Hmm…. Time for plot twists. Also, sometimes field advantage is a real b**** .
Warning: character death, language
-----
Biwako and Mito weren't getting along very well recently. Naruto wasn't sure what had crawled up their asses and died, but he hadn't called them out on it. 'After the mission,' he decided.
The three of them and Kakashi had been tree hopping for hours when they reached the end of the forest. Biwako landed gracefully, Mito came to a stop a bit carelessly and Naruto- well, he simply landed. Kakashi took Naruto aside, confusing him.
Kakashi said, "so, Naruto. I noticed that you were able to rapidly take control of elements still infused with remnants of my Chakra. Being able to absorb Chakra is generally something a person either has the potential for or they don't…. And most don't. It's something even more exclusive than being a natural Sensor, by far. I strongly suspect that you have both talents, though, because I know you are a Sensor type, and you wouldn't have been able to manage that Water ninjutsu so well without the other one," his expression not changing. Well, what part of it was visible.
Naruto's thoughts went back to what little he had managed to find out about his Bloodline Limit. Yes, Mokuton could absorb Chakra, but Naruto had had no luck with that part of it.
"Now, now, Naruto. No need for that pout," Kakashi said, his eyes closing in such a way that he gave the impression of smiling.
Naruto scoffed, saying, "I wasn't pouting!"
"Sure you weren't," Kakashi said, still 'eye-smiling', "so, you've been trying and failing? You had already known about that talent?"
Was Kakashi fishing for information? Naruto shrugged his shoulders, trying for a nonchalant expression.
Kakashi sighed and looked away. He said, "I'll get you to trust me someday," his voice sounding a bit different than usual.
There was nothing else to say, so Naruto said nothing.
-----
As they were power-walking through a meadow, Kakashi twitched minutely. Naruto would have brushed it off, but several seconds later, so did Biwako.
Kakashi called for a stop with a hand gesture, so Naruto stopped moving, though he was the last one to do so. The man said, "Hokage-sama has given us a secondary mission: eliminate any bandit camps we detect. Do you three understand?"
Naruto said, "yeah," nodding.
Biwako looked at Naruto, her eyes wide open, then she blinked. ‘What’s that about?’ He thought to himself.
Mito looked confused. She said, "well, I don't get it, sensei. Could you explain?'
What Naruto said was, "we kill all the bandits."
Kakashi said, "well, not an inaccurate description," looking Naruto in the eyes.
Mito cringed away, saying, "are- are you two serious?!"
Kakashi opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Naruto interjected with, "yeah, shinobi kill. Sometimes scum like bandits; sometimes ninjas from other villages who were in the way; and sometimes a person who is in the wrong place at the wrong time." Despite his harsh words, Naruto wasn't really bothered by that truth. He could either accept reality and move on, or give up and go on to be a civilian. Yeah, no. I've been trying to be a ‘better’ person for Iruka-sensei and not attack people from Konoha, but why should I care about bandits? I'm a shinobi first, after all.
This time, all three of the others were scrutinizing Naruto.
"…Naruto," Kakashi said, playing with his white -silver?- hair, "have you killed before?"
Naruto immediately said, "I don't want to talk about it," turning away.
"But-," Mito said.
"If you're curious, ask Biwako when I'm not around," Naruto said, trying to make it clear the conversation was over.
-----
Biwako was tracking the bandits. Once Kakashi had noticed she was good at tracking with her nose, he had put her in charge of following the bandits' scent, only giving her a few tips from time to time. Admittedly, Kakashi knew a lot of tricks that the Hawks didn’t, probably because only a few of their clan relied on their nose.
Those bandits stank of alcohol, but they were much cleaner than Kakashi had described bandits as. When she said that, Kakashi's eyes narrowed. Kakashi said, "I know, and their better hygiene is not a good sign at all. Stay on your guard for a possible shinobi leader."
Biwako clenched a fist as her breathing and heart rate picked up. The time to test herself had come. Hopefully, any missing nin that were with the bandits would be a challenge. Head in the game, Biwako. If I lose to some lowly bandit or D-ranked missing-nin, Naruto and- Madara will never let me live it down. That’s if I survive.
As they passed by a flowing river and creeped closer to a cave that must house the bandits, something felt wrong to her, but she wasn't certain what. She activated her Sharingan discreetly. It was a warm late-spring evening. The water puddles that were around were unusual in that weather, but somebody could have- no. Crap!
Too late, Biwako noticed one of those puddles had a little bit of Chakra in it. Two shinobi jumped out of it, wrapped a chain around Kakashi and- no. Kawarimi no jutsu. Biwako took advantage of the two enemy shinobi’s moment of surprise at the log in front of them to throw a few shuriken at them, then two kunai with ninja wire in their rings. They deflected the shuriken, but she wrapped the wire around their chain.
Biwako made a one-handed hand-seal, electrifying the wires. Nothing. No good conductor. She increased the power, but the two ninjas separated the chain, leaving them twitching and a bit charred, but fighting fit.
One of them went for Mito and Naruto and the other guarded the former’s back from Biwako. Seeing Naruto punch the ground from the corner of her eye, Biwako used a Raiton jutsu with two single-handed hand-seals to- no. He used what remained of the weapon to keep from being electrified, and without wires, she couldn’t-
Her enemy let out a hiss, nearly dropping the chain-like weapon. Why- Oh. The heat! Biwako couldn’t think, only react, because the man ran at her, swinging his dripping -poisoned?- weapon. She sidestepped twice, but the man was agile and skilled – he maneuvered well, so the chain was still going to hit her.
Dirt from her Mud Hazard hit the man just below the slashed Kiri forehead protector, making him falter. Her Raiton Chakra- enhanced shuriken were redirected barely enough for the former Kiri-nin to get his shoulders impaled and lose the use of his arms, rather than his life. Biwako drew her tanto, enhanced it with Raiton Chakra and cut off his arms just above the wrists, using her Sharingan to make sure the angle was one that would keep him from attacking her back. She didn’t want to test Naruto’s skill with poisons that way, though the enemy's attempt to kick her and bite her made her chuckle for some reason.
After lodging a kunai between the back of the guy’s head and neck and taking a quick look at Naruto’s side of the fight, Biwako switched off her doujutsu. The other, similar-looking missing-nin was dead. Just like her own opponent-
Oh, shit. She had killed someone. Mutilated him. She- she felt nauseous, like she was going to puke. After a few seconds, though -just after she had resigned herself to puking-, the nausea subsided. Strangely enough, Biwako didn’t much care, one way or the other. She wasn't sure why she had nearly puked. With a last uneasy glance behind her, she walked up to Naruto and Mito.
“Naruto,” Mito said, “what- you just- you just destroyed him, just like that! I know that we’re ninjas, but you didn’t just kill him! You mangled him fi-first. His legs-,” a tremor in her voice.
Biwako let out a loud breath out in a sigh.
Mito turned to her, saying, “Biwako! Did you see what Naruto did to-”
The only thing Biwako did was point toward the other enemy shinobi – what remained of him at any rate. She really didn’t want to speak to the annoyance, but the sudden intake of breath from Mito was bothersome all of its own for some reason.
A throat clearing alerted Biwako to Kakashi’s presence. He took Mito aside, had a few words Biwako couldn't hear, then they both returned. Mito looked thoughtful, so Biwako didn't bother looking at her twice.
Suddenly, Naruto perked up and made a single-handed hand-seal. He said, "I feel something! A lot of people with weaker Chakra are coming!" Getting into a ready stance.
Biwako could smell the stench of sweat, alcohol and tobacco approaching. Nine men burst out of the cave, pausing in confusion, but a few regained their focus immediately. One of them shouted something, then drew a dagger.
Before Biwako could do anything, the bandits had been ripped to pieces by stalagmites, in what she recognized as the Doruuuso (Earth Flow Spear) .
(Shink!)
Biwako had moved before she could think about it consciously, sidestepping and bringing up a kunai out of her seals, deflecting something clumsily-
The kunai had been knocked out of her hand and her arm was hurting all over with the force. By the time she got her bearings, Kakashi had killed all of the remaining enemies.
I- I nearly died. I dropped my guard and very nearly got killed. Biwako realized she was panting, her entire body trembling and everything starting to spin. Something was touching her back, something that smelt like a forest after it had rained, very familiar and comforting.
She could vaguely hear Naruto's voice somewhere – behind her maybe…? She turned her head – he was next to her, his hand on her shoulder blade rubbing circles. She could see him, and almost everything around them, very clearly. Too clearly. Biwako became conscious of the flow of Chakra to her eyes, so she stopped it.
"Biwako! Was that the Sharingan?! Oh gods! That's amazing! It looks just like Kakashi's, so it's at full power!" Mito's grating voice hit Biwako's ears.
Naruto covered Biwako with a blanket, three of his clones standing vigilant in the Manji formation around her, one of them keeping Mito at bay. Biwako was really thankful; too thankful for words to describe.
Kakashi showed Biwako what had nearly killed her. It was a somewhat damaged crossbow bolt. 'If that had hit me, I'd be a goner!' She thought with a shudder, ‘now, time to focus again. We're on a mission,’ taking slow, deep breaths.
Kakashi started in on the history of the Land of Rivers, something about it having been a battlefield in the First and Second Shinobi World War. "Fire owns a big chunk of land in what is otherwise River Country, as does Wind, after negotiations with Shodai-sama and the then Fire Daimyo. Just how much land each owns was the main point of contention between Suna and Konoha in both the First and the Second Shinobi World War," Kakashi said, Biwako listening with half an ear.
-----
After the plains and rivers giving way to less green land, ending up somewhere there was sand everywhere the eye could see, then night falling, the four of them made camp by necessity, because of the moon being in a lightless phase. Mito kept complaining about the weather, but Naruto had started feeling on edge at some point, eventually to a level even the two former Kiri ninjas hadn't gotten him; so he didn't respond to her. Something dangerous is coming!
Just as Naruto thought to signal the others, he heard footsteps on the rough rocky ground they had made camp on, ones that weren't coming from any of the others. Naruto exited the tent and turned towards where they sounded. He first saw the hair, mostly orange, but with parts being green. Then, he noticed the dry cold of the desert night become more bearable. The woman's -kunoichi's- Chakra was extremely powerful and felt hot- no, scorching. The fact she hadn't bothered to hide made Naruto even more wary.
She looked maybe five or six years older than Kakashi. Speaking of Kakashi, he had placed himself between the three of them and the woman. Naruto could feel Chakra similar to Biwako's coming out of Kakashi’s face, something that made his worries that much greater. 'He activated the Sharingan!' Naruto thought to himself with trepidation, 'he's never used it before!'
“The teamwork to use here is simple: stay behind me and don’t get anywhere near this woman! She’s out of your league!” Kakashi said, a different kind of edge in his voice, more primal and nearly- panicked.
Naruto stayed in place, frozen, until someone -Biwako- dragged him back a few paces. At the same time, Kakashi said, “so, might I ask what you want with us, Pakura of the Infernal Death?”
The woman scoffed, then she said, “you killed the Demon Brothers and my civilian allies. Did you expect no reprisal?”
Kakashi shook his head. He said, “you’ve fallen far, Hero of the Hidden Sand,” his voice even.
“Don’t call me that!” ‘Pakura’ said, the temperature increasing again. Then, she said, “what do you know, Hatake? I know that your village once turned on you because of your father -that piece of shit!- and I’m sure they’ve sent you on more than your fair share of suicide missions…. But Suna went one step further and gave me gift-wrapped to the fucking Yondaime Mizukage! I’m no hero, much less of that village. I’m every bit the monster you are and vice-versa, though we can’t compare to a Kage’s evil.” She calmed down after a few deep breaths, which did interesting things to her chest- no, focus.
So, Pakura had been backstabbed by her village? Naruto could relate. He was also disappointed – apparently, Suna wasn’t any better than Konoha. Perhaps somewhere deep inside, he had hoped it was only Konoha that were such bastards. ‘Joining Suna is probably off the table, even if they weren’t Konoha’s allies. Kiri, I knew what they are like, so a hard pass. Iwa- ugh, no. Kumo- well, I don’t know…. They’re very fond of backstabs in general,’ Naruto thought to himself.
A fight started, and Naruto was mesmerized by the moves of the enemy kunoichi and Kakashi – the woman was extremely agile and was able to use Katon (Fire Style) and Fuuton (Wind Style) with one-handed seals, to devastating effect.
He had thought he had known how skilled and powerful Kakashi was, but the way he was fighting proved that he hadn’t even been trying before. Beasts made of Raiton (Lightning Style) Chakra were countered by gusts of wind, which were countered by Kakashi’s Fire Style: Vapors jutsu, which was burned away by- wait. A few strange fireballs had devoured Kakashi’s Katon, and only grown stronger for it. Kakashi was doing a great job keeping Pakura at a distance and even on the back foot, but Naruto still worried.
As the fight kept raging, lighting up the desert night, Naruto thought he had heard something from further away… a stronger wind started brewing – sandstorm? No, that’s not natural. It has Chakra in it. Is it Pakura’s doing? Or-
With no more warning, a sandstorm filled with Chakra struck at both Kakashi and Pakura, starting with Kakashi’s back and making Naruto cough, not even two seconds after the distant sound. When the storm subsided and Naruto’s vision and airways cleared, he noticed Pakura many meters away from where she had been, looking unharmed. Kakashi, on the other hand, was bleeding. A lot. His clothes had been destroyed at the right side of the back and even his head was bloody.
Pakura said, “Gaara-san. Please do not interfere,” very sternly.
“Mother wants your blood. Both your blood,” the newly revealed Gaara, a short redheaded boy around Naruto’s age, said.
How had he sneaked up on all of them like that? Even Naruto had had less than a second of warning. The redhead stank of malice, figuratively, and his Chakra-
(Hahahahahahaha!)
‘That Chakra! It reeks of sadism!’ Naruto thought to himself, ‘no, there are two kinds of Chakra-!’
Before Naruto could consider what he had just stumbled upon for more than a second, Kakashi physically stumbled, probably due to the blood loss. No! Off balance, Kakashi shot a purple-colored Lightning Style jutsu at Pakura while she used Wind Style…. But Naruto ignored her and shot a Daibakufu no jutsu (Great Waterfall jutsu) using only one hand-seal and making plus gathering water faster than ever before, draining most of his Chakra in split seconds in the dry environment and imparting as much momentum as he could.
He managed to intercept Gaara’s sand with the A-ranked jutsu and stop its advance, just before it would have hit Kakashi. Ah! That fucking hurts! Naruto's insides felt like his blood had turned into acid at certain places. He managed to only let out a small grunt.
Internal Chakra burns again?! Naruto watched the zapped and trembling Pakura warily as he approached Kakashi, but she only said, “I’ll get revenge for my men some other time!” And clumsily threw a smoke bomb near her.
Sensing Pakura’s wavering Chakra, Naruto could tell that while probably not low on Chakra, she was extremely weakened by the Lightning jutsu, to the point she might even lose to an advanced Genin team like theirs-
("A medic-nin puts their squadmates first and doesn’t charge into the fray, at least not carelessly," Tsunade said-)
No. He had other priorities. Biwako reached Naruto just as the smoke dissipated, with Mito following shortly after. Only then, did Naruto allow himself to let out more noises.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" Mito asked him, sounding very worried.
"Can't talk now. Light," Naruto said, letting out another grunt, though the pain was subsiding fast, fortunately. He also disinfected his hands.
Biwako only hesitated a moment before making a Shadow Clone, which used a certain D-ranked Fire Style jutsu, as he had expected. He examined Kakashi the manual way, checking out his own body and helping it heal with the Mystical Diagnostic Palm jutsu at the same time. Then, he used the jutsu on Kakashi for a second to make sure of the diagnosis. Naruto cut off some of the hair for easier access and cleaned the scalp wound with practiced motions, making sure to remove any hairs from the wound too, then used the Mystical Palm very carefully, mindful of the injury and of his own low Chakra, stopping the bleeding.
After that one, Naruto completely tore open Kakashi's ruined vest and shirt to clean up and disinfect the lacerations on his back. Naruto breathed in and out steadily, ignoring the sounds of a fight between his teammates and the redhead, and healed the back wounds as much as he could, too. He thanked his lucky stars that Kakashi had only been glanced at the head, cutting him but not getting the brain directly.
Then, it was back to checking Kakashi's head wound-
A hand caught Naruto's wrist. "Easy, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, "I'm treating your injuries."
"Rin, ish fiiine- ya’rr not- shenshei? Oh, Naruto," Kakashi slurred out.
‘While the wound might not have gotten the brain directly, the blood loss along with the exertion did,’ Naruto thought to himself. Out loud, he said, “it’s all right, sensei. The Jounin-level kunoichi ran away. Only the other guy is left, and he’s my age,” leaving out how the redhead, Gaara, had been able to sneak up on all of them, even Kakashi.
“Shoulda used Water jutsu and Hidden Mist,” Kakashi said, “Cha-ku-ra efi- efishency be damned,” slightly more clearly than before.
Naruto used some bandages, then fed Kakashi a blood replenishing pill and some water, urging him to slowly swallow them. He used the Mystical Diagnostic Palm on Kakashi’s head again. Finding nothing that Naruto would risk trying to fix with his current expertise, he left Kakashi be, telling Biwako’s clone he didn’t need light anymore.
The battle was still raging and Kakashi was in no condition to be fighting, so Naruto left a pair of his own Shadow Clones, with the explicit instructions to get Kakashi to a safe place, not to let him fall asleep yet and not to allow him to join the fight.
Teacher secured, Naruto got ready to jump into the fray. He lowered his goggles to cover his eyes, made a hand-seal and carefully channeled a bit of Chakra into said eyes for better night vision, something he avoided using if he could, because it would cause strong headaches afterwards.
The others had moved further, but Naruto found the positions of his teammates. Mito?! He went through three hand-seals, a Wind jutsu meeting Biwako’s Fire Style, lighting up the night even more than earlier and making Naruto reflexively close his eyes despite the goggles, but not cutting off the jutsu.
Naruto ran to the point he had seen Mito slumped over, finding her shoulder and chest bloodied, injured. ‘What should I do? Go help Biwako or-’ Naruto thought, hesitating. Then, he realized something and was tempted to smack himself. He made a Wood Clone to have it treat Mito, at least stabilize her, then put Chakra into his eyes again and headed for Biwako, whose Chakra was still going strong. Fortunately, the ground is made of sand, so it’s softer than the rocks behind me.
Taking advantage of a lull in the fighting, Naruto stood at Gaara’s flank, around twelve meters away- and immediately had to dodge multiple sand projectiles, ones that behaved a lot like shuriken. When even the ground made tendrils that tried to grab him, Naruto decided that enough was enough.
“Why won’t you two die!?” Gaara shouted, at a distorted pitch, full of madness.
Apparently, Gaara was of the same opinion. Naruto could feel that Chakra climb in intensity and amount without even trying. He couldn’t see Gaara very well even with his night-vision technique, but Biwako’s groan of disgust told Naruto that Gaara had become really ugly.
All he could do from then on was dodge, again and again. An unknown length of time later, Naruto felt a lot of Chakra being gathered, heard something that sounded like multiple very large people inhaling deeply, then Gaara’s even more distorted voice say, “Fuuton: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa (Wind Style: Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough)!”
He hadn’t wasted time. As soon as he had realized that Gaara was preparing an attack, Naruto had cut off the flow of Chakra to his eyes, made two Shadow Clones, gone through hand-seals and said, “Fuuton: Shin Toppa (Wind Style: True Breakthrough)!” Shooting off his strongest Wind jutsu, in collaboration with his clones, making sure to combine it with the dragons made of fire that Biwako had shot at the redhead. ‘It’s her Gouryuuka no jutsu (Great Dragon Fire jutsu)!’ Naruto thought to himself, shielding his face with his arm due to the immense heat, then drinking some water.
Once the heat had died down enough for Naruto to be able to focus on Chakra presences again, he managed to notice Biwako still going strong, but her Chakra indicated fatigue, too. As for Gaara-
“Is this physi- is this pain-! I can feel pain!? What the hell? I can’t stand it! No! It's terrible! Mother, please make it go away! Ta- Tanuki Neiri no jutsu (Forced Sleep / Playing Possum jutsu)!”
Naruto had a really bad feeling about this. Sure enough, the most imposing and most foul Chakra presence Naruto had ever felt made itself known.
“I’m free! I’m free! Shukaku is out, bitches!” The creature -obviously a Tailed Beast- said, its voice making Naruto’s whole body vibrate.
A sinking feeling of hopelessness took over Naruto, who could only let out a strong curse. He was trying to go over what he knew about the Bijuu when Biwako regrouped with him. He could barely hear her speak, his Chakra sense could only feel the Tailed Beast, which was jumping around in glee and there was a good chance they’d be trampled, by accident. The last part truly rankled. On top of all that, Mito was out of commission, possibly seriously injured!
‘Why did this Jinchuuriki, Gaara, appear and why isn’t the Jounin we were told to meet around? Why hasn’t anyone from Suna noticed and come? Or have they- never mind. I’ll think it over later, if we survive,’ Naruto thought to himself, retreating with Biwako. She normally wasn’t one to retreat, but she followed readily enough when Naruto put a hand on her bicep and pulled her. He could feel the mild tremble in her body – it made him realize he was trembling too. We’re way over our heads!
The movement must have attracted “Shukaku’s” attention, because it(he?) bellowed out, “who’s there! You are still around, damn gnats!?” Inhaling and murmuring, “Fuuton: Renkuudan (Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet),” but clearly audible.
There’s no time! It’s attacking! As Naruto used the fastest Kawarimi no jutsu he had ever performed, winds buffeted him and Biwako, throwing them into the air. ‘If that had hit us, there would be nothing left! Even going over thirty meters away wasn’t enough to fully avoid the effect!’ He realized. There were more impacts, which he more felt with his body than heard. What was worse, he still didn’t know if Mito was well. The Wood Clone hadn’t communicated with him.
Just as he had thought things couldn’t get any worse, he heard his name being called and felt a second source of foul Chakra. Not as all-encompassing as Shukaku’s, nor quite as foul-feeling, but much more potent. Possibly more powerful overall if it was given the chance to build up. If he had to describe them, Shukaku’s Chakra was yellow-green- colored but not like Tsunade’s or Mito's – more like the color and feeling of puke. It also covered all of the area around them. The other Chakra was orange-colored, and Naruto could see it with his actual eyes.
No, I think it’s two sources of Chakra mixing. Yellow and Red!
Right at that point, the Wood Clone’s memories hit Naruto. It had finished Mito’s treatment with unprecedented ease, though she was his sister, so it was to be expected for her to heal faster than usual. Then, the clone had sacrificed itself to save Mito from one of Shukaku's (?) Wind Bullets. The other signs- No. Later!!
Mito crouched like a message-nin starting a run, her small frame visible, like an orange beacon in the night. Naruto tensed as Mito was passing him by, but she apparently had decent enough control over herself, Bijuu Chakra or not- no. A topic for another time!
Shukaku swatted her away with a backhand, not even bothering to use anything stronger like a jutsu, saying something about a ‘damned fox’. Naruto sent a Shadow Clone after Mito, then, he moved his head near Biwako's and whispered, saying, "oi, Biwako. This isn't the time to doze off. We got an enemy to beat or run away from!" Putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing a little bit.
Biwako jerked out of her trance. She started coughing. She removed the cloth she had wrapped around her mouth and used another, still coughing. She said, "what's the plan?" Making Naruto worry even more.
'It's usually Biwako who makes the plans,' he thought to himself, coughing out sand and changing the cloth, too. Out loud, he said, "I can't sense Gaara -the redheaded guy who attacked us- anywhere. It's supposed to be the weak point of a sealed Bijuu: the host," still unable to see, sense or hear much other than Shukaku and the jumping around it was doing in its glee.
Biwako looked up for a few seconds, then said, "something's on its head, and it's red on top. Maybe it's Gaara," her voice steady once again, with no coughs and only a barely-detectable note of fear.
Naruto noticed Shukaku's Chakra become more- dangerous, for a lack of a better word. Not stronger necessarily. More like it was focusing on them once again. 'No,' Naruto thought to himself, 'it has been getting steadily stronger! We really need to hurry!'
""Formation Massive Conflagration?"" Both Naruto and Biwako said, almost at the same time.
As they dodged away from each other, making Shukaku land its downward punch on the sand of the desert, Naruto put his hands in the Clone seal, starting to put the plan into action.
""Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu (Mass Shadow Clone jutsu)!"" Naruto said, barely able to hear Biwako's voice do the same, despite them not being very far from each other.
Naruto had carefully chosen the numbers to ration his Chakra. The Shadow Clone jutsu worked by splitting one's Chakra, but there were a lot of misconceptions on how it worked. The clones could be given a lot of Chakra, so they could function independently of the original, and each clone was given the same amount as another made at the same time – thus, an even split.
The original kept or gave as much Chakra as they wanted, though, apart from any Chakra used to create -not equip- the clones, and would get all remaining Chakra back when all clones were 'killed' or dispelled themselves. The 'even split' didn't refer to the original. The clones could also draw more from him, as long as he permitted it. It took a little bit of concentration from the original to have a clone do anything, from walking to using jutsu.
All that was relevant because this time, Naruto had given most of his remaining Chakra to the clones and decided to let them go wild, though he would regulate the Chakra draw as much as he could – it was the most lethal aspect of the Shadow Clone jutsu, which had gotten users killed in the past. Most of the clones went through hand-seals for strong Wind ninjutsu -mainly the True Breakthrough- while the rest distracted Shukaku alongside some Biwako clones. His Wind-using clones jumped closer to be in range, some of them getting dispelled.
False Scorch Style: Massive Conflagration was the name of the collaboration jutsu. Biwako needed far fewer clones, because she was way better at Fire ninjutsu than Naruto was at Wind ninjutsu, so on her own, she could use Gouryuuka (Great Dragon Fire) with seven dragon 'bodies' at once, nine if she sacrificed some efficiency, precision and such. Come to think of it, isn't Pakura from the clan with Shakuton (Scorch Style)? So that was-
The two- the many of them cast the Massive Conflagration, which landed on top of Shukaku's head, making Naruto cover his face due to the heat, which was far greater than anything he had felt before from such a distance, even counting the active forge of a blacksmith he had spied on once, in his curiosity, turning the still chilly desert night hotter than the desert day, forcing a sweaty Naruto to drink a lot of water and dry up his skin. 'Gotta find a way to carry my own water for jutsu, too. Fuuinjutsu?' Naruto thought to himself. 'Come to think of it, what about my older idea of weighing myself down with the help of Fuuinjutsu? I'll ask Auntie.'
Naruto still couldn't see or even hear anything, due to too much light and noise. He held his breath for a few moments. The fires died down quickly – suspiciously quickly. A booming laugh could be heard, but it didn't sound sadistic or insane. It sounded genuinely happy.
"Thank you. Truly," Shukaku said, then resumed his laughing. He then said, "unfortunately, I cannot let any of you live and spread the word. Know that you have impressed me, Shukaku, known as the Ichibi no Tanuki (One-tailed Tanuki/Raccoon-dog) with your skills. May your passing be swift."
Naruto was, at the moment, cursing his relative lack of progress with Mokuton. 'If only I had found the way to absorb Chakra, or gotten good enough to restrain a Bijuu with it!' He thought, gritting his teeth in frustration. He knew that even if he somehow managed to restrain Shukaku, it wouldn’t work for long enough to do anything but exhaust himself.
With every instinct screaming at him to stop and what sounded like Tsunade admonishing him in his mind, Naruto started walking closer to Shukaku. He shouted at him, saying, "Shukaku-san, I will face my death directly, on my feet, not my knees. Nor running away," not knowing where those words were coming from. He was furiously trying to think up a solution, despite his bravado, when Shukaku talked again.
Shukaku only said, "Good on you," chuckling. Then, he started gathering Chakra in front of his mouth. Visible Chakra, black and white with a yellow tint. Wait. Maybe- Not bothering to question the sudden crazy idea, Naruto got a running start and jumped into the air, using a whole lot of Chakra and turning upside down. As Shukaku merged the Chakra and swallowed the resulting ball, Naruto used both legs to kick him under the chin, boosting the strike with even more Chakra.
(BOOM!)
…When Naruto came to, he looked himself over and noticed the state of his body. He had a lot of burns and his legs were both pretty much mangled, but healing swiftly. He whimpered in his agony, but started getting his clothes off the wounds for treatment, mostly ripping them up. He recognized Biwako's scent shortly before she came into view. She was holding something that shone a little bit – something that looked like a large sake saucer, with Sealing markings on it.
Naruto recognized a project of Tsunade's made to hold living beings, possibly including the Tailed Beasts…. He suspected it wouldn't last more than a few hours at most, though, so they had to do something about the temporarily-sealed Shukaku immediately. He said, "Biwako. If my Chakra sense wasn't fooled, the sand Kekkei Genkai was a combination of Earth and Wind Elements. While I haven't studied Tailed Beasts other than the Kyuubi much, compatibility between host and Bijuu is a thing. I'm too injured and depleted to even try something, though, and we need to hurry."
"Can't you summon Tsunade- oh," Biwako said. No Chakra, no honey, as Naruto knew veterans sometimes said. Biwako hesitated for a moment and only a moment. She looked him in the eyes and nodded. Then, she unsealed an altar for rituals and quickly but carefully put Naruto on it, then placed candles around him, lighting them up with her Katon (Fire Style).
After that, Biwako went through around a dozen hand-seals, illuminated by the candles. Naruto, meanwhile, had been taking care of his injuries, painfully removing any remaining cloth and making sure they would heal right, ignoring the cold. The burns in his torso had already gone away but his legs had been closest to the explosion.
Thus, while not mangled anymore, the shattered bones hadn’t fully rejoined and the melted skin hadn’t fully regrown. A large part of the problem had been that his clothes had melted into his skin, but he had already removed every such piece.
“Shisho Fuuin (Four Symbols Seal),” was what Biwako said afterwards. She touched Naruto on the belly button, at the Gate of Limit, located on the small intestine. He knew that the small intestine was the greatest supplier of Yang Chakra in the body, more so than even the heart was, unless the Gate of Death was opened.
Naruto felt nothing in particular for a few moments, then an immense pressure, like he was Atorasu* from the old stories and holding up the weight of the world. Finally, an agonizing pain, similar to when he had gotten Chakra burns – his entire Chakra system was on fire!
Ow- owowowowow! Argggh!
…After an unknown length of time, the pain had subsided to the point it was tolerable. Naruto tried to sit up, but what he recognized as Biwako’s hands kept him lying down under a blanket. She handed him some water, but he only drank a little bit. Then, Naruto unsealed his change of clothes and put them on, Biwako not trying to keep him from moving for some reason- oh! ‘I’ve been in my underwear in front of her for who knows how long!’ Naruto thought to himself, thankful that it was too dark for his blush to be seen.
Fortunately, Naruto had managed to put on pants and a white shirt when Kakashi arrived, stumbling, with Mito supporting him. His eyes immediately locked on to Naruto, saying, “Naruto!? Are you fine?! Your Shadow Clones dispelled, and I feared the worst-”
Biwako chuckled, but it was a cold, mirthless laugh. She said, “Naruto was being a reckless idiot and kicked a Bijuu in the face,” malice oozing from her, making Naruto blanch.
Kakashi blinked, then he said, “are your injuries manageable?”
Naruto used the Mystical Diagnostic Palm on himself, then on the others. He said, “yeah, no need for worrying too much, though I’ll have my other sensei check me to be certain.”
Kakashi nodded, then said, “I would like to be present when she gives you a check-up.”
Naruto didn’t reply for a few moments, then said, “I’ll ask her,” mainly to stall. ‘Well, Auntie Tsunade will probably say no, right?’ He thought to himself.
Kakashi, then Biwako perked up. That was when Naruto felt the approach of someone, too. No, three someones. It ended up being a very tall man who had half his face covered by a white cloth and tattoos on the other side. In short, he looked like Baki had been described to them, and for some reason, Naruto was able to see in the dark much better than before. Maybe the Bijuu?
“Greetings,” the man said, “I am Baki,” looking at Kakashi and bowing enough to be polite, barely.
“Kakashi,” their sensei said, introducing himself and bowing, too.
“Have you seen my student? He is eleven years old, has auburn hair, light-green eyes and pale skin,” Baki said.
Nobody spoke, not even Mito. The silence was palpable. Then, Naruto bit the shuriken and said, “yeah, the crazy bastard tried to kill Kakashi-sensei and the missing-nin sensei was fighting against. Pakura, I think…? She called him Gaara and told him not to interfere.”
“I see. Where is Gaara now?” Baki said, narrowing his visible eye, being joined by an older girl and boy.
Naruto said, “well, you know how it is. Crazy boy turns ugly, team use a collaboration Fire-Wind ninjutsu, crazy boy is no more, not even ashes…,” shrugging.
The older boy and Baki looked at each other, then the boy said, “you’re kidding.”
Biwako lit up their surroundings with her Fire Style and indicated something with her hand. Naruto turned to look at it, seeing a part of the desert that shone. That looked like- glass? If he remembered correctly, sand melted at 1700 degrees(*2), and there was a lot of glass around there.
The older girl, a tall blonde, ran there, shouting Gaara’s name. Naruto felt a twinge in his heart, and couldn’t squash down the guilt, no matter how he tried. Kakashi handed something to Baki while the blonde was searching for Gaara.
When the girl returned, her eyes bloodshot but dry, she looked at Kakashi, then Biwako, then Naruto, then Mito; as if searching for something on their faces. Apparently, she only found it in two of them, because she said, “You two, the blond guy and the black-haired girl. Are you the ones who killed Gaara?"
Naruto looked at Biwako, then they both nodded.
"I see," the tall girl said, clenching a fist. Then, she said, "our villages might be allies now, but they won't be forever. When that happens, I'll seek out you two and rip you to pieces. Remember my name – it's Temari," her voice filled with the anguish of someone who had lost family.
Her remaining teammate put a hand on her shoulder, whispering in her ear. Naruto caught something about things being better that way and 'we can sleep easy now'. Apparently, Naruto's senses had been boosted further.
The girl shrugged off the hand, saying, "how can you say that?!" Running off. Baki followed her after a last look at Team Seven, as did the boy.
Naruto slumped over, feeling like he had run from the Land of Wind all the way to Water, then back, twice without break. He sighed out loud, saying, "well, this happened."
Kakashi slumped over, too, then Mito and finally Biwako. With the condition all of the others were in, Naruto didn't have any trouble switching for a Shadow Clone and running off on his own.
Naruto went through hand-seals, saying, "Kuchiyose no jutsu (Summoning jutsu)," putting in just enough Chakra to get a hand-sized Katsuyu, asking them to Reverse Summon him post-haste.
Once in Shikkotsu Forest, he was able to feel an absolutely titanic source of Chakra, comparable to the Ichibi, possibly greater in amount, though much less potent. He had felt it before, but not from so close. Naruto looked up, and up, and up- “Katsuyu-sama-?” He said, startled by the Slug Summon’s size. ‘Katsuyu-sama must be at least seven times Shukaku’s size!’ He thought to himself. Naruto had never met the full Katsuyu before – it had been a part of them that would Reverse Summon him, the few times he had been in this place, even when he had first become a Slug summoner.
A small lump formed on Katsuyu’s body, turning into several slugs, which slid up to Naruto, merging into one. “Naruto-san, what’s wrong?” The slug asked him.
“Please don’t follow me too closely, Katsuyu-sama,” Naruto told the man-sized slug, “I’ll tell you later, I promise.”
Then, Naruto started sprinting off into the distance. He kept on running and running and running until he no longer felt like it. He stopped, caught his breath, then immediately started screaming, absentmindedly making sure that he took a good breath first to keep from ruining his throat.
“AAARRRGGGGGHH!! GODS BE DAMNED, MOTHERFUCKING VILLAGE!! RAAAAGH!” was what came out of Naruto.
He could handle being a Jinchuuriki. Hell, he had asked Biwako to make him one! He could even handle being separated from his closest family. But having been made the decoy to the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, made into the one who would receive all of the hatred and none of the benefits; being used and immediately discarded, with the Hokage not even giving a shit…. THAT made him furious. Hateful.
Naruto screamed out incoherently again, making the creepy, pale, almost white leafless trees shake with the full might of the lungs of a Senju-Uzumaki (newly-made) Jinchuuriki trained in Wind Style. Hearing heavy footsteps and the shattering of the ground in the distance, Naruto tensed for a moment, but he recognized Tsunade’s Chakra, so he relaxed a little bit. He noticed he had been drawing on sickly yellow Chakra, so he tried to cut the flow.
It was all but impossible, so he drew upon what he knew of the Bijuu.
(“According to Granny, the Kyuubi was harder to control when she was full of negativity. ‘To make a good vessel, you must first fill them with love’, she said once.”)
It was worth a try. Naruto thought of Auntie Tsunade, demolishing everything in her way to reach him; Biwako, who had been the only one his age there for him for years; Mito- no, not the time. By the time Tsunade reached Naruto a few seconds later, making a new clearing in the Damp Bone Forest, he had gotten rid of the other Chakra, which left him feeling more tired than ever.
Tsunade held him through the sobs he started letting out, stroking his hair. Naruto wasn’t sure what he was saying, nor if Tsunade was speaking words or just incoherent sounds to comfort him, but when his tears ran dry, he tapped Tsunade’s back and got back on his feet. She looked him over, then said, “what happened? You look like shit,” bluntly, but in a softer voice than usual.
“I- I found out who holds the Kyuubi,” Naruto said, seeing Tsunade’s eyebrows lift. “It’s not me, though. It’s Mito,” he then said, his body shaking in tension.
Naruto started from the beginning, the beginning of the mission to be exact. He talked and talked and talked until he reached the fight against the fully freed Shukaku. He told his aunt of how he had charged Shukaku and kicked him in the chin, causing his jutsu to backfire on him. The gasp she let out made Naruto pause.
“I will scold you over your recklessness later,” Tsunade said, her face unreadable, “now please continue.”
Naruto told her that he had blacked out for a minute there and come to to serious injuries. Then, he told her about seeing Biwako with one of Tsunade’s Fuuinjutsu projects, the sake saucer and how he had persuaded Biwako to seal Shukaku in him. He looked at Tsunade, but her expression was still unreadable. Finally, he told her of the arrival of Gaara’s teacher and teammates, or maybe family or both. He wasn’t sure. About the blonde, Temari, swearing vengeance and running off.
“…So, I left a Shadow Clone behind as soon as I had recovered enough Chakra, ran off and summoned a small part of Katsuyu-sama, asking them to Reverse Summon me here,” Naruto said, finally reaching the end. His voice was hoarse by this point, and not just because of talking and his screams.
Tsunade nodded, then she said, “what now?” Naruto’s confusion must have shown on his face, because she said, “I mean, what are your intentions towards Konoha?" looking at him neutrally.
Naruto froze in place. Before he could focus enough to speak, his aunt did, again.
Tsunade said, “don't misunderstand me. I don't much care about what happens to them anymore. You did say that you hated them and the Sandaime earlier, but if you intend to leave or to attack them… then I want to know, so that I can help you plan. You also need certain skills, such as defenses against mind probes like the Yamanaka clan's, as well as how to evade trackers such as the Aburame, Inuzuka and equivalents.”
Naruto put his arms around his aunt, thanking her again and again. Tsunade ruffled his hair, then said, “you’re welcome, Naruto.” A minute or two later, Tsunade said, “have you said anything about your loyalties, or lack thereof, to anyone?”
“Only to Biwako,” Naruto said, “she doesn’t have any ties to Konoha and I trust her with my life. She fully intends to follow me wherever I go.”
Tsunade smiled, just a little upwards movement in one corner of the lips. She said, “you’ve been thinking about this for a while, haven’t you? This is just the straw that broke the Wind-beast’s back.”
“Yeah,” Naruto said, feeling tired but lighter, somehow, even with Shukaku there. Oh, shit! Naruto almost jumped in place. He said, “what do you know of Shukaku, the Ichibi no Tanuki, Auntie Tsunade?” A bit frantic.
She said, “well, if the seal is not good enough, it can take over when the host is in a state of weakness, such as when sleeping. Don’t worry about that. The Four Symbols Seal is really strong, unless Biwako screwed up or- oh, crap,” becoming more frantic towards the end.
“What is it?” Naruto said, the sinking feeling returning.
Tsunade told him to lift his shirt, so he did. At the same time she was examining the seal, she said, “well, the Ichibi is really good at finding weaknesses in seals, so if the host’s mental state lapses, such as an outburst of really strong negative emotions… it can weaken the seal, possibly enough to take you over in your sleep.”
“Is the seal fine?” Naruto said, holding his breath in suspense.
Tsunade said, “I’m not sure. It’s been weakened from what I can tell, but we won’t know if it’s still strong enough until you’ve slept on it. Literally.”
-----
*Atlas, obviously
*2 In degrees Celsius