Title: Legacy Namikaze

Summary: Post Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Upset by the treatment of Konoha, Naruto decides to cut his losses and framed his death on a mission. A few years later, Akatsuki is on the move- along with a mysterious organization led by a boy holding an eerie resemblance with the deceased blonde. Parings undecided.

A/N: I should be doing my homework but I'll fail anyways, *sighs* anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. (Go back and vote if you haven't already!) There is a timeskip of a few months from chapter 4.

Disclaimer: I wouldn't be on fanfiction if I owned Naruto.

"Talking" 'Thoughts' "Biju speaking/shouting"

Chapter 5: Us Shinobi of Kiri 2

An explosion threw debris flying as chunks of earth were torn away. Two figures stood assessing the damage dealt; or rather, one was standing, the other flung carelessly to the ground by the forced of the explosion. The local bandits were no more. One might have thought it overkill to blow up half a small town dealing with a gang of vicious bandits but for Naruto and Yagura, it was the norm. "Flashy my ass," the taller (albeit only slightly) of the two muttered, running a hand through his unnaturally coloured grey-white hair.

"You alright ol' man?" Yagura scoffed as Naruto offered him a hand but took it anyway and heaved himself off the ground.

Brushing himself off he scowled, "Don't call me that, I'm not that old and it's plain out offensive." In reply the blonde grinned, "Eh, but you were so persistent before in emphasising the age gaps, saying that you weren't a child."

The elder heaved a sigh. "We should be heading back to the Mayor's place to get the money." After a few seconds he added, "If we didn't blow it apart courtesy of someone."

"Hey!" Naruto cried out as he ran to catch up with Yagura, "He said that it was fine if we accidentally damaged a couple of buildings while eliminating the bandits!"

"So much for trying to keep to ourselves and not attract attention…" "OI!"

The two headed off in the direction of the remaining buildings, it had been a few months since Naruto had first met Yagura and after several days of travelling, they had grown to appreciate each other's' company. Wandering from town to town, making sure to avoid the larger towns, Yagura in his 'infinite knowledge and wisdom' as Naruto had dubbed it, would tell the blonde of things he had experienced and help him with kata's and stances. Naruto had improved vastly with the aid of someone who fully devoted their attention to him and after several hours of moaning and whining about not wanting to go back over the basics, Yagura had smacked him over the head and lectured the younger boy about how vital they were. Needless to say, the Kyuubi jinchūriki never questioned Yagura's authority when it came to shinobi arts.

Although Naruto had originally planned to head to Wave to visit Tazuna and his family, the plan was later scrapped after Yagura had said they needed more supplies. And to buy supplies, money was needed, along with a place to buy it from. So they had stumbled upon a rather secluded and minor town where they had taken a couple of odd jobs in order to earn some money. Despite the slight detours taken so far, Naruto was not complaining, in fact, he was grateful that he had come upon his new-found 'mentor' and was starting to think that abandoning his original plan was proving more fruitful. He now had a travelling companion and sensei. After hearing of Yagura's former tenant, Naruto had been educated on other jinchūriki and biju, it was that that spurred Naruto onwards with new-found vigour to specialise in one section of the Shinobi Arts- Fuinjutsu (Sealing).

Naruto's attire had taken a rather drastic turn compared to his typical orange monstrosity and wore a short-sleeved fishnet shirt with a black sleeveless trench coat over the top along with black shinobi pants and belts slung across his waist full with scrolls and tanto and tachi. He kept his kunai and shuriken pouch strapped either-side of his legs within easy reach and wore a white cough-mask over the lower area of his face, concealing the whisker marks. He used a blank hitai-ate with a black strap and used it like a bandana to keep his hair tame and less prominent, tying the back into a small ponytail that left his bangs loose.

"Hey," Naruto murmured to the person beside him, "We're heading to Wave now right? It doesn't…y'know, bring up any unwanted memories does it?" After Naruto had found out about the biju formerly sealed inside his friend/comrade, Yagura had found himself spilling out things he had not uttered a word about to anyone in a rather uncharacteristic attitude. The betrayal, how he was manipulated by a masked man wielding the Sharingan and Akatsuki; the deadly S-rank organization that although had yet to show a very serious threat, had many criminals as members, including his ex-teammate's (He winced, buried memories of Konoha resurfacing unwillingly) psychotic family murdering bastard of a twisted brother, Itachi, after him.

Yagura felt the urge to facepalm but he would never be caught doing such a thing in public, instead, he opted for a short, "Yes." Obviously, Naruto was never one for tact and it showed in his mannerisms and actions, although, he had to admit the blonde could be very sneaky at times, like when he stole the last of their food, which was coincidentally miso ramen…the instant type of course but any ramen was good in the blonde's eyes.

Said blonde rolled his eyes, why was he always stuck with the bastards that replied and communicated with monosyllables? At least it was better than receiving a grunt (Sasuke). And in addition, Naruto was thankful his mentor was not perverted like his former team 7 Jounin and affectionately dubbed 'Ero-sennin'- where in this case, the name was relatively self-explanatory.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence, each caught up in their own thoughts, and on Naruto's part, actions. After being introduced to the concept of elemental manipulation, Yagura in his 'all knowing Kage ways' had deuced that Naruto was of Wind nature and had traces of Lightning that would hopefully manifest as a secondary element. So the blonde passed his time trying to add an element to the rasengan (as he had perfected it singlehandedly but it still took longer to form) and incorporate his wind chakra into his fighting. Perhaps he could use it similarly to Asuma's blades except with his tachi and tanto. He glanced over at Yagura to see the usual impassive façade. 'Probably thinking of what to do after we go to Wave…or what we're having for dinner tonight.' He added mentally as an afterthought.

The spinning orb lost control and the blades of rotating chakra fluctuated wildly before fizzing out, unsuccessful. Naruto scowled.

"The Great Naruto Bridge." Yagura read out loud, much to the embarrassment of the blonde teen beside him but no-one paid the pair much attention as many tourists had come around the area after the end of Gato's rule. "So, why did you want to come here?" He questioned.

"This is the country that my…old team 'saved' during a mission of ours, I have a close friend here called Tazuna, a drunk bridge builder and the person who constructed this bridge. I wanted to drop by and see how he and his family were coping but I'm stumped at how to do it because I'm meant to be dead, the again, so are you." Naruto gave a chuckle before dragging Yagura across the bridge but instead of heading through the now prosperous town, he took a concealed trail that lead through the thick foliage.

After several minutes of walking, the trees parted towards the end of the path, revealing the edge of a cliff that overlooked the sea. What caught Yagura's attention though was the sight of two hastily made wooden crosses protruding at the highest vantage point. Naruto smiled softly as he gave a polite bow towards the graves before speaking, "These are the graves of Haku and-"

"Momochi Zabuza."

"Eh?" Confused at how Yagura had known the name of the second grave, Naruto cocked his head to the side, waiting for an explanation.

"His sword, Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Sword) had a very unique appearance, just like his fellow swordsman. He was part of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinini Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist), before he defected after trying to kill the Mizukage in a coup d'état." Yagura explained before answering the question Naruto had yet to voice but it was pretty obvious judging from his facial expressions. "And yes…the Mizukage at the time was me."

"Oh." Realization dawned upon the blonde. "You know, you shouldn't blame yourself for something you couldn't prevent…"

"Prevent? I was Mizukage at the time and controlled or not it was still me who did it. I'm not blaming myself but I simply regret some things Naruto Yet I have to admit being curious, you were a genin when you took the mission correct? So why would Konoha send a fresh-out of the academy graduates on a mission that included several missing nin?"

The blonde had the decency to look sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head as he started to recount the events that took place.

Naruto's heart was pounding as he raced through the forest looking for Yagura. He had gotten out of the hotsprings and grabbed a snack at the inn before deciding to train; and what better place to train than in a secluded forest nearby? In all his stupidity he had forgotten to leave a note telling his companion where he was headed, and now, he was completely and utterly lost.

He had finally gotten the concept and theory down with the help of Kage-bunshin of his Uzu-ken, a fighting style based off the original style his mum had invented. The strikes were fast and precise, aiming for weaknesses and exploiting them with the use of agility and flexibility. Uzu-ken had incorporated needle fine blades of chakra that shredded anything down to the molecular level being constantly expelled in a fine layer on his body and perpetually circulating in a whirlpool motion. He had yet to test it out properly apart from the few failed prototypes which were luckily done with clones and not him in person, if not it would have been extremely painful to say the least. He had utilized the knowledge learnt from Kyuubi about Ying and Yang release to create a jutsu that allowed him to closely manipulate chakra more efficiently and precisely than most skilled shinobi. It was this that allowed Naruto to come up with his next great discovery: The ability to draw seals with one's finger using chakra.

Unfortunately for him, it didn't change the fact that he was lost and clueless. He briefly considered busting down every tree within radius to define where his location was but figured no-one would be very happy about that. It was then an idea came to him. "AH! Ero-sennin once told me that toads could track people from their chakra signature which means that I can send one to find Yagura to bring him to me so I can get out!"

Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey and Ram. Naruto seamlessly formed the hand seals before slamming his hand down onto the ground and watching as black ink-like markings twisted and curled across the earth before a cloud of smoke exploded from the centre of the seals and runes to reveal a vivdly coloured orange and blue toad. It was the perfect size to fit on Naruto's head and hopefully willing to aid his summoner.

"Gamakichi! Long time no see!" Naruto greeted the toad.

"Naruto! What would you like this time around? Hopefully not ramen related though." Gamakichi replied before listening to what Naruto had to say. So the blonde was lost and he needed to find this 'Yagura' person for him? Seemed easy enough even though tracking was not his area of expertise. After memorising the chakra signature, Gamakichi took off and soon found the 'target' staring at several turtles in an aquatic shop.

"I should buy it…no, there'd be no place to keep it- but it looks really lonely, maybe I should buy it as a pet, or maybe I shouldn't…" The toad heard the grey-haired boy mutter to himself and the amphibian snickered under his breath.

"Hey you!" Said boy turned his head to face the frog.

"You must be a summon animal since you can talk. Who sent you?" He asked suspiciously.

"Naruto sent me to fetch'ya! He's lost and being wandering around for ages!" The toad chirped enthusiastically as he hopped off in the direction of the stranded blonde, not glancing back to see if Yagura was following him.

"You shouldn't run off without leaving a note of some sort. That was foolish of you Naruto." Yagura scolded Naruto. "I looked about for hours trying to find your incompetent butt only to find you lost!"

Naruto pouted in annoyance, he had said he was sorry already! "…I forgot to leave a note." He mumbled anyway, Yagura sighed as he decided to drop it and move on to another subject.

"You never told me you could summon." He stated, more of a questions than a fact.

"You never asked so I didn't say anything." Naruto answered petulantly. "It's not like it really matters though, because at least I got back safe."

"It does." Yagura said, tone much more serious which brought Naruto's attention to him. "A summoning contract is broken when one of the contractor dies and apart from you, Jiraya is the only alive toad summoner."

"And?" The blonde asked with growing impatience.

"You don't get it do you? That means that since Jiraya is currently in possession of the toad contract, he can see all the contractor names, and if yours is still untouched where you signed it, then he'll know you're alive when by all means, you should be dead."

Comprehension dawned on the blonde as he gaped. "…Crap."

A/N: A very short chapter this time, sorry. No action in this chapter but I promise there will be in the next one! I hope Yagura isn't too OOC but little info is on him so I'm doing it how I'd think he would act. And yes, Jiraya does know Naruto is alive and he will get some time in the next chapter as well as another character! And review please!