Chapter 33
Looking up at the sound of someone running in the hall Naruto smiled as he spotted Konohamaru rushing into the office, “Whoa there Konohamaru.” Taking in the expression of longing as the old man’s grandson did not spot who he was looking for he sighed as he sat back. “I’m sorry Konohamaru, but you missed your grandfather, he had to leave in a hurry when he heard the bad news I needed to tell him.” Seeing the lost look on his face he motioned for him to come over as he pulled a scroll out of his drawer, “but he did leave something for you.” Unrolling the scroll he glanced over the list of names as Konohamaru made his way around his desk, “your grandfather wanted you to sign the family summing scroll.”
Staring down at the scroll, not really seeing the names written there, Konohamaru suddenly had a feeling of dread. “Does this mean…” looking back up at Naruto he whispered out, “Naruto nee-san…” trailing off he wiped the tears that were forming in his eyes as he realized there was only one reason he was being asked to sign his grandfathers summing contract now. Gulping he stuttered, “Does this mean…”
Hugging the old man’s grandson close Naruto stared off into space, what to tell him he thought. “I…I think your grandfather is doing this just in case something would happen to him that would not let him pass the contract on to you later on. I think he is doing everything he can to make sure you have what you need to be a great Shinobi, but at the same time he knows that war is about to break out in his village so he wants to make sure your family summons is not lost because he gets injured.”
Body shuddering at his nee-san’s words Konohamaru put on a brave front, “What do I have to do?”
Nodding as he knew what Konohamaru was doing Naruto smiled, “What you need to do is cut your finger and write your name in blood in one of the empty squares. After you do that you need to smear the blood on your hand and put a hand print above your name.” letting Konohamaru go so he could stand up and pull out a Kunai Naruto moved over so he could watch from the side, “After you do that I will teach you the hand signs you need to do for summoning. After that it is pretty much up to you to practice by summoning some of the monkey’s and making friends or proving yourself to them so they will help you out. Just remember you will need to donate a little blood every time you someone one of the Monkey’s to your side.”
Seeing Konohamaru had done as asked Naruto smiled, “Good job Konohamaru, now watch closely as I do the hand signs. When I’m finished and I know you have them right I want to give you some of my Chakra so we can summon the monkey king Emma so he knows what is going on.”
Boar…Dog…Bird…Monkey…Ram.
Watching carefully Naruto’s grin was infectious as Konohamaru nodded slowly and succeeded on following along on his first try. “Great job Konohamaru.” Placing his hands on the young boy’s shoulders he called up his chakra, “This time we will do it for real. As you do the signs I will push my chakra in with yours as you concentrate on Emma as you do the seals.”
“Hai,” Konohamaru nodded once as his tongue slipped out of the corner of his mouth as his hands started the seals. Picking up speed he ignored the drop of blood from his fingers as he put a little too much pressure into the last seal before slamming his hand down on the desk. “Summoning: Summon King Emma.”
Catching Konohamaru before he had a chance to fall, Naruto looked up as the smoke cleared, “Hello Emma.”
Glancing around the room made it very clear that this was not Konoha. Glancing back out the window Emma noticed the ring of mountains and felt the hum of Summon energy. Looking back down at the two humans in the room he noticed the resemblance to Sarutobi that the young one had, “Why have I been called here?” Glaring at the two he growled out, “More importantly who summoned me?”
Placing the Thirds grandson in the chair Naruto squeezed his shoulder gently before looking up at the king of the monkey summons. “I did…Through Konohamaru that is.” Seeing the recognition on the face of the Monkey Naruto nodded his head slowly. “The Old Man left the scroll for his grandson to sign, which I had him do.” Glancing to the side to see Konohamaru had his eyes half closed as he recovered from the sudden chakra drain he went around his desk so he could sit down. “I lent Konohamaru my chakra so you could be summed here so you knew that the old man has enacted the family contingency plan.”
Squatting down in surprise Emma frowned as he looked out the window. “It has come to that then,” he mumbled as he glanced around the office. Gesturing at the blond behind the desk he grunted, “And you?”
“The Uzumaki,” Naruto sat back in his chair as he saw the Monkey King relax. “Uzumaki Naruto.”
“Uzumaki?” Emma’s head shot up to look out the window again before he whispered, “Whirlpool…” seeing the young one stir he ignored him for the moment, “So it has begun,” he thought out loud.
“Almost,” Naruto answered the unasked question. “Civil war will break out within Konoha within the next two weeks. That does not take into account the plans of outside invasion. The Old Man…” glancing at Konohamaru he shrugged, might as well let him know how bad it is. “The Old Man has started to evacuate the families of his loyal forces and clans. When the day comes if the Civilians do try to overthrow him he plans to order the abandonment of Konoha. He plans to regroup in the outside village and use it as a base to retake Konoha.”
Nodding as he realized that no plan ever survived contact with the enemy Emma stood back up. “I will prepare my forces for when they will be called on.” Staring down at the young one, “You have much to prove to my tribe before you can summon me young Sarutobi.” Looking into the intense stare he smiled when he saw there was no backing down in the gaze, “your first summon you have to prove yourself to is Tonoha. When he deems you worthy he will inform you of the next of my people you will have to prove yourself to.”
Distracted by Jiga and Jiraiya’s return Naruto just nodded absentmindedly as Emma disappeared back to the realm of the Monkey’s.
“Was that Emma?” Jiraiya quickly scanned the room for Sensei. Only seeing Naruto and a brat that looked like Sensei. Puffing up his chest he smiled, “So what did I miss?”
Remembering some of the conversation they had about …hobbies, Jiga frowned as he noticed the self proclaimed super pervert puff up like a strutting rooster. Deciding to head the inevitable pissing off of Naruto if he found out that Jiraiya was not only his godfather, but a super pervert that wanted all the juicy details, his words, of his love life he jumped in front of the pervert. “Uzumaki-sama, excuse me for interrupting but the refuges are approaching the outside village. If you allow I will handle getting Jiraiya back to Konoha for you.”
Tilting his head in confusion Naruto let his aides words bounce around in his head before nodding. He would ask later he supposed, “That will save me some time.” Looking at Konohamaru he ruffled the young boy’s hair, “I’ll let you get back home. I’ll meet up with you at supper Konohamaru.”
Wondering what was going on Jiraiya frowned when he was cut off. Glancing over at Jiga, who he had tried to impress earlier, he wondered why his chance to impress and get to know his godson was being cut off. Turning to Jiga after Naruto had left the office via the balcony he did not even have a chance to growl out his questions.
“Jiraiya,” Jiga glared at the white haired self proclaimed pervert. “I think we need to have a discussion on just what types of people Uzumaki-sama absolutely becomes enraged at meeting.”
Walking out of the tower built into the face of the mountain Naruto paused on the side of the building as he caught sight of the hundreds waiting to welcome the long column of refuges that went as far as the eye could see. This was way more than the couple of hundred people he was told to expect.
Hana noticed Naruto walk up the side of the tower after pausing to stare out over the tops of the tree’s at the horde of evacuees approaching. Making her way through the crowd she quickly jumped to the roof of a neighboring building before jumping to the top of the tower.
Noticing the heir to the Inuzuka clan land near him Naruto pointed to the approaching people, “Did you know so many were going to show up Hana?”
Shaking her head no Hana realized Naruto was waiting for an answer, “When we left…the plan called for the evacuation of at most five hundred people.” Shaking her head in wonder she sighed, “I have no idea what has happened now or even if all those down there are from Konoha or not.”
Nodding Naruto flared his chakra to catch the attention of his roving patrols. Spotting several flashes of movement heading in his direction he hoped someone would be able to tell what the hell was going on.
Hana’s eyes bugged out while taking a step back at the enormous pressure rolling off of Naruto as he flared his chakra. “Naru…” wincing at the almost social gaff she almost caused, she cleared her throat. “Uzumaki-sama, I was wondering about something. The booklets you left in the clan houses…well I am slightly confused about what you mean about all the citizens of Whirlpool being required to be at least Genin level.” Wincing at having Naruto’s full attention she hurried to clarify her question, “I think I had to have misread something because surely you don’t expect the civilians to be Shinobi…do you?”
With a very serious expression on his face Naruto glanced at Hana, “Yes we do.” Holding up his hand before she had a chance to interrupt he continued to watch the refuges approach. “Inside the Caldera Valley there is no such thing as a civilian. Instead every person is trained up to Genin level and given the choice to finish regular school or to continue in our Ninja academy. The people decided from the start when rebuilding Whirlpool that never again would they be defenseless. Never again would an invading force overrun us because most of the people had no training.”
“But…But what about those that cannot mold Chakra?” Hana sounded confused as she tried to fathom what she was being told.
Shrugging his shoulders Naruto stepped to the edge of the roof as he spotted the lead scout approach, “Those that can’t mold chakra usually don’t continue on past gaining Genin level skills in hand to hand along with weapons.” Turning to look over his shoulder at Hana his expression was grave, “those that can’t or won’t graduate the self defense courses at Genin level are sealed with a loyalty seal. Or they move outside the valley.”
Harsh was the thought that ran through her head. But then again she could understand why the rules were set down after Whirlpool was destroyed the first time. Spotting several wagons being escorted down a side street Hana bowed, “I see my clans patients have shown up. By your leave Uzumaki-sama.”
“Of Course Hana,” Naruto glanced at her with a small smile. “Once you reach the valley make sure you grab as many of the last years as you need to see to your patients’ safety.”
Baku bowed low as soon as he landed on the roof next to Uzumaki-sama, “My Lord you have need of my team?”
“I need answers Baku,” Naruto glanced over at the rest of the Jounin scouts that arrived. “The plan had several hundred people being evacuated from Konoha. Mostly the clans and their retainers.” Pointing at the long lines of people being greeted his face lost all expression. “That looks like a hell of a lot more than several hundred down there…Explain!”
Perplexed Baku looked to his fellow scouts and sighed in relief when Siska landed and answered.
“Uzumaki-sama, I have news you need to hear,” Siska stood at attention after reporting in.
“Report Dragon Warrior,” Naruto turned to face Siska, hoping he would shed some light on the extra refuges.
“Hai!” Siska removed his mask before pulling the scroll with his notes out of his pocket and glanced down at it. “As planned my team met up with the caravan a day outside Konoha.”
Holding up his hand Naruto asked, “And how many were in the caravan?”
Looking for the number in his notes Siska read out loud, “Four hundred and ninety mean woman and children from seventy percent of the clans from Konoha. Along with them they had another one hundred retainers.” Seeing the nod acknowledging the numbers he continued with his report. “The mind walkers examined everyone before we left the next morning, and as we had planned they set up camp in one of the nearby caves to rest until that night when they would catch up with us.”
“And how many did not pass the examination?” Naruto asked as he watched his people herd the mass of refugees into manageable groups.
“Four.” Siska replied stiffly. “Once we pointed them out to their clan leaders…well they were swiftly buried to hide their remains from the children when they woke up.” Getting a nod he glanced at his notes before restarting his report, “when the mind walkers and their teams met up with us they brought with them the Mika clan liberation teams along with around one hundred and fifty of the enslaved Mika clan. On the second day after regrouping we met up with several trading caravans that were originally planning on going to Konoha. After talks with Mika-san and several of the other clan leaders they decided to join up with us to expand their trade routes.”
“Not to mention getting out of a soon to be war zone,” Naruto muttered as he spotted carts being set up to the east side of the outside town. Quickly adding up the total in his head Naruto scanned the crowd seven hundred and eighty people…plus the traders he thought. “Anything else I need to know about?”
Shaking his head no Siska stepped back, “No Uzumaki-sama.”
Watching several of his Dragons moving through the crowd he spotted Kidori standing on the roof of the bank branch obviously taking reports from her kinsman. Glancing around to see if anyone else had anything to report he nodded his head before jumping to the next roof, “Write up your reports and take the next two days off.”
Shaking his head in annoyance Jiga counted to ten backwards…in seal symbols. “Jiraiya, Uzumaki-sama might have asked you to be found. But I assure you it is only because of your contacts. If he did not need your informers he would not have anything to do with you.”
“WHAT!!!” Jiraiya slammed to a stop before entering the tunnel. “How could you say something like that? Do you have any idea who…”
Jiga cut him off with a glare, “I can assure you I do know who you are. You are a self proclaimed super pervert who acts like a hormonal teenager even though the only thing you are is a lecherous old man who has so many issues that should never be allowed near youngsters or women.” Thumping his finger several times in the pervert’s chest causing him to step backwards he spat out, “Listen to me and listen well Jiraiya, you would not treat the Fire Lord or any other Daimyo with disrespect for them or their position. I will be dammed to the lowest pits of hell before I let you do that to Uzumaki-sama. He knows very well who you are and what position you were to hold in his life…Godfather,” he spat out with enough venom to cause Jiraiya to wilt. “He knows that you abandoned him. Abandoned him to the verbal and sometimes physical abuse of that damned village.”
Nose to nose with the shaken legendary ninja, Jiga shook in rage, “No excuse could even be offered to what you didn’t do to help your godson. No matter what you were told it was YOUR responsibility to make sure he had a safe and happy childhood…you failed!” turning his back on the old failure he started to walk into the tunnel, heading for the hidden seal transport to the outside. “The only way to earn his respect…the only way to even to begin to make inroads into being part of his life is for you to stop playing the lecherous old pervert and be the legendary Ninja you are.”
Having a lot to think about Jiraiya followed silently. After several minutes of walking he noticed large wooden doors coming up. Eyes taking in the heavy steel bands built into the doors he finally found his voice as the set of doors was closed behind them, “I suppose I do have a lot to answer for. But I am afraid I may be to set in my ways to honestly have a chance…but I will do my best that is all I can offer.”
Unbolting the doo in front of him Jiga shoved it open enough for them to walk out, “All one can do is try. Whether you succeed or not is up to you. All I did…was doing was stopping you from making an irreversible foolish act. One that could have endangered Konoha’s chance of evacuation to the safety of our country.” Seeing the wince he nodded, point made. Now it was up to Jiraiya to either take the advise and maybe work something out, or to fail and forever be barred from getting to know his godson and his achievements.
Blinking in surprise as the sun hit him square in the face Jiraiya glanced over his shoulder as he walked out of the tunnel, “Impressive gate. It makes it harder to gain entry into the village, not impossible mind you just more difficult.”
Grinning Jiga shook his head, “More difficult than you think,” old fool. “Minato took into account every possible way into the valley he could think of and sealed it off. After all he was Konoha’s premier seal master. Too bad none of his wishes were carried out.”
“What do you mean? Besides the ones I was supposed to do that is,” Jiraiya looked around in wonder at the new village they entered. If one did not know about the valley they would assume this was the Hidden Village of Whirlpool.
“I really do not have time to go over every instance of betrayal…but I will say this.” Jiga turned to face Jiraiya. “Minato asked for a promise by your Sandaime Hokage, one he received. You Hokage almost caused the Kyuubi to have a chance to escape instead of being destroyed forever.”
Quickly grabbing Jiga’s arm Jiraiya pulled him to a stop, all serious now he said one word, “Explain.”
Prying the fingers off his arm Jiga shook his head sadly, “Do you really believe a single sealing array is enough to keep the most powerful of all the demons in jail.” Staring into Jiraiya’s eyes he sneered, “The sealing array used was a three part seal. The first part was placed on Uzumaki-sama soon after birth, that one captured and contained the demon. If you Hokage,” he spit out the name as if it was the most vile thing he had to say, “if he had kept his word then Uzumaki-sama would have been taken to his father’s estate when he was nine for the secondary sealing array to be emplaced, one that would drain that vile beasts chakra to the point the last seal set could have killed it for all time…But NO he had to go back on his word because it was easier. Because of that all was almost lost.”
Sweating heavily at the thought of the Kyuubi getting out Jiraiya stumbled over his words, “Why…How…is it too late then?”
“You will be happy to know that several months ago the last sealing array was used, and Uzumaki-sama is now free of the demon. And said demon is truly and finally dead. Gone for good,” Jiga turned away to continue walking through the crowd of refugees.
Thinking things over Jiraiya let the information percolate in his brain, he had said the demon was gone, so that meant Naruto had the secondary array placed on him. But then again the amount of disdain that Sensei was getting meant that he… “So Naruto found his old man’s estate on his own then?”
“Yes,” Jiga smiled as he remembered the day Uzumaki-sama made his way to Whirlpool, “When he was six he stumbled across Minato’s estate. He was being chased once more by drunken villagers who blamed him for the death and destruction of the demon he kept jailed.”
“I see,” Jiraiya started to put the pieces of the puzzle together. A lot faster than the Hokage ever did, sighing he stared into the distance, “If only Minato was not so honor bound to use his own child instead of a random orphan, most of this could have been avoided.”
Jiga broke into deep chuckles startling the pervert, “Another one of the myths surrounding Minato.” Shaking his head as he wiped the tears of mirth away he faced the legendary Sannin, “No, Minato was not that altruistic. Minato used Naruto because the sealing arrays needing to be used could only be used on one of the Uzumaki bloodline, only their Keiki Genkai could even hope to handle the overload of Chakra draining the demon with the secondary array would cause.” Making his way through the crowd now that he had spotted his lord he threw back, “Minato could have used any orphan to contain the beast. It would have been better in the long run as he could have taken out the demon before it ever came close to Konoha if he did that. No he wanted it dead and gone, so he used his son knowing Kushina’s bloodline would enable Naruto to do something never done before…kill a demon lord.”
Surprised at the information Jiraiya spotted his godson surrounded by several of those mythical Dragon’s. It was obvious they were reporting to him about something. Taking the time as he approached to actually look at the way Naruto was being deferred to and treated, adding it to the way he carried himself and the power he radiated Jiraiya nodded slowly, Jiga was right. If he wanted to be part of his godson’s life he needed to tone it down a little bit. Seeing Naruto stiffen ever so slightly as he spotted him he sighed. Waiting until the others left to do whatever Naruto ordered them to do he walked up slowly, “I am sorry Naruto, nothing I can ever say or do will take back what happened. I failed you and your father, but I will try to do what I can from now on.”
Naruto nodded slowly as he slyly glanced at Jiga and wondered what the hell he had said to bring the apology.
“Naruto, I would like to teach you the only signature move of your fathers I know, unfortunately Minato never did let anyone know how to do the Hiraishin.” Jiraiya started to gather Chakra into his palm for the Rasengan.
Chuckling in amusement Naruto created a Rasengan in each hand to Jiraiya’s shock. Releasing them he grinned as he flashed to the top of the tower in a blur of yellow before flashing back in front of Jiraiya, “Been there done that.” Laughing at the expression on the old farts face as he fell onto his backside Naruto rubbed his chin in thought before grinning; that almost was as good as a prank…almost.
“What…How…When,” Jiraiya stammered out as he hit the ground hard in shock.
Looking at Jiraiya as if he was a small child, Naruto slowly answered amusement dancing in his eyes, “Hiraishin, poof…space time Jutsu, and I think I was nine when I was able to do it without burning my clothes off from moving so fast.”
Grinning Jiraiya a bounced to his feet, what a kid, “So that only leaves one thing I have to pass on then, your fathers summoning contract.” Seeing the sudden crash of the good mood on Naruto's face he wondered if he had blundered into some deep seated…something.
Sighing, Naruto let all emotion drain from his face as he stood up straight, “I have my mother’s summoning contract. And I’m afraid they are not willing to share me with any others.”
“Gamabunta is going to have my head,” Jiraiya muttered as he winced at the promise he was forced to make under threat of his name being struck from the contract if he failed to hold it up.
Sensing the fear rolling off the legendary ninja, Jiga stared at Hake who was approaching, “Did your word specify Uzumaki-sama specifically or his family?”
“I…I…” Jiraiya snapped his mouth shut as he thought about it. He might get away with letting Naruto's wife sign it, grin that was slightly lecherous, “I suppose I might get Gamabunta to agree to letting your wife sign in place of you.”
Haku walked up behind Naruto and squeezed his shoulder to get his attention, “Naruto…Kimi said it is time.” Laughing as Naruto's head snapped up with an audible crack he laughed, “Remember…at least two times to be safe.” Breaking down into laughter as Naruto's eyes widened before flashing away he smirked, that will teach him to embarrass him.
Snapping his head around as he tried to follow the flash of yellow, Jiraiya was confused, “What the blazes is going on.”
Holding his stomach from laughing so hard Haku had a gleam in his eyes as he looked at the Sannin, “Well Naruto had to leave so he could go make babies. Is there something I can help you with?”
