"Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?" - Edgar Allen Poe

After Danzo's death, Shimura Iejuzo, his son, inherited a generation of hate and distrust that he barely deserved. But instead of trying to clean up the tarnished reputation that his surname pinned to him, he blatantly ignored it and set out quickly to make his own name, beyond that of his father's.

Before his father's death, he had grown quickly as a shinobi reaching Genin and then Chuunin by the end of age ten due to his father's intensive training regimen. By thirteen, he was Jonin. On his fourteenth birthday, he was given his first solo A rank mission to be a representative of the leaf village while visiting the village hidden in the clouds.

It was actually an under-the-table SS-rank mission. The mission was ranked so because of the conflicts that it could stir between the two villages. If he was caught, he would be considered a missing nin and therefore the Hokage and Konoha would not be responsible for his actions, though they would pay the bounty that they would eventually post on their bingo book.

It was a terribly dangerous mission for a squad and for a single shinobi it seemed impossible. There were no promises or assurances that he would make it back home alive. His own father, in fact, told him that he would die an honorable death for the sake of the village if he completed the mission before he would ultimately be struck down. If he died before removing the current lightning daimyo, however, he would die in shame and it would haunt their blood line for as long as his actions were remembered.

Shimura Iejuzo, all fourteen years and 120 pounds of him (roughly 54.5 kg), stood before the Hokage who gave him the austere impression that what he was about to say would not only be difficult to take in, it was practically a synonym for the word "death".

The professor, as he was called by many of the shinobi in the village, was not one to make such impressions lightly. He cared very much for his village and for every shinobi and civillian just as well. He believed that everyone in the village was akin to his children, and like a father he would protect his children with everything he could, but the paradox was that he sometimes had to send off some of his children to do the work for him. How was he supposed to send his friend and rival's own son into a mission that the village probably didn't even need to take part of in the first place? He believed there were always ways around violence and bloodshed. It was that same notion that made him look weak in the eyes of most of his enemies (the ones who never fought him) and even some of his allies.

Iejuzo, trapped in the somber mood of the Hokage, stood at attention before the shinobi god just the way that he was taught to ever since he was a young boy. The Hokage eyed him quietly for a moment, nicking the smooth wood of his tobacco pipe against the surface of his hard desk. He usually asked Iejuzo to have a seat.

Today he didn't.

"When I was your age, I spent most of my time chasing after this one girl... she's now my wife... and we spent hours each day together, and on the days that our duties separated us we wrote letters and sent them out by carrier hawks. I still have each of those letters..."

"Hokage-sama. Please excuse my curtness. Why tell me all of this?"

"Shouldn't you?" The Hokage asked in a nonchalant tone.

Iejuzo looked unsure of what the Hokage was asking because of the way he looked at the pipe he was handling as if it were the only thing of interest at all in the room. "Shouldn't I what?"

"Shouldn't you be chasing girls and maybe writing some letters?" The wise monkey said.

"I am shinobi. To be a proper shinobi I must follow rules. I must kill my emotions and my desires for the greater good of the village."

Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe as his eyes shifted slightly to look out of the large window behind his office. The look that the young man had given him looked a lot like Orochimaru's looks recently. His young student had grown into a dangerous, powerful man who seemed to be interested in the oddest of things. Just a few days ago he asked if he could go on a mission to Kusagakure to barter with some of the merchants there on a representative visit. The Hokage had to deny his request because Orochimaru could not give him a good enough reason to risk his life in a village full of ninja who loathed Konoha. Sarutobi breathed the tobacco in and out of his lungs and watched the smoke drift through the room and dance off of the glass.

Shimura Iejuzo. Shimura Danzo's son... Danzo, you fool. You'll throw away your only boy like this? I would... could never do this to either of mine.

The Hokage looked at his young shinobi with dark hair and even darker eyes that reminded him of the old war-bird. "You look just like your father."

Iejuzo was silent, and Sarutobi Hiruzen took it that he wasn't completely fond of his father. He didn't have to wonder why, seeing as he was now being put into this dangerous predicament because of him.

He really did look like him though. There was the beginning of that hard chin that his dad had, and the skin tone was exactly the same. He was probably a bit shorter than his dad was at his age, but Sarutobi had no doubt that the boy would end up looking more like his father. Sarutobi kept his thoughts to himself though... right now wasn't the best time to look back on his younger days and the rivalry that he used to have with the boy's father. This moment was all about the mission.

Iejuzo was to assassinate the Lightning Daimyo in the middle of the capital, while in the Raikage's presence; on his own.

The lightning country's daimyo was known to have many shinobi body guards and adept in a few shinobi skills himself. His guard included two A-ranked shinobi in Konoha's bingo book, one a former Konoha nin, both who were known to be particularly ruthless.

"Sometimes you have to make your own rules, Shimura-kun." The Hokage said, before nodding. "You may leave. Good luck with your mission."

Shimura Iejuzo bowed deeply and then headed out the door whence he came. When he went back to his room in the Ne training facilities, he looked into the mirror in his small bathroom. He prepared for the mission that night and left the following morning. The lightning daimyo was visiting the village hidden in the clouds to speak with the Raikage and enjoy good company together with his family.

A shinobi must always put the mission first. Rule number four.

Iejuzo's hands wrapped around the head of a young chuunin out patrolling the border of Kumo and with a sharp twist the young man fell to the ground silently. He made his way into the village wearing their own clothes and weapons, leaving all but senbon needles back at Konoha. He pulled the headband that he wore completely over his head off and tightened the red cloth around his head underneath the hitai'ate from Kumo.

The bleached hair he now sported gave him a more authentic Kumo look, since it seemed to be a trend around here. In his first few minutes entering the village and stopping by a small diner to purchase a meal, he was stopped by a 'fellow' kunoichi who showed some interest in him and they began flirting. After about thirty minutes, the two decided to attend a festival that was occurring at the time where they enjoyed an extravagant play that depicted the Shodai blasting the leaders from all of the other villages with lightning bolts and clapping his hands to produce thunder and shatter their eardrums.

Iejuzo made his way to the woman's apartment and tasted sake on her breath as they crashed through the front door. He found out much about the girl, including that she would be present at the Raikage's and Daimyo's meal to watch out for suspicious activity. She also found out that the girl was responsible for coming up with the watch's routes for the night. She had already presented it to the Raikage, but there should still be a rough draft somewhere in her apartment, Iejuzo rationalized. While their bodies were entwined and her head was tilted back and eyes screwed shut as she let out throaty, gutteral moans, Iejuzo noted that her invitation to the meeting was sitting on her tall dresser, right in front of her t.v.

A shinobi must never show tears. Rule number twenty-five.

Iejuzo pushed a senbon needle up against the throat of the Kumo kunoichi who was crying pitifully with eyes red and tears already gleaming off of her cheeks when she realized that the man who she fell asleep next to was going to kill her. Her screams ended when the senbon was pushed straight through behind her jaw and up into her throat. As she died slowly and her voice left her, the only thing that she could do while being tied down to the bed was stare into his deep, black eyes. He stared back, and quietly they shared that moment as she passed on.

Using her shower and putting his clothes back on, he moved on with the generic invitation in hand.

His sight-seeing didn't stop there. He spent some time praising the land for its ingenious construction up on top of the mountain. Surprisingly, it hadn't taken long for him to get used to the altitude, but it was probably because of his training. He couldn't be sure. Maybe it didn't affect everyone the same way, or maybe he would feel it once he went back to Konoha.

Kumogakure no sato was built high on top of the clouds, with a mountain, called Spring Mountain, and a jagged pass in between it holding the village up on its shoulders, and was built by the Shodai Raikage. The details had been blown out of proportion-most of the villagers would claim that the Shodai used a powerful bolt of lightning to cleave the mountain in two. More still think that during the First Great Shinobi War the heads of several of the clans from all around the continent battled on top of it for supremacy and the man who would become the first Raikage came out on top.

Iejuzo looked up at the mountain that looked like it really had been cut in two with a knife and he wondered quietly if it really wasn't true.

A shinobi must see underneath the underneath. Rule number three.

Iejuzo spoke once with the leaf traitor, who was passing by while accompanying the Daimyo, and asked him if he would ever want to join the cloud ranks.

The man laughed, blue eyes twinkling in the sun, and gloated, "Only if it pays better than this!"

Not only had he managed to kill his target only a week later, he made it look like the deed was done by the leaf traitor, leaving only the Daimyo himself to blame for hiring the missing nin. Iejuzo was nowhere to be found with his bleached hair. He left the village and made his way to a small town where he had his hair cut and colored black once more. When he returned, he found that the leaf traitor had been imprisoned in hidden cloud, while his younger A-ranked lightning country counterpart, who barely made it out of the village alive, snuck up on Iejuzo before leaving to kill him. He was given an invitation to see the Hokage so long as he volunteered to finish off the Konoha missing nin. When Iejuzo asked him for proof later on that night, the man held up a light blue eye and a grin on his face.

He was then promptly invited into Konoha to join ANBU's 'root' by the Hokage himself. Iejuzo enjoyed a fine feast and wonderful entertainment in the Raikage's presence the next day as the Konoha representative while the Kumo nin waited enthusiastically for Iejuzo to stride out confidently down the path that lead down from the top of the mountain toward the borders of the village. He wore his Konoha headband with pride while the man-hunt for a kumo nin with bleached hair went underway.

As powerful as the lightning country is, Iejuzo thought, their ninja are totally incompetent.

Although his mission was considered an SS-ranked secret for fear of retaliation or warfare between the two countries, Iejuzo was promoted to Jonin a few missions afterwards for "outstanding growth and progress". His ceremony was small. His father and his one teammate, who has now passed on, was the only audience for his 'knighting' experience. He spent the next six years of his life working his father's spynet outside of the village. It was often said that Danzo had no son, for only a few people claimed to have every seen or known him, and even fewer had ever actually seen him. It wasn't until his father died that he was seen constantly throughout the village. A few random shinobi would keep track of him, thinking he was a foreign ninja in a disguise. They'd eventually find that he was holding meetings with the Hokage and the council and was the newly appointed 'Ne' commander. What he found out, once he was given the title of "commander" which his father had long before him, was that there was an even deeper root in 'ne'...

Iejuzo ducked his head under a collapsing door frame on the south end of an abandoned building near some apartments. He swept his arm outward and his cloak fluttered gently behind him as he reached for a tiny pellet that he pinched in between his thumb and index finger before rolling it forward into the darkness. The small bead popped like children's fireworks poppers and a light flickered and sliced through the darkness.

"You took a little longer today." Said the silhouette of a man who stood in front of the light that shined behind him. The silhouette's head was daunting and excessively large while his body seemed to be covered in something, because Iejuzo couldn't make out the 'figure' of the man who stood before him. There was a gentle rattling like dried beans in a wooden bowl, although the silhouette was not moving.

Iejuzo grinned slyly and shook his head. "No, I think that you are just getting more and more impatient in your old age."

"You could say that the breadth of my patience is inversely proportional to the accumulation of my experiences."

"Pfft. Sure. Still think you're just getting ancient and maybe a little lonely. You could retire and pass down the mask to me... you know, there's a nice retirement home on the upper west side just underneath the Hokage's chin and only one block away from a bingo lounge." He said, grinning toothily.

"Enough. There's a certain clause to passing down the mask... I'm sure you can guess what it is? Now, your report?" The silhouette never moved; the light behind him had started to dull, but the rattling sound never stopped.

Iejuzo's shoulders tilted slightly as he looked through a small nook where he could see the moon. The Hyuga compound was in that direction. "She'll do as I instructed her to. She's not bad at playing hard to get, though." Iejuzo laughed.

The flickering shadow of a figure slowly leaned forward; obviously, convincing the Hyuga clan head to do anything she didn't want to do was nothing short of a miracle. "So she has contacted our little white fox?"

"She's petting his coat as we speak."

Only an hour had passed. He could already hear music starting up as the main band playing for the festival started warming up. There were sounds coming from some people running down the street with great enthusiasm in their voices. Although they were probably well away from his apartment and outside on the first floor, if he focused just a tiny bit he could hear what they were saying. His eyes closed and he listened.

"I heard that they are going to put on a jonin-level demonstration of ninjutsu and taijutsu!"

"That's awesome, but it would be even cooler if we got to see the Hokage use her ninjutsu!"

"Hah! Yeah!"

Naruto stood at the door just as their voices faded away. He quickly checked to make sure that he had his wallet (and the withdrawal and deposit slips that the banks took from shinobi in the village), a tanto concealed in his robes, and a disposable camera that he bought a little while ago before the mission to the outpost, before he stepped into his geta (wooden sandals with teeth) and exited his apartment. As he turned toward the closed door to lock it, he heard the slight sounds of steps on the shingles way up high above his head on the fifth floor. He was on the second. He slowly reached into his kimono, surprised he would need this so quickly, and turned his head slightly just as three shinobi with pale white eyes landed behind him. Not quite intimidated by the three Hyuga 'elite', he allowed himself to relax his posture and looked on lazily as the Hyuga in the middle stepped forward to speak.

"Uzumaki-san. Hyuga-dono has requested an audience with you."

Naruto looked un-phased. "I see." He pulled out the key to his apartment and turned around to lock his door.

She sent a three-man squad out here to get me? I wonder if that means I don't have a choice?

They watched him and loosened up a bit when they realized that he wasn't going to put up a fight like they had expected him to (he had a small smile on his face that made them a little shaky). They waited patiently for him to put away his camera and his wallet into the folds of his many-layered kimono before they turned and walked. Every step Naruto took could be heard due to the loud clacking of the geta (wooden sandals with teeth underneath) on the pavement and cobblestones.

Two of the Hyuga elite flanked his sides while the third was walking directly in front of him, leading the way. Naruto's eyes shifted back and forth under a heavy brow as he looked around at his surroundings. Even though he didn't see another Hyuga, he knew that they had at least one more watching him from far away with the Byakugan. Some of the best could keep an eye on him from a little under a mile away. He kept quiet as they walked and quietly wondered what she wanted to see him about. He still had to go deposit the boys' notes at the bank and withdraw from his own account before he'd go see the kids back at the orphanage.

And then there was Nobume, that girl from hidden cloud.

He frowned. He was really looking forward to going out tonight. Whatever it was that "Hinata-sama" wanted better be good, especially after that last mission. The way she was acting lately-namely, after the attack to Konoha by the enchanted armor that they barely fought back-was really throwing him in for a loop. He couldn't understand it. He tried flirting with her a lot to ease the mood, then joked around with her, acted serious with her, kept silent around her; nothing was working.

Now, she seemed to think that she owned him-sending three or maybe four Hyuga elite, you could tell by the blue sash that was tied around their waists and the very long sleeves they wore with their usual white clothing.

"So are you guys going to the festival?"

One of the other two men, the youngest looking with wide eyes who he hadn't spoken to, answered him. "Hai, Uzumaki-senpai. Hinata-dono has given us permission to attend as shinobi on call. She will be performing there as well, I believe."

Naruto blinked. "Will she? That is unexpected. Is she one of the jonin who will be showing off some ninjutsu or taijutsu?"

"Correct, Uzumaki-senpai."

Naruto nodded. Not too many people would be able to comprehend just what Hinata would be doing with her chakra, but he knew that whatever it was, if she aimed it at someone, it was deadly.

Her performance would probably look more like a dance than anything else.

When Naruto and the group arrived at the compound, they stopped and waited at the gate and allowed him to walk the grounds freely. When he stood in front of the building with traditional paper covered walls and wooden framed doors, he noticed her figure walking amongst the silhouettes of objects within the room. She was moving about the room, back and forth, and Naruto watched it like he would watch a play or a dance. He stared on quietly for a moment before he finally worked up the nerve to step up to the door. Where most people would kneel down before the door and gently knock to ask for entry, Naruto simply pulled the door back and stepped into the room.

"N-N-Naruto!" Hinata blurted, shocked that he would just walk in on her like that.

Naruto blinked, surprised at a couple of things. The first was the most obvious to him: she was wearing nothing but a pair of pinkish white panties. The second? Well...

"Hina-erm, Hyuga-taichou? Did you just stutter?" He asked, fear obvious in his eyes. Was something wrong with her? It had been so long since he heard that timid voice!

Hinata was blushing, and the two of them stared at each other quietly for a while before Naruto started laughing.

"Find something amusing, Naruto-kun?" Hinata hissed, crossing her arms over her breasts in embarrassment.

"No, just that this is the first time seeing you naked and even though you've become miss captain Hinata-dono, you're still just as timid as ever!"

Hinata gave him an insincere scowl, her eyebrows raised just slightly over narrowed eyes. "Well, I didn't think you would be this easy to get a hold of, so I decided to go ahead and prepare for the festival. I need to be there by three thirty today."

"Huh. It's already two thirty, at least. You going to be ready to strut your stuff?"

"Sure. I'm only going to show a few of my B-ranked ninjutsu and one A-rank one. Most of the B-ranked ones are real flashy, so I think they'll like them." Hinata said. He noticed that her eyes were always playing with him, always glancing and then darting away and slowly coming back.

"I really like your kimono, Naruto. Where did you get it?" She asked, meekly.

Ignoring her question, he stepped forward and Hinata flinched. When his eyes snared hers and his hands were starting to come up from his sides, her heart suddenly came to life and shook off the frost that was starting to accumulate there over the past year. "What?"

"Nothing... are you ok, Hyuga-taichou?" Her heart beat faster as he came closer.

"Yes." She whispered, breathlessly as he stepped forward again.

They were close. He was gazing down into her soft, white eyes like cold egg whites poured and stirred into cream. She tilted her head back and was looking up into his eyes as if she were looking up toward the sun from underneath the surface of the ocean.

His hands reached up and took hold of her neck. Her breath hitched and suddenly she began to panic. Her head was being pulled in and her eyebrows were quivering as fear overtook her.

Suddenly, she blurted out, "Naruto! I-need-you-to-deliver-some-bodies-to-Kumo-for-me..."

Their moment deflated, Naruto let go and took a step back. He couldn't decide... did he want to wait for the bipolar Hinata to control her mood swings or would she go to the exotic girl from Kumo?

Kumo?

"What do you mean you 'need me to deliver some bodies to Kumo'?" He asked, his eyes narrowing as the mood grew more serious and less lustful.

"I mean... two Kumo shinobi broke in today and tried to assassinate me. It isn't the first time that they've attacked me, but it has been a while since they have. I am going to make it a formal mission with the Hokage. You can even pick up your mission briefing at her office."

"Can't you find anyone else? If it's just delivering some bodies..." Naruto began, unsure if he was interested in the fact that there were people stupid enough to break into the Hyuga compound to try and kill Hyuga Hinata.

"I am requesting you personally. No one else will receive this mission."

Naruto frowned. "I won't do it," he said, stubbornly, "And it's not because of anything in particular, but I am enjoying my time off right now. I only get my birthday and a few days after the festival."

"You haven't even asked when the mission is supposed to take place." She pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. I am not interested. If that's all you wanted, you didn't have to force me to come here. A message on a note would've been better, unless you wanted me to see you like this." He said, slightly disgusted that he had been brought all of the way here just for this crap. He waited for some kind of reply, but got none, so he shook his head and turned around to leave.

Hinata bit her lip, trying to say what she wanted to say. It didn't come out the way she wanted it to. "Wait... Naruto, I... need your help. It has to do with the face..."

Naruto stopped at the door and placed his hand up onto the wooden frame. He thought about it for a moment and, without turning around, said slowly, "I won't do it until next wednesday. You can meet me personally if you really need my help then."

She smiled softly and called out hopefully, "See you at the festival?"

Hinata didn't know how to explain to Naruto that what she was doing was not any choice of hers. What she was forced to do for ANBU's 'Ne', even though she wasn't a part of that division of ANBU, was forcing away all of her friends. Kiba already didn't want to have anything to do for her after she sent her sister off on a suicide mission that gave their forces a very slight advantage in a mission a few months ago. He felt that her life was wasted needlessly for the cause, and that struck him more than his sister actually passing on. That had caused Kiba to ask for a transfer to another squad, which lead to Turtoise being adopted in from the mercenary units. Shino felt that her status as clan head had changed her personality and her morals. The only one left was Naruto, and the only reason why that was seemed to be because he was stuck with her as her subordinate in ANBU.

Naruto closed the door behind him and left the Hyuga compound and a very hurt clan head.

Hinata's hands clenched and she turned around, looking toward the kimono that she was going to wear for the festival.

Rule number twenty-five, Hinata. Rule number twenty-five. She said to herself in her head over and over again as she tried not to cry.

Author: Things are getting real hectic here, guys and gals. I wish I could update a lot more, but it just isn't happening with two online classes and my statistics class over here. I probably should've been studying today instead of writing this, but oh well. I'll be graduating this year and then I'll only have to worry about finding a job with my new degree, so, wish me luck!

If there are any questions, I'll update this chapter and post the answers to them there or send you a message to your review. Thank you very much for reading!

mini-update: Fixed a small error regarding Iejuzo's double identity as a kumo shinobi and as a Konoha representative. Wonder if any of you noticed that?