Chapter 30 -> Part 30

I took off my haori, folding and stuffing it into my bag then retied my hitai-ate to completely obscure my hair color, hiding my sticks in my bag as well, replacing them with the bokken I sealed into the hilt of one of the sticks and strapping that to my back in the same manner Sakumo wore his sabre. There was nothing to reveal my identity to foreign ninja. About a quarter-mile of walking later, three Iwa Jōnin materialized in front of me. I focused my paltry sensing abilities and felt the bare edges of the Iwa camp ahead and to my right.

"Hello, Jōnin-san. I'm Konoha's diplomat for the duration of these peace negotiations. Per the agreement made at the end of the previous war, peace negotiation must be made between two groups of equal numbers and rank. For the sake of the pretext of fairness and assuaging everyone's paranoia, I would like to request that the agreement in that respect be honored and that there be equal representation present. Just so there is no confusion, I am a Chuunin, Shimura-san is a Jōnin, Sarutobi-san is a Genin, and Kage are considered to be in their own rank."

Without a word, the Jōnin melted away, at least visibly, and I watched them return to their camp through my chakra sense.

"What are you thinking?" Danzō hissed at me as soon as they were out of earshot. "Now they're going to return with prisoners, maybe the Hokage himself, and outnumber us."

"Keep up, Shimura-san, that was the idea. Little Sarutobi-san here just told us he has excellent aim. If worst comes to worst, he throws a bunch of kunai at our own men to free them and we'll be evenly matched. The idea is to have the Hokage here, because I don't have a lick of experience with this and I don't trust you to fulfil the contract. If anything goes south, you need to get him away as fast as you possibly can." I turned away from him and plopped down where I stood, crossing my legs. Kanon ruffled her feathers and settled onto my shoulder to wait, one eye never leaving Danzō.

It only took a few minutes for the Iwa delegation to arrive with three prisoners: The Hokage, the man I recognized as the Uchiha clan head, and, to my surprise, Tsunade. All three had standard Konoha prisoner seals on their chests, meant to prevent them from using chakra. Though Tsunade and the Uchiha were probably unable to break free of the seals, and thus were easily contained by the wire that bound their hands and feet, I knew the Hokage had to be capable of escaping it. The seal was only meant to contain Jōnin and below, not S-ranked nin and Kage. By the nearly-dead look of their extremities, all three of them would have significant damage to their hands and feet once the ropes came off. I ignored the Tsuchikage standing in front of me until I had assessed the number of people present as well as the condition of Iwa's prisoners. I wasn't entirely surprised when I finally recognized the man seething at my inattention to him.

Ōnoki stood in front of me, his arms crossed.

"Have a seat, Tsuchikage-san, I have a feeling we will be here for some time," I invited politely. "I apologize for the fact that there is no tea or refreshments to share, but as you can see, we are in the middle of a forest. If you would like, I'm sure Sarutobi-san would be able to find something."

"Who are you, boy?" Ōnoki remained standing

"I'm the person you will be dealing with when it comes to relations between Konoha and Iwa."

"What is your name?"

"You may call me Ryuunosuke for now." Ōnoki stiffened at that before grinning. I suppressed a shudder of fear. I had a feeling I would regret using my father's name instead of a code or the most generic name in Fire Country.

"That is not your real name."

"No, it is not." I feared he knew exactly who I was.

"I would like to know who exactly I'm dealing with."

"With all due respect, Tsuchikage-san, there is a significant difference in strength between us. My rank is already far more information about myself than I am comfortable with giving out. On the off-chance that you may be familiar with my name, I would like to preserve my anonymity."

Ōnoki just smirked and accepted the statement. "Do you have the authority to speak for your village?"

"I have the authority to represent, speak for, and make binding agreements on behalf of my village." I inclined my head towards the Hokage, who nodded in confirmation. "Considered Hokage-sama is currently compromised, my authority on village matters supersedes his. Uzumaki Kichiro, who is currently the head of the village, granted me the authority to hand back his authority when I see fit."

"You are only a child, and according to all reports, this Uzumaki Kichiro is only a young teenager." Translation: I see our information on you has been lacking.

Continuing the veiled conversation would not do me any favors. "I believe we have terms of a peace treaty to discuss. I see no reason to debate the workings and choices of my village leadership with an outsider."

He gave a nod of respect and sat down in front of me. "What do you know of the current situation?"

"I think you have misjudged my character. I am not an individual who is eager to please. In our world, information is currency and I've given as much as I'm willing to without proper compensation."

That comment initiated a staring contest between us. After a few minutes, I felt his killing intent press down on me. I didn't react or retaliate. The Hokage shifted slightly, which broke the contest in my favor when the Tsuchikage glanced towards him in alarm.

"What are your terms?" I asked, ignoring the Hokage's smirk. The seal tag on the front of his chest was slightly blackened around the edges and the tiny bit of glowing that indicated an active seal was gone. There was a very small number of people who would be able to tell the difference between an active and inactive tag with only a glance. I didn't know how the hell the Hokage managed it, but the man in his place was now a clone disguised as a Genjutsu, I was certain of it, especially when the slightly-singed tag fixed itself. A quick glance behind me revealed Itsuki was represented by a similar Genjutsu.

"I think you know exactly what I want," the Tsuchikage sneered at me. I refocused my attention back on him.

"I think I know as well, but assumptions kill. I also think you have an idea of how much I am willing to yield." I was stalling, dragging the debate out for as long as possible. The Hokage deserved the time with his son and I didn't want to leave Konoha.

Ōnoki studied me for a long time.

"Or perhaps you don't, I don't care. Now, have you written up your demands or not?"

The rest of the encounter went around in circles until it ended up with the agreement Danzō informed me of to begin with. By the time the Tsuchikage and I signed the final document, the sun had fully risen and my nerves were wound so tightly I felt as though I was about to snap. Haggling my own safety and that of a child who may or may not have been watching the entire arrangement was, as of yet, the worst experience of my life, which was compounded by the fact it had dragged on far longer than it needed to. It was worsened by the fact that I knew the fate of the entire village hung in the balance. I knew there were more people watching than I could see or sense, and that was just the icing on the cake.

"Now, Ryuunosuke-san, you have promised me the Uzumaki boy, where is he?" The Tsuchikage demanded with a smirk as we all stood.

I closed my eyes and debated how to answer his question, not for his benefit but as a statement of strength to the Iwa ninja. I was glad I still wore the bandages around my forehead to cover up the seal, similar to how most Branch Hyuuga members hid their cursed seal. Slowly and deliberately, I untied my hitai-ate to reveal my red hair, then retied it normally.

"I am Uzumaki Kichiro." The Iwa ninja blanched.

One of the Tsuchikage's men whistled. "You got balls, kid."

Ōnoki scowled at the man. I just felt sick, even though I valiantly tried to hide it, I was sure most people present picked up on it.

The Hokage's clone dissipated into leaves and he materialized beside me, a hand on my back. It gave the Iwa nin a fright but I didn't even flinch, even though it startled me just as much. The Hokage pushed chakra through my Chuunin vest and I felt it activate the seal tattooed over my right shoulder blade. It burned for a moment but quickly faded. "Do not die for me, boy," the Hokage hissed in my ear before looking up. The seal on my forehead twinged. The two Kage exchanged a look indecipherable to everyone else.

I pulled my bag onto my shoulder, attempting to end the exchange as soon as possible. The treaty was signed and Iwa had no reason to linger in the Land of Fire. "It's been said I have an extremely poor sense of direction but even I know you're facing the wrong way if you're heading back to Iwa," I informed the Tsuchikage before a staring contest could begin and a fight could break out. I bit back the insult when the Hokage's grip tightened on my shoulder.

"You had a good shinobi in the making." The Tsuchikage's hand tightened around my arm while he addressed the Hokage. I tensed as the Hokage's hand wrapped around my other arm. I was just a pawn in their power struggle, which was painfully clear to everyone present. By myself, I couldn't tip the scales one way or another, but I could make sure neither benefited.

I jerked sharply out of their grips. "I believe this meeting is over. Iwa has no reason to remain in the Land of Fire and Konoha has no reason to go back on their word." I untied the bokken from my back and sealed it away, the most obvious motion I could make to tell everyone present to back down. The Kyuubi's chakra drew the attention of everyone present before I shut it down and stood there with my arms crossed.

Both sides retreated simultaneously, the Tsuchikage regaining his grip on my arm and dragging me away while a Jōnin picked up Itsuki, not even trying to be gentle. The Hokage's didn't even try to hide his emotions as Danzō grabbed his arms and firmly restrained him from acting. Within a minute, the entire contingent of Iwa nin had left their prisoners behind, incapacitated. I didn't close my eyes until we made it across the border into Ame, as strange as it sounded. I didn't dare close my eyes when I knew at least a half-dozen Konoha teams had to be trailing us until we passed beyond their patrol range. It wasn't until we crossed back into Earth country that I allowed myself to fall asleep for most of the night, tightly wrapped with invisible defensive seals. Nothing living would be able to touch me while I slept, not even the tiny Aburame bugs that had camped out in the bottom of my pack, drawing on my chakra for survival. Itsuki had been unsurprisingly separated from me. My cooperation had been promised, so the closest anyone came to me was to hand me a small portion of the evening meals. It wasn't until we were in Earth country that anyone spoke a single word to me. The Iwa nin were that much more comfortable on their own turf. It was a good thing silence never bothered me.

When we reached the village, I was escorted to a separate entrance, blindfolded, by Iwa's version of ANBU while the others returned through the main one in a triumphant parade. When the blindfold was taken off, we were in a small apartment-like lodging.

"For your own safety, please do not leave your lodgings. It will be your quarters for the duration of your stay." The Iwa-ANBU respectfully exited the apartment. "Tomorrow morning someone will escort you to meet with the Tsuchikage about your role here." The door closed.

Kanon zipped around the lodgings once before landing on my head with a nanny-cam in his beak. "There's cameras everywhere."

"I didn't even know these things existed yet. It seems like Iwa is holding out on us. Think it has a microphone inside?"

"It can't be very powerful if it does, so stick it in the kitchen cupboard."

"You know that would tip them off that we know what this is. Konoha doesn't have cameras."

"I'll get them all and you can stick them in the kitchen drawer like junk."

"In comparison to what I had in my world, this is junk."

"But here, this is extremely high-tech."

"I could make them paranoid about what Konoha knows and set up all the cameras facing outside the apartment so they become my personal security."

Kanon trilled in laughter. "That would be hilarious, but considering Konoha still has to catch up with this, it wouldn't be wise to spur them so much further ahead."

"Go get the others," I said and wandered around until I found the kitchen and tossed it in the drawer, followed by at least ten others from Kanon.

"What do you think they are?" Kanon asked, sounding like a horribly staged question.

"They're not going to blow up so just leave them in the drawer. If you ever feel like telling me what they're really called, I'll be waiting."

With the technique that diminished my need for sleep, I wasn't particularly tired. After setting up seals that would paralyze anyone, and block anything else, that attempted to enter the room I slept in, I fell on the bed and released the summoning.

(-_-)

I woke up to someone banging impatiently on the bedroom door. For a moment, I was inexplicably disoriented. They tried the handle, and I managed to get to the door and jerk it open before they could let go and pulled them through the seal. I almost threw a brace of senbon at their companion waiting beside him when he put his hands up in surrender.

Once I determined they weren't a threat, I released the seal and let the Iwa Chuunin fall on his face.

"What was that?" The Chuunin demanded angrily as he picked himself off the ground.

"I don't like people walking in while I'm trying to sleep, so I don't let them. Is it time to go?"

The Chuunin's partner, who couldn't have been older than fifteen, stared at me in awe as he nodded.

Self-consciously, I touched my forehead to make sure the bandages still covered it. It did, so I wasn't exactly sure what he was staring at. Since they were both standing in the doorway and made no motion to move, I turned on my heel and went to pick up my Chuunin vest from the ground and pulled on my sandals. I wasn't very good at taking my shoes off at the door. Generally, they ended beside the bed when I took them off at night.

I donned my sticks and medic pouch, picking up the senbon pouch thoughtfully. "I don't need those," I murmured and tossed it down on my bed, then dumped my bag out on top of it. Several scrolls tumbled out, most of which were filled with clothes, and I separated those, fishing out a scroll with the more complete medical set, which I attached to the small of my back above my sticks.

Keeping my back to the door, I pulled off the bandages around my forehead, quickly finger-combed my hair, and replaced the bandages. I tied my forehead protector over it, pulled on my haori, and turned around, ready to leave. The teenaged Chuunin stared at me suspiciously.

"What?" I demanded.

The older Chuunin sneered at me. "You're meeting with Tsuchikage-sama."

"Your point?"

"Daimyō-sama will be there as well."

"Your point?"

"Most foreign nin wear their formal clothes."

"I am not most foreign nin. I don't care if I step on the toes of a noble no matter how powerful. I'm here simply because Iwa is using me to control Konoha, not to cater to the opinions of those who supposedly hold power." I crossed my arms and glared until they backed down.

Stupid human traditions. The Kyuubi said as we walked out of the apartment and directly onto the street.

Nice to hear from you.

The younger ninja before you is the Jinchuuriki of the Yonbi, who is sealed away beyond contact.

Thanks, am I going to have a running commentary for this meeting? I asked hopefully.

Not unless you insist on being as much of an imbecile as those around you, so shut up.

"So, Jinchuuriki-san, gonna share your name or—"

He stiffened and yanked me out of the street and into an alleyway. I tripped with a yelp and landed on my butt as a rock wall appeared between us and the other Chuunin. "Are you stupid?" He snarled in my face while I climbed to my feet. "I don't know how it is in Konoha, but the people here abhor Jinchuuriki!"

"So? Everyone knows who I am here—"

"And my brother knows it! Does it not bother you when he was sneering at you?"

"I'm pretty sure only my family and my sensei actually like me and they're the only ones who matter, so no, it doesn't bother me."

He crossed his arms. "That's not how it works."

I flinched as someone barreled into the rock wall, which had expanded to envelop us in a cube of stone, that was somehow lit by a light with no origin. "Well, if they hate you because they can't get past the fact you have a giant chakra creature in your gut, they're not worth the effort it takes to see their idiocy." I responded stubbornly. "And I would love to talk to you about this, but I prefer it to be when there aren't people ready to take off my head for it." Another impact rocked the cube, and I grabbed a wall for support.

The teen's shoulders slumped and the cube crumbled, showing at least a dozen and counting Iwa nin about to attack. I barely managed to knock away a kunai from striking him at the last second. He must have been wound tighter than I thought, because somehow, illogically, the Yonbi's chakra started to leak out in a trickle then a rush.

You humans are idiots.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. What the hell do I do now?

Stop him.

I can't do the Five Elements Seal unless someone pins him down and gets me some brushes and ink.

Then let me.

Have at it.

I closed my eyes and loosened the seal restraining the Kyuubi.

"Kyuubi!" The Yonbi snarled through the teen.

The Kyuubi just manifested a mass of chakra around me and leapt forward, pinning the rapidly transforming Jinchuuriki. "Be still," he ordered and everything seemed to freeze. Something passed between the two Bijū and the transformations slowly reversed until the Kyuubi left me with control of my own body and I stood up, leaning heavily against the alley wall.

"That was a very, very stupid thing to do, on the part of everyone present," I panted out. "So, lets learn from our mistakes, to keep ahold of our tempers and paranoia, be nice to our comrades, and don't, for the love of all that's holy, attempt a Jinchuuriki transformation for the first time in the middle of a populated area, even if it is only filled with grouchy Iwa ninja."

They just stared at me like I was insane, which I probably was.

"I'm going to pass out, someone—"

(-_-)

"Let go of the Leaf child, Rōshi-kun," someone murmured pacifyingly.

Another person's arm tightened around my torso and my heels dragged on the ground as whoever it was dragged me another step away, a blade at my throat. "No!" The person dragging me snapped. "I've had enough of your shit to last a lifetime; I won't take it anymore."

"This is no way to repay—"

"I owe you nothing. You said I'd be a hero, but here I'm only despised. You said I'd be strong, but I'm not. You promised a lot of things, but not once have you delivered. I'm done with this!"

I was so glad I kept pre-made seals in my medic pouch. Before anyone realized I was conscious, I pulled one out and slapped it on the leg of the person holding me, grabbing the handle of the blade at the same time so it wouldn't slit my throat. Neck wounds were no fun to heal. They collapsed backwards and I landed on my hands and knees. Someone ran forward and Bijū chakra burned away the paralysis tag.

"Wind Prison jutsu!" I snapped and caught the Jinchuuriki and the person running forward, lifting them into the air. They thrashed in their individual prisons, but otherwise everyone backed up as the Kyuubi assisted in containing the Yonbi's attempts to escape the prison. It was a good thing I didn't use hand seals and I probably looked like I was possessed. "A fire jutsu won't get you out," I told the other nin as they started to run through hand seals. "It'll just get blown around until it burns you up. Water will just end up turned to ice and slice you to ribbons, an earth jutsu will peel your skin off. I don't know what a lightning jutsu will do, but if you feel like seeing what happens when you're trapped with a bunch of electricity, feel free."

He smirked and started a different set of hand seals.

"And in case you didn't know, I'm wind-natured and have a near-infinite supply of chakra."

He tried it anyway. I assumed he attempted to blow a giant mass of wind in my direction, but it just blew all the air out of the prison.

I compressed it so the person didn't blow themselves up through the lack of pressure. "Cool! I didn't know it did that! I wonder if I could take the air out by myself." The trapped nin's eyes widened in horror.

"No experimenting with jutsu inside the village, Uzumaki!" The Tsuchikage's voice snapped from behind the onlookers. They parted to reveal the Tsuchikage marching forward, furious, with what could only be the Daimyō trailing behind him. He stopped in shock when he took in the situation. "You are containing the Yonbi," he deadpanned. I glanced over at the trapped Jinchuuriki. The Kyuubi had completely taken over that part of the jutsu.

"Yeah, that's not me, that's the Kyuubi. He ruined one of my seal tags so I let his pissed-off big brother take care of him. I probably look really demonic right now. Sorry about that, I promise I'm not crazy or possessed."

The Tsuchikage crossed his arms as I focused on the wind prison to let air back in so the poor Iwa nin didn't suffocate.

"Do you want me to let him go?"

"Put the Yonbi back into its Jinchuuriki."

"But I didn't take him out!"

"Uzumaki!"

"It's not my fault you have sucky seal masters here!"

"Are you saying you're better?"

"No, I just suck at Fūinjutsu and I know it."

"You're an Uzumaki."

"And you're stereotyping me."

"You have no respect for authority."

"None at all."

"Uzumaki!"

"Do you just like saying my name or something?" It probably wasn't very smart of me to turn on the smart-ass in front of the Tsuchikage, but he was asking for it. "I don't blame you, it does have a ring to it, Uzumaki Kichiro, Spirit—"

"Let him go." The Tsuchikage pointed at the regular nin.

I shrugged. "Only if he promises not to attack me." I took a small step backwards and placed one foot over the fallen kunai, ready to fling it at the knees of someone in case I got in a pinch.

With a nod of agreement, the Tsuchikage gestured for me to release him.

I set the trapped nin on his feet before releasing the jutsu.

"Now, how can the Yonbi be secured?"

Shrugging I silently turned the question towards Kurama, who didn't answer. "I have no idea. Maybe get rid of whatever pissed them both off in the first place. I would think you would know how to handle your own shinobi better than me. I'm only nine after all."

I honestly thought he was going to strangle me for that comment. After a moment and a few waves of his hand, the shinobi backed up and spread out, picking up a few incapacitated civilians and lower ranked nin on their way.

"You better figure something out quickly and very soon, because I don't think I can sustain this for very much longer. I'm nine years old in case you've forgotten in the past few seconds and I'm still trying to recover from the trip here. Besides, I shouldn't be using Bijū chakra for at least another few years."

The few nin remaining were beginning to panic as a little bit of sense settled into their thick heads.

I might have an idea but it won't be pleasant. Make sure they don't kill you or the other Jinchuuriki when I knock you both out for a few minutes.

"Well, you're in luck. The Kyuubi has an idea that might just solve all our problems. I'll say this once. Don't touch or move me or him. Sorry in advance about the roadblock, but it shouldn't take very long."

The Yonbi seemed to pass out, briefly revealing the terrified teen before he too slumped. The Kyuubi's chakra snapped back inside of me and the jutsu broke.

"Ah hell, this is a bad day," I murmured as I passed out for the second, and hopefully last, time that day.