Demons, Snow And Kunai

Tifa was just walking past the elevators when one dinged and the doors slid open.



The first thing she saw when the door was wide enough was red and black, frowned and stopped walking. What was Reno doing there? Was he coming to report to Tseng or had he found more of the group?



Her answer came when the doors fully opened to reveal three figures with him, an young man in his late thirties and with a face scar, an shaggy young man with a white dog and an black haired young man in green and orange. With a glad cry Tifa ran towards them "you found them Reno! They are gonna be SO happy and grateful to you!"



To her surprise the red head blushed "yo, you think so?"



"Of course!" she laughed "they'll probably all thank you and praise you!"



To her further shocked his blush increased, practically hiding the curved red marks on his face with the depth of the color, stuttering in uncertainty and shyness. What was up with the red head lately? He had gone from an sense of confidence so strong it almost seemed like an over-inflated ego to the shyness of a school boy on his first date.



Shaking it off for further examination later she moved to the nearest intercom "wait a minute, I'll call them."



She did so, summoning the two girls, two boys (of course, Sasuke would have come anyway) and one adult. "I'm at the elevators" she said "Reno found something you guys might recognize. I want your opinion" while she smiled secretly at the three with the red head. They confirmed they would be right there, just heading down from the other top floor apartment which had not only became an make-shift hospital ward for the group, but the Sand brothers and Nara heir had taken up residence in to be close to the girl.



It seemed the formerly lazy heir had an soft spot for the blonde young woman, Tifa had seen the expression on his face as he watched the girl when he thought no one was watching, the combination of fear, concern, pain and hope.



The boy DEFINATELY had an major crush.

And it seemed all the more intensified by the young woman’s near deathcoma state.



Tifa had felt compelled to give him a talk to after she noticed and the doctors were examining her for any change. They had stood outside in the hall, the ninja leaning back against the wall with just his shoulders and one raised foot, eyes lazy, lids drooping. "You know you won't be able to really touch her when she awakens" she had said by way of starting the conversation "even if she knows you and even trusts you at all, until she is able to get back on herself and heal the abuse, chances are that all males will set her on edge, even her brothers."



"I know" he had answered "every ninja is taught or are aware of the possibility of being captured by enemies and tortured, killed or even raped-even males. However it doesn't lessen the impact of when it happens just because you know about it being an chance. I will help her any way I can. One of my clan, a male, went through that. Just after his rescue and return he committed suicide. So I studied how to help. So I can help her now." For just a second his face hardened "I won't let her reach that point, she WILL survive it and heal from this!"



Tifa accepted this.



Now Tifa could hear them just rounding a corner towards them, Naruto talking loudly, and from the corner of her eyes Tifa saw the older man break out in an wide delighted smile. He started out of the elevator, but Tifa motioned him to stop, giving him a cheeky smile.



The man smiled back, realizing what she was going to do and nodded, staying where he was. The group stopped across the room from her, six instead of five but she wasn't at all surprised. Naruto spoke out to her first, a cheeky smile aimed at her "hey Tif, what'd you find?" Tifa gave him a mock frown. Ever since she was adopted as their family, ever since Naruto heard Cloud call her by his childhood nickname for her earlier that morning, he had been calling her that.



"I didn't find it, Reno did." She motioned the red head out and he stood next to her with a sheepish grin "yo, hi guys."



"What'd you find, Ren?" Reno motioned the man out "loose someone?" The blonde's eyes widened in shock "sensai? Iruka sensai?!"



"Naruto" the man spoke gently, his tone of voice one of an father to a son. With a glad cry the blonde was in his arms, sobbing desperately and emotionally, blabbering everything that had happened to him since they had last seen each other, the two sinking to the floor together in a heap and Tifa saw tears also in the corners of the mans eyes as they did.



Once they had settled down somewhat Naruto managed to make it to his feet and drag the man over to meet Vincent.



While he did and the three, with Sasuke protectively following his mate of course, moved to a corner, Tifa turned to the other three with a smile. Next she motioned the shaggy young man and dog out who immediately saw the two women and was soon buried in the Hyuuga heir's arms, the girl giggling as the dog excitedly licked her face in welcome, the male calling her "my woman."



But all attention turned back as the last male stepped off the elevator. "Lee?" the girl whispered in hope and barely rained emotions. The man looked at the green clad other and to the woman, as if unsure how to act. Did he act all boisterous and outrageous like he did with his sensai, or the quiet gentle lover he did around the woman he loved?



The sensai answered for him asking seriously "do you love her, Lee?"



He looked back and answered just as seriously "yes sensai. I have since the chunin exams." The man grinned widely "then your choice is easy, isn't my student." The young man grinned back "yes sensai" he turned to the woman and smiled at her "my Sakura blossom."



"Lee?" she choked again, eyes full of tears and body trembling in mixed emotions. She seemed unable to believe what she saw. He came to her side and gently lay a hand on her shoulder, repeating "my Sakura Blossom" as he did, voice gentle and filled with so much love. The pink haired girls eyes widened and she reached up to take the hand in hers, gripping it desperately tight, making the young man wince slightly at the bone crunching strength of it.



As if empowered by the feel of his warm but calloused skin her disbelief melted away and her expression became dawning joy and relief, pulling the Lethe but muscular young man into her arms, sobbing out how worried she was that she would never see him again and her fear she'd never get to tell him about her secret and he would never have the chance to know HIM.



"Him? Secret? What is wrong my blossom?" he drew back in her arms enough to look her over in concern.



Unable to find the words to explain the teary-eyed woman took the same hand and placed it low on her stomach, so not only could he feel the growing bump there but the slight fluttery movement inside. His eyes widened slightly at the feel "who...when?!"



"Four months ago. I forgot to do the morning-after jutsu, or maybe deep down inside I did it on purpose so I wouldn't have an excuse to hide US anymore. Tsunade-sama scanned it this morning and said he's an healthy size and is growing properly." She smiled beautifully through her happy tears "She also said his chakra pathways are normal, if a little mature for his age. He'll be more powerful than you and I combined."



"But how can that be?" he frowned "I'm not...."



"The Hurano line were known as powerful Hunter-nins, at least on the male side" said a new voice and they all turned to see the Hokage, her assistant and Sage Sanin heading their way. "however it seems that it has a habit of skipping certain generations. Sakura's father was powerful, one of the most powerful of their line despite how he feel in love with an normal citizen. He died during the Kyuubi attack, not by the fox itself but protecting his pregnant wife from an falling building."



"Mom never told me this" the girl whispered, clutching her lover to her "she refused to talk about dad. The only thing she would say was the fox was responsible when she was trying to get me to hate Naruto." The blonde winced visibly at this mention.



"I don't blame you, Naruto, or the fox. I wouldn't now if I ever did. YOU weren't even born yet and the fox was being controlled, Sasuke was right, it was all HIS fault." The blonde looked relieved. She looked back at the big-busted woman "you KNEW my father? Why haven't you told me this earlier."



"You never asked" she pointed out "besides, to tell an child that her father was a Hunter-nin...."



The girl drew herself up proudly in the supporting arms of her lover "I would have been proud of him. He did what only a select few could to protect his home, just like he died to protect his family. Besides as you said, only an powerful person can become Hunter-nin."



"Hunter nin?" Tifa questioned them cautiously.



"The most powerful and elite nins of a village" the Hokage started to explain "there are two branches, ANBU, who work inside a village, protecting those inside from threats-mostly concentrated around the kages and councils-and hunter nin who travel OUTSIDE a village, hunting down missing nin and the most dangerous enemy and s-class criminals and not only permanently stopping them but completely destroying the body and any trace so any secrets and bloodlines are destroyed as well."



She understood and nodded, Reno next to her pursing his lips against something he wanted to say.



Reno, being tactful?



"Hey!" Naruto suddenly yelped and all eyes turned on the boy in time to see him start scratching furiously at something on his head. Before anyone could speak he managed to catch it, holding an tiny black speck between a suddenly clawed thumb and forefinger "ask permission from an Allie before you do that! What would your master say!"



"Naruto?" Sakura asked in confusion.



Scratching the back of his head in embarrassment with the hand opposite the occupied one, Naruto turned his hand around, allowing them to see the tiny black speck, smaller than a flea, there. "He latched on and decided to use me to re energize. I normally wouldn't have minded except I would have preferred it seek permission first."



"Permission? You can understand it? What is it?"



"Look." The group crowded around to look. A tiny black fleck sat in the young mans hand, legs moving to clean himherself, barely visible. The Hokage looked and snorted "kiki, what a nuisance."



"Kiki?" Reno asked curiously.



"Kikaichuu, destruction beetles. This one belongs to Shino" Naruto said.



"How do YOU know it's Shino's?" they asked him.



"Three reasons. One, see this little red mark here?" he pointed to an speck of red on the beetles side. When they nodded he answered "only his bugs have that mark."



"The second?"



"Shino is the only Aburame here."



"Third?"



"IT told me." The group looked shocked "you can understand it?!"



"Well yeah" with a sheepish smile the boy rubbed the back of his head again. "How long? Is it because of your connection to Gaia as an creature of the planet?"



"Actually...." the boy faded of and the groups eyes widened "you've been able to understand them ALL ALONG!!"



"Yeah" he said softly, but there was something in his tone of voice...."Guys" Tifa said softly "he's upset." The group looked at him as his mate surrounded him comfortingly in his arms "what is wrong, dobe?" The boy sighed deeply and looked away "I've been able to understand them long before I could talk. Everything natural, insects, animals, even the very trees."



"Why didn't you tell us?!" they asked, the Sage's eyes wide he added "if I had of known you could commune with nature I would off....."



The boy looked up at him, eyes hard "would have what, ero-sensei? Trained me to be a sage, to manipulate the energies of the planet to protect it and others? I had to use the sexy jutsu just to get any attention from you long enough to learn the Ressagen. Face it you would have found a reason to leave me again like last time."



He lowered his head, hiding his face "everyone already thought I was a freak as it was, 'cause of HER, without knowing I could do anything like THAT as well."



"Naruto" the Hokage sighed "there are PLENTY of ninja who can understand or even communicate with nature."



"But none of them are demon vessels, are they" he pointed out. The group was about to move to comfort him and assure him he was not a freak but a gifted ninja and VincentChaos' son when the huge dog barked a couple of times. The boy sighed "yeah, okay."



"You understand Akamaru as well....!?"



"Well yeah, I said ALL animals." Before anyone else could speak, Tifa did "what did it say?"



"It said Shino is with two others from Kohona in a place called Junon. It said it could lead us to them." Sakura frowned "how did it get here?"



"When they found themselves here, Shino sent his beetles out in all directions, tracking charka to find anyone else familiar. This one sensed Gaara's little tantrum yesterday and tracked it here to us. Once finding us it was low in energy because of how long it was traveling and decided to 'borrow' some chakra from me before letting itself be known."



They understood and Reno spoke up "if you guys need a ride to Junon to get your guy....."



"Thanks Ren" Naruto grinned at him, the red head giving an simple smile back. An idea struck Tifa and she suddenly grinned at the red head "hey Ren. I don't think they have traveled by Chocobo yet. Perhaps it is time they learn."



"Chocobo?" Naruto perked up, looking extremely interested "what's that?"



"Yo you're right Tifa" the red head grinned "and doesn't blondie and SOLDIER-boy have that farm just outside Midgar? The one where blonde breeds them."



"Yes they do" Tifa grinned back. "Well then maybe we should take them there."



"What are Chocobo?" Naruto called out to them, extremely interested and almost bouncing on the spot.



Tifa smiled at the childish behavior "they are a more.....natural form of transport than our cars, trains and helicopters. They can make it across the land to Junon in a shorter time and can even fight back against some of the monsters there, even though they are considered monsters themselves by some, plus their instincts for danger have saved many people from nearby monsters."



"Really?!" the young man was more than interested now, he was fascinated "tell me more about them!"



"Well they've been used for various things through the history of Gaia, from pack animals to racing. They are highly intelligent and can understand humans, but communicate in a different way. Some people like Cloud seem to understand them and the way they communicate and so make better farmers and breeders. They come in just about every color known to man, but SOME colors are extremely rare and are valuable to those owning one. Other breeders will pay a fortune to have THEIR Chocobo breed with one of the rare ones.



The rarest are Red, Gold-not yellow, white and rarest of the lot is the rainbow chocobo. Cloud has a gold, but the red and rainbow haven't been seen for centuries."



Naruto smiled "what do they look like?"



Tifa smiled secretly "you'll see."



Naruto looked at the Hokage, big blue eyes begging "can we travel by chocobo, granny, please?" The woman sighed at his puppy-dog eyes "I suppose we will have to or you won't let me forget it, will you."



"Yay!!!" the boy cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. "I'm going I suppose" she added, "who else?"



"I will" Sasuke of course said.

"Of course me" Tifa smiled.

"I will" said a new voice from behind the group.



All turned to find the oldest Uchiha standing there, watching them. His eyes locked to Tifa's, ignoring everyone else around them. Something passed between them. When Sasuke protested, worried about his injuries and chakra state he pulled his clothes aside and the bandages to show them healed flesh and only an pink new scar without looking away from Tifa. It seemed the merge was completed, healing the ninja completely.



When the Hokage snorted and asked why he wanted to go with them Tifa saw something flicker in his eyes as he said softly "first Naruto carries the next generation of Uchiha clan, he needs to be protected for that" before the blonde could protest and state he could take care of himself the other Uchiha spoke again "secondly he carries the new generation of Uchiha, his is the birth of a new clan, a new destiny. I will NOT allow the new to follow the downward spiral of the old. Sasuke needs to know what SHOULD be passing on and what should be left in the ashes of the clan ground."



Tifa saw the rest of his thoughts, his brother helped conceive a GIRL, a female child just as he had always secretly wanted for himself, if he had to die to protect that unborn child, he would. As a few mouths opened, he finally looked away from her and looked at the blonde, brunette and Vincent seriously "she's MY NIECE, would you deny me the right to protect something born from my brother, the only thing in this world I ever cared about?"



"Way to show you care" Kiba snorted "slaughtering his family, then convincing him to hate!"



Those black-black eyes swung towards the dog like nin, level and unblinking that same look Tifa had seen days ago on the roof on him. The boy shifted back, unnerved at it. "He needed to be strong, stronger than me so when Madara came out of hiding he would be able to face him and win. I knew I would never be able to do it, I probably wouldn't live long enough I was already sick, but he could do it, even though he never had the confidence, he was always capable of it."



"Anki....!" Sasuke started to protest, even now unwilling to believe he could ever compare to the one he had always looked up to and loved more than anyone. The heir looked at his brother "it was true, Sasuke, and to make sure you knew the truth of our enemy when he finally confronted you, I made sure you had my eyes."



"What do you mean?" The Hokage frowned at the heir. "I ensured both my eyes would allow Sasuke to see the truth, and that he took them after the fight, even when he was so animalistic."



"You mean you only took Naruto to get to Sasuke?!"



"You really think if we got ahold of him it would take us THAT LONG to extract the demon?"



"So you were dragging it out so Sasuke could come to rescue him, hopefully in time." He nodded and now that they had the chance, The Hokage asked "why DID Akatsuki want the nine tailed demons anyway?"



"The group was being manipulated by Madara Uchiha. After being cast out of the village he grew more and more insane. He was manipulating the leader Pain to collecting the tailed beasts because he had an grand plan-but it was foolish really-to take complete control of all five nations and place himself as ruler by using them. He kept watch from the inside by masquerading as an idiot called Tobi."



"I KNEW there was more to him then what he seemed!" Naruto exclaimed.



"What do you mean, Naruto?" they questioned.



"Every time I was near him, Kyuubi was either unsettled or even growled." He looked thoughtful "maybe she sensed who he really was, but couldn't say anything. After all, you gotta remember the guy who controlled you not once but twice, even just a little bit."



He had a point.



"Why did he want the tailed beasts?"



"His plan was to merge them back to the ten tailed, then take control of them like the Sage Of Six Paths."



"Impossible!" The Hokage snorted "only someone as pure and enlightened as he could even hope to control it."



"Yes, but his plan was to use the beasts powers so he could use the moon as an reflective surface so he could project his sharingan on it, simultaneously taking control of everyone around the world and making him the ruler and every single person into his slaves." Tifa snorted "wouldn't have worked, at least not the way he wanted." They looked at her "what do you mean?"



She looked at Itachi "in order to hypnotize or control someone you need direct eye contact with them, true?"



He nodded.



"How many people at that exact time would be outside looking up directly at the moon?"



They saw her point. She went on "even if he could do it so anyone within the 'light' of the moon, it still doesn't count those people who are blind, those underground, those inside with their windows and curtains closed, those asleep...." she counted off on her fingers and the others relaxed as they got her point.



Tifa shrugged "it seemed all these so-called mad geniuses miss these points. Hojo, Hegiger...."



Another point.



"He would have had a little more luck maybe hypnotizing the leaders of each village and telling them to order their entire village out to look at the moon when it happened but there would still be some who were busy or on missions....."



Naruto suddenly brightened "or he could have spread rumors of an eclipse or some comet....."



Tifa nodded to the young man in agreement. Itachi frowned "at the time it never occurred to me you could be right. I just knew he had to be stopped...."



"And so you should have" Vincent spoke out "you were always loyal to the village, even when it did not seem so to others. You were acting as an loyal ninja would in your effort to stop him. You could do no other than what you did to protect it."



The others agreed, the Sage sanin speaking out "just as you'll be loyal to this new one" he motioned around them at the building "even though we, in this building, come from all different villages-or at least will when everyone is found, we are now our own village, one were everyone gets a say in what we do or how it works, not just pompous old farts who think they are all powerful and can do whatever the hell they want. Where everyone has equal say and because we all live together in one building, cannot keep damning secrets from the rest-it won't work this close together."



Naruto smiled at this, adding "there will be no restraints on who can love who, if one 'clan member' loves a member of another 'clan', they can if they want. Who cares about 'keeping the bloodline pure'."



"You mean..." the dog-orientated young man breathed in hope, pulling his girlfriend closer to him, clutching her tightly but still careful of his claws. "Yeap" Naruto nodded and grinned "if you want to mate Hinata fully, you can. With no other Hyuuga here by Neji....."



"And Neji himself has his eyes on someone here too" Sakura smiled at Naruto and he nodded "so he's not likely to protest you both."



"All your bloodline abilities doesn't matter here" Tifa said "no one here knows about them, or is interested in them" she purposely left out the possibility of Shinra "so you don't need to protect them."



"And since Hinata always found ways to delay learning the signs for the Caged Bird Seal....." Sakura said, smiling at her shy friend. The new three's eyes widened "no one can activate it anymore, it's useless!"



"Unless Neji knows them himself which I doubt, yes." Tifa smiled "all it is now is some weird tattoo."



"Where ARE we?!" the scared man asked, looking at them imploringly "WHAT IS GOING ON??!!"



"Take them to explain what's happening" the female sanin said to the Sage. "Tell them EVERYTHING."



The older man nodded and with the two girls and green-clad man in tow, he lead the three males away, leaving only herself, Naruto and the two brothers, Vincent, Reno and Tifa in the hallway.



Before anyone could speak the younger Uchiha sighed heavily, clenched his eyes for a few long seconds then rose to follow them.

"Sas?" there was something vulnerable in the blonde's words, like he thought his mate was leaving him forever.



He froze, not looking at him but his back was stiff "I'm not going."



"Why not!" the blonde pleaded, tears in his eyes. The younger looked up at the older, locking their black eyes and said seriously "I need to start trusting him again, Naru. I need to start TRYING to trust him again for both our sakes. If I keep hanging around you so much because of a constant voice in my head insisting he'll kill you and everyone else when my back is turned, our relationship will never get back anywhere where it used to be. I've got to prove to myself he truly has always been my brother and not the evil man everyone told me he was. If trusting him to protect and watch over you is how I must do it......"



His eyes went hard as he looked at his brother, who nodded slowly in response to a silent question-or was that a demand?



"I understand" Naruto nodded to his mate "I'll be fine, don't worry."



"I will also come" Vincent said, the demon wolf turning to give him a grateful look. But Naruto asked "why?"



Tifa spoke "both Vincent and I have traveled all over Gaia, we have faced all different monsters. I'm an maylay fighter while Vincent is an distance or backup fighter. Between the two of us, we know just about every creatures weakness and strengths. For instance, some are vulnerable to physical attacks, but you can't use magic attacks. Some are weak to certain magic, but they are strong against physical." She looked at the Uchiha heir "Haku said you saved him from one. Is that true?"



He nodded "something huge with tentacles."



"Probably an Malburo then. You both were lucky."



Vincent suddenly pulled out his mobile and started scanning for numbers. When the others asked what he was doing he murmured "Reeve has files of information on most monsters and their strengths and weaknesses gathered from our experiences and others. I am asking him to get a copy of them sent here so they can read them over and learn" he looked at Sasuke "will you be there to meet him and help study them?"



Given something to do other than fret and worry, the wolf demon nodded "of course, and I'll make sure EVERYONE studies them."





An hour and a half later, Tifa was NOT surprised. They had arrived at the farm within 15 minutes and it had taken an mere following fifteen minutes for Naruto to befriend EVERY farm animal there, even the most temperamental ones. The Chocobo especially seemed fond of him.



The first after arriving was the two males dog, who Tifa called 'Zackky', part to annoy the ex-SOLDIER, part because it acted like a big puppy-just like one of its masters. After arriving the dog took one looked at the blonde and crouched and growled viciously at him, totally out of character. Naruto grinned and growled back before they could warn him.



The dog snarled and launched at him and before anyone could prevent it the two were rolling around in the dirt and grass of the driveway. Tifa and the others were about to move to help and separate them when they noticed the sounds both were making.



The blonde was laughing loudly and the dog was barking happily.



Looking closely they could see the dogs tail wagging and Naruto being 'licked to death', causing them to relax and breathe a sigh of relief. Naruto was suddenly on his feet, yelled "C'MON!" and tore into the nearby barn, the happily barking dog on his heels.





While Tifa told Cloud and Zack about the location of the new figure and what they wanted to do, Naruto dashed in and out of the barn laughing, sometimes followed by the dog, sometimes it and an row of excited hens and their chicks, sometimes some of the more gentler of the Chocobo's.



Just after she had finished explaining they noticed they hadn't seen Naruto come out for at least five minutes, even though they could still hear his occasional giggle.



They entered the barn to look.



All the Chocobo's were back in their pens, eating, sleeping, preening themselves, whatever they were usually doing. Except one.



'Princess', named such for her aloof attitude, the two males prized gold chocobo was busy with something in her stall, cooing and making pleased sounds. And the pregnant blonde's giggles were coming from the stalls floor.



They slowly, as not to startle or alert Princess, crept to the stall and looked in.



Naruto lay on the floor of the stall, laughing as Princess alternatively preened him and tickled him, obviously enjoying her actions and the boy's laughter.



They could understand her fascination with him, Naruto was an bubbly person you just couldn't help liking, and his hair kind of made him look like an gold chocobo as well. They also noticed how occasionally she nuzzled the boy's stomach gently with her beak, cooing and warking to it as if talking to the unborn child.



Which wouldn't surprise them, Naruto HAD said the baby was at the age where it would be listening to outside noise now, and if she shared her 'mothers' ability to understand or even communicate to planet life, it probably could on some level know what was being saying, maybe on an instinctual level.



Naruto suddenly looked up and by the slight tensing they knew he had seen him. Princess sensed his inattention and also looked up. Immediately the bird warked angrily and started kicking the wall they were looking over violently with one powerful leg. "Shh" Naruto soothed softly, rising and wrapping his arms around the neck under the head. "They are fine, family and friends. They won't hurt you."



Immediately the bird calmed, closing her eyes and nuzzling him with her head, almost like she was treating him like her chick. Cloud spoke "HOW did you make friends with her so quickly?! She tries to attack anyone else who touches her. We have so much trouble just trying to breed her as it is."



"THAT'S why" Naruto said, reaching up to gently scratch the spot just below the eye. The female cooed in appreciation, closing her eyes and pushing further into the boy's hand in pleasure. "You guys keep breeding her, she hates how she has to have chicks but before she can bond with them, you take them away. She IS the only light Chocobo here, she'll lonely for her own breed."



"Light?" they looked at him curiously and the boy scratched the back of his head in embarrassment with the hand not occupied "yeah, it's what the other Chocobo's call her. We may know them as gold, or yellow or so on, but they associate each other by things in nature. Like black are night, white are snow, yellow are sun, light blue are sky, red are blood and so on."



Cloud looked at his partner thoughtfully "I think we may take that guy up on his original offer, if that's the case then."



Zack nodded.



"What offer?" they asked.



We had another, an rich breeder who uses his Chocobo's for racing. We checked him out, he treats them right, like favorite and prized animals, who wanted to breed HIS gold with Princess. We originally refused, but if we tell him we consent if he trains and boards the resulting offspring here....."



They understood. The mother chocobo could be with her chicks as they grew.



Zack spoke "Cloud knows how to handle the racing birds. Years ago he used to breed them for such, so he'll be able to control and curb their wild nature." He looked at Naruto "how's that?" The blonde looked at the bird who cooed and nuzzled him "she approves."



"Good" the blonde woman glared at the bird "now come out of there." Seeing the woman looking at her, Princess glared back, the two starting an staring contest.



Tifa had the distinct impression of two mothers competing over a child. She was surprised that despite the ferocity of the glare the woman was sending, Princess wasn't backing down. Tifa wasn't surprised really, these simple birds faced monsters in the wild nearly every day, one human woman, despite her power, wasn't really that scary.



The glares where just starting to heat up when Naruto interrupted them, walking between them to interrupt the eye contact as he stepped out of the stall, frowning at Cloud "Princess says you're having trouble with an night? Maybe I can help?"



Totally ignoring the two glaring females the two blondes moved out of the barn together, discussing the new female. Tifa and the rest of the group followed. In a fenced off reinforced enclosure outside was an black chocobo female, stalking around, angrily warking and making noises, generally looking pissed off.



"We found her in the wilds just outside our farm a few days ago" Cloud explained "her leg had been torn and obviously damaged from an monster attack. Usually Chocobo have powerful legs that can kill with a single hit in the right spot, or run fast enough to outspeed most of them, but she must have been surprised to be so badly damaged. We healed her leg enough with medicine to then use magic to fully heal everything up, but we had to sedate her just to look at it. I have had a LOT of once wild birds, but even Princess is tame compared to HER."



Naruto nodded and climbed the fence before they could protest. He approached the bird, looking back at them "whatever she does, don't attack or even defend me, she's no threat to me, she feels like she's angry because she's trying not to cry." He looked at them, rather, the blonde woman "she feels like you whenever you think of or mention Dan."



The woman pursed her lips and nodded.



"Wait" Cloud said "you think she's lost her mate or chick to the monster? That is why she was injured and is so out of control, she's grieving?"



Naruto nodded and moved forward.



Contrary to popular belief, Chocobo's tended to mate for life in the wild, only taking another partner if the other died. However when domesticated, being bred by humans to multiple partners that instinct was overpowered by the heat of breeding season. Some more....illegal breeders even went out of their way to hunt down and capture wild Chocobo's and use drugs to breed them to their domesticated ones, claiming it gave their tame birds offspring an advantage over other people's racing birds.



Some of Cloud and Zack's birds may have once been wild, but they didn't force them to breed, they didn't go out and capture them and after healing any they find, they released them back into the wild. However SOME decided not to go, or were too badly damaged or scarred to be re released.



So Cloud and Zack made sure they were happy where they were and were safe and warm and well fed.



Currently on Gaia there was just about even color of Chocobo in the rainbow and while some colors were rare, like the Gold, none were quiet so rare as the red- or the TRUE white. These birds were legendary in their existence, almost wiped out by a rumor in Rufus’ fathers days that the feathers of a pure white could magically reproduce materia. Consequently the only whites seen these days were those normal Chocobo’s either artificially bred or ones with the color 'bleached’ out of them and the now known ‘toy’ whites who were about the size of a dog, but were the produce of Shinra Senior trying to make money of the legends.



The dead President of Shinra Electric Company had seen a way to make money off the legends of the whites, AND let people in apartments own their own or have an miniature pet for their kids and had the science department create an ‘toy’ sized white chocoobo. Only when the public discovered that the new pets were created with an limited lifespan so they would be forced to by more......well that idea didn’t last long and the last of the toy Chocobo’s now were as rare as the red.



The last time an real wild white chocobo was seen was when Cloud was five, and still living in Nibelheim.



But none were quite so rare as the red. Said to be able to use the attack 'Chocobo Meteor', the true wild breed Red were said to be whiped out, except the rumor of one level 99 who was last seen running around the Osmone Plains. Many had tried to capture him or her, but ALL had failed.



Naruto approached the black, cooing something softly to it. The bird spun, warking angrily and charged him.



Tifa held her breath.



At the last second Naruto jumped out of her way, still cooing soothingly.



What followed was the chocobo hen charging, Naruto jumping aside while he spoke soothingly, for at least ten minutes. Weakened by her injuries and body struggling to heal, it didn't take long for the flightless bird to collapse in a heap, panting and wheezing.



Naruto approached it slowly, still cooing and speaking soothingly, but on guard for any further action. He slowly wrapped both arms around the birds neck, never hesitating in his soothingly and gentle talk.



Finally he seemed to break through, because the bird began to answer back between gasps for breath, the soft warks and cooes. Naruto seemed to get more and more alarmed the more it spoke, eyes wide in horror and shock.



Suddenly he seemed to reach a decision. He swung himself up onto the birds back and they were off like a shot, heading for the far side of the fence. Before anyone could speak, there was an burst of chakra at the same time the bird jumped. "They're going to hit!" Tifa cried, only to have the bird not only soar over, but the same chakra cushion their landing.



Then they were off to the woman sanin's cry of "NARUTO YOU BRAT!!!!!!"



Tifa saw a flash of red beside her and looked just in time to see Vincent being wrapped in his cloak and disappearing in a streak of red after the two. "It's alright" Tifa told the woman "Vincent is going with him. He travels faster in that form than even a Chocobo, see, he's already caught up." Sure enough the blonde riding a chocobo was soon side by side with a large streak of red.



"Nothing to do but wait for when they return" Tifa said "Vincent will watch over them and make sure they return safely." She looked at the black haired Uchiha standing still as a statue looking after them "you can't do anything right now, come inside with us." At first it looked like he was about to follow the blonde, but when the woman Hokage spoke his name sternly he turned reluctantly and followed them instead.



However the entire time inside he spent perched on the sill of the window facing the three's direction. For the following half an hour they organized rides, made lunch, leaving some for the blonde when he got back, and discussed in length to trip there and back around a map. At exactly thirty-one minutes since they left there was a slight noise and all eyes turned to find the older Uchiha standing, body at attention, eyes red and swirling.



"Uchiha?" the woman asked, but it was Tifa's soft question of "Itachi?" that received not only an answer or reaction.



"They have returned" he said, his eyes turning straight to her, as if answering only to and for her.



Tifa frowned a little when she realized there was something going on here. It seemed ever since the two of them shared that pivotal moment on the roof, he had been deferring to her and her alone, like he was looking to her for encouragement and how to behave. He had done it in the hallway as well, like he looked to her for how he should act and be, and since that moment Tifa had had the feeling that she had taken responsibility for another life, like Denzel and Marlene, only in a more adult capacity.



It suddenly occurred to her that it was partly right. This man had never had a childhood, all his life and years had been as a weapon, his fathers weapon, then as a spy and double agent for his village-his VILLAGES weapon. Which was part of the reason when he got sick he had chosen death, that 'honorable fate' was all he knew could happen. If he was cured, what was there to go back to? To go back as? He was a born-and-bred weapon, nothing more, he didn't know HOW to be anything other.



Even those short simple youthful memories of Sasuke as brothers were contaminated as such. He probably would have never made it afterwards as a civilian. But Tifa was a warrior, like him, someone he had bonded with in his moment of vulnerability. SHE understood him and was willing to help show him how to live, how to be a brother again, a true son with a real father-not that monster-and when the time came an uncle.



So what else could she do but nod, say "let's go" and the two, side by side, moved out towards the fenced in yard again. Behind them Tifa knew the group were confused, exchanging looks at this before following them out. Something was different this time when the two demon vessels-one astride an chocobo-were returning. Tifa's eyesight-enhanced by mako but not by the the extent of Cloud and Zack-saw something clutched tightly but gently in one of the blondes arms, something about the size of a football and black and fluffy.



It took only seconds for her to figure it out, she gasped and spun to Cloud and Zack, speaking her friends name softly, worried.



The blonde nodded at her unspoken question and turned to his lover "Zack, get the emergency chocobo kit" when the brunette nodded and disappeared into the barn, Cloud followed, but only after saying to Tifa "once he gets here, get him to bring it inside."



She nodded and he followed his lover inside to help set up.



It didn't take long for the bird to skid to a stop in front of them and the boy to slide off, approaching them cradling the limp bundle in his arms "help him!" he implored. Behind him the 'night' chocobo warked in fear and distress, also begging. The rest of the group saw what he held and not only gasped in shock but suddenly knew why he had done what he had.



In his arms was the silent still form of an 'night' chocobo chick, barely a few weeks old, struggling to breathe and live.



Tifa turned aside and opened the path "in here" she said, pointing to the barn, "Cloud and Zack are setting up the emergency kit. If they can't do anything, he'll just return to the lifestream. But they'll do everything in their power to save him." Naruto ran inside, followed by the mother bird with a wark of concern. And the Hokage moved to follow.



When Tifa called out a question she stopped "I may be able to help" she said "I don't know anything about their physiology yet, but I may be able to maintain its.....mana until the boys can do some good."



Left alone with the Uchiha heir, Tifa spoke softly "let's prepare then while they're busy." The Uchiha nodded, following her to the group of birds Cloud told them to use. While they saddled and put the special bridles on the birds Tifa told the other all about their new world, the lifestream, the history, the power players, the people and how it all came together.



But most of all she told him about 'The Devil's Trio', Angeal Hewely, Genesis Rhaposis and most of all Sephiroth Valentine, his half brother now.



She told him about the deadly warrior, the caring General and most of all the MAN that Zack and Cloud had known, the man SHE had met before he went mad and Jenovah had possessed. "He was a great soft spoken man who cared for each of his men even if Shinra didn't. It hurt him whenever they got hurt or killed and he was even known to inform families himself even though he didn't have to, it certainly wasn't part of the job description. He wasn't one to open up to many, in fact he had only two friends, three if you count Zack, but he was only just opening to him before all that stuff happened. When he DID make friends-he made them whole heartly-unfortunately for him" she explained about what had happened between the three and Zack and his mentor.



"I don't blame Sephiroth for what happened in Nebilheim anymore, not even really Jenovah anymore. I mean if YOU were trapped in an frozen body for at least two hundred years, knowing what was going on but unable to move, wouldn't you go nuts? Go nuts and want anyone and everyone around you to pay, not that I'm making excuses for her in the first place. No I blame THAT BASTARD, that bastard who used Sephiroth as an experiment before he could even be born, that bastard who screws with every life he touches, who looked at Cloud, Zack and Vincent and saw only playthings for his sick experiments.



Do you know he killed your father before using his body as an toy for his experiments? That he forced Cloud and Zack to watch as he dug into the others conscious but parilized bodies?" she shuddered in horror "Cloud has blocked most of those memories away in his own head to cope, but Zack can't. Sometimes I see him looking away in his head and I know by his face he's remembering" she shuddered and continued.



"It was all HIS fault, all of it, the sick perverted f...." she stopped herself, flushing, she didn't swear like that, and calmed down. She continued after a steadying breath "If it weren't for him, half the stuff that happened wouldn't have, your father, his love and Sephiroth would have been a family. You see when your father was around your age he was charged with body guarding an young promising scientist named Luecretcia Crescent. She was a little older than him, an apprentice really, but an beautiful woman. Even though Vincent had been an expert marksmen and highly trained TURK-like Reno-he was still an rookie and naive in the way of women. So it wasn't hard for her to seduce him."



The Uchiha frowned "why?"



"Vincent didn't find out until recently that she had actually knew his father, had a major crush on him you see. Vincent's father-Grimore-was an history teacher, he taught her all about the legends of Omega and Chaos, and because she had such a crush on him, she went on to research that. She found Chaos, freed him from his prison in an crystal, and began to experiment with it. However due to an accident and Grimore pushing her out of the way in time, the man was contaminated instead and died."



"I see" the Uchiha heir murmured "so she convinced herself he was her crush, or convinced herself she could remove her guilt by 'falling in love' with her crushes son."



Tifa nodded "Luecretcia was the assistant of an head scientist named Kayane Hojo, even though she also had her own projects. Hojo noticed this infatuation and wanted her for hisself, but he couldn't prove the thing between them had become physical because they were extremely careful" she glanced at the other "Shinra Senior had a rule against employees fraternizing with each other.



However there was one thing that Luecretcia couldn't soon hide, PROOF of their afair."



"Pregnancy" the black haired man nodded in understanding.



"Yes. Hojo got hold of an pregnancy test and proof of paternity that she had had and threatened both her and Vincent with exposure if she didn't do what he wanted. Knowing what would happen to Vincent for being the one to get her pregnant, she agreed. Luecretcia would not tell Vincent it was HIS baby and allow Hojo to use him and her in his experiments. Even though Vincent was hurt by the idea the woman he loved was having another mans baby-or so he thought-he still loved her and did his job.



The experiments of Jenovah cells and pure mako made Luecretcia very ill and she even apparently started having visions of what her son would become, and after watching her get sicker every day, Vincent confronted Hojo.



Only to loose his life.



Hojo kept his body alive with mako and experimented on him even though his soul had fled long ago to the lifestream, telling Luecretcia he would kill him outright if she didn't marry him."



The Uchiha heir frowned at her "marriage? Why?"



"Simple, to remove any of Luecretcia's rights to the child if she refused him. He forced her to proclaim himself the father. By now desperate she stole Vincent's body from him and was trying to bring him back. She had some desperate plan about using Vincent to stop her son when he went mad like in her visions. She was going mad herself by then.



As soon as the child was born, Hojo had Luecretcia proclaimed unfit to be a mother and took the child into his full custody. It was Luecretcia who put Chaos inside Vincent and Luecretcia who gave him the proto-materia to control themselves."



"Proto-materia?" the other asked.



"Yes, you've seen Chaos when he's out" when the other nodded she continued "on here" she touched her left side of her breast "There is an glowing clear ball with pink, white and silver swirling around constantly." When he nodded again she ended "THAT is the proto-materia. It is the only one of its kind and not only allows the lot of them control over themselves, but Vincent's connection and-if necessary, his control over them. We also found out recently it was more." She told him how it was used to awaken Omega "obviously the lifestream wanted Vincent and Chaos to safe-guard it so no one could use it."



"Where is this woman now?" he asked.



"Well, that's hard to explain" Tifa said.



He froze and looked at her, the face and stance of a warrior on guard as he said evenly "what do you mean?"



"Well" she sighed "it seems that all that mako and Jevovah cells didn't just effect Sephiroth in the womb, but her as well. She became like Jenovah was, trapped in an body that won't move but in the center of an mako crystal. But Vincent seems to hear her when she speaks, although I don't know if that's wishful thinking or maybe he hears her through Chaos since he used to also reside in the same one."



"Perhaps Tsunade-sama can do something about that" Itachi said "she is our worlds greatest healer, there may be a way to reverse it with the serum from you that is being created."



"I don't know" Tifa said softly "her time is gone, Vincent has moved on from her and besides, what if she doesn't want to come back?"



The Uchiha "hnned" and then spoke "we shall see."



Tifa nodded "later let's speak to Vincent and her together, see what they say, if Vincent wants to try and Lady Tsunade agrees she can, we'll see."



The other nodded.



Tifa hesitated then reached into a pocket, pulling something out of her purse and handed it over to him "here, don't tell Zack I have this."



The male took it and slowly and carefully unfolded it.



A photo, of three figures, one female and two males.



The first male was obviously Zack, wearing an dark blue uniform and with an huge sword strapped to his back.



The female was young, perhaps fifteen, long brown hair and wearing an skimpy cowgirl outfit. Even this young her breasts were large and she was definitely familiar. Innocence shone in her eyes but she still held herself like an warrior, but obviously by her stance she wasn't well trained as of yet.



The other man though, the man was different and reminded the Uchiha heir of himself in a lot of ways, a lot like a ninja, but at the same time he also reminded him of the man they were calling his new father. His body was taller than he had ever seen a ninja, even Kisame. He was muscular but not in an overpowering way, well built and held himself like one of the most superior warriors Itachi had ever seen, yet his eyes were soft and a little sad.



Tifa watched as the others sharingan eyes momentarily spun as he looked, realizing he was memorizing the photo.



The figure had long silver hair all the way down his back, an widows peak of hair on his forehead and his eyes were the most intense green he had ever seen. Itachi could DEFINITELY see his 'father' in this man, from the way he held himself, to the face shape.



The nose and mouth were remarkably similar, but apart from that, he assumed the rest came from either the mother or the demonesses cells he was contaminated with at gestation.



"The build, hair color, eye color and height come from Jenovah" Tifa explained to him "however the widows peak and most of his personality came from Luecretcia. He got Vincent's agility, speed, nose, mouth and warrior sense. However Vincent said Lue's eyes were also green, just not that intense" she shrugged "but then again Mako intensifies eye color and Jenovah only had one useable eye, so it could be either one, you've seen Cloud and Zack's eyes and how they seem to glow."



When the other nodded she went on "that's because of the fact their eye color is so light, it makes them stand out. The darker the color, the less noticeable."



"Like yours" he said "I heard Tsunade-sama saying how YOU had been exposed to this...drug as well."



"Well yes, but it wasn't originally a drug. Unlike Cloud and the others I was never exposed like they were, my exposure was natural-sort of" she explained about the lifestream and mako and where it came from. Then about the refined mako like what Hojo had used, taking back the photo to put back in her purse.



Just in time too, cause everyone piled out of the barn and headed towards them.



"How did it go? Did it work? Will he....?"



Naruto grinned in relief "he'll make it, thanks to Baa-chan, Cloud and Zack. They're leaving him in the barn hooked up to some nutrition for now with his mother to watch over him. I told her to alert them if anything goes wrong, and them to expect a racket if it does."



"You mean thanks to YOU Naruto" Tifa smiled at him, "if you hadn't gone to get him when you did, he'd be dead now."



Naruto blushed shyly at the praise and scratched the back of his head in definite embarrassment "I was only helping an mother out, like I would any other person. I couldn't let an mother loose her child if there was a way I could possibly help. It wouldn't be right otherwise."



Tifa understood. Never having had a family, Naruto felt particularly protective of others.



Gathering their things together, the group prepared to start off. Only Tifa and Vincent had needed to gather overnight camping gear, she had been surprised to learn that it was standard behavior for the ninjas to carry such in one of those storage scrolls they always kept on them, just in case.



Before they left, Zack and Cloud approached them with a large bag of feed for their rides when they stopped for the night and some the next day, The blonde woman sealing it inside one of her scrolls while Cloud explained dosage and even distribution.



Then they were off.



For the first day nothing happened much, they encountered no monsters, but it didn't surprise Tifa with three demonhuman hybrids and both Vincent and Itachi unknowingly-it seemed-letting off huge protective auras as they rode on either side of the blonde.



It would have to be an truly dumb creature to attack with that.



Tifa rode beside the blonde woman, explaining why the Uchiha heir was seeming to ignore her, what she had realized and what she had told Itachi about Vincent, Luecretcia and Sephiroth, promising to show her the photo when they stopped for the night.



When they did so, Tifa waited until Vincent left to hunt them dinner and after feeding the birds she sat and passed her photo to the woman. "Hmmm, I can certainly see what you are saying" she nodded "he is definitely his child."



Naruto immediately wanted to see the photo too, but when Tifa asked didn't he already know what he looked like through his dream, the pregnant male answered "I saw his long hair, body shape and weapon, but his face was always blurry. I want to see, he's my half brother!"



They passed it around to him.



"Wow" he said. Tifa expected his next comment to be something about how much he looked like Vincent, but was surprised when instead he said softly "he looks so sad."



Tifa remembered thinking the same thing when they first met, how the Great General, the Silver Beast, was sadder than she would have expected. She remembered thinking he should be tough and cold and....well...evil, but he wasn't, he was....human.



Then he had gone nuts.



Now she knew that wasn't even him, the poor man had been manipulated at every turn of his life, NOTHING had ever been his choice. It suddenly occurred to her, this is his second chance. If they could free him when he returned this time, he could be whatever he wished, he would be free to be who he wanted to be, it was his second chance of life.



They had to free him from Jenovah, not just for Vincent but for himself, to let him have the life he should have had, the life others took from him.



Something else occurred to her. He was supposed to be dead but had returned many times, why? Was Jenovah really so powerful she had defied the lifestream, had infected it? Or had the lifestream sent him back, trying to enable them to help him and save the man from the woman?



Since they had at the time failed to understand the difference and the truth, they had only gone and killed him again and again, so the very soul of the planet had tried, with all its strength one last time, using the sudden power surge of the battle in the village to pull the huge group here.



Vincent returned and the photo was slipped away, Naruto bouncing up to excitedly to help his new father skin, cut and dress the dinner before placing it over the fire.



After everyone had eaten they bedded down for the night, Vincent taking first watch.



The next day they took turns bathing at a nearby waterfall, packed and left.



They weren't far from their rest spot when Naruto suddenly halted, face alert. "Naruto?" Tsunade asked softly. Off in the distance Tifa heard something, an weak distressed call, something that made their mounts shift and call back.



A chocobo call, a chocobo in distress.



The call came again, helpless and small, obviously a chick, and the pleading and helplessness of it tugged at their hearts, followed by the roar of a monster. Their birds shifted, warking their helplessness to help, but not Naruto, no he had to go. Clucking the bird he rode he spurred it forward at an full run, THIS TIME not only Vincent but Itachi close on his heels. Tifa shrugged at the other female and took off after them, the blonde woman close behind.



The two females were just in time to see Naruto, an red shape clutched tightly to his chest, roll under the swooping claw of an Bandersnatch.



While he was, Itachi was hitting it with the same sort of flame from his mouth that Sasuke had used about a week ago, trying to distract it from the other. Vincent was peppering its head with bullets from Cereberus on the opposite side. They almost had it until it howled, summoning more of its kind, two more. Tifa called out to the group "it's vulnerable to fire attacks and uses physical, but as you've just seen, it can summon more with a call."



The woman nodded "Naruto has the fire element through Kyuubi, as does The Uchiha clan...." Tifa added "and Vincent had a fire materia."



They heard a sudden growled "get everyone out of my way" and turned to find the blonde standing there locked onto the enemy with his eyes-eyes that were going red and slitted-hair gaining red streaks throughout and whiskers darkening and growing thicker.



When he spoke he had fangs and was lisping around them, his fingers were growing clawed as they held onto the little red fluffy bundle in his arms, which shivered and cooed in fright. Both the woman and Tifa called the two men off, the blonde woman turning to the once blonde with a warning of "be careful, gaki, you can't use too much or you endanger the baby."



"I know" he said "I know just how much I can and can't use."



"How?"



"She tells me."



Before anyone else could speak the two men were out of the way and in that split second, the once blonde was flashing in hand signs-with a little difficulty due to the small feathery bundle. With a call of "pheonix fire-great fireball!" he drew in a deep breath and out an huge fireball, which engulfed all three which shreiked and after an breif struggle to escape, collapsed to the ground, dead.



"He is definately an Uchiha" the heir walked calmly towards them "THAT is an clan attack." Naruto grinned cheekily at him as he started to change back rapidly, "what, you think only the teme gained from our mating?! It goes both ways you know." Behind them the bodies started to dissolve into green light and back to the lifestream, the blonde yelping at the sight "what the!!!"



"It's alright" Tifa soothed, "they're just returning to the lifestream." Naruto frowned "why didn't the one father killed for us to eat last night do the same if they ALL do that?"



"The lifestream chose to let us have the body, while the soul returned to the lifestream. It happens sometimes. You see the lifestream is made up of ALL the deads souls, say your father's father is there, his mother, their parents and theirs and so on. So being the spirit of our planet it is intelligent. She always watchs us, but extremely rarely interferes. She allowed us to have the body to eat."



"But isn't that interfering?" Tsunade said as Itachi approached with their mounts.



"Not really," she answered "at least not in the same way. I mean letting us have the meat is entirely different when you look at the rain she sent that healed those struck with the Geostigmata and the healing pool at Aeris' church and the destruction of Meteor. Although both those times were apparently Aeris causing the interference. Without her connection the Gaia we would all surely be dead by now."



"Really?!" Naruto looked excited and eager for more tales of the previous life of his daughter, unoccupied hand touching the lump and smiling "she knows we're talking about her."



"Naruto?" the blonde woman frowned at him. "About that granny...." Tifa suddenly realised something "you haven't told her about that yet, have you" she stared at the young man who looked guilty. "Naruto?" the woman repeated, this time firmer.



The pregnant blonde opened his mouth to explain, but Vincent interrupted "later" he headed towards them "right now we need to figure out what happened here and leave before any other creatures turn up." They nodded and Tifa spoke as she looked around "it looks like someone knew Meteor, they must have used it on the Bandersnatch when it attacked, but was killed. The chick must have been his or hers."



"None of the blood here is human" Vincent said, tapping his nose.



"He's right" Naruto nodded "I don't smell human either, only those wolf-things and his mothers."



They turned back to the young man "HIS?!"



The blonde held out the bundle of shaking red feathers which made a protesting weak wark until he cuddled the bird back to his chest again. The young blonde looked at them with haunted horrified eyes "can you imagine watching your powerful mother being cut down in front of you trying to protect you?! Watching her take her last breath struggling to stay and protect you?!"



The group understood his protectiveness.



"But he told me what happened. He said just that, they were surprised by it. His mother fought back trying to protect him, but she had been badly wounded by it's first attack. We had arrived just like, seconds after she returned to the lifestream and just before it tried to kill him."



Something was getting Tifa, niggling at her just in the back of her head and suddenly it struck her. The chick was red, it's mother would be red. Naruto had just said the mother was powerful. Very few Chocobo out there was able to use 'Chocobo Meteor', one in particular said to be a romor.....she looked at Vincent who looked startled himself, nodding in agreement, both over the chicks mother and the decision to keep it quite for now.



It was too early to tell if the chick would inherite its mothers strength and power, but if Naruto raised it to belong to Aeris....wow, the combination!



When one of the chocobo mounts nugged the chick the reaction was shocking. Naruto moved the chick away, hissed "NO MINE!!" in a childish feminine voice and blue eyes went red and with three commas. Shock hit the other two males and females at this and the blaze of chakra not his.



Was that....Aeris?



Just as suddenly Naruto calmed down and was back to normal, blinking a few times blankly as if just awaking from a trance, blue eyes baffled but what just happened. Tifa looked at Vincent again. They had been right about the two's connection.



"I'm sorry" Naruto cooed at the startled and frightened bird, "I didn't mean that" and with a visible effort moved the chick back into their sight, allowing the concerned mounts to nuzzle and check over the baby bird, warking and cooing their concern to him, comforting him and even preening him, yet not once did he leave Naruto's arms or let the young man release him.



When they were ready to leave they struck on the problem of how Naruto could travel safely carrying a chick.



As long at it was touching Naruto, he seemed fine, but when they tried to put him on one of the saddlebags it warked in terror and began to panic, and anyone else trying to carry or just hold it sent it into complete hysteria. Tifa looked at the bags on her bird, the young man, the bird and then his mount and had an idea. She looked to the other woman "could you put my gear in one of your storage scrolls? I have an idea."



When the woman nodded, Tifa unpacked it and while she packed everything away inside, Tifa did some fiddling with the straps of the empty bag.



The Uchiha heir seemed to get what she was thinking because he approached with handfuls of soft, sweet-smelling grass, leaves and feathers, helping her line the bottom and sides of the bag before Tifa approached the young man "here, put him in here." Nodding the young man did so, putting the chick in comfortably and before the bird could panic again, Tifa said quickly "turn around."



When he did so both Tifa and the heir put it to his back, just between his shoulder-blades, strapping it in place. "Good idea" the blonde woman praised "an psuedo-egg. That will keep him calm."



"I was thinking more like a nest" Tifa said then shrugged "but whatever, it works."



"Thanks Tif" Naruto said softly.





Despite stopping twice more to rest the birds and feed them and the chick, they made good time and reached the outskirts of Junon earlier than expected.



Towards the end of the trek Tifa noticed the chick felt safe and warm enough to stick its head out of the saddlebag, head resting on the blonde's shoulder, little beedy blue eyes watching their path ahead and Tifa was struck by how much the birds eyes mirrored the blondes. It wasn't really noticable before, but with their heads side by side it was unmistakable.



Naruto had said that Aeris would have his blue eyes,So it wasn't that much of a surprise, considering their current connection.





Just outside Junon the chick warked in alarm, disappearing into the pack to shake while the others also seemed frightened, stamping and turning on their spot, obviously wanting to run. "Monster" Tifa told them "whatever it is is big and probably powerful too." The group prepared for an attack, drawing weapons and preparing jutsu's.



Something huge soon appeared, huge and insectiod, rearing back on hind legs. "GRANALDO!" Tifa screamed, the mounts warking it terror, fighting to get away under their riders. Vincent spoke as he tried to control his mount "they use Sleep, Blind, Confuse, Pain as attacks and Shell to protect themselves from incoming. It is vulnerable only to Wind attacks."



"Wind is Naruto's element, fire is Kyuubi's. Fortunately I also know some wind-based attacks and the Uchiha probably learned some through the sharingan." The silent young man nodded. Tifa spoke "don't have any wind materia on me, but Vincent...." the demon vessel threw her an glowing white ball "it is not levelled up yet, I found it by the blood pool left by the Bandersnatch."



"Thanks" with a quick look, Tifa joined the ball to her adamantium bangle and slid off the Chocobo.



To Tifa's surprise EVERY ONE of the mounts, once free of their riders, ran to hide behind Naruto. She figured since they had seen Naruto risk his life to save the chick, they figured he'd do the same for them as well. "Stay back, Naruto" Tifa said "these creatures are powerful, we can't risk Aeris." The young man snorted "I can take care of myself thank you."



"But what about Aeris" Tifa said, followed by the blonde woman with "you know as well as I how you have a habit of getting into trouble, gaki. YOU may be able to immediately bounce back, but Aeris doesn't have that ability. She's still so small and fragile. Just one strike to your stomach and you could loose her, miscarry in the worse."



A glance behind her and Tifa saw the blondes hands protectively cover the lump, eyes wide, and with the birds they backed slowly away.



Unfortunately it also caught the monsters attention who decided he would be a good place to start. With a cry the blonde took the brunt of the attack on his arm, slashed to the bone. With an grimace he flashed through hand signs and cried "wind jutsu; Dragon blades of the hurricane!"



A sudden small tornado of wind sprang up in front of the creature, the winds wipping around them, the twister soon clearing into the form of one of those long serpentine dragons mostly seen in paintings and art in Wutai. The wind dragon reared back it's head, roared and released a gust of incredible force into the insect-like creatures direction.



As Tifa watched the gale-type wind turned into shuriken-type blades, striking the creature with incredible multiple force.



As each 'blade' struck the insectiod monster shreiked in fury and pain, jerking as it did and once the attack ended it rose to full height and let out what sounded surprisingly like a cry for help that sounded almost like an child calling for a parent, and attacked. "Ah hell" Tifa cursed as she and the blonde woman jumped away from an dangerous swipe of front legs "I hope that doesn't mean there are more around. This one is dangerous enough as it is." She risked a look behind her "how is your arm, Naruto?"



The woman looked also looked and frowned in concern at it "why aren't you healing as fast as normal, gaki?!"



"It's to the bone, baachan" the boy rolled his eyes at her "anything deeper than just skin and shallow flesh takes longer to heal, you know that. Remember the wound I got from Sasuke at the Valley Of The End and how that took at least a month to heal? Besides, about half my normal and half my demon chakra is going towards protecting and maintaining Aeris."



"Are you telling me since you've been pregnant you've been doing everything at only half strength?! NARUTO...."



The young man sighed "I knew how you'd react, treat me like an invalid, just like now, that's why I didn't tell you" he finished binding the wound with bandages from his back pouch. Even through the white cloth Tifa saw blood starting to come through, and that's not all, there was also an slight red glow. Vincent landed beside his son long enough to hand him an small blue flask "drink it all" and was attacking again.



"Wha....." Naruto looked at it in confusion so Tifa spoke "it's called a hi-potion. It will boost your healing." The young man shrugged, popped the top and downed the contents in one swallow. Dropping the empty vial he coughed “ewww” he wheezed “yuk.” Tifa laughed “yeah, I know, but it works.” She saw Naruto was staring at his bandaged arm “it feels weird, kinda hot.”



“That’s just it working.” Naruto nodded, still staring until one of the mounts nudged him and warked. The young man blushed “right” and they turned back to the battle.



Before he could even sign a voice spoke out, soft, unemotional but filled with power and authority “stop.”



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I know the insect creature I mentioned was from Final Fantasy VIII, not seven, but I couldn't find any insect ones from seven, so don't complain to me, guys, he's necessary for the part of this story.