Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter Six
In and Out
"Zabuza, why is that old bridge builder not dead yet!?" Gato demanded, swinging his hand in obvious fury.
Zabuza's eyes cut across to the shipping magnate. "He has a Konoha Jounin acting as bodyguard. And not just any Jounin either, this one is used to be an ANBU captain. Taking someone of his skill out will require time and preparation."
Gato signalled for his two bodyguards to step forward. Both drew their swords as they followed their paycheque's command. "You listen to me, Momochi. You had better kill that old man before the week is up or those hunter-nin you are so afraid of may receive an anonymous tip as to your whereabouts."
Zabuza growled at the threat and gave a subtle nod of his head. Two dark, clawed gauntlets suddenly found their way to the necks of Gato's bodyguards and the tip of Zabuza's Kubikiri Houcho was just touching the tip of Gato's nose.
"You threaten me again, you'll find out exactly why this sword is called a decapitating knife."
Gato stumbled backwards but managed to keep on his feet. "Just make sure it's done! Zori, Waraji, we're leaving!"
The two bodyguards backed away from the Demon Brothers carefully before they sheathed their swords and went ahead of their boss. As Gato walked out the door behind the pair, he turned just enough so that the he could see Zabuza through the corner of his eye and smirked.
Zabuza watched the door slam behind the short man and growled. "That bastard is definitely planning something. You two," he looked across to the Demon Brothers, "find out who the hell he has got on his payroll."
"On it," the pair stated. The two disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Zabuza to continue with his plans.
"One hundred and forty-six, one hundred and forty-seven, one hundred and forty-eight, one hundred and forty-nine, one hundred and fifty! You can stop now."
Naruto collapsed onto the forest floor, sucking in as much air as he possibly could. Sitting atop his back was not only his Fusion Swords but also the cross-legged form of Haku. After one hundred vertical push-ups with Haku standing on his feet and one hundred and fifty with the girl and his sword on his back, Naruto was definitely feeling the strain on his muscles.
"You've certainly gotten better, Naruto-kun. Two years ago, you couldn't even make it to fifty. And that was without me on your back."
The blond moaned in response, causing Haku to giggle once more. "Get off, I'm suffocating down here."
Haku obliged and Naruto shook his giant sword from his back as well, revelling in the lightness he felt after carrying such a heavy weight. He shifted into a sitting position, leaning back on his palms and frowned across at Haku, who grinned in return.
"Remind me to never let you design my training regime. Damn well worse than Zabuza-sensei you are."
"Oh that's a lie and you know it," Haku said.
Naruto shrugged and rolled his shoulder, the feeling quickly returning. He was very glad for his advanced healing, even if it did come from a demonic fox sealed in his gut.
"Maybe," Naruto answered, "but then again, maybe not."
"Oi, Naruto, team training. Come on."
Naruto glanced up into the branches overhead and saw Kakashi looking down at him, his book open and usual eye-smile in place.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Naruto grumbled.
Kakashi dropped down beside the boy. "Don't be so glum. You can train some more with your lady friend later."
Naruto's eyebrow twitched and he snatched for Kakashi's book, only to have his hand slapped away.
"She's not my girlfriend!"
Naruto picked up his sword and stomped off through the forest, leaving a bewildered Kakashi and a blushing Haku behind.
'I never said girlfriend. But Naruto took 'lady friend' to mean 'girlfriend', so he must... Oh! I am going to have so much fun.'
Kakashi waved politely to Haku before he took off after his blond student, already planning the many different ways to tease Naruto.
"Okay, since there is no guarantee that Gato won't hire more ninja to attack Tazuna-san, we will be doing some training so you can help if it comes to a battle. You'll be climbing trees."
Naruto stared at Kakashi with a rather incredulous look on his face. 'The Tree Climbing exercise? Is he serious?'
"But, sensei, we can already climb trees," Sakura pointed out, Sasuke grunting in agreement.
"True," Kakashi started, "but you will be learning to climb trees without your hands."
With that Kakashi walked rather lazily up the trunk of a nearby tree until he was hanging upside down from a branch. He eye smiled to his team and started to explain how the exercise worked. Sakura and Sasuke both paid attention, listening to every word that Kakashi said. Naruto however, Kakashi noticed, was picking at dirt trapped under his fingernails.
Three kunai landed in front of the Genin, and Kakashi instructed them to mark their progress on the tree. Sasuke took off running, only making it up three steps before sliding back down the tree. Sakura made five steps before she slipped and fell as well. Naruto, deciding to play along, ran up seven steps, marked his place with the kunai, and back flipped off the tree.
Soon enough Sakura was half way up the tree, sitting on a branch and playing with the kunai. Sasuke was still struggling with it and Naruto had all but given up. Kakashi watched the blond with a frown, trying to decide what to do with him.
"Alright then. Sakura, I want you to keep running up and down the tree until you get exhausted. Sasuke, keep practicing until you get the hang on it. Naruto, come with me."
Kakashi took off through the trees, Naruto following along the ground. As the pair got out of earshot, Kakashi called out to the blond.
"Naruto, come up here already."
Naruto nodded and leapt onto the thickest branch he could find, repeating the process until he was even with Kakashi.
"So, you already know the Tree Climbing exercise. I think it's safe to assume you know the Water Walking exercise as well?"
Naruto nodded.
"Alright then, have you ever heard of Shape Transformation?" Kakashi asked.
"I've read about it." Naruto's brow furrowed in concentration, "It's supposed to be an advanced form of chakra control. According to the promotion guidelines set forth by the Third, it is very basically covered upon promotion of Chunin and then more advanced material is made available to Jounins. It is also vital in the creation of new techniques."
Kakashi's eyebrow rose in surprise. "How do you know so much about that?"
"I read a lot when I was younger," Naruto stated with a shrug.
"Right... Well anyway, you're correct. Generally Shape Transformation is reserved for Jounin to learn, and even then many Jounin don't bother. It's extremely difficult, and a lot of ninja have an 'if it works, don't fix it' mentality. However, when mastered, Shape Transformation can make existing techniques far more powerful than they normally are. It's also, as you put it, vital to creating new jutsu.
"There are some basic exercises that you can do to get used to manipulating the shape of your chakra; the most common form is making chakra visible to even the naked eye. This generally takes a few months of training, but with your chakra capacity, I wouldn't be surprised if you could get it in a couple of weeks. I'll show you some manipulation exercises, like making a leaf curl into a tube, if you can manage that."
Naruto arched his eyebrow in confusion. "So, I just build up enough chakra that it becomes visible?"
"Right," Kakashi answered. "It's generally easier to focus on one point of your body, like your hand for example, and make the chakra visible there."
"Okay then."
Naruto took off through the forest, looking for a clearing and leaving Kakashi to do whatever it is he did. Several times he almost hit a tree because of the extra weight of his sword. He finally found the clearing he and Haku had been in before and dropped to the forest floor, landing with a heavy thud.
Dumping his sword against a nearby tree, Naruto sat down and crossed his legs, making the ram hand seal. Settling in for a long bout of meditation, Naruto closed his eyes and focussed his chakra.
Naruto's eyes slowly opened, dim light reflecting off the water surrounding him. A gust of wind suddenly rushed across the room, carrying a foul scent with it, whipping up the water straight towards Naruto's face. Ducking his head, he avoided getting any of the murky water in his eyes, but his hair was soaked to the point of being almost flat. Naruto looked up through his blond bangs and glared at the source of the wind.
"Hello, Kyuubi."
"Come a little closer, oh jailer of mine. Just a little closer so I can tear you to shreds!" the giant fox roared.
"Shut up already." Naruto slowly stood up in a manner similar to Kakashi, lazily but at the same time purposefully. "What am I doing here, anyway? I'm supposed to be trying to make my chakra visible," he said more to himself than to the fox.
Cerulean eyes wandered from the nine tailed kitsune, who was ranting about something or other, and looked around the cavernous room. The walls were made of slate grey bricks that seemed to absorb any light that touched them. Pipes ran along the roof and walls of the room, some glowing red whilst others glowed blue, signifying his chakra circulatory system. The water around his ankles was murky and rather disgusting to walk in. Thankfully he could stand atop it instead.
'I really don't like my mindscape.'
Another wave of water came rushing at him and Naruto growled in annoyance. That blasted demon was starting to annoy him. Acting on instinct alone, Naruto lashed out with his hand and was surprised when the veritable tsunami halted in its tracks and changed course, straight back at the Kyuubi. A few seconds later, a loud yelp and the sound of spluttering reached Naruto's ears and he smirked in triumph.
"That's what you get, stupid fox. Why did you pull me here?"
"Why in damnation would I call you here? Your filthy presence disgusts me," the Kyuubi growled, its tone laced with loathing.
Naruto motioned to the surrounding room. "Look where you live. And you call me filthy?" he said with a bit of a chuckle.
The demon slammed against the iron wrought bars of its cage. "Let me out, and I'll damn well show you my home. It's called the Underworld!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you reckon. If you didn't call me here then I'm going to take a look around."
Naruto waved over his shoulder as he walked out of the cavern through an opening in the wall opposite the cage. A loud roar echoed behind him, and Naruto chuckled a little more. Looking down the halls of his mind, Naruto noticed that the blue pipes that ran to the left had a stronger glow than the ones on the right, and decided to follow them.
The further away from the seal he got, the clearer the water became until he could see the faded grey stone floor beneath. The walls also slowly faded from slate grey to almost white, although it wasn't quite that far. Light seemed more prominent away from the seal as well, and the red pipelines faded from the strong crimson they had been.
Turning a corner, Naruto noticed a room of bright light ahead, which both the pipelines ran towards. His pace quickened as he hurried to reach the source, wondering exactly what it was when he heard something echo along the halls.
"..Ruto... Na..to.. Aruto.. Naruto!"
"What the hell?" Naruto whispered, spinning around wildly to try and find the source of the voice.
He felt a tug at his navel and his eyes widened when he feel face first towards the water. Bracing himself for the impact, he waited.
"Naruto! Wake the hell up damn it!"
SLAP!
"Hey, hey! Ow!" Naruto's eyes snapped open, his hand reaching up to rub his stinging cheek.
"Naruto, do you have any idea how long we have been looking for you? I mean, come on! We've been screaming your name for almost an hour!" yelled Sakura, her hand still at the ready for another slap.
Naruto held up his free hand in defence. "I'm sorry, please don't hit me! I was meditating and kind of zoned out."
Sakura huffed in annoyance and stood up from her crouching position, stomping off through the clearing. "Hurry up. Tsunami-san has made us dinner. It's probably gone cold by now. Geez!"
Naruto shook his head to clear the stars brought on by Sakura's hand. Using the tree behind him as support, he dragged himself to his feet and grabbed his sword, following the pink haired girl through the trees.
'Damn crazy girl. Slapping me for no reason! But... what was with that light? It felt kind of weird, but... in a good way. Am I going crazy?'
Naruto noticed everyone staring at him when he walked into the house, promptly ignored them and sat down to eat his now slightly cold fish and rice.
"Naruto..." Sakura started, staring not at the blond but at his sword, "I was wondering if you could explain how your sword works? I mean, it looks really advanced."
Naruto hummed in agreement, still chewing on his food but he quickly glanced around the room. Everyone was curious about his sword, even Haku, who had seen it in action on several occasions. Swallowing, he reached behind him and grabbed the sword from its place on the floor.
"I call them Fusion Swords, but technically it is known as the First Tsurugi, because it is the first in a series of advanced swords dad plans on developing," Naruto explained. "I'll show you all the different pieces in a sec; I just want to finish the last of this rice."
Naruto inhaled the rest of his food and led the group to the more open space of the living room. Disassembling the sword, he spread the blades out in a semicircle with him sitting in the middle.
"The two on the end are the Ryou Ken, the companion swords. They are attached to either side of the sword and cover up the hilts of all the others attached. They're also pretty good for close combat."
Said blades were the size of small swords, or in a sense a wide mid-blade. The sword in itself was about two feet in length. Instead of a hand guard, that each had a complex looking gear system which retracted the handle and placed them alongside the back of the blade. The swords were mirror images of each other, a series of five small circular dents running up the length of one side of the blade.
"The next two are the Kinkou Ken, the balance swords. They attach to the back of the assembled sword to provide balance and some extra weight. Kind of weird to fight with on their own, but pretty awesome once you know how."
The next two were once again, mirror images of each other. Each of the blades was saw-toothed, with each of the teeth being sharpened along the flat edge. The swords, blade and hilt included, reached to roughly four and a bit feet long. The hilt was black and had a ridge along it every fifteen centimetres or so, giving distinguished handholds.
"Now for the business end, the Kyoukou Ken; it attaches to the front of the sword to become the cutting edge of the blade. By itself it's still one hell of a sword though."
This sword was all blade, with only a small part at the end where it met the hilt. The hilt itself was split down the middle, along with the rest of the back of the sword, leaving it hollow so it could easily attach to the main sword. The hilt was wrapped in a strange red material that looked like leather, but felt more like cotton or something of that sort.
"And finally we have the Chuushin Ken, the centre sword and the heart of the First Tsurugi. Everything attached to this to make up the sword I normally use. It's a bit weird, but technologically one of the most advanced swords on the continent."
The Chuushin Ken was easily the largest of all the swords, being about five and a half feet long. The hand guard was huge, with several slots for the other swords to fit into. The blade was split into two, equally long segments. The bottom segment was wide and thick, which merged into the top segment which was narrow and ended in a point. The hilt was wrapped in the same red material as the Kyoukou Ken, and was about a foot and a half long.
The group edged closer to get a look at the weapons. Just as they got within range of the semicircle, Naruto grinned and twisted the very end of the Chuushin Ken's hilt. The blade snapped in half lengthwise, being locked apart by a series of metal links and gears running up the length of the now split blade. Sakura and Tazuna jumped back in surprise, while Sasuke's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.
'Ah,' Kakashi thought, 'I thought it looked a lot wider before.'
"They all fit back together with a series of switches that can be activated by short bursts of chakra for quick release, so it's a pretty versatile sword. I've also been thinking about trying a new technique with all the different pieces but haven't really gotten around to testing it yet," Naruto said.
"I see," Kakashi stated. "So, when does Kenji-senpai plan on releasing the next sword?"
Naruto shrugged in reply. "Don't know. I think he said something about two years, but I can't be sure."
Before anyone could say anything else, a shadow blurred into the room, the door slamming shut behind it. Naruto immediately had the Chuushin Ken aimed at whoever it was, and Kakashi tensed as well. When the light settled around them, it revealed the form of Meizu, lacking his usual mask and horned forehead protector, and in civilian clothes.
"Gato and his men have never seen me or Gouzu outside of our ninja outfits. Easier to sneak around like this," the man explained. "But I have some information for you."
"Go on..." Kakashi said.
"Well, Gouzu and I were taking a peak at some of Gato's 'personnel' files, and we found something rather interesting. Aside from the hundreds of bandits he had hired, those three ninja we heard rumours about and none other than Hangenki Sankyodai."
Kakashi's eye widened astronomically. "Are you certain?"
"Positive. They are also bringing along their subordinates. I'm surprised they are charging less than us, despite the fact there are more of them," Meizu said with a frown.
"Sensei, what is the Hangenki Sankyodai?" Sakura asked.
"More like who," Kakashi started. "The Half-Life Triplets, three ninja siblings that tried to destroy their home village, Iwagakure, because the Tsuchikage kept them separated. After that, they started up their own gang of bandits and have been hunted by Iwa ever since. Every ninja or bounty hunter that has gotten close enough to kill them has been slaughtered in such a way that it makes even me feel a bit queasy.
"The question is why the hell did Gato hire them, of all people? Their base of operations is supposed to be on the other side of the continent."
Meizu folded his arms and his frowned deepened. "We aren't sure yet. Gouzu is trying to find out right now. But even Zabuza, as strong as he is, can't take on the triplets and win. Their teamwork is even better than mine and my brothers. We need to find a way to separate them and still fight their thugs, along with Gato's men."
"Duh, that's what we're here for. Zabuza-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, you and your brother and Haku-chan are all really strong. While you are fighting those half triplets or whatever, we can hold off some half-wit bandits," Naruto said, poking himself in the chest with his thumb.
Kakashi folded his arms over his chest and closed his visible eye, a smile forming under his mask. 'So much like Obito...' "Is that so? Well then, I guess we shouldn't worry."
Meizu shook his head, not sure whether to be amused by Naruto's statement or reassured. The kid was good, he'd admit that much, but he was still no match for any well trained Chuunin.
"Listen, I've got to head out," the demon brother said, "if I'm away too long, people will start to notice. Either Gouzu or I will bring you Zabuza's plans in the next few days. Catch ya later!"
With that, Meizu disappeared with a strong gust of wind. Kakashi nodded to himself, letting his chin rest against his collarbone. If Sasuke and Sakura were going to survive the coming fight, they were going to need more than a bit of chakra control training. He wouldn't put it past the triplets to try and attack fresh Genin to distract him.
"Sasuke, you're going to have to step up your training with the Tree Walking, you need to get that finished before I teach you anything else. Sakura, you will be with me tomorrow. I'm going to teach you some basic genjutsu techniques; your level of control is perfect for illusions."
"What about Naruto? Why does he get to skip training?" Sasuke demanded.
"Naruto has already mastered the Tree Climbing exercise and will be guarding Tazuna with Haku. That is, if you don't mind?" Kakashi directed the last part towards the girl.
Haku smiled and nodded. "That's fine."
Naruto, however, was frowning. His clones could easily protect Tazuna and pass on a message quicker through the memory absorption ability. He watched Kakashi reached into his backpack and pull out a pair of long range transmitters. Handing one to Naruto, he showed him how to set it up.
"From now on, you and I will be in constant contact. I want you to never take your eyes off of Tazuna-san from the moment he leaves this house in the morning until he returns in the afternoon. The Hangenki Sankyodai might already be watching the bridge."
"Roger," Naruto said.
"Okay, I think it's time everyone got some sleep," called Tsunami, who had just come back downstairs after putting her son to bed.
Kakashi bowed his head in agreement. "Yeah, I think you're right, Tsunami-san. Make sure you get a good night's sleep, guys. You'll need the energy tomorrow."
Two days of nothing but guard duty was driving Naruto crazy. There was only so much he and Haku could talk about. All day long he essentially just lazed about on the side of the bridge, soaking up as much sun as he could and watched the workers slowly disappear. He had been replacing them with his clones, but they could only do so much. They weren't trained carpenters or other kinds of tradesmen.
So tonight, to break his monotonous duties, he was going to sneak out and take a good look around the village. Maybe do some spying of his own in Gato's base, if he found it. Cracking an eye open, he looked around the room to find everyone else asleep on their mats and sleeping bags. Grinning, he slipped out of his pyjamas to reveal his normal clothes underneath, and crept across the wooden floor to the depression where the shoes were left.
Quickly sliding on his sandals, he quietly slid open the door just enough to slip through, and waved cheekily at his sleeping teammates and Haku. Once through, he took a deep breath before racing down the wharf, excitement bubbling in his chest.
Back inside, Haku's eyes slowly opened and she couldn't help but frown.
'What is he up to now?'
Mimicking the blond's actions, she snuck out and made to discreetly follow Naruto when she realized he had completely left her senses.
'I don't remember him being this fast,' she thought to herself.
Haku took to the rooftops once she reached the main part of the village, avoiding the wandering homeless and any patrols that might be out for a moonlit stroll. Her speed increased to almost maximum as she grew ever more frantic, not finding Naruto anywhere within the village. Deciding to try a different angle, she turned on her heel and started towards Gato's base of operations. His shipping company was located on the coast, and she seriously doubted Naruto would go that way.
Sure enough, she soon found her runaway blond bounding across rooftops headed straight towards Gato's mansion.
"Naruto-kun, wait up!"
Haku came to a halt beside the blond, who had finally stopped atop the roof of a tall building. She looked at the boy, and followed his gaze across to a large mansion that looked more like a castle. Surrounded on three sides by walls, the fourth side opposite the main gate was protected by a giant waterfall. Along the top of the walls were sword carrying thugs and several volley guns prepped with god knows what kind of ammunition.
"Why are we here, Naruto-kun?" Haku asked, seeing the worry in Naruto's cerulean eyes.
"My family's home..." Naruto whispered, "The birthplace of the Namikaze clan. And that bastard Gato is corrupting it!"
Haku gasped in shock. She hadn't known it belonged to Naruto's clan. "Are... are you sure?"
The blond merely pointed to the large gates in the middle of the wall. In the middle of both gates, burnt into the wood was a giant circle, a large wave coming out of the left side with a smaller wave more towards the right of the circle.
"I always just thought that they represented the Land of Wave... Naruto-kun, I am so sorry."
A menacing growl pierced the silence of the night, and Haku stared at her best friend, horrified. His teeth were bared in a feral snarl, the long canines catching the moonlight in an eerie manner. His whisker marks were deepening and his nails were growing. But all of that was nothing compared to his eyes. His normally beautiful cerulean eyes that sparkled with joy and mirth were now crimson red, Naruto's wrath visible through them and giving them an even darker quality.
"I'm going to damn well rip that bastards head off."
"No you're not..." Kakashi's lazy voice drawled.
The silver haired Jounin stepped out from the shadows, his arms crossed and his visible eye serious. Naruto growled at the Jounin and took a menacing step towards him, which Kakashi mimicked making Naruto back up in shock.
"Even with that chakra, do you really think you are capable of defeating me? Let it go, Naruto. Getting angry in a situation like this solves nothing. If you really want revenge, you should go take a look around. Find out where he sleeps; see if he keeps any personal information around. Killing him now will just leave the bandits without a leader, which in turn will probably end up as the end of this land. They'll overrun it without any direction and ultimately destroy it."
Naruto felt a soft hand on his shoulder, and looked around to see Haku smiling sympathetically at him. Slowly but surely, Naruto began to calm down enough that the demon chakra receded from his system, returning his features back to their normal state. Kakashi nodded and eye smiled toward the blond, whilst Haku hugged the blond.
Naruto returned the embrace and felt the heat rising up his neck and cheeks, blood rushing to his head. He tried to fight it back down; after all he was a ninja down. Ninja didn't blush. He slowly let his arms fall from the small of Haku's back and steadied his breathing, trying to get his rapidly beating heart back under control. Once he finally regained his composure, he looked towards his sensei.
"I don't really know how to do that stuff," Naruto explained. "I mean, I know the basics of infiltration and recon, but most of my training has been towards becoming an Elite."
Kakashi nodded in understanding. Not many ninja were willing to become reconnaissance experts as they were the ones that went behind-enemy-lines to gather intelligence on enemies. It was those kind of shinobi that were subject to the most scrutiny within the ninja world, fears of them having turned coat or being manipulated by some jutsu were always in mind when they returned home. Of the few reconnaissance and espionage that Konoha had, only Jiraiya of the Sannin was never questioned. And even then, it was only because he had been constantly providing vital information to Konoha for over twenty years.
"I'll be right here. They are just thugs, so you should be fine. If you manage to get in and out without being noticed, I'll teach you a nifty jutsu I picked up during the war for sneaking around."
Naruto's eyes lit up at the words 'new jutsu' and he immediately set out to find a quiet way into the house. Kakashi shook his head in amusement whilst Haku watched with a soft frown. She could sense chakra to a minor extent, and she knew there was at least one person in that mansion that had chakra levels that were well above any old thugs.
"Ah yeah, that's the stuff!" a high pitched voice exclaimed, his words slightly slurred.
A deep, rumbling voice replied, "If you drink all that sake, I'll cut you into itty bitty pieces, Kakko."
Naruto watched as the two argued over the large porcelain jug of alcohol and grinned at the idiocy of the pair. Getting over the wall had been easy, he just waited until there was a gap in the patrol and leapt across the walkway, sliding down the other side of the wall with his chakra.
The pair's argument grew heated and, taking the opportunity, Naruto slipped passed the two thugs without making a sound, his feet barely touching the ground as he dashed across the barely lit courtyard. He made sure to slide around any slivers of moonlight that fell across the ground, sticking to the shadows as much as possible.
Naruto came up to the wall and immediately pressed his back against it, mentally kicking himself for not grabbing his ninjato on the way out of the house. His eyes trailed across the yard, his special ninja diet allowing him to see clearly through the darkness of the night. Glancing at the main doors to the house, he frowned and shook his head. Standing on either side were four thugs, each armed to the teeth with all manner of sharp and pointy instruments.
'No good. I need to find another way in... This is a ninja household, there has got be some kind of hidden entrance.'
Naruto ran through his jutsu list in his head and his frown deepened. Aside from the Shunshin jutsu, he had nothing that could help in a situation like this. He moved towards the edge of the wall and deftly slipped around the side. This side was much darker, the walls of the mansion protecting it from the light of the moon. He crept along the side of the wall, his senses on high alert, always looking for someone that might spot him.
Just ahead he noticed a puddle of water and a constant small stream running from somewhere above the puddle. Following the trail of water, he noticed a pipe sticking out from the wall of the house, easily wide enough to fit a small child through. Naruto looked at his shoulders before looking back at the pipe and almost swore. His shoulders were broader than the pipe was, if he was going to go in that way he would have to dislocate one of them. Thankfully he had had to dislocate his shoulder many times as part of his training with Kenji and Zabuza, in the case that he was tied up and couldn't use his chakra. Any decent ninja could sense the output of chakra, even for something like the rope escape technique.
Relaxing his shoulders, Naruto tucked his fist into the pit of his left arm and put it at an awkward angle before jerking upwards with his fist. A sickening 'pop' sounded, along with an almost slurping kind of noise, and Naruto's left shoulder was dislocated.
He immediately bit down on his lip to keep from screaming. His teeth tore through the skin and blood began to both pool in his mouth and ooze down his chin. The coppery tasting liquid ran over his tongue, making Naruto feel a little sick as well as in pain. Taking a few deep breaths, Naruto calmed himself before spitting the blood out and clenching his jaw, grinding his teeth together. Never was he so thankful for his ability to walk on completely vertical surfaces without the aid of his hands.
'I better damn well get that jutsu off Kakashi-sensei. No matter how many times I do this, it hurts like a bitch!'
He walked up the wall, his left arm hanging limply behind him. Reaching the drain, he carefully slid himself in right shoulder first, tucking his useless arm behind him to keep it out of the way. As he crawled, he focussed less on his sight and more on his hearing and sense of smell. The mansion was mostly quiet, a few guards wandering here and there but nothing he couldn't simply slip by. He was grateful for the lessons Zabuza had given him on honing his senses, as right now they were more vital than ever.
As he trailed along, he was thankful for the fact that the water wasn't from sewerage or something of a similar sort. The water was clear for the most part, probably drainage from taps or refrigerators. A patch of light ahead drew Naruto's focus back from his hearing, and he was surprised at what sat in the dank light.
A fox was clawing at the grates above it in a small, square drain that was easily big enough for Naruto to crouch normally in. Its fur was a strange colour, being reddish-grey with silver undertones and a triangular patch of white under its chin. Its thick bushy tailed swayed behind it in apparent annoyance at not being able to get through the grate.
Naruto made to crawl forward a bit more when its head snapped around to face him, an almost inquisitive look in its dark eyes. Naruto grinned through clenched teeth and held out his hand towards the small critter, hoping it wasn't rabid.
The fox carefully padded forward, its front paw touching the pipe around Naruto's hand a few times before it came close enough to sniff it. Naruto had to hold back a childish giggle when its whiskers tickled his hand, and tickled its chin in return with the tips of his fist two fingers. The fox bounded forward and licked Naruto's face before baring its teeth in what Naruto assumed to be a smile of some kind.
'What an odd fox. I didn't even know they could smile...' the blond thought.
Naruto pushed against the fox until it moved back so Naruto could crawl into the drain space, crouching on his hind quarters similar to how the fox was sitting. He could feel the pain coming back to him now that he was focussed again. Zoning out and listening to the mansion had numbed his mind from the pain for a while. He focussed on his hearing one more time and heard no one in the room above him, and pushed the grate up with one hand.
Crawling through the now open hole in the floor, Naruto looked around and recognized the room as a storage room. On one side were fridges and giant freezers, on the other barrels and shelves of god knows what. The fox jumped up from the drain and jumped around the blond for a minute before racing off to the nearest open source of food. Naruto shook his head in amusement before setting about relocating his shoulder.
Letting it hang by his side, he relaxed for a few moments and was glad for his high pain threshold. If it wasn't for that, reducing his shoulder would take a lot longer than he would have liked. Once he was sufficiently relaxed, he lifted his arm up and out slowly until it above shoulder level, and reached behind his head as if he was going to scratch the back of his neck. Instead of stopping, he continued to reach for his other shoulder until the pain suddenly disappeared from his shoulder.
"Much better," he whispered to the fox, which stopped its eating long enough to yip quietly at him.
Naruto chuckled before moving towards the door, listening for anyone on the other side before cracking it open just a bit. It was a massive kitchen. This was definitely more of a castle than anything else. And technically, he owned all of it. He opened the door enough to just fit and went through, darting along the cement tiled floor.
'Right, need to find information. Where would that slime ball keep his files? I wish I had a map of this place... Hang on!'
Quickly making his cross-shaped hand seal, Naruto called up a small group of five shadow clones. The clones, already knowing their orders, disappeared through the kitchen doors. Naruto strained his hearing to try and locate his clones, and when he couldn't he grinned in triumph. The fox came out from the storeroom and sniffed around the kitchen for a minute before nipping at Naruto's ankles a couple of times.
"What is it?" Naruto asked the fox, bending down to face it. Normally animals hated him, but this little fox seemed to love him.
The fox yipped a few times before pointing its long nose towards the door, its wet black nostrils flaring as if it had picked up a scent. Naruto frowned in confusion before focussing his own sense of smell towards where the fox seemed to be looking. Picking up nothing but the musky scent of the fox, Naruto easily crept forward towards the door and pressed against it, looking out through the gap his clones had left.
Seeing nothing, he moved to go back to the fox when he heard footsteps. 'They aren't in the dining hall yet... whoever it is must still be out in the hallways patrolling. But they are definitely coming this way. Damn!'
Naruto looked around the room, trying to find a good hiding spot when the fox yipped again. Naruto glared at the animal and it ran back into the storeroom. Looking around again, he resigned himself to hanging from the roof via his chakra. He waited just above the doorway, looking a bit like a vampire.
Sure enough, a lone man walked into the kitchen. Dressed in a pair of green baggy pants that fell to half way down his shins and a brown open vest, one could easily tell he was a gangster. Well, the clothes plus the tattoos down his arms of koi fish and dragons. The man scratched his stomach and snorted a few times as he walked, his bare feet slapping against the floor rather loudly.
Naruto shook his head in disgust and stalked the man into the storeroom, being sure to make no noise. The gangster had pried open a barrel of sake and was refilling his small ceramic bottle with the alcoholic liquid. Creeping forward, Naruto cursed when he saw the grate was still pushed open. He was also surprised that the gangster hadn't seen it. The blond made an attempt to quietly shut it, but the gangster had turned around.
"Oi, you're not supposed to be 'ere!" the thug slurred.
"Yeah well," Naruto started, "I go a lot of places I'm not supposed to."
With that, Naruto dashed forward and brought his fist in close to his chest. Just as he got in range of the man, he placed his open hand on his fist and attacked, aiming an elbow strike to the gangster's chest. Surprisingly, the gangster managed to dodge it. The half drunk fumbled with a knife tucked into his waistband. Naruto spun on his heel, throwing a backhand at the side of the gangster's head. The attack struck true and the man toppled to the ground, out cold.
"How pathetic," Naruto whispered to himself.
Picking up the bottle of sake the man had dropped, Naruto sloshed it around his chest and chin, then dropped the now three quarters empty bottle next to the fallen man's outstretched hand. It was easy to frame someone to look like they were drunk, especially when they were already half way there.
All of a sudden, a rush of images came to Naruto's mind from one of his clones. It had found Gato's quarters just as a patrol was coming around the corner. It had dispelled itself before it got caught, but now Naruto had to go search the shipping magnate's room himself. Raising his hands into a ram seal, Naruto dispelled the other clones that were running about the mansion and immediately gained a pretty accurate readout of the place. Some of the clones had found file rooms as well. He'd go there first and then go check out Gato's room.
Getting through the halls to the files was easy enough; the patrols were less and less frequent the further away from Gato's quarters he got, and the few he did come across he could easily bypass by walking on the roof. He collected files on personnel and Gato's less than legitimate dealings that the shipping magnate wasn't willing to leave at the office. Naruto could hardly believe that one man could be so deep in the underworld. Slave trading, weapons import and export, business deals with Yakuza, black market trading. This guy had his grubby little fingers in every honey jar.
"You really shouldn't be here, my little ninja friend."
Naruto spun on his heel, his eyes locking onto whoever had spoken from behind him. Leaning lazily against a wall was a rather tall, slender man that could easily be mistaken for a woman. He had long, flowing white hair that was tied into a thick braid, which easily reached the small of his back. Dressed in loose fitting blue and white robes, he was smiling almost serenely at Naruto. But what really drew the blond's attention were his eyes. He had soft orange eyes which held an almost ethereal glow to them.
"Who are you!?" Naruto demanded.
The man chuckled softly. "I could ask you the same thing. After all, you are a foreign ninja infiltrating this place. I, on the other hand, was invited in. You should really take off your forehead protector before you go sneaking around."
Naruto reached up and touched the cold steel of his forehead protector, before glaring at the man again. "What do you want?"
"Me? I just want to talk. This place is so utterly dull, after all," the man said.
"You want to talk? You can start with your name."
"I suppose you're right. It's rude to ask someone else's identity without first revealing yourself. I am Hangenki Kisuke. And you are?"
'Han... Hangenki!? He's one of the triplets! Shit!'
"No one important," Naruto replied.
"Oh come now," Kisuke whined. "Surely you have a name. At least let me hear it before you leave."
Naruto froze. Leave? In what manner? Naruto gulped and he heard Kisuke laugh from behind him.
"You sure are an interesting one. Come on, tell me your name. That's all I want to know. Tell me your name and you can go."
"Naruto... My name is Naruto."
Kisuke grinned. "Well it was a pleasure to meet you, Naruto-san. I hope we meet again in the future. Your mere presence seems to excite me more than anyone else on this island. I wonder why?"
Naruto made a weird sound from the back of his throat, somewhere between a laugh and choking, before taking off down the halls with the use of his Shunshin technique. Kisuke watched the spot where Naruto had been standing for a few moments before his grin became a soft smile.
"The next few days should be interesting... I wonder how well my brothers will fare against a demon host..."