Winter Release

Edited:21/04/2011

Cepheus:thank you, people who reviewed! Next chapter, a time-skip, as the real good stuff starts from after the three years of training, sorry for those who wished me to focus on that…

Also, I’m sorry, but there won’t be any GaaNaru in here. I prefer to keep it simple in terms of pairings despite my love for this one…

Some of you wondered about Kyuubi… well then, this chapter will help you clear your mind.

 

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

 

Rating: M

Warnings:yaoi, boy x boy relationship, angst, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

 

“Talking”

‘Thinking’

–Flashbacks, memories, dreams–

 

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

 

Winter Release

Chapter 07: Desert

 

Stupid Ero–sennin.

Twelve days had passed since Naruto and Jiraiya had left Konohagakure, and to the blond, it felt like forever.

For the first three days, as he headed North with his new sensei –although he had a few reserves in calling Jiraiya that– Naruto had felt… uncertain.

Not that he regretted leaving with the pervert, of course, he was rather satisfied to receive a good training, and while he missed his friends, it felt almost a relief to be away from Konoha, if only for a short while.

Naruto was sure that he would start missing his town in a bit, but right now, the situation was new and refreshing, and that was enough.

The only problem was that he had only three years to grow strong enough to take on both Akatsuki and Sasuke himself, and… was he going to do it with so little time?

Three years away from home would be enough to him?

Seeing his student still uncharacteristically thoughtful, Jiraiya had stopped their advancing to have a serious talk with him; Naruto really didn’t understand that with the amount of training he expected to have, three years would not only take a toll on his body, but it might even have the opposite result.

Talking with Jiraiya made Naruto realise that for the first time since… for the first time ever, he was free. Free from people looking down on him, free from everybody’s expectations. Just free.

Thus, Naruto had finally started enjoying himself.

He could sleep a hour more in the morning, and Jiraiya wouldn’t reprimand him for that, and if he trained himself during meal times, the pervert would make a fuss about it, but in a subtle way that made Naruto feel wanted and also encouraged, but not to the point of being held back.

He liked the feeling.

After the third day, Jiraiya hurried up their pace, wanting to get as far from Konoha as he could, and Naruto, a bit miffed, had complied.

For the following two days, including a stop at a small village for provisions, Naruto had felt Jiraiya’s eyes on him, and that had lasted until they were out from the place; then, the Sannin regarded Naruto with a deep frown, and finally spoke up.

“Naruto, you are weak,” he had started, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Well, thank you for your honesty –Naruto knew that already. That was why he wanted to train… but Ero–sennin had a serious look on his face, and Naruto decided to just wait to see where he was going.

“So what? Old man, train me and I will get stronger!” he had replied with a determined smirk.

Jiraiya had regarded him with a frown, then, much to Naruto’s shock, he had turned his back to him and darted away.

From that point on, for the next seven days, Naruto had travelled mostly alone; the so–called–sensei didn’t stop anymore to let Naruto rest, and hour by hour, the distance separating them grew, until Naruto was over half a day behind his sensei.

Whenever Naruto reached a village, Jiraiya had already left it with his portion of supplies, only leaving behind enough traces that Naruto would be able to follow him without getting lost.

At first Naruto had been angry –he had tagged along to train in order to get strong enough to fight against Itachi, or Sasuke. And abandoning their apprentices like that… what kind of teacher would do that?

Then, when he had realised that Jiraiya wasn’t slowing down and he was actually planning on continuing like that, Naruto had slowed down –damn perverts and their speed– and afraid he would not be able to find traces of the man if the distance between them grew even more, he had resigned himself and started using his enhanced abilities.

In a way, it felt like hunting, and a part of him relished the chase; travelling through the woods, from village to village, Naruto had allowed himself to enjoy how alive everything felt around him, for once not thinking about how his senses were linked to Kyuubi.

Being a ninja meant they had to merge with nature to catch opponents by surprise, but this…

This was deeper. He felt part of the nature around him, almost as if belonging to the wild.

On the tenth day, as he sat under a tree, glancing up at the star-filled sky, Naruto found himself questioning the sanity of his supposed teacher once again as he prepared to rest up for the night.

He felt better than he had felt in ages, and if allowing his senses to work out this freely had somehow caused this, then he would stop repressing them completely, no matter where they came from.

Though, thinking about that made him think about other opportunities as well.

If he had to grow strong, then maybe he needed to reflect and accept all the power he could gain from any kind of source, including the one he was still rejecting…

That someone who had a lot of power and resided inside him.

Naruto wasn’t one to question things, and in fact, ever since finding out about Kyuubi, he had wondered about the why and the how only once. Why had Yondaime sealed Kyuubi inside him? Why him, of all people?

But then, Naruto had just shrugged the questions away. The past was past, he could not change it, and there was nobody to answer his questions anyway.

What if, what if.

In truth, Naruto didn’t really care. He looked forwards and wondered about the future, not the past. He wondered whether he could get stronger, for example, or if Sasuke would drown before Naruto was there to help him get out.

But then things had changed again, and Naruto had to face the past, even if not exactly his own, in order to understand.

So if he’d done that for a friend, why not seek out answers from an other unlikely source?

The village called him a demon, but he wasn’t a demon. The real demon was sealed within him, and that was it.

What had caused Kyuubi to attack? Was it just for desire of mayhem and massacre that the beast had gotten closer to Konoha and caused everything to start? Or was there another explanation?

Naruto wanted power, but was he going to allow himself to use the borrowed power from Kyuubi despite knowing he was doing the same as Sasuke? Borrowed power was not his own…

‘It would be stupid to say that it’s different when it’s not,’he thought. ‘What makes my asking Kyuubi for chakra different from Orochimaru’s cursed seal?’

The reason for his renewed questioning was simple, really –the day before, after tiring himself by trying to follow Jiraiya, Naruto had managed to do something unprecedented.

 

He had entered the den of the monster –he had found a way to the sewers that held Kyuubi trapped, and had spoken with the demon within.

 

–Start Flashback–

 

Almost losing hope to be able to catch up with the damned Ero–sennin, Naruto had exhausted his chakra in attempts to run faster, failing miserably, and when night came, he was forced to stop to rest.

Falling asleep took no time, as he was so tired his consciousness faded the moment he rested his head against the grass.

He didn’t really feel a shift from being awake and falling forth into a dark alley, but the sharp change of perspective alerted him that this wasn’t a simple dream, and that he had managed to reach the depths of his mind, right into the seal of the Kyuubi.

The place was cold and humid, and he shuddered, trying to concentrate on something else.

The alley looked real, but at the same time, he knew it was just appearance. It was the way the seal was designed to look, maybe… or maybe this was the true shape of his own mind.

The thought wasn’t reassuring, so he quickly tried to forget about it.

Swallowing his uncertainty, Naruto stepped down into the darkness fogging the alley, feeling his footsteps echo around him as he walked and walked and walked.

Why did the place look so unfriendly and unwelcoming? If this was just Naruto’s mind, why couldn’t it change to fit his thoughts?

Concentrating on something different –anything, really, as long as it wasn’t this cold, scary place– didn’t change anything.

Was it the seal, then?

The first time he had visited the seal, there had been no time to stop and look. He had been falling down a cliff courtesy of Jiraiya, with only a nice warning along the lines of “yeah, sure, if you don’t active the red chakra you’re going to die!” to help him out, but now…

Now, he walked slowly, eyes flickering from one side of the narrow alley to the other.

He wanted to look everywhere, but… it was simply bare.

Cold, and bare. And Grey. Naruto hated grey.

Finally, after what felt like hours of walking, Naruto reached the end of the narrow alley. Suddenly, he was standing in a giant, huge empty space, and in front of him were the gates of a cage, behind which there was nothing but shadows and darkness.

This was the place Kyuubi was sealed into.

Taking a step further into the empty space, Naruto frowned as he noticed a seal placed right in the middle of the cage; it was a white, old scroll filled with seals and kanji that he could not read, written in minute dark brown and black ink.

At a closer look, maybe that dark brown was actually dried blood. The thought sent a shiver down Naruto’s back.

That was actually the seal Yondaime had placed, and despite looking this old, it was still doing its job. Well then, better not to think about it too much.

As Naruto advanced towards the cage, he found himself more curious than afraid, and the thought made him sneer at himself; the demon scared him, with his raw power and heartless convictions, but other than that, he felt nothing towards the demon.

He wasn’t terrified of him, he wasn’t scared shitless… merely wary.

Maybe it was because he had met with worse demons in his life –and for once, he wasn’t thinking about Shukaku– but the demon was caged, unable to leave this prison, so it couldn’t truly hurt Naruto.

He was more worried about different demons, but Kyuubi wasn’t really a problem.

Naruto snickered again. Jiraiya and Tsunade would surely hit him if he voiced that, and then call him a fool, but the presence of the demon, even if it was the cause of all the hatred he had received, was still more of a comfort than anything else.

In a way, it reassured Naruto because it was a constant.

Everything around him changed constantly, and at times he was left back without understanding how to get back on par with things… but Kyuubi was always there, and his evilness never changed.

His ways were never challenged, his power still strong.

Yes, maybe Naruto really was a bit insane, after all.

He walked forwards again, slower this time, and when a pair of crimson eyes flashed open in the darkness behind the bars, he did not back down, and simply stopped.

He had expected Kyuubi to come and greet him like a good houseguest, after all.

Still, the sight of those burning orbs still sent a wave of wariness through his body; those eyes were filled with hatred –pure, unrestrained hatred.

But more than that… Naruto swallowed on his dry throat and resisted the urge to look away. There was something more in those orbs.

There was wisdom. There was disgust, and there was contempt.

Those weren’t the eyes of a brainless animal, but of a skilled, sly and cunning creature that was older and smarter than Naruto would ever hope to be.

This was the creature that allowed him to borrow chakra when he needed it. This was the creature that had devastated Konoha thirteen years before.

This was the Kyuubi.

“You are not dying. Why are you here, human?!”

Naruto felt a wave of killing intent wash through him, making his legs tremble under the onslaught. Yes, the demon couldn’t hurt him, but… he could still fill him with dread. This close, the Fox was scary.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto tried to look brave.“You! Furball!”

A moment of silence, then–

“You, disrespectful human!” crimson pupils constricted, causing Naruto to back away a little, voice spitting contempt. “If only I could be free of this seal… then you and your entire village would be nothing but a faint memory!”

Naruto wasn’t entirely sure as to why he was there, talking with the Kyuubi. He hadn’t expected to end there when falling asleep, and seriously, the demon hated him probably as much as Naruto resented him.

Besides, wasn’t asking for power like that a form of cheating?

And yet, he would not back down. If he allowed this demon to scare him, then he was still weak.

“Kyuubi!” he yelled, stepping forwards. “I need your power!”

Once again, complete silence met his request.

Then, the room was filled with a raw, inhuman laughter, harsh and explosive, and Naruto felt his cheeks go red from embarrassment and fury.

The laugh was mocking him, it sounded like an old, wise man reprimanding an irresponsible child, or an old enemy riling up his foe, laughing at his misery.

The Kyuubi was amused.

“Do you truly believe that I, the great Kyuubi no Kitsune, would ever grant your pathetic request, human?” the way Kyuubi used that word, ‘human’, sounded like it was the worst insult ever. “You are nothing to me. None of you little, whiny humans mean anything other than a quick, unsatisfying meal to me, one of the strongest demons in existence”.

Naruto felt annoyed, and frowned, still staring at those burning eyes. “It was a human who sealed you in there, though”.

He smirked when Kyuubi growled out his anger, the sound echoing in the chamber around them.

“Don’t you fear me? I could devour you without second thoughts… you would be nothing more than a flimsy appetiser… if only I wanted to…”

Once again, Kyuubi’s tone held a hind of amusement, but mostly, the demon was just mocking him –he could sniff Naruto’s fear far too easily.

“Of course I am afraid,” Naruto stated, but continued before Kyuubi could do more than chuckle. “But you are sealed within me. If I die, the seal will bring you with me in death. And there is no way out for you unless Akatsuki extracts you from me… and then, you will be nothing but energy for them”.

Something brushed against the bars –a long, furry paw with equally long, sharp claws– and it caused a wave of electricity to fizzle from the seal down the entire length of the bars.

The paw retreated, and there was silence once again.

Naruto stilled his trembling hands and took a deep, calming breath; he was shaking, and he was scared, but at the same time, oddly calm.

“I need your power,” Naruto’s voice was still steady. He sat down on the floor, eyes fixed on those crimson animalistic orbs, not wanting to look away. This was a battle he didn’t want to lose.

Kyuubi did not reply.

The demon was… restless.

It had been years since he had spoken with another living being, not counting the brat that more than once had the gall to demand power from him, but even before, there had only been one person who had showed fear of him and yet had still remained standing in his presence.

And that person had been in the end strong enough to seal him away.

Now, this little brat dared to stay in front of his cage, admitting his fears and yet still not moving… Kyuubi’s curiosity was piqued.

After over thirteen years of imprisonment, even a human–hater like Kyuubi could compromise and talk with a lowly creature such as this one.

“What makes you think you have any right in asking me for power, brat?” almost amused, the demon blinked lazily. “Why should I give it to you? I am already allowing you my chakra when you are in hazardous situations…there is no reason to share more than for simple surviving needs”.

The growl followed the demon’s words, reverberating through the chamber, low and teasing, but Naruto didn’t detect any threat, so he didn’t move. The demon hadn’t ignored him so far, and that was an improvement, at least.

It looked like the mighty demon would listen to him. That was enough.

“I am weak”.

It was hard to admit it out loud, really. Naruto had grown up denying the real level of his skills, trying to hide away his insecurities under a blanket of a boisterous attitude, but he could do that no more.

All the things that were happening around him… they demanded him to stop faking and start acting like a proper ninja, so that the people who were supporting him would be proud of him.

Need knew no pride, though, and if that meant he had to reason with a demon, then so be it. It didn’t have to be like that, with demon and user hating each other. Kyuubi was resentful and Naruto, in a way, shared that.

But maybe things could change for that too.

Kyuubi snickered, snorting in amusement and lifting his head slightly, showing a hint of his glinting fangs to the blond teen.

“Any human is weak, compared to us demons,” he replied.

‘Are demons always this self-centred and obnoxious?’Naruto wondered, but did not voice this thought aloud. ‘There again, Shukaku looked sure of himself until I beat the crap out of him…’

As snappy as the demon was, Naruto didn’t need to add any fuel to his anger. He wanted to work things out, not cause the demon to withdraw even more.

“Yes, I am weak,” Naruto repeated, glaring at the crimson orbs in the darkness. “But I want to grow stronger. I have goals, I have a purpose. For that, I need to get stronger”.

“Should I care, perhaps?” the Fox snarled, shifting slightly behind the bars. “It is nothing that concerns me. You want to free that traitor, but for all I care, the Uchiha can die under that Snake”.

Naruto was taken aback –not by the refusal, because he knew the demon wouldn’t care, but by the knowledge the demon had of what was happening outside of his cage.

And the inflexion Kyuubi had used when speaking about Sasuke… there was something in his tone that sent alarm bells ringing into Naruto’s mind.

At the same time, Kyuubi knew of Orochimaru and Sasuke, and despite his dislike for the ‘lowly humans’, he still seemed rather up to par with what was going on. Maybe he learned things through Naruto’s mind, or something, but all in all, Kyuubi knew. If he truly didn’t care, then he wouldn’t even know about Sasuke’s betrayal…

No, Kyuubi was bored. As simple as that, and even Naruto could understand that. He had been sealed for over thirteen years inside the body of a child, without being able to move, or… rampage against villages or do whatever it was that demons did.

Kyuubi’s patience was great, but years of being forced into immobility were probably too much even for him.

“You might not care, but I do,” the teen replied, shaking his head. The burning eyes of Kyuubi were still fixed on him, and that piercing stare felt like a weight on his chest. Did he gain that colour when he fought with the demon’s power? “You are inside me, Kyuubi, whether you want it or not –and the only way you have to keep contact with the outside world is through me. You depend on me, Kyuubi”.

Kyuubi blinked, then in a fit of fury, roared loudly right in Naruto’s face, who took a step back, feeling the same killer intent from before wash all over him as the roar was amplified by the hollow room.

Still, aside from expressing his rage with that and lashing out with his tails, still careful enough not to touch the bars of his cage, the demon didn’t answer.

In a way, unfortunately, it was true.

Underneath the rage at the impudent child daring to say what no one else had ever dared to the demon, Kyuubi knew that the kid, cheeky and rude as he was, was telling the truth. Demons didn’t wander in human territories unless evoked, summoned or for revenge purposes, and Kyuubi was no exception.

And now, Kyuubi had to cling to this little brat to survive, waiting for age to erode the seal enough for him to get free, or for his host to die –but in that case, even Kyuubi would die, too, or come out of it with most of his life energy depleted, which would signify a considerable power loss, which would put him in danger of fellow demons, sealed or not.

Against all his pretences, living inside a human had caused the demon to have a shifted perspective for the first time since forever, and although he would not hesitate to kill at sight if given a chance to, he had to make the best with what he had at hand.

Humans, opposite to demons, were not just dark and malevolent –there was acceptance, and friendship, and Kyuubi, in the thousand years he’d lived, could only ever count those worth his trust onto one single paw.

He’d had mates, allies, more than his fair share of enemies.

Few he had respected, fewer he had feared.

And that was why this little runt, a lowly human brat, who faced him despite his fear, who dared to speak freely to him, intrigued the old demon… enough to want to speak to him, enough that if he ever were to be free, he would offer him a chance to die painlessly.

This kid looked up at Kyuubi, and despite knowing the Fox was the cause for his pain, the cause for all the hatred he had received, he still didn’t hate the demon. He didn’t condone his actions –not that Kyuubi would have cared anyway– but he didn’t condemn him either.

Thus why, even in the eyes of such an old, powerful demon, Naruto was just something else.

He felt no protectiveness towards the human child other than that stemmed from his need for auto–preservation, but this situation was completely new.

Naruto scratched his head, still looking at the now silent demon carefully. There was nothing he knew of demons (so maybe he’d have to start digging up information on them), and he could offer Kyuubi nothing except freedom, but that was, obviously out of question.

So what?

What could he do to make his offer seem more enticing to this demon who only had his own life to cling to?

Kyuubi no Kitsune had attacked Konoha on the day of Naruto’s birth. He had killed many, and thus Yondaime had died to seal him away… but despite that, Naruto couldn’t truly hate Kyuubi for following his own instincts.

He might be sentient and sly and cunning, but Kyuubi was still a fox.

Naruto could understand this simply because he knew what it felt to be connected with nature –chasing Jiraiya made him get closer to understanding that. Only the strongest can live, and Kyuubi, in all his ruthless attitude, was strong.

Naruto understood this, and in a way, he lived to serve that rule as well.

But…

During his fight with Sasuke, it hadn’t been Naruto the one to ask Kyuubi for chakra. He had wanted to take on Sasuke all by himself, and then, the demon had mocked him, telling him that he should be grateful for his presence inside him, for the fact that Yondaime had sealed him within the blond teen’s body.

Kyuubi had offered his chakra then.

Kyuubi could have controlled him through his rage, pumping the chakra through his body and using him to lash out… and he had not done it.

The demon had offered Naruto his chakra, and then had observed the fight from within the seal.

Maybe he had even been amused by that, who knew.

Before that point, Kyuubi had never been the one to speak to him first. Every time the two entities in the same body had interacted with each other, Naruto had been the one to step up, demanding help.

Then, the demon had done something unprecedented.

Things could change.

Sasuke hadn’t killed him.

Naruto had lived to see another day, and had not changed. It was in his nature to be positive and always search for the best in people.

He was, after all, the most surprising ninja of Konoha.

“Kyuubi! I offer you a deal!”

Surprised, the demon turned his full attention towards the brat again. It wasn’t often one could surprise a demon.

A deal.

There was nothing, in this world or in the next, that this brat could ever offer him. the only thing Kyuubi craved was freedom –from this cage, from the seal– but that would never happen.

Crimson eyes shifted closer to the bars of the cage, still not touching it, and Naruto gulped at the proximity with the beast –and yet, he also stepped forwards, determined in not showing the monster the fear he still felt.

Oh, he knew that Kyuubi could feel it, but that didn’t mean he had to just show it off like that.

“I have nothing to offer you that you would want –you are restrained within that seal, within that cage, inside my mind, and you cannot take over my body, either,” Naruto received no reply, but the silence told him Kyuubi was listening. “But what I can do… is find a solution that can satisfy both. You can’t be freed, but I promise I will find something that will be enough of an offer for you”.

Kyuubi’s head rested on his front paws, eyes digging into the teen’s blue eyes. He had low expectations when it came to humans, but once again, this one was different.

Humans were at times as ruthless as demons, but this particular kid had never given up on a promise, and Kyuubi knew that first hand.

Naruto was serious. He would truly try to find something to offer to the demon in exchange for his power.

Snorting quietly, Kyuubi let his amusement show in his eyes. “Why would you want to make a promise to the cause of your suffering?” despite Kyuubi’s intentions, his tone was curious. “And why, pray tell, would I ever agree to whatever offer you might come up with?”

Naruto bit his upper lip. This was rather tricky.

“We are stuck together for a long time, seal or not,” he commented, shrugging, but despite his body language, his eyes were still serious. “Isn’t helping each other better than just… you know, stay here and rot until I die or the Akatsuki gets me? Not that I’d let them,” he added quickly.

For a moment, both Jinchuuriki and Bijuu remained silent.

“Besides… you are a demon and I’m a human, and we both dislike this situation, but we can do shit about it, so… I want you to at least think about it. We don’t have to be enemies.”

Again, Kyuubi didn’t respond, but his silence signalled that he wasn’t going to ignore Naruto’s words either. This was, so far, a unique situation, and it might call for unique measures, in the end.

Naruto took a deep breath. He hadn’t really planned to get this far, honestly –he had expected the demon to ignore him and sneer at his words, but Kyuubi was actually, dare he think that, considering his words.

It was more than he’d thought possible.

“I know you’re not good, Kyuubi,” Naruto continued, and this time, the demon chuckled in reply. He found himself smiling cheekily back at him. “But being cooperative… collaborative, either, doesn’t mean you have to be good. I want to be strong, and I will have a lot of time to research, too. You are strong, but you are imprisoned with no way out. I think we could work out a deal”.

Kyuubi would actually blame it on the boredom –thirteen years were nothing in the life of a demon, but being sealed into a human turned this short period of time in a long, boring lifetime– but the brat’s words sounded… appealing to him.

Once again, the stupid brat was proving himself interesting to the demon’s eyes.

Naruto straightened, feeling rather satisfied with how things were going. The demon hadn’t accepted the deal, as there was nothing he could offer yet, but he hadn’t denied him the chance to find that something either.

With a smile, Naruto closed his eyes and faded into real sleep, away from the sewer and away from the cage.

 

–End Flashback–

 

That had happened just the previous day, and Naruto was still nervous whenever he remembered about it.

He had talked with the demon without cursing at him, without yelling, and without having the demon lash at him.

He had even promised the beast that he would try to find something to offer him in exchange for the power he requested… he wasn’t sure exactly what to think about his own actions. He’d taken a risky action, and he hoped Jiraiya would never find out. He would skin him alive.

Speaking about Jiraiya, it was only then that Naruto’s brain clicked.

It was not possible for a man to get this fast without using a technique, right? Naruto had only stopped to rest for the night, and not even more than a few hours, and yet, instead of catching up with Jiraiya, the distance remained the same.

Even when the old pervert had enough time to buy food at the towns he stopped at, he still managed to speed off before Naruto managed to get there.

Once, Naruto didn’t even stop there to buy his own provisions, but that hadn’t helped at all –between Jiraiya and him there were still at least ten miles.

So, in Naruto’s logic, there was only one possible conclusion.

‘He must be cheating,’he thought firmly.

He wasn’t sure how, but Jiraiya had been cheating, using some sort of technique, and Naruto set himself on finding out which one.

He had heard of using chakra during ambushes to be silent and lethal, but he wasn’t sure if there was something similar that allowed one to move faster.

The only thing he remembered that was mildly connected was one of the few lessons he’d actually listened to during his academy days –Iruka–sensei had been talking about the village’s hero, Yondaime, and how he was famous for having an extraordinaire speed.

Someone –Hinata, perhaps– had asked about the jutsu, but Iruka had simply shaken his head, replying that it was a well kept secret that only selected people knew about. The Yondaime had been using a jutsu, yes, but nobody else knew the exact steps to learn it.

If there was a jutsu about it, Naruto had no way to catch up with Jiraiya like that, but if he could somehow think up the theory behind it, maybe he could actually develop something on his own.

After all, Naruto was one surprising ninja, and creating new techniques was actually something he was good at.

Standing up, Naruto decided to sacrifice a few hours of sleep to travel again –the night was cool, and he was well into Kaze no Kuni anyway, and the tree he’d been resting under was one of the few left in the middle of the mostly bare lands.

The traces left by the white haired pervert were still fresh even now, at night, but if his reasoning was correct, Naruto would never get to catch up with the older man.

Stretching and taking a deep breath, scowling at how dry the air of the Wind Country was, Naruto once again looked at his surroundings.

While following Ero–sennin’s traces, he had been aware of the changes that occurred to the land as he moved steadily from the Fire country into the Wind one, and he’d quickly grown used to the dull, even landscape.

He’d been under the impression that Sunagakure was just an arid, empty place made of sand and only sand, but it wasn’t quite right; yes, there was sand, but it was not the only thing around.

There was an alternation of lands with plants and some rare tree and actual deserted areas completely covered with sand that had no vegetation whatsoever; mile after mile, the areas switched with no set pattern, but the deeper he got into the new country, the less he could see of the areas with vegetation.

The one he was in was actually the last he’d seen in a while, lost within sand and nothingness.

He was actually thankful that he had stopped there, because when the sun set, the air in the desert got chilly really quickly, and he didn’t like it; during the day it was equally bothersome, as the wind was dry and hot and it sent wave after wave of sand on his face, making him splutter and cough –he had resorted to wrapping his head into a handkerchief to protect his mouth and nose from the onslaught.

At least he could resist against the heat, so travelling during the day, even under a scorching sun, was actually better than travelling in the cold.

Twelve days after leaving Konoha, Naruto stood in the middle of nowhere, and glanced around, feeling the temperature quickly fall as the sun disappeared in the distance.

‘Chakra,’ he thought, pondering over it as he walked back and forth, trying to concentrate without getting cold. ‘Chakra moves into the body in circles, like a wave, and spreads from the heart to the limbs, and then back to the heart’.

He needed to think about the basics, this was just like creating his Oiroke no Jutsu. He would do fine, he just needed to concentrate on the details.

So, focusing chakra in his hands with the proper hand seals would release the chakra and make a jutsu. Fine. But using chakra to move…?

During their mission in Nami no Kuni, Kakashi–sensei had taught them how to climb trees. They had to focus their chakra under their feet in order to walk up the length of the tree, so that the chakra would keep them stuck to the bark and work against gravity.

Yes –that was it!

“Concentrate chakra under my feet!” he gasped out, finally seeing a way out.

But that wasn’t it, no… climbing trees had taught him that chakra would keep him in place, not help him move faster. He’d get stuck on the ground, really.

Then, there was walking on water. The amount of concentration was different there, because water moved under his feet, it wasn’t still like a tree, but the basics were the same…

So surely there was a way to use chakra to move faster.

“Come on, come on, think…” he continued his pacing, growing more and more unsettled with himself.

There had to be a way, but… how?

As he opened his mouth to cheer himself up, a sudden wave of wind sent a mouthful of sand right into his mouth, and he coughed and spluttered again, waving his arms around in anger, cursing the sand and Jiraiya –it was always that pervert’s fault, after all.

Glaring at the sand, Naruto followed its swirling and spinning in the air, cursing at it.

“Wait… wait, wait, wait!”

Eyes widened in shock, Naruto fell on his knees and stared at the spinning sand, lips stretching into a wide, pleased smile.

Yes. That was the answer.

A whirlpool!

Feeling proud of his intuition, Naruto clapped his hands together without wasting time, and concentrated on his chakra reserves, pushing them easily into his feet; that was step one, just like climbing trees or walking on water.

Then, he tried to make his chakra spin.

The basics should have been similar to what he did with Rasengan –forming a ball of compressed, spiralling chakra that he could release with an attack.

Unfortunately, he used a Kage Bunshin to make the Rasengan, as he couldn’t make the wind spin in two different directions at once. Not yet, at least.

Crouching down, he concentrated on the chakra under his feet, picturing it behind closed eyes, willing it to rotate; it was hard and the chakra didn’t seem to want to follow his orders.

Slowly, though, he felt the chakra bend to his will, and with a smile, he lunged forwards.

The reaction was immediate –he slid forwards effortlessly, but unable to control his movements and the sudden change of pace, which felt more like skating than walking, he quickly lost his balance, and without any means to stop, he fell forwards on his face, swallowing a good mouthful of sand and soil.

Shit.

Coughing out the soil with a grimace, Naruto stood back up again, cursing loudly. This was going to be more difficult than he thought, but…

“Yes! It works!”

He bounced around, then caught himself and stopped, clearing his throat.

A second later, he crouched again, but knowing what was coming, Naruto balanced himself on his chakra first, focusing on sending less chakra to his feet and trying to control the speed of the rotation, getting used to the feeling.

It was actually weird, but not impossible, and that was what mattered in the end.

Naruto pushed himself forwards, but this time with less force, and much to his happiness, he managed to slid forward without falling, although he had to thrust his arms out to keep himself up.

With an even wider smile, Naruto whooped happily.

He was a little uncertain as he slid forwards again, uneasy about the shift of his body balance, but he was standing and he was moving, and in a weird way…

It was funny.

“I am the best!” he laughed, thrusting a fist into the air.

Then fell on the ground again, unbalanced by his sudden movement.

“Oh, damn it,” he muttered.

He spent a few hours getting the hang out of his little trick, wondering whether he should name it or just wait until he managed to find Jiraiya to ask him if his hunch had been right and the jutsu existed already, but when he stopped training and looked around, he realised that night had fallen, and the cold was starting to get to him.

“Need to rest now,” he muttered, feeling the cold freeze the sweat on his skin.

Stupid desert areas, so cold…

The ground was not as hard as it was in the Fire Country, and the area he was in was actually more like a mix of sand and soil, so Naruto quickly summoned two clones and put himself to work, digging a deep hole and burying himself into it, curling into his sleeping bag and covering his head with his jacket and his spare blanket.

He would need to keep his warmth and wait until morning, so that would do.

As he waited for sleep to come, Naruto smirked to himself. Now he had an ace that would help him reduce the distance between himself and Jiraiya. He couldn’t wait to start using his new technique for real…

And then show it to his stupid perverted sensei. That would teach him.

With this thought on mind, he fell asleep, a smile still on his lips.

…–…–…–…

Staring at the three councillors before him, Jiraiya was strongly reminded of the members of Konohagakure’s council.

They were old, narrow-minded and absolutely boring, and had lived easily by the rules applied to the village without ever thinking about how things could change in time –just like the elders of Konoha.

The only different thing was that half of these men had never fought in a war –at least the Councillors in Konoha had been shinobi, once, and two of them had even been Sarutobi’s teammates.

Still, even if the two Head Councillors of Konoha had been skilled shinobi in the past, retirement had caused them to grow bitter, and forget what it meant to fight every day for their village –and they had never really been open minded anyway.

Jiraiya inwardly cursed. To be a councillor, the only thing you needed was to be intelligent, not strong or skilled. A councillor had to think about what was best for the village first, without caring for their own ideas or beliefs.

Welfare of their village first.

Which was why what the Council of Suna had just revealed him had shocked him to the core; it was absurd, but so absurd it could even work… if the intended party accepted, of course. Which was a completely different matter altogether.

“After everything you’ve done to the boy, after all the pain you forced him to feel… that’s what you want to do?” he really couldn’t believe the guts of those men.

It was surely a joke… but the determined faces of the three Councillors he was speaking with were enough to tell him that no, they were not kidding. They were dead serious.

“It is the best solution for the village,” one of the three spoke, shaking his head and looking towards the hall of the Kazekage Residence.

Jiraiya followed the stare, noticing the busts of the previous four Kazekage eerily visible at the light of the torches in the hall. He unconsciously shivered.

The man narrowed his eyes. “Sunagakure needs protection, and we don’t care whether it’s a demon wielder that gives it to us –at this time, it is the only way out”.

In a strange, twisted and sick way, Jiraiya could understand that reasoning, but it was still kind of creepy how a village that had treated a Jinchuuriki like shit for years, probably worse than Konoha had ever treated Naruto, could then be the one to drop everything for the sake of moving on.

Also amusing, but still in a sick, unorthodox way.

The Councillors were determined in stepping over their old attitudes to change, if only for the sake of Suna… well, that was good enough.

“So you want him to be the next Kazekage?” Jiraiya sighed.

Was it even a good idea, in the end?

‘Naruto, you need to reach Sunagakure as soon as possible,’he thought, for the first time regretting his decision to start training Naruto in such a way.

Leaving Naruto to take care of himself in the wild was survival training, and Naruto needed it; he was slow, and unused to different surroundings, so if Jiraiya wanted to be able to trust Naruto to live on his own during the three years they had in front of them, the teen needed to show he was able to take care of himself.

Unfortunately he had not expected to have such shocking news presented to him as soon as he reached Sunagakure, and he was starting to think he had made a huge mistake.

Naruto would have been the perfect person to talk with the Shukaku host, especially with a news of this calibre.

Not sure about when the blond Jinchuuriki would get to Suna, Jiraiya had no way to know how Gaara would react. What would happen if Naruto took more than four, five days to get there?

For the welfare of Sunagakure and Kaze no Kuni, Gaara had to know, and as soon as possible.

“Yes,” the councillor on the right nodded sharply. “Sabaku no Gaara will be the next Kazekage”.

Jiraiya was too caught up in his thoughts, and the three councillors were barely able to detect chakra, let alone recognise a masked signature, and that was why none of them noticed the figure standing behind a wall, back pressed against the cool stones, eyes wide and pupils dilated, face for once showing an intense, overwhelming emotion –shock.

A drop of sweat trickled down his temple as the red haired teen, still hidden from the four in the room, swallowed on a dry throat.

This was just…

So that was what they were planning, that was why the men could not stop staring at him, thinking that Gaara wasn’t aware of their searching gazes…

The Sand nin was used to the glares, but the difference was almost obvious since he knew where to look. Their gazes had been cautious, wary but not afraid, simply thoughtful.

For once, Gaara did not know how to feel. He was on the receiving end of something that was not an insult nor a killing attempt by his village, and he did not know what to do about it.

They were not planning against his life.

They were planning to give him control over their Village.

Still, Gaara did not know what to feel; he felt empty, confused, and the world around him was spinning madly, the colours mixing together into a horrid grey mass.

Should he believe in them? Would they really want a lowly monster as their Kazekage?

Did they think he would really protect the village that had turned its back on him so many times? He hated Sunagakure. How could he not?

He’d have to protect it. Why? How?

At his feet, his sand started shifting and moving restlessly, feeling his uncertainty and feeding on it –because if his chakra was disturbed, his control on the sand was weaker.

But the redhead was not even aware of it as the sand crept up his legs, as if to defend him from invisible threats, halting for a second at his waist, feeling the heart racing in his chest, then shifting upwards again, completely covering his face.

Forming a mask.

So as the inner shield started breaking again, the sand created a new one.

 

…–…–…–…

 

Everything was dark; a black mist was covering the space around the man without allowing any light to pass though its thickness.

The figure stood still in the darkness, unmoving, giving the impression that he wasn’t even breathing –a black, sinister shadow hiding away, almost as if ready to strike at any moment.

The chakra covering the area was so thick that even the silence was deafening, almost amplified by the sheer strength of the figure’s aura.

Then, a noise made its way into the silence –the sound of approaching footsteps breaking the uneasy stillness.

The figure hiding within the darkness knew who the person was. No one to care about, just a messenger.

After all, the chakra masking was enough to keep any danger away from them, and the ones daring enough to try and get through would be dead the moment they stepped too far into it.

Only few could safely pass through the shield, in the end.

The protection was strong, as it had to be, they couldn’t risk being discovered –it would cause them trouble, although not enough to put an end to their operations, but still enough to hinder them.

They were more than capable to deal with any threat, but one thing is to lure your prey out where you could slay it, and one was to let the prey into your den. Finding out the whereabouts of their headquarters would be detrimental in the long run.

They were a group composed by many shinobi from various hidden villages, and each main village had at least one missing–nin that was currently part of the organization. Gaining knowledge of their hideout would put on their tales hunters from all Five Countries.

They knew better than that, and so they hid away.

Besides, three of the Jinchuuriki had already fallen into their hands, and two had been reported dead –murdered at a young age. Which meant two demons were still on the run, and four Jinchuuriki were still alive.

Of them, two would pose to be rather problematic, the Ichibi and the Kyuubi.

“The spy reported that the Kyuubi’s Jinchuuriki has left the village together with the Toad Sennin,” a voice spoke, straining to reach his ears through the thick, oppressing darkness.

The figure still didn’t move except for his eyes, that shifted to the crouched figure a few feet away, penetrating through the darkness as if it wasn’t even there.

He had used a simple jutsu, and the dark coils around him were simply a form of cruel amusement to play with the ones sent to him with the latest news; he didn’t really waste chakra with weaklings, such as the messenger that was still crouching in front of him, but the pleasure in sending shivers of fear down their backs was enough for him to continue.

None of these lowlife shinobi would ever get the honour of seeing his true appearance, as that was reserved only for the Eight Pillars, but they would bow and tremble in fright, and pass on the word. The fear would spread, and so would his amusement.

Akatsuki was, by all means, a reserved, small organization; there were only nine main members, including the leader, but to take care of unimportant, small things, they had a large web of spies and contacts –the lowlife– that spread through the countries, working undercover and reporting every few weeks.

“We’ve been expecting that,” he replied, voice smooth and clear like silk. It was a voice that spoke of danger, death and darkness surrounding and choking you fully.

It was the tone of someone who had known hell, and who had travelled there and back up to create his own, personal inferno.

No other voice could belong to the one person who had created Akatsuki.

“Send Itachi and Kisame to hunt the Fox down, but tell them not to interfere or capture him unless I order them to,” he finally continued, after a long pause in which he observed the messenger fidget in distress.

There was a slight disturbance in the chakra pathways of the man in front of him, and he smirked, basking in the waves of fear the shinobi emanated.

Fear was good. Fear was pleasant. This man feared him, and he had all reasons to.

Like a dagger, his tone turned from silky sweet to icy sharp. “Hurry up”.

Staggering back with a strangled cry, the messenger stumbled on his way out, and the Leader of Akatsuki chuckled darkly at the strands of mist that seemed to uncoil and try to reach out for the man as he ran away.

Yes –messing up with the incompetent trash always left a good taste in his mouth.

The way things were going amused him. It amused him greatly, and that was why he was willingly to wait all the time that it needed to continue with the plan.

‘Dear Jinchuuriki… only four of you are left now… one way or another, I will use you, and the power will be in my hands to be disposed of’.

 

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

 

Cepheus:I hope this satisfied all of you… there was Kyuubi, Gaara and even the Akatsuki!

Do I deserve a review, now?

In this chapter, you also realised Naruto can take care of himself, which is important at this point.

Important Ending Note:I had to create an Akatsuki Leader since when I was writing this fic, the boss hadn’t been revealed yet. To simplify things, I’ll keep my OC Leader, but don’t worry, he won’t have much spotlight unless it’s strictly necessary.