(Back At The Hotel; An Hour And A Half Later)
Jiraiya was in his room working on his latest book thanks to all of the real time resources he managed to gather together from watching how Naruto, Hinata and Karin were interacting with each other. For the Toad Sage, they were a diamond mine for idea and inspirations with him not needing to go peeping on women. Not that the Sannin would actually stop peeping on account of three said teenagers regardless of the amount of inspirations their interactions gave him.
Just then the door to the room opened and entered a sulking Naruto who closed the door behind him. Jiraiya saw the unhappy look on Naruto's face.
"Didn't get any?" Jiraiya asked with a sympathetic tone, which to Naruto's surprise wasn't mocking at the very least.
"No," Naruto replied, surprised at himself for choosing to confide in his once estranged godfather.
"Was it because she was afraid to consummate her love for you because of how her father might possibly react towards it if he found out?" Jiraiya asked.
"No," Naruto admitted, "It was for another reason."
"Let me guess," Jiraiya said as if he figured it out, "Hinata's late mother had her promise to remain chaste and a virgin until she's older and married."
"If that was the case," Naruto remarked, "Then Hinata-chan coming along with me to the onsen after insisting she was willing to join me in the hot springs would have been a cruel tease, even by my standards, and that's saying something."
"Then what really happened?" Jiraiya asked before he placed his pen down and turned to Naruto. The Jinchuuriki looked to his Sage sensei and inquired, "You're not planning on using what happened between me and Hinata-chan as resource material, are you?"
"Naruto," Jiraiya replied sincerely, "I'm not so shallow as to use your current predicament as resource material for my books. Now tell me exactly what happened. I might be able to help you resolve your problem especially if it'll affect your performance and concentration during this mission. We can't afford you to have this distraction clouding your judgment. I haven't been there in your early life to help you when I should have so please give me the opportunity to start making amends."
Naruto looked at the older man and saw the honesty in his tone and demeanor. Giving in, Naruto explained his story, "Everything was going perfectly. I had everything set to my specifications and made sure the mood was set just right. I assured Hinata-chan that if she didn't feel comfortable in being alone with me at the private class court of the onsen that I would go and cancel everything. But she said she was willing to go along with it to the point that once inside the reserved quarters she took the initiative in undressing me. I knew Hinata-chan for her shy nature and hesitation but her boldness at that moment was a complete turn on for me, especially as she took her time removing my clothes a piece at a time. She even planted kisses on several parts of my body while undressing me. It took all my self-control not to just ravage her right there and then.
"I see," Jiraiya noted and insisted, "Go on."
"Long story short," Naruto explained, "Hinata-chan and I were fully enjoying our time in the private court but the amount of hot steam being produced became uncomfortable for Hinata-chan to handle as she started becoming lightheaded and disoriented. By the time I got the heat and amount of steam brought to a more bearable level, Hinata-chan's disorientation had her coming in and out of consciousness, which killed the mood. I had to dress and carry her back all the way here since she was too out of it to walk properly. I wanted a romantic and intimate time with Hinata-chan at the onsen but I ruined that by not being aware of her intolerance to the amount of hot steam I can take."
"Don't be too hard on yourself Naruto," Jiraiya counseled, "What happened wasn't your fault or Hinata's. The situation that happened with you and Hinata was unforeseen and neither you nor Hinata knew that was going to happen. What's important is her well-being and safety which you saw to after helping and bringing her back here safely. I'm sure Hinata knew you wanted to romance her in the best way you could but unexpected circumstances caused things to not go your way. It was beyond your control to foresee and prevent. Take it as a lesson learned for next time."
"A cruel lesson learned," Naruto remarked before heading over to his bed and dropping on top of it facedown. Jiraiya shook his head and sighed, "Naruto don't worry so much about this. This is just a temporary setback. You'll have more chances deflower Hinata in the future."
Jiraiya didn't get a reply back from Naruto as the younger male just lied there motionlessly. Making his way over to him Jiraiya went to if Naruto was still awake. This was confirmed when Naruto shot up off the bed.
"I need a distraction from this," Naruto stated before going over to the door and putting his sandals back on. Opening the door, Naruto stepped out and left the room, leaving Jiraiya alone again.
"At least the rest of the night will remain peaceful," Jiraiya commented as he went back to his side of the room and continued his writings.
(Meanwhile In Another Room)
Karin was shaking her head in disappointment while watching Hinata sip some warm herbal tea while sitting on her bed.
"How did everything turn out this bad?" Karin asked.
"Things didn't go as planned as I had a bad reaction to the amount of heat generated from the steam in the onsen," Hinata said apologetically, "Naruto-kun worked so hard to give me a romantic time and I ended up ruining everything."
Hinata lowered her head, and sobbed lowly as a few tears streamed down her face. Not wanting to see Hinata spending the entire night crying through her regrets or sorrows, Karin went over and sat next to her on the bed.
"It's not your fault Hinata," Karin assured consolingly, "And it wasn't like you intended to ruin your hot date with him on purpose…no pun intended. Listen…," Karin paused briefly to gather her thoughts and continued, "What happened was unexpected and I'm sure Naruto-kun isn't blaming you for this. There was no way of knowing beforehand that you would have a bad reaction from the amount of hot steam in the onsen. If anything, Naruto-kun will try to make up for this with another romantic date to get you to forget about what happened at the onsen. If anything, I'm certain he's blaming himself for what happened, not you."
"You really think he's blaming himself for this?" Hinata asked with concern and wonder.
"Naruto-kun loves you too much to consider what happened to be your fault," Karin reassured, "You yourself should know that about him."
Hinata took a breath and exhaled as she took into consideration everything Karin was telling her. After calming her sadness and worries down, the Hyuuga heiress wiped her tears away and gave a small smile, "You're right Karin. I should know that much about Naruto-kun and more. I know he loves me and wants to make me happy just as much as I love him and want to make him happy. Thanks for helping me through this."
"Anytime," Karin said, "And since we're still awake. How about we get to know each other better? We never actually have gotten the chance to have an actual girl talk with each other. So how about it?"
"That would be really nice," Hinata agreed, wanting the distraction from what happened at the onsen.
(In Another Room)
Kansui and Arashi were still awake when they heard a knock on their door. Kansui went over to the door and opened it to find Naruto standing outside in the hall way.
"Naruto-kun!" Kansui greeted, "What brings you here?"
"Couldn't sleep," Naruto said, "Plus I wanted to take the time to get to know you guys better, that is if it's not too late in the evening."
"We weren't doing much anyway," Kansui replied, "Wanna come in?"
Naruto stepped in and removed his sandals as Kansui closed the door behind them. Arashi sat up on the bed as Naruto went and pulled up a chair and sat down on it. Kansui went and prepared some juice drinks and served it to Naruto and Arashi before making one for himself. When that was done, Kansui went and took a sat on the bed he was using.
"Well since we're all here," Naruto spoke breaking the long silence, "How about we get to know each other better?"
"Where would you like us to start?" Arashi asked.
"I dunno," Naruto replied, "Your age, background, abilities, things of that nature I suppose."
"You already know our names and that we're from the same clan," Kansui remarked and continued, "We're also 15 years old. My brother and I have unique abilities that set us apart from our other Uzumaki brethren. I'm able to turn my chakra into "living" beasts or parts of them like tails, wings or claws."
"How big of beasts are we talking?" Naruto inquired.
"As big as a summons," Kansui stated, "Depending on the amount of chakra I put out and how long I want to maintain the existence of that "beast." I can also ride inside the beasts I fabricate and use it as a complete suit of armor. I never actually had to resort to using it."
"I tend to be a carefree kind of guy who likes to have fun and have a strong sense of protecting my younger twin brother since he's always getting himself into trouble."
"Not true!" Arashi retorted, "Those fights against real ninja have helped strengthened our defense and combat abilities! We've improved after every fight we had!"
"I also fear that his lack of knowing how to properly approach females will be the death of us," Kansui remarked.
"That's your opinion," Arashi replied, "But I see us living far passed that."
"Since you're displaying such confidence," Naruto remarked, "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
"I have the ability to turn my chakra into shields, a suit of armor and shapes of weapons which I use in battle. I can even control the direction my weapons fly at when I fire or throw them.
"You guys have cool abilities!" Naruto praised, "I feared that only the females in our clan were gifted with unique abilities with their chakra. I'm happy to see that my fears can now be put to rest."
"On a personal note," Arashi chimed in, "My brother and I have a slight prankster side to ourselves in that we sometimes act like the other to confuse people and make them think they got our identities wrong when they address us by the wrong name."
"I'll keep that in mind," Naruto remarked, "But I also have a prankster side to myself also; except I use my pranks to catch civilians and ninja of all ranks off guard before I ambush them. I even use sexual innuendos and incentives to entice both male and female ninja to drop their guards against me while giving the façade that I'm a shameless pervert."
"You actually flirt with people of both genders before ambushing them?" Kansui asked as he found what he heard hard to swallow. Frowning, Naruto burst into a cloud of smoke and when a majority of the smoke cleared…
"Oiroke no Jutsu," Naruto said seductively in his nude "Naruko" form. "She" was posing doggy style over the chair Naruto was previously sitting on with "her" butt facing them and "her" face turned to the twin males with some strands of hair over "her" face. Both Kansui and Arashi were completely caught off guard as blood burst from their nose at the sight in front of them.
"Oh Yeah!" Arashi exclaimed excitedly with a large smile on his face.
"Aren't you naughty," "Naruko" said teasingly before two kage bunshin suddenly appeared behind the twins and knocked them both unconscious. "Naruko" changed back to normal.
"That ought to show you both how I flirt with both genders," Naruto remarked before having his clones clean up the mess made. Soon both clones were done cleaning up and several minutes later the twins regained consciousness.
"What the hell just happened?" Kansui asked.
"Naruto-kun transformed into this hot-looking blonde chick that looked horny as hell before knocking us out," Arashi explained.
"I know what he did," Kansui replied while feeling embarrassed that he was taken out by a hentai jutsu created by one of his brethren, "I just can't believe how effective it was."
"Be happy that's all I did," Naruto stated, "Against others who were my enemies, I've done a lot worse."
"We'll take that under advisement," Arashi noted.
"Well besides revealing examples of our skills," Naruto said, "What more about yourselves can share with me?"
"Arashi and I were sons of two shinobi, both of whom had died fighting off a squad of Kumo ninja, and defended us to their last breath. We try to live up to their standards by being a skilled shinobi ourselves. Our parents left us with the best stuff, the best books, and the best of everything they could give us prior to their deaths."
"With our parents gone and no sensei to teach and train us," Arashi interjected, "We did all of our practicing and training by ourselves. Trying to get by with what we could, using what money we saved up to get our own ninja equipment, moving from place to place and anything else our jobs as freelance ninja would earn us."
"We probably would have had more if not for the fact that our medical bills ate up some of our income from all of those fights my idiot brother gotten us into for sexually harassing other ninjas' girlfriends and asking them to bare children for him," Kansui stated.
'Between Karin, Arashi and Jiraiya,' Naruto thought, 'I can't tell which one is worse than the other.'
"We'll have to work on your self-control Arashi," Naruto said, "You won't live long if you keep those antics up."
"What's wrong with feeling a female up and seeing if she's strong, healthy and fertile?" Arashi asked while feigning innocence, "I see women as fresh fruits and like all fruits at a marketplace, I examine and determine whether or not they're ripe for consumption and purchase."
"Quite a colorful way of seeing things while being a hands-on type of Uzumaki," Naruto remarked, "I'm more of a visual analysis type of Uzumaki."
"So in other words," Kansui figured, "You're just another pervert who checks out women's bathhouses like my brother."
"You Uzumaki children truly know how to move a man like me to tears," Jiraiya said as he seemingly popped out of nowhere with anime tears coming down his face. Naruto, Kansui and Arashi turned to see the Sannin standing behind them.
"Jiraiya!?" Naruto asked in surprise, "When did you show up!?"
"And how long were you there?" Kansui added.
"Not important," Jiraiya replied, "Since you guys were doing some male bonding I thought that as Naruto's godfather that I can join you three in some man to man bonding merriment."
"Whatever," Naruto said while wondering how and when Jiraiya snuck in without alerting them, 'I can see why Jiraiya is one of the best infiltrators and spy masters.'
"Naruto-kun," Kansui asked, "We'd like to hear about your life in Konoha and your experiences as a ninja."
"It's a long story and the most of the beginning parts of my life weren't happy ones," Naruto answered.
"If you ask me," Arashi remarked, "Most of us Uzumaki in this era don't have happy beginnings that last long."
"We'll change that cursed pattern in time," Naruto remarked.
(The Next Morning; Back In Konoha)
Hanabi was lying in her bed before the sunlight from the window shined over her face. She stirred before sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She yarned and opened her eyes to find that she was back in her room.
"When did I return to my room?" Hanabi wondered aloud since the last thing she remembered was being in the training field with one of Naruto's clones.
"Yesterday after you passed out from heavy exhaustion," a masculine voiced said, causing Hanabi to look up to see a Naruto clone barefooted on his back up against the ceiling of her room, "You're quite determined in proving your merit my Little Nighttime Firecracker."
"Naru-chan?" Hanabi asked, "Why are you here so early?" Hanabi then grinned and added, "Normally you wait until the late hours towards midnight to sneak in and meet me in my bedroom."
"Funny," 'Naruto' replied, "Anyway, I came to check up on you after my fellow clone had to carry you back all the way here," 'Naruto' explained, "You pushed yourself harder than you could take and lost consciousness. The last thing we need is for you to have a complete system burn out."
"Well I'm fine now," Hanabi said as she threw her blanket off and got up off her bed. She found that she was dressed in her sleeping clothes and figured that one of the female Cadet Branch members cleaned, dressed and placed her in bed. Putting that thought aside, Hanabi looked up towards the ceiling at 'Naruto' who was still on her ceiling, "Are we going to continue where we left off at from yesterday?"
"No," 'Naruto' said, "You'll resume your physical training tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Hanabi asked with disappointment, "But won't I fall behind as a result?"
"Hanabi-chan," 'Naruto' said, "Even machines need time to rest and take breaks, otherwise they'll wear out and breakdown faster. Even I took days off to rest from physical training. But that doesn't mean you'll rest from elemental training today."
"What do you have in mind?" Hanabi asked.
"Today we'll begin your new and advanced training with your earth manipulation. We'll start your training in using your earth affinity to generate your own self-imposed gravity, with the use of a few seals to help maintain and stabilize the manipulation."
"We're doing that today?" Hanabi asked with excitement and anticipation.
"Don't get me wrong, this won't be an easy feat to pull off and it'll require a great amount of chakra concentration and earth manipulation. Doing this will put strain on your chakra coils but it'll also help strengthen and increase your chakra reserves as a result. This will produce results like the ones Hinata-chan achieved through the seals I gave her. So are you up to this training or do you wish to wait till tomorrow?"
"And let onee-sama continue to surpass and stay ahead of me?" Hanabi replied, "No! I want to start today. I gave my word that I won't lose to onee-sama in anything! And I never go back on my word! That's my nindo!"
"I'll be waiting for you outside the gate, so hurry up and get ready," 'Naruto' said before he shunshin'd out of Hanabi's room.
"How does he be sneaking pass all of the Cadet Branch guards," Hanabi asked herself in wonder and fascination before getting herself ready to train with 'Naruto.' After spending a decent amount of time cleaning her and getting herself ready, Hanabi ate her breakfast quickly and hurried out to meet up with 'Naruto.' She found him stand by the main entrance of the compound as he said he would be.
"Are you ready?" 'Naruto' asked.
"As ever Naru-chan," Hanabi said with anticipation before being led away by 'Naruto.'
(Meanwhile; At Another Training Area)
In an open field, Konohamaru was dressed in training attire and standing in attention. Standing in front of him was his grandfather Hiruzen who was wearing his ninja training attire of his own.
"Konohamaru," Hiruzen started off, "Today I'll be beginning your new training in Iron Monkey Fist. Iron Monkey Fist is a very unique style of taijutsu. It is unlike any other art form because its foundation is low to the ground, its movements are unpredictable and it has one major factor that separates it from all the other styles, it is extremely deceptive. While in combat using this taijutsu, our goal is to deceive the opponent. We must alter out thought process that will enable us to both strike the opponent, but quickly get away. Our goal is to deliver an extremely devastating blow and to severely injure the enemy and yet quickly get away.
"Iron Monkey Fist uses elbows, knees and more and strikes at vital points to the body. Iron Monkey Fist surprises their enemy by bringing them quickly down to the ground through powerful grabs and striking with lightning speed and above all, causing a lot of damage. In many cases, a monkey will set up an enemy by forcing them to chase him then in a split-second, turn around and strike them."
"Neat," Konohamaru remarked.
"Iron Monkey Fist includes running on all fours," Hiruzen continued, "That is, on the hands and feet, various difficult acrobatic movements such as flipping sideways in the air, front flips, back flips, back handsprings, hand stands, walking on the hands, forward lunges or dives, backward lunges, spinning on the butt, spinning on the back and many kicks and strikes. Most of the attacks are aimed at the knees, groin area, throat or eyes of the opponent and hand strikes are normally either open handed slaps or clawing with a semi-closed fist called the monkey claw.
"A wide variety of facial monkey expressions are also practiced, like happiness, anger, fear, fright, confusion and bewilderment, just to name a few. Most movements inclusive of running are executed from either a squatting or semi-squatting position and are normally accompanied by very swift and 'jerky' head movements as the user nervously looks around.
"Another area that sets Iron Monkey Fist apart from many other taijutsu is that the user must cultivate the "Mind of the Monkey."
"The Mind of the Monkey?" Konohamaru asked with a perplexed expression.
"That's right," Hiruzen stated, "The user must create a mindset that in a sense allows him to become the monkey. Iron Monkey Fist has five primary characteristics. This are: the Drunken Monkey, the Stone Monkey, the Lost Monkey, the Wooden Monkey and the Standing Monkey. Each one of these forms of Iron Monkey Fist are very unique and in most cases, they need to fit a person's personality and sometimes physic.
"What does each of those forms do?" Konohamaru asked.
"I'll explain that now," Hiruzen said, "Drunken Monkey uses a lot of throat, eye and groin strikes as well as tumbling and falling techniques. It incorporates a lot of false steps to give the appearance it is defenseless and uses a lot of off balance strikes. The user wobbles, takes very faltering steps and sometimes fall to the ground and lies prone while waiting for the opponent to approach at which time a devastating attack is launched at the knees or groin areas of the opponent. With Drunken Monkey, you use more internal energy than any other form. It's one of the more difficult of the monkey styles to master and also extremely effective against a standard, attack-oriented enemy. Countering this style involves shifting your body around often to ensure that the Drunken Monkey user impacts more solid, tougher areas of your body.
"Stone Monkey is a "physical" style. The user trains up his body to exchange blows with the opponent. Stone Monkey uses a kind of iron body method. It will leave an area exposed on its body for an opponent to attack, so it can attack a more vital spot on the body. It's vital not to attack reflexively at open spots, and try to hammer away at their weak spots until they give in.
"Lost Monkey makes a lot of façades. Users of Lost Monkey give the appearance of being lost and confused to deceive the enemy into underestimating his abilities, and he retaliates when it's least expected. The hands and footwork change and flow from each other at will. All monkeys are sociable animals and so they live in family groups. They're also very territorial by nature and so when they wander into the territory of another family group, there's normally a fight possibly resulting in death to the trespassers. This technique incorporates the fear, nervousness and mischief of a monkey who has wandered into a neighboring territory, in that it attempts to pick and eat as many fruits and insects as quickly as is possible while nervously looking around before scurrying back to its own home range.
"Standing Monkey, also known as Tall Monkey, is a relatively conventional monkey that likes to keep an upright position and avoid tumbling around. This style is more suited for tall people. Tall monkey likes to climb body limbs to make attacks at pressure points. It's a long range style.
"Wooden Monkey impersonates a serious, angry monkey that attacks and defends with ferocity. The attitude of this monkey is more serious, and its movements are noticeably less light than the other monkeys. Wood monkey likes to grapple and bring its opponent to the ground."
"This is a lot to take in all at once Jiji," Konohamaru remarked.
"Well I'm not actually expecting you to grasp everything all in one day Konohamaru," Hiruzen made clear, "I know all this is a lot to take in but I'm confident that you'll come to understand my words with much practice that'll come with this training.
"But keep this important reminder in mind: In Iron Monkey Fist, you can easily damage your knees by learning it incorrectly. You can also damage your back and you can endure a lot of dizziness if you are doing it incorrectly. This is a very advanced taijutsu, and it's not for the beginners and should be treated as such. Movements are hard but if you try hard enough, you can master them. Do you understand?"
Konohamaru nodded in head, "Yes, Jiji!"
"As part of this training," Hiruzen continued, "You'll need to develop stronger fingers, for that reason…"
Hiruzen pulled out a scroll from his carrying case behind him and opened it, revealing seals writing in it with a kanji for equipment written in the center of the seals. Focusing chakra into it, Hiruzen released from the scroll, several exercising and training equipment from it that rested on the ground in front of him.
"…You'll be training with weights tied around her fingers arms and shoulders," Hiruzen finished. Konohamaru took a good look at the training gear his grandfather brought with him.
'Jiji wasn't joking when he said my training won't be an easy one,' Konohamaru thought to himself
"We'll start off with the light weights, I'll tie them to your fingers, arms, shoulders, waist and legs, and as time progresses I'll gradually advance you to the heavier weights," Hiruzen said before preparing his grandson for his training session.
(Elsewhere)
Hanabi was standing as still as she could without giggling; which was easier said than done due to the ticklish sensations her body was feeling. Currently 'Naruto' was kneeling in front of her making intricate brush strokes in the pattern of a spiral with other seal drawings around it with his ink brush over her exposed abdominal region as she held her shirt up high enough for him to do the job. When he was done, he set the ink brush down and performed a set of hand seals before placing his right hand on her abdominal. Hanabi couldn't help but blush at feeling 'Naruto's' hands on her stomach, even if it was a clone.
"Fūinjutsu: Doton Inryoku Fūjin (Sealing Technique: Earth Style Gravity Seal)!" Naruto said before focusing chakra into the seal over her abdominal. Hanabi a little discomfort as the seals took effect in on her body and chakra coils. Before long the task was done and 'Naruto' stood back up on his feet.
"There," 'Naruto' declared, "That seal should do the trick in helping you to focus your earth affinity around your body to generate your own self-imposed gravity field. Now let me show the hand signs to use with this seal as you begin focusing your earth affinity into your new seal."
"Naru-chan?" Hanabi asked, "Don't you also have a seal over your stomach that leaks chakra?"
"I do," 'Naruto' stated, "I remember telling you that; so, what about it?"
"That makes for something I have in common with you that onee-sama doesn't have with you," Hanabi remarked with a grin as she teasingly exposed her stomach to show her new seal on it.
"Aren't you naughty," 'Naruto' snorted.
"Only when I'm with you Naru-chan," Hanabi replied, "And that's because you're even naughtier than me."
"This coming from a Hyuuga girl who stole and read one of my Icha-Icha Paradise books when you thought I didn't notice," 'Naruto' shot back, causing Hanabi to stutter and blush when she realized she was busted.
"Fine, you got me," Hanabi muttered.
"Anyway," 'Naruto' said, "Let's get serious now. We'll start your training with your new seal. Now let me show the hand signs the use when you want to lower or increase the level of earth manipulation that'll be utilized with the seal. I advise that you start low and gradually increase the level of earth manipulation over a period of time."
'Naruto' demonstrated the required hand signs and instructed her to performed them as demonstrated. Hanabi did so and then focus her earth manipulation into her new seal. The seal on her stomach started taking affect when she began feeling a form of heaviness exerted against every inch of her body.
"It's harder to move now," Hanabi groaned after feeling the slight increase in force being pushed against her.
"Start getting used to it and more," 'Naruto' said, "Because this is what Hinata-chan was put through with her Gravity and Chakra Restraint Seals. You'll be training like this with your Elemental and Drunken Jyuuken also. Now let's get you started in your adaptation of this heaviness you're expressing."
"It's like I'm being crushed by my own strength," Hanabi moaned.
"I told you before my Little Nighttime Firecracker," 'Naruto' reminded, "You won't fail my training, you'll live through it. And trust me, you're only getting started. So tell me, are you going to allow the beginning stages of this difficult new training make you lose to Hinata-chan? What would the real Naru-chan think?"
That was all it took, questioning her conviction to catch up to Hinata as best as possible and proving herself to Naruto. 'Naruto' saw the fire ignite in her eyes, the same fire that burned in Hinata's eyes whenever he pushed her hard enough to force her to push back. Soon, Hanabi began focusing hard to start adapting to her increased heaviness before taking her first couple of steps.
(Elsewhere In Hi no Kuni)
The bounty hunter, known by his employer and many others as "Bloodhound," got up and cleaned himself up before preparing for his departure to resume his search for the Slug Sannin. He knew he had to be on his way soon before Tsunade got too far from him. Leaving the motel room, Bloodhound departed from the motel and started his journey into the direction Tsunade and Shizune journeyed off into. After a while, Bloodhound stopped walking and paused when he realized that the Sannin's tracks spread into multiple directions all of the sudden.
"Clever," Bloodhound acknowledged, "She's trying to throw me off. From this standpoint, her track and scent is divided and sent into multiple directions. Anyone of them could be a possible way she went or a decoy path to throw me off course while she creates a larger distance between us. Well let's see if I can adapt to this situation."
Bloodhound clasped his hands together to form a hand sign and said, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Bloodhound summoned twenty shadow clones and instructed, "Each of you will follow a trail and see where it leads. If you're led to the real Tsunade, summon me to that location and I'll handle the rest from there."
The clones nodded their heads, and each left into a direction of one of the 21 trails and the original Bloodhound went into the 21st trail.
(In Another Part of Hi no Kuni)
Naruto and company have been traveling since daybreak in their search for the wandering Sannin, Tsunade. During their trek, Naruto and Hinata, while walking a short distance behind the group, privately talked about what happened at the onsen and apologized to each other about the incident. Hinata told Naruto that she want to be the one to treat him to a lovely romantic evening this time when the opportunity arises since he was always the one romancing and treating her out. One hearing this, Naruto teasing asked Hinata if she would make it a night they would never forget. Replying to that, Hinata whispered in his ear how she wants to make out passionately again in the same manner they did on top of the Hokage Monument the other night. That was more than enough to get Naruto to look forward to whatever Hinata would plan for them and he expressed this by groping her rear briefly, causing Hinata to squeal and blush crimson while making sure no one was watching them.
While Hinata and Naruto were enjoying each other's sensual touch and company, Arashi, every now and then, would shoot Karin a flirtatious smile, with his smiles only to be met with Karin's frowns and huffs. Kansui could only sigh while watching the interactions between his Uzumaki brethren. However Naruto made it very clear that he wouldn't tolerate any violent outburst from any of them like what happened with regards to the food cart Karin destroyed the other day.
Earlier, Jiraiya was tipped off by one of his informants that Tsunade was seen taking off out of Uke Machi (A Streak of Good Luck Town) by night to another town. From what Jiraiya was told, something placed Tsunade on high alert which influenced her actions to suddenly skip town after winning a big game at one of the casinos. The Toad Sage could only wonder what it was that spooked Tsunade to the point that she would leave town in a rapid hurry that same night.
Putting that thought aside, Jiraiya thought about how he was about going to persuade Tsunade into returning to Konoha. He was under direct orders from Hiruzen to bring her back by any means necessary, even if it meant arresting and forcing her to return. He sighed as he considered his options that didn't require the use of force. Jiraiya knew that if Tsunade were to learn that Hiruzen is ordering her return to Konoha, whether she likes it or not, things could turn ugly fast and she'd possibly retaliate violently against them, Jiraiya and his team that is.
Regardless, Jiraiya had his orders and regardless of his feelings for the Slug Princess, his loyalty to Konoha and the Hokage came first.
"What are you thinking about?" Naruto asked the Toad Sage after he and Hinata caught up with the rest of the group after having their private moment together.
"I'm wondering how we're going to convince Tsunade peacefully return to Konoha with us," Jiraiya revealed.
"Do you think she'll come back with us willingly?" Hinata inquired.
"That would be like snatching a hornet nest from its resting place and telling the colony inside it to return with us without retaliation," Naruto remarked.
"Things can't possibly turn out that bad, right?" Hinata asked.
"You don't know Tsunade as well as you or anyone else thinks," Jiraiya stated, "Tsunade blames Konoha for a great deal of losses she suffered through during the chaotic periods of war Konoha and the other shinobi nations were involved in. Many of these losses she had seen with her own eyes."
"Jiraiya," Naruto stated, "Each of us in this group suffered familial losses in one form or another, be it through wars, being hunted down by enemy foreign shinobi forces, or self-sacrifice to protect us. The only difference is that we learned to deal and cope with our losses while honoring the memories of our lost loved ones who died protecting us. We didn't shame their sacrifices by running away."
"Where does this put me?" Jiraiya asked.
"I said "us" and "we" didn't I? That includes you in the equation," Naruto clarified, "In any case, let's keep continue with our search and worry about how to get Tsunade to come back with us after we finally find her."
In an effort to keep the group's spirit up, Hinata said optimistically, "I'm sure we'll find her soon enough."
(Three Days Later)
"Goddamn it!" Karin sworn angrily, "Someone needs to nail Tsunade's goddamn feet to the floor!"
Frustration was what everyone was feeling now. For the past three days, the group had been going from town to town tracking the elusive Slug Sannin who had been on the constant move. Several times they came close to finding her thanks to Karin's sensor abilities. The problem was that Tsunade never lingered too long in one town long enough for Hinata to use her Byakugan to pinpoint her exact location. From what Jiraiya and the group learned, Tsunade had been winning big gambles and games at every location she went to and whenever that happened, she and her female assistant who they learned was called Shizune would take off and skip town in a hurry.
This pattern had proven to frustrate the team's endeavor in catching the slippery Slug Princess. But what added further to their frustration was that they learned that someone else was also tracking and hunting for Tsunade and had been doing quite a job tracking her also. That double jeopardy had been fueling Tsunade's winning streak and causing her to continuously keep skipping town not too long after winning a game.
"Relax Karin," Naruto said, "None of us are any happier about this situation than you are."
"But we should have found that Sannin by now!" Karin replied, "And no thanks to this unknown tracker who's also looking her, our efforts has been slowed considerably!"
"Whoever this person is," Jiraiya stated, "His skills in tracking Tsunade are truly remarkable. Very few has ever been able to find Tsunade, but I never met one who has been able to keep in pace with her movements from town to town like me. This is no ordinary tracker we're dealing with."
"Well as Karin put it, this tracker has given us a considerable amount of headac-," Naruto stopped talking when he suddenly picked up on something.
"Naruto what is it?" Jiraiya asked.
"It's happening again!" Naruto said with excitement in his tone, a tone they came to identify.
"You're sensing another one of our brethren!?" Karin asked with excitement now in her tone.
"Precisely!" Naruto confirmed, "And he's traveling fast into our direction!"
"He is!?" Kansui asked just before a hooded figure materialized behind them.
"You're the one known as the Gallant Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin!" a figure said from behind. The group turned to see a hooded figure in dark robes standing tall behind them. Jiraiya found the man's robes and hood familiar, he was sure he saw them from somewhere before.
"I am," Jiraiya said with a grin, "I take it you heard of me."
"I'm very familiar with your exploits as one of Konoha's strongest ninja," the figure said before taking notice of the spiral designs on the panchos Kansui and Arashi were wearing; not to mention that the twins and Karin also had red hair.
'Could they be?' the figure wondered, 'Is it possible that they could be…?'
Before Jiraiya could say anything further, Naruto approached the hooded man and stood in front of him. He extended his right hand to the stranger and implored, "Please remove your glove and take my hand."
The figure found the request odd but sensed something kindred about the teen in front of him.
"Very well," the figure complied before removing his glove off his right hand taking Naruto's hand. When he did so, Karin, and the twins approached Naruto and stood behind him as he embraced the man's hand with his own. Karin, Kansui and Arashi took hold of Naruto's shoulders just as the link between Naruto and the Uzumaki in front of them was form, allowing them to be part of the Soul Link. A rush of emotions and sensations circulated between the five Uzumaki in the Soul Link created between them. The man in front of them couldn't believe what he was experiencing. It felt as though he found his nephews and niece whereas for Naruto and the other three, they felt they found an uncle figure.
When Naruto removed his hand from the man's hand, the figure removed his hood to reveal his face and minted green eyes and fiery red hair that was partly spiked. Naruto and Karin immediately recognized the man.
"My brethren and my clan's rightful heir!" the man said happily, "I've finally found you all after all these years of searching!"
"You're Uzumaki Seijiro!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, "You're the one who saved Haru no Kuni from Kazahana Dotō!"
"You heard me?" Seijiro asked in surprised.
"Koyuki-hime told me much about you after I saved her from being killed during an invasion in Konoha days ago!" Naruto explained, "Since then, I've been hoping to find you, but instead you found us!"
Jiraiya and Hinata approached the Uzumaki group and stood among them. Naruto pulled Hinata forward and introduced her, "This is my girlfriend Hyuuga Hinata. She's been at my side faithfully and loyally for a long time!"
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said with a deep blush and smile after hearing his sincere compliment. Seijiro looked at the young girl and smiled as he said, "You're from the Hyuuga clan, the heiress I presume."
"Yes," Hinata confirmed as she bowed respectfully to him "It's an honor to meet you Uzumaki Seijiro-san."
"It's an honor to meet you as well," Seijiro said before looking at Karin, Kansui and Arashi.
"Kansui, Arashi and Karin," Seijiro greeted, "I'm happy that we found each other."
"You're now the oldest Uzumaki of our group," Naruto said.
"I can see that considering that I'm 41," Seijiro replied.
"Yeah well, you and Hono-" Naruto stopped when his mind replayed what Seijiro revealed, "You're 41!? But Koyuki-hime said you were 28!"
"That's what she thought," Seijiro corrected, "The fact is I just don't look my age thanks to some strong Uzumaki genes and our longevity."
"I'll say," Karin commented optimistically, "It makes me look forward to looking young despite aging. Naruto-kun will continue to see the beauty that I'll continue to possess even then."
"But before that time," Arashi interjected charismatically, "Would you honor me in having my children who would posses your beauty?"
"Shut up!" Karin yelled angrily with a blush on her face, "Quit asking if you can impregnate me!"
Seijiro looked at Kansui and asked, "Are they always like this?"
"No," Kansui replied, "Sadly they're much, much worse than this."
"I'll keep that in mind," Seijiro said.
"Don't worry I'll keep them in check," Naruto assured and continued, "The now second oldest Uzumaki remains in Konoha and couldn't travel with us. But she'll be just as happy to meet and see you."
"There's another Uzumaki I have yet to meet?" Seijiro asked in surprise and in anticipation.
"Her name is Uzumaki Honoka," Naruto revealed, "You'll meet her in time when we return to Konoha."
"I'm looking forward to that," Seijiro said.
"You're the bounty hunter known as Bloodhound," Jiraiya stated, changing the subject and causing Seijiro to turn to his direction, "You're credited with bringing in 74 D-ranked criminals, 87 C-ranked criminals, 42 B-ranked criminals and 57 A-ranked criminals. Totaling your catches at 260, a good majority being groups of bandits or mid to high ranking Missing-nin. You're famous for defeating Dotō and his army as mention earlier."
"At the same time, you're feared for your ability to kill quietly without alerting anyone that you were ever there, and going on a rampage and leveling an entire building in a matter of moments. You're also known to be a calculative person and never rush into anything without first researching the area, your target, and the desired result of the encounter which often leans you towards one course of action over another."
"I'm amazed you know such things about my exploits Jiraiya," Seijiro confirmed, "Though I kept my identity as Uzumaki Seijiro a secret from others except from Koyuki-hime and her late father."
"I see," Jiraiya added, "Plus your skills as a bounty hunter is on par with Kakazu who happens to be an S-class missing nin from Takigakure."
"I'm also his most hated rival," Seijiro stated, "He has it in for me ever since I beat him to the punch several times in capturing several big bounties he really wanted to catch and cash in on. The last time I saw him, he was really pissed and wanted to kill me…Not like he didn't try to."
"You fought him?" Naruto asked.
"I did," Seijiro answered, "Though I battled him to a stalemate, but even then it was a close fight."
"I'd like to hear more about that encounter later," Naruto said, "Perhaps I can learn something from it."
Seijiro agreed to Naruto's request. Learning that Seijiro and Kakazu have bad blood history with each other, Naruto knew that he would have to question Seijiro later about anything else he knows about that Akatsuki member.
"But there's more to you than that Seijiro," Jiraiya stated.
"What else do you know about me?" Seijiro asked curiously.
"You're in the Bingo Books in Kirigakure as one of their most wanted S-class criminals," Jiraiya revealed.
"He's what!?" Naruto and the others remarked in disbelief.
"There must be some mistake!" Hinata argued hoping what she and the others heard wasn't true.
"It's true though I wish it wasn't," Jiraiya elaborated, "After learning about his name and identity from Koyuki-hime after seeing her picture with him, I did some investigating since his name sounded familiar. I knew I heard it before in connection with another elemental shinobi nation, I just didn't remember which one," Jiraiya pulled out a small dark blue book from with his green jacket and opened it to a particular page, "That was until I came across his name in Kirigakure's Bingo Books."
Jiraiya showed the page featuring a picture of a younger Seijiro and along with whatever details about him were present on the page.
"As you can see," Jiraiya pointed out, "Uzumaki Seijiro is charged with impersonation of a Kirigakure ninja, and fraud and conspiracy against the government. He's also wanted for the killing of four Kiri hunter-nin sent after him. They have a kill-on-sight order issued against him."
"Is that all they said about me?" Seijiro remarked without denying what was documented about him in Kirigakure's Bingo Books.
"Jiraiya," Naruto said, "You found this out and didn't tell me and my other Uzumaki brethren anything about this?"
"I only found this out last night after one of my informants gave me the information was looking for about Seijiro," Jiraiya replied, "Plus I didn't expect that we'd find Seijiro so soon after meeting Koyuki-hime a couple of days ago. I was planning on telling you first though I wasn't sure how you'd react to finding out that one of your Uzumaki kin is a wanted criminal."
Naruto turned to Seijiro and asked with a somber tone, "What did you mean by "Is that all they said about me"? What exactly did you do in Kirigakure that made you a wanted S-class criminal? "
Seijiro looked at Naruto and the rest of the group and answered, "What I meant by that statement is that there's more to what I did than what was reported. One night years ago, I killed the Sandaime Mizukage along with his advisors and a number of their Jounin ninja while making it look like it was Kumogakure's doing."
That was a revelation neither Naruto, Jiraiya nor the others were expecting to hear.
"You what!?" Karin asked as she, Hinata, Kansui and Arashi looked stupefied after hearing what Sejiro revealed he did, "You committed those crimes while framing another shinobi nation?!"
"Are you serious?!" Arashi asked, wishing what he heard were lies.
"Were you trying to trigger a war to breakout between those two nations?!" Kansui asked.
"Tell us you're not serious!" Hinata implored.
"I'm as serious as a heart attack!" Seijiro stated firmly, "But those events took place years ago any of you were born, some time before the Third Shinobi World War between Konoha and Iwa started. What happened not only led to many Kiri and Kumo ninja killing each other, but also the death of the Raikage when he ordered his remaining ninja to flee and retreat while he stayed behind to fight and hold back the massive army of 10,000 ninja by himself that came after them."
Hinata turned to see Naruto's expression on hearing Seijiro what Seijiro revealed. To Hinata's surprise, Naruto remained completely composed and calm after hearing what was said and confirmed. Despite everything, Naruto felt that there had to be more to the story that wasn't explained or documented.
"I remember reading about that incident," Jiraiya recalled, "It was hard to believe when the reports came in to Konoha about what going on during that Second Shinobi World War. Seijiro, you caused that war between Kiri and Kumo to happen?"
"Yes I did!" Seijiro said, "And I can tell you why…"
Naruto has found Uzumaki Seijiro who's not only the bounty hunter known as Bloodhound, but also an S-class terrorist wanted dead in Kirigakure and responsible for triggering a war between Kirigakure and Kumogakure. What could have incited and moved Seijiro to kill the Sandaime Mizukage along with his advisors and ninja while framing Kumogakure with the acts? Will Konohamaru master Iron Monkey Fist with his grandfather Hiruzen training him? Will Hanabi succeed in becoming stronger through her new earth manipulation based self-imposed gravity? Find out all this next time.