AN: Welcome back all returning reader and all new readers. I've been really happy with all the positive reviews that this FanFic has received. I know it sounds corny, but your reviews motivate me to continue to write chapters. So don't stop now, even if they are negative. It is all welcome!

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Chapter 7: Foggy Memories

A man was sitting at a desk drumming his fingers along the table. The man was bald and had black eyes, a black beard, and black eyebrows. Above his right eyebrow and on his right cheek, he has 2 big scars. His attire consisted of a light grey cloak with black buttons. He was staring at a page in a book which had the picture of a much older man with grey hair and glasses. Being there for what seemed like too long, he let out a yawn. He closed the book. Waiting around for something to happen usually made up most of his day.

There was a soft 'click' that caught the man's attention. He glanced over at the wall and on queue, a section of the wall fell over. Through it walked a rather tall man, half of his face covered by a grey mask. He had what appeared to be blood staining the left sleeve of his cloak.

"Hm." The bald man's lips curved upward into what appeared to be a small smirk. He recognized this man. "You are one of the last people I expected to see. What are you doing here?" He had a deep, almost friendly voice.

"You know, just in the area." The taller man's voice was deep and gruff, differing drastically to the man who remained seated. He wasn't looking at the man who asked him the question, his cautious eyes were too busy scanning the room for potential threats. It was a habit that someone who lived his kind of lifestyle needed to adopt to stay alive. Not out of fear, but necessity.

"It's just me."

"I know."

"Last time you were here, you said it would be a long time before I saw you again." Despite being before an intimidating presence, the scarred man seemed relaxed.

"That was supposed to be the plan, but… some things have changed." Gruff voice betraying no emotion.

"Changed how?" The bald man pressed. Being holed up in this room for most of the day, every day, any kind of conversation or stimulation he could get was much appreciated.

"I'm on my way to meet someone." The visitor's responses remained vague. It was not because he was trying to hide something, he just was a man of few words. "Because I'll be in that area, I was wondering if you had any 'work' for me, Zangei?"

"Is that what you're calling it, now?" The man now referred to as Zangei allowed himself a small chuckle. "Where is it that you're heading?"

"South-East." The masked-man replied.

Zangei was used to this. The man had never been much of a talker. "South-East, huh? I may have one." He re-opened the book and began flipping through its pages. 'Land of Lightning, no. Land of Water, no. Hidden Stone Village, no.' He said aloud as he looked for the appropriate page.

He flipped to the page that he had happened to be staring at earlier. "Ah. Here it is." He turned the book around so the mysterious visitor could see. "It isn't anything too special, but it's something at the very least."

The mysterious visitor eyed the page, memorizing it instantly. He never forgot a face. Doing this for so long, forgetting things was something that you just couldn't do. "Only 250,000." Had it been any other man, you would have been able to hear the displeasure in their voice, but his tone almost always remained the same.

"As I said, nothing too special." The bald man repeated. "This is all I have in that area."

"This seems like an easy quarter million. Why hasn't this been taken by someone already?" He wasn't wary, just mildly interested.

"A rather large group of bandits had apparently tried a few months back. A lot of them didn't survive. No one else wants to take it. They think it isn't worth the money." He explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if it never got taken."

"Normally, I wouldn't take something that had such a small reward, but I guess the circumstances are not exactly normal."

Zangei chose to remain silent, allowing the much larger man to continue.

"Tell whoever put it up that I'm doing it, but for half a million." Zangei could tell just from the man's voice that he was not asking. "He should consider himself lucky, if not for me this 'work' would go undone, even for 500,000. He is lucky I don't charge him more."

A drop of sweat rolled down the man's forehead, catching itself in his scarred brow. "I will make sure he gets your message." Zangei, despite having a rather friendly business relationship with his current guest, was smart enough to choose his words carefully when around him. He valued his life.

"Good." Was his simple reply as he walked towards the opening in the wall. He stopped walking and turned around. "Make it fast, this won't take long. If he has an issue with my terms, well, he and I will have a conversation about it when I'm done."

Zangei swiftly nodded as he watched the man walk out and the wall lift back up to close behind him. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Such intensity…"

Location: South-Eastern Land of Fire

The blond Genin, who was currently slurping down the last of his instant noodles and salty broth, was watching Jiraiya and the ANBU talk from a decent distance away. He couldn't hear what any of them were saying, but based on his master's expression, it was pretty serious. The sage's expression suddenly changed after reading through a scroll that one of the ANBU had handed to him.

'I wonder what's going on?' Curiosity now piqued, he put down the now finished cup of instant ramen and made his way over to the adults. "What's going on?" He asked innocently, mild amounts of concern present in his voice.

Jiraiya, still processing everything that he was being told, barely heard his protégé's question. He turned to him, absentmindedly tucking the scroll he had been reading into one of his pockets. "Hm?" He asked before his brain was able to process what was said. "Oh, it appears I'm being assigned to an emergency mission from Tsunade." He explained vaguely.

Naruto's brow furled in confusion. "A mission? But Granny Tsunade knows that you're supposed to be training me! Why would she assign you to a mission?" Something seemed a little off to the Uzumaki, but he wasn't sure what.

"It appears I was specifically requested to handle this mission. It's an important S-Rank mission, and since I've completed over 130 S-Rank missions, I guess my reputation proceeds me." He puffed out his chest, completing his boast. Technically it wasn't a lie, just an omission of the entire truth. Jiraiya is the most prolific and active ninja currently alive in the Hidden Leaf Village. With over 1,000 completed missions under his belt, his abilities are recognized by many across the shinobi world.

While upset for their training being cut short, Naruto had the sudden realization that he might be able to tag along with Jiraiya on this super-important, high-profile mission. The thought of being able to test out some of the new strength he gained excited him.

Jiraiya saw his student's reaction and was quick to shut down that type of thinking. "Not a chance, kid." The blond blinked, his lips curving slightly to form a small frown. "This is going to be a dangerous mission. You're only a genin, there's no way you can come with me."

The stern look the Sannin gave him quickly crushed his hopes. "But, why?" He asked in an attempt to persuade his teacher. "I've been on dangerous missions before! Why is this one any different?"

"Because I said so." To which the blond rolled his eyes in annoyance.

In actuality, Jiraiya could not let Naruto go on this mission with the possibility that the Akatsuki could show up. Sure, the toad sage was confident in his abilities to take on one, maybe two members at the same time, but the risk that more of them could be in the area surrounding the Land of Hot Water made it too risky to bring his godson with him. Besides, even if he could take on Akatsuki members, doing that while also watching out for Naruto's well-being would be a tall task even for him.

Also, the Akatsuki being spotted in an area not only too close for comfort to their current location but also where he and the blond were about to go, made him uneasy. In this instance, caution was necessary to ensure the safety of his ward.

Naruto just grumbled something about 'unfair-adults'.

"It shouldn't take long, Naruto." He attempted to reassure his student. Jiraiya was hopeful that all he would have to do is meet with his contact and clarify a few things. This was clearly either a misunderstanding or incorrect information. According to some very reliable intel he received a while back, the Akatsuki wasn't supposed to make much noise for another couple of years. Why would they suddenly move now, of all times? It didn't make sense, especially around the Land of Hot Water.

"Then, if you're going to go on this mission, what about me?" He asked the white-haired sage. "You're supposed to be my protection, too!"

"That is why we are here." The ANBU member with a bear mask spoke with a monotonous tone. He seemed to be the leader of the small team of elite ninja. "We are the ANBU assigned directly to the Hokage herself, our mission is to ensure your safety."

They had been standing there so silently that the blond had forgotten they even existed. Naruto looked at the 8 intimidating figures that joined him and his master in the clearing. One, in particular, caught his attention above all of the others. The ANBU member was wearing a mask that resembled that of a cat with green and red markings. The blond wasn't sure why, but there was something different about him, he could feel it. Similar to the other cloaked figures, however, the cat ANBU exuded a quiet intensity. Even though their seriousness and intensity made him uncomfortable, they looked pretty strong. Strong enough to protect him in case anything goes wrong.

The blond nodded, seemingly content with their answer to his question. "So, are you guys taking me to that place?" His eyes squinted in thought as he tried to remember where Jiraiya said they were going. "The Village Hidden in Hot Water?"

It was Jiraiya's turn to chime in. "No, Naruto. When I'm done with this mission maybe we'll be able to go there, but not right now."

"Why not?" The genin asked, slightly disappointed at not being able to relax in the hot spring.

"Because, we can only stay in one place for so long, remember? If you're there but we aren't doing any meaningful training, then it's just a waste of a great training location." Again, partially truthful, partially deceitful. While that explanation made perfect sense, it was obvious that ANBU bodyguards or not, it was too dangerous for him to be there right now.

"Well, then where am I supposed to go? We've already been here for quite a bit, isn't it time to move?"

The blond made a good point. That was something that hadn't even crossed the sage's mind. He was too busy focusing on the mission just assigned to him. Jiraiya suddenly remembered something his protégé had said earlier.

"You said you had some friends you wanted to visit in the Land of Waves?" To which the blond swiftly nodded in agreeance. "You can stay there. It's on the way to where I'm going so I can travel with you until we reach it. Think of it as a small vacation from all of the hard work you've put in over the past few months."

The 13-year-old's eyes lit up. The thought of being able to see Inari, old-man Tazuna, and Tsunami almost made him completely forget about the Hot Water Village and Jiraiya's secret mission. Not only that, but taking a break from training for a couple of days was music to the blond's ears.

Jiraiya smiled. Either he knew exactly what to say to his student, or the boy was just really easy to distract sometimes. "Let's pack up our stuff, Naruto. Your friends are waiting for you."

…

Shortly after, Naruto and Jiraiya had packed up all of their belongings and set off for the Land of Waves with an ANBU escort. At first, they moved swiftly in hopes of getting to their destination before nightfall. Now that they were close and making good time, they slowed down their pace to a hurried walk.

Student and teacher were walking side by side with the ANBU team split up into two groups of four. Four were positioned behind the genin and sage, and 4 were in front of them.

Naruto glanced behind him. His gaze was returned by the ANBU member who adorned the cat mask with the green and red markings. This alone shouldn't have seemed out of the ordinary. After all, the ANBU unit was tasked with ensuring the safety of the young blond. What made it strange was that out of all of the eight members, the cat was the only one that was staring at him.

"Is something wrong, Naruto Uzumaki?" The masked man said after Naruto had been staring back at him for some time.

The way the man spoke caused Naruto to shudder, though he didn't know why. Something about this ANBU member gave him the creeps! "N-No." He sputtered out. "Everything is fine, uh, cat guy." He finished lamely after being unsure of what to call him.

"Call me… Uddo." The man said after a short pause in the same creepy tone.

That was odd. To the genin, it almost seemed like the man was unsure of what to call himself.

Naruto just nodded weakly as his head snapped back in the direction he was walking. He leaned to his right where his mentor was standing and began to whisper. "Do I really have to stay with these guys? Some of them are pretty creepy!" He pleaded.

The Sannin sighed. "Yes, you do." To which Naruto frowned. "They aren't that bad, they just take their work more seriously than you or I. Didn't you know that Kakashi used to be an ANBU captain?"

"Really?" The blond asked, completely surprised.

"Yes, really. There's nothing to be worried about. Kakashi isn't that weird, right?" He rested his hand on top of his godsons spiky-haired head. "We're coming up on your destination now, so it's time I go meet with my contact."

Naruto sighed but nodded reluctantly. "Make sure you come back fast so we can start training again." The sage's student mentally berated himself. He wanted to say a lot more than that. What Naruto really wanted to tell his sensei was that he wished him good luck on his mission and that he hoped he came back safe. For some reason, however, his brain couldn't find the right words.

Jiraiya chuckled, unaware of the blonds inward conflict. "I will, kid. But don't think that just because I'm away you won't be training at all!" The sage flashed a toothy grin. "Can't have you slacking and getting rusty while I'm away."

Naruto huffed. "I know, I know. You told me already, perv!" He retorted while crossing his arms across his chest.

"And remember." Jiraiya's voice grew more serious. "Remember what I said. No more than 5 clones for at most 3 hours at a time."

Naruto, also growing more serious, nodded in understanding.

"Good." His master flashed a confident thumbs-up. "See ya!" As he disappeared in a plume of smoke.

…

It would soon be dark out; the sky was a beautiful orange hue as the sun was slowly disappearing over the horizon. If the blond had to guess, it was about 7 P.M. Due to it being later in the day, the bridge did not have anyone walking on it. Unbeknownst to the Uzumaki, the daytime traffic the bridge saw was filled with those importing and exporting goods out of the village. The money this brought in was substantial. In short, it was a huge success for Tazuna and the Land of Waves as a whole.

"The Great… Naruto Bridge?" The Uzumaki rubbed his eyes, assuming that doing so would cause the words he was reading to change into what they were supposed to be. He opened his eyes back up. They were still the same. He felt something well up in his chest, unsure of what to think or how to feel in this moment.

On one hand, he felt honored that the people of the Land of Waves would name the most important thing their village ever produced after his namesake. On the other hand, he felt guilty about it. In his opinion, he was not the most important factor in the struggle against Gato. 'If anything, they should have named it after Kakashi-Sensei.' He thought to himself, unaware of how his passion and determination inspired Inari and the rest of the citizens of the land to finally stand up to their oppressor.

"Are you alright, Naruto Uzumaki?" One of his personal bodyguards, who wore a mask that depicted a fierce lion, asked.

"Y-Yeah." He sputtered out in response. "Just a little shocked is all. I didn't know that they named this bridge after me."

The man named Uddo decided to chime in this time. "Ah, yes. The Black Ops are very aware of the mission you had in this land under the guidance of Kakashi-Senpai." The respect he had for the former special forces captain was clear in the way he spoke about him.

'I guess Pervy Sage wasn't lying about Kakashi-Sensei being an ANBU captain.' The genin thought to himself, slightly shocked that his master was telling him the truth for once.

He was about to respond, but something made him stop. A dense fog was beginning to roll in off the ocean. That coupled with the orange glow from the sunset triggered brief flashes of events he did not remember to appear before his eyes. So brief that he didn't really understand what was happening. The blond attempted to reach for those memories again, but they were gone as swiftly as they had arrived. He shut his eyelids, the sudden imagery giving him the beginning of a pounding headache.

'That's strange. What was that?' He felt uneasy, but he was unsure why.

"…Naruto?"

A surprised voice broke him from his trance. He began to take in his surroundings. He was staring at a rather large house with a small boy sitting on the steps that led up to the front door. The entire time he had been deep in thought, his feet were subconsciously taking him back to the first place he stayed that was outside the protective walls of the Leaf Village.

"Inari." A big smile appeared on the genin's face. "How's it going, kid!"

"Naruto!" The black-haired boy, still wearing his white and blue hat, rushed over to his friend and gave him a hug. "What are you doing here?!" He asked excitedly.

Naruto patted Inari on the head and chuckled slightly at his enthusiasm. It reminded him of Kohohamaru. "It's a long story, but I should introduce these guys first. You're probably wondering who they are." He turned around to introduce his team of bodyguards. "Eh?" Only no one was to be seen.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" He asked with a confused expression on his face. "There's no one there."

The Leaf Village's number one hyperactive knucklehead clenched his fists in annoyance. 'Stupid ANBU. They could have told me they were gonna do that. Now I look stupid!' He was slightly bitter, but he wasn't gonna let that ruin this great day.

Naruto simply reached back and scratched his head, letting out an embarrassed laugh. "Never mind, don't mind me."

"Are you gonna be here long?! Do you need a place to stay?" Naruto didn't know it, but Inari idolized him. After all, after the passing of his adoptive father Kaiza, he was the one who got him to believe in the existence of heroes again.

"That would be great! Are you sure it's okay?"

"Are you kidding? Mom and Grandpa always say you're welcome here whenever you want!" He was beaming. "Let's go inside, it's getting late and I'm sure they want to see you, too!"

Before he even knew it, Naruto was being dragged inside.

Just atop the house, 8 figures landed silently. The ANBU team was under the strict orders of the Hokage herself to not be seen by anyone. They couldn't risk their presence raising any questions or causing any sort of panic. After exchanging glances, they nodded to one another in understanding. They all dispersed in different directions. They would guard the boy by setting up a perimeter until the Sannin returned.

…

After being invited into the house by Inari, he was met with the surprised, but pleased, reactions of Tazuna and Tsunami. Almost instantly, as if a member of the family himself, Naruto was invited to take a seat at the table. Dinner was almost ready and Tazuna was sure there would be much to talk about today.

Now Tazuna, Inari, and Naruto were sitting around the dinner table, while Tsunami was finishing preparing the food. All four of them were smiling happily

"You know, kid." The old man began, sipping on what appeared to be a glass of some sort of alcohol the genin couldn't identify. "We were all just thinking about when you were gonna pay us that visit that you promised. Although, I was kind of expecting the other members of your team to be here as well. How are Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke doing? Good, I hope." He finished, bringing the glass to his lips, the ice clinking against the sides of the cup.

Sasuke was still a sore spot that he didn't really want to talk about. Though, that wasn't Tazuna's fault. How could he possibly know that?

Naruto's face darkened a bit, but no one noticed. Inari was too young to understand, Tsunami had been facing away from them while preparing the food, though she was intently listening, and Tazuna was already getting a bit tipsy. His cheeks were a tad flush.

This gave the Uzumaki enough time to recover so he could put on his brave face. "They're all doing great!" He gave his best attempt to be enthusiastic. "I'm sure they would have all loved to come with me, but I'm actually away from the village right now training with my…"He trailed off, unsure of what title to give to Jiraiya. "Mentor." He finished lamely.

"Where is this man right now?" Tsunami asked, motherly instinct kicking in. "If he's supposed to be your guardian while you're out of the village, shouldn't he be with you?"

"That's where it gets a little complicated." Naruto began to explain. "See, he got assigned a super important mission that he said was too dangerous for me to go on. And since we weren't too far away from the Land of Waves I asked if it would be okay if I stayed with you guys until he got back!"

"He just dropped you off without saying a word?" Tsunami's voice betrayed a touch of sadness. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but when he comes to get you, I'm gonna have to teach this man some manners." While she was saying that she was smacking a rolling pin against the palm of her hand.

Naruto laughed awkwardly. "It's not like that!" He reassured. "He left before we even got here. I got escorted by members of the Leaf's ANBU. They aren't very good with conversation so they're probably watching the house from a distance to make sure I'm safe."

"ANBU, huh?" Tazuna grumbled.

"You know about them?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. Funny enough, when requesting my mission from the Leaf Village I wanted to be escorted by ANBU. I heard they were strong, but I was told I didn't have enough, money. So I got stuck with you!" He let out a bellowing laugh, nearly spilling his freshly refilled glass of alcohol.

Naruto sweat dropped at the old man's actions.

"Those guys are high-profile, how did a squirt like you manage to get watched by a whole team of them?" There was a touch of concern in his voice. He cared for the boy, so if he was in trouble, he would help to make sure he was okay.

Naruto laughed nervously. "Oh, well, you know, it's just precaution. I'm a genin outside of my ninja village." He leaned in and flashed a confident smile. "Besides, the Hokage loves me." He didn't want to make them worry and telling them that an extremely dangerous criminal organization was after him would do just that.

Tazuna returned the smile. "Oh, didn't know our dinner guest had all of these connections." He teased lightly.

"Wow." Inari exclaimed. "So cool! I bet you're really important in your village!"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Well, when you put it like that… I'm pretty great, aren't I!" He boasted shamelessly.

"Alright, everyone." Tsunami caught everyone's attention as she began placing food on the table. "While I'm sure we all want to hear about all of the stories Naruto has, he's probably very hungry. You guys remember how much he ate last time he was here." She finished with a small chuckle.

Naruto's eyes practically bulged out of his head. Last time he ate Tsunami's cooking, though it was delicious, it mainly consisted of rice and a few pieces of meat and vegetables. This time around, she prepared lobster, salmon, and some delicious looking meat that looked to be pork. While there was still rice, Naruto was looking at a small feast. A far cry from what felt like a few short months ago.

"Woah." Was the only verbal reaction he could muster.

"This stuff looks expensive, is it really okay if I eat some of this?" Slightly worried that he was being a burden.

Tazuna patted the boy on the shoulder and gave him a genuine smile. "Kid, without you, we would have never been able to eat like this! Of course, you can have all you want."

Naruto blinked. He looked over at Tsunami, who was now sitting down with the rest of them, and Inari. They both were also smiling genuinely at him. "What do you mean?" He asked dumbly. "What do I have to do with anything?"

"Because of that bridge, things have changed a lot in this land. Now that people can easily come and go, trading has been prosperous. We have more money than ever before, and because of that my services are highly requested. People can afford to remodel their homes; new tenants want houses built from the ground up. The land has life once again, and it's all thanks to you."

The blond scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Thanks, but I didn't really do all that much. Honest!"

"You did a lot." Inari said seriously. The glint in his eyes struck a cord in the genin. They meant every word they were saying to him.

Naruto felt similar emotions to when he left the Land of Waves the first time welling up inside him. Like he almost wanted to cry. Though he hadn't spent a lot of time in Wave, he truly felt like a welcomed part of the family when he was there. Not growing up with that, it was really nice to have. Even only if it was for a little.

"Eat." Tsunami gently urged.

Naruto nodded, a smile plastered across his face. "Thanks for the food!" He yelled appreciatively as he began to dig in. After the first bite, his eyes lit up.

"This is delicious!"

...

Jiraiya was pacing back and forth for what had felt like hours. That was probably because he has actually been pacing for hours. He stopped and looked up into the sky. It was the following morning from when he had said goodbye to Naruto and the sun had just risen about an hour ago. The air was fresh and crisp, cool dew covered the grass at his feet. If he was not currently in a state of mild panic, he might actually be able to enjoy his surroundings.

He was currently standing outside the gates to the Hot Water Village. After separating from the blond and pack of ANBU, he set off for the Land of Hot Water at a fairly modest pace. It took him about 12 hours to arrive at the rendezvous point. Not too shabby in his opinion.

The part that concerned the white-haired sage was that his contact was nowhere to be found. Naki is a man that the Sannin has known for a number of years. As his source of intel for the Land of Hot Water, they had previously met many times and the man has never been late once. If anything, he usually arrived early even before the man he reported to.

Jiraiya saw him as dependable and professional. Not exactly the kind of person he'd want to hang out with or buy drinks at the bar with, but the perfect kind of person to have a professional relationship with. In short, Naki was someone who wouldn't be late without an important reason.

A pit was beginning to form at the bottom of the Sannin's stomach. He had a bad feeling that something was going to happen, he just had no idea what.

...

Though unaware of his fate, Jiraiya had good reason to worry about his contact. It was a gruesome scene to behold. The front door had been viciously broken down. He lay collapsed on the floor in the living area of his own home. He had several cuts and bruises adorning his face. The room was trashed, obvious signs of a struggle. Blood was splattered all along the walls. His body was cold, lifeless. And worst of all…

It appears his heart had been ripped straight out of his chest…

AN: Like I had been saying, things are changing! And they are going to continue to change. This really was a joy to write. I threw in a few nuggets of information in this chapter that are important for upcoming chapters. Some are obvious, some aren't as much. Let me know what you've noticed! Give me your thoughts on this chapter and your predictions for the next chapter. Your answers are of great interest to me. Do you like where the story is going? Do you hate it? Let me know!

Thanks for reading!