Chapter Five: Man and Monster

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any product associated with that property. I make no profit.

Kakashi

The thug stomps on the woman's splayed hand, before sauntering away, pleased with himself.

As he reaches the other side of the alleyway, Kakashi turns to his team, and raises an arm to sign.

Split team. Hunter Team. Tracker, Sensor. Combat Team. Frontline, Medic, Water Specialist.

Hunter Team, Track Enemy.

Combat Team, Sabotage Civilian.

Kakashi checks their faces. There's only so much that can be said through ninja sign with any brevity, and their targets were moving. They all seemed to understand, though Naruto's face was quizzical. No problem, she was on his team. He'd have time to speak with her on it.

The Jinchuriki placed her hand on his shoulder, and with a hand sign, they sunk into the earth to pursue their quarry.

Naruto

"Slightly left. Okay, sharp left. Wow, it's hot down here Sensei."

How on earth did Kakashi-sensei do this all the time?

The Hidden Mole jutsu had an accurate name; the tunnel it created and disintegrated as they passed was only wider than them by centimeters, and the earth above insulated them- the temperature rose steadily. Despite this, the rain penetrated deep; they were probably only just a few centimeters below the layers of mud, and the earth down here was still moist, making the enclosed tunnel humid beyond belief.

And Kakashi usually detected his quarry by sound and vibration alone. Naruto could only imagine how much effort and concentration that would take, and was glad she was here to provide sensory support.

"Slightly more, Sensei."

In Rain Country, sound and vibration were practically useless, the drumming water a perfect disguise for footfall. But the extortionist slime was truly vile, filled with little more than greed and threatening intent; he shone to Kurama's fine senses for such things.

"So, uh..."

"We're tracking the extortionist, trying to see if he returns to his boss. The others are following the trader, attempting to prevent her from starting her little fight tomorrow," Kakashi explained, clearly having formulated his response to her inevitable question.

"I got that, but what do you think they're planning?"

"The extortionists?" There's slight surprise, Kakashi must've thought she got stuck on the signs. In truth, she had a little; 'Sabotage Civilian' is an unorthodox order, to be sure.

"Yeah. Oh, slight right, Sensei."

"Mah, they're trying to use the Trader as a distraction, yes? Seems like our Extortion gang wants to try expanding their resume."

"Into banditry?"

"Maybe. More likely, Kidnapping." Naruto felt her face scrunch in disgust.

"What?"

"Kidnapping is just advanced extortion. It's worth more, though, and it attracts more attention."

"So... who's their target?"

"I'm not quite sure. It wouldn't be just any no-name trader; their target will be someone valuable enough to be worth the attention."

Naruto pondered.
"He's stopped." She said, finally.

Kakashi tunneled a little forward, and placed his hand to smooth concrete foundations.

"An apartment building, I think. Little damage, so probably relatively modern."

Sasuke

The merchant sat against the wall for a long time.

Sasuke wondered whether to approach her, or to hunt down the bastard who dared intimidate a simple merchant.

He did neither. If they were to emerge from the water now, she'd scream. Not the result they were after. Kakashi and Naruto were pursuing the extortionist, and the scum was probably the fastest way to find their leader.

Part of him, the remnants of his old life, wondered whether he'd been very different from that trash. It retorted it's own question. Even he, as low as he'd fell, had never targeted civilians. Despite his best effort, he was finding it hard to gather any mercy for the man.

Slowly, the woman rose. She limped a few steps, before taking a moment to slow her breath and continue onward.

Nagato's fingers unfurled from the sign and he separated his hands, the new Combat Team rising from the water. They took to the rooftops again, in silence.

Nagato's Rinnegan were still burning, but more faintly. The Uchiha curse of hatred was almost manifest within them; no surprise, given their origin. Sasuke recognized its glow.

He'd have to formulate a way to talk to the Uzumaki. The man- barely old enough to be called that- was clearly under its influence, and didn't even know. Wasn't even aware others didn't love as much as they did, let alone equipped to handle the anguish that would come his way soon.

Later, though. After he figured out a way to approach this without breaking his team's cover.

"What's the plan, then?" Nagato whispered as they overlooked the merchant's stall.

"Hm. We need to be gentle, approach this subtly. Not exactly my area of expertise." Sasuke pondered.

"She's hurt. Everyone opens up to a medic." Sakura offered.

"So you want to pull a-" a Kabuto, Sasuke didn't say. "-a suppression-by-rescue?"

"No. I want to help her. If I can talk her out of it while I'm there, that'll be a bonus."

"So now, we just need to lure her," Nagato whispers, calculatingly. "Miss Sakura? How many bandages do you have?"

The false bluenette grows a sharp smile. "Good plan."

Sakura

Honestly, the stalls were incredible. It wasn't Sakura's priority, she knew, but you've got to smell the food pills sometimes.

All kinds of flour, seeds, fish- mostly Eels, frogs and newts. Poultry, mostly duck and other waterfowl, some odd meat, probably goat, even a small selection dried fruit and vegetables, like beetroot, persimmon and aronia berries decorated the stalls.

A strong savory smell wafted from her patient's stall; Xi'an pancakes, it seemed. Of course they targeted her; she had been doing fairly well for herself, until now. The stall vaguely resembled Ichiraku, a metal awning with a harshly sloping corrugated iron roof, designed to run the water away from the entrance, covered by tattered cloth to grant the patrons a sense of separation from the street. But rust was creeping up the metal, and one of the cuts in the cloth didn't seem natural to her.

Where was he?

A scream sliced the general hubbub of the street. The vendors tensed.

"Sir? Sir!?" A man kneels over a crumpled mess of black cloth.

"Please... A doctor..." Sasuke groaned.

"Anybody?! Is anyone a doctor here? We need a doctor! Please!" The distressed passer-by called. Sakura had to stop herself from cringing. Of course Sasuke would rope a poor traveler into this. Well, at least it was convincing.

"Yes, I am!" She ran towards the two, pulling her hair into a tie and crouching low to check his chest.

Sakura ran a hand along his chest, checking his heartbeat and ribs. 80 BPM, and of course no damage. The idiot had forgotten to change the bandages on his arm again, though. She took her slight anxiety over that, and dialed it up to eleven.

"Help me move him, we've got to take him out of the rain!" The stranger took hold of her team mate's other shoulder, and together they dragged him toward the Xi'an stall.

Kakashi

The sun was setting, and street lamps flickering on.

Kakashi was enjoying Karasu's other reported skill; Espionage. Sure, he could use any number of jutsu to just break the window lock, but silence and stealth were the essence here; and besides, he wanted to treat himself a little.

With Nagato gone, Kakashi felt a weight had left his shoulders. Karasu was practically the white lie of secret identities, by design, but it still felt so stifling over time. He drew some wire, formed a loop. Slipping it past the window frame, he lowered it slowly. He hadn't done anything like this since his ANBU days; not exactly the happiest time of his life, but nostalgic nonetheless. The wire gently danced in his hand; through the window, the base of the loop had bumped on his target, the latch. With a flick, the loop encircled it, and with a pull, it tightened. A nearly-silent sshhk signified the latch's release, and the window opened outwards.

They hardly looked dignified, pressing themselves flat to the hardwood floor like that, but they could hear every murmur of the man below, every stomping movement. When he so much as considered speaking to his boss, they'd know.

Author's Notes

I've been gone a while. This'll happen a lot- I write purely as a hobby, and therefore only when I have time and am in the right mindset. Due to ADHD, my mindset changes frequently. Nonetheless, you can be assured that I won't abandon this project; it may take a decade, but this story will have a conclusion at some point.

Housekeeping over!

While I was gone, a user by the name of Flevantein sent me some really cool ideas in the reviews, which were really fun to read!

They basically suggested that Naruto could still use Sage Mode, because Naruto was no longer a part of the Toad Contract and so their Sage Mode would change appearance. A user called Gokuto- neat name, btw- interjected with the idea that the Toad contract would be still valid due to the technique's nature as a time-space ninjutsu. This part of the lore really isn't that fleshed out, so honestly I'm really excited to hear what everyone thinks!

Personally, I'm of the interpretation that Naruto is no longer a member of the toad contract due to the time travel. However, I interpret the different varieties of Sage Mode as product of how the technique is taught to it's user, rather than due to the contract itself; so Naruto still uses Toad Sage Mode. If Kabuto was in this situation, he'd still be using the Snake Sage Mode; the type of sage mode used is defined by where the user was taught the technique, rather than whom the user is in a summoning contract with.

Flavantien also brought up the idea of Naruto being able to use Sage Mode through the use of an alibi. I interpret sage mode as a rare ability, not the type of thing you'd find on a no-past ninja like Naruto's pretending to be.

TL;DR: these are some really cool ideas, and I'd love to read a fanfic written like this! Unfortunately, they don't quite fit my interpretation of the series or the atmosphere I'm trying to build. Keep 'em coming, though, it's always fun to hear different interpretations of one of my favourite anime!