Chapter 34: The Start of Something New

I sat outside on a small bench under a roof, idly watching as the snow slowly began to pile up. Ordinarily, the freezing temperatures would force me to wear warmer clothing. Instead, it gave me the opportunity to practice keeping myself warm with Fire Style Chakra.

A day had passed since the Akatsuki's ambush. Tsunade had worked overtime in order to manually remove the poison from Bee and myself, once enough poison had been removed, our bodies began to naturally heal at their accelerated rate and she went on to create an antidote, using supplies given by Mifune.

After that, she went on to checking on C's leg which he'd healed enough to be able to use back when Sasori had fought us, once she was sure that he wasn't in danger or losing it, she moved on to help the Samurai that had been caught up in Deidara's explosion. I knew that she had years of practice as a medical Shinobi, but I was honestly impressed on how she was able to go from one major thing to another without hesitation.

All in all, Tsunade had bought herself a lot of good will with Kumo and the Samurai by being the only one that was able to truly help everyone once the battles had died down.

"Yo, Naruto," Bee greeted, falling into the empty seat next to me. "How's it hanging?"

"Alright, thanks," I hummed. "And you?"

"It's all good. My Chakra is flowing smoothly and I can move my own body again," Bee replied, smirking as he flexed his arm. "You sure that you're fine? You're looking a little stressed."

"I'm just… thinking about how much has changed," I replied.

It was funny to think that Orochimaru's death had been the catalyst for all this change. Because I'd displayed a certain level of control over using Kurama's Chakra, the Akatsuki intervened and tried to start a war between Konoha and Kumo in order to weaken our nations with it all coming to a head with their ambush on the meeting.

If I hadn't changed anything, none of this would have happened. Sasuke would be training with Orochimaru by now and I would probably have started my training trip with Jiraiya.

I briefly wondered if things might have been better that way, before immediately discarding that thought. That line of thinking wouldn't lead anywhere good. I'd consciously chosen this path and now I would walk it regardless of what good or bad situations laid ahead.

"I get it. It's a lot to take in, but our villages are in this together now," Bee grinned.

"Yeah, I suppose they are," I smiled.

The one good thing that came from the Akatsuki's attack was that it showed Ay just how much of a threat they really were. Before they just seemed like some average run of the mill war organization that, while having powerful members wasn't that big of a threat, but now Ay knew differently.

The Akatsuki had proved how dangerous they were through their ambition and the means they used to achieve that ambition. They'd been capable of producing a poison that was seemingly undetectable and affected Jinchuriki to a great degree.

The threat had become very real with their ambush. The Akatsuki agents had been almost completely undetected. If Kurama hadn't sensed Zetsu, their plan would have gone unhindered. All of us would have been injured to some degree with Ay and Tsunade taking the brunt of the explosion, weakening if not outright killing them. They would have then been able to take their time to abduct Bee and I.

A successful attack would have seen Konoha and Kumo pointing fingers at each other in an attempt to figure out what happened here. Tensions would rise and a war would break out between the two villages that would have inevitably dragged in the other nations, leading to the fourth Shinobi world war sparking off.

All the while the Akatsuki would be able to work in the shadows, abducting Jinchuriki while the five nations would be too busy warring with each other.

It was a good plan, I'd give them that, but it immediately backfired on the Akatsuki the moment they were caught. Now that they'd been caught in the act, all that anonymity that they'd been enjoying would now go away.

The Akatsuki had gained the attention of two major villages along with the Samurai residing in the Land of Iron. It wouldn't be long before the other villages discovered what happened here and when they did, the Akatsuki's movements would be closely monitored or completely restricted, depending on which nation they entered.

"Now you got a funny look on your face," Bee noted. "Share the joke, my man."

"It's nothing major," I replied, waving him off. "I'm just thinking about how badly the Akatsuki screwed up, that's all."

"Yeah, they really did mess up," Bee smirked. "It's kinda funny, if they hadn't attempted to abduct us, my brother would have dismissed them as a threat and we would both be back in our home villages."

Not only had they revealed themselves, they also were now down a member. Sure it was only Sasori and he wasn't really that strong when compared to some of the other Akatsuki members, but it was still a hit to their overall strength.

There was also the fact that with Deidara being exposed as a member, they would lose Iwa as their client as I was pretty sure that he bombed his home village as he left and I was pretty sure that the Akatsuki did their best to keep who their members were a secret.

That did bring up a problem. I had no clue what the Akatsuki's next move would be now that they'd been caught attempting to abduct Bee and myself. They might go back to their original plan that I was familiar with and start collecting Jinchuriki in the next three years or they might start right now.

Maybe there was a way from me to gain a basic idea on what the Akatsuki might be up to. I knew more than what they would be doing in the future, I also knew detailed information about their lives so I might be able to predict what their next move would be.

Sasori's was dead and while he wasn't the information broker for the Akatsuki, he did have numerous spies, one of which was a council member in Suna and the other being Kabuto who was dead and had only been pretending to be his spy.

Nagato and Konan were permanently stationed in Amegakure. I… wasn't sure if they'd killed Hanzo yet. It might be that they hadn't and the reason why they originally needed a three year break was for them to kill him and finish taking over the nation.

Obito… well, he could be anywhere seeing as he could teleport. He… right, I'd forgotten, he brainwashed the Yondaime Mizukage, the Jinchuriki of Isobu and had plunged Kirigakure into a civil war. I was a bit unsure of if Yagura was still alive, but assuming he was, he would end up dying within the next three years.

That had the potential to be bad… I mean, it was bad that Kiri was engaged in a civil war, but it could have been much worse. If Obito hadn't been so short sighted and plunged the nation into a war against itself, he likely could have used Kiri to start a war much like how Orochimaru used Suna, but more effectively.

The only reason why I could think he'd start a civil war and squander a resource as large as an entire nation would be that he was punishing that nation for being one of the reasons that Rin died.

"Hey Bee, do you know anything about what's currently going on in Kiri?"

Bee raised an eyebrow. "Trying to get Kiri to join an alliance as well? Careful now, ask the nations to join in the wrong order and they might grow weary or jealous."

"No, just checking if it's still stuck in a civil war. A while ago my team met Zabuza who mentioned that he tried to assassinate the Mizukage, Yagura who is the Sanbi Jinchuriki."

"You trying to build a Jinchuriki team?" Bee asked almost excitedly. "I can see it now, us nine Jinchuriki fighting the Akatsuki together… Hell yeah, that sounds sweet, I'm up for it… only, I don't think we can add Yagura to that dream team. He's known as a bloody and merciless Kage who steals from his people," he frowned and crossed his arms.

Funnily enough, a team comprised solely of Jinchuriki hadn't exactly been my plan, but now that I thought about it, it wouldn't be that impossible to pull off.

"No, I was just checking if their civil war had ended, that's all."

Part of me really wanted to put a stop to the civil war raging in Kiri, but I knew that wouldn't be possible. Kiri likely wouldn't be too trusting of me if I went to help by myself. It would take the backing of a village and even then, all it would take is one mistake or one disguised Zetsu arrive when I wasn't there and kill someone, causing tension if not outright hostility between our two villages.

As much as I hated to admit it, Kiri might be better off solving their civil war on their own. At least that way they have the chance to ally with us on their terms. To not feel forced into an alliance because we helped them out.

"If it has ended, it's ended recently," Bee replied. "Kiri is isolated from the main continent, not much news travels from there when they're not at war with one of the other four nations."

Well that was pretty bleak. I suppose that's one of the reasons why Kiri was once known as the blood mist village, they only became relevant during times of war and bloodshed.

"Although we can't add Yagura to this dream team, there shouldn't be a problem with the rest of the Jinchuriki. You, me and Yugito make three, that makes a third of the Jinchuriki."

"Well I do know the Ichibi Jinchuriki, we're only friendly terms so you could probably add him too," I said in a bemused tone. A team comprised of all the eight Jinchuriki likely wouldn't come to be, but it was fun to think about.

"So four," Bee nodded. "That leaves one Jinchuriki from Kiri, two from Iwa and one from Taki."

Utakata, Han, Roshi and Fu.

A warning went off in my head as I considered those four. Utakata was currently off the grid while Han and Roshi were in Iwa, although they were being ostracized if I remembered correctly. Fu on the other hand lived in Takigakure.

The Akatsuki had been caught in the act of trying to start a war and abduct two Jinchuriki. The five major villages would be on the lookout for them soon as they each had the power to fight off several Akatsuki members.

Taki on the other hand was a fairly small village with very few active Shinobi, the only reason why they had been able to keep a Jinchuriki and not be destroyed by a major village was due to the fact that no one had been able to find their exact location.

Under normal circumstances, the same could be said for the Akatsuki finding Taki. There was however one major problem. Kakuzu was from Taki.

If I had been leading an organization that's main goal was to abduct Jinchuriki and I'd been caught doing that. I'd try my hand at abducting anyone I could before the other villages start to move against me… before the Jinchuriki had the chance to grow more powerful.

Fu was the Jinchuriki of the third strongest biju after all. The longer she lived, the greater the chance that she would master Chomei's power. It was entirely possible I was wrong, but if I wasn't then there was a very good chance that the Akatsuki would attempt to abduct her before the other villages could move against them.

"It seems that they're done with the meeting," Bee announced.

Tapping on my shoulder to gain my attention, he pointed off towards one of the Samurai's barracks that had been temporarily assigned as the meeting room. Mifune was talking to one of the Samurai that stood guard while Tsunade and Ay stood with their guards.

Neither Bee nor I could hear what was said from our distance, but with our departure, it wasn't too difficult to guess what it was about.

The Land of Iron liked to keep a tight lid on who entered or exited the country. Mifune was likely ensuring that neither party would have issues on our departure.

Bee let out a sigh as he saw Ay gesture towards us. "Looks like this is it," he said, standing up. "I'll be seeing you soon, Naruto."

Bee held his fist out towards me.

"Yeah," I hummed, briefly bumping his fist. I watched as Bee met up with his brother before their group headed off. Looking over to Tsunade and Kakashi, I expected them to be heading towards me as the route towards Konoha was directly behind me, but instead found them waiting at the bottom as someone else headed up.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Mifune greeted as he stepped under the small roof that covered the bench. "I made a request to Hokage-dono that she allow me to have a few words with you."

"Um… alright," I replied a little awkwardly as I slowly began to get up. "What's this about… General Mifune?"

"You don't need to stand up," Mifune said, gesturing for me to sit down. "I simply want to have a short conversation with you concerning the future."

I suppose that was reasonable enough. "Do you want to sit down?" I asked, gesturing towards the open spot next to me.

"No, but thank you for offering," Mifune replied. "I don't intend to keep you for too long."

"So what's this about?"

Mifune gazed off into the distance before turning back to me. "Mountain peak."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Mifune seemed to be waiting for a response. The mountains here were covered in snow and occasionally had water running down them, so… "Frozen river?"

Mifune nodded. "That will do. Should you ever find yourself needing to enter the Land of Iron, offer that code to the Samurai you meet at the border, they will allow you entrance."

"Wait, what?!"

"It is quite simple," Mifune hummed. "We Samurai wish for peace, the Akatsuki have proven to wish for the opposite. As I have seen in both meetings between Hokage-dono and Raikage-dono, you are going to be a major figure when it comes to fighting the Akatsuki, one which I would rather not hinder so I am allowing you entrance into the Land of Iron should you ever need it."

That was really something that I hadn't been expecting. "Thank you… Mifune-dono," I said. I didn't have much practice when it came to being using honorifics, but I felt it was necessary right now.

Mifune simply nodded. "I believe that I've kept you for long enough. I will look forward to seeing the changes that you bring to the nations, Uzumaki Naruto." And with that, Mifune left, heading back towards the barracks.

Standing, I let out a yawn as I stretched briefly. It felt a little crazy how quickly things were changing. Not too long ago the only thing that concerned me was surviving the invasion and now I was making allies between nations that have always fought against each other and gained the respect of General Mifune who's pretty much in charge of all the Samurai in the Land of Iron.

"Things were bound to change. You've been making numerous ripples after all," Kurama commented.

'I know, it's just… I never expected all of this,' I thought back. 'Before running into Bee on the Demon Island, I was only concerned with raiding Orochimaru's remaining labs and training. Now all of a sudden I'm fending off Akatsuki attacks and have gained the attention of a foreign Kage.'

"And there's still more to come," Kurama chuckled. "But don't shrink back. It might seem like a lot of weight has been placed on your shoulders, but you've still got me to help you carry it… and Tsunade."

That did take a lot of the pressure off. Things didn't seem quite so impossible when you had a giant fox capable of leveling entire mountain ranges on your side.

'Thanks Kurama.'

"You're welcome… Now go meet up with the other two and get back to Konoha. All the grey from the snow is boring to look at."

'You know, you could just watch something while I'm here.'

"I could, but I'd rather be more aware of our surroundings while you're traveling, especially after the Akatsuki poisoned you, so hurry up and get back to Konoha so I can get back to my shows."

'Sure thing,' I chuckled.

"Oi, Naruto," Kakashi called out. "You ready to leave?"

"Yeah," I replied, stepping out from under the little roof.

"Good, I've had enough of this cold weather" Tsunade complained, rubbing her hands together. "We're going to be heading back at twice the pace we used when we first came here."

"Actually," I began. "There's something that I wanted to talk to you about."

Kakashi remained silent, opting to hear me out. Tsunade on the other hand…

Tsunade let out a pained sigh. "Can it wait until we get back to Konoha?"

"It actually might be better if I say this outside of Konoha," I admitted sheepishly. Tsunade had been working overtime and deserved a break, but what I had to say felt too important. "Away from prying eyes, you know."

Like those of Danzo who'd all but admitted he'd been spying on us when he noted how close Tsunade and I were.

"You know what, fine. I've already finished negotiating with Kumo and we've all handled the Akatsuki's attack yesterday. I'm sure that what you have to say can't be worse than that."

"Let's walk and talk," I suggested. Samurai didn't use Jutsu and were less likely to spy on us, but I'd rather be safe than sorry and put some distance between anyone that could overhear us.

"Alright," Tsunade replied.

"I don't think the Nanabi Jinchuriki is safe," I said, cutting to the heart of the issue.

"The Nanabi Jinchuriki… Taki's Jinchuriki," Tsunade muttered thoughtfully, considering what I'd just said. She had all the background information on the Akatsuki and Fu to understand what I was talking about. "Damn it!"

"Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi asked cautiously. "Is everything alright?"

"No," Tsunade grunted. "He's right. The Nanabi Jinchuriki isn't safe in Takigakure. The Akatsuki likely won't reveal themselves to any of the major villages now that they got caught, but a minor village like Taki… it's not even a question of if, but when."

"So… is there anything that we could do to prevent that?" I asked. "Preferably something that won't cause an international incident like we just had with Kumo."

"A few options come to mind," Tsunade hummed. "Thankfully we're on better terms with Taki. Their leader also isn't as… headstrong as Ay, so there shouldn't be too many issues when handling this. The biggest obstacle will be convincing Taki to… allow the Nanabi Jinchuriki to stay in Konoha."

Moving Fu to Konoha would definitely work in keeping her safe from the Akatsuki and it would also have the added benefit of making Konoha look stronger as well. Konoha would be hosting the strongest biju alongside the third strongest one after all.

There was however the problem of convincing Taki to part with Fu. Jinchuriki, although almost universally hated by their villages were kept for numerous reasons. They boosted a village's status and acted as a deterrent for war were two of the largest reasons. Villages were less likely to try and start a fight with a village that has someone capable of demolishing a mountain after all.

Even though Taki didn't use Fu as a weapon like Suna had tried with Gaara, they would likely fight tooth and nail to keep her confined to their village. There was, however one thing that worked in our favor, the threat of the Akatsuki and knowledge that Kakuzu was a member.

"It should be doable," Tsunade nodded. "Is there anything else that needs to be addressed?"

"No," I shook my head.

I did actually want to discuss what to do with Danzo, specifically when and how we were going to kill him, but that would have to wait for later. Right now, Fu's safety was the important thing. Once I was sure that Fu was safe… well, Danzo's wouldn't be.

"You're back," Jiraiya cheered as we entered the office. "I honestly don't know how you do it, Tsunade. Even with my clones, the amount of paperwork that comes through here is staggering, I'm barely able to handle it. And then there was an issue where I'd filled out a pair of conflicting documents… please don't ever make me do this again."

Much like how Tsunade ran the office, it was filled with several Jiraiya clones that were each working on completing documents and mission scrolls.

"I don't know, it looks like you've got a good hand on things he…" Tsunade began teasingly, but froze when she caught sight of a document that one of Jiraiya's clones had been working on. Snatching a document from his nearest clone much to its relief, Tsunade briefly scanned it before shooting Jiraiya an incredulous look. "You?!"

"Hey now, I know that I'm not exactly the best at filling out paperwork, but I can't have done that bad of a job," Jiraiya defended himself, crossing his arms. "Besides, you left me with a lot of work. There was an entire shelf of these that hadn't been filled out and the different corps kept coming in with more paperwork for me to do."

The incredulous look quickly faded and morphed into one of amusement as Tsunade let out a snort of laughter. "And you completed the entire shelf?"

"…Yes?" Jiraiya replied slowly, looking unsure of himself.

"Only you, Jiraiya," Tsunade chuckled as she placed the document back in front of the clone. "Thanks for the laugh, it's been a stressful couple of days and I needed that. That shelf that you completed was a collection of documents that I found unnecessary and stored there for later disposal."

"So I've…"

"Spent the last few days doing extra work that was completely unnecessary, yes," Tsunade nodded.

I felt a little bad for Jiraiya, but the look of disbelief on his face drew a short laugh at me.

Jiraiya's head thumped on the table as he let out a defeated groan. "Just take this stupid job back."

"I don't know, you performed an adequate job filling out that document," Tsunade hummed. "You know… besides the fact that it was completely unnecessary. Maybe I should keep you on as a secretary to help with the paperwork, or I could even make you a secondary Hokage that handles things here so I can have more free time."

A look of horror came to Jiraiya face as he looked up. "You wouldn't."

Tsunade smirked viciously. "I… wouldn't, yes you're right. I believe that's enough goofing off for now. We've got some work to do."

"Right," Jiraiya replied, turning serious. "What happened in the Land of Iron, the only got one message from you saying that you all were going to be staying for an extra day which seemed to bode well for relations with Kumo, but I got reports that a massive shockwave was felt, not dissimilar from the one that was felt when Naruto fought the Hachibi Jinchuriki."

"Yeah, it actually wasn't me this time," I said. I never actually thought about it, but Deidara's explosives were pretty powerful. IF the Akatsuki had succeeded in the Land of Iron, the other nations that felt the shockwave from his explosives would have simply assumed that Bee and I had fought again.

"Then the Hachibi Jinchuriki…" Jiraiya started.

"Actually," Kakashi cut in. "It wasn't him either. The Akatsuki launched an attack on the meeting and one of the members used extremely powerful explosives."

"The Akatsuki?" Jiraiya asked before turning to Tsunade. "Maybe you should start from the beginning."

"It's a bit of a long story so I'll summarize it," Tsunade replied. "The Akatsuki were caught spying on the meeting, Naruto caught on. They blew up the building, we separated in order to take them down. The Raikage failed to kill the bomber, but we succeeded in killing the other member, Sasori of the red sands… Am I forgetting something?"

"The poison," I replied.

"Right, thanks," Tsunade snapped her fingers. "They created a poison that affects a Jinchuriki when they use their biju's chakra."

"That's…" Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Crap. That's terrible news. They have access to a poison that works on Jinchuriki… Why do you look unbothered by this?"

"Because," Tsunade smirked. "It ended up working for the better. The one who invented the poison is dead, so we don't have to worry about any future variants and I've already created an antidote to it, an antidote that Kumo didn't have."

"Wait, so," Jiraiya let out a chuckle. "I see now. The Akatsuki might still have access to that poison and now you're the only one with a working antidote. How did the rest of the meeting go?"

"After the Akatsuki had been successfully fended of… it went well," Tsunade replied. "We've successfully formed an alliance with Kumo, it's a bit shaky right now, however, we've worked out an exchange that should solidify the alliance."

"And that would be?" Jiraiya asked.

"Me," I said suddenly. Part of the agreement had been that I would travel to Kumo and help look for any Akatsuki spies, specifically Zetsu clones.

"Is that true?"

"It is," Tsunade nodded. "The Raikage requested for Naruto to make periodic visits to Kumo and in turn he would be providing Naruto with Jinchuriki training."

"Tsunade, I'm not going to say that you got ripped off, but…" Jiraiya trailed off. "Naruto has already shown that he's got great control over the Kyuubi's chakra. All he needs is time and practice to fully mastering it."

"There's more to being a Jinchuriki than being able to use your biju's Chakra," I stepped in. "If I'm ever going to become a truly perfect Jinchuriki, then I'm going to need some help doing it and seeing as Kumo has produced Bee, I'd say that they're the ones that could help me the most."

Tsunade understood that as she'd seen my memories. Kumo was the only village that had access to the waterfall of truth, something that I needed if I wanted to be able to merge my Chakra with Kurama's without any side effects. Jiraiya on the other hand didn't know that as the giant turtle Genbu was closely guarded by Kumo.

"Alright, you know more about how Jinchuriki work than I do. If you're certain about this, then I'll follow your lead," Jiraiya replied. "What can you tell me about the Akatsuki members that attacked the Land of Iron?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Well," Kakashi began slowly.

I let out a sigh. It seemed that we were going to be here for a while.

A few hours had passed since we arrived back in Konoha. I found myself standing in the room Tsunade had let me use to learn the Hiraishin. Ordinarily I would be physically training on one of the fields, but my clones were close to finishing the marker. I was going to enter the next step of my training soon which actually involved using the Hiraishin.

Hearing a knock at the door, I called out for the person on the other side to enter.

"Is this the right room? I was told by Hokage-sama that someone wanted to meet with me," Genma asked as he entered the room. "Wait, Naruto? You're looking different from the last time I saw you. You're the person that wants to talk to me?"

"I am," I nodded. It had been a while. I think the last time I'd actually seen Genma was when he was the proctor for the Chunin exams.

"You've certainly changed a lot. It's only been a few months, but you no longer look like that green genin," Genma commented. "So what can I do for you?"

"I need a little advice for a Jutsu I'm learning, one that I've heard you know a version of," I replied. Slipping a scroll from my pocket, I handed it to Genma. "Tell me, what do you make of this."

Unfurling the scroll, Genma slowly began to examine its content. The Senbon in his mouth clattered to the floor as his eyes widened in disbelief. "The Hiraishin?!"

"That's the one," I said, acting nonchalant. I briefly wondered how people would react when I finally mastered it. "Now I don't really need help with the seal as I'm almost done, but I could use some advice for using it."

"It hasn't even been a full year since you became genin and you're now learning one of the most complicated Jutsu that exist," Genma muttered. "I just don't know what to make of you, kid."

"Not even a year? Funny, it feels much longer than that to me, but I suppose it would with all the training I've been doing and all the fights I've been put through," I hummed to myself, considering all my memories from before the second round of the Chunin exams. In the span of a few short months, I'd gone from only being able to overwhelm other genin with clones to taking on Sasori without while severely poisoned. "So, do you think you could help me with this?"

"The version of the Hiraishin the Yondaime taught us was different to the version that you're learning," Genma began. "But, yeah. I do think I could help you, even if only a little.

And that's chapter 34 done.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 41 on the spooky P word website.

P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

The next chapter will be posted on the 23rd of August.
See you all then, dudes and dudettes.