A/N: And here I thought I had had mixed chapters before, boy was I wrong, there is lots of hate developing from some people for this story, though most of it seems focussed on small aspects of it. This chapter is credited to TheRazgrizDragon as it was their enthusiasm that brought me out of a little slump I was having and convinced to write on. So with little ado I present the next chapter for your viewing pleasure, though I ask you to remember this is a fanfiction, i have already changed Naruto universe a fair amount, and if you don't like a part of the story, I apologise but it's your choice to read, I sure as hell ain't forcing you too.
Chapter 7: The Chase, the Chats, The plans
Previously on The deception gone awry:
She held out the cheque which he predictably shook his head and hands at before he even looked at how much she was offering. "Neko-chan, you know i can't accept that, it wouldn't be right at all, you've already given me 6 and a half thousand ryo over the years, anymore and i will never be able to pay it back." The fact that he had logged how much money she had given him shouldn't have been surprising but it made her feel that she was correct in looking after him regardless.
The refugee girl called up from below and Naruto turned to respond to her, giving Yugao the chance she needed. She slipped the cheque into his pocket with practiced ease and then activated the handseals for a shushin, grabbing the Naruto clone as she finished the last seal. Appearing on a rooftop not too far from the ANBU headquarters, she turned to the Naruto clone who was looking at her confused at the sudden departure, but cut it off before he could start gabbling. "You are my point of contact for the clones now, your boss deserves a night off. Now, tell me what your clones have found..."
Persona change: Ne member 371
Leaping out of sight of another clone of her mark, the Ne member cursed quietly at the boys fortitude and his surprising levels of planning and tactics with his duplicates. She had already had to destroy 3 clones to avoid them giving away her position completely, but that just seemed to help the other clones hone in on her general area. What was worse was that the ANBU patrols were also using the clones as markers, and they were far more worrying to her than the clones were as they had already tried to capture her twice, even if they were not as organised as the clones were they were much more skilled and dangerous. Almost as if they were listening to her thoughts, from around her several clones dropped from the rooftops. One of them motioned to her with his hands. "You guys keep her busy, i will radio in our exact position..."
He was cut off from speaking any further rather physically, as the Ne member appeared in front of him in a burst of speed, slicing his throat with her katana before he could react. The clone exploded into smoke, allowing her to break away from the group using her far superior speed. With no other options available, she leapt down to the streets below and with a single motion hefted the man hole cover up and out of the way, allowing her to leap into the sewers even as the remaining clones hurried down after her. Even as she raced away through the labyrinthine tunnels, she heard the clones shouting into their radios what had happened and relaying instructions to the other clones throughout the city. Fortunately no one knew the sewer systems better than she and the other root members, and twenty minutes later she emerged from one of the manholes away from the village, only after making sure that she was not being observed or followed in any way. Rushing to the nearest hidden entrance she could think of, she did one last scan for chakra signatures, and upon finding none, activated the hidden entrance and dropped inside, the entrance closing behind her and leaving her in darkness.
Traversing the corridors into the main parts of the base with ease despite the lack of sight, she flared her chakra to alert the guards that it was her approaching, due to the fact she was not meant to report for another four hours, if she did not announce her presence well in advance they would react with force to her arrival, in case she was a spy or otherwise compromised. They said nothing upon her arrival, though she could tell that Danzo-sama had already been alerted and was waiting for her. She entered his office and to prove the point he was waiting for her, sat back in his chair with an unreadable expression on his face. He spoke calmly, as if the manhunt in the village meant nothing to him. "371, i assume you are here to tell me why you are not currently watching your assigned target, and also why i am receiving reports that there is currently a manhunt going round Konoha for you headed by ANBU and your targets clones?"
She bowed her head, coming up with the response that logic dictated would end her disgrace fastest. "I was detected by the ANBU captain, Yugao Uzuki Danzo-sama, whilst i was watching over the target, it was only by chance and the targets clones obscuring their sensors that i managed to escape her and her following ANBU members without being forced to use my full abilities, which would have risked battle and possible capture." Danzo looked at her stonily for a moment before sighing almost too himself. "Well, some things are for the best, even if it is in a way that i had not necessarily wished. With your detection, Uzuki will no doubt present this little chase to the Hokage, and use it too prove a point, i have no doubt that it will coincide with what she presented to the elders earlier today, about treating the Uzumaki boys prank as a training exercise. On that note, what were the repercussions of the prank? Sarutobi has been very vague about it to everyone though 218 tells me that the boy looked absolutely distraught when he left the Hokage tower earlier this evening."
She outlined what she had read of the parchment that Naruto had been showing around the stand, and Danzo didn't even blink. "Not surprising, the sort of punishment that the Hokage would deem to be fair i suppose, and it was his own fault for trying to hide his difficulties. It does help us however, and i think it is time you reveal yourself to him." That got surprise from her, even if it were barely a flicker in her otherwise stoic countenance, why would she need to reveal herself to the one she is mean to be watching? "But, Danzo-sama, why should I?" He raised a hand, and she could tell he was not pleased with her outburst, she herself had been slightly surprised by it if she was honest. "Because, if you reveal yourself to him with his intentions in mind, should you be detected again whilst watching, he can help you escape and evade your pursuers, just as he did tonight." Okay, she really was in trouble if she was being told to enlist the same genin she was spying on to help her with her espionage. But, an order was an order and she was in enough trouble for her outburst. "Hai, Danzo-sama, shall i just say it is me, or should i make a reference to our organisation?" Both were risks to the operation, and as such she did not want to be the one holding the pieces if this came apart.
Danzo thought a moment, obviously pleased that she had asked the question, before speaking once more. "Make it out that you represent an organisation that works for Konoha, nothing more, nothing less, that should stop him refusing your aid out of hand at any rate. Now, go, i have work to do before this night is done." With the curt dismissal, she bowed her way out of the room without a word, glad to have gotten away without actual punishment this time. Though she knew that if she spoke out once more in any way that could be seen as emotional, Danzo might decide that she needed to undergo emotional training once more, not something she wished to do again if she could avoid it. With that out of the way, the only thing she had to do now was work out how to contact her target, amidst a search for her by most for the villages elite troops...she knew if she had been capable of emotions more complex than basic loyalty and the few emotions that sometimes forced their way to the surface, she would have been worried about her chances of success, but that's why she was root, they just got the job done regardless of the odds.
Time: 8 pm
Location: Naruto's apartments
After Yugao had dragged off his backup clone, Naruto had taken the unspoken hint that he was to relax for the rest of the evening rather than partake in a manhunt. He and Umi had enjoyed the rest of the ramen the ichikarus had prepared for him, taking the time to explain why he had run off. Ayame had been particularly worried about his spy and offered for him to stay the night with them rather than in his apartments by himself. He declined the offer graciously, It was not like they were going to try and get to him with all the ANBU out looking for them. Also on a more morose note, he did not want to put any risk towards those that actually see him as himself, there were far too few of them around as it was. After the two had finished, Naruto had led Umi through the streets of Konoha towards where he lived, showing her all the important areas on the way through that he considered necessary to know about. Arriving at the apartments Naruto had produced a large set of keys. Removing one, he had given it to Umi before showing her how to unlock the door had then let her run around the apartments until she found one she liked whilst he returned to his own apartment for a well earned cup of tea.
Turning the key in the lock he entered his apartment, headed reflexively through the lounge and was about to enter the kitchen when a voice spoke from behind him, making him jump in the air and spin round, cry upon his lips until he recognised not only the voice but the person sat eating grapes on his couch with a grin on her face. "Yugao-chan, why did you do that? you mean person, I could well have died of shock!" Standing up whilst swallowing her last grape, Yugao chuckled. "well, an 'awesome shinobi' such as yours truly should be more aware of their surroundings, what if I had been an enemy ninja, such as the spy from tonight?" "But my traps? How did you get past them without setting any of them off?" she grinned at his question, obviously enjoying his anxiety. "Naruto, I am an ANBU captain, if I couldn't get past some little pre-genin's traps I wouldn't deserve my title or my rank." Naruto didn't really have a response to that other than muttering about being awesome didn't mean that he knew everything yet. Seemingly understanding that she was not going to get anything else out of him without provoking more conversation, she jerked her thumb towards the door.
"So, whose the girl that lil Naru-chan is now going to be living with? You seem rather taken with her if the story you told her about her wallet was true... Either that or you did it yourself to ingratiate her towards you..." Naruto had never felt so embarrassed in his life at the accusations, even if Umi had been a real girl he liked, he would never have... "Yugao-chan! How could you say that about me? I would never... How did you even... And she's all alone and looked lost... I just lent a hand." His face was bright red at his stuttering attempts at defending himself, and even though her expression didn't change, he knew that inside she was laughing very hard at his current misfortune.
"Relax Naruto, I am only kidding, though she is a nice girl from what I've seen an heard so far, not many would be as selfless as she is with her money." at the mention of the money, Naruto stiffened, he felt awful about having to accept Umi's money, even if she was a shadow clone of his, it just wasn't right. Thinking back to what had happened, he realised that Umi had mentioned her caravan being attacked by bandits, but Jiji had said that the response team hadn't found anything when they arrived at the scene of the incident. Perhaps he could go check it out and see whether he could find something they had missed, after all he knew that the chuunin on duty were not always the most attentive when in a hurry. But first he supposed if that was the plan he had better get it cleared first. "Yugao-chan, I know your off duty now, and that you don't owe me any favours after you gave me that cheque and helped me out all this time, but I have a request for Jiji about tomorrow, and it will probably sound better coming from you..."
Time: midnight
Location: The Hokage Tower
'So, you are telling me that there is someone, with alligence and intentions unknown to us, has managed to infiltrate MY village for months if not years to spy on our resident container, and this has somehow managed to be overlooked by all those that are meant to be looking out for him until you just happen to get lucky whilst going to visit him? And then even after detecting the interloper they managed to escape from you, three ANBU squads and a pre genin you forcefully recruited on the night before his official graduation? With said pre genin the only one to come remotely close to apprehending the intruder with his clones during the chase round Konoha?" It was safe to say that Sarutobi was not amused in the slightest by the events of the evening thus far, especially considering the subject of the discussion definitely did not view the old leader in a favourable light at the moment. He finished his lecture with a tired sigh, looking at Yugao who was stood at attention, cat mask in place and ANBU uniform perfectly set without a stain or smudge on it despite having just finished searching again through the sewers for the very intruder they were discussing right now after ensuring the safety of the intruders targets by visiting him and ensuring he had returned safe.
Yugao still thought that the more telling part about the deficiencies in Konoha's security was Naruto's earlier prank that effectively immobilised half of Konoha's standing forces and a good portion of their infrastructure for most of the day, an infiltrator was par for the course in a ninja village, and it was not like the villagers made it any secret who the container was when they went about their daily routine. In all honesty it was surprising that there had not been any abduction or enticement attempts from the other ninja villages towards the young boy. Remembering that she should probably answer the semi serious accusations of incompetence from her superior towards her and her men. "The intruder was very skilled with both sight and auditory genjutsu, to the point that it was only mere luck on my part that I noticed a slight distortion that I assume was their reaction to my presence. Also, they were capable of suppressing their chakra to the point that their chakra signature became lost amongst the natural emissions of Naruto and his clones. This meant that the only way of us trying to apprehend them was when they were moving too fast to maintain a illusion whilst being pursued by Naruto's clones."
She paused for breath, Sarutobi waiting patiently for her continue, sat forward in his seat hands crossed under his chin expectantly. "We came close several times to engaging them in a full battle, but they used various escape jutsu to build up the distance and sow confusion in our ranks. The only good point about this debacle is that both Tori and Oni in squad two say they have a good enough read on their chakra that should the intruder arise again they will be able to track her down as long as we don't flood the air with Naruto's chakra once more." Having concluded her report she waited for Sarutobi to comment. " Well, at least Naruto has some proper combat experience, even if he doesn't consciously remember it. This does help prove the point you were making from earlier today though, we might have become a little too lax in security and apprehension if Naruto does a better job of cornering a suspect then the villages elite."
Remembering her earlier conversation with Naruto at the conclusion of the chase, Yugao decided to bring up his request so that the Hokage wouldn't think that she was hiding things from him once more. "Speaking of Naruto Hokage-sama, during our conversation at the conclusion of the pursuit, he made a request that whilst a bit out of the ordinary, I personally am inclined to grant him." she paused and the Hokage waited patiently for her to continue, a technique he had perfected with two children and two grandchildren. "He wishes to have an attempt at following the bandits he asked you about yesterday, he and the refugee girl who had managed to escape the attack are becoming fast friends so I think he wants to do it to try and help her." Yugao left out the fact that he may feel obliged to do it because of the money the girl had given him, best to let the old man sweat about the money issue a while longer before informing him of the good news on that front.
Even without her saying anything Sarutobi seemed to understand that there was more to this situation than meets the eye, but rather than try and dig for news about his unofficial grandson once more in regards to his relationship with the girl from out of town, an area that he did not wish to deal with again if at all possible, especially after the complications with his daughter Kasumi, he instead decided to try and focus on the boys request itself and the practicality issues associated with it. "My main query in regards to the request is simple, why does Naruto seem to think that he can perform any better than the squad of chuunin that I assigned to the investigation yesterday. They found a trail that barely continued for half a mile before it petered out into nothing, like the attackers just took flight and left without further trace."
Yugao waited a moment to see if he would continue before speaking her piece. "Even if he were to fail to uncover anything new, it would be a good experience for Naruto and it would give him some peace of mind when dealing with his new friend. I believe though that if there is something to be found there, he will be the one to find it, after all, he did manage to pull off a complete search of almost three districts of Konoha today in less than two hours with no preparation time and very limited support thanks to his clones and huge chakra reserves, which he coordinated and controlled surprisingly well all considering. I believe he will be able to pull of a similar solution here, the bandits can't have hidden their tracks so well for long with loot and captives to worry about as well." Sarutobi conceded that point with a gracious nod before continuing his argument.
"Even so, today is his graduation day, and despite the fact that it won't matter too much if he is late because I sanctioned this mission for him, it will not help him fit in with his comrades and teammates if he is seen to be getting special treatment from me." Despite her professional attitude, Yugao could not help but scoff at this statement "He has just completed an unofficial b-rank mission in capturing Mizuki, and yet a unranked unpaid mission is too far? Have you seen what the clan heirs have been being taught outside the normal curriculum both inside and outside the academy? If anything they are the ones you should be worried about in Naruto's graduating set."
Sarutobi knew that he had to concede the point once more, the Uchia had been considered the best thing since the yondaime by the civilian populace and some of the ninja, regardless of their opinion of the jutsu stealing clan before they were massacred by one of their own. And the other major clan heirs, who almost entirely were present in this one graduating class, were taught by their families to be able to protect themselves and their secrets from a young age. " Fine, I know what you mean. So then, we have to now decide how many hours of his service we can say he worked back tonight as you did technically enlist him in your investigation. Kami forbid that I let him use shadow clone hours as his own, he would be done with his punishment in a couple of days, and despite how harsh it has turned out too be from what you have told me he is coping okay thus far and it will be a good lesson for him in the future." With this statement, the two shinobi sat to negotiate further on the specifics of the agreement that had been done that day. What they did not know, was that at the same time in the slums of Konoha, another meeting was taking place, with the object of their discussion being an unwilling participant...