Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Raiga was on high alert. Ranmaru had said he'd seen something earlier, but he hadn't known how to properly describe it. As long as it wasn't hunter-nin, he was fairly confident he could evade or defend himself from whatever or whoever it was, at least if it didn't take him unawares. Thus his current level of alertness.

"We're going to find a place to sleep, okay, Ranmaru?" He asked, and heard a small hum from the bundle on his back. He turned the corner, but immediately knew it was a mistake: there were two shinobi halfway down the road. They had similar features; red hair and narrow noses and round faces. And one of them was wearing a Kiri hitai-ite, her clothes also typical Kiri dress.

He didn't think they were hunter-nin but he didn't think they were a good thing either way. He clenched his teeth and kept walking; to do otherwise would only bring attention to himself and Ranmaru. At the end of the street he turned again, and began to run.

"Change of plans, Ranmaru," he said grimly. "We're getting out of here."

He headed west —in case of a confrontation, the hot springs west of the town would give him the greatest advantage. Out there, without the tall trees of the forest on the other three sides of the village, he would be able to call down lightning easier. And the terrain was fairly flat, so the two shinobi would be easier targets because of the range of visibility.

"Do you see them Ranmaru?" He asked, still running through the streets, though the village's west gate was now in sight.

"Yes." The answer meant they were following him; he'd been running for several minutes now. Ranmaru's voice was thin, reedy ––he was scared. Raiga cursed and made a couple of clones, then ran faster, the clones spreading out around him. He altered his path slightly; he'd go over the wall instead of through the gate. Hopefully it would throw the two of them off.

No such luck; barely ten seconds later the male shinobi was in front of him and was aiming at his left with a kunai; he dodged right and ran diagonally. But where was–

"Now, Honoka!"

Raiga jerked to a stop, feet planted awkwardly on the rock and his muscles refusing to move. The male paused, catching his breath—his stamina was surprisingly low—and the kunoichi moved so she was standing in front of Raiga, several paces away still, one hand in a half-ram. He raged silently when he caught sight of the spirals sewn on the shoulders of both of their shirts—Uzumaki, were they? He'd thought they'd managed to wipe the clan out good and proper but apparently some rats had survived.

"Your turn now, Raiden," she said, voice flat. Raiga flared his chakra and her face tightened—maybe if he kept it up long enough he'd break the barrier.

And then the male—Raiden—moved out of his view and he felt something on the back of his neck. The kunoichi released the barrier and he lunged but fell on his face as his muscles once again seized, this time painfully.

"Sorry about that," he heard from behind him—the only thing he could see was dirt. "But, you know, I kind of need these."

Raiga felt Ranmaru squirm and tried to curse but only managed to grunt; if they touched Ranmaru he would kill them or die trying. But it wasn't Ranmaru they wanted—Raiga felt the Kiba being slid out from their positions and tried to move—he needed those, to protect Ranmaru!

He heard footsteps, fading away into distance. And then it was just the wind, blowing across the earth, and the bubble of the hot springs and then the patter of rain on rock as they storm started. He laid there, an utter loathing growing in him, loathing towards himself, for being weak, and towards the Uzumaki, for making him even more so.

He laid there, even after whatever they'd done to him wore off, and would have remained there had Ranmaru not needed his help. He picked himself up, picked Ranmaru up, and swore revenge on the Uzumaki.

"We have two blades. Two!" Raiden crowed—they'd chartered an old fishing boat and had made it onto the main island of Mizu no Kuni and were now approaching Kirigakure with a few days to spare.

"Three, actually, because the Kiba is two separate blades."

"You know what I mean! Either way, I'm not gonna have Zabuza breathing down my neck so that counts as a win in my book."

"I think that would be a win in anyone's book; the Mizukage is scary even when in a good mood. He just has this aura of bloodthirstiness."

Raiden was reluctant to admit it, but he did still find the man intimidating. It wasn't a gut-wrenching, paralyzing terror like he'd felt as a green genin, but he was still always on edge when interacting with him and he was even more reluctant to admit he wanted to know how to do it. Of course, there was always KI but somehow whatever Zabuza did was above that, as Raiden hadn't felt him use chakra in his office the last time he was there and Zabuza had still managed to intimidate him.

"Hey, we're here," Honoka said, gesturing ahead to where the top of the administrative building was poking up.

"Great." Raiden grimaced. Despite the success they'd had with finding two of the blades—or three, rather—he still had three more to find, and he was uncertain of his continued security in Kiri as long as he contained Isobu. So, for the rest of his life, basically; he wasn't unaware that they were just using him to recover their blades. As soon as the blades were all found they would have no use for him and they could easily kill him and retrieve Isobu. At least he'd be safe until the rest of the blades were found.

Probably.

He sighed but continued on, Honoka slightly ahead of him, waving at people she recognized on the street and he attempted smiles—it might help his case if he were friendly. Very few of them acknowledged it, though, so maybe not.

Be that as it may, they'd made it to the administrative building and there was only two flights of stairs, two doors, and one hallway between him and his impending doom. Okay, so maybe he was exaggerating—but it had always been a coping mechanism; poking fun at a situation always made it less intimidating.

One door down, then the staircase, then the other staircase, and the hallway and then the final door…

"Yo! We're back!" He yelled, kicking the door in. It slammed against the wall next to him, having swung all the way around in just a split-second from how hard he'd kicked it. Honoka put her hand over her mouth, hiding a smile; Zabuza looked annoyed and a bit tense.

"I trust you've been able to complete the first retrieval," Zabuza said, rising from his seat and placing his hands flat on the desk.

"Yes, Mizukage-sama," Honoka answered, pre-empting Raiden's snappy retort. Which was probably a good thing, all things considered. "We have even been able to go above the minimum requirement; we bring you the Kiba as well as the Kabutowari."

She took the storage scrolls out of her pack as she named the blades and unsealed them, leaving all three gleaming on Zabuza's desk. The man looked reluctantly impressed.

"Well done, Honoka-san. As for you, Raiden Uzumaki, I trust that your success will continue for the foreseeable future."

"Yes, Mizukage-sama."

"Good. Come back in ten days; I have relevant information to share but I need my ninja at their highest capability before I assign another mission."

It was an obvious dismissal, especially considering that he was re-sealing the blades and ignoring them, so they fled, in a most dignified manner, from his office.

"Glad that went well," Raiden commented, lacing his fingers behind his head. It was a relief but it had been so anticlimactic he wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Reasonably so, yes," Honoka agreed. There was a brief pause, shortly interrupted by Raiden's growling stomach.

"Ramen?"

"Oh, yes, please."

The ramen restaurant wasn't too busy and they got a table as soon as they entered. Or rather, they were added to one of the larger tables, which already housed three occupants.

"Hey, it's, uh, Raiden, right?"

Three occupants who were Honoka's friends; the ones he'd met on his previous 'visit' to Kirigakure.

"Yeah, and you'll be happy to know that I'm all clear for chakra use. Ah, Fuyumi, right?"

"I'm impressed," she said back, and then gestured to the other two. "I'd be even more impressed if you could remember the names of these two as well."

Raiden narrowed his eyes in concentration. The brown-haired one, he'd been the first one he'd met—Daiki—but the other one had been quieter, more polite, a bit aloof. It started with an A, he was sure—Akio? No, that wasn't right—Asuka? No, that was a girl's name…think!

"Atsuo! And Daiki."

"That's right," Daiki said. "Well, it's nice that you're better, I guess. If you're willing to spar with Fuyumi again, it would take quite a bit of pressure off us as her test dummies."

Raiden laughed; Daiki's tone was lighthearted and he appreciated the welcoming gesture. He thumped his chest. "Of course! Nothing can take me down!"

Honoka cuffed him. "You idiot. What about when Naruto put the rest of the bottle of chili oil in your ramen? You were crying so hard you couldn't see."

"Oi! I wasn't crying! It was just so spicy that my eyes were sweating!"

"That doesn't even make sense, moron!"

At this point Fuyumi was in stitches, and Atsuo and Daiki were both grinning. Raiden was saved by the waiter, who shortly collected their orders, and left with a dubious expression: Raiden and Honoka both had ordered an amount of ramen equivalent to the rest of the table combined.

"I guess it's an Uzumaki thing," Daiki commented, nodding towards the stack of bowls on either side of the two redheads once they'd finished eating.

"It is," Raiden answered after stifling a yawn. "Naruto—he's seven by the way—has both of us beat when it comes to ramen. And Satoshi, while a civvie, still can eat three bowls in one sitting."

Atsuo shook his head solemnly. "I bet the Uzumaki clan had amazing ramen recipes."

Raiden scowled. He hadn't ever really thought about that before, but now that he was thinking about it he was rather upset. The destruction of Uzushio was not only tragic and brutal in regards to the loss of life, it was also tragic and brutal because of the loss of culture. Culture that they would probably never recover.

Sensing that it was something of a sensitive subject, Atsuo decided to abandon that line of thought. "So what brings you here, Raiden? You mentioned in your earlier visit a potential treaty between Amegakure and our own Kirigakure. Have things progressed since then?"

Right. Cover story. "Currently I am completing a series of missions in the aid of Kirigakure with Honoka as supervisor—I guess they don't trust me on my own and figure she's the one I'm least likely to attack. I mean, they're not wrong," he added hastily. "I just—why bite the hand that feeds you, right? And it would be nice if the treaty were made. At the very least I figure we'll end up with some sort of détente."

"Are the missions classified? Or are we allowed to know what you're up to?" Fuyumi asked. Raiden could practically taste her curiosity.

"They're classified up until they're complete. It's really only one mission with several parts; we've completed two of the five parts already," Honoka said blandly. "So at the very most it should be less than a year for the mission to be complete."

"Oh, good," Fuyumi said. "It's been boring around here with only the boys for company."

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Daiki exclaimed; Atsuo just smiled, knowing it was only joking between friends. It was at times like these that Raiden thought back to his genin days and the times he'd played hooky from the Academy. It seemed like so long ago; now he was just busy all the time and it felt good to just be able to relax and spend time with the people close to him. Honoka, Nagato, Konan, Yahiko, Satoshi, Naruto, Shisui, Kakashi—his list of friends and family was growing longer all the time. And honestly—that was one of the best things he could ask for.

"Well, as nice as it was to meet you all again, I'm beat," he said. "Is it okay if I just head back to your place, Honoka?"

She gave him a look. "You can't go by yourself; you would be an unsupervised foreign shinobi. I'll have to come with; you all can come as well if you like."

"I can put up silencing seals so don't bother about me," Raiden added, and the three of them ended up agreeing. It was a pleasant walk back to Honoka's apartment, which despite being vacant for so long was only a little dusty. Full bellies, good company, relief of a job well-done.

Once they got there he went to the futon in the corner—they hadn't put it away before they'd left for Konoha—and wrote a silencing seal. He slipped it under the futon and then went to go shower and relieve himself before saying goodnight to Honoka's friends and crashing.

After their ten-day break, Raiden was once more eager to get on with his task. Granted, Honoka's friends were pretty decent, and fun to hang around with. But the longer the mission took, the longer it would be before he could return home, to Satoshi and Naruto. So he and Honoka headed to the office the morning of the third day, eager to hear whatever Zabuza had to say.

He wasn't disappointed.

"We have reason to believe Kumogakure is in possession of the Nuibari." And that little bit of shocking news was only surpassed by his next statement. "And because of the success of the last mission, and the fact that your life is collateral, we have agreed to allow Raiden Uzumaki to complete this retrieval solo."

Like he was that naïve. He had been when he was younger, of course, but he'd gained a great deal of knowledge in the last few years of his life and he liked to think he was wiser now. Of course they weren't sending him because they trusted him; they were sending him because he'd given them results and because if he died they really didn't care. And they wouldn't want to send Honoka in; she was a loyal Kiri kunoichi and they would risk more than they could afford by sending her.

He glanced over at her—she'd gotten the underlying reasoning as much as he had, of course, and didn't look entirely pleased so he sent her a reassuring smile.

"I'll do it, no problem," he said. It would take a lot of planning, however. None of his usual rushing-in-and-hoping-it-works-out-for-the-best strategies, which he was aware he relied on far too often. This was another one of those extremely politically fraught situations—like the one that had gotten him into the whole mess in the first place—except this time he wouldn't have anything like that to leverage to keep himself alive.

"Good. I expect the blade on my desk in three months. If you need any materials for your mission, we will provide them, within reason."

"Yes, Mizukage-sama," he said, winking at Ao, who had just entered the room. It was rather entertaining to bait the older ninja, who strove to behave professionally in front of his leader. Which meant not alienating potential assets.

Honoka grabbed his arm and dragged him out before he could do anything else and he grouched at her.

"Come on, don't ruin my fun, I only have the rest of this morning to annoy him!"

"Well, I think the morning would be better used with, I don't know, actually getting information on Kumo, and possible getting any materials that you might need from the mission office downstairs?" Honoka said, her ever-present pragmatism pulling out of his pranking mood.

"Yeah, okay, you're right. At least with the information part; I won't know if I need anything from materials. Actually—do they have Kumo uniforms? 'Cause that would be really cool—"

Honoka pulled him forward, then shoved him hard enough that he staggered a step back.

"What are you doing, idiot? They've given you a suicide mission. Infiltrate one of the Hidden Villages, by yourself? And then steal a weapon of such renown? They're not expecting you to bring it back, Raiden, but I don't want you to die. Can you at least pretend to be taking this seriously? For my sake?"

Raiden was honestly speechless. Making light of the situation was how he'd always coped with things; he'd thought that if he laughed hard enough it would somehow be able to block out all the hateful whispers, that it would somehow brighten the impassive looks. He'd never once thought, not having people close to him during those times, about how it would affect them.

"Let's just go, get the info you need," she said. They went downstairs, to the information office, and then to the mission office—as it turned out, they did have a Kumo uniform, more than one, and he'd found one that fit. Just in case. He got some extra rations, too—Kiri had a greater selection of quick meals and he wanted to try a ration bar, just to see if they were better than Konoha's. Judging from the expression of faint disgust on Honoka's face when he picked it up, he doubted it, but didn't think it could possibly be that much worse so got it anyway. It was high in nutrients, anyway, so even if it tasted horrible it would still give him what he needed. And he didn't think anything would be worse than Sakura's pills, which, thankfully, had been a short-lived invention.

Eventually, though, the preparation ended and he was itching to get going. Sitting around had never been his strong suit, and he was done with it.

"Look, I'll be fine, Honoka. I'm sorry I was being an idiot, but I promise—I'm going to blow them away. You'll see. I'll get the Nuibari, and I'll come back without a scratch."

"You'd better," she answered, giving him a hug and a smile. "I've gotten used to your antics and it would be a shame to lose that."

There wasn't really anything to say, so he just hugged her back and went on his way, holding a hand up in a wave.

He traveled leisurely, at least for a shinobi; the boat he and Honoka had taken from the coast of Yu no Kuni he took back, allowing shadow clones to actually sail it while he planned.

He had to get in to Kumogakure, find the Nuibari, take it, and get back to Kiri, all the while leaving no evidence that he'd been there. Shadow clones were a definite advantage here; the only problem was leaving traces of his chakra or a sensor detecting a lot of the same chakra scattered around. If he could make a seal to mask his chakra signature, though, then the risk of him being caught would decrease immensely. Except he couldn't just hide his chakra completely; all living things had at least some chakra and if there wasn't any chakra present in a person, or animal, or bug, or whatever he'd use to gather information then security would increase, making his job even more difficult than it already was.

Of course, he could always put his clones in sage mode. Each clone would have about seven minutes (it was the longest he'd worked back up to) before it popped. And the good thing about sage mode was what the nature chakra did to his natural chakra . Along with completely changing the feel of his chakra, it differed slightly depending on the environment. Nature chakra was drawn from the area around the person utilizing it, and so even a small difference in what was around the clone when they gathered the chakra would change the feel of it. And nature chakra was much more similar to an animal's chakra than a henge'd shadow clone.

Seven minutes, however, was not a very long time. Of course, there was always training to do that could extend the time sage mode lasted, but even with shadow clones it was time-intensive. If only there was a way to transfer chakra between clones…could he make a seal for that? If he had a vessel that could store chakra—say, perhaps, a seal—and made a current somehow? Or just connected two clones and have the chakra flow both ways? The stationary clone would be in charge of the chakra balancing, then, for the both of them.

Something to work on, at least. And he'd have to dampen his own chakra signature, which took stellar control—that, or another seal. And that one he knew how to make.

His plan grew in depth and detail as he got closer to Kaminari no Kuni; the boat could only go so fast and he had enough free time with the shadow clones doing nearly everything.

He'd sneak in as a civilian. Pretty easy; most village security was much more lax on civvies and he'd be able to pull it off as long as he had the chakra-dampening seal and kept his head down. He'd have to pull out a pack, though, and stuff it with basic camping supplies—civilians weren't authorized to own storage scrolls, which was a privilege unique to shinobi.

Once in the village, he'd have to employ his shinobi disguise, as he would need to be able to access his chakra to create the clones and apply the chakra channel seals—which he was, of course, still fine-tuning. Once the clones were created and the seals were applied, the clones would transform into different animals—a variety of small rodents, snakes, birds, and possible some insects. Things that would be ignored.

He'd wait until they found the Nuibari, and then—he was particularly proud of having thought this up—employ a seal he'd created on his way to the chakra channel seal. It was a storage scroll—pretty basic, really—except that the space-time pocket was fixed. Meaning, he'd 'tagged' it, and so as long as he included the 'tag' in a storage seal, it would access the same space-time pocket. So a clone would take one of the special storage seals to where the Nuibari was, seal it, burn the seal—with a match, he wanted to leave as few chakra traces as possible—and then, if it was possible, leave the area and pop somewhere out-of-the-way, to reduce leaving residual chakra in a conspicuous spot, even if his chakra signature was disguised by the nature chakra.

By then Raiden would be out of Kumogakure—leave before the crime, that would provide him a solid alibi, especially since he'd be leaving in his civilian disguise—and on his way back to Kirigakure, the Nuibari safely ensconced in the other special storage seal.

Honoka would be proud of him.

His disguise was pretty good, if he did say so himself. Tannish skin—quite a bit darker than his usual pale shade—dark brown hair, and plain trousers and shirt and sandals. And, of course, a traveler's pack, containing a blanket, some food—not ninja rations, those would be a dead giveaway if they searched his pack—some fishing cord and a knife and fire-starter kit. His belt he'd turned inside-out, to keep the seals from showing, and he kept his shirt untucked to add another layer of protection from prying eyes. And, of course, his shirt hid another thing: the chakra-dampening seal, which he'd placed on his lower back.

To his surprise, Kumo didn't have gates. Instead, the village was protected by the natural rock formations in the surrounding area. The city was built in a sort of canyon, which at the entrance was extremely narrow, allowing the ninja on guard duty to see everyone who was entering the village.

"Hello, there," Raiden said, affecting simple smile and a sort of backwater accent. "The weather always this nice up 'ere?"

"I wish it were," the guard said. "Unfortunately, that isn't always the case. Enjoy your stay, sir."

"Thankee very much," he said, and continued on to the village, glad that his ruse had succeeded.

He'd chosen the disguise carefully. After passing through a couple of small towns, he'd modeled his henge to have similar features to some of the farmers he'd seen, and he'd made it so he looked a little older. After all, Kumo had to get domestic missions from somewhere, right? And he'd played a bumbling countryman for two reasons: one, because a lot of the smaller villages didn't keep a registration of their citizens because they were so small, and two; because he'd thought it would be fun.

He wandered around for a while, just kind of getting a feel for the place. Their village was actually really cool—most of their buildings were inside the rock formations, wood and glass jutting out in places to give natural light. It was fascinating.

He ducked into a bathroom to make his transformation. Off went the seal, and his clothes were switched for the shinobi uniform, though he kept his belt on under the shirt. He henge'd once more, into a different, though still nondescript appearance and then checked to make sure nobody who had seen him enter the stall was still there to see the transformation.

The coast was clear so he exited the stall, washed his hands, then went on his way. So far, his plan was proceeding nicely. The next step was to seed the area with shadow clones.

So, like any loyal Kumo shinobi, he went on patrol, making extra-sure to check out any dark alleyways for suspicious activity, which then suddenly developed infestations of native pests, or became nesting places for common birds.

And then he heard something. It was faint, at first, rhythmic, somehow familiar.

So he followed it. As he walked, the sound became louder, more recognizable, until finally he was standing at the back of a small crowd, all facing towards a stage set up in a large flat area.

"A tailed beast resides, inside my hide! Makin' beats and rhymes and I'm makin' 'em live—It's what a Jinchuuriki needs to survive, battle and battle up here in the Bee hive!"

It was Bee. He laughed, astonished and yet so, so happy. It was Bee, making up stupid rhymes and performing them anyway. And his village loved him for it; the only thing Raiden heard were cheers. He stayed until the end of the concert; he had enough shadow clones around the city that searching himself wouldn't make a difference. Besides, the concert really was entertaining when you really got into it; though his rhymes left something to be desired, Bee's enthusiasm and attitude were infectious, and his audience couldn't help but enjoy the performance.

It was starting to get dark, and the show was beginning to wind down, when Raiden stiffened. One of his clones had popped, sending him its memories—one of which included the location of the Nuibari. It was, as he probably should have expected, in the main administrative building, near the Raikage's office. What he wasn't expecting, however, were the other contents of the room—artifacts collected from the other villages. One of which was an scroll that looked to be made of high-quality silk, yellowed with age. What made it more interesting, though, was the symbol on the ends of the wood: a faded red spiral.

He was going to take it along with the Nuibari. And he was going to do it that night. His lightheartedness converted to determination and he began to make preparations. He dispelled the rest of his clones slowly, making sure they'd released the nature chakra first; he couldn't risk an influx of nature chakra at the moment.

He just had to wait, at least until the Raikage left his office. Most of the other ninja he wouldn't mind fighting but a scuffle with the Raikage would probably end up with his decapitation and he'd rather that not happen as he liked his head where it was. Though the artifacts weren't actually in his office, they were close enough that he didn't want to take the risk. And there was a guard outside the artifact room that he would have to get past first.

It would only take a small modification of his plan…

It wasn't the most exciting job. It was always cool to see what new artifacts shinobi brought in from missions, but that didn't happen often and the job was mostly just keeping them in good condition and keeping a basic watch on the door.

He stood a little straighter after catching sight of a shinobi down the hall. He tried not to look interested—it was a bit odd to be watching someone walk down a hallway towards you, after all—but the shinobi stopped in front of him.

"You the guy in charge of the artifact room?" The shinobi said, looking bored.

"Er, yes, that's me."

"I got somethin' for ya, here." The shinobi handed him a wrapped bundle and opened it to see a slightly nicked kunai. A special kunai; this one had three prongs and the hilt was covered in seal paper. "True-blue Hiraishin kunai, with the seal intact."

He wrapped it back up hastily.

"I'll just put this away then, thank you."

"Yeah, sure."

The shinobi turned and ambled back down the hall, and he went into the room to find a place for it. There was an empty stand somewhere near the middle, which he placed the kunai on, arranged artfully on the cloth it came wrapped in.

He left the room, never noticing the tiny insect crawling up the handle of the kunai.

The bug climbed the metal incline all the way to the end of it, where it stopped and turned a full circle, the room around it reflected hundreds of times in its segmented eyes.

Seconds later, the insect transformed into a person, with dark hair and tan skin, wearing a shinobi uniform. The person picked up three items—the kunai it had been climbing on, a long, thin sword shaped like a needle, and an old, yellowed scroll.

The shinobi pulled out a piece of paper and laid it on the ground, and then placed the three objects on top of it, one by one, and they disappeared. The shinobi held up the paper and lit a match, touching the flame to a corner of the paper and letting the paper burn. The ashes were collected and put in the shinobi's mouth, who grimaced at the taste. A moment later the shinobi was gone, the faint smell of smoke the only evidence left of his presence.

AN: This chapter somehow went really fast. Like, I typed most of it in a week fast. And I'm not really sure how that happened but I'm definitely not complaining. And thus, I've decided to change my update schedule a bit: I'll update when I finish a chapter, minimum of once a month.

Um, Seven Swords Arc will probably wrap up in the next couple of chapters? And then it's on to some new stuff.

Needless to say, I'm pretty proud of this story. Thanks to all who reviewed/favorited/followed, it really means a lot!