Behind the curtain

A Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: Everything but the idea of this story is other people's property.

A/N:
 Wow, nearly three weeks from the idea to the finished chapter; indeed a hard birth.
Read and enjoy

Behind the Curtain

- Chapter One -

Welcome Home

Propelling himself from tree to tree Naruto wondered wich fool would dare to attack them, here, with Konoha looming at the horizon. It was a free one-way ticket into the prison cells of the Leaf, including a visit from the specialists of the Interrogation-corps. Well, probably they would simply be executed.
Sarutobi Sasuke, as soft and gentle a man he had been to all people who meant something to him, had always heavily punished those who dared to violate others and the demon-vessel had absolutely no idea how Tsunade would handle this.
At maximum speed he leapt from tree to tree. He was close now. The blonde found himself smiling when he thought about the upcoming fight. He wanted to prove, that he remembered everything the frog-hermit had taught him. Naruto loved it when the older man patted his head after he had completed one of the difficult tasks or training sessions and he loved it even more to hear him mumble some kind of laud.
It was everything he needed to be happy. He suddenly wondered how Gaara would have developed if someone like Iruka or Jiraya had taken care of…
Lost in his thoughts and due to his high speed he had, by a hair, missed the movement below him. As silently as possible he used the remaining momentum of his last jump to fly and cling to the next tree, positioning himself behind and above the stranger.
On all fours and brutally violating everything that was known as 'gravity', he started to vertically crouch down the tree like an oversized spider.
Well, in Konoha's forests there was basically nothing impossible but the blonde was quite sure that none of those creepy insects had his size.
Slowly approaching the dry forest's soil, his eye's never left the person.
He didn't dare to inform Jiraya via chakra burst. The newcomer would definitely notice it if he was a shinobi. The last time the two had been in a similar situation Naruto had done it. It had been a mission they had been given by some merchants in the Lightning country who had a precious object stolen by some outlaws and were now shaken down to pay ransom. Happy to get some money into their empty pockets the two had accepted and it had taken them no time to track their targets. Unfortunately and the due to the ignorance of the fact that their enemies were shinobi, the target detected it and fled. It had been quite a hassle to chase him, mainly because they had to knock his whole party down in order to get the object, an oversized, sparkling emerald, back.
Naruto knew that he wasn't the brightest most of the time. Part of it was only theatre to gain attention but some things he simply didn't understand. Especially theory and things he wasn't interested in. Luckily combat strategy was neither one group, nor the other. In fact he loved it and while his brain seemed to hibernate most of the time it was able to come up with strategies in battle that rivaled a certain genius.

Wonder what Shikamaru's doing right now.
Probably watching clouds again.

Not that he knew Shikamaru's habits well but most of the time Naruto saw him, he was lying around and staring at the sky. Inwardly he cursed. His minds were distracting him again at the wrong time.
He had lost sight of his target.

Hell, I'm such an Idiot.

Having nearly reached the bottom, he pushed himself of the tree, somersaulted in midair and landed on the ground. His eyes, scanning the immediate area suspiciously. Around him where no real hiding spots. The place was only moderately wooded, the undergrowth was meager and there were no rocks big enough to even hide a deer.
Being at a loss with his problem he made some steps in the direction where he had last seen the stranger, torn between the prospect of a fight with the two shinobi and the need to find the guy that had recently disappeared right in front of his eyes.
He turned around helplessly. There was no one to be seen.
His first idea was to create some clones to aid him in his search but that would reveal his position to everyone who would probably sneak around.

"While rushing into things might work out sometimes, you will fail in achieving your goal this way mostly. When two shinobi of equal physical condition meet, the one with the sharper mind will win. Even when he is weaker of body, a good strategy can make up for it"
The huge frog-hermit patted his pupils head. The boy's morose face expression turned into a questioning look. The white haired sighed.
"See" he said. "It's essential to have a plan before you engage an enemy. Furthermore it's not only necessary to plan in combat; you have to plan your whole life. What you want to, what you have to do, and most important when you have to do it and in wich way.
For example, you have to check your fridge to make sure that you have everything you need. If you see something amiss, you should put a note to fill up your stock so that you have it when you need it" he scratched the back of his head. "Well a shopping list is maybe no the best example but I think you get what I want to say, don't you? "
Naruto looked up at his mentor. For a long second there glances met. Then he simply replied:
"No.
It took the blonde about half a minute to notice that his teacher wasn't following.
He turned around, only to see him, still standing where he had answered his question. Jiraya's head and arms hung lifelessly down in front of him.
A sudden gust of wind made the wild white hair flow freely while something that looked like a little thorny bush rolled past the lonely figure.
Naruto wondered where it came from, he had never seen a plant like that before.
Wind country was indeed a strange place.
"Oi, ero-sennin, you alright?" he shouted back.
The addressed needed a rough ten seconds to react to this. Among all the thoughts that had crossed his mind in the eternity of seconds that an attentive observer could reduce to exactly 43, there had only been one constantly repeating itself.
Why me?
"The most important thing in this technique is concentration and chakra control"
The white haired had turned to lecture mode.
"If you use too much you will be stuck within your hairs, or not be able to withdraw it in time to counter attack. On the other hand…" He took a deep drag from his pipe before continuing.
"When you don't use enough, the shield won't harden properly or not stretch far enough to cover the necessary parts"
Another cloud of smoke left his mouth.
"The better your chakra control is and the more experience you have, the faster it can shield you. For now simply try to let it grow slowly. Concentrate your chakra in your hairs and form the seals"
"Hai" the blonde repeated and started to follow his mentor's orders.
"Ready?" Jiraya asked.
"Ready!" Naruto answered.

Hari Jizou

What the toad master had feared, that the boy would use a little too much chakra didn't happen. In truth, he completely overdid it.
From inside the huge blonde fur ball that had a rough size of 6 feet in every direction, not to mention the spikes, came muted screams and again a single thought was stuck in Jirayas mind.
Why me?
Why. Always. Me.

It took him a rough two minutes to explain Naruto how to cancel the technique and withdraw his hair.
By the time the boy managed to do it, he was panting heavily. The ball had been tight enough to s stop air from getting inside. His mentor commented it with a smack on his head.
"Bah, I've got hairs in my mouth" the blonde complained.
"What had I told you about the amount of chakra you should use?" he demanded to know.
"Nothing, just not to overdo it" the demon-vessel retorted. "You said nothing about an exact amount I should use"
With pouty voice he added: "And I really didn't use much"
"How much exactly?" "Not much, maybe as much as needed for a Rasengan"
Jiraya nearly fainted.
"When exactly did you loose your wits brat? Even a single Rasengan is usually enough to leave a common shinobi drained. Hari Jizou uses probably a twentieth of it"
He rubbed his hurting temples.
"You really are a chakra freak. Well, never mind. Adjust your chakra amount and try it again and don't forget, concentration is the key to chakra control. If you have trouble, use the meditation I taught you last month. I'm going to get some food for us" with these words the white haired disappeared.
When Naruto was alone he sighed and tried to remember what hat to be done. Closing his eyes he listened to his inside.
'Let's go'
Since his favourite technique was no option. When he wanted to remain unnoticed he would have to rely on his senses and a certain technique would help him doing.
Closing his eyes, he forced his heart to beat slower, this way he would hopefully be able to locate his target's position with his acouesthesia.
The time he needed to calm him down was insignificantly smaller than on his first tries, he needed only a little more than 30 seconds to reach a state the state of partial trance that would allow him to gain more control over his mind an eliminate unwanted sensation.
The next step was to eliminate exactly those from his mind.
The wind, twitter, the sounds of animals roaming the forest, his own bodies noises, his blood, his heart, it was difficult to keep the concentration up but it paid of. He heard something.
Breathing. No, panting. Short and rapid. It came from behind a tree to his left.17 feet away. Ground level.

Gotcha.

And he had already an idea how to get a hold on his prey. Since his opponent was hiding, he was either not willing to fight or not strong enough, maybe even both.
He gave it a second thought.
A shinobi from genin level on caused barely no noises, especially not while hiding, probably the stranger was wounded or maybe not even a ninja. Unwillingness to fight was more than true and whatever the physical situation of the person was, seemed not to be enough to fight.
Naruto grinned.
He would have some fun with this guy. He was the reason that thy hare currently wasn't sizzling about a good nice fire to fill his empty stomach. Well, since it was only a single one and not all four he was only a part of the reason but Naruto didn't care. He was the only one in reach.

So what.

Canceling his technique he started to move around, looked behind bushes and trees. He tried his best so search as noisily as possible for a ninja. "Crap, where is that guy?" he said loudly, making some more fuss and walking randomly around until he stood in front of a certain tree, than turned around an leaned against it.
"Hmm, damn" he kept on acting, "I think I lost him". He sighed loudly and grinned.
"Nah well, doesn't matter; I bet in Konoha they'll have something tastier than this one, who knows if he had washed himself." He turned around and started walking in the general direction of the Leaf.

I shouldn't always exaggerate everything, could barely stop myself from laughing. Hell, I would've given my right hand to see his face.

Climbing the next tree he couldn't stop himself from chuckling, the great finish was yet to come.

Hearing the pursuer disappear the figure breathed a sigh of relief.
One more freak to loose track.
A sudden sting of pain shook the black clad person but a muffled groan was everything to be heard. People say that you will emotionally blunt when you experience bad things too often.
Pain seemed to be an emotion.
For as long as the person could think it had been the best friend possible and since lately it was no enemy anymore, it was a friend that reminded you that you were still alive.
Mentally counting to hundred the person tried to gather the energy to stand up.
It was hard.
So damn hard.
The warm air was like heaven, seeing the sun was even better, even though it was still too bright after the eternity of darkness.
The ground was soft and the scent of moss and wildflowers filled the nostrils while the soft breeze tickled the skin everywhere the black suit had torn open.
All in all a nice place to die.
For one brief moment giving up seemed to be an option. It would be so easy to just lean back and escape this world of horror but the hatred that the person felt fuelled the fire inside, the part that desperately clung to life however bad the circumstances were.
There were many people that were on the left side of the black clad's list.
No. Giving up was definitely no option. Not now.
And who wanted to die in a shitty forest in the middle of fucking nowhere anyway.
All the way, moving had seemed to be the hardest part.
The realization that getting up was much worse came indeed painfully.
When the person finally stood, sweat had covered the whole body and every breath hurt like red-hot knifes on naked flesh. Suppressing a shudder the stranger corrected that analogy. This was worse.
It took another four minutes before the first step was taken. The quickly drying red-brown stain that covered the bark remained, for the time being, unnoticed.
Hidden behind leaves and branches the demon-vessel waited.
He would jump down and scare the hell out of the guy before capturing him.
Naruto was not quite sure if his action was correct but as a Leaf ninja he had every right to demand to know why people were playing "Hide & Seek" on Konoha's territory that included all the land in a 20 mile radius.
The blonde rubbed his hands. His position was perfect. He sat on a tree with thick branches that would cover him completely if looked at from below. The foliage was abundantly covered with horizontally growing leafs, hiding him like a screen from below and wouldn't rustle when he jumped.
The whole tree was approximately 21 feet high, and edged the trail that led through the wood.
Simply divine.
He suddenly came to the thought that his target may have changed direction but the bad feeling that started building up in his gut's disappeared in an instant when he saw the black clad person appearing on the path.
For the first time he was close enough to examine the figure properly.
The first thing he noticed was the fact that he had obviously been wrong with his guess.
It was no man.
In fact it was a woman.
The black, worn jumpsuit looked suspiciously similar to the standard ANBU suits. It was sliced and hung open at the right shoulder, above the hip and at the right thigh while there mere more parts were the black material had been torn off and revealed skin.A scarf surrounded the woman's head, leaving him unable to get a look at her face to determine her age. The only thing that gave a offered a little information, mainly because it was the only thing to be seen, were some strands of red hair.
He had no idea who severe her wounds were but the clumsy movement and the limping suggested that it was nothing superficial.
Naruto decided to cancel his stunt, whoever this person was. She needed help, seriously.
The demon-vessel waited for her to come closer to his position.
He couldn't risk to be fooled; she wouldn't die by taking some more steps.
She wouldn't, would she?
After taking another look at the wrecked figure he wasn't so sure anymore.
Tayuya knew that it was over.
Her body barely responded to the commands her brain gave anymore.
Lifting a foot became a battle, shifting her weight was nearly impossible and breathing didn't work to well either.
She felt tears rising up; tears she thought were long gone. All the pain, all the humiliation, all the effort to break free and now, ultimately, she had failed, completely and utterly.
Her revenge would never come. No fear would ascend in the hearts of her enemies when they heard her name, only amusement. She could already hear the laughter when they heard her name and the way she had died. It sounded like the laughter of those who had hurt her. Men with white masks with stylized animals painted on them, laughing at her cries.
Finally without enough power to lift her leg, she stumbled across a small stone and that moment she knew that she wouldn't be able to regain her balance.
She would fall and never arise again.
Closing her eyes she waited for the impact.
It never came.
At least not in the way she had expected it. It was much softer and when she managed to open her eyes again she stared directly into sea blue orbs.
Whoever had just caught her had long blonde hair and blue eyes.
Then it struck her.
That face.
She knew that face.
It was one of the last things that she had seen before that bitch had nearly killed her.
One of those who had defeated her team killed them all, all but that Uchiha brat.
She closed her eyes, tears flowing freely. Desperation dug its claws into her distressed mind. Even in her last moments one those she despised was present to torment her.
She welcomed the darkness that saturated her mind.
It took the blonde a few seconds to overcome his shock. The first reason was that he simply wasn't used to physical closeness to females, especially not in non-combat situations. The second thing was that his left hand that supported her back had found a deep, wet, fleshy hole and he was pretty sure that the wet liquid that was currently coating this hand was nothing but blood.
He mad a mental notice to himself that he would never ever think things like "a few more steps won't kill her" again.
Carefully he laid her down to examine the wound, as long as he didn't know how severe it was he couldn't do anything. With the help of a kunai, he sliced the black, wet material away and gave a sharp hiss when he saw the wound.
It was in the upper left of the back and right below the scapula, probably four inches long and one and a half wide. The edges of the wound were clean.

A knife wound, that's for sure. No idea with whom she fucked off enough to make him stab her in the back but it's a miracle that she's still alive.

Barely alive, but alive and that was the important thing. He had to get her to Jiraya; his teacher would be able to help her.
But first he had to do something about that injury.
He searched his pockets for bonds and swore when he didn't find any. He remembered.
The last one's he had used to patch this stupid idiot of a teacher together after the said had a certain encounter in a certain village on a certain wrong side of the bathhouse.
With a sigh he removed his jacket and shirt. Taking the knife he had used earlier out again he cut the white material into long straps and used them to bandage the wound on her back and leg. The wound at her hip was superficial enough to be ignored for now.
Picking his jacket out of the dirt he sighed again and put it back on before carefully heaving the woman into his arms.
Sometimes the demon-vessel asked himself why it had always to be him to get in situations where he had absolutely no idea what to do.
He looked down and was surprised to find the wrappings around the woman's head were still in place, closed eyelids were the only thing visible.
Anyway, removing them now was no option; every second without medical help would lower her chances to survive.
Suddenly he noticed that he had completely forgotten about Jiraya.
Four strangers. Since has pretty sure that his mentor wouldn't have let anyone of those four pass if they were enemies that one was probably a fifth one. She was severely wounded and obviously trying to run away. Probably from those four.
Considering that, hurrying to the toad master was probably a bad idea.
But where to go?
A groan escaped his mouth.
Why had everything to be so complicated, his head hurt in a way it only did when playing Shogi.

With furrowed brows and a concentrated look on his face Naruto sat on the ground, and studied the improvised Shogi board that was scratched in the dirt in front of him.
His head hurt. Massaging his temples he desperately tried to plan his next move.
The demon-vessel hated this game from the deepest depths of his heart but as a part of his mental lections Jiraya forced him to play it.
Everyday.
The blonde was close to burn his teachers scripts for "Icha Icha – The movie" if this torture would go on. Naruto sighed. He had to take it in a more positive way, he had already survived this torture for the last 22 months, only seven more to go and they would return to Konoha.
He would survive it like he had survived everything.
Maybe it wouldn't have been so depressing if he had at least won once in all this time but Jiraya wouldn't even let him win on purpose, just to cheer him up. The white haired played this thrice damned game with a seriousness that lay beyond his usual behaviour, somewhere between his "Icha Icha" writing and secret techniques.
Noticeable was probably that the last thing was definitely not as important to him as the first one; the old geezer was definitely a strange person.
"Stop dreaming and concentrate on the game" the frog-hermit reproved him, while blowing smoke from his mouth. One more thing Naruto disliked; the tobacco stank. He had no idea why so many old men desperately clung to their pipes.
"Yeah, yeah, stop bothering me, I'll loose anyway" he scowled and gave a short yelp when the white haired hit his head with the wooden object.
"If you think you loose, you will loose, how often do I have to repeat that"
Dropping a pawn to the head of Jirayas right horse he murmured something about "senile old men.
If only this headache would end.
Naruto skimmed through his options.
He could either go back and risk a confrontation with the unknown shinobi who could be after the female he had stumbled across, inform Jiraya via burst code and await further instructions, try to hide both, himself and the woman or hide her and go back alone to get more information.
He disliked leaving her alone in her current state and rushing into things might seriously a bad idea. On the other hand he hated waiting but if those shinobi were really after her they would probably be able to detect him and even a ninja as mighty as the toad sannin couldn't stop four ninja if they splitted up.
The pain in his head worsened. A situation like that was hellish complicated but taking care of others would be one of his primal tasks as Hokage. If he failed with a single person, how could he even think of protecting all the people in Konoha?

Think idiot, think.

The throbbing slowly started to turn into a serious distraction when the demon-vessel was finally rewarded with a striking idea. Konoha was a rough 18 miles away, even though he had to be extremely careful he could still make it before dusk.
The old lady would definitely be able to heal that mysterious woman.
Naruto decided that this was probably his best option.
He would send a clone to inform Jiraya where he had gone and why, after gaining some distance.
Highly pleased with himself he started moving towards Konohagakure.

Two hours later the blonde found himself lying flat on the ground, panting heavily.
Even though his package was rather lightweighted it was still too much to carry the woman over time. The fact that he had to be extra careful because she, even while still being unconscious, whimpered whenever he didn't manage to absorb the shock of the jump properly.
He simply couldn't stand that so he had changed to running wich had first turned into jogging, then walking and ultimately in himself lying in the cover of some big roots.
Konoha couldn't be far away, the huge mountains with the stone faces seemed to be pretty close but the big wall wasn't yet in sight.
Slowly regaining his breath he sat up and leaned against the wood and massaged his neck and upper arm's, the constant strain had taken its toll.
The blonde watched the sweat that stained his chest and abdomen and shivered. He could feel the goose bumps spread. Closing his jacket he cursed at Jiraya again, if he had managed to suppress his need of "information gathering" as he called his peeping, Naruto wouldn't have wasted his bandages on him and he would still have his shirt.
While the day's were still nice and warm, the temperatures dropped insanely fast during the night.
Coming to his shirt…
His eye's searched the lifeless body a few feet beside him.
He would better check her vital signs; there was no reason to carry her all the way to let her die now.
Groaning he heaved his body that suddenly seemed to weight thrice as much as usual up and moved towards his patient.
Her status was very much the same as a few hours ago, her pulse was still rapid, and her breath was fast and flat.
The blonde still wondered how she looked beneath that cloth around her head.
He was torn between removing it or not. Unconscious and close to death or not, it was a privacy he had to respect. On the other hand… Well, no one could blame him for doing so.
Maybe she had an oversized chin.
Or huge lips.
Or pimples everywhere.
Naruto suddenly had some kind of déjà vu.

If I had ever gotten this opportunity with Kakashi-sensei.
Still no idea what's underneath the mask that's underneath his mask.

In the end his curiosity won and he settled down to work and started to remove the cloth around her head as gently as possible.
He had to lift her head every now and then and every time he did so he feared that she would open her eyes and demand to know what the hell he was doing.
All in all he felt like a child who took cakes from the kitchen when he wasn't allowed.
Not that he had ever been in a similar situation since no one had taken care of him but he could imagine how it felt. He was a prankster after all. The difference had always been the little fact that he had wanted to be caught red-handed.
Luckily she didn't shock him to death by doing what he expected and when he was finished with his work he was stunned.
He had been wrong again. This was no woman. It was a girl, not much older than him he guessed.

Crap, she's beautiful.

She truly was, even in her current pitiful state with all the blood and dirt.
Her face was well-proportioned. The nose was small and Naruto guessed that her skin was as white as snow when it was clean. It seemed that she hadn't seen the sun for quite a long time.
Her face was framed by scruffy red, rather short hair that barely reached her neck.
Nevertheless she was beautiful, that was for sure.

Who the hell are you? He wondered.
And who the fuck did this to you?

He noticed a small area beneath her eyes where tears had dug small trails in the dirt and blood until the fabric had absorbed them.
Tears.
He had seldomly shed them during the last three years.
One special time had burned itself inextinguishably in his mind.

They had stopped earlier than usual that day. Sun had barely crossed the zenith.
Naruto returned from a near creak, two refilled water bottles in his right and three fat trout's in his left, to find Jiraya astonishingly busy, bowed above an unfolded scroll.
For a brief moment the demon-vessel wondered what had struck the old man to work so ferociously, and then he remembered and sighed.
Perverted hermit from head to toe.
Sighing again he gutted the fish, impaled it on wooden sticks and placed them above the fire he had lit earlier.
They ate in silence and finally the hyperactive youngster couldn't stand it anymore.
"What…" He started but was interrupted by Jiraya who tossed him a scroll.
The very same scroll he had been writing on earlier.
Unsure about the meaning of it he glanced at the older man with an enquiring expression on his face.
"Open it" the frog-hermit responded to his unspoken question.
And so he did.
Jiraya examined his student closely while the blonde skimmed through the scroll.
"Do you get that?" he asked him.
"Erm… hehe. Well, it… is a little complicated" scratching the back of his head Naruto grinned at him sheepishly.
"Would you mind reading the first lines aloud? ". It was no question, it was an order.
He noticed how the grin flickered for a second.
"Hehe, sure, no problem ero-sennin"
The white haired noticed the boy's nervousness. Sweat started to cover his forehead.
"Erm… the first line says… Gu..u…ide, Guide to ad…adva…adva"
He looked up to his mentor with a pleading look but the sannin's face remained expressionless.
Focussing on the scroll again he desperately tried to make out the next word.
"Adva… advan… advan…" the boy desperately tried, but he simply couldn't. He was close to despair. What would Jiraya do if it turned out that he couldn't read. He would probably send him back and then his only chance to get strong enough to bet Sasuke would be gone. Everyone would laugh at him. As usual.
The blonde felt the tears that build up inside of him and tried to push them back but couldn't.
His voice finally died along with his hopes.
Suddenly his teacher's voice cut through his mind with the question he feared.
"You can't read properly, can you"
Naruto lowered his head in defeat. That was it. No more dreams of getting his friend back, no more dreams of beating the Snake guy and no more dreams of being Hokage, of being respected. The last thing hurt most.
His voice was hoarse when he answered.
"No"
He bit his lower lip, his fists clenched.
And suddenly he felt strong arms embracing him.
"It's OK" Jiraya answered with soft voice.
"It's OK"
The tears he managed to hold back till now, broke free and he clung to the man's coat and started crying.
"Shhhh, it's OK boy, I won't blame you, it's not your fault.
"Your not going to send me home" Naruto asked in between sobs.
"Of course not, reading can be learned. What a teacher would I be to dump my student because he isn't perfect when I start training him. What a bastard of person would I be" and with these words the blonde dug deeper into his teacher's coat.
Lost in thought he patted the boys head with his left while his other still caressed his back.
'Hell what have they done to you Naruto?' he thought.
To vilify an orphan fort he deeds of a Yokai. If it wasn't so sad it would have been hilarious.
Sarutobi had sworn to protect the boy and offer him a normal life.
Even though one should not say bad things about the deceased.
Sarutobi Sasuke had failed.
Not completely, as the boy was alive and even walked the path of a shinobi but overall he had failed and he, Jiraya, sannin and self proclaimed toad master had failed equally to his teacher.
Looking up into the cloudless sky he suddenly meant to see his students face.
His first students face.
'I'm sorry' he apologized silently to the long dead.
'But I swear you; I'll make up for it. This time I won't run away to hide behind my wounded pride. You were half my age but blessed with twice my wisdom. That's why you wanted me to take care of the boy that day. You knew it didn't you? What would happen?'
But no one answered his questions, no omen came and no ghost spoke to him.
He struggled with tears himself; the death of his student had struck him hard. I had been the worst event since Orochimaru's betrayal.
'I will take care of your legacy Arashi and I shall not fail you again.'
Silently the two sat there, arm in arm, even long after Naruto had stopped crying.
Leafs that swirled and danced in the sunlight were the only things that moved.
Smiling he opened the leather band that kept his ponytail together and enjoyed the cool breeze for a few seconds before he adjusted his hairstyle again.
He chuckled. Looking like his perverted teacher was a strange thing. The long hair was an unwanted side-effect of the Hari Jizou technique. His chakra control was still far from perfect.
Naruto sighed once again and tousled his spiky hair. It seemed that he would have to frequent a hairdresser tomorrow, otherwise somebody, what basically means "a mob of pissed off women" could mistake him for Jiraya and try to smack him up in his teachers place.
But first he had to get to Konohagakure.
The sun had already begun to set and there was no fun in running through the darkness.
He used the scarf to replace the bandage at the girl's back that was already hard from all the blood that oozed from the wound.
Naruto uneasiness grew again. The wound refused to stop bleeding.
He had given her the last remaining blood pill around half an hour ago. If he wasn't able to make his way to the Leaf in time…
The demon-vessel didn't dare to follow that train of thought.
He would not fail.
Getting up he stretched his body to prevent cramps.
Then he noticed.
It was too silent. Way to silent for a forest during night.
Somebody was coming.
His eyes desperately tried to pierce the twilight.
When he saw the figure he ducked behind one of the huge roots, slowly, since hasty movements would only attract unwanted attention.
Naruto waited.
The person came from the very direction Naruto himself had come.
A long black coat disguised the stranger, the hood was dropped and revealed a white mask with a stylized monkey in dark red upon it.

ANBU? Are they the one who pursued her?
Is she some kind of high class missing-nin or what?

The Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai; an elite squad under the direct command of the Hokage, specialized in Assassination and hidden operations beyond enemy's lines.
He had already had several encounters with them and no one of them had left a very positive impression on him. Watching the ANBU approaching, Naruto wondered.
The lone figure was indeed alone.
ANBU were never alone. Never. They were organized in four member squads and splitted only when it was necessary to achieve their goals.
Splitting up to follow a single track was definitely no option.
Or was it?
Naruto had no idea. Jiraya had told him one or two things about the Black Ops he had been a part of himself long ago but it was never much.
The white haired had always maintained a low profile when it came to his past.
Nevertheless the blonde was confused.
He was sure that this lone ANBU was not after him, but after the girl.
If his granny had sent ANBU to capture her, she had to be pretty dangerous and it was his duty to hand her over. Meanwhile the figure had stopped moving a few dozen feet in front of his hideout.
Naruto didn't even dare to breath.
He still remembered what Kakashi-sensei had once told him about the procedure of what happened to captured missing-nin when they had encountered Haku in Wave country.
He did not want that girl to be killed before he had no idea if she was guilty or not.
Maybe the ANBU wouldn't notice him.
Maybe he would just think that he lost track and…

"Hey you, come out there and show yourself, otherwise I have to come and get you."

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

Of course he had been detected, not that he hadn't chosen this place with the idea of hiding but of resting.
The ANBU knew that he was here but he probably didn't know that he wasn't alone.
Playing theatre had always been one of his best disciplines; maybe he could fool that guy.
Making sure that his hitai-ate was visible he shouted back: "OK, OK, don't bother. I'll come" and moved out of his cover.
One thing he particularly hated about masks was the fact that they made it impossible to read face expressions. He had no idea what the man in front of him was thinking but the blonde guessed that he was currently being eyeballed from head to toe.
"Who are you brat?" the ANBU demanded to know.
"I have no idea why I should tell you, tell me who YOU are" Naruto retorted.
It was simply no his style to be commanded around.
"Kid, you can be happy that I am so patient and not killing you now and here. My name is nothing for you to worry about. I am an ANBU member of the Leaf and allowed to deal with intruders, spies and bandits in any way I consider it necessary. You pretend to be a shinobi from Konohagakure yourself. Identify yourself or I have to make use of my license. Naruto just spat out.
"You truly suck as an ANBU if you don't know me. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Genin in Hatake Kakashi's genin Team seven"
It had been pretty hard not to add "…and vessel of the Kyubi no Kitsune"
He could hear his opponent inhale sharply. A blink later he had himself under control again.
"Uzumaki Naruto huh? I see. So tell me, Uzumaki Naruto, why are you prowling around in the forest at dusk. I am more than interested in you explanation."

Shit.

He had not planned this part of the conversation. What should he say?
"Oh nothing, just hiding someone who is probably accused for committing crimes beyond my knowledge because she looks hot"
Bad idea!
While he desperately tried to find a lie that was close enough to reality to be proven afterwards he seemed to have exceeded his time-limit.
The kunai at his throat at least said so.
He had seen the movement but he hadn't been prepared to react and henceforth found himself in a rather unfortunate position.
"I ask you one last time brat: Why are you here, at this place, at this time. Answer me" the voice said from behind. It sounded like he meant what he said.
He agonized over the question and then he had an idea.
"Relax, relax. My sensei and I are on a race. The one who reaches Konoha as first one will have to pay the bill at 'Ichiraku ramen' and now take that kunai away, you could hurt somebody with it"
With a hiss the ANBU withdrew the knife and patted the blondes head in a way that screamed "insult.
"Good boy. Now tell me the name of your teacher. It seems I have to exchange some words with him.
"Jiraya" Naruto answered and smiled.
"Jiraya? You mean the sannin Jiraya?" the man sounded somewhere between surprise and shock.
"The very one. It seems that I have to exchange some words with him too. For example about ANBU members who exceed their authorizations.
The demon-vessel had answered with the same words and the same arrogant accent like his opponent who winced like being struck and made a step back.
In the direction of the girl.
"Fine, know you know who I am and why I'm here and only to satisfy your interest I grew tired and allowed myself a break. I don't think that this is illegal"
"No, that's true, nothing wrong." Suddenly the ANBU seemed to switch from "arrogant bad-ass mode" to "aren't we all friends mode" and asked: "Would you please tell me if you have seen a girl. She is around 5"3 tall, wears black clothes similar to mine and has red hair. She is probably wounded and very dangerous. She escaped the prison cells and we are here to bring her back. Don't hesitate to tell me if you"
Naruto had just take a deep breath, the last part of the masquerade was yet to come, when a sudden rustle came from where he searched shelter.

Kuso.

He was trying to pull a hell of a stunt off just to save her ass and in the final moment she ruined it.
Of course the ANBU was already suspicious.
"What was that?" he asked.
A quick-witted person would have said something intelligent like "I didn't here anything" or probably "No idea, maybe an animal". Unfortunately it was Naruto and the only intelligent thing that came across his lips was a stunned "Err"
The ANBU turned around and slowly walked towards the root covered area.
Naruto was close to panicking, he had to do something but no idea what.
The special force member was only a few steps away.

Crapcrapcrap, what shall I do?

Three steps…

Two steps…

Without thinking the demon vessel reached for his weapon holster.

One step…

In the very moment the black clad man was about to look around the huge root that Naruto had hidden behind earlier and that blocked incoming looks a small animal shot out from below, passed between the legs of the surprised ANBU then made its way in a zigzag course towards the next tree and was quickly out of sight.
Being close to fainting Naruto realized that he had stopped breathing quite some time ago and inhaled deeply while he mentally swore to protect every squirrel he would ever see in danger.
The ANBU shook his head, no expression was visible behind the black holes.
"Just a squirrel. Fine. So, have you seen a girl that matches the description"
Naruto's answer came a little too hasty for his own liking when he spat a short "No, I haven't seen anyone the last few days. Except for you, Err… and Jiraya-sensei"
The man was obviously unpleased with the answer but held back, he came over to Naruto and put his hand on the younger one's shoulder.
"We will find her, don't worry"
"Never mind I've got to resume work." he said and turned around to take his leave.
He was only a few feet away when he turned again.
"I want you to forget this encounter. You have never seen me and I have never seen you. Remember, that well, our eyes are everywhere"
Without another word he disappeared in a whirl of leaves.
Naruto felt like breaking down.
He had seriously ridden it out. Cold sweat covered his whole body and his pulse was beyond everything that could be called 'healthy.
It had been close. If that squirrel had appeared only one second later the situation would have been very ugly.
Nevertheless he liked it.
Naruto had never called himself an adrenalin junkie but he felt so invincible right now that he seriously guessed that he indeed was one.
Silently he counted to one-hundred before returning to the root covered place.
The girl was still lying were he had put her down. It seemed like she hadn't even moved.

Like a sleeping princess the blonde thought.

He would have to take some reasonable precautions from now on. If he ran into another guy like that, there might be no squirrel to save his ass.

And yours he mentally added while heaving the girl up.

Six shadow clones were already disappearing in the darkening forest, scouting ahead and behind to spare him further unwanted surprises.

Time to move again. She's running out of time.

To busy trying to move gently he never noticed that there came way less whimpers from his passenger than before the little encounter with the ANBU. He also didn't notice that the girl's jaw was compressed tightly enough that he could have heard the maiming of her teeth if he had just listened.
For a short moment he felt like being watched but when he looked down the girl's eyes were closed.
He ordered his clones to double there efforts.
No more unwanted surprises.

Tsunade cursed.
She liked to curse often and loudly, especially when being bothered with ton's of paperwork day in, day out.
And as if that wasn't enough, her apprentice

Former apprentice, prisoner to-be she corrected herself.

Shizune had "accidentally" forgotten to order new sake, the only thing that could help her to relax in a situation like that.
Dismissing an application of a tea merchant who wanted to have the exclusive right of use for a shared, five square foot backyard and constituted his claim with nothing but that he had lived in the place longer than his neighbour, she decided that she need some fresh air, otherwise she would go crazy.
Closing the door of the Hokage's room the slug sannin walked down the long hall that lead to the staircase and outside.
Tsunade wondered what Naruto and his ill-bred, perverted teacher were doing right now.
It had been three long years since Jiraya had taken the boy to steel him for the upcoming events and she was most curious how they brat had developed in these years.
Naruto had written her some letters that had always been delivered by courier ninja but she never had the possibility to write back since both, teacher and student were constantly moving.
Tsunade guessed that it was part of Jirayas plan.
How perverted and stupid that old geezer was, he was good.

A perverted freak, a choleric alcoholic and a sadistic megalomaniac; indeed a nice brood that you have raised old man…

The silence in the old building always brought memories up. That was the reason why she hated and loved it at the same time.
She had reached the door and was about to open it when a loud knocking made her wince.

Who the hell is knocking here that late at night? If that's another one of those chandlers buggering me with stupid demands I'm going to gut him alive.

With an angry look on her face she opened the door and accidentally ripped the hinges out of the wall at the same time.
The two figures outside left her frozen. With a sickening crack the door hit the ground.
"I am also happy to see you baa-chan." a boy with long blonde hair and clear blue eyes told her, panting heavily.
Turning an unknown girl over into her arms she heard Naruto say:
"Don't care about me. I'm just overworked. Help her, she's as good as dead"
With this sentence the blonde collapsed to her feet.

Overworked huh?

While Tsunade was only a half-blood Hokage, she was a full-blood medic. She reacted instantly by alarming her apprentice and the Emergency squad.
When they arrived the slug sannin had already moved both, Naruto and the girl to the library, the only room that had enough space to perform the healing ritual that was necessary.
Her first check-up of the redhead's state of health had left her with a bad feeling; it was a miracle that the girl was still alive.
She had already closed the wounds to stop the loss of blood but the great amount of internal damage had yet to be fixed.
Tsunade, finished the last part of the seal that the team would use to hopefully save the patient when the full team, including Shizune arrived.
No seven minutes had passed.
Seven minutes from sleep to action.
But now was not the time to praise her own achievements, there was a life to save.

Damn it, one more night without sleep, if this doesn't stop I'll look like the Kazekage soon.

She shuddered. What a creepy idea.
Sighing she barked commands and together with the team she started channelling her chakra into the giant seal.
At least it wasn't paperwork.

Behind the Curtain

- Chapter One -

-END-

A/N:
 First of all I want to thank all reviewers who took their time to leave me a comment. There's nothing as motivating as a review, if you don't believe me, try it yourself.
Some things that may seem strange:
-Tayuya IS older than Naruto but guess what? Naruto sucks at guessing.
-Many characters do sigh a lot; maybe because the author would probably do it in this situation, if it seems unfitting in a sort of way don't hesitate to tell me.
-I don't dislike the character of the Sandaime. He seems indeed a noble, wise and strong person but the fact is that in some areas he just fucked it up.
- In the canon story Naruto can read, in this one he can't (well, more he couldn't), at least not properly

Of course Naruto is more mature since this is once thing I particularly dislike in the pre- time skip arcs. The boy is sixteen years old and has probably seen half the continent; he faces life and death situations every day, even with playing dumbass there is no way he still behaves like a thirteen year old (well except for playing pranks, blame the fox ;) ) The development is supposed to be shown in the short flashbacks, since there are basically no information what the two did during the original two and a half years.
Please notice that these flashbacks follow no chronological order; the first one takes place a few weeks after they left, the second and third a rough ten month later, while the fifth takes place in between this time.
Ultimately I can only hope that I have displayed the personalities as close to the canon original as possible and justified the changes well enough for you to get used to them.
Otherwise you know the deal: six times the prologues length; six times the number of reviews ;)

Since you have already wasted a certain amount of your lifespan to read this story, I would be most gratefull if you would take yourself another minute to review.
Tell me why (if) you liked the story. Tell me why you probably didn't like it, what you would like to see improved and so on.
Serious criticism is desired.
h3x 01/21/07