Naruto stood at the top of a hotel situated near the Sumida-gawa in Tokyo, Japan, above the open window of the room his current quarry was staying in. There were five people currently inside it, including the man possessed by the last demon sorcerer. They were talking amongst themselves, bouncing ideas, not even bothering to close the window.
"These men must not be very good at their jobs." Naruto muttered, looking slightly to the left. That window was open, and the head of a man could be seen looking out it, admiring the view.
"Oh, hello." The man smiled when he saw Naruto. The blonde just nodded and started walking away.
The black-haired man blinked in surprise, before grabbing the ledge above his window and vaulting to the roof, doing backflips and jumping right in front of Naruto, who raised an eyebrow, subtly taking a stance.
"You are not very polite, are you?" The man had a rather thick accent.
"No, I am not."
"That's ok. My name is Jackie." The man offered a hand in greeting.
"And mine is Naruto Namikaze. An honor to meet you Mr. Chan."
"You know me?"
"Only by reputation. You are, after all, an archeologist of some renown in San Francisco."
"You're from San Francisco too? You're a long way from home."
"As are you. I believe we are after the same quarry, you and I. Albeit not for the same reasons."
"What quarry?" Jackie scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I am on vacation."
"Hey Jackie."
"Bwah!"
"How's the hunt for the portal going?"
"Jade! You're supposed to be back home, doing homework."
"How do you know I'm not?" Jackie sent her a look and turned back to Naruto, who had a raised eyebrow.
"Vacation, you say?"
"I'm afraid my niece has a very active imagination."
"Of course she does." Naruto frowned, turning back to the ledge. "Now please be quiet, I'm eavesdropping." Jackie and Jade shared a questioning glance and followed him.
"So tell me again."
"That's Valmont's voice."
"A hundred paces south-east from Cherry Blossom Grove, where we will follow 'that which runs but never walks to the mouth that never talks'."
"And that's Ratso."
"Shush little girl."
"Anything else?"
"Nah, that's about it."
"Great. It's not enough I get foiled time and again by that insufferable pest Jackie Chan." The man chuckled sheepishly. "Now I have the overgrown gecko inside me."
"I heard that."
"You were supposed to."
"The Dark Hand is looking for the portal too. Let's go after them." Jade whispered sort-of-quietly, jumping down towards the window, only to be caught by Naruto. "Hey, lemme go."
"Relax, small girl."
"Jade, he is right, please calm down."
"Tch, fine." Naruto glared at her petulant face for a moment before lowering her. He turned and started walking to the middle of the roof, followed quickly by the two Chans. "So why'd you stop me big guy?"
"Jade, please behave. I am very sorry for my niece." Jackie bowed to Naruto.
"It's fine. I stopped you, small child, because I did not want you to die at the moment."
"Die? I could've taken them."
"Five very large, very skilled opponents against a small girl? You may have lasted all of five seconds." Jade pouted at the man. "Now, like I said Mr. Chan, we are after the same quarry, so perhaps we could help each other."
"And what is it that you want with these demon portals Mr. Namikaze?"
"This particular one I want to see closed. Permanently." Naruto looked off into the distance with a disgusted look on his face. "Po Kong the Mountain Demon is a particularly gruesome example of demonkind. She is among the foremost of the Demon Sorcerers I would not like to see unleashed on the world, but in order for me to attain my true goals I have to go through her first. Poor choice of words."
"And what's this true goal you wanna detain."
"'Attain' Jade. It means accomplish."
"Whatever."
"What if I were to tell you I know all the demons personally?" Naruto smirked at Jackie's bewildered expression.
"I would say that is impossible"
"Jackie!"
"Bwah!"
"You seem easily startled, Mr. Chan." Naruto chuckled at the man's reaction to the appearance of his elderly uncle and large friend.
"Only when my family members decide to sneak up on me. Uncle, why didn't you come to the hotel room?"
"We went to room, saw you not there. Followed sound of Jade yelling."
"I was trying to be quiet Uncle."
"Trying, not succeeding."
"Uncle, this is Naruto Namikaze, a… friend I have met here."
"Blonde person not important."
"Excuse me?"
"Dark Hand climbing out of window is." Jackie and Naruto turned around to see Finn, Ratso and Chow standing there by the ledge, while Hak Foo was helping Valmont up.
"I must be getting rusty." Naruto muttered to himself.
"You?" Valmont's eyes turned red and his voice raspy. "What are you doing here, servant."
"Shendu." Naruto chuckled. "There is something different about you? Have you lost weight?"
"Simpleton!" The dragon spirit growled.
"You know Shendu?" Uncle gasped at him. "Jackie! Why did you not tell Uncle blonde person knows Shendu?" The elderly man slapped his nephew across the head with two fingers.
"Ow!" While they were having a family moment, Naruto and Shendu continued on with their friendly greeting.
"You have still not answered me, simpleton. Why have you come here?"
"I am here to make sure my mistress is free, gecko."
"You see Shendu." Valmont wrestled back control of his body for a moment. "Even he agrees."
"Silence Valmont. Nobody asked you. In any event, you can leave now. I will stand by my word. This time."
"And I will believe that when I see it." Naruto chuckled. "Will you give me the box? Or do I have to take it."
"More of us than you." The tall, red-haired man growled. "We will defeat you before you can."
"Yes, there are five of you. So I think I will take my leave." He bowed to the Dark Hand, and then to the Chans. "Good day gentlemen. And Shendu." He ran at Valmont and beside him, jumping down the ledge.
"Excellent. Now to deal with…" There was nobody there in front of them.
"Hey, where'd they go?"
"I see why the simpleton ran so quickly..."
"What are you talking about Shen-dude? Who was that guy?"
"A… friend of my sister."
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Back in Jackie's room, his group had just entered to find Naruto seated at their table, playing a solo game of mahjong. He looked like he was just about done.
"You play mahjong?"
"Doesn't everybody?"
"Hatcha! Uncle must defeat you in game, then."
"Uncle, wait. He could be working for the Dark Hand." Another slap greeted his face. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Nobody that plays mahjong can be evil." Uncle said fully convinced in his words.
"You should listen to your nephew, elder one. I am not working for the Dark Hand, but my goal is the freedom of the demon sorcerers." Jackie jumped to his side in a standard Kung Fu stance, while Tohru was on his other with his hands out and separated. Jade was on the big man's shoulders.
And Uncle was in the seat opposite him, laying a tile down.
"It is your move."
"Relax Mr. Chan, Tohru-san. If I meant you any harm I would not have distracted Shendu while you fled, and I definitely would not have saved your little niece." Jackie lowered his hands slightly, but still remained suspicious.
"Nephew, relax, and let blonde person play."
"My name is Naruto." He played a tile.
"Then why do you want to release the demons?"
"Well, to be fair, I only want to release one of them, really. Maybe two. The others can rot. Especially Po Kong and that moony bastard."
"Language. There are young children present."
"Apologies. And as for why? Well, that is easy. I serve one of them."
"You do?" Uncle raised an eyebrow. "How long?"
"Very long. I honestly don't really remember when I started. One of the perks of serving a sorcerer."
"So you're…" Jade had a starry-eyed look as she clasped her hands in front of her.
"Immortal. Yes."
"Why would you be telling us all this?" Jackie sat down on the bed.
"Interesting question."
"Tohru, put kettle on."
"Yes, sensei."
"I am telling you all this in order to insure you are not taken by surprise at a later date. And also to ensure my mistress' safety."
"Safety?" Naruto nodded, accepting some tea from the sumo.
"Thank you. You see, my mistress is not the favored of the demon siblings, thanks largely to me. In fact, I can only think of two who have treated her as family, and Shendu only did so when he had something to gain. I want to see her free and happy. And if she is to remain either of those, her siblings must be kept away from her."
"Demons can get happy?" Jade asked.
"Of course they can, Little Chan. It would be wrong to assume them incapable of love just by being demons."
"I didn't say love."
"No. That is probably wishful thinking on my part." He moved another tile. "Move to you, Elder Chan."
"You are very good opponent."
"Thank you."
"There's just one more thing." Jackie said, before pausing for a second with an aside glance. "Why do you willingly serve a demon?"
"Because she saved my life. And now she owns it." He moved the last tile. "And that is victory to me. I would suggest resting today and following Sumida-gawa in the morning. I have told you all this as an act of good faith, Mr. Chan. I hope you do not choose to be my enemy. Good day." He bowed and left.
"What do you think, Uncle?"
"Uncle thinks…" The elder scratched his chin, staring intently at the mahjong set in front of him. "Naruto is very good player."
"Uncle." At that moment the dresser burst open, revealing a flood of Jades. "Jade!"
"Hey Jackie."
"Tohru, finishing spell."
"I have it somewhere here Sensei, just give me a moment."
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I just watched the entire series again, so here is the next chapter, Prince of the Khan will probably be next.
Naruto may have revealed too much, as some of you are probably yelling at their screens right about now, but he is really unconcerned with who knows. And I wanted to write it like this. That's probably the most important reason.
Also, honestly, I forgot about the cloneJades until the last moment.
