Kitsune of the leaf:rise of the yokai-nin

chapter 4:returning home with a friend

When Naruto woke up he saw one stranger and two anbu staring at him. "mmmm Gah! Dog, Weasel why are you here?"
"Hello Naruto were were just talking with your friend, Akira here."

Naruto looked at the girl ... yeah it was Akira just as a human and not an oni, no horns and lille-white skin instead of purple. Same fierce yellow eyes though. "thanks for rescuin' me an' takin' care of me while I healed." she said her voice more relaxed then in the mindscape. "so me and the masked bandits over here 'ave decided Im gonna be a leaf nin as of now so ill help ya's get home." She picked her self up. Naruto looked confused why was she acting like this? "Ahhhhh! now that Im safe I don't have to be so formal!" Oh thats it. She was trying to play nice earlier so he wouldn't be too put off to help the yokai. "why you still laying down?" She picked Naruto up by his ankle and swung the 8 year old over her shoulder, and started walking out the temple. "Come on yous two you already!" The 'masked bandits' could only watch with amusement as one of the villages princes squirmed and struggled in the grip of the white haired girl.

As they walked back to the leaf and Naruto rubbed his bumped head complaining about being dropped. Akira asked "So ya's had a clone of wobble," Weasel twitched, "go back to the village and tell 'em about me right? So where will I sleep tonight? Hopefully not on a park bench."

Dog chuckled."We will have sleeping arrangements for you by the time you arrive."

"Oh yeah." Naruto interjected " why were you two looking for me?"

"Its Monday Night..." Naruto nodded Akira frowned this didn't seem too unusual. The rest of the trip home Naruto and Akira talked about the village.

When the four got to the Namikaze House, Naruto Sighed. He opened the door and the first thing he saw was his Siblings inspecting their gifts he got them. "What the hell? those were for your birthday, thats next month out them back!" The two looked stunned at their brother. "Naruto..." Mito started a little stunned. "Back!" He said the two ran upstairs with their gifts "... their just going to keep them aren't they."

"most likely." Dog replied.

"Oh your home." Kushina said casually glancing at the four in the as they walked into the kitchen, "Don't go playing around outside the village ok? You should take being a ninja more seriously., but you did save that girl from her old clan ruins she was investigating so I guess its ok." Naruto nodded learning the cover story from his mother. Akira smiled, her new student was quick on the uptake.

"AH your home Naruto, and thats your new friend..." Minato said coming down the stairs "im glad you didn't skip school to play pranks again."

Naruto rolled his eyes "no we scheduled that for next week."

Akira smiled "Dont worry, ya's son is safe" emphasizing the son. Minato nodded. "Its been a late night lets all get to bed. We can discuss your stay in the village tomorrow. Dog will walk you to your hotel room."

As they left the house Dog spoke up seeing Akria's dismay over Naruto's treatment. "Dont think too harshly about the fourth Hokage, he does love his son." Akira did not react. he continued "You know about the Ninetail's attack right? Well fourth Hokage got cursed that night fighting the beast. He fights it every day. It affects his work both as a Hokage, and as a father."

Akira raised an eyebrow at that "how'd he get cursed?"

Dog started to explain "When he fought against the ninetails he was going to seal the Beast away, at the cost of his life he prepared to use the reaper death seal. But his predecessor forcefully took over for him sacrificing his life instead. Since the Shinigami only got one soul that night, when he usually gets two per summoning, The Fourth who survived and started the sealing but let the third take over got cursed as a punishment."

Akira stopped for a second "I guess that makes sense." No it did not. Thats not how the reaper works. If he did not like the terms he was dealt when called with a Jutsu he would just take the soul of the conjurer and leave. She knew that because she saw it before and she used to be friends with the uzumaki who made the oni masks including the Shinigami mask, he was one of ones who helped with the unbinding seals used in the civil war. She would have to investigate that. For now she decided to play along. "so its out of character for him to act like that?"

"Yes with out the curse I have no doubt he would be the best father ever. too all the kids." That settles it, she's going to get to the bottom of this. For her student and his family.