While Naruto and the Mizukage departed further away from the building, a thought kept circling around Naruto's mind and he knew he just had to voice it.
" Umm, Mizukage sama. If I may ask, how did you come about the house, it seemed built with such dexterity that I have never seen before. I mean the way it functions was at the first... mind boggling... " He inquired quizzically.
Walking three steps upon the water before Naruto, Mei Terumi took a glance back at the blond with a smile.
" You're the second person to think the place is amazing, and I must say it's peculiar how both of you are men " she said.
Naruto whom had retained a smile since stepping out of the building, had his smile collapse, and at that point felt the deep need to truly know more.
" Second? Who was the first, " Naruto asked, " why? Don't tell me you believed yourself to be the first " said the Mizukage feeling amused.
" Not really, I just never thought it so sacred that only two people beside yourself, have ever been in there "
" Well I'm not too open with my privacy, and do not make a mistake of thinking I deemed you special to have you there. You just happen to discover it ".
Naruto picked up and understood what the Mizukage was trying to say and do, she was setting boundaries but Naruto still felt the need to know who the first was.
" Of course, I never thought myself to be more than I am. However, I have chosen not to believe the first also just happened to fall upon your peculiar house " said Naruto.
' I have a feeling he won't back off unless he gets the details... Maybe it might help to dissuade him ' thought Mei Terumi.
" The first and only person I have willingly shown and brought to this place, is my first and only love. The man I coveted in my youth, the only person who truly understood me " she confessed.
Naruto's curiosity turns sour at Mei's words, he looked on at the back of her auburn hair as his mind raced with the new information.
" You shouldn't overthink it, she is clearly putting you in your place. Never forget that you are still just a child in her eyes, you cannot take her years and experience from her " adviced the fox.
Naruto unwilling to yield that easily, sort to know more, though fearing what he might hear.
" Do you still love him? ", " Huh? "
' what kind of question is that, that is not a very smart question. Albeit, it does work for me '.
" Of course, how could I not. I've been in love with him for so long, " she declared.
Feeling disheartened by the Mizukage's response, Naruto sealed his lips and dips his hands into the pocket of a orange jacket with two white band designs at the wrists.
" There you have it Naruto, you were setting yourself up for failure, " said Kurama in a disparaging tone.
' Who was I kidding, perhaps myself. I must have lost my mind due to my increase in power. In the end, my shackles endure ' Naruto thought.
' I left him speechless, that means I've won. Now for the finishing move ',
" Naruto, do you perhaps have a girlfriend awaiting your return? ", " Huh? " Naruto utters slightly puzzled.
" If so, you shouldn't waste time here in the mist, take care of your business here and return to the one you love. What can be most painful for lovers, is being apart. Don't you think so? " she said seeking to quench the flames of Naruto's youthful avarice.
Naruto wasn't even sure what he was going to say, when he felt the air get knocked through his solar plexus and out of his mouth; what came next was flying through the air and crashing into the trunk of a tree he was sure could not be in the area...
Mei Terumi had just spoken when she saw a glimpse of it, though it was just a glimpse she'd trained her eyes enough to be able to keep a vivid image of what she had actually saw; a mist shaped like a tail, but the tail was long enough to be considered a whip.
The Mizukage saw the tail smash into Naruto's solar plexus, and thus flung him away into the distance which was covered by thick mists. As she stood in awe, her emerald glimpsed also the swift movement of a creature traversing the distance and disappearing into the mist unto their left.
' It's going for Naruto ',
Mei Terumi did no more than conceive the thought, before her feet moved on their own and immediately took off running. The Mizukage ran as fast as her feet could carry her, in twenty seconds she'd also disappeared into the mist.
Within the thick mist, Mei Terumi made use of her eyes which had been adept to the obscurity of the mists since birth. Making her sprint through it easily, and whilst she was on the move, her eyes desperately searched for the whereabouts of Naruto.
Meanwhile, Naruto drops unto the ground and groans.
' What the hell just happened? ' He asked, " I'm not so sure. But you were hit by something, something strong " said Kurama.
Naruto forces himself to breath in and out, to regain control of his respiratory functions. Once he'd gotten a bit of control back, he raised himself slightly, and as he did the tail emerged and sweeps him off the ground by connecting with his jaw.
Naruto crashes back against the tree, but instead of ceasing, his body trails up the body of the tree, leaving behind a destructive scar as he made it into the branches. Naruto's body broke through the branches, and the leaves till he was high above the damaged tree.
Naruto grits his teeth to resist the pain in his body, and the bleeding wound inflicted to his jaw; suddenly he heard a growl and the creature appeared some centimeters above him, whilst a slight distance from him.
The creature had the appearance of a mountain lion, but it's body was made up of thick mists with a pair of menacing red eyes. The creature pounces down upon Naruto, forcing him back down.
Naruto in the split second of seeing the creature, decided he wouldn't suffer a third hurt, thus at the moment in which the creature pounced on him: Naruto enacted one of the first stages of Kurama's chakra, causing his nails to grow out into claws, and two pairs of fangs to emerge from his teeth.
Naruto's blue irises became slightly more brighter once more; in mid air Naruto impales the sides of the creature with his claws and surprisingly he felt them perforate the creature like it would a flesh.
Having a hold on the creature, Naruto forces himself to turn over, bringing himself to hover above the creature with a glare. Cascading, the two eventually hit the tree, and at impact the trunk splits, causing them to tear through it, whilst bracing their fall.
Upon reaching the ground, Naruto pins the creature down.
' Kurama, what is this? ' Naruto inquires, " I don't know. But it's giving off strong natural energy, you should be care- ",
Naruto was unable to finish hearing Kurama's words out, when the creature roared and it's roar produced a powerful sonic wave, accompanied by a equally powerful shockwave; the clothes upon his body becomes obliterated, his flesh tears up and blood gushes out.
Meanwhile, Kurama's ears were being bombarded by the sonic wave. Naruto was blasted up into the air by the shock wave, with his eyes open wide.
Flying up into the air, the creature recovers and gets back on it's Misty paws, then it launches his tails out and whips Naruto back to the ground.
Naruto tumbles upon the grounds, and eventually stopped at the foot of a shocked Mei Terumi. The Mizukage looked down with wide eyes, at the bloody nakedness of the war hero.
Mei Terumi's eyes at the sight grew menacing, then they tilt up to have a look at the creature whom had turned towards them, and had began to slowly approach. Mei Terumi weaves through hand seals, ending with an interlocking of her fingers, her chest and mouth puffs up, whilst her lungs expanded.
Thus, the Mizukage expels a large and powerful wave of water out of her mouth; the expelled water splits into three larger parts that morphs into dragons with green menacing eyes.
The dragons seek out the creature, till they bombarded it from three different sides, continuously. Mei Terumi however noticed her water dragons were having no effect on the creature, as it appeared to be like they were hitting a wall.
At this surprise, the Mizukage weaved another set of hand seals, and after ends with two pairs of her fingers coming together, at that Chakra was issued out and the water dragons disperse back into waters, and thus morph into a massive sphere of water around the creature, trapping it inside.
Feeling slightly victorious, Mei Terumi eased up and took the time to get down on one knee and pull Naruto into her arms with difficulty. She holds him and looks at his bloody face, and closed eyes.
" Naruto wake up, wake up. You're not dead, are you? This couldn't be enough to kill you, right. You're the Jinchuriki of the nine tails, you won the war, this cannot be how you die, could it. Open your goddamn eyes, Naruto! " she yells.
" Mizukage, why are you trying to stir that thief up, stealing that which does not belong to him, "
Mei Terumi hears, and the sound of the spoken words sends a icy cold shiver down her spine, causing her to quiver with fear. Mei's hands began to tremble, and the moment she almost lost the strength to hold Naruto, her mind woke up from the paralysis enacted by the voice.
" Thief! What has he stolen? " Mei Terumi asked, not sure what Naruto could have ever stolen, or was of value to him in the hidden mist to incur the wrath of a creature she'd never seen or heard of.
" That Jinchuriki and his despicable nine tailed chakra fox, have been absorbing the natural energy of this land. A theft I cannot overlook, when the lives of mountain spirits are in jeopardy, " " then you should have told him to stop. Not kill him! "
" Oh... ", the menacing gaze fell off the face of the creature at the Mizukage's response. " I didn't think about that, I just wanted to eliminate the threat that was inconveniencing the land " said the creature.
Mei Terumi felt the frosty effects of the creature cease as well, and merely had become a deep tone.
" So you attacked my vessel because of your thoughtlessness, then you should repay that folly with your life. " said Kurama through Naruto's mouth.
With Naruto unconscious, Kurama takes control causing Naruto's whiskers to become thick black as they would when making use of his Chakra cloaks. Naruto's eyes open, and the blue had become greatly luminous with golden cross-slits.
" No, stop. You're doing it again, stop! " yelled the creature.
The creature bursts out of the water prison like the waters were never there, it came rushing over to Naruto's body which had began to absorb natural energy again. The creature leaps off the ground within the thick mist, with fangs of mist opened wide to perforate and devour.
Kurama rears Naruto's body upwards, causing him to stand on his feet, thus as the creature came down, Kurama smashes his head against the gaping mouth of the creature, knocking it several meters back.
Kurama pursued at a speed Mei Terumi could not see, he was just gone before her eyes. Kurama in pursuit raised Naruto's fist, and brings it down upon the creature, knocking it down into the dirt.
Standing over the creature, four furry white luminous tails emerge from the small of Naruto's back, and slowly Naruto's legs became hind legs, elevating him to 200.66cm of height.
The creature drew back in honest disbelief, watching the transformation.
" What kind of monster are you? " said the creature.
Mei Terumi a little while after catches up, ten feet away from the two creatures? The Mizukage wasn't sure of what she was seeing. A tall built man like creature in the form of mist, with a tail; and another which looked like a humanoid fox but with the obvious body of a man.
" Naruto? " she utters.
" I'll kill you! " utters Kurama, " no you will not– " said the creature before palming Naruto's chest.
The impact was followed by a shockwave, which caused Naruto's body to fly off. Mei Terumi watched the body fly past her, and crash somewhere not too far off.
Mei Terumi's eyes returned to the creature with a hateful glare.
" Why do you keep on hurting him, can't you see he his not himself! "
" Calm yourself Mizukage, I have observed the boy and he himself bares no ill will towards the land, nor does his beast. But they have both acted without compassion for nature, so they had to be taught a lesson... Go Mizukage, attend to the boy and when he wakes, tell him to depart immediately from this land, I never want to see him here again, and should he return, tell him then he will have to pay the ultimate price... "
The creature fades away along with his voice. Being more concerned about Naruto's well being, Mei Terumi raced back in the direction Naruto's body had crashed into. . .
Fire crackles within the fireplace, whilst it's blazing light illuminates and warms the house. Mei Terumi had Naruto laid upon the couch, with a blanket covering his naked body which had returned to it's proper form.
Mei Terumi sat at the foot of the couch, going in and out of slumber while trying to stay awake. Eventually she could not hold on anymore, and her eyes drifted to a close, as it did her body began to fall sideway. However, before she could hit the floor Naruto's arm shot out of the blanket, catching her head in the palm of his hand.
Naruto whom hadn't been awake, was roused from slumber at the contact. Slowly his eyelids lift up, till his new normal bright blue eyes was revealed.
Mei Terumi also woke up, but Naruto's palm was so warm she didn't want to pull away. Naruto being clueless due to his slumber, tilt his head and looked upon the Mizukage.
" Naruto, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, " said Kurama.
Naruto smiled warmly. " You don't have to feel sorry, because she protected me. " replied Naruto in a low voice.
" She tended to you while you were unconscious, she's worked so much to keep the place warm enough for you. The Mizukage really has a kind soul " said the fox.
" Now I know I can always count on her- ", " you shouldn't " said Mei pulling herself away.
Naruto looked at her with some perplexity, Mei Terumi rose up to her feet and walk towards the table. She drew out a chair, turned it towards Naruto and sits down.
" What do you mean I shouldn't- no that doesn't matter. Thank you, for protecting me, and bringing me to safety ".
Naruto tries to get up as well, only to realize he his butt naked, so he decided to just sit up slightly and cover his lower body with the blanket, at the sight Mei Terumi turns her head away slightly.
' Looking away will make my words seem like a joke, he won't take me seriously if I act like a timid little girl ' she thought.
Mei Terumi steels her nerves and turns her gaze back to Naruto, looking straight at him with stern eyes.
" Don't thank me, because I couldn't protect you. And don't try to count on me for anything, this is the least I can do for the war hero and it wasn't for your sake I brought you back here. But for the sake of my people and my village, I can't have you hurt in my village. "
" So you're saying you did it for politics? " Naruto says with a frown, " yes. Nothing else- ". " You lie, and I hate it when people lie. Tell me true, you don't want me around " He said.
Mei Terumi chuckles.
" My apologies, I thought you were stupid so I had to fool you. But you've proved yourself to have some intelligence, now if that is the case. Yes, I do not want you around, since your arrival here, you've acted inappropriately with me: ruffling my hair, kissing me, intruding on my space and putting me in danger. Everything you've done here has been wrong, and for that I want you gone before you cause more trouble than you can handle. "
Mei Terumi exhales once done. " I really I'm a kid, aren't I... ", Mei looks at Naruto's frown which had now morphed into a sad smile. It caused her stern expression to falter.
" I wonder, had I been five or ten years older, would things have been different? " He asked.
Stunned by the question, Mei Terumi was lost to how to answer.
" I guess this is me growing up. I will live with this ache in my heart, because I deserve this just punishment. Karma prevails- ".
Naruto steps down from the couch, and wraps the blanket around his lower body.
" Pardon my indecency, but I have to borrow this for now. And once again, thank you for welcoming me to your village with open arms " said Naruto.
Naruto bows his entire upper body down to the Mizukage, before lifting himself and walking towards the sealed entrance. He laid his palm against a section of the wall, push in and the entrance opens up.
Mei Terumi watched as Naruto was making his way out, and she felt her heart squeeze within her chest.
' Will I regret this, will this add to one of my regrets? ' thought Mei.
Naruto steps out of the house, and walked a few inches out unto the water when he was stopped by her voice.
" He died! My first love died of an heart disease, he didn't live for more than a month after it was discovered. Since then I've always sort out and hoped for a man that was like him, but there was none, all the men I met either had an agenda or were anything but him. I couldn't find love again, despite my best efforts " she confessed.
Naruto's heart squeezed also in his chest at her confession, and tears well up in his eyes.
" I'm sorry, that I was too early. Please take care of yourself Mizukage sama, as you have been doing, " Naruto said shedding his tears.
As the tears trailed down his cheeks, he turned slightly around and looked at the Mizukage with a smile, which completely blew her defenses away.
" I'll do better next time. Believe it. " He declares, and from before her two naked eyes Naruto vanished. . .
That night, Naruto's friends whom had gone into full panic mode found him in the recluse of his room, sitting down in front of his scroll of sealing, with a cheeky smile on his face. And before trying to hear him out, Kiba tried to beat him up and when Shikamaru saw that he was moving about way to much used his shadow paralysis Jutsu and with it held Naruto in place.
Allowing Kiba to pummel him, a beating Naruto hardly felt, and took no damage from. Kiba discovered, Naruto's face which he kept punching was hard as a rock, and found himself to be getting hurt instead.
After they all sat down, and Naruto explained that he had went out early to train and mistakenly dozed off. A lie which none of them bought, but accepted since it had been a long day.
Naruto's friends left him alone, with the warning of him to not take a step out of his room till they come for him. Naruto did as they had said, staying up all night to cultivate his six paths senjutsu... The next day, Naruto informed his friends he wanted to depart, and Shikamaru asked,
" You don't like being here? ", which he replied to saying. " This is not the place for me right now ".
It was a puzzling response, but Shikamaru asked nothing further from him. Naruto spent the best part of the morning greeting the daimyo of the land of water and land of fire, as well as his friend Gaara. He apologized for his absence, and they just shrugged it off.
At noon, after spending quality time with Gaara and having breakfast together, before departing with his friends, the villagers came out to bid him farewell and wished he would come again. Naruto smiled and bowed to them all in gratitude... Upon Sai's drawn Hawks, Naruto looked back at the Mizukage residence for a moment before looking away, and flying off.