"Hey wait!"
Karin went after Ino to try to find out what the deal with Naruto was, she knew her cousin and figured there had to be a reason for his rough attitude with the blonde girl, Naruto was a gentle and nice person by nature and she was sure he would not lash out the way he did without a good explanation. Ino kept walking at a fast pace ignoring the red haired Uzumaki girl who kept following her, she found herself not willing to look at anyone in the eye at that moment, her spirit was too broken for that already, she lacked the courage to face even a stranger like Karin.
"Hey stop!" Karin kept calling.
"Please leave me alone...!" Ino kept her pace going down the stairs of the building.
"No way! Naruto doesn't talk to people like that just because! Please tell me what happened!"
Ino stopped but never faced her, tears where starting to form in her eyes "Ask him, I'm sure whatever he says will be make more sense..." and with that she kept walking faster, Karin decided to stop chasing her the girl and let her be for the moment, pestering her about personal matters would not do any good, besides she could be right, maybe her cousin could explain the truth. She decided to go back to her apartment to question Naruto, there was a possibility he could explain this mess to her. Sakura was waiting outside of the apartment also and waited for Karin to return before she closed the door.
"What the fuck Naruto?! What was that all about?!"
Naruto ignored her outburst and simply went back to the couch.
"How did she know we came to Osaka? Do you think Hokage-sama...?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he did."
"Look I'm gonna keep watch tonight, if Kumo shinobi are here then we need to be alert, I'll be outside if you need me." Naruto nodded, she proceeded to exit the apartment and leave the Uzumaki cousins on their own.
"Didn't you hear what she said?! There's a price on your head!" Karin was not giving up on the subject.
"It's not her business what happens to me anymore, I can take care of myself..." He closed his eyes for a minute and took a deep breath, Karin took this opportunity to dash next to him and take a seat also.
"Please tell me what happened..."
Naruto opened his eyes to meet her cousin's, despite his unwillingness to talk, he knew family was trustworthy enough to know what had transpired between them "I met Ino over a month ago back in Tokyo, she was the one who brought me to Konoha and we started to train together, at some point I thought we had developed a friendship since we spent a lot of time with each other... Then last night..." Naruto pulled out his father's kunai "I was looking for this, my dad uses it not just as a weapon but also as a tool for a teleportation jutsu, I thought if I poured my chakra it would somehow activate and lead me to them... This is why I joined them, I want to find mom and dad and that's all that matters to me..."
Karin's eyes softened as he continued.
"It was my fault I got captured by the police in the first place but tell me, if you thought there was a chance, even the slightest possibility that you can change something to your favor, wouldn't you give it a shot?... She didn't understand that, the team I was with didn't understand that, not even the Hokage... Sakura is here on her own free will and I trust Jiraiya-sensei is also but with Ino things are different and I can't trust her anymore after what happened, she turned her back on me last night during a crucial moment and I'm not about to become anyone's mean to an end, be it Uchiha Corp or Konoha, all I want is my family back..."
"So... you didn't come here just looking for refuge... right?"
Naruto nodded "You're the best sensor I know, I need your help."
"Naruto it's not that simple, I would need to be in range to find them and-"
"No wait, I'm not talking about mom and dad right now, I know they're out of reach and it's a bit unrealistic to ask you that, I'm talking about someone else..."
"Who exactly?" Karin's eyebrow raised.
"Fugaku Uchiha's son, Sasuke Uchiha."
"But sir! We haven't found him yet!"
"I don't care, news is Fugaku Uchiha is also looking for the boy and I would rather avoid a confrontation with that man, return immediately, that's an order..."
Samui ended the call and put away her phone in frustration as she looked over the city, the shinobi trio of Kumo found themselves at the very top of the Kyocera Dome, a large baseball stadium where currently a game was being held, over 30.000 people were there that night enjoying the game and completely oblivious to the three ninja who watched everything from above.
"Any news Samui-san?" It was Omoi's voice.
"They want us to return home already..."
"What?! But what about the mission?!"
"Fugaku Uchiha got involved apparently, they don't want to risk a confrontation with him... tch!" She mentally cursed her luck.
"That's bullshit! Samui-san! They can't be serious!" Karui also said.
"Well they are, as much as I would like to stay and finish the job, word is other villages will soon join the hunt, battling two fronts is not wise right now."
Omoi interjected "The boy is not going to leave the country though, with Fugaku Uchiha after him I doubt the other villages will succeed in capturing or killing him."
"Who knows if he's after him, or protecting him..."
"Huh? Why would he protect him?"
"There's a reason Konoha brought him into this, that kid is valuable to Uchiha Corp in some way... Listen, I need to ask you guys a favor."
"Please don't tell me you're about to do what I think you're about to do Samui-san..." Omoi said visibly concerned.
"I'm not one to leave things unfinished, don't worry about me, I'll be fine..."
"Sasuke this is insane, I mean, what you did before was nuts but this is REALLY insane!"
"I don't care, nobody wants to give me answers, not even Naori so it's up to me to find them.
Sasuke was packing light, he did not intend to stay at the mansion one minute longer with his arms crossed waiting for someone to come over to him and tell him why his father was after a boy the same age as he was, he was tired of being left out and although he did not have a plan, he knew he had to disappear from his father's radar for some time.
"But you don't even know where Konoha is! You don't even know if it's even real!"
"It's real Suigetsu, as real as it gets, the higher ups in the corporation know this, my father also knows this but they refuse to acknowledge its existence, yet they wage a war against an invisible enemy... Konoha is a real place."
"War?! What are you even talking about?!"
"That Naruto Uzumaki... the kidnap attempt on him was a declaration of war against Konoha, he may have exposed the existence of shinobi but he didn't do anything I wouldn't, that's why I need to find him, I need to go to Konoha and find answers before this thing gets out of control, all my dad cares about is controlling people even if they don't work for him, I'm not going to follow those steps."
"Tch... and what am I supposed to do meanwhile huh?! Wait here while your dad plans a thousand ways to murder me?!"
"That won't happen because you're coming with me."
Suigetsu was silenced right there, not that he had a better plan but now he was certain if he joined Sasuke on his journey to find a boy who was a target of the company it mean his head would also have a price, then again his other choice was to stay there and wait for his boss to find out everything and make him disappear from the this world, Suigetsu already knew arguing with Sasuke would only end up in him losing said argument anyway.
"*Sigh* Fine... Where do you want to start?"
Sasuke was actually surprised his friend did not try to convince him further about his plans, after all Suigetsu was a guy who avoided trouble at all cost "The police would be a good place to start, I'm sure someone there has information we can use."
"W-wait what?! The police?! Are you crazy?!"
"They arrested Naruto Uzumaki so they must have a file at least, his fingerprints, something we can use as a lead, you got a better idea?"
"You can start by Anko Mitarashi..." The voice of Naori interrupter their conversation, Suigetsu was startled by her sudden presence but Sasuke was not, the woman casually entered the room "She arrested him so she already has a file on the boy, she could be a good start."
"And how do you know this exactly?" Sasuke asked.
"My contacts inside the police department already confirmed it, if you want to find him before your father does, I suggest you start there."
"Naori, you haven't been completely honest with me, what do you expect to gain from all of this?"
Of course Sasuke was not expecting her to tell him what her plans were but he was at least waiting for a hint of honesty, even if was not that much, Naori however knew Sasuke was very different from her boss, if anyone could eventually know the truth of all the Uchiha it would have to be him.
"You know I've worked close to your father for years, he is my employer and as such I owe him a degree of loyalty but that does not mean I'll look away while he ensures the future of the Uchiha clan disappears from existence..."
"The future of the Uchiha clan...? What do you mean by that?"
"Sasuke, there are bigger things happening than your father, you or me, I know that your mentality is different from his and that is why I'm not selling you out to him right now, I pray you find the Uzumaki boy first and then we'll talk again, I give you my word I'll explain everything."
Sasuke remained silent and deep in thought, he actually did not expect her to throw more than a few words at him but now he had more questions than answers, Suigetsu of course was baffled by her demeanor and constantly kept looking between Naori and his friend expecting to see more interaction, Naori on the other hand prepared to leave the room.
"Naori..."
She stopped "Your father will be arriving to the mansion soon, I suggest you make haste..."
"Thank you..."
She remained static for a few seconds before walking away.
If there was one thing that could bring Ino Yamanaka peace of mind was the sight of the rising sun over the horizon, a beautiful red and pink sky adorned the city during those early hours and it gave her the same reminder it always had, night had never beaten dawn. She spent that night meditating on top of the building where her former teammate was staying, at least this way she could keep watch over the complex without interfering in his affairs. She had witnessed Sakura just below at the entrance of the apartment keeping an eye, in her mind she pitied the girl if someone else came from her position and caught her off guard, she knew her presence, even though not requested, was required. The terrace was all for herself but she picked a high spot on top of a concrete structure and sat there in lotus position for several hours, her body was now rested and relaxed despite not getting the normal sleep the brain needed, her years of training had taught her there were other ways to relax the mind and body without the necessity to succumb to hours of sleep in a bed, of course nothing could compare to the comfort of a good sleep in bed but fortunately for her and thanks to her chakra knowledge, this could be replaced.
She tried her best not to ponder about Naruto's last words, at that point she was practically giving up on hope to regain his trust, that did not mean she would also give up on protecting him, it was her duty after all and no matter if he agreed or not, she would carry on with that mission to the end, she owed that to him especially now that she was also holding a huge revelation from him, one that could potentially make their friendship rise from the ashes or be disappear from the face of the earth, but it was not her call to tell him that.
"You know there are many hotels around the city, I don't understand how you could spend all night here without freezing."
The voice of the toad sage Jiraiya interrupted her meditation, it actually startled her, she looked just below where she sat to see the smiling old man standing there with both arms on his hip "Jiraiya-sensei?! I... I thought you'd be the one resting in a hotel room right now."
"Yeah I was, until I could see from my window a blonde little girl just sitting here on her own, I take it things didn't go as planned?"
Ino's expression softened, she stood up and jumped down to meet her sensei, she looked over the horizon "I messed up Jiraiya-sensei... I turned my back on him when he needed me and this is the result, he hates me more than I thought..."
"Hmmm? The boy is stubborn, I'll give him that, still..." Jiraiya turned his head to look over the same direction the girl was "Why don't you just give him his memories back huh?"
Ino was stunned, this was top secret information and it was not supposed to be shared with anyone, she was at a loss of word and could only look at her sensei in shock, Jiraiya simply kept his sly smile.
"H-how..?"
"My rank within Konoha has granted me certain... privileges, one of them is access to classified information, before we left the village the old man mentioned something that caught my interest so I started to dig into a some old files, I already know the whole story, you two knew each other since you were little kids but due to an event where Naruto ended up injuring a few people you were ordered to erase a part of his memory as if you never existed..."
"...In hopes he would never have to live a shinobi life... It was a request from his parents, they didn't want him to grow up like the rest of us did, they wanted to give him a chance at a normal life..."
"And look at how things have turned out... You two actually were pretty close as I recall."
"Well, my dad worked a lot with Minato-san so he brought me to their home every chance he could, we were just kids back then but we did spent a lot of time together."
"Tell me something, why did his own parents wanted to erase the memory of their only son? Were his actions so terrible?"
"Jiraiya-sensei I..."
"Look, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, at least consider what I said will ya?"
"I can't do that! It's not my decision to give him that back!"
"Then who's?... They're not here Ino, things have changed and we need what's missing between you two again, trust, for the two of you and for the group, any consequences of your actions will be my responsibility, remember I'm in charge of the team so don't feel guilty about anything."
Ino's mind was split at that moment, as a shinobi one of the rules was to never reveal sensitive information or secrets to anyone, in most cases that applied mainly to the enemy but this was a special case that extended beyond that point, she had been tasked as a child to take a portion of her childhood friend's mind and lock it away for as long as she lived so he could have a life away from all of this, then again, he was already a part of that world and there would be no turning back, Jiraiya was also in a position of authority over hers, even if the person who assigned her that task all those years ago was not there, his title and rank as Sage allowed him almost as much freedom as the Hokage himself when it came to sharing secrets.
"Ino, you owe that to him, he will never have a normal life now, as long as we exist, as long as he's a target he will live this life until his last day, that was the whole point to erasing his past right? To avoid that..." He looked at her again, this time with a serious look "You've got nothing to lose by letting him know the truth, unless you want to carry that burden for the rest of your life take it from experience, the only people who always deserve the truth from you are those you truly care about."
"Jiraiya-sensei... If I break the oath I made back then surely there will be severe consequences for me and my father, not counting the fact I'll never be trusted with a mission again, I'll be completely unreliable."
"Hmm..." Jiraiya smiled and looked over the horizon "Tell me Ino, what is your Nindo?"
"Huh?" the question caught her off guard.
"I never asked you right? Tell me, what is your Nindo?"
"Umm... to... to protect the people I love and care for."
"And have you been able to fulfill it?"
"Well... I don't really know." she looked down in confusion.
"A shinobi is not just a tool Ino, we are also humans, we think and act accordingly, Nindo's purpose is to create harmony by perseverance, harmony within ourselves kid. We are raised and taught that we are just weapons for war and nothing else, mindless soldiers to carry out our duty no matter the cost, like in the rest of human society, we are seen as pawns and nothing more... The Nindo allows us to be more than that, not just live by a strict code of 'duty and honor' like most do, the great Kages of each village rose to power not because they followed orders but because they challenged the system they were a part of and they did that by following their own philosophy, their own Nindo, not someone else's..."
He was right, her short time as a shinobi had taught her to become nothing more than a deceiver, sometimes even to those she really loved and cared for, living a duality was something she could no longer do no matter how experienced she was, this was never the life she thought she would have to carry, deep down she wanted to be more than what her nickname implied. So far she followed orders without taking responsibility for what she caused because she believe she was following the code of the village as her own, in reality both were so different from each other and she was too focused on carrying out the will of others instead of her own.
"Both of you are struggling to trust each other, if he knows who you truly are, the reasons behind what you did, maybe he'll understand and give you a break, I need both of my students back in synchrony..."
Ino smiled, she needed to stop trying to control something she clearly had no longer control over, the way things were developing she needed her old comrade back, she needed her old friend back. The ball was now on her court, this WAS her call after all.
"I'll think about it Jiraiya-sensei..."
Iruka was having the mother of all headaches that morning, the lack of sleep was affecting him in a bad way, all of this thanks to the endless hours of information gathering he had to do issued by Anko who was still recovering in the hospital ever since the incident with Naruto, obviously the department was still expecting her file on the Uzumaki boy as several international agencies had been calling recently asking about him, Iruka however refused to share any details on the case, this was an internal issue and his mentor would be dammed if a foreign agency took that from them, Naruto was their case, their issue and they would handle it without any interference from external forces, however he was not working on his file at the moment.
Against Iruka's wishes Anko ordered him to start a file on Fugaku Uchiha instead, the night Naruto escaped had created more questions ever since the boy mentioned his name, why was he after him? What did Uchiha Corporation, a well known and respected company send mercenaries after a minor? What did Naruto's parents had to do in all of this? He had spent several hours trying to connect the pieces together, this new file was extremely confidential so he would have to take it with him everywhere, work on it from home if necessary.
A knock on the door soon came, Iruka quickly closed the file and put it away inside his desk.
"Come in!"
The door opened and a tall elder man with ash-grey hair and squinted eyes dressed in a navy blue full suit with red tie and white shirt underneath appeared before him.
"Chief Yashiro, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Iruka's voice came out somewhat nervous.
"Care to explain this?" The chief of police angrily slammed a newspaper in front of his desk, the headline read 'POLICE INVOLVED?' "There are witnesses that claim Mitarashi let the boy escape!"
"Naruto? Chief with all due respect, you shouldn't buy into these tabloids, I was tending to her wounds when that happened, we didn't see-"
"Don't give me that crap Iruka! You know damn well what would happen once those handcuffs were off, you let our main suspect escape! Do you know how serious this is?!"
"Sir, if we hadn't released him our whole squad would probably be dead now! He aided us against those mercenaries whoever they were!"
"Tch..." Yashiro closed the door and made sure the blinds were closed "I gave Mitarashi's team one order, ONE ORDER! It was was to apprehend the Uzumaki boy and bring him here for questioning! How in the hell did you guys think letting him go was a good idea?!"
Iruka did not reply right away, at that moment he wished it was Anko and not him taking the heat for what had happened, technically he was only following orders but he knew not taking responsibility was not the best choice, his mentor would not be happy with him if he shifted all the blame on her.
"Sir, Naruto Uzumaki is still a suspect in our book, Anko-senpai gave him a 24 hour head start only for helping us that night, as soon as she's recovered we'll continue his search, we already sent the warrant to other departments across the country to look for him."
"Mitarashi gave him too much of an advantage and now we got all sorts of agencies asking about it, FBI, CIA, Interpol, they all want to get the kid, plus the last thing we need is an internal investigation happening right now..."
"Wait chief, are we under investigation?!"
"Not yet, but my bosses are asking too many questions about the incident and will certainly want someone's head for this mess..."
Iruka already knew where the conversation was going and he did not like it one bit, if a reasonable and satisfactory explanation was not given to his boss's superiors then both him and his mentor would lose their job with luck, worst case scenario they would be investigated themselves for aiding the escape of a suspect and perhaps end with incarceration.
"Go visit Mitarashi and explain to her what's going on, she better help us clean up this mess or both of you will not be glad to see me next time..."
The man left not before slamming the door behind him and once again leaving Iruka all by himself wondering what he should do next, of course he needed to inform Anko about the current status but he was far more concerned with the file he was working on, especially with certain individuals inside the department. Just before he was about to leave the office his cellphone rang, he went to pick it up and saw his mentor's name on it.
"Hello?"
"You need to watch the news..."
"Naruto! You gotta turn on the TV!"
Sakura had entered the apartment again after going out to buy some supplies, Naruto raised an eyebrow at the pink haired girl's request but nonetheless complied with it, he was currently eating a bowl of cereal with milk and Karin accompanied him on the small dining table, he went for the remote on the couch and pressed the red button to turn on the screen Karin had in her living room before going back to his chair. The first thing he saw was several photos of his own persona from the night he was recorded, the broadcast was coming from a local news channel, several reporters currently talking amongst themselves about Naruto's actions as well as the repeated fact that nobody had ever seen anything like it, just at the bottom of said pictures the words WANTED were being shown.
"The Interpol has issued a red notice against you, we can't leave the country if your parents are outside, this changes the situation a lot..." Sakura said worried.
"Great..." Naruto stood up and left his breakfast half empty "We can't stay here then, sorry cousin..."
"Hold on! You don't have to leave. Aside from your sensei and that blond chick nobody else knows you're here right? If you want to move forward with this plan of yours then I suggest we bring them here, we'll need all the help we can get!"
"What plan?" Sakura asked.
"To find Sasuke Uchiha, he could be the key to solve this whole thing..."
"Sasuke Uchiha?! Fugaku's son?! Are you mad Naruto?!"
"I told him the same thing Sakura but he has a point, this won't end until both sides find a neutral ground and he might be the only person able to do that for Naruto..."
Naruto turned off the screen and pondered what his next move would be, the entire police force would now be looking for him aside from the shinobi from the other villages who wanted to get the bounty on him, moving around would prove to be difficult even if he changed his appearance, he knew he could not stay in Karin's apartment forever hiding until everything calmed down, that would not happen and she would be put at risk as well, then again, he had already done that by coming to her in the first place.
"Naruto listen, there's this guy I know from work... He's a shinobi also, if you let me talk with him maybe he can help us."
"Whoa! Not a good idea to bring people we don't know into this!" Sakura was concerned with the course of the conversation.
"I'd rather avoid involving more people Karin..."
"Look, I won't mention your name, I've seen him work and I'm sure he can give us the time we need to find Sasuke Uchiha, trust me on this one okay?"
This was an extremely risky move, Naruto knew he was running out of options but he trusted Karin's words, he needed to anyway. He walked back and forth thinking about his next move, he needed to start thinking like a strategist now if he wanted to stay ahead of his foes which in this case, was a whole corporation.
"No names... how soon can you talk with this person?"
"Today."
-o-
Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Naruto.
Thank you very much for your patience, I thought the quarantine would help me get ahead with the story but on the contrary I'm finding less time to work on it than I thought, most of it my fault honestly, I spend too much time doing other stuff while I'm at home, sorry for the trouble and thanks again for sticking around, enjoy!