Chapter 19 : Tobi
"Deidara is dead," Zetsu reported to the rest of the Akatsuki members, his projected image flickering a little as he spoke. "He decided to end the battle by turning himself into a bomb."
"Oh, my," Kisame said with a shark-like grin. "It seems we've lost another member, eh? I thought he was pretty strong too." Over on the other side of the cavern that he and his partner were resting in, Itachi opened his eyes to reveal the Sharingan as he looked around at the rest of the members. Sensing his partner's eyes on him but not really paying attention, Kisame continued. "So, who was it that killed him off? Was it Sasuke, or was it the Kyuubi Jinchūrikki?"
"It was Sasuke," reported Zetsu, "however it seems Sasuke was killed in the explosion as well." Itachi's eyes flashed as the plant-like man reported that. Only Konan managed to catch it as she was doing her best to pay attention to the proceedings around her and the reaction the other members had to the news. She was sure that knowledge of her "comrades" disposition would help Naruto when the time came to fight them.
"So, Deidara dragged Sasuke along with him into hell huh?" said Kisame.
"You should be grateful Itachi," Pein said from where his projection stood, "Deidara died while preventing any unnecessary hindrances." This Kisame also took notice when Itachi's eyes flashed at the leader.
Grinning, the shark-like man said, "is it just me, or are we missing someone besides Deidara?"
"Tobi died as well," said Zetsu, "Deidara decided to destroy everything indiscriminately." Konan did her best to keep herself from reacting to that information. She knew who Tobi really was, there was no way that man had been killed. She absently wondered if he was getting ready to cast off his disguise. If so, she would need to warn Naruto about it.
"Oh, right, right Tobi," Kisame said, sounding as if he had just remembered, all the while the grin stayed on his face. "I'm actually a little surprised he died, the kid always seemed to have some escape route handy. But I guess his number just came up, huh? That must have been one hell of a jutsu."
"It doesn't matter," Pein decided, "there are plenty of people around Tobi's level that we can choose from to replace him. However, Deidara was valuable."
"I don't know," Kisame said in a pleasant tone, "I rather enjoyed having Tobi around. He had a knack for turning this gloomy organization into something a bit more cheerful."
Pein just sighed, "I'm leaving. At least mourn for Deidara in silence." Pain's image disappeared and soon enough, Konan's vanished as well. Zetsu stayed long enough to leave a parting comment.
"In that case, I will take care of Tobi's funeral. It's time for us to go." When the plant-like man had left only Itachi and Kisame remained, as they were the only two figures that had been at the meeting that were not projections, being the ones who had carried to Jinchūrikki to the cave in the first place.
"OI! Itachi, you alright?" asked Kisame, actually getting a tad creeped out by the way his partner was glaring at nothing. Itachi turned to him with the three tomoe of his Sharingan spinning, causing the shark-man to actually take a step back, "you know, you can be pretty scary when you want to."
As always, Itachi said nothing.
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Naruto frowned as he looked at the two Kilometer wide crater. He was the first one of his team to have gotten here and had done his best to scout the area around and in the crater in search of Sasuke or the Akatsuki member. So far he had not had any luck. But then again, what was he expecting to find at a place that had been the center of a two-kilometer-wide explosion?
From the way the crater looks there was a small, more concentrated explosion first, Naruto thought to himself as he analyzed the ring that had formed within the crater. After that, it had spread out and destroyed everything else. A sigh escaped his lips, even with my limited skills at sensing chakra I can feel the amount of residue from Deidara, but I don't sense much of Sasuke. The other chakra is overpowering his. Not that it would have made much of a difference, even if he had been able to detect Sasuke's chakra there wouldn't have been much he could do about that.
"Naruto!" the shout came from behind him and the whiskered blond turned around to see the other tracking squads coming out of the trees. Sakura ran over to him and stopped at his side, breathing a tad heavier than normal due to her rush to get over here. "What happened here?"
"I believe Sasuke was fighting the Akatsuki member known as Deidara," Naruto said, "I can detect faint traces of his chakra mixed in with the bombers. Unfortunately, it's so overpowering that even if my sensor abilities were up to snuff I wouldn't be able to track him with it. Kiba!" He turned to the dog using ninja, "can you pick up anything?"
"It's faint but I can smell Sasuke here," Kiba said, his feet subconsciously snapping to attention at the commanding tone in the blond's voice. "I can also smell the scent of two other people that were here."
"Well, we already know one of them was Deidara," Naruto frowned as he looked at the large blast crater. "He's the only one capable of creating a bomb like this." His frown deepened, "the other is likely a newer recruit since their numbers have already been cut down by four as three of them had died and Orochimaru left." Konan had informed him that Madara was Deidara's partner, having taken on the alias of Tobi. But he didn't want to cause a panic by telling his team that in order to get to Sasuke they would in all likelihood have to fight the greatest traitor Konoha had since it's founding.
"I can pick up another scent," said the small white dog that had chosen to travel with Sakura. "It belongs to the one that had been carrying Sasuke's scent in town earlier. It seems that Sasuke has gained a traveling companion sometime since killing Orochimaru."
"That means that Sasuke has formed his own group," everyone turned their attention to Naruto as he spoke. "He likely realized that fighting against Itachi without backup is tantamount to suicide, what with Kisame around. Even if Sasuke had the power to beat Itachi, he wouldn't stand a chance against both him and Kisame."
"Are you saying that you don't think Sasuke-kun can defeat Itachi?' asked Sakura, not quite sure how she should feel about Naruto's statement.
"Let's just put it this way Sakura," Naruto replied with a humorless chuckle. "Sasuke could get a hundred times stronger than he was before, but a hundred times zero is still zero. The fact of the matter is when I fought both Sasuke and Orochimaru, the skills he displayed only amount to an A rank shinobi and that was with his Sharingan active. Itachi is on the higher scale of an S rank, he is one of the few ninjas that carries the same strength as a Kage on the same level as Sarutobi when he was in his prime." Of course, he was neglecting the fact that Sasuke had his cursed seal form, but he doubted Itachi would let him use it, and even then he doubted the older Sharingan user would lose. Shaking his head the blond continued, "it would take a hell of a miracle for Sasuke to win a fight against Itachi."
Sakura's face gained a slightly constipated look like she was warring between trying to defend her crush or giving in to the fact of cold hard facts. Naruto turned his attention to the nin-dogs after having sufficiently cowed the pink-haired girl. "Can you pick up any trace of Sasuke's scent?" he asked Pakkun.
"No," the little pug said, "I'm afraid not, Sasuke's scent ends here."
"Which means one of two things, Sasuke died in the explosion," Naruto ignored the gasp of shock and hurt that came from Sakura. "Or he used a Jikūkan (Space-time) ninjutsu of some kind to escape." That brought up a few complications, while there were actually quite a few Jikugon ninjutsu, they were all difficult to master. Well, almost all, not many ninjas knew that the most basic academy jutsu, the Kariwimi was in all reality a low E ranked Jikūkan technique.
He likely used some form of reverse summoning to escape, Naruto narrowed his eyes as his mind began coming up with a plausible theory. I doubt even Orochimaru had many Jikūkan ninjutsu in his arsenal, however, all summoners have basic space-time abilities thanks to their contracts. Creating a reverse summoning technique isn't that difficult if they use the original Kuchiyose No Jutsu as a base. But that would require two people since it would need two scrolls to work. The user would create a gateway with the scrolls being a gate and the space in between would be the bridge. The person with the other scroll would have to finish the technique by releasing the second gateway.
It would explain why Sasuke had a team, a contingency in case he needed a quick escape. Well, say what you will about him but at least Sasuke hasn't totally lost his mind. At least, if he really didn't escape and wasn't blown to hell.
"Kiba, can you extend your senses and try and pick up Sasuke's scent?' asked Naruto, turning his attention to the dog using ninja. Over on the sidelines, Kakashi watched the young blond analyzing and mulling over the situation. For a brief moment, he felt like he was standing next to his sensei again as the blond began taking charge of the situation.
You really have grown, Naruto, thought the silver-haired jonin.
"I can try," Kiba replied as he closed his eyes and made a hand seal. Kiba stretched his senses to their limit, straining to find any trace of Sasuke. After a few moments, his eyes snapped opened and he looked at Naruto. "it looks like your right," he said, "right now my nose has a greater sense of smell than even most nin-dogs. I've found Sasuke."
"Nice going Kiba," Naruto complimented before he gave the order, "lead the way." Kiba nodded before he took off, with the others soon following him back into the trees.
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Konan watched as Nagato – she shook her head, the god realm path that had once been her best friend and the person she had loved more than anything in the world, Yahiko, sat with one leg dangling off the side while the other was propped up and being used as an armrest. Before she had met Naruto, she had seen Nagato's desire to use the body of Yahiko as a way to ensure that their friend lived on. But after having her eyes opened to the truth, after realizing that what they were doing was the last thing Yahiko would have wanted, she saw it more as a perversion of their friend than anything. It almost nauseated her every time she had to be near the body now.
Shaking her thoughts off she called out, "Pain, he's here." She watched as the man rose from his sitting position and walked to her, stopping when he reached the lip that separated the inside of the building from the balcony he had been sitting on.
"So, how is Sasuke?" asked Pain as he stared at the figure who was secretly heading the Akatsuki.
"He's progressing nicely," the man said, his voice, once childish and enthusiastic had taken on a slightly mocking quality. "He was able to use the full power of the Sharingan well, I have no doubt that his eyes will surpass Itachi's. The time is drawing near. Soon I will have his path laid out before him, though I suppose a part of that is up to Itachi. There isn't much time left for him after all."
Pain took a step forward. "And what of the Kyuubi Jinchūrikki?" he asked, "it has become more of a pain in our side than we had anticipated." The way Pain called Naruto "it" as if the blond wasn't even a person, made Konan burn with anger. She reminded herself that both of the people with her had a powerful doujutsu that would read her emotions easily if she showed even a flicker, it was only that knowledge that allowed her to keep her face completely impassive and her body language unresponsive.
"Yes, the Namikaze," Madara spat out the name like it was the foulest thing he had ever tasted. "He has grown more powerful than I could have thought possible. You will deal with him, Pain. As the leader of Akatsuki, failure from you won't be tolerated."
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"I'm picking up his scent!" Kiba called back to the others following him as he rode on top of his nin-dog partner Akamaru so that he could focus on tracking Sasuke. "There's no mistaking it. Judging by the way his scent is moving, they must be resting somewhere."
"Sasuke was likely injured during the battle," Naruto commented, "to be honest I'm still surprised he won in the first place. He likely needs some time to recover from his wounds so this will be our chance to find him." The others all nodded at his words, trusting in the blond jinchūrikki as they continued moving closer to Sasuke's scent.
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"Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto," Madara said, his voice carrying both cold disdain and grudging respect. "He's no longer a helpless little child, not only has he made friends with many people, including those from hidden villages that he doesn't belong to, many of which hold high-ranking positions like the Mizukage and the Raikage. He has also mastered many powerful jutsu, with the Hiraishan and that Rasengan of his, along with the power of the Kyuubi, he is in all likelihood more powerful than even his father had been." The Yondaime Hokage, one of the few men that had been able to stand up to Madara. Now his son was who they had to face, and he would be an even more dangerous opponent, "defeating him will not be an easy task. He has managed to kill off two of the members that we know of, and I believe he was the reason that we were unable to capture the Shukaku Jinchūrikki."
"You speak of him as if he is some kind of threat," Konan stated coldly. She didn't particularly like talking badly about her Naruto, but she needed to keep her appearance. "Pain has never lost a battle."
The man just gave a light chuckle. "Well, that is true," he admitted, "then again, ever since his training trip, Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto hasn't lost a battle either." The man walked over to a coat hanger and grabbed his Akatsuki robes, throwing them on. "I believe our business is done here," he said as he began adjusting his outfit. "Tell the others to hurry up and capture their Jinchūrikki. But leave the two and one tails alone until we have the Kyuubi, if he is protecting them then we stand no chance of capturing them until he has been taken care of."
"I understand," Pain said.
"We are close to achieving our goal," he said, walking towards the balcony as a storm began to form in the sky above. "Then, everything will go back to the way it's supposed to be," he stepped onto the lip as the rain began to pour down on the city of Amegakure, pelting the balcony as lightning flashed in the sky. "Soon, I will show the true power of the Sharingan. The true power of me, Uchiha Madara!" Konan almost snorted as she heard the egotistical boast, thankfully she was able to hold it in as Madara ran out to the balcony before disappearing in a space-time distortion.
Looking at the rain and resisting a frown, she said, "the sky is crying again." She looked over at the man she could no longer follow, "Pain..." I can only hope that somehow Naruto can save you.
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Tsunade and Shizune were interrupted from their daily routine, namely Tsunade trying to find some way to distract herself from the paperwork she had to do while Shizune tried to make her do the paperwork she wanted to distract herself from, by a knock on the door. "I'm coming in Tsu-hime!" came the familiar voice called out before Jiraiya opened the door and entered.
"Jiraiya," Tsunade greeted as she pushed the paperwork away as a new distraction made itself known, it was about the only thing her perverted teammate was good for in her estimation. "Did you find out anything from your spy network?"
Jiraiya finished walking in and stopped in front of her desk, a rare look of seriousness settling on his face. "I've found the whereabouts of the Akatsuki Leader," he stated, causing a look of shock to rise onto the faces of the two medic-nin.
"Really!" asked Tsunade in a loud voice. She stood up and pushed her chair away with the back of her knees as she planted her hands on the desk and leaned over with a serious look on her face. "Tell me everything you know, Jiraiya! Don't hold back any information you have!" This was a serious breakthrough, if he knew where the leader of Akatsuki was they may be able to take him out and defeat the Red Dawn in the process. Cut off the head and the body will fall, as it were.
Shizune seemed to have a similar idea as she said, "We should use that information to plan a surprise attack."
"Now, now, take it easy," Jiraiya said as his laid-back manner returned. He held up his hands in a gesture for them to calm down.
"Calm down!" said Tsunade incredulous. She held up a hand as her fingers began twitching, almost as if she wanted to strangle the white-haired man in front of her. "This isn't like making the sequel to one of your novels Jiraiya! We can't afford to waste time!" Naruto's life was dependent on the defeat of Aktauki, they needed to take that group out before she could name the whiskered blond her successor damn it!
"Nothing good can come from being impatient, you know?" Jiraiya said dryly. "Especially when the stakes are as high as this." A grin crossed his face as he continued, "now, what do you say you and me go out for a few drinks like the old days, huh? Then we can talk."
A large tic mark formed on Tsunade's face as she yelled, "you baka!" The blond's hand shot up and she pointed an accusing finger at her longtime friend and teammate, "I'm the Hokage! I can't just go out and drink during the middle of the day!"
Shizune sweatdropped at her sensei's words as she thought, you go out and drink all the time anyways.
"Don't you feel any shame! Thinking about going out and drinking while many of our ninjas are out taking dangerous and life-threatening missions!"
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Less than an hour later Tsunade had just finished gulping down an entire bottle of sake. "Ah! Now that hit the spot," she said with a grin as she slammed the bottle down onto the table.
Jiraiya felt a rather large sweat drop forming on his head as he watched Tsunade wipe her mouth with her hand, there was a light blush spreading across her face as a sign that she was feeling a buzz. He looked down at the floor to see the nine Sake bottles his teammate had already downed. "You should really practice what you preach Tsu-hime," he mumbled, wondering if her large breasts were the reason she seemed capable of drinking so much without passing out. He leaned his head on the butt of his palm as he continued, "and your drinking straight from the bottle. You should act a little more responsible, you are the Hokage after all."
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"Kiba! How close are we?" asked Naruto as he and the others jumped through the trees.
"Naruto I need you to stop distracting me!" Kiba complained, "I'm focusing on his scent as hard as I can, but there's very little of it left."
"Right, sorry," Naruto scratched the back of his head before sighing. He wasn't normally this anxious, but he couldn't help it at the moment. If they managed to capture Sasuke he could finally gain some closure from all of this, and his estranged teammate could finally be brought to justice for what he had done.
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Suigetsu looked around the room and sighed. It had been pure luck that Sasuke had been able to summon Manda at the last second and activate that space-time jutsu to escape from the large explosion. Honestly, he had been positive that the Uchiha had been killed in that explosion, it had only been the contingency plan that Sasuke had come up with and told Suigetsu to carry out even if it looked like he was dead that kept the water user from just assuming the worst.
Afterward, he had managed to reverse summon the raven-haired ninja, via the scroll and blood he had been given to complete the technique, while Karin and Juugo tracked him with the redheads sensing abilities. Truthfully Suiegetsu thought that was the only thing the girl was good for, though were it not for Sasuke wanting her to be kept alive the sword user likely would have killed the annoying girl by now.
They had managed to take Sasuke to an inn where he could rest and heal, hopefully, it wouldn't take too long though; because Suigetsu was getting bored. He looked at the sleeping Uchiha before looking over at Juugo, who currently had a flock of birds on him. He was probably communing with the retarded animals or something. "Juugo," he said, getting the orange-haired ninja's attention. "I'm going to go and look for Karin," he stood up and made his way to the door as the larger man acknowledged his words with a nod.
Suigetsu reached out for the small hole that would pull the sliding door open, when it was knocked off its hinges, smashing into his face and causing him to fall to the floor. He tried to get up but a foot smashed on the door and stayed there, keeping the water using ninja from being able to get up. "W-What the hell...?" muttered Suigetsu.
"Wake up, Sasuke!" Shouted Karin as she continued to unknowingly squash Suigetsu. Not that she would have cared even if she did know. "We've been followed! What should we do!" Sasuke blinked as he turned to look over at Karin who just blushed and raised a hand to her face, even when he just wakes up... he's so hot!
"We're leaving," Sasuke made his decision and sat up, "Get ready. Juugo, mark all of the Akatsuki hideouts that we know of on the map." Juugo nodded and several minutes later the four of them were on the move.
"You alright Sasuke?" asked Suigetsu, noticing the bandages the Uchiha still had on.
"I'm fine," Sasuke said as he threw a cloak over his body. "My body's ability to heal became a lot faster after I gained Orochimaru's abilities." I guess this is the power of the white snake.
"Whoever is following us, whether it's Akatsuki or Konoha, they may have information on Itachi," commented Karin as she looked at her not-so-secret crush. "It may be a good idea to ambush them. What do you think, Sasuke?"
"IF their numbers are as large as you said then it's most likely Konoha," said Sasuke. "Akatsuki always move in groups of two."
"So ambushing them would probably be just a big waste of time, right?" asked Suigetsu.
"Exactly, we'll just ignore them for now," said Sasuke.
"So, what should we do?" asked Karin.
"We'll find Itachi," Sasuke said, taking a scroll out from underneath his robes. "In the worst case scenario, you guys will have to hold off the Konoha shinobi." He knew that they would likely die if that were to happen, if Konoha was after him there was only one person they would send. And if he was here, then even these three combined would be no match for him. Not that it mattered to Sasuke, some sacrifices had to be made for his ambitions.
"For now, we move as Hebi," he held up the scroll, which was revealed to be a map of the area. "We'll use Juugo's information to check out the Akatsuki hideouts one by one. Let's go."
As Sasuke and Suigetsu left, Karin placed a hand on Juugo's shoulder. "Hold on for a moment," she said as the large orange-haired man turned to face her. "I want you to do something for me."
"What are you planning?" he asked curiously.
A grin formed on Karin's face as she held up a pair of sweaty and smelly clothes. "These are the clothes Sasuke was wearing earlier and they're drenched in his sweat."
"Why are you holding onto Sasuke's old clothes?" asked Juugo. What he really wanted to ask was, "what the hell is wrong with you?" since only someone who was seriously fucked up in the head would bother keeping a pair of someone else's used clothing, especially when it smelled as bad as the pair she was holding.
Karin seemed to realize this fact as well and tried to cover up her stalker-like tendencies. "N-No special reason, you idiot!" she shouted as he held her glasses to her face.
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Kiba sniffed several times as he sensed something change. "What's wrong Kiba?" asked Naruto as he noticed this while jumping alongside the dog using ninja.
"Sasuke's on the move again!" he informed everyone. Naruto had to frown as he wondered why Sasuke would start moving so soon after his battle with an S-class ninja.
He has to be injured from a battle of that caliber, Naruto frowned. Is he really stupid enough to go after Itachi in his condition? Either he is and doesn't care, has a good medical ninja within his squad, or... "He may have a sensor on his team," the blond informed his comrades. "If so there's a very high possibility that he sensed us coming and is moving to get away from us. We'll need to hurry if that's the case."
"Wait!" Kiba shouted, "there's something wrong here! Sasuke's scent is splitting up! It's going off in multiple directions!"
"They must have caught onto us," said Kakashi as Naruto came to the same conclusion. "They're likely using this as a means of distraction, they want to divert our attention to trying to find the real Sasuke while they get away clean."
"That means they do have a powerful sensor shinobi at their side," Naruto said. "Someone who was skilled enough to recognize that not all of the chakra signatures here are human. Whoever it is was somehow able to realize that we're using nin-dogs to track them as split Sasuke's scent somehow." Whoever he has on his side is a powerful asset, the blond thought to himself, I've never heard of someone with sensing abilities that powerful.
"The distance between all of the different scents is too great for us to use our radios!" said Kiba, "I don't even think the nin-dogs have that kind of hearing range! And I'm the only one who can track him but I can only go after one scent!"
"Are you forgetting who your talking to?" asked Naruto as his hands came up in the ram seal that he had made famous, or infamous depending on who you asked before he left for his training trip. "I'm a one-man army, Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" there were nearly several hundred puffs of smoke as the blond jonin created a mass amount of Kage Bunshin. Already having their orders the clones shot off and began their search for Sasuke.
Everyone looked at the mass amount of Kage Bunshin and nearly shook their head as they remembered how the blond had abused this jutsu in his youth. The search continued and the Konoha teams moved through the trees. Naruto stiffened a little as he sensed a presence lurking in the shadows somewhere. No one else seemed to have noticed, it was as if whoever was hiding only wanted to reveal themselves to him.
Acting with all the skills in stealth and finesse he had gained during his training period, Naruto swapped himself out with a kage bunshin so no one would suspect he was gone. For a while anyway. If Kakashi got his Sharingan out they would no doubt notice he was missing, but the blond jinchūrikki figured he could find out who was tailing him and get back before they truly noticed.
Naruto landed on the ground and stopped in the middle of a very small clearing. A tri-pronged kunai shot out of his sleeve before he said, "you know, I kind of figured you'd be heading towards your confrontation with Sasuke, Itachi."
"It seems not much gets by you these days. You have grown quite powerful, Namikazu-Uzumaki Naruto." Itachi stepped out from behind the tree he had been hiding against, his Sharingan eyes were already out and Naruto wondered if he should expect a fight of some kind.
"I kind of have to be on the ball Itachi," Naruto said in a casual manner, though his eyes had narrowed and his body was coiled to strike at the slightest sign of aggression. "After all, I have a bunch of S-ranked ninja after the Kyuubi, and I have no desire to die from having it ripped out of my seal."
"Indeed," Itachi said in the same monotone voice he had always used.
"Judging from the fact that you haven't attacked me yet, I'm going to go out on a limb and say your being here has nothing to do with Akatsuki," said Naruto. He knew Itachi wasn't stupid, they both knew that with the Hiraishin and the blond's ability to use Kyuubi's chakra to dispel genjutsu that Itachi stood no chance against him. As good as the man was, he just didn't have the same advantages against the whisker marked Tokabetsu jonin anymore. If he were with Kisame then it might be a different story, but without that man's large chakra reserves backing Itachi up the most the raven-haired man could hope for was a standstill.
"You are correct," Itachi said, "I was merely hoping to talk with you."
"So, talk," said Naruto, gesturing for the man to start speaking.
"I have a question," Itachi started, "what do you intend to do with my otouto?"
Naruto closed his eyes and sighed, "We plan on capturing him and bringing him back to Konoha." opening his eyes he looked into Itachi's, unafraid of the genjutsu the man could cast on him. "He will in all likelihood be executed for the crimes of betraying his village and joining up with an S-class criminal." Another frown marred the blond's face, "despite all that's happened I still feel... some form of friendship, or maybe rivalry is the correct word, for Sasuke. I doubt it will do much good, but I'm hoping to get his sentence to merely life imprisonment with the possibility of parole."
Truthfully the part of him that had grown up was warring with the part that still wished to be a chile. One side of him wanted nothing more than to kill Sasuke, to make him answer for the crimes he had committed. Another, however, a small part of the child that still clung to Naruto, wanted to somehow save the first person who had acknowledged the blond in his own way. It was that small part that had not allowed him to kill the youngest Uchiha when he confronted him and Orochimaru all those months ago.
"I see," Itachi closed his eyes. "You have more honor than most shinobi I have met, you may even be more honorable than the fourth. Tell me, what is Sasuke to you?"
"I used to think of him as my brother," Naruto said with a frown. "He was the first person to acknowledge me in some way when we were kids, even if it wasn't necessarily good. Later on, we gained a tentative friendship and became rivals." The blond's mind went back to the days he had first started on his path to genin. "I honestly don't know what he is to me anymore, he betrayed my village and my friendship. He broke my trust when he tried to kill me so he could gain the same eyes as you. He left and went to Orochimaru all for the sake of power."
A smirk made its way onto the blond's face. "In some ways, I blame you for what he became. Had you never used those damned eyes on him Sasuke likely would have never turned out as he has now."
"Do you think you can save him?" asked Itachi. Naruto looked at him quizzically for several moments. There was something in the way Itachi asked that something that the blond felt was important like his answer would decide how this meeting went.
When the blond finally had his answer, he said, "I think..."
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Tsunade set the glass of Sake she had been drinking on the table before looking at Jiraiya. "So the Akatsuki leader is hidden somewhere in Amegakure, huh?" she asked. Jiraiya gave her a tight nod. "But that country has one of the tightest border patrols around," she said. "They check everything, background, purpose of visit, the length your staying, criminal records. You can't even get into the country without having nearly your entire personal profile on you. Even when they hosted the chunin exams, they were so isolated it caused all sorts of problems. It doesn't sound like the kind of village that the leader of Akatsuki would be able to move in freely."
"Maybe," Jiraiya admitted. "But since the place has so many restrictions for people coming in and out and their isolationist policies, it's the perfect place to hide any shameful truths."
Tsunade looked curious at his statement. "Shameful?"
Jiraiya nodded. "It seems that the country has been engulfed in a civil war for quite some time now, and the village has been split in two. There have also been rumors that the leader of Akatsuki is in charge of one of the two factions."
Tsunade frowned, "that country is surrounded by Tsuchi, Suna, and Hi No Kuni, and it's always been used as a battleground for the wars between these three countries. Because of that the country never had much political stability, and the number of refugees has only continued to grow."
"And that's exactly why I'm going to infiltrate the country to verify that information," Jiraiya stated.
"What!" Tsunade's head shot up as she stared at her teammate in shock. "It's too dangerous for even someone of your caliber to go there by themselves!"
"Don't forget I'm one of Konoha's Densetsu No Sennin, Tsu-hime," Jiraiya said. "You of all people should know what that means."
Tsunade looked away from Jiraiya as a sad frown crossed her face. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "it's because of me that your always getting put into these kinds of situations."
However, her words merely caused Jiraiya to laugh. "What's this? Feeling guilty all of a sudden Tsu-hime?"
Tsunade smiled. "Your the one who was originally supposed to be Hokage. The third always wanted you to succeed him."
"Meh, there's no way I would want to become Hokage," Jiraiya said dismissively. "I'd be no good at the job. I do better when I'm on my own."
"Is that why you went off by yourself to try and stop Orochimaru from leaving the village?" she asked, pouring herself another glass of sake.
Jiraiya looked down at the swirling liquid inside of his own cup. "Maybe, but I won't have to worry about him anymore." He gave a mirthless chuckle, "though that just means I can write the sequel to my novel faster."
"And yet, reality sometimes seems even stranger than fiction," Tsunade said, holding up the glass of sake to her face and staring at her reflection. "Out of all of us, I never thought he would be the first to die. Do you remember when the three of us would go up to that old geezer, the Sandaime, and..."
"To think that the flat-chested Tsunade would grow such massive boobs and become the next Hokage," Jiraiya said as he decided to interrupt her reminiscing. With a lecherous grin, he continued, "Times sure have changed. You used to be so beautiful and now you're a fifty-year-old baba." The blond Hokage looked like she wanted to beat Jiraiya's face in for that statement but he continued talking as if he had no idea what she was thinking. "You know, it pains me to see how you've stored the memories and thoughts of the people you lost in those large boobs of yours. And those memories are just going to grow."
Tsunade stopped talking at that, she knew Jiraiya used terrible analogies and understood what he was saying. Plus she was drunk enough that the desire to hit the pervert for mentioning her breasts was small, for Jiraiya anyways.
"Oh well, there's no use dwelling on the past," Jiraiya said as he knocked back his drink. "Now my role is to set an example for the new generation and do my best to help them in the coming times." He thought of his newest apprentice, the boy that had surpassed all of his expectations. "For that, I'll gladly give my life, smiling. That's one of the cool things us old farts can do."
XXXXXXXXXX
"If it's possible to save him then it's worth a try," Naruto said. "If I can, I will. But if Sasuke becomes lost to his darkness, then I will save him in the only way possible. I'll kill him." For a long moment, the two stared at each other, one with an impassive expression, the other with narrowed blue eyes. After several seconds, which felt like minutes, Itachi gave the blond a sad smile.
"I see, then perhaps you can do what I had failed to do," Itachi said at last.
"What?" that was not what Naruto expected to hear.
"Allow me to reveal some truths that you will need to know if you are to ever bring peace," Itachi intoned as he pointed a finger at Naruto, "Tsukiyomi."
XXXXXXXXXX
"Akatsuki..." Tsunade muttered as she and Jiraiya sat down on a park bench after she finished puking up the alcohol she had drank. "For someone to be capable of controlling a group of people that powerful, he must be extremely strong. And your planning to just waltz right in there like you own the place."
"Well..." Jiraiya sighed, he wasn't really good at these things. "I guess I'll be on my way."
"You know, I always thought I had nothing left in life after Dan and Nawaki died," Tsunade's words caused Jiraiya to pause. "They had been everything to me, the last member of my family and someone I had hoped would start a family with me. After they died, I always assumed I was alone..."
"Tsunade..." Jiraiya started but was interrupted by the busty blond.
"I ran away from all my problems, I gambled and drank away my entire fortune because I was the only one who could use it anyways," Tsunade placed a hand on her stomach. "And I'm long since past the ability to reproduce." In a much softer voice, she asked Jiraiya, "have you ever believed yourself to be alone, only to find out that you've essentially ignored the last member of your family for the first twelve years of his life?"
"Are you...talking about Naruto?" asked Jiraiya, he knew that Tsunade's mother was an Uzumaki, so she and Naruto were technically related. But they couldn't be anything more than distant cousins at most.
Could they?
"When you had me run that blood check to see if he had any bloodlines, I decided to run a search for another ninja he could be related to in our database," Tsunade said. "I... found much of what I expected, he's the son of Minato and Kushina, but I...I..."
"Tsunade," ok now Jiraiya was starting to get legitimately concerned. Tsunade looked like she was about to burst, tears of guilt and shame were welling up in her eyes, and looked like they would overwhelm her.
"I found out that I'm not the last of my line, that I had a hidden family member in Konoha all this time!" Tears were now beginning to fall as she gave Jiraiya a helpless look. "I found out that Naruto is the grandson of the person I cherished most in the entire world."
Jiraiya choked in shock, "You don't mean he's...?"
A sob racked Tsunade's body. "Yes, Naruto is the grandson of Senju Nawaki, my otouto."
XXXXXXXXXX
"You plan on dying, aren't you?" said Naruto as he stared at the man before him. He could see it in the way Itachi stood, not as the powerful shinobi the blond knew him to be, but as a man who was walking to his death. "Your going sacrifice yourself to Sasuke."
"Yes," Itachi said simply as if he didn't care that he was going to be killed. From what Naruto had seen so far he probably didn't.
"Are you sure letting Sasuke kill you is the best option?" asked Naruto. "I know you love him Itachi but if what you showed me is true, then your brother has a very good reason to hate Konoha if he were to ever learn of this..."
"I know," Itachi sighed, "I realize the risk I am taking, but I...I can't kill my brother Naruto. I had chosen him over my village the last time when I was forced to act against my clan and I would do so again now. Besides that, I only have a year or two left to live anyways."
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto, frowning at the older man.
"I mean I have an illness that has been slowly killing me," said Itachi, getting Naruto's full attention. "It has been getting progressively worse, and I don't have much time left in this world. The only thing I can do now is ensuring that Sasuke satisfies his desire for revenge."
"And what if this decision leads to him hating Konoha?" asked Naruto. "I get what you're trying to do, you want to wipe away the shame of your clan by letting the past stay buried. You let Sasuke kill you, he gets his revenge and Konoha gets a hero who killed the slayer of the Uchiha Clan. But I don't think you realize that Sasuke is considered a traitor in Konoha now, he betrayed the village all for the sake of power." The blond shook his head as he looked at the raven-haired man before him, "do you really think that by letting yourself be killed, that the Uchiha Clan will be redeemed?"
Itachi looked at Naruto with that odd half-smile that looked so odd on the man's normally impassive face. "Nothing is certain," Itachi said, "I realize that, and I know the chances of Sasuke being welcomed back to Konoha are slim. But I have to do this. If for no other reason than the fact that Sasuke became what he is today because of me. For the sins I committed against him, I have to let him be the one to kill me." The older raven-haired man gave the blond a determined look, "If what you say does come to pass, and Sasuke ends up hating Konoha, then I will be counting on you to do what I could not. Now, I must take my leave, this will likely be the last time we see each other, Naruto-kun." He then burst into a flock of ravens which flew off.
Genjutsu, Naruto identified. He frowned for a few seconds as he stared at the spot Itachi had been, his mind whirling with the knowledge he had just learned. However, there wasn't much he could do with the information Itachi had given him at present. Deciding it would be best to move on the blond channeled chakra to his feet and jumped back into the trees, determined to get back to the rest of his squad before they knew he was missing.
XXXXXXXXXX
Normally, if Jiraiya had Tsunade laying on top of him he would have considered himself to have been blessed by Kami. In the many years, he had been alive his crush for the woman had never faded, where others would have moved on after the numerous rejections he had doggedly clung to his crush. Even when he slept with other women at brothels his mind had always been on the busty blond. At any other time, he would have jumped for joy at the situation he was in.
Great, the one thing I want the most has happened and I can't even enjoy it, Jiraiya looked down at the woman who had bodily tackled him to the floor and was currently shedding more tears than he had ever seen in his life. He was actually surprised by the sheer amount of tears coming out of her eyes, having expected her tear ducts to have dried out an hour ago. However, Tsunade seemed to have become a literal waterworks, and nothing he had said thus far managed to make her stop.
Eventually, her crying turned to minor sniffles and the blond woman placed her hands on Jiraiya's chest and pushed herself up. "Sorry," she whispered as she got off the white-haired hermit.
"Are you alright now Tsunade?" he asked, curtailing his lecherous side for the moment. An impressive feat in and of itself. His busty teammate nodded her head and Jiraiya led her back down to the seat they had been sitting on before she had tackled him.
"Somehow, I feel like I should have known," Tsunade said as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Minato had never really acted like Nawaki, but his dream had been the same and his talent as a shinobi..."
"It does make a lot of sense," Jiraiya added, nodding his head. "I had always wondered if Minato had come from a shinobi family that simply died out." Part of the reason most civilian children never made it past chunin was that they lacked the genetics for it. Sure, one could say that it was because ninja clans taught their children at a young age, and a part of that was true. But by and large, the main reason was that children from shinobi families had larger, more powerful reserves of chakra due to the fact that their parents, grandparents, and so on had all used chakra. That was why ninja-like Sasuke had been able to use jutsu like the Gokyāku No Jutsu before he even became a genin.
"There's also Minato's ability with Jikūkan ninjutsu," Jiraiya continued. "Out of all the shinobi to ever exist, only Nidaime-Sama was as good as he was in that field."
"Though that doesn't explain why Naruto has a Kekkei Genkai," Tsunade said. Now that her tears had dried and she was no longer as distraught, she found it a little easier to talk about. "Minato didn't have a Kekkei Genkai."
"You mean as far as you know," Jiraiya said, making Tsunade frown at him. "Kekkei Genkai, special abilities that are passed down genetically in specific clans. We've always wondered why some people seemed to have a specific ability like your grandfather and his Mokūton while others of your clan did not. And yet clans like the Uchiha and Hyūga clans all have their dōjutsu."
"What are you getting at?" asked Tsunade.
"Your grandfather could combine water and earth to create wood," Jiraiya said. "Yet no one else in the Senju clan could do that, however, Nidaime-Sama was able to master Suiton manipulation to the point where he could literally create water by absorbing the moisture in the air. I've seen Minato do similar feats with his lightning and wind manipulation, powerful combination attacks that shouldn't have been possible due to the opposing nature of the two elements."
"Are you saying that the Senju clan may have some odd form of Kekkei Genkai?" asked Tsunade, wondering if what her friend was saying was true. If so, it would actually explain some things.
Jiraiya nodded. "I've been thinking about it and I believe the Senju clan's ability may be the ability to manipulate chakra in ways others simply can't. Shodaime-Sama with his ability to combine wood and water, Nidaime-Sama with his master of Suiton Jutsu, you with your extreme chakra manipulation...your apprentice still hasn't mastered your strength technique has she?"
"No," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "She's gotten close, but there seems to be something blocking her from using the technique to its full potential."
"Exactly my point," Jiraiya continued, "and then we have Minato, he was actually the first to combine lightning and wind though he rarely used it on the battlefield due to how destructive it was, it had just as much a chance of killing his allies as it did his enemies."
"And now we have Naruto," Tsunade said for Jiraiya. "Who can manipulate and combine water, lightning, and wind to create Arashi Jutsu."
"It's more of manipulating the very weather itself," Jiraiya said, "but he does call it that." As he finished saying that a serious look crossed the man's face, "I think you should tell him Tsunade." When the busty blond looked away he continued, "Naruto deserves to know that he still has a family."
"But what if I tell him and he hates me for it?" asked Tsunade.
"You've practically been a member of his family since we brought you back to Konoha Tsunade," Jiraiya said. "Do you really think he would just abandon you if you tell him this? If anything he'll just let you know that he now has a legitimate reason to call you baa-chan." Tsunade snorted a bit at that since she could easily see the blond jonin saying just that. Though a part of her was still deathly afraid he wouldn't take it so well, even if she knew that her thoughts on the matter were completely irrational.
"He has matured," Tsunade admitted with a fond smile. "I almost couldn't believe how different he was acting after he got back from his training with you."
"Haha, he really has come a long way hasn't he?" said Jiraiya with a hearty laugh. "The brat managed to exceed all of my expectations, I can't even beat him in our spars anymore without going into Sennin Mode. He's easily the most powerful apprentice I've ever had, beating out his old man who had always been a once-in-a-generation genius." The last male member of the Sannin gave a rueful chuckle. "Naruto has proven to be a once every few centuries genius."
"I remember when he was just a snot-nosed little genin screaming about becoming Hokage," Tsunade said with a reminiscing smile. "He used to be so much like Kushina."
"Ah yes, that red-headed tomboy," Jiraiya said with a grin. "Always roughen it like one of the guys. She was a bit of a firecracker if I remember, they called her Akai Chishio No Habanero due to her fierce attitude and hair color."
"She grew up to be quite the beauty though," Tsunade said.
"Oh yeah, did she ever!" Jiraiya said with a lecherous grin as his perverted side got the best of him.
"Jiraiya..." the warning tone in Tsunade's voice caused him to stop his train of thought before he got pummeled by the woman's fists, which was not something he wanted to deal with right now.
"Eh he, sorry Tsu-hime," the white-haired man coughed several times before getting back on track. "You know as more and more time past I really started seeing Naruto has something of a grandson. I've never had any children but Minato was always like the son I've always wanted, smart, powerful, and a real lady killer."
Tsunade gave an indulgent grin. "I bet the only reason you like Naruto so much is that he surpassed his old man in his ability to snag beautiful women," she remarked dryly.
"Isn't that the truth," Jiraiya said with a hearty laugh. "He's engaged to the Mizukage, the Nibi Jinchūrikki, Yugito Nii, and..." When the man stopped Tsunade frowned.
"You know who his other wives are don't you?" she accused.
"I know one of them," Jiraiya admitted, "he won't tell me who the fourth woman he's engaged to be, no matter how I try to wheedle it out of him. But I do know the other woman he is engaged to." He was actually very impressed at how well Naruto and Koyuki managed to keep their relationship a secret. In the world of shinobi and cutthroat politics, keeping a secret like a famous Daimyo and Actress becoming engaged to an infamous S-ranked ninja was a very difficult thing to do.
"Why did he tell you and not me?" asked Tsunade, both seething and slightly hurt.
"It has nothing to do with him telling me," Jiraiya said as he held up his hands in a placating manner. "I was just there when they started dating, that's all." Tsunade continued to glare at him, making the white-haired man sigh. "Glaring at me isn't going to do anything, I promised Naruto I wouldn't tell anybody and that includes you. Besides, we're still in a very public location, even if I were inclined to tell you I would here."
"I suppose I can see your point," Tsunade sighed as she dropped the glare. "And I can understand your desire to keep your promise to Naruto." As she looked at her teammate a wistful smile came to her face, "he's so protective of them, even when Mei who has an entire village of shinobi guarding her." She had been told about the rings they each had, how Naruto had placed the Hiraishin seal on the rings so they could call him whenever they wanted. She suspected it was the reason he would disappear several times a week when not given a mission.
"Very, he acts a lot like Minato in that regard," Jiraiya said with a chuckle. He looked up at the sky to see the sun beginning to set. "Well... I'd better get going," he stood up and grabbed his summoning scroll.
"Do you really have to do this alone?" asked Tsunade, her voice containing a hint of worry. "Couldn't you at least wait for Naruto to return from his mission? I'm sure between the two of you, you could -"
"I have to do this alone Tsunade," Jiraiya interrupted the woman. "I... I have my own personal reasons for doing this, and they need to be done alone." His words caused the blond woman to look down, she knew very well why he felt the need to do this by himself. Amegakure was the place where he had met his first three apprentices, all of whom had been killed during the second war after he left. The country was a place of great personal grief for the man, naturally, anything that happened in that country that concerned him would be personal. That still didn't make it any easier.
"Don't die," she said.
"Concern for me Tsu-hime," Jiraiya joked, "don't I feel loved."
Tsunade tried to scowl but it ended up failing as she muttered, "baka."
"I know, why don't we make a bet," Jiraiya said, catching the attention of the busty Hokage. "You should bet on me dying," Tsunade looked at him incredulously. "With your luck, you'll definitely lose," he gave the shocked-looking woman a grin. "And if you lose, you'll have to go on a date with me and let me feel those lush melons of yours!"
Tsunade's eye began to twitch as Jiraiya gave another of his perverted grins while his hands were making grabbing motions as if he was just imagining the feel of her breasts in his hands. It seemed that even in the most heartfelt of situations, the man managed to retain his lecherous nature.
Poor, poor Jiraiya.
XXXXXXXXXX
Thanks to Naruto's liberal use of Kage Bunshin, creating upwards of two hundred clones, the Squadron of Konoha ninja were able to quickly and thoroughly search out most of the areas that held Sasuke's scent. It was almost ironic that the blond jonin had never used the jutsu in the jutsu as a means to scout, which was what it had been originally made to do. Thanks to his training Naruto found that even from multiple dispersions his mind was more than capable of processing the knowledge gained.
Naruto wasn't the only one using their specialized methods of searching. In the skies above the forest, Sai made his own search, riding on an ink eagle of his own creation. He searched the area from above to see if he couldn't pick up any sign of the Sasuke or the group said ninja had formed.
It was nearing the one-hour mark when Naruto stiffened at the feeling of one of his Kage Bunshing being killed, pierced through the stomach by a Chidori. "I found Sasuke!" he shouted as the wind rushed past his face. The others all looked over at him as he stopped, "follow me!" He spun on his heels and began jumping in a different direction. The others soon followed the blond as he sped off.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called as the blond began getting farther and farther away. "Hold on! There's someone else up ahead."
Just as Hinata said this a man wearing an orange mask, with the standard black cloak with red clouds on it, stood up and waved. "Hola!" he greeted the group with an enthusiastic and child-like voice. Naruto's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before his instincts kicked in. he flipped his body around, his feet hit the branch as he moved in a crouch, his hand just barely brushing against the bark near the man's feet before he used the branch as a springboard to jump back down to the ground.
It's him, the blond thought to himself, wondering why this man was out here.
"Oh my, oh my!" the man shouted, "Hello, there, there, and there! I never imagined I would meet up with Konoha Shinobi all the way out here. And there's two, four, six. It's eight against one, now that's just unfair."
"Oh don't worry about that," Naruto said with a chuckle. "I'm not the kind of guy who plays unfairly. This battle will be between just you and me."
The one eye of Kakashi, along with the two of every other ninja that had been sent on this mission widened. "Naruto..." Kakashi started to say but was cut off by the blond.
"This guy may be acting like a fool but don't let his appearance deceive you Kakashi," Naruto said. "All members of Akatsuki are S ranked ninja, none of you would stand a chance and I'm going to need room in order to fight at full strength." Before Kakashi or anyone else could protest, the blond jonin tossed the copy ninja a set of scrolls. "When you get to Sasuke use those scrolls to seal him and Itachi, I designed those specifically for prisoner transportation." The silver-haired jonin looked like he wanted to debate with the blond, but seeing the look in Naruto's eyes decided not to.
"Got it," he told his current superior.
"Hold on a minute!" argued Kiba, "do you just expect us to run off while you fight!"
"I expect you to do the mission we've been assigned," Naruto said evenly. "Our mission is not to fight Akatsuki right now, but to apprehend Sasuke and bring him back to Konoha." The blond looked at the masked Akatsuki member, "if he's here then it's only because he wants to delay us in getting to Sasuke."
"Yeah but -"
"Kiba!" Naruto cut off the dog using genin harshly, making everyone flinch at the cut-through-steel voice. "This is not up for debate! Our mission is to retrieve Sasuke, we can only do that if one of us stays behind to make sure this guy doesn't follow us, and of the eight of us I'm the only one capable of fighting an S rank ninja on even grounds." Seeing the defiance still on his friend's face, the blond sighed. "Look, I'm trusting you to complete this mission, in return, I want you to trust that I know what I'm doing."
despite looking like he had swallowed something foul, Kiba nodded. "Fine," he huffed, "but I expect you to catch up when you're done."
Naruto gave a mirthless chuckle, "don't worry, I'll be along shortly."
Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, Kakashi began to give out orders. "Let's go!" he said before jumping off and away from the battle that was about to take place. The others minus Naruto soon followed the silver-haired jonin and made their way out of the battlefield.
Before they could get far, the masked ninja appeared right in front of them, popping up from the ground and shouting, "Ninpo: Mogura Tataki No Jutsu (Ninja Art: Whack-a-mole Jutsu)! You guys cannot escape me when I'm using my super-awesome – Ah!" the orange masked man's speech was cut off as Naruto appeared in front of him in a yellow flash.
"Rasengan!" Naruto smashed his technique into the man, or at least, he tried to. The Rasengan ended up going right through the mask Akatsuki member like he wasn't even there. "Keep going!" the blond shouted at the Konoha ninja, who had stopped when the man appeared in front of them. Don't stop for anything! I'll make sure he doesn't get you, just get moving!"
The others soon did as told and began to move out. Like the first time, they tried the man in the orange mask popped up in front of them. "Mah! That could have hurt if it hi-" and once again he was cut off as Naruto reappeared in front of him in another flash. However, unlike last time the team of Konoha ninja didn't stop as they continued jumping away. The man tried to follow using his Mogura Tataki No Jutsu, but the blond jonin was having none of that as he flashed to the man's location each time he tried to cut off his allies. "You really fast!" the masked ninja said as he stopped, "super fast, I don't think I've ever met someone as fast as you are!"
"Cut the act," Naruto said, his voice colder than a glacier from the former Yuki No Kuni. "You're not fooling me with that act of stupidity Tobi...or should I say, Uchiha Madara."
The moment the name left Naruto's mouth the masked ninja's entire countenance changed. His posture straightened, the laid back and slightly goofy aura dissipated and the man's entire body radiated confidence bordering on arrogance and power beyond that of any other shinobi Naruto had faced to date. "So," the man said, his voice no longer that of an over-excited idiot, but of a man who had no trouble killing others in order to achieve his goals. "You know who I am... I'm curious as to how you know that."
Naruto smirked as two tri-pronged kunai slipped into his hands and he slid into the stance his father often used in conjunction with his kunai. "Do you really think I'm going to tell you that?"