They left mid morning.
Because the excursion was 'supposed' to be a social visit, Jiraiya had insisted on appearing to leave through the westward Tori gate. Thus, Naruto was forced to wait four hours after waking up just so that the two old men could pretend to be catching up. By the time Ero-Sennin had called his final good bye, Naruto had been practically bouncing.
Even then, exploring the Takai Mountain would have to wait. Ero-Sennin insisted that they walk in the opposite direction of the mountain for at least an hour before cutting through the woods. By the time they actually did begin cutting through the woods, Naruto felt as though half the day had been wasted.
It was for secrecy, and Naruto understood that.
But to waste half a day… Naruto felt like pulling his hair out.
Of course, the delay wasn't really what had Naruto quite so agitated. The delay was annoying but even Naruto himself knew that Jiraiya's spy workings were merely a distraction from his true feelings on their current objective.
Orochimaru had a kid.
Naruto didn't really know what to think about that.
He was definitely grossed out by it. Before now, Naruto hadn't even known that the snake bastard was capable of reproducing. Frankly, he could have lived without knowing. Eww.
Beyond that, Naruto felt confused. Part of him, wanted to dislike the kid off the bat. This was Orochimaru's kid. Orochimaru had stolen Naruto's teammate, made Sakura cry, and killed the Third. Naruto wasn't normally one for grudges but if he was ever going to pick a bone with someone, it'd be the snake bastard.
So, his kid… Naruto wanted to hate him. He wanted to be angry and mean and all the things he knew he shouldn't. Naruto wanted to rip the kid's life apart like Orochimaru had ripped his team apart.
But if he did that, he'd be doing to the kid the same thing the villagers did to him. Naruto knew what it felt like, to be blamed and abused for something you were born with or couldn't help. He knew that.
Hell, the kid probably already knew it to. He'd been seen by that farmer and had been hiding up on the mountain ever since.
So, no, Naruto couldn't be angry at the kid for the thing's his dad did. It didn't stop him from being angry though. Instead, he channeled that anger into his annoyance at the delay in the trip and left it there. Let Jiraiya think he was being incredibly immature. It was must better than spewing all of Naruto's hurtful feelings at a kid.
"Oi! Ero-Sennin, how much longer do we have to hike?" Naruto asked. They had been marching through the leafy foliage of Mount Takai for at least an hour or two now. Though the vibrant greens and colorful flowers were pretty, Naruto had long grown tired of it.
"Rumor says the kid lives at the top of the mountain. As for how long getting there will take… figure it out yourself. You should know how to calculate the time it will take to scale a mountain of this size at this speed. It was taught in your second year of academy, brat." Naruto grimaced.
"But I don't know how big the mountain is." He complained. Naruto idly placed both hands behind his head as he contemplated the matter. He could do the math easy, but only if he had all the numbers to fill in the formula.
"Mount Takai is 2,067 feet tall. You should read up on your geography. It's a prime requirement for doing ninja work in any area. If you don't even know where your client is going, how will you know the terrain most likely for an ambush between in route?"
Naruto pursed his lips silently. For a few moments, the two Konoha ninjas traveled in silence.
"We'll reach the top in about three hours." Naruto grumbled. "Ne, Ero-Sennin, why are we going so slow?"
"Because we'll scare him otherwise."
"Huh? Why? Its not like we're here to hurt him."
"Maybe, but I doubt he'll see it that way. The kid's hiding up here for a reason. Strange ninja intruding on his home is going to be bad enough, there's no reason to freak him out by approaching at full speed. Also, I'd rather not alert any other nin in the area." Jiraiya glanced back at Naruto. "No flashy jutsu or summoning anything bigger than the trees. This retrieval needs to stay top secret; even from other Konoha nin." Naruto blinked before nodding. The secrecy would serve two purposes. The first, would be to keep Orochimaru away from the kid. Whether or not the snake bastard knew about the kid, he definitely wouldn't be able to find him if nobody knew where he was. The second reason for secrecy would be in the kid's own interest. Whether or not the kid lived in Konoha long term, Naruto and Jiraiya would be taking him there. Thus, if they could pass him off as a random kid instead of the child of Konoha's most infamous traitor… it'd make the kid's life a heck of a lot easier. Heck, it would have made Naruto's own childhood a heck of a lot easier if the only people to know were Jiraiya and the Third. Huh…
Naruto absently wondered how Tsunade would take it. Would she be grossed out too?
"I understand. Nobody'll hear a single peep out of me." Naruto murmured.
"Good." Jiraiya huffed gruffly. Naruto grinned at the white-haired man's back. Honestly, the pervert had such a soft spot for kids. Granted, it was a tough-love kind of soft spot. Still, Naruto knew Jiraiya would do his best to do right by the kid. It might be the sort of drop-the-kid-off-the-cliff-in-order-to-teach-them sort of right, but the pervert would still do it.
For the next fifteen minutes the two traveled in silence. Just as Naruto was about start up a conversation involving which summoning toad could eat more, Jiraiya froze and held up his hand to halt Naruto. The man's back tensed and he seemed to be staring at something in front of him. Naruto stilled as well. He kept his feet apart and slightly bent his knees. If they were attacked, he'd be able to spring into the trees and return fire with a barrage of kunai. A second passed in tense silence before Jiraiya finally relaxed slightly.
No nearby enemy nin then. Just signs of one or a few.
"What did you find?" Naruto asked as he stepped to the side of his teacher. He didn't see anything wrong. In front of Jiraiya, one of the massive trees had fallen at some point. Now, it lay decaying on the forest floor. Mushrooms and other fungi dotted its deadened trunk while light glittered down brightly from the space the tree had once filled. Five-pointed leaves littered the top of the trunk from where they had fallen…
Naruto stiffened in realization. He took a quick glance at the trees around him to confirm it…
All the surrounding trees grew oval shaped leaves. Not a single one of them could have coated the tree with its current leaf layer.
"The leaves…" Naruto trailed off as Jiraiya picked up a rock. The sage tossed it once to test the weight before chucking it onto the dubious trunk.
SNAP! WHirrrrrrrrlllll… Clang!
Naruto took a step back as previously hidden sheets of metal were lifted from the earth by green and brown ropes. Within a second, the four separate metal sheets had fit together as a sturdy box. A fifth, heavier metal piece fell from somewhere above. It hit the other pieces with a loud noise as it completed the sturdy trap.
"Woah…" Naruto breathed. "Was that meant for us? Did the kid put it there?" He asked. Jiraiya frowned and hummed darkly.
"I doubt it."
"But who else-"
"Look at the size, Naruto. An adult would never fit in there. Also… when we were genin, the only way to really catch Orochimaru was to trap into something he couldn't get out of, like a box with no holes." The blonde blinked as he realized the implications of what Jiraiya had pointed out.
"Somebody's trying to catch him."
"Yes. And they'll be back by soon. That trap doesn't hold much air and judging by the lack of deadly weapons, they want him alive." Jiraiya ascertained. Naruto nodded.
"Are we gonna ambush them or try to find the kid first? It'd be easy to ambush them; this trap was pretty amateur with the mismatched leaves. We'd be able to take 'em, easy. Though if they have reinforcements, it'd be bad if the ambush alerted them to our presence."
"Mmm… technically this mission hasn't been sanctioned by the princess. If we accidently start an international scandal because we messed with the wrong country's nin, she'd be pretty loud."
"But we're still on Konoha soil."
"Doesn't matter, if we kill or maim a foreign nin outside of war time the diplomatic relations are gonna take a blow. It'd be better if we can just nab the kid and scram. Without further evidence of the brat's existence these guys might just think it was bad info that led them here." Naruto nodded. This would be a bit like an extraction mission for a Konoha infiltration nin. Except, those guys wanted to go home. This kid was likely going to be very unwilling to leave his own home for a new one. Naruto grimaced.
He knew taking the kid to Konoha was the right thing to do, but the kid likely wouldn't see it that way.
"Come on. We can pick up the pace a little now. Even if they have a sensor on their team, they're likely expecting some light chakra usage anyway." And with those gruff words, the toad sage jumped into the trees. Naruto followed after him deftly. Amid the higher tree branches, joyful patches of sunlight bounced onto leaves and branches. Colorful birds nested safely in the upper nooks and crannies of the ancient trees. It was a beautiful sight, but not one Naruto was interested in. Anxiety bubbled in his gut as a previously unasked question waited at the forefront of his mind.
"What happens to him when we get him back to Konoha?" Naruto asked.
"The slug princess will have to decide. Honestly though? He'll likely be put into the academy to be trained. Nobody's going to want to live with him, so he'll likely be given an apartment like yours with a monthly pension to keep him fed and healthy. Other than that… I'm not so sure. As a person with the potential to become a great ninja, the village won't be able to resist training him. After the academy however, his father's history will make working with others difficult. No one's going to trust him and his prominent features will be too similar for people to not know who his father is. His teen years… will likely be very difficult for him." Jiraiya finished with a grimace. Naruto frowned.
"But if that happens… won't he just leave? He won't love Konoha if everyone there hates him and once he's strong enough, he won't ask permission. He'll just go." Like his dad… Like Sasuke
"And there lies the issue. Should we save him from whoever's after him, he likely will never thank us. Its possible he will become more of a traitor than even his father if we do this." The two continued to tree jump in silence for a few more moments.
"We still can't leave him to these other guys though. They could want him for ransom, revenge against Orochimaru, or something even worse." Naruto stated with a frown.
"No, we can't." Jiraiya agreed grimly. No matter how it was diced, Konoha would most likely be the loser by the end of it. Still, they lived by the will of fire and that meant trying even when things seemed impossible. Naruto subtly quickened his pace as determination flitted across his brow. He'd do his best no matter what. Even if the village didn't like the kid, he'd figure out some way to make the kid happy in Konoha! He'd definitely do it! Dattebayo!
SNAP! WHirrrrrrrrlllll… Clang!
The sharp sounds of another steel box trap activating rang through the forest. This time around however, the sounds were accompanied by a ragged cry of pain.
Naruto froze and frantically looked to his teacher. Jiraiya looked back for a split second before both ninja swiftly changed course.
It seemed one of the foreign ninjas traps had caught someone.
I feel really mean for ending it here ( i hate reading cliffhanger chapters when there's nothing else posted yet) but if I added anymore it'd probably take another week. Or two cuz working 70 hrs a week is tougher than I thought it would be. So, here you go, have fun. I'll try to still be alive by August when I get to go back to college and relax.
Also, went back and edited last chapter. Sorry about the error, I actually went back and forth several times on Harry's age cuz each age has a different storyline I could follow.
Thank you so much for reviewing! It really makes me happy!
See ya later alligator,
~Blitza