Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Way of the Jinchuuriki ❯ Arc 2, Chapter 11 - The Prince of Konoha ( Chapter 11 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Zagger the Bloody Angel 
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Angst / Suspense / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.19.2011 | Updated On: 06.19.2011 | Pages: 6 | Words: 10.5K | Visits: 279 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Angst / Suspense / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.19.2011 | Updated On: 06.19.2011 | Pages: 6 | Words: 10.5K | Visits: 279 | Status: Completed
Blood. She was covered in blood.
She didn't understand why, but her entire upper body was coated in the crimson liquid. It was something that she wasn't used to as she was used to spilling the blood without a single drop touching her.
Yet here she was, drenched from the chest to her lap, stained with it while more dripped from the one she held.
She couldn't see his face as his head was turned from her nor could she see the color of his hair, it being soaked by his own blood. Gashes covered his body from head to toe and blood soaked the area, not all being his own letting her know he didn't go without a fight.
But that did not comfort her in the least… As it had been she who had slain him.
She simply had last control of her being; the reason for it was a battle she had just went through. She had fought with all of her being after their threat towards the thing that meant most to her in the world and it was because of that, she could no longer control herself when he arrived.
Her body shook as she clenched him tightly as tears began to trail down her cheeks. This couldn't be happening. Not after everything she put into being with him. This could not be the way it ended!
Shaking further, she began screaming her anger, her pain and her sorrow to the world. Her scream continued to get louder as her visage became more and more feral. Flashes of red began to form around and blew away the ground around her, cratering it and lifting the rubble around her before it literally disintegrated from the strength of her aura.
She continued screaming as her crimson eyes began to burn brightly. Her pain and sorrow began to wash away as her fury began to overwhelm all of her thought. The red flashes around her turned into a brilliant and frightening orb of power as it expanded around her, disintegrating everything around her.
Yet his body was left unharmed as she clenched to him even tighter. Both his and her hair wisped in the wind her power was generating. Her tears fell onto his cheek, washing away some of the blood and dirt leaving her a cleared view of his face…
"Mother?"
Kyuubi's eyes snapped open. She had been dreaming of him again. She clenched her fist tightly before she brought both of her hands to her face and wiped the tears trailing down her cheeks.
That memory always brought her to tears. Her lover's death had been what drove her to madness for so long. She only held the fury for what happened so long she had forgotten about everything. But now she was finally calmed, she could remember everything with clarity.
Yet that event still brought forth a strong emotional response, one of fury but now remorse and regret mixed with it. She missed him greatly. There was only one other thing could cause such an emotional outburst from her.
And he had walked into her temporary prison and besides her, looking at her with some worry. "Mother? Are you alright?"
Looking at the small blonde, she could hardly keep her emotions in check. Not now. Not after seeing the incarnation of her lover's murderer. She knew it was foolish to look at the vessel of the five tails as such, as she had been the one to slay him, but she couldn't help it. He was the cause of what took the only thing that had meaning to her! …At least, the only thing that used to mean a thing to her.
Reaching out, she gently cupped Naruto's face before stroking his cheek gently. He looked so much like her lover. She actually thought at times he very well could be one of his family's descendents, but she had no proof of that. But whether it was true or not, it simply made her more protective of him and care for him deeper.
Embracing him tightly, closing her eyes, Kyuubi breathing labored as she kept from crying. "I'm fine… Kit. …I'm fine."
Being uncomfortable in his mother's grip, never having liked the feeling that much, Naruto tried to wiggle free of it for a moment before he could feel her being around his. He could feel everything she felt. It was almost all pain. Yes, there was rage and there was another feeling there he wasn't quite sure what was, but he could feel the pain and that's all he cared about.
Tightening his fists, he leaned his head against her shoulder in the embrace before closing his eyes. "I'll make sure he pays… No one hurts my mother."
Kyuubi almost cried as she held him tighter. She never wanted to drag him into this, but now she had no choice. She could always free herself, but she couldn't as it would be as if she abandoned him and that was something she could not do.
Not after she finally was beginning to love again. But now could she protect the one she love from the same fate?
Breaking the embrace, on the verge of crying, she looked at his face before mustering a smile even if it was forced. She had to put up a strong front for him. She couldn't let her son see her this weak. "Come on… You've got to practice with the flash more. We can work on our project later."
Naruto only nodded as he looked at his mother. He would do whatever it took to make her happy again.
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Hayat e was plenty pissed at Naruto. It wasn't that he had walked off after they finished the exam and had not stuck around for the explanation of the next round. That was only part of the reason he was infuriated at the boy. He had a few other reasons that he was angry at the boy.
One happened to be that it didn't seem he cared for the sake of his teammates. Gekkou knew this to be otherwise, but it was still vexatious nonetheless. Another was that he had seemingly been ignoring him the last few days and he was getting sick and tired of it and wanted to send him a message.
But there was one last thing he was very, very upset about. He had heard, at least from Hana's report, about what happened on Murder Peak.
Well, upset wasn't the right word. He was very disturbed about Hana's report and Miko's input. The fact that Naruto had simply vanished and reappeared to kill Miko's assailant was frightening on its own, but the way they had described it was… Fearful.
Wanting to get this from the source directly, not caring that Hana and Miko were with him, Hayate did not waste his time as he marched their way back to the hotel before nearly kicked the door off the hinges as he yelled out. "Naruto! I need to talk to you…"
His words died on his lips as Naruto was sitting in the very center of the main room, meditating just as he did last morning. But this was not what had silenced him as he would have started scolding him. It was what he had seen in the room.
Despite the table being moved aside, as it was in the center of the room originally, it was the corners of the room. In each corner there was a kunai stuck into crease between the walls and the floor. And it was the kunais that had made him speechless as he knew that design as did many Konoha ninja, and probably more Iwa ninja, knew what it was for.
The Flying Thunder God.
If Hayate had been just a little more shocked, he would have lost consciousness. While Hana's and Miko's account had given an indication that this was possible, there was no stopping the utter amazement as it was staggering that a gennin, no, an eight year old child knew the technique that was feared by all nations.
Miko immediately recognized the kunais, having been given one by her mother before she had left. She had also noticed that Naruto had been stopping at points in the mountain and doing the same thing he had done to Yugito's hand with the only difference being he had marked the mountain instead. And with Naruto's sudden rescue… Was he supposed to be her dark knight in shining armor?
Hana wasn't sure what had happened to their sensei, but it had to be something big. He had a full head of steam and it seemed he was ready to unload onto Naruto yet now he had been silenced just by the seen they had walked into. There wasn't anything that was jarring in her mind; she just wondered what the kunai did.
"So, are these markers for what you did to save Miko?" Hana responded, closing the door to make sure no one was spying on them. It was possible and she just really had a bad feeling as the Iwa jinchuuriki was somewhere within Kumogakure.
Not responding verbally, Naruto vanished and only a flicker of golden light was left. But in that same moment, Naruto was standing directly behind the, a full five meters from the both kunai as the room was ten by ten.
This didn't help Hayate in the slightest. In fact, after he realized Naruto was behind them, he jumped forward and cursed, forgoing his normal cough. "Son of a bitch! Don't fucking do that again, EVER!"
Naruto only shrugged. He was only testing his distance and had improved greatly from where it had been. Training with the four was much better as it allowed him to get a better grasp on the technique and it also made his focus sharper, having to concentrate on the one he would travel to.
Seeing Hana was rather pleased, being answered, Miko was a little terrified at what she had seen, now having seen it clearly and without her life being in danger. She knew what that technique was to. Her mother never stopped talking about it when they asked about the Forth, as she claimed that she was a former girlfriend, raving on about how genius it was and how marvelous he was.
…Needless to say their father was not amused when she raved about him, acting like a ravenous fan girl.
"How… Since when have you known…? Why do you know the Flying Thunder God?! That technique belonged to the Forth and only him! No one else has the right to know it!" Miko suddenly burst out, very angered that her teammate knew the technique that made her idol a legend.
While those thoughts were on his mind, to an extent as he kind of could see how Naruto deserved them, Gekkou had to wait for an answer. He rather know them as they were rather critical questions, despite he had a feeling the toad sannin was the reason for all of Miko's questions.
"Jiraiya taught it to me." Naruto answered right on cue, confirming Hayate's thoughts, before his dark blue eyes gazed straight into hers, not caring her Sharingan was active. "As for why, I was told it was my right to learn it as he was the one that burdened me with the demon fox."
Miko immediately dropped her guard, her eyes reverting back to normal, grimacing at that truth. Hayate was grimacing as well, his attention being brought to Hana before his jaw nearly dropped as the Inuzuka seemed utterly unaffected by Naruto coming out and saying he was the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi.
Not wanting to bother with them anymore, feeling like he had enough for the day, Naruto went and picked up the kunai and sealed them away before entering his room, not wanting to be bothered.
Also having seen Hana's reaction, Miko turned to her captain before speaking as she was rather shocked that Hana was taking it so well. "Since when did you know he was the vessel of the fox?"
"I knew before I was even a gennin. Mother brought him home many times and I often overheard other clan members talking about it, not liking him very much. I thought it was kind of dumb seeing that if mom felt it was safe enough to bring him over to try and play with Kiba and me, he was alright." Hana explained, shrugging her shoulders as it wasn't a big deal.
After that tidbit of information, seeing as he wanted to know as well, Hayate moved forward as he was no longer stunned and entered Naruto's room, closing the door behind him.
"What do you want sensei?" Naruto's melancholy voice as he lay in his bed, a rarity as Naruto did not show very much emotion and when he did it was often anger or annoyance, never sadness.
"There are a few questions I wanted to ask that it would be best they didn't hear." Gekkou responded as informing him of what the next exam was about could wait.
Naruto simply nodded, understanding that his jounin-sensei would have more questions that he would need to be answered. "Naruto, what else has Jiraiya taught you? I would like to know."
"I've only signed the summoning contract with the toads, nothing more. He did mention once I reached five meters with Hiraishin he would teach me the Rasengan, but that will have to wait until after the exams." Naruto told leaving nothing out as that was all Jiraiya had been teaching him.
While he felt Naruto was honest about what Jiraiya had been training him in, he felt there was still something the boy was working on and he kind of wanted to know. Kyuubi had not been able to have a voice before unless Naruto had informed them of her opinion and now there had been two incidences where she had been speaking, not Naruto.
"What is with Kyuubi being able to speak all of a sudden? Before now either you have had to tell us or a Yamanaka had to go in your mind to speak with her." Gekkou asked with a frown as he didn't like the fact that Kyuubi seemed to have more and more hold every day.
"I've been working on that with mother for a while. She wants to be able to communicate what she has been thinking to others but until the seal was weakened the way it was it wasn't possible." Naruto responded as he knew that question had to be coming as it was rather suspicious for mother to suddenly start speaking through him.
Hayate didn't really like that question, as he rather the fox had no communication with them, but he had to live with it. Jiraiya had refused to use the key to the seal to fix Naruto's seal due to he couldn't be sure if it would help at all. But there was another reason. If it worked, Kyuubi would be sealed back to the original strength and if that were to happen, Naruto might very well break as it was just as much her will keeping Naruto sane as it was his.
Having one last question, Hayate gave Naruto a sharp look and a deeper voice. "Is it because of what he did to Hana before that you want to kill him or is it because of Kyuubi?"
"It is because of mother." Naruto immediately answered, making Hayate narrow his eyes.
He was ready to pull his team from the exams now. If it was Kyuubi calling the shots, he wouldn't hesitate to do so and it seemed that was the case, but Naruto spoke again. "But it is for Hana as well… I will let mother kill him for taking her happiness away. …But I will kill him as Hana is my friend. …No one hurts my friends and family."
The room was silent for what seemed to be an hour. It was only a few minutes, but nevertheless it felt like it was a few hours before Hayate nodded. "I see… The final portion of the test will be held two weeks from now as they sent notice a while back that the turn out would not be very high this year and the lords and Kages are on their way."
"It is a tournament then? Who is my opponent?" Naruto asked as for the first time he moved from the position he had been since Hayate entered, seeming a little excited.
"You will be fighting both the Cloud team that made it and the team from the Rock with Hana and Miko. …The final test will be a free-for-all team battle as all three teams finished within an hour of one another. …It will be the only match, so prepare well and make sure to train with Hana and Miko." Hayate answered before he opened to door.
However, before he exited, he turned to Naruto and smiled a little. "Just remember, don't hold back. I think all of us would be disappointed if you did."
As he exited the room, Naruto's eyes bled crimson as a smirk graced his lips. He and his mother would get their opponent. That was what mattered most.
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For team Hayate, the two weeks were up way too quickly.
Miko had barely recovered back to full health, the time just being enough to mend her bones. Truthfully, she needed another two weeks so she could be in top condition again, but there was no real choice now. Either she entered with her team or they would be eliminated and would have to wait at least six months to enter another chunin exam.
Hana simply didn't like the format. Why did all three teams have to fight at once? Couldn't they have just done like Konoha did and have a one on one tournament? It also didn't help that it seemed like they were speeding through the exams. It should not have mattered that there was a low participation rate this year, they still should have given the one month wait between the second and third exam.
For Naruto, they only thing he didn't like was that Hana and Miko were complaining. Sure, he would have liked more time to train with Hiraishin and his mother's project, but things just didn't go that way. So why couldn't they just accept it and put on their game faces?
Sighing as he could see that his team wasn't exactly gelling at the moment, Gekkou shook his head. "Lord Hokage just came in last night and he'll be watching you along with some of your family and friends that were allowed off for the exams. They'll be over here shortly."
"Is that why I heard some bow-chika-bow-wow going on in your room last night?" Naruto stated as fact, not even looking remotely disconcerted by what he had said.
Hayate simply blinked at Naruto, his mouth slightly askew and tilted to the left. While he figured they knew what sex was, he didn't think they heard him last night… But there was a more pressing matter, at least to him. "Bow-chika-bow-wow? Who in the world taught you to say that?!"
As the door opened from Hayate's room, revealing Yugao in her Anbu armor as she slid her gloves and an attached her mask to her belt, Naruto looked at her for a moment before turning back to Hayate. "That is a conflict of interest."
Hana busted out laughing while Miko nearly snickered as Hayate face faulted and Yugao grinned, having heard the conversation from within the room. Shaking her head, she moved over and patted Naruto on the head, which did nothing as he really didn't care, before pecking Gekkou on the cheek. "Sorry love, but I'm on duty."
"Damn… I was hoping for another quickie." Hayate grinned as he kissed her back, not caring if his team was in the room with them. They should know about this stuff and it was good for Naruto to learn about.
"There are fucking kids in the room, you know?" A familiar and female voice hissed as the door burst open, revealing the snake mistress standing before the Hokage and a small crowd of people.
While Gekkou and Yugao quickly broke it up, Yugao only twitched as she slid her mask on as she was on duty. That didn't stop her from commenting though. "And this is the one that openly admits to having sex in front of Naruto and any child at that matter. Then you go on to explain what happened in bed."
Anko simply shrugged her shoulders, knowing she did as such. "Bah, I have an excuse. I'M INSANE. And I never call it sex, I call it fu…"
"AHK! ENOUGH! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE!" Miko screamed out as she covered her ears and started chanting 'No, no, no!' over and over again to keep Anko from saying any more.
Glad he was ignoring what was coming out of his adoptive mother's mouth, as he did a lot of times as it just seemed to be for the best, Naruto was somewhat upset. Outside of the Anbu guarding the old man, only Anko, Itachi and Tsume had come. To make things worse, he only knew two of the Anbu, Yamato and Yugao. …Wait, Jiraiya was there too. He just wasn't with them and seemed to be at a certain place…
Ignoring the pervert's location, Naruto at least understood why only they had came. While the Cloud wasn't exactly a hostile environment, it really wasn't a friendly one either. Add on it was a long trip and the Hokage's safety was the first concern, he could see why the others, Yugito in particular as she was the one he wanted to be here, could not come.
Smiling and shaking his head at everything that was happening, Sarutobi looked over at the three gennin. He had been reported on everything that had happened here so far and while he was also disturbed at Kyuubi's activity level, for once he could understand it. Outside of Naruto, and possibly Yugito, he knew more about what was going on with the fox then anyone.
As it finally began to quite down, Anko and Yugao seeing that the Hokage wanted to speak, Sarutobi cleared his throat before beginning. "Well, I'm glad the three of you made it this far. …I guess I'm really only here to tell you good luck as everyone else is."
"That's not why I'm here." Anko loudly commented, making everyone turn towards her as she looked at Naruto and gave him a sadistic grin that normally meant bad news. "Fuck people up for me!"
Naruto would have given her a response, but everyone else was currently had face faulted and he was wondering why. They had to be expecting that. This was Anko; the blood lusting, tormenting, psychotic Anko. They had to know she would have said something along those lines. It was just in her character to do so.
Watching everyone recover, twitching her eyes, Anko looked at her watch before grimacing. "Oh… We better start going. The exams start in like thirty minutes. The old fart has to be there in twenty to meet with the Raikage and the Tsuchikage… This sounds like it is going to get bad."
No one disputed that, knowing the oldest Kage of them all was from the Rock. And each and every single one of them knew he was a bitter old man that held grudges forever. It just happened to be he had a very big grudge against them thanks to the war and getting his ass kicked a few times, and not just by Sarutobi.
"Well, I will be watching you with the other Kages. I pray you will do well." Sarutobi waved a goodbye and gave them a warm smile before exiting, having to meet with the other Kages as Anko said.
Shaking his head, Hayate could only sigh before coughing. This time it wasn't a fake cough and that alone made him groan. "This is going to be a long day…"
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The time had finally arrived. It was only ten minutes till the final portion of the exams begun and they had reached the arena.
They all had to admit, the Cloud's arena was very similar to the one in Konoha. The only difference was it was actually made from the peak of the mountain which gave it a very, very unique appearance. But now they were here, that was the least of their concern.
Hana was having a hard time from trembling as the three teams took center stage. The three Cloud gennin obviously were getting a grand ovation as they were the home town kids so that was natural. But that really didn't bother her.
What bothered her was the cold blooded look she was receiving from the demon vessel from the Rock. It chilled her bones as she could feel the desire for her blood he had. No, not only the desire for her blood. He wanted Naruto's and Miko's too. That was giving her all kinds of problems.
Miko didn't feel very good either as she could feel the blood lust oozing from him. It was rather unnerving and she was having a hard time focusing on the others. She knew she didn't have to worry about him, at least for now, but it was hard not to as it just felt he wanted their lives.
Finally, as Naruto took center and met his gaze, the Gobi vessel tightened his fists as his lust for blood just grew, making the Cloud team and his other two teammates look at him in fear as Gobi's chakra began to make its known.
None of them had even noticed that the Raikage had given a speech to fire them up, called their names out to the crowd so they knew who they were or the crowd roaring as E enter the arena, being the referee for the fight. The reason being, he was probably the only one there that could safely call the match without being turned to a bloody pulp.
E wasn't too thrilled at being called to do this as well. The Raikage was pushing all of his buttons right now and he was ready to just beat the shit out of him and become the next leader for the Cloud. He was sure he could… The Raikage was afraid of him every time they met face to face.
Shaking his head, E looked over the three teams before groaning. None of them were even listening as they were all focused on the two demon vessels. He actually couldn't really say anything about that otherwise, as it was hard not to, but he was use to being the focus as so many people were afraid of him.
Seeing that they weren't listening, he only briefed them on the rules. "Alright, all of you remember that this is a live battle. Anything goes but I may step in if it things start to get out of hand. Remember this is a team battle and is judge on how you do as a team, but the victor will go to the last person standing, whether they be from the Cloud, Leaf or Rock."
"Let this battle begin!" E roared out before taking a step back having thought the fire works would begin immediately.
To his, and mostly everyone's surprise, no one made a move at first. They all stood there, measuring up their opponents, but in truth they were all still watching Naruto and the Iwa vessel.
It was the latter, that made the first move as he pulled a bag he had tied to his belt today before tossing it to the closest Cloud gennin, Riko if he heard his name correctly. "There is thirty-thousand ryo in there. You may do whatever you like with it if you help us take them out first."
Both Hana and Miko literally froze. That was not good. They already worried enough just with his presence but now they would be ganging up on them.
Naruto, however, didn't care as he reacted. He moved with such speed that it was hard to see him, his small size making him even harder to see, and was on the Gobi vessel before landing a kick straight to his temple. The force was such that it sent him flying into the rocky wall.
Touching down where the other vessel was, Naruto drew his katana and struck at the other Iwa gennin next to him. The subsequently jumped away from the arcing blade and were ready to attack when four living twisters flew towards them, striking the one to the right in the chest while the other managed to get out of the way yet again.
He, however, wished he had not as Miko suddenly appeared directly behind him with fully formed Sharingan and her hands in a tiger seal. "Katon: Gokakyu!"
The flames engulfed the unsuspecting Rock ninja. But it was far from enough to kill him as he made a quick switch with one of the various logs set throughout the arena.
Just then, the Iwa jinchuuriki appeared behind her as her flames begin to vanish. Miko's entire body froze as she could feel the power he was emitting. It was truly terrifying as she had not felt such power since when Naruto had lost control and unleashed four tails against Shusui.
Having enough wit about her, Miko rolled away from his hammer fist just as Naruto came flying towards him, his katana streaking to his throat. The Iwa jinchuuriki was fast enough to block it with his wrist thanks to the armor he wore, but Naruto's forward momentum carried him into him and he drove his knee into his gut before using the blade to knock him away.
His moment of victory was short live as the Cloud gennin had decided to hold their end of the bargain. Three bolts of lighting struck him, knocking him down immediately before his opponent saw his opening and kicked Naruto while he was down, knocking his sword out of his grip and skidding him across the ground.
Hana immediately moved to help Naruto, standing before him with three clones as she had used the Beast-Human transformation with her partners. Growling at the young man before her, Hana clenched her fist tightly, her clawed fingers drawing blood from her palms. She suddenly struck, attacking wildly as she lashed out at him.
He easily knocked her aside as she wasn't even worth his time and did the same as her canines tried to attack him. He would take care of her later. He had a score to settle with the boy.
Naruto knew this wasn't good. He tried to get to his feet, but the lighting had effected his response time by a split second, which in laymen terms meant his body took a second or two to react to his command. So it took just a little longer then he wanted and that split second was what he needed.
The Iwa vessel gripped him by the collar of his shirt with his right before he began to strike him repeatedly with his left. But despite being in the position he was, Naruto fought back, kicking him in the gut before catching him in the face. But the Gobi vessel kept his grip and held Naruto away from him before throwing him in the ground.
This was not a position he liked. Naruto knew he was at a disadvantage in close range, especially when he was engaged with his opponent. But to make things worse this guy had already drawn onto three tails and it seemed he was poised to drawn more power from the canine within. The only way he could counter would be with his mother's strength but the cost would be too high.
Struggling to break his grip, Naruto hacked away at his arm with as much strength he could. He heard his bone crack, but it didn't seem to matter in the slightest. Apparently Gobi was good at healing just as his mother was…
The broken bone only took a moment to fix as he let go. Then he began to pelt Naruto with fist after fist, forcing him to only put his arms up to defend his face from the strikes. It didn't even matter as the power he put into each punch snapped the boy's arms like twigs as he pummeled his face.
Blood began to fill his mouth. Things were not looking up, but then he heard his mother's voice. "Just hold on… You cannot use my power yet so you have to endure…."
Grinning at this, despite the shape his bloodied face was in and the fact his mother said nothing of real encouragement, Naruto knew the tide was about to change. He could feel it.
Despite being knocked aside, Hana quickly got back up and tried to charge him. She was deterred as two of the Cloud shinobi stood in her way, a blonde haired girl and the other a dark skinned teen, both wielding blades that left two gashes one trailing down her left arm while the other grazed her hip on the right side. "Get out of my way!"
After they didn't Hana's hands formed a few quick seals before the ground rumbled before spear-like pillars shot out towards them. The two back flipped to avoid them and cut down the pillars that nearly hit them, but that allowed her enough time to use another Gatsuga with her trio, hitting them from all directions.
The girl, however, suddenly dispersed into lighting and unfortunately Hana happened to be actually hitting her. Despite the rotation of her attack, the electricity pierced through and made her yell out and stop the spin. Skidding along the ground, she gritted her teeth before her three partners jumped before her.
It mattered not as the fattest of the Iwa gennin, rose from the ground and locked her arms behind her. Her gasp caught their attention, but it left all three open and two were hit by balls of lighting and reverted back as they could no longer hold the transformation.
The final one turned only for two blades to rip through its chest. It was fortunate as the blades didn't go through any crucial spots, but to Hana's eyes it was horrific as her partner reverted back and hit the ground, blood beginning to pool underneath him. She screamed out before being violently slammed to the ground as the guy pinned her down.
Miko was having her own problems. The blue haired gennin from the Cloud was just ridiculously fast. She could see him, but the problem was she couldn't react fast enough so he was just knocking her around. It was getting highly annoying and it was wearing her down. But this time as he came in, she had a plan for him.
Watching his path, Miko held her ground as he came at her before suddenly throwing a smoke bomb down at the last second, catching him within it. He reacted just as she wanted him to and immediately jumped out, expecting her to lay some sort of trap. The thing was, he had walked into her trap.
She burst from the smoke before suddenly locking onto him with a clench. "Now let's see what your speed will do for you now!"
Before he could respond, she brought her knee straight into his groin. It was a cheep shot, but anything was legal and she needed to weaken him so he wouldn't break her clench. It also helped as he dropped his guard and she began kicking her knees up into his chest before getting a free shot to his head, bringing it to her knee.
Just as he began to stumble and she was ready to end the fight, a dragon made of mud and dirt erupted from the ground before her and caught her in the chest. Even with her Sharingan active, she could not react to the chakra she had seen. She had forgotten this wasn't a one on one and it cost her.
As she hit the ground and the dragon collapsed on top of her, Miko cried out in agony. It felt as if her chest had just been crushed. Her bones hadn't entirely recovered and a lot of them happened to be her ribs. It just so happened that the dragon broke them again and ripped open her shirt shredded her skin. The only bright side was that she somehow wasn't exposed from the blow…
Then things got worse as she saw yet other Iwa gennin, the one with tan skinned and brown hair, before he slammed his foot down on her chest and pinned her to the ground. "We've got the down boss! You want to kill them yourself?"
E was ready to jump in and call the Konoha team out. This had quickly escalated and he needed to do something, but something was holding him back. He couldn't understand it, but with one look at the blonde's bloodied face he realized something. This fight was not even close to being finished.
Not liking the grin, the Gobi vessel lifted Naruto before tossing him into the wall. Not going to let the boy pry himself out of it, he used a specialized earth jutsu that wrapped a cocoon of hardened dirt around his entire body only leaving his head visible. "Yes… It is just. Not only did Konoha cause us the war, he killed my lover…"
Looking straight into his eyes, seeing the look on Naruto's face, the Iwa vessel ripped the mask covering his mouth up to show him his wicked grin. "I'm going to make you watch me kill them… To show you the pain you have caused me!"
Naruto gritted his teeth as his eyes widened. He couldn't let him kill Hana or Miko. They weren't just teammates. He could no longer say that. He had been around them long enough that they were more then that.
They were both his friends… And friends were his family. Both were now a part of his family. No one hurt his family! No one!
He couldn't watch them die. It would just be too much for him to handle. Not after everything he had been through. He would not let this happen!
Naruto's eyes suddenly turned entirely white. There was no color in them for just a brief moment before the pupil returned but it was now red just as it had become many times before. But there was something different this time as Kyuubi's chakra was flowing differently. "MOTHER! STOP HIM NOW!"
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Standi ng before Naruto, just behind the bars in his mind, Kyuubi looked down at her son. "You know what it is you ask of me. We're not sure if it is ready yet. …Are you sure?"
"I don't care… If it comes down to it, I'll live with it just as you have done. …I cannot live if I let him hurt my family." Naruto answered as he looked at his caged mother.
Kyuubi smiled grimly, knowing what could happen if it failed. But this was what he wanted more then anything. She could no let him down.
Dragging her claws through her wrist, cutting it open and letting it fall into the water, the water suddenly was bathed crimson as Naruto reached out and wiped his hand through her blood. Still smiling at him, Kyuubi, with her clean hand, ran her hand over Naruto's bloodied face, as his appearance in her reflected his outside appearance.
"Are you ready?" She asked one last time as her hands formed a seal.
Naruto simply nodded and placed his hands in the same seal. Taking one breath, both began going through they same seals. They mimicked one another perfectly, as if they were a mirror before placing their hands on the gate at the same exact moment, the only difference was Naruto's hand was placed on the seal.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu."
White smoke billowed through the room, blinding everything from sight before the smoke suddenly began to change in color, becoming blood red.
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It seemed as if everything froze as Naruto's eyes were entirely red before an orb of crimson chakra exploded around him, disintegrating the cocoon and wall that had contained him moments before. Nothing could be seen within it. Naruto had completely vanished.
The orb expanded, almost taking the entire wall with it as it grew in size. The wind picked up and blew with great force, making it hard for all those standing to stay so, as it whirled around the crimson orb. Lighting began to strike down next to it despite there being hardly any clouds in the sky. The ground crater before rising before water gushed out from below, spraying over all that were watching before fizzing out from the heat generated from the orb just as the wind had died down.
A fine mist covered the arena, the orb now having disappeared in the mist. But the power of it could still be felt by all.
Almost everyone was afraid of it, none more so then the Sandaime Hokage. The power was exactly the same that he felt eight years ago when Minato had sealed the fox away. He had Naruto clear as day and now he was worried. Had Kyuubi answered his cry?
As the mist thinned out, all attention was on the lone figure near the wall where the orb had been moments before. But there were obvious changes for those that could tell already but now as the mist evaporated, everyone could see them. No longer did a young boy stand there.
It was now a woman with fiery red hair, tied in a bun on the top of her head. A sleeveless, crimson shirt with metallic armor woven in covered her chest while she wore a thick pair of brown pants that seemed to be woven out of the same material that makes rope.
While her face was hanging, as if she was checking on something, three claw-like marks stretched on her cheek and despite not being able to see her eyes, you could see the crimson glow burning.
Standing straight, the woman smiled as everything worked to perfection. After she was done, she could trade places with her son once more. Closing her eyes, letting the breeze of the wind blow on her face just she could remember how it felt, her eyes snapped open and locked onto her target. It was now time for business.
Before he could move, Kyuubi suddenly gripped the Gobi vessel's throat and easily lifted him into the air. Her crimson eyes peered into his greenish-brown, the demon within not completely overwhelming him with its power. She could smell the fear coming from him.
He knew what she was, as did everyone else in the arena. She was the legend. She was Kyuubi no Kitsune. But that wasn't enough. She was going to give them a reason to fear her.
But before she did that, she needed a report on her boy. 'Is your body recovering in there?'
"It's doing fine, mother. You're diverting enough chakra here that I'm almost a hundred percent again." Naruto responded, feeling somewhat weird that he was the one talking in her head while he was in the cage. It was a unique feeling that kind of got under his skin. It was also weird that her chakra was healing him once more, but that one he actually welcomed.
Feeling better, knowing that her boy would be alright, Kyuubi dug her finger nails into the boy's throat before coating her other hand with her chakra. Then with one swift movement, it pierced into his stomach, right where his seal was.
"It is just as I said it would be before." Kyuubi spoke, letting her voice travel through the arena, her blood lust traveling with it as her eyes burned brightly as if they held fire within them. "I told you I would kill before this was all over."
The reaction that was given was not that was expected by many. He started chuckling as the green chakra began to swell around him before a demonic voice spoke through the young man's body, the voice belonging to Gobi. "Do you really think killing me will get him back?"
"No." Kyuubi responded as she closed her eyes, knowing she would never get him back. But as her eyes opened, a sadistic smile replaced her downtrodden face. "But it will make me feel better."
With a burst of chakra, his stomach exploded and the green chakra dematerialized as if it had been destroying as well. Blood and guts stained the ground at Kyuubi's feet, but she hardily cared. She had finally gotten her revenge… Even if it wasn't how she imagined it to be.
Taking a look around at the arena, Kyuubi thoroughly examined the situation and knew her son could handle it. It would take him to reveal his other, more so known secret but she had a feeling that was what the Hokage had wanted when Jiraiya began training him.
Suppressing her chakra as much as she could, she picked up her son's blade before stabbing it into the ground. It could not be reverse if too much of her chakra remained in the physical body. After all, she didn't want to see her boy in the critical state he was after his seal was damaged.
"Naruto, time to finish this under your own power." Kyuubi stated before her body was enveloped by summoning smoke as she had done all she could.
As the smoke began to thin, two kunai shot out from the smoke and pierced the ground next to Hana and Miko. The next thing that happened was just as shocking to everyone as was the summoning of Kyuubi.
With two flashes of light, the opposing gennin hit the ground, blood gushing from their collar bones as they hit the ground unconscious. Standing before Hana, Naruto wiped his blade clean of blood. Looking at the Inuzuka, Naruto smiled at her before he looked over at the Iwa jinchuuriki's corpse. "It is finished."
Having watching the entire thing from start to finish in secret, Jiraiya knew it was time to act before a riot broke out. This had been the real reason he came so when Naruto had used the Flying Thunder God, he would move in and get him out of the Cloud as there was just so many possibilities to what could happen.
And while Kyuubi appearance had completely caught him off guard, he swooped down and suddenly grabbed Naruto, Hana and Miko, making sure to pick up the markers for the flash, before vanishing.
It was going to be a long day still to come…
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"What in the world happened to this girl?" Shizune asked Jiraiya as she took care of Miko's injuries as while they weren't life threatening, they were rather hard to deal with as some of her ribs broke and caused her to bleed internally.
She had been beginning to wonder why Jiraiya hired her in the first place and had left her just outside a village about a days walk from the Cloud. Now that she knew, it still didn't make very much sense as they could have just let the Cloud medics take care of her.
"She had already been injured before from tumbling down a mountain during a skirmish with a team from the Rock and her wounds while healed they were easily to reaggravate as it had only been two weeks." Hana explained as she sat by Miko, rather worried about her teammate and friend's condition. Naruto was seated near them as well, he however had remained completely quiet, not sure what to think of Shizune.
Frowning as she knew it took more then two weeks for mended bones to regain their previous strength, Shizune continued mending Miko's while catching the internal bleeding the strike had caused. "So Jiraiya, what's so important that you couldn't let them be taken care of in the Cloud?"
Jiraiya had kind of expected Shizune to ask questions, mainly because Tsunade highly disapproved of her working with him. His answer, however, was rather easy as he simply tilted his head towards Naruto as he leaned his back against the tree. "I believe you can figure that one out on your own, Shizune."
Following Jiraiya's nod, she found herself staring at the young boy. She was still rather surprised that such a young boy was a gennin, but remembering Kakashi was even younger as was Itachi it wasn't such a stretch to say he couldn't be a prodigy. But his hair just seemed familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on it.
Deciding not to let that bother her now and focus all her attention on healing Miko, it only took Shizune a few more minutes before she wiped her hands. "All done. Now I will warn you, do not do any extraneous activities for the next month so you can completely heal. Otherwise I'll hunt you down and tie you down for a whole month myself, do you understand?"
Miko didn't know why but she knew this medic would carry out her threat. For some reason, despite the utter calm she felt coming from her, she instinctively knew that there was something to be feared about the medic. "I'll do my best… We might just get attacked on the way back home."
Finding that acceptable as her excuse was a possibility, Shizune nodded before turning to Jiraiya. "So is that all you wanted me for? If it is, I must be going as Lady Tsunade awaits my return."
"It is… Oh, sorry. Naruto, I forgot to give these back." Jiraiya nodded before realizing what he had in his pocket and tossed the two strange kunai to the blonde who simply caught them and put them away.
Despite hearing that she could go, Shizune suddenly found a reason to stay a little longer. Her jaw was agape as she immediately recognized what the kunai were before she gave Jiraiya a fish look before she suddenly freaked. "Really… Are you insane?! Teaching that to Minato's son at such an age?! Lady Tsunade would be strangling you if she knew!"
"Yes she would, and you aren't going to tell her, now are you? I believe part of my payment was not to inform her of anything important pertaining to the mission." Jiraiya commented as he peeled himself off the tree as he could now see Naruto's interest in everything had skyrocketed.
"Minato's son?" Was all that came from Naruto's mouth, confusion being the obvious tone as he had never heard of such a name before.
Sighing, as it really wasn't his place to tell him, Jiraiya took a seat next to the boy and shook his head. Sarutobi was running late, not that it was that much of a surprise. He after all had come with the Fire Lord as well and despite wanting to leave quickly, it would be very difficult with him there.
But much to his surprise, there was a small group of ninja moving towards them, Sarutobi leading the entourage. Thankfully the Fire Lord didn't bring many people with him, only his wife, his two daughters and a trusted group of samurai, so it wouldn't be that difficult of a travel back to Konoha.
Joining them, Sarutobi took a seat next to the fire they had started seeing it was night before turning to Miko. "Are you okay? It looked like you took a nasty blow there."
"I'll be fine lord Hokage. I just need some time to rest." Miko stated with a respectful tone, knowing this was more business then it would be pleasure. After all, after what Naruto did…
Hayate was the next that came over with two of Hana's partners immediately running straight to her, Jiraiya not having the time to take them with him, the other cradled in his arm. Kneeling down in front of Hana, he smiled softly as he handed him over to her. "He'll be fine. But just like Miko he is going to need a lot of rest. He took a pretty big shot for you."
Hana was overjoyed as she began crying while laughing as she began to stroke his spine. She had actually thought he was gone as it looked bad from her angle. The fact that he not only would make it but was already awake was enough for her.
Seeing this, the Hokage smiled brightly before a more stoic look replaced it as he gazed at Naruto, who seemed to be looking at Hana as well with just a small amount of relief going out to the girl. While he was very glad that there was some emotion there, it would have to wait. "Naruto, what was that you used to summon Kyuubi?"
"It was a summoning technique I've been working on since learning I could no longer use her power in battle with damaging myself. To get around that, I came up with this so that way when I'm caught in a situation where her power would be necessary I could switch places with her for a small period of time. It also allows me to recover at a much faster rate as she diverted a good portion of her chakra to heal me." Naruto answered the old man.
Despite mostly everyone flinching at the thought that Kyuubi could be released, the Hokage remained stoic as he deliberated on what Naruto said. "How long can Kyuubi last outside of the seal before it is reversed?"
"Three to five minutes, five being rather unlikely as she would have to repress her chakra the entire time." Naruto immediately responded as he had an idea where the Hokage was going.
Nodding as that was what he figured it would be, he had one more question left. "Is it possible for her to use Hiraishin when you switch?"
Everyone else froze. That thought alone was… Well it was very disturbing. If she could use the flash… Well she could do whatever she damn well pleased. No one could stop her.
Naruto simply shook his head. "No… She does not have the same blood as I have… Or the Forth."
This threw both Jiraiya and Sarutobi for a loop and the former had to ask. "Since when did you know?"
"Just now… But I've been suspecting it ever since you started training me in the flash and it was confirmed when she said Minato's son when she was yelling at you." Naruto stated before pointing at Shizune at the end.
Sighing, the third shook his head for a moment before gazing at Naruto. "Yes, Minato is your father. …I was going to tell you about your parents after you became chunin, but it matters any more. But before I do I must ask you… Do you really wish to know of your mother?"
"Kyuubi is my mother… But if you mean the one that gave birth to me, yes." Naruto answered reminding him of that truth as he met the old man's gaze.
Closing his eyes as he couldn't even look into Naruto's eyes for this, the elderly Hokage's head drooped. "Your mother, Uzumaki Kushina… abandoned you after becoming the first to try and assassinate you, Kakashi just barely being able to stop her. …To complicate matters…"
"She's joined the Akatsuki and now is the one assigned to capture you." Jiraiya admitted as he knew his sensei was struggling over this and decided to take over for him.
No one was sure what Naruto was thinking. His face was just as it was most of the time, completely blank of emotion, as he let it think in. It felt as if every second was a very long minute as they looked at him, just waiting for him to react in some kind of way.
Even Kyuubi was beginning to worry as she rather her son have some kind of reaction to this. While she had always been able to tell what was going on within his mind, even she was at a lose and tried to coax him into speaking his mind. "Kit, are you alright? Please say something…"
"…What is my father's last name?" Naruto suddenly asked, his face still showing no emotion while his eyes seemed to darken.
"Namikaze." Was all that was said, Anko answered as she found her way behind Naruto and enveloped him in hug, hoping it would at least get him to react.
It seemingly didn't work as for once Naruto didn't even show any signs of being uncomfortable as he looked over towards the old man. "When we get home… Strike her name from mine… I want nothing to do with her. I am only his child. My mothers have now and have always been Kyuubi and nee-chan."
Smiling at Naruto as for the first time since… Well ever, he had called her his mother. He had always called her his sister and he still did but it didn't matter. To Anko, it meant the world as the boy had been adamant that Kyuubi was his mother before.
Seeing the way everything had gone, Sarutobi simply nodded at Naruto's request. He had only given him Kushina's maiden name simply because people would have immediately figured out who he was if he gave him the Fourth's name. "It will be done… And when we arrive, I will give all three of your chunin vests. Each of you deserves it after today."
"Now let's all get some rest. We've got a long journey home." Sarutobi finished as he could see the look of shock on Hana's and Miko's faces that they were going to become chunin.
That face made his day a little better as he got up and moved to check on the Fire Lord and his family. While he had his own guard and all, he was still obligated to assist in anyway as it was his money that was keeping their economy up. "Sir, are you alright? Is there anything you need?"
"Is it true that he is Minato's son?" The Fire Lord suddenly asked as he looked over at the blonde boy as he began to glare at Anko for messing with his hair.
The Hokage responded by nodded as there was no need to verbally answer that question again. He had to wonder what the Fire Lord was thinking as he normally never had such a serious look on his face before he turned to the eldest samurai. "When we return home, send some of your top warriors to guard the boy."
"It will be done my lord." The samurai responded and said nothing more, knowing his duty now.
Sarutobi was surprised by this action. While the Fire Lord had every right to guard Naruto, it was just odd that he would do so. "May I ask why you are to have samurai guard Naruto? He is very capable of defending himself."
"That he is." The lord admitted as he had seen that first hand at the exams. "But I listened to what you had said and it seems the boy is in danger and needs all the protection he can get as if there is one that will restore our land to its former glory it will be him and bring it prosperity once more, it will be him."
Getting a better grip on what was going through the lord's mind, Sarutobi nodded as he turned his gaze to Naruto. "I've known as much so I've had him trained by Jiraiya… Because I've known he would become the Prince of Konoha."
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She didn't understand why, but her entire upper body was coated in the crimson liquid. It was something that she wasn't used to as she was used to spilling the blood without a single drop touching her.
Yet here she was, drenched from the chest to her lap, stained with it while more dripped from the one she held.
She couldn't see his face as his head was turned from her nor could she see the color of his hair, it being soaked by his own blood. Gashes covered his body from head to toe and blood soaked the area, not all being his own letting her know he didn't go without a fight.
But that did not comfort her in the least… As it had been she who had slain him.
She simply had last control of her being; the reason for it was a battle she had just went through. She had fought with all of her being after their threat towards the thing that meant most to her in the world and it was because of that, she could no longer control herself when he arrived.
Her body shook as she clenched him tightly as tears began to trail down her cheeks. This couldn't be happening. Not after everything she put into being with him. This could not be the way it ended!
Shaking further, she began screaming her anger, her pain and her sorrow to the world. Her scream continued to get louder as her visage became more and more feral. Flashes of red began to form around and blew away the ground around her, cratering it and lifting the rubble around her before it literally disintegrated from the strength of her aura.
She continued screaming as her crimson eyes began to burn brightly. Her pain and sorrow began to wash away as her fury began to overwhelm all of her thought. The red flashes around her turned into a brilliant and frightening orb of power as it expanded around her, disintegrating everything around her.
Yet his body was left unharmed as she clenched to him even tighter. Both his and her hair wisped in the wind her power was generating. Her tears fell onto his cheek, washing away some of the blood and dirt leaving her a cleared view of his face…
"Mother?"
Kyuubi's eyes snapped open. She had been dreaming of him again. She clenched her fist tightly before she brought both of her hands to her face and wiped the tears trailing down her cheeks.
That memory always brought her to tears. Her lover's death had been what drove her to madness for so long. She only held the fury for what happened so long she had forgotten about everything. But now she was finally calmed, she could remember everything with clarity.
Yet that event still brought forth a strong emotional response, one of fury but now remorse and regret mixed with it. She missed him greatly. There was only one other thing could cause such an emotional outburst from her.
And he had walked into her temporary prison and besides her, looking at her with some worry. "Mother? Are you alright?"
Looking at the small blonde, she could hardly keep her emotions in check. Not now. Not after seeing the incarnation of her lover's murderer. She knew it was foolish to look at the vessel of the five tails as such, as she had been the one to slay him, but she couldn't help it. He was the cause of what took the only thing that had meaning to her! …At least, the only thing that used to mean a thing to her.
Reaching out, she gently cupped Naruto's face before stroking his cheek gently. He looked so much like her lover. She actually thought at times he very well could be one of his family's descendents, but she had no proof of that. But whether it was true or not, it simply made her more protective of him and care for him deeper.
Embracing him tightly, closing her eyes, Kyuubi breathing labored as she kept from crying. "I'm fine… Kit. …I'm fine."
Being uncomfortable in his mother's grip, never having liked the feeling that much, Naruto tried to wiggle free of it for a moment before he could feel her being around his. He could feel everything she felt. It was almost all pain. Yes, there was rage and there was another feeling there he wasn't quite sure what was, but he could feel the pain and that's all he cared about.
Tightening his fists, he leaned his head against her shoulder in the embrace before closing his eyes. "I'll make sure he pays… No one hurts my mother."
Kyuubi almost cried as she held him tighter. She never wanted to drag him into this, but now she had no choice. She could always free herself, but she couldn't as it would be as if she abandoned him and that was something she could not do.
Not after she finally was beginning to love again. But now could she protect the one she love from the same fate?
Breaking the embrace, on the verge of crying, she looked at his face before mustering a smile even if it was forced. She had to put up a strong front for him. She couldn't let her son see her this weak. "Come on… You've got to practice with the flash more. We can work on our project later."
Naruto only nodded as he looked at his mother. He would do whatever it took to make her happy again.
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Hayat e was plenty pissed at Naruto. It wasn't that he had walked off after they finished the exam and had not stuck around for the explanation of the next round. That was only part of the reason he was infuriated at the boy. He had a few other reasons that he was angry at the boy.
One happened to be that it didn't seem he cared for the sake of his teammates. Gekkou knew this to be otherwise, but it was still vexatious nonetheless. Another was that he had seemingly been ignoring him the last few days and he was getting sick and tired of it and wanted to send him a message.
But there was one last thing he was very, very upset about. He had heard, at least from Hana's report, about what happened on Murder Peak.
Well, upset wasn't the right word. He was very disturbed about Hana's report and Miko's input. The fact that Naruto had simply vanished and reappeared to kill Miko's assailant was frightening on its own, but the way they had described it was… Fearful.
Wanting to get this from the source directly, not caring that Hana and Miko were with him, Hayate did not waste his time as he marched their way back to the hotel before nearly kicked the door off the hinges as he yelled out. "Naruto! I need to talk to you…"
His words died on his lips as Naruto was sitting in the very center of the main room, meditating just as he did last morning. But this was not what had silenced him as he would have started scolding him. It was what he had seen in the room.
Despite the table being moved aside, as it was in the center of the room originally, it was the corners of the room. In each corner there was a kunai stuck into crease between the walls and the floor. And it was the kunais that had made him speechless as he knew that design as did many Konoha ninja, and probably more Iwa ninja, knew what it was for.
The Flying Thunder God.
If Hayate had been just a little more shocked, he would have lost consciousness. While Hana's and Miko's account had given an indication that this was possible, there was no stopping the utter amazement as it was staggering that a gennin, no, an eight year old child knew the technique that was feared by all nations.
Miko immediately recognized the kunais, having been given one by her mother before she had left. She had also noticed that Naruto had been stopping at points in the mountain and doing the same thing he had done to Yugito's hand with the only difference being he had marked the mountain instead. And with Naruto's sudden rescue… Was he supposed to be her dark knight in shining armor?
Hana wasn't sure what had happened to their sensei, but it had to be something big. He had a full head of steam and it seemed he was ready to unload onto Naruto yet now he had been silenced just by the seen they had walked into. There wasn't anything that was jarring in her mind; she just wondered what the kunai did.
"So, are these markers for what you did to save Miko?" Hana responded, closing the door to make sure no one was spying on them. It was possible and she just really had a bad feeling as the Iwa jinchuuriki was somewhere within Kumogakure.
Not responding verbally, Naruto vanished and only a flicker of golden light was left. But in that same moment, Naruto was standing directly behind the, a full five meters from the both kunai as the room was ten by ten.
This didn't help Hayate in the slightest. In fact, after he realized Naruto was behind them, he jumped forward and cursed, forgoing his normal cough. "Son of a bitch! Don't fucking do that again, EVER!"
Naruto only shrugged. He was only testing his distance and had improved greatly from where it had been. Training with the four was much better as it allowed him to get a better grasp on the technique and it also made his focus sharper, having to concentrate on the one he would travel to.
Seeing Hana was rather pleased, being answered, Miko was a little terrified at what she had seen, now having seen it clearly and without her life being in danger. She knew what that technique was to. Her mother never stopped talking about it when they asked about the Forth, as she claimed that she was a former girlfriend, raving on about how genius it was and how marvelous he was.
…Needless to say their father was not amused when she raved about him, acting like a ravenous fan girl.
"How… Since when have you known…? Why do you know the Flying Thunder God?! That technique belonged to the Forth and only him! No one else has the right to know it!" Miko suddenly burst out, very angered that her teammate knew the technique that made her idol a legend.
While those thoughts were on his mind, to an extent as he kind of could see how Naruto deserved them, Gekkou had to wait for an answer. He rather know them as they were rather critical questions, despite he had a feeling the toad sannin was the reason for all of Miko's questions.
"Jiraiya taught it to me." Naruto answered right on cue, confirming Hayate's thoughts, before his dark blue eyes gazed straight into hers, not caring her Sharingan was active. "As for why, I was told it was my right to learn it as he was the one that burdened me with the demon fox."
Miko immediately dropped her guard, her eyes reverting back to normal, grimacing at that truth. Hayate was grimacing as well, his attention being brought to Hana before his jaw nearly dropped as the Inuzuka seemed utterly unaffected by Naruto coming out and saying he was the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi.
Not wanting to bother with them anymore, feeling like he had enough for the day, Naruto went and picked up the kunai and sealed them away before entering his room, not wanting to be bothered.
Also having seen Hana's reaction, Miko turned to her captain before speaking as she was rather shocked that Hana was taking it so well. "Since when did you know he was the vessel of the fox?"
"I knew before I was even a gennin. Mother brought him home many times and I often overheard other clan members talking about it, not liking him very much. I thought it was kind of dumb seeing that if mom felt it was safe enough to bring him over to try and play with Kiba and me, he was alright." Hana explained, shrugging her shoulders as it wasn't a big deal.
After that tidbit of information, seeing as he wanted to know as well, Hayate moved forward as he was no longer stunned and entered Naruto's room, closing the door behind him.
"What do you want sensei?" Naruto's melancholy voice as he lay in his bed, a rarity as Naruto did not show very much emotion and when he did it was often anger or annoyance, never sadness.
"There are a few questions I wanted to ask that it would be best they didn't hear." Gekkou responded as informing him of what the next exam was about could wait.
Naruto simply nodded, understanding that his jounin-sensei would have more questions that he would need to be answered. "Naruto, what else has Jiraiya taught you? I would like to know."
"I've only signed the summoning contract with the toads, nothing more. He did mention once I reached five meters with Hiraishin he would teach me the Rasengan, but that will have to wait until after the exams." Naruto told leaving nothing out as that was all Jiraiya had been teaching him.
While he felt Naruto was honest about what Jiraiya had been training him in, he felt there was still something the boy was working on and he kind of wanted to know. Kyuubi had not been able to have a voice before unless Naruto had informed them of her opinion and now there had been two incidences where she had been speaking, not Naruto.
"What is with Kyuubi being able to speak all of a sudden? Before now either you have had to tell us or a Yamanaka had to go in your mind to speak with her." Gekkou asked with a frown as he didn't like the fact that Kyuubi seemed to have more and more hold every day.
"I've been working on that with mother for a while. She wants to be able to communicate what she has been thinking to others but until the seal was weakened the way it was it wasn't possible." Naruto responded as he knew that question had to be coming as it was rather suspicious for mother to suddenly start speaking through him.
Hayate didn't really like that question, as he rather the fox had no communication with them, but he had to live with it. Jiraiya had refused to use the key to the seal to fix Naruto's seal due to he couldn't be sure if it would help at all. But there was another reason. If it worked, Kyuubi would be sealed back to the original strength and if that were to happen, Naruto might very well break as it was just as much her will keeping Naruto sane as it was his.
Having one last question, Hayate gave Naruto a sharp look and a deeper voice. "Is it because of what he did to Hana before that you want to kill him or is it because of Kyuubi?"
"It is because of mother." Naruto immediately answered, making Hayate narrow his eyes.
He was ready to pull his team from the exams now. If it was Kyuubi calling the shots, he wouldn't hesitate to do so and it seemed that was the case, but Naruto spoke again. "But it is for Hana as well… I will let mother kill him for taking her happiness away. …But I will kill him as Hana is my friend. …No one hurts my friends and family."
The room was silent for what seemed to be an hour. It was only a few minutes, but nevertheless it felt like it was a few hours before Hayate nodded. "I see… The final portion of the test will be held two weeks from now as they sent notice a while back that the turn out would not be very high this year and the lords and Kages are on their way."
"It is a tournament then? Who is my opponent?" Naruto asked as for the first time he moved from the position he had been since Hayate entered, seeming a little excited.
"You will be fighting both the Cloud team that made it and the team from the Rock with Hana and Miko. …The final test will be a free-for-all team battle as all three teams finished within an hour of one another. …It will be the only match, so prepare well and make sure to train with Hana and Miko." Hayate answered before he opened to door.
However, before he exited, he turned to Naruto and smiled a little. "Just remember, don't hold back. I think all of us would be disappointed if you did."
As he exited the room, Naruto's eyes bled crimson as a smirk graced his lips. He and his mother would get their opponent. That was what mattered most.
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For team Hayate, the two weeks were up way too quickly.
Miko had barely recovered back to full health, the time just being enough to mend her bones. Truthfully, she needed another two weeks so she could be in top condition again, but there was no real choice now. Either she entered with her team or they would be eliminated and would have to wait at least six months to enter another chunin exam.
Hana simply didn't like the format. Why did all three teams have to fight at once? Couldn't they have just done like Konoha did and have a one on one tournament? It also didn't help that it seemed like they were speeding through the exams. It should not have mattered that there was a low participation rate this year, they still should have given the one month wait between the second and third exam.
For Naruto, they only thing he didn't like was that Hana and Miko were complaining. Sure, he would have liked more time to train with Hiraishin and his mother's project, but things just didn't go that way. So why couldn't they just accept it and put on their game faces?
Sighing as he could see that his team wasn't exactly gelling at the moment, Gekkou shook his head. "Lord Hokage just came in last night and he'll be watching you along with some of your family and friends that were allowed off for the exams. They'll be over here shortly."
"Is that why I heard some bow-chika-bow-wow going on in your room last night?" Naruto stated as fact, not even looking remotely disconcerted by what he had said.
Hayate simply blinked at Naruto, his mouth slightly askew and tilted to the left. While he figured they knew what sex was, he didn't think they heard him last night… But there was a more pressing matter, at least to him. "Bow-chika-bow-wow? Who in the world taught you to say that?!"
As the door opened from Hayate's room, revealing Yugao in her Anbu armor as she slid her gloves and an attached her mask to her belt, Naruto looked at her for a moment before turning back to Hayate. "That is a conflict of interest."
Hana busted out laughing while Miko nearly snickered as Hayate face faulted and Yugao grinned, having heard the conversation from within the room. Shaking her head, she moved over and patted Naruto on the head, which did nothing as he really didn't care, before pecking Gekkou on the cheek. "Sorry love, but I'm on duty."
"Damn… I was hoping for another quickie." Hayate grinned as he kissed her back, not caring if his team was in the room with them. They should know about this stuff and it was good for Naruto to learn about.
"There are fucking kids in the room, you know?" A familiar and female voice hissed as the door burst open, revealing the snake mistress standing before the Hokage and a small crowd of people.
While Gekkou and Yugao quickly broke it up, Yugao only twitched as she slid her mask on as she was on duty. That didn't stop her from commenting though. "And this is the one that openly admits to having sex in front of Naruto and any child at that matter. Then you go on to explain what happened in bed."
Anko simply shrugged her shoulders, knowing she did as such. "Bah, I have an excuse. I'M INSANE. And I never call it sex, I call it fu…"
"AHK! ENOUGH! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE!" Miko screamed out as she covered her ears and started chanting 'No, no, no!' over and over again to keep Anko from saying any more.
Glad he was ignoring what was coming out of his adoptive mother's mouth, as he did a lot of times as it just seemed to be for the best, Naruto was somewhat upset. Outside of the Anbu guarding the old man, only Anko, Itachi and Tsume had come. To make things worse, he only knew two of the Anbu, Yamato and Yugao. …Wait, Jiraiya was there too. He just wasn't with them and seemed to be at a certain place…
Ignoring the pervert's location, Naruto at least understood why only they had came. While the Cloud wasn't exactly a hostile environment, it really wasn't a friendly one either. Add on it was a long trip and the Hokage's safety was the first concern, he could see why the others, Yugito in particular as she was the one he wanted to be here, could not come.
Smiling and shaking his head at everything that was happening, Sarutobi looked over at the three gennin. He had been reported on everything that had happened here so far and while he was also disturbed at Kyuubi's activity level, for once he could understand it. Outside of Naruto, and possibly Yugito, he knew more about what was going on with the fox then anyone.
As it finally began to quite down, Anko and Yugao seeing that the Hokage wanted to speak, Sarutobi cleared his throat before beginning. "Well, I'm glad the three of you made it this far. …I guess I'm really only here to tell you good luck as everyone else is."
"That's not why I'm here." Anko loudly commented, making everyone turn towards her as she looked at Naruto and gave him a sadistic grin that normally meant bad news. "Fuck people up for me!"
Naruto would have given her a response, but everyone else was currently had face faulted and he was wondering why. They had to be expecting that. This was Anko; the blood lusting, tormenting, psychotic Anko. They had to know she would have said something along those lines. It was just in her character to do so.
Watching everyone recover, twitching her eyes, Anko looked at her watch before grimacing. "Oh… We better start going. The exams start in like thirty minutes. The old fart has to be there in twenty to meet with the Raikage and the Tsuchikage… This sounds like it is going to get bad."
No one disputed that, knowing the oldest Kage of them all was from the Rock. And each and every single one of them knew he was a bitter old man that held grudges forever. It just happened to be he had a very big grudge against them thanks to the war and getting his ass kicked a few times, and not just by Sarutobi.
"Well, I will be watching you with the other Kages. I pray you will do well." Sarutobi waved a goodbye and gave them a warm smile before exiting, having to meet with the other Kages as Anko said.
Shaking his head, Hayate could only sigh before coughing. This time it wasn't a fake cough and that alone made him groan. "This is going to be a long day…"
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The time had finally arrived. It was only ten minutes till the final portion of the exams begun and they had reached the arena.
They all had to admit, the Cloud's arena was very similar to the one in Konoha. The only difference was it was actually made from the peak of the mountain which gave it a very, very unique appearance. But now they were here, that was the least of their concern.
Hana was having a hard time from trembling as the three teams took center stage. The three Cloud gennin obviously were getting a grand ovation as they were the home town kids so that was natural. But that really didn't bother her.
What bothered her was the cold blooded look she was receiving from the demon vessel from the Rock. It chilled her bones as she could feel the desire for her blood he had. No, not only the desire for her blood. He wanted Naruto's and Miko's too. That was giving her all kinds of problems.
Miko didn't feel very good either as she could feel the blood lust oozing from him. It was rather unnerving and she was having a hard time focusing on the others. She knew she didn't have to worry about him, at least for now, but it was hard not to as it just felt he wanted their lives.
Finally, as Naruto took center and met his gaze, the Gobi vessel tightened his fists as his lust for blood just grew, making the Cloud team and his other two teammates look at him in fear as Gobi's chakra began to make its known.
None of them had even noticed that the Raikage had given a speech to fire them up, called their names out to the crowd so they knew who they were or the crowd roaring as E enter the arena, being the referee for the fight. The reason being, he was probably the only one there that could safely call the match without being turned to a bloody pulp.
E wasn't too thrilled at being called to do this as well. The Raikage was pushing all of his buttons right now and he was ready to just beat the shit out of him and become the next leader for the Cloud. He was sure he could… The Raikage was afraid of him every time they met face to face.
Shaking his head, E looked over the three teams before groaning. None of them were even listening as they were all focused on the two demon vessels. He actually couldn't really say anything about that otherwise, as it was hard not to, but he was use to being the focus as so many people were afraid of him.
Seeing that they weren't listening, he only briefed them on the rules. "Alright, all of you remember that this is a live battle. Anything goes but I may step in if it things start to get out of hand. Remember this is a team battle and is judge on how you do as a team, but the victor will go to the last person standing, whether they be from the Cloud, Leaf or Rock."
"Let this battle begin!" E roared out before taking a step back having thought the fire works would begin immediately.
To his, and mostly everyone's surprise, no one made a move at first. They all stood there, measuring up their opponents, but in truth they were all still watching Naruto and the Iwa vessel.
It was the latter, that made the first move as he pulled a bag he had tied to his belt today before tossing it to the closest Cloud gennin, Riko if he heard his name correctly. "There is thirty-thousand ryo in there. You may do whatever you like with it if you help us take them out first."
Both Hana and Miko literally froze. That was not good. They already worried enough just with his presence but now they would be ganging up on them.
Naruto, however, didn't care as he reacted. He moved with such speed that it was hard to see him, his small size making him even harder to see, and was on the Gobi vessel before landing a kick straight to his temple. The force was such that it sent him flying into the rocky wall.
Touching down where the other vessel was, Naruto drew his katana and struck at the other Iwa gennin next to him. The subsequently jumped away from the arcing blade and were ready to attack when four living twisters flew towards them, striking the one to the right in the chest while the other managed to get out of the way yet again.
He, however, wished he had not as Miko suddenly appeared directly behind him with fully formed Sharingan and her hands in a tiger seal. "Katon: Gokakyu!"
The flames engulfed the unsuspecting Rock ninja. But it was far from enough to kill him as he made a quick switch with one of the various logs set throughout the arena.
Just then, the Iwa jinchuuriki appeared behind her as her flames begin to vanish. Miko's entire body froze as she could feel the power he was emitting. It was truly terrifying as she had not felt such power since when Naruto had lost control and unleashed four tails against Shusui.
Having enough wit about her, Miko rolled away from his hammer fist just as Naruto came flying towards him, his katana streaking to his throat. The Iwa jinchuuriki was fast enough to block it with his wrist thanks to the armor he wore, but Naruto's forward momentum carried him into him and he drove his knee into his gut before using the blade to knock him away.
His moment of victory was short live as the Cloud gennin had decided to hold their end of the bargain. Three bolts of lighting struck him, knocking him down immediately before his opponent saw his opening and kicked Naruto while he was down, knocking his sword out of his grip and skidding him across the ground.
Hana immediately moved to help Naruto, standing before him with three clones as she had used the Beast-Human transformation with her partners. Growling at the young man before her, Hana clenched her fist tightly, her clawed fingers drawing blood from her palms. She suddenly struck, attacking wildly as she lashed out at him.
He easily knocked her aside as she wasn't even worth his time and did the same as her canines tried to attack him. He would take care of her later. He had a score to settle with the boy.
Naruto knew this wasn't good. He tried to get to his feet, but the lighting had effected his response time by a split second, which in laymen terms meant his body took a second or two to react to his command. So it took just a little longer then he wanted and that split second was what he needed.
The Iwa vessel gripped him by the collar of his shirt with his right before he began to strike him repeatedly with his left. But despite being in the position he was, Naruto fought back, kicking him in the gut before catching him in the face. But the Gobi vessel kept his grip and held Naruto away from him before throwing him in the ground.
This was not a position he liked. Naruto knew he was at a disadvantage in close range, especially when he was engaged with his opponent. But to make things worse this guy had already drawn onto three tails and it seemed he was poised to drawn more power from the canine within. The only way he could counter would be with his mother's strength but the cost would be too high.
Struggling to break his grip, Naruto hacked away at his arm with as much strength he could. He heard his bone crack, but it didn't seem to matter in the slightest. Apparently Gobi was good at healing just as his mother was…
The broken bone only took a moment to fix as he let go. Then he began to pelt Naruto with fist after fist, forcing him to only put his arms up to defend his face from the strikes. It didn't even matter as the power he put into each punch snapped the boy's arms like twigs as he pummeled his face.
Blood began to fill his mouth. Things were not looking up, but then he heard his mother's voice. "Just hold on… You cannot use my power yet so you have to endure…."
Grinning at this, despite the shape his bloodied face was in and the fact his mother said nothing of real encouragement, Naruto knew the tide was about to change. He could feel it.
Despite being knocked aside, Hana quickly got back up and tried to charge him. She was deterred as two of the Cloud shinobi stood in her way, a blonde haired girl and the other a dark skinned teen, both wielding blades that left two gashes one trailing down her left arm while the other grazed her hip on the right side. "Get out of my way!"
After they didn't Hana's hands formed a few quick seals before the ground rumbled before spear-like pillars shot out towards them. The two back flipped to avoid them and cut down the pillars that nearly hit them, but that allowed her enough time to use another Gatsuga with her trio, hitting them from all directions.
The girl, however, suddenly dispersed into lighting and unfortunately Hana happened to be actually hitting her. Despite the rotation of her attack, the electricity pierced through and made her yell out and stop the spin. Skidding along the ground, she gritted her teeth before her three partners jumped before her.
It mattered not as the fattest of the Iwa gennin, rose from the ground and locked her arms behind her. Her gasp caught their attention, but it left all three open and two were hit by balls of lighting and reverted back as they could no longer hold the transformation.
The final one turned only for two blades to rip through its chest. It was fortunate as the blades didn't go through any crucial spots, but to Hana's eyes it was horrific as her partner reverted back and hit the ground, blood beginning to pool underneath him. She screamed out before being violently slammed to the ground as the guy pinned her down.
Miko was having her own problems. The blue haired gennin from the Cloud was just ridiculously fast. She could see him, but the problem was she couldn't react fast enough so he was just knocking her around. It was getting highly annoying and it was wearing her down. But this time as he came in, she had a plan for him.
Watching his path, Miko held her ground as he came at her before suddenly throwing a smoke bomb down at the last second, catching him within it. He reacted just as she wanted him to and immediately jumped out, expecting her to lay some sort of trap. The thing was, he had walked into her trap.
She burst from the smoke before suddenly locking onto him with a clench. "Now let's see what your speed will do for you now!"
Before he could respond, she brought her knee straight into his groin. It was a cheep shot, but anything was legal and she needed to weaken him so he wouldn't break her clench. It also helped as he dropped his guard and she began kicking her knees up into his chest before getting a free shot to his head, bringing it to her knee.
Just as he began to stumble and she was ready to end the fight, a dragon made of mud and dirt erupted from the ground before her and caught her in the chest. Even with her Sharingan active, she could not react to the chakra she had seen. She had forgotten this wasn't a one on one and it cost her.
As she hit the ground and the dragon collapsed on top of her, Miko cried out in agony. It felt as if her chest had just been crushed. Her bones hadn't entirely recovered and a lot of them happened to be her ribs. It just so happened that the dragon broke them again and ripped open her shirt shredded her skin. The only bright side was that she somehow wasn't exposed from the blow…
Then things got worse as she saw yet other Iwa gennin, the one with tan skinned and brown hair, before he slammed his foot down on her chest and pinned her to the ground. "We've got the down boss! You want to kill them yourself?"
E was ready to jump in and call the Konoha team out. This had quickly escalated and he needed to do something, but something was holding him back. He couldn't understand it, but with one look at the blonde's bloodied face he realized something. This fight was not even close to being finished.
Not liking the grin, the Gobi vessel lifted Naruto before tossing him into the wall. Not going to let the boy pry himself out of it, he used a specialized earth jutsu that wrapped a cocoon of hardened dirt around his entire body only leaving his head visible. "Yes… It is just. Not only did Konoha cause us the war, he killed my lover…"
Looking straight into his eyes, seeing the look on Naruto's face, the Iwa vessel ripped the mask covering his mouth up to show him his wicked grin. "I'm going to make you watch me kill them… To show you the pain you have caused me!"
Naruto gritted his teeth as his eyes widened. He couldn't let him kill Hana or Miko. They weren't just teammates. He could no longer say that. He had been around them long enough that they were more then that.
They were both his friends… And friends were his family. Both were now a part of his family. No one hurt his family! No one!
He couldn't watch them die. It would just be too much for him to handle. Not after everything he had been through. He would not let this happen!
Naruto's eyes suddenly turned entirely white. There was no color in them for just a brief moment before the pupil returned but it was now red just as it had become many times before. But there was something different this time as Kyuubi's chakra was flowing differently. "MOTHER! STOP HIM NOW!"
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Standi ng before Naruto, just behind the bars in his mind, Kyuubi looked down at her son. "You know what it is you ask of me. We're not sure if it is ready yet. …Are you sure?"
"I don't care… If it comes down to it, I'll live with it just as you have done. …I cannot live if I let him hurt my family." Naruto answered as he looked at his caged mother.
Kyuubi smiled grimly, knowing what could happen if it failed. But this was what he wanted more then anything. She could no let him down.
Dragging her claws through her wrist, cutting it open and letting it fall into the water, the water suddenly was bathed crimson as Naruto reached out and wiped his hand through her blood. Still smiling at him, Kyuubi, with her clean hand, ran her hand over Naruto's bloodied face, as his appearance in her reflected his outside appearance.
"Are you ready?" She asked one last time as her hands formed a seal.
Naruto simply nodded and placed his hands in the same seal. Taking one breath, both began going through they same seals. They mimicked one another perfectly, as if they were a mirror before placing their hands on the gate at the same exact moment, the only difference was Naruto's hand was placed on the seal.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu."
White smoke billowed through the room, blinding everything from sight before the smoke suddenly began to change in color, becoming blood red.
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It seemed as if everything froze as Naruto's eyes were entirely red before an orb of crimson chakra exploded around him, disintegrating the cocoon and wall that had contained him moments before. Nothing could be seen within it. Naruto had completely vanished.
The orb expanded, almost taking the entire wall with it as it grew in size. The wind picked up and blew with great force, making it hard for all those standing to stay so, as it whirled around the crimson orb. Lighting began to strike down next to it despite there being hardly any clouds in the sky. The ground crater before rising before water gushed out from below, spraying over all that were watching before fizzing out from the heat generated from the orb just as the wind had died down.
A fine mist covered the arena, the orb now having disappeared in the mist. But the power of it could still be felt by all.
Almost everyone was afraid of it, none more so then the Sandaime Hokage. The power was exactly the same that he felt eight years ago when Minato had sealed the fox away. He had Naruto clear as day and now he was worried. Had Kyuubi answered his cry?
As the mist thinned out, all attention was on the lone figure near the wall where the orb had been moments before. But there were obvious changes for those that could tell already but now as the mist evaporated, everyone could see them. No longer did a young boy stand there.
It was now a woman with fiery red hair, tied in a bun on the top of her head. A sleeveless, crimson shirt with metallic armor woven in covered her chest while she wore a thick pair of brown pants that seemed to be woven out of the same material that makes rope.
While her face was hanging, as if she was checking on something, three claw-like marks stretched on her cheek and despite not being able to see her eyes, you could see the crimson glow burning.
Standing straight, the woman smiled as everything worked to perfection. After she was done, she could trade places with her son once more. Closing her eyes, letting the breeze of the wind blow on her face just she could remember how it felt, her eyes snapped open and locked onto her target. It was now time for business.
Before he could move, Kyuubi suddenly gripped the Gobi vessel's throat and easily lifted him into the air. Her crimson eyes peered into his greenish-brown, the demon within not completely overwhelming him with its power. She could smell the fear coming from him.
He knew what she was, as did everyone else in the arena. She was the legend. She was Kyuubi no Kitsune. But that wasn't enough. She was going to give them a reason to fear her.
But before she did that, she needed a report on her boy. 'Is your body recovering in there?'
"It's doing fine, mother. You're diverting enough chakra here that I'm almost a hundred percent again." Naruto responded, feeling somewhat weird that he was the one talking in her head while he was in the cage. It was a unique feeling that kind of got under his skin. It was also weird that her chakra was healing him once more, but that one he actually welcomed.
Feeling better, knowing that her boy would be alright, Kyuubi dug her finger nails into the boy's throat before coating her other hand with her chakra. Then with one swift movement, it pierced into his stomach, right where his seal was.
"It is just as I said it would be before." Kyuubi spoke, letting her voice travel through the arena, her blood lust traveling with it as her eyes burned brightly as if they held fire within them. "I told you I would kill before this was all over."
The reaction that was given was not that was expected by many. He started chuckling as the green chakra began to swell around him before a demonic voice spoke through the young man's body, the voice belonging to Gobi. "Do you really think killing me will get him back?"
"No." Kyuubi responded as she closed her eyes, knowing she would never get him back. But as her eyes opened, a sadistic smile replaced her downtrodden face. "But it will make me feel better."
With a burst of chakra, his stomach exploded and the green chakra dematerialized as if it had been destroying as well. Blood and guts stained the ground at Kyuubi's feet, but she hardily cared. She had finally gotten her revenge… Even if it wasn't how she imagined it to be.
Taking a look around at the arena, Kyuubi thoroughly examined the situation and knew her son could handle it. It would take him to reveal his other, more so known secret but she had a feeling that was what the Hokage had wanted when Jiraiya began training him.
Suppressing her chakra as much as she could, she picked up her son's blade before stabbing it into the ground. It could not be reverse if too much of her chakra remained in the physical body. After all, she didn't want to see her boy in the critical state he was after his seal was damaged.
"Naruto, time to finish this under your own power." Kyuubi stated before her body was enveloped by summoning smoke as she had done all she could.
As the smoke began to thin, two kunai shot out from the smoke and pierced the ground next to Hana and Miko. The next thing that happened was just as shocking to everyone as was the summoning of Kyuubi.
With two flashes of light, the opposing gennin hit the ground, blood gushing from their collar bones as they hit the ground unconscious. Standing before Hana, Naruto wiped his blade clean of blood. Looking at the Inuzuka, Naruto smiled at her before he looked over at the Iwa jinchuuriki's corpse. "It is finished."
Having watching the entire thing from start to finish in secret, Jiraiya knew it was time to act before a riot broke out. This had been the real reason he came so when Naruto had used the Flying Thunder God, he would move in and get him out of the Cloud as there was just so many possibilities to what could happen.
And while Kyuubi appearance had completely caught him off guard, he swooped down and suddenly grabbed Naruto, Hana and Miko, making sure to pick up the markers for the flash, before vanishing.
It was going to be a long day still to come…
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"What in the world happened to this girl?" Shizune asked Jiraiya as she took care of Miko's injuries as while they weren't life threatening, they were rather hard to deal with as some of her ribs broke and caused her to bleed internally.
She had been beginning to wonder why Jiraiya hired her in the first place and had left her just outside a village about a days walk from the Cloud. Now that she knew, it still didn't make very much sense as they could have just let the Cloud medics take care of her.
"She had already been injured before from tumbling down a mountain during a skirmish with a team from the Rock and her wounds while healed they were easily to reaggravate as it had only been two weeks." Hana explained as she sat by Miko, rather worried about her teammate and friend's condition. Naruto was seated near them as well, he however had remained completely quiet, not sure what to think of Shizune.
Frowning as she knew it took more then two weeks for mended bones to regain their previous strength, Shizune continued mending Miko's while catching the internal bleeding the strike had caused. "So Jiraiya, what's so important that you couldn't let them be taken care of in the Cloud?"
Jiraiya had kind of expected Shizune to ask questions, mainly because Tsunade highly disapproved of her working with him. His answer, however, was rather easy as he simply tilted his head towards Naruto as he leaned his back against the tree. "I believe you can figure that one out on your own, Shizune."
Following Jiraiya's nod, she found herself staring at the young boy. She was still rather surprised that such a young boy was a gennin, but remembering Kakashi was even younger as was Itachi it wasn't such a stretch to say he couldn't be a prodigy. But his hair just seemed familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on it.
Deciding not to let that bother her now and focus all her attention on healing Miko, it only took Shizune a few more minutes before she wiped her hands. "All done. Now I will warn you, do not do any extraneous activities for the next month so you can completely heal. Otherwise I'll hunt you down and tie you down for a whole month myself, do you understand?"
Miko didn't know why but she knew this medic would carry out her threat. For some reason, despite the utter calm she felt coming from her, she instinctively knew that there was something to be feared about the medic. "I'll do my best… We might just get attacked on the way back home."
Finding that acceptable as her excuse was a possibility, Shizune nodded before turning to Jiraiya. "So is that all you wanted me for? If it is, I must be going as Lady Tsunade awaits my return."
"It is… Oh, sorry. Naruto, I forgot to give these back." Jiraiya nodded before realizing what he had in his pocket and tossed the two strange kunai to the blonde who simply caught them and put them away.
Despite hearing that she could go, Shizune suddenly found a reason to stay a little longer. Her jaw was agape as she immediately recognized what the kunai were before she gave Jiraiya a fish look before she suddenly freaked. "Really… Are you insane?! Teaching that to Minato's son at such an age?! Lady Tsunade would be strangling you if she knew!"
"Yes she would, and you aren't going to tell her, now are you? I believe part of my payment was not to inform her of anything important pertaining to the mission." Jiraiya commented as he peeled himself off the tree as he could now see Naruto's interest in everything had skyrocketed.
"Minato's son?" Was all that came from Naruto's mouth, confusion being the obvious tone as he had never heard of such a name before.
Sighing, as it really wasn't his place to tell him, Jiraiya took a seat next to the boy and shook his head. Sarutobi was running late, not that it was that much of a surprise. He after all had come with the Fire Lord as well and despite wanting to leave quickly, it would be very difficult with him there.
But much to his surprise, there was a small group of ninja moving towards them, Sarutobi leading the entourage. Thankfully the Fire Lord didn't bring many people with him, only his wife, his two daughters and a trusted group of samurai, so it wouldn't be that difficult of a travel back to Konoha.
Joining them, Sarutobi took a seat next to the fire they had started seeing it was night before turning to Miko. "Are you okay? It looked like you took a nasty blow there."
"I'll be fine lord Hokage. I just need some time to rest." Miko stated with a respectful tone, knowing this was more business then it would be pleasure. After all, after what Naruto did…
Hayate was the next that came over with two of Hana's partners immediately running straight to her, Jiraiya not having the time to take them with him, the other cradled in his arm. Kneeling down in front of Hana, he smiled softly as he handed him over to her. "He'll be fine. But just like Miko he is going to need a lot of rest. He took a pretty big shot for you."
Hana was overjoyed as she began crying while laughing as she began to stroke his spine. She had actually thought he was gone as it looked bad from her angle. The fact that he not only would make it but was already awake was enough for her.
Seeing this, the Hokage smiled brightly before a more stoic look replaced it as he gazed at Naruto, who seemed to be looking at Hana as well with just a small amount of relief going out to the girl. While he was very glad that there was some emotion there, it would have to wait. "Naruto, what was that you used to summon Kyuubi?"
"It was a summoning technique I've been working on since learning I could no longer use her power in battle with damaging myself. To get around that, I came up with this so that way when I'm caught in a situation where her power would be necessary I could switch places with her for a small period of time. It also allows me to recover at a much faster rate as she diverted a good portion of her chakra to heal me." Naruto answered the old man.
Despite mostly everyone flinching at the thought that Kyuubi could be released, the Hokage remained stoic as he deliberated on what Naruto said. "How long can Kyuubi last outside of the seal before it is reversed?"
"Three to five minutes, five being rather unlikely as she would have to repress her chakra the entire time." Naruto immediately responded as he had an idea where the Hokage was going.
Nodding as that was what he figured it would be, he had one more question left. "Is it possible for her to use Hiraishin when you switch?"
Everyone else froze. That thought alone was… Well it was very disturbing. If she could use the flash… Well she could do whatever she damn well pleased. No one could stop her.
Naruto simply shook his head. "No… She does not have the same blood as I have… Or the Forth."
This threw both Jiraiya and Sarutobi for a loop and the former had to ask. "Since when did you know?"
"Just now… But I've been suspecting it ever since you started training me in the flash and it was confirmed when she said Minato's son when she was yelling at you." Naruto stated before pointing at Shizune at the end.
Sighing, the third shook his head for a moment before gazing at Naruto. "Yes, Minato is your father. …I was going to tell you about your parents after you became chunin, but it matters any more. But before I do I must ask you… Do you really wish to know of your mother?"
"Kyuubi is my mother… But if you mean the one that gave birth to me, yes." Naruto answered reminding him of that truth as he met the old man's gaze.
Closing his eyes as he couldn't even look into Naruto's eyes for this, the elderly Hokage's head drooped. "Your mother, Uzumaki Kushina… abandoned you after becoming the first to try and assassinate you, Kakashi just barely being able to stop her. …To complicate matters…"
"She's joined the Akatsuki and now is the one assigned to capture you." Jiraiya admitted as he knew his sensei was struggling over this and decided to take over for him.
No one was sure what Naruto was thinking. His face was just as it was most of the time, completely blank of emotion, as he let it think in. It felt as if every second was a very long minute as they looked at him, just waiting for him to react in some kind of way.
Even Kyuubi was beginning to worry as she rather her son have some kind of reaction to this. While she had always been able to tell what was going on within his mind, even she was at a lose and tried to coax him into speaking his mind. "Kit, are you alright? Please say something…"
"…What is my father's last name?" Naruto suddenly asked, his face still showing no emotion while his eyes seemed to darken.
"Namikaze." Was all that was said, Anko answered as she found her way behind Naruto and enveloped him in hug, hoping it would at least get him to react.
It seemingly didn't work as for once Naruto didn't even show any signs of being uncomfortable as he looked over towards the old man. "When we get home… Strike her name from mine… I want nothing to do with her. I am only his child. My mothers have now and have always been Kyuubi and nee-chan."
Smiling at Naruto as for the first time since… Well ever, he had called her his mother. He had always called her his sister and he still did but it didn't matter. To Anko, it meant the world as the boy had been adamant that Kyuubi was his mother before.
Seeing the way everything had gone, Sarutobi simply nodded at Naruto's request. He had only given him Kushina's maiden name simply because people would have immediately figured out who he was if he gave him the Fourth's name. "It will be done… And when we arrive, I will give all three of your chunin vests. Each of you deserves it after today."
"Now let's all get some rest. We've got a long journey home." Sarutobi finished as he could see the look of shock on Hana's and Miko's faces that they were going to become chunin.
That face made his day a little better as he got up and moved to check on the Fire Lord and his family. While he had his own guard and all, he was still obligated to assist in anyway as it was his money that was keeping their economy up. "Sir, are you alright? Is there anything you need?"
"Is it true that he is Minato's son?" The Fire Lord suddenly asked as he looked over at the blonde boy as he began to glare at Anko for messing with his hair.
The Hokage responded by nodded as there was no need to verbally answer that question again. He had to wonder what the Fire Lord was thinking as he normally never had such a serious look on his face before he turned to the eldest samurai. "When we return home, send some of your top warriors to guard the boy."
"It will be done my lord." The samurai responded and said nothing more, knowing his duty now.
Sarutobi was surprised by this action. While the Fire Lord had every right to guard Naruto, it was just odd that he would do so. "May I ask why you are to have samurai guard Naruto? He is very capable of defending himself."
"That he is." The lord admitted as he had seen that first hand at the exams. "But I listened to what you had said and it seems the boy is in danger and needs all the protection he can get as if there is one that will restore our land to its former glory it will be him and bring it prosperity once more, it will be him."
Getting a better grip on what was going through the lord's mind, Sarutobi nodded as he turned his gaze to Naruto. "I've known as much so I've had him trained by Jiraiya… Because I've known he would become the Prince of Konoha."
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