Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews! Another round of applause! And to all my other readers, thanks for taking the time!
Chapter Twenty- Stabbed In The BackThe figure slipped on his new cloak. It was black, and decorated with red clouds. Red as blood. He raised his hand to his eye level and inspected the ring on the last of his left fingers. The chinese character: Void. It was befitting, for he was a void. The figure indulged in a smirk. Then the characteristic straw hat covered his head and the figure was off.
"I am ready. Let's go."
Kamui looked up. He found it hard to believe that the unblemished face, the perfect body, had been tortured to the edge of death so many times. The unreflectiveness and coldness of those red pupils could be explained though, for one cannot experience the full force of Tsukiyomi without serious psychological damage. His gaze swung to his partner, Shisui. The Uchiha was even more ambitious than he had previously thought. Kamui sighed and stood up. They had worked together for years, but there were still cracks in the partnership.
The three Akatsuki stepped out of the inn, entering the busy streets of Wave Country.
Kazuya led them through the bustling streets. Although no one knew who they were, they still parted like fish to a burger. One did not have to know in order to feel danger.
The streets cleared as they walked further and further from the city, bypassing O-Naruto-Kyo into a dense forest. A few jars, meat, and joss sticks lay outside the abandoned pathway. Obviously foolish villagers believed that the soul of a demon haunted the area.
They are not far from the truth, Kazuya mused. "Kamui-san, Shisui-san, this is it. That is Haku's grave. Are you ready?"
"Spare us the melodrama, of course I'm ready," Shisui said. He closed his eyes, gathering his chakra. Meanwhile, Kamui helped Kazuya lift the catatonic body out of the six-foot hole. They forced the eyes open.
"Mangekyou Sharingan! Divine Amaterasu!"
Kazuya winced as a piercing howl rang through the forest, presumably the effects of having your long anchored soul ripped from the gates of deep hell and forced into your comatose body which has not experienced intelligent life for weeks.
"Was I like this?"
"Maybe."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"The answer's too obvious, don't you think?" Kamui said for Shisui. Kazuya snarled.
"Get ready for the stir-crazy thing," Shisui said. "The first time I did it this person here tried to kill the world with a toothpick. With Zabuzza's sword just beside him, who knows what Haku will do?"
Glaring at Shisui, Kazuya hurriedly grabbed the Mist Demon's mighty cleaver.
Haku stopped thrashing about, and his yell died in his throat. He opened bloodshot eyes, glared around, then swooned. Kamui bent down quickly to check for vitals. "The pulse is weak. He probably only had that much energy. We have to put him on a drip and a couple of catalyst pills. And a toilet with a good flush."
The Akatsuki winced, and two of them came up with excuses immediately. Shisui let out a dramatic sigh. "Ah, I am weak from using the Divine Amaterasu. I need rest."
Kamui glared daggers at his partner, then zoned in on their youngest member. He was having "a lot of trouble" carrying the sword which he had been twirling moments earlier. Sighing coolly to protect his pride, Kamui slung the unconcious Haku over his back.
"Damn idiots."
Shisui chuckled for a while. Two new members in such a short time. Undoubtedly, they would be partners: their styles suited each other. And with special tuning to the newer, both of them would have a similar goal of vengeance against Konoha's Team Seven.
Kamui stole a glance at his sadistic partner. Luckily the Uchiha wasn't a masochist like that insane fool known as Hidan. He had enough to put up with. The trouble was which demon the new duo would be hunting. There were four teams, exclusive of their leader. With the recent addition, five.
Shisui caught Kamui looking at him.
"Kazuya, you and Haku will hunt down the Kyuubi. Kamui and I will be shifting our efforts to the Eight-Tails. You understand why, right?"
Kazuya nodded mechanically. "Thank you, Shisui-san."
Hours later, Haku woke up to find himself restrained by heavy chains and a drip. He blinked the tears away from his prickling eyes. Memories were slowly filling in, like a blurred picture coming into focus. One that affected him the most was a blond kid with piercing blue eyes and whisker marks on his feral face. Why?
Where am I?
Haku found himself staring at a mirror. And reflecting from that mirror were two insane, amber eyes that burned like coals in the dark, marked with a mesmerizing pattern. Then everything went black, going into negatives. He could feel a pounding foreboding, a dagger inching through his mind. Then everything was over, in that one second.
Shisui watched the newly conformed Akatsuki scream, then fall forward on his restraints limply.
A sadistic smile creased his features.
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"Sandaime Hokage-sama! The three that you requested for earlier have arrived. They are waiting at the lounge."
"Send them in."
"Yes, sir!"
Sasuke, who was the most educated of the three in these matters, entered the room first. Sakura and Naruto only mimicked his actions.
Sandaime stood up and passed out the three application forms.
Naruto, eyes snapped tight, forced them apart. The Hokage's stamp and seal. A bright grin lit his features for a moment, then Sasuke jabbed his rib. Wincing, he masked his face over with solemn respect.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama. I apologise on the behalf of my team for the inconvenience that we have caused."
"No matter," the seventy-six year old shinobi said with a wave of his hand. "Uchiha Itachi has spoke highly of your current skill. If it interests you, he has left for another long-term mission again. All of you have been reinstated as Chuunin. If your probabtion goes well, you may take up the ANBU selections, or become a Tokubetsu Jounin in a year depending on your dedication."
Team Seven nodded. Sasuke stood up to accept the scroll in the Sandaime's outreached hand.
"This is your mission particulars. An A-rank assignment to replace the missing members of my bodyguard team. All Jounin and ANBU have their hands full with other missions. I may not even expect an assasination attempt. But the last Sound Invasion took away five of our members. Three of you is a stretch for me, but any other source will stretch our dwindling population. Don't worry, this is only a temporary measure: only this mission."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama. Is there anything else?" Sasuke asked politely.
"No. You are dismissed."
Naruto sighed when they left the building. "Escorting the Sandaime! Who would have thought of that?"
"Don't be disappointed, Naruto. My brother said that you had to be a Tokubetsu Jounin at the very least in order to do it, and you have to pass a very strict examination. And Hokage-sama was only reassuring us. There are at least five assasination attempts for the average kage in a week."
Sakura unfurled the mission scroll and scanned it. "Two weeks! Do you think it'll be enough to recruit spies?"
"Spies recruiting spies. Sasuke, you come up with the dumbest ideas," Naruto said.
Sasuke turned to Naruto, opened his mouth, closed it, then turned to Sakura. "Is this kid really a Chuunin?"
"Hmmm… there has to be a mistake," Sakura replied mockingly.
"Hey!"
Sasuke sighed. "Naruto, the main source of information for spies are spies. Mostly its equivalent trade, so if we feed off information, we'll attract sources. Then we differentiate the reliable from the unreliable and set up an unwritten contract."
Naruto's hand immediately went to his pocket. "Does this require money?"
Sasuke smirked. "Lots of it, and lots of information too."
"And we have, what, three days?"
Sasuke rubbed his hands together evilly. "My clan stole some documents from the other clans. I can replicate them. So, that's settled and I'm not hurting my wallet."
"Hey, I'm a poor, poor orphan who lives on cup ramen, don't look at me like that, Sakura. Sasuke, I'm sure you need a helping hand," Naruto said mock-seriously.
Sakura sighed. Then her face lit up evilly. "I'm sure the Konoha public fund will be happy to part with the money, especially since most of it goes to the Council. It should be fairly easy. Happy duplicating!"
Once Sakura left, Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Do you know how to operate a photocopying machine?"
"What's that?"
Sasuke sighed. "Nevermind you can hand-copy documents written in scrolls."
Naruto trailed behind Sasuke, with the sinking feeling that he was being bullied.
Sakura reached the Community Centre in a matter of minutes. And met her mother. Graciously but devoid of visible emotion, Sakura opened the door and waved the older Haruno in politely. Nodding stiffly, Mrs. Haruno entered before her daughter. With all the places taken, the two were forced into the same booth to fill out the forms. Sakura noted the food tickets, KPF (Konoha Public Fund) Withdrawal form, and other papers.
"How are you doing, Mrs. Haruno."
Her mother stared at her piercingly, then her gaze dropped. "The family's breadwinner left, and my job as a dishwasher can't keep up with the rent and my living expenses."
Sakura composed her thoughts and facial expressions quickly. "Then why don't you change living quarters? I'm sure community housing isn't that bad here in Konoha?"
"I've applied for one, but because it states that the breadwinner is still in the family, I've been rejected. Apparently, things have to be official."
"Then let's drop the act, Mother. Are you implying that we should get the administration done? This has to be very humiliating, isn't it? Would you like ever thing to be over with now?" Sakura asked bluntly. Her mother frowned.
"No, Sakura, I don't. But if you don't quit your…"
"No, Mother, I'll never quit my job, so if you can't accept that and would rather I left," Sakura broke off. As if she had waited for the dreaded moment all along, Sakura snatched a blue slip and signed one of the empty spaces.
Mrs. Haruno stared at the remaining, untouched black line. Her gaze fell on her daughter's firm signature, then raised to her daughter's face. Sakura's face was determined, but her eyes were sad, almost pleading. It occurred to her that Sakura would never change.
She would not give in.
With a flourish of the pen, she etched her signature onto the printed line.
"It is done, Mrs. Haruno. Over with. You can finally get community housing instead of a daughter."
Sakura's parent stayed at the booth, watching Sakura leave. The younger Haruno closed her eyes, willing the tears away, keeping her mother in her heart.
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"Do you think Sakura's been acting weird ever since she left her mother?" Naruto asked, then leant back to admire his penmanship. Few people would affiliate the neat but slightly spiky words with his notorious reputation, but they were his. Years of writing lines as punishment, filling out forms for his various living needs had perfected them. Not to mention that Iruka-senset gave him a job of doing his paperwork for him when he was in the Academy.
But he had to glare at Sasuke. The glorious photocopying machine was printing things he would need to do in half and hour within two seconds- a simple push of the button- Sasuke could have taught him.
"If you didn't notice I would kill you. I think so too. I heard from Aniki that she lost her dad to the Kyuubi war, so she grew up under her mother. Naturally, Mrs. Haruno blames the Kyuubi, and effect, hates you, so there's a lot of stress for Sakura to be in this team. Still, she's said her mother meant a lot to her, her pillar of support. Losing a mother figure is terrible. They're like.. like a balance for you, a balm from reality."
An odd look washed over Naruto's face. It did not escape Sasuke's eyes.
"It's not your fault. It's Mrs. Haruno's if anything. But understand her point of view. She lost her ninja of a husband to war. Sakura's the only one left, and she's with the vessel of the Kyuubi. And with the recent Invasion, Mrs. Haruno's worried."
"So do you think Sakura should quit being a kunoichi?"
"That's not up to us to think, Naruto. We both don't want her too, but if she wants too, we'll have to support that. We can't decide anything for her, even if it's a teammate. If she doesn't want to, her mother can't stop her?"
"Why? Don't they say filial piety is everything?"
Sasuke shot Naruto a look. "We're ninja, Naruto."
Naruto bit back a question. Sasuke waited for a few seconds, then went back to aligning the papers and photocopying them. Naruto could settle somethings by himself.
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"Kazuya, informants have contacted us. The Sandaime Hokage will arrive in the former Otogakure next week for a fortnight. He will be settling administration and border issues, and sign Ricefield Country under Fire territory. The Leader orders your team to assasinate the Hokage."
"Will he gain anything from the Hokage's death?"
"Yes. He will receive, and link it into your account, the payment. In effect, we will have a month's window to carry out miscallaneous plans, unconcerning the Tails."
"You have not informed me of such plans, Shisui-san," Kazuya accused.
"The Leader will tell you, we don't have say in this. If he doesn't, it doesn't concern you. That's his style. He believes that the less his chess pieces know of his plans, the higher the rate of success. You and Haku are expected to leave in two weeks time," Kamui cut in. "We'll leave tonight. Don't send us off. Get acquainted with your partner."
Kazuya glared at the two men then retreated.
"Haku, are you ready?" Kazuya asked when he entered their room. Said person was sitting on the bed, still running on a drip, and glaring into his dead master's blade. "Is this me?"
"Don't ask stupid questions," Kazuya said irritably. "That's you and you are Haku. We need to get 'acquainted'. How did you get to know Zabuzza? Shit. Cut the crap. Let's change it. Tell me about your ninja occupation."
Inhale. Exhale. "After Zabuzza-san deemed me to be trained sufficiently, he enrolled me into the Mist Community. I took the graduation test and passed immediately. I was incorporated into an unwanted team for the Chuunin Examinations that came two months later and aced it. After that Zabuzza-san took me away to train me for another year. When I returned I joined the Mist ANBU. Four years later, when I reached thirteen, I became a Hunter-Nin. I stayed for a year, then Zabuzza-san carried out his coup de et, but he failed and we became missing nin. I believe it was because three years before that Hoshigake Kisame left the Seven Mist Swordsmen and crippled Zabuzza-san heavily."
By now, Kazuya had calmed down significantly. "Who did you hunt when you joined ANBU?"
"Mostly daimyos and prominent samurai during my training. When I joined officially, I was given more dangerous missions. I bested two Kaguyas, clan members of the late Kimimaro. Was Kimimaro really a member of Akatsuki?"
"For a while. Shisui-san said that he was killed as soon as he joined us."
"I remember him, because the Sannin Orochimaru came after my battle last year."
"Stop getting the timelines mixed up. Two years ago."
"What is bothering you?"
"Shut up. I don't know. Don't ask. Carry on."
"I don't appreciate this switch-the-channel attitude, partner."
"Okay, fine. Our first mission is in two weeks time. My guess is that you've never assasinated a Kage, or anyone at that level."
"True."
"So I have a reason to be worried. No Kaguya has had a reputation exceeding that of Konoha's Copy Cat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi. You've fought Kakashi, do you think you can handle him?"
"No."
"Together, we could handle two of him. But do you think you can handle the Hokage and his bodyguards?"
"No."
"Exactly. This is a doomified mission. The only route now is to outwit them."
"The worst course of action."
"Exactly."
"Don't use the word 'doomified'. I think of the word 'Shakespeare'."
Kazuya raised an eyebrow.
"Don't ask me! I don't know what 'Shakespeare' is."
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Kamui shivered.
"What is it?" Shisui asked.
"I think the ground just sneezed."
Shisui stared at the damp mound of earth which looked oddly like a grave.
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Night's sky was draped over the earth. Stars dotted over the black canvas. Konoha's dark hour was a picture of beauty. The Mount of Hokage's were silhoutted in darkness. The temples and hotels at its feet were alit with candles. The various ninja departments still ran as quickly as it did in the day. Konoha was an ever busy village.
Currently, Sakura's understanding of her hometown was confined to her small space in the bookstore. The plaster ceiling was not a lit with stars but with flourescent tubes. The air-conditioned building was adorned with rows and rows of tall bookcases piled with books, continuing until the fifth and top floor. With KPF money bag in her weapon's pouch and an armful of books, Sakura was silently exploring the bookstore.
Ever since she had come back from the Wave Country mission, she hadn't stepped into her sanctuary. With her schedule filled with training and missions, it was hard to relax. Perhaps in the past months, it had changed.
She alighted the winding and steep stairwell onto the fourth floor. A wooden door, and painted in a sick yellow: Kakashi's Rakeun. Underneath it was a sign: Underaged not allowed.
Kakashi's Rakeun? Scarecrow's Paradise? Underaged? Interesting. With that, the Chuunin deposited her load of books into one of the lockers at the side, took the key, and opened the door.
"Ah." Was all she could say. Not Scarecrow's Paradise! But literally Kakashi's Paradise! Kakashi-san's reputation has been spread so far! Sakura turned to leave, tuning out the awkward music and the even weirder, larger-than-life size posters, when something caught her eye.
A poster that stood out from all the other posteriors and busty pictures. The face of Toad Hermit, Jiraiya-sama. It caught her eye not because of the old-man tweediness, but because she recognised him as the Sannin helping the Hokage run Konoha.
Sakura ignored the lustful stares of the people around her as she walked over to a bookcase dedicated to Jiraiya-sama.
ICHA ICHA PARADISE! ICHA ICHA PARADISE SPECIAL EDITION! ICHA ICHA PILOT, UNABRIDGED! ICHA ICHA 1! INTERVIEW: ICHA ICHA PARADISE! ICHA ICHA VIOLENCE! GUIDE BOOK: ICHA ICHA VIOLENCE! ICHA ICHA PASSION! ICHA ICHA PASSION SPECIAL EDITION!
Sakura gaped. A glass cabinet beside it was covered with posters of the international bestseller. When she opened it, it had cassetes, tapes, and discs, all dedicated to Jiraiya-sama's world of the Icha Icha Series. Suddenly she didn't feel like calling him a sama (lord). It was like giving him the right of her most precious asset.
Still, curiosity kills the cat. Sakura took the orange book that Kakashi always held with trembling fingers.
Icha Icha Paradise was opened.
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"My father was the head of the Konoha Police Corps when he was alive. For a while he worked as the Yondaime's bodyguard. Both Hokage's are very different, but I should think that the essential drills are the same. Stealth: Camouflage. Defense that centers around the principal, and offense that protects the principal. Sandaime's bodyguards will drill us tomorrow, and I think the only thing we'll be able to polish now is camou. What do you think, Naruto?"
"The plan is good. Sakura, are you okay?"
Sakura stopped giggling when she noticed her teammates staring at her, jaws touching the floor. "What?"
"You're blushing, giggling hysterically, nose bleeding all at the same time, looking just like Kakashi, and you ask what?" Naruto exclaimed. Then he noticed the huge shopping bag Sakura had brought in with the KPF money an hour ago.
"Hey, that's mine!"
As Sasuke was restraining Sakura, Naruto rummaged through the paper bag. "A book on defensive taijutsu drills. Whoa, what's this? Sakura, you're interested in become a medic nin? Human anatomy, medical jutsus, chakra control, seals, potions. Hmmm," Naruto said, pulling out a brown package.
The colour drained from Sakura's face. Suddenly gaining the strength of a wild bull, or cow since she was female, Sakura tore herself from Sasuke's grip. "That's mine!"
Unfortunately, Naruto had been holding it with two fingers, and index finger on one of the books through the paper wrapping, and his thumb on the other side of the book. The packaging ripped and multicolored books fell out.
Naruto and Sasuke's jaw dropped.
Gasping for air, Sasuke picked up three specific books. He recognised the orange one- the first book of the Icha Icha series: Icha Icha Paradise. Then the pale orange Icha Icha Violence, followed by the final instalment, the yellow Icha Icha Passion. "Wo-Wow, Ssakura," Sasuke stammered. "I…"
"Sasuke!" Naruto half-screamed, half-jammed the Icha Icha books under the table. He prayed hard, cross his heart, that Sasuke was right to respect the decision of others and trust them to make their own. There had to be something more important than concentrating on Sakura's new passion for the arts. "About camou, what about it? Huh? Huh?"
Sasuke closed his eyes and breathed. Putting the books in his hands away calmly, he pulled out the handbook of his late father. There were several notes on the tutorial. "Shall we practise this at three destinations tonight? The Hyuuga compoud, the Nara forest, and the Jounin Tower. Fairly difficult areas, but nothing that's above us once we get these point. It's ten. We have until midnight to move in. The three places are usually swarming with people until two in the morning."
Naruto stared at the notes, then at Sasuke. "How can you be so sure? And, it's not practical for us to master this in a mere two hours."
"Aniki and I used to roam these areas as a past time. No, Naruto, I'm not deprived. And I said 'understand' the points, not master them. But we should at least be adequate when we go to the Hokage Tower tomorrow."
"Okay then, let's start," Sakura broke in, thankful for her teammates' lack of exurbant reaction to her addiction. "I think that we should all take turns pointing out each other's weaknesses and strengths in stealth, regardless of camou. This way, we can construct an infallible stealth structure."
"How should I say this? Sasuke, you lack chakra control. Any sudden burst of emotion, or something that distracts you, you let go of your chakra control. People can feel you a mile off. Other than that, you're good, but camou as a team isn't that great."
"The mighty solo nin. Oh so tall, dark and handsome. La la la. Earth calling all Uchiha-Sasuke-fans! A bit out of point, but…"
"Very."
"…Naruto… Anyway, you stand out a mile. Let's see, most of the male population looks as bad as Naru… as a pig. So, even if you get into a crowd, you stand out to a girl," Sakura finished, her eyes gleaming dangerously.
Naruto threw up a wide grin and snapped his fingers loudly. Then he went into the director's outfit. "That's it. Cut and taken. We'll need two hours to get super genius Uchiha Sasuke look normal, a common pheasant. Sakura, the scissors! I'm gonna snip-snip offa!"
Sasuke sweatdropped, then spun away. "Sakura, good point. I'll consider that later. Your camou… first of all, you wear a bright red outfit, have bright pink hair, and bright green eyes. Not exactly conspicious. Like Aniki says, your chakra control is perfect. Your footsteps and body movement is terri… inadequate."
"Sakura, you don't really use your surroundings, so they give you away. Or you give yourself away." Do I make sense?
Sasuke fell on his back, grinning at the ceiling. "Naruto's good at silent movement, and knows how to add speed to that at the same time. Effects of your training with… during the one month training frame for the Third Test."
"But there's a lot to improve on, like your chakra control and blending in," Sakura said.
"Uzumaki Naruto blending in? Kakashi'll take off his pants."
Team Seven laughed, then fell silent. Sasuke stood up, a frown etched on his features. "We begin now. One hour and fifty minutes left."
Then the three ninjas drilled for fifty minutes. It was the fastest progress they had made for the past few weeks. They went over ever rock in each other's stealth skills. When they discussed camouflaging options, they dissected ever action and imitated them. Every disadvantage and advantage was overturned.
Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Wow. Sasuke, you've made significant improvement in getting ugly."
"Nice sarcarsm. And it's not getting ugly. It's blending in into common folk."
"Let's stop before we go into verbal warfare, okay? Next stop, the Hyuuga Compound," Sakura said, here eyes unconciously moving towards the Icha Icha Series.
The next day, Team Seven reported to the Hokage Tower. The Sandaime noted the stiff joints and bruised skin. Hiashi's complaints about wild pups intruding was not unfounded. A small grin lit the old man's face, then he remembered the trouble, and the paperwork to come. Wait a minute, I'm the Hokage. I can order the brats to take care of the paperwork! Beware of the Beetle! Muahaha… Shucks. Jiraiya's rubbing off me. Oh man… Konoha's getting an ultra-perv, pedophilic Hokage.
"You have been busy."
Naruto scratched his head sheepishly at the Hokage's accusing statement. Undoubtedly the Hyuuga leader had run here screaming for his mommy, the Sandaime Hokage.
"We'll deal with that later. This is Aburame Shibi, father of Abrame Shino, your batchmate. As you know, the Aburame clan excels in espionage, and stealth, and Shibi-san is the best. So he'll be your stealth tutor.
"We do not expect fresh Chuunins, no matter the level, to know bodyguarding. Namiashi Raido here has agreed to put you through a crash course. His specialization is… bodyguarding."
Sasuke sweatdropped. Looking at his teammates, he knew that they too found that the Sandaime was a bit too overbearing with the spoon-feedin mollycoddling. But that was probably Sandaime's style. "Thank you, Aburame-san, Namiashi-san. It would be a pleasure to work under you."
Namiashi Raido coughed into his hand. Naruto's attention was drawn to him, and for the first time he noticed that the scar on his left cheek was not as it seemed. Raido had been marked by a claw like hand. Raido of course noticed Naruto's stare, so he half-explained, "Mido Ban's Snake Bite is vicious."
A flash of interest lit in Sasuke's eyes. Experienced Jounin did not describe things with extremites unless they warranted such a description. Mido Ban… Snake Bite… Weird, I've never heard of it before, but it feels so familiar. Like how evil attracts Man's eye.
Raido sighed.
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Nine days later, the Sandaime Hokage arrived at Otogakure, soon to officially be Konoha property, unharmed. Naruto was not disappointed. Team Seven hadn't done much, only some scouting and core defense. It had been the Tokubetsu Jounin who had dealt the real trash to the prospective Hokage-assasinators. No prisoners had been taken and no criminal was allowed to escape.
The bodyguard team had been crippled, too. One member had been killed in a clash with Sound-nins. His death was most regrettable. Team Seven was given ten free hours a day, five hours of protecting the Sandaime, and nine hours of sleep and taking care of personal hygeine.
Five days had gone by, and no one had approached them for information. Maybe the Inuzuka clan was not as infamous as Kiba claimed. "Aww, just put in the damn Hyuuga file and people will be flocking!"
"No way, good info jockeys know how to grab every piece of information, no matter how invital it might seem to be. We'll just have to wait. We still have a couple of days."
"Hello…? We were supposed to establish (bleep)ing contact two (bleep)ing days ago!"
"Naruto's right, we have to put up the Hyuuga file," Sakura told Sasuke. Said shinobi clutched the package to his chest.
"No way. Let's unload the Akimichi file in too. The two clans made large contributions to the death of many Sound ninja. We wait. Patience is the waiting game. If by tomorrow night no one takes the bait, we get proactive, got it? The Hyuuga file is the bonus."
"Then might as well we wait. Inuzukas are way more famous than the Akimichis. That file can be another bait."
"If we're willing to put in two, why not put them under separate folders. Kill two birds with one stone," Sakura suggested.
"Are you… Akihiko Sano?"
Sasuke whirled around. A lanky, shrewd-looking guy of about nineteen towered over them. "Yeah?"
"Heard you've got stuff."
"Yeah, I've got stuff," Sasuke said and shoved his hands nonchalantly into his pockets. "Sup?"
"More than willing to info-jockey for you, with agreeable prices, of course."
"Are you from the Sound?"
"No, Lightning Country missing-nin. Chuunin-level. I'm one of the better-than-averages, but if I'm caught, please grant me amnesity, if not I'll give you three up, Akihiko Sano, Akihiko Mizuki, Hanama Renjito."
Sasuke scratched his head, then handed over the folder and money. Pretty confident, and he's researched on us. Not bad.
"You've gotta have a back-up file. I want it. If not, I want that," the information dealer said, pointing at Sasuke's Hyuuga file.
"Okay, information on the Akimichi Clan as an added bonus. If you want more shit, go elsewhere," Naruto answered.
The man grabbed the two files greedily and nodded. "So what do you want me to find out?"
"Updates on this organization: Akatsuki. But if you ever see a kid called Aikawa Kazuya or Kazuhiko Rukawa, inform us immediately through carrier birds or this text comlink. Got it? We'll feed you money and leads monthly."
"Akatsuki? I heard that's full of insane S-ranked criminals. More on my life here than yours, kid. One thousand credits a month."
"You trying ta' steal the (bleep) out of us! Don't (bleep) shit with us! Six hundred credits!" Naruto retorted.
The man was calm in slapping Naruto verbally. "What language, you (bleep)ing (bleep)ole. Seeing that all of you are gakis, I'll go straight. Nine hundred."
Sasuke saw a good deal when it was presented. "Eight hundred. Make both of us happy."
"Deal. Eight a month, no less. More's welcome," their contact said, slipped the text comlink into his pocket, and disappeared into the peak hour crowd. Sakura watched his skillful disappearance, an eyebrow raised.
"Eight hundred a month? Sasuke, as low-ranked Chuunins, we only get three hundred each a month," Sakura said.
Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder and grinned ferally. "I guess there's more reason to take up high paying missions and get to ANBU faster, right, Sasuke?"
Sasuke looked over Sakura's shoulder and nodded.
Naruto laced his fingers behind his head. Now they had a reliable informant. "Be thankful we passed Chuunin exams, Sakura. We used to get eighty a month."
Sakura shuddered.
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Kazuya was perched on a tree, on the borders of Otogakure. He and Haku were enjoying the screams and howls of anguish at the heart of the city. He could just imagine Team Seven, their new colleagues and precious Hokage ruthlessly slaughtered, by Akatsukis. That would be a pleasant surprise for them.
"Bloody fireworks," Haku cursed, wincing as he did so. Kazuya grinned back, licking the blood splattered on his lips.
"Thank the gods, Haku, that I learnt medical jutsu. If not you'll just be a smear on the ground right now."
The two Akatsuki operatives had not escaped unscathed. They needed an Underground hospital fast. Kazuya coughed, a spasm of pain driving blood from his lips, every movement was agony to his rib area, at least one rib bone was broken, and he didn't have the chakra to heal it.
But he could feel the elation from Haku's heart, radiating like icy waves. His partner's skill was more impressive than he had imagined. Even the Copy Cat Ninja couldn't raise a candle to this guy's abilities.
Kazuya smirked. That Namiashi Raido had put up a hell of a fight for his precious prinicipal.
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Author's Notes: Reviews are appreciated, truly. Hitting the 50 count was like a dream come true for me. Of course, I wouldn't mind more. grins madly
Thanks for reading!