Things were going about as bad as Naruto could have expected. Even now as he trailed behind Jiraiya and Temari, all he could do was curse whatever entity of fate that deemed it entertaining to put him through a nightmare such as this. The Hokage hadn't even attempted to make it sound like there was any real reason for him to partake in this 'mission'. It was barely a mission; maybe a goose-chase at best and not a very good one at that. Naruto had half a mind to tell Jiraiya and the Hokage they were going senile if they thought tracking down Tsunade of the Sannin was a good idea, but he had bit his tongue.
It was surprising when he found out that Temari had opted to tag along willingly. She hadn't said so much as a word to him, offering Naruto only a handful of glancing looks for him to try and decipher what she was thinking. In retrospect, Naruto did find it amusing to be on the receiving end of such treatment for a change, finally understanding just how annoying it must have been for everyone to deal with him. That wasn't to say he planned on stopping anytime soon. He couldn't even blame her for it. He had been frustratingly silent towards her as well, the only difference being that he had kept his eyes on her almost the whole time since they had left Konoha.
He hadn't apologised yet. There hadn't been a good time yet. That was the excuse he was using anyway. The truth was he just didn't know how, or more accurately how he was meant to do it. Talking with Sakura had done very little to help the situation save for making it clear that nothing special was going to work with Temari. That left him with no option but to approach things simply and straight forward. It should have been easy. He should have done it already and moved on with his life. But here he was, dawdling behind her like a lost puppy as the words formed an uncomfortable lump in his throat.
It had been some time since Naruto had cut the mental connection with the Kyuubi. The fox refused to stop pestering him about how pathetic and infantile his behaviour was. He was almost ashamed to admit that the fox might have been right. Even if he wasn't sincere, apologising was something he hadn't exactly had a lot of practice at. It wasn't going to be pleasant, but he had to get over himself at some point and move forward. The longer he dragged this out the less chances he had of making things half way manageable with Temari, let alone using her to his advantage.
As his attention came back to reality, he noticed that they were currently traveling through a less than ideal part of the town they were in. Gambling dens, bath houses, and 'pleasure houses' lining the streets Jiraiya led them down, with the Sannin providing more than his fair share of leering stares to the women around them. To say Naruto was unsurprised would be a hilarious understatement. He knew the man's reputation. This was practically unavoidable considering Tsunade had a reputation for gambling. What was the Hokage thinking sending an unreliable pervert to the worst parts of nearby towns? Did the old man honestly expect any results from this venture with Jiraiya at the helm?
He turned his attention to Temari, who had also caught onto the sad reality of their situation. She looked irritated at Jiraiya's behaviour and antics, but was clearly restraining herself from saying anything. At this stage Naruto figured it was more out of necessity than any form of respect she had for the man. Assuming she had any left after today. Never the less, they continued to follow the fool for a while, watching on in shared embarrassment as he proceeded to ask what seemed to be completely random strangers' various questions, none of which held any relation to his old teammate or her possible whereabouts. If Jiraiya truly did have some sort of spy network, then Naruto was sure it only existed out of pure dumb luck.
"Should we ditch him?" Temari asked suddenly.
Naruto's jumped ever so slightly before he caught himself, giving the girl a surprised look. He hadn't even noticed her drop back from Jiraiya's side to walk with him. "What?"
"Jiraiya," she said. "Should we ditch him?"
Naruto didn't answer, instead stopping in the middle of the street, Temari mimicking him as they watched Jiraiya walk off by himself and disappear into the crowds.
"That was… easy," Temari said with an unimpressed frown. She had clearly overestimated how 'great' the Sannin was supposed to be based on reputation.
"Why did we do that?" Naruto asked, doing his best to hold back his continued surprise that the girl was even talking to him right now.
Temari shrugged. "It was getting old, and we aren't getting anything done sticking together in a group like that," she said. "We need to split up and cover more ground. Or better yet, search anywhere that isn't a brothel… or right next to one." She shuddered at the images now burnt into her mind for years to come.
Naruto nodded. He made a quick hand seal, three shadow clones suddenly bursting into existence around him before all shooting off in different directions. "They will search the town," he said. "If Tsunade is here then we should find her soon enough."
Temari crossed her arms. "That doesn't exactly leave us with much to do," she said with a pout.
"I can dispel one and leave an area for you if you'd like," he offered.
"No, no. It's fine. No point wasting chakra," she said before looking around curiously. "Do you think there's somewhere good to get food here?"
Naruto looked around and sniffed the air before gesturing for Temari to follow him. He wouldn't normally allow himself to use his heightened sense of smell for such a task if he were with his team or Jiraiya. Jokes aside, he didn't want anyone using him like a compass. Temari got a free pass this once, only because she had no idea he could sniff out the best food in any town or village like a nin-dog. "What kind of food are you looking for?" he asked.
"Uhh, anything at this point, as long as it's filling," she said, watching Naruto curiously as he continued to sniff the air every so often and walking through the town as if he knew the streets as well as Konoha. "Have you been here before?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No. I just know better than to look lost in a new place," he said.
Without a word Temari corrected her posture and stride until she was walking next to Naruto with the same amount of exuded confidence. She wasn't about to argue with sound reasoning. The unfortunate reality was that she no longer had her team at her side in these situations. She could afford to be relaxed and unobservant when Gaara was around. Anyone who tried anything would be dead before they succeeded. But now she had to be careful. Even with her village symbol still proudly strung around her neck, and the giant fan strapped to her back, it wasn't unlikely for someone to try something. Well trained or not, she was still a genin, and the last thing she needed was to look like an easy target.
"Don't worry, no one's been watching us," Naruto said, trying his best to be reassuring. If Temari's frown was anything to go by he was doing a poor job.
They walked silently for a minute until they reached a small food court. Naruto stopped in the middle of the road while Temari went to go and find her own food only to be stopped as Naruto gently grabbed her arm. He ignored her questioning look as he inhaled deeply through his nose and locked eyes on a particular store nearby. "Come on," he said, letting go of her arm as he went for the store.
Temari gave him a perplexed look as she followed. It was an odd little place that he chose, significantly smaller than the other restaurants in the area, perhaps even a little cheap and rundown by comparison. As she entered the building her opinion quickly changed as she caught a whiff of the smell of the food and she found herself wanting to drool a little.
"We'll take two curries," Naruto said to the waiter as he walked in and helped himself to an empty table for two, gesturing for Temari to sit with him.
Temari sat down across from the boy, leaning her fan against the wall beside her. "It's rude to order for someone without asking them first," she said offhandedly. She didn't really mean it, curry was always a welcome meal, but she had to say something. This whole scene was already too awkward for her liking.
"Trust me, if you don't want to eat the curry then I would stay hungry," he said, scrunching his nose up slightly. "Nothing else around here smells like it would sit well."
"Okay…?"
There was a good couple of minutes of silence as the two sat awkwardly, both doing their best to avoid eye contact while they waited for their food until Temari finally rolled her eyes and sighed deeply. "Alright, this is getting ridiculous!" she quipped sharply. "What are you doing?"
Naruto blinked innocently. "What do you mean?"
"This. All of this. Acting like nothing is wrong, looking out for what I eat, talking to me in the first place" she said. "None of this makes sense. So, what's your angle?"
"I'm trying to be nice."
"Yeah, well, it's a little weird."
"You're telling me," he mumbled.
"Besides, you were ready to kill me just the other day. What's the go with that? Are we just going to act like it never happened?"
"No," he answered through his teeth, quickly becoming… nervous?
"You didn't even try to talk to me until today and I had to talk to you first. You didn't come to the house yesterday. Why avoid me this whole time and suddenly start acting like nothing has happened?"
"I…" he mumbled something under his breath, barely more than a whisper as he avoided the girl's piercing green eyes.
"What?"
"I'msorryokay!" Naruto said quickly, rapid firing the words into one congealed mess of gibberish.
Temari looked at him in surprise, eyes wide and her next set of snarky words suddenly swallowed. "You're… sorry?"
"Yes," Naruto said defeatedly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hurt you, okay. It was stupid, I was stupid. You didn't deserve that and I'm sorry."
"I didn't think you were the apologetic type," she said, still processing.
"I'm not."
Temari couldn't help but smirk in response to the painful looking scowl on Naruto's face. He wasn't even trying to hide his displeasure at having said what he had, but that only made it all the sweeter for her. A shinobi that could swallow their pride and admit to a wrong was a rarity indeed. Before she could say anything else the two of them were presented with their meals. Two simple servings of beef curry with a side of rice. Her stomach grumbled at an almost audible level so she chose to waste no time in shovelling a couple mouthfuls in before she tried to continue. Eventually even Naruto dropped his sour expression and began eating, leaving him wide open.
"You've been mulling over how to say that this whole time, haven't you?" she asked with an all too knowing look as Naruto quickly glared at his food and refused to meet her eye.
"…No"
"Uh-huh, well, if it makes you feel any better, you don't have to be sorry," Temari said. "My brother tried to kill you first, so we are even I guess."
Naruto's eyes lit up slightly at the mention of her brother. "Is Gaara… okay?" he asked apprehensively.
Temari narrowed her eyes. "What do you care?"
"He's a jinchuuriki, like me," he answered as if it was the most obvious thing.
"And?"
"He's the only other one I've met…"
"Oh."
Naruto gave Temari an unsure look, something teetering between questioning and doubtful. "Your village tried to make him into a weapon…" his tone, much like his expression, was conflicting. It was as much a statement of fact as it was a request for an explanation.
Temari looked down in shame. She would have never wanted Gaara to suffer the fate he had, but at the same time she had done nothing to really fight against it. It didn't matter if her opinion or actions could have done anything for her brother at the time, all that mattered was that she didn't try. Her village would never know the true level of shame they ought to, but she would, and it would continue to weigh on her shoulders for as long she lived. "We did," she answered honestly. "Not Suna's proudest moment… or mine. My father thought Suna could become more than it is, establish itself as more than the weakest of the great five. So much for that."
"And now you're stuck here, with me."
"No," Temari said quickly, trying to give him the most reassuring look she could. "I had a choice. I could have avoided all of this."
"Yet here you are. Why?"
"Because if I didn't do it then they would have found some other idiot to fill the role," she said. "At least I am a shinobi. I knew, no matter what, I could handle whatever mess I ended up in, with whoever I ended up with."
Naruto tilted his head curiously. "You still sure of that?"
Temari smirked. "I already have you taking me to lunch," she said victoriously. "I'd say I'm handling you fairly well."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Come on. We better get back to the pervert before he gets into some real trouble," he said, pulling some money out of his pouch and leaving it on the table. "My clones are nearly done searching this town. Doesn't look like Tsunade is here."
Before he could walk off Temari grabbed his arm. "Look, I know you didn't have a choice in this, and I know you're just trying to keep your head down for whatever reason," she said, catching Naruto off guard a little. "Neither of us have to like the position we are in, and I don't expect you to care about me, as I'm sure you don't expect me to care about you. That being said, at a bare minimum we should try and work together to make our lives tolerable."
"Finish your food," Naruto said, gently pulling himself away from her grip. "I'll come find you once I've found Jiraiya."
As he left Temari in the restaurant he began slowly sifting through the memories of the clones that had begun to dispel. It had taken him an embarrassing amount of time to figure out how the memory transfer aspect of the shadow clones worked, and longer still to figure out how to manage it, but now he could use it to his advantage. Even now as he began his search for Jiraiya, he created several more clones to cover more area, making sure to leave one behind to keep an eye on Temari just in case. He hadn't forgotten the fact that it was likely there were those who would try to remove her from the equation to further the rift between Suna annd Konoha.
'This is going well,' the Kyuubi said.
'Something doesn't feel right,' Naruto said.
'With the girl?'
'No, with this town. Something just feels… wrong.'
The Kyuubi took a moment to reach out through the seal into Naruto's senses, feeling what little of the outside world that it could before it grinned wide enough to near split its face in two. 'I can feel it too,' it said almost excitedly. 'Someone wants to kill you.'
Naruto stopped walking immediately and blinked. 'What?'
'My chakra is drawn to the negativity of all living things. Humans are by far the easiest to sense, so infantile in your ability to conceal your true intentions."
'Get to the point already.'
'Someone nearby is doing a poor job of controlling their intentions to harm you,' the fox clarified. 'I cannot sense where they are outside of this prison and you are not nearly competent enough to truly utilise my ability. It would be wise to find the toad and…' the Kyuubi stopped mid-sentence as the world around him, the cage he had come to know so painfully well for the past thirteen years, suddenly vanished. The colour of Naruto's mindscape faded away to black and white as he found himself standing in an endless baren landscape beneath a red sky. 'Boy!' the fox yelled in confusion.
For a moment he dared not move. He had dealt with being trapped in seals before and knew firsthand how uncomfortable some of their inner working could be for him if activated. This was new to him. Had he been too hasty in his efforts? To just what lengths had that bastard fourth Hokage gone to with his imprisonment? When the sound of footsteps finally made themselves audible over his own internal frustrations, the Kyuubi found a rage burning inside him. A rage he had not felt since the night of the attack on Konoha. His eyes locked onto his target, teeth bared and the earth beneath him starting to crack under the pressure of his amassing power. The intruder stared at him with an indifference he knew all too well. An arrogance born of generations of unchecked hubris and power that should have been torn from humanity centuries ago. Even in the presence of a bijuu, those accursed red eyes didn't so much as blink in acknowledgement of what they perceived.
The Kyuubi grinned maliciously at his guest and growled deeply.
'Uchiha…'
Temari knew what to expect at this point. Jiraiya had done nothing to hide his shameful proclivities. Not that it bothered her. He was a man of notoriety and renown; it was not for anyone else to judge what he did with his spare time or his body. That being said, she did believe that he could have chosen better times to partake in such vices. Coming up to the third establishment in her little quest to find the old fool she sighed deeply before going in. The places were not disturbing as some of the more prudish would try to make her believe. The workers were surprisingly polite and helpful in guiding her in the right direction. She just couldn't understand how Jiraiya had the energy in him to power through so many places in one day. She knew she was going to find him passed out somewhere along the line.
"Temari!"
She spun around quickly as the man in question came racing up to her, a rather attractive woman unconsciously slung over his shoulder. That fact was only second in importance to the expression on Jiraiya's face. Temari hadn't seen the Sannin look so serious before.
"Where is Naruto?" he asked urgently.
"He went looking for you," she said. "Where have you been?"
Jiraiya looked around cautiously. "Where did you see him last? Take me there."
Temari didn't waste any time as she took off in a sprint, Jiraiya following close behind. "What's going on? And why do you have some girl on your shoulder?"
"It's complicated," he said. "Someone here is after Naruto."
"Another village?" Temari asked. "Who?"
"I'll explain everything later. Right now, we just have to find Naruto before…" they both stopped dead in their tracks, a massive pressure of chakra suddenly blanketing the town's outskirts before rapidly disappearing. "Before that," he said grimly, passing the unconscious woman to Temari. "Find somewhere safe and stay there. If things go bad, get back to Konoha and tell the Hokage it was Akatsuki."
Temari grabbed Jiraiya before he could take off. "Oh no! You are not just going to leave me here," she said. "If they are after Naruto then I should help."
Jiraiya groaned. "No, keep your distance," he said. "I will handle whoever is after Naruto. You just do whatever you can to get the townspeople away safely. Understood?"
Temari nodded, gently laying the woman on the ground. Jiraiya took off at a speed she couldn't hope to match and she followed his trail. The whole time her mind was racing at the implications of what was happening. There were people after Naruto? People strong enough to make Jiraiya of the fucking Sannin worried! What was she supposed to do with that information? Marrying Naruto was meant to be the most dangerous part of her life, not this. As she drew closer to the source of the immense chakra pressure, she felt it spike again, this time lasting a short while longer before once again simply vanishing. Temari knew the sensation that accompanied the pressure, the same dread inducing power she had felt when Naruto and Gaara had fought.
Back then it had filled the air for entire minutes, weighing down everything with its presence. She had no idea what could be causing it to spike and vanish as it was right now, but she knew it wasn't going to be good.
The Kyuubi's grin held fast despite the disinterested gaze set upon him by the Uchiha. The man's Sharingan slowly scanning the Bijuu and the empty plains around them, no doubt searching for Naruto. 'Do not waste your time, Uchiha,' the fox chortled. 'The boy will not succumb so easily to your eyes, not while I have anything to say about it.'
Itachi's eyes didn't so much as twitch before the Kyuubi suddenly found itself impaled to the ground by several large poles. Much to his curiosity, the beast continued to grin at him, a twistedly gleeful expression as if it was the only one in on an inside joke. It was unnerving. "Where is Naruto?" he asked calmly.
'Beyond your reach,' the Kyuubi said.
"This is your doing?"
It laughed. 'Foolish little Uchiha. To wander so arrogantly where he should not. Those precious eyes of yours have left you so blind.'
"Remember whose mercy you are at," Itachi warned. "This world is mine to control."
'I know all too well whose mercy I reside under, and now, so do you,' the Kyuubi said. 'Ask yourself, what sort of prison doesn't have a warden?' it said, earning a sharp look from the Uchiha. The beast chuckled as an expression of concern spread over the man's face. 'What sort of father would leave his own son so defenceless?'
"Itachi…"
No sooner had he heard the words had Itachi realised his mistake. He tried to react, his body refusing to budge, the world around him suddenly severed from his control, assuming it had ever been his to manipulate from the start. He understood now the folly of his actions. To think the fourth's sealing prowess was this extensive, to make a mockery of the Tsukuyomi so easily. His connection to Naruto's mind was severed as a blade sunk deep into his chest, and with his last moment of existence within that world Itachi knew he had not luckily escaped. No. He had been cast out. Permitted to leave.
'What have I done…'
Naruto stumbled as he clutched at his stomach. The seal burned and his head throbbed. 'What the hell!'
'The Uchiha!' the Kyuubi growled, pumping as much of its chakra through the seal as it could. 'Kill him, now!'
'Sasuke?' Naruto thought, regaining his bearings, and locking his sight on a man on his knees. A black cloak with red clouds, red eyes, and an eerily similar face. 'That's not Sasuke…'
'Destroy him!'
Naruto grunted as he quickly drew upon the mountain of chakra that was being flooded into his body. The Kyuubi had a short temper at the best of times, but this episode was a new level all together. Naruto had no intentions of playing it safe. His instincts were screaming at him and he knew that it was better to face whatever was happening with as much of an upper hand as possible. Overkill or not, he wasn't going to turn down this much of the fox's chakra when it was given so willingly.
As his features twisted and the chakra began bubbling to the surface of his skin, Naruto started towards the man. He was kneeling, breathing hard as if already exhausted, a small pool of vomit in front of him and blood leaking from his eye. He knew who the man was before he reached him. The similarities to Sasuke were disturbing. If anything, he would enjoy what was likely to be the closest he would get to killing Sasuke himself. Lunging forward, he reared his fist back, the chakra cloak now almost already formed, and brought it crashing down on… scales?
His chakra cloak evaporated quicker than it had formed and he felt his own chakra start to pull away from him until he jumped away. His angry, albeit confused glare was met with a shark tooth grin from a strangely large and fish like man, wielding what looked like a giant club made of shark scales. 'What happened to your chakra?' Naruto asked the fox, internally sighing in relief as he felt even more being pushed into his network.
'Do not worry about that. The Uchiha is right there. Kill him!'
"What's wrong, Itachi?" Kisame asked with a smirk. "Don't tell me this little brat got the better of you."
Itachi struggled back to his feet. It seemed a failed Tsukuyomi was more taxing than a successful one. "We need to leave," he said, wiping the blood from his eye.
"Don't worry, this won't take long," Kisame said, holding his sword towards Naruto as it wriggled free of its bandages. "Samehada likes the taste of the kid's chakra, and it looks like he has plenty to spare."
"We do not have time. Jiraiya will not be far."
Kisame grinned. "Then I guess I'll have to cut off his legs, that will make things much easier."
"You want me? Come and get me!" Naruto yelled. His one tailed chakra cloak already nearly reformed, he charged Kisame head on. Narrowly ducking under a slash, Naruto was frustrated to find the Kyuubi's chakra once again being ripped away from him despite the sword never making contact. He rolled out of the way as the blade crashed into the ground. At least he was not being completely underestimated. There was no sign of holding back in any of his attacks as far as physical force went.
"Hold still, brat," Kisame said, swinging and slashing at the boy with reckless abandon.
Naruto grit his teeth as he did his best to maintain his distance, a task much easier said than done. The man was fast for his size, even without his ridiculous overcompensation of a weapon, his reach made him challenging to hold at bay. Each attack was effortlessly followed up with another, every near miss costing Naruto more and more chakra, never giving him the chance to build up his cloak fully. The game of cat and mouse continued with Naruto trying and failing to backpedal fast enough to regain any standing.
Kisame frowned as he stopped and looked disappointedly at Naruto. "Guess the nine tails isn't what the stories made it out to be," he said. "Too bad. I was looking forward to this. But play time is over…"
He lunged at Naruto again, this time much faster and controlled than before. Dodging was out of the question. For all he was, Naruto was still only a genin, a child. Jinchuuriki or otherwise, his limitations were glaringly obvious. The wind was knocked from his lungs as the tip of the blade crashed into his stomach, the force behind the blow lifting him from his feet and pinning him to a nearby wall.
"Time to come with us," Kisame said, twisting the blade into Naruto's stomach, its scales extending into his flesh and tearing deep into his stomach, stopping only as Naruto muttered something through a mouthful of blood. "Huh? What was that?"
Naruto gripped the blade, managing to force it back just enough to take a shallow breath before glaring at the shark-like man, his eyes wavering between blue and red. "I said… you're-Argh!" he cried out in a mix of shock and pain as the tip of Samehada opened to reveal a large gaping mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth before biting down into his side. His struggles did nothing to the creature as its mouth greedily filled with blood, its delighted wriggling only furthering his pain and further adding to the pain. With each passing moment it continued to leach away at Naruto's chakra.
"A true shame. Samehada seems to be really enjoying your chakra. Maybe if you survive, I will keep you around as a snack," Kisame taunted, hoisting the boy's body away from the wall and slamming him to the ground, Samehada still hungrily feasting even as the boy's chakra presence became no more than a flicker.
"Kyuu… bi…"
"Hurry up and pass out already," Kisame said impatiently, twisting the blade again, this time receiving no response. His victorious smirk was dropped when he felt chakra erupt from the boy and Samehada began to flail about wildly. "What the…" he froze as chakra lunged out of the boy's body, wrapping tightly around his sword, and holding it in place. His chakra rapidly growing despite Samehada's efforts and showing no signs of stopping.
"Take… over…"
There was a moment of pause, the calm before the storm so to speak. An instant of contemplation on the bijuu's behalf. The Kyuubi could feel everything, right down to the now struggling heartbeat of its vessel. The benefits of being its prison did not guarantee survival sadly. The boy could still die. Such a death would admittedly be much harder to achieve than normal for a human, but still a boringly simple task. He sat there, looking curiously at the mental representation of Naruto, laying broken before him, his hand outstretched towards him pleadingly. It was pathetic, weak, disgusting. To have been put in such a state so quickly. But now he had an opportunity he had never considered available.
The seal was still strong, but it wavered with the life force, desperately expanding its functions to draw more of the beast's chakra forth in a futile attempt to keep the boy alive. In its efforts to save Naruto, the seal's inner workings had opened a window. Such a flaw could not be passed up.
'With pleasure.'
Jiraiya's stomach turned itself inside out as he felt the chakra presence consume the very world around him. There was nothing else left but the rage and sickening bloodlust. He reached the scene all too late as he watched a large shark-like man get tossed through a building like a rag doll. Landing in what was left of the street, he stared down the one thing he wasn't prepared to fight. God help him once the Hokage found out about this mess.
It was smaller than he expected, not much larger than Naruto's normal size. Whatever semblance of human appearance there had been was long gone. Its face distorted with an abhorrently large toothy grin, two large ears atop its head, and four long tails of chakra swaying behind it. Had this been any other situation he might have been excited to see the capabilities of such access to the nine tails, but now was not the time or place. Biting his thumb he placed his hand on the ground.
"Summoning jutsu!" he said, a large seal spanning out around him and followed quickly by several large puffs of smoke.
When the air cleared Jiraiya was glad to see two toads either side of him. The first was somewhat larger toad sporting samurai like armour, the second an oddly shaped toad of a more cylindrical form levitating above the ground. Both seemed neither surprised nor afraid of what they were seeing before them.
"This is a right mess you've dragged us into, Jiraiya," Gerotora said, his tone doing nothing to hide his displeasure.
"There will be plenty of time to tell me you told me so once we've saved Naruto," Jiraiya quipped. "Gama, you're on collateral. Try to limit what damage the Kyuubi can do and who it can hurt. Gerotora, you're with me. As soon as I have him pinned, tighten the seal!"
He wasted no time after giving his orders, already blitzing through hand seals. He had to stop Naruto, the Kyuubi, whichever one was in control, it did not matter. Gama was just as quick to launch into his role, heading off to ensure no civilians got caught up in what was to come. Thankfully, or unluckily, the Akatsuki had apparently ditched their plan to snatch Naruto, but now that left Jiraiya alone to deal with a loose jinchuuriki. He furrowed his brow as the beastly form before him focussed its attention on him, four tails of red swaying arrogantly behind it with the cloak bulging ever so slightly as to threaten a fifth. This was not going to be good.
"Swamp of the underworld!"
Her fan snapped open with a flick of her wrist, feet digging hard into the ground as she swung with all her might, sending forth a tidal wave of wind imbued with as much chakra as she could muster hurtling down the street, or rather what was left of a street. As quickly as her jutsu had been unleashed was it stopped dead in its tracks, crashing violently into a gale of wind that dwarfed even her most powerful techniques.
"Everybody down!" she yelled, grabbing a nearby child, and pulling them close as she put her fan up as a shield.
The explosion that followed rocked the buildings around them. Wind tore through the streets and sliced at everything it touched, throwing debris around as effortlessly as kicking up dust. It whirled around them, nipping at her skin, tearing at her clothes, slicing its way through the fabric of her fan as she fought to hold it in place. And then it was gone. As the dust settled Temari let the child run off to safety, letting out a deep sigh of relief as she looked around. Barely no one was hurt this time, save for a few cuts and bruises here or there and a bit of dirt in the eyes. She winced, holding her side gently as she remembered being thrown down an alleyway by the first explosive force of nature. A few cracked ribs was getting off easy.
She folded her fan back up, ignoring the tattered remains of its insides and snuck into a nearby building to catch her breath. These were the last of the civilians close enough to be in any real danger, and they would be out of harm's way soon enough. Thankfully, by whatever divine charity, Jiraiya was managing to keep Naruto contained. Temari had no idea how the Sannin could fight something like that, never mind be on the winning side, and yet he was doing it, if only barely. There was no questioning it now, the man certainly deserved his reputation.
Temari was still reeling from the past… hour? how long had it been? She could not remember. From the moment she had gotten close enough to see what Naruto had become everything had become a blur. Her training had kicked her into autopilot the instant she realised her life and everyone around her was at risk. She knew trying to help Jiraiya was pointless, she would only get in the way and probably get killed in the process. She figured that her best use was sorting out the civilians. Working alongside a giant toad was an interesting development though, even if she thought she was imagining it at first.
"Temari," Gama said, hurrying to her side. "Are you well?"
Nope. Not a hallucination. "I'll be fine," she said, waving off his worried gaze. "What's going on?"
Gama turned his attention to the direction of the battle. "It seems to have come to a conclusion."
He was right. Temari could feel it in the air. The wind had died down and the overpowering sensation of dread and despair had diluted. Never again would Temari take for granted the luxury of a clear mind and the absence of an iron weight in her stomach. "What now?" she asked.
"We should find lord Jiraiya," Gama said with certainty. "I can carry you if you are injured."
"No, no, I can walk," she said, lightly holding her side as she made her way back towards the origin of the mess surrounding her.
Humbling did not begin to capture the essence of what happened here. As she made her way through the empty streets and remains of what was admittedly a not so small part of the town, Temari realised just why jinchuuriki were held in such high regard. It had always perplexed her why jinchuuriki were so valuable. Why her father went to such lengths with Gaara when there were individuals capable of stomping down her little brothers rampages so easily. In a way, she understood that there were always going to be freaks of nature like many of the past and present Kage. It was not until now that she fully comprehended the value of a jinchuuriki, especially one containing one of the greater Bijuu. Sure, there were monsters that would come and go, but this, this was an act of nature. The bijuu were natural parts of the world. Their power would never waver, they would never just cease to exist like a lone shinobi, never fade to old age or time.
Jinchuuriki were a constant power dynamic of the shinobi world now, and Naruto was potentially the most dangerous of them all.
"Temari!" Jiraiya called out, wasting no time in reaching her. "Are you alright?" he asked, looking her over fretfully.
Temari shrugged. "A few bruises I think, but I'm okay," she said, doing her best to give him a reassuring smile through the pain. Her smile was quick to fall as she saw the large patch of blood soaked into the side of Jiraiya's shirt. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Jiraiya smiled sheepishly. "No," he answered simply, clutching his hand to his side. "I'll live, but that little brat is much faster than I expected him to be. As much as it hurts my pride to admit but if I had of underestimated him any more than I had, he might have had me."
Temari tried to match the man's nonchalant attitude to his apparent near-death scenario as she looked around them curiously. "Where's Naruto?"
"He's safe," Jiraiya said reassuringly. "We might be banged up, but he is much worse for wear. Gerotora took him back to mount Myoboku. Ma and Pa should be able to start on his recovery until we can find Tsunade."
"We're going to keep looking for her?" Temari asked incredulously. "Shouldn't we stay here and help these people?"
"Teams from Konoha will already be on their way here. The most useful thing you and I can do right now is finish our mission and get to Tsunade before anyone else does."
"How does Konoha know to send teams already? Who were those people after Naruto?"
Jiraiya sighed. "Look, there's a lot going on that you don't know and the less you know the better."
"If it has something to do with Naruto then it involves me and I deserve to know," Temari said, crossing her arms in annoyance despite how much it hurt. A point had to made after all.
"I will explain as much as I can once we get away from here."
"No."
"What do you mean no?"
"I'm not helping you until I get a good explanation of what the hell is going on here and what kind of danger you and that senile Hokage have gotten me into," she said. "Take me to where Naruto is. I will help look after him while you go play runabout for your old teammate. Feel free to pop by when you are ready to let me in on what mess I am caught up in."
Jiraiya frowned. "We don't have time for this."
"No. You don't have time for this," Temari said. "I have all the time in the world."
With a role of his eyes Jiraiya turned his attention to Gama. "Take her to Ma and Pa," he said, receiving a bow from the toad before he looked back at Temari. "I'll be joining you soon enough. I will explain everything, I promise."
"Looking forward to it," she said as Gama placed a hand on her back and the two disappeared.
Jiraiya let out a deep breath as he knelt, still clutching his bleeding side. This was way worse than just a little mishap. He knew it, and everyone else across the elemental nations would know it before too long. Akatsuki were becoming much more active earlier than he expected and Naruto was in no condition to handle them. Temari was just icing on the cake. The Hokage's scheming might have some worth, but it would not do much good if the girl died along the way.
He focussed as best he could, his hand glowing a dim green against his side. He was no medic-nin, but he had learnt just enough from his teammates to not let himself die so easily. As he regained his breath and composure, he began to feel frustrated at himself. This could have been all avoided. He was being too relaxed, too careless.
"Tsunade, please, for old time's sake, don't kill me as soon as you see me."
As the sensation of consciousness slowly dripped back to him, Naruto became aware of two very prominent facts. Firstly, he was not dead. This was both a welcome surprise and a confusing ordeal as the last thing he remembered was letting the Kyuubi take control in a desperate attempt to not die from the freaky shark guy. Secondly, and arguably most importantly, his entire body felt like he was lying in a pool of lava after being caught in a landslide. Pain was tolerable most of the time. Whatever this was, it was not pain. It was a cruel and prolonged death with a deceptively pleasant smell and…
Wait.
His internal screaming halted as he sniffed the air curiously and tried to feel where he was. His head hurt too much to try and open his eyes yet, but from what little he could gather while fighting the agony was interesting. He was laying on something soft, his head propped up comfortably, and there was an occasional cool sensation on his face that brought much-needed relief. He sniffed again, ever so slightly turning his head towards the source trying to remember the scent until he felt the softness under his head stiffen slightly.
"If you say I smell bad I will end you," Temari warned.
Naruto braved the light as he cracked an eye open and stared up at the blonde from her lap. Despite her warning tone she had a soft look on her face as she soaked a towel in some cold water and put it back on his head. He opened his mouth and tried to speak but could not get more than a croak out.
"Here," Temari said softly, bringing a small dish to his mouth and helping him drink it.
As the liquid hit his tongue his face twisted at the flavour, but he drank it down greedily, coughing and spluttering as he finished. "What the hell was that?" he asked hoarsely.
"No idea," she admitted. "The toads gave it to me and said it would help us heal. It is an acquired taste, but it does a good job."
"Where are we?"
"Mount Myoboku. Jiraiya sent you here to recover after you lost control."
Naruto ignored her jab at him. "Where is he?"
"Still looking for Tsunade, I think. We have only been here a couple days so I imagine he has not made much progress."
"Why are you here?" Naruto asked.
Temari applied the wet towel to his forehead again. "Someone had to come and look after you," she said dismissively. "The toads wanted to put you in a mud pit." Naruto tried to sit up but was quickly pushed back down. "Don't even think about it," Temari said sharply. "You are not moving until Ma says its safe. Until then you will just have to lay there and put up with me."
Minutes went by in silence as Temari continued to tend to him. Naruto had never experienced this kind of treatment, this gentleness. It was a pleasant change, but nothing he would risk getting used to. As he slowly got used to the feeling of his own heartbeat pumping through every inch of his body, he began to try and reach inwards. Ever since he had discovered it, his mindscape, or rather the realm trapped within the seal, had been easy enough to get to. Too easy if you asked him. But for whatever reason he was having more difficulty with it this time. It couldn't have been the pain, that would normally make it much easier. Something was blocking him.
'Kyuubi? Are you there?'
"…"
'Fox?'
Nothing. Not a sound, not even the sensation of a disgusted side eyed glare. He lifted his heavily bandaged hand and clutched at the seal on his stomach, drawing a curious look from Temari.
"The medicine making you feel a bit sick?" she asked.
"No," Naruto started, "The fox… I can't…"
"That blasted fox isn't going to be making any more trouble for quite some time!" Ma announced, making her presence known as she hopped into the room.
"What did you do?" Naruto asked through gritted teeth.
Ma huffed. "What we should have done years ago when that seal started leaking too much into you," she said. "We warned Jiraiya-boy that it needed mending, but would he listen to us, no. And now look at the mess. We were lucky to be able to tighten it back up at all. You should be grateful, boy. If Gerotora had been any slower you'd be ripped apart from the inside."
"You can tighten his seal?" Temari asked.
"Feh, it should never have been allowed to become so loose to begin with," Ma muttered. "The seal key wasn't designed to remedy such things so consider yourself lucky that it worked at all."
"Undo it!" Naruto seethed.
Ma ignored him and instead turned her attention to Temari, the poor girl lost in thought. "Whatever questions you're brewing up about the seal and its key had best be left for Jiraiya-boy," she said. "We toads don't entertain the delusion of understanding whatever it is that the fourth Hokage did in sealing the Kyuubi. Nor would we try and help anyone foolish enough to try and replicate it."
Temari's hopes fell as quickly as they risen. "Has Jiraiya found Tsunade yet?" she asked. At the very least she could grill the old pervert about the seal.
"We have yet to hear anything. None of our scouts have been summoned either."
"Can't you reverse summon him back here?" Naruto asked.
"As entertaining as it would be to watch you attempt to lash out at him, no," Ma said amusedly. "The summoning contract will warn us if he is in danger. Until then he is perfectly capable and likely has his reason for being so quiet. Which thankfully gives me all the time I need to make sure you don't go hurting yourself any more than you already have. Last thing me and Pa need is to be chewed out for being bad babysitters." She hopped over to Naruto's side and unwrapped the bandages covering his arm, frowning as she poked at the painfully raw skin beneath. "Girly, go find Pa," she instructed. "He won't be far. Have him show you were to get some soothing mud and bring me back a pot of it. Me and young Naruto here need to have a little chat."
Temari carefully got up, making sure to gently lower Naruto's head down onto a rolled-up blanket before leaving. What little time she had spent here was more than enough to know not to disobey the elder toads. She could only clean the slime out of her hair so many times after a tongue powered slap up the side of the head.
As soon as Temari was out of earshot Naruto grumbled. Trying to move was pointless. His body still had a long way to go before he could run away from being chewed out. The only plus side is that there was no way Ma was any worse than the Hokage at this. So long as he was healed enough to run when it came time to confront the old man, he'd be okay. "Let me guess, you're going to tell me how reckless and stupid I was. How I should be more careful with the power I contain?" he asked.
Ma rewrapped the bandages on his arm. "Sounds like you already know that lesson," she said. "Hearing it again won't help you, and I've no interest in wasting my time. No… I have something much more important to pick your brain about."
"I'm not going to like this am I?"
"That depends on how honest you're feeling today," she said, hopping onto his chest and peering down at him. "So, why don't you start by telling me exactly what it is that stupid old fox has been telling you."
A/N:
Well, it has been a long while since I updated anything. Sorry about that everyone, life got away from me.
I had most of this chapter written ages ago but figured I might as well wrap it up and get something out there. Still trying to get back into the swing of things too so I apologise for the less than standard quality of this one. Pacing is a bit off, but I don't quite remember where things were meant to be heading so changes were made and I think I have a devent grasp of what should come next.
As always, any and all reviews are appreciated. Thank you all so much for your patience if you're still tagging along.
Until next time.
Soul out.