Chapitre 166: Chapter 17
Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Bleach and some of the jutsu that may seem original probably aren't *shrugs*
Chapter 17 - Month Break
Hokage Tower – Hokage's Office
"Jiraiya I need you to take the boy on as your apprentice. Become the godfather Minato always wanted you to be and steer him in the right direction" Sarutobi tells his visitor.
"I don't have time for that sensei. I'm still working my contacts about this Akatsuki organization and then there is Orochimaru. You know he's got something planned and I think it revolves around the Chūnin Exam Finals. I need to be out and about checking up on things … and doing my research. Surely my biggest fan doesn't want me to be late on my next release Icha Icha Black Edition. Besides what do you care he's just one genin it's not like you have any real investment in this kid right?" the man says.
"How can you say I have nothing invested in this? He is the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko. That very fact alone makes him too valuable to the village to lose. I've told you how the boy has been acting and what he's done. I can't allow him to leave no matter what. I thought Kushina coming back might help keep him here but that was a bust. He's shown almost no interest in any girl from this village and Kushina rejects any marriage proposal or proposals of clan alliance even with her old friends" Sarutobi says angrily.
Calming down a bit the old Hokage pulls out his favorite pipe and lights it up.
"Ahh … that's the good stuff *puff* *puff*" Sarutobi leans back in his chair.
"Look Jiraiya I know you have important … work that needs to be done, but the village always comes first and I thought you believed in that too. The village and I need this kid to want to stay in the village and I believe that you're my last real chance at having that happen. If you would apprentice the kid, give him a few pointers, and make nice with Kushina then I believe he'll at least think about staying" Sarutobi says before puffing on his pipe some more.
Jiraiya studied his old sensei a little.
"What's the big deal with this kid sensei? Why are you so hot about him staying in the village? Is it just because he holds the Kyūbi or is there more to it?" Jiraiya asks skeptically.
"That's part of it. It certainly wouldn't look good if our jinchūriki left the village and became associated with one of our enemies. Trust me the kid has enough reason to want to burn this place to the ground a hundred times over despite what he will tell you. There is also the fact I believe he's going to end up being the most powerful ninja in the Elemental Countries. At 13 the kid has already shown high jōnin level skills, beat Kakashi in a spar several months ago, and has defeated several B and A ranked missing-nin" Sarutobi says shocking Jiraiya.
'High jōnin level skills, beat Kakashi, only 13, and has defeated A ranked missing-nin' Jiraiya thought and marveled at the potential of his god-son.
It was then Jiraiya remembered the prophecy that foretold one of his students either destroying or saving the world.
'Could this be the kid?' Jiraiya thought.
The fact was Jiraiya generally had a good eye for talent and if he could would try to associate himself with such talented people. A lot of people sought him out on his travels looking for the secret to success or to become his next apprentice, but generally weren't worth his time … well unless they were female and were at least a six on his scale of hotness, then he had all the time in the world. However, every once in awhile he would stumble across someone that just oozed potential and he made it his mission to know these people and become a part of their life if they wanted him to or not.
It was just good business really as people like that usually became important in the world and important people knew important stuff. There was also the fact he could snag freebies if he befriended them and Jiraiya loved free stuff.
"Look Jiraiya, I know your work is important and that you are busy but I could really use your help here"Sarutobi pleads.
However, before Jiraiya could give his answer there was a knock at the door.
"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but Uzumaki-kun is here" his secretary calls.
"Alright Okora-chan send him in" Sarutobi replies.
A few minutes later Naruto walked into the office and took a seat in front of Sarutobi all but ignoring the tall white haired man standing in the corner behind him. He was a little upset at the way the secretary had been eyeing him. Seriously this was the same woman a few months ago who would glare and scowl at him for saying hello and now she's using kun like they were friends.
That had been happening a lot to him. Ever since that council meeting it was like most of his haters disappeared and were replaced with actual decent human beings. To this day there were still a few haters, but even that small pocket had been reduced to single digits with his mother back. It did help that she personally saw to that number being reduced.
They would forever tell tales of the bloodbath that ensued during a supposed to be secret demon haters meeting when Kushina popped up during a slideshow showing how most of those in attendance had harmed Naruto in various ways as they gloated about it. They had wondered who had called the meeting since the one that took care of meeting time and locations was supposed to be on vacation some where in Tea Country. They stopped wondering after Kushina killed all but one an old woman that would serve as a messenger to not mess with an Uzumaki.
For the most part the village fell on one of two sides the apologists and the 'it never happened' group. Naruto wasn't sure which was better. The 'it never happened' group infuriated him by acting like they never did anything wrong to him … perhaps a handful could truly make that claim, but for the most part they left him alone or also aggravatingly acted like they were old friends.
The apologists at least knew their actions or inaction were wrong and tried to apologize. The problem came in the fact that they either over did it or over stepped several personal boundaries. For example, Naruto and the girls were at a restaurant having a nice time when this guy ran up got down on his knees and started begging for forgiveness totally ruining the mood. Another example happened a little later when Naruto was in the bathroom stall when the same dude actually looked under the stall door, saw him, crawled into the stall and started asking for forgiveness again.
'Well, it was sort of amusing to watch him lick the floor by my feet, since he thought he wasn't good enough to actually lick my feet' Naruto thought feeling his anger dissipate a little.
Naruto took his seat before looking at the white haired man again and then refocusing on the old Hokage.
"You said you wanted me to meet someone and by the fact he's here I assume Jiraiya-san is the person that you wanted me to see?" Naruto says questioningly.
"That would be correct Naruto-kun" Sarutobi states.
He ignored the scowl on Naruto's face at the way he addressed him. Now it was Jiraiya's turn to speak.
"Impressive gaki, I didn't expect you to know who I am without me telling you" Jiraiya says.
'I didn't even get to introduce myself' thought Jiraiya inwardly pouting.
"Attaining and retaining information is an important skill for any ninja. And there aren't many people that haven't heard of the Sannin even if most seem to talk more favorably of the other two in terms of their strength and skill" Naruto says nonchalantly.
Now Jiraiya couldn't hide his scowl at what the brat said.
'Other two … those two aren't even in my league any more. How dare this brat say those two are better than me' Jiraiya thinks.
Naruto on the other hand was able to hide his smirk at the dig he got in on the old man as he laughed inwardly.
"So why exactly did you want me to meet Jiraiya-san?" Naruto asked the hokage.
"Well, I thought you might need someone to help you train for the Finals seeing as I'm sure Yūgao-chan is probably busy with your teammates. Also, Jiraiya here trained your father and is perhaps the strongest ninja in Fire Country surely you could learn a thing or two from him" Sarutobi says pumping up his student.
'Why does it sound like sensei is trying to sell me to the brat? He should be happy I would even considering training him Minato's kid or not' Jiraiya thought.
He was happy for the praise from his sensei, but he couldn't help but notice Sarutobi didn't go against what the boy said or say he was the strongest of the Sannin currently. It always hurt Jiraiya that back when they were all genin Sarutobi favored his two team mates over him. He knew that couldn't be further from the truth now, but it always felt like it was by default so it was sort of hollow to him.
"I appreciate the offer, but you are wrong. Yuudai and Katsu both left to to train in the capitol during the break so they could be with their families. Also, while Uzuki-sensei did want to train me my mom asked if she could and Uzuki-sensei agreed. My mom has some clan techniques she wants to show me along with other things so I will be training with her in the mornings and continuing my own training during the evenings. I won't have the time or the energy for much else" Naruto says.
"Kushina's back?" Jiraiya asked his sensei.
"Yes, she returned two months ago" Sarutobi informs his student.
"I haven't seen her since … before the gaki here was born. Maybe I'll pop in and say hello. Anyway kid as strong as Kushina is there are some things she just can't teach you that I can" Jiraiya says proudly.
"Like?" Naruto questions.
"Like … how would you like to sign the Toad contract like your old man?" Jiraiya says sure this would get him.
"Not interested" Naruto says.
"What? Not interested! How could you not be interested in summoning Toads? It's one of the strongest contracts in the world!" Jiraiya boasts loudly.
"No it isn't" Naruto responds.
"Yes it is" Jiraiya responds back angrily.
"No it isn't" Naruto says back nonchalantly.
"Naruto-kun, Jiraiya-kun stop this nonsense. Now Naruto maybe you can tell us why your not interested in signing the Toad contract" Sarutobi says stopping the childish feud before it could go any further.
"You know I already have two summoning contracts Hokage-dono. I just don't see a need to sign the Toad contract when I have the other two" Naruto says while giving him the 'you're an idiot' look.
Sarutobi had to rub the back of his head in a sheepish manner similar to what Naruto used to do. He had forgotten that little fact despite reading multiple mission reports where Naruto used one or the other contract.
"Hah, a kid like you with two summoning contracts. I'll believe it when I see it" Jiraiya says arrogantly.
"Actually Jiraiya he's telling the truth. He's used them to complete several missions and aid in several more" Sarutobi tells him.
Jiraiya couldn't believe what he was hearing.
'Two contracts, I guess it isn't impossible … I wonder what contracts he has? It can't be anything impressive if they allowed some gaki to sign with them' Jiraiya thought.
Jiraiya gave a loud snort in response to his old sensei's words.
"Okay, I'll believe you sensei but I doubt anything this kid could summon would be too impressive. He probably signed something stupid like the kitten contract or perhaps the earth worm contract or maybe even the contract for guppies" Jiraiya says laughing to himself.
In response Naruto rolls up his sleeves displaying both of his summoning tattoos.
"What's that gaki, something you finger painted to resemble a real tattoo?" Jiraiya questioned laughing even more as he did.
Naruto was really getting annoyed at this point.
"No, these are my summoning tattoos. I hold the contracts for the Tiger and Vulture contract respectively" Naruto says trying to hide his anger.
Jiraiya stepped closer to the boy as he examined them.
'They're real, but how would he get not one but two contracts of this caliber. These contracts are almost as good as the Toad's' Jiraiya thought.
"Now that he's done laughing at me" Naruto says his anger evident in his voice.
"I am declining the offer of training. As I said my mother is training me this month and I have my own training to do also. However, there is something we should talk about Hokage-dono" Naruto says getting the old mans attention.
"What could that be Naruto?" Sarutobi asked.
"I assume you were told about Orochimaru's appearance in the 2nd phase of the Exams?" Naruto questions.
"Yes, I am aware of my former student infiltrating the Exams" Sarutobi says wondering where this is going.
"Then you know you should shut down the Exams and cancel the Finals" Naruto says seriously.
"I am afraid that is not an option Naruto-kun. Orochimaru made it clear that any disruption in the Exams will result in him harming the Leaf village" Sarutobi answers.
"You can't be serious can you" Naruto responds, "He already plans to harm the Leaf. He has an invasion planned and everything" Naruto says exasperated by the old man's stupidity.
'I understand the need to keep up appearances and all, but to know an attack is coming from such a dangerous enemy and do nothing is just stupid. Why do they call this man the professor? It seems like outside of War and Madara every bad thing that's happened to this village or Fire Country can be attributed to something he did or didn't do in his way too long reign as Hokage' Naruto thinks.
"Where did you hear about a planned attack Naruto?" Sarutobi asks seriously.
"In the Forest he was talking to a team of spies he has when he was talking about his objectives. One he accomplished with the Uchiha, but the second was killing you. I don't see how he can do that without carrying out an Invasion or some kind of attack and everything seems to revolve around the Exams so far so it's easy to see the Finals are his target. If you think about it it makes since. Even if he doesn't kill you or seriously damage the Leaf, to be attacked with all those important people in attendance will surely harm Konoha's rep" Naruto says.
This caused the old man and Jiraiya to freeze up in thought for a moment before Jiraiya spoke up.
"You said he was talking to spies, who are they?" Jiraiya asked.
"Kabuto Yakushi and his team" Naruto says simply.
Naruto had decided coming into the meeting to tell Sarutobi what he knew. He didn't tell him everything like how he really knew the Snake, but the incident in the Forest gave him a very plausible reason to know what he knew.
Both Sarutobi and Jiraiya had to blink at the genius of Orochimaru getting a spy in such a position where he had access to highly classified information but could move about without much suspicion. Also, they were impressed by how Kabuto flew so far under their radar despite suspicions early on about how they found him.
"I think you for this information Naruto-kun. I hope I don't have to tell you that all of this stays a secret with only the three of us in this room to know about what you've told me" Sarutobi says after taking another puff of his pipe.
"I already told my mom and Yūgao-sensei, but I won't speak of it again to anyone else" Naruto says.
Both men nod.
"Are you sure about not taking Jiraiya-kun up on his generous offer Naruto-kun? I'm sure something can be worked out with Kushina-chan if you change your mind" Sarutobi says.
"No thanks, I have things to do so if that's all I'll be going now" Naruto says and leaves the room.
"Jiraiya, I know you don't want to do this but I need you to find a way into this boy's life. If things don't change I might be forced to go to … other methods to ensure his loyalty" Sarutobi says.
"I'll try sensei, but that kid seems as stubborn as Kushina and you know when she set her mind to something she didn't quit" Jiraiya says solemnly.
"I know Jiraiya, but try for the village" Sarutobi says.
"Hai sensei" Jiraiya says before he jumps out onto the window ledge and then through the window.
With that over Sarutobi once again created a few clones and then went to his couch to relax with his pipe, some sake, and his favorite little orange book.
Konoha General
Naruto walked through the doors of the hospital and went to the information desk near the entrance way.
"Umm, excuse me miss but could you tell me Hinata Hyūga's room number please?" Naruto asked politely.
"Sure young man just let me look it up" the nurse says "She's on the fourth floor room 413" the lady tells him.
"Thank you" Naruto says.
Naruto headed for the stairs and went up a few flights before noticing a trail of sand leading to one of the rooms.
'Sand, the only people I know who could do that are Suna-nin and mainly Gaara. What would Gaara be doing in a Hospital?' Naruto wondered.
Curiousity getting the best of him Naruto decided to investigate. Moving towards the room Naruto caught the sounds of a struggle.
"Why … are you doing this?" came a voice Naruto recognized as belonging to Shikamaru.
"I do this to prove my existence. Why are you stopping me from killing him?" came the monotone voice Naruto recognized as belonging to Gaara.
"I am … stopping you, because he is … a fellow Leaf-nin and he … helped rescue … a friend of mine a while back" was Shikamaru's strained response.
Naruto just walked straight into the room past Shikamaru whom was struggling to stop Gaara by using his Shadow Possesion Jutsu.
"Uzumaki" Gaara said acknowledging Naruto's presence.
"Gaara" Naruto responded in equal monotone.
"Naruto, I … could use your help here. He's … trying to kill Lee … and my Kagemane can't hold him … for much longer" Shikamaru says.
At that exact moment Shikamaru lost control and his jutsu ended. Gaara didn't waste a second sending a wave of sand at the comatose Lee. He was surprised however as his sand was stopped by what he considered an unlikely source.
Naruto quickly moved between Lee and the sand raised a hand with a strange marking on it and called out a jutsu, "Meiton : Kyuketsuko – Dark Release : Inhaling Maw".
Both Gaara and Shikamaru were shocked by what happened. Gaara's jutsu was absorbed into Naruto's palm leaving no trace of the sand.
'He … called out Meiton. A darkness technique … is that why my Kagemane couldn't capture him?' Shikamaru wondered.
'He stopped my sand' Gaara thought surprised.
Gaara had never failed to kill before and this marked two times he had failed to kill his target. That kind of failure was unacceptable for the ring eyed youth.
"Why are you standing in my way Uzumaki?" Gaara asks in his standard monotone despite his shock.
"I don't know why I stopped you. I don't consider either of them friends or even comrades. It was … instinct I guess" Naruto says with a disinterested shrug.
"The real question is why do you want to kill him?" Naruto asks.
"I kill to prove my existence" Gaara replies.
"Why would that prove your existence?" Naruto asked.
"Because, they tried to end my existence so I end theirs before they can end mine" Gaara says staring at Lee laying his bed blissfully unaware of the current danger.
"You talk like someone who has experienced pain for a long time Gaara, before you ever even attempted to become a shinobi" Naruto says.
Gaara nodded at that not taking his eyes of Lee. He then told them the story of how he grew up and about his uncle. Shikamaru was shocked he felt there was something similar between Naruto and Gaara. He just needed a little more information.
'Maybe now I can get some answers' Shikamaru thought.
"W-why would they attack you?" Shikamaru asked.
Gaara didn't even turn to acknowledge him.
"Because of the demon sealed inside me on the day I was born" Gaara replied without emotion.
'A demon?' thought a shocked Shikamaru.
"I see so you're a jinchūriki, like me" Naruto says.
Now this shocked both Gaara and Shikamaru.
'It … makes sense now' Shikamaru thought.
"Do you know why I stopped you from killing Lee just now Gaara?" Naruto asked seriously.
Gaara still in a little bit of shock that there was someone else like him didn't respond.
'He … has a demon too' 'He's like me' Gaara thought.
'He's nothing like you, kill him. Your mother commands you to feed me his blood!' screamed Shukaku.
However, the Shukaku's screams were ignored.
"How?" was Gaara's simple reply.
"How? Do you mean how am I still sane? How am I not influenced by my demon? Or is it how do I not feel the need to kill everyone?" Naruto asked.
Gaara was deeply confused. He had never been confronted by anyone like this.
"I can tell you are strong Gaara. The fact that you haven't let it completely control you tells me that, but I can see you are starting to lose yourself. I can also sense your true desire. You don't want to kill Gaara, you want someone to acknowledge you, your pain, your loneliness. You want someone to understand you" Naruto says.
Gaara couldn't believe what he was hearing.
'How … how does he know?' Gaara thought.
'Nooo! Don't listen to him! Kill him! Make him bleed! Feed me his blood! Prove your existence! Kill him' Shukaku repeated.
"I can help you Gaara" Naruto says.
Gaara looks away from Lee and stared at Naruto.
"Leave this room and find me at Training Ground 11 any time this week. Perhaps I can even find a way to help you sleep" Naruto says.
Gaara stared at Naruto for a minute, then Lee, then Naruto, then Lee before clutching his head as the pain of Shukaku's screaming was getting to him. Before it could though he regained himself and looked at Naruto.
"Very well Uzumaki. I will … meet you and if you disappoint me I will feed you to mother" Gaara says before leaving out the way he came.
Shikamaru released a long held sigh as he watched the Suna gennin leave.
"You can come in now Maito-san" Naruto says to seemingly no one.
Shikamaru was wondering if Naruto had gone insane. After all he had to be to take on a psycho like Gaara. Gai calmly walked in right after shocking Shikamaru even more.
'I didn't even sense him, how did Naruto' he wondered.
"I thank you for saving Lee-kun Naruto-kun. That was a most youthful thing you did" Gai says as he stood over his precious student.
Naruto didn't respond just headed out the door.
"There were three people who needed saving in this room Maito-san and I assure you Lee wasn't the one I was trying to help" Naruto says.
Gai looked at Naruto studying him.
"That maybe … but I thank you anyway Naruto-kun" Gai says.
He bows towards Naruto as the genin leaves the room leaving him, Shikamaru, and Lee in the room. Lee unawares of the danger he was in mumbles in his sleep.
"Yosh … Gai-sensei … then I will … climb Hokage monument … swim up a waterfall … then I will … eat ten bowls of spicy curry rice" Lee mumbles out.
Hinata's hospital room
After leaving Lee's room Naruto headed towards his true target of his visit Hinata. He needed to get this all over with once and for all. It was actually only a few rooms down from Lee's and when Naruto walked in he noticed Team 8 was also there.
"Hello, I hope I am not interrupting anything" Naruto says calmly from the entrance way.
Despite her growth Hinata couldn't help but let out an "Eep!" at her crushes appearance.
Shino stood silently observing things as usual, but a still bandaged up Kiba decided to make his presence known.
"You bastard, what do you think your doing here!" Kiba shouted.
Naruto didn't even acknowledge Kiba's presence. He and the Inuzuka never got along so why should it be any different now. Naruto knew Kiba's dislike of him extended beyond any hate his parents could have passed onto him. He knew this was about Hinata and dog boy marking his territory so to speak.
Kurenai though felt that even if she was growing concerned about her student's relationship with the blond that she would encourage her. She knew of her students desire to be with the young blond and decided to help her out.
"Kiba, I think it's time you head back to your room. I heard your mom say she would sneak Akamaru in to see you around this time" Kurenai lied.
"What? Akamaru's coming? Wahoo! Alright sensei let's go" he says quickly before turning towards Hinata "sorry Hinata we gotta go, but I promise to come visit you again later" Kiba says to her.
The trio then walked out of the room, but not before Kiba threatened Naruto if he did anything to Hinata. He was once again ignored to his ire. Once they let Naruto walked closer to Hinata and stood beside her bed. Hinata herself was blushing although not as much as she used too at the fact her crush was in a room with her alone … and there was a bed. She also realized she was only wearing a hospital gown making her blush instensify a bit.
"How are you doing Hinata?" Naruto asked.
"I-I'm f-fine Naruto-kun" Hinata replies.
"Did the doctors say when you would be able to get out of the hospital Hinata?" he asked.
"N-no, t-they wanted t-to run s-some more tests" Hinata answers meekly.
'Now isn't the right time for this' Naruto thought.
"Well, I'm glad your doing better. I just wanted to see how you were doing before I focus completely on my training" Naruto tells her.
They talked for a bit more, mainly about how boring it was to be stuck in a hospital and the lousy food.
"Hinata, I'm sorry but I need to get going. I hope you get better soon" Naruto says heading for the door.
"Wait" Hinata called out.
Naruto stopped, but was sort of dreading what he knew she might ask of him.
Turning to face her Naruto asked, "Yes, what is it Hinata"
"I … I … w-wanted to s-say t-thank you for v-visiting m-me and for s-saving me f-from Neji" Hinata starts.
"That's okay Hinata you don't have to thank me. I'm just glad to know you are okay" Naruto says.
A silence settled in the room as both teens looked at one another, before Hinata mustered up the courage to ask what she had been wanting to ask for awhile.
"N-Naruto-kun w-would y-you go out with m-me?" she asked.
Hinata let out a breath as she finally had worked up the courage to ask him. She wasn't confident enough to do this before after what he said in Wave and seeing him with those girls. But then he kissed her before she fought Neji and she had to ask again.
"I'm sorry Hinata, but no" Naruto says.
"W-what? W-why? D-don't y-you l-like m-me? I-is i-it m-my f-family a-again o-or a-am I-I n-not g-good enough?" Hinata asked.
Naruto just looked at the girl for a moment watching as she started to cry. He felt bad, but maybe it was best he do this now and let her move on.
"It's not that Hinata. You are a kind, strong when you want to be, caring, beautiful girl. I watched you fight Neji someone I know you were scared to fight against, but you stood your ground and fought even as he ridiculed you something you wouldn't have done in the past. However, at the end you saw he was going to kill you and you were going to let him" Naruto says.
Hinata gasped, she didn't think he knew that.
"I'm going to be leaving in a few years Hinata and when I leave I will be severing all ties with this village. I have a few people who will be coming with me, but I can't bring someone who still has ties to this village and someone who can't fight against those from this village rather they be friends or family. I need those willing to die, but who fight to survive and your fight against Neji showed me you aren't able to do that" Naruto says.
Hinata's cries deepened. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was confirming everything she ever felt about herself and hearing it from him of all people was tearing her apart.
"I'm sorry Hinata. I know you might not believe me, but I do think you will grow up to be a great woman and some guy will be real lucky to be loved by you. I just can't be that guy" Naruto says.
He wasn't sure if Hinata had heard him or not, but he said what needed to be said so he left. He could hear her sobs growing louder as he walked out into the hall, but was stopped by an angry kunoichi glaring at him with fiery red eyes.
Kurenai moved to grab Naruto's shirt, but he moved aside leaving her to over extend and stumble by him. She made another move to grab him, but he evaded her again. She tried to tackle him, but Naruto just jumped over her then ducked as she flew at him from behind trying to catch him by surprise.
"You bastard stand still!" Kurenai shouted.
At that point Kiba and Shino came out from a room behind Kurenai and moved to stand by their sensei. Naruto could tell Shino was releasing his kikachū into the air. Kiba growled and postured, but beat up as he was his threat level was zero.
"I suggest you three think about what you are doing right now. We are in a hospital and a fight here would cause a lot of damage and destruction not to mention involve sick and injured people. I also won't be held responsible seeing as you attacked me when I have done nothing to any of you" Naruto says calmly.
"Didn't do anything, didn't do anything! What do you call breaking that poor girl's heart in there then?" Kurenai shouted.
"You led her on all this time only to break her heart now when she's in such bad condition. The only thing that kept that girl alive up til now was her thoughts of you and that you liked her the way she likes you. That girl was practically the only person in this entire village that had anything good to say about you until recently and this is how you repay her!" she shouted drawing a crowd.
"Wow, so I should be grateful and just be with someone I don't love because she thought positive things about me when no one else in this shitty village did!" Naruto shouted back.
"I admit the old me would have worshipped Hinata for that fact alone, but outside of fantasies and stalking me what has she done? She barely even talked to me before we graduated or helped me when the people of this village did horrible things to me or my possessions. She didn't even stand up and speak out when I was called a liar about the things people did, she just stood back and watched.
I on the other hand helped save her from some bullies that were picking on her. I took one hell of a beating too before her gaurd got there. I thought when I saw her again we could be friends, but she would run away from me or faint. I know why she did that stuff now, but back then it really hurt to think she was the same as the rest of them.
I admit I led her on back at the prelims, but I was trying to help her like I always have. Now I see that was a mistake and I apologized to her. I am leaving now … take care of her" Naruto says.
Turning his back on them Naruto finds an open window and jumps out into the village leaving Team 8 behind.
Training Ground 11 – Two days later
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique"
"Takigakure-Ryū: Mizukiri no Yaiba – Hidden in Waterfall style: Watercutting Sword"
The fireball was cut in half by the water technique as the weilder charged the fire ball thrower. She ignored the explosion occurring behind her as she came in sliced downwards at her attacker.
"Rai Ken – Lightning Sword"
The sword made of lightning caught the water user electrocuting them, but to the shock of the lightning user they turned into a puddle of water indicating it was a clone.
"Suiton: Teppōdama – Water Release: Gunshot"
The attack seemed to come out of nowhere as the guy was hit in the back by the deadly water technique. However, the woman wasn't surprised when the body she hit went up in smoke showing it too was a clone.
"Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu – Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique"
As the male came out of the ground to finish the fight he was on the receiving end of a strong left hook that sent him flying across the ground. He didn't get the chance to recover as the woman held another water sword at his neck.
"Yeild" she told him.
The male tried to find a way out of his current situation, but was reminded of his position when he was poked by the sword as it cut into his skin a little.
"I … yield" the male says.
The female quickly smiled as she dispelled the water sword technique and held out her hand to the young male on the ground.
"That was good Naruto-kun, you managed to hold out a little longer against me than last time" the woman says.
Naruto took the hand as he got up from the ground.
"Thanks kaa-san, but it'll be a while before I can match you" Naruto says truthfully.
"True, but you are well on your way to being just as strong as I am sochi. How about we take a break, I could use some ramen right about now" Kushina says smiling.
Naruto could only smile at his mom as she was always trying to get free ramen.
"Sure, ramen sounds good" Naruto says.
He had to stifle a laugh as his mom pumped her fist in the air and tore out of the training grounds leaving him behind. He used to be a major ramen addict, but his mother had him beat by a mile.
Ichiraku Ramen Stand
When Kushina walked in Teuchi was out front serving another customer.
"Hey Teuchi, ten bowls of shio ramen and keep them coming" Kushina says before she sits on a stool to the right of the middle stool.
"Hey Kushina-chan, just give me a minute okay" Teuchi responds and turns back to the other customer.
"Now Teuchi what have I always told you" Kushina says in lecture mode.
"Never get between an Uzumaki and their ramen" Teuchi says.
He had heard that phrase often enough that it was permanently imprinted in his head.
"Exactly, now ten bowls of shio ramen and make it snappy. You know how I hate to wait and it would be a shame if anything happened to your wonderful little stand here" Kushina says sweetly while reaching for her katana.
"Yes, Kushina-chan" Teuchi says with resignation clear in his voice as he marched towards the back.
Kushina hummed happily as she waited for her favourite salt ramen.
"Hey Teuchi, where is Ayame-chan?" Kushina asked as the man started making her ramen.
"In school she had an early morning class today, but she should have been here by now …" Teuchi says trailing off in thought at the end.
It was at that point a new person walked into the stand and took a seat beside Kushina.
"Hello Kushina, long time no see" a tall white haired man says casually.
"So it has been. What brings you here Jiraiya?" Kushina asks calmly without looking at the man.
"I'm hurt Kushina. This is the first time I've seen you in over a decade and I don't even get a hug" Jiraiay replies with mock hurt in his voice.
"Stuff it pervert. Now tell me why you are here or get lost" Kushina says firmly.
"Fine, straight to the point. I want you to let me train Naruto" Jiraiya says.
"And why should I allow you to do that. From what I remember you didn't want to train him before or help us when that council and Danzō ran me out of town separating me from Naruto-kun. I also remember you turning me down when I found you a little later and practically begged you to help me get him back. You even tried to use my desperation and sorrow to get me to sleep with you" Kushina says still relatively calm but you could feel the anger building.
"Kushina … I … there is no excuse for what I've done, but I am here now and I can help the boy. You know I can make him strong and I'm even offering to let him sign the Toad contract" Jiraiya says before another voice interrupts him.
"And I've told you before I'm not interested Jiraiya-san" Naruto says as he and Ayame enter the stall.
"Dad I'm back" Ayame called out to the back of the stall.
Teuchi stopped cooking for a moment to look at his daughter. What he saw made his blood boil. Ayame's clothes and hair were in disarray and she had a slight bruise on her cheek. Teuchi forgot the ramen much to Kushina's ire and ran around the stall embracing his daughter.
"Ayame -bebi! What happened to you?" Teuchi hollered.
"It's nothing dad … really Naruto-kun took care of it" Ayame says to the frantic father.
Naruto caught the explain or else look Teuchi gave him and explained.
"I was rushing to catch up with Kaa-san over there when I saw Ayame being hasseled by some idiots a few blocks away from here. They were just some civilian punks used to getting their way due to their family's wealth. I made sure they won't hassle Ayame again and just incase I'll have a clone escort her to and from school for awhile" Naruto says as he sits down next to his mother.
Teuchi thanked Naruto before father and daughter went into the back leaving Jiraiya, Kushina, and Naruto alone.
"So … why are you still here Gama-san?" Naruto asked looking over at the man.
Jiraiya was a little put off by Naruto but decided to let it go after all he was here on a mission.
'I can't believe Sarutobi-sensei threatened to ban me from Konoha's hotsprings if I didn't train the brat' Jiraiya lamented.
"I just want to know why you won't agree to let me train you. I know you said Kushina is training you and you already have a contract, but as you have shown you can have more than one. I can also teach you a few of your old man's techniques" Jiraiya says confidently.
"You mean like this one" Naruto says as he held out his hand.
In Naruto's hand was a blue ball of spinning chakra.
"What the hell! Who taught you that?" Jiraiya shouted.
"I did of course. Surely you didn't think you were the only person Minato taught his prized technique to. It took me a while, but I finally managed to learn and even perfect it during my travels" Kushina says.
She also held out her hand to show a spinning ball of chakra. Only hers was a darker shade of blue with what looked like globules of water spinning around it.
"W-what? That's impossible. Minato didn't even come close to figuring out how to combine his element with the Rasengan!" Jiraiya shouts.
"How did you do it?" Jiraiya asks.
"Sorry trade secret" Kushina says just as Teuchi returns with her first bowl of ramen dismissing the technique in order to eat.
"Hey Teuchi I'll take two Shio, one Tonketsu, three Shōyu, and four Miso ramen bowls" Naruto orders.
"Sure thing kid, and your order is on the house today for saving my little girl" Teuchi says as he disappears into the back again.
"That's quite the order gaki. Sure you can handle all that?" Jiraiya asks teasingly.
Naruto however didn't take the bait.
"Are you ordering Jiraiya-san or just here to watch?" Naruto asks.
Kushina at this point had tuned them both out and was focused only on her ramen.
"I told you why I'm here kid" Jiraiya says feeling a bit put out.
"And I told you I'm not interested" Naruto retorts.
It was at this point that Teuchi had returned again this time with six bowls of salt ramen for mother and son to devour.
Jiraiya seeing he wasn't going to get anywhere with either Uzumaki at this point decided to leave.
"Fine, I have better things to do then beg some brat to allow me to train him … like research" Jiraiya says practically giggling at the end.
Of course he was ignored as he left the booth leaving the Uzumaki's to their luch.
Konoha – random street - Sunday
Kushina and the girls were out for a day of shopping. They had managed to drag Naruto along reminding him it was Sunday and he had nothing better to do since this was his free day.
They had toured at least ten shops by Naruto's count and he was carrying at least twenty bags. This was compounded by the fact Kushina wouldn't allow him to make any clones to help distribute the load. It wasn't heavy or anything, it was just so much.
Unfortunately his long day was about to get a little longer. An Anbu dropped down in front of them and addressed Kushina.
"Uzumaki Kushina, the council has requested your presence in chambers in an hour. You were also requested Uzumaki Naruto" a monkey masked ANBU says before shunshining away.
"Great, I wonder what they could want now" Naruto says.
"I don't know, but let's get the bags back to the hotel" Kushina responds.
Hokage's residence – Council Chambers
Naruto and Kushina faced the council wondering what this could be about. The Hokage decided to kick things off.
"Kushina, there has been a threat made to Konoha by the former Sannin Orochimaru …" Sarutobi starts.
At this the clan heads and several jōnin that were also in attendance exploded. After a few minutes the noise died down allowing one of the clan heads to ask his question.
"When did you become aware of this threat Hokage-sama?" asked Inoichi Yamanaka.
"We have been aware of my traitorous former students' intention for a while now" Sarutobi answers vaguely.
"Then why weren't we informed?" asked Hiashi Hyūga.
"You were not informed so that no alarms would be raised and alert Orochimaru that we are indeed on to him. As it is this council meeting was called, because last night one of our shinobi and his fiance stumbled upon a spy that we have learned to be one of Orochimaru's plotting an Invasion with a Suna jōnin that is here with a team that made it to the Finals" Sarutobi answers.
"A spy … do you know who it is?" Nara Shikaku asks.
'There is no way I am telling them a gennin found something out that not even I could' Sarutobi thinks.
"We believe him to be Yakushi Kabuto, a young man that I've been suspicious of for a while now" Sarutobi informs them.
"If Suna and Orochimaru are planning an Invasion then we need to cancel the Exam Finals" proclaimed a civilian council member.
"No, it's better if we carry on and let things play out. As of now there are already plans in the work to combat our enemies. If we were to cancel the Exams who knows what evil Orochimaru would unleash to destroy Konoha" Sarutobi says.
Some of the council could see the thought behind such actions, but many just thought it was stupid.
'That bastard isn't even going to give me credit for alerting him to Kabuto' Naruto thinks sourly.
'Who would let someone attack them if they could prevent it in the first place?' were what most of them thought.
However, he was the Hokage so they had no choice but to go along with it. The truth was that Sarutobi wanted one last confrontation with his traitorous student. He knew the village would receive damage, but it had survived worse and he was sure it would survive whatever Orochimaru would cook up. This was something he needed to do even knowing the danger he was placing the village in and that he would die if he faced his former pupil the way he was.
He had been training whenever he could get the time occasionaly with the help of Jiraiya. It wouldn't be enough to help him win, but if he planned correctly he could at least make it so maybe someone else could finish what he started.
"Wait you said someone stumbled across this meeting? Were they able to get away without being noticed?" Ibiki asked from his position standing with the other department heads.
"We are getting side tracked. The Finals will go on as planned and unfortunately the Invasion will happen. Now that you all know the situation you can all help with planning the evacuations and response stage of the defensive plan. However, before we get to all of that I would like to ask Kushina if she will lend us a hand and help defend Konoha" The Hokage asked.
Everyone turned on eyes on Kushina wondering what she would do. It wasn't like she had been agreeable to anything else they had asked of her since her return.
This was more like the tenth council meeting Kushina had been apart of. They kept asking her to either return to service or train someone they thought was worthy of her training. It was mostly a few kunoichi they thought had promise, but the clan heads had also asked her to train someone from their clan. That was when they weren't trying to propose that she marry someone from their clan. She had declined all of their requests some with a little more … vigor than the others.
"Okay" Kushina said.
"What?" the Third asked.
"I said okay, I'll fight. It's not like I was going to leave Naru-kun here alone. Akari and Miyuki-chan will also fight. I've been training them for a while now so they should be able to hold their own" Kushina says.
The Hokage nodded. This was going better than he had expected and was sure with Kushina's help they could stop most of what Orochimaru had planned against them. The other clan heads also felt a little more sure of the situation knowing Kushina would be fighting. After all the only person to match Minato back before he became Hokage of their generation had been Kushina. They were sure she was even stronger now.
"Good, if that's over we still have some more shopping to do" Kushina says as she turned to leave.
"Actually there is one more thing, if you will allow it" Nara Shikaku says.
"Fine, what is it?" Kushina asked impatiently as she faced them once more.
"Actually our question is for Naruto-kun" Sarutobi says.
"Oh, what do you want ask me?" Naruto asked coyly.
Naruto had a fairly good idea what it was, because of Shikaku's involvement. A Nara would rarely involve themselves in things that didn't pertain to them or intrigue them. Naruto was also sure Shikamaru had gone home and told his parents what happened when he faced Gaara.
"It's about your confrontation with Gaara-san in the hospital" Shikaku says.
"What about it?" Naruto asked looking directly at the man.
Naruto didn't hate the man or his clan. Only a few had ever hasseled him and they were far too easy to escape due to their lazyness. For the most part they left him alone neither helping nor hurting him. It didn't mean Naruto liked how they treated him, but as things were how the Nara clan felt about him was the last thing on Naruto's mind.
"My son informed me you used a skill similar to our Kage Techniques" Shikaku says staring back at Naruto.
"My Meiton abilities are far more than a few cheap tricks Shikaku-san. Your shadows compare to my darkness like a lit light bulb outside on a clear sunny day. The darkness is a part of me, a bloodline one of several that I hold" Naruto says shocking the council.
"D-d-did y-you say s-several … as in m-more than one?" Hiashi Inuzuka Tsume stammers out.
"Yes, as in more than one. Meiton is my most … impressive bloodline although you might not think so. It's an Omega element and I am but one of a handful of humans to ever have it. I won't profess to be a master of it yet, but what I can do with it now makes most other bloodlines pale in comparison even those vaunted dōjutsu everyone loves so much" Naruto states.
The other clan heads were shocked and wondered what the possibilities would be if they bred Naruto's bloodline into theirs. They still need info, but they weren't going to get it because another clan head took what Naruto said as an insult and wouldn't stand for it.
"How dare you compare you pathetic elemental bloodline to the greatest dōjutsu in existence, boy!" Hiashi shouted.
"Which one are you talking about exactly? The sharingan or the rinnegan, because I could see your point if you were talking about one of those" Naruto says unaffected by Hiashi's glare and Ki he was leveling on him.
"If your talking about the great All Seeing Eye … well I'd laugh but I don't find that particular joke to be funny" Naruto says dismissively.
"Why you … little demon" Hiashi says before jumping up and charging at Naruto.
The other clan heads sat back and watched as did Hiruzen and Jiriaya, whom was hiding using one of his techniques. Kushina also jumped out of the way knowing Naruto didn't need her help. When Hiashi was about half way Naruto did a lightning fast sequence of hand seals then slapped his hand on the floor before calling out his technique.
"Meiton : Makia Numa – Dark Release : Swamp of the Demon World" Naruto called.
This was something he had based off a jutsu he found in the scroll that Jiraiya had created. It was originally a Doton technique and a powerful one, but Naruto had modified it for use with his Meiton chakra taking it up to a whole other level. Thanks to the darkness influence it now didn't just capture and emoblize the target making them sink to their deaths. No now it did that plus sucked out their chakra giving it to the user of the technique, which Hiashi found out the hard way. It also took a bit of that person's life force something only a true darkness user could do. Hiashi would only lose a few days off his life span unless he did become submerged by the technique at which point entire years could be siphoned off before he died or was rescued.
"What is … this? Why am I … feeling weaker … and tired" Hiashi asked.
Hiashi could feel himself growing weaker and sinking into the sticky dark substance that now covered the floor of the chambers. If there was a substance he would compare it to it would be tar. He couldn't escape no matter how hard he tried as he found it hard to even do a simple replacement technique.
"Naruto-kun, please let Hiashi go. I'm sure he's learned his lesson there is no need to kill him" Kushina says from her position on a wall.
Naruto looked towards her and then back to Hiashi.
"Fine, but if he attacks me again he won't live to try again" Naruto says coldly then dismisses the technique.
As soon as he did it was like nothing had happened. The floors were back to normal and Hiashi didn't have a scratch on him. However, the other clan heads could see the Hyūga clan head was still feeling the effects of the technique Naruto used.
Shikaku, Jiraiya, and Sarutobi though were more interested in the technique Naruto used. To modify such a high level jutsu from another element and convert it to use with yours was something few could do.
For Shikaku he was thinking of the possibilities his clan would have if they could get Naruto to marry one of their females. Their power and influence would only grow not to mention the boost in abilities the clan would receive. Now if only he could find away to get Naruto to agree to his proposal. Of course he wasn't alone in these thoughts.
For the Hokage and Jiraiya they were able to learn even more about Naruto filing the knowledge away. Jiraiya was a little upset about his technique being used in such way and by a brat that didn't even want his training, but he was impressed none the less.
When Hiashi returned to his seat feeling little energy to do anything else Sarutobi decided to push things along.
"I appreciate that … demonstaration of your bloodline Naruto-kun, but in the future if you could restrain yourself from attacking clan heads it would be most appreciated" Sarutobi says.
If he expected a response he didn't get it. Instead Naruto turned to his mother whom had just returned to stand beside him.
"If that's all I think we should call it a day. I'm not sure Hiashi can last much longer in his current condition" Kushina says.
She never liked the man. He was always so cold and stuck up believing his clan to the best. While Kushina could appreciate clan pride she couldn't deal with the holier than thou attitude he and the majority of the Hyūga clan held. When she grew up her only friend among the Hyūga's had been Hinata's mother, but after she had been betrothed to Hiashi their friendship disappeared and she knew Hiashi was behind it. Kushina could see the woman in Hinata it was a real shame the girl had to grow up with such a bastard of a father, but it wasn't her fight.
"You are probably right. Alright this session of the council is over and everyone is dismissed, but I expect you all to return in a week's time to talk about the Invasion and your expected roles. Kushina I would also like you to be there if you would" Sarutobi says.
He receives a nod from the woman.
"Good, then everyone is dismissed" says the old man before leaving.
Before the Uzumaki's could leave though they found a few clan heads in their way. Namely Tsume whom wanted to talk to Kushina and Shikaku who wanted to talk more with Naruto.
With Naruto & Shikaku
"Naruto I know you plan to leave the village when your contract with the Damiyo is up, but I'd like you to reconsider. You have proven to be a young man with many talents and you would be a valuable asset to the village. I would also like you to consider becoming a part of the Nara clan through marriage. I have a niece that I think you would like a lot if you accepted" Shikaku says.
"Thanks for saying so Shikaku-san coming from Konoha's Commander-in Chief that's high praise, but I see right through you. I know you are mainly interested in me to improve the Nara bloodline. Like I said before there is no comparison between true Darkness and Shadows.
They might be compatible, but there will always be darkness while the shadow will always hide from the light. In saying that if things were different I would accept your proposal. The Nara clan never did anything to me outside of a few incidents that I was able to mostly avoid. That said you never did anything for me to reconsider my current stance.
I'll be leaving soon and the ties that bind will soon be cut. I can't have those with ties to the village ensnare me and threaten my freedom. I hope you understand it isn't personal, but I have to reject your proposal" Naruto tells the man.
Shikaku nods and shakes Naruto's hand showing he understood.
"Hey mom, I'll be outside okay" Naruto says to Kushina.
He leaves the chambers after hearing her response Shikaku following him out.
With Kushina & Tsume
"Kushina, I'd like to invite you and the girls to a day at the Fiery Temptations Spa. Ine (Ino's mom), Yoshino, Fusa (Choji's mom), Takako (Tenten's mom), and some of the younger girls will be there. We can make a day of it and relax … without fear of any peeping perverts getting a look at us" Tsume says.
"I must decline the invitation. I am busy training Naruto and the girls so they will be ready for the Invasion" Kushina responds.
"Come on Kushina, its just one day. You can't tell me you can't spare one day to hang out with some old friends can you?" Tsume says pleadingly.
"I'm busy Tsume, we all are going to be busy. That snake is going to try to pull every dirty trick he can to destroy us and I need to make sure the kids are ready. I lost Naruto once and I won't lose him again.
Besides I haven't forgiven any of you for not being there for me when I needed you the most. Did you all think I would just stay gone forever and leave my boy to the idiots in this village? Or did you think I would say by gones are by gones and we should all just forget everything? Or did you think I actually agreed with what the council was doing? Maybe you thought I was just too weak to stay and watch as they carried out their brand of 'justice' on my innocent baby boy" Kushina says.
"Kushina … it … it … wasn't" Tsume started.
As soon as she said that Kushina grew angry and shoved Tsume up against the wall of the chamber. Koramaru staid out of it knowing his partner wouldn't like it if he interfered even if she was in danger, but growled showing his displeasure none the less.
"Wasn't what little mesuinu? Wasn't your fault? Wasn't what you wanted to do …" Kushina questioned.
She was stopped when Naruto informed her of him leaving. She turned towards him and smiled before responding.
"Okay sweatie, why don't you head back to the hotel. I'm sure the girls are worried about you and want to know what's going on" Kushina tells him.
Naruto nods and leaves with Shikaku leaving quickly behind him. He wasn't going to get involved in their fight.
'I have my own troublesome woman to deal with' he thought as he left.
He thought about telling Yoshino about this when he saw her, but figured Tsume or someone else would tell her eventually. He had a clan meeting to call after all and other important things to deal with … or not.
Seeing them leave Kushina refocused on Tsume.
"Where was I … oh right I don't care what your issues were! Do you remember what happened when your first master tamed you? Who was it that killed that bastard and helped you become clan head of the Inuzuka's?" Kushina asked hotly.
"It … it was you" Tsume responds softly.
"What was that? I didn't hear you!" Kushina shouts.
"It was you, Kushina!" Tsume shouts back.
Kushina responds by pushing her further into the wall.
"That's right it was me. In your time of need I was there for you and rescued you from that bastard. I bet you never even told little Hana or Kiba about who their father really was or how you came to be the clan head instead of staying some mans bitch only used to push out the next litter of mangy mutts. Your family talks big about loyalty but when it actually came time to show some you hid with your tails between your legs" Kushina says.
At this point Tsume had started to choke as Kushina was squeezing her neck. Kushina realized that and dropped the woman turning to walk away as the Inuzuka gathered her breath.
"I expected more from all of you Tsume. It's too late to fix things … just leave me alone" Kushina says tiredly.
The Uzumaki walks out leaving the Inuzuka to be tended to by her partner.
Naruto – street near hotel
Naruto was making his way back to the hotel to see the girls when he saw someone he recognized from the start of the Exams. She was the other person from Kusa that gave him a weird vibe.
"Hey" Naruto calls out startling the girl.
She turns to face the person that startled her and gasped. She pointed her finger at him shakily while also blushing.
"I-It's y-you" she says some what accusingly.
"I'm glad to see you remember me. My names Uzumaki Naruto, what's yours?" Naruto asks the redhead.
"Umm … it's Karin" she responds.
"I'm sorry for staring at you back in the Exam room, but I got a familiar vibe off you. You wouldn't happen to be an Uzumaki would you?" Naruto asks.
"No … I don't think so. My parents died when I was very young and a ninja from Kusa found me and brought me to their village. I was raised in the orphanage and given the name Karin so I don't really know who I am" Karin says.
Naruto nodded at the story it made since. He heard any Uzumaki's that had survived Uzu's destruction had fled and spread to the corners of the world. It was possible her parents were Uzumaki and were killed by someone that recognized them but spared her because she was too young or something.
"So … what are you still doing in the village? I thought everyone that didn't make it to the Finals was sent home already?" Naruto asked.
"Ahh … well I was nearly killed in the Forest when that Uchiha kid saved me. Then there was some big commotion about something with a lot of ninja streaming into the forest. I was tired of being in that place and just … left" Karin says a bit awkwardly in the end.
"Riigghhtt … so what are your plans now?" Naruto asked.
"Well … I tried to find my team, but apparently they died in the Forest and my sensei told me he had to leave immediately, but couldn't take me with him for some reason. He said he received permission from the Hokage allowing me to stay in the village until he returns. So … I guess I'm just hanging out until he does" she says with a shrug at the end.
"Okay, where are you staying?" Naruto asked.
"My sensei arranged for me to stay at some place called The Dogwood Inn" she responds.
Naruto looked at her skeptically for a moment.
"The Dogwood Inn, are you sure?" he asked.
She nodded giving him a confused look.
"Sorry, it's just that place is one of the few hotels run by the Inuzuka's. It's mainly for when they hold their dog competitions and when low on guests their dogs actually stay there" Naruto informs her.
Karin couldn't stifle her sigh, "Figures he'd dump me in a kennel" she says sadly.
When she saw the look Naruto was giving her prompting an explanation she continued.
"My sensei doesn't like me. He actually told me I was dead weight before coming here for the Exams and said I better not hold back my teammates. He probably blames me for their deaths and won't be coming back to get me" she says.
Naruto was angered upon hearing someone would do that especially since this girl might turn out to be family. She was weird, but she didn't seem like a bad person.
"Well, the owner of the Four Leaf Inn owes me a few favors. I am staying there currently with my family and teammates while some renovations are made to my home. If you want I could get him to get you a room for free for a little while and we can see about you maybe getting some work or becoming a shinobi.
I myself actually have a deal with the Hokage in which I work for him for the next two and a half years after which I get to leave no questions asked. I can get you included on that, if you want so you can leave when we leave" Naruto offers.
"I don't know about becoming a Leaf shinobi, but I would like to take you up on that offer for a hotel room" Karin answers.
"Sure, come on I'm headed there now to meet my girlfriends" Naruto says as he walks off.
'Girlfriends … as in more then one?' Karin thinks a bit angry.
She didn't know why she was angry or if she was even really feeling angry, but seeing Naruto getting away from she ran to catch up and walked with him towards the hotel.
Next Day
Naruto and Kushina had another spar. They were relaxing resting up a bit to prepare for the next part of his training. The girls were off in another section of the Training Grounds training with a Kage Bunshin of Kushina's. It was now time for Kushina to prpose something to Naruto she had wanted to for a while.
"Naruto" she said gaining his attention. "I told you how I traveled around before training to get stronger right?" she questioned.
Naruto nodded, he had often asked Kushina about her travels. He was interested not just in the other villages or countries that made up the elemental lands, but also the world beyond this. Kushina told Naruto of the many wars that were taking place beyond the Elemental countries. How there were other continents filled with men of immense power a few that could make even the Kage's look like fresh out of the academy gennin. She would tell him of their different ways of fighting and weapons that made him jealous of their wielders despite the impressive swords he already held.
Each story made him lust for the wanderers life style his mother had employed, but she said he would need to get stronger if he wanted to go to the west and he didn't doubt her. Still, there was something she wanted him to have.
At his nod she continued, "There is a place I want to take you and the girls. It means you won't be able to train for a little awhile until we get back, but I promise it will be worth it and we won't be gone long. A week tops I promise" Kushina tells him.
Naruto thinks it over before asking, "What of the Hokage? Will he not object to us being gone with village on alert for an impending Invasion?"
He normally wouldn't ask such a question out in the open like they were, but Kushina had ensured the training grounds were free from prying eyes or ears while they used it.
"I cleared it with him. He doesn't like it, but accepted it" Kushina answers.
"And he won't try to add any days to my time spent in service?" Naruto asked.
"Nope, and if he does we can talk to the Daimyo about it" Kushina says.
Naruto nodded, "Okay should we continue training or pack up?" he asked.
"Let's continue, another day won't change anything" Kushina says.
Naruto nodded as Kushina stood and motioned for him to come at her again sword drawn. Naruto smirked as he took out a standard katana and attacked.
Next Day – Clearing fifty miles East of Konoha
Naruto stood with the girls and his mother looking out on the expanse of green grass. They were close to the ocean as Naruto could smell salt in the air. They kept walking until they stopped next to a cliff.
"Why are we here Kushina-chan?" Akari said seeing no one else was going to ask.
Kushina kept walking until she was at the edge, "We are here for this" she says waving her arms outward.
Coming to her side the two girls and her son looked down to find an island five miles off shore. Naruto instantly knew where they were.
"Is that Uzu?" Naruto asked surprised.
He of course knew where his mother was born and raised before she was sent to Konoha. He had heard legends and the stories Kushina would tell of her time in Uzu before it was destroyed. However, he had never been there or even seen a photograph of the place as information on Uzu was hard to come by.
"Yes, that is where I was born the birthplace of all Uzumaki's" Kushina says grandly.
"It was also home to the best ramen ever made by man" Kushina says.
Naruto looked at Kushina skeptically, "Isn't that what you say about Teuchi's ramen?" he asked.
Kushina laughed at the question, "No Naruto-kun, Teuchi's is good and the best in the elemental nations currently. Although on flavor alone I may have to give it to this band of ryōri ninja (cooking-nin) from Kumo, but their food is almost too good so much so a lot of people can't resist and over induldge making them fat. Of course being an Uzumaki I was able to avoid that thanks to my training regiment, but even I gained a few pounds after hanging around them for a month.
The Uzumaki's though practically invented ramen and no chief no matter how skilled could ever match an Uzumaki's home made ramen. It was the national dish of Uzu after all and any true Uzumaki would be insulted by anyone compairing a non-Uzumaki's ramen to an Uzumaki made ramen. It's just something you didn't do. Wars were started in Uzu for such a thing" Kushina informs them.
The girls gained a sweat drop and thought how crazy the village and clan had to be. They liked ramen but no where near as much as the Uzumaki mother and son. Naruto however smiled and wished he had seen Uzu before it's destruction. After a few minutes Kushina grew restless.
"Well, let's not stand here let's go!" she shouted before jumping from the cliff only to land on her feet ontop of the waters surface not even causing a ripple to appear.
Naruto quickly followed her example and they waited on the girls to do the same. Looking at each other they looked down on their impatient love and his mother.
"Tell me why we decided he was the one again?" Miyuki asked.
"I don't know, but it's not something I have ever regretted. I'll see you down there" Akari says as she takes a few steps back before running and jumping off the cliff.
Miyuki watched as Akari landed safely behind the mother and son. She noticed a bit of pink on Naruto's face as Akari flew over them. It had to be because the pecan coloured girl was wearing a skirt with nothing underneath. She kept watching as Kushina admonished her son for looking and seemed to be grilling Akari over something as the girl also seemed to be sporting a blush.
Akari marveled at her friends daring nature and how much stronger she seemed to have gotten due to Kushina's training. To jump from such a height and be able to apply the water surface walking technique fast enough to hit the surface and stand without sinking an inch was impressive.
'If she can do it, I can do it' Miyuki thought resolutely.
She also took a few steps before jumpin off, but unlike Akari there was no show to give Naruto as she was wearing pants like Kushina. Once together the group headed for the island of Uzu running across the water reaching the small island nation quickly.
Upon arriving on the island Kushina quickly headed towards the center forcing Naruto and the girls to follow her. When they reached what looked to be what was left of Uzushiogakure they kids were surprised by what they didn't find. They had expected for bodies to be strown every where, with blood and other disgusting liquids staining the ground, and the remnants of destroyed buildings to be abdunt. What they found was an actual village, a small empty village.
"Kaa-san how is this possible?" Naruto asked.
"How is what possible sweetie?" she asked.
"This village … I thought it was destroyed" Naruto says.
"Ohhh … well the official story is that Kumo, Mizu, and Iwa with a few other small villages joined together and destroyed Uzu. That part is true although Suna and a small hidden faction from Konoha also played a part. What isn't told is that each group first attacked our village individually thinking their greater numbers or presumed skill would wear Uzu down on their own. They all were repelled and sent back with far greater losses then we ever took. For every Uzuo-nin that fell twenty or more of the enemy fell" Kushina says.
Naruto listened in slight awe. He had asked Kushina many things about Uzu, but never how it actually was destroyed. He had believed what little he had been told and sadly hadn't thought to question any of it.
"What no one in Uzuo knew and something I only learned during my travels is that one man manipulated the gathering forces to unite and attack together. This man also had a small but powerful force along with the Kaguya clan. The Mist will say the clan was killed attacking the Mizu Kage, but truth is they were front line warriors and wouldn't accept being anything less so they took the brunt of our defenses for the allied forces. This helped the allied forces, because Uzu had to spend a lot of effort to end the threat the Kaguya posed before they got too close to the village.
Uzuo managed to defeat the Kaguya and the first two waves of their combined attack. Unfortunately the man that galvanized them had a traitor placed amongst us. A man no one suspected … my uncle" Kushina says.
This got a gasp from all three, but Naruto was already processing what he had learned so far and what he knew of Uzushiogakure.
"You see my uncle was always a prideful and jealous man. He actually reminds me of the Uchiha's in that respect with the Hyūga's holier than thou superiority thing mixed in. A truly horrible man who saw the Uzumaki's as being the superior clan and people of Uzuo. He felt that the civilians and other shinobi were beneath us and him. He took that belief so far that he only believed an Uzumaki woman was good enough for him.
None of the Uzumaki females of proper marrying age were interested though. After more than a few rejections he then set his sights on a young Uzumaki maiden … me" Kushina says shocking them even more.
"B-but h-he couldn't" Akari stutters out.
"What about grandpa, surely he didn't go for it?" Naruto asked.
"You are right Naruto my dad didn't go for it and told his brother he was sick for even suggesting something like that. Like I said my uncle was a jealous man and I often saw him stare at my mother when my father wasn't around or had his back turned. I didn't know back then why and when I told my mom that he was she just said I shouldn't mention it to anyone else and that she would take care of it.
Anyway he never brought it up again. I found out later he deactivated the Whirlpools that defended Uzuo for decades letting the unified army storm Uzuo. I don't know what became of him, but I do now some Uzumaki's escaped so he might still be out there. If I ever find him I'll kill him for betraying our family like he did" Kushina says.
Her hands had turned to fists and she was clenching them so tight they were white as her nails dug into the flesh of her palms drawing a little blood. Her teetch were clinched, her flaming red hair seemed to ignite as it billowed in the winds of her homeland stiking a very imposing image. Naruto though was focused on her hands and grasped them breaking her from her thoughts.
"It's okay mom, if he's still alive we'll make him pay … together" Naruto says with a smile.
Kushina felt like tearing up, but went with what felt most natural to her.
"You are damn right we will or my names not Uzumaki Kushina, Dattebane!" she shouted raising hers and Naruto's hand in the air.
"Mom! What have we talked about when it comes to that word" Naruto says chidingly.
"What word sweetie?" Kushina asked innocently.
"You know what word … that ridiculous dattebane you always say when you are nervous or exited" Naruto says accusingly.
"I can't help it, besides it's no different then when you say dattebayo" Kushina responds with a huff crossing her arms as she stared defiantly at her son.
"I stopped saying that a long time ago. The only reason you know about it is because Teuchi the traitor told you I would say that as a kid!" Naruto shouts back also crossing his arms and staring defiantly.
"Oh really … so then you wouldn't happen to have a little problem with talking in your sleep. Because, I swear I heard a dattebayo come from your tent last night when I went to check on you" Kushina says with a grin.
"What! That's a total invasion of privacy. I swear you are so weird some times" Naruto says indignantly turning away from his mother.
Kushina quickly came up and hugged him from behind, "I love you two my little ramen prince" she says then kisses him on the head.
The girls just stood back and laughed. They knew the mother-son couple were enjoying themselves and needed to do these things. It hurt a bit knowing they wouldn't have those times with their own family, but also made them feel good seeing Naruto getting along with his mother so well.
After a few more minutes of playing around they got back to business.
"Anyway after the attacks were over and the invaders left the surviving Uzumaki's came back and cleaned things up, but few stayed after wards and the rest left soon after they did" Kushina explains.
With that over Kushina leads them to a building it was cylindrical in shape like almost all the buildings they saw with some cracks and chips in various spots along the exterior.
Walking up to the door Kushina nicked her palm and all five fingers on her left hand while making seals with her chakra in the air. When she finished making the seals she slammed her hand through them imprinting them in her blood and onto the door. A second after placing her hand on the door it turned a blood red color and an unlocking mechanism was heard.
She took a step back before explaining.
"This is the Uzumaki vault. It is probably one of the few true original buildings to survive the invasion. I have brought you here Naruto because there are things in this vault that will help you achieve your goals and make you incredibly strong" Kushina says.
She opens the door and all the teens can see is white almost blinding them.
"I'm sorry Akari, Miyuki but this is as far as you can go. There are seals in the vault that are triggered if a non-Uzumaki were to step inside it would incenerate everything inside and then destroy the building. I won't leave you with nothing to do though, here are some scrolls. I want you to begin learning those techniques while we are inside and here is an extra scroll with food for when you get hungry" Kushina says tossing ten scrolls at the girls.
"Hai Kushina-sensei, we'll be alright" Akari says.
"Yeah Kaa-chan don't worry about us" Miyuki echoes.
Kushina and Naruto smile at the girls, while Naruto gets a kiss from each of them before he and Kushina move through the door. As soon as they do it closes and relocks behind them. The girls stare for a moment in wonder before they get started on what Kushina gave them.
Uzushio Vault – Inside
Naruto just stared in the white expanse as the vault seemed to be empty.
"Umm … Kaa-san, it seems to be empty. Did the fleeing Uzumaki raid the place or something?" Naruto asked.
"Just wait a second Naruto-kun it takes a moment for some of the seals to kick in" Kushina says.
Almost as soon as she said that something did happen. A small fountain appeared. It was about waist high and formed a small bowl that had little whirpools around it with a large one in the center.
"Um … that's it?" Naruto asked unimpressed.
"Just make a cut on your palm and let the blood drip onto the center of the bowl and don't worry if you spill a little on the sides. I know it will be painful, but try to bleed as much as you can into the bowl. I'm sorry, but it takes a lot of blood for the seals to officially recognize you as an Uzumaki and pick the item it feels most suited to you" Kushina informs him.
Naruto nods and moves to stand infront of the fountain bowl. He thought about just pricking his palm again, but decided to get it over with in one move. Taking out a kunai he slashes his wrist causing a gush of blood to flow into the bowl at one time.
"NARUTO! NO!" she yells before bluring to be at his side.
Kushina grabs his hand and yanks his arm up high into the air while ripping the bottom of her shirt and wrapping the cloth around the wound.
"Naruto, what the hell were you thinking young man. Don't you ever do something so stupid and reckless again. I swear if you die from this I'll storm into Hell and drag you out so I can kill you myself" Kusina scolded him.
"Kaa-san, I'm fine you can relax. I wouldn't have done it if I thought I was going to die from doing it. I've tried before it doesn't work" Naruto informs her.
When Kushina heard this she searched his eyes finding them cold and dull, but not lifeless. She hated that look more than anything. That look reminded her that she left her baby to the mercies of deranged, rabid animals with nothing to defend himself.
Kushina relaxed and removed the blood soaked garment from his wrist to find not even a scar just dried blood, which she wiped away like a mother with a little spit and gentle rubbing.
Thankfully the bowl had more than enough to distribute among all the seals verifying Naruto's lineage as well picking the item it wanted to give him. The blood and fountain sunk into the floor only to be replaced by an altar with a black cloth covering it. Ontop of the cloth was a sheathed sword.
"Go ahead pick it up and unsheathe it" Kushina directs him.
Naruto did as told, but wasn't impressed. It seemed like a standard katana with an all black handle and black rectangular hand guard. The sheath was also black with the light of the all white room not seeming to reach it. When he unsheathed the sword he found the blade was also black and didn't seem to refract any light. It was more like the light bent away from the sword. Naruto swung it around a few times before sheathing it and turning back towards his mother.
Kushina on the other hand was having a mini freak out.
'How the hell did he summon that sword. Of all the ones he had to get he had to get one the more dangerous swords held here' she thought.
When Naruto turned he found Kushina looking pale with wide eyes pointing at his sword shakily.
"Kaa-san what's wrong?" Naruto asked curiously as he holds the sword uncaringly in his left hand.
"S-sochi … th-that s-sword … it's dangerous" she manages to get out.
"Dangerous? This sword? It seems normal to me. I mean outside of it's color it just seems like a regular sword. I may not even use it and go with the others I have collected instead" Naruto tells her.
"No sochi, you don't understand. You see in this vault are weapons that come from a different world entirely. They were brought to the Uzumaki clan by a man who wanted them kept safe and away from the evil beings of his world that wanted to use them for evil purposes. I don't think he intended for us Uzumaki's to be able to use them. He just thought we would seal them away and that would be it.
And for a time that's exactly what happened until my great, great, great, great, great grandfather felt something call him from the vault. It was a sword and he was the first to bond with it. The sword did incredible things and soon another Uzumaki heard the call and then another and another. It soon became sort of a tradition for an Uzumaki to come to the vault and seek his or her's sword by doing what you did with their blood. It was a ritual the first Uzumaki's to call upon them came up with.
Combined with our sealing skills and are already samourai like civilization the swords boosted our skills to untold of heights. It's why the other nations feared us so much. Before when I said for every Uzumaki death the unified army suffered twenty I was lowering the number so the girls wouldn't think we were monsters. In truth thousands fell before my uncle and a small group of villagers that had managed to bond with a sword and weren't Uzumaki's betrayed us.
The villagers joined my uncle feeling we were monopolizing the vault and the blades held in side, but as Uzumaki's we felt this power was a responsibility given to our ancestors by that man to keep hidden. Thanks to the traitors and the numbers of the unified forces plus Madara and his lackeys the Uzumaki's were overwhelmed . However, one of us managed to gather all of the swords except for those held by the traitors and seal them away" Kushina tells him.
"What happened to the traitors and their swords and what does that have to do with mine?" Naruto asked.
"I heard most of the traitors were turned on themselves by the invading force when they found out they couldn't get our swords. You may recognize them as those currently held by the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist" Kushina tells him shocking Naruto.
"As for what this has to do with your sword … nothing" Kushina says.
Naruto couldn't stop himself from face faulting at that.
"But, that sword is one of if not the strongest sword sealed here. No Uzumaki ever bonded with it before, but the man that gave it to us told us to beware it's dark power. I'm not sure why, but there has been a legend passed down to beware of it and anyone that becomes it's possessor" Kushina tells him.
Naruto nods, but to him it just seemed like a regular sword still. Although if the Seven Swordsmen Swords were anything to go by it would be powerful once he got control of it.
"So … do I get another one?" Naruto asked.
"No ... it's yours. I just need you to promise to be careful. I will be teaching you how to properly weild your Zanpakutō when we get back home. For now seal it away in a scroll, okay" Kushina says.
"Sure, but I don't see what the big deal is. I've handled big swords before mom" Naruto says.
"True, but these swords are special. They carry a spirit in them and to get the full capabilities of the sword it has to find you worthy. The first step is to hear it's name and I'll be showing you how to do that" Kushina says.
Naruto nods and seals the sword away.
"Hey, mom your sword seems normal but is it also a Zanpakutō ?" Naruto asks her.
"It is. I got it when I left the village, because I felt it would help me get strong enough to rescue you. Her name is Nejibana and she gives me control over water. I know she doesn't seem that impressive in her sealed form but once you bond with yours I'll show you her released state. Nejibana has actually helped me get better control over my water jutsu so I imagine yours will help you in a similar way if it has an elemental type" Kushina informs him.
"Elemental type? What other kinds are there?" He asks.
"Let's go, I'll tell you more when we get home" Kushina says not wanting to spend any more time in the vault.
When they get outside Naruto realizes several days had passed outside of the vault. Kushina told him time moved slower in the vault during the blood ritual Naruto performed due to the time needed for the verification and processing procedure. She actually thought it would have taken Naruto longer.
With the girls gathered up they headed back to the Leaf to finish up Naruto's training and help him connect with his sword.
Konoha – Night before the Finals
Naruto was laying in his bed going over all the training he had done.
He did manage to connect with his sword and on the first try. He learned his name was 'Mugen Yoru – Infinite/Endless Night'. It was an elemental blade of the dark elemental, something that pleased Naruto to no end.
He even got along with the spirit of the sword and Kaen/ Kyūbi also seemed to like him. Accessing the Shikai form was difficult, but with his mothers help he had managed to do that as well. She even taught him a few Hohō and Kidō techniques. This of course was after teaching how to separately use the spiritual portion of his chakra and grow it. This had a side affect of inbalancing his jutsu causing him to need to rework things as his spiritual powers grew slowly but surely.
Still, he managed and now had powerful new techniques he could use. Of course with the Hohō and Kidō stuff he was still just a novice stuck at the beginning of his training. He hadn't truly learned anything in the two weeks they had been back, but this was all for down the line fights anway.
The Finals were not even his focus. The Invasion was more in the forefront and his role. The Hokage and elders expected him to take Gaara out and let others deal with the main fighting force. He was more worried about the girls and their safety. His mother would be fine and he had already warned the Ichiraku's despite the Hokage telling him not to. He knew Miyuki and Akari would be alright as they would be by his mother's side, but he hated knowing they would have to kill after everything they had already been through.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his front door. He reluctantly got up and answer finding to his surprise the very girls he was thinking of.
"Sorry to bother you Naru-kun, but we wanted to know if you would let us sleep with you tonight" Akari says.
"Things will be crazy tomorrow and we'd like to spend tonight together" Miyuki follows.
Naruto had to look at them again and when he took in their appearance he nearly got a nosebleed. They were both in their nighties. Naruto quickly yanked them inside and shut the door so that no one else would see them.
"Is that a yes?" Miyuki asked.
Naruto nodded and followed them as they headed for the bedroom. He couldn't help but like the view actually succumbing to that nosebleed he had been trying to hold back as a trickle of blood made it's way down his face. He had never tired of looking at the two beautiful women nor kissing them. So far things were good between them even when they went out with Temari yesterday. They explained they understood if he wanted more women, but they would have to approve and so far they approved of Temari.
The situation with Karin was a little different. Karin had these weird mood swings and then there was also the crush she had seemed to develop on that asshole Uchiha. Naruto didn't understand it and didn't care, but the girl did indeed turn out to be a cousin so he tried to steer her away from the jerk. It wasn't like the broody bastard didn't already have a bunch of fan girls and he never paid any attention to them so Karin wouldn't be any different in his opinion.
Kushina was able to work with the girl a little and found out about her skills as a sensor and medical, science, or research ninja but she had little else. For the Invasion she would hide with the civilians to avoid getting in the way. After she would receive training along with the girls to make her stronger. Kushina felt it was her duty to help any Uzumaki she could find and despite some of Karin's weird tics she liked the girl.
She had broached the subject of Naruto liking her the same way he did Akari and Miyuki, but Naruto quickly shut that down. She was family nothing more and hoped she would accompany them when they left the village. If she proved loyal to them and went with them when they left they would even take her to the vault.
Breaking from his thoughts Naruto noticed both girls had already gotten under the sheets and were waiting on him so he joined them and forgot about his worries. Still he couldn't help but think, 'Tomorrow' before he started to fool around with the girls.
Naruto didn't know it but at the same time inside and out of the village similar thoughts were being broadcasted as the dawn drew closer.
Glossary
- bebi - baby (suffix form)
mesuinu - female (animal) dog
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone