Crystal In the Darkness (Sequel To The Crystal In The Light)

33

Tenten: Welcome to the 34th installment of Crystal in the darkness.

Shino:We hope that you will like it.

A sigh was heard as Naruto walked along the path of a forest located in the Land of Wind.

The blonde had just completed recruiting Karin and Juugo. Right now, they were walking in the desert to Village hidden in Cacti in order to meet Obito who would transport the newly recruited ninjas to The Amegakure.

As the five people walked under the hot sun with their warm and sweaty cloaks, Karin, Suigetsu, Juugo and Kabuto could not help but wonder how the hell was Naruto walking without complaining anything.

"I HATE THIS F***ING DESERT" Karin shouted as they trudged across the sand without any rest.

"I hate to say this but I agree with Karin. My body requires a lot of fluid to function." Suigetsu said as he sighed and looked at Naruto who was walking without any complaints.

"Oi Cousin. How are you able to not to complain when we are walking in the hot scorching sun." Karin said angrily.

Naruto turned around but said nothing so Karin assumed that it was because of his experience. She couldn't help but wonder how much her brother cousin had to go through.

As the entourage walked in the sand, Naruto pointed to one direction.

"There it is. Our Rendezvous is at Village hidden in the cacti."

The three people looked at the direction where Naruto was pointing.

Karin and Suigetsu kneeled down and shouted "Finally, we are save by the grace and love of Kami sama."

"So Blonde sama. How should we proceed into the village." Juugo asked.

"We will stop there for someone to arrive. He will teleport you to a different dimension." Naruto said he walked into the village hidden in the cacti.

At the bathhouse

After cooling down by drinking water, Naruto knelt down and opened his cloth to bathe for sometime.

He spent at least 30 minutes walking around the village for scouting purposes. The village, true to its name, was covered by a boundary of cacti. The temperature was less than what was in the Sand Village.

"So, what are your plans in this village, Naruto sama?" Suigetsu asked after making sure that no-one was hearing them.

"Well, I have to meet with Madara Uchiha, just as I said right now, in order to decide your team ups. But before that I have to talk with Kurama regarding some confidential things. Oh! One more thing, don't worry if I collapse into water without any warning." Naruto said as he collapsed into a deep slumber.

Inside Mindscape of Naruto

The mindscape was completely filled with dirty water. It was because he had negative feelings like sorrow, despair, grief and anger.

"I see that you didn't tell them about your seals which have temparature regulation and blah blah blah." Kurama said as he smirked.

"Oh. They didn't even ask me about it. So its their fault. Now, we didn't come here to discuss this. Did we?" Naruto said emotionlessly.

"Nope. I am calling you here to discuss about the vulnerability of your mask. I am fed up of seeing your mask breaking down over and over and over again." The majestic fox said.

"So what do you propose, Kurama?" Naruto said.

"Well here is the proposition. When I was sealed into your body by the Yondaime Hokage, he and his wife left their chakra so that they can help you to control me if I ever release the nine tails chakra. Somehow I manage to alter it by making it appear only if I release dark chakra without your will. That means it will never ever appear." Kurama said.

"So. What about it?" Naruto asked and added "Please tell me fast I have no time."

"Ah! We are getting to that only. You can use it to strengthen your mask. The mask will never come out from your face untill you will to do so. You can remove it if you want. But my point us that once you reach your final fight, you may will the mask to break into pieces. Beware that the chakra of Yondaime and his wife will immediately disappear once you finally will it to be so." The wise beast said.

"Alright. I understand. I accept the proposition. Your point is that once I want my mask to break permanently I only have to wish so." Naruto asked.

"Yes you are correct. I will prepare the required seals in order to do so." Kurama said with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you. I will forever be indebted in you, Kurama." Naruto said as he closed his eyes.

Outside the Naruto's mindscape.

The blonde opened his eyes slowly to see Suigetsu and Juugo already dressed up and waiting patiently for the blonde to open his eyes. He looked around to see that he was still in the water.

"So you have finally woke up. We won't be asking you what the Kyuubi said but Karin is getting impatient. You may also want to know that Madara is waiting for you outside the bathhouse." Suigetsu said as Naruto got up and dressed himself up.

"Thank you for your information, Suigetsu." Naruto said.

The trio walked out to meet Karin and Madara to see that they were waiting for Naruto and the other boys.

"So it is decided that you will go to Amegakure until any further notice. I don't want any overkill just to reach our final goal. And one more thing, Naruto. You will be pairing up with Itachi to complete a mission. Kisame Hoshigaki committed suicide in the middle of fight against Maito Gai." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wait. The same Kisame who was one of the strongest in our organisation? But how?" Naruto said.

"Well. Not exactly killed but was about to captured by an entourage led by Captain Sasuke Uchiha. In order to prevent spilling any information regarding about Akatsuki, he killed himself. And another thing.... Don't forget to help the crow to reach its nest. And hunt for a hawk." Obito said as Naruto nodded to signal that he got the code.

"Alright. I will go now to Pain who would be receiving them." Obito said "Itachi will be arriving shortly to team up with you."

With that, Obito along with Kabuto, Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu disappeared with the help of Kamui leaving Naruto all along.

Once they were gone, Naruto took a tablet prescribed by Tsunade and ate it. He knew that he had no time left. But at the same time, he decided not to approach the legendary Slug Sanin because he had an identity to maintain.

"The tablets are affecting you very badly. Isn't it Naruto kun?" The voice belonged to Itachi Uchiha.

"You are correct. Now let's go and reunite you with one Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto said as he walked towards Konoha following Itachi.

Tenten: Shay san would like to apologise for not showing the recruitment of Karin and Juugo.

Shino:He couldn't do it because it would match the canon. So just check out the anime to refresh your memory about the recruitment of these two mentioned people. .

Tenten:Just imagine that Naruto is Sasuke. Anyways, we hope that you liked this chapter.

Shino:See you next time. Till then peace out.