu, I would be explaining what I needed for hours and he still wouldn't know what to get" Naruto sighed.
Quickly racing around the room Naruto filled his kunai pouch and trap seals as well as grabbing his red and black sage cloak even he had to admit he looked a lot like his father, but after meeting his mother he could see that the shape of his face seemed to match hers which made him smile, he liked the fact that he looked like his father, it always seemed to act as a source of pride to know that they were so much alike but the fact that he could now see where his mother ha added to his appearance made him even happier, now he was really a combination of the two of them.
Just as Naruto was about to leave to join up with Tenzo there was a large puff of smoke and Gamakichi appeared holding the Kaijin. "Is this it?" the large toad said.
"Yeah thanks Kichi that was perfect" Naruto said and taking out a blank scroll he sealed the Katana away before placing the scroll in his pouch.
Gamakichi left with a friendly wave and Naruto was now ready for him mission. It turned out they still had a little over an hour to waif which was good because it gave Naruto time to say a proper farewell to
Yugito and the others.
Naruto finally felt the pull of the kunai and grabbed Tenzo's shoulder. "So Yamato teicho where are we going?" Naruto asked.
"To the Land of Wind the ruins of the tower are in the middle of the desert" Tenzo replied.
Naruto then realized that he was yet again going to the desert in his heaviest hottest sage coat. "Fuck!" Naruto moaned as the pair disappeared in a yellow flash.
End Chapter!
Yes if you haven't guessed already this filler is going to be based on the 'Lost Tower' movie in the shippuden series.
On that note I will be updating a bit slower from now on, as I am getting dangerously close to current cannon events, and I still want to follow the basic story. at the speed I am updating at the moment I wont last three weeks even if i stretch out the war as much as i plan too. I will still update at least twice a week, and I promise that I wont abandon this story.
To take up some of the time I have started another story, 'Nightfall' if anyone is interested.