A Little Lie

by dgj212

What if Diedara lied about capturing Fu before the start of part 2? What if Taki wanted to strengthen their alliance with Konoha by offering their jinchuriki, what effect will this cause? Who gets loved and who gets hurt? A little lie never hurts anyone.

5. Lucky?

Sorry for not posting stuff in a while but I was bored and lazy and I had a lot of ideas and it was hard to choose from them. Any ways, Enjoy! I'm sure a lot of you hate me by now for this fic a zombie fic (But that I mean a fic that should be dead), well guess what, deal with it. Oh by the way, I'll be replacing the first four chapters soon with the same chapter only better grammar and no major, but maybe but probably not, subtle changes to the plot.

I don't own Naruto or anything else except for original ideas. If a character or Idea sounds very similar to your own please let me know.

---

The man with silver hair stared at the girl who was chained to the hull of boat; he was crouched down with his chin in between his thumb and index figure. He wasn't the only one staring at the female; there were three guys along with him and one girl who were around the age of seventeen. All the men were well toned and with a good looking farmer's tan. Two had red hair while the other was blond and they all came with eyes that would woo any a girl they came across; they also had a face that you could trust and the same hight. The red heads had a bowl like hair cut that came down to the ends of their noses and was cut into an upside down V to allow one eye to be visible, one had the left eye visible while the other had the right one visible; the blond just had his short hair combed back to allow a clear view of his well formed chin and shades. The girl had a well toned body; she wasn't as tanned as the men were but she was kind of tanned; she had smooth black hair that cascaded past her waste, she wasn't exactly small or tall, she was the middle man...err woman, her bust were average and she also had green emerald eyes that would grab the attention of any men. All in all, she was the type of girl that would make a guy feel like he wasn't dating someone out of his league or that he just got lucky...that he ended up with "the one"…the missing piece to a big puzzle called life.

"Exalted one" said one of the men catching the silver haired man's attention.

"The fuck you want?" He replied without looking at him, his whole concentration was focused on the women in front of him.

"Is it OK to leave her alive? I mean I feel a like a sinner just being around her."

"I also feel the same way, Hidan-sempai" said the petite teenage girl next to him. "I feel…bad around her...and not in the good way."

"Your shitty feelings are spot on" replied Hidan in a bored manner "for a bunch of fucking pledges you guys aren't half bad. No, it's not fuckin' right to leave her alive. That's why I ordered you pieces of shit: "not to touch her." If you guys touch her you will have to purify yourself which is a real pain in the ass because of how fucking long it is for me teach and perform" he replied.

"Then why let her live?" asked another one of the pledges, one of the red headed lookalike.

"And what is the purification for" asked the other red headed lookalike.

Hidan sighed "Now this is one of the reasons why I hate being immortal" he muttered under his breath. "The purification is for you guys not to get involved in my sin because if you get involved it would require you mother fuckers to kill her at the same time I do and I fucking hate sharing kills. This only applies for victims who have been alive for more than three days after being allowed to live by one of us. The reason why I let her live for now...It's part of my fucking job and it's mostly because of my fucking asshole of a partner." Hidan sighed again "What a fucking pain in the ass."

"Quit complaining" a man in turban said and, to be exact, it was a hot pink turban.

"Yeah yeah, just shut the fuck up and go make you shitty aura pinker or something you fucking jackass."

"Pink huh? What about you and that pink robe of yours" The man in the pink turban returned.

"FUCK YOU Kakuzu! I'm only wearing this because you want the fucking bounty, you money grubbing asshole! And besides...it's kinda growing on me" he said whispered the last part to the girl.

"Look as Akatsuki's treasurer I must collect the funds for our expenses, like say the pink turban and your pink robe; what a waste of money" Kakuzu said as he fixed his Turban

"MONEY! You used my money to the buy the pink pieces of shit! And no one calls you our fucking treasurer!"

"I do" said a voice that come from the section of the hull of ship that was on top of Hidan.

"Fucking shut it, Zetzu! No one asked you!" Hidan yelled at the voice above him.

A grayish white body emerged from above the groups head directly from the hull of the ship. "Ooh touchy, Looks like the pink robe made you bitchier hahahahaha" the white Zetzu laughed.

"Hey-Hey, fuck you Zetzu! Why are you even here!?"

"Well, well, well, the robe makes you forgetful too Hahahahaha! I am here to help make sure nothing happens to biju. Remember how we told you guys to leave the jinchuriki to us? Well Kakuzu said there was a large bounty on her in Iwagakure (village hidden by the rocks). We said it would be too much of a hassle but Kakuzu kept insisting while you kept bitching. So we came to a compromise, you took the jinchuriki but you must be wearing a pink robe or turban. I am here to for extra security and that you stick to your end of deal" Zetzu finished much to Hidan's nerve.

"Why can't both you and the other Zetsu be here?" Kakuzu asked as he observes the weird man.

"FUCK THAT! I don't want either of the two here!" Hidan yelled but he was quickly ignored as he was being watched by the pledges.

"Neither of them are here, I'm just a clone hahahahaha, how's that for a shocker!?" The White Zetsu clone laughed out.

"What good would a clone do us?" Kakuzu asked as he started moving to the other end of the room.

"Oh, I'm a special clone, you see."

"Oh, I'm sure" Kakuzu said with a sarcastic tone in his voice as he reached his destination and grabbed a silver colored brief case and opened it. Some sort of mist or vapor came out of it with a sizzling sound when it was opened, but it didn't stop Kakuzu from reaching inside. "It's time isn't?" Kakuzu asked without looking "It's time to give her the dose. That's why you appeared before us, correct?" Kakuzu said as he took out syringe with a pale liquid that contained a few tinges of green.

"haha you read my mind!"

"You're both fucking annoying" Hidan said yelled as he turned to leave.

"And where do you think you're going" Kakuzu asked as he watched Hidan leave.

"If I have to fucking touch that fucking sin-bitch one more time-" Hidan said but was cut off by Zetzu.

"Don't ya mean fucking quean?" The clone said with that weird smile plastered on its face that for some reason doesn't seem to change.

"FUCK YOU! I'm out! Pledges beat the fucking bitch-" Hidan said as he directed his attention the J pledges but he was cut off by Zetzu again.

"Quean."

"FUCKING SHUT IT! Just beat the bitch up! I'll do the ritual later... AND YOU BETTER PAY ATTENTION CAUSE AIN'T TEACHING IT AGAIN!"

---

BACK AT THE PORT

---

"Ow, what the heck was that?" Naruto said as a pair of hands now helped him instead of pushing him down to the ground.

"Naruto, what happened?" He heard the familiar voice of Sakura say behind him.

"I don't know" Naruto said as sat up straight and rubbed his head. "My head started hurting, it was like something was banging my head with a hammer from the inside and then my vision started fading away along with my hearing and then I-" Naruto cut himself off, there was no way in hell he was going to tell Sakura, and everybody else, about the things he somehow felt he did with Sasame.

"And then you..." Sakura continued thinking Naruto forgot to get him to remember whatever he was about to say.

"Nope, that's about it" Naruto said rather fast as he felt his face get hotter.

"You sure" Sakura said as she wasn't entirely convinced "Because the symptoms you described aren't enough to cause bleeding from the-" Sakura was about to say nose but Naruto cut her off.

"Nope, nothing else; it must have been something caused by the fight last night" Naruto said rather quickly again as he stood but he felt kinda of dizzy and started swaying a bit before he recomposed himself.

"But that was almost a day ago" Sakura pointed out.

"Well Relax, it what just some weird headache and it now it's over so I guess it's all good right?"

"Uh, Naruto" said Tenten "That sounds really irresponsible."

"Yeah, what if it's serious" Ino added. Hinata also wanted to say something but she was too shy to say anything, she had Ino's crazy idea stuck in her head. She just felt like she barely even breath around him unless she knew whether or not the idea was a reality...Naruto getting married...another girl...taking her dream...

"Yeah Naruto" said Sakura as her face formed scowl "I can't just let this slide. I need to-" much to Naruto's relief, Sakura was interrupted.

"Um excuse me" a female voice said. The group turned to see a woman light brown smooth hair that seemed to reach her neck, she had red bandanna with fish decor covering her neck, and her left ear had a piercing of a white cat with orange and brown spots with it's right paw up, she also has light brown eyes. The lady couldn't be more than twenty-five years old, her breast are of a regular size and her lips looked so soft and she had tan that some girls would kill for. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine" Naruto said while he scratched the back of his head "I just had a major headache that's all" Naruto began to sweat a little as he felt Sakura's glare on him.

"Oh I see" she said with a smiled as she to walk towards the fishing boat that sat at the dock.

"Um excuse" Shikamaru called out to lady as she let out a "hm?" and turned around to look at the him "You wouldn't happen to know where we can find the captain of that fishing boat would you?"

"I do" she said as she began to observe the group with a raise a eyebrow "Now what would a group of ninjas want with the captain."

"Nothing of violence and sorts, we heard that the vessel set a course to Kosupure village" Shino said "We also heard that the ship was still in need of a crew and therefore cannot fish properly at the moment. So we were hoping that we could offer our services in return for ride to Kosupure Village."

"Oh" she said as before she began smiling "Well lucky for you guys, you all can stop looking, because you're looking at the captain."

"Wow really?" Naruto said in surprise.

"Yeah, really" the brunet said in tone full of venom whilst she put her hands on her hips "Got a problem with it?" The entire group stiffened at Naruto's action.

"Oh sorry" Naruto said as he scratch the back of his head "I was just surprised that a little boy was captain of a ship already."

"HUH" she said in surprise as she raised an eyebrow, then she felt a tug on her shirt, she looked down and to see a kid with same colored eyes as hers and messy brown hair that was darker than hers, he was tan, wearing shorts and a green shirt with a blue lightning bolt on it. "Oh" she said "What is it, Nishi, what's the matter?"

"Is it almost time to go?" he asked as he looked at her with gleaming eyes.

"Almost but not yet" she said with a sweet smile on her face "just go wait on the boat, OK?"

"OK" he said as he smiled back and made his way back to the boat.

"So how about it?" Shikamaru asked as he caught her attention "in exchange for a lift, we'll be your temporary crew, that way you can fish on your way to Kosupure village and therefore earn some profit."

Before she responded it was silent as she pondered while she stared them down "Hmm sounds like a good offer" she said as she smiled which really lightened the mood "But" she said as she once again stiffened the group slightly "You're going to have to buy your own food, we have only enough for our small crew that includes the reserves for emergency" she said as she kept smiling "And that mutt better be potty trained" she said as she pointed at Akamaru. Kiba got tick mark and was about to yell at the lady about Akamaru being full blood but Shino and Hinata already had his mouth and his arms restrained. She resumed her smile and said "Welcome aboard, my name is Ryo Sango, but you can all call me captain Sango. The ship leaves in thirty minutes so you better be ready" She said as she turned around and headed to the boat. Naruto Smiled before he felt the familiar sensation of pain on his head and let out an "OW!"

He was punched; the punch had enough force to put him down in to his knees "What was that for?" Naruto asked as he looked at the attacker which happened to be Sakura.

"You idiot! Why on earth could have made you think that, that little boy was the captain?" Sakura bellowed.

"Sorry, it's just that when she said "You're looking at the captain" I saw the little boy walk up to her, so..." Naruto trailed off as Shikamaru gave off a lazy sigh.

"Naruto" he said "Usually when someone says that, they are referring to themselves."

"Well sorry but how was I supposed to know?"

"It's called common sense, you should learn it sometime."

A throat clearing could be heard behind the two. Shikamaru and Sakura turned around to find Sai smiling in his usual way "Uh, I hope I'm not interrupting any important lectures but the fishing vessel leaves in half an hour. So instead of arguing shouldn't we collect some provisions for the trip?"

Shikamaru sighed "why does everything have to be so troublesome. OK, anybody have some basic ideas of what we should get."

"Well it's a ride that will last for at least a week if we're lucky" Shino started "So maybe fruit to start it off because-"

"Well later guys" Naruto said as he started to wave a goodbye as he headed back into town.

"Naruto, where do you think you're going?" Shino asked as he angrily pushed up his shades.

"Oh, I'm going to get some stuff, and well you guys obviously don't need my help so..."

"But you can't leave right now! Why? Because this is a team discussion, meaning, it involves all of us!" Shino argued as our blond shinobi continued to walk.

"Well if you want my say in it; get a bunch of instant ramen." This kinda ticked Shino off since Naruto wasn't taking it seriously, or rather, he wasn't taking Shino seriously. "And besides Shikamaru probably knows a lot of stuff about the dangers of the sea and Sakura should know what we should get for any medical reasons, right?" Naruto asked as he turned his around to look at Shino.

Shino was about to say something else, but unfortunately a blond girl named Ino covered his mouth.

"Go right head Naruto, just remember to be back here in twenty minutes, so don't take too long" Ino said with a (fake) sweet smile as well as an eye-smile while she continued to cover Shino's mouth while trying to shake off some bugs that were crawling up her arm at the same time.

"Alright, later!" the blond called back before he stopped in his tracks and rushed back to where Shikamaru was standing "Right almost forgot, Shikamaru can you look over my bag? I don't think carrying it around with me would be the best idea because I could easily forget it somewhere." The explanation seemed decent, he had an innocent smile on and it really did seem to be the best option available. Shikamaru just stared at Naruto as his right eye twitched a couple of times. Instead of the innocent smile Naruto had on his whiskered face, Shikamaru saw a deviant and sly grin with dark clouds in the back ground with the occasional lighting here and there then the big loud crackle of thunder. I bead of sweat started to trail down his neck.

"No" he said calmly, he didn't want to give Naruto the impression that he was, in anyway, scared of his pranks.

"EH! Why not?!" Naruto whined has his face was quickly replaced with shock and confusion.

"What do I look like to you, a babysitter?"

"AWWWW! But what if I lose my backpack!?" Naruto argued as he tried to convince Shikamaru to get the load off his back.

"Then just don't take it off" Shikamaru said in a rather cold manner.

"Aww man, but I really didn't feel like carrying it around" Naruto whined as he once again turned around and started heading back into town.

Shikamaru took out his canteen of water, opened it and brought to his lips. For some reason he just could drink the water until he knew Naruto was out of his sight. When Naruto was finally out of sight he started as the water was sliding down his esophagus a certain blond smacked him hard on his back. The caused the water to gush out of his mouth in manner where the person felt like he was puking and water gushed out of his nose. Shikamaru coughed a lot thanks to the irritation left in his throat. He turned to look at his attacker. "INO! WHAT THE HELL!" Shikamaru yelled as he grabbed the canteen, dropped his head backward and drank a lot of water. The irritation disappeared, but Shikamaru was still catching his breath.

"Shikamaru!" Ino said with that menacing mother tone. "Naruto is getting married-" "might be-" Shikamaru quickly added before he continued drinking water. "-we have to be supportive remember."

"Yeah" Sakura said "it's probably not marriage but, something is making Naruto act weird and secretive."

"Eh?" Ino said as she raised an eyebrow "What's make you say it's not marriage?"

"Well besides the fact that Tsunade-sama said to 'Be careful' and 'Be on High alert' and who could forget 'Your target is dangerous'" Sakura stated. "For all we know, it's probably someone Naruto knows and is on bad terms with. So maybe he has to do whatever it takes to make that Konoichi comfortable as possible so that he could get on good terms with her."

"Oh" Ino said with a less hearted resolve "That's right, that could also be another theory...but I still think he's getting married!"

"Well I don't know about marriage but he doesn't seem to know who this 'Fu' girl is" Sai said with a fake smile as he interrupted their conversation. His face then changed into a serious one as well as his tone. "When Tsunade-same gave us the description, he didn't react at all. So it's more than likely that Naruto is not on bad terms with this person as well as a good one. But Naruto is still in possession of information that makes him worried about our well being and wants me be careful of what I say around this girl as to not upset her." He said. Then his seriousness disappeared almost immediately as he began to smile again "Oh would anyone be interested in hearing my theory? I'm happy to share" Sai said as he kept smiling his usual way.

"Yeah sure, why not" Shikamaru said "Just keep on adding to the pile, we're bound to figure out what exactly is Naruto's relation with Fu before he tells us, right?" Shikamaru said in a very sarcastic way to the point where everyone knew it was sarcasm.

Unfortunately, Sai didn't pick up on this one. "Well. It's good to see you're very optimistic about this, Shikamaru" Sai said as he still heald the smile. "But I'll tell you another time. Right now we have to collect provisions for the trip and well...something actually piqued my interest. So..." Sai trailed off as he began walking in the same direction Naruto went.

"Right" said Sakura "Let's go Shikamaru" as she started heading for the closest market.

"Right, be with yeah in a second" Shikamaru said.

"Well if you say so" Sakura said as she shrugged.

"Hey Ino" Tenten said "maybe your right, I mean Naruto is starting to act a bit more mature."

"How so, Tenten" Ino asked.

"Well, he's been trying too hard to keep every ones spirits up, remember what he did when we took that break earlier today?"

"Yeah I remember he told jokes and what not."

"Yeah and not only that. Since I'm fixing his jacket I thought he would have done me a favor. So when he offered to fill the canteens, he told me that he would repay his debt some other way instead of just doing that. So maybe he's trying to save me a favor or he's trying to-" Tenten would have continued but Shikamaru, who was close enough to hear their conversation, interrupted them.

"Wait, hold on! Naruto refilled the canteens?" Shikamaru asked, he seemed a little pale.

"Yeah he did" Tenten said.

"Come on!" Sakura yelled as she was far ahead "Tenten, Ino, Hinata! I need your help, I can't carry everything ya know! Same goes for you guys!"

"Coming!"

Shikamaru just stood there, he slowly put his head down to stare at the empty canteen in his hand, he didn't seem to have any expression, he just stared at the canteen hoping to find something, a clue maybe? A signal? Maybe some sort of sign that would let him know what was in it besides the water. It was clear that he was never going to know...so he did the most logical thing any could do in his situation. He walked over to the docks; he looked at his wavy reflection in the water. He put finger in mouth and tried to reach his throat...

"So what do you guys think" Kiba asked "What do you think Naruto has to do with all of this?"

"Hmm" Lee hummed as he closed his eyes and touched his chin "I hate to do assumptions because of how un-youthful they can turn out to be, but" he suddenly nodded head "But Ino's conclusions sounds very reasonable"

"I agree" Neji said just as they heard sounds of puking. They all whipped their head around to see Shikamaru kneeling over the dock puking his guts out.

"Oi Shikamaru, you ok!" Choji yelled as he rushed to his side.

Shikamaru stopped puking for a while, taking in large intakes of air before he muttered "so goddamn troublesome" before he made a very uncomfortably noise, grabbed his mouth and puked "BLURG!"

---

Sai was walking the streets looking for Naruto. He was sure no one noticed what he noticed so he knew he had to take this opportunity to investigate while nobody knew. When Naruto was leaving he was able to catch a glimpse of Naruto smirking from the one of the windows of one of building near the docks. It seemed that Naruto did not intend for Shikamaru to guard his bag. Sai's assumption is that Naruto offered the bag fully knowing that Shikamaru would not accept. For what reason though? Sai didn't know. But he knew that Naruto knew that if he offered his bag it would make people a little less curious about whats inside... Now the question is..."What are you hiding Uzumaki?" Sai muttered under his breath. He scanned the area for the said blonde but he didn't find a single trace of the person anywhere. Actually there wasn't a single soul around. "Where are you...?" Sai said as he continued looking.

"Hey buddy" Sai heard man say.

"Hm" Sai said as he stopped in his track and turned left to to see who called out to him. It was man in a dark alley way, his body was covered in shadows but his eyes were clearly visible.

"I got watcha need..." he said in a low voice. Sai looked around and then pointed to himself and the shaded man nodded. Sai shrugged and walked in the dark alley way to see exactly what the man was offering...

"Thank you, please come again~" said the clerk lady as Naruto walked out of a store with more items in his backpack.

"You're welcome" Naruto said back with a smile on his face. Since he had the chance he went back to the shops he found and decided to buy some proper training balloons. And he got at a discount too. The clerk lady was about year older than him and she tried flirting with him but she quickly found that he was oblivious to it and it was only balloons so she said she would give him a ten percent discount for a kiss on the cheek. Naruto happily said yes; he's done it a lot of time during his training trip with Jiraiya, seeing how the said person always used his money so...he had to save up. As he headed back to the boat he started pondering one question "Now what do I do with those weird balloons?" he wondered out loud. They were all in a box wrapped in separate packages. He read the box and all it said was "Fits any size, it feels like nothing's there, guaranteed maximum pleasure, safest there is" and what not... What the hell is it for anyway?

"Where did you get that scroll?"

"Hmm" Naruto said as he turned his head right to an alleyway where a couple of guys were playing a game of cards. They had a table setup right outside a door to a building, Naruto figured it was some sort of bar because there was a lot of empty bottle neatly stacked outside, mostly sake bottles but there were other brands too. There were four guys playing cards while one was just standing by the door looking tough, he also looked kind of intimidating, he wore shades, had black spiky hair and loose business suit, the only thing he was missing was tie.

"I got it off the merc-nin" said a man who had a scroll in his hands with a green seal on it. He was wearing black slacks, and some sort silk button up shirt with tropical decorations, he looked old, his hair lost its coloration but it was still neck length.

"Would that be the one that tried to kill you or the one that you hired?" asked another man who was younger than the one with scroll, actually he looked like the youngest one out of all of them, he had more elegant look to him, he had black laid back hair, a little stash growing on his lips and he is wearing a dark blue button up shirt.

"It was definitely the one that tried to kill him, I mean think about it, sonny. Would a live mercenary ninja give up a ninjutsu scroll to a rich man without taking a big portion his money?" This guy was wearing oval shades, has a brown goat beard and he is bold, he is wearing dull red suit.

"Hmm, I guess you point there... What do you think Kaito?" said the young guy as he turned his head to another guy who seemed to have it low, his suit was a mess, his blond hair was messy as hell, and he looked kinda pale.

"HMM? Sorry what" he said as he looked up from his cards.

"Where do you think there got the scroll from; the merc-nin who tried to kill him or the one who he hired?"

"The one he hired. Fold" he said as he put his card down.

"Now what would make you say that" asked the man in the red suit.

"Cause, I don't think I have anything good to bet on."

"No not the reason why you folded! I'm talking about the scroll."

"Oh! Because the merc-nin he hired tried to kill him, so he killed the merc-nin."

"No really, Onegiri" asked the young guy as he tried not to laugh.

"It's true" nodded "turns out that some pissed off prick from demon country didn't like how I ended out little 'business' relationship. So he hired a merc-nin to kill me. I caught wind of it, hired a merc as extra protection; and would you believe it? I hired the same damn guy who was hired to kill me!"

"Huh, how 'bout that? It's a good thing that you're always prepared" said the man in the red suit.

"Yeah, I swear you have the worst luck with merc-nin" the young guy laughed out.

"Alright show 'em" the man in the red suit said as everyone showed their cards. "HAH! Three of kind, I win!" he said as he brought the winnings that was at the center of the table to him. There seemed to be a mixture of money, golden jewelry, some valuable stones and what not, there was even a cool looking knife that seemed more for show rather than cutting.

"What kind of ninjutsu is it anyway?" asked the young guy.

"An elemental one, um...a wind style one."

"Wait did you say it was wind affinity jutsu?" Naruto asked as everyone at the table turned their attention to Naruto, the guy who was just standing by the door just become more intimidating as he directed he shade covered eyes at him.

"Who the fuck're you?"

"Oh I'm-" Naruto began as he moved a bit closer offering his hand to to shake but the guard blocked his path as cut him off.

"It was a rhetorical question, dumb ass. I don't give a shit about who you are, now scram!"

"Geez, all I wanted to do was see if I can buy that scroll."

"This scroll" he asked as he shook the said scroll, Naruto nodded "you, wan' it, you gotta win it in game of poker, kid."

Naruto shrugged and said "OK, fine by me." He was about to move to the table when the guard stopped him again.

"Hold on; It's a private game" he said.

"What? But he said-"

"I know what he said. He said that if you want that Ninjutsu scroll you got win it in a game of poker. But he never said you could play."

The young guy snickered as he shook his head "it's alright Genma, let him play...I like a new player once in awhile. What do you guys say?"

The man in the red suit shrugged "it's alright with me if he's got something bet with."

"I'm yeah I got my money with me" Naruto said as he began to reach out for some thing, Genma stiffened and was about to react in some way but Naruto held out a hand in a stopping motion as he slowly pulled his toad wallet to show them.

"Damn that thing looks stuffed" Genma said before he nodded his head at it "How much you got in there?"

"A lot, I haven't even counted it yet" Naruto said as he carefully opened it and took a handful of notes out and showed them that it was just small notes, instead they were a high number.

"Hey kid" said Kaito "Judging by your forehead protector, you're a Konoha ninja. So tell us, what rank are you?"

"Um..." Naruto began to say but he was a little hesitant "Well..." OK he was really hesitant to tell them "I'm still a genin..." They all stood there watching him.

"How does a genin make a lot of money?"

"Trust me, I take a lot missions, granny-Tsunde actually wants me to take a break, but you know, I want to buy myself some new things for my apartment like: a better microwave or new bed."

"You live alone?" the young guy asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm an orphan. My parents died when I was little."

The guy nodded "sorry to hear that. I too lost my parents when I was little. Luckily I had an uncle and he raised me, but he wasn't around much so I know what it's like to be alone. He taught me early on about responsibility so some chores that I had to do could be...quite difficult."

Naruto smiled "yeah, but I guess the good thing about it is the experience, right?"

"Right" the guy said as he smiled. He pulled up a chair and motioned Naruto to the seat "Have a seat, umm-"

"Naruto" he said as he sat down "Naruto Uzumaki"

"Huh, nice to meet ya fishcake" he chuckled as everyone followed along.

"HEY! It means maelstrom! OK!"

"Ha-ha, OK, OK calm down. I'mHiro" started pointing around the table "the sloppy guy there is Kaede" he pointed to the guy in red "He's Aoi-"

"Aoi?" Naruto asked as he eyed the guy.

"Yeah, Aoi, somethin' wrong with it?" Aoi asked in an angered tone.

"Oh I mean nothing by it" Naruto said quickly "it's just your name means blue but your wearing red."

"Yeah my name also means the name of some flashy colorful plant and red is kinda flashy."

"Right" said Hiro "and this is Iwao but we all call him Mr. Onegiri, a hint to what his business is."

"I see...so whats the game?"

"Five card draw" said "and don't try cast a genjutsu, these cards are even better than the ones the casinos have."

"Meaning" Followed up Aoi "their very expensive, so don't ruin them, also there is no chance in hell for any of us will fall for genjutsu."

"And besides that" the young guy said as he motion a hand at the Genma "Genma here is ninja" Genma gave a sadistic smirk at Naruto giving him the creeps "so don't try anything funny, clear?"

"Crystal" Naruto said in acknowledgment. "So who's shuffling?"

"That would be me" a feminine voice said out of the shadowy part of the alleyway.

"Huh" Naruto said as he turned to see a tanned woman with red neck length hair walking out of the shadows. There was thing on her face that caught Naruto's attention. It was a scar that began at her at the left her of her bottom lip and it trailed down her to her jaw. Her eyes were wearing a tight black suit that wrapped her body so tightly, I mean you could tell she wasn't even wearing a bra...and that she was ..."excited"

"I'm shuffling" she said with a smile on her face as she picked up the deck of card sitting on the table and began to shuffle.

"Hisoka is also ninja" the man in the red suit said "and my personal body guard."

"Uh-huh" Naruto said obliviously not impressed.

"What, I'm not good enough for ya" she said as she pouted.

"It's not that, it's just that I'm in a rush" Naruto explained.

"To Where" Aoi asked.

"Yeah, I 'm not going to tell you" he said as five cards were tossed at him facedown. In one swift movement he placed his entire wallet at the center of the table and said "all in." Everyone staired at him, the guards in a surprise, Kaede was aw-struck, but the rest had that creepy amused look on their faces. The thing is...Naruto hasn't even looked at his cards...

---

A few days later

---

Naruto woke up feeling a little dizzy and disoriented...sleeping in a boat can do that to ya once in a while. He yawned as he got up his bed.

Bump!

"Ow" he said as he hit head on the top part of the bunk-bed, who's damn idea was it put bunk-beds in the boat anyway? Sure they were secured to the wall, hell, it was probably part of it...but still, why?

Naruto put his orange pants on as he looked for his jacket. He found them near the door to the room. He then heard a metallic knock on door.

"Na-na-Naruto" from the voice and speech pattern he could tell it's Hinata. "you have the night shift."

"Thanks Hinata" he said loud enough for her to hear it. He could hear her faint metallic footsteps disappearing as he put his jacket over his head. He straighted it out so that it would fit comfortably on him. "Why does night shift suck so much?" he asked himself as he left.

"All I'm saying is: who leaves a coin in the middle of room?" Kiba asked as he was on the floor trying to pick up a coin that had a lot in value.

"Anyone who dropped it" Shikamaru said in a bored tone. He was currently sitting on the table finishing his dinner.

"Yeah well either this boat is magnetic or someone used super glue" kiba said as he gritted his teeth as he tried to scrap said coin off the floor.

"Probably Naruto" Shikamaru muttered to himself.

"Hey pass me a fork or something" Kiba said as he continued to try and get the coin.

"Here" Shikamaru said as he tossed him spoon.

"This'll do" Kiba said as he began his attempt to scrape off the coin.

"It's pointless you know" Chouji said as he sat down and began his second round. "I tried that but it wouldn't come off."

"Yeah yeah" Kiba said as he placed the tip of the spoon under the coin and began his next attempt to get his prize. Trouk! "What the hell!" Kiba lifted the spoon and saw that the tip broke.

"Uh-oh, looks like captain Sango is gonna be mad" Sai said as he ate.

"Aw Crap" he said "seriously who glued this shit? Because whoever it was is going to pay not me!"

"Jeez" Sakura said as she washed the dishes "getting all worked up for a coin."

"Hey, the guy didn't have to use some insane super glue!"

"Why do you even want the coin anyway?" Ino asked as she dried and put the dishes away.

"It's not just any coin, Ino" Kiba said as both girl turned their heads to give him "the look" Kiba just sighed and said "Ok it is, but look, haven't you heard of the myth? If you find one of these kinds of coins right side up, you get this charm that makes girls get all attracted to you and stuff."

"Um I heard that that could actually be bad thing if you attract girls with psychopathic tendencies" Sai said with a fake smile.

"Well it's not true because" Shino began "in order for the myth to even be considered, it must have fallen off unintentionally. This was done intentionally because it's glued to the ground."

"Yeah well, whoever gets that coin is a lucky bastard" Kiba said as he sat down. He looked at his dinner. "Please tell me Hinata cooked this" he said as he pointed at the food.

"OK!" Sakura yelled as she turned around "yes, my cooking is not to everyone's taste; but damn it! If you got nothing good to say keep it to yourself!"

"Duly noted" he said as he poked his food, it has some vegetables that looked...kinda overcooked and fish that seemed fried...stir-fried with some spices and a couple of bisque...all of it looked just like what Sakura cooked for them on their very first night on the ship. And well...let's just say some people lost their appetite and most of their stomach contents.

"Relax" Ino said "Me and Mari cooked dinner tonight; Sakura was the one who set the table".

"Huh, I didn't think that brat could cook" Kiba said as he stabbed his food and began eating.

"Well she can't but she's better than Sakura."

"MY COOKING IS NOT THAT BAD!" Sakura yelled.

"MORNING!" Naruto yawned out loudly as he walked in.

"SHUT UP!" Naruto flinch as some weird shivered ran through his body. "Arrg!" he heard her yell as she stormed out the room mumbling stuff about cooking.

"What happened to her?" he asked as he found himself staring at the coin on the ground.

"Oh you just caught her off at bad time" Ino said with a smile "oh and you mean goodnight."

"Riiiiight" Naruto said "Ahhh who dropped a coin?"

"Who knows" Shikamaru said "All we know is that someone glued it to the floor."

"Um super glued were it breaks stuff or were its so sticky that you can pull it out slightly but it doesn't come off?"

"The first one" Kiba said as he lifted the broken spoon.

"Right" Naruto said as he knelt by the coin and grabbed and turned it clockwise and with a "plup" it came off. "Classic magnetic coin trick" Naruto said as he took off some sort of black plastic off the coin. "Trust me this is so hard to get and to make."

"Funny how you know about it" Shikamaru said as he stared at him while Kiba looked at him menacingly.

"Remember how Iruka sensei had bandages on his fingers during the nature walk?"

"Ah yeah and he made you do a bunch chores he would do, right?" Kiba asked.

"Well let's just say power outlets and magnetic coins don't mix." They all looked at him and thought he was psycho "What?"

"Naruto, how exactly does that thing work" Sai asked as he gave his plate to Ino, not caring what was on everybody's mind.

"Oh well this is special plastic that is made with a good amount of Ferrofluid, um that would be the black stuff on the plastic" Naruto said as he waved the black plastic around. "Someone found a way to make this thing with that chemical or whatever. But you also need another chemical that was created with both chakra and a special chakra mineral to make the Ferrofluid switch its special property of being drawn to magnetic items to making others objects magnetic so that it can be used as some sort of median to magnetically connects two metallic object together." Everyone just ended up looking at him. "What?"

"That has got to be the smartest thing I have ever heard you say; even if only half of it is right" Shikamaru said as everyone slowly nodded.

"Hey come on, I'm the number one prankster of Konoha, even I had to look up some stuff and for some reason this got stuck in my head."

"Wait, if that plastic so good, then why isn't it not in use for stuff like-" Ino began but Shikamaru answered for Naruto.

"-Because Ferrofluid is actually poisonous substance, therefore, it was quickly taken off the market."

"Yeah" Naruto said as he walked to the window "That's why it made me happy to see this thing" he smiled "Ahh good times" he said as he let the wind take black plastic and float away onto the sea.

"Um Naruto, are you sure that was a good Idea" Ino asked.

"Yeah, Why?"

"Well you know that could pollute the environment, right?"

"Oh relax it just a small piece" Naruto said as he took up a seat. "Hey, how bad is out there tonight?"

"Cloudy, lot of wind, and a chance of rain" Kiba said.

"Well that sucks" Naruto said as he stabbed his food and took a bite. "Hey did Sakura cook this?"

"MY COOKING IS NOT THAT BAD!" they all heard Sakura yell form whatever room she was in.

"Relax, me and Mari cooked dinner tonight."

"Wow, Mari really is sweet isn't she" Naruto said as he happily ate.

"I know, right" Ino said with a smile.

"Sweet girl my ass" Kiba muttered.

---

Neji walked the halls of the boat with a orange jacket, which he borrowed from Naruto, that was now soaking wet from being plashed a lot by the waves. He then walked into his room which he shared with Lee. "Hey Lee, how are you holding up?" Neji asked as he took off the jacket. Lee just replied by giving a weak groan. Their room was just like Naruto's. There was a bunk bed against the wall. Lee was resting on the bottom bunk as Neji approached him.

"G-g-good I think...HM! Blu-blu-" he began as fished a backet before he let out a "blurg" and puked into the bucket.

Neji sighed "Hang in there Lee, just a few more days and well be there. The weather seems to be clearing up, so the ride should be getting easier."

"No-no-no-no sooner?-HMM!" he said as he grabbed his face and once again emptied his stomach constants into a bucket.

"Right, Um I'll get you something for your seasickness" Neji said as he put his shirt on.

"No need" said a feminine voice from the door as the figure showed a bottle of anti-seasickness pills. It was a girl with black smooth hair that reached just below her mid back who was maybe a couple of years younger than Naruto. IT was tied up in a ponytail and she had a bang going down n the middle of her face just above her nose and two bang on the sides that covered her ears, she has brown eyes and she was dressed in her pink PJ's that covered her entire body.

"Oh, Mari" Neji said as he noticed her sweet smile.

She kept smiling and said "Why don't you go and get something to eat, I can look after Lee-kun for a while" she said as she remained in her spot.

"Oh how kind of you" Neji said as he smiled but lee paled as he tried to tell Neji "No" while he shook his head desperately but his unfortunate need to puke his guts out came first. "You have been looking after Lee a lot lately."

"Yeah, I actually think he enjoys my company" Lee wanted to say something but damn it was he green.

"Well, I'll leave him in your hands then if it's not a problem."

"Oh it's not problem at all" she said as she walked towards Lee.

"Well I guess I'll leave you to it then" Neji said a she left let got up and tried to reach him but it was no good. Neji has already left the room and let the door shut. Lee left his green mouth open as he stared at the door hoping Neji would comeback.

"Whats the matter Lee-kun?" she asked with a sweet voice as well as closed but confused look "Don't you wanna be with me" she asked in a dark voice as she opened her eyes as she lowered her head to look a bit more intimidating as shadowed creeped upon her face reaching her the end of her nose.

"N-n-n-no" Lee said as he laid back in his bead and trembled.

"Sorry I didn't hear you correctly" she said in a venomous but playful voice.

"N-no Mari-sama"

"Oh and why not" she asked sounding a little hurt as she shook the bottle again. "Oh, by the looks of it, it seems like two pills won't do it this time...five would probably do the trick" she said as she grinned.

Lee couldn't control his body anymore; he trembled as his fears took over. Mari began moving towards Lee making her footstep very audible as she as her dark grin got darker and darker. With each step Lee trembled even more. Mari loved this...it was like watching a ninja dog squirm. "Now we're going to play my favorite game. It's called Mari say's, but of course you already know how it goes" she said as she sat by the bed as she wiped away a few strands of hair. "Same rule, if you follow my instructions you get a pill. After all...why are you the only one who gets to feel better right?"

Lee only had one phrase stuck in head as he trembled, "Protect me, Gai-sensei!"

---

"Man that was great!" Naruto said as he handed his plate to Ino who smiled "Thanks" then she grabbed a small wrapped package and handed it to Naruto "here, in case you get hungry."

"Oh, thanks Ino, I really appreciate it" Naruto said as he got up. "Well, I better go" Naruto said.

"Yea you should, it's gonna start raining cats and dogs outside" Ino said as she put some plates away.

"Crap you serious?"

"Yep."

"Oh man this sucks!" Naruto said as he a walked outside.

"Well, you were the last one on the boat" Ino called out.

"Yeah yeah" could be heard through the halls.

Then a man walked in... Sort of, he's 22 years old, brown hair, little beard had the usual fishing attire, and was smoking. "He must be a piece of work. I mean you should quit working with a guy like that."

"Those cancer sticks must be piece of work for your lung, you should quit smoking them like that" She threw back.

He shrugged as he nodded his head from side to side "I respect that, but I can't quit now, after all, being ten from when it started to today, that'd be to much of a hassle" he explained.

"Really? Since you were ten, Sho?"

"Hey, it cools the nerves" he said. Ino just rolled her eyes. "'Sides working the engine is a nightmare, a real beauty but with claws and shrieks."

"I feel sorry Tagime, working with a guy who smokes all the time down there."

"Pff! Please, she loves it."

"Well later" Kiba said "I'm gonna check on Akamaru."

---

Naruto was halfway up to the nest, man he wished boats had radars or something; sure, it was easy climbing up to the mast but the weather... Naruto was finally on the nest. He sighed as he dropped his back pack. He sat down. As he looked at the moon in the distance, he wasn't sure if it was disappearing or filling but part of it was missing. He sighed, he was glad no one noticed. Sure it was childish but he didn't want anybody worrying about him. He pulled his bag closer to him, unzipped it, and pulled out a water balloon.

CRACK!

He snapped his head to the moon. The dark clouds were making themselves visible, they started covering the moon.

Naruto looked at his water balloon and frowned. Tonight's going to be another long one. He put the balloon aside and pulled out a scroll with a green seal on it. He unrolled out and read the name out loud for what would be the hundredth time "Wind release: Burst Blow." From what Naruto could tell, it was a C-class technique where the user in-hails air and spits out in either short burst of air or a big a stream that could potentially knock the user off his/her feet.

Naruto has practice a lot and all he can manage was a pathetic puff of air that had blown the previous rain off their pattern, but that was about it. His sudden renewal training of the rasengan was easier but still hard to master. At least his arms didn't feel like worthless jelly hanging off his body like the first time. As for paper cutting (cause there's no leafs out in the sea that wasn't algae)...it was difficult...especially when it was raining.

CRACK!

Another thunder sounded off. Yep it was going to be another long night. He thanked whatever deity was out there that he could sleep in. He looked at the scroll again; he smiled before he let a breath of amusement slipped through his mouth as he thought of how he won it.

---

"Kid, you sure" Aoi asked "you haven't looked at your cards."

"Should I" Naruto asked "I mean we practically reallying on luck so..."

"Yeah your right" said "but, kid, blind luck is dumb luck."

"So?" Naruto asked with a shrug.

Hiro laughed "I like this kid" he said.

"Like I said I'm in a hurry" Naruto argued "if blind luck gets it done then who am I to complain."

Mr. Onigiri smiled, he pulled out the scroll and tossed it in the pot/middle of the table "Well if you're doing it so am I."

"Whoa whoa hold on" Aoi said "Your actually going with this?"

"Sure why not? Either way it always comes down to luck."

"Yeah well count me out" Aoi said as he tossed his cards face said up.

"Same here" Kaede said as he placed his cards down.

"As fun as it looks" Hiro said "Count me out. I've been having bad luck recently."

"Alright so you and me are the only ones in" Naruto said.

"Right" Mr. Onigiri said with a smile.

"Well" Hiro began "because you two are in this then I guess you have to show 'em."

"Right, you first kid."

Naruto nodded he grabbed all five of his cards and he placed them upward with a smile on his face. Then he began to pale. What he had was a bunch of junk. Mr. Onegiri looked him in the eye.

"Too bad, kid" he said "looks like luck is on my side" he said with a smirk as he flipped over his cards and as he looked at them he crunched his face. It was also junk, in fact it was almost a replica of what Naruto had, almost, Naruto has a king in the pile while he has a jack instead. Hiro checked his cards and he had a two pairs of low numbers. Aoi checked his, one strong pair. Kaede flipped his cards over and muttered "Of Course" because he had four queens. He would have won if he had played.

"Looks like I win" Naruto said with a toothy grin.

---

Naruto laughed at the memory.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Naruto smiled at the clouds. The world could throw whatever it wants at Naruto. No matter what it is, he will always stand the next day.

"Fu" He thought in his head "I wonder what you're like."

---

In dark room somewhere, a girl woke up, she had her back against the wall. A bit of the moon light sipped in through the wooden walls and shined on her, reflecting off on her mint green hair. She was having trouble breathing; it actually felt as if she couldn't breathe. She cried. She was helpless...she was wasting space. That was all she was good for. She kept crying until everything went dark.

---

The entire Konoha group (minus Lee and Naruto) was sitting down in a small rest area while the rest of crew was who knows where, either a sleep or doing their jobs. They were mostly in a circle, Neji, Kiba and Shino sitting on the ground next to the door, ignoring the way the boat swayed from side to side. Tenten, Sakura, and Ino were all sitting at a table making sure their drinks doesn't spill. Hinata, Shikamaru, and Sai were up against the wall.

"Phew" Ino said "Were finally free."
"Yeah" Tenten agreed "by the way Sakura, how's Nishi doing?"

"Oh he's fine; his fever should wear off in a day or so. But still a sudden fever right after we left..."

"Yeah, we know, it's strange, and it's especially shocking that he got sick after he hate your nutritious meal" Shikamaru said with Sarcasm, then he ducked when Sakura threw an apple at him. And then that was it, no one had anything to else to say. They all sat in silence just waiting for someone ot say something that didn't involve Sakura's cooking.

"Oh Sai" Tenten said as she broke the silence, in a sense.

"Yes" he said with that lovely fake smile.

"Something has been bothering me. Before we left, you said you had a theory. And all the evidence you gave that day that disproved all the big theories we had about Naruto and that girl Fu-"

"Maybe!" Ino quickly added in.

"And I just want to hear your theory."

"Oh" Sai said "I never got around to saying it, did I? My bad." He said with the ever present smile. "Well my theory is that maybe Fu...is actually a relative of Naruto."

"WHAT!" Ino yelled out "What the hell made you come to that conclusion!"

"Actually, that's the most reasonable theory I've heard so far" Shikamaru said.

"Sai, how exactly did you come to that conclusion?" Neji asked "Because I don't recall any piece of information that leads to that conclusion."

"Same here" Tenten said as she looked around giving everyone her contact "Tsunade-sama never gave any details or hints that leads to that conclusion"

Shikamaru sighed "What a drag" he said slowly as he rubbed his face "The reason he came to his conclusion is not because of the information we were given, it's because of what we weren't given."

"But Shikamaru" Choji began "Where do we even begin guessing what Hokage-sama didn't tell us, I mean, there's a lot thing we should know, like what she eats, any allergies, and food dislike? And besides that, Naruto seemed a bit worried, so she might be dangerous to even make him worried, we have no idea where to even begin."

"No Choji, think. While she was briefing us on how to find her what didn't she tell us?"

"Hmmm" Choji hummed as he began to think, the same could go for everyone else.

"Come on it's not that hard, what piece of her identity didn't we receive?" Shikamaru stated the question so that they could begin thinking around that question.

"Her-her last name" a shy voice stuttered out. Every turned to Hinata who looked a little less shy then what her voice lead on, actually it kinda seemed like she was maybe...desperate a bit. "Tsunade-sama never gave us her last name, only her first."

"Oh yeah that's right, why were we only given her first name and not her surname" Tenten asked.

"Because Fu could actually be part of Naruto's family" Neji said now getting the conclusion. "If he found out that he could actually have a relative, I guess I can see why he;s worried. "

"Wait but Naruto is an orphan and there was no civilian that had any resemblance to him beside Ino's family" Sakura said. "And we haven't even heard the name Uzumaki anywhere. And besides, we can't forget about the other descriptions."

"Your right" Ino said happily "Those descriptions are far off from Naruto's."

"Yeah but didn't you have a cousin who was completely different compared to the rest of your clan?" Shino asked.

"Ah well yeah, but..." Ino began; she really didn't want to be wrong.

"No excuse Ino" Shikamaru said. "Fair is fair. She could be a distant relative of Naruto. And besides, Naruto himself doesn't know if he really is related. Tsunade probably wanted to break it to him first so that there wouldn't be any surprises for him and if it turned out that their not related."

"He'd be able to handle it better" Tenten said catching on "Poor guy, he's worried that the first trace of his family might not actually be his family."

"But why didn't Tsunade-sama tell all of us this" Sai asked.

"Because we're not in position to help Naruto" Shino answered. "Like Sakura said, Naruto was an orphan from day one of his life. In contrast all of us have had family members and relatives we see everyday. If Naruto got depressed because his family wasn't his family, we'd have no way to help properly."

"Hence, the reason why Tsunade-sama only told Naruto" Began Shikamaru. "That way the shock wouldn't be too painful."

"So Naruto is not getting married?" Hinata asked with a tinge of hope in her voice.

"Not necessarily, there is always the possibility that could happen" Sai said "It's just that in my theory, the chances of marriage can either increase or decrease. In the end it all breaks down to how Naruto feels about it."

"Right" Hinata said a little meeker than usual.

"That's right, Tsunade wouldn't make Naruto do something he doesn't want to do, well, at least not something like that" Sakura said.

"Yeah but I wouldn't count on it" Ino said "I mean you guys saved their village. And you said it yourself, even the leader of the village respects him, so maybe they want Naruto to marry her and get comfortable with living with her before they move to her village, that's probably why he seemed off."

"I'm sure Tsunade-sama would never do that, otherwise Naruto would raise hell over it" Kiba said.

"That's because of Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage, right?" Shino asked.

"Right."

"Maybe they're scared that Konoha might attack them" Neji suggested.

"Probably" Sakura said "I mean Naruto...Sasuke...and I know the secret entrance. But I think they changed it."

"Wait, I thought it was a natural secret entrance" Tenten said.

"It probably is but natural or not it can always be changed" Shino said. "Because-"

"We know why" Kiba said. "But still, why is Naruto so important in all of this?"

"That's what we've been trying to figure out" Shino said, a little upset but rather calm.

Throughout this Ino notice the way Hinata was. She was sad, shyer (more than usual and especially around Naruto) and was looking down at the floor. All of these theories were affecting her. Sure it was overstatement saying that the entire Village knew about her crush on Naruto. Only the military portion knew about it, and it was only a small group: say about...thirty people at most and they are not gossipers. Plus, she has "evidence" that Naruto was up to something, even if it isn't marriage it has something to do with a girl.

"All right" Ino said as she stood and put her hands on her hips. "Emergency meeting!" She yelled.

...

The entire group just looked at her.

"We're all here Ino" Shikamaru said "There is really no reason what soever for you to say that."

Ino huffed and pouted before she yelled "OK! Emergency GIRL meeting! So you guys better get out!"

All the guys just stared at her. "No" Kiba said. "We finally have time off in the most comfortable room in the ship and you want us to leave?"

---

Tagime, a girl with the height of Shizune was calmly walking to her room. She rubbed her oil stained left cheek and made sure that her right one still had a bandage there. She was close to the comfort room. Maybe she should drop in for a snack?

The door was a few feet away. She could just slip in, grab a snack from the mini-fridge, maybe relax for awhile.

In flash the door opened and one by one guys were thrown out of the room, first Kiba, then Shikamaru, Sai, Shino, Choji, and lastly Neji. All of them hit the wall and then landed on top of each other.

On second thought, it's better to just keep on walking.

---

"Okay, Ino" Sakura said "now, what's all this about?"

"Okay, despite what all of you believe, Naruto is up to something, if not on this boat then when we meet this Fu girl."

"Okay why's that?" Tenten asked. And then she regretted it. Ino put on a creepy smile and made some weird laughing noises.

"Ino are you oaky?"

"Oh I'm fine Kukukuku" that was really creepy.

"Um" Hinata began shyly "what is the evidence?"

"THIS!" she yelled as she pulled out box seemingly out of nowhere. It was a box of...

"INO WHERE'D YOU GET THAT!" Sakura yelled with her eyes so wide they were practically white. Tenten was in the same condition with slack jaw and a flushed face, Hinata just stared with black eyes and a concealed flush face."

"From Naruto's bag" Ino said smugly.

"Um..." Tenten began "Are you sure he didn't just confuse it as a weird type of balloon?"

"Come on there is an instruction pamphlet inside for idiots or beginners, plus, there are descriptions on the box so give him some credit."

"OK but was it opened" Sakura asked.

Ino sucked in air where the "SSSS" part of it stood out more. "Yeah...no, but don't be quick to sell him out just yet."

"OK sure, say he did get them with full intentions of using them the right way-" Tenten said with a firm voice.

"-Which he is" Ino said.

"Right but...I'm kinda worried about who he plans to do "it" with" After she said that they both turned to look at Sakura.

Sakura blushed "if that idiot lays finger on me-" She began threat.

"Don't worry" Ino said "I'll lock our door."

"Ino, Naruto is a ninja like us and not only that, he trained with a sage, though a pervy and idiotic one, but never the less a sage, and he is a reformed prankster of Konoha" Sakura said like a plain fact.

"...Okay, we'll rig our rooms with traps."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

"Yeah what about all the other girls on the ship" Hinata said meekly, as usual, with a fully flushed faced with sweat trickling down her neck.

"There are only three other and besides that, we only need a good bait" Ino said as she stood with her index finger int he air.

"BAIT" They all yelled.

"Yes that's right, bait! And our willing bait is...Hinata" Ino said as she pointed at said person.

"Eh-eh-eh! Me!" Hinata said as her face got redder and more sweat started pouring it, it was almost comical.

"Wait you don't mean..." Tenten began.

"Of course she does" Sakura as she rubbed her temples.

"That's right" Ino said with a creepy smile. "All Hinata has to do is leave her door slightly open, Tenten has the night shift again tomorrow night so she'll be alone, and when Naruto comes in and see's a perfectly good victim; he'll get right down to business! Plus, it's a good way for Hinata to bag in Naruto as her boyfriend! It's a win a win situation for everybody!"

A thump was heard all girls directed their attention to Hinata who fainted and was practically covered in sweat.

"Hinata...are you alright" Tenten asked. No reply...as usual.

Sakura sighed "I'll check her pulse."

---

"Well, this sucks" Kiba said. "Akamaru's lucky, he's probably asleep with Nishi by now."

"Well that's about all he can do" Choji said "Act like one of those medic dogs and give him company."

"Yep" Shikamaru said as he sipped some tea. At the moment, all the guys who were kicked out of the most comfortable room on the ship were sitting at the table where they recently ate dinner.

"This tea taste odd" Neji said as he looked at it with caution.

"I agree. Sai" Shino asked "Exactly what kind of tea is this? Because it is not of any kind of I have had the pleasure of sampling."

"Oh, it's mint tea" He replied with a smile, though he himself also found the tea odd too. "Though I admit that it's the missing flavor."

"Yeah your right it's not minty at all" Kiba said, but he sipped his tea regardless. "Still what could have been so important that they had to kick us out" they were actually punched out but you get it.

"It's probably about Naruto" Choji said.

"As usual" Neji said as sipped the tea cautiously.

"Yeah well, why does everything revolve around him all of the sudden?"

"Kiba, we can talk all night long and we would get nowhere" Shikamaru said calmly as he drank the tea, hoping it would cool his nerves down.

"This tea is berry odd" Shino said once more.

"Um...don't you mean very?" Shikamaru asked.

"That's what I said."

"...Right...Sai? Where did you get this tea from again?"

"Oh, I got from a nice man back at the port. He told me this was a good way to get closer with my friends" he said as he smiled and poured more tea into his cup. "'Drop one in boiled water and then wait for the fun.' his words" Sai said with a smile.

"Well that's an odd set of instructions" Neji stated as he sipped the tea and raised an eyebrow "Both the instructions and the tea are very odd."

"Ah...do you mind if I see one of those tea things" Choji asked.

"Sure, you go" Sai said as he passed a bag with a mint inside, the mint that was two and half inches in diameter.

"Um you forgot the 'here' in you sentence" Shikamaru said.

"Sorry what" Sai asked.

"Um I said...what I say" Shikamaru asked himself more confused now.

"Nothing important" Neji said as he stared at his tea. "Something is very odd with this tea."

"It's the tea, because it's not minty" Shino stated.

"...Right..."

"Um I think I'm too tired" Kiba said as he rubbed his head.

"Then go to sleep."

"Should I? I mean I'm seeing doubles here."

"You're probably just seasick" Shikamaru said, and then he eyed the candy Choji had. "hey Choji, let me see that for second." Choji wasn't paying attention "Choji!"

"HUH! Oh sorry what?" he said as he looked at Shino.

"Choji, I called you" Shikamaru.

"Huh, oh sorry" he said as he looked at Shikamaru.

"Right...can I see the ah...the ah mint" he said as he pointed at the said item.

"Yeah, sure" Choji replied as he threw the mint at Shikamaru.

"Thanks" Shikamaru said as he caught it and then he looked at it. His mouth slowly opened before he closed it and swallowed. He dropped the mint and looked at Sai. "Hey Sai...this woman who sold you these mints-"

"Man" corrected Sai.

"Man" repeated Shikamaru "he didn't happen to be shady looking, had yellow teeth with cracks here and there and some missing, talked in a kinda secretive way did she?"

"He, and yes, eggxactly like that" he replied making the "egg" stand out more.

"...Right...And this boy-"

"Man" corrected sai once more.

"Man" repeated Shikamaru "He didn't happen to sell you these mints in some dark alley way did he?"

"Why yes he did, actually" Sai replied and then he smiled "Oh don't worry" he waved his hand "I pulled a random one out and made him try it. He took whole one in a single cup so it should be fine."

"...OK...but I wasn't asking to make sure it wasn't poisonous."

"Ah shikamaru" Kiba asked as he and everybody else looked at him "what does this all add up to?"

Shikamaru sighed "I got bad news, good news and some more bad news."

"OK" Neji said "what are they?"

"The bad news is that this mint isn't for tea."

"Crap you mean!" Kiba said not wanting to finish the question as he and everybody else, minus Shino and Sai, grimaced in fear.

"No that's the good news, it's not poison." They all sighed for a moment there they thought they were goners.

"Whats the bad news" Both Sai and Shino asked almost simultaneously.

"Their drugs, I remember reading it in one of the reports. This is a fairly new drug that surpasses Benzoylmethylecgonine, an old drug. We have reason to believe that their selling it in plain sight through everyday items...like mints."

"Wait so you mean" Choji began...

"It's running inside of all bodies" Shikamaru replied bluntly.

"Wait a minute; I also remember reading about this drug. Apparently it get's the user intoxicated easily, especially if you are on an empty stomach" Neji said "that is unless your a well train ninja, in that case, the effects take a while to kick in and is almost unnoticeable."

"So then we're not completely under the influence at the moment" Shino stated but he was ignored.

"But the mortality rate of these drugs is actually higher than Benzoylmethylecgonine."

"Right" Kiba said calmly "THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SITTING AROUND FOR! WE HAVE TO GET IT OUR OF OUR SYSTEMS!" Almost instantly all four guys run to the windows and began their greatest attempt to puke out their guts. Yummy.

Shino and Sai, however, remained calm at the table drinking the drugged tea. "I'm guessing you read the latest report" Sai said as he saw the other guys try to puke.

"CRAP! Nothings coming out!"

"Why yes, I have" Shino said "The more of the drug you take at a time the more your immune systems have to work. This drug is a mixture of chemicals, most of which we are still trying to determine what they are. And one of the chemicals has been recognized as anti-regurgitation medicine."

Sai nodded "It is also reported that the cause of death is not because of a single use of the drug. The mixture of chemicals actually causes the human body to become more resistant to it, though it disappears in a few days, it can actually work as an anti-toxin for itself."

"Which of-course causes the users addicted to it to take such a vast quantity at once? The result of such a large intake that the immune system begins to fail and the users die of common illnesses. Though that stage may not have been reached, it can still cause users to become unconscious for a good while after they fall asleep"

"So the more you ingest, moderately of course, the more unlikely you are to experience the effects afterwards. That is if your body has had any physical training that resembles that of military."

"Right" Shino said as he sipped his tea.

"Shikamaru I can't puke!"

"Should we tell them" Sai asked as he turned to look at Shino.

Shino turned to look at him "they'll be fine. They've been on edge lately, because we aren't used to these kinds of work and with the mystery revolving around Naruto." He sipped his tea "I good rest will do them good."

Sai shrugged and smiled "If you say so. More tea?"

"Why yes thankyou" Shino passed him his cup. "I think I'll add sugar to mine. I find the flavor berry odd."

"...Don't you mean very?" Sai asked as he passed Shino the spiky tea.

"That's what I said" Shino said as he put a few lumps of sugar into said tea.

"...Right...Buggy" Sai said as he went back to watching the guys try to puke their guts out.

---

Sakura just rubbed her angry forehead. In front of her was a bunch of passed out guys and in her left hand was a note written by Sai while her right had the box of drugged mints that didn't taste like mints.

"Wow" Ino said "I can't believe all of them are out like that."

"Yeah, I thought Ninja's didn't get high on the job" Captain Sango said bitterly, arms folded, leaning against the door.

"We-we-we don't" Hinata said.

"Hinata's right, it was simple mistake Sai made."

"The guy with the creepy smile?" Sango asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep" Tenten said

"That guy creeps me out."

"He does that to everybody" Ino said with a sigh.

"And Naruto is already asleep" Sakura said with a sigh.

"And I am on my way there" Tenten said as she walked out of the room.

"Not that I can blame him, the storms were rough last night. Well" Sango said "At least we're done with fishing. Meaning the hard job is out of the way. You girls can relax."

Both Ino and sakura sighed in relief, from day one they both voiced their thoughts on fishing and more or less came up with convincing argument (more so Sakura) on why they should not fish.

"Don't sigh just yet" Sango said as she approached the three girls "there's still scrubbing the floors, keeping an eye out for a shipwreck, pirates, and other stuff, cleaning bathrooms, cooking, for which I prefer Sakura not do-"

"HEY! My cooking is not that-!" Sakura began but Sango got in her face.

"Ooooh sweety, It's bad, and it needs a lot of work. Now, where was I, Oh yeah. Cooking, not for you" she said to Sakura "looking after Nishi and that green friend of yours who seems a bit more greener than usual, cleaning the windows, and the list" she put more emphasis on the sss "Goes on. Enjoy" she said as she left.

Both girls sighed once more only this time it was the depressing one, Hinata looked as discouraged as usual.

"Well girls, get to it, it won't be till tomorrow night until we reach our destination!" They heard the captain call from the hallway.

"Yay" both girls said weakly as they moved. Sakura took one last look at the box and whispered "I hate you" before she threw it out an open port window.

---

"This fucking sucks" muttered Hidan as he layed down on the deck and let the sun bath him in its brilliant ray "being on a damn boat all day fucking suuuuuucks!"

"Quit your babbling we're bound to run into a ship out here" Kakuzu said as he once again counted his money.

"YOU FUCKING SHUT IT! If it wasn't for your fuckin' obsession with money we wouldn't have to be out here with that fucking bitch in the fucking first place!"

"Quean."

"Zetzu...fucking...shut it! I have just about fucking had it with you and I'm this close to breaking a nerve and sacrifice you to lord Jashin!"

"Oooooh how scary" Zetzu said from somewhere on the ship's deck.

"Fuck it, skinning you in this damn heat would be too much of a damn hassle" Hidan grumbled.

"Zetzu it's almost time" Kakuzu said.

Zetzu just laughed and said "understood~"

"Hey, Kakuzu, what the fuck are those syringes anyway" Hidan asked "I've never seen them before; I thought I did but I haven't."

"Oh, those old things?" He said as he began to neatly stack away his money. "Their old drugs used to make the will of men softer. It was used a lot during the wars when we had to interrogate someone. Fortunately or unfortunately, depends on the way you look at it, the drug is actually made with a certain poison that can kill a man given the right dosage or if you give him too many at a time."

"Okay, but why are we using it on the bitch?"

"Quean" Hidan heard in a whisper.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! The fucking jinchuriki, why use it on her!"

"Because we want her barely breathing, the biju will undoubtedly use all of its influence over its vessel to filter it out by using every single part of the body working as a whole in order to filter out all traces of it and therefore weaken her in the process. So even if she does miraculously filter all of it out for even just a minute, it wouldn't do her any good because she would be too weak that even breathing would be too much of an effort" he said as he chuckled in the end. "She'd probably pass out by the end of the minute. However, if she could quickly regain her strength within a day if not given the does correctly, so beating from time to time is required."

"I see, that's fucking clever, but not as clever as some of us Jashinist."

"I still don't see how it's profitable."

"There you go again. I say money than the rest leave's you. The way of Jashin is not profitable and I never said it fucking was."

"Oh" Kakuzu said in a sarcastic tone "Then what did you say you moron?"

Hidan grinded his teeth together "I said that some Jashinist are very profitable. Like this fucktard named Gato."

"Gato? A fat little man?" Kakuzu said as he looked at Hidan who nodded. "I used to do business with him up until he was killed. And now you're telling me that small piglet was a Jashinist."

"Tch" he let out as he looked offended "Hardly. That fucking bastard just used his status for greed and forgot about the sacraments. If anything, I'm glad I didn't kill that fucking sonnavabitch. Jashin would be displeased if I got the blood of a useless fucker we call a brother on my hands."

"I can't believe that pig was a Jashinist."

"That's right, Kakuzu" Hidan said with a wicked smile "We're badass mother fuckers, we can be your loyal soldier sworn to defend you one day and kill you the next." Then he frowned "Gato, however, only cared about the fucking money, like you, and not Jashin. Sure his methods were one of our methods once, but he openly disrespected Jashin by using that method to make money and not killing people himself. After he died I heard that the village he held in his pocket came along quite nicely after a bridge was built. Oh and Kakuzu, do you want to fucking know what the name of the fucking bridge is?"

"No, but you're going to tell me anyway."

"Damn Right I am, it's called the Great fucking Naruto Bridge."

"Naruto?" Kakuzu asked "You mean Sasori's target?"

"That's right, apparently he played a big role in stopping Gato, but the person who killed him was a hidden mist swordsman. I forgot his name though...Zebuza I think."

"Does it matter?"

"Fuck no."

"I see" Kakuzu "Do you know anyone in our destination that would be a good candidate to do business with?"

"Fuck you and your fucking money" Hidan said as he sighed.

"HIDAN-SEMPAI" they both turned to see one of the pledges, the average girl, calling out to them "There's a ship up a head. And it's heading right towards us!"

Hidan smiled widely "FUCKING FINALLY! Something fun to do!" He got up with his weapon "Hey, asshole of a partner of mine, ready to plunder?"

"Why not? I've been bored myself and frankly, I need to refill my pockets" he said as he stood up.

"HEY PLEDGES!" Hidan yelled "It's time to play!"

"I still can't believe the four of them can run this ship alone" Kakuzu said as he saw the pledge scramble around looking for their weapons or doing warm ups.

"The perks of being fucking low rate ninjas."

"Like yourself you mean" Zetsu said from somewhere.

"Yeah that's right...HEY!"

---

"Alright prepare whatever weapons you can!" Captain Sango yelled at Sho who was already running.

"What's going on" Tenten asked with bags under her eyes. She walked out of her room to go the bathroom and already the ship went to hell.

"Sho said a ship was heading towards us, and according to it's flags, its a very famous pirate ship!"

"Crap, I'll get Ino and Sakura."

"No need. Their on deck with Hinata, just get your friends to the same room Nishi is in! If it comes down to it, we'll be the last line of defence along with Mari."

"Captain Sango, with all due respect, we're ninjas, I'm pretty sure a bunch of pirates would be basic for us."

"Alright I buy that" she said "But what about a bunch of ninja pirates? The ship heading towards us is a rumored to be a ninja pirate ship called the 'Shinda Ika'."

"Oh..." Tenten said "Yeah that might be a challenge. I'll go get Naruto, if he anyone can take most or at least half of the crew on, it's him" She said as she ran to said boy's room.

---

Naruto was tired, dead tired, beyond life tired. He just woke up, he had a few hours of sleep, he closed his eyes, he wanted to sleep but his body wanted him up and about, probably wanted him to stick to his boast and "stand the next day". He smiled, his body also supported him, too bad body cause nothing is going to get him up. Sure, he had enough energy to do chores till the night came, but he didn't feel like doing it. The world could be knocking at his door with some random problem and it still wouldn't get him up.

Suddenly there was a bang at his door. "NARUTO!" Yelled the voice of Tenten "the ship is about to be attack by ninja pirates and everybody else is knocked out!"

FUCK! He didn't mean it literally! Was the world really pissed at him?! "Craaaaap!" he groaned.

"NARUTO!"

"Alright I'll be on the deck as quick as I can" he said as he rolled out of bed and fell on the floor "OW!"

"Alright, hurry!" Tenten yelled as she ran, leaving behind metallic footsteps at heated pace.

"The world hates me" he grumbled as he put on his jacket, he had his pants on already, he looked for his ninja pouch. It was right next to his forehead protector. Shoes, shoes, shoes, "It really does" it's right next to the door. He struggled to get them on while standing up before he said "I hope these guys are talkative today" and then he ran out the room.

---

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled as he ran out onto the deck.

"Over here!" Ino yelled, she was next to the railing with Hinata, Sakura, Tagime and Sho. Tagime and Sho had knives and a wrench. Not the best weapon against a ninja.

"Crap, they're about to be in range to board" Sho said as he gripped the wrench a little tighter.

"Heh, I guess were lucky you guys came along" Tagime said as she got ready to throw the knives "I don't think any of my knives will hit the target" she said. Naruto took notice of her, throughout the entire time he was onboard on the ship, he has never seen her tremble from anything. A lighting would hit the sea, missing him (Yes it was aiming for him cause the world just hates him), and he would be scared as hell while she would just shrug it off. Not this time.

The other boat began to pull in by the sides, the boat seemed to be shorter, maybe two thirds of the size of the boat he was on.

"You guys were in this situation before, right" Ino asked as she looked at Sho.

"Oh yeah...Well at least I was. But only on normal pirates" Sho said. "Here's a little advice, stay out of the line of fire and knock off the grappler hooks."

"But their ninjas, right" Sakura said "Then they won't need grapplers."

"Oh they will. You see, were moving with an engine, their using winds and wave. So unless the plan on leaving all their goods behind, they'll want those hooks on this ship."

"G-great, now if I survive I have to worry about fixing the hull."

As the deck of the ship came into view Naruto was the first to note the two men wearing black cloaks and red clouds...well one of them was, the other one was wearing a pink robe...the guy who was was actually wearing the cloak had pink turban on so...who knows. But regardless of whether he was or not, Naruto ran his mouth anyway. "Hey you're a member of the Akatsuki!" He yelled causing Hinata, Sakura and Ino to gasp and look at him.

"It's them" yelled the guy in a pink robe "The guys who took out Sasori!"

When Naruto saw them the first things that jumped into his heads was a memory about how the Akatsuki are going after jinchuriki's for their biju's, Tsunade telling him that Fu is Jinchurki, Shikamaru saying they were supposed to pick her up somewhere on the border of the land lighting and snow, and the direction they came from, and finally, his memory of what they did to Gaara.

"You bastards, You're going to pay for what you did to Gaara!" He yelled.

"Oh yeah, you fucktard?" Hidan yelled back "Why don't you get your shitty ass the fuck down here and-!"

"-Not the time or place" Kakuzu yelled.

"WHAT!" He received from both Naruto and Hidan, they both seemed angrily confused while they focused on him.

"We're both obviously on a busy schedules and a fight might result in both ships getting destroyed causing us to be late. Time is money and I wont waste my money" he explained "We'll fight eventually but not now, we're late as it is and I'm guessing so are you guys. So let's ignore each other...this time anyway. After all, a fight with numbers against strength doesn't seem like a smart thing to do for either of us, especially in these eel infested waters."

"Eel infested?" Ino question as she turned to Sho for answers.

"Yep, first scent of blood they catch, they'll be all over us. It's a real hassle because it scares away the fish" Sho replied.

"And we should be fine unless someone falls overboard" Tagime said a she slowly backed away from the edge.

"B-b-b-but they're just eels, right?" Hinata stuttered out. Fighting two Akatsuki members is one thing, but fighting them in an environment like this could scare anyone.

One of the pirates, which is presumably a ninja, chuckled, meaning he heard their conversation. "Not these ones, these eels are carnivorous bastards."

"Um" Sakura began "Eel or not that actually sounds reasonable."

"Of course it does" Kakuzu yelled "Because we're wasting time as it is!"

Naruto just stared at them before he yelled "I'm not falling for that one you bastards!"

"Naruto!" Ino snapped "We can't take on the Akatsuki by ourselves! Both you and Sakura had help from Ninjas who were trained to go up against someone their level and at the moment we don't have anyone who's capable" she whispered loud enough to him. Orders to be on the lookout for the Akatsuki was already in effect even before Naruto, Sakura, and Sai left with Yamato to chase Sasori's informant.

"No we can't" he admitted "But they can't go all out on us" he said, surprising both parties. "Don't you guys get it? These bastards captured another Jinchuriki."

They gasped as the guys just chuckled "Clever brat, I can see why Diedara had a hard time with him" Kakuzu said.

"Look, you guys get this boat far away from here as possible" Naruto yelled as he tightened his forehead protector.

"What are you going to do" Tagime asked as she looked him with a grim face already fearing that she knew what he might do.

Naruto flashed her toothy grin and said "What I do best" and jumped off the boat and onto the hostile one. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled in mid air and then the next second a large random amount of solid clones came to being. Then they all landed on deck. "You bastards ready for hell!"

"Ready for hell" Repeated Hidan as he readied his triple sickle scythe "I fucking like this brat."

"I don't. I can't go all out. I risk destroying both boats along with one of the jinchurikis, we might just have our hands full this time" Kakuzu said bitterly.

"And that's what happens when you get greedy you piece of shit" Hidan smirked "Maybe I'm wrong, you can never be too greedy in the blood currency" he said with a sanguine look.

"You can't kill him and you can't leave me alone with him" Kakuzu said as he straightened himself out.

"What! For fuckin' reals!"

"He's our priority now and I can't go all. So what do you think?"

"Arrrg" Hidan growled in anger. Then he turned to the other pirates "Pledges get on that fucking boat and kill 'em all! Right now! I need the fucking deck!"

"Right!" all four of them yelled.

"Crap!" Sakura said "Tagime, Sho, run inside and tell Tenten and captain Sango what happened, leave this guys to us!" She yelled as she and Ino pulled out their Kunais while Hinata got in an appropriate stance.