Chapter 8
I'll be the weeping willow drowning in my tears, and you can go swimming when you are here.
I'll be the rainbow after the tears are gone, wrap you in my colors and keep you warm.
Fingers of light caress the waves, turning the ocean a glimmering turquoise beneath the dawning sun. Naruto inhales the salty breeze as it tugs playfully at her long red hair, revelling in the freshness.
The members of the crew that have become familiar to the Uzumaki after weeks on the ship bustle about the deck, and she weaves around them as they tend to their duties and call cheerfully back and forth to one another as they work.
"So why the Land of Iron?" Naruto asks as she plops down next to Itachi where he's sitting on a deck chair. "I thought it was samurai territory, and they don't allow any shinobi through their borders."
"They don't." Itachi agrees, glancing up from his book to look at her. "Jokouhei is the only exception."
"I've heard of it." Naruto acknowledges.
Said to be the largest city in the world, larger even than Fire Country's capital, Jokouhei is colloquially known as the melting pot of the elemental nations. Patrolled by countless samurai and under the aegis of every warlord of Iron, a country already known for its neutrality, Jokouhei goes even further.
Initially founded so the feuding warlords could have an impartial place to meet and discuss in person, it has become such a key point in history that to evoke violence within its walls is nigh on sacrilege. Here is the only place you can see people from all walks of life interact and live together – samurai and shinobi, lords and paupers, ronin and criminals – all were treated equally beneath the castle of impartiality's aegis. So long as the peace is kept in the city itself, any crimes outside it doesn't matter.
As one can imagine, it's a haven for criminals and a favoured place to discuss black market deals, though the actual illegalities take place elsewhere. Even men as infamous as Uchiha Itachi could walk the streets in broad daylight without causing a riot.
"But if they don't allow shinobi in their borders, why are we going as ourselves?" Naruto gestures to them both and their lack of henge.
"They don't allow entry by land." He corrects. "Shinobi are allowed entrance to Jokouhei if we go by sea, and they have very strict border control at the harbours."
Itachi is proven correct as they arrive in port and are immediately set upon by a squad of samurai. They bow and greet them with all politeness, but Naruto knows their request to accompany them is not actually a request.
The harbour is bursting with life, docks filled with a tour group streaming off a cruise ship at their starboard side. Further away the kunoichi can make out people scurrying to and from a ship, crates being carried in and out with each trip.
A young boy is being hollered at by a luxuriously bedecked man and is apologising profusely for dropping a box, all the while seagulls call to one another overhead. Itachi's grip on her elbow prevents her from getting lost as she gets side-tracked by all the new sights on offer, the cacophony of noise overwhelming in comparison to the peacefulness of the morning at sea.
Their escort leads them to a large building at the far end of the docks with Shinobi Registration Bureau on its front. More fully armoured men are posted around the building at regular intervals – possibly women too, Naruto's not sure if women are allowed to become samurai – all watching their approach beneath horned metal helms and respirators.
Naruto's never seen a samurai in real life before, so she looks back at them curiously as they're escorted to the doors and bowed into a heated hall. There are several counters with what appears to be civilians manning them, one of whom is handing a stack of papers to an Iwagakure shinobi and his squad mates.
When they get to the desk, the man behind it has to ask Naruto her name – something which honestly surprises her.
"Has Konoha not put me in their bingo books yet?" She wonders aloud. "That's awfully optimistic of them."
Itachi shoots her a look like she's being dim. "I don't think optimism had any bearing on their decision. I doubt they want to advertise you left."
They don't want anyone to know they just lost their jinchuuriki.
The kunoichi blushes. "Oh, right."
The Uchiha received a single sheet of paper whereas Naruto gets a thick stack to fill out, reminiscent of the time she had to fill out Konoha's own registration forms.
They're then led to a room with mirrors lining the walls and a very boring metal desk and several chairs. Naruto has only ever seen a room like this in pictures at the academy.
"Hey, this is pretty cool. I've never been in an interrogation room before." She says excitedly, bouncing over to one of the uncomfortable metal chairs once the door closes.
"Really?" Itachi asks mildly as he sits on his own. "One would think you'd have landed in one sooner or later."
The younger ninja turns surprised eyes to him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I thought you'd at least have disturbing the peace on your record; you were a huge fan of pranking, as I recall."
"Excuse me!" Naruto puffs up mock outrage. "What kind of amateur do you take me for? I was never once caught at a prank my entire life!" She boasts proudly.
He slants a look at her, features as calm as ever, but the kunoichi catches the hint of mischief lurking beneath.
"Not even when you egged your teacher on your way to the academy in broad daylight? Or the time you graffitied his home and spilled the paint all over yourself as you were leaving? You were blue for several days." His lips curve up.
The Uzumaki is mortified. "You knew about that?" She squeaks. "You said you were on a mission that week!"
Sweet kami, please tell her he wasn't on duty then.
Itachi's eyes are laughing at her, she can tell. "It was much remarked upon amongst your guards."
"You never said anything about it to me!" Naruto wails, covering her face so he can't see her embarrassment.
She can't believe her ANBU guards gossiped about her childhood missteps – talk about mortifying. Though, in her defence she was still new to the academy and hadn't quite understood the concept of stealth then.
Itachi has the temerity to look amused. "It was always the same person. What did you have against him anyways?"
"He was a dick." Naruto grumbles eloquently into her hands. "Besides, I actually think he was arrested, like, maybe a year ago, so I was totally justified."
Fortunately she isn't left alone to dwell in her embarrassment for long, and a grizzled old man who gives off the air of a veteran enters the room to take the seat opposite them.
He briefs the two ninja on the rules they're expected to follow while in the city, and Naruto honestly tries to listen but ends up zoning out in the middle of his speech. It's only partially because the guy has the most boring voice ever.
He tells them violence isn't allowed no less than seven times; using different words perhaps, but all with the same meaning.
I mean, Naruto knows Itachi's reputation is terrible to say the least, but she seriously doubts that if he's suddenly struck by the urge to go on a killing rampage when in the city, he'll refrain just because he's received this lecture.
In fact, it's working contrary to its purpose, because Naruto's feeling pretty homicidal right now.
She yawns. Loudly.
"Do they do this every time you visit?" The redhead exclaims when they're finally released.
"It's standard procedure." Itachi assures her, then pauses. "For myself that is. Perhaps they have different protocols for other shinobi."
She snorts. "It's a waste of time. They can't honestly think some lecture's going to stop us from blowing people up, or whatever they think we're going to do?"
They step out into the sunshine and Jokouhei stretches out before them in all its chaos.
Gondolas ferry people up and down waterways chock full of the small boats, and several ambiguously gendered samurai in full-body armour stroll across the canals as easy as walking on land. The sound of people calling to one another, laughing and talking overlaps with the shouting from the harbour behind them.
"So this is Jokouhei." Naruto says, hands on her hips as she takes it all in.
She thinks she's going to like it. But first –
"Lunch!" She exclaims, her belly rumbling its agreement.
"Let me guess. Ramen." Itachi sighs, already resigned to eating the salty noodle dish.
"Of course! We've been stuck on a boat with no fresh ramen for weeks; I'm already feeling the withdrawal symptoms."
Naruto draws herself up, holding still for a long moment, head cocked and senses sharp.
Itachi snorts.
"You can't sense ramen."
"Hah!" She smirks. "That's what you think. Let me show you the true power of the Uzumaki!"
Naruto chortles and grabs the Uchiha by the hand, proceeding to drag him down the street.
With a huff that is offset by the fond look in his eyes, Itachi follows.
The Land of Iron doesn't have a shinobi village, nor do they contract out their samurai for jobs as the hidden villages do. However, that doesn't mean the people of Iron stop needing things done, like sabotaging a rival company, spying on their cheating husbands or investigating the suspicious guy who just moved in next door.
People come to the city to find those who can help them, because while shinobi and known criminals aren't allowed out of the neutral zone, mercenaries of all other sorts are.
There's a person for every job in Jokouhei, and much like a shinobi village the metropolis is run on the taxes brought in from people commissioning mercenaries within their walls. However, the largest source of income is from taxing the blacksmiths, metalworkers and weaponry experts who call the place home.
Instead of the agricultural produce that the Land of Fire is famed for, the mountains here are filled with metals of all kinds, and it is thanks to this that the Land of Iron earned its name. Eighty percent of the world's weaponry and armour is made here and is the country's primary export. In addition to swords and plate armour for samurai, there are many shops within Jokouhei which sell shinobi weaponry.
Itachi guides Naruto to his favoured supplier, navigating the busy streets and canals with ease born from experience. It's crazy busy, even compared to the capital of Fire she visited once on an escort mission.
She has to duck out of the way of a huge paddle sweeping over her head twice, and a hideously obese man in fancy rich robes and riding an enormously decadent gondola yells at her to move it. Naruto gives him the finger before Itachi drags her away.
They reach the metalworkers section of Jokouhei and enter a large shop down one of the side streets where the crowds are more manageable. Naruto finally relaxes as the door swings closed, muting the hustle and bustle of the city.
"This place is a madhouse!" She exclaims.
A rusty chuckle comes from the desk at the very far end of the store where a man in his early thirties is leaning back on a stool, his feet up and reading a magazine with several busty women on the cover.
"You get used to it." He says, his voice sounding like he smokes a carton of cigarettes each day. Judging from the air quality in here, it's likely true.
Naruto wrinkles her nose, folding her hands into a seal. A gentle gust of wind sweeps through the whole room, rustling the labels attached to the swords on the walls, past the glass displays of unusual weaponry and enormous cases filled with kunai and shuriken.
The shopkeeper clutches his magazine as the pages flutter when the breeze sweeps by him and out of a window.
"Oi, no ninjutsu in my shop." He complains, finally looking up.
"Sorry." Naruto smiles, not really apologetic. It smells so much better now.
He takes them in. "Hello again Uchiha-san."
Itachi gives him a nod, making a beeline for the thrown weaponry. "Satoshi-san."
"Will Hoshigaki-san be stopping by later?" The weapons shop owner asks, making polite conversation, or more likely wondering why Naruto is here instead.
"No, he's dead." Her friend says as he begins to inspect each and every kunai, discarding several for reasons the younger can't fathom; they all look the same to her.
"Ah." Satoshi blinks. "My condolences."
"No need." Itachi replies smoothly. "I killed him."
The man's face freezes, and an awkward silence descends upon the shop. Naruto has to stifle her giggles.
Itachi… he's definitely doing this on purpose.
"Ah. Well. Is this your new partner then?"
The kunoichi bounces forward and hooks an arm through her friend's.
"That's right!" She chirps cheerfully. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet'cha!"
Naruto beams sunnily and waves while he gives her a look like she's missing a few screws. Itachi is right, this is pretty funny.
Her fellow missing-nin sets aside a case he's checked thoroughly before reaching for another.
"Do you need any, Naruto?" He asks, shuriken in hand.
She shakes her head. "Nope, I stocked up before I left Konoha, and I actually didn't use any seals in our fight."
The Shadow Clone Jutsu is the best technique to ever be invented; not only is it great for scouting, but all her weaponry gets duplicated as well. That includes seals, meaning all her original fuuinjutsu tags are still on her person and completely unused.
Naruto wanders off to browse while the Uchiha continues his laborious inspection. Itachi eventually ends up with five cases of both kunai and shuriken, a truly astronomical number seeing as they contain a hundred pieces each.
He had used up most of his stash against Sasori and Kakuzu, and thanks to Deidara's enormous explosion – something that had lingered for minutes after the event – all his weaponry was either scattered or completely reduced to shrapnel.
Once Itachi completes his purchases – spending a ludicrous amount of ryo – they make their way towards a prominent domed building in the city centre.
Huge wooden corkboards covered in pictures and descriptions litter the walls, the gallery filled with an assortment of mercenary types. As they walk the length of the hall, the board lists criminals from civilians all the way up to S-rank shinobi. Naruto spots Itachi's own face on that board, boggling at the amount listed beneath his name.
A woman dressed as a civilian but who moves with the smoothness of someone with marital training smiles professionally at them as they reach one of the counters.
"How can I help today, shinobi-sans."
"The bounty for Hoshigaki Kisame please." Itachi sets a scroll on the table.
She nods as if this is business as usual and snaps her fingers. A runner collects the scroll and dashes into a room at the back - to check the body Naruto presumes.
"Of course, sir. Mist awards an extra ten million for the return of Samehada, will you be claiming that as well?"
"No." Itachi shook his head. "I destroyed it completely."
"Very well shinobi-san. Please fill out this form."
"We have Hidan's body, but not his head. And stupid Deidara blew everyone else up." Naruto pouts as Itachi accepts the paper, grumbling about how much money the Iwa-nin and his explosives obsession has cost them.
"Oh!" A thought strikes her. "Is there a bounty for the Sandaime Kazekage?"
The blue haired woman blinks. "I'm not sure, but I can check for you. You have his body?"
Naruto nods enthusiastically.
"Akasuna no Sasori assassinated him." Or so she presumes, she seriously doubts the man volunteered to become a puppet.
"Then he turned him into a puppet, it could use magnet release and everything. It's still intact, and-" she turns to Itachi, "-didn't you say Sasori used the actual corpses as his puppets, so you can probably do a DNA test?"
Naruto finishes uncertainly, not sure if the… puppetification the late Kazekage's underwent would interfere with his identification.
"I also have loads of his other puppets too, most are destroyed but a few are still undamaged. Will that be enough to claim Sasori's bounty?"
She digs around in her pack, withdrawing one scroll after another, setting them on the desk before the woman with a hopeful smile.
Naruto's goofy grin reaches from one side of her face to the other as they depart the bounty station.
Itachi gives her a bemused look. "Are you really that happy?"
The kunoichi stares at him incredulously.
"Forty-five million for Kisame, thirty-five for Sasori, plus the extra thirty thrown in for his puppets and the Kazekage.
"We're filthy rich!" She throws her hands up in celebration and wriggles with glee.
Itachi rolls his eyes. Naruto generously ignores him.
"If only Deidara hadn't blown himself, Hidan's head and Kakuzu up. We'd have gotten them too!"
"What would we even do with that much money?" The Uchiha asks exasperatedly.
The redhead pouts. "No idea, but it would have been amazing." She crosses her arms.
"Stupid Deidara." The Uzumaki grumbles again.
"Are you almost done?" Naruto calls from the door.
"Five minutes."
"Hurry up, I'm starving!"
She gets a vague grunt of acknowledgment from the direction of the bathroom and opens the hallway door to lurk impatiently in the entranceway.
Then she comes to an abrupt halt, eyes widening in surprise.
"Shizune-san!"
Standing in the corridor, leaving the room opposite them is Kato Shizune, the brunette medic she'd met with Tsunade and Jiraiya. While all shinobi are housed in the same – highly monitored – hotel complex within Jokouhei, what are the chances of Tsunade and Shizune being here at the same time?
"Naruto-san." The older woman acknowledges with equal disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
Her eyes drift to her forehead protector, and the slash across it.
"Oh, well-"
"Shizune!" A shout interrupts her. "Make sure they're sunny side up, not scram-"
"Oho." Senju Tsunade stops in the doorway and takes in the redheaded teen before her. "So you've finally ditched Konoha too, huh?"
"Ah, yes-"
And then Naruto is interrupted again, this time by the sound of a door opening and a voice from behind her.
"Naruto, have you seen my-"
Itachi cuts himself off and blinks at the three women before him.
The infamous shinobi has clearly just emerged from the shower and is towelling his hair, clad only in a pair of trousers. For a long moment, they all just stand there before Naruto plasters a smile on her face.
"Uh, Itachi, this is Senju Tsunade and Kato Shizune, travelling medics. Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san, Uchiha Itachi."
Naruto motions between the two groups and Shizune shoots her an incredulous look that the Uzumaki chooses to disregard.
"Of course." Itachi says smoothly, lowering his towel and inclining his head politely. "A pleasure to meet you."
Shizune bows stiffly and returns the greeting while Tsunade just quirks an eyebrow.
"Your forehead protector's on the railing hanging up to dry." Naruto barrels through the awkwardness with all the bull-headed she possesses, addressing Itachi. "I washed it last night, I think it still had bits of Deidara in it."
Ok, so that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was pretty filthy.
"I wouldn't put it past him to have arranged such a thing." He deadpans.
Naruto stifles a grin, because the blond Iwa-nin had definitely seemed like the type of person to be petty enough.
"Do you guys want to get breakfast together?" She asks politely, turning back to the two medics.
Shizune still looks poleaxed, but Tsunade just smirks. "Sure thing."
The three women walk down the stairs to the large mess hall on the ground floor. There is a squad of a Kumo jounin and his genin sitting on the far left, and at the table over is a Kumo missing-nin and Kiri kunoichi chatting amiably.
They claim seats for themselves and a waiter takes their orders – Tsunade's sunny side up eggs, Naruto orders a traditional breakfast for Itachi while both she and Shizune get pancakes – and they sit awkwardly at the table until the tea arrives.
"Soooo." Tsunade eventually drawls, pouring herself a cup. "You and Uchiha, huh? Last time I checked, he was part of the group hunting you."
Naruto fiddles with her own drink. "Ah, well, Itachi's no longer a part of them."
"So you seduced him away from them." Tsunade nods knowingly. "Nice."
The teen snorts tea out her nose. "It- it's not like that!" She chokes and reaches for a napkin.
"Well, he's certainly very pretty, I'll give you that."
"We're friends!"
Naruto is certain she's as crimson as her hair.
"Besides," she splutters defensively, "what would you know about seduction, you old granny?"
Tsunade's eyebrows tick. "What was that you brat?"
"Hard of hearing?" Shizune's eyes widen and she frantically slashes her hand back and forth across her throat.
"That's okay, I hear it's common issue for older people." Naruto says with false sympathy, smirking at turning the tables on her.
The famous medic looks like she's debating between throttling her or punching Naruto's head clean off when her gaze flickers over the redhead's shoulder.
"Oh look-" her voice is full of schadenfreude and pitched so the whole room can hear "-here's lover-boy now."
…Naruto will kill this woman.
Itachi, now fully dressed, sits down next to the Uzumaki on the bench. Shizune looks like she's about to pass out, eyes wide as she awaits his reprisal.
"I prefer to go by Itachi, Tsunade-sama." He reaches for the teapot, calmly pouring himself a cup.
The Senju snorts and Shizune lets out an involuntary giggle, before slapping a hand over her mouth. Naruto laughs at the look on her face and the tension pops like a balloon.
"So you're no longer parading about in that tacky get-up?" Tsunade eyes Itachi's ordinary array of neutral colours.
"The Akatsuki and I have parted ways." The Uchiha agrees.
Naruto nods emphatically. "Yep, they were pretty annoyed, but he's definitely not with them anymore." She reassures the older kunoichi.
"Actually." The youngest amongst the group pauses and darts a glance towards Itachi, then back to the two women sitting opposite them. "We've recently come into a lot of money and would like to hire you guys for something…"
It takes a while to convince them to look at Itachi's eyes. Not even the lure of a truly disgusting amount of money will convince Tsunade to help mass murder Uchiha Itachi, and Shizune has even stricter morals and refuses outright.
Naruto stares at her friend until he caves and tells the medic duo the truth – after they've adjourned to their room and sealed it thoroughly from all observers.
They listen first in disbelief, scepticism and distrust.
It morphs into righteous fury, horror and betrayal.
Tsunade swears and smashes a lamp angrily when she hears how Sarutobi Hiruzen was party to it all, how he did nothing as a thirteen-year-old was forced to slaughter his family.
Her amber gaze burns.
Shizune looks horrified, like she can't quite believe what she's hearing, but has no choice otherwise when faced with the truth; how Itachi could have done so much damage selling out Konoha's secrets since he left, but never had.
Because he knows a lot of secrets.
The names of their ANBU, their techniques, Naruto's identity and parentage – just the knowledge that Konoha sanctioned the slaughter of a clan would make the village implode. No other clan would sit comfortably knowing there's a possibility they will be next.
Itachi could have brought Konoha to her knees with only words to the right people, if he so wished.
That he hadn't is telling.
The operation to swap Itachi's and Shisui's eyes goes remarkably smoothly, for what is an experimental sharingan switch. The Uchiha clan had tried cousin to cousin transplants before and none had never worked. It apparently has something to do with the different iterations of the mangekyo manifesting in incompatible ways if you're not siblings.
Itachi's Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi should have been incompatible with Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, but Tsunade found a way around that by rearranging the chakra pathways in Shisui's eyes so that when Itachi's own grew in them, the conflicting ones would no longer clash.
Or something of the sort, Naruto doesn't really get any of the medical jargon, but Tsunade obviously knows what she's doing, and in only a couple days she has solved a problem that plagued the Uchiha clan for centuries.
Naruto wonders what Itachi's ancestors would say to that and has to supress a snort.
The two greatest medics in the world work on Shisui's eyes for days – after swearing at him when Itachi removed them from his crow's eye sockets (so disgusting, Naruto shudders just thinking of it) – ranting about how eyeballs are not supposed to be plucked out of someone's skull like he's picking daisies.
Then the famous medic rants even more about how on earth did you fit them in there in the first place and human eyes aren't supposed to work with bird brains you crazy moron–
Yeah. Naruto shamelessly slunk out of the room for that rant, only returning half an hour later with apology dinners for the four of them. Because she can contribute exactly nothing to the sharingan transplant operation beyond the original idea, the teen spends her days bumming around the hotel. It's honestly pretty nice, until Tsunade decides she's enjoying herself too much and insists she needs a full medical work-up as well.
Itachi's own causes even more tirades, and Tsunade starts on about the state of his lungs which apparently have spores inside them that he picked up on some Akatsuki mission to the Land of Mushrooms. The Uchiha admits he spent some time trawling through caves there and didn't even realise he'd inhaled them.
Naruto nearly has a heart attack when Tsunade lists what could have happened if he left it untreated for a few more years – fevers, joint pain, coughing up blood, weight loss, eventual death – and has to be calmed by Shizune who assures her it's perfectly treatable with a course of antibiotics.
The actual operation goes swiftly once the preparations on Shisui's eyes have finished, and Itachi's only out for five minutes as Shizune swaps them while Tsunade makes herself scarce in the presence of blood.
He wears bandages for a few days, but it doesn't make much of difference to Itachi, who was already half-blind before.
And when the bandages come off, Naruto… honestly can't tell the difference. Uchiha eyes look all the same to her – ordinary black.
"How's your vision?" Tsunade asks professionally as she places green hands on either side of his head.
"Excellent." Itachi is looking appreciatively around the room, obviously taking in details he hasn't been able to see before.
"The implants have taken well." Tsunade agrees. "Activate your sharingan please."
Everything's going fine and Naruto is congratulating herself on having this idea, when Itachi activates his mangekyo and all of them stare.
"Holy shit." Tsunade whistles, impressed. "Now that's some doujutsu."
The combination of Itachi three and Shisui's four pronged pinwheels is honestly one of the most intimating things Naruto has ever seen, and she houses the kyuubi in her soul. The menacing seven-pointed shuriken glare out sharply from Itachi's eyes, promising all those who look upon them suffering and despair.
"Really badass." The redhead agrees. "Thank you so much, Shizune-san, baa-chan!"
"You're very welcome, Naruto-san." The brunette says, smiling.
"If you're really grateful, then you'd stop calling me that." The other medic scowls exasperatedly, but she's not really annoyed.
"Oops. Hehe, I forgot." She didn't forget.
Naruto childishly sticks her tongue out at the Senju, yelping when a pen bounces off her forehead in retaliation.
A week after they disembarked in Jokouhei, they leave as they arrived – in a ship ferrying them away. Tsunade and Shizune see them off at the harbour (coincidentally on the way to the gambling district), the older woman clutching a huge case of cash to her chest and beaming widely. Shizune sensibly has her own sealed away.
They depart with the swell of the tide and the sound of Tsunade's joy-filled cry:
"To the casinos!"