Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Secrets of the Uzamaki Clan ❯ The Beginning of the End ( Chapter 36 )

Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it again? I. DON'T. OWN. NARUTO! Kishimoto-san does. Lucky bastard…Onward!

 

"I cannot allow you to go hunting for Akatsuki!" Tsunade yelled into Naruto's ear. "Do you know what will happen if they catch you?" Naruto smiled.

 

"Yes. Let's just say I know something they don't know."

 

"What is it?"

 

"I'm not telling." Naruto stuck his tongue out at her. He barely ducked her incoming fist.

 

"Then you don't get to go!" The pair argued for nearly thirty minutes before Tsunade fell to Naruto's indomitable stubbornness.

 

"Fine, dammit! Just take some shinobi with you. Do you even know how to gather information."

 

"I've spent a lot of time with Ero-sennin, Tsunade-baachan." Naruto dodged an empty sake bottle. "And I've already got a few ideas. I want Sasuke, Sakura and Hina-chan!" Tsunade sighed.

 

"Fine. I'll take care of the (gulp) paper work." Tsunade smiled worriedly at him. "Just be careful, okay?" Naruto nodded.

 

"Thank-you, Tsunade-sama. I'm leaving immediately. I've already got a few leads." Naruto disappeared with a poof as Tsunade took a swig from her remaining sake bottle.

Next Scene

Naruto, Hinata, Sakura and Sasuke stood in front of the gates of Konoha. "I never though I'd follow you on a quest for revenge, dobe." Naruto stuck his tongue out at the Uchiha.

 

"This isn't revenge, it's just reconnaissance. I don't really care how, or by who, but Akatsuki is going down."

 

"Naruto-kun," Hinata mumbled.

 

"Oh come on, guys! You can trust me!" Naruto said as he noticed the looks. "For all I know the current Akatsuki doesn't even have the members the killed my clan anymore! This is more preventative than anything else!" Hinata still had to hold back a gasp. Naruto had told her just earlier about the massacre, but it was still so shocking. Sasuke sighed.

 

"Hn, whatever. Teammates stick together, or something like that." Naruto grinned.

 

"Naruto, do you even know where to start," Sakura said. Naruto pouted cutely at her.

 

"A little faith, Sakura! I already have a couple leads, and I even chose you guys for a reason!" Sakura gave him an amused skeptical look. "I so did! Sasuke because his Sharingan can memorize and copy information so we don't have to keep scrolls around, Hinata's Byakugan can tell if someone is lying, and no man in his right mind wouldn't be scared of a mad you!" Sakura hit him. "Ow! See?" Naruto curled his arm around Hinata's waist. "Let's go." And in a poof they were gone.

Next Scene

They arrived in a small village just a few miles from Konoha. "According to my research, there should be a nomadic clan of demon hunters in this village right now." Naruto handed Hinata his hitai-ate. "Hold onto this Hina-chan. I need to meet them as an Uzumaki, not a Konoha shinobi. You guys go to a tavern called 'The Rat's Hole'. There's a guy there who has a lot of connections there. Ero-sennin used to use him as a source, and before you even ask, you don't have to worry about knowing what he looks like. He sticks out like a rainbow on a rainy day."

 

"That analogy sucked."

 

"Screw you, teme." Naruto ran off in a separate direction. Sakura started chuckling, then laughing loudly.

 

"You know, he really has grown. It seem like just yesterday he was defacing the Hokage Monument!" Sakura suddenly set her sights on Hinata. "So, is it true that you call him, 'Naru-chan', in private?" Hinata blushed but fought it back down.

 

"Y-yes." Sakura smiled at her and gave Hinata a bone-crushing girl hug."

 

"I'm so proud!" Sasuke coughed to get their attention.

 

"The dobe forgot to tell us where this tavern is."

Next Scene

"Is this the territory of the Youryu clan?" Naruto asked as he entered a worn down, seemingly abandoned building.

 

"Who's asking?" A man with jet-black hair and piercing red eyes came out of the shadows.

 

"Uzumaki Naruto." The man seemed surprised for a moment.

 

"You do have the hair and eyes, and no genjutsu seems to be cast around you." Then he smiled. "I'm glad one of you is left, but just incase, show me one of your blood lines." Naruto nodded and activated the Beasts Within Technique. Once the older man nodded Naruto changed his face back to normal. "You are indeed an Uzumaki. And as such you are a friend of the Youryu. Why is it that you seek us out?"

 

"I seek information on the Akatsuki. I don't want anyone to go through what I went through because of them."

 

"You want vengeance."

 

"I want Akatsuki destroyed, yes, but nod for just revenge." The man's crimson eyes focused on Naruto, and seemed to pierce his very soul.

 

"The Akatsuki is our enemy as well, we shall share with you our knowledge. What is that you must know?"

 

"Who their leader is, why they want the power of the Bijuu so badly and how they take and control the Bijuu."

 

"Hmm. We do not know their leader's identity, but our information indicates he is at least part demon." Naruto's brow furrowed. "They use some sort of sealing ritual involving a magical statue to take and seal the Bijuu, though they have yet to succeed in resealing them within one of their members. We believe they want the power just so they can have whatever they want."

 

"I see. Thank-you for your aid, Youryu-sama." Naruto bowed before exiting the building. Naruto race back to town, just in time to be greeted by a fist from Sakura.

 

"That's for making us look all over the damn town!" Sakura shouted.

 

"Are you alright, Naruto-kun?"

 

"I'm fine, Hina-chan. I've felt Sakura's wrath in the past." Naruto grinned at her until he noticed a flustered Sasuke. "Eh? What's the problem, Sasuke?" Sasuke scowled at him.

 

"That neon-dipped weirdo needed proof we were with 'Jiraiya-sama's idiotic apprentice'." Naruto felt his eye twitch at the insult but held back any smart remarks. "Remember that time you taught me that jutsu of yours?" Naruto burst out laughing.

 

"You had to use the Sexy no Jutsu! HAHAHA!" Naruto turned to Sakura. "What'd he look like! OW!" Sasuke hit Naruto to the ground with a well placed elbow.

 

"He didn't know anything the spy hadn't already told us. How'd your mission go?" Naruto slipped into serious mode.

 

"Well, I found out that the leader of Akatsuki is at least part demon," there were gasps all around, "and I think I might have devised a way to stop Akatsuki's plans in their tracks. All we need to do is figure out how to destroy this special statue of theirs and their whole plan falls to pieces!" Naruto took his hitai-ate back from Hinata. "I have one more lead at the moment that needs checking out!"

 

The hunt has begun! Please R & R and if you're going to flame me do it now, because my dragons have serious food poisoning problems! Stupid seafood restaurant…