Disclaimer: I'm tired of writing it, look at the previous chapter.

"What the hell is that?"

Naruto looked towards the same direction as Sasuke. They were following Sakura's and Tazuna's tracks on the outskirts of the village. When he looked at it he saw a picture similar to what he was seeing since he was five. It wasn't pretty. But he was used to it.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "Don't you see those beggars? Those kids-"

"-searching through the garbage for something to eat?" Naruto interjected. "Those women selling themselves to survive? Those thugs doing what they want?" He looked into the black eyes of the Uchiha. "Yes, I see them. They're pathetic."

"Maa, maa, aren't you a bit too harsh?" Kakashi spoke, his head rising from above his book. "They're doing everything they can to..."

"No, they're not doing everything," Naruto snapped, glaring at the merchant that didn't even say a word when one of the thugs grabbed half of the fish on his stand without paying, only to throw them into the mud in the alley. "They're doing only what they have to. They laid down, hoping that with time they'd get used to Gato's heel on their backs. They gave up. That's why they're pathetic."

Not bothering to look at their reactions Naruto continued tracking Sakura's and Tazuna's footprints... mostly Tazuna's.

Finally they reached a place where the footprints left the forest and led towards one of the houses. It was a normal, wooden, two story house positioned at the edge of the water, like many others in the village, but this one was in slightly better shape. Naruto sensed someone jumping down from the roof.

A second later Sakura appeared in front of them, her wide eyes, green showing traces of fear. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing, really," Naruto said, keeping his voice normal. "We've just came back from a wonderful vacation at the sea resort. How does my tan look?"

Sakura sighed. "Well, at least mentally you're okay." She gave them one more worried look... well, one to Naruto and Kakashi. "Come inside, I'll patch you up."

"You?" Sasuke asked doubtfully as they started walking.

Sakura decided that she had to watch carefully where she puts her feet. "Ummm... yea... I mean, I started to learn about medicine a few weeks ago, after what Naruto said, about my strong sides, and when I learned that medic need a good control, and with you two always getting hurt during spars, I..."

She was blurting out words nervously until Sasuke interrupted, "Then why didn't you tell us before?"

"...I don't know," she admitted timidly. "I guess... I didn't want... you to laugh at me."

"And why would we?"

Sakura just shrugged and opened the door of the house. "Tazuna-san! They're here!"

They all entered what looked like kitchen. Inside, near the sink, stood a young, black-haired woman. From a room deeper in the house came Tazuna. Naruto could feel one more figure up on the floor.

The woman looked at them and gasped, "Oh Kami! You're hurt!"

"Tsunami-san," Sakura spoke calmly. "Is there a place where they can rest?"

"Of course, come with me."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Tazuna asked, taking a bite out of a fish.

Kakashi swallowed. "That depends on how long it'll take to complete the bridge."

The builder winced. "Long," he said, and after a pause added, "A few days after I left Gato send his thugs to the bridge. They didn't knew what to destroy, so the damages were repaired quickly, but most of the workers are now too scared to work. With how many men I have now it'll take around a month to complete it."

Kakashi scratched his chin. "No good," he mused. "In a month Gato can hire a whole army of shinobi."

"Maybe we could help at the bridge?" Sakura inquired.

"No. We have to concentrate on protecting Tazuna. We don't know when Zabuza or somebody else will come."

"And," Tazuna added, "no offense, but four people won't help us that much. I need dozens of new workers."

"Dozens..." mused Kakashi. Naruto noticed that he was looking at him with his one visible eye, and despite the mask he was sure that the jounin was smiling. "I think I have an idea how to help you. It's..."

"Why do you even bother?" They all looked at the entrance, where a small black-haired boy with a white hat stood in the doorway. "Gato will kill you, just give it up."

Naruto shrugged. "Sorry kid, I don't like giving up. And you shouldn't either."

"And what do you know?!" the boy shouted, glaring at him. "You think you're some kind of hero?! You have no idea what we've gone through, you don't know what it's like to suffer or to lose some..."

Naruto saw red. He glared at the boy, making him choke on his own words. "I don't know what it's like to suffer?" he repeated slowly, his quiet voice frizzing the air. "Tell me, do you know what it's like to spend your whole life alone? To be hated by everyone for something that is out of your control? To be thrown out of the orphanage at five, forced to live on the street? Have you ever had to steal or search through the garbage to eat something, to sleep in the sewers just so you don't freeze to death?" By this moment Naruto was standing, not really sure when he rose, glaring at the covering boy, who was too terrified to move, to even look away. "You have your family. I've never had one, and one of the few people who was close to me killed herself, because they hurt her. Just because she knew me!" Naruto's voice rose only a tone higher, but the boy flinched as if he'd yelled on top of his lungs. "You have no idea what I've been through, so don't you dare to talk about suffering."

Feeling that he wouldn't be able to contain himself any longer Naruto quickly walked outside. As soon as the doors closed behind him he darted forward, sprinting towards the forest. He ran, trying to release all his emotions, but the rage that he felt inside didn't diminish. He wanted... to destroy, to tear something, or to find those bastards that hurt Shiho-nee and kill them once again.

After a few minutes of a mad dash he halted. He closed his eyes, trying to get his emotions under control, but he quickly realised that it was impossible. With a loud yell he punched the closest tree, leaving a small dent in the bark. Ignoring the pain he punched it again, deepening it. He was about to hit it for a third time when suddenly everything became black.

When he woke up he was standing in the middle of a sewer. It looked a lot like the ones beneath Konoha. He could tell. He spend quite a bit of time there. It was better than sleeping on the street, and there weren't many people who would come down there after him.

But this wasn't Konoha's sewer. It was water, not something worse, that was reaching over his ankles, and the stench of sewage was absent. Nevertheless, Naruto knew this place. He turned around, coming face to face with a huge gate, at least a hundred feet tall, with a slip of paper keeping it shut. On the slip was drawn a kanji for 'seal'. He couldn't see anything behind the bars. Apart from a few feet everything was concealed in the darkness.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked loudly, making sure to sound emotionless.

Something shifted deep inside the cage. A huge figure rose and came closer, each step made a loud, but soft thud. It came into light, revealing a giant, blood-red fox with huge, red eyes. Everything behind its shoulders was still hidden in the shadows, but Naruto still could see the movement of its nine tails.

"What do I want?" a deep, loud voice, with a hint of amusement in it, made the air vibrate. "It was you who came here, did you not?"

Naruto suppressed a growl. "Don't beat around the bush. We both know that it takes you summoning me or me meditating for me to come here. So just end your games and tell me what you want."

The fox's 'face' shifted into, if Naruto read it correctly, a mocking grin. It was hard to read from its animal features. "Oh, nothing much. I was just curious who it was that made you so furious that you tapped into my power." Naruto looked down and, sure enough, there was something between red mist and liquid seeping through the gates. "Did you kill that someone? Last time this happened you almost went on a rampage. If it wasn't for that girl you would've kill those guys." Naruto looked up and saw the Kyuubi's grin widening. "Oh wait, you killed them anyway, didn't you? After she hung herself." Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, looking down at his feet and trying to stop himself from... doing something. "Oh sorry. I shouldn't remind you about that?"

The boy decided that he had enough. Suppressing a growl he turned around and walked away, trying hard not to show how tense he was. Behind him the Kyuubi let out a deep chuckle. "I admit it, you're good at keeping your emotions in check. But, you know... the longer you keep the beast in the cage, the wilder it is once it's finally set free."

When Naruto emerged from the forest the sun was already setting. Lit by its last rays, devoid of the villagers that already went to find some shelter for a night, the village didn't look that bad at all. The houses were built before anyone here had even heard about Gato, so they were nice and solid. Right now this place looked like one of those small, quiet villages, where life went on slowly and peacefully, that could be found anywhere, in every country.

When he approached Tazuna's house he noticed his daughter chopping the wood at the back of the building. He slowly walked closer, making some noise so as to not scare her.

"Let me do that," he said quietly, taking the wood that she was about to pick up. Tsunami flinched and jumped away, gripping tightly the handle of the axe. It was then that Naruto realised that 'some noise' for shinobi, and 'some noise' for a civilian were two entirely different things. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He raised his hands in a calming manner. He really didn't like the idea of pulling out the axe out of his skull.

Tsunami relaxed, lowering the deadly weapon and putting her left hand on her chest. "No, I... it's..." she trailed off and took a deep breath. "Where have you been? Your friends are worried about you."

The young Uzumaki looked at the wood that he was still holding in his hand. "In the forest. I was... training."

'Well, it's partially true.'

Tsunami looked at him carefully. "I'm... sorry for my son. After... after my husband, Kaiza... after he died Inari become sad, and angry... he gave up any hope. He had to watch as Gato killed his..." she trailed off. Naruto sensed that she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "But still he shouldn't talk to you like that, especially after what you said..."

"Forget it," Naruto interrupted.

"But I..."

"Forget that I ever said anything. I also shouldn't have let it out." He concentrated on the piece of wood inside his hands. 'Thin and sharp,' he repeated Sakura's words, concentrating. A crack appeared in the wood, but it reached only to about third of its length. Naruto chuckled humourlessly. "We are actually quite similar. The difference is that he gave up, and I decided to fight with it."

Silence came upon them. It was clear that Tsunami had no idea what to say. Naruto decided to spare her the need to say anything.

"Go," he said, putting a few pieces of the already chopped wood inside the nearby basket. "I'll bring more when I'm done," he added, grabbing another piece of wood.

Tsunami hesitated for a second, but then listened, disappearing from his vision, and then his sixth sense when she walked inside the house. Naruto concentrated on the next piece of wood, using wind chakra to split it. Once again he had to use it three times. With a mental sigh he picked another one.

It wasn't even a minute later before the door opened once more and two figures came out. Naruto didn't have to look to know who it was.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, walking around the corner, her voice clearly unsure. The young Uzumaki didn't say anything, he didn't show any sign that he heard her, he just picked another piece of wood. "Naruto, where have you been? We were worried!"

"I was training in the forest," he said once again, this time trying to create two wind blades in the shape of scissors. The split reached three fourth of its length this time.

Silence once again descended upon them, broken only by the sound of the splitting wood. Sasuke and Sakura clearly had no idea how to start and Naruto wasn't going to help them.

"Naruto..." the pinkette finally began tentatively, "... about what you said in the..."

"Forget it." Naruto really hoped that he wouldn't have to repeat it with Kakashi.

"What? But you..."

"Forget that I ever said anything. I shouldn't have say anything."

Sakura hesitated for a bit before quietly saying, "Okay. I won't ask. We'll wait until you're ready. Just... you know that you can tell us anything, right?"

"No, Sakura," Naruto responded coldly. "I don't think so."

This shut her up. She just stood there, and Naruto was sure that her face was shocked, which would later turn to hurt, maybe even teary. He maintained his emotionless face. That was good. Maybe he would be able to do it with Rue too.

Concentrating on chopping the wood was helping. To remember.

It took Sakura over a minute before she opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Sasuke spoke quietly, "Leave it," and then added louder, "Let's go, Kakashi said that he has a plan, but he needs your chakra reserves to do it."

"He wants me to create the bridge with chakra alone?" Naruto muttered, not really sure why Sasuke changed the topic, but he wasn't going to look gifted horse in the mouth.

'Not that it's totally impossible.'

"Water Clone Technique."

The moisture from the surface of the bridge gathered around Naruto, creating large puddles and then rising, forming human figures and changing colour. In the next second dozens redheads in grey cloaks stood in front of the group of builders.

Many let out a group gasp, not really used to the sight of a hundred small redheads appearing out of nowhere. Tazuna and the rest of the Team 7 weren't surprised. They saw Naruto practicing it in the evening, and late into night. Although this was the first time he'd created so many.

"So they can do everything you can, right?" Tazuna asked.

"Pretty much. They're only a bit slower and weaker than me." 'Well, actually ten times weaker, but he don't have to know this,' Naruto added mentally. "Also, I don't know anything about building the bridge, so..." he trailed off.

"So it means that your men have to watch over them," Kakashi finished for him. "I think that it'd be best if they take a few clones as helpers and show them the ropes."

Tazuna nodded and turned towards his still murmuring workers. "Okay, listen up!" The murmurs stopped as all of the Wave men looked at him. "Those clones are gonna help us, but they don't know anything about building a bridge, so divide them between you, take a few with you, and get them to work." A few question arose, but Tazuna just waved them off. "They'll do the hard work, just watch over them so they don't destroy anything."

The builders reluctantly approached the waiting redheads, still too shocked to realize that they just received an excuse to skip work. Seeing that there was nothing more for him to do Naruto walked towards the edge of the bridge, sat down with his legs hanging over it, and relaxed a bit. Technically he should've stay on guard, but with all those clones around there was no need really. Yesterday, after he had finally grasped how to create Water Clones, he learned that they didn't have his sensory ability, but it was still two hundreds shinobi eyes, even if a little distracted. Tazuna was pretty safe right now.

Naruto's thoughts wandered freely. He didn't concentrate on anything, he was just sitting there and watching the sea, which was surprisingly calm today. It was soothing, at least until he came back to his yesterday's outburst and the person that it was about. He quickly tried to concentrate on something else, to throw those huge green eyes out of his mind, their blank look as she hung...

'No! Don't think about it! Think about...'

"...Naruto to do the clones?" Hearing his name drew his attention.

"I already told you, because of his great reserves," Kakashi responded.

"I know that he has a lot of chakra," said Sakura in 'something-I-don't-know-please' tone. "But you're a Jounin, you surely have more chakra than Naruto."

Kakashi chuckled. "No, Sakura. In terms of chakra reserves I'm not even close to his level. No one in Konoha is."

"But... there has to be... Hokage-sama..."

"Even the Hokage don't have as much chakra as Naruto. Actually, it'd be hard to find ten people in the whole world who could be compared to him."

"Why... How can he have so much?" Sakura's voice clearly showed how shocked she was.

Kakashi let out a tired sigh. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Because he won't tell us anything." The pinkette turned towards the redhead. Naruto was sure that she had this hurt pout on her face that she stole from Rue.

"Well, if he doesn't want to talk about it, then I can't tell you anything either."

"So you know?" a surprised Sakura asked.

"I do. But it's something only Naruto can tell you, so you have to ask him."

"Does it have something to do with how everyone seems to hate him?" Sasuke spoke. It looked like he also was listening.

"You have to ask Naruto," repeated Kakashi.

"Great," Sakura grunted with sarcasm. She mumbled something quietly and sat down at Naruto's side in the same position. "You won't tell us anything, right?" Naruto didn't see any reason to confirm this. The pinkette sighed. "Then maybe at least you will tell us what was that feeling, back in the house?"

Despite himself he glanced at her questioningly. He quickly turned away, but Sakura must have noticed it, because she continued, "You know, that feeling when you were... ummm... scolding the boy." She waited for a few seconds, but he didn't react. "It was like... at first it was just killing intent, but then it disappeared... or rather changed into..." she trailed off, clearly unable to find the right words. Naruto still couldn't find any reason to help her. Especially since he had no idea what was she talking about. "I don't know, it was like... like as if I was standing in the middle of a storm... I could feel wind, even though I knew that there wasn't any. Oh, I don't know how to describe it," she ended with a resigned whine.

Naruto still had no idea what was she talking about. He didn't even notice that he had released killing intent. But it wasn't the time to think about it. Right now he had to find a way to get rid of her. He had to distance himself from them. But it would be impossible if she wouldn't want it too.

"Kakashi," he spoke. Everyone turned to him, but he completely ignored it, stubbornly observing the sea. "I want to infiltrate Gato's hideout."

"What?" Sakura blurted out. "Why?"

"To kill him," he responded, making sure to keep his voice and face cold and emotionless. 'The best way to stop the assassination attempts is to kill the principal,' he thought, repeating an advice he'd heard a few years ago.

For a full minute Kakashi was silent, observing him, before he finally asked quietly, "You sure about this?"

"It's the best way to stop the attacks."

"And what if you aren't able to reach him?"

"Then at least I will find out where he is, or how many men he has, or when he or Zabuza is going to attack. I don't like sitting and waiting for a blow. Right now we are in the dark."

Kakashi once again went silent, still observing Naruto. The redhead was tempted to look at his teammates, to find out how his small plan worked, but he knew that it'd be a mistake.

"Okay," the jounin said finally, surprising Naruto. He was sure that he'd have to convince him for at least next ten minutes. "But I'm going with you." Naruto tensed, and was about to protest, but Kakashi was faster, "I'll stay outside in case you need any help."

Naruto suppressed a shrug. He really wanted to argue, but he also knew that it'd be a vain attempt.

"When do you want to go?"

"Tonight." It'd be nice to wait a few days, to wait for a new moon, but they didn't have that luxury.

They never had.

Naruto and Kakashi were jumping through the forest in the growing darkness of the evening. The sun was already hidden behind the horizon, leaving only the quickly dying rays that painted few small clouds a bright orange.

'Great colour,' the redhead thought.

"Naruto," Kakashi spoke. The Uzumaki didn't react. "Why were you so cold towards the others today?"

Naruto glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "'Cause normally I'm so happy and friendly, right?"

Kakashi sighed with resignation. "Maa, maa, don't be like that. Why are you pushing them away?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, looking straight ahead.

Kakashi opened his mouth, hesitated, and then spoke, "After our first C-rank you three become close. You were all secretive about it, so I didn't say anything, but I noticed how your teamwork improved, how you became warmer towards each other, how you were training together."

At this Naruto frowned. There were a few times when he sensed someone watching them while they were training. Sometimes, when he could see or hear them, they were just Sasuke's fangirls, but sometimes, when he caught them with his sixth sense... that meant shinobi. Whether they were more of 'Uchiha-sama's' admirers, those who hated him, or someone who wanted to gain power by influencing him or the Last Uchiha, Naruto wasn't training while they were around. Neither were Sasuke and Sakura. But Kakashi's words... it could just mean that he noticed their improvement, but it also could mean that he saw them. And if he managed to avoid his senses, then someone else could as well... someone not exactly friendly.

While he went on a trip through his thoughts Kakashi continued to talk. Naruto decided that he needed to preserve his patience for the few next hours. "What do you want?"

Kakashi hesitated for a few seconds, surprised by the interruption. "To know what happened."

'Ah, so that's it. You expect me to tell you that it's because of what I said earlier and then draw Shiho-nee's story out of me,' Naruto realized. 'Well, no such luck.'

"The Chunnin Exams are next month." He could almost feel Kakashi's surprised eyes on the back of his head. "You will let us participate, you said yourself that we're ready. After that I will be promoted. It's not an arrogance, I just know where I stand. Sasuke will probably be promoted too. Then we won't be a team anymore."

"So that's it," Kakashi said with understanding. "But your promotion doesn't mean the end to our team. And that we won't see each other anymore. You don't have to worry about this."

"It would be better if we don't see each other," Naruto said before he could stop himself.

"Why?"

'Because they're safer that way,' Naruto said in his head, but he couldn't say this aloud. Before he came up with something to cover his slip he sensed a huge structure before them. "We're here," he muttered, and shot forward, leaving Kakashi behind.

About a minute later he stopped, landing on a branch around five feet about the ground. He instinctively moved his body so it was mostly hidden by the tree trunk and looked through the leaves. Before him was a huge eastern-style mansion. It had four levels, each a little smaller than the one beneath it, and a tilled roof with wooden sculpted figures at the edges. A wall that was surrounding the building wasn't too tall, maybe six feet high, just enough to hide what was inside from the ground level.

Naruto also saw, and sensed, a few men around the mansion, but if they were on guard duty, then they surely weren't paying too much attention to their job. Most of them were standing in place, chatting and drinking from canteens. Only a few were patrolling, and those few were also in groups, talking and barely noticing anything around them.

Kakashi landed on the branch on the left. "They don't seem to be too on guard," Naruto muttered.

"They're doing what they want for a few months. They probably think that the villagers are too afraid and resigned to even consider coming here."

'Which is quite accurate actually,' thought Naruto. He glanced at the mansion again, planning his route and flicking his wrists. "I'm going."

"Already? You are not going to wait for the changing of the guards or complete darkness?"

"A change of guards is useful only if you're going to knock somebody out, and darkness means sleep. It's quite hard to eavesdrop when someone isn't talking." Naruto looked at the already dark sky. It was almost completely clear, thousands of stars lightly illuminating the surroundings.

'Idiot,' he thought to himself. 'You were thinking about the phase of the moon, but you didn't think that it wouldn't appear until morning.'

"Alright, you can go. But be careful. If you need any help fire off an explo..."

"I won't," Naruto interrupted and jumped down.

Some time ago Sakura asked him how he was so good at stealth. He didn't answer. Not because he wanted to hide it. He just didn't know. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was hiding from everyone since he was four... or rather since he could walk. It also could be inborn, though that would be rather hard to confirm.

Whatever was the case, he didn't have to test its effects tonight. The guards were only interested in themselves and their canteens, which, judging by the slight sway in a few cases, weren't filled with water. The wall wasn't a problem either. Even someone without chakra, even without special condition or physical efficiency, would be able to get over it. Sneaking through the terrain between it and the mansion was just as hard.

Getting inside the building was only a slightly more difficult challenge. The few first windows on the ground level showed big rooms containing a lot of bunks, with several thugs moving around. It would be a good place to start his... research, but going inside through the window wouldn't be the epitome of subtlety. So instead Naruto climbed up, to the second floor.

Here he had more luck. The window through which he looked inside showed him an empty hall with a few lamps lighting the far end. Naruto opened it slightly, just enough to allow his senses to 'flow' inside. He waited, concentrating on 'feeling' the inside of the mansion. He sensed some merchants on the level below, but it was very dull. He noticed that his sensory ability was weaker inside the buildings than in the open field. After all, the air was moving more freely outside than in the...

'Damn it, focus!' Naruto scolded himself. He opened the window fully and jumped inside. He walked soundlessly towards the end of the hall, towards the staircase.

Now... now he had two choices. Change into a bandit, go down and listen to the merchants' talks, or go up, where as he suspected Gato's rooms were, and try to find something there. Downstairs he would surely hear a lot... a lot of crap at that. The chance that it'd be important was very slim. On the other hand, on the upper levels it'd be harder to find anything, but if he did, then it'd be something valuable.

'Well, I can always look upstairs later,' Naruto decided, and concentrated on the image of Iruka. He noticed long ago that it was easier to change a face he knew, like adding a scar and a beard, or widening it a bit, than trying to create one from nothing. He moved his hands in a handseal...

... and stopped, feeling some commotion upstairs.

One of the doors slammed open and a person stumbled out, quickly followed by another one, who walked backwards with a hand on the hilt of a sword. Naruto concentrated, trying to feel the inside of the room, but it was all fuzzy, like looking through a dimed glass. He sensed a figure inside, but he wasn't even able to say if it was tall or short.

The door slammed shut. The figures in the hall stood still for a moment, and Naruto heard some murmurs, before they started walking towards the stairs. The young Uzumaki was about to bolt towards one of the rooms, but he stopped. He won't hear anything there. Instead he backed towards the shadowed corner, pulling on his hood to make sure that it was covering the upper half of his face in the shadow. The lower half was covered by a dark scarf.

The voices became cleaner as the figures come closer to the stairs. Naruto waited, not able to recognise the words, until, "...kid die and he attack them for revenge."

"The kid should've die long ago." The second voice said, a hint of arrogance and coldness in it; a coldness that bordered on boredom. This was the voice of someone who would yawn while standing over a dead body. "Even with proper medicines he shouldn't survive that long."

"If the kid doesn't die soon the boss will order us to attack on our own." This voice was a bit stifled and nasal. He was holding his nose.

"Then we will attack. Shinobi are not invincible. I've already killed one."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Though she killed six of my comrades."

"That 's not really that reassuring you know," the nasal voice spoke nervously. "Maybe we should poison the kid?"

"Zabuza will recognize it." Their boots appeared on the top of the stairs.

"Then maybe we will wait a few days?"

Now he could see them whole. The most noticeable feature of the one on the right was an eye patch that covered his right eye and two tattoos; one over his left shoulder and on left side of his bare chest looking like some tribal markings, and another one that looked like a grapevine wrapped over his left arm. He had some bandages on his lower abdomen, and wore a black and white loose-fitting kimono, of which upper half was falling around his waist, and a katana strapped to his right hip. His brown hair was shaped like three pineapple, and a matching goat-like beard and a scar over his left eye completed his profile. He still had a bit of blood under his nose.

The second one was similar in hair, but he wasn't as muscular as his companion. He had the slim body of a runner, clearly visible under skin-tight black clothes. He also had matching gloves and soft, leather boots. He didn't have any visible weapons, but upon closer inspection Naruto noticed an outline of a dagger on his left ankle. A few bangs of his long black hair were partly covering his blue eyes.

Eyes that were looking straight at Naruto.

Naruto stamped on an urge to move, run away, hide somewhere. He knew that in the shadows it was hard to see shapes. It was movement that the people saw when it was dark. As long as he was still he was invisible. But knowing it didn't change the fact that his whole body, every single part of it, was screaming to him: 'HIDE!'.

"We don't have time." the one in black spoke, turning towards his companion, and allowing Naruto to let out a sigh of relief... inwardly, of course. "A scout said that there are more workers on the bridge. He was too afraid to come closer, but he said that there were over a hundred of them."

"Where did they found..."

"He was probably exaggerating, but still, they're going to complete the bridge soon."

"What does boss think about this?"

"He was talking about the attack before he left."

"Damn... so, fighting with shinobi, huh?" Naruto heard resignation in the tattooed one voice.

"Don't be a wuss, I've told you, they're not invincible," his companion said, a tinge of irritation and impatience in his tone. "There were ten of us when I killed this ninja chick, now we have over a hundred of men against just three or four of them. Make sure that you're not their current target and watch out for thrown weapons and you'll be fine."

The tattooed one sighed. "I need a drink," he muttered. "You coming?"

His companion didn't bother to answer. He just turned around and walked down the hall.

"Moody bastard," Tattoo muttered, watching as he went inside one of the rooms, and then went down the stairs.

Well, this was convenient. Naruto was lucky. In that one conversation he heard what he needed to know. How many of them there were, and if Zabuza was going to attack as well. The only thing he didn't know was when. But they could do without that little tidbit.

It actually almost looked too good to be true. The paranoid side of himself was raising an alarm, saying that it was all just set up to fool him. But he dismissed that thought. Even if someone sensed him sneaking in it would be almost impossible to came up with this plan and explain it to everyone. They'd have to know beforehand that he was going to come. And it was even less possible. Unless there was a spy between the builders...

It was possible. But it'd be someone sent by Gato himself, and somehow it didn't seem like him to Naruto. The possibility that it was a villager was even smaller. Someone who was saving his own skin by informing the bandits wouldn't help to build a bridge at the same time.

Though he could be threatened.

Naruto bit back a curse. The problem was that he had no way to confirm it. Going down between the bandits was pointless. Even if it was the truth they wouldn't be informed until the very attack, so they'd have no time to think about it.

Looking through the rooms upstairs also wouldn't help him. It wasn't a militaristic shinobi village, so there wouldn't be reports and written orders among the paperwork. And since Gato wasn't here he couldn't kill or interrogate him. Though now that he thought about this, killing him wasn't such a great idea. No matter how cruel the tyrant was, he was keeping his men in check. A hundred bandits running free without any guidance would destroy everything.

Naruto suppressed a sigh, resigned to a guard duty outside the mansion. He idly contemplated using a clone, but decided against it. Wind clones were too unstable, and water clones were too slow to quickly warn them if Zabuza attack them when Haku die...

Haku! The girl was dying! If what the bandit said was true, then she should be one foot in the grave. Naruto could go up and check her state. If she was be on her way to the other world then the rest of it would be the truth too.

The sceptical part of his mind once again pointed out that it was a long shot, after all, even with proper meds she could die, but this time, despite his suspicious nature, he stomped down on it. It wasn't something that he could prove, but everything he heard about Gato gave him a vibe of someone who would do something like that.

With his mind set he moved towards the window, the same one that he used to enter. Making sure that he wasn't visible from the outside he opened it slightly and let his senses spread to look for guards. They may be lax, but the light from the hall, no matter how weak it was, would make his figure pretty easy to notice, no matter how good he was hiding. It was just one of those things that normally were impossible to avoid. Though if someone could feel his surroundings...

Once again catching his thoughts drifting Naruto concentrated and, confirming the absence of the guards nearby, jumped out on the wooden tiles. He quickly closed the door and moved away, so his figure wouldn't be visible on the window's background, before climbing up on the third level and quietly sneaking around, reaching the window to Zabuza's room.

It was quite simple. Wooden walls, a desk on the right, a closet in front of the window and a bed on the left. Haku was laying on the bed; Zabuza's huge sword leaned against the nightstand, and its owner staying at its side. With his back to the window.

'Well, the girl means to him more than he wants to admit,' Naruto thought. They were scolded for such a mistake in the Academy.

He concentrated on the laying girl. She was thrashing a bit, and he noticed sweat and flush on her face. Her hands were tightly griping the sheets. 'Fewer... that means infection. Something that should be stopped by the meds.' Naruto nodded to himself, receiving his answer. He stopped for a few seconds, observing the duo inside.

He should leave. He knew he should. They were enemies; they tried to kill him, they tried to kill his teammates. And even if they didn't, he couldn't help them. He had no idea how...

'...Zabuza-sama's weapon...'

"Damn conscience," Naruto muttered under his breath. He had killed before. Why couldn't he let her die now?

He knew why. Every single person who died by his hand before deserved it. They were just scum, some of them should've even suffered more for what they did. But Haku didn't want to kill, to harm them. She was just following the orders of someone who she clearly admired. She was a shinobi. They were also dying, and Naruto was sure that he will kill more ninja just because of the conflict of incidents... but he couldn't just let her die like that, without even trying to help.

He took out a blank seal tag and a pencil, deciding to do the only thing he could: warn them. Quickly scribbling a small note: 'They're betraying you. That's not medicine. Friend.' he looked inside once again, trying to find a way to slip it inside. His eyes landed on the doors... they were not leading to the hall. He snuck towards the next window. He was right, this room had two doors, one towards the room where Zabuza and Haku were, and the other leading to the hall. It also had a big table with six chairs around it in the middle and few cabinets on the right. Overall, it looked more like a living room than a bedroom like the other one.

Naruto opened the window very slowly. Kakashi said that Zabuza was a master of silent killing, so Naruto had to be even more careful. When the wind entered the room Naruto closed his eyes, concentrating on his sixth sense. Deciding that it was safe he carefully went inside, making sure that he didn't make any sound. He made a step towards the table...

And then the doors burst open. Naruto had only time to turn around before he found himself pinned to the wall, with the cold kiss of a blade on his throat. He looked up, into the cold, merciless eyes of Zabuza with two thoughts in mind; what gave him away and why was he still alive.

"Any reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?" Zabuza whispered lethally.

Naruto thought for a second. He knew that the wrong answer would lead to a lot of blood. "Because I came here to warn you." He pointed with his eyes to the paper he had in his hand. Something was telling him that moving any part of his body wasn't the best idea right now.

Zabuza glanced down and then back up. "Warn me?"

"They aren't giving you medicine," Naruto muttered. "They hope that when Haku dies you will attack us in revenge."

"How do you know that?"

"I overheard them ten minutes ago."

The pressure on his throat lessened a bit, though it didn't disappear. "Why should I trust you?"

"You tell me. Do you think that Gato would do something like that?" Naruto asked. Zabuza didn't respond. His head twitched, as if he wanted to turn it towards the girl's room. "She has a fever," Naruto pushed forward. "Even the most basic meds should stop the infection, right?"

A bit of hesitation appeared in Zabuza's eyes, before they hardened again as he once again pressed at Naruto's throat. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I don't like fighting against A-rank missing-nins."

Zabuza's eyes bored in his for a few seconds. Naruto responded with a cold look. He knew what was going on in the missing-nin's mind. From his point of view it could be a bluff that would stop him from fighting. Now it all depended on Zabuza's opinion of Gato. Naruto could only wait.

After an eternity the huge blade slowly withdrew. Naruto released a breath as Zabuza made two steps back. "Go. Get out of here." He didn't have to repeat that. The Uzumaki quickly walked towards the window, tense and ready, even if he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop Zabuza if he decided to kill him. He reached the window and turned around. The missing-nin was standing in the same place, observing him. Naruto noticed a faint mist that was floating around his ankles, almost invisible.

'So that's how he sensed me.'

"I'm sorry. I hope that she survives." And with that he jumped out. He made a few steps before he heard Zabuza's voice behind.

"Not 'she'. Haku is a boy."

And then the window shut, leaving a stunned Naruto in the darkness.

Well then, I'll play a mind reader. So... damn it, a pervert... another pervert... damn, that's some kinky stuff... Oh, why didn't I use shadow clones?

Well, I have an official and an unofficial reason. Official is that jounins shouldn't give genins, no matter how talented or how much chakra they have, B-ranked kinjutsu, at least not without a special permission. But this is just my excuse if anyone accuse me of being lazy... which I am actually, but shhhh... Unofficially, well, I just don't like this technique. Or no, rather I don't like how abused it was in canon. It's a great technique, one that gives a great strategic advantage to the user, but in canon Naruto use it just to spam his enemies with waves after waves of clones that are dispelled as soon as they come in range (Fight against Kimimaro, as an example).

And with the memory transfer I would be forced to speed up Naruto's growth. While in canon it could be explained by Naruto's... lack of intelligence, this Naruto is much more thoughtful. He thinks through things every time he have a bit of free time, so it'd be kind of hard to explain why he didn't notice that.

Well, I don't see anything else that needs an explanation, (though I may be wrong so feel free to ask) so then, until next time.