Caught in the Middle

Chapter 11

A Change of Plans

Okay, so I FINALLY updated! It's been a really long time, eh?

I've just been so busy with my return to school and my bowling team, plus I haven't been exactly motivated to write at all as of late, so it all boiled down to a very messy situation all around. I still have an English project due next week that I haven't even started on yet, plus I have to help my sister in her war against geometry, so I've got a busy few days ahead of me.

Anyway, enough of my woes, let's get to the chapter you guys are probably ready to kill me over.


Naruto yawned and stretched as he woke up again. He looked over at his clock as he wiped the dreariness from his eyes; it was seven in the morning. It didn't surprise him that he was awake so early, Kakashi was a slave driver and he had gone to bed extremely early yesterday anyway.

He threw his legs off his bed and stood up, cracking all back and neck as he rose. He felt pretty hungry, and thought about heading to the cafeteria, but decided he had something a little more important to do first. He decided that he needed to go apologize to Tsunade and Kakashi about how he acted the previous day. He opened his door, only to find Karen on the other side with a surprised face. She was wearing a simple red T-shirt and some plain blue jeans along with a pair of black and white sneakers on her feet.

"Oh, what a coincidence, I was just about to wake you up."

He gave her a blank look.

"You were going to wake me up at seven in the morning?"

She smiled innocently and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm hungry and you went to bed early, now come on, let's go get breakfast."

"Not yet," he said, "I want to go talk to Tsunade first. I want to let her know I'm alright now; she and Kakashi both are probably a little upset."

"Alright, first some apologize and such, then breakfast," she conceded as Naruto walked past her into the hallway.

"Yes, then breakfast," he said with a laugh.


Tsunade sat at her desk as usual, doing her long overdo paperwork. It was harder than usual for her to concentrate on her work though; she couldn't get her thoughts off the conversation with Naruto the previous day. As the Bureau director, she wasn't supposed to play favorites, but it was easier said than done when it came to Naruto. She'd known both his parents and they were good friends, not to mention she saw so much of each of them in him.

That conversation was one of the hardest moments in her career to date. Having to tell the boy who she technically saw as her own grandson that he had been altered by a demon and he was -under all existing guidelines- a security risk, was heartbreaking. Then there was the look on his face afterwards; that was even worse. She'd never seen a look so…emotionless on someone like him before, it worried her to no end.

She looked up suddenly when she heard three familiar taps on her door.

"Come in," she said with a hint of eagerness.

She wasn't sure if she should have felt nervous or relieved when Naruto walked into her office alone. He didn't seem nearly as upset as he did yesterday, but his expression was still one of seriousness. He calmly took a seat across from her.

"What can I do for you Naruto?"

He looked up at her with, as she noticed, much more life and relief in his eyes. That fact put her slightly at ease.

"Actually, I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay, and I'm sorry about how I acted yesterday. The whole thing just caught me off guard and I wasn't sure how to deal with it, but I've come to terms with it and I'm alright," he said, cracking a small smile near the end.

"I've decided that I want to go see that friend of yours so he can help me, then when I come back, I'll be able to control these demon powers of mine and kick more asses then ever!"

Tsunade resisted the urge to sigh in relief; her blond idiot was back. She looked back at him and smiled.

"Don't worry Naruto; you don't have anything to apologize for. I know what I told you yesterday probably scared you a little, so I'll let it slide this time."

He smiled back.

"Thanks, so when do I leave to meet this Jiraiya guy?"

"Today, I want you under his supervision as soon as possible. Plus, it'll be a challenge just to find him; he's a very reclusive person when he doesn't want to be found."

He nodded.

"Well, if I'm leaving today, then I guess I should probably say goodbye, so I guess I'll see you soon then. I'll come back even stronger than I am now, just you wait," he smiled as he walked over to the door.

"Naruto," said Tsunade.

He looked over his shoulder with a slightly confused look on his face.

"When you do find him, make sure to keep an eye on Karen at all times. He's a bit of a pervert, so don't let him get any funny ideas."

Again, he nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, if he tries anything, I'll just break his arms," he said. With that, he walked back out into the hallway.

Tsunade chuckled at little to herself, but honestly wasn't sure if the boy was joking or not. After all, it was no secret that he was pretty protective of Karen, so she wouldn't really put it past him. She prayed for Jiraiya's sake, that it was just a joke.


Naruto closed the door calmly behind him; he was glad to have that done. One the door was securely closed, he looked over and saw Karen patiently waiting in a chair outside the room. She looked up at him when she heard the door close.

"So, how did it go?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"It was a little less difficult than I thought. She was actually pretty understanding."

"Told you she would be," she said as she stood up from her chair. He smiled and began walking down the hallway, with the redhead close behind.

"So, can we go get breakfast now?" she whined, pulling at his right arm.

He sighed and laughed lightly.

"Yeah, we can go eat now."

"Yay!" she said happily, practically dragging poor Naruto down the halls toward the cafeteria.

As the fox-girl lugged the blond down the hall at high speeds, they passed what Naruto could only identify as a silver haired blur, but in reality, was Kakashi. The senior FBPS agent watched in half confusion, and half amusement as his -as of yesterday- former student was being pulled down the halls of their headquarters by an over excited and, judging by their direction, probably starving kitsune.

As much as he knew he should probably just walk away, -he learned to stay out of Karen's way when she was hungry a long time ago-, he had to get Naruto ready and out the door as soon as possible. He walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria, thinking about what he was going to say. He imagined things might still be a little tense when it came to Naruto. Even though he stopped at Karen's room later the previous day and she had said she had gotten him past some of it and he was doing better, he was still a bit nervous about how he would act around him now.

He sincerely hoped that he could patch things up with the boy. After all, he'd just spent three months with him teaching him almost everything he knew, and on top of that, his father Minato had been his teacher when he was new to the FBPS, and to have the mans son dislike him would hurt him and make things extremely difficult for the both of them.

As Kakashi walked into the cafeteria, it didn't take him long to notice Naruto and Karen sitting at a table near the middle of the room. They were sitting with a few of the other agents around Naruto's age. Karen sat to his right, Lee sat to his left, and Neji across from him. Shikimaru Nara and Choji Akamichi were also sitting with them as well; the two had met Naruto soon after they had been released from the hospital after their run-in with Sasuke, and they both took a strange liking to him.

Choji because they both loved to eat in huge quantities, and Shikimaru because Naruto knew how to be just as lazy as him when he wanted to be, and they both liked to play chess, though Naruto was never very good at the game and lost every match.

The silver haired agent walked up to the group of teens, catching the attention of Naruto and Karen first, the the rest of the group. Kakashi was actually a little nervous inside, but kept his regular aloof and lazy exterior.

"Yo, Naruto. I hope you're ready for our little trip today," he began.

The blond nodded.

"Sure am, when do we leave?"

Kakashi, who was a little surprised at how casual Naruto's attitude was towards him despite the "incident" yesterday, took a moment to look at the watch on his wrist, then shrugged.

"Eh, about an hour give or take."

"Alright, well once me and Karen finish here, we'll grab our stuff and be ready to go."

Kakashi nodded.

"Good, it'd be a shame if we missed our flight."

As he was turning to leave, deciding to leave an apology for a later time when they weren't in such a public area, Naruto spoke up again.

"Hey Kakashi, I just wanted to say I was sorry about how I freaked out yesterday. I'm okay now though, and I'm not mad at you or anything, so I'll see ya in an hour," he said with his trademark smile.

Kakashi smiled under his mask and nodded.

"Right, I'll see you in an hour then," he said, then turned and left him to his meal.


Once Naruto and Karen had finished their breakfast, they both went back to get their stuff together. Karen had already gotten everything of hers in a suitcase. She had a few sets of clothes, some basic hygiene equipment, and some personal stuff. Naruto was randomly throwing clothes into his suitcase, and was just generally disorganized as he packed away everything while Karen sat on his bed, wondering how he ever found anything with his organizational skills.

His flinging of clothes was interrupted however, when he heard a series of knocks on his door, which he promptly answered. On the other side of the door was Kakashi, calmly reading his "romance novel". He had a suitcase of his own leaning against the wall next to his door.

"Yo, so are you two ready?"

The blond nodded.

"Just finishing now."

With that he walked over, slammed his suitcase shut, then sat on it to cram everything down before finally locking it shut. Kakashi watched the whole spectacle and sighed; organization was never something he was able to teach him.

"Are you sure you have everything?" he asked as Naruto stepped into the hallway.

"Yeah."

"Did you make a trip to the armory and seal a few weapons into your storage scrolls?"

"Yes."

"Do you have your sword stored in one as well?"

Naruto sighed.

"Yea, I have my sword to."

"Did you pack fresh underwear?" he joked. He heard Karen giggle behind then and scowled.

"Did you pack your SHUT THE HELL UP!" he shouted back.

"Naruto, calm down, it was just a joke," scolded Karen.

He remained silent, but still had a face like he was upset. He wasn't in reality, Karen and Kakashi both knew that that was just Naruto being Naruto.

The trio walked into an elevator, and Kakashi pressed the button that led them to the first floor. One their, their progress was much increased as not as many people worked on the first floor; it was the equivalent of a basement for the FBPS, being an underground complex. It was rare to pass more than three people in five minutes, and the main elevator that led to the surface and the first floor of the Pentagon was in front of them before they knew it.

Naruto waited patiently as they ascended towards the surface, which was a rare thing indeed. Both Kakashi and Karen were amazed that he wasn't bouncing off the walls, after all, this would be his first time off the base in three months. Surprisingly enough, he was quiet as a church mouse on the way up, and on the whole way out of the Pentagon. This was why a sharp jolt of surprise shot through both of them when Naruto suddenly burst out of the front doors of the building, took a deep breath, and screamed, "I'M BACK WORLD, DID YA MISS ME!?"

Upon seeing the scene, both the silver haired FBPS agent and red haired kitsune hung their and sighed; just when they thought they might be able to get out of the city embarrassment free.


In a completely different area of the country, the aforementioned blonds black haired rival was on his way to meet with his...business partner. The last three months of training had been the most intense of his career as a demon hunter. He hadn't felt so motivated to train since right after his family was killed; his almost defeat at the hands of Naruto had added a gallon of gasoline on an already blazing flame. He now had two people on his, "People I have to Kill", list.

His skills with his chokuto had exceeded all expectations, he had increased his abilities with his fire magic as well as a few other tricks he'd keep up his sleeve. His Sharingan nanites had also received an upgrade, and their ability to enhance his eyesight, reflexes, and physical strength had all been increased by an extra twenty-one percent.

He pushed aside all thoughts of battle and training for the time being as he entered Orochimaru's "throne room" as he perfered to call it. The snake-like man sat on the other end of the room in a large chair that did, in fact, resemble a throne. The raven haired teen walked further into the room and stopped directly in front of the the elder man, keeping up his habit of refusing to bow to him. He found that, while it wasn't something Orochimaru usually tolerated, his skills and past services allowed him some leeway, and left him the option to press a few of his buttons that most people would be decapitated for pressing.

"Sasuke," he said in his slithering voice, "good to see that you were able to make it here on time. I do admire punctuality."

Sasuke merely brushed aside the empty compliment and got down to business.

"Don't waste my time Orochimaru, just tell me why you called me here," he said bluntly.

The snake man chuckled in his usual high and mighty manner. Sasuke always did hate that laugh, it made him feel as though Orochimaru somehow thought he was better than he was, and under normal circumstances, he didn't tolerate being looked down upon for any reason. Unfortunately for him, these weren't normal circumstances. As much as he hated to admit it, he still needed the strange mans tutelage and knowledge; for now he held his tongue and listened.

"Very well, since your in such a hurry, I'll get right to the point. It seems Naruto Uzumaki and the kitsune brat are finally on the move. According to my informants, they're in search of one of my former comrades, a man by the name Jiraiya," he explained.

"My latest intel is that he is in the high mountains of northern Japan, so finding him would be difficult. Uzumaki along with Kakashi and the girl will be landing in the city of Sapporo; I have several agents there already that have the city under surveillance, and they will assist you in locating them before they reach dear old Jiraiya. I warn you though; if they do succeed in reaching the fool, do not engage him, he is well beyond your abilities, and I would hate to have you sent back to me in a body bag."

"Whatever, it sounds easy enough," scoffed Sasuke, "just find Uzumaki, kill the girl, and get back here, simple."

"Actually my dear Sasuke," began Orochimaru, "there's been a change of plans regarding the girl and the Uzumaki boy."

The teenage demon hunter raised an eyebrow in curiosity; what could possibly have made Orochimaru suddenly change his plans?

"Because of the Uzumaki's unique situation of being a bearer of the Kitsune's Gift, Kabuto has expressed interest in studying him in detail. When confronting the group, I want the boy incapacitated and brought back here so he may be put under study, however you are still permitted to kill the girl unless of course, if by some stroke of misfortune, Uzumaki were to overpower you. In that rare and unlikely case, you are to capture the girl and retreat; she would make an excellent bargaining chip for the boy, among other things," he said snidely.

The change in plans were less than appealing to Sasuke. He'd finally found someone who could push his limits, and now he wasn't even permitted to kill him in combat. Sure he could still fight him and win without killing him, but the victory would almost seem hollow without defeating him completely. On top of that, handing the blond over to Kabuto wasn't exactly appealing either. Naruto was in fact his enemy, but still, anyone who could fight him on equal grounds and push him the way he had, deserved a little respect, which was something he definitely wouldn't get from Kabuto. Still, there wasn't much he could do at the present time, so he merely nodded.

"Understood, I'll return with them both in hand," he agreed. With that, Sasuke turned and left the dark room to gather supplies for his newest assignment.

Orochimaru however, rose from his throne and walked over to the wall, and pressed in a protruding stone, causing a doorway to slide open. The new passageway revealed a large room much larger than the previous with a number of computers and scientific equipment. It was his personal lab that only he, and very rarely Kabuto, were permitted to enter. He kept all his most prized experiments and information in this room, away from the prying eyes of even his own servants.

Near the rear of the room though, was a line of stasis pods of his own design, able to keep all his biological subjects in perfect condition as long as they remained within. He walked to the end of the row of these pods and reached a metal door with a passcode only he knew; this was a room that no one would ever enter except himself.

He walked in and stopped in front of a particularly important stasis pod, and within, a very important person. It was the only person in his lab he had never laid a hand on, never experimented on, or even removed from the pod. Looking at the pod only made him more excited for the events to come; if Sasuke was indeed successful in capturing Naruto, then things would most definitely become extremely interesting.

'Originally I had only intended to keep you as a sentimental piece my dear, but seeing as quite a few things have changed, I think you'll make Naruto's capture all the more entertaining.' He thought with a evil smile as he looked on at the person swaying lightly in the liquid filled stasis pod.

If one were to look into the pod; one would see a grown woman floating quietly within. A woman with striking red hair.


Okay, if you've been paying attention to the history of this story at all, you should probably be able to figure out who this is. If you can't, then you'll find out after a while.

I ask that you not include your guesses in any reviews, but instead PM me with them so to not ruin any surprises for anyone who can't figure it out, though I state again, most of you should be able to piece it together if you've been paying attention. If you do guess correctly, you'll still probably be confused as hell, but don't worry, all this will make sense soon enough.

For now though, the main focus will be Naruto making contact with Jiraiya, and all the wacky trouble those two will get themselves into during the course of Naruto's tutelage.

I thank all of you for your patience, now if you would, then kindly review. (and feel free to tell me what a lazy prick I am.)