CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The Hunt for the Turtle!
XXX
It was the group's first sunrise in the Village Hidden in the Mist, and Han and Yugito were spending it sipping tea in front of the window, looking out at the city below. The thick layer of fog chose to spend the night in the village, and as the sun began to appear over the horizon, it was still there. Sure, it blocked their view, but at this time, in the Hidden Cloud Village, they were fighting off an ambush from four of the five strongest Shinobi Villages, so some silence and a little mist was the best thing Han could've hoped for.
Yugito took a sip of her tea, "It's so quiet. Who knew a major village that was quieter than the Land of Hot Water even existed?" she chuckled. "If it weren't for my super-sensitive hearing, I'd have thought there was no one down there."
"Yeah," Han said, gripping his mug, "You think this is some kind of elaborate set-up for an ambush?"
Yugito smirked, "Unlike you, I can sense a trap from a million miles away. If someone were to so much as drop a needle in this building, I'd be able to pick it up," she assured him.
"Wow. Is your sense of hearing that good?"
She giggled, "Of course not, but the fact still remains, I'd be able to hear people trying to sneak up on us if they got close enough."
"Hehe, it's moments like these where I wish U…" Han stopped himself mid-sentence. The emotional wounds were still too fresh to mention. Utakata's death hit way too close to home for Han. It felt like if the circumstances were just a little bit more different, it would've been him sacrificing his life for the group. And if it was him who bit the bullet back there… he'd never get to see his baby girl. After a moment of mental turmoil, Han finally asked, "Do you ever wonder if this will all be worth it?"
Yugito paused mid-sip. Her brow furrowed as she side-eyed her partner in crime, "Where is this coming from?" she asked, placing her hand on his thigh.
"Good morning," a third party's voice broke up the pair's little moment. It was Gaara. Han had sent him on a mission to awaken and gather the others a few minutes ago, but he'd taken so long, that Han thought he'd fallen asleep himself. In actual fact, it was just really hard to drag four teenagers out of bed against their will.
Naruto, Hinata, Fuu, and Hotaru followed him out into the living room. Each teenager was in their pyjamas, covered in bandages, with sleep written all over their faces. It was understandable for them to be so tired. The battle with Pain took a lot out of all of them, mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Unfortunately, as Gaara once said, there'll be plenty of time to rest once they're dead.
"It's good that you guys are here," Han said, getting up off his chair, "As much as I'd like for us to laze around for the day, we're in a major village, and we've got a mission to complete. I want us to split up into three different groups. I'll go with Yugito, Naruto will be with Gaara, and Hinata, Fuu, and Hotaru will go together. We're searching for the Three-Tails or any news related to the Three-Tails. That means anything, are they in a jinchuuriki, are they in the village, any information is good information."
"There's hardly anyone on the streets. How do you expect us to find information on the Three-Tails?" Fuu asked, rubbing her eyes.
"The same way you found information on me back in Kumo," Yugito said.
Fuu thought about it for a second, "We overheard a group of drunk people."
"Luckily for us, alcoholism transcends village borders," Yugito remarked.
"Since we don't have the cover of the night, we'll just spread out and return when we think we've found something of use. No need for Naruto clones," Han suggested.
"Sounds like a plan to me," the Uzumaki grinned, throwing his hands behind his head.
Fuu threw her arm out in front of her, "Fine by me. JinHyuuTaru on three."
"Jin… what?" Han asked.
"Ever since I heard about the Akatsuki, I've been brainstorming names for our group, and I'm testing out JinHyuuTaru to see how it flows," Fuu grinned.
"JinHyuuTaru?" Gaara asked.
"Jin for Jinchuuriki, Hyuuga for Hinata Hyuuga, and Taru for Hotaru… the gang's all here," Fuu said.
"Fuu… that's horrible," Han said softly.
"I don't see you coming up with anything better," she said, hands on her hips.
"There's no time for this," Yugito said, putting her hand in the middle. Fuu put her hand on hers. Han did the same. Slowly, everyone followed suit. "We'll think of better names as the day goes by."
Han nodded, "Team JinHyuuTaru commencing with Operation 'Hunt for the Three-Tails and Think of a Better Team Name so We Don't Have to Use JinHyuuTaru Ever Again'."
"No, we have to say it on three!" Fuu demanded.
"One. Two. Three."
"JinHyuuTaru!"
XXX
Han and Yugito Nii
The ocean winds started blowing through the Hidden Mist Village, taking the fog away with them as they cut through the city. The village began to come to life as people exited their homes and headed off to work or the academy or whatever people did in this strange village.
"So, what's our plan of action," Han wondered, as they walked through the semi-empty streets of Kiri. Yugito was scanning the area around them as they walked. She stared down alleyways, stopped in front of stores, and browsed the windows of homes, all in search of something. "Did you have anything in mind, because I was thinking… if the village was so willing to let Utakata leave, maybe they'll actually tell us where the Three-Tails is if we go up to someone important enough and just ask… what are you looking for?" Han finally asked.
"Psst!"
They stopped in front of an alleyway. Han turned to stare down the long empty concrete corridor. "Did you hear something?"
"Aha," Yugito spotted someone and ducked into the alley. She picked a child up by the waist and placed him on a huge wooden box. He was a small boy, blonde with blue eyes, and a confused look on his face.
Han slowly approached, wondering what Yugito's angle was.
"Speak," Yugito demanded.
"Yugito, he's like two, what are you…" the boy disappeared in a cloud of smoke to reveal a chubby orange cat. A chill ran down the jinchuuriki's spine. Usually, he could tell a Transformation Jutsu from a mile away, but something about this cat freaked him out. It sat there on the crate with its eyes closed and a toothy smile on its face
"I said talk."
"I don't know… I'm a bit too hungry to speak right now. I've been walking around the village gathering all this information, wasting my chakra with that stupid Transformation Jutsu…"
"Aww… you're hungry?" Yugito grabbed a handful of the kitty's belly fat and started squeezing. "I'll feed you your own kneecaps if you don't start talking," she warned him. After a few meows of pain, the cat finally begged for mercy.
"Don't you think you're being a bit rough?" Han wondered.
"Fuck no… Nekomaru's supposed to be on a diet to shed that excess weight, and yet he's walking around with the balls to ask me to feed him?" Yugito scoffed. She returned her attention to the fat cat and asked, "Now, tell me you got something."
"Honestly, you didn't give me much to work with. Finding a drunk shinobi who was of high enough rank to know where this Three-Tails is, was a nearly impossible task," the cat complained.
"Really?" Han asked.
"It's the best I could do," Yugito shrugged.
"Ahem! So, as I was saying… I spent hours, and we're talking hours, searching for someone who met that description. I jumped from transformation to transformation. I transformed into a beautiful woman, into a handsome man, into a young girl, into a young boy, I transformed into a chair and waited in a bar for a shinobi to sit on me."
"Get to the point, Nekomaru!" Yugito said, slamming her fist against the box.
"MEOW!" he held his paws out in front of him to keep the terrifying woman away, "I'm getting to it! I'm getting to it! I was just about to say I was struggling to find someone that matched that description, but thanks to the grace of Omoikane, and my amazing shapeshifting skills, I was able to find a… Yuki Tanaka. She's a special Kiri jounin going through a rough divorce, so she's gone into that bar to drink her sorrows away. I recommend buying her a drink and telling her everything's going to be okay. She's already slobbered but offering her a drink will help her warm up to you."
"Is that all?" Yugito asked.
"My first recommendation was going to be you disguising as a married couple ready to offer her a threesome, but it felt like-."
"Goodbye!"
With another cloud of smoke, the cat was gone.
"He sounds fun," Han chuckled.
"Shut up and come with me," Yugito refused to look the man in the eyes.
XXX
Han placed a large bottle of sake on a table next to a raven-haired sleeping woman. He let out a soft sigh before looking down at Yugito. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" he asked. It looked like she was out cold. It didn't feel like a good idea to wake this woman up just to get some information out of her.
"This is the only way we can learn something about the Three-Tails," Yugito assured him, trying to speak over the loud bar music in the background. "We have to…"
The drunken woman had heard them talking and reared her head. She looked at the bottle of sake, then at Yugito, and then at Han. "Who the hell are you?" she asked. She had a very stern look to her. Her deep brown eyes bore into Han's soul.
He cracked.
"We're a young couple, and we saw you from across the bar," Han began. Now he had two women glaring daggers into his soul. "We really liked your vibe, so we wanted to buy you a drink and see if we could get to know you better."
"I swear… on my life… you're not making it out of this bar," Yugito mouthed. Han tried to ignore her by focusing on the woman, but she seemed equally as pissed off.
Shit.
"I'd love to!" she responded.
"You would?" Yugito turned sharply.
"Yeah. I just… broke up with my… boyfriend, so I'm open to anything at the moment." Han and Yugito used this opportunity to sit down. They could tell this woman was drunk beyond the point of return but that was a good thing, maybe she wouldn't remember their faces when she finally sobered up. "I'm Yuki by the way."
"Yuki? I'm… Kokuo," Han couldn't think of a fake name in time.
"Kokuo, that's a nice name," she hadn't suspected a thing, "What's your name?"
"I'm…" Yugito glared at Han, but she felt she had to at this point, "I'm Matatabi."
"Ooh, you've both got such unique names. I… I don't want to be Yuki anymore… uh… my name is actually… Isu!" she said.
Chair? Han sat there for a second, exchanging stares with Yugito, "That's… very creative."
"Kokuo, Matatabi, and Isu, doesn't that sound like a good… a good combination," Yuki, or Isu, asked, popping open Han's bottle. "So, what brings you two here? Are you shinobi?"
"No, we're just Yugakure citizens exploring the world and learning about the villages… we've noticed there aren't many Kiri shinobi in the village though. What's that about?" Yugito wondered.
"They're off in the Land of… Land of what again? Is it the Land of Lightning? Yeah, they're off in the Land of Lightning preparing for the war."
"Land of Lightning? Why the Land of Lightning?" Han asked.
"Because… the Five Kage think the war's gonna happen within the Iron-Lightning Corridor, so they figured the Land of Lightning would be the best place to base operations," Yuki shrugged, "I mean everyone is that side, every medic in the village, every shinobi that's between the ages of 14 to 60, and even the Mizukage."
Han and Yugito stared at each for a solid minute. The Iron-Lightning Corridor was the space between the Land of Iron and the Land of Lightning, a war taking place in that area would destroy both the Land of Hot Water, Land of Sound, and the Land of Frost. "That would result in a lot of deaths," Han realised.
"YEAH! LET'S DRINK TO THAT!"
Eyes still fixated on each other, both Yugito and Han clinked their glasses against Yuki's before downing their shots.
Han turned to Yuki and asked, "Wait… then why aren't you in the Land of Lightning?"
"I had to take leave because of emotional issues," Yuki said. Her jovial smile slowly faded into a more sombre frown as she remembered why she was here.
Han had to think of something quick. He poured them all another shot of sake. "Well, if you didn't take that leave, we wouldn't have met, so in the end… everything sorts itself out."
"Let's drink to that!"
They all downed their shots.
Yugito finally found a way to ask the most important question of all, "So, wait… you said everyone was in Kumo, right? Well, I heard Kiri had two tailed beasts. The Six-Tails and the Three-Tails, are they both that side as well?"
"The Six-Tails and the Three-Tails? You really must be from Yugakure, because you're working with some old ass information there," Yuki chuckled, "We lost both of them years ago. Utakata left during the civil war and Yagura died during the civil war."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's this about a civil war? Does this have something to do with the Bloody Mist?" Yugito asked.
"SHHHHHHhhhh! Don't call it that," Yuki said, pressing her finger against Yugito's soft lips. She held them there for a little too long. Yugito threatened to bite her finger off, but it came off kinkier than it did scary. "Calm down, I need a few more drinks before that can happen. Anyway, you shouldn't refer to that time by that name because our new Mizukage is going through the process of post-civil war transitioning."
"That's a lot of new information in one go," Han realised, "Okay, can you start by telling us about this civil war, Yuki?"
"ISU!"
"Sorry, sorry, Isu."
"It happened like fifteen years ago or so, now. After the Momochi Incident, and then the Six-Tails Incident, a large portion of the village was starting to turn on the government and their inhumane ways. They also believed that the academy test was just a smart way to exercise eugenics because every year people with Kekkei Genkai would survive and those without, would not. The government mistrust, mixed with the Kekkei Genkai hatred, and it all exploded into a civil war that turned nasty really quick. I mean… kids were getting ripped out of their parents' arms and burned alive on the streets, and… oh, thank you. Cheers… where was I? Oh yeah, it was just a nasty blemish on Kiri's history. So, to try and move on from that, the new Mizukage has been cracking down on revolutionists and anyone mentioning the time before the war."
"And what happened to Yagura?" Yugito wondered.
"He was assassinated during the war. Some say it was by an Uchiha."
"Then who's the current Mizukage?" Han asked.
"You guys don't know? It's Mei Terumi. She's been working on a multi-step plan to try and get Kiri back to its glory days…" Yuki said before taking another shot, "She's also got a smoking hot body."
Han took a bold leap forward, "So, can you say for certain that the Three-Tails jinchuuriki is not in this village?"
"The Three-Tails?" Yuki shrugged, "I… I don't even… ask… Mei… I don't know," she held her hand over her mouth and made a beeline for the bathroom.
And that was that.
Once again, Han and Yugito stood there, exchanging glances. "Go check up on her. If she's okay, we'll take her back to the hotel," Han said.
"Take her back to the hotel? You realise the whole 'threesome' thing was just a ruse, right?" Yugito asked.
"Yeah, but I'd feel bad if we just left her here, like… that. We'll bring her back and let her rest off the headache. It's the least we could do for someone who gave us so much vital information."
Yugito punched the large man's side, "You're too soft for your own good," she said before following Yuki into the bathroom.
XXX
Hinata, Hotaru, and Fuu
The girls had decided to take a break from searching by resting in a ramen restaurant. They'd spent about three hours hopping from park to park, bar to bar, pub to pub, in search of anyone who knew about the Three-Tails' whereabouts or even the Three-Tails themselves, but nothing. They were exhausted, but even seated in the booth waiting for their orders, they had different expressions about them.
Hotaru had drawn up a rough draft of the Kiri map she'd seen on a 'You Are Here' poster. She was diligently searching through it and calculating what places they hadn't searched and what places were probably best to search next.
Hinata on the other hand was deep in her thoughts. A depressing smile had been permanently carved onto the kunoichi's face, creating a stark contrast from her usual warm but timid persona. She sat in the corner of the booth with her head leaning against the window.
Finally, Fuu was also lost in her head, but unlike Hinata, who was depressed beyond belief, she was trying to come up with different names for the group. Every so often, she'd default to 'the Jinchuuriki', but then she'd look around and realise she was surrounded by the two only non-jinchuuriki.
After a few minutes of thought, she finally gave up and decided to comfort Hinata instead. The Hyuuga, at that point, was so brittle, that the moment Fuu's hand landed on her back, the tears began to flow.
"Don't worry, Hina-chan, it'll all be okay in the end."
"How are you so sure?" Hinata asked.
"Because there's a million guys out there, Hinata, and all you need to do is find the one that's perfect for you."
"But I did find one that's perfect for me," Hinata retaliated, "And my own weakness led him into the arms of another woman."
"Oh, it's not weakness. Admitting to someone that you have feelings for them is a tough challenge to tackle, and even the strongest among us struggle with it," Fuu assured her.
"All she did was ask him, Fuu. She didn't need elaborate gifts, or dances, or to spend years by his side. A girl he met on that same day just asked to be his girlfriend and he said yes… I wasted so many years…"
"Okay, after looking through the map, there are four parks that we haven't gone to yet. I was thinking that if we did a sweeping motion over the east side of the village…" Hotaru began.
"Hotaru… babes. I know you're new to the group but you're trying way too hard," Fuu said.
"But… I thought we were supposed to be searching for the Three-Tails," Hotaru said.
"We've been searching for the last three hours. It's time to just admit that the Three-Tails does not want to be found, and if you don't want to be found we're not going to waste precious resources looking for you. Now, come, put that map away and let's help Hinata get over Naruto."
Hotaru did as was instructed, she put her makeshift map away before turning to Hinata and awkwardly asking, "Is Naruto your ex or something?"
Hinata shook her head, "No… he's someone I've always admired and wanted to walk alongside, but… I've always been too scared to talk to him or ask him out."
"Well, why are you so shy?" Hotaru wondered.
"I… I don't know. I've just been this way since I was a kid."
"Are you afraid of rejection?" Hotaru got straight to the point. "You should never be afraid of rejection. What's the worst that could happen? If it's someone you know, then they won't actively try to hurt you in their rejection, whereas if it's someone you don't know, then you don't know them, and their opinions shouldn't affect you."
"You make it sound so black and white," Hinata said.
"That's because it is. Grey areas only exist because you let them. You can't even begin to understand how many times Utakata-Sensei rejected me when I tried to get him to be my master. It genuinely took months of asking. I even had to follow him out onto his island and force him to be my master, but I wouldn't have done that if I didn't know Utakata deep down. I knew that he wanted to teach me but just had problems with teachers in his youth that made him what he was," Hotaru said as a waiter dropped three bowls of ramen between the trio. Hotaru continued, while pulling her chopsticks apart, "You knew Naruto for a while. Why did you feel like he'd reject you?"
Hinata racked her brain trying to ask herself that same question. Why did she feel like he was going to reject him? Naruto was such a warm and kind person. It wouldn't have been like him to just reject her, especially maliciously. After all, he just thought she was a good friend this whole time.
"I just thought he was too busy worrying about all this jinchuuriki-gathering stuff. I wasn't sure if he'd have time for a relationship," she admitted.
"How long have you been together? On this journey?" Hotaru wondered.
"Three years."
After stuffing her face full of ramen, Hotaru asked, "So, you've woken up with this man for three years? You've had breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day with him for 36 whole months? For…" she did some quick mental maths, "For over 1000 days, he's woken up and at some point in the day before sunset hit, he's heard your voice and had a conversation with you… but you thought he wouldn't have time for you?"
"When you phrase it like that, you make it sound ridiculous," Hinata complained.
"I didn't phrase it in any specific manner," Hotaru shrugged. She slurped up another mouthful of noodles. "However you interpreted my statement is down to you and only you," she giggled.
Hinata turned to Fuu, who for once, was silent. The green-haired kunoichi shrugged, "She took the words right out of my mouth… just minus a 'ssu' or two," she trapped a few noodles between her chopsticks before stating, "If I could add something though, I'd say these types of relationships, that are built on a day's worth of knowing each other, don't usually last long. Hopefully, you've learned your lesson. In a week, when Naruto and… that girl, break up, at least you'll know not to hesitate," she assured her.
Hinata sighed, "You're right," she said before getting up, "Let me go wash my face. When you guys are done, we can leave."
Fuu and Hotaru glared at each other. Simultaneously, they turned to Hinata's empty bowl of ramen. "What the fuck?" Fuu asked, turning it upside-down. She'd destroyed that bowl in a matter of seconds.
"Where does it all go?" Hotaru asked, in shock.
"I don't know…" Fuu looked at Hinata over her shoulder, "But if I had to guess… I'd say those massive titties."
XXX
After a few more minutes of war between Hotaru and Fuu, they finally decided to go for one last sweep, passed the Mizukage's quarters and over the parks in the east, to see if they could find any clues on the Three-Tails. Honestly, neither of them even knew what they were looking for. There was a severe lack of drunk shinobi. In fact, there was a severe lack of any shinobi. The Hidden Mist Village was empty of shinobi aside from a few young genin and a couple of elderly men and women who still wore their headbands for the sake of it.
As they approached the concrete stairways lined in zig-zag formations around Mizukage's quarters, it felt like everything was futile.
"Hinata?" a familiar voice asked.
The Hyuuga heiress looked around for the source of it. Was that? It couldn't be. Hinata's eyes locked onto a pair of white eyes that resembled her own. It was.
"Neji?" she whispered.
"Who?" Fuu whispered.
The slightly older Hyuuga shinobi stood almost a foot taller than her. He was there, a few steps above her, dressed in a loose white kimono shirt with matching pants and a dark grey apron. "Neji…" she whispered again. He charged her.
Before anyone could react, he was already standing over her. Neji wrapped his arms around the Hyuuga heiress and swung her around. It took Hinata by complete surprise. Two more figures made their way down the stairs and joined in on the celebrations.
"Neji? Rock Lee? Tenten?" Hinata was in the middle of a three-way hug. Sandwiched between three people she hadn't seen in years. It brought her to tears. Tears of joy this time. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We're looking for you," Neji said, "Well, no, we were supposed to meet the Mizukage here and make sure she arrived in one piece, but I think she hasn't arrived yet. What are you doing here?"
"You've grown so much since we last saw you," Tenten had to remark.
"Indeed," Rock Lee agreed.
"We're searching for the Three-Tails," suddenly, Hinata was very willing to divulge vital information.
"The what? Oh, I don't care. I'm just so glad you're okay. After you left, I became a jounin and dedicated my whole career to finding you," Neji explained.
Hinata took a step back to question what she'd just heard, "You dedicated your whole career to finding me? That's… that's not really like you."
"Well, when I woke up from my fight with Naruto… I had time to sit in recovery and think about what he said to me during that fight. When I shifted my perspective, everything started to make sense. I realised that it was not our destiny that controlled us, but us who controlled our own destinies."
"But that still doesn't answer why you dedicated your whole career to finding me."
"I just wanted to make sure you were out here changing your destiny for the better… and that you were safe," Neji admitted. He placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder and smiled, "It's good to see that Naruto's been taking good care of you."
"Mhm, not just Naruto, we've also got Fuu, Hotaru, Han, Gaara, and Yugito."
Neji did a quick bit of mental math, "You've got the five of the nine tailed beasts in one location?" he lowered his voice and ushered his younger cousin into an alleyway for a modicum of privacy. "You don't understand how bad of an idea that is… there's this new group of mercenaries called the Akatsuki and they…"
"We know!" Fuu finally decided to butt in, "We've encountered them before… twice."
"Twice? And you're all still alive?" Neji wondered.
"Well…" Hotaru shrugged.
"Yeah… the Six-Tails wasn't so lucky," Hinata said.
"I heard… but as long as the other eight avoid capture, then we still have a chance to foil the Akatsuki's plans," Neji said.
Hinata shook her head, "No, no, he wasn't captured, he just blew himself up along with his island."
Neji's brow furrowed. He stared at his white-eyed heiress for a solid minute before slowly shaking his own head, "Hinata… no… the Six-Tails was captured, and its tailed beast ripped from its body."
"No," Hotaru disagreed, "I saw the explosions go off myself. We all did."
"Well, Rock Lee and I have seen the Gedo Mazo, the husk of the Ten-Tails, with our own eyes. It had one eye open. Based on previous intel we knew each eye corresponded to a tailed beast, but we couldn't tell which eye was which… we weren't certain if that was for the Four-Tails or the Six-Tails, but we all assumed it was the Six-Tails and it looks like our assumptions were correct."
Hotaru stepped between Hinata and Neji, "No, you're not listening to us. Utakata-Sensei rigged his island to explode on command. He killed himself and the Akatsuki members who were chasing him. All six of them were all caught in the blast…"
"Six?" Rock Lee jumped a little.
"All six of them?" Tenten asked, placing her finger on her chin. She locked eyes with Neji before returning her attention to Hotaru, "You guys came face-to-face with the Six Paths of Pain?"
"You know about them?" Hotaru asked.
"Do we?" Neji chuckled, "We suspect he's the leader of the Akatsuki."
"He's the leader?" it was Hotaru's turn to exchange stares with Fuu and Hinata, "There were six of them, and one was a woman."
"A woman?" Neji wondered. "Did they each have different abilities?"
Hinata, Hotaru, and Fuu weren't so sure. They were too busy trying to survive to notice any differences in abilities or jutsu, so Tenten asked, "Did one of them summon giant animals?" to which they all nodded aggressively.
Neji took a step back. "Then the real one really isn't among them."
Rock Lee punched his palm, "Yosh! You have given us very vital clues in your confusion!"
"Can you inform us what vital clues we've given because we kinda need it more than you do?" Fuu asked.
"Pain isn't six different people. Pain is one person controlling six different dead bodies. Six bodies with six different abilities. One that can summon animals; one that can transform their body into metallic weapons and missiles; one that can both steal souls and read minds; one that can absorb any form of chakra; one that can revive any of the other five; and one that can both repel and attract anything and anyone. The problem is that we thought the real one was one of the six bodies, or that he could transfer his consciousness from one body to the next… but he's really just a seventh Pain who can transform other corpses into a Path of Pain," Neji's mind was being blown as he spoke.
"What are you trying to say?" Hinata wondered.
"That unless we can ever find the seventh Pain, we've got to deal with an endless wave of zombie gods that feel no pain, have near-infinite chakra, and can be revived over and over again until they destroy their enemy," Tenten explained.
"We have to tell someone!" Hinata panicked.
"We've got no one to tell. The Mizukage isn't in Kiri," Neji noted.
"No, I mean Han or Yugito or Naruto or something…"
XXX
Naruto and Gaara
Naruto and Gaara were sitting on a beach in the main city square sharing a packet of chips. They'd both come to the same conclusion, they didn't feel like walking around the village like headless horses looking for someone they didn't even know. This wasn't going to be a repeat of the Yugito Nii situation where they went from jail cell to jail cell thanks to the advice of a drunkard playing cards in an alleyway… so, what were they going to do?
Naruto pulled his fist out of the packet to reveal a handful of chips. He dropped them onto his second hand before looking up at the tall trees surrounding him. Kirigakure was surprisingly green. At least, it was when you could see what was actually around you. The village was sandwiched between the beach in the west and a vertical cliff face in the east, with nothing but concrete, mist, and greenery in between.
"You wanna take turns searching different parts of the village?" Naruto suggested before shoving the handful of chips into his mouth.
Gaara glared at him, "That's exactly what we did in Kumo and it took us all day," he complained. The Sand shinobi looked around. For the first time since they got here, there was no fog in the city thanks to the winds blowing in from the coast. "There's no fog today… you wanna head to the highest point in the village and see if we can see any signs of the jinchuuriki?"
"That's a good idea," Naruto noted, "Kaede's place is pretty high up. I'm sure we could see the whole city from her balcony," he said before digging into the packet once more.
"Kaede?"
"My new girlfriend," he explained, pulling out another handful. He paused, "Wait… I have a girlfriend."
"Yeah, yeah, we all heard," Gaara said.
"No, I mean as in… we could just ask her to be our 'tour guide'," Naruto suggested, "Maybe while she's taking us around the village, we might stumble upon something interesting."
Gaara stopped chewing to stare at the Uzumaki through eyes as wide as dinner plates, "That's… a good idea. That's the first good idea you've had in three years, Uzumaki."
"Ouch?"
XXX
"What did you say she does again?" Gaara asked, looking around at the neighbourhood they'd found themselves in. They were two blocks away from the Kirigakure Business District meaning every building around them pierced the clouds yet was covered in foliage that drooped over some of the windows. Kaede's apartment was across the road from an office block with advertisement boards slapped across every skyscraper.
"She's a kunoichi," Naruto said, tapping the buzzer with her room number on it.
"Genin? Chuunin? Jounin?"
"Probably chuunin… based on her age, at least," Naruto shrugged, "Why?"
"Call it curiosity… this is a pretty nice place for a chuunin kunoichi," he noted.
His train of thought was interrupted by the microphone going off. A red dot lit up under the buzzer. "Hello?" a woman's voice echoed.
"Hello? Kaede? This is Naruto."
"Naruto? You're back. Should I ring you up?" she asked, her voice constantly breaking up thanks to the sound of squelching.
"No, no, I was wondering if you could come down here," Naruto asked.
"Down? Now? What for?"
"I wanted us to go for a walk around the village."
"Uh… sure. Why not? Let me just get dressed and I'll be down in a few minutes," she promised.
"Okay, no…" the squelching stopped. The red light flickered off. Naruto looked back at the Suna nin over his shoulder, "She said she's coming down," he repeated.
"I heard," Gaara said, taking a few steps back to look up at the top of the building. "How long do you think it'll take?"
"Maybe five minutes…" Naruto replied trying to gauge how long it took him to get to her floor. He slotted his hands into his pockets and paused to ask the redhead a question, "Hey Gaara… can I ask you something."
"Sure."
"How long did it take for you and… Emi to decide that you'll be boyfriend and girlfriend?" Naruto wondered.
Gaara had a think. "Technically… two years."
"Two years?"
"Yeah, well, she didn't start calling me her boyfriend until I returned to the Hot Water Village after our year in the Land of Snow. Before then, we were just going with the flow," he explained, "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know… it just feels a bit weird that after only a day, I'm already in a relationship with someone, you know? Everyone I ask says something fishy has to be going down but… I don't know, I trust her. So, I wanted to ask you because you seem to know more about girls than me."
Gaara shook his head vigorously, "I'm the last person you should ask about girls, Uzumaki. My relationship with Emi is much less of a two-party affair and more her, taking the reins, and me, letting it happen," he explained, "When we get back, you should talk to someone like Fuu or Han, they know a lot more about relationships than me."
"Yeah, I was thinking of asking Fuu or Hinata, but after what happened last night, it feels like I've done something wrong," Naruto picked up a pebble, "And I'm also not sure about Han either because he's been so stressed about the Three-Tails, Utakata, and the Akatsuki that it doesn't feel like a good idea to come to him with my relationship issues."
He threw the pebble at another pile of rocks across the street. He missed.
"What about Yugito Nii?"
"I don't know… I'm not really that close with Yugito."
"You've known her for three years," Gaara said, picking up his own pebble and tossing it.
He missed.
"Yeah, but…" Naruto picked up another pebble, "I don't know… she's always closer to Hinata and Fuu… and Han, than she has been to me… I've never had a moment to sit with her and talk outside of training."
He tossed it.
He missed.
"Yugito's probably the wisest person I know," Gaara explained, picking up another pebble, "Take the time to tell her about your problem. She'll listen."
"Yeah, I guess… I guess it's not very healthy having just you as my source of venting," he chuckled, "I don't know… I guess it's just because over the past three years I've almost seen you as a br…" Naruto paused. He didn't feel like finishing that sentence because the last time he said that to someone they drove a ball of lightning through his chest. What was he doing here?
Gaara nailed it. Knocking the pile of rocks, dead in the centre, and scattering them across Kiri's cobblestone roads.
"Let's go…" his celebrations were cut short by the glass doors behind him suddenly swinging open to reveal a fully cloaked woman with short curly black hair and bright green eyes. Naruto snapped back to reality and stood up to meet the woman as she walked out.
"Naruto," she greeted the Uzumaki with a warm embrace before slowly turning to the Sand sibling. Her warmth steadily cooled as she eyed the redhead from head to toe, "Who's this?"
"This is my friend, Gaara. Gaara, this is my girlfriend, Kaede."
"I've heard all about you," Gaara said, giving the younger woman a shallow bow.
Kaede smiled slightly, "You have? Where from?"
Gaara's brow furrowed, "From… Naruto…" felt like the obvious answer.
"Oh? Oh! Oh yeah! Sorry, I just woke up, so I'm a little confused," she gave Gaara a friendly bow back, "Any friend of Naruto's is a friend of mine, so it's nice to meet you. What's up?"
"We had a free day today, so we wanted to know if you were available to take us on a tour around the village?" Naruto said. Gaara and he had spent about twenty minutes coming up with an excuse and that was the best they could muster. As long as Naruto didn't seem too suspicious with his questioning, there was no reason for her to say no, right?
"Sure, anything, in particular, you wanted to see?" she wondered.
"No, not at all, we can just walk around… you know, just walk and talk."
"Sounds like a plan."
XXX
The first stop on the tour was Byakuren Beach. "It was named after the First Mizukage because it's believed this was the beach he landed on when he first founded Kirigakure," Kaede explained.
Naruto and Gaara were amazed at the sight of it. Neither Konoha nor Suna had beaches, Konoha, because it was in the middle of a forest, and Suna, because it was in the middle of a desert, so the moment they broke through the thick vegetation and were greeted by the loud and violent sounds of waves splashing against the coastline, they were awestruck. It was sensory overload. The sound of waves crashing into sand and rocks mixed with the sound of families enjoying the limited time in the day they had to tan and play in the water to create a euphony of childlike excitement.
"This is so cool," Naruto said, with stars in his eyes, "If I lived here, I'd visit the beach all the time!"
"No, you really wouldn't," Kaede giggled, "If you've been to the beach once, you've been to it a million times. There's never anything to do down here unless there's a festival going on or something," she explained. Naruto could see the light bulb come on over Kaede's head. She turned to them and asked, "Why don't you guys come down to the beach with me tomorrow?"
"That sounds like a great idea!" Naruto said.
"Well, 'you guys' would also have to encompass Hinata, Fuu, Hotaru, and probably Yugito and Han," Gaara said.
"I won't mind. I'd love to meet the whole gang," Kaede shrugged, "As I said, a friend of Naruto's is a friend of mine."
"Sounds like a plan," Gaara said, "But what is it actually like living in Kiri?"
"You'll have to be a little more specific than that," Kaede giggled, turning around to walk back into the thick shrubbery. Naruto and Gaara followed her into the thick shrubbery.
"I mean, I'm not sure if it's just me but everything feels so empty, and this is coming from someone who used to live in the Sand Village, so what do you usually do for fun?"
"Well, keep in mind it's only empty because a large majority of our shinobi are out in Kumo. Usually, this place is pretty lively, whether it's fish markets, merchants, shows, festivals or anything of the sort."
"Kumo? What is everyone doing in Kumo?" Gaara asked.
"They're preparing for the war."
"Against the Akatsuki?" Gaara wondered, to which Kaede nodded. The village felt like it was running at 30%-40% capacity. There must've been thousands of shinobi sent to the Land of Lightning if Gaara's calculations were correct. "There's like ten of them. How many people did the Hidden Mist send to Kiri for the streets to be so empty?"
Kaede did some mental mathematics, "I don't know… about 50 000?"
"50 000?"
"Keep in mind that not all of them are shinobi though. We also sent a lot of medics, cooks, blacksmiths, merchants, and healthy individuals who could be trained into combatants," she explained.
"That sounds like overkill to me, but if they sent 50 000 people to the Land of Lightning, then why are you here?" Gaara wondered.
"They needed some people to stay back to protect Kiri, and I volunteered," she said, "I'm not really much of a fighter."
"Really? What are you then?" Gaara asked.
Kaede wiggled her fingers in front of the redhead's face, "I'm a medic."
Gaara turned to Naruto for verification. He gave a shrug of confirmation. As his wounds could attest, she was a mednin and a good one at that.
XXX
The next points of interest were two buildings carved into the cliffside that loomed over the Hidden Mist Village. The first was a set of buildings that reminded Naruto of Konoha's ninja academy. The second was an area, filled with trees, rivers, and obstacles. It looked like a mini-ecosystem, but it was built into the cliff and Naruto could see it split into multiple sections and caves in the distance.
"Whoa, this is pretty cool," the Uzumaki noted. He lifted his head to read the board hung up in front of the first building, "Kiri Academy of the Gifted?"
"Yeah, this was my old school," Kaede explained, running her hands along the wooden poles holding the sign up, "Lots of memories were made here."
"And here?" Gaara asked, walking up to the large glass dome built into the cliff.
"Here? Well… a lot of nightmares were lived out here," she said, walking up to the terrifying structure, "This was the glass arena under which the Bloody Mist Academy Graduation Exams took place."
"The Bloody Mist Academy Graduation Exams?"
"Yeah… it happened once every year. 100 students walk in… 20? 15? 10? Sometimes even just one student walked out."
"What happened to the others?" Naruto wondered.
"They were killed in the arena."
"Killed? But… an academy graduate is supposed to be like twelve years old. Why would you volunteer your twelve-year-old child to be slaughtered in a giant glass dome?"
"It was supposed to build character. A Kiri shinobi was meant to be cold-hearted, calculated, and willing to ditch their emotions in order to unlock their survival instincts in a heartbeat," Kaede shook her head, "Interesting fact: to this day, if you look at age demographic charts of Kirigakure, you'll be able to track the generational gap left behind by the graduation exam!"
"Were you subjected to this type of graduation exam?" Gaara asked.
"No, no, I'm not that old," Kaede chuckled, "But I am old enough to have caught the tail end of the civil war that took place after…" she said before taking a step back and staring at the enclosure. It was so cold, so empty. Circular lights drilled into the cave's ceiling illuminated every nook and cranny of the hellish structure.
"It sounds like your village has been through a lot of turmoil," Gaara noted.
"Eh… what can you do? All we can hope is that the future generation is guaranteed a better life lived than ours," Kaede explained. She turned to the pair and clapped her hands, "But no need to dull the mood. Let's head down to the Mizukage's quarters."
"It's getting dark. How far a walk is it?" Naruto asked.
"It's literally around the corner. We'll stop there and I'll escort you guys back to your hotel," Kaede said.
Five minutes into their walk, the wind slowed to a halt and the thick Hidden Mist fog began to settle on the village, reducing visibility severely. Gaara needed to know, "How on earth do you see through this fog?"
Kaede shrugged, "I guess we're just used to it. Survival of the fittest and all that nonsense. Maybe if you guys decided to stay in Kiri and live here, you'd acclimatise to it too."
"Probably," Gaara replied, "Too bad we can't… we need to keep moving because… we're running away from our villages," he needed to think of a lie on the spot. Luckily, he knew Naruto had already messed up by showing her that he was a missing-nin.
"I mean, both Konoha and Suna are pretty preoccupied at the moment, so I don't think staying in hiding is that urgent, is it?"
"You would be surprised."
Kaede turned to walk backwards for a moment, "Now that I think about it. It's pretty surprising that a Konoha-nin and a Suna-nin would be running away from their villages together, especially after the Konoha Crush. How did you guys feel about that?"
"Bad. Very bad," Naruto spoke on behalf of his Sand partner, "In fact, that's where we met and realised how stupid this whole village system is, so we decided to desert."
"Heh, I wish I could do that."
"Why don't you?" Naruto asked, "You've been trying so hard to convince me to stay, it's my turn to convince you to leave."
"I can't. I'm too important to this village. Which is why I get my missions from the Mizukage herself… if I even thought about leaving the village, they'd have me in a disciplinary hearing before the day was over."
"A disciplinary hearing? That doesn't sound that bad," Gaara noted.
"They use disciplinary hearing euphemistically around here," she reiterated.
"Oh."
.
.
.
"What does euphemistically mean?" Naruto whispered into Gaara's ear.
"I'll tell you when we get back," he responded, "So, they're willing to lose two jinchuuriki, but they're willing to fight tooth and nail to keep you?"
"… That's the same question I ask myself every night. They must really like me," she joked.
They'd reached the steps leading up to the Mizukage's offices. She promised to be quick since she wasn't expecting any new missions. As soon as she was done, she'd take them back home, and for one last time, be their escort through the fog of war.
XXX
"Ooh, this is a nice place you've managed to get yourself," Kaede noted as they slowed to a halt in front of the tall hotel. "This is the type of place I doubt many people would be able to afford were it not for the travelling restrictions."
"You wanna come inside and meet the team?" Naruto asked.
"I'd love to!" Kaede's face lit up. She followed the pair through the beautifully decorated lobby and into the elevator. The team's room was a few floors below the penthouse and as they unlocked their door and entered the living room, they were greeted by… a sight.
Han was carrying a drunk woman on his back. Yugito had her hands over her face. She was being berated by Fuu, who, it seemed, had finally come up with the perfect team name, and was parading it around like a medal of honour. Naruto looked across the room to Hinata and Hotaru, who were in deep conversation with Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten.
"What on earth is going on?" Gaara asked aloud, shifting the whole room's attention to him, and then to Naruto, and then to the lady who was hiding behind him. "I promise we're not usually this chaotic," Gaara explained, "I lied. We are."
"Who is that?" Yugito was the first to ask.
Naruto wrapped one arm around her shoulder to bring her forward into the light. "Guys, this is my girlfriend. Her name's Kaede. Kaede, these are my teammates, this is Han. I don't know who the lady is. This is Yugito. This is Fuu. Hinata. Hotaru. Neji? Tenten? Bushy Brows?"
"Hey! Don't call me that!" Rock Lee yelled.
Suddenly, Naruto was surrounded. Everyone was eager to meet the new girl. For some, they wanted to know what woman was brave enough, or rather stupid enough, to be Naruto's girlfriend. For others, it was a matter of finding out who the competition was.
Naruto shifted his focus to Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee though, leaving Kaede to be absorbed by the swarm. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We heard about your encounter with the Akatsuki leader," Neji replied.
"We encountered the Akatsuki leader?" Naruto pondered. "You mean Itachi, Kisame, or Pain?"
"Wait, you ran into Itachi too?" Neji's eyes widened. He pulled Naruto aside to speak to him without the muttering of a crowd drowning out his words. With Neji preoccupied, Tenten and Rock Lee joined the crowd of interrogation specialists.
The questions were coming at her rapid fire.
"Where are you from?" Han asked.
"I'm from right here in Kiri," she answered, her back pressed against the wall.
"What drew you to Naruto?" Yugito wanted to know.
"Uh… I don't know… there's just an unexplainable feeling I get in my stomach when I look at him, when I talk to him, when I touch him-."
"Okay! My turn!" Fuu jumped in, asking a question on behalf of a more passive Hinata, "What made you decide to start dating him after only a day? Didn't you wanna get to know him better before committing to such a huge leap?"
"I'm dating him… we're not married," Kaede tried to understand the question.
"Would you marry Naruto?" Hinata asked.
Fuu pushed Hinata back before echoing her question, "Yeah, would you marry him?"
"I just met him."
"Exactly, so why date him if you have no intention of marrying him, ssu?"
"Because I wanted to date him?" Kaede wasn't sure if that was the answer Fuu wanted.
"Invalid reason," it wasn't.
"I'm not going to justify to you why I love him."
"Well, then did you stop to think maybe some people love him more than you?" Fuu asked.
Kaede eyed the mint-haired jinchuuriki, "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say you show up here out of the blue, uninvited, after claiming one of our members as your own after only knowing him for a few hours. I don't trust you."
"… And why the fuck would I care whether you trust me or not?"
"Language," Rock Lee butted in.
"Shut up!" Kaede hissed.
"Don't fucking tell Rick Lee to shut up, ssu!"
"Rock Lee…"
"Shut up."
Han tried to intervene and cool the situation down, "Okay, I feel like we've gotten off on the wrong foot here. How about we back up and…"
Rock Lee raised his hand to speak. "Can I ask a quick question before the tension rises?"
"What?" both kunoichi yelled in unison.
"I would just like to know where the restrooms are."
Han volunteered, "It's cool. I'll show you."
By standing between Fuu and Kaede, he'd become the sole peacekeeper, and Yugito tried to tell him that by reaching out and grabbing him, but she missed and clawed at the thin air in front of Kaede. The Kiri kunoichi's eyes widened as her danger alarms went off. Han and Lee exited the group, leaving Kaede surrounded by a semi-circle of kunoichi. One of which, she thought had just tried to swing at her. She slid her back against the wall until her shoulder blade hit the doorknob.
"No wait…" Yugito tried to explain that she was reaching for Han but the kunoichi had been spooked beyond reason. She threw open the door, drowning the room in silence.
"I'm not gonna stand here and be attacked for trying to introduce myself. I'm leaving. Naruto, are you coming with me?"
The Uzumaki had been locked in a conversation with Neji that was so interesting that he hadn't been paying attention to the conflict breaking out a few metres from him. "Huh?" he looked around, bright blue eyes laden with confusion, "Sure," he said before following her out through the door.
"Wait, Naruto, no…" Hinata tried to stop him, but Kaede slammed the door shut.
Han looked back over his shoulder to Yugito, who just had her face in her hands. He turned to face Gaara, who'd been watching from the corner of the room, making sure he wasn't involved in whatever was going down. "… That went well…"
"Shut up," Yugito muttered.