Naruto Hitman for Hire
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and company. If I did, I would be eating more than Wal-Mart ramen and drinking the cheap soda and watered down coffee.
Chapter 4
"Halt!"
The six stopped as the gate guards appeared from the hiding spots. "Identification and reason for visiting Konoha."
Tsunade held up the papers that had been left with her, as well as her Konoha ID.
"Lady Tsunade?" the guard said in surprise.
"Yes." She said blandly.
The guard looked at the papers with the Hokage's seal and then at her companions. "Their identification." He asked gesturing to the three jinchuriki.
"You don't need to see their identification." She said coldly.
"Milady, you don't understand, the rules…"
"They are my guards and they don't have names that you need to know." She said.
Shizune showed her own ID. "I'm her apprentice." She said with a grin.
The guards looked at the three. "You will wait here then and remove your weapons…"
Nine snorted. "Don't think so asshole. We're her guards, you think we'd let a chicken shit village dictate what we do?"
Tsunade held up a hand. "Very well." She said and the three Jinchuriki and their animals that were hidden looked at her in shock and betrayal.
"Tell the Hokage then that he can meet us here." She said and Nine and the others relaxed.
"Milady, that is…" the guard began, but she cut him off.
"I could careless about what he thinks and wants. He asked to see us about a job. My employees don't go anywhere without their weapons. Even the Fire Daimyo understands this. Now either let us pass, or toddle off and tell Danzo he can meet us here. If he decides not to, then we'll leave within half an hour."
Tsunade walked away from the gate and sat down on a small boulder. Shizune looked at the guards and shrugged before being followed by Nine and the others.
"Lady Tsunade." She hissed once she was next to her mentor.
"I am not here to play Danzo's games." Tsunade said as she watched one of the guards rush off.
"We'll see in half an hour if it really is important or some more of their bullshit."
Nine leaned against a tree, his eyes on the gates. Temari took up a spot near him
"This is a mistake. We should walk away now."
"Easy brat." Tsunade said. Kyuubi leapt to her lap and she began to pet the fox. The cat and raccoon both glared, jealous that the fox got there first.
The group didn't even wait ten minutes before a squad of Anbu came towards them.
"Oh, playtime." Nine said as he eased his stance and his hands slid to the shoulder harness and his Colts.
Yugito and Gaara put themselves to the side and in front of Tsunade and Shizune and the three animals.
"Stand where you are." Nine said.
"You are to come with us." The lead Anbu said.
"Nice diplomacy you have there." Yugito purred, her hand at her sides holding the thin throwing blades.
"Hand over your weapons and come with us now." the dog masked Anbu said.
"Kiss my ass." Nine said with a grin behind his scarf.
The Anbu tensed.
"I take it Danzo's not coming down then?" Tsunade said.
"We are to escort you to him." Neko Anbu said.
"Let's go children." Tsunade said and turned walking away from Konoha.
"Where are you going?" Inu demanded.
"I came to speak with a client, not be ordered around and my employees and guards stripped down to make us easy targets." Tsunade said.
"This is Konoha, that would never happen." Inu said.
"Really? Like Konoha wouldn't throw an innocent boy into prison? Like Konoha wouldn't put a bounty on the same boy when he left after being released?" Tsunade asked raising an eyebrow.
"Or how about the hunter nin that came for me when I refused to return to Konoha?" Tsunade tried again.
She took several steps before there was a loud bang and two bodies hit the ground. She turned to see Inu laying on the ground holding his wrist, his hand destroyed. Another one wearing the Boar mask was dead, a slender throwing blade buried in the man's neck.
Her gaze rested on Nine who stood with his colts drawn, one aimed at Inu, the other pressed to the mask of Tora Anbu.
"Thou shalt not touch Lady Tsunade without permission." Nine intoned.
"Amen." Gaara muttered. Tsunade saw a pair of explosive patches and knew that he was ready to cover their escape.
"Stand down." Tsunade said and the three assassins stepped back, Yugito pulling her blade from the Anbu's corpse. Nine stepped back and lowered his guns, that was his concession, while Gaara kept his explosive patches out and ready.
"You bastard." Inu moaned.
"You'll live." Nine said.
"Should have killed him, your getting soft." Yugito teased.
"Stow it One." Nine said with a growl.
"Lady Tsunade, please come with us. Your guards may keep their weapons…"
Nine snorted, "Like any of you ninja can take them."
Temari who had been waiting took her hand off her shotgun and saw Shizune slip the needle gun out of sight.
"Let's go then." Tsunade said with a fake grin. The Anbu formed up around them, one of them staying with the injured Inu and dead Boar.
They walked the main street, Nine's eyes scanning for danger. "Not a damn things changed."
"New face on the monument." Shizune said.
Nine looked and saw Danzo's face. "That shouldn't be there." He hissed.
Gaara agreed. The village seemed to have recovered from the invasion all those years ago.
It has been a decade and a half. He reasoned.
Nine saw the palce where Ichiraku's Ramen stand used to be, it was an empty lot, grown over.
"We're being followed." Yugito said low into the communicator they all carried.
"Rooftop." Nine agreed. He saw the shadows from the sun and shook his head. "And they are professional shinobi."
The group reached the tower ignoring the looks from many villagers who seemed curious about the strange group. Their eyes noticing the fox got hard looks.
Entering the tower they went to top floor and stopped in the waiting room.
Nine saw a pink haired woman at the desk going over papers and making notes.
"Haruno, inform the Hokage that his…guests have arrived." Tora intoned.
The pink haired Sakura Haruno looked up. "Have a seat." She said.
The girl entered the office and came out a moment later. "He will see you now." she said, then her eyes landed on the fox. "Your animals will wait here."
She was ignored as Yugito entered the room first with Nibi. Temari and Shizune were next followed by Gaara and Shukaku, the Racoon sitting on his owners shoulder.
Nine paused at the desk, looked at the girl he once had a crush on and snorted before entering the office with Kyuubi on his shoulder.
XX
"Ah, Tsunade, the years have been kind to you." Danzo said. On either side of him were his advisors, Koharu and Homura.
"Funny. You look like crap." She said ignoring the scoff from the two old farts that used to be her sensei's teammates.
"The role of Hokage is difficult and very consuming. I used to envy Sarutobi, now…" he shrugged.
"You paid for this meeting Danzo, speak." Tsunade said taking the chair while the others spread out. Temari and Shizune stood in mirror positions on either side of her, while Nine leaned against the windowsill. Gaaara was by the main door and Yugito leaned against a bookcase.
"You will address him with the proper respect." Koharu said.
"I'll address him any damn way I want to." Tsunade said to the advisor. "I am no longer part of this village. My travel rights can only be revoked by the council of Daimyo's and you aren't them."
Danzo held up a hand to stop Koharu's rant.
"Tsunade, I didn't bring you here to fight. I have heard of your employees skills and I would like to hire them to do several jobs that seem beyond the skills of our Anbu."
"I'm listening." She said.
"The first job is we need you to hunt down and kill Orochimaru…"
Tsunade laughed. "I broke his back and left him for dead in a gutter."
"He's back." Danzo said. "He had help acquiring a body and transferred his soul to it." He looked at his advisors and sighed. "There is a second part of this job. One of our Jonin has…been compromised."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed at hearing her former teammate was back and had used that jutsu to get a new body.
"Compromised?" she asked.
Homura spoke next. "Sasuke Uchiha was infected with the Curse Seal by Orochimaru while on a mission with his Genin team. The genin died and Sasuke was brought back to Konoha. We thought it was sealed by his former teacher Kakashi Hatake, but the seal used required…"
"It required the Uchiha's will to fight it. He didn't and has gone to Orochimaru for power to kill Itachi Uchiha."
Nine snorted. "So, you want us to kill your runaways."
"They are nuke nin, each with substantial bounties…"
Nine stepped away from the window. "No."
Tsunade looked at the one person she thought of as her son. "You sure?" she asked him.
"I won't hunt for them." He said.
"There's more." Danzo said.
"There always is." Nine said from behind his scarf.
"Sasuke Uchiha when he left, kidnapped Hinata Hyuga. Her clan wants her back."
"We need a moment to confer." Tsunade said and they huddled near the corner.
"Naruto." She said in a harsh whisper.
"No Baa-chan. There is more that they aren't telling us." Nine said.
"I agree." Gaara said.
"Get the rest of the details. Also we collect the bounties, but we also get paid for the job."
Yugito voiced her agreement. "We're not a charity. It sounds like they want us to take the risks and are hoping to pay us with the bounty only."
Temari snorted. "Bet they'd welsh on that."
"Shizune?" Tsunade asked her apprentice and friend.
"I agree with all they say. Homura is nervous and keeps looking at Danzo."
Tsunade agreed. "Back to the table."
She retook her seat. "That's all good, but what aren't you telling us?"
"We've told you everything." Koharu said.
"Lie, strike one." Nine intoned.
"We also need to negotiate on the fee." Tsunade said in a bored tone.
"Fee?" Homura said. "You'd get the bounties…"
"This is none negotiable. You want us to perform, rescue, extraction and assassination, it will cost you more than a few bounties."
"Orochimaru is worth…"
"I don't care how much the bounties are. There is more going on than a simple hit." Tsunade said annoyed. "Now, you will tell us what else you've left out, or we walk away."
Tsunade counted to twenty, and stood.
"Wait." Danzo said ignoring his advisors. "There is a couple of complications. Orochimaru is the leader of the Hidden Sound village filled with nuke nin…and there is also the Akatsuki…a group of S-rank nuke nin."
Nine growled. He had heard of the Akatsuki while he was traveling. He knew what they wanted.
"All your information on them and the targets and the rest of the mission." He said. "And I mean everything. Including everything on Sound."
He then looked at Tsunade. "Negotiate the price." He told her.
Tsunade smiled as she pulled a flask out of a pocket of her jacket. Taking a swig she smirked at Danzo.
"Rescue fee is one million, oh and my prices are non-negotiable." She said before continuing with her prices. Danzo's eyes widened at each.
"You'll break us." He said.
Tsunade shrugged. "You want the job done and done right you pay. Half up front the rest when the job is done."
Danzo looked nervous. "Why are you like this Tsunade. Konoha is your home."
"My home died the day you locked up an innocent boy for murder."
"You know where Uzumaki is?" he asked, his eyes widened in hope.
"No. I get a letter from him sometimes. I think he's in America or Canada."
Homura snorted. "Foreign lands."
"My home." Tsunade said. "Its where these four are from." She gestured at the others. "So be damn careful who you insult you old fart. They killed one Anbu and crippled another."
She took another drink from her flask. "Now, the files concerning the Uchiha, the Hyuga princess, the Sound village and Orochimaru along with everything you have on Akatsuki. Tick Tock, the clock is running."
The three jincuriki smiled as Tsunade annoyed the elders and the fifth Hokage. Danzo was regretting bringing in professionals, but he'd heard about their feats around the Elemental Nations.
I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't. he thought as he planned on having the Hyuga's pay for the rescue mission. The Uchiha's retrieval would come out of the Uchiha clan funds. Now we just need to come up with the money for Orochimaru's bounty. He thought wondering where he could cut corners and leave his own private funds untouched.
AN: Konoha's gonna pay and pay big. Next time Konoha, Briefing and visitations.
PS: No chapter next week, gone for the holiday, be back the first weekend of December and will post what I can once I have something written.