Author's Rambling: Hello everyone, my muse has once more moved me to this story, little surprise there. I have chosen to take this chapter and run a number of jokes on Naruto and his paranoid tendency to expect dangerous/bad/hidden stuff where there might be none. A normal shinobi might have developed that level of paranoia, however, keep in mind that Naruto effectively learned from an old shinobi, so he might have kinda skipped a few phases. Well, I won't bore you with drivel. Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 10 : Wave : A Spider and his Web

Beyond the wall that protected the estate, Naruto spied a large garden. There was nothing exotic, as few plants foreign to the soil could survive Water country's harsh climate, but a few fruit trees were surprising nonetheless.

The large courtyard that surrounded the mansion proper had several smaller buildings on the sides, carefully aligned with the walls. Naruto took mental note of the stables that could be used as an alternative entrance once they decided to attack.

The patrols were numerous, but insufficient to cover the entire area. Once more, Naruto found a sign of the man's incompetence where security was at stake. He wondered if it was his arrogance that stopped him from asking for advice from an expert on the mater, or his stupidity. Immediately accepting the first as the viable option since the man was a shark in a suit as far as money was concerned, he plotted his next moves carefully.

The manse was fortified only at the bottom floor, and all upper levels showed signs of recent redecoration, with several open balconies, and if his eyes weren't failing him, likely a pool on the top, if the small wisps of steam he could see from here were any indication.

Apart from what could be discerned on a glance, he needed at least an hour of careful observation to make any further plans, so, he kept moving until he could find a good spot. There were only a few bushes in the entire yard, and none of them were large enough to hide him, the trees were too sparse to do the same, and that finally left him with just one option, apart from dodging patrols: to climb inside.

He had to wait for a while before an opportune moment showed up before he could climb to the nearest balcony, but it proved far less a challenge than he had expected it. Even the door was open. It was getting way too easy. Could someone had actually expected him to come? Did Gato know that he was coming? Naaaah. If anything, the vertically challenged bastard probably thought he was safe with all the guards he had.

Naruto fully realized the risk he had taken as he sneaked into the room. While the scrolls of Monzaemon Chikamatsu had him prepared for all manner of traps and seals, it was Yugao's aid that prepared him for more... modern problems, such as cameras and alarms.

The room had neither, after all, what kind of person (pervert) kept a camera in their bedroom? Though if the girl currently sleeping there with a mist hitai-ate was any indication, an apparently hapless nin. Naruto had learned one thing early on, and that was that on the battlefield ranks meant jack shit. A genin's survival rate was low, but that didn't mean that one or a team couldn't take down a jounin, especially if they caught him off-guard. Yugao pressed him to learn a number of useful facts about the human body which could be used in infiltration and stealth missions, for instance, how to tell if a person is sleeping by their breathing and movements. Against a veteran ANBU operative, hunter-nin or any S-class nin those skills were next to useless, since most of them had near absolute control over their bodies, but against any wet-behind-the-ears chunin or worse still, genin, they were very efficient.

For a moment, Naruto considered kidnapping and/or killing her, but decided against it, knowing it would likely raise a big fuss, and he didn't have the time to prepare a clone to impersonate her, nor the skill in interrogation to make her 'sing' fast enough for it to work.

For the time being, he was content to simply let her sleep, certain that she indeed was asleep if the medicine on her bedside was any indication. A devilish smirk came to his face once he realized that the sleeping drug was placed in small capsules which were only half-full. Well, this was one sabotage he could get away with, and no one would be the wiser. If this woman was foolish enough to take sleeping medicine while she likely worked as a bodyguard, it was her problem, not his.

Finishing his task after a few nervous minutes, he closed the small bottle of pills and silently crept out of the room, aware that the woman hadn't even moved. He made a mental note of her general appearance for later reference 'Black hair, generally short, cute face. Not much, but still just enough. Wonder who she works for though' he quietly mused as he noiselessly closed the door behind him.

Unlike the small room he just left, before him was now a massive chamber as the first floor lacked most of the floor itself, having only a walkway that connected it to rooms and the floors above and below it along with a string of rooms on it's rim. The floor beneath was easily visible through the large opening in the middle, as well as a large chandelier between four massive support pillars that kept the upper floors standing. Naruto once more made note of a potential weakness/target as he moved upwards, hoping that Gato made one more mistake and kept his treasury close to his bedroom. After all, an arrogant businessman would keep his room high above the others.'Likely his office too,might want to check there as well before I leave. It would be too much of a risk to use any clone technique here, because if there was one ninja here asleep, it most likely means that the other two, or more are up and about. They would likely sense it instantly, so that's a big no.'

Sighing once more, Naruto Uzumaki reached the stairs, both glad and disappointed at the lack of impediments in his way. Only then did he remember that he didn't have a clue where he was going. He was going to have to search two floors of god-knew-what to find an office and map it all out.

Now, Naruto wasn't lazy by any means, however a time of hanging out with a certain individual left it's consequences. If any of the servants or guards had been there, they would have heard the short whisper as the shadow crept along the ill-lit corridors of the mansion.

"Tch, troublesome"

At least, the challenge rose as he moved upward. The second floor above the ground was at least by a half smaller, and actively patrolled. The square shaped corridor that surrounded a large central room to which he couldn't spot an entrance, and doubted was the vault, had two groups constantly doing rounds... however it still had opening that could be used by slipping in and out of one of the dozen of doors that were neatly arranged along the wall.

And so began a rather tiresome dance, as Naruto waded in and out of the rooms, all the while playing hide-and-seek with the two patrolling groups. Oh, there had been one or two rooms where he had almost been caught, but that was nothing compared to what he had learned in only one short hour. Indeed, this floor was far more important than the last one he was on.

The entire floor consisted of nothing but offices, each piled up with tons of paperwork. A few looks at all those papers made him realize one thing, this place, this mansion was now the seat of Gato Shipping, and with that, of all the illegal activities the 'evil midget' kept doing for years now. The sheer amount of information was mind-boggling. If anything, it somewhat rescinded his opinions of Gato, the man may have been a fool with his own security, but the sheer influx of information to this place, going from shipping routes of other companies, to the army and positions, not to mention food suppliers of both sides on the civil war and a plethora of information on other factions, including the untouchable pirates indicated one of several possible things. Either Gato was a spymaster himself, or he had one such entity under his employ. The other option was that he had gathered this intel from captured people, which was also quite possible. To Naruto's great disappointment, there was hardly enough time to copy any of it, just give it a cursory look, though he once more took note of this floor as critical to his plans. 'Critical? Bullshit, this place is a gold mine of information and I sure as hell ain't leaving any of it behind' he argued internally as he moved ever forward to the last floor of the mansion. The guards never noticed a thing.

~~~~~~~~~~Eastern part of Wave country, with Haku and Yugao~~~~~~~~~~

The two girls remained remarkably quiet as they went over their meager meal, warming up by the small fire. Shinobi never ate much food during missions, as it tended to produce several unpleasant... side effects, ones that could easily get one killed in the field. Instead, they relied on food pills that supplied the body with everything it needed to properly operate.

"When do you think he'll return?" Haku curiously asked, breaking the silence. Yugao merely blinked shortly, returning to her ration bar soon after.

"No clue. It's Mezuro we're talking about, he's about as unpredictable as they get. Though he will be on time. He always is" she casually responded, chewing on her bar. Haku nodded softly, before trying another approach. She was feeling talkative tonight, and she was curious about her two comrades

"Not to intrude too much, but could you tell me how did the two of you meet? Neither of you seem to be from any village, and yet you obviously have shinobi training" she tried, earning herself a raised eyebrow from the purple-haired kunoichi.

"It's... a long story" Yugao trailed off"If things go well with this, we might just tell you, that is, if you tell us about yourself as well" she retorted with a small smirk at the other girl, who merely nodded.

"Deal. Now, what did you find out?" Haku continued, unabated. So what if she was feeling very talkative.

"Well, the good news is, the three ninja here won't be much of a problem most likely, since two of them got killed a day ago, and the last one seems to be stuck inside the mansion to the south." Yugao started, slowly listing off the info she gathered "However, we might have a serious problem here..."

Her words were interrupted by the timely arrival of a third figure. The fact that said figure intentionally kept their steps loud and announced itself was identification enough

"Tenre, Haku. I'm back" Naruto sounded off in a jovial tone, rubbing his hands like a mad scientist about to take over the world. A motion that made both girls shiver in either fear or excitement. Neither was sure which one was it.

"So? Let's hear it" Yugao flatly retorted, now growing curious as to what made her partner so, so... giddy like a little child?

"What didn't I find?" Naruto stated with a smirk as he sat down, crossing his legs as he did so. "Right now, Gato Himura plots how to destroy the last few pockets of resistance within Wave country. For that purpose he has procured a number of very useful objects, including a suit of Chakra armor of Snow country make. However, that's not where the wonders cease. The mercenaries you interrogated back at Teardrop island were quite correct, as the man had withdrawn all of his finances here. If I didn't know better, I'd think he intends to create his own country." Naruto reported his findings, taking a short break for the information to settle in"Also, there is one more curious detail. Did you know that Gato has a son?" he added with a smirk at the slightly surprised faces of the two kunoichi.

"And that helps us exactly how?" Haku asked

"If his journal is correct, he intends to kill his own son tomorrow because he is, as he himself put it, 'too capable for his own good'. I think the old bastard is worried that his son would surpass him or something. Now, that brings us to why that is important. In the ten minutes I spent flipping through Gato's journals and ledgers I managed to figure out that until recently his son was the one he had entrusted all of his secrets. Now, what if we could say, persuade him to join us?" Naruto drawled off, letting the two girls draw their own conclusions. The idea had merit, for if the son had a good grasp of the older man's financial empire, he would, in theory at least, be able to take over the reigns, or at least liquidate it entirely. While the raw amount of money Gato had stored in his mansion was impressive, Naruto quickly realized that with all the other, minor details the man had shuffled his fingers in, he could potentially gather twice, or trice the amount. And all it would take is a little persuasion... or a few hours with a rusty kunai, though he obviously preferred the first option.

Also, there was the matter of the equipment from Snow. Now, even in the days of Monzaemon Chikamatsu, Snow country was technologically superior to most others, but from what he had overheard during the past year, it was only during the last twenty years that it had become truly developed, forging machines and tools of complexity and ability never before seen. Rumors spread about suits of armor that blocked anything from jutsu to knives, of ships flying in the air, of metal monstrosities that made their way across the snow covered landscape while belching out black smoke, and many others. He was unwilling to take such ideas at face value, however he had an open mind. Knowledge meant power, and applicable knowledge more still. If everything went well, his original plans would need great adjustment, and right now, the first forms of a new plan were taking shape.

"Now, before we get down to planning for tomorrow, what did you two find out?" he calmly continued, schooling his face into a look of seriousness. And failing miserably as the many ideas simply kept him too excited at this point.

"I scouted the entire island. There seem to be around fifteen camps of around ten mercenaries each, all placed at important locations throughout the country" Yugao stated, quickly pulling out a small map with fifteen places marked off "I believe if a number of camps close to here," she pointed at Gato's mansion "and the command ones here," and then one of the areas where they were thinner "were taken out, we could effectively disable them, and easily hunt them down one by one thanks to a complete breakdown in the chain of command. Also, the mansion itself wouldn't be able to call back any reinforcements. I have also taken out a total of five men, all interrogated and disposed off, leaving no traces behind. The equipment, as you requested was gathered and sealed up"

"Excellent Tenre" Naruto spoke with a warm smile that made her feel happy and warm inside. It wasn't easy to put into words, but during the past few months, it felt more like he was the leader, and her senior than the other way around. And what really made her wonder was the fact that she didn't mind in the least, and obeyed without question. She even felt elated whenever he praised her, just like when she was first starting in the ANBU with her former teacher and captain.

"Haku?" he called, turning away, and Yugao could feel the warmth fading away.

"Right. I might have some bad news. There's a group of Konoha ninja, a jounin and three genin. It would seem that a bridge builder by the name of Tazuna is constructing a bridge in an attempt to break Gato's hold on the region, and he hired a group of Konoha nin to protect both him and the bridge. According to rumors, the group has already killed two out of the three ninja Gato has in his employ currently. The state of the sole village on the island is pitiful at best, they're short on food, medicine, even drinking water, as Gato keeps guards at all of the wells, not to mention that all of the boats have been sunken during the past month or so. A number of people have died of starvation or disease already. " she reported calmly, though a bit disturbed and disgusted by what she had seen"the people here are almost broken completely. I..." she started, then decided to trail off, uncertain whether the two would accept her request.

"Yes Haku?" Naruto pressed on, somewhat aware of what she wanted. It wasn't like he felt any different. Haku remained silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts.

"Would you help them?" she asked finally. Naruto merely smiled, though that was no longer the innocent smile of a child, rather, it was the smile of a predator who had caught scent of his prey.

"I have every intention of doing so. We are shinobi, but we aren't heartless monsters." he retorted, face settling into a calmer state "Now, let's see what we can do. And get some rest after that"

The two nodded and they began planing and plotting for the day tomorrow

~~~~~~~~~~~~With Team Asuma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning had come sooner than the two sleeping members of Team Asuma would have wanted. Shikamaru and Chouji got to sleep through the last part of the night while Asuma and Shino kept watch over the house and the surroundings.

The first rays of light were slowly trickling in, hitting Shikamaru straight in the eyes. Once more, the lazy boy could swear that this day was going to be very troublesome in more ways than one, and so far, such feelings had served him well. The first time, it had been on the day that all that crap befell Naruto, the second was when his team's parents asked Sarutobi to let the kids graduate early, and one was barely a week ago when the grim news concerning the cat of the Daimyo's wife, Tora, had arrived.

Apparently the little furball-from-hell, as it was affectionately called by the shinobi population of Konoha, had a litter of five, yes five, kittens, and each and every one of them was a spitting image of their father. It was that day that he silently thanked the heavens he had graduated early. He would he sooner followed the steps of Sakumo Hatake and committed sepuku than hunted down the entire litter, and he had the feeling that roughly half the village shared similar sentiments. So, if he felt that the day was going to be troublesome, it likely would.

Getting up with a quiet groan, the first thing he did was check his tools. In the world of the shinobi, tools were often underestimated greatly by the average ninja. After all, why should they carry a ton of equipment, when a few jutsu could get the job done, right? Wrong. And all it took him to take the lesson to heart was getting beaten by Naruto, his mother and his father, the latter two using nothing ninja wire and senbon needles while not moving from a single spot. It was a humbling experience, but enlightening as well, and since then, the two spools of ninja wire never left his belt, nor did a number of smoke and flash pellets placed in two small pouches on the opposite side.

Chouji was already up, and eating. He couldn't help but smile a little at the one absolutely certain thing in life: If it was morning, Chouji was having breakfast. Or a snack. Or two.... he really didn't want to spend any more time thinking about it.

"Oh, hey Shika... munch...give me a second to finish of the bag of chips before we get out" the boy spoke, making only one short break as he swallowed some of the food in his mouth

"Sure, sure..." Shikamaru trailed off, taking the time to look out the window. While the sky was clear, the mist was thicker than yesterday, blocking off sight after couple of dozen meters or so. A bit off, he could see Shino and Asuma, with Asuma trying to get a word out of Shino. He chuckled lightly at the sight

"Asuma-sensei still trying to get Shino to speak?" Chouji asked as he put on the last part of his armor and picked up the naginata he carried with him.

"Yep. His optimism is amazing. I would have given up ages ago if I didn't know him before" the raven haired youth answered, bringing a content laugh from the armored one.

"Too troublesome, eh Shika? "

"Exactly. Though something's gonna happen today. Not sure what though. The weather's fine, reinforcements are on the way" he added the second part quietly, more to himself, and stopped before he could say the words 'what could possibly go wrong?'. No, he was not going to jinx things again. Getting an angry Anko Mitarashi on his case because he tripped and spilled her dango once was more than enough for him, thank you very much.

The two of them quickly and quietly left via the window. Tazuna's family was still likely asleep, considering it was dawn when they got up

"Oi! Asuma-sensei, we're up" Shikamaru called, though he kept his voice down.

"Uhm? Oh, good. Let's get some training done before me an Shino catch some sleep." Asuma retorted, lightly pushing a half asleep Shino awake. The short 'No, I wasn't asleep' look he gave him made him chuckle shortly as the trio of young ninja sat themselves down in a semi-circle in front of him.

"Let's get started shall we? Today, I'm going to teach you a refinement of the normal shunshin and substitution techniques" he spoke, eying his monkey summon as his little white-haired friend kept watch. He was growing increasingly proud of his team. Hell, the three were any teacher's wet dream, a group already completely cohesive, smart, efficient and talented. And what one learned, the others did within twenty four hours or less, meaning even less work for him. If things continued going this well, he might finally have the time to take Kurenai out for a dinner date, an activity he had been delaying for a month now. He only hoped that someone wouldn't beat him to the deed.

(14:00, Mercenary camp somewhere in the middle of Wave country)

"Get up you lazy slobs!" yelled the acting commander of a group of very important thugs. Why were these people important you might ask? Simple, they held the key to keeping five other camps in touch with the mansion down south. A bunch of carrier birds, all kept inside their cages and ready to deliver messages that would take five minutes at most to reach any location on the island.

The commander looked at the fools that worked under him with growing irritation. They were slow, sloppy, and, he suspected, retarded. Just why did he take this job again? Ah yes, the promised paycheck. At least something to look forward to. Maybe one of those good-looking girls from that village too... sadly enough, his line of thought was rudely interrupted by a senbon that landed in the back of his neck, leaving him completely paralyzed as the nerve destroying venom began acting. Because the man was sitting, none of his nine subordinates noticed a thing. Not even when nine more needles landed into them and disabled them, the act quickly followed by a single figure dressed entirely in black, with a wide rimmed straw hat covering it's head. Long, wide sleeves concealed the arms, and the billowy form of the strange clothes made it impossible to determine the sex of the person, but the commander thought for a moment that this reminded him of the stories of the ninja of old, legends of the time before they started using chakra.

Just as the entire group fell to the ground, dead, he realized that the person turned to him, and suddenly produced a long, slightly curved sword from somewhere. Unable to move, he said a silent prayer right before the blade swung, and separated his head from his shoulders.

With perfect calmness, the figure cleaned the blade on his clothes before sheathing it, and disappearing into the mist, as if it was never there.

Beneath her mask Yugao's face was twisted into an emotionless mask. While Naruto wasn't as talented as some others she knew in the field of strategy, the plan he had concocted with their help would work. She would see to it, even if she had to kill every goddamn mercenary thug here herself. Giving a slight hand signal to a distant figure dressed just like her, she moved to the next target. Within an hour, the entire organization of Gato's mercenaries would crumble, leaving him very much vulnerable.

Elsewhere, Naruto, with the help of the Guardian puppet was overseeing the road that led to the mansion. The two camps that he had spied last night were no more than piles of corpses now as he had brutally and efficiently used a team of clones on one, and his puppet on the other. Just like Yugao and Haku, he was dressed in the same clothes he had originally taken as spares for his puppet, to conceal it's true nature. There would be time to strip the dead of their equipment later, as for now, time was of the essence. In ten minutes sharp, Yugao and Haku would arrive, and the siege of the mansion would begin.

Once more, he went over his mental checklist, reminding himself of all the preparations taken for the attack. The weakened wall on the outer side of the stables was one, as he had applied an acid which easily ate away stone. The 'improved' sleeping pills were another, as was the concoction of poisonous substances he had added to the water supply. Nothing strong, but the mild disorientation, laxative effects and a few other choice effects would help them out while still not showing as anything other than perhaps a disease of some sort. After all, it wasn't all that unusual for diseases to break out here, even if it was nearing winter.

Ten minutes had passed quickly, and soon enough, two figures shunshined close to him.

"All camps are down, except the three closest to the village. Even if the Konoha ninja try to do something, they will first meet those thugs. The jounin among them should be enough to handle thirty under-trained mercs" Yugao briskly reported, while Haku stood silently next to him.

"Alright then. Let the siege begin" Naruto stated in a cold voice as his hands rapidly moved through the handseals of the Mist Clone jutsu, ten groups of copies of his team taking shape from the moisture surrounding them. Naruto quickly threw five packages among the group, the stacks of exploding tags would serve as a fine addition to their firepower.

Like one, the thirty clones moved onward, gliding along the surface of the earth as they moved to attack the mansion directly. Naruto, Yugao and Haku shunshined away, breaking up into three groups and beginning their own, covert assault.

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Gato smiled from his bed. Life was good in oh so many ways. Profit was flowing in, the slave and weapons trade functioned perfectly, that bastard brat was going to die today along with the rest of this shithole country, and a new one will rise in it's place, one under his rule. Not even the fact that he had to visit the restroom three times since he woke up could blow away the smile glued on his face.

However, the massive explosion coming from the outside, combined with the screams of what were decidedly his men did that in an instant.

Jumping out of the bed, he rushed for the window, and saw a sight that chilled him to the bones. The fortified gate of his complex was now in pieces, and a number of corpses decorated the gardens while a band of black clothed ninja were killing anything that moved. Perhaps this wasn't going to be such a good day.

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The trio ignored the general mayhem around them as Yugao turned the weakened wall into mud, allowing the three of them to quietly enter the estate from the stables, while the clones kept distracting everyone. As soon as they were in, they broke up, each going after one of the objectives. Naruto had taken up the ransacking of the second floor, and sealing of all the contents there, after killing off Gato Himura of course, while Yugao was to locate and extract his son, and Haku was to take all usable technology from Snow she could find.

He had already broken off from the two, choosing to run silently along the wall to the top floor where he knew Gato resided. By now the 'evil midget' likely noticed that he was under siege, and probably tried to hide somewhere... shame he knew the last two floors by heart.

Leaping onto the balcony, he silently threw two kunai through the glass door, letting them break the glass as he immediately followed. Gato was nowhere in sight. Still, the clothes standing in front of one of the closets there was indication enough. Grabbing another four kunai in each hand, he immediately threw them into the thin wooden door of the closet, and was immediately rewarded with a scream as the now corpse of the little businessman rolled out, completely dead. There wasn't time to mess around, as he knew that the Konoha ninja would likely hear the explosions, considering that the place was a little more than five kilometers away, and would soon come to investigate. And he really didn't want to have to fight them or answer their questions. It wasn't that he hated or loved Konoha. He cared for some people amongst it's ranks, but further than that, he simply didn't care. What he did care though, was that interaction with those from Konoha would draw attention to himself and Yugao, and he couldn't risk that yet.

Moving his hands into a familiar handseal, a dozen clones immediately took form and after taking at least five sealing scrolls, began ransacking the last two floors of the mansion, vault included.

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Three floors below him, Yugao was taking stock of a rather unusual scene. The son of Gato Himura, named Gato Tensai, was... in no way alike to his father, that much was sure. Where Himura was short, somewhat obese, the youth before her was of average height and almost skeletally thin. Next to him, currently doing her best to cut his bonds was a young kunoichi bearing a mist hitai-ate tied to her left biceps. To her disappointment, the girl failed to notice her presence.

In mild irritation, she threw a single senbon needle above her head, informing them of her arrival

"Get up, both of you" she ordered shortly, lacing her words with enough killing intent to make sure they would listen "My leader wishes to speak with you, Gato Tensai." she added, kicking a corpse away as she turned and left, but only after making sure they were following her.

Hinamori Numenai wasn't anyone of importance really. A no-name from a civilian family who had just graduated before the civil war had begun. She had few notable skills, among them her proficiency with medicine and general healing, but aside from that, she was another nobody. That is, until a few months ago, when Gato Tensai hired her to be his mentor in self defense and basic shinobi skills. He had a little aptitude in the area, going as far as having very basic control and combat skills after all the training she put him through... just enough for defending himself against non-shinobi opponents. Even a fully trained genin would be enough to take him down though. Still, over the time they spent together, she came to have feelings for the young man.

Was it love? Lust? Or did she simply care for him as a good friend should? She really didn't know, and she really didn't care. But considering that these black clad ninjas effectively toppled Gato in less than an hour, she really didn't want to fight them, and by extension, she didn't want Tensai to fight them. Gently, she helped her friend to his feet. He was bruised, but not harmed in any major way, as father dearest didn't want his son damaged for the execution.

"Can you walk?"

"I'll be okay, Hinamori. Let's see what these people want with us. Maybe we can get out of this alive, somehow" he responded, the two of them slowly following Yugao upwards. Neither of them noted the faint smirk on Yugao's lips. Things were going according to plan.

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Haku cursed for the fifth time in the last twenty minutes. How many damn empty rooms did this underground storehouse have? A hundred? Even after finally tracking down the room in which the set of three crates were located, it still took her a while to ensure it was what they were looking for in the first place, a suit of weird-looking armor and a pair of machines. Yep, the equipment from Snow. Mezuro was going to have a field day once she brought this to him... and likely lock himself up in his workshop for at least a week before coming out with a doomsday machine of some sort. In some aspects, the kid was utterly predictable... just as she finished sealing the two crates into scrolls her eyes came across a long case, made of quality wood, and bound with decorative paper, not to mention several waxen seals. Well, she never was one to leave something that piqued her interest behind...

It would be another ten minutes before she had finished placing a number of remote charges throughout the corridors and fled the area, retreating to the surface, and rejoining Mezuro and Tenre in the main chamber. Like them, she was still clad in the black robes with a straw hat covering most of her head, and a mask covering her face. Mezuro, Tenre and the two prisoners were seated around a table, and the sounds of battle had quieted down already. It was over, and they had won. Now, it was time for negotiations.

Author's notes: And cut. There, the end of another chapter. I intentionally cut things off here (and not to torment you with a cliffhanger, believe it or not), because it was the only reasonable place I could without making this a 12-13k chapter that you would have to wait for another few days at least. And those long chapters, while nice, can be difficult to read.

I felt the need to mess with the characters this chapter. Don't know why, though it was fun to write. Especially the Tora part. Now imagine the unfortunate genin trying to chase down 5 such cats. Relish the mental image. Can't really think why none of the more humor oriented writers never came up with that...

Also, I have decided to give Gato a son, and a bit of actual depth, as well as actually giving the irritating bastard a full name. While the Naruto takes Gato's riches plot twist is overused, the one that I have in mind isn't... hopefully.

And to those that think the whole killing of the mercs was too easy... it's supposed to be. Right now Naruto and Yugao are cruising along the lower echelons of society, and while Gato is a tempting target, and someone should have attacked him... they were simply fortunate enough to be there at the right time to do it first. It is equally stupid to expect one of the youngest ANBU prodigies in Konoha history (to which Yugao amounts to), and Naruto, already a capable kid, after six months of being trained to the ground by said prodigy, as well as a young bloodline user, trained by one of the Seven Swordsmen to be pushovers, isn't it?

Also, I have not yet revealed the true villain in this storyline, but don't expect things to go... the usual way. If anything, that much should have been obvious by now.

I have also posted two challenges on my profile. Those were ideas that came up in my head recently but I won't have the time to write them for now. Maybe at some point, but not now. If you like them, message me so I can put your name in a list under the challenge.