In the days to come Akira was to be closely guarded by the top Shinobi of the leaf village. Kakashi Hatake was among the group, even Lord Hiyashi Hyuga agreed to the task, having been pleased with the boy's relations with his daughter thus far. From Hinata Akira got the impression that the man would have had better things to do, had this been any other Shinobi to guard.
He was to have his room surrounded by Anbu by night and when he went out in the day he was closely escorted by four skilled Shinobi that weren't exactly Anbu, that way they would blend in with the crowd better. But if these people were who Akira suspected, then that wouldn't fool them for more than a second or two. Besides, if they tried a frontal assault in broad daylight, more proper Anbu were nearby always, with the full force of the leaf village only a call away.
Today he was to take a walk with Hinata around a park near the Hyuga compound. Since of the pair emotion connection, Hiyashi also wanted his heir closely guarded, her actions were heavily restricted.
This made any attempts at romance difficult, but the two were aware of the situation and the vitality of their safety. So hey kept to intimate whispers and handholding for the time being, which was fine for Akira, he got to learn about the girl in more depth.
She had even been willing to share the story of her former lifelong crush on the kidnapped Naruto Uzumaki. She had expected this to worry Akira, but he surprised her by shaking off the comment. After all, she had said yes to him, not Naruto.
After the first few nervous days Akira got to thinking that this idea of honesty with the leaf village and close guarding may just work, until one day, when he was called into the Hokage's office yet again, interrupting his peaceful stroll with the Hyuga heiress. This time there was no dark room, not even any Anbu, only those personal guards standing outside her door and her assistant Shizune, an open lady with a friendly smile. But this day she did not smile, this made Akira instantly nervous, what had happened?
Hinata had accompanied him and gave him an attempt at a reassuring smile, but she was less than convincing. Ever since Naruto's capture, she had never been quite as happy as when Naruto had been around.
The Hokage motioned with her eyes towards a single sheet of thick paper on her desk; it had slick black handwriting across it. The two adults were silent as Akira slowly obtained the letter from Tsunade's desk.
Dear Hokage/Akira OMEGA
I'm sure you are aware of the absence of one of your more unusually Shinobi, a Naruto Uzumaki. If Akira has not filled you in on what he understands to be our intentions with the boy, I suggest he do so before you continue reading. I have already drained the boy's demon Chakra sufficiently to satisfy our plans. We would return the boy immediately, except we still miss one piece to our puzzle, Akira OMEGA himself. So, I propose a trade is to be made, Naruto Uzumaki, unharmed, for Akira OMEGA to be made tomorrow atop the stone faces of your city. Should you fail to comply with our request, we will ensure that we drain the rest of boys original Chakra until he dies, using it to further strengthen my own and my partners' Chakra.
So we suggest you send Akira to the stone faces ALONE tomorrow at noon, lest Naruto Uzumaki's slow, painful death rest on your conscience.
Aihvus
'That was the group leader's name, wasn't it?' The Hokage asked voice tense.
Akira nodded, 'He uses tricks and strategy rather than force, and this being the largest village I've visited thus far.'
Now the Hokage nodded in understanding, 'To accept though, would be madness. If he'd know you'd fill us in on the details as soon as Naruto was missing, then he must know you'd tell us the nature of their plans. So how can we knowingly accept; if we decline Naruto dies, if we accept, everyone dies, where's the logic in threatening with one life when millions of others are at stake?'
'But…you must save Naruto!' Hinata cried shrilly, breaking the softer, more thoughtful atmosphere.
Again the Hokage nodded, 'Exactly, we must also dispose of these thugs before they find another way to acquire Akira, so now we can kill two birds with one stone. At least now they will come out of hiding.'
'I doubt that most likely one of the group's lower henchman will deliver Naruto, while the rest remain hidden.'
'What if…we force the one lackey to run, leading us to the rest of them?'
'The men in that group are steadfast in courage; they will remain fighting if it would otherwise compromise the rest of the group.'
'Still…you said the one would be lowly, is it possible his courage could waiver? Could we get this one person to break their strategy and run like a coward?'
Akira thought about it for a moment, 'Actually…if we can get a Ninja to tail the man once we tell him the deals off…he would have to relay that information back to Aihvus somehow…but we'd need the village's most stealthy Ninja to tail the man, it's only because he'll be an underling that we stand any chance of pulling this off at all.'
'So…the person would need to be a strong Shinobi and good at some sort of stealth related Jutsu…shadow footprints, transparency…any ideas?'
Suddenly the Hokage's face broke out into a mischievous grin, 'I know just the guy, Shizune, go find that oaf Jiraya and fill him in on the situation and what we need of him, he's strong, maybe even stronger than me, so if by chance someone stronger shows up and tries to take us on, he'll be able to handle himself long enough for help to arrive.'
'Good…this better work,' Said Akira anxiously, then with a sidelong glance at his accomplice he added, 'For our sake's and Naruto's.'
