Chapter 7 Around the Fire
The rain was pouring outside the hardened glass window as Lady Tsunade sat looking over the list of people who she had ordered to be temporarily isolated from the village in a rundown addition. Her fingers ran down the list of names, some of whom jumped out to her and others didn't. In separate columns on the page where details.
"There is no direct link to explain why only these people are infected." Stated Koharu as she and Homura sat in front of the Hokage desk. "They are of all social classes; some are in clans others aren't."
"Baker, farmer, banker, carpenter, war orphan, ninja." read Homura as he read down the list of jobs of people in isolation. "There is no direct connection there either."
"There is one." said Tsunade as the council members looked at her. "They are a cross section of a village."
"Well they are contained for the moment." added Koharu
"How is the gift packs going?" asked Tsunade
"Per your orders ninjas have entered the homes of everyone in there and gathered up changes of cloths and put them in marked packs with sleeping supplies, food and water." stated Homura
"I still think that was a mistake Lady Hokage we put our people at risk by entering those homes, we need to limit contact with any infect people." Added Koharu
"And I am not going to let 4558 people remain there overnight without food, water and a change of clothes." ordered Tsunade as she tightened her fist so hard that the pencil in her hand snapped in half. "I already feel like I made at least a dozen bad calls today because it helped the village as a whole but in this case I am putting them first."
Outside the warm well light Hokage building Sakura Haruno held her hands close to a small fire which they had started using some old rotten furniture wood which had been left behind when people moved out the Boshi addition. They had taken refugee from the raging storm which was now pounding the village outside.
"Well this stinks." stated Sakura
"I would have used another word forehead." added Ino as she, Sakura and some of their close friends sat around the small fire. The room they had claimed as their temporary home had fading black walls with paint chips falling off it. They could easily make out the excrement of the rats and bugs which had run of the place until tonight "They had to be smoking something when they decided to put us here and if that wasn't enough they already cut the power."
"At least they hadn't cut the water supply yet." added Sakura
"If you call brown rust filled liquid water?" asked Ino as she remembered the dark brown water that had come out of the tap in the kitchen "Can't take a shower or drink with that."
"It means that at least the toilet works." explained Sakura "At least we have that."
"Oh…ya, that is some good news." added Ino as hail started to pound the building, the falling balls of ice caused the building to groin. "Let's just hope this rat hole place doesn't fall down on us."
"Happy you're here now?" asked Sakura as she turned to look at Kiba who just sat by the window looking at the guards which had taken cover under some premade metal covering. They where dry while everyone else was wet.
"Well the company in here is better." added Kiba as he looked at Ino, Sakura, Neji, Tenten and Shikamaru. They had lost Choji, Sai and Hinata in the crowd of people which had been pushed into the addition. The six of them along with Naruto had crammed into what used to be a single small bedroom.
"Good idea to look on the brighter side, only if that is the only bright side we are screwed." said Tenten as suddenly the bedroom door opened as a soaked Naruto Namikaze walked into the room.
"Only if he had on a white t-shirt instead of that black jonnin jacket." thought Ino as the water rolled down Naruto's body.
"If only we weren't in such a shit hole." thought Sakura as she fought the need to lick her lips at some of the ideas in her head.
"Sorry for being late but you try moving in this rain." explained Naruto as placed down the large backpacks filled with supplies down, quickly all his friends grabbed the pack with their names on it "It was hard to find all your supplies, among the thousands of packs."
"Thousands of packs?" asked Sakura
"Yes." answered Naruto as he move to sit down between her and Ino around the fire. "From what the guard handing them out said there is almost five thousand people crammed in here."
"Damn." added Ino as she opened her pack to see a fresh change of clothes, bottled water and most of all food. "I wonder who they sent to get a change of clothes."
"I don't know." answered Neji as water started dipping from the ceiling.
"Any contact with your demon yet?" asked Naruto
"Not yet." answered Neji as Tenten shock her head.
"Well Aella says it could take a day or two for full integration." explained Sakura as she rolled out a small sleeping mat which was part of the pack provided by the Leaf. "I personally just can't wait until I am sleeping back in my own bed."
"I second that." said Tenten
"Neji how is everyone else doing?" asked Naruto as his friend activated the legendary bloodline ability of the Hyuuga clan, the Byakugan. With its ability to see though walls and even the chakra networks of people.
"There are a lot of scared and worried people out there but everyone appears safe." reported Neji
"Alright, how many building are here?" asked Naruto
"35 multiple floor buildings and dozens of smaller homes." answered Neji "All of them are crowed with people."
"What are you planning?" asked Kiba
"There is a lot of scared and confused people out there." answered Naruto as Ino looked out of the half broken window at the storm which was just picking up steam. "I have to talk to them, explain to them what is going on."
"Not in this storm." ordered Sakura
"I never said I was going myself." explained Naruto as he his thumb before running though hand signs before slamming his hand onto the ground. To his and everyone amazement nothing happened.
"Weren't you going to summon something?" asked Kiba
"Yes, I wanted to summon some toads but it didn't work." explained Naruto
"Kyuubi did you do this?" asked Naruto
"Not that I am aware of." answered Kyuubi as Naruto formed a hand sign, which everyone knew all too well.
"Looks like I do this the hard way." stated Naruto as a dozen shadow clones appeared beside him, he didn't want to overcrowd the room. The clones quickly moved out heading as Naruto formed more clones until there was a clone heading out to each of the apartment complexes. Once that was done Naruto returned to his seat beside Sakura and Ino.
"How long will they keep us here?" asked Kiba
"Standard protocol for an unknown infection is five days or until they know what they are dealing with." answered Ino as she remembered some of her medical training.
"Five days, here." groaned Tenten
"More, then five days." added Sakura as she looked into the fire with her green silted eyes.
"What are you talking about?" asked Ino as Sakura poked the fire with a stick.
"They changed the standard holding time after you left the medical core, some of the bugs they found in Kabuto's lab were designed to remain dominate for up to a fifteen days." explained Sakura "It was a way to get infected people though isolation and into the general population of a village. So they fixed it."
"How long?" asked Naruto
"Thirty days." answered Sakura as she shook her head.
"Thirty days?" asked a stunned Naruto
"Or more." finished Sakura
"Fuck." cursed Naruto
"Let's focus on one thing at a time." stated Tenten as she held a small cooking pot out the window as it quickly filled with rain water "Let's use some of the food they gave us to make some soup."
"Agreed." said Naruto
Miles away from the Leaf village shuttling from the storm in a roadside dinner/hotel were two enemies sitting down to dinner in the main indoor dining room. The room was packed with travelers who had taken shuttle from the massive storm which pounded the outside world with rain and hail.
"So are we really just going to sit here and eat like we aren't enemies?" asked Temari to the missing ninja Sasuke Uchiha.
"I don't see why not." stated Sasuke as he looked around at the wide range of people who had taken shuttled in the dining room, there were more than a few families with young children enjoying the first time they had freedom of movement since the start of the war "Unless you want to put everyone's lives at risk by fighting me here."
"Very well, for the moment we enjoy the food." said Temari as Sasuke nodded his head as the two of them sat in silence waiting for one of the waiters to notice them and take their orders. After what seemed like forever Sasuke was getting frustrated, finally he used on of the tricks he had picked up in the bars from around the world. Slowly he placed a small column of seven golden coins on the edge of the table. Within moments three waiters showed up to take their orders.
"Yes, I'll take one of your best grilled steaks, medium rare with some of your garlic mashed potatoes and a glass your best whisky." ordered Sasuke as he looked at the only female waitress.
"Yes, sir." responded the waitress as she looked at Sasuke with longing in her eyes. "And you, you lucky lady?"
"I am not with him." growled Temari as the waitress smiled.
"Now I will take a grilled chicken salad." ordered Temari "And some of your iced tea."
The waitress nodded her head before moving off to put a rush on the order.
Back in the Leaf some of the older ninjas including Kakashi, Shizune and Rin sat in the living room of the same small apartment in which Naruto and some of his friends were staying in.
"Anything interesting?" asked Rin as she looked at the black haired woman who was looking over some medical fire instead of eating what little food she had been given in her pack.
"Yes a lot of things." Answered Shizune "According to this we now all have two charka networks running intertwined in our bodies, one for normal blue chakra and one for demon chakra."
"And how does that help us?" asked Kakashi
"It really doesn't but every little bit of information helps." explained Shizune as flipped over yet another page over in the medical reports which Sakura had given her. "Also it seems like demon chakra doesn't jump to other people, so that rules out that this is some kind of infection."
"I could have told you that." said a voice in Shizune's head as she closed her eyes only to come face to face with a pure black lioness only with five tails moving behind her.
"Yes, Naru." responded Shizune to the demon feline who had choice to join with her.
"I am a neurologist, I can help you." offered Naru
"I don't want your help you." snapped Shizune "I never asked for you to join with me and I sure as hell didn't ask you to force me to be with Kakashi and Rin."
"I see, you're upset because you feel I am forcing you into a relationship with Kakashi." said Naru "Even though deep down you want."
"I never said that, besides how can I hope to complete with the love of his life, returned from death itself and to top it off she is better looking than me." snapped Shizune
"Someone is touchy." stated Naru "Besides every woman has her wilds."
Back at the dinner table Sasuke's and Temari's food had arrived and both of them had started eating.
"So how did you find out about your demon?" asked Temari
"If you were looking for information on where I was hiding in case you have to hunt me down, you only had to ask." statedSasuke as he cut a piece of the meat.
"Alright where were you hiding?" asked Temari
"Mostly on the board between wind and earth country." explained Sasuke
"Yes, that has always been a little bit more of a lawless area." stated Temari as she took a drink.
"I would still be there but I woke up and Katsu in my head, he quickly explained what was happening and then I decided to head to the Leaf." explained Sasuke as suddenly Temari grinned.
"Did he tell you about Rina and Chika?" asked Temari as Sasuke raised an eyebrow "I guess that is a no."
"Who are they?" askedSasuke
"My mates." explained Katsu
"Mates?" asked Sasuke
"Yes, there is three females to every one male so having multiple girlfriends is not uncommon." explained Katsu as the fox grinned "And while both of those vixens drive me up the wall, they are most enjoyable when the time comes."
"Really." asked Sasuke as a rare smile crossed his face, he may have been an almost heartless monster but he was a male. "Any idea which human they are in?"
"No idea." answered Katsu "Only that they would probably join with humans with similar traits to them."
"What traits are those?" asked Sasuke
"Well Rina is in the medical field and is totally in love with me." explained Katsu
"So it could either be Sakura, Ino or Karin." thought Sasuke
"Which one do you want?" asked Katsu
"Not sure, two of the three of them where total fan girls but not anymore, Karin still is a fan girl." stated Sasuke "Then again maybe fan women would be a better term for Karin."
"Then the likely hood of Rina being in her is probably greater." explained Katsu "And Chika while the more beautiful vixen has no combat skills but she makes up for it in what you humans call the bedroom."
"I see." stated Sasuke "I guess we will have to find out when we get there.
"Let me guess your demon's mate is Shikamaru?" asked Sasuke as Temari nodded her head
"Likely." answered Temari
"So the question is do you more than a man waiting for you somewhere?" asked Sasuke
"No, Shikamaru is my only mate." stated Temari "And I intend to keep it that way."
"Suit yourself." answered Sasuke as he took a drink.
While Sasuke and Temari where finishing their meal, Naruto and his small gang where eating some warm stew which they had heated over a fire.
"I can't wait for all this to be over with." explained Ino "And everything is back to normal."
"Agreed." added Naruto
"Admit it Naruto, you know that nothing will ever be the same again. Look at how they are treating you." stated the Kyuubi in Naruto's head. "It is almost as if everything has reverted back to what into how they were when you where treated like an outcast."
"They are just scared nothing more, give them time and they will come around." explained Naruto as he looked into the fire "They came around when for me."
"Only after you saved they and that took almost 16 years for them to truly trust you." explained the Kyuubi "Now they will blame you for their sons, daughters and neighbors for becoming jinchuriki."
"Will not happen." stated Naruto
"I hate to break your little faith bubble but it will happen." explained the Kyuubi "And do you really want to live in a village where Sakura and Ino are treated like you where treated."
Naruto couldn't help but look at Sakura and then Ino, his heart was growing heavy.
"Do you want any children you have being treated like you, do you really want everyone in this prison being treated like that?" asked Kyuubi as Naruto lowered his head a bit and just looked at his empty bowl of stew.
"What do you recommend?" asked Naruto
"It may be difficult but you and everyone else who now have jinchuriki has to consider forming a village of your own." offered up the Kyuubi
Naruto felt like throwing up at the idea of betraying the village like that.
"No." stated Naruto
"Well if no one minds I am going to use the bathroom to change into something more conformable then my jonnin jacket to sleep in." stated Tenten more to the other women here then the men.
"Go right head." said Sakura
"I call it after you." stated Ino as Tenten opened the bathroom door only to jump back a bit.
"What is it?" asked Neji as Tenten lowered her head before rubbing her temples.
"If this couldn't get any worse." exclaimed Tenten
"What?" asked Neji as he stood up only to see that the bathroom was covered with grim, two rats could easily be seen one sitting on the top of the toilet and the other just sitting on the floor looking up at them. The two rats quickly ran out of the room using a hole in the wall as their exit.
"I wish they hadn't taken away my weapons." stated Tenten "I would have killed those rodents."
"Tenten hates rats." explained Neji as everyone nodded their heads.
"I don't blame her for that." stated Naruto
"If I may make a recommendation." offered up Shikamaru as everyone looked at him "We turn around we all change at the same time, no one turns around until we all change."
"Alright but no Byakugan Neji." ordered Sakura
"Why would I spy on you?" asked Neji "You could punch me though a wall, Ino could rip my mind apart and that is even before my girlfriend got me."
"He has a point." stated Ino as she grabbed her things, everyone quickly followed suit as they turned their backs to each other to change.
"They had to pick probably my oldest top?" thought Ino as looked at the light blue tank top which someone had grabbed out of the her room. "Still I will look good."
"Good enough to have some fun?" asked Lydia
"Yes, but I am not doing it in some run down hell hole with all my friends watching." explained Ino as she put on her top.
"I agree but you can still drive your man crazy." explained Lydia
"Please I could do that even if I was dressed in rages." explained Ino as she finished getting ready for bed.
"Well I guess we don't really get a shower tonight." stated Sakura as used some waterless toothpaste to brush her teeth. Her best friend was dressed in a red short sleeve top with black shorts.
"There is worst things." added Tenten who was dressed in loose pink spaghetti string top with a dark green almost black bottom.She had also undid her normal hair buns allowing her hair to fall down showing her two female friends that her hair was a lot longer than either of them believed. Her hair while not as long as Ino's was down to her shoulder blades which put it well past Sakura's. "Let's just hope the stay isn't as long as you think."
"Are you ladies done yet?" asked Kiba's voice as the three women nodded their heads.
"Alrightyou can turn around now." stated Tenten as the friends turned back toward each other. Ino and Sakura's eyes instantly gazed toward the blonde haired ninja who was dressed in a simple black t-shirt though which both women could see his chest muscles and a pair of orange shorts.
"Alright fuck it; I'll fuck him here and now." thought Ino
"How can we get the others out of this room?" thought Sakura as her eyes ran up and down her teammate's body
"Damn, I am one lucky guy." thought Naruto as his eyes ran up and down the two vixens in front of him.
"Alright you three, no sex while we are here." ordered Kiba as his three friends snapped out of it. All three of them blushed as Naruto placed his hand behind his head like he normally did when he was embarrassed.
"Sorry." answered Naruto
"That is alright, but save it for when you are alone." added Kiba before looking at the other couple in the room "Same goes for you two."
"Alright, but someone needs to stay up to make sure we aren't attack." expressed Shikamaru "I recommend Kiba and I take the shifts."
"I can easily take watch." offered Naruto
"No, you will have a long day tomorrow." ordered Shikamaru as he pointed at Naruto "You talking to the council is our best chance of getting out of this place. So get some sleep."
"Alright." answered Naruto as he went to lie down on top of the sleeping bag. It was still too hot to sleep in the bag but having something soft to separate him from the dirty floor was good enough. As he lied down so did most of his friends only Kiba remained up as a guard.
Hundreds of miles away from the Leaf village the rain had turned to a light mist as Sasuke and Temari walked out of the road side hotel/dinner. Almost everyone else had decided to stay out of the rain meaning that almost every room was filled up.
"Well its good enough to continue heading to the Leaf." stated Sasuke as he pulled out a rain poncho. "Unless you would rather share a room here?"
"Not a chance." snapped Temari "However we can't go too fast."
"I will go as fast as I want; if you don't keep up…it isn't my problem." stated Sasuke
"If we move too fast we will run faster than the storm and end up back in the hard rain." explained Temari with a grin as Sasuke's eyes narrowed before lowering his head. It was a tell tale sign that the much stronger Sasuke hadn't thought about that.
"Very well." stated Sasuke "Just keep up."
Hours later in the Leaf the rain was still coming down hard but the hail and lightening had all but disappeared. Standing watch over his friends was Shikamaru Nara; he had found a series of small stones to be used a pieces in a makeshift chess game using lines in the dirt as the board.
"Pawn to queen four." stated Nanuk in Shikamaru's head as Shikamaru moved the piece on the board.
"Bishop takes pawn." stated Shikamaru as he moved a piece to take the pawn he had just moved.
"Knight takes bishop." replied Nanuk as his knight took the bishop.
"Rook takes Knight." finished Shikamaru as he moved the small stone which he had marked with a small R for rook to take the knight.
"Well played Shikamaru." said Nanuk as he thought about his next move as Shikamaru stood up and moved toward the fire which he had kept going.
"Wait a second, I can't really plan my move if you're not looking at the board." demanded Nanuk as Shikamaru looked around at his sleeping friends. Kiba was curled up into a ball almost like a dog. He turned to the first couple only to see that Neji was lying on his back with Tenten lying onto of him using his shoulder as her pillow with his hands wrapped around her waist.
"What a happy couple." thought Shikamaru as he heart ached for his sand kunoichi, he couldn't help but fear that unlike him she didn't get a demon making them a different species.
"I am sure your mate has my mate within her." explained Nanuk as he reassured his new patterned
"I will be happy until I know for sure." stated Shikamaru as he turned to the last three temporary roommates. Ino, Sakura and Naruto had moved in their sleep to be closer to each other. Sakura had her arms wrapped around Naruto's neck with her head resting on a pillow above Naruto's right shoulder. Ino had found her place with her head on Naruto's chest with one hand behind his back while the other rested near his waist line. Naruto for his part had his head in Sakura's hair with one of his hands resting on the small of her back and the other wrapped around Ino just below her beasts. While Shikamaru was watching Naruto moved a bit as his head moved closer to Ino.
"How he is going to balance those two I have no idea." thought Shikamaru as he headed back to his game.
Well I hope you liked this chapter, I consider it a sort of transition chapter setting up problems that will come along in later chapters. Now until next time I ask that you keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.