Fūrinkazan

Chapter – 7

"The Day After"

Naruto and Sakura awoke to the call of the resident cockle as the sun slowly rose over the wheat fields the next day. They had arrived in the small farming community late in the afternoon of the previous day and quickly found the only Inn. They had gotten themselves a room and ate a short dinner before heading upstairs to sleep, for both were extremely exhausted from the confrontation with the Kiri nuke-nin.

Naruto tried to roll onto his back but couldn't when he realized that Sakura was lying in his arms. He propped himself up and looked down at Sakura's serene face. He studied her face and the cuts and bruises were gone and only a small discoloring of the skin showed where Sakura had been injured. He was amazed at the healing ability of chakra all his life but yesterday when he had watched Sakura heal her face and saw the pain she was in, Naruto for the first time in his time was grateful to the Kyuubi within him and his ability to heal all his injuries without a hitch and pain.

Her swollen eyes were all but gone; the only remnants of their swollen state were darker violet blotches underneath her eyes. The cut on her left cheek that had been done to her by the Swordsman was healed as well and only a tiny barely recognizable white scar reminded him of that injury.

Naruto's hand gently crawled under her shirt and rested on her bruised stomach. She winced in pain upon his touch and her jade green eyes fluttered open. She looked up into his worried and apologetic blue orbs and a small reassuring smile played across her lips.

"It hurts but nothing life threatening Naruto-kun," Sakura reassured him and licked her dry lips that had also taken a beating the previous day but where now completely healed. Yesterday, when she had started healing herself, she had mended her split lips first, knitting the flesh and skin back together with her chakra. And even though Sakura had fought the swelling in her face with her chakra, Naruto could swear her lips looked fuller today than they normally did.

"I must be imagining it," he thought as he continued to study her face. A small smile crossed his face, "Good Morning Sakura-chan. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I was already awake," Sakura said and carefully lifted the shirt to look at her bruised stomach. She winced again at the sight that was revealed to her and even Naruto felt the pain she must have been experiencing.

Her toned stomach was bruised to a dark violet, if not to an almost black and Sakura carefully removed his hand from her belly in order to minimize contact with her pained abdomen. "Do you think you can move at all?" Naruto asked in worry.

Sakura nodded but winced when she tried to move. "Um, well I guess I am wrong."

Naruto chuckled, "Can't you heal your stomach like you did with your face? I know you said that you couldn't remove all signs of bruising and that some injuries need to heal without chakra manipulation but don't you think this is a little overboard?"

"I was just low on chakra yesterday so I only mended my face and the potentially life threatening injuries. I was going to get the rest done today." Sakura said and was already in the process of summoning her chakra to her hands. She winced again as her fingers carefully touched her black and blue stomach and Naruto watched once again in fascination how the discoloring of her skin slowly lightened and in some areas completely vanished leaving behind clean and healthy skin.

Minutes turned to an hour of Sakura slowly healing her bruised body and when she was done, she slowly sat upright to lean against the headboard of their rented bed. Every muscle and bone complained in pain but at least she was able to properly move again. "Okay I am good now, not quite comfortable but I'll manage."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked in worry.

"Yes I'll be fine," Sakura responded and lovingly patted one of Naruto's hands. "Naruto-kun can you please go downstairs and ask at the reception if we can get room service?"

"Sure Sakura-chan," Naruto replied happily and slipped out of bed. He walked into the bathroom, only to return several minutes later washed and dressed only in a towel. "Sakura-chan what happened to our clothes? I could have sworn I placed them into the bathtub last night."

"Oh I threw them into a laundry bag," Sakura replied looking up from reading their small book that held all of their special ninja gear sealed inside. "Check our door, the receptionist said they had an overnight laundry service. Our clothes should be cleaned and returned to us already."

"Oh okay," Naruto replied and walked towards the door to their room and opened it. And just as Sakura had claimed, Naruto found their cleaned clothes inside a plastic bag that was standing in front of their door. Naruto picked up the bag and walked back inside, closing the door behind him. "Here it is. I'll get dressed and then I'll go downstairs and ask for room service. What would you like to eat Sakura-chan?"

"I don't care, Ham and Eggs are fine." Sakura replied and slowly slipped out of the bed. "I am going to take a bubble bath, so take your time Naruto."

"A bubble bath?" Naruto groaned in question and his stomach rumbled a complaint. He sighed in defeat, "Right Sakura-chan. I guess I'll take a look at the village and see if I can't find our contact in the meantime."

"You do that," Sakura called out of the bathroom. She turned on the water and let the bathtub fill with the warm liquid. She turned around and stood inside the doorframe to the bathroom and watched Naruto get dressed.

Naruto realized that Sakura was watching him. He walked towards her after being fully dressed and gently slung his arms around her hips and kissed her. "I'll be back in a bit. Take your time."

A smile tucked at Sakura's lips and she nodded. Naruto walked away and let his arms gently drag across her hips as if he didn't want to let go and before he could walk out of arms reach, he found his hands clasped in between Sakura's. He turned around in question and Sakura stepped closer for another kiss.

"Naruto we need to get some money," Sakura muttered after they broke their kiss. "We are running low and we need to purchase more clothes and I need new foot wear. You can't carry me on your back all the time."

"I know," Naruto said and rubbed the back of his head in discomfort. "I'll get us some extra money. You don't worry Sakura-chan. I'll also buy you some new sandals while you take your bath."

"Thanks and Naruto," Sakura stopped him again from walking away.

"Yeah what is it?"

"Um… How did you and Jiraiya get more money during your travel?" Sakura asked in curiosity. "I mean, well, you know…" She looked away from his questioning eyes. "Perhaps we can do similar things to earn money while we travel?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Huh?! Sakura-chan what's wrong? Are you ashamed to ask?"

"No, no," Sakura replied quickly waving her hands back and forth and looked at him again. "I just thought that perhaps you had to do things I wouldn't want to know about." Sakura's voice fell very quiet until she unintelligible mumbled, "Like sleeping with other women to earn money and help the pervert with his research."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and he walked up to her and pulled her into his arms, "Is that what you think I did to earn money on my travel with Ero-sennin?"

A weak nod of her pink head gave him his answers. Naruto chuckled, "Nothing of that sort ever happened. Trust me Sakura-chan, Ero-sennin might have been a super pervert but he wasn't like that. He wasn't a pimp, even though," Naruto trailed off thinking out loud. "If you consider that most of his female spies work in brothels… Ah whatever," Naruto shook his head to get it clear. "If you truly want to know how we made money, I'll tell you."

"Please," Sakura muttered and had her arms tightly wrapped around him as her head rested on his chest.

"We took small missions," Naruto replied as he rested his head on top of hers. "And we collected a few bounties as well. Those actually pay the most of course and I had to gather quite a few too. Believe it or not but Jiraiya's research budget was bigger than Baa-chan's sake and gambling budget. On a good night, he easily spent close to a million ryō in a single night."

"You mean…"

"Yup, he spent all that money on prostitutes and sake," Naruto said. "Don't you worry; I'll ask the contact if she knows of a few bounties we can collect on as we travel through Lightning Country. They know that stuff because Jiraiya would always need more money, and we can also loan us a bit from her if needed. Now go enjoy your bath and stop worrying. I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay," Sakura said and kissed him once more. "Hurry back and don't forget to order room service."

"I will," Naruto replied and swiftly exited their room.

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"And how do the sandals fit?" Naruto asked eagerly as he watched Sakura try on the Greek styled sandals he got her. He had no idea what Greek was but he liked the design of them right away when he saw them.

Sakura briefly walked around the room and stopped all of a sudden and looked at him, "They fit perfectly. How did you know my size?"

Naruto chuckled embarrassingly, "Well having been at the end of your foot numerous times, I am bound to recognizing your proper size ne?"

Sakura giggled, "Naruto you're silly. Now tell me how did you know? Don't tell me you spied or stole a pair of my shoes once? Wait; don't tell me you have a fetish that I didn't know about?"

"No, no," Naruto quickly replied. "I won't reveal my source but a ninja has to know these sorts of things. I can even tell you Kakashi-sensei's or Baa-chan's shoe size."

Sakura smirked, "Okay now I am definitely sure that you have a foot fetish."

"Na, na Sakura-chan that is not nice," Naruto muttered and pouted with his arms crossed in front of his chest and looked away from her.

"Aw c'mon don't be like that," Sakura jested. "You know I was just teasing you. I don't think you have a foot fetish at all."

A single blue eye opened and peaked at Sakura, who was studying him. "Hn," Naruto grunted and stood up. "Alright fine, you're forgiven."

"Thanks," Sakura smiled and happily bounced towards him and laid a soft kiss on one of his cheeks. "Now while you were walking around the village, did you find your contact?"

"No but I did find the sake bar where she wants to meet us," Naruto responded while looking down at the one head shorter pinkette in front of him.

"I see and when did she say that she wanted to meet us there?" Sakura asked and walked towards their bed to gather up their things.

"She wanted to meet in the early afternoon," Naruto responded and followed Sakura to help her. He handed her the book she had been reading, while Sakura was folding and sealing away the clothes they slept in.

"Thanks," Sakura said as Naruto handed her the book. "So we have a couple of hours to spend walking around the village?"

"Yes, unless you want to wait in the sake bar for her the entire time," Naruto said as he walked into the bathroom to check for anything that they might be forgetting.

"You think the woman will show up early?" Sakura asked and called after him as she closed their small travel bag. "By the way, what is her name?"

Naruto returned from the bathroom carrying their tooth brushes, "I honestly don't know. Jiraiya called everyone by codenames. I just know her as 'Violet Kumo'."

"Violet Kumo? That is a strange codename," Sakura muttered and took the tooth brushes from Naruto and placed them into the bag.

"Eh," Naruto shrugged with his shoulders and took the bag out of Sakura's hands. "This time I'll be carrying it. And about her weird name… Ero-sennin always used a combination of color and the village the person is living in."

"Oh," Sakura said and thought for a minute.

"Yeah I know, not very original." Naruto said and took her hand into his and they walked towards the door.

"So she is from Kumo? A Kunoichi perhaps?" Sakura asked as they were about to exit their hotel room.

"Yes she lives in Kumo, is probably from there too but I don't know if she is a Kumo shinobi or not," Naruto admitted and opened the door. Both of them stepped through and walked downstairs towards the receptionist. "I don't even know how Jiraiya met her but her Intel was always reliable and trustworthy. And her skills in forging documents are unbelievable. They look so real, that I sometimes think that they are real and not some forgery."

"I see and did you mention your concerns to Jiraiya?"

"Sort of," Naruto replied. "He didn't really pay attention and just told me to not worry about it."

"Okay I guess if Jiraiya trusted her and was happy with her skills, we shouldn't need to worry about it." Sakura said to him as they walked down the flight of stairs.

"At least we shouldn't lose sleep over it," Naruto replied with a hint of a smile on his lips as he remembered quoting Jiraiya say the exact same words to him when Naruto had asked the Toad Sage. "C'mon let's pay our bill and check out the village together. With luck we can find a quick job that will earn us some fast money."

"Sure," Sakura agreed and stepped up to the reception desk and paid their bill.

Both of them were quickly out on the streets and walked along the main road of the village. The road was lined with small shops and stands. It wasn't much but there wasn't much to be expected of a small farming community. They reached the village circle and immediately saw the main attractions of the village. In the center stood a small well with a few benches to sit down on. In the far back was the smithy, while the bakery stood off to the right. To the left were several small food stands as well as the grocery.

"I sometimes wonder how these small communities can survive out here," Naruto muttered as the two looked at everything around them. "I mean these people must all live from each other and depend on them. If there is a little influx of money coming into their pockets, it can only come from travelers like us."

"True," Sakura said. "But they also sell their crops to surrounding villages and I bet Kumogakure along with their Daimyo are the main customers. It looks like a bleak life to us because we grew up in a large village but to these people, it's a way of life. I bet the majority of the villagers are quite happy with what they have or are at least content."

"I guess," Naruto responded and pointed towards a building. "That's the sake bar and over there," Naruto pointed to another smaller building, "Is where I bought your sandals."

"Okay but now what? Want to see if we can find a small job for some money?"

"I guess," Naruto said but didn't look convinced. "But I don't think we'll find anything quick and easy. My guess is we could probably find something at one of the local farmsteads but that work will be at least a few days if not weeks. Perhaps if we are lucky, we can ask for the local doctor and you can offer your help and services for a small fee in healing the sick and injured."

"It's worth a shot," Sakura decided and approached one of the villagers.

"Excuse me," Sakura spoke to an elderly woman, who was passing them. "Could you please tell me where I may find the local doctor?"

"I am sorry dear but our village has no doctor," the Elder replied and looked from Sakura to Naruto. "If you or your man is in need of medical help, you will have to go to the next town. Just head west on the road and it will lead you directly to the town. You can't miss it and its only four hours away by horseback."

"Oh thank you for your help and sorry to have bothered you," Sakura bowed in thanks and briefly watched the old woman leave. She turned to Naruto, "I guess we're out of luck."

"Let's just go to the sake bar and wait for the contact, unless you wish to walk around some more," Naruto suggested.

He received a nod from Sakura and both of them walked to the bar and took a seat inside at a table in the corner. Their eyes scanned the patrons for any suspicious behavior and then after ordering sake, they quietly talked to each other and waited while keeping a trained eye on the patrons and the door that lead into the bar.

Time quickly flew by as Naruto and Sakura discussed their next steps on their journey away from Konoha. The topic of settling near Iwagakure was brought up by Sakura again as she voiced her concern for their safety considering that Iwa and Konoha were not on all too friendly terms.

"And you are sure Naruto?" Sakura asked questioningly as she watched the Blond smile.

"Yes I am," Naruto responded nodding more to himself than to Sakura. "Iwagakure, especially its surrounding area are the least likely area for Danzo's Root Anbu and Konoha's Hunter-nin to look for us. Unlike the other villages and countries, the history between Earth and Fire country alone makes it nearly impossible for them to move freely."

"But what makes you so sure?"

"In my journey with Ero-sennin we traveled through Earth Country and I know from firsthand experience how mistrusting Iwa and the Earth citizens are. Anything remotely suspicious is reported immediately to the authorities by the people and before knowing what happened, you are surrounded by four teams of fully armed Iwa Anbu." Naruto explained "And trust me when I say that they don't like Konoha very much."

"Fine but how were you and Jiraiya safe? How did you two travel through Earth Country? I imagine you must have been constantly stopped, checked, searched, and what not?"

Naruto chuckled, "Yeah it was something along those lines. We were also threatened, beaten, and thrown into jail numerous times. Ero-sennin explained to me that there was no better way to practice evasion tactics for a Leaf shinobi than to attempt to travel across Earth Country without being caught."

"Eh? But you suck at evasion," Sakura sputtered out to which Naruto only grinned.

"Well of course I do," Naruto admitted and tried to look sheepish. "I am not bad but it's practically impossible to not get caught with Ero-sennin tagging along. The second he'd see a woman, he'd be all over her and bring the wrath of the authorities down on us in no time."

Sakura groaned at hearing that and deflated, "I really can't believe that pervert was one of the legendary Sannin."

Naruto only nodded in agreement, "In fact all three of them aren't so hot."

"I guess you're right," Sakura agreed as she reevaluated the legend of the three Sannin and their skills, and compared them to the three shinobi she knew. Sakura sighed upon her realization that in their own ways even Tsunade and Jiraiya were no better than Orochimaru. "Alright that sort of explains why Konoha will have trouble looking for us in Earth Country but what about the two of us? We're from the Leaf too."

"Yes but here is where the contact comes into play," Naruto muttered. "We will get new identities, well more like new citizenship papers and stuff."

An eye brow rose, "Explain the stuff part to me please."

"Well you said you wanted to get married right?" Naruto asked with his voice filled of hope but also fear.

"Yes," Sakura replied wondering where he was going with this. "You did ask me after all."

"Right," Naruto chuckled uneasily. "I know we've only been together for a few days and even though we've known each other for so long it was still quite unorthodox to ask you to marry me this quickly but…"

"Naruto," Sakura interrupted him and placed her hands on top of his as they drummed nervously on the table. "Unorthodox? Yes, however, I think a better term to describe the situation would be by calling it a typical Naruto moment."

Naruto grinned, "Heh that's me alright. Anyways, I told the contact to bring marriage papers along for us to sign. I know this is a bit sudden and probably a huge surprise but it would certainly solidify our cover once we are in Earth Country. Nobody would suspect the freshly married couple wanting to start a new life. I just wish I could give you the big ring and wedding ceremony that you must be wanting and I am sorry I can't."

"Naruto it is fine," Sakura told him and smiled. "We can't be picky about things like having a pompous wedding. Who would we invite to it anyways?"

"That was a joke right?" Naruto asked not entirely sure.

Sakura rolled with her eyes, "Yes it was."

"Oh okay," Naruto said and grinned feeling like an idiot. "I promise to make it up to you though. I want you to experience a real wedding eventually."

"Naruto that's sweet of you but signing documents make it as real as it can be," Sakura said and scooted closer with her seat so she could lean her head against his shoulders while their fingers intertwined under the table. "Considering our circumstances, we should be glad that we are alive and healthy. I am happy Naruto; with you by my side I can truly say that I am happy. We just need to be careful and bide our time. Okay?"

"Definitely," Naruto replied but his mind was already racing a mile a minute again trying to come up with a plan to get their lives back in order and secure for him and Sakura a future together back home in Konoha However, up until now all scenarios that he came up with failed spectacular after he ran them through his head after a night's rest. He was close to giving it up for now and actually listen to Sakura and bide his time. After all he knew that the greatest weapon wasn't forged in one sitting.

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"Is that her?" Sakura asked for the hundredth time as another woman entered the sake bar they were sitting in. Sakura was surprised that Naruto hadn't grown impatient or annoyed at her constant questioning.

"No, that isn't her." Naruto replied absentmindedly after taking a brief glance as his thumb drew small circles on the back of her hand.

Sakura sighed loudly and just wanted to lay her head on the table and close her eyes for a minute but she knew she had to fight the boredom. In a way she found it ironic that the roles between her and Naruto had been reversed. Normally he was the bored and impatient one of the two, while Sakura was calm and in control but today it was the other way around and Sakura knew it was due to the fact that Naruto was doing some untypically heavy thinking.

The door to the bar opened again and Sakura looked in the direction and wanted to repeat her question only to stop and frown with her mouth open. "No, that's probably not her," she muttered. "Definitely too old and definitely not Jiraiya-sama's type," she mused and returned to staring at her empty sake saucer. She had learned to like the taste of the alcoholic beverage and that frightened her a little. One thing she didn't want to copy from her Master was the bad drinking and gambling habits.

"Did you say she was old?" Naruto suddenly asked interrupting her self-reflection. "Where is she?"

Sakura looked with a stunned expression at Naruto, "Excuse-me?"

"Ah there she is," Naruto said happily totally ignoring Sakura as he stood and waved towards the older woman.

Sakura followed Naruto's line of sight and frowned when she saw the short robust looking woman wobble towards them using a cane for help. She slapped Naruto's shoulder and hissed, "Why didn't you tell me that she was old?"

Naruto looked at Sakura in surprise before shrinking in shame, "Must have slipped my mind. Sorry."

"Unbelievable," Sakura huffed and was rightfully a tad bit annoyed for she had assumed that Jiraiya would only use gorgeous women for his spy work.

"Well hello there Naruto-chan," the old woman croaked as she finally reached their table after a snail's pace through the bar. "And this must be the famous Sakura-chan. Hello my dear. I must say Naruto didn't exaggerate about your beauty when he spoke of you."

"Thank you," Sakura replied a bit startled at the sudden flattery. "It is nice to meet you and thank you so much for your help."

"Ah this is nothing, anything for one of Jiraiya's students. So tell me Naruto, where is the old coot? Emptying out your poor Gama-chan again?"

Naruto's face saddened, "Violet-baa-chan, Ero-sennin, I mean Jiraiya-sama has died. He fell in battle trying to locate Akatsuki's base of operation."

"Oh I am sorry to hear that Naruto-chan," the old woman muttered in sorrow. "I will certainly miss his stories and company. I imagine you are taking a tour and are informing everyone that you are taking over his spy network?"

"Um no not really," Naruto admitted sheepishly. He saw the odd look the woman was giving him and he quickly added, "I mean I will take it over but that is not the reason why I need these documents and permits from you."

"Oh," the woman mouthed and looked from Naruto to Sakura and back to Naruto. "Why don't you start at the beginning?"

Naruto sighed and looked briefly at Sakura for reassurance. "Well to put it simply, I killed Tsunade-baa-chan."

The old woman was silent for a brief moment but her facial expression of utter shock spoke volumes. "Excuse-me Naruto but did you just say that you killed the Hokage?" She caught herself from blurting out her question in shock and quickly dropped her voice several levels and whispered quickly as if she was afraid someone could overhear them. "You are a nuke-nin now?"

"Yes," Naruto said and was halted by Sakura as she interjected.

"I am sorry to bud in but Naruto isn't explaining this correctly."

The old woman looked confused for a minute and turned towards Sakura. "Alright Saku-chan, why don't you explain this to me."

"Naruto didn't kill Tsunade-shishou. He was betrayed and tricked by Danzo. With the help of Orochimaru, Danzo had the Leaf convoy attacked on its way to the Chunin exams in Sunagakure. I arrived in the nick of time to rescue Naruto from being killed but I couldn't do anything about the Hokage." Sakura told the old lady and continued. "Later, after I defeated one of Danzo's Root Anbu that was following us, I found out that Danzo had claimed that Naruto killed the Hokage and me as well. For Konoha, Naruto is the murderer of the Godaime Hokage and her apprentice."

The woman frowned, "If I understand this correctly, you" and she pointed at Naruto. "Are a nuke-nin and the murderer of Tsunade Senju and Sakura-chan here? While you," she pointed at Sakura. "Are supposed to be dead, murdered at the hands of Naruto-chan? Is that about right?"

"Eh… yes," Naruto replied sounding a bit unsure himself.

"What a mess," the woman mumbled and shook her head. "So where is Tsunade now?"

"We don't know," Sakura admitted. "We haven't really spent much time thinking about this entire situation yet. We just know that we have to go into hiding and concentrated on that first. We think that she is alive but we also can't be sure. One thing we did know though is that she didn't fight when the convoy was attacked by Orochimaru. She just stood by and watched as everyone around her was slaughtered."

"I see," the woman said carefully having heard Sakura's tone drop a degree in warmth. "Well I will definitely keep an ear out for anything and inform you as soon as I have something to report. If I may suggest Naruto, contact the other spies that worked for Jiraiya. Inform of them that you are taking over the operation. Now on to business," she said and pulled out a folder with several documents.

"Alright, first I need to say that you two picked a wonderful cover by using the freshly married couple ploy," the woman said and pushed a form in front of the two. "I need you to sign at the bottom and after I stamp it, you two are per Kumo standards officially married."

"Gomen," Naruto spoke up as he signed the marriage contract. "But Sakura and I are really getting married. This is just not the way we wanted it to happen."

"Oh," the woman looked from Naruto to Sakura a tad confused and it finally dawned on her. "Oh! Ah I guess congratulations are in order then. No matter though, you two would have been officially married regardless. At least you two don't have to act like a freshly married couple then." The lady beamed and stamped the seal of Kumogakure's Raikage onto the paper making it official.

"Now here is the bill to the wedding reception in Kumo," the woman handed them a rather expensive wedding bill. "Don't worry. You actually don't have to pay. I made a copy of a real one. It always helps to solidify ones marriage, may it be fake or real, if you can give the investigating officials proof in form of bills or pictures."

"Thank you," Sakura said and folded the bill and the marriage contract in half and carefully placed them in between the pages of her book.

"Alright and here are your new identity cards." The woman muttered not looking up from the folder and placed two cards onto the table. "Excellent, now all you need is the travel permit for Lightning Country, which I have right here."

"Gee Violet-baa-chan you really came through for me again." Naruto grinned and hugged the old woman.

"Nah, nah, Naruto-chan, I am only doing my job. Now tell me, where are you two planning to go into hiding?"

"Near Iwa," Naruto whispered knowing he could trust the old bat with his life.

The eyes of the woman grew wide in fear. "Iwa? Are you insane? You're from the Leaf; if they find out, they will kill you."

"What are you talking about? Sakura-chan and I are from Kumogakure."

"What?" The woman said in confusion and blinked. "Oh… right, my mistake. Well," She looked at Naruto and Sakura and studied them briefly before she nodded. "I think Sakura-chan should dye her hair a different color. Pink draws too much attention. Might I suggest the color red? Earth Country and Iwagakure have a fascination towards red haired women and Sakura having red hair will most likely work to your overall advantage during your stay in that country."

"Red?" Sakura asked half heartily. "I don't know…"

"Aw Sakura-chan I think you would look excellent with fiery red hair," Naruto said cheerfully and beamed at her.

"If you say so Naruto-kun," Sakura said and smiled lightly in unease of not being overly convinced about dying her hair a different color.

"Well if you two ladies would excuse me for a minute," Naruto said and stood up. "But I have to relief myself. Be right back."

Sakura watched Naruto leave and frowned when the old woman spoke to her quietly, "I should warn you Sakura. Naruto-chan can be quite dangerous. He carries a heavy burden."

"Are you talking about his uniqueness?" Sakura growled a silent a threat telling the woman that she didn't want to discuss the Kyuubi.

"Yes I am," the woman replied and looked satisfied. "I am sorry but I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting yourself into. I know you two have been team members since your Genin days but last time I spoke to Naruto and Jiraiya, nobody knew about his tenant back in Konoha."

"Well I know," Sakura replied rather coldly and quickly apologized.

"Don't worry, I shouldn't have assumed," the lady responded and fidgeted with her now empty folder.

"Can I help you otherwise?" Sakura asked knowing the old woman had something else on her mind.

She jumped a little and looked at Sakura with a warm smile, "I am sorry but please be careful in Earth Country. Their people and especially their shinobi are very mistrusting and the way Naruto looks, he could be mistaken for Iwa's Bane."

"Iwa's Bane?" Sakura repeated not knowing what the woman meant. "I am sorry but I never heard about it."

"Yes you have. Iwa's Bane is Konoha's Yondaime Hokage. Naruto, dear Naruto-chan looks like a miniature Namikaze. Would you happen to know who his parents are?"

"Who? Naruto's?" Sakura asked in confusion as she tried to overlap an image of the Fourth Hokage with Naruto's and she frowned at seeing a certain set of similarities. "How odd," Sakura thought to herself. "They really do look alike."

"I am sorry no I don't. Naruto was an orphan. He never had any parents and I don't think he knows himself." Sakura replied and smiled as she saw Naruto return.

"Oh I didn't know that," the woman responded and smiled as well as Naruto sat down again.

"Didn't know what?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Oh it is nothing important," the old lady replied. "Well here is the monthly bounty list and a few coins," the woman said and placed a small booklet and money on the table. "I figured you were traveling with Jiraiya again and might need a lot of money again. Guess I lay wrong in that assumption but I imagine you still need money. Take this and I wish you two the best of luck and stay safe. I hope to hear from you again in the future Naruto-chan and Sakura-chan. I must be going now. Farewell."

"Bye and thank you again for your help," Sakura said and helped the old woman out of her chair. She and Naruto watched the woman known as 'Violet Kumo' slowly walk out of the sake bar.

"What a strange lady," Sakura muttered as they were sitting down again. Naruto was currently browsing through the little pamphlet of bounties and simply nodded in agreement with Sakura's statement. The pinkette fingered with her empty sake saucer again and sighed. "And anyone of interest for us in that bounty list?"

"Actually yes," Naruto muttered and grinned. "There is a small fry of a bounty on our way North towards Lighting Country's main seaport town. There is just one small problem with it."

"What is it?" Sakura asked. "Not a high enough bounty?"

"Five hundred thousand ryō and the problem isn't really a problem but more an inconvenience."

Sakura raised an eye brow in question, "Stop avoiding it and tell me what this so called problem or inconvenience entails. The five hundred thousand ryō certainly can't be the issue."

"The only way for us to get the reward is to collect it in Kumogakure," Naruto said and looked up from the pamphlet at Sakura.

"Oh," Sakura voiced and frowned. "Well that certainly is a problem. Is collecting this bounty going to be difficult and worth the risk of exposing ourselves to Kumo?"

"Well here, look for yourself." Naruto said and showed Sakura the profile page of their potential target. "He is a Chunin of Kumo but the information added by Violet-baa-chan about him is quite specific. He was only recently promoted to Chunin and apparently he is currently living in a village not that far from here enjoying civilian life. He ran away from his clan in order to live with his girlfriend on a pig farm."

"Take away the pigs and that's kind of romantic," Sakura said and looked at the profile picture and her facial expression made Naruto giggle.

"Not exactly an eye candy is he?" Naruto chuckled and saw Sakura dumbly nod in confirmation. "Anyways, his parents put out the reward for his retrieval. They want him alive and apparently since his bounty doesn't go above a million ryō, nobody is interested. I think we should do it, it'll be a piece of cake."

"You really think so? But what about delivering him to Kumo?" Sakura asked.

"We'll figure something out. Remember we are now officially citizens of Lightning Country and we married in Kumo. We shouldn't have any problems getting into the village, let alone when we return a wayward shinobi to them." Naruto explained and slowly rose from the chair and waited for Sakura to follow his example. "Let's get going Sakura-chan. The least amount of time we spent here, the more trouble potential pursuit will have in following our trail. I realize you aren't a fan of dyeing your hair and personally I am against it too but perhaps it is a wise decision to do just that."

"You're probably right Naruto-kun," Sakura admitted as she took his hand into hers and walked outside into the streets. "I think I'll even let my hair grow out again. I kind of miss it."

"I miss it too," Naruto said and looked at her. "Alright let's go grab the wayward Kumo shinobi and return him home. After we collect the money, we can finally travel towards Earth Country by ship."

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Kakashi suddenly dropped down to the floor from the trees and hid behind a large boulder. He was quickly joined by Anko and Gai.

"What's the matter Kakashi?" Anko hissed as she looked at the silver haired Jonin's stone cold expression of focus. Not receiving an immediate answer Anko looked over to Gai who had landed on the other side of Kakashi and the Green Beast of Konoha simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Sempai?" Tenzo whispered as a partial wooden clone exited the ground to their feet. "Yuugao is roughly a hundred yards to your right hand side behind a fallen tree with Iruka. Genma and I are to your left while the rest is further back in the trees. They can all hear you, what is wrong?"

"They are here," Kakashi muttered quietly and spied over the boulder that he used for cover. His right hand went to his forehead protector and revealed his Sharingan. "Get ready to fight."

"Hai Sempai," the Tenzo wood clone replied and retreated beneath the ground.

"Who is here Kakashi?" Anko asked as she herself spied over the boulder but didn't see a thing.

"Genjutsu," Kakashi muttered and placed a hand on top of Anko's as she formed the ram sign to dispel the jutsu. "Don't, it will alert them to our presence."

Anko scowled as she looked at the silver haired Jonin. "And how do you expect us to fight or defend ourselves if we are attacked?"

"Don't worry. I'll give you plenty of warning ahead of time. Now be quiet and get ready. Tenzo," Kakashi softly called for the wood user and waited for the wood clone to reemerge from the ground.

"Yes Kakashi-sempai?"

"Tell everyone to not dispel the Genjutsu unless I give the order."

"Yes Sir."

A hundred yards to Kakashi's right Iruka quietly cursed as Tenzo's wood clone repeated Kakashi's order.

"Damn what the hell is Kakashi-san thinking? Are we suppose to sit here and wait whether we get stabbed in the back or not?"

"Quiet Iruka," Yuugao whispered and flicked him a stern look that spoke volumes to shut up or suffer Anbu punishment.

Iruka swallowed away the lump of curse words that were suddenly stuck in his throat and he carefully studied the very attractive Anbu woman next to him. He could see Yuugao's right hand firmly grasp around the hilt of her Anbu sword and Iruka was fascinated how such a delicate frail looking hand could wield an instrument of death so efficiently. His eyes flicked up to her long silken dark purplish hair and after looking at her beautiful face, Iruka saw that Yuugao wore a serene expression with her eyes closed in meditation.

Iruka's eyes then slowly followed down Yuugao's side profile and briefly froze on her chest before continuing their downward motion of the tight fitting Anbu uniform. He spent a considerable amount of time examining her long shapely legs, only to focus on her round butt. Images Iruka had never dreamt about in his wildest dreams suddenly flashed in front of his eyes and heated Iruka's face. He was rescued from his sudden and wild fantasies when Yuugao growled, "Iruka-san wipe that grin of your face."

"I… um… I am sorry," Iruka muttered in embarrassment at having been caught staring and not realizing he was smiling.

"Yuugao-san, Iruka-san," Tenzo's wood clone spoke softly. "Kakashi-sempai wants you two to carefully use the cover and widen the distance between him and your position."

"Affirmative," Yuugao responded and pointed with her short sword to her right. "Iruka you take the lead so I can keep an eye on you."

"Hai," Iruka replied automatically as his face turned tomato red at the implications and he quickly took the lead as they robbed on their stomachs further away from where Kakashi, Anko, and Gai were positioned.

After several minutes and peaking over the boulder Kakashi and his two comrades were using as cover, a soft clicking in his throat alerted Anko and Gai of his sudden annoyance. Anko caught herself from taking a look herself to see what annoyed the unofficial leader of their group. Instead she opted for the only way of finding out and she nudged him rather violently in the arm.

"What is it now?"

"They stopped," Kakashi replied unfazed by Anko's nudge.

"Damn," Anko muttered and Gai decided to finally speak up.

"Do you think they know we are here?"

"It's possible," Kakashi replied and froze when he felt a presence suddenly appear on the other side of their boulder. And Kakashi instantly used the Anbu hand sign for absolute silence to both Anko and Gai since both were still under the affect of the Genjutsu.

"ITACHI-SEMPAI! Sempai look a rabbit! May I keep it?"

"Tobi what the hell are you doing here? Did you follow us?" someone growled and Kakashi instantly recognized the voice belonging to Kisame.

"I shall name you Richard," Tobi squealed. "Itachi-sempai look, Richard likes me." Tobi yelled as the rabbit nibbled on one of Tobi's fingers.

"Tobi," Itachi's cold voice echoed over the clearing. "Step away from the boulder."

"Huh? What? Why?"

"Just do it moron," Kisame growled.

"But Kisame-sempai," Tobi whined from the other side of the boulder as the rabbit escaped out of Tobi's clutches. "You're so mean. You scared Richard away. I hate you."

Kakashi motioned for Anko and Gai to dispel the Genjutsu and get ready to fight. He twirled a kunai in his hand only to place it in between his teeth so he could flash through hand signs and as he finished on the last sign, Kakashi nodded for Anko and Gai to proceed. And in a loud chirping noise, Kakashi summoned a Chidori and slammed his arm into the rock splitting it in half and moving forward to kill the character called Tobi that was standing on the side of the boulder.

"What the hell," Tobi screamed in surprise and scrambled away stumbling numerous times over his own feet as he fled from the splitting rock. He hid behind Kisame and peaked around from the giant Kiri nuke-nin.

"Sempai what's going on?" Tobi squeaked in fear as the spot he just stood in vanished in a billowing cloud of dust and debris. "Did I do that sempai?"

"You're an idiot Tobi," Kisame grumbled and folded his arms across his chest as he waited. "And stop hiding like a coward. You're a disgrace to the cloak you wear."

And as the cloud tried to settle, several snakes suddenly shot out and flew towards the three Akatsuki members. Itachi and Kisame expertly avoided them but Tobi, dumb founded by the sudden appearance of snakes was captures as the serpents latched onto him and dragged him back towards the cloud.

"Sempai help me!" Tobi screamed in fear like an idiot and flailed his arms in panic as he tried to kick at the snakes that had coiled around him tightly.

"Good job Anko," Kakashi muttered and suddenly burst through the cloud charging at the snake entwined Tobi with a charged up Chidori.

"SEMPAI!" Tobi wailed as Kakashi rushed him.

And as Kakashi raced towards his intended kill, a green blur shot passed him and suddenly blocked Kisame's sword as it tried to cut the coils of snakes and Kakashi in two in an attempt to free Tobi. The air vibrated from the interception between Gai's kick and Kisame's sword but it didn't hinder Kakashi in advancing. Just right before Kakashi reached the masked Akatsuki, Itachi suddenly shunshined in front of him with his Sharingan eyes spinning violently.

"Shit," Kakashi muttered and quickly shut his eyes and aborted his charge. He jumped back towards the cloud of dust that now revealed Anko kneeling with her Shadow Snake Hand technique active. A second later, Gai appeared next to Kakashi as the Green Beast had quickly disengaged from fighting Kisame.

"That sword is amazingly resilient," Gai muttered to Kakashi and lightly tapped the ground with his right toes to loosen up his leg with which he had intercepted the sword.

"Damn what a kick," Kisame bellowed and rolled his shoulder with which he held his sword. "I can still feel the vibrations ebb up my arm… it tickles."

"Sempai!" Tobi wailed again as he was dragged closer towards Anko, who was licking her lips sadistically.

"Kisame if you would," Itachi replied never leaving his eyes off Kakashi, Anko, and Gai.

Kisame sighed and rushed forward once more to cut the snakes in half. Gai was about to move to intercept again when Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder to halt the Jonin from charging recklessly in. Gai looked at Kakashi in question and the silver haired Jonin offered an explanation.

"Itachi isn't serious about this. He already has his Sharingan deactivated but if you intercept, it will most likely change."

They watched how Kisame quickly dispatched Anko's snakes and freed the enigmatic Tobi from their reptilian hold. Tobi instantly dropped to Kisame's feet and groveled, "Thank you Kisame-sempai. Tobi isn't worthy of your help. Thank you. Thank you."

"Quit it you idiot," Kisame growled as he returned to stand next to Itachi and dragged Tobi after him as the masked wearing Akatsuki member hugged Kisame's leg thanking the blue skinned Akatsuki member repeatedly.

"I said quit it," Kisame growled and lifted his free foot to kick Tobi.

"Missed me," Tobi giggled as he expertly dodged the kick with skills that were unbelievable nimble. "Missed me again," Tobi laughed and clapped his hands as Kisame swung his sword at the hopping Akatsuki member.

"Damn it, stand still you crazy grasshopper," Kisame shouted and chased the comrade he saved around the clearing.

"Kisame," Itachi called for his partner in a calm of voice that froze the blue skinned Akatsuki in place. Itachi then put his full attention back towards Kakashi, "Ignore those two idiots Kakashi-san. It is however quite funny that we run into you, we were just on our way to get Naruto-san…"

"Sempai! Who is Naruto?" Tobi screamed from the top of his lungs from across the clearing where he sat hunched over.

"Moron that's the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki," Kisame yelled back and grumbled several curses that were incoherently to Kakashi.

"Naruto? Where is he?" Kakashi demanded in shock.

Itachi raised an eye brow at the peculiar question. "Do not play games with us Kakashi. We know that Naruto is somewhere in Lighting Country. Why don't you share the information about his mission details and we can be on our way."

"Never," Kakashi hissed. "Son of a… so it was the Kyuubi's chakra that we felt," Kakashi berated himself in his mind. "I should have listened; we should have gone to investigate."

"Then it appears the only way for us to get that information is to kill all of you except one," Itachi replied coldly to which Kisame only grinned.

"Sempai help!" Tobi's voice once more echoed across the clearing in panic. "There are more of them. They got Tobi again," the masked idiot wept as he was tightly held up side down in the air by several wooden protrusions that had grown out of the ground.

"How did Deidara stay sane with this idiot as his partner?" Kisame growled in wonderment as he looked over his shoulder towards Tobi. "I would have killed Tobi long ago if I had been in Deidara's position."

"Tobi has his uses," Itachi muttered and didn't bother to look at the captured Tobi. "So Kakashi, how will it be? Shall we fight to the death, one you and your little gang of rag tags will lose or would you be so kind to share the questioned information with us?"

"Even if we knew where the Gaki is," Anko spat. "We would never tell you idiots."

"Interesting Kakashi-san," Itachi said. "It appears you yourself don't know about Naruto's whereabouts. Now what could be the reason behind that?"

"Itachi-sempai," Tobi whined.

"Help yourself Tobi," Itachi said quietly. "I grow tired of this." The Uchiha rumbled and discreetly studied the Copy-nin in front of him.

"RICHARD!" Tobi suddenly screamed in joy at seeing the rabbit hop beneath him and the masked Akatsuki tried to grab the furry animal but only managed to scare the rabbit away. "No don't leave me again Richard. Come back to Tobi. Tobi will even feed you dango! Rabbit's like dango, right Sempai?"

"Dango?" Anko's head snapped towards Tobi and the kunoichi vanished in a Leaf shunshin only to reappear next to the tied up Tobi. She pressed her body against his and purred, "Anko likes dango, and Anko will be your little bunny girl if you give her your dango."

"Sempai help," Tobi yelled over in childish panic. "The crazy snake woman is molesting me."

"We really are surrounded by a bunch of idiots aren't we Kakashi-san?" Itachi asked with a hint of amusement. The Uchiha turned and began to walk away, "Kisame let's go. They don't appear to have any information pertaining the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."

"What about Tobi?" Kisame asked as he looked towards their third Akatsuki member as he still hung suspended in the air by wooden protrusions. He shook his head and kicked the ground in a childish manner before following his partner and mumbling, "What a lucky shit. He is motor boating the Leaf kunoichi. I wish I had some dango for her, if she lets him do that to her, I wonder what I could make her do for me."

"Hn," Itachi grunted and ignored the display of Anko rubbing her boobs into Tobi's face in an attempt to bum dango of the idiot Akatsuki.

"Kakashi," Gai muttered to his eternal rival. "What should we do? Should we stop them?"

"No," Kakashi said as he watched Itachi and Kisame leave. "Tenzo tell everyone to come out, I have decided that we should actively search for Naruto. I have to admit that pretending to search for Akatsuki members while covertly looking for Naruto is not to his or our best interest."

"Right away," Tenzo spoke up through a wood clone that had appeared half way out of the ground in front of Kakashi.

It took only a minute for everyone to assemble in the clearing and Kakashi looked over towards Anko as she had dropped her coat now and the silver haired Jonin sighed. "What a troublesome woman. A simple word drives her to forget everything around her. Tenzo release that Tobi character and let's hope he is faster in escaping than Anko is in playing catch up."

"Are you sure Kakashi-san," Iruka spoke up voicing everyone else's thoughts out loud.

"Yes," Kakashi replied and nodded towards Tenzo to release Tobi. "I am pretty sure Tobi could have escaped from Tenzo's Mokuton grasp if he'd really wanted to. Itachi and Kisame wouldn't have left him behind, if he couldn't save himself. Don't forget he is a member of Akatsuki, none of them are pushovers to be taken lightly."

"Hai sempai," Tenzo replied and Anko's yell of surprise that quickly turned to an angry whine echoed across the clearing.

"Why did you do that?" She complained as she slipped back into her coat and walked towards the gathered group. "He hadn't given me his dango yet. I bet you're just jealous that you can't stick your face into my boobs," Anko said suggestively and cupped her breasts in a tease. "If you have dango, I might let you. How about it Yuugao-chan, will you give me dango?"

Several groans and nose bleeds followed as every male in the group lay twitching in the dirt with a drooling expression on their faces as their imagination ran wild. Yuugao sighed and slowly shook her head as Anko bounced on her feet and giggled like a schoolgirl. "Seriously Anko, do you have to do this every time we go on missions together?"

"Aw but Yuugao-chan," Anko whined and looked at the purple haired Anbu with big round eyes. "But I really mean it. Get some dango and I let you do anything to me, I promise." Anko rubbed against her female group partner suggestively.

"Anko please, is it too much to ask for some manners," Yuugao asked and moved away from a pouting Anko. "Help me wake everyone up so we can discuss our next steps. Kakashi said he had changed his mind."

"Fine," Anko huffed and walked towards Iruka. She lowered herself on top of him and straddled his waist. She leaned over and whispered into Iruka's ear while grinding against the Chunin. "Iruka-kun will you get me some dango?"

Iruka groaned and his eye lids fluttered awake but before he could realize what was happening to him, Anko was violently pulled off him by Yuugao. "W-what happened?" Iruka asked as Yuugao helped him to his feet.

"Just one of Anko's silly pranks," Yuugao replied and judgingly studied Iruka.

Yuugao's otherwise neutral expression turned somewhat angry as Iruka blushed as he remembered what Anko had done and the purple haired woman abruptly turned away from him without saying another word. Iruka realized that he had done something wrong but didn't know what. He watched Yuugao walk away from him and their little group, only to stand a little off to the side with her head hanging low in thought. Thinking it would be best to leave the woman alone for now, Iruka waited for everyone else to recover.

Kakashi eventually cleared his throat to get everyone's attention and turned to address everyone. "It seems that Akatsuki believes that Naruto is in Lightning Country. Therefore I have decided that we suspend this farce of looking for the Akatsuki base and instead concentrate on finding Naruto. The time to fight Akatsuki has not yet come. We are too few to risk needless battles."

"But wouldn't every dead Akatsuki mean that Naruto is better protected from them?" The quiet Genma spoke up.

"It would," Kakashi agreed. "But what would be the costs to kill one of them? We barely survived against Deidara and Zetsu. Strong as they might have been, Itachi and Kisame are on a totally different level. No, it was best to let them leave."

"So what are our plans now? We can't go back to Konoha and simply pretend that we killed off Akatsuki or tell them that we refuse to hunt down that organization." Gai asked Kakashi but made sure that everyone in their group could voice their opinions.

"Fuck Danzo," Anko growled. "And fuck Akatsuki. Let's go find the brat and rescue his scrawny ass from himself, Danzo, and Akatsuki. He still owes us answers to whether he killed Tsunade-sama and Sakura-san."

"I agree with Anko-san," Kakashi said and waited for everyone else to speak up.

"Gomen," Iruka spoke and studied the many faces around him. "I guess it's not a secret about how much I care for Naruto and even though I know that killing off Akatsuki now would be beneficial to Naruto, it is not a guarantee for victory. I'll have to say that I agree with Anko and Kakashi. Let's go find Naruto so we can question him about the deaths of the Godaime Hokage and Sakura-chan. After that we can still decide what our next steps ought to be."

"Yosh! This is a most youthful decision," Gai yelled and pumped his fist into the air. "Let's travel towards Lightning Country as well and find Naruto-kun before Akatsuki does."


Author's Notes:

Greeting's fellow fans. I hope you enjoyed this update to the story. I'd like to address four points.

1. Naruto's transformation into the Kyuubi from the previous chapter will NOT affect him physically. What I mean is that he won't grow a tail or fox ears or all that other furry shit.

2. I didn't forget about Sakura's new technique and having the need to name it. I just haven't gotten around to it yet, or found a good place to introduce it. But rest assured, it's not forgotten.

3. There will be a small time skip of a one or two weeks next chapter. Hope none of you mind but I feel like the story needs to pick up in pace again.

4. I thought Tobi needed to appear and I hope the comical relief was really a relief and not a painful waste of text. If anyone is wondering, the name Richard for the rabbit comes from an online comic I read from time to time that is called Looking For Group and Richard is the evil homicidal Warlock that tends to love a certain rabbit.

Now feel free to leave your reviews.

Also, some of you might have realized but yesterday I uploaded a prologue to a new story. The story is called Supreme Genetics – Creation of a Bloodline and is a Naru/Saku/Hina pairing. It is also a co-written story between myself and KingKakashi. So don't forget to head on over to my profile and check out that new story.