Naruto's eyes narrowed in response to a name he didn't expect anyone to know. Whoever this Uchiha Itachi was, he'd found his way to some information Naruto did not want getting out.
"Me? A Hyuga? Do my eyes look white to you?" Naruto asked, hoping the man wasn't as sure of himself as he sounded.
"Yes," Itachi answered, unphased by Naruto's ploy. "I know quite a great deal on your background. For example, you're much older than you look."
"If you're such an expert on me, you should have known better than to wear that cloak in my presence," Naruto said coldly, deciding to drop the act.
"Akatsuki isn't the same organization it used to be," Itachi told him. "We would actually be interested in working with you, if possible. You'll find our goals aren't so different from your own."
"So you say," Naruto said skeptically, "but I'm at a bit of a disadvantage. For all you know about me, I know very little of you or your organization. For starters, how were you able to identify me? For that matter, how did you even know I existed?"
"I'm a member of Akatsuki and an Uchiha," Itachi answered. "Is it that surprising I would know of you?"
"What does being an Uchiha have to do with anything?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"You really don't know, do you?" he responded enigmatically.
"As much as I'd like to sit here and play your game all day, there's someone coming," Naruto informed him. "So I want you out of here, now."
Itachi, however, showed no sign of listening, stubbornly staying put even as Naruto could sense the approaching figure grow closer. It was clear this was deliberate. He just hoped Itachi knew that blowing his cover would hardly endear him to the man.
"I said, get out!" he yelled, just as Sakura appeared in the door, wanting to at least make it clear the two of them were not friends.
"I will give you time to consider our offer," Itachi told him, "but I will return."
Itachi finally did vanish in a burst a speed, leaving Naruto alone with a wide-eyed Sakura.
"Who was that?" Sakura asked him.
"Just someone who wouldn't take no for an answer," Naruto replied.
She didn't press the issue, but it was clear that his words hadn't satisfied her. Naruto just hoped this meeting didn't cause him any trouble.
"I assume you called me here because of the Itachi situation?" Sarutobi asked after he'd entered Minato's office.
"Yes, I take it you already know, but we have several reports of him being spotted in Konoha," Minato announced. "And judging by his attire, he's joined Akatsuki. Based on the information at hand, the only thing I can conclude is that he wanted us to know this."
"He seems determined to make himself out to be the villain to protect his clan's honor," Sarutobi declared. "I can only hope that's all this is. Itachi truly having turned against us is a rather unpleasant thought. Still, that doesn't explain why you summoned me. You know all this as well as I do."
"It's just that Jiraiya has been investigating Akatsuki, and I'm trying to get in contact with him," Minato explained. "Of course, you know just how hard that can be. I was hoping you might have some way to get a message to him quickly."
"I may have an idea or two," Sarutobi admitted. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you," Minato told him. "I'd really like to hear his opinion on this."
Sasuke returned home early, their team being dismissed when Sarutobi-sensei was called away for something. Not that Sasuke was complaining about having a few less D rank missions to run that day. Entering the house he called out that he was home, startling his mother.
"I wasn't expecting you so soon," she said looking nervous about something. "Is anything wrong?"
"I didn't think so," Sasuke answered, "but I suspect there is based on how you're acting. What is it?"
His mother let out a sigh. "I really don't want to tell you this," she began, "but I'm sure you'll hear sooner or later, and it's best you hear it from me. Itachi was spotted in the village today."
Sasuke let out a gasp before clenching his fists involuntarily. Why would Itachi have come to the village without stopping to see Sasuke? Sasuke had been hoping for word from his brother for years, and he admitted that this news came as quite a blow.
"Sasuke we've been over this before," his mother said, trying to calm him down. "Itachi is gone. I don't want to see you obsessing over him again. You should move on and let the village deal the matter."
"How can I just move on?" Sasuke asked angrily. "We've never once heard his side of the story. All we have is the word of a few men, none of whom I'd trust nearly as much as Itachi. How do we know they didn't kill father and frame Itachi for it?"
"Please, Sasuke," his mother pleaded with him. "It's been years since that day. Can't you just forget about Itachi and live your own life?"
"I'm sorry," Sasuke told her. "I can't do that yet."
And with that, he was back out the door, determined to find out everything he could about Itachi's recent appearance.
"I believe you owe me a new jutsu," Naruko told Minato with a smirk after showing off her mastery of reppusho.
"I suppose I do," Minato answered cheerfully. "But before that, I've got a bit of news for all of you. I have some plans for the team in the near future, and I want to make sure you're prepared. So even though it's a bit early for this, I'm giving you a C Rank mission today."
"Nice!" Kiba cheered. "What exactly are we doing?"
"We have a couple men running a patrol in the area around Konoha," Minato informed them. "They were supposed to report in earlier today, but we haven't heard from them yet. We're going to head to their patrol route and try to locate them. Hinata, Kiba, you're both well suited to a tracking mission, so I hope I can rely on you."
"You bet you can," Kiba declared confidently.
"I'll try not to let you down," Hinata added meekly, in stark contrast to Kiba's own reply.
"Good," Minato nodded, "we'll leave immediately."
The four ninja and one dog, Kushina being absent today, soon set out from Konoha and began traveling through the surrounding woods. After about an hour, they reached the edge of the patrol route and began their search. Barely fifteen minutes into that, Akamaru picked up a scent. Following it, they soon came upon a trail of blood.
"Akamaru says the trail splits," Kiba announced. "Three men go off in the direction of the blood, with one remaining figure heading off that way."
"We're going to split up," Minato ordered them on hearing that. "I'm sure I can track a bleeding man, and that looks like where the trouble is going to be anyway. The three of you continue to follow the other trail. I'm hoping it's our remaining scout trying to get away with what he knows. Still, I'm going to leave you one my kunai. I'll check in periodically with hiraishin to make sure you're okay."
All of them realizing the seriousness of the situation, they simply nodded. Kiba took the kunai and they set off after Akamaru while Minato disappeared in the other direction. She only hoped Minato was in time to save whoever had left that trail. They'd barely been traveling for a minute when Hinata called out for them to stop.
"There are two men hiding behind the trees in front of us," she told them. "Neither of them look like they're from Konoha."
Realizing their ambush was spoiled, two figured dressed completely in black jumped out and charged them. Naruko couldn't see any marks that would identify where they were from, and they had cloth masks that covered their faces, save for the eyes.
Dodging around several shuriken tossed by the man on the right, Naruko met his charge. The man blocked her opening fist with a crossed guard and then leaped back, trying to get some distance. Deflecting a thrown kunai with a kunai of her own, Naruko again tried to draw in close, but the man continued to dance back outside of her range.
Glancing at her teammates, she saw that they were fairing quite well against the remaining ninja, who was completely on the defensive against the combined might of the gatsuga and Hinata's juken. His partner seemed to notice his distress as well, using Naruko's moment of distraction to slip around her and rush to the other ninja's aid.
"Catch, Hinata," Naruko called out, firing a quick reppusho into the man's back, knocking him off balance and sending him toward Hinata faster than he'd planned.
Hinata was ready for him when he arrived, having heard Naruko's warning. It looked like he wouldn't be able to avoid taking a blow from Hinata's Juken, one that would likely injure him severely. However, at nearly the last moment, a third ninja slammed into him from the side, pushing the both of them away from Hinata.
Naruko quickly looked around to see if they had anymore friends hiding in the area, but saw no signs of any. They no longer had the numerical advantage unless they counted Akamaru, but Naruko was hoping to correct that quickly. She'd noticed her earlier opponent seemed to prefer to stay at range, so she was going to do her best to stick close and take him out.
Before he'd even fully recovered, she was already attacking the man, forcing him to scramble wildly to avoid her assault. She wasn't letting him get any space, and it looked like she would break through his guard any time now. Even one on one, Hinata and Kiba both seemed to have the upper hand in their own fights as well.
Clearly realizing that he was poorly equipped to deal with his own opponent, Naruko's target sent a hail of kunai at her left side. As soon as they'd left his hands, he was already using them as a shield to try to circle around Naruko in order to again come to the aid of his allies.
Naruko, however, was not about to let him get past her again, and rather than dodging the kunai charged right through them, taking three that dug deeply into her left arm and shoulder. The man was so unprepared for this, that he had no defense when Naruko slammed a spinning kick into the side of his knee, dropping him to the ground where he clutched the joint in pain. Naruko was about to follow through and take him out of the fight when Minato appeared between her and the man, bringing her up short.
"Stop!" Minato yelled out authoritatively. "That's quite enough."
Enemies and allies alike listened to his command, bringing a halt to all hostilities. Naruko was at a loss for what was going on until the ninja that had joined the fight late dropped a henge to reveal it had been Kushina all along. The other two simply pulled off the masks they'd been wearing revealing two faces Naruko thought she might have seen around the village at times. It appeared this whole mission had been an elaborate hoax.
"I think that crazy brat may have broke my knee," the man she'd injured complained loudly.
"If you can't fight a rookie genin without either of you getting hurt, it's you're own fault, Kotetsu," Kushina told him unsympathetically.
"How was I supposed to know she had a death wish?" he argued. "Any sane person would have dodged that attack."
"Kotetsu is right," Minato reprimanded her sternly. "Your team appeared to have the upper hand, and you knew you had a powerful ally who would be appearing shortly. What possessed you take a risk like that?"
"I knew the wound wouldn't be serious," Naruko answered. "And I was confident I could use the opening to take out my opponent. That way, I could go and aid my team sooner."
"What if they were poisoned?" Hinata asked, cutting into the conversation with more conviction than she usually showed.
Poisoned or not, Naruko wasn't used to having to concern herself with minor injuries like that. Still, she could hardly explain that until recently she would heal almost any wound in seconds.
"I'm sorry," she said instead. "I should have been more careful."
"Being willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of your team is commendable," Minato told her, "but you should consider their feelings as well."
"Well, I for one thought it was pretty awesome," Kiba praised her.
"You shouldn't focus so much on the negatives anyway, Minato," Kushina told him. "They didn't fall for the ambush. They worked well together as a team. None of them panicked in their first real combat situation, and they fought better than genin with their level of experience have any right to."
"I just wanted to make sure the lesson sunk in, but you're right," Minato admitted. "It was very impressive work overall. Now, Izumo, why don't you help Kotetsu back to the village. I'll see that Naruko gets patched up and we'll meet you at the hospital."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," he answered, moving over to help his companion up.
"Now, let me have a look at your arm before you bleed yourself out," Minato ordered her.
She complied and her whole team was soon fussing over her wounds, despite the fact they weren't really that bad. Naruko wondered how they would feel if they knew the person they were so concerned with was really just a clone acting out a role. She actually felt a bit guilty letting them think otherwise, but she'd just have to live with it for the sake of her goal.
Sasuke hadn't had any luck finding Itachi the previous day. Nor had his attempts to gather information provided much more than he already knew. Itachi had been in the village, but no one knew what he was doing there. His outfit had been the only thing Sasuke had managed to pick up that was even remotely useful.
Not having any leads, Sasuke had reluctantly shown up for their mission that day, but he went through the motions with even less enthusiasm than he could normally muster for a D rank. He was so distracted that it wasn't until nearly the end of the day that he noticed Sakura was behaving strangely as well. She hadn't even attempted to speak to him once.
That was a good thing as far as Sasuke was concerned, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to just leave her to her own problems. If nothing else, maybe he could get a hint as to how to keep her from bothering him so much in the future. So when they were done for the day, he approached her after Sarutobi-sensei and Shino had left.
"You're even less useful than usual today," he told her. "Are you ill?"
"No, it's just … I've been a bit worried about Naruko and I'm not sure what to do," Sakura answered.
"If it's about Naruko, then I really don't want to hear it," Sasuke told her coldly, turning to walk away.
"Don't be like that," she told him. "It's just that I saw Naruko's brother talking with a strange man. He was mentioning something about an offer. Naruto didn't seem to be happy to see him, but I'm still worried he might be involved with the wrong sort of people. I kind of want to tell someone, but I may get Naruko's brother in trouble when I don't even really know what's going on."
Wait, he was talking to a strange man? No, Sasuke was just so focused on Itachi that he was seeing him behind every shadow. Still, it didn't hurt to ask.
"Do you recall what he looked like, or how he was dressed?" Sasuke inquired.
"I only saw him from behind," Sakura answered. "But he had dark hair and was dressed in a black cloak with a pattern of red clouds on it."
Sasuke had barely even waited for her to finish her words before he was off. He ignored Sakura's calls from behind him as he raced to the restaurant in question. Sakura's chatter was paying off twice today, first in giving him a clue as to the purpose Itachi's visit, and second in that she'd gone on enough about the restaurant in the past that Sasuke could locate it despite never having been there.
Meanwhile, his mind was racing trying to figure out just what about Naruko's brother would have interested Itachi. He had been making the man an offer? One that he wasn't happy about? What did Sasuke actually know about the man?
Sasuke was afraid that he could count those items on one hand. He ran a restaurant, he was a former priest, and he supposedly looked somewhat like the Yondaime. None of those offered any insight at all. Unless … was it possible that it was more than a simple resemblance? Could it be that they were actually related?
It seemed like a stretch, but it was the only thing Sasuke had to go with. If the Hokage were somehow involved in whatever had forced Itachi to leave the village, a relative of his could make a powerful bargaining chip. Reaching his destination, Sasuke put his musings aside in order to confront the man in question as he barged through the door.
"I'm sorry, but I closed up early today," a man who could only be Naruto told him. He really did resemble the Yondaime.
"Why was my brother here yesterday, and what did he have to say?" Sasuke demanded of him, as he charged up and poked the blond in chest forcefully.
"Your brother?" Naruto asked as he pushed the arm aside, not looking amused at the provocation. "I don't even know who you are. You might want to be a bit more polite if you want something from me in the first place."
"I mean Itachi," he told him. "And don't try to say he wasn't here. I know that he was."
"Ah, yes," Naruto said. "I should have guessed that meeting would cause problems. I'd never met the man before yesterday, but he barges in here recruiting for some organization of his. I told him I wasn't interested, and he left."
"My brother is one of the most powerful ninja there are," Sasuke boasted. "What would he want with the likes of you?"
"Beats me," Naruto said with a shrug. "Maybe he's religious and he wanted spiritual council. He never actually said."
"I find that hard to believe," Sasuke informed him.
"Well he's your brother. You should have a better idea of what he'd want than me. I'm at a loss."
Sasuke was all but certain the man knew more than he was letting on, but he doubted that interrogating him further would lead to any answers. Besides, he already had one of the things he came for. As he stormed out the building without further word, Sasuke examined the very thin needle he'd adhered to the end of his index finger.
It was thin enough that a person wouldn't even feel that they'd been pricked, but Sasuke was pleased to see a small drop of blood on the tip of the needle. He slipped it off his finger and into a plastic bag, which he sealed as he set course for the hospital. Upon arriving, he entered and followed the signs on the wall until he located the directors office.
"Can I help you?" a young woman asked, intercepting him when he was heading for the door.
"I need to see the director," he told her.
"I'm afraid the director is very busy," she informed him. "You'll have to make an appointment."
"This is extremely important," Sasuke insisted loudly, angry at being stopped "The director will want to see me."
"Let me know what it is and I'll make that call," she argued, not sounding very happy with him either.
"Oh just let him in, Shizune," a voice yelled out from behind the door. "It's not like I can get any work done with you two making a racket out there anyway."
"Right away, Tsunade-sama," Shizune answered, jumping to comply.
Sasuke smirked as he walked past her and into the office, where he was faced with a very unhappy looking woman.
"Whatever made you decide to bother me, it had better be important, brat," she threatened him.
"I have a blood sample I want you to analyze the DNA for," he told her, holding out the plastic bag.
"I don't supposed you bothered with anything as trivial as getting consent from whoever this is, did you?" she asked, pausing only long enough to see that he wasn't going to correct her. "Analyzing this would be unethical. I don't know what you think it would prove, and frankly, I don't care."
"Not even if it belongs to a relative of the Yondaime?" Sasuke asked teasingly. "Maybe even his son?"
Tsunade involuntarily glanced at the bag again in response.
"I find that hard to believe," she told him. "Nor would that be enough to get me to do this even if you had some evidence to back that."
"I could be wrong," Sasuke admitted. "But I know my brother, Itachi, is interested in this man, and he's not known for making mistakes. Also, this man has a younger sister who is a rookie genin. If I'm right, she could be in danger as well."
"This is all very interesting," Tsunade told him. "But you should really be bringing this up with the Hokage himself. Given the circumstances, I can see why you might want to avoid that, but without orders, there's nothing I can do."
"Well, I'll just leave this with you," Sasuke told her. "If you're willing to spend the rest of your days wondering if I was right and worrying whether an innocent girl might be harmed because of your ethics, then go right ahead. At least if the worst happens, you can tell yourself you were doing the right thing."
With that, Sasuke walked out, leaving Tsunade to her thoughts. He wondered how long her morals would last now that she was alone. For all his talk Sasuke figured it would be pretty safe to come back sometime tomorrow.
Naruko had snuck out of her home shortly after lunch. She'd been put on medical leave to recuperate from her wounds, but she was sick of people dropping by to wish her well and/or lecture her on her recklessness.
Now she found herself wandering around the town, wondering what to do. Her meandering eventually took her to set of hot springs which she looked at longingly. She hadn't been in a hot spring since … well, she couldn't even remember when just then. It had obviously been too long, but in her current body, she wasn't comfortable with going in either side of a public bath.
Still, she walked around the outside of the wall, withing she could go in. Actually, a simple henge and she'd be able to go in the male side without causing a stir. She was just about to go through with the plan when she spotted a middle-aged man with white hair who was clearly peeping through a hole in women's side of the springs. Deciding to do her good deed for the day, Naruko confronted him.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked icily.
"Quiet brat," he said glancing at her quickly. "This is adult stuff. You wouldn't understand."
"I'm not so young as to not recognize peeping when I see it," Naruko said, temper beginning to flare. "Now if you don't leave immediately, I'm going to make sure everyone in there knows what you're doing."
"Now, now, there's no need to be unreasonable," he said soothingly, backing away from the hole.
When he was a safe distance away, he actually began to look Naruko over intently, to the point she wondered if he recognized her from somewhere. Finally, he reached into a pocket, pulling out a card and handing to her.
"Now that I look you over, I see that you have potential," he told her. "Give me a call in a few years. I may be able to write you into one of my books."
Naruko had reached her limit and was about to blow her top and bring down the wrath of all the women in the bath upon him when a masked Anbu member dropped down next to them.
"Jiraiya-sama," he called out. "The Sandaime was right about finding you here. You're needed immediately. Something important has come up."
This man was the legendary Jiraiya of the Sannin? She supposed that being skilled didn't require one to have a decent personality, but wasn't this pushing it a bit much?
"I've got to go," Jiraiya told her, "but you keep that card somewhere safe."
He quickly disappeared, following behind the masked man and leaving Naruko alone. Naruko was curious as to what could be going on, but decided it was none of her concern. She was going to get back to more important things, namely a nice hot bath.
Sasuke returned to the the hospital less than a day later. Quickly finding his way back to Tsunade's office, he wasn't stopped by anyone this time as he entered the door. This turned out to be because Shizune was already inside, discussing something with Tsunade.
"So, did you analyze the DNA yet?" he asked, watching a flash of guilt go across Shizune's face. "I can see from your assistant's reaction that you did. So, what did you find?"
"I shouldn't tell you this," Tsunade told him, but since it concerns you more than I realized, I will. "It's clear that this Naruto has a good bit of Uchiha blood in him. He even has some of the special base pairs found in those with bloodlines. Specifically, some of those that are found in those with the sharingan."
"Are you saying he might be able to use the sharingan?" Sasuke asked in shock.
"Almost certainly not," Tsunade answered. "I said he had some of the special base pairs. Less than half to be honest, but it was enough to convince me to compare it against a sample of Uchiha blood. So Itachi may have just been visiting a distant relative."
Sasuke wasn't about to believe that. Why would he visit someone he was hardly related to and not his own brother? His thoughts were interrupted when the Yondaime appeared in the room.
"What's this about a son?" he demanded to know, confirming Sasuke's original suspicion.
"Really not the best timing," Tsunade said with a sigh, "but since it's apparently impossible to keep it secret, yes, the DNA records indicate quite clearly that Naruto is your son."
"That's very interesting, considering I know for certain I don't have a son," Minato announced dangerously. "So I'm going to get to the bottom of why Naruto's blood says otherwise."
With that the Hokage was gone as suddenly as he'd appeared. If Naruto wasn't the Yondaime's natural son, that opened whole new lines of possibilities. Ones that were particularly unpleasant given the news that he had Uchiha blood as well.
It was well known that Orochimaru had fled the village after it had been discovered he'd been involved in practices such as human experimentation and cloning. Naruto may very well have been the result of an artificial hybrid of Minato and the Uchiha. Basically an attempt to make a Yellow Flash with the sharingan.
If Tsunade was telling the truth, that attempt had been a failure. If Naruto was a failed experiment, however, what did that make Naruko? A second attempt? It would explain how she'd been able to push him so hard in the academy, but it still left questions. Did she actually have the potential to use the sharingan? Did Itachi know that Naruto was a failure, and if so would he go after Naruko next?
Whatever the answers, Sasuke wouldn't find them standing around here. Exiting out Tsunade's window, despite Shizune's protests, he raced back to Naruto's restaurant. When he arrived, a quick search showed the place to be empty. If he'd been here, the Hokage had gotten to him first.
Sasuke's next stop was to Naruko's apartment, hoping she might actually know something. Unfortunately, her house was just as empty as the restaurant. The only option he really had left was to try to get some answers from the Hokage himself. Hurrying to the tower, he found his way blocked by two Anbu guarding the entrance.
"The tower's closed," one of them told him. "We have orders not to let anyone in."
"I already know what's going on in there," Sasuke insisted. "I'm the one who made the discovery that started all this. Now let me through."
The two of them looked at each other, both seeming unsure of how to handle the situation. He may be able to convince them to let his pass yet.
"You're to stick to your orders," a new voice declared, as an old woman exited the building. "Sasuke is neither needed nor desired inside."
Sasuke wasn't sure just who this old woman was, but he recognized seeing her around the Yondaime during a number of public events. The guards, however, must have known her, as in response to her words, they both firmed their resolve, clearly not intending to let him by. Sasuke ground his teeth at this, but would just have to deal with it.
He could still search the village for Naruto or Naruko, as he wasn't certain they were both in there. Even if it wasn't tonight, he vowed that he'd continue to dig until he knew exactly what was going on.
"Isn't that Naruko's brother?" Choji paused in eating his food to ask.
Looking up from the small table set up outside the soba place they were eating at, Shikamaru confirmed that Naruto was indeed being quickly led down the street by two members of Anbu.
"Yeah, that's him alright," Shikamaru said before lowering his head back to the table, not wanting to get involved.
"Shouldn't we like tell Naruko about this or something?" Choji asked.
"How?" Shikamaru asked. "Do you know where she lives?"
"Well, Ino would probably know," Choji suggested.
"Telling Ino would be too troublesome," Shikamaru argued. "We have to deal with her enough as it is. I don't want to see her outside of work."
"It'll probably be even more of a pain if she finds out we knew about this and didn't tell her," Choji countered.
"I suppose you're right about that," Shikamaru agree, not relishing the thought of what Ino would do if that came to pass.
"Good, then can you go and tell her?" Choji requested.
"Why do I have to?" Shikamaru complained.
"Because I'm still eating," Choji answered, before quickly ordering another bowl.
"Fine," Shikamaru told him, "but you owe me for this."
They weren't actually far from the Yamanaka Flower Shop, and Shikamaru arrived all too soon. He also found the place far more crowded than he would have like. Ino was present, but so were Sakura, Hinata, and even Kiba of all people.
"Don't tell me you're here to buy flowers for Naruko too," Ino asked dubiously. "I already told Kiba here that she won't be happy to get them."
"Naruko may tell me she doesn't want them, but all girls like flowers, right?" Kiba argued.
"Why would you think I'd want to give Naruko flowers?" Shikamaru asked.
"Because she was injured yesterday," Ino answered in annoyance. "I told you that today during our mission."
"Ah, that's right," Shikamaru responded, not wanting to admit that half the time he tuned out whatever Ino was saying. "Anyway, it's not that, but it is related to Naruko."
"Is something wrong?" Hinata asked nervously.
"Not with Naruko directly, as far as I know," he answered. "It's just that I saw her brother being led away by an Anbu escort."
"What?" Ino cried out. "Say something like that sooner!"
"Oh, no," Sakura said, sounding depressed. "This is my fault."
"What do you mean?" Ino asked her.
"A couple of days ago I saw Naruto talking with a suspicious looking man," Sakura admitted. "I mentioned something about it to Sasuke, who seemed really upset about the news. He may have told someone and gotten Naruto in trouble."
"Well, I don't want to get Naruko all worked up when we don't even know what's going on," Ino announced. "Not while she's still recovering. I'd like to get to the bottom of this first. Even so, we should have someone check on her."
"I'll go," Hinata offered.
"Great," Ino said with a nod. "The rest of us are going to see if there are any clues at Naruto's place."
Shikamaru was looking forward to being done with his part in this excitement, but found his arm grabbed by Ino as she pulled him along behind her. It would figure she wouldn't release him from her claws just yet. They found the restaurant empty when they arrived, but Ino boldly strode in, still dragging him along. Sakura and Kiba quickly followed.
"I doubt there will be anything incriminating out here," Sakura opined. "We should look upstairs."
So the four of them marched up the stairs to the living area, quickly locating the bedroom. The place was quite spartan in decoration and meticulously clean. Just a dresser, a rolled up futon, and a travel sack of some sort were visible.
"Is he supposed to actually be living here?" Kiba asked incredulously.
"He was a priest," Shikamaru pointed out. "He's probably used to living a fairly basic life."
"Remind me to never become a priest," Kiba muttered, heading straight for the sack and pulling things out, and tossing them casually to the side.
"Careful with those," Sakura berated him after a book and a couple of scrolls had gone flying. "It's bad enough we're searching through his private things. The least we can do is try to treat them with a little respect."
Shikamaru had already grabbed up the book and was looking at it curiously. It was titled 'The Wonders of Modern Living' and Shikamaru began to leaf through it. Scanning the pages it was clear this wonders in the book weren't terribly modern at all. The book had to be at least half a century old.
As he continued to flip through, Shikamaru discovered a bookmark pressed between the pages about halfway through. Actually, it wasn't just any bookmark, but a black and white photograph containing Naruto and a small girl.
"What have you got there?" Ino asked, grabbing the photo from him.
"It's not even color?" Kiba asked. "How ancient must that be? Naruto must really be like a hundred years old or something."
"It's called being artistic," Sakura corrected him. "Not that you'd understand, but some people appreciate the aesthetics of a style like this. The real question is, who is the girl in the picture?"
"Hey, look what I found," Kiba called out, having already lost interest in the photo and going back to searching Naruto's things.
He held up a small pouch and dumped the contents into his hand. Out poured a number of coins, many of which looked to be gold or silver.
"You know what this means, right?" Kiba asked.
"If you say anything about it proving Naruto really is extremely old, you're going to regret it," Sakura threatened.
"You need to keep an open mind," Kiba complained. "He could be using some sort of genjutsu like Tsunade."
"Then how would he have a twelve-year-old sister?" Ino asked him. "Unless you think she's secretly eighty or something."
"What are you kids doing in here?" a voice interrupted sharply, and Shikamaru turned to see none other than Koharu, one of the Hokage's councilors, glaring at them from the stairs. Now look what he'd been pulled into.
"We're trying to find some clues about Naruto's background," Ino answered nervously.
"I know for a fact that wasn't approved by anyone," Koharu informed them. "So it looks like breaking and entering to me."
"We're sorry," Sakura apologized. "We're just Naruko's friends, and we wanted to look into this for her sake."
"Well, show me what you found," Koharu ordered them.
Kiba quickly dumped the handful of coins back into the pouch and handed them off to Koharu. Ino then passed over the photo Shikamaru had found. Koharu didn't seem terribly interested in the coins, but her eyes widened when she saw the picture.
"So, do you recognize the girl in the picture?" Shikamaru asked.
"Can't you see the resemblance? It's me of course," Koharu quipped.
"I knew it," Kiba cried out in vindication.
"That was a joke," Koharu snapped at him. "I have no idea who the girl is, the important thing is the photo itself. I knew Naruto looked familiar, and now I know exactly why. I once visited a temple where the head priest had this old antique camera that he was terribly proud of."
"Ah, so it's just a really old camera," Sakura nodded in understanding.
"Yes," Koharu confirmed. "I'm just amazed he hasn't run out of film or flashbulbs yet. He must have had quite the stockpile. Still, it was years ago but there was a boy at the temple who looked much like Naruto."
"That's nice to know, but that doesn't explain why Naruto was dragged away," Ino interjected. "What exactly is going on?"
"It seems the Yondaime wasn't quite as faithful to his wife as he'd have us believe," Koharu told them. "A DNA analysis proved Naruto was his son. I suppose that would most likely make Naruko his daughter as well. The son of the Hokage would have been of interest to any number of our enemies, so it just made us more suspicious of his background."
"So what exactly is going to happen from here?" Kiba asked.
"It will go a long way to know he really was living on a temple here in the Land of Fire," Koharu told them. "Most likely he'll be released shortly. Nor do I think there was ever any suspicion cast on your friend."
"Well, if that mystery is solved, I'm going home," Shikamaru declared, leaving the room and walking down the stairs.
He grabbed a menu and stuffed it his his pocket before he left. He just wished he could have a nice quiet life instead of this mess.
When the two men showed up at his door demanding he come with them, Naruto groaned to himself but complied. They hardly had a reason to execute him outright, so he'd play along and hope this could still be salvaged. One thing was for certain though, Naruto was not happy with Uchiha Itachi right now.
When he was finally shoved into a room, he saw it contained three men and one woman. The only person who wasn't old enough to be covered in wrinkles was the Yondaime. One of the old men looked to be the face that was next to Minato's on the Hokage monument, even if age had made it harder to recognize. He didn't know who the other two were at all.
No sooner had Naruto been left there then another man entered the room. He was a white-haired man whose age clearly fell somewhere in the middle of the Yondaime and the other three occupants in the room.
"Jiraiya, I'm glad to see you could make it," the Sandaime greeted him.
"Yeah yeah, now what's this all about?" he asked. "I was in the middle of some important research."
"This is about Naruto here," Minato answered. "More precisely, why Tsunade tells me that, genetically, he's my son."
"I don't know much about genetics," Naruto told him, "but I can assure you I'm not your son. My father was a man named Shouhei."
"That's something we can agree on," Minato responded. "That leaves me with only one possible conclusion. That someone has been experimenting with my DNA in ways that I'm not pleased with in the least."
"I'm at a loss for whatever you're talking about with DNA and such," Naruto admitted, "but it is worth mentioning that from the first time I saw you I noticed a remarkable resemblance to my father. He was much older than you, but it was still unmistakable."
"Looking like someone and having the same DNA are two different things," Minato explained. "Barring identical twins, it's impossible for two different people to have the same DNA naturally."
Their discussion was interrupted when a red-haired woman stormed into the room, quite obviously furious about something. If he wasn't mistaken, that was Minato's wife, Kushina. This was most likely the case, as she immediately focused her rage on him.
"All these years I trusted you, and you'd been cheating on me?" she screamed at him. "Nor do you even have the guts to admit it to me after the fact."
"I've never cheated on you," Minato assured her while looking absolutely terrified of the woman. "Something else is going on here, and we're trying to figure out what."
"I have better things to do than listen to a squabble over parentage," the old woman announced. "I trust the rest of you can sort this matter out."
The woman then let herself out. Naruto was all but forgotten at the moment, as Kushina had quickly made herself the center of attention. Jiraiya had already approached the fuming woman, putting a hand on her shoulder as he attempted to placate her.
"Don't forget, Kushina, Naruto has to be at least twenty," Jiraiya pointed out. "Even if Minato isn't telling the truth, that would have been before you were so much as engaged."
"That is true," Kushina admitted, seeming to calm for a second as she turned to face the man. This proved to be little more than a ploy to get him to drop his guard as she quickly followed up with a knee to the man's groin, hitting so hard that every man in the room cringed at just the thought of the blow.
"But I haven't forgotten that Naruko is his sister!" she yelled at him. "Half-sister by the same father even."
Grabbing the still stiff as a statue Jiraiya by the neck she slammed him into the ground with all her strength. Holding him there with both hands, she proceeded to choke him.
"That means two different women," Kushina pointed out.
"Now, now Kushina," the Sandaime told her. "Despite his flaws, Jiraiya has an important role in this village. Besides, there actually is evidence that might support Minato not having fathered any children."
Reluctantly Kushina did let Jiraiya go, allowing the man to breath again.
"You can't mean to tell that story in front of Naruto?" the unknown old man asked in disbelief. "That's an S-class secret."
Now Naruto was fully interested in what they had to say. The mystery around the Yondaime's resemblance to his father had bothered him ever since he first saw the man. Could this secret of theirs explain what the cause was?
"Considering how much it involves him, he has a right to know," the Sandaime argued. "Especially after we dragged him here like this. Of course this will depend on him swearing himself to secrecy."
"I won't tell another soul about it," he vowed. "You have my word."
"We haven't yet established if we can trust that," the former Hokage declared. "But it will have to do for now. Minato, I'm sure you're aware that you were adopted, correct?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with this?" Minato asked.
"You see, we never told you, but it was Orochimaru who brought you to the village," he answered. "You were maybe two years old. He said he'd found you somewhere and thought you had potential. He was even the one who arranged for you to be adopted into the Namikaze Clan."
"You can't possibly be suggesting that I'm ..." Minato began, his words trailing off at the end.
"A clone based on Naruto's father?" the Sandaime finished for him, clearly distressed by his own words. "That is what I was thinking. Still, Orochimaru was only a teen at the time. If he truly was responsible, it would mean his experiments had begun much younger than I'd ever imagined. It seems the scope of my failure grows ever larger with time."
Naruto was still at a loss. This could be the explanation he wanted, but there were parts he was confused about. This Orochimaru could have made a copy of Naruto's father, but how would he have ever known he existed? How would he have known what he looked like? And how would he have managed to get this DNA thing they kept talking about to match?
"That still doesn't make any sense though," Minato argued, not accepting the story himself either. "I've never heard of any Shouhei. Why would Orochimaru clone someone that was a complete unknown?"
"It's possible Orochimaru knew something we didn't," the Sandaime answered. "Regardless, when Naruto claimed to have an older father who looked very much like you, it got me thinking. It's such an unbelievably weak lie that it makes me want to believe it."
"You all can't seriously expect me to buy this, can you?" Kushina interjected coldly. "You're going to a lot of trouble to try to protect Minato, but there's too much evidence against you. I'm suppose to believe that Minato just happened to find this girl who's genetically his daughter wandering around outside the village? That it was pure chance that he decided to train Naruko's team himself?"
"I know it seems unlikely, but you have to believe me that that's all it was," Minato pleaded.
"You know what, the worst part isn't even that you cheated on me and then lied about it," Kushina said forlornly. "I could bring myself to forgive you in time. No, the real tragedy is that you forced Naruko to live as an orphan all these years, just to protect your own hide. Even now, when you've been caught, you work up this ridiculous story planning to deny Naruko to the end?"
"I promise you, everything I've said is quite true," the Sandaime assured her, coming to his successor's defense.
"No, I understand," Kushina told him. "After even bringing his own son into the lie and setting up all this theater, I don't expect any of you to back down now. It really is quite clever. You provide just enough hope that Minato might have been faithful, that as long as he keeps insisting he was, I can't technically kill him."
"You know," Jiraiya said weakly from where he still lay prone on the floor, "if you did kill him, that would deprive Naruko of a father as well."
As if flipping a switch, his words immediately turned Kushina back from depression to rage.
"I don't want to hear another word from your worthless mouth!" Kushina screamed out, marching over to Jiraiya and laying into him with a series of ferocious kicks. "I blame you for all of this, you pervert! You corrupted my husband!You probably set the whole thing up too! Got him drunk and then picked out a girl and tossed the two of them together!"
Her kicks continued nonstop through her tirade, and she actually seemed to be aiming for vital points on the man's body. He was trying his best to protect himself with his arms, but he was meeting with limited success.
"You're a despicable piece of trash," she announced, "and I'm going to treat you just like what you are! I'm going to burn you alive and record your screams so I can listen to them whenever I need cheering up!"
Minato seemed to be waging an internal debate over whether to help when it may just turn her wrath to him. It was the Sandaime who finally pulled her away again, having to physically restrain her this time when words failed.
"I would like to remind you all that none of this gives us any reason to trust Naruto," the old man, whose name Naruto still didn't have, pointed out after Kushina had finally calmed down a little. "I suggest we keep him confined to a cell until we've been able to investigate him a bit more."
Naruto didn't like the sound of that at all.
"That won't be necessary, Homura," the old woman from before called out, reentering the room. "I've done a little digging myself, and I'm satisfied his story does check out for now. "I can explain in detail later, but I'd like to interrogate him a bit in private first. Still, unless that goes poorly for him, I expect we'll want to release him."
Just where would she have found evidence of that? He hadn't even told anyone where the temple was that he was claiming to have to worked at.
"We have no actual evidence of wrongdoing," Minato pointed out. "So I don't want to imprison him unless it's truly necessary. If you're satisfied it's not, Koharu, then that's good enough for me."
"Of course if we do release him, we should all go with the story that Minato really is their father," Homura proposed.
"Is that really necessary?" Minato complained.
"Would you prefer everyone knew you might have been artificially created by one of the most feared traitors in Konoha's history?" the Sandaime asked him.
"I'm thinking about it," Minato answered, before a glare from his wife made up his mind for him. "Fine, fine. I'll go along with the story, for Naruko's sake if nothing else."
"Good, now with that settled I want you to follow me, Naruto," Koharu told him. "I have some questions for you."
Following along obediently, Naruto was soon led into a private office. Koharu sat down and quietly stared at him for a while. Naruto was beginning to get a bit impatient about the whole thing.
"I suppose you have almost as many questions for me as I do for you," Koharu finally said, before pulling something out and handing it to him. "But I suspect this will answer many of them. I found it in your things."
Curiously Naruto took the item, seeing it was the old photo he'd taken what must have been sixty years ago. Wait, a photo he'd taken sixty years ago in this village was being handed to him by and old woman named Koharu who seemed to think it would answer his questions?
"You're Ko-chan?" Naruto asked, hardly believing the possibility.
"I prefer Koharu these days, but yes," she answered. "I lost my own copy of that decades ago. I admit I didn't recognize you at first, even though I was sure you looked familiar. So tell me, are you physically as young as you appear, or is it just genjutsu?"
"My body is still as young and fit as it's ever been," Naruto boasted, not seeing any reason to hide that when she already knew he was much older than he looked.
"That is quite impressive," she praised him. "I suppose if you can do that, perhaps your healing my injuries wasn't just a childhood delusion brought on by shock. I'd convinced myself that's all it was, but now I suspect it may have been real."
"Yeah, you were in pretty bad shape when I found you," Naruto confirmed. "So tell me, why did you make up that story back there instead of just telling them what you knew?"
"Partially because I do owe you my life," Koharu told him, "but I admit the larger part was a more selfish motive. There's a lot of politics involved in running a village. If I'm the only one who knows what you're truly capable of, it opens up certain possibilities. Of course, that all depends on whether even I can trust you. So tell me, what are you doing in the village?"
"I was mostly hoping to learn a few things," Naruto explained. "I can work my chakra in ways that would amaze you, but I admit my knowledge of topics such as ninjutsu is rather limited. I was hoping to eventually get a bit of an exchange going. Some of what I know for some of what you know."
"Interesting," Koharu answered. "I want you to know that my first loyalty is to the village. Whether you saved my life or not, I will not just give away Konoha's secrets to a man I know very little about. Still, there's no reason we can't have a mutually beneficial relationship. If you do the occasional favor for me, I'm sure I can help you somewhat with your own goals."
"That's good to hear," Naruto said gratefully.
"Now, if I might ask," Koharu began. "Why all the deception in the first place? If you revealed you abilities right from the start, we still might have been able to work something out. Also, what exactly is your relationship to Naruko? Is she really the Yondaime's daughter? Is she yours? Is she a random girl who looks like you that you simply made use of for your purposes?"
"I'm just a cautious and private person, I guess," Naruto answered. "As for Naruko, why don't you just do more of that DNA stuff to find out?"
"Tsunade was reluctant to do so even for you," Koharu explained. "She would be loathe to test a ninja of Konoha against her will, and even asking would look suspicious."
"That's good to hear," Naruto said cheerfully. "It means I'll be able to keep at least one secret from you. If you don't fully trust me, I don't see why I should feel any different about you."
"Fair enough," she answered, not looking pleased despite her words. "She's of no great concern anyway. Now, we should probably make sure we have our stories straight so neither of us is caught in a lie."
So Naruto spent a few hours being drilled by Koharu to ensure he could answer whatever questions might come up. She was far more thorough than Naruto had been with his own back-story, catching a number of flaws so small he wouldn't even have worried over them. It really was hard to think of this intense wrinkled old woman as the same little girl he'd met all those years ago.
Still, it was just one of those things you had to deal with when you lived for centuries, even if it never got easy.
When Naruto finally arrived home, most of the afternoon had already gone by. He was thinking of making dinner, but he sensed someone already inside. Entering the building, he saw one of Ino's teammates, Shikamaru if he remembered correctly, sitting alone at a table.
"I never would have imagined you were over two hundred years old," he called out as soon as he saw Naruto. "Honestly, you don't look a day over a hundred and fifty."
Naruto eyed the kid warily. Just when he thought he might be able to get out of this without any significant issues, it seemed someone else was on to him. Still, he was just a kid. Naruto might be able to convince him he was mistaken.
"You think I'm how old?" Naruto asked. "That's quite a claim to make if you're serious."
"Deny it if you want, but have a look at this first," Shikamaru told him, pulling out a folded up piece of paper. Unfolding it, he found one of his own menus.
"What is this supposed to mean?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"That menu is handwritten," Shikamaru pointed out. "Which is odd, because it matches the writing in that book you lent me exactly."
So that was how he caught on. Naruto should have been more careful, but it was still quite clever of him to catch on to that.
"So your first thought is that I'm actually hundreds of years old?" Naruto quipped. "You skipped right past the possibilities that the book was merely a copy I wrote or that I liked the style of writing in the book and decided to use it for my menus?"
"It's definitely not a copy," Shikamaru told him. "The book is far too old. I had considered that you just found an old book with blank pages and wrote in it, as unlikely as that seems. I quickly threw away that idea when I noticed that the writing never avoided any of the tears or other damaged areas of the pages."
Naruto kept his silence, not wanting to give anything away. It was possible that Shikamaru wasn't as confident as he sounded and was hoping Naruto would slip up if he pressed him.
"Of course you could have still copied the style for the menus like you said," Shikamaru conceded. "You're very skilled at forgery if you did, but that does seem much more likely than my own claim. It was another piece of evidence that actually convinced me. I saw that old photo of you before Koharu took it."
"It was from an antique camera," Naruto responded, glad now that Koharu had made them get their stories straight.
"That would be possible, but I did a little research," Shikamaru informed him. "I managed to find an old photo of Koharu from when she first became a genin. She was a bit older then, but the resemblance was uncanny. Now are you ready to drop the act, or should I go on."
"Fine," Naruto said. "I admit I did write the book. So tell me, why did you confront me like this?"
"Because I don't plan to tell anyone else about this," Shikamaru answered.
Maybe there was hope yet.
"Is this extortion then?"
"Nothing so crude as that," Shikamaru assured him. "I just feel that I know a little about you from looking through that dry old tome. You're obviously highly skilled, yet virtually nothing in there would be of much use in a fight. It would have been easy enough to develop offensive techniques, but you apparently focused on other subjects. That strikes me as something the scholarly type would do rather than your typical power hungry madman who might be a threat to village."
"I'm glad you think so," Naruto told him. "And I assure you, I don't mean Konoha or anyone living here any harm."
"Good," Shikamaru declared. "Because if I did tell, it could bring problems of its own. The news that someone had discovered the secret of eternal youth would cause all sorts of troublesome things to happen. To start with, the people most determined to learn such things are often those you least want to know them. There are certain people you wouldn't like the idea of knowing they'd never grow old and die."
"It's not exactly something I could teach just anyone in the first place," Naruto admitted. "It's really more of a bloodline."
"You might have trouble convincing people of that," he posited. "Still, I should at least tell the Hokage about this. I would have if it weren't for the issue of your relationship to him."
"You heard about the DNA thing, then?" Naruto asked.
"Yes," he confirmed. "Now the thing is, those tests are great for determining two people are parent and child, but they're much less effective at figuring out which is which. Normally that isn't an issue that a quick glance at the two parties couldn't solve. Anyway, a little search showed that the Yondaime was adopted into his clan with no records as to who his parents were."
So he was convinced that Naruto was Minato's father? If it was really going to keep him quiet, Naruto could play along with that.
"Ah, I see," Naruto said. "I don't have much knowledge of the process, but I was curious as to why it said I was his son when I knew I wasn't."
"I know it must be hard to deal with your children growing old and dying before your eyes," Shikamaru continued, "but you're here anyway. I think Naruko and the Hokage have a right to know. I just thought I'd do you the courtesy of letting you be the one to tell them."
So, he was convinced Naruto was Naruko's father as well? All the more amusing a misconception, even if in some sense, he could actually be considered as such.
"I appreciate that," Naruto told him, "but despite your opinions on the matter, I'm not exactly eager to tell them. Could you at least give me some time to think it over?"
"Fine," Shikamaru agreed. "This has already been far too troublesome. I don't feel like arguing with you over this right now. Just remember that it's not likely to get any easier if you wait."
Naruto was glad to see another crisis averted when he left. Still the whole situation had suddenly become far to complicated. It was almost certain the entire deception would come crashing down eventually. Hopefully, he could get what he came for before then. Either way, watching the resulting fallout could prove to be fun.
"Just where is Naruko?" Sakura cried out in frustration. "I'm actually beginning to get a little worried. At this rate, she's going to be the last person to find out that she's the Hokage's daughter."
"Maybe she already found out and she just wants some time alone to think things through," Hinata suggested.
"My wager is that she just ditched us and went into hiding because she was tired of greeting well-wishers," Ino exclaimed. "Anyway, you can be sure she'll get a piece of my mind when we do find her."
Naruko let out a sigh of contentment. That hot bath had felt so good that she'd relaxed in until after sunset. It was nice to just have a peaceful afternoon with no worries and nothing happening. She should do this more often.
Author's Notes
I'm afraid you'll have to wait until another chapter to find out more about Itachi and the modern day Akatsuki. Still I hope there was enough going on in this one to keep you all entertained. Things are starting to get moving and this was my favorite chapter to write so far in The Conduit.
I just hope people weren't confused too badly by my jumping around to so many points of view covering the same time frame. I figured it would be easy enough to piece together and make sense of it, and I apologize if I was wrong on that.
Now that I've got Naruto more involved in the happenings of Konoha, you should find that, like this one, he gets his fair share of time each chapter. It was a bit of an unintended consequence that Naruko was getting so much even after her introductory chapter.
She just had all these connections and with people and Naruto had very few. I wasn't about to rush Naruto's part of the story out, so Naruko got the lions share last chapter. That said, I'm not pushing Naruko out of the way either. She's easily the second most important character in the story right now, and will still have a good portion of the narrative devoted to her. Just not as much as chapters 5 or 6.
