Pre-story notes:

This story is rated T for awesome butt-kicking ninja action, some uncontrolled tempers and a touch of pervyness.

This story is a Naruto story; told long after the event of Naruto and the nine-tailed demon. (Like hundreds of years after.)

Pronunciation of the names are below the story.

I don't own Naruto (Duh!)

If you don't like Naruto don't read my story (Another Duh.)

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

The Thieves Hideout

"Hey guys," I said as the sun began to rise, "it's time for you sleepy-heads to wake up." "Oh put a sock in it Daichi!" Miku shouted as she slowly woke up. "I mean, the sun has hardly come up! How on earth do you suppose we are supposed to function this ear…" "Daichi," Ryo asked as he sat up, "how long have you been up anyway?" "I dunno," I replied thinking about it for a second, "I guess for a few hours now. I has already got breakfast ready for you two and everything Arf!"

"A few hours!" Miku raged, "How on earth do you think that we'd be ready this early in the morning! Why did you wake up hours early anyway?!" "Err… I guess I couldn't sleep." I said, grabbing Ryo's and Miku's breakfast I had made for them. "Eat up! It's eggs and bacon!" The two are slowly, trying to 'wake up' from being asleep for the night. "Come on!" I shouted, ready to start the mission. "We have to find all of the entrances to the thieves' hidou…" "The hideout isn't going away anytime soon Daichi." Ryo said softly as he finished a piece of egg. "Yea Daichi, Crunch" Miku said biting into the crisp bacon. "We have all day to find the other entrances." "Fine, I'll wait." I said impatiently.

Every second seemed like torture, all I wanted to do was get on with it. Miku and Ryo enjoyed small-talk as I sat there impatiently. "Daichi, go run around a bit, maybe you can get rid of some of that bound up energy." Ryo said after I had almost caught a nearby tree on fire. I ran around a bit looking at the terrain nearby. The trees seemed to emit a string pine aroma; it smelled great mixed in with the fresh morning air. I found a small stream too, there was plenty of fish swimming in it, and I tried a few times to catch one with my bare hands, but failed to catch any and quickly grew tired of it. I followed the stream, making sure to remember the way back to camp so I wouldn't get lost.

There where plenty of nice scenery, pine trees everywhere and the view from where we were on the mountain was great! There were many birds still in there nest (Guess they weren't the early birds.) And I found a few small holes in the ground, but couldn't tell if they where gofer holes or not. Then, I heard the bushed move nearby, and I jumped silently into the nearby bushed. There where three people, they each had large bags filled heavy with stuff (Most likely anything they could get their hands on that was worth anything.)

The first was large. Like 'I'll break you like a twig' large. The second looked more ninjaish, not very big but he knew what he was doing. The third looked very old and knowledgeable, kind of like a master who had been through this for years and years. Together it looked like they made a nice group, each one having different characteristics to back each other up.

I slowly followed the three, making sure not to be seen or heard. Then, one of the men stopped, "Who is there?" He drew a kunai out and I instantly knew he had some ninja training of some sort. I didn't know quite what to do, so I jumped out of the bushes and rammed into the guy. The guy was knocked onto the ground and I somehow ended up with the large bag he had been holding. I went to attack a second man, but I couldn't move. The second guy had his hands in a handsign, and my hands where in the same handsign! I didn't know what I was doing.

"The Shadow Possession jutsu is complete," The man said, "what should we do with this thief?" Thief? I'm not a thief, I'm a Cloud ninja. Oh yea! I forgot my headband back at camp! "Let's get rid of him." The third man said with a smirk while drawing his sword. "Hold up Arf!" I said, making sure to sound like I knew what I was talking about, "I mistook you guys for travelers; you guys really should do more to show that you're thieves." "What?" The first man said askingly, "So you aren't a rouge thief?" "Of course not," I slowed my heartbeat down and talked more calmly, "I was coming to the base when I spotted you, when you noticed me I decided it was the time to attack."

"Oh come on boss," The third man said, "are you really going to believe him?" "Hey! I make the call around here!" The 'boss' growled at him, "If he knew of the thieves base around here he can't be a fake. Only expert thieves and thugs are allowed into there." "Fine." Both of the other two said, acknowledging that the first was the boss. "Sorry to get off on the wrong foot," The boss said, "my name is Ontai. I am the leader of a small group of bandits; it looks like you ran into the right person." "This here is Sozoku," Ontai said pointing to man #2, "and that" Pointing to the other man, "is Touzoku."

Dangit, I can't give the man my real name, what do I say? "My name is Gimei, I am a master thief." I said, making up a name on the go. "So you where headed to the Thieves hideout where you?" Ontai asked. "Yea." I said; the second man finally let me go of his Jutsu. "Who do you work for then?" Ontai asked. I know he expected an instantaneous answer, so I spewed out the first thing that came to mind. "I work for whoever pays me the most." "AH! You ARE a master thief." Ontai said; this was obviously some kind of 'word recognition test' to tell who is a thief and who is not. I got very lucky with that one.

"So, I haven't had any company in a while. I think I'll stay with you until we get back to the hideout." I said, hoping that they would lead me through a different door than the last one I went through. "Hey, stay with us for a job; we could use a master thief as good as a loner." Ontai said. "But boss, I'm the master thief of the group." Touzoku grieved. "Not another word Touzuku, we'll still need you too, I was planning a job that needed many more thieves anyway."

I followed them and spent a lot of time listening, knowing that the more I talked the more obvious it would be that I wasn't a thief. "So, I was on the roof of the building" Touzoku was telling me a story, "and the neighbors had spotted me from their top window. And do you know what I did then?" He asked, knowing I obviously didn't have the answer.

"What did you do?"

"I took my blade and sliced a hole in the roof, I was gone so quickly that they didn't even know if I had really been there!" He said laughing to himself. I made a smirk, making sure to seem like I was interested. "Here we are!" Ontai said, coming to the side of a large rock. He pressed a branch on a nearby tree downward and a door appeared in the side of the rock. "Everyone in before anyone see's us."

After we walked in, we walked to a building toward the middle of the large underground hideout. Ontai knocked on the door four times in a rhythmic pattern, "We are hungry and have nothing to sell," He said, obviously some sort of code. The door opened, and we all walked into the building. "Hey, there was nobody at the door." I exclaimed out loud "Yea, Sozoku put a Jutsu on the door." Ontai answered, "It will only open with the code." There where even more people inside the building then I had originally noticed. There was, altogether, about 50 people now inside the building. Ontai showed the plans to the entire group and began to talk about the plan.

I studied it and didn't recognize the building at first, but then it hit me. The building they where going to rob was the Raikage's building! "Alright, everyone know the plan?" Ontai said after finishing with the plans. "How much will we make?" Someone from the group spoke up. "Well," Ontai said speaking like as if it wasn't much, "let's just say that by the time we are done all of you will have enough for food for many years!" "Hurray!" The whole crowd shouted. "One last thing, when will it take place?" Anther man asked. "Be near the Cloud village gates at 9:00 PM in two days, meeting over." Ontai said, finishing the discussion. I knew that this couldn't be good!

I left the building, and walked toward the exit I had used the other day, the one at the base of the tree near our camp. While walking I saw a man with a map in his hands, it was a map of the surrounding area of the hideout. "Hey," I said to the man, "is that a map?" "Yea," he said coldly. "Could I have it?" I asked. "Of course not! This is a hand graphed map of this place and the surrounding area. Do you not know who I am?!" He said in a very dramatic way. "Well.." I started to say. "I am Chizu! The greatest map maker who has ever lived!" He said even more boldly than before.

"That's nice," I said in a sarcastic way, "can I buy that map from you?"
"How much do you have?"
"Err… 150 yen… And some string."
"Ha, 150 yen for a map as great as this?"
"And some string."
"I don't want your string!"
"Oh…"

"You are a master thief right?" He asked. "N… Yea! I am!" I said, almost blowing my false identity. "Good, if you can get me a map of the Stone Village or of the Sand Village area from my competitor Shazou, I will give you this map." Chizu said. "Alright! I will get you that map Arf!" I said, ready for anything. "He lives in a large brick building, it has a large sign on it that says 'map' so you can't miss it!" He said "Just be back here in two hours." Chizu said as I ran off toward the direction he pointed me.

The building was easy enough to find, it was three stories high and made of red brick. It even had the 'maps' sign on it like Chizu had said. But I could already tell it was going to be hard to get the map. The whole building has electric wire running across the sides, the doors all had large locks on them, and the windows had massive bars on them. "Crud," I said to myself, as I scoped out the building. I didn't know what was inside the building either, I'd have to come up with a plan on the fly. I walked up the building next to the target building using chakra (Have to love chakra,) and jumped across to the roof of the target building. I climbed carefully into the top window (Making sure not to get shocked,) and carefully slid inside.

I had landed myself in the attic, not such a bad place to come into. I carefully and silently walked down the nearby stairs and tried to find where the maps where kept. I checked all the unoccupied rooms' closets, cupboards, drawers, and even under the bed. "Damnit." I cursed silently to myself; I just couldn't find those maps. I heard footsteps coming into the room I was in. I carefully hid behind the door and once he was preoccupied I slipped out of the room and downstairs. "Whew, that was close." I said to myself once downstairs. "What was close?" A man asked from the corner. "Um… Uh…" I stuttered, scared at what may happen next; I had been caught as a thief!

"Who are you and why are you here?" The man asked. "I am… Um…" I stuttered again. Remember the fake name you gave yourself damnit! "My name is Gimei," I said, now unsure of whether he would buy it, "and I have come for a map of the Sand village." "Hm…" He said, looking me over really good, "so, you're a novice thief am I right?" "Uh…"

"Oh don't lie; you obviously passed yourself off as an expert thief in order to get into the hideout."
"Yea…" I lied.
"Well, I guess we all have to start somewhere," he said, "My name is Shazou. I am a master map maker."

"So, you have come for a Sand village map?" Shazou asked. "Yea, I have." I said, feeling very nervous. "Don't act so worried, I won't bust you for trying to rob me." He said calmly, "I bet it was that man Chizu that asked for this job, am I right?" "Yea, how did you know?" I asked inquisitively. "Well, Chizu and I go far back, we had a gang together. Our gang was some of the best known thieves in the land, you may have heard of some of them." He said in a narrative way. "As Chizu and I grew older I began making maps and he started making lock-picks. Unfortunately for Chizu, good lock-picks became easy to get, but maps of certain areas where rare, and the one making them makes lots of money by selling them." He said, pointing to himself.

"Here you go 'Gimei'." Shazou said while handing me two maps. "Those two maps are fake, but Chizu won't know that. And because you've got both now you can get a lot from my old nemesis Chizu." "Oh wow Arf!" I said in wonder, "thanks a ton." "Screw Chizu for everything he's got ok?" He said as he walked back to his desk. "O.K." I replied. He stopped me for a moment before I left. "Oh, and you may want a better false name than Gimei if you know what I mean." He said winking at me. "Thank you," I said as I started to leave. "You don't know how much this helps."

I waited at the same spot I had met Chizu. It wasn't fun waiting but I knew that I couldn't risk leaving and missing him. The amount of foot traffic inside of the thieves hideout was astounding, there was more people pass through the area than pass through the Cloud village gates on a typical day. "There you are!" I heard Miku from behind me. "Miku," I replied, "What are you doing here?" "Well when you went missing we went in search for you, we couldn't leav…" Miku replied with a smile. "The door wasn't too hard to figure out," Ryo interrupted, "I could easily see through the mechanism with my Byakugan."

"Hey," I said quickly, "that's great, but I'm about to make a trade from a map of this place." "Really?!" Miku said in surprise, "That's aweso…" "Come on Miku." Ryo said as he grabbed Miku quickly. "We'll be back here Daichi. Just come over here when you are done." I waited longer for Chizu, I knew that this map would be important. It took only about five minutes after Miku and Ryo had hid that I saw Chizu in the crowd.

"Do you have a map?" He asked nervously. "Yes, I got both of them, they are right here." I said showing them to him. He looked over them quickly, looking for any reason to believe that the maps where fake. "Fine, here you go." Chizu said handing me the map. "Hold up," I said as he started to walk away, "the rate was a map for a map, you only gave me one." "What else do you want?" He asked. "Do you have any large, general maps?" I asked, knowing one might come in handy someday. "Yea, here you go." Chizu said, shoving into my hand and leaving quickly.

"Alright Arf! We have the map" I said as I walked over to Miku and Ryo. "Nice now we can get out of this weird pl…" Miku said. "And we can get the village to raid this place and arrest most of these thieves." Ryo interrupted. "Yea!" I said as we started walking. "Oh crud!" I had just remembered that other ninja would come in here and shut down this place. "I have to do something quickly," I said to Miku and Ryo, "can you meet me back at where our camp was?" "Sure? What do you have to do Daichi" Miku answered back. "Long story, I'll tell you on the way back." I said as I ran off.

I ran quickly back to the building I had 'robbed', I sure hope that Shazou was still there. "Shazou," I said as I opened the door. He wasn't there, but I could hear fighting upstairs. I slowly walked up the stairs, making sure that nobody would hear me come up. "Where is the map that I am seeking?" I heard a man say in question to someone else. "What map? There are no maps here." I heard Shazou saying behind the door. "Don't lie to me!" The man said as he struck Shazou. Shazou cried in pain as he was struck with something. I bolted into the room and came at the man with a punch; it connected loosely and knocked the man back.

"Ah," The man said as he stood up, "you are just the boy that I was searching for." (He was the second man from the gang, oh, what was his name… Oh right, Sozoku!) "Sozoku!" I growled at him, "What do you want with Shazou Arf?!" "Ah, don't you know who I really am?" Sozoku asked.

"What? You're Sozoku."

"Ha! Just the answer I'd expect from a dog like you!" he spit the word at me like an arrow as he uncovered his face. I remembered his face; it was the leader of the ninja that had attacked me and my master in the woods. It was the ninja that had taken the life of my master!

He had black hair and almost black eyes, he breathed so lightly he didn't seem to need to breathe at all. He wore a black robe with dark gray stars and moons on them. His body was sleek, and the muscles, although you couldn't see them most of the time, where massive when he flexed and stretched them. His face had one of the biggest details on him; his face had one scar crossing from top to bottom on his right side of his face.

"You!" I barked at him as I drew my weapon. "No use," the man said snidely. He was right; I was stuck in my tracks. It was only then I noticed his shadow connecting to mine. "That's right, shadow possession jutsu." He said with such a snicker that it made my spine freeze over. "Damn you!" I snapped as I pushed toward the man with all of my strength. "Ah, you are strong!" He said as he made the handsign again.

A man came from downstairs past us; I quickly bit the man in the shoulder as he passed me. "Ouch!" He exclaimed as he got ready to punch me, then stopped as he noticed Sozoku's shadow connected to mine. "Very good," Sozoku said as the man handed a map to him, "I have no time to play now dear pup, just remember this. My name is Katakiyaku. But you may call me Katak." He said calmly "Wait you bast…" I began to rage as he and his underling both made the same handsign and disappeared.

"Damnit Arf!" I growled. "Shazou, are you ok?" I asked as I helped him up. "Yea, why did you come back here?" He asked as he got up. "Oh, right!" I remembered, "it's a long story, but I came to tell you that you need to leave the thieves hideout by tomorrow, that is if you know what I mean." I said as I winked at him. "Thank you for your advice and for helping me." Shazou said, "I owe you my life." I smiled for a second when he said that. "Now, isn't there somewhere where you are supposed to be?" He asked as if he already knew my plans. "Oh yea," I remembered as I walked out the door, "Thank you for the maps." "No, thank you for coming back and saving me!" He yelled back at me as I left.

"Hey Daichi," Miku greeted me as I walked out of the thieves hideout. "Hey there Miku." "Took you long enough didn't it?" Miku half asked as we started walking. "I got into a little trouble along the way…" I replied, remembering the evil face of Katak. "So, what exactly happened while you where gone?" She asked me with wonder. "Well it started after I had left the camp, there was these three guys there that…" I started my story of what had happened as we walked home to the Cloud village.

Names: Shazou (Sh-ah-zoo); Katakiyaku (Kah-tahk-ee-yack-oo); Chizu (Chee-zoo); Gimei (gi-mee) (Means 'false identity' in Japanese); Ontai (own-tai); Sozoku (Soh-Zoh-koo); Touzoku (Toh-Zoh-koo) Miku Tsukiko (Me-ku Tisuk-keyo); Ryoichi Hyuga (Ree-oh-ee-chee Hue-guh); Daichi Hayato. (Die-Chee Hay-ah-toe)