A/N:
In response to some commentary.
'You're developing as a writer and moving away from the crutches you depended on in earlier chapters.'
I'm sorry, but I have to chuckle at that. There is a big difference than needing to do something and choosing to do something. As I've said before, I write what I like. And, I wanted to put some tales in my story.
'Another good chapter. Why must all of your stories take a darker turn?'
Akatsuki is out there….
'You made Itachi bit loony?'
Not me. I wasn't the one who had him wipe out almost his entire clan.
'I also hope Kyuubi decides to fight the other monsters first so he is weaker before attacking Konoha if everything goes as Akatsuki plans.'
If everything goes as they plan, Kyuubi wouldn't get to decide anything.
'ever planning on having an epilogue for "Where Eagles Dare"?'
Probably. Maybe even one for "Can't…" and "Lantern Light," too. I might do that before staring any new stories, once this one is finished. They would be One Shot stories in their own light, written just to tell how the future might look.
'you're really picking up the tension.'
Heh heh. Just read this chapter….
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x x
Naruto was on pins and needles.
"I hate this!" He practically spat out the words.
Looking around the underground room in the emergency provisions building, he cursed staring at the huge hanging racks of dried and salted fish.
This building was felt to be the most defensible, with its many twists and turns, and the stout nature of the thick stone walls. Naruto griped, wondering why they didn't just hang him from a hook or put him inside a barrel and hammer the top on.
"At least you won't go hungry," Kakashi quipped, serving as one of the twenty guards spread about the chamber and building above. "The Ramen shop was not felt to be a secure enough site."
Naruto grumbled "Very funny."
He looked over at the row of huge water barrels and pool-like cisterns. Shaking his head, he called out his own comment.
"I wouldn't let the Ero-Sennin stand too close to those things. Geez, people have to drink that stuff!"
Snorting, Jiraiya put down the parchment he was writing on, walked over, and rubbed Naruto's head.
"This is not exactly my idea of fun either, you know?" He scowled. "If Tsunade had let us invite those women down here, things would have been different!"
Naruto couldn't tell whether his sensei was joking or not.
"I think you could go a day or three more without your Sake and massages!" Naruto said, scruching up his face. "Show a little backbone."
Jiraiya smiled,
He winked at Kakshi and the other guard within view.
"Thanks for making my point for me, Naruto. You don't have long to wait. This is shorter than many missions."
Naruto closed his eyes, then sighed.
He had walked right into that one.
"Well, it wouldn't be so bad, if there was room to practice some jutsus."
"Nonsense!" Gai walked over, smiling. "You need to preserve your chakra, in case there is some kind of attempt on you. And, as my singing blood tells me, there should be." He struck a pose, managing a flash of light off of his teeth, even in that darkened environment. "It is not a jutsu you should be thinking about, but meditation, a way to improve the working of your mind."
Kakashi shook his head, which caught Gai's attention, and had the green-suited man walking over to argue with his life long rival.
Before confronting Kakashi, Gai turned back.
"You could write poetry. It is a lost art, but perfect for any youth with a heart burning with love! Think how it would make the woman you choose realize your greatness, then give her heart to you and no other. Ah!"
"It hasn't worked with Lee yet, has it Gai?" Kakashi was still reading one of his books, despite the low light.
Naturally, that had Naruto thinking about Hinata.
"Shit!"
He kicked a tin of tea far across the room, apologizing when he realized that he just missed the head of one of his guards.
"So, come full circle? Is that it?" Jiraiya chuckled, then sat on a huge burlap sack of grain next to his pupil. "Didn't want to see her for days…… but when you change your mind, you don't get a chance to see her for a while?"
Naruto didn't say anything.
He didn't have to.
"Well, I think you could go a day or three without your massages!" Jiraiya chuckled, knowing that would have Naruto frowning. It did. "Seriously, the anticipation will make things all that much sweeter. Trust me. Tsunade's timing was a bit cruel as it turns out, but it may work to your benefit."
"Yeh. If I manage to survive all this. I almost wish those bastards would try something. This waiting is killing me!" Naruto ran his hands over the sack he sat on, wondering how long it had been there.
At that time, light briefly formed a diagonal line across part of the room, as the heavy door opened and someone walked in. It was one of the senior shinobi of the village, come to replace Jiraiya, who learned that he had been summoned to meet with the Hokage.
"I'll be back after I see what news Tsunade has." After that, the Sennin left.
Naruto sat quietly for a while, cursing the sun and the moon.
A lunar eclipse was only a couple of nights away, and it would be a Blood Moon as Jiraiya had told him back at their camp site.
There would be a second such phenomenon this year, so Akatsuki might not even be planning anything soon. M-i-g-h-t. Five letters. A whole alphabet of annoyance and inconvenience.
He also had to admit that he was somewhat scared. He didn't want to think that some kind of Apocalypse might be on its way. But, that would be just his luck. Iruka's words helped straighten his head out some. Deciding he might want to care about Hinata after all, he was naturally frustrated.
So, that meant that it was a perfect time for the world to end, right?!
"This sucks!"
Naruto thought back to that one day. Suddenly making an about face after talking with his oldest friend, he literally ran off to find Hinata.
As it turned out, she had gone off to lunch, and had been out with her friends long enough to think about doing dinner too. When he came across her, she was walking in a large group of girls.
That had been a rather troublesome sight, as Shikamaru might say.
Hinata's eyes had lit up when she caught sight of him. Kurenai had smiled as well, seeing Hinata's response. Shizune waved, and Anko grinned a frightening grin.
Sakura, Ino, and Ten Ten were not so sanguine.
'Great! There goes my appetite!' Sakura had said, partially in jest. She really was glad to see Naruto, but was not about to admit that to Ino.
'Tell me about it!' Ino had answered, needing to top Sakura. 'I think he just ruined my lunch too.'
'Maybe it would be best if we just blocked his path, and escort Hinata out of the way.' Ten Ten was still unhappy, hearing how Naruto had rejected Hinata's affections.
'NARUTO-KUN!' Hinata didn't hear what anyone had said, or didn't care. She had run over to see him, a hopeful look on her face.
'Hinata, I've been thinking, and---' He had tried to get his words out, despite the fact that he had an audience.
'That would be a first!' Sakura had said, and everybody laughed, even Ino.
'Perhaps we should be careful, ladies,' Anko had put in. 'This could be an impostor!'
Everybody laughed some more.
'Is there something you wanted to tell me?' Hinata had asked, stepping closer to Naruto. She looked to have left her shyness at home.
'SHHHHHH….' Kurenai had told the other women. That was like throwing gasoline on a fire.
The comments had come fast and furiously after that, so much so that Naruto had no chance to even hear them all.
'I was stupid, Hinata. I wanted to----'
His own choice of words could have been better.
'Wow! He might be the first man who ever admitted that!' Anko said in mock severity.
'Man?' Sakura's question set them all off again.
Naruto and Hinata had just stood there quietly, waiting for their moment. Eventually, the girls realized that it might be more fun to be quiet and listen.
Who knows what they might see and hear?
But, just as Naruto had opened his mouth, a winded messenger ran up, accompanied by two newly appointed jounin.
'Uzumaki Naruto. You are commanded to appear before the Hokage, immediately. There can be no dely, and no detour.' As the messenger had spoken, the two jounin flashed out of view, reappearing between Naruto and the girls.
'But….' Naruto had been shocked, but his surprise was about to be replaced by volcanic emotions.
'What is this? Anko had asked. "You know me. You know Kurenai. We can vouch for the others…." She obviously realized what some of the message implied.
Tsunade was acting as if anyone could be a spy or enemy, except for those she sent out personally.
Naruto had picked up on that as well. He couldn't be angry with Tsunade, because he would probably do the same thing if their roles had been reversed.
No, he would have had the person in questioned tied up and brought into town in a wagon guarded by every shinobi in Kohoha.
Still, the timing had been terrible.
He could still remember the look on Hinata's face when he was led away.
"The ANBU squads are fully mobilized, inside and outside of the village. There are no signs of any movement whatsoever. All groups are keeping in frequent contact. If a report is late, the special jounin will all take up the predetermined positions." A masked figure reported in to Kakakshi and Gai, bring Naruto's thoughts back to the present.
His thoughts turned a bit fanciful. He wished that Hinata could borrow or steal an ANBU mask, then sneak in here to see him. But, that was impossible. And, it was not her way.
He smiled briefly, wondering if she was somewhere outside of the building, watching. That was her way.
For all he knew, she may have volunteered to protect him too.
"Naruto. You need to come with me for a moment," Kakakshi walked up, having just been given something made up at the apothecary.
"Why?" Naruto said, scratching his head. He was tired of being told things that he needed to do.
"To be safe, it makes sense to cover all contingencies. We should operate under that assumption that you will be kidnapped, despite all of these measures. If that were to happen, it would be important to be able to trace you." Kakashi took the stopper off of a vial, sniffed, then coughed.
"Huh?" Naruto held his nose. "What the hell is that stink?"
"Well, it might just be what keeps Akatsuki at bay," the Copy Ninja said, wondering if he should accidentally spill some on Gai. "But, in practical purposes, once you rub this on, it would make it simpler and more certain for Pakkun to follow your trail."
"No way!" Naruto stood up and backed away.
Kakashi sighed. He shook his head. He hadn't thought that this would be easy. But, smelling the concoction, he understood how his former student must feel.
"I'm certain that the Hokage is strong enough to get this on you, Naruto. But, if she has to come out here, no telling what other things she might do in retribution…."
"This is just wrong!" Naruto said. Then, sighing, his eyes lit up for a moment. "At least the rest of you will have to smell me too!" He didn't catch sight of the small tin of scented cream that Kakashi passed to the nearest guard.
"Yes, but there are worse things," Gai said walking up. "Especially since you are such a brave and dedicated youth, one in whom the Flame of Konoha surges so strongly."
"What?" Naruto wrinkled his nose. "What could be worse than that stuff?"
Guy held up a kunei.
"It's poisoned. Kakashi speaks as if it is possible for someone to break in here…… defeat us…… then abduct you and escape. That is highly unlikely." Gai shook his head sadly. "One of us should be able to strike you a mortal blow before we are subdued or killed."
Naruto swallowed hard. He really did need to hear things like that.
Somewhat subdued, he put on the ointment that Kakashi handed him.
After that, the time stretched on minute by minute, hour by hour. Naruto actually managed to fall asleep at one point, quickly woke back up again, after seeing horrendous images in his mind.
Not much later, he found himself feeling very strange. Everything around him seemed so distant and so quiet. His body felt numb, and his mind wasn't far behind.
Opening his mouth to speak, he found that he could not.
Could this be some adverse effect of that damn ointment?
The change progressed, until it felt like his mind was merely a passenger in his body. He couldn't move voluntarily. And, a warm began spreading throughout him, starting at his belly and radiating outward.
Before he knew what was happening, his body felt as if it were on fire. His senses returned, but much more sensitive than before. His teeth protruded out over his lips. His fingers elongated and ended in claws.
He moved.
Too fast to see, and almost too fast to follow.
His guards were caught by surprise, not expecting him to make a run for it. To their credit, Kakashi, Gai, and the others reacted incredibly quickly, but they were too late.
Leaving a trail of continuous and powerful jutsus, Naruto collapsed the passageway up to the surface, leaving his pursuers momentarily trapped. Those jounin he came across past that point were tossed around like leaves in the wind, their thrown weapons missing their target by mere fractions of an inch.
It was a difficult 'escape,' but Naruto in his chakra-drenched state made it look easy. He had an advantage. He knew exactly where he had to go, realized exactly what he was up against, and had the element of surprise serve him well, stage by stage.
Naruto literally burst through the padlocked outer doors, sending huge fragments of wood spinning off into the well lit street. Sensing a large number of men and women approaching, he made his way to the roof tops.
Standing at the top of one roof, he snarled, momentarily paralyzed when the jewel on his necklace flashed. Grasping the necklace in one clawed hand, he ripped it off of his neck and threw it.
Before bounding on his way, he sniffed the air, recognizing a familiar scent.
It was Hinata.
His mind wanted to call out to her, but he was not in control.
With shinobi closing in, he sped away.