Konoha: At His Fingertips by MegaB
Chapter 2: Face Two
"I spot, two…no, make that three," Anko whispered softly, brushing a stray leaf from her hair.
Shisui nodded slowly, double-checking with his Sharingan to confirm that there were, in fact, only three Root ANBU guarding the main gate out of the Village. The plan had been to avoid contact with any Shinobi that may have been on patrol, but upon finding their route blocked, they had no choice but to either engage the guards or find an alternative path, neither of which they wanted to compromise this early in the proceedings.
Shisui twitched as his Sharingan faded to black irises.
"This isn't going to work. We need some way to get around them."
Anko nodded silently, biting her lip in consternation as they crouched, masking their Chakra levels within the brush ringing the Village. After a brief moment of silence, she scratched her thighs and gazed up at the night's moon.
"I say we just bust in there and take them down."
Shisui groaned.
"And for the last time, that's not going to work. The last thing we need is Danzou finding out we've snuck out right under his nose without his permission."
Anko huffed. "Ok, then we need a distraction or something."
Shisui sighed. Looks like there was nothing else for it. Standing silently, he pushed a branch aside and made to step forward only to have a strong hand seize his collar and pull him into an adjacent bush. Another palm clapped over his mouth before he could make a sound.
"Shhh!" His captor hissed. "You just said the last thing you wanted was a confrontation, you idiot!"
The Uchiha survivor found that he was free to move his head, even if he couldn't speak over the fist stuck into his mouth. He gazed at the person holding him, only to find blonde hair in swinging pig-tails, and a green coat fluttering in the wind.
"Mmph!"
"You have to promise you won't make noise before I let you go, kiddo," she was laughing at him, damn her! He nodded quickly.
"Good," she said as she released him. He turned to find Jiraiya holding Anko similarly, though his hand was straying to places that he really shouldn't be touching. A dull 'Oof' sounded as he was kicked in the nether regions, the Toad Sage crumpling to nothing more than quivering mush beside them. Shisui sighed again and turned to the only sane one beside himself in his vicinity.
"Why are you here? I thought Jiraiya was out looking for Naruto," He asked immediately. Tsunade grinned.
"You didn't think you'd sneak out looking for Naruto without us finding out, did you? Jiraiya's search didn't turn up much" She smiled warmly. Shisui shook his head in resignation. He really should have seen it coming; somehow, the two Sannin had their eyes and ears everywhere in Konoha, moreso than the Hokage even.
"Actually, we were planning on getting out without anyone knowing, but I guess we can't do much about it now."
"Too right, you can't! You have a lead on his whereabouts."
It wasn't even a question.
"Yeah, otherwise we wouldn't be leaving would we?" He smirked.
"Don't get smart with me brat!"
Her frown dissolved into a slightly amused façade after hearing her own words.
"At any rate, you have a problem with those guards up there. Do you have a plan for it?"
Shisui scratched his temple idly. "Nah, we thought they wouldn't bother this late at night, especially with how Root has been acting recently. But there they are, I guess. We were going to crank some kinda distraction and slip passed-"
"Good, we can do that for you. Oh, stop crying Jiraiya! It's your own damned fault!" She strode over to her downed friend and kicked him for good measure. The man groaned and rolled onto his back, glaring balefully at the purple-haired woman who returned his stare whole-heartedly.
"Did you have to do that?" He whined pitifully.
"Next time you try something like that, I'll have a snake do it instead," Anko hissed through clenched teeth. "Same place too. With fangs." Jiraiya paled considerably and scooted away from her as far as he could go and not poke from the greenery they were hiding in.
"N-No need to go that far, Anko. I was joking! Only joking!" He stammered.
Anko smiled maliciously before turning to regard the other two.
"What will you be doing after you get us through?"
Tsunade bobbed her head in acknowledgement. "We're going to hit Mikazuki Medical. I don't know what's going on there, but the events of these last few years have all pointed to it as Danzou's front for control over the Village. Some weird stuff has been happening recently, and Ward 18 was just the tip of the iceberg," she sent a significant look Shisui's way at that statement.
Shisui moved to the edge of the clearing and peeked out at the guards who were standing like statues in a neat row in front of the gatehouse. Née were so very strange.
"Alright, how we gonna handle this then? Have you got something in mind?" He asked.
"Don't you worry about that. Let's just say that someone will be having a very…amphibious surprise." Jiraiya chortled at his own words.
A trio of 'Urks!" sounded in the still air, and the four Shinobi looked on as the gate guards collapsed in a heap. Shisui was the only one to spot the tiny dart frogs leaping away from the bodies. He looked back at Jiraiya with a single eyebrow raised.
"Frogs? I thought you summon toads?"
Jiraiya chuckled languidly. "You noticed hmm? I called in a couple of favours from some distant relatives of old Gamabunta. Those little troublemakers are going to go and attack random people to leave a nice, clear trail behind them.
"Don't worry," he smiled, "their poison is very easy to counteract, and not very toxic at all, or at least, that's what Tsunade tells me."
Tsunade nudged her friend and turned to regard the other two.
"All hospitals have standard anti-venoms for the more common poisons and dart-frog toxin is one of them. Now you two need to get going before someone comes to check on those guys."
Shisui nodded, silently in awe at the amount of thought the two Sannin had put into the operation already.
"Right. Shall we, Anko?"
And as the wind blew, the four figures disappeared, almost as silently as the leaves fluttering upon the wind.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Hokage's chambers of Hokage tower were usually very busy throughout the day. Missions were not specifically handed out by the Hokage unless they had vital importance, or were top secret, and yet when a team completed a mission, it was the first place they stopped for debriefing.
In the case of Danzo's regime, nobody actually wanted to stop there, unless they were insane themselves, or they were Née operatives, otherwise it was an unspoken rule for everyone else to avoid the place like the plague.
No-one actually knew if Danzo's dementia was contagious or not. They would rather not find out either.
So it was that a head-bandaged old War-hawk lifted his head to survey the latest group to enter his domain.
Make that one-man group.
"Ahh, Nayakamakomano-san, I trust you and your team were successful in your mission hmm?" he groused, totally failing to notice the large wound across the right side of the Jounin's forehead swathed in bandages. His limp was overly pronounced and he was visibly restraining his total vilification of the Village leader if only because of the man's position.
"Well? Speak up! My plans are always perfect as you now know."
Iwai Nayako seemed to disagree with this statement.
"Success?" He hissed, his left eye squinting in rage. "The only success we had was losing all my team!"
There was a stiff moment of silence whereupon the Godaime Hokage stood unbelieving of his subordinate.
"Come now, Nakumo-"
"Would you shut the hell up for a minute you damn wrinkly butt-head?"
For the second time in a single meeting, Danzo was completely and utterly shocked.
"Excuse me, Jounin-san? Do you know who I am?"
Nayako took a huge, labouring breath before turning away from his hated leader.
"They all died. All three of them. And it was all because of your stupid idea to rush the bridge head-on. I don't know who died and made you leader, but hell…you're killing us."
Danzo had never felt so angry in his life. It was preposterous; some little, green-eared boy claiming to know better than he? Better than the Village's tactician and espionage expert for more than sixty years? It was his turn to show anger.
"Remove this raving lunatic at once! He has clearly been touched in the head by his ordeal! Take him to the hospital and have a psychiatrist examine him!"
His two bodyguards appeared, grabbed Nayako, and disappeared with no words between them. Root knew how to keep their deranged General happy. Of course, by leaving him with no-one to watch over him, there remained a huge gaping security hole.
One that a certain Uchiha had been waiting for.
Melting smoothly from the shadows, he stood before the Godaime Hokage, his old bone-white ANBU mask fixed over his face, Sharingan ablaze and coattails flapping from the breeze passing through an open window.
Danzo startled heavily. He had disbanded the ANBU, hadn't he? He was sure none of those dreaded, frightening masks existed anymore. How they terrified him so.
"W-Who are you?"
Uchiha Itachi swiftly removed his mask, falling to a single knee with fluidity nary seen amongst the ranks of Shinobi of all five major countries.
"Danzo-Sama, I have returned as per the Sandaime's request upon completion of my secondary mission. My clues have dried up and I have come seeking further information."
It was almost the longest two sentences he had uttered in many years. It felt…foreign.
"U-Uchiha Itachi!" Danzo squeaked. "Guards! Arrest him now!"
But of course, he had only just sent them away. Itachi's gaze never wavered as he considered the ex-elder.
"Danzo-Sama, you would arrest one of your own?" His voice was like silk.
"You are no Shinobi! You are a murderer! We shall dispose of you yet, traitor!"
Itachi moved so fast, it was as if he had been holding his Chokuto to the chapping white skin of Danzo's neck the entire time.
"I have come seeking information. I will not be killed by my own kin."
And then he released his Chakra, and such a force and pressure it was that Danzo screamed pitifully, his eyeballs rolling back in their sockets and his bowels releasing their contents.
Itachi stepped back and swiftly sheathed his blade. He stared, unblinking at the shrivelled man who had deigned to call himself Hokage. The man was crazy and had Amnesia to boot. How he had forgotten his most precious sleeper agent when he and his three companions had been the one to appoint him as such was simply incomprehensible.
Stepping to the far wall of the room, he sealed quickly, biting his finger and then placing his hand gently upon the wall. A small section of brickwork shone a bright turquoise before disintegrating before his eyes. Sitting upon a shelf in the small alcove, laid a thick, bound notebook with a scuffed, faded cover and wilting pages. He scooped it up and hid it within his cloak. He was done here.
He walked gracefully to the open window, his eyes watching the so-called Godaime Hokage. The pitiful man wouldn't last long. When Naruto-kun decided to end his little charade, things would change quickly. He had no illusions of what would happen in that time. For the moment, he needed to find the final clue left behind by the Eddian Library. He was so close, yet so far…
His blade was unsheathed and flashing before his eyes in an instant. The speed of his opponent's blade was almost belied by the soft clang that heralded the contact of their edges. Itachi gazed into the masked gaze of the one man he feared on the surface of the earth.
"Sou-Taicho-Sama. Please refrain. I was here for only a moment as my duty demanded."
There were only a few people who could sneak up on him. One of them was the embodiment of silence, but she had an advantage with that paper ability of hers. Another was before him, blade against his own.
A tense minute passed before the immense pressure on his arm lifted.
"You were never here." The masked man whispered.
The room became empty save for a quivering pile of flesh laying in his own excrement.
XXXXXXXXXX
Heavy aluminium doors groaned as they parted and swung inwards, dust swirling as if a mini-tornado had erupted within the confines of an old warehouse close to the small business section of Mori. Uzumaki Naruto, smile uninhibited, blond hair flapping, strode confidently into the middle of the expansive floor which housed nought but a few wooden crates stacked haphazardly around the storage building. All conversation ceased as he made his way towards the single flickering bulb; its light illuminating a radius of a single metre. Eager eyes peered inwards, excitement and unbridled intrigue holding their tongues until their leader could impart upon them his choice words.
"Are you ready for a job you noobheads?" A thunderous cheer arose within the warehouse confines. It was almost adoring adulation, yet Naruto was not fooled.
"We're gonna hit another one of those pubs! Old man Terakado thought it was a good idea to mess with the Kazejin! But we don't take these things lying down!" He enjoyed himself too much in these situations it seemed.
"Kozue, you take three people and destroy all their stock from the back. Simone, you need to stick around the rooftops and see what you can do about them looking out. Got it? Good. Mio, grab your sword and come with me; we're charging down the front!"
His audience roared their approval and in the next moment, the warehouse had become a whirlwind of activity. Laughter and bubbling voices could be heard from miles around as the young teens gathered up their things and departed the once-abandoned building the Kazejin had taken as their headquarters. Naruto spun on his heel and headed for the half raised, metal shutter that hung at the main entrance, a tall raven-haired girl with soft features and sharp eyes joining him along the way. Three others caught up to the two as they exited the warehouse, Naruto's broad grin only growing wider at the thought of what they were about to do.
"What we doing today Naru?" Mio's tone was soft, yet firm. It was the reason he had chosen her as his second-in-command. She was also the only one allowed to address him with any familiarity causing much jealousy among the other kids. If Naruto was honest with himself, it was probably because she reminded him a lot of Yuugao, but he wasn't his inability to face any reminder of his past leading to immediate animosity.
"Don't call me that!" How he hated the confused look she shot at him whenever he berated her!
Arele Mio had joined up very early on, in fact, she was probably his first acquaintance within the group of fun-loving teens growing up within the sleepy port-town. They had become fast friends although Naruto would never admit it aloud. It was another trait that endeared him to their group even though, like Mio, many of them were older than he.
"You didn't answer the question!"
Naruto sighed and punched one of the boys who had chosen to speak, who protested weakly and settled for glaring at his blond leader.
"Terakado-Ji thought it was soooooo funny to chuck his unused rubbish through the window of Uncle Rika's place. This calls for payback."
Mio laughed heartily and something stirred within his gut. He roughly squashed the old longing for his Konoha friends; he was past that and the Kazejin were his new posse.
"No Mephisto today?" Mio asked.
"Dunno. It's possible he's involved in all of this and I wouldn't put it past that drunkard to hire that chimp."
The other three shivered at the mention of the phantom menace that terrorised their town. Once a month they'd be called out to try and stop the cloaked and hooded individual who delighted in blowing things up. In only a year and a half since his first appearance in Mori, the ghost-like person had exploded a vat of raw fish across a mildly populated street, blown-up the anti-Chakra police precinct, destroyed a tree right in front of a herd of flamingo and causing them to hound through town with vengeance. It was a wonder nobody had been hurt in these incidents and yet they were no closer to catching the assailant than the downtown security was, despite their superior intelligence.
Because everybody knew that adults are dumb!
Naruto's group reached the side-street that doubled as a shortcut to Terakado's bar. They hid next to each other as they cautiously peered around the corner. The front was bustling with evening business as usual and Mio began to worry about how they would actually get in to have the night-time fun they were planning.
"Aww, they got the place staked out!" Naruto whined. "This calls for drastic action! Nisshu, you and Isane go cause a big distraction. Mio and Takashi will stay here and get in when I signal. I'm gonna go infiltrate and raise some hell!"
Mio perked up at the suggestion and the others sighed. Their leaders were insane. They had no idea why they were following the two nut-cases. Oh yeah, they had a crapload of fun along the way.
"Oh! But how will you get in Naruto?"
The blond began to cackle.
"Ohohohoho! I have the best idea ever!"
"Tell me!" Mio demanded excitedly.
"Nuh-uh!"
"You can't just leave me hanging like this!"
"I can and I will!" Naruto was forced to duck the playful swipe of her wooden sword resulting from his teasing. "O fiiiiine! Remember how Kozue's gonna go blow up the back of the shop?" He continued at Mio's nod. "Well they have these big, brown barrels of drink stored there, right? So all I gotta do is hide in one until they open it! It's awesome!"
Mio clapped and jumped up and down. Nisshu decided that he'd better leave before he caught the insanity disease.
Five hours later found a solitary barrel of booze stood in the centre of the pub's storage room. Kozue's team had removed the rest of them and disposed of them in a fiery ball of glory right in front of the shop. Of course, this meant that the rest of the Kazejin had hightailed it from the vicinity, cackling all the while as the patronage could only stare bewildered at their stock going up in flames.
It was to this scene that Anko and Shisui tracked Naruto's Chakra signal to. They had employed a clever tracking seal crafted by Jiraiya that used any blood seal to track its owner. After living with Naruto for so many years, both of them had easy access to seals he had made for them; some intentionally and some they were too scared of to touch. Who knew what Naruto's hormone-addled brain would come up with next?
It was ingenious really. Blood tied the user with a miniscule amount of Chakra; possibly the most efficient art within the sealing-arts itself. All Jiraiya was required to do, was connect a simple Chakra node to a reverse-engineered beacon. Instead of taking Chakra from the user and sending it out, it would take Chakra from the outside and send it down the link, back to the one who first crafted the seal.
Jiraiya claimed he'd made the sealing discovery of the century, but all of them knew that he was simply taking credit after studying that one seal Naruto had made that left the Hyuuga in an uproar a few years ago…
Shisui lightly tapped the barrel with his booted feet.
"Er, it says- It says he's in here."
Anko shot him a disgruntled look.
"I thought you didn't drink? If you really wanted this slosh so much, we coulda just got some from the front of the shop."
"No you idiot. Look! It says Naruto's Chakra source is in this barrel!"
Anko continued the incredulous look.
"…In a barrel? Riiiiight. And I'm supposed to be the idiot here? Maybe your coma messed with your head? Why the hell would Naruto be hiding in a wine barrel of all things?"
Shisui shook his head exasperatedly.
"You're asking me? This is Naruto we're talking about! He's more barmy than you are!"
"…You've got a point there."
Shisui nodded encouragingly.
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO M-"
And then the barrel crashed open with a splintering rumble of wood, a puddle of lilac liquid spreading beneath their toes. Sitting slumped upon the ground was none other than the blond in question himself.
Any jubilation they had immediately felt, all inclinations to group hug and party at their reunion died a harsh death in the face of morbid curiosity upon the loud, grating burp followed by a small hiccup from the young teen.
"Umm 'Ruto? Why the heck are you hiding in a wine barrel?" It escaped from her mouth before she could stop herself.
"Hmpsh, Anko-sh, watchoo doin' heresh? I wash…I wash tryn'to bust Tarry-ki-ji…Tokiji's pie hole. Yosh!"
"He's drunk." Shisui deadpanned.
"Congratulations Mr. Obvious!" Anko hissed.
Suddenly, the inebriated blond stumbled to his feet.
"Mashtos you nimblewimble! I's gonna take you down todaysh!"
Anko and Shisui could only stare with growing bewilderment as a tipsy figure, cloaked in a black cape with a hood thrown up to hide his face, dropped down from the roof and landed flat on its nose. What followed was even more strange as the two opponents proceeded to punch each other, only to miss and topple to the ground in a heap. The hooded figure's cape came undone on the way down causing its features to be exposed, only further confusing the audience.
It was Naruto. Make that a Naruto clone, they both thought as it puffed into oblivion upon striking the ground.
"He was…fighting himself? Urgh! SHISUI WHAT THE HELL IS GOIN ON?"
The Uchiha could only shrug and close his eyes. He had absolutely no idea how their erstwhile blond friend managed to lose more marbles when he clearly had none to begin with.
"I…dunno."
ZZZZZZZZZ
And so they meet! Honestly, I quite loved that last scene, it was delightfully absurd, even to my standards! I apologise for taking so long with this; work and education do take priority at times, but we're reaching the point that I'm really dying to write! At that point, I'm sure I'll simply bang my fingers on the keyboard until they're sore!
I hope you all enjoyed it and do leave me a review! I know I was horrible with reviews for the first chapter; it was because they piled up so quickly that when I logged into my email the next day, it was like looking up at the peak of Everest from its base and thinking Oh God, am I really going to climb this?
And yes, I am no mountaineer.
Laters people!
~The Bee of all Bs.