Kabuto had been dealt his fair share of shit situations in life. No one who knew what he had been through could deny that. Even now, tending to Orochimaru as the Sannin's personal medic, could be seen as an extremely unfortunate time in his life. When he had joined up with the Sannin, he had never imagined he would end up just being another tool for someone to take advantage of. But much like Danzo, and Sasori, Orochimaru was proving himself to be no better than any other power-hungry fool that flaunted their power and influence. Kabuto wasn't sure why he had expected better. Perhaps it was just his positive naivety at the time. Oh well, it no longer mattered. Such thoughts of ever finding someone who didn't use him as such were now long dead and buried.
He frowned deeply as he was forced to dodge another clone of Naruto. The infuriating orange clad boy was simply too annoying to fight one on one. Not that it was ever a one-on-one fight. Just how many clones could he make? With the swiftness and precision of a surgeon, he sliced through four of the clones with his hands, using the smoke clouds from their dispelling to creep forward and cut down three more. The only thing he found at least partly enjoyable about this fight was the ferocity in which Naruto was attacking him. Kabuto would be the first to admit that not being underestimated by an opponent for once was somewhat flattering. He would certainly not enjoy killing the boy now, and if possible, he would make it a quick and painless death out of simple respect. The girl however…
He rolled out of the way of a large blade of wind that sliced deep into the ground where he was. The smoke cleared and Kabuto glared at Temari in annoyance. The girl's presence here was an unpleasant surprise. The ground shook as the battle between the Sannin continued on in the distance, their summons now entering the mix. Kabuto needed to sort these two children out and return to Orochimaru quickly. No matter how pointless his service to the man might be, Kabuto didn't have many options available to him at the moment. Charging at Temari, he planned to take her out of the equation first, her long-range fighting being the biggest hindrance to him. Ducking and weaving around a small group of Naruto clones, he systematically slaughtered each as he passed by until he was nearly within reach, only to suddenly back off, narrowly missing the chakra scalpel aimed at his neck.
With a smile he turned his attention to his third opponent. "Three against one seems a bit unfair, doesn't it?" he said, adjusting his glasses. This was a bad situation for him to be in. Kabuto knew he could destroy any one of these three on their own, but together they proved to be a nuisance. Tsunade's apprentice alone was already a big enough hurdle to begin with.
"The likes of you don't get to talk about things being fair," Shizune said, both of her hands glowing green as she lowered into a fighting stance.
Being set upon by another group of clones, Kabuto dispatched them just in time to dodge another blade of wind before he found himself backpedalling as Shizune charged him. Blocking and weaving between each of her strikes, Kabuto could only smirk as he noted all the holes in her form. All this time away from the village had clearly not done the woman any favours. Catching one of her hands by the wrist, he backhanded her other hand away and landed a single open palm strike to the woman's chest, watching in delight as she collapsed to her knees.
Turning his attention back to the other two, he smiled. "Now then, where were- argh!" Kabuto cried out and leapt away, clutching at his now bleeding side. Glaring back at Shizune, he found her still on her knees, a smirk of her own now on her face and a lightly glowing hand covered in his blood. He hissed through his teeth as his own hands began healing his wound. How she was still able to move after he messed with her nervous system like that was impressive. Clearly, he had underestimated her.
"Don't forget about us!" Temari yelled, slashing at Kabuto with her small fan, interrupting his healing and putting him on the defensive yet again.
Kabuto was seething internally. Every chance he got to make use of an opening in Temari's attacks, he was interrupted by more clones. To think Naruto was tactical enough to cover all the girl's blind spots with sacrificial clones while waiting in the background. Neither of the blondes were giving him a chance to breath or recover. At this rate, the medic-nin would run out of chakra or blood before he landed another decent strike. It was impressive.
"Rasengan!"
Kabuto twisted himself to avoid the swirling ball of death aimed for his head. Lashing out with his scalpel yet again, he expected the clone to pop, only to be met with the sensation of his hand cutting deep into flesh before a crushing grip ensnared his wrist. With wide eyes Kabuto watched Naruto grin wildly, the rasengan dissipating from his hand as he twisted mid air and forced the medic-nin's arm into a painful outstretched position.
"Temari, now!" Naruto yelled.
Eyes wide in realisation, Kabuto forced his body against the arm hold, dislocating his shoulder in the process as he tried to pull free, but it was too late. With a swift motion, the girl's fan, coated in wind chakra, came down on where he once stood and where his arm now was, slicing through flesh and bone like a kunai through water. With a squelch, Kabuto felt his limb pull away from his upper arm, held by an all too happy Naruto as he and Temari put distance between them again. Holding his bleeding stump, he glared at Naruto. He would make that little bastard pay for this, the girl too.
Naruto grinned as he held up the severed arm and dropped it as his feet. He winced as he held his own side, blood seeping through his fingers. Kabuto had cut deep, but it wasn't enough to stop him thankfully, only slow him down. A fair trade off considering what Naruto had taken in return. His focus turned to Shizune, who was now back on her feet, obviously overcoming whatever technique Kabuto had used on her. That was a relief. If the woman had died out here, then Tsunade truly would be a lost cause. He didn't want to deal with an inconsolable Sannin right now. Glancing at Temari, he was glad to see her at the ready, blood dripping from her fan, clearly wanting to finish Kabuto here and now.
It had been a surprise to see how well Temari and himself could work together with such short notice. Not to say it was perfect by any means, but their skillset was compatible for the moment. Naruto couldn't imagine how bad this fight might have been going otherwise. When Tsunade had dropped the bombshell of Orochimaru, it had been a simple matter to plan for the eventual clash. Jiraiya and Tsunade obviously taking their old teammate, with Naruto, Temari, and Shizune to distract, and if possible, eliminate, the snakes lacky. It had been assumed that Shizune would be doing the main share of the fight, not that that idea worked out too well. At least he had enough time to get the rasengan down well enough to use. Now if only he could land it on Kabuto.
"Are you okay?" Temari asked, eyeing Naruto's bloody side.
"Yeah," he said. "Nothing that can't be fixed up after we finish this." He internally scoffed at even needing to be fixed in the first place. If Jiraiya would just undo his tampering of the seal, he would already be healing. The stupid old man would rather gamble with Naruto's life than risk the damn fox throwing another tantrum.
"I don't know if we will get another lucky shot like that again," Temari said, noting how pissed Kabuto looked now. "Got any bright ideas?"
Naruto took a deep breath that hurt more than it should have. "Think you can use some wind to throw me?" he asked.
Temari inspected her fan unsurely. It was so much smaller than her normal battle fan. She wasn't sure just how far she could push it without breaking it and breaking it on the off chance of landing another hit wasn't in the cards. Without it she wouldn't be able to project her techniques the distance she needed to, and close combat with Kabuto would be a death sentence. "It would be a one-shot sort of deal, but probably," she said.
"Hold onto it then. Keep your distance and check on Shizune," Naruto said, making a hand seal before another squad of clones surrounded him, all of them quickly heading back into the fray. At the very least he could keep Kabuto on his toes until Jiraiya and Tsunade finished off Orochimaru.
Jiraiya grinned as he blocked another sloppy punch from his former teammate. Planting a kick to the man's middle, he sent him flying away and off the head of Gamabunta before going through hand seals. "'Bunta, now!" he yelled, spurring the giant toad to suddenly spew forth a stream of thick oil from its mouth. Hitting its intended target, the stream of oil saturated the giant snake summons, Manda, and began mixing with the expansive mud pit that Jiraiya had already turned the battlefield into. "Toad oil flame bullet!" Spewing forth his own stream of fire, Jiraiya watched on as the oil ignited and covered everything before them in a flame so hot it felt as if the very air around them was on fire.
Manda hissed out in pain, thrashing and spooling his long body around in the mud in a desperate attempt to put the flames out before disappearing in a giant cloud of smoke. Orochimaru, having been unceremoniously dropped into the mud as his summons vanished, scowled as his own body was engulfed in the fowl mixture of oil and flame. Crawling out of the mud and fire, he unhinged his jaw, a new and fresh version of himself shedding his former skin as it slithered from his mouth to escape the wounds. This day was not going how he wanted it to, and he had no one else to blame but Tsunade. The stupid cow couldn't have just come with him peacefully and saved everyone the trouble. Just what was taking Kabuto so long with those children?
"Don't tell me this is all you've got," Jiraiya said, Gamabunta dispelling behind him as Tsunade landed at his side. "All that talk about becoming the most powerful ninja to live, and this is what you've become?"
Tsunade snorted. "You couldn't even kill sensei by yourself. Just give up, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru smirked. "That senile old fool is already dead. Just you wait. That forbidden jutsu he used will exact its price soon enough," he said, feeling some semblance of enjoyment at the confused looks on his old teammate's faces. "Oh? Did sensei not tell you? Such a secretive fool he is."
"What are you talking about?" Tsunade asked.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the snake. "I had been curious how he managed to face off against not only you, but the reanimated first and second Hokage," he said. "I bet you're just dying to tell us."
"Perhaps," Orochimaru said. "But it is so much more fun to watch you squirm for now. Be sure to ask dear sensei just what jutsu he used during our little fight when you get back to the village. He'll be honest with you, wont he? His oh so precious and loyal students."
"You're coming back with us Orochimaru," Jiraiya said, getting ready to jump at the man again. "You have a lot to answer for. You're choice. Here and now, or back in Konoha."
Orochimaru laughed. "Still no more than a dutiful tool of Konoha," he said. "Sensei must be so proud of you." His eyes turned to Tsunade. "I would think carefully before you take the hat, Tsunade. The weight of Konoha's darkness weighs heavily on all who wear it." With that said, he vanished in a swirl of leaves.
"That slimy prick," Tsunade said. "Come on, we can at least grab that little medic brat."
Jiraiya frowned as he followed her, Orochimaru's warning repeating in his mind. He would have to speak to Sarutobi when he got back to Konoha. If anyone knew anything about the dark underhanded goings on within Konoha, it would be Orochimaru, and Jiraiya couldn't help but feel he was being left out of a lot. He only hoped it wasn't anything that would follow Tsunade into the role.
Naruto winced as he was kicked back by Kabuto, his clones popping out of existence as the older boy tore through them in a rage. Missing arm or not, Kabuto was still leagues above Naruto when it came down to it. No amount of outnumbering him was going to fix that if his clones couldn't hold up after a single good hit. He looked over towards the girls, Temari standing guard for Shizune while the older woman got her body back in order. He wished Shizune would hurry up. With a deep breath he took his stance again and stared down Kabuto. Surely Jiraiya and Tsunade would be here soon enough to end things.
His eyes widened as Kabuto rushed him faster than he could follow. Jumping back just in time to avoid the first slash, he wasn't quick enough to avoid the second, bringing his arms up to block the downward cutting motion. Naruto grit his teeth, the chakra blade slicing deep into his forearms. The feeling in his hands quickly faded as the blood soaked into his jacket and his arms fell limp to his sides, proving useless to block the spinning kick that connected to his jaw and sent him crashing to the ground.
"I was going to kill you quickly out of respect, Naruto," Kabuto said, barely contained rage in his tone. "But now, I think I'm going to take my time cutting you down."
"Back off!" Temari yelled, jumping between them, her fan ready.
"Naruto," Shizune said, already at his side and glowing hands working fast to repair his arms. "Are you okay?"
Naruto glared at the woman. "Don't worry about me and kill him already," he shouted.
"With pleasure," Temari said, sending a blade of wind at Kabuto.
Naruto watched as Temari continued her attacks, each one more focused on keeping the distance between the two than actually killing him. Not to say she wasn't trying. He had to give her credit for being so quick to cut Kabuto's arm off. His fingers twitched as Shizune continued healing him. She was good at that at least, but he wasn't sure if it was enough. He needed to get back in the fight and soon. It was unrealistic to think Temari could play keep away forever. Her jutsu and movements had already started to slow, and if Naruto was noticing that then Kabuto absolutely saw it too. A loud crashing sound rung out over the fields, and everyone turned their attention to where the Sannin had been fighting. The giant snake was engulfed in flame, writhing in pain before suddenly dispelling, followed soon enough by the giant toad. That seemed promising.
"Oh, Kabuto. I leave such a simple task to you, and this is what happens?" Orochimaru asked, appearing nearby and regarding the scene before him with clear disappointment. "Perhaps you aren't as useful as I first thought."
Kabuto grimaced at the realisation that what his master was seeing was less than comforting. Being so grievously wounded by two genin of all things was humiliating enough, but to have his lord see his failings may as well have been a death sentence when Orochimaru was involved. With a hardened stare, he went for Temari once more, ignoring his pain as she let loose another, albeit significantly smaller, blade of wind that left a shallow gash in his leg. His steps didn't faulter as he closed the distance, his once remaining hand reared back and aimed straight for the girl's chest. He may have failed to kill the others, and he might have lost and arm, but he would make sure to take far more from them before he had to depart.
Naruto's eyes were wide and locked onto the older boy. He knew a suicide charge when he saw one. It was one of his personal favourites. A sinking feeling appeared in his stomach as he watched Temari's wind blade do nothing to stop Kabuto's charge. She had exhausted herself, and Kabuto was still much faster than her even if she hadn't. She was dead already. Naruto growled as he realised what was coming, what he was about to watch happen right in front of him. He didn't care if people died. He had killed before, seen others die before. But Temari wasn't just anyone. She was a nice enough girl, sure, but she was so much more than that. She was his key to a better life within Konoha. She was his ticket to getting the Hokage off his back, a chance to be more than just the Kyuubi jinchuuriki in the eyes of his village. Temari was not allowed to die, not now. Kabuto however, he was living proof that Naruto was too weak on his own. Without the Kyuubi, he was nothing. If Naruto let this fight finish like this, he would never hear the end of it once he finally got the fox back. No… Kabuto had to die, here and now. And if Naruto had to die for that to happen, so be it.
Without a thought, he brought his hands up into the best hand seal he could and locked his attention on Temari. With a burst of chakra, and rush of wind, Naruto had just moments to take note of where he was before the air was knocked from his lungs. The taste of blood filled his mouth, and his heart felt like it had just been cut out of his chest. He smirked as the look of realisation spread over Kabuto's face as he latched onto his wrist. Naruto wished he had access to the Kyuubi's chakra in this moment, but as a small and unstable rasengan formed in his fee hand, he figured this would have to be enough. With the last of his strength, he drove the ball of chakra into Kabuto's chest, flesh tearing and bone grinding away beneath it.
"Survive this," he said before the unstable rasengan exploded, launching both away from each other.
"Naruto!" Shizune cried, jumping up and running for the downed boy.
Temari slumped to the ground where Naruto had been just seconds earlier, a strange sick feeling in her gut. Being on the receiving end of a replacement jutsu did not feel very pleasant at all. Holding back her urge to vomit, she watched on as Shizune began desperately healing Naruto. Did he mean to sacrifice himself for her like that? Or had it just been some suicidal last-ditch effort to kill Kabuto? She flinched as she felt someone land behind her, turning to see Jiraiya looking at her with concern.
"Temari, are you alright?" he asked, looking at the ground where a decent amount of Naruto's blood still stained the grass.
Temari nodded. "I'm fine. This isn't my blood," she said, pointing to where Naruto and Shizune were. "Go help Naruto."
"Tsunade, help me!" Shizune yelled, her hands resting over Naruto's heart. His muscles had been severed, rendering his heart all but useless. If she couldn't repair the damage, Naruto would have only minutes to live, and that wasn't even taking into account the blood still flowing freely from his arms. Shizune needed help, and she needed it now, but as she looked up to her sensei, she couldn't help but feel her own heart sink at the image of the Sannin frozen in fear at the sight before her. "Dammit, Tsunade! Now!"
Tsunade's hands trembled as she looked at Naruto, covered in his own blood, eyes lost in a distant lifeless stare, and not breathing. He looked dead. He was dead. Just like Dan, just like Nawaki. "Tsunade!" Shizune's words cut through her thoughts, her memories, bringing Tsunade back to her senses just enough to get her to shake her head free of such things. No, Naruto wasn't dead yet, and she'd be damned if she watched another person die in front of her, not when she could help it. Taking up position opposite Shizune, Tsunade quickly took over on healing the boy's heart while her apprentice quickly moved on to his arms. It would be a close call, but he was still there, Tsunade could feel it.
A short distance away, Kabuto tried to get back to his feet, finding that his body was reaching its limits as his cellular regeneration jutsu was already well into effect. It wouldn't be able to regrow his missing arm, but it was doing a decent job of stopping the bleeding, as well as mending the large portion of his abdomen that Naruto's rasengan had obliterated. To think the little brat could do so much damage, and in a suicide shot too. Oh well, Kabuto would have the last laugh. Even if Tsunade could somehow heal the damage he had done to the boy's heart, there was no way he could make a full recovery. Naruto would never get the chance to humiliate him like this again.
"My, my, Kabuto," Orochimaru said, appearing at the boy's side with a disappointed stare. "Such a failure will incur a heavy toll. But I guess I can still find use of you yet. That little technique of yours is oh so fascinating."
Kabuto seethed internally, realising that his injuries would be a major setback for everything. Bowing his head low, he could only do his best to grovel for the time being and hope that got him far enough. "Thank you, lord Orochimaru. I will not fail you again." More like he couldn't afford to. Orochimaru would surely kill him if he proved to be useless, or even if he felt like it. Today had officially put him back to square one with the Sannin.
"Ensure that you don't," Orochimaru said, before turning his attention back to Tsunade and Jiraiya. "I would like to say it's been fun to see you two again, but I would be lying. Since you seem to have your hands full, I'll leave you to it. Do say hello to sensei for me."
Jiraiya frowned as Orochimaru vanished with Kabuto but didn't make any moves to follow them. His attention quickly turned to Naruto, who at least looked like his was breathing again, even if it was weak and shallow. This shouldn't have been allowed to happen. He should have been better than this. They all should have been better than this. However, as bad as things were, there was a silver lining. Naruto had shown a willingness to sacrifice himself for Temari. That alone was enough to get a sense of hope building up in the toad summoners chest. Maybe the boy wasn't as far gone as everyone thought. Maybe the Hokage's little scheme had some merit to it. Time would tell, but at least he had hope now. As soon as they were back in Konoha and things were back to some semblance of normal, Jiraiya vowed to do everything he could to bring out the best he could in Naruto. Be it as a shinobi, or just a person in general. And now, he had the perfect person to help him with that.
"Come on," Jiraiya said softly to Temari, picking the girl up carefully and walking towards the others.
"Why aren't you going after them?" Temari asked.
Jiraiya smiled. "You and the brat are more important than trying to kill those two," he said. "Besides, we'll get another shot at them. No doubt about it."
Temari didn't exactly like that answer, but she wasn't going to argue with the man. It was kind of… nice. In Suna, the mission always came first, as did putting down any threats to the village. To have someone put her life first for once, well, Temari wasn't going to complain at all. Turning her gaze down to Naruto, she let out a relieved breath in seeing that the medics were still working, although their urgency had faded. The gashes on his arms weren't bleeding anymore and were now bandaged thanks to Shizune, and his breathing had almost returned to normal with Tsunade's efforts. It didn't take away from the fact that Naruto had nearly died.
The realisation of what could have occurred here set in and left a weird feeling in Temari's gut. She didn't care about Naruto, not in any significant way for the moment, but she wouldn't just wish death upon him. He wasn't an ass to her, and that went a long way considering their marriage predicament. Who knew what kind of pig she could get saddled with back in Konoha if he died, or worse, if Konoha somehow tried to blame her and Suna for their jinchuuriki's death. She knew she was lying to herself by trying to think of a political reason for her feelings. In truth, she didn't want Naruto to die. The same way she didn't want Gaara to die. They had both been through so much as jinchuuriki, and both deserved more in life. Her chances to help Gaara had passed her by, but she still had a chance to do some good for Naruto, if he let her. Until she could do that, he couldn't die, and she would do her best to make sure he accepted whatever she sent his way. It was the least she could do.
"We need to get back to Konoha," Tsunade said, finally feeling comfortable in Naruto's condition. She levelled a glare at Jiraiya. "Don't think for a second this means I'm accepting the offer. I still need to talk to that old goat first. And you have some explaining to do as well."
Jiraiya nodded. "I understand," he said. "Lets just get going. The kids have been through enough."
It would be a long and silent walk back to Konoha for the group.
Naruto shifted uncomfortably in the bed and concluded he was officially sick and tired of waking up and still being injured. Not having the Kyuubi to heal him properly was easily the most maddening thing in his life now. Jiraiya was a close second place, if only because the senile sage had dragged him on that mission that led to his ass being handed to him not once, but twice. He needed to make sure that didn't happen again. Taking a deep breath, he sighed loudly. Yep, definitely a hospital, but he could smell something else that made him feel relieved.
"Good to see you're not dead," he said, not opening his eyes to see his company.
Temari scoffed. "You're one to talk," she said, crossing her arms. "What the hell were you thinking pulling a stunt like that? Do you have any idea what would happen to me if you died? They could've married me off to someone else instead, like the Uchiha, or worse, that Nara from the exams." She shuddered at the thought of being stuck with that know it all. She might have considered him as a possible interest if she ever decided to live the rest of her life never winning an argument. No thank you. Naruto was a much better option, even she could see that.
"Kabuto?" Naruto asked.
"Still alive," Temari answered, noting the scowl on Naruto's face. "You messed him up pretty good though from what I saw. Don't think he'll be bouncing back anytime soon if that's what you're worried about."
Naruto's expression didn't improve. "That should have killed him," he muttered in annoyance, only to shake his head and open his eyes to look at Temari. She was uninjured this time, so that was good he figured. No one would be hounding him doubly so for letting her get injured twice while out on the mission. "Everyone else?"
"Fine. Although Tsunade has been having screaming matches with almost everyone in the village," she said with a shrug. "I'm not getting involved with it. Not my village, not my monkeys." Temari didn't care that Konoha was technically her village now. They couldn't force her to get involved in their politics any more than she absolutely had to. Also, it was Tsunade. The woman was scary, and from the moment they had set foot back inside Konoha she had been pissed. No one needed to put themselves in front of that.
With a groan Naruto sat up, stretching his arms out and getting a feeling for his fingers again. Blocking with his arms like that had been a stupid idea, but at least he was healing well from it all. His eyes narrowed slightly as he reached into his mind, feeling around for the Kyuubi, for anything to let him know that the seal had gone back to normal. Nothing. He was still 'grounded' it seemed. He would have to have a serious talk with the old man about that. Hopping off the bed, Naruto was pleased to see that not only was Temari not telling him not to get up but was in fact pointing towards a fresh pair of neatly folded clothes for him to change into. Part of him had to wonder if the staff had done that or if it was her doing. Getting changed quickly, he chose to forgo the hallways of the hospital, opting to instead jump out the window.
"What now?" Temari asked, having followed him out the window and was now trailing behind him in a carefree manner, hands resting on the back of her head as she walked.
Naruto sighed. "I guess someone told you to keep an eye on me?" he asked, getting a dumbfounded look from the girl. "No?"
Temari shrugged. "I don't do babysitting. Besides, I figured we could at least do our best to be seen together around the village for a while. Public appearances and all that," she said. "Unless you have a problem with that?"
Naruto opened his mouth to say something but quickly caught himself. "Actually, why not," he said, mulling the thought over in his head. The better things appeared to be going between them, the greater the likelihood that the Hokage would undo Jiraiya's handiwork. "Anywhere you want to go?" he asked.
"Know anywhere I can get some weapons?" Temari asked, pulling out the small fan from her sash. The poor thing had held up well, but she didn't have enough control with her element nature to use such a delicate weapon yet. Small tears in the fabric between the spines were already forming, and Temari truly missed having the option to just bash someone over the head with something heavy. She needed her battle fan back.
"Might as well just check them all," Naruto said. "Come on."
Naruto led Temari deep into the market district of the village. As with all the major villages, weapon shops were in no short supply, but finding the right one for your needs was always a challenge. This time was no different. Store after store, the two were met with dead ends and empty promises. While some shopkeepers were straight to the point of admitting they didn't have anything suited to a wind chakra user, others tried to sell off other wares as just as good or better. It didn't take Naruto long to see Temari was losing her patience. It wasn't until they walked through the doors of a particularly small and unassuming weapons store that the day really got interesting.
"You!"
Naruto turned to glare at what was no doubt going to be another disgruntled shopkeeper ready to throw him out for being 'bad for business'. Just what he needed. He quirked an eyebrow, however, as he saw one of the girls that had been in the chunin exams. Pink shirt, brown hair done up in two neat buns, and brown eyes that were staring at Temari like a bull stared down a red flag. 'This is… interesting,' Naruto thought to himself. It wasn't every day that someone else was the focus of someone's ire in Konoha.
"Oh fuck," Temari said, putting her hands up defensively. "We should leave."
"Why?"
"What are you doing here?" Tenten asked heatedly, marching up to the blonde and pouting at her. "I want a rematch."
Temari blinked. "Huh?"
Tenten crossed her arms. "You heard me. Rematch. You and me. My pride demands it."
"Wait, you aren't mad at me?"
It was Tenten's turn to blink owlishly. "For the exams?" she asked, shaking her head. "No. You beat me fair and square. But I'm pretty sure I figured out how to beat you for next time, so how 'bout it? Wanna grab your fan and see if you still hold up?" The looked over Temari's shoulder. "Where is it?"
"That's what we're here for," Naruto said, finally getting noticed. He could get used to people not paying attention to him in favour of Temari.
Tenten paled slightly as she took a step back from the two blondes. She did her best to hide it with her well-practiced customer service smile, but it was too late. She had shown fear. What the hell was that guy even doing here? He never came here. What was Temari doing with him? This didn't bode well.
Naruto frowned as he watched the girl back away. He didn't remember hurting or threatening her in the past. With a sigh he turned and began wandering the store. "I'll leave you to it," he said. There was no reason for him to get in the way of her shopping if he could help it.
"You too huh?" Temari asked as she watched Naruto disappear around a corner. "You aren't actually scared of him, are you?"
Tenten scoffed. "Do you know who that is?"
"My future husband."
"That's Naruto. Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi," Tenten said, completely missing what Temari had said. "He was in the year below me in the academy. He's unstable. Do you know how many kids he put in the hospital? Some of them dropped out. He nearly beat a kid to death once. I don't remember why, but that shouldn't matter. Even the teachers were wary of him. Not to mention the chunin exams. You were there, didn't you see what he was… wait, what did you say?"
Temari smirked. 'Putting kids in the hospital. Is that it?' she thought. God help anyone in this village if they learnt what Gaara used to do. She didn't think it would do anyone any good to mention what she had seen of Naruto and Gaara's fight. If people were already so careful around the guy now, who knew what they would think after that got out. That part would stay her little secret. "I'm marrying him," she said, smiling at the horrified expression that spread across Tenten's face. She needed to buy a camera for when she told people. "I know, I know. He's a bit of a work in progress, but I think I'm wearing him down. He's not that bad really."
Without a word, Tenten produced a small, curved dagger from seemingly nowhere and put it in Temari's hands. "Keep this with you at all times. If he tries any funny business, castrate him," she said, her tone showing no signs of joking.
"Yeah, thanks, but no thanks," Temari said, handing the knife back. Tenten was alright in her books now. "I just need a new battle fan. Don't suppose you have something like that laying around? No one else has anything, and this place came recommended."
"Hmmm, we don't stock any fans," Tenten said. Pulling a scroll out of her pouch, she unsealed a large battle fan and handed it to Temari. "This is mine. You can borrow it until you get a new one. But if you break it, you buy it."
Temari picked up the fan and snapped it open. It was almost identical to her old one, although it was missing the three purple circle pattern, instead having the image of a cheery blossom branch etched on it. Oh goody. Pink. That was all she needed. "Why do you have a battle fan?" she asked curiously. Maybe Tenten was a wind user as well. That would be cool. Someone in Konoha to train with properly would be perfect.
Tenten grinned sheepishly. "Well, funny thing, I actually ordered that one just after the chunin exams," she said. "After our fight, I just had to have one. It was so cool."
"Well, at least you have good taste," Temari said, closing the fan and handing it back. "But if it's all the same, I might just wait until I can get a new one delivered from Suna. I can be a bit rough. Got anything good for channelling wind chakra?" She didn't want to expand her weapon skills, there was no need, but it wouldn't hurt to have something for the time being to keep her half capable.
"Trench knives," Tenten said thoughtfully. "One of the jonin here buys a new set from time to time, so we always have a pair on hand. He uses them for wind chakra, can do some pretty cool stuff with them too if what he says is anything to go by. Interested?"
'Can't hurt to look,' Temari thought. It was good to know there was someone in the village that had a wind nature, and a jonin too. Maybe they could teach her something while she had time to kill. "Yeah, I'll bite. Let me see."
In the back of the store Naruto could only look at the shelves and walls lined with weapons with an expression of bewilderment. Some of these things didn't even look useable, let alone useful. Thankfully, he didn't need to bother with such things. He was already the perfect weapon after all. No point in complicating things. Grabbing a resupply of kunai and shuriken, he ventured his way back to the front. Surely Temari would be done by now. The sight he walked in on was not what he expected. Temari stood there, a knuckleduster style trench knife in each hand, blades glowing with chakra, and a glimmer in her eyes that promised pain and suffering. Naruto could only grin at the sight. He liked that look on her.
"I'll take them," Temari said eagerly. "How much?"
Tenten, not letting Naruto's expression go unnoticed, smiled brightly. "Excellent. That'll be forty thousand ryo."
Temari's eyes widened. That was more than some C-rank missions paid, what the hell? "Umm, actually, I think I'll do a raincheck on that," she said, putting the knives back on the counter. "It's not like you won't always have a pair to buy later."
Naruto rolled his eyes. This was going to look so stupid. "She'll take them," he said, placing the kunai and shuriken on the counter. "And how much for these?" With that, he placed four small rolls of notes on the counter and stared expectantly at Tenten, waiting for her to say something. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility for someone to say his money was no good, as stupid as that sounded.
Tenten narrowed her eyes suspiciously but accepted the money regardless, quickly counting the notes. She had expected the daughter of a kage, even a recently deceased one, to be able to afford such things, but certainly not someone like Naruto. How many missions was his team going on for him to throw this kind of cash around? "Well, I'm not about to turn down a good sale," Tenten said, smiling as she placed the knives and other weapons into a carry case and slid it across to Temari. "You can take the shuriken and kunai as a freebie with the knives to sweeten the deal."
Naruto nodded and took the case before heading for the door. He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "You coming?" he asked, looking at Temari.
"Thanks, Tenten," Temari said quickly. It was honestly a huge weight off her shoulders to know that most of the people here weren't quick to hold a grudge against her, especially the ones that by all rights should have. "I'll be sure to find you for that rematch once I get a new fan."
Tenten watched the two blondes leave and let out a deep breath. She refused to say that she was scared of Naruto, but that didn't mean she wanted to be around the guy if she could help it. His reputation from the academy aside, Tenten also vividly remembered the condition he had left Neji in after the chunin exams. She had never imagined her teammate could be bested in hand-to-hand combat like that, but to see the Hyuuga get so brutally beaten was unsettling. The fact that the proctor had to step in for Neji's sake was enough to justify her wariness of Naruto. She shuddered at the memory and shook her head free of the thoughts.
He didn't seem so bad in person at least, and she would be making a hefty commission on that sale, so she wasn't going to complain. As her eyes focused on where she had watched Temari leave, she couldn't help but feel a sense of worry for the Suna girl. Tenten really hoped Temari wasn't getting in over her head with this whole marriage mess.
Tsunade was pissed, and for once it was in the angry way, not the drunken slob way. All of Konoha knew it too. If her services hadn't been so desperately needed at the hospital, then she would have made it her mission to remind those that needed reminding just what it was that made her so feared in the shinobi world. Lucky for them, she had been busy… until now. As her eyes burnt a hole into her old sensei's head, she could feel the worried look of Jiraiya at her back, as well as the uncaring gaze of Danzo. Why that old cripple was here to begin with was a question for later. Right now, she had more pressing matters to get to the bottom of. First and foremost, her questions about one particularly hard to kill genin.
"So, who wants to be the smart one and start telling me what I want to hear?" she asked, scanning the room to see which one of these old men had the balls to speak up, noting with no small amount of amusement that Jiraiya was smart enough to not step forward. Good. He still deserved a beating for other transgressions. "Well?"
"It would help if we knew exactly what you wanted to know," Danzo said calmly. He had nothing to fear from Tsunade… he hoped.
"Naruto," Tsunade said simply. "What the hell happened to Naruto?"
Hiruzen sighed deeply. This was not going to go well. On the positive side, this was still infinitely better than having this conversation with one of the boy's parents. "There was an incident," he said. "We have been trying to deal with the aftereffects of it, but the process is slow. I assure you he has made significant improvements in recent years."
Tsunade scowled. "What kind of incident?"
"He was attacked," Jiraiya said, not willing to meet his teammates eyes, or the eyes of anyone else for that matter.
"In the village?"
Jiraiya and Hiruzen both looked down in shame. "Yes," Jiraiya said.
"And where the hell were you?"
"Jiraiya was assigned to a mission out of the village, per my request," Hiruzen said. The blame was his to bare, there was no point in trying to avoid that.
"Well, that's just great," Tsunade said. "You're both incompetent. Congratulations. That still doesn't explain the way the kid is. This is Kushina's son for gods' sake. He should be a jumping joyful idiot. Instead, he's out having jinchuuriki level grudge matches in populated towns, getting himself nearly killed, and apparently is locked off from accessing the fox's chakra. Do any of you have any idea what Minato and Kushina would do if they were alive to see this?"
"It is an unfortunate outcome, that much is obvious," Danzo said. "But it is still better than it could be. The boy shows no signs of mental instability, nor desires to leave or betray the village. Outside of some easily overlooked outbursts during his formative years, the boy is still full of much potential. That being said, I was not aware he was locked off from the Kyuubi's chakra. Was this a recent occurrence?"
Jiraiya nodded. "After he lost control of himself after being attacked by Itachi, and his partner, Kisame of Kirigakure, I made the decision to lock the seal to avoid any further accidents," he said. "I assure you I only had Naruto's best interests and safety in mind. I couldn't risk anything until I knew he was perfectly okay after using so much of the bijuu's chakra."
Tsunade scoffed. "Yeah, and in the meantime, you completely overlooked just how necessary that chakra is for the kid," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "That little safety measure put him at more risk. Do you really think depriving his body of something it has always had since the day he was born was a good idea? No wonder it's taken him so long to recover from his injuries. Any other jinchuuriki would have been up and about like nothing happened days ago."
"I couldn't take the chance, Tsunade," Jiraiya said sternly. "It's bad enough that I wasn't here when I needed to be for the kid. I won't lose him to the fox… not any more than I already have."
"Okay, enough of the cryptic bullshit. What is wrong with him?" Tsunade demanded. This is why she hated politics. Too much avoiding the simple explanation.
"We have reason to believe that Naruto is in communication with the Kyuubi," Hiruzen said, earning a strange look from his former student. "During the attack, he accessed the beast's chakra. It was not enough to be any real trouble once our shinobi arrived, but he was still very young. After the attack, he became distant, scared, hateful of everyone that tried to go near him. Those assigned to watch him reported seeing Naruto talk to himself on several occasions. Nothing came of it, and his mental state improved radically in a short time, so we felt it best not to press the matter. But it is clear that the fox is at the very least trying to talk to Naruto. To what extent, we don't know, but for now it does not appear to be negatively affecting him."
"That isn't as comforting as I think you think it is," Tsunade grumbled. "Have you gotten a Yamanaka in to check him? I can vouch for his physical health, and while he is easily the healthiest boy of his age I've seen, injuries aside, we still need to consider his mind."
Hiruzen shook his head. "We have kept our distance. After everything, it didn't seem right to probe his mind and invade what little safety and privacy the boy feels he has left."
"I've been trying to connect with him," Jiraiya added. "It's painfully slow, but I think I'm making progress. His sensei, Kakashi is also trying to earn his trust. We all want to do right by Naruto, it's just… difficult, after already failing him so much."
Tsunade eyed Danzo warily. "And what exactly is your part to play in this mess?"
Danzo's face betrayed nothing of his thoughts. Truth be told, he could have very well not been here, but part of him felt he should. Someone needed to be on the Hokage's side in this room. "My ANBU have been keeping watch over the boy ever since the incident," he said, not surprised when such a revelation shocked no one. Of course, he would be keeping tabs. It was who he was. "It was decided that should he ever fall too far beyond help or direction that he would be brought under my care and trained. Thankfully, such methods have not been necessary. The only risk the boy presents is to himself by way of his self-imposed training and experimentation with the Kyuubi's chakra."
"We should really be discussing the manner of your return to Konoha, Tsunade," Hiruzen said, the topic of Naruto weighing heavily on his conscience. "Have you given my offer any thought?"
"Oh, I've thought about it alright. Thought about where you can shove it," Tsunade said. "You really think you get to run this village into the ground and then palm it off to someone else to try and pick up the pieces. Fix your own damn mistakes. Or at the very least get boy scout here to do it for you." She gestured to Jiraiya with her last words.
"I need you to take the mantle so I can fix my mistakes," Hiruzen said sternly. "So long as I am Hokage, my focus and responsibilities must pertain to Konoha. There are affairs I must tend to with what time I have left, and I need the time and freedom to do so."
"Actually," Jiraiya spoke up. "I've been meaning to ask you about something for a while now, but after our little run in with Orochimaru I feel that it would be best to get the truth now." His eyes hardened slightly as he watched his sensei sigh in preparation, clearly knowing what was about to come. "Back during the invasion, Orochimaru had you cut off from the rest of the village for the duration of your fight. He even reanimated lord first and second from what I hear. Now, I don't want to be the first to question your strength, but how exactly did you come out of that alive?"
Hiruzen shook his head. He should have known that Orochimaru wouldn't let that rest. "The Shiki-Fujin," he said simply, noting that his students didn't look very impressed by that answer. Danzo already knew the details. "Using it, I was able to seal the souls of both the first and second Hokage within the Shinigami. Orochimaru was not so easy. I was only able to seal away a portion of his soul before he fled."
"Hang on. That doesn't make any sense," Jiraiya interrupted. "That technique sacrifices the user's soul. It's what Minato used on the Kyuubi. If you really used it, then you should be dead."
"And I will be, in time," Hiruzen answered, standing up and raising his shirt to show the swirling seal on his stomach. "When Minato used this technique, he was facing an opponent of immeasurable strength compared to his own. The cost of the sealing was far greater than my sealing merely two mortal souls. As such, I have been left with more time than even I was expecting. Don't mistake my words, I am most certainly dying. Every day I feel more of myself being consumed by the Shinigami. Eventually, there will be nothing left, and my soul, along with the two souls sealed within me, will belong to the demon."
Jiraiya and Tsunade stood in silence for a moment, taking their time to process everything. They both knew their sensei would have to kick the bucket eventually, but this… this was messed up even for them. "So… how long do you have?" Jiraiya asked. Internally his mind was chaos. As the foremost expert on seals in Konoha, even he had to admit that the Shiki-Fujin was far beyond his abilities or full understanding. He suspected it was the same for Hiruzen. Sure, they could both physically perform the technique, but outside of that both were running blind.
"I wish I knew," Hiruzen said with a sigh. "As you can imagine, the Shinigami wasn't exactly talkative at the time. I have no idea how long I have left to sort my affairs, and that is why it is best that I find my replacement soon."
Tsunade took a deep breath. She would never have come back if she knew this was how bad things had gotten. But now that she was here, she might as well hear the old fool out. Old times sake and all that crap. "You might as well come clean to me about everything," she said. "Starting with this political alliance shit you've pulled with that poor Suna girl."
Hiruzen had the decency to look ashamed as he chuckled nervously. "Of course…"
It was going to be a long day indeed.
Temari happily slurped down the ramen almost as soon as the bowl was placed before her. Naruto had said this was the best place to eat in Konoha and so far, it wasn't disappointing. Speaking of the devil, said individual was sat beside her, also greedily consuming his own ramen. Temari's intrigue with the boy had officially been piqued. With this little ramen store being the first place in the village that he actively wanted to go to since she had met him, how could she refuse. Then it happened, the moment they walked past the privacy flaps, he smiled. Naruto… smiled. It was faint, barely noticeable, but it was there clear as day, along with the addition of polite manners when dealing with the father daughter duo that ran the store.
"So, Naruto, are you going to introduce us to your little friend here or do we have to cut you off until you relearn some manners?" Ayame, the young woman serving the ramen, said sweetly.
Naruto glared at Ayame, but it was obvious she neither feared him nor had any problems with treating him like a child. "This is Temari," he said. "Temari, this is Ayame and her father, Teuchi. Happy?"
How was this girl still in one piece?
Ayame's smile didn't faulter. "Yep," she chirped before quickly turning her attention to a gobsmacked Temari. "So, Temari, what exactly are your intentions with our cute little Naruto here? Should we be worried? Don't get me wrong, you're pretty, but I don't think Naruto is quite old enough to deal with heartbreak just yet."
Temari blushed brightly as she fought to say anything. Was this a joke? Was she being played? "What?"
A loud thump made both girls turn to see Naruto had slammed his head into the bench, muttering to himself nonsensically.
"Don't mind him, he's just a little sensitive," Ayame said. "You know, now that I think about it, I don't think Naruto has never brought someone here with him before. You are his friend, right?"
"It's… complicated," Temari answered. "But I guess you could call us friends."
Ayame smiled even wider somehow. "That's excellent," she said a little too loud. "See Naruto, I told you it was just a matter of time. I'm so proud of you. First bowl is on the house."
Temari sat in silence as Ayame returned to cooking. The gears of her poor little mind had long since stopped moving. What the hell was going on?
"I'll explain later," Naruto said quietly. "Just… don't say anything, please."
As much as a part of her was dying to find out just what was going on, Temari wasn't stupid enough to blow her chances of finding out. That, and the look in Naruto's eyes was more than enough to keep her quiet. It wasn't a pleading look, but there was something stirring behind his eyes. Something about this place was allowing him to be at ease, to let his guard down. What right did she have to disturb any of that. Temari was just surprised he would bring her here if he knew this was what was going to happen. Was he trying to tell her something? She didn't know, and it didn't matter. Not yet anyways. And so, Temari sat in relative silence, making sure not to pester Naruto while they were there, but also taking the time to politely answer Ayame's curious questions about her. When it came time to leave, Temari felt somewhat relaxed herself. The combination of good food and the infectiously bubbly personality of the ramen chefs was simply too much to not be affected by.
"Have a good night you two," Ayame said, waving goodbye as they went to leave. "Make sure to come back soon, okay Naruto. And bring your girlfriend with you too."
"Goodbye, Ayame," Naruto said, quickly removing himself from the line of fire.
"Nice to meet you both," Temari said quickly, offering a small bow before following Naruto.
As soon as they were out of the ramen shop, it was like a switch had flipped. Naruto was back to his guarded self, silently making his way through the streets and ignoring all the strange looks they were getting from the public. It took a little while before Temari noticed they weren't heading home.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Home."
"Our house is that way," Temari said, pointing down a different street. She knew that it was only a recent development, but he had to have been told where he was meant to be living by now.
Naruto shrugged. "I still have my apartment," he said. "You can have the house." He went to keep walking but was stopped as Temari grabbed his wrist and tried to lead him in the direction of the house. Emphasis on the word try. "What are you doing?"
"What the hell. You're smaller than me, how are you this strong?" Temari asked. The boy simply wouldn't budge. "Come on. I'm not staying that house all by myself. So, unless you want to share that tiny apartment with me…"
"You mean you want to live with me?" Naruto asked sceptically. He knew she wanted them to make things work for the sake of their respective villages, but he was expecting the bare minimum. This seemed unnecessary. They had already spent the whole day together, in clear view of the public. Was that not enough?
Temari gave up trying to pull him. "I've never lived alone," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Not once since my first brother was born, and I don't intend on starting now. So, what will it be? Separate rooms in the house, or cooped up together in the apartment?" It was a longshot, but Temari needed to make this work, and there was no chance she would be able to get on his good side if they were living apart the whole time. Also, wouldn't that look really weird once they were married? Appearances were important in situations like this, but not nearly as much as getting to know him was.
With an exaggerated roll of his eyes Naruto pulled his wrist free and gestured for Temari to lead the way. "Separate rooms," he said. Temari was tolerable, but not that tolerable. He wondered idly if this was how Sasuke felt sometimes when dealing with the girls that always threw themselves at him. Oh well, guess it just sucked to be an Uchiha.
"So, I believe you said you would explain what happened at that ramen place," Temari said sweetly as they walked. She was beyond curious by now. She wanted to know what all that was about. She needed to know.
"Teuchi and Ayame are nice," he said as if that explained everything. Seeing Temari's expression only grow more and more questioning, he sighed. "I used to eat there when I was a kid, before… it doesn't matter. They were kind. They never turned me away, even if I couldn't afford to pay them. They are not like everyone else in this village. I can trust them. That's all."
Temari nodded in understanding. "That explains why you let Ayame get away with talking to you like that. They must mean a lot to you. Good to know it wasn't just so you didn't miss out on their food." A smirk quickly made its way onto her face as she looked at Naruto victoriously. "Well, I guess that makes my job easy then, doesn't it?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You're job?"
"Yeah, you know, of winning you over somehow," Temari said, her smirk never dropping as Naruto's stare intensified. Stopping in front of him, Temari looked down at Naruto, not at all bothered by the fact that he was slightly shorter than her. He still had time to grow after all, so they would likely even out soon enough. "I don't want this to be a painful experience for either of us. We can play it however you want, but one way or another, we are going to have to learn to trust each other and work as a team. For our villages, but also for our own sakes. I can play my part easily enough. Can I trust you to do yours?"
Naruto returned the smirk. "So, you want us to try and fool two entire shinobi villages?" he asked in amusement. "Even I don't think we could get away with that."
"Oh really?" Temari said, her tone shifting in a way that made Naruto regret saying anything. "Then I guess that means you want to do it the legit way, huh? How bold. Well, I won't complain. Could be fun, and I suppose you are kinda cute. Don't get it twisted though, I'm not just going to just roll over for you. If you're going to court me then you can do it properly." The smug smile on her face was just the icing on the cake at this point.
Naruto's eye twitched. "That is not what I meant," he said. "You are talking as if this is going to be easy. It won't be." He knew he should have just stayed quiet when the glimmer in Temari's eyes didn't fade in the slightest at his words.
"Is that so? Keep in mind, I've seen your soft side now," she said with a grin, leaning in close enough to make Naruto's hair stand on end. So, she could make him nervous? That was good to know. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. But from where I'm standing, you and me getting along could be easy. And if it's not, well, I'm not afraid of putting in some hard work where it counts." Temari flicked Naruto's forehead protector and winked at him before spinning on her heels and continuing her walk to the house, leaving Naruto to stand in the middle of the road, the faintest of blushes on his cheeks.
Oh yes. If nothing else, this was going to be quite fun… for Temari that was. Naruto maybe less so. It would be frustrating for him at first, Temari was sure of that. But she could deal with that. Her sights were set now anyway, so nothing short of death could stop her from getting what she wanted. She couldn't do anything to give her brother a better life, but Naruto, there was plenty she could do for him. Now that she had confirmed that he wasn't actually that bad at all, there was no reason to hold back. Naruto was just going to have to learn to deal with her. Besides, this was supposed to be the start of her new life. Why shouldn't she have some fun with it?
A/N:
Well, another chapter is here. Bit of stuff happening, and yet also nothing at all. I'm good like that. Hope it was enough for you guys.
As you can see, I've taken some creative liberties with the Shiki-Fujin, thanks mostly to how vague the information on the technique actually is after a quick google. Doesn't clearly say that the user's death has to be there and then. Anyway, we have a walking corpse of a Hokage now. Slowly being consumed would suck. Outside of that, I had to give Naruto a soft spot somewhere, and Ichiraku's just can't go wrong with that. Plus, Ayame is entertaining to add in for funny little moments. Temari is getting much more comfortable and forward, which is how I always imagine her to be. Hope that doesn't bother anyone.
So, with this story, my Naru/Ino one, and the apparent revival of my Naru,Tayuya story, I'm spread a bit thin. I'll be rotating between writing a chapter for each as I go, but if time gets short who knows, might need to focus on just one for a little and hope for the best.
Thanks to everyone who is still following along with my mess. All reviews and critique are welcome and appreciated.
Until next time.