True Self, New Self
Chapter 2: Kakougan Village
While we jumped from treetop to treetop, I struggled to get hold of my senses. Being able to feel, hear, smell, see and even taste everything in a 2 mile radius could drive any normal person crazy, thankfully I'm neither of them. It took me a while to find a way to turn them off, the information Kyuubi gave me is very vast, and it takes time to assimilate it all, or to find a specific one.
I follow Jiraiya almost unconsciously, so I'm able to think things over while I do it. My life just made a huge turn barely some hours ago, and no matter how intelligent I can be, it takes time to assimilate it all. I'm very aware that no one will recognize me looking like this, that's for sure, so I can't go around introducing myself as Uzumaki Naruto, not with Akatsuki still trying to kidnap me to take Kyuubi out.
I snicker at that, even if they managed to catch me, there's nothing to extract now. Not that I'll just let them catch me, they can't come anywhere near me without me noticing, so that leaves a sneak attack out, and attacking me openly is plain suicide! Anyway, we lost the pair that was following us a month ago, when we entered the woods, so I don't think that we'll have to worry about them for a while.
But that doesn't change the fact that I need to think of another name, if we happen to bump into someone that knows me, they'll certainly attack me for using that name, it will take a lot of work to convince them that I am me, and that will draw too many attention... The old man and me must come up with a excuse of why the old Naruto isn't around any longer. Yes I could henge into my old self, but I'm sick of denying myself, masking myself, and I refuse to do it again, there's no longer a reason to do so, now the villagers are harmless to me, and if my friends are really that, they'll accept me anyway.
I feel something nuzzling my cheek, it surprise me at the beginning, but then I remember that Yuki is traveling on my shoulder. He's still a kit, but something tells me that he's older than me. Maybe I should ask him, along with other things about him, if he's going to continue traveling with me, it is better to get to know each other.
"So Yuki, since you're going to be my new teammate, I think is fair enough for you to further introduce yourself! We're going to be friends, so you can ask me things too, it is good to know the person who you're traveling with"
"You're right my lor... Naruto-san! Well my name is Kyuko Yuki, my father is Kyuko Kuromi. I'm still a kit for my kind, just 95 years old. My father had train me to fight, but I'm afraid that my magic abilities are not that developed yet. I like to play and go fishing, because I love fish! I don't like the snakes, they scare me very much... And this is the first time I'll leave this forest!"
"Well you surely are older than me, I'm just 17 year old, and that is not so young for humans, but I think that for other demons I'm a kit, and a very young one. I like to eat ramen, but not as much as I appear, I like other kind of foods better, fish included, but ramen happens to be quick to prepare, and cheap too. I have trained almost my whole life, and my abilities, well you'll see them with time"
"If you're 17 that means that you're like my younger brother! Then it's settled, I shall protect you, as your eldest!" the kit said, with determination in his little eyes.
I chuckled at his antics, he shall prove to be a good companion. I noticed that Jiraiya had drop behind a little, in order to hear what we were talking, but if the look on his face is any indication, he didn't understand anything we said. I just shake my head, my attitude clearly saying that I'll tell him later, if he's still interested.
We continue our march, we are still at two days and a half travel from the nearest village, but the position of the sun clearly tells me that it's almost time to make a stop in order to eat lunch. Maybe then I can ask Jiraiya what are going to come up with to explain my presence.
Finally we stopped, there is a shallow river at our side, with plenty of fish in it. We'll have to survive with the things we find in the forest, sadly our bag with our provisions for the rest of the travel was blasted into oblivion in the ambush. I see Yuki jumping from my shoulder and running to the river, using his little paws to catch his meal. Well he was telling the truth when he said he liked fishing, he seems to be enjoying it very much. I laugh when I see that he tries to catch a fish a little to big for him and ends up being dragged away by it. I approach the river too, making a quick work of cashing enough fish for me and the old man to eat, I'm sure that Yuki won't be pleased if I catch his meal for him too.
When I walk back to the place where Jiraiya decided to lit a fire with my preys, I see a very soaked kitsune walking back to meet us, that large fish he was fighting some minutes ago hanging from his little mouth, I can see the pride irradiating from him. I give him a thumbs up, as he settled near the fire and started devouring his meal. I sit down too, preparing the fish to be eaten.
"Jiraiya?" I ask as soon as I put the fish near the fire to be cooked.
"Yes kid"
"I have been thinking about it, I can't exactly go around saying that I'm Naruto... I'm afraid that it might be dangerous, and besides there's always the possibility that someone might know how I looked like before, and it can represent troubles. I also think that no one should know about my merge either, at least not until we visit Tsunade and inform her about it, we can't exactly send her a letter telling her that, it's better if she sees it for herself. I want to tell Gaara about it though, he's the Kazekage after all, as well as my friend; because we're going to pass near Suna in our way back, am I right?"
"Yes we're going to pass near Suna, actually I was planning to stay there at least one night, before all of this happened. I agree with you in everything kid, it seems that you really are smart after all, I taught exactly the same."
"You'll never let me live it down right old man? You'll just keep pointing the fact that I used to act like an idiot before." I say with a sigh, stupid all man, he just loves to bug me.
"No, I just can't stop doing it, it's your fault after all, displaying that mask for the people to see"
"Yeah yeah, whatever. So I should pick a new name for the time being, or we could just stop going to villages all together, just to buy provisions" I almost smirk at the face of horror the old man has, he just can't live for too long without his women, but I manage to keep a straight face.
"How about Moron?" he jokes, I just glare at him. "Ok, ok, geez kid, you could give that Uchiha boy glares a run for their money" that comment make me relax my expression a little bit, yes Sasuke will have a surprise when I get him back, he'll be able to see that the dobe wasn't really one after all.
"Seriously Jiraiya, just pick a name"
"Right right... how about... Fumetsu Kaji?"
"Undying fire? It sounds nice... then Kaji it is, and I shall be called Kaji until we are back inside Konoha's walls"
"Ok now that we found you a new name, lets eat, the fish are ready"
"Just one more thing, how are we going to explain that Naruto isn't traveling with you any longer?"
"He died in the ambush, I was found by Kaji very beaten up in the forest and he took care of my wounds, he also helped my burn Naruto's body, and in a way to repay him I offer him to train him. He is an orphan, but he was raise by a sennin who had recently died in a similar situation in the same forest some months ago, he was tracking the attackers to seek revenge and that's how he found me, and the dead men that were responsible of his protectors dead. End of the story"
"But if Tsunade knows about my supposed dead she'll freak out"
"I'll send a letter to her with one of my frogs, and tell her that it is a trick to confuse the Akatsuki"
"Ok then, but send one to Gaara too"
"Alright kid, but now eat, the fish is getting cold"
We ate in silence, and after cleaning up the traces of hour little camp, we set off again. We only stopped to eat dinner and get a little sleep, going back to the road in the early morning. We were like that for too more days, until we finally reached the village, somewhere on the north west border of the stone country. Jiraiya says that it is called Kakougan, granite, such a predictable name of a village of the STONE country, all the villages that the old man and I had visit here are named after some rock type...
It is a very small village actually, but it has an inn, so it's good enough, Jiraiya told me on our way here, and now that I can see it with my own eyes, I can see it was true. I also notice that after this village, all I can see are, well, rocks, rocky plains, rocky mountains, rocks and more rocks! I like the forest better, I have always feel at home there, at since I became a kitsune demon, I feel even more at home in it, but I guess that I just can't stay inside one for the rest of my life, so I better get used to be in more 'civilized' areas again.
I can feel Yuki almost bouncing on my shoulder, he must be excited, this is the first time he sees a village. He seems ready to jump down and dash inside it, so I start walking to it, I know that it isn't safe for a fox to enter in a human village, he might get killed for it, but since he's with me, he will be safe. But I better go in anyway, before he experience just how bad the ningens can be when they want firsthand. I pet his fur in order to calm him down, he seems to like it because he settles down and let me do it.
Jiraiya guide us to a small inn almost at the other side of the village. I can feel, as well as see, people staring me. They aren't like the usual stares I got when I was in Konoha, those where hate filled stares. No, these stares are different, they make me feel like a piece of meat, ready to be devoured. A shiver goes up my spine at that, if I had my tails, I bet their fur would be all spiky. The girls around me are acting odd too, they are whispering among them and giggling, and when I look at them they blush and squeal, I'm glad I managed to get my senses under control before I got here, because those high pitched sounds would surely give me a headache if my hearing was at is was when I woke up three days ago.
I know I have seen this behavior before, but where, I wonder. My memory leads me back to the days of the Academy. I was sitting on my swing... and Sasuke was walking out of the building, there where a group of girls of the first year near me, all members of the teme's fan club, and as soon as they saw him... crap. They were acting just like those girls, the difference is that some of them seem about to jump me.
I run at Jiraiya's side covering behind him, I never liked girls all that much, they were annoying, but now, they are plain creepy! He raises an eye brown, silently questioning my behavior. I just point at the girls direction, they were just behind us, crap, they're following us. Stalkers!! I think I prefer the Akatsuki than them.
He laughs at my predicament, and I just glare at him. I can hear Yuki growling at the girls, but that only make them giggle more, they are calling him: cute kitty. Are they blind? He's a fox, not a cat, how can someone mistake a fox for a cat? They won't go away, that's clear. I just want to go into the inn and lock myself in my room, not coming out until Jiraiya says we are leaving the village filled with creepy girls.
Finally, we reach the inn, and as soon as Jiraiya check us in and the lady behind the counter gives me my key, I sprint to my room and lock myself in. After securing the windows and checking the room for any traps, some not so nice experiences in other inns, courtesy of the Akatsuki, made me get that habit, I finally relax and take time to actually look the room.
It is very simple room, it has a bed, a night table, a little desk and a cabinet for clothes, and a door that leads to a little bathroom, with just the necessary, shampoo, soap and toilet paper. I flop on the bed, it is soft, and certainly softer than the ground of the forest, where I had been sleeping for quite a while now. Just when I was starting to fall asleep I hear that someone is knocking at the door, it is Jiraiya, my nose tells me. I sigh and stand up to open the door.
"What do you want old man?"
"Kaji, my boy, they're some girls downstairs that want to meet you" he says with a smile.
"Get that scary things away from me, I don't care what you tell them, but I don't want to see them, just get rid of them will you?"
"How can you dismiss them like that, they're all quite lovely, just imagine the possibilities!"
"I said no Jiraiya, if you like them so bad, why don't you go out with them?" I say closing the door on his nose. Damn that old man and his obsession for women, I won't act as a bait for him to get new ideas for his perverted books.
"I don't like that girls either, Naruto-san" I hear Yuki say, he's on the bed, bouncing up and down on it. "They scared me back there, when they started following us"
"Yeah they scared me too" I said lying down next to the spot where he's jumping. "Enjoying yourself?"
"Yes very much Naruto-san! I never felt something so soft before, how it is called?"
"It is a bed, humans usually sleep on them, and that's exactly what I'm going to do now" I say, closing my eyes, but I can't manage to do it, I feel dirty. Even if my clothes don't get wet, a thing that I noticed when Jiraiya decided to tackle me into a lake in order to get me completely awake, I can feel the sweat clinging to my body, well we did run a lot to get here before sunset.
I get up and walk to the bathroom, closing the door behind me, just in case that Jiraiya decide to pop inside my room uninvited, I saw that the lady gave him a spare key to my room, thinking that I was his son. I don't look like the old man, why everybody insist in thinking that he's my father?. I sigh, turning the shower on, the water is warm. I undress myself and step in, enjoying the feeling of the water running on my body. I take the shampoo that was there, now I have a hair to take care of, and I'll take care of it.
I massage my scalp and my hair, after some minutes I rinse it off and proceed to soap myself, to get the dirt and the sweat off my skin, that by the way, doesn't look as pale as it did three days ago, it is a little more colored now, but I doubt that it'll get any more color than that. After making sure I was completely clean I step out and dry myself. I put my boxers on and go out again.
I went to lie down on the bed again, when I noticed that my hair was still wet and clinging to my face and my back. I'll get the whole bed wet if I lie down like this. I sigh again, I'm just too tired to wait until it dries itself. An idea suddenly pop in my head an I perform a fire jutsu, just strong enough to create enough heat to dry my hair without burning it. Wow, I just created a hair dryer jutsu, but I won't name it... maybe later, but for now, I'm tired. Mmm... maybe Sakura will want to know how to do that jutsu...
I don't know how much I slept, but when I woke up, it was pitch dark outside. This village doesn't have any street lights? Well, I guess it doesn't. I try to go to sleep again, but I can't. Well, since I'm awake now, and it's too late for any of the creepy girls to be outside, I might as well go take a look at the village. Even if it's so dark outside, my eyes can see things as clear as they were in plain daylight, if I want.
I quietly slid out of my room, I don't want to wake Yuki up, nor any of the people in the inn. When I'm finally outside, I take a deep breath of the night air. It is so cold and refreshing, it boasts my energy up. I started walking around, without the scary women, it's a very pretty village. The buildings are very well designed, and there's a small park in it's center. I walk into it, I can hear water running somewhere in the middle of it. I came across with a little fountain, quite a beautiful one actually. I decide to sit there, and take a look at my surroundings.
It's peaceful in here, I like it. I sit there, just listening to the wind flowing trough the branches of the trees. But something catches my attention, after what seemed an hour of being there, a familiar smell graces my nose. I put my senses in complete alert, there's someone in the trees around me, and he has noticed me. He's coming to me, his scent becoming stronger. And at the same time my brain recognize it, he comes out of the shadows.
Sasuke.
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Now before anyone thinks that I'm rushing the story, I'm not! You'll just have to see what I have planned for the next chapter, so relax guys!
Reviews are very much appreciated and I'll answer everysingle one of them, so please review!
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Chapter notes: Disclamer: no, not mine! Anything related to this series is property of Kishimoto sensei...
A/N: I'm sooo happy with the reviews I got that I decided to post another chapter for you guys!