37Fixing it at the source
Regrettably I do not own Naruto :(
Chapter 3 Preparing for war
3 weeks later
"I'm telling you he is totally handsome and a super awesome shinobi, Dattebane!" said one Uzumaki Kushina rather loudly why pulling an a bit annoyed Uchiha Mikoto with her. Her friend hadn't shut up about this blonde shinobi that freed her of the burden of being a jinchuriki. Ever since Kushina saw Mikoto after awakening in the hospital she had been going on about how awesome a shinobi he had to be and how skilled he was in fuinjutsu. While Mikoto was quite suprised that her friend said that someone was even better then her in sealing she wasn't as excited to meet this Naruo person.
The whole rambling got even worse when one time Minato came by while they were talking in Kushina's hospital room and said that he was training with Naruto and that he was a Namikaze and therefore his cousin of some kind. Ever since Kushina was told about this she had become incredible excited to meet Naruto again and thank him and also to get the chance to discuss some ideas about seals.
While Mikoto had never seen this Naruto before she knew he was powerful from the description of his chakra that Kushina supplied. Every person had a different denseness of chakra depending on their parentage or a special condition like with Kushina, the Uzumaki had a naturally denser chakra while also having bigger chakra reserves. Kushina had a very special chakra even for an Uzumaki though which gave it the ability to suppress the chakra of bijuu. Even so it was possible to make your own chakra become denser through training which made your jutsu stronger and lowered the amount of chakra that was needed for simple tasks like water-walking or tree-hopping. But if this Naruto truly had such a dense chakra and the extraordinary chakra reserves Kushina talked about then he was basically impossible to be weak.
Even though Mikoto wasn't as excited about this meeting as her friend though she still welcomed the distraction. Ever since she become off-age her clan had forced her in to a arranged marriage with another Uchiha, Uchiha Fugaku, that they believed to be an 'adequate' husband fro her, the heiress. In reality all they wanted was to have a male as clan head that was already fully believing this whole 'superior clan' stuff. While Mikoto was certainly proud to be an Uchiha sometimes hearing other clan members talk about their 'superiority' made her sick. It just didn't seem right especially of there were many people that could best every Uchiha alive easily. The first people coming to mind were the Sandaime Hokage, Danzo Shimura and all the Sannin. The next people that she thought off were Minato and after hearing Kushina talk about Naruto's chakra maybe this Naruto.
In the end all that superior stuff got them is the resentment of the other ninja. Add to that the fact not many people outside the clan like to train with Uchiha anyway because of the fear of having their jutsu or styles stolen it didn't make the Uchiha clan the most liked of clans among the ninja populace in Konoha. Despite that the Uchiha clan was still feared and respected by many for it's battle prowess.
As they got closer to the center of the center of training ground 13 the sounds of fighting could be heard. Walking in to the open from the forest sorrounding the training ground Kushina and Mikoto got greeted with the sight of Minato standing in a slightly crouched posture with a Fuuton chakra enhanced kunai at his neck. Behind him stood the person that was holding the kunai.
He is tall, about 6'3'' and has a lean build. His hair is blonde, the same shade as Minato's but not as spiky. He has a angular face without any baby-fat. His eyes are a dark shade of blue with a slightly slitted pupil. His attire is basically all black except for a deep red cloth around his torso and the red leaf emblem on his right shoulder. His left arm is not covered which made the ANBU tattoo on his shoulder visible. Also on his left arm is a black and red tattoo in a tribal style that started at his wrist-area and ended on his upper-arm. Finishing the outfit are black gloves that don't cover his thumb and index-finger and reached just below his wrist together with black shinobi sandals that reached up to his knees where his black pants ended.
Looking at him Mikoto had to focus to fight down a blush. Kushina had been right he was indeed handsome. Kushina even though she was already involved with Minato had to admit that if she wasn't Naruto would be a just as good choice atleast from the information she had on him at this point.
"You are getting there Minato but it will take a while for you to be able to best me. Despite that you definetly improved over the last three weeks. We have guests though." after saying that Naruto took his kunai from Minato's neck and relaxed his posture slightly while turning to look at Kushina and a black haired woman that he couldn't quite place.
Hearing his friend/cousin say that Minato also relaxed his stance and stood to his full height. Turning his head he saw Kushina and her friend Mikoto coming closer to them. Seeing Kushina brought a smile to his face. They may not have been in a relationship for a long time but it was blatantly obvious to everyone that saw them together that they were basically made for one another.
"So how long did you know that they were coming Naruto?" asked Minato in interested voice while turning his head slightly to look at his cousin.
"I sensed that someone was coming about five minutes ago but didn't want to interrupt our spar to infom you since they wouldn't arrive for about the same time." asnwered Naruto without turning to look at Minato. He was still trying to find out who the person next to Kushina was.
The thing that became obvious after Naruto took a closer look at her was that she was an Uchiha. The black hair and the black eyes were a dead giveaway for that. The question was which Uchiha she was. Since Naruto didn't know any Uchiha beside Itachi, Sasuke and their father Fugaku he didn't really have much information to begin with. While there seemed to be a resemblance between Itachi and her that didn't mean much since they were of the same clan. The Uchiha always seemed to look alike.
Before Naruto could continue his thought process Kushina and Mikoto reached him and Minato with Kushina being obviously giddy. Seeing her happiness Naruto couldn't help but let a small smile show.
Kushina being the impatient person she is couldn't hold herself anymore and lunged at Naruto and enveloped him in a hug while saying "Thank you" over and over again. Not anticipating this kind of reaction from her Naruto was floored.
After a second of hugging Naruto Kushina felt him relax and hug her back while saying "No problem.". After a while Kushina detached herself from Naruto and walked over to Minato and greeted him with a kiss. Having greeted both of them Kushina remembered that she brought someone with her. Turning around she walked back to Mikoto's side to introduce her.
"Naruto this is my best friend Uchiha Mikoto. Mikoto this is Naruto." having said her part Kushina got back to Minato's side. Taking this as her cue Mikoto spoke up "Hello Naruto-san Kushina and Minato have told me a lot about me and Kushina thought that I should meet you.".
Now all of the attention was on Naruto. His face showed exactly zero emotion at this point. While he knew who Mikoto was now Naruto couldn't quiet bring himself to be nice. "Hello Uchiha-san." came the simple reply while the clan name was said through gritted teeth to keep himself from snarling at her.
Hearing him speak like this all of them were quiet suprised especially Minato since that was the first time that Naruto sounded somewhat angry. Normally it was hard enough to get any kind of emotional reaction out of him but it seemed like Mikoto being an Uchiha alone was enough. Maybe there was some kind of grudge?
"I don't know what your problem is but if you want to start a fight you are on the best way to doing so." said Mikoto with slightly narrowed eyes.
Realising his slip up Naruto immediatly tried to save the situation. It wouldn't do him any good to earn himself enemies in the village. "I apologize for offending you. It was not my intention. It isn't a personal problem off any sorts just a problem of other nature. Frankly i do not really like your clan because of the Uchiha I met in my life up until now. If you would excuse me." having said his piece Naruto left in a gust of wind to let his mind rest for a bit.
"Well that was weird." came Minato's voice. He had trained with Naruto for the past three weeks and he had never seen him show any type of anger like this. "What do you think was his problem Minato?" asked Mikoto after looking at the spot were Naruto had just stood for a moment.
"I have no idea. Normally getting him to react emotionally in any way is hard enough. He seems to have some kind of grudge against your clan though. I'm gonna try to find out about it tomorrow while training with him though. Anyways since we are here already let's get some training in shall we?".
After that both Mikoto and Minato discussed something about training for the moment forgetting about Kushina. While she wasn't as deductive as Minato for example Kushina could be quite observant when she wanted to be.
The things that she just saw in Naruto's eyes suprised her. It may have been subtle but it was still there. A look full of regret, self-loathing, anger, respect and hatred could be seen in his eyes for just a moment. 'Just what is your story Naruto?' before joining her two best friends in their training.
The next day – Uchiha compound
Mikoto had just gotten finished preparing herself for the day after yesterday's training session with Minato and Kushina. While Kushina didn't do anything to strenous for her chakra sytem she had gotten started on adepting to her now smaller reserves. So after some control exercises she tried to learn some iryojutsu since she could never do so before.
In the end Kushina had made good progress on the basic technique but had to stop early because she didn't want to run out of too much chakra after just getting out of the hospital. After that it was mostly sparring with Minato while Kushina read up on some things.
Right now Mikoto was preparing to go to the mission office to see if she could take a mission but was interrupted by a knock. Making her way to the door Mikoto thought about who could be possibly knocking at this time of the day.
Reaching the door Mikoto opened it to be greeted by the sight of one Namikaze Naruto standing before her. Before she was able to dismiss him since she didn't really want to talk to him right now he spoke up.
"I'm sorry to have to disturb you this early Mikoto-san but I have come here to apologize for my outburst in the training ground yesterday. It was uncalled for and I don't know what came over me. Please accept this apology of mine." having said his piece Naruto gave a quick bow before waiting for her to answer.
Hearing this Mikoto didn't quite know what to say. Sure as the heiress people often talked to her like this but hearing it from someone that wasn't from her clan or a civilian creeped her out even more then normally. After he finished and bowed Mikoto smiled slightly to ease the tension. "Okay, apology accepted. You don't have to be so formal with me though. Just Mikoto will be fine by the way. Is there anything else you needed?".The only answer she got to her question was a shake of the head before Naruto bid her goodbye.
"Have a good day Mikoto." was the last thing he said before disappearing in a gust of wind.
After he left Mikoto made her way to the mission office to maybe get a mission. Arriving there she was suprised to see Naruto waiting at door. When she got close enough he spoke up in a while not emotional definetly serious voice.
"Mikoto, Hokage-sama asked me to tell you that you are required for a mission." before Mikoto was able to answer him he was gone. Making here way to the Hokage office Mikoto waited for the other members of her team to arrive.
5 minutes later – Hokage office
Right now in the office of the leader of Konohagakure was a team that had been assembled for this particular mission.
Standing in front of the Hokage were the four members of the team for this mission. The Hokage himself was sitting behind his desk with a serious expression while seizing up the people before him.
"As I'm sure some of you already know tensions between Iwa and Suna have been rising ever since the dissappearance of the Sandaime Kazekage not to long ago. Newest information suggests that fights are starting more often at the border and both villages are preparing for bigger fights. Right now it may only me small skirmishes but that won't be for long. I'm sure you know what I'm hinting at." said Hiruzen Sarutobi in a serious tone of voice.
"War" came the muttered reply from Naruto. He had been waiting for this information for the last weeks. Because he didn't know when exactly Konoha involved themselves in the war he had been on edge more and more in the last days. It seemed like there first move would be made on this mission.
"Correct. Suna and Iwa will be officially at war in the near future and it won't be long beofre the other villages involve themselves. This mission is a reconnaissance mission. You are to head into Ishi no Kuni and Ame no Kuni and gather information about the fights in those countries. Both of the countries will be battlefields even more then now if war breaks out officially. When you reach the countries I want you to avoid all fighting if possible. If you get involved don't leave any evidence of Konoha being there. Should we join this soon to be war I want it to be at a point in time that we decide. Mikoto will be in charge during this mission. Leave for the mission as soon as possible. Mikoto please stay for a moment." after saying this the other three members disappeared from the office to prepare for the mission.
Mikoto didn't really know why exactly she was told to stay but didn't let anything show and waited for her Hokage to say what he required of her.
Seeing that he had Mikoto's attention the Sandaime Hokage began his request/order. "Mikoto I want you to watch Naruto on this mission. Now I'm not questioning his loyalty I'm talking about his skills and abilities as a shinobi. Take note of eveything that you think is important and report it to me after the mission. While I will have to test him if no situation arrises that makes an evaluation possible I would prefer it to be a real life or death situation. That is all."
Hearing what she had to do Mikoto prepared to keep an eye on Naruto's performance on the mission. While she didn't understand how he hadn't been evaluated yet it wasn't her place to question her Hokage.
"Very well Hokage-sama" was Mikoto's reply before she shunshined out of the office to get ready for the mission that she would be leading.
Same time with Naruto
After leaving the office Naruto had made his way to the higurashi weapon shop to get his katana. During the war it became a habit for Naruto to always be ready for any missions that might arise so he didn't need to get any extra stuff.
Arriving at the store Naruto walked in to see Aiji at the register waiting for customers to ask for help or buy things form the store. Walking up to him Naruto could see the man recognising him.
"I'm happy to see you Naruto-san. I just finished your weapon yesterday. I have to say those plans of yours were really accurate on the things that you wanted. Some of these things actually couldn't be done by me alone. I had to call in a favor with a friend of mine who now lives in Tetsu no Kuni (Iron country) to help me with some of the forging. In th end i was able to finish the biggest part of the blade alone afterwards." after saying this Aiji took out an item that was wrapped in a black cloth. Jufging from the shape it was obviously a katana of about 44''.
Taking the katana in his hands Naruto unfurled the cloth and looked at the sheathed weapon in detail. The blade was about 32'' and the hilt about 12'' long. The guard was circular but looked somewhat similar to the Uzumaki swirl but made out of what looked like 9 tails. The hilt itself was bound in a black cloth with a dark red diamond desing on it. The guard was done in the same red colour. The sheath was completely black with a white depiction of a dragon seemingly made out of wind on it.
Unsheathing the katana Naruto got a good look at the black and metally-silver blade. The side of the sword that was sharp had a metally-silver colour while the other side was completely black wih a dark red shine to it. Giving the weapon a once-over Naruto was extremely happy withwhat he saw. He had made the plans f this sword during one of the many restless nights of the war. After hehad woken up from a nightmare Naruto could bring himself to sleep again and started drawng the sketches for tekatana that was now in his hand. While he didn't know that much about katana or any kind of sowrd for that matter a tha point that fact had changed later on during the war.
Fighting alongside many people from Kumo or Kiri who were known for there use of kenjutsu aswell as the samurai from Tetsu no Kuni made impossible to not learn things about blades. In the end learning about forging and the use of weapons in general was something that gave him the possibility to take his mind off of the war and the current situations that he found himself in.
Hearing a cough Naruto focused back on the present to see Aji standing behind the counter with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Remebering his situation Naruto smiled slightly while simultaneously taking out his wallet from a seal on his wrist.
"How much do I owe you?" asked Naruto.
"It adds up to two million ryu in total. The big part of the price is just from the metal used since I used exactly what was written in the plans." was Aiji's reply. While it was certainly not cheap no good equipment was, a well made Katana especially. Since Naruto had taken a lot of money with him because he didn't need much of it during the war and the people in his time certainly had no use for it Naruto had more then enough money anways due to his inheritance which he got access to after it was made official that he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage.
After paying for his new weapon and leaving the store and a very happyAiji Higurashi Naruto made his way to the gate that he was to meet his team at. Thinking about his team made Naruto remember the other two members of the team beside Mikoto and himself.
The third member of the team was Hizashi Hyuuga. While Naruto didn't remember the man from his childhood since he died early on he had talked to Neji a lot during the war. In those conversations Naruto also learned some of the things that Neji knew about his own father. In general teaming up with a Hyuuga was something that Naruto had really liked during the war, as much as you can like anything in wartime anyway.
Since he had become good friends with Neji especially, Naruto knew many things about the Hyuuga's style of fighting, the Juuken. While Neji had changed the Juuken to fit himself better later on the main principle still was the same.
The last member of the team was Tsume Inuzuka, Kiba's mother. Even though she was still alive during the war, atleast at the start, Naruto didn't know that much about her beside the usual Inuzuka stuff. The more feral and brash approach to things and the natural pride were only some of the things that were basically always the same for every Inuzuka. While Kiba took the pride part a bit too far ,especially in his youth, it seemed to be something natural for an Inuzuka especially for the males of the clan.
2 minutes later – West gate
Arriving at the gate Naruto saw that only Hizashi had already arrived and the others were still not here. Since Hizashi didn't seem, like a big part fo the Hyuuga clan, very talkative Naruto just sat down in a tree near the gate and began to meditate. After meditating for a short while Naruto decided it would be a good idea to visit Kurama and look if everything worked right during the absorbation of the other Kurama.
Mindscape
Arriving in his mindscape Naruto looked around before he began walking to the place that Kurama was usually at while in the seal. Arriving at the clearing that he could normally find Kurama in Naruto saw the fox in the middle of the clearing looking like he was taking a nap.
As he walked closer Kurama seemed to finally sensed him or woken up since he opened his eyes and looked at his container.
"So did everything work out?" asked Naruto after walking up to the fox.
"Yes everything worked. Even though I have to admit that holding back the influence on you of basically housing me twice was quite hard. That could also explain why it was harder for you to control your emotions then usual for the last weeks. But everything should be back to normal right now." answered Kurama.
Hearing this Naruto nodded once since it seemed like a sound explanation. Before Naruto could further talk to his tenant he felt the other two members of the team arrving at the gate and realized that he had to leave and start the mission now.
After a quick goodbye Naruto faded from his mindscape and opened his eyes in the real world again. Standing up Naruto walked over to the othe members of the team and waited for the instructions of the team captain. Even though he wasn't quite used to taking orders from way more people then in his own time it was still manageable.
"I hope you are all ready. I want to reach to border of Ame no Kuni as fast as possible so that we can begin our investigation. Let's head out!" having said her piece Mikoto rushed in the direction of Ame no Kuni at jonin-level speed.
While Naruto usually travelled at a much faster pace he was fine with this tempo since right now there weren't three maniacal Uchiha hunting him.
The team travelled in silence for the most part until reaching the border of Hi no Kuni and Ame no Kuni. Arrivng there Mikoto opened a map of the surrounding terrain to discuss their further movements.
Third chapter finished. Sorry that it took this long to finish and publish this chapter but I didn't have as much time as usually to write and it therefore took a bit longer. I hope that the next chapter will be finished faster then this one though. (I have no idea if the price for the katana that I used is possible or reasonable but I just thought that a weapon of that caliber should be quite expensive.)
Thanks for all the reviews that I have gotten so far. I really appreciate every single one of them. Now to respond to some of the things that were mentioned in the reviews.
My quotation marks: I actually do not know why this actually happens. But I was able to fix the chapters while changing the quotations in the Document Manager. Still thanks for notifying me.
Question concerning the future of the plot: While I understand the questions that were asked I don't want to spoil the details of the story already and I'm not going to answer the questions atleast not openly. If there are suggestions for the further plot feel free to send me your ideas though.
Thanks again for everybody that is reading, following, favoriting and reviewing this story. Until the next chapter.