Friendship Contract

by Demeristraz


Things Change

In a remote cave several shadowy projections gathered for their monthly meeting. At the head of the circle was a man recognizable only by his distinct ringed eyes. Gaining the attention of the group, the leader spoke. "Our first order of business, I'd like to introduce our latest member, Kabuto Yakushi."

There were some murmurs as a silver haired young man stepped forward. "I am glad to be of service, leader." He said, his right arm and face twitching slightly.

"What's up with that Un? I thought we had limited membership rings Un?" One of the figures spoke out.

"The rings are only important for sealing our targets. Kabuto has his own project to work on, and will be working alongside some of you to accomplish it." The leader spoke, getting reluctant grumbles of agreement. "That brings us to our second order of business. Kakuzu, you and Hidan are to continue collecting bounties, I want you to focus on those with physical bloodlines, and take samples before you turn them in."

"So long as it doesn't lower their prices." One of the figures said gruffly.

"Yeah, as long as I can sacrifice them, taking samples will be no problem." Agreed another.

"Deidara and Sasori, we are prepared to being our primary mission, go and fetch the one tailed beast." The leader said, turning towards two other shadows.

"Finally, I hate waiting." A hunched figure replied.

"Un." Was the grunted response of another.

"Itachi, Kisame, still no sign of the nine tails?" Leader asked.

"Wherever he went for the last three years, he wasn't in the elemental nations." Itachi said.

"I haven't been able to find him either." Zetsu added.

"Then right now he's a wildcard. Continue looking, until then approach Konoha with care." Finished with the briefing, most of the shadows nodded and disappeared. Only Kabuto, the Sasori, and the Leader remained.

"I see the you've moved up in the world, Kabuto." The hunched figure said, looking the silver haired ninja over. The occasional twitching that plagued the former spy disturbed him on some instinctive level.

"I have surpassed the snake in many ways, and gone down paths that even he dared not tread. Even my dream has become far greater than his could ever hope to be." Kabuto replied, pushing his glasses up his nose. Sasori gave a noncommittal grunt, and his shadow dispersed as well.

"I do hope for your sake that you keep your end of the bargain Kabuto. I do not understand yet why you are required, nor do I trust your presence." the 'Leader' spoke.

"So long as I have what I require." Kabuto shrugged, his shadow flickering out as well.

O~O~O~O~O

Their arrival back in Konoha had certainly turned some heads, most notably Sasuke's disheveled appearance. He had excused himself to get cleaned up, complaining of griffons and their lack of clothing. Sakura left to check in with her parents, craving a home cooked meal by her mother. Naruto, unsurprisingly, went straight to Ichiraku's Ramen Stand.

He was well on his way towards a new record for bowls of Ichiraku's Vegetarian Ramen consumed in one go when a cry of 'Cousin!' caught his attention. Looking up he spotted a rather grown up Karin sliding onto the stool next to him. "Did you just get back?"

He nodded, swallowing the broth in his mouth and nearly choking after spotting Karin's new outfit. "You made Jounin while I was gone!?" Naruto shouted, getting a laugh from the redhead and a few odd looks from the other customers.

"Special Jounin, head of my own hunter ninja team. Tsunade took me along on some of the raids on the snake's old hideaways. I got rather famous for my sensing abilities, spotting prisoners and ambushes, as well as tracking down escapees." She said, ordering a bowl for herself.

"What did you do with all of them?" Naruto asked, slurping through another mouthful.

"Depends really. A lot of the prisoners were just that, once we made certain they were healthy and not dangerous, we helped get them back to their old lives. Some of them had families, wives and children to get back to. Heck, some of them were children themselves. Tsunade took some of the tougher cases herself, as a pet project. This one girl, Isarabi has taken great strides towards recovering from her condition, you should meet her, she's an inspiration." Karin continued, telling him as much as she could about the bases they had raided.

Their talk continued as both of them continued to eat, Karin proving that appetite ran in the Uzumaki family. Eventually she rose from the booth. "Well, I'm going with Fluttershy to visit Juugo today, so I've gotta get going."

"Juugo?" Naruto asked, pushing back his twenty fifth empty bowl with a sigh, they didn't make food like that in Equestria.

"Yeah, he's Fluttershy's favorite patient, a real tough case too. I'll explain on the way if you want to join us." She said, beckoning him to follow. "Tsunade and Jiraiya both checked him out, and they know what the problem is, but there's nothing they can really do to treat him."

"What is the problem then?" Naruto asked, as the two walked towards the hospital.

"He's got this rare bloodline, his body naturally produces those enzymes that are in those cursed seals. So he takes in natural energy involuntarily, and he can shift his body into all sorts of monstrous shapes. If he goes for long enough without shifting, it tends to happen involuntarily, and he goes berserk." Karin explained, leading them around the hospital towards a wooded area nearby. Naruto noticed along the way that several seals were in place to maintain a barrier effect.

"And he's Fluttershy's favorite patient?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Oh he's a real softy most of the time. He went to Orochimaru for a cure, because he hates violence and just wants to live in peace. When we found him he actually begged us to not let him out, for our own safety." They had reached a rather large fence, with several seal tags littering the wooden walls. Karin placed her hand on one and pulsed her chakra, unlocking the wooden gate.

"Fluttershy was on that mission as our healer, she's learned a ton from Tsunade. Anyways we let the guy out, and he went nuts, smashing through our best ninja in minutes, until Fluttershy just runs forward and stares him down. It was amazing, she just held his gaze and he stopped moving, and eventually he turned back to normal." Karin gushed, as a small clearing came into view up ahead. Naruto could hear voices.

"Angel bunny hasn't been eating well lately." came a soft voice from ahead.

"That's too bad, do you think he's sick?" A rather young sounding male voice replied.

"Oh I don't think it's that. He's always been a picky eater, and it's always a struggle to get him to eat when he'd rather be playing. I made a whole salad for him yesterday, and he wouldn't even touch it." Fluttershy said, laying in the grass and surrounded by animals.

"I'm sure he'll be okay. Just take away his snacks until he starts eating dinner. He'll eat when he gets hungry enough." Juugo sat against a nearby tree, looking at peace with the world as several birds sat upon him.

"We have visitors. You know Karen, and this is Naruto." Fluttershy said, standing up to greet the newcomers. Naruto gave her a hug, it had been a long three years.

"It's good to see you again Fluttershy, I've heard you've improved by leaps and bounds in your medical training."

"It's been very exciting learning under Tsunade." She agreed, turning towards the orange haired boy by the tree.

"It's nice to meet you Naruto. I've heard from Fluttershy that she practically raised you." Juugo commented.

"Ah, it's good to meet you as well, I hear you're her favorite patient." Naruto said amiably.

"Sadly, there's nothing really to treat. I'm okay with spending my life like this, if it keeps others safe. " Juugo said, holding a hand out for another bird to land on it. The group spoke for about an hour, keeping the subject matter light, and acting like new friends.

"I've been trying to convince him to come out once in a while." Fluttershy commented.

"That's a good idea, I'm certain between me and Fluttershy we can help you stay in control." Naruto said, giving the boy a smile, which was tentatively returned.

"I'll consider it." He said, and the group of visitors rose to leave.

O~O~O~O~O

Soon enough team seven was called to the Hokage's office to debrief about their extended training tirp. Jiraiya, Tsunade and Kakashi were all present, looking over a written report that each chuunin had prepared before coming home.

"Hey, grandma! What's this about Karin making Jounin before me?" Naruto complained upon entering, the adults all gave him smirks.

"Special Jounin, she's one of the best trackers the village has seen in ages. Saved a lot of lives on our raids, and made them a lot quicker, which is good becasue someone else has been raiding them." Tsunade grumbled.

"Raiding them?" Sakura asked.

"We were lucky to get Juugo out when we did. A lot of the bases were looted for valuable information and genetic samples. Some of the prisoners with rare bloodlines that should have been there, based on the paperwork, were completely missing." Tsunade complained.

"Orochimaru experimented with genetic engineering, transferring and combining bloodlines and the like. He never did it to himself though, too much risk of instability for someone wanting to become immortal. That someone else is now apparently collecting his resources is... foreboding." Jiraiya explained. "This is all hush hush of course, but we think it may have something to do with Akatsuki. I spent a lot of the last few years monitoring my information network, and they are finally beginning to become more active."

"Well, so much for slow days of training. What else did we miss?" Naruto asked. Sasuke and Sakura both looked interested as well.

"Well, I heard you met Juugo. Isarabi, another one of our rescued victims, is planning on living a quiet life as a civilian. Everyone around your age group made chuunin at least, Neji, Hinata and Shikamaru made Jounin." Tsunade recapped.

"What? Neji?" Naruto asked, not very surprised by the other two.

"Yes, Neji. He's a very talented ninja, and his attitude and drive have both picked up in recent years. He's really throwing his support behind making Hinata clan head soon. She has become quite the force herself. Their clan has been thinking of changing their motto to 'Speak softly and strike to kill.' Shikamaru has been assigned diplomatic duty between Suna and Konoha, along with Pinkie Pie."

"What!" Naruto yelled, if the other revelations were surprising this one nearly stopped his heart. "You let Pinkie Pie become a diplomat?"

"She took an interest in seals, and Jiraiya got sick of her, so we sent her along to Suna to learn some puppeteering techniques. She's been swapping sealing ideas with them for the past few years. Any and all ponies seem to be welcome there after Gaara became Kazekage."

Naruto had finally collapsed from the shock. "You need to work on your delievery." Sakura grumbled, kicking the blonde boy softly. It took a few minutes for him to wake up.

"Gaara beat me to becoming a Kage? Gaara? Really?" He asked, trying to imagine the disturbed boy being in charge of a village.

"He's made great strides in the past few years, most of his village no longer fears him. I think hanging out with that little unicorn helped his image plenty." Tsunade shrugged. "Either way, relations between our villages are at an all time high."

"Sweetie's been visiting him? I'm glad she wasn't hurt, I can't imagine pissing off Rarity these days. Anyways, I suppose it's our turn to explain the results of our training?" Naruto suggested.

"We've read your reports, those new summoning contracts are quite the boon, I'll have to talk to the bosses later. Other than that, there are a few things that caught my attention. Naruto, you say you've mastered Yin and Yang release?" Tsunade asked, and Kakashi's eyebrow rose.

"Not mastered by far, although Yang is farther along than Yin. For some reason Yin just doesn't respond as well as Yang does. Celestia thinks there may be something in my heritage that makes me stronger with Yang techniques than Yin." Naruto said, causing the adults to give each other odd looks. "Alright, spill it. You three know something about my parents, and I'm tired of you dodging the question."

"We were supposed to tell him when he made chuunin." Jiraiya shrugged.

"Yeah well, a lot happened to keep us busy. Now's as a good a time as any though. Naruto, your father is Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage." Tsunade said. Naruto promptly fainted again.

"Seriously, your delivery sucks. Should we get some chairs or something?" Sakura grumbled, Sasuke was struck dumb. Eventually Naruto woke up once again, and they began a very long and heartfelt talk about his parents. He learned of his father and mother's relationship, about his mother being the second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, and about the Uzumaki clan's relationship to the Senju.

"So you really are my grandma, or at least a relative." Naruto joked, to Tsunade's annoyance. "Wow this is a lot to take in. How did my mother die? How did the Kyuubi escape that night?"

"Nobody really knows, the ANBU we sent to guard her were all murdered, and somehow the Kyuubi broke free. Both of your parents died trying to reseal it." Jiraiya answered.

"Do I have an inheritance or anything?" the blonde boy asked.

"Nothing really remains of the Uzumaki clan. Minato was an orphan, and being Hokage doesn't pay well enough for him to leave you any sizable fortune. We have some photo albums of theirs, but that's about it." Tsunade said sadly.

"Minato was my Sensei, I'd be happy to tell you what I know of him." Kakashi added.

"Back on the subject, your ability to use Yang chakra may be related to your family. The Uzumaki and Senju clans are close, and the Senji are said to have inherited the yang chakra of the sage of the six paths." Jiraiya said, excitedly.

"That's an old myth Jiraiya." Tsunade grumbled, but team seven was already listening intently.

"The legend goes, that on his deathbed the Sage of the Six paths used the tremendous chakra of the ten tails sealed within him, to create the nine tailed beasts. With his last moments he called his two sons forward to receive their inheritance. To the older son he gave his eyes, his yin chakra, and the ability to bend the tailed beasts to his will. To the younger son he gave his body, his yang chakra, and the ability to calm tailed beasts with his chakra. Thus started a feud between the brothers over which gift was superior. Legend has it that the older brother's family became known as the Uchiha, and the younger brother's family became the Senju." Jiraiya explained.

"The Uchiha believed it, or at least enough of them did to speak of it in the records." Sasuke commented thoughtfully. "Does that mean I should have been working on Yin release techniques?"

"Gee, that would have been nice to know BEFORE the three year training trip." Naruto grumbled, glaring at the adults.

"Yeah yeah, we screwed up hiding this from you all. But Minato had enemies, and we couldn't have you going around shouting your heritage from the rooftops." Jiraiya said, waving his hands defensively.

"Whatever, I'll teach you what I can Sasuke, and we'll see if you have talent for it. Luna will be thrilled, you're her favorite ninja for some reason. I'll focus on Yang chakra mostly, since it seems to be my strength either way." Naruto shrugged, getting a nod of agreement from Sasuke.

"I'll check the archives for any more information on it. Anyways, I've mastered my seal and my lightning element, developed several new techniques, and I have a good feel for 'griffon nature energy' for sage training, once it's safe to do so." Sasuke added.

"The toads refuse to let me borrow their stick, without it sage training is difficult. I'll describe it to your summon bosses if you like, maybe they know of something like it." Jiraiya said.

"Knowing my luck it's that same stick Patch was hitting me with for two years." Sakura grumbled. "I've mastered my earth element, and created an effective fighting style." She summarized.

"Really now, because your report here says more than that. And this one dictated by 'Master Patch' says even more." Tsunade said with a raised eyebrow. "From what I've gathered you can hit harder than even I can, at full taijutsu speed. You can also fight blindfolded as well as most Hyuuga can, and use seal-less earth techniques. This last line is confusing, 'And about the gate, I take no responsibility, it was her idea and I had nothing to do with it.'"

Sakura visibly cringed. "They have two more!"

Any further explanation was cut off by an ANBU darting into the room. "Lady Hokage! A hawk just came in from Suna. The Kazekage has been kidnapped by a ninja wearing a black robe and red clouds. They're also requesting your medical aid for his brother and a pony who were poisoned."

"Ma'am, requesting permission to kick ass and rescue Gaara?" Naruto said, suddenly at attention.

"Granted, summon Fluttershy when you get there." Tsunade said, as the three bolted from the room.

O~O~O~O~O

Earlier...

"Na na na na na na na na Cat Man~!" Pinke called, following her 'practical sealing lessons' partner through the streets of Suna.

"Pinkie! Stop singing! I do not need a theme song!" Kankuro called over his shoulder, double checking the scrolls he carried. For all the pony's talent at sealing, it came with endless amounts of annoyance. Having the council decide he was the only ninja 'talented' enough to train alongside her was both a blessing and a punishment.

"But how will everyone know you're on the way to stop evil-doers?" The pink pony asked, hopping alongside the boy. She as well had her saddlebags filled to the brim with scrolls.

"They don't need to know, we're ninja remember? Now, you're certain they're this way?" He asked, that strange bird was still circling overhead, filling the sky with explosions. He was worried for his brother, but the pony insisted there was another bad guy around. He had learned long ago to both respect and fear her 'Pinkie sense'.

"Yep yep! There's a really bad guy over this way, and he plays with dolls too!" Pinkie called, causing Kankuro to sigh. No matter what they did or how hard he argued, she still insisted in calling his puppets dolls. With her help they were some of the strongest 'dolls' in the village, but still...

Soon enough they reached one of the village gates, and noticed the disturbing lack of guards. Approaching cautiously they spotted a hunched figure waiting in the shadows. Making a few gestures to his companion, Kankuro crept forward. Pinkie unsealed a small back-mounted cannon and took aim, firing a relatively quiet kunai towards the target. It exploded directly above the hunched figure in a shower of paper, and the target leapt back into the moonlight in surprise.

"Chakra suppression seals." a gruff voice commented, looking at the small confetti tags that now adhered to his cloak. "They seem harmless, but if I were a normal ninja you'd have severely handicapped me."

Kakuro attacked next, sending out all three of his favorite puppets to attack the figure, who chuckled quietly and avoided each one. "You have quite the bit of talent as a puppeteer. Sadly I practically invented the art, as well as building those puppets."

"T-that would make you..." Kankuro paused, as a metal blade shot from the back of the figure, striking each of the puppets in their vulnerable joints.

"Yes, Sasori of the red sands, at your service." The hunched figure grumbled. Batting away a counter attack as the bladed sections of the dismantled puppets launched at him. His gloating was cut off by the earth pony from before leaping in front of him with a rather large cannon covered in seals.

"Surprise~!" She called, pulling a trigger and splattering the master puppeteer's face with icing. "Whoopsie, had it set to cupcake!"

"Pinkie! Focus, we need to pull out the big stuff here, this guy is way beyond our level." Kankuro said, getting a hold of his fear. Somehow the presence of the pony seemed to take the edge off of facing down a legendary monster.

"Okie Dokie Lokie! Time for the Gummy mark 2!" She called, pulling out a large alligator-shaped contraption. Sasori glanced at the sky overhead where his partner was still fighting, decided he had time to play, and sat back to watch what these two odd characters could come up with. "Element set to water, Throwback mode engaged, chakra reserve accessed, output set to 40%. Plant hooves... Hydro Cannon!"

The strange contraption whirred and spat a torrent of water, dousing Sasori as he brought his tail forward to defend. Both combatants were pushed back several feet, but other than being rather wet, the puppet using Akatsuki ninja was no worse for wear.

"It's not very effective..." Pinkie grumbled.

"Enough of this, I'm using the prototype." Kankuro called, pulling an extra scroll from his back. It opened and a poof of smoke revealed a human shaped puppet. "Meet the Modular Earth-pony Chakra Hardened Assault Puppet. MECHA Puppet for short." The apprentice puppeteer grinned. Using wood grown by earth ponies had improved the ability for seals to harden the wood well past steel strength. Pinkie and him had spent months working towards building a puppet that could fight in close combat on top of regular puppet tricks and traps.

"I thought we were calling him the Chakra Hardened Ultra Can Kicker." Pinkie said, irritating Kankuro.

"I told you, we aren't calling a puppet this awesome Chuck!"

Bemused by their banter, Sasori struck out with his tail at the puppet, intending to dismantle it as he had the others. To his surprise, with an exaggerated movement for a puppeteer, the prototype leapt up and kicked the bladed weapon aside, suffering next to no damage. Another series of commands form Kankuro had the weapon dart in and begin fighting Sasori in a rather impressive display of taijutsu, for a puppet.

The 'Chuck' leapt airborne, and revealed a flamethrower in his right arm, spraying hot napalm down upon the sands of the desert, as the master puppeteer was forced to dodge. A retaliation from his Kunai launcher bounced harmlessly off a basic chakra sheild.

"I see, you specialized the arms, the left for defense, the right for offense." Sasori commented. Still, the Akatsuki member was the superior puppeteer, and as they locked once more in physical combat he managed to overpower the prototype and sever its right arm. To his amazement the remaining stump disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and a new arm took its place. It wasted no time in firing a pressurized jet of water that nearly split Sasori in two.

"Ah, the Modular part of the 'Mecha'. I'm guessing you have several specialized limbs stored within the arm and leg sockets, which you can seal and unseal as needed. Ingenious, who came up with it?" Sasori asked, quite impressed by the ingenuity. He had left Suna behind because they lacked this kind of creativity.

"It was a joint effort." Kankuro admitted, causing Pinkie to snort at the unintended pun. "Pinkie is a sealing genius, but can't manage to control a puppet on her own yet."

"No fingers." the pony shrugged.

The battle continued, the prototype puppet pulling out every weapon it had against the master puppeteer. Shields, katars, kunai and needle launchers, fire water and wind jets, lightning charged tasers, even chakra-string guided rockets. The desert was awash with collateral damage and broken puppet parts by the time Kankuro ran out of options, and Deidara landed nearby on a massive clay bird.

"Play time is over." Sasori said, firing a volley of needles passed the crippled proto-puppet and hitting both Pinkie and Kankuro. "You two have a real talent, both for puppet control and creative thinking. If you somehow survive, I wish you the best in improving our art."

"Feeling woozie..." Pinkie stumbled, as the poison took effect.

"Gaara..." Kankuro called, seeing his brother draped over the back of the bird.

Several hours later, as both lay in a feverish state in the hospital, Pinkies body gave an involuntary spasm. The medics were perplexed as even unconscious the strange earth pony began to smile.