Akatsuki

Takigakure. Few foreigners would ever lay eyes upon this, one of a small handful of truly hidden villages among the Elemental Continents. A pity because it was a truly beautiful place; made up of traditional, eastern-style buildings, most of which were carefully and caringly constructed as if by a master carpenter, built around the walls of a small, circular valley full of plant life, around a massive, crystal clear lake, at the heart of which lied an island where their administration building lied, resting at the base of the gargantuan, sacred tree of Taki, whose canopy covered the entire village. Beams of sunlight shined through its branches, illuminating the concealed village.

The roof of the valley was hidden under a powerful genjutsu which was constantly monitored. It was an S-class secret of the village, and any outsider that stumbled upon it was quickly dealt with. Even the commonly used entrance was, well, if a little obviously, hidden; an underwater cave system behind a massive waterfall.

It was thanks to the lengths they went to keep their home hidden that the village had only once been successfully invaded, and that mark on their village's pride had occurred solely due to the actions of a traitor.

Suddenly the shadows of five figures were walking towards the village; two were in the front chatting together, the sun had just woken up, and the air was moist due to the many waterfalls around the village.

The temperatures were rising the closer they got to the village. The sun's light was getting a bit annoying; Team 10 were sweating like crazy, they were no strangers to high temperatures, but the air itself was hot, sometimes feeling they couldn't even breathe. Except for Fuu, who had no problems whatsoever.

"Fuu-chan, how are we getting inside?" Naruto suddenly asked; compared to the rest of his team, he was in a better shape, but even the blonde found the new temperature and exceptionally the moist around the air a bit distracting and annoying.

"Since you're in an official business, I'm sure Shibuki-san will send people to lead us there," Fuu explained; one thing Naruto noticed was the way the Jinchuuriki girl said the name of who he thought was the leader.

It seems she has at least someone who cares for her to a certain degree, he thought, he didn't know how much he helped Fuu, but he hoped it was more than Hiruzen did during his childhood.

Another thing the blonde noticed was Fuu apparently not knowing how to get inside her own village, which seemed a little strange; she's a Kunoichi of Taki; why doesn't she know it, or maybe she's keeping it secret?

Naruto wondered about it, has been three days since they left Konoha, and he was sure today they would arrive, but Naruto couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off; he didn't know what, but he could almost feel the tension rising around him, almost letting him know that not everything was as it seemed.

Naruto, for three days, had thought of a way to either have Takigakure as his ally or have Fuu as his ally; the girl was very easy to talk with, not to mention her bright personality that really put a big smile on Naruto's face. The blonde didn't admit it, but he quite liked her friendly personality, especially her cute face.

He hoped to meet her, and soon after this mission, Naruto had already decided to give her a Kunai with a Flying Rajin Seal on it, giving her the kunai before he left if she ever needed his help and he wasn't around to provide it.

Naruto's mind suddenly went to Lord Shibuki; whoever this man was, he was the leader of this small village. The whole reason why Takigakure wasn't already conquered from either Konoha or any other big village a long ago was the existence of Hero Water, Chomei, and how well hidden their Village was.

Naruto thought he could get Taki to follow him, but he couldn't do the same as he did with Land of Tea or Wave; both had their own problems to solve, which opened the door for Naruto to step in and take charge, so far this village had no doors open for him, as far as Naruto could see, he had two options.

Either Takigakure becomes his ally or just Fuu; not much else was important here except Fuu-Chan.

Sure, the Hero Water was tempting, but Naruto didn't need any extra boost of his powers, not to mention the usage of said water was not something one could do without consequences. Especially if the Legend Warrior Kumori Kunai, The Young, was anything to go by. The strongest Shinobi of Takigakure, who lived even before the likes of Hashirama and Madara, was alive around five centuries ago. The stories tell the tale of how he died in his sleep at the age of 13, after the use of Hero Water. Stories told said he was able to defeat over ten thousand enemies of Takigakure, surviving the bloodbath but then dying in his sleep the same day.

Chunin exams are close, and knowing my sensei, he most likely will want us to participate. I wonder if there will be anyone interesting there, Naruto thought; he had planned that his message to Mei Terumi should have either arrived by now or will arrive soon.

She would not pass the chance to take out Yagura without bloodshed on her part. Of course, there was a chance Konoha would refuse to help them; if Konoha refused to help, Naruto had made a plan to leave the village, helping Kiri and gaining their alliance and Bijuu at the same time, but if that would be the case, his plan would need to speed up a little.

Soon they were stopped by two Shinobi wearing Taki Emblem; Asuma walked forward, standing in front of his team, eyeing both new Shinobi.

"We will lead you to Takigakure, but we need you to be blindfolded," the first said, a male around his thirties, long dark hair with a scar across his lower lip, into his neck.

The second was a woman, with long dark hair as well, heart shape face, her left eye covered by her hair falling in front of her face, she looked the same age as the man.

"Very well," Asuma agreed to it; despite not liking to be blindfolded, he understood and respected the policy of other villages, and therefore he followed their orders for now.

Soon each one of them was blindfolded, even Fuu-chan, for some reason, despite being from Taki. Soon they dive deep into the lake, following the two strangers.

After swinging for a few minutes, Naruto emerged came from the water, using his chakra to stand on the water's surface, removing the blindfold now that they were inside.

The moment he was inside, Naruto could feel the chakra everywhere, especially this close to the village entrance. Hmm, so they use Genjutsu to hide their location! Smart, the blonde thought, knowing this must be an S-Rank Genjutsu to hide an entire village from the naked eye; not only that, but Naruto was sure that not even the Byakugan could see through this Genjutsu; otherwise, the entrance of Takigakure would have been known to Konoha for a long time now.

He craned his head as he took in the peaceful village, a smile spreading across his face as he did so.

He turned when he heard others emerge from the water's surface behind him. Out of the clear, blue water came his team. First, the rest of Team 10 and then Fuu, followed by the two Shinobi.

Naruto held back a snicker as he watched the annoying look of his sensei.

As he rose, Asuma took off the blindfold and turned his eyes to the tree. Taki was certainly a nice place; he wondered what kind of people lived here. He wondered if Kurenai would like to visit this place.

Ino whistled at the village in front of her; Shikamaru's only response to the view in front of him was a short 'this place is troublesome,' earning an annoyed look from Ino.

"Everything is troublesome to you, Shika; seriously, what isn't troublesome to you?" Ino asked, genuinely curious at her lazy friend, who scratched his ear thoughtfully before answering.

"Well, let's see, looking at the clouds and... that's it," Shikamaru responded carelessly, earning a deadpanned look from everyone.

"Your friend is funny, Naruto-kun," Fuu said with her usual cute smile on her face; Team 10 silently disagreed with the Jinchuuriki girl except for Shikamaru, who thought what she said was spot on!

"If you'll follow me, I'll escort you to see Lord Shibuki." The kunoichi said as she turned to Team 10. "He's been expecting you, Jonin Asuma. Let's not make him wait."

As the kunoichi began walking towards the island in the lake's center, sending rippled through the water with each step, Naruto grinned widely as he said, "Great, I really hope we can stay here a little before we leave."

Fuu nodded in agreement; if it were up to her, they would stay here as long as they wished, especially Naruto. It had been three days, but she felt that the blonde Jinchuuriki was the best friend she could ever ask for. Still, Fuu couldn't shake off the funny feeling she got in her tummy whenever his deep blue eyes, like the clear sky, would look at her; she had seen so much depth in his eyes, his happiness and anger buried deep inside him.

"So, you never said it. What is it you want to talk to Shibuki about anyway?"

Asuma shook his head. "Sorry, kid, it's a secret." He said, smirking at his student's obvious annoyance.

In short order, the group had entered the entered the administrative building and walked down its halls. The kunoichi opened the door for them and allowed them to enter.

Shibuki sat behind a desk, filing away a completed form and reaching for the next one, when he heard the door open. Thankful for a brief respite from the never-ending monotony of paperwork, he looked up.

"Welcome, Jonin Asuma. It's good to have you here," Shibuki said with a forced smile that was noticed by the Jonin, and the duo Jinchuuriki, who couldn't help but wonder why.

Fuu had a few ideas on why, though; she had noticed the sudden new way he was acting towards her; it had been almost a month now.

Naruto noticed the sudden flinch from Fuu; the blonde's eyes were on her for a second before his attention went to the man in charge. Shibuki seems to have either noticed and decided to ignore Fuu's sudden discomfort or hadn't seen it all.

"As I said, I'm happy to have you here; now we can discuss our new alliance," the man spoke with uncertainty in his tone, something that was noticed by Naruto, making him what was going on.

Asuma turned toward his team before coughing loudly. "Very well, until I'm done here, you can leave and explore the village if you want," He said, knowing that whatever they were discussing, Shibuki probably didn't want the information to be heard by his team.

Ino groaned in annoyance; why were they kept out of it? In Shinobi laws, they were all adults; they had the right to know; she was ready to say something against it, to protest, when Naruto turned towards them.

"Very well, Asuma sensei. Fuu-chan, how about you show the place you love to go," Naruto suggested; he knew there was no point in trying to say anything against it, not that it mattered much anyway.

Shikamaru followed without saying another word except a silent 'troublesome' through his teeth. Ino reluctantly followed Naruto behind, stomping the ground below her feet on her way out.

Fuu glanced at Lord Shibuki with a hint of sadness behind her eyes before eventually following behind them.

As the door clicked, Shibuki sat down facing Asuma Sarutobi, who pulled out a cigarette from his pocket with a look asking if it was okay to smoke inside; Shibuki just nodded; that was the least of his problems.

Asuma smiled mentally, feeling better already, before his eyes turned to look at the leader of Takigakure, who was unusually quiet this whole time.

"Well, what is it?" Asuma asked, inhaling his cigarette before blowing out the smoke.

"Well..."

Team 10

While the adults were busy discussing whatever, the genin were busy looking everywhere; it wasn't every day that you saw a tree as large as the one in Takigakure; the tree was large, and the skin looked thick, thick enough that not even a sword would be able to penetrate it, the village itself was built around the giant tree, some of the houses were even inside the tree itself, but due to its size, it wasn't a surprise that people used the large size to build homes inside the tree.

The tree stood as tall as the sky, reaching 700 meters tall; even Kurama was quite impressed by the sheer size of the tree; he wondered what could have caused the tree to grow so large; it wasn't every day that you found a tree like this one!

Sure they were cases of large trees reaching up to 100 meters tall, but this was just not normal; Kurama and Chomei, of course, knew of one tree capable of growing that large.

I wonder if this is what is left of that tree, I wouldn't be surprised, but if my memories are correct if this tree is indeed the tree used back then, it should be at the very least one kilometer tall, if not taller. I can feel something is off with it, Kurama thought; he wondered if the previous use of the tree had led this tree to produce Hero Water, as Takigakure called it.

While Kurama thought of it, even Naruto could feel a strange sensation from the tree; he wondered what that was but decided to ignore it.

Breaking out of his thoughts, he noticed that Ino was still busy looking at the different shops, especially the clothes department; while every village had its own culture and different clothes they wore, Takigakure's clothes were made out of tree skin, animal skin and sometimes made of feathers in some parts.

Shikamaru was probably busy looking at the sky; sadly, there weren't that many clouds to look at, making this mission even more boring than it already was.

Naruto noticed that Fuu was quiet, something that was unusual for someone like her; while he had known her only for three days, the blonde Jinchuuriki understood she liked to talk, and if she wasn't in a talking mood, that meant something was seriously bugging her.

Softly nudging her shoulder, she looked at Naruto, who raised an eyebrow as if expecting her to explain what was wrong.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'What?' Fuu-chan! Tell me, what is bugging you?" Naruto asked gently towards the Jinchuuriki girl, who looked down, avoiding his piercing blue eyes that she had come to like the more she looked at them.

This caught the attention of both Ino and Shikamaru despite acting as if nothing was happening and just minding their own business.

"Nothing," Fuu reluctantly said; Naruto sighed, knowing she wouldn't answer; he wanted to know what was wrong but didn't want to force her to answer.

"Oh well, good to know. Hey, Fuu-chan, how about you show us the shop you like to eat?" Naruto asked, changing the subject much to Fuu's delight, who perked up.

"Of course, the aroma of that food is wonderful," Fuu exclaimed; Naruto cooked an eyebrow at her strange description.

"What about the food itself?" Ino asked, slowly reaching them since she had been slacking off due to shops with all kinds of clothes.

Fuu's smile turned into a frown; again, looking down, Naruto sighed, knowing that perhaps Fuu had never actually tasted the food, but only the aroma that the food leaves if that were the case...

"Fuu-chan, tell me, what would you like to eat?" Naruto asked, walking forward, reaching the shop that Fuu was leading them to.

Fuu looked up at him in surprise; his smile on his face made her feel butterflies in her stomach again, her knees suddenly feeling weak for some reason she couldn't explain.

"I... they would never serve me..." she trailed off, her eyes avoiding their faces; she was a demon in their eyes, in the eyes of everyone in Takigakure; only Lord Shibuki loved her, but Fuu had noticed the way he acted towards her now, it was different, more distant.

Naruto put a hand on her shoulders; she felt the warmth of his hand; it felt good.

"Look, I will get you some ramen, okay" Naruto suggested since she wasn't exactly saying what she liked. She smiled in return before he walked towards the shop; Fuu kept smiling. Seeing the girl looking at their friends, Shikamaru decided to step in.

"Naruto is a good man; he doesn't care if you are or not a Jinchuuriki, and neither we do," Shikamaru spoke, surprising her even more. Since Fuu introduced herself three days ago, she mainly had, if not spent the whole time talking with Naruto, believed that the others didn't want her around due to her Jinchuuriki.

Fuu turned at the pineapple head. "You truly don't hate him?!"

Shikamaru just left out a yawn, stretching out his arms. "Is too troublesome to hate him, not mentioning that in a way. Naruto is our leader behind Asuma-Sensei. We always rely on him to pull us out of bad situations and save our asses," Shikamaru spoke with a smile.

He hated to admit that Naruto was as close as a friend could ever get, on the same level as Choji, his childhood friend that he had known for ten years at least.

Hearing his words, Ino nodded shortly after with her own smile before turning to Fuu. "Shika's right; Naruto is our leader and the best friend. You are his friend, so we are your friend as well," Ino spoke towards the other girl who held down a cry; she felt happy, her heart was beating like never before, and it made her feel warm and safe. Is this what it is like to be accepted? Naruto had accepted her, but now she was accepted by people who weren't Shibuki and not Jinchuuriki like her.

"Thank You, friends," Fuu said with a single tear on her cute face.

Both Shikamaru and Ino smiled at the girl before Naruto returned, holding a bag filled with food. The blonde didn't need to ask his friends what they wanted to eat; he knew what they liked, so he just ordered what they wanted.

Handing the food, Fuu smiled at Naruto before they left, wanting to eat somewhere more quiet.

Fuu

The moon was high in the night sky, illuminating everything around her; she was leaning against a rock, her back aching slightly from the rough surface; Naruto and his team were close, especially the blonde who looked deep in thought looking at the lake in front of them.

They could hear the sound of birds flying over them, crickets singing their song nearby. Insects were flying everywhere, much to Fuu's delight; she glanced at the others.

Shikamaru was lying against the grass on his back, most likely sleeping. Ino's head was resting against Naruto's shoulder. Fuu noticed the closeness between them; she wondered just how close they were, is she his girlfriend?

She asked herself, wondering that such a closeness between them definitely meant that there was more to it than just friendship.

Naruto, meanwhile, noticed that Ino had fallen asleep against his shoulder; he smiled at her; the moon's light was only adding to her beauty, especially her blonde hair that looked like silver due to the moon's light. Slowly, he let her sleep against his jacket that he used as a pillow for her head.

Turning around, he noticed that Fuu was looking at him, her beautiful orange eyes filled with warmth that could melt even the biggest ice. The silence took over; no one said anything until Naruto asked something he had been wondering about for some time.

"Fuu-chan, tell me, have you ever wondered about..." Naruto asked with a gesture to the outside of the Village. Fuu didn't need to hear his words to know what he meant; Fuu knew she had thought of it, and not just once, more times than she could count.

The only thing keeping her here was Lord Shibuki, the only person in this village that cares...

Does he? You can't forget his look at you a year ago?!

A voice said in her mind, reminding her of the only time since she could remember herself that Shibuki looked at her the same way as the others, the look of Hatred. It had almost scared her; Fuu had cried herself to sleep that night. Thinking that he would leave her.

Back then, Fuu had thought it had been an innocent question, but it seemed that wasn't exactly the case.

Who was the previous Jinchuuriki of Chomei?

Fuu closed her eyes, wanting those ugly thoughts to go away; she was with friends now, no point on dwelling on the past.

"I have Naruto. Like every other Jinchuuriki, I was never treated well, I wanted to fly away, to fly away like the insects and the birds, but I don't have anywhere else to go," Fuu spoke with a defeated tone; she would never find love in this place.

Unlike Naruto, she had only one person, and even that one had started giving her the cold shoulder for some unknown reasons that she didn't know yet.

Fuu hadn't noticed that Naruto had moved closer to her, only noticing when he nudged her shoulder gently.

Fuu turned around, only to be shocked by how much his blue eyes were shining, now looking like the clearest sky ever, almost mesmerizing!

"That's not true, Fuu-chan; we are both Jinchuuriki; we always take care of each other; we should stay together," Naruto spoke with a warm tone, his breath reaching her cheeks, turning slightly pink from the close contact.

Fuu nodded, smiling; before she knew it, she hugged him as tightly as possible. Naruto was taken aback slightly before returning the hug.

What is this feeling? Fuu questioned herself before ignoring it; for now, she felt safe and happy like this; that's all it mattered.

Three Days Later

Since arriving here, whatever Asuma-Sensei was discussing with Lord Shibuki still wasn't resolved; Team 10 didn't know what it was; they had asked the Jinchuuriki girl for information, perhaps she knew something that they didn't, but she had just shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what was happening between the Konoha Jonin and her leader.

The sun had just started rising, peaking through the mountain far away; Fuu was currently with Team 10; not much had changed; they wondered what was taking so long.

Shikamaru was showing Fuu how to play Shogi, and Ino was busy checking out some of her new clothes, but the blonde girl had noticed that her favorite blonde was quiet, almost as if something was bothering him.

"Would you like to play a game Fuu?" Shikamaru asked. Fuu's intrigued expression was her answer.

"I enjoy playing Shogi; I want you to play a match with me," Shikamaru said to his new friend; Ino and Naruto had disbelieving expressions on their faces; the only person to beat Shikamaru was Shikaku, and Fuu apparently had never played before, but everyone started from somewhere.

"I don't know how to play Shikamaru. Can you teach me?" Fuu asked curiously; though she knew Shogi was a boring game, she didn't want to deny playing a game with her friend, especially since he said he WANTED to play with her. Practically a first for Fuu.

Shikamaru smiled before preparing the board, soon finishing it. Ino wondered why Shikamaru had a Shogi board in a mission outside the village but decided to ask later.

"Fuu, the board is set," Shikamaru said.

She plopped down on the opposite side of the board and said, "So, how does this work?" Fuu asked.

With those words, Shikamaru set to teaching Fuu how to play Shogi and how each piece moved as well as the rules. Once he was done, "Want to try one game, Fuu?" he asked.

While they were both busy playing, Naruto closed his eyes, suddenly feeling two enormous amounts of Chakra suddenly inside the village; not only that, but their level of malice was very unsettling.

Standing up immediately, his sudden movement caused his friends to stop and look at him with concern.

"Naruto-kun, what..." she didn't get to finish as a man rushed at their location from above, his right fist raised, covered with Earth Chakra, making his whole arm more grey, almost black in color, and the skin hard as a rock.

Hitting the ground where the blonde girl was, the amount of power caused a small explosion to happen, and the debris and dust to spread everywhere.

The Akatsuki member thought he would see the dead body of the blonde girl, but instead, they had dodged his attack, somehow.

Looking to his right, standing up, he looked at the two responsible for their survival; the blonde boy had seen his attack coming, not only that but was fast enough to grab his friend and escape the attack, same for the green-haired girl, she had grabbed Shikamaru's shirt, pulling both him and her away from the impact of the attack.

I didn't even see it coming; both Shikamaru and Ino thought at the same time; they knew just from his presence alone that he wasn't just an ordinary Shinobi. Just being close made their skin crawl, sending shivers of fear down their spine.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, stepping forward, he could feel the other one nearby, but unlike the masked Shinobi in front of him, the other one was much weaker than him.

Akatsuki! Naruto realizes before analyzing the man in front of him, covering his mouth, only his eyes visible, the emblem of the missing-nin of Takigakure, he must be the one with five hearts that Itachi warned him about in his letter.

Before Naruto could say anything, another crashed right beside Kakuzu, who looked annoyed, before turning to his stupid partner, who for no reason decided to reveal himself instead of a surprise attack to make the job easier.

"What are you doing, you moron, revealing yourself like this!" Kakuzu yelled at him with annoyance and anger.

The man, now identified as Hidan, just glared back at him. "So, what. I'm immortal; besides, these brats don't stand a chance," Hidan boasted, completely ignoring Team 10 and Fuu.

"You think your immortality will protect you when..." Kakuzu didn't get to finish before Naruto threw a kunai right at Kakuzu before teleporting right in front of the missing-nin with a Red Rasengan, enhanced by Fire Chakra.

Kakuzu's eyes widened in disbelief; he hadn't expected to face The Flying Rajin. Again. Shit

"Rasengan"

Naruto slammed his jutsu right in his chest; the flames and heat spread everywhere, and the grass everywhere burned to ash, sending Kakuzu flying before exploding in a burst of fire and wind.