"Well, time to head home, I guess," Naruto said to himself, seeing as there was no one around for him to talk to.
Patting down his holsters, Naruto made an about face in order to turn himself towards the road. Without any fanfare, the young shinobi shot forward, running along the dirt road that would take him out of the country.
As the blond disappeared down the road, part of a large stone sitting on the side began to shift and morph. two shapes emerged from the stone. They were both human. One was large and stocky, with what looked like a wide brimmed hat. The other was thin, but possessing what looked like a large coat of some kind that went down to it's knees.
The human like figures with rock-like skin attributes began to change even more. The many gray hues of rock that made up their skin shifted into colors. It soon became clear that the two figures were, in fact, human.
Both figures were male. The stocky looking one had a face that was just as blocky as his body, with a square jaw and nose and black eyes. He was wearing a drab gray poncho that wrapped around his torso and covered much of his upper body, a pair of tan pants that looked more like a sack that had been cut into pants and was tied around his waist by a piece of cloth. On his head was a wide brimmed hat, his feet were strapped into a standard pair of waraji, and wrapped around his wrists were a pair of gray bands.
The other figure was indeed wearing a coat of some kind, a long, tan colored haori that opened at the front to reveal a nagajuban (1) that was tied together with a black obi. His pants consisted of a pair of gray hakama that closed around his ankles by the fish net wraps he was wearing. This mans hair was a light blue, and had a single string that looked more like it was used more for decoration than anything else. He had one large bang framing his face on the left side, and a smaller one framing his face on the right, allowing his larger than average black eyes and slightly more feminine features to be visible.
"Hmm. It looks like the interloper is finally leaving," the blue haired one spoke.
The blocky guy did not look over at his companion, but responded all the same. "Do you want me to follow him?"
"No, that's alright. You go on and report back. I'll follow him and make sure he leaves the border."
"Right."
The two shinobi soon disappeared, one heading back to Tori no Kuni while the other made to follow Naruto, leaving the small roadside empty once again.
Mōsō smiled as he sat in his quarters, idling drinking tea. It was the same smile he had worn during his meeting with that blond brat, Naruto. Yet for some reason, the look on his face was not mirthful or joyous like the one that had been presented to Naruto. This one seemed to be more malicious, malignant, and just plain evil.
Considering he still looked like a clown the evil effect was ruined, but it was the thought that counted.
Bringing the tea back down to his face, Mōsō's eyes caught site of a figure kneeling upon his ceiling from the reflection on the teas surface. The figure turned out to be the same blocky ninja that he had sent to follow Naruto along with his other subordinate. He hoped that meant what he thought it meant.
"Your report?"
"The Konoha shinobi has been seen crossing the border," the blocky ninja reported dutifully. "It appears he is heading back towards Konoha."
"Good. Very good."
Everything was going according to plan. Chomei had been convicted of a crime he did not commit and was going to be committing Seppuku some time today after he listed off the man's crimes to a crowd of citizens and defaced him in front of the public. And soon, the Cursed Warrior would also be dealt with. Yes, everything was going exactly as he intended.
"You are dismissed."
The shinobi kneeling on his ceiling bowed his head before disappearing, leaving Mōsō to drink his tea in peace.
Neither of them noticed the tiny mouse hidden underneath the tatami mats, listening to every word that had just been spoken.
Mōsō also didn't notice the puff of smoke that appeared when the rat was dispelled.
'Hoh?' Naruto turned his head in the direction of Mōsō's home, his eyes gaining a contemplative look. 'So the fat man is the one behind all of this? Or at least, he's the one controlling the ninja that had been sent to kill Sagi. I suppose I should have expected this.'
'I'm still not sure why you didn't just kill him when you had the chance,' always quick to give her opinion, Kyuubi spoke up from where she was most likely lounging around her bed in the seal. 'We already knew he was a ninja. You might not be a sensor type, but you have enough aptitude in sensing chakra to feel how much he has. That man's only got the equivalent of what you humans call a Chunin. You could have slaughtered him by now.'
'I could have,' Naruto conceded, 'but I knew he wasn't working alone, but I don't know how many ninja he is working with,' he answered patiently as he turned back around. He was standing outside of the small wooden hut that he had caught Chomei and the Cursed Warrior at last night. Since he had no leads on where he should go from here to discover the Cursed Warrior's identity, this was the only place he thought of to come. 'Plus I don't know if he's the one in charge, or just an underling doing the dirty work for his boss.'
'Ha...' Kyuubi gave a monumental sigh. 'Ok, I suppose I could see why you wouldn't just turn the fat one into a bloody smear on the wall. I still don't like it. You're my vessel. As far as I'm concerned, that makes you my avatar for this world since I can no longer take part in it. How are you supposed to generate a proper amount of fear in humanity if you pussy foot around like this.'
Naruto rolled his eyes. Of course Kyuubi would be thinking in terms like that. How could he have ever thought she would think any differently?
'You don't have to like it,' Naruto responded a touch dryly. 'And I am not your avatar. I just have the misfortune of having you sealed inside of me.'
'Misfortune?' Uh oh. There was something dangerous in Kyuubi's voice. And not the normal kind of danger, this was Danger with an emphasis on the D. 'Am I really that horrendous that you think having me sealed inside of you is so horrible, Na-ru-to-kun?'
As Kyuubi spoke, her voice taking on a hint of seductive overtones, an image came unbidden into Naruto's mind. An image of Kyuubi, completely naked, with her nine tails around her as the only things covering her modesty, and they weren't doing the best of jobs as there was far too much skin being shown. Really, the only thing he couldn't see were her nipples and her sex.
Naruto's face burned, it burned so hotly that the blond was sure sticking it in the sun would have cooled it down. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if he found out that steam was pouring from his ears that was how hot his face was getting. The blood that had begun dripping down his nose didn't help.
'N-Not now, Kyuubi,' Naruto wiped at his nose, grimacing as he did so, his face still a mass of mottled red. 'I need to focus.'
Kyuubi huffed. 'Fine, fine. Go do your ninja thing. I'll just sit here, doing nothing, being bored. Pay me no mind.'
Naruto rolled his eyes. Sometimes that woman could be so over dramatic.
Frowning, Naruto looked around the clearing that contained the little, broken down wooden shrine. This was where he had ran into the Cursed Warrior, twice he might add. There had to be something about this place that was special.
Looking around, there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. At least at first glance. A closer look however, showed Naruto something that anyone who was not a ninja probably would have missed.
'Are those kites?'
'Looks like it. They're all black. How... unsightly.'
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