A Naruto Fanfiction

Tempered by Spiritual Fire

Escort

Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

Summary: Naruto was banished after the battle at the Valley of the End after bringing a comatose Uchiha Sasuke home. Cast out by those he considered family he makes his own path through life, first stop; the illustrious Fire temple, the next...who knows?

"How far to the Suna border Baki-san?" The client asked. The four man squad of Suna ninja had been escorting their client, a representative of the fire daimyo, for a few days, they were lucky he was ninja trained as the journey should have taking weeks. As it was all five of them were running through the trees at a good pace in a basic star formation; the client in the middle with Baki at the rear and the other three ninja, two shinobi and one kunoichi, either side and ahead of the client.

"We are an hour from the border, we'll stop there for a rest before heading into the desert, It can be pretty treacherous terrain during the sandstorm season so I hope you are knowledgeable about the necessary survival techniques?" Baki answered and asked in the same breath. The client smiled warmly before answering.

"Of course I am Baki-san, Go and I did spend most of the last half of our careers travelling back and forth between our daimyos, among other things." The client kicked off a branch and executed a lazy somersault onto the next branch as a show of prowess. "Besides." He went on to add "I have Kazekage-sama's old sensei, his fiancé and two of his jounin elites for protection. What is there out there that any combination of the five of us couldn't survive against?" He asked with a confident smirk. Baki just rolled his eyes.

The hour's trip to the border went by quietly, only the sounds of the forest, rushing feet and heavy breathing came to the five's ears. They broke for lunch just inside the Tsume no Kuni side of the claw/sand border, resting for a few hours in the scrub land that divided the forests of Fire country with Sand's, it was a mistake that would upset a lot of people.

The first sign of trouble had been when the client had stopped eating his meal and looked back towards the forest, Baki was merely curious. The second sign was when the animals of the scrub land went deathly quiet, Baki and the other ninja became concerned. The third and final sign of trouble was the sudden appearance of two ANBU teams surrounding them, proudly displaying the leaf insignia on their masks, Baki and his team leaped into defensive positions, the client on the other hand, did nothing.

"Stand down Suna ninja." One of the ANBU, obviously the one in charge spoke. "And hand over your charge into our custody." All four sand ninja tensed, ready for action. The client, still, did nothing.

"By the rules of our alliance, you cannot interfere with any mission any Suna shinobi takes, no matter what. So why do you think I will allow you to interfere on this one, especially considering it is of the highest importance to Kazekage-sama?" Baki answered. The eight ANBU, pressed in, the four Suna-nin knew they were no match in this line-up, should it come to a fight. Once again, the client didn't react, didn't move and didn't make any sign he was aware of the confrontation going on around him and over him.

"The Hokage has ordered us to take him in to stand before the elder council of Konoha and we will follow that order, alliance or no." The team leader replied. The client tensed as he felt the build up of chakra on both sides before finally doing something.

"Baki-san." He said quietly and calmly, but still heard by all. "Head back to Suna and inform the Kazekage of this predicament." Baki and his team were taken aback.

"Our orders were to escort you to Suna and that is what we'll do, you may be our client but we do not take orders from you." Baki answered, the edge of annoyance in his voice.

"I know, but if it will stop any altercations that may endanger the already fragile alliance between Suna and Konoha then it is what must be done." The client stood up and shouldered his pack, making sure the Konoha ANBU could see he was armed, with the intention of staying armed, with a long knife that was strapped horizontally across the rear of his belt. He shifted the metal gauntlets he wore into a more comfortable position and then turned to Baki. "What are you still doing here?" he asked.

"My orders from the Kazekage were clear: To stay by your side until you walked through Kazekage-sama's office door, and I don't intend to disobey him." The old Suna ninja replied. The client sighed wearily but nodded his acceptance.

"Very well, Matsuri-san, take your two subordinates and inform the Kazekage." He told the kunoichi of the group. Matsuri tried to object.

"Nami---" She faltered when she saw his sharp gaze. "Very well. Una, Masi. Come." she ordered and the three nin disappeared from sight. The ANBU waited a moment before pushing in on Baki's client.

"Hand over your weapons, now." the ANBU captain barked. The client looked towards his escort.

"Come, Baki-san, it will be a few hours journey to the edges of Konoha's borders and I want to be within sight of The village's walls by nightfall." with that said he turned and began running for the forest, Baki right beside as he was ordered. The ANBU watched for a few moments, unsure of what to do before finally giving up and catching up to the pair and surrounding them closely. They made the journey in complete silence.

The group stopped when they were within sight of Konoha's gates, more specifically Baki and hiss client stopped and the ANBU reacted a split second later. The Client detached the ten-inch long Bowie knife and it's sheath from his belt and handed it to Baki then leant down to undo the straps that held his shuriken pouch onto his right leg. "Would you please look after these Baki-san? I do not want to walk these streets, giving off the wrong impression after all." He asked as he handed the pouch over, Baki nodded as he got the underlying meaning.

"Are you sure? You will be defenceless if anything goes wrong." He warned his client. The client smiled.

"Just because I do not carry any weapons does not mean I'm not able to defend myself, after all, I regard myself to be the epitome of Shinobi Rule seven." Baki nodded and the ANBU looked at each other nervously, they knew rule seven. No matter if a shinobi wields katana, kunai or shuriken, he/she must always remember that they are the weapon. With that over with the client once more walked towards Konoha's gates.

Everywhere the group walked, the busy night-life of Konoha stopped and stared, some looked with shock, others with worry but the greatest emotions on view were anger and fear. While Baki glanced around nervously, mentally planning out the excuse he would have to give to the Kazekage about why his charge was killed in an 'allied' village and not liking the results, the client stared ahead, seemingly oblivious of the goings on around him. This state of affairs continued until they reached the Council chambers, the doors were immediately opened upon their arrival, it was obvious that they were expected. Baki's charge told him to stay at the sidelines, he had tried to protest but one look into the clients ice blue eye's told him to relent, and he did. The client continued into the centre of the floor and sat down into the only seat placed there and faced the council, looking between to of the councillors in the second row, directly ahead of him and then keeping his stare there. The council stared at the client, unsure what to make of his silence, they were expecting fear and, most likely, anger at his forced presence before the council, but from the man, nothing.

The Hokage shifted in her seat and quietly cleared her throat, getting ready to speak.

"You are a hard man to find." she said, the client didn't reply. "So, what do you have to say for yourself?" She asked, sounding like a lecturing mother. Again, no reply. "You were expected to report back from your exile four years ago." she went on, the anger in her voice becoming apparent. "So explain yourself, where do you get off disobeying an order from your Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto?" She demanded. Uzumaki Naruto, exile and pariah of Konoha, said nothing. "Very well, if you will not speak then I will have to incarcerate you until you do decide to speak. ANBU!" With that, Uzumaki Naruto got up and left in the company of Baki and half the squad that retrieved him. It wasn't until they were outside the tower and on their way to the ANBU headquarters that Naruto spoke.

"Find yourself a room for the night, Baki-san, I'm sure everything will be sorted out soon." The ANBU, a little confused that they were following their prisoner, decided to take charge and grabbed Naruto, pulling him towards the doors of the ANBU building. Baki stopped and watched as his client, Uzumaki Naruto was forced through the doors of the building and presumably down to what ever levels the holding cells were on. This is getting strange, why would the Hokage have her ANBU drag the boy back? It was by her order that he was banished in the first place.

Despite the dank look of his current abode, Naruto smiled. If there was one thing that had survived from his youth it was his love of playing with people's heads. While he had been manhandled through the main doors, he had led the rest of the way, right down to his cell, they were confused, he had willingly walked through the cell door and then knelt directly in the centre of the cell when the ANBU usually had to literally drag the prisoners in.

Naruto's smile widened, he had managed to annoy not only the ANBU, but the Hokage also, and all without breaking the bitch's stupid little exile clauses too.

"I don't get it Shizune." Tsunade confided to her first apprentice once they were back in her office. "I thought he would be happy to be back but he hasn't said a word. And why didn't he return when he was supposed to? The exile order was only for three years, enough time to calm the populace down and for the brat to get his head in order and learn to properly control the bijuu's chakra." She went on. "What was he doing for seven years?" Shizune didn't answer her mentor, she didn't really know what she should say to help. She had never agreed with Tsunade's decision to exile Naruto and surprisingly a number of the shinobi members of the council had opposed her too, unfortunately Tsunade, in a rare show of politacal nuance with a hint of malicious crowd baiting, had convinced enough of the council to temporarily exile the jinchuuriki and as an added bonus, in their eye's, she had rescinded the Third's law that kept Naruto's status secret, the results to that had been, in Shizune's view, catastrophic; all but one of the people Naruto considered friends had turned on him, the only one who didn't was Shikamaru and that's because he already knew. How, Shizune didn't know, but he had voiced his concern at Naruto's well-being when the whole of the remaining ninja his age had been told of his tenant and then of his banishing, that hadn't gone well with the rest of the group.

Shizune was knocked out of her reverie by a knock on the door, Tsunade bade the person to enter. The door opened to reveal the Suna-nin that had been accompanying the Uzumaki when he had entered the council chambers.

"Good evening Baki-san, what can I do for you?" Tsunade asked politely while pointing to an empty chair to sit down in. He did so before speaking.

"First of all, I would like to thank you for seeing me on such short notice." He started. Tsunade smiled slightly.

"Not at all Baki-san, I always have time to talk with Konoha's allies." She answered, her smile faltered slightly when she noticed the hard look in Baki's eyes.

"It is debatable whether we can be considered allies Hokage-sama, and that, among other things, is what I'm here to discuss." He said. "By your order, eight ANBU operatives ambushed and surrounded my Jounin team and my client. We were threatened with violence unless we handed over our charge, now, correct me if I'm wrong Hokage-sama but did you not personally put the clause into our last alliance agreement which stated that no allied village can interfere or sabotage a mission that was taken by the other allied villages no matter the circumstances?" He asked angrily. "My team and I were ordered to get Uzumaki Naruto to Suna by no later than midnight tonight and this little detour has cost me, as well as others quiet a lot." He added.

"If it is about money I'm sure we can come to some arrangement." Tsunade countered, while the Sand village wasn't up to Konoha's strength it was still considered to be a valuable ally to the Leaf village. Baki replied with a humourless laugh.

"This is not about money, I as well as the other three Jounin did this mission for free, the benefits went beyond our fiscal position." He said. Tsunade's brow creased into a frown.

"How so?" She didn't like where this was going.

"That is not for me to speak of, only those directly involved can." He answered cryptically. "But sufficed to say, your orders this afternoon will bring a lot of flak down upon Konoha. The Kazekage dislikes it when his shinobi are obstructed in their duty, especially when it concerns a close friend such as Naruto-san."

"How often has Naruto visited Suna?" Tsunade asked, trying to piece together Naruto's hitherto unknown actions for the last seen years.

"He first entered Suna four years ago and he's been back at least once a fortnight, but that increased in the last year to almost every week." He answered.

"Oh? Why is that?" She asked.

"That is a personal matter. But sufficed to say, it is connected with why Naruto-san should have been in the Sand village by midnight." He answered, once again, cryptically. "Though I am surprised he relented when we were ambushed." He added. Tsunade let a small smile grace her features.

"Maybe he wanted to come home?" She offered, Baki's face darkened.

"Naruto hasn't considered Konoha home since the day you called for his exile, in fact, I would be surprised if he wasn't halfway to Suna now." He said.

"And how would he get out of a prison cell with chakra depleting seals inscribed into the walls?" Tsunade asked him, anger and a little panic making it's way through her tone of voice.

"Don't you know anything of what Naruto has been doing these last seven years?" He asked, sighing when the Hokage shook her head. "Naruto spent three years training with the monks of the fire temple, and still does when he has time. He is considered to be their best pupil." He told her. "And from what I understand, both Jiriaya-sama and your Yondaime both trained in seals there..." He added. He watched the recognition scroll across her face.

"ANBU!" she Yelled, immediately the room had for black-clad bodies added to it. "Guard over Uzumaki Naruto." They disappeared once more when she finished her order.

"That won't help." Baki murmured. Tsunade glanced his way once again.

"Those four are my best ANBU unit, One boy won't faze them." She huffed angrily. Baki mouth widened into a smug grin.

"You really don't have any idea who you've incarcerated, do you?" He said, obviously enjoying every minute, he leaned forward. "Are you using the new chakra depleting seals that were created around four months ago? The ones that convert a convicts chakra into electricity for use as a power source?" He asked, Tsunade didn't reply but he knew she had been. "Would you like to know who created that particular fuinjutsu?" He caught the look on her face as the dots connected, right before the power to the Hokage tower cut out.

Naruto looked at the seal that was inscribed into the smooth steel plate on the north wall, oh so familiar as it was. The story behind the seal wasn't as dramatic as the creation of the Shiki Fujin, created as a means to stop the rampaging force of nature known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune and nor was it as noble as the array of medical seals used to keep patients asleep and as protection against infection during surgery, there was even a little known one that kept hospital rooms sterile from any form of disease.

The story behind the seal was simple; his employer had an energy crisis and an over populated prison, Naruto had simply found a way to put the two together. The seals function was twofold: drain excess chakra from incarcerated persons, leaving enough for them to live. Secondly it turned that chakra into electricity and siphoned it of via a mass of wire into two battery-like generators that not only powered the prison but his employer's home and half of her city, they were working on a second prison to deal with the overflow of the convicted to supply the other half of the city. Naruto had always considered himself a generous person and had freely given (After permission from his employer, she was paying for the research as well as the jutsu after all) the seal to the Daimyo of Wind and the Kazekage to use in their prisons, even finding a way to convert the seal to convert chakra into the water element; the water wouldn't be drink worthy, as it would technically be a chakra attack on a persons organs and chakra network, but as a means of watering the plants in Suna's hydroponic building, it was useful.

How Konoha came about the seal was a little controversial, in reality they shouldn't even have it. Tsunade, on a visit to Naruto's employer, had noticed that some of the city's power stations were being dismantled and had asked about the reasoning for this, Naruto's employer, being a very open person, told the Hokage of the conversion seal. The Hokage, seeing the benefits, asked for the seal and was promptly denied. Not liking this, Tsunade ordered two of her ninja to steal the scroll that was undoubtedly in the city's archives somewhere. By some weird twist of fate the two ninja were the remaining active members of team Seven.

Naruto stood up after his little trip down memory lane and bit into his thumb, causing it to bleed, and traced his blood smeared thumb across the seal and then adding a few more symbols to it. The seal, when it is working, insures that any excess chakra in the room and it's occupants was drained, so in the case of a ninja, they couldn't use a jutsu to escape. There was just one problem, Naruto, he created the seal and what self-respecting seal-specialist wouldn't protect himself from his own jutsu?

Once his blood had filled the inscription he wiped his thumb over it in a large diagonal line, seconds later the light in the building shut down, quickly followed by the rest of Konoha. Naruto smiled in the darkness, he'd show that old withered hag not to fuck with him.

His right arm glowed as the seals tattooed upon it began to glow as they began to store the chakra being drained from the other inhabitants of the prison. He may not like Konoha much nowadays but he wasn't so malicious that he would allow it's criminals to roam free.