NARUTO

Nox Noctis Ingredior

Shadows Converge

One week later…

Far Outside of the Land of Wind, a quiet and peaceful landscape of forests, mountains, cliffs and lowland valleys strewed the outskirts and parts unknown. Although the various roads, lakes and rivers frequented traveling caravans and convoys, it was a relatively untouched place, save for a small village atop of one of the many cliff formations, far out of reach of ordinary travelers. The situation of the town certainly meant that invasion or attacks by foreign forces was made difficult, yet held a breathtaking view of the land all around.

Oddly enough, it was deserted.

Further down towards the lowlands, wedged between two cliff faces, there sat quite an unusual structure. The remains of a giant mechanical tower that appeared to have moved on halftracks of gargantuan size, sat in the middle of the valley. On first glance, any curious onlookers would have seen an immediate, majestic design to it of late 1800's industrial design work. But to call it majestic at this point was a bit of an overstatement.

The structure had been ripped it two, and looked as though several sections of the two halves had suffered extreme internal combustions that, not only were there huge craters present, but also huge slabs of metallic walls and twisted metal sat or hung from different area stretching over a hundred meters in all directions. Parts of the former tower created an almost nightmarish vision of Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory, while the rest was just a crumpled wreck.

One section of a half that remained intact served as an almost cave formation situated next to one of the larger craters. The once quaint and sound hallways that made up the interior, was now but a skeleton stretching out from the archway of charred, melted steel.

To think that any life could be sustained in such an area of post-destruction was simply unfathomable.

But, out of the silence, there broke voices.

"What's taking Hikita-sama so long?" the voice of a girl spoke.

Sitting outside of the colossal fossil of the tower's bottom half remains, there sat three unknown strangers. Three kids to be exact around thirteen years of age each, and all of them dressed in attire that best distinguished them as shinobi of unknown origin. Two of the kids were sitting on the huge boulders of concrete clustering the ground, while another stood as if on guard, close to the entrance to the structure's catacombs.

The one who stood silently by the cave entrance was none other then Eclipse, the missing-nin from Kirigakure with the unusual diet, working for Yukari. He still adorned his headband from his village of origin, and wore the same black clothes and sunglasses. The lack of a scratch on his headwear symbolized that he was not at all interested in village classification whatsoever, and simply continued wearing his characteristic clothes, and the glass gourd filled with smoke strapped to his back, for the sake of style.

The other two ninja present were also from Kirigakure. The one sitting closest to him was the girl, leaning against an angled slab of concrete, and staring ahead of her with an expression mirroring Eclipse's. She had orange frazzled, unruly hair, which came down around her face in long curls. She also had sharp green eyes devoid of emotion, as well as a sharp nose and chin, and had very tanned skin. Furthermore, the kunoichi wore a plain white kimono robe that hugged loose at her upper body and shoulders, revealing quite a well-endowed chest despite her age. She also had incredibly long, white sheets wrapped around her arms and legs, which hung like scarves. To conclude her pale exterior, she had a tattoo plastered on her forehead that formed the Kirigakure village symbol, with the Uzumaki clan symbol also plastered over it.

The other person present and sitting across from them was also a young girl of the same age, with dark black hair that was about three inches long all over. She had incredibly pale skin, was athletically built, and wore a blood red trench coat with short sleeves over a dark green martial arts tunic and khaki pants. Wooden sandals adorned her feet, with the Kirigakure headband wrapped around her neck. To compliment her outfit, gauze bands were wrapped around her arms and around her head and face, almost mummifying her in those areas. Light purple eyes stared down at the object in her hand, which turned out to be a cheeseburger she was devouring.

A pouch at her side contained several more wrapped burgers.

The orange haired girl sitting on the concrete boulder looked up at her teammate with a blank expression. After watching her down her first cheeseburger, she couldn't help but speak up.

"How can you eat so many?"

Swallowing the gruel in her mouth, the rather hot blooded character looked back over at her usually stoic companion.

"I have to. It's the price I have to pay for my jutsu, otherwise I'll pass out every time I use it," the girl snapped back, taking another bite. "What about you, Ai? Do you have a price needing to be paid?"

"None…" The girl designated Ai replied. "Only you can have such an unfortunate contract, Yurie…"

The girl developed a tick-mark and looked away with a huff. "Whatever… at least I'll never get fat…" She emphasized this point by gulping down the entire burger in one go and sucking on each one of her fingers in turn. "As far as I'm concerned, neither you nor Eclipse-kun can eat anything…"

Ai looked up at the boy next to her, wondering if he registered to the statement. The raven haired boy's glasses flashed as he looked from one girl to the other, before shrugging his shoulders indefinitely.

"I'm a carnivore by nature…" he replied in a monotone voice. "Meat…"

"Ah…" Ai replied, looking away again. "Me…? Water…"

"You guys are so boring!" Yurie whined, pulling out a third burger.

For the next few minutes they sat in silence. That was until a shadow from the cave alerted them to the presence of their team leader, and all those seated rose to their feet. Once they were up, they watched as Hikita, the Goliath, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist, walk out into the open. With his sword strapped to his back and right arm protruding a couple more green stones, he approached his team with an unreadable expression in play.

His team however, could see he was looking quite impatient.

"Is something wrong, Hikita-sensei?" Yurie asked, the other two Genin giving their master their utmost attention.

He looked up towards them, brow furrowed and lips pursed tightly together, showing them that something was bothering him.

"The prisoners still refuse to give me the necessary information I need," Hikita replied, holding up his metallic gauntlet. "They tell me that a single piece of the Stone of Gelel will lead me back to its only remaining source. I have six refined stones of the powerful mineral, yet they give me nothing…" He lowered his braced arm, frowning. "Apparently, the Vein of Gelel is protected by some sort of seal that prevents it from being found so easily…"

"Maybe you are not the wielder the stone responds to…" Eclipse inputted.

"Only those practiced in utilizing their inheritance can properly guide you to its source," Ai concluded, taking in all accounts for her master's situation. "You cannot make bricks without clay or the proper tools required for the task, master…"

"Maybe," the large ninja replied, looking back towards the cave he had just come out of. "Yukari-sama told me that one carved with the piece of Gelel would help lead me to the source. However, after a year of jabbing at those who had the stones implanted inside of them… nothing. Not even that boy, who seems to have the strongest connection to the stone and the people who once mined them, knows of the tomb's exact location."

"Give them some time, master," Yurie exclaimed, placing her hands behind her head and grinning up at the big swordsman. "I'm sure one of them will crack."

Hikita smiled and nodded back to her, before taking leave with his crew in tow. The three Genin followed the rogue shinobi, taking the same path that they had used to access this twisted fortress of theirs, numerous times before. Though this was only one of their hideouts, this one was particularly held in high regard by the Kiri ninja.

"The Vein of Gelel played a significant part in the time stream Yukari spoke of, which will occur some time in the foreseeable future," Hikita stated with a small frown. "Though she didn't reveal anything specific, I'm assuming the stone will help boost our power against our enemies…"

As they were walking down the incline leading up to the cave beside the huge crater, they suddenly became aware of small footsteps hopping towards them. The sound of padding paws alerted the group, and they looked to their right towards the ridgeline of upturned earth beside them.

From behind an upturned rock, a light brown ferret with red eyes suddenly leapt out from its shadows and lunged at the swordsman. It bit the man on the arm and held its place, dangling from his skin.

For a few seconds the three Genin stared at the mammal, with Hikita giving it no irked glances whatsoever. Instead, he gave it an expression of indifference, and simply plucked it from his limb, and held it up in front of him by the back of its neck.

Watching it squirm and try to lash out at him with its claws, the swordsman frowned. "Oye… knock it off you little rat. This is the third time…" He placed the ferret on the ground and watched it run away, quickly bounding along the winding path, before reaching the ridge line ahead of the group, and stopping to glare at them.

However, what caught the team's attention was not the ferret's aggressive hiss and its glare, but the two towering silhouettes directly behind it.

Hikita rose to his feet when he caught the telltale signs of black cloaks with red cloud patterns with white outlines. The long coats trailed in the wind as the two figures glared down towards the rogue Hidden Mist shinobi, one being the taller of the two with orange spiky hair, and the other who was slightly shorter, but had parted blue hair with a paper origami flower slipped into it.

Both figure paid the ferret no mind as it scampered off, and instead, glared towards the Kiri Team.

"That's Hikita, rogue ninja from Kirigakure, and former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," Konan informed, glancing towards her teammate. "Orders?"

"Simple," Yahiko began with his usual monotone voice. "Proceed as directed, and eliminate threat…"


Konohagakure…

Hokage's Office…

"How are you taking to your new home?" Naruto asked, lying casually back in the chair across from the new leader of the Hidden Leaf. Tsunade, sake on her left and piles of paper on her right, just gave the boy that characteristic smile she often wore, as well as that quirk of an eyebrow.

"I have to say, it's been quite a while since I was last in the village, it's taking some getting used to," the blonde Sannin exclaimed, throwing her hands behind her head and leaning back in her big chair and spinning round on it so she was facing side on to him and the window behind her at the same time. "I mean, I've only been here for like… what… one day, and already, I'm noticing things! So many aspects of this place has changed; street names, addresses, buildings, landmarks. Hey… there used to be only three of em' up on that mountain!" The woman emphasized her point by thumping up towards a painting of the Hokage monument hanging on the wall to her right.

Naruto addressed the picture with a smirk and a nod of his head. "It's a shame dad wasn't around for long…"

"Yeah… he was a great kid, very handsome," Tsunade chuckled before looking back over at the Jonin sitting across from her. "So many people I used to know from this village are both dead and buried, are too old to even remember me, or have moved… it's kind of hard. You, your two girlfriends, sensei and the old goat are… like, the only people I really know from this village. Well, I did bump into Shikaku, the Jonin Commander… I remember him well… very quiet and lazy guy if I'm drawing the right file…"

"Oh… you have no idea," Naruto shook his head as he remembered his past experiences with Shikaku. "The man, in all manner of Sloth and sluggishness, is a genius, perhaps the smartest Jonin I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. We play Shogi once every, at least, four months. He beats me every time, like Shikamaru. But then, when we play poker up at ANBU headquarters whenever he stops by, I win him out of house and home. I did so in my last game and tsk… boy, did he get a mouthful from Mrs. Nara when he got home!"

"You know a lot of people, huh?" the new Hokage mused.

Naruto grinned at her and held up his bingo book, waving it in front of her. "I get around."

"I'm curious…" Tsunade turned back to him and propped her elbows on her desk, and plopped her head on her hands. "You never told me how you became a Jonin in the first place. We had all that time to chat on our way over here, but the matter towards your status as a ninja never came to mine. What prompted such a promotion anyway? Did you defeat an entire army of enemy shinobi?"

"No…"

"Defeat a Jonin in combat, fair and square?"

"No…" "Where in the world is she going with this?"

"Did you sleep with the Third Hokage's secretary?" This comment had Tsunade raise an eyebrow, and had both ANBU hiding up in the ceiling come crashing down into the room through the panels when they fell over in shock.

"W-What? NO!"

"Did it have something to do with the invasion?"

"Sure, you just had to work your way up to it," Naruto threw his arms in the air. In the meantime, the two ANBU stationed in the office's ceiling, disappeared back to their posts.

"So it was what you did during the invasion," Tsunade smirked. "This ought to be an interesting story."

"Yeah, a story I'm sure to be telling my twenty-eight kids some day," Naruto sighed, running his hand over his face. "Basically there were three factions that participated in the invasion of Konohagakure: Sunagakure, Otogakure, and rogue ninja from Kirigakure. I fought with one of the Missing Nin from Kirigakure…"

"Hm. That doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment. I fought five ANBU one time while hog-tied."

"Bravo. Oh, did I mention that the person I was fighting was the former-Forth Mizukage?"

"Yagura? Are you serious?" Tsunade jaw almost went through the desk. She leant over, staring at her favorite blonde as if he had grown two extra heads and three extra arms.

"Yup! And in full Tailed-Beast mode too! Man, did he drive me up a wall. Not to mention he was vicious head-to-head when not transformed," Naruto exclaimed, scratching the back of his head. "After I defeated him, I wound up in hospital for several days again, and got promoted to Jonin for my accomplishments. Not to mention our victory over the attackers solidified an alliance between, not only Suna and Konoha, but also with Kiri."

"Wow. You never have a boring day, do you?" the Sannin grinned.

Naruto wagged his eyebrows knowingly at the woman across from him. "I'm sure I'll be having another interesting one today."

"You got it!" Tsunade reached into her cabinet next to her and tossed him a mission scroll, which he caught without fault. "I have an interesting mission for you, one that'll probably take you away from Konoha for a few days. It was a recommendation by my former teacher specifically for you, just to train you up for future Jonin work. There's been a ninja causing some trouble in the Land of Hot Baths and the Land of Honey, and I need you to go and settle… whoever it is causing the ruckus…"

"Sure…" the blonde weighed the scroll in his hand. "Shouldn't be too much trouble."

"There's also some strange activity going on over by the borders of the Land of Wind… you could go check it out on your way back," Tsunade said while leaning back in her chair. She gave the whole situation and her position a moment of thought, before directing a more serious look towards the blonde across from her.

"Konohagakure is just recovering from a three-pronged invasion by our closest neighbors. The last thing we need are missing nin going around, causing trouble for our allies while we're in the process of rebuilding," Tsunade said, lacing her fingers together and staring vacantly across at the blonde as if he knew everything she was thinking. She was all sharpened knives and pitchforks at this point. "We have to show that we are still strong, and to do so, we must command authority over troublemakers."

"A possible bounty?" Naruto queried with a smile. "It'll be a great excuse for me to wear my mask again…"

"Do what you will with our backyard bully." The woman's thumbs twiddled rhythmically. "See to it that another name gets crossed out of your bingo book."

"Sure…" Naruto rose to his feet, grinning. "I'll wrap the body up and mail it to you…"

"Please don't."

"Okay…" The blonde exclaimed, saluting. However, it felt a little weird and he tried a wave, but that didn't work him either. He shook his head. "Damn… how do I say good-bye in this situation?" At that moment Shizune decided to walk in, carrying more files, scrolls, and Tonton in her arms. By the time she reached the desk, she was already in the middle of the questions being thrown between the two.

"We're friends… or… master and student… or… family… damn, it's kind of hard to decide… and I haven't been Hokage for a month to be receiving salutes from you just yet, otherwise it'd be… kind of strange between us…" Tsunade scratched her nose a little.

"A bow is too cliché, a kiss is too familiar, a fist bump is for bros, and a hand shake is too formal…" Naruto went through the list.

"And a hug is like a… public dry hump," Tsunade inputted, she thought, helpfully. This comment however, had Naruto and Shizune stare at the older woman oddly.

After a second, Shizune shook her head to throw herself out of reverie.

"I think you're hugging wrong, Tsunade-sama…"


Back at the tower wreckage…

"Akatsuki?" Eclipse murmured.

"It appears our outpost has been compromised," Ai stated, glancing towards Hikita, who was staring at the two cloaked figures with an annoyed glare. "Orders, master…"

"Just give me a moment to assess the situation," the swordsman began, looking the two shinobi over carefully. Recognizing their faces in the Akatsuki profiles that Yukari managed to scrounge up for them, he was able to determine the odds of success against failure in combat with particular individuals. These two of course, were featured prominently in the files on the most dangerous ninja out there. "I believe bad luck is the main cause for this; these two happening to show up on our turf so suddenly. Geez… this will be annoying…"

A fierce wind unexpectedly picked up, blowing at Konan and Yahiko's clothes and ruffling them. The orange haired Akatsuki member reached up with his hand and pushed some bangs of hair out of his face, while glaring at the missing ninja standing before him.

"Nagato mentioned there was some strange activity occurring in this area… tales of green lights and unearthly tremors," Yahiko spoke, earning a nod from Konan. "I never expected to find one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure here…"

"And I never expected to meet the leader of the Hidden Rain Village out here either," Hikita spoke up, looking the man dead in the eyes as both sides stood each other down. "Yahiko: former leader and one of the founders of the original Akatsuki Organization, a double S-Class shinobi, specializing in Water Release techniques and kenjutsu, and a highly inspired leader recognized by Amegakure's populace as the God of Storms. Your name gets thrown around just as much as Hanzo's. Of course, things didn't go too well for you during the civil war, did they?"

"A minor… inconvenience," Yahiko murmured, choosing to respond calmly. "We won that war, and brought peace and prosperity to our homeland. Now that it is over, our new purpose is to bring peace to the rest of the world, so that everyone else may bask in the light we have brought to Amegakure. As its leader and protector, I have a duty to the village's people, with responsibilities that extend far beyond its borders…"

"Funny you should mention that," Hikita grinned. "Bringing peace to the world is, without a doubt, a noble cause. But that is your goal… the famed Kiri Trio's goal. According to my sources, that meticulous prospect isn't completely shared by the person who is really running your freak show… is it?" Yahiko and Konan visibly flinched at this mention, with the rogue swordsman chuckling in response. "This leader of yours, this Pein… he's just a puppet-leader for the one really pulling the strings…"

Yahiko furrowed his brow, stepping forward for a more upfront confrontation. The three Genin accompanying Hikita leapt in front of him, taking up a defensive formation. But, before the orange haired village leader could take more then five steps, Konan stopped him. Feeling the hand grabbing his shoulder, the Kage glanced back at his teammate, who was giving him a serious glare.

"Mind your actions, Yahiko," Konan whispered, both of them turning back to the enemy, the swordsman reaching up for the weapon on his back the moment he saw one of them move. "He managed to whisk away the Three-Tailed Beast from Madara's control himself… he's powerful…"

"So am I…" Yahiko murmured back, gently pulling his cloak from her grip and stepping forward again. "Past issues behind us, why don't we move on to more important matters?"

"I couldn't agree more," Hikita stated, grabbing his sword's handle. "You're trespassing on my property. I advice you to leave at once, Akatsuki scum…"

Just as he was making a grab for his sword, a sudden tremor passed through his entire body, the shock resulting in the man instead, collapsing to his right knee and clutching his chest. Coughing a few times, Hikita clamped his hand over his mouth, and when he removed it, saw blood splattered over his palm. The sight had him glare a few moments in annoyance, his Genin team looking back briefly to check on him.

"Your body is still damaged from the invasion, Hikita-sama," Eclipse informed, glaring across at the two Akatsuki, who were readying themselves for battle. "You should retreat, let us handle them…"

"I won't argue there," Hikita murmured, glaring up at his three students. Glancing from them to the two demon hunters, the swordsman rose to his feet and glanced over at Ai. "Eclipse and Yurie… deal with them. Ai, you come with me…"

"Yes sir…" the orange haired girl leapt back, coming to stand in front of her leader. Throwing both her arms out, the gauze wrapped around her arms shot out of her sleeve in incredibly long sheets, which curled through the air around both of them, encasing them in a fluttering barrier of cloth. Forming a series of hand signs, sealing tattoos formed along the sheets, and moments later, a white cloud exploded around them and engulfed them and the material.

Once the cloud dissipated, they were gone.

"A reverse summoning technique…" Konan spoke.

"You should be worrying more about us instead of them, they are long gone now," Yurie spoke up, drawing the Akatsuki duo's attention to her. When their eyes latched back onto the boy and girl standing a distance of about thirty meters from their position, the pair observed as she began to unwrap the bandages around her arms. Once they were unfurled, they fell to the floor into heaps of bloodstained material.

That wasn't the most appealing part of it.

Along both her arms all the way up to her shoulders where the trench coat's sleeve cuffs were, her arms were covered in scars and lashes. Against her pale skin, they were like crescent marks crisscrossing her limbs, giving her the appearance of a well-seasoned shinobi. Once she revealed her arms, she held her right up out and directed her wrist upwards, smirking at the couple.

"I believe that it is common courtesy that combatants should introduce one another on the battlefield, as it may possibly be their first and last encounters, especially for us shinobi," Yurie grinned. "I am Yurie Kaguya: Genin formerly of Kirigakure, and one of the last of the Kaguya Clan, famed for its Kekkei Genkai Shikotsumyaku."

"I am Eclipse: former Genin of Kirigakure, known as the Black Death…" the boy replied, stepping back a bit and holding both his arms out. Thick smoke began to waft out from under his sleeves, like his clothes were on fire, but formed sheathed around his arms.

"Yahiko: Leader of the Hidden Rain Village and former leader of Akatsuki," the tallest of the pair spoke up, thrusting his right arm out, a large Dao blade shooting out from under his sleeve. His hand caught the handle on its exit.

"Konan; Shinobi of Amegakure and assistant to the leader of the Hidden Rain Village and Akatsuki, respectively," the blue haired woman stated. Her emotionless tone of voice betrayed nothing to the Kiri Genin as she held both her arms out. Slips of paper began to peel away from her skin, as both her and her partner glared their opponents down.

Yurie smirked.

"Well… now that we all know each other…" Her eyes closed in a very frightening way, as it matched her sadistic smile. "We can start killing each other…"

There was but a moment of pause, until a rush of wind caught Yahiko by surprise, and he glanced behind him to see the girl right behind him, lunging with her arm extended towards him, aiming for a vital point blow from a blind spot. Konan spotted it to and reacted instinctively to her boyfriend's supposed plight, the slips of paper peeling from her hand suddenly reconstituting in her grip into a paper blade, which she lashed out at the girl's arm with.

Obviously, she attempted to slice off the girl's limb, only to grave it and cut into her artery. The splash of blood hit their robes as both Akatsuki parted and Yurie ended up striking the air space between them. Both Konan and Yahiko immediately took the high ground on the small inclines of cliffs around them, and they now both stood glaring down at the child below. When they saw the Kiri Genin land, blood began seeping out of her open wound profusely, dripping down her arm and fingers.

Despite its severity, she simply grinned and began giggling, the shadows of her hair covering the maniacal grin in her eyes.

"I was hoping for that…" she whispered, forming a couple of hand seals. "Now I can activate my jutsu…"

Konan and Yahiko blinked in surprise, noting the girl's attitude and lack of panic. However, that quickly vanished when she suddenly spoke out the name of her technique.

"Blood Release: Blood-Induced Matter Transportation."

All of a sudden, a shocking pain wracked at Yahiko's left shoulder and Konan suddenly staggered back, clutching her right arm. Both of them were knocked stumbling by a sudden sharp pinch, which turned into burning pain that both of them managed to hide. Looking at the areas of infliction, they discovered to their disbelief that the areas where the girl's blood had been splattered were simply gone, along with chunks of their own skin. The sight had them wracked with confusion.

Yurie laughed outright when she noticed her opponent's confusion and astonishment. She simply stood up to full height, and showed them the small stream of blood dripping down her arm.

"As a part of the Kaguya Clan, I have the ability to freely control the chemical and physical make-up of my skeletal structure, right down to each individual bone," she informed, grinning non stop, and twitching her fingers as extra emphasis. "However, my abilities are unfortunately differential in respect to my clan's bloody history. I became inflicted with a disease which caused my bone marrow to deteriorate, but thanks to my clan's Kekkei Genkai, I was saved. But as a result, I instead developed the innate ability to control my own blood at will, as well as produce infinite amounts for my disposal."

"Blood matter teleportation… an ability in which I can reduce any spilt blood and anything it is in contact with to nothing; effectively disintegrating the target area," Yurie giggled. "You will die here, by my hand…"

Before Konan could form any strategy of retaliation, a shadow behind her caught her attention, and she wheeled around just in time to see Eclipse, engulfed and riding on smoke, charging at her, hand extended forward and sunglasses flashing in the sunlight.

The speed and abilities the two Genin displayed to the two Akatsuki so far was inconceivable.

"Die…"


Konoha's West Gate…

Kotetsu and Izumo yawned simultaneously, as they both threw another couple of paper planes out the window of their post, and watched them sail through the air and land on the other side of the road. The sheer boredom they were forced to endure was enough for them to start various, random competitions, most of which involved origami. At the same time, they also made sure to keep an eye on the gate to see if anyone was coming or going from Konoha.

Feet kicked up onto the desk and most of the documents they once had on hand gone into producing their origami air force, all of which were lying in a huge pile on the other side of the road, it was pretty much routine for the eternal Chunins. They couldn't care less where they were or what they were doing, as long as they didn't have to work hard to be there.

"I win…" Kotetsu groaned, holding a hand out to his partner. "Pay up."

"Don't act so proud. That was clearly wind assisted," Izumo muttered, placing a total of five ryo in coins in the man's hand.

"I hope you're not talking about a pissing contest," a new voice entered the fray, causing both Chunin to jump back into attentive sitting positions.

When they looked over, they saw Naruto standing across from them with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a black turtleneck sweater, dark orange pants, blue sandals, and his reversible trench coat, which was black on the outside, and white on the inside. Aside from his headband, he didn't seem to be carrying anything else other then the clothes on his back. The Chunin duo grinned, and waved or saluted the boy in kind; who simply returned their respectful gestures of greeting with an odd look over their antics.

"Yo! Naruto!" Kotetsu exclaimed.

"So… is it an A-Rank or B-Rank mission today?"

"B-Rank… apparently," Naruto handed them the document required for exiting Konoha under mission parameters. Izumo saw to it that the form was checked before stamping it, signing it, and then handing it back over to the blonde. "It's a quick job; just a hike on over to the border countries of the Land of Wind and back…"

"You know, I've only ever been to Suna three times since becoming Chunin," Kotetsu mused.

"Really? I've only been there twice."

"A pretty dull place, considering all four directions around the village consist of sand, sand, sand and…"

"Let me guess… sand?" Naruto replied with a small smile.

"Yup: a really hot, barren, featureless desert. But still…I have to admit, despite the featureless scenery, dry air, scorching sun and the endless terrains of sand, I just love the tanned girls that come out of that place," Kotetsu grinned and propped both his legs up on the desk, hands behind his head as he leaned back. Izumo, not wanting to hear another rant about what girls his friend was into, simply kicked the back legs of the chair Kotetsu was leaning on out from under him, which caused the Chunin to fall over in a hilarious and awkward manner. The loud thud at the end indicated he was out of the conversation.

Izumo shook his head and smiled back over at a grinning Naruto. "We'll see you when you get back, yeah?"

"Count on it," Naruto saluted and quickly departed, just as Kotetsu rolled off of the chair and struggled back to his feet.

"HEY!" the man shouted, rubbing his sore head and shoulder. "What the hell was that for?"

Izumo leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes, feeling the sudden urge to take a nap. "I've been waiting all day to try that. Don't worry. I'm sure your thick skull cushioned your fall."

Kotetsu's right eye twitched. A second later, he kicked the back legs of the chair out from underneath Izumo, who also fell back with a loud shout and a thud.

"Karma, bitch!"


Two days later…

The Land of Hot Baths…

It was night time…

…and frankly…

"Stakeouts suck…" Naruto thought as he scanned the village from the rooftops, looking left and right through the eyeholes of his mask. He was obviously impatient, sitting crouched on top of a small temple overlooking an equally small village for any signs of disturbance. If there was any, an alarm would sound, and the police in the area would be rushing to the scene trailing lamps. If any such emergency should arise, he would follow the law enforcers to the area in question, and track down the perpetrator.

However, since it was such a small task considering it was a B-Rank mission, the blonde was getting pretty impatient wandering the area and not finding anything, not even a whisper.

This village was deafly quiet.

"Perhaps the Intel was a bit off…"

His half white, half red mask reflecting much of his boredom, the yellow haired boy in the black trench coat stood up, and strolled along the roof of the temple. Since he had been sitting here for twenty-four hours straight, he felt some exercise would loosen him up and stretch his muscles. Stopping at the other side of the temple's roof, he then hopped off and onto the next one, before breaking into a sprint towards the entertainment district not too far from his position.

When he arrived, he removed his mask and pocketed it, so as to not draw attention to himself, and for a greater part, not scare the crap out of anyone should he jump down into the streets. Brushing his hair aside, he then hopped down into a nearby alley. Ignoring the clutter of garbage, he slipped his hands into his trench coat pockets and walked round and into the ramen stand waiting for him. The aroma of that delicious delicacy had his senses flare and stomach grumble, the urges just begging him to feast. Even the Kyuubi had to admit he was craving noodles.

Figuring gossip would point him in the right direction; Naruto sat himself down at the counter and ordered himself a bowl of Miso Ramen.

"I wish the details were more specific on my target. I may be a miracle worker, but I hate this Sherlock Holmes crap. Anything would have been useful, like where is the guy from? What are his motives? His targets? Anything that would help me track him down," Naruto grumbled in his head. "But everything on the guy has been random or blank. No specific targets, only random foreign shinobi and a butt load of vandalism and theft. Sounds kind of familiar though…"

Beneath the orange glow of the stand's lights, the boy just stared emotionlessly and endlessly into the wall in front of him. When his order was finally pushed in front of him a few minutes later, he nodded thanks, and took a pair of chopsticks from the tin provided, and broke them apart to begin his meal.

However, things changed the moment he broke the chopsticks apart, the broken section of fibers at the end of one of them causing his right eye to twitch.

"Bad luck… or a fight?"

At that moment, a person suddenly pushed their way in under the stand's drapes and into the bar. The figure took a seat right next to the blonde, the sudden presence of the individual stopping him in mid extraction of his noodles. The steam from the soup wafted away sharply and his utensils suddenly lost their grip on the food he was holding.

Naruto looked up in surprise for a moment, his usual response to an unexpected occurrence. His appearance then returned to its tired, void like stare, with the moment of shock dying down with it.

The exhaustion not at all deterring him, but nonetheless adding to his expression as indicated by the shadows under his eyes, a small smile crept over his lips, as he averted his gaze down toward his noodles.

"I had a hunch, but I never expected you to be the rogue ninja…" Naruto looked up to his right. The dark brown skin, orange eyes, green hair, white mid-drift outfit, shorts, and fishnet armor hugging at the person's figure, didn't stir him otherwise. He recognized the girl the moment she sat down on the padded bar stool.

"Fu-chan…"

The jinchuriki of the Seven-Tailed Horned Beetle smiled back at him, her eyes reflecting her joy at seeing her best and only friend from so many years ago.

"Naruto-kun…" She placed her hand on his, rubbing her thumb against it affectionately. "I knew it was you… hopping from rooftop to rooftop all day and night…"

Yup… it was definitely her…


"You were never easy to follow… so when I lost sight of you, I knew I had to lure you out somehow," Fu exclaimed as the pair walked side-by-side through the village's roads, wandering to no particular destination and taking every random corner along the way.

Already, they had passed the same temple three times.

"So, you were the one causing problems for the locals all the way out here. You were trying to call me out for a 'fight'?" Fu nodded to him, still smiling brightly. Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "I guess it is by some strange twist of fate that we should happen to run into each other." The blonde smiled up towards the sky, amused. "I bet this was Yukari's doing…"

"I counted on you to show up," Fu replied, placing her hands behind her. "I had been working on this plan for some time. I calculated that if you suspected my actions to be related to Akatsuki, the 'Nightwalker' would show up to investigate. However, I also figured that you might be a fully fledged ninja at this point in time; working for Konohagakure, and… well… it was a stretch. I was worried that it would have been somebody else sent to deal with me, with a seventy-percent chance of you showing up. Guess my small percent of success worked in my favor."

"Geez, my guise isn't really working anymore," Naruto mused. "All of the people living with me know that I am the Nightwalker, including old-man Third and Baa-chan. Even a couple of my enemies know who I am…"

Fu and Naruto had been talking for some time. While they ate at the ramen stand, and well into the hours after leaving the store, they had been catching up. Most of the time was talking about what had happened since they last saw each other, how strong they have become, and all of the biggest conflicts that have transpired. In all that time, neither one of them showed any spite or jealousy towards the other. However, it was at the mention of Naruto's other companions that had Fu frown and look away.

The head-turn caught Naruto's attention, but he paid it little mind.

"People…living… with you…?"

"Yeah, my friends and teammates," Naruto laughed at that. "Sure, I don't mind my teammates living with me, or Little Haru, but all those other people. Man… I can't really imagine my life anymore without them…"

"You were better off without them," Fu muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Naruto-kun," Fu suddenly turned towards him, stopping both of them in the middle of the road, somewhere on the edge of the village. Taking his hand in hers, she clutched it close to her heart, and gazed deeply into his eyes, an expression of longing on her face. "I want you to come with me…"

"Huh?"

"These villages… these lands… they have no place for us," Fu whispered, her grip on his hand tightening. "These… 'civilized people'… they despise us, no matter what we do. No matter how much good we attempt, no matter what we do for them, even if we aren't around, they still hunt us and intend to hurt us."

Naruto kept his mouth shut and ears open, wanting to hear what she had to say. Obviously, from everything he has heard from her in the night so far, had been filled with nothing but pain and torment.

Her life so far had not been a pretty one. She had been running all her life, dodging assassins, ninja and bounty hunters sent after her, including Akatsuki, eating whatever she could find, stealing everything she could, and living in several different places at once to stay out of trouble. She had basically been living on the streets, away from the prying eyes of villagers or anyone for that matter.

From her story, Naruto saw that the only light that had ever shone in all her years of roaming and hiding had been him when he entered her life.

When they were both street urchins…

Living together in the same alley, the same box, sharing the same blanket…

That memory still brought chills to him.

Fu smiled at him.

"I want you to run away with me. Leave Konoha for good and all those people who pretend to be your friends. We can go to the Western Countries across the seas, and start a new life there. We can live happily together, just you and me," she exclaimed, placing her hand on his cheek and rubbing his whiskers gently. Naruto blinked, the shock of what she was saying to him coming in waves, and preventing him from responding.

She leaned in closer. "I want you to be with me Naruto-kun…" Fu closed her eyes and leaned ever closer, their bodies now touching. "I love you…" She then kissed him tenderly, embracing him for a minute or so.

It was the kiss that jump-started Naruto, and the blonde, after returning it briefly, gently pulled away. He took the girls hands in his and looked her in the eyes, his expression becoming serious.

"Why don't you come with me instead, Fu-chan?" he asked. The girl responded with a surprised blink and a murmur. "You can live in Konoha with me. It may not be much, but I have a home there, and I can take care of you there for as long as you want. The villagers there are just starting to be friendly with me… to a jinchuriki, and I have friends who will be kind to both of us."

Fu's eyes seemed to shimmer in the moonlight as she took in what Naruto had to say to her. Although it struck a chord with her, and tempted her into accepting his offer, her long history with other people interfered with her decision. Everything that has happened to her in the past, and everything her villagers and supposed 'family' had done to her, came back full-force.

Her conflicting emotions, and feud over Naruto, caused her to tear up. She didn't expect this, but knew what Naruto was really saying to her.

"W-Why don't you want to come with me?" Fu asked, her voice trembling. "D-Don't you want to be with me?"

"No, I do… I do want to be with you. But…I want to be with you with my other friends," Naruto said, working his way into her heart little by little. He rubbed his thumb over her cheek, brushing away her tears. "That way, we will never be lonely again. We will never have to run, or hide, or live off the streets. We can have a proper life together…"

"B-But… I want to be you… only you…" Fu whimpered, leaning into his hand as he caressed her cheek. "T-Those people… t-they might hurt me again…"

"I promise you, they won't," Naruto said, looking into her eyes when she looked up at him again. "I won't let them…"

Fu stared into his eyes, seeing the same glow she remembered gazing into all those years ago when they first met. His warm embrace was the only thing she ever felt when they were both out in the cold, and it was the only thing she could think of when he disappeared. But now that he was back, the same warmth that comforted her through all her nights of loneliness came back tenfold.

It was the best feeling she had ever experienced…

"I love you, Fu-chan…"

They remained like this for some time, caressing the other's cheek, and staring endlessly into the other's eyes. However, all good things eventually come to an end, and Fu was the first to break the silence. She simply smiled and pulled away, surprising Naruto at her actions.

"I can see where you heart stands, Naruto-kun," Fu looked away, tears beginning to well-up again. "You have found new friends… and you don't need me in your life anymore…"

"No, Fu-chan! Listen…"

"But you can't leave me alone either," Fu closed her eyes and turned in his direction. She stepped away, moving out of his grip, with Naruto stepping towards her. But when he moved forward, she moved back more. "That is why… I'm going to let you decide for certain what you want: to be with me or with your friends…"

"…"

"I'll wait for you tomorrow at noon, outside of the Land of Woods. You can give me your answer there…"

Without anther word, she turned heel and ran out of the village, taking the road. Naruto tried to catch her, but when he saw how fast she vacated the area, he knew she had her mind set. So, the young Jonin opted to wait, letting out a sigh and walking over to the nearest bench. As soon as he sat down he pulled out his mask and looked down at it.

"Just like her… giving me an impossible choice," Naruto smiled. "What should I do?"

The mask just stared up at him, silently.

Finding no answer in it, the blonde chuckled and leaned back on the bench. "Well… I've found out who the target is. The question now though, is how I should proceed…"

He closed his eyes, and began to think…

TO BE CONTINUED…


Omake:

Zabuza, Haku and Neji snickered as they looked at Naruto, lying on his couch with a bag of ice on his crotch. In spite of receiving direct care from Sakura, the boy was still pretty traumatized from the events that had transpired.

"What's the matter, brat? Was Mia too rough with you?" Zabuza laughed, earning an annoyed glare from the blonde shinobi.

"Don't test me…"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot, you're still a virgin," Zabuza continued, Haku and Neji returning to watching TV. It was at that response Naruto sat up straight.

"Why you…OW!" The blonde laid back down when the pain in his back ran up his entire body, rattling him. Sakura just sighed and went back to nursing him, applying some Vaseline to his razor burns. "There was no 'fun'… if you could call it that…"

"Ah, no need to get your panties in a twist. You'll have plenty of time to learn," Zabuza replied from his couch, sipping the Coke in his hands between the open creases made in his mask. "After all, it's the next best thing to all the other important things in life…"

"Says the biggest pervert I've seen next to Anko-sensei, Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya…" Naruto grumbled.

"Don't forget Ryoko-chan and Mia…" Sakura sung to him, padding the Vaseline on his forehead.

"Ugh…" Naruto groaned. "I feel like I just dived into a blender…"

"What was she trying to do to you, anyway?" Haku asked, glancing over at his friend while Neji flipped through channels. "It didn't look like anything I'd ever seen before."

"We were stretching…" Naruto rolled over a bit so that Sakura could get his back. Honestly, he did not want to talk about this.

"Sure you were, and the moon is made of cheese," Zabuza replied.

Before anyone could make any more snappy comebacks, there was a knock at the front door to the estate, and Sasuke walked in, unannounced. The supposed last of the great Uchiha looked around the place briefly, before turning to look over at Naruto. Not wanting to question what had happened to him from the state he was in, the raven haired boy simply shrugged it off and went on with his query.

"Excuse me, but have any of you guys been down to the Naka Shrine recently?"

"Lost something?" Neji asked curiously, with everyone turning towards the person in question out of sheer curiosity.

"Uhh… not really just… misplaced," Sasuke tried to cover up his misfortune, but ultimately failed from the expressions he was receiving. Instead, he decided to come clean. "Fine. The stone tablet in the basement area was taken…"

"Tablet?" Zabuza mumbled.

"It contains the secrets to the Mangekyo Sharingan, and someone's taken it," Sasuke concluded, earning odd looks from everybody in the room.

"Now who would want that?" Sakura asked. "It's not like any of us normal people know the secrets of the 'Great' Uchiha Clan or how to use them for that matter…"

Just as Sasuke was about to formulate a reply, he suddenly spotted Mia walking in from the corridor across the room with Little Haru trotting after her. The young red head was giggling happily while holding a giant stone slab in her hands, as she read off of it word for word to the curious youngster. Sasuke immediately recognized the thing in her arms as his clan's tablet, while everybody else just looked in Mia's direction in amusement.

"Found it…" Zabuza lazily pointed.

"Looky, looky, Naruto-sama!" Mia exclaimed as she bounded over to where the boy lay, who nearly cried out in anguish when the Sage of Six Paths returned to his side. "I found my old shopping list from one-thousand years ago! It was lying in the basement of some temple. I asked if I was allowed to borrow it, and the monks said yes!"

"Shopping! Shopping!" Little Haru bounced around the chair, and stopped at Sakura's side, who smiled at the little girl and ruffled her hair. "Mia went to buy a scroll, a robe, a staff… and a bowl of ramen! That's what was on the tablet!"

Mia showed the whole group the contents of the tablet, with Sasuke now staring at the woman wide-eyed and shaking his head in disbelief. Neji chuckled at the look Sasuke wore and simply returned to watching the television.

"Can't trust archeologists…"