Chapter 25: It Hits The Fan

(Author's Note)

Hey everyone, Happy New Year! I know that this chapter is late but real life sucks sometimes and I can't help it. Hopefully I can go back to my regular work shift soon. Just a few quick few things before we get into the chapter so bear with me, I know that they're boring but I have a few things to let you guys know.

"My Hero":

Firstly, by the time you are reading this the first chapter of my next story "My Hero" has been up for a little over a week. Please give it a read and let me know what you think of it. I am using the first chapter to gauge the response of it. Please leave a REVIEW and let me know what you think, I've had this story planned since the beginning of this one and it's the one that I originally wanted to do. This story was meant to be a short story and not be turned into a full length story. "My Hero" is rated a very strict M for themes, violence, language, blood, mention of self harm, depression, all the works. It is NOT rated for Lemons however, I have made the decision to not include any in it whatsoever. There will be couples, mentions of it and the such but no actual content will be shown. Hopefully that doesn't upset anyone, I myself don't like writing it and I don't believe that I can write anything good if I don't like it. Sorry if you wanted it but I'm just not that writer.

"A Christmas Wish":

Second, my first Fullmetal Alchemist one-shot came out a little before Christmas, if you haven't read it then please give it a shot. I have only heard good things about it from reviews, it's really sweet and cute, not my normal style but I absolutely loved writing it. You can find it by going to my profile, check my profile while you're there, if you would please.

Cover Image Request:

Third, concerning "My Hero" I would love to have a custom cover image done for it but I lack both the skills and time to do it myself. I won't be able to pay anyone for it so it'll have to be out of the goodness of your heart. If that doesn't work then maybe you can request a one-shot or short story, I don't know. But please let me know if you'd be interested. I want the image to be of Naruto and Sakura together, I could easily find one from google but I want it to be more special than that. Send me a PM for more info.

My missing Christmas one-shots:

Lastly, I know that in my profile I promised to put out a few more Christmas one-shots but I got sick for three weeks straight before and during Christmas so I wasn't able to write them. I might still write them if you guys want, just let me know with a PM.

Also a huge thanks to xblackxhunterx for helping me beta this chapter and the past several few, I always forget to mention that, sorry xblackxhunterx.

With all of that out of the way I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter, it's setting up the end of the story so be warned. I had less than a week to get it out so I'm sorry if it's not up to par.

Hephaestus

Chapter 25: It Hits The Fan

(With Naruto and Shou)

Note:

"Normal conversation/Narration"

'Thoughts'

'Inner Sakura and thoughts'

"Mind Jutsus"

"Kurama text"

(With Naruto and Shou)

After their meeting with Morinosuke, Naruto and Shikamaru decided to get into contact with Shou again in order to try and get as much information out of him about Morinosuke's plan, including these new types of experimental weapons that lands outside of the Elemental Nations had been creating to compete with their ninja. Both Shikamaru and Naruto had heard rumors about the weapons through intelligence gathering but those were all they were, rumors. They had nothing solid yet, so Naruto now sat beside Shou outside Morinosuke's main office building in order to wait for the guard shift.

"Are you sure we can trust this guy?" Naruto asked Shou across from him at their table.

Shou nodded his head. "Yeah, he hates my uncle as much as I do. He's the only guard who doesn't keep an eye on me for my uncle and tattle on me whenever I do something wrong. We can trust him."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You better be right, Shou."

"Don't worry, Ishihara-san, I trust Shoto with my life. When I vouch for you he'll let you in."

Naruto and Shou were waiting for this 'Shoto', one of Morinosuke's security guards, to come on shift so that Shou could get Naruto into the building. Even though Shou is Morinosuke's nephew and heir, he holds very little actual power over anything on the island. He isn't allowed into any of his uncle's restricted rooms without his uncle personally being there to watch him. And since this entire building was restricted, Shou had to wait until a guard he could talk into letting Naruto in, to come on shift.

Naruto and Shou had attempted some small talk earlier but it fell flat instantly. They couldn't really talk about anything anyway, since Naruto was undercover, but he found the silence mind numbing so he decided to try to press Shou for more information.

"What can you tell me about these new weapons that your uncle is smuggling into the country?"

Shou's head snapped up quickly, his eyes widened. He answered quickly but caused himself to stutter. "Uh, w-well my uncle d-didn't tell me anything about them. No surprise there." He said the last sentence under his breath but Naruto easily heard it thanks to his sensitive hearing.

"But I've heard that they are based off some kind of new power source." He shrugged. "I've also never seen one but I heard that my uncle tested out one of them on two guards recently."

Naruto raised a brow in question. "Why would he use his own men for the tests?" He asked.

"I heard that they failed him recently." He leaned in a little over the table. "You should know that my uncle gets rid of anything he deems useless or inferior. Including his own men. It's as he always says, he has no use for inferior products."

Everything Naruto heard about Morinosuke made him hate him more. From the literal harem of women he kept around on the island to the not so legal method of how he came to own the island. Mano Morinosuke was clearly not your garden variety bad guy. He had no redeeming qualities except for his unique code of honor. But even that didn't make Naruto want to throw him before the Kage any less.

"Do you have any idea where the weapons are being held?" Naruto asked.

Shou shook his head. "Not really. I know that my uncle has a bunker for all of the weapons and drugs but I don't know where it is." He asked before a slightly confused look came across his face. "But why do you ask about the weapons? I thought that we were after a list of the members of the crime ring?"

Shit, even though Shou wasn't the smartest guy in the room, Naruto had to admit that he wasn't completely stupid. Naruto easily kept his reaction neutral though, he had to keep up appearances.

"We are, but I would rather not have to worry about having to face off against these weapons if Morinosuke catches wind of our actions." Naruto said evenly before leaning back in his chair. "Besides, I am sure that my boss would love some new experimental weapons. We don't have much of a way of competing against the ninja of the Elemental Nations either."

Shou nodded, seemingly convinced. "Makes sense, I can't imagine having to try to fight against those crazy powerful ninja. I mean have you heard about some of the things that they can do?" He asked.

Naruto shook his head. Pretending to not know. Shou continued. "I've heard that they can walk on water and run up walls. That's crazy, isn't it? I mean, I've heard that some of them can transform, teleport and duplicate themselves. How are we normal people supposed to compete against that? That's not even anything compared to the guy that they call 'The Fox'."

Naruto's eyes widened at the obvious mention of him. He had a hard time keeping his face calm. He cleared his throat. "The Fox?" He asked.

Shou gave him a surprised reaction, like he couldn't believe it. "You mean that you haven't heard of him? How?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. We keep to ourselves and try not to get involved with the ninja."

"Well he's insane." Shou said quickly. "I heard that he can transform into a hundred foot tall fox made of fire and destroy mountains with a single swipe of his paw."

"No way."

"I'm serious. He apparently made a deal with the devil or something and it granted him his power. It's said that he destroyed an entire army of thousands of monsters in one move. He's apparently so strong that in his normal form he can lift a mountain and fast enough to outspeed any weapon. I've even heard from some mercenaries that they've seen him in action. They said that he is the lap dog of the Kage of the Elemental Nations and created by them in order to be their most powerful weapon. That's why no nation can go up against them. The Fox is too stupid powerful."

Naruto had to keep himself from laughing at the wildly over exaggerated claims about himself. Lift a mountain as himself? He can't do anything close to that. He turned on a disbelieving voice. "Sounds like crap to me. No way someone like that could exist."

Shou shook his head furiously. "No, I'm not kidding! He's real! They say that he was the one who killed that crazy immortal guy who wanted to take over the world!"

"Who?" Naruto asked, feigning ignorance.

Shou's eyes widened comically. "You mean that you don't know about the guy who stopped time with his powers?"

"Stopping time? With powers?" Naruto asked, sounding skeptical. "What are you guys drinking over here? People can't stop time."

"But this guy did! But before he could take over the world, The Fox stopped him."

Naruto was about to open his mouth when from the corner of his eye he saw another guard walk up to the front door. He and the other guard exchanged no words before walking away. Leaving the new guard named 'Shoto' standing in front of the door. Shou seemed to notice this too.

"Ah, there he is! Let's go." Shou said to Naruto as he stood up and started walking to the door.

oooOooo

"That was easier than I thought." Naruto said as he and Shou walked down the hall after being let in by Shoto.

"I told you he'd let us in." Shou said as he directed the way. "He doesn't really care what I do and once I vouch for someone he always agrees. I normally just bribe him with some alcohol whenever I need to sneak around with Niwa."

"So where is Morinosuke's office?" Naruto asked. "The top floor I guess?"

Shou nodded his head. "That would be correct, Ishihara-san. My uncle's office is on the top floor. The only way to reach it is to use his private elevator."

Naruto stopped walking, Shou noticed this and turned back to him. "Private elevator?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, only he and a select few of his guards have the key." Shou said with a confident nod.

Naruto only looked at the other man for a few seconds before narrowing his eyes dangerously. "And you do have a key, right?"

"Nope." Shou said quickly. He stood and watched Naruto's face with confusion for a few seconds before the realization hit him. "Ah crap!" He facepalmed.

Naruto stepped up to him and made sure to keep his voice down. "How exactly are we supposed to get up the five floors to his office without the elevator?"

Shou only gave him a blank look in response.

Nevermind his earlier thought, Naruto was now sure that Shou was an idiot.

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking. If he got the door to the elevator shaft open then he could easily just chakra walk up the side of the wall and get there without breaking a sweat. But now, with Shou tagging along he couldn't reveal his abilities. What about climbing up the cable? Would that work? But would Shou even be able to climb up the five stories of cable?

Naruto took a quick look at Shou, he was an inch taller than him and in good physical shape, if only for show and to boost his own ego, but he should be physically capable of climbing the distance.

"I have an idea." Naruto said as stepped up to the elevator at the end of the hall. Shou followed. "How good are you at climbing?"

oooOooo

Needless to say but the climb up the cable was extremely… frustrating. As Naruto expected, Shou wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea and was opposed to the idea entirely. When Naruto pried the doors open and boosted Shou onto the top on the elevator through the small hatch, the other man refused to climb the cable. Apparently he was deathly afraid of heights. So that is how Naruto found himself in his current predicament, climbing up a three inch wide cable up five floors with another man clinging desperately onto his back to keep from falling. If any of his friends saw this he'd never be able to live it down. It was so humiliating.

"Can you just pry the door open?" Naruto asked, his patience was wearing thin and his voice reflected that.

"No!" Shou said loudly. His eyes closed as he held onto Natuto with a death grip.

"Well you're going to have to since I need my hands to hold onto the cable. Which, I remind you, I'm still holding onto as we speak. It is also very slippery so you better man up and open the door before we both fall."

Thanks to the grease on the cable actually gripping the cable was early impossible, the only reason why Naruto got this far was because he used his chakra to stick to the cable. It was the same idea as chakra walking up a tree, albeit slower and more strenuous on his arms.

"Please don't drop me!" Shou yelled in his ear. Naruto had to tighten his grip, Shou's loud cries of fear while climbing up the cable didn't help either.

"I will if you don't hurry up and open the door." Naruto warned.

"I can't!" He whined.

Naruto rolled his eyes and seriously had to stop himself from just dropping Shou and climbing up himself. He was sure that he could just find whatever information he needed himself.

Coming to the realization that Shou would never let go of him long enough to pry the door open, Naruto let out a low 'Troublesome' that he was sure he picked up from working with Shikamaru before letting go of the cable with one hand and slamming his chakra powered fist into the metal door. Luckily for him, Shou had his eyes closed the entire time so that allowed Naruto to use Kurama's chakra to supercharge his muscles for a quick moment.

As soon as Naruto's feet were on solid ground he rudely knocked Shou off of his back, since the other man was still holding on for dear life and- was he crying? Naruto only felt himself roll his eyes one more time before clearing his throat.

"Now Shou, you're sure that Shoto turned the cameras off , right? You're sure that we can trust him?" Naruto only received wheezing and calming breaths for a response as Shou tried his best to get himself calmed down.

"This guy is pathetic." He mumbled under his breath, only Kurama heard and let out an amused chuckle in his head. Shou was currently kissing the hardwood floor like a deprived man.

"Let's get this over with as soon as possible." Naruto huffed as he started down the short hall and into Morinisuke's office.

As Naruto placed a hand on the door his enhanced senses kicked in, stopping him mid motion. He sensed a presence on the other side of the door. Was it Morinosuke? He wasn't supposed to be here!

Shou got up off the floor and stood behind Naruto, he was about to open his mouth, no doubt to complain again, but before he could Naruto covered his mouth with his hand. He held a finger to his lips, signalling for Shou to be quiet.

Naruto removed his hand and pressed his ear softly against the door, trying to hear who was on the other side. From what he could hear, and the confirmation from Kurama, it was a lone male in the room, walking in a tight circle. No doubt bored and pacing.

'So it's a guard.' Naruto thought. 'Good.' He turned briefly to signal for Shou to stay back, only to receive a confused look and a questioning shrug in return.

'I swear to Kami…' He mumbled to Kurama in his head. 'This guy is useless.' This time Naruto just held up an open hand to Shou, the universal sign to stop. Thankfully, for Naruto's sake, Shou understood this and stepped back and stood behind the corner.

Shou swore that he was only behind the corner for a second before he heard the door slam open, a surprised yelp, muffled shouts before a loud 'thud' that he assumed to be the person behind the door. Shou hesitantly stuck his head out and saw one of his uncle's guards on the ground, hogtied with the belt from his own haori. He was also unconscious as well, Shou noticed.

"How did you do that?" He asked in disbelief.

Naruto only gave him a smirk before getting off of the unconscious man he was sitting on. "That was nothing, believe me. Now, come on, we got to find all the information we need before Morinosuke gets back."

oooOooo

(Later)

Naruto and Shou had only been in Morinosuke's office for a few minutes and had yet to find anything incriminating when Naruto sensed people approaching. He dropped the file in his hand instantly and turned to Shou.

"Someone's coming! Hide!" Naruto said in a quick, hushed voice.

"Where?!" Shou asked as he turned but when he did he couldn't find Naruto. Where did he go? Realizing that he was standing in the center of his uncle's office with a pile of files around him, he froze. He could hear the feet against the wood flooring. And when the door opened he couldn't do anything but stare wide-eyed as he came face to face with his uncle.

"Shou?" Morinosuke asked as he stopped in the doorway. Confusion clearly written on his face. "Did I summon you here?" He asked with a tilted head. He seemed genuinely confused as to why Shou was in his office. To him it was inconceivable that Shou was first able to get into his office without permission and second he didn't believe that Shou would be here without being required to be.

Shou wasn't able to answer, he was only able to stare at his uncle as his face went pale and sweat visibly dripped from his brow. Morinosuke narrowed his eyes slightly as he stood straighter and spoke in a low voice.

"What are you doing here, Shou?" He took a half step closer, still unable to see the files on the ground thanks to the coffee table.

'Shit.' Naruto thought from his place on the ceiling. He was using a type of 'chameleon jutsu' that Pervy Sage taught him. And even though his master frequently only used it while doing his 'research', Naruto found that while the jutsu had its flaws since it couldn't be used in motion, it did have a great potential in espionage, if used correctly.

'Say something, Shou'. He thought, wishing more than anything that he could just jump down there, take out Morinosuke and his men and get the hell out of there.

"Well?" Morinosuke asked. His mood growing more sour as the seconds ticked by.

"...W-well I u-uh…" Shou tried to think of something but his mind went blank, only fearing what his uncle was going to do to him once he figured out what was going on.

"Spit it out, boy!" He spat. He took another small step forward before his eyes widened slightly, as he was remembering something. "Wait… Where is Yagi?"

Naruto didn't know who this 'Yagi' was but after a second it clicked. Yagi must have been the guard that was in the office when they broke in. The guard that Naruto knocked out and the guard that was currently lying on the floor behind Morinosuke's large desk.

It was then when Morinosuke looked to the open file cabinet and saw the file currently in Shou's hand. Naruto didn't even have time to think before Morinosuke closed the remaining gap between him, grabbing the young man and raising him off the ground by his collar.

"What the hell is going on here, boy?" He yelled, his face only an inch from Shou's.

"U-uncle I-" Shou tried to speak but his head was slammed into the wall, hard.

"Ah!" Shou yelled in pain. Naruto winced at the sound.

Morinosuke looked like he was about to set the young man down until he looked around him and saw the now visible unconscious guard tied on the floor. All of the muscles inside of Morinosuke tensed for a few seconds before he slammed Shou back into the wall with a loud 'thud'. Chips of the wall fell to the ground when he pulled Shou back to him.

"Tell me what is going on here, Shou." His voice was low and dangerous. Almost a growl. "Tell me before I beat it out of you."

The look of pain and fear washed off of Shou's face. The young man seemed to find his courage for the briefest of moments. He gave his uncle a bloody smile before spitting in his uncle's face.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore, uncle!" He said with a bloody smile before increasing his volume and yelling in his uncle's face fo the first time in his life. "You don't have any power over me anymore! I refuse to give you that power anymore!"

Those words sounded familiar to Naruto, he knew that they were. But he couldn't-

Oh no, those were his words to Shou about Morinosuke. Naruto's eyes went wide as he clung to the wall and watched as the two guards that had followed Morinosuke in started to leave without a word. This was not going to go well.

Morinosuke's face was neutral for a few seconds before instantly darkening over, twitching with rage. "What did you say?!" He screamed at the young man he still held off the ground with one hand.

"I said 'screw you'." Shou spat. "You murderous bastard."

"Aaahhhh!" Shou screamed as his uncle launched his massive fist into the young man's stomach.

Naruto's body tensed instinctively as he prepared to move.

"Don't move, Kit." Kurama said. "I know that you want to help but we need to keep our cover. He hasn't noticed us yet."

'But-.'

"Save it, Kit. I want to kill that human as much as you do but we don't have jurisdiction here, we can only fight in order of self defense. Until we hear back from the Kage we can't lay a finger on him."

Kurama was right, Naruto knew that. Without express permission from either Kakashi-sensei or another Kage he couldn't make a move against Morinosuke outside of the Elemental Nations. But damn did Naruto want to beat the man into the ground for everything he's done.

"Hhggg!" Shou groaned out as his uncle slammed him to the floor. His large fists now wearing brass knuckles. He raised his fist above the young man's head.

"You ungrateful boy!" He roared. "Everything that you have in life you got from me! Without me you're nothing! Just another pathetic child crying over his mother and father!"

Shou's eyes flashed red for a second before he swung his free fist at his uncle. Connecting to his jaw with a harsh sound. "Don't talk about my parents, you murderer!" He screamed.

A second later Shou realized his mistake, he shouldn't have done that. Morinosuke's head turned slowly back to face his nephew, he silently raised his fist again before opening his mouth.

"I'm going to kill you, you ungrateful boy!"

Naruto's fists were clenched and his teeth were grinding so hard that he worried that they might break. He wanted to do something so badly. No one, not even someone he doesn't get along with like Shou, deserves this.

'Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!' Naruto screamed inside his head.

"Calm yourself, Kit." Kurama ordered. "If he kills Shou then we might be able to convince Hatake to-" But the chakra beast wasn't able to finish his words as Naruto launched himself off the wall, undoing his jutsu, and slamming his fist into Morinosuke's face as the latter's was an inch from Shou's face.

"Aaahhhh!" Mano yelled as he was knocked off his feet and into the wall. Clutching his bloody jaw as he turned to see Naruto standing over him, his fists still raised and his stance firm.

"Don't lay another hand on him, Mano." He warned dangerously.

"You!" Morinosuke screamed in rage. "I knew that you were behind this! I'm going to kill you!" He struggled to get to his feet but he was knocked back into the wall by a gut punch from Naruto.

"We still have a deal, Morinosuke." Naruto said, trying his best to keep himself calm. Them walking out of here without a fight relied on it. "Or don't you remember? My associate and I offered a deal with you from Mr. Shinoda. And in that deal it stated explicitly that we were not allowed to harm each other."

Morinosuke's eyes narrowed. "And what do you call interfering where it doesn't concern you, Yakuza?!" He yelled.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in return. "I was preventing you from murdering your own nephew." He growled. "We prize family and loyalty above all else, Mr. Shinoda would not be pleased if he heard that you killed your sole heir."

Morinosuke made a motion to get up but Naruto took a step closer and held out a hand. "Now here's what's going to happen, Morinosuke." Naruto said in a low voice. "Shou and I are going to leave and you are going to do nothing but wipe that blood off your face and get a drink. You did not find Shou in your office, you did not try to kill him and I didn't stop you. I was never here."

"Do you really think that I-"

"You have no choice." Naruto growled. "We are the Yakuza. You don't break deals with us. If you say or do anything then we will kill you."

"Are you prepared if he calls your bluff, Kit?" Kurama asked in his head. Naruto gave a nod.

"Stand up and try to come at me if you think I'm bluffing." He dared. He only received a glare before the older man turned his eyes away from him. "Good choice."

Before Morinosuke could change his mind, Naruto reached a hand out to the wide-eyed and shocked Shou. He took it after a few seconds and was pulled to his unstable feet. Naruto helped the limping man out of the room silently. Never taking his eyes off of the old man.

oooOooo

(Later with Naruto and Shou)

Naruto rushed Shou out of the building as fast as he could move, the other man was losing a lot of blood. He needed to get him back to his villa so that he could start first aid. Halfway to the other mans' room he passed out from the blood loss. Naruto risked breaking his cover and used his full speed to get to this villa in under a minute.

Shou's villa was currently quite, Niwa was sitting in the living room painting her nails when the front door suddenly burst open to reveal Naruto holding an unconscious Shou in his arms.

"Shou!" She screamed as she saw her boyfriend. She raced to where Naruto placed him on a couch. "What in Kami's name happened?" She demanded.

"His uncle." Was all Naruto said before he threw caution to the wind and summoned a field trauma kit in front of Niwa, surprising the poor girl when a bag appeared in his hand. Naruto began working on the other man as soon as he dumped the contents of the bag on the floor. He was nothing compared to Lady Tsunade or Sakura but he did know his way around a first aid kit. His chakra was useless at healing though, it would cause more harm than good. So he was forced to rely on his average ability at first aid.

"Shou! Shou honey!" Niwa yelled as she sat down by his head and held his hand. "Stay with me!"

oooOooo

(Later)

Naruto wasn't a medic. He didn't have it in him. It wasn't the skills or experience he lacked, it was the ability to look at a hurting or dying person and admit that there was nothing he could do. He couldn't stand being useless. He didn't understand how Sakura could stomach it.

After stabling Shou the best he could, Naruto explained as much as he could to a distraught Niwa, he cleaned himself up and wished his best to Niwa before heading to the door, he was stopped when he felt her grab him.

"Thank you." She whispered as she tried her best to hug him from behind. He wordlessly turned around and tightly held her, letting her cry for a minute before he left.

Naruto made his way back to his villa without even realizing it. He just found himself at the door. Sakura was waiting for him on the couch with a smile on her face but when she saw her boyfriend stumble in, dried blood on his clothes and an all to familiar look in his eyes, she knew something happened.

"Naru-kun, what happened?" She asked, clearing the distance to him and hugging him, checking him for injuries.

"Morinosuke caught us." He whispered. "He beat Shou. I had to stop him."

Her eyes widened. "Did you…?" She couldn't make herself say it.

"...No." He finally answered. "But I should've."

They stood in silence for a minute before Naruto broke it. "We need to contact the others."

(Author's Note)

Thanks for reading, please leave a REVIEW, Follow and Favorite both me and this story. Also check out my Profile and my new poll to vote on what one-shots you would like to do in the future. I already have one vote for a NarutoxTenten one-shot. If you can't vote just let me know with a PM.

Until next time this has been Hephaestus