Finding the Right Path

Had to get this chapter out. Will get another done in a week or so

I know, this is supposed to be chapter 12. Stuffed up the chapter count, but fixing it now.

Let me know what you think.

No pairings for now, but that may change

I do not own Naruto or any other aspect that reference people who could sue me. . .

Chapter 12

It was the early hours of the morning when Kakashi opened his lone eye. Sasuke was still on duty, trying his hardest not to fall asleep, eyes heavy and drooping slightly. Kakashi looked at Sakura, who was still asleep, with concern in his eyes. He still didn't know how she was faring and how long it would take for her to recover. He also knew that she was put in a death-like state.

Kakashi felt the need to wake when he had, yet he still hadn't found the reason. He looked towards his third student, knowing that exhaustion was the cause of his fatigue. He had a feeling that Menma would be wide awake in the morning, as if he hadn't fainted the day before.

Something caught Kakashi's eye as he continued to gaze at Menma. A shimmering of the surroundings caused his eyes to widen just a bit. Sasuke felt Kakashi's chakra spike and quickly got on alert. So did the figure, leaning over Menma.

"It's alright Kakashi." The figure exclaimed, revealing himself entirely. Sasuke was still on edge, wondering how this Shinobi snuck past him. He slowly reached for his Kunai. "Don't do it Uchiha." The figure stated, revealing his Fox mask.

"You." Sasuke exclaimed, eyes narrowed slightly.

"ANBU-San. Are you here on a mission?" Kakashi asked, knowing full well who the young ANBU operative was.

"What happened?" Naruto asked, ignoring Kakashi completely. Sasuke was put further on edge at Naruto's tone. It held no emotion what-so-ever.

"Mission went south." Sasuke stated through gritted teeth. Menma opened his eyes at this moment.

"Naruto." He stated. He closed his eye again before opening it wide. "Naruto." He exclaimed once more, before hugging his twin. "Wait, what are you doing here?" Menma asked astonished.

"What happened?" Naruto asked. Menma looked at Kakashi, then at Sasuke, before turning his gaze towards Sakura.

"I thought she died. I, I turned… I used its. I lost control." Menma exclaimed, looking dejected.

"It's okay." Naruto exclaimed, standing in front of Menma. "I have to go. I'm not supposed to be here." He continued, signalling all the while his intent.

Sasuke and Kakashi took note of the way the twins were moving, but neither knew what it meant.

Naruto had asked who was involved and Menma gave Naruto all the information that he wanted. Gatou was responsible for sending the enemy Shinobi after Team 7's client. The same Gatou that the Hokage asked Kakashi not to kill.

"My Sensei will be looking for me. I have to flee as soon as possible." Naruto continued, disappearing through the make-shift entrance.

Sasuke looked at Menma, and then at Kakashi. "What was that?" He asked. Menma looked at Sasuke for a second, before dropping his head.

"Don't worry about it. Naruto had to leave before his Sensei arrived." Menma stated, mirroring what Naruto had just stated.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Sasuke responded, looking intently at Menma.

"I'll tell you one day, just not today." Menma responded. Sasuke actually looked a little hurt by the statement, but hid it by looking out of the makeshift window.

"The sun is going to rise soon." Sasuke exclaimed. "I need to rest." He continued, before looking back at Menma.

"I'll take the shift. I feel alright. Close to a hundred percent." Menma stated, jumping up from his bedding. Sasuke looked at Menma for a second, before popping down on his bed, and falling straight to sleep.

Kakashi looked at the scene with a little sadness. He didn't mind that Naruto and Menma still have a strong bond. What made him sad was that Sasuke felt left out from his teammate.


A young woman walked through the street. She was dressed plainly in a brown kimono. Her hair was dark in colour and flowed down to her back. She had a plain face and didn't stand out. A group of thugs noticed the girl walking by and decided to follow her. She quickly walked into a dark alley way, the thugs following a few paces behind.

"Hi boys." The women exclaimed, turning around. The thugs stood in shock as the woman in front of them transformed into a person with a Fox painted mask. Their eyes widened further, as they got hit in the back of their heads.

Naruto's created clones took the five thugs into one of the abandoned buildings. They tied them to a wooden chair, ensuring they can't escape.

Each of the thugs started coming through, waking from the hit to the back of their head. "What the… what are we doing here?" One of the thugs asked, before looking down at his body, then up to the figure in front of him. "Let me out of here right now." He exclaimed, with a mix of anger and fear in his eyes. He looked around and noticed his comrades in the same condition as he was in.

"I don't need all of you, but all of you can be free." Naruto stated, pulling out his Kunai. "I'm looking for information on Gatou. Can you help?" He asked, pointing his Kunai at the thug who spoke.

"I'm not saying a word." The thug exclaimed, spitting I the direction of the Fox.

"That's okay." Naruto stated, as he sliced the thug's throat. The other captives looked on in shocked silence, not knowing what had just happened.

"I want to know where Gatou is hold up, and the location of the Shinobi he had hired." Naruto stated once more. This time pointing at another thug.

"Ga-Gatou is hold up at the northern district. In one of the large estates. The, the Shinobi left as soon as they got paid." The thug responded, fearing for his life.

"Now if I let you leave; will you take another innocent life?" Naruto asked, showing them the Kunai once more. The thugs' eyes widened as they nodded their head in the negative. "So be it." Naruto stated, as the four thugs were grabbed from behind and sliced across the throat. "No loose ends." Naruto recited from memory as his Clones popped.


Five thugs walked straight through the front gates. They were each smiling and talking to each other, laughing at an inside joke. They continued walking through the large precinct, destination unclear. As if on cue, the five thugs broke apart, going in their own direction.

The first was to patrol the ground and get a layout of the land. The second was to discover as many entrances and exits there were to the mansion. The third was to determine the number of enemies within the stronghold. The fourth was to find any prisoners that may be in need of rescuing. The fifth was tasked with tracking down and locating their target.

So far, the disguised Clones were doing well. Neither drawing attention from any of the other thugs.

Naruto was on the roof of a neighbouring building, invisible to the naked eye, watching what transpires inside the compound. There were guards posted at the entrances, but they were semi-relaxed and didn't really fulfil their roles.

The five Clones completed their task and made their way towards the main entrance. They walked straight through the large gates. Once they were out of site, they burst, transferring their memories back to the original.

There were roughly 150 enemies within the building. Gatou was hold-up in the large room to the east. His door was guarded by two Sword-wielding Samurai wannabees. There where prisoners in the dungeon, and most of them were female. It looked as if Gatou was in another form of trade. There were many 'dark zones' within the compound, places were bodies could be placed once killed. There were also a variety of different entrances and exits, each easily accessible to an ANBU operative.

Naruto decided that he would complete his self-made mission this afternoon. Now though, he needed some rest. Before he could close his eyes, his lookout Clone closest to the shore of Hi no Kuni burst, letting the original know that his Sensei was on the way.

"No time to waste I guess." He stated, before creating nine Clones. Four of the Clones transformed into the thugs, whilst the rest transformed into women. Each was made after the different women that Naruto had met, except they were older. One was based off of his Sensei, in looks as opposed to dress standards. Another was based off his former classmates, the Yamanaka, Haruno and Hyuuga girl. Each were a little different than the originals however. The final female he shaped after Ayami, the Ramen chef at Ichiraku's.

The original transformed into the last thug.


Anko had just arrived in Nami no Kuni. She continued in the direction that her snake advised, and was surprised when it led her to the makeshift cover of Team 7. She was conflicted, should she go to them and ask if they had seen her apprentice, knowing full well that Naruto would have seen Menma for whatever reason. This would no doubt cause a stir up if those in Konoha heard. Or should she ignore them, and continue searching for her soon-to-be dead apprentice.

She knew she had failed the mission. Her student purposefully made a Clone to distract her. Now she was going to kill him, or close enough to it.

"What could be worse." She stated, before hiding her snake in her pocket and making her way towards the shelter.

It was just after 10am and she knew that Kakashi, at least, would recognise an approaching Nin. She deliberately spiked her Chakra as she waited on one of the branches adjacent to the hut.

Menma was at the entrance, Kunai in hand, looking to impale the enemy.

"Hmmm. You definitely are twins. Now where is Kakashi." Anko stated, getting straight to the point.

Menma's eyes widened slightly, before he looked towards his Sensei. Kakashi was still on the bed, slowly getting up at the sound of Anko's voice.

"Well, well, well. The mighty Kakashi, nothing but a hollowed out Shinobi. Got beaten did you?" Anko asked with a smirk. She saw that Kakashi would be better soon.

"Meh, it does happen once in a while." Kakashi stated, eye-smiling all the while. This was Kakashi's aloof face. He pretended to be an idiot, only those who knew Kakashi, had some idea of what he was really like. "What can we do for you?" He asked.

"My student came by here. Where is he?" Anko stated then asked. "I'm assuming he came for you." Here Anko pointed at Menma. "And now he is doing something stupid." She concluded.

"What? Aniki said he had to get back to his mission. He said he was just checking up on me." Menma exclaimed. Kakashi looked at Menma for a second. 'So, they have their own secret sigh language. Good to know.' Kakashi thought to himself.

"Just came from Hi no Kuni. Didn't pass him on the way. Besides, one of his Clones was spotted by the docks. He burst as soon as I showed up, no doubt warning the original." Anko stated, more to herself than the others. "But what happened here?" Anko asked.

Kakashi thought for a moment, before deciding to explain. "We were up against Momochi Zabuza and his three apprentices. One of them put Sakura in a death-like state. She won't be recovering any time soon. The same Shinobi put our client, I'm assuming, in the same state, before Zabuza took his head off." Kakashi stated. Menma slowly lowered his head at this, feeling like he couldn't do anything for his teammate.

"Failed mission. They're one of the worst." Anko replied. "Do you need assistance?" Anko asked in afterthought. It wasn't good to leave fellow Konoha Nin unprotected.

Kakashi was going to reject the offer, feeling it his duty to do so, but he swallowed his pride and nodded his head in the affirmative.

"We'll be back this way soon. First I've got to teach my apprentice who's boss." Anko exclaimed with a killer glint in her eye. She looked at Menma, who had a semi-scared look on his face. "Don't tell him I was here brat, or you'll be next." She exclaimed, before making a dash towards the town district.


Each dark zone was filled with corpses, and more Clones were created to take their place. Each took on the role of a thug and played it to perfection.

One thug, took the 'prisoners' into the cells. The guards on duty were dead before they knew what hit them, each body being placed in the cells. The men, women and children were released and told to walk, not run, out of the compound. They each obliged, with fear stricken eyes. When they exited the cells, they were surprised when the thugs spoke to them in the same soft monotonous tone. Telling them not to run, but to walk calmly back to their families.

Naruto was making his way down the corridor which led to his target. He saw the two thugs, whom looked at him, and placed their hand on their Swords. Before they could draw. however, they both lost their heads. An after-image of Naruto as a thug was what they were looking at. Naruto created two clones that took the thugs place and hid their bodies.

He had killed 154 people today, but there was one more head he was going to take.

The disguised thugs opened the door to allow Naruto in. He was in his original form, with his ANBU mask in place covering his face. He walked straight up to Gatou, who didn't seem surprised by his appearance.

"Ah ANBU-san. How is Konoha nowadays?" Gatou asked. He reached under his desk and pressed a silent alarm. The disguised Clones, all at once, stopped to look at the flashing red light. They had never thought this possible, so they each made their way towards the location of the original.

"I'm here to collect." Naruto exclaimed, the mask distorting his voice slightly.

"Ah yes, I have what you want right here." Gato stated, as each disguised Clone entered the large room. They all stood in a semi-circle behind the original, brandishing each of their swords. 'Good guess.' Naruto thought. One of the Clones had popped, letting Naruto know that a silent alarm had been triggered.

Gatou was smiling victoriously on his chair, swinging from side to side as if he ruled the world.

"I know you're not from Konoha, as they often have a blank mask." Gatou exclaimed. "Where are you from, or better yet, why are you here?" He asked, feeling thrilled with the power that he controlled.

"I'm here to collect." Naruto stated once more. Causing Gatou to narrow his eyes.

"Kill him." He stated to the thugs.

"I have a few questions before death." Naruto exclaimed, watching Gatou rub his hands together slightly, before nodding his head. "How much are you paying Konoha? Do they know of your, extra activities? Are they involved further in this?" Naruto asked his three questions causing glee to shine forth from Gatou's face.

"I pay them enough to keep them at bay, but they have no idea about the real industry I am involved with. They think that I am a shipping trader, providing services to those that can afford it, they are a foolish bunch. I wouldn't trust them with any information I have." Gatou stated, placing a hand on the book on his desk. He had answered Naruto's questions and nodded towards his group of thugs. None moved an inch at his nod however.

"Something to remember in your next life." Naruto stated as all the thugs turned into carbon copies of him. "Never underestimate Shinobi." Here the thugs disappeared in a large blast of smoke. Gatou's eyes had widened and his jaw was hanging low. He looked at the remaining Nin with fear in his eyes.

"Fox stop." Anko exclaimed from the door. The body of Gatou was hidden behind Naruto's own, so she couldn't see if Gatou was dead or not. As if to answer her question, the image of Fox started fading slowly, an afterimage of him appeared behind Gatou, before the throat of the tycoon was slashed.

"You fool." Anko exclaimed out loud. Naruto merely sheathed his Kunai. Knowing his Sensei was going to kill him. Instead, she just looked at him one last time, before turning and walking away.

Naruto stood in silence. The memories of what his Clones had done, coming to the forefront of his mind. He closed his eyes, before opening them again. No-one could see how hard these eyes were. They looked as if they belonged to a veteran Shinobi.

Naruto looked towards the desk, grabbing the book Gatou had touched, before jumping out the window. Now he had to go and see his brother.