*Chapter 28*: Chapter Twenty Five: Broken Dreams

Chapter Twenty Five: Broken Dreams

"Two more, last night."

Kakashi was pulling Hokage duty again, today. He wasn't certain of it, but he was beginning to suspect that Sarutobi sama was getting even with him for all the paperwork Kakashi had caused since he became a jounin. "Councilors or just aides?"

"One of each." Answered the ANBU. There was a moment of hesitation, then, "Hokage sama? There has been... talk."

Kakashi caught himself sighing as he'd often seen Sarutobi do. Must be an occupational hazard. If any of this ever comes out and they get some crazy idea to put me in this job full time, I'll tell them exactly where they can wear these robes and how often they can flush it afterwards. He fixed the ANBU with a tired glare. "Talk of what?"

The ANBU paused significantly. "The talk... whispers, really... they say that it is one of the Kages."

Kakashi grimaced visibly. He leaned back in the Hokage's chair and looked for a long moment at the pipe that had become so familiar to his teeth and his lips. A pipe that, while not rightfully his, had come to feel as though it's proper place was in Kakashi's hands. He took a single, long draw on it, tasting the fragrant smoke as it ran across his tongue, wisps of it wafting into his sinuses while the majority of it entered his lungs. The light rush filled his head as he held the draw for a moment for a few seconds, before letting it out in a thin stream through his teeth with a long, slow exhale in the direction of the window.

Kakashi felt the eyes of the ANBU on his and sighed again. "Torate, I trust your ability in remaining silent on the matter." Kakashi paused, then spoke in an honesty so complete that it was perfect misdirection. "I am at a loss to discern his motives for what he is doing... but I am certain, beyond any possibility of doubt, that this is the work of a Kage. And I am likewise certain that his skill at evasion exceeds any skills I possess to catch him."

The ANBU trembled. His voice was a slightly wavering whisper. "Hanzou?"

Kakashi did not answer. Instead, he tapped out the still smouldering wad of tabacco from the pipe into the ash tray on the desk. "Torate, get some rest. There is nothing more you can do for me here tonight."

Long after the ANBU, reluctantly, left, Kakashi sat at the desk, alternately staring at the empty, cooling pipe, and out the window of the Hokage tower. "What are you doing, now, and why?" He muttered.

Neither the pipe nor the night answered him.

Hinata felt cold panic seep into her bones. This wasn't supoposed to happen, not this fast. The negotiations were supposed to take longer, several meetings at least. Terms had to be dictated, a common ground met, offer and counter offer made. But on the first offer she gave, after some twenty seconds of consideration, Tsunade had accepted.

Hinata had voiced her surprise. "The house of Hyuuga had expected a longer negotiation."

Tsunade held up a hand, as Shizune started to speak. Tunade said, "I had time to think on something your boyfriend said. Honestly, it was the most important thing anyone had said to me in the last six years."

Naruto had spoken up then. "You need to get that idea out of your head. I am not her boyfriend, only her protector."

Tsunade only smiled. "It would not be the first time the protector of the heir was selected as an appropriate match in marriage."

Naruto's voice was soft, but his words were crushing. "A marriage would never be permitted to a fatal crossing of kekkei genkai. It is already fairly well known that crossing Sharingan and Byakugan result in certain death for any who manifest both traits; I can only imagine how terrible the damage to any children whose bloodlines crossed her byakugan and my kamigan."

Hinata had never thought through to the logical conclusion of what a marriage to Naruto might mean. For a moment she tried to convince herself that it would be alright, that his dojutsu had to be an offshoot of the byakugan. Their eyes had so much in common for how they operated.

But deep down she felt a bubble of fear lodge itself in her soul, and it refused to let go. She finally blurted, "But Naruto, there's no guarantee-"

Naruto looked at Hinata, nodding slightly. "So it was me after all." He said.

The silence that followed was awkward. Naruto was the one to break it. "Hyuuga san, your Byakugan can, amongst its other abilities, see chakra directly. I know of the Kamigan that it will merge, or attempt to merge, with the Byakugan. And any alteration to the Kamigan that incurs the ability to see chakra is invariably fatal to the bearer." Hinata's voice choked in her horrified gasp. He went on relentlessly. "For the sake of the children, the two kekkei genkai that the Kamigan must never be crossed with, are the Sharingan... and the Byakugan. What you want from me can never be."

As Hinata began crying silently, Shizune and Kurenai both began directing looks of hatred towards Naruto. It was Shizune who spoke both of their minds. "Regardless of how right you may or may not be, you are an unmitigated bastard. I hope you rot in hell."

Naruto turned emotionless eyes in Shizune's direction, and replied, "There can be no room for misinterpretation, error, or false hope. This unpleasant experience is far preferable to what she would live with every day of the rest of her life, as she stood over the graves of her children. This cannot be allowed to happen. Not to anyone, and especially not to the heiress of the Hyuuga clan."

Naruto looked away from all of them. "This meeting has filled its purpose and isn't meant to be a lecture on marriage, cruelty, or genetics. May we adjourn this meeting, Hyuuga-san?"

Hinata did not answer immediately; Naruto waited patiently for a minute. Finally, he said, "Hyuuga-sama."

The honorific got everyone's attention. Naruto almost never used 'Sama.' It just wasn't in his character to be so formal or to acknowledge special rank. Even Hinata was jarred- she looked up at him expectantly.

"Hyuuga-sama, I am currently assigned as your protector. I feel I must remind you that we are in hostile territory, and even though I am charged with your welfare I cannot stress enough the need for you to be ready to fight, act, and most importantly of all, to decide. You are the appointed leader of this mission. You MUST put aside your emotions, because if you are unable to lead, then we fail."

Hinata gritted her teeth, trying to force the emotion back down, lock it away. She mastered herself, finally, adjusting her features and expression until the only clue to her crying was her red rimmed eyes and the puffiness around them. Naruto gathered chakra to his hands and gave her a questioning look- Hinata gave him a short nod. He raised his hands to her face, reducing the swelling and tissue agitation until all traces of it were gone.

Hinata took a deep breath. We will end this meeting. We depart for Konoha tomorrow morning."

"Why tomorrow?" Asked Tsunade, casting a meaningful glance outside- it was only barely afternoon. "There's plenty of daylight left."

Because I need to stall for time, and tomorrow morning will ensure we don't get back before the deadline. Thought

Hinata. Out loud, she answered, "I prefer that we all be rested well before we set out, and I assume you wish time to collect your things from wherever you are staying. Leaving tomorrow will give us ample time for both." Hinata stood and gave a short bow to Tsunade. "If we may meet again just inside the city on the south road, one half hour after sunlight?" There were no objections, and the Konoha ninja took their collective leave.

Shizune gave a snort of disgust that she'd been suppressing. "Rude, insensitive, obnoxious, self righteous-" "Shizune."

"He's heartless!" Shizune yelled. "She loves him and he doesn't care!"

Tsunade stared at the table for a few long moments. Outside, a solitary bird chirped softly, unanswered, but still vocal. "He acts like her feelings don't matter!" Shizune said after a pause.

"Or perhaps... like feelings in general don't matter in the face of what is more important, hers... or anyone's." Tsunade answered distantly.

"What does she see in him?" Shizune grumbled, unappeased- Tsunade wasn't even certain the younger woman had heard her.

"'I don't know what she sees, because I can't see through her eyes. Just through my own.' The niidaime Hokage said that about his wife before he even became Hokage." Tsunade answered. "And I can only tell you what I see in him."

"What?" Shizune demanded, whirling on her teacher. "What do YOU see in him, then?"

Tsunade looked at her apprentice with exhausted, age filled eyes. She's so much like me. Tsunade thought. Mercurial, quick to anger when something offends her sensibilities... and Naruto is like me as well, the front he puts up, hiding his feelings about those around him from himself more than anyone else.

"Well?" Shizune asked. "What do you see in him?"

Tsunade's eyes were sad, and she looked away from her apprentice. "The same thing I see when I look at you. I see a mirror."

Late afternoon. Ebisu sensei was watching as Naruto molded his chakra flow carefully in the fashion that he'd been directed to. After a point about two thirds of the way through the shaping, the jonin called out, "Freeze."

Naruto stopped his shaping, instead focusing on maintaining the exact pattern of chakra in absolute stasis, holding the charge of it, even his breathing at a bare minimum, as the jonin used a medical diagnostic jutsu to examine the patterns he'd woven. After a long moment, the jonin gave an approving nod. "Excellent. Proceed."

Naruto, however, did not, realization dawning across his features as it did across his awareness.

Naruto finally got it. The bizarre, exacting chakra control exercises that forced him to multitask, using multiple chakra pathways at once, the practice of one handed seals in tandem with complete independance of one another, the new techniques- all of it.

Many ninja were good enough to perform two jutsus in rapid succession. But there wasn't a ninja alive who could do two different jutsus at the exact same time... until now.

Naruto was angry with himself for not seeing the point of it all from the beginning. He was starting to understand just how much he'd been depending on the Kyuubii's keen observations and suggestions. Bit by bit, he'd been letting the Kyuubii do his thinking for him. Not all of it, and not all of the time... But still, any of it was too much.

Bii-san. He thought. I enjoy our little talks... but from now on, don't point out anything unless it's someone's life on the line, or I ask you for help.

IT'S ABOUT TIME.

Late evening, the day of their departure for Konoha. Ten days until the Chunin exam finals, four days from home. The group had been maintaining a brisk walk through underbrush and game trails, avoiding the tree tops and sacrificing speed in favor of stealth. They were halted now, somewhat earlier than they ordinarily would have stopped, as they allowed Shizune and Tsunade to relax- although they were no strangers to walking, it had been some time since Tsunade had needed to get anywhere according to a time table, and they wanted to pace themselves to avoid tiring her out too much to fight effectively should the need arise.

Tsunade, of course, tolerated this deference just barely, and avoided making her annoyance known at their treatment... but Naruto could see it, just a little. This was no ordinary older woman, but a warrior, and while she might not have quite the crisp snap of youth in her step that she once did, this woman still had a few good fights left in her.

"You've done quite well these last few days, Uzumaki san." Commented Ebisu. "Your control has improved to a great degree."

"Thank you, sensei." Naruto replied almost mechanically. He was holding out both hands, palm up, while from the tip of each finger supported a kunai on its point. His chakra was carefully rotating each one in either clockwise or counterclockwise direction, and Ebisu was having him randomly change directions and speeds.

Ebisu could hear the note of Naruto's voice and sighed, pushing his glasses higher onto his nose. "Uzumaki san. What is on your mind?"

"Nothing." Naruto said.

"Stop the exercise." Ebisu ordered. "It's fairly clear that you've grasped the methodology and acquired the knack for effectively splitting your attention without sacrificing any aspect of your control. Yet I am concerned, Uzumaki san."

Naruto rapidly snapped up all the kunai, putting them away, then hopped from the side of the tree down to the ground. He unslung Kubikiri Houcho and created a Kage Bunshin, then began facing off against himself, replaying portions of the fight he'd had with Orochimaru. He was still in the beginning stages of it, but bit by bit he was constructing forms to practice. "Why?" He asked as he did so.

Ebisu was uncertain how to proceed. "Well, you are always studious, but your successes never-"

Ebisu never finished the sentence- the both of them turned their heads at the sound of shattering glass. Naruto engaged the Kamigan, then swore sulfurously. "We're under atack!"

The approach had been textbook. The joint pursuit squads from Iwa and Kumo had meshed excellently. When it became clear that the Konoha nin were stopping for the evening, the teams withdrew a little, observing as the blonde kid created dozens of clones and set them about their campsite, laying snares everywhere. The pursuit teams noted every snare, every wire, every glass globe he laid...

... And yet somehow, they'd still missed one.

Now, as two Iwa genin lay bleeding in the dirt, the remaining eight Iwa nin and six Kumo nin rushed in, hoping a rapid assault would make up for the loss of stealth.

Orochimaru, watching from a distance through the foliage with binoculars, was torn between concern that the Uzumaki brat was becoming too powerful, and glee on just how badly he and Tsunade outclassed their opposition. The boy was certainly a match for Kabuto, now- the finesse he'd lacked from his prior fight with Orochimaru was glaringly evident. The was no wasted motion, little wasted chakra, and each attack was measured and calculated to put himself and his next targets exactly where he wanted them. He exhibited none of the jutsu stealing abilities of the Sharingan, it was true, but much like the Sharingan his battle instincts seemed precognitive, and there were no holes in his situational awareness.

Within twenty seconds Naruto and Tsunade were fighting as though they'd worked together for years, and within another ten seconds the fight was over. But then it's almost a given that the two would work well together. Orochimaru thought to himself. In the case of Tsunade, she's had no peers since I left Konoha, and I doubt Naruto has had a true peer ever. If something isn't done to separate the two of them, I may never get my hands on the brat.

He chuckled to himself as Tsunade surveyed the carnage left from one of the glass bomb techniques. It appears she hasn't lost her fear of blood. He noted.

"Kabuto." Orochimaru said out loud.

"Orochimaru sama?" Kabuto responded, at his side in an instant.

"I am going to need two body donors, one between mid twenties and early thirties, the other in his early teens, both male.

Please fetch them for me and meet up with us outside out number three forward base."

"Yes, Orochimaru sama."

"Zabuza."

"Yeah boss?" Said the former Mizu nin.

"Bring the others."

"Kidomaru too?"

"No." Orochimaru answered. "Have him conserve his strength. I may be able to salvage him yet, if I play my cards right." "Why do you do it?"

Kurenai stopped in her instruction and looked at Naruto. "What?"

Naruto was not following her instructions- his last attempt had raised a mound of earth two and a half feet high and about seven wide. At this rate, he'd be able to create a wall in only a few more tries.

But he wasn't practicing the jutsu, instead just standing there looking at her. "Why do you teach me? You should hate me for having to hurt Hinata the way I did."

Kurenai answered stiffly, "My feelings don't matter while I am on duty. The only thing that matters is the mission."

Naruto sat down on the mound of dirt, his elbows on his knees so that his hands hung between them. He suddenly looked very tired. "I miss sleeping." He said.

Kurenai was hesitant in her reply. "The medics said that your brain-"

Naruto cut her off. "That's not sleep. My brain kind of rests, my body relaxes, I'm not falling over or muscles aching or eyes burning but- but that's not sleep. I don't get to forget things for afew hours. I don't get to forget the past, I don't get to dream about better things. My body is changed. I don't even need to rest, really- my body re-energizes as fast as it expends energy, if I push myself hard enough. I can just be... on duty... every hour, every day... for the rest of my life." Naruto stood back up and began practicing again, submerging the mound flat, then raising it rapidly, to higher than he had before. "If I keep pushing, I don't even have to eat, I think. But I'm afraid to try it because my guess might be right."

Kurenai felt light headed and numb as she began to consider what such a life would be like.

Naruto kept talking. "Rule twenty-five of shinobi conduct: A shinobi must never show their emotions. So I don't let anyone know that I hate it, that I hate this, and between the Kyuubii and the changes to my body it doesn't really matter if I rest- it doesn't affect my performance. My mind was toughened when my body was changed, so I don't even have the comfort of someday just going crazy. And it's already happened a little, that I'm taking the watches, because I don't need sleep, and I'm guarding the perimeters of the base along with my clones because I know my own mind and can coordinate better with myself than anyone else, and when they find out back home I'll get sent on more missions, longer ones, and I'll come back, and they'll keep trying, keep pushing whether I want to push or not, they'll keep trying to find my limits, and I'm scared that either I'll fail and it'll hurt the village, or just as bad, I'll find- they'll find- that I have no limits, and this will be all I will ever know for the rest of my life."

Naruto stopped. Kurenai waited for a few long seconds as Naruto began to form the signs for the Doton he'd been practicing, then let his hands drop. He said nothing more, so she decided to speak. "Naruto... what do you feel about

Hinata?"

"Rule twenty-five of shinobi-" He began.

"Bullshit." Kurenai snapped. "If things are really this bad, when will you have time to talk to anyone about it?"

"Time?" Naruto questioned softly. "I have time. Lots of it. It's everyone else who needs more time. I don't even know if I can die. I don't know if I can get old."

"Not all of us can go without sleep indefinitely." Kurenai said with the beginnings of a smile. "So I don't know when I'll have time to listen- and has anyone else ever asked you about how you feel?"

Naruto stared at the mound of earth in front of him quietly for a minute, digesting what she'd said. Finally, he said, "Hinata was nice to me. She always has been, even before I got so strong that everyone was scared of 's been a good friend. She's a good person, and deserves a good husband, one who can make her happy, not someone who will be so buried in work that he'd never see her. She deserves a husband who will father children that won't die from his kekkei genkai. She deserves better than to be looked at the way people look at me. She deserves better than me."

"Aren't you a little arrogant?" Kurenai said. "Assuming you know what will make her happy. Assuming you know the future.

Things change. And often, they change for the better."

Naruto snorted derisively, one of the few open and honest emotional displays Kurenai had ever seen him display. "Things only change when people want them to change." He answered. "And the way I am now, I'm too useful. Given the choice... between a perfect tool, and a human being... people will always chose the tool. And to them, I was never human. Only people can hope for change. All I can hope for is that I can at least be recognized as useful, instead of hated."

Naruto put a hand on the mound of earth, gripped a fistful of soil, and let it trickle between his fingers.

Temari blinked in confusion. "A mission?" She asked. "In the middle of the exams? What if he gets hurt or..." She trailed off.

"Good riddance." Snorted one of the older nurses, a woman in her mid twenties. "That thing shouldn't have been made a ninja in the first place."

"Why do you even want to know about that guy?" Kankuro muttered to her as they left. "He's just like Gaara, demon and everything."

Temari spun on her brother, just let out of Konoha hospital five minutes ago and she already wanted to smack him. "He's not like Gaara! Naruto, he's... well..."

Kankuro sighed. "Temari, he bought you a weapon to replace the one he broke. It's not a bouquet of flowers, it's not a box of chocolates, and it's not a damned diamond. Plus, he's two years younger than you. You're acting like an idiot, and besides, you already know why..." He trailed off.

And she did know why it was pointless to even think about him in anything other than clinical terms. Because in less than two weeks, Konoha was going to be eradicated, likely Naruto along with it- judging by his performance in the final exam preliminaries, he was canny, even somewhat skilled- but against Gaara he stood no more chance than anyone else.

In fact, the only way she could see for Konoha to survive was for someone to warn them ahead of time.

There comes a time in many lives where there is a convergence of circumstances. A time when people, connected by chance but unaware of their connection or its significance, engage in distant actions that are none-the-less highly symetrical or complementary. One example is the old tale of your ears burning or a sudden sneeze from nowhere when someone is talking about you.

Of course, many discount this sort of thing as old wives tales and superstition...

But still...

From culture to culture...

These sorts of ideas...

Keep...

Coming...

Up.

And at the time they are brushed aside.

But after the fact, when stories are swapped, memories exchanged, there is a degree of chagrin as those involved realize the coincidence that took place, and admit to one another that it was JUST coincidence, and nothing more. And they even believe it.

Until waking up in the middle of the night, in utter solitude and darkness, where they know better.

That connection has meaning. And in our barest, truest moments of self honesty, we know it to the very marrow of our bones.

Just like premonition- just because you do not believe in it...

... Does not mean IT does not believe in YOU.

Two people, in two separate places, feel something coming. Something coming very soon.

Sarutobi Hiruzen awoke out of a solid sleep, entombed in breathing earth far from prying and searching eyes. A stab of fear paused his beating heart as his mind's eye conjured again the picture from his dream of a three headed serpent coiled companionably around a monstrous racoon, and behind it, a hand held their leashes, a hand whose thumb wore a ring that he could not see clearly, but seemed to be made of intertwined vines and filled him with terror.

Then the scene was gone from his mind, his heart started beating again, and all that remained was the vague memory of a nameless dread along with the vision of a burning leaf.

Sarutobi had a moment of full wakefulness with which to ponder this, but his nights over the last month had been long and arduous, and before he could formulate any interpretation, sleep welled up once again and claimed him once more. By the time he awoke late in the afternoon, all memory of it was forgotten as he clambered through soil to the surface and began his work anew.

Naruto formed one handed signs, independantly in each hand. This was his first genuine attempt at two simultaneous jutsu, and his training with Ebisu sensei was paying off magnificently. He could feel his disparate chakra paths, felt the two separate, distinct patterns he was molding, and now possessed the focus to see each through to its conclusion.

It had culminated in the combinatory assault he was testing out here.

In a split second earth rose up around the target dummy he'd set up, encasing it in a dome of soil, the interior of which was converting into glass even as it rose out of the ground. With a thunderous clap the dome sealed off, triggering the volatile, chakra infused glass to explode inwards, from literally every direction at once.

His mind's eye pictured what would happen to the foe, the repeated layers of inward blasting glass, coupled with the ever thickening wall of dirt closing in, crushing his foe like a fist of water as clear as glass, closing around a konoha academy student, blood spraying like a fountain in the morning sun-

Naruto screamed, and the spherical dome of dirt collapsed inward. Naruto felt a moment of irrational terror as his Kamigan engaged, but all it revealed was the shredded target dummy. As Ebisu shunshined to the ground from his tree blind, Naruto swallowed hard.

"F-forgive me, I saw- I mean, I must have- Must have been dreaming."

Ebisu sighed. "Uzumaki san, you are well versed in the craft of the Shinobi- you have taken to your training with an aptitude and a fervor that is rare and a joy to anyone who truly cherishes teaching. I am therefore certain you know the importance of silence during a mission." He pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose, and said, "Naruto... regardless of what your medic nins say, you cannot function without adequate rest. I am taking you off night watches for the remainder of the mission. If we come under attack, you will join us as normal, and during the day you are expected to pull your own weight as normal. But you have not had any down time in the two and a half weeks we've been gone, and I am enforcing this as team leader."

Ebisu paused, and forestalled Naruto's protest with an upraised hand. "My word is final on this matter. If I have to, I'll take my case directly to the Hokage." Naruto frowned, then his expression calmed slightly as he settled a little. Ebisu continued, "If you need help sleeping, speak to Tsunade sama. But I will not see a shinobi of your caliber go to waste if any effort on my part can change it."

Naruto sighed. "I thought you didn't like me. I know that all you see when you see me is the fox. Why do you care now?"

Ebisu gave a small smile to the blonde genin. "That was true, once. But I think it is best summed up by something the Sandaime Hokage once told me when I was a new chunin: 'You cannot, no matter their faults, no matter your wishes, you cannot hate someone who is truly your student. And when you are their teacher, you cannot help but love them.'" "When did he say that?" Naruto asked.

"When I asked him why he let Orochimaru run away, instead of killing him for his crimes against the village." Ebisu answered, his smile growing somewhat sad. "And no matter that the fox is within you, you are nothing like Orochimaru. Go to Tsunade, Naruto. Get some rest."

Temari was bored.

Back home, when she was bored, she would seek out her father, and request a mission, or else go to the Kazekage building and watch the various departments work.

Her father was almost a stranger to her now, and here, all she could do was sightsee and train. Bother had long since lost their charm.

So now, she had little to do except sit and run her fingers across the filigree on her fan.

"Stop it."

Temari looked up from the park bench. Kankuro was standing over her, looking annoyed. "Yeah, you heard me." he said.

"Stop thinking about him."

Temari gave an exasperated sigh. "I wasn't thinkin about Naruto."

"Sure you weren't."

"I was thinking about how I have nothing to do." Temari insisted.

"Go train." Kankuro replied, sitting down next to her on the bench with a tired groan.

"Unlike you," Temari said drily, "I haven't been cooped up in the hospital for two and a half weeks. I'm sick of training." "No less boring in there. At least you got the option." Kankuro scowled. "I still don't have the energy to do any training." "I thought you were recovered from the poison." Temari said.

"Yeah, mostly. But they had to use broad spectrum antivenoms and neutralizing agents to keep me alive long enough to remove the poisons from Karasu, and those things have their own shares of side effects." Kankuro replied. He leaned back, looking at the Konoha citizens passing by in their day to day activities. "Look at these people. They go about their way without a care in the world. They've never wanted for anything."

"They aren't the problem. The daimyo of Kaze no Kuni is the problem." Temari countered. "It's his choice to cut our funding that's hurting Sunagakure no Sato."

"So we're taking out the competition."

"Konoha is the strongest of the hidden villages."

"Stronger than any one of us." Kankuro said, plucking a piece of grass, and nibbling at the soft end. "Not as strong as three of us together."

"And if you're wrong?" Temari asked. "If father is wrong? What then, brother?"

Kankuro spit the blade of grass out and looked to the sky. Rather than answer, he reached into a pocket and pulled out a blue book. He tossed it into Temari's lap casually. "Here. You said you were bored."

"What's this?" She asked.

"Konoha's bingo book." He answered. "Latest edition."

Temari began flipping pages casually. There was no more talking for half an hour or so as Temari perused the bingo book, comparing it to the suna version she carried with her, making mental note of any differences she found as she did so.

Then she reached Kirigakure listings.

"Kankuro... How new is this bingo book?" She asked.

"Huh?" Kankuro blinked at her owlishly. Sometime while she'd been reading he'd fallen asleep. "N'nides'ka?"

"How new is this?" She repeated.

"Guy at the desk said it was only put out just before the exams." He answered. "Why?"

"Well, a lot of the lower listings, B-ranked and below, have a few differences, but up until here any A-rank and S-rank listings are virtually identical." Temari passed him the book.

"Mamochi Zabuza. Bingo Rank A, Jonin, status active. Signature Jutsus, suiton based. Signature weapon, Kubikiri

Houcho." Kankuro frowned as he saw the handle of a zanbato peeking over Zabuza's shoulder. "Hey, I've seen that thing."

"That's not what I wanted to show you." Temari snapped waspishly. "Here's the Konoha version." She handed Kankuro the other book.

"Mamochi Zabuza, Bingo Rank A, Jonin, status Unknown but presumed Dead..." Kankuro turned the page, and frowned again, stabbing at the page with his finger. "Temari, I've-" Kankuro suddenly froze, and his face was pale.

Temari looked where her brother was pointing. His finger was resting on the full view picture of Kubikiri Houcho on the

next page. This was a picture that Sunagakure lacked of the weapon, and Temari felt a chill run down her spine. "That's-" She stopped.

"You think it might be a copy?" Kankuro asked.

Temari ran her fingers across her battlefan. "We both know the answer to that." She replied.

Kankuro flipped back to the preceding page to look into the eyes of Zabuza's picture. "We're making a lot of assumptions based on little data."

"No." Temarui shook her head. "We're drawing conclusions based on a number of previously disconnected bits of information that, with the addition of the datum we've gained today, seem to form into a coherent, logical whole."

"Maybe there's another answer?" Kankuro said. "Maybe someone gave it to him."

"Maybe you didn't notice, but most of the genin in Konoha are terrified of him, save for his own team and one or two others." Temari said. "And he seems to not be much liked by any of the civilians, from what I saw of him before he left."

Kankuro looked puzzled. "But he got you that war fan. There has to be SOMEBODY here that likes him."

"They didn't make my new fan because they liked him- a piece like this, and in less than a full day? That's the kind of thing you do for someone that your entire clan owes something to, like several life debts." Temari said, wincing slightly. "You could serve a clan of master craftsmen faithfully for decades with distinguishment and still not get something like this."

Kankuro let out a low whistle. "And he just gave it to you?"

Temari nodded. "He already had a weapon, he said." Temari flipped the page back to the picture of the Kiri nin's zanbato. "The shinobigatana no kirigakure would never simply leave their weapon laying around. The only way to take it would be to pry it from his dead fingers."

"So the only real possibility is that he's the one who killed Zabuza." Kankuro finished for her.

Temari nodded.

"Then we need to speak to Baki." Kankuro stated grimly.

End Chapter 25

AN: Spoiler alert. I have been following the Chapters being released for Naruto every week from Kishimoto quite faithfully. And now, as of chapters 459 and 460, I must respectfully say: Kishimoto sensei... You have corrupted your own work. You have taken a great concept and befouled it. You have defiled Pain's character and utterly compromised his personality and protrayal by having him suicide to bring all the konoha villagers back to life. Screw you, Kishimoto. You fucking Moron.

Look at it realistically: A fifteen minute(tops) conversation with someone who contains the LAST REMAINING PIECE of your ultimate doomsday weapon, your ultimate goal in sight, the untold thousands of people you've killed to see your dream become reality, and the final stage of your plan about to be revealed and executed... and then a quote from a book from the teacher you surpassed and KILLED is gonna make you go all sweetness and light? AAAAAGGGHHHH KISHIMOTO SAN ARE YOU INSANE?

Ugh. End spoiler.

My apologies for the incredible lateness of this chapter. My time is increasingly leveraged and with the impending doom of the free market economy I find myself working ever harder and longer for progressively less gain. Maybe I should move to Japan and invest in the new generation of autonomous robots, sitting pretty and getting fat off the profits, right until the inevitable robot rebellion in which I will get to display my marvelous prowess at the construction of weapons with which to ping uselessly off of their indestructible titanium-unobtanium alloyed armored shells. Maybe if I can use my useless home made weapons to play the god father theme on multiple killer bots, they'll keep me as a pet for their amusement. ". Ha ha ha."

Or something like that.

Never mind. Sleep deprivation is a really amazing thing.

Next time: Naruto is Home, People Talk, and The Conspiracy is exposed.

Ja Mata.

-AXENOME