Starting over

#11 Capture

Naruto POV

I sat next to the sleeping Temari, wondering how my life would evolve from here on. I decided to talk to Kurama a bit, since i wasn't planning on sleeping anyway.

Hey Kurama, you up?

What do you want, human?

Whoa, no need to be so hostile. I just wanted to talk to you.

Well, I'm mad at you for closing the seal again, so not gonna happen.

I closed my eyes and when I reopened them, I found myself in front of the big fox-like being. He had his back to me and didn't make any signs of turning. "Hey, I'm sorry, okay? I had to close the seal again, because the Kazekage would have noticed and he might not have let me join Suna, because I could pose a threat to his village.", I said while hoping, that he would accept my apology. "You could have told me... I mean, what would you do, when you just had experienced a bit of freedom and suddenly it gets taken from you again. I felt as if you just used me, to get rid of that stupid seal. And to add insult to injury, you didn't even try to talk to me after you reopened the seal.", Kurama said slowly turning around. "I never wanted to use you. I know, how it feels to be used and I don't want anyone to feel that. I'm really sorry.", I said, looking into his big, red eyes. "Well, I'm still mad at you, but what do you want?", asked Kurama, while looking at me. I looked at him, surprised that he even considered to ask, even after admitting to be mad. "Well I wanted to know, if you could stay alert and help me out when we confront Kankuro's murderer?", I said, while looking at the red fox. "Yeah, I'll help you, but I expect something in return.", Kurama said. "And that would be?", I said looking at him questioning. "Just one little thing, I want you to change your mindscape.", he demanded. "Yeah, being trapped inside of a sewer can be depressing.", I stated, before putting my hands together and concentrating.

The scenery suddenly began to morph, turning the flooded sewer into a bright field with grass and trees. On the far side towered a mountain over the landscape. In its side was a cave in which Kurama was sitting right now. Kurama looked around, surprise and joy evident in his eyes. "It's beautiful.", he murmured. He got up, stepped out of his new lair and slowly walked over the grassy field. You could see, that he was enjoying the feeling of grass under his paws, the sunrays on his fur and the breeze on his nose. He inhaled slightly with closed eyes and then slowly opened them again." That feels great. I have to thank you Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki, maybe you are not as bad as I thought. Anyways, you should go back, it's almost morning.", the fox said, taking a look around him. "I'm going to explore this for a bit.", he said, trying to conceal his excitement. I nodded silently and closed my eyes.

The sun was just climbing over the horizon when I got back to the sandy dunes and the sleeping Temari. I got up from my sitting position and stretched, before going to Temari, slightly shaking her to wake her up. As she began to stir I got some food pills out of one of my pockets. "Is it sunrise already?", the blonde girl asked still half asleep. I just smiled and handed her a few of the food pills, before helping her get up. "Didn't you sleep?", she asked, while sealing away her sleeping bag. "No, I was talking to Kurama, and kept watch, in case someone tried to ambush us at night.", I said, while covering our leftover tracks with another layer of sand. "You stayed awake the whole night?", Temari asked looking at me wide-eyed. I just nodded, before we again started on our trip.

We finally got to a small village right on the border of the desert, which served as an interstation, for travelers. We were hoping, that someone might have seen the Anbu coming through and that they would be able to help us track him down. But what we didn't consider was for the Anbu to be still in the settlement. But suddenly we ran into him. He obviously was drunk so we decided that I would shadow him for a bit, while Temari went ahead and got some chakraresistant chains and handcuffs, because apparently we both had forgotten to take some with us on this trip.

After Temari had returned with the chains, handcuffs and additionally some tranquilizers, to capture him easily we waited for him to be alone so we could capture him. "Let's do this.", I whispered to Temari as the Anbu staggered into a narrow alley. I jumped in front of him and forced him to stop. He came to a halt and just stood there swaying. I had to look up at him, since he was a grown man, which led the Anbu to look down on me and smirk. "Get out of my way little kid.", he slurred and I could smell the alcohol in his breath. I just stayed where I was and smiled up at him, while Temari was sneaking up behind him. "I said move!", the man shouted at me and lifted his right hand, in which he held a bottle, to hit me out of the way. That was when he heard a clicking sound and found himself forced down on his knees. He hissed pained at me, while trying to free his other hand from Temari's grip. Realizing he wouldn't get out of this position he tried to throw the bottle at me with his free hand. I evaded the throw and Temari managed to get his second hand and cuff him successfully. The now captivated man kept throwing insults at us, before I knocked him out. "Well, let's hope, that we find a suitable hiding place for him.", I said grinning while sealing his unconscious body away, so we wouldn't be seen carrying him around.