A/N: I wonder, who caught the celebrity references in the story so far? In any case, this story is going on to 20 reviews so far…please don't be shy with your reviews, they are helpful—the more detailed you are, the better. As to the reviewer who asked that Ameyuri have a chance to redeem herself, I'll say this: she'll indeed get that chance (not that it matters anyway). In any case, since I forgot to say it on the last chapter, do read and review, would you kindly?

[Somewhere in Hi no Kuni—four days later…]

It was a good thing he drove that wagon really fast. Naruto was able to catch up with the caravan after ditching that crazy kunoichi and getting the folks' tax money back—his reputation as a mercenary was at stake here if he lost so much as a single 100-ryo bill. Sure, he wasn't being paid well for this job (as was often the case with his past jobs), but even with his basic-level education in the academy which was practically pounded into his head with 20-pound sledgehammers courtesy of Iruka and Namida-sensei complaining to the Hokage about him playing too many pranks in the village and not studying, he knew that reputation had a far bigger value than money can afford in his line of work.

'Plus, it makes me feel good whenever I help people in real need,' he thought to himself, walking out of the government office after collecting his pay from the merchants, 'now where to go…'

As it just so happened, his stomach growled! Damn it! So far, the pay he'd managed to wrangle up was enough to make ends meet for today—as of now, he had enough money to eat his dinner, watch that new "Princess Gale" movie, and still have enough to take the next merchant caravan to Konoha…and a bar was often likely to have food to go with the drinks they served. Unfortunately, he needed a new longbow after dropping his during the escape, and maybe a few arrows, so he's likely to be penniless again. 'Eh, what the hell, may as well see if I can find some work while I'm at it. I'm pretty sure there'll be plenty of time to see Bāchan, but I hope that she will have plenty of answers as soon as I see her.'

The thought of dinner had clouded Naruto's mind so greatly that he'd bumped into a figure that walked across him. With the both of them landing on their asses, Naruto looked upwards to see that the person he'd bumped into was an old man with a gut. He wore a tall, conical hat, and he had a backpack geared for long-distance travel. "Sorry about that," he said, offering his hand after standing up, "didn't see you there."

"Watch where you're goin' brat!" growled the old man, taking Naruto's offered hand and standing up.

"Well, we kind of bumped into each other, so I doubt anyone's at fault," stated Naruto.

The old man took a moment to appraise Naruto, taking his appearance to consideration. "Great, of all the people I had to bump into, I had to bump into a cosplayer."

Nothing was said by Naruto as he let the old man pass. It wasn't worth it to get into a pissing contest with him, given the bad mood he seemed to be in. Besides, he was way too hungry to argue…and if his luck held out, he'd be able to find some work.

As he strolled around town, he finally found what he was looking for after a few hours—and what he saw had lifted his spirits a great deal, as he was standing in front of a bar. Now he can find some food and work! He stepped through the swinging doors of the bar, fighting the urge to lie about his age to try out the newest spirits with his dinner, but Naruto could not help but feel a chill running up his spine. 'Who the hell is talking about me?'

[Raikage's Office, Kumogakure no Sato…]

The sounds of metal rattling about in the room filled the air as the Raikage A went about her usual fitness routine. Yesterday, she worked on the lower body, focusing a lot on her squats and deadlift—today was all upper-body as she laid back on the bench-press, her arms lifting 55 pounds, coupled with eight 150-pound weights in total were giving her a real workout. She'd been doing this for the past few minutes now, with almost six sets of 100, and now she was on her eightieth repetition. Over the sound of the weights being pressed, A heard the sound of knocking. "Raikage-sama, may I come in?"

"Come on in!" she shouted, pressing the barbell up.

In walked her assistant, with a clipboard tucked in her arms, and a tray carrying a mug full of A's soy protein in her hands. "This'd better be important Mabui," she said, mounting the barbell back on its rack and sitting up, sipping away at her protein milkshake. A was a literal wall of muscle for a woman in her prime, standing taller than most men by a margin…her threatening appearance was not exactly worthy of being considered as eye candy; thick arms and legs, a wide body, strong sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles, a proportionally normal-sized head, a sculpted abdominis rectis, and a bust that rivaled the pair said to be mounted on the Sannin Senju Tsunade—couple that with all the softened curves that added definition to every inch of muscle in her form, and it painted the picture of a mother bear that was ready to maul anyone that threatened her cubs.

"Um, it's about that mercenary that came here about two years ago, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Ah, now there was a name that A thought of day and night. Come to think of it, there was something about that boy and the way he moved that caught her attention. A mercenary by the name of Uzumaki Naruto did indeed stay in Kumogakure no Sato for a bit, looking for work so that he can get back on the road. But in the meantime, he wanted to see the village for his own enjoyment.

At first, A thought he was a spy sent over from one of the other Hidden Villages to see government buildings (it was not unheard of for men to be sent over as spies). After seeing the sincerity of his words, she allowed him to stay—but under strict guard, and under the watchful eyes of both of her Jinchūriki. That and he was not allowed to work in the village in anything related to combat, and so his kunai blades and his longbow were confiscated for the duration of his stay. What he'd heard from both Killer B and Yugito was that he'd found work as a civilian, taking the small takoyaki stand he'd worked at and turning it into a five-star seafood restaurant in a matter of weeks was nothing short of a miracle (both of them vouched for the cooking, and A put on almost 90 pounds from eating his food on a daily basis). His cooking was so good that many other restaurants tried to kidnap him to destroy the competition and bring up their own profits—not that it mattered, because he'd already left Kumogakure after accumulating enough funds to travel again.

"What about him?" she asked, fondly remembering the time when she visited his restaurant (which the owner planned to give him before he left) with both Yugito and B…she remembered with amusement how the two of them seemed to gravitate strongly to him. She didn't blame them, after all, the boy was handsome; that and she had those same feelings—whether it was romantic love or motherly love, she couldn't tell, but she knew that she loved the boy too…and it hurt her just to say goodbye.

"W-well, he is a boy, right?"

"Out with it."

With a sigh, Mabui decided to get it over with. "The kunoichi we'd sent to spy on him and watch his movements witnessed him doing battle with Ringo Ameyuri. They also watched him create a large sword from out of nowhere, and used it to defeat her before fleeing."

A raised eyebrow was all it took to show her thoughts on the matter. "You're serious?"

"Those girls were our best infiltration specialists…they shadowed him from Yūgakure all the way to Suna, and then to Hi no Kuni."

The thoughts racing through A's mind traveled at light speed, while the grin on her face became more and more pronounced, worrying Mabui to no end—it was like a bear that had found prey! "Send our spies to find out where he's going next. The second he's found alone, I want the shinobi to extend an offer to him for permanent residence here in Kumo."

"But what if he goes to Konoha?"

"Then there's nothing we can do. The scandal from the Hyūga Incident still hasn't disappeared in the slightest, and even if we were pretty much in the right at the time, I still want to avoid one as much as possible. No, I don't want another scandal; I just want that boy to join us willingly."

"Very well then A-sama, I will relay your orders to those kunoichi," said Mabui, bowing before her boss, "by the way, have you decided on a team for the Chūnin Exams yet?"

"I have a pretty good idea on who to send…"

{Play: "Evil" by Toshiro Masuda}

[Somewhere in Otogakure no Sato…]

Silence reigned in the halls of the secret base, which was a blessing considering the person who owned it. The same could not be said for one particular room in said base, where experiments were being performed. Laid out on the operating table was a girl who was tied down upon its face, her pain had long turned to relief ever since the woman responsible for her condition had stopped to take a break. It wouldn't be long, and she knew it…her suffering was only beginning, given what she knew of her tormentor.

Unfortunately, her agony would be continuing sooner than she thought, because out of the corner of her eye was the very woman that frightened her to no end. Lithe and graceful curves, a slightly generous bust that matched up with her moderately curvy BWH measurements, and smooth, chalky-white skin gave the appearance of a Goth beauty. Adding to her features was a heart-shaped face that was framed with ebon strands of straight hair, and adding contrast to her chalky-white skin was the design of the black and purple makeup and lipstick that, when combined with the yellow cat-slit eyes, evoked the image of a snake that was hypnotizing its prey. "Now then Tori-chan, we both knew this was coming," she said in a baby-talking voice, with a full syringe in her purple-manicured hands, "you and I both know that saying such things about me is a big no-no, and yet you still chose to make fun of me in front of your friends. Now, you and I are going to have…fun!"

The girl named Tori seemed to struggle as she saw the woman swabbing an area inside her elbow with alcohol before moving the syringe into position, the tip of the needle was ready to be jabbed into the vein that exposed itself. She closed her eyes, ready for the…"Otohime-sama!"

A moment's fidget was all Tori needed to know that Otohime was not pleased. She would have let out a sigh of relief were it not for the look in her hollowed-out eyes and the fierce and silent snarl seemed to say 'you got lucky', before she turned her attention to the kunoichi that interrupted the 'fun'. "What is it?"

The kunoichi had a feeling that her mistress' anger was barely being contained. She gulped before working up the bravery to speak…she had to be careful, as Otohime-sama had a nasty habit of shooting the messenger; particularly one that appeared to be wasting her time. Hell, she would not just be experimented on—she'd be experimented on, while being raped. "Our spies in Kumo have heard word of a boy that used a jutsu while confronting Ringo Ameyuri."

Upon hearing that, Otohime began creeping slowly up to the woman menacingly. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, as her tone took on a sickly sweet tone, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"N-n-not at all madam," she answered, backing up with every step until she found that she was in the corner of the lab, "i-i-in fact, our s-spies in Kiri have corroborated that story. They said that Yasuko was interested in that boy to the point that she sent Ringo after him."

Okay, now that was better, but she still wasn't convinced. "Do our spies have a name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Her eyes had widened in surprise upon hearing that name, and there was a reason for her skepticism: since the day chakra had been introduced to the human body, only women were able to take full advantage of the energy by molding and shaping it in order to use jutsu—men on the other hand, were born with chakra coils the same as women were, but did not develop the ability use the energy unless they used pre-made seals (assuming of course that they had enough chakra flowing in their bodies to do so). This was why even though it was perfectly acceptable for male-female marriages to happen (uncommon as they were in this day and age), all Kunoichi clans encouraged lesbian marriages to increase the chances of a girl being born in the family—this was especially made possible due to the creation of the now-ubiquitous, expensive, one-shot seal that temporarily granted the woman fully-functioning male genitals. However, a license was required to purchase those seals in order to control cases of rape using them, and any woman in any nation caught using that seal without one would be put to death without trial (not that it would've stopped Otohime from raping her test subjects with the ample supply of them she got from the black market…even though she was a bit of a bodysnatcher, she still had needs!).

'This can't be possible!' she thought to herself, 'There's no way that he could've…unless…' It was at this point that her sinister grin had returned onto her features. Oh, this was perfect! This was her chance at revenge! Contrary to what her sensei thought, Otohime would not even touch the position of Hokage with a ten-foot pole…it would've put scrutiny on her the second her experiments were found out. In hindsight however, she would've been able to approve said experiments with no backlash. Don't get her wrong, she found Namikaze Mina to be a good choice of Hokage (loath as she was to admit it, she was a great leader), but the fact was that her position seemed to have been given to her with help in high places—Sarutobi-sensei didn't do it because she wasn't supposed to, which left the Hag (who in turn called her a Fascist) convincing Homura and Koharu to elect the girl to her position at a young age.

Now normally, this would not bother her. But then again, Otohime knew the Hag's dirty little secret—hell, she'd known for quite some time now about her secret; and with that knowledge came the feeling of being cheated. Nobody cheats Otohime and gets away with it! If anything, she only saw Mina and her wife Kushina as bitches that should've been broken and made subservient to her needs, and willing to go through any perversion she thought up of. To kidnap and rape their child was more than enough revenge for her ill-won term as Hokage…plus, it would've been a great experiment to see if this would transfer on to other boys she'd give birth to. Add that to the yandere feelings she'd had rising through her heart, and her determination to see this through had skyrocketed.

"Tell our spy in Konoha to keep an eye out," she finally said, "when I give the word, she'll kidnap Naruto—I'll leave it up to her how she brings him here."

"Yes ma'am."

With the messenger gone, Otohime turned back to her subject with an evil glee on her face. "Now then, where were we…?"

[Shimura Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato…]

While not as grandiose or prestigious in the village as the Senju or Uchiha clan compounds, the Shimura compound was no slouch. Despite all that, Sango was pretty content, even though she was pretty much alone in the compound, but that was just the way she liked it—all peace and quiet. The meal she'd made and was eating at the moment was light and healthy, but without compromising on taste so that she could keep fit despite her age…steamed chicken, pickled vegetables, and a side of tea. She cooked for herself because, aside from the ROOT detail she'd assigned as security to this house, she didn't trust servants to keep things a secret, nor did she trust them with her life…that, and they could never cook the way either of her mothers could anyway.

As Sango ate her dinner at home, she looked up at the wall to see a giant v-shaped wooden shuriken about as large as a man and bands of leather tied at both ends. She'd never worked up the strength to use that weapon effectively, but she knew the damage it was capable of—after all, her paternal mother was the one who wielded it to devastating effect. She once remembered seeing that thing in action when she was a little girl; whenever her mother threw it, it always returned to her hand after cutting through multiple kunoichi. By far, she was one of the strongest kunoichi she'd ever seen, seconded only by Tsunade herself.

Picking up the teacup to sip on the green tea imported from Cha no Kuni, she remembered that her paternal mother once made her promise to make an heir that would be worthy of the Hiraikotsu…if not as a weapon, then as a family heirloom at the very least; at this point, Sango believed that her 'father' was rolling in her grave right now—in fact, she was certain that she'd been rolling in her grave the minute she decided to leave her daughter in the orphanage after her maternal mother died giving birth to her, and continued to do so even after forty-two years. She never saw her daughter again until a random encounter had pushed them together in the same proximity; the girl didn't know who Shimura Sango really was at the time, but Sango knew exactly who the girl was at first sight…and much to her shock, she looked exactly like her maternal mother! She was twelve going on thirteen, and had recently been promoted to Chūnin; a rare prodigy that comes every few generations. She also had a strong, loving, and beautiful girlfriend in her arms that was loyal to her to the end…and she knew that girl well due to her status in the village.

The very sight before her at the time seemed to inspire a feeling inside her, one of many that she swore she would quash on her belief that emotions made people weak, and that girl did the unspeakable by being in the same room with her, with all these good things going for her in front of Sango's eyes: she made her feel proud. The pride came from her promotion to Chūnin at a young age, from being strong, and having such a loyal girlfriend to love her—but above all, that this was her daughter. However, with that feeling of pride, came feelings of shame and regret…both of which were because she'd just remembered that she had no right to feel proud of the girl, to claim her as her daughter, or even love her like a mother should. She'd abandoned the girl to an orphanage when she was but a baby for her own selfish reasons, and that was probably her worst mistake of all, when she came to realize later on that her love for her daughter was not weakening her by even a margin—quite the opposite, it gave her more than enough resolve to perform acts that would make even the great Morino Ibuki wince, most recent among them being that she asked the Fascist to implant those Uchiha eyes and Hashirama-sama's face onto her 'crippled' arm and a single Sharingan in her own eye socket. And it scared her, when she came to realize that she would burn the world to cinders for her daughter and her family, and she would gladly do it with a smile on her face.

Should she have killed the girl when she was born? Smothered her with a pillow while she was still in the proverbial crib? Could she even have mustered the ruthlessness to commit such an atrocity? The cold, ruthless, ambitious side of her once whispered in her oh-so-seductive voice that she could, and definitely should have done it…that way, at the very least, the girl would not have to find out that she'd abandoned her—that she would at least be with her mother in the afterlife, and that Sango would be able to continue on her path to glory unburdened. That voice was long dead, and had started dying since the day she met her daughter and her lover—a moment that had introduced a light that poisoned and slowly killed her dark side over the years, and replacing it with a desire to make things right with her daughter.

As she finished her dinner, Sango could not help but smile to herself. After hearing what she'd heard from the ANBU agent in the art gallery, she now saw her opportunity to indeed make things right with her daughter and her grandchild. Everything was moving along smoothly, and preparations were being made…unfortunately, it also meant that if she was right, then the child would need her protection in the coming days—more than what her ROOT operatives may be able to provide, especially if the Fascist hears of her grandchild. Bah! No need to think on such things! Well, not yet at least.

Looking on at the kunai that was mounted on the stand against the wall and underneath the Hiraikotsu; to think, one small and innocuous weapon would be a source of fame but its unique tri-pronged design was legendary; a word she never thought would be used in association with any kunai. Other than that, it represented her pride in its creator's ingenuity. Sango toasted with her teacup at the kunai—her head bowed low in reverence. 'To Namikaze Mina,' she recited silently to herself, tearing up slightly, 'we may never have seen eye to eye, but there are many things I thank her for: I thank her for being one of my best friends; I thank her for being a worthy adversary; and I most sincerely thank her for being a great Hokage…may she forever rest in peace.'

With that on her mind, Sango drank her toast. Tonight, it was tea—next time, it would be the finest sakè that money can buy…

[Naruto's current location—the next day…]

His steps towards the Travel Agency were lacking in spirit—and that was mainly because Naruto was not able to find a job in the bar he'd been to last night. Although, he did enjoy himself for a bit because he went to the Princess Gale movie before heading off to the inn to stay for the night. He also had enough funds to buy a brand new longbow and quiver to replace the set he'd been forced to leave behind…yeah, aside from the lack of employment, it was a pretty good day. Hopefully, his luck would hold out and he'd get to find some work before leaving; or at least, he would be getting an express trip to Konoha. 'The sooner I see bāchan, the sooner I can get my questions answered.'

Halfway towards the Travel Agency, Naruto caught a familiar sight in front—it was the same man he'd bumped into yesterday. He seemed to be getting into a heated argument before the teller closed the shutter. As soon as it closed, the old man seemed to be seething at whatever discussion had been going on before he got there. Once he turned around to see Naruto walking towards him, the old man let out an exasperated sigh. "Let me guess, you're here to hitch a ride too."

"I am."

"Well you're out of luck kid; the receptionist just told me that all the caravans are out of town right now."

"You've got to be shitting me."

"Unfortunately, I'm not. And now that I know my luck's run out, I'm going to have to walk."

Damn it! He just had to hope for too much! Naruto sighed and turned back to the old man. "Where are you headed anyway old man?" he asked, depression thick in his voice.

"Konohagakure no Sato."

Upon hearing that, Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You're not looking to hire a kunoichi team are you?"

"How'd you know?"

"The fact that you seemed to be on the verge of yelling at the receptionist tells me that you're probably not on a pleasure trip," began Naruto, before an idea had cropped up in his head, "how about I escort you to Konoha, free of charge?"

"You serious? I don't have the time to babysit a kid like you that's playing mercenary, so why don't you go on home?"

"Funny you should say that, old man—Konoha is home for me, so why not let me come with you? I get to go back to Konoha, you get a pro-bono bodyguard; we both win."

The old man seemed to consider Naruto's words for a moment, before shrugging. "Alright kid, you get to come with. But if I suspect for a second you can't be trusted, I'm going to spread the word that you're the most unreliable mercenary in the world."

"Fair enough," said Naruto, turning to walk down the road before suddenly stopping. 'Damn it! I always forget to do this!' With that, he turned to face the old man again with his right hand outstretched. "Sorry about that, the name's Uzumaki Naruto."

At first, he was hesitant, but there was no lie in the boy's eyes. What did he have to lose? "The name's Tazuna."

A/N: And now, we are getting ready for the first arc of the story...

Vocabulary/Culture Notes

Takoyaki—this is pretty much fried octopus in batter. Served in a spherical shape, and sometimes like dango through a skewer.