DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything created for the Naruto series or manga. Nit that there are many Naruto related characters, but the universe of that manga was the basis for this experiment.
Author's Note: Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long! I've had some things to sort out, some experiences to gain, things that I wanted to do before resuming the fanfic. Please encourage me by any means possible including reminding me when you see me, to those who know me personally. And now, without further ado...

NARUTO: THE HYUUGA INTRIGUE

Chapter 5: Outlaws

The Oni hadn't been talking long when four Shinobi in black jumpsuits and scary white and red animal masks appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

"We're the four ANBU selected to deal with you," one said. He was wearing a weird puppy mask. "From time to time we'll be checking in on you to see how you're doing."

"When will we be able to see the Hokage again?" asked Blood, so that he didn't have to hear Tears ask.

"When he tells us you can." The ANBU weren't much for answers. "Remember that just now you were given a reprimand for causing trouble in the palace, right? And we're here to drag your asses out of the city. So, let's act the part. I want you guys to resist us, okay?"

Blood, Toil, Sweat, and Tears acknowledged. They began walking down the hall and into the elevator that went to the lobby. "Ready?" asked an ANBU as they approached the first floor. The four ANBU each grabbed an Oni by the collar. The elevator door opened, and the Oni were thrown out of the elevator. Each one fell on their face. The people in the lobby, many of whom had also seen the first fight, turned to watch.

As the four assassins squirmed on the ground, an ANBU grabbed Tears by her hair and dragged her out of the building, as she writhed and screamed in pain. Blood was extremely upset by this, and as his ANBU reached down to grab his collar, Blood flipped over and shot her with a squirt of blood in the eyes of her mask. As she was stumbling back Blood quickly got up and knocked the ANBU in the jaw, then made a break after Tears.

Meanwhile, Sweat's ANBU had picked him up and had him in a hold.

"Hope you have a gasmask in there," Sweat told him, releasing a dose of noxious poison through the sweat glands in his neck. The ANBU stepped back, disoriented and leaned against the wall. He spasmed, and slumped down unconscious. Toil's ANBU was the leader. Toil tripped him, and got up, drawing his regular kitana. The ANBU leader got up also, facing him. Sweat tried to come from behind got up also, facing him. Sweat tried to come from behind, throwing some shuriken, but the ANBU caught all of them and threw at him two things that had a strand of metal rope attached to a metal hook on each end. One wrapped around Sweat's arms and chest, another wrapped around his legs, and the hooks dug into the rope, locking it in place. As Sweat struggled, Toil attacked using his mad bushido skills, but each time the ANBU batted the slash away from below I with his forearm. Finally, Toil slashed down from above. The ANBU blocked that with his left hand and grabbed Toil's left arm with his right, and used the momentum to throw him into the wall. He then walked over and handcuffed Toil. Sweat's ANBU wasn't getting up and Blood's ANBU had pursued, so Toil's ANBU dragged both outside. The crowd in the lobby stared in shock.

Outside, people crowded around as Tears was being dragged kicking and screaming, by her short hair. Blood charged from behind, his ANBU in hot pursuit, and decked Tears' ANBU in the back of his head. He dropped Tears and stumbled forward. Blood grabbed him and threw him down on the ground, turned him face up and straddled his chest. Tears tripped Blood's guard, to buy him some time, but her scalp hurt too much for her to get up. Blood punched Tears' guard in the face once for each word as he screamed "NEVER TOUCH THAT GIRL AGAIN!" Blood's guard managed to get up and grab him, hand cuffing him, but that didn't stop him from drop-kicking Tears' guard. Blood's guard tried to calm him down, saying, "We said resist us, not kill us!" as she dragged Blood away. He also hand cuffed Tears, apologizing for his partner.

Some Jounin and Chuunin guards had been alerted, and they tried to disperse the crowd, but a few punky kids were still sticking around. "It looks like a riot is about to start," the Hokage said, watching from his balcony. "The Oni are pretty good. They managed to take down two ANBU. They're at least Jounin level if they aren't holding back." Downstairs, the leader of the four ANBU was dragging Toil and Sweat outside. As the ANBU put paralyzing spells on the Oni, an onlooker demanded "What did these guys do?"

"They were starting trouble in the palace," answered the ANBU leader. The air was tense. The crowd of all sorts of people stared. There were punky kids among them, and none of them knew what to do. They had listened to some music about punks being oppressed but this was the first time they had actually seen it happen, or thought they saw it happen. Filled with rage, they could only watch as the ANBU led their prisoners out of the city gates. The Oni were led out of the gate and uncuffed, then the ANBU left and the gates shut. Now the punks had something to talk about.

After about half an hour, Toil could move his limbs enough to stand up. He still had a pins and needles sensation in his fingers, but that would go away soon. It hadn't been a problem, just a mid-level paralyze technique. Toil's legs wobbled as he shifted his weight upon them, but he was able to stand. He watched the others trying to get up. Blood had already gotten up, and Tears was staggering a bit, but remaining upright. Sweat was taking the longest, still kneeling, so Blood reached a hand down to help him out. Sweat took his hand, and pulled himself to his feet. Toil walked over and offered his hand, but Sweat refused. "I got it, I got it," he assured Toil, then his knees buckled again. He tried again and this time he was able to stand on his own.

"Okay guys," Toil began, "So what are we going to do now?"

"You're the leader," Sweat said, "what do you think?"

"Just being democratic," Toil explained. "Anyway there's only one thing to do…"

"Get back into the city somehow," Tears interrupted, "but how? The guards won't let us in, and we can't just jump the wall. Even though we could do it the guards would spot us."

Toil paused, looking pensive. "If I'm correct there's an emergency bunker inside the cliff of Hokages which has an exit out in the woods behind the city. My mother told me about being evacuated through there as kids. It's been used only a couple times, so there should be no guards inside. It should lead into the sewers."

"Sounds good," remarked Sweat, "but where in the woods would it be?"

"We'd follow the wall to our left," Toil explained, "Then we'd ascend the hill that the Hokages' faces are carved into, and it shouldn't be that far from the edge of the cliff."

"We could just climb down the cliff," Blood boldly suggested.

Toil shook his head. "We'd be easy to notice, and plus it's higher than it looks. I've been up there several times. It's better to be safe than sorry."

The four mercenaries took off into the trees, jumping in the low branches so they wouldn't be seen, and eventually came to a clearing near the summit of the hill. In the center of the clearing was a metal trapdoor that looked as if it couldn't be opened except by the most powerful explosives, nothing near what the Oni had.

"Now what?" asked Blood.

Tears smiled and said "We open it." She walked up to the trapdoor and, grasping the handle, gave the door a little tug and swung it open effortlessly as the others watched in shock.

"It wasn't locked," Tears explained, "Because Hokage-sama had to leave us a way in."

The others followed her inside and Toil, the last one in, closed the door and set its elaborate locking system. The clang of the closing lock reverberated down the long, dimly lit stairwell, fading to reveal the distant sound of dripping water. As Toil's eyes adjusted, he began to descend along with the others. There was room for only one to descend at a time, so Tears took the lead down the steps and he and the others followed, gripping the cold handrails that lined the walls. Eventually they came to the bottom, and opened another room that let out into several passageways. There were signs to follow that directed to the exits, because it was easy to get lost in the honeycomb of rooms and corridors that made up the emergency shelter. The place was pretty much empty except for some tables that had been left there, and some graffiti scrawled here and there.

However in the corner of a passageway by the door to a stairwell they had come out of, a small object caught Toil's eye. He crouched and picked it up, holding it up to the light. It had once been a stuffed rabbit, left there by a child long ago, perhaps even during the attack of the Sound ninja led by the evil Orochimaru, a traitor to Konoha. Now the bunny smelled of must, and its surface was eaten away so badly that Toil's fingers broke right through its fur and stuffing spilled out. Tears, Blood and Sweat were waiting for him, and he placed the stuffed animal back where he had found it. Its owner was likely dead now, and it would soon be dust.

Another staircase led to an exit to downtown Konoha.