"So you're team doesn't have training today?" Naruto asked Konohamaru as they searched for an empty training field.

"Not really. Moegi is still in the hospital and I can't even do a D-ranked mission with a broken arm. Ebisu sensei said I could still work on my Ninjutsu but, he's busy most of the time so I'm learning something from you," Konohamaru finished grinning up at him.

Naruto winced feeling a pain of guilt. He had intended to visit Moegi again but was afraid that her mother might've told her something. Although after Konohamaru's reaction to the news about his tenant, maybe it wasn't that big of a deal to some people. Still he didn't think he would start shouting it from the Hokage monument.

The small path they had been following suddenly opened up into a huge field surrounded by trees. "Alright here's a good spot. I have some training of my own to do so give a shout when you're ready for the next step."

Konohamaru looked a little crestfallen at his pronouncement but quickly recovered, "I'll be done by noon."

Naruto smiled before wishing him luck and headed over to the nearest tree. He had thought about his shadow clone idea a lot and decided that twenty would be a good number to start with. A few years ago he had used his clones to help dig a grave. They had existed for about thirty minutes which was way longer than usual for him. When he had dismissed them he had to sit down because of the unexpected flood of information. Still if it worked it would be well worth it.

A moment later there were twenty-one of him in the clearing and a branch was cleared of leaves. For the next two hours both of the boys trained with a diligence and single-mindedness that would have shocked any of their Academy instructors. Unfortunately, that was close to Naruto's breaking point.

Unfolding his hands he examined the leaf. It was starting to crinkle at the edges but even when he held it up to the sky he couldn't see the beginning of a tear. He let it fall to the ground. Looking up he noticed a willow tree at the other end of the field and wondered if the type of the leaf mattered. Probably not but he was getting annoyed. Besides the long thin leaves were calling to him and he figured it couldn't hurt.

He hated when he ran into these walls during training especially when he had no one to turn to for advice. The same thing had happened during his Rasengan training. Eventually he would get through it but it was just annoying in the meantime. At least he wasn't leaving Konohamaru to figure out all the little things like he had to.

Halfway to the tree he heard the distinctive pop of a clone disintegrating into the ether. Spinning he saw red chakra leaking from one of his clones and even as he watched it lashed out destroying two more. The other clones attack their demonic comrade but, it lashed out with fingers that had turned to claws.

The site froze him to the ground. Distantly he wondered if that was what he looked like when he tapped into the Kyuubi's power. Then the demonic clone turned its attention to the next closest living thing and that snapped him out of his stupor, "Konohamaru run!"

Instinctively he chased after the clone his hand reaching for a kunai but, his angle was bad. Naruto stood right behind the clone and Konohamaru was right in front of it. If he hit the clone with the kunai it would destroy it but, there was also a chance that it might continue on and hit Konohamaru. How tall was the kid again? He couldn't remember.

Risking a head shot he threw the kunai. It connected with the clone's head and it disintegrated into the ether. Half a second later another kunai pierced the still disbursing cloud of smoke.

Naruto had been trained from an early age for combat. In addition to his standard training he had been placed under the tutelage of what could be argued to be some of the best ninjas in Konoha's history and despite all that his coordination tended to abandon him at the worst times. He dodged the incoming kunai easy enough but tripped over his own feet. This caused him to stumble forward smashing into Konohamaru sending both of them sprawling.

Pain radiated from his elbow. He had hit his head against something hard probably Konohamaru's head. Climbing to his feet still holding his arm, he rushed over to his still sprawled out friend. "Are you okay?"

The younger genin sat up slowly adjusting his Hitai-ate, "Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto didn't think he sounded fine. His voice was distant and Naruto noticed that his hands were shaking. "Was that," Konohamaru left the question hanging.

"Just some of Kyuubi chakra," Naruto actually had no idea what just happened but that idea was as good as any other. Eyeing Konohamaru up and down, he paused noticing a dark spot on Konohamaru's pants.

The other genin eventually noticed where he was staring and shifted his body to cover it. "It's from the water balloons."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed but did not believing him.

After a few minutes he spoke again, "I'm going to go home and change."

"That's a good idea," Naruto answered helping him to his feet. As he started to walk away Naruto called out, "Wait a minute." He had a sudden memory from when he had been at the orphanage and a similar thing had happened. Taking off his jacket he tied it around his young protégé's waist.

"Thanks," Konohamaru whispered.

"No problem. Are you sure you can walk home okay?" Konohamaru nodded and turned slowly walking away.

Naruto bit his lip nervously. It was a habit he had abandoned even before he entered the Academy. However, as he watched Konohamaru's retreating back he worried that he might not see again and he wasn't sure he could handle that. He had come to think of him as a little brother. Occasionally annoying but always there and if he lost that connection because of the damn fox he wasn't sure he could handle it.

He felt the ground tremble beneath him and he spun around half hoping it was an attacker he could take his anger out on. Unfortunately, it was just a pervert riding a large toad.

Jiraiya took in the clearing before dismounting, "What happened here I thought I felt," he trailed off not needing to finish the sentence.

Naruto sighed before relating what had happen to the perverted Sannin. He seemed to take it all in stride although the fact that he had told Konohamaru about his tenant seemed to surprise him. After he described his clone theory Jiraiya went into his I'm thinking hard but not about women pose.

"The clone thing is not a bad idea," Jiraiya said stroking his chin. "Although, you should've run it past Kakashi or me before you tried it on your own. If you have someone standing by to destroy any Kyuubi influenced clones it should probably work."

"Kakashi sensei had to leave on a mission," Naruto interrupted him before he could give a lengthy explanation.

"Well if you help me I'll help you with your training."

That peaked Naruto's interest. "What do you need my help with?"

"It will be easier to show then tell and it might even be a good learning experience for you." Jiraiya turned and walked away without saying another word. Naruto followed reluctantly his mood still dark. The super pervert turned and added, "What are you doing teaching the rasengan anyways. You still need a clone to do it."

"Hey, he's learning it faster than you could teach me which proves I'm a better teacher than you," Naruto shouted catching up to him.

"Maybe he's just a better student then you were," Jiraiya mused. "Next time when I leave, I'll take him along." The two continued to argue and Naruto became more animated as they walked forgetting about his problems for the moment.

It wasn't until they had walked into the hospital that Naruto noticed where they were, "What are we doing here?"

"I told you, it's easier to show then tell," Jiraiya answered his tone turning serious. Walking down a hallway his super perverted sensei paused at a random door that opened onto a descending staircase. "Show the dragon hand sign once you reach the bottom of the stairs," the older man said over his shoulder.

Naruto shrugged still not knowing what was going on but did as he was told. The old man at the end of the hallway opened a door that Naruto blatantly realized was sealed. Following his older sensei into the room he said nothing until the door was closed again. "Pervy Sage, what's going on here?"

The white-haired Sannin slowly turned in a circle taking an unnatural interest in the filing cabinets that line the walls. "This," he began slowly "is supposed to be one of the most secured rooms in Konoha. This room is surrounded by two feet of reinforced concrete along with a seal that is supposed to prevent anyone from penetrating the walls or opening the door from the outside unless you're one of three people."

"That's interesting but why,"

"Somebody broke into this room during the raid," Jiraiya interrupted turning to face him, "and stole a file. The Hokage wants me to figure out how they did it. Now come here I want to show you something." He put his hand against the wall and Naruto mimicked him. "Channel chakra to your hand, like you're going to climb the wall. You feel it?"

Naruto paused before answering. He felt something it was sort of slippery like a half melted ice cube, "Yeah, it's slippery."

"That means the seal is still working. I want you to help me check out the room, if you feel anything different no matter how small call me over immediately. You take the left side I'll take the right and don't forget about the ceiling and floor."

So, you just want me to do your work for you Naruto thought maliciously. If he was in a better mood he might've argued but, the situation with Konohamaru still had him worried so, he threw himself into the work. For an hour he worked quietly and diligently.

Finishing up at the door he collapsed onto the floor, having found nothing. His sensei had finished his side of the room several minutes before him and was staring up at the ceiling thinking. Closing his eyes being more bored than tired, he wondered if he had missed something. Then his eyes shot open realizing what he had missed. At the bottom of the door there was a small gap. He could slip his thumb under the gap and when he tried to test it with his chakra he felt nothing. "Hey there's a gap here."

Jiraiya rushed over to double check his claim and after a second he started to chuckle. "What's funny," Naruto demanded.

Shaking his head he explained, "There was a lot of effort put into the building of this room and nobody thought of that small detail. They could've used bugs or even a mouse to get through that gap and once they were on the inside," he reached down and turned the knob, "they could just let their master in. Smiling at Naruto he added, "I knew bringing you along was a good idea. Let's go tell the Hokage."

Naruto grinned back but then he remembered where he was. "Um, can you do that by yourself? There is somebody I want to visit while I'm here.

Jiraiya shrugged, "Fine but, I'm taking all the credit than."

Naruto shot him a glare but didn't have the heart to argue. Right now he was just hoping that Moegi's mother wouldn't be in her room.

Otonashi quietly sipped his tea while glaring up at the clock in the conference room. It was only two hours until the meeting and his replacement hadn't arrived yet. If he didn't arrive soon there wouldn't be a meeting. He no longer had the authority to move forward on anything particularly when it came to the hostages that Konoha was requesting. The last order he had been given was to brief the new ambassador but, if he didn't show up he very well couldn't do that.

Not for the first time he tried to distract himself with a little game of guessing who the new ambassador would be. Minus a few meetings with the Raikage he didn't know anyone high up in the village's hierarchy. True his father worked in the administration of the village but he mostly dealt with the paperwork for mission classification.

The door quietly opened and an old man walked silently into the windowless room. Otonashi struggled for a minute knowing he knew him somehow then he remembered and suddenly stood, "Sir."

It was not every day that somebody of his rank saw the Raikage's personal assistant. Not only did this man hold a position that he dare not aspire to but, had also trained his former sensei. Otonashi would admit he had not been the best student but, that had not been his sensei's fault and he didn't want this man to think badly of his former student. "The meeting is scheduled in a little under two hours but, I will request it push back if we need to," he blurted the first thing that came to his mind.

"Are you implying that I came unprepared?"

"No," Otonashi answered shaking his head violently, "it's just you had a long trip and"

"I am not a feeble old man." Otonashi tried to make several apologies at once but his mouth had been detached from his brain. It only seemed capable of making incoherent noise. The man smiled kindly and added, "Relax, you're far too nervous for the situation. I can see why you want to hide behind a mask."

That was a little unfair he thought. "Yes sir."

"Call me Yurasu."

"Yes, um Yurasu."

"You're nothing like your sensei was at this age but, he was always a bit different."

Otonashi nodded at the reference to his fallen teacher. Changing the subject he asked, "I'm supposed to brief you but I think I was able to summarize everything in the reports."

Yurasu nodded, "Just sit. There's still time to go over the presentation. I just want you to ask any questions you think the Hokage would ask, understand?" He nodded and watched as the old man pulled out a scroll from his pouch and started summoning objects from it.

"Of the fifteen hostages that Konoha requested we can provide them with eight and myself. Pending their final agreement they can be moved to Kusa within three days after Konoha agrees. The cost of the mission will be split evenly between the two villages. A message will be sent by Konoha to Kusa every twenty-four hours to keep the hostages alive for the duration of our alliance. If they do not receive a message for forty-eight hours the hostages are to be killed."

"Has Kusa already agreed to this?" Otonashi interrupted.

"We have not contacted them but, they were on the approved list and considering their financial state they won't pass up on such an easy mission." Yurasu glared at him and Otonashi received the impression that he had asked a dumb question.

"Continuing on we are now capable of adding ten more ninjas for a grand total of sixty to the operation." Yurasu finished while he unrolled a large map of the Rice Field Country. "We've managed to identify twenty two locations that we will have to hit to eliminate Sound as a threat. Of course Konoha may have intelligence we do not.

"There are seventeen locations highlighted in green. Those are sites that are abandoned but, they are occasionally reactivated and frequently used as resting spots. We can hit them as secondary targets."

Otonashi quietly nodded noticing that most of the green dots were within thirty mile of the Rice/Fire border. A thought occurred to him but, he was hesitant to voice it after the reaction to his first. After another minute of thought he decided to risk it. "There are probably some survivors of the raid hiding out in the outpost. I think Konoha will be hesitant to send their forces into a country when there is a possibility of their forces being cut off."

Yurasu seemed to consider what he was saying for a minute before nodding. "You might be right. However, because Sound is not like a normal village we have to hit all these targets at once so we won't lose the element of surprise. Maybe we can hit a few of them in the initial attack to create holes in case they need to retreat. It's something I'll have to bring up with the Hokage."

Otonashi wondered if she might already know. After all this room was probably bugged, maybe that was why they were doing this. If Konoha received the information now they would be better prepared and that could save time and face in the long run.

"These four yellow dots here are permanent bases. We don't know what they're used for but they're well guarded. Like all of Sound's facilities there underground. This prevents us from even estimating their size but, from what we have seen not many people seem to go in or out. The only other thing we know about these bases is that they use the bell system around the perimeter."

Otonashi felt his stomach turn in disgust. The bell system was a despicable tactic. An inexperience and generally young ninja would be put on guard duty. Since sentries were taken out before an attack these were easily dispatched. That was their purpose. A more experienced ninja would be watching them and when they were killed it would sound the alarm. These expendable guards were called bells.

Yurasu's voice snapped Otonashi back to attention as he continued on, unaware of his listener's digression. "This red Spot is where Orochimaru is. Unfortunately, we can only guarantee that for another ten days before he moves again. Combine that fact with their recent loss of most of their command structure and this is really a time sensitive mission."

Author's question: Did the last part sound too much like an information dump?