Time for chapter 10. Sorry I haven't worked on this for so long. I could make a bunch of excuses but I'll just say that I had school stuff to do. Onto the story.
Near Uchiha Hideout
Naruto was walking next to Itachi down the middle of the road leading away from the Hidden Leaf Village. He still had no idea what the mission was about. He hadn't had a chance to ask Itachi. But instead of asking, he decided to just relish the moment of going on a mission with his idol as his partner.
What surprised Naruto was that they were not running to their mission point. They were casually walking along the road. Every once in a while they would pass a traveling merchant. Itachi bought two capes for Naruto and himself. The capes were dark red with a gold stripe along the bottom. "Just in case we run across ninja from the Hidden Leaf," Itachi had said, "we don't want to be recognized."
Tenchi Bridge
As they were crossing Tenchi Bridge, Naruto finally spoke up. "Hey Itachi-sensei, where are we going?" Itachi kept up the pace and said, "We are going to meet the contact at my other hideout. After we get more information, we will go to the Hidden Sand Village to carry out the mission."
*Hidden Sand Village?* Naruto thought. *What could we be doing there?* After another hour of walking, they reached a small cave and stepped inside. Itachi looked around for their contact while Naruto stood guard at the entrance.
Itachi walked out a couple minutes later with a scruffy old man covered in dirt. "Naruto, this is Fujin of the Hidden Rain Village." Naruto turned around to look at the old man. "Nice to meet you Fujin." The old man looked up and said, "Enough of the small talk. It's time to discuss your mission."
Naruto stood and intently waited for Fujin to brief him of the mission. "Your mission is to infiltrate the Hidden Sand Village and find out who the jinchuuriki is." Naruto looked stunned. "You want us to find out who the jinchuuriki is?" The old man got angry and said, "Did I stutter boy? Yes, find the jinchuuriki."
Naruto didn't want to ruin the mission by making Fujin angry so he just kept his mouth shut and let Itachi talk. "How do you want us to contact you when we are done?" The old man looked back at Itachi. "Just come back to this cave. I'll be here for the next few days." Itachi nodded and looked at Naruto. "We should get going." Naruto also nodded in agreement and said, "Right."
Hidden Sand Village
As they were walking through the street, Naruto noticed that they were getting strange looks from every direction. Itachi tried not to notice, but it was obvious that they were different; after all they were the only two wearing black cloaks.
The two of them came to a bar and looked at the front of it. At the top there was a sign that said, "No one under 21 permitted". Itachi looked at Naruto. "Well it looks like we split up here. I'll just go gather information in this bar," Itachi said with a smirk. Naruto looked annoyed and said, "I didn't know you liked to drink." Itachi ignored him and walked into the bar.
Naruto turned around and walked down the street. He started wandering aimlessly. "Where am I supposed to look to find information?" He turned and walked down another street. *Little kids won't know anything, and adults will become suspicious.* Naruto, without knowing it, was walking towards the Kazekage Dome, a huge spherical building which housed the office of the Kazekage and archives of the Hidden Sand Village.
Naruto decided to aim for the huge building and walked toward it deliberately. He noticed that he was receiving a lot of unwanted attention as he grew closer to the Kazekage Dome. People started whispering and a few actually started to follow him. When Naruto could see the entrance of the dome, he noticed two very heavily armored guards. The guards had stern faces and instantly fixed their eyes on Naruto, who still had his black cloak on.
As Naruto approached the guards, they both stood to block the doorway. "What is your business here?" asked the first guard. Naruto stayed quiet as he planned out what to say. "Hey," the second guard said, "he asked you a question, now answer it!" Naruto looked slightly annoyed although the guards couldn't tell.
Naruto softly spoke. "I would like to know where your library is please." Both guards looked stunned. "Who would like to know?" asked the first guard. Naruto slipped off his hood and tilted his head side to side, ensuring that his neck popped multiple times. "My apologies, my name is Noeme Gibuntaro from the Hidden Leaf Village. I would just like to learn about the history of the Hidden Sand Village as I hope to become a diplomat someday."
This was a bold faced lie of course, but Naruto had become exceptionally good at lying under Itachi's guidance. The guard's face was stern once more as he said, "Well then, you should know that a suspicious character in a black cloak is not exactly the diplomatic type." Naruto nodded. "I am very paranoid of being known by people. It makes me feel as if everyone is out to get me."
The guard raised an eyebrow and decided not to push the issue further. "The library is down the street on the corner, but if you are looking for history, then you came to the right place. However I cannot allow just anyone in hear. I will need to receive permission from the Kazekage. If you are willing to wait, I will send someone to appeal for you."
"That would be grea- I mean, I would much appreciate it." The guard nodded his head in a certain direction and a ninja of notably higher status appeared in front of him. The ninja was wearing a black outfit with brown trim. He was undoubtedly an ANBU from the Sand Village. The guard explained the situation and the ninja disappeared.
"You can wait in that restaurant over there," said the guard as he pointed toward a building that smelled like fried crow and grilled cactus, "I will notify you when I have permission to let you in Mr. Gibuntaro." Naruto nodded and thanked the man, then headed toward the restaurant.
Hidden Sand Village (Bar)
After twenty minutes of chatting with the locals, Itachi figured that he would not get much information unless he broke the ice. So, he bought a round of the cheapest ale for everyone in the bar, including himself. After seeing that cheap ale wasn't going to sway their wariness of him, he bought more expensive beer for the people who he thought would have the most info.
Within the hour, Itachi was just barely sober. He could still keep his footing stable but he was swaying slightly. He walked up to a drunken man in the bar and asked him, "Hey, doo you knows about any jinchuurikis near heer?" The drunken man shrugged his shoulders, bent over and smacked his own head on the table. He had fallen asleep.
Itachi walked over to another man. He started up the same conversation as before. "Hey, sand village guy, do you know of anyone called a jinchuuriki?" Unfortunately, Itachi did not realize that this man had not been drinking at all except for that free glass of ale and was nowhere near as drunk as Itachi.
The man turned around and stood up. He was much taller than he looked and he had huge muscles. "Who are you to bring up that with a stranger?" Itachi realized his mistake and tried to apologize but was too late. The big man grabbed him by the cloak and lifted him off the ground. "I think you should be taught a lesson punk!" He pulled his fist back and prepared to hit Itachi in the face. Itachi thought, *Well this isn't going well…*
Hidden Sand Village (Restaurant)
A few minutes after entering the restaurant, Naruto's mouth was watering. He had never had grilled cactus before but it smelt so good. He was tapped on the shoulder and he turned around to see the guard from earlier with a smile on his face. "Excuse me Mr. Gibuntaro, I'm sorry for the wait, would you like something to eat before I let you into the archive room?"
Naruto couldn't believe the hospitality of this village. "Are you sure it's not a problem?" The guard grinned and said, "Of course! I was getting ready to have lunch myself anyway." Naruto accepted his offer and sat down with the guard. He noticed that the guard was quite a friendly person when not working.
After ordering, the guarded started asking him questions. "What are you looking to find in the archives Mr. Gibuntaro?" Naruto looked up and said politely, "Please, call me Noeme." The guard grinned and said, "Alright Noeme, what are you looking for?" Naruto saw no reason to lie but he didn't want to tell the whole truth.
"Well, I'm hoping to find information of the history of ninja in this village and how it differs from the history of the Hidden Leaf Village." The guard looked intrigued."That is an interesting choice of research. Tell me, how old are you? You don't look to be older than fifteen." Naruto shrugged and said, "Actually sir, I'm only twelve. I just graduated the academy in my village a couple weeks ago."
The guard looked baffled. "Wow, you are an excellent speaker for your age. You would make a great diplomat." Naruto and the guard talked for awhile over little things like food and the economy which Naruto barely understood. After they had eaten, the guard escorted Naruto to the archive room. The guard pointed in a direction and said, "That wall over there has the ninja training program records. I'm going to have to ask you to do your best not to damage them. The scrolls are quite old."
Naruto nodded and waited for the guard to leave. As soon as it was clear, he raided the shelves for a book that could have info on jinchuuriki. He found one that was fairly new and was titled Ninja of the Tailed-Beast. *Wow, that's convenient.* Naruto thought as he opened it, and just as he found out who the jinchuuriki was, he heard a crash coming from outside.
Hidden Sand Village (Bar)
Itachi was on the ground outside the bar. The big man had hit him so hard that he had crashed through the wall. Itachi stumbled to his feet and looked at the man. "Well that wasn't very friendly of you. I was just trying to start a conversation." The big man spat at him and said, "There's nothing friendly about that topic."
Itachi started to think clearly again. *This is bad, I'm in no condition to fight and he is strong.* The man walked towards Itachi and raised his foot into Itachi's chin. Itachi flew upwards and away from the man and landed hard on his elbow. Itachi was too drunk to position himself before landing and his shoulder had been dislocated.
"Itachi!" Naruto had just arrived and was watching helplessly. Itachi pretended not to know him to cover his identity. "Stay back kid, I'll be fine." The big man came up to Itachi and dropped his heel onto Itachi's back. Itachi gasped in pain. Naruto tried to get through the crowd but the guard from earlier stopped him.
"Hold it Noeme. I can't let you interfere. In the Hidden Sand, the bar fights are kept between the attacker and the defender. No outside source is to get involved." Naruto looked baffled at the guard. "That's stupid! How can you just stand by and watch as someone gets beaten?" The guard couldn't answer but continued to block Naruto's path.
The big man knelt down to see Itachi face to face. "Not so tough are ya? Punk!" A crowd had formed a circle around the scene. He stood up and kicked Itachi in the stomach. "We don't talk about jinchuuriki around here." A new deep voice said, "Who speaks of a jinchuuriki?" A smaller man appeared between Itachi and the big man and looked at Itachi. "Was it you?"
Itachi looked up and nodded. The smaller man kicked Itachi hard in the face. Itachi flew into the crowd and rolled a couple times on the ground. The crowd awkwardly maneuvered to make a new circle around the fight. The smaller man slowly walked over towards Itachi. "I am the Kazekage of this village, and I say that no one speaks of jinchuuriki!"
He raised his foot to kick Itachi again. As he swung it forward, a leg moved in the way and a kunai was at the Kazekage's throat. Naruto appeared between Itachi and the Kazekage. "Foolish kid," said the Kazekage, "do you really think you can stop me?" Naruto nodded and said, "I will do whatever it takes to protect my sensei.
The people in the crowd murmured and the guard was stunned. "Noeme, get out of the way before you get killed." Naruto refused to move and the Kazekage punched him in the gut. Naruto doubled over in pain and the Kazekage kicked him in the face, causing him to be lifted off the ground and thrown through the air. Naruto however, was not drunk and easily regained his footing.
The Kazekage turned back towards Itachi and pulled out a sword. "The punishment for your crime is…Death." He brought the sword down on Itachi's back and just missed his spine. Itachi groaned in pain as the sword caused his numbness from alcohol to fade completely. Naruto shouted at the Kazekage. "Leave him alone!"
Naruto lunged at the Kazekage but was easily deflected as the man backhanded him. The Kazekage pulled his sword out and aimed at Itachi's head this time. "Time to die." Naruto became enraged and screamed, "NO!" Immediately, a shockwave shot from Naruto and knocked most people in the crowd over.
The Kazekage turned to look at Naruto and his eyes widened when he realized what he was looking at. Naruto's body was leaking red chakra and the chakra began to encase his skin. Naruto shot at the Kazekage and punched him in the head hard enough to send him flying. By this time, Itachi had gotten over the pain by releasing a two pronged seal and stood up.
He formed a few hand signs and said, "Three Pronged Seal Jutsu." His first, middle, and ring finger glowed blue with chakra and he jumped over to Naruto and tapped his head. Naruto's eyes closed and he fell to the ground. Itachi picked him up and looked over to see the Kazekage still on the ground. He turned and jumped away towards the village gate.
Itachi's Hideout near Tenchi Bridge
Itachi placed Naruto on the ground and waited for Fujin to arrive. He started a fire and kept it going until Naruto woke up. "Uhg, where am I?" Naruto sat up and looked around. "Itachi-sensei, are you alright/" Itachi looked over at Naruto and grinned. "Yes, thanks to you Naruto." Naruto scratched his head and looked at the fire.
"How did we get here?" Itachi laughed. "Well, after you knocked the Kazekage flat on his ass, I knocked you out and carried you here." Naruto looked confused. "What do you mean?" Itachi was about to explain but Fujin came up to them. "So, do you have the information?" Naruto looked confused but then remembered. "Oh yeah, the jinchuuriki is a kid called Gaara."
Itachi looked at Naruto and Fujin nodded. "That is what I thought. Here is your payment." Fujin tossed a bag of money at Itachi. "I'll be on my way now." Naruto looked at Fujin as he walked away and disappeared into the night.
Thanks for reading. Sorry again it took so long. I'm putting up a new poll and my readers have decided who Naruto will fight in the preliminary round.