Chapter 54

Road to Perdition


Akuma sat on the bed afforded to him by his employer, feet planted firmly on the ground.

A rustling behind him let him know the bed warmers were shifting in their sleep. There was a low mumble. The shifting soon stopped. If he looked back, he knew what he would see, a pair of naked bodies, nubile flesh covered with a blanket.

The two on the bed with him were naught but slaves. His employer had given him these two to do with as he pleased. They were nothing special, a cute pair of girls who'd had the misfortune of being sold off by their families. He didn't know anything about them beyond that. He didn't care to know.

He was completely naked, like the two still sleeping, but unlike their perfectly unblemished skin, his rippling body was covered in scars. Akuma had lost track of how many scars he had. Several criss crossed over his chest and stomach, many lined his shoulders and back, and quite a few stood out against the dark skin of his legs.

Among the many scars were several large, ugly bruises. Unlike the scars, which were old, these bruises were recent. He'd gotten them during his fight with that kunoichi leader and her attendant. They didn't hurt. In fact, he couldn't even feel them, but still, the fact that he had been injured left a profound impact on him. It caused a grin to curl at his lips.

"It's good to see there are still people who can put up a fight," he murmured.

"Ngg…"

A soft moan made him look back. One of the girls shifted again, her pink lips opening as she stirred, though she didn't wake up.

He stood up and put on some underwear and pants, but he left his chest exposed and didn't bother putting on sandals. The black pants were all he needed.

His room was quite lavish, though it didn't contain much. Aside from the comfortable bed and dresser with his pants, there was nothing else—no art, no decorations, nothing. A warrior such as himself didn't need anything else.

Leaving the room, Akuma wandered a well-lit hallway that was far too opulent for his taste. He ignored the gaudy art as the floor beneath his feet swayed slightly. Turning a corner, he traveled down a flight of stairs, then entered a door that opened into a large chamber.

It looked almost like a medical facility combined with a prison. Instead of medical equipment, however, what this room contained were numerous tables with powerful straps that not even a high level ninja could break. There were also a set of cages on the far side.

As he walked further into the room, the cages' contents came into view. People. Women. Most of these women were young, clearly in their late teens to their mid-twenties, though a few were younger than that. None of them had a stitch of clothing on. Bare as the day they were born, the women huddled against the cages to fight against the shame they felt at being so exposed. This was a standard tactic used to break slaves.

Deeper in the room were several people, a man and a woman. They stood before a table that another woman was strapped to. Like the others, she was naked. Every so often she would squirm and groan as the woman injected something into her. Judging from how compact and defined her muscles were, the woman being subjected to numerous mind-breaking drugs was a kunoichi. Despite being injected with quite a few unknown substances, the female ninja glared defiantly at the two. Akuma suspected she would have shouted expletives at them, but a ball gag kept her from talking.

"Hmm… she's resisting the drugs quite well," the woman said. "That's a kunoichi for you, I guess."

"I've heard the kunoichi from Nadeshiko no Sato are a cut above the rest." The man stroked his jaw. "How long will it take to break her?"

"Longer than it has anyone else." An immediate answer. The woman set the syringe on a tool tray. "I suspect it will take pumping her body full of drugs for at least a month before she's ready to be processed and sold."

The man frowned. "I had been hoping it would take less time."

"We could do it in less time, but that would require physically breaking them, which you want to avoid, right?" The woman shrugged. "Damaging such valuable merchandise will hurt your business, won't it?"

The two before Akuma were rather disgusting individuals. The man was short and had frizzy hair. At a glance, he looked to be about 140 centimeters at most, but then anyone looking long enough would realize that his hair gave him an extra six or seven centimeters. He wore a crisp and clean business suit. It gave him a business tycoon flare, but Akuma couldn't take the man seriously.

His partner was even creepier, with a tall and thin body that reminded him of a twig, bulging gray eyes, and stringy hair that looked like worms crawling out of her skull. Her black pants and black shirt were hidden by a large white coat that went all the way down to her shins. With such a dubious appearance, Akuma could only think of her as a mad scientist.

"Shāto," Akuma said.

The man and woman turned.

"Akuma." Shāto's eyes flashed as he greeted the much larger man with an insincere smile. "I see you are back on your feet. I'm surprised it took so long for your injuries to heal."

"They are not healed, but they have never bothered me. I can keep fighting."

"That's good," Shāto said, nodding as the woman went back to injecting drugs into the kunoichi. "I have some news that you might like."

"What news is that?" asked a now frowning Akuma.

Shāto's eyes flashed. "According to one of my men who made it back from their last assault on the Nadeshiko village, a group of Konoha ninja have arrived to help them."

"Konoha ninja?" Akuma felt his blood begin boiling at the knowledge. A surge of joy filled his chest as his warrior spirit surged with primal longing. "Who?"

"A powerful ninja known as Naruto Uzumaki," Shāto said, causing Akuma's lips to peel back into a feral grin.

XoX

The early morning sun illuminated Nadeshiko no Sato and the area around it, highlighting the damage done yesterday during the attack perpetrated by the large group of bandits. Several towers had collapsed. A number of walls had crumbled, their remains scattered along the ground. At least the dead bodies had been removed and buried. Sadly, there was no time for the people of this village to mourn their dead.

Over one week had passed since Naruto and his team arrived in the village. They had used that time wisely by helping everyone else where ever they could.

Many of the village's kunoichi were already up. They couldn't leave the village in this state, so they were doing their best to repair what they could. Powerfully built women moved to and fro, carrying thick beams that were used to prop up damaged structures, or using earth jutsu to mold the earth around them into bricks, which were then set atop the walls slowly being repaired.

Among all the women doing their best to repair the damage to their home, another group raced about, doing what they could. All of them looked the same. They wore clothing that was predominantly black but had orange interspersed, blonde hair arrayed in many spikes on their heads, bright blue eyes, and whisker marks on their cheeks that reminded all who looked at them of a fox.

The Naruto clones were a great help. Sure, they couldn't create bricks using earth jutsu, but they were excellent pack mules. Many of the kunoichi had the clones aiding them by gathering supplies. It helped that there were so many. Just standing in one spot of the village, a person could easily spot at least one hundred Naruto clones.

"How many clones did you make?" asked Ino as she, Chouji, Tenten, and Shizuka observed the repair efforts being undertaken. Naruto was also there, of course. He stood beside Shizuka, close enough to denote familiarity but far enough that no one would realize they had been having sex almost every night since he arrived.

"Hmmm… maybe about a thousand?" Naruto tilted his head. "I thought about making more, but I think any more than a thousand would just hamper the repair process."

"A thousand Shadow Clones? Seriously?" Ino's eyes were popping from their sockets. "I know you have a lot of chakra, but damn…"

"Should we also help with the repairs?" asked Chouji.

Shizuka shook her head. "No. Thank you for the offer, but I have something else I'd like you to do."

"And what's that?" asked Tenten, who was acting even stranger than usual for some reason. She'd been giving Naruto the cold shoulder all morning, a shoulder that was even colder than before, but then he'd catch her staring at him. Every time he caught her, she'd turn her head and look away.

"I'd like you to help my people locate Akuma's base of operations," Shizuka stated. "I currently have Tokiwa trying to track where the bandits from last night disappeared to. With luck, she'll have some knowledge of their whereabouts when she gets back."

Most of the morning was spent directing people as repairs continued. Naruto asked Ino to join up with the Nadeshiko kunoichi's medical squad. The kunoichi of this village weren't as talented in medical ninjutsu as she was. They used standard medic practices most regular doctors performed, but only one or two were actually capable of using true medical ninjutsu. Her help would be invaluable.

They also ate some breakfast. Sadly, it wasn't much. With the continuous attacks on the village, they hadn't been able to resupply for awhile, so their food supplies were limited.

Nadeshiko no Sato was not a self-sustaining village like Konoha, which had numerous fields, gardens, and farms specifically catering to the creation of foods and raising livestock. When they needed food, they went hunting for wild boars and other animals, picked fruits and berries from the forest, and bought sacks of rice and flour from the nearby village.

"Sorry I don't have much food," Shizuka apologized as Naruto, Chouji, Ino, and Tenten ate breakfast with her in the meeting room.

"It's… munch… it's fine…" Chouji spoke between mouthfuls of food. "I stocked… munch munch… plenty of food… munch… that I can share with everyone…"

Shizuka smiled. "I appreciate that."

The food that had been prepared for them was nothing fancy, a simple fair of bread and bagels with some spreads and berries. When Shizuka had said they didn't have much, she had really meant it. This was some of the last remaining bits of food. Naruto felt bad they were wasting it on him and his team, but Shizuka had insisted.

I'll create some clones and have them forage later.

"Is this really all you have?" asked Ino as she slowly nibbled on a bagel. Tenten sat next to her, listening in on the conversation but not offering to say anything in turn.

"It is." Shizuka took a shuddering breath as if recalling something unpleasant. "Because our village can't sustain itself, I send a squadron to a nearby village to buy supplies. However, the ones I sent out never came back. I sent out another squadron, thinking something must have happened to them along the way, but that squadron also disappeared. I eventually went out myself, bringing almost a dozen of my most trusted kunoichi, and we discovered what appeared to be the scene of a great battle."

Biting her lip, Shizuka smeared some jam on her toast and took a slow bite. Her eyes glazed over as she chewed.

"There were a few corpses, but they were all bandits and thugs. None of our kunoichi were among them. One of my kunoichi specializes in forensic and tracking. She was able to figure out from the scene that our kunoichi had been kidnapped. Once I realized someone was targeting us, I stopped sending out kunoichi, but that's when Akuma attacked."

Shizuka's grave expression was slightly ruined by the jam on her face. Naruto sighed as he leaned over and used his finger wipe off the jam. Returning back to his original position, he inserted the finger into his mouth and licked it clean. The act was so natural that he hadn't even realized he'd done it until Ino whistled at him.

"Ho ho…" The blonde girl's blue eyes sparkled as they darted back and forth between the two. "You two seem pretty close. Is there something you aren't telling us?"

Naruto froze as he realized his mistake several seconds too late. Should he say something? It wasn't like he cared if people found out about his relationships. Shizuka, Temari, Koyuki, all of them already knew about each other, and they were the ones whose opinions and thoughts mattered the most. It didn't matter to him if someone else found out.

Yugito also knew. However, their relationship had yet to move beyond simple flirting.

Before he could say anything, Shizuka spoke up, her expression quite serious. "Naruto and I are very close. We are lovers, after all."

While Ino's eyes went wide with delight—the delight of a gossiper who'd discovered a juicy piece of information—Chouji began choking on his food. He coughed several times and pounded his chest to dislodge it. Meanwhile, Tenten froze. Of all the people present, her reaction was the most surprising, mainly because she didn't look surprised.

"When did this happen? How did this happen? Naruto, you dog. Why didn't you say anything?" asked Ino, who looked so joyful she could hardly contain herself. The girl was practically drooling as she leaned over and looked between him and Shizuka.

"It happened during the time I spent training here, obviously." Naruto maintained a calm mask. "And I didn't say anything because it's not important to the mission. Let's focus on how we can help the village instead of my love life, yeah?"

"Aww… that's no fun. Come on." Ino wore what might have been the most lecherous grin he'd ever seen on a girl. "You can tell me about it. I promise I won't tell anyone else."

Naruto gave his fellow blonde a deadpan stare. "I wouldn't trust the promise of a gossip if my life depended on it. In either event, there's really nothing to tell. We met up, trained together for several months, and became intimate. That's all there is to it."

With a heavy sigh, Ino leaned back. "What a boring story."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sorry for being boring."

Breakfast continued, but this time, Ino and Chouji kept stealing glances at him. Naruto would have sighed if that wouldn't have broken his mask. It wasn't like he couldn't understand their curiosity. From their perspective, he probably wasn't that great of a catch to begin with, and they likely wondered why someone like Shizuka was so interested in him. Well, Ino was probably wondering that. Chouji was likely just curious. The big lug had been one of Naruto's friends since their academy days, and he was too kind to think poorly of someone else.

Naruto looked at Tenten. The brown-haired girl was still nibbling on a bagel, ignoring the rest of the world. For whatever reason, the air around her felt even colder than before, but then, he reasoned that she probably didn't like hearing about how he had was intimate with yet another woman. First Temari and now Shizuka? Yeah, he could see how she'd be pissed.

I get the feeling I'm never going to make things right with her.

Maybe he should give up? The thought had occurred to him more than once that giving up on Tenten might be the better idea, but Naruto was stubborn, and he had no desire to give up. If, after the air between them was cleared, she decided she wanted nothing to do with them, then Naruto would back off. However, he would keep fighting until he resolved the tension between them. If nothing else, he didn't want to lose Tenten's friendship.

As they finished off the remainder of their breakfast, Tokiwa entered the room and knelt before Shizuka.

"Have you found anything?" The young village leader gazed at the woman.

Tokiwa bowed her head. "We have not found the bandits or their hideout. However, we did manage to locate something that I believe may lead to it. Several klicks from the nearest village is a mine. It goes underneath the mountains and, we suspect, the ocean. According to several maps we managed to acquire, it leads to another exit near Nami no Kuni. We've investigated the mind, and there are signs that people have been using it."

"And you believe the ones using it are the kidnappers?" asked Shizuka.

"Yes."

Shizuka cupped her chin and furrowed her brow. Naruto gazed at her before looking back at Tokiwa.

Thinking about the situation, there was a good chance that this mine led to their hideout, or was close to it. At the same time, there was a chance they weren't using it at all. It could have been something they did to obscure their whereabouts, making the kunoichi of this village think the bandits were using this mine when they were actually stationed even closer.

Nami no Kuni…

The land where Naruto had been given his first taste of what being a shinobi meant. If he was correct, Nami no Kuni lay to the north of here, beyond the mountains. The cavern would have also needed to travel under water since this village was located on a peninsula. It would have taken at least a week for normal people to travel. How long would it take a group carrying several unconscious kunoichi?

"Shizuka?" Naruto suddenly grabbed the girl's attention.

"Yes?"

"How many times have Akuma and the bandits attacked, and how long are the spaces between each attack?"

Shizuka tilted her head. "They've attacked us three times. The first time it was just Akuma. He attacked, was pushed back, and then attacked again about one week later with a group. After that, we didn't receive an attack until just yesterday."

Which meant they hadn't been attacked after that second time for over three weeks, according to the date on the mission request, which had been received by Konoha via carrier hawk. Three weeks was about the time it took for a carrier hawk to travel from here to Konoha.

Of course, it would take about a week and a half to go from here to Nami no Kuni if someone traveled in a straight line. That meant there was a high possibility these people were, in fact, using the mine to travel from Nami no Kuni to here.

"Would you allow Chouji and I to investigate this mine?" asked Naruto.

"You two will do it?" Tokiwa questioned.

Nodding, Naruto turned to Shizuka. "We'll travel through the mind and dig around Nami no Kuni to see if we can uncover the location of these slave traders. I'll have Ino and Tenten stay behind to help protect you, and I'll set up a perimeter of Shadow Clones to patrol the forests."

In the event that he was wrong, his Shadow Clones could dispel and alert him to trouble if Nadeshiko no Sato came under attack.

After pondering his suggestion for a moment, Shizuka nodded. "That sounds acceptable. I can't send any of my kunoichi out for obvious reasons. I would go myself, but…"

"I understand." Grinning, Naruto thumped his chest. "Just leave it to us!"

Smiling and nodding at his unbridled enthusiasm, Shizuka agreed with his proposal.

About one hour after breakfast, Naruto and Chouji set off for the aforementioned mine with Tokiwa as their guide.

XoX

While there was a lot of work to be done, Shizuka delegated most of the repairs to Tokiwa, who was excellent at handling administrative work. Fortunately, there was no need to patrol the perimeter either. Naruto had created almost two thousand clones for that task. While Shadow Clones were weak, they were good enough to alert everyone to the presence of a potential enemy.

With one Naruto walking alongside her, Shizuka made her way toward the edge of her village. She wandered past buildings until she reached the outerwall, climbed up a set of stone stairs, and found the person she was looking for gazing out at the vast forest.

The defensive wall surrounding Nadeshiko no Sato was a fortification used to protect the village from potential aggressors. Like most of the village, it was a masonry structure made of numerous thick bricks bound together with mortar. Another, smaller wall, lined the the outer edge of the fortification, though it was only about chest high. Several gaps marked where archers and long-range weapon users could rain arrows and kunai down on opponents trying to attack from the outside.

Not that it had done much good against the slavers and Akuma.

"Stay here please," Shizuka said to the Naruto clone, who gave her a silly salute and remained where he was.

Shizuka walked up beside Tenten. While the girl didn't turn around, she had to have noticed Shizuka's presence by this point. The fact that the weapon expert hadn't addressed her meant she was being ignored.

"You know, Naruto spoke an awful lot about you when he and Jiraiya came to this village," Shizuka said.

"That so?" was all Tenten said in response.

"He would always talk about this girl he knew from Konoha. How she was an amazing weapons expert, how she was really strong, and how he admired her tenacity."

Tenten didn't say anything, but her cheeks did grow a dark red as Shizuka continued to talk. Despite this, her face remained blatantly cold, perhaps even angry.

"Do you hate me?" Shizuka asked.

"No. I just don't really like you."

Shizuka smiled in spite of herself. "At least you are honest."

Naruto had once said that Tenten was one of the most stubborn people he had ever met, that she rarely changed her feelings on certain matters, and that once she made up her mind, neither heaven or earth could change it. Shizuka was starting to see what he meant.

She clasped her hands behind her back and looked, not at Tenten, but at the sky above.

"When I first met Naruto, I was in a very dark place. The man I loved had been killed, leaving me heartbroken. I felt like I would never be able to love again. I stopped loving because I didn't want to feel that terrible ache that comes from losing someone you cherish, and I pushed myself to become stronger so I would never have to feel that way." Shizuka paused to find Tenten staring at her out of the corner of her eye. The girl hurriedly looked away when she was caught, causing Shizuka to smile. "Tokiwa thinks I was punishing myself, and maybe I was."

Silence blanketed them. Tenten refused to speak. Shizuka let the silence stretch on and gazed at the line that connected the earth and sky before continuing.

"Long ago, Jiraiya fought my master, who had recognized his strength and wanted him to marry her and help produce strong offspring. They fought, but neither of them won. Then they made a promise that their fight would continue some other time, and if they couldn't fight, then their students would fight in their place." Shizuka paused again, reached up, and began playing with her hair. "My people have a law that we can only marry men who are stronger than us. When a man defeats us, we take them back to the village and have children with them. This is done in order to make sure our clan only sires strong offspring."

Shizuka could tell by the way Tenten was leaning over that she was interested in this story, but still the girl refused to say anything.

"The man I loved, Sagiri, was a merchant. He was neither strong nor skilled in combat. It was against our laws for me to marry him, but I loved him anyway and was determined to change our laws. However, Sagiri was soon ambushed and killed. There was even a rumor going around that a group of kunoichi from my village had done it, though it was never proven."

Shizuka sighed as the familiar ache appeared in her chest. She still loved Sagiri very much. However, the pain itself had dulled since meeting Naruto. No longer was it an overbearing burden. Now it was just a scar that had healed.

"Naruto was the one who rescued me from that hell. His determination and resolve to make his loved ones happy reminded me of my own dreams and desires. He helped me overcome the pain in my heart, and during our time together, I fell in love with him."

Traveling back in time, Shizuka replayed the moments she and Naruto had spent together in her mind. Their first meeting had actually been coincidental. Naruto had been coming out of a ramen shop, and Shizuka had been fighting against a man who used puppets. The man had actually created 100 puppets and had her defeat all of them so he could use a jutsu that bound her. Naruto had rescued her from him with ease.

That was when Jiraiya showed up. As he had promised all those years ago, Shizuka and Naruto fought. Naruto had won. However, he refused to marry Shizuka and said they should train together instead, so she could become strong enough to change her village's laws.

His words had moved her. For about two months, she and Naruto trained together, and she'd grown stronger during that time than she ever had before.

When was it… I wonder. At what point during our time together did I come to realize these feelings for him?

Shizuka placed a hand against her chest as warmth engulfed her. This warmth was something that she'd only begun feeling again after meeting Naruto, and it was something she cherished greatly.

"Why are you telling me this?" Tenten asked after a long silence.

"Because you also love Naruto," Shizuka said. Tenten somehow managed to both blush and break into a cold sweat. "Don't try to deny it. Naruto might have been too preoccupied to notice you spying on us, but I saw you hiding behind the door."

"I… I…"

Tenten opened and closed her mouth several times, trying and failing to speak. Giving up, she looked away from Shizuka, who could only smile.

"I understand what you are feeling. Naruto has many lovers." Tenten twitched. Noticing this, Shizuka smiled and placed her hands behind her back. "When I first confessed my feelings to him, Naruto informed me that he could never give me what I wanted. He said he couldn't produce children, couldn't get married, couldn't grow old with me…" She sighed. "There were a lot of things he said he couldn't do for me. He also told me there were other women in his life."

By this point, Tenten had finally turned around and was facing her. Shizuka's story had her full attention now. Curiosity was swimming within the weapon user's brown eyes.

"If he can't give you any of those things, why are you with him?"

"Because even if he can't give me children, marriage, and a life where we grow old together, he has given me something that no one else has." Shizuka smiled at Tenten. "His undying and unwavering support and love. It's true he can't grow old with me or have children. Marriage is also out of the question because I'll eventually die while he won't. Even though he knows this, knows it will hurt him, he has promised to love and cherish me until the day my time on this earth is over."

A soft breeze blew across the defensive wall, causing her hair to rustle. Shizuka could feel Tenten's eyes on her as she patted imaginary dust off her knees, but she pretended not to notice the intensity in the other woman's eyes.

"Anyway, that's what I wanted to tell you," Shizuka said. "I'm pretty sure I know what your problem is, and if you decide that what Naruto has to offer isn't what you want, then that's fine. But I don't think you should be angry at Naruto because he can't be what you want him to be. If you dislike the idea of not being in a loving marriage, just find someone else."

With her words spoken, Shizuka began walking away, seeing no more point in remaining on that wall. She had more work to do. Leaving all of it to her aids would be irresponsible of her.

She looked at Tenten one last time as the girl turned back to look at the mountains way off in the distance, and then she left.

XoX

"This is it," Tokiwa said as they finally reached the mine that would supposedly lead them to Nami no Kuni. It had taken less than an hour to leap through the trees to reach this place. Naruto was grateful the trees in this forest were so sturdy. They'd blasted from branch to branch at a hellacious pace.

The mine didn't look like much, but then, he guessed most mines didn't. Embedded into the mountain range, it appeared like nothing more than a doorway without a door. Worn out wooden pillars were being used to support the entrance. It didn't look very sturdy. Naruto couldn't stop a small pit of worry from entering his stomach, the thought of traveling through here only to have the supports break and the ceiling collapse entering his mind.

"And you're sure it leads all the way to Nami no Kuni?" asked Chouji, the expression on his face dubious. The big guy obviously felt the same way Naruto did. He was staring at the mine like it was a monster's mouth.

"We're positive," Tokiwa affirmed with a nod. "Technically, it leads to Hi no Kuni, but it is close to the bridge that connects Hi no Kuni with Nami no Kuni."

"I guess there's nothing to it, then."

Naruto wanted to cry at the idea of going through this freaky-looking mine, but he sucked in his tears and tried to think about the positives. He would be able to see Inari and old man Tazuna again. That would be fun. What else was good? Oh! He'd be able to see what had happened to Nami no Kuni after he and Team Seven beat those slimes working for Gato. That was a good thing.

"All right! Come on, Chouji."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Nope! But let's go!"

Chouji was even more reluctant to go through the mines than he was, but he followed Naruto anyway. They said goodbye to Tokiwa, who informed them that she would tell Shizuka they had gone off before hopping back into the trees. He wished her a safe journey.

The mine was dark. From the moment they entered and began walking down the sloped path, Naruto's eyesight was hampered by a complete lack of light. Fortunately, he had night vision, which allowed him to see despite this, but it took some getting used to.

"Ouch!"

Chouji was not so lucky.

"Careful. It looks like there's a railroad track here."

"I wish you would have told me that before I tripped."

"Sorry."

Reaching into his pouch, Naruto took out two glow sticks, snapping them both to activate the glowing gel inside, and then handing one to Chouji.

Thanks to the glow sticks, their surroundings were illuminated. Dark shadows danced along the cracked walls. Jagged points and sharp tips created bumpy outcroppings. Naruto could see where people had taken pickaxes to the walls long ago. Like the entrance, this tunnel was held up by wooden pillars that were worn and weathered with age. He was surprised they hadn't broken. Many of these pillars were rotted with age.

"This place is kinda creepy, isn't it?" asked Chouji.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, though I'm mostly worried about the mine's structural integrity. I don't mind if it's a little creepy."

The tunnel eventually opened into a large, cavernous space. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he used his enhanced vision to peer beyond the paltry five meters of light offered by their glow sticks. Outside of there being numerous passages they could travel through, not all of them were located on the ground. He looked up. Several natural land formations extended from one side of the room to the other, acting as bridge that people could cross.

"It looks like there are several different routes we can take," Naruto murmured.

"Really?" Chouji asked.

"Yeah… hang on."

Sighing, Naruto lifted his hands and created several Shadow Clones. He had them pair up and travel down a passage. The groups all saluted with a loud "Ossu!" and darted off, disappearing through one of the darkened tunnels. He watched them go.

"They'll dispel once they reach the end, letting me know which of these routes we should take."

"Huh… those Shadow Clones sure are useful," Chouji mumbled.

"Shadow Clones are used primarily for reconnaissance." Naruto shrugged.

"I had no idea…"

A short silence descended upon them, but Naruto paid it no heed as he thought about what their next move should be. Obviously, they would be heading to Nami no Kuni. However, that was only the first stage of what they needed to do. He would need to speak with Tazuna, find out who was in charge, and inform them that several kunoichi had been kidnapped and were likely being held captive there.

This is going to cause an international incident.

Naruto almost groaned at the thought. However, just before he could really let the political ramifications of all this sink in, two of his clones dispelled—no, they were destroyed. Images filtered into his head. A horde of people charging down a tunnel. One of them was far larger than the rest, a massive man who towered over everyone else had slammed into his clones before they knew what hit them. That must have been Akuma.

"Chouji. It looks like we've got company coming."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, so let's get off the floor and find a place to hide. Follow me."

Naruto rushed toward the nearest wall, channeling chakra to his feet as he ran up it, and then curved around toward one of the naturally formed bridges. Chouji followed him. They both lowered themselves into a crouch and peered over the edge. They had smothered their glow sticks, so his friend couldn't see anything, not at first, but then a light emerged from the end of a tunnel.

Several dozen figures soon burst from the tunnel. Their clothing was not what he had expected. Black chestplates, shoulder pauldrons, greaves, and a black bodysuit covered each of them. An orb was embedded into the center of their chests. Chakra armor. These son of a bitches had chakra armor. Strapped to their sides were weapons. Swords. Knives. They were mostly standard weapons used by lowlifes, but Naruto noticed what Tenten had spotted last time. All their weapons were new.

Their employer has some deep pockets.

There were so many people down below that Naruto couldn't even count them all. He stopped after reaching 500, but more kept pouring in as the seconds ticked by. They filled a good portion of the room with light from their lamps. It looked like they were getting ready to attack Nadeshiko no Sato en masse.

Among the group, one of them stood out the most.

He was huge. Massive didn't even begin to describe him. At a guess, Naruto would have said he was about twenty or thirty centimeters taller than Kisame. However, while Kisame had a thinner build, this man was a mountain of meat. His muscles were bulging and rippling, stretching his dark skin taught. Flaming red hair tied into a strange topknot that spiked out like crystallized fire. He didn't wear ninja clothes. His dark gi was tied with a brown belt, and he wore straw sandals instead of ninja sandals.

More shocking than his hair was his eyes. Situated beneath a pair of thick brow ridges with no eyebrows were a pair of glaring red eyes. Naruto almost froze at the sight of them. Those eyes didn't look human.

His comrades (a term Naruto used loosely) seemed to think so as well, for they kept a certain distance between them and the man, who could only be Akuma.

"W-wasn't there supposed to be someone around here?" one of the thugs asked in a shaky voice. "I thought you said the one who created those clones was here."

"Nevermind that," Akuma's cold voice sent chills down the spines of those around him. "Keep moving."

"R-right!"

The bandits didn't hesitate to follow his orders, traveling through the tunnel that Naruto and Chouji had just come from, obviously on their way to attack Nadeshiko no Sato.

"Should we attack them?" asked Chouji in a hushed whisper.

Naruto thought about it but shook his head. "There's too many, and I don't want to risk the mine caving in on us. We'll wait."

While the bandits wouldn't be a problem, the real threat was Akuma. Naruto didn't know everything about his fighting style, but Shizuka had stated that the man's attacks were powerful and destructive, capable of demolishing buildings in a single blow. He didn't want to risk getting caught in a cave-in should they fight.

As the last bandit left, Akuma walked almost casually over to the tunnel. He didn't walk through, though. Grinning, he looked around the cavern as though searching for him and Chouji.

"I might not know where you are, but do not think I can't sense your presence… Kyuubi Jinchurikki." Naruto stiffened. Akuma chuckled. "I can feel the presence of that malignant chakra inside of you, even if you're masking it well. Once I finish my mission in Nadeshiko no Sato, you and I will have a bout—but until then, just stay here."

What?

Naruto had only a second to ponder Akuma's words before the man slammed his fist into the cavern wall. A massive crack split the wall, starting from his fist and growing wider by the second. Akuma sent one last grin into the room before disappearing down the tunnel. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what was happening.

"Quick, Chouji! Let's move!"

"What? Right!"

Naruto dropped from the bridge and rushed toward the tunnel. The cracks had spread by now. They were all along the walls and ceiling. Several massive chunks of stone fell around them, but Naruto nimbly lept left and right, zigzagging as he made his way toward the tunnel exit.

Unfortunately, the tunnel collapsed completely. Rocks poured in from the tunnel as it caved. To make matters worse, the cavern around them was collapsing as well. Everything was shaking as the mountain itself seemed to crumble like a mud jutsu that ran out of chakra. If it wasn't for the chakra he was using to stick to the floor, he would have been knocked off his feet!

"Look out!" Chouji shouted as he stretched out his hand.

Naruto looked at him, and then looked up—just in time to see what must have been an entire mountain's worth of rubble descend upon him.

XoX

Tenten was still thinking about Shizuka's story several hours after its telling. She understood why that girl had told it to her. It was so she would understand where Naruto was coming from, but that was the problem. She did understand. For all her anger, she at least could say she understood Naruto's side of the issue.

"It's not like I don't want to forgive him," Tenten sighed. "I'm just not sure what I want from him anymore."

She wouldn't deny that her own desires had run along the lines of becoming Naruto's girlfriend, going on dates, and eventually getting married. Even though she knew it wouldn't happen after Naruto's transformation, that dream had still remained. That was why having it dashed so suddenly caused her to become angry at him.

Because she didn't have anything to do at that moment, Tenten had been left to her thoughts as she patrolled the perimeter. The defensive wall went all the way around the hill. It encircled this section of the village to create an enclosure meant to protect them from attacks outside. She walked along, sandals thumping against the brick floor, not really paying attention to anything in particular.

"Tenten!"

A voice shouted from down below. Tenten stopped walking and turned as Ino raced up a flight of stairs, reached the top of the defensive wall, and grinned as she wandered up to her.

"Ino," Tenten greeted. "Finished helping the medical ninjas?"

"Yup!" Ino kept smiling as she nodded. "It was tough work. Turns out there were more injured than I thought. I ended up doing most of the work too because I can use medical ninjutsu, so it took a lot longer than I expected."

"I imagine it would."

Ino had been helping heal the kunoichi and civilians of this village for the past week. Considering how much time had gone by, there must have been a lot more injured than either of them suspected.

Tenten began walking again, and Ino followed her. A mild breeze caused the blue-eyed girl's blonde ponytail to get caught in the wind. Ino smiled as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, as though enjoying the sunlight warming her face. She had been doing more work than anyone else on their team so far. She probably wanted to rest.

"Anyway, it's pretty crazy, huh?" Ino began.

"What is?" asked Tenten.

"That Naruto and Shizuka are lovers! What else?" Ino's eyes sparkled like a gossip's as she clasped her hands in front of her. "I never would have thought that Naruto would get a girl like that, or a girl at all. I know how much stronger he's become, but I still can only think of him as that bratty kid from our days in the academy who kept obsessing over Sakura. Well, I guess even idiots can grow up."

The topic this conversation was taking wasn't something Tenten wished to discuss, but at the same time, a thought occurred to her. She glanced at Ino. Biting her lip, she debated whether or not to ask the question that had suddenly appeared within her mind.

"Something up?" Ino seemed to notice before she could decide and tilted her head.

Tenten sighed. "Mind if I ask something?"

"Not at all. What's on your mind?"

"Hypothetically speaking, let's say you were in love with Naruto, but then you found out that he already had several lovers and was intimate with them. What would you do?"

"I'd beat the crap out of him, of course!" Ino's shout came complete with her raising an angry fist into the air and shaking it. "There's no way in hell I'd let the guy I like get away with something like that. Sleeping with other girl is off limits!"

"And after you beat him up? What would you do once you cooled down?"

"Well…" Ino scratched her head and thought about her answer. "I'd probably talk to him and see if I could convince him to leave the other girls."

"And if he didn't?"

"Then I'd drop him." Ino shrugged. "If a guy can't be satisfied with me, then I have no obligation to stay with him."

"Yeah… I guess that makes sense."

Ino had a different philosophy from Shizuka, who didn't mind that Naruto was intimate with other girls. Tenten believed she was more in line with Ino on this matter. At the same time, she didn't want to give up Naruto even if he was with other girls. She didn't know if that meant she loved him that much, or if maybe she just couldn't bring herself to remove him from her life. Her thoughts and feelings were a confounded mixture trapped in this swirling maelstrom inside of her. She didn't know what to do.

The problem was ultimately that Naruto, for everything he had done, was still the same as she remembered. Thinking on it, he'd always been the kind of guy who'd freely give his affection to anyone who asked for it.

She knew why. Of course she did. Naruto was lonely. Having lived his entire life without anyone to look after him, care for him, and love him, he craved the love and affection of others. However, because he was immortal, he could not have a normal relationship. If he got married and started a family, his wife and kids would die and leave him alone again. Of course, he said he couldn't have kids, so at least one of those points was moot anyway. In either event, Naruto didn't want that to happen, but he still wanted to form intimate bonds. That was why he formed relationships with Shizuka and Temari.

What kind of relationship do I want with him?

Tenten didn't know, and the more she thought about it, the more it bugged her.

"So…" Ino began, interrupting her thoughts. "I'm guessing you love Naruto? That's why you're asking me about this, right?"

Tenten could feel her cheeks heating up like a furnace, pretty much letting Ino know that she'd hit the kunai on the hilt. The blonde girl grinned at getting it right. Meanwhile, Tenten tried to figure out what she should say.

"Well, I… yes."

Her shoulders slumped, though the blush remained.

"I thought so." Nodding to herself, Ino wandered over to the wall and looked at the expansive forest spread out before them. "It was pretty obvious you liked him… you and Yugito. I always wondered which one of you would end up with him. I'm surprised Shizuka ended getting to him before you two."

Tenten grimaced. This girl didn't even know the half of it. She thought about telling Ino that Naruto was also sleeping with Temari as well, but something held her back, perhaps the knowledge that it wasn't her place to tell the other kunoichi about who else Naruto was sleeping with.

"Anyway," Ino continued as she stretched her arms above her head. "Shouldn't you be thinking more about what you want to do instead of wondering about what other people want?"

"Do you think so?" asked Tenten.

"Of course I think so." Ino looked at her like Tenten's question was stupid. "I'm just one girl with my own opinions. I know plenty of people who don't mind being in a polyamorous relationship, but if you want something like that, you should definitely talk it out with Naruto and Shizuka. I've heard communication among partners is really important in a relationship like that."

Tenten would have wondered how Ino knew so much about polyamory when she herself was monogamous, but then she remembered that Ino was a gossip, and the juicier the gossip was, the more likely she was to know about it. Ninja engaging in polyamory was definitely the juiciest of gossip someone like her could find.

As she was thinking about everything she'd been told, a loud quaking made the wall shake. Ino screamed as she almost lost her balance. Tenten applied chakra to her feet, sticking in place. As the shaking subsided, she studied the area around her to see if she could find the source of that quaking.

It wasn't hard.

"Bandit raid!"

"We're under attack!"

"Everyone! Defensive positions!"

Several small spheres sailed through the air and struck a building, detonating with explosive force. Plumes of fire and smoke rose into the air. Rubble rained onto the streets below. A threnody of screams rent the air, but fortunately, none of them were from the civilians, who had remained behind in the largest and safest of the three fortress sections. From where she stood, Tenten could see numerous kunoichi pouring from the village's center hill.

More explosions echoed all around them. Smoke and flames appeared high over their heads as several sections of the village began burning. The Nadeshiko kunoichi darted across the roofs and between buildings as they rushed to defend their village.

"It looks like the bandits have returned," Ino said with a grimace. "They worked faster than I thought they would. I didn't expect them for another few days."

"Whatever the case may be, let's help out!"

"I'm with you!"

Ino leapt down from the wall and headed toward the nearest village entrance. There were only four entrances into the village, two on each of the smaller hills. These underground stairways were how the kunoichi of Nadeshiko no Sato left the village. Each stairway was reinforced with a door made of thick steel.

However, it seemed the bandits had some manner of breaking through, for dozens of them were being disgorged from the entrance they went to.

A chaotic battle was already taking place at the village entrance. Kunoichi clashed with bandits. In most cases, the bandits would have been easily pushed back, for there was no way simple thugs and criminals could contest with the jutsu and strength of ninja.

Something was different. The kunoichi were being pushed back.

A kunoichi on Tenten's left launched a fireball from her mouth, which struck the ground in front of several bandits and exploded. While the air pressure created from the explosion certainly knocked them down, none of them appeared injured, and they got back up and charged forward again. To the right, a young man engaged a kunoichi in a taijutsu battle. The kunoichi had lightning coating her hands as she launched a series of powerful punches, but when her hand connected with the man, the lightning dissipated. Before the shocked kunoichi could even figure out what was happening, the bandit knocked her unconscious with a strike to the head.

"What is going on?!" asked Ino with a surprised shriek.

"I don't know, but something is definitely different than the last attack." Tenten looked at the bandits once more and noticed something. "I think their armor somehow absorbs chakra."

"What?! Really?"

"Take a look."

Whenever a jutsu hit one of the armored bandits, the jutsu would dissipate. What's more, streamers of chakra swirled inward like a vortex, getting sucked into a bright jewel that glowed as the chakra entered it. Tenten had never seen anything like it before, but it wasn't hard to figure out.

"Everyone!" she shouted. "Don't attack using jutsu! They won't work! Stick with taijutsu!"

There was no telling how many kunoichi heard her words, but a few of them definitely did, for they stopped attacking with ninjutsu and began using purely taijutsu. The difference was unbelievable. Once the kunoichi attacked with simple hand to hand combat, the tide of battle began turning in their favor

Of course, several kunoichi were ninjutsu specialists and had no taijutsu skills. The bandits quickly dispatched them, knocking them unconscious and attempting to drag them off, but Tenten leapt through the air, unrolled two ninja scrolls, and went through a series of hand seals.

"Sōshōryū!"

After completing the necessary hand seals, the scrolls rose up from the ground and spun around each other. Smoke emitted from between them. It took the shape of a dragon. Tenten used the smoke as cover and leapt into the air, summoning several hundred kunai, which she unleashed in blindingly quick succession.

No one could even see the kunai as she threw them. They were mere glimmers of light that traveled faster than even a skilled ninja could spot. The bandits might have been wearing special armor that gave them an edge, but they were still lowlifes. Her aim was impeccable, too. Blood spurted from numerous wounds as she tossed kunai at the joints in their armor. The neck, the shoulder, the thigh, armpits. She aimed at the bandits trying to carry away the unconscious kunoichi, striking them down before they could.

A great cheer went up at Tenten's display of skill. However, even with her technique dispatching numerous foes, more were still coming. In fact, Tenten soon realized that there were more bandits now than there had been before. It was like ten more cropped up for every one bandit killed. If this kept up, they would be quickly overrun.

This is not good.

Tenten summoned another weapon to her hand, a length of chain with a weight attached to one end. The chain was exactly half a meter long. Known as a kusari-fundo, it was a weapon that gave her an extended reach while also allowing her to defeat opponents up close.

Spinning the weight around to create an intense propeller effect, Tenten launched herself into the battle with a warcry.

XoX

Thanks to the cave in, Naruto and Chouji had been forced to sit on the ground and think of a way to break through. A glance around revealed nothing. The ceiling had collapsed on top of them, leaving only this tiny space about six or seven meters wide and only three high. Chunks of rubble came together, forming an irregularly shaped dome around them.

Their lives had been saved thanks to Chouji. He had used his Expansion Jutsu to increase his size and safeguard them from the falling rubble. Naruto was impressed with how well his friend could control his jutsu now. Of course, right now he didn't have the time to admire his friend's newfound power.

"Unfortunately, I don't know any earth jutsu that can get us out of here," Chouji said when Naruto asked him if he might know a jutsu that would let them dig their way out.

He sighed. "I guess not. I have a few jutsu that could potentially break us out of here, but all of them are destructive. If I used one here, it might cause this place to collapse around our ears."

Naruto sat cross-legged, his arms crossed and his whiskers stretching across his face as he frowned. He looked at the walls again. The way they were packed together meant that removing one would cause the others to fall. In which case, their only means of getting out would be to either dig underground, or destroy the entire mountain.

I don't have any jutsu that will let me dig underground. Even if I did, that would take too long.

With a sigh, Naruto stood up and dusted off his pants and coat. He gazed up and began walking, until he found the approximate center of this space, and then he stopped.

"Chouji," he said.

His friend looked up at him. "Yes?"

"You might want to get close. I'd hate for you to be caught in the blast."

Chouji clearly didn't understand what Naruto meant, but he wandered over and plopped himself on the ground again.

Naruto nodded, then focused his chakra into his left hand, creating a small swirling ball of energy. The rasengan. Concentrating, Naruto changed the chakra nature of his rasengan from non-elemental to the wind element. He bit his lip and compressed the wind-natured chakra into the rasengan, which caused the entire orb to turn white. A small trickle of sweat poured down his brow. He lifted his hand above his head and poured more chakra into his technique. The rasengan, now pure white, began emitting a loud shrieking sound as several wind blades swirled around it, making the jutsu look like a massive four-pointed shuriken.

"T-that's a lot of chakra," Chouji mumbled as sweat poured from his brow. Even someone who wasn't good at sensing chakra would be able to tell that a lot of power was packed into this tiny sphere.

"Yup." Naruto didn't peel his eyes off the ceiling. "I need a lot of chakra for what I'm about to do. This technique is our ticket out of here."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Nope."

His words caused Chouji to choke back whatever he'd been going to say, face going whiter than a sheet. The boy mumbled something under his breath. Perhaps it was a prayer. He didn't think Chouji was the type to pray, but when your life is on the line and your friend was about to do something admittedly stupid, anyone would become temporarily religious.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto bent his knees, counted down to three, and then launched himself into the air.

"Fūton: Rasenshuriken!"

The massive screech akin to a bell became accompanied by the rumbling of rocks being torn to shreds. Naruto didn't even meet with any resistance as his jutsu plunged into the rock. The four points of his technique sliced away everything in front of it like the rubble was made of paper. Up, up, up he went, traveling higher and higher as he pushed wind chakra into his feet, propelling him forward at an accelerated rate.

Before Naruto knew it, he was floating high above the collapsed mountain. From the outside, it looked like the massive mountain had caved inward, evident by how it was the only mountain no longer standing while the rest of the range remained intact. Seeing the mountain with a bird's eye view allowed Naruto to notice how the top had fallen in, while the sides of the mountain had been pushed out, creating what almost looked like a crater.

Naruto let his technique dissipate now that he had no use for it. Landing on the edge of the hole, he peered down and found Chouji looking out of the hole with bulging eyes and a gawking expression.

"Chouji!" he called down. "Think you can climb up?"

"Er… Yeah! J-just give me a moment!"

Chouji scrambled to his feet and leapt into the hole. Naruto's attack had created a hole wide enough that Chouji could stand on the wall using chakra without having to stoop over. He raced up the tunnel and burst out of the hole, landing on his feet next to Naruto.

"The attack on Nadeshiko no Sato has probably already started," Naruto said to Chouji. "Let's go!"

Leaping away from the hole, Naruto raced down the collapsed mountain with Chouji at his side. He looked toward Nadeshiko no Sato, barely visible in the distance, and narrowed his eyes.

Hold on just a little longer. I'm coming.

XoX

Her people were outnumbered ten to one. No, it was even more than that. For every one person they defeated, ten or fifteen more appeared to take their place. What's more, they were wearing that annoying armor that protected them from her jutsu. Wind splashed harmlessly against a shield that appeared before them, absorbing the chakra and using it to further fuel the shield.

Shizuka had heard of it before. That was Yuki no Kun's famed chakra armor, but what was it doing here?

Since she couldn't rely on her wind jutsu, Shizuka stuck with taijutsu. She used a powerful combination of hand to hand combat and thrown projectiles to defeat the bandits who came her way. A sickening crunch echoed around her as she snapped one bandit's neck. She tossed a kunai into the throat of area around her was already littered with the dead bodies of foes slain by her hands. Yet even with so many killed, more enemies kept coming, crawling over their deceased comrades to meet her in combat.

Do these people have a death wish? Shizuka wondered as she flowed around a thrust sword, then jabbed the tendons in the man's arm. As the now nerveless fingers dropped the sword, Shizuka scooped the weapon into her hands, twirled it around, and sliced her opponent's head clean off. As both body and head hit the ground with two thumps, Shizuka took a second to look around.

The fighting was intense no matter where she looked, with her people battling against an overwhelming number of opponents. A kunoichi fought against six bandits in chakra armor on the roof. She was being overpowered. Another was trying to attack with a fire jutsu, but the technique merely splashed against a shield before it was absorbed by the armor. While she was stunned, several bandits came up behind her and knocked the girl out cold with a powerful strike to the head.

There's too many of them.

This was easily the largest assault on her village yet. The first one had been just Akuma, and it had seemed more like a probe, like he was testing their defenses and strength. After that had been the first assault with a large group of bandits, and then the third assault just last week. However, those second and third assaults were nothing compared to this one. It was like her home was being attacked by an army instead of a ragtag group of bandits. She didn't understand how there could even be this many attackers. Also…

What happened to Naruto and Chouji?

They should have been traveling to Nami no Kuni, the location they had determined was the hideout for this group. Had they run into this massive army and been killed? Impossible. Naruto was the strongest person she knew. There was no way he could be killed, but if he hadn't been killed, what had happened to him?

Shizuka was left with no time to ponder these thoughts. An explosion to her left made every thought flee from her mind as she turned her head. The wall to a building crumbled as something broke through it, traveling in an almost straight line through the air before its angle tilted, struck the ground, and rolled across the surface like a ragdoll. Shizuka gasped. What had come out of the wall wasn't an object. It was a person!

"Tokiwa!"

Rushing toward her attendant's side, Shizuka knelt next to the woman, who wasn't moving so much as an inch. Her body was littered with wounds. The mesh armor she wore was torn, her bodysuit was destroyed, and what flesh could be seen poking through the ripped fabric was black and purple.

Shizuka trembled at the sight.

"Hmm…" a low bass rumble emerged from the smoke that had been kicked up by the demolished building. Shizuka shifted her gaze as Akuma walked toward them. "She was a lot weaker than I remember being, or maybe it's because she was fighting me on her own this time. How disappointing. I was expecting a better challenge, but I guess that was asking for too much."

"You…"

Shizuka stood up and stepped in front of the unconscious Tokiwa, setting herself between her defeated attendant and this monstrous man.

Akuma gazed at her with a blank stare. His red eyes were just as frightening now as she remembered them being. There were no emotions within those eyes, just a pure, unbridled desire to fight and kill. This person couldn't even be called a human. Those were the eyes of a demon.

"You are the one who fought me with that woman." Akuma narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I remember now. You inflicted damage on me with that strange technique of yours, while the other one distracted me." He shifted his stance, sliding his feet apart, lowering his center of gravity, and bringing his hands into a combat ready position. "Will you put up a better fight than that one?"

Shizuka narrowed her eyes as she slid her feet along the ground. Every fiber in her body was screaming at her not to get close to this man, but she ignored it. As the strongest ninja in the village, she couldn't run from this fight.

Summoning numerous kunai to her hands, Shizuka tossed them at Akuma with pinpoint accuracy. She aimed each kunai at his vital points. Neck. Carotid artery. Heart. Liver. Lungs.

Akuma didn't even bother to evade.

Shizuka gawked when her kunai struck Akuma's body and bounced off, clattering to the ground. His skin didn't even have a scratch from where her kunai struck. It was like his body was made of metal or stone!

She remembered Akuma having a sturdy body from the previous battle. He had brushed aside many of her attacks with ease. Even so, she had not expected his skin to be so tough that kunai bounced right off.

"I hope that is not the extent of your power." Akuma growled. "Fight me for real. Give me a challenge, or I will kill you."

Shizuka felt a jolt of fear race down her spine, but she shoved it aside and burst forward in a sprint. Covering her hand in wind-natured chakra, she launched a power punch at Akuma, who finally saw fit to move, leaping to the left. A powerful shock wave was released from her fist. The ground around her broke apart, fissures spreading across the ground quickly.

"Hmm… that is better, but it's still not enough," Akuma growled as he lowered his body and brought his arms toward his torso. A massive surge of chakra emitted from between his palms. Shizuka only had a second to realize the danger she was in. "Gohadoken!"

Leaping into the air, Shizuka barely avoided the massive blast of pure chakra that emerged from Akuma's palms. She could only gawk as the purplish chakra slammed into a building several meters away, exploding in a massive gout of energy that caused the entire thing to break apart.

She was given no time to recover from her surprise. As she fell to the ground, Akuma met her, leaping into the air and extending his leg as he spun around. The leg caught fire. That was what it looked like at first, but Shizuka realized that it was actually another pure chakra technique.

"Tatsumaki Zankuyaku!"

A rushed series of hand seals was what saved Shizuka from having her ribs crushed by the powerful attack. Akuma's foot seemed to strike her body, but then she disappeared in a burst of smoke and a chunk of sediment took her place. The piece of debris blew apart underneath the powerful kick. Shizuka appeared behind Akuma, near the building that he and Tokiwa had come through.

"Shunshin!"

Using the Body Flicker Technique, Shizuka appeared directly above Akuma. As she descended, she covered her leg in vast amounts of chakra, enough that her leg started glowing light green.

"Take this! Nadeshiko-Ryū Kōha Senkaigiri!"

With her leg covered in wind chakra, her cutting power was maximized. She used the power of wind-natured chakra and gravity to land a solid falling kick that struck Akuma on his left shoulder. The dark-skinned man's knees buckled as the ground beneath him cratered. However, while abrasions spread quickly along the ground, Akuma himself remained unharmed.

"Weak."

With a growl, Akuma unleashed another one of those Gohadoken techniques, and this time, Shizuka had no room to dodge. She crossed her arms as the attack slammed into her, but that did little. A pained cry escaped her as she was blasted into the air. The world around her became white as pain flared in every nerve of her body.

"Ashura Senku."

Akuma appeared directly above her, suddenly and unexpectedly. The man flipped around and extended his left foot in a powerful drop kick that connected with Shizuka's chest.

Crack! The feeling of her ribs breaking would have made her cry out, but she couldn't even do that much as her body was sent to the ground.

Her mind numbed with pain, Shizuka's consciousness faded in and out before the world leapt back into startling focus. She groaned and coughed, unable to do much else. Blood welled up in her lungs and dribbled down her mouth. She must have punctured a lung.

Step-step. Step-step.

A figure swam into her line of sight, his dark skin, flame-like hair, and glaring red eyes making Shizuka's soul quake.

Akuma reached out. His fingers clasped around her throat hard enough that she gagged. He lifted her out of the crater that her body had made as she used what strength she had left to grab his thick wrist. That was all she could do, however. She barely had enough strength to do even that much.

"Pathetic," Akuma growled. "When you hurt me that first time, I had believed you were strong, but it looks like that had been a fluke. Without that other woman, you're nothing but a weak insect." The man paused long enough for his lips to curl in disgust. "You are quite lucky I was hired to capture you kunoichi. I normally kill weaklings like you, but you'll get to live."

"Hkk! Hurk!"

Shizuka gasped and gurgled as Akuma's iron fingers tightened around her throat. Loud cracking sounds echoed around them. It felt like her throat was slowly being crushed! She tried to pry his fingers off, but she lacked the strength. What's more, her mind was slowly going dark from oxygen deprivation. Even as she continued to struggle, her body was becoming sluggish, and it wasn't long before her arms were dangling limply at her side as drool slowly leaked from her mouth.

"Hmph! Pathetic."

Shizuka could feel her consciousness slipping, but she was still awake enough to hear his words. Tears slowly gathered in her eyes. She thought she had grown more powerful, that she had become stronger, but it was obvious to her now that the strength she had gained was paltry compared to some of the monsters out there. Her confidence in herself had been naive.

I can't believe I was defeated so easily. I'm sorry, Naruto. It looks like I wasn't strong enough.

The image of the blond-haired, blue-eyed man entered her mind, Shizuka felt something inside of her ignite. Naruto was strong. She had trained alongside him for several months, witnessed his strength, and tried to emulate it. Shizuka remembered wanting that strength. To that end, she had practiced several new techniques, though none of them had been put to good use. Most of them weren't even finished.

However…

Shizuka gathered what little strength remained in her limbs. Her arms ached, but she pushed her body to its limit, raised her hands, and grabbed Akuma's wrist again.

"K-Kazekiri…"

Shizuka choked out the name of her technique. Instantly, a powerful cutting wind sliced into Akuma's wrist. The man howled in surprise and pain as Shizuka fell to the ground. Akuma's hand was still wrapped around her throat, but she pried it off and began choking and gasping for her.

Meanwhile, her opponent raised his arm and gazed at the stump where his hand had been. His eyes were wide with shock. It didn't last long, though, as a grin soon split his lips.

"An admirable job. It seems you do have some strength." He looked down at his hand, lying on the ground in front of Shizuka, who glared up at him as she gasped for air. "I had not expected to find someone capable of cutting through my skin. I can only guess that you poured all of your chakra into that jutsu. You probably did the same last time when you broke my ribs. However… you're all out of chakra now, aren't you?"

Shizuka didn't want to admit that he was right, but even as she glared at Akuma, she knew he had seen through her. She'd used almost all of her chakra in that technique. She barely had enough to keep her body functioning.

Akuma nodded. "I thought so. You no longer have the chakra to fight me. That's too bad. I see potential in you. I'm tempted to let you go so you can train that potential and fight me again… but I have orders this time."

Gnashing her teeth together, Shizuka struggled to stand up. Her limbs trembled. Her body shook. However, no matter how hard she pushed herself, she couldn't rise to her feet. Having already pushed her body beyond its natural limits, she no longer had any strength left.

Damn it.

Frustration boiled inside of her.

Damn it!

Was this all she could do?

DAMN IT!

Why was she so weak?

As her self-loathing at her own inability to stand up consumed her, Akuma walked over, no doubt to knock her unconscious and take her back with the other captured kunoichi. She hated it. She hated that she couldn't do anything, that she would be letting this man capture her. Shizuka wanted to be strong enough that this kind of thing couldn't happen.

If only I had trained harder.

Regret. A well-spring of negative emotions and "what ifs" welled up inside of her. If only she had done something a little different. If only she had trained a little harder. If only she had perfected the technique Naruto taught her. If only if only if only.

"You put up a good fight," Akuma said as he stopped in front of her. "But now it's time to end this."

Shizuka looked up as the man pulled back his fist. She tried to glare at him, but her vision was still fading. Even if he did nothing, she didn't think her consciousness would last much longer.

"You're right. It is time to end this."

Just as her hope waned, a voice spoke up. Shizuka blinked as something orange suddenly appeared in front of her. She blinked again when she realized that what had appeared was a person, Naruto, who gave her a quick grin.

"Sorry I'm late, but you know… the hero always arrives at the last second," he told her, and then he spun around and delivered a crushing blow to Akuma's jaw. "Senpuken!"

Akuma was lifted into the air by the powerful uppercut. This wasn't enough to defeat him, though. He spun around and landed on his feet several meters away, his jaw now bruised. Spitting out blood, Akuma stared at Naruto and grinned.

"So you escaped from the collapsed mountain? I planned on fighting you after I accomplished my mission, but this works too."

"Sorry, but I'm not the one who's going to be fighting you." Ignoring the dark-skinned devil, Naruto turned his head to gaze at Shizuka. His eyes were full of concern. "You all right, Shizu?"

"Naru… to… I…"

She tried to say she was okay, but that was when her strength finally failed her. Like a puppet without its strings, she fell forward, but Naruto quickly moved before she could hit the ground and caught her. Warmth engulfed her body. She vaguely recognized it, this feeling of warmth, as Naruto's arms wrapping around her. Shizuka took a deep breath.

"You're covered in sweat and dust," she murmured.

"Sorry. I had a mountain collapse on me and had to blast my way out," Naruto said. There was a rustling sound before something soft was pressed against her lips. "It's a soldier pill. Can you eat it?"

"Maybe…"

Despite expressing her reluctance, Shizuka opened her mouth and let Naruto push it inside. She closed her mouth and chewed. Then she swallowed. While the effects weren't immediate, it didn't take long for her fatigue to ebb and strength to return. She understood. The soldier pill was granting her a temporary boost in power by restoring her chakra. However, it was only temporary. She'd probably pass out once the pill ran its course.

"Hey, Shizuka," Naruto began as he stared at Akuma, who wasn't moving from his spot. Perhaps it was his sense of honor, or maybe he just didn't want to ruin a good fight with a sneak attack. "Do you remember the technique I taught you?"

"I-I do," Shizuka mumbled as she slowly blimed to her feet.

"Can you do it?"

"Only sometimes… it requires a lot of chakra, so it usually fizzles out after awhile," she admitted.

Naruto nodded. "That pill should have temporarily restored all of your chakra. I want you to use that technique and hit Akuma with everything you have."

"O-okay."

Shizuka honestly didn't know if she could do it, but Naruto spoke with so much confidence in her that she couldn't help but decide to try. He was trusting her. Beyond that, he was giving her a chance to protect her village and fellow kunoichi by being the person who delivered the finishing blow to this man.

Naruto grinned before his lips fell into a frown and he glared at Akuma. "Hey, Akuma! If you can withstand Shizuka's next attack, I'll give you the battle you're craving so much!"

Akuma crossed his arms and frowned. "That so? Then I'll gladly take her attack head on."

"It's all on you," Naruto said. "Give him hell."

Shizuka didn't want to waste what strength she had left, so she settled on a nod. Stepping past Naruto, she first began to walk toward Akuma, but then she soon picked up into a jog. Taking the replenished chakra, she directed it all toward her hand and forced it to begin spinning in multiple directions. While the orb that appeared in her hand was a bit smaller than Naruto's, the unmistakable form of a Rasengan soon appeared.

Despite seeing the clear threat, Akuma did not move from his spot. He spread his feet apart, bent his knees, and tucked his elbows into his torso as the muscles in his stomach hardened. This idiot was really intending to take her attack head on. Shizuka wasn't going to complain.

"Rasengan!"

Thrusting out her hand, Shizuka slammed her jutsu into Akuma's chest. Her attack hit dead center. Akuma gritted his teeth as his feet slid across the ground. He tried to stop himself from moving, but that only caused Shizuka's attack to drill into his body even more.

She could see it. Her attack was grinding away his chest, peeling apart the skin and shredding his muscles. Blood splashed against her face as this idiotic man who only concerned himself with fighting strong opponents had his chest torn open until, finally, his strength failed him and his body began losing more ground.

"HA!"

With a shout of her own, Shizuka sent the last remaining chakra she had into the Rasengan. A bright flash foretold the danger. Shizuka gave one more push, then her jutsu exploded with a torrent of powerful chakra.

Akuma screamed as he was sent flying backward. His body disappeared as he crashed into a building, which toppled several seconds. Shizuka stared at the ruined building, forcing her body to remain upright as seconds ticked by, but that last jutsu had used up all of her strength. She had nothing left, and so her body fell backward—

Only to be caught by Naruto, who scooped her into his arms like she was a princess.

"You did it," Naruto said with a grin.

"I… I did." Shizuka smiled. "I really defeated him."

"You were amazing," Naruto complimented.

Shizuka was too tired to blush. "Thank you. Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm tired."

Naruto chuckled. "Get some sleep. My clones, team, and your fellow kunoichi are mopping up what's left of the bandits."

"Kay…"

What little strength she had left disappeared as Shizuka closed her eyes and fell asleep in Naruto's arms.

XoX

Many of the bandits lost their will to fight immediately after the defeat of Akuma. After handing Shizuka off to one of his clones, who fled into the inner sanctuary, Naruto had taken Akuma's corpse and dragged it through the village, announcing that Akuma had been defeated, that they should give up, and that any bandit who laid down their arms would be spared.

Very few actually laid down their arms, but many tried to flee. Naruto wouldn't let them. He took Tenten, Chouji, Ino, and a squad of still functioning Nadeshiko kunoichi and routed the bandits. It had been less of a fight and more of a wholesale slaughter. By the time they were done, not a single bandit had escaped.

The clean up had begun after their victory. Even if the victory was theirs, this was no time to rest on their laurels. Naruto created a couple hundred clones to take the bandit corpses out of Nadeshiko no Sato and cremate them. Meanwhile, Chouji, Tenten, and Ino helped move and heal the wounded.

Shizuka slept for the entire day due to a combination of her injuries and chakra exhaustion, which only happened because she'd poured basically all of her chakra into that last Rasengan. The soldier pill probably hadn't helped. Those tended to have an inverse affect and were only supposed to be used during emergencies. In all honesty, Naruto should have taken care of the problem himself, but he had wanted Shizuka to use her own strength to claim victory instead of relying on him.

A day passed.

Shizuka awoke the next morning, and though she wasn't at one hundred percent, the woman had called Naruto and his squad in for a meeting.

They sat around the same table as before. Covered in several bandages that wrapped around her head, arms, legs, chest, and stomach, Shizuka gazed at each person in turn before offering them a deep bow.

"Thank you very much for helping us as you have," she said. "This situation would have been much worse had you not come when you did."

"Don't mention it," Chouji said. "We were more than happy to help."

"Chouji is right," Ino added with a bright grin. "I can't stand the thought of something like this happening and not being able to do anything."

"Besides, this was a mission. It's only natural we'd do everything we can," Tenten added that last aside. Naruto was surprised she'd spoken at all. She'd been in a contemplative state ever since the battle ended. The few times he caught sight of her, she'd been staring off into space.

"I still appreciate all of your help," Shizuka said. "We are a proud village of ninja. It is slightly shameful that we even needed help at all, but I am glad I was able to put aside my own pride and request your assistance."

Naruto was sitting to Shizuka's left along with Chouji, while Ino and Tenten sat on the opposite side of the table. They had already eaten breakfast. At the moment, they were discussing the matter at hand.

"The situation still hasn't been resolved yet," Naruto decided to put a rain on their parade. "While we were able to beat them back, there is still the issue of the kunoichi they managed to kidnap. Considering the current situation, it would be best to locate and launch an assault on their slave operations while we still have the element of surprise. They don't know their group has been crushed yet, but we only have a small window of opportunity to act."

It took a week to reach Nami no Kuni using the mine. That meant they had one week to act. Whoever was in charge of this slave trading operation would eventually begin to suspect that Akuma and the others had been defeated once the week was up. If they didn't locate and dismantle this operation soon, then the person in charge would pack their bags and change locations. It wasn't unusual for slave traders to have several bases.

"You are correct," Shizuka admitted. "However, from what you've told me, the underground passage leading to Nami no Kuni has been destroyed. How are we going to pass through?"

"The fact that Akuma made the mine collapse is proof that there is probably another passage somewhere. If we can find it, then we can use it instead. Barring that, I have a few jutsu I can use to fly over the mountain. However, that comes with a problem."

"Which is?"

"I can't take anyone with me."

Shrugging Naruto explained the basic concept for one of his jutsu, which allowed him to propel his body through the air using wind-natured chakra. It was a powerful technique that drained chakra reserves faster than launching repeated Rasenshuriken. Naruto, with his inhumanly monstrous reserves and powerful wind affinity, was probably the only person alive who could use this technique for long distance travel.

"That is a problem," Shizuka murmured.

They discussed the matter a bit more, and it was eventually decided that Naruto would fly over the mountains and land in Nami no Kuni first. While he gathered intelligence and tried to ascertain the location of the slavers, Chouji, Ino, Tenten, and a squad of Nadeshiko kunoichi led by Shizuka would search for another passage that led to Nami no Kuni.

"Once you locate the slavers, watch them," Shizuka said. "If it looks like they are planning to leave and we aren't there, you are free to bust up the slave trading ring yourself. However, I would like to ask that you wait until the last possible moment before acting on your own."

"I understand," Naruto agreed with her proposal.

After their plan had been made, the group split up. Naruto left Nadeshiko no Sato, using his Hikō no Jutsu (Flying Jutsu) to traverse the skies. It was a technique that relied on sending wind chakra to his feet, propelling him through the air, while also expelling more wind-natured chakra from his chest, thighs, and shoulders to keep him aloft. Jiraiya had once said his technique was geniusly insane, and that only a chakra monster like him could pull it off.

With the wind in his face, Naruto quickly passed over the mountain range that separated Udon no Kuni from Hi no Kuni. It didn't take him long to reach the bridge that led to Nami no Kuni. When he reached the massive bridge that extended from the mainland to the island nation of Nami no Kuni, he could not help but gawk for a moment.

"The Great Naruto Bridge?"

Naruto stared at the name written on a plaque high above his head. It was situated on a massive torii gate. Large support pillars stood in two rows, one on either side of the bridge. It was different from most torii gates that Naruto knew of. Aside from the simple fact that it was marking the entrance of a bridge and not a shrine, the kasagi that the pillars were supporting was a massive, triangular structure made of stone.

"I can't believe… they named the freaking bridge after me."

A grin caused Naruto's lips to split as he stared at the plaque with the bridge name on it. How cool was it that someone had named a bridge after him? This was almost as cool as being named Hokage.

Still grinning, he walked underneath the torii and onto the bridge. Seeing how it connected the mainland to an island, the bridge was suitably long and took almost twenty minutes of walking to cross. There were a surprising amount of people on it as well. Some looked like they were just enjoying a stroll across the bridge, but he saw others who had set up fishing spots and were just sitting on the ledge, a fishing pole in hand as their legs dangled over the side.

The village on the other side of the bridge was vastly different from the one he remembered. It still wasn't a huge village by any means, but it had certainly expanded since the last time he'd been there. Naruto looked at the now clean roads that were lined with cheerful stalls and numerous shops. No longer filled with destitute villagers doing everything they could to eke out a living, it was now filled with smiling citizens wandering the streets.

Even the buildings themselves looked far better than they had the last time, no longer a patchwork of mismatched wooden panels and rusted tin roofing. Many of them now looked like proper buildings. A few were small, but he could also see some that were two and even three stories. A large tower sat on the main river, through which several boats traveled. That had not been around last time either.

Naruto was not really sure where to begin his search. Since he didn't know who he should talk to, he decided first to speak with Tazuna.

Unfortunately, the old bridge builder and his family appeared to have moved. They used to live on one of the river beds, their house located on a dock situated near a lake. Naruto had to ask around to discover that Tazuna and his family were now living in a larger house located within the city. He got directions from someone who recognized him, a villager who'd been present when Team Seven returned home after the bridge was complete. It didn't take him long to find the house.

"Wow."

Whistling, Naruto looked at the two-story home that appeared quite a bit nicer than the one he remembered. It looked brand new. The roof was a lovely shade of red, and the off-white walls seemed somehow sturdier than the ones from the old house. A garden sat out front. There was no fence, but Tazuna probably felt they didn't need one.

Walking up to the front door, Naruto knocked several times and waited.

"Be right there," a female voice called out. The sound of thumping feet followed, growing louder before they stopped in front of the door, which opened several seconds later to reveal a beautiful middle-aged woman with dark blue hair. "Yes, who is—Naruto?! Is that you?"

"Heya, Tsunami!" Naruto grinned. "How ya doing?"

Naruto wasn't sure what he expected when he randomly appeared at this house, but the woman dragging him into a hug was not it. He was so shocked that he actually couldn't hug back.

"It's good to see you!" Tsunami said with a bright smile. "Come on in. I'll make you some snacks."

"Oh. Thank you."

While Naruto could have declined, he had no real reason to, and he was here to meet with Tazuna anyway. He followed the woman inside. Taking off his shinobi sandals, he padded barefoot along the wooden panels as Tsunami led him into a fully-furnished living room. It really was a nice place. They even had multiple couches and a coffee table.

"Please have a seat while I go fetch some tea and snacks."

"Uh… oh, yeah. Okay."

With nothing better to do, Naruto sat down on a comfortable couch with blue upholstery and looked around. A lot of pictures hung from the wall. Naruto recognized a few of them, including the picture with Kaiza, Tsunami's deceased husband. However, there were also pictures of Team Seven, several with Tazuna and his buddies, and a lot more with Inari. A little ways off was also a bookshelf, which had several books on architecture.

"Sorry for the wait."

Tsunami came out several moments later with a silver tray in her hands. She set the tray down, showing that it had a cup of tea, a kettle, and a plate of rice crackers. The dark-haired woman poured the hot tea into the cup, and set both the cup and plate in front of Naruto.

"Here are your snacks and tea."

"Thank you. You really didn't have to go through all this trouble."

Naruto smiled as he took the cup in hand and sipped. It was hot, but his tongue was incapable of getting burned.

"What are you talking about? It's not trouble at all!" Tsunami's beaming smile was brighter than anything he'd seen from this woman. It looked as though life had treated her incredibly well after he and the rest of Team Seven had left. "Still, I'm surprised to see you. I had no idea you'd be visiting."

Naruto hid his grimace behind a sardonic grin. "To be honest, I didn't either."

"Inari will be really happy to see you."

"Speaking of, where are Inari and Old Man Tazuna?"

"Oh, they're currently working." Now that she had given her guest something to munch on and drink, Tsunami sat down on the opposite couch, smoothed out her dark skirt, and began talking again. "Ever since building the bridge, Tazuna has become involved in more than just bridge building. He currently owns and operates a company that specializes in architecture. Inari is training with him to one day take over the business."

"Sounds like life has been treating your family well."

"It has, and it's all thanks to you."

Despite being quite the braggart, Naruto found his cheeks growing warm at the heartfelt words, spoken with complete sincerity. He coughed into his hand and asked Tsunami when Tazuna and Inari would get home. Unfortunately, she said they wouldn't be home for another hour or so. Since that was the case, Naruto spent the next hour chatting with the woman, asking about the sort of things she and her family had been up to. Seeing her smile as she told him all the stories of what had happened over the last three years made him feel proud. It was because of what Team Seven had done here that she and the people of this country could smile again.

"We're home!" a voice called from the entrance, old and worn. That was definitely Tazuna.

"Hey, mom! Guess what happened today! One of my designs was accept—"

A young man in his early teens rushed into the room, chatting excitedly, only to stop when he saw Naruto sitting on the couch.

"Inari." Tsunami smiled. "Look who showed up."

"Yo, Inari." Naruto raised a hand in greeting. "Looks like you're all grown up. Heh. Good to see you're not so much of a brat anymore."

Inari stared for several seconds, but then, inexplicably, he started to sniffle "Nii… nii…"

Oh, boy.

"NII-CHAN!"

If Naruto's danger senses hadn't gone off, he would have been unprepared for the flying glomp by the tearful boy. Grinning, he patted Inari on the head as Tazuna came into the room.

"What's with all that shouting, Inari? Someone come… well, I'll be damned."

Tazuna looked the same as ever. His beard and hair were completely gray, and he had several more wrinkles than before, but his body still looked sturdy. He had thick arms and legs, broad shoulders, and a gut stretching his white shirt. The glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose looked new. His clothing was nicer than Naruto remembered, but that was natural considering his position in the village now.

"Sup, Tazuna."

"Naruto Uzumaki." Tazuna grinned as he walked into the room and sat down. "It's been a long time. What are you doing here?"

"I wish I could say I dropped by for a visit, but I'm actually here on some pretty serious business," Naruto admitted, and thus he explained to the small family of three why he'd come to Nami no Kuni. He told them about the attack on Nadeshiko no Sato, how several kunoichi had been kidnapped, and how they had discovered the slavers were using a mine that went through the mountain range to reach the Hi no Kuni and Nami. By the time he finished, the faces of Inari, Tazuna, and Tsunami had gone suitably pale.

"You don't really think there's someone in the slave trading business here, do you?" Tazuna asked. "I mean, surely after what happened with Gato, no one would be stupid enough to try something like that."

"Actually, I believe it is specifically because of what happened with Gato that this person, whoever they are, decided to set up shop here." Naruto grabbed a rice cracker and bit into it. Rice crackers were fairly bland, but the light amount of salt from it complimented the green tea. "Ever since Gato's demise, this land has been prosperous, and with a prosperous land comes numerous opportunities. It would be very easy for a person to hide their more sinister business practices behind a legitimate business, especially if the person in question is seen as someone trustworthy."

His words sent a wave of shock and denial rippling through the trio. Inari looked like someone had punched him in the gut, while Tazuna's face had gone pale and stiff. Tsunami was hiding her mouth behind the tray she'd used to carry his tea and snacks.

Finally, Tazuna ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I don't know what to say. I mean, we've been doing so well here, and nothing bad has happened since the bridge was built. I can't think of anyone who would begin trafficking slaves through here… except maybe…"

"Do you have someone you know who might be responsible?" asked Naruto when Tazuna trailed off.

"Not necessarily, but there is someone who managed to take control over Gato's old shipping business. Unlike Gato, this man was a strong supporter of the bridge and has helped our economy expand. While we trade with the mainland using the bridge, he uses this place as an outpost to trade with countries far away. Thanks to him, we've had business deals with countries like the former Yuki no Kuni, Mizu no Kuni, Sora no Kuni, Tori, Oni…"

The man ticked off a large number of countries located on the smaller continent located across the Kaizoku Sea. It really did sound like this man was doing a great job at bringing prosperity to this village. At the same time, that made Naruto even more suspicious. Call him a cynic, but he didn't trust this businessman.

"Who is this man?" asked Naruto.

Tazuna hesitated for a moment, but then, with seemingly great reluctance, he answered.

"His name is Kato, and he's the owner of the newly renamed Nami Shipping Corporation."

XoX

Nami Shipping Corporation was the renamed Gato Shipping Corporation. After Gato's death, the company had been in disarray, with the numerous underlings who worked in various departments across the Elemental Nations fighting to control the company. Thanks to that, quite a few of the company's larger operations had broken down entirely and were no longer operating.

According to Tazuna, Kato was one of the few people who'd managed to reclaim a piece of Gato's original shipping company. He'd arrived on Nami no Kuni and negotiated shipping rights with the people of this island nation. They'd been distrustful at first, but Kato had told them he would allow them to create a contract themselves so he couldn't swindle them. Since then, Kato had turned a once defunct company into a massive shipping corporation that sold goods all across the Kaizoku Sea using Nami no Kuni as his corporate headquarters.

Even with the bridge, Nami no Kuni was still situated along the numerous trade routes that many trading vessels used. Kato had used this to his advantage. Not only had he remade the company, now newly named, great again, but he did so in such a way that the people of Nami no Kuni also prospered. It was genius.

And that was why Naruto didn't trust him.

Nami Shipping Corporation was located on the docks, a massive dock made of cement and brick instead of wood. A large number of ships were currently docked in several stations. There was everything from large cargo freighters to smaller passenger ships. Quite a few giant cargo crates were stacked against each other a little ways off. A massive crane was picking them up and setting them onto a ship that would no doubt set sail soon.

Naruto had come to this place without disguising himself. He'd thought about sneaking around, but he actually believed the best method of getting the information he needed was to be up front and honest. It would throw Kato off guard.

The headquarters building loomed before him, a four-story complex that was longer than it was wide, stretching across the dock like a massive snake. Made of cement, the industrious feel of the building made Naruto somewhat unnerved. He was so used to buildings being made in a more traditional style of architecture.

He entered the building, which bustled with activity. Wandering past a pair of dock workers, he strolled across the tiled floor of what seemed like a lobby, though it was far too big for that in his mind. What did they need all this space for?

Like most business, this place had a front desk, which could be used for inquiries. The woman behind the desk was a pretty gal with brown hair, dark skin, and a bright smile. As Naruto stepped up to her, she greeted him with a friendly and cheerful demeanor.

"Hello, good sir? How may I help you today?"

"Is it possible to speak with Kato at all?"

"Do you have an appointment?"

"I'm afraid not."

The woman's smile became slightly fixed. "I apologize, but Kato is an incredibly busy man, so unless you have an appointment, I'm not sure if he'll have the time to see you. In fact, I believe he's currently doing an inspection of our docking facilities, which often takes hours, so even he was inclined to meet, he wouldn't be able to do so right now."

Naruto could tell this woman wasn't lying. More than likely, this woman worked for the legitimate side of this company and knew nothing about what was going on behind the scenes. Well, that was if Naruto turned out to be correct about what Kato was really up to.

"That so? Is it possible for you to get in touch with him?"

"Well, we do have a method of getting in touch with him, yes."

"Then could you please tell him that Naruto Uzumaki would like to speak with him sometime soon?"

The woman was definitely not a native of Nami (Naruto would have known if she was), but her eyes widened all the same upon hearing his name. No doubt she knew the story of what happened in this country. It was apparently quite famous. Many of the people who'd lived in this country when he was a genin told stories about how Naruto and his team had saved this country from the corrupt Gato.

"I—of course! I shall do so right away. Please wait for one moment."

"Sure thing."

Naruto stood around as the woman scurried toward a small comm unit. It wasn't like one of the earpiece comm units worn by Team Seven when they were doing missions in the village. It was bigger, bulkier, but it apparently allowed short distance communication like the earpieces they used to wear. He could have listened in, but there was no need. The woman came back to him seconds later.

"He said he'll be right down."

"Sounds good. Thank you."

"O-of course." The woman blushed as she fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "And, um, can I just say that it's an honor to meet you, sir."

Sir?

Naruto almost grimaced, but he contained it with a smile as he scratched his cheek. "Aww. Thanks."

The woman was apparently a big fan of his. Her uncle had lived in Nami when Naruto was guarding Tazuna. According to her, he was one of the bridge workers that Naruto had saved, and he'd been able to witness a good portion of the fight. Her uncle told her the story of how Naruto and his companions had defeated the evil Gato so many times that she'd become enamored with his story.

It was actually kind of embarrassing.

About fifteen minutes later, a tall, handsome man with articulate and almost delicate features walked into the lobby. His immaculate face spoke of someone with good breeding. Naruto would have mistaken him for a noble at first glance, but this man wore a business suit, something that a noble wouldn't be caught dead in. He had dark hair and dark eyes, and the polite smile he wore was deceptively sincere.

"You must be Naruto Uzumaki." The man extended his hand. "I'm Kato. It's a great honor to meet you."

"Likewise." Naruto took the man's hand in a firm shake. Kato didn't seem to notice the chakra emitting from Naruto's palm. "I've heard a lot about you from Tazuna."

"Ah, yes. The bridge builder. He's making quite a name for himself." Kato kept a smile on his face, though he quickly moved this along. "I would honestly love to sit down and talk with you, but I actually am really busy. I'm assuming you're here for a reason?"

"I am." Naruto remained polite as he explained the situation. "Several kunoichi from Nadeshiko no Sato have been kidnapped. We managed to track them to Nami no Kuni, but we have no idea where they might be. As the head of a large company, I'm sure you hear a lot of things that most people don't. I was hoping you might have heard something."

"Kidnapped kunoichi? That sounds like a lot of trouble, though I can't say I've heard anything about it. Are you sure the kidnappers are here?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes. They used a mine that went from Udon no Kuni to Hi no Kuni. The location is close to the Great Naruto Bridge, and since traveling via caravan is more likely to be noticed than traveling by sea…"

"You believe there might be someone using the docking stations for the purpose of trading slaves."

"Yes."

A troubled expression crossed Kato's face. It looked so genuine that Naruto really did have to wonder if this man might truly be innocent. He seemed guileless. If he was innocent, then it meant Naruto was not only barking up the wrong tree, but that he was accusing an innocent man. On the other hand, the cynic inside of Naruto was telling him this man knew something.

"I haven't heard of anyone trading slaves here, but I will admit that it's a large dock, and we have had problems with scrupulous individuals in the past." Kato sighed as an expression of remorse mixed with determination caused his face to both harden and age. He looked like a man carrying the world on his back. "I don't know what I can do, but I promise to look into this and inform you of anything I find out. Would Tazuna's house be a good place to reach you?"

"Yes, that would be fine," Naruto said.

"Okay. I'll be sure to let you know if I uncover anything."

"Thank you."

After giving Kato one last handshake and secretly placing a tracking seal on the businessman, Naruto left the docks.


This is the longest chapter I've written in awhile, and there's quite a bit going on here. I'm sure everyone who has played Street Fighter recognized Akuma. He doesn't get much of a role in this since he's just a side villain, but when I was thinking of enemies for Shizuka to fight, he was the first person I thought of. Anyway, this arc has one more chapter to it. I had actually been hoping to finish the arc with this chapter, but when I reached almost 18,000 words, I realized it just wasn't happening.

In either event, while my writing isn't the best, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.