A/N: Not terribly happy with how this chapter turned out, but I got where I needed to be, so you win some you lose some. Thanks again for the follows/favourites and please keep reviewing, I like hearing your thoughts.

The assassin smirked as he and his partner infiltrated the mansion. Sticking to the shadows, they carefully wound their way through the halls in search of their targets. They split up once they had cleared the first floor. One heading up to continue the search for the businessmen staying there, the other going down to look for where their captured colleague was being kept.

Sticking to a shaded corner between the wall and the ceiling, the assassin watched as one of the genin from the Land of Earth walked by. The boy let out a yawn, oblivious even as his predator dropped down silently, right behind him. He slid a short, matte black blade from his belt and drove it into the boy's neck. He cursed as the boy disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced with a nearby table. The boy ran down the hall, shouting about an intruder. He cursed his luck and turned around to leave. They may not be able to achieve their primary objective, but so long as his partner wasn't spotted, their secondary one would remain unhindered. Sprinting down the hall, he slid as a pair of scimitars descended from the open door next to him. Raising his dagger, he deflected the blades as he slid under them, and kept running, hoping to lead the shinobi on a merry chase.

Kurotsuchi swore as she ran towards the sounds of combat. She was at a severe disadvantage, as she couldn't use any of her bloodline techniques without risking burning the mansion to the ground. She rounded the corner and skidded to a stop as she faced the assassin running towards her, with her teammates in hot pursuit. She barely had time to make her first hand seal when a strong arm slammed into her stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs as the assassin used their collective momentum to spin and hurl her at her teammates. The three of them landed in a pile as a loud crash of glass breaking told them the assassin had leapt from the window. Quickly righting themselves, they followed him out the window where the members of Team 9 were sprinting to meet him. The assassin seemed almost amused as he stood between the six genin. They all moved in a flurry of motion, but their opponent was like smoke as he slipped between their attacks. He took advantage of the general lack of cooperation between the two genin teams and had just thrown Osada into the girl with the twin buns in her hair and was rapidly descending on her, blade poised to strike right at her neck.

She watched with a sort of morbid fascination as the blade approached in slow motion. There was no time to get away, and she knew that in mere moments, her dream of succeeding her grandfather as Tsuchikage would be cut short.

Clang!

All the other genin stared wide-eyed as Naruto suddenly appeared standing in between Kurotsuchi and her death. In his hand was the assassin's curved blade, shaking as the man tried to free it from his iron grip. Abandoning the weapon the assassin jumped back as he and Naruto engaged in what Kurotsuchi thought was more of an intricate dance than a fight. Both had a hard time even landing blows as they spun around each other.

The back and forth ended after a couple minutes of high-speed movement with Naruto managing to shove his palm into the man's throat just as he took a particularly nasty punch to the ribs. Naruto was sent flying back, and the other genin were about to take that as their cue to rejoin the fight when the sound of a chugging furnace rumbled through the night air. Kurotsuchi and her teammates smiled, immediately recognizing the sound as that of their sensei. Not a moment later, he appeared, slamming his heel into the ground the assassin had previously occupied.

"Who are you, and what is your intention?" Han asked, his voice carrying the slightest hint of a growl.

Though she couldn't see his face through the dark mask that matched his bodysuit, Kurotsuchi could tell their opponent was smirking. His voice came out muffled by his mask.

"Don't worry, you'll find out."

Han charged to strike the man, but once again missed as he jumped away before seemingly vanishing into thin air.

*(OoO)*

"I can't believe you let him go!"

"We let him go?! If you tree-huggers hadn't gotten in our way, we would have taken him down easily!"

"Please, you were fated to lose the second you tried engaging someone of his level."

"Neji-san has a point. Your most unyouthful attitude and unwillingness to cooperate provided our enemy with many opportunities to outmaneuver us."

"Please, if anything threw me off my game, it was that ugly suit of yours and those terrifying caterpillars on your forehead. Besides, where were the jonin from your village? At least Han-sensei came to help us once he had dealt with the other assassin."

Naruto sighed from his place on the roof just outside the window to their quarters. Tsunade, Gai, Anko, and Han had left them alone to go speak with their clients about the incident and reassure them that everything was fine. Naruto had told them to mention that he was happy to repair any damage done during the assassination attempt. Hopefully that would be one less thing for the two groups of shinobi to argue about.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he sensed somebody join him on his little patch of rooftop. "I'm really sorry about them." He looked up to see Kurotsuchi sitting cross-legged next to him, looking out across the estate grounds. He waved off her apology, and she looked down at him curiously. "Why did you save me?"

Naruto frowned, trying to understand the question. Shouldn't he have saved her? That's what you did when a comrade was in danger wasn't it? Kurotsuchi, however misinterpreted his silence, and sighed, shaking her head with a chuckle. "Right, I forgot about the whole can't-talk thing. This must be a sight, I'd rather have a conversation with a mute than spend another minute with my own team."

"I can talk," Naruto croaked. He grinned mischievously at the gobsmacked expression on Kurotsuchi's face.

"Then what's with the whole…" She waved her hands around wildly, making him laugh at her imitation of him signing.

"It's easier," he replied. "I can't talk very loud, and it hurts my throat."

"Oh, well in that case, could you answer my question?"

Naruto smiled and leaned his head back against the roof, staring at the endless sea of stars above their heads. "Lots of reasons. But mostly, because that's what you do when someone needs help."

"Yeah but we're from rival villages, we could become enemies at any moment."

Naruto shrugged. "But we're not right now. These meetings will make relations between our countries better because instead of two companies doing whatever it is these guys do-"

"The one from the Land of Earth mines precious metals, and the one from the Land of Fire owns a bunch of factories and stuff."

Naruto nodded, thankful for the information. "Either way, if these meetings go according to plan, there'll be one big company doing all that stuff in both countries. That means there's less of an incentive for our countries or our villages to go to war."

"Okay, so you're some sort of naïve idealist," Kurotsuchi summarized, prompting Naruto to chuckle. "What about your other reasons?"

"You're the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. If you died on a mission with shinobi from the leaf, he would never forgive himself and never trust Konoha or the Land of Fire again. Also, it would have made Han-nii sad."

Kurotsuchi arched an eyebrow at the strange term of endearment for her sensei. "I don't know how you know Han-sensei, but clearly you don't know him as well as you think if you think he would be sad about any of our deaths. He hates people."

Naruto frowned sadly as he thought about her words. "Maybe he does. But I can tell that he's lonely, and that when he's with you and your teammates, even if he doesn't show it, he doesn't feel quite so alone." Kurotsuchi scoffed. She didn't bother to argue with him. People like this guy didn't change their views from mere words alone. "So why don't you hate us as much as your teammates do?"

Kurotsuchi heaved a sigh and leaned back to lay next to him as she stared at the sky. "Komuro is from a civilian family. They hate Konoha more than anyone else, and I guess their views just got passed down to her. Osada, on the other hand, is from one of our few clans with a bloodline. His clan took some serious losses in the war as their bloodline makes them ideal frontline soldiers. Nowadays, there aren't many left in his family. Like you said, I'm the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. I love my village, and do plan to succeed him someday, but when I do, I want to rule Iwa my way. If that means letting go of my hate for your village over a war that happened before I was born, then so be it."

Naruto grinned and sat up and stuck his hand out to her with a grin. "Then as future Hokage, I promise to do everything to help our two villages move away from the past and towards a peaceful future."

Kurotsuchi looked from his shining grin to his hand and back again before bursting into a fit of giggles. Naruto frowned, a little annoyed at the idea of her laughing at his promise. "S-Sorry…" she gasped as she caught her breath. "That was just so corny." Her eyes turned hard as she became serious and a bright fire burned within them when she clenched his hand. "As the future Tsuchikage, I also promise to help our villages to move past the hatred of the past."

They both grinned conspiratorially before separating as Kurotsuchi stood up. "Well, it sounds like they've finally quieted down in there, so I'm gonna hit the hay." She winked with a mischievous grin on her face. "See you tomorrow, Naruto-dono."

Naruto grinned and laid back on the roof, closing his eyes as he entered his mindscape to spend some time with his dad. He frowned as he appeared outside the massive treeline that formed the bars of the seal, hurrying past them just as the faceless spectres appeared once more. As per usual, they didn't get near the bars of the seal, and he was left alone to search for his surrogate father.

"You know, you're going to have to face them someday."

He smiled as a furry tail wrapped around his body and lifted him onto the Kyubi's snout. "I know, but I don't feel ready yet. Can I just stay with you for now?"

Kyubi smiled softly as he took off at a trot towards the giant lake it liked to sleep near. "Of course you can, Kit."

They laughed and talked for a few hours before Naruto felt a presence approaching his body. Before he knew what had happened, the forest disappeared and he and his dad found themselves in an empty dimly lit space.

"So, my instincts were correct."

Looking down from Kyubi's snout, Naruto realized they weren't actually alone. Standing on the ground in front of them was Han. Naruto jumped down from the Kyubi's snout and landed in front of him, smiling in greeting.

"Han-nii! What are you doing here?"

"I sensed something familiar about you. It seems that you, like me, are a jinchuriki. I have brought us to a sort of shared mindscape. It is where jinchuriki and Tailed-Beast alike may communicate with one another. What I don't understand is why you maintain this façade of comradery with the other humans."

"What are you talking about, Han-nii?" Naruto asked. "I love my precious people. They make me happy."

"But surely you know that they will abandon you once they learn the truth about you?"

"Maybe, but there are a few who already know and don't care. Also, Dad here isn't exactly about to leave me high and dry anytime soon either."

Han narrowed his eyes as he looked between the boy and the fox he was smiling at.

"Now this is something to behold," a rumbling voice echoed from behind Han. "I'm disappointed, Brother, I didn't think you would resort to the same tricks as Shukaku to manipulate your container."

There was a loud thumping as a giant, horse-like creature emerged from the darkness behind Han. It was significantly smaller than Kyubi, but Naruto was in awe of its size nonetheless. Kyubi snarled at the implication that it was manipulating its kit, but Naruto waved him off as he walked passed Han to stand in front of the Gobi. He noted that, unlike his father who stood with him unobstructed in this shared mindscape, the Gobi was held back by giant bars not unlike the ones he had seen when he first me his dad.

Han watched with intrigue as the boy walked by him and approached the Five-Tails without a shred of fear. He came to a stop in front of the barrier he kept up to keep the Gobi back, and to the surprise of both Jinchuriki and Tailed-Beast alike, bowed low in front of the massive dolphin-horse.

"Thank you for keeping my fellow jinchuriki safe all these years."

Kyubi watched as its son thanked a being that, while much weaker than it, was still considered a force of nature to be feared. It contained a chuckle as both its sibling and the older jinchuriki gaped, not knowing what to do. They remained speechless even after Naruto walked back over to his father and waved goodnight to them before fading away back to his own mindscape. Finally, the Gobi broke the silence after several minutes.

"It seems we both have interesting siblings."

Han hummed at the observation, fading back to the outside world. He stood there on the roof, watching silently as Naruto breathed softly.

I'm curious to learn more about you… Little Brother.

*(OoO)*

The next day started almost as hectically as the last ended. Naruto and Kurotsuchi tried to play the peacekeepers between the two genin teams. Unfortunately, all they managed to achieve was an icy ceasefire, with both teams standing in the same corners they had been when Naruto had arrived the day before. While the moment of quiet was appreciated, Naruto knew that nothing had really been solved. All it took was for all of their sensei to return to the room before the yelling and accusations started to fly once more.

Tsunade didn't have the patience to deal with their petty squabbling, especially not after spending the night explaining what had happened to their clients and trying unsuccessfully to convince them to postpone the arrival of their various board members and lawyers as they moved toward more concrete negotiations for the merger. Desiring to simply take a nap and then maybe get some food and training with her student, she unleashed enough killing intent to make Anko and Gai start to sweat. Han seemed mostly unaffected, though it was clear her small exertion of power set him on edge reflexively. The members of Han's team and Team 9 were all gasping in fear as they felt the crushing fear Tsunade's power instilled. The only one seemingly unaffected whatsoever was Naruto. He simply stood watching with a frown on his face as he waited for her to finish.

Confident she now had their attention, she stopped her little demonstration. "Now that you're all done whining, we can get this meeting underway."

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama," Tenten stuttered, still slightly afraid at the display of raw power. "We managed to intercept the assassin as he escaped via the window, but due to a number of… complications," she glared at the genin from Iwa as she spoke, "we were unable to subdue him. Naruto was the only one who managed to land a hit before Han-san joined the fight prompting the assassin to escape."

"So he got away?" The other genin swallowed nervously before nodding. Tsunade turned to Naruto. "And you managed to lay your hand on him?" Naruto nodded, and Tsunade smiled. "Good, then that means everything is going according to plan."

"But he got away!" Komuro retorted.

"Of course he did," Anko replied. "If he was anything like his buddy we fought, he was at least high-chunin to low-jonin in terms of skill. Six genin who couldn't work together when their lives literally depended on it wouldn't pose too much of a challenge to him."

Tenten, Komuro, Osada, and Neji looked affronted at her accurate analysis of what happened to them while Lee looked down sadly. Kurotsuchi had a contemplative look on her face.

"Anko-san, does that mean our enemy was not alone?"

Anko nodded. "Naruto and I saw them enter the grounds from the roof. Tsunade-sama, Gai, Han and I intercepted the other assassin after he had executed our prisoner to ensure she didn't give us any more information. We managed to injure him before letting him go and meet up with his pal."

"Why'd you let him go?" Osada demanded. "Now we don't have any leads! I knew this would happen working with a bunch of tree-huggers."

Anko narrowed her eyes at the boy's outburst and was about to release her own killing intent to remind him just where he was on the food chain when a strange pressure beat her to it, and shut him up. Osada froze as Naruto marched in front of him, Kunshugan spinning as he glared down at him.

"Those questions sound an awful lot like insubordination," Naruto growled, his voice low. "I'd mind your tone when addressing your superiors, especially when you are in their territory."

Osada tried to glare back at Naruto, but the pressure simply increased, forcing him to his knees while the other genin started to sweat from the ambient pressure. Anko frowned, but pushed her curiosity to the side as she placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"That's enough, Naruto, I think you've made your point." An instant later the strange pressure disappeared and Osada gasped as he stood back up shakily. Han turned to Tsunade and inclined his head in apology. Tsunade waved him off before scowling at the genin.

"To answer your question, we let him go on purpose. Just as we purposefully let him kill our prisoner. Why do you think it took so long for Han to show up to help you?"

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened and she spun around to face Naruto. "You placed a bug on him!"

Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"In a way, yes, Naruto and I did manage to bug our opponents before letting them escape," Tsunade said as she pulled out two large scrolls and unrolled them, revealing large, intricate sealing arrays on both of them.

"Woah," Tenten exclaimed. "I've never seen anything so complex. What does it do?"

"As I'm sure you all saw, Naruto isn't completely mute. To allow him to speak with certain people without raising his voice he created a seal that sends his voice directly to the ears of any who wear the receiver seal."

Everyone except Anko was astounded to hear about Naruto's impressive grasp of sealing to be able to create such a workaround to his disability.

"So then, this is just a big receiver seal?" Kurotsuchi asked.

Tsunade nodded. "Naruto created modified versions of the seal he has on his throat that will discretely transmit to these receivers without being detected the way a radio transmitter would be." To prove her point, the sounds of conversation started pouring out of the two scrolls indicating the two assassins had returned to their forward camp. "Now we'll be able to figure out who hired these people and what their goals are."

The next week was spent with the members of Team Han and Team Gai rotating between guarding their clients, watching the gate and inspecting each of the numerous new arrivals that steadily streamed in, and training themselves into the ground. Naruto had already sent transformed clones to every corner of the mansion to keep an eye on things, and split his time between training, hanging out with Anko as they listened to the receiver seals, or occasionally speaking with his clients through Tsunade, who could normally be found with them.

Hiro Morimoto, the man who owned the mansion they were staying in was older with a love of books and scrolls. He was overjoyed to learn of Naruto's voracious appetite for learning and even granted him access to his library, where a plethora of books and scrolls from throughout the ages were stored in an impressive collection. He was fascinated by some of the stories from Naruto's past, laughing as Naruto described some of his more famous pranks on the people of Konoha. When Naruto had mentioned his adventures in the Land of Waves, and how he had defeated Gato, both Hiro and Koda, the businessman from the Land of Earth, had listened with rapt attention. When he told them that Tsunami was now running the majority of Gato's companies, they started beaming with happiness.

They explained to him that Gato had been nipping at the fringes of their companies. Slowly expanding into their industries and using whatever means necessary to continue to grow. They had been momentarily relieved when he had set his sights on the Land of Waves, though they had no idea why he would suddenly drop everything to essentially take over a country. However, they and a few of the other bigger names in the business world hadn't been given any time to relax, as they knew that it was only a matter of time before Gato set his power-hungry gaze back on them. Hearing that Gato's companies had changed hands was some of the best news they had heard in a long time, and they resolved to work harder to iron out their merger so that they could start working with Tsunami before someone else came along.

As a thanks for what he unwittingly did for them, Hiro had told him that he wanted to give Naruto a scroll from his own personal collection. Naruto had tried to refuse, stating that he had just done what was right, but Hiro was having none of it. Naruto's protests were cut short as they entered the library and Hiro uncovered a safe behind one of the bookshelves. He opened it, and Naruto had to stop signing as a familiar throbbing sensation pulsed through his right arm. He grit his teeth and grabbed his arm as Tsunade looked at him with concern.

She was about to ask him what was wrong when Hiro turned around and her jaw dropped. In his arms was a massive scroll, at least four feet in length. It was wrapped coloured a deep royal blue with intricate gold designs running along it. The seal holding it closed was in the shape of a swirling sun, and she immediately knew what she was looking at.

"As you know, I used to fancy myself quite the collector," Hiro explained. "I came into possession of this particular scroll over thirty years ago, through a series of back-alley deals with characters far shadier than I would like to ever see again. Neither I, nor any professionals I've hired have ever been able to undo the seal, so I have no idea what it says. Clearly someone went to great lengths to keep it from being opened by just anyone. But after seeing a similar design on the hilt of your sword, something tells me that this scroll is better off with you than just gathering dust in some old man's safe."

Naruto accepted the scroll and bowed low in thanks. He had discussed with Tsunade the idea of signing the Slug Contract, so he knew what he held was indeed a summoning scroll. Unlike before, when he had declined to form a pact with the slugs, citing that it just didn't feel right, this scroll was almost calling out to him, pleading with him to sign it.

"Naru-kun, it's probably a better idea to wait until we're in a more private setting," Tsunade suggested.

Naruto nodded and sealed the scroll away in one of the many storage seals he kept on his body. Smiling he bowed to Hiro once more and they returned to the meeting room.

*(OoO)*

"I got something!"

Tsunade called for a halt and Naruto and Kurotsuchi froze as they also heard Anko's voice shout from the window. It had been another week since Naruto had been given the summoning contract. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure in her decision to wait on signing it. If the contract was with a creature anywhere near as powerful as she thought, there would be little chance of testing it out inconspicuously. Not wanting to end up accidentally destroying their client's mansion, they agreed to wait until they were on their way back to Konoha to sign the contract.

At the moment they were joined by Han and the rest of his team as they stood around the table with the remaining receiver seal. They had been dismayed when the assassin that the senior members of their group had faced was killed by the one the genin had fought three days prior. The assassin didn't offer much in way of explanation as to why he killed his own partner, but their best guess was the man saw his injured colleague as a liability and had decided to dispose of him before the main contingent of the wandering clan's forces arrived that night.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked.

"It seems their leader has arrived early and our boy's been summoned to meet with him."

They listened closely as the sounds of activity faded with the rustle of fabric, indicating their target had entered a tent.

"Kurokawa-sama, you're early." The soft tone of the assassin still carried a hint of arrogance as he addressed his leader. It was actually the first time any of them had even heard him speak, as the man seemed to be quite the loner. The best they had been able to do was listen in on some of the other bandits' conversations whenever he left his tent.

"Our client was anxious to hear your report, Fukase," A deep voice, whom they assumed to be Kurokawa said.

"I did exactly as ordered, Kurokawa-sama," Fukase replied. "I engaged the shinobi guarding the businessmen and have placed the seal within the grounds. When the rest of our men arrive, they will have unfettered access to the mansion. It will be nothing but rubble by tomorrow morning."

"And what of your partner?" A third voice asked. This was one was female and spoke in a husky whisper.

"He managed to eliminate any chance of our targets learning of our plan before escaping injured," Fukase reported.

"And where is he now?"

The smirk in Fukase's tone was unmistakeable. "He was wounded. It's in the very nature of a predator to devour the weakest prey first."

Tsunade shuddered. Something about the way he said it made her think Fusake wasn't being as metaphorical as he would like to believe. The woman sounded unimpressed as she addressed Kurokawa.

"I've heard all I need to hear. I will be joining you tonight to test the Five-Tails Jinchuriki myself." The sounds of footsteps could be heard as the woman left the tent, but stopped as Kurokawa called after her.

"And what about our pay, Konan?"

"You'll get your money when the job is done."

Tsunade frowned. Something about that name seemed familiar. Naruto tugged on her sleeve and started signing.

My clones have found the seal. It looks like an extremely complex summoning seal that will transport anyone standing in a corresponding one to it regardless of distance.

Tsunade nodded, translating what he said for the rest of the group. She shoved her thoughts about her client away and turned back to the present.

"Can you disable it?"

Naruto grinned mischievously.

I can do better than that.

The rest of the day passed in tense silence as they all prepared for the coming fight. Naruto had modifying the seal Fukase had left, not giving any details as to the fate of any unfortunate enough to try using the seal to summon themselves within the walls of the mansion. The other genin prepared to defend themselves against any attackers who eventually made it to the mansion, while Anko, Han, Gai, Tsunade and himself prepared to infiltrate their camp through a modified replica that Naruto had drawn that would send them there. As night approached, they finished their final preparations and all gathered on top of Naruto's seal.

Anko was surprised at how quickly it all happened. One moment they are standing in the mansion, the next, the same feeling she got when she used the substitution technique told Anko that Naruto's seal had worked. They stood on a similar seal near the outskirts of the advace camp and she and Gai sprang into action, killing the two shocked guards before they could utter a sound while Naruto created a contingent of shadow clones. The clones transformed into all sorts of small creatures before the smoke from their summoning had even dispersed and hurried into the forest to scout out the camp. Less than five minutes later, another puff of smoke appears in front of them and from it topples a woman with blue hair, in a black cloak. All in all, they were back in the mansion, setting their prisoner up in the basement in under fifteen minutes.

*(OoO)*

Konan groaned as consciousness slowly returned to her. She remembered being in her tent in that horrible camp and wishing Nagato could have sent literally any other member of their organization to associate with a group of men who acted no better than barbarians. She could feel every last one of them looking at her like she was a piece of meat to be devoured, almost literally, in one case. She had been in the middle of reminding herself that her mission came first, and that she was just there to observe the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, when she felt a presence behind her. She had spun around, punching her would be attacker in the face just as he jumped at her only for him to disappear in a puff of smoke. She couldn't remember anything past that except for the feeling of her muscles losing control as darkness surrounded her.

Now she was awake in what looked to be some sort of storage cellar. A brief survey told her that she still couldn't move and her ability to mold her chakra had been sealed. The door opened and three people joined her. The first she recognised as Orochimaru's old student. They had researched him extensively when he had joined Akatsuki, and even more thoroughly when he left them. This woman had appeared several times in Orochimaru's records before his desertion of Konoha. The second was a woman who brought memories of her past floating to the surface. Tsunade Senju, one of the Sannin and teammate to her old sensei. The last she didn't recognise. He was maybe a little taller than five feet, with shaggy blond hair, and the most striking pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. She couldn't help but get lost in his eyes as they shone with something she hadn't seen since Yahiko's death.

"So, your finally awake," Anko said as she took a position in front of Naruto.

"It was not wise capturing me," Konan replied calmly.

"It wasn't wise to allow yourself to be captured," Anko shot back. "You've been out for a few days. Your little band of brigands turned tail and ran when they noticed that their buddies were dying before they even made it to the mansion and the lady footing their bill had suddenly vanished. I think it's safe to say that's not the greatest impression to leave on a wandering clan."

"The bandits mean nothing to me," Konan said. "They were simply a means to an end."

Naruto eyes stung as he narrowed them. He felt like there was something missing when he looked at the beautiful woman sitting before them. Like he just needed to figure out that one last piece and he would see the bigger picture.

Meanwhile, Anko blew out a breath. "Well that's good to hear. I was almost worried there was someone out there who would miss you. Now, this normally the part where the interrogator says we could do this the easy way, or the hard way, but you strike me as a respectable gal." She stood up and pulled out a sealing scroll from the pocket of her trench coat. Spreading it out on the table, she unsealed a variety of tools. "You don't take the easy way out of anything, do you? Lucky for us, those stuffy businessmen finished their talks and have left to go celebrate wherever it is rich, old guys go to celebrate, so that means you and I have this entire mansion to really get to know each other."

Konan kept her face impassive, steeling her resolve as her torturer took her time to pick her first instrument. She knew she would die before she sold Nagato out. Averting her eyes from the instruments of pain lined up in front of her, Konan chose to lose herself once again in those blue eyes and their youthful optimism. She almost chuckled at the look of sadness and regret in his eyes. It was if the boy was pleading with her to answer their questions. She allowed the barest hint of sympathy for his soon to be lost innocence to leak into her expression, and braced herself as Anko walked around the table.

The stinging in his eyes increased in severity, and Naruto unconsciously channeled his chakra to his eyes. The stinging immediately stopped, only to be replaced by a pounding headache.

Congrats, Kit. You managed to unlock the next level for those eyes of yours. Kyubi said as Naruto struggled to sort through the veritable flood of information.

"Wait," he said quietly, causing Anko to freeze as she filled a needle with dark green liquid. She stared at Naruto in awe as his Kunshugan now had one glowing triangle spinning around his iris. He took a seat across from Konan and she found she was even more entranced by his eyes in this state. They glowed with a power that outshone even Nagato's eyes. There was a light in them that was brighter than his ever were, even before Yahiko's death. "What are your organization's goals?"

Konan narrowed her eyes. "What makes you think I'm part of an organization?"

"You do," Naruto said. "You said that we made a mistake in capturing you. Seeing as someone as skilled as you must be aware of the position you're in, that means someone else would make us regret capturing you. That, mixed with the fact that that ugly coat you were wearing that didn't at all match what you're wearing underneath means it's some kind of team uniform."

"That's a rather astute observation for one so young," Konan replied

"And you're pretty skilled for someone so young. Granted, there are other S-Class criminals who are younger, but none with an ability as unique as your own." Naruto smiled as Konan's eyes narrowed. With his newly enhanced Kunshugan, it was like he could see the tiniest twitch in Konan's body movement and could use them to read her thoughts like a book. He was making observations faster than he could process them, making it feel like he instinctually knew everything about her until he stopped to think about how he knew each fact. On top of that, his throat wasn't hurting nearly as much as he sent a small amount of chakra to his throat to coat his vocal chords. He still couldn't speak too loudly, and his voice was stuck in a lower register, but at least he didn't sound like he was suffering from a really bad case of laryngitis. The only problem was that he could feel his chakra draining rather quickly.

"Fine," Konan conceded, trying not to let the boy's eerily accurate observations get to her. "You are correct, I'm part of an organization named Akatsuki."

Naruto chuckled. "That explains the cloak, I guess. Now, are you going to tell me what Akatsuki's goals are?"

Konan puffed her chest out a little. "A child like yourself couldn't possibly comprehend what we are trying to accomplish."

"How about I try and understand what you're trying to accomplish, and you tell me if I'm wrong?" Naruto offered. Konan said nothing, but Naruto took it as a cue to continue. "Now, you think that Akatsuki's goals are beyond the comprehension of the average person, especially someone as young as myself. That means they're some pretty lofty goals. You're not too much older than me, maybe twelve to fifteen years, which means you've seen things that make you think you have a better understanding of the world than I do. Judging by how you seem to recognise Tsuna-sensei, and the fact that you're from the Land of Rain, I'm going to say that you're a war orphan, and you met Tsuna-sensei when she was there fighting. So I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say that Akatsuki is after world peace, or at least you think it is."

Konan couldn't keep the shock off her face. How could this child know these things? It didn't make any sense! She took a moment to recompose herself before speaking. "I'm impressed, but you did get one thing wrong." Naruto raised an eyebrow, motioning for her to continue. "I don't think Akatsuki will achieve peace between the Elemental Nations, I know it will."

"And how does the Five-Tails Jinchuriki fit into your plans for world peace?" Tsunade asked.

"He is but a piece of our plan," Konan replied vaguely. These people had already learned far too much. She knew she was at their mercy, but hopefully if she kept stalling, Nagato would come after her.

"Really?" Naruto asked. "So you're after the Tailed-Beasts for something." He paused for a moment and looked down. When he looked back up, Konan was surprised to see the sympathy have returned in his swirling gold and blue eyes. "It won't work."

"I don't think you're in the position to make that assumption," Konan countered. "You have no idea how powerful Akatsuki really is."

"I don't doubt the power of your members, who are undoubtedly as strong, if not stronger, than you. What I mean is your plan won't work in general." Naruto could feel sweat starting to leak down his back as Kyubi started to channel a little of its own chakra as well to help maintain his Kunshugan.

This seemed to finally hit a nerve. "What do you know?" Konan spat. "You haven't experienced true pain. Only those who have, understand the true path to peace."

Naruto stood up and turned for the door. "We're done here."

Tsunade and Anko followed him out the door, still speechless from seeing how easily he controlled the conversation and acquired information. They were broken out of their shock when the door closed and Naruto nearly collapsed. Anko, being the closest, caught him as his Kunshugan deactivated.

"Didn't think talking could be so tiring…" he croaked as his eyes fell shut. Tsunade ran a quick diagnostic jutsu and sighed in relief.

"It's just chakra exhaustion," she said, assuaging their worries but not their curiosity. "Whatever it was he did in there with his Kunshugan, it must have used a phenomenal amount of chakra."

"What did he do?" Anko asked, picking him up. Tsunade merely shook her head.

"I have no idea."

Naruto awoke the next day and immediately asked to go see Konan again. Tsunade and Anko were hesitant, and only agreed if he promised to not use his Kunshugan like he had the day before. Naruto agreed, and they made their way back down to the basement, stopping at the kitchen to grab some food first.

Konan was awoken when the door to her temporary prison opened and her wardens returned. She was surprised when Naruto stepped forward and placed a plate of delicious looking food in front of her. He made a quick hand seal and she suddenly found herself able to control her arms.

"Eat," he ordered.

Konan looked at him suspiciously, so he rolled his eyes and leaned forward, getting far too close as he took an exaggerated bite from her eggs. He leaned back and looked between her and the food in front of her until she finally took her own forkful of eggs, following it up with a piece of orange.

"I thought about what you said yesterday," Naruto said quietly. Konan noted that he sounded strangely hoarse this morning compared to when they last spoke. "Maybe you're right." Everyone in the room had similar expressions of shock as they watched him sit quietly on the corner of the table looking down at his hands contemplatively. "Maybe in order to really understand peace, you have to know at least a little about suffering."

He reached up to his neck and started undoing his scarf. Tsunade put a hand on his shoulder as she looked down at him in concern. "Are you sure you want to do this, Naru-kun?"

Naruto smiled sadly and nodded his head. Konan watched as he removed his scarf, revealing the vicious scar across his throat. He then took a deep breath and removed both his hoodie and his undershirt at once.

Anko's hands flew to her mouth as tears stung her eyes when she saw the abundance of scars covering Naruto's body. Even Ibiki didn't look that bad. Her shock and sadness turned to anger as she got her first good look at the dark metal form of Naruto's right arm. Konan felt similarly to her. Clearly this boy knew suffering better than even her. Yet somehow, his eyes still had that bright fire burning behind them. Satisfied he had made his point, Naruto put his clothes back on.

"We're going to be taking you back to Konoha with us. You can either spend the rest of your life in a cell, or you can convince the Hokage that you can be of use to him."

He stood up and left, followed by Tsunade and Anko. Once outside, he heaved a sigh as Anko crushed him between her arms. They didn't say anything, but Naruto knew what she was trying to convey. He reached up and stroked her back softly while looking at his sensei.

"Let's go home."