Shinachiku's Next Adventure Chapter 21--The Enemy of My Enemy, a naruto fanfic

Hey everybody, thesiayanjedi here, back at last with the latest chapter of "Shinachiku's Next Adventure!"

I know, I know. It have been over two months since my last update. I am so sorry about that, but after Thanksgiving, things have been a bit... err, complicated in my life. First of all, my job was going through it's peak season, leaving me very busy to help keep up with demand for the holiday season. That. in turn, has left me very exhausted and sapped of a lot of energy to write. More importantly, there has been an unexpected development within my family (the details of which I will not disclose) that has cause a lot of rearranging of my time and priorities. Things are starting to clear out by now, but there are still more things that need to be done. That's the unfortunate truth about non-career writing, at the end of the day this is a hobby for most of us, and sometimes real life just gets in the way of that.

Because of this, I cannot make any promises at this time when the next chapter will be finished, but I do feel very bad that I have had to keep all of you waiting this long, especially after the cliffhanger I left on on last time. Thank you all, once again, for your patience, and I really do hope you enjoy.

With that said, let's get to reading!

Chapter 21: The Enemy of My Enemy...

"URAGI!"

Shinachiku charged at the old man, fist reared back. The boy who was so often the face of rationality and sensibility had instead succumb to raw anger. But how could he not? Standing right there was the face o evil itself! The man who nearly destroyed his village and his entire family. The traitor who introduced everyone to the menace known as Taka.

And there he was, the weak, burned old man who should be spending the rest of his retched life rotting in the deepest, darkest jail cell in Konoha, was instead right there in his sister's base.

But it had been a year since that day, and Shina was not the same person he once was. He was much stronger.

One punch. That all it would take. Just one punch...

...But that punch never came. Instead, the boy felt something hitting him hard in the gut And then a rapid succession of blows coming at him from all sides, before he even had time to recover from the first blow.

Shina could feel himself getting dizzy. He even coughed up some blood all over his shirt. He quickly hit the stone floor of the cave, seeing feet approach him as blackness consumed his vision...

...

"Ugh..."

Shinachiku woke up with a huge headache. After adjusting his eyes, he realized that he was lying down on the ground, covered in a wool blanket. He was also in front of a warm fire.

"Shina?"

Turning his head, he saw Hanami there, looming over him, ironically enough, like an overprotective big sister. She seemed kind of exhausted, like she'd been awake a bit too long. He figured he probably had something to do with that.

"Sis? Wha-What's going on?"

"Well, well, look who finally woke up."

Shina didn't need to turn around to know who that voice belonged to. "How long have you been there?"

Boruto smirked. "Long enough to enjoy seeing you be taking down for acting reckless for a chance. I gotta admit, it felt kinda good."

The elder blonde rolled his eyes in annoyance, not saying anything since, as annoying as it was, the kid had a point...But that was when Shina's memories came back to him.

"Uragi! Where is he?! Where is that bastard! I'm gonna—!"

"SHINA! STOP!"

The boy was taken aback by the force of his sister's voice. She really wasn't the sweet, innocent little girl that he'd used to protect just a few days ago. With that temper of here's, she actually reminded him a lot of his mother...something that sent a shiver down his spine.

For his own part, Bolt was just as freaked out. Her yell reminded him of how scary his own mother could be. Or, of that one time he broke one of Himawari's favorite toys, causing her...well, he preferred not to remember it.

Hanami sighed. "Listen big brother, I know this must be a shock to you, but believe me when I tell you, Uragi is one of us now."

"What?!" Shina was shocked. "Sis! Don't you realize what you're saying?! Don't you remember what this did to our village?! To our family?! To you?!"

"Of course I remember! I don't need you to remind me what Taka did to me back then. I don't need you to tell me all the terrible things he did."

"Then why?"

The pinkette paused before speaking. "Because in times of war, we need men like him."

Bolt raised his hand. "Hey, umm, can the new kid in the room get crash course on who the heck that old man with the burn scars is and why Shinachiku hates him so much?"

Shina himself did the talking. "His name is Uragi Rimonō. He's a former elder of the Hidden Leaf Village and a traitor."

"Never heard of him."

Shina quickly pieced together what that meant. 'Of course. Boruto hasn't had to deal with Taka in his universe, so that probably means that Uragi never returned to the village in his world, if he even exists at all...Good for him.'

"Well anyway," he continued, "he left the village before Orochimaru's attack that led to the Third Hokage being killed. While he was out there he got these crazed delusions that the world was a cold, ruthless place that needed to be saved, but he didn't think that dad or anyone else was cut out to be the one to fix it, especially after the war. So he chose to join a secret society called Taka."

"Oh yeah! Those evil terrorist guys you told me you and your team were trying to stop."

"That's right. A year later he returned to Konoha and climbed to ranks until he took Danzo's place on the Council. As dad became Hokage, Uragi coerced many of the village's ninja to join Taka's cause as double agents, just like the other leaders planted in the other four villages did, and he used some of the Chakra Gems to do it."

"So what happened?"

This time Hanami spoke. "About a year ago, my brother went with our Uncle Sasuke on a mission to locate one of the chakra gems. Meanwhile, Uragi began a coup d'état to assume control. Our parents escaped an assassination attempt but were forced to flee the villages as fugitives. Things got...err, complicated from there, but long story short: my brother and his friends snuck back into the villages after our parents were captured, exposed Taka, and we defeated him in battle after he used the chakra gems to become a giant red energy monster."

"A what?!"

Shina shook his head. "Long story, you had to be there."

"So what happened after you stopped him?"

"Uragi was arrested for his crimes and sentenced to life in prison."

"Then why put him on your team?"

Hanami paused again. How could she possibly explain all of this? What would they think? What would they say? How could she justify the compromises she's had to make to defeat a monster by joining forces with another monster?

"Because—"

"Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That what you were going to tell them, wasn't it, Hanami dear?"

Speak of the devil. The old man himself was standing right behind them. They didn't even know how long he'd been there, but likely long enough to hear most, if not everything, the three Uzumakis had said about him.

"Uragi," Shina grumbled under his breath.

"It's good to see you again Shinachiku. A pity it couldn't have been under better circumstances."

The old man took a seat next to Hanami, the pinkette frowning at the clear and visible disappointment on her brother's face. Boruto, meanwhile, was just trying to keep up with what the heck was going on.

"I don't believe we've met. Boruto was it?"

The younger blonde awkwardly waved his hand in acknowledgement. "Y-Yeah, that's me. ...So, umm, Shinachiku tells me you're a bad guy."

The old man smirked. "Is that what he said?"

"He also says you one turned into some kind of giant red energy monster, or something?"

"Something like that."

Bolt waved his finger around in front of him to point all over the old man's body. "It that the reason for all the, y'know...? "

"Oh the burn marks? No, actually Shinachiku here did that with his Scorching Rasenshuriken."

Boruto all of a sudden got a little creeped out at his dimensional counterpart. "Okaaaayyyy...So why—?"

"Why are you here?"

It was Shinachiku who asked that question, making no attempt to hide his condescending tone. The old man merely shook his head and sighed.

"I knew that this wasn't going to be easy. Like I told you, the enemy—"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard what you said, but what did you mean by it? What do you have to do with Sugure?"

"Nothing. Not directly anyway. But the superman and I have an old score to settle."

"What are you talking about?"

Pausing only for a moment, the old man took a deep breath and began telling his story. "It would seem that before the battle for Konoha happened and you forced us to come out of the shadows boy, that Taka had run afoul of..." His eyes darted to the younger blonde for a split second before continuing. "...The Snake. Apparently the Snake saw us as some sort of plague to world stability that needed to be hunted down and done away with one by one, like a bunch of weeds being plucked out of a garden."

Shina noticed that look he gave Bolt and played along for his sake. "I guess the Snake wasn't completely insane after all."

"Shina!"

"It's alright Hanami," the old man raised his hand up to stop her. "Your brother's opinion is to be expected."

Feeling the tension in the air, Boruto tried to keep the conversation going. "So, umm, you said that your Taka group got into some kind of fight with...Wait! Who's this 'Snake' guy you keep talking about?"

Shina suddenly panicked. "Ah! Nobody important. Just an old enemy of the village that we'd thought we'd gotten rid of a long time ago."

"So, what, is he like a literal snake?"

"...Kind of." Trying to get off the subject, he turned his attention back to the Uragi. "Anyway, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"That's right. The Snake created Sugure and his followers to serve two purposes. For one, he wanted to continue his research to try and create the perfect life form, a creature that embodied human perfection and which could master as many jutsu as possible."

"And he chose mine and Sarada's dads to do it?"

"Their DNA, yes."

"How did he get it?"

"Blood samples taken from the Valley of the End after the war."

"So what then, the Snake had some grudge against Taka so he made a superhuman to take them out?"

"That was the plan. But it seems that for all of his intellect, the Snake overlooked one important thing: superior ability breeds superior ambition."

Shina pondered the old man's words and the rest of the story clicked together. "Alright, I get the picture. But what does that have to do with you?"

Hanami continued the story for him. "We were desperate. Our numbers were few and our resources were running dry. Sugure and his forces were too much. We needed as many shinobi as we could get. So, Kakashi, myself and others came to a reluctant decision."

"What decision?" Boruto questioned intently.

"Uragi was one of the last remaining Taka leaders that was left alive. We needed the kind of resources that Taka possessed and the loyalty of the valuable shinobi still in jail after dad stripped them of rank for treason."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Bolt waved his hands in the air. "You mean you needed the help of ninja that betrayed the village?!"

"We had no choice!" Hanami shouted. "We needed more men. And they wouldn't listen to anyone except a Taka leader. We needed Uragi on our side."

"At what cost?" Shina asked bluntly, glaring holes into the old man's head. "What's in it for you?"

Uragi smiled. "In exchange for my help, I would be released from prison with full pardon and once Sugure's regime is overthrown, Taka would be officially exonerated by all five shinobi nations, plus granted our own nation to found and develop with our beliefs under full diplomatic immunity...with myself as it's leader."

"WHAT?!" Shina was horrified beyond belief. "I can't believe this! Hanami! Taka could destroy everything we've built! Everything we love. And now you want to give them their own land to rule and fester?! To grow and challenge us all over again, just like the Sound Village did?!"

"Settle down brother!" Hanami shouted. "Look, I'm not proud of it either, but the fact is that it was a price that had to be paid. We were barely holding on as we were. The threat of what might come tomorrow just didn't matter compared to the threat we are facing today."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that as evil as Taka is, that Sugure is much, much worse! And we would much rather co-exist with a country ruled by Taka than to spend the rest of our lives fighting to get away from that monster!"

Never before had the pinkette seen so much cold, seething anger directed at her. She could practically feel it oozing off of him. The little girl she had once been would have been terrified that her big brother was so angry with her. ...But she wasn't that hapless little girl anymore. She was Hanami Uzumaki, leader of the Rebellion. She could not afford to be wrong. And if Shinachiku didn't like it, or didn't like her because of it, then so be it. That was the choice she had to make.

Still, that did not take away the sting of what he said to her next. "Mom and dad be ashamed of you."

Hanami stood there, head hung, as the boy stormed of away from the fire. Boruto continued to sit there, not sure how to act, just the awkward third wheel in this sibling squabble.

As for Uragi, he sat where he was too, staring at the fire emotionlessly, his mind drifting. 'Oh boy, the things I could tell you about your father...'

...

CREEK!

The heavy metal door to the prison wing opened. It was the door to the deepest, darkest wing in the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility, and behind that door, in the center so the dark, wet, dirty, stinking room was a single metal cell. And within that cell resided one lonely prisoner.

The prisoner was truly a pathetic sight to see. His clothes were practically rags, his body covered is severe burns, his form semi-emaciated, his hair and fingernails long and gross, and his complexion virtually pale white from living for months without any trace of sunlight save for the light of the hallway that was shining in through the doorway right now.

Lit from the back, the person who had opened the door came up to the cell. It was the warden, the new one appointed by the Seventh Hokage after the infiltration of Konoha. The Hokage himself had personally vetted and approved him for the job, finding a virtually spotless record with no evidence of Taka affiliation whatsoever.

In other words, the prisoner was not, and has not, been receiving any sympathy from him.

"Dinner." The warden had come in holding a tray of food. Slimy gruel, rare meat, dry bread, and a bowl of rice. The warden gave the prisoner his meal...by coldly dropping it on the floor of his cell, causing the food to spill all over the dirty floor.

Not that it mattered. The prisoner was starving, not having a meal all day except for a few crackers and some water for breakfast. He quickly scampered across the floor and took the food in his hand and quickly began shoving it into his mouth.

"Look at yourself," the warden said in disgust. "You used to be a great leader, an elder of the Hidden Leaf Village. Now look what you've become, traitor! You just sit here and live in your own filth like a parasite. You're a disgrace!"

The warden ended his cursing of the old man's misery by spitting right into the food that the prisoner was trying to eat. After that, he simply walked out to once again leave the old man to his own misery, shutting the door behind him.

...Of course, as soon as the warden was out of sight, the old man straightened his hair and clothes, sat up straight and proceeded to eat his dinner with what dignity he could muster in such a vile place.

...

CREEK!

Another day, another random visit. How long had it been? Days? Weeks? months. It was easy to loose track of time in the dark and dank solitude of these iron bars. The door opened and it lit figure from the back. It wasn't the warden this time. No it was someone who's presence was far more nauseating.

He stood there in that stupid orange sweatshirt of his, the one that was such an eyesore that it practically screamed out loud, 'Hey! Hit me! I'm a living target!' He told the warden to open the cell and close it behind him. they were alone. He looked down upon the prisoner. The prisoner rose neither his head nor his body off the floor to greet him.

"I want to ask you some questions."

"..."

"Old man, your Hokage is talking to you."

"..."

The blonde man sighed. "Uragi, I'm tired of these games. I demand you tell me what you know."

The old man decided to raise his head for once. "What will it get me if I do?"

"Not a ticket out of here, if that's what you're hoping for."'

"Of course not. Why should I expect any generosity from the likes of you?"

"You have no one to blame for being in here but yourself. You and whoever it is you call your master. Now I'm getting tired of asking this, so you'd better answer me this time: Who is leading Taka?"

The prisoner said not a word. He only glared, like daggers of hate into the Hokage's soul.

"Uragi!"

"..."

"Fine."

The man in orange turned around and ordered the warden to open the cell. Stepping out, he nodded to the warden, who proceeded to call for about five of his shinobi guards. One by one the guards came into the cell locking the door behind them. They huddled around the prisoner, the old, burned man, armed with steel batons, leather whips, even tasers.

The man in orange did not leave the room, just stood there and watched. He watched as the weak old man was beaten, whipped, and shocked by his own ninja for several minutes. Did he feel remorse for it? Hard to tell, just as it had been hard to tell all the other times this had happened.

But as the old man took the pain, and saw the bastard vanish in a puff of smoke, he did know one thing for certain: there was no pain these men could show him that could make him break.

...

"I just don't understand. Why do you put yourself through this?"

The orange one was alone today. Really alone. He had ordered the warden and all of the guards to give him the key and to leave him alone. When the warden tried to tell him that their presence was for his own safety, the prisoner heard the Hokage tell him, 'I'll be fine.'

Now here they were, just the two of them. Both were standing up, facing the other. not a sound to be heard in the entire room, save for the scurrying of the rats.

"Uragi," he said, "I know you must feel like talking will make you a traitor to your organization. But face reality, they've already turned their backs on you. They had the moment you were captured."

"Sounds familiar."

The blonde one was actually surprised to finally hear him speak. "What did you say?"

"You think that Taka has disavowed me because you and you, your friends, and that bastard son of yours robbed my power from me and locked me up in here. But how different is that than a village turning it's back on an off-the-books shinobi that gets captured behind enemy lines. Either way, the person looses."

"I don't understand what you're getting at."

"Of course you don't. A hypocrite who can't tell the difference between ending a cycle of hatred and fueling it couldn't possibly understand."

"Hypocrite? You call me a hypocrite when you're the one who tried to bring peace and order to an entire village by taking it over from the inside?"

"We all have to make sacrifices for the sake of progress. Besides, what does it say about you and your precious ninja system that so many of your own shinobi chose to side with Taka right under your nose?"

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "They're paying for their treachery."

"Yes they are, no thanks to you. Tell me, how many of your own men and women have you stripped of al rank and had arrested already for their beliefs? How many families have you destroyed in the process? How do you plan to explain to their children why their parents are spending their lives on trial or behind prison walls—"

"I didn't come here to have a debate with you old man! I came here for answers!"

The old man stopped and chuckled. "Fine. But before I tell you, can I ask you a couple of questions first? It is so hard to get any news in here, after all."

The blonde growled in frustration. "Like what?"

"Well, for one thing, is it true you promoted your son to lead a team to find the remaining chakra gems?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Nepotism much?" The old man cocked an eyebrow.

The blonde felt his eyebrow twitch and his bandaged hand clench. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Any luck finding out what was on that scroll Odaku gave you?"

"None of your business."

"I'll take that as a no. No wonder you aren't having any luck finding those gems."

"Are you going to the answer me or not?!"

"Hmm...No, sorry. I'm just feeling too tired today. Maybe some other time."

The Seventh Hokage grabbed the old man and pushed him against the far end of the cell. The old man could swear he saw his eyes go slitted and the faintest hints of an orange chakra bubbling out of his form.

Of course, he didn't get much of a chance to take that in, as the second he had him up against the iron bars, the Hokage gave a powerful, savage left hook right into the old man's jaw!

"WHO IS YOU MASTER?!"

"..." No answer. Another punch.

"WHO IS YOUR MASTER?!"

"..." Still no answer. yet another punch.

"WHERE ARE THE REST OF TAKA'S LEADERS! WHO ARE THEY! WHERE ARE THE HIDING!"

"..." Punch.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!"

Punch.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!"

Punch. Bleeding lips.

Punch. Bleeding lips. Swollen eye. Crushed face. Bloodied hand.

Punch...

...

Fifteen minutes of assault later, the old man was a beaten, bloodied, pathetic mess on the filthy floor of his prison cell. And the Seventh Hokage, his attacker? He was left standing there, open jawed, sweating from both adrenaline and terror. His hand was bruised and blood-stained.

He had lost control. He had let his anger over come him. He had given in to the monster.

Dear Sage, what had he done?

And so the Hokage, disgusted both at his prisoner and at himself, did the only thing he could think to do...He walked out, not saying another word...

...

Uragi felt to side of his face, all those memories from years past came flooding back. His eyes never left the fire, even after the boy had stormed off. Boruto had taken of also, no longer comfortable sitting there in that space.

"He hates me."

He turned to look at his leader. His liberator. The spawn of the failed one himself. "It's not you he hates."

She looked at him. "I-I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm not sure I'm the only one he hates right now either."

"Who else?"

"Himself."

"And how would you know."

"...I know..."

Shinachiku had stormed off to be alone. He was too disgusted to be around anyone, especially not him. That bastard did not deserve his respect, or his camaraderie, not matter what Hanami. Actually, he was feeling almost as angry at her right now.

Seriously, what was she thinking?! This was the man who gave the orders to the men that tried to capture her! That pumped that serum into her blood that took her chakra away! This was the man that almost destroy their village, the family! This Sugure sounded evil and really powerful, but could he possibly be so bad that they needed Uragi's help, of all people?!

He had a plan up his sleeve. He had an ulterior motive. He had to.

"You don't like him, do you?"

The blonde reacted in surprise. He'd thought he was alone, but it turns out he was approached by a certain red-headed, green eyed teenager.

"Oh!" Shina reacted in alarm. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"Uragi," Arashi continued, as if he hadn't heard what the blonde had just said. "You don't like him, do you?"

"No!" Shina snapped in anger. "How could I after everything he's done?"

"That was a long time ago."

"Not for me it wasn't."

"Uragi's and Taka have been a great help to us."

Shina shook his head in disbelief. "That's just what the old man wants you to think. He bides his time, waits until he has your trust, then he stabs you in the back! That's Taka's way."

Arashi was quiet before he spoke again. "Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do."

"Of course I do! What do you know about it anyway? You weren't even born yet when that man betrayed the village. You've never had to live through a war!"

The young redhead glared at the blonde coldly. "Yes I have. All my life."

Shinachiku's anger subsided as reality hit him like a ton of bricks. It was true, he may have fought a battle for his village's soul, but this boy, his little brother, he's had to live throughout an entire war. And he's had to do it with only Hanami. There was fifteen years of history, of war, that the elder Uzumaki knew nothing about. Who was he to talk down to this boy?

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

Arashi merely dismissed it. "It's alright."

"No, it's not." Shina walked up to the boy and took a deep breath. "Look, I can hardly imagine what you, sis, anybody else here have been through. I only know as much as I did when I left." He stopped for a second and laughed to himself. "Jeez, now I know how Boruto must feel."

"Huh?"

"Long story. My point is that..." He sighed. "I've known Uragi, Hanami, Kakashi-sensei, and many people here since before you were born. What you've been dealing with your whole life I'm literally just finding out in the last hour or so. Damn it! I've just found out that my team, my friends, were all killed by a Taka spy that's been living right under our nose for a year! And now the man I hate more than anyone in the world is working with my sister—"

"Okay, I get it,' Arashi interrupted calmly. "But still, things are different now than the world you came from."

Shina rolled his eyes. "Obviously...Listen, I know I have a lot to learn, but you have to understand that in my time, Uragi was a very bad man."

"As bad a Sugure."

"Maybe."

Arashi spoke in a serious tone. "We need all the help we can to defeat Sugure, to finally end this war. We can't do that if we are fighting each other. I think you're going to have to find a way to make peace with Sugure."

"...I can't promise that."

"Can you try?"

Shinachiku looked at the boy in pity. He could sense the traces of innocence, of desperation in his voice. Taking a deep breath, he put a hand on his brother's shoulder and said. "Yeah...yeah, I promise."

Something surprised him then. The boy held out his fist, like he were making some sort of declaration. Shina couldn't quite describe it, but it felt, well, familiar. Actually, it kind of reminded him of something his father would do. That's why he instinctively knew the correct response was to tap his own fist to his. A bond between brothers, if you will.

"So..." Shina said, honestly not sure what to talk about next. "It's been just you and Hanami, huh?"

"Yes," Arashi concurred. "She's been helping to take care of me ever since she was about my age. Kakashi-sensei and some of the others have helped before then, but after a while onēsan really took charge, of all of us. I think she might have gotten it from our father."

Shina was curious. "How much do you know about your father?"

"Only what they've told me. I know he was the Seventh Hokage, that he was the Nine-Tail's jinchūriki, that he was a war hero—"

"No, no, I mean what do you really know about him?"

Arashi paused, thinking hard about how to best answer the question. "They...They old me he was a good man. Energetic, reckless, kind of an idiot... But, also very kind, a good leader, and very strong. He loved his village, and the people within it. And he always put the needs of others before his own. Oh, and they say he never went back on his word, either."

Shina smiled. "Well, I'd say you've hit the major bullet points. What about mom?"

"Smart, determined, loyal, very short-tempered, really strong, respectful without being submissive, but kind of overemotional at times...Kind of the opposite of my father in a lot of ways, yet a lot like him in other ways. I'm not sure if that makes much sense."

"Believe me, it makes perfect sense."

There was a silence that followed after that, as Shina appeared to be deep in thought, and Arashi took notice of it. "What is wrong?"

"It's just...I still don't know what happened to mom and dad."

"I can tell you."

"You can?"

"Yes...I mean, I wasn't there really, but onēsan told me the story once before. I can tell you the story she told me."

Shinachiku paused, thinking carefully before agreeing to whatever story he had for him, good or ill. "Tell me..."

...

Sasuke was sitting across from his best friend's shadow clone, listening to everything that he was telling him. It wasn't a whole lot to go one, really, all that was being told to him was that Shinachiku was missing and that Sarada an her teammates had reported in that they could not find him anywhere. They were regrouping with Sakura and the real Naruto back at their house to "get more information," whatever that meant, but apparently this mysterious man in the white robe was a person of interest.

"Why do you think this stranger is involved?" the Uchiha asked.

"Call it a hunch," the shadow clone told him.

"You're old enough to know that you need more evidence than just a hunch."

"Okay, how about this guy showing up and bumping into me a Sakura on the street as we're finding out about Shinachiku. Or the creepy vibe I got when he introduced himself. Or the grip that was so tight I swear he could have crushed my hand. My hand."

That actually got the Uchiha's attention. "Really? Someone as strong as you, that's no easy task."

"No kidding." The clones stole a quick glance at the man in white, sitting several rows away from them, before he spoke again. "I know it's probably nothing, but i have my instincts and there's something about this guy that just isn't right."

Sasuke studied his friend's doppelganger carefully, contemplating his words before he decided to get down to business. "So what's the plan?"

"For now, we stay quiet and watch his every move. We get off wherever he does and follow from a distance. Basic tracking mission."

"And if he catches on to us?"

The clone smirked. "Then you and I do what we do best."

The Uchiha smirked back. "Now you're sounding like the old you."

All of sudden they heard a whistle blow and the grinding of the wheels grinding down the track. The semi smooth movement of the train call meant that the mechanical monster was roaring to life and rolling towards it's destination. There was no turning back now.

"Hmm..."

"What?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It's nothing. I just realized that I haven't had the chance to take a mission by train before."

"Seriously?"

"Call me old fashioned that way."

"So what do you think of it?"

"I'll let you know when the trip is over." The reven-haired ninja adjusted his body to get himself comfortable but still maintain a clear view of their target.

At that moment, the stewardess came by pushing a trolley full of food and drink, and stopped in front of them. "Good day gentlemen, anything from the trolley?"

Naruto's clone raised his hand. "Got any raman?"

"I don't think so sir."

"Oh...well, coffee's fine."

The stewardess poured a cup and handed it to him. Thank goodness the clone still had his hood up. If she had been able to see his face, she likely would have blurted out loud for the whole train to hear that the Seventh Hokage himself was on board. That kind of attention was exactly what this mission didn't need.

"Anything for you sir?"

Sasuke glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Water."

She poured him a cup and handed it to him, then moved on to serve the other passengers. Eventually, she came to yet another man in a robe, a white one. "Anything from the trolley sir?"

The stranger never looked at her, Underneath his hood, his eyes were squarely focused on two other men the whole time. "No thank you dear, I've got everything I need."

And with that, I thinks that's a good enough place to end things for now. Naruto (well, his clone anyway) and Sasuke are on a mission together to trail Sugure and to find out what he knows about Shina's disappearance. And don't forget, Naruto has chose not to tell Sasuke about Sarada's memory being erased. Let's see where that leads.

But really, this chapter was all about catching us back up on Uragi and giving some kind of context of why he is working with the rebellion. And, naturally, Shna is very very unhappy about it. I enjoyed writing that, because it gave me a reason to suddenly flip the script that this story has been following so far and make him the confused, emotional one while Boruto was, well, just trying to make sense of what was going on.

This chapter was also a major continuation of what has been a major theme in this story, that being the gradual dirtying up of Naruto's character. We've seen him keeping details about the train accident in the first chapter under wraps, then loosing his temper at loosing the Sandosupai trial, then him fumbling with how to best deal with Boruto, then all the talk about him (intentionally or not) promoting his son to captain of his own team out of nepotism, to the problems he and Sakura are having, and now he's lying to his best friend about his own daughter. Clearly, what Taka has put him through has molded him into a different man than the pure, shining beacon of leadership he once was,, whether he realizes it or not.

This chapter had perhaps the darkest evidence of that yet, in Uragi's memories of his time in prison. The idea of Uragi suffering some sort of prison torture was something I had dropped clues about my prequel story "Konoha Tonight." I was intentionally trying to make it uncomfortable and even generate some level of sympathy for the villain here. You don't expect to see the fully grown adult Naruto to get so mad that he would loose control like this, but Uragi really knows how to get under his skin. I am sure that a lot of you may not have liked this darker take on Naruto's character, but i do have my reasons for it, you will just have to wait and see.

...Then again, you have to wonder whether or not Uragi has his own reasons fr siding against Sugure that we might not know about. I'm not saying either way.

There were a couple of lines in this chapter that were inspired by other sources. The torture scene itself, with Naruto yelling the same question over and over again as he keeps punching Uragi over and over was partially inspired by the interrogation scene in "The Dark Knight," in which Batman similarly loosing control of his angry with questioning the Joker.

The title of this chapter, said by Uragi himself, is taking from a famous quote from an ancient proverb that suggests that two opposing parties can or should work together against a common enemy. According to Wikipedia, the earliest known expression of this concept is found in a Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, the Arthashastra, which dates to around the 4th century BC, while the first recorded use of the current English version came in 1884.

I think that's all I have to say for this time. Thank you all so much for your support once again, and I look forward to having you back again for the next one.

Until next time, see ya!