Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Son of a bitch, I'm just over a week away from my goddamn birthday. I hate my birthday. Why can't I just put my brain in a cyborg body already and be done with aging? It's almost 2020, people. I was led to believe through cartoons, movies, and comics in the 90s that we'd be on this shit by now.

Chapter 29: Moving City


Progress for Naruto and his squad had been nonexistent since taking on the burden of the Kiba blades.

Word had spread that a foreigner had killed off Kurosuki Raiga and taken his swords. Once more details had come out, including Naruto's name, challenges started coming from all over.

In the two days since they had left Mei's castle, 13 separate ambushes and direct challenges had taken place. After the second one, Naruto made Tenten carry the swords and front the lion's share of the challenges. Not that she had any problems with this. It was quality time with a fine piece of shinobi hardware to study and train with. Out of the four of the travelers, she was the happiest... at first.

The routine soon became cumbersome. The highwaymen attempting to take them out on the road weren't particularly skilled, just aggressive and opportunistic. Only the ambush groups were killed. Solo challengers were left alive for bothering to offer something resembling a fair contest. Tayuya lamented because there had been nothing worth looting.

Everyone seemed rather despondent as they traveled through the trees. No one said anything for quite some time until the most vocal of the group in Tayuya smacked her lips and spoke up, "Well, I sure pulled us into some shit, didn't I?"

Naruto sighed and set the map he'd been keeping an eye on as they went along, "Oh, come on, Tayuya."

Tayuya wouldn't have any of his attempts to try and soften the blow, and continued, "Look at me, walking around like I know what the fuck's going on. Got you three jackasses to hire me, and here we go. Now some self-important cunt has your nuts in a vice."

Tenten wrinkled her nose distastefully at the mental image Tayuya's words presented, "Ew."

Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes. It was clear Tayuya was taking this hard, "It's seriously not that-."

"-No!" Tayuya exclaimed, getting Naruto to stop protesting, "...I fucked up," She spat bitterly, her eyes cast to the ground shamefully, "I've never heard anything about this Seigyo-ki until now. I'm the fucking guide. I signed off on your fucking plan, thinking we could play the Seven Swordsman against each other. What a joke."

Tenten, of all people, was the one who went to try and console her, proving that their relationship was improving, "It isn't your fault. Things happen. If anything, this just locks in who we're working with."

Naruto stuck his tongue out. If that Mei lady thought she had anything on him, she was sorely mistaken. There was theoretically something they could do for each other, and that was as far as anything went. If she thought she could strong-arm his party in any way, she was wrong to a dangerous degree and he would make it a point to illustrate this to her if the need arose.

Tenten bit her lip in thought before speaking her mind, "I'm just gonna throw this out there. We could always just give Seigyo-ki the Kiba blades, cut loose, and go home," She said, getting a look of surprise from Naruto, "I mean, we didn't expect to find anything out here in the first place, did we?"

Not really, Naruto could admit to himself with a grunt. But it was too soon to pack it in, "I want to keep trying. We had one setback, that's all," He moved himself closer to their guide and gave her a nudge, "Tayuya, we still need you. You've got the best knowledge of Mizu no Kuni out of all of us."

Instead of making her angrier, the team's reassurances did seem to calm Tayuya down, "We were in a good spot. We had an edge, and now we're stuck doing that bitch's bidding," She said, "...Probably thinks she's so fucking smart."

"We're not doing anyone's bidding," Naruto told her, "I want leads. Real leads. If she doesn't have any, I'll find out quick, and we'll be out of here."

Tayuya turned a curious eye to the weapons Tenten nursed, "You'll take the swords away from Mizu?"

The weapon specialist among them grinned mischievously at the idea, "Why not? Possession is nine-tenths of the law, and I kind of have an inkling to keeping them. I haven't had as much time as I want to study them yet. I can have them, can't I?" She asked Naruto.

Naruto shrugged, leaning back against a rock, "I don't use swords. Knock yourself out, Tenten," He said, before grinning at Tayuya, "Yeah, what are they going to do, chase us across the ocean? It's all talk. If she keeps up her end of the bargain, we'll keep up ours."

He was trying to keep her spirits up, she could tell. It was kind of him, not that Tayuya particularly appreciated being coddled, as she saw it, "I just hate being beholden to some shadow bitch in a castle," She looked up at her party from where she'd been eyeing the ground, "...You idiots are different. I chose to work for you."

"Aww. We love you too."

"Shut the fuck up," Tayuya automatically reacted, though her tone had no bite to it. She was more concerned with a possible idea percolating in her brain, "Hey, what's today?"

"Thursday."

Tayuya rolled her eyes at Naruto's simple answer, "I meant the date, you ass."

Upon Tayuya's urging, Tenten felt the need to check the date herself, "March 17th. Why?" They had been in Mizu no Kuni for a week and a half by that point. Gone from 'home' entirely for over three weeks. At that moment, she had a realization, "Aw, man! I missed my birthday!"

They had, and Naruto honestly felt bad about that, "If we don't keep the swords, I'll get you something good on the way home. I promise."

Tenten reached out and gave the taller Naruto a pat on the head, "At this point, I'd take a good night's sleep in a real bed."

Tayuya's brown eyes lit up, a smile growing on her face, "I have an idea to get rid of this sword and get the information you need without relying on shadow bitch. We've just got to catch up to the city," She said, taking the lead ahead of everyone else.

The others all let their guide's remark settle before Kabuto felt the need to bring up the obvious, "Excuse me, did you say 'catch up to the city'?"

XxX

(Yu no Kuni – Unnamed Allied Shinobi Village)

Minato took a bit of a warped pleasure, watching Kushina continuously fret over lack of word from Naruto. He promised he would send a scroll via toad summoning once a week. At this point, his latest letter was two days late.

"Worrying about it isn't going to make the letter show up any faster," Minato remarked during a lull in his duties of overseeing the arrival of representatives from clans onboard with his unified village. Kanako sat on his lap focusing as much as her now four-year-old attention span would allow her to on a leaf set on her forehead, "A watched pot never boils, Kushina."

"Yeah? Well, this pot should have boiled days ago," Kushina shot back sharply. He could keep his philosophy for all she cared, "I let my baby run off to no man's land. Excuse me for being a little worried."

The Yellow Flash smirked and gestured to their young daughter, "Kanako's sitting right here."

"I meant my oldest baby," Kushina said with a glare, taking great care not to curse in front of Kanako, "Why are you so calm about this? You know what that place is supposed to be like."

He did. But he also knew his son, "And I also know that anyone who wants a piece of Naruto is biting off more than they can chew. I trained him, you trained him, Jiraiya trained him, Kakashi trained him-."

"-Kakashi barely trained him," Kushina grumbled, arms crossed under her bosom.

Minato rolled his eyes at his wife's obstinate attitude. It certainly was a trait she passed down to Naruto, "-That's still three of the best possible sensei he could have for a list of different shinobi abilities. When we spar, he actually makes me work for it. The kid is dam-, err, darned good."

"Ruto-nii's the best," Kanako said as though it were fact. The leaf on her forehead slipped and fell off, getting a whine out of her, "Mmmm!"

"That was good, Kana!" Minato said, praising the child as he wrapped her up in a hug, "I know the leaf concentration exercise isn't the most fun thing in the world, but if you want to be strong like your big brother, learning how to focus is a big first step."

Kushina grinned at the word 'focus' being associated with Naruto, "We're talking about the same Naruto, right?" She said before kneeling down by Kanako, "Kana-chan, when your chakra control is good enough, I'll show you how to use your super-special power, okay? Maybe I'll even teach you mommy's."

"You mean it?"

"Of course! How else are you going to catch up to your brother?"

Minato listened to Kanako's excitement at training to be like her brother with a smile on his face, but inside was a different story. While he knew that Kanako needed some kind of training, if what Naruto had told his parents about Kanako's budding sensor powers was true, it seemed like it was a step closer to her losing her innocence.

He didn't want her to have to fight anytime soon. Naruto hadn't started training until he was six, and there had been no necessity there – no sense of urgency. Uzu no Kuni had been safe, relatively speaking. Minato hoped that their new village would be safe too, with the combined might of multiple clans residing within, willing to fight to protect it. His heart hoped. His head knew that it wouldn't be that simple.

Minato was brought out of his thoughts by a tingling sensation – a pulling on his person, "I've got to go," He set Kanako down at his side, and met the glare of his wife, "What? I'm feeling a buzz. It's either sensei or Kakashi, which means it's important."

Even if Kushina knew that Minato was just looking for an excuse to ditch work, he still had a point, "Oh, fine. Go and do your Yellow Flash thing."

Minato grinned and looked down at Kanako. Upon hearing the words 'Yellow Flash' she was all about what she knew was going to happen next, bouncing on her toes in anticipation. Minato posed and gave her a wink before disappearing with Hiraishin no Jutsu.

He reappeared in a forest clearing that Kakashi and Anko had clearly been using as a camp the night before. Turning his head, he saw the tree where his Hirashin kunai had been thrown and plucked it out of the trunk.

"Oh, shit," Anko said, gawking at her employer, "He actually does show up when you put some chakra into that thing. It's like summoning!" She'd seen the Hiraishin multiple times, but had never been issued a kunai to summon Minato with.

"I told you so," Kakashi said before bowing to Minato, "Minato-sama, we have some information."

Anko forewent bowing, instead showing her respect by standing at attention, "Kakashi's friend Gai actually had some business at the Fire Daimyo's court at the same time Danzo had been there… only he couldn't remember having been there until Kakashi 'reminded' him."

Minato smirked at the sight of the bruises he could see on the few uncovered parts of Kakashi's face, "Had to work for it, did you?"

"Jolly green beat our boy here like a drum," A now more casual Anko piped in, still entertained days later at the memory of the taijutsu spar, "I've never seen Scarecrow get his ass kicked before. It was pretty great."

"Anyway-," Kakashi said, trying to get his debriefing back on track, "-Danzo left the court after his attempt to send the Fire Daimyo's best after us failed. I'm certain he still has the daimyo's ear, but he's gone elsewhere."

Anko let out a huff of annoyance, "Gai wasn't privy to any of the guy's ideas. It wasn't like they spoke," In fact, Danzo seemed to wish to keep as low a profile as possible, "I hate to say it boss man, but it looks like we've hit a snag in the whole taking-Danzo's-stupid-head plan."

For now, it was fine. When Minato revealed that he had aims of having Danzo assassinated, he knew it wouldn't be the kind of thing that would be accomplished overnight. Even when they did find him, they would have to keep eyes on him for some time until they were certain they had an approach that would work.

More needed to be done before they were in such a position, however.

Anko punched into her palm, upset at not being able to fulfill the entire mission set before her and Kakashi, "So, what now, boss?"

"Continue gathering what we can until we can locate him," Minato said. Jiraiya was also out and about doing his part, and hopefully the Nara Clan had managed to squeeze something out of their clan member that had tried to kill Kushina. Also, hopefully they were willing to share that information, "When it comes time to make a move, I guess I should handle this myself," At that, he noticed both Anko and Kakashi look at one another with uncertainty, "What? What's the matter?"

Kakashi was the first to voice his concerns, "Minato-sama... are you sure you should be involved directly with an assassination."

Minato rolled his eyes, "Come on, Kakashi. Even if I sent someone else, anyone who caught wind of whoever went would know I sent them."

"You're positioning yourself to be a veritable head of state," Kakashi argued in return, "You can't be running around the country regulating your enemies."

"You sound like my wife," Minato grumbled. Literally. Kakashi sounded just like Kushina, speaking on the same matters with the same viewpoint she had.

Anko held up a hand Kakashi's way, eyes still locked on Minato, "Hold on there, Scarecrow. Maybe he should do it," She reasoned, much to both Minato and Kakashi's surprise, "You know that the consensus is that you have Naruto and Fuu do all of your heavy lifting."

Minato's expression turned stony, "I'm aware," It was a reputation that Minato despised. Naruto and Fuu did the same missions that any of Minato's inner circle did. It was just that because they were jinchuuriki, everything they did was put under a microscope that much more.

If they got into a fight, the numbers of the enemy would increase when the story was retold, along with the level of destruction they caused. Granted, they did cause their share of damage from time-to-time, being the chakra powerhouses that they were, but they had common sense. Naruto never went all-out in populated areas, and though Fuu was a bit more careless, Anko did a good job keeping her head on straight.

But no. To so many others, they weren't shinobi. They weren't people. Naruto wasn't his eldest child. He was a weapon.

It was perceived that Jiraiya did all of Minato's dirty work, but that never seemed to be as much of an issue as Minato sending jinchuuriki out to work like the properly trained shinobi that they were.

Anko could tell that Minato was annoyed and decided to get to the point, "Right... well, with all of this 'let's get along' shit you've been talking, when it comes to the whole unification idea, some people think you might be a pussy hiding behind two aces in the hole."

If Minato had darkness in his heart, Anko felt like she got a glimpse from the smirk he gave her, "People have short memories then."

"T-That's what I'm saying though," She said, trying to this time better word her point so that she didn't set off the best employer she'd had in years, "Say you do this, you go and drag Danzo out by his heels and lop his head off for the world to see, you remind everyone just who the hell you are. You're not some granola-munching tree-hugger. You're the goddamn Yellow Flash."

Kakashi's single visible eyebrow raised in intrigue, "Why would anyone care that he killed Danzo?"

Anko let out a huff. She wasn't talking about regular people, or even rank-and-file shinobi, "You honestly think this is the first anyone would hear of Danzo? I guarantee a person like that has been screwing around with tons of clans for years."

A man didn't just wake up one day and decide to screw around with one of the most dangerous individuals in the world, and manage to do it so effectively. There was no doubt in Anko's mind that even though they hadn't heard about it, Danzo had been working behind the scenes in some way for years.

Kakashi was willing to concede the issue there, "...Hm. And it's not like clans are in the business of putting their under-the-table dealings with others out in the open. For what we know of this man and how he operates, it's not likely that anyone particularly enjoys working with him..."

"...It's just that it's better to have him with you than against you," Minato finished for his loyal underling, "...I would think our elusive friend isn't above working for and against someone simultaneously. Multiple someones."

XxX

(Mizu no Kuni)

The report from one of the Uzumaki Clan scouting vessels returning home gave information to Uzu no Kuni that couldn't be ignored.

Uzumaki Naruto had been sighted heading toward Mizu no Kuni. He had boarded their ship and confronted the shinobi team manning it, then had departed after sufficiently intimidating them. At least, that was what the report said. The validity of most of those statements had yet to be verified, which was why Konan had been dispatched – to do just that.

Flying across the vast ocean separating Uzu no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni on one of her origami creations had been enough to grate on her nerves. Staring at the sea for hours and hours was boring. Searching for the needle in a haystack that was one lone shinobi was another thing that would have irritated her, had she not had a solution for that.

The Uzumaki clan had allies. Allies other than the Senju Clan, as that relationship had become strained over the years. With that in mind, they tried to reach out in the opposite direction of the mainland, farther out at sea.

Nagato's Rinnegan was a very powerful tool in negotiations, and it made for a fantastic first impression. People were usually either in awe of it, or scared out of their minds that the doujutsu of the Sage of Six Paths was staring them through their souls.

Her position... if one had to give it any kind of label aside from close, personal friend; Konan preferred to call herself a herald.

It was with this mindset that she approached the castle of her source. If there was anyone in Mizu no Kuni who had kept decent enough tabs on Naruto to allow Konan to pick up his trail, the person in charge of this facility would be the one.

Konan landed and found herself surrounded by shinobi with porcelain masks. She hardly paid them any mind. They weren't foolish enough to attack her. Not without the order from their leader. Speaking of whom, Terumi Mei approached, her stride elegant.

The wall of shinobi around Konan parted enough to allow Mei through, yet stayed at the ready, in case they were needed, "Konan," Mei said, a confident smile set on her lips, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Straight to business. That was fine with Konan, as she wasn't a fan of the Seigyou-ki organizer. Too cloak-and-dagger for her tastes, which was saying something as she was a kunoichi, "I'm looking for someone that the Uzumaki Clan has a vested stake in. Let's just say that he's something of a wayward little soul, long overdue of needing correcting."

"Uzumaki Naruto," Mei said, not even bothering to ask about who Konan could be referring to. Her smile turned more brittle at the reminder of the brash young man, "I had a run-in with him not too long ago. Disrespectful child. Tell me, can his body actually cash those checks his mouth writes for him?"

She had so badly wanted to melt him where he stood. But his threat of losing the Kiba blades, and his subsequent one of destroying the entire castle if attacked, and the certainty with which he delivered those threats despite his situation kept her from testing him. It hadn't been a matter of bravado, of puffing himself up in the face of certain doom. He had believed everything he'd said wholeheartedly.

Terumi Mei was unaccustomed to such confidence being shown in her presence. Coming from an entirely unproven individual, it irked her to no end.

Konan fought the urge to smile. It was good to know that Naruto had been causing others headaches around the world. Especially those she wasn't fond of, "So, have you been keeping tabs on him?"

Mei frowned, offended at the question, "Of course I have. Do you think I would leave a foreign entity alone to do as he would like?"

Konan shrugged, "I would think not, considering that having a jinchuurki loose in Mizu without an idea of where he is or what he's doing doesn't seem like your style."

Naruto's status had been news to Mei. The shock was evident on her face and in her body language. More than a few of her more knowledgeable underlings reacted similarly, despite the masks covering their faces,

"He's a jinchuuriki?" Mei asked, Konan nodding in confirmation. Now a lot of things made sense, "Well, no wonder he was so certain that he could annihilate this castle if things got hostile," Maintaining civility, despite Naruto's belligerence, had been the smartest thing she had done during that meeting. Zabuza had been right about him, even if he hadn't known why. His survival instinct had been right on the money.

"Will you help me find him?" Konan asked.

Mei let out a small laugh. Konan wanted to help her get that headache out of her hair for her? That was just fine, "There's no need to find him. I know where he is already."

The hairs on the back of Konan's neck stood up. Something about Mei being so easy to work with put her on alert, "...You're very forthcoming with your assistance."

Again, Mei seemed more predatory in nature than demure and deferring, "I simply saw this as an opportunity to aid in your clan's affairs and strengthen our ties," Her words were like honey laced with poison, sweet and deadly, "A destabilizing element, away from any lines of support, right in your backyard. My relationship with Nagato-dono means very much to me."

Konan felt a shock of anger rush through her at the implication of any kind of relationship between "Very well. Then you can tell him the information yourself," A widening of the eyes revealed the kind of panic that statement put in Mei.

Konan sat herself down on a cushion formed from paper and held up a hand-seal. In front of her, a shadowy, transparent projection in the shape of Nagato appeared. Its eyes held the same haunting ripple pattern of the Rinnegan that the original possessed.

"Terumi-san," Nagato said through the projection, "You seem to be in good health."

"I-It is good to hear from you, Nagato-dono," Mei said, inwardly kicking herself for sounding intimidated. She had to remind herself that he was just a man, "You would like my cooperation in finding Uzumaki Naruto. May I ask why?"

"He is a jinchuuriki, a destabilizing element. You said that yourself, did you not?" Nagato asked, rhetorically. Mei hadn't been aware that Nagato had been able to hear her for that long, "I simply see the chance to right a wrong four years in the making."

Konan decided to take the responsibility on herself, "I'll see that it's done."

To her surprise, and partially to Mei's horror, Nagato had other ideas, "No, Konan. I was too sentimental the last time. I waited, procrastinated, instead of doing what needed to be done sooner," Before he even said it, it dawned upon Mei as to where he was going, "The original mistake was mine. See to it that you inform your master that I will be the one to rectify it."

He didn't ask to operate in her backyard. He simply said that he would. Nagato, the leader of the Uzumaki Clan, planned on heading to Mizu no Kuni in order to deal with personal business, and there wasn't much she could realistically do to stop him. All she could do was limit the scope of damage left in his wake, because dealing with a jinchuuriki would not be a peaceful, easy conflict.

Where Naruto was happened to be isolated enough that too much wouldn't be destroyed. Though the floating city would be damaged if the fight took place there, things could always be salvaged later.

Just as long as Naruto and Nagato left quickly. The status quo in the country had to be kept.

XxX

(With Naruto – Hashike-gai)

Naruto, Kabuto, and Tenten had seen some amazing sights over the course of their lives, especially the former and the latter, but none of them could believe their eyes when they caught sight of where Tayuya had taken them just off of the coast.

There was a literal city built on the water. Not like the rundown shantytown built on wharfs that they had first come across when landing in Mizu no Kuni, but a legitimate settlement built on a floating platform that was the size of a proper town.

On the sides of it, there were countless little clusters of floating homes, some tethered together to make little neighborhoods, some floating alone, like little suburbs on the outskirts of a city.

"Come on, assholes," Tayuya called out, breaking into a run on the ocean, "That thing isn't gonna stop for us. We've gotta catch up to it!"

It was slow enough that at a sprint they could manage to catch up. But that didn't make its existence any less of a designing and building feat.

Once they set their feet back on dry ground, Tayuya turned and basked in the dumbfounded looks on Naruto, Tenten, and Kabuto's faces, "Welcome to Hashike-gai, fuckers. The safest place you're going to find affiliated with this country."

Naruto couldn't even feel the ground under his feet swaying, the way that he would if he was on a ship like Kaiza's, "Uh... okay?" He didn't even know where to begin in regard to his questions.

"What kind of black magic engineering is this!?" Tenten exclaimed in amazement as she set foot on the main portion of the barge town. She was all about learning more about this marvel, "How is this giant place floating? No, how do people live here? How do they get fresh water? What kind of mechanisms go into-?"

"-Buns," Tayuya quickly cut her off before she could continue to nerd out, "I don't know. I just pay for my place to get towed along with the town."

Kabuto raised an eyebrow in interest, "You rent space here?"

Tayuya gestured to the homes all around the main barge, "Everyone who lives here does. It's expensive as hell, but it's honestly better than taking your chances on land," She puffed her chest out and stretched her arms over her head, "Goddamn, it's good to be back!"

Naruto took note of how at ease Tayuya was there. She hadn't been so relaxed in the entire time he'd known her. Hashike-gai was a cleaner, nicer-looking place than anywhere he'd seen since arriving in Mizu no Kuni, "I guess I can see why you work so hard if living here is what it pays for," Tayuya nodded enthusiastically in agreement, "If this place is so great, why haven't bandits, or pirates, or anything tried to take it over?"

Tayuya paused in the middle of her stretch, opening her eyes to peer over at Naruto, "...That's a great question that I wouldn't have been able to answer, were it not for the fact that we ran into shadow bitch a few days ago. Probably her," She said, referring to Mei, "She basically said she's one of those 'keeping the balance' types, and this place is really important. This is merchant central."

As they moved through Hashike-gai, following Tayuya's lead, they marveled at the sights. The place was so clean. The streets were pristine, as though they were regularly cleaned; paved with evenly-cut, well-laid stone that they couldn't recall having seen before. In certain areas, such as the main plaza in the center of the city, there was an ornate marking of a circle, surrounding two different-colored, interlocking four-pointed stars, with an eight-pointed star behind them. In fact, that marking was on a lot of the base infrastructure.

It seemed like the place hadn't been built to serve as a floating city, so much as it had been re-purposed. Tenten in particular noticed this, but kept it to herself for now. As curious as she was, it would do them no good in their overall mission of finding Naruto's white whale.

The walk through Hashike-gai ended with Tayuya taking them through one of the clusters of floating homes that sailed attached to the main city. Their destination was her home, or her base of operations. It wasn't clear what exactly she considered the place to be.

It was a spacious place for one person, consisting of an open room with a second story consisting of a loft that overlooked the first floor. It wasn't dirty, untidier than anything else. It felt oddly comfortable once they stepped inside. Lived in was a term that applied.

"Are you sure it's alright for us to stay here?" Naruto asked, peering around the home as Tayuya shouldered past him and the others.

"Not like there's any reason for you all to kill me now," Tayuya kicked her shoes off and flopped down haphazardly on a couch, "You didn't even know I had a house until four hours ago. Besides, look around. Do you see anything here worth robbing me for?"

Tenten rolled her eyes with a tiredness that reflected Tayuya's at times lukewarm attitude to their team dynamic, "We're not going to rob you. I figured you would trust us more by now," What did she expect though? Tayuya was a sword-for-hire.

Naruto grinned and stood over Tayuya, arms crossed as he addressed his closest friend, "You think we'd be in her house if she didn't trust us?"

Tayuya looked up at the blonde jinchuuriki and shrugged, "Hey, you never know. I might have led you all the way here just to kill you," She turned her gaze and pointed at the last member of the team, "Especially you, Cream Puff."

"Hey!" Kabuto exclaimed, "...I'm not a cream puff," He said, completely ignoring Tayuya's would-be threat.

Tayuya waved off the medic-nin's rebuttal with a rolling of her hand, "Anyway, take a load off. Find a place to sit or nap. No food here though. Never refilled my pantry."

It was a relief to the foreign ninja team to have a roof over their head for the first time since they'd arrived in Mizu no Kuni. Naruto expressed thanks for the hospitality, "Thanks for letting us stay here for a bit, Tayuya."

Tayuya smiled softly at the acknowledgment, though verbally tried to downplay it, "Don't worry about it, Golden Boy. You're paying me. Plus, I had to come back and pay rent anyway, so this actually works out for me."

Tenten let out a huff, hands on her hips, "But didn't we come here to do something about the Kiba blades?" She shifted her shoulders, feeling the weight of the blades she carried on her back. Fighting up and down the roads for them had been annoying.

Tayuya let out a yawn, signifying that she wasn't going leaving anytime soon, "Yeah. You want to hand those things off to someone who can defend them? Someone who shadow bitch will approve of? I know who you need to see. But that can wait. They aren't going anywhere."

That wasn't good enough, however. Tenten was insistent, "I'd really we rather ditch this thing as soon as possible."

Tayuya let out a groan and sat up from where she'd been comfortably relaxing, "Fine," She graced Tenten with the dullest stare she could muster, "Go to the reservoir at the center of the town, and ask for the Hozuki Brothers. You can't miss the place."

"Okay..." Kabuto said, knowing that 'brothers' meant plural, as in more than one, "...Which one should we give the sword to?"

"Trust me, it really doesn't fucking matter," The prickly musician assured them, standing to head to the bathroom of her home, "I'm freshening up, then taking a nap, because I need to, and I've earned it. Wake me up when you get rid of the swords... or if one of you gets killed."

With that, Tayuya went to get herself relaxed, while Naruto, Tenten, and Kabuto headed outside of the floating home. Tenten and Kabuto looked to start toward the main part of town, while Naruto remained in place.

"You guys go," He said, "I'm gonna stay."

Kabuto looked at the team leader in confusion, "What? Why?"

Naruto jerked a thumb back towards Tayuya's house, "I don't want to split up, but I'd rather two of us be together than three of us and leave one by themselves."

Kabuto found that to be sound reasoning. Tenten, on the other hand, chose to try and dig a little deeper, "You and Tayuya have been getting really cozy over the last few days," She said in a suspicious voice.

Naruto shrugged, throwing his hands up casually behind his neck, "I'm a people person. Either people love me, or they hate me. There's no in-between," He explained, "Besides, what about you two? I haven't seen you at each other's throat since you spent that time locked up in Mei's castle."

Tenten conceded the point there, "Eh, she's not so bad," She and Tayuya had a rough start, but things were starting to level out, "She curses more than anyone I've ever met in my entire life, which is saying something, but she's not terrible to be around," In the end, she managed to turn things back around to Naruto, as was her intention, "She seems to like you more than any of us."

"I dunno what you mean," Naruto deadpanned.

Tenten smirked at the opportunity to state her case, "If she has the choice to travel near any of us, she always sticks closest to you."

Naruto figured that to be a case of self-preservation, "-I'm easily the toughest meat shield out of all of us," When explosives and pointy objects started flying, it was probably best to stay near the guy that had the best chance of taking the hit, and that was him.

"She actually listens to you when you give orders," Tenten said. Even if Tayuya complained half of the time, or tried to give her input on something, when Naruto made a call, she adhered to it.

"-I'm paying her, and I threatened her not to screw with my team again."

"She's always pushing you and hitting you in the arm."

"Again - I'm way harder to hurt than you other two nerds," Naruto said, getting skeptical glances from Tenten and Kabuto, "What's that look for?"

"Nothing..." Tenten said, with all the innocence of Kanako getting caught trying to play with one of Naruto's kunai left lying around, "Just, you two have been having a lot of late-night talks by the fire."

"Tayuya doesn't go to sleep until the rest of us do because she doesn't trust us," And after hearing the story of how she'd been living, Naruto couldn't blame her for thinking that way at all, "If you've gotta stay up, why not talk?" Was this payback for messing with her about Kabuto? If Tenten wanted to tease him, she needed to try much harder than that.

Tenten finally gave up with a sigh, walking off with a shake of her head and a pat to Naruto's. The poor guy. He just wasn't used to that kind of attention to see the signs. He was more accustomed to dealing with people trying to kill him than anyone interested in him in a positive light. It was okay. He was only fifteen, after all.

Naruto could sense her pity and scowled at her back in return as she and Kabuto left. He knew what she had been getting at. He wasn't that dumb. Just because Tayuya preferred his company to the others didn't mean anything. Naruto had tons of female friends. For goodness sake, Tenten was one of them!

Grumpily, Naruto went back inside of Tayuya's house, shutting the door and leaning against it.

"Jeez. What jumped up your ass, Golden Boy?"

Naruto looked up at the loft to see Tayuya looking down at him through the railing from her bed. She'd taken the few minutes he'd been outside to wash up a bit and change into more comfortable clothes.

"Nothing," Naruto replied to her, waving off the talk he'd had outside, "Just Tenten trying to be funny."

Tayuya smacked the railing, "Come up here. I'm not talking to you all the way down there."

Naruto tilted his head at the invitation, "Isn't that your room?"

"This whole place is one big room," Tayuya said matter-of-factly, "The only other room this house has is the bathroom."

Naruto jumped up to the loft, landing smoothly on the railing in a crouch, "Weren't you going to take a nap after you got cleaned up?"

"I was... I was..." Tayuya said, looking as though she were thinking deeply about something. Those thoughts only lasted a moment before a decision was made, "So... wanna bang?"

Naruto nearly fell off of his perch. She'd said she wanted to talk. That was a lot different from talking, "Wha-... seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously," There was no sign of jest on Tayuya's face, "You're kinda fucking hot, and this job has been a pain. Buns and Cream Puff won't be back for a while, so come keep me company for a bit, yeah?" She offered again, before speculating on why Naruto might have been hesitant, "Wait... have you never done this before?" She asked, sounding amused.

It was all over his face – apprehension due to nerves. It wasn't because he didn't consider her attractive. Though she'd never caught him eyeing her up, when she made the offer, his eyes roamed in consideration.

Naruto winced at the way she made it sound – like it was a problem, "No... I haven't. Is that bad?"

Tayuya shifted in place in a non-committal manner. Naruto was fifteen, if she recalled correctly. His being a virgin was probably how things were supposed to be. The fact that she wasn't was probably what was abnormal, but it wasn't like it had been her choice to lose it.

On the bright side, at least one of them would know what they were doing.

Tayuya pushed up onto her knees with a toothy grin and a leer of intent, "Eh. I'll tell you what, if you suck at it, I'll just make you lay there and do everything myself. How does that sound?"

"Kiss my ass," Naruto replied, a strain of pride welling up inside of him, "You make it sound like I was gonna say no in the first place," He tensed up, but didn't move away when Tayuya grabbed him by the wrists and guided him closer.

Tayuya was a little rough around the edges, mouthy and vulgar, with what many would consider an attitude problem. But that did absolutely nothing to blunt Naruto's opinion that she was a very pretty girl, and she carried herself confidently, which was another attractive trait to him.

It didn't take Tayuya much effort to move Naruto down to the bed with her, "Don't worry. No commitment. Just let your onee-san show you the ropes," She joked. This was good. She didn't want to spook him, "You don't mind ropes, right?" She laughed at the look of surprise and fear that appeared on Naruto's face, "I'm just fucking with you, you fucking dandruff flake! I'm not into that shit."

Naruto laughed with her, though his mind wasn't in it. It was compromised with too many thoughts of what was happening. He had been thoroughly educated by his mother and through association with Jiraiya, but that was theory, and this was practice.

Out of the blue, a voice from his inner tenant spoke up, "This girl is going to eat you alive, Naruto."

Naruto inhaled through his nose sharply at Kurama's sudden warning, 'What!?'

"I don't mean literally, you idiot," Kurama said, resting behind the seal inside of Naruto, his tails swishing around behind him in interest, "If you don't want to get obliterated, listen to me. Heed my every order, and you might survive. This girl's going to make a man out of you."

'What do you know about having sex? You're a giant chakra fox!'

Naruto swore he could see Kurama turning his nose up at him from inside of his mind, "I'm sorry, have you been around for entire millennia? Alright then, I'll just leave you alone to fumble through your first time then."

'No-no-no! If you know what's happening anyway, you might as well help... I guess.'

"It really isn't that much different from how the rest of the filthy animals on this planet copulate. You humans just make it more complicated than it needs to be. Now, listen up and I'll make this quick and painless."

Naruto would have to take Kurama's word for it, and decided as he watched Tayuya do away with her belt and undo the back of her dress that overthinking matters would do him no good. Besides, he wasn't much of a 'plan' kind of guy. He was more of the type to react accordingly. Instinct usually worked out for him.

And the sight of Tayuya sitting on her bed in just chest bindings gave his instincts an idea of where to go from there.

XxX

True to what Tenten and Kabuto had been told by Tayuya, the reservoir she mentioned hadn't been hard to find. Whereas it had been early in the day when they had arrived, it was after noon, and the floating city was now bustling.

It really was a merchant's town. There were all kinds of wares and foods for sale from all over - more than just what fisherman living in Hashike-gai could catch. It really was a peaceful place, much better off than anywhere else they had seen in Mizu no Kuni... though it was only part of the country in name only, seeing as how it perpetually traveled around and between all of the islands.

It wasn't very hard to find the Hozuki Brothers. In the crowd of regular-looking townspeople, there was a pair of identical swordsmen. Both had straight white hair. One wore a purple, sleeveless shirt with blue pants, sandals and a belt around his waist with water bottles attached to it. The other wore an outfit very similar to his brother's, consisting of a black, sleeveless shirt, light-purple-colored pants and striped leg-warmers, along a water bottle attached to his belt.

It was going to be hard to tell them apart from appearance alone. But all they had to do was get the Kiba swords to them, and after that, no interaction was needed. Hopefully, these two were more amenable than any of the other candidates for the Seven Swords they'd met.

The direct approach was the fastest and most appropriate, "We're looking for the Hozuki Brothers," Tenten said, upon getting close.

The brother in the purple shirt jumped down from the wall of the reservoir, grinning with sharp shark-like teeth, "Yeah? Who's asking?"

Instead of Tenten speaking up, Kabuto began to talk, "Someone who might have something good for you, depending on how you feel," He said, choosing words of an intriguing nature, "My name is Kabuto, and this is Tenten."

The purple-shirt brother nodded, "Suigetsu. The boring one up there is Mangetsu," He announced, gesturing to said brother who simply nodded, "Now, what are you talking about?"

Mangetsu scoffed and pulled out a small handbook, "You were there when I was when we found out about Raiga," He gestured to Tenten and Kabuto, flipping to pages with their descriptions and pictures, "Here. Look familiar?"

Suigetsu's face lit up in recognition, "Oh, the new names in the bingo book!"

Tenten stood there stunned, "Who took a picture of us?"

"We were taken captive by Seigyo-ki for a while," Kabuto grumbled, "I'd put my money on them."

Tenten huffed and turned away, "First Orochimaru, now Seigyo-ki. What is it with me and shadowy jerks?" She wouldn't have put it past Mei to have people keeping tabs on them.

Now that Mangetsu had Suigetsu's full attention, he could get his brother focused on what mattered about this meeting, "If you remember correctly, they killed Raiga, so what does that mean? Come on now, you can figure it out."

"Fuck you," Suigetsu spat at his older brother, despite answering anyway, "It means they have... the Kiba blades..." As he spoke, realization began to dawn in his tone, "Oh hell yeah! Mine!" He pulled a katana from his back, prepared to attack. Tenten, likewise, reached for the large scroll she kept at the small of her back. People who saw scrambled to a safe distance.

"Wait!" Kabuto beseeched all parties before a brawl could erupt in the middle of the street, "You don't have to fight us for it!"

Suigetsu was skeptical, "What, are you just going to give us one of the Seven Swords?" Kabuto nodded hesitantly, carefully eyeing the cold steel in the swordsman's grip, "...Seriously?"

"That's what we're here for," Tenten drawled, "We're not from around here, so the powers-that-be decided we can't have anything to do with any of the Seven Swords. Congratulations, you've been selected."

Suigetsu looked over at Mangetsu, confusion etched on his face, "Which one of us?"

"The Kiba blades are two separate swords, dumbass," Mangetsu said.

Tenten laughed at the older brother chiding the younger, despite the death glare she received in return. Whatever. She was doing them a favor, "Yep. That's why it's great for you guys. Both swords work separately, by the way. Just not as strong as when they're together."

It was perfect for a pair of brothers with similar training, who often worked together. It would also make it harder for just anyone to take them both. Just because someone took down one of the Hozuki boys didn't mean much. You would still have to beat the other to take the whole set.

Both brothers seemed to salivate at the sight of the small scroll Tenten pulled out, labeled for the Kiba swords. She opened it to unseal it, only to be stopped by Kabuto at the last moment, "Actually... since we're doing you such a big favor..."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Suigetsu deadpanned at the gall of the medic, "Right. So we're just gonna kill you and take it now."

Kabuto balked at the threat. Tenten was much less affected, "Good luck unsealing this then. The person who made it secured the hell out of it. We just want a little something in return, right?" She said, eyeing Kabuto, not quite knowing why he had thrown in an extra part of the transaction. He had slipped that in on his own. Whether it had been crafty or foolish remained to be seen, even though it had almost resulted in a fight.

"Right," Kabuto said, clearing his throat and regaining his composure, "Just some information. What is Seigyou-ki supposed to be to this country?"

Both Suigetsu and Mangetsu looked at each other uncertainly, which came as a surprise to both Tenten and Kabuto. Were they wary of this group, that a guarantee of receiving one of the most revered weapons in the history of Mizu no Kuni wasn't enough to get them to talk?

Mangetsu eventually answered, "We're going to need some time to think about it."

That had not been the answer Kabuto had been looking for, but it told him a lot all the same.

XxX

(Hi no Kuni – Senju Clan Headquarters)

After an afternoon of doing nothing, mostly due to his fobbing off of his procedural paperwork onto his apprentice Sakura, Nawaki decided to drop in on his clan head to see how she was doing with the 'gift' he'd given her after his latest excursion.

"Knock-knock, sis," Nawaki said, poking his head into the mortuary of the medical area where Tsunade kept herself busy with research.

Tsunade's blonde hair was pinned back out of the way, and she wore a white lab coat with elbow-length latex gloves on, "Could you have left more of these two intact so I could do a proper autopsy?" She said, her attention focused on what was left of the body of Kinkaku.

Nawaki found his sister's comment to have been quite rude, "Hey, that's not how you show gratitude to a wonderful younger brother! I brought you three of Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths, and two pseudo-jinchuuriki corpses to study!" He didn't have to bring her anything at all.

Tsunade scoffed, a sardonic smirk in place, "I'm elbow-deep in the guts of the Gold and Silver Brothers. Happy early birthday to me."

Nawaki walked past Tsunade to a tray of medical tools where she kept a bottle of sake, "So, anything good?" He asked, taking an experimental sniff of the alcohol, just to make sure it wasn't some kind of chemical instead.

Tsunade pulled her hands out of Kinkaku's chest cavity and placed her hands on the autopsy table with a sigh, "Well, they aren't real jinchuuriki. But they're close enough. We're learning more," Her brown eyes turned from the cadaver over to her brother, currently busy downing her drink, "We really could use a real one, preferably alive."

"That's dark," Nawaki remarked, throwing his head back for a decent swig of sake.

Tsunade felt like throwing one of her used gloves at Nawaki's face, "Oh, shut up. I'm not going to dissect a living person. Who do you think I am, Orochimaru?"

"So, you admit jinchuuriki are people?"

Tsunade glared at Nawaki. She had never pushed the narrative that jinchuurki were monsters, "I always believed they were people. I always knew better. You know why we know better," Nawaki stopped drinking and regarded Tsunade with a frown, but nodded in understanding, "But it doesn't make jinchuuriki any less dangerous. And Namikaze has had two of them for years."

"What does that tell you?"

"It doesn't tell me anything," Tsunade said, moving Kinkaku's body onto a gurney to take to a freezer slab, "And again, it doesn't make them any less dangerous."

"Have you ever stopped and considered sitting down and having a conversation with Namikaze?"

Tsunade deposited Kinkaku from the gurney onto the freezer slab with ease, "He stole our granduncle's signature jutsu, and he has reasons of his own to hate us back," The freezer door closed with a loud thud, "What makes you think a sitdown would go well for anyone?"

"Hope that we all aren't animals."

"Humans are all animals," Tsunade said knowingly, her expression patient as she addressed Nawaki, "Just because we use tools doesn't mean we're not animals. Monkeys use tools. Other animals use tools. Just because we organize and speak a language doesn't mean we're not animals. Animals form packs and units, and have their own way of communicating. Just because we have rules and customs doesn't mean we're not animals. Animals have set ways of acting as well, and we just so happen to break our own rules more than animals do. Really, we're worse. Because at least when you're face-to-face with a tiger or a bear, you know where you stand. When you're face-to-face with another human, you always have to be prepared for the other shoe to drop. Because you never know just who the true predator is among us."

That was remarkably cynical, even for Tsunade, which was saying something, as she was much more the negative of the two siblings. It gave Nawaki pause, "Is something the matter? What are you thinking about?"

Tsunade closed the freezer for corpses and leaned her head and forearm against the cold metal of the surface, "Whether I believe that Uzumaki Naruto and Fuu were made to be jinchuuriki against their own wills and the wills of any sane individual or not are irrelevant. Whether I believe they were made by chaotic elements or not is irrelevant," "The fact of the matter is, they exist. Do you really think that the fact that they're taboo will keep our enemies from trying to harness that power for themselves for much longer?"

It felt like she was tryingto tell him something without bringing it up directly, "Tsunade... sis... is something coming that I should know about? Is it the Uchiha Clan?" There had been rumblings that another battle was set to happen later in the spring, but Tsunade had never let on to any plans of the sort.

"No. It's not them," Tsunade said, "It's nothing. Not yet, at least," She turned and leaned her back against the freezers, accepting her sake bottle from Nawaki when he handed it over, "I've just been hearing some things from the north that are... disconcerting. Let's just say that there are certain other powerful figures in the world that want a piece of the jinchuuriki arms race."

"The north? From Kaminari no Kuni?" No. She couldn't mean that tribe, could she? They kept to the mountains. That was a line that neither the Senju nor the Uchiha had been hardy enough to try and step beyond for their own gains. It had never been worth the hassle of dealing with them, "Well, don't leave me in the dark here. Come on. We're in this together. Talk to me. What do you know? Is it-?"

Tsunade interrupted, nodding grimly, much to Nawaki's chagrin, "-There's a reason I let you go look for the Treasured Tools, and it wasn't to fight the Uchiha," Her eyes were locked onto the bottle in her hand as she idly swished around the liquid inside, "Honestly, I was hoping you'd find all of them, because I think we're going to need them if what the Alpha have been up to is to be believed."

XxX

(With Naruto – Mizu no Kuni – Hashike-gai)

Naruto had, in fact, not been terrible enough for Tayuya to take full control, which had been a bit emboldening. Apparently, Kurama's crash-course in the absolute basics of how to handle himself with a girl worked well enough for when things got going. How Kurama knew enough of what to do was a question that Naruto didn't really want or need answered. Life was disturbing enough on its own.

In the end, he had enjoyed himself. He could kind of see why Jiraiya sort of obsessed over sex. And the important part was that while Tayuya hadn't praised his performance, she also hadn't told him he'd been terrible, nor had she freed herself from the confines of the bed to get distance from him.

That meant he'd done good, right? Or at least respectably, perhaps?

Either way, the moment had passed, leaving the two lazing about, sans clothing.

Naruto could see an awkward conversation on the horizon if Tenten and Kabuto returned with him and Tayuya in their current state, but he had faith in his ability to quickly dress and run interference until Tayuya could as well, if things came to that. At the moment, Naruto couldn't bring himself to care even that much.

Tenten had been around him forever. She'd probably seen him in worse situations than in bed with a girl, and he'd probably unintentionally return the favor to her somewhere down the line. Also, Kabuto was a doctor. He had to have been fine with seeing people unclothed.

Head set on Naruto's shoulder, Tayuya's fingertips brushed across the visible seal markings on his stomach, "So, this is what's keeping the Kyuubi trapped inside you."

Naruto let out a hum of confirmation as he ran a hand up and down her back and arms, "Kurama. His name is Kurama," He gently corrected, eyeing the girl who seemed to be trying to figure out how the seal on him worked. Good luck. His mother barely knew, and she was the one who had altered it to be something safe, "And yeah, that's it. Kinda weird to think about, isn't it?"

"No fucking kidding," Tayuya muttered before looking up Naruto's chest to ask him a question, "How do you know it's a he? Or that his name is Kurama?"

Naruto grinned down at the girl, remembering calmer times in the forests of Uzu no Kuni's islands, "I knew him before he got sealed inside of me. He talks to me now too; gives me all kinds of advice. Tells me stuff about the olden days. He's a good friend."

Being told that Kurama sometimes spoke to Naruto was news to Tayuya, and given their current state, it gave her a particular thought, "Can he see what you see?" She asked. Naruto went deadly still, prompting her to go a step further in her questioning, "Golden Boy… was a tailed beast watching us when we were-?"

"-No!" Naruto exclaimed in his own defense. Too defensive to be innocent. Tayuya gave him a purple-nurple in return, "Ow! I don't know if he was or not! I mean, yeah, he knew we were gonna do it, but why would he care? He's a giant-ass fox, 'ttebayo!"

"A giant-ass fox that saw my fucking goodies!" Tayuya specified, still livid. Permission had not been granted to give the Kyuubi a peep show.

Kurama, still awake, took the opportunity to 'helpfully' chime in, "Tell her that me seeing her naked is the equivalent of you humans seeing a dog or a cat naked. Watching you two rut would be like watching animals go at it. That's how far beneath me you all are."

'I'm not saying that! That'll just make this worse!' Naruto thought back, slapping a furious Tayuya's hands away from the more tender parts of his body, "He wasn't even paying attention! He's usually asleep anyway!"

Tayuya started to relax, sitting back onto her knee, fists slowly unclenching. She was still sufficiently put off, however, "He better not have been. This isn't just something I do all the time with anybody, Golden Boy. Not after I was-."

Naruto stopped her before she could allude to more terrible times in her life, "-I know," He'd already heard that story, and she didn't seem keen on bringing it up again in any way, shape, or form. She didn't have to. Once was enough for him to get the picture.

"Whatever," Tayuya scoffed and turned her back, getting off of the bed to search for something to put on.

Naruto found him attention set on Tayuya's bare backside as she bent over to gather up articles of her clothing. His brain eventually started working enough to generate words, "I'm not that much of an asshole. We don't even have to talk about this again if you don't want. All you have to do is say so, and it never happened."

Tayuya stood up straight and grinned back over her shoulder at Naruto after catching him staring, "Oh hell no. I took your v-card. That shit is mine. I claim the right to bring that up whenever it'll embarrass you most until the day one of us dies. If you ever come back to Mizu after this, that is," She said, beginning to get dressed again.

Naruto returned her expression, hopeful he hadn't upset her with his circumstances involving Kurama, "I really don't get what'd be embarrassing about you," He said under his breath, getting his pants thrown over his face for the comment, "Oi!"

"I heard that," Tayuya said, rolling her eyes at what she perceived to be an attempt at a pickup line, "I already let you hit it, Golden Boy. Buttering me up isn't going to get me back in the sack that easily. A for effort, C for execution... which is what I can say about your actual performance."

"Hey, a C is a passing grade where I come from. I'll take it."

Completely uprepared for such frank self-deprecation, Naruto's joke actually pulled deep, honest laughter out of Tayuya, "You fucking goober."

The more she saw of him, the harder it was to reconcile the monster he was on the battlefield with the 'Golden Boy' she more often found herself dealing with. If she hadn't seen it for herself, if it hadn't been directed at her previously, she still wouldn't have believed anyone who told her that this was a jinchuuriki. He was way too disarming. She let him in her house, for goodness sake.

She thought to herself as she looked out of the window in her loft, frowning at the sight of precipitation pouring down on the town, "Shit. It's fucking raining? Didn't look like we'd see a drop today."

Naruto got up from the bed, preparing to throw on his protective vest as he looked out the window at the sudden change of weather Tayuya had alluded to. True enough, it hadn't seemed like there had been any storm clouds around when they'd made it out to Hashike-gai that morning.

Hopefully Tenten and Kabuto managed to get somewhere dry, or would return before they got too soaked out there. Kabuto might have been a doctor, but even he could get sick.

XxX

(Elsewhere in Hashike-gai)

The rain had come out of nowhere, and had caught Tenten and Kabuto entirely off-guard. One moment, they had been trying to glean information out of the Hozuki Brothers on the organization that tried to keep Mizu no Kuni's chaos as controlled as possible, and the next, a downpour started.

Fantastic.

"It's fine," Kabuto said, trying to work the grumpy look off of Tenten's face with a good attitude, "It's not like we were in any kind of rush to leave."

"But I want to rest too..." Tenten whined, "Naruto gets to kick his feet up in Tayuya's house, probably take a good, long nap on some kind of cushion. Do you know how long it's been since I've slept in an actual building, or on a real cushioned surface? Weeks, Kabuto."

"I know. I've been right here with you. And I'm pretty sure Naruto would let you get all of the sleep you want when we get back. But in the meantime, do you want a pick-me-up?" He asked, reaching into his medic pouch for a small bag of soldier pills.

Tenten was quick to respond, "Yes. Miracle drugs, please," Kabuto chuckled and deposited the pill into her hand, which was quickly downed – no water, "Oh... God, I'm going to crash so hard later when this wears off."

"Yeah you are," Kabuto said, happy that he could help Tenten with her fatigue, at least temporarily, "This mission has been draining," Even while trying to be positive, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.

That was an understatement. There had been so much travel, so much fighting, so much trouble, and so many complications. Tenten almost felt sorry for Kabuto that he'd come along on what was a personal errand for his first outing alongside them.

Naruto cut a brutal pace on the job under normal circumstances, and here, he was trying to get his task done and get back to the main party so he could keep doing important work, so he was moving even faster. It was difficult to tire him out with the regular rigors of shinobi life, such as traveling on foot, and he took advantage of that. It made him more effective than most. For those who followed him and weren't used to how Naruto operated, it was an exhausting experience. It took Tenten years to get the kind of conditioning needed to just follow him around day-to-day, and that was with Naruto being considerate that she didn't possess his stamina.

That it had taken Kabuto this long to voice anything about fatigue let on that he was tougher than he appeared. Tenten liked that, "It doesn't look like it's stopping anytime soon. You want to just deal with it and head back to Tayuya's place to dry off there?"

"Sure," Kabuto said in agreement, "It's not like I'm going to melt in the rain or anything."

The two stepped out into the downpour and hurriedly tried to navigate through town to get back to Tayuya's home. As they moved, Tenten noticed something flying in the sky, circling overhead. It had been raining too hard for too long for a bird to be out and simply circling anything in the open.

As she stopped and looked up to scrutinize it, she realized several things. It wasn't a regular-sized bird. It was a large bird that just so happened to be very high up. It wasn't a flesh, blood, and feathers bird. She couldn't make out any real details on it. And most importantly, there was someone riding on top of it.

She had seen something like that before. Although it had been years, Tenten had never forgotten. After all, you didn't just let near-death experiences slip from your mind. Even years later, Tenten could remember Konan, the powerful paper kunoichi that had almost killed her as a younger girl.

Back then, she had been after Naruto. What were the chances that times had changed and she'd come for something else?

Not great. And she was coming closer.

"Kabuto..." Tenten said warily, "...I need you to go book it to where Naruto and Tayuya are. Tell them that Konan is here. Naruto will know what that means."

"What does it mean?"

"Nothing good."

"A-Are you sure? You might need my help."

Tenten gave him a grim smile that did little to reassure him, "If I go down, you're not going to get the chance to heal me," She gestured with her head for him to leave, "I've got this. Go."

She did not have this. She knew she didn't have it. But she'd been honest about Kabuto's helpfulness as a medic-nin in battle with Konan. He wouldn't have time to heal her and protect himself from someone as strong as her. He was better served sounding the alert for Naruto, in the hopes that Tenten could deal with Konan long enough for something to be done about her.

Tenten could feel her heart rate rise as she started to get into the mindset for a fight with a superior opponent. Then again, four years was a long time. Had she closed the gap enough for it to matter against someone who had utterly outclassed her once before?

Staring up, dripping rainwater, Tenten couldn't help but find a measure of humor, "He said he'd get me something good before we made it home," She said to herself before shouting into the rain, "This is a really shitty birthday present, Naruto!"


Danger, Tenten, danger. All she wants is to find the masked man, and sleep in a decent bed! Is that so much to ask!?

Anyway, that's the chapter. Next time, big trouble on the moving island city. Our crew has been sold out by the lady they were trying to get square with. Konan is there with a vengeance. And who knows what the hell else will happen, or is in the works?

...I mean, I do. I'm kind of the one writing this crap. I pretty much have to know.

Until next time, that's all I've got for now. I hope you enjoyed.

Kenchi out.