Internal Affairs, a Naruto fanfiction

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

A/N: Hey there, so this is a remake of an old fic I wrote over a decade ago and I had in the back of my mind for a while now I've decided to bring it back. This takes place during Naruto & Jiraiya's time away from the village during the 2.5-year time skip. I've noticed there's not a lot of stories set around this point in time so I thought I'd try my shot at it.

Chapter 1: Veritable Pandemonium

It had been approximately eighteen months since Uzumaki Naruto had left his home of Konoha to train with Jiraiya. As the days had turned into weeks and the weeks into months, the young jinchuriki had grown stronger in his time away; training with the Rasengan had been much improved, and his chakra control had gotten a bit better too.

Due to the nature of their trip, the two couldn't stay in one place for too long or risk attracting unwanted attention from possible enemies. The plan so far had been staying in a village or small town for a week minimum, train for a while and move on in case Jiraiya had gathered any more information regarding the Akatsuki. A journey like this had left Naruto feeling a little homesick, away from his friends, but the legendary Sannin had done his best to make his pupil's time away a bit more bearable. They had met up with some old associates of Jiraiya, had run-ins with fellow fans of the Icha Icha series and a few months ago, had celebrated Naruto's birthday in a small town as something extra special too.

It was a Thursday and the sun had begun to set around five o'clock. The two ninja had been walking for half a day and were now approaching their next stop, a small village called Shiro no Sogen, known as the 'Meadow of White'.

"Ero-sennin, why are we making a stop here?"

"I told you Naruto," Jiraiya replied as he put away a scroll. "We're here because you've had two week's worth of training that's pretty much worn you down, and it's time to unwind a little. Plus, I'm here to meet an old friend of mine from my academy days; he's told me about some intel and I want to check it out."

Naruto folded his arms. "Hm, if you say so. How do I know it's not just another excuse for research?"

"That my dear boy," He smirked with pride. "IS an excuse, but at the same time, I want you back at peak physical condition if you want to carry on getting stronger. I'm not bringing you back to the village in bandages because you overdid it." He stopped for a moment and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "But also, it'll give you a chance to take in some culture too. This will be a short stay, I promise."

The blonde silently agreed with his teacher. What good would he be if he overdid his training and returned to everyone in a body cast?

"Alrighty then." The older man spoke as he surveyed his surroundings. "I'm off to the local bar to see what information I can gather…" A small perverted grin plastered his face. "And to see what the local women are like too…"

"Ero-sennin," Naruto added. "I would love it for once if you didn't come back to our hotel with a woman y'know? It would be nice to get some sleep without a midnight ruckus."

Jiraiya huffed. "Brat, you'll be doing this one day and then don't you come to looking me for advice on women because then I'll be like 'I told you so'. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal clip with money on it. "Anyway, have a look round town, grab some good food while you're here and meet me back at the inn when you're done. The local inn here is called 'The Moonlight Waters'; it's a big green and white building midway through town, next door to a bathhouse, can't miss it."

Naruto nodded as he pocketed the money.

"Oh and don't forget, no real names when checking in to places like this. I'll be under the name 'Yamashiro' if you want to find my room."

"You got it."

"See you later."

Naruto was left on his own to explore the town. It was early evening now, and the village was beginning its busy hustle and bustle of people meeting up for dinner and drinks. The blonde himself looked at a few market stalls as they were beginning to close up, fascinated by the number of trinkets and delights that were on display. He made a mental note to come back in a few days, there might be something that he would want to take with him on his journey forward.

Twenty minutes had passed, and he had managed to find a ramen stand. Entering, he sat down next to the counter to take a look at the menu. The last few days had been strenuous, and he felt a big bowl of ramen would be the perfect rewards.

"Hey, old man!" He called to the chef. "Can I get miso pork with some extra meat?"

The chef nodded. "No worries, kid. Could I recommend our village special as well? It's called the Cajun Beef Ramen; the meat is marinated with our unique collection of spices and is roasted to perfection for a distinct flavour."

Naruto, being no stranger to trying something new, smiled in response. "Sounds great, I'll take a bowl of that too."

"Coming right up!"

The blonde looked around him as he waited for his meal. It had been a long two weeks of training for him so it was nice to stop by somewhere to wind down for a bit. He rested his chin in his hand, becoming lost in thought for a moment.

I wonder how Sakura-chan's getting on… hopefully learning some new techniques and stuff. Same with everyone else. He remembered the day he had said goodbye to everyone and how they all left him warm wishes and the best of luck on his journey. Can't wait to see how they all are when I'm back, it'll be fun to hang out again!

His thoughts were then cut off by the sound of a bowl being placed in front of him. In fact, two delicious bowls of ramen greeted his senses of smell and vision, making his mouth water with delight.

"Here you go, son. Enjoy."

"Thanks!" The boy picked up his chopsticks in delight. "Itadakimasu!"

Just then, another man entered the stand and sat down next to Naruto. He was tall, had long black hair tied back into a ponytail, brown eyes, a five o'clock shadow aligned with a couple of scars on his chin. He was in dark brown robes, sandals and carried a pair of samurai swords on his back.

"Hey old man!" He shouted. "I'll have green tea and some of those dumplings."

"Of course, Malakai-san, right away!"

As the man sat down, he pulled out a small case from his robe, opening it to reveal cigarettes and matches. He stuck one in his mouth and lit it with a match. As Naruto quietly observed this, he also noticed the man's wrist was donned with what looked like some kind of gold bracelet engraved with kanji that spelt out 'hope' and a small red gemstone in the middle.

Malakai took a draw of his cigarette as his eyes shifted to his right, noticing the young boy eating his ramen.

"You new around here kid?"

The blonde slurped a mouthful of noodles. "Depends, who's asking?"

He blew a mouthful of smoke, noting the boy had a headband with a symbol he had not seen in a long time. "That headband of yours….what's a ninja from Konoha doing this far out here?"

"That's none of your business," Naruto replied. Jiraiya had reminded him if he was ever questioned on the nature of their journey, the answer would either be business or just not to say anything.

"Hmph," Malakai grunted. "Fine with me, kid. Just a word of advice, there's a lot of people around here that don't take kindly to ninja, so you best watch yourself."

Naruto finished his first bowl and pushed it to one side. "If I want help, I'll ask for it." Beginning his second bowl he added, "Besides if you're trying to scare me, it's not going to work. I've been through that before." He resonated with pride, not wanting to show fear towards this stranger.

Noticing his response, Malakai chuckled after another draw. "The gutsy kind aren't ya? Let's just hope you don't meet your end too soon…"

"What did you say!?" Naruto shouted, slamming his fist on the table. "Do you want to start something!?

"Hey!" The chef called out angrily. "If you want to fight, take it outside! Malakai-san, you might be my best customer, but that doesn't mean I can't bar you for your behaviour!"

The dark-haired man silently took another draw, before chucking his cigarette on the ground, stomping it out with his foot. "Very well, I'll take those dumplings to go." The chef placed his food in a small container and handed it over. The blonde boy was about to stand and fight him, but he remembered his sensei telling him that picking fights with outsiders could lead to serious consequences; especially if the two of them were on a long journey as they were.

"See you around, kid." As Malakai stood up and left, Naruto wondered what the hell had just happened.

"Hey, son." The chef came over quietly. "Don't let that guy get to you. He has a real habit of picking fights with people. It's how he gets his entertainment. Trust me, whoever does end up fighting with him, they live to regret it."

Naruto scowled, folding his arms. "Bastard. What's his deal?"

"He's a mercenary, but lately I've heard he's been taking on contracts for someone and collecting bounties. If you want my advice, keep your distance."

As the blonde carried on his second bowl, he hoped he would not be seeing him again. An hour or so passed and he left the ramen stand to walk around town, curious to see what the village had to offer in terms of things to do. Before he had left, the old man had mentioned something about a festival but it wasn't until the weekend and today was Thursday.

Suddenly, his thoughts were distracted by a loud scream coming from an alleyway a few feet from where he was standing.

"What's going on?" He said to himself as he started running forward to locate the source of distress. Coming across an alleyway, he noticed a girl on her knees cowering in fear as two larger men approached her. His instinct kicked in; he wasn't going to let an innocent girl get hurt like this.

"Come on girly, we only want you to come with us." One of them sneered with a lecherous tone.

"No...please...leave me…" She whimpered as she crawled back hopelessly.

Naruto ran up behind the two men, stopping a foot or so away. "Hey, leave her alone!"

Both of them turned round to see the young boy taking a defensive stance.

"Get lost brat, this doesn't concern you!" The one on the left snarled.

"When you harm an innocent girl, it does concern me!" retorted the boy.

"Oh, looks like we got a real hero here, don't we Jiro?" The one on the right cracked his knuckles with a grin. "I'll take care of you easily!" He dashed ahead readying to lay a punch on the blonde, only to have his efforts rescinded by him dodging and receiving a blow to the stomach. As he retaliated with another swing, Naruto grappled and flipped him over onto his back.

"Brother!" The other cried with anger. He drew a combat knife from his boot, ready to cut his opponent. "Alright brat, you shouldn't have gotten involved!" He leapt forward like a tiger towards its prey, only for his strikes to be missed. "Stand still so I can cut you down to size!"

Naruto lept sideways dodging each of the man's knife strikes; seeing an opening he grabbed the right arm, and slammed his palm directly into his elbow, producing a large cracking sound that was met with a scream of pain from the now defenceless attacker.

"AAAARGH YOU BASTARD!" He dropped the blade, now clutching his now broken arm.

"Who are you!?" The younger brother snarled as he rushed over to his sibling,

"The name's Uzumaki Naruto of the Hidden Leaf." The blonde proudly boasted, adopting a fighting stance.

"Hiro, we have to go…the boss will take care of this…" muttered his sibling.

Hiro looked at the boy with intense anger. How could he have been so easily disarmed by someone like him?

"You got lucky this time, we'll meet again!" Hiro growled as he and his brother took off onto the nearby roof.

Naruto scoffed. "Good riddance!" He looked over to see where the girl had shuffled up against a garbage bin, petrified with fear.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," He spoke softly walking towards her. "I won't hurt you I promise. Please, let me help you." He bent down to eye level, offering his hand to her. The girl reached out, flinching for a moment. But she noticed his cerulean eyes showcased a hint of kindness; could she trust this boy? Her gut feeling was saying otherwise. She took a breath, and slowly reached her hand out again to be taken by the boy.

As she stepped out of the shadow and into the moonlight, Naruto got a better look at her. The girl was a little bit shorter than him with shoulder-length indigo coloured hair with the same coloured eyes to match, wearing a lilac sleeveless kimono with a white floral design held together with a navy obi-sash, accompanied with white knee-high boots tied with gold tassels. Finally, she had fingerless gloves which extended into arm warmers going up to her elbows.

"Thank you…" She said, catching her breath slowly. "If you hadn't come when you did..."

"Think nothing of it." He said with a small smile. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"Nice to meet you, Naruto. I'm Satsuki. Tomori Satsuki."

He nodded gently. "Do you know why those men were after you, Satsuki-chan?"

She blushed slightly hearing her name being attached with an honorific. "Um, I don't know. I was out shopping with a friend of mine, we got dinner and after we parted ways at the restaurant nearby, I noticed I was being followed by those two. I tried to lose them, but they just wouldn't let up."

"I see," Naruto commented. In his head, he was taking in all the information. Not only had he been challenged by a swordsman at dinner, now he had saved a girl from certain death too? Was there anything else that would happen to him today? Gazing upon her, he couldn't help but think how cute she looked.

"Do you want me to walk you home? I'm guessing you don't live too far from here?"

"That would be lovely, thank you Naruto." She gestured to her right. "It's just two blocks away from here."

The two began walking north in the direction of Satsuki's house.

"What brings you here to the village, Naruto?" She asked, wanting to fill the void of silence in the air.

"Just passing through." He replied nonchalantly. "My sensei and I are training away from our home village for a while and he decided we should take a week off."

"That sounds great. You look pretty strong if you've been training all this time." She complimented, earning a blush from the boy.

"Hehe." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I do try. It's not every day you play the knight in shining armour."

She giggled softly at his remark. "Aw, you're funny."

"What about you?"

"Oh, my dad works in town as a blacksmith. We get clients that come through all the time, especially feudal lords and other VIPs."

"That's amazing!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes widening. "You must meet so many cool people!"

"Hehe, something like that, yes."

Moments later, they arrived outside Satsuki's house. From what Naruto could make out, it was a traditional one-story Japanese house with a small front garden decorated with flowers and a small water fountain. The moonlight glistened off the falling water like crystals.

"Thanks for walking me back Naruto. And again, thank you for helping me."

"It was no problem," Naruto replied with his nice guy pose. "Glad I could help you out, Satsuki-chan."

Satsuki smiled. "Hey, will I see you again? I'd like to thank you properly, that's all."

Naruto blushed. Was she asking him out on a date? "Maybe. My sensei and I will be here for a few days while we see a friend. I guess we could hang out on the weekend. Saturday perhaps?" He was then surprised by the girl enveloping him in a hug.

"I'd love that, thank you Naruto." She gave him a small peck on the cheek. "I'll see you Saturday then."

As she walked into her home, the blonde was left starstruck by her kiss as he placed his hand on his cheek.

That was an interesting evening. Didn't expect that. I'd better hurry to the inn where Ero-sennin is.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at the inn. "Hey there, I'm looking for Yamashiro, do you know what room he's in?" He asked the concierge at the front desk.

"Certainly." The man looked down at his book. "Room 207, right-hand corridor, third door on the left."

Naruto headed towards the designated room and knocked on the door. A few seconds of noise and shuffling were heard until Jiraiya opened up. The sannin looked a little worse for wear; his clothing had several cuts and stains on it, and his face had a few bruises and light nicks where blood was drawn.

"What happened to you?" Naruto questioned as he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Jiraiya rubbed his forehead and grumbled "Let's just say these locals know a thing or two about drinking and fighting. Can't say tonight was much of a success; all because another schmuck thought he could take on me, the writer of the greatest adult novel series! But anyway, after the brawl, he congratulated me and we drank it out…" He reached over his futon and had a sip of water. "How about you, fun evening?"

Naruto looked to his feet, wondering if he should have explained what he witnessed. But perhaps since this was meant to be time off, it was probably best to keep things quiet for now. "Oh, you know…" He said with a bit of hesitation. "Had some dinner, met with some people at the ramen stand I was at." The thought of Satsuki being assaulted came back to his thoughts, clenching his fists. "You get to meet some interesting characters here y'know?"

Jiraiya looked puzzled, raising an eyebrow at his student's reaction. "You don't say? Sounds like some evening eh?" It looks like he witnessed something he shouldn't have, but clearly, he doesn't want to tell me what it is...Hopefully, he'll tell me when he's ready…

"Well," The white-haired man yawned and stretched as he laid down on his futon. "I'm going to turn in, got a long day tomorrow. Goodnight, Naruto."

The blonde feeling tired himself, laid down on the futon across the other side of the room and stared out at the moonlight that illuminated the room. "Goodnight, Ero-sennin."

Today had been an unusual day for Naruto. As he laid awake, he couldn't help but think there was more to Satsuki than met the eye.

To be continued...

A/N: Glad you made it to the bottom; so this chapter was practically re-done from memory as I hadn't backed up the originals and it's pretty much almost word for word; the only thing that's really changed is the introduction of Malakai and the brothers Hiro and Jiro, who you'll see more of in the coming chapters. This will eventually be Naruto x OC but there'll be a few twists coming which I really want to surprise you all with.

Until next time, let me know what you think. If you're new here, feel free to check out my other work since I write quite a bit for the Naruto fandom. See you soon.