Chapter 4:
An Old Enemy
It was now nighttime. The sun had long since disappeared from the sky. In its place now stood the moon, its light lighting up the night sky. There were small twinkles alongside it, those said twinkles being the many thousands or millions of stars spread out throughout the vast universe.
In the Uzumaki mansion, one blond knucklehead shinobi and now self pronounced time traveler could be seen lying down on a queen size bed, arms behind his head as he looked at the night sky through the window of his room under his covers.
Naruto could accurately remember his reaction when Kazumi had first shown him where he was to stay during his time here. It wasn't that hard. It had barely been three days now since it'd happened. The whiskered boy silently chuckled at the shock that had transpired in him at seeing the room. Needless to say, his apartment in Konoha did not compare at all to this. While it wasn't a commodity that the blond jinchuriki was used to, he wasn't about to complain.
Sighing, Naruto let his gaze wonder from the moon to the room, picking out the small details in the dark. It had been a few minutes since Kurama had told him of the Sennin's visit and just what the founder of the shinobi world had said.
Needless to say, he wasn't all too thrilled about what was about to happen in the future or just what their first "obstacle" was. Or could be.
"You can't stop everything from occurring, brat. Some things are just unstoppable."
Naruto frowned at hearing that. Words like "impossible" or "unstoppable" weren't exactly in his dictionary. Still, he could understand where the nine tailed bijuu was coming from. Understand, but not agree. Those two concepts were completely different.
'I know that, Kurama. But still. If the destruction of Uzu is our first obstacle, then shouldn't we be out there trying to stop it? Just sitting here isn't going to do anything. I mean, isn't that why Sasuke and I even came back to the past to do in the first place? Fix the mistakes that have occurred? I don't know about you, but destruction of this place seems like a big mistake that needs to be fixed.'
Kurama was silent for a few moments, trying to find the words that he needed to convey.
"It's not like I disagree with you at all on this. If it were up to me, we would be causing mayhem out there. But the old man sent us here exactly for a reason. And I never said that we weren't meant to stop the destruction of this place. Because if that is the first obstacle, the old man believes that you and I can handle it."
Naruto continued to frown, knowing full well that the giant fox was holding out on him. Kurama could sense this and had to sigh. Really, things were easier to hide if the person who you're trying to hide the thing from wasn't too perceptive.
"All right, brat. You got me. So the old man isn't always too clear with his messages. There could be many different ways to interpret that."
Naruto's frown deepened. 'I thought so. The Sennin didn't strike me as the type of person to just say things straight out. But if he thinks that I'm just going to just sit back and watch as how my clan is destroyed right in front of me, then he's terribly mistaken.'
Kurama h'mphed at hearing that. 'I'm pretty sure the old man kept that in his calculations…..' Still, he didn't voice that out. Instead, he said, "We have time to come up with a way to fix that, brat. While I'm not exactly certain when it happens, this place isn't set to be destroyed until a couple of years."
Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at hearing that. 'How do you know that?'
"Don't you remember what your mother told you? That she was sent to Konoha to be made my next jinchuriki?" At Naruto's nod, the beast continued. "Well, I know for a fact that her arrival to Konoha had been just shortly before Uzu was destroyed. And she was older at the time. If I had to guess, I'd say around ten years old, maybe eleven. I don't know. But by those calculations, we still have two more years at the least to figure out a way to save this place. And hell, I'm sure the old man twill pop up in that time and then we can ask him."
Naruto didn't respond, but he could see the logic in Kurama's words. While he wasn't too thrilled at having not known that the Sennin had shown up until now, there would be more chances. And if things got too much out of control, then he could always just head out to which ever nation was taking part of the attack and kick all of their asses. While it wasn't something that he wanted to do, he was prepared to do so.
Kurama merely grinned, having sensed all of this. At this point, there wasn't anyone who could stand in the blond's way except for Sasuke. But they were both on the same side. And Madara…..who knew where the Uchiha was. But that wasn't something that they needed to concern themselves with. At least, not at the moment.
Of course, there was one person who they didn't know where he stood. And that was Naruto's very own grandfather, Uzumaki Arashi. The bijuu knew for a fact that the Uzumakis were no pushovers. As for their leader…..the fox had no idea where he stood. Still, they had been wiped out before. So whatever went down here was big. But the bijuu wasn't about to let that scare him, not in the least. He was certain that Naruto was prepared to handle anything that came their way.
His train of thoughts ceased as Naruto was immediately on the alert. The blond was immediately standing by the door that led to his room, his ear pressed up against it as he heard voices downstairs. But due to the distance, he couldn't quite pick up what it was that was being said.
Kurama smirked. "Oi, you're not going to just stay here and not find out what exactly is going down there, are you?"
The blond boy smirked back as he dropped to the floor, sitting down in a cross legged position with both of his hands in front of him. The blond Uzumaki continued to smirk as he felt the familiar essence of nature energy entering him.
'You know me too well, furball.'
The fox bijuu merely grinned back before closing his eyes. Yes, it wouldn't be Naruto-like to just sit in here. It would make things too boring as well.
Naruto's eyes snapped open as the familiar frog-like irises appeared, replacing his natural blue eyes.
It was spying time, Naruto style.
Down below in the first floor of the Uzumaki mansion, something indeed was going down. But it wasn't as dangerous as Naruto had first thought it would be or rather the kind of dangerous that he had imagined. However, it was as important as he had thought it would be.
Using his chakra to stick to the side of the mansion, Naruto had his back pressed up against the wall as he stood below one of the windows, masking away his chakra perfectly as he listened in to the conversation going inside. Really, learning senjutsu was one of the best things that he had ever done. Next to shadow clones of course.
Inside Arashi's makeshift office were Arashi himself, Kaito, Kazumi, and the doctor whom Naruto recognized as the man who had taken care of him when he had first woken up in the past.
Arashi rubbed his forehead as he sat on his chair behind his desk with his wife standing next to him. Kaito was off to the side with his hands still in his pockets, wearing his just a regular pair of black pants with a gray t-shirt. Finally, the doctor, or Uzumaki Ryo, sat on the other side of Arashi's desk.
"Please tell me you've found something, Ryo-san," said Arashi with a tired sigh as he glanced at the shaking form of his wife. And the shaking wasn't from the cold or any form of fear. Not at all. The shaking was from the almost uncontrolled rage that was coursing through her veins. Against his wishes, Kazumi had found out about the Naruto situation, mainly that the boy was part Uzumaki. It had happened when Ryo had shown up to their house in the middle of the night with him having no excuse prepared to tell his wife. So instead he had to spill the beans. The end result? A pissed off Kazumi.
This night was shaping out to be wonderful. To those not clued in, it was sarcasm.
Ryo shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he too felt the rage that Kazumi was currently omitting. How was he supposed to have known that his leader hadn't told his own wife about the matter!? But still, what he had to say was something that couldn't just wait.
"Well," he began, "that's just the problem that I have, Arashi-sama. I haven't found a single thing."
Arashi looked at him with a frown. "And that is why you came here in the middle of the night? To tell me you've found nothing?" Really, because if that was it, then he certainly gave Ryo more credit than the man deserved.
Ryo shook his head. "Please, understand just what I'm saying here, Arashi-sama. The boy's blood….they don't match with anyone else's from the clan!"
All other occupants in the room froze at hearing that. But just how could that be? How could Naruto's blood that match anyone?
Outside below the window, Naruto's blood froze at hearing this.
'Just what are they talking about!?'
Kurama t'ched at having heard what Ryo had said. First, he had overlooked the issue with the seal. And now this! Of course they would have taken some of Naruto's blood for study. How could he have missed that!?
"Brat, we may have a major problem on our hands at the moment."
Naruto shivered slightly at the tone in which the bijuu said those words. 'Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like any of this?'
"Because it's something major which we've overlooked! Just like with the seal that apparently no longer exists!"
Naruto frowned at the reminder.
"Nevermind that. We have to deal with this right now. It's obvious that they took some of your blood to check whether or not there was something else wrong with you. From that, we can already deduce that they know you're Uzumaki, or at least part. The conversation in front of us also proves it."
Naruto's eyes widened as he finally connected the dots.
'If they check kaa-chan's blood with my sample…..'
Kurama nodded, sounding as grave as the situation looked.
"Exactly. We would have a major shit storm on our hands. Worse case scenario? You get locked up, and they try to find out just where exactly you come from. If that were to happen…."
The bijuu left the statement hanging, but both knew what he was going to say. If that happened, then they would have no choice but to leave Uzu. And that would just make their job a lot harder.
Naruto just couldn't believe his luck. 'I'm sure the teme doesn't have to put up with this crap!'
Or maybe he did. Who knew what Sasuke had to deal with right now. Ugh, whatever. He would ask the teme that when he met him again. Right now, the situation in front of him required his full attention.
'Oi, Kurama! Just what are we going to do about this?'
The bijuu was silent, not knowing the answer himself. At least, not now.
Inside, the conversation continued.
"Just what do you mean by that?" asked Kazumi with a scowl on her usual kind face.
Ryo flinched slightly. "It's just exactly that, ma'am. Every single member of the clan's blood sample has been tested with the boy's, including my own. And they all came back negative. The only ones that weren't were Arashi-sama's and everyone else from his family."
Kazumi frowned. Of course, that had been the best kind of action. After all, there was just no way that anyone of them could be the one responsible for this mess.
Outside, both Naruto and Kurama sighed in relief.
"Well, that certainly explains a lot…."
Naruto had to agree with the bijuu. 'Yeah. I'm starting to think that we were panicking too much for nothing.'
Kurama shook his head. "I wouldn't say that we're home free, at least not yet. While it's true that it's highly unlikely that they'll try to match themselves with you, it's still there. Let's just be happy that they don't suspect each other, or they would have done so already."
Naruto merely nodded silently. 'Yeah, you and me both. But still. We have to do something about this. If they do test their blood with mine….'
Kurama simply t'ched. Like the bijuu had said before, it would be a major shit storm. Just how were they going to deal with this?
Arashi continued to massaged his forehead, a headache now making itself known. "Just how is this possible, Ryo-san?"
The good doctor could only shake his head. "I-I really don't know, Arashi-sama. I'm just as confused as you are."
Still leaning against the wall, Kaito was shaking his head as well. "You must have made some mistake somewhere. Because there is just no way that what you're saying could be true."
"Kaito, don't be disrespectful," chimed in Kazumi with a frown still on her face. While she didn't like what the doctor's revelation brought upon them, there was nothing to do. "There's no way that Ryo-san would blunder something as big as this."
"Believe me," began Ryo, "I've rechecked my results over and over again. It's what I got. If I had something better to tell you, I would have."
"Thank you, Ryo-san. We understand."
Ryo stood up and bowed to his leader before making his way towards the door. After he had left, Kazumi took to the pacing around the room, shaking her head along the way.
Arashi wish he could do the same, but really, he felt too exhausted to do so. And here he had thought that his job would have been much easier.
"Well, at least we now know why he would come here so late," commented Kaito with a sigh as he scratched his head. He had calmed down a bit after having the time to digest the news. His mother? She didn't have so much control.
"What are we going to do about this?"
Arashi looked at his wife who had asked the question, not quite having the answer to that question.
With a sigh, he answered. "I really don't know. The mysteries around this boy just keep piling up."
Kaito looked at his father. "I think that maybe now it's the time for us to use other means to get our answers."
"NO!"
Both father and son looked at Kazumi with wide eyes with said redhead looking at Kaito with narrowed eyes.
"The boy is not at fault here. Whatever is going on, we have to find out ourselves. But without causing any trauma to him!"
Kaito frowned. "Kaa-san, I understand where you're coming from. Heck, I don't even think he's a bad kid. But still. This just crosses the line. He's an Uzumaki, but for some reason we're unable to find out just where he came from. That's too risky, especially during this time."
Arashi for his part looked between his wife and son, trying to see who would come on top. In all honesty, he could understand both sides' point of view. Kaito, acting on the benefit of the village and his reasoning that Naruto's arrival was part of someone's scheme even if said boy didn't know anything about said scheme. And Kazumi, acting on Naruto's behalf to make sure that no harm befell the young boy. Because really, that was exactly what their method of 'getting the answers' would do.
The old Uzumaki frowned. That was one thing that he didn't like about their interrogation methods using fuinjutsu. While it was extremely effective, it left so many chances for the person being interrogated to be mentally scarred for life. And that was talking about an adult. An eight year old boy?
Yes, he could totally understand his wife's point of view, especially since he too liked Naruto. The boy just didn't seem like he had any bad intentions. And if what Kazumi had told him was true, his own daughter seemed to be starting to open up just a bit to him.
Both mother and son had a stare off, their stubbornness matched against each other. Like some many times before, Arashi realized that he had to be the deciding factor. But really, he didn't know which was the best course of action at the moment. There were too many unknowns for him to make a decision just yet.
"I believe," he began, causing for both mother and son to look at him, "that we should call it a night. We can deal with this mess tomorrow. It would be rash to make any sort of decision at the moment."
Kaito was quick to protest. "But tou-san! You can't just let this matter drop just like that!"
Arashi shook his head as he stood up. "I'm not. But I'm not ready to make a decision that could possibly ruin a young innocent boy's life right now."
Seeing his son about to protest once more, Arashi raised his had, stopping him. "I understand where you're coming from, Kaito. And if it were under different circumstances, I would have probably agreed with you. But one day, you're going to be in my shoes. And if there is one thing that you can take out of this whole mess is that a wise leader has to see all sides of an issue, not just one. Many great leaders have made grave mistakes just because of their stubbornness."
Kaito was silent after hearing that. Sighing, he turned around and began to walk out of the room. Stopping by the door, he looked back at his parents.
"Fine. I'll just see how things go in the morning then."
Quickly leaving the room, Kaito didn't say another word.
Arashi chuckled as he looked at Kazumi. "He has your stubborn attitude alright."
Kazumi sighed. "I understand what he's trying to say, I really do. But Naruto-kun is not a bad kid. That I'm certain of. Whatever is going is not his fault. I'm just trying to make sure that his life doesn't get destroy by whatever is going on."
Arashi walked around his desk to embrace her, running a hand through her hair which he adored so much.
"I know. I'm not blaming you. I'm sure Kaito will realize this too. He's a smart kid." He chuckled internally. Maybe "kid" wasn't accurate, but given Arashi's own age? Sure, it was acceptable.
Kazumi chuckled as she buried her head on her husband's chest. 'Hopefully…..'
Pulling back, Arashi raised up her chin with his hand to look at her in the eyes. "But for now, let's get some sleep. We'll be able to think more clearly about this in the morning."
Wordlessly, Kazumi followed behind her husband as he allowed for her to walk out first. Looking at his office one last time, the aged leader narrowed his eyes as for just a split of a second he thought that he had felt another presence in the room.
Shrugging it off as his imagination, he closed the door behind him as he followed behind his wife upstairs towards their room, quite eager to call this day a quit.
Perched up on top of one of the many nearby trees, Naruto had a lot of reflecting to do after everything that he had just seen take place tonight. But the biggest emotion he felt was happiness. Happiness at seeing his own grandmother actually caring about him as much as she did. While it wasn't something that he had been expecting, he wasn't about to complain.
"She's quite something, eh brat?"
Naruto could only nod. He now saw where his mother had gotten her stubbornness from and, consequently, him as well. He wasn't so sure about what to think about his uncle's reaction though. But one thing was certain: he too understood where he was coming from. After all, as far as they were concerned, this could still be part of someone's scheme that could jeopardize their entire village and family.
In all honesty, though, Naruto wasn't too sure what he would do if he were in his grandfather's shoes. But one thing he was certain of: he respected the kind of man that he was. Arashi reminded him a lot of how the Sandaime was. Both wise leaders and just rulers but hard when the situation called for it. It was exactly the kind of leader that he wanted to be someday.
But that could come later. Now, there was a problem to deal with.
'Oi, furball. Just how are we going to solve this?'
Kurama scratched his ear with one of his tails as he thought about the situation at hand.
"Honestly, brat, I have no idea. But if we were to destroy all of your blood samples, that would cause for more problems to arise instead of fixing any. And it could just be the line that would force your grandfather to act accordingly. So for now, the best option in my opinion is just to see how thing play out. As things stand, I don't think they're going to test their own blood with yours. As long as that doesn't happen, then we're safe."
Naruto merely listened to everything that the bijuu had to say. If there was one thing that the blond jinchuriki had learned about the nine tailed fox in the short time that they had been friends was that the bijuu was extremely smart. Then again, he had lived for who knew how many years. So it was expected. But the point was that the blond had learned to listen to what the beast had to say in these situations. Because really, Naruto knew that he sucked when it came to thinking things through. Well, unless it was in the heat of battle.
'I see. Well, it's not like I have anything else, so I guess your plan it is, furball. We'll just have to see what they finally decide to do.'
"I wouldn't worry too much about it anymore, brat."
Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at the calmness in which Kurama said that sentence. 'What? Why? Weren't you the one that was freaked out just a minute ago about this?'
"Yeah, I was. But now having finally seen what took place in there, the threat has gone down immensely. It's obvious that they trust you and have taken a liking to you, especially your grandmother. And while I don't know why they would, it'll work in our favor."
Of course, he lied about the last part. The bijuu knew exactly why they had taken a liking towards his host. But hey, he needed to keep up appearances.
Naruto rubbed his chin in contemplation. 'I see. While I don't like using baa-chan like this, you're right. Keeping our heads lowered right now would be for the best. Better to just learn whatever info we can of this time.'
Kurama nodded as he closed his eyes, releasing a massive yawn. "Exactly. Now, I believe that's all for tonight, brat. Best if we just call it a night too. After all, you have to go to the academy tomorrow again, remember?"
Naruto shivered slightly before he perked up, remembering that he would get to see both Haru and Aika. Not only that, but cool things down with his mother even more.
Instantly jumping down from the tree, the blond made his way back to the window that led into his room. It was time to get some shuteye.
The moon and the stars in the sky seemed to light up even more.
The rest of the night was gone in a flash. Maybe because there had been nothing else to do except to sleep. Still, the blond jinchuriki didn't think about it as he woke up with a yawn, stretching his arms and legs as he got out of the bed.
Looking around in his half awake state, the blond scratched his butt before finally making his way to his own bathroom that was actually inside his room. As a side note, that had been something else which the blond had found to be quite shocking.
Quickly going through his morning routine of brushing his teeth and taking a shower, Naruto put on his usual outfit. Walking outside of his room and closing the door behind him, the blond made his way downstairs where things were more lively.
His stomach made its presence known as the whiskered jinchuriki smelled the food that was already prepared as he entered the kitchen table. The others were already there even for Kushina who seemed to be quieter than usual.
Sitting down at his usual spot next to Kaito, Naruto did his best to ignore everything that he had seen take place the night before.
Kazumi had a smile plastered on her face from her spot next to Arashi. "So, today is your second day at the academy, Naruto-kun. Are you excited?"
Naruto nodded, his usual grin coming to life. "Yep! I even made some new friends there."
Arashi looked surprised as he joined the conversation. "Is that so?"
Naruto nodded again. "Yeah! Even Kenji-ojiichan's son, Haru. He's a bit shy though….."
Arashi chuckled. "That he is, my boy. Well, I'm glad for you."
Kazumi nodded as she agreed. "That's right. It would have been a bit boring for you there without any friends."
Kushina shifted uncomfortably on her seat for a moment before calming herself. This didn't go unnoticed by either parents but chose to not comment on it.
Kaito for his part chose to remain silent. He still wanted to pick things up with his father about last night's issue but knew that now wasn't the time for it. Well, he could wait. If there was something that he had been forced to learn before becoming a jonin was that patience was a virtue. It wasn't a good thing to be impatient. Impatience was something which had gotten so many other shinobi dead in the past. And still did for that matter.
The rest of breakfast was met with a comforting silence reigning. Naruto didn't really mind it in the slightest. After having eaten by himself for all of his life, this was quite the improvement. It was even better because this was his actual family.
It was then that a shinobi whom Naruto didn't recognize appeared by the doorway which led into the gigantic living room with one of the servants at his side.
"Arashi-sama-"
Arashi raised his hand to stop the servant. "It's quite alright. You may go."
The servant simply bowed before doing so. The shinobi simply knelt as he said, "Arashi-sama, there are some shinobi from Konoha who wish to speak with you."
Arashi was immediately on his feet. "I'm sorry for leaving like this, but it seems that there's something I have to do."
Kazumi nodded while Kaito stood up as well, following behind his father. Kushina simply looked on in slight confusion while Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. Konoha, eh? Well, this was why shadow clones had been created.
"Oi, are you going to….?"
'Yeah. Like I said last night, we need as much information about this period as we can. I'm sure that whatever those shinobi are here for, it must be big. I have to know.'
Kurama smirked. "Finally thinking, are you? Well, good. Knowledge is power, brat. Never forget that."
Naruto chuckled in his mind before looking at Kazumi who was now standing up as well.
"Well, looks like it's time for the academy you two. Time to go."
Kushina stood up without a word as she made her way towards the door out of the house.
Naruto chuckled as he scratched his head. "Sorry, baa-chan. But I forgot something upstairs. I'll be right back."
Kazumi simply nodded as she watched the young blond run upstairs. Turning to her daughter who was putting on her sandals already, Kazumi shook her head.
"Not so fast, Kushina-chan. We have to wait for Naruto-kun."
Kushina didn't respond, instead for opting to turn around so as to not look at her mother in the face. Kazumi couldn't help but smile slightly.
'So, she's still shy about what happened yesterday, eh? Hehehe, so cute.' Inside her head, the Uzumaki matriarch was a giggling mess.
Turning around, she saw Naruto running back downstairs towards them. Nodding to herself, Kazumi and the two Uzumaki kids made their way out of the house and towards the academy.
No one saw the sudden blur jumping from the house's rooftop.
"Oi, brat. This isn't exactly going to be as easy as spying on them last night. They went to your grandfather's official office or whatever. There's going to be a lot of shinobi around."
Naruto frowned at hearing that. Truth be told, he hadn't thought about it until now. Still, thanks to senjutsu he could mask his chakra perfectly. No one would know he was there unless they were really looking. And that wouldn't be a problem in the least unless he alerted any one of them of his presence, something which he wasn't about to go and do.
Landing at a nearby rooftop in front of the main tower in Uzu, Naruto made sure to not be seen by the many civilians down below as they walked around the streets, going about their business.
Looking at the tower, Naruto couldn't help but frown again. Okay, so this was going to be a bit more tougher than he anticipated. And he was talking about the many shinobi that were on guard all over the tower.
'Geez. What's up with all of the security?'
"Must be because of the arrival of the Konoha shinobi. Like I've told you before, brat, this is a different time. If my estimations are correct, the Second Shinobi War is still raging on right now. And if my other hunch is correct, that must be why those shinobi came here."
Naruto t'ched at hearing this. Really, couldn't anything be easy? But now he had to think. How could he get inside the tower without alerting anyone that he was there in the first place?
The whiskered blond turned his attention the roof of the tower, immediately seeing two shinobi, chunnin by the looks of it, stationed up there. Using the swift mobility provided sennin mode, Naruto was quickly on the rooftop without having alerted anyone.
He was behind the two guards in an instant, knocking them out. The now unconscious guards fell to the ground in an instant.
'I'm going to need to wake them up before I leave,' thought the blond before shaking his head. Looking down below, he saw a few more shinobi on the ground but he could sense even more everywhere inside the tower. They were well hidden alright, especially in his grandfather's office.
"How exactly are you going to deal with that, brat?" Let it be known for a fact that Kurama was not one for stealth. And why should he be? After all, all he had to do was blow away anyone who dared to mess with him with his chakra. Not to mention his size. That was the bigger factor here.
Naruto didn't respond as he concentrated. Weighing his options, the blond decided to risk everything by walking along the side of the building before being close enough to the office. In other words, it was the same method in which he had spied on his family the night before. The only problem with that would be if any of the shinobi on the ground decided to look up.
Still, the young jinchuriki realized that his grandfather wasn't all too concerned about someone sneaking in from up top. If he did, there would have been more guards up here. The other good thing about being in this mode was that he was almost invisible to the naked eye from long distances when remaining still. In all honesty, the only way he could be found was if they actively searched for him.
Nodding his head, Naruto decided to go ahead with his plan. Jumping to the wall, his feet immediately stuck to it like as if it were glued. Walking along it, the blond moved swiftly and silently. It wasn't long before he reached his destination. Seeing the many windows which no doubt belonged to his grandfather's office, Naruto stopped.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated as he tried to pick up all the chakra in the area. Grinning, the blond realized that he had made it just in time. They were just outside of the office. A second later, Naruto's blood froze as he sensed a chakra which he was all too familiar with as well as with the owner of said chakra.
Gritting his teeth, the blond tried to reign in his anger.
'Orochimaru….'
Arashi opened the door to his office as he walked in followed by Kaito, Kenji, and a few other shinobi. They were followed in by the shinobi from Konoha who were four in total, one of which was none other than Orochimaru himself. Albeit, a much younger Orochimaru but still.
Sitting down on his seat, Arashi folded his arms in front of him as he immediately placed his poker face on. Both Kenji and Kaito flanked him. Normally, he wouldn't have allowed for Kaito to have been here but the jonin had demanded to be a part of the meeting. And Arashi couldn't blame him. After all, he already knew what the topic of this conversation was going to be.
Orochimaru bowed for a moment as he carefully eyed all of the Uzu shinobi who stood all around the room. It seemed that the village leader wasn't as trusting as he let on to be, eh?
"It's an honor to be here, Uzumaki-dono," said Orochimaru as he stood straighter.
Arashi h'mphed. "One of Hiruzen's student, eh? Really, to think that he would send someone so young here. Either he has much faith in your skills, or he's going senile sooner than expected."
If that comment bothered him, Orochimaru hid it perfectly as he simply smiled pleasantly in return.
"I assure you, Uzumaki-dono, that I'm quite capable. Unfortunately, we're on limited time here, so I must make this meeting as quickly as possible."
Arashi waved one of his hands, signaling for Orochimaru to continue.
Said shinobi did so. "As you must know, the war doesn't seem to be waning down. Suna is on the brink of surrender thanks to our victories on their front as well as the pressure that Iwa is putting on them from the north. Unfortunately, despite their heavy losses, Iwa doesn't seem to be on the road to surrendering especially with their success against Suna. Finally, things with Kumo are the hardest. They've been having a successful campaign against Kiri. Even our efforts against them haven't been too successful in recent months."
Arashi frowned as he listened to all of this. Really, he had expected all of this. Onoki was just too stubborn to give up as easily, especially against Konoha. As for Kumo, the Sandaime Raikage was a monster. Arashi wasn't so sure if he could be able to stand up against the man. And that said something. As long as both Iwa and Kumo refused to surrender, however, the war would drag on. And Konoha couldn't afford to keep fighting in two fronts as big as those. At least, not at the rate in which things were going.
Which was exactly what led these four Konoha shinobi here to Uzu.
Raising one of his hands, Arashi interrupted Orochimaru mid-sentence as the said shinobi continued to explain the situation to him. Really, it was just all pointless. Everyone inside of the room knew just why they were here. Best if they just got on with it.
"There's no need for you to continue," Arashi said as he lowered his hand. "I know why you're here, Orochimaru. So why don't you just get on with it."
Once more, if Orochimaru was surprised at Arashi knowing his name, he hid it pretty well. Nodding, Orochimaru decided to do so.
"Very well. Sandaime-sama has sent me here to ask you if you would please step out of your neutrality stand in this war. Besides, we all know that both Iwa and Kumo aren't exactly respecting your decision either. You could even say that this will be your way for some payback for their many efforts of trying to intrude into your nation."
Arashi frowned behind his folded hands. That was most certainly one way in which he could look at things, but it wasn't the one that he was choosing. Glancing at Kenji, the Uzumaki leader saw the man merely standing there with a blank look. But Arashi knew better. He knew that his friend wasn't so keen on joining this war. Hell, no one from Uzu was. It was why they had decided to remain neutral. But like Orochimaru had so kindly put it, both Iwa and Kumo weren't exactly following their stand on this matter.
Of course, they hadn't attacked them outright, but the many raids along the coasts of Kiri was more than enough. Not to mention the embargo placed by Kumo on them. With how things were outside of Uzu, it wasn't safe for any Uzumaki to go out into the Elemental Nations. One way or another, Konoha really was their only anchor.
But there was something else driving him. And that was the relationship which Konoha and Uzu shared, mainly the relations between the Senju and the Uzumaki. It was the whole reason they even had a treaty with Konoha in the first place. The Senju and the Uzumaki were distantly related, with the Uzumaki clan having been formed from a faction of the Senju who didn't want to take any part in between the constant fighting between the Senju and the Uchiha. It was when they had first formed Uzu, the first shinobi village ever to be created even if they weren't recognized as so by the other nations.
Ever since then, the Senju and the Uzumaki had kept close relations, even after Hashirama had created Konoha with Uchiha Madara. And now they were asking for help.
Arashi could only sigh. This was going to be troublesome. Looking at Orochimaru, Arashi answered.
"Unfortunately, I can't answer you right away. I need to consult with my advisers first."
Orochimaru nodded at the answer. "Understandable. But unfortunately, we can only spend a day here at the most. We have to return as soon as possible."
Arashi frowned again. Things were really hectic if Hiruzen was only giving him a day to come up with an answer. And he knew Hiruzen personally. He could honestly say that the Nidaime had chosen well. In other words, Konoha must be in dire need of help at the moment if he was asking this much.
Nodding, Arashi responded. "Very well. You may stay at one of our hotels for the day. I will summon you back in the morning to inform you of our final answer."
Nodding again, Orochimaru along with the other three Konoha shinobi filed out of the office as they were escorted by the other jonin who had been inside the room.
After they had all left, Arashi finally released a massive sigh as he slumped down on his seat.
Kenji sighed as well as he walked to stand in front of Arashi's desk. "It seems that the war is not going so well for Konoha as we first had thought."
Arashi nodded. "Yes, I know. For Hiruzen to do this, he must need help badly. Especially since he's going up against both Iwa and Kumo. Even he can't be in two places at once."
Kenji shook his head. "He's asking a lot though. You know that the council won't go along with this, especially since they're only giving us a day to come up with a decision."
Kaito cut into the conversation. "We all know here that father can easily override the council in this matter. It's war we're talking about."
Arashi looked at him. "That may be, but that doesn't mean that it'll be a smart thing to do. They'll find ways to cheat the system. That's what politics is all about. But still, we may be able to persuade the council easier than usual."
Kenji could only sigh as he relented on that point. "Yeah, that much is true. They haven't been pleased with Iwa and Kumo recently. I'm pretty sure that a lot of them were just waiting for something like this to happen before they jumped at the opportunity. But we can't get rid of the fact that this may just be what Iwa and Kumo were planning all along, especially Kumo."
"To get their hands on one of us," finished Arashi for him. The three Uzumaki in the room could agree to that. Inside of Uzu, they were pretty well protected. But once outside? No guarantee.
Arashi stood up. "Well, I might as well get this over with. Kenji, if you would please arrange the meeting with the council."
Kenji merely nodded as both men made for the door. They stopped midway, however, as Kaito spoke.
"What about the matter with Naruto?"
Arashi paused for a moment as he glanced at Kenji who glanced back. Turning to look at his son, Arashi answered.
"It will have to be solved later. Right now, we have to deal with this matter with Konoha. Odds are, we'll be at war tomorrow. So you might want to prepare yourself."
Ending it at that, Arashi walked out followed by Kenji. Standing inside the room for a few more moments in silence, Kaito shook his head before following suit.
The office was soon vacant.
Naruto was soon back at the academy, still coming into terms with everything that he had learned. After his clone had made the excuse of going to the bathroom, the blond had used that opportunity to switch back with it. The trip to the academy had also been in silence.
Now walking through one of the halls towards his classroom, the blond Uzumaki was in a deep conversation with the nine tailed bijuu.
'Is war really going to happen here too?'
"Don't be too surprised, brat. Really. What should have been surprising was how long it took to get here, especially with how long this war has been. We should be kind of grateful, though. Because of this mess, trying to figure out just who you exactly are has been put aside. Things will be kind of easier for us now."
Naruto had to agree with the bijuu once more. Because of the arrival of Orochimaru and the possible outcome of war in the horizon, he was no longer the top priority for Arashi. But because of that, things were going to get kind of hectic in Uzu.
But the blond jinchuriki had come to terms that he would have to fight in another war. It had just come sooner than expected.
Walking back into the classroom, the blond moved quickly to his seat in the back of the classroom in between Haru and Aika who had decided to sit with them from now on. Neither Naruto nor Haru minded.
Sitting down, Naruto caught Kushina glancing his way. If his memories from his clone were correct, the young redhead had been doing that all morning. Well, it seemed that he would need to figure things out with her when lunchtime came.
His thoughts returned back to the council meeting which would no doubt be taking place at any moment now. Really, he was never one for politics but from what he had heard from his grandfather and Kenji, the council would most likely vote for war. And if that happened, what would mean to all of these kids still in the academy?
There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that they wouldn't last too long out there, or at all.
"Don't worry about that, brat. That's the village's problem. Our problem is just what we're going to do when war breaks out here."
The blond really had no idea, and neither did Kurama for that matter. If only the Sennin had been more specific as to what they were supposed to do exactly. Instead, there was all of this thinking. And Naruto wasn't one for thinking.
"Oi, are you alright?"
Naruto looked at Aika who was seated on his right. There was a small frown on her face with the blond seeing her icy blue eyes analyzing him intently.
Whispering back, Naruto said, "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
Aika shrugged slightly as she leaned in. "You seem to be deep in thought. And I hadn't really pegged you as one for thinking, whiskers. So something must be troubling you, something big."
Damn her analytical skills. Aika was just too observant for her own good in Naruto's opinion. But really, it was just the blond trying not get her involved too deeply into his matters. It would not end well for her.
Naruto tried to play as indifferent. In other words, he was taking a page out of Sasuke's book. Shrugging, he denied it all.
"Na, nothing's wrong. I was thinking about what flavored ramen I should get this afternoon. That's all."
Hey, that wasn't a horrible idea either. He could think better with ramen in hand.
Aika covered her mouth as she tried to not laugh at the response. Finally doing so, the young girl could only shake her head.
"You were thinking that hard about ramen? You're really weird, whiskers."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first time."
Aika grinned at him before looking back at the instructor in front of the room who was on one of his lectures yet again.
Sighing, the blond leaned back on his seat as he closed his eyes. Maybe it was time to take a page out of Shikamaru's book and take a nap before lunchtime came around. Before closing his eyes fully, the boy sweatdropped as he saw Haru paying rapt attention to the lecture.
Some people were just too much of try hards.
It felt like minutes, but in reality it had been hours. Feeling someone shaking him, Naruto opened his eyes to see both Haru and Aika looking at him, with the latter being the one responsible for the shaking. She was also rolling her eyes at the moment.
"You're pretty lazy too, aren't you?"
Naruto didn't offer her a reply as he stood up, yawning as he did so. Looking around as he scratched his head, the boy realized that they were the only ones in the classroom.
"Where's everyone else?"
"Outside," Haru answered with a grin. "We managed to convince sensei to let us stay in here to wake you up. He wasn't too happy when he found out you were napping in the middle of his lecture though."
Kurama chuckled in his head. "Already building your reputation, are you, brat?"
Naruto shrugged as he began to walk outside of the classroom, both Haru and Aika by his sides. Haru took the shrug as the only response he was going to get from his new blond friend.
The three shinobi in training, or well two shinobi in training and one blond time traveling boy, stopped by the door as their path was blocked by none other than a nervous looking Kushina.
Aika frowned immediately as she was in front of the redhead in an instant. "What do you want?"
Both Naruto and Kurama whistled, albeit Naruto did so internally. It was obvious that Aika didn't like Kushina, or anyone popular for that matter.
Haru for his part looked on nervously as the two redheaded girls had a stare off.
Kushina scowled as she looked at Aika. "I don't want anything with you. I-it's Naruto whom I want to talk to…."
Said blond had to raise an eyebrow at hearing this. 'What could she….?'
Kurama became very interested at this development but decided not to say anything. Instead, he was prepared to just sit back and watch the show in front of him.
Haru looked on between Naruto and Kushina, obvious confusion written all over his face.
As for Aika….she scowled. Heavily. Crossing her arms, the redhead huffed. "And what makes you think that I-, I mean we'll let that happen?"
Naruto had a sudden sense of deja vu. It was like seeing Sakura and Ino fight. Seeing Kushina's temper about to flare, Naruto decided to defuse it before something big happened. They might be eight, but still.
Placing a hand on Aika's shoulder, Naruto shook his head at her. "It's alright, Aika-chan. It'd be better if I hear what she has to say. You two can go on ahead."
Aika frowned but relented nevertheless. Walking away without another word, Naruto realized that he was going to get a yelling from the girl later on. Haru merely looked at Kushina for a moment before looking at Naruto. Seeing the blond nod, the boy followed behind Aika.
Now being alone, Naruto scratched his cheek. "So? What do you need to tell me?" The blond was really hoping that it wasn't something else like saying that she didn't want him to be part of the family or something. Because really, he had thought that he had made some progress with the girl yesterday, albeit small. But still.
Kushina looked to the side as she rubbed her arm, shifting uncomfortably. She resembled nothing of the Kushina that Naruto had come to know the past few days.
"I-I was just wondering why you don't try to suck up to me like the others…."
Naruto blinked dumbly at hearing that. "What do you mean?"
Kushina looked at him with her adorable cheeks puffed out. "Ya know what I mean! Everyone but that meany Aika is always trying to get on my good side just because I'm the daughter of the clan head. But not you. Yesterday….you seemed actually sad when I said those things to you…."
Taking a huge breath in, she finally exclaimed. "And I just want to know why!"
Naruto looked at her in surprise, not being able to comprehend what he was hearing. Really, two days in a row had his mother already surprised him. And they called him unpredictable!
Kurama for his part couldn't help but smirk. Oh yes, this was certainly turning out to be better than he expected. Now, just how would this end?
Naruto scratched his head, oddly remembering the time in which he had had a similar conversation with Konohamaru in the past. Or was it the future? Bah, time traveling was too confusing. It would be better if he just didn't think about it.
"Well," he began, "it's just that I really don't care much for things like that. I see someone for who he or she is, not for whatever their name is."
Kushina looked at him with rapt attention which made the blond wonder if she was really fully understand what he was saying. Nevertheless, he continued.
"You seemed like you were really lonely and needed someone to talk to. Despite your attitude, I know that you're not really like that. You just want to have a real friend, even if it's only one. And well, I kinda wanted, no want, to be that friend. If you would let me have the possibility of being so at least."
By this point Naruto had an embarrassed blush on his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head.
As for Kushina, the girl had her head lowered. If one were to look closely, he would have seen her red face. In all honesty, she resembled a tomato at this point. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Naruto wasn't looking at her closely.
"O-ok…"
Naruto's ears twitched. Had he just heard this correctly? Or were his ears playing tricks on him? Kurama simply huffed before closing his eyes. He had seen the conclusion.
"Come again?"
Kushina huffed as she faced the other way, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I said I wouldn't mind being friends with you."
Naruto perked up at hearing that. "Really? Like really really?"
Kushina glanced back at him with one eye as the blond was jumping up in joy. He certainly was weird all right. That was the first time someone did something like that. But she quite liked it.
Running towards her, Naruto took hold of her hand as he made her follow behind him as they ran out of the classroom and unto the hallway. Looking back at her, he grinned.
"Come on! You've got to meet the others!"
Kushina simply let Naruto drag her to the courtyard, a real smile on her face, something which hadn't happened in quite some time.
Kazumi immediately knew that something was up. She didn't quite know what it was yet, but she knew it was something. But what? Again, she didn't really know.
But what she did know was that something had happened between her daughter and one whiskered blond. They were walking in a few feet in front of her with Naruto talking excitedly to Kushina with said redhead talking back just as excitedly.
The older redhead couldn't help but blink dumbly as she continued to observe the the scene in front of her. Part of her couldn't believe it. It just seemed impossible. It had been years since she had last seen her daughter this excited. And in a matter of three days, three days, Naruto had gotten her to open up to him.
Was that even possible? Or was she just dreaming? By Kami, she hoped she wasn't dreaming. This was something which she had hoped would happen. But she didn't think that it was going to happen this soon!
Still, she really had no idea how the little blond boy had pulled it off, but this was certainly the best that she could hope for. She couldn't wait to see the reaction of Arashi's face when he found out that little Naruto had managed to get through their daughter somehow when even they couldn't.
It was just a miracle to her. And she was thankful for it.
After having had had a pleasant dinner, one Uzumaki Naruto made his way upstairs to his room. Really, both of his grandparents had been a bit too excited, even for him. But he could understand just why they were.
Kushina, through some unforeseen way, had started to open up once again. The thought just brought a smile to the blond's face. Having hung out with his mother all day under good circumstances certainly made his day all the better. Unfortunately, it seemed that Aika wasn't ready to accept the redhead just yet.
The blond flinched as he remembered the open hostility between the two girls as he closed the door to his room. They really did remind him of both Sakura and Ino back in their academy days except that they weren't fighting for some boy's attention.
They just didn't like each other, plain and simple.
As for Haru, the shy Uzumaki had quickly accepted the new addition to their group. Thanks to both of their fathers being best friends, the two knew each other even before this day. They hadn't exactly been friends, but that situation was a lot better than the one with Aika. That much was true. Naruto couldn't really think of anything else that could be worse.
Unfortunately, he had to put those good thoughts to the back of his mind at the moment. He had work to do. The Uzumaki still didn't know how the council meeting had gone with his grandfather not having given anything away. And if either his uncle or grandmother knew what the decision had been, they weren't showing it either. All things considered, though, he would have his answer in a few hours.
But that wasn't exactly what was in his agenda at the moment. Creating a shadow clone in order to cover for him here in case anyone of his family decided to check up on him, Naruto made towards the window and quickly jumped through it.
It was at this time that Kurama decided to chime in.
"Please don't tell me that you're thinking of doing your oh so great plan that you came up with while you were snoozing off in class."
Naruto chuckled to himself at that. Yes, the plan that he was now putting into effect had been one which he had thought of when he had been in between the realms of dreams and reality.
'Hey, it isn't exactly my fault here. The Sennin didn't really tell us what we had to do. So I'm doing one of the few things that I'm actually good at.'
Naruto smirked.
'Improvising.'
Kurama rolled his eyes. "This plan," the bijuu highly stressed the word, "is completely idiotic. What exactly do you wish to accomplish by doing this? Not to mention that it could put attention back on you once your grandfather gets word of it."
Naruto couldn't help but grin as he dropped down to a nearby house. Quickly grabbing a black sheet of cloth, the blond covered himself with it as he took off once more. One of the best things about senjutsu was his tracking abilities. It saved him a lot of trouble. He knew exactly in which hotel Orochimaru and the other three Konoha shinobi were staying in.
'Please. If there is one thing that I've learned about Orochimaru is that the bastard is cunning. I'm pretty sure that he'll keep things quite about my appearance from my grandfather. As for the old man….I really don't know if he'll report it to him. Either way, it doesn't really matter. Like I said, I'm improvising.'
Kurama h'mphed but let the matter drop. For now, he would just observe.
Finally seeing his destination in sight, Naruto dropped to another rooftop close by. Quickly transforming himself into a different form that resembled his father but retained his round face but no whiskers as well as into a simple black outfit, Naruto then tried to match a voice that would fit his current appearance. One not too kidish but not too old either.
After a few minutes, the transformed blond had achieved what he had been looking for. Looking at the hotel, Naruto let a predatory grin befall his face as the cloak around him hid most of his features.
It was time to mess up with one of the individuals that had caused him so much pain in his ass.
Inside of his average sized hotel room, Orochimaru was standing by the window looking out into the buildings that were sprawled out in front of him.
Really, this place certainly looked too peaceful considering just the kind of place the world was outside of this damn island. But in all honesty, Konoha was no different. Inside of those walls, it looked as if the world was a comforting and peaceful place.
Reality wasn't as kind as that.
It was only an illusion that the weak surrounded themselves with. Really, though, that was why they were dubbed weak in the first place. Because they couldn't very well do anything about the situation that existed in the real world nor could they defend themselves. It was why the build illusions to fool themselves.
Orochimaru realized all of this with a smirk on his face. His only hope was that the night didn't drag out longer than necessary. He didn't enjoy missing the action that was currently happening in the front lines. Still, he realized the importance of this mission. He was actually quite pleased to see his sensei entrusting him with something this big.
His train of thoughts died when he suddenly felt the presence of an unwelcome visitor behind him. Orochimaru was quick to turn around as he thrusted his arm forward towards the unknown individual.
"Sen'eijashu!"
Multiple of snakes erupted from within Orochimaru's wrist, with said snakes shooting out towards the intruder who was now standing behind him. Said individual disappeared in a blur before reappearing on the room's ceiling in a crouched position.
The snake summoner narrowed his eyes as he tried to see just who the individual was but the only thing he could make out were golden locks sticking out from the cloak-like cloth that he had wrapped around him.
Frowning, he voiced out his questions. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
"You can call me….shadow."
Orochimaru's frown deepened as he tried to place the voice with a face before giving up after a few seconds, realizing that he couldn't.
"As to why I'm here…..well, let's just say I'm here to give you some advice, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes even more as he realized that whoever this person was, he was quite aware of whom he was. And Orochimaru didn't like that in the slightest.
"Oh really?" Shrugging, Orochimaru looked up at the cloaked individual with an air of indifference. "And just what exactly is this advice then, shadow?"
His air of indifference died as he was suddenly aware of the person being next to him, a kunai in hand as it was pointed straight at his neck. Orochimaru's eyes were wide as he looked at the cloaked person. He hadn't even seen him moved!
"Let this be a warning to you and your Hokage and all of Konoha's higher-ups. Uzu is not to be trifled with. If I find out that anyone of you plan any harm to this place, consider yourselves dead. Is that understood?"
Orochimaru could only nod, knowing full well that any wrong move that he made could very well cost him his life. And he wasn't prepared to lose it just like that.
In the next moment, the individual was gone. Dropping to his knees, Orochimaru could only frown at this sudden development.
Just who the hell was that? One way or another, Konoha might have another enemy added to their already long list.
Sneaking in just as quietly as he had sneaked out, Naruto released the clone that he had left behind as he dropped to the bed, feeling quite satisfied to call it a night.
Huh, it seemed that Kazumi had come in to tuck him in for the night. It had been a good idea to leave behind a shadow clone alright. It was the best thing that the blond had ever learned.
Hearing a grunt from his mind, Naruto realized that the furball was still awake.
"You must be satisfied at having had scared the wits out of Orochimaru, eh?"
Naruto could only nod as he chuckled. 'Of course. That was my own little payback. But now Danzo will think twice about messing with this place. I haven't forgotten about what he did to Nagato and the Uchiha clan. And who knows what else the bastard has had a hand in. I only added the old man Hokage to make it more believable. If the old crippled bastard really did have something to do with the destruction of this place, I'm going to make sure to stop it.'
Kurama chuckled.
"Well, I give you a paws up, brat. I certainly didn't mind seeing the snake man act all terrified like that. Especially with a fake kunai at that. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it again for that matter."
Naruto chuckled again. 'Me and you both, Kurama. You and me both…..'
Kurama smiled as he soon felt his host dropping to the sweet ignorance that was sleep. Really, today had been productive alright. Not only that, but things were already picking up.
Closing his eyes as he rested his head on his paws, the bijuu decided to call it a night as well.
Tomorrow, there would more than likely be war in Uzu.
To be continued.....