Fan Fiction Name: The Gathering Storm

Chapter Name: Through the Eyes of Foreigners

Info: After given orders to find possible ninja spies from the Hidden Cloud Village, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven are pulled into a world of intrigue and revolution as war is declared and a new village is founded.

Disclaimers: Narutoand the rest of the known characters are not my creations The rest, OC's all, are mine (or, rather, mine and my sisters, who came up with the blind one. You'll see what I mean.) All mine! Hahahahahahahahacoughsputterwheeze Give me a second…

Chapter Six: Through the Eyes of Foreigners

Naruto knew that Kirasu was on edge after his meeting with the old lady. He was tense, angry, and altogether stiff. When he came down, his eyes were burning in a way Naruto had only seen a few times in his life, but this time, unlike with Gaara, it was focused, intense, and didn't look to be easily abated. Yonei, Deniira, and Sonno were watching him carefully as the doors had opened, and as soon as Kirasu walked off, Deniira turned to Naruto, her face very serious before it softening in concern as she turned to face the retreating chunin.

"We need to let him blow off some steam. He really thought it wouldn't happen like this, and now he's so wound up it's scary. We need to get him a sparring partner, someone who'll be a challenge to him," Deniira said as she looked after Kirasu, who was walking stiffly and quickly through the crowd, which was giving the big chunin a large path through the oddly thick crowd. Naruto frowned immensely as Kirasu managed to escape his sight. He turned to see that Yonei was standing alone, Team Eight somehow slipping past his attention to the Hokages office. He moaned out loud. Kiba would've been a perfect partner, but then again Kirasu was damn good at that taijutsu he knew, whatever it was.

Who to pick...who to pick?

Bushy Brows! Crap, that wouldn't work. He was still out of it, what with that surgery Tsunade-obachan just did on him...who else would he know that would be good enough at taijutsu to give Kirasu a challenge without stomping on him, like Kakashi-sensei or Gai-sensei wou...?

Just then, Naruto had a flash. It may not be Gai-sensei, but someone associated with him. Someone who was known for his taijutsu just as much as Lee was, but for different reasons...

Hee hee, this would be good, and Naruto would have a front-row seat to this.

"Deniira, I think I know the right guy for the job. I'll be right back," Naruto said as he jetted off himself. Although he didn't stay around long, Naruto did see Deniiras appreciative smile as he jetted off to the one place he knew the person in question would be.

Hee hee hee. Well, now I gotta talk Neji into this...

- - - - -

Shinobi were taught to control their emotions, to not give in to anger, hate, or dispair. It would weaken a shinobis will, and even a single shinobi whos will was broken in any way would be a burden unto his or her team, and to his or her village as a whole. It was because of this that showing emotion was forbidden.

Right now, Miyazaki Kirasu was breaking several of the established shinobi guidlines, and he really didn't care at the moment.

Why the hell was he so naïve to think that someone like the Hokage would just up and say "yes, we'll support your village"? His father even told him that, and yet Kirasu was certain he would find powerful allies to help support Hedugakure against Kumogakure. But, no! He had to put all of his hopes into a woman who he thought was going to be the answer to all his hopes, and what did he get out of it? The long winded equivalent of 'we'll think about it.'

Kirasu snarled in frustation as he began mercilessly beating on the bark of a tree far enough from the village to keep the attention to a minimum. But, as his hands got bloody from beating his hands again and again on the tree, his frustration didn't ebb the way he wanted it to. If anything, he got more frustated. So he jumped away and did a Raiton on the tree in question. Kirasu knew it wouldn't do much, but it may help blowing off steam...but it didn't.

Why the hell did it have to end up like this? The whole damn village was relying on him, his cousin, his adopted sister, and his teammate, and yet he wasnt even able to get a straight answer out of the damn woman! Now here they were, in the middle of an uncomfortably hot and unfamiliar land, playing diplomat to a woman who really didn't seem to care about what happened to his family and friends! Now there's even a chance that everything he knew was in greater jeopardy than he originally thought, and it was all his fault. All His Fault.

All. His. FAULT!

Kirasu let out another snarl as he charged forward again, flashing handsigns as he charged towards the offending tree. As the chakra built up to create the jutsu, he swung his hand over his head and into the trunk, which splintered as the electricity and compressed air tore into the trunk. After a few seconds (and with the deafening roar of the loud bang that accompanied the jutsu) the tree slowly leaned and toppled.

As Kirasu breathed in and out slowly, trying to get his temper and breathing under control, he grimaces when he became frustrated again. This wasn't working. He needed more than just trees to work out his frustration. This stupid exercise wasn't doing enough to blow off the steam his encounter with the Hokage . He needed someone who would fight back.

- - - - -

This is stupid.

If Kirasu couldn't get a handle on his damn temper, everything he and all that the whole damn team worked for could be for nothing. If it wasn't for him flying off the handle, he easily could have requested another meeting to discuss the whole situation again. What she had heard from Deniira, the Hokage was taking the idea seriously. But, unlike what he is supposed to do in a situation like this, he blows his top and act like an idiot. But, thats not really fair to Kirasu. If there was anyone who knew Miyazaki Kirasu, it was her, Higurashi Yonei, his adopted sister.

He always took things lightly, but when he signed on to this mission as the leader he became freakishly serious. He was convinced that the whole village was on his shoulders...and, sad as it is to say, it pretty much was. The village NEEDED support from one of the great Kages, and the Raikage was a complete ass who was convinced that Hedugakure was simply a place to round up cannon fodder in his wars. Hell, even with the ninja of Hedugakure had things just like her brothers and cousins Ryuugan, the Raikage was still "interested" in the Byakugan (from what she had personally seen, obsessed was closer to the correct word) and paid no attention until AFTER the village declard independence. It was like when the Raikage summoned several of the key shinobi from Hedugakure in a mission that had been truly suicidal to anyone in the front lines, and guess what? All Hedu-nin in the front lines.

Only her true father, the Shodaime Hedukage, had survived, and he saw how cavalierly the kumo-nin had treated the shinobi from Hedugakure. It was sickening. It was why her father had led the fight against Kumo. It was why she had been orphaned only days after her birth. It's why his friend, a former comrade-in-arms from after the suicidal misison, had adopted her, although there was no way for her to get the Ryuugan.

It was a bit confusing to her. Sure, Yonei knew history...but that's because she was living it.

And now, here she was, in a hot place, and in a jacket of all things. Well, next time the cute dog boy came around, maybe she'll unzip a little, just to see what his reaction is. It's always fun to play with boys.

- - - - -

Why the hell did it have to come to this?

She had come with high hopes, much like Kirasu had. She had beena bit more realistic, but Kirasus optomism had been so infectious that she couldn't say no to him. Kirasu was someone who had that kind of charm, and the fact that she was the first person to ask to join him to go south made the idea all the more endearing. She was to be the team leader for his cousin and sister to lead them through the southern chunin exams. He was the one who, not only as a chunnin but also the son of the Hedukage, was to court the Kages of the south. Although they had been harried by a bunch of people who claimed they were from a village called Otogakure and "asked" (in reality, forcably demanded) them to visit their village, he was hopelessly optomistic when the next group of ninjas they found were from Konoha.

She tried to play the cautious optomist. She tried to tell him that there may be some issues that the Hokage may be wary about. But he pressedon, convinced that the Hokage was going to listen to him.

To see him so defeated in the Hokages office was heartwrenching. To see him completely lose it afterwards was a mix of frightening and infuriating. He always did this to himself, and in spite of everything he took it upon himself to take the whole blame! Why the hell did he tear himself up like that for a failed mission? She had been his teammate from the start, and he always did this whenever he didn't think he carried his weight.

To see him like thatreally tore at her gut, and she could only hope that the young blond kid who had befriended them would be able to find Kirasu a suitable sparring partner. He was way better than anyone else in this team at taijutsu, and thats's what he would be looking for.

Oshihiro Deniira rubbed her fingers on the bridge of her nose. This was giving her a headache.

- - - - -

To her, this whole experience was eye-opening...in the figurative sense.

She always hated that saying. "Eye-opening". Miyazaki Sonno was someone who had been born without normal vision has a far different experience. She had been pitied in her village, a failure born into a clan of such high potential. Surely, because she was blind, she would not be able to activate the power of her blood and become a shinobi. Although there were many in her clan that didn't share this opinion, the general populous looked upon her with pity.

And she hated it.

Even as she was pitied, she studied under the Oshihiro family. She excelled at elemental jutsu, and she had done something that most jounins are unable to do...and yet she was still looked upon with pity. The only person who didn't pity her were her older cousin Kirasu, his teammate Deniira, and her cousin, confidant, and (despite her annoyingly loud personality) best friend Yonei. It was only when a group of villagers had tried to coup against her uncle. They had come into the house, and they were gunning for Yonei, of all people. She had fought hard, but nothing was happening to stop them. They had cast her aside, and went straight for Yonei. It was then she could see.

Well, not really see. Her Ryuugan had activated and she was able to all but see them. Since then, she was able to prove her worth, coming into the ninja academy two years later then most children, yet managing to pass within the top five fo the class.

There were few things that intrigued her now.

And this boy, the one who had met them in the street and later in the hallway, intrigued her. There were few times that her ears decived her, but as she heard them come up, she heard something distinctive from the taller of the two male genins, above the heartbeats, footsteps, and breaths.

Buzzing.

Buzzing like insects. It was muffled, but it sounded almost like he had a whole colony of bugs below his coat. This intrigued Sonno more than anything. So she set out to find out just what the hell the buzzing was. To find out just what exactly intruiged her so much.

- - - - -

I hope this works, Naruto thought to himself as he entered the clearing that Team Gai normally trained in.

Well, now or never.

A/N: Well, now comes more of the history of Hedugakure, and now a look into the thoughts of the visitors.