The Real Monster

by Shadenight123

Monster. He was Monster. On one side, the happy bright family of the Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage, on the other, Monster. Four years of hell in orphanage, one year in Root, and finally five years in Kumo. Still, will he get over his traumas, or will his traumas bring him to deeper pits of darkness? Naru-Shizuka Chap-26onwards . Sad story. Finished. Dojutsu!

21. SH: Hiding

Twentieth-one chapter

*Flashback*

Naruto had been beaten, severely beaten, repeatedly, by Hakuja's snake-scales. It seemed impossible, but the great white snake could summon from his scale small replicas of himself, that attacked the boy while he tried his best to concentrate on *the energy of nature*.

Not only did they pounce at him, but they even bit him, repeatedly. Blood drew out from his wounds, and it did not close, at all. He no longer had the Kyuubi within him and he no longer had awesome regeneration powers, after all, he was no longer a Jinchuuriki. He was just a ninja getting beaten up by an undefeatable foe, and all while being *without* chakra. He had stared at the animal's carcasses below him, all so different, all so ravished by what seemed like unexplainable pains, their faces contorted and twisted in what would have been a painting of hell itself, drawn by a demon with a horrible taste. It was hellish.

"You are not concentrating," the White Snake spoke, after what seemed like hours of intense *beat the boy*, "You lack realization, and hindsight," he added.

"I lack chakra, Sannin-sama" Naruto replied, muttering curses, as his breathing was ragged, his bones creaked and his muscles seemed burning, he no longer had *sweat* only blood, covering his body, as he didn't even have clothes on.

"Chakra? You think chakra would work against me?" Hakuja puffed out from his cigarette a loud cloud of smoke that fell straight against the boy, who coughed, for a moment, before realizing he...felt better?

"Now you have chakra, changes anything?" with that, the beating kept up, it was even stronger than before, and more fast paced, so fast, indeed, that he couldn't even make hand signs, he couldn't draw upon medical Ninjutsus, and all he could do was hear his own body being beaten, battered, and thrown and trashed around.

"You have chakra now, what excuse will you come up next?" Hakuja hissed, as the boy stood wobbling on his right knee, breathing hard, his face more of a blue and purple color than the original one.

"None," Naruto muttered, meekly, "I have none, Sannin-sama."

Hakuja smirked, before slowly slithering out of the room, closing the only entrance with a rock, as Naruto stared at the silhouette of the white snake leaving him there, without a word. There was no need for words, after all: Naruto fell on the ground, panting, as he felt his blood mixing with the rotting carcasses around him. He was *his* prisoner, there was no way out of there until he became strong enough, or cunning enough, to escape.

This Senjutsu, whatever it was, didn't need chakra. It didn't need it, but the sage had given it to him never the less, and had left him there, alone, in the badly lit cave, to come to his own realizations.

That was the key word as the White snake spoke little, and it seemed he took great pride in letting people, or in this case Naruto, mull over his own words. He had been left alone, to think, among the carcasses. There was no sound except that of rot, and even to pick that up, it just meant there was absolute silence. The flicker of the flame soon became Naruto's lullaby, as he realized, much to his distaste, that he couldn't block out hunger for much more.

He stood up, to sit cross legged, eying the many carcasses around him, were they really people who had failed the test? Would he really be forced to eat upon them, to feed like a carrion bird to survive Hakuja's test? Was this another one of the snake's plans? Of his resolution testing?

"I lack concentration…so let's concentrate," Naruto mumbled, as he tried to close his eyes from where he was. He could hear the low grumble, now. It was low, but it soon became bigger, slowly, it crept near him, like a slithering silent snake, a small rock trembling under his passage, it wasn't the snake he was hearing, but the small pebble that trembled, the small insignificant rock that hummed and that screeched her pain into his ears, forcing him to jolt open his eyes, as a thick gust of smoke had enveloped him once more.

Naruto coughed, standing up, the feeling of being in pain gone, but a slow retarded slumber taking the better of him. Why couldn't he just lie down again, and sleep? Hakuja was standing atop him, once more, and he said nothing.

It was silent when the training began anew. At first he got more hits then he wanted, but then, slowly, he recalled his senses back to him, he had to block out the screeching pebble as he was not the pebble: he was Naruto. As his agility returned, he dodged another Snake-scale, as he had decided to call them, readying himself for countless hours, he felt the hunger creeping into him even stronger than before, but he realized many corpses around him had already brought their rotting to a more advanced stage, while other, fresher, had barely arrived. Had the snake added more? Did more come to be trained while he slept, and had they lost to him? He wouldn't die there. He had a home to return to. He fought back, for the first time, after countless times of dodging and being pushed around, biting straight into the side of one of those smaller snakes, tearing a good chunk of flesh from it, and biting it down as he kept his purpose clear, dodge and eat, eat and survive, he wasn't going to die there, no matter the blood that oozed from his mouth made him look feral, no matter the glint in his eyes already turning to that of a caveman, who sought out the prey, he wanted to survive, he had to survive to go home, and he would have survived.

Hakuja winced, when the boy actually grabbed the guts to bite at him, him! The great white sage, the leader of all snakes, had been bitten by a boy who seemed so much concentrated that he hadn't even realized just how his body had been changing, in the time he had been left alone. Yet, all in all, the boy was a wonder. He needed few words, and he understood with great ease. Orochimaru too had tried, and failed to prove his resolution, the boy was already at the next step of it, and he was showing signs of getting ready for the next one too. Hakuja hadn't thought the boy would tap into the nature chakra that quickly, but he had, and hadn't he felt it immediately, he would have even gone as far as completely transforming into a snake, but he had been kept in control, as the white snake's cigarette smoke was able of doing many wonders, and many more when it was swung. He was a prodigy, or was it simply him being a hard worker? Still, Hakuja was proud, the boy didn't feed from the carcasses, like any weak willed bigot would, he challenged him, with every step, his determination was the real stuff, and for that, well, he was willing to sacrifice a few grams of his enormous being, who tasted awfully, but the boy didn't seem to mind. At one point, the attacks ceased, as the boy's body was battered, bruised, and covered in blood once more, yet, as Hakuja was about to leave, he heard croaked words, croaked words coming at him from a voice that wasn't broken, at all.

"More," the voice muttered, "I'm not done yet, Sannin-sama."

The Snake grinned, the boy was really interesting, really interesting to see!

"You could feast upon the eggs of the hatchery, you know?" Hakuja hissed, turning around, "I won't lock you in, if you wish for them, you just have to follow the right side of the cave," he added.

"No," Naruto replied, sitting down, "I'll wait for the next training then, Sannin-sama" he added, slowly, taking deep breaths, as the white snake simply left, leaving him alone, but this time, not closing the cave filled with carcasses with the enormous stone.

The boy would fall to hunger, eventually, Hakuja was sure of it, as he slowly slid back onto his throne, waiting his eyes closed, as he felt the boy moving, ha! He was going to the hatchery! A liar he was, and he'd pay for it in the next training.

Still, Hakuja couldn't help but feel a tinge of interest, why was the boy carrying a carcass with him? Was he going to eat the eggs with it? Did he think that any other snake would barge up on him, and he'd use the carcass as a shield? Why not use Jutsus then? Oh, maybe they made too much noise, those he knew. Hakuja hissed shaking his head, he had to see it, this boy was just going to make his life so much more interesting than the noisy rants of Manda about prey and Orochimaru.

The white snake had decided to give but a peek, at the boy, and in that peek, with his entire body hidden in the shadows of the cave, he had seen more than enough to smile.

The boy was feeding the recently hatched eggs with the carcass, teaching them not to eat each other...and the snakes who didn't listen were brought apart one from the other, even as the boy's hand bloodied with each try, but he didn't stop, until they all listened to him, a wriggling mass of snakes, standing to attention to a single boy, a single bloodied, battered and repeatedly hit boy, who still fed them and spoke to them.

*Flashback Interruptus*

"That's where he met me," Hikari said proudly, "I was getting badly beaten up by my sisters and brothers, and he shielded me with his hands, and fed me," as the black snake said that with a hiss, nodding to himself, Yami rolled her eyes over.

"Yes, we get it, you were the first snake, okay, now let him talk more about it," Yami replied, "The next part is better!" she hissed with a grin. Yoru raised an eyelid, but said nothing, as he let Toruna keep his talk.

*Flashback*

"So who is he?" Hakuja queried, as he once more prepared himself to train the boy, who sported a small shivering snake on his head.

"He's Hikari, Sannin-sama" Naruto replied, nodding slowly, as the small young snake on his head was starting to think that sticking around with the boy wasn't going to let him save himself when his great something dad came to eat him up, together with the boy, "and he's my friend," well, he was bound to be eaten up one day or another, getting eaten together with the boy meant he would have company in hell.

"You don't intend on feeding on him?" Hakuja hissed, as his *snake-scales* began appearing once more.

"No! He's my friend! I told you I won't back down on my words! I'll make you see you're wrong!" the white snake sage grinned, as he began his attack.

Hikari, for his own part, held tightly onto the boy's head, to every single bit of hair he could get his scales on, even surrounding his forehead like a bandana, once the hair became slippery from the sweat and the speed.

"He's slowing you down," Hakuja hissed, "abandon him or you won't manage to feed."

"So what?" Naruto barked back, as he tried, but failed, to bite upon another one of those snake scales, "It just means I'll be hungry until he can hunt with me, then we'll eat more!"

"Or you will die now, as you forgot how to call me," the white snake pointed that out, as immediately, more than twenty snake-scales jumped on the boy, who, knowing there was no defense, or escape, grabbed Hikari.

There, now he'll learn to abandon…what!

Hakuja stopped his attack for a brief second, as the boy was holding Hikari tightly embraced, while staying in a ball, he was protecting the small snake, ready to take on the bulk of the attack, the clearly lethal attack, that the white snake sannin, in the end, made happen, because the Sage wasn't one who didn't mean business. Naruto's back was literally carved away by bites and fangs, by pushes and scales, but he didn't change his action, he didn't stop once or cry, but he simply held on. Eventually the sage would grow annoyed, or let him go, that was his thought on the matter.

The giant white snake, actually, stopped, retreating his snake-scales, and turning, annoyingly, to leave.

"Well, tomorrow, when this will happen again, you will find out that hunger and a battered body won't get you food," as he left, closing, this time again, the rock door, Hakuja shook his enormous head. The boy was determined, but he'd need to take a stand, true strength came from one, not from two. Everyone lived alone, and everyone died alone. The rest were barely acquaintances, and murdering parents and children. He had grown up on that, becoming the strongest, he had no use for friends, family, or anything that wasn't strong or useful. The boy would learn.

Eventually, Hakuja returned for another lesson and Hikari was gone from the boy's blood stained hair, the result of him swiping his mouth off the blood from his bites, and using his hair to clean them.

"So you ate him?" Hakuja queried to the boy, who shook his head.

"He certainly didn't leave, but I didn't eat him, Sannin-sama" Naruto replied, "let's train, and you'll find out."

The white snake grinned, he knew precisely where Hikari was, but he wanted to see why the snake was hiding there, maybe they thought, stupidly, to outsmart him and to escape so early? The arrogance: he could be extremely fast even beyond his size, and they'd learn that.

The training went by once more, as Naruto hit the ground repeatedly, but Hikari didn't seem to move from his hiding spot, and that was making Hakuja think that, probably, they'd simply wait until the end of the beating, to do something.

As he was about to recede the last of the snake-scales, that was the moment Hikari struck at it, rolling against it and slicing it down with a quick movement of the tail.

It fell dead, on the ground, blood oozing from the wound as Naruto dashed for it, grabbing it and Hikari, and staring straight into the surprised Hakuja.

"I saw how you have this things stiffen up before re-entering your body. That's when they get easier to cut down…and I gave Hikari wind-chakra, so he cut it down, Sannin-sama" at that, Hakuja waited for a careful moment, before staring down at the boy.

"How?" It was the first time, actually, that the white snake sage was questioning someone about something he honestly didn't know. Maybe it was in one of the really old and mushy books of his really late and dead great-great-great grandfather, who he had killed and eaten for the position, but truthfully, he didn't expect that, in…a couple of days of time, between one lesson and the other, to let the boy starve, he had taught something to the black snake, and had made him able to cut down...their lunch.

"This is the fruit of our conjoint labor," Naruto muttered to Hakuja, "we worked together, so we share it, and we both grow stronger because of it," he added slowly, "I know I'm right, and I'll keep proving it to you, Sannin-sama!"

*Flashback end*

"And then he laughed," Toruna said, as he gulped down a glass of water, courtesy of Shiro-chan, "thanks, and yes…he laughed weirdly, nearly choking on his cigarette holder, and he kept ranting about *interesting! Interesting!* kept at it for a good time, I thought he was going to hug me, yeah, Him hugging ME, couple of weeks later, Yami-Oneechan joined the group,"

"Yami…Oneechan?" Yoru queried, slightly nervous, "why wasn't I ever called Oniisan!" he lamented.

"Technically, your father, Kuro here, is my best friend and brother, so I'd be your uncle, if you really want to be called something, it would be nephew," Toruna pointed that out, before speaking again, "and she *was* older, or younger, it depends on the physique or the mind…turns out their bodies grow quickly, but their minds take time, for the species that Hakuja belongs to, so…"

"I was basically a giant white scaled snake with the mind of a little girl," Yami muttered, "until he and Hikari taught me to speak, and then *I* took on the serious aspect that *those* two seemed to have lost," the white snake shook her head, "that was still nothing, compared to when *he* actually learned the Body Shedding Jutsu, he stood very quiet for a while afterwards, and then he and, well, *my ancestor* talked. Don't know what he told him, but they left together, and *Toruna* came back a couple of days later, completely washed out of colors."

"Eh, you know how that technique makes you feel?" Toruna shivered at the recollection, "No way I'm doing that *ever* again, unless it's important, really, it's just…plain wrong!"

"Well, anyway, what happened during that time?" Kuro queried once more, "wait…that technique…you used that to feign being dead! That means you could have tried to escape then! Why didn't you try and get away?"

"That's why Naruto died that day, and Toruna was born, Kuro," the man spoke quietly, "I could have tried to run, mind you, but Hakuja knew I wouldn't, and I didn't need to: I would leave when I was ready. I was beaten, battered, bruised, hit, tortured for most of my life, but at least with Hakuja I learned things from that, it was the difference, and it would make me stronger…and do you think I'd leave the next batches of hatchlings to the old system the snakes used? Not a chance in hell," Toruna shook his head decisively, before jumping down from Yoru's head, to land straight in the middle of Yami and Hikari.

"Took me a long, long while, but in two years, I was done. Especially when I recalled *what* my specialty was…Hakuja-san, because in the end he let me use that to call me, said I should have used it in the beginning…but I didn't want to feel like I was cheating my way through…I was thinking he'd EAT me if I tried anything except obeying," Toruna slightly shivered, "and it was at that point, that he finally decided to explain to me why I kept dreaming of being an overly traumatic screeching pebble, you know, I was starting to think that talking to snakes only was making me go ballistic in the mind."

"You *are* mind damaged, Boss, you feigned being dead to everyone!" Yoru snapped, "I mean, a *I'm off training* wouldn't have been the same!"

"Yoru," Kuro spoke, "if he had been alive, what do you think would have happened then? Wouldn't *she* come for him again?"

"Good point pops, but not sufficient enough, I mean…what did you have to hide yourself from? Could have left a note, a warning, something, not blood all over the cave and a dead body," Yoru replied, at which point, Toruna sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"Truthfully? Hakuja had feigned my death to his snakes, keeping me cloistered from the other grown ones until I was strong enough to kill those who couldn't be converted…next time Orochimaru summons Manda, he's going to be in for a surprise…" Toruna muttered, "so I had to feign the death also for the living…I mean…he had me kill his son to avoid Orochimaru knowing anything, so it was something akin to a mutual sacrifice. Plus, he did offer me *the master scroll of snakes* and that's why I came to see you here Kuro…I'm thinking of merging the two together. It took me a while, but the upper echelons of the snake summons are mostly cleared, and can be filled with yours, while the youngest ones are seeing change, because of me and Yami and Hikari, and Hakuja has promised he won't eat anyone, at all…he did coin the term *giant feather duster* though…so he might use it," That made Kuro wince for a second, before shaking his head with a sigh, that even let a small cloud of smoke out of his mouth.

"You're the boss and my friend, *Toruna*, and you know that I trust you, just as you trust me. So let's get some meat on your bones, because I'm sure you haven't been eating anything, just look at your cheeks!" Kuro pouted, a thing that made Yoru roll his eyes over.

"Mother Snake mode engaged in three, two, one," and with that, Shiro-chan was tasked with a…morning delivery of the entire ramen supply of Kumo, because a feast was going on that day.

"On another note, *Toruna*, are you by any chance the author of… *A murdering of snakes* and *The Hiss collection*? Shiro-chan just can't seem to stop blabbering about that horror author," Yoru spoke, since his *niece* was gone for the present.

"Yeah well, I started writing to ease my stress out, and then I took up the profession to cash in some money, as Hakuja didn't drop me close to Kumo, or Konoha, no, he dropped me straight in the middle of the frigging three wolves mountain, straight in a mound of snow," Toruna gritted his teeth at the memory, "the damn cold and the damn snow and the damn blizzards," he shivered just at the recollection.

"I was *naked* mind you, completely and utterly naked, in the snow, until I tore apart a couple of wolves, and then I was a wolf-pelt clad man walking in circles in a blizzard, until I found a cave to rest in," he added before shaking his head, "and obviously don't I find in the cave a cove of bandits?"

"Yeah, we thought he'd have called us for something like finding the way to the nearest town, instead, we end up in a damn cold cave, me and Yami-chan," Hikari spoke, "spitting fire and air blades at bandits, with him naked in wolf clothes yelling *Give me your clean underwear!* and…"

"I did not yell that!" Toruna replied, eying the smirking snake badly, "I might have yelled something about *clothes* but not underwear!"

"Anyway, the bandits dealt with, and scared to the death the surviving one because of his…*prowess*," Yami-chan chuckled at that, as did Kuro and Yoru, "we dispersed and he then came up with a band of Samurais," Toruna nodded, taking the word next.

"Yeah, searching party for the bandits, once the blizzard died down, it turned out they were waiting for them to ambush them and bring them to Mifune. I was thanked and paid for the job they were supposed to do, Honor code and all, so I…kind of fit in," Toruna looked to the side, before letting out a heartfelt sigh.

"I hated my weak self, my weak pitiful past self who believed not everything was out to kill me, I lost a dear friend that day, when I died, at least, friend, distrusted entity, she still was someone I valued and I hated myself for that, I truly resented being me, being someone who had believed to be safe, only because he was surrounded by friends," Toruna spoke slowly, anger filling his word, "A shinobi is never safe, a samurai is never safe, one whose hands are covered in blood is never, at all, safe. We are born in danger and we die in danger, we can feel at ease, but forgetting what we are in…that's what killed me, Kuro, I did die in that cave, when the Kyuubi was extracted by my so called father and with my mother present there. I died, and the only reason I came back was because the old man who sealed the Kyuubi in me thought that Danzo, the man who helped me to get back home in the first time, would try and remove the Kyuubi if I was ever deemed worthless, the old man's face…it was filled with grief and sorrow, Kuro, he was a shinobi, a strong one, and he was grieving for me and for my future…he hoped I'd achieve happiness eventually…so I did the only thing I could do…I actually died in that cave. I am *not* Naruto, I am Toruna, and Naruto is the thing I hate and despise the most, Kuro, understand this, I can't stand my former self, I left him in that cave. I will return to be him only on my deathbed, and it hurts," he muttered, "it hurts like hell to see my Oneechans crying or being covered in grief, it hurts to see people calling me or reserving seats for when I come back, but I can't, I can't do that, and I hate Naruto even more for that, he made everyone around him cry and be sad, and I will not let him keep this up. If they tie me down, I risk being happy Kuro, and if I'm happy…then someone will come to take it away. I'd rather rot in sorrow and sadness, as long as it keeps them all alive…"

"You truly think that, boy?" Kuro spoke slowly, as he carefully eyed the sorrow and the torn face of the man in front of him, "what are you hiding, that my eyes see?"

"I made a promise Kuro," Toruna spoke softly, "I promised the Kyuubi I'd free her from her new host, that's why I became the best tracker of the Land of Iron, why I insisted with Mifune to be sent here, to track it down, I lied to the man who gave me trust, Kuro! I lied to the chief of the land of iron, who expects me to come back and tell him I completed my mission! Instead I'm going to free the Kyuubi, and then I'm going to battle it to death, because she won't go around without harming no-one, I know it!" he exclaimed, "and she knows it too, I'm strong, Kuro, but will I be able to defeat the Kyuubi? I don't know," he added, with a sorrowful expression, "But I will not go back on my words…I'm sorry I failed you, as a friend…" he meekly whispered the last part, expecting something, anything, to come from the black snake's mouth, but all he got was a chuckle.

"You're forgetting something, boy," Kuro spoke, "I am Kuro the Wind Snake, the slithering darkness of the night, the biter of the apocalypse, and you and I are friends, savior and saved, brothers in all but blood, you think it's the right thing to do? Then I'll try and convince you it is wrong, but mark my word, I'll stick with you till the end, because I trust you, and I know you trust me, right? But more than that…I know you'd never lie to me, Naruto or Toruna, that doesn't matter, I know where your heart stays, boy, and I know what you wish to achieve…so I'll stay with you till the end, can't let you suffer alone, after all," at that, the giant snake made an enormous wink at the man, who stood silent, for a moment.

Toruna closed his eyes for a moment, before nodding, trying to wash back the tears. He was Toruna, the twenty-five years old man who was the best tracker of the Iron lands, not Naruto, the fourteen year old boy trapped in a man's one. He was not going to cry.

"And I am Yoru, I am the trail blazer of the plains, the burner of Armageddon, Yoru the flame snake!" as Yoru yelled that out loud winking at Toruna, "and you're the boss, and you've got pops trust, so who am I to say no?"

"Aw! That was what he meant, when he said about introductions!" Hikari whined, "I should have prepared one…like…hum…"

"I am Yami, the scornful scorcher of sorrows, the scaly flamethrower, Yami, the fiery snake! And I'll stick with Toruna-kun till the end of the world!" as Yami actually hissed that out repressing a laugh to herself, Hikari's face turned pitiful.

"Not fair! Well then…I'm Hikari, the black…hum…the black scale of the…shadows, the wind blade of the snakes, I am Hikari, the cutting snake!"

"Cutting snake?" Toruna actually started to cry tears of laughter, as he bent in two, "That sounds so emo-ish! Oh Kami please…no more!" as everyone else started laughing, Hikari rolled his eyes over, pouting.

"I'll find something better then, you'll see! It's going to leave you in awe!"

"Shiro, the…" as a female voice was about to begin her introduction, since she had returned, Hikari whined even harder, as the white flying snake stopped for a second, not understanding why everyone was laughing out loud.

"What's going on uncle?"

"Ahahaha nothing, no-nothing at all!" Yoru used the tip of his tail to remove *snake tears* he hadn't had a laugh like that in years…it was just the boy, or the man's presence, it took out the best of them, who cared about fighting the Kyuubi to near death? The boy was worth it!

"I'm sure you promised Mifune, however…wouldn't you be trampling on that promise?" at that moment, Kuro realized that the leader of the land of iron doubtfully would have let him go, without the promise to complete the quest, with that, the laughter died out.

"That's why…after I free the Kyuubi, I'll seal it again, for that I mastered Fuinjutsu," Toruna spoke quietly, he simply couldn't lie about his intentions, "and then I'll have it delivered to Kumo," Kuro's gaze narrowed slightly.

"So you'd subject another one to your pain?" he queried, not that it actually mattered to Kuro, sure, it was an innocent, but how many did Naruto tear up to learn medical jutsus? He had walked over it, and Kuro had slithered upon it, innocence was bound to be lost, eventually.

"Not if I can avoid it…I know for sure that once the Jinchuuriki loses the Bijuu, he *dies* because his heart stop beating, and he has no more chakra in the body. So having chakra transferred, and a swift heart massage could save the Jinchuuriki in question, if done swiftly enough, and if the chakra in question is Yin and Yang chakra," he added, slowly, "that's how he saved me from death," he whispered.

"Then it's fine, when is the ramen coming around, Shiro-chan?" Kuro queried his granddaughter, who pouted back.

"It's not! Somebody ordered two Naruto's special, and supplies are finished until next week!" the laughter of the mountain complex turned to howls of pain, as Toruna slowly became more comfortable, but never, ever again, too relaxed.

*Kumo*

"So he's married? I didn't see a ring on his finger, you know," Anko spoke quietly, hearing the words of Yugito as both woman were heading towards the Hills of Snake, to see if the tracker from the Iron Lands had been eaten or not.

"You were dead drunk when I came to check on you, seemingly drugged, too, he just dropped you on the couch, and that was all?" Yugito queried, worried.

"Yeah! He even scratched the Couch Two's head, like it was normal, I admit I was the one who tried to jump on him, but he put me to sleep in such a way," Anko chuckled, before shaking her head clean of thoughts, "Well, anyway, I'm not Mitarashi Anko for nothing, I'll have him spit out where he learned that stuff from and," laughter erupted from the cave they had barely reached, the entrance to the snake's summon mountain, as the two *Tail* snakes, their headbands tied to their necks, who were guarding outside rolled their eyes over, it had been going on for quite a while too, "what was that?" Anko finished her sentence with the question to which the snakes simply shook their heads, they didn't know, but it was damn noisy so early in the morning.

"I hope they aren't laughing about how good the tracker tasted, the Raikage isn't going to like it at all…and tomorrow is the day too," Yugito spoke softly, as, after all, the next day *would* be the ten of October, "it would be bad to have to prepare for a war because of it," she added.

"So speak the woman who could have avoided that," Anko replied with a shrug, as they entered the cave, the laughter dwindling to a stop, before they finally reached Kuro's chambers, where a party with an enormous pot of Ramen was going on.

"It's cold," Kuro muttered, "I understand it was in storage, but it's cold never the less," the black snake muttered, as he gulped down the food.

"Not my fault, next time you learn not to bet against the Snake Sage Toruna, the best tracker of the land of Iron!" as the man said that, Yugito and Anko stared at the scene, before Shiro came flapping by to close their mouths, open wide, with the tip of her tail, slapping them out of their stupor.

"Hi Anko-chan, Yugito-chan! Pops is having a chat with his new contractor," Shiro replied, with a small hiss, as she then flew towards her own bowl of ramen.

"What!" Yugito screeched that, as she dashed straight in front of Kuro, "Why!" she couldn't believe it, the rude man had to be lying to Kuro, clearly, after all he hated her Otouto, Kuro's best friend! He should have…well, not killed, but trashed him around! Not been eating bowls of ramen with him!

"He is the sage of snakes, and he has brought change to the way the snakes worked, from within," Kuro hissed, "he did that which the boy I loved like a brother promised to do, and for that, no matter how rude he is, I respect him, and deem him worthy of all my summons…and I accept the merging of the scroll of snakes and of ours, since it would be stupid not to," Yugito looked at him, then at the man, whose eyes, now better lit, were clearly a dark blue color, not purple, as she had thought in the beginning, and the man was smiling, and that smile, it nearly reminded her of…

"Anyway, let's not talk about the dead," as the man spat that out with a tinge of venom, Yugito's face hardened again, no, the man was a rude bastard, "has the Raikage decided on who will accompany me? Or are you here to ask me something?"

"Anko-chan here has a question!" The purple haired Kunoichi spoke, raising her hand in a smiling tone, "where's your marriage ring, if you're married? And if you're not married, do you swing that other way, since you haven't done steamy naughty things with me, last night?" as she queried that with a teasing tone, the mountain howled once again with laughter from Kuro and the other snakes, those who could laugh, that is.

"Oh Kami I can't keep this up, I'm going to die…" Kuro muttered as he kept on laughing.

"I'm betrothed, that's like being married, as a contract is a contract," Toruna replied, well, he had prepared his lie well, for any possible implications, at least, he hoped that Anko, being the expert in interrogation that he knew of, didn't actually *torture* him, "and I wouldn't have touched someone who clearly wasn't in her right state of mind," he added, slowly.

"Aw…a gentleman, a proud samurai by heart! I'm sure you're the cherry of your team, right?" Anko replied, sticking her tongue out, as one of Toruna's veins bulged on the man's forehead, before realizing what the woman was doing, and chuckling.

"Two can play that game, and I know what hurts you the most, woman," the man replied, narrowing his gaze on Anko, who shivered, as those eyes that looked at her were cold and steeled, like a snake ready to ounce at his prey, "and trust me, I would leave you a nervous wreck on the floor, crying on a tomb? You know nothing of what I can do to you by sheer use of words," he slowly added, "and if you're coercing me into attacking you, through words…well, just try it again, and we'll see."

Yugito moved in front of the man, as she had seen Anko's face pale, while the snakes around had kept quiet, now.

"She was just joking with you! There was no need to…"

"I am not someone to joke with, Nii-san," Toruna replied, switching his gaze from Anko to Yugito, "I am someone who will work with what your Raikage will offer, and that is final," he added.

"Toruna-san, you could at least try and get along with others," Yugito gritted her teeth, as she spoke, trying to mentally recall *not* to lash out at the man in front of her, "and pouring salt on wounds, especially today and tomorrow, won't make things easier for when the other team mate will be picked," she added.

"Why? I thought there would be an enormous line of volunteers, differently from Konoha the boy here was liked, wasn't he? No matter how harsh and crude the extremely beautiful me is; I'm sure there will be no problem finding some idiot who'd throw his life away for that brat," as Toruna snapped that, Yugito narrowed her eyes. Kuro was silent, and his gaze was sorrowful, not angry. Something wasn't right, at all, everyone in the room, every snake, that is, was sorrowful, not angry at the man. It wasn't the emotion she had expected. She had expected anger, like the one seeping from Anko who had stomped straight in front of the man, pushing her aside, and had then raised a hand, ready to slap the man.

"What? The Snake mistress of Konoha wishes to say something else? Or do you prefer being called Onee…" Toruna didn't finish the sentence, as Anko slapped him repeatedly, tears dwelling in her eyes.

"Don't you dare use that! DON'T YOU DARE!"

"Jagei Jubaku" Toruna whispered silently, his voice icy and cold, as snakes sprouted from the ground entrapping the crying Kunoichi within their spires, but just as Yugito tried to move in her aid Yami and Hikari stood in front of her, hissing slowly, not that she knew them, she just saw a big as her white snake and a big as her black snake, hissing at her.

"What are you doing! She's…" Yugito's words died in her mouth, as the man turned to face her while raising an eyebrow.

"She attacked a messenger from the Land of Iron, therefore, her life is mine to decide, from now on, and until Mifune-sama will judge her, she will work for me," Toruna pointed out, "or I can kill her right now, if that is what you wish for, Nii-san," he added.

"Just kill me already, I'd rather die than work for a wretched bastard like you," Anko spoke, spitting straight in the face of the man, who seemed unfazed.

"Oh well, a pity, you'd think the same if I told you that *he* might still be alive?" Yugito and Anko shivered, at his words. What? No, there was no way it was true, the man was lying, toying with them.

That was when Kuro tensed up slightly, and Yugito knew the reason the giant snake wouldn't come to their aid, she knew it, now she knew it…

"You know something that made Kuro accept you, what is it?" she whispered, staring at the man, who looked back at her with a soft chuckle.

"First answer my question, Nii-san, I asked you: should I kill her or should she work for me?" as the man pointed at Anko, the Nibi bit her lip, staring at the face, the face torn in doubt, of her friend, the man was a damn crude sadistic bastard, a hellish man born only of the deepest pits of evil.

"She should work for you," she whispered, she couldn't let her be killed, not when there was a chance he was still alive, somewhere…maybe she'd be called Oneechan once more.

Anko was dropped by the snakes, and fell on the ground, coughing and breathing in air for her lungs: the snake's spires had constricted her pretty well, but hadn't broken off anything in particular.

His grip…his attitude…it all reminded her of one person: Orochimaru.

"Now that we have fixed your attitudes, is there anything else you want from me?" he queried, but as Yugito slowly, and carefully, shook her head, Anko muttered something.

"You know Orochimaru," she whispered, barely audible, "How can you expect to be trusted? You could be a fake," she added.

"The Raikage read the scroll, and my strength is second to none…trust me on this, woman: you'd be dead, if I wished for it, now get up, you are mine until Mifune-sama judges you, and for that reason, you'll tell me everything you know about the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Naruto…every single thing."

"That's nothing more than torture!" Yugito screeched, as, however, the snakes intercepted her once more.

"Then, next time, she'll keep her hands in place. I'll have a written report, by the time the Konoha team gets here, I want it completely detailed of everything he did, and that you knew of, and of every little quirk he had. Understood?" Anko trembled as she nodded, slightly shivering when she got up, and started to wobble towards the exit, before turning around for a second, realizing something.

"You haven't answered… Why do you think he's still alive?" she whispered as Yugito too realized the man was avoiding the question.

"Well, Orochimaru is pretty much alive, isn't he? Or who were you thinking my *he* was about? Certainly not the dead boy that lies in that tomb! He's dead, get over it," as Anko clenched her fist, she slowly left, while Yugito, her gaze murderous, stared at the man, and then at Kuro.

"Kuro…why?"

"Nii-san, I am sorry, I am bound not to harm any of my contractors," he replied, a soft lie, but a needed one.

"I understand…but one day, I'll make you eat up your words," Yugito replied, pointing at Toruna, who shrugged, as the Nibi Jinchuuriki ran after her friend, to comfort her.

"That was cruel…" Yami replied, as she slowly moved close to Toruna's face, "and I think I've got some dirt on my scales near my neck," The white snake slowly moved her neck sideways, the white and perfect scales without a speck of dirt, "could you look closer at it?" and without words, Toruna pressed his slowly filling with tears face on the snake's neck.

It was hard…He knew it would be hard, to spew such words, act in such a way, but he had to. It was the only way to avoid them recognizing him, linking Toruna to Naruto. He was sure it was the only way, the only way to ease the pain. They had to snap out of their sorrow of him, he had seen how Anko had been living the past three years. If she wasn't coming out of it the right way, she had to come out of it the hard one, same with Yugito, and the others: if sorrow kept lingering, then only hatred and anger would make them forget it...and he would gladly take it all, it was his fault, after all.

It was always his fault.

*Konoha's team*

"So…that was interesting," Kakashi muttered, as he stared at the panting and covered in sweat Yakumo, who had conjured a sort of giant Naruto armed with Katana to fend off a band of brigands, "really interesting," the copy-cat ninja added, to make his point.

"Yeah…" Sakura muttered, as Yakumo began slightly blushing, "I mean…not every day you see something like that," she added, carefully, "anyway…why do we have to make a trip till Kumo? Couldn't they meet us half-way?"

"You never know, Sakura-chan, I suspect that, probably, the Raikage wanted to see who would go look for the bastard…he might even test you out, before storming to Konoha and asking Danzo why he didn't send the two best trackers," Kakashi replied, as Yakumo's gaze turned sideways, and a little filled with grief.

"What if we the tracker has no lead to take?" Yakumo muttered, "We'd have to go around all of the elemental lands, we might stay years away…or even all our life," she slowly added, suddenly, the fact she hadn't given enough goodbye hugs to her family was making her feel a tinge of regret.

"Well, if it happens it happens, but for the Kyuubi, I'm sure the leader of the samurais would spare his best tracker, and if he's the best tracker of the land of Iron, it won't take much, I hope," Sakura muttered back, as Kakashi winced, there was something he was trying to recollect.

"You know, the best tracker of the land of Iron is Toruna of the snakes," at that, something clicked into Kakashi's head, "he is also the author of the books Rin-chan likes so much," he slowly added, "and he's ranked as an extremely highly skilled figure in his country," he noted.

"Kakashi-sensei? Why didn't you say that sooner!" Yakumo muttered in awe, she loved Toruna's horror stories, albeit it did make her cringe going to bed, thinking that snakes would slowly hiss their way on her body, to devour her a bit at a time…and that was just of the many situations the protagonist found itself in.

"If it's the best he decided to spare and even then, is he really skilled?" Sakura muttered back, maybe she'd get an autograph for her mother, if it actually was the case, but she was sure she'd never see the end of it afterwards, though.

"He's an extremely powerful shinobi, Sakura-chan, but he's also known the most ruthless killer for the samurais," Kakashi pointed that out, "the reason I actually didn't recall it till now was because I only read of him once, since he's a neutral entity he's not on any bingo books, but he did publish some tracking-tips books, and his ways of turning tracking into murdering…well, let's just say even I take tips from him," at that, Yakumo's and Sakura's eyes turned wide in stupor, as they set up camp.

"So we just have to hope for the second best, right?" Sakura whispered to Yakumo who nodded, as Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because," Yakumo said back to Kakashi, "we are the one who are going to kill that bastard, and avenge Naruto," at the girl's words, Kakashi's eyes turned into a smile thanks to his Genjutsu.

"If you don't mind, I'd like a piece too," as both girls nodded at Kakashi's words, silence fell on the camp, as everyone took to rest for the journey ahead. They'd arrive towards the beginning of November, probably, and the next day was, for them, the tenth of October. A day none of them actually liked, at all.

*Otogakure's team*

"So we just have to get to Kumo before the Konoha team?" Karin queried, as Sasuke growled for the third time in fifteen minutes.

"Yes, Karin-san," he muttered, narrowing his gaze in front of him, "so we have to be there by the end of October," he added, "as the weaklings of Konoha will take their leisure time to get there," he whispered.

"Tomorrow we have to stop for the day though," Sumire said, in a serious tone, "I have to do a birthday party for me and my Oniisan," at those words, Tayuya was about to say something, but Karin's quick glance at her with her right hand placed in a *silence* position made her shut her mouth, as, after all, it was Sasuke who decided to speak.

"Why not mourn him? He's dead and…"

"Shinkuken!" Sasuke dodged to the side, as the trees on which they had been running on, dashing from branch to branch, suddenly were cut by wind blades.

"EHI I'M…"

"Shinkuken! Shinkuken! Shinkuken!" Sasuke scowled, as he easily, thanks to his eyes, dodged all of the wind blades, his gaze finally fixing on that of the girl who had been attacking him for the past minutes, his sharingan staring deep into the eyes of Sumire, before she fell limp, under the effect of a Genjutsu.

"You shouldn't speak badly of her Oniisan, squad leader," Karin teased with a chuckle, "she'll keep trying to murder you now, until you say you're sorry," she added.

"Then I'll drop her here," Sasuke replied, they were all dead-weight, that they were.

"And when she'll break free, she'll come to murder you in your sleep you fucktard," Tayuya sweared, "I'm a bitch but she's far worst! Last time someone did a thing like that in the dining hall there were entrails everywhere, and *I* had to clean it up!"

"Oh yes…with the French-maid costume, right? I thought that Kabuto-san was a closet pervert for a while, but that did give him away," Karin replied, as Sasuke's stare remained hard on the fallen in the Genjutsu girl.

"Well, what are you going to do, spiky?" Tayuya muttered to the boy in front of her, who seemed lost in his thoughts.

He blinked once, before turning around, as Sumire came back to her senses.

"Fine! Only because you apologized I'm letting you go! No more talking about my Oniisan!" and with that, Karin and Tayuya sighed in relief, as they started their run once more.

*Jiraiya-Kumo-10 October*

The Toad sage had gone back to Kumo, knowing full well what the day ahead of him was going to be, and having heard of just who the tracker was, wishing to meet him. Truth be told, he wanted to meet a fellow writer-shinobi, who sold books and who had recently taken his place as the richest shinobi from books earnings, the man had to be swimming in money, literally. Another reason was curiosity, Toruna-san's history, past the point of him being found naked in the land of Irons, in a bandit's cove, were a mystery to everyone, even to the best spy of his spy network. What he did know, was that the man was an outright rude individual, who did his job perfectly, but who had no qualms insulting and belittling his *prey*. He was the best tracker there was, however, and now that he had queried more about him, he knew he used snakes. Suddenly the connection of him being the man Zabuza met made sense, but since the mist Nin wasn't there any longer, the mist ambassador having already left, there was no way to make sure, unless asking the Tracker in question. A thing he was bound to do, if only he hadn't been met at the gates by the man himself.

"I smelled toad stench from yesterday, knew you were bound to come along, Toad Sage," the man muttered, as he slowly let his hood come down on his shoulder, to reveal red-stained dirt blond hair, dark blue eyes, and cheeks slightly covered in black and white scales, as on his back there stood the Kanji for Sage, Jiraiya had no doubt who the man was…and his arrogance, well, that was to be expected too.

"Toruna-san, right? Your arrogance is as bright as the sun as always, but do not worry, with my next book I'll take you down, and you will see that porn is better than horror!" The Toad sage said, pointing his finger at the man, who raised an eyebrow, before dismissing the issue with a hand wave.

"I can't understand why people see you as a sage, you should be a pervert sage, a Ero-sennin," as the man spat that out, Jiraiya's face darkened as his stare narrowed down, trying to gauge the man's strength. He was talking to him like that, so either his arrogance was making him blind, a bad thing, if this was the man chosen to track down his ex-student, or his words weren't empty boasts.

"So are you here only to belittle me, or is there something you want? Like an autograph for example," as Jiraiya said that, Toruna simply moved in front of the sage, whispering at him, his gaze cold and steeled.

"I wish to fight you," he muttered, "I was taught by the great white snake himself, Hakuja Sannin, and right now, I wish to prove my strength against another, so called, *sannin*," he added.

Jiraiya's eyes opened in surprise, before narrowing once more, as he muttered.

"Strange thing to ask, but not today, after all, today I've got a birthday party to attend," the Hermit replied, before slowly moving away from the man, the man who smelled of snakes and blood.

"I'll come around too, I've a party to destroy after all," Toruna replied, turning around and raising his right hand just in time to block the incoming attack of Jiraiya.

"Don't, you, dare." The Toad Sage muttered, clenching his teeth.

"Oh…I will dare," Toruna replied, his face moving closer to that of Jiraiya, through his neck extending, until his face was inches away from that of the sage, "and then I will find your ex-student, and have him tell me what happened to the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, oh that I will," as his neck returned into position, he let go of the Toad sage's hand, who opened and closed it for a while, as the same thing did Toruna, the old man's punch wasn't bad, at all, and it packed strength.

"Then I'll make sure to trash you well before hand, Hill of Storms, five minutes from now," Jiraiya muttered, turning to Shunshin away, probably towards the Hill of Storms.

Toruna instead, smiled as he began walking towards the Hill in question, how many things one can do in five minutes? A lot, if you know the right jutsus.

*Showdown*

Jiraiya had been waiting on the hill for a while: lightning rods were all around them, as a small storm was already brewing, ready to take another shot at tearing down the mountain with its thunderbolts. It was a really suicidal place to have a battle, and for that, it was perfect to teach the man a lesson. He was sure that, right now, Tsunade was probably winning something at the lottery, as she always did that whenever he did something suicidal, and for once he was glad his ex-teammate wasn't in Kumo, she couldn't come, after all Danzo didn't let her leave Konoha at all, in the past three years.

That was when Jiraiya tensed, seeing the man, Toruna, arrive, his aura around him was different, as his feet seemed to tread lightly on the ground, leaving little to no traces behind.

"I'm going all out, Ero-sennin," that made the toad sage twitch, "so I'm without weights, what about you?" at the mention of weights, Jiraiya's gaze narrowed, it had to be just a coincidence, after all.

"Toruna-san, you can always apologize, you may value yourself a strong shinobi, but you have little hopes to fight and defeat me," as the hermit said that, Toruna simply chuckled.

"Scared? My, then it's true, the toads always fear the snakes! I'm sure you cower like that in front of Orochimaru too, isn't that right?"

"Ishiken"

A stone sword appeared into Jiraiya's hand, directly from mount Myoboku, and as the sage pointed its tip towards the man in front of him, he growled.

"Just one hit of this, and you'll start being tainted by nature energies of the toad, *sage*, I'm sure you know how poisonous those are for the likes of you…if you are really a sage." With that, Jiraiya, with a speed unlike what his age could have suggested, closed the distance between the two in an instant, letting his sword do the talking, as it hit, without leaving the man's time to dodge, and it cleaved straight through the self-called sage of snakes, tearing him in half. The man dispersed in a cloud of smoke.

Kage Bunshins!

Jiraiya tensed so slightly, closing his eyes for a brief second before letting his sword dart forward, to block the incoming swing downwards from Toruna, who had a wind charged Katana in his hands.

Sparks flew when metal charged with wind chakra met stone, as Toruna forced Jiraiya to push on the ground swinging the stone sword in a wide swipe, so as to throw backwards the enemy.

Toruna back flipped, before landing on the ground and charging once more, as both of his hands were ready to do a probable upper-cleaving motion, the tip of his blade touching and letting sparks come from the ground, while Jiraiya, facing the man, yelled.

"Katon: Endan!" the enemy's sword impacted against the fire stream, and as the man puffed once more out of existence, leaving the Katana there, Jiraiya smirked, wind chakra against a fire jutsu? Fire jutsu wins.

"Close, but no cigar," the voice muttered from behind the sage, as the man, once more, appeared in a twirling of dust behind him, Kunai held in his right hand, making a swipe motion for the toad sage's neck.

"Hari Jizō!" Jiraiya's hair shot forward, covering the sage in less than a split second, as the kunai simply made contact with it, letting sparks fly, around, before Toruna jumped backwards quickly, but not quick enough.

"Hari Jigoku!" the hair all around him flew, as the sharp needle-like strands aimed directly at the tracker from the land of iron, and hit him, repeatedly, making even that one puff away in smoke.

"Well, who's the coward now?" Jiraiya taunted, "Fighting through clones all along…what a waste of chakra if you can't hit me once," he added.

"Mandara no jin!" snakes sprouted from the very same ground Jiraiya was on, as the toad sage gasped jumping backwards, when, in the center of the frothing and wriggling mass of snakes, who started to widen out, stood Toruna himself.

"Here I am…why don't you come and see what I can do?" as the man chuckled that, Jiraiya grinned, easy to taunt the man was.

"Doton: Yomi Numa!" as Jiraiya touched the ground in front of him, he thought about it later, actually, that he was destroying a couple millions ryo worth of infrastructure of the Raikage. Right on the moment, he just wanted to teach the man a lesson.

As the ground turned to mud, the snakes started to sink inside of it, while the man, on the other hand, seemed to walk upon it lightly.

"Interesting, chakra coated mud? It's chakra consuming to stand upon it, though," Toruna muttered, as he shrugged, giving the chance for Jiraiya to summon: he was already paying millions, a giant toad more or not wouldn't make a difference.

"Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!" as the previously called giant toad appeared, straight in the middle of the sky, and falling down quickly, Toruna grinned, before biting his own thumb in the time he had before getting crushed to death.

"Kuchiyose: Scaly-chan' Headbutting special!" at those words, Jiraiya paled. He paled because the man had called from the snake summoning scroll of Naruto, and that was impossible, unless Kuro had gone senile, allowing such a rude individual to take upon the contract, or unless he had lied to the giant snake, or if he had defeated the giant snake or…or if he actually was Naruto. The next moment, a snake whose head was covered and encrusted in hard rocks sprouted forward from the ground, hitting straight on the soft belly of the toad and making it disperse in a cloud of smoke, before dispersing herself.

"How did you do that!" Jiraiya yelled at the man, who grinned back at the Toad Sage.

"You are not taking me seriously, you old pervert! Go all out!" and with that, the snake sage grinned raising both of his hands forward.

"Sen'ei Tajashu!", he had barely finished, that thousands upon thousands of snakes sprouted from his arms, dashing forward fangs open, some with kunais, other with Ninjatos, all out for the toad's blood.

"Ranjishigami no Jutsu!" Jiraiya's hair swiftly became a frothing and filled with teeth mouth, which dashed forward to intercept the snakes, while the Sannin himself didn't stop from letting his hands do the necessary hand symbols for another jutsu, using his hair now hardened as steel as the conductor.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" as fire spew forward from his mouth, running along the hair, it hit dead on against the mass of snakes, causing an explosion, as snakes and hair flew everywhere around the two fighters.

This however proved a good enough distraction for Toruna to jump out of the range of the swamp, and to dodge sideways, as what seemed like a second Jiraiya appeared behind him, slashing the ground where a split second before Toruna was.

"Two can play with Kage Bunshins!" as the Kage Bunshin of the toad sage took to fighting with Kenjutsu Toruna, the real one bit his thumb, to summon two friends.

"Fukasaku-san, Shima-san, I need Sennin modo," Jiraiya whispered swiftly, as he saw Toruna fighting back his kage Bunshin with the use of kunais and shurikens, a feat he wouldn't actually believe possible, if the man's speed wasn't making it extremely difficult to deflect them, while using the stone sword.

"That man's giving you problem, Jiraiya-san? Haven't you realized it yet?" Fukasaku muttered, as he and Shima jumped on the man's shoulder, starting to gather nature chakra.

"What?" The Toad sage was perplexed, at least…until he finally entered Senjutsu mode.

That's when he saw it. He saw the twirling green aura of nature chakra in the man's aura. He wasn't lying about being a sage…the point was…

"Kami be graced…he's in Sannin mode since the beginning!" Jiraiya practically yelled that out, as his Kage Bunshin, hearing that, distracted himself for a second, long enough for Toruna to let a kunai with an explosive note attached slip through unnoticed in his volley, exploding to let the Toad Sage's Bunshin disperse.

"Took you long enough to realize it, pervert!" Toruna replied smirking, "Here I was thinking my cheeks would give me away, what are you an idiot?" he added, taunting the man to come closer.

"But that would mean…" Jiraiya himself, when transforming, took on a different appearance, and even for him, and his chakra control, he couldn't hold the sennin transformation always, but this man? How could this man have a better grasp at control than him? How… "YOU weren't lying! You trained with Hakuja himself!"

"Ha! You thought I was lying, damn, now I have to make you pay for that!" with those words, Toruna grinned as he jumped high onto the air, "be prepared for being sliced up!"

"He's going for a wind chakra jutsu!" Jiraiya muttered.

"Let's reduce him to cinders!" Shima replied.

"I'm fine with Ma's idea," Fukasaku added.

"Senpō: Goemon!" the devastating amount of oil poured out from Jiraiya's mouth was propelled upwards by Fukasaku's usage of a wind release, and was then, ignited with the use of Shima's fire release, all to generate an immense and overbearingly hot fiery inferno, that burst forward, completely engulfing the man.

Even the clouds, due to the sudden heat, dispersed, having evaporated once more into a more gaseous form, letting the sun rise upon the half-destroyed Hill of Storms.

Jiraiya took a deep breath, did he win? Wait, wasn't this supposed to be a fight *not* to the death? Well, he had challenged him, that much was sure, and he now had to pay for the damages, as…

"Close again, but no cigar," as the voice spoke once more, from behind Jiraiya, the Toad Sage tensed.

"How did you do that? You were in mid-air, you were engulfed, I hit till the clouds!"

"Kuchiyose: Sanjū Rashōmon, it deadened the explosion. You are still strong for your age though…Why did you go with swords and not with your more famous technique?" Toruna queried, "I know of the Rasengan, why haven't you used it?" at that question Jiraiya gritted his teeth.

"My ex-student invented that technique, and he fell to a dark path, I will not soil my hands with things that belong to him, and I refuse to be grateful to anything of his creation," at those words, Toruna chuckled.

"Even his son, you refuse to be grateful to? But you're here to bring flowers to his tomb yearly, isn't it?" Jiraiya turned around, staring into the man who seemed covered in a good dose of sooth, after all, he couldn't emerge completely unscathed from the confrontation, both were panting slightly, both sages, and for a split second, the Toad sage felt the fitting need to call the man a Sannin, but he'd die biting his tongue off rather than actually calling him that.

"You did your homework for your prey, Toruna-san…but I have to ask you…are you willing to split the bill?" as Jiraiya queried that with a chuckle, pointing at the incoming furious Raikage, Toruna rolled his eyes over, as Fukasaku and Shima dispersed, letting Jiraiya breath more easily, as the nature chakra dispersed.

"I'd say it was a draw, so it's fifty-fifty," the Toad sage pointed out.

"All the destruction came from *your* jutsus, you damn pervert sage! You Ero-sennin!" for a split second, the man's voice turned kind of childish, before resuming its normal seriousness.

"And I've already left, Kawarimi'd myself with a Kage Bunshin, so you deal with the Raikage alone," with those final words, the covered in sooth Toruna dispersed in smoke and leaving a paling Jiraiya to explain to a just arrived Raikage what had happened.

*Anko*

She hadn't gone out, that day. She was sitting, in front of her television, watching the matches of Naruto, first against that Saya Ichigawa girl, so much for her being lady-like, fighting with a Kimono took guts, but then against the Neji Hyuga, and finally, against the recently made Kazekage, Gaara. She saw him getting enclosed in sand, she understood by now that it was no longer him, and then, after the first three minutes, she stopped the cassette once more. There he was, in the background, as the reporter was registering everything around her, but seemed to lack the enormous and gigantic black flying snake on the background, with her Otouto on it, her Otouto…so happy to be set free, to have all his problems solved, so happy and now so dead…she looked at the empty scroll in front of her. What was she going to write to that bastard? How much the boy she saw like her own little brother had changed her life? How much she had been happy to hug him? To hear his voice when she came back from work, to hear someone happy to see her, for once, instead of the whining of a prisoner to be tortured? How much the boy was polite? How much he made her feel happy, since he never gave up? How much it had hurt to be separated from him? How he had shown his courage by fighting off Orochimaru, her own dark past? Orochimaru was still alive, somewhere, and her Otouto was dead. How dared he? It had taken an arrogant fool from the land of Iron to realize it. She couldn't keep on crying on herself, she had other things to do: first, beat the hell out of the tracker, then find Orochimaru, butcher him and make him scream, and finally putting a stone on her past, and spend the rest of her time working and getting dead drunk.

She turned off the television, putting the cassette back in its place, before turning around to leave, after freshening up in the bathroom. She looked like a mess, a mess who had cried for hours the night before, and there was no way she was going to let her Otouto see her like that, not today. After all, it was his birthday.

She heard a light groaning coming from the dining room, and as she turned to look, she realized even Yugito had slept *over*, probably consoling her as she was holding her *crying* cushion too.

"That's what a Cat gets for drinking too much milk, with biscuits," Anko muttered back, as she slowly helped her friend up.

"Sh…Shut up and let me…let me handle him…if he…touches you I'll snap him like a twig," Yugito muttered, half-asleep and half-suffering from a terrible headache, Anko *had* spiked her milk with sake, after all. Nobody gets sad without getting drunk a bit…at least that was the purple-haired woman's idea of how being sad worked.

When the two exited the apartment, their faces covered with dark shades to make sure nobody saw how red their eyes were, they didn't go far.

"So, a birthday for a dead brat," the voice already made both of the woman grit their teeth, was he having fun about this? He seemed to be enjoying torturing them both, why else would he be going around like that? "Then what, funerals for the living?" he added, before he mentally realized just how ironic that statement was.

The two women turned around for a brief second, eying Toruna, who stared at them with a bored look, his mantle gently flowing because of a light breeze, his hood taken down.

"Aren't you…" Yugito didn't finish the sentence, because Anko grinned, next to her, before exclaiming, jovially.

"Oh my master! Do you wish for some spunky, steamy, morning goodness with this Anko-chan? Do you want me to wash your back?" as she teased, getting in front of the man, she even made a smile, before adding up.

"You're a bastard, and a son of a bitch, and I'll make your life hell, mark my words! So, you can stuff your *report* on MY brother up your stuck-up arrogant ass, and that's final! Bye bye!" and with that, Anko turned around, clicking her heels together, before dashing off in a chuckle holding Yugito's hand, who was utterly shocked by the woman's words.

*Toruna*

See…I knew it would work. Good luck with your life now, Anko-Oneechan.

As Toruna slowly let his hood come back to hide his facial features, he began walking around Kumo, his feet taking him just so casually to where the park was, and to where, strangely, a group of three shinobis were plucking out the weeds and preparing tables and chairs for what seemed like a festival.

He recognized the three: Mogura was a hulk, moving tables and chairs, and even the trees if they got in the way, planting them elsewhere. The quiet girl that was working on placing the plastic glasses and dishes was Hayari, and even then, every now and then Toruna had to concentrate to understand where she was. The third shinobi was Saya Ichigawa, who worked nimbly, while still keeping her kimono in perfect conditions. He kind of wondered where Shinkansen was, as he should have been the third member of the group.

Toruna shrugged, letting his back fall against a tree, staring at the three shinobi working, before slowing having his gaze drift towards Mogura, who had stopped dead on his tracks, sniffing the air around.

Then the mole-man turned his gaze towards Toruna, and for a split second, he thought that it wouldn't work with him, he had changed too much, but maybe there was something that would let the boy recognize him, something at all. Instead he nearly, nearly because he didn't do it, sigh in relief, when the mole boy resumed his work.

Mogura smelled blood and snakes, as he turned around, to pin-point the location, he felt the silent tremor of someone who is surprised, for a split second, but then relaxes visibly. All Mogura saw was a sort of bright and dark fuzz of colors next to a tree, maybe a person, or an object? He turned to his job, he had to finish this before lunch, after all, it was Naruto's Birthday and he had to work quickly.

Little did he know, the birthday was going to get trashed in such a horrid way that connecting Toruna with Naruto would be impossible, even for the most paranoid of shinobis and with that, all the work done till then would bear fruit.

Toruna knew that right now the Raikage was speaking with Jiraiya about his skills, he knew because he always guessed right, he knew that his attitude would make him impossible to connect to the polite gentle boy he no longer was. He knew, obviously, that he risked slipping in battle, resorting to one of his lightning jutsus, or to the Chidori, or to the Rasengan. He knew them both, he didn't use them much though, but he knew them. He wanted the toad sage to use it, so that he could try and *copy* it, but instead he had discovered something new. So much for the Toad sage saying it was *his* jutsu when he began teaching Naruto. His mind drifted to the Konoha team, would they have people who he knew of? Like Shino? Shino certainly would recognize him immediately, his bugs ate chakra, and each chakra had a *signature* that made it unique. That was why he had kept himself in the Senjutsu state, if he didn't, a skilled sensor, like C, would detect him in a moment, and he couldn't do that.

He was the one man army for a reason, and for that reason, he had an army of clones stashed in the Ryuchi cave, each of them dispersing at regular intervals. It would last for more than a month, and once out of *range* of C, who he had yet to see in Kumo, but who couldn't be that far away, he'd revert to his normal form. Once he did that, the idea that he and Naruto were different would already be implanted deep within those who worked with him and it wouldn't make them wonder why his eyes were blue or he had lightly faded whisker marks, they'd see him as Toruna, the tracker of the land of iron, the extremely rude man who always belittle his *prey*.

His plan was already formed in his mind. He'd track down Minato and the Akatsuki, query the Akatsuki for information on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and then, once he found it, he'd free the Kyuubi with the use of his seal mastery, would fight him, defeat him, and then re-seal it again inside of himself, then he'd go back to Kumo. No longer Toruna…but Naruto.

That was, if something didn't go wrong in the middle of it all, but then again, he'd die as Toruna, so nobody would cry for him, nobody, and no-one.

*somewhere*

Unknown to Toruna, miles away, Mifune was quietly scribbling down on his desk, in three wolves mountain, about a betrothal contract. He was sure Toruna would like to know Mifune had deemed him worthy of such esteem, to be willing to hand over the hand of his daughter to him. He was sure the man would accept, and finally prove his hidden kindness to the world.

Shaking his head, the leader of the samurais recalled the first words the man ever said to him, when they met for the first time.

"Make me strong, and you'll have my promise that I'll never betray your orders for as long as I, Toruna of the Snakes, live."

The way he had told that…it was like the man knew he was going to die, eventually. Well, a kind hearted girl like his daughter would certainly work wonders on the man, he heard some tales from some of the samurais, when he had first been brought back, something about him yelling for *clean underwear* in the dark and cold cave. Well, every man had its quirks.

"Still…he *is* right, clean underwear? Every man would die for them," with that, and a small chuckle, Mifune finished inking the contract.

Author's notes

Sannin teaching *done* Doujutsu hasn't even been spoken of yet…what is it? I like keeping the readers in suspense…but it will come along…eventually.

And no, he doesn't have a wife, I thought it was clear he was lying, in this way Toruna and Naruto are even more distinctively separated, (as explained in this chapter, it's done precisely because of that, to make the division more marked).

His strength is slightly less than that of Jiraiya, who didn't take him seriously in the battle, and Naruto *is* in senjutsu mode, as his normal features are hidden by the transformation, plus a slightly heavy-chakra based Genjutsu on the face, to hide his slit-eyes, in this way, he uses the nature chakra and doesn't risk overloading.

Q&A

Tamult: Who knows…maybe it would be even worse.

Dragonrising: Kuro didn't know, and discovered it only then, since after discovering his corpse they stopped trying to reverse summon him, once he got out from Hakuja's spires he could have been reverse summoned…but everyone thought him dead.

Dragonskyt: I'll give them happiness, alright! I'll have Toruna die after becoming Naruto!

For the senjutsu's appearance:

*The mark of a true sage is just the eyes changing* actually, I think Kabuto (while marked as having a completed sage mode) was just lying, because I mean, he had horns and a tail, a frigging tail, that's not complete sage mode!

While horns might or might not be cool, I deem them more on the side of an incomplete transformation.