Rose: Once again I get to do my own Disclaimer ( mumbles; lazy good for nothing Son)

Two-Tails: I heard that.

Rose: Well at least your ears work. Too bad your typing fingers seem to be broke.

Two-Tails: (looks at fingers) Huh?

Rose: you didn't do the disclaimer. . . again

Two-Tails: Well they should know it by now.

Rose: Doesn't matter if they do. I don't own Naruto folks. He's too well behaved to be one of mine.

Two-Tails (and brothers): Hey! We know how to behave!

Rose: sweatdrop

Chapter Eleven

Where'd he disappear

Same day as Chapter Ten

Watarimono woke with Kakashi at her side. Since it was a Saturday she didn't have to get the girls ready for school but that didn't mean she got to take the day off. She still had work to do and it was time she got started working with Naruto. Since he now knew she'd have to clear him for any out-of-town missions it shouldn't be that hard to make the boy work with her. She woke Kakashi and asked him where she might find Naruto today.

He blinked and shrugged as he sat up in her comfortable bed. He watched as she got up and gathered her things to get ready for the day. No matter that he knew she had an agenda, this was a show he never tired of watching. Watari never wore clothes to bed and as she gathered her clothes for the day he got several interesting views of her body. If he hadn't have seen her children with his own eyes it would have taken a very persuasive person to convince him she had them.

"Kashi, where would he go to if he knew he couldn't leave town? It's time I got to work with him and I mean to begin today." She stood in front of her dresser with her clothes in her hands.

"Honestly I don't know. He'll work out for a few hours but after that it's anyone's guess where he goes. Sometimes he'll go find others from his graduating class and sometimes he just disappears. You could try asking his friends. They might know where he is."

"Hmm. . . You know Kashi, I'm really beginning to wonder about your training of him."

Surprised Kakashi asked, "What? What do you mean by that?"

"If I'd have asked you where I might find the Uchiha boy today you would probably know exactly where I should look at any given hour. Same with the Haruno girl but with the Uzumaki boy. . ." An eye twitch gave Kakashi away. She was right he did know exactly how Sasuke would spend his day off and he knew that even though there wasn't a mission for team seven, Sakura would be busy with training under Tsunade and then a shift at the hospital followed by several hours of studying medical texts. But as for Naruto, he really had no clue. Jiraiya was in town but that didn't mean Naruto would be with him. Normally when they were in town it would only be for a few hours and Naruto would make contact with the other Rookie Nine, spending as much time with them as he could before Jiraiya would rush him out of town again.

"Well since team seven has pretty much split off under different senseis it's a lot harder to predict what each of them will be doing on a rarity such as having an unexpected day off. I am Sasuke's trainer so yeah I do know where he'll be. But I am not really the trainer of either Sakura or Naruto any more. They each have a Sannin training them and that is the person who will know where either of them are," he told her.

"Hmm. If you say so. Well, I'm going to get my shower now. Can you watch the girls for awhile today? They want to spend some time with you."

Kakashi nodded, watching her hips sway as she walked to the bathroom. She really had a nice rear-end.

Half an hour later, Watarimono was out on the streets looking for Naruto while Kakashi sat in her apartment watching TV with his daughters. It was about ten o'clock and she wandered the streets of the village idly wondering where the boy would go. She stopped in at the Flower Shop to see Ino once again working the counter. "Ino, where would I find Naruto today?"

Ino shrugged. "If he isn't working in one of the training fields or off on a mission you might find him with Jiraiya-Sensei."

"And where would I find Jiraiya-san?"

"Probably peeping on women bathing or doing something else disgusting. At least that's what Naruto says he spends his free time doing."

"Ok so the bathhouses are a good place to look. Thanks Ino. Are you free to tag along today?"

Ino shook her head. "Not right now. Dad had to go pick up a delivery and Mom wanted some time to spend with her friends so I promised to watch the store for them."

"You're a good daughter. I'll see you later then." Watarimono made her way to the women's hot springs and looked for Jiraiya-san around the back side of the building where the women changed their clothes but for once the old pervert wasn't there. She went back to town and checked the adult bookstore but he wasn't there either. Sheesh. Jiraiya was just as hard to find as Naruto, she thought and both were such unlikely looking people that being able to hide like this should have been impossible for either of them. Just how many people were there with white hair that reached damn near to the ground were there anyway? In his own way Jiraiya dressed just as outrageously as Naruto did yet in a community of mostly dark haired, dark-eyed people, a blue-eyed blond was nowhere to be found. Slowly she meandered the streets looking into every alleyway hoping to just run across either of her targets. Soon she found herself at the base of the Hokage Tower and thought, "Maybe Tsu knows where he'd be." She went up and knocked on her door and got permission to enter.

Surprise surprise. There sat Jiraiya on a window sill. "Well, I've been looking for you all over town, Master Jiraiya," she said.

"You have? And just why would you be looking for me on this fine morning?" he suavely replied.

"Because I am trying to track down your student and I'm hoping you'll know where he'd be. Kashi didn't know where Naruto goes on his time off but he said since you're his trainer now that you might."

"Nope. Don't know where the Gaki goes to. He's good at disappearing when he wants to though so I'd say if you haven't found him yet you're not going to," was Jiraiya's answer.

Watarimono nearly stomped her foot in frustration. "That's not good enough. How can I work with the boy if I can't even find him? As his teacher aren't you supposed to know where he is at all times?"

"Someone forgot to tell Naruto that. Look usually I do know where he is but we also don't stay in the village this long and the Gaki feels safe here so he lets his guard down and forgets to tell me when he plans to be somewhere else. He has his friends here and his routine. He doesn't feel that he has to come and tell me every time he wants to switch locations for a few hours. You might try asking Iruka where he'd be. Heck, he might even be with Iruka. He's sat in on the classes before just to be able to say he got to spend time with his old Sensei."

Watarimono looked to Tsunade who nodded and said, "That's true. Iruka is like a big brother to Naruto and really does seem to like having the Gaki around. It's very possible that he will be there especially since the Third's grandson is part of Iruka's class this year."

"Who's the third's grandson and why would that make any difference to Naruto?"

"Konohamaru really likes and looks up to Naruto. He says Naruto is the first person who actually saw him and not just the Honorable Grandson of the Third Hokage. He and Naruto have much the same relationship as Iruka and Naruto."

"So Naruto has a lot of places and people he could spend a day off with then. This could make finding him difficult but I really think you should know exactly where he is Master Jiraiya."

Jiraiya just looked at her and kept his thoughts to himself as she turned and left the room.

Inside the office, Tsunade cast a sideways look at her old teammate and said, "You do have some idea where he is, don't you?"

Jiraiya looked at her and nodded. "She won't find him if he doesn't want her to."

"And why didn't you tell her that?"

"Because she would have insisted that I take her to him to force him to deal with her. I won't do that. I will not help you destroy the Gaki, Tsunade-hime. You already told him he can't leave town until she clears him so he'll find her when he's ready. You're both just going to have to live with that."

Tsunade frowned but she knew she wouldn't change Jiraiya's mind on this. The Fox had told them to leave the situation alone and Jiraiya trusted the demon for some odd reason. She didn't know that he'd long ago found and read Naruto's journal and so knew how much the Fox was doing to actually take care of his vessel from Naruto's point of view. And while Jiraiya didn't know about the cave behind the waterfall, he had known Naruto disappeared somewhere after several hours of practice and a brief stop at his apartment.

Watarimono left the Tower and made her way to the academy before she stopped and thought for a minute. It was Saturday. There weren't any classes today so it made no sense that Iruka would be there or that Naruto would be sitting in on a class. Turning on her heel she marched back up the stairs to the Hokage's office and went straight in without knocking.

"It's Saturday," she proclaimed. "Where would Iruka be on a Saturday?"

Jiraiya wiggled his fingers at Tsunade and vanished with a poof of smoke. Tsunade looked at her friend and said, "Maybe at his apartment. Here I'll give you his address." She wrote it down on a stray slip of paper and handed it to her. "I really don't think he's there though."

"Why not?"

"Because if he was, I don't think Jiraiya would have mentioned him to you. Jiraiya thinks we should listen to the Fox so I don't think he'll help you break down Naruto's walls in any way shape or form. And telling you that he might be with someone he is with would be helping you."

"Why is everyone who knows this kid so against this, Tsu? Last night Kashi said I was going to hurt him by doing this and he said Naruto had every right to be ticked when he found out about my having to approve him before he could get more missions. I don't understand." She flopped down in a chair in front of Tsunade's desk and rested her head on one fist.

Tsunade took a deep breath and looked at her friend. "Wata, a lot of it is because you can't see a mask on someone without trying to get rid of it. In civilian life, someone wearing a mask is a person who is hurting and maybe it is in their best interest to get rid of it but that isn't true for ninjas. Sometimes we put a mask over something that could get us or our teammates killed if it was visible to others. Like Kakashi's face. He wears that mask to cover his face because he looks so much like his father that not only will his team have to deal with his enemies they'd have to deal with his father's enemies as well. With his mask, he's only the Copy-nin. The man who has copied a thousand jutsu's but without it he's the son of the White Fang. And the WhiteFang had just as many if not more enemies as the Copy-nin does."

"He's the son of the White Fang? I didn't know that. Even I've heard of him."

Tsunade laughed. "Now imagine that he is taking a raw team of genin on their first mission out of town and doesn't have that mask on to help hide his features. They run across bandits just out for what they can get but one of them recognizes his face and thinks he's seeing the White Fang instead of his son. What do you think they are gonna do? The White Fang is still in the Bingo Book and he is worth a lot of money to anyone who can bring in proof that he is dead."

"So he does have a practical reason for wearing that mask outside of the village but that still doesn't mean he needs to wear it twenty-four / seven. He could remove it here in the village if he wanted to."

"Wata, I'm not saying he doesn't have some issues you could help him with I'm just saying that just because a ninja is wearing a mask doesn't mean they need to take it all the way off. Civilians don't have to worry about their secret killing them or killing a friend. A ninja does. And that's why so many people who know Naruto are afraid of what you propose to do. Even though I asked you to come here and help him I have to admit I'm worried also. No one knows what's under his mask and none of us are sure we can handle what you uncover. We're not sure that we'll still be able to keep him alive once the council sees what he has been hiding."

"The Council? What do they have to do with anything?"

"Naruto's existence is a thorn in their side. They didn't want him trained as a ninja in the first place. The Third had to argue strongly for it, saying that the boy had enemies outside the village who wouldn't stop at just taking him out. Those enemies would also take out a lot of civilians in the battle to kill Naruto. I don't know exactly what the Third said to win Naruto a place in the academy but the council has been regretting that decision every day since then."

"They are afraid of him. Afraid he will release the Demon and turn it loose on the town. They're afraid that the Demon will consume him and rampage the town. They are afraid Naruto is already the Demon he contains and they're just waiting for him to finish what the Fox started all those years ago."

"One of the most constant battles I have with the council is the battle to keep Naruto alive, well and free. As he's grown in skill and power, the council has become more vocal in their wish to curtail his freedom. Naruto's supporters and I fight daily for it not to happen but if they had their way Naruto would be locked up in the tightest security cell the prison has to offer under so many restraints he'd have a hard time maintaining enough chakra just to stay alive. Some of the council want this because it would allow them to pull him out as a special weapon to be used against any attacking force but others are hoping that not being able to maintain his chakra well would eventually kill him. Thereby leaving their hands clear of his blood."

Both women were silent for a bit. Tsunade opened a drawer and pulled out her sake bottle. She set out two saucer and the warmer plate for the sake. When it was warm she poured a measure into each saucer and indicated that Wata should take one while she picked up the other. In one gulp she downed hers and set the saucer back down.

"I love that boy as if he were my own little brother. . .or maybe a nephew but I have to admit I have no clue who he really is under that mask. And that not knowing hinders me with the council. That's why I really want you to try and find out."

Watarimono had moved her saucer to her side of the desk but she hadn't drank any of it. "You do know once I convince someone to remove even a part of their mask it's very hard for them to put it back on, don't you? If you really want me to do this I will do it but there's no chance he will be able to cover up what gets exposed again."

Tsunade nodded and said, "I knew when I sent you that letter that I would have to live with what you find. And I knew then that it might not be in Naruto's best interest to have it exposed but he hides too much and that isn't in his best interest either. We, he and I, need a compromise. I need to see enough of the real Naruto to know that he's healthy and he needs to show enough of who he really is to know that he isn't a bad person. That the Demon isn't him. And that who he is, is a person his friends will still like."

"So then my goal with him isn't to get rid of his mask but just to chip it enough to allow some of who he is to shine through. Enough chips to be sure he is sane but not enough to expose everything. Difficult but not impossible, I suppose." She looked outside and said, "I guess I'll just head home and see how Kashi has made out with the girls today."

Tsunade grinned. "Tell me how is he liking being a father?"

Watarimono grinned back and said, "He fainted when we told him but now he is constantly watching them when he thinks no one knows it. He's at the house every chance he gets and I don't think I am the sole attraction."

"So he likes the idea. I kindof thought he would once he got used to it. So when are you planning to make it official?"

"Why, Tsu, I don't know what you mean," said Watarimono.

"Hm. You know he's been a bachelor long enough. It's time he settled down and you also. You've spent enough time wandering the globe and those girls need a permanent home."

"Now you sound like my Dad. I'm not ready to get tied down even if it is to Kashi. The girls can still have their father without me having to give up my freedom so there's no need to rush anything."

Quickly so that her friend wouldn't have a chance to dodge it Tsunade ran a medical scan over her. Sure enough Watarimono saw the green glow on Tsunade's hand and tried to move out of range but Tsunade reached out and grabbed her arm. Once she was done with the exam, she said, "You might want to think about that a little more carefully."

Watarimono narrowed her eyes as she spun around to go home. "You keep your mouth shut, Tsu. This is my life and no one will tell me how to live it."

Behind her Tsunade grinned. It seemed to her that her friend had a few issues of her own to work on. I wonder if she realizes she herself wears a mask, she thought as she pulled another set of request forms off the stack of them piled high on her desk and began to read.

Two Tails : HA SERVES HER RIGHT! Ahem . err yeah... nevermind...