Chapter 11: The Last Straw

Chapter 11: The Last Straw

"It's been a while since we've gathered like this" commented one shadowy figure, his features hidden except for his beady eyes and the silhouette of his large frame.

"Aa, not that we were busy or anything yeah, but since Sasori's death, I've had to deal with this idiot more then I would have liked" commented another shadowy figure.

"Hey, I'm not an idiot Deidara-sempai, I'm just very happy" commented another figure shrouded in shadow in a cheerful tone.

"Enough" commented a monotonous and commanding voice. His eyes, which were the only visible part of his body had several rings in them and just looking in them almost made you dizzy "we are here to discuss the second phase of our plans, by now we have collected more then enough money, despite outside forces trying to take out business away from us" he said, thinking about a certain blonde Jinchuuriki robbing one of the richest men in the world before they could.

"Hai leader-sama, however, are we not at a disadvantage without Sasori-san's participation, or rather, the object that Sasori-san used to participate" asked a certain Sharingan user.

"The loss of Sasori's ring is a great one, without it and Orochimaru's it will take much longer to extract a bijou from a host's body, especially through the seal of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's" the leader explained, however, a soft and calm voice interrupted further proceedings.

"The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki may be more trouble for us then we first anticipated" he said, before his voice became deeper and more scratchy, his accent and dialect changed also "he has proved to be more skilled then we could have ever imagined, to the point where he defeated the Ichibi after it was released outside of Gaara-san's seal" his voice changed again, signaling that this person seemed to have somewhat of a split personality "he was also able to, with his own skill, reinforce the seal on the Ichibi, to the point where it will be just as strong as his own" he said, going quiet after finishing. Everyone else in the room seemed to be contemplating these words in silence until another spoke.

"What exactly happened? I assume you were there?" the person asked, which also happened to be the question on everyone's mind.

"Yesterday, during the failed invasion on Konoha where the Sandaime Hokage perished but managed to seal away our former associate's arms with the Shiki Fujin, Uzumaki-san saved his partner, who I have discovered to be someone by the name of Haku, from an out of control Gaara, or rather, an Ichibi influenced Sabaku no Gaara" his more calm personality stated, only to have his other side take over the explanation "he arrived on the scene when Gaara-san was in his full transformed form and used puppets to delay tones of sand from crushing his friend" he said, pausing to let that sink in.

"You don't think…?" began the only female of the group, directing the unasked question to their leader.

"He seems to be quite skillful in Kugutsu, Genjutsu and Fuuinjutsu, that, paired with the fact that Sasori reported in less and less right before he died and his ring is still missing could mean that he raised and trained the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, which means he would have betrayed us" said their Leader, without as much anger as one would think he would have.

"From what my spies tell me, he used them with an amount of skill within Konoha that could only be compared to Sasori himself, I think it's most likely" said the woman, as a paper butterfly floated down onto her shoulder that could be seen through the silhouette before sinking into her skin.

"Uzumaki-san held off the Ichibi until Gaara-san released its spirit into his manifestation, effectively releasing the demon from its seal" began the calmer personality before the darker one took over "he then proceeded to use a jutsu when sand was about to engulf him that seemed to expel wind based chakra from all of his tenketsu that he used and spun into the form of a razor sharp and quite destructive tornado" he explained before revealing the next part of the jutsu's damage "the tornado destroyed the Ichibi's leg" he commented, hearing quite murmurs from some of the members as he said so, the leader's own eyes were peering into his own as well, as if looking into his soul.

"From there, it wasn't much of a fight, he got to Gaara-san on the demon's head, knocked him out and finished him off" he said as the darker side took over "he would have killed the Jinchuuriki too had his siblings not stepped in, he then proceeded to alter Gaara-san's seal using the Hakke no Fuin Shiki and removing the Gogyo Fuin. I did not examine it and I do not know much of Fuuinjutsu, but from what I do know, it is now much stronger then it was before" he explained, waiting for his leader to tell them what he thought.

"Before, it would have taken a maximum of four days to remove the Ichibi's presence from the Jinchuuriki, now though, with the seals you informed me of, it could take up to a maximum of two weeks. The Hakke no Fuin Shiki is a ­

very powerful seal, the only reason it wasn't applied earlier was because it usually goes hand in hand with the Shiki Fujin seal, but, Uzumaki-san seemed to have found a way to apply it once the demon is already sealed. No doubt he suppressed the demon's chakra in the process?" asked the Leader to Zetsu, who nodded in reply.

"From the information you have delivered to us, it would seem that the best person to track down the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki would be Itachi-san, his control over his chakra and ability to manipulate his fire based chakra gives him an advantage over him, not to mention the Kyuubi's Genjutsus will not effect him" he said, getting nods all around save from Itachi who was smart enough not to underestimate any future opponent, though he kept silent about it.

"What do you know of his partner?" asked the Leader, directing the question to Zetsu who replied in kind.

"He seemed to have a bloodline which allowed him to create and manipulate water like no other" he said "he was able to utilize the particles in the air to use a Suiryudan no Jutsu, no one has had that much control since the Nidaime Hokage of Konoha or a certain clan in Kiri whose bloodline seems to revolve around manipulating water as such" he explained "I would estimate the latter, honestly. He also seems to be proficient in Ninjutsu though I have not seen him use other skills. His speed is impressive too, though not as good as Uzumaki-san's" he said, finishing on that and proving why he was the spy of their organization once again.

"I trust, Kisame-san" said the Leader "That you will be able to take care of such an enemy?" asked the leader and he got a shark like grin in response as the dark silhouette hefted a sword shaped object over his shoulder.

"We are not prepared to perform the sealing of the bijou as of yet, that will take a few more years" began the leader "but should you be able to detain the Jinchuuriki or demon you come across in any way, do not hesitate to do so, otherwise merely observe and stand off" he said, before disappearing in a way that seemed like his transmission had ended. Before he did so however, there was a chorus of 'Understood' coming from the mouth of every member as they too disappeared.

Haku watched as Naruto lay on the bed at the inn they decided to stop at. They had been running non stop after dealing with Gaara at the conclusion of the invasion and that combined with how much his fight and the sealing took out of him, well, Naruto was absolutely exhausted; that on its own, was something that surprised Haku, he had never seen him so tired before, let alone pass out because he was so tired. He also knew that if someone faints from chakra exhaustion, it is best to let them recover naturally rather then fix them medically, like he did with himself. He too was tired after the long run to the inn in the Sakana town but he used one of his soldier pills to fix that right up.

For some reason unknown to Haku though, Naruto seemed to be running a fever for the past few hours which greatly confused the ice using boy. It began shortly after he passed out from chakra exhaustion and only seemed to be getting worse; he only hoped that it had nothing to do with the Kyuubi, at present time, which would probably be the worst case scenario.

Haku smiled slightly when he remembered how Naruto fought for his life when Gaara had him pinned to the tree with his sand. He made a task of it to stay conscious to see the effort Naruto put forward to save his life – any thoughts that Naruto was simply using him and stringing him along were instantly gone when he saw the ruthlessness of Naruto's attack on Gaara. Also, Naruto's fixing of the seal of Gaara's was another action that pleased the boy greatly, if only so that in the future, the two would become close friends. He hoped they did anyway, if he ever was to see Gaara's sister again, he thought, with a slightly perverted giggle.

His thoughts were interrupted when Naruto woke up with a hiss of pain as he held onto his head as if his brain was about to explode.

"Argh!" he yelled, seemingly oblivious of his surroundings. Haku watched in fascinated horror as vile red chakra seemed to be pouring out of Naruto's pores, as well as blood. The whisker marks on his cheeks also seemed to get more ragged and defined as well as his hair becoming more frizzled.

"Haku" he began, addressing his companion in a voice not his own "quick, get a suppressor seal from my pouch" he ground out with difficulty while still grabbing his head "the fox is trying to get out" he hissed and Haku needed no more prompting as he fond the suppressant seal and slammed it on his forehead, knocking Naruto out cold again as the red chakra receded back into his body. Haku let out an involuntary shiver once Naruto passed out, if the killing intent he felt flaring from the blonde was any indication, killing intent that didn't feel demonic in the slightest, the fox better hope he could protect itself from Naruto's wrath.

Naruto appeared in his subconscious right before the large cage that held the Kyuubi in his mind. The fox seemed to be trying to send wave upon wave of chakra through the gate which had been increased in strength due to his suppressant seal. Naruto was hoping the fox wouldn't try anything like this ever, for he knew it would be a possibility. Ever since he had 'taken' the fox's senses as his own, he had knowingly weakened the seal slightly; however, it didn't matter so long as he had enough chakra to reinforce the seal. He knew that should he faint from chakra exhaustion that the Kyuubi could legitimately make an effort to possess his body and free itself form the seal, he had just hoped that the demon would have more honor then to try such an underhanded task, especially after the major mercy he had given it with allowing it to see, hear and smell through his very own senses.

­

Naruto looked upon the snarling and furious form of the fox, slamming its body against the cage in an effort to get to him, however his stance did not waver. Naruto met its gaze with equal if not greater fury, his own killing intent sent right back at the fox, his lack of fear of the fox and his desire to cause the underhanded coward as much harm as possible making his killer intent spike higher then the Kyuubi's, causing it to pause.

"You dare" he spoke in a calm yet deadly voice, promising pain and punishment "you dare try this, after everything I've done for you? After showing you mercy by giving you a small sense of freedom?" he said, taking menacing steps closer to the cage, completely ignoring the fox who was swiping at the cage, hoping to hit him but to no avail, these actions however only caused Naruto's fury to rise "You dare try to free yourself in such an underhanded manner? You are nothing more then a coward and a weakling with no sense of honor" he said, his red slitted eyes glaring at the Kyuubi with hatred "you are a disgrace to the title of 'lord of hell' and you have tried my patience for the last time" he said, taking menacing steps forward, so close that he was mere inches away from the cage yet still glaring at the Kyuubi.

"YOU DARE CALL ME WEAK AND PATHETIC YOU FLESH BAG?!" the Kyuubi yelled in rage "WERE IT NOT FOR YOU STUPID LITTLE GENDER CONFUSED FRIEND, I WOULD HAVE HAD YOU ON YOUR KNEES BEGGING FOR MERCY!" it seethed, slamming into the cage over and over, not willing to show any fear at the killing intent radiating off the boy and the look of hate and disgust on its face.

"Be that as it may" Naruto said, controlling his voice now to reign in his hatred for the beast before him "It would seem that I have been too lenient with you" he said, his eyes flashing as he backed up some, the mere presence of the fox seemingly disgusting him "I didn't even care what you did before you were captured like the weakling you are" he began, shocking the fox "you're a fifty story demon fox who was most likely hungry. Hating you for attacking Konoha would be like hating any human that eats meat from defenseless animals, no, I don't hate you because of that" he said, turning his back on the Kyuubi "I hate you because you are a coward of a being without honor and after the mercy I showed you, you tried to spit on my face, spit back the generosity I showed you and the mercy I granted" he said, pausing before continuing "You have proved that I cannot trust you, so I am going to seal off all of your own senses from your body and then seal your subconscious away from your chakra, you will be nothing, you will always be nothing, your chakra will remain in my body, continuously being converted into my own and you will forever know the darkness you seem to be so fond of" he said, turning back to the fox, who looked horrified at the prospect "I do not fear you, but you will be one of the many to know why I should be feared Kyuubi no Kitsune. I hope the isolation and darkness you will be subject to will drive you into madness, I have no sympathy" he finished, disappearing out of his subconscious leaving a panicked, fearful and furious fox behind him yelling profanities and promises of death which they both knew he could not grant.

Haku with a start, noticed that Naruto had opened his eyes and completely ignored his presence, but by the furious look in his eyes, a look he had never seen the boy wear – heck, he had never even seen him get angry let alone furious – he knew that whatever the Kyuubi had done, Naruto was none to pleased with it.

Without so much as making a seal, a Kage Bunshin appeared beside Naruto and Naruto handed it an ink pot and a brush before removing his cloak, hat and every other bit of clothing on the top half of his body. The original Naruto then lay down on the ground while the clone began painting seals on his body.

"I'm sealing off the Kyuubi's senses from his subconscious and then I'm sealing off his subconscious into separate places in my seal" explained Naruto to Haku, who was watching with fascination as the complexities of the seals Naruto was painting on himself were done, with extreme precision and speed too "he will, in essence, exist in nothingness, he will not be able to see, hear, touch, spell or taste anything again and his subconscious will only know nothingness until the day I die, in which he will die with me and pass on into nothingness" he finished, with venom in his voice.

Haku stared at Naruto in shock; that was…truly…a cruel fate for anyone, even if it was a demon. As if sensing his thoughts though, Naruto continued "he spat in my face when he tried to take over my body after I showed him the mercy of allowing him to experience my life with me from behind his prison cell. That beast is despicable, lacking honor and a disgrace, he deserves everything he will get" Naruto said in conviction. Haku just resigned himself on watching the clone Naruto painting the complex seals all over the top half of Naruto's body, at one point, he had to do so while Naruto stood up so he could paint seals all over his back too. Haku frowned at how much symbols were being drawn all over his body, however, Naruto decided to elaborate for his confused friend.

"It is no mere feat to seal off the demon's subconscious and separate his senses from his body, in essence" Naruto said, grimacing slightly as the clone painted a seal over his rib cage, which made Haku smirk, it seemed Naruto was a little ticklish "I am tearing his soul into smaller pieces and sealing them in different places in my seal. The only part I will have access to are the senses I have previously been granted and the chakra, though indirectly" he finished explaining as he began to gather chakra in his hands after dispelling the clone.

"You brought this upon yourself Kyuubi" Naruto muttered and Haku watched in fascination as the suppressant seal seemed to burn on Naruto's forehead as the skin around it sizzled, the Kyuubi's last ditched effort to escape its fate, but it was too little too late.

"FUIN!" yelled Naruto, slamming his hand into the seal on his stomach as he fought to remain standing as all the seals painted all over his body began to crawl all over his skin and recede into the seal on his stomach. Naruto's mouth was ­

opened in a silent scream and his eyes were wide with pain, and Haku could only imagine how much pain his friend would be going through. Once the seals all receded into the seal though, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and Naruto fell back onto the bed, the new and exposed seal for all to see.

Haku observed the seal and noticed, with fascination, that it looked much more complicated. The spiral in the centre showing small if not miniscule symbols going all around it on both sides all through the spiral and around the entire seal there was glowing red symbols in a circular shape, most likely the part of the Kyuubi's subconscious. After several moments of the seal glowing red, it disappeared, leaving Naruto's naked and sweat covered torso while Haku placed a cold rag on his forehead and tucked him into bed.

Haku sighed, resigning himself to his fate of being the 'night watchman' until Naruto awoke from his slumber.

Jiraiya of the sannin sighed another time as he looked through the lens of his super quality telescope, right into the bathhouse, or more specifically, the woman's side of the bathhouse. The man was a shameless pervert and proud of it, however, if you told him that, he would surely correct you and tell you that, no, he was not a pervert, he was a SUPER pervert.

However, this day was not one of the days where he put as much effort into his perverted antics. His late sensei, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, had recently died from using a self sacrificing technique that summoned the Shinigami to the mortal realm to devour the users and their enemy's souls. The technique wasn't as successful as he would have liked, Jiraiya was sure, but he was at least able to get the Shinigami to devour the souls of Orochimaru's arms, stopping him from ever using jutsu again – though, he supposed that taking the soul of his head would have probably been better in retrospect.

After his death, there was a mass funeral service held in his honor, as well as to honor every other leaf shinobi who died protecting their village from invasion, though as cruel as it may sound, no one really valuable died during the invasion, mostly those of chunin rank.

What surprised Jiraiya the most though was the reports he received from the battles happening all around Konoha, namely two reports in particular. The ANBU who were watching the battle between the Sandaime and Orochimaru reported to him that Naruto had arrived on the scene, causing carnage with his puppets to any Suna or Oto nin who tried to cut him down, and sadly, a few Konoha shinobi who tried to cut him down also, the ones who were stupid enough to try anyway. When he arrived on the scene, they reported how he expertly analyzed the barrier erected by the Oto shinobi and how he diagnosed its effects, however, that was not what confused and surprised him. What had really got him pondering lately were the reports of the Shodaime and Nidaime addressing him directly, giving him their blessings for something that he had done, he just wanted to know what that was exactly. He wasn't sure if he should be amused or wary about that fact, but as for now, he didn't know enough to be either.

The second report that was the more annoying of the two by far to get and the most interesting was the report given by one Uchiha Sasuke about the battle between a missing-nin from Kirigakure by the name of Haku and Sabaku no Gaara, then the subsequent report of the fight between Naruto and Gaara. Jiraiya honestly had to restrain himself from smacking the kid around for jealously trying to hold the information about the fight to himself for some stupid reason, though, after threatening to get a Yamanaka to go into his mind and find out anyway, he caved with one of the Uchiha death glares to boot.

Apparently, this Haku kid was able to fight on par with Gaara until he transformed into his massive tanuki state, however, according to reports, he wasn't going for the kill; rather, he was trying to dissuade Gaara. Was it because he would have attacked the leaf? Or rather, what he has contained and what that therefore makes him. Judging by the boy's company, he assumed the latter.

What surprised him the most though was the reports of Naruto arriving on the scene and sacrificing three of his puppets to save Haku. Jiraiya knew the significance of a puppet user's puppets to the user, especially given the time they spend caring for them and making them stronger. It obviously showed that he cared more for his comrade then his puppets, which was rare from his experiences of fighting alongside some of Suna's Kugutsu users during the war. Also, Naruto had apparently used an extremely high powered futon jutsu that created a tornado and shredded the leg of the Shukaku to nothing. If that wasn't amazing enough, the defeating of a released Shukaku and the subsequent sealing or enhancing of the seal on Gaara baffled him. The boy seemed to be full of surprises but for some strange reason, he couldn't find a reason to feel threatened. How can someone who would fight to save their friend's life, not to mention go up against a demon, be considered evil at all?

His musings were cut short when he sensed Sarutobi's two old teammates approach him from behind. He never really had much love for the two advisers on the council Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane respectively. They were nothing like Sarutobi and he just knew they were supporters of Danzo's, the war hawk of Konoha and Sarutobi's biggest rival and opposition on the council.

"What is it?" asked Jiraiya curtly, not looking away from the gorgeous women he was spying in the hot springs. Regardless of his mood, they were naked women, and that was something Jiraiya always had time for.

­

"When will you give up on your lecherous ways?" asked Koharu, the old woman always thought she had some sort of pull in regards to him and it annoyed him to no end. Jiraiya reported to two people and two people alone, his old sensei and Tsunade, his fellow Sannin. To think that these old fools thought they held any sway over his actions was irritating and insulting at the same time.

"I doubt you're here to try and lecture me, so I repeat; what is it you want?" asked Jiraiya, allowing signs of irritation to creep into his voice, mainly because of their attitudes but also because he sort of knew what they wanted anyway.

"You will show respect to the elders of Konoha Jiraiya-kun" stated Homura, in his best 'intimidating' voice. Jiraiya had to really fight the urge to snort; these two thought they could intimidate him? The only person who could successfully do that was Tsunade and perhaps Sarutobi a couple of years back, these two were nothing.

"Yes, yes, you're very scary, now are you going to tell me what you want? Because if you're not, three new beautiful women just entered the springs and they're getting undressed as we speak" he said, lying, though he would have loved it if it were true. He just said it because he knew his behavior annoyed the two elders to no end.

Trying to calm himself, Homura spoke "The village needs a new Hokage, and you are the only possible choice to take the seat" he said, awaiting an answer.

"Oh well, that's easy" said Jiraiya sarcastically "No" he said, looking at them with dead seriousness "besides, I have other duties to this village that being Hokage would severely if not completely hinder" he said, and both the elders knew this so he wondered what they were playing at.

"Who else would you suggest then?" asked Koharu, her temper getting the better of her. Her 'old granny getting angry' may have worked on Tsunade, but not on him.

"Probably Tsunade-hime, though it would be a pain for you guys to try and find her" he said, with a shrug, trying to remember when it was exactly he lost respect for the elders of this village.

"Then you can go and find her and bring her back" she said, narrowing her eyes at him, which was an interesting feat as the old bat's eyes always seemed closed.

"Is that an order" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"It is a mission that the joint council will send you on and compensate you for" Homura said "we need a Hokage and no one, interestingly enough, is willing to take it and obviously, Danzo's appointment was opposed by more then a few so we need someone" he finished as Jiraiya shrugged.

"Sure, I was heading in that direction soon anyway, I think I know where she is" he said, eyeing the two elders as they seemed to converse silently with each other while they thought he wasn't looking.

"We'll be sending three jounin with you, to aid you of course" she said, making Jiraiya snort.

"Or rather, to make sure I don't skip out on the village, whatever, whose coming?" he asked, while pocketing his telescope in one of his scroll pouches.

"We will send the only three currently free jounin we have with you, Shiranui Genma, Mitarashi Anko and Hatake Kakashi" Koharu provided, making Jiraiya's eyebrow rise in surprise.

"Genma I understand, but the other two surprise me, if I were to be honest" he said, eyeing his two 'superiors' shrewdly "When did the council become so trusting of Mitarashi Anko all of a sudden to send her on such an important non-suicidal mission? And what of Kakashi's genin team, I would have thought the Uchiha brat was more important to your egos then to leave him untrained" he said dryly, making the two elder's eyebrows twitch in annoyance.

"Anko-san is going with you because she is one of the only three jounin we have free, we do not and we never will trust her" Koharu said with venom in her voice, making Jiraiya's eyes narrow, he kind of felt sorry for the girl knowing how hard she tries to prove her loyalty, this could only end bad in his opinion "and for Kakashi-kun, Uchiha Sasuke will be hospitalized due to his injuries for another month and the Hyuuga can train with her clan" she said, totally ignoring the pink haired one, making Jiraiya smirk – he didn't much care about that, the girl was probably more interested in the Uchiha anyway.

"Fine, whatever. Tell them to meet me at the southern gate at noon tomorrow so we can leave" he said, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Are you sure that was wise?" asked Homura to his female teammate, getting a shrug from Koharu.

­

"There will be an ANBU team following them to ascertain if they do their jobs correctly, one of Danzo's ROOT teams. They will not be spotted and we can make sure their jobs are done correctly as well as keep an eye on Mitarashi-san and Jiraiya-kun" she said, shrugging again.

"You make it sound as if you want Mitarashi-san to do something punishable by the council…" trailed off Homura, smirking at the end of his statement. His smirk was mirrored on Koharu's face, making it an interesting sight to behold.

"What of the Kyuubi brat?" Koharu asked as Homura shrugged.

"I have sent three of our best Hunter-nin teams after him, though from the reports of the battles he was involved in during the invasion, do you think it wise to pursue him?" asked Homura "It's not like he is a danger to the village anymore…"

Koharu sighed "Danzo said he wants to make him our weapon, a weapon for the leaf. He always had and honestly, if the old war hawk can break him and put him in our control, we would be a force to be reckoned with once again, no one would dare oppose us when we have the most powerful bijou at our disposal" she spoke in a hushed tone. They both smirked again before leaving the balcony they were standing on, completely missing the seething kunoichi hanging upside down from underneath the balcony. With a flash of tan and purple, she was gone, the two elders none the wiser.

It was a week after Naruto had successfully sealed away the fox permanently and they were now headed towards a remote merchant city called Tanzaku city. Naruto had apparently, using his spy network, derived where Orochimaru was heading next. After the Sandaime had rendered the man's arms useless, he sought out the only person that could possibly heal such damage in the land, and that person was Tsunade of the Sannin. The woman was famous for her slug summons and being the greatest medical ninja in the land, another thing she was famous for was her rumored superhuman strength. That topic was something that interested Naruto almost as much as Orochimaru's whereabouts. It obviously required legendary chakra control, otherwise more and more people would utilize such techniques, so he longed to discover the secrets behind it. Whenever he found something he didn't know, he always got the urge to discover it, Haku often teased him by telling him that he has a 'knowledge fetish' which he put no effort toward denying.

They were now roughly two days away from Tanzaku city now when Naruto's superior sense of smell picked up the scent of four shinobi closing in on their destination. Fast.

The scent reminded him of the smell of the Konoha ANBU, it was something unique about the trees in that area, he mused, and also the shinobi 'cologne' they used in an attempt to remain 'scentless' actually did have a distinctive scent, it was just harder to pick up, though it did have a uniqueness about it that helped Naruto discover them easier. These were most likely Hunter-nin after his head, though, to be honest, he was surprised they took so long.

"We have company"

Haku looked at his partner and frowned. Sure enough, after concentrating hard enough, he heard the sound of four shinobi racing in their direction, they weren't aiming to be too discrete now anymore and it would prove to be their downfall.

"What should we do?" Haku asked his intellectual superior.

Naruto turned to him, his ever present hat still on, though his cloak open revealing him to be sucking on a stick of pocky. He smirked slightly which sent small shivers down his spine – Naruto simply did not smirk often if at all if it wasn't related to Pocky.

"I am in need of new puppets" was all he got as an answer which confused Haku. How did that correlate to the four hunter-nin chasing them down? He had a sinking suspicion that he would find out soon and that he wouldn't like the answer all too much when he did.

Haku watched as Naruto prepared for their visitors as he hid in the trees, knowing he was of more use if his presence was a surprise then outright letting them see him. Masking his scent with a well placed 'Meisaigakure no Jutsu' which made him virtually invisible and odorless; he waited to see what would happen while taking out a handful of Senbon needles just in case.

Naruto patiently waited in the clearing while leaning against a tree and munching on some pocky, he had foregone his usually straw hat in favor of his more recognizable appearance, it wouldn't do if these hunter-nin were amateurs and somehow didn't recognize him, though it was highly unlikely, he would not chase after them if they did overlook him and look the fool.

­

Suddenly, in four blurs, four shinobi appeared in front of him in menacing stances, feeling proud of themselves he was sure, arms on hips and casually twirling their kunai in their hands while staring at him through their hunter-nin masks. Hunter-nin didn't specifically have any assigned uniforms though a lot of them wore the standard ANBU gear simply for its efficiency and comfort, as these four showed.

"Can I interest you in a stick of Pocky?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow as the four hunter-nin stared at him in silence. He did feel a small spike of killer intent though from two of them that were quickly controlled at his blaze attitude toward this seemingly large threat.

"I guess not" he said, sighing dramatically, as they continued their stubborn silence while glaring at him, trying to unease him. Honestly, he stared down the Kyuubi while he effectively killed it, how could these four possibly dream of unsettling him.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are a wanted criminal of Konohagakure no Sato and as such, you will be brought to justice" said the one standing closest to him, probably their leader. Naruto simply raised his eyebrow in response though he showed no other outward sign of emotion.

As Naruto kept his silence, still leaning against the tree, two of the hunter-nin struck in a blaze of movement, one female and one male. As the closed in on him, they realized something was probably wrong as he didn't move a muscle, though they just put it off as a kid being scared by their presence, he was young after all. One of the hunters threw several shuriken at Naruto while the other went through rapid hand seals.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu"

The one coming from the right shot a decent sized fireball at him while the one on the left attempted to cancel out his avenues of escape with thrown weapons blocking the path. Naruto sighed quietly as he performed a Kawarimi, replacing himself a log only to reappear several meters away from the place he was just in. The leader was seemingly prepared for this movement though as he appeared behind him and stabbed a kunai in his lower back, hoping to sever his nerves and paralyze him.

"That wasn't very smart" was all Naruto said before exploding in a cloud of purple smoke, poison. The leader had no chance; he was unable to avoid the poison in time as he wasn't expecting it and inhaled a fair amount of it. In a matter of seconds, he wavered and fell to the ground asleep. Naruto was able to create numerous amounts of poison clouds to be held within his Doku Bunshin, however, the ones he used the most were the anesthetic poison, nerve damaging poison and flesh eating poison to people he really didn't like. The last one of the three took a fair bit more chakra to create though so he used it sparingly.

At the sound of the body dropping, the three remaining hunter-nin whirled in his direction and that was a big mistake. Haku, seeing an opening, fired several dozen Senbon at the backs of his opponents, they traveled silently in the wind and each laced with paralyzing poison. The poison took affect almost instantly, though, just in case, Naruto paralyzed them with a well placed Kanashibari no jutsu used through his eyes.

Haku jumped down into the clearing and removed the Meisaigakure no jutsu and if the hunter-nin didn't have their masks on, Naruto was sure they would have opened their eyes wide in fear or surprise.

"I have a question" asked Naruto, as he took out another stick of Pocky and stood before them "who sent you?" he asked, wanting to know who was running the show now that the old Hokage was dead. His question was met with silence, causing him to frown slightly. Moving over to the only female of the group, he ripped her mask off revealing, to his surprise, an Inuzaka. Frowning slightly, his ears twitched slightly and he spun around, three kunai already in hand as he flicked three kunai at three nin-dogs that had leapt at him through the bushes. The kunai hit each dog in non vital places; they too were covered in a paralyzing poison meant for humans, making it much more potent on the three canines.

"Tell me who sent you or I'll kill your friends" Naruto promised in a deadly voice, three more kunai appearing from someplace within his sleeve into his hands and holding them up for the girl to see. The pretty girl's eyes widened in fear and sadness as her eyes darted toward her whining companions. Despite her best efforts, silent tears fell from her eyes but what could she do? If she told him, he would probably kill them all anyway and they would have given up vital information anyway.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and nodded before moving over to the next man and ripping off his mask revealing someone he did not or could not recognize "You are all trying my patience, you will tell me who sent you or you will suffer pain in the likes you have never dreamed" he said, his red eyes apparently scaring the man shitless if his widened eyes were anything to go by. Hearing no answer forthcoming, Naruto cast a Genjutsu on the man before him and before long, everyone in the clearing was privy to seeing the man, his eyes glazed over, screaming in horrid pain. The scream sounded inhuman as he tried his best to fight off the paralysis but to no avail.

The screaming lasted for a good ten minutes before Naruto stopped it; they had become silent screams however after five minutes into the Genjutsu as his throat was most likely damaged from screaming. Removing the Genjutsu, Naruto saw the man's eyes come back into focus to meet his deadly red eyes, which only seemed to frighten him more now ­

then before. Haku idly wondered what he had put the man through, though he only felt little sympathy – they did attack him first.

"Haku, please heal his throat so he may speak" Naruto ordered and Haku did so with his hands glowing a soft blue as a cooling and pleasant sensation overcame the man's throat, enough for him to talk.

"You will tell me who sent you or I'll leave that Genjutsu on you until you are driven into insanity" Naruto ordered, gradually raising his killer intent to frighten the man more "you have 10 seconds, decide" Naruto said, stepping back. Naruto watched the man sweat and look around wildly as he counted down out aloud, only causing further mental stress.

"One" finished Naruto as he advanced closer to reapply the Genjutsu.

"No! NO! Please! Ok, ok, I'll talk" the man said, sounding defeated "Danzo, it was Danzo on the orders of two of the elder advisors of the council, they said that now that the Sandaime was dead they could circumvent the order to not engage you and sent four teams after you…please…no more" he said, as he broke down sobbing. Naruto was not without mercy and granted the man a quick death, snapping his neck before he knew what was going on.

As the two remaining shinobi looked at him in fear and dread, he took out a piece of pocky and began to chew on it casually. Haku began to feel a little queasy at the torture and interrogation, but watched nonetheless, he wanted to make sure he didn't go too far and he did end the man's pain who would have probably been scared for life anyway had he not.

"What do you two think of Pocky?" asked Naruto idly, chewing on his pocky stick. The Inuzaka just let more tears fall, thinking she too would die now, too far gone in her dread to think she would survive anyway. The other man however probably said the dumbest thing he could have possibly said at that time and he paid for it dearly.

"How about you take that piece of pocky and shove it up your ass!" he yelled, obviously distraught over his friend's killing. Naruto didn't even give the man a chance to regret what he said, flicking his wrist and sending a kunai into the man's throat. He watched coldly as the man died by choking on his own blood.

"That…was the wrong answer" Naruto said, in a low and deadly voice "insulting my pocky like that…tsk" he said, much to Haku's and the remaining conscious hunter-nin's shock. Naruto then walked over to the incapacitated captain and snapped his neck too.

Naruto then walked over to the girl and looked her in the eyes, mere curiosity in his depths as he gazed into her helpless and grief stricken face. Naruto raised an eyebrow before speaking.

"What's your name?" he asked, curious.

Seeing no point in keeping her silence, she choked out "Inuzaka Hana" she said, trying her best to regain her composure "Please, if you have to kill me, I understand, just please send my companions back to Konoha unharmed, they didn't do anything wrong" she said, sounding defeated. Naruto cocked his head to the side and shook his head.

"You will not die" he said, much to her shock "out of the three of you, you were the only one who didn't engage me directly or show signs of hate and anger, you were simply doing your job and killing you would be unnecessary anyway" he said with a shrug "your partners however will become my new puppets, so they will at least be of use to me" he said, shocking Haku and Hana even more.

"You can tell this Danzo that anyone else sent after me will not be granted the same mercy as you and that I will kill him and his two advisors should they attempt this again" he said, sounding deadly serious. Naruto then walked over to the three bodies and sealed them away in some scrolls before forcing a vial of liquid down Hana's throat and leaving another in her still paralysed hand "the effects will ware off in around half an hour, that antidote in your hand should be enough to cure your pets too" he said, walking away with the three bodies of her team mates and Haku in tow, however, before he was completely out of earshot, he said one last parting comment "and my name is Namikaze Naruto, not Uzumaki" and with that, he left.

After the effect of the paralysing poison wore off, Hana looked into the direction Naruto had left with a small frown. She was certain that Danzo knew of their target's skill level and regardless, he still sent a relatively inexperienced team that was designed to target B to A class criminals after him. Also, the usage of their Yondaime's name was a shock to her system as well, mainly because he definitely did resemble their late Yondaime in appearance. With that thought, she removed the paralysing effects of the poison from her dogs and headed back to Konoha, promising to not waste the mercy Namikaze Naruto had shown her and engage him again.

Jiraiya sighed for the umpteenth time during this mission. For some reason, Anko was even more irritable then usual, he wasn't sure why though and he wasn't in the mood to risk his life by asking. Genma had told him though that she had been acting like this ever since the death of Sarutobi-sensei and he understood somewhat after that, especially ­

with what he overheard from the two old fools who thought he had left after their little meeting. Could she have heard them? Does she know how they feel about her? Does it even matter with the way the villagers treat her? It's a wonder Konoha hasn't been burned to the ground yet with the ignorant and idiotic villagers shunning one powerful shinobi after the next. First it was Orochimaru, then Anko, then Itachi and finally Naruto. Itachi was a more special case, but regardless, he snapped due to the village's actions, or at least, that was his opinion.

Turning to the left, he saw Anko walking beside him, a scowl placed on her beautiful features as she stared straight ahead, her face showing she was pissed at the world but her eyes were empty, hollow and devoid of life. Looking to his right, his hid a small smirk, if there was such a thing as a fan boy, Kakashi was the king of them all. When he had first heard he was going on a mission with the Gama sannin, he was practically skipping with his favourite issue for 'Icha Icha' for him to sign, he did it quickly too before Anko could see it, she was deadly when angry.

"Do you know exactly where Tsunade-sama is currently located Jiraiya-sama?" asked Genma, a slightly bored and nonchalant tinge to his request, even if it was respectful. Jiraiya just nodded in response, not bothering to look behind him to where the man was located.

"Yeah, she's in the next city up ahead, Tanzaku city, just try not to piss her off…she's very…irritable and if we anger her, it will just make it all the more harder to get her to come back and be Hokage…" he said, pausing shortly before continuing "and I don't want to put up with the old farts on the council harassing me if we fail this mission" he concluded with a grumble. All three of the males in the group looked over to Anko whose killing intent flared slightly at the mention of the council. Jiraiya was now sure that she had overheard the council's opinion of her somehow. Jiraiya sighed as their makeshift group continued on their path.

Tsunade of the Sannin sat at the bar doing what she does best second only to losing money, drinking sake. Orochimaru had just paid her a visit earlier that day telling her that if she healed his arms, he would, at the cost of two human sacrifices, resurrect her old love and long dead brother. It was a tempting offer and the fact that she was seriously considering it was seriously disgusting her, however, she couldn't help but consider it.

Ever since the two most important people in her life died with her not being able to do anything about it, she had hated anything relating to the position of Hokage or Konoha, well, she was more bitter then hating, but there was definitely a serious dislike present. It had been that damnable title that had caused her loved ones to sacrifice themselves so foolishly, as they had deluded themselves into thinking that they could become Hokages if they that thrice damned self sacrificing attitude.

Ever since their deaths, she would often think of them and how empty she felt now that she was all alone in the world, her only solace being her old lover's niece and also her apprentice Shizune who had become more of a caretaker to the fifty year old woman, as much as she would hate to admit it, she had become somewhat reliant on her and also found herself enjoying her company.

With another sigh, she ignored the disapproving look from her assistant and slurped down another bottle of Sake, hoping to drink away her problems. She had a week to ponder on Orochimaru's offer after all.

Naruto stood on a small cliff overlooking Tanzaku city with a slightly queasy Haku by his side. At first, Haku had no idea what he meant by saying that he needed those leaf shinobi's bodies to be used as puppets but after witnessing how he, with barely any hesitation, drained the blood, removed the bodies' entrails and peeled their skins off, well, he was sure he would never watch Naruto make his puppets again. Sure, the way he described how they worked, they definitely sounded effective, however it didn't make it any less sickening to watch him so callously salvage their bodies so.

When Haku had asked Naruto if it was absolutely necessary to make new puppets and if he had any others, he responded by saying that he did indeed have others, indicating to the sealing tattoos on his forearms, but they weren't quite to be used in combat. The way he described it almost made Haku forget how disgusting the process was just so he could see the puppets sealed in his arms that were guaranteed to be a spectacular sight to see, especially if he had been working on them for so long. Especially given how effective his regular original creation puppets worked, and speaking of which, he had salvaged the spare parts of said puppets to outfit his three new human puppets with weapons and contraptions to make them more combat efficient, it was with a fascinated horror that Haku watched Naruto work and he thanked Kami that he had decided to heal his almost dead body on that day instead of making it into a puppet.

Haku looked at Naruto in confusion when he saw him tense ever so slightly, however, he too tensed when he felt, not too long after Naruto noticed it, two presences appear behind them.

"I wasn't expecting you so soon…Itachi-san"

Author's Note:

­

Throw some reviews on what you think so far, I thank people who like the story, but leaving one word reviews does me more of a disservice then anything, I want my review count to be a measure of rating my own story, when people leave pointless reviews, it's just that, pointless and the number means nothing. If you must though, I guess I can't stop you.

On another note, can someone recommend a good fic for me, 20k words plus, NO HINATA, SAKURA, INO pairings and Naruto isn't an idiot. It's been so long since i've read one, 'Kazama Uzumaki Naruto', 'Brown Eyes meet Blue' and 'But he's Just a Ramen chef' being examples of the fics i like. It's been so long since i've read a good fic that doesn't take 10 years to update and isn't abandoned at 3 chapters and 10k words...

Adios.