The Bijuu Sage

Chapter Four: Excursions

Leo: Thanks in advance to those of you who came up with ideas for jutsu, they helped a lot. Anyway, in this chapter we will unveil the vaunted mediums for the bijuu… I wonder what they will be?

Naruto: *aims a smack at Leo's head from behind* Oh be quiet, you know exactly what they'll be.

Leo: *poofs into smoke and reappears behind Naruto with a kunai against the back of his neck* I know, but I need to keep the people guessing don't I?

Naruto: Not me. I'm the star of this story.

Leo: *smirks* That could be subject to change depending on your attitude. You never know, I could do a Kishimoto and make this story about Sasuke…

Naruto: You wouldn't dare! *summons fists of sand and chases Leo*

Leo: Enjoy the chapter everybody!

"So where are you going again?" asked Inoichi Yamanaka.

His daughter gave him a reassuring smile, "Just up north to Mount Shikazan to pick something up."

Hiashi, walking beside his own daughter, frowned, "What could you want to get up there?"

Naruto, walking ahead of them next to Kurenai, cast the red-eyed jōnin a worried look. She understood what he was trying to say, and took over, "We're being issued a mission to collect a certain something from a house on the slopes of Mount Shikazan, I don't know what it is. Hokage-sama said we would know it when we saw it."

Hiashi nodded, seemingly satisfied by this response.

The last two months of D-ranks that Kurenai had had the genin of Team 8 do had gone quite quickly. She had observed that, during training sessions, Naruto's efforts to learn his jutsu inspired the two girls to spectacular heights. Hinata had been spending training sessions at home mercilessly beating her cousin into a bloody pulp (Naruto's suggestion after hearing about how said cousin always used to belittle her when they were children had somewhat lowered his opinion of Neji Hyūga) while Ino had been methodically working her way through every Yamanaka clan jutsu her father could throw at her.

Naruto had, in the past eight weeks, mastered Sanbi's skills and moved on to Yonbi's. So far he had managed to do three Yōton jutsu: the Yōgaizā (Lava Geyser); the Yaketsuku Hashira (Searing Pillars), which caused pillars of lava to erupt from the ground where Naruto wanted it to; and the Yōgan Kunshu (Lava Overlord), which fired a spectacular amount of lava from the ground which then coalesced into a demonic creature from the underworld, with a pair of ram's horns, wings and cloven hooves for its feet. In one hand it wielded a mighty blade of flames and in the other a many-tongued whip. This creation was then controlled by Naruto using his own body like a giant puppet. The only drawback of this jutsu was that any damage done to the construct (and for obvious reasons, nothing fire-related worked on it) was then transferred to Naruto.

Needless to say, they had put the lava-puppet through an extremely brutal series of tests to make sure it functioned properly. They had even called in a gang of chūnin and jōnin to help test it. By the end of that particular episode Naruto was bruised, burnt, blackened with soot and otherwise moving fairly gingerly.

Konan had not been happy when Naruto came home looking marginally less singed than he had immediately following the test, but had been pacified when Naruto reminded her about his abnormal rate of healing and went to lie down for a while.

-TBS-

As promised, Kurenai had persuaded the Hokage to allow them to leave the village so that they could go investigate Mount Shikazan; therefore they now stood together at the gates of Konoha waiting to set off.

Konan hugged Naruto, "Stay out of trouble, won't you?"

Naruto smirked in a very foxy way, "I always do, kaa-chan! I like the quiet life, you know me." A few seconds later he sniggered and hugged her back, "Ok, couldn't keep the straight face."

Konan smacked him gently on the back of the head, "Baka, I'm serious. Take care out there."

Leaning a little closer she whispered, "Akatsuki are still out there, even if the leader is dead. Some of the people in Akatsuki would stop at nothing to get their hands on you and use you for their own ends, Naruto. Be very careful while you are at Mount Shikazan, alright?"

Naruto sighed, "Yes, kaa-chan."

Konan smiled and kissed him on the forehead, "Go on then and good luck."

Naruto grinned, turned and shot out of the gate in a swirl of sand, his team-mates right behind him.

-TBS-

It took five minutes but finally, Kurenai yelled in exasperation, "Naruto, slow down! We don't all have your stamina!"

"Yeah, which means that unless you sort that out you're gonna have a problem in later life with those two…" Yonbi's voice echoed in Naruto's head and caused him to blush.

"Yonbi-chan!"

Out loud he said, "Oh, sorry. Here…"

His fingers twitched sharply, and suddenly all three kunoichi were scooped off the ground by his sand and carried along in what were effectively seats.

Ino laughed, "I should really be a little irritated at this, but considering this is Naruto I'm gonna let it slide. This sand is really soft anyway."

Kurenai sighed, "Either I'm going to have to make him slow down or get you two to the level where you can run at the same speed."

Hinata chuckled, "Getting Naruto-kun to slow down? Pfft, good luck with that sensei."

-TBS-

They were moving rapidly for about fifteen minutes before Naruto suddenly stopped and dropped to one knee as the sand chairs deposited their charges gently on their feet and then funnelled back into Naruto's gourds.

Kurenai stepped over to her only male genin as he pressed a hand flat against the floor and closed his eyes, using Nanabi's capabilities to read the vibrations in the ground, "We're being followed, Kurenai-sensei. Four, I'd say…"

Sand poured from his gourds and filtered out into a thin layer in the grass before he beckoned to his companions and leapt into the trees.

-TBS-

It took another five minutes, but finally four figures dropped into the clearing. Naruto, who crouched on a branch above with Hinata and Ino on either side, clenched his fists as he beheld Sasuke Uchiha looking disdainfully around the clearing.

"Well?" sneered the Uchiha, "Which way did they go?"

Kiba looked down at Akamaru, who barked once, "I don't know. Akamaru says that he can smell Naruto's chakra all around this area…"

Akamaru sniffed the ground another time, then looked up and gave a series of urgent barks.

Kiba's eyes widened, "It's a trap! Get out of the clearing!"

He was too slow, as from above there was a sudden roar of "SABAKU RŌ!"

Sand poured up the ankles of the three genin (and one ninken) and wrapped around them, completely immobilizing them but leaving their heads free. Kakashi was fast enough to substitute out of the way, leaving a poor defenceless log to get wrapped in sand in his place.

Naruto dropped off the branch and swung around it like a monkey bar to land in a crouch in the clearing, "Why are you guys following us?"

Sasuke's lip curled, "An Uchiha walks where he wants and does what he wants, now unhand me!"

Naruto didn't unhand him; he turned to Kakashi, who was leaning against a nearby tree, and asked, "Did jiji tell you to follow us?"

Kakashi eye-smiled, which didn't convince Naruto one bit, "I'm afraid my genin took off from our training field when they heard that you had left on a mission of your own and I followed them to make sure they didn't run into trouble."

Ino, who had by this point got down form her tree with Hinata and come over to stand on either side of Naruto, "By "your genin", you mean "Sasuke", right?"

Kakashi nodded.

"So let me get this straight," said Kurenai as she walked up to them, "One of your genin heard that another team got a mission outside the village before his team did, rank regardless, so he abandoned his training to try and muscle in on their mission?"

Sasuke sneered, "That's correct. Now you, the dobe and the dobe's whores can return to Konoha because the real ninja have this well in hand."

Naruto pulled him within arm's reach with his sand and backhanded him, "Insult me if you will, but never insult my friends or sensei!"

Kurenai folded her arms, "Sasuke's abandoning his training to follow after another team on a mission could be interpreted as a willingness to forget his duty to Konoha."

Sakura spoke up for the first time, "That's ridiculous! Sasuke-kun would never abandon Konoha!"

Naruto scowled, "Kakashi, get him back to Konoha. I'm going to tell jiji about this when we return from our retrieval mission."

He allowed the three genin back onto their feet before turning and striding out of the clearing with Kurenai and the other two in tow.

Kakashi beckoned to his genin, but Sasuke ignored him and followed Team 8.

-TBS-

"Well," said Naruto happily, "There's Shikazan. We just need to find the entrance to the cave."

He clicked his tongue reflexively as he stepped forwards before stopping dead and whipping around, "Defying orders yourself now, Kakashi?"

Kakashi and Team 7 stepped out of the trees. Kakashi eye-smiled at Naruto, "Of course not Naruto, we were just concerned for the safety of your team."

Naruto gave him a dry look, "Sasuke followed us didn't he? He followed us and you didn't even say anything. You're not making a very good case for being a suitable jōnin-sensei, you know. A decent jōnin-sensei would've beaten Sasuke up the wall to make him obey orders by this point."

Kakashi's single eye narrowed at Naruto, but he said nothing as Kurenai said, "Kakashi Hatake, you and your genin team are hereby ordered to return to Konoha. I will be following up on this after I return with Team 8 and the package."

She turned away and stalked off, "Come on, let's go."

-TBS-

"I'd guess this is it," said Naruto quietly as he gazed at the door in front of him.

Ino blinked, "What makes you say that?"

Naruto glanced over at her, "The large kanji characters for nine and the little picture of a fox would indicate…"

Ino sighed, "Okay, okay."

Hinata reached for the door handle, but Naruto suddenly caught her wrist, "Don't. Kyū-chan says that if you don't have her yōki, the genjutsu around the door will lock you into a genjutsu of your worst nightmares. Chances are you'd be a drooling vegetable in minutes, according to her. I'm the only one who can enter that place."

Hinata nodded and withdrew, while Naruto himself reached out and touched his hand to the middle of the door. The door flared red and what seemed like a ripple flew out from the point of contact. Naruto withdrew his hand, caught hold of the handle and pushed.

The door swung inwards without as much as a creak, revealing a dark hallway. Naruto squinted into the hallway, his night vision inherited from Kyūbi allowing him to pick out large murals along the corridor. Stepping forwards he said, "Cover me, I'll just go get the sword."

He strode through the door and closed it behind him.

-TBS-

He walked slowly down the corridor until he reached another door, which he opened and stepped through.

Naruto found himself standing in a comfortable-looking sitting room with deep red walls and murals all around him. Kyūbi's voice sounded in the back of his mind, "Okay, this is my home. My weapon should be towards the back, closer to the volcano's core."

Naruto nodded and walked through the rooms towards the back, finally locating a thick steel door engraved with a large nine-tailed fox. "This is it!"Kyūbi's voice was slightly excited, "Ready?"

Naruto touched his hand to the door, causing a ripple of red chakra to flow out from the point of contact. As he pulled the door open, a wave of heat hit him right in the face and made him stagger backwards.

"Close to the volcano's core? How about right on top of it?"

Kyūbi giggled inside Naruto's head, "It's nice to know I can surprise you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto sighed, sweat already pouring off his body as he stepped through the door and allowed it to swing shut behind him. Ahead of him, he could see a narrow bridge of rock leading to a huge pillar of granite; the roots of which disappeared into the churning, roiling magma far below the bridge. On the top of the pillar, Naruto could see a plinth of blood red rock, with an eerie orange light illuminating it and causing a subtle glow to the stone.

He stepped forwards and began to cross the bridge, eventually reaching the plinth and looking down upon it.

In a recessed gap in the centre of the plinth lay the most beautiful sword Naruto had ever seen in his life.

All that came to Naruto as he looked upon the weapon was that it was obviously fit for a true queen. The sheath was made of crimson metal with deep-golden designs laid in ornate arcs and curves all over its vermillion surface.

As his fingers wrapped around the weapon's sheath and lifted it from the recess, his other hand grasped the hilt and drew the blade from its resting place. The flickering light from the torches all around the room and the lava below played over the silvery steel, its sharpness belied by the seeming frailty of the metal.

All the same, he could tell that this was a weapon perfectly honed, flawlessly balanced, wrought for the purpose of ending a foe's life, designed so that the slightest cut would ease the blade through flesh and sinew as easily as a knife passing through soft butter.

Naruto tilted the wakizashi, causing the light to illuminate the kanji engraved along the length of the blade as though they were wrought of pure fire, "I am the Kyūken, the eternal flame and everlasting fire."

"This is it," said Kyūbi's voice softly, "The medium in which I stored the majority of my power."

Naruto slid the weapon back into its sheath and turned to face the door of the chamber.

-TBS-

As Naruto stepped through the door of the chamber, a hand entered his field of vision and yanked the wakizashi from his fingers, "I'll take that. It's better that the package is protected by the highest-ranking jōnin on this mission!"

Naruto turned to glare at Kakashi, "Considering you aren't supposed to be on this mission, it would be Kurenai-sensei who is the highest-ranking jōnin. Anyway, that belongs to me."

Sasuke snorted, "Like anything you own would be important enough for a retrieval mission!"

Naruto's fingers twitched as a fist of sand buried itself into Kakashi's sternum before another plucked the sheathed wakizashi from his fingers, "Well believe it or not, teme; this sword is a lot more valuable than you. And anyway, this was just meant to be a milk run for our team. Yours just tried to muscle in on it."

"In that case," said Sasuke, holding out his hand, "As the last Uchiha that weapon should be mine."

Naruto gave him a sardonic look, "Nope. This sword's mine. Apart from the fact that it wouldn't work for you, only for me."

Sasuke scowled, "I said, give me the sword. Now."

Naruto shook his head, "No. It's mine." Ignoring Sasuke's splutters of anger he turned to Kurenai, "Shall we head back to Konoha then?"

Kurenai nodded, and they headed south again, the door to Kyūbi's lair sealing itself again as Naruto's chakra signature went out of range.

-TBS-

It was decided that since it had taken most of the day to journey up to Mount Shikazan, they would camp out and spend the night under the stars.

Naruto located a satisfactory clearing and kindled a fire with a quick blast of Yōton chakra fired at the ground, before constructing a structure not unlike a large tent with his sand for the women to sleep in. He himself decided to sleep under the stars, propped up against the side of the sand-tent with his staff in his lap and the wakizashi stored in a sealing scroll at his belt to stop Sasuke from stealing it.

Admittedly this didn't stop Sasuke trying, but he still ended up tied upside-down to a tree within five minutes of his fourth attempt to lift the scroll from Naruto's belt. Naruto never even opened his eyes when that happened.

-TBS-

They arrived back in Konoha early the next day, and Naruto escorted his team-mates home before heading back to his own house.

Konan welcomed him home with a smile and a hug, before sitting down in the lounge as he showed her the Kyūken.

"I'll take you along to Takeshi Wares to buy you a strap for that later today if you like."

Naruto beamed, "Awesome!"

-TBS-

In the Hokage's office, Sasuke and Kakashi were having a hissy fit over the fact that both had been fined for leaving Konoha without authorization and disobeying orders from the jōnin in charge of a mission.

Sarutobi had finally lost his temper and snapped, "I am the Hokage! I decide who goes on what missions, not you; that means that you just shut up and obey your orders! I could have both of you court-martialled because you left Konoha without authorization!"

Sasuke stamped his foot, "That wakizashi should be mine! I should have it so that I can use it to kill Ita…"

SMACK.

Sasuke's head snapped around as the Sandaime Hokage moved in front of him and backhanded him across the face, "ENOUGH! You may be an Uchiha but that does not mean that you can get away with everything! If you test my patience any more or break any more of the rules and regulations governing your career as a ninja, I will have your chakra sealed! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

Sasuke scowled, but didn't respond as Sarutobi pointed at the door, "Get out of my sight. I don't want to see either of you in this room again unless you are picking up a mission."

Kakashi opened his mouth, but then closed it and walked out with Sasuke behind him. Sasuke stopped in the doorway, "The civilian council is going to hear about this." He ducked out of sight as a paperweight sailed past his head and cracked the plaster opposite the door.

-TBS-

The next day, Kurenai walked into the back garden of Naruto's home to find the aforementioned genin practicing his agility. This of course meant that there were about eight clones surrounding him and all of them were swinging their wakizashi and naginata-staffs at the original blond.

"Hi Naruto," she said, "Are you alright?"

Naruto nodded happily, "Yeah."

There was a flurry of movement and Ino ran out of the back door with Konan in tow. Naruto caught sight of her expression and instantly started paying attention once he saw that she looked distraught, "NARUTO! HINATA GOT KIDNAPPED LAST NIGHT!"

Naruto bared his teeth as the clones disappeared, "And now I'm no longer alright. I'll be back in a while. Which way did they go?"

Ino's eyes became a little teary, "The only one of the twelve Branch Hyūga who survived trying to stop the kidnappers said they were from Kumo… Where did Naruto go?"

Naruto had indeed disappeared in a flurry of sand. Kurenai cursed, "I think he took that line from Hiashi about protecting Hinata to heart."

Konan nodded and smiled, "That's just Naruto though, isn't it?"

-TBS-

Shunshin after shunshin carried Naruto further and further away from Konoha as he pursued the Kumo-nins north. He had soon crossed over the border between Hi no Kuni and Ta no Kuni, and was nearing a large lake he knew from geography lessons in the Academy supplied most of the water to the people of Ta no Kuni.

He was also beginning to pick up traces of the kidnappers' trail and was sensing slight vibrations through the ground when he stopped to survey the area.

A grin spread across his face as he drew the wakizashi in his left hand and slammed the butt of his staff against the ground between leaps to eject the blade. "Nobody," he muttered to himself, "kidnaps one of my friends, particularly when it would make me break a promise if I failed to get them back."

-TBS-

The first Kumo-nin Naruto caught up with was lagging behind his friends slightly. He was suddenly tripped up by a streamer of sand wrapping around his ankle. As soon as he hit the ground, more sand wrapped around him, rapidly coating his neck before squeezing, crushing his windpipe and silencing his frantic cries.

The main group heard his cry of alarm, but didn't stop. Hinata, being carried over the shoulder of the captain of the group with her wrists tied back-to-back behind her to stop her making seals and her ankles tied together as well, raised her head and channelled a little chakra to her eyes. What she saw made her flash a brief reflexive smile behind her gag.

The next Kumo-nin died when something flashed right past him, his throat suddenly opening up and spraying blood over the man next to him. That man was impaled a second later as a figure appeared directly in front of the group, a long naginata in his right hand driven straight through the third victim's sternum.

A split second passed before he yanked it free and the man collapsed. As he flicked the blood from his blade and held it up in front of him he growed, "Breaking into the Hyūga compound and Konoha was a mistake. Killing about a dozen Branch Hyūga was a big mistake. However your greatest mistake… was kidnapping my friend. Now let her go and the surviving members of your band can return to Kumo empty-handed."

The leader, who was holding Hinata, snorted, "We do not speak for that weak nation. Kumo has declined since the great Sandaime Raikage was deposed following the Hyūga Affair where you Konoha dogs cheated us! We are loyal only to the Sandaime Raikage!"

The blond ninja grinned, "Very well. You have made your choice." Two perfect replicas appeared on each side of him, before all five took a step forwards and sprang into motion.

-TBS-

"Hinata-chan?"

Hinata opened her eyes to see a blood-spattered Naruto standing in front of her, the gag he had just removed still in his hands while a soft tugging on her wrists told her there was a Bunshin cutting through her bonds. "Naruto?"

Naruto hugged her, trying to avoid transferring the bloodstains to her, "I'm glad you're okay."

Hinata smiled as she returned the hug, "I knew you wouldn't abandon me. I knew you wouldn't let them take me away."

As Naruto stood up and disengaged himself from the hug, Sanbi's voice echoed inside his head, "I recognize this place… Naruto-kun! My lair is nearby, as is Gobi's!"

There was a murmur of agreement from Gobi. Naruto grinned to himself as he turned to Hinata, "Before we head back to Konoha I need to make a brief detour. It seems that two of the other lairs I need to find are somewhere close by."

Hinata nodded before activating her Byakugan.

"Tell her that won't work," said Sanbi's voice, "I rigged up a series of genjutsu over our lairs which make them impossible to see with that kind of dōjutsu. Much like the door of Kyūbi's lair, the genjutsu will only react to mine or Gobi's yōki signatures."

Naruto relayed the message before striding off in the direction of the lake with Hinata in tow, while a group of Kage Bunshin sealed the bodies of the Kumo shinobi into scrolls to be dealt with back in Konoha and followed.

-TBS-

"I think I've found it!" shouted one of the Kage Bunshin a little while later, drawing the attention of all the others combing the banks of the lake.

The original hurried over with Hinata. The clone pointed down at the ground and then dispelled.

"What is it?" said Hinata, seemingly unable to see anything other than rocks.

Naruto didn't reply, but bent down and set his hand on the large turtle-shell shaped slab engraved with a kanji for three.

There was a flare of silver-grey chakra and the shell split in half perfectly down the middle, each half sliding aside to reveal a set of stairs leading down.

Taking a deep breath and nodding to Hinata, Naruto stepped into the gap and started to tread down the stairs.

-TBS-

He found himself in what appeared to be a huge bubble adhered to the cliff wall some distance beneath the surface of the water. Through the clear wall he could see fish swimming about and once, a huge eel writhed through the water past the construct, regarding him with one round eye.

"Let's see, my medium should be towards the back…"

Naruto stepped through the small residence until he came to a curtain, which he pushed back to reveal a stand in the room behind it.

Resting on the stand was a beautiful shield made of what appeared to be a smaller version of the shell that Sanbi wore on her back. The middle of the shield was polished to a perfect sheen, and Naruto could see his reflection in it as he approached the rack.

"This shield allows you to trap an enemy in a genjutsu if you can get them to look directly into it while reflecting the sunlight or moonlight off it at them."

Naruto picked up the shield and strapped it to his left forearm, moving his arm experimentally to test if he could reach the hilt of the Kyūken strapped horizontally across his back.

A thought struck him, "Kyū-chan?"

Kyūbi's response came back a second later, "Yes, Naru-kun?"

"You said that all the mediums were swords, didn't you?"

"…I amend that statement. The truth is that I only had prior knowledge of my own medium, thus I naturally assumed that all of them were swords."

"Okay."

Naruto flexed his arm a couple of times to make sure that the shield straps were comfortable, before smiling and heading back through the curtain towards the exit.

-TBS-

"Hey boss! I found the other entrance!"

Naruto ran over to where the clone had been waving by the edge of the cliff and looked down. Below him he could see a large cave mouth on an outcropping of rock directly against the cliff-face.

"That's the place," said Gobi's voice inside his head, "Be careful Naru-kun. There's no telling what might have escaped in there."

"Escaped?"

Sanbi chuckled, "Gobi-chan was always a bit of an experimenter. Once she even stole one of Yami's minions to experiment on. If I recall, Yami wasn't happy in the slightest."

Gobi gave a nervous giggle, "Hey, she forgave me eventually."

"That she did, but only after extracting all your research from your mind since you weren't supposed to know anything about her minions."

Naruto shook his head and began lowering himself down the cliff. Hinata again stayed back with the clones.

-TBS-

Naruto entered the base to find the majority of the furniture overturned. The carpets were all scuffed up, the chairs lay on their sides or backs and the tables were in a similar position.

Gobi tutted, "Now I'm definitely sure something got loose. I hope it wasn't him…"

"Who, Gobi-chan?"

"Never mind. Just hope it isn't who I fear, because otherwise retrieving my medium may be a little more difficult than I assumed…"

Naruto crept through the lair, silently creating Kage Bunshin to put the furniture back where it belonged. Eventually he came across a thick wooden door, behind which he could hear… music?

"Oh hell. It was him who escaped. Naruto, don't try to get my medium; just get out of here before he realizes you're around."

Naruto didn't listen, he just stretched out his hand and placed it on the handle. "Naruto, NO!"

The door creaked back and Naruto stepped through.

-TBS-

He found himself standing at the door of a large chamber with what looked like lab equipment everywhere. In the middle, in a chair, sat a tall man with silver-white hair, electric blue eyes and wearing a red trench coat.

Naruto heard Gobi gulp, "This isn't good… He got hold of my medium so he's going to be a lot more powerful than he usually is…"

"Who is he, Gobi-chan?"

"His name is Dante, he has a unique kekkei genkai which gives him the ability to manipulate sound to a level rivalling my own. One of the things I had to do to keep him secured was make sure he had no access to anything he could use as a musical instrument, since if he has an instrument he's a whole lot more powerful."

Naruto took a step forwards, and the man noticed him. As he stood up, Naruto caught sight of the instrument he was holding. It resembled a standard guitar with a V-shaped body and a fanglike spike on the end of the neck. The paintwork was purple with white, and there was a long narrow spike on one edge of the V.

As Naruto watched, the man flipped the guitar in his hands, the instrument smoothly transforming into a scythe before returning to its previous form.

Dante's eyes narrowed, "If you can enter this place then you must be affiliated with her. I will not be imprisoned again."

Naruto tensed slightly, "I don't want any trouble. I'm just here for that guitar."

Dante's face contorted with anger, "No! It's mine! It's my Nevan! You will not take my Nevan!"

Naruto opened his mouth but Dante attacked, raising one hand and striking the strings of the guitar. A ripple of sound shot out from the guitar and hit Naruto in the chest, blasting him back into the wall. Blood trickled from his ears and the corner of his mouth as he tried to draw air back into lungs that felt like they'd been flattened.

"Naru-kun!" said Kyūbi's concerned voice, "Are you alright?"

Naruto shook his head for a second then replied, "Yeah, he just took me by surprise. That guitar packs a punch; I think my eardrums are busted."

"Oh! Give me a second!"

Naruto winced as his ears briefly glowed red with chakra before his eardrums popped, whined and flexed and hearing suddenly returned. Shaking his head in an attempt to return his inner ear to its previously-calm condition, Naruto looked up as Dante made the guitar go to its scythe form and ran at him with the weapon held aloft, aiming for Naruto's neck.

Gobi's warning shout went unheard as Naruto twisted in his position against the wall, bringing the Sanbi-shield to bear as the scythe's blade slammed into it, jarring Naruto's left arm as he reached around his body with his right hand, grabbed the Kyūken's hilt and pulled it out. Before Dante could leap away, Naruto drove the Kyūken forwards through his chest in an instant killing blow.

The Nevan clattered onto the floor. As Dante toppled backwards and crashed to the ground, Naruto rolled to one side and returned the Kyūken to its sheath before picking up the Nevan in both hands and flicking it in his hand, causing it to return to its guitar form. He strummed a couple of strings experimentally before pulling out a sealing scroll and sealing the instrument away.

As soon as Dante's body had been disposed of by a gang of Kage Bunshin, Naruto picked up Hinata and headed south again.

-TBS-

Naruto arrived back in Konoha with Hinata later that evening in the company of the ANBU squad who had been sent out to back him up (or more accurately, haul his ass back to Konoha and catch up with the Kumo guys themselves).

The first thing that happened was both of them getting glomped by Ino, Kurenai and Konan at the gates, as one of the ANBU had apparently sent a message back to say that the Kumo shinobi had been dealt with and both genin were returning at once.

Hiashi was very relieved to have Hinata back and had to be persuaded not to give Naruto a reward for rescuing Hinata.

"Uzumaki-san," said an ANBU as he landed in front of the group while they headed home, "You are summoned before the council."

His eyebrow quirking, Naruto divested himself of his gear to a Kage Bunshin and headed off with the ANBU. Hiashi and Inoichi, who had come to the gates to welcome the triumphant rescuer home, followed quickly.

-TBS-

Naruto stepped into the council chamber to find the civilian council and almost all the ninja council assembled. Sasuke sat in the Uchiha seat next to a bandaged old man who Naruto recognized as being one of the elders, looking smug as he gazed down on Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are called before this council on charges of abandoning the village without authorization. How do you plead?" One of the council members said, looking down on Naruto imperiously. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he realized that this was one of the men who had kept inciting attacks against him before the encounter with Akatsuki.

"I left the village only because one of my team-mates had been abducted by hostile shinobi and as I was already mobilized and capable of catching up rapidly, I set out to detain them. As you can see, I succeeded."

Another civilian spoke up, "So you believe you should not be punished, when you tried to have Uchiha-sama censured for the same offence when he had good reason?"

Naruto snorted derisively, silently thanking Konan for making sure that he knew how to speak in a formal and professional setting, "That is not what I meant. My team were given the retrieval mission to Mount Shikazan, not his. His team simply attempted to muscle in on our mission. Whatever reason he gave is thus invalid since it was by the Hokage's order that my team take the mission and his not. As for my belief as to whether or not I should be punished for going out to rescue Hinata Hyūga; I will happily take any punishment you can dish out, knowing that my actions saved my friend and team-mate from a horrible fate."

The members of the ninja council were murmuring amongst themselves, but the civilian council were still gazing haughtily down at Naruto, "I'm sure that if asked, Uchiha-sama would have been only too happy to take the rescue operation himself."

Naruto fought down the urge to utter a sarcastic laugh, instead responding with, "They were fully-trained jōnin and he is but a single genin, albeit a genin with a dōjutsu which apparently allows great power to its users, but a genin who hasn't yet activated said dōjutsu nonetheless. I was only able to take down all the Kumo-nin because I attacked before they realized I was on their heels. I'm sure any one of you can imagine such a reason why I might have been able to catch up with such a foe before they made it further than Ta no Kuni?"

Sasuke allowed a brief look of confusion to cross his face, but the civilians and elders in the room simply glowered at Naruto. "I propose," said the fatuous civilian who had first spoken, "that Uzumaki be stripped of his rank and all his abilities and equipment be given over to Uchiha-sama for his own use."

There was a fresh outbreak of muttering from the ninja council with the exception of Sasuke, who looked triumphantly at Naruto.

"What," said a voice from the doorway, "is going on here?"

Everybody turned to see Sarutobi in the doorway, an ANBU on either side and tapping his foot ominously.

"Ah, Hokage-sama," said the fatuous civilian in a tone so greasy it made Naruto want to wash his hair, "We… we were just…"

Tsume Inuzuka spoke up, "…watching the civilian council unjustly accuse an admirable shinobi of trying to desert the village when in reality he had better reason to do it than the one they're kissing the arse of about it…"

Sarutobi looked down at Naruto, "Hello Naruto, is that why you're covered in blood?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. Kumo shinobi bleed a lot when you stab them. If you don't mind I'd like to go home and take a shower."

Sarutobi nodded, "Of course, you can go."

Naruto walked towards the door but the fatuous civilian shouted, "What? He can't be allowed to get away with this!"

Sarutobi rounded on the civilian, "No one shinobi in this village shall have preferential treatment as long as I am Hokage. If Naruto Uzumaki is to be punished for going to save his friend, then Sasuke Uchiha shall also be punished for leaving the village without authorization. At least Naruto's aims in leaving were pure, whereas Sasuke's departure was simply because he wished to cadge in on another team's mission. As you are unwilling to punish Sasuke for his transgression, Naruto will not be punished either."

One of the other civilians lost his temper, "That's ridiculous! In my opinion we would do a better job than you of running this village!"

The air turned ice-cold, though no actual fluctuation in the temperature occurred. Sarutobi turned back to face the civilian, who promptly soiled himself at the unbridled killing intent radiating from the Sandaime Hokage.

As Sarutobi stalked over to the man and towered over him, he hissed, "You seem to be unaware of or have forgotten that this is a military dictatorship. I am Hokage here, and my word is law. Do I make myself clear?"

The civilian nodded, but then another said, "We have to punish the de…!"

There was a spray of blood and the civilian's head rolled across the floor, one of the ANBU who had been standing silently beside the door calmly flicking the blood from his weapon and returning it to its sheath.

Sarutobi straightened up, "I see that I have let things slip in the past years. From now on there will definitely be changes; the civilian council is hereby disbanded! Sasuke Uchiha, what are you doing in this room?"

Sasuke straightened up, "I'm sitting the Uchiha seat. Shimura-san invited me."

Sarutobi's glare was piercing as he stared at Danzō before he said, "You are not entitled to be in this room. The rules set down by the Shodaime dictate that the heir to a clan must be at least a jōnin before he is entitled to sit his seat. As a genin, you do not fit the criteria. Good day to you."

Sasuke looked furious, but stormed from the chamber, casting a scathing glare at Naruto in passing.

Sarutobi cast Naruto a look, "You can go, Naruto."

Naruto nodded and disappeared.

-TBS-

Back at the house he shared with Konan, Naruto had just taken a long shower and put his clothing in the washing machine before deciding to get a drink.

Walking into the kitchen, he at first didn't notice the giggling before he heard a voice remark, "Nice muscles, gaki."

There was an audible snapping noise as Naruto's head whipped to the right, seeing for the first time that there were four women sitting with Konan at the kitchen table, before he stepped abruptly to the side to conceal his chest with the door of the fridge, "What are you doing here?"

Konan smiled, "I invited them over for a drink, Naruto-kun."

Naruto winced, "Right. Hello Kurenai-sensei."

Kurenai smiled and said, "Hello Naruto. Nice to know you're following up on those strength exercises I came up with for you."

Naruto went pink as the woman who had spoken first said, "Now, would you mind shutting the fridge door? It's getting a little cool in here."

Naruto blushed before turning his eyes to Konan, "Kaa-chan, can you throw me that T-shirt?" He pointed to a shirt on a pile nearby.

Konan tossed the shirt over, Naruto pulled it on and the women watched quietly as he shut the fridge door and dashed out of the room, before they all burst out laughing.

-TBS-

In Nami no Kuni, a bridge-builder was heading north towards Konoha.

"I have to get there," he thought desperately, "I'm my country's last hope…"

(A/N: Well, this took a while but I finally managed. I find this to be hardly satisfactory but oh well. Anyway, story updates: Rinnegan Maelstrom's rewrite of chapter three currently stands at 757 words since I'm having issues with it. Team ROOT's chapter three stands at 3,060 words; Reign of Ice's chapter five is at 2,902 words and Blade in the Shadows' chapter six stands at 3,181 words. Jutsu's next chapter has yet to be written.

The Yōgan Kunshu, some of you might recognize if you read J.R.R. Tolkien's works, so give yourself a cookie if you do. If not, give yourself a smack on the head and go read the Lord of the Rings. No cookies for you until you do.

Also I want to ask a question; would you like it if I did omakes in which Naruto and the rest do "open-mic" performances? These omakes would be a variety of different songs but would also allow me to issue updated information as to how quickly or slowly things are progressing for me.

I hope you will give me feedback on the idea in reviews, and I'll see you when I update next. Until next time folks, Leonineus OUT!)