Disclaimer: Naruto is a comic by Masashi Kishomoto, published by Shonen Jump, and produced as a cartoon by Viz Media. The Art of War is the published text of Sun Tzu. The Kuroihi Syndicate, the Enkou Syndicates, Sora Keitaro, Sakurazaki Hana, Momiji Hashi, Dewaya Yahiko, Chairman Kuroihi and all affiliated members are my intellectual properties.

Author's Notes: Well folks, Valentine's day is almost upon us so I hope you all plan on spending it with your significant other. I will be working on catching up on some overdue work. Now that its out of the way, I would like to thank everyone who left a review for Oyabun. You guys are really great. I also want to announce that I am now working on a little project called "Happy Campers" with a man known only as "Duke", famous for his strip "Ansem Retort". So I now have more work beside being a college student and working a normal job which will affect my update schedule. Thankfully one of my betas actually got back to me this time so all of the grammar errors should be cleaned up. Now on to responding to reviews:

Miss Naye: Ooh, interesting prospect but we'll burn that bridge when we get there.

T3Ko: Thank you very much.

Demon Eyes Bob: SURE SURE SURE

Broken Sexed Up Kitten: I'm moving as fast as my hands can type.

Armor of Geddon: I'm glad you liked it. A lot of this was planned out ahead of time. I agree with your sentiments on Kakashi though. In retrospect, it wasn't such as smart move.

Peter Kim: Bad things will happen, I'll say just that much.

lazybum: Tayuya may be important in this story. The truth is I do have plans for her character, but I'll keep that to myself for now.

pkp033: Ah yes. The Sicilian. I'm sorry but I haven't had much time to read it lately so I was summarizing what I could remember. I'm glad you pointed that fact out and I will go back and correct when I have the time to. However, there is a fine line between 'inspired by' and 'based on'. The Sicilian encouraged me to write the Oyabun, but I'd say it draws more from The Godfather or Goodfellas. In fact, some other sources I draw from include: Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories, Scarface, The Sopranos, Yakuza 1 and 2, Confessions of a Yakuza, Kino's Journey, the Little Prince, Kodomo no Omocha, Monster, The Daughter of Twenty Faces, Black Cat, and The Last Don. Rest assured though that Naruto will still be a good person even if he becomes a criminal. I also agree that a yakuza could never beat a ninja, but given the correct circumstances, the ninja may choose to back down.

Lexor: Yeah, the insanity was a spur of the moment idea but I plan to expand on. Also, thanks. I could really use some of those.

Shadow Sensei: Wow that's a lot of reviews. Thanks so much, and I'm glad you love it. I'll admit right now that this chapter is a bit anti climactic. I did the best I could but time restraints work against me.

And so, without further ado, I present to you the net chapter of Oyabun.

Oyabun

(An Older Brother)

Chapter 25: Fight then Flight

Naruto fell downwards, catching himself before his back broke his fall. He stared up at the tree to admire his work. With each mark he gained about another inch over his previous one. That was his fifteenth run up the tree and he already gained a whole foot over where he had started. Now he just had to get a whole foot from where he began. It was almost too easy. He took a deep breath and began channeling his chakra into his feet again, just in time for a sharp sting to pierce his feet.

In that instant, Naruto lost focus and recoiled backwards, "What was that?"

Examining his feet, Naruto saw the skin turned had turned red and showed signs of bruising. Running his fingers across the bruising, he felt the sharp sting from the tenderness of the skin. He looked at Haku for an explanation, "What happened?"

"Chakra burning," Haku said uninterestedly, "Like I said, most of your chakra is wasted when you channel it so, even though you didn't realize it, you were pouring chakra into your feet. The human body wasn't made to withstand the amount of chakra that you channeled."

Rubbing his sore feet, Naruto rose back up and performed the hand to bring chakra to his feet. As the pain started up again, Haku asked, "What are you doing?"

"Training," Naruto said.

"We should stop for now. Your feet are in no condition for you to continue training," Haku protested, "Unless you aim to lose them."

"I'll be fine," Naruto answered, taking off for another run at the tree. Haku, however, chose to put his arm in the way and catch Naruto, "No, you won't. This if for your own good."

Naruto saw a look in Haku's eyes that tried to convey a message. A warning look. Understanding immediately, Naruto put on his best display of a struggle against Haku's grip while spitting out protests, "Let me go! I sai-"

Haku ignored him, pulling him deeper into the forest, away from Konoha. As they moved, Haku quietly whispered back, "It's twenty meters behind us."

"How come you didn't mention this earlier?" Naruto whispered back between complaints, ignoring the fact that he didn't even sense anyone there. Haku shrugged, "I thought you knew and it didn't seem like a threat at the time. I dismissed it as an animal at first but now I'm certain it's a person."

"Do you think it's a shinobi from Konoha?" Naruto whispered back between complaints. Although they were in potential danger, Naruto couldn't help but become excited. The tension of plotting his next move with Haku brought him back to the Land of Waves, where he commanded the Kitsune Syndicate. It was as exhilarating then as it was now. Haku adjusted Naruto in his hand and shook his head, "No...the footsteps are too heavy...and there appears to be more than one of them. They are carrying a weight that's being dragged around."

"A weight?" Naruto asked again, before shouting, "I SAID LET ME GO!"

"Its not a heavy weight," Haku whispered back, "but they are dragging it across the ground, which means they're either too weak to carry the weight or they're very close to the ground. Right now there are four, but only three of them are carrying the weight."

"And the fourth?" Naruto whispered before growling, "I SAID LEMME GO!"

"That's one just appeared a little while ago," Haku said, "I'm not sure, but I think that one's not with the other three. The fourth's chakra levels are pretty high compared to the other three. He's probably acting independently."

"So then we wait and watch," Naruto whispered conclusively. Haku nodded. They proceeded deeper into the forest, the only noise coming from Naruto's complaints and the ambient wild life. After thirty minutes had passed, they came to a small stream that flowed coolly and quietly. Haku whispered in Naruto's ears, "In your condition, the best you can do is play the bait."

"I agree," Naruto said, "I'll lure them out and you ambush them."

Haku released Naruto and instructed loudly, "Soak your feet in the water, it'll make the swelling go down. I'm going to go find some herbs to treat the wounds."

Naruto complied and kicked off his blue sandals. Haku disappeared into the woods while he laid down by the brook. He placed his feet in the cool water and immediately felt the relieving sensation in his feet. Sighing in content, Naruto took a handful of the water and splashed it onto his face. Feeling refreshed, Naruto wiped it off and stared up at the sky above. Overhead, the clouds rolled by listlessly, occasionally blocking the sun from view. The trap was set. All he had to do was wait for the prey to take the bait. It was a mere matter of playing the waiting game. He cracked a small yawn and stretched his arms on the ground. He suddenly grew tired and closed his eyes for a moment. Only a moment.

WHOOSH!

Kunai! Naruto thought. Rolling over onto his stomach, Naruto drew his katana and parried the plastic knife with a swift swing. It split in two pieces and fell into the water behind him. Rising to his feet and holding his katana as he had been instructed to, Naruto shouted into the forest, "Alright! Come out!"

A loud, cheery voice in the forest returned his growl, "Man that was so cool! You're as sharp as ever boss!"

"Huh? Boss?" Naruto repeated, a click in his mind told him to fear the identity of the followers but for reasons that did not include a physically superior opponent. Before him stood the same poorly painted box meant to resemble a rock with two eyeholes sticking out of the front, except now it was longer than before. Cursing his luck, Naruto lowered his katana and asked, "Konohamaru?"

BANG!

Loud coughs filled the air as a could of red, blue and yellow smoke spiraled upwards. Waving the smoke away with his hand, Naruto stared down in disbelief at the spot where the box once stood. As the smoke cleared, the coughing figures of Konohamaru and his two friends became clear, "I think we used too many smoke bombs, guys."

"Oh man, it is you," Naruto groaned. Konohamaru and his two friends jumped to their feet and grinned wildly, "HEY BOSS! Long time no see, right?"

"What are you doing here, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked, dreading the answer but wanting to know all the same. Konohamaru ecstatically explained, "You said to go meet you when I finally mastered the Henge! Well I went to go see you but you were leaving with that other guy. We thought you might be in trouble so we used our special disguise to follow you here. But then it turned out that he was your sensei so we decided to watch and see how you learned all of your super cool techniques!"

Naruto was in stunned silence. Konohamaru really was stupid, wasn't he? That or just a very unlucky kid. All the same, he was flattered that Konohamaru felt he had to help, even if he was just jumping to conclusions. But to come this far out of the Hidden Leaf Village without an escort was just plain foolish. What if they had gotten hurt? Surely the village would blame him if anything happened to Konohamaru. Then the possibility that they were using their own bait to trap the bait. Haku did mention a fourth person who maintained a shadow's distance behind the these three. If such were the case, then there was a huge risk involved because it would place three children in harm's way. Konoha would never resort to those kind of tactics, no matter what the circumstances. He would have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"Oh hey! Boss!" Konohamaru added, "These are my friends: Udon and Moegi! And together, we are the: KONOHAMARU CORPS!"

"The Konohamaru Corps?" Naruto repeated stupidly. Naruto considered the irony of naming themselves after a combat unit when they were easily frightened by the Suna nin. Naruto shook his head at the memory and came back to reality in time to hear Konohamaru add, "I told them about your technique and they want to learn it too!"

"They do?" Naruto asked, once again dumbstruck. The three of them nodded unanimously. These guys are crazy, aren't they? Naruto thought. It was bad enough that Konohamaru wanted to learn it, but now there were three. If anyone saw them using it, they would make the connection to himself, the Oiroke's creator. Then they would know he was alive.

"So are you going to teach us boss!?" Konohamaru jumped excitedly. Naruto frowned, uncertain of what to do with this new turn of events. Sun Tzu's book said "Captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept. This is called: using the captured foe to augment one's own strength." But these three weren't soldiers. They didn't know how to fight, and worse, was that he had been trying to devise a way to kill them.

"Come on Boss! You promised you'd teach me!" Konohamaru cried. Naruto realized he had been standing dumbstruck for the better part on an hour and snapped out of his trance. Lowering his rice hat sightly, he ordered, "Alright, show me your Henge by transforming into Moegi."

"Alright!" Konohamaru said. Making the proper hand signs, Konohamaru disappeared into a cloud of smoke and transformed into a perfect copy of Moegi. Satisfied, Naruto looked over to Udon and Moegi with a different command, "Okay, you two turn into Konohamaru."

They complied without question and turned into a perfect copies of Konohamaru. Once again, Naruto was satisfied. Each of them were able to use the transformation without too much trouble. The next part would be the hard one, though. They would have to turn into something their eyes were probably not ready for, much less their minds. As they turned back into themselves, Konohamaru asked, "So boss! What's next?"

"Well," Naruto started, "First you need to transform into the prettiest woman you can imagine."

Konohamaru scratched his chin bemusedly, "Hmm...a pretty woman? Okay!"

"HENGE!" Konohamaru called, transforming into a young brunette dressed in a blouse and skirt version of Konohamaru's clothes. Her hair extended down to her back, swept gently by a calm breeze. However, her body was still a little to masculine for the Oiroke. Specifically, the chest had pectoral muscles instead of a bosom and hips that were too tight together. Excitedly, Konohamaru asked, "Like this?"

"No! No!" Naruto said, "You have a woman's face but the body is all wrong!"

"It is?" Konohamaru asked, staring down at his physique with a confused gaze.

"Yeah! Her breasts have got to be bigger and the hips have to be wider!" Naruto pointed out, just then realizing how easily misconstrued the entire conversation could be. Before Naruto could ask him to stop, Konohamaru had already redone the Henge and transformed his body just as Naruto had said: by widening the hips and giving him bigger pecs. Naruto was suddenly disheartened by Konohamaru's misunderstanding. All he did was make the figure more buff. Was he even trying to get it right?

"She's got to be thinner!" Naruto pointed out.

"Thinner?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto explained, "Yeah. For the Oiroke to work, you have to make the perfect slender female body. She needs to have smooth, soft skin; not a hard, muscle toned body. Here, let me show you the Oiroke again."

Running through the hand signs flawlessly, Naruto transformed into his nude female Oiroke. The figure was clouded teasingly in a seductive pose. To add effect, Naruto blew a soft kiss and giggled. Konohamaru and Udon practically melted away while Moegi's face contorted in disgust.

"Ew! Boys are so gross!" she said disapprovingly, "I can't believe you guys like that!"

"No way Moegi!" Konohamaru pleaded, "Believe me! Boss here took out Ebisu sensei with one shot thanks to this."

"But isn't he a pervert?" Udon asked. Moegi took that moment to slap them both and said, "You two should talk! You're just as perverted as Ebisu is. And you're just as bad!"

Moegi pointed at Naruto accusingly. Irritated, Naruto redid the hand signs without uttering a word. No one was impervious to the Oiroke. At least as far as male shinobi were concerned but he never tried it on any females before. Well, except for the female shinobi of questionable orientation but that was irrelevant. What he was going to do was nothing new. An older, more attractive version of himself in the nude with carefully placed steam was all it would take.

As he transformed he placed his hands on his waist and turned to Moegi. For effect, he winked and smiled boyishly. Her face flushed and her gaze suddenly found the ground more interesting. She pushed her fore fingers together shyly and smiled back, "I...er..."

"Admit it!" Konohamaru laughed. Annoyed, Moegi spat back, "No way! This is completely different!"

"Sure it is," Konohamaru jeered sarcastically.

Satisfied with what he had seen, Naruto turned back and said, "Okay, Konohamaru! Try and transform into a beautiful woman. Remember, thin and slender."

"Right!" Konohamaru complied. He excitedly attempted the Oiroke jutsu again, releasing a cloud of smoke with the transformation. As the cloud dissipated, Naruto saw Konohamaru's pretty female face but the same male body. The only true difference was now the body was thinner and had a pair of breasts. Naruto nodded and said, "Okay that's a start. Keep working on it!"

"Alright," Konohamaru saluted happily. Naruto turned to Udon and said, "Your turn!"

"Yes sir!" Udon answered.

And so Naruto spent a good hour or two training them in the Oiroke. They did improve as the day went on, but Moegi made the most progress of them. She was able to get the Oiroke down in a matter of minutes while Konohamaru and Udon were still struggling to get it right. Now Moegi was practicing on perfecting the male variant of the Oiroke. He felt almost like a squad leader teaching genin as he watched them improve. He was practically proud of them. But his delight was overshadowed by his concern.

Haku still hadn't come back and the fourth person following them still hadn't appeared. The best case scenario consisted of Haku waiting in secrecy, waiting for the right moment to spring a trap. He feared the worst case scenario, where Haku was in trouble or was already dead. He preferred the best case scenario over the worst case. Or rather, he wanted the best case scenario over the worst case. But he didn't need to worry. Haku was trained by none other that Momochi Zabuza, the "Demon of the Mist". Whoever this fourth person was, Haku would definitely be able to fight them on equal terms. He just had to stick to the plan for the time being. He would wait for the fourth person to make his move and then Haku would spring the trap.

After some time, the three children fell to the ground tired and sort of breath. Udon was the first to comment, "I'm tired. Can we take a break?"

"Sure," Naruto answered. He was tired himself, considering how much chakra he had lost from the tree climbing exercise and performing the Oiroke. Now that he dwelled on it, his legs were shaking beneath him. Feeling light headed, Naruto let himself fall backwards and land promptly on his rear.

"Hey boss! Are you okay?" Konohamaru panted. Naruto nodded, "Yeah. I guess I'm just tired from my training."

"You mean that thing where you were running up the tree?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto nodded again, drawing in slow and deep breaths. Bewildered, Konohamaru asked, "What kind of training is it?"

"The training is supposed to improve my chakra control," Naruto answered, "Unlike you guys, I burn a lot of chakra when I perform a jutsu. But I have so much of it that I'm able to compensate subconsciously."

"Wow," was all Konohamaru could add. He lay down on grass beside Udon and Moegi. Together, the four of them stared up at the sky above silently before Konohamaru asked, "Hey boss. Do you know a Naruto in the Dewaya?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, intrigued, "What are you talking about?"

"Well," Konohamaru began, "The other day, Udon, Moegi and I ran into these two genin. I think their names were Sakura and Hinata. Anyway, that Sakura girl was being real mean and she chased us down into an alley where we ran into these two Suna ninja. This really big ninja started bullying us, saying he was going to beat us all up but then this guy named Sasuke appeared and saved us. He fought that bully and almost lost until some yakuza showed up and saved him. The girl named Sakura said his name was Naruto, or something like that."

"What makes you think I would know?" Naruto asked. He was surprised Konohamaru hadn't made the connection yet, but happy all the time. If they didn't know that he was Naruto, then he would be safe for the time being. Konohamaru shrugged, "He was dressed in a black suit, like the ones those Dewaya wear. He had the tattoo and everything. So we thought you could help us."

"So you want to tell him thanks?" Naruto asked, confused. Hadn't they realized that he was Naruto? Or had they not made that connection yet? Either way, Naruto listened intently as Konohamaru gave his answer, "Well...kinda...the thing is, as soon as Naruto left, that Sakura girl got really mad and the other one sort of freaked out. We asked what was going on but..."

"...But?..." Naruto pressed.

"Sakura said that we didn't need to know," Konohamaru answered, "That we should just go play somewhere and forget about the whole thing. But I couldn't."

"Who could?" Moegi threw in, "Did you see the look on her face?"

"Who's face?" Naruto asked, growing intrigued. Konohamaru grew silent, swallowing a small lump before saying, "That Hinata girl...she wasn't angry like Sakura, but she wasn't sad either. Instead, she had this scary look on her face. The kind you see on a Buddha except it was angry."

"You mean scary," Moegi corrected, "She was smiling but it wasn't a happy smile. It even scared Sakura."

"So you want to ask him about that?" Naruto answered conclusively. Konohamaru nodded, "Yeah. Really, we just want to know who he is and why they got angry. So do you know he is?"

Naruto lowered his rice hat and carefully considered his options. He had to make sure his existence stayed a secret at any cost. First, he could tell them the truth and ask them to keep it a secret. But then he considered that it was all a well orchestrated trap to trick him into confessing. Besides, thus far their untrustworthiness was fairly untested. He could tell them a conditional truth, but they would probably press the matter until Naruto caved. If they went so far out to follow him all the way here, then there was no reason for them to back down.

He could also just not answer. But they would press him for one until he cracked. And that left the final option: He would tell a lie. He was good at it and they would believe any story he fed them as long as it was within reasonable grounds. Choosing his lie carefully, Naruto began to weave his lie, "Yeah, I know him."

"Do you know where he lives?" Konohamaru rolled onto his stomach, staring at Naruto. Naruto paused, carefully choosing his response, "There's this apartment he used to live in. But he left a long time ago and didn't leave a forwarding address. We don't know where he lives now, and he isn't an official member of the gang. He just shows up when he needs work and we give it to him."

"If he's not a member of the Dewaya, why does he dress up like one?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto smiled unevenly, "He thinks if he's going to align himself with anybody, it should be with people he trusts."

"Doesn't he trust the shinobi of the village?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto paused quietly, "He doesn't say. He keeps to himself a lot. Like I said, he only shows up when he needs work so we don't see a lot of him."

"You know a lot about him, don't you?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto nodded, "Let's just say: I've been in his shoes."

"You've worn his shoes?" Konohamaru misunderstood the saying. Naruto didn't answer, instead adjusting his rice hat so that his face couldn't be seen. Then the foreboding sense of danger returned. Drawing his katana, Naruto stood up on the other side of the three children and blocked four kunai in their tracks. This attack certainly answered several questions. Four kunai meant four targets. It meant the fourth person was trying to off Naruto and the Konohamaru Corps. Speaking of which, the "Konohamaru Corps" were on their feet instantly, drawing out their plastic kunai.

"Put that away," Naruto gritted between his teeth, "These are real kunai. Those plastic one's will get ripped apart."

"We aren't going to let you fight alone, boss," Konohamaru added cheerfully.

"This isn't a game Konohamaru," Naruto said, "You three stay behind me or else you'll get hurt."

Another barrage of kunai came at Naruto. This time, there must have been a hundred of them, coming at him from the surrounding foliage. There was no way he could block all of the incoming kunai by himself. Without a moment's hesitation, Naruto barked out the word, "RUN!"

They took off at full sprint, trying to get out of the way of the incoming attack. None of them dared look back to see where the kunai were coming from, let alone if they were still coming. They just wanted to get as much distance as they could between themselves and their attacker. As they dodged and weaved through the thick foliage of the forest, Naruto wondered where the hell Haku was.

Just then, Konohamaru gave out a loud yelp of pain. Naruto stopped in his tracks, turning to see Konohamaru face down on the ground with his foot tangled in an uplifted root. Four kunai were closing in on the poor boy. Without a second thought, Naruto drew Kitsune and jumped in front of the boy. He parried the kunai in the air, and each fell to ground with a soft thump. Checking to be sure that there were no more kunai coming his way, Naruto lifted Konohamaru up and said, "Keep going."

"Konohamaru!" Moegi and Udon squealed frightfully. Naruto and Konohamaru looked up to find Moegi and Udon hanging from a tree branch. They struggled against the ropes that bound them to no avail. Standing above them was an ANBU wearing the standard combat gear with a broken mask. His wild hair was a wispy silver which covered the exposed side of his face.

"Scarecrow!" Naruto growled angrily, certain it was Kakashi on the other side of the mask. Scarecrow stared down at Naruto returning his greeting with, "You're a difficult kid to track down, you know that? Ever since you disappeared from the Sakurazaki Compound, I've followed every lead to find you. But I never thought I would find you here in Konoha with the Third's grandson of all people."

"Boss, who is that guy?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto lowered his katana in front of him, explaining, "Scarecrow. He's a member of Konoha's ANBU Black Ops who was ordered to kill me."

"Hey what did the boss ever do to you?" Konohamaru pointed accusingly. The ANBU chuckled and said, " The list has gotten long but: evading arrest, association with a Yakuza, bribery and blackmail, endangering the lives of Konoha's citizens, conspiracy to murder several of Konoha's ninja, conspiracy to murder several criminal figures, murder of several criminal figures, impersonating security officials, kidnapping, substance abuse, and illegal gambling."

"There's no way! You've got the wrong guy!" Konohamaru shouted in Naruto's defense. Naruto, on the other hand, wasn't so certain of that. On the contrary, some of that was true. He did smoke once, did dress up as a security guard to rescue the bridge builder's daughter, was responsible for the gang war between the Kitsune and the Watari, was a member of the Kuroihi, and did help work the gambling ring once. But was surprised him was that Scarecrow was well aware of it all.

The question on Naruto's mind, though, was how did he know all that.

"On the contrary, he is guilty of the crimes he's been charged and has been sentenced to the death penalty," Scarecrow said definitively, "Now, Uzumaki Naruto. DIE!"

A giant shuriken appeared into the Scarecrow's right hand, which he promptly hurled in Naruto's direction. Raising his katana and timing his attack, Naruto swung the blade down and knock the shuriken aside. Before it hit the ground, it transformed into Scarecrow who launched another barrage of kunai. Remembering his leaf training, Naruto raised the katana again and observed the kunai as they came in his direction. These kunai were no different from the leaves. Each had a fixed path that it could not divert from. All he had to do was parry the ones putting him and Konohamaru at risk.

He counted ten kunai, eight of which would hit him. If he swung too early, he would miss but if he swung too late it would hit. He also had to be careful with his aim and how much energy he put into the swing, otherwise he would hurt Konohamaru. Taking deep breaths to calm himself, Naruto saw the first one close in. With a careful swipe, he knocked it out of the air. The next two closed in, with little time to get them individually. Adjusting his katana, Naruto got them both by shielding himself from the attack. The fourth missed entirely. The fifth, sixth and seventh moved in for the kill. Doing what he could, Naruto was able to stop the fifth and sixth kunai but the seventh slipped passed and hit him in the left knee.

Naruto buckled from the pain, but couldn't let up now. Thankfully, the eighth kunai was also off target. The last two came in fast but Naruto was able to deflect them skillfully before he gave into the pain in his knee. He poked it and felt pain surge in his body. Disgruntled, Naruto extracted the blood stained kunai from his knee. Blood poured out of the open wound which he tried to stop by squeezing the open wound.

HISS!

Naruto looked to the ground for the source of the noise, only to see small pieces of paper at the end of the kunai he deflected. Paper bombs, Naruto thought distressingly. There was no time for him or Konohamaru to get out of the way. He pulled Konohamaru close to himself and ran a series of hand signs, "Kawarimi no Jutsu!"

He turned his head to the side and spotted two nearby stones. Perfect, Naruto thought. Focusing as hard as he could, Naruto was able to switch the stones within himself and Konohamaru in time to hear the loud explosion. Moegi was the first to cry out, "KONOHAMARU!"

Naruto used his free hand to cover Konohamaru's mouth while using the other to keep pressure on his injured knee. He dragged himself and Konohamaru behind a nearby tree and whispered, "Keep quiet."

"YOU MEANIE! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!" Moegi cried out angrily, her voice growing weak.

"Shut up," Scarecrow ordered bitterly, "They got away with a substitution. But they won't get that far. Not with his injured knee."

Moegi's quiet sniffs were the only noise for a while, but it didn't distract Naruto from all the pain in his leg. Disgruntled, Scarecrow added, "You two be good and wait here while I go find the boy."

There was a soft poof that signaled the shinobi's departure. Certain that Scarecrow was gone, Naruto sighed in quiet relief only to gasp in pain when he realized just how much pain his leg was in. All the while Konohamaru was dead quiet, looking at him in stunned disbelief, "You...you're Naruto?"

"Yes," Naruto said, having difficulty thinking straight from all the racing thoughts in his head.

If he hadn't been quick, he and Konohamaru would have died in the ensuing blast of the paper bombs. The addition of the throbbing pain in his leg didn't help him at all either. Then there was the question of how Scarecrow knew about all those activities Naruto had been up to. There was also the matter of rescuing Moegi and Udon without alerting Scarecrow. Before he could contemplate on what to do, Konohamaru asked, "Why didn't tell us? Why did you lie?"

"My own safety," Naruto explained, growing faint. Disheartened, Konohamaru asked, "Don't you trust us?"

"I've had my trust broken and my life endangered a lot, Konohamaru," Naruto answered, "After a while, it gets hard to trust others."

Unimpressed, Konohamaru self-righteously said, "That's still no reason to lie."

"Can we talk about this later?" Naruto pleaded, his head aching uncontrollably. Konohamaru nodded, "Fine, so what do we do?"

Naruto murmured back, "I don't know."

"We have to help Moegi and Udon," Konohamaru pointed out, "We need to help them."

"I know," Naruto answered, growing impatient.

"So what do we do?" Konohamaru asked quietly.

"I don't know!" Naruto snapped quietly at the boy, squeezing his knee even tighter. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Naruto said, "My knee is killing me Konohamaru. It'd be impossible to fight him on equal terms. We were already at a disadvantage before my knee got in this state. We can't get away either, not with my leg torn up."

"What about the Oiroke?" Konohamaru asked pleadingly. Naruto shot him a stupefied look, "Are you kidding?"

"It worked on Ebisu-sensei," Konohamaru answered sheepishly. Naruto patted the boy on the head and said, "Yeah, and I got lucky. It doesn't work on everyone Konohamaru."

"So then what do we do?" Konohamaru asked again for the umpteenth time. Naruto said, "We wait and watch."

As he said these words, a gentle mist began to accumulate in the woods. It grew thicker and thicker, shrouding the surrounding forest until nothing was visible. Soft foot steps approached his direction before coming to an abrupt stop.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Haku's voice asked weakly. Naruto whispered back, "Haku, where were you?"

"Ambush," Haku said, appearing beside him and Konohamaru. His torn clothes and sword covered in blood, although whether it was his own or someone else's was a mystery. The edges of his clothing were frayed, as if they had temporarily caught fire. Haku wore a tired look on his face, and knelt down beside Naruto, "An ANBU named Scarecrow. He caught me off guard and chased me into the forest. He was trying to separate us."

"Seriously? I was attacked by the same guy," Naruto said. Bewildered, Konohamaru asked, "Naruto, who is this?"

"This is Haku," Naruto introduced, "Haku, this is Konohamaru."

"Pleasure to meet you," Haku greeted with a frown. Konohamaru remained speechless, but Haku didn't waste time with greetings, instead asking, "What is he doing here?"

"He and his friends followed us," Naruto explained, "They were the three carrying the weight. Turned out to be box painted like a rock. Scarecrow ended up catching them. They're tied up in that tree over there. Konohamaru and I were planning a way to rescue them."

"It's probably a trap," Haku said. Naruto nodded, "That occurred to me. But we can't leave them there."

"Then you think there's something wrong as well?" Haku asked. Confused, Naruto questioned, "What do you mean?"

"ANBU never work alone for an assassination mission," Haku explained, "They work in teams of at least three to ensure the best probability for success. But Scarecrow works alone and shows no regard for Konoha's rules of combat. I don't think he's a shinobi for Konoha."

"Then what is he?" Naruto asked. Haku's face became grim and warning, "A rogue like Zabuza was. And he's probably using your two friends like bait to lure us out."

"But if he's a rogue, why does he want me dead?" Naruto asked.

"Rogues usually get hired for assassination jobs," Haku explained, "But he's going through too much trouble just for money. He probably did something that got him banished from the village and he thinks killing you will redeem his honor in Konoha's eyes."

"Do you really want to know?" Scarecrow's voice asked calmly. They all looked upwards to see Scarecrow standing upside down from an open tree branch, staring down at them as if it were the most casual thing in the world. Haku jumped up to his feet while Naruto struggled to get up, his knee still pouring out blood. Scarecrow snickered, "You got part of it right. I was banished from Konoha for getting my team killed during a routine escort mission. But you know what? I'm not trying to redeem myself in their eyes. Working free lance is much more fun and the client is offering twice what Konoha offered to put you out of the way."

"And the client is?" Haku asked. Scarecrow chuckled again, "Cute, but I think I'll keep that to myself. Here's a hint: It's a higher up in the Dewaya."

A higher up in the Dewaya? The first three names to cross his mind were Shinji, Miji and Yahiko. Miji was the most likely candidate since he was clearly still bitter about his uncle's murder. But Scarecrow had been contracted long before Miji's uncle died. So that left Shinji and Yahiko.

"So Boss Hashi was correct," Haku said suddenly. Naruto turned his head in Haku's direction. Did Boss Hashi know something about all this and was Haku in the loop. Naruto wanted to ask what Haku was talking about, but Haku was already whispering orders, "Naruto, go get Konohamaru's friends and get back to the stream. Follow it upstream about ten minutes. There's a safe-house there that you can use."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto questioned the surprising orders. Haku shook his head, "I'll explain later. Now go. I'll distract Scarecrow."

"But-"

"GO!" Haku hissed. Naruto grabbed Konohamaru's wrist and began to limp away. Scarecrow cursed angrily and a flurry of kunai began whizzing past Naruto. Konohamaru started protesting as they ran, "Hey! Where are we going! We can take this guy!"

Ignoring Konohamaru, Naruto started grabbing some of the kunai on the ground as they ran. There was a soft boom somewhere behind them, followed by a wave of broken kunai and tree splinters. They came to a stop at the base of the tree where Udon and Moegi were hanging fearfully.

"Konohamaru! What's going on?" Udon shouted, "We heard an explosion."

"That's what I'm trying to ask the boss but he won't tell me," Konohamaru said. Taking aim one at a time, Naruto threw the kunai skillfully and was able to cut the ropes. Udon and Moegi fell to the ground abruptly, followed by Naruto and Konohamaru untying their ropes. Once they were free, Naruto said, "Follow me."

"Boss, where are we going?" Konohamaru demanded again.

"A safe-house," Naruto answered. The Konohamaru Corps exchanged clueless expressions as they kept pace behind the limping Naruto. Explosions rocked behind them, along with tree splinters and kicked up dirt. A worried Konohamaru asked, "Will Haku be alright by himself?'

"He'll be fine," Naruto assured him, even though he himself was fret with worry, "Haku was trained by the Demon of the Mist Village. He can take whatever Scarecrow sends his way."

They arrived at the stream where they had been training earlier and followed it upstream as Haku instructed. They moved as fast as they could, especially with Naruto's limp which inhibited his speed. The remainder of the trip was quiet, save for the occasional explosion or crushing sound somewhere in the distance. Just as Haku said, no more than 10 minutes upstream was a wooden house overgrown by plants and dirt.

It was small, like the one in the Land of Waves, and covered in a fine layer of dust. Naruto approached it first, uncertain of its structural stability. Drawing his katana, he prodded the door which creaked open. He stepped into the dusty, single room which had only a refrigerator, table, sink and a rug. He becked the kids inside and closed the door behind them. The three kids sat down nervously on the rug. Konohamaru was the first to ask, "What now?"

"We wait," Naruto said.

"For Haku?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto nodded. Udon was the first to protest, "But we have to get home to our parents. We can't just stay here."

"You can go as soon Haku gets here and we can escort you to the village," Naruto said, "Now wait."

"But!"

"WAIT!" Naruto barked. Udon stepped back fearfully. Realizing what he had done, Naruto shook his head and apologetically added, "I'm sorry. I'm just worried."

And how could he not be? Haku was most certainly left to his doom. Why didn't he turn back and help? Well it was too late now. All he could do was wait here with the Konohamaru Corps until Haku got back. That is, if he got back.

.........

Author's Notes: Well, another chapter over and done with. In order to free up my schedule, the next update will come in 8 weeks on Friday, April 10th! If you loved the story, leave a comment in the reviews section. I also welcome constructive criticism and analysis into the next chapter of the story. If you are attending Northern Illinois University and would like to chat, just PM me and we can meet face to face! Until next time, this is leonardo1123581321 signing out!