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

Author's Note: Hey folks, this is your friendly neighborhood leonardo1123581321 sending friendly greetings and howdidoos. Thanks for the patience with the development of this chapter, I know it took a little longer than normal to post. In my defense, I became excessively busy once the school year rolled in. I've been getting a lot of questions regarding the Akatsuki and the Hashi situation. I will say some of the loose ends will start to be tied up, but a good story always takes its time and lets the events unfold naturally. I hope you enjoy the story. And special thanks goes out to Kells for proofreading my chapters for me. And now on to some review responses:

Geoff: While I respect your opinions, I take it you're not really familiar with much of Naruto career in Shippuden. The general idea is there were a lot of unseen motives and actions during the first part of Naruto, and not everything was as it seemed. So while you're entitled to your opinions, I ask you continue to read with an open mind.

Shadow-Sensei: Konichiwa, Shadow-tono. Much respect to you for sticking through this story for so long. I apologize for the long gaps between updates but I really need the time to work on these stories so I can flesh them out enough. Orochimaru has some plans for Naruto, although I won't say what. Needless to say, there are a lot of plot points in this story I'm not touching on. I do intend to resolve most of them. I won't say much about anything else. Anyway, thanks for always reading and I'm happy to see you've stuck with me up to this point.

Broken Sexed Up Bloody Kitten: It will have an ending. Much like The Godfather and my Resistation: Isolation doujinshi at deviantart, the ending will be bittersweet. I'll leave it up to you to decide what that means.

all forms of fluff: Actually, to answer your question in order: Yes, Gama will play a bigger role in the future but I won't say how far along, the Hana matter will be resolved in the coming chapters, and Naruto will never learn the Shadow Clone technique. Ultimately, Naruto is not a shinobi and has a lot of friction between him self and the village shinobi as you can guess. Needless to say, he doesn't have much inclination to pursue any shinobi techniques. As for his ascension into leadership, I'll share a secret with you: I intended this story to parallel The Godfather and The Sicilian in that the main character was a tragic hero. I won't say how he's a tragic hero, but he is.

Earthdude: Wait no more for I provide!

And so, without further ado, I present the continuation of Oyabun:

Oyabun

(An Older Brother)

Chapter 37: The Return of Uchiha Itachi

Homura and Koharu were the elderly advisors to the late Third Hokage. Although they showed no sign to the contrary, both were greatly devastated at the loss of their old friend. Unfortunately, it was their burden as council members to maintain a calm and careful attitude at a time of great instability in the Leaf Village. In their time of need, the local yakuza decided to start buying properties at a time when the villagers were desperate for whatever they could get. The entire village was looking to the council for guidance, which the council was hoping to place on the shoulders of whoever they named Hokage.

Unfortunately, infighting and directionless debates did not make their job any easier. The one man the council was able to unanimously name declined the position, claiming he wasn't suited for the title. Instead, he offered to go find someone more fitting – his old teammate and fellow Sannin Tsunade. It was a fool's errand as decreed by many, since no one had ever been able to find her since she abandoned the village. However, the man assured them he would find her.

The two of them departed from another lengthy meeting, both frustrated at how little was accomplished. As they left the council room deep inside the Hokage's Tower, they heard the estranged greetings of an old associate from behind them, "Koharu. Homura. May I have a moment of your time?"

"What is it now?" Homura asked tiredly, her voice doing little to conceal her disdain. The man who spoke to them was Danzo, a tyrant in his own right. Danzo was always at odds with the Third Hokage, believing the only way to achieve peace was through military dominance over the other villages. Danzo wasted no time with the old council members, "I want you two to cast votes for me as the next Hokage during the next meeting. We all know this is the only way to resolve this issue."

"No," Homura said plainly, "The village needs a leader, Danzo. Not a warmonger. The Sand Village already signed a peace treaty and a reparations doctrine that they have followed through with. The last thing we need is for you to stir up a fire that's already been extinguished."

"You don't seem to realize the position we're in," Danzo grunted, "The village is weak. Sarutobi's life philosophy on the 'Will of Fire' and his own compassion are what brought us to this state. The village needs change, now more than ever."

"No, you want change," Koharu accused, "Now if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

Koharu turned to leave, but stopped in her tracks when she took notice of a man in a black cloak standing at the end of the hallway. The man concealed his face beneath a rice hat, making identification impossible. He must have been a man of considerable prowess to be able to sneak up on three of the village's oldest and more powerful shinobi. With a stern face, Koharu asked, "Who are you?"

The man lifted his rice hat and revealed his face. A swift glance into his eyes told her all she needed to know, "Itachi."

"Why are you here?" Danzo demanded furiously. Itachi frowned, "I just came to remind you of our deal, the one I made with the Third that day."

"How could I forget?" Danzo stated bitterly. Itachi locked eyes with Danzo and forced the old man to stumble backwards. Koharu and Homura saw the look of fear in Danzo, understanding all too well what Itachi was capable of, "I wanted you to know I haven't forgotten the orders I received that day, along with the other secrets this village holds."

"You wouldn't," Homura growled bitterly at Itachi, unable to conceal his own worry. Itachi frowned, "Nothing means more to me than the terms of our deal. The Third may have died but I still expect all three of you to carry through. If you break our deal, then-"

"We get it! We'll honor Sarutobi's deal," Homura grunted. Itachi observed the village elders carefully, scanning for some sincerity in Homura's response. After a moment's silence, he nodded in satisfaction, "Good. I'll be leaving now. Danzo, I know you'll order your men to kill me while I leave so I must advise you otherwise. I'm sure I don't have to though. You and I both know superior numbers don't win a battle."

"I know," Danzo murmured. A black raven emerged from Itachi's shoulder and flew away, cawing loudly as it broke a window and flew away. Another emerged from his arm, and a third from his back; both following the first raven. Itachi's entire body transformed into a flock of ravens that scattered around the hallway before fleeing out the open window and into the village. Right away, two chunin appeared around the corner, "What happened? We heard a window break!"

"Nothing happened," Homura said, "A stray bird got in and broke the window."

"A stray bird?" one of the chunin repeated stupidly, looking at his partner for an explanation.

…

In another part of the village, Naruto, Haku, and Gan were waiting patiently in his office for Jiraiya's arrival. Both of their bags were lying at foot of his desk along with both of Naruto's katana, Haku waiting patiently beside them with Zabuza's sword held in reverence between his hands. He used a wipe to polish Zabuza's sword, pausing regularly to admire it carefully. Naruto wondered if Haku ever actually used the sword since he always carried it around with him. Gan sat across from Naruto, in one of his office chairs fiddling with a tiny wooden puppet, using threads of chakra to make it dance around in a circle. Naruto examined the clock, believing the old pervert was wasting both Haku's and his time. Naruto passed the time by catching up on all the paperwork he missed.

Reading through the files, he noted that Suna signed a truce with Konoha. The truce apparently encouraged more business along the toll roads between Konoha and Suna although some people were nervous because of the political tension between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. Revenue was coming in, a welcome reprieve from the dangerous line between red and black that the clan had been walking since the attack. Unfortunately, all the numbers were making his head hurt so Naruto couldn't tell how much the clan was profiting.

A knock at the door took his attention away from the papers. It was the secretary who opened the door, "Boss Kitsune, Jiraiya is here to see you."

"Let him in," Naruto waved, pushing the papers off to the side of his desk and getting off his seat. He took his backpack in his arms and slung it over his shoulder just as Jiraiya appeared through the door, "Hey! Are you ready to set off on our grand adventure?"

Naruto tied both of his katana around his belt, both of them on the left with Kitsune just above Kusanagi, "As I'll ever be…"

"Good! Let's get going!" Jiraiya cheered happily, patting Naruto on the back. Naruto rolled his eyes and reminded Gan, "Take care of things until we get back, okay?"

"Of course," Gan nodded, controlling his little puppet to bow for him. Naruto waved at the clan elder and followed Jiraiya out of the office. They traveled through the village quietly, with Haku slightly behind them. Once they were out of the village gates, Naruto slowed his pace until he was walking beside Haku. He preferred to be beside Haku over Jiraiya, if only because he wasn't fond of the old pervert. Jiraiya didn't like Naruto's sudden drop in pace, "Hey! You're supposed to be escorting me, remember?"

"I remember," Naruto sighed, "Haku, keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't try anything funny."

Haku nodded, and Naruto caught up with Jiraiya. Naruto kept a hand on Kitsune and one eye on Jiraiya in case the old pervert had other plans. Naruto reminded himself the job was simply to escort Jiraiya so he could inspect the seal holding the demon fox and find the Legendary Sucker. Hopefully, it wouldn't take any longer than Jiraiya estimated.

…

As part of her daily ritual, Hinata walked around the village after completing her afternoon training. She would walk around aimlessly for hours at a time, stopping only to pick up any groceries that came to her mind. Today was a little different; Sasuke decided to escort her during her walk, something she didn't entirely mind too much. She welcomed anything that could distract her from her thoughts: her embarrassment regarding her rather vocal confession to Naruto. She hoped it wasn't the reason he was suddenly leaving the village on an escort mission.

Her father rebuked her for declaring any sort of affection for a crime lord. She apologized and begged him not to disown her from the clan again, especially after she was only recently allowed back into the clan estate. Her father calmly said he wouldn't because of an arrangement he made, but also instructed her to never do that again. Hinata was unsure what he meant by 'that': did he mean to never be so vocal about her feelings or did he not want her to see Naruto again? Whatever he meant, it left her quite distressed.

Just ahead of them, Hinata caught sight of Kakashi outside a teashop with two of his colleagues: a grizzled jonin with a goatee and a beautiful woman dressed in what appeared to be bandages: Asuma and Kurenai Kakashi saw the two of them from afar and greeted, "Hey you two. You seem to spend a lot of time together as well."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke grunted. Hinata looked from Sasuke to Kurenai to Asuma, hoping one of them could explain what Kakashi meant. Asuma chose that particular moment to clear his throat with a strong cough, "Kurenai and I should be going, Kakashi, kids."

Asuma pocketed his hands and walked away into the busy streets of Konoha with Kurenai beside him. Hinata was even more confused than before, looking at Sasuke for some sort of hint but found him gazing away at the tea shop dumbfounded. He narrowed his eyes and added, "It can't be…"

"Sasuke?" Kakashi inquired the boy curiously, folding his arms across his chest. Sasuke closed his eyes and took a long exhale, "Nothing. I thought I saw something."

"If you say so," Kakashi answered indifferently, "I need to be going too. You two have fun, but not in that way."

Before Hinata could ask what just happened, Kakashi disappeared. Hinata was now annoyed with the turn of events, particularly because no one seemed bothered to explain what just happened. It was so stupid; Hinata completely forgot what she was originally doing beforehand. Hinata looked at Sasuke for some clue and recalled she had been taking a walk around the village. As she started walking again, she noted Sasuke was not following her. She stopped in her tracks momentarily and looked back at him, "Sasuke?"

"I think I'll call it a day, Hinata," Sasuke commented, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right, bye," Hinata waved to her teammate. The two of them parted ways after that. Hinata's mind lingered on the event, wondering what exactly she just bore witness to.

…

Jiraiya led them off the main road, deep into the forest. Naruto kept a hand on his katana at all times, nervously watching the old pervert hum quietly to himself. After about an hour of trekking through untouched forest, they came across a small clearing inhabited only an old tree stump and some overgrown grass. Jiraiya dropped all of his bags at the point, "This will do just nicely. Naruto, I need you to take off your shirt so I can inspect the seal."

Naruto looked back at Haku for some assurance, hoping he wasn't going to fall prey to some perverted fantasy of Jiraiya. Haku nodded at Naruto and put a hand on Zabuza's sword. That was enough assurance for Naruto. He set down his bag and stripped himself of his coat and dress shirt. Shirtless, Naruto sat down on the stump and waited for Jiraiya to do whatever it was he was going to do.

Jiraiya cracked his knuckles and stretched before continuing, "Alright. Now sit up straight and start molding some chakra."

Once again uncertain of Jiraiya's intentions, Naruto crossed his legs and folded his hands. Recalling his tree climbing exercises, Naruto concentrated his chakra into his feet and fought the rising pain in his temples. As he did this, he felt Jiraiya place a hand on his stomach and start mumbling to himself. Fearing Jiraiya was about to enact some exotic fantasy, the blonde clan leader kicked away the elder sage, "What do you think you're doing!"

"Calm down kid, I was just inspecting the seal," Jiraiya answered. He pointed a finger at his stomach, which Naruto followed to find a strange pattern of markings centered around his belly button, "That's the seal the Fourth used to seal the Kyubi inside you."

"Why were you touching it?" Naruto demanded. The sage sighed and sarcastically responded, "Don't get too excited kid, you're not that pretty. I was just trying to get a sense of the chakra flow."

"Gee, thanks," Naruto sneered. He resumed his position on the log stump, folded his hands and crossed his legs. He gave the perverted hermit a warning look and nodded at Haku "Make sure he doesn't try anything."

"I won't," Jiraiya reassured Naruto. Naruto remained cautious of the perverted old man but resumed his chakra molding. The head pains resumed, but Naruto continued to focus his chakra while the old man ran his hands along Naruto's stomach. He listened intently to Jiraiya's whispers as the sage worked, "A Shiki Fujin… leave it to… and an Eight Trigrams Seal… it allows access to the demon's chakra but… Hmm…"

Jiraiya's musings were becoming annoying and Naruto was growing dizzy from molding his chakra, clear evidence that he was no longer in the same condition he used to be in. The last thing Naruto wanted was to fall unconscious around Jiraiya. Before Naruto could urge the old man to hurry up, Jiraiya clapped his hands together, "Okay, I think I've figured it out."

"Okay, care to explain?" Naruto groaned, ceasing his chakra molding and grabbing onto the stump with his arm to keep himself from falling over. Dazed and slightly disoriented, Naruto managed to retain enough energy to hear Jiraiya's explanation, "The seal is set so small amounts of the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra is filtered into your own chakra. This allows you access to a fraction of its chakra without the adverse effects which come with hosting a demon. Therein lies the problem, because the small trickle of chakra is slowly weakening the seal to the point of leaking. From what I understand, this is due in part to heightened emotional states which the Kyubi's power is known to draw from."

"Okay," Naruto nodded. It was mostly a gesture for show because Naruto didn't understand the first thing about any of it. Jiraiya bought into his lie and continued, "So, short of you becoming emotionally dead, the band aid solution would be to slow down the flow of chakra through the seal which will decrease the rate of the seal's decay. However, the seal will simply continue to degrade until the Nine Tailed Fox's chakra overwhelms it. Because of that, I will need to redo the seal. You won't be able to draw on as much chakra, but at least the fox won't get loose."

Don't let him touch the seal, the Nine Tailed Fox's voice roared in his head, You need my strength, it is of greater value than anything he has to offer! It was the first time the fox had spoken to him since the attack on the village. It also raised a fair point, Naruto needed access to the Kyubi's chakra and there was no need to spoil a good thing, "What happens if I don't want the seal to be repaired."

"The fox's chakra will burst out of you," Jiraiya answered seriously, "The intensity of the chakra will overwhelm your body, tearing you to pieces. The Kitsune will escape and wreak destruction upon everything it sees."

"That would be very bad," Naruto commented quietly, ignoring the Kyubi's enraged howl, Do not let him near the seal! You need me!

"No duh," Jiraiya added, "This will only take a minute."

Jiraiya rolled up his sleeve and performed an elaborate set of hand signs. Black lines drew themselves on his arm, tracing all the way up to his palm and fingers were small flickers of blue chakra emanated. Naruto watched as Jiraiya wring out his right hand and added, "Now, stay perfectly still."

Naruto did just that and immediately regretted it. Jiraiya slammed his palm against Naruto's stomach with all the force of a waterfall, his fingers digging into his skin. Jiraiya twisted his palm, a surge of pain flying up his body and sending shivers down his spine. NO-o!, the fox's cry rang in his head before slowly fading away into nothing. Naruto fell backwards off the stump, Haku immediately rushing to his side and helped Naruto up. Catching his breath, Naruto demanded, "What was that?"

"Relax," Jiraiya offered, "It was a special jutsu that mended the seal. You should be fine now."

"That was a key," Haku commented calmly, "Seals are usually designed to have a specialized key. The two can only work on each other. Forgive my curiosity, but where did you acquire that key?"

"It's not important," Jiraiya dismissed the question with a wave, "Put your shirt back on kid. We're running late."

Naruto was already ahead of Jiraiya, busy tucking his orange dress shirt back into place in his pants. As he busied himself with his coat, he demanded, "I'd say it's pretty important. The Nine Tails told me the Fourth Hokage sealed him inside me. That means he's the one who made the seal, and the one who made the key. How did you get it?"

"You should know better than to trust a demon," Jiraiya countered, "They're demons. They lie, especially Kitsune spirits. They're famous for playing tricks on those foolish enough to fall for them. Now come on. We've still got a long way to go."

Naruto threw his backpack around his shoulders and looked at Haku, he returned his confused look. Naruto was a bit annoyed that he had listened to the fox up to this point in time. He should have considered the possibility that a demon fox was playing games with his head. Thankfully, there were no serious repercussions for the time being which meant the fox had been stopped before anything serious happened.

…

Confused and annoyed, Sasuke moaned his displeasure at having wasted his time following the Jounin instructors. Even if he was maintaining a low profile, they were far ahead of him in skill and could very easily lose him in a crowded area. He did try to employ his sharingan to counter any ninjutsu or genjutsu they tried to lose him, and even then they still managed to get away. Sasuke wasn't even sure why he was following them.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, there was no way he could have seen what he thought he saw in that tea shop. It was a pair of familiar red eyes gazing at him from beneath a rice hat, before disappearing into thin air. Sasuke momentarily suspected that it was his brother Itachi, the man who single handedly wiped out the entire Uchiha Clan with the exception of Sasuke. At the time, Itachi claimed Sasuke was merely too pathetic to kill and mocked him for it, urging the boy to run like a coward until he could face Itachi.

Sasuke spited his brother for his unforgivable actions that night. An entire clan, made of some of the most elite ninja in the village, wiped out in a single night by a teenaged-boy who merely wanted to "test" his power. Before Itachi rendered Sasuke unconscious, Sasuke swore he saw tears in his brother's eyes but was certain it had simply been his imagination. A fleeting thought Sasuke readily dimissed because of the brash nature of the greater inhumanity that occurred.

Since that day, Sasuke trained himself for the day he would avenge his clan. It was a day that couldn't come soon enough for Sasuke. He didn't care what it took.

As Sasuke prepared to head back to his home, he noticed Asuma and Kurenai race in front of him with Gai in tow carrying a limp Kakashi on his back. A chunin was with them bombarding them with questions as they ran on, "Is it true? Was Uchiha Itachi the one who did this?"

"Not so loud!" Asuma reprimanded the chunin, "We need to set up a perimeter to keep him from escaping."

Those words were more than enough for Sasuke. The world around him disappeared into a blur as he took off after them, wanting nothing more than to know just where his older brother was going. He chased after them all the way to the hospital, just barely able to keep pace with the jonins. He followed them insider where he found several medics attending to Kakashi, while Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai were talking quietly to each other. Asuma took notice of Sasuke's arrival and greeted the boy, "Hello, Sasuke."

"Where's Itachi!" Sasuke demanded, wasting no time with small talk. Asuma's eyes widened in surprise but he quickly regained his composure and coughed, "Sasuke, I know how you feel about this. But this is no time to lose your head."

"I'm not playing games! Where is he?" Sasuke growled. Asuma blinked once, lighting a cigarette and throwing it into his mouth, "I'm sorry Sasuke, but-"

"Asuma!" a jonin appeared around the corner and slid to a stop beside Kurenai and Gai, "Did Uchiha Itachi really return? And is he really after Uzumaki Naruto?"

Kurenai and Gai shot the jonin dirty looks, scaring the jonin into taking a step back, "What?"

"Idiot," Kurenai muttered, looking at Sasuke. The jonin followed Kurenai's gaze and immediately slapped himself in the head. Sasuke didn't know or care what happened after that since he was already racing out the door. Itachi was here, and he was after Naruto. As Sasuke recalled, Naruto was supposed to leave today with Master Jiraiya on some escort mission. Sasuke raced straight past the main gate and out of the village. His heart pounded in his ears, his legs pushing faster and faster towards his goal: his chance to avenge his clan.

…

Naruto cracked a bored yawn and stretched his arms over his head. He normally wasn't one for enjoying the view or sounds of nature, but he preferred this to pouring over mountains of documents. Naruto cracked his knuckles together and looked over his shoulder at Haku. Haku's eyes were closed with a faint smile on his face, clearly enjoying the offerings of nature. Naruto didn't want to disturb Haku, but still wanted some way to entertain himself, so he drew his katana from its scabbard and began to spin it in his hands. It was fun for a while, until Naruto lost his grip and the sword flew out of his hand and towards Haku. Haku caught the katana between his fingers, not even flinching at the katana flying towards him.

"It's probably not a good time to play with sharp objects," Haku placidly remarked passed the katana back to him. Naruto apologized and replaced the katana back in his scabbard. Effectively bored once again, Naruto groaned at Jiraiya, "Hey, how far are we from our destination?"

"We're going to stop at a nearby village that's about an hour ahead," Jiraiya answered, "It's a nice little tourist's spot that's famous for its spas. We'll stop there for the night while I try to dig up some information on Tsunade."

Naruto didn't hesitate to bemoan his despair at the prospect. Jiraiya simply stretched and offered, "It's got to be better than sitting in that office all day."

The boy couldn't argue against Jiraiya's logic, and resigned himself to enjoying the wonders of nature. To say the trip to the next village was uneventful was an understatement in Naruto's opinion. When they arrived at the village, they proceeded towards a nearby inn Jiraiya claimed to have stayed at previously. Compared to the other inns they passed on the way to this particular inn, Naruto could say it was nothing special. The wooden floors of the lobby were covered in a thin layer of dirt that managed to find its way through the soles of his shoe and into his socks. Small drops of what he hoped was water dripped from the ceiling onto several buckets scattered across the floor. A young woman sat behind a particularly dusty counter, wiping away at it carelessly with an even dirtier rag. A smile lit up her face as soon as Jiraiya walked in and she immediately put the rag down to give Jiraiya a hug, "Master Jiraiya!"

"Hey, hey! How have you been?" Jiraiya returned the hug. At that moment, Naruto understood why Jiraiya chose to stay in such a ramshackle inn. The proprietor of the business had a backbreaking breast size, the kind most men could only dream of. Even Naruto found himself unable to look away from her "assets". Once she pulled away from the hug, the woman answered, "I'm doing great! Business is kind of slow but that's okay because you're here! So who are your friends?"

"These are Naruto and Haku," Jiraiya pointed at them, "If it's alright with you, we'd like to stay for a day or two."

"Okay, let me go get the check-in book," the woman cheerfully said. She ran behind the counter and retrieved a large leather bound book that hit the counter with a loud thump. She propped the book open up to the first several pages and slid it in Jiraiya's direction, "Just sign in and I'll show you boys to your room."

"Alrighty then," Jiraiya smiled, leaning over to sign the check in book. From his angle, Naruto noticed Jiraiya received an exceptionally good view of the woman's bust. Naruto tried to point this out to the woman, but was silenced by a sudden and stealthy kick to his abdomen by Jiraiya. Naruto recoiled down with his hands wrapped around his gut. The woman took notice of Naruto clutching at his stomach and asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

"He's fine," Jiraiya nodded, "He just has a stomach ache, right Naruto?"

"Right," Naruto agreed, annoyed that the self-proclaimed Toad Sage would use his abilities for his perverted pursuits. He really shouldn't have been surprised, but it was frustrating all the same. Naruto went to sign his name in next and stepped aside for Haku to do the same.

The woman put the check-in book away and led their group to the first room inside the inn, "This should do. It's the best room we have, I hope that's alright."

"It'll do just fine," Jiraiya said, patting their hostess on the back. Jiraiya threw his bag onto a pile of futons folded up in a corner of the room, "Say, I'm going off to get a drink. Do you want to tag along?"

"Master Jiraiya! You're so forward!" she teased with a flushed face, "Sorry, but I have to mind the inn."

"Of course," Jiraiya smiled awkwardly, "Well, I'll be off. Behave yourselves, you two. I'm going to go do some research."

"I thought you were going to look for information on Tsunade," Naruto asked the Toad Sage. Jiraiya answered with an innocent look, "Isn't that what I said?"

"For you, research usually involves peeping on the local baths," Naruto remarked sarcastically, folding his arms across his chest. Jiraiya nudged him sharply in the chest and laughed, "This kid! Always joking! Right Naruto?"

Jiraiya wrapped his arm around Naruto's head and pulled him into a headlock. Naruto struggled against Jiraiya's hold to little avail and waved his hand in Haku's direction for help. Haku took the cue and patted Jiraiya's shoulder, "Master Jiraiya, maybe you should go get those drinks now."

"You're right," Jiraiya smiled, releasing Naruto to stretch his arms. Naruto massaged his neck vigorously, watching with mild amusement as Jiraiya winked at their hostess, "Well, I'll see you all later tonight. I'll be at my usually place if you feel like stopping by later tonight."

"Master Jiraiya," the hostess swooned. Jiraiya left with a cocky smile with the hostess shortly after him. Once they're out of earshot, Naruto leaned towards Haku and instructed, "Haku, we should probably go look up some information on Tsunade ourselves. The old man will probably drink himself stupid before he finds anything useful."

"I agree," Haku nodded, "We should start in the gambling district. We're bound to find out something there."

"Right, now we just need to find the gambling district," Naruto added. They headed out as well, finding their hostess busy sweeping the floor uselessly. It didn't take them long to find that particular ward of the small town. In fact, the gambling area was the largest area in the town and was the real draw of the village's tourism. The entire district consisted of a single road lined with many storefronts: bakeries, noodle shops, festival games, grocers, fruit stands, jewelry and clothing stores, and so on in that manner. All of them apparently housed their own operation: from games of dice, shogi, go, bettings on local tournaments, and standard card games.

They were all private operations that split their profits with the village chief and each other, a strategy that allowed each of the operations to grow without fostering any conflict between groups. He made a mental note to talk to Shinji regarding such a strategy in the future business of the Kitsune. Looking up and down the street, Naruto said, "I'll take the left, you go inspect the right. We'll meet back here around six."

"Okay, good luck," Haku bowed. The two parted ways and Naruto went towards the first store: a small herbal store run by an old man busying himself with grinding the various medicines he found. The old man didn't even bother to look away from his work, simply pointing to a door beside the counter and explaining, "Dice is around back. Fifty ryou to buy in, two hundred and fifty to buy out."

The prices were absurd for any gambling operation, and paying money to buy out was simply not worth his time. Naruto preferred not to draw attention to himself so quickly, so he took a fifty ryou coin out of his wallet and went into the backroom. It was a small room filled with about nine men and four women seated in a circle as a lone woman shook a pair of dice in her hands and cried, "House has sixty on evens!"

She rolled the four die down the floor and they came to a stop at Naruto's feet, landing squarely on two fours, a three and a one. There were unanimous cheers as one patron cried out, "Twelve! I hit the jatpock!"

"Betting one hundred ryou isn't saying much. Here's your two thousand ryou," the old woman said, handing the man a handful of coins, "House collects one hundred twenty. Let's see, Ryu gets two-fifty and you get three hundred. What do you want?"

The old woman pointed at Naruto accusingly with a wicked look in her eyes. Naruto flinched at first but quickly collected himself and sat down beside the one named Ryu, "Fifty ryou on odds."

"We don't allow kids in here," the old woman batted at Naruto. Naruto noticed several of the other patrons sharing her warning look, one Naruto was all too familiar with. Maintaining himself, Naruto pulled his collar down just slightly at the left to reveal his tattoo, "Fifty ryou on odds."

Shock was the unanimous reaction across the room. Naruto cocked his head to the side innocently and reached into his wallet for another 50 ryou coin, "Actually, make that one hundred ryou on odds."

"The hell is the Kuroihi doing here?" one of the patrons remarked loudly, shaking a fist in Naruto's direction, "You aren't going to sucker us!"

"I just want to play a few games," Naruto smiled respectfully, "Are you really going to kick me out after I bought in?"

"Why you-"

"Kazu! Enough!" the old woman yelled at the patron, "He's bought in and just wants to play a few rounds. Let him."

Kazu looked from Naruto to the old woman and retreated back to his seat, folding his arms across his chest. The old woman kept a suspicious eye on Naruto and had only one other thing to say, "House is placing two hundred on evens. Is anyone else buying in?"

The silence lingered a few moments longer before Kazu broke with a handful of coins, "I've got five hundred on twenty."

"Three fifty on evens," another patron remarked. Immediately, all the other patrons were placing their bets on whatever they hoped would be the final outcome of the die roll. Naruto quietly played and observed as the game ran on, occasionally with someone buying out to leave or buying in to join. After a few minutes, Naruto finally asked the question, "Does anyone here know about the Legendary Sucker?"

"Are you kidding? Who doesn't?" Kazu remarked, "She owes me five thousand ryou for beating her at a drinking game!"

"She's a cheat if there ever was one," the old woman hosting the game added, "She took off the instant she was one hundred grand in the hole."

"Do you know where she ran off to?" Naruto inquired. Everyone in the room laughed aloud, Kazu being the one to ask, "Why? Do you actually think you're going to find her?"

"Have you seen her?" Naruto focused on having his questions answered. Kazu pointed his thumb over his shoulder and answered, "Yeah, she went east of here a few days ago. She's probably over at the next village by now."

"Thanks for the information," Naruto nodded. He took two fifty ryou coins from his winnings and left the rest on the floor, "You guys can keep the rest."

Naruto headed out into the street and onto the next store. Naruto was grateful for their help but wanted to get more than one opinion. The next few gambling circles greeted him in a similar manner, not that Naruto blamed them. It didn't take them long to overlook Naruto's status and provide him with the information he needed. The general consensus among all the places he visited placed Tsunade going east several days ago to escape her ever-increasing creditors.

At the allotted time, Naruto returned to the meeting spot and waited there for Haku to arrive. He leaned against the wall of a tailor's and looked up and down the street for any sign of his friend. Amidst the crowd of people wandering the street, he noticed a familiar head of dark colored hair walking up the street. The Hyuga heiress, Hinata ran down the street and into a back alley, a frantic look on her face. She scanned her surroundings briefly before disappearing from his sight.

Naruto suspected something was not right about the circumstances, primarily why Hinata was here of all places. She appeared to be in trouble and that alone was motivation enough for Naruto. Without so much as a second thought, Naruto followed after her. He kept his right hand wrapped firmly around Kitsune in case any trouble started up.

As he rounded the corner into the alleyway, he found it stopped at a wooden fence with a stack of crates beside it. Naruto tightened his grip around his katana and scanned his surroundings carefully. He should have known better than to wander into the alley and tried to focus in on anything out of place. His months without practice were finally starting to present themselves: he couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary. As he tried to leave the alley, he found his path blocked by a raven-haired man dressed in a black cloak lined with red clouds. The most noticeable feature about the man were his vivid red eyes with three black commas circling his pupils. The eyes were like daggers piercing into his soul.

As Naruto gazed into the eyes, he found the world around him starting to spin out of control. Naruto lost his balance to dizziness and fell to his knees to keep himself from falling down. The world around him turned red and the once firm ground he stood on was now a body of water. Naruto looked around him and found the man sitting on a chair behind a table with another chair. Naruto took another glance around, confused as to what happened.

"Please take a seat," the man offered, "Have some tea. We have a lot to discuss."

"What's going on? Who are you? Where are we?" Naruto bombarded the man with one question after another. The man replied with a simple, "Relax. Please, have a seat. We have a lot to discuss."

Naruto looked around himself once more uncertainly, but opted to accept the man's offer. He sat in the chair opposite him and noticed a cup of steaming tea in front of him. Naruto took a drink of the tea and tried to relax himself despite his eerie surroundings. He locked eyes with the man across him and asked again, "Who are you?"

"My name is Uchiha Itachi," the man replied, "And I've come to ask a favor of you, Boss Kitsune."

…

Author's Note: Hey folks. That's one more chapter over and done with. My next update will be in eight weeks on Friday, November 5th. If you loved the story, leave a comment in the reviews section. I also welcome constructive criticism and analysis into the next chapter of the story. If you are attending Northern Illinois University and would like to chat, just PM me and we can meet face to face! Or add me on the Facebook or Playstation Network (PSN ID leo112358). Don't forget to check out my Resistance Sample. Until next time, this is leonardo1123581321 signing out!