"So where are we now?" Shizuku looked over at her companion, noting that he seemed just as tired as she did. Once they had made their swift escape from Taki they had been pretty much running non-stop east towards the country's border. Naruto was just glad he had completed his wind training before they were forced to flee as they passed by more than a few waterfalls on their 'tactical retreat'.
"It's not far now. According to the map and that large valley we just passed through, Ta no Kuni should only be another mile or so." Shizuku just nodded between ragged breaths, slightly surprising herself at how she took the news. Before Naruto came into her life even a single mile might have sounded daunting but now she could use Chakra it wasn't all that far. Sometimes what she could now do still amazed the girl; everything was so different after you began using Chakra. Running was easier, weights were less heavy and you had more energy than ever, it was just indescribable.
"Alright, but promise we'll stop after we pass the border." All she got was a fairly non-committal nod from the blonde; she knew it was still dangerous to stop so soon but she was nearly exhausted. Naruto probably wouldn't admit it but even he was a little winded from the run, despite his large reserves and incredible stamina he was still fallible.
"Are they following?" Naruto quickly turned, not breaking his stride as he ran backwards for a few meters, allowing his Rinnegan eyes to scan the forest behind them. He quickly turned back before he could accidentally run into anything and subtly altered their course slightly.
"I don't see anybody but that doesn't mean they aren't following." Shizuku just nodded tiredly as she forced her legs to keep going, maintaining a steady flow of Chakra to her muscles as best she could. She wouldn't be surprised if they had pursuers; their escape from Taki had hardly been as 'subtle' as either of them could have hoped for.
"Come on, we need to get to the tunnels as quickly as possible." Shizuku nodded determinedly as the two set off at a reasonably quick but not suspiciously fast pace through the winding streets. They mostly stuck to the quieter back alleys to avoid running into any prying eyes, unfortunately that didn't work for long.
"Oi, you two!" Naruto froze, an irritated expression quickly suppressed behind a serene and innocent smile. He turned only to see the same large shaven-headed who had accompanied Fuu, as well as the one who had administered her 'punishments'. Even seeing him made Naruto's had clench slightly before he realised what he was doing and forced himself to relax.
"Can we help you Shinobi-san?" The man only levelled a suspicious gaze on the two, particularly Naruto who he narrowed his eyes at dangerously.
"I need to take you two in for questioning regarding one of our... Shinobi who have gone missing" The man seemed to struggle with the word 'Shinobi' which didn't do much to settle Naruto's growing temper. He hadn't been the only one to share their story, Fuu had told him enough about her treatment that he had begun to seriously reconsider his beliefs in the one instance.
"And how would we be of any help?" The man just grunted as he made a move to grab Naruto's wrist, the monk quickly leaning back to avoid him.
"That doesn't matter, you are in our village, you have to follow our rules. If we demand you come in for questioning you either do or I question you right now." Naruto smile widened although it was incredibly strained; luckily he had been hiding behind masks of happiness almost his entire life so the burly Shinobi noticed nothing.
"I'm afraid that would be incredibly inconvenient right now Shinobi-san." Like the man before Naruto was beginning to have difficulty saying the honorific with any kind of sincerity. "You see my friend and I were running an urgent errand, would it be possible for us to re-schedule?" The man finally seemed to lose his patience as in one swift move he grabbed Shizuku by the wrist.
"No, now are you going to come with me or are you going to make this difficult?" As if to emphasise his point he had withdrawn a kunai and was now holding it far too close to Shizuku's side for Naruto's comfort.
"Please let my friend go Shinobi-san, I assure you this will not end well otherwise." All the mirth and warmth in Naruto's voice had disappeared, although his smile eerily remained on his face giving him a rather sinister air the Taki-nin seemed blissfully unaware of.
"Is that some kind of threat boy?" Three things suddenly all happened at once; Shizuku elbowed the man in the gut in a moment of hesitation, Naruto subtly pulled the Kunai out of his hands with a silent Banshou Ten'in as he stepped forward, swinging his staff low to take the man's feet out from under him. The end result was the larger man on his back against the wet ground as Naruto stood over him, cast into darkness by the sun behind him.
"No, it was not." With that the boy's hand suddenly lashed out too fast for the much larger and slower Shinobi to react. Before he knew it something was tightly secured around his neck as the blonde stepped back. "I would suggest you avoid trying to use Chakra; it won't be pleasant if you do." And with that the boy swiftly turned on a heel, cloak billowing around him, and strode off, Shizuku not far behind.
The man got to his feet in anger, noting he didn't actually have any injuries as he quickly began forming hand signs to blast the kid in the back with a Jutsu. Naruto just sighed as he walked, his face suddenly appearing much older than it should. As he turned the corner he ignored the sudden cries of the large man as a huge burst of electricity ran through his body from the sealed collar around his neck.
After that the two had less difficulty; it turned out during a lockdown the tunnels were actually not that well guarded. Taki didn't have a large Shinobi force so during situations like these they were stretched rather thin. Naruto only had to subtly drain two standing guards of their Chakra, not even having to get close, instead just shifting the ground beneath them into Chakra-laced sand he could use his Preta path through. After that it was only a matter of remembering the way out through the labyrinthian tunnel system which proved no challenge.
Of course it was still a Shinobi village, no doubt the guards were found rather quickly, alerting the rest to the fact people had most likely escaped. Naruto didn't want to place his faith in the Taki Shinobi's belief that their tunnel system was infallible. So they had ran off as fast as they could east, helpfully in the direction of Kaminari no Kuni, but more immediately by Tani no Kuni's neighbour Ta no Kuni.
As they dashed through a large clearing at the base of a valley, mere blurs to civilian eyes, Naruto paused, Shizuku following his lead a moment later. She looked at him in confusion as he just stood there, wondering why they were wasting precious second that the ninja could catch up to them in. Naruto just smiled though as he turned slightly to the side; Shizuku followed his gaze and was a little shocked to see Fuu standing up in a tree, looking down at them uncertainly.
"It's good to see you so soon Fuu." The green-haired Kunoichi didn't respond, just dropping out of her tree and walking over to them slowly. "I expected you would be further away from here by now with those wings." The verdette seemed to struggle with something for a moment before sighing as she neared them.
"I had to get something first." For the first time Shizuku noticed Fuu now sported a very large red container on her back, held on by red straps crossing over her chest. The purple-haired girl suddenly became very self-conscious when she noticed the straps accentuated Fuu's developing bust. "Using that chakra is too tiring for long flights, I had to land and I, uh..." she looked down, surprising both Naruto and Shizuku with her bashful appearance.
"I saw you running and..." Once again the girl seemed to overcome her momentary shyness, tapping into her emotional training. Not that she was ever grateful for anything done to her in Taki but she was at least able to acknowledge its use. She straightened up, her face losing the ever so slight blush that had formed. "I would like to travel with you." She looked away suddenly, the confidence boost only lasting momentarily; luckily she didn't revert to some stuttering mess and the blush seemed gone for good. "At least for a short time anyway; I don't know much about the world except for some information on other hidden villages."
The silence was nearly deafening as Naruto seemed to calmly take Fuu in with his gaze while Shizuku's nervously flit between them with a hint of curiosity. As the seconds ticked by Fuu's resolve slowly began to crumble as she started to think asking them was a bad idea. Of course they wouldn't want her travelling with them; she was no use, only a burden who knew less about surviving in the world than a child. Finally, at the moment she just planned on turning away, Naruto let out a grin as he inclined his head slightly.
"I would be happy for you to come with us of course." His smile brightened as a new sparkle of hope appeared in Fuu's orange eyes. "Right Shizuku?" At suddenly being included in the conversation the violette nearly eeped in surprise before vigorously nodding with her own bright smile.
"Yeah!" Naruto chuckled at that as he turned back to the now uncertain Fuu; she had been hopeful when she thought about asking them but a large part of her still believed there was no way they would allow her to go with them.
"But we might want to get a move on." Naruto looked back the way they came, spotting a few approaching Chakra signatures that were steadily growing stronger. "If you really want to come Fuu then you have to keep up!" With that Naruto offered a slightly cheeky grin before dashing off into the trees, shortly followed by Shizuku as she gave Fuu a friendly beckoning motion. Fuu just stood there, shell-shocked as she looked in the direction they had gone, before a tiny smile twitched at the edge of her lips for a brief second. She immediately sprinted off after them and not five seconds later a small group of Taki Shinobi landed in the clearing.
"Where did it go?" One of the members in particular looked down at the ground for a moment, analytical eyes studying the way the soil had been recently disturbed. He nodded once before silently motioning to the others as they once again too pursuit.
Shizuku was now panting rather heavily as they bounded through tree branches. They had crossed over the border forty minutes earlier but the pursuing ninja continued to follow them. Obviously they believed retrieval of their weapon was worth the risk of angering Ta no Kuni. It wasn't a hard decision, with no ninja village of its own and no solid alliances with other nations the land of rice paddies really posed no threat to the more established land of valleys.
Unfortunately to the group of three, or four with Marseru, that meant they didn't have the luxury of a break. Luckily Fuu and Naruto weren't too badly affected, both having large reserves and exceptional stamina they were still going fairly strong. The same could not be said for Shizuku; Naruto was doing what he could by topping up her Chakra every so often but there was only so much strain on her muscles and lungs that more Chakra could help with. Both Jinchuuriki had noticed this but it was Fuu who spoke up first.
"We need to stop." Naruto nodded sadly as they continued to sprint, he had been thinking about this too and knew their choices weren't all that open.
"If we stop we will have to face those ninja." Fuu just blinked once, her deadpan expression not changing for a moment.
"Fine." Naruto sighed into his hand at that, he knew travelling with somebody like Fuu was certainly going to be an experience to say the least. The three came to a stop in the next clearing the passed through, Shizuku taking the opportunity to lean against a tree and catch her breath. Not seconds later the ninja following them appeared, not entirely looking fresh themselves after such a long run.
"Good, you realised running from us is futile." Naruto just smiled passively as he walked in between the two groups, not looking at all that threatening with his kindly smile and monk robes. Even so Shizuku knew when he was readying herself to fight, absently drumming his fingers on his shakujou with his sugegasa pulled back so the string wrapped around his neck and the hat itself rested against his upper back.
"I do not wish to fight you Shinobi-san. If you and your fellow ninja leave now this can all end peacefully." The lead ninja sneered behind his facemask, already motioning for the other ninja around him to fall into formation.
"The only way this is ending is with the demon back in Taki where it belongs. Stand in our way and you'll only get yourself killed." Some of the younger Shinobi were slightly unnerved when Naruto just looked up, still smiling but lacking the mirth from before. Most Shinobi had an inherent sense for danger and right now that was rolling off this eleven-year old in spades.
"Well, I was looking for an opportunity to try this out anyway." With that Naruto planted his shakujou into the ground, pulling off his travelling cloak in one sweeping movement and placing it on the staff like a coat rack.
"Last chance kid, let us take the weapon without a fight and you'll probably only end up in a cell for the rest of your miserable life." Naruto's smile only twisted up more at the edges as his hair fell forward over his eyes.
"I would appreciate if you didn't call my friend a weapon." His arm began to tremble at his side, but not from any kind of anger of fury, just the sheer volume of Chakra he was pushing through it. He raised it up slowly, making sure he was looking right at the Ninja before opening his eyes, releasing the Chakra as he clenched his fist tightly.
"Kenkyona Jinbun." It was almost instantaneous, all of the Shinobi in front of them gasped before buckling to one knee, each feeling like they were carrying an elephant on their back. They could only watch as Naruto increased the pressure in his hand, the weight pressing down on them increasing with it. What they didn't know was that Naruto had raised the gravitational pull in the area underneath them; currently they were facing six times the earth's normal gravity. Sometimes ninja used special seals to simulate increased gravity for resistance training, however to have that happen so suddenly and to such a degree, it was astounding they hadn't passed out yet from the blood rushing away from their heads.
As if thinking would bring it about one of the ninja's eyes rolled back in his head before slumping to the floor completely. It was like a chain reaction and soon all of the ninja were lying on the ground, completely unconscious. Immediately Naruto opened his hand, allowing the gravity to return to normal, tolerable levels as he took a deep breath. He had never tried that technique on another living being before, only having plants to try it on; it took a lot out of him. He turned with a smile at his two astounded and amazed companions; Shizuku's jaw was even hanging open.
Suddenly though that look of awe twisted into shock and fear and out of the corner of his eye Naruto saw something flying at him. His head turned but it was too late to dodge, he could clearly see every centimetre of the kunai flying right for his eyes, only a metre away. One of the Taki ninja had only played dead, launching a kunai as soon as the blonde' back was turned. Naruto could literally only watch in horror as the cold metal weapon came closer to his head; there wasn't even enough time to use Shinra Tensei.
However as soon as Naruto closed his eyes a metallic clang sounded out around the small clearing. When Naruto felt no pain he wearily cracked open an eye only to stare incredulously. In his hand was a long, thin black rod that was cold and heavy like metal; it had defiantly not been in his hand before. It was like his body had moved on pure instinct as soon as the cool metal appeared in his hand; he had brought it up in a millisecond to deflect the kunai where it now stuck point-down in the ground.
The Taki ninja who threw it saw it fail, cursing as his eyelids finally closed, succumbing to the unconsciousness he had staved off. Naruto just continued to stare in shock at the thin metal rod that had appeared in his hand, seemingly out of thin air. At that point Shizuku ran over, fussing over the blonde in concern, however when she saw there were no injuries she back off with a relieved smile. After she did Fuu walked over slightly shyly; if Naruto hadn't been occupied with shock over still having eyes he might have found her slight rosy blush cute.
"Why did you defend me like that?" Naruto finally shook his head, dropping the pole by accident as he cleared his head of the shock. To everybody's amazement as soon as it touched the ground it seemed to dissipate into a fine black dust before completely vanishing. After that particular shock wore off the blonde looked up at Fuu, managing to get a smile back on his face.
"You're my friend Fuu; I'll never need a reason to protect you or anybody else precious to me." He looked back down at where the black rod had disappeared so missed when Fuu's eyes widened and a new blush spread over her nose. Something like this was very new to her; human interaction beyond violence was well out of her comfort zone. All she had to go on were the few observations she could make walking to and from her cell back in Taki. This was why she took a step forward, awkwardly placed her arms around the blonde Jinchuuriki and stood there for a moment, all without properly understanding why.
Finally after Shizuku coughed from the awkward situation Fuu stepped back, returning her face to its previous emotionless mask. However she couldn't fight back the small blush still staining her caramel skin much to her joint ire and confusion. Naruto just looked at her for a moment, mild surprise and amusement mixing across his face before he settled for a small nod. Finally feeling a little better Fuu finally asked the question burning at the back of her mind.
"Those abilities you displayed, was that some form of wind manipulation?" She was curious as if it was then she hoped to be able to learn it; it appeared to be an excellent wide-area submission technique. Naruto just chuckled as he looked at the unconscious ninja, still spread out at awkward angles on the floor.
"Actually no, it's more akin to gravity manipulation." Fuu blinked at that in surprise, she had never heard of such an ability and she was forced to be up to date with any and all possible threats to the village.
"Is that some form of Kekkei Genkai?" Naruto just grinned again anxiously, wondering how much to say here before deciding against having any secrets with a fellow Jinchuuriki. He opened his eyes fully, eliciting a small look of interest from Fuu as she peered into the steely purple orbs.
"Not exactly, more one aspect out of six." At that Fuu raised an eyebrow, all kinds of modesty and social convention abandoned in favour of curiosity. She leaned in closer, studying the rings in his eyes making Naruto rather embarrassed at having her so close to his face. From here he could see her skin was incredibly smooth, not a single blemish across her face and almost chuckled at the way her lips pursed in her concentration.
"I have never heard or seen of this Doujutsu." Naruto smiled brightly as he backed away, earning a cute, if unintentional pout from the other Jinchuuriki.
"I'm not surprised really; we can talk more about it later though." He motioned over to where the ninja still lay with a thumb. "We need to find somewhere safe to hide out for the night in case any more of them show up." Fuu just nodded, obviously eager to do just that so she could get her answers. She crouched on the ground and Naruto could immediately see her channel her Bijuu's chakra in a minute amount, directing it into the ground. After a minute of waiting she stood back up, her face having returned to its emotionless state with the chance to get her thoughts in order.
"There is a small underground structure about half a mile from here." She looked around a moment before seemingly pointing in random direction. "That way." Naruto just looked at her curiously, wondering how she could detect such a thing from such a distance.
"Was that some kind of earth Jutsu?" Fuu just shook her head, already setting off for the supposed complex, too eager to wait. The mint-haired girl just looked back around, the corners of her lips twitching slightly.
"We can talk more about it later." With that she darted into the trees leaving a dumfounded Naruto and Shizuku in her wake. The blonde just turned to the girl, still looking surprised.
"Did she just make a joke?" Shizuku just shrugged, looking equally confused.
"I guess she's adjusting quickly?" The two could only shake their heads as they darted off after the Nanabi Jinchuuriki.
"Well this doesn't look at all ominous." The sarcasm in Shizuku's voice was almost palpable as the trio stared at the imposing sight before them. In the middle of the forest, where you would least expect it to be, was a staircase of rough-hewn stone. However this was not the first time Naruto and Shizuku had encountered a staircase where it probably shouldn't have been. It still made them more wary of the whole situation though; they didn't need a repeat of what happened in Kusa.
"You're sure this place is empty?" Fuu just gave a curt nod, looking more like she was giving a report to superiors than a reassuring gesture to a friend; Shizuku was confused for a moment when she tried to imagine why it wouldn't be that way. The staircase itself was surrounded on both sides by a small stone structure, just to better distinguish it from the surrounding forest. However most unnervingly there seemed to be various snake decals drawn into the walls at random.
"Maybe we would feel more secure if you told us just how you know?" Fuu looked over at Naruto for a moment, back to the staircase and then back to the blonde.
"The Nanabi gives me a somewhat limited ability to communicate with certain insect species. I simply asked them if there was anywhere nearby and they pointed me here. According to the chakra sensitive species there are no presences inside the complex larger than common mice." Naruto nodded with a smile as he noticed Shizuku calm down slightly. Still, Midara had been able to hide his Chakra signature from Naruto so he wanted to be cautious nonetheless.
"Alright then, good enough for me." With that the blonde descended into the stairwell, rather pleasantly surprised when a light came on above his head, activated by his proximity. "Oh good, I won't have to light the way this time." He continued on down with a rhythmic tapping as his shakujou connected with every alternate step. Fuu was about to follow him when she noticed Shizuku's continued hesitancy; she had seen the same thing with some Shinobi when on missions and thought she knew the proper course of action.
"I would not worry Shizuku-san, if there are people down there then they are most definitely dead. At most we will find a few skeletons or perhaps a corpse so there is no need to worry." With that she patted the violette on the shoulder and descended into the staircase herself. Shizuku just stared after her as her shoulders slumped forward dejectedly.
"Great."
After a little while of searching the underground complex and not finding much of interest other than a few scraps of what looked like burnt paper the trio settled down in a large room. It was filled with many standard beds that weren't too comfortable but better than sleeping on the floor. To Fuu though they felt like a luxury item, the fact she actually sank into the mattress kept amazing her like a cat following a light on the wall. It was almost amusing to watch her repeatedly sit or jump on the bed, almost. After all it only brought Naruto to think about why she could find such enjoyment in it in the first place.
After they were settled in for the night Naruto had gone on to explain about his Rinnegan to Fuu. The girl had listened at an almost unnaturally rapt attention with wide eyes, just soaking in the information like a sponge. Naruto believed it was because of her isolated life; she would naturally want to do the things that were either considered forbidden for her to do before or would feel like a large middle finger to Taki. Considering how much they kept her in the dark about, either intentionally or just out of apathy, it was no wonder she had such an intense thirst for knowledge. It was perhaps for the wrong reasons but you work with what you have.
At the end of their talk Fuu sat quietly for a moment, digesting what she had heard as Shizuku played with Marseru on the other side of the room. Naruto had made a small fire for them by burning some old wooden furniture they had found; luckily the complex had a ventilation system.
"Perhaps this new ability of your involving the Chakra rod is connected to your Kekkei Genkai." Naruto blinked, wondering why that of all things was the first subject Fuu brought up.
"I suppose it could be, but I don't feel any kind of words coming to mind when I think about it." Naruto had not been idle as they talked; he had attempted to re-create the rod again with some success. He had plenty of experience re-creating abilities from only one experience. By now he knew it had something to do with necessity like if he needed the ability to create a rod of black metal to deflect a kunai and that was in the capabilities of the Rinnegan, then it would happen.
So right now he was twirling such a rod absently in his hands; now that he had the chance to better look at it he could see it was practically flooded with Chakra. In fact if Naruto hadn't seen it up close and actually touched it he could have sworn it was just pure Chakra in a cylinder shape. The only conclusion Naruto had at the moment was it was actually created from his own Chakra. Fuu supported this, she had knowledge of a few clans and Kekkei Genkai with the limited ability to create solid constructs from Chakra; in fact one of the clans native to Ta no Kuni, the Fuuma, had a few members who specialised in it.
After a whole though their conversation wound down as it grew later; they had all had a stressful and exhausting day and needed some rest. It was with no small amount of satisfaction Naruto laid his head down on the plain mattress, almost immediately falling asleep.
It wasn't to last it seemed as after what felt like only minutes, but based on his internal clock probably closer to an hour, Naruto shifted awake. He sleepily raised his head with a frown; he was normally an excellent sleeper if not slightly alert in the morning to threats. It just came with sleeping outside, even with the protection of his sand huts. He soon realised why he had woken up when he turned, somewhat surprised to see Fuu in her own bed, sitting there and just staring off into space.
"Fuu?" The mint-haired girl turned quickly before relaxing at the sight of the blonde looking over at her in concern.
"I apologise Naruto-san, I did not mean to wake you." Naruto quickly waved her of as he stood up, stretching off his back slightly from the stiff bed.
"Call me Naruto, I don't like all that honorific stuff. I never feel like I deserve the respect." Fuu just blinked at him in surprise; in her eyes he was the one who rescued her from a life of misery; if she couldn't respect him then she did think she could respect anybody. "Why are you still up?" Fuu just blinked again as she looked towards the door of the room where a hint of moonlight trickled through the corridor.
"It is not my designated sleeping time yet." Naruto gave a worried frown as he walked over, leaning against the bed opposite his fellow Jinchuuriki.
"What do you mean?" Fuu just looked up at him like what she had said made perfect sense.
"I am supposed to go to sleep at exactly midnight to wake up at precisely four in order to maximise productivity." Naruto just sighed with a small but sad smile.
"Fuu, you're not in Taki anymore. You're allowed to go to sleep whenever you like." Fuu just gave a small frown of her own as she looked down at the bed; she didn't feel sleepy yet, she was too used to her schedule.
"I don't think I can." Naruto just gave her a grin as he offered out his hand.
"Alright then; why don't we go for a walk then?" Fuu just blinked at the outstretched hand before taking it hesitantly. The two slowly began to stroll through the seemingly abandoned complex in silence; the only sounds were the occasional chirp of a cicada. Finally Naruto broke it as they turned a bend, absently trailing a hand across the wall.
"So what do you think this place was?" Fuu looked around for a moment, noting the corridor was well-constructed, although it looked to be slightly hurried. The walls were wooden but well maintained and fee of rot while the floor was stone slabs.
"Perhaps some kind of smuggling outpost, there were fairly common missions back in Taki to eliminate them." Naruto just nodded with a thoughtful look, at least until his hand trailed over a particular panel in the wall, applying just enough pressure for it to move in slightly.
The two immediate stepped back as a stone slab in front of them swung away to reveal a set of hidden stairs beneath them. There was silence for a moment as both peered into the darkness blow them for a moment.
"Did any of those smuggling hideouts have one of these?" Fuu just stared down for a little longer, slightly unnerved by the lack of bugs she could feel down there.
"No they did not."