Shinobi Odyssey
"Normal speech."
"Speaking in a foreign language."
Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and all the characters from the anime and manga. The Stargate franchise is owned by MGM.
Please do not reproduce this story without the permission of the author, huntsvilletiger. Plagiarizers will be locked in a closet with a bag of rabid attack squirrels and forced to listen to a looped-recording of the 'Barney Song.'
Chapter 3: Interesting Times are a Coming
Earth - SGC
"Hi, Daniel," Sam said as she and O'Neill sat down across the table from him in the commissary. Daniel, whose mouth was full of food, nodded and smiled at them.
After Daniel finished swallowing, O'Neill asked "How's it going with Hinata," he looked to Sam who nodded to let him he got the first name right, "and…wait…don't tell me…umm, what's his name, the one with the Lisa Simpson hairdo…got it! Naruto, right?"
Daniel flashed an uncharacteristically broad, if somewhat nervous, grin and gave O'Neill a big thumbs up. It was at this point both O'Neill and Sam noticed the overloaded tray of food that looked suspiciously as if Daniel had gone down the cafeteria line grabbing one of everything. "Hungry are we?"
Daniel merely smiled at them again before nervously ducking his head back down and taking another bite of his cake.
Sam was about to ask if he was feeling okay when a second Daniel walked into the commissary reading from a three ring binder. The second Daniel spotted O'Neill and Carter, but not the first Daniel whose back was to him. "Hey, Jack, Sam, I was just reading over SG-4's report from…uh, is something wrong." Sam and O'Neill, along with the rest of the commissary, were looking wide-eyed back and forth between the two Daniels. The room went dead silent except for the ping of O'Neill's dropped spoon hitting the table.
The second Daniel did a double take when he finally noticed the first seated at the table. The first Daniel swallowed the food in his mouth and then vanished in a puff of smoke, revealing an embarrassed looking Naruto dressed in a black t-shirt and orange pants. "Sorry…I know I was supposed to stay in bed, but I was reeaaalllyyy hungry. Hey, this is probably a bad time to ask, but is there any chance they serve ramen here?"
O'Neill let out a relieved breath of air before slumping down in his chair. "Oh, thank God! Kid, don't ever scare me like that again! One of him is more than enough!"
With the exception of an annoyed glance, Daniel chose to ignore the comment in favor of asking Naruto a question. "If you're here, who was that asleep in your bed when I stopped by the infirmary a couple minutes ago?"
Naruto was about to answer when he suddenly froze except for his eyes, which shot open wide in fear. He blurted out something in rapid fire Japanese and started looking around the commissary in a panic before zeroing in on a brown-haired airman sitting at another table. Naruto henged himself to look like the airman, shoveled a last couple of forkfuls of chocolate cake into his mouth, took a quick gulp of his milk, and then bolted out the door of the commissary before anyone could think to stop him.
O'Neill looked up at Daniel "What'd he just say?"
"I think he said, 'Oh, shit. I'm screwed. She tried to put the IV back in the clone.'"
A minute later, the sound of running feet and a woman's angry sounding voice could be heard coming from down the hallway.
"Is that Janet?" Sam asked; only to have her question answered a moment later when a frazzled looking Dr. Fraiser burst into the commissary with two SFs on her heels.
"Which way did he go?" She growled. Everyone in the room pointed in the direction she had just come from. "He looks like me," the brown-haired airman added helpfully. Dr. Fraiser and the SFs ran back in the direction of the infirmary.
"Why do I get the feeling the times are about to get a lot more interesting around here?" O'Neill asked rhetorically.
"Jack, you realize the Chinese consider that a curse, don't you?" Daniel asked.
"I know. I'm just saying."
Naruto's World
Ino laughed with the man and woman holding onto her hands when they lifted her up and over the mud puddle. She could feel herself grinning ear-to-ear when her feet touched the ground. The man asked her something, and she looked up at his face and nodded excitedly. The face looking back at her was strikingly similar to her father's: steely blue eyes that held unexpected warmth; a strong, chiseled chin; the same dirty blond hair, minus her dad's ponytail; and a relaxed, yet confidant smile. The only glaring difference was the tattoo on the man's forehead where her father's leaf forehead protector should have resided.
Ino turned her head to look up at the woman, hopeful…no, seeking permission. That was the feeling. The woman's dark brown hair and eyes and tanned complexion stood in stark contrast to the man's fairer features, yet the same warmth and parental affection was visible in her eyes. The woman brought a curled finger to the edge of her mouth and adopted a thoughtful expression. Ino could see the barely concealed smile. The woman was teasing her by making her wait. Just as Ino was starting to get annoyed, the woman laughed and nodded her head.
They turned toward a booth a short distance away. Ino realized they were at some kind of festival, much like the Hokage's Day festival she went to with her own family every year. Brightly colored banners hung from buildings and between poles. Families strolled together down the stone paved streets. Groups of children played games at some of the booths. The wonderful smell of something baking wafted through the air the closer they got to their destination.
The man… no, father, holding her hand spoke to an older woman behind the counter who smiled and handed over some kind of pastry wrapped in crinkled white paper. The father passed the warm dessert to Ino and ruffled her hair. She took a bite, savoring the taste of gooey, sweet fruit filling and flakey, buttery bread the way only a child enjoying an unexpected treat can. A shop door a few feet away opened, and Ino saw the reflection of a boy seven or eight years old with light brown hair and a tattoo on his forehead like his parents' in the glass staring back at her. A small spot of the sticky filling was smeared on his face near the corner of his mouth. Ino reached up and wiped the mess off her face with the edge of the pastry wrapper, the boy in the reflection mirroring her every move.
Ino returned to the man's mindscape, still feeling the contentment and happiness of the last memory as she searched for the next one. She had allowed herself to spend too much time in the memory of the festival, despite its irrelevance to her mission, but after searching the minds of four other prisoners that day and experiencing some things she would quite frankly rather forget, she felt entitled. Besides, she might have been able to glean something useful from even such an innocent memory. What she and her father were doing really was like piecing together a giant jigsaw puzzle. Even a seemingly insignificant tidbit of information might turn out to be the one key piece that allowed them to figure out how all the others fit into the completed process.
Spotting another point of light nearby that signified a vivid memory, Ino's disembodied mind floated toward it. She reached out and touched the glowing orb and felt the familiar rushing sensation of her consciousness integrating itself into the memory. This time she felt an overwhelming sensation of fear and dread wash over her. She was no longer a child, but a full-grown man. Before her, she recognized the same woman and man from before, the parents of the man whose mind she was exploring. Their features were surprisingly untouched by the years Ino knew must have passed between the two memories.
The father was kneeling before her. Dried blood was on his forehead, and a nasty bruise marred his left cheek. Two men in chain mail and plate armor stood to either side of the father tightly gripping his arms and shoulders to hold him in place. A strange sounding voice caused her to look up at a man dressed in golden armor. He glared back at her. His eyes glowed with an unnatural light that filled her with panic. She jerked her head back first to the father, then the mother, before the kneeling man yelled at her. Their eyes met; there was a pleading, overwrought expression on his face. He was begging, yet for some reason Ino felt herself freeze, unable to do whatever it was he wanted. She looked to the mother who had tears streaming down her face. Ino choked down the bile rising in her throat when she realized what was about to happen. Against her will, the body she was watching the scene through started to lower the staff. Another armor wearing man leveled an identical staff at the mother. The bulbous end of both weapons split open into four segments with electricity arcing between them.
Ino didn't have to understand what was being said to recognize the threat. Her arms hesitantly pointed her own staff at the father. Her hands were shaking. Ino tried desperately to stop the man whose eyes she was looking through from doing what he was about to do. Unable to resist, she felt her/his finger squeeze down on the triggering mechanism. A bolt of energy shot toward the face of the kneeling man. An image of Ino's own father's face replaced her victim's in the brief instant before his head exploded. The dark haired woman let loose an anguished wail before collapsing to the floor sobbing. Ino felt grief-driven hatred rise when she heard the man in the golden armor chuckling at her and the woman's pain. He kicked the headless body and looked at her with an approving smile beginning to curl the edges of his mouth upward.
She felt something warm stuck near the corner of her mouth that felt eerily like the glob of pastry filling from the festival. She wiped the spot off with her hand. When she looked down, she saw it was a piece of blood soaked brain tissue. The whole front of the suit of armor she wore was splattered with blood, shards of skull, and brains. Ino closed her eyes and heard a scream. When she reopened them, she was on the floor of one of the basement holding cells in ANBU headquarters and her real father was shaking her. Her breathing came in ragged gasps, and she realized she had been the one screaming in terror. Ino looked into her father's worried eyes and felt vomit rising. Clutching a hand over her mouth, she tore out of the cell and ran down the hall to the restroom making it just in time before she threw up.
When her stomach was finally empty and she stopped dry heaving, Ino pulled the handle and watched as the mixture of vomit and water circled the bowl before disappearing.
"You done, Blondie?"
Ino turned her head and was surprised to see Anko crouching down next to her holding her long ponytail back so it wouldn't fall into the toilet. She hadn't even realized the other woman had followed her. Instead of the expected smirk, a look of genuine concern was on the older konoichi's face. Not trusting her voice, or her stomach, Ino simply nodded before slumping down against the tiled wall next to the toilet. The cold surface provided a welcome, soothing distraction from her now passing nausea, even if the hard restroom floor wasn't exactly the most comfortable or cleanest place to be sitting
Ino shuttered. It had felt so real, like it was actually her living that moment. She could almost taste the pastry in her mouth at the festival and could swear she had felt the blood that had splattered on her face. She rubbed her cheek and panicked for a moment when she felt something wet, only to let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding when she looked at her fingers and saw it was only her own sweat not more blood and gore. Gods, she was mad at how pathetic she felt! When she heard about the prisoners, she thought she could finally do something that would make a difference. She knew it wouldn't be easy, that there was a good chance she would see some disturbing things, but right now she was totally freaked out. She held a hand in front of her face, and noticed she couldn't stop it from shaking. She stared off into space, caught up in her own inner turmoil. "I-I don't know if I can still do this," she said as much to herself as the other occupant of the room.
Anko frowned. This wasn't like the confident, bossy girl she remembered from the Chunnin Exams and the stories her father, Inoichi, told during the regular jonin get-togethers. She needed to snap the brat out of this crap quick. Anko stood and extended her hand to Ino. "Come with me." Ino stared blankly at the outstretched hand. Anko huffed. "On your feet, Blondie, I don't have all night."
Ino tentatively reached up and grabbed onto the older woman's hand allowing Anko to pull her to her feet. She barely noticed being dragged through ANBU headquarters, only stopping long enough for Anko to lean into the holding cell and yell something at her father. When they got outside, the cold night roused Ino enough to start paying more attention to her surroundings. She hadn't realized how late it was. It was easy to lose track of time when performing a mind-reading jutsu. She noticed Anko was headed right for Ryusaki's, the bar her and her teammates' dads frequented. Ino paused when they reached the door.
"I'm barely sixteen. Isn't it illegal for me to go in here?"
Anko flashed a grin that reminded Ino a little too much of Naruto back in his practical joking prime at the academy. "Nah, it's okay. The law only says you're too young to be served alcohol in a bar. It doesn't say anything about going inside. Besides, they serve food here, too. Ryusaki's has the best dango in Konoha."
Ino still didn't completely trust Anko's intentions, but she had skipped lunch and was starting to feel hungry now that her stomach had settled down. "Okay, I guess. I am kind of hungry."
Anko pulled the girl inside. She ignored the waitress who tried to seat them at a table and led the way to a booth tucked away in the back, making sure Ino sat where the tall planters that divided the booths from one another hid her from view. When they got settled, she made eye contact with the bartender and snapped her fingers.
The bartender, a man in his fifties, limped over. He shook his head in mock exasperation. "Anko, Anko, Anko, what I am I going to do with you? You came into my bar with the intention of corrupting another young innocent, didn't you?"
Anko laughed, "Something like that, Noda-kun." She was still smirking, but her face suddenly seemed more serious. "She's been helping her dad interrogate Ibiki's new playmates."
Noda raised an eyebrow and took a second look at Ino. "You're Inoichi's little girl, aren't you?" Still lost in her thoughts, Ino nodded without looking up. She didn't even get annoyed at being called a 'little girl' like she normally would.
Noda frowned then gave Anko a glance that let her know he understood what was going on. He'd been a shinobi too before losing his left leg below the knee during the war with Iwa.
"So what can I get for two lovely ladies like yourselves tonight?" He was fairly sure he already knew the answer but went through the motions anyways for the sake of appearances.
Anko chuckled. "So I'm a lady now, huh? First I've heard of that."
Noda shrugged. "Well, at least I've always thought so, despite your constant attempts to convince everyone otherwise. So what'll it be?"
Ino noticed that Anko's expression soften for a brief moment, and she seemed unusually touched by the comment for some reason. "We'll both have my usual. I was bragging to Blondie here earlier about how good your dango is."
"Best in town," Noda confirmed before leaving.
Five minutes later, two plates of dango, a bottle of sake, and two glasses appeared in front of them. One of the glasses was filled with water, the other empty. Anko poured the water out in the planter next to them and then filled both glasses with sake. Ino shot the older woman an accusing look. "I thought you said it was illegal to serve me alcohol?"
Anko grinned. "I did. That's why Noda-kun served me the sake and served you a glass of water." Plausible deniability was a wonderful thing. Anko raised her now filled glass and looked across the top of it at Ino. "Sake is an essential ingredient in the time honored Konoha tradition I am about to introduce you to: getting hammered with a fellow shinobi after having a shitty day."
"Drinking yourself into a stupor is a time honored Konoha tradition?"
"Look, Blon…" Anko paused for a moment, deciding this was one of those rare occasions where she actually needed to be serious and, the horror, sensitive. "Ino, if you stay in this business long enough, you're going to experience some crap that no human being should ever have to go through. I'm not saying you need to make a habit out of this, but sometimes sitting down to talk about it over a few stiff ones with a fellow shinobi helps."
"What if I don't want to?" Ino asked in a slightly defiant voice.
Oh well, sensitive was boring. "That's just tough. It's late, I'm armed, and I'm running out of places to hide the bodies. Drink your damn sake," Anko said in a deceptively sweet voice that didn't match the borderline psychotic grin she was giving the younger woman.
Ino quickly emptied her glass in one swig before Anko could even blink, causing the older woman to laugh when the teen started sputtering and coughing. "Good choice, Blondie, although I'd recommend sipping, not chugging, the next one."
Three hours later, they were on their third bottle of sake and second helping of dango. Ino had already told Anko about the strange pyramid-shaped vessels that were larger than the Hokage Tower and capable of flying, the people with glowing eyes, the strange creatures that lived in the pouch in their prisoners' stomachs, the different places the stone ring went, the battles she'd seen, and all the other crazy stuff whose meaning she could only begin to guess at before she finally got to what she'd seen in the last prisoner's memories.
"Then I saw his parents again." Ino paused for a moment. She stared down at the half empty glass in her hands, took a couple of deep breaths to steady her nerves before looking up, and continued. "I was in a room where they were being held prisoner. T-there was one of those guys with glowing eyes I told you about. H-he made me…I mean him, kill his own father. If he didn't they were going to kill his mother, too. His father looked just like my Dad. Oh kami! I could feel everything! What he felt when he did…it. The feeling of his father's brains splattering on his face, even the smell of blood…everything! W-when I did the jutsu at home everything always felt kind of distant like I was watching a movie or something, but this was beyond real. Every feeling, every sensation was ten times as strong. I couldn't tell where I ended and the memory began. For just a moment after I pulled the trigger, I-I thought…I thought I had killed my Dad. I saw his face and everything. I thought I would be able to handle anything I would see. I argued with Dad for months that I was ready for this, but when I was in that guy's mind and couldn't stop what was happening…" Ino went silent and returned to staring at her drink.
Anko looked at the teen sympathetically. "It was like reliving what happened with Asuma, wasn't it?"
Ino nodded. "When Asuma-sensei was laying there dying, I couldn't save him. I felt so helpless. It was that same feeling all over again. Someone I loved was about to die, and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it from happening."
Anko shrugged. "Wish I could tell you that part of the job got easier. This is a dangerous profession. People die all the time despite everything we do to try and prevent it. Losing someone you care about never gets easier or hurts any less, but you will get better at dealing with the pain. The important thing is to not let it scare you away from opening your heart to others or living life the way you want to."
"I know that!" Ino snapped. "After everything that's happened the last few years, I've accepted the fact there's always a chance I or someone I care about could die. I wasn't afraid of that…at least no more than I usually am. It was the not being able to do anything to help them that was the problem! Like when we went with Kakashi-sensei to fight those two Akatsuki guys. Kakashi, Shikamaru, Choji, and Naruto did almost all the fighting. I was barely able to contribute anything."
"So you thought by helping your dad with our new guests you could play the hero and save the day?"
Ino scoffed, "I know I'm not exactly the hero type. I just want to be able to do something that makes a difference instead of always feeling like deadweight. I want to be a good shinobi."
"Do you even know what it means to be a good shinobi?"
"Duh, a good shinobi is a shinobi who's a good fighter. Someone their friends can depend on when the going gets rough," Ino replied automatically.
Anko reached across the table and flicked her fingers at Ino, striking her on the nose. Ino waved drunkenly in front of her face trying to bat away Anko's hand, missing completely. "So close, yet so far, Blondie. You're an idiot, but I've known smarter people than you that couldn't figure it out. At least you got the part about being there for you friends right, so I guess you're not a total write-off."
Ino glared at Anko, who merely smiled sweetly back at her. "Knowing a lot of jutsu or being a bad-assed fighter isn't what makes someone a good shinobi. A good shinobi is one who endures and never gives up, especially when it involves their friends or family. It doesn't matter how strong you are now. What matters is that you do everything you can in the here-and-now and work on getting stronger at every opportunity. I know what you saw in that guy's head tonight freaked you out, but I promise you if you can stick this out to the end you'll be a better shinobi for it. Hell, I'll even work with you on getting stronger."
Ino blinked, surprised that she felt better after getting everything off her chest. She'd been too ashamed to talk about what her worries before, and they had been slowly eating away at her. More than that, she was touched by Anko's offer to help with her training. Going to others for help had always been difficult for her. She hated admitting she was weak or couldn't do something on her own. "Thanks, I'd like that."
Anko laughed. "We'll see if you still feel like thanking me after you go through one of my training secessions. Just make sure you show up tomorrow morning with your dad." When the bell on the front door of the bar jingled, she nodded toward it. "Speak of the devil."
Ino turned around and saw her father waiting for her just inside the front entrance. She stood somewhat unsteadily on her feet and bowed.
Anko waved her off, letting her know it wasn't necessary. Ino nodded and staggered drunkenly away in the direction of her father while gripping the brass railing that ran down the backside of the row of booths. Inoichi barely acknowledged Anko's presence before leaving with his daughter. Anko didn't mind. They'd talk about it tomorrow. Besides, she was sure he had more important things to worry about, like how to sneak a drunken teenager past his wife.
"That girl is going to have one monster of a hangover when she wakes up tomorrow," a sage sounding voice said, causing Anko to look behind her. Noda was walking up to clean the table off.
"Yup. Hopefully it'll help drive the point home."
"Speaking of, that was also some good advice you gave her. Where'd you learn something so smart?"
Anko smiled up at her stepfather, "Beats me. Maybe some old fool told me the same thing back when I was young and stupid."
Noda patted her on the shoulder. "You should think about following some of your own advice, especially the part about not giving up on family."
Anko considered telling him hell no, she wasn't going to speak to 'that woman,' but suddenly realized how hypocritical that sounded after the little speech she'd just given Ino. 'Damn, he's good.' She hated being a hypocrite. "I'll think about it."
Noda smiled at her. "That's all I ask."
Anko pulled out some cash to pay the bill. "Don't bother, I put it on Inoichi's tab just in case you decided to run out without paying."
She rolled her eyes at the barb. The man did not know how to quit when he was ahead. She knew full well he probably really did it to cover for her in case Ino's mother said something about her daughter coming home toasted at one o'clock in the morning. Besides, she always paid her bill, especially when the bartender was a retired shinobi who knew where she lived. "Gave yourself a nice big tip, did ya?"
"Of course I did, Inoichi's not a cheapskate like you," Noda smoothly countered.
"Don't you have drinks to water down or something?"
Noda shook his head in amusement at his stepdaughter. "As much fun as trading insults with you until closing would be, I have paying customers to serve, and you need to go home and get some sleep. You look like shit."
Anko stuck out her tongue but then smiled affectionately at Noda as she got up to leave. She might not be ready to forgive her mother, but she wouldn't deny the old bat had good taste in men. If anything, she wished Noda had married her mother fifteen years ago instead of five. Maybe then her bastard of a sensei would have chosen some other poor fatherless kid to manipulate instead of her.
Looking out across the city, a redheaded man dressed in the flowing robes of Akatsuki sat atop the head of a statue on the tallest tower in this part of the city. It was a city built on the blood and tears of the people of Rain, and the birthplace of the rebellion he had started.
The first people to settle on the small series of islands in the center of the great lake that lay just on the Rain side of where the borders of the Land of Fire, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Rivers met were refuges fleeing the destruction of the First Great Shinobi War. The lake and the mountains that held it provided the lucky citizens of Rain who managed to reach the islands a safe haven from the battles fought by the warring great shinobi nations down in the lowlands of their country. These first settlers named their new home Hinanjo, literally 'place of refuge.' The population slowly swelled as successive waves of refuges arrived after each new conflict tore across the Land of Rain. When the islands could no longer support the growing population, the people of Hinanjo banded together to transport rocks and dirt brought from the surrounding mountains to expand the islands and create more land to build upon.
As word of the refuge spread, the few surviving businesses of the country gradually began to relocate to Hinanjo, increasing the demand for what little space was available as the people flocked to what well on its way to becoming one of the largest villages in the poor but densely populated country.
Spotting this trend, Salamander Hanzou, the undisputed leader of not only Amegakure, but after the death of the nation's last Daimyo, all of Rain, as well, launched a massive building program. He intended for Hinanjo to become the centerpiece of his plan to rebuild the economy of the war-ravished country, an untouchable stronghold where factories could produce goods to aid in Amegakure's defense of the country and eventually where trade could again thrive when the borders were finally secure from the transgressions of their larger neighbors.
In his desire to make this dream a reality before what he believed would be a short lived peace ended, Hanzou conscripted the entire population of the village and tens of thousands of people from other parts of the country for the task. The conscripts from outside of Hinanjo had to provide their own tools and food for the forced journey made under the watchful eyes of shinobi loyal to Hanzou. Many died along the way, most often at the hands of their escorts when they tried to escape. Those left behind did not fair any better. The sudden stripping of manpower from the lowlands during the crucial planting season devastated Rain's struggling agriculture, which was based on the labor-intensive rice crop, leading to famine.
However, what was endured by the remaining people of the lowlands was nothing compared to the suffering of those toiling away expanding Hinanjo, called Hanzou-toshi during those terrible years, and mining the iron ore and stone needed to construct their leader's vision from the surrounding mountains. They labored together in gangs, chained to each other to prevent escape. They unloaded concrete, steel, and stone from massive barrages and dug in the mud with their bare hands, as few had been able to afford shovels or other tools to bring with them. Sometimes they died together when one of their number fell into the water or was snatched by one of the larger crocodiles that inhabited the lake, the heavy chains and their own exhaustion ensuring they shared their fellow conscript's fate whether it was to drown or be devoured alive in a feeding frenzy of massive reptiles. Many others died of hunger or disease. Rather than waste manpower digging graves, their bodies were thrown to the scaly predators, which seemed to grow in numbers with each passing week along with the number of dead.
The situation wasn't any better for those working in the quarries and hastily constructed foundries that sprung up around the lake to supply the raw material for the massive stone and steel-reinforced concrete pilings that would provide the foundations for the factories and towers of Hanzou-toshi. Safety equipment was none existent and the workers were poorly trained. Many were killed or maimed in accidents, their bodies either crushed by stone, burned by molten metal, or broken by the massive machinery around them. Even more died from a chronic respiratory illness caused by breathing in the gases of the nearby volcano while gathering the millions of bucket loads of ash required for use as a binding agent in cement.
Those overseeing Hanzou-toshi largely had free reign to do as they wish without consequence provided they stayed on schedule. Corruption reigned among the shinobi and officials overseeing the project, adding to the misery, as Hanzou kept their more competent colleagues close at hand where he could keep an eye on them in case any were plotting his overthrow. However, one day something unexpected happened. A team of Rain shinobi assigned to transport a shipment of medicine to the work camps to combat an outbreak of cholera were killed and their vital cargo apparently stolen.
Those sent to search for them found signs they had been ambushed. That night when the team leader's quarters were searched a notebook was discovered that contained payment records proving the team leader had been illegally diverting supplies to black marketers and lining his pockets with the proceeds. The general consensus among those investigating the incident was the team leader was double crossed by whatever criminal element he was doing business with…that is until the missing medical supplies showed up in the camps the next morning and were quickly distributed before any of the guards noticed.
Pain closed his eyes when he remembered that first act of rebellion. The decision had seemed so clear at the time, he and his two teammates saw an injustice that would have lead to the death of possibly thousands and chose to act. They were so young and idealistic back then. They hadn't even planned on killing the four Rain-nins. Pain doubted the three genin on the team even knew what their leader was doing. The three young shinobi were simply following orders, escorting a wagon load of crates from one location to another and waiting for their leader to finish handling the exchange with what they likely believed to be a representative from the camps. But things got out of hand. The black marketer the team leader was doing business with turned out to be a foreign shinobi, a corrupt jonin from Iwa who wasn't about to let three snot-nosed kids who thought they could change the world cheat him out of a lucrative deal. Pain and his companions survived the battle, but the three genin who came rushing to their team leader's aid died along with him and the Iwa jonin.
Despite their guilt over the death of the three innocents, younger kids than even themselves at the time, they'd decided to keep going after the corrupt shinobi who were stealing supplies desperately needed by the conscripted workers suffering in Hanzou-toshi and selling them to the profiteers among some of the foreign armies that still occupied parts of their country while the so-called peace settlement was being hammered out. They got away with it for four more months until Hanzou caught them in a trap and turned them over to Iwa's forces as a peace offering. Pain's fist clinched in a rare display of emotion when he remembered how Hanzou decided to be 'merciful' by making it a condition of the handover that they be imprisoned instead of executed. The bastard had actually thought he was doing them a favor by sparing their lives and letting Iwa throw them in that hellhole. If it hadn't been for meeting…
"Pain, he's here."
Pain turned and looked at blue haired woman standing by the passageway. He remembered how she had been so open and warm before, but a piece of her had died in that prison. He silently renewed his vow to remake the world that had taken so much from them, whatever the cost, before he stood to follow her deep into the bowels of the tower. After going down multiple flights of stairs, the pair reached a large metal door that was cracked open slightly. Pain pushed open the door and entered. Inside, the man known to him, Konan, and Zetsu as Madara but to everyone else as Tobi was closing the lid on a case containing a metal sphere two feet in diameter.
After he finished securing the latch on the case Madara spoke, "There's been an unexpected development with the Kyuubi's vessel."
"Was Itachi unable to capture him?" Pain asked.
Madara nodded. "But it was due to no fault of his own. Considering Deidara's failure in eliminating Sasuke, I decided to have Itachi deal with his brother instead." He made a mental note to have Zetsu keep an eye on the two Uchiha brothers when they met up. He wanted to make sure everything went according to plan. Itachi was always a concern, and Sasuke could easily prove to be a significant thorn in his side if he had learned even a fraction of what Orchimaru knew about him and Akatsuki and was able to start piecing things together. However, the real concern was the steps he was forced to take to retrieve the Kyuubi vessel. If he didn't play his hand carefully his true intentions would be revealed much sooner than planned. That would be inconvenient to say the least. A large part of his plan depended on the natural suspicious and xenophobic tendencies of the hidden villages keeping them divided until it was too late. There was also the issue of being forced to ask his ally to step in earlier than planned.
"Do you wish for me to capture Uzumaki Naruto?"
"No, he is currently in a place beyond even your reach, at least for the time being. I have been forced to make 'special' arrangements for his capture. However, there is another task that requires someone of your talents."
On the other side of the city, a green and yellow frog poked its head above the surface of the water under one of the piers that lined the eerily deserted waterfront. As soon as the amphibian confirmed that no one was in sight, it opened its mouth as wide as possible. A gauntlet covered hand and forearm reached out of the open mouth. Seemingly in defiance of the laws of physics, the rest of the full-grown man who pulled himself out of the normal-sized frog's mouth followed the hand.
Jiraiya stood on the water's surface and grinned. "I'm in. That was easier than I anticipated, or it seemed like it, at least." He made his way up a ladder onto the pier, shaking his head in wonder at the lack of security at the waterfront, believing it to be either a sign of overconfidence in their other security measures or someone shirking their duties. There weren't even any detection seals to warn of an intruder's approach. He made his way up to a flight of stairs to street level.
Unbeknownst to the Toad Sage, his arrival was noticed by two people. The first was a brown haired woman in her early thirties who pulled the hood of her rain cloak tighter around her face. If there had been anyone else around to witness the woman retreating into the shadows, they would have thought she had seen a ghost, or was one, based on how rapidly the color drained from her face. The second person alerted by Jiraiya's arrival was far more dangerous.
"What's wrong?" Konan asked when Pain came to a sudden halt in front of her.
"Someone has disturbed my rain's fall, and judging from their chakra, it's someone dangerous."
Overall, the city was remarkably quiet considering the size of its population. In most places the streets were nearly deserted. However, everyone needs to eat, and the locals were no exception judging by the busy market street. At least the rain made moving unnoticed through the crowd easier. Nearly all the civilians wore the same all-concealing rain cloak as the one Jiraiya now disguised himself with and tended to keep their eyes adverted downward as they moved from shop-to-shop buying groceries. Avoiding detection was a simple matter of suppressing his chakra and matching his body language to that of the denizens.
He judged his efforts to blend in successful. The people of Rain were understandably wary of foreigners, but no one, including the shinobi, seemed to pay him any unusual amount of attention. Despite this, Jiraiya remained on guard. At one point, he had briefly thought he was being followed but decided it was either his imagination or he'd had a tail for a minute or two before whoever it was decided he wasn't suspicious and shifted their attention elsewhere. Of more concern were the roving pairs of rebel Rain-nins who were watching the crowd closely and occasionally stopping people. He was fairly confident he could fool them even if he was stopped, as he had lived in Rain for a period of time and could imitate the local dialect and accent well enough to be taken for a native, but he preferred to avoid that until he spotted the opportunity he was waiting for.
In the meantime, Jiraiya took note of his surroundings as he meandered through the market, occasionally stopping to inspect the produce or make a small purchase for the sake of appearances. The mood in the market stood in stark contrast to the lively streets of his village. In Konoha, the sounds of friendly conversations, laughter, and playing children floated through the air anywhere people gathered. In Hinanjo, the only loud voices Jiraiya heard where those of the pairs of shinobi wearing slashed Rain forehead protectors that wandered the streets. The few children he saw seemed unnaturally quiet. He imagined the weather had something to do with it. Even in a place as accustomed to inclement weather as Rain, people were more interested in keeping dry than stopping to chat. Still, what little conversation he did hear between civilians who were standing under awnings or inside the stores seemed guarded.
However, what really struck Jiraiya was the cult of personality that appeared to surround this Pain character. In every shop and market stall the sannin walked by, numerous decrees and speeches by him were tacked up prominently. The decrees' language read more like some religious text that the public announcements issued from the Hokage Tower in Konoha. Jiraiya even saw one that spoke of how "our beloved Pain-sama smote another agent of our vile oppressor, Hanzou." Who the hell says 'smote'?
Deciding to try and find out how the locals really felt about Pain, Jiraiya began eavesdropping on private conversations. What he overheard was downright disturbing. The residents of Hinanjo seemed to pin everything, even their very existence, on every word and action of their unseen leader. It wasn't just propaganda, Jiraiya realized. Everyone he heard speak Pain's name did so with reverence, as if he was some omnipotent being looking out over his people. They really believed in Pain as some kind of demigod. Looking through a window at the food on the shelves of one store, Jiraiya figured it was a combination of brainwashing, something easily accomplished in a closed and tightly controlled society like Rain, and genuine gratitude for saving them from the hell that Rain had been before. He had yet to see any kind of media, news or otherwise, available for public consumption other than those damned fliers tacked up everywhere. There were no newspapers, magazines, or books on sale, not even…gasp…Icha Icha Paradise…the monsters! Given the tight border controls and lack of freedom of travel within the country, Pain likely had complete control over what little information reached the people from the outside world. If anything, that aspect of daily life in Hinanjo was likely worse that it had been under Hanzou, as it was impossible to keep news out of an active hidden village where shinobi were constantly going on missions to other lands.
Jiraiya was also well aware of the history of Hinanjo and the Land of Rain. Hanzou may have been honorable in battle, but he was the product of a time and place where life was cheap. The man he remember fighting a generation ago had probably considered the lives lost and suffering endured building the city a fair price to pay for what he hoped his nation would gain in return. Present day Hinanjo must feel like paradise to its inhabitants in comparison to when the city had been under Hanzou's thumb. Judging by the market he was presently wandering through, food was readily available, the people seemed poor but relatively healthy, and the streets free from crime and violence. All in all, it was a quality of life not seen in Rain in at least thirty years.
'But at what cost?' Jiraiya thought with a frown when he saw one scruffy looking rebel Rain-nin shoving a man to the ground and then start kicking and hitting the now prone man while his partner looked on. When the one doing the beating stopped, the one watching said something about not forgetting his papers next time. The two then walked off down a side street hunched over against the rain with their hands in their pockets talking about stopping somewhere for a drink, leaving the civilian to pick himself up off the ground. Jiraiya looked at the man as he painfully climbed to his feet. He was tempted to help him but realized doing so would draw unwanted attention. That none of the other people in the market acted like the incident was anything noteworthy, or even out of the ordinary for that matter, repulsed the sannin. Then it struck him. Hinanjo was exactly like Amegakure under Hanzou's leadership before the last big war. While Hanzou had not been viewed as a god-like figure, the level of paranoia, oppression, and lack of basic freedoms were the same.
"Seems the ends justify the means is still the law of the land here," Jiraiya whispered to himself before turning onto a side street that ran parallel to the one the two Rain ninjas had gone down. They were even heading back toward the nearly deserted waterfront. How considerate of the pair to save him the trouble of luring them back to his little trap. Maybe now he could get some answers about who Pain was and what Akatsuki was planning. Taking a pair of scumbags out of circulation would be an added bonus.
Kakashi, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were crouching in the tall reeds lining the bank of a lake that straddled the Fire/Rain border. In the distance, the towers of Hinanjo were barely visible through the heavy rainfall. It had been nearly two days since they departed Konoha. Kakashi had been true to his word; he had run the two chuunin into the ground trying to catch up to Jiraiya. Unfortunately, their efforts had been in vain. The Toad Sannin had too great of a head start for the three ninjas to catch up, and now they'd lost his trail at the edge of the lake.
Kiba turned to the masked jonin with a haggard expression on his face. "So now what?"
Kakashi looked out over the lake watching the rain, which seemed oddly heavier over the water, pour down. The only sign of life was a lone duck floating on the surface of the water. "We cross the border. We've come this far, seems a shame to turn back now."
The three shinobi and one ninja dog started to make their way down to the water. However before they reached the water's edge, the duck vanished in a splash. The back and head of a twenty-foot long crocodile surfaced and started to swim away, only to disappear in a thunderous explosion when the large reptile brushed against an underwater mine. Searchlights mounted atop a camouflaged lookout tower located on a small island midway between the shore and the city switched on and began sweeping the surface of the water. A boat could be seen in the distance leaving one of the city's docks, most likely headed for the shore to investigate the site of the blast.
"Perhaps it would be advisable to cross the border at a different location," Shino wryly suggested as bits of smoking crocodile meat rained down upon the group.
"Now why would we want to do that?" Kakashi asked while eying the boat headed their way with his uncovered Sharingan. "Especially when they're kind enough to send a nice, big boat for us to use."
Kiba flashed his teammate a feral grin. "Whatcha think, Shino?"
"It would save us from having to tolerate the wet dog smell."
Kiba cocked his head toward a rain-soaked Akamaru. "Little late if you're worried about that."
"Who said I was referring to him?" Shino asked while looking directly at Kiba, who had remained largely dry under his rain cloak. After a moment, Shino's expression subtly shifted from annoyance to questioning.
"Huh? Oh…not bad…not great, but definitely not bad. You're timing is getting better and you've got the sarcasm level nailed, but keep working on the actually putdown itself," Kiba replied with a grin. He'd been giving Shino trash talking lessons, much to Kurenai and Hinata's chagrin. It hadn't quite been what their jonin-sensei had in mind when she instructed them to work on their psychological warfare skills.
The boat dropped anchor one hundred yards from the bank, a nice safe distance from the collection of explosive traps that lined this particular stretch of shoreline. Hibiki stepped out from the small wheelhouse with a pair of binoculars and scanned the area. Spotting the charred remains of the reptile floating in the water and strewn in the reeds, he grimaced in sympathy for his subordinates. They were going to have a hell of a time cleaning up the mess, but it had to be done. Even a genin would be able to tell traps were hidden there if they left the carcass to rot in place. "Hey, Kaito, looks like you're going for a swim."
A man wearing a rebreather mask poked his head up through a hatch in the deck to see what Hibiki was talking about. The pair of eyes visible through the goggles scowled. "Stupid fuckin' crocs! We ought to kill the lot of them!" Kaito ducked back down below deck to find where he put the rest of his gear. He hated this part of his job with a passion.
Hibiki reported back over the radio what they'd found and then looked back over his shoulder at Kaoru, the third and final member of the crew, to share a grin when he heard the steady stream of curses continuing to come from below deck as Kaito finished getting his gear on. "Holy Shit!" Hibiki jumped, banging his head against the low wheelhouse roof, when instead of Kaoru, he saw a masked man with wild gray hair standing less than three feet behind him.
The masked man gave a lazy salute. His eyes were squinted shut in a smile. "Permission to come aboard, Skipper! We're going to borrow your boat for a little while. Hope you don't mind." When the man opened his eyes, Kaoru saw they were mismatched. One was a very normal dark brown. The other was red with three strange comma-shaped symbols than began spinning around and around. For some reason, Kaoru was unable to look away from that red eye or move to attack the intruder. He wondered why he suddenly felt so tired as he slid down to the floor in a trance, not realizing he was under a genjutsu. The last thing he heard before passing out was a muffled scream coming from Kaito down in the hold, something about bugs.
"What's the password?"
"Password? There isn't a password you stupid prick! Open the damned door!"
"Well if there isn't a password, how do I know it's really you?"
A fist started pounding on the door causing it to visibly shake. "Suigetsu, you mother-fucking shit head! When I get my hands on you, I'm going to shove that overgrown butter knife of yours so far up your ass…"
"Suigetsu, let her in before she decides to break the door down," a calm, yet tired sounding voice ordered.
Outside the room, Karin was surprised when the door unlocked with an audible click. She opened the door slowly and entered the hotel room, halfway expecting it to be some kind of trick.
"Yup, it's Karin," Suigetsu announced after he made sure he was out of the kunoichi's lunging range, "Can't fake that kind of bitchy, not to mention ugly."
Karin slammed the door shut behind her and was getting ready to pounce on the former Mist shinobi when Sasuke interrupted. "Karin?"
The redhead froze and then her voice instantly, and disturbingly, adopted a sugary sweet tone that failed to show one iota of the rage she had been displaying a millisecond before. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"
"Did you find out anything about what happened?"
"There was a battle…"
"Duh, we figured that much out when we first got to town."
Karin shot a glare at Suigetsu before continuing. "The town was attacked by a large group of, depending on who you ask, one to three hundred weirdoes wearing armor and carrying weapons that fired 'bolts of lightning.' They rounded up everyone in town and were going to kill the mayor and town council, when a three-man team of Konoha ninjas showed up. The Konoha ninjas managed to rescue the townspeople, but the team's kunoichi was knocked out and captured. One of her teammates chased after her and her captors. They both disappeared without a trace. No one I talked to really made any sense when they tried to explain that part…a couple of people said something about a glowing wall of water. Anyway, a second group of five Konoha ninjas showed up and finished off the surviving attackers. Later in the day, three or four more teams, including one ANBU and one medical team, joined the six remaining shinobi to help with the clean up and the prisoners they captured. The last of them left town early this morning, so we should be okay staying here for the night."
Sasuke frowned, although the others couldn't tell if it was at the news of Konoha's involvement in the battle, the teams that had recently left, or Karin's mention of staying overnight. "Did anyone get any leads on Itachi?"
"Sasuke-kun, you're in no condition to even be thinking about that," Karin scolded. Sasuke ignored her and looked to Suigetsu.
"I heard plenty about Akatsuki as a whole but nothing specific about your brother. Akatsuki is after specific people; people with special kinds of chakra."
"Special kinds?" Sasuke asked.
"Yeah, I'm not sure what that means. I did find out that they kidnapped the new Kazekage, one of the top Cloud jonin, and four or five other shinobi from various villages. Only the Kazekage, a guy by the name of…"
"Gaara of the Desert," Sasuke offered.
"Yeah, that's his name. This Gaara person was rescued alive by a Leaf team and one of the Suna elders, but Akatsuki killed all the others. The good news is that while Akatsuki has had three of their members killed so far, not counting the pair you smoked earlier today, Itachi wasn't one of them."
"I only got one, I think the other escaped." Sasuke looked over at Karin who simply shrugged in acknowledgement of the fact that she hadn't gotten any leads.
"From what the animals tell me, Akatsuki has several bases they operate out of," Juugo said. He glanced at the small bird that had landed on his shoulder. "They say they feel a strange, unpleasant chakra radiating from those places."
Suigetsu laughed. "Never would have guessed a bunch of stupid animals could sense chakra. Then again, 'stupid animal' describes Karin pretty well, so I guess it makes sense."
"You stupid asshole!" Karin screamed as her foot collided with Suigetsu's head and exploded in a shower of liquid. "I am fed up with your shit talking!"
Every time he started to reform she'd hit or kick him again. "Hey, ack! Cut it out, already!
By the window, Juugo started to muttering to himself about killing someone as the curse mark began to spread across his skin. He let out a primal roar that startled Karin and Suigetsu from their fight.
"Shit! Juugo's freaking out again!" Karin cried out as she and Suigetsu tried to tackle him. "Sasuke, do something!"
"Settle down, Juugo," Sasuke said as his activated Sharingan spun.
The black marks on Juugo's skin began to retreat. He started panting as the frenzied look in his eyes faded into a tired one. He slumped down to the floor. "S-s-sorry, I couldn't help it."
Suigetsu patted him on the back. "Don't worry about it, Big Guy. Unlike some people, you're actually useful. After we take care of Itachi we'll get you some help." Juugo half-heartedly nodded, already feeling the wave of remorse that usually followed his episodes.
Karin was too relieved it was over to rise to the verbal bait.
All three of them turned toward Sasuke when they heard a soft snoring sound. The Uchiha had fallen asleep sitting up, completely drained.
"Guess that settles the question of whether we're staying the night," Suigetsu noted.
"Good, Sasuke-kun needs to rest," Karin huffed.
For once, the former Mist-nin didn't argue with her. Unknown to either Suigetsu or Karin, many miles away four shinobi were rapidly advancing toward Team Hebi's location, the afternoon sun casting long shadows in their wake.
End Chapter 3
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