Whew, I was a little worried abut the update there. Still on time though, even if I barely made my minimum word count. I've been getting ahead of myself, thinking about the future plot before fully deciding on the current one. In any case, here is what you've been waiting for, the twelth chapter. I think this marks about a sixth/seventh of part 1, I dunno, I suck at maths. Anyway, here you go.
Disclaimer: Is it just m, or is the internet reluctant to acknowledge the existence of Naruto Ninja Council 2 for the DS? I've been having a hell of a time finding help for that, I can't beat Orochimaru no matter how hard I try.
The old man's request
The ceiling caved in, with an earth shattering crash. Plaster and wood scattered in all directions from the explosion above, filling the basement with a cloud of smoke and dust. A shrill cry could be heard as someone stumbled back in shock, but the form was nothing more than a vague shadow. However, as the dust slowly settled, the form became clear. It was a short, middle aged man in a navy kimono, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses and a pencil thin beard running around his mouth. His close cropped hair and skinny form made him appear like a common punk, but his clothes were made from fine material. Clearly something was amiss.
The man watched in horror as the cloud faded away, he was now able to see the person who had interrupted him. A very dusty Naruto straightened up, lifting Eko into the air and across his shoulders. He looked around the room, his expression turning to disappointment as he realised the few numbers present. All he could see was the strangely inappropriate man before him, a couple of nagamaki wielding guards and some old guy tied to a chair.
"Are you Akatsuki?" the old man panted, looking at Naruto through a cut and bleeding face. He wore a pale blue jinbei made of silk, though it was dirty and bore scratches upon it. His short greying hair and wrinkled face suggested a man in his fifties, though the weary look he wore suggested he was older. Naruto regarded the old man, it didn't take him long to work out who he was.
"Nah, I'm from Yoinokuchi." he replied, fixing his eyes on the guards who were drawing nearer, "Akatsuki is up there, taking care of any backup."
He suddenly frowned as he heard many heavy footsteps. Glancing off to his left he saw the door to the basement get kicked open as five more thugs ran inside. With backup now present, the odd looking man seemed strangely confident, and angry.
"Ya break into my home…" he said, with a frustrated glare, "Ya ignore the master of the house, and ya destroy the place. I will not forgive this!"
Naruto gave a look of condescending disbelief as the man threw his arm out, making his last exclamation as dramatic as he possibly could. Naruto glanced down to the person tied to the chair to see his take on this, but he then realised that the old man wasn't doing so good.
"Hey, no worries Okamoto-san." Naruto said, with a confident smirk. Okamoto Gisaku raised his head, breathing heavily as he looked at the boy, "I'll definitely you out o- ah- ah!"
Whipping his head back, Naruto let out a heavy sneeze. The dust in the room had caused his lungs to convulse, and resulted in a lot of sound as Naruto narrowly avoided whiplash. He kept his face turned away as he pulled a tissue from the sleeve of his haori and blew his nose, before balling it up and tossing it over his shoulder, he then turned back, an annoyed look on his face.
"Man, that was embarrassing." he muttered, as Eko stuck to his back. He reached down to Okamoto's bound hands and sliced the ropes with his futon chakra, before helping the beaten man to his feet, "Anyway, lets get-"
"WHAT THE HELL DO YA THINK YA DOING?!" the punk-ish looking man exclaimed with a bewildered look. He pointed accusingly at Naruto while glaring at his men, "DON'T LET THIS BASTARD IGNORE US, KILL HIM!"
"You guys have got other problems right now." Naruto said, slipping Okamoto's arm over his shoulder. He then raised his free hand in a single seal, and the tissue he had thrown began hissing angrily. As the attention of the men surrounding the explosive tag diverted, he leapt out through the hole he had came in and made it out of the house just as the tag exploded.
"You're rather peculiar, aren't you?" Okamoto asked, as he and Naruto landed on the wall just outside the smoking building. Naruto let out a small laugh in reply; the old man was certainly sharp.
"C'mon, we need to get you cleaned up." he said, as he raised his hands in the cross seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Okamoto looked in surprise as a second Naruto appeared, hooking the old man's other arm over his shoulder. Okamoto merely muttered something that sounded a lot like "ninjas", before his head drooped down. Naruto knew Okamoto was unconscious, and so proceeded to move to get him someplace safe. He knew Kakuzu and the dogs would be fine, right now the priority was saving this guy. And so he and the Kage Bunshin turned to the right, before running off as fast as they could.
* * * * *
Gaara stood by the window of the large office, looking out onto the compound that was Kishourai Industries'. There was a small cafes complex in the courtyard at the centre of the area set up for the staff and anyone visiting the premises. A large stone fountain in the centre added decoration to the bushes and benches, all very pretentious in Gaara's opinion, "… so you see it would be beneficial to Kishourai in the long run, and-"
"Our mission?" Itachi interjected, growing tired of the businessman's speech. Gaara turned his back to the window and leant against the wall, fixing his eyes on the many framed certificates and degrees hanging up like they were something to be proud of. The large desk, the units and the wine cabinet, he couldn't help but wonder just what their employer's poor writing hand had gone through to earn this. But he said nothing, and simply waited for the time they would get on with things.
"Ah- of course, my apologies." said their employer, a weedy looking man with a pinstriped suit and quickly greying hair. He pushed his oversized glasses back up his nose, a nervous sweat caused them to continuously slide out of place. This was partially due to Kisame, but from the mannerisms of constant fidgeting and glances to the door it was clear there were other reasons, "Well, you see, some of the higher ups want to make my department redundant, which will cost me my job."
Itachi nodded in understanding while Yagura turned away, a sour look appearing on his face. He had seen on his way in that there were a lot more people in his department than just him. He was the only one to react however; everyone else had already formed their opinions and ignored them.
"So what I need is for you to get rid of those members." the businessman continued, growing slightly more confident as he reached the point, where things were more in his area of expertise, "If you can assassinate them all before the board meeting, I'll pay you well."
"How many targets are we talking?" Kisame asked, while Yagura cast a frown back to the others. He was confused about something, but chose not to mention it.
"There're four of them, out of the eleven members of the board." the businessman replied, as he reached into his desk and pulled out a chequebook. He opened it and took his pen, before looking up at Itachi questioningly, "How much would this cost?"
"We don't accept cheques." Itachi answered, his eyes fixed on their employer's, "Cash only."
It was then that the businessman faltered, his expression growing nervous once more. Unenthusiastically, he put his chequebook and pen away before leaning forward on the table, "Ok, I understand. It'll be suspicious if I withdraw a large sum of money prior to the assassinations, but I think I can make it work."
"That is your concern." Itachi replied, as he and Kisame rose to his feet. The businessman was quick to follow, a worried look on his face, "The cost for four assassinations will amount to two million ryo."
At this mention even Gaara felt a sense of amusement. He recalled looking over the files in Momochi Zabuza's lair, there hadn't been a single bounty with less than a five million ryo reward. He had even found one for Naruto, who had received a higher sum than that. At least then something made sense; these targets were as worthless as he thought.
"Two million?" the business man repeated, his expression relaxing a little, "Yes, that should be fine."
"Let us know when you have the money, then you can give us our targets." Itachi said, before making his way to the door.
"Hold on Itachi-san." Kisame said, taking a step forward. He grinned at the businessman, showing his sharp teeth in a non threatening manner that construed the thought regardless, "You went a long way to hire us, it's surprising you didn't try more available methods first."
Itachi came to a stop, looking back at their employer as he caught on to Kisame's accusation. The businessman faltered under the four piercing gazes, he hadn't the guts to face up to these terrifying people. He dropped back down into his seat, bowing his head in shame, "I have, frequently."
Itachi turned around, facing the businessman full on. But the feeble excuse for a man didn't need to look up to understand his situation. He just fidgeted with his hands and tried not to make eye contact, "I managed to keep my name from coming up, everyone I hired has failed."
Yagura glared at the coward before them, if it were up to him they would leave without so much as a word of farewell. But from the look on Itachi's face, it appeared the elder Shinobi had made no such decision just yet. In fact, he seemed to have nowhere near Yagura's level of concern. After a brief moment's thought he turned back to the door and reached out to it, "Six million ryo."
* * * * *
It was a couple of hours later, and the air was very different. Despite the poor conditions Naruto and Kakuzu had experienced of the town, they now knelt in a rather nice place. It was a very traditional style house, with paper doors, tatami mats and the likes.
Between them and their host was a short wooden table, where a young girl was pouring hot tea into cups. Kakuzu kept his eyes on Okamoto, lightly observing the bandages and gauze covering most of his wounds. The old man's left arm was tied in a sling, and his corresponding eye was also hidden behind the white material as well. He watched as the girl poured the tea, he was familiar with this formality, while not quite settled with it.
Despite this tough atmosphere, Naruto remained oblivious. He watched the girl pouring the tea, looking over her soft looking chestnut hair, and smooth looking skin. It wasn't until she glanced up at him with her hazel eyes that he realised he'd been staring, and abruptly stopped. The girl seemed to take no notice however, and simply bowed before leaving the room. Once the door was shut, Okamoto spoke.
"I'd like to thank you for the aid." he said, taking his cup and sipping from it. Naruto did the same, with Kakuzu being the only one not to touch his drink, "There are few who would endanger themselves for an employer who hadn't even given them their mission yet."
"The service will be added to the bill." Kakuzu replied, in a calm voice he hadn't possessed in a while, "Regardless of whether we accept the mission or not, we'll expect payment for at least that."
"And I wouldn't have it any other way." Okamoto agreed, with a confident nod. Naruto cocked a brow at their employer, but didn't say anything as the older man cast his eyes to the garden outside. Like the building it was traditional, with a koi pond and a sakura placed within the confines of the surrounding walls, "A man should earn his place in the eyes of others, to have those people look up at him, and not down at him."
Naruto raised his brow to Okamoto, he could certainly understand and respect that ideal. Kakuzu on the other hand showed no signs of following that idea or the contrary, simply watching their employer patiently, "So what is it you require of Akatsuki?"
Okamoto took another long draught from his tea, taking a pause to collect his thoughts. Once he was ready, he placed the cup back on the table and straightened up.
"This town isn't controlled by law enforcement of any kind." he explained, without a hint of doubt in his eyes. Naruto could see the regretful look on Okamoto's face, but at the same time the steely determination of someone much younger, "The gangs that infest this place bastardise law by claiming it to their own desires. That is why this place is so rotten, because those rats are the ones in control."
"You wish to have these pests eliminated?" Kakuzu asked, following the metaphor accurately. Okamoto considered the question for a moment, before lightly shaking his head.
"I won't be so foolish as to assume you aren't already aware of the present situation." he said, understandingly. Kakuzu gave him a nod of confirmation, proving to Naruto that he had been left out.
"What are you talking about?" he frowned, looking between Kakuzu and Okamoto with an expression of confusion. Okamoto seemed only momentarily discontented by the apparent divide of information, but remained undeterred about it as he decided to explain.
"I am the leader of what is the second most powerful organisation existing within this, and three other towns of Kage no Kuni." he said, closing his eyes and placing his hands on his knees as he spoke. Naruto was stunned from this information, but soon he realised just why Okamoto had been kidnapped in the first place, "So as you probably understand, I am one of those rats."
"Hypocrisy is human nature." Kakuzu said, with the resolution of certainty that few people ever had, "Doing whatever is necessary to gain high standing, even if those measures are in themselves underhanded. If there is a person alive who hasn't committed such an act, it's because they haven't been given the opportunity to yet."
Okamoto nodded sagely, he knew well of such things. Nonetheless he seemed a little comforted by them, and so he continued diligently, "The kidnapping today was one of many attempts made by the lesser gangs of this town. They all seek favour with the most powerful group, the Shinuso family. It's run by a man named Shinuso Takagi, who has held his position for well over two decades now. He has shown explicit interest in my organisation's dispersal, and has made these interests known."
Naruto and Kakuzu both watched as Okamoto, with difficulty, pushed himself to his feet. He took the cane that rested against the wall behind him, and limped towards the door to the hallway, looking and listening for anyone eavesdropping. After a few moments, he decided there were none, and looked to the two Shinobi who had saved his life with a serious expression.
"The obvious solution of course would be to kill Shinuso Takagi, but that wouldn't help either." he said, as he moved back to the table, "What I need is to make his assets my own, killing him wouldn't be enough to do that."
"So sabotage?" Naruto asked, leaning forward onto the table. He wasn't too familiar with missions of that sort, but he knew enough to recognise they were tricky, much more so than simple assassination.
"No, he wouldn't need us for that." Kakuzu replied, without taking his eyes off Okamoto, "He wouldn't be the leader of the second most powerful organisation if that much wasn't within his own capabilities. What he requires is something else, a distraction perhaps?"
"You're very intuitive indeed." Okamoto said, giving a nod of respect. Once more Naruto was confused, a distraction sounded even easier than the rest. He couldn't understand then why they would be needed for something like that, "Shinuso has hired some missing-nin to guard his transactions and the likes. What I need from you is to draw these Shinobi out and take care of them, giving my men an opening to do what must be done."
It was then that Kakuzu became truly interested. He moved a little closer to the table, leaning towards Okamoto as he looked his employer full on in the eyes. Okamoto, having no reason to know the purpose of this, simply frowned at Kakuzu as he awaited an explanation for the change of mood.
"Do you have any information on these Shinobi?" Kakuzu asked, his attention darting between both of Okamoto's eyes as he looked for something neither Naruto nor Okamoto could identify.
"I do not." Okamoto replied, sitting back and bowing his head slightly, "All my men were killed by these Shinobi, there were no survivors or any bodies left behind."
Kakuzu moved back at this reply, closing his eyes as he thought to himself. Naruto had an idea that he had been hoping for one of the names in his bingo book to crop up, and was therefore disappointed in the lacking results. Once he opened his eyes again though, he acted as if nothing had happened, "Assassination of multiple skilled targets is a costly request. Without any idea of the numbers, this could be quite difficult to pay for."
"I assure you I am far from lacking in fiscal terms." Okamoto replied, stony faced and serious, "And if the operation is successful, I will have the Shinuso family's resources at my disposal. You'll have your money, I guarantee it."
"We shall see." Kakuzu said, as he rose to his feet. Naruto followed him, picking Eko up off the ground as he straightened up. Okamoto made to stand as well, but a gesture from Kakuzu informed him it was unneeded. He and Naruto left their employer and stepped into the hallway, taking their leave for the time being.
* * * * *
Utakata and Hidan rose up the stone steps before them, the orange sky somehow making the climb seem even longer. Shadows crawled from the trees to either side, reaching out for the Jinchuriki and the Jashinist as they walked undeterred. There was a chill wind in the otherwise warm air, sand from above scattered and rolled down the steps past the two wayfarers, seemingly in a hurry to head in the other direction.
Utakata tried to keep his breathing steady; his stamina wasn't at its best right now. He had had difficulty calming Hidan down after his little slice of revenge for being knocked from the tree, and as such had remained quiet for a while now. Hidan had kept his foul mood, but his dislocated shoulder had kept him from doing too much until Utakata had fixed it. Needless to say there were no offers of bubble rides since.
They finally reached the top of the steps, finding level ground at long last. Up ahead of them stood what looked to be a shrine, but unlike what they sought Utakata clearly saw this as a typical shrine. They stepped through the Shinto gate that stood not far before them, before ascending another short flight of steps to the shrine grounds themselves.
He and Hidan both glanced around as they walked along the path towards the shrine up ahead. The former had his brow raised while the latter wore an amused smile, letting out a slight snigger as he looked to the purification font off to the side. He then noticed the wooden plaque to their right bearing wishes from passers by, and actually laughed aloud.
"What is it?" Utakata asked, failing to see the joke. From what he could see there wasn't anything amusing about the wishes, just travellers hoping to do well in trade or to avoid bandits. But Hidan didn't offer a reply, possibly because of his mood or simply because he didn't feel the need to.
They passed the small administrative building and made their way past the two lion statues of the hall of worship, before continuing straight through to the other side. It was when the main shrine came into sight that they stopped, and truly took in the building before them.
"This place is well maintained." Utakata noted, looking over the tall fence surrounding the building, and the building itself. Even the finials on the roof had been taken care of. But those were hardly the most interesting point. What his eyes focused directly on was the statue above the entrance to the shrine.
It was a pair of jade kitsune, both lying across the entrance in a leisurely manner. One had its head raised, looking past the one in front to the two travellers before it, while the other appeared to be sleeping, holding a small ball between its paws, "The priest here clearly works hard."
"You're half right." Hidan replied, with a smirk. He jerked his thumb back, gesturing behind them, "It's not a priest."
Utakata looked back with a raised brow, though he had been quick to realise what Hidan meant. The sight confirmed his thoughts though; he could faintly see a woman within the administrative building. She was watching them, though from her place it was difficult to make her out. Utakata had to hand it to Hidan; he was much more aware than Utakata first thought.
"Should we greet her?" he asked, just as the priestess disappeared from sight. He thought it would be rude not to do so, especially if she was so ardent about the upkeeping of this place.
"Nah, we'll take care of that later." Hidan replied, as he continued towards the main shrine. Utakata hesitated, but soon followed.
They soon stepped within the confines of the shrine, where there was a large altar confirming the suspicions of Utakata; this was definitely a shrine to the kami Inari. The many small fox statues were enough to hint to that.
"All right, let's see…" Hidan muttered, as he stepped towards the shrine. He came to a stop when he was right in front of it, looking down to the stonework while rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Yeah, this looks right. Hey, come over here."
Doing as he was told, Utakata stood beside Hidan and looked at the place the Jashinist's eyes were resting on. Between two small holes intended for incense, there were three slots side by side etched into the altar, each one looking to be quite deep. Hidan reached behind him and took his scythe in hand, holding it to Utakata, "Hold this will ya?"
With a nod Utakata did so, watching curiously as Hidan raised his hands to the tip of the large weapon. He gripped the uppermost blade by the joint connecting it to the pole of the staff, and with a strong tug he pulled it off. He then proceeded to do the same with the other two, leaving them upon the altar, until Utakata was left holding a long and relatively unthreatening pole in his hands.
"Ok…" Hidan muttered, picking the blades back up. He quickly studied the holes in the altar, before he then began placing each of the blades inside the holes. Utakata was shocked by this, just what on earth was Hidan doing?!
As the third and smallest blade was pushed inside the hole, Hidan crouched down with an oddly studious expression. After a few moments his face gained a satisfied look, and he straightened up again. Then, with awe inspiring ease, he actually kicked the altar back, the large stone monument sliding back like nothing of its size should have been able to. The reason soon became clear to Utakata though, who was then left with an even greater feeling of shock.
"Unbelievable." he thought, his eyes wide and his lips parted.
