The young men, Sasuke especially, spent the remainder of the day being fussed over by the girls and the grown ups.
They learned that the blond woman was Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage. Apparently Orochimaru had, at one time lived in Japan and had been trained in the arts of Ninjutsu. Tsunade had been one of his teammates. The other teammate had been the Fourth Hokage before he had died fighting some monster.
Sasuke was still in shock that Sakura had refused to sell him. Neji's belief in Tenten continued to grow and Naruto… well he was having the time of his life!
Hinata had taken him out on a picnic in the forest around Konoha. The menu… what else but ramen?!
Naruto was in the process of slurping down his third bowl while Hinata munched away at some onigiri. (A/n: for anyone who doesn't know… onigiri is a large rice ball, however it tends to come in sort of a pyramid-like shape.)
Naruto sat there enjoying the view when he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Tag! You're it Toshio!" Hinata called with a laugh as she dashed away.
A grin stole over Naruto's features and he chased after her. His long legs covered the distance between them and in no time he managed to tag Hinata. The two of them dashed around the clearing for several hours before Hinata tripped over a tree root and fell flat on her face.
Naruto gasped and rushed to her side. "Mistress!" he exclaimed as he saw that she was trembling. "Oh Lord! Mistress are you okay?!"
Hinata moved to sit up and Naruto saw to his relief that she was giggling. "Yes I'm fine!" she gasped between laughs. "That was rather clumsy wasn't it? I'll bet I looked pretty silly flying through the air like a-" She halted her words abruptly and looked at him with wide eyes. "Toshio… did you just speak?"
Naruto felt his face flush. He hadn't even realized that he had spoken. He gave a nervous little nod of his head and carefully watched her to gauge her reaction.
She stared at him a moment longer, then a dazzling smile overtook her features and she beamed at him. "Oh my gosh! I'm so glad!" she exclaimed pulling him into a strangling embrace.
Despite the fact that he was being choked to death Naruto was also grinning.
Hinata pulled back after a moment. "Alright I want to know one thing right now!"
Naruto nodded but Hinata didn't miss the look of slight apprehension that flickered momentarily in his eyes.
"Don't worry it's nothing bad." She assured him. "I want you to tell me your real name."
Naruto looked at her and the smile reappeared on his face. "N-Naruto." he replied, his voice was soft and slightly timid.
Hinata nodded with satisfaction. "Naruto…" she tested out the name. "It suits you. You look like a Naruto. Or a Kitsune." She laughed softly. "Those marks on your face along with your curious and good-natured disposition remind me of a fox!"
Naruto smiled again. Hinata became lost in those enormous blue eyes. When he smiled the look extended to his eyes and they radiated happiness. He was so sweet and always so charming. He had grown up amongst the worst conditions but he was nonetheless, a constant gentleman. And on top of that, he was really good looking. His blond hair shone like threats of gold and his endless azure eyes sparkled with kindheartedness.
Hinata felt her face begin to burn as a blush crept over her face.
Naruto meanwhile had been studying is mistress just as acutely. She was quite beautiful he realized, though he had never noticed prior to that moment. She did not have the obvious beauty like Ino possessed but a deeper more profound beauty. Ino was the pretty blond with the perfect figure and could have modeled as Barbie. On the other hand, Hinata, though shy possessed a mysterious, graceful beauty that, no matter how she tried, a girl like Ino could never hope to match.
But beyond her looks, Naruto found her character to be even more beautiful. She was sweet and caring, always willing to do anything no matter what it took to help another, even if it was someone she had never met before. Yes… Naruto thought as he gazed at her. She's the most beautiful person I've ever seen…
La la la la la lalalalala laaaaaa…
Hinata and Naruto were snapped out of their reveries by the most horrendous singing on the planet. They looked up to see a large man with white hair and magenta marks on the sides of his face tromping through the forest singing loudly.
The man noticed them and waved calling out. "Well hey their Hinata chan. How are you today?"
"Quite well, thank you Jiraiya San." Hinata replied with a smile. "And yourself?"
"Ah good as always Hinata chan." The man replied with a laugh. "And who is this with you?"
"Ah, forgive me. This is Naruto. Naruto, this is Jiraiya. He is a Sanin. He was on a team trained by the third Hokage. His teammates were the fourth Hokage, Tsunada san who is the fifth Hokage and Orochimaru."
Jiraiya who had been watching Naruto closely ever since Hinata had introduced them noticed that the boy tensed at the name. "Have you any experience with Orochimaru?" he questioned.
Naruto nodded quietly. "Hai… he was my master."
Jiraiya shot a confused look at Hinata who explained how she had bought Naruto from Orochimaru back in China.
"Oh… I see." Jiraiya stroked his chin thoughtfully. He eyed Naruto taking in the whisker marks and the long, sharp incisors. "Excuse me," he announced abruptly. "But I must get back to town… there is something I have to check."
Hinata nodded. "Okay. See you later Jiraiya san."
Kakashi stepped through the door to the bar known as the Akatsuki or Redmoon and glanced around. Everywhere he looked he saw people in long black cloaks embroidered with scarlet clouds.
Walking up to the bar he nodded to a woman with indigo hair pulled up into a bun atop her head and clad in one of the aforementioned cloaks. "Hello Konan."
She smirked. "Well, Kakashi. This is a surprise. I don't often see you around here."
(A/n: In this fic, the Akatsuki are not criminal- they're a bit rough around the edges but they're not bad.)
Kakashi nodded. "I have a reason for coming here. I want to speak to Itachi."
Konan raised an eyebrow. "Really… why?"
Kakashi sighed. "That's my business but tell him that it's something that will definitely be of interest to him."
Konan sighed. "Fine. Deidara!" she called to a man with a long blond ponytail.
"Un? Okay, I'll be right back yeah!" The blond called out as he walked away.
Konan glanced back at Kakashi. "Alright. You want anything while you're waiting?"
Kakashi nodded. "I'll take some saki."
Konan nodded. "Coming right up."
Five minutes later…
"Hatake?" A voice sounded at Kakashi's right.
Turning he found himself staring into the dark eyes of Uchiha Itachi. "Itachi… it's been quite a while."
"Indeed." Itachi took a seat at the bar beside Kakashi and motioned for Konan to pour him a drink. "What brings you to the Akatsuki?"
"I have a few questions to ask you." Kakashi explained.
Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Ask away."
"It's about the fire that wiped out the Uchiha clan." Kakashi began. Itachi frowned but nodded for Kakashi to continue. "Were the bodies of all your family members found?"
Itachi nodded. "Yes- well all except one that is."
"Which one?" Kakashi inquired.
"The body of my little brother, Sasuke. The fire completely engulfed his room and he was burned to ashes." Itachi closed his eyes. "Why do you ask?"
Kakashi chose his words carefully. "Itachi, could it be possible that Sasuke didn't die in that fire, but that he was kidnapped?"
Itachi looked at Kakashi as if he had lost his mind. "What are you saying Kakashi?"
Kakashi looked at the Uchiha. "Think about it. The fire was set purposely, though no one knows by whom. Nothing was taken but lives. Is it not possible that the reason the body was never found was that the boy was taken amidst the confusion and chaos of the fire? After all, even if the boy had been burned, there should still have been traces of him."
Itachi frowned. "It's possible I suppose. But why the sudden interest in what happened to my brother?"
Kakashi sighed. "One of my former students, the Hurano girl, just came back from a trip to China along with two of her friends, the Hyuga heirs and Tenten, Konoha's weapons mistress. While there they accidentally ended up in a slave house to ask directions to some restaurant or something the like. Anyhow, they ended up purchasing three slave boys and came to Guy and me to ask if we would teach the boys some self-defense. Kurenai is training the Hyuga's boy and Guy has taken over training the boy Tenten bought. I have been training the boy that Sakura bought. She calls him Raiden and his resemblance to you is shocking."
Itachi's frown deepened. "Are you saying that you think that boy is my brother? That's preposterous!"
Kakashi shook his head. "I don't think so. The boy Tenten bought turned out to be the missing Hyuga Neji."
Itachi glanced at him in surprise. "Really?"
Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, but that's not even half of it. It turns out that the owner of that slave house is none other that Konoha's old snake sanin."
Itachi tensed noticeably. "Orochimaru?!"
Kakashi nodded. "If I recall correctly Orochimaru and your father Fugaku had a little argument not long before the fire."
Itachi shook his head. "It can't be…" he muttered more to himself than to Kakashi.
Kakashi placed a comforting hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. "Itachi… there's one more thing that made me believe that he is your brother…"
Itachi raised a questioning eyebrow.
"He possesses the Sharingan."
Jiraiya barged into the Tsunade's office to find it vacant. "Harumph! That woman is never here when I need her!" he muttered. Walking over to the file cabinet, Jiraiya removed a file with the word, 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamped across the front. The file contained all the information and details to the death of the fourth Hokage.
Jiraiya scanned the papers and nodded. According to the file the Godaima had died fighting the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed, fox demon. Jiraiya remembered that day well. The fourth had used a suicidal jutsu to seal the Kyuubi within his newborn son in order to save the village. The Godaima's wife had died during the birth of her son, leaving the child an orphan. The child had been placed under government care. Not long afterwards, while Jiraiya had been gone on a mission, a group of superstitious idiots had stirred up trouble saying that the boy was bad luck and dangerous and would grow up into a monster. A mob attacked the house in which the child was staying, kidnapping the boy and carrying him off into the woods. Though an extensive search was made the child was never recovered and was supposed dead. But was he dead? Looking at the paper before him Jiraiya realized that there was a very good chance that the child was still alive.
His eyes scanned the page again and something caused him to freeze. There, at the bottom of the page was the name of the child, the vessel of the Kyuubi: Uzumaki Naruto!
"Naruto!" Jiraiya breathed. "That boy is the Godaima's son!"
"Jiraiya!" a voice screeched. Jiraiya spun around to find Tsunada standing in the doorway glaring at him. "What, pray tell, are you doing in MY office in MY File cabinets, in MY file, reading MYinformation?!!!!" She roared.
Jiraiya winced. "Just calm down a minute there, Tsunade. I just made a discovery that will blow your mind!"
"So… you are telling me that the Godaima's son who has supposedly been dead for sixteen years is alive and well and has been living in a slave house until a couple weeks ago?" Tsunade rubbed her temples. "And that He was purchased by the Heiress of the Hyuga clan?"
Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah. I know it sounds ridiculous but…"
Tsunada sighed. "It does, but crazier things have happened… I just can't think of any."
"So… what should we do?" Jiraiya inquired.
Tsunada shook her head. "I need some time to think."
Well… how did everyone like this chapter? Sorry it was a little short but I'm updating with two this time so I figured it would be okay… :)
To all my amazing reviewers: YOU GUYS (AND GIRLS) ARE THE BEST!!!! Thank you so much for all the reviews. This is one of my favorite stories to write because you guys are always telling me how much you like it! I really appreciate the support!
Tentenperson-KimiXTayu addict: He might be… I'm not quite sure yet. But if he is it won't be for a couple of chapters yet. Glad you're so happy. Seriously you sound like one of my best friends. She's SUPER DUPER HAPPY HYPER a lot! Lol! Anyhow thanks for the review! :D
animelover325: I'm glad you like it. Yeah, I feel bad for them too, and I'm the one who's writing it. :) You're right, love at first sight doesn't jive with the plot. Thanks for the review!
Chigiri Sasaki: Glad you liked it. As to the whole 'Orochimaru being obsessed with Sasuke thing' Well I'm afraid I can't say, as it would give away part of the plot… sorry. Yeah, Orochimaru's creepy. And as you can see Sasuke didn't exactly escape from Itachi and Yes Naruto does have the Kyuubi. He'll find out about it… eventually. Thanks for your review!
Anime Freak281: So glad that you liked it! :D I know, school can be such a pain!
Anyhow, I hope you liked this chapter too. Thanks for the review!
De profundis: Yeah, he's great. Ah! Thank you so much. I wasn't sure what everyone would think of the last chapter, but it seems that everyone liked it well enough. Thanks for the review!
Huranosakua: I'm glad you like it. I know Orochimaru is really gross. Unfortunately we may be seeing a little more of him in the future… hint, hint. :)
Thank you for the review!
Xxangelofthedarkxx: Yay! That makes me feel really good. :) I hope you liked this chapter too. Thank you for the review!
Junikhai: I'm so pleased that you enjoyed it. I know, I have the same problem but I love the Naruto manga/anime anyway! If you don't mind my asking… which fanfic would that be? I hope you like this chapter and thank you for the review!
Dandelion Cat: Thanks! That makes me really happy! :D I know… I really torture the poor guys. But their lives will improve… eventually. You bet I'll keep writing! Just so long as you and the others keep reviewing! :D Thank's for all the great reviews!
NarutoVixin: I'm pleased you think so. You are very welcome! I hope you liked this chapter. Thank you for the review!