Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Tonsou Ninja ❯ Unwelcome Surprise ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I was never there for that fight. It was merely a shadow clone, but one that I had been working on. It was still a clone but it was better than that. I can see and hear what it sees and hears, it can use my chakra if I willed it to, and it didn’t disappear in a whiff of smoke like the rest.
I was amazed that my plan actually worked on the Sharingan, it was very simple too. Moving at such high speeds, if you can keep up with that when it comes to hand seals, you can use a jutsu in a certain place and it will activate there. The Sharingan only shows the final product of a move, and I assumed that if it didn’t know of another entity, it couldn’t predict its movements. So Kakashi only saw that the clone would reappear behind him, but I made the clone jump over him and use the Kage Bunshin before reappearing behind him.
Pure genius, if I do say so myself.
By the time the fight was over, I had long since passed through the large wooden gates that led to the outside world. This was my home now and I didn’t like it.
It's quiet, the only sounds emanating from my footsteps and the gentle, yet annoyingly repetitive chirping crickets. Occasionally the windblows through the trees and makes a rustling sound that puts me a bit on edge.
It's still dark out but the sun will soon be rising, bringing with it much needed light and warmth. It is very hard to see and at areas of the path where I know the trail narrows, I find myself with my hands out in front of me to avoid running into a tree.
Lucky me because no sooner had I done this than my hand had brushed up against the rough bark of a tree.
But all the same I know where I'm going. I was going to find Sakura and no tree was going to stop me. Or person. I guess the latter of the two is a bit more dangerous.
Who am I kidding. I have no clue where I’m going let alone where Sakura went. And even if there were some obvious markings to show her path, it was too dark to see much of anything.
I found another tree, or more-or-less almost ran into it, and sat down at its base, making sure to take off my backpack before doing so. The rough bark scraped against my upper back where there was minimal protection from my body armor. I wasn’t tired or anything--okay maybe a bit but that’s not because I’ve been walking so long, I’m just tired of this darkness.
Back at home--I mean that place I once lived--did that even sound right? I wonder how runaways think. Maybe they think like I’m thinking now, or do they think about the way other people like them think? “Ugh, this is too confusing.”
I wait for a while, not really thinking about anything until the sun’s rays at last reach over the horizon. I can see, it’s a miracle! So I stand up and place my backpack over my shoulders yet again as I resume my venture.
At about 12:30 I stop to eat on a tree stump near some village. I do not know this village, I have seen it from a distance many times but every time I would ask to go into it, we were far too busy even after a D-rank mission. I would go into town but it’s not like it would do me any good to watch people staring at me as I eat on curb. When I am finally done, I place the remainder of my rations for the day into my backpack and head into town, maybe I'll be able to scrounge up something on Sakura there.
It’s a good thing I keep a picture of our team on me at all times or it would have to explain what she looks like. How am I supposed to know how many pink-haired, green-eyed girls there are in this town?
None.
I’ve been through the whole town and not only haven’t I found Sakura, I haven’t seen anyone with pink hair at all. I’ve already checked the obvious places: hotels, restaurants, on the streets in general, but I didn’t expect to find her there. She is after all a ninja, trained in the ways of stealth so she probably went to someone’s house and asked for food and shelter in exchange for labor.
My guess is an old woman near the middle of the village who is always complaining about the noise but is too poor to do anything about it.
According to one of the children I asked at the edge of town, there just so happens to be one person who fits that description.
I quickly memorized the directions to the house and thanked them.
The town itself is nice. It's a lot like my old village only the streets are more vibrant here. Throughout each street can be seen children playing different games. I stopped once to watch a group of them who appeared to be pretending to be ninja. I smiled at the thought, such innocent children, yet they play a silhouette of death.
But one of them catches my eye. A blonde-haired boy with what appeared to be three scratches on either side of his face. He is hiding right now, behind the corner of a building, watching one of his brown-haired playmates edging closer towards him as what appeared to be one of the boy’s teammates made several attempts to hit the boy, drawing him closer to this hidden boy.
But the blonde-haired boy hops from behind the corner and launches himself over the brown-haired boy. The attacker falls to the ground and the boy places a stick length-wise at the boy’s neck like a kunai.
I was stunned to say the least. Not only had this kid fooled me into thinking that he was waiting to pounce on the brown-haired boy, but that he had jumped over this kid, who had to be at least five years older than him, with such expertise as to only say that he was a ninja or was training to become one.
“Hey, you!” I call to him.
He turns around to see who is calling him but when his gaze meets my mine, he steps back.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” was my reaction, though I think that was obvious. He is stunned by the same thing I was, our likeness.
He turns around and bolts off; he is fast.
I give chase though it's hard trying to avoid all the people. I'm slowly gaining on him, but every time I get within grabbing distance, he makes a sharp turn and I have to skid to a stop before turning.
I can’t tell where he's going or if he is just trying to lose me.
I'm getting close again and I make to reach for his shirt but he dropps to the ground and slides under a cart that is passing by. I, who was unaware of this cart, try to stop but trip and spiral out of control on the floor and make my inevitable collision with the cart.
My head is aching when I finally regain consciousness. There are several people stooped over me, and I can make out their faces but only barely. Two girls and a man. They all looked alike so I assume they're family or something like it.
When I sit up, they back away like I amdangerous or something.
“Where did that kid go?” I ask stupidly.
“Kid? What kid?” the man asks. I recognize him as the man pushing the cart I crashed into.
“I was chasing a kid. didn’t you see him? He kinda looked like me but younger, maybe nine.”
“The Uzumaki boy?”
“Uzumaki?”
“Yeah, haven’t you heard of the Uzumakis? They’re really famous in this town. They have a son, Kyouryoku Uzumaki, great boy. You must be new here.”
“How can you tell?”
“Well, because I’ve never seen you here. And you don’t even know the Uzamakis--say, you look a lot like them, you know that?”
“Yeah, that’s why I was following him. I always thought that I was the last of the Uzamakis.”
“That’s not possible. The only Uzumakis live in this town. It has been so for a long time. And the only way you could be related to them is if you’re--”
But he stops short. Something tells me I already knew what he was going to say but I wasn’t going to jump to conclusions.
“If I’m who?” I ask.
He hesitates for a minute, not sure what to say or whether to say it. But he didn’t answer my question, or at least not directly when he spoke. “About 18 years ago or so, the Kyuubi threatened to destroy the Konoha. You were either too young to remember or you weren’t born yet. The Kyuubi destroyed our village, but luckily enough, everyone made it out alive. It just so happened that that was the night the fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi’s spirit.
“I was running for shelter when it came and I hid in the hospital.. I tried to ignore the screams coming from the room next to me at first, but then I realized that wasn’t working so I went into the room. By this time, the Kyuubi had been sealed by the Hokage. In it was a single child, a boy with the Uzumaki symbol upon his stomach.
But someone came and brought him away, a man. Later after theclean upwas over, I went outside and found that sameman lying dead in the middle of the street, but there was no child. I never saw how it happened or how he would be dead after the Kyuubi was already sealed but I was later told that a group of fire villagers had come through and killed anyone in their way. It was heartbreaking to tell the Uzumakis, but some say that their son is still out there.”
He drifted off and I knew at once everything, why I had been kept inside the village, why we had always kept away from this village on missions, and who the missing son was. But I wasn’t prepared to believe it. I had to find out from these so-called Uzumakis.
After some more listening to the merchant, I was finally able to squeeze out some information on the whereabouts of the Uzumaki family.
So here I am in front of the house which, to be honest, doesn’t look like it would belong to the most famous people in the village.
Inside, on the second floor, I see the boy from earlier staring nervously out of a window. But other than that, there appears to be no signs of inhabitance.
I take a deep breath and step onto the porch but before I get to the door, it is opened. In the doorway, stands two adults; a well-built man who definitely has my hair and facial features, and a woman with long brown hair, that is obviously tied into a bun, that has my eyes.
“Our son told us you would be coming,” the woman said.
“Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki?” I ask, feeling a bit stupid about the question as I already knew the answer.
“We will ask the questions,” the man said declaratively.
I nodded, I wasn’t in a position to bargain.
“Why were you following my son?” he asked. “Or do you not have a legitimate reason?”
“I’m not sure if you’d consider it legitimate, but it was because I thought he looks a lot like me. I‘m not exactly sure why but he reminded me of myself when I was younger,” I answer. How stupid did that sound?
“And do you find this a good reason to chase him through the streets?”
“I didn’t mean any harm. I only wanted to know his name. I thought I knew him from somewhere.”
They looked at each other for a few seconds before the woman spoke again. “What is your name?” she asked suddenly.
“Naruto,” I respond. I don’t want to give the impression that I’m trying to impersonate their son when I’m not sure that I am.
The woman put her hand the her lips, touching them gently with the side of her index finger. Neji had said this was a sign of remembrance of pain.
“Last name?” the man asked abruptly. I didn’t answer, afraid of saying something that could get me in trouble. “Last name?” he said more powerfully this time.
“Naruto…” But the name clung to my mouth, not letting go. “Naruto…” I tried again.
“Uzumaki.” But it wasn’t my voice, I look around the two adults in front of me and saw the boy frowning in the doorway behind them. “Just like the last kid that tried this. You’re just pretending to be my dead brother so you can get a place to live.”
“What?” I ask. “I don’t want a place to live, I just saw you on the streets and noticed that you looked like me. All I wanted to know was your name but you ran away.”
“Do you have any tattoos?” the man asked.
I was sure that a look of shock passed over my face. “Yeah, one. But I’ve had it since before I can remember. Some stupid numbers but I don’t know what they mean.”
“Show me,” he ordered. I turned around and lifted my shirt up to my shoulder blade where the tattoo was, it was a simple one, just the numbers 25499, but apparently they had some meaning to these people.
I let my shirt back down after a few seconds and turned around again. By now, the woman had started breaking into tears, but the man doesn’t seem as convinced.
“Look. I don’t want any trouble, I just came here looking for closure and if you can’t give it to me, then I’ll be on my way.”
“W cannot provide closure for you for we have no way of proving you’re our son or not. You bear his birth number and the characteristics of an Uzumaki, but unless you can use the bloodline of the Uzumaki’s you are without sufficient proof.”
“Uzumaki bloodline?”
“Yes. Though it would be pointless to tell you about it.”
“There’s an Uzumaki bloodline? I thought that the Uchihas and Hyuugaswere the only ones with that in the Konoha.”
“Normally yes, people would lead you to believe this. But then again, no one has lived to tell the tale of its use.”
“How is it activated?” I ask.
“It won’t matter if I tell you or not, you still won’t be able to use it.”
“Then just tell me! If I won’t be able to use it, then what’s wrong with telling me?”
He sighed, seeing the determination in my eyes. “Fine. But if I tell you, and you fail to complete it, I will kill you.”
Great, more pressure. As if I didn’t already have enough to begin with. And I’m supposed to be looking for Sakura right now. I doubt she even passed through this town. “Okay,” I agree.
“Stare at your target and think the words ‘Seiryoku Toridasu’. Simple as that.”
I stared at him confusedly. “How will I know if it’s working?”
“Well for starters, I won’t be trying to kill you. And second, use a jutsu. If you are an Uzumaki, then this technique will work and you won’t have to use any chakra. If you’re not, then I'll kill you. I will be the target, in case you’re wondering. No pressure, it's only your life on the line.”
This is too risky, but if I don’t prove that I could do this, I’d be killed so I guess I’ll have to get this right the first time around. I take a deep breath and stared hard at this man. Seiryoku Toridasu!
As soon as I had thought these words, I noticed that Mr. Uzumaki twitched slightly. He seemed aware of this too and ordered me to use a jutsu.
So I did the easiest one I knew, the Kage Bunshin; but instead of preparing my chakra for the move, I just used the technique. To my own surprise, a shadow clone appeared at my side and I could see that Mr. Uzumaki felt something, probably the chakra being sucked from his body. And now I realize how stupid it seems to identify him as Mr. Uzumaki.
I destroy the clone and he regains his composure. At this point the woman whom I can probably consider my mother is bawling her eyes out, it is a bit embarrassing because people are starting to stare and I hope they aren’t going to try and come over here.
But this notion is quickly dismissed when they offered me into their house.
We sit down at the kitchen table and Mrs. Uzumaki made some tea before anyone spoke--why am I still referring to them as Mr. and Mrs.? This is so weird.
As mom--that doesn’t sound right either--poured the tea, this…man, I guess I’ll call him, begins to talk. “How old are you?” he asked.
“Eighteen. And if you don’t mind me asking, what should I call you?”
“My name is Ken’ichi Uzumaki and this is my wife, Akino. We are the only descendants of the Uzumaki family besides our son that we were sure of. The Uzumaki family was once a force to be reckoned with, unbeatable even by the Uchihas. But as you can probably guess, something bad happened.”
He paused for a moment, looking at the contents of his cup. “At the peak of our power, we became foolish and began to wipe each other out, insane for more power. We distanced ourselves all around the planet and in essence, created the foundations of all the nations. And one by one, we were struck down. You see, there was a flaw to our powers. With each Uzumaki that is killed, the power of our techniques increases.
“And then it happened. One from each of the nine Uzumaki-created nations. They summoned forth the gods to do their bidding. These nine gods were known as the Bijuus, but I’m sure you already knew about them.
“But the gods were angered by this, mere mortals attempting to control them, themost powerful beings in the universe. They turned against us and instead of waging war with each other, banded together and fought against us. It was only a day or two before we had realized the devastation these creatures were capable of and we had to stop them, had to destroy them.”
I grabbed my stomach under the table and he saw this. He shook his head slowly, as if knowing my thoughts.
“That’s not what you think it is. I’m sure you’ve been told by now that the Fourth sealed the Kyuubi into the bellybutton of a child, am I right? This is wrong, a lie if you will. Don’t get me wrong, he did save the village, but all is not as it seems. The sign on your stomach proves that you are a descendant of the Uzumaki clan. But I regret to inform you that the Kyuubi is not inside of you as you think it is.”
I swallowed hard, I can feel my own insides being clawed at in anticipation. Yet I don’t want to know. I wish I hadn’t come, then this wouldn’t be happening--why did I come here?
And then he said the words I dreaded most. “You are Kyuubi.”
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Fixed this one as well. Hope you liked it.