Chapter 24: A Demon Cat
"The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die."
Naruto
The field was smoking after hours of fighting. The blonde was glad that he could use three tails without going berserk; the only thing left was going four tails, which according to both Kurama and Bee-sensei, is the hardest part.
Naruto soon decided to start training on his new Rasengan. When Naruto felt a presence, he spun around and put his guard up. He had been practising for hours on end. He was finally seeing some progress with the new Rasengan, which could now be held for approximately one minute before losing its compression and becoming destabilised.
There in front of him was a beautiful young lady, she was about 12 years old, with long blond hair that was slightly paler than his own and tied back in a ponytail, she had cat-like slits in her eyes that were the perfect shade of sky blue, and she was dressed in a blue jacket and pants.
"Can you tell me who you are?"
"Hello, my name is Yugito Nii, and I'm from Kumogakure. Who are you?" Yugito inquired, a small smile on her face.
With a sly smile, Naruto introduced himself as Naruto Uzumaki from Konohagakure. "It is a pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman as yourself," Naruto said.
Yugito blushed slightly. 'What the hell... it was only a compliment... sure he looks good with that sun-coloured hair and bright blue eyes,' she thought, desperately.
It was a smirk on her face that said, "Oh my kitten, I believe you are attracted to your fellow container, and this one will be a powerful mate indeed I say you claim him now before anyone else does," the voice in the back of her head said.
"Nibi, stop it. I don't even know him for kami's sake," Yugito said. "I'm sorry, but I saw you training and was intrigued, so I wanted to take a closer look at what you were trying to do," the blond girl explained after a while.
"Oh, this is nothing. I'm simply attempting to improve my chakra control to the point where I can master a jutsu technique. I understand, but it is extremely difficult. But Kyuubi is making this harder" Naruto scratched the back of his head, expressing his dissatisfaction. "What are you doing in Konoha anyway, Yugito?" Naruto inquired, a tinge of curiosity in his voice.
"I arrived with the Raikage-Sama, who informed me that he and the Hokage had made some sort of pact and that I needed to find you," Yugito explained to the other blond.
She wanted to get to know him better, and that was the best way. "Do you know Naruto? We are a lot alike. We both share a burden that only a handful can understand," she said.
"You mean to tell me you're a" "Jinchuuriki... yes, I am," Yugito said at the end. "I have the Nibi trapped within me. I am two." She finished raising two fingers from her right hand.
When the blonde told him she was a Jinchuuriki, he grinned. "I see, is that why you have those beautiful slitted eyes?" he asked with a smile, knowing from before that she was a Jinchuuriki. There was one thing he didn't understand: why the Raikage had sent his two tail Jinchuuriki to Konoha with no guards in sight. He knew that in order to gain more information, he needed to speak with the girl, and it helped that she wasn't annoying so far.
Yugito's turn to be shocked into a stutter had never once been told that her eyes were 'beautiful'. They had been the source of most of her pain and the distinguishing feature of her as a jinchuuriki. "You think my eyes are beautiful," she stuttered; this time, a deep blush crept up on her face, and her heart skipped a beat "you-you think my eyes are beautiful", she stuttered this time a deep tone.
'no, damn it. I've only just met him, and damn this damn him and that warm, welcoming, wonderful smile of his.... wait, what am I thinking?' 'Yugito, you're a bad, bad,' she thought.
"I felt your heart skip a beat, which had never happened before. I am sure he wouldn't mind you being a little bad with him, kitten; I am sure he wouldn't mind," Nibi teased, a growing smirk on her face.
'stop it, Nibi. I don't even know him. How could I like him? That's stupid
"Yugito, you're looking a little red, are you sick or something? You don't seem to have a fever, hm, I wonder what it is," Naruto said, completely oblivious to the shocked expression of embarrassment on the face of the girl he had just rubbed his palm against her forehead. Still playing the role of the ignorant.
"Naruto, I'm fine, it was just that uh... Nibi was talking to me," she claimed before lying.
"Oh, ok, I get angry with Kyuubi as well. The jerk never wants to help with anything," Naruto moaned with a sneaky little smile on his face, Kurama growling inside him, calling him an ungrateful bastard.
"When you get past the fact that Nibi is attracted to power, she is actually quite easy to get along with," she said, giggling. She was attempting to skirt around the fact that Nibi is attracted to power and that every powerful male she had encountered Nibi had wanted her to take as her mate, but she had never pursued the matter further than this.
"Yugito. I was curious about your childhood in Kumo and what it was like for you. "Naruto inquired as to whether she was dealing with similar difficulties as he was. Then he quickly added, "it's all right if you don't want to talk about it."
"No problem, that's fine. Kumo has two jinchuuriki, the Nibi and the Hachibi. I'm sure you know him by now. He couldn't stop talking about you when he arrived back, stating that you were a special kind, while the life in the village is not bad. Still, some villagers see me with disdain..."
"It's all right, Yugito. When I was four years old, I was kicked out of an orphanage, and I lived on the streets for six months before being discovered by the Hokage's Anbu in a back alleyway." While telling Yugito the story of his life, Naruto made sure to see if anyone was around.
Once Naruto finished the story, the pair talked for a while about little things like their favourite food. Naruto found the fact that she was held a cat demon, and she loved sushi more than anything.
Eventually, Yugito explained that she had to leave but that she would return the next day and asked if she could assist him with his training, receiving an enthusiastic nod from the spiky-haired boy, who then remembered that all of his clones were still working on chakra control and dispelled them in groups of ten before returning to his house.
After a few days, Naruto and Yugito began to spend more and more time together, and while Naruto's clones trained, the pair conversed and learned more about one another.
After a few days, Naruto approached Yugito and asked if he would like to go out to lunch with him.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were asking me out, Naruto-kun." Yugito teased with a slight flush to her cheeks as she said this.
"I just wanted to take a break and get something to eat, and I was wondering if you would be interested in joining me. It isn't a date unless you want it to be," Naruto explained.
The Nibi jinchuuriki purred as she latched onto Naruto's arm, dragging him away from his training ground, where his clones were busy practising the ball rolling technique while walking up trees.
One of them was holding the Rasengan, while two others were adding Wind chakra and Fire Chakra, ready to create a whole new, more powerful Rasengan.
"You know what whisker's I would like that a lot, so let's go, and when we are finished, how about we have a spar. I want to see how good you really are," the Nibi jinchuuriki purred as she led him away.
In Konoha, Yugito was still leading Naruto to a restaurant by the arm, but she was unaware that a master of Sharingan was following them.
Is that a Kumo ninja? What is she doing here, and more importantly, why is she with Naruto? Let's hope she isn't trying to harm him,' Kakashi speculated, a slight frown on his face as he watched.
Yugito went through plate after plate of sushi like he was going through ramen, and Naruto stood there in awe and horror for his poor Wallet as he did.
"You really do like your sushi, don't you. I guess you were not lying when you said you loved it" Naruto chuckled with a nervous smile.
"You know what I'm talking about, Naruto-kun; it's my favourite food," she said as she finished off another plate of food.
Seeing this girl consume what turned out to be three months' worth of money from the Hokage in a single meal couldn't keep a smile off Naruto's face.
"All right, now I think we both owe each other a spar," says Naruto. He said this while grinning at the contented smile on the face of his female companion.
It was Yugito who said it, subconsciously wrapping her arm around Naruto's without a care in the world. "Of course, you didn't think I had forgotten, did you?" Yugito said.
As soon as they arrived at the training yard, Naruto used Chunin Speed, which took Yugito by surprise, as she had assumed he would only be Genin speed at best. Yugito now understood why Killer Bee had told her that Naruto was a special case, but she was perplexed by Naruto's knowledge of the Kyuubi, as the Hokage had stated to her and Raikage-Sama that Naruto had no knowledge of the Kyuubi
In the end, Naruto won three times, and Yugito only won once, and this was due to the fact that Naruto had been in a river, allowing Yugito to electrocute him while he was walking on water.
"You're quite good friends; it seems," they both heard a voice; turning to their right, they were met with the hard face of the Raikage, who stood with a grin on his face.
"Raikage-sama," Yugito spoke immediately before bowing respectfully in front of him; Naruto, on the other hand, bowed as well since the man in front of him was a Kage, and he needed to show respect.
"You can say that me and Yugito are quite good friends," Naruto spoke first. The Raikage nodded in understanding but couldn't help but wonder why Naruto was holding back against Yugito; at the moment when he was electrocuted, Raikage had seen that Naruto could have avoided that, but instead, he had let himself lose.
"Raikage-sama, what are you doing here, and how is Killer Bee-sensei?" Naruto asked, smiling; despite his weird, strange way of singing, the blonde missed him.
"He's in the village; he has mentioned you; I'm sure you will see him again soon. Hell, he has started writing a song, saying that he will sing it for you once you two meet again," Raikage spoke with a smile as he walked closer.
Naruto wasn't sure what to think, while Bee-sensei was good at talking when he was using a normal talking voice, but when it came to singing, it left a lot to be desired.
"Raikage-sama, why are you here?" Naruto asked again, knowing it wasn't every day that a Kage of another village suddenly decided that he wanted to visit Konoha.
"I'm afraid I can't say, but I can tell you is to repair the tension between our villages," Naruto just nodded his head, in his mind he thought that perhaps he could talk with Raikage, Kumo was known as the second strongest Village, not mentioning Naruto knew the whole reason why Kumo didn't try to profit from the Hyuga Incident was because of him.
The debt they owed to his father and mother, whatever it was, was enough to make the Raikage perhaps want less tension; the blonde wondered how he could use this to his own advantage.
After all, it is much better to be friends rather than force them to become allies.
Naruto just shrugged his shoulders before talking again with Yugito, that went for an entire week before The Raikage told Naruto that they would leave soon.
During the whole stay, Raikage didn't mention it to the Hokage that Naruto knew of the Kyuubi; as far as he understood, Naruto was keeping it from the Hokage for a reason. In contrast, Ay didn't have love for Konoha. He still valued Minato and Kushina; the whole reason why he was trying to ease the tension was because of Naruto.
Therefore Raikage had kept quiet; he wondered with the way Naruto spoke of Konoha with Yugito, he wondered if the Blonde would always be loyal to Konoha, and for that, The Raikage told Naruto something one day before they left.
"You know, you will always be welcome in Kumo if you ever want to visit,"
With that said, Yugito told him they had become friends really fast but had told him about the glares sent by the Civil part of the Village; while not violent, Ay knew the hatred could be just as damaging to someone if more so than a beating, or any kind of physical harm.
"See you later, Raikage-Sama," Naruto spoke as they stood in front of Konoha gates. Beside Naruto stood none other than Kakashi of the Sharingan, the Hokage and several ANBU.
"I hope to meet again, Naruto-san," Raikage responded to the blonde.
Naruto said goodbye to Yugito and promised to meet again soon; the blonde girl nodded with a smile before kissing Naruto's cheek.
This caused laughter from pretty much everyone around them, especially Kakashi, who was giggling in a weird, strange perverted way.
Naruto blushed and spoke nothing of it. He wondered if he should kiss her back but decided against it. Raikage said goodbye to the Hokage before they left; it was time for everyone to turn back to their jobs.
Naruto looked forward to the future, waiting to see where it would go.
After 4 Years
"Wake UP, Naruto," Kurama suddenly screamed, causing Naruto to fall over the bed flat on his face.
"What the hell is your problem, Kurama? You always told me never to interrupt your beauty sleep, and yet you scream in my head," Naruto screamed in his head.
Kurama just laughed as he decided just to ignore the blonde who murmured something about a stupid fox.
Naruto stood up; he looked at his bed before his blue eyes saw outside the window; the sun was just barely peeking in the horizon.
"Well, I might as well just prepare," he murmured before walking to the bathroom, washing his face; he saw his own face in the mirror.
The last four years, Naruto had changed drastically; he had long blonde hair, two fangs at the side of his face, his blue eyes looked somehow even bluer.
His body had grown muscular, wearing new clothes chosen by Ino. Apparently, she knew the best clothes; therefore, Naruto had let her to decide what he should wear.
Naruto, like the rest of his classmates, has reached the age of thirteen. He'd grown quite a bit in stature. Naruto was approximately 5 foot 7 inches tall at this point. It appears that his blonde hair has grown in a manner that is nearly identical to his father's, as a portion of it is now blocking parts of his forehead and framing his face with two bangs that extend a little past his ears and frame his face.
Currently, Naruto is sporting a mesh armour t-shirt underneath his open high-collared Maroon Jacket, which features three black stripes on his rolled-up long-sleeves as well as a black-coloured Uzumaki and Senju symbol on the back. As well as these, he is dressed in a pair of black Anbu pants with medical tape covering his ankles near where his shinobi sandals are located.
He had grown and become extremely handsome; every girl in the Academy looked at him with hearts except a few who were still loyal to SasukeEmo.
Naruto decided to head outside and wait until Anko came; during the last four years, he had started to see Anko differently from before.
At first was his eyes noticing her features, her curves, in a way he liked how she looked, something Anko seemed to notice since she often did things or crossed her arms under her chest, making her breasts look bigger than they already were, Naruto would often look away.
Their relationship had grown, with Anko liking that Naruto had not once tried to make her do anything uncomfortable. He was as friendly as always.
Anko had seen eventually that Naruto was quite mature despite his age; even as young as he was, he talked with pride, sense and power, causing Anko to feel grateful for what he had done for her.
The snake mistress couldn't help but eventually grow feelings for the blonde; he had grown quite tall, instead of the kid she once knew, now there was this man who looked ready to face the world and more.
Anko had stolen a few glances; she had to admit that Naruto was as handsome as sin; she still hadn't made any moves but thought of it after he became a Genin.
When it came to Ino, the blonde girl had grown as well; due to training from both Naruto and Anko, especially Anko, she had grown taller, and her curves had grown quite noticeable.
Her long blonde hair reached her middle back; her skirt was purple in colour since it was her favourite colour. Ino thanked Naruto for training her, her saying that she would probably be worthless without him.
But Naruto told her that she did all that herself; her will to get better was what made her reach this level and not give up.
Ino knew she had a huge crush on Naruto; how he had grown and how he looked at her sometimes made her knees weak; she had decided to tell Naruto about her feelings after they officially became Genin.
Naruto jumped from building to building, passing through Konoha, many villagers saw only a blur as he jumped, he kept on passing through buildings before jumping hundreds of meters up and slamming with the ground before running up, soon reaching the chin of his father, and jumped high in the sky, landing on the top of his father's statue.
Naruto turned and looked at the village below him, the wind hitting his body, his blonde hair dancing with the wind, closing his eyes before opening them, his Mangekyo Sharingan in full Display.
Naruto focused more chakra on his right eye, and his right eye became a Rinnegan while his left eye stayed Mangekyo. The sword of his mother tightened on his hips.
Closing his fist, he looked at the land beyond Konoha. The Forest was surrounding the Village.
It had been a long time of training and preparing for this moment. Countless hours of training and studying.
"With this Knowledge and Power, I Will Bring Peace, and soon everyone will Bow before Me,"