11. Fox Chase


"Look ahead boy, and tell me what you see."

Minato frowned as he looked ahead. He slowly scowled. "All these aching bones, and you bring me to see a cliff drop-off?" he demanded. There was nothing but a river that went over the cliff to form a waterfall. They stood at the top of it, with nothing except vague outline of a small lake and trees below.

"Aching bones?" The old man repeated mockingly. "When I was your age…"

Minato's eyes glazed over as he tuned out the man's ramblings. Anecdotes about the old man's past at one point were interesting, before the blond realized he never actually gave him anything concrete. A sharp knock against Minato's head broke him from his reverie, and he rubbed his temple as he glared at the old man, who gave him a much more baleful one.

"Pay attention, Jun." he said gravelly. He jerked his chin out. "It's not the cliff that's important. Go forth, and tell me what you see."

Minato glowered at him, but made his way to the edge of the river. The closer he got though, the more he started to frown. There was the beginnings of a statue, and his gasp slipped out. Forgetting himself, Minato ran to the ledge, leaning over with wide eyes as he gazed across the cavern, at the statue of the Shodai Hokage himself.

"W-wow." He whispered. Minato only saw the statue in his history books, to depict the Valley of the End where Senju Hashirama had fought and defeated Uchiha Madara. Minato blinked, and with a dawning realization he looked down at the ledge he was on. The blond stepped back as he not only realized he was standing on Madara's side, but that he wasn't in Hi no Kuni anymore.

"What we you thinking, Ojii-san?" Minato asked looking at him. "I can't be here!"

"We're only on the opposite side of the river." The old man retorted.

"The wrong side." Minato said fiercely.

A strange look crossed the old man's face, his features hardening, but a sardonic look appeared in his eye. "That is one way of looking at it." Minato frowned, but the man continued before he could speak, "Surely a few feet in Ta no Kuni does not make you a 'traitor'."

The old man's face showed mockery of the word, but Minato knew he was being patronized anyway. "That's not the point," Minato grumbled, "it's how did we get here? Across the river? We never crossed a bridge. This isn't a small river."

"Perceptive." The old man drawled.

Minato rolled his eyes. He could have left, but quite honestly, he had been too busy thinking of his aches than to keep track of markers. Some genius I am, he thought bitterly. He shook his head, only resolving to do better. "What are we doing here, anyway? You couldn't have just brought me to sight see."

"It would be a fitting way to part, Jun." The old man replied.

Minato narrowed his eyes, trying to decipher the words. "Did you bring me here to kill me?" he tensed up, glaring at the man.

"Too literal of a reading." The man muttered. "I'm talking symbolically."

Minato relaxed his stance, but still kept a wary eye on him. "Symbolism?" he asked, before he sighed. "Breaking ties." He muttered. "Is that why we're here? We came all this way just so you can have a handy metaphor?"

"Insolent boy." The man said coldly. "I brought you here to show you the damage bonds have." He gestured to the area. "Look around you, this whole valley is proof of that."

Minato frowned. "In the books, Madara came to destroy the village, before Shodai-sama killed him." He replied. "That does not sound like a fond relationship."

"Which is why it's best you forget those girls, save yourself the potential for pain and forge your own path." The man stepped forward, hobbling up as his gaze never left Minato's. "A path you will not find should you continue where you stay."

"Konoha is my home." Minato retorted instantly. "And I will make a future there."

"You may have a future there, but you can become truly great if you pushed away such distractions."

Minato tensed, eyes narrowing as his hands balled into fists. He thought of Sachiko's kindness and sweet smile. Kushina's fierce determination and never give up attitude. Even of the few other kids in his class he'd managed to befriend, having thawed enough to be found approachable. He would never give up any of it. "Bonds don't make me weak." He replied. "They will make me strong, and I will become great without you."

"Then our bond will be the first crack."

Minato's eyes lowered. Despite the truth of the matter, knowing he'd never see this infuriating man again…he'd still been a fixture in his life since he was six. You bitter, rotten old man…Minato thought. He sighed, and looked up at him firmly. "You're the one whose breaking it."

"A fact I am not immune to understanding, Jun." There was something deeper, more meaningful to the words that escaped Minato. The stare leveled at the blond – felt like he was being looked through, that the man was seeing this 'Jun' more keenly than he had before.

"Namikaze." Minato stiffened. It was startling to hear, because the old man never bothered to call him that. "I will leave you at Tonika, and when we meet again, I will see how much your prediction has come true."

Minato followed after the man, frowning as the words bothered him. "That's morbid, even for you. When we meet again, we'll both be dead."

The old man never replied.


Minato knew it was a little underhanded, but he left a shadow clone behind so Iwashi wouldn't catch on that the blond gave him the slip. It was easier, considering he had a seal placed on a tree in the training ground he was standing in. And…Minato grimaced, clenching his fist, he really didn't want anyone to see him. What would they think, of the great Yellow Flash doing chakra exercises like a genin? Hopefully my chakra control has not been completely shot.

It couldn't be, or at least he supposed it wasn't. Minato hazarded a guess he wouldn't have been able to use his Hiraishin or Rasengan at all if that were true.

First things first though, time to test how well I can use my jutsu. Minato decided on a simple one, and weaved through the hand seals before inhaling, "Fūton: Daitoppa!" The wind released was like a small hurricane, gusting through the training ground before a crack! rang out and Minato watched as a tree broke in two before him.

The blond rang a hand through his hair. Okay then, even a little chakra can cause a big reaction. Not surprising considering I summoned three shadow clones instead of one. Minato held his hands in the clone hand seal. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" Smoke appeared, and Minato's eye twitched as what stood before him was something that just barely looked alive. It resembled him, but with sickly pale skin, sunken eyes and standing like a ragdoll. Minato tried to make the clone move, but it dispelled immediately.

So no to smaller techniques then. Well, it really means he just needs to concentrate on the portions he draws. Minato's chakra reserves were nothing to sneeze at even before getting Kyuubi, but his control was the real thing he prided himself on. The blond clenched his fist again, and ran his hand over his palm as he focused on summoning a Rasengan.

It held for a solid twenty seconds before he had to dispel it.

Minato walked up to the fallen tree and plucked a leaf off it. He sat cross-legged on the ground, and place the leaf on his forehead. He breathed in deeply, and the lead stayed put as he closed his eyes. Focus on the leaf, focus on the chakra, deep breaths…

Minato felt the chakra inside of him, flowing through his pathways. Everything around him seemed to become sharper in focus, the added addition of having learned senjutsu. It let him feel the natural energy around him, but it made him a notice a strange discrepancy in his own chakra. It always made him curious, but there were no signs it was dangerous, nor did anyone else seem to notice it. Even I didn't notice before my sage training.

His attention tuned in past his chakra to deep in his gut, and he felt the sickly reserves of his unwanted guest. His gut twisted, and the blond's eyes snapped open. He found himself standing in a place he only had the vaguest recollection of.

He stared up at the bars in front of him, with a paper tag on the front with 'seal' stamped over it. Inside, two red eyes glared out at him. Minato refused to be cowed, and held himself rigidly even as a long arm slammed through the bar, wind kicked up as it stopped short of him. Perhaps it was a trick of the mind when he had the slight glimpse of Kyuubi inside Kira's mind, but he could swear this half of the fox seemed…brighter in color.

Minato decided to put it out of his mind as he glared back at the creature. "Was that supposed to scare me?"

"Insolent human," the dark, gravelly voice resounded through the room, deep down to Minato's bones, "come into this cage and we'll see how long your bravery lasts."

"Given my life expectancy would be down to zero if I did, I think I'll pass." Minato said flatly. "Why did you call me here?"

"Call you? I did no such thing." It muttered, eyes brightening in resentment. "Your senjutsu must be to thank for that." There was something else in its voice, tone not as…growly. The brief lapse passed, and it scowled full force down at him. "Were I to call you for anything, it would be to rip your unworthy hide limb from limb. Having to be trapped in here with you all of people – I can practically smell the Uchiha taint on you."

Minato couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Clearly whatever got us to sync up before wasn't your love for my family."

It stared at him, and lowered its head until they were eye to eye. That still didn't mean much, as the Kyuubi's eye was taller than he was. It left the blond with an unsettling feeling to be staring back at his own reflection in the red iris. "And which family would that be?"

Minato frowned, but straightened up as he felt the buzz of turbulent emotions and blinked, looking around as he found himself back outside again, the leaf falling from his forehead. He gritted his teeth. This is not over, he thought, hoping for once the Kyuubi heard him.

His gaze followed the trail of emotional turmoil, and he spotted a young girl with long brown hair and a mole under her eye. She was running, almost stumbling as her eyes were watery and her face red. The blond sought to recall a name as a he got to his feet. "Izumi-kun?"

The girl faltered, her hair whipping about her face as she whirled around. She stared at him, relieved and ran up to him, hands clasped. "Please! You've got to help, Hokage-sama! They could hurt him!"

Minato's gut twisted, and he knelt. "Slow down; start from the beginning and tell me what happened. Why aren't you in school right now?"

Izumi bit her lip. "Itachi-kun went for a walk, and I wanted to share my lunch with him because that…because Uzumaki-san wasn't around." Minato, just this once, decided to ignore the slip as he listened to her continue, "And we came to the graveyard – people were looking for a body a-a-another Uzumaki I think, but they didn't find them. That's when – that's when I sneezed," she looked ashamed, "and we were found. Itachi-kun was grabbed by a puppet, and he told me to run for help."

Minato nodded, his mind going a mile a minute. Using a puppet was a specialized art, even more focused primarily – or only – in Kaze no Kuni. If they were after a dead Uzumaki, it wouldn't make sense unless they were looking for a specific one, which also spelled bad news, but something seemed off. There's a whole section for the Uzumakis that used to live here. And how did they get in the village? Minato didn't like the lapses in security, and he was really starting to get annoyed with how many unanswered questions there were. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two copies of himself appeared, and Minato delegated between them both. "Clone 1, take Izumi-kun back to the Uchiha compound, and get the police to the graveyard. Clone 2, get to the Hokage Tower and assemble an emergency force. I'll get started on tracking down Itachi-kun. Now, get to it!"

When the two clones nodded, Minato made a break for the graveyard.


Awareness came back sharply, but Itachi gave no sign that he was conscious again. He didn't twitch, or let his breathing pick up. He remained calm as he opened his eyes enough to see that he was staring straight at the ground. An arm was holding him up by the waist, so it was safe to conclude no one would notice he awoke anyway.

It let him gather his thoughts, to think of a possible escape plan and why these people had broken into Konoha to begin with. Obviously to find an Uzumaki, he reminded himself. A dead one, since despite the hiccup regarding Kira's kidnapping, catching the only two living ones in the village would be more difficult. Or perhaps a dead one was always going to be the target. There had a mention of a 'Sasori' wanting an Uzumaki, but it would be useless to speculate without specifics.

If Itachi was supposed to be a 'replacement', it meant his captors had failed. That did not make him feel any better, just like the tight coil which formed in his stomach when he had been forced to let Izumi be the one to get help. What am I replacement for? Could it be for my eyes…well, they're going to be severely disappointed.

"Hey, Ibushi-ojii-san, when can we ditch these cloaks?" That single female asked. She sounded like she was keeping rear guard.

Up ahead, the aged voice of the elder retorted with, "Once we reach the safe house."

By process of elimination, the younger man must have been holding him. Itachi peered further down, spying the girl's legs behind them. She was standing at a fair distance. It would only be a measure of how much time he had to perform a hand seal before anyone noticed, and how fast he could run. The thought of having to hide irked him, but he couldn't take three people who carried themselves like ninja despite their bickering. I just need to know a little more about who they're working for.

He'd heard the name 'Sasori' yet he couldn't remember where. It had to be someone from a different country, or he would have recalled it more immediately with a person from Hi no Kuni.

"I still don't know why Sasori-nii-san isn't out here instead." The girl grumbled. "You just let him in without getting any proof about his claims, Ojii-san."

"You shouldn't question Ojii-san, Menō." The man holding Itachi spoke up. "We should be glad Ojii-san found someone as adept at puppetry from our clan."

"Yeah, lucky." 'Menō' muttered.

Itachi's mind worked to figure out the identity with the clues. Puppets are a specialty of wind country, of Suna…Sasori…Akasuna no Sasori. Who was a missing-nin. From what he gleaned about the conversation, Sasori was supposedly a part of a clan, the clan these people were a part of, but the girl, 'Menō', sounded dubious. I have an identity, a general assessment of the situation; to continue trying to get information would be foolish.

With that in mind, Itachi began to formulate a plan of escape. I don't need to fight, I just need to get away.


Kira had the distinct uncomfortable feeling of not being able to wake up, but just as disturbed to be stared down by the monster. Its eyes narrowed, having likely heard the slight. The brunet didn't know if it was the fact he was stuck here, or just bored, but he found the urge to speak overwhelming. "You said these cultists wanted to protect me, but that could mean anything."

"Yes, I thought we already established even I don't know everything." Kyuubi muttered reluctantly. "I'm trapped inside your puny form, and my other half is inside that blond moron."

Kira gritted his teeth. "Don't-" he broke off, breathing in deep as he realized what it was trying to rile him up. Probably so it could take over his body. "Why are you so mean to me?"

It stared at him, lip curling up as it sneered. "Mean? You really are a child." It retorted disdainfully. "A pathetically naïve child despite everything, but your measly life is nothing compared to the hundreds of years I have lived."

"I get it, you're ancient." Kira grumbled petulantly.

The Kyuubi growled low, and Kira jumped when one of its arms shot out, coming within inches of grabbing the boy. Kira screeched as he backed against the wall. The brunet's heart beat faster, eyes wide as the claws at the end of its disturbingly human-like hand inched closer to him. Kira glared at it as it let out a dark laugh, the sound frightening Kira more than he wanted to admit.

"How easy it is to scare you. I thought you were my kit, but you're just a kitten. Maybe Nibi's by-blow was onto something when he kidnapped you." It said mockingly.

Kira's cheeks flushed, this time in anger as he scowled up at the fox. The word also confused him, but that just fueled his anger. "Not a kitten, not a kit, and I'm not yours! I'm Chichi-ue's, I'm Minato-nii's, I'm human!"

The Kyuubi gave him a baleful glare. "Tell yourself that all you want, it's never going to be true." It whispered spitefully. "Just you watch; everyone you think loves you will turn against you, and you'll be locked up in a cage. Just. Like. Me."

The force of the words held more bitterness and quiet fury than Kira had heard yet. The intensity caused his breath to hitch, and Kira hugged himself, gritting his teeth as he willed the tears not to fall. He'd already done too much crying, and being too weak. "You're trying to trick me, you have to be! You're probably the reason I can't wake up; you're doing this so I'll open the seal, aren't you?!"

"I don't need to coerce you into opening this cage." It said, but didn't elaborate. "The genjutsu placed on you was strong, and you retreated into your mind. Probably why these memories are being knocked loose."

A chill ran down Kira's spine, and a cold fury followed. "You…saw that memory?" he whispered, and glared at the fox. "That was mine, you had no right to look at it!"

"I'm sharing a mind with you, a cramped space but it's better than being actively tortured like with that redheaded witch's seal." It retorted, but continued before Kira could yell at it. "What you see I can see, but I still don't see why these memories would mean anything to you. Before that cultist knocked the first memory loose, you didn't know or even care about who this 'Yahiko' was."

Kira's chest tightened. The specifics evaded him, but he would not be feeling so strongly if this person didn't mean at least something to him, would it? I guess it depends on whether it's good or bad. He sighed, frowning as – he stiffened.

He refused to look at the moving trees, afraid of getting sick as the dizzying blurs of the surroundings were disorienting. The man holding him slowed down though, finally landing on the ground instead of jumping from tree to tree.

"Sorry about the rough trip, but we needed to get as much distance between us and those Tani shinobi as possible." The man said. "Didn't want to risk getting into a fight."

Kira peered up from where he buried his face into the man's chest, and glanced down as Yahiko gently lifted his leg to examine the ankle. Kira grimaced as the man rubbed the dried blood away. "It hurts."

"I know it does, but I need to check if it needs medical attention." Kira stared at him without comprehension, and the man sighed. "I want to make it not hurt."

"Kira heal fast, blood hurts." Kira replied as seriously as he could.

It had the opposite effect as the corner of the man's mouth quirked up. He shook his head, but said nothing as he approached a cabin. He paused just before he opened the door. "My friends are going to be surprised, so let me do the talking." Kira stared at him blankly. Yahiko sighed again. "Right." He muttered, then shifted Kira to one arm before raising a single finger to his lips. "Shhhh."

Kira's eyes brightened in understanding, and he nodded before copying the gesture. "Shhhh."

The man nodded, and opened the door. "Hey, I'm bac-"

Kira's eyes zeroed in on the red hair and pale skin, and all he could see was – "Chichi!"

The two occupants looked startled, though in hindsight Kira could only assume it was both his presence and the address. The blue-haired woman looked between Kira and Yahiko, while the recipient of the address stared at him in confusion.

From a detached standpoint, it was clear to see this wasn't Kushina, but at the time Kira's mind just supplied the details. Even then, he couldn't understand why the single visible eye was so odd; it was purple, but with rings throughout the entire eye –

"The Rinnegan?"

Kira snapped back to the present, his head swimming as he gazed up at Kyuubi. It was staring straight ahead, expression blank. "The what?"

Its gaze snapped down to him, lip curling to bare its teeth. "Time to wake up, I need to ponder this."

Kira frowned. "What?"

The brunet stiffened though as a concentrated stream of red mist began to bubble through the bars. The wispy chakra grew closer, and he tucked himself against the wall. The Kyuubi didn't fail to notice, and it grinned mockingly at him. "Isn't this what you were out here for?"

"You just want me to go." Kira muttered. He furrowed his brow as he realized why the monster fox sounded so flippant. "Wait, you could have woken me up before now? Why didn't you, 'ttebaro!"

The fox scowled. "You're not very perceptive, but what was I expecting after having to watch you fawn sickeningly over that damn Uchiha." Kyuubi growled, and gave him another glare. "But don't think me giving you my chakra changes anything, kit. I just don't want what little freedom you have taken away by being locked in a temple, even if it would teach you a lesson."

Kira glowered at it, his palms itching. "You-"

"Once you wake up, run like hell."

Kira furrowed his brow, but gasped as the chakra met his legs. It sent a shock through his whole body, and his eyes snapped open in time to process that Kitsune had stopped to…go to the bathroom. Kira flushed as he rolled to his feet, lucky that Kitsune's back was to him as the man stood behind a bush. Gogogogo!

The boy didn't waste a chance to run, his small feet carrying him as quickly as he could. He wasn't sure where to run too, but bounded into the forest. There has to be a town nearby, we couldn't have gotten far, could we? His stomach twisted, but he didn't stop running as he weaved through the trees. His heart beat quickly in his chest, and Kira's eyes widened when he ran through a brush and skidded to a stop.

His breath hitched. Before him a still river, too wide to cross, and it looked deep from how blue it looked. Kira bit his lip, and ran along the bank. Towns are usually built by rivers, right? Maybe there someone could help me. He just hoped if someone pieced together what he was they wouldn't turn against him. Yeah, right.

The water wasn't going in any direction at the moment, which made it difficult to know if he'd make a good choice. Kira's eyes hardened in determination. As long it's in the opposite direction of Kitsune. He nodded to himself, and made a sharp turn to run along the left of the riverbank. Kira frowned as he noticed a sharp drop up ahead, and slowed down as his stomach rolled. He hugged himself, gritting his teeth as he realized he'd reached a dead end. Do I just wait here until I think Kitsune is gone?

He sniffled, but his nose picked up a scent from behind him. He hadn't bothered to place it before, but now that he knew who it was, he started shaking.

Kitsune tutted. "You shouldn't have run; did you really think I wouldn't have caught up with you? Now you've gone and backed yourself into a corner." Kira wished he could step back, but a huge drop-off behind him said it was a bad idea.

The brunet glared up at him. "What do you want from me?"

"Want? I just want you to be safe." Kitsune said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "The world isn't good to your kind. My father can attest to that, and he's very eager to meet you." He held out a hand, his voice as soothing and trustful as it was back at the river. "We'll be there in no time, just take my hand."

Kira knew better now, no matter how tempting the promise of meeting someone like him seemed. "No, you kidnapped me! And I'm not letting you do it again!" His hands held the tiger seal, and he gathered his chakra. Katon: Karyūdan!

Nothing but smoke blew out of Kira's mouth, and the boy hacked and coughed as he collapsed to his knees. He held his throat, grimacing. It turned into a scowl as Kitsune shook his head.

"You didn't honestly expect to master such a jutsu right away, did you?" he asked amused. "You don't have the chakra control to perform it correctly."

Kira's stomach dropped, shoulders shaking as self-loathing ate at his insides. He couldn't perform anything – his eyes widened. No, I have one thing left.

Kitsune tilted his head as Kira hurriedly went through a set of handseals. "Are you serious? What do you expect to accom-"

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Kitsune's eyes widened, jumping back on instinct. The boy has slammed his hand down on the ground, but instead of an animal appearing – the boy disappeared.


When Minato reached the graveyard, he was already looking for both a chakra signature, and any evidence of where the target was. He couldn't claim to have tracking skills on par with an Inuzuka, but it had rained last night, and the ground was still slightly muddy. The intruders had tried to cover their tracks by walking on the mud, but it just left him a trail to follow.

Until he reached the end of the graveyard, but by that point he was hoping to become familiar enough with the signatures to sense them. His eyes traced over the ground, finding the trail of the chakra signatures that were narrowed down to three and going in a group around to different sectors of the graveyard. He wasn't surprised to find the Uzumaki section of the cemetery to first be explored, but his eyes narrowed as he found the signatures going to another spot.

His gut twisted when he found the headstone. Nohara Sachiko, was the name engraved on the plaque. An inkling of fury began to well up inside of him. It was Kushina, they were after Kushina? The third spot was the Hokage section, and morbid as it was, he saw that next to his preemptive grave plot was nothing.

Minato gritted his teeth, taking from the intruders' failure to locate Kushina that it implied something else. She's not with her clan, she's not with our love, and she's not next to me; where the hell did they bury Kushina-chan?

The blond breathed in deep, pushing his anger and mounting rage. He didn't want to find Itachi with giving Kyuubi a chance to lash out at him. Minato didn't feel the chakra signatures once they left the graveyard, but he closed his eyes and focused on gathering the senjutsu; the gathering of natural energy, extending his reach as he pressed his hand to ground.

The signatures were moving at a steady pace, deep in the forest and he could feel Itachi's signature with them – Minato's eyes snapped open. The brief orange pigmentation of sage mode and the yellow irises disappeared, the flow of natural energy cut off and his sensory range pulled back. Minato gritted his teeth as his eyes flashed red and the Kyuubi's chakra interrupted his concentration, but it left him with the impression of feeling the disgruntlement and contempt from the intruders.

That was new, but also knew it to be a side-effect of Kyuubi.

Damn it, Minato thought, but summoned another Kage Bunshin. "Stay here, and tell them where the position is." His clone nodded, and Minato sprinted into the forest, jumping up to the trees, and hoped it gave him the element of surprise.


Itachi kept his movements natural, to anyone's eye just looking like his limbs flailed before he brought them together into a seal. He held the final seal, clasping his hands before bringing up his hand to his mouth and aimed for the man's cloak. Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. He spat out a small flame that caught the edge of the man's cloak.

It didn't take long for it to be noticed.

"You're on fire!" Menō shrieked.

Itachi was dropped to the ground as the man hurried to pull the cloak off. His teammates – or clan members – rushed to check on him. The girl berated him as she stomped on the cloak, while the old man checked for burns.

"How did it even catch fire-"

Itachi didn't waste a second when their back was turned. He sprinted into the brush as the man roared.

"THAT LITTLE BRAT!"


Jiraiya sprinted through the trees for a better vantage point, following after the tracking toad. It was easy enough to get the boy's scent, given the knee-jerk reaction the toad grimaced before taking off. It was a chase through the trees, but the fact the other scent was covered with a similar smell didn't bode well.

First it was the Nibi's brat, and now was there another half-demon after Kira? What was with them coming out now to take him? Not unless it's because he's the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki too. That would give anyone serious clout once the boy could get a hold on his own power and the demon's.

It was the fact the second scent only somewhat smelled of a half-demon that was a little more worrying. Was this a child of a half-demon? Either way, Kira needed to be found yesterday or Minato was going to wail on him.

"Bring him back to me." And he could picture Minato's face twisted as his eyes turned red, "You had one job."

Child of prophecy indeed, Jiraiya thought sardonically.

"Jiraiya-san, the scent is right ahead." The toad said.

The white-haired man nodded. "Right." He dismissed the toad and crouched on a tree. He narrowed his eyes as he observed the cloaked figure standing at the ledge of the cliff, which he realized had taken him to the Valley of the End.

The cloaked figure whirled around, a myriad of fireballs being spat at him. Jiraiya dodged all the fireballs, and landed on the ground. "Well, I guess subtleties is out." The white-haired man said humorously.

Two light blue eyes behind a foxlike mask narrowed. "Jiraiya of the Sannin." He said in a low, grave voice. "You broke through my genjutsu."

Jiraiya observed the man, snorting. "Little on the nose with the fox symbolism, aren't you?"

"It worked." Kitsune retorted. "As how easy it was to get you away from Kira-kun."

"And where is he?" Jiraiya questioned, his eyes peering beyond him at the cliff. For a brief moment, he wondered if he'd have to check the water below. "If you even touched a hair on his head-"

"Save your breath, fake." Kitsune spat. "If you truly gave a damn, you'd have stayed with him than give into your vices. Just like his so-called father should have known better."

The Sannin narrowed his eyes as his expression hardened. He could never say he was around much when Kira was younger, but in his mind, he could still see Minato holding a baby with wispy brown hair and staring down at him with adoration. How Minato looked at both his children, and regarded them with the same deep, pure love.

"You think your insults are going to work?" Jiraiya snorted. "I've heard it all before, but don't think I'm going to let you tear Minato's family apart. Now where's the kid?"

Kitsune began to back away. "Far away from you." He replied lightly. His foot touched the edge, and Kitsune fell back.

Jiraiya jumped to immediate action, jumping high into the air and twisted around. He spied Kitsune falling towards the water, and reached into his pouch. He pulled out the fuuma shuriken and unfolded it before throwing it. His hands flashed through the hand seals as the wind picked up around the shuriken. "Fūton: Kakeami!"

The wind around the fuuma shuriken formed into a wide cast net that slammed against Kitsune as the shuriken dug into the rock. Sharp cuts tore into Kitsune's cloak, scratching his mask and biting into his skin as he clasped his hands together and a piece of the cliff jutted out to encase him in a rock dome.

Jiraiya was already doing through another set of hand seals before he even touched the water's surface. "Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!" A jet of water shot up along the cliff, tearing through the rock before it sliced the dome clean in half. Only to reveal an empty center. "Damn it." Jiraiya cursed.

The white-haired man looked around the cliff surface, narrowing his eyes. He wanted to escape...so you think hiding in the rock will help you? Jiraiya went through several set of seals. "Suiton: Suijinheki!" The water at the base of the cliff swept up the rock.

A flat block of rock shot out, splitting the water as Kitsune appeared on it, who glared down at him with his hands in another seal.

"Doton: Tobi Tsubute!" Kitsune slammed his fist into the cliff, large rocks breaking off and flying through the water down at Jiraiya.

The white-haired man thought fast, pumping chakra into his legs before jumping to the first stone. He launched himself to the next, and on the third both he and Kitsune were flashing rapidly through hand seals, two attacks being shouted simultaneously.

"Katon: Karyūdan!"

"Suiton: Suizetsusan!"

The attacks stuck, fire against water. Though there was a stalemate, the water eventually pushed through, wiping out the fire as it reached its target.

Kitsune's eyes widened. "No!"

The jet of water slammed into Kitsune, pinning him against the cliff until Jiraiya landed on the rock ledge of the wall. The man cut the attack and watched as Kitsune slumped forward, coughing and gasping as his mask cracked, breaking into pieces.

Jiraiya glared at him. "I'll ask you one more time; where is Kira?"

Kitsune held the wall, shoulders heaving as he sucked in desperate breaths of air. "You-think-this-changes-anything?" he asked, coughing again. "You've wasted your time; I don't have him."

Jiraiya stiffened, his expression flashing in surprise before his features hardened. "And why would I believe you?"

"Because if I had him, you never would have found us." Kitsune said coldly, and he looked up to glare at him.

Jiraiya couldn't stop his knee-jerk reaction. His eyes widened as he stared at the face before him; a face he knew well stared back. Despite being older, despite the eyes being the wrong color, despite he should be dead – "Y-Yahiko?"


Minato narrowed his eyes when his ears picked up the rustling of leaves and he crouched low. Relief was sharp when a small boy with shoulder-length hair came stumbling through the brush. "Itachi-kun?"

The boy jolted, eyes shooting up to him. Itachi pulled his hands close to himself, shoulders tense. "You will not capture me again, intruder."

Minato didn't have time for this, there was still those real intruders around. "Listen, Itachi-kun, good on you for questioning things. We really don't have time for this; you love cabbage, you like dango, you hate steak, and the one time I watched you and Kira you both fell asleep cuddled together and I took pictures."

"You swore you would destroy those." Itachi said instantly, but pulled back.

The blond smiled briefly. "I gave a copy to Mikoto-chan; you'll have to take it up with her." He landed on the ground, placing his hands on his hips. "Do you believe me now?"

Itachi wavered, eyes looking through him with a brief intensity that unnerved him. The boy nodded sharply. "I have found out valuable information, Hokage-sama."

Minato held in his sigh. "Yeah, okay, tell me on the way back to Konoha." Itachi made a disgruntled sound when Minato lifted him up, and sprinted back through the woods.

"There were three; an old man called Ibushi, a young girl named Menō, and a man that didn't get named. They are presumably from a puppeteer clan, as that's how I was captured; they are after a dead Uzumaki I couldn't get the name for, but the one who wanted them is a fourth person that wasn't around from their clan: Akasuna no Sasori."

Minato's eyes hardened, lips pressed tight. "You did well, Itachi-kun." He said, but said no more on the subject. A part of him wanted to go back, to hunt down the intruders and make them show him where Sasori was hiding. His jaw clenched, but he kept his head in the now than the past. So much from the past was now muddying his thoughts, which made getting back to Konoha right now imperative.

"Mi-" The blond heard the whoosh of air behind him, and sidestepped the barrage of kunai that was thrown at his back. They embedded themselves in the tree, bubbling with poison.

"I heard them, Itachi-kun." Minato replied. "Hold on tight, I'm about to pick up the pace." He felt Itachi's hands tighten on his shoulders before the blond used a shunshin. He disappeared in a yellow flash, tunnel vision settling in. The world shrank around him, and Minato only saw the approaching party once they were right there.

The blonde let go of the jutsu as he leapt over the group, holding Itachi tighter as he twisted and crouched to soften the fall. While the front was easy to misidentify as just Konoha shinobi, Minato saw the symbol of the KMPF on all of them. "Hey!"

The group of Uchihas had stopped before he spoke, but his voice gave them a face to it. Several Sharingans locked onto him, and Fugaku pushed through the group before he quickly looked them both over. "Itachi?"

"I'm fine, Otou-san." Itachi replied, his voice even quieter than usual. "I managed to escape before they took me too far, and Minato-sama found me."

The blond couldn't guess as to whether Fugaku was impressed or not as his stony expression never changed. Either way, Minato spoke up fast. "Fugaku-san, take your son and I'll deal with-"

"Namikaze." Minato stopped as the Uchiha clan head cut him off, and even the others in the squad glanced at him. "What did you do when your son was kidnapped?"

A flush of anger rippled through Minato, and he closed his eyes before anyone could see if they flashed a red different than the Uchihas in front of him. He calmed himself down with the knowledge that Fugaku had no idea about Kira's kidnapping before Sen. "Just bring someone back to interrogate if you can." he pointed out to the trees before them. "Keep going that way, they were chasing us before I shunshined away."

Fugaku nodded curtly, and he led the other members of his squad away. Minato reluctantly kept on his way to the village.

I'll find you Sasori, and make you pay, Minato thought, his eyes narrowing in determination.


Light blue eyes narrowed, sharp and intense. "How do you know that name?"

Jiraiya narrowed his own, moving past his own shock to look for little details that could separate this man from his old student. "No, you're not him; just a clever fake."

Anger twisted the other's expression, Kitsune's teeth bared in a snarl. "I'm no fake; I lived years with my twin before he was taken from me."

A twin? But Yahiko never mentioned- Ah, but then again Jiraiya hadn't told those kids everything either. He hadn't even known until well into living with them about Nagato's Rinnegan. Anger riled this guy up, maybe I can work with that. "I knew Yahiko because I was his sensei for three years; he and his friends were my students."

Kitsune stared at him, distrust and anger never leaving his gaze. "Knew?"

"Things...happened. This doesn't have to go any further, just tell me where Kira is." Jiraiya said.

Kitsune looked down, his bangs shadowing his face as his jaw clenched, his fingers digging into the rock. "You thought to give me hope, just to tell me my other half is still dead?" he looked at him sharply. "I will find that boy, and none of you will ever see him again!"

Jiraiya lunged forward, but all the got was Kitsune's cloak as he sprinted back up the cliff. Jiraiya cursed and gave chase again. Once he reached the top, Kitsune was nowhere in sight. Shit, as if there weren't enough going on. A puff of smoke caught his attention, and he drew a kunai on instinct.

Once it cleared, a small blue and white slug was beside him. "Jiraiya-san." Katsuyu said, bowing its head.

Jiraiya didn't relax, still giving the area another once over before sighing in frustration. "Katsuyu-sama." he said, but put on an easy smile. "Twice in such a short time? Tsunade-hime must really miss me."

Katsuyu's voice was dry as it replied, "She just wants you to come pick up a scared little boy."

Jiraiya's humor faded, eyes narrowed in thought. "So the kid used the summoning jutsu again? Smart." he said. "Alright, where is he this time?"

Katsuyu responded by spitting out a scroll. "Please come here as soon as possible." It said, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Jiraiya read over the contents, the words from his princess more harsh and abrasive than Katsuyu let on. This trip was a complete disaster.


Evading the leaf scum had been difficult, but the trio had managed to round back to the safe house. Meno grumbled to herself, unable to keep the disappointment out of her expression. Ibushi had gone to speak with Sasori, leaving her and Gando out in the empty front room.

Soon, Ibushi came back out. "He wants to speak with you both." he said curtly.

"Hai." Meno and Gando said, and walked to the backroom. It was sparse, aside from the lamplight igniting the room.

And the redheaded figure sitting at the desk, working on a puppet. Meno scowled when she saw his Suna flak jacket; it had been a long time since Sunagakure banished the Shirogane clan, but the sight of it was enough to further her distrust of him.

"Not only were you all late, but you failed too." Sasori's voice was calm, borderline emotionless.

"What you wanted was impossible!" Meno snapped. Sasori stopped working, going still.

Gando spoke up quickly. "That is, we couldn't find the Uzumaki woman; we had thought to bring you an Uchiha, but that fell through as well. We're late because we had to get away from Konoha shinobi."

Sasori didn't speak as he stood up quietly. He turned to face them, his unsettling gaze as unnerving as his calm voice. "Yes, that matches what Ibushi told me." he halted, tilting his head. "Gando, leave."

Meno stiffened as the man left, leaving them alone. "Nii-san-"

"You don't like me." It wasn't a question, and Meno's mouth snapped shut. "And really, I don't care. Your disdain though is impeding your loyalty, and that is unacceptable."

Meno narrowed her eyes, jerking her chin up. "Loyalty to the clan is not loyalty to you. It's not like you're the clan head, you're just one of those Suna scum that ran away."

"That's where you're wrong; I do have the loyalty of Ibushi, and Gando would do anything for the clan." Sasori replied calmly. "The only weak link - is you."

Meno's eyes widened, gasping as blood spittle fell from her lips. She looked incredulously down at the spike which drove through her back out her stomach. She glanced behind her, and found one of Sasori's puppets there. A numbing began to course through the wound, and she glared at him. "T-traitor." she spat, grunting as the spike was ripped out, and she collapsed to the floor.

Sasori stepped up to her, looking down at her. "As you are now, you're useless to me." His eyes almost gleamed in the lamplight. "With the notes of the Shirogane's human experimentation and my own knowledge, I will make you stronger." he knelt beside her. "Feel honored, cousin; you will become a part of my art."