Chapter 19

A bulky figure, about six-feet tall, landed lightly on the window-sill of the Hokage's office. Hardly a sound was made and only a soft 'Whumpf' was heard by the single occupant inside.

"Ahh, Jiraiya-kun. Please sit down, we have much to discuss."

The red and green-clad Shinobi frowned. Was that any way to greet a student who had been on a dangerous mission for two weeks?

Springing lightly from his perch, the broad-shouldered Gama-Sennin flopped onto a thick-backed wooden chair in front of the Hokage's desk.

"What do you need Sensei?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his forehead tiredly. He didn't know how to phrase what he needed to say, he'd have to get Jiraiya's report first.

"Let's hear how your mission went first."

Jiraiya's frown deepened. The Sandaime was in obvious agitation, it was practically blaring out of all his features; his worried hand movements, his shaky gaze and his quivering torso. Something was obviously weighing very heavily on the elderly Hokage's mind. Shoving his thoughts aside, he answered his former-teacher.

"I followed the trail back as you ordered. As we suspected Orochimaru has formed his own Village going by the name of 'Hidden Sound'. I tried to infiltrate the place, but Rice Country has been in an uproar for about a week now and I have no idea why. Anyway, I did make a breakthrough."

When Jiraiya mentioned Rice Country, the Sandaime's complexion paled further and Jiraiya was not one to miss the details. What did Sarutobi know that he did not?

"And pray tell, what was this breakthrough?"

Jiraiya shifted slightly, his gaze flicking to the door and then back to his Sensei's face. Getting the hint, Sarutobi touched the 'lockdown' seal-array on the surface of his desk. Although Jiraiya used seals on such a regular basis, he couldn't help but be awed as the beautiful delphinium-blue network lit-up in a cacophony of colour, spreading out in all directions of the room like a spider-web before finally returning to the black ink they had been written with. Seals truly were an art that no other field could match and he was once again reminded that for all the time consuming seals he had had to use, it was all worth it in the end; at least to witness the moment the array was used. Once the glow had died down he returned his gaze to his leader.

"I traced as far back as I could go. None of the spies had any in-depth information but Akasuna no Sasori came up quite a few times, as well as a certain organisation."

"An Organisation?"

Jiraiya smiled grudgingly.

"Yeah, although that was about all I could get. At some point, Orochimaru was part of this organisation, but they're a shadowy lot; there was no hint of a name or goal and I didn't have anywhere to go from there."

Hiruzen sat back, his right hand once again massaging his forehead. This was just not his job any longer. He was too old, politics was changing in ways that he had never experienced before and there was still the situation with Naruto.

"Anything else?"

Jiraiya shrugged.

"Not that I could find. As I said, they seem to be hiding pretty effectively."

Jiraiya watched pensively as the old Hokage turned his gaze to the open window that he had entered from. He admired his Sensei for that; he was so old and yet hardly any other Shinobi held a candle to his strength and resilience. He could be counted on to make a level headed decision in almost any situation. But the information that Jiraiya had given him wasn't what was obviously bothering the wizened Hokage. It was something else, something unrelated to his mission.

"What's wrong Sensei?"

Sarutobi cracked a small smile. Typical Jiraiya, he could read him like a book whenever he had a problem. Sarutobi would never forget the day his team passed the Genin test. Jiraiya had retained his easygoing nature and yet blossomed into one of the strongest Shinobi in the world. At least he had an outlet for the worries clouding his mind; otherwise he'd have gone half-crazy and broken something by now.

"About a week and a half ago, a three man team of Chuunin sent to Kumo to mediate with the Raikage over Naruto's stunt reported that they had seen young Naruto moving north from the Valley of the End."

It took a moment to register in the Gama-Sennin's mind, yet as he begun to realise the implications of the Sandaime's statement, a look of horror descended on his face.

"But that's..."

The room was silent for a minute; it was Jiraiya who suggested what was on both their minds.

"You don't think..."

Sarutobi nodded slowly.

"No way..." Jiraiya breathed. "It can't be..."

"If what you said is true and indeed, it does seem like something Naruto could cause given his previous international stunts."

Jiraiya grimaced at that. Why were all his apprentices such crazy daredevils?!

"But if he's caught..."

Sarutobi's eyes flashed in the dimly lit office light.

"Make it in time. You have no choice. If Orochimaru gets his hands on the Kyuubi we will have the worst possible situation on our doorstep within a year."

Jiraiya nodded grimly. Standing, he hopped to the very same window he used to enter and crouched down to leap out once again.

"Jiraiya..."

The younger Shinobi tilted his head to the side, his left eye visible to the aging Hokage. So this is what the Hokage had become; as his name suggested a mere shadow of his former self. He sat haggard, his wizened face covered in shadows, his cheeks appearing drawn and fatigued. The most he could do even after a week and half was to wait for his student to return, whilst the legacy of the Yondaime-Hokage may be in mortal danger. Jiraiya re-affirmed his conviction for never becoming a Hokage. He would never allow his morals and opinions to become twisted and corrupted by the lure of power.

No matter what.

"Make it in time."

Jiraiya turned and blasted off into the night.

XXXXXXXXX

The world had become dangerous once again for one Uzumaki Naruto. For the last two days, he had been forced to dodge numerous patrols and Shinobi sent to locate the source of Oto's 'Day of Humiliation'. That had almost caused the young blond's capture in the early hours of the previous day; having overhead a squad of surly-looking Chuunin describe his large-scale prank like that, he almost burst his remaining gut.

One had already burst from laughing so hard.

Naruto couldn't help but be reminded of his early days in Konoha, days he only wanted to forget. It reminded him of hiding in his youth, afraid of the scorn and expressions of disgust and fear directed his way whenever he ventured from the Orphanage where he resided. He vividly remembered fleeing in depression, hiding in the woods on the outskirts of the Village, anything to get away from the eyes that seemed to watch him wherever he went.

But this wasn't quite the same. This time the hate was justified. The first team of ninja that had exited the underground caverns of the Hidden Village of Sound seemed to be having a perpetual itch. Naruto concluded that corn-flour mustn't be very healthy for the skin.

Yet the frequency and number of Shinobi were increasing as the day turned to night. It seemed Orochimaru wasn't going to sit back and take his humiliation like a man. Naruto snickered softly at that thought; It wasn't as if he was a man in the first place, he wore ear-rings, eye-shadow and had long, girly hair for crying out loud!

Having that many ninja after him was tough. He had never had to hide for the amount of time that he was being forced to this time around. In Konoha, nearly everyone who had some brain-cells knew that there was only one person who could pull something as audacious as that without being caught, but this was obviously not Konoha.

Squinting through the gaps in the bush he had situated himself in, he spied another group of Shinobi zipping passed. His eyes widened as he saw the lead nin wearing a black flak-jacket, the collar turned up and a pouch attached to the bottom right hand side of the front. It was a Jounin, that much Naruto knew, and if Orochimaru had taken to sending Jounin out, it means he had upped the ante on this game of cat-and-mouse.

As always, the Oto Shinobi KNEW that there was an intruder, it was the downside of Naruto's Chakra Distortion technique. He had given the name to his first modification of the Chakra Beacon, and so his Chakra was currently spread out evenly in every direction. He was also hidden by his invisibility Jutsu. They shouldn't be able to find him if he kept moving around with the two techniques activated.

Night time was the most dangerous time for the Konoha Jinchuuriki. He knew he had to release his two techniques by then or face Chakra Exhaustion, and he was unwilling to go through THAT experience again!

And so he hid, trapping and baiting the Sound Shinobi at every turn that he could possibly find. He supposed he was having too much fun with his situation, that one three man team of Genin he had covered in a liberal dose Caustic Soda returned to their Village burning up.

Literally!

On another occasion, he had successfully pulled off the largest scale of wedgies he had ever seen or even heard about, in his humble opinion. A two-man Chuunin squad would rue the day their leader made an enemy out of Uzumaki Naruto, of course hanging from a tree with their underwear pulled over their heads and all their equipment stolen would only increase their rage.

Balancing precariously on the edge of the main entrance building of Hidden Sound, Naruto sighed as another team exited the building. A shiver of fear and anxiety raced up his spine as he sighted a three-man team of Jounin. This was getting well out of hand. If he kept baiting them it seemed Orochimaru himself would join in, and Naruto was very reluctant to let it reach that stage; his first encounter with the missing-nin had been anything but pleasant.

With a flash of inspiration, the blond knew exactly what to do. The place they would least expect him to be hiding in would be the Village itself! Hundreds of times the young Uzumaki had boggled over the fact that the Konoha Military Police would find him very quickly once he left the scene of one of his pranks. They would find him and he would have to get away, yet it was probably because he was actively TRYING to escape the scene that they had caught on so quickly.

With his newest epiphany at the forefront of his mind, he slipped inside the building and down the long winding staircase, disengaging his Chakra Distortion technique. It would do no good if they knew he was actually in the Village, so keeping his invisibility Jutsu up, he descended further into the Village, a myriad of prank-materials clinking in his tool-pouch.

One more prank and he would set out to view the rest of the world, and what a colourful world it was!

Or, dare he say it, what a colourful world he made it!

XXXXXXXX

Sighing in boredom, a certain brown-haired academy student stared blearily out of the window.

She was sick of crying. Lately it hadn't taken much to set her off and Miamura-Sensei had been bewildered when, upon asking her what the 'Goukakyu no Jutsu' was, the 10 year old had burst into tears, running from the classroom with a look of pure grief on her face.

No. She wouldn't cry anymore, no matter how bad she felt. She was beginning to realise that she couldn't always be what everyone wanted her to be, she couldn't always be what she wanted herself to be. Maybe she had tried to force Naruto to be her friend. Maybe she had always forced the blond to talk to her.

'Maybe,' she thought with a sob, 'he didn't even want to be my friend in the first place!'

Viciously squashing that thought with her subconscious, she shook herself from her depression before she burst into tears again. Her classmates were becoming edgy around her, not sure when they would say something to set her off and they were only further bewildered when white-eyed Hyuuga Neji struck up the courage to mutter 'cry baby' under his breath as she walked past without her rising to his challenge.

"...So let's go outside and see how much all of you have improved since then. I hope you brought all of your weapons with you as I asked yesterday?"

With a resounding chorus of "HAI"s, the throng of students picked up their bags-of-weapons and marched out the door of the classroom towards the training fields. A wide berth was given to TenTen as she heaved a massive bundle in front of her, dragging the monstrosity, whilst creating a rut in the wooden flooring in its wake.

As they reached the 'target practise range' the students dropped their bags to the grass and turned as a large crash was heard, many jumping in shock at the noise. Miamura Hokairo blanched as he saw the huge bundle of weapons that the up and coming weapons mistress had brought along. It wasn't even a stash's worth of weapons; it was enough to outfit a small army of Shinobi!

At her Sensei's disbelieving glance, the girl in question stared back with flat eyes.

"You said all my weapons."

The class sweat-dropped heavily.

"...Right. Well, take out three Kunai each and split up into groups of three. Each group to one training post. Make sure you throw from behind the red line. I will be watching carefully to make sure that you don't breach it and you will drop additional points for it! Let's see if TenTen will win this round again!"

At his encouragement the young Shinobi wannabes turned to their collections and rummaged around to get the appropriate weapons. Once again, all eyes were turned to the panda-styled girl as weapon after weapon flew passed the motley group of students. She sat on her haunches, her hands a blur as she checked and chucked every weapon at the top of her bundle behind her. It was like watching water geyser with a rock diverting the flow.

'Was that a...screwdriver?!'

"TENTEN, STOP! Just...stop..."

Miamura-Sensei almost regretted giving the order when the 10 year old turned her baleful chocolate eyes on him. Why the hell was she always depressed?!

"Here, you can use mine."

The girl rose and slowly walked over, taking the three proffered Kunai into her hands, immediately slipping them between her fingers. Hokairo wasn't a Chuunin-Sensei for nothing, and the speed, skill and grace that the girl displayed when she handled weapons was nothing short of expert. She had trained hard, and he could see it. He knew then and there that she would win the throwing contest that day, and every other day in the future for that matter; there was simply no-one who could match her talent in the usage of weapons and it was shown.

A short thirty minutes later, TenTen was left out in the field packing up her weapons with the loser of the contest, Rock Lee. Lee had been bewildered at the girl's response the previous week when he had bumped into her by mistake. He had been left standing in the middle of one of Konoha's market streets as the bun-haired 10 year old ran off with tears in her eyes. He wasn't stupid, there was obviously something wrong in her life and it would be rude to pry.

So he went about clearing up the training field diligently without speaking a word to his classmate. Whenever he picked up one of her weapons, he would simply drop them next to her bundle and walk off to find some more.

He paused when, as he returned carrying a spike-headed hammer and a crossbow, he saw TenTen crouching over a patch of grass, her shoulders quivering and her arms wrapped tight around her lithe frame. Tentatively, he approached the girl so as not to disturb her.

It was with shock that he viewed the scene. TenTen was staring with her mouth slightly parted, fat tears of sorrow trailing down her cheeks leaving patches of lighter skin on her pale face. But as his eyes moved to look at what was the cause of her despair, he caught sight of two of the most beautiful daggers he had ever seen. Even he, not in any way an expert when it came to weapons, could attest that these blades were of expert craftsmanship.

The pair of silver weapons rippled like molten copper in the setting sun, the golden light dancing in a glow of gleaming colour along their magnificent, deadly edges, blinding to any who had the fortune to gaze upon them. But it wasn't even their silver grace that entranced him; it was the stretching, twisting, lustrous, dragon etched from the hilt to the very tip of the daggers. In all its dazzlingly-green glory, the emerald eye stood out, flashing as a ray of light caught it, the wave playing over the surface of the stone, accentuating its depth and clarity.

They lay, side-by-side, gently bending the blades of grass beneath them, the colour of which seemed so dull against the incredible steel on top of them. They were about twelve inches long, the blade widening from hilt-to gently curved-tip, resembling a butcher's blade yet so different. The colour of the blade was only accentuated by the varnished mahogany of the hilt, the hand-guard a similar colour and clear, so clear, that the surface resembled that of polished-brown ceramic.

The blade was beautiful and deadly, a mixture that would be sure to end an enemy's life in a spark of green glory. Rock Lee then and there swore that he would never piss this girl off in his lifetime. If she had weapons like that, he didn't even want to know what else she could use on him if she wanted!

Shaking himself from the illusion of the blade, he squatted silently next to his female classmate. He didn't know what was wrong but it seemed that the sight of the two daggers brought up some sad memories for the brown-haired pre-teen.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I know, I know, but I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it, I'll come back, I promise...Y-You d-don't...

Y-you don't have t-to say a-a-anything..."

Her soft sobs seemed to grow in intensity as she uttered those words, so lightly, so quietly, the wind whisked them away as a slight breeze blew through the field.

Lee was shocked to the core. The picture ingrained in his mind would be remembered forever; the scene of a young girl dressed in white and brown crouching over these beautiful green blades, the green glow emanating from them reflecting off her pale face and chocolate eyes, speckled with flickering crystalline tears.

It was breathtakingly bittersweet, like the ending of a tragic hero's tale. Lee had no way to understand the situation. He was simply caught in the moment, the very emotion rippling through his own subconscious, his eyes prickling with unshed tears as they welled up at his turmoil.

"...d-don't have t-to tell...me...secrets..."

She pulled herself in, her arms tightening around her torso burying her head on her kneecaps, her airy silken brown tresses falling over her head in a veil. Her entire being vibrated as she rocked back and forth on her heels, the very picture of an emotionally broken orphan. Lee knew about her early life, he'd been to the same Orphanage after all, and yet when she had disappeared...

It had to be something to do with that.

Slowly, he raised his hand and placed it lightly on the distraught girl's shoulder. TenTen flinched at the contact, deflating inwards even more than she already had.

"TenTen-san, I can't say I understand what you're feeling..." Lee paused, she hadn't acknowledged his words at all, yet he had to continue. "Whoever it is will come back."

"I'm sure of it."

He said it with such conviction, such heartfelt hope, that TenTen stopped moving. Her head rose, quivering brown eyes meeting obsidian black. Squeezing her shoulder lightly, Lee shook his head.

"We have to clear up TenTen-san. Miamura-Sensei will be angry if we miss the start of Tactics."

TenTen nodded slowly. Wiping her eyes with the side of her white sleeve, she stood and hastily stuffed the couple of daggers in her bundle. The two classmates walked side-by-side, neither uttering a word as they re-entered the academy building.

XXXXXXXX

Naruto was once again on the verge of a field day. Combining the fact that every room he had been to already had Omni-paint sprayed all over the walls in every manner of childish behaviour, with the half-empty bottle of Super Glue held in his chubby right hand and you had another day of total chaos for Otogakure no Sato. The problem which the young prank-master faced though was that he had absolutely no idea where the hell he was!

The Sound Village was literally a maze of corridors; endless twisting halls covering miles and miles of underground space. It was one thing covering the entrances, but attempting to navigate without any idea of which direction you were moving was an impossible feat for the 9 year old.

Just how did the Villagers find their way around?!

Where were the Villagers for that matter?

He had encountered no-one; not a single person had he seen even though he was still under his invisibility Jutsu. Spying two large, granite double-doors, the Uzumaki legacy hurried up to them and pushed his way inside, the hinges groaning as they moved.

The room he had entered was HUGE! The entire room was lit by flame-torches wall-mounted on brackets, interspersed by about one metre. A small shelf stood against the right wall, displaying a collection of gruesome artefacts; one of which seemed to be a human hand, blackened with some sort of inhuman complexion and a lone ring perched on the pinky finger.

That was freaky! What kind of a person uses a human hand as decoration?!

Striding over to the chair set in the middle of the room, the blond coated the cushion in a thick layer of super glue. Stopping to think, he then hurled a kunai with a small piece of ninja wire attached to the ring. The wire had a leaf of paper stuck to the end; a simple seal inscribed on its surface. The entire prank was cloaked by the shadows of the room; he didn't even have to do anything to hide it!

Slipping quietly into the shadows at the back of the room, he disengaged his invisibility Jutsu in order to use the true usage of the 'Chakra Beacon'. He focused inwards, decreasing the amount of his Chakra flow to almost nothing. Nobody should be able to detect him like this, even a Shinobi stretching his Chakra senses to the maximum.

He was just in time too. The double-doors were thrown inwards in an impressive show of force and Naruto's heartbeat sped up at the sight of his nemesis. Orochimaru strode into the room, fury etched into every crease of his face, his eyes flashing in the dim candlelight.

"Kimimaro! I want that person found, and I want him found within the hour. He's inside the village, there's no other place he could be. Do you understand me?!"

The Snake-Sannin's voice was quivering in madness, his rage barely restrained even when he was talking.

"Hai, Orochimaru-Sama!"

The Otokage sat down on his chair, resting his chin on the palm of his right hand. After a few moments he seemed to realise something was wrong and in another scream of absolute fury, realised he was stuck to his own furniture.

Naruto took that as his cue. Whipping out a camera from his hip-pouch, he released the seal hanging from the ceiling. Naruto had to hand it to the Snake guy, his head whipped around to stare at Naruto's position even though he couldn't see him; he had detected that infinitesimally tiny release of Chakra immediately.

With a small 'pop!' a single pellet of Omni-paint dropped from the ceiling. The Snake of the Sannin, realising what his fate was in growing horror, screamed like a little girl as he gazed at the falling ball. He viewed the event in slow motion, the candlelight flickering off the surface of the dull-grey pellet approaching him under the force of gravity.

With a small splat, the missing-nin could only stare in fury and horror at the sheer wrongness of his predicament, his face coated in a thick, gooey substance that he couldn't identify.

He, the genius of the legendary three, had been humiliated personally whilst glued to a chair, and he was totally powerless to stop it.

The deal was sealed when a small click, flash and pop directed his attention back to the corner where he now knew his deadliest enemy currently stood. That had been a camera, and the person had obviously sealed it away as soon as he had the picture.

With a roar of pure anger, the white-skinned ninja literally ripped the chair from his buttocks. Wasting no time, he shot forward, slamming his fist into his opponent, yet all he hit was a dead hand.

His old hand.

Recognising the Kawarimi, he instantly spun on his heel, ducking low as a water Jutsu flew over his head. There, standing casually in the middle of the room, was none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

And he was laughing.

"You..." Orochimaru breathed the word like fire.

"I WILL KILL YOU!"

Wasting no time, the two exploded into action. Orochimaru was pulling no punches this time; he had allowed this farce to remain for too long. There was no way he would allow this...this brat to leave the room.

Naruto once again felt the vast difference in ability between him and his attacker. He thought he would be able to escape at least, yet it seemed he wouldn't even be able to do that. It looked like he had played his luck too far and now he could only hope to survive.

Ducking a lightning-fast jab to his chin, he responded with a belt kick, powering the strike with raw wind Chakra. The blow missed completely and Naruto sailed forwards, sealing as he spun.

A Goukakyu sprang from his mouth, aimed at a water pipe running along the middle of the wall. Prancing backwards as the pipe melted, spilling clear drinking water onto the floor, the blond slammed his hand down into the liquid, his hand sparking from the use of the Hibana.

Orochimaru was forced to leap aside, avoiding the rush of conducting water. He landed in front of the double doors, the aura of ire palpable to Naruto even from that distance.

"The next attack will be my last."

Naruto shivered at the amount of venom in the Kage's words. It seemed he would be caught.

Again, he had no time to prepare. Given the ability of his enemy, it was surprising he had managed as much as he had. The Snake Sannin simply disappeared, Naruto's vision turned white and he collapsed to the floor.

His last thought before he lost consciousness filtered lazily through his mind.

'I really need to learn some Taijutsu...'

ZZZZZZZZ