Chapter 60
I appeared in what looked like an old room with pipes connecting each everywhere. One of the pipes must have burst or leaking because I was standing in water that seemed to be coming from somewhere; However, compared to what I had seen in the original, there was considerably little water. Barely above the sole of my sandal. A second or so later, Naruto appeared right beside me.
"How did you get here so quick?" I smiled at him without answering him.
"That aside, can you feel that, the killing intent radiating from that direction?" Naruto nodded and began walking slowly towards that direction with me behind him. After a short while, we appeared in front of an extremely large cage. The inside of the cage was dark and we could barely see what was inside.
"Oh, to think the brat would come here on his own, and he brought a friend. Come closer so I can rip you to shreds!" An ominous voice sounded from the other side of the cage. Finally getting a closer look, I had to admit, I was terrified. I never thought I would be, after all, I already knew from the anime and manga the size of Kurama, but boy, oh boy, did they not do him justice.
I felt like a was standing right in front of a few hundred sky scrapers that were threatening to fall on me at any second, if my analogy made any sense.
"Amazing" I couldn't help but say. As threatening as he looked, he still looked magnificent. Naruto had begun talking with the fox but honestly, I barely caught anything most of what they were talking about. An enraged roar pulled me from my thoughts and fascination and force Naruto out.
"Oh, you are still here? Not bad. How about you come closer and remove this seal for me. I can grant you power if you do." The fox began to try and tempt me. Such a terrible temptation; maybe if he were a beautiful nine tails demon fox, I might have considered.
"No thank you. I actually came here to ask for your help, Kurama. It's about your old man and his mother." The mention of his name definitely got his attention.
"Who told you that name?!" The nine tails stood threateningly in all his glory, glaring down at me. Even with a cage between us, I still felt myself shiver from the imposing creature before me. No, a fair majority was from excitement.
"I know a lot of things, and it is one of the reasons why I have come to ask for your help today. Will you hear me out?" There was a bit of hope in my heart. If he agreed to help me then I would not need to go through so much trouble.
"Get out!" A rush of killing intent struck me and forced me out. I came out with a throbbing headache.
"That stubborn fox! It's no wonder the other tailed beasts don't like you, you stubborn old fox!" I was pissed. I thought by at least calling out his real name, he would calm down and allow me to talk. He was like a grumpy old man. Why did it work in other fanfics but did not work with me?
"Oi Sakura, are you ok?" Naruto asked in concern. He had come out but his friend had not, and that made him worried.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." I picked myself up and dusted myself. "Keep at him Naruto. He may look all big and threatening but he is just a big softy on the inside." I spoke the last words, screaming at Naruto's belly where the seal was placed. I could only sigh in defeat. That meant I needed to go this the hard way. So frustrating.
"Take care Naruto, I'm going on a mission." I bid Naruto farewell who assured me he would wear down the 'big softy', as I called him, by the time I got back. I made my way home to receive my mission from the old woman. Thankfully she was not home, but she left the mission scroll where I could find it. It did not matter if someone got their hands on it, they would not be able to get it open without our blood. Even if they did get it open, the contents only revealed itself using a key. Even if you did manage to get the key, the contents were coded, and finally, the scroll self-destructed in fifteen seconds after opening it.
Unlocking the scroll, I quickly read its contents, then destroyed it myself. "An escort mission this time, huh? Hopefully I can finish this quickly so I can head to the fire temple. I just hope it is there." I wore my Anbu gear and packed up a few necessities in my storage seal before disappearing with flicker.
While moving on top of rooftops at rapid speeds, I caught a glimpse of something that made me my inner geek seep out. An old man with long white spike hair that reached his back was currently peeking through the women's bath while making weird noises. I sat on the roof, just staring at him doing his 'research'. There was probably only one person in all of Konoha that would 'research' like this.
I would have loved nothing more than to meet one of my greatest and favorite characters in the Naruto Universe, but now was not the time. I had my gear on, but not my mask. I took in a deep breath, almost as if I was casting a Great Fireball Jutsu. The man, who seemed to have sensed something bad turned to my direction. Seeing me, he shook his head vigorously to stop me but I let it out; "KYAA! PEEPING TOM!" My voice was loud enough for not just those in the bath, but the surrounding people to hear as well, making the naked ladies all yell out.
The man panicked and quickly gathered his writing material and bolted. He looked behind him and saw me waving at him with a smile. "That felt good" I said to myself before disappearing from the rooftop and finally exiting Konoha.
…
I had been traveling for a while now. The mission this time, although not as tedious as the others, seemed long and boring. I was to escort someone from the land of tea. It was a covert operation that was supposed to be treated as if it were the Daimyo himself that I would be escorting. For some reason I felt this mission was going to be troublesome. With my speed, I could easily and quickly get there. The problem would be bringing back the person that needed protection; I really did not want it to be some weird old person who had to be carried in a chair.
I began to make my way towards the land of tea. I did not release my gravity seal, instead, I pushed the current gravity sealed body to the limit. I had not once stopped increasing the power of the seals. It was just that, now, the rate of increase had slowed considerably. The healing of the tears and wears of the muscles could no longer keep up. Until I received the Nukutai Kassei No Jutsu (Body Revival Jutsu) from Orochimaru, I could no longer risk raising the gravity seal any more than I currently had.