Hey guys I'm at it again. I'll be introducing a few antagonists in this one. Hope you like it. This story is brought to you by a twenty-three year old christian.

Ch. 3 Signing in and Making Deals

Master Roshi led his students off the aircraft. The Turtle Hermit had never been so glad to get off a plane. The sooner his students had new types of stimuli the better. Krillin had been bearable, but Goku and Naruto were constantly complaining. It was incredibly strange to hear either of his students whine about anything.

"I still can't believe they lost my bag! That was my favorite jumpsuit!" Naruto scuffed his new shoes as he mourned the loss of his bright orange jump suit. Roshi didn't have the heart to tell Naruto that he had paid the baggage checkers to get rid of it. Kamesenin had some serious doubts about Konoha as a ninja village if they let one of their trainees to run around in such a visible and garish orange outfit. Then again, he was really good at hiding. How he did that he had no idea. Plus that thing was too huge for him anyway.

"Yeah… This wouldn't have happened if we could have taken the Nimbus!" Goku pouted as he idly brushed his shoulder.

"Yeah, but we would have lost our awesome hats, though." Krillin pointed out helpfully. The other two students thought deeply on the point.

"Point to Krillin." Naruto grinned like a fox. "Never underestimate the power of an awesome hat."

Krillin grabbed a journal from his small bag. "Point to me…"

Goku leaned forward as he grabbed his own small bag with his tail. "You're keeping track? We're going to make this a game?"

The monk smirked as he closed the journal. "Why not?"

'Oh great, they're keeping score…' Roshi could only shake his head as he shepherded his young protégées from the tarmac.

The atmosphere in the meeting had been tense. The tension over the new world's birth and scattering of borders was bad enough. The rivalries and centuries long feuds of the various Elemental Nations and Hidden Villages added an entire new level to the issues. Sarutobi Hiruzen hated war. He had seen its horrors first hand as a young man. However, he knew that under the situation conflict would be unavoidable. The Third Hokage, and the only Kage at the conference, was just thankful it had been contained quickly. Rumors of fighting between the Land of Honey and the "Kingdom" appeared to be true. However, Hiruzen was more concerned about the fighting between Tanigakure and Moyagakure against 'The Red Ribbon Army'.

The Sandaime bit his thumb to draw blood and summoned a messenger monkey. The monkey saluted and the Hokage smiled back. "This is an urgent message for Konoha. Deliver it to the council only."

A prehensile tail grabbed the scroll. "Are you sure that is wise, Hokage-sama? Danzo will act on this, whether it is your wish or not."

"I am aware and I am counting on it. We cannot speak on this here. Go and send my regards to King Enma."

The Monkey nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sarutobi turned and walked back towards the meeting room. The long jacket of his official robes billowed behind him. Flunkies of Daimyos and the 'King' parted like wake as he approached. He was a Kage and radiated power.

Hirzuen reentered the conference room and slid calmly into his seat. The years of carefully controlling his emotions and their outward signs were all that had prepared him for the King. The Hokage had originally been a bit surprised when the King was an anthropomorphic dog.

"Hokage-sama, I have a request of Konoha."

"Name, it your majesty." The Hokage spoke in an even tone.

"Though my family claims to rule the entirety of the world, times have changed with the appearance of the Elemental countries. There are numerous threats and I would ask that Konoha lend its might to combat."

The Hokage flashed a calculated smile. "Konoha would be glad to enter into an arrangement with your nation. However, we must look after our economic interests."

"Of course. You are a sovereign nation and will be the first Hidden Village to be recognized as such. After all, you were the only head of state to attend this summit."

Sarutobi nodded. "This arrangement must be kept… quiet. It could upset the balance of power and lead to conflict."

The King wagged his ears. The Sandaime Hokage believed that this tick was the king's physical reaction to being deep in thought. "I understand, Lord Hokage. I will send some of my most trusted and discreet associates to negotiate an agreement with the Hidden Village of the Leaves."

The conversation quickly shifted to small talk as the rest of delegates returned to the conference room. Hiruzen deflected questions about why he hadn't left the conference room, but his mind was elsewhere.

'Jiraiya, good luck.'

The young man adjusted his glasses. "Please fill out this entry form, Mr…"

"Jiraiya of the Sannin!" The large man shouted and theatrically placed his fists on his hips. The room fell silent for a moment. Several hopefuls shouted in disbelief and a few even declared that they weren't going to risk facing the Toad Sage and ran.

Jiraiya shook his head as he filled out the form. He honestly didn't care much for this spectacle. His main goal was finding the brat and talking him into coming back to Konoha. His second was discovering how the wonders of this new world could be included in his literary masterpieces!

The legendary Shinobi handed over the completed form and entered the preliminary round complex. 'I wonder where the brat is?'

"Gah! Look at those wusses! How could they just quit like that?" Krillin mumbled as three fighters simply left.

Goku fed off the confidence of his friends. The uniforms Master Roshi had given them might have had something to do with the confidence as well. "Yeah, but that means only the strong, smart or brave ones are left!"

"They can't be that smart Goku! I mean, they might not quit when we show up!" Naruto shouted.

A large man stepped in front of the three Turtle School students. "You three are arrogant little bastards aren't you! I'm going to crush you!"

Goku looked up. "Wow, you must be slow being so huge and all."

The man screamed in frustration as Naruto and Krillin debated what kind of fighting style the new guy would use.

"I wouldn't underestimate them." Said a young man with short hair and an oddly familiar martial arts uniform walked up.

The giant turned around so quickly the boys thought he would fall. "Don't take up for the brats!"

"Save it for the ring and get out of here." The man opened his mouth to speak but simply shook his head and stormed off. "Man, I'd hate for you to get kicked out for beating some fool before the matches, Goku."

Goku scratched his head. "Do I know you mister?"

The man shook his head and looked a bit miffed. "Oh come on!"

"Still nothing."

The man gripped his face with his palm before entering a stance. "Wolf Fang Fist!"

Goku lit up immediately at the move's name. "Yamcha! You're fighting too!"

The reformed bandit laughed. "Of course! Bulma says hi, by the way!"

"Cool, she's here?"

"Yeah, we're here together. Who are these guys?"

Goku's smile became even brighter. "This is Krillin and Naruto! We trained with Master Roshi!"

Yamcha nodded. 'the Turtle Hermit took on three students? He's never taken more than two! Who are these kids?' "I look forward to fighting all of you in the finals."

Krillin adopted a smile that had unofficially been dubbed by their master as the Trouble Omen. "This day is awesome! I can't really see anything going wrong!"

The first Armored Truck was burning. The ambush was truly masterful. Red Ribbon soldiers leapt from their truck and took cover. An officer with night-vision goggles scanned the woods.

"What the hell was that? Get the scientist! I want to know why that tech didn't work!"

A soldier collected the elderly scientist from the armored car. The scientist's face was fixed in a permanent scowl and his long white mustache and hair seemed to draw attention to his cruel sneer. The pace at which the man walked was casual. The soldier gulped at the unnatural precision of the man.

"Dr. Gero. What the heck?" The officer snarled. "It didn't work. You said that piece of crap would detect any explosives."

The head scientist of the Red Ribbon Army walked to the burning truck and circled it dispassionately. "The computers did not detect the incendiary device because it did not use any known chemical explosive. And you are incompetent standing in the open like this."

The officer raised his pistol in anger, but collapsed suddenly. Dr. Gero stepped casually out of the way and appraised the bladed weapon sticking out of the back of the man's head. There was a sudden crack of gunfire that quickly died. Four children emerged from the shadows. Gero stood silent as the approached. His analytical mind immediately recognized that each of the four was modified in some way. 'Impressive.'

"Finally, professionalism." Gero's voice held a strange mix of sarcasm and appreciation.

"Listen trash. We didn't give you permission to talk!" The heavy set warrior shouted.

"Man, Jirōbō, can you be any louder?" The only female sneered.

"Tayuya, shut the heck up." The large man snarled right back.

Gero shook his head. "I do believe you were about to capture or kill me. It seems I am cursed to be surrounded by buffoons who cannot realize the bigger picture."

The four growled at the cheeky man. "Let's just kill him."

A single gunshot echoed through the forest and Jirōbō's head exploded. "As I said, the bigger picture. Do you honestly think I'd stand helplessly in the open like the incompetents you dispatched?"

The Ninja launched themselves at Gero and were quickly tossed in all directions. Dr. Gero felt the fear well up inside him. He recognized the emotion and despised it. However, Gero was still human and one would have be irredeemably insane not to experience fear in the face of such obvious power.

"I am intrigued by you, creature." The voice was as unnatural as the voice of any of Gero's creations. Unlike Gero's cybernetic lifeforms, this voice was clearly biological in origin. There was huskiness to the voice that brought Gero's primitive prey response instincts to bear. A buried portion of his psyche wanted to flee but the rational part of his mind recognized the utter folly in such desire.

"You are responsible for the genetic modifications to the warriors." Gero stated his observation and managed, admirably, to keep almost all the fear from his voice.

"Indeed." The man emerged from the shadows. He was unnaturally pale and this only made his black hair darker. Gero mused that his man was likely the inversion of Gero. Where Gero built the perfect warriors out of metal and circuitry, this man did the same with flesh and blood. Where Gero was perfectly average physically, this man was the pinnacle of physical ability. The scientist hated him but respected him at the same time.

"I am Dr. Gero, formerly of the Red Ribbon Army. I have a proposition for you."

There was no hiding the amused light dancing in the man's unnatural eyes. "Speak."

Gero nodded. "The Red Ribbon Army is a collection of incompetents drawn under the banner of carving petty warlord states out of the festering corpse of the Kingdom. I aligned myself with them for their resources. I would prefer to work with an organization that at least had the decency to try to be professional."

The three survivors looked as their sole desire was to kill the insect speaking to their lord in such a manner. Their shock was palpable as their leader laughed. "I assure you that Otogakure has much higher standards than any organization you have ever belonged to. What was your role in this 'Red Ribbon Army'?"

It was obvious that the question was anything but. Dr. Gero recognized a predator toying with its prey. "I was head of the Cybernetic Warfare Research division. One of my mass production models was responsible for killing the fat one."

There was a nearly unnoticeable twitch behind the Doctor's eye and the rearmost vehicle roared. A metallic behemoth tore itself free of its prison and stomped towards Gero.

"Mass Production Model A. I cannot stand such imperfection. While effective for the mundane purposes of the Red Ribbon Army, it does nothing to advance my ultimate ambitions."

Gero fought a losing battle against the primal instinctive terror that erupted as the other man approached. "And what is this ultimate ambition?"

"Immortality."

"Through what means?"

"Cybernetic, genetic and mechanical modification. All my data is secured in the central vehicle, the only one not destroyed in your ambush it seems."

Dr. Gero's ploy was as transparent as glass. He was hoping to turn this creature's attention onto the child warriors and away from him. The loss of his data would be the trigger.

"Your service to the Red Ribbon Army is over. Your experiments and knowledge are to serve me now."

Dr. Gero raised his chin. "I will know the name of my…benefactor."

"I am Orochimaru."

Uh oh. Looks like the snake's got an edge now. I wonder how this will turn out for them? Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review, and God bless you.