How's it going ? Sorry I've been late with this update. I've been busy with life things, so I didn't have any real opportunities to sit down and write.

Anyways, this chapter and the next few will probably be on the beginning of their adventure, and then I'll have a time skip sometime afterwards. Nothing is certain yet, but that's the plan.

Enjoy Chapter 3 of In Utter Darkness!

"Speaking."

'Thinking.'

"Bijuu speaking."

'Bijuu thinking.'

Chapter 3: Kizukuri Kidnappings: Part I

"Jiraiya-sensei, can you teach me how to be a ninja?" Naruto looked up with curiosity towards the white-haired man sitting across from him. The light from the fireplace between them casted a dim red glow onto the man's face, making him seem old and mysterious. This was their first night under the cover of Konoha's forests.

"A ninja? Why do you want to learn?" Jiraiya took a bite out of some cooked fish that were being seared by the flames.

"Being a ninja is so cool! I could be strong like Hokage-jiji. Also, Kyuubi says I need to use chakra to use my bad eye to see, so I thought if I was going to need to learn to use chakra, I might as well learn to be a ninja." Naruto grinned at Jiraiya, hoping the man would teach him. Jiraiya sat silently for a few moments before speaking.

"You can't be the Hokage."

"Why not?"

"Criminals can't be candidates." Naruto's eyes widened in shock. He never expected leaving the village in that fashion would also be giving up his dream. A tear threatened to fall from his face. "Don't get misty-eyed now. It's better than actually being in jail."

"Fine…I don't need it. I don't need to be the Hokage." Naruto held back his tears as he took a few deep breaths. "I can still be a ninja right?"

"Why would you want to be a ninja, if you can't be the Hokage?" Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he glared at the boy. In the light of the fire, his glare seemed ominous and dangerous. Naruto felt something crawl down his spine.

"I want to be able to protect those close to me." Naruto stared at the white-haired sannin. The man scoffed and burst out laughing.

"Old man Sarutobi is the last person you'll ever need to protect." Through his laughter, Jiraiya took another few bites out of his fish. "Not going to help."

"I meant my friends." Naruto's eyebrows furled in anger. This man dared to laugh at his dreams.

"You have no friends."

The words that came out of his mouth broke the dam that held back Naruto's waterfall of tears. Without restraint, he burrowed his face in his hands and wept. It was true, he had no friends. He had nobody, but he had always dreamed of finding some. He and his friends would play together, laugh together, sing together, and dance together. They would become inseparable, becoming brothers and sisters in all but name. That was what he dreamed of, but that was all it was: a dream. The truth hurts.

"I know! I don't need to hear it from you! I know I don't have any friends! Everybody hates me, and everyone thinks I'm a monster, but I know I'm not!" In a fit of rage, Naruto had thrown the half-eaten fish in his hands at Jiraiya, where it landed on his clothes, smearing grease and fish bits everywhere. "I know I'm going to find friends: people who know me as Uzumaki Naruto, the person! I wanted to be a ninja so I'll never have to lose them, but you know what? I don't want you to teach me anymore!"

The boy ran off into the forest, leaving a stunned Jiraiya by the campfire. He picked up the piece of fish that landed in his lap.

"Well said, Naruto. Well said."

XXXXX

"Hey, come back to the camp. You're going to catch a cold sitting out here." Jiraiya walked up to Naruto, who was sitting by himself, perched on top of a rock. His eye was red and his face was wet from the tears, but he had stopped crying. Instead, the boy merely stared at the ground, silent to Jiraiya's approach.

The man walked up and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, only for the blonde to shrug it off. Evidently, he was still mad.

"Listen, I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean anything." The boy turned around and gave Jiraiya a strange look of disbelief. "I'm serious."

"Then why'd you do it." The boy's voice was still a little shaky.

"I needed to know if you were serious. You wouldn't believe how many people have asked me to teach them, only for me to reject them because they weren't serious enough."

"You thought I was lying when I said those things?!"

"I don't know. The easiest way to get someone to spill the truth is to make them emotional."

"So you said those things to see what I really thought."

"Yeah. Nothing I said was true. Well, except for the criminals can't be the Hokage part. That's an actual policy, but everything else was a lie. You might not think you have friends now, but there's a lot of people who truly care about you."

The distress seemed to ease out of the boy's face as he heard Jiraiya's apology.

"Now what?" His voice no longer shook as he spoke. He looked up at Jiraiya before giving the man a slight grin. At that moment, his stomach chose to grumble and protest in hunger, drawing a warm hearty laugh from Jiraiya. Reaching into his back pocket, Jiraiya pulled out the piece of fish that had landed on his clothes.

"Eat. You have training tomorrow morning." Naruto beamed as he took ate the fish with gusto, excited for the training to come. Only one person furrowed his eyebrows in distaste at the events.

"Hm…"

XXXXX

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Jiraiya held up 4 fingers to Naruto's right.

"Four." Naruto said, without turning his head.

"Now how in the world are you able to see?" Jiraiya looked at the 4 outstretched fingers. He tried again, holding up two fingers instead. Naruto was quick to respond.

"Two. I'm telling you, Jiraiya-sensei! I can see with the other eye now. It's a little weird, but I can see! It hurts my eyes if I keep it on for too long, so I can't really see forever, but this is awesome!" Naruto laughed as he grabbed a rock on the ground and threw it at the fire. The rock landed perfectly around the fire pit, lodging itself in between a few other rocks. "See, I'm a ninja now!"

Jiraiya grinned before putting out the fire to their encampment.

"Exceptional. Really. It hasn't even been two days and you're able to pump chakra into your eyes. Tell me, what does it look like?" Jiraiya pointed to Naruto's bandaged eye.

"Huh?" Naruto turned curiously. "What does what look like?"

"Your vision. What does it look like? You said it was weird?"

"Yeah, it's really strange. I can see outlines of everything. Everything is black and orange. I can see your face, and it looks like a bunch of orange lines tangled together. This is so cool! But the best part is when I look straight at you, and half your face is normal, but the other half is orange, and it blends and mixes right in the middle. Ha!" Naruto looked around, moving his hands around and grasping objects like he truly had depth perception. Perhaps he did have it.

Jiraiya performed one last test before concluding the boy's vision was completely normal. Taking a small rock from the ground, he chucked it at the boy's blind side. It wasn't fast or overly large, so it wouldn't cause any harm if it hit him. The small pebble flew across the air, aiming directly for Naruto's face. The boy cried in alarm and leaned back, dodging the pebble as it whizzed past his nose but ultimately stumbling and falling due to a lack of balance.

"What was that for you stupid old man!" The blonde sat up and dusted himself off. "That could've hurt!"

"No it couldn't have. It was a tiny little pebble. If you were hurt because of that, then I don't think you'd be proper ninja material." Jiraiya smirked as Naruto stopped talking and grumbled in annoyance. It was so easy to pull the ninja card on Naruto. "Let's go. We're almost there. We'll reach the city by sundown. There, I can teach some real things."

XXXXX

"Welcome to Kizukuri. Please, enjoy your stay."

"Whoa, Jiraiya-sensei. This place is huge!" Naruto stared at the towering buildings as the pair walked through the city's entrance.

"Obviously. Kizukuri is a major trading nexus. People from all over come to this city when they're traveling from one country to another. It connects to everywhere. This also means, that you'll need to lay low. Don't make too much of a ruckus. Kizukuri has no ninja, but it's a joint protectorate. Every single one of the hidden villages has an embassy here, so we don't want to create any trouble. Understood?"

Naruto nodded. There were still Konoha ninja stationed in the city who could recognize Naruto. If that were to happen, his cover and excuse would be blown. The Hokage would be in trouble, he would be in trouble, and the villagers might riot and protest. With an incredibly low chances any ninja would find them in the crowd of thousands of people much less a ninja from Konoha, Naruto and Jiraiya were relatively anonymous.

"Good, then let's go. The sun is about to set and I'm starving. Let's check into the hotel and I'll show you a thing or two. Sound good?"

XXXXX

"How is this showing me a thing or two…" Naruto slapped his palm to his face as he sat neck deep in the hot spring.

"Shh! Silence! I'm doing some incredible research right now…" Jiraiya scribbled something in his notebook before looking up again and looking through the small hole in the fence.

"What are you even looking at?" Naruto got out of the water and walked over to Jiraiya, who only stepped aside and pointed to the hole.

"What the holy shit this is awesome." The Kyuubi grinned as he poked his right eye into the little hole.

"Huh? Kyuubi? What the hell? I didn't even see you change your bandage." Jiraiya pointed to the bandage that was now resting on the boy's left eye, letting his right eye soak in the wonders of whatever was on the other side of the fence.

"Hey, don't sweat it old man. I'd miss it too if I was looking at this sweet, sweet sight before me." Jiraiya was openly stunned at the fox's perverseness. "Why are you staring at me you gay fuck? Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"Whoa, slow down there. Move over. I need to do my research." Jiraiya shoved the blonde aside and peered into the hole before giggling. "Augh, what the hell?"

The Kyuubi had retaliated by grabbing the man's notebook and throwing it at the water. The old man yelped before diving in to save his precious stories. He managed to grab the book as it was falling and keep it above the water as the rest of his body sank to the bottom. He got out of the spring, sputtering. The fox had taken his place once more and was giggling with his tongue sticking out.

'What an animal, indeed.' Jiraiya shook his head before grabbing the boy and lifting him up by his sides. It may have been the fox inside the boy's body, but he was just as light and weak as a 7 year old child. The fox tried to kick at Jiraiya but at arm's length away, the boy's legs were not nearly long enough to reach Jiraiya. The old man chuckled before stopping as he saw the blonde flash him a toothy smile. It was so toothy, that he could notice the ends of the boy's teeth were sharp and pointed, as if they were fangs.

"OW!" Jiraiya clutched his arm as he stumbled backwards and fell into the fence, breaking the wood and knocking a few posts over. "What the fuck, you stupid fox! You bit me!"

Jiraiya looked at the boy, only to see that the Kyuubi had switched back and the bandage was now over his right eye. Naruto blushed a heavy red before looking down. He pointed at Jiraiya and the broken fence behind him. Two words.

"Oh shit."

Screams and crashes rang through the night air, not uncommon in the lively city that never sleeps.

XXXXX

"Hey, what's the news around here?" Jiraiya asked the bartender who was pouring him a glass of sake. Naruto had already gone back to the hotel to sleep after another grueling day of training, giving Jiraiya the perfect opportunity to go scouting.

"Here in Kizukuri?" The man finished pouring the sake. Jiraiya took a quick shot and drank the cup in a single gulp. He slid the glass back to the bartender and motioned for him to continue. "There's been a few mishaps here and there. It's a big city so there's always something going on."

Jiraiya nodded before pulling out a notebook – a different one. The bartender continued.

"There's been a few murders lately. Nothing too big, just a couple of hookers out past midnight. We're in the nice part of Kizukuri, so we're safe at any time of the day. But go into the ghettos? You'd better hope you've got a roof over your head past midnight. That's when the thugs come out to play."

"Thugs?"

"Yeah, man. Thugs. They're in these little gangs and they have all of these turf wars in the ghettos. We don't have any real security down here, but the ninja from the villages are more than enough to cover for it. That's why this here city is one of the safest places you can be."

"If it's so safe, then why're there murderers and gangs out in the streets?"

"The commissioner has all of the ninjas protecting the ground we're standing on. Day or night, this place is safe. Can't be said for the ghettos though. It's become so dangerous that it would cost a fortune to revamp the place, so the city decides to leave it be. Better keep them here and keep the city's investments as safe as possible, rather than go out on a limb and try help the lesser region. That's just a risk on what we've got going on right now."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding. The run down areas of the city are of no use to the city's monetary output. Low cost housing and maintenance allowed for many people to live and work in the city. The only downside was the lack of security. The ghettos weren't necessarily poor. With the lack of security and government intervention, taxes were incredibly low. Low taxes, coupled with Kizukuri's booming economy allowed for substantial monetary gains. However, living in these areas posed risks. Gangs and mafias formed to keep some semblance of order.

"Anything else? I'd think this city's a lot more interesting than just a few murders in the ghettos. I could find that anywhere." Jiraiya took another gulp of drink. The alcohol helped him relax and think.

"Hey, if you're looking for information, you're looking at the wrong guy. The only things that I hear of are the murders and a few kidnapped little kids." That immediately piqued Jiraiya's interest.

"Kidnapped kids?"

"Yeah. It's been going on for a while now. About a month or so, some kids disappeared. Poof! Vanished out of thin air. Nobody knew where they went. Nobody's heard from them since. A week later, a few more kids go. Then the next week, and the next. It's becoming a regular occurrence."

"How old are these kids? Ten? Eleven?"

"Most of them are, yeah. Some of them go as old as thirteen or fourteen. Some of them go as young as five or six. Age isn't really a big factor. If you're a kid, then you're in danger."

"Do you have any details? Person? Organization? Anything specific?"

"Nope. Sorry. Like I said, I'm not the guy for this kind of deal. Us bartenders might be the ears of the city, but even we don't know exactly what goes on down in the dumps. If you really want to know, head over to the northern side of the city, and find Daisuke's Dango shop. Go in and buy a dango on a stick. 3 colors: green, white, red. In that order. Then buy a cup of milk tea, and ask for the check. Don't touch any of the food. When they ask you why you're not eating, tell them you're not going to eat the boss's food. It might sound strange, but trust me. It'll get you what you want. Sign my name on the check."

"And why would you be so important?" Jiraiya quickly memorized the steps.

"They owe me a thing or two."

"You'd waste a favor for me? A person you hardly know?"

"Ha. Trust me, I know you quite well." The bartender smirked before cleaning out Jiraiya's empty glass.

"Explain." Jiraiya's eyes narrowed, carefully focusing at the bartender. Whoever this man was, he could be dangerous, especially if he knew who Jiraiya was. Common people tended to ignore the fame of ninjas.

"Please. If you want to stay anonymous, don't look exactly like the picture in the back of your book when you're walking around town." Jiraiya laughed, causing many of the other patrons to stare at him strangely. "A sannin is more than enough to handle a few thugs."

XXXXX

"Is there a problem with the food, sir?" One of the waitresses at Daisuke's Dango shop approached Jiraiya's table. He had the milk tea and the green-white-red dango on a stick sitting on his plate, completely untouched. He held the check in his hand and mentally slapped himself for not asking for the bartender's name, so he opted to write 'The bartender' and hoped whoever read the check would understand.

"No. If the crowd is any indication, I'm sure your food here excellent, but it's not my place to touch the boss's food." The waitress stared at him for a brief moment before smiling and holding out her hand. Jiraiya gave her the check and watched as she walked to the back of the shop. He sat and waited.

It wasn't even five minutes before the same waitress came back, and motioned him to come before taking the dango and tea. He sat up and walked along the aisles where many other patrons were chewing on dangos of different colors. Behind the dining area was the kitchen. Steam immediately clouded his vision as he stepped into the room. Chefs were running back and forth, carrying pots and pans. Some were cooking appetizers and entrees while others were creating dangos.

"I thought this was just a dango shop…" Jiraiya peered over the shoulder of one of the chefs and looked at the food. "Noodles? Ramen? Rice? Beef? What kind of dango shop is this?"

"Actually, Daisuke's shop sells strictly dangos. On the other hand, the two restaurants beside us deliver high quality meals to their patrons. This kitchen is connected to all three establishments." The waitress walked to the back of the kitchen and stopped in front of a large set of double doors. "Daisuke-sama will see you now."

She handed him the dango and tea before opening the door for him. Through the double doors was a long hallway with paintings and candles mounted on either side of the hall. A red wool carpet stretched across the entire length of the hallway. He began walking.

At the end of it was a single wooden door. Before he entered, Jiraiya took a deep breath and channeled his chakra. 'Henge.' Taking the bartender's words into consideration, he changed his appearance into that of a standard business man. His long white haired turned short and black. The custom plate on his head that indicated his allegiance with Mount Myokobu disappeared and pale skin could be seen underneath. The red sage coat and robes turned into a navy blue suit and tie. 'Let's do this.'

He knocked on the door.

"Come in." He opened the door and entered what seemed to be an office. It was large with stacks of paper in large columns on the floor. Behind a cluttered wooden desk sat a middle-aged man in a similar suit. In his hand was Jiraiya's check. "'Bartender,' eh? You're lucky I only owe one of them."

"I never got his name, so it was the only thing I could put." The man motioned him to sit down to which Jiraiya complied. He held out his hand. "Jiraiya."

"Daisuke." Daisuke shook it and placed the check down. "Now tell me, what do you need?"

"I need information."

"Then you've come to the right place. I'm an information broker. I've got eyes and ears all over the city. If something goes down in Kizukuri, I'm the first to know about it."

"Tell me about the kidnappings."

"Those? They've become pretty common lately. Every week or so a few kids go missing." Daisuke opened a drawer in his desk and flipped through folders and files. "Let's see… Aha."

He pulled out a big folder. It was stretched to the point of breaking with the number of papers that were stuffed inside. He opened it and handed Jiraiya the first piece of paper. It was a map of Kizukuri with various X marks cluttered in the south western tip of the city.

"Is this where all of the kidnappings occurred?" Jiraiya fingered over the marks, tracing them.

"Yeah. We're looking at thirty two and counting."

"Who's doing it?"

"We don't know. Nobody has seen any of these kidnappings happen. One minute they're there. The other, they're gone. There's really no active gangs on that side, so it's probably just a single person, or a very small group. They hide well."

"Are there any preferences?" Daisuke reached into the folder and pulled out a stack of paper, all clipped together. "What's this?"

"Profiles of the children. Most of them, at least." Jiraiya flipped through the stack, skimming through the general appearance and personality of each of the victims. As he got through them, he could see no pattern. They were of different ages, were different genders, had different physical features, liked different things, hated different things, and came from different backgrounds. There was no common link between them. "No preference, huh?"

"No preference." Daisuke confirmed. "Honestly, it seems like their target is any kid out at night."

"How late?"

"Way past sunset. A little past midnight, let's say one or two in the morning?"

"When was the last time this happened?"

"Five days ago. Why, are you planning on doing something?"

"Something like that…"

"You'd better be careful. There were a few people who volunteered to help, but none of them came back alive. These guys aren't just your common thug or two. Whoever this is, he's dangerous."

'Orochimaru…is this your doing?' Jiraiya stared at the map, thinking to himself. 'Oh Naruto, you are in for a treat…'

XXXXX

'Augh! Why does he have to use me as bait?' Naruto walked on the cracked sidewalks, his footsteps making as much noise as possible. The ghettos of Kizukuri were as he expected: run down houses with broken windows and doors hanging on hinges. The grass was untrimmed and had grown to almost knee length. The roads were pitch black with broken street lanterns lying on the ground. Heading the various warnings, it was one in the morning and not a single other soul was out.

'Be happy he even asked.'

'He didn't even ask me! He just said 'Hey gaki, we're taking a field trip to the ghettos and you're going to get kidnapped for me, okay?' I'm going to get KIDNAPPED? He's not even here to help!'

'I'm surprised he trusts me enough to save your ass when we get captured. Which should happen right…about… now.'

As if on cue, a hand grabbed Naruto from behind and forcefully dragged him back as his attacker placed a piece of cloth over his nose and mouth. The pungent odor from the cloth stung his eyes and burned the insides of his nose. His vision blurred and spun as he fell unconscious.

Jiraiya's head snapped up at the sound of Naruto's cry. His pen stopped short of writing in the moonlight as he watched the scuffle in the street. The attacker picked up the now unconscious boy and slung him over his shoulder before walking away. Jiraiya smiled and closed his notebook.

"And so it begins… I'm coming for you Orochimaru…" He leapt out the open window and disappeared under Kizukuri's night sky.

And there you go. Naruto's just been kidnapped and Jiraiya's in hot pursuit. It's the beginning of an adventure. I didn't feel like just skipping a huge chunk of time (5 years) because the personality and skills that Naruto develops won't be exactly the same as the canon. It didn't feel right to just you guys take it as it is, so I'm going to briefly go through these 5 years and explore. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. If you guys don't want to see their adventures, say so in your review and I'll see what the majority says. Regardless, I'll finish the Kizukuri Kidnappings and we'll go from there. Thanks for reading!

-Sakrosankt