Alright, time for the next chapter, but first... some questions.
Bankai777: Fu, probably, Utakata, maybe.
Guest 1: Perhaps he will get another contract.
SpiffySage: There will be lemon, just later.
Yinko: Yes it is prologue... but i had to get it out of the way, and now that it is the true story can begin
Naruto: The Runaway Chronicles
Chapter 10
"What is the meaning of this?" Asuma asked, through gritted teeth as he shot the Raikage a glare.
A, meanwhile could only grin mischievously at the Leaf ninja who were gawking at the sudden change of events.
"What the... Naruto's the one marrying Nayumi? ...when did this happen?" Sakura was asking aloud, as she watched the whole event unfold with surprise.
"Oh... Shit!" Neji stated in shock as he watched the priest read through his passages.
"You... planned on this." Kakashi stated in disbelief, as horror welled up inside of him.
"Nope... this was all, Lord Daso's idea." Ay replied with evil glee.
"I don't understand. What is happening here?" Kiba asked his sensei in confusion.
"The second Naruto says 'I do', he'll become a citizen of the Land of Lightning, and a nobleman." Sasuke replied, angrilly.
"What? How?" Ino asked with confusion.
"By marrying Nayumi, whom is a lightning Citizen, Naruto immediately becomes one, but since she has just been made the leader of the southern provinces, he becomes a nobleman." Asuma explained with his own anger.
"So? ...Why is everyone so pissed?" Sakura asked, just as confused as Ino.
"The Lightning Daimyo would never allow a citizen to be extradited to a foreign nation. Especially if that person was a nobleman. Also since Naruto only has ties to the hidden Leaf, if something happens to him, then not only does the Leaf have to worry about the Cloud, but the Land of Lightning too. The boy now belongs to us." A, decided he had let them stir in their confusion for long enough.
"You son of a bitch! You're just using Naruto!" Sakura hissed with pure rage.
"Not only that, but that damn fox is controlling him!" Sasuke added, remembering, how Naruto's eyes flashed red.
"Lord Raikage... Lady Tsunade will be most upset when she hears about this. I'm sure that the Cloud doesn't want to start an incident over this." Kakashi stated darkly.
"Ha! Like I give a shit what the bitch Tsunade will feel. Besides, the Cloud isn't starting anything. But we are the village, responsible for the Land of Lightning's protection. And that includes the protection of all it's citizens. Which Naruto will shortly become." A, replied with a smile.
"You cock sucking, bitch... We've looked for too damn long, to simply give up now that he's so close. If you think we're just going to back off, then you are dead wrong." Sasuke growled menacingly, as his eyes flared red with the Sharingan.
"Ha! I guess it doesn't take much to anger the Uchiha now a days." A said with a laugh.
"We wont let you use our friend. He's not your puppet!" Sakura hissed.
"Shit this is bad... we are heavily out classed here. I think we should all just settle down." Shikamaru stated, with only the slightest hint of worry, in his voice.
"Shikamaru... why aren't you more pissed off? They are obviously manipulating Naruto into this marriage, to keep him from the Leaf." Ino questioned with her own brand of anger.
"Well..." Shikamaru replied as he pointed over at Naruto whom was smiling lovingly into Nayumi's eyes.
"Oh that is total bullshit! He must be under some sort of mind control or something." Kiba responded.
"Regardless of what's going on with him... we wont let you control our friend." Kakashi stated with a bit of his own anger.
"Yes we wont allow anyone to control Naruto. He is our precious friend." Hinata stated with bold, angry confidence. She looked beyond pissed, so sure that Naruto was being controlled, all of her love turned quickly to pure unrefined hate for the Cloud, and she wasn't hiding any of it. Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai, were all slightly unnerved by the KI seething out of Hinata.
"She's right. No one messes with our idiot." Sasuke stated, with anger as his hand drifted towards the ninjato strapped to his back.
"HEY!" They all suddenly heard a shout from the alter.
They all turned their heads to see Naruto glaring at them with pure hatred.
"I'm trying to get married up here... so either get out or shut the fuck up!" Naruto shouted at them. He offered a few moments of tension to pass between him and them before turning back to Nayumi, and taking her hands again.
"Ha! Nicely said!" The Fox aproved.
"Naruto! You can't possibly go through with this. The Cloud is obviously controlling you, so that they can get a hold of the Nine Tails." Sakura yelled at him.
"Sakura is right you idiot... you're just playing into their hands." Sasuke shouted at him.
"Naruto... you can't possibly think this is a good idea. The Raikage is obviously using you. Can't you see that?" Asuma asked.
"I am getting really sick and tired of their shit Fox." Naruto stated internally.
"so... deal with them. Tell them to get the fuck out!" The Fox replied.
Naruto and Nayumi just stared at each other with deadpanned looks, while the whole crowd was tense in their seats.
After a long stretch of silence Naruto finally sighed and spoke, "Why don't one of you two Hyuga's or maybe the Uchiha, just check to see if I'm under some sort of mind control?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke just stared at him, actually checking his chakra, with his Sharingan, he could not see anything wrong with Naruto's chakra, it wasn't being manipulated, and it wasn't abnormal in anyway, meaning that he wasn't under some sort of Genjutsu.
"Still... you said you lost your memories. These people could have manipulated you into thinking that we're the enemy, or better yet, maybe that Demon Fox had something to do with it!" Sasuke countered with a glare.
"Oh for fucks sake, go shove your conspiracy theories up your ass. I really don't have time for them." Naruto fired back.
"Naruto... all the Raikage wants is the Fox. He doesn't care about you, not like we do." Kakashi stated to him.
Naruto looked down at his former sensei with contempt. He just glared at him for a few moments before speaking, "What do you take me for, an idiot?"
"What?" Kakashi asked with a little confusion.
"Well of course that's all the Raikage wants... well that and my lineage, but only an idiot would think that the Raikage, of all people actually wants to be friends with some no name, goof-ball like me." Naruto responded.
"Wait... if you know... then why the hell are you playing into his scheme?" Sakura asked with confusion.
All the while Kakashi had adopted a look of pure shock. Naruto knew of his lineage, and the Raikage did too. The Nine Tails was one thing, but the Fourth Hokage's legacy was another.
"What in the name of high unholy hell, makes you think that any of this was his plan? The Raikage only showed up like a few weeks ago, and told me that he knew who I was and about the burden I carried, and by that time I was already engaged to Nayumi." Naruto lied/explained.
"And besides that... it's not manipulation, if I fully planned on swearing allegiance to Kumo, now is it?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto... what are you saying? The Leaf is your home, and Kumo is one of our enemies." Sakura asked, with surprise.
"Fuck the Leaf. I haven't even seen Kumogakure, and I know for a fact it has to be better then the Leaf. Besides, you obviously still don't respect me, or think I'm intelligent. I mean, what idiot wouldn't think that a village leader, wouldn't try to control, something as volatile and dangerous as the Nine Tailed Fox. Besides... have you guys seen the Eight Tails? If that guy is any indication as to how Kumo treats there Jinchuriki, I think I'll be fine." Naruto replied with a bit of venom.
"So that's what this is about." Kakashi thought to himself.
"Naruto... the people of the Leaf have changed. We all miss you, and want you to come home. Lady Tsunade made sure to put a stop to all of the bigotry within' the village. She misses you, we all do." Kakashi told him, his voice laced with compassion.
"Yeah fucking right! I've suffered in ways you couldn't even imagine. I've been beaten, abused, hunted, ostracized, treated like garbage. I've been left to starve, and live off the streets, and when I finally decide what I want to do with my life, and join the academy, the teachers there did everything they could to sabotage me! No... the Leaf will never change... and I'll never go back to that nightmare!" Naruto yelled at them, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
"So... you're just a coward who wants someone to wrap there arms around you and say everything is going to be alright. You know... I used to think you were something Naruto, you were brave, sometimes reckless, but you always did what was best for others. You were the kind of guy that loved all of his friends to death. I used to think you were cool. But I guess even a Nara can be wrong sometimes. It seems like all you are is a little bitch, who would rather believe the whispers of a demon, and gravel at the feet of a foreign nation, then stand up and prove yourself. The Naruto I know, wasn't a coward. He fought to change peoples minds, he didn't cower from what others thought, and he most certainly didn't shy away from a fight. If someone looked at him the wrong way, he would just turn up his nose and tell them to fuck off. You obviously aren't that guy. You're not the Naruto I once called friend." Shikamaru berated him with cold eyes. His words even made his comrades flinch in surprise at the sudden venom, he spewed at their former friend.
"You're right Shikamaru. I'm not the same guy I used to be back then. I'm not the guy who let people walk all over him, I'm not the guy who took all of the abuse, neglect, and hatred, with a smile. That kid was an idiot, he didn't understand that the people of the hidden Leaf, are nothing but bigoted monsters. People that will never change. Perhaps I should tell you just a little about what I went through... perhaps I should explain what 'your' clansmen did to me... or perhaps I should just ask you a question... since we used to be 'friends' and all." Naruto stated darkly, glaring daggers at the Nara whom seemed a little surprised about the sudden implication that his own clansmen had done something to Naruto.
"Oh yeah... well, what question is that?" Shikamaru asked in reply, retaining a calm and collected appearance about him.
"What day is my birthday?" Naruto asked simply.
The Leaf ninja stared at him dumbly for a few moments, Shikamaru was about to reply, when he suddenly came to an almost shocking realization, 'he didn't know'.
Sasuke, and Sakura shared a look, each one looking to the other for the answer, it was a moment before they both simultaneously realized, they didn't know either.
Kiba and Shino sat dumbfounded, they looked around at the group, and then turned their attention to Hinata, sure she would know the answer, though the look on her face said it all, she didn't know either.
In all her spying and watching Naruto, Hinata never once saw him celebrate his birthday, not once.
Kurenai and Asuma shared a look, neither one of them knew either. It wasn't something that they ever took notice of, and they never saw Naruto celebrating.
The rest of the Leaf ninja just shared glances between each other, each one looking for some sort of answer to Naruto's question, and none of them found one... it was only after several moments did Kakashi finally clear his throat and answer "October 10."
"Correct... but it wasn't always." Naruto replied giving Kakashi a halfhearted smile.
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked with a little confusion.
"For the first six years of my life, I was told that my birthday was on the sixth of June at Six in the morning." Naruto replied, with a bit of distaste.
"What?" Kakashi asked, as he tried to think about what significance that date held.
"Don't get it? I'll give you a hint, think about the Devil." Naruto replied bitterly.
"666... that is some truly sad shit." Shikamaru muttered as he realized what the date was meant to represent in regards to Naruto.
"Naruto... the dumb bigots whom fed you that load of bull, don't really matter. What really matters are the people in the Leaf who care deeply about you. We want you to come home." Sakura stated with a bit of compassion.
"No." Naruto replied plainly as he turned back to Nayumi, whom was just watching all of this transpire with a sour look on her face.
"Naruto... we can't let you stay... you are too important to the Leaf, and to us." Kakashi stated, as all of the Leaf and Cloud ninja tensed.
"Leave me alone." Naruto muttered as he made it back to the alter.
"You're going home, Naruto. We've waited for far to long. Now that we've found you, we'll never give up." Kiba added, his eyes locked on his old friend.
"Lord Raikage. We cannot allow Naruto to go through with this. If the Cloud doesn't hand him over then we will have to go straight to the Fire Daimyo, and inform him that you are sheltering a criminal of the hidden Leaf." Sai informed him with a smile.
"Go ahead... or even better, talk to the Lightning Daimyo... he's right over there after all." A replied with a bit of disinterest as he pointed to a man sitting next to Daso and Ayane, whom were taking this all in stride.
As he pointed him out, the figure rose out of his seat, along with several other guests whom were samurai in disguise. The Daimyo walked down the aisle towards the two groups with a bit of an angry look on his face.
"Uh... Lord Daimyo... we didn't know you would be present." Kakashi stated as he and the rest of the Leaf and Cloud nins bowed.
"By what meaning does the Leaf have, in disrupting this holy ceremony? I have half a mind to imprison all of you for inciting such violence. This is a marriage dammit, and you will adjust your behavior accordingly, is that understood Leaf nin?" The Daimyo bellowed his eyes aflame with anger.
"Of course. Our sincerest apologies." Asuma replied for the group, being one of the few members of the Leaf group that has ever interacted with a Daimyo.
"Now... what the hell is the meaning of all of this?" The Daimyo asked after a moment of silence.
"That boy, Naruto, he's one of the Leaf's shinobi. The Cloud is attempting to make him a lightning citizen so that he can't be returned home." Kakashi explained.
"Is that so?" The Daimyo asked the Raikage with a cocked eyebrow.
"Lord Daimyo, I only arrived here a few days ago. I've never met the kid before, so if anyone is planning anything it's Daso." A replied as he turned to where Daso was sitting and shouted over to him.
"What is it Lord Raikage?" Daso asked as he stood from his seat.
"Are you planning on having this kid marry your daughter just so he can become a lightning citizen, as to keep him from the Leaf's hands?" A, asked.
Daso perked at the question, then adopted a thoughtful look. "You know... that's right. Hey Naruto... I forgot to tell you, when this marriage is finalized, you'll be a Lightning Citizen." Daso informed him, most of the people present, including the Daimyo, simply sweat dropped at his reply.
"Well... No shit." Naruto replied blandly, causing a few people to snicker, as Daso, mumbled something about kids not playing along with anything.
"Whether Daso had a hand in it at all, I heard what you said Lord Raikage." Kakashi stated darkly.
"Yeah well... thanks to you dumb pricks I think everyone here knows that he holds the Nine Tails." A, replied with some disinterest.
"Lord Daimyo, they are obviously trying to manipulate our friend. He told us that he is currently suffering from amnesia, which is why he is acting this way towards us. The Cloud and Daso, must be manipulating him, into seeing us as the bad guys." Sakura explained.
"Is this true?" The Daimyo asked A.
"The amnesia... I don't know. Just got here like I said. But if we're being honest here, who is the real asshole, you didn't even know when your supposed friends birthday is. The Hokage is probably my biggest enemy, and I still know when here fucking birthday is. What kind of friends are you?" A, asked with a bit of venom.
"That may be true but it doesn't change the fact that..." Asuma started to reply but was cut off by the Daimyo.
"I have a question, if I may. What if the boy is indeed marrying for love?" The Daimyo asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He isn't. This whole thing is a political marriage." Sakura replied confidently.
"That may be, but as someone who was put through a political marriage can tell you, it's not uncommon to fall in love with the person you are put with." The Daimyo informed her.
"Fine then... let's see. But if there is even a little hesitation... then we're taking him." Sasuke said boldly as he stepped forward.
The Cloud ninja and the samurai present all glanced at the Daimyo whom simply nodded in agreement with the Uchiha, after all, he didn't have the time of day to deal with petty ninja affairs.
"Hey Naruto..." He called.
"Oh for god's sake, are you assholes done holding up my wedding? And can you stop throwing your friggin' KI around the poor priest is about to keel over." Naruto shouted in reply.
Sasuke gave him an irritated look for a moment before continuing.
"No one here believes this wedding is legit." He Shouted with confidence.
"What?" Naruto asked as he angrily glared back at the Uchiha.
"We all know this is just a ruse so you can become a Lightning citizen. You probably don't even like that girl, let alone love her." Sasuke informed him with a cocky smirk.
"Who the hell do you think you are? You have no idea how I feel about Nayumi!" Naruto fired back with as much venom as he could muster.
"Don't take the bait kid... he's just trying to get a rise out of you." The Fox told him.
"Who the hell does this prick think he is? Who is he to day how I feel... what an asshole!" Naruto growled back at the Fox.
"Fine then... prove it!" Sasuke fired back, after a moment.
"What? How?" Naruto asked confused, and slightly worried.
"Kiss her. Now. If I see even a little hesitation, I'll have my answer." Sasuke replied with a cocky smile.
'Oh crap... this is bad! Alright don't get worked up over it. Just do it!" Naruto told himself as he turned back to Nayumi.
He was surprised when she grabbed the fabric of his kimono and pulled him into a deep and passionate kiss.
"Ha... nice going kid!" The Fox cheered for him, as some of the people in the crowd made 'awww' noises, while the Leaf ninja all held surprised looks at the sudden kiss, he also thought he could just barely hear Ino mutter something about true love conquering all.
"Fox... what do I do? I'm just standing here dumbly, while she's kissing me." Naruto asked, in the space between seconds.
"Kiss her back, you stupid shit!" The Fox roared at him. Naruto quickly complied and pressed into the kiss as he brought his hands up to cup Nayumi's face.
The 'kiss' if you could call it that, went on for a moment or so longer before the two pulled away from each other. Nayumi was as red as a tomato, as all of the blood in her body had rushed to her head, while Naruto had this stupid grin on his face. At seeing his face, Nayumi became even more embarrassed and it didn't help when he lightly muttered, 'wow'.
Sasuke and the others stared dumbly, still a little surprised at how swiftly Nayumi and Naruto kissed each other.
"Well... that's good enough for me." The Daimyo stated as he turned to return to his seat.
"But my lord." Asuma began but was cut off as the Daimyo raised a hand to silence him.
"I do believe you have done enough. Now, I do believe, is the time for you to leave." The Daimyo stated with cold absolution in his voice, leaving no room for arguments.
"Naruto... please..." Sakura began to say as tears suddenly started to fall from her eyes.
"We... want you to come home... We miss you..." She added after a moment.
"Stop..." Naruto stated, silencing her, and surprising all of the ninja, at the commanding tone of his voice.
"Naruto." Kakashi said in a barely audible whisper.
"What are you going to do kid?" The Nine Tailed Fox asked.
"I'm going to take a huge risk... but I think it's the only chance I have at maybe finding out some answers." Naruto replied, with cold confidence.
"I tell you what I'm going to do. After my honeymoon. I think my wife and I will stop by the Leaf. We'll need to have a chat with the Hokage in regards to any future attempts to get me to return to that village. If, while I'm there, I see that the people of the Leaf have changed, then I may consider letting you all come and visit me out here. But I will never return to that village, afterwords. You all get one chance to show me that the Leaf has changed." Naruto informed them, with sudden stoic confidence.
"Seriously? You'll come back to the Leaf?" Ino asked.
"Only for a day or two, so you'd best get your shit together, for now though... I think you've all done enough, so please leave." Naruto replied as A, and Daso both walked up to him with curious looks on their faces.
"You'd seriously go back to that place?" Daso asked in a whisper.
"You know they'll probably set a trap for you?" A, asked as well.
"Yeah... I know... but... how else am I going to enter my fathers estate." Naruto replied in a whisper only the two, plus Nayumi could hear. Both stared at him before grinning and turning to return to their places.
"You'll see Naruto... the Leaf has changed." Kakashi informed him before bowing, the rest of the Leaf ninja did the same as they reluctantly turned to leave.
"For your sake, Hatake... I hope so." Naruto shouted back, as they left.
-Later-
The rest of wedding went off without a hitch, Naruto and Nayumi went through all the hoops and typical wedding traditions, and they both found that it was much easier then they both had anticipated, though the earlier kiss might have had something to do with there new found confidence.
After the wedding the two were pulled aside by the Daimyo himself, whom congratulated them, and looked forward to Nayumi joining his council after her honeymoon. The two thanked him and the went to see Daso and A, whom were waiting in Daso's office.
As they entered Daso gave Naruto a big hug, and welcomed hims to the family while A, offered his congrats. After all of that was out of the way, they got down to business.
"So... planning on breaking into the Fourth Hokage's house ay?" The Raikage asked, with a grin on his face.
"Yeah... if there is any place in the world where I could learn more about the Fourth, it's his home." Naruto replied.
"What make you think you could get in?" Daso asked, with a curious look.
"The Fourth was a paranoid man... it wont be easy to get into his house." The Raikage added.
"Yeah... but if I'm right then he would have left a way for the people he trusted to get in... and the only person besides his wife, whom he would have trusted would have been Jiraiya... that must mean that he put some kind of blood or chakra seal on the entrance... which means... there is a small chance that I could get in." Naruto explained to them. Even he had to admit this was a long-shot, but it was the only opportunity he could think of to finally get some answers to the questions that had been plagueing him for years.
"Alright then... if you're dead set on doing this... then we need a good plan." A, stated after a moment.
"Right... well then... let's begin." Daso said after a moment of silence.
Naruto couldn't help but feel a growing sense of anxiety begin to build within him. If he was right, then soon he would have the answers, to the question of just who his father was... and why the Fourth Hokage was such a mystery to the world.
Alright here's the next chapter... I hope you like. I tried to get everyone's reactions, but I feel like I missed some things.. let me know what you think, and finally it's time for the story to actually begin.