章 1444: 35
Naruto: Shifts in Life
Chapter 35: Battles, Is This Really A Battle?
When Naruto got over to the other side of the building it was to see a person standing in the room where the two Daimyos were. The blond sighed in relief when he saw that the Daimyos were unharmed, minus the small disorientation they likely felt from the explosion. After that he turned his attention to the other figure in the room.
This person had brown hair that went to his shoulder in an odd looking mess, with purple eyes and an Ame hitai-ate on his head. He was wearing a black body suit with white stripes on the sides that went into a pair of shinobi sandals, both arms had white bandages on them but his left also had an arm-band, while his right had a black glove. Strapped around his left shoulder was a bandoleer that seemed to holding what looked like an umbrella behind him.
It took a while but Naruto was able to place a name to the man's face but when he did he sneered at the man, "Rokushou Aoi, A-rank missing ninja wanted for stealing the Raijin No Ken."
Aoi, who had been facing the Daimyo's and looked like he had been about to kill one of them turned around and smirked at him, "If it isn't one of the little Konoha ninja here to protect the Kiba No Kuni Daimyo. Listen kid, if you know who I am then you'll know you have no chance against me. Just let me get what I came for and I'll be on my way."
Naruto narrowed his eyes before smirking, "Just let you go? You must be fucking brain dead if you think I'm gonna let you go with the bounty on your head. And since you were kind enough to fall right into my lap, I'm collecting that bounty."
Aoi sneered, "You think you're of the same caliber of shinobi that I am? Very well then, if you think you can take my bounty then come and try!" He pulled out the Raijin No Ken and activated it with a snap, letting the yellow lightning bolt shaped blade sizzle and crackle as it ignited.
Grinning at the prospect of beating the crap out of the traitor, Naruto unsealed the new blade he had gotten in Tatsu and began channeling wind chakra around it. He made liberal use of the Shunshin to get behind Aoi and aimed a jab for his neck.
Anko growled in frustration as she continued slicing through the clones. She had learned from trial and error that the real person was hiding somewhere, he would only come out when he felt he had a distinct advantage. This had happened a few times when Anko had let her guard down, and the Ame ninja had come up from the ground using Moguragakure No Jutsu and tried to slice her Achilles tendon.
Since then she had not let her defenses slip. However, Anko knew she could not hold out forever. Whatever this technique the Ame ninja was using obviously required very little chakra, since he had been holding it up for an hour or two. It was times like these she wished she had an Inuzuka nose or some way to track down her opponents.
Anko continued slicing through the ink like clones even as she finally began slowing down. Eventually she found herself completely exhausted and had to lean against the wall for support. It was then that the creator of these clones revealed himself, coming out of the ground and standing in front of her. Even though Anko could not see it, she knew he was grinning beneath his mask.
"Ha, it looks like you Konoha shinobi are just as weak as our sensei claimed," The Ame genin gloated. "He was definitely right to leave your sorry excuse for a village. Though I must admit you are a fine specimen," He looked her up and down. "There for before I kill you I think I'll do you a favor and let you suck my- what!"
The Ame ninja watched in shock as Anko dissolved into mud. He would have tried to get away as he realized that the snake mistress had tricked, but before he could even so much as move a Kunai lodged itself in his throat. He gurgled before falling down, the light fading from his eyes. Anko appeared behind the ninja and stared at the corpse dispassionately before burning it with a Katon jutsu. She looked around and noticed that sometime during her fight all of the civilians had gotten off the streets.
Good, less people to get caught in the crossfire means less paperwork I'll have after this is all over, she thought to herself. If there was one thing Anko hated more than anyone, besides people steeling, dropping, touching or even talking bad about her dango, it was paperwork.
Shrugging the thoughts away she jumped on the roof and began heading towards the building where the discussion between the Daimyos was taking place.
"ARGH! These people are beginning to piss me off!" Karui shouted as she hacked and slashed her way through the inky clones with a vengeance. Not that it did much good as they would just come back and reform as if nothing had happened.
"Calm down Karui, we need to think about this logically if we want to have any hope of beating this jutsu," Omoi said as he fought off a horde of the clones. They were rather weak, but more than made up for it with numbers and the fact that they didn't seem to die was irritating to say the least.
"Omoi is right yo! We've got to think about this calmly or we'll never know!" Bee spun around the clones and sliced through them all like a buzz saw, barely even visible to the others who were fighting. "Eight-o says there's a chakra signature hiding in the building to the left, let's find who it belongs to and beat him for being a pest!"
'I thought I told you not to call me Eight-O Bee!' The Hachibi grit its teeth in annoyance from within the seal.
Bee ignored his tenant for the moment as he watched his two students replace themselves with a pair Rai Bunshins and sneak into the store the Hachibi had located the chakra signature. Less than a minute later the clones dissolved and Karui and Omoi came back out with the corpse of an Ame ninja.
"Man that was easy," Karui commented as she threw the now dead ninja on the ground and destroyed the body with a Raiton jutsu. "I can't believe how weak that guy was after giving us so much trouble."
Now that they were out of danger Omoi took out a sucker, unwrapped it and stuck it in his mouth, "What are you talking about Karui, he was obviously weak from the way he had tried to defeat us, hiding in the shadows and using an illusionary clone technique like that. He probably hoped that we would eventually tire out and he could kill us. Perhaps he planned on having - OOF!"
Omoi was sent flying as Karui smashed her fist in his face, "SHUT THE HELL UP OMOI! I'M SICK OF LISTENING TO YOU OVERTHINKING EVERYTHING!"
"Hey little red, you need to chill out before you burst yo head!" Kirabi tried to calm down his student. She turned a glare on him but he ignored it, "Now let's find the others and make sure they ain't dead, last thing I need is for big bro to have my head."
Samui frowned as she, Kotetsu and Izumo continued cutting through and destroying the clones. While she was keeping calm on the outside on the inside she was getting aggravated. Every time one of them destroyed a clone it burst into an ink like substance before reverting back to its original state. She could tell from the fact that none of them seemed capable of doing any real damage that they were more illusionary then anything, and that the real person was most likely hiding. But she was unsure how to get them to reveal themselves.
"Man this is actually starting to get a little boring," Kotetsu commented as he cut off the head to one of the clones, watching as the ink like substance crawled up its skin and reformed the head.
"I know what you mean, these things are so weak but they just keep coming back," Izumo stabbed one of the inky clones through the heart with a kunai, grimacing as he pulled out his hand and saw it covered in whatever the hell this stuff it was made out of was, "These things are kind of disgusting too, I wonder what they're made out of?"
"Can you two please stop talking?" Samui grunted as he sliced two clones in half, "Unless you have a plan for finding the creator of these things then please be quiet and let me think."
"Ugh…fine. You know, you sure are bossy," Kotetsu quieted down when he saw her glare at him.
Samui racked her brain as she tried to find a way to find the original. She was fairly positive that he was here somewhere, since jutsu like this usually required the caster to be within a specific distance from where the jutsu was being used. The problem was finding them. She was not a tracker and from what she could tell of the two ninja with her, neither were they.
Fortunately the situation was taken out of her hand when all of the clones suddenly dispersed, dissolving into an inky black substance.
"What the-" Izumo looked around before spotting a figure approaching them.
"Hey!" Anko called out as she walked towards them carrying the now dead Ame shinobi over her shoulders. "Were you three looking for this?" She threw the body at their feet.
"Anko-san," Samui greeted with a slight nod of her head, "Have you seen Kirabi-sensei and the others?"
"Not today no," Anko shook her head as Kotetsu destroyed the body. "I was too busy getting ambushed by another one of these losers."
"I see, if that is the case then it's most likely that Kirabi-sensei and my teammates have the same problem." Samui paused before looking at Anko. "Could you go and help Naruto-ku-san, while I find my sensei and teammates?" Samui tried covering up her slip up from using the affectionate suffix on Naruto's name, and while the two other Chunin did not hear it, Anko caught it easily.
Well it seems my favorite gaki is getting even more female attention, Anko chuckled within the confines of her mind. Kukuku, looks like I have something more to tease him with.
She opened her mouth to speak when another voice caught there attention.
"Yo, I'm pleased to see you're all fine, but it looks like we're missing Mr. Nine."
The group turned to see Kirabi, Omoi and Karui walking up to them.
"Kirabi-sensei, I'm glad to see you're alright. Naruto-san is with the Daimyos, we need to lend him aid since I believe whoever is responsible for these three is there." Samui said, keeping her calm though on the inside she was worried.
"Do not fret, Mr. Nine is capable of handling himself just fine," Killer Bee said. "Anko and I will go there to see what's up, in the meantime go around town and make sure the civilians are safe and sound."
Samui looked like she wanted to argue for a second before she nodded, "Very well sensei." She turned to her teammates and the two Konoha Chunin, "Let's go and make sure there were no civilian casualties."
The four nodded to her and took off, meanwhile Bee and Anko left for the building where the Daimyo's and Naruto were in.
The Raijin No Ken snapped up to block Naruto's attack and redirect it. Aoi smirked as the famed blade made contact with the sword the blond had. However, his smirk soon turned into a frown as he found that the blond looked perfectly fine, "How come you haven't been fried by the Raijin No Ken's power?"
Naruto smirked as he pulled his blade back and launched a series of short and fast strikes, "You should know a good ninja never gives away his secrets Aoi." Like he was going to let someone know his technique and actually have a chance of negating it. How stupid did this man think he was?
Aoi grunted as he tried to block the attacks but found they were too numerous and had to jump back. However, Naruto had decided to give him no quarter and pressed his attack, launching strike after strike with attacks so fast they could only be seen as a blur. The Amegakure Jonin was unable to keep up with the blonde's speed and ended up getting several cuts along his arms. The attacks continued until he finally managed to lock the blonde's blade against the Raijin, however all that did was tell Naruto he needed to use another weapon. That weapon being his head, which he smashed into the Ame ninja, causing him to stumble back.
He glared at the blond before going on the offensive, aiming a slash at Naruto's head. The blond frowned as he blocked the rather sloppy attack. Keeping only one hand on the blade, Naruto moved their intermingled weapons and then used his other hand to punch Aoi in the face, grinning as he heard the satisfying crunch of hitting the man's nose and breaking it.
Aoi let out a short yelp of pain as he stumbled back. He held a hand to his nose, which was bleeding and he suspected, broken. "You little shit! I'm gonna kill you!"
Naruto grinned, "You say that like you think you actually stand a chance of killing me." His grin widened as Aoi started attacking him, each slash was just as sloppy as the last, "It seems you rely more on that blade then you do on your skills. I'm surprised you lasted as long as you have with such shitty ass abilities."
"Shut up!" Aoi roared as he put all his strength into his next attack.
Naruto sighed as he blocked the sloppy but somewhat powerful slash. As Aoi tried to push the blond back, said blond decided to show him what true physical prowess was. He gave a hard shove that sent Aoi stumbling back. Afterwards he came in with a swing of his sword. Aoi saw it coming and tried to block, but the power behind the attack was strong enough to send him flying out of the room.
Turning back to the Daimyos Naruto grinned, "Sorry for the interruption. Continue on with your discussion while I take care of the fool with the umbrella."
Naruto walked outside whistling a jaunty tune and had to hold in a laugh when he saw Aoi glaring at him.
"I'm sick and tired of playing games with you, now you die!" Aoi grabbed his umbrella and leapt into the air, opening it up so he hovered above the blond.
"Jouro Senbon (Senbon Shower)!" He pointed his umbrella at Naruto and several thousand senbon needles shot out impaling the blond.
As the senbon storm ended Aoi laughed and landed on the ground, "I told you you'd never beat me! None of you weak Konoha ninja could ever stand a chance against me!"
"Are you sure about that." Aoi's eyes widened and he turned around to see the blond he had just killed standing behind him.
"How did you survive!" Aoi shouted hysterically. "I saw you die! There's no way you could have survived!" Naruto pointed over to where he had been killed. When Aoi turned his head he saw a log that was impaled with multiple senbon. "Where the hell did you find a log to Kawarimi with! There are no logs in Tatsu No Kuni, everything is made of stone and concrete!"
Naruto shrugged, "One must never underestimate the power of the log, for if you do then no matter the danger the log shall not answer your call. However, if you truly believe in the power of the log, then all you have to is call for its help and the good log shall hear your call and provide you for your escape."
"What the hell does that mean!"
"It means what it means," The blond replied mysteriously, cracking his neck, "and now that I have seen all of your techniques, I believe it's time to end this."
Aoi did not get the chance to say anything or even open his mouth as the Naruto in front of him blurred out of focus before disappearing.
"RASENGAN!" Right as the shout was heard Aoi felt as if something was grinding into his flesh and let out a scream of anguish. Naruto, who had appeared right in front of Aoi and grabbed onto his shoulder with one hand to hold him in place, ignored the blood and innards his jutsu was spraying over him as it continued grinding the man's stomach into paste. He gave one last push before letting go; the man was sent flying into a wall where he hit it with a loud squelch, before landing on the floor with a thud.
"Naruto!"
Naruto turned around to see Anko and Killer Bee jump down next to him, "What's up Anko-nee-chan, Bee?"
Anko looked at Naruto's blood soaked form and grinned, "Gaki is all that blood for me? You shouldn't have!"
Naruto rolled his eyes, "I don't even think that deserves a response." He turned around and walked over to Aoi's body with the two Jonin following him.
"Hey is that Rokushou Aoi?" asked Anko as she watched Naruto cut the man's head off and seal it into a scroll.
"Yep!" Naruto replied in a cheerful voice before burning the body, "It is, and since I'm the one who kicked his ass, I get his bounty!" Afterwards Naruto picked up the Raijin No Ken and sealed it into one of the many storage seals on his arm.
"Hey is that the famed lightning blade, the one that your Nidaime Hokage made?" asked Kirabi.
"Yeah. Aoi stole it before he left the village," Naruto grunted as he stood back up. He looked over at the pair and grinned. "Why don't you guys go see if the Daimyos are alright? I need to take a shower and wash this blood off before it starts to reek."
"Whatever gaki, I think all that blood suits you," Anko teased.
"You would think so, you bloodthirsty psycho," Naruto shot back.
Anko just smiled, "You know you love me."
"Well it looks like this is good bye and see yeah again, eh Mr. Nine?"
It was several days after the battle and during that time the two Daimyos had finally come to an agreement. It seemed that the attack on one of their lives was enough to get their asses into gear and they had pushed forth a treaty rather quickly after that. The only problem the ninja had were dealing with the Samurai that had come a little after the battle, Anko and Bee had been forced to give a report to one of the generals since it was in their territory. Needless to say, the two had not taken well to that, even if they had done it in the end.
Naruto grinned, "I suppose it is, but you know this ain't the last time you'll hear my rhymes." Kirabi grinned as he heard his new Jinchuuriki bud's rhyme, while not as good as his own (if he did say so himself) was still nice to see someone who appreciated rap. The two of them bumped fists before the blond became serious for a moment, "Hey do you think you could do me a favor?"
"Of course I can, if it be within my power I would do it right this hour."
Nodding Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter, "Give this to Yugi-chan for me. I wasn't able to get her address during the Chunin Exams for obvious reasons, but I was hoping to keep in touch with her in some way."
Kirabi nodded, "Don't worry about a thing; you know I'll help you and the kitten with your fling."
Naruto blushed a bit before blinking as Samui stepped in front of him, "Can I help you Samui-chan?"
Samui looked around her to see everyone was looking at the pair. She hid her blush for a moment before leaning in and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, "I hope to see you again Naruto-kun."
"Is it just me, or does he seem to get all the good attention from women," Izumo whispered in his partner's ear.
"I know what you mean. First he gets to spend time with that Suna chick. And I hear he was friendly with that Yugito girl they keep talking about as well, now he seems to be getting close to this girl." Kotetsu shook his head and mumbled a 'lucky bastard' under his breath.
"I can't help but feel slightly jealous of him," Izumo continued, "I mean, look at the size of her rack." Unfortunately it seemed he had not been quiet enough as Samui looked over at him and glared, causing the man to pale a little and take a step back.
Naruto held a hand up to his cheek for a moment, with his mouth open in an 'o' of surprise. It only lasted for a second before he gave her a somewhat dopy looking grin, "I'll definitely see you again, that's a promise, Dattebayo!" he blinked before muttering, "Damn it, I thought I had gotten rid of that."
Samui resisted the urge to giggle at Naruto's use of, well, whatever he just said as she moved back with her sensei.
"Hey blondie, the next time we meet you and I need to have a spar again!" Karui shouted from where she stood.
Naruto smirked at the redhead, "Sure, just don't feel too bad when I kick your ass again." Karui turned red with anger and started shouting about how she would kick his ass back to the age of the Rikudou Sennin and that he would never be able to beat her the next time they sparred. However, the blond Konoha shinobi just laughed it off as everyone finished saying their good byes.
"… and after that we finished escorting Daimyo-sama home," Anko finished her report to Tsunade.
Said blond woman sighed as she took another swig of sake, which she had brought out mid-way through the explanation, having felt an intense need to drink in order to assuage the coming head ache. She then turned her attention to Naruto, "You know I somehow get the feeling this is your fault."
"My fault?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion, "How is this my fault? It's not like I wished for that pansy ass Aoi to come and attack us."
"It's your fault because more than half the assignments I send you on end up turning into a disaster. We were lucky that both Daimyos were impressed with how you handled Aoi enough to overlook this little mishap. However, we were also forced to pay damages for the building since it was our responsibility to make sure situations like this would not happen."
Anko snickered, "I have to agree with boss lady here gaki. You're a magnet for troublesome shit."
Naurot glared at her before turning back to Tsunade, "But you can't blame that on me!" Naruto felt the need to defend himself. "It's not my fault that Murphy's Law loves to fuck with me! Blame the person who made the thrice damned law. Besides, it's not like we you didn't also gain something important out of this." Naruto unsealed the Raijin No Ken and tossed it to Tsunade.
The blond Hokage caught the hilt and looked at it for several long minutes, various emotions played across her face during that time before she smiled. "I suppose you're right brat. And I would like to thank you for retrieving this for me. The Raijin is a family heirloom and means a lot to me." She looked at it for a moment longer before throwing it back to Naruto, "Therefore I feel it's only right that I let you have it."
Naruto caught the blade and fumbled with it for a second due to his surprise. He looked up at Tsunade with a slightly dumb expression, "You're seriously giving this to me? Just like that?"
Tsunade smirked, "It's better than letting the blade collect dust isn't it. That sword was meant to be used, not sit on a stand. And I can't think of it going into better hands."
Naruto smiled and actually had to wipe a small tear that threatened to fall from his eyes. Her giving this blade to him was a sign of her faith in his ability to become a great Hokage. Now he had two objects that belonged to a Hokage in his possession, "Thanks baa-chan, this really does mean a lot to me."
Tsunade smiled, "Your welcome brat. Now why don't you two get out of here."
Anko grinned as she grabbed Naruto by the arm, "C'mon gaki! It's dango time!"
"But we had dango every time we were in Tatsu No Kuni," Naruto complained as he was dragged out the door. "Let's go get some ramen!"
"Hell no! Dango is way better than that cheap crap!"
"Don't diss on the ramen nee-chan, crazy ass psycho Jonin or not, I will shove my foot so far up your ass you won't be able to shit for months!"
"Ha! You talk a big game but I'd like to see…"
Tsunade sighed and shook her head as the two bickering voices disappeared, honestly those two were two sides of the same cone. There was a moment of silence as she sat there before saying, "So what have you got for me?"
For a moment it seemed as if she was speaking to thin air. However, a few seconds later the air near her window shimmered and Jiraiya appeared, "Is that always gonna be the first thing that comes out of your mouth every time you see me? No, hi Jiraiya-kun I missed you? Or, oh Jiraiya-kun, I was so worried when you were gone, let me show you how much by-"
"Do you want take a one way trip on Tsunade Airlines a.k.a. my fists!" The busty blond threatened.
Jiraiya sighed, "Alright, alright. I haven't been able to find out much. Orochimaru is being a slippery little snake; I was unable to get any information about him except that he seems to be constantly on the move despite his injuries." Jiraiya paused before giving in some personal input, "I doubt he's given up on Sasuke yet so you may want to keep an eye on the boy as much as possible."
"And Akatsuki?" asked Tsunade.
Jiraiya sighed, "Again not much, they seem to still be searching for the Bijuu. That means that Naruto is not safe right now, there's no telling when they'll attempt to come after him again and right now he's not ready to deal with a threat of that level. He's good, but he's not that good."
"So what are we going to do about this?" asked Tsunade.
"Well I would like to take Naruto out of the village for a three year training trip-"
He was cut off from saying anything further by Tsunade, "You want me to give you one of our best ninja in the village to take on a three year training trip!" The blond female Hokage looked at the white haired man like he was stupid, "Jiraiya, we still haven't fully recovered from the Chunin Exams invasion. There is no way I can just hand Naruto over. I need him for missions,"
Despite the ribbing she often gave him for the amount of random and violent situations he got into on his missions, he was still one of their better Chunin and would most likely become a Jonin within the next year.
"It's not like he won't go on any missions Tsu-hime," Jiraiya tried to defend himself. "In fact I expect you to send the two of us on some of missions so I can see more of what he's capable of and he can gain more experience. But you know I can't stay here to train him, I need to look after my spy network and I'm the only one capable of teaching to fight against S-rank ninja."
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya for a moment before she sighed, "I don't like this Jiraiya, however I will allow it. But…" She stopped the man in his tracks. "The final decision will rest with Naruto."
"That's fine Tsu-hime," Jiraiya said, he was just about to go back to his research when Tsunade's voice interrupted him again.
"Are you going to tell him about his parents?" The white haired man turned back to Tsunade, "You know Chunin is the rank Sarutobi-sensei wanted him to be before he told Naruto of his parents."
Jiraiya sighed, "Yeah, I suppose I'll tell him. If he goes with me on this training trip I'll tell him. If he doesn't, it will be up to you."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "You just don't want to inform him because you're afraid he'll kick your ass."
"Honestly Tsunade, I just, I feel guilty enough knowing I left him here," Jiraiya sighed. "I don't want him to find out that I was supposed to be his godfather and left just so I could stew in my own misery."
Tsunade's eyes softened a bit, "You know I don't think he'll be too upset. I mean he might at first, but he'll get over it. He's a lot more mature then he acts."
"Yeah I guess," Jiraiya paused for a moment before grinning. "We'll talk about this later, I have research to do!" He jumped about the window before Tsunade could throw something at him.
It was a peaceful day for one Nii Yugito in Kumogakure. She had just gotten back from a nice A-rank mission yesterday and had decided to sleep in today. The window was open, letting the sun stream through and warm her up while she was lying in bed wearing nothing but a large t-shirt that went past her thighs and panties. Despite being half asleep the young blond woman gave a grin as she stretched her body out, much like a cat would when sun bathing before she sighed and snuggled deeper into the bed.
Her peaceful morning was soon shattered as a figure jumped onto the window seal… and began to rap, rather poorly, "Hey little kitten guess who just got back from his mission!"
Yugito jumped out of her bed as soon as she heard the loud and obnoxious rapping, "Bee!" She hissed through clenched teeth as she stocked towards him, "What have I told you about coming in through my window?"
"I don't remember yo, but that's not important at the moment. What is, is that I have something for ya kitty-chan, I think you'll like it, it's from-" Bee did not get a chance to say anything else as Yugito made a very cat like hiss and sent him flying out of the window with a nibi enhanced punch.
Goddamn him! I was enjoying my cat nap! Stupid no good son of a… As Yugito began ranting in her mind as the scroll that Bee had taken out of his pocket rolled over to her feet. She paused mid rant when it stopped in front of her and picked up and looked it over. Noticing her name on the front she opened it up and saw that it was a letter.
Dear Yugi-chan,
Hey! I bet you didn't expect to hear from me since we never got each other's address or anything huh? If you haven't figured out who this is yet I'll give you a hint. It's the only other blond Jinchuuriki besides you (At least to the best of my knowledge) hehe. Anyways, I was on a joint mission with some Kumo ninja and that Kirabi character you told me about was one of them (You were right about the rapping by the way). So I made this letter since I figured he would know where you lived.
Yugito smiled as she continued reading the letter, which was really just Naruto telling her about how he got promoted and how he wished he was allowed to just skip Chunin rank and become a Jonin like her. The letter also asked how she was doing and that he missed her, causing the blond woman's smile to widen a tad.
At the bottom of this letter is something cool I was able to pilfer from Ero-sennin. He called it a Sakasa Kuchiyose Fuiin(Reverse Summoning seal array), it's basically just an old school summoning array that was used before summoning contracts were created. When you channel chakra into the seal it will summon a messenger toad. That way you can deliver letters to me and I'll be sure to get them. As the name states the seal also works as a reverse summon for the messenger toad. So if you have that on hand and I have a message I want to send you the toad will simply summon himself to your position. Pretty bad ass right?
I hope to hear from you soon.
Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto-kun… Yugito grinned as she finished reading the letter.
'Hmm *Yawn* Quite the young man you managed to bag kitten,' Nibi's yawned as she spoke, and Yugito got the impression the large cat was stretching herself out.
'I know,' Yugito replied as she went over to the small desk in her room and grabbed a blank scroll and some ink.
Naruto opened the door to his apartment and closed it as he heaved a sigh. He had finally managed to get away from Anko who had wanted to commemorate their first mission together by getting completely wasted. Afterwards he had been forced to escort her home, and if he had not managed to Kawarimi with a Kage Bunshin when she passed out, would have ended suffering the same fate he had during the one month training period before the finals of the Chunin exams.
Though his Kage Bunshin had suffered that fate and it caused a bit of a problem for the blond when it dispelled.
He shook his head and made his way to his bedroom. As he shed his clothes Naruto's hand went to the necklaces he had on. More specifically the one he had gotten on his recent mission. It was a near replica of both Haku's and the Shodai's Necklace except instead of being turquoise or a light green, it was a deep blue and did not have a snowflake surrounding it. The Daimyo of Kiba No Kuni had given it to him as a thank you and to be rid of what he thought was a curse since Aoi was apparently after the necklace, and it had not been the first time he had, had people try to kill simply so they could get their hands on it.
He absently wondered if these necklaces held some kind of connection, and if they did, what? Dispelling the thought Naruto sunk onto his bed and closed his eyes; bringing himself into his mindscape.
The next thing Naruto knew was he was laying on the bed in Kyuubi's hut while she sat near the edge of the bed with her tails in her lap and looking at him with an amused expression, "Kyuu-chan."
"Welcome back Naruto-kun," Kyuubi greeted with a smile, even though Naruto could not see it with his eyes closed. "You seem tired."
Naruto cracked an eye open as he looked over at Kyuubi and gave her a small grin, "Well I'm tired of all these boring ass missions anyways. Life's getting too monotonous, I need some excitement to spice it up." he paused for a moment, "Though this last mission wasn't bad, I got a hot date, I got to beat the shit out of some guy, got the bounty of the guy I beat the shit out of and got two swords, one of which belonged to the Nidaime Hokage. Yep, definitely a good mission this time."
He never noticed the narrowing of Kyuubi's eyes or the way her lips became thin lines, especially since the look was gone before he could notice.
"Oh? Am I not exciting enough?" asked Kyuubi in a mock hurt voice.
Naruto just rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean Kyuu-chan. The missions they have me doing while kind of exciting, are for the most part boring. This last one was actually the most exciting one I've had in a long time, and even then that Aoi guy was a pansy. I can't believe someone as weak as him was able to wield the Raijin No Ken."
"He reminded me a lot of that Mizuki person," Kyuubi hummed in thought. "Chances are he tricked some poor naïve Genin into stealing it for him. Maybe he told them they would be allowed to become Genin if they did that for him."
"Hardy har har," Naruto glared at Kyuubi as she gave him a cheeky grin. He set his head back down on the pillow that was under it, "You're so damn lucky I'm comfortable and you're the most powerful demon in existence or I would kick your ass."
Kyuubi grinned mischievously, "Ah, but I am the most powerful demon in existence, so there is really nothing you can do."
Naruto grumbled a bit before falling silent. For a while he just listened to the breathing he and Kyuubi were doing. Finally he asked a question he had been curious about, "Hey Kyuu-chan. Do you have a name other than Kyuubi?" When the demoness looked at him oddly he elaborated, "It just seems like Kyuubi is more of a title then anything."
Kyuubi hummed for a moment, "I suppose it is both my title and my name. You have to understand when I would pose as nobility I went by many names. Thousands even. I do not even remember all of the names I have gone by in my lifetime." She paused for a moment and began to move along the bed.
Naruto looked over when he felt the bed shift and saw Kyuubi laying down on the other side of the bed, getting herself comfortable before continuing her story, "I suppose if I were to have a name, it would be Kyotome, the name given to me by the people who 'raised' me when I first gained a human form."
"So you can't remember the thousands of names you've gone by, but that one you can? Sentimental much?" asked Naruto with a grin.
"Don't be ridiculous," Kyuubi scoffed. "They were humans, I am not and while they could be considered the closest thing to a family I have had, those facts won't change. There is no point in being sentimental about things like that. They served their purpose, though I do have a certain fondness for the name as it was my first."
"Would you like me to call you that?" Kyuubi looked down and noticed Naruto was giving her an intent look.
She gave an uncaring shrug, "You can call me whatever you want. Personally I don't really care about names; those are something you humans give to others. Unlike Kyotome, Kyuubi reflects exactly who and what I am."
Naruto sighed, "I suppose Kyuu-chan will do for now then."
Kyuubi shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'whatever you'd like' before looking back up at the ceiling. The rest of their time within the seal it was relatively silent with only a smattering of conversation between them.
It was several hours later when Naruto was brought out of his mindscape by a knock at the door. Grumbling he made his way to front door and opened it to see a bear masked ANBU standing there, "Does Baa-chan need me for something Kuma-san?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you about something," Kuma replied.
Naruto nodded. "Tell her I'll be there in a minute, I just need to get ready."
The bear masked ANBU member nodded and disappeared within a Shunshin.
"You called baa-chan!" Naruto shouted as he entered Tsunade's office, ducking under a paperweight sent his way.
Tsunade glared at him for a second before getting down to business, "Yes I did brat. Or to be more accurate he did."
Naruto looked to where Tsunade was pointing and saw the air shimmer to reveal Jiraiya, "Ero-sennin? What are you doing here? I thought you would be peeping at the hot springs for your next book or something."
Jiraiya crossed his arm, "Still a disrespectful brat I see. I called you here because I have some important information that has to do with you, as well as an offer to train you."
That took Naruto by a bit of surprise, "Train me?"
"That's right gaki. You remember what I've told you about Akatsuki?" Naruto nodded. "It seems their still searching for the other Bijuu and their hosts, now I don't really know what this means for you but it is possible they may make the attempt again. And since they've already infiltrated Konoha once already…"
Naruto frowned, "So this means there is a chance they'll attack me within Konoha's walls?" When he saw Jiraiya nod he grinned, "So I'm guessing there's a reason you actually had to call me in to tell me this, otherwise you would have just popped up in my house and said I'm going to train you."
"Got it in one gaki," Jiraiya smirked before getting serious. "Because of my spy network I can't stay in the village, if I'm going to train you, we need to leave the village for a certain amount of time."
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he saw where this was going, "And how long is a 'certain' amount of time."
"Three years," Tsunade answered before Jiraiya.
"No," Naruto shook his head. "There is no way I'm leaving for three years. You can get any of those thoughts out of your head right now, I have no interest in being gone that long."
"Be reasonable gaki," Jiraiya said. "I can't stay here to train you, but you need to be trained by someone who is strong enough to take on S-ranked ninja. The only people in this village who are capable of that are myself and Tsunade. And you're no medical ninja."
"I'm not putting off my career for three years so I can go gallivanting with your perverted ass Ero-sennin," Naruto crossed his arms as if say his decision was final.
"Your career won't be put on hold for this Naruto," Tsunade interrupted, getting the blond to look at her. "You and Jiraiya will be doing missions outside of the village to gain experience while he teaches you. Jiraiya is going to send me regular reports on your progress during these missions, and if you do well enough I will promote you to Jonin upon your return."
"What about my friends?" asked Naruto. "I'll be leaving for three years; I don't want to be away from them for that long." An image of Tenten popped into his head when he said that but he shook thoughts of her away and refocused his attention on the two others in the room.
Jiraiya shrugged, "Sometimes a ninja will be called away for a long time like this gaki. You can't be with them all the time. And besides, if you stay here you're likely to be a danger to those around you. What would happen if you went on a mission with a squad and Akatsuki showed up?"
Naruto winced at that and Jiraiya tried to drive his point home, "This is not only the best way to get stronger, but also the best way to protect your friends."
"I know…" Naruto closed his eyes as he thought about what he should do. He really did not want to leave his friends but he understood that he needed to be stronger if he wanted to beat the Akatsuki. If he was not strong enough, not only would he be captured but who knows what would happen to his friends if they got caught in the cross fire.
'I think you should go.'
'Kyuu-chan?'
'If you leave it means I will also be able to teach you some of the more destructive techniques I can't teach here.'
After a few minutes Naruto sighed, "If I go with you, when will we leave?"
"We'll be leaving tomorrow."
Naruto frowned, "That doesn't give me much time to say goodbye."
Jiraiya shrugged, "We need to get started now. And I have to meet people from my spy network soon; as it is I've stayed here as long as I can."
"Alright, I'll pack my things after I say goodbye to my friends," Naruto frowned before shaking his head. "I'll see you tomorrow Ero-sennin. Baa-chan."
As the two watched Naruto leave Tsunade turned to Jiraiya, "I hope you know what you are doing?"
Jiraiya gave his busty blond teammate a grin, "Don't worry I know what I'm doing. Well I'll see you tomorrow Hime, I've got to get in some research since I won't have as much time for it as I like."
Tsunade's eye twitched as she watched Jiraiya go, "Damned pervert."
Tenten flipped another page of her magazine as she tried to stave off her boredom. Her team had just gotten back from a B-rank mission where they had to fight some bandits and a low level missing ninja a few days ago. Now that she was back and her sensei had given their team time off so they could 'fan their flames of youth' she had nothing to do other than train and man her dads shop.
Since it was Sunday there were not many customers coming in, and the few who did were too busy to stay and talk. Needless to say she was bored out of her mind.
Thankfully a chime at the door sounded, signifying that someone had entered her shop, "Hello! Welcome to Higarashi Weapons shop where we… Naruto-kun!" Tenten smiled as she saw that it was her friend who had entered.
"Hey Ten-chan! No missions today?" Naruto walked into the store as Tenten got up from the stool she had been sitting on.
Tenten shook her head, "No, we just got back from one a few days ago and Gai-sensei gave us the week off to 'fan our flames of youth'." She put up quotation marks when she said that, "So what's up? I haven't seen you for a while."
"I just got back from a mission yesterday, escort mission to Tatsu No Kuni," Naruto replied. The blond looked at her and grinned as he pulled out a scroll and handed it to her, "I got a little something for you there."
Tenten blinked for a few moments as she looked at the scroll. She unrolled it and saw that it was a basic storage scroll. After a few seconds she unsealed the contents and had to hold in a gasp when the item or in this case items revealed themselves.
It was a set of silver kunai, the blades were curved and about three inches longer than standard kunai. Along the blade was an intricate design of a traditional Japanese style dragon. The ring at the end of the kunai was studded with rubies along the outer edges. Altogether they were beautiful works of art. At least, they were to a weapon fanatic like Tenten.
It took nearly ten minutes before the stunned silent weapon user could respond. And when she did it was not with words since she still could not speak. Naruto soon found himself in the near death grip of Tenten as she gave him what was sometimes referred to as the squeeze of life. Why it was called that when Naruto felt like he was dying was something he would never understand.
"T-ten-chan…can't breathe!"
Tenten seemed to snap out of her stupor as she looked at Naruto and found that he was beginning to turn blue from lack of oxygen. She let out an 'eep!' and dropped him, letting the blond fall to the floor and gasp for breath, "OhKamii'msosorryididn'tmeantto-"
"It's ok!" Naruto gasped as he held up a hand, making her stop her extremely fast paced apology. The blond took a second to get his breath back before standing up, "I take it from that…hug means you like the gift?"
"Oh yes! I absolutely love it!" Tenten squealed, and Naruto was reminded of one of the teme's fan girls for a second, "Oh it's an amazing gift, where did you get it?"
"I got it on my last mission to Tatsu No Kuni," Naruto replied. "I was doing some shopping on my off time when I found them and I thought to myself 'you know I bet Tenten would give her kidney for weapons like these' so I got them."
Tenten placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed the back of her neck with a light blush on her face, "Hehehe, I guess you know me too well. So is that the only reason you came here? To give me this beautiful present?"
Naruto smiled for a moment before sighing, "Well this was the part where I was going to ask you if you wanted to catch a movie with me, however I'm afraid I won't be able to do that."
"Why not?" Tente tilted her head to the side as a sign of confusion.
Naruto shifted uncomfortably, "Because I'm going on a three year training trip with Ero-sennin."
"What?" asked Tenten, not quite sure she had heard him correctly.
"I'm going to be leaving Konoha for three years to train with Ero-sennin. Because of… a certain threat that he's found out about he wants to train me so I can fight better, but he can't stay here due to his spy network."
Tenten's shoulders slumped a bit, "So you're leaving?"
"Yes…" Naruto frowned as he saw Tenten's depressed expression, "You know this won't be the last time we see each other or anything. I'll be back in three years."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Tenten gave him a smile as she tried not to let how horrible she felt at knowing Naruto was leaving. "You're going to keep in touch at least right?" She asked after a while, giving him a potent glare.
Knowing what she was doing Naruto just grinned, "You know I will."
"You'd better," Tenten held her glare for a second more before hugging him, thankfully it was not a death grip like her last hug. "I'm gonna miss you…"
Naruto sighed as he wrapped his arms around and placed his chin on her head, "I'll miss you too Ten-chan."
They stayed like that for several minutes before Tenten looked up at Naruto, blue eyes met brown as the bun-haired weapons user began to bring her head closer to his. Almost out of instinct, Naruto followed suit and brought his head down. Their lips were just about to touch when a cough interrupted them, "I hope you have a good reason for getting so close to my daughter."
Recognizing the voice Naruto shot backwards and turned to face Kaito, "Hehe well you see it was only that I was- it was… uh…" He noticed the glare he was receiving and sighed, "You know what, fine. I'll just tell you what you want to hear, not like you're gonna listen to me anyways. I was telling her that I was leaving on a three year training trip and was hoping that this would make Tenten admit her deep seated feelings of love for me, after which she would invite me upstairs and we would have hot passionate sex… sir."
By the end of Naruto's explanation both Tenten and Kaito were red. Though, Tenten's was from utter embarrassment and Kaito simply looked like he was about to blow a gasket.
"That was the wrong thing to say to me gaki," Kaito threw a kunai at Naruto that hit him right between the eyes, showing just where Tenten had learned her own weapon throwing skills from. However, Naruto burst into smoke seconds later and a loge appeared in his place.
"I'll see you later Ten-chan!"
Tenten and her father turned just in time to see Naruto running out the door.
"Tou-san…" Tenten said in a quiet voice that immediately put her father on guard.
"Yes Tenten?" asked Kaito.
"I hope you're ready to be used as target practice!" Tenten pulled out several kunai and began launching them at her dad who ran into the forge and locked the door.
(The next day…)
Naruto waited as Jiraiya gave their papers to the Chunin gate guards, who were surprisingly not Kotetsu and Izumo this time. He looked at the village that he was leaving, the home he would not see for three years. He had already said goodbye to his friends, not wanting there to be any fan fair when he left.
"Come one gaki. It's time to go," Jiraiya hiked up his scroll and began walking out of the village. Naruto followed a few seconds later, pausing on top of a hill that overlooked the village. The blond took one last look at his home before running to catch up with his sensei.
So you'll all notice Sasuke is still in the village, his escape from Konoha will come soon. But I felt that Naruto's new notoriety would keep Orochimaru from attempting. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and I'll see you kiddies later.
A/N: Attention all potential fanfiction authors! I have a new challenge if anyone wants to take it! If interested please read my challenge for the Nine Tailed Guardian of Kumogakure on my profile page!
週次パワーステータス
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