mNaruto’s Brother Chapter 8 - The Akatuki Move

I had done a bit of research. I woke up about 3 hours before we left and then sent a few clones around the library. I also asked the librarian some questions.

I found something out and when I was reminded about it I remembered Tanzaku Quarters. It was where the majority of the Search for Tsunade arc took place. Why? Because it's a gambling hub.

The main Tanzaku City is a place of gambling. It reminds me of Vegas. It’s a city known for being a place of gambling and a place for adults to visit and hang out. The villages around it are also places of gambling.

The best chance for me to find Tsunade is there. We’re going to head there first, it also isn’t that far from Konoha. It’s North-East from Konoha in the direction of the Land of lightning.

The whole province around Tanzaku City is known as the Tanzaku Quarters. I was at the north-east gate with Naruto and Sasuke. They wore some simple comfortable clothes whilst I wore my ninja outfit minus my chokuto which was stored in a scroll.

We each had on a big black cloak that covered our entire bodies. We also had on masks since not many people have whiskers. Sasuke was also recognizable as an Uchiha so he wore one too.

We were talking to Hiruzen or at least Naruto and Sasuke were, I was deep in thought. The eye was sealed inside a scroll. I had to get it implanted as soon as possible which means I needed to find Tsunade in these two weeks.

Kurama had already told me that the Jinchuriki were highly different from what they seemed to be in the series. If that had changed what else had, were the Akatsuki even a thing? Were they stronger than before? Were there more members?

I had no idea, I had a lot of information but even supposed future knowledge wasn’t enough. A Sharingan and a Mangekyo, to be specific Shisui’s would give me something to fall back on. If I got this I’d have an incredibly powerful ace up my sleeve.

Don’t get me wrong, I don't believe I'll be immediately capable of controlling it well. If the Shadow Clone Jutsu caused that much mental pain and fatigue. I imagine even a regular Sharingan will be painful to use especially since I’m a Non-Uchiha and fucking 9 years old.

I imagine the only things that’ll keep me alive and sane are my Uzumaki Heritage and Kurama’s Regeneration. I wouldn’t attempt this if I didn’t have both. Uzumakis can do a lot, look at Nagato for example, as a kid he wielded two Rinnegan.

But if the pain the Shadow Clone Jutsu gives has increased a lot compared to the show I have to assume the strain from a Sharingan and a Mangekyo will be much greater as well. Maybe it won’t be and maybe I’m worrying for nothing.

I’d rather be prepared for pain that never comes that unprepared for said pain.

“You seem to be thinking hard,” Hiruzen said from beside me. It was a Sunday so Naruto and Sasuke’s friends had decided to come say bye. Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were all talking excitedly to the two boys.

“I have a lot to think about,” I said simply replying to Hiruzen. He chuckled slightly with a grandfatherly smile.

“You know you can tell me anything, I’d be happy to help you” he said as he watched Naruto jump up and down in excitement, Sasuke just gave the blond an unimpressed look.

I shrugged “it ain’t anything that bad, just the worries of a child” I said with a sigh as I gave the old Hokage a smirk. He simply nodded “well I am always here if you need to talk Kami” he said reassuringly.

‘I wish I could old man, I wish I could’ I thought to myself as I watched Naruto and Sasuke walk over to us, Naruto waved behind himself as they walked over.

I turned away from Hiruzen after giving the man a nod. I walked over to the open gate, Naruto and Sasuke walking behind me. Naruto waved to the others as they followed me out of the gate and soon we were on the road heading North-East.

We were first heading to a small village called Yokotori. It wasn’t anything special, just a regular village. We were hoping to find some lodging there. It would take us a few hours to get there since Naruto and Sasuke were much slower than me.

We ran at a brisk pace for us anyway. We ended up arriving at around 4pm. I was thinking about telling Naruto and Sasuke my goal for this trip. I would have to make sure the Anbu weren’t listening

I had a feeling they trusted me so if I asked them to keep it a secret, I knew they would. I know it’d probably hurt them a bit that I wasn’t just going on a trip and I wasn’t sure how Sasuke would react.

I trusted them with the info though, I didn’t do a lot of things out of fear that certain people would find out. Hell contacting Kurama was easily the riskiest thing I did but it was necessary.

Soon we arrived in Yokotori Village. It was quite large since it was near Konoha and near a military outpost. All Genin gained this information. The outpost locations weren’t on any Civilian maps but there were maps for Genin and above that showed the locations.

Gekkō got me one. We soon made our way to an inn. They didn’t really question the cloaks since a lot of Shinobi went on missions that required them to stay hidden. The man gave me a suspicious look as we walked up but I simply flashed my Hitai-Ate and he nodded slowly.

I didn’t want any trouble. I wasn’t wearing my Hitai-Ate but I had it in a pocket for easy access. It was annoying since my hair was decently long and it sometimes got in my face. It’s why I wore it on my head. I had trained with it on a lot and it was weird to not have it on now.

Soon we were sat in our room, I had told the two boys I wanted to talk to them and they seemed serious. I glanced around the room before I spoke with a sigh since I couldn’t detect them “Anbu?” I asked hesitantly.

One person appeared in the room in Anbu uniform, one I recognised. Tiger looked at me and I nodded to him in greeting as he waited for me to continue.

“Are you able to give us some privacy? I only want you to just not eavesdrop. I need to tell them something about me and I don’t want the Anbu to know” I said to him.

I could feel his stare penetrate me as he asked a question “is it about your particular circumstance? Or anything that would endanger them?” He asked and I shook my head.

“Tiger they’re both basically my brothers, the only family I have, you honestly think I’d endanger them. Call it a child’s embarrassment, that’s why I don’t want you to hear” I said with a smile in a somewhat joking manner.

Tiger was used to the way I spoke and acted and he was professional and nodded “okay i know you are a sensor so send a pulse of chakra when you are done” he said simply before disappearing.

I let out a sigh as I glanced around the room “Sasuke can you use your Sharingan to check if you see anything out of the ordinary?” I asked as I glanced at the Uchiha.

He gave me a confused look before his Sharingan appeared with two tomoe. He quickly scanned the room before looking back at me, his eyes turning back to his normal ones.

“Nothing” he said simply and I nodded with a sigh. They both looked at me seriously now as I suddenly became a lot more sad. I had no smile, just a straight face and they rarely saw that.

“Okay first off I am sorry I lied to you but I couldn’t let certain people within the village know why I wanted to leave for a bit” I said with a sigh of annoyance as I looked at them.

They narrowed their eyes suspiciously and gave me their full attention.

I then looked at Sasuke “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner but I couldn’t. And I’m sorry to bring up bad memories but I need to tell you” Sasuke frowned seemingly having an idea as to where this was going.

“That night I felt something was wrong so I decided to visit the Uchiha Compound. I don’t know why but I felt something was wrong, I tried to rush to the compound but I was stopped on my way there by… Itachi” I said with a frown as Sasuke clenched his teeth in anger, his hand that was feasting on the table between us suddenly clenched tightly.

Naruto rested his left hand on Sasuke’s right shoulder as he tried to comfort the boy.

“He told me things, things I didn’t believe at first. I investigated to the best of my ability and found that the things he said had some merit to them. In particular he gave me something. Told me he didn’t trust himself with it among other things” I lied as I looked down in guilt. They seemed to believe it was sadness.

I sighed as I crossed my arms “he gave me his best friend’s Sharingan. Do you know who Shisui Uchiha was?” I asked and Sasuke nodded slightly.

“It was his eye. Told me to get a skilled Medical Ninja to implant it and for me to use it. He told me of its abilities and of its evolved form. The Mangekyo Sharingan” I said with a sigh as I looked back up at Sasuke.

He was glaring at me in anger “Mangekyo” he said with a low growl as both of his fists clenched in anger. I gave him a questioning look and he relented.

“Itachi told me that the only way I’d be able to stand up to him would be by acquiring a Mangekyo Sharingan” he said with a frown as he looked down at his clenched fists.

I let out a sigh “that’s why I’m on this trip I’m looking for the best medical ninja the world has ever seen. Tsunade Senju” I said as I looked at the two boys.

“Senju?” Naruto questioned, his sadness at Sasuke’s anger disappearing as his curiosity surfaced. I nodded “yea she is Hashirama Senju’s Granddaughter and she is one of the Sannin” I told him.

“Sannin?” Sasuke questioned as he seemingly tried to distract himself from his anger.

“A title given to them by a very strong Shinobi named Hanzo. He gave them the title when they fought against him. It isn’t really a title you can earn like the Hokage or God of Shinobi titles. There are only 3 Sannin and there will only ever be 3” I said with a shrug.

“Who are they?” Naruto asked with a grin as he seemingly forgot about the previous mood.

“Tsunade Senju. An incredibly powerful medical ninja. Jiraiya is an incredible fuinjutsu master and a powerful user of senjutsu. And finally Orochimaru, he’s the strongest but also the most dangerous. He is obsessed with gaining immortality and does immoral experiments on other humans to try and achieve that goal. He’s a missing nin” I said as I looked at the two boys in front of me.

Both seemed intrigued. Naruto looked impressed at the mention of Orochimaru before I went into more detail. Both looked disgusted as I told them why he was a missing nin.

“So you’re looking for this Tsunade to implant that Sharingan?” Sasuke asked and I nodded. A smile slowly adorned his face “and that Sharingan is already a Mangekyo?” he asked and I nodded.

“Then you may be able to help me evolve mine” he said with a bit of excitement in his voice as he smiled at me in hope.

“I’m sorry I can’t. Itachi told me how a Mangekyo is awoken. It’s usually gained from experiencing the loss of someone dear to you, usually their death. It’d be similar to how you gained your Sharingan. The only reason the one I have is a Mangekyo is because the original user already acquired the Mangekyo” I said with a sigh as Sasuke’s hope deflated.

He suddenly seemed to get more determined “then I just have to beat him with the regular Sharingan” he said with a determined look as he fixed a fierce stare at me “can you help?” he asked and I smiled and nodded “of course I can” I said with a smile.

Sasuke smiled and nodded at me. We both then looked at Naruto who had a pout on his face “why can’t I have cool eyes?!” he with a groan of annoyance as he opened and closed his eyes seemingly trying to manifest a Sharingan.

I laughed at his attempts as he glared at me. Sasuke placed a reassuring hand on Naruto’s shoulder as he smiled at the boy.

Naruto then turned to me with a determined look “how can we help?” he asked, Sasuke turned to me as well, staring at me as they both waited for me to speak.

“I was being honest when I told Tiger I wouldn't put you in danger. I told you this to be honest with you and because i’ll have to leave you two every now and then to investigate” I said.

“How do you know where she is?” Naruto asked as he gave me a questioning glance.

“She is addicted to gambling. After a traumatic experience in her past she became depressed” I said, Sasuke and Naruto both gave me a confused look.

I sighed “she went through something really bad like Sasuke has and it’s made her really sad all the time and she can’t get out of that mood” they both nodded after I used words they knew.

They were still kids after all. It wouldn't be a problem after the academy but some words like depressed or traumatic aren’t really used around them that much so they don’t know what they mean yet.

Also something I’ve never actually given any thought to is the fact that everyone speaks English. Some things aren’t in English but most of what is said is in English.

“So the place we are heading to is called the Tanzaku Quarters. Tanzaku City and the area around it are towns and villages that have a lot of gambling attractions so I'm hoping with her addiction she’ll be somewhere around Tanzaku City” I said with a sigh.

“Oh so she’s addicted to gambling like you are addicted to training” Naruto said with a nod of understanding. I glared at him “I’m not addicted to training”. Naruto laughed in my face and Sasuke gave me an unconvinced look.

I let out a sigh “some brothers you two are” I said with a grumble of annoyance.

“Oh yea, what’s gambling?” Naruto asked with a confused expression. I simply stared at him for a second before hanging my head and sighing as I went into an explanation as to what gambling is. Sasuke didn’t know either.

“Wait so they just waste money instead of spending it on ramen?” he asked with a genuine expression of confusion and a look that just screamed “are they dumb”.

I nodded slowly with a chuckle as Naruto just seemed to get even more confused “even I know that’s a stupid waste of money” Sasuke said with a shrug.

“Well if they want to waste their own money then they can” I said with a shrug as I crossed my arms “you guys have to keep this a secret. As soon as the eyes implanted then I’ll tell everyone that needs to know in the village cause then it can’t be taken away from me so you don’t need to keep it hidden from then on” I said with a smile as they both nodded seriously.

Naruto mimicked zipping his mouth shut and then locking it before he threw away the key. Sasuke gave him an exasperated look before he turned to me with a determined stare “I won’t say a thing” he said.

I was sure they wouldn’t. I had been there for all of Naruto’s life and was his only blood relative that he knew of and so he trusted me greatly and ever since we took in Sasuke he’s attached himself to us and basically is a brother to us, we also consider him a part of our little family.

After a bit more talk I pulsed my chakra. Tiger didn’t show up so I assumed they were staying hidden “anyway I’d say it’s time to sleep”.

We all went to our beds. I didn’t go to sleep immediately, I did some chakra control training and meditated for a while before sleeping.

The next day we woke up and got our things ready. I slipped my mask up over my nose to hide the whiskers on my cheeks before I pulled the hood of my cloak up and over my head.

I made sure my pouches were affixed to my person properly. I then picked up my back pack before slipping it on.

“How far are we?” Naruto asked as he sat on the floor beside the door slipping on his sandals. Sasuke was standing beside him already ready.

“About 2 days from Tanzaku City. That’s assuming we run all day, so more like 3 days if we want to stay in a village for a day or two” I said with a shrug before we left the room and returned the key to the front desk.

We then left the village “nah let’s just head straight to Tanzaku” Naruto said and Sasuke nodded in agreement.

I let out a small chuckle as I shrugged “alright then. Let’s walk to the woods and then we can run. I want to draw as little attention to us as possible” I said as I walked in between the two boys.

The village was surrounded by farmland so we had to walk a bit before we managed to get to the forest. It took about a minute before we got to the cover the foliage provided.

We then took off, sprinting fast. My foot landed on the ground and I crouched down, bending my legs as I jumped up into the trees. I moved chakra down to my feet as I jumped through the trees.

Naruto and Sasuke soon joined me, the two seemed to be competing. I simply moved a bit further ahead of them to lead them in the right direction.

I made sure we stuck close to the road as well since I didn’t want to get lost. I had memorised the way to Tanzaku City. I had a map of the area so I’d know how to get to other villages and towns in the area.

I wasn’t sure how long it’d take but I had some training in espionage. I knew the theory well enough but I didn’t have much practical experience. Gekko taught me a lot more than what I tend to focus on.

We eventually stopped on our way when we found a good place to camp. I pulled out some tents out of a larger storage that was inside my backpack. I set them up and then sent about 10 clones into the forest around us to keep watch.

“Hey Kami, we want to ask you something,” Naruto said. I looked up from the campfire I had made. I was currently cooking some meat from an animal I had hunte not that long ago.

Gekko taught me about hunting and preparing certain animals on our trips. I had food stored but they were backups in case we needed some.

“When we get back to Konoha are you able to join some of our training sessions? We’d like for you to help us and our friends train” Naruto said with an excited look, he was hopeful.

Sasuke just flatly stared at me but I had been able to pick up on his subtle cues for a while now. He was hopeful as well.

“Yeah that’s not an issue for me” I said and Naruto jumped up in excitement “but I’ll have to ask Gekko first. I’ll need to get permission from him to take that day off from missions since he’s my sensei” I said quickly, bringing Naruto back down to earth.

They both simply nodded and I offered to help them with training now. Sasuke wanted help with Kenjutsu and Naruto wanted help with chakra control. I made a clone to help Naruto and I helped Sasuke since if I got hit I wouldn’t immediately pop.

He wanted to use some training swords he had brought with him. I guess he always planned on asking me to help him.

I left a clone to cook the food and after a bit of training we ate, trained a bit more and then went back to sleep. It took us another 3 days to get to Tanzaku City.

Meanwhile in Konoha

Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting at his desk in the Hokage Tower. He was currently going over some documents. It was a regular day, not much had happened for a while and Hiruzen was honestly getting a bit bored.

His mind drifted to Kami and he had to admit the boy confused him. He seemed incredibly mature and then at times he acted like a child letting his emotions control his decisions. Hiruzen would admit the boy’s dream was achievable. He was talented and he used his advantages as best as he could.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Hiruzen let out a sigh as he looked at the document in his hands, a report from Jiraiya. After Jiraiya had failed to bring back Tsunade who still refused to even come back to Konoha he had done a bit of digging in the Tanzaku Quarters.

What he found worried Hiruzen greatly, he found rumours and mentions of an organisation, one dedicated to hunting down Jinchuriki. He had assured Hiruzen that they were just rumours. If they had any weight to them at all then Hiruzen wouldn't have allowed the two Jinchuriki to leave.

If he could spare the forces he would’ve sent an entire Anbu Squad to protect the three boys. Hiruzen let out a sigh as he read the report. Jiraiya had found no more mentions of these Akatsuki.

Hiruzen jumped up startled as the doors to his office were thrown open. A squad of Anbu and two Jonin rushed into the room. The peculiar thing was that they all surrounded a cloaked man, he looked quite short.

The two Jonin at the back of the group, Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy, shut the doors behind them before the Anbu at the front stepped to the side as he gestured at the man in the middle.

“Hokage Sir, this man requested to meet you urgently, you should listen to what he has to say” the Anbu said before stepping to the side as the man stepped forward and pulled the hood of his cloak off of his head.

Hiruzen’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the man that stood before him “Hokage Sir, if you don’t know who I am my name is Yagura Karatachi and I’m the Fourth Mizukage” the man said as he bowed his head slightly.

Hiruzen was shocked for a moment before he composed himself and bowed his head slightly as well “please Mizukage just call me Hiruzen although I must ask why you are here” Hiruzen said with confusion in his tone.

“Then please call me Yagura. Before I tell you why I’m here I need to know. The two Jinchuriki you have here in Konoha: are they safe?” Yagura asked with a worried expression.

“Why?” Hiruzen asked sceptically.

“There is an organisation out there in the world calling themselves the Akatsuki. They attempted to control me using powerful Genjutsu but I’m a Jinchuriki so my tailed beast fought back for me and freed me from their control.

They were too strong even for the likes of me. I couldn’t beat them so I ran. I investigated every village to find the one that could help me. I’ve seen how much you care for those two Jinchuriki and I choose Konoha.

The Akatsuki are collecting Tailed Beasts, I am unsure as to why but that means that your two Jinchuriki are at risk” Yagura said.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and sighed in annoyance, he turned his eyes to the Anbu Captain off to the side. The Anbu stepped forward as Hiruzen’s eyes settled on him “send Anbu Squads 11 and 12. Kakashi and Guy, I ask that you accompany the squads and bring Kami, Naruto and Sasuke back as soon as possible” Hiruzen said as the Anbu nodded and then disappeared.

Kakashi and Guy vanished as well and Hiruzen turned back to Yagura “please allow me to go with them Hokage Sir. They are Jinchuriki like me and we Jinchuriki have to stick together. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I let two young Ninchuriki die before ever getting to form a connection with their talked beasts” Yagura said with a determined look.

Hiruzen let out a small sigh before nodding “you are welcome to join them. And please just call me Hiruzen. You are a Kage as well after all” Yagura nodded in thanks before Hiruzen had an Anbu lead Yagura to where the group would be leaving.

Hiruzen let out a sigh ‘please be okay’ he thought to himself as he crossed his arms.

Kami Uzumaki

We had finally arrived at Tanzaku City. It had taken a while to get here but we had finally arrived. We gained entrance to the city pretty easily thanks to my being a Ninja.

We quickly found a good inn putting our stuff away. I made sure to get my chokuto. I put on a bigger cloak than before so my chokuto would be hidden. I knew how dangerous this world could be and I wasn’t taking any chances.

We had decided to go and walk around the city for a bit and explore it. I walked slightly in front of Naruto and Sasuke. I assumed the Anbu were somewhere around watching us.

“So where should we check first?” Naruto asked as he glanced around at the people around us. I couldn’t see his face so I didn’t really know how he felt.

“There is a district of the city we should check out. Best place to check in my opinion” I said with a shrug.

We soon walked to the northern part of the city near the Tanzaku Castle, it was a tourist attraction and where most of the adult establishments were.

We moved to that area, it was around afternoon so I imagined there wouldn’t be that many people here but as we turned a corner we saw a crowd of people. The street was absolutely swarmed with people.

“Wow. Most people I’ve ever seen in one place” Sasuke said with a whistle of surprise. I nodded in agreement. I used to live in a large city in my old world so this was nothing compared to that but it is the most I've ever seen ever since coming to this world.

“Stay close, don’t want either of you two getting lost” I said as Naruto and Sasuke nodded and moved a bit closer to me “we can visit Tanzaku Castle as well if we find nothing, its a tourist destination after all” I said “sounds cool!” Naruto said excitedly, “Sounds fun” Sasuke said simply.

We moved into the crowds and I kept my eye on Sasuke and Naruto. I’d have to come back later on my own with a henge up so I could go into the casinos and stuff. I’d be able to get in with my Hitai-Ate since ninja can get into anywhere with it.

Granted it was still illegal to consume alcohol and gamble and such until 16 but if I was on a mission I may need to investigate those places so I would still be able to get inside. Right now all I was doing was noting where the more popular and wealthy bars and casinos were so I could investigate them more thoroughly later on.

I followed where the crowds were more numerous. We were quite close to Tanzaku Castle now and the crowds were bigger now. There were a lot fewer children than you’d think though, especially since this was a big tourist destination.

I understood why though. The Elemental Nations were a lot more dangerous to go travelling in. With chakra enhanced animals running around and bandits, it was a lot more dangerous to travel.

We walked around for a while but soon a commotion distracted us “ohhhh a fight!” Naruto said excitedly as he ran to the gathered crowd. Sasuke and I both sighed in exasperation as we followed. We pushed our way through the crowd and as soon as I saw what was happening I couldn’t believe my luck.

I watched as Tsunade drunkenly tried to push past a bouncer, arguing with the man as she did. It was obvious she wasn’t actually trying since she could rip the man to pieces even whilst blackout drunk.

I stared dumbfounded as Shizune tried to embarrassedly pull away Tsunade who didn’t budge even a little. I immediately face palmed at the scene and let out an annoyed sigh. She didn’t seem this bad in the show. I have to assume her scars were a lot more fresh.

Naruto and Sasuke seemed to sense my annoyance as they turned their heads to me questioningly.

I sighed before telling them “the drunk blond woman is Tsunade Senju” I said and both looked at me in absolute surprise.

Naruto’s head snapped to the raging woman as she attempted to throw a drunken and slow punch at the bouncer and proceeded to trip herself over as she fell face first on the ground. The bouncer looked annoyed and frustrated.

“THAT woman is the powerful Sannin you were talking about?” Naruto asked with a confused face as Tsunade climbed to her feet, humphed in annoyance before storming off. Shisune followed quickly, TonTon in her arms. The pig honked at the bouncer. I don’t know why but I felt like the pig was insulting the bouncer.

They quickly disappeared into the crowd and soon the crowd dispersed. We quickly followed after the two. I didn’t really care about the Anbu anymore as we followed where they went.

It was quite easy to find where they went as the crowd parted for the woman who fumed in anger. We continued tailing them but soon lost sight of them as they turned into an alleyway. Tsunade’s anger had seemed to sober her up a bit. We followed them into the alleyway but didn’t see them.

The alley was a dead end, there was a sheer wall that stood in front of us, we turned around to see the Sannin and Shizune standing at the end of the alley. “Why are you three following us?” Tsuande asked in a dangerous tone.

Naruto and Sasuke tensed up but I quickly pulled down my hood and the other two quickly followed. Tsunade’s eyes widened slightly as she saw our appearances. She seemed particularly surprised to see me and Naruto.

I took out my Hitai-Ate and placed it around my head finally getting my hair out of my face allowing it to spike up again.

“My name is Kami Uzumaki. Your Tsunade Senju. I need to speak with you” I said as I looked at her with hope in my eyes.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at me before she let out a sigh “I ain’t coming back. Don’t know why the old man thought you’d be able to convince me” she said with an exasperated sigh. She relaxed as she turned and immediately started walking away.

I quickly put my hood up and followed her, Naruto and Sasuke did the same and followed me.

“Wait, what do you mean?” I asked as I ran up beside her and walked beside her. I had a feeling and I was hoping I was wrong.

“What do you mean? It’s your mission” Tusnade said sarcastically as she glanced at me in annoyance.

I blinked before focusing on her “I don’t have a mission. Well I don’t have one issued by the village. I need to speak with you for a personal matter” I explained as I walked fast in order to keep up with her.

She seemed to look at me in surprise “fine then. Let’s go” she said as she turned down a street and led us away from the gambling district. I nodded in thanks.

Soon we were at an inn. We were in a booth off in the corner so we all took off our cloaks. Naruto, Sasuke and I were all sitting opposite Tsunade and Shizune. Shizune seemed quite confused as to why we were here.

“So why don’t you explain yourself brat” Tsuande said as she took a sip of her drink. It was some type of alcohol. Reminded me of beer.

I let out a sigh “what would it take for you to perform an eye transplant on me?” I said with a bit of hesitation in my voice.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow and stared at me for a while before laughing out loud. Naruto’s eyes narrowed and so did Sasukes.

I let out a sigh as her laughter soon subsided. She then looked at me a bit intently before her eyes widened slightly “you’re not joking?” she asked, it was obviously rhetorical.

I simply stared at her in response “well then my answer is simply. No” Tsunade said with a flat stare. “Not even for money?” I asked, she laughed again. “Kid I have more money that you’ll probably ever have” she said with a snort of laughter.

“Then what about a bet of some kind?” I said with a challenging look in my eye. She seemed to be interested “kid that sounds fun but I don’t do stuff like that anymore” she said with a dismissive.

Naurto had been silently fuming and Tsunade seemed to notice his anger as her eyes landed on him with a smirk “got something to say brat” she said with a challenging look. Naruto didn’t back down and simply jumped to his feet as he stood on the booth seat.

He pointed his finger accusingly at Tsunade “you have to help Kami!” he shouted at the woman as he glared at her in anger. I let out a sigh.

Tsunade glared right back at the blond “why should I help you annoying brats?” she asked seemingly genuinely curious as to what the blond would say.

“I’m going to be Hokage someday! Kami said he’d help me get there so he has to get as strong as he can so he can stand there with me!” Naruto said, passion in his voice as he set a fierce glare on the woman.

Tsuande’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the boy’s dream. She was suddenly angry instead of finding the situation amusing. Shizune seemed a bit worried.

I quickly grabbed Naruto’s arm and pulled him back into his seat “what about your apprentice? Shizune right? Could you perform the surgery?” I asked as my eyes set on Shizune.

Tsuande shook her head “no Shizune can’t do a surgery like that on her own” Tsuande said as Shizuen nodded to me agreeing with Tsuande.

I let out a sigh of annoyance “what I still don’t understand is why you came to me?” Tsuande questioned as her anger had seemed to subside. Naruto was still fuming.

“Because of the eye I was implanted. It was given to me as a gift by someone and it is very powerful. There are some people in Konoha I don’t trust and I won’t have it taken from me” I said with finality.

“You aren’t worried I'll take it from you?” Tsunade questioned with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“You can try,” I said, tensing up as I got ready to run with Naruto and Sasuke. I was sure she wouldn’t but I wasn’t taking any chances with Shisui’s eye.

She laughed at my response “wait.. What was that you were talking about earlier? That mission” I asked as I remembered.

“Ah.. I thought you were here to bring me back to Konoha, your Hokage wants to train me to be the next one” Tsuande said. Naruto suddenly started laughing out loud, one of his boisterous and rude ones.

“Hah! You! A Hokage!” he shouted followed by a lot more laughter as he seemingly found the idea impossible. Tsunade glared at the boy.

I couldn’t intervene and stop the blond because my mind was reeling. There were already some changes I had noticed but this… this was a big change. Hiruzen was looking for a replacement.

My mind went wild with possibilities. What else could’ve changed if one of the main plot points was starting early. Could the Akatsuki be active? Have I unknowingly endangered myself and Naruto. Sasuke as well.

I hated it but I panicked. I wasn't ready to face them and I let that fear for our lives get to me. I immediately got up, pulling my cloak on and putting away my headband. “We need to go!” I said quickly to Naruto and Sasuke who were startled at my sudden fear.

They didn’t delay any longer though. They trusted me so they got up and quickly pulled their cloaks on as I ran out of the inn, Tsunade just shrugged. Shizune sent a worried glance at our backs.

I stopped as I got out and glanced around, I noticed something in the corner of my eyes. A symbol. A man stood in an alley not that far from the inn we had just been in. He wore a cloak similar to ours as he stared at us, as our eyes met, mine widened in horror.

The man was one I didn’t recognise but under his cloak, he wore a flat jacket. It looked similar to ones that Jonin wore. The part that terrified me was the symbol that was placed on a flat jacket over the man's heart. One of a red cloud with a white outline.

I didn’t delay any longer “run!” I said to Naruto and Sasuke as I ran, they quickly followed me hearing the panic in my voice. The people around us all looked at us in annoyance as we broke into a sprint.

I immediately slipped on my headband since I’d have to fight. I wasn’t delusional that I could get out of this without a fight so I got myself ready. I still wanted to try and avoid it. We dashed into an alley and I made five groups of 3 clones. Two of them henged into Sasuke and Naruto and then we all split off. I ran with the real Naruto and Sasuke to the edge of the city.

We needed to leave as fast as possible.

“What’s happening?” Sasuke asked with a bit of fear in his voice. “We're being followed by some ninja. I doubt they just want to talk” I said, both of them got a lot more serious.

We soon got out of the city gates and ran to the forest in the distance. I soon realised the mistake I had made as two clone groups dispersed. Both had left the city.

I slid to a stop “run back to the city!” I shouted to Naruto and Sasuke but we were stopped as suddenly we were surrounded by cloaked individuals.

“Shit!” I said as I jumped in front of Sasuke and Naruto as I made two clones. Us three surrounded the two boys.

“Kami what’s going on!” Naruto said with a bit of fear in his voice. “It’s fine! I’ll protect you” I said as all three of us ripped our cloaks off as we pulled our swords out.

I wasn’t delusional, I could tell with my senses. These were all Jonin level Ninja. At my full power I could probably fight one but even then it’d be a low chance that I'd win.

I knew I was dead when two more shinobi showed up. Two missing nin. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki.

“Fuck!” I said as I glared at the two. The two were wearing their Akatsuki cloaks. I could see all the other ninjas wearing that same flat jacket I had seen earlier.

This wasn’t the Akasuki I was familiar with. I growled in annoyance. There was only one thing I could do.

Sasuke froze in fear as his eyes locked onto Itachi’s face. He started shaking in fear, his eyes wouldn’t move from the man as tears formed in his eyes.

I made another clone to keep watch on the group as I turned to Naruto and Sasuke. I saw Sasuke’s state and so my eyes landed on a scared Naruto and I stared at him.

“Naruto, I'm going to get you out of here. A clone will tell you where to go. You need to take Sasuke and get to Konoha as fast as you can. Do you understand?” I said quickly as I grabbed his shoulders after sheathing my chokuto.

Naruto shakily nodded his head “w-what about you?” he asked fearfully. I smiled at him as I placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair “don’t you worry about me. I’m gonna kick their arses and then we can go and get ramen from Ichiraku” I said as I gave the boy a comforting smile.

He nodded as some tears gathered in his eyes. I immediately made two clones who picked up one of the boys. Sasuke was shell shocked and unresponsive.

“I’ll hold you to that Kami!” Naruto shouted at me, I glanced back at him with a smirk.

I quickly turned back to the Akatsuki members. I moved in front of my clones as red chakra started to bubble around me as I entered the initial Jinchuriki form. I then let out a growl as I made a singular hand sign and created around 200 clones in an instant.

They covered the field. Every single Akatsuki Jonin and the two kage levels had tens of clones jumping at them. It allowed my two clones to jump out of the dogpile as they ran to the forest with Naruto and Sasuke. I jumped towards the forest before I slid to a stop.

I stood in between the direction that they retreated in and the Akatsuki members.

My clones were dealt with in about a minute. That was mainly because Kisame and Itachi didn’t help the others.

I sighed as Itachi and Kisame stood before me. They were about 3 metres from me. I gritted my teeth as Kurama sent me more chakra and a two tailed version 1 cloak flashed to life around me. The chakra bubbled and I crouched down as I unsheathed my chokuto and glared at the two.

“Hah! The little brat thinks he can beat us!” Kisame said with a laugh. Itachi just stared at me with an emotionless stare.

“I don’t. I just need to delay you so my brothers can get away” I said with a fierce tone. “You’re not getting my tailed beast” I growled with a fierce glare.

Kisame just laughed in mirth. Itachi narrowed his eyes at me. It seemed Kisame grew restless as he glared at me with a menacing grin. His sharp teeth glinted as he stared at me, “I'm going to have fun breaking you” he said in a menacing tone before he appeared in front of me, Samehada raised in the air.

Damn.

Meanwhile

“Shouldn’t we go after them?” Shizune said with a worried voice as she watched the three boys disappear, she turned to Tsunade who was looking down at her glass in thought. Shizune stared at her teacher “he looked panicked” Tsuande said as she lifted her glass and downed it in one.

“Didn’t he?” Tsunade asked Shizune who nodded “at what though” Tsunade said as she let out a sigh of frustration “kids annoy me” she said as she got up. Shizune followed her as they left the inn “let’s go find them”.

Shizune smiled happily as the two left.

Meanwhile

Kami stared in horror as the sword seemed to just appear out of thin air. The sword slammed into his gut. The armour plates on his front only enhanced the damage as they ripped into his skin. He was sent flying from the hit.

He flew through the air for a few seconds before his body slammed into the ground as he tumbled across the dirt and grass, soon crashing into a tree. A sickening crack sounded out as Kami hit the tree, his arm being crushed against the tree by his body.

His left arm had broken. He was sure of that as he slowly climbed to his feet, as soon as he stood he fell back down to his knees, his left arm bent in the wrong way. He propped himself up with his right arm.

He puked out a lot of blood as his chest and stomach screamed in pain. He looked down to see blood quickly staining his shirt. He focused Kurama’s healing to his stomach where most of the blood was coming from.

He slowly pushed himself to his feet with a grunt of pain. This was easily the most pain he had ever been in but he didn’t care. He couldn’t let them get to Naruto and Sasuke. They were the ones that would save the world. They were his brothers.

“Hah! Look Itachi! He's still going” Kisame said with a laugh as he appeared in front of Kami with Itachi at his side. Kami’s glare was fixed on them. He had lost his chokuto from that first hit.

‘Kurama I need more’ Kami thought, ‘I can’t Kid, you’d have to release the seal and you can’t do that. You don’t have the key’ Kurama sent back as Kami let out a growl of annoyance.

Kisame walked up to the broken and bleeding Kami as he raised his sword high “Kisame we need him alive” Itachi said with an even tone.

Kisame scoffed “yeah but we don’t need his legs. He’s less likely to run then” Kisame said with a grin. He looked down at Kami as he swiped down his sword.

A screech of metal sounded out as the sword was rebuffed by a black metal club. Kisame then was thrown away as a kick slammed into his chest. He was pushed backwards next to Itachi as three people suddenly stood in front of Kami.

Kami’s eyes widened as he saw one of them, ‘Yagura Karatachi?’ he thought confused as he stared at the back of the fourth Mizukage. The others were Kakashi and Might Guy.

Kisame growled in annoyance as his eyes landed on Yagura “look who’s back Itachi” Kisame said with a grin as he rested Samehada on his shoulder. Yagura glared at the two Akatsuki members.

Kakashi had his headband lifted revealing his shining sharingan. Guy crouched down.

The ten Akatsuki Jonin suddenly had two squads of Anbu surrounding them which amounted to about 15 Anbu.

Yagura glared at Itachi and Kisame. “There are more members than these two. Be careful” Yagura said as he spun his club before he shot forward. Kakashi and Guy followed him.

The Anbu quickly engaged with the Jonin level Akatsuki Ninja as the fight began in earnest. Kisame flashed through hand seals as large waves of water were spat from Kisame’s mouth, Yagura, Kakashi and Guy all jumped up high to avoid the wall of water coming for them.

Yagura screamed in pain as a bit of clay slammed into his back and promptly exploded in a deafening explosion. The force pushed Guy and Kakashi away as they were sent off to the side.

Kami watched as Deidara entered the fight. He couldn’t compete here no matter how much it infuriated him. So he ran. He ran in the direction of Tanzaku City.

Kakashi and Guy landed on opposite sides of the water that was quickly spreading across the field. Yagura suddenly charged forward out of the smoke cloud that covered him. He had used a Jutsu that created a platform of water underneath his feet.

He launched himself at two Akatsuki members. He slammed his club down on the area where Kisame was standing. Itachi had already jumped off to the side to evade whilst the grinning shark man launched himself to meet Yagura head on.

Kisame grinned as he parried the blow with Samehada. Yagura's eyes narrowed as he was thrown back from the strength of the blow. He span through the air righting himself as he made a hand sign with his free right hand.

Yagura smirked as the water that Kisame had spread around gathered around him forming into a massive dragon before it launched itself at Kisame. Most of the water had been used in that Jutsu so the area had cleared mostly.

Yagura landed easily as the dragon flew at Kisame. Kisame growled in annoyance as the bandages covering Samahade were loosened. He smirked as he launched himself at the dragon, lifting Samehada into the air as he slashed downwards.

The large dragon of water was split in two as its shape deformed when the chakra holding it together was absorbed by the hungry sword. Yagura narrowed his eyes as hefted his staff in his left hand as changes started to appear.

A grey strong looking shell slowly grew out of the Jinchuriki’s back. It covered most of his back and looked impenetrable. Yagura then shot towards Kisame as they engaged in a back and forth fight.

Attacks with a club and with a sword flew at their opponent intent on ending the fight quickly. Kisame struck with pure raw strength that Yagura was forced to deflect away or to dodge whilst Kisame blocked and powered through Yagura’s attacks.

Kakashi and Guy stood before three of the Akatsuki members “of course we draw the short straw” Kakashi said with a groan.

Guy smirked at his friends' annoyance as they faced three Akatsuki members. Itachi Uchiha, Deidara and Sasori. Kakashi and Guy recognised them all since they were all infamous missing nin.

Sasori jumped back as the two puppets with him moved in front of him to stand beside Itachi and Deidara.

The fight began with Guy shooting forward at high speeds. Itachi immediately ran to meet him as they engaged in Taijutsu. Guy threw punches with high speed and strength that caused shockwaves in the air around them.

Itachi’s Mangekyo allowed him to keep up with the taijutsu master. Guy made sure to avoid Itachi’s eyes as he focused on trying to hamper the Uchiha’s movements by aiming for his legs.

Kakashi ran at Deidara. His Sharingan flashed as Deidara launched balls of clay at him. Kakashi dodged each one with ease as he ran at Deidara. Kakashi took out a Kunaiw ith such speed that it appeared in his hand before he tossed it at Deidara as he flashed through hands seals.

A large 15ft fireball was spewed out of Kakshi’s mouth as it launched at Deidara. Deidara dodged the Kunai but frowned as the fireball came blasting towards him. He tossed some clay at it as he jumped into the air making the seal of confrontation as the clay exploded.

The explosion threw the fireball of track and Deidara used the distraction to launch more orbs of clay at Kakashi. The two continued this, throwing jutsu back and forth as they tried to lure the other into a trap.

Kami was running, this fight was something he couldn’t compete in. This was a fight that had Kage level ninja running about. One day he’d have the strength to compete but today wasn;’t the day.

“Oh no you don’t!” Kami heard from his side as a kick slammed into his back sending him flying in the direction of the city. He slammed hard into the ground as he tumbled across the dirt.

He slowly managed to push himself up with his unbroken right arm. The pain was too much for him to focus so the cloak had dispersed by now. He looked up to see Yagura fighting Kisame. He was fine because he had a shell on his back.

Kami looked over to the entrance of the city as two people walked out of it. The guards of the city were standing at the entrance watching the fight with fear in their eyes.

Tsunade’s eyes widened as her eyes landed on Kami. Shizune immediately rushed over as the pig jumped from her arms. She immediately placed her hands on Kami as green chakra surrounded her hands.

Kami felt a warm energy rush into his body as it focused on his worse wounds.

Kisame slashed his sword downwards at Yagura who spun his club in a circle creating a circle of water that quickly formed a mirror in it. An exact replica of Kisame jumped back at him.

Samehada cut through the clone and the mirror. Yagura tsked in annoyance as the fight returned to the slug fest it was.

Tsunade’s POV

I flinched as the sounds of the fights reached my ears. The battle didn’t reach me though as I saw the ruined state of the Uzumaki boy. He was covered in blood. His arm was bent at the wrong angle.

I saw so many cuts across his body. I stared in horror at the blood dripping down his cheek. Shizune was trying her best to heal the boy but he was too wounded.

I collapsed to my knees as memories rushed through my mind. I remembered Nawaki and Dan but something broke me out of my memories as my eyes moved up to the boy’s face.

Kami’s eyes were shining in determination. His eyes stared at the fight in anger. He wasn’t scared or shaking in fear like I was, he was pissed. Pissed that he couldn't compete. I saw the anger in his eyes but also the excitement.

He wanted to fight these people. He wanted to be on their level so he could fight at that level. He was excited.

Something else took my attention as a scream of pain hit my ears. I looked back at the fight to see the shark man had grabbed the man with the shell by the neck. The shark man kneed him in the stomach before throwing his body away.

He then flashed through hand signs as the water around him rose up as three sharks of water blasted towards the shell man.

The shark-like man then looked over at Kami as he rushed towards the boy and towards Shizune. His eyes then moved to me as a gleeful grin appeared on his face as he changed his course and shot towards me.

He laughed in glee as he shot towards me “I get to kill a Sannin!” he said as he raised his sword. He soon arrived at me and I stared up in horror as he raised his sword “no” I weakly said.

My body wouldn’t move as memories flashed through my mind, I couldn’t muster up the will to move my body. He stared down at me for a few seconds seemingly relishing in the moment as his sadistic grin sent shivers down my spine.

Just as he was about to slam his sword down, he grunted as a body slammed into his side red chakra bubbled around the boy as his foot slammed into the shark man’s face.

The man wasn’t hurt by it but he was pushed away by it a bit. The broken body of Kami stood in between me and the man.

I stared at the boy’s back. I couldn’t believe that he’d get in the way of this man “why” I whispered as I stared at his back.

I flinched back as the boy looked back at me, his eyes glowed red. The whiskers on his cheeks more pronounced, his teeth sharp and canine like.

He scoffed as his eyes took me in “because I'm a shinobi. I want to be the strongest, to stand before any threat. If I back down now then I let an innocent person die and I can’t do that” he said in a firm tone of voice.

My eyes widened as the boy crouched down facing off against a ninja that could kill him in a heartbeat. He didn’t seem to care though.

The man laughed at Kami’s words as he shot forward, a kick slamming into the boy’s side. He was stopped from flying off as the man grabbed his arm lifting his limp body before slamming it into the ground.

Kami bounced off of the ground after cracking the earth, the man then spun and slammed a kick into Kami’s side, he screamed in pain as he was thrown off to the side. I watched as the boy slammed into the ground and tumbled across the earth for a few seconds before he slid to a stop face down in the dirt.

A few seconds later a fierce glare set upon the man as Kami looked up. It was an obvious struggle as he attempted to push himself up, he fell back down everytime. The man seemed to take a sadistic glee from the struggle.

I stared in surprise as the boy pushed himself to a kneeling position and then to his feet but as soon as he put pressure on his left leg a sickening crack sounded out as he fell back to his knees. His left leg just broke.

He couldn’t get to his feet so instead he raised his right hand and formed a hand sign. A small sphere of compressed air appeared in his palm as he pointed it at the man and it blasted towards him.

The man laughed as he swatted the ball of air away with his sword before he leisurely walked over to the boy. A kick slammed into his face sending him tumbling to the ground but Kami stared in fury at the man that stood above him.

Kami wasn’t scared, he was staring death in the face like he had met it before, like he knew the feeling. I had seen so many people face death. They cried in horror, they gave up on trying to live, they shook in fear. But she had never seen someone stare at death in fury, challenging it.

Kami was angry, not at dying but at himself. He wanted to be able to fight this man and it infuriated him to be just laying there unable to do anything. Why couldn’t I be like that?

The man raised his sword to finish Kami off and I tried to rush over to help but my legs failed me. The man however was launched away by a club that slammed into his face. The shell man looked over at me with a fierce glare “Sanninn Heal him!” he shouted as he pointed at Kami before he rushed after the shark man. kami had passed out from the pain.

My body was kickstarted by the shout and I rushed over and immediately got to work trying to heal the unconscious boy. His defiance had awoken something in me. Even in the face of death he didn’t stop trying to fight, he only stopped when his body gave up on him.

I stared down at the boy as I sent green chakra through his body to see his injuries. I was shocked. The boy had so many broken bones, internal bleeding, and punctured organs. He should’ve died a long time ago.

I felt something though, a foreign chakra seeping through his body. As I set about healing the most dangerous wounds, I felt the chakra aiding mine. It strengthened my healing and gave me a lot more chakra to work with.

I had a lot more chakra to work with now so I used it. I empowered all of my healing and did everything I could to stop the boy from dying. He had saved my life after all so I’d do the same for him, I didn’t like being in debt to someone after all.

I knew what the chakra was. It was from the tailed beast inside him, his clothes were ripped and torn in places so I could see Minato’s work on his stomach. To think Kushina and Minato’s kid was this mentally strong. It kind of made sense.

I hadn’t noticed when three people joined me, two young boys and an adult man. It was Kami’s two brothers.

“Please heal him!” The blond boy said with fear in his eyes. The black haired boy fixed a fierce pleading glare on me. I simply nodded as I focused back on healing him. Shizune was at my side doing her best to help as well.

I couldn’t let this boy die. He had saved my life and I needed to thank him.