Chapter 4: Information

Naruto awoke slowly in a comfortable bed in an inn. He looked up at the ceiling and chuckled, thinking about the previous night. He had slept amid the sounds of a copulating couple down the hall. It was a good reminder for Naruto that despite all the crap that had just been piled onto him, life still moved on. Life still provided happiness, be that physical, emotional, or spiritual in nature, just not for him in particular.

Naruto sighed. No happiness for me. He didn't want to get up. He wanted to bask in self-pity. He wanted to feel sorry for himself. He just wanted to let it all end. He wanted to give in to the overwhelming pressure that he felt on his shoulders.

The blonde was immediately transported back to the early days of training with Jiraiya. The old sage had made clear his expectations of Naruto. He was still a boy, yes, but above all else, he was an Uzumaki and a Namikaze. Neither bloodline knew the meaning of giving up. They turned victory into defeat.

I have to live up to my parents' legacy, Naruto thought determinedly, before shrugging off his despondency, No matter how impossible it seems some days. Ero-sennin believes in me. I have to pull myself together, Naruto berated himself, thinking of the work he still had to accomplish. He couldn't stop now.

When Naruto looked toward the future, all he saw, though, was his struggles stretching ad infinitum. When would it all end? Naruto wanted to escape to his memories of the old days, when it was him and Team 7, training as genin. Memories of his friends, eating, training, laughing together. Memories of a time when training and not being associated with Jiraiya's perviness were his only real worries.

When Naruto looked back on those childish, carefree, and happy times, he had to roll his eyes at Jiraiya's antics. He had to admit that now more than ever, he missed ero-sennin's comforting, if somewhat goofy presence. Jiraiya always seemed to know exactly what to do, in any situation really. Suddenly, all of that had been stripped away violently. Naruto sighed before throwing his legs out of the bed. He didn't have time for self-pity. He was a renegade now.

Naruto wondered when the toads would contact him. He had asked them to find Jiraiya for him. Unfortunately, Jiraiya had disappeared, which meant that he was hiding and really didn't want anybody finding him. Moreover, he still wasn't sure how he stood with the toads, now that he was a missing nin.

Naruto stretched and entered the shower, blasting the water to steaming hot, letting the impurities in his body, mind, and soul wash out. The young man stepped out feeling much better and very refreshed.

As he was getting dressed, Naruto glanced once at the seal under his shoulder. It was a storage seal, but a pretty ingenious one, he thought. He had created it when Jiraiya had taught him about disguises. He wanted to be able to quickly change sets of clothing without actually taking anything off. The result was this seal, which allowed him to swap out whatever set of clothing he was wearing with whatever was stored in the seal immediately and without any hassle.

For now, to avoid suspicion, the young missing nin kept his armor stored away, ready to be summoned at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, that meant that practically all of his weapons would be stuck in the seal as well. For all intents and purposes, he was a civilian today. He was dressed in light khaki shorts and an orange-black t-shirt. He was neither conspicuous or inconspicuous. He simply was, one of Jiraiya's fundamentals of stealth.

Grabbing breakfast on the run, Naruto was only marginally disappointed to find that the inn didn't serve ramen. Paying the fare for the room with what was left in his wallet, Naruto left the inn. He would have to replenish his stores sometime soon.

Yesterday, in broad daylight, Naruto had infiltrated the Takigakure, a time when the guards were least expecting it. Naruto had come with the merchants, blending in masterfully before stealing away through Taki's hidden passageway, which the blonde remembered from his last visit here. Back when there was still Team 7. Naruto frowned, both at the memory and the fact that it had been so easy to slip past the guards. Granted, he had been using some pretty advanced stealth jutsus, but still, if he could get through, a skilled assassin could slip past. People like Akatsuki. Naruto thought back to Jiraiya's lessons. People see what they expect to see.

Naruto smiled thinly. Only a week after separating, and he was already hearing ero-sennin's words in his head.

Naruto had decided to stay low for the first day to scout out the territory. Today was the day he would begin collecting information. Naruto knew from his lessons with Jiraiya that Taki and Konoha had a fairly close relationship. A messenger had probably come or would be arriving sometime today to deliver the important news. The news of Naruto Uzumaki's abandonment of his village no doubt.

Shrugging aside the sense of fragility brought by such painful thoughts, Naruto found himself near the village head's house. He thought it was strange that the domicile would be constructed near the market area of the village. It would be a nightmare for security. Naruto assumed that because Taki wasn't a militaristic ninja village, they viewed security more laxly. It was peace time as well. All the easier to gather information.

Naruto held his gaze, looking like he had a chosen destination in mind. However, his senses had completely broadened out, and using his hearing, peripheral vision, and even smell, Naruto both observed and absorbed the atmosphere of the busy market district. A couple of ninja were milling around, gossiping in hushed tones. Ninja like to gossip, just like anybody else, Jiraiya liked to point out.

Naruto moved closer, remaining unobtrusive, neither trying to be inconspicuous or normal. Naruto just simply became another normal villager.

"Did you hear about Daisuke?" One guard said to his companion.

"No," she replied. "What happened?"

The two guards began gossiping about Daisuke, snickering every once in a while.

Naruto had to physically restrain the sigh that was threatening to escape his lips. He had forgotten how tedious eavesdropping could be. Finding a nearby shop, Naruto sat down at one of the booths and, pleasantly surprised to the find that the roomy shop offered ramen, ordered a bowl of ramen. Then, focusing chakra to his ears, Naruto activated a jutsu that Jiraiya had developed specially for his spying. The Hearing Enhancement jutsu.

In all honesty, it had been Orochimaru who had first developed the jutsu, later to be utilized in his new Hidden Village, Otogakure. But, Jiraiya had reasoned, it's a very useful jutsu, a sentiment that Naruto wholeheartedly agreed with. Then, after about twenty minutes or so of sipping on his ramen with restraint, something caught his ears.

"I heard something happened at Konoha just two days ago." The guard's tone was hushed. No civilian would have been able to hear it, but Naruto had learned both to read lips and enhance his hearing. It was almost as if he was standing next to them.

"What happened?"

"A merchant coming from Konoha was telling Hiro at the merchants' access point that some super-powerful ninja defected! They were gonna execute him for something, so he escaped and tried to kill the Hokage!"

Naruto grimaced. This was what happened when rumor was allowed to run rampant. Ero-sennin had drilled into him over and over again to get his information from as many sources as possible, as rumor always twisted the best of information.

"Hokage's in Critical, I heard," The guard continued.

"No way!" His companion gasped in shock. "How powerful is this bastard?"

The guard looked around quickly, checking to make sure nobody was listening. "The merchant thought that it might've been either an ANBU or Konoha's Jinchuuriki."

"Whoa! Konoha's probably reeling from that, I bet," The companion said. "They probably don't want information like that going public, not that they're doing a good job keeping info on the LD, though."

"Yeah, it's a double blow for Konoha. Their Hokage's nearly dead, and possibly, their Weapon is on the run."

"Well, it's really no different from any of the other main villages. Except for Kumo, all of their Jinchuuriki have gone rogue."

"Yeah," The guard offered, "Pretty scary when you think about it. In fact, word is that it's headed this way." The guard continued.

"Oh man, that could be trouble for us!" The companion replied.

"I know, especially when you consider the other demon."

The companion shuffled awkwardly before speaking in tones even more hushed than before. Naruto had to strain to hear. "You know we shouldn't talk about her. It's dangerous."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," The first guard said, surreptitiously glancing around to make sure that no one had heard. They settled into a silence common between those on guard duty, scanning the somewhat busy street before them.

Naruto listened a little bit longer, but realized he was going to get no more information from these two. He had been lucky to get what he had. Nodding to the shopkeeper, Naruto paid his bill and left the shop at a leisurely pace, another normal civilian going about his day.

Naruto had a lot to think about. It seemed that people in Taki already knew of his battle to escape Konoha. Word that Konoha had a comatose Hokage and another missing nin on its hands could reach the other elemental nations very soon. Naruto was unsure of what to feel, knowing that such news would only weaken Konoha. But the blonde missing nin knew exactly how he felt about the ninja villages learning about him going rogue. Naruto realized with a resigned sigh that he would have to guard his identity very closely if he wanted to escape public notice for as long as possible. Even in small towns like this, word traveled fast.

However, something defiant rose quickly and passionately in Naruto's mind, causing the blonde to remember back to when he had first found out who his father was and exactly what he had inherited from his father. He was the son of the Fourth Hokage. He was the heir of the Hiraishin, the Rasengan, and the Nine Tailed Fox. He was an Uzumaki and a seal master. Unofficially, he was also a Toad Sage. He didn't need to hide. You know what? I'm not going to hide who I am. Let them find me. I'll show them who they're messing with.

Naruto realized how arrogant and dangerous it would be going without a disguise, but heck, look at Itachi Uchiha. He was powerful enough that he didn't need a disguise. Naruto told himself that only guilty men hid their identities. He had to be proud of his heritage. He wasn't a coward.

But I can't be stupid either, Naruto thought to himself. I need to be careful with my identity, Naruto finally told himself, But I can't live in fear. That's the important thing. Satisfied with his decision, the blonde then thought about the other more interesting bit of information he received from his eavesdropping. Demon… That sounded too close to what he had suffered at one point. Jiraiya had told him that Taki had a Jinchuuriki. This 'demon' could be him.

Naruto had to find out more to be sure, though, because unfortunately, ninja villages guarded the secrets surrounding their Jinchuuriki's zealously. Look at Konoha. Nobody outside of the village until the sand invasion knew about him. Even then, only Gaara, another Jinchuuriki himself, knew of the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. There was Akatsuki, of course, but they weren't information brokers.

After hitting several more spots, he heard more gossip, but nothing pertaining to Konoha, himself, or this demon character. Whoever he was, Naruto wanted – no, needed – to meet with this person and tell him that he wasn't alone.

Then walking out of a shop, as Naruto was waving to the shopkeep, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Looking up, Naruto only had time to widen his eyes in shock as a mass ran right into him, bowling the both of them over.

Groaning, Naruto quickly pulled himself up the ground, hoping to offer his hand to whomever had knocked him over. He was surprised to find that she (he?) was already standing. She had on a gray short skirt and midriff-baring shirt, (If she is a girl, she's pretty flat. Nice legs though, Naruto commented unconsciously to himself) contrasting to the dark tan of her skin. She also wore some forearm sleeves and had green hair, Naruto was surprised to note. He wondered if it was natural, quickly glancing near her stomach before darting his eyes back up. I'm not like ero-sennin, the blonde told himself.

"Sorry about that," The girl offered first. Naruto knew by the voice that it was a girl. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

Naruto was a little surprised to see the girl's eyes diverted, as if she were scared of something. Then, Naruto looked around at the people casting him subtle glances. Putting two and two together, Naruto realized that this girl must be the 'demon'. The Jinchuuriki was a she!

"That's alright," the blonde said. "I wasn't paying attention either."

The girl whipped her eyes back at him in shock. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Um, no. I'm visiting family. Why do you ask?" Naruto cursed silently as he realized that he had just pegged himself as an outsider. He could have even given himself away as a ninja. None of the villagers would ever have talked to this girl, knowing who she was.

"Well, er… no reason," The girl said.

Naruto shrugged, hoping she wasn't suspicious. "Well, like I said, no worries." Naruto paused before mentally preparing himself. "Say, by the way, are you gay?"

"Um… Excuse me?" The girl asked, clearly not understanding where this stranger was going with this train of thought or used to such forwardness.

"Well, it's just that I've never seen a guy who wears skirts and shirts like that." An image of Haku flashed through Naruto's mind before he buried it down deep.

The girl just stared at him for a second, trying to process what he had said. Naruto knew he was playing with fire. Well, like ero-sennin always says, I just love trouble way too much.

Suddenly, the girl exploded in righteous anger. Lifting her fist, she slammed down on Naruto, punching him down to the ground. "You think I'm a boy?!" She practically screamed. "I'm a girl, you idiot!"

Naruto twitched on the ground. Man, that girl hit hard, but he just couldn't stop. It was like baiting Kiba all over again. "But… You're so flat-chested…"

"AAARRGH!" She screamed, before burying her foot in Naruto's side. Giving another scream of frustration, she turned on her heel and stalked away, hoping to get out of range before she killed him. She didn't want to get in trouble over this idiot.

Naruto gasped before rolling over, shaking, trying to stop from laughing. All of the surrounding villagers were cowering in fear, but Naruto continued to shake with mirth.

Then, seeing that the girl was walking away, Naruto called out, "My name's Naruto, by the way."

The girl turned and gave him a frosty glare. "Well, Naruto! You're an idiot!" She said, before leaping away.

Naruto chuckled once more before getting up. He noticed an old man standing next to him. "Yes?" He asked, remaining polite.

"Son, I know you're not from around here, but let me tell you, that girl's bad news." Naruto could tell that the old man was genuinely concerned for him, but nonetheless, a part of Naruto felt cold towards this man and all the other villagers in this village. Their prejudices reminded him a little too much of his own past.

"Really?" Naruto replied frostily, "I don't know, I kinda like her."

The old man looked at Naruto as if he had grown a pair of horns. "If what she just did to you doesn't put any sense into your head, I don't know what will."

Naruto chuckled. "My godfather always said that I love trouble a little too much."

The old man only shook his head. "Son, just please take my word of advice. That girl's trouble with a capital T. You don't want to be hanging around her."

Naruto raised his eyebrow cockily. "Well, thanks, old man, but I think I can handle her."

The old man sighed before he resigned his arguments. "Fine then, young one, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"But I do have one question," Naruto said quickly. "Please tell me that you're not telling me all this because you used to date her. That would just be... Eck!" Naruto made a face, sticking his tongue out as if something sour was in his mouth.

The old man glanced once more at Naruto, unsure of how to react to Naruto's disrespectfulness. Finally, he chose to simply ignore the blonde brat and huffed before walking away to attend to his business. "Young whippersnappers these days. Think they're on top of the world."

Naruto smiled sadly as he thought about these villagers. They were good people, but their biases and prejudices were just misdirected. Dusting himself off, Naruto continued on his way, always listening for more information, but also keeping an eye out for stores where he could replenish his supplies.

Then, around evening time, walking near the outskirts of the village, Naruto noticed a group of guys picking on a girl. They were standing around her in a circle, jeering, but they weren't making moves to get physical with their victim. It was almost like they were scared of getting too close… Then Naruto realized. It was her.

"You're so pathetic!"

"You'll never be a good enough ninja!"

Naruto heard the titters and the jeers coming from the group, and noticed that the girl was doing nothing to defend herself. Sighing, Naruto knew that he had to say something.

"Hey, guys, leave her alone."

All of the bullies turned suddenly, assessing the newcomer. He didn't look so tough. He wasn't even a ninja.

The girl then jumped up, her eyes blazing as she recognized Naruto. "I don't need your help! I can handle this myself!" Then, one of the bullies turned and shoved her roughly to the ground. "Stay out of this, girly! This guy asked for it."

Naruto raised his eyebrow at that. "Yeah? Well, the way you pick on gender confused guys half your size, I'm not surprised that you think you could beat me."

All the boys looked confused for a second, then scowled, realizing that Naruto had just insulted them. They glanced at each other and as one, they gave a brutish yell and rushed at Naruto, who stood calmly, waiting for their attack. At the last second, a blur shot in front of him and blocked the first few punches. In the space of a few seconds, the bullies were on the ground, dazed, unsure of what had hit them.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, amused. "Not bad, but I could've handled them myself," He said, mirroring the girl's words before. She suddenly turned on him, her fist cocked back.

"Gender confused guy!" She screamed in his face. Naruto involuntarily took a step back.

"Wait, wait," he said placatingly, not wanting to get beat down like that afternoon. "I was just joking. I know you're a girl. I'm just messing with you."

She scowled before huffing in disgust. "Idiot," She muttered under her breath.

Naruto only gave an infuriatingly innocent grin. "So what's your name?"

The girl glared once more at him, making Naruto realize that her eyes were orange. A striking, but pleasant contrast to her green hair and darkish skin. Very pretty. Finally she spoke. "Fū."

Naruto's smile became gigawatt bright. "Nice to meet you, Fū. Name's–"

"Naruto, I remember," She grumbled as she pulled her hand away from Naruto's, who continued to grin. "What?!" Fū asked exasperatedly.

"You remembered my name," Naruto said cheerfully.

Fū gave him an Are you mental? look. She just shook her head and backed away slowly, like a nephew from that kooky, cheek-pinching aunt. "Well, I'll see you around, 'kay Naruto?"

"Yup, see you around, Fū!" Naruto said, watching as Fū power walked away, causing him to smile. Finally alone, for the briefest of seconds, Naruto let the mask slide down around his emotions. He slumped onto the ground, contemplating what he had found out today.

News was running rampant very quickly. He was probably in Konoha's bingo book by now. Speaking of which, he needed to get his hands on an updated copy. For various reasons. He was going to be hunted. That was going to make movement much harder. On top of that, he had found another Jinchuuriki. This could get interesting.

Hmmm. Nice legs. She's kinda cute. Naruto mused quietly. Or she would've been, if she wasn't so flat-chested. Naruto felt a shudder go down his spine as he realized what Fū would do to him if she heard him. Naruto could swear that Jiraiya was laughing at him, somewhere in the world.

"I hate you, ero-sennin."

A/N: So this chapter actually didn't change much. Still short, and just a simple description of Naruto's meeting with Fū. Pretty easy to write, if a little short. Please review! I appreciate feedback greatly.