Ninetails 37

"Wait, wait, wait! So, it's fine for us to go off to the beach for a day on a mission!?" Ino asked in disbelief.

Naruto chuckled in amusement as he walked with the four kunoichi riding on his back. Obviously, Anko noticed that her genin were still on his back when he finally decided to take his leave. Which he had only done after Anko had bid farewell to the caravan and finished....disposing of the bandits.

Before becoming a bijuu, such a subject would have made him a bit uneasy. But knowing exactly what these scum had intended, he had a hard time thinking of them as really human.

....Or maybe he was just losing his humanity, but Naruto chose not to dwell on that.

"Blondie, there is a time and place," Anko said with a head shake, having caught up to them easily enough. "Yes, if a mission is time-sensitive or something like that? You get your ass moving. But one like ours, where we're just mapping out some places to fix up the forests? We're not on a schedule, we can take a day, especially after cleaning up those bandits. Just don't be an idiot about it."

"Anko-sensei, I believe you, but Kakashi was my squad sensei," Sakura recalled with some dread. "I do NOT want to end up being the new Kakashi and end up two hours late to everything."

"Sakura, you're more likely to be the Reverse-Kakashi and show up two hours early to everything," Naruto countered knowingly.

"Oh, I would not! I'd be a few minutes early at most!" Sakura retorted with a huff, a hint of playfulness to her annoyed persona.

"Ahh, so the true Anti-Kakashi technique. Be punctual!" Anko joked with a grin.

Hinata giggled at the exchange.

"Still, aren't you smooth, Foxy?" Anko asked, glancing at Naruto's head with a teasing smirk. "You sweep three young ladies up for a ride with promises of a fun time on a lovely beach. Why, imagine if their parents found out."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure they'll be real concerned with their virtue or whatever around me," Naruto said with an eye roll.

"Not yet, but whenever you figure out how to take human form? Hehe, I'm sure you'll get a bit popular," Anko said with a chuckle.

Naruto went silent and just kept walking.

Anko raised an eyebrow and sensed she was being glared at. She turned and found it was Sakura. Ino was also giving her a flat look and Hinata had an expression that seemed to ask why she even said that, but Sakura actively made Anko warry. After all, she heard about the crotch shot this girl got on Jiraiya.

"What? Am I the only one here convinced he'll figure out how to do it eventually?" Anko asked as she looked around.

"And what makes you so damn sure of that?" Naruto asked with a sigh.

"Yes, what makes you so sure of that, Anko-sensei?" Sakura asked evenly.

Anko shrugged. "I don't know. But between how quickly he figured out the Rasengan and his adaptability? I expect he'll eventually stubbornly bullhead his way into a solution one day."

"I...." Naruto paused in consideration, having not expected any praise. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, I guess?"

"How did you know about the Rasengan, Anko-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

"What's a Rasengan?" Hinata whispered to Ino, who shrugged.

"Eh. Just about every ninja in Konoha with clearance has had a peak at Naruto's file at this point-" Anko started to explain.

"They have?" all three asked at once.

"They have," Naruto confirmed. "Sakura, you have no idea how many comments I've heard about our piss poor luck with our first C-rank mission turning into that mess with Zabuzza and Gato."

Sakura sighed. "I can imagine. What were the odds of that?"

"Honestly? About one in a hundred. Most missions go up one rank, if at all. It's rare for something to go from C-rank to A-rank," Anko mused.

"Huh. I had been wondering about that," Sakura mused.

"Now I'm just wondering, what would an E-rank mission that turns into a C-rank mission be like?" Ino asked curiously.

"....Helping someone in the village that turns into a delivery to some distant village or city?" Hinata offered in thought.

"I remember one, actually," Anko said, stroking her chin. "I think it was something about clearing some invasive weeds, but it became C-rank because it was attracting dangerous animals? Something like that."

"We're getting close," Naruto informed suddenly.

"Ahh, great! This should be good," Anko said with her hands behind her head.

"Have you been down here before, Anko-sensei?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Well, not since Foxy moved down here, but I've passed by the area a few times in the past," Anko remarked. "It's one of those places you want to stop by and see at least once if you haven't already."

"Huh? Why? Is the beach that good?" Ino asked curiously.

"Umm, Ino?" Sakura said, tapping her shoulder while looking ahead. "I think it's more because of....those."

Ino turned and felt her jaw slack in shock as she saw what they were approaching; mountainous, pillar-like plateaus that stretched far higher than even a bijuu like Naruto.

"Incredible," Hinata whispered. "I've seen paintings of these, but I didn't realize just how big they were."

"Yep, quite a sight," Anko agreed.

"Ladies, this is the Kaberan. The Flood Wall, or however the story goes, "Naruto introduced grandly.

"I somehow doubt you remember that story?" Sakura asked expectantly.

"Nope, not at all," Naruto answered without hesitation. "To me, they're just where my watchers camp out."

"Be honest, is it weird having someone watching you at all?" Anko asked curiously.

"Eh, I get along fine with most of them. Besides, imagine if the Hakaju thing had been in the west or east. You would have needed a watcher to give some idea of what was going on," Naruto remarked.

"And, well, the village needs to be able to say they know where you are at a given time," Sarua remarked idly.

"Well, yeah, obviously. Look, it's my privacy, but even I'm going to admit, it'd be kind of concerning if I disappeared all of a sudden," Naruto agreed. "Though, I do that every now and again when I'm exploring the ocean."

"I still can't wrap my head around that," Ino said with a head shake. "I mean, I get the concept that you don't need to breathe, but......isn't it kind of weird to be well...drowning without actually drowning?"

"Wonderful way of wording that, Ino-pig," Sakura said.

"No, no, I'd probably say it the same way," Naruto defended.

"That's not a point in my favor," Ino countered with a sigh.

"Oh, well fuck you too," Naruto said with an eye roll. "And yeah, it took a while to get used to that."

The group grew silent as they began to approach the Kaberan, and Naruto's beach came more and more into view.

A pictorial view of the ocean horizon, with pristine sandy shores that gave way to forests. It was truly a sight, especially from above.

"Wow! Naruto, you have a really beautiful beach- And that's a whale carcass," Ino finished flatly, her enthusiasm dying a little bit.

"Don't worry, I'll throw it back in the sea," Naruto waved off dismissively.

"I've never seen a view of the ocean like this," Hinata said softly as she savored the sight. "It's amazing."

"This is one of those places people dream of retiring to," Sakura mused. "And your fluffy ass owns the entire thing."

While the others gushed over the beach, Anko hummed as glass up to the plateau ,noticing that no one seemed to be observing their arrival. Which was....concerning.

"Huh. Shikamaru wasn't kidding about your sunken ship collection," Sakura said as she looked over to the other side of the beach, filled with e broken vessels that had been brought up to the beach.

"Feel free to rummage through them. You Can keep anything you find, assuming Anko doesn't nix it off you like the Pervy Sage did to Shikamaru," Naruto remarked.

"Hey!" Anko complained with her hands on her hips. "Do I seem like the kind of woman that would do that?"

Naruto gave her a considering look. "....You don't seem like the kind of woman that wouldn't?"

Anko gained a tick mark at that. "Oh, I would cut you if I thought it would do anything."

"And I'd bury you in the sand if you tried," Naruto retorted with a chuckle.

"Yeah, no, I'm not dealing with sand in my everything," Anko said with a sigh. "You see, this is why everyone should envy that bullshit of you surging your chakra, having everything clean and done instantly! Yeah, you have fabulous golden fur, but for me? It's just the fact you're clean with so much as a breath."

"....Never call my fur fabulous again," Naruto said with a deadpan.

"I will call it that forever now, Foxy," Anko retorted smugly.

"Kami, they have some sibling energy between them," Ino remarked in surprise.

Hinata nodded in agreement. "But I'm not sure who is the more or less mature one."

"Something I never thought would be in question before with Naruto," Sakura murmured with a head shake before calling out. "Ano-sensai, we're going to clean up and explore."

"Alright, watch out for sea critters that might poison you! I'm going to go check in with whoever is watching," Anko said as she turned to Naruto. "Mind giving me a lift up the mountain, Foxy?"

"You'd save, what? Five minutes?" Naruto asked idly.

Anko looked at the plateau in consideration and judged its distance. "More like ten, really."

Naruto shrugged and stuck out his tail to her. "Hop on."

"See, you can be a gentleman. Gentlefox?" Anko teased as she did just that.

"Yeah, and you're a real classy lady, bloodsucker," Naruto retorted with an eye roll as he made his way to the landmarks, lifting his tail up to give Anko a head start to the top.

"Well.....I'm going to go enjoy the sun," Ino said with a grin as she walked off.

"I, uh, want to go look at the shipwrecks," Hinata confessed, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Same," Sakura assured with a smile. "Come on, let's see who can find the most interesting thing."

Anko arrived at the summit and found what she was expecting, mostly. A makeshift hut of sorts with a campsite that those stationed here had all used. Honestly, it seemed like a good gig for Anko, like a paid vacation if one was willing to go camping on a plateau and keep tabs on their friendly neighborhood ninetails.

What she was a bit surprised by was the figure laying limp in a chair near the extinguished fire pit.

Anko hummed as she approached the sleeping Chnnin. And he was sleeping, but far too deeply. Any chunin should have woken up given Naruto's walking was far from silent. She leaned down to pick up a cup he had dropped and ran a finger on the inside, bringing it to her nose. "Sleeping poison?"

"Hmm?"

Anko looked to the ledge, knowing Naruto was down below and listening. Had he known and not mentioned it? Or did this happen after Naruto came to them?

Better question, why was the chunin asleep and not dead?

.....She frowned as her brain worked fast. If Naruto allowed this man to be knocked out, it had to mean that someone was meeting him in secret. If he didn't, that meant someone had been here and probably still was.

"Naruto, do you know who did this?" Anko asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Naruto answered casually.

Too casually. So. He knew who did it, didn't mention it, and wasn't alarmed by it. He wasn't volunteering information either. Why?

"Are they still here?" Anko asked warily.

"Not today," Naruto answered vaguely.

That.....implied certain things. How many visitors did Naruto have down here and how many of them did the Hokage not know about?

".....Yawn if they are a part of Konoha."

A pause and then a very bijuu-size yawn came over the area.

Right, so...that answered that. Still, she'd report this because something about this really felt off to her.

"Mmm?" the chunin started to stir from his slumber, blinking as he saw who was standing next to him. "Anko Mitarashi....?"

"In the flesh," Anko greeted with a grin.

"...I've had dreams and nightmares that started like this. I wonder which this is?" the chunin muttered groggily.

Anko chuckled. "Keep your hands to yourself and it won't get too horrible," she assured.

"...Oh, shit, I'm not dreaming," he realized numbly.

"No, no you are not," Naruto informed with a chuckle.

Elsewhere, Hinata found herself exploring through the shipwrecks along Naruto's beach. She hadn't been to sea often in her short life and had very little experience with boats, so these ruined remains were fascinating to her in a novel kind of way.

Her byakugan scanned for any sea critters that might be lurking around while also looking for anything of interest.

Eventually, she found exactly that and grimaced as she made her way to a door deep in the lower deck of a ship, a cargo space if she had to guess.

It was hard to open until the hinges snapped off the rotting wood and she jumped back to let the door fall aside.

She looked inside and saw a collection of skeletons. A dozen people. Some of them were children by the size of the skeletons. Passengers, hiding below in a storm that eventually took them down.

Hinata clasped her hands together and bowed briefly to the corpses. "Forgive me for disturbing your rest," she said softly, unsure of what to do. Should she move and bury them? It didn't seem right to just leave them here now that Naruto had taken the ship out of the watery depths.

But she put that aside. There was another reason this room had caught her eye.

She turned on her byakugan once more and scanned the room. Much of the long rotted supplies and goods in the room were scattered over the floor, and rotted away with time and water. But she had spied something.

There, next to one of the skeletons that was sitting in the chair. A chest covered in seals, the chakra faint even to her eyes. It almost looked like the skeleton had been trying to guard this chest.

Hinata took a breath. "I'm....pretty sure this is grave robbing," she said uncomfortably as turned to leave-

"Hey, Hinata."

"EPP!" Hinata started, nearly falling back as Sakura greeted her. "Sakura? When did you get here? And...what is that you have?"

"Oh, this? I found it in a shipwreck," Sakura answered, holding up what looked like a wooden weapon. It was almost like a flat club or even an oar, but there were several blades embedded into the edges along the side. "I think it's some kind of weird sword? You, however, found skeletons."

Hinata nodded, looking back at the bodies. "I was going to ask Anko-sensei if we should bury them, or burn them. And, umm, I...." Hinata glanced back at the chest.

"....Right, why is that chest the only thing here that doesn't seem like it's been thrown all over the place?" Sakura asked, noting that even the skeletons in the chair were missing bones from their wreckage being pulled out of the water by their local bijuu.

"It's covered in seals. I thought  I should get Anko-sensei to take a look," Hinata said cautiously.

"Probably a good idea. I don't know if it's the skeletons, but something about this just screams there's a trap or something here," Sakura remarked.

Hinata nodded as they began to leave. "....Where's Ino?"

Sakura snorted. "Getting a tan, where else?" she asked with a chuckle.

Hinata never got the appeal of tanning, but tans didn't seem to work well with her clan in general.

They exited the ships and found a distinct lack of a golden mountain.

"Hey girls, have fun playing around in sunken ships?" Ino asked, lying topless and on her chest, using a sleeping bag as a space to lie on.

"Good luck getting sand out of that later, Ino-Pig," Sakura said with a head shake.

"Where's Naruto?" Hinata asked in confusion.

"Oh, he said he had to go chase off one annoying neighbor," Ino waved off causally.

"...Ino, he's a giant fox. Any "annoying neighbors" he has down here are probably sea monsters," Sakura pointed out flatly.

"Yeah, so? He's the damn ninetails! I'm sure he can handle some overgrown sushi without us having to worry," Ino reported as she laid back down.

Sakura sighed and started to walk off. "Right, just don't whine if he brings in the tide and washes away your clothes."

"And watch out for the crabs," Hinata advised helpfully as she left too.

Ino remained there for a moment before sighing. "Yeah, I'm not going to stop looking for crabs now," she muttered as she began to get dressed. 

She had barely got her shirt on when something tackled her into the sand.

"Hey, what's the big-!?" Ino yelled as she looked up, only to stop and pale. "....Oh. Shit."

There was a goose on her back.

It looked like a normal goose, white and everything. Maybe a bit bigger.

But.....

She knew that look it was giving her.

It was the same look, the same eyes even as the golden goose that had chased her.

"Joy. You're alive," Ino muttered warily.

The goose honked.

"Look, just let me up and you can have the whole beach to you-OW!" Ino screamed as the goose's bill hit her in the back of the head. "What the hell?! Do I look like a rock for you to sleep on?!"

The Goose gained a golden glow of chakra about it as if daring her to try and move.

".....I'm a friend of Naruto's, you know? The big fox guy whose nose you came out of?" Ino tried, feeling utterly ridiculous for being intimidated and bargaining with this goose. But it was a goose that could turn into a blazing phoenix, so her dignity took some comfort in that.

The goose tilted its head and-

"I should hope so if you say my Lord's name so carelessly."

Ino blinked, twice as she stared at the goose, which stared back at her.

Did....did the goose just speak?