Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, and whoever or whatever else may be reading this, welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter twen

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, and whoever or whatever else may be reading this, welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter twenty nine! What shall happen in this chapter shall shift the plot, fry your brains, and make you drool and beg for more just as I mercilessly nail you with a cliffhanger. What's the point in lying, we all know that that is what is going to happen.

Disclaimer: Didn't Zodd just explain this to you last chapter? (Sigh) idiots. I do not own Naruto! Stop insinuating that I do! Honestly, do you think that anything which I write could ever be so mundane!?

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Summary of last chapter

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The plot moved. What, that's what happened. You guys want more? You greedy bastards. Fine, here's a more 'in depth' explanation.

Jiraiya and Gai made their way to Tanzaku-Gai and finally got there as the chapter ended. Naruto exploited Orochimaru for information on Akatsuki, Hogback tested diseases, and The Aburame clan went out with a bang, literally. Mostly thanks to the disease that infected Shino but that's what happened in the end.

Naruto hid in Tanzaku-Gai with Haku and some of his strongest Generals along with Absalom in tow, waiting for Jiraiya, and that's about it. There, happy?

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With Jiraiya and Gai

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Jiraiya and Gai finally arrived in Tanzaku-Gai. They could have gotten there earlier if the old sage hadn't spent so much of his time peeping, but they got there eventually and that's what matters. They just had to hope that Tsunade was still here or, if she did leave, that they could get a solid lead as to where she went. If they couldn't, then they were stuck.

Jiraiya said to Gai "Alright Gai, we're going to split up and search for Tsunade. It would probably be best to find some high ground and get a bird's eye view in this case. If I remember correctly this town is famous for a large castle, that should be a pretty good vantage point."

Gai nodded and said "There's only one problem Jiraiya-sama, I don't see any castle here."

Jiraiya looked at the Jounin oddly and said "What are you talking about? How can you miss it, its right there." Then he pointed near the center of town, where there was nothing but air. Then he looked where he pointed, where the castle should have been and said "What the hell happened to it?"

It was unfortunate for those two that Orochimaru got there first, and after running to his nearest base of operations to get a new assistant, returned and with that assistants help summoned a snake which destroyed the castle to get Tsunade's attention. Then he offered her a deal to heal his arms in exchange for bringing Nawaki and Dan, her little brother and lover, back to life.

Seeing that there was no castle to overlook the town, the two decided that there was obviously something wrong here and searched together. Where did they search? The bars and casinos of course.

After about two hours of looking around, they finally entered a bar which had two unusual patrons. The first was a girl with short black hair with a pig of all things, and the second was an incredibly busty blonde with brown eyes. This blonde eyed the white haired pervert and just said "Jiraiya?! What the hell are you doing here?"

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With Yukino (Didn't see that coming did you?)

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Yukino was conflicted. She had long since come to terms with the fact that she liked Haruka as more than just a friend, but she had never been able to tell her how she felt. Knowing that she had never got to tell her how she felt before Haruka died had been horrible, it felt like a part of her died as well the second that she heard the news. She had gone into a murderous depressive slump until Naruto arrived and found her.

Then, when he told her that he could bring Haruka back, she went with him with all her heart, willing to do anything just to have a chance to fix past mistakes, to tell her how she felt, even if she did not reciprocate those feelings. That was how she left Iwagakure and joined Naruto's mysterious group. And as he promised, he gave Haruka back to her.

However, even after feeling the immense pain that came with Haruka's death without at least letting her know how she felt, she still hadn't managed to say it to her. She was wasting her unexpected second chance and she knew it. It tormented her that she could not muster up the courage just to say a few words, even after the years of trying.

But that was going to change today, she was going over to Haruka's room to tell her how she felt, even if she decided to be her friend no longer. Managing to get these feelings off her chest was more than worth it. After that, her proximity would be enough for her.

She moved over to Haruka's door and opened it unannounced. They had been friends for so long, through thick and thin, that it had become a habit for both of them. What she didn't expect was to find Haruka in her normal combat gear and all her most important possessions in a bag nearby.

Haruka was, to be expected, quite shocked. Sure, she knew that if Yukino visited her room, she would barge in unannounced as she did for her, but that was still pretty rare. But to come in NOW of all times, that was just the pinnacle of the unexpected.

Yukino gulped and then said "Uh, Haruka-chan, what's going on?" She hoped that it wasn't what she thought it was. "Did Naruto-sama send you on a mission alone or something?" That wasn't what it was and she knew it, Naruto always sent the two on missions together.

Haruka was still a bit shocked as to what had just occurred. She just hoped that she could rely on Yukino one last time. Haruka sighed and said "No, Naruto-sama didn't send me on a mission Yukino-chan, and you know that already, I can tell. This is exactly what it looks like, I am leaving Yukino-chan."

Yukino was quite surprised at the news. It was one thing to suspect it with utter certainty, it was quite another to actually hear it, it made the dreaded feeling more real. Yukino closed the door behind her and slowly walked deeper into the room. She just asked "Why? Why are you leaving Haruka-chan? Is it me? Something I did? Was it-"

Haruka cut her off before she lost control, already there were tears in her eyes, however slightly. Haruka said "It's not you Yukino, I am leaving because I cannot stand being around that monster any longer. I know that I couldn't possibly escape while he's here, so this is my best chance."

Yukino was a bit calmed at the news that it wasn't something she did, but she still wondered "But why, Haruka-chan? Naruto-sama has been so good to us for all these years, he gave us a place to stay, he gave us freedom from Iwa, he brought you back to life for goodness sake?! What makes you want to leave?"

Haruka scoffed and said "Yeah, gold, jewels, world peace, and everything I could possibly want, revenge on Iwa included. All at the small, small price of my soul."

Yukino was a bit startled, figures, everyone always gets so serious once the S-word is used. "Your soul, but what happened, what did he do, how would he take your soul?"

Haruka laughed a little, humorlessly "I don't mean anything physical or metaphysical or anything like that Yukino. I mean the core of who I am, the values that I hold dear. I cannot go with him any further, it's more hollow and more meaningless every day. Sure, going with him means that I would have everything I could want in the end, but what would the cost leave me with? Nothing but a heap of bodily processes, and regret."

"I still don't understand Haruka-chan, what is it that is causing you to leave?"

Haruka smiled again, once again without joy and said "How could I possibly stay here and still call myself human? We're nothing but pawns, resources, the Three Enigmas, Hogback, Absalom, and Perona, those three are important to him, I'm not sure about those two new girls, but I am nothing more than another soldier to him. I simply can't stand it any longer. What that man does and will continue to do I cannot and will not go with. I put up with it for too long, I only regret that it took me this long to make this decision."

Yukino still wasn't sure what she meant, what had triggered this sudden response. "Haruka-chan, what specifically did he do? And even if you do leave, where would you go?"

Haruka picked up the bag and slung it over her shoulder "Those viruses were the final straw really. Did you see the results for the plague that was distributed in Konoha? Thirty people dead in three days! And it was only that low because the Aburame clan was smart enough to quarantine themselves away. If they hadn't, god only knows how many people could have been exposed. He'll destroy the world with those viruses Yukino, I have no doubt. That's why I am leaving, at least part of it. His entire operation repulses me and I refuse to tolerate it any more. I know I can't challenge him without getting killed but I can at least leave now that he's gone and we aren't stuck in a mountain. I have explosive notes planted in the storage vaults where he and Hogback keep the plague organisms. They're so weak right now that the fire they cause will be enough to kill them all without fear of having anyone infected. I'll set them off as I leave."

Then she walked past Yukino, toward the door. Yukino just said "Where will you go?"

Haruka reached the door and stopped before saying "I don't know, but whatever happens will be better than staying here."

Then she moved to turn the handle of the door but stopped as she heard something rustling behind her. She looked back to see that Yukino had taken a second bag from a hook on the wall and had started filling it with the clothes and weapons that she could not fit in her own, they were of similar size so they would fit either of them reasonably well. She just asked "What are you doing Yukino?"

Yukino looked up and said "I am coming with you Haruka-chan. Where else would I go?"

Haruka was more than a little surprised at this. She had thought that her friend would stay behind and keep quiet about her leaving. She seemed happy enough where she was, she never seemed to have problems with anything that she was ever ordered to do, so why? She asked Yukino just that.

Yukino looked up briefly as she put a stack of explosive notes in a pocket and then returned to her work, saying "Haruka-chan, I joined Naruto-san in the first place because he was able to bring you back to life, I stayed with him ever since out of my gratitude toward him for that. If you're gone, why should I stay? Besides, why would I want to stay here anyway? Humans should have more freedom than what those poor creatures have, I can hardly stand to look at them, especially Rei and Kagerou, given movement merely to serve their master's will."

Then she hoisted the full bag onto her shoulders and smiled as she said "The only reason I joined him was because of you, it only makes sense that I should leave him with you as well. After all, you are my only friend."

Haruka was still surprised, she just stuttered "But, Yukino-chan, you're much more wanted than I am, you would be hunted down by Iwa and Akatsuki, not to mention Naruto would hunt us down to keep the zombies' weakness a secret."

Yukino went up closer to Haruka and said, with conviction in her voice, "I don't care, Naruto and the others can go to hell as far as I am concerned. You're the only one I care about, no one else. Besides, we'll have a better chance of survival if we work together."

Then Yukino smiled, for the first time in a long time, and Haruka realized that she was serious, that Yukino would put herself in that immense danger, just to stick together with her. She just chuckled slightly and tried to rein in her emotions. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and said "If that's the case Yukino," then she opened the door, "Then let's get the hell out of here!"

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With Hogback

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Hogback was in his lab, as usual, but he was putting the finishing touches on the most recent strain of the virus. This was undoubtedly the most deadly version yet. It wasn't that conspicuous, a light blue liquid in a vial. Mind you that liquid would kill you in a dozen painful ways but it didn't look that dangerous. Maybe that was why he was carrying it with a set of clamps wearing oven mitts and a breathing mask. Or maybe he was baking a pie, who knows. Either way that was what he was doing.

He carefully made his way to the already opened vault and carefully, carefully, set the vial into a corresponding slot. Then he backed away from it as fast as possible. Then, as he was about to seal the airtight door and seal in the deadly organisms in their glass cages, he noticed something strange. A few slips of paper were placed throughout the room. One was on the side of a shelf, near a tray of vials and beaker, a second was on a wall near another set of plague organisms, a third was attached directly to the tray that held the most recent batch. He had been so focused on not dropping the vial and killing himself, and then hastily getting away, that he didn't notice!

Then, something very bad happened, the papers each caught fire. He watched wide eyed as the fires consumed the paper and then…exploded. Fires spread throughout the small vault quickly and soon every virus was boiling in its test tube. Hogback knew immediately that every plague organism was already dead. The reason they were put in the vault in the first place is to keep them safe from extremely high temperatures and other normal things that were deadly to them. They simply weren't ready for distribution yet.

The Doctor immediately went to damage control, sealing the vault and locking it. It was airtight so any surviving organisms wouldn't be able to spread. The flames would quickly die out with the lack of fuel and the remaining organisms would die in the air. They would still have to sterilize the room but it was a good precaution for now. At least the flames wouldn't spread to the more resilient projects such as the new General body that he had been constructing with Perona. A most unusual body, that one, and it would be a real terror with the right shadow to bring it to life.

But for now, the doctor had more important matters to deal with. He strode out of the laboratory, calling his assistant Kagerou to assemble the important members of the group while he awoke the remaining Generals and got a message to Naruto. He would find out who did this, and they would pay.

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With Haruka and Yukino

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The pair of ex Iwa ninja fled through the trees, heading toward the border to Taki no Kuni. The escape had been simple enough, after all Yukino helped to design the security system and even then the place was meant to keep things out not in.

The two had rushed to the entrance after setting off the explosives by remote, as they reached the door Yukino removed the Genjutsu that she put over the entrance, revealing the matrix of shadowy wires that criss-crossed the entrance in order to add physical substance. Determined to leave Naruto with one last kick in the teeth, Haruka did a few handseals and used the only fire jutsu she knew, the Katon: Endan, and burned the shadows away, leaving the place wide open for anyone coming after.

The two ran as fast as they could, discarding the black necklaces they wore as they moved. They were finally free, as far as they were concerned. They knew that they were vulnerable and soon they would be hunted, but it was better to be free and hunted, than safe in a comfortable cage as far as they were concerned.

As for Yukino and her decision earlier, she could wait a little longer to tell her how she felt, but until then, Haruka's mere proximity was enough, it had been more than enough for more than ten years, it would be enough for a little while longer. Haruka was simply overjoyed to be out from Naruto's thumb.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was taking a nap when he was rudely interrupted by a high pitched yelling emanating from his pocket. He woke up and after grudgingly standing up, he put his hand into his pocket and pulled out the small picture frame containing the zombie that had been trying to get his attention for a while now. Haku looked up from her book. She had moved on to the second in the series.

Naruto looked at the miniature undead sealed into the small canvas and said "What is it? And it had better be good."

The minion nodded and said "Naruto-sama, something horrible has happened!"

Naruto yawned again and said "Surely it can't be that bad. What's going on?"

The zombie said something but this time he couldn't make it out. Naruto said "Speak up would you?" and then held the frame closer to his ear. As the zombie spoke, Naruto's eyes went wide and he took the frame from his ear, moved it in front of his face and said "You have got to be fucking kidding me. Please tell me that you are joking." The zombie shook its head no, it was serious.

Naruto was silent for a moment, then said to Haku, "Haku-chan, hold down the fort, I'm going back home for a moment." Then he left before she could say a word.

Haku looked at the space where Naruto had previously been, muttered "He could have at least told me what's going on. Oh well, it probably isn't important. Now then, what will Tamaki do with Haruhi in that position I wonder." Then she flipped the page as her face turned red.

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Back at the bat cave, I mean Naruto's hideout. Give me some time, I'll think of a name people

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Naruto emerged from the shadows in the cave, right into a meeting between Perona and Hogback. He immediately took control of the situation. "What the hell has happened Hogback? If I heard right then our entire stock of diseases has been destroyed along with the front door. Honestly, I'm gone for a few fucking days and this happens!? What the hell!"

Hogback bowed deeply and said "Please forgive me Naruto-sama. I'm not sure how this happened but I will do my best to remedy the situation."

Naruto nodded tersely and asked "So what has happened exactly, and where are Haruka and Yukino anyway?"

Perona took the time to enter the conversation this time and said "It was those two bitches that did this in the first place! They betrayed us, destroyed everything in the vault, and ran off, destroying the front door in the process. I don't know where they are now, but they probably headed for the border. Ame is closest if I remember correctly."

Naruto nodded and was silent for a moment. If Haruka and Yukino had pulled a full on Judas then there were few options. Something told him that trying to get those two to join him again would be a futile exercise, so that only left one option left.

Naruto looked at Hogback and said "Dr. Hogback, assemble the Generals we have on hand and send them out with a squadron of soldiers. They are going to hunt down and kill our little traitors. Make sure that they are some of the faster ones as well, the sooner we take care of them and eliminate the liability they represent the better."

Hogback nodded and said "Yes Naruto-sama!" before dashing off to assemble the soldiers for the job.

Perona asked "What am I supposed to do Naruto-kun?"

Naruto said "I need you to take an astral form and follow them. Make sure that the Generals can spot them. The only reasons that you should stop following them is if you get spotted. Yukino's Genjutsu can still affect you even if you are a ghost. I'm going to be constructing a new front door since they were so rude as to destroy the one we had before."

Perona nodded and dashed to her room so that she would have a safe and comfortable place to leave her body as she went out as a spirit. Naruto moved with precise movements, heading for the entrance to the caves. He also remote detonated the necklaces of Haruka and Yukino. Those gems gave them access to the base and that was probably how they got into the vault as well. There was also the chance that they were still wearing them and were killed, but that was unlikely.

Naruto arrived at the doorway and examined the damage to the web. After a second he came to the conclusion that it was completely gone. Burned by a Katon jutsu probably, judging by the scorch marks. A weak one, but it was strong enough since those threads were pretty fragile. He sat down on a nearby rock and started to think up a new security system.

Before long he saw Perona flying by before she vanished and soon afterward three General zombies, Sodom, Gomorrah, and Samson dashed past with a dozen soldier zombies behind them. They would hunt those two down and make sure that the secrets they kept remained secret. In the meantime he had a doorway to design and build.

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With Haruka and Yukino

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Haruka and Yukino dashed through the trees as quickly as they could, well aware that they were probably pursued by now. They knew that Ame was closer, that was why they were headed to Taki, to throw them off. They weren't safe once they crossed the border, but they had been to Taki before and they could hopefully lose their pursuers there. Last but not least, Haruka had a contact in Takigakure, if they really needed to get away. The creatures that were sent to pursue them wouldn't venture into a Hidden Village unless absolutely necessary.

Night fell, and they still kept running, they couldn't be caught, not now. They had finally broken free from their prison, but they weren't in the clear yet. They couldn't afford to rest. They would keep running at the very least until they reached the border, at least.

There were only two problems with that plan. The first was that their pursuers did not know fatigue or the feeling of being tired. The second was that they were already being watched. Being watched by a figure swathed in a black cloak with red clouds emblazoned upon it.

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And that is the end of the chapter. What, I told you at the beginning that I would leave you on a cliffhanger didn't I? Why are you so surprised? Anyway, plot twists for all! I couldn't let everything go perfectly for out evil main character could I? That just wouldn't be any fun so I have to throw some god hand into the machine every now and again. Well, I hope I left your mouth watering for an update with that cliffhanger, and with that, good day.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger