Shizuku was worriedly pacing the small shack they were in; it was old and in terrible disrepair but it at least had a roof and wasn't going to fall apart any time soon. Fuu was just curled up in the corner, a book on her lap as her eyes skimmed across the pages absently. In honesty she wasn't actually reading, she hadn't turned a page in over an hour, however she wasn't the type to pace out of worry.
"He's taking too long, something must have gone wrong." Fuu just looked up a moment, her deep orange eyes peering over the top of her book before flitting back down.
"You're worrying too much, Naruto-san is strong and you know how good that technique of his is." Shizuku nodded with a frown but didn't stop pacing; her footsteps seemed to fall in time with the rain outside, pattering lightly on the wooden shack.
"But what if something went wrong? Or his control slipped? Or somebody bumped into him? Or Kumo has some really powerful sensor-type? Or-" She stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder; Fuu had moved across the room without her even noticing, her book conspicuously absent.
"Naruto-san is strong." Her eyes were steady and determined; it was a wide-leap from her usually expressionless mask. Shizuku had noticed that the only times Fuu seemed to gain any kind of emotion was when she was talking about Naruto or a book she was particularly interested in. The violette nodded again sadly; no matter how confident Fuu's words were she would always worry about Naruto if she could.
"Well, I might not go as far as strong, but I do my best." The two girls spun so quickly Naruto feared they might have left burn marks in the floor. He was standing there, dripping wet, with the Kohaku no Jouhei by his side and a sly smirk on his face.
"Naruto-kun!" He suddenly found himself bowled over by a flying purple blur that left him in a heap in the floor with an excited and relieved Shizuku straddling his chest.
"Wow, what a warm welcome." He grinned slightly as Shizuku blushed and quickly dismounted him, backing away with red staining her pale face. The blonde got up, looking around the small tattered shack the girls had been staying in. The wooden planks holding it together seemed worn but not mouldy and everything was tinged with a hint of moisture. Marseru seemed to like it the most, hanging lazily from a high rafter by his tail and looking down on the new arrival with the occasional curious chitter.
"So this is the Kohaku no Jouhei?" Fuu looked at the large stone pot curiously, briefly wondering how Naruto had managed to lug something this large all the way out here from Kumo. She touched it experimentally, feeling how her Chakra was immediately absorbed into it like Naruto's shakujou. "It's definitely one of the Sage's tools." Naruto just nodded as he patted the enormous purifying pot on the side.
"So how does it work?" It was Shizuku who asked, staring curiously at the unassuming, but definitely old-looking sealing pot. Naruto raised a hand up with his mouth open, only to frown and look back around at it.
"Actually, I have no idea." Shizuku and Fuu immediately sweat-dropped as the blonde sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess you just open it?" Fuu raised an eyebrow at that as Naruto went to lift the small wooden lid covering the pot.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Naruto just waved her off as he tentatively raised the lid just a crack. All three were holding their breath at this point as Naruto moved the lid further and further up. Finally he pulled up to reveal... exactly what was supposed to be inside of a purifying pot, a dark nameless liquid. Naruto just stared at it for a moment, half expecting it to do something; when it didn't he just shrugged and replaced the lid.
"Is it broken?" Shizuka was curiously looking over the large stone container, careful not to touch it though. She had learned that she had larger than normal reserves for her age, but nowhere near enough to hold Naruto's staff for more than a few minutes. Again Naruto just shrugged, he probably should have learned how the pot worked before taking it; that was an error in hindsight.
"How are we going to carry it around? It's hardly inconspicuous." Again Naruto drew a blank, suddenly realising how little he had thought this through. It had seemed so simple before, or at least as simple as stealing a highly prized artefact from both the Raikage's office and a secure vault in Kumo could be. It wasn't like they could share the burden, only Naruto and Fuu could carry it safely, and in her case it wasn't for all that long; maybe an hour at maximum.
"Well damn." Naruto slumped to the floor, seriously considering the possibility of just cutting their losses, leaving the Kohaku no Jouhei and just running for it. He was sure by now Yugito would have woken up and that meant they knew who had stolen the artefact and would be scouring the area for them. In a fit of frustration Naruto smacked the pot with his staff, only to join Fuu and Shizuku in watching amazedly as the pot shrunk before their very eyes. The stone seemed to contract on itself, any slight cracks that had been there before fading away as the entire artefact condensed into a small pot that might fit in somebody's palm, the thick white rope now better resembling string.
"Well... that's convenient." Naruto just blinked as it suddenly made a lot more sense for the Sage to carry this around as opposed to its hulking counterpart. It made him wonder if the other artefacts had different forms they could turn into; it made him look at his staff appraisingly. Fuu just nodded with a sceptical eyebrow, wondering where that fit of luck came from.
"Suspiciously so." Naruto just shrugged with a pleasant smile, picking the now considerably smaller pot up from the floor. Right now it didn't look all that special; Kumo certainly wouldn't recognise it which was a plus.
"Hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth." He quickly fixed the pot to his belt, hanging it by the white string which was just about long enough to keep the priceless artefact secure. Strangely, even with its reduced size, the Chakra it tried to draw from him was exactly the same; it would still be unsafe for most to hold, never mind use. He looked up with a grin; this made things a lot easier for them.
"Well that's one problem dealt with, but we should probably get going. Kumo's going to be scouring this village in probably a few minutes." Fuu's eyes widened at that; she had expected a response from Kumo with one of their most precious artefacts stolen, but not so soon.
"You were followed?" Naruto just nodded with a sheepish grin, already heading for the door; he smiled when he noted the Kohaku no Jouehi didn't hinder his movement at all, however like with his shakujou he was having to use the Preta path consistently so it didn't slowly drain him of Chakra.
"It's a long story, I'll explain on the way." And with that the trio took off into the rain, making their way south as fast as they could go. Naruto was sure there would be Kumo Jounin faster than them, especially with Shizuku, but without them knowing where they were going exactly they would have to spread out and search, slowing them down considerably. His only problem would be if a sensor picked up his trail which was why he was using his Boidogakure technique on and off to confuse any would-be pursuers.
They reached a small coastal town on the south shore of Kaminari no Kuni around an hour later, stopping atop a large hill overlooking the shore. The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon sending a shimmering orange glow across the calm waters as far as the eye could see. They had purposefully picked the town due to it's out of the way, but still close location. The plan was to hire out a boat from here as quickly as possible that could take them south to Mizu no Kuni.
It had been Naruto's original plan to go to Tsuchi no Kuni after Kaminari no Kuni, due to it being next on the elemental cycle. However that would involve them passing through an area where Kumo had very high presence; either that or skirting around the area which would give Kumo Shinobi enough time to pin them down. Naruto figured they could always go to Tsuchi no Kuni another time anyway, the original plan was more like a guideline anyway.
The trio found a small abandoned cottage that looked like it had been completely ransacked a long time ago. The roof was just barely holding its own weight and the stone walls were missing more than a few of their rough-hewn bricks. Anything of value inside the tiny building had long ago been taken or stolen, only a few pieces of rotting furniture remaining. Luckily there were no leaks they had to deal with, not that they planned on staying long.
"Alright, you two know the plan." He handed the pouch containing their money to Fuu who simply nodded and strapped it onto her belt beneath her travelling cloak. The idea was for Shizuku and Fuu to go out and find a boat that would be willing to take them over to Mizu no Kuni for as little as possible. Naruto would stay here in case he was accidently spotted or recognised; he also had something to do while they were gone but he felt as though he could leave that out until they had more time to talk safely.
Fuu and Shizuku gave their own small nods as they quickly set off from the dilapidated cottage, Shizuku giving him a quick glance over her shoulder as she went. When he was sure they were gone Naruto returned to the driest part of the building, setting himself down in a comfortable meditative position and closing his eyes. It didn't take him long to steady his breathing, it had been an integral part of his training to learn how to use his Boidogakure technique. Soon enough he felt his consciousness slipping away into that same familiar place.
For the third time in his life Naruto found himself standing in the halls of his seal, standing comfortably with his shakujou in hand and the Kohaku no Jouhei at his hip. Once again there was a new pipe running the length of the ceiling, larger than his own and Shukaku's but still completely dwarfed by the Kyuubi's. He noticed with a wince that this new pipe was leaking, even worse that Shukaku's had.
He had known that before, it had felt like a weak acid had been running through his blood all the way back to the rendezvous. However he had kept a straight face for Fuu and Shizuku's sake, only now allowing his face to show the weariness and pain he was feeling. In that instant a few years seemed to fall on his shoulders, his eyes holding experience that nobody his age should ever have to endure. He quickly straightened himself out, exerting his will over his inner domain with a trembling hand as he watched the hallway fix itself, the pipes slowly closing up.
Once he was satisfied everything was as it should be he started to make his way along the corridor with its well-memorised twists and turns, no rush in his movements. He did note with a grimace though that it had taken considerably more control and time for his Preta path to fully assimilate the new Chakra source. It also didn't escape his knowledge that even now some of his power was being diverted away just to keep the raging Chakra within him in check.
The passages of his seal had become almost second nature to him now; he had often gone wandering in the seemingly random corridors to see where they led, often hours on end. It turned out though that they really did only represent his natural Chakra pathways, the only places of note were the slightly widened area he presumed represented his coils. That was why it only took him a few scant minutes to turn into the large open area he had become so familiar with, even if it had undergone yet another change.
Instead of the pentagonal room he had been used to since the Ichibi had been added to the seal, an entirely new cage occupied an equally new wall, changing the room into a hexagon. That made Shukaku's cage on the left as he walked in, the Kyuubi's on the right and the new cage directly in front of him. Even as he walked in he could hear the standard argument between the great sand construct and the enormous Fox, however there seemed to be a new voice added into the mix.
"Dammit! I don't care about either of you assholes or your petty squabbles!" That was quickly followed by the tell-tale sound of cage bars being beaten on, in futility of course. "I had a good thing going with that idiotic Ningen, and now I find myself locked up in this place with my two least favourite siblings!" Another scream of frustration echoed through the corridors of his seal as Naruto watched the proceedings with veiled amusement. "Why couldn't it have been Isobu or Kokuou? At least those two are quiet!" Naruto was rather surprised to find the new voice was rather feminine, despite its loud and booming timber that came with the size.
"The little kitty got locked up as well? Ah, this is just too good!" That was a voice Naruto recognised all too well, Shukaku's insane laughter boomed through the area even louder than the first voice.
"Shut it Shukaku! Once I break out of here I'll rip your sandy neck out I swear it!" A deep chuckling followed that which Naruto knew belonged to his resident fox, obviously enjoying anything that had to do with Shukaku in immense amounts of pain. "And you, Kur-" The new voice was finally cut off by an immense and awe-inspiring roar that thundered through the seal to the point where everything was vibrating for a few moments after it stopped.
"Don't you dare use my name you pathetic feline!" The Kyuubi's tone was a lot deeper and menacing than usual, even Shukaku had been somewhat shaken from his insane laughter and was now quivering slightly under the pressure exerted by the Kyuubi's will. "Not while he is here." As if to emphasise his point the great fox cast a disinterested eye over to Naruto's form, who had been content to remain silent and just take in the interaction between the three Bijuu; naturally Shukaku was the first to recover.
"FATHER!" Naruto had to spend the next minute rubbing the great tanuki's head until it contentedly fell asleep against the bars of its cage. All the while a set of yellow and green eyes watched him carefully from the darkness of their own cell. When Naruto finally moved back into the centre of the room and descended to a meditative position the new addition finally made themselves known as it walked out of the darkness of the cell.
"So I wasn't wrong, you truly bear the Rinnegan like our father." The Kyuubi snorted but said nothing, giving time for Naruto to observe the Nibi no Nekomata. There wasn't really all that much to say about it besides that it was an enormous two tailed cat made entirely of blue and black flames. It had heterochromic eyes, one being a bright shining yellow, the other being a more subdued green. Out of all the Bijuu he had met so far, which to be fair was only three, it had the most feminine appearance and voice.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, it's nice to meet you." The great flaming cat smirked, bearing its sharpened canines slightly as it lowered its body to lie in a similar fashion to the Kyuubi.
"My, aren't you an interesting and polite Ningen. How fascinating." The large cat looked at Naruto for a moment, its di-coloured eyes seemingly piercing right through him. "I am Matatabi, the Nibi no Nekomata." The Kyuubi growled dangerously from its cell at both Naruto and Matatabi, sneering in both disgust and anger.
"The little respect I had for you is crushed cat." It spat the word angrily with narrowed eyes, almost making its fellow bijuu flinch under the steely gaze. "To so willingly debase yourself and hand away your name in the same careless manner that Ningen do. I had expected you to be better than that insane tanuki; instead you practically hand yourself away to this mere child." It growled once more before closing its eyes, ignoring the world for a now in disgust and apathy.
"What do you mean? What is so wrong with me learning its name?" The Kyuubi barely cracked an eye, although it was still filled with rage and something else Naruto couldn't fathom.
"I do not expect a Ningen to know the value of words, especially a name." With that the Kyuubi closed its eye again, settling down on its paws away from the cell door. Naruto turned to the Nibi for an explanation only to find it smiling at him, and not in the cruel manner the Kyuubi did or in the insane way Shukaku managed. If anything the large cat looked... pleased; as well as that emotion fit on a two story-tall flaming cat.
"Do not mind my brother Ningen, he has always been too prideful for his own good. I warned him it would someday bite him in the tails, and look where he is now." The only response was a small but still deadly growl from the fox. Naruto was more surprised to hear the Kyuubi be referred to as a 'he', he was under the impression Bijuu lacked any defining genders.
"He?" The great cat just tilted its head curiously, or was that her head?
"We may not have gender little Ningen but we certainly gained aspects of both our father, and our progenitor. Some more masculine..." She shot a pointed look at the Kyuubi's cell; the fox didn't even grunt in acknowledgement. "...so naturally some more feminine. Our father gave us these bodies and minds, only he knew what we really are." Naruto just nodded, it made... somewhat sense; it at least made referring to them easier.
"So the Sage of the Six Paths really was your father." The Nibi nodded languidly, its eyes half-lidded in a lazy manner that at least lived up to the species she emulated.
"Or our mother, in the sense he gave us life." Another Cheshire smile split the cat's flaming face as it stared at Naruto with those same piercing eyes. "And here you are, his successor in the flesh. And over a thousand year later unless my sense of time has gone askew during my captivity. I guess that makes you my new master." Naruto wasn't quite sure what to make of that; he had never expected any of the Bijuu to be so submissive. The Kyuubi on the other hand seemed to know exactly what to say on the subject, expressing it with an angry fist slamming down onto the floor.
"Enough! That mere child will never be a sliver of the man the Sage was." The fox's voice only carried pure rage and disgust, its volume nearly enough to wake the peacefully sleeping Ichibi. "Our father could stride across oceans, create beings from nothingness, was strong enough to defeat the most powerful being known to the earth and still strong enough to create us on his deathbed! You would do well to remember that cat!" He finished off with a low sneer of contempt, allowing his restless tails to stop their agitated swaying.
"Please fox, he bears our father's eyes and staff, he even looks like him! What more could you possibly want as proof that this is the true legacy our father left to the world?" Naruto was starting to become slightly uncomfortable as the centre of an argument between two such powerful beings. The Kyuubi on the other hand was unfazed, growling lightly as he lay back down with his eyes fixed in a permanent glare.
"You always were a pitiful sycophant." At that Matatabi returned the glare to the Kyuubi, although it lacked the same sheer presence the fox could exert.
"Coming from our father's personal lap dog? You heeded his every beck and call like it came from the mouth of Kami!" The Kyuubi rose to its full and impressive size; it would have towered over the much smaller hellcat if they had been occupying the same cell.
"He was more powerful than any of us, he was our creator! This is just another worthless Ningen who happened to catch the genetic long straw." Naruto wasn't sure whether or not to be insulted by that, he still didn't feel like getting involved though. The Nibi though simply let out a barking laugh that somehow managed to sound both feminine and powerful despite lacking the Kyuubi's sheer menace.
"And it had nothing to do with the fact you were the first he created?" The Kyuubi merely huffed in contempt, a slightly smug look flickering across his snarling maw. "Or the fact he would give you treats when you were 'a good boy'?" At that something seemed to snap in the large fox; his eyes grew cold and filled with fury as he once again rose to his full height.
"You think you are able to speak so insolently because of these petty bars?" Despite lacking the previous volume his rants had before, the Kyuubi's quite rumbling tone lacked none of the menace. "You are nothing compared to me!" He launched forward, slamming his full weight into the previously unyielding bars that represented the seal. However to Naruto's immense fear the great steel bars actually bulged out slightly under the strain. The addition of the Nibi had weakened the seal temporarily, at least enough for the Kyuubi to do this much.
"ENOUGH!" A dead quiet descended over the large room as two sets of enormous eyes turned to stare at the young blonde who had the balls to interrupt an argument between Bijuu. Naruto couldn't sit back idly anymore and risk the seal being weakened further; it actually terrified him to do so but had no choice but to intervene. That was why he was now floating at the centre of the room as if he was standing on the air, shakujou in hand and eyes cold.
"Stop arguing like children!" The Kyuubi glared at the boy, his lips pulling back into a vicious snarl as he was about to angrily bark back. However Naruto simply levelled his cold unyielding gaze at the mighty Bijuu, using all his willpower to simply maintain eye contact with the enraged fox. The Nibi simply watched this with awe, not having seen anybody but their father stare down the most powerful of the nine like that. Eventually the Kyuubi snarled once before laying back down, closing his eyes in apparent indifference and dismissal, allowing Naruto to let out a relieved breath.
Naruto calmly turned his gaze to the flaming hellcat; this time she actually did flinch slightly, remembering a time when somebody else looked at her with that exact same gaze. It took a lot less time for the lower-tailed Bijuu to relent, weakly lowering her head in submission and respect. In those few moments it was like the Sage himself was looking out of Naruto's eyes and she returned to the easily-swayed kitten she had been at the start of her long life.
"I'm sorry Tou-san." Naruto blinked away his surprise at the title before allowing a kindly smile to pass over his features. The enormous cat almost visibly relaxed at that; some of the best moments in her early life had been preceded by that very same smile; it naturally calmed her.
"It's alright." He gently floated back down to the floor of the room, quickly settling into a seated position as the Nibi did the same with her two tails swaying slowly behind her in perfect sync. Naruto was about to fade away from the seal when a thought struck him, or more accurately a certain pot dug into his side uncomfortably. "Matatabi?" The flaming cat looked up in interest; she hadn't been addressed by her actual name in a millennia, literally. Her last container, Yugito, was friendly but she only wanted her power, she had not earned the right to know her name.
"Yes Tou-san?" Another irritated grunt emerged from the Kyuubi's cell but he didn't say anything thankfully. Naruto wasn't sure he had the willpower for another staring match with the most powerful creature in existence.
"You wouldn't happen to know how the Kohaku no Jouhei works do you?" Surprisingly the large flaming cat nodded, almost a little too eagerly.
"Father explained all his old possessions to us." Naruto raised an eyebrow at that description. "All of his old tools were ways he came up with in order to defeat the Juubi, each one failed before he eventually tried to seal its Chakra within himself." Naruto nodded slowly, the seemingly inefficient and unwieldy tools suddenly making a lot more sense now. The sword, rope, and gourd were all geared towards sealing, but in a very strange and unorthodox manner that only made sense if the Sage was attempting to do something that had never been done before.
"The Pot you have was his last attempt to seal the Juubi before he resorted to using his own body. It actually worked, but only for about a minute. Our progenitor was too powerful to ever have been sealed within an inanimate object. It works by having the target respond to a call as you send your Chakra through it, any kind of acknowledgement works." Naruto nodded in thought, it was definitely a very useful tool, easy to use and hard for enemies to escape unless they knew how it worked.
"What about the Bashousen?" The Nibi nodded slowly, remembering her father showing her the large feathered fan.
"That was Father's attempt to recreate his ability to wield all five elemental Chakra. He had many allies before fighting the Juubi but like you Ningen today they were limited to one or two affinities. Unfortunately the Chakra cost was too high for anybody but one of his companions to wield." Naruto perked up slightly at that, wondering who the man who stood beside the Sage and was able to wield his tools was; he must have been immensely powerful.
"Who was he?" Unfortunately the Nibi just shrugged languidly, the action looking strange on such a large creature; but then again her smile did too.
"I never met him and the Sage didn't talk about him. Father respected him though, a lot." Another angry grunt emerged from the Kyuubi's cell but it was ignored by both Naruto and Matatabi.
"Thank you Matatabi, I appreciate the information." The large cat preened under the praise from the person she had now adopted as her surrogate father figure. Suddenly though she bowed her head slightly, looking oddly sheepish for such an enormous creature.
"Could you...?" She trailed off but Naruto saw her sideways glance at Shukaku as she lowered her head submissively. The blonde just took a deep breath, completely weirded out by everything that had gone on in the seal so far. He was sure that after today nothing would surprise him anymore. He walked forward, reaching his hand through the bars of the Nibi's cell at the same time she leaned her head forward.
The blonde was surprised when the flames that made up her body seemed to quell at his proximity, better resembling blue and black fur instead. He quickly rubbed the large patch that he could reach as a low rumbling purr resonated through the room, bringing a small smile to his lips. If it had been satisfying to have the Ichibi quiver under his touch, it was doubly so for the more powerful two-tails. He left the seal feeling oddly at peace, surprisingly glad for the new arrival; out of all three Matatabi was his favourite Bijuu so far... not that he would let Shukaku know that.
Coincidentally Naruto opened his eyes at almost the same moment Fuu and Shizuku walked into the cottage. By the height of the sun he would say it had been around an hour since he had gone into the meditative state. He simply looked up at the two girls with an expectant expression, only to be returned by two equally sullen ones. At least sullen in Fuu's unique expressionless way, he had a knack for understanding what she was actually feeling even though she hid it.
"Sorry Naruto-kun, Kumo must have sent messenger birds to all the ports. Every ship is on lockdown and can't leave until it has been searched by Kumo Shinobi. Most of the captains wouldn't even accept our money, they know better than to go against their Shinobi village." When the blonde looked across to Fuu the mint-haired girl just nodded once, obviously having found out the same as Shizuku. He just sighed as he stood up, walking out of the cottage and into the early morning sun.
"Well that's not good." He frowned in thought as he looked out over the ocean, now resplendently lit by the early morning sun. Suddenly something the Kyuubi had said echoed in his mind as a small grin alighted on his whiskered features. "Don't worry, there's another way for us to get to Mizu no Kuni." For some reason Shizuku and Fuu felt a little uncomfortable with Naruto's mischievous grin; they knew this wasn't going to end well for them. Naruto just turned back to the sea, the grin not leaving his face for a moment.
'So the Sage could stride across oceans could he? Thanks for the info Kyuubi.'