章 8: Chapter 7 part 1 The Emperor, a Prophecy and Discoveries
Sakura couldn't keep her excitement from her face when she walked into the office of the Godaime Hokage. She had been summoned here and she had a feeling it to do with Sasuke – her beloved Sasuke-kun. She really hoped it was something good, hence her excitement. Tsunade wasn't smiling but that didn't make Sakura's smile falter – she kept it even when Tsunade stared at her.
"You called for me, Tsunade-sama…"
Tsunade nodded her head. She truly had more troublesome brats to deal with. Back in her days, brats were fighting in the war; there was no time to be a fan girl or anything. Fighting for survival, protecting your comrades, it was all that mattered. Today, they have time to think about worthless things. They even take their make-up when going on a mission – it was utterly ridiculous but this just showed how much the world has changed.
Tsunade was going to straighten them. Those who were not worthy of becoming shinobi would not graduate from the academy. She would make sure that the graduation exam was a little challenging. She could not have kids who just want to play shinobi to become ninja when they could be facing war in the near future. Even if they did not face war, it was important to keep Konoha's defenses at best working condition in case something happens.
Godaime cleared her throat and spoke. "Naruto encountered Sasuke…and they fought but Sasuke managed to flee with Orochimaru…" Tsunade said those words in a simple tone; there was no other way to put it. She wasn't going to add anything unnecessary and she would not say when this had happened. "I called you here just so you can know that Sasuke is alive and well."
Sakura frowned; not the good news she wanted to know. She had always known that he was alive. She could feel it in her heart that her beloved was alive. But Naruto had seen him, he had fought him. That didn't surprise her. Before Sasuke decided to ditch Konoha, he'd been prone to fighting Naruto over little things. Someone always got in the way before things got serious.
"Oh…" Sakura mouthed with disappointment.
"I know this isn't something you wanted to hear, Sakura, but I just thought you should know…" Tsunade said.
Sakura nodded. She hadn't even heard anything from Naruto. He didn't respond to the letter she sent him – it didn't make her smile. But she didn't want to think too deeply about it. Naruto was going to come back, and she would face him. He was still her teammate after all.
"You said Naruto, wasn't Jiraiya-sama there with him?"
Tsunade shook her head. "Jiraiya wasn't there, he only joined in during the fight and that was when they were forced to flee…"
"Who was winning?"
Tsunade tilted her head to the side. She was curious why Sakura would want to know; it wasn't a competition, was it? "Jiraiya didn't say…" she lied. "Why do you ask, Sakura?"
"Well, Sasuke-kun has always felt that he was superior…" that was something she had ignored or just failed to see in their younger days. Of course, she did think about it now but it didn't change anything about her feelings towards him. "Sasuke would always glare at Naruto if he did something better than he did." She didn't want to admit this but she did. "Sasuke was always even jealous of Naruto. There had always been a feeling that Naruto never really tried too hard. I think his jealousy was part of the reason he felt he needed to leave Konoha."
Tsunade frowned. "So, if Naruto was winning?"
"There is a chance that he might decide to abandon Orochimaru and go somewhere…" Sakura said. 'If he lost, he'd feel frustrated and would think Orochimaru wasn't giving him what he wants."
"That is an interesting conclusion, girl…" Danzo said as he stepped into the office.
Sakura twirled around to face the man who spoke in a cold tone. She always had a chilling feeling whenever she saw this person. Now, she wasn't a good judge of character, but there was no way Danzo was a good person. If this man was a good person, then Jiraiya wasn't a shameless pervert.
"Granted, he has already shown himself as a jealous person and betrayed Konoha, if those feelings resurface, where do you think he will go?"
Sakura hesitated for a moment before responding. "I think he will come back here…"
"Naïve," Danzo said in a cold tone and then dismissed Sakura just like that. He turned his attention to Danzo. "What do you think, Hokage?"
Tsunade ignored the war hawk and turned towards Sakura. She smiled the pinkette and then spoke. "You may leave, Sakura. If there is anything else, I will tell you."
"Hai…" Sakura hurriedly left the office.
Tsunade's cold look turned towards Danzo. Since they were working together, he was appearing before her a bit more often. At least now he knew who was in charge of Konoha and if he was going to try to undermine her rule, he wouldn't do it blatantly; he would do it in a way that he thinks she won't find out.
There was still a minor problem with how things are in this situation. She wasn't going to tell him that the might be war – it might just entice him to do something ridiculous that would frustrate her planning. She didn't want anyone who would worsen things as they are. There was just no telling what the old man would do if things turned out dangerous. She didn't want him attacking any hidden village.
Tsunade crushed the thought that she could not tell what Danzo would do – she knew quite well what he would do in a dangerous situation. If Kumo and Iwa proved that they could work together. Danzo would do everything in his best of capabilities to make sure that those villages end up fighting. With how skillfully crafty he was; she was certain that he would succeed in something like that. He was good player of the dark arts after all and he has been playing the game in the past wars.
"What Sasuke will do isn't the least of my concern…" Tsunade said in a stern tone. "Well, if he does leave Orochimaru, we have more opportunities to take him back. Orochimaru is weakened in this time, so it wouldn't be difficult for Sasuke to leave, especially with the Sharingan." Orochimaru was quite arrogant and he would think he could do whatever he wants. Tsunade pitied her former teammate at times.
"If it does come to a point where he is brought back to the village, you should give him to me. I'm certain I can bend him to serve Konoha to the best of his abilities." Danzo said confidently.
"Somehow I don't doubt that…" Tsunade said. "But you'd also make him serve you, isn't it, Danzo?"
The war hawk didn't respond to Tsunade's question. "So, you'll give him to me? What he demands is power and power I can give to him. He is also someone who lacks emotional control, I can help with that."
Tsunade looked thoughtful for a moment before responding. "We will consider if we manage to capture him in time…" she said. "Then? What can I do for you?"
"I heard that Jiraiya and Naruto were in Uzushio…" Danzo said with narrowed eyes. It was certainly reckless to have Naruto go to Uzushio. What if he likes what he sees and then decides to bide his time before abandoning Konoha? Some people could not put clan past village. Shinobi like Itachi were truly rare.
It was indeed a pity that Sasuke hadn't turned out like his brother. Perhaps if things had been different, he would have made a play. But he had been warned and so he stayed out of it. He was starting to see that it was now a mistake to have left the last Uchiha alone.
"That is true… they were there for a mission…" Tsunade said. "But they didn't get much information out of the land. Jiraiya was kicked out of the village after getting caught trying to find information…" for some reason, Tsunade had laughed when she heard that the Sannin had been caught. It wasn't a situation she should be laughing at, but it was Jiraiya. "Anything else?"
"What mission?'
"Escorting the Snow Daimyo… that is as far as we know…" Tsunade said. "And your search?"
"No progress…" Danzo said with a barely noticeable frown. "They have even guarded against aerial approach. There is a barrier that surrounds the village, so you can't see anything from up. There is only one entrance."
"There is no village that is completely impenetrable, Danzo."
Danzo nodded; he was able to finally agree on something with the Godaime Hokage. It didn't please him nevertheless. They were humans; there was no defense that could be perfect. As long as they were dealing with people, they would make a way into the village.
"Entering isn't that much of a problem. If you have proper documentation, you might enter. But moving around the village is the problem. During day, the sun's light reaches everywhere. You can only hide under a shadow, but even then, you can't make any moves. It is quite possible that they use a similar principle when it comes to monitoring movements in the village."
Tsunade didn't act surprised by hearing that information. Jiraiya had told her something similar. This really just meant that Uzushio had some adept sensors and fuinjutsu users. When it comes to the latter, it shouldn't be a surprise – it has always been their trade.
"We are thinking of sending a civilian since they seem to track down chakra movements…"
Tsunade waved her right hand at this. "There is no need for that, for now at least…" she said firmly. "I am going to open a dialogue with them and try to see if we can negotiate something with them. I don't want a spy being caught there while we are talking. They will accuse us of negotiating in bad faith."
"Negotiate?" Danzo asked. He looked surprised. "Negotiate what with them?"
"Excuse me?"
"Do not be naïve, Tsunade!" Danzo slammed his cane on the floor. "Uzushio's resurrection will cause a problem for us because both Kumo and Iwagakure will act. We cannot let them act before we do something. I value the work of Fuinjutsu and know what the Uzumaki have offered to this village, but we don't have to negotiate with them. Trying to get Intel into the village is nothing more than an exercise to determine the village's strength before moving in. We need to think deeply about this."
Tsunade wasn't really shocked that Danzo would think of invading Uzushiogakure, their once ally. He would think that. She shook her head. He was thinking about it and actually thought that they were planning to do it. Was he thinking that it was best for them to take control of Uzu or just destroy it before their enemies get hold of it? This man was truly ridiculous.
"We are not going to invade Uzushio, Danzo. And I don't talk to me like that ever again. I understand the situation more than what you might think." She glared at the war hawk for a moment before speaking again. "Don't think of doing something behind my back. If you are going to strap one of your agents with an Iwa uniform and send them to Uzu, just know that a seal can be removed, Danzo. If you put a seal on them to stop them from speaking, you know that you are dealing with people who understand fuinjutsu more than you do. They can undo your seal and get what they want. If that happens, and someone is tracked down to you, I will feed you to them as a peace offering, do you understand me?"
"You are making a mistake, Hokage." Danzo said in a firm tone. "You are making the same decisions Hiruzen would have made. If this village gets in trouble be-"
"I will not repeat myself to you, Danzo." Tsunade cut off the war hawk before he could finish talking. "If I want your opinion, I will ask for it. Now, leave before you say anything else that will piss me off…"
Danzo eyed her coldly before twirling around. He left the office without saying another word to her. On his way out, he slammed the door – like a child.
Tsunade sighed tiredly. She was starting to regret her decision to bring the war hawk in… but then again, if she hadn't done it, she wouldn't be able to anticipate his movements by hearing his thoughts about certain things. She knew how to handle things because she was certain of how he was going to do things. If anything happens, he was going to be the scapegoat. She didn't even feel bad for it.
She called an Anbu to get her Kakashi and Neji. The silver haired Jonin arrived in her office after about 10 minutes. This time around, he didn't have his perverted book at hand. Neji arrived a second later, looking as stoic as ever. He did the formalities of greeting everyone before waiting to hear why he had been called.
Despite everything, Neji was the best out of Naruto's generation. He was even the first one to become Jonin. He was a good kid. She couldn't count the blond in that comparison because she thought it wasn't fair. Then again, both had been unfortunate when growing up.
"Neji, what do you know about the Uzumaki clan?" Tsunade asked calmly. He probably didn't know much since Konoha appeared to have done everything in its power to bury the history of the clan and its relations to the village.
Uzumaki? He thought of Naruto when thinking about this, but he shook his head. "Not much…" he said.
"The Uzumaki clan was a prestigious clan that had always been close to the Senju clan. My grandfather was married to Uzumaki and the Yondaime Hokage's wife was Uzumaki. You probably already know about the Kyubi and have seen something in Naruto with your, Byakugan, haven't you?"
Neji nodded. "He told me…" he said calmly. The blond had told him, his burden; his curse. A curse that was worse than the one on his forehead.
Tsunade smiled. "The Shodai Hokage's wife was the first Jinchuriki of the Kyubi, and Naruto's mother became its second Jinchuriki… Naruto is its third… do you follow?"
"All Jinchuriki have been from the Uzumaki clan."
Tsunade nodded. "Yes…" she said. "You don't hear much about them because during the second shinobi world war, their village was destroyed because some villages feared them. They were masters of Fuinjutsu and they had considerably strong chakra that was able to suppress Bijuus, who were used as power balancers. Since the second shinobi world war, we have always thought that they ended, but they did not. It has come out that they have revived and their clan is fully functioning but we don't know anything because the village is closed.
"I am going to attempt to start a dialogue with them. I haven't started but if they permit it, you and Kakashi will head to Uzushio to hold discussions with them. Now, Uzu has always been our ally. It has done much for this village than you know. Most of the seals that are used in this village were developed by the clan. That swirling symbol on your flank-jacket is a symbol of the Uzumaki clan. Do you understand just how much of a partner they were to Konoha?"
Neji nodded. To think that Naruto was from a clan… and not just any clan but a prestigious clan that Konoha valued so much it decided that its shinobi should wear its symbol. That was a massive honor. No matter how good of friends clans were, you never wear the others symbol. Konoha had many great clans, but its shinobi didn't walk around wearing their symbols.
Just how much of a bond did Konoha and Uzu have?
Neji smiled. He wondered how the people who have resented Naruto will think about this.
"Is there something amusing?" Tsunade asked.
"Naruto and I have a bit of a history, so I know how he was treated… I'm just thinking of how ironic it is…" Neji said calmly. "You said that Naruto's mother was Uzumaki and the Yondaime Hokage was married to Uzumaki, is there any relation?"
"I told you about the Uzumaki clan because you two will go on a mission to Uzu… you need to understand things and how you react and respond when you talk to them… but above all, I have chosen you two because of your doujutsu prowess." Tsunade said without answering Neji's question. "I will call you when they say you can come."
Neji nodded. He was careful with his words. "Naruto is connected to Konoha's Fourth Hokage, isn't he? The Yondaime was his father?"
"That is a village secret, Neji…" Tsunade said in a stern tone. "Prepare yourself. I won't assign you any mission for the next month. We don't know when they will give their go ahead, so you have to be ready at any time."
Neji nodded and walked away without saying anything else. Kakashi who had been silent throughout then spoke. "What happens when the Uzumaki consider us an enemy as well?"
Tsunade frowned at the thought. "That is something I have been trying to ignore…" she admitted. "I don't know much of what happened in their destruction and why Konoha didn't do anything. The Sandaime would have answers but he is dead."
"Well, that is troubling…"
"Not so much…" Tsunade said with a shake of her head. "If Iwa and Kumo go after it, Uzu will not have any choice but to ally with us. It will be for their survival more than anything. I don't even think they would want to make enemies with all the Great Nations. They wouldn't survive that fight."
"And this time, there would be no one left…" Kakashi said. "What of Naruto?"
"We will see when he comes back…" Tsunade said with a shake of her head. "It is most important now more than ever that he learns everything he can from Jiraiya. Even if Konoha cannot be involved, if he wants to fight for his clan, I will not stand in the way. That would be the least I can do for him…"
"But if it is against the Great Nations, it will be sending him to his death…"
"Kakashi, what has Konoha done for Naruto? If I stop him from going, and his clan is destroyed again, do you think he will ever forgive us? If we let him go and he fights as best as he can, we have the opportunity to save his life if it is in danger."
Kakashi nodded. Tsunade didn't have any intention of allowing Naruto to die with the rest of his clan if the situation came to that point. But this also said that Konoha wasn't going to fight a battle that would see its very existence threatened.
"It feels like we are at those dreadful times once more…" Kakashi said. War wasn't a mission. People died. The people you love die. Anything could happen. No one was guaranteed to return from the war.
"Not yet, but we have to be prepared for anything that happens." Tsunade said in a calm tone. "I truly hope that it doesn't come to that. But in this world, the flames of war are simple to ignite."
Land of the Toads
Naruto had never felt such peace before; he had never seen such beauty in nature before. This was truly a sacred land that wasn't corrupted by the blood of humans. The air felt fresh. It wasn't polluted by anything. Naruto felt like a man possessed; he just wanted to take a swim through the air and giggle like a fan girl, thinking lewd thoughts about the boy she loves. In this land, even the sun seemed to have a different vibe to it. The heavens seemed to look at the land much more brightly than any place he has ever touched.
Naruto held out his right hand and then his left. He closed his eyes as he felt the air gather strongly around him, causing his air to stand a bit wildly. Naruto then started twisting around. As he twisted, a tornado started to form around him, rising towards the heavens. The winds were so powerful that they started pulling everything towards them. Before they started pulling the boulders that laid around him, Naruto came to a halt and everything that was up began to fall.
He watched the show with a smile.
"Someone is having fun…" Jiraiya said; he was walking towards Naruto, Fukasaku with him.
"You just have to love nature, Erro-sennin…" Naruto said calmly. "When the wind blows like this, it fills me with its mood and I just want to do things with it… I just want be part of it…"
"You are going to need that concentration…" Jiraiya said in a calm tone. "But that alone won't be enough. Then again, despite your large chakra reserves, you have fine chakra control… I'm almost jealous with how you are able to control it…"
"You don't have the patience to learn…" Naruto said with a shrug. "But if you want to learn, we can take you to the sea and leave you there. You'll know, if you don't stand on the water using your chakra, you'll drown."
Jiraiya thought about it for a moment. "That is way too risky…"
"You've always been taking risks, sensei… what is the difference now?"
"There is a chance that I might actually die…"
Naruto merely smiled but didn't respond. He settled down and turned to the sage next to Jiraiya. "Fukasaku-sama…" he greeted politely.
"Naruto-chan…" Fukasaku responded calmly. "You have more chakra than Jiraiya had when he first came here and he still couldn't master Sage Mode… this might take time…" he said. "But you seem to be sensitive to nature, so it might not be."
Naruto turned to Jiraiya. "You failed to master Sage Jutsu?"
"I didn't fail… I just didn't have enough time to learn…" Jiraiya grumbled.
Naruto smiled. "Oh… my poor sensei. Your poor chakra control really does costs you a lot. You seem to struggle with a lot of things. Hell, even learning the Rasengan took you quite a while… and that was due to your chakra control… lack of it rather…" Naruto said. "But it still does make me respect you more of what you have achieved. Even with all that, you have still managed to become as powerful as you are."
"Finally, you are showing me some respect!" Jiraiya exclaimed happily.
Naruto shrugged. "I am going to perfect it and then gloat about it at every turn I get…"
Jiraiya frowned.
"There is no need to be like that, sensei… it happens…" Naruto said with a wide smile. "Are we going to start now, Fukasaku-sama?"
The Toad Sage nodded his head and then asked Naruto to follow him. They stopped behind a small fountain of water. The sound of the water was calming. Naruto had to settle down to enjoy the comfort. "You must understand the risks of this training, Naruto-chan." The toad said in a firm tone.
Naruto's eyes snapped towards Fukasaku. "Risks… I didn't know there were risks…" he said.
"There is a risk… and it is death." Fukasaku said sternly. "Natural energy is powerful but also dangerous to those who cannot control it. You need to have perfect control of it to be able to absorb it and regulate it within your body. If you absorb it and fail to control it, you'll turn into a toad and then a statue like those…"
Naruto looked at the many toad statues lining up. "Well, great power comes with great dangers…"
"You don't look that concerned…"
"I will be if you don't have method to stop me turning into a toad." Naruto said in a very serious tone.
"There is a way… I just have to supervise you… and this is why I will tell you that you mustn't try absorbing Natural energy unless I am with you. If I am not there and you lose control or absorb too much, you will turn into a statue."
"I am very good at following rules…" Naruto said with a nod. "Besides that, turning into a toad means the death of me. How is Jiraiya able to use Senjutsu if he hasn't perfected it?"
"Ma and I absorb fuse with him and we absorb the chakra for him. But because it is imperfect, it turns his appearance into like that of a Toad. This is why he probably hasn't showed it to you. He will only use it in a situation of life and death…" Fukasaku said. "However, if you perfect it, you won't turn like a toad and you won't need our help."
Naruto nodded. "Is there a limit?"
"It is chakra, there is no time limit, but how long you keep the mode depends on how much chakra you use. If you use it all, you will lose it. If you lose it in battle, gathering energy will be near possible because you'd have to be calm to absorb it…"
Naruto was silent before asking. "Is there a limit of how much chakra I can gather? Can I absorb much more chakra than I have?"
"The limit is how much chakra you can absorb. Aside from having the risks of turning into a toad, you can absorb as much as you want, as long as you can control it."
"I assume that I can also store it in my body if I develop a proper method. If I do that, I'm safe from running out of power while in battle. But we don't have that method, do we?"
Fukasaku shook his head. "Since there is no end to natural energy, you don't have to worry much about it…" Fukasaku said before he smiled. "You have asked more questions than your father…" he said.
"Minato? He was here?"
Fukasaku nodded. "But because of his duties as Hokage, he didn't have much time to train and perfect it… and he died before he could. I hope you'll surpass both him and Jiraiya-chan."
"Naturally…"
Uzushio
Guren couldn't help but admire the genius that was the man who sent this assassin to the Whirlpools. You couldn't tell where the man came from just by looking at him. He looked like a normal civilian but he was not. He was a trained killer who didn't have a problem in trying to blow himself up. It was like he had been ordered, the moment they were caught, activate the seal and die to avoid being questioned. Most of her captives usually swallow their tongues to avoid talking but this one didn't try that, he had tried to blow himself up.
But this was Uzushiogakure.
They had stopped him before could do so, but talking seemed impossible. He simply could not answer certain questions because of the seal inside of him. The seal had been removed, Guren tortured him, and he still refused to talk. The man didn't scream or cry out in pain. And she had learned her trade from Orochimaru. When she failed to get any information, she had gone straight to the Leader's tower and found the man sitting with Haku.
The two seemed to get along well. She had never questioned it. She was mostly doing the dirty work, which she realized Haku could not do because he was a kind hearted person. She snorted at the thought. She didn't usually like people like that but Haku was fine – they were comrades after all.
The leader was a tall man with clear blue eyes, long crimson hair. He was usually smiling; his face was a bit flat, with large cheeks. But those eyes could switch from warmth to coldness in the blink of an eye. One second he was a cold as Haku's ice and the second he could be generating the same heat as lava.
"Guren-san…" Yoshino said in a light tone. "You look frustrated…"
"I am…" Guren admitted. The man always spoke in a smooth tone. Guren noticed, he was truly a man who was polite and pleasant to have a conversation with but he was still a frightening person. It was no wonder he held the position of Leader. There were many personalities in this land and a weak person could not control everyone. People listened to him when he spoke. He commanded respect. "He won't talk. He is prepared to die before he says anything."
Yoshino nodded. "But you are positive he is an assassin, yes?"
Guren nodded.
"You can dispose of him… there is no need to apply any measures on him to make him talk. If the person is unwilling to talk and we apply strict measures, he will die." Yoshino stated calmly. "The mark on his tongue, we can work with it and enquire where it comes from. If we discover that, then we know who sent him."
"Should I start digging?"
Yoshino shook his head. "That will be for another unit to do…" he paused for a moment, thinking. "On second thought, keep him alive. We don't know what we might discover if we search. Maybe he might be willing to talk if he has the truth in front of him."
"Any suspicions on who could want to kill his Majesty?" Haku asked.
"Spies from other villages have only been trying to find information but they have never come for the kill." Guren said with a shake of her head. "I can't figure out who would try something like that."
"We can rule out the smaller villages, Suna and Kiri… I doubt Kumo would try assassination attempts. The Yondaime Raikage is a little proud… and his moves aggressively not so subtle like this. It will be either Konoha or Iwagakure." Yoshino responded quietly.
"I can understand Iwagakure but why Konoha?"
"Every village has its darkness, Guren-san. You should know that the Hidden Leaf has done many things that are not so much what it preaches. There is a certain man named Danzo who moves even without the approval of the Hokage, He could have done this without the Godaime Hokage knowing. If it such the case, then we won't be taking any action until his majesty is made aware of it."
The village was run differently. The man who sits at the top of the village, the emperor, wasn't involved in everything. This man, Yoshino, ran the village and commanded even the Jonins around the village. However, the Black Corps – which she ran were only supposed to report to the emperor. Because of his absence, she usually reported to this man.
"If you need help with pursuing, this, you will let me know."
Yoshino smiled, "as always." He said.
Guren looked at that smile and shook her head. She left without saying another word. Once she was gone, Haku tuned to Yoshino. "You really found a dependable person…" he said of Guren.
"Well, she was once Orochimaru's number two and she knew a lot of things he knew. We had to get that information from her." Yoshino said. "I am glad we came across her on the hunt. She has freed our time to focus on other things."
A Month Later
A month long time and he hadn't come here at once; he hadn't even bothered trying to check in on how Naruto was doing in his training. For the first time since they started their journey, Jiraiya hadn't worried about Naruto. He hadn't worried about anything because Naruto was in a safe place. Nothing could possibly go wrong here. So he had moved around in peace and the quietness of long nights observing things while keeping in contact with his network to gain information about the happenings of the Elemental Nations. Naruto was a person who worked fast, so he had thought there would be some progress with the training.
When he was reserve summoned to the land of the Toads, Fukasaku took him to a secluded place wearing a rather serious look on his face. He didn't joke around, but the look informed the Sannin that something was bothering the Sage.
"Naruto didn't turn into a Toad did he?" Jiraiya asked with concern. Well the blond had a tendency to train on his own. It wouldn't surprise him if he somehow went off to train on his own and ended up being petrified.
That would be a disaster. Tsunade would kill him and Kushina would certainly mutilate him if he sees her in the world of the dead. Naruto could not go in such a way. Even if he was going, the blond would have to die after him. He could not bury another student. Jiraiya could not survive that. He had mourned Minato; he would not mourn Naruto as well.
Fukasaku slowly shook his head. "Nothing like that happened. Do you think we'd let something like that happen to Minato's son?"
"You wouldn't have allowed it to happen but sometimes things you have no control over do happen…" Jiraiya said in a serious tone. "If nothing bad happened to Naruto, what is wrong? How did the training even go?"
Naruto had been an excellent student. He listened when someone was telling him something. He asked questions when he didn't understand something. When you told him to rest for the day, he would do it. He was truly the best student Fukasaku has ever had. It wasn't just that but his ability to understand what he was being told and his fondness of nature made it suitable for him to learn Senjutsu. He learned quickly and he grasped the methods he was taught quickly. In no time Naruto was able to gather natural energy and absorb it into his own body. He was able to attain a perfect Sage Mode.
He had done what Jiraiya had failed to do and in a short period of time. Fukasaku should be happy. Naruto was even well mannered. He appeared to be a child who behaved. You wouldn't think that he was learning from Jiraiya. Yet, Fukasaku was concerned.
"The training went perfectly," Fukasaku said. "Naruto mastered Sage Mode and he has been training to get a better handle of it and absorbing more chakra than he has."
Jiraiya raised an eye brow. "Isn't that too dangerous?"
"If you can't control the flow of chakra but there must always be a balance of chakra… he achieves this by adding a bit of the Kyubi's chakra…" Fukasaku said. "I didn't think it possible but he is doing it." He said with a shake of his head.
"The brat did it…" Jiraiya said. "I'm not going to hear the end of it…" he mumbled.
"You just don't want to learn. If you had given it more time, you would have perfected yours already…" Fukasaku said.
"It is too late for me sensei…" Jiraiya said in a resigned tone. "If Naruto has done everything right, what is wrong?"
Fukasaku starred at Jiraiya for a long moment before asking. "What do you know about Naruto-chan, Jiraiya?"
"Huh?" Jiraiya blinked in surprise at the question. What was that supposed to mean? He has been Naruto's sensei and the blond was Minato's son. What was there more than he didn't know?
"Naruto-chan isn't like his father, is he?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "Given everything, I didn't expect him to be like his father. There is a certain limit to how much hate you can take in. Naruto isn't like his father and he isn't like me. He is different from both his parents. I can't tell what he inherited from both of them."
Minato had been a genius but Naruto wasn't a genius. Kushina was a strong willed woman who was full of kindness and warmth… though, she could turn violent at any moment. Even so, she had been a good person. Naruto was like neither. He didn't have their vision, he didn't have their eyes. The hair was the same with his father and so was the colour of his eyes, but Naruto's eyes were different. You couldn't tell what was in them.
"I discovered that…" Fukasaku said. "I can't tell if he is hot or cold, Jiraiya-chan. He has the concentration never seen in a human. I think it is impossible for a human to be as concentrated as he can be. This very ground can be shaking with explosions occurring left and right, Toads screaming in despair and he can still just stand still, eyes closed and have sweet dreams…"
"Aren't you taking it a little too far?" Jiraiya asked. But he knew just how much Naruto could focus on something. He had seen it after all. The blond could stand still for hours. Sometimes regardless of how raging the battlefield was, you could miss the sound of his heartbeat, his breathing.
Fukasaku shook his head. "That is the truth, Jiraiya-chan…" He said. "It isn't necessarily a bad thing but Naruto-chan makes us nervous because we don't know what he is thinking. It is troubling given the revival of the Uzumaki clan. This revival is going to change the ninja world, Jiraiya-chan."
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"
"I can feel it; the Elemental Nations are heading into a different path. I don't know whether it will be good or bad but the honourable geezer says the Uzumaki will be the cause of this great change…" Fukasaku said.
Not this again. Already the revival of the Uzumaki clan has made other people take measures that worried him and could lead to war. But this just meant that there was more to the Uzumaki. They could be much more dangerous than he thought or anyone thought they were. The village itself looked normal. But they could still be hiding something. Well that was a possibility. They were keeping themselves locked up in their land. They were planning something.
And Naruto was going to be involved – Simply because he was Uzumaki. Perhaps it was time they face the fact. If Naruto wanted to go, he would go. Perhaps he shouldn't have easily accepted the reasons the blond gave him when he asked about the issue the other day. But it had made sense. Jiraiya had reasoned and found that Naruto made sense. It was like him – he always reasoned sensibly.
"We are not saying Naruto is bad, Jiraiya-chan…" Fukasaku said.
The Sannin nodded. "You said he is neither hot nor cold, which means he could turn to any other side and it is my responsibility to ensure that the path is one that we will still wish to be associated with."
"Yes…" Fukasaku said. "Other than that, he is good, respectful…"
"Respectful my ass!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "That brat doesn't show me any ounce of respect!"
Fukasaku smiled. "Naruto does respect you, Jiraiya-chan…" He said. "He is currently meditating by the waterfall…"
Jiraiya nodded and turned away from Fukasaku. He walked for a couple of moments before finally reaching the area. The air felt heavy. It wasn't natural. He figured it was Naruto's doing. The blond had his eyes closed, meditating.
The child of prophecy; He had been told he would train someone who would have the power to save or destroy the world. He had thought it would be Nagato, but Nagato died. He had thought it would be Minato, but he too died. And now there was Naruto. Was he going to end up getting another student? Jiraiya didn't think so. Naruto had to be the child of prophecy. But what could he do? He had done right by Naruto. He had shown him the world and what it was. At this point, he believed that Naruto understood the world better.
But even now, he still couldn't get the blond to answer him on what he wanted to do to change this world he felt was rotten and controlled by those who were greedy. He had to demand answers now. But he would have to be careful not to push Naruto away. Could the blond bring destruction? Jiraiya couldn't say. He couldn't say Naruto could do it or could not. He didn't know the deeper thoughts of his own student.
Wind blasted all around, hitting Jiraiya but he remained grounded. It just succeeded in snapping him out of his thoughts. Naruto was staring at him with a sharp look.
"You know, for a moment I thought you were deciding on whether you should kill me or let me live…" Naruto said.
"I doubt you'd let me get that close…" Jiraiya said in a flat tone. "I heard you succeeded." He said with a smile.
Naruto nodded. "Yes… natural energy is truly special. I love it!"
"I'm proud of you!" Jiraiya said with a grin. "We can go to celebrate once we leave this place."
"A celebration with you sensei? Why does that give me the chills?"
"You worry too much!" Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "So what do say? We are going to so it in the Fire Nation… Tanzaku Gai… there are some good spots there…"
Naruto sighed. "If you are paying, I can't complain." The blond said. "I haven't had a drop of alcohol since I came here and I really miss a steak… If we could, I'd just head to Konoha just to get a couple of ramen bowls and devour them…."
"What are you complaining about? You look healthy…"
"First day I had to eat with my eyes closed you perverted sensei. Although, the food does taste good than it looks…" Naruto said responded as he got up. "I wonder how the world of humans will smell like when we finally get there…" he said in thought.
Two Weeks Later, Tanzaku
Kurenai was walking with her team through the town of Tanzaku Gai; Kiba was bickering about something that happened during their successful mission. Then again, he was always very vocal about his thoughts. He wasn't the one to let things slide just like that without having a few words of his own to say. It did cause some problems for them when he could not keep his head down during tense times. He really needed to get a grip of his emotions at the crucial times or it would cost them dearly one day.
Nothing has happened so far. They were a team, so when they moved, they always accounted for Kiba's behavior. That aside, they always had each other's back, so that helped during crucial times. Her Team had grown nevertheless. Hinata and Kiba hadn't performed that well in their matches when they first took part of the Chunin exams, but they had done better in the next one. Perhaps it was because they had been better prepared. Kakashi's team and Gai's team had been the one with top students.
"I'm telling you, Shino, I had it under control." Kiba grumbled towards the glass wearing shinobi.
"I didn't look that way to me. Why? Because you were getting beat..."
"I was just trying to see what he could do," Kiba exclaimed a bit loudly. He was honestly annoyed about the fact that Shino had to come to his rescue. At this point, he was the weakest one in the team. It frustrated him because no matter what he did he couldn't surpass Shino. He wasn't worried about Hinata on that level, but Shino always beat him each time they sparred.
"You seem to do that a bit often…" Shino noted.
Hinata giggled lightly. "Just admit it, Kiba-kun…" she said. It always amused her when her teammate tried to play tough. Sometimes even when he was hurt, he would say he wasn't hurt just to put on a brave face. A man always has to be strong in front of a woman, huh? But did that apply for shinobi? Gender was irrelevant to the shinobi world when it does come to power.
Kiba mumbled something under his breath.
Kurenai sighed; she did wonder if Hinata knew that the boy always acted strong because he wanted to impress her. For Kiba's clan, being the alpha male was the most important thing and the method of winning the female. The weak were devoured. It was like a pack of wolves. The alpha male dominated. But Kiba didn't have the strength. He had the desire and attitude but strength failed him when it mattered. Perhaps it had to do with a bit of his arrogance as well.
"Kiba, you remain the weakest link…" Kurenai said. Not the words she would usually say, but he needed to hear it. They were heading towards a path of war. Konoha was preparing for the worst possible scenario and if her students were going to survive, she needed for them to be strong. Kindness wasn't really going to make them live, was it?
"Kurenai-sensei..?" Kiba looked shocked hearing those words.
The ruby eyed genjutsu mistress smiled, a bit sadly. "I'm sorry I had to say it but you are not going to improve if nothing changes. I will have to speak to either Gai or Kakashi about teaching you Taijutsu. You also need to learn to control your emotions." She said the last words with a stare.
"Anyone but Gai, sensei!"
"Why?" Kurenai asked. He was eccentric and perhaps way hyperactive but he was still a better Jonin and very powerful. He might not use ninjutsu and his behavior might make many frown but there was no Jonin who has witnessed him fight who doesn't respect him.
"Well, he is Gai-sensei…" Kiba said. It was enough that he had to deal with Lee; he didn't need to deal with Might Gai as well. "I would rather have Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi was a lazy Jonin, Kurenai wanted to say. She doubted he would even agree. Then again, this was one of those times. He could be serious. She heard that he was training these days. So, maybe things were different. "You do know that neither you nor Shino have been able to defeat Lee, right?"
"You don't need to remind me, sensei…"
Kurenai shook her head and looked up ahead of them: she saw shoulder length blond hair – it was wild as if it wasn't combed. There was the familiar swirl inside a circle on the back of the crimson long sleeved shirt the person was wearing. The presence, it felt somewhat similar. For a moment, she would have thought she was staring at the back of the Yondaime Hokage.
"Naruto-kun..?"
Kurenai glanced towards Hinata – the girl had said in a whisper, staring a bit wide eyed to the person in front of them, who had his back on them, walking slowly with his hands on his pockets. Of course, she would be quick to recognize him. She seemed to know him better.
The genjutsu mistress looked ahead once more. The Uzumaki symbol: he'd always worn the mark in each of the clothes she saw him wearing in the Leaf, wasn't it? Well, there was no doubt he was from the clan. Then again, she hadn't thought much of the clan before they were called by the Hokage to discuss the clan's revival and what it meant to the shinobi world.
He was from that clan, and he was in front of them, wearing the clan's symbol.
Having heard Hinata with his keen sense of hearing, Kiba rushed forward. He stretched out his right hand to grab the blond by his shoulders but the Chunin found himself being lifted up into the air. He watched with surprise as his view turned upside down before he hit the ground on his back.
"What the hell, Naruto?!" Kiba shouted.
Naruto didn't look at the Inuzuka; he glanced back through the corner of his eyes and frowned. He had been curious to know why Jiraiya chose this town and now he knew. The Sannin had known he would meet Konoha shinobi. Not just any shinobi but ones he had a history with. If the man really wanted for them to go to Amegakure, they would have travelled somewhere a bit closer to the Storm.
The blond glanced down at the Inuzuka – who was getting up. Kiba dusted himself up before glaring at Naruto. "No need to look at me like that…" Naruto said with a shrug. "You should know that you can't sneak on a shinobi from behind."
"I'm your friend!"
Naruto shrugged. "I wasn't expecting friends …" he said before twisting around to face the rest of the gang. He smiled brilliantly as he greeted them. "Shino, Hinata…" he eyed the genjutsu mistress for a moment before greeting her. "And the delightful Kurenai-sensei..." he wanted to say it was very convenient to see them, but he stopped short of saying those words – it wasn't convenient. Hardly anything was convenient in this world.
Kurenai blinked at the greeting. Had he been always like this? She shook her head. She didn't have many interactions with him. She'd always watched from afar but he hadn't been like this. Admittedly, he had grown and he had a presence about him. He had become quite the handsome young man. "Naruto Uzumaki…" she hadn't seen him in close to three years in Konoha. What was he doing here? "Are you on your way back to Konoha?"
Naruto shook his head. "I have been in this town for about two weeks now…" he said. "Just taking a breather for some training I was doing before heading out for something else." Naruto said kindly. "Coming from a mission?"
Kurenai nodded. "Are you alone?"
"No…" he said, but didn't say who he was with. "It was nice seeing ya'll…"
"Wait!" Kiba said before Naruto could walk away. "When are you coming back?"
Naruto adopted a thoughtful look on his face before responding. "Very soon…" he said. "Very soon…" he repeated those words with a nod of his said. He waved his right hand with his back turned on the team before disappearing from the view.
"He completely disappeared…" Kiba muttered.
"Wasn't expecting to see us…" Kurenai said calmly. "Come on, we shouldn't linger around here. We have to go back to Konoha." She began to move ahead.
Later
Naruto would have to smack Jiraiya in the head for taking such measures just to get him to meet people from Konoha. It wasn't anything serious and what did it achieve? Did he just want him to think, good lord, he misses home? What was it? Naruto couldn't understand. After thinking about it for a couple of moments, he decided he didn't need to understand it. Those people were going to tell other colleagues that they had seen him and then people would be talking about him. Perhaps that was the main idea.
Naruto really didn't care about it.
He was currently sitting under a tree in a meditative pose, gathering natural energy. The process of trying to gather chakra while in battle would be a bit costing, so Naruto has been trying to test the limits of how much chakra he can absorb. Once he was done, he would find a way to create a seal that would allow him to store as much chakra as he could. Eight Trigrams was able to contain the Kyubi's chakra without any problem, and then he should be able to create a seal that can hold natural chakra.
Minato's seal wasn't made to lock away the Kyubi's power but he had left a small path that allows the Bijuus power to pass through a gate. There were no limits to how much chakra the seal could contain, but there were limits to how much he could wield. A seal he would have to create would need to have two openings, but they could not be opened at the same time. If the absorption 'gate' opened, the release 'gate' would have to close. This would mean he could properly regulate chakra and avoid overload. But how did he go about it?
The seal itself could not do the absorption, he had to do it and then open the 'gate' to store the chakra within it. This would require extensive chakra control. How much he was able to push into the seal would depend on the size of the 'gate.' It was a challenge, but Naruto already had the ideas he just had to begin with the formula. What would he name it?
Two-Gate Sealing Method?
No, he would be using the same basics of the Trigrams Seal.
Two-Trigrams Sealing Method? Perhaps that would do. He would still need to develop a method of release for it. Given the danger that was with natural energy, he would need to be careful with the release, because he could not release it all at once. He would need to keep a constant flow of the chakra. If he released enough to activate sage mode, he would have to close the seal… but that would leave him with the task of releasing it once more if he ran out of chakra. He needed to release it once, but still keep a constant flow of it that would mean had all the chakra available to him.
"Have you become my stalker, Itachi?" Naruto asked without opening his eyes. The Uchiha was sitting on a tree branch just above him. "No, you're a clone… where is the original?"
"Not anywhere close," Itachi said.
"I can tell," Naruto said.
"I have been looking for you from the past couple of weeks…" Itachi started. "This might perhaps be the last conversation we will have. Jiraiya is busy with something else, so we can talk freely."
"Don't you mean, you can talk?" Naruto asked calmly. "I can only indulge you, Itachi. You are the one who has something to say to me. I can only respond to what you have to say."
Itachi was silent for a moment; he didn't argue with Naruto on his point. "Last time you spoke about what was right and wrong… but it has come to my understanding that Konoha's people will never beg you for forgiveness. They just want to forget the past and move on into the future…"
"That is something I have thought about…" Naruto said.
"You don't have hatred in your eyes… I have looked deep into you. But even when you don't have deep hatred for what was done to you, I still cannot tell what you will do about it." Itachi said in a calm tone. "If Konoha's people pretend that nothing happened, will you still not do anything to forgive the past actions?"
"Who knows?" Naruto said with a thoughtful look on his face. "I have much bigger issues to think about than that. As you know, the shinobi world is heading into a dark path and I must prepare myself for it"
"And who is the cause of this tension?"
Naruto looked amused for a moment before responding. "You are going to blame the revival of the Uzumaki clan on the tension. Perhaps you might as well say if they had remained dead, things would be fine. But I say, if they hadn't been attacked in the first place, none of this would be happening. We cannot blame the branches for not producing fruits, Itachi; we must look at the soil and see if it was being nurtured enough to provide what is necessary for the branches to produce. The root of the problem isn't that the Uzumaki have returned, but that they were destroyed."
Itachi could not disagree with that, he would not. It would be irrational to put any other argument that would not even hold. Naruto was right in what he was saying. But perhaps what worried him was what he would do. You can determine a problem and still take the wrong path on trying to solve it. "I have already told you that what was done to the Uzumaki was wrong…"
"Itachi, you told your brother to hate you, to resent you and then he was strong, he should come to face you… Sasuke is trying to gain power to get revenge for his clan, the clan that you massacred and you set him up for that path. My clan was destroyed, and if I set up for revenge, you wouldn't argue it was wrong, would you? Because it would be nothing more than hypocrisy."
"If Sasuke kills me, it is just me and no one gets caught up in it. But if you are going after revenge, a lot of people die, this world is taken into another war. You have to look at the bigger picture."
"The picture for me for would be that it would revenge. The only difference is that it didn't just one human to destroy my clan but great nations to do it." Naruto said in a firm tone. "I have seen what hatred does, what revenge does to a person, Itachi… I don't like it."
No doubt he was talking about his own experiences. He has been living through hatred most of his life. If there was someone who could define what hatred is, it would be Naruto. He had seen it in Konoha and he was hosting a Bijuu that was known as hatred. His former teammate had lost his way in his thirst for revenge; the greed for power.
"What do you think will happen if it comes clear that there were more parties involved in the Uchiha massacre, do you think Sasuke will stop there? Of course he won't. He will do everything he can to destroy those who caused the downfall of his clan…" Naruto stated in a firm tone. "What is important to you, Itachi?"
Itachi knew. He was certain that if Sasuke learned of the truth, he would try to destroy Konoha. That was why he had asked Naruto if he would be willing to stop the Uchiha from doing so. Naruto was a capable shinobi. "Konoha."
"I see, you value village over clan," Naruto said with a nod. "Then what should I value, Itachi? The Uzumaki is more than just a clan. It is a village – my home. If I decided to leave Konoha, I'm certain that I would be able to live happily with my fellow clansmen, in our village. Would that be wrong?"
Itachi shook his head. "No," he said. "I just want to know what you really want to do, Naruto. As I speak with you, I begin to understand a bit more of how you reason things. But with how you reason, you should be with your people, your clan, but you are still with Konoha. Why? I can't understand that."
"What makes you say that?"
"You are proud of being Uzumaki… and I find it highly unlikely that you have no connections with the clan. You have a connection with them. You would fight to protect them, even if it meant going against Konoha. But why are you not going there?"
"Isn't it because I am a Konoha shinobi?"
"For now, at least."
"I have no evil intentions, Itachi. If you are concerned about destruction, go to your brother before he delves further into darkness. If he does, there will be no one to save him." Naruto said. "I am also not someone you should worry about because the actions of Iwa and Kumo should be what concerns you. Am I wrong?"
"I will deal with Sasuke, soon…" Itachi said. "You have a good understanding of things, Naruto-kun. I am certain that you think deeply about your future. You are not stupid or arrogant. I wish we had grown around the same time. Perhaps we might have been friends." Itachi burst into a murder of crows after saying those words.
Naruto sat still for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.
He went back to focusing on his seal.
週次パワーステータス
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