Chapter 14
Naruto watched as Haku led the four Kunoichi through the beginning stages of the Uzumaki chakra control exercises, watching them with more than his eyes. The bonding of the Uzumaki blood line to theirs looked like it settled in permanently without any problems. Grinning he stepped into the training field and sat down in the middle of several boulders and concentrated , soon the boulders started to rise in the air and circle around him in a complicated pattern as he focused his chakra into the rock.
Chuckling Haku picked up his three stones and jumped to the top of a passing boulder, grinning as Naruto opened his eyes and blew a raspberry at him as the boulder he jumped on dipped slightly he sat down and started to rotate his rocks around him like Naruto was doing.
Kako stared in awe as the head of her new clan went through his morning chakra control exercise with Haku sitting on one of the boulders, such incredible control she thought before picking up one of the pebbles she had been given and started to move it around her skin with her chakra.
Grinning as he started to rotate the boulder Naruto was pleased when the boulder Haku was sitting on turned upside down without Haku moving at all. Right now Haku was so focused he acted as if he did not realize he was now doing his exercise upside down, catching site of the stones Haku was rotating dip he knew Haku was compensating for his new position. Turning the boulder right side up he let them lower to the ground until they were back in the spot he found them in, moving over to Haku he interrupted him, “I think it is time I start teaching you the family techniques.” Moving a ways away from the girls he grinned as he formed a spiraling ball of energy in his hand, “the first one I’m going to teach you is Rasengan.”
It was so different here Kimi thought as she walked towards the kitchen, today was her turn at kitchen duty while the others cleaned up and got ready for the day, she would get things mostly done before one of the others would come in and finish so she could get cleaned up and then they would sit down as a family to eat. Walking into the kitchen she was surprised to see Aki up and digging through the cupboards, “Good morning Aki, if you can wait a little I will be fixing breakfast and you can have something filling, maybe just eat a piece of fruit to hold you over until breakfast is done.”
Jumping up in fright Aki shuddered, he had been caught, cringing as he tried to make himself seem as small as possible, “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to steal from you…”
Frowning, Kimi wondered just what the boy had gone through during the six months he had been kept for him to have this response. Calmly cutting up some fruit she placed it in a bowl and placed it on the counter, “That’s perfectly alright Aki, this is the kitchen after all, and you are welcome to eat whenever you’re hungry. We won’t mind, all we ask is if you dirty any dishes you clean then up afterwards,” smiling she started breakfast, “Did you sleep well?”
Nodding slowly Aki bit into the fruit and relaxed, “Yes thank you, not even a single dream, though I don’t remember when I fell asleep or going to bed.”
Walking into the kitchen Naruto smiled at Aki, “Well I think we tired you out at the celebrations last night, so I carried you back and put you to bed. How do you feel, not sire or anything?”
Biting the piece of apple Aki got tongue tied, “Um…Oh…I feel fine Uzumaki-sama.”
Raising an eyebrow Naruto ignored the honorific attached to his name, “Relax Aki, I’m not some stuck up person that needs to be catered to.” Grinning as he stole one of the apple pieces he sat down opposite of Aki, “After breakfast I need to have a talk with you,” seeing the horrified look cross Aki’s face he smiled trying to put him at ease, “it’s nothing bad, I promise. I want to explain about your clan and ask a few things, like if you want to go to the ninja academy. Things like that, nothing to get worked up about, and then afterwards we need to get you some clothes and things like that.”
Nodding slowly Aki’s brain froze, “I have a clan???” jumping in his seat he looked over at Naruto, “My dad had eyes like I do, he never knew his father or about a clan.”
“I’m not sure how that happened,” Naruto looked up in thought, “You clan is Uchiha, they were a clan based out of Konoha for the longest time. Three or four generations at least, in fact one of the things I need to tell you about is what happened to the clan and warn you about the head of the clan visiting soon.” And I need to figure out how to break this to Sasuke that he Is not the last of the Uchiha, and would it be wise to send Aki to Konoha knowing what he knew about the council and their ways. Shaking his head he smiled at Aki before he caught on to the direction of his thoughts, “First things first we need to eat.”
Aki nodded before glancing at the stove as he picked up another apple slice and bit into it.
During breakfast Naruto was thinking about how he modified Aki last night to the new Uchiha Kekkei Genkai, it had gone very easy on the boy and when they finished up Haku carried him to one of the spare bedrooms to rest. Aki was none the wiser, never knowing that after he fell asleep last night that he had been placed under a dreamless Genjutsu so he would not be afraid of what needed to be done to remove the demons influence on the bloodline. He would never know how close to madness he came, and he would never fall into the trap Itachi did and Sasuke almost did.”
Finished with breakfast Naruto quickly washed his dishes, “Aki when you’re finished eating and only when you’re finished I’ll be in my office come find me for our talk.” Getting a serious nod back Naruto chuckled, if he ever needed proof Aki was an Uchiha that look would have been all that was needed.
Half an hour later Naruto looked up as he heard a soft knock, glancing out towards the door he saw Aki standing there looking down at the ground, looking closely he saw Aki was very nervous, “Come on in Aki and find a seat.” Putting the research he was doing to help bring back the Tannaka clan’s Kekkei Genkai, Naruto looked at Aki with a smile, “I’m sure you have all kinds of questions, so why don’t I start with the basics before you start asking about things.”
Gathering his thoughts Naruto started, “I’m not sure how your father ended up being a child of the Uchiha clan, whether it was from being part of the clan that never made its way to Konoha or it might be possible he is the child of an Uchiha Shinobi. I don’t think we will ever know the truth; the simple matter is that the Uchiha clan is almost dead. Around four years ago Uchiha Itachi for some reason no one wants to admit to Killed off his entire clan one night except for his younger brother Sasuke, Personally some feel he had some help from another Uchiha named Madera, but I really don’t know. I do know that there is no way to test you DNA against any of the Uchiha’s to find out how you are related, since the only one left is Sasuke. And I did compare your DNA to his this morning and while you are related clan wise it’s not close enough to say how.”
Seeing Aki was having trouble Naruto held off until the young boy had some of his control back, “As I told you before, the Uchiha clan ended up moving to Konoha where they were held in high regard by most. And Sasuke the last survivor according to Konoha’s council lives there as the head of his clan, though being called a clan with only one person in it seems stupid, but he is doing something about it.” Shaking his head, “anyway when Sasuke comes to visit he can help you learn the clan Jutsu’s and I’ll help you learn how to use your Sharingan, and even let you read some of the scrolls my family has collected on how the Sharingan works.”
Sitting back in his chair Naruto needed to say something so Aki did not try to become an avenger, “Now the man who was the head of the gang that ruled the group that kidnapped you and killed your parents is dead. I killed him almost two months ago, and then I took every record I could find so the Shinobi of Whirlpool could destroy all the operations he built. That is how one of my Shinobi teams was able to rescue you; I sent them to destroy everything Gato built, from what Tannaka-san and his team found we have already taken care of everyone that was involved in your parent’s death.” Lowering his voice as he watched the young Uchiha cry silently, “I’m sorry about your parent’s Aki, I wish we knew what was going on before they were killed, but we didn’t. I want you to believe me when I say everyone is dead that is responsible, and they weren’t playing dead, it’s kind of hard to play dead without a head.”
Moving around his deck Naruto pulled the boy into his lap and hugged him, he hugged him like he wished he had been hugged when something went wrong growing up, “Let it out Aki, there is no shame in crying, no matter what anyone tells you, it is okay to cry for your parent’s.” holding Aki tight until he was all cried out Naruto started speaking again, “For now until you decide on what you want to do, well the room you were given last night will be yours for as long as you want to stay here. Kako will be here in a few minutes to take you into town to get some clothes and supplies so you can go to school starting tomorrow.”
Picking up Aki’s chin gently so he could look in his eyes, “You will be going to our Shinobi academy; they will be able to help you because of your bloodline limit. But I want you to remember something, after you graduate you are free to choose not to be a Shinobi, you might find that is not the life you wish to live…and you know what, that is okay.” Standing up with Aki still tight against him Naruto pointed to a door almost hidden, “there is a bathroom in there, why don’t you go wash your face and we can continue.”
Aki gave Naruto one last tight hug before nodding and running to the bathroom to wash up. Coming out of the bathroom slowly after washing Aki spotted Naruto-sama sitting back behind his desk, scuffing his feet across the floor so he was noticed he quietly sat back down, “If I want to stay here, even if that Sasuke guy tells me I have to move in with him, can I?”
“Of course,” Naruto put the papers he was looking through down, “just like I told you, it is your choice. I don’t think Sasuke will want to take you away against your will.”
“How…how can you be sure?” Aki winced as he forgot to be respectful.
“Well,” Naruto giggled at the thought, “I can be sure because he will be my apprentice after his first child is born, so I don’t think he will want to take you away knowing he is going to be living here for a while as I train him.”
“Wow, you must be very powerful,” Aki was looking at Naruto with awe struck eyes.
Naruto preened for a moment before tilting his head, “Yes and no. There are still a lot of things I need to learn before I can be as powerful as my parents were, so much I need to learn so I can protect my people.”
‘How can you be both’, Aki decided he would think about it later, maybe ask someone else because that sounded so strange. So he asked the next thing he was wondering about, “Is Kako your wife?”
Shaking his head no Naruto leaned back, how to explain this to an eight year old who still thought girls were yucky, “No, my clan has a law that does not allow us to marry. Instead we pick four of the strongest Kunoichi to be the mothers of our children, one of the things the tutor I’ll have work with you will do is explain how the clans have family laws they have to obey. These laws are on top of the village and country laws they live under, Haku will soon be getting Kako pregnant.”
Scrunching up his face Aki sat back, “That is just weird.”
Laughing Naruto spotted Kako standing in the door, “Well it’s normal for me and my clan. I think I’ll ask Tannaka-san to tutor you in the clans.” Pointing past Aki’s shoulder he smiled, “Kako is here to pick you up to take you shopping, we can talk later, I’m sure you’ll have more questions by then.”
Jumping up Aki ran out the office before skidding to a stop by the porch’s banister, blushing from forgetting to be courteous he rushed back and bowed, “Thank you Uzumaki-sama for helping me and taking me into your home.”
“Not a problem Aki,” Naruto waved him on, watching him rush off with a smile on his face he shook his head as Haku walked in, whispering, “after my childhood…”
“Ready for the Dragon test,” Haku smiled, ignoring the whisper he plainly heard, “Because I have to tell you I am more than ready for this week to be over, and we desperately need our forces back to full strength.”
“So does this mean WE need to go to the office and get the work down so we can get the testing underway,” Naruto had on his prankster face.
Kakashi held up his hand as he noticed the silhouette in the distance, they were getting close to the village, and as he stared at the shadows through the trees something did not seem right, this village was to new looking and...Narrowing his eyes as he searched the area in front of them, much smaller than it should be.
Kurenai moved up next to Kakashi as she motioned for her team to spread out, “What is it?”
“It’s too small,” Kakashi looked over his shoulder towards the group, “Sasuke?”
Moving forward with his pass now pinned to his jacket collar so any sentries would know who he was Sasuke stopped next to Kakashi and looked to where he was pointing, “We’re finally here then. Great it won’t be much longer before we can get some real food instead of trail rations.”
“Sasuke,” Kakashi glanced at him with his one regular eye, “That is too small to be the village we are supposed to be going to.”
Nodding as he motioned for his two girls to start walking, “Of course it is, this is the gateway, think of it as the guard tower you have to pass to get into the city proper. From what Naruto told me all we have to do is go to the center of the village and look for the office and they’ll get word to him so we can be let in.” Sasuke started to walk away with a grin on his face, now he could finally start down the path Naruto promised him, “Come on if we hurry we can be there while breakfast is still being served in the restaurants.”
His visible eyed narrowed Kakashi frowned as he took up rear guard of the line, right behind the Inuzuka boy and his dog, this would need careful watching as there was no way this outpost as Sasuke called it could lead them to their goal.
Kurenai sensing Kakashi trailing behind slowed down, when she was next to Kiba she looked over at him, “Kiba take point, and make sure all of you stay grouped together once we enter the village, I don’t want any of you to wander off until we know for sure where we’re going.”
“Yes sensei,” Kiba grinned at being told to take the lead glancing down he whispered, “Come on Akamaru we need to get to the front.”
Waiting until they were alone Kurenai glanced sideways, “So what is wrong, your more than on edge. It’s almost as if you were in full combat…” glancing at him again she narrowed her eyes before scanning the surrounding area for chakra signatures.
“This is too small of a village for Naruto to be suing as the seat of his country; on top of that too much new construction is going on for this to be truly an outpost like Sasuke told us,” Kakashi lifted up his Hitate to reveal the single Sharingan to scan the area.
“I think Kakashi you missed what he said, he called this a gateway and compared it with an outpost,” Kurenai left the forest to step on the path leading to the village, noticing right away there were no walls around it, this wasn’t right, there was no protection surrounding the village, and for a Shinobi village to be unprotected meant… “A gateway, this is the gate to the outer defenses, not the village itself.”
Kakashi was stunned, looking around he noticed all the chakra signatures, and looking again he noticed nothing that would make him believe any one lived here.
“Hinata use your Byakugan to look at the village closely, everyone else stop right here,” Kurenai lengthened her stride until she was next to Kiba in the front.
“Hai sensei,” Hinata did a quick one handed seal in front of her activating her bloodline limit, veins popped out around her eyes as the blood and chakra being delivered to her eyes increased by tenfold. Scanning through the structures she was confused, “Sensei, these are all office buildings I don’t see a single bedroom,” turning her head she pointed out, “But there is a small hospital and what looks like several hotels going up over there.” Deactivating her eyes she looked back at the two Jounin’s very confused, “I thought this was the place where we would find Naruto-kun.”
Frowning Kakashi looked at Sasuke for an answer, “Are you sure this is the right place?”
Nodding eagerly Sasuke slyly smiled as he looked back, it was taking them to long to figure it out, he lost he bet with Naruto, but maybe he could cancel it out by winning Haku’s bet that they would not figure it out, with Kurenai-sensei here he might just pull it off. “Yes this is the exact place we need to go to get into the hidden village.”
Shino stared at the village with the mountains in the background with a raised eyebrow, he knew what those mountains contained, and he knew what was on the other side, for now he would keep quiet unless asked. Gazing up at the mountains again he had to hand it to Naruto, they made a spectacular wall around his village.
“Are you telling me that village there is nothing more than a guard post,” Kakashi frowned, from what Hinata told them she saw that whole village was nothing more than office buildings, but if that was so where did everyone live. Glancing around again he still could not see any walls like those that surrounded every hidden village to keep outsiders away. “There are no walls, so where is the village?”
Kurenai saw the smug look on Shino’s face and looked at the village again, eyes widening in shock she pointed, “Who needs walls when you are using mountains.”
Pumping his fist slightly in front of his chest Sasuke mouthed ‘YES’ he won his bet with Haku so that means his loss to Naruto was equaled out.
A flicker brought Sasuke out of his internal victory dance, looking up he saw one of Whirlpool’s Shinobi had appeared. Eyes wide with shock he realized he never felt him approach, if he had not been standing just right he would never have caught the flicker that told him he was there. Slowly and as unthreatening as possible Sasuke turned so the Shinobi guard could see his pin.
Baku had been watching and listening to the group of Konoha Shinobi for a good hour, now that they realized what the mountains meant he acted. Flickering to the ground in front of them he prepared to send up the signal for reinforcements if needed, then as the black haired kid move slowly to face him he saw the rank pin on his shirt. Standing up slowly he examined it carefully, it was their symbol and slightly different, the orange whirlpool with the green leaf symbol of Konoha inside it with a small red symbol of the Uchiha clan in the center. This pin had been given to the Uzumaki’s future apprentice, voice sounding harsher than needed, “Show me your Sharingan.”
Blinking several times as his mind processed what was being demanded he grinned, leave it to Naruto to come up with a foolproof way to make sure the pass he was given did not fall into wrong hands. Pushing chakra into his eyes, he smiled as time seemed to slow as his Sharingan activated.
“Alright,” Baku relaxed fully as he gazed at the group, “Do you see the orange tiled roof in the center of the village?”
“Yes,” Kurenai spotted the building.
“Your escort to Uzumaki-sama will meet you there, I’ll let them know you are coming,” Baku disappeared in a swirl.
“Kurenai-sensei,” Kiba got his sensei’s attention, “Who is Uzumaki-sama?”
Snorting as he signaled his two companions to move out Sasuke looked over his shoulder with something not seen on his face normally, he was amused, “That would be Naruto.”
Clutching his stomach from laughing so hard Kiba stumbled to catch up, “You’re kidding, who is he really?”
Sighing Kurenai turned to glance at the boisterous member of her team, “Sasuke had it right the first time, Uzumaki Naruto is the Uzumaki of this country and I want you to be respectful. I will not allow one of my team to create an incident that could place Konoha at war.”
“But…But, Naruto was always dead last in the Academy,” Kiba protested as Akamaru barked at him, looking down at his partner he had a confused look on his face, “What do you mean he hides himself?”
Snorting in amusement Sasuke entered the town first, “At age ten Naruto passed the level of an Anbu in power and skill, now two years later you don’t think he has not gotten stronger.” Spotting the orange tiles Sasuke ignored the stunned sputtering from his fellow Genin behind him.
Peaking into the office Baku sweated, there was no way in hell he was going to lay this surprise before the Uzumaki, he valued his life way to much…besides which as a boy he never was able to detect pranks before they went off. Catching Jiga’s eye he motioned for him to come out into the hall.
“Excuse me Jiga-san, but I have a message for you to pass on to Uzumaki-sama,” Baku gulped as the Elite Jounin eyes narrowed in a glare directed his way. “The Uchiha we were told to keep an eye out for just entered the village on the outside, and he had two female companions with him along with what looks like two Jounin Sensei’s and one team of Genin.”
Naruto hearing what was being whispered out in the hall grinned evilly, “BAKU…” moving his head so Haku’s body would hide his laugh he got control of himself after Baku came down off the ceiling. “Did you catch any names of Sasuke’s companions?”
“Hai…Hai, Uzumaki-sama,” Baku gulped as he checked the doorframe carefully for traps, not seeing any and praying to the gods to deliver him from evil he stepped into the office and froze. When nothing happened he opened one eye and carefully scanned as much as he could before opening the other, still not spotting any traps he relaxed ever so slightly. “I never did catch a name to Sasuke-san’s two female companions, though they both wear the jacket of a Chuunin. The Genin team I heard, they are Hinata…Kiba…And Shino.” Thinking about it his eyes widened slightly as his mind pointed out the object in the tall glasses wearing boy’s hand, “The one named Shino has a pin in the style of ours, and it is shaped like the Konoha symbol in green and has an orange bug in the center. Strange…” paying attention to the here and now Baku looked back up, “the two Jounin-sensei’s are named Kakashi and Kurenai.”
“Hmm,” Naruto placed his head in his hands as he smiled, elbows on the desk he looked up, “female and Chuunin rank besides. It seems Sasuke kept his word, I’ll have to test him later on tonight to see how far he has gotten in his training.”
Baku backed away as he saw a positively evil glint settle in his lord’s eyes; yes it might be time to go back to his patrol route, “By your leave Uzumaki-sama, I should get back to my patrol.”
Blinking Naruto sat up, “What…Oh, thank you for the report Baku, you can go back to your patrol I’ll have Jiga meet the Konoha Shinobi.”
With one last look for traps and discreetly doing hand seals for the dispel Jutsu for illusions Baku sighed in relief before disappearing in a swirl.
Evil gleam back in his eyes Naruto looked over at Jiga, “Jiga would you be so kind as to escort our guests to the stadium, then find quarters for them to stay in. Sasuke and his clan mothers along with Shino will be staying at my estate, the rest find someplace to put them.” Standing up, Naruto cracked his back as he started to finalize his plan, not realizing he was finishing his though tout loud, “Yes that will send the message nicely I think.” Walking around the desk he grinned at Haku who looked amused, “Jiga we’ll see you at eh stadium shortly, Coming Haku, I can’t wait for the fun to begin.”
