Chapter Six
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
The teacher and his student walked down a tree lined road heading toward the Hidden Leaf Village. As usual, the conversation was a bit tense.
"So," Naruto said. The young ninja's eyes were little bigger than slits in his scrunched up face.
"What?" Jiraiya said. "I can't help it if you have a low affinity for earth style techniques. You need to keep working on the Swamp of the Underworld, like I showed you…."
Naruto's eyes snapped open as he stared at his teacher. "I have more chakra than you do, Bastard Sensei, and my result with that technique is a tenth the size of what you can work. I've been practicing with it ever since we left Wave, so two weeks now…."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, brat. I think you need to get your body used to working with the earth affinity chakra."
Naruto stopped walking. "Don't you know anything else? I don't think this technique is going to be very useful for what the Old Man and I have been working on…for the style of fighting I've been putting together."
Jiraiya kept walking and shrugged. "Expand your horizons, Naruto."
The young man grumbled but then started walking again. Jiraiya let the silence continue for a few minutes.
"Alright, I admit it. My jutsu just don't really fit you. Many of my most powerful techniques I learned and developed in my sage training. You don't have that training, so you won't be able to use them unless you spend a good long while with the toads. Actually, I sorta stopped inventing new non-sage techniques about, oh, twenty years ago."
Naruto nodded. "Thank you for admitting that. At least we're talking the same language now. So, what are you thinking?"
"You're great with elemental chakra, right? How about I teach you your father's main attack technique, the Spiraling Sphere, and you can work your wind affinity chakra into it…."
Naruto smiled and began nodding his head. Jiraiya looked thoughtful for a moment, then frowned.
"Hold on," Jiraiya said. "Answer me this: you've been arguing with me about what I was supposed to teach you. What have you been working on? My Old Teacher said I had to teach you something and you had to develop something, remember?"
"I do. What I want to create isn't finished, but I have something ready."
Jiraiya looked a bit annoyed. "Are you going to show me? I'd like to make sure it isn't stupid, especially if the Hokage decides we slacked off too much while we were gone."
"Alright. How about in those trees over there?" Naruto asked, pointing just off to the right of the road they were on. "I'd like to keep the results a little bit hidden."
"Ninjas and their secrets. Fine."
Jiraiya kept his hand on Naruto's shoulder as the pair of them walked a few meters into the forest.
Naruto walked a few paces ahead of Jiraiya and then stopped. He turned his head back toward his teacher. "This is a combo. I use pure wind chakra plus a wind style jutsu."
"Enough yammering. Show me what you've got, eh?"
Naruto got into a ready stance. From the back, Jiraiya could tell the kid was flipping through a couple of handseals. And then…the forest in front of Naruto disintegrated and blew away.
Jiraiya's jaw literally dropped. Some of the now destroyed trees had been thirty meters tall. And there was no trace left.
"That's unfinished, kid? What's it supposed to look like when it's done?"
"I'm keeping that to myself," Naruto said, smiling.
"You gearing up for war? That's the kind of thing you could never use in a spar. How in the world did you do it, anyway?"
Naruto turned around, apparently satisfied with this test run. "I form up sharpened wind blades and use them to slash everything to pieces and then use a Great Breakthrough-style technique to blow it all away. I call it the Breath of God."
Jiraiya rocked forward and back a few times while his face was scrunched up carefully examining everything in front of him. "Hot damn. You even pulled up a few centimeters of dirt. Everything's gone. I can see the holes where a few trees were pulled out, roots and all."
"I have been working on a wide area technique even before you got me thinking about them again when you showed me the Swamp of the Underworld. I picked up my earlier work…and, well, this is how far I got."
"I think Sensei will be quite impressed. I know I am."
"Thank you."
"So, that's about as big an offensive technique as you'll need for a while." Jiraiya touched Naruto's shoulder and directed him back to the road. They did have to be back in Konoha by the sunset the following day, after all. "Have you done anything sneaky with the wind?"
"Working on it." Naruto didn't want to confess that he could use the wind to verify identities in enclosed spaces, like hotel rooms.
Jiraiya slapped Naruto on his shoulder. "Good. Good! Every ninja needs help in that department. You know, I also wonder how you might ride a wind blade. You know, as a speed thing in battle…."
Naruto smiled and listened. He'd wait until the old guy stopped talking before asking about the Spiraling Sphere again. Even if he was irresponsible, he had some good ideas tumble out of his mouth.
"Well, I've been thinking about speed. My father used seals, something like a summoning technique to move him from place to place. I wonder if that's the only way to fight… That's what I'm trying to imagine. How do I get on a field of battle and not need to be fast to win – that's power. There will always be someone faster or smarter or more powerful than me…but that doesn't matter if they can't reach me to attack me. If I can attack from a distance when they have to get within an arm's reach, well, I win."
"Yes," Jiraiya said. "But that isn't how ninja fight. No open fields, arrayed up like two armies ready to pummel each other. It's all sneaking through forests or mountain passes and ambushing each other…. You likely wouldn't have the first clue you were about to be attacked…assuming the ambusher isn't an idiot."
Naruto listened to his teacher. The old guy knew his stuff, especially his implied suggestion that he might use the wind to keep track of people around him in densely packed areas, like forests or well populated villages. However, Naruto already had a good idea in his mind what his final style would look like. Jiraiya played to his personal strengths, his unpredictability, his summons, his special toad training. Naruto wanted to play to his own strengths: his comfort with the wind and his enormous well of power.
He wondered if he should try to talk the Hokage into letting him go out on another training trip with Jiraiya…or if the Hokage, in his single hour per week, would be more help than the Toad Sannin.
The two hadn't gotten off to a great start…but as three weeks had passed since that terrible night, Naruto thought he was looking at things more objectively. He just didn't know who to ask for help: a time-strapped Hokage or the careless ninja chattering away next to him.
"How do you move quickly then?" Naruto asked.
"Pure speed. I don't have any fancy tricks like Minato did…."
"So why do I need them?"
Jiraiya stopped and looked at Naruto. Then he smiled and snorted. "You know, that's a good question. You're a demolitionist right now…but with speed you could be something else. Think about that, huh, when you plan things with the Old Monkey. Don't let your gifts dictate what you can do…. Figure out what you want to do, then make your gifts help you get there."
By the smile on Jiraiya's face, even he thought his pronouncement wise.
But Naruto didn't have a lot of patience for all this speculation. He knew only two things for sure. He needed to get back into serious training; this entire trip with Jiraiya had been interesting but not really all that helpful with his training. Kisame and that Tobi weren't done coming after him yet. He gave himself a year in his mind, a year to have the strength to battle either one to a draw and then escape. He realized it would take a lot of luck or even more years of training to be able to kill someone of that caliber.
And, two, he didn't want to rely any more on the fox in his gut. To his mind, Naruto realized if he wasn't good enough to go toe-to-toe with his pursuers without the fox, then he really didn't deserve to win. It was a matter of pride with him: Naruto should be and would be a powerful ninja under his own steam.
"Sounds good. So…let's talk some more about this Spiraling Sphere, eh?"
Jiraiya winked at Naruto. "Nope. First, you are going to tell me how you went about inventing your Breath of God technique. I want to get a feel for how you think…and to figure out how to tighten up what you did. Don't get me wrong, it's impressive…but I felt the chakra expelled. You should get more effect for that level of chakra, I think."
Naruto rolled his eyes. He had explained that the technique was incomplete. He already knew he needed to make it more efficient and larger.
To be honest, he needed to get the Breath of God technique pulled together fast. He needed the Spiraling Sphere. He needed everything he could get his hands on…and experience most of all. He could do a lot right now, but he didn't have the instincts for when to do this or that thing. One year seemed liked a long time, but Naruto knew it would fly by.
He needed to get every advantage he could…before his few moments of safety were gone. Before he had to finally deal with Kisame and Tobi and their colleagues – or else perish.
There were two paths, Naruto determined. He could perish or prevail. And he wasn't about to accept one of them. Not while he had a breath in his body.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Uchiha Itachi walked into the Hokage Tower on a sunny afternoon. "Excuse me, I'd like an application…."
"For the tournament," a grumpy ninja responded.
"Yes," Itachi said, smiling. He was dressed as a simple farmer. He had dirt still caked to his shoes, like he'd stepped off his land a few hours earlier. It was a good disguise, an earnest disguise.
The ninja didn't give Itachi a second look. He grabbed a slip of paper and passed it to Itachi. "You can turn that in here. The Hokage will have instructions delivered to each contender one week before the tournament starts…."
"I'll return the paperwork in a few days, then. Thanks for your help!"
As Itachi left the building, his smile disappeared as if it had never been there. He wasn't big on happiness.
He had been in Konoha for two days now. He barely remembered it as a child, but now everything about it made him angry.
Itachi had lived a dangerous life after the death of his aunt, uncle, brother, and the rest of his clan. He had eaten rats on the direst days and gone hungry more times than he could remember.
He walked through the village. He could feel eyes on him, eyes hidden by shadows. Since he had walked into the Hokage Tower, he had marked himself as interesting to the watchers of this village.
Good…at least they weren't as foolish as other places Itachi had worked.
But…if they weren't fools here, were they deserving of death? Had they created a monster – and left the problem too long? Had this place killed his family with its indifference? Orochimaru had once walked these streets, too.
How culpable was this village as a whole? That was what he didn't yet know. He had seen a few Uchiha still here…but he didn't know how they'd come to remain in the Hidden Leaf. He needed to get close to a few of them and 'engage' them in conversation.
But not this day. Not with watchers omnipresent.
Instead, Itachi spent hours walking and stopping in shops and vendor stalls. There were few better ways for a hunter-nin to extract wide-ranging, general information than to listen where people felt comfortable gossiping.
Eventually Itachi settled into an outdoor lunchery. He had spotted a target of interest – a woman wearing a strong genjutsu who felt more powerful than any kunoichi Itachi had ever come across. Tsunade. Of the Sannin. One of Orochimaru's former teammates. People throughout Fire Country had been gossiping about the Legendary Sucker being recalled to Konoha…and not allowed to wager any more.
Itachi sat and ate and drank…and judged.
"It's a goddamned crime, that old bastard," the illusioned Slug Mistress moaned. "Forcing me back here. Trying to guilt me into rebuilding the hospital that he let fall into a sad state…."
"It's not that bad, Lady Tsunade," another woman replied. She looked around the same age as the illusion that the Slug Mistress wore…but the black haired woman wasn't hiding her age, Itachi determined.
"He revoked my travel papers, the shriveled bastard. So I was a year late in turning up. I usually come here, teach a few med nins how to pull their fingers from their assholes, and then leave again. He's getting to be a genuine asshole as he goes senile!"
The companion's went wide at this last outburst from the blonde. "Quiet, Lady Tsunade. That's really enough. What you're saying could get you accused of treason…."
A snort interrupted another drink of sake. When Tsunade finished drinking she almost yelled, "Pish posh. The old monkey is too weak in the heart to do anything like that…. Although he did finally deal with my old teammate. Too bad it was more than a decade too late…."
Itachi drank some water as he kept himself from involuntarily nodding his agreement.
"Lady Tsunade, I really wish you'd just go back and start work at the hospital…instead of this. I really am…bored, I guess."
An indifferent shrug. "You're welcome to go work on a bunch of useless Leaf ninja. I am here under protest. The Old Man can make me remain in town, but he can't make me do anything else…and he knows it."
Itachi listened to the two women argue back and forth. He half wanted to stick the woman in a genjutsu and drive her insane by forcing her to listen to the words spewing out of her mouth.
He would not do such a thing in such a crowded place, especially when he was being watched…by more than the usual complement of security officers. Perhaps the Slug Mistress was also being watched?
Itachi almost wished he could meet the Hokage. He seemed a paradox: weak and then strong; a kindly military dictator; old but resolute; a great teacher who turned out worthless students; a leader of a village who could not retire because none of the younger generation is strong enough; a successful failure. Mostly Itachi wanted to meet the teacher of Orochimaru…and to weigh that man's potential crimes.
Itachi kept a close watch on Tsunade. He ordered another sandwich and drink to keep his watchers from becoming too suspicious.
During the hour he remained at his table, the Slug Mistress drank three more cups of sake. She was as bad, then, as her other surviving teammate. The easily distracted Jiraiya – who didn't even recognize when a subtle genjutsu was applied to him to make him crave one type of food over another…just so Itachi could speak with him for a few moments.
It was late that evening when Itachi returned to his temporary lodging. He'd look for a permanent place to live tomorrow. He was going to be here for some time. Judging an entire village did take time.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
The Fire Daimyo did not stand on ceremony when he barreled into Sarutobi's office. He did not bow or conduct any of the niceties.
He likely still realized that the aged ninja in front of him could kill him without bothering to rise from his desk.
But the increasingly obese Fire Daimyo did not care.
"Have you lost your mind, Sarutobi?"
The old village leader looked up from the paperwork on his desk, frowned, and gestured his 'equal' into a chair.
"I wondered why I had not received a message from you, Daimyo. I guess you wanted to deliver your…thoughtful remarks in person, eh?"
The Daimyo slammed his plump fist on the armrest. "What I'd like to do is have you examined by my personal physician. I suspect you're finally so addled that you can't do this job any longer…."
"Shut up."
Said in a quiet voice, the words were nothing special. It was the look of anger on the normally placid ninja's face. That shut the Daimyo up. Temporarily.
"I have more reasons than you could possibly understand, honorable sir. We are a hair's breadth from the Fourth Secret Ninja War. I am too old to fight this one to the conclusion, I realize. I also have no one I'd trust to immediately replace me. My students were…once qualified, but no longer. We have powerful jounin, people excellent at leading small teams. But I have, apparently, been the leader for too long. No one has pulled together the skills to be a great leader of men – of an entire village."
The Daimyo shook his head, becoming agitated again the longer the Hokage spoke. "I think you exaggerate, Hokage. I know that you have several former ANBU Captains who would do quite an admirable job…."
"Some few have the power necessary to serve as Fire Shadow. A few others are very close to the necessary power level…but none have the right kind of wisdom. I appoint people to high positions of authority, like managing the Academy or the Hunter-Nin, but none of them shine. Or they become corrupt. I have had to replace six ANBU captains over the last five years for various treasonous actions; it seems I did not remove all of old Danzo's supporters in the ANBU all those years ago.
"All my choices are bad ones. Tsunade has the family name and the power, but she loathes this village right now. Jiraiya has already turned me down three or four times. Kakashi is a powerful ninja, but would be a failure as a village leader. Trust me I have looked at everyone in our ranks."
The Daimyo leaned forward in his chair. "I don't care. You are a leader and a teacher. You should have always been grooming successors…but now you have a wealth of ninja in the village, but no one just right to follow you. I don't buy it. You are doing this for some other reason…."
Sarutobi eyed his nominal equal in Fire Country for a moment before responding. "I admit my failure in grooming successors. I had always expected Jiraiya or Tsunade or (at one time) Orochimaru would want the job. Then I had a better option, Jiraiya's student. Now…now things are different. I could appoint someone despotic and powerful, similar in spirit to my former nemesis Danzo or the Fourth Kazekage; but I would rather leave the village better off than I found it. Minato as a successor was better than I could have hoped to find; great leaders, visionary leaders, are rare. You would have me appoint someone unfit…. That seems almost treasonous."
"No. It is not treason; it is pragmatism. You ask for too much, Hokage, in your candidates. Settle on a successor now. Pick someone reasonable. Someone strong, with a powerful reputation, someone feared by our enemies. End this terrible 'tournament.' It makes you look old, weak, and foolish!"
Sarutobi picked up the pipe on his desk and examined it for a moment.
"Let us be clear, Daimyo. I do not tell you how to run your court's affairs or which of your many, many children or 'nephews' you should select to succeed you. I do not comment on the assassinations your nobles keep paying for, just to rise in prestige or rank and to rid themselves of 'rivals.' I do not condemn your weakness in permitting corruption at every level of your government. However, I choose not to embrace the same 'ideals.' I leave your business to you; you shall leave my business to me, eh?"
The pasty Daimyo looked ready to burst into a screaming tantrum.
But the Hokage stared the lord into listening a bit longer. "Your words won't be any worse than the diatribe I received from Kumo. The Raikage accused me of 'debasing' the mystery and power of the Kage by making a public entertainment of the process. Of course, his wording was not so polite."
The hefty lord's face clenched up resolute. "I can exercise my veto on this. The charter of the Hidden Leaf permits it!"
"Yes, yes, you can. But I think you will not. A team of mine came across a number of interesting documents after the three oyabun of the Gato Corporation were permanently put out of business. Would you care to guess what I found?"
The Daimyo became even more angry. "I haven't the slightest clue."
"Yes, that is very true. In this matter and in general, Daimyo, you are an idiotic fool. But on this specific point, let me enlighten you."
The Hokage pulled a battered, stained sheet of paper from a desk drawer. "This has seen better days. It was pure luck we managed to pull it out of the water before it fully disintegrated. But your signature is still visible…as are the items you agreed to purchase, on a regular, monthly basis, from Gato Corporation. Concubines…and exotic drugs. I had wondered how you knew parts of what we did…when we disrupted various criminal enterprises and raided their funds and smashed their operations. I had thought you had placed spies here, but that seemed wrong as you only knew about narrow portions of what we did. You heard when we struck weapons smugglers or slavers or other disgusting businesses. You'd come here and joke about how much money we seemed to have in our coffers. But…now I see where you got your information. You always knew when I disrupted one of your trading partners, eh?"
The Daimyo turned a casual eye over the document. "That proves nothing…."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong, Daimyo. It proves that you have less sense than I once believed. No clever man, whatever his proclivities, would ever sign his name to a document like this one…or so obviously work at cross purposes to a military power sitting right next door to where he lives."
The Daimyo stood up. He was full of bluster, not allowing any fear or nervous energy to show itself. "We're done here. I will send you the veto paperwork in a few days. I had hoped to talk sense into your foolish head…."
Sarutobi nodded his head once. A flurry of senbon needles pierced the Daimyo's neck and back. The hefty lord flopped over onto the carpet.
Sarutobi looked down at the unconscious man. "As I said, you have less sense than I once believed. I had thought you basically honest, but unable to reign in the corruption in your court. Now I know differently. I had not thought this to be necessary…but times are dire. My apologies, but I will not have a sly enemy at my back when I am trying to defend against a massive group of attackers at my front."
An ANBU, with a blank mask, stepped out of the shadows, knelt down, and touched the Daimyo's flesh. "He is in a coma, Lord Hokage."
"Are you ready to perform this task, Taro?"
The ANBU then removed his blank mask. His face looked disturbingly like the downed Daimyo's face. A few moments later, it became fleshier and paler. The man's face was a precise duplicate of the Fire Lord's. It was a terribly rare, terribly useful skill to possess, to create a permanent illusion that didn't reek of chakra to any ninja standing nearby.
The Hokage sat at his desk and stared at the ANBU. He compared every feature to the comatose man on the floor. After several minutes, the Hokage said, "It is an excellent facsimile. Truly superb. Have you memorized the basic plan?"
The man nodded.
"Let's hear the voice…"
The ANBU opened his mouth and said, "Yes, Lord Hokage. I have the plan down exactly as we discussed." His voice was a perfect match for the comatose man.
"It was good, then, that the Daimyo obliged us by coming here today. Otherwise it might have been harder to get you into his place at some other time and location. I think you should depart in about five minutes or so. Happy meetings with the Daimyo last for an hour or longer. Pointed meetings, like this one obviously was, last fifteen minutes, if that long…."
The ANBU got busy pulling the fat lord from his clothing. He had the rather ridiculous garb on within the five minute time limit.
"One last question, Lord Hokage."
"Yes," Sarutobi said, looking up from his paperwork. It should have been nervewracking to him…this subversion of the country's government. But, he was a seasoned ninja and he had authorized and even performed more distasteful things than this in the last sixty years.
"Do I need to…ahem, visit my 'new' wife…."
The Hokage laughed a bit. "If my sources are correct, the Fire Lord has not visited his wife's bed since nineteen months before the birth of his last child…his only 'legitimate' male child. However, he happily produced quite a few more 'nephews' with women other than his wife."
The ANBU nodded and patted down his clothes once more.
"I will see you again in a few months, Daimyo-sama," the Hokage said.
The 'Daimyo' had his hand on the Hokage's office door and his voice raised. "I am still not amused with this idea, Lord Hokage. But I will attend to make sure the honor of Fire Country is not harmed…by this populist stunt."
The 'Daimyo' opened the door and walked outside, still muttering to himself. The door sealed behind the lord.
Only then did the Hokage stand up from his desk. His leg shook today. It had done this for hours already. The aging village leader had to grip the edge of his desk for more than a minute before his errant muscles returned to his voluntary control.
This…was new, only a few weeks old. At first, a mere twitch now and again.
Now, it was debilitating for an hour or two. Today was the first day when the loss of control had lasted more than three hours. He was confined behind his desk in those moments, unless he was alone. He could not appear weak, even if he was weakening.
He thought about the foolishness in delaying the tournament for so long…five months remained until the start. But people needed warning, needed time to train. He couldn't change the date just because his body was beginning to fail him.
He waited. When his leg finally felt better, he stepped away from the stability of his desk. It took him just a moment to secure the comatose Daimyo's body inside a storage scroll. This was a touchy piece of sealing, one of the few times Tsunade, with her medical knowledge, and Jiraiya, with his sealing knowledge, ever worked together diligently and fruitfully. His students had once been on the path to greatness twenty-some years ago. But the world moved on and things changed.
The Hokage lifted up the very small, light scroll and tucked it into one of the nooks in his office. Specifically the cubby for completed 'Retrieve Tora the Cat' missions. Where better to hide something like this than in plain sight?
After all, the Daimyo's rotund wife had spent nearly ten million ryou having her cat chased down and returned to her over the years. It was five percent of what the Daimyo and his court hired every year, but it was a symbol. To humble genin, to make them struggle over something seemingly unimportant.
To give them the skills they would eventually need when the stakes were genuine and the consequences of failure were dire.
The old man took quite a while to walk back to his desk. His leg was beginning to twitch again.
He sat down and pondered what he needed to do. He could ask Tsunade… No, that would be a bad idea. Her bitterness had fermented over the years. She was long past being loyal to the Leaf, even Sarutobi realized it although he still remembered the earnest young woman she had once been. In her own way, Tsunade was now as dangerous to Konoha as Orochimaru had been. He had hoped he was wrong to assign her ANBU watchers…but now he realized he didn't have enough of them tailing her.
The Hokage sighed and picked up his pipe. His days were numbered; his legs told him that. At the very least, he could enjoy smoking as much as he liked. After all, his health no longer really mattered. His muscles would give out long before his lungs would.
All that mattered was lasting through the next year.
Sarutobi picked up the newest report from Jiraiya. He had taken Naruto on a one week mission to Lightning Country. Everything sounded okay…if these words were true.
He marked it read and moved on.
Poor Naruto. The boy was a few years off being ready to be named Hokage. And whoever Sarutobi installed would be free to name anyone to the position later. Naruto would likely never be Hokage, even if he became the strongest in the village. It was all about politics, of course, and most people would cave to pressure.
Naruto was Namikaze, but he was also jinchuuriki. Sarutobi had protected the boy for a long time, but now that Akatsuki were moving…word of his jinchuuriki status would leak.
He read Jiraiya's letter again. He hoped Naruto was learning a lot on this trip. The first training trip, apart from Naruto almost being captured by Akatsuki, had been reasonably successful.
He snorted. Sarutobi couldn't even convince himself of this lie. It had been a disaster.
They had managed to turn it away from being a flaming disaster, though. The Swamp of Underworld was a bit undersized, but Naruto did not excel with Earth Style techniques. However, his Breath of God – that was something that could turn the direction of a battle – or disrupt an ambush – or lay a great trap for a large enemy force. Naruto, as his father had before him, was using this time to teach himself to be great; Jiraiya was along as a glorified companion.
The boy already understood that no one would push him into greatness; if he wanted it, if he wanted to survive the Akatsuki, he would need to lift himself up the path.
He hoped Jiraiya would be more responsible this time. He wished…he just wished he could bring Naruto the last few steps. He had an excellent foundation and a wily head on his shoulders. But…Sarutobi pursed his lips…the real reason he had allowed Jiraiya within a meter of Naruto was because of his failing health.
He had to stop kidding himself. He should, by all rights, have killed his student where he stood once he reported in about Hoshigaki Kisame and this Tobi creature. Leaving a genin to face that…just for the sake of getting laid. Sarutobi was as perverted as the next man…but nothing had ever caused him to neglect a duty like that.
If he were honest with himself. He wanted to train Naruto.
He needed to train someone who could come strong very quickly. He needed to fix his failing. He had counted on Tsunade or Jiraiya to succeed him – he had delayed the succession question for a decade waiting for one of them to return to their senses. He was a teacher, a great teacher, but he had nothing to show for it now.
He had no successor. He had positioned no one to take over his job without a second thought. He had failed at that most critical duty of a leader: to prepare for the next generation.
But…his damned body was finally giving out.
Naruto, though, Naruto was strong. He would persevere even through Jiraiya's idiocy. He would become powerful.
The Hokage rolled up Jiraiya's note, hoped it wasn't a fabrication or evasion, and set it in the Out pile.
His mind moved on. His leg continued to twitch. His hope remained.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Two ninja, one young and one old, stood on a desolate shoreline miles from anything of interest. There wasn't even a beach to speak of.
"Okay, Bastard Teacher, tell me why we're not in Lightning Country? Don't we have a mission there… I saw what you wrote to the Hokage."
Jiraiya smiled a confident smile. "Oh, that, don't worry. You need a challenge, my young, ungrateful student. The kind of challenge not easily available in Lightning Country."
Naruto's lips pursed. It was going to be something annoying, wasn't it?
Jiraiya pretended not to notice his student's skeptical attitude. "On the next island over is the Village Hidden in the Mist. I would like you to go there and procure me…hmm, their sake is watery…umm, I don't use large swords as I don't need to compensate for anything…ahh yes, procure me some of their fine pornographic materials…."
"What!"
"Listen up," Jiraiya said. "You showed you could be big and flashy in Wave. You took down the Gato Corporation, but it was not very elegant. So…you are going to infiltrate a ninja village as my second lesson to you. Be subtle; be sneaky."
Naruto seemed to light up a bit at this description of his task…before he got suspicious again. "Is this a real lesson? Or am I doing this to help your 'research'?"
"Bit of both, really. You have until sundown."
Naruto began to grumble. But he also began to walk toward the largest island in the archipelago.
"I am doing something interesting," he muttered. "I am not going to think about how I'm doing it for the wrong reasons. Intention doesn't matter to a ninja…"
Jiraiya smiled and sat down. He was ready to begin drafting the next book in his series. He just had to review his notes and begin crafting the loving, sensual words.
For that, he needed uninterrupted time…Naruto-free time.
He could have left the kid back in Konoha, but he really wanted to train the moron a bit. The kid was already strong, stupidly strong with some of his wind techniques, but he was also green and unseasoned. He was still in the 'my jutsu is flashier than your jutsu' stage.
Jiraiya, if he did nothing other than beat that inclination out of Naruto's head, would consider this trip a success.
He put pen to paper and began the third chapter. He always started writing the sex scenes…and then went back and added in the filler…err, plot.
The busty blonde Tsuno smiled at Master Hiraija. "Are you really a ninja, mister?"
"You better believe it, little girl. I just pulled you from a burning building. Could an ordinary man do that?"
The busty blonde leaned over and whispered, "I have to thank you, then. Can you show me how not-ordinary you are?"
Master Hiraija began to take off his pants before he smiled and said, "Get ready for the best night of your life!"
Jiraiya smiled as he described clothes being shed and moaning and grunting and a lot of passionate exclamation.
Tsuno rolled over and looked lovingly at Master Hiraija. "You know, my twin sister Tsunade will want to thank you for saving my life too."
Master Hiraija couldn't contain his excitement. He stroked Tsuno's cheek and said, "If she's half as beautiful as you, I can die a happy man."
Master Hiraija felt Tsuno hand drift lower on his body. She was ready to thank him again…before introducing him to her sister. What a life. It was great to be a ninja.
This was his best form of stress relief – even better than taking a beautiful girl to bed. He liked bringing joy to others; he liked writing campy lines and corny scenarios and making it all work. It was about making happiness, about the very opposite of what he did as a professional ninja.
His coping mechanism was more pronounced than most…but also more effective. At least he didn't run about the village proclaiming himself 'youthful' at the pronounced age of fifty-seven.
The hours passed and the sunlight dwindled. When Jiraiya finally looked up from the last words of chapter thirty-one, he blinked for a good long while. His student had less than an hour to return.
How hard was busting into Hidden Mist? Jiraiya hoped his student hadn't done something foolish…like using a bunch of explosive tags and detonating a section of the village wall.
Jiraiya stood up and stretched. He had written about half the sex scenes, so one more day for that. Then maybe another day to write in the filler…err, plot. This one was a simple one. A ninja sleeping his way through the women who live in the local Lord's mansion, at the order of his Lord Commander, in order to find the traitor amongst them. Tsuno and Tsunade, the Lord's daughters, start off the long, long list. So many women, so many femme fatale, so little time. Dangerous and smutty at the same time. Twins, sisters, mother-daughter pairs, the lord's priestess and her virginal acolytes; an entire kitchen filled with beautiful, lusty scullery maids. The possibilities were endless.
But Jiraiya couldn't focus back on the story. He wondered if he was going to have to go rescue his student. That thought disappeared, finally, when Naruto appeared on the horizon with ten minutes of daylight left.
He wasn't running…or bleeding…so his infiltration must have been a success, right?
When the boy was a hundred meters from shore, the Toad Sage called out, "What took so long?"
"I went shopping!"
Jiraiya slapped his forehead. "I was beginning to worry, you idiot."
"What…you said I had until sundown. It's obvious you wanted me gone for the day. In fact, I know that for sure. I left a Shadow Clone behind to watch you. He dispelled about ten minutes ago, and I've got his memories of you writing and giggling all day long…."
Jiraiya began eyeballing his student more closely. "Why were you spying on me, Naruto?"
"Because I don't really trust you," Naruto said, with a quick laugh. "Who knew if you'd be here when I got back, eh? Or if you'd be off somewhere else like you were before…. So I put a leash on you, of a sort, my Shadow Clone disguised to look like a rock."
Jiraiya was aggravated at that…the admission of a lack of trust, along with the fact he hadn't noticed that he'd been spied upon all day long. He got too focused on his writing, perhaps….
"Well, knock it off. 'Ninja lesson 103: Never spy on your sensei. You might not like what you see.' Oh, yes, did you bring me my souvenir?"
Naruto's eyes frosted over a bit. "I got it, you sicko. I'll have you know that I was doing perfectly well in Hidden Mist until I went to buy this for you. That's when their internal police showed up and started asking me questions!"
"What?!" No government was so repressive as not to allow hot-blooded shinobi to purchase fine reading materials…. His publisher told him how well his Icha Icha series sold in Hidden Mist, too.
"Yup, made me look awfully suspicious. After all, I snuck in the front gate in a disguise. My disguise and my need for this…trash for you worked at cross purposes, eh?"
Jiraiya looked carefully at his student. "What kind of disguise? Every guy buys porn!"
Naruto smiled and then his body was covered in some smoke.
After the smoke cleared, Jiraiya pointed and shouted. "You're a genius!"
Naruto looked a bit cross. He wore the exact outfit he used to get inside the Hidden Mist. He had on a pink top and yellow pants…and he also had long blonde hair down past his shoulders…and a pair of rather large breasts.
"I got hit on by two of the policemen once I explained I was buying porn and a large sword for my 'boyfriend.' Are all ninja perverts?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya just giggled happily. Trying to figure out which scullery maid he should make to look like this illusion.
Naruto made another handsign and then there were three of his altered bodies standing there…unclothed. All of them were blonde, with their hair up in pig tails, with soft facial features – almost precisely like how Tsunade looked when she was sixteen.
"Oh, Jiraiya, our big strong ninja."
Blood gushed from Jiraiya's nose as all three spoke his name and teased various parts of their naked bodies for Jiraiya's…ahem, edification.
As soon as the Toad Hermit was knocked unconscious, Naruto dispelled his clones and released the illusion. His Pervert Capture Technique had caught another victim. It was pure good luck the Hokage liked to tell stories about his old students from time to time…especially about how Jiraiya used to be such an idiot about Tsunade. Rather than just storing away that information, Naruto had gone looking for pictures of Jiraiya's teammate. Hence, the perfect execution of a simple, devastating move.
Jiraiya awoke hours after sundown. Naruto had a small fire going and was roasting a rabbit. God damn. Jiraiya stretched and sighed. He was an S-rank ninja, for Kami's sake, asked four times to serve as Hokage! And he was knocked unconscious by a henge…of a particularly beautiful young girl.
Even now, in his anger, he couldn't help giggling.
"Come and eat," Naruto said. "Now that you're well enough to giggle."
"How long was I out?"
"Hours."
"Damn," Jiraiya muttered. "We're going to be late getting to Lightning Country…."
"I thought that mission didn't matter, huh?" Naruto said.
"Shinobi have to lie to themselves all the time. I lied to you about the mission so you'd go and do this training exercise, alright!"
"At least I got a good sword out of it…."
Jiraiya sat up and stared at his student. "Excuse me, since when are you interested in swordsmanship?"
"I'm not. Wind is much, much better. But…I had a nice date with a girl before all this 'Naruto is the last Namikaze' business started. She's still a friend and she loves sharp, pointy things…."
Jiraiya giggled. "All women love thick, long, jabby, throbbing things, my student. You'll learn…."
Naruto just barely restrained himself from attacking his teacher. "Stop saying perverted things! Why did I bother to come along on this trip?"
"Because I am the Toad Sannin and the best ninja you'll ever be able to train under!"
Naruto pulled off a piece of rabbit meat and popped it into his mouth. "This is done. Come over here and eat."
Jiraiya got to his feet slowly and walked stiffly over to the fire.
The pair was silent for a long time. "So…what did you do while I was indisposed?" Jiraiya asked.
"I crafted a genjutsu…."
"Really. I thought you didn't like to use illusions."
Naruto finished chewing a bit of his food. "I only intend to use it a single time…."
"Oh?"
"It's for you, Worthless Teacher. Next time you drag me to a bath house to peep on the women, I'm going to use it…."
"Ha! Ha Ha Ha. I'd like to see you capture me in an illusion, Naruto. You have about forty years too little experience to pull that off, I figure."
Naruto nodded. "Ordinarily I'd agree. But I've figured out your weakness…."
"What is it? That I'm too damned sexy for my own good? That women can't get enough of me? Huh? Tell me."
Naruto put down a bone and wiped his fingers on a piece of torn cloth. "You scream and whine and try to crawl away when a bunch of angry kunoichi begin attacking you outside the hot spring…but that's the part you really like. You're a strong enough ninja that not even a hundred angry, wet kunoichi could actually bring you down…so you allow yourself to be captured even though I'm pretty sure you can do a sealless replacement technique."
Jiraiya sat with his mouth hanging open. Such a conclusion was…preposterous. But…he did get beat up quite often, didn't he? And he did know how to replace himself with handseals. Was his unconscious mind allowing him to get beat up by naked, wet women…. Very kinky. If it was true, Jiraiya wasn't about to admit it to his student, although he might write a book about it.
"Naruto, stop psychoanalyzing people. It's creepy." Using his weakness for Tsunade against him…and his love of beautiful, wet kunoichi. Horrible, horrible, horrible.
Naruto just smiled.
Jiraiya couldn't contain his curiosity. "Alright, I'll bite. What does this genjutsu do?"
"It's very simple. One minute you're being assaulted by wet, toned women…and the next you're being assaulted by sweaty, hairy, fat men."
"NO!!!"
Naruto just nodded.
"That's torture, you know. Promise me you'll never actually do that to me."
Naruto had an even broader smile on his face. Illuminated as it was by the camp fire, it had a slightly demonic cast. "If I never see you attacked by mostly naked women, I'll never be able to use it. Let's make that our compromise."
Jiraiya picked at his food for a few moments. "You're rather vicious. Did anyone ever tell you that?"
"Make me more vicious, Worthless Teacher, and then I can be vicious toward that blue skinned ninja and the orange-masked ball of energy."
Jiraiya nodded. "Alright. I guess it's time I showed you how your father made his most feared assault technique…."
"The Spiraling Sphere you tempted me with a few weeks ago?"
Jiraiya nodded, a bit dejected at his student outwitting him with the description of a ridiculous, horrifying genjutsu. "You look like an idiot, but I guess there's nothing wrong with your memory. Ahem, so no more talk of genjutsu and we'll get down to a good old piece of elemental manipulation."
"I'm listening," Naruto said.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Hyuuga Hinata shattered the training dummy. She stared at it for a moment as if she were angry with it.
"Like that, Michi?"
"I think you did something better than what I asked for, Hinata. It isn't Gentle Fist and it's not a med-nin's chakra scalpel, either. It's something else."
Hinata's friend Michi had spent the last few days showing her what little the clan still knew about the Gentle Fist technique. After all, the only ones not forced to leave with the Main and Branch houses had been civilians and young children. All the jutsu scrolls had gone with them.
"Shall I try again?"
Michi pointed toward another dummy. Hinata stalked up to it and tapped it. The wood shattered again.
Michi smiled. "It's not Gentle Fist for sure…why don't we see if you can work this Shatter Touch into a style, eh?"
Hinata nodded and smiled. She remembered clearly using the Gentle Fist to kill three of her captors. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to use that style again.
Not because she didn't have the will or the hate…but because Gentle Fist now reminded her only of sad, terrible things. Leaving captivity to save her baby…killing to save her baby…losing the baby anyway.
"Where was your academy tutor meeting you today, Hinata?"
"Umino-san told me to meet him in the Academy training ground."
"Very good," Michi said. "Tomorrow morning, right here, for more practice?"
Hinata smiled and nodded at Michi and then turned away from the training ground she had spent her early morning in. Most the remaining Hyuuga-ninja had been helping her to get better. People had been pouring hours of their time into getting Hinata into respectable shape.
It was hard going, very hard.
But every time she thought she needed to take a break an image haunted her mind.
She saw her son…she saw him in a lab, needles stuck into him, his cells being extracted so that Kumo scientists could breed more ninja. She saw her little boy, who she had never been able to hold or touch, crying in pain. Lonely, terrified, crying out for a mother he didn't know still existed.
She thought of all the horrible lies he was being told.
She thought he would be trained – somehow – to despise the Leaf. He would be twisted and distorted. He would be a weapon wielded against her newly adopted village – a weapon rather than a son.
Hinata walked faster toward the Academy.
She did not have that much time left. Her son didn't have that much time left.
Her child, her precious child.
When Umino Iruka went to the bar later that night, he swore his temporary student had never been so focused. It just reminded Iruka that his jonin exam was fast approaching. He upped his own training, too.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
The ghostly images rippled in the darkened cavern. The meeting was nearly over. Akatsuki was readjusting its plans.
The aged hunter Kakuzu had the floor. "We have not been able to replace Sasori with any of the candidates so far. All of them were proclaimed S-rank monsters…but all of them wound up failing my test. As a result I have a heavier wallet rather than a new member."
"Enough, Kakuzu. You're off recruitment detail. It was likely a mistake giving you this task, given your inclination toward greed. You probably had no intention of letting any of them pass, not when they all had multi-million ryou bounties. No," Pain said, "I have a new task for you. I will send you, and not Tobi, into Fire Country. You will enter this tournament…."
"Tobi wants to go!"
Pain shot a withering glare at Kisame's partner before making his image vanish from the meeting.
"I will…talk with Tobi later. Now, Kakuzu, do you understand your assignment?"
"Yes. I do not think it a worthwhile use of my time, not when there are many large bounties still to collect out there…."
"Enough," Pain said. "Hidan, you will work with Kisame until Tobi…returns to his normal lack of sense."
Pain gave his orders to the other members. Then, when his cavern was silent, as even Konan was away on a critical, if short, mission, an image flickered back into perspective.
Tobi, a seething, angry Tobi.
Pain held up his hand to silence his 'superior' in the Akatsuki. "Save it. I'm done listening to this. You know that Kakuzu will blend in better than you would. I know you're angry about this public tournament…but you've got to regain control of yourself."
"I will see the Leaf burn," a somber sounding 'Tobi' responded.
"Madara, I have no problem with that. All the Hidden Villages must be brought down in order for peace to take root. If you wish to destroy the Hidden Leaf first, fine by me…but we must accomplish our goals. We must gain all the bijuu…and it would be better if we could provoke a war through deceit than having to rely on frontal attacks and obvious ploys…."
"I will be part of the main attack force," 'Tobi' said.
"Yes. But, remember, our plan is to wait. We need this tournament to succeed at first. We need to draw as many high ranking observers, even Kages, to come watch. When we make our move…it's got to be truly devastating."
"So we take the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and raze the village at the same time. Using the bigger attack to hide the strategic objective. You might amount to something yet, 'Pain.'"
The 'leader' of the group said nothing, but canceled out Tobi's image.
This was a true problem. Madara was becoming more unstable as the weeks passed by…who knew what he might get up to given the right opportunity.
Pain would need to think on this. Perhaps Konan might have an idea.
A powerful, unstable ninja like Madara was unpredictable, beyond logical understanding. He needed another plan; a plan in case Madara finally shed what seemed to remain of his sanity.
What good would a god of pain be if he died before he had a chance to deliver his most important message? Pain understood Madara enough to know that he had no problem betraying his associates and family. Madara was loyal only to himself.
Yes, Pain would need to be ready to deal with this.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Four Months Later – The Opening of the Tournament
The Hokage stood in a corridor of the Public Stadium waiting for the clock to strike eleven. It was a pleasure to stand here, calmly, and listen to the excitement in the crowd. This had been a long time in the making. (Of course, the only reason he was standing so calmly was because of the massive dose of muscle relaxers he'd taken a few hours earlier.)
For every person like the Raikage and the true Fire Daimyo who hated this tournament, there were five people who loved it. He was so happy to begin this process; he was tired of holding the massive burden of the Hidden Leaf on his shoulders.
At least Fire Country had a new Daimyo. That had reduced his stress.
The ANBU, Taro, who had played the Fire Daimyo for a few months had arranged for a fatal accident three weeks ago. The real Daimyo's body was put into the tableaux…and the newly designated heir – the smartest of a bunch of inbred morons – was now Daimyo. That man sat in the box above Sarutobi's…as if to symbolize how Leaf was but a portion of the Fire Country.
The benefit of handpicking the Daimyo's successor was that this new Daimyo supported the right of Konoha to select its supreme leader. It was a fairly bloody process to get that simple admission, but it was nice to have one less vocal opponent. Ninja politics often became fatal to the participants; too bad that the old Daimyo did not understand that.
The Hokage stepped into the main box and a cheer went up. Sarutobi surveyed this special arena – the one constructed to head off Orochimaru's invasion. It was filled with so much innocence and hope.
He hoped that the ANBU had accurately vetted all the participants. Sarutobi's spy council was presently observing the spectators.
If all went as planned – and if the barbarians at Konoha's gates restrained themselves for just a few more months – then this would be the beginning of a truly great period for the Hidden Leaf. Reputations would be earned outside of direct warfare; a successor could be found. Sarutobi could leave this earthly plane knowing he had done his duty. He had finally found and groomed a successor…hardened him through this tournament…and left the village a stronger place than when he found it.
The enemies who had infiltrated this stadium would witness the power and might of the Hidden Leaf; they would be terrified into inaction if all went to plan. While they might conspire against an 'old man' who hadn't seen war in fifteen years…they'd be a bit hesitant to test someone who passed through this gauntlet.
"Good morning, citizens and shinobi. Today we open the tournament that will enable us to pick our next leader.
"Let me tell you how angry many of our neighbors are at the openness we are showing today. More than one of my fellow Kages threatened dire consequences if I actually permit my own citizens to select their next leader.
"There is a reason we in the Leaf are strong…and the other Hidden Villages struggle. In today's contest and the next five events, you will see strength, power, tenacity, the pure Will of Fire…but also wisdom and many other qualities necessary to be the Fire Shadow.
"Let me introduce you to your pool of nominees."
With that, doors at the side of the arena opened and two streams of people walked onto the floor.
Sarutobi looked over them closely. His grandson, the blockhead, was down there. Sarutobi had spent weeks trying to convince the boy not to participate. He had never forbade him…but it had almost come to it. The Hokage just hoped his grandson survived what could turn into a very rough event.
He saw Naruto and several other rather young chuunin and genin. There were a few jounin…but not as many highly experienced jounin as Sarutobi had hoped. Of the ones Sarutobi expected only Maito Gai was present. Kakashi, the lazy bum, had requested to serve guard duty…rather than get talked into competing.
Jiraiya would be the referee. Tsunade was present in the stands, but she had a glare fixed on her face.
The two most powerful ninja Konoha still had alive…refused to show their mettle. Sarutobi had been all too correct about his students.
Power without the will to use it well, like a half finished bridge. So much potential, so much danger of collapse, an unfinished work of art.
Sarutobi took a moment while the crowd kept murmuring. He eyed the people he knew shouldn't be here.
There was that unknown Uchiha who had been stalking Tsunade and the remaining Uchiha in the village…and the ever predictable plants from Hidden Sand and Hidden Stone…and a few known contract assassins…along with a couple of contenders that the ANBU couldn't place at all.
The crowd quieted when Sarutobi raised his arms above his head. Then the Hokage stared down at the hundred twenty contenders.
"The first test challenges your wisdom." Sarutobi nodded at Jiraiya. The Toad Sannin pushed a spike of chakra into a sealing array near where he was standing on the arena floor. For a few moments, something seemed to shine or glow in the light a foot from every side of the arena.
"This barrier will keep the test interesting. Contenders, scattered amongst you are known assassins and saboteurs from other villages. They are here to damage the tournament or try to win the position of Fire Shadow for their home countries. To force our power into a subservient position to lesser villages!"
That got a few sparks of anger from the arena floor. Such young souls. So easy to weed out. The better ninja would be harder to suss out, unfortunately.
"Your test is to determine who they are. Each of you will briefly introduce yourself and then observe the other contenders. You have one hour to prepare your list. At the end, my student Jiraiya will collect your lists and expose the imposters. By the way, the shield we erected prevents the external use of any chakra until I disrupt the sealing array from the outside. All assassins and saboteurs will get a chance to…visit with the ANBU.
"Only those contenders who identify at least half of the infiltrators will pass this test. The other caveat is that anyone who tries to label a true citizen of Konoha as a saboteur will fail the test. It is better to be cautious than reckless. You have very little information and only your own senses and minds to rely upon. Can you think your way to victory? Can you find more than half of the infiltrators while handing in no false positives?
"This is my test of wisdom. It's but a mere shadow of the wisdom the Fire Shadow must exercise every day. But, if you cannot pass this test, then you are not meant to be Fire Shadow. Your knowledge has not yet been tempered with enough experience and failure and struggle."
Sarutobi pointed at the smallest person there…the youngest person there…the most deluded person there. "Starting on the end, introduce yourself."
"I am Sarutobi Konohamaru, future Hokage!"
The Hokage kept himself from wincing. This boy was not doing the Sarutobi clan proud right now.
It took twenty minutes for all the introductions, most of them more informative than Konohamaru's.
"That is all the information you get," the Hokage said. "Let the hour of judgment begin."
That was when the crowd groaned. They had expected a battle or something interesting. Not watching a bunch of people attempt to think….
Sarutobi did not care. He knew things would get interesting soon enough. That much stress, some on people trying to puzzle out a list: to remember who said what…to look at how people carry themselves…to remember who they had seen in or near the village before…to prove their wisdom, their precision and accuracy in thinking through a problem.
The fun would come from those people trying not to be detected and captured. How would they escape? How would they attempt to escape? How would Jiraiya handle so many at once…without the benefit of toads or ninjutsu? It was a glorious amount of chaos ready to explode.
The spies from other villages hunkered down to watch the excitement below.
The spy hunters from the Hidden Leaf watched the spies.
Tsunade glared at everyone and everything.
Sarutobi sat and watched the contenders. Who was worthy? How would they prove it?
His quietest thought was: what am I to do with Naruto?
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Kakuzu knelt in the dirt on the arena floor. He had already tested to see if his strings would work…but the sealing array did as promised. No chakra. He wondered if his hearts would be able to save his life if he were discovered and wounded.
He looked around the crowd and did his best to pretend to be evaluating everyone else. In truth, he recognized about twenty people who were from other villages…mainly because he could match their somewhat disguised faces to the images in his Bingo Book.
He stared at his paper and began to write a few names.
Then he looked up toward where the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was standing. It was rather unnerving when said jinchuuriki was staring back at Kakuzu. Kakuzu flinched and looked away to remain in character.
But he felt the Kyuubi continue to look at him, appraise him. It was unnerving to be somewhat without his usual tools in hostile territory. Still, his taijutsu was highly refined…and everyone else here, including the Toad Sage, were at the mercy of the chakra limiters, too.
He turned his head and considered the other half of the contenders. The Hokage's grandson. A useful bargaining chip if it came down to it.
The old man might seem like hard, resolute steel…but the genuine threat of a decapitated grandson. Even the hardest sane man would crumble to that.
Kakuzu returned to his paper and wrote down the names of a few people he'd like to kill. Ha-te from Grass had a twenty million ryou bounty on his head. Kyushou Tatame from Hidden Stone had thirty million. The independent assassin known only as Cream had a total bounty of fifty million ryou.
His eyes strayed away from the infiltrators toward genuine Leaf ninja. Then there was Maito Gai…he had several bounties for a lackluster total of eighteen million. Jiraiya of the Sannin, their 'proctor,' that was the prize in this group…he had several hundred bounties to his name, many from non-ninja families with young, once innocent daughters. One hundred forty million ryou. The 'last' Namikaze: no posted bounty, but pricesless nonetheless.
Kakuzu smiled as he thought of the only thing worth loving. Money was ever dependable and never let one down.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Uchiha Madara sat in the stands watching the ridiculous Will of Fire Tournament with a blank face. He kept his chakra taut inside him. Nothing leeked out; nothing gave away his presence.
He couldn't wear his orange mask in a place like this. So he had applied makeup. Half his face was horribly disfigured. He had most of an entire row to himself as no one voluntarily chose to sit next to a leprous monster as Madara now appeared to be.
He sat and he stared. He kept his anger focused. He resolved, as he stared with loathing at Sarutobi Hiruzen, that he would kill the winner of each round. He swore it. No one would be Hokage while he lived; there would never be a Godaime for this miserable place.
He had already let this place live too long. The Hidden Leaf should have fallen decades ago.
The countdown was in its final moments. Decades had passed, now only months remained. He would stand on Sarutobi's bloody corpse while he watched this village burn with the passion of Amaterasu.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Nii Yugito had her target in view. She did not have authorization to collect the target this day…rather she needed to get a sense of the girl's habits and patterns.
That idiot girl, Hinata, had no idea she was being observed…that she was being stalked…that she would either be captured and returned to the Hidden Cloud or struck down. It depended upon the mercy of the Raikage.
Yugito would gladly take care of the girl. Her escape was a blight on the history of her great village.
Yugito stared and smiled and enjoyed herself.
She never felt the eyes watching her.