*Chapter 11*: Chapter Ten: Innocence and Guilt

Ten thousand hits! Celebrate it with me, ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thou- No? You don't care? O well T.T Anyhow, on to the show...

Previously: While Kakashi is away on a mission, team seven is informed by Anko that she will be their interim jonin sensei for their next mission, a B-rank search and destroy mission targetting a famous bandit king named Roshi, sometimes called the "Mokujin" or woodman. Meeting up with the tracking team that located him, Shikamaru has formed a plan to take on Mokujin's fortress and his highly trained bandit underlings...

Chapter Ten:

Team seven was napping- mostly. Team eight was as well, save for Shino, who had posted his bugs out as sentries around their small camp barely ten yards from the treeline. If one looked carefully, they could see the palisade walls through the tree trunks. Naruto marvelled at the thought that the fortress must have taken days or weeks to build- and they were likely going to destroy it in the next twelve hours.

Naruto looked over at Anko sensei, who was busy cleaning her kunai and sharpening them, preparing her weapons for combat. "So why do they call him Mokujin, anyhow?" Asked Naruto.

"Because of what he does with his victims." Replied Anko, not looking up. "After a raid or a fight, he likes to take prisoners. After torturing these prisoners for any information they have, he cuts off their arms and legs, sears the stumps, and jams tree branches into them, before tying them to trees and leaving them to die of exposure, dehydration, and infection. I've heard it said that a lot of the victims swallow their own tongues rather than risk rescue and living crippled completely for the rest of their lives."

Naruto's expression was one of distaste. "Unnecessarily messy. If you're going to kill someone, just kill them- that sort of thing is time consuming and pointless."

Anko raised an eyebrow, looking at Naruto sidelong where he lay, staring at the forest canopy. "You don't seem especially offended or sickened by his modus operendi. Strong stomach or just don't care?"

"Strong stomach, probably." Naruto said with a distant look in his eye. "But then, I'm not foolish enough to think there's a whole lot that people won't or can't do." He paused. "Um, Anko sensei..." "Yeah?" She said.

"Do you think I could learn that jyuuken that Hinata uses?" Naruto asked.

Anko shrugged. "I know they use it because of their Byakugan. It aids them in seeing where they need to strike."

Naruto shook his head. "But even if you don't have the byakugan, couldn't you use their jyuuken just by remembering where they strike an opponent?"

"It's not that easy for a couple of reasons. First off, each person's chakra coils are slightly different. The jyuuken relies on extremely precise targetting and chakra control, and a strike only slightly off may be severely weakened or totally ineffective. But even if you watch where they strike a specific opponent, it's still not a guarantee of effectiveness."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"Because a person's chakra coils aren't like internal organs, that stay in a fixed location. They changed position and size with the varying amounts of chakra in them, the position of the body, and even the general mood of the person. They'll maintain the same general relation to one another, but the actual coil they target may vary by as much as a half an inch in location from one second to the next, after all of these factors are taken into account. That's what makes Hyuuga Neji such a genius."

"Who?"

"Oh, right, he wasn't in your class when he graduated last year. Hyuuga Neji is the current prodigy of the Branch family of the Hyuuga clan. He's generally hailed as the strongest genin in Konoha."

"Really..." Naruto's voice held a trace of eagerness. Anko found it rather adorable.

"I have reconsidered your mission, Hinata."

They still had another seven hours to go before the attack on the fort. Hinata's face showed a strange mix of relief, confusion, curiousity, and disappointment. An entirely understandable mix of emotions, as far as Kurenai was concerned. Hinata wrestled with these feelings for a few minutes before she finally asked, "I understand, Kurenai sensei. May I ask... why?"

Kurenai looked over at the bedroll where Naruto lay... sleeping? there was no way to know for certain. "Naruto is... dangerous right now." She began.

"I am a ninja." Hinata said boldly. There was something akin to determination coming into her pale eyes. "Danger is not something one can shy away from in our world."

Wow... I guess giving her this assignment had more of an impact than I thought. Kurenai thought to herself. Out loud she said, "This mission is of a nature more risky than the usual run of the mill mission. Naruto is very volatile. He has no idea of his hormones effect on his judgement, and what's worse, has a great many trust issues. He needs to be approached in a more experienced manner, or else it could fall apart. And I do not wish to be responsible for you being injured or... worse, should he misunderstand your intent."

Hinata fixed Kurenai sensei with a steady gaze, one filled with... possessiveness? "But of course, the mission will go on. And of course Anko sensei cannot get involved, as she is his direct superior."

Kurenai felt a moment of surprise at this side of Hinata. "He does not know me- do you want to risk what friendship you have with him over this?" Kurenai said, trying to buy time to think.

The words had their desired effect- Hinata stopped short. "I... did not think of that." She said after a moment.

"The field is too stressful an environment for this- you are too emotionally involved, Hinata chan." Kurenai said with more of her characteristic gentleness. "You will need to resolve this yourself- you're too close right now for you to carry out this mission- but that doesn't mean your goal can't be attained. You will just have to decide it on your own."

Go-time. Naruto, Anko, Hinata, and Shikamaru crouched against the wooden log wall, poised. Shikamaru looked expectantly at the Hyuuga heiress. "Well, Hinata?"

"I count five buildings." She responded after a moment. "By the responses the people are giving, there are two sub commanders."

Shikamaru and Naruto waited anxiously, while several Kage bunshin dug a hole next to them aqt a diagonal angle to just under the wall. Naruto said, "You know, I could just blow all this up. Be fast, be easy, mission accomplished." He neither noticed nor cared much about the amused look Anko was giving him.

"Last resort, Naruto- We'd kind of like to bring back his head- can't very well do that if it's a smear in the dirt along with everyone else here." Shikamaru responded. "I believe I've found him." Hinata said suddenly. "The building we are looking for is forty four feet inside the wall, almost directly west of us. And it is a two story building, and he is in the top floor."

Shikamaru grumbled under his breath. "Never the easy layout, is it? What a pain." He sighed. "Can you tell me how many are in there with him?"

"I will try..." She said. After another thirty seconds, she said, "It looks as though there are twenty two people in that building."

"I can still blow it all up." Naruto said hopefully. The two kage bunshin in the hole paused in their digging to nod eagerly.

Shikamaru looked over at the two clones in the hole. "Naruto, how many of those can you make without-?" He left the statement hang.

Naruto understood what he meant. "Plenty- you wanna know how many I can make to blow up, right?"

Shikamaru glared at him. "Do you like seeing yourself blow up or are you just a pyro?"

Naruto shrugged. "Hey, I enjoy my work."

Anko slapped both hands over her mouth trying not to laugh out loud, while Naruto brushed off Shikamaru's intensifying glare. Hinata said, "There is also what appears to be an escape tunnel beneath that building, although it goes away from us, and too far for me to see its destination."

Shikamaru thought for a second, then nodded. "Alright. We can possibly make use of that. If we intersect our tunnel with the escape tunnel, we'll likely be able to get in without being seen. The only person who'll know about it is Roshi, so we can use that to our advantage." "Why's that?" Asked Naruto.

"Because it's not for Roshi's men. If they know there's an easy way out of the fort, then they'll be that much less likely to stand and fight- they may be organized and disciplined, but they're still criminals. Roshi also wouldn't want anyone to know because if they did and got captured, they'd be able to trade that information for their freedom in a heartbeat." Shikamaru said. "He either did it himself or killed anyone that worked on it."

"Yep." Agreed Anko. "That sounds about right for those kinds of passages."

The passage was dug quickly, and as it increased, so too did the number of clones, passing back dirt to one another as they excavated. Within twenty minutes, there was a low, arched passage that led all the way into the escape passage. As they approached the door, Hinata held up a hand. "Wait!" She said. "There's a pressure plate on the floor."

"Trap?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes..." She said, examining the walls. "There's two... no, three gaz nozzles. I believe it is poison gas."

Shikamaru nodded. After a moment, he fished in his bag for a minute, before pulling out a thick wad of putty and a couple of wooden stakes. After prying off the concealing screens with a kunai, Shikamaru cut the putty into three roughly even sized lumps, before stuffing them inside the holes, securing the putty with the wooden stakes. The putty would be air tight, and any pressure behind the stakes would force the putty into the narrow spaces between the stakes and the holes, effectively stoppering the holes with the increased friction caused by the putty interacting with a relatively larger surface area.

"Anything else?" Shikamaru asked.

"Only that the mechanism to open the door is on the other side- its designed not to be possible to open from this side without blowing it down." Hinata responded with a small frown.

"I can do that." Naruto said with a satisfied smile.

Shikamaru grimaced. "Aright, Naruto, you win. Knock on the door."

Naruto's smile widened to a grin. Forming a group of Bunshin, he led the others further down the hallway, before sending one of the clones running up the passage at top speed, straight for the door. "Katsu!"

Naruto grinned enthusiastically as he watched the secret door shatter inwards- this jutsu was the best one ever invented.

Every guard on the wall turned to face inwards at the sound of the explosion. First a single, then two more, then all of them dashed out to the ladders.

"Fifteen seconds- that was a quicker response I think than Shikamaru anticipated." Commented Shino.

"We have little time. Let's go." Said Sasuke, darting out towards the wall of the fort at top speed. The other three followed him, Shino's insects beginning their swarming assault against the archers in the tower. As they began flailing wildly, attempting to fend off the aggressive insects, Sasuke skidded to a halt about ninety yards from the wall, forming seals.

"Katon: Gokyaku no jutsu!"

Sasuke remained rooted to the spot for several seconds, spitting a flurry of fireballs in a scatter pattern. As they flew they spread out, impacting the wall in multiple spots along its length, setting it on fire in numerous sections. Seeing the others getting farther away, Sasuke hurried to catch up with them, as Kiba and Akamaru didn't even slow down in their headlong rush. "Gatsuuga!"

The two of them leapt at the wall in a drilling assault, tearing through the scorched and burning palisade wall as though it wasn't even there. Sasuke caught up to the others as Shino grumbled, "Weren't we supposed to wait to see if the guards were coming back up to the walls?"

"Kill them all." Sasuke said. "Why worry about what they're going to do if they're not able to do anything?"

"I don't know, because they're human beings?" Snapped Shino angrily, his normal reserve forgotten.

Sasuke fixed him with a Sharingan eye. "These men were criminals, thieves and murderers. These men performed acts that in any civilzed land would be sentenced with death. They are not blameless or bystanders- quite the opposite- and I will not let them live to see another day. We are shinobi, and we kill. Do what you will, say what you will, in the end, this is our purpose. And in this case, I'd say our purpose is just." Sasuke turned back to the fight. "There is punishment, and there is justice. Punishment is meant to teach. Justice is meant to balance. Punishment inflicts pain to prevent further misdeeds, while justice extracts an eye for an eye."

"Killing them will not bring back the people they've slain." Kurenai said.

"But it will keep them from killing again." He answered. "These men have proven themselves too evil to be left alive, and I will see to it that they never kill an innocent family again."

Kurenai could not find it in herself to argue with his words, but she wondered how much of his vehemence came from him equating their deeds with those of his brother.

These guys are brave. Shikamaru thought grimly. They fight as though they have something worth fighting for.

The hallway to hallway fighting was quick and brutal, and not without cost. This lot was even better trained than they had suspected, and some of them were about on par with low genin level combat. While the strike team was more than adequate to the task, when the bandits took up defensive positions to stall them and wait for reinforcemens, it took longer than they could afford to spend. They'd fought three groups so far, and Hinata had taken an ugly slice across her stomach from a spear she hadn't quite dodged fast enough. The cut was shallow, but long, and hampered her fighting ability, and if she moved too strenuosly she risked tearing it wide open. A gaping cut that wide could bleed a person out even though it hadn't cut any major arteries. She wouldn't halt, though, only taking long enough to place a compress and wrap around her stomach, before continuing on. When Shikamaru looked to Anko for support, she merely shrugged.

I always heard the Hyuuga clan were tough. Shikamaru thought. I guess they live up to reputation.

Naruto put up a hand from his position in point. "Shika- we have a problem."

"Yes, little boy, I'd say you are quite correct." Said a silky voice from in front of them. "You do indeed have a problem." A female figure in black matte cloth stepped around the corner. Her hair was bound up into a bun, and she wore a long strip of black cloth over her face, concealing her features from her eyes down.

Anko cocked her head to the side, looking over the newcomer. She stepped forward, but Naruto said, "I've got this one."

Anko stopped, then shrugged. "Alright then. I'll let you two play for a minute. Just make it quick."

Naruto nodded, forming seals. "Dojutsu: Kamigan!"

"Boss, we're being invaded!" Said one of the bandits. "They tunneled in- blew a hole in from the first floor!"

Roshi laughed. "Now you know why I'm almost always on the second floor."

The other bandits nodded. Roshi was smart. He always taught them to do exactly as they were told, taught them the best and most effective ways to use any weapons they were given. Taught them that by standing firm side by side and attacking in coordination, that fewer of them ended up on the funeral pyres and more of them lived to divvy up the cash. And he took care of his men- He'd captured medics and had an infirmary building where those medics nursed the wounded back to health.

"So what do we do?" Asked another bandit, one of his appointed captains.

"Right now, we keep scouts out there to supervise- I've sent in a little friend of my own. She won't need our support- in fact, she's going to need the mobility to fight. Anyone else there would get in her way. If she wins, we clean up the mess. If she loses... We clean up the survivors, then clean up the mess. There's no way they'll make it out without injury- at which point they'll be easy leavings for us." Mokujin paused. "And if she's still alive after the fight, first priority will be to get Kawasaki Mari to the infirmary. Even if it is only temporary, if she's on my payroll, she works for me. And we take care of our own."

The men nodded again. Sure, he did some drastic things now and again to discourage pursuit. But whatever else could be said about the Mokujin, he never, EVER left behind anyone that he didn't have to.

A man like that, well, that was a man worth following.

Hinata gasped as she watched Naruto's chakra flow to his eyes. It was vastly more complex, and there was far more going on in his brain even than what Kyakugan used, but she could definitely tell that whatever else his Kamigan was, it was based in part off of the Byakugan.

Is Naruto a member of the Hyuuga clan? She wondered. If so, he'd have to be from one of the Lost Ones.

The Lost Ones were a Branch family of the Hyuuga clan who had figured out a means by which to nullify the Caged Bird seals. One night, after most of the family had slept, they deactivated their cursed seals and attempted to overthrow the Main Family. But they had to contend with too many loyalists of the other Branch families, and the few who lived were forced to flee for their lives. It was believed that none of the Lost Ones remained in the world- the last of them had been hunted down years ago. But if they'd had any children that none knew of, it was possible that there were still some Lost Ones out there. And Naruto WAS an orphan.

Hinata knew her duty to her family was to report the possible existance of any Lost Ones. But... this is Naruto... Then Naruto dashed forward, and the enemy nin met him head on.

Naruto felt the dim pain fade away as Kyuubii's chakra went to work, and experienced the incredible rush of his awareness expanding, encompassing everything around him. Naruto had left Kubikiri Houcho in its scroll- the interior of a building was simply not practical for swinging a blade that size. Fitting it through doorways was hard enough. Instead, Naruto was using two kunai to fight, and this gave his opponent's kodachi the reach advantage. She made several handsigns as she hopped backwards out of his reach, as something glossy arose over the surface of her weapon.

Why is she coating the weapon in glass? Naruto wondered.

As she dashed forward, Naruto's Kamigan saw where the strike would go, and he immediately understood. She was channeling volatile chakra behind the glass coating of her weapon. Any sudden impact to the weapon, such as from parrying or impact, would cause the chakra to shatter the glass and drive it outwards in a razor filled spray, possibly blinding him, and giving him multiple bleeding wounds. The splinters of glass would be painful and distracting, and would slow his reaction times- not to mention the sharp shards of glass embedded in flesh would great hamper the effectiveness of any healing jutsu applied. As an attack for a fight of attrition, it was fairly nasty. But she was still on guard, still probing. She wasn't really expecting this attack to affect him, in spite of its subtlety.

All of this flashed through Naruto's mind instantaneously. He ducked the swing and rolled past her, taking a swing at her legs with each kunai in passing. She tucked up in a tight ball, avoiding the swipes, and lashed out, a thin blade flying out from between the toes of her obi. Naruto tilted his head, allowing it to zip past his ear and stop in the collar of his orange coat. He turned his head back as he rolled to his feet, catching the rear end of the balde in his teeth, before pulling it out of his collar and spitting it back at her. It wasn't a fukimibari; thus it was a little too heavy to be used optimally in such a tactic. Even so, the weapon almost hit the kunoichi, just deflecting from the weapon, and pulling her weapon out of alignment to deflect against the two Kunai, the first one herding her dodge into the second one, a throw that looked like a wild miss but was actually a bank shot that would bounce the kunai off the wall by its ring, directly into her face. Her only chance would be to catch it with her teeth- momentarily blocking Naruto from her sight.

She seemed to realize this as well, and as he charged, he saw her body replaced by Kawarimi with a Doton Bunshin. His palm impacted with the kunai, dispelling the earth clone as he retrieved his weapon, while he flung a fistful of shuriken down the hallway where she'd appeared behind him. He threw himself flat as her kodachi slapped the floor, spraying shards out in front of her in a scatter shot pattern. The walls stop those fragments quite nicely... Naruto thought to himself. Nice attack to have indoors, if your opponents aren't wearing armor.

He landed on his back, rolling to his feet backwards as the kunoichi slipped the incoming weapons- which immediately transformed into Kage Bunshin. The four bunshin immediately kicked the female nin in the back, driving her forward. As she flew towards him, Naruto noted the glint of chakra infused glass surrounding her hand. He dove to the ground, barely evading the thrust of her attack, while rolling out of the way of her palmed kunai. He was having a great time, although he was a little disappointed that she hadn't managed to land a real hit yet. That glass strike of hers... I've almost got it- if I can see it just one more time...

Mari threw her kunai. Ask and ye shall receive, I suppose... Naruto thought to himself. This is gonna suck.

Naruto flung himself away from the explosion, not quite escaping unscathed. Hundreds of tiny slivers of glass were embedded in his skin, most in his forearms, but he managed to protect his face and throat. Numerous stipples of blood covered his shirt and pants.

Naruto felt the glassy shards dissolving into his body, even as his multitude of tiny wounds closed up. Nasty. Any medic nin trying to do something about all those would have to remove each of those slivers one by one. Lucky for me...

Kyuubi finished the thought for him with a tone of mixed annoyance and self satisfaction. YES. LUCKY FOR YOU, I AM

HERE.

Naruto made half a dozen more clones, several of which hopped forward, glass coating their own fists. The dirt floor made it possible; they couldn't have used this technique on the second floor. He could only assume that the enemy nin carrying soil or sand on her person to help facilitate the attack. Their attacks were fairly suicidal; Naruto didn't see a need to attempt to preserve them in the face of all those razor sharp fragments.

The enemy nin didn't dodge them, per se- Instead, as she landed, she sank right into the dirt, as the glassy shrapnel sprayed out everywhere. Naruto tracked her progress with his Kamigan, starting to feel the drain on his chakra reserves. As she burst from the floor, attempting to strike, Naruto was waiting for her with the remaining clones, each of whom was using a glass fist.

Then, there was blood. Naruto had pulled out Kubikiri Houcho, sheltering against the torrent of glass shards behind iteven so, Naruto was still lacerated along his feet and the hand that gripped the handle, and there wasn't much left of the back of his jacket, either. He deactivated the Kamigan, and felt immediately light headed as the last sight he'd seen was burned into his memory.

Naruto pulled the sword back up out of the ground, and looked startled as the handle hit the ceiling. He saw the gory mess starting to soak into the dirt and numbly noted that an adult human body certainly had a lot of blood in it. "You guys can come out now- She's down." Naruto's eyes fell on the shredded flesh and exposed bone that had once been a living, breathing human, and he felt a wave of nausea.

Hinata emerged from around the corner looking distinctly green as well; Shikamaru didn't gain that look until after he rounded the corner. Apparently, Hinata had been watching the fight with her byakugan. Anko rounded the corner looking impressed and sticking a mirror in her pocket. "Nice work, kid. You have to teach me that move some time."

Naruto looked at the jonin with a look of equal parts disbelief and horror, but Anko merely looked him in the eye evenly.

She said, "It's an efficient move- doesn't seem to use much chakra, it's sneaky, and it's a good attack to use on groups. All things considered, I'd say it makes an excellent weapon- even if you don't have the stomach to look at its results, you can't deny its effectiveness."

Naruto just shuddered in response. Hinata watched him wrestle with the gruesome results of his fight and felt her heart reach out to him. "Naruto..."

The fight against Mokujin Roshi was anticlimactic.

Naruto, in spite of his disgust at the results from before, none the less used the glass explosion jutsu on a number of shuriken before entering the room. The men Roshi had arrayed to defend were cut down like grass, some thrashing and clawing at blinded eyes, others laying far too still as their life's blood pumped out of slashed throats. Mokujin Roshi himself crawled on elbows and knees, his hands a ruined mess, as he attempted to reach the window.

Naruto looked over at Shikamaru, who steeled himself, before reaching out with his shadow and catching the man mid crawl. Forcing him to his feet, Shikamaru said, "Mokujin Roshi. You have led men on bloody rampages through small, defenseless towns, murdered deputies sent to halt your depredations, and defied the laws of this land and civilized people everywhere. We have been sent from Konoha to put an end to your crimes, and this we shall do." As he spoke, his hands formed seals, and on his last words, a shadowy hand reached up and latched itself on Roshi's throat. Roshi's eyes bugged out but he made no sound, nor bodily motion, until the light faded from his eyes, his bowels released with a terrible stench, and his oxygen starved heart jerked, quivered, and was still. The shadow faded, and the body fell to the floor.

Anko nodded, before coming forward, severing the head of the criminal, and dropping it into a bag. "Seems like you over estimated the response time of their reinforcements from outside, Shikamaru." Anko commented.

"No, sensei." Said Hinata softly. "Their reinforcements were on their way when the support team killed them all."

"I need a bath." Shikamaru said in a voice filled with self loathing.

Anko looked at the dispirited group, their morale low in spite of their successful mission completion. "Well, then, I suppose this mission is finished. Let's return home."

Kurenai led a small group of medics away from the flaming ruins of the bandit fortifications. Behind them, the other seven walked, purposefully not looking behind them at the only funeral pyres the bandits would ever receive. Naruto looked over at Anko, who walked with a jaunty gait. "Does it truly get easier?" He asked. "Does it get easier to kill like that and not care?"

Anko's step faltered, and Naruto didn't need the byakugan to read here emotions for a bare split second, before her mask set itself in place again. "Try not to think about it- and when the dreams come, sake will chase them away." She replied. "That's what it's like to be a snake- shed it like an old skin and do your best to forget about it."

Naruto heard Kurenai clear her throat. "Naruto."

He looked up at her from where he sat. He'd long since figured out that somehow she was able to discern between his clones and his real body; he'd stopped bothering with his usual deceptions and merely forced himself to remain more alert. "Yes, Kurenai sensei?" He said. This is probably it. Our mission is finished, and now it's time to deal with me.

SHE WILL LIEKLY DRAW US AWAY FROM THE OTHERS SO AS NOT TO ALLOW ANY OF THE OTHERS TO BE INJURED IN THE PROCESS.

Can we take her?

I DO NOT KNOW. SHE IS A JONIN INSTRUCTOR, AND SHE SEEMS TO HAVE A DEFENSE AGAINST YOUR USUAL DECEPTIONS. I DO NOT KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT HER ABILITIES TO SAY FOR CERTAIN, BUT SHE WILL NOT WALK AWAY UNSCATHED.

"May I have a few minutes with you?" Kurenai asked.

Naruto knew with a sinking feeling that there could be no doubt. "Yes... Kurenai sensei." He looked out past the treeline as he stood up. "We will need to be some distance away- I would prefer... not to upset the others." He added quietly as they walked.

Does he already know what we're going to do? Kurenai thought with a hint of humor. Perhaps Hinata might have been able to safely complete this task after all. "Are you so certain there will be that much noise?"

Naruto shrugged. "Depends, I suppose." He paused. "Better that Hinata wasn't made to do this anyways."

Kurenai softly smiled. "Perhaps you misjudge her. If I hadn't ordered her aside, she would have willingly done this herself."

Naruto flinched. "Better that she... retains what innocence she has left after she saw what I've become today."

Kurenai said nothing for a while, trying to fit this display of self loathing into her image of Naruto from his academy days.

After a few minutes, Naruto spoke again. "What will you tell the others?"

Kurenai shrugged. "I don't know that anything needs to be said. Hinata will already know, of course, but she is discreet. The others may ask questions, or may not even notice."

Naruto looked at her in disbelief. "How could they NOT notice?" He asked. "I mean, it'd be kinda obvious, wouldn't it?"

"Well," Kurenai said, "I won't make a big deal out of it. If you like, I won't say anything at all if they ask. You at least have the right to your privacy."

Naruto nodded. Even if she's supposed to kill me, at least she'll let me have some dignity.

DIGNITY, IN THE FACE OF SURVIVAL, IS AT BEST A SECONDARY CONCERN.

Don't worry, bii-san. I won't die without letting you free.

. . . The voice in his mind was silent for a second, before it spoke again. YOU INTEND TO LET HER DO IT.

Naruto didn't answer.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR PLEDGE TO PROTECT THEM ALL? The voice demanded. YOU CAN'T DO THAT IF YOU'RE DEAD.

What do you care? Naruto countered. You'll be free soon. You should be happy, you upheld your honor, and you'll be rewarded as promised.

Naruto's reverie was cut off as Kurenai said from behind him, "This is far enough."

Naruto heard the soft rustle of cloth behind him. He sighed, and whipped out the scroll which held Kubikiri Houcho. In a single smooth motion he flicked it open, called the weapon forth and snatching it out of mid air as he spun to face Kurenai...

... who was standing naked in the moonlight filtering through the forest canopy, her kimono pooled on the leaves around her ankles.

There was an extremely awkward silence for about thirty seconds.

Kurenai frowned. "You're an extremely strange fourteen year old. Most boys your age would react completely different to seeing a naked woman offer herself to him." She took a step forward.

Naruto took a step back, suddenly angry. "I'm not an idiot. I invented the Sukebe Jutsu, you know! Did you really think this kind of thing would get me to lower my guard?"

Kurenai tilted her head to the side while she replayed in her mind their conversation during their walk. After a few more seconds, she reached down to the forest floor, picking up her Kimono and putting it back on, slowly retying her obi and brushing the leaves away, before she began walking back to the camp. She paused and looked over her shoulder. "I'm very glad now, that I didn't let Hinata do this. You would have completely broken her heart."

Naruto lowered his sword in confusion. You mean... she was serious? But... what... I mean, why would she...? What the heck was all that about?

WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO QUERY ME ON THE VAGARIES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR? Kyuubii asked. I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE THAT I'M AS CONFUSED AS YOU ARE.

Naruto didn't follow for a long time.

End Chapter Ten

-AN: I am going to start switching to English translations of most jutsu names. It's just become too much work trying to sift through my rudimentary Japanese and various translation services to attempt to come up with appropriate titles for each technique I come up with, especially since I'm trying to be completely original with some of my OC's. So I apologize, but some of the mysteriousness of these cool sounding Japanese phrases is going to be lost. Or at least, I've always thought it sounded more exotic and mysterious if the title was in another language.

Okay, so: Kawasaki "Kodachi" Mari is a B-class missing Nin. Mamochi Zabuza was an A-class. Why was Mari able to even put up a fight? Terrain. The mission requirements prevent Naruto from using his more devastating attacks, being that they have to kill Mokujin and bring back something identifiable from him. Naruto likes his exploding clones, really likes them- and many of the other deadly attacks he has make a similar sort of impact on the environment. Further, the cramped halls of the building prevent him from being as mobile as he likes, plus his favorite weapon isn't usable in here for the same reason. Plus, also keep in mind that in spite of Naruto's cleverness in his first fight, Zabuza got away, whatever anyone else thinks. Mari, unfortunately for her, is QUITE dead.

For those of you disappointed that there wasn't a lemon in this chapter, shame on you. I told you before, I would never write a lemon about young teens/preteens. The situation is mature, but don't sit there hoping- cause it isn't gonna happen.

Yes, Haku is gay. No Naruto is not. No, Naruto doesn't have a clue that Haku is smitten with him. This is in fact based off a funny thing that happened to me- the scene with Haku attacking Sai wildly because Sai insulted Naruto was in fact a paraphrasing of an incident that happened in high school, from this guy who was my best friend. We used to hang out, catch movies, game D&D together, etc. Every so often, he would do or say something that I would stop and think, Huh? That's weird... and then file it away for future reference. The attack against the other guy who called me a chickenshit was really out of proportion to the insult; I was gonna deck the guy anyhow as soon as he grew the balls to actually put hands on me, but Joel just blitzed him and beat the living hell out of him. Long story short, this and other things sat completely not understood in my memory for long after I left Lancaster. Every so often, I'd remember things, think about them, say Huh... That was weird, wasn't it? and then file it away again, until one day, fourteen years later, with my new perspective on people I thought about that stuff, added it up together, and realized... Oh shit! Joel was gay, and he had a crush on me!

Then I felt really bad cause I can relate to having a crush on someone who's completely clueless about it, and it sucked bad. I didn't feel anything even remotely the same about him, so I suppose me being clueless was probably better than outright rejecting him, but I dunno. Anyhow, not really sure what the point of all this is, except kind of a catharsis wishing I'd been able to do something to fix the situation. So wherever Joel is, well, I wish him happiness and if he were ever to read this fic I'd want him to know that he's still my friend, even after all these years. So I guess Haku in this story is kind of a tribute to Joel, or something, with me doing my amateur-authorish best to put myself in his shoes and portray an unrequited type of love for someone who is totally clueless.

Aright, I guess that about covers it. Thanks again for the radership. Question me direct or post in the reviews, I try to answer my mail as faithfully as possible.

-AXENOME