Author's Ramblings: My muse has apparently decided to favor this story for the time being as the words seem to flow like water. That doesn't mean I've abandoned my other stories (God forbid), but that for the time being, while this wave inspiration lasts, I'll be popping out chapters for this story faster than usual. Also, the name of the chapter is more of a joke than anything else, but what the heck. I can mess around at times, right? :D

Now, to the story. I have little of importance to note about this chapter that wouldn't spoil the fun, though I've decided to give some background info on important OCs that pop up throughout the story. There will be a profile on the bottom of the page.

Also, as to the concerns of some. Jiraya and Tsunade will both be making appearances, but not for a while longer. Also, politics are soon going to be a factor through the story, and the next chapter will likely hold at least a short snippet about Konoha... or I'll leave the whole deal for my dealing with Wave and Gato. Don't know yet. Just thought you might wanna know :P

And strangely enough, over a hundred reviews, and not a single flamer yet! I don't know whether to feel proud or worried :P

That's about it. Enjoy the story

Chapter 6 : The Practical Application of Explosives

Yugao took the opportunity to curse. Loudly. Oh she did get them a new job, better yet, a well paying one, even though the risks were higher than in the last one. Even better, she found a good store that sold most of the basic supplies they would need to keep working on the way back. She even found a golden coin!

So why, you ay ask, was she cursing? That part at least was simple. Naruto had actually managed to catch a fish. Scratch that the fish. How he did that was still beyond her, but in front of their small dockside warehouse was a freaking large swordfish, and Naruto standing like the proud fisherman he was, with one foot on it's head with a silly looking hat she had no idea where he got from and a straw in his mouth (likewise), smiling for the captive audience which consisted of various other local fishermen.

Now, not even that fully explained the reason for her curses... no, the reason was that she would most likely have to clean and prepare at least a half of that fish. Half of a three meter long swordfish...

How the hell did that thing even get so close to shore?

"Hey Tenre! Look what I caught!" he jokingly shouted at his partner, and Yugao resisted the urge to groan. Noting her discomfort, he merely laughed, realizing what she had to be fussing about.

"No worries, I'll be cleaning it. Since the guys here helped me, we'll be making barbequed swordfish steaks for lunch. Interested?"

She could only sigh contently... perhaps the day wasn't going to be so bad after all.

Two hours later, after a small army of clones had finished cleaning and cutting up the meat according to the instructions of the present fisherman, the others wheeled in a portable barbeque, and the feast begun. Since they were making the food near the warehouse, no one caused any problems, and while Yugao and Naruto both kept watch so that something wouldn't go wrong, and for the case that some of the fishermen weren't fishermen, no trouble cropped up, much to their pleasure. Surprisingly to them, the swordfish meat was excellent, and the remains were recommended to be used for soup, something that made Naruto's mouth water at the very thought. To Yugao's pleasure, Naruto was becoming quite the cook, likely from the more than limited resources during their stay on an isolated island.

After the small crowd finally parted with promises of a repeat performance soon to come, Naruto and Yugao where left alone to discuss work.

"Had fun?" Naruto asked, an unusually warm undertone to his voice. He had enjoyed himself immensely today

"Actually, yeah. I did." she responded, using a senbon needle to pick her teeth. "Still, we have work to do... again. A clean up job this time..."

"Oh? That sounds interesting. Tell me more" Naruto commented, raking a rather.. unique looking device into his hands and tinkering with it's mechanisms. For a moment, Yugao stayed silent to inspect just what Naruto was working with. A small metal cylinder, about a foot long, opened on the side and containing two openings on the back, and one nozzle on the front

"What are you fiddling with now Mezuro?" she asked, knowing it better to figure out before something went kaboom during a mission.

"I'm working on improving the gas release nozzle. The old one had a delay of half a second, but I got an idea from that crossbow I got yesterday... now it will have no delay, and I can switch between flammable and knockout gas"

"Hence the two canisters there"

"Exactly!" Naruto replied excitedly "You're picking up"

"Kinda hard not to, with you explaining in small detail" she retorted "As for the job, we're supposed to raid a smuggler ship that will be docked near Meschia village tomorrow morning. The target is a large shipment of a new, highly addictive drug. Our job is to get rid of the crew and captain, as well as destroy the drugs in any way we deem fit. The village is about six hours to the south by boat, or if you're in the mood, two hours running on water. Though I'd suggest the second one. I need some practice"

"Sure, why not?" Naruto spoke back, arms set about in a gesture of defeat. "When do we leave?"

"Whenever we want today. The ship will dock around sunrise tomorrow, so as long as we're there to sink it we're fine."

"What about the loot on board?" Naruto curiously asked, raising a valid concern. After all, there could be useful goods for both of them on it. Yugao smiled back, as if knowing something he didn't... which she did

"We get to keep whatever we can carry except for the drugs they smuggle. The ship itself, weapons, supplies, even slaves..." she stated, finishing the last part darkly.

"Well cross that bridge when we get there Tenre" Naruto comfortingly stated "If we can, we'll help them out, if not, we'll at least make sure they don't suffer anymore. By the way, who' financing the mission?"

"A local... representative, as it were, of the pirates. I did some digging around, and he's legit" Yugao stated, preparing a few more kunai and shuriken for her own set of equipment.

"Interesting" was the only thing Naruto returned as he focused once more on his gadgets. They wouldn't leave before nightfall regardless. Strangely enough, travel during the night was much safer, especially for Shinobi mercenaries, mostly because it attracted less attention, and the authorities were less interested in bothering them. That, and they didn't disrupt the fishing lanes.

Content with the small machine, he walked over to the only locked room in the entire warehouse... his workshop. Yugao had one key safely hidden in her belongings, and the other never left his side. Carefully opening the door to the relatively cramped, windowless room, he walked over to the mechanical body of his first and favorite puppet. He Guardian was simple in it's design, a combat puppet enforced with a number of additional tools, such as the gas release he was just about to set back in. On the only other table was the other puppet he had recently finished, a purely metal spider named Thunder Weaver, for it's ability to combine ninja wire webs and strands with high-voltage shocks. The 'legs' ended in sharp blades that could easily pierce rock let alone flesh, and the head contained an air-pressure powered acid shooter. It wasn't strong enough to instantly dissolve flesh, but shot in the face or at a weak point... the effects would be instantaneous. With an unreadable face, he took the canister and replaced it in it's slot. Quickly following that, a number of strings made their appearance, shutting all the slots close on both puppets and pulling out the two scrolls that stored them from his vest. Over the several years of near constant practice (just because others couldn't see it, didn't mean that Naruto wasn't doing it), Naruto's command over his chakra strings was exemplary, going to the point that he used them as an alternative to hands and tools where neither could reach, or even as additional limbs, though their strength was limited. The ability to project the strings from nearly any point on his body was something he was almost proud of, however, he remembered his sensei's teachings too well.

If he let himself, pride could easily become his downfall. Sadly for his opponents, very few today still followed the ninja codes of old, letting themselves be blinded by their emotions and such foolish things as fighting fairly. He realized though, that he was fast becoming a living contradiction, both within ethics and rules he aimed to follow. A ninja was the tool of his country, and yet he had no country. He was meant to be heartless, emotionless and pitiless to his foes, and yet, he had a heart, emotions burned strongly within him... though one could say he didn't have much pity for his foes.

Chasing away the fruitless thoughts, attached the strings to the seals, he sent short pulses of chakra to seal the puppets up. He had resigned not to use the strings in such a way in combat until he was completely sure of himself, but he had a number of absolutely crazy ideas what he could do with them, especially considering the range and freedom of motion they had.

Closing the doors,and locking them up again, he smirked slightly as the protection seals he had set up kicked in and enforced the door. Apart from him, no one knew the sequence of flashes that would disable the barrier. Taking a look at the still sunny sky, he went to catch some sleep. It would be a long night.

Yugao was having similar thoughts to her younger partner, though someone had to keep guard, so she summoned a pair of clones and left to sleep as well. This time, the sweet embrace of dreams came far easier than last night. But sleep didn't last long.

With the coming of dusk, she woke up, completely rested. Rubbing her slightly hurting shoulder in annoyance, she got up, opting to take just a glass of water as she walked around the office that was her room dressed in nothing but her underwear. It was comfortable to her, and Naruto did neither leer nor care much about it... though she still remembered blushing when he saw her like that the first time. She smiled at the first and only memory of Naruto being without a comeback.

Still, she had thoughts of her own to consider. Right now, they were working here, without any permanent goals apart from raw survival. She wasn't a big fan of killing, it was one of those things she didn't really enjoy much, and ever since she met Naruto, she opened up more than she did ever before. She didn't think anything even borderline romantic, but she realized that she wanted to stay with him. He made her laugh, he kept her warm, he protected her when needed. He made her feel human. And that thing alone was worth her loyalty and devotion.

So maybe she didn't have any fixed goals for the future. But that wasn't so bad.

She walked over to the window, gazing towards the wide city before her, the lights in the night illuminating just enough to reveal the rough shapes of the buildings. Habuse was a unique place, she had to admit that much. Even at this time of night, she could spot crowds moving around in the faint light of the gas lamps that lit the streets. Habuse was a rich city, once heralded as one of the capitols of culture, well known for it's theaters, libraries and spiraling towers, but the civil war, and the reign of the Third Mizukage brought that to a harsh end. With the Bloodline Purges, vast tracts of land were left uninhabited, cleansed of all life as villages were burned down to the ground merely for harboring a few bloodline carriers. Many were killed, many more escaped Water country, settling either in one of the shinobi villages or hiding in the obscurity that the smaller countries provided.

Parts of the city were now either abandoned, or taken over by one of the factions vying for power. 'Mei Terumi versus the Ghost' she chuckled at her thought 'Sounds ridiculous.'

Still, the third faction, the one they worked for, at least tomorrow, were the truly enigmatic ones. Both others wanted to instate themselves as the next Mizukage, a position that was actually above the daimyo in the terms of power and influence due to the terrain of the country along with a number of rather interesting relics that the Mizukage Fortress was believed to house. Until the battle between the two was over, however, the current 'acting' daimyo, Marusei Tokari was holding the key to the fortress, rumored to be a rather majestic gemstone.

One would wonder how Yugao gathered all this info. He or she would likely get the answer in the form of a kunai next to the neck and the reply of 'ANBU training'. Which was, incidentally the truth. ANBU didn't train in fancy methods to use flashy ninjutsu... in fact, she didn't remember learning a single one during her entire career there. On the other hand, she was taught assassination tactics, poisons, infiltration, information gathering, stealth and a number of other skills, in addition to even further improved physical conditioning. Even if she could at will look the part, Yugao was no harmless little girl, even if she was only 14.

A figure soon joined her in her gazing, dressed completely in black. Naruto had taken his usual clothes, though the entirety of his arms were covered with black, flexible bandages, strongly attached to the fingerless gloves on his hands. She could tell the faint lines on the surface of the palms, seals, she had no doubt.

"Nice view" he stated ambiguously, a small smile crossing his lips as he looked outside.

"Pervert" Yugao flatly responded, returning her face to the city outside.

"So says the woman standing about in her underwear when we're supposed to be preparing to leave" Naruto retorted, unperturbed by her response as he kept his gaze fixed on the city beyond, the eyes gaining just a slight glint in them.

"Get dressed will you? Or I'll start getting ideas" Naruto teased, a playful laugh following the statement, while Yugao merely laughed, walking off do do as she was asked.

Naruto stared on into the night, silently contemplating the future as the sound of female cursing echoed from the room behind him.

"Bout time" he muttered, easily jumping through the window and landing silently on the street below, Yugao only a couple of seconds behind him.

"South, was it?" Naruto asked rhetorically before breaking into a run.

"Mezuro... that's east" came the voice from behind him that froze him in place, feeling like a complete idiot.

"I meant to go that way" he pouted back through the night

"Suuure" Yugao joked back.

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The first rays of sun moved over the horizon, barely slipping past the thick mist. A small island village was still far from waking up, but the ship that was just about to dock nearby was seemingly full of life. At the shore, a single man was waiting for them, dressed in what appeared to be rags and a straw hat.

The captain of the ship, a ratty little man with a nasty face shouted at him

"Rabs! Is that you there?"

"Aye, aye you old hog, get over here with those goods before the boss throws me to the sharks" came the expected response, and the captain smirked contentedly as he gave the orders to close in and dock. He never noticed a shadow creeping right beneath the surface of the water.

"Hey Rabs" the rat-faced captain saluted, jumping to the shore to shake hands with the man. He also failed to notice the slight trickle of chakra around him, but what he didn't fail to notice was that Rabs was somehow off, though he didn't pay much attention to it. With his boss going bananas all the time, he'd be edgy as well. He never noticed when a kunai quickly rose and stabbed him in the neck, letting little more out than a soft gurgle as he quickly began drowning in his own blood.

Silently setting down his first victim, Naruto used the signal agreed upon, hitting the ground with his stick, before he rushed towards the ship, unsealing the Guardian in the process and attaching the one needed string from his arm to it as he used his back as a springboard to reach the deck. On the other side, Yugao had already climbed under the cover of the mist, slitting the throats two guards who never saw her coming.

"Shit we're..." was all a third one managed to say before a large naginata beheaded him. One tried to run, but hit the deck with a pair of kunai, one in the back of his neck and the other hitting squarely in his kidney. The remaining three closed ranks and prepared to fight, but were quickly destroyed when the large puppet crashed into them, breaking their necks, while Yugao cut through the last one. And once more, silence reigned. The brutal efficiency with which they took down the eight men surprised them both, as did the ease at which they worked together. Worse still, to Naruto at least, was the fact that he almost didn't react to the killing this time, apart from a slight twinge, he felt nothing.

"Stop standing around. We're not done yet" Yugao shortly scolded him, and Naruto snapped out, nodding shortly

"Right. I'll take the front you take the back entrance" he finished, running off. The ship wasn't a large one, with just the top deck and the one beneath it, mostly used for storage. At twenty meters of length, the skiff was fast and agile, perfect for smuggling contraband . The upper cabin was the one belonging to the captain while the others used the deck, or the cargo space beneath to sleep. Moving quickly and efficiently, Naruto reached the front entrance to the cargo area, and both he and Yugao entered at the same time. Bellow-decks was dark, the space lacking any sort of illumination, though the main cargo door could be opened... now if he could only find the winch... there.

A stream of light illuminated a rather saddening sight, that of a young girl, who was curled up among the many crates, as if trying to hide. Naruto could barely see her face, but her eyes... completely dead. Broken.

"Tenre, over here!" he shouted, kneeling down next to her. Her eyes were open, she was awake, but she didn't notice him. The scent around her.... where did he remember it from? 'Oh' was the only thing his mind could string together as he remembered.... and instantly wished he had kept the pigs above alive. He would have flayed them, bit by bit until they were begging for it.

"Tenre get your fucking ass over here this instant!" he shouted, his voice turning pissed for the first time in almost six months. And she reacted in a second, nearly bawling over the crates

"What is it Me... damn" she trailed off, understanding just what got Naruto so mad, and she couldn't say that she didn't share his reaction... in a bout of feminine rage and disgust, she hoped that maybe, just maybe one of the men above survived.

"We can't leave her here" Naruto shortly, but decidedly stated, closing his hands to try and pick her up. She didn't struggle as he lifted her off the ground.

"Yugao" he called, addressing her by her name for the first time since they donned their false identities. "Damn the profits, damn everything. Just take her and wait outside. I'm going to make this thing disappear for good" he ordered, leaving no room for argument. Yugao nodded shortly. It wasn't like she hadn't already robbed the till as it were. That stack of gems she pilfered was probably worth more than the ship.

"Try not to kill yourself, Naruto" she responded before leaving with the girl. She knew that by the time this was over, the largest piece of the boat would be the size of a toothpick. She had seen what Naruto had, in the understatement of the century, called a demonstration of his explosives, and she knew he had a scroll loaded with them, so he ran as fast as she could.

Naruto was quiet as his hands moved, unsealing something that looked like clay from his scrolls. He had prepared for events that would need superior firepower by creating explosives. By know his originally limited knowledge of chemistry had improved vastly, and the first-class explosives he could produce, along with all the following equipment in the form of stabilizers, delayed fuses and detonators were no worse. Five clones formed from the moisture in the area, breaking off to position the charges throughout the ship, aiming for what he believed to be weak spots.

He didn't like the institution of slavery, but he downright despised some of the acts that went along with it, having studied it in detail from his late sensei's scrolls. Some things didn't change, even with the passing of decades and centuries.

"Charges set and ready" came the voices of his five clones, and Naruto nodded shortly before tying the fuses together at a spot he was pretty sure wold detonate them simultaneously, having looped the fuses at several points. He was cold, logical and efficient, to be anything else was to likely get himself killed. He submerged all his feelings beneath the work he was doing now, and the decision he made to help the girl. It was foolish, it was dangerous. It would likely get him killed. But he couldn't just stand and do nothing, or just leave her somewhere. If he did that... he was no better than the scum that had robbed him and Yugao of their home. He took one last look at the goods they were supposed to destroy, just to make sure it was the right thing. Within the crates were large vials of greenish liquid, stored carefully in straw, so as not to break. Setting back the wooden top of the crate, he turned around and prepared to leave.

Yugao didn't have to wait long for Naruto. Mere minutes after she had left carrying the girl, Naruto rejoined them.

"Let's move. I've set up a delay of ten minutes" Naruto shortly ordered, taking one look at the still blank face of the girl that just found.

"Right. When we get back, I'll take care of the girl, you go and pick up our payment, okay?"

"Sure"

And with that, they started running over the water. Perfectly calm as in the distance to their backs, a loud explosion resounded, sending waves crashing around.

It wasn't really that hard to reach the city, considering that there were numerous smaller islands on the route, perfect places to rest for a few minutes before continuing the run. The sun rose slowly, and by the time they had reached the city, it was only around nine in the morning... which during autumn here meant it was still early. During the entire trip, the girl they found had barely moved, twitching slightly and sobbing now and then.

Yugao had attempted communication several times, but failed miserably. They would need a doctor once they got back. And thanks to her, ehm, scavenging, they'd have enough to pay for it.

Neither of them were so sure why they reacted so strongly, or why they wanted to protect and aid this girl, and help heal her rape-broken mind. No answers to the question apart from their gut instincts telling them to do so.

She had taken the time to study her a bit. She was young, somewhere between her age and Naruto's if she was right. Long, but dirtied black hair that draped itself around her sad face, which was in turn made even more, if tragically, beautiful. The sad, dead brown eyes stared emptily ahead of her. But that wasn't all... she could feel an unnatural coldness emanating from her, and there was even the feeling of a small reserve of chakra present. The girl, it seemed had some training.

Only half way back did she notice the several restraining tags placed on her back, certain that they were at least part of the reason she was in such bad shape. She recognized the tags as similar to those ANBU used to keep prisoners sealed off from their chakra reserves, but there were those she had no idea what they were used for.

Quickly skidding along the surface of the water, Naruto leaped against the water with an impressive spin, landing right before the doors of the warehouse. As Yugao rushed in, he closed the doors behind them, escorting the two to the rooms that were upstairs.

"Do you need anything?" Naruto worriedly asked his partner

"No, I'll be fine" she responded, pulling out a small, red notebook and tossing him a piece of paper "Place, name and id you'll need to get the cash. I have no doubt they confirmed the sinking already. Though you could, get us some decent food on your way back while you're at it. I think she could use something to eat. I'll track down a doctor later, okay?"

Naruto nodded before using the window to leave. Yugao couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that even without the years of practice, he had already picked up on the habit of observing any opening as a door.

She returned to the tags she had seen on the girl and picked the scrolls she had borrowed from Naruto's 'learning stash', especially the ones on advanced seals and the making of seal tags, curious whether she could find anything useful there.

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Naruto glanced suspiciously at the building in front of him. 'Barok's Tattoo Parlor' was hardly a name that inspired... he wondered for a second just what it was supposed to inspire... after all, the pirates were keeping a generally low profile, it's not like they would simply hang a 'We're Pirates, right here' sign with an arrow pointing. That would be stupid.

Swallowing his irritation at his line of thought, he walked in, the bell chime above the door signaling the owner that he was entering.

"Yo" came the gruff, distinctly female voice. Once Naruto looked at the woman in question, he was hard pressed not to blush, as she was very, very scantly dressed. Tight leather shorts, and something that looked like little more than a sports bra... and the rest of the skin was covered in extensive tattoos depicting everything from a black cat, over roses to what seemed most like a snake with an apple in it's mouth. She seemed to be in her early thirties, though you could easily be mistaken by her perfectly conditioned body.

Naruto snapped out of it instantly. It would do him no good if he pissed off his contact.

"You would be Barok, correct?" he asked, trying his best to keep his business voice and NOT stare at the woman's impressive chest.

"Yeah, I am. So, where do you want it?" she asked curiously, inwardly laughing as she walked over to her set of working needles

"Wh... the hell?" Naruto lost himself finally "Where do I want what?"

She sauntered over, looking every bit as sexy as she was before leaned over, moving her face right next to his, and grinning lustfully, enjoying his obvious torment.

"Why the tattoo of course" she chirped, getting back up, laughing at his reddened face "What were you thinking about?" she teased, turning back only slightly to show her smirking face. Naruto quickly recovered, using the pain from stabbing his nails into his palm to calm down.

"I'm not here for the tattoos Barok-san" Naruto commented dryly, pointedly ignoring the older woman's chuckling at his discomfort "I'm here for... work"

"Oh? I wasn't aware I hired anyone so delicious to do a job.." she joked, and went towards the back of the shop, her right index finger moving in a 'come hither' motion.

Reluctantly, Naruto followed to the back, unsurprised when he noticed a rather suspicious man seemingly sleeping in a chair on the other side of the wall that parted the front, shop room, from the backroom. Security.

"Have a seat kid." Barok stated in a much less.. flirty voice. "So, you're Yugao's younger partner?" she stated in a matter-of-fact way. "You don't look like much, shinobi-wise... but looks can be deceiving I guess." she kept commenting, eyes going over him studiously. "Nice makeup job by the way."

"If you're done commenting my appearance miss, I'd like to get this over with" Naruto added, a slight hint of tiredness slipping into his voice

"Rough job, huh?" she stated "Well, I know how it can get. Let's see." she pulled out a small stack of papers, and began ruffling through them "Intel, intel, ohh, cash, intel.... Ah, here it is." she triumphantly pulled out a sorry excuse for used paper that seemed like at had seen better days.

"Hmm... takedown in less than five minutes, extraction soon after... nice. You blew the ship into smithereens?" she added, a small amount of shock escaping her "You don't see that every day. Says here you were carrying someone. A slave?"

Meanwhile Naruto was more than slightly awed at the precision of the report on their activities. Someone was actually watching them the whole time and they never even noticed? But how did they fail to notice the part about the puppets?

"I see your spies observe well" Naruto responded "The girl, frankly I don't know. There weren't any brands, at least where we could see. We're taking care of her now."

"Okay, not really my problem. Still, here's the agreed upon amount" she retorted, pulling out two stacks of bills "Ten thousand each, right? That's about it for the business. Reiko, escort the young man out would you?"

"Hai, Barok-sama"

"Oh, and Mezuro? Drop by in the next couple of days... I think I might have more work for you and that cute girlfriend of yours" she teasingly added, while waving him off. Naruto felt more than relieved to leave the building and start his shopping run, but he first separated a fixed amount of cash. No use pulling out all of it and making himself a target.

"What a fun kid, eh Reiko?" Barok cheerfully commented, taking a sip of her beer.

"You haven't been this playful in awhile Barok-sama. He might just make this juggling gig a bit more fun" Reiko confirmed, taking his own.

"Would it kill you to stop calling me that? It makes me feel old..." Barok commented, before taking a long chug from the wooden keg.

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Yugao tiredly looked at the last tag that remained, this one placed right at the base of the girl's skull. The others, affecting her chakra stores, muscle movement, basically anything that would facilitate escape, were easy to remove, but this one... apart from the fact that it affected the brain in some way, and the fact that it induced what she had by now identified as a catatonic state, rather than post rape shock, she knew nothing about it. Not how it worked, not what it did, not how to remove it.

All she could do was sigh in annoyance and wait for Naruto to come home, hoping that his (to her slight dismay) vastly superior skills in sealing would be able to do something.

The sound of the warehouse doors opening was the cue that Naruto was finally home, and that this source of rapidly increasing irritation could be put to rest.

"Tenre! I'm home" Naruto shouted

"Up here" Yugao happily answered, glad to hear him climbing up the stairs... loudly. If she didn't know better, she'd ask herself if he was a ninja. The raven haired shinobi quickly entered the room, carrying several small bags with him.

"I got us some decent food, as well as a new filter for the water, the old one was dying..." he chuckled slightly "How's out patient?"

"Frankly, I have no idea. I think she isn't in shock.. rather she seems to be catatonic, and if I had to guess, the last seal tag is causing it."

"I see. Let me have a look, will you?" he asked kindly, and Yugao turned the girl over in the bed, revealing the strange tag placed on the back of her neck. Naruto gently pushed the hair away revealing it in it's entirety. Yugao quickly removed herself, so as not to disrupt him.

'Mind affecting, huh?' Naruto mused as he quietly traced the lines of the tag 'Decent quality sealing paper and ink, finely drawn lines, no wasted space. The work of either a professional or someone with a good basis to copy from. Since she was likely to be a slave, the second one most likely. The side array drain her own chakra to power the main one which does.... I have no fucking clue what, but it looks damn familiar. Best check that...'

Irritated as well, he stalked off to his workshop, where he began digging through until he found the scroll he was looking for.

Yugao merely watched in silence as he worked. Naruto could act like a normal kid most of the time, but whenever he sat down to work on either his puppets or on something important like this.... he was different. Serious, focused and efficient. She realized long ago that Naruto was one of the most complicated and difficult to read people she knew, probably outdone only by her former captain and teacher in ANBU.

Naruto quietly got back, flipping the pages of a small book he had unsealed from the scroll, reading something, until he began grinned victoriously.

"There!" he shouted"This girl was probably very lucky" he stated sagely "The tag puts the victim into a coma for as long as it's on, characterized by the widely opened eyes which rarely blink, along with the sobbing and the occasional shivering. She won't have any memories from that point till now. It was used for transport of high-risk prisoners and slaves, and to remove it, all you have to do is douse it in a good ink solvent. Just water won't do." he explained for Yugao's benefit. The girl nodded, running off to bring the small bottle she had borrowed for her own practices.

"Just so you know, I checked her body for a slave brand or any other such mark."she commented as she handed him the small bottle

"And?" Naruto asked, preparing a rag for the solvent so evenly brush it off.

"She's clean. Also, she's a shinobi, and a decently trained one if I had to guess" Yugao added "At least according to her muscles and chakra. I overheard talk about some underground fights in the tavern last night. They were likely going to sell her there."

"Probably. Let's try and wake her up then." he quietly said, driving away the other thoughts. He moved the rag to the seal tag, and the intricate writing on the surface of the paper faded quickly under the solvent, disabling the seal. At the same moment, her body obviously relaxed as she slumped into what both assumed was slumber.

"Wasn't that supposed to...?"

"Yeah.. looks like she was just too exhausted. Why don't you go and find that doctor? I'll watch over her" Naruto calmly stated "Oh, and eat something before you go... there's some hot dango in one of the bags"

"Mmmm dango" Yugao muttered as she walked to the bags, and Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. Taking the comfortable blanket to cover the still sleeping girl, he walked over to the window, landing himself into the chair there, and leaning it so that he cold look at the surprisingly clear sky.

Author's Notes: Well, that's it. Chapter six done and posted. A bit less action and a bit more thinking and such

Also, here's the promised intel on the important OC, Barok

Profile

Name:: Barok (real name unknown)

Sex:: Female

Age:: Unknown, believed to be around 30

Occupation:: Tattoo expert, Mercenary handler for the southern part of Habuse, former occupation unknown, suspected to be a former kunoichi

Appearance::

Height:: 1.75 (1.85 with heels on)

Weight:: 60 kg

Hair color:: black, long hair tied into numerous braids

Eye color:: green

Distinguishing marks:: nearly every bit of her body has tattoos. Always wears revealing clothes

Character info

Barok is pretty much the person to go to when you need a job done in Habuse. Officially, she handles the southern part of the city. Unofficially, she covers both normal merc jobs, along with deals for the pirates and the two warring factions. Because she keeps neutral (for now at least), and because a lot of people owe her favors, she is basically untouchable.

She's a flirt to those she likes and/or respects, while to those she doesn't, she acts unpleasantly and harshly, at times showing off her actual skills apart from tattooing.

She is highly perceptive and very intelligent, not to mention well connected throughout Water country and especially the capitol, Habuse.

Thought I'd pass something interesting to read around. Oh, and guess who the girl is. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and remember to review!