AN: As always, 1000 blessings on Sakiku Torakak for all the hard work she put into betaing this. I wish I had kept one of my early, unbeted chapters, so I could show you just how big of a difference she makes. Also, I have another question about the title of a story for readers, sorry. As always, all questions, criticisms, suggestions, and reviews are more than welcome. So, on with the show.

'THOUGHTS'

LINE BREAKS=CHANGE OF SCENE/POV

Chapter Six

Sarutobi was not in a good mood. It had been more than five hours since he had left the hospital and there was still no sign of Nezumi. 'Damn it! How hard could it be to find one Anbu operative?' Sarutobi thought angrily, despite knowing that it in fact could be very hard. After all, stealth above all else was what the Anbu were meant for.

The sad truth of the matter was that he was only trying to keep his mind off Naruto and his current condition by focusing on his anger and irritation with the Anbu. The boy was very important to him, and to see him so detached, so broken… it tore him up inside in a way that he hadn't experienced since learning of Orochimaru's fall.

Sarutobi had already decided that if Nezumi was found to be involved in this, then he would personally handle his interrogation.

Sarutobi couldn't care less about the fact that he had little experience with questionings, since he planned to go with the torture side of the Torture and Interrogation division.

Before Sarutobi could get too wrapped up in his…judgment, a knock broke him from his train of thought.

"Enter." The aged Hokage called pulling out his trusty old pipe. 'Ah my old friend…we've been through quite a lot together haven't we? The Second and Third Great Shinobi Wars, Danzo's little power plays in Ame no Kuni, the Kyuubi Attack, Orochimaru's defection…yes quite a lot. Though I doubt you'll be of much help to me this time.' Turning his attention to Inu as the young Anbu stepped through the doors and bowed, Sarutobi lit his pipe and barked out "Report."

"Nezumi has been found, Hokage-sama." Inu began.

Sarutobi instantly focused in on the young Anbu's words. If it were anyone other than Inu, he'd think the man almost sounded nervous. "And where was Nezumi found?" He asked calmly.

When Inu seemed to…shift slightly, Sarutobi was sure of it. He would not enjoy this report.

"He was discovered in Naruto Sanada's hospital room, Hokage-sama. He was attempting to assassinate Sanada-san." When Inu paused to take a breath, Sarutobi's grip on his pipe tightened noticeably. "He was stopped and killed by Gama. Naruto Sanada only suffered light bruising and has been moved to a new room." A small crack began to form in his pipe. "Gama suffered a shoulder wound but has already received treatment and returned to his post outside Sanada-san's new room. Nezumi's body has been recovered and taken to Anbu HQ."

"And just how," Sarutobi interrupted coolly, "did Nezumi get past the Anbu on the security detail at the hospital?"

There was no mistaking it when Inu flinched this time. "Most of the Anbu on the hospital detail were reassigned to the search for Nezumi, Hokage-sama. Taka thought that every available man was needed to-"

"Get out. All of you." The steel in Sarutobi's voice could have been used to level an army.

"Hokage-sama?" Inu questioned as the remainder of the Hokage's Anbu protection detail Shunshined from the room.

"You're going to want to leave this room Inu." Sarutobi slowly stood to his feet clenching his pipe in his hand. "I'll hear the rest of your report in a minute."

"Ha-hai Hokage-sama." Bowing shakily, Inu beat a quick retreat out the door.

Taking a deep breath Sarutobi tried to calm himself. Try being the key word.

"GOD DAMN IT!" Sarutobi snarled as he threw his old pipe at the wall with all his might. The pipe smashed through the wall and probably would have continued through another wall or two if it hadn't disintegrated from the sheer force and velocity of the first impact.

Barely a second after his throw, Sarutobi drove his fist through the side of his desk and with one mighty pull, he hurled the more than one hundred pound desk against the wall…on the far side of the room.

As the various papers that had been set on his desk fluttered to the ground, Sarutobi set his sights on the portrait of his successor. "What are smiling about you DUMB BASTARD!" He spat as he shoved his fist through the Yondaime's portrait and the wall behind it. "Are you happy now? ARE YOU!"

Looking around for something else to destroy, Sarutobi was finally able to rein in his anger. Composing himself, he opened the door and gazed at the shaken Anbu before him.

"Shishi, Tori, see to my office, and get me a new pipe." Sarutobi ordered. Walking down the hallway, he gestured to the silver haired Anbu. "Inu, Fukurou, Hebi, come with me."

"Ha-hai Hokage-sama!" The Anbu managed to stutter out before jumping to follow his orders, lest he take his anger out on them. Shishi and Tori both headed back into his office, keeping their thoughts to themselves when they saw his destroyed office.

"Inu!" Sarutobi barked out. He waited until the Anbu stepped closer before asking, "Are you certain that Naruto suffered no injuries?"

"Hai Hokage-sama. He's probably asleep by now as the doctor gave him some sedatives."

"Very well." Sarutobi made his decision, unaware of the repercussions that would follow this night. "Hebi, Fukurou! Both of you go join Gama and protect Naruto. Tell Gama that my warning to him applies to you two as well. Also, tell him that I will speak to him in the morning for his report. Understood?"

"Hai!" the duo saluted before Shunshining away.

Exiting the Hokage Tower, Sarutobi paused and took a deep breath to make sure he at least had the appearence of calm. "Continue your report Inu." He ordered gravely.

"Hai Hokage-sama. As I was saying, Nezumi's body was recovered and handed over to the T and I for examination. Inoichi Yamanaka and Ibiki Morino are handling the investigation as you ordered, and they have probably begun their initial examination by now." Inu paused in his report as they passed a couple Uchiha MPs on patrol. After waiting long enough to be certain they were alone, he continued. "A search of the hospital was conducted once Sanada-san was moved, and thus far we haven't found anything suspicious. All members of the hospital staff who were on duty have been accounted for, nothing has been reported stolen, and the rest of the patients appear to be unharmed. Everything seems to be in order, but we've doubled the number of Anbu on duty in and around the hospital just in case."

Sarutobi waited a moment to see if any more information was forthcoming. When Inu remained silent, The Professor put his mind to work. 'The best case scenario here is that Takeshi and Susuki acted alone, and Nezumi just decided to let it happen. Then, when the Sanadas failed, he panicked before deciding to come after Naruto himself.' Sarutobi sighed wearily. 'That's wishful thinking at best. No, what is far more likely is that the Sanadas approached Nezumi with their plan. He probably went after Naruto as some form of petty revenge. The question is, was Nezumi the only one? Was he the only Anbu involved, was he the only one approached? Did any of the others see some sign of what was coming? Damn it!'

Sarutobi hated it when he was forced to question the loyalty of his own men. There was nothing worse than being a Kage level ninja and then letting your paranoia rear its ugly head. Now he'd probably spend the next couple of weeks wondering if any of his Anbu had other loyalties.

Glancing over at the silent youth beside him, Sarutobi allowed a slight lifting of his lips. 'At least I can be sure of Kakashi's loyalty… probably… there I go again.' He sighed once more, before turning his thoughts back to Nezumi and the Sanadas. 'I'm letting myself get distracted. I'll need to have inquiries made about Nezumi's recent activities, see if anyone noticed anything strange. Particularly the others of Naruto's bodyguard detail. I'll also need to look into their activities as well. Discreetly of course.'

Arriving outside what appeared to be a warehouse, Sarutobi nodded to the hidden Anbu that was perched in a nearby tree. Heading inside, Inu took the lead and proceeded down a series of halls before reaching a morgue that doubled as a medical ward for the T and I division. After all, they couldn't always get the information they were looking for before the prisoner succumbed to their injuries. One way or another, captured shinobi always ended up here.

Inside were the three men they had come to see. Inoichi Yamanaka, Ibiki Morino, and Hirotoro Hikyakuya, the man once known as Nezumi.

Sarutobi frowned when he saw the Yamanaka head before turning to gaze at Hirotoro. He would have much rather had Ibiki handle the investigation by himself. The young Chuunin had made quite a name for himself in the last year as one of the youngest interrogators in the history of the Torture and Interrogation division. He was also one of the most effective. The problem was that he was too young, too inexperienced to handle an investigation involving the Anbu Black Ops. If he had been say, five years older or at least held the rank of Special Jounin, then there wouldn't have been any problems.

Sadly, Ibiki was neither of these things, so Inoichi had to be brought in as well. It wasn't as though Sarutobi had anything against Inoichi, quite the contrary in fact. The man was an excellent interrogator and a fine shinobi as well not to mention a proud and loving father of a two-year-old daughter.

The problem was that Inoichi was also a fine clan head, which meant he was a decent politician. A politician with a seat on the council, who might soon gain information pertaining to Naruto that could prove useful for a politician. As clan head, Inoichi was sworn to uphold the security and interests of his clan, and information about Naruto could be a powerful bargaining chip among the other politicians, and Sarutobi couldn't be sure that Inoichi wouldn't be willing to sacrifice Naruto in order to gain support for one of his own proposals. They might not bring the child up in every meeting, but it happened far too often for Sarutobi's comfort. Thankfully, the council had only been interested in Naruto's health and stability so far. No doubt if the boy chose to become a ninja, then more "concerns" would arise.

Despite not having any real power themselves, the council represented the people of Konoha, shinobi and civilian, clan and non-clan. Their purpose was to bring the concerns of those they represented to the Hokage, as well as to offer their advice on the matter. If a large majority of the council supported a certain proposal, then in theory, so too did a large majority of the village.

Ibiki on the other hand, was not on the council, nor was he a part of any clan. His only loyalty was to the village and the Hokage. Sarutobi had been sending most of Naruto's civilian attackers to Ibiki, who had done a very thorough job working them over as well as handling the investigation into Naruto's former caretakers. Either the young man genuinely cared about Naruto - whether as the hero he was meant to be or just as any ordinary child - or the man was just that loyal and professional to his Hokage. Regardless of the reason, Sarutobi was grateful to him.

Mentally shaking his head, Sarutobi turned his attention back to the situation at hand. "What have you found?" he asked grimly without turning away from the corpse that had once been a trusted Anbu.

Inoichi stepped up beside him and began reading off a clipboard. "We found no signs of foreign substances in his body, or any signs of torture or seals. Thus far, his body has shown no signs of fatigue, nor any other warning signs of mental instability. As far as we can tell, Hokage-sama, Hirotoro was in perfect health right up until Gama killed him." Inoichi looked up from the clipboard, his face still a mask of perfect calm as if standing over a dead body was completely normal. "Of course, this is only our preliminary report, so we might be able to find something at a later date."

Sarutobi nodded absently. It really was far too early to expect much else. "Have there been any signs that he may have suffered from the effects of a Genjutsu?"

Inoichi glanced over at Ibiki before answering, "Genjutsu isn't really my forte, so I would like to bring in a specialist to examine him, from the Kurama Clan preferably, or perhaps a member of the Uchiha or Hyuuga Clans."

Sarutobi hummed thoughtfully as he dug through his robes absentmindedly. "What's your opinion on this Ibiki-san?" 'Where in the world did I put my pi… oh, that's right…' Sarutobi mentally sighed while listening to Ibiki.

"Hokage-sama, I disagree with Inoichi-sempai. I don't specialize in Genjutsu either, but I have recognized several signs of a very weak, long lasting illusion. If I had to guess, I'd say it was some type of suggestive Genjutsu." Ibiki's deep voice was calm and steady, as if the suggestion that a Genjutsu, no matter how weak, had been placed on an Anbu was of no concern.

Raising an eyebrow, Sarutobi looked back to the Yamanaka head.

"Hokage-sama," Inoichi began, "As he said, Ibiki-san is no expert in Genjutsu. I don't mean any disrespect to him, but Ibiki-san has only been a Chuunin for a year, and he's been in the Anbu even less then that. He's inexperienced in these kinds of matters, and as such, we should bring in a Genjutsu specialist to confirm or disprove his theory."

Ibiki remained silent throughout Inoichi's argument, which to Sarutobi sounded as if it had been said more than once. Perhaps the two interrogators had already had this argument before his arrival?

"Still," Ibiki countered. "We should keep the other clans out of this investigation. The last thing we need is for politics to get involved. An investigation into the Anbu is far too volatile to be spread outside the Black Ops, or the T and I division for that matter."

'Hmm…Ibiki makes a very valid argument. I think he'll make a fine field leader one day. He is still young though, and that is the reason why Inoichi is here in the first place. Perhaps a middle ground could be found…' Sarutobi mused. Thinking for a moment, a pair of red eyes filled with righteous fury flashed through his mind.

"I agree that a more expert opinion is needed before we make any assumptions Inoichi." Neither man reacted to this statement. Inoichi was to be expected, but Ibiki was once more showing his skill and discipline. 'He definitely bears watching.' The aged Kage thought.

"However, Ibiki makes several valid arguments as well. I don't want this to spread too far, and I want to keep any information about this incident restricted as much as possible. There must be no leaks that any of our enemies can take advantage of." 'Or politicians.' he added silently. "So I have a possible solution. There are other, non clan shinobi who are skilled in the field of Genjutsu."

"Who do you have in mind Hokage-sama?" Ibiki asked respectfully.

"A young Chuunin, who has shown remarkable skill in her Genjutsu abilities." Sarutobi began. He paused and as he found himself searching for his pipe again. 'I really need to get that replaced…and cut back on my smoking apparently.' He thought tiredly.

"Forgive me Hokage-sama," Inoichi interrupted. "But just how skilled could a clanless Chuunin be? I understand your hesitance to approach one of the clans with this information, but surely one of them would be a better choice?"

Despite the situation, Sarutobi chuckled wryly. "Oh, you would be surprised by just how skilled this clanless Chuunin is. I assure you, she could quite easily claim the rank of Special Jounin for her illusions if she wanted to. I trust her skills, and just as importantly, her loyalty." 'Yes and the fact that she is one of the few to have shown a genuine interest in Naruto's welfare… well, that's just a happy coincidence.'

"Inu, go and retrieve Kurenai Yuuhi. Tell her only that her expertise is required and that anything she learns tonight is to be regarded as an A class secret." Sarutobi ordered.

Sarutobi barely acknowledged the silver haired Anbu's salute, only really taking note of his departure via Shunshin.

"Tell me Ibiki, what are your thoughts on this investigation thus far?" Sarutobi asked, genuinely interested in the young man's observations. Ibiki had already shown quite a bit of skill for a rookie and this was as good a time as any to test his investigative abilities.

"I can only really make guesses at this point Hokage-sama. There just isn't enough evidence to make a case." Still the model of calm and perfection Sarutobi noted, and it seemed like he wasn't the only one.

"Surely you have a theory, Ibiki-san?" Inoichi added. "Let us say that you are correct and there was a Genjutsu placed on Hirotoro. What would you suggest be our next course of action?"

Ibiki closed his eyes and seemed to think for a moment. Then, eyes still closed he began to speak. "As I said, Inoichi-sempai, I can only make guesses at this stage. However, according to her record, Susuki Sanada possessed quite some skill in Genjutsu. If someone did use one on Hirotoro, then there's a possibility that she was the one who did it." Ibiki opened his eyes and looked at the Yamanaka out of the corner of his eye. "Of course, if Hirotoro was the victim of a Genjutsu, then it is also possible that the Sanadas were also victims. If the Genjutsu specialist finds anything here, then we'll have to have her look at the Sanadas as well. Probably the boy too, just to be certain." Ibiki finished.

Sarutobi traded a look with Inoichi. The Chuunin was certainly displaying some fine insight for one so young.

Turning back to him, Sarutobi asked, "By the way, have you finished your investigation into the orphanage incident?"

If Sarutobi was expecting Ibiki to be surprised by this change of topics, he was disappointed. "Hai Hokage-sama. I was going to hand it in this morning, but then this whole mess happened. Do you want to hear a condensed version of my report?"

"Yes, if you would." Sarutobi nodded.

"Very well." Ibiki closed his eyes again and crossed his arms. "From the confessions of the various workers, I believe that the isolation had started around the time the boy was placed there. They felt that since you visited the boy so often at the time, that they could get away with leaving him by himself when you weren't around. The underfeeding started around the time he was old enough to eat on his own. Apparently, they started with just missing a meal here or there and escalated as he grew older. Around the time we found out they were only feeding him every other day or so and even then they only gave him one or two meals."

Ibiki looked back at the seething Hokage. "From what I gathered, there were a few workers who were aware of what was happening and they apparently gave him larger portions when they fed him. However, I believe they were only trying to cover their own asses in case you found out. Not one of them reported the mistreatment, nor did anything to stop it." Sarutobi was really starting to wish he hadn't destroyed his pipe right now.

"As for the beatings, they seem to have started around the time the child was developed enough to walk and start learning how to talk. Your own visits became less frequent around this time, and apparently they felt it was safe to smack him around a little. Only a handful were involved in this, as the rest seemed content with leaving him in isolation or were unaware that things were becoming more physical. However, it seems that none of them were willing to go beyond a slap or two, though they seemed to be aware of his superior healing, so I applied a little more pressure and I've confirmed that they received this information from one Kisabi Takeda. I believe he is a former member of the council, correct? More importantly, he was on the council when Naruto's healing and enhanced senses were discovered."

Ibiki must have been able to hear his teeth grind because he said, "I can't be certain without talking to the boy myself, Hokage-sama, but I believe he was young enough to not remember most of the mistreatment, or at least not consciously."

"Thank you Ibiki, that will be all," he managed to grind out. He turned to Inoichi. "Have the caretakers executed in the morning. Oh and Ibiki? I want you to arrest Kisabi once we're done here. When you've finished interrogating him, let me know. He and I will have much to discuss before he dies." Sarutobi practically spat that last word.

The two interrogators must have felt his killing intent, because they both backed up a step and Ibiki's calm broke for the first time that night. "Hai Hokage-sama."

Kurenai sighed as she toweled her hair dry in front of her bathroom mirror. Prior to showering, she had been hard at work honing and increasing her Taijutsu skills with a new friend of sorts. Though how she ended up befriending the girl was something she wasn't quite sure of.

Flashback

She had met Anko Mitarashi a few weeks ago in a bar of all places. What the thirteen year old had been doing there hadn't been hard to guess. Since her return to the village a few months prior, Anko had been the target of much of the village's hate because of her former sensei, Orochimaru. Even after the Hokage proclaimed her innocent, the villagers still tormented the poor girl. Kurenai had stepped in when Anko had looked like she was about to pass out. Grabbing the younger Chuunin and throwing down some money for her drinks, Kurenai had pulled Anko's arm over her shoulder and made her way out of the bar and away from the hungry gazes that some of the more drunk patrons had been sending the intoxicated girl's way.

Predictably, Anko had been quite upset when her drinking was interrupted, but her threats had been more amusing than terrifying, considering she couldn't even stand on her own and was slurring badly. Of course it was far less amusing when the girl puked all over Kurenai's feet, before promptly passing out.

Kurenai briefly entertained the idea of just dropping the girl on the street and walking away, but one glance at the bar they had just left put an end to that. Sighing when she realized that she didn't know where Anko lived, Kurenai hoisted Anko a little higher up on her shoulder and began walking back to her apartment.

Thankfully, the walk back was uneventful and they were able to reach Kurenai's apartment before Anko woke up or worse, puked again. Stumbling a little when she opened her door, Kurenai dragged Anko in and kicked off her vomit covered sandals.

Dropping her guest on her couch, Kurenai covered her with a blanket before heading to her bedroom. It might have been more polite to give her guest the bed but... Anko had puked on her new sandals. She could make due with the couch.

When she woke up the next morning, Kurenai wasn't too surprised to find Anko still asleep on the couch. Sighing, Kurenai put a couple of aspirin and a glass of water on her coffee table, before she made her way into the kitchen to start making tea. 'Hmm...what should I have for breakfast? I suppose I could always just finish off that dango from the other day.' Kurenai idly mused. Yawning, she pulled the leftover dango from the fridge and reheated it. Placing the food on the table, she heard a sound from her guest. Looking in, she saw Anko's nose twitch repeatedly. Raising an eyebrow, Kurenai watched amusedly as Anko suddenly bolted upright, scooped up the aspirin and dry swallowed them before stumbling towards the kitchen with a dreamy look in her eyes and a slight trail of drool.

"Mmm, dango." Anko murmured as she reached for Kurenai's breakfast.

"Ahem." Kurenai cleared her throat pointedly.

Anko snapped out of her daze and fixed her with a dangerous glare. "What are you doing in my apartment?" she growled.

Kurenai just raised her eyebrow again. "I'm not. You're in mine." She chuckled as her guest blinked and looked around the room.

"Oh," was her eloquent reply.

As Kurenai took a sip of her tea Anko suddenly asked, "Hey, we didn't have sex last night did we?"

Kurenai choked on her tea, just barely stopping from spitting it in the younger girls face. "WH-WHAT! NO! OF COURSE NOT!" she spluttered

"Oh good." Anko sighed as she grabbed a skewer of dango. "I wouldn't want to feel guilty for taking advantage of such a beautiful woman like yourself," she finished.

Kurenai couldn't help but gape at the younger Chuunin as she ate her dango.

"So," Anko said around a mouthful of dango, "who are you, and what am I doing here?"

Regaining her composure, Kurenai took another sip of tea. "My name is Kurenai Yuuhi. You were drunk at the bar, so I decided to take you home. You passed out before I could find out where you live though, so I had to bring you back here." Snatching the rest of the dango away from Anko's reaching hand she finished, "You're welcome by the way."

Anko looked at her for a moment, before she sniffed and pouted while gazing longingly at Kurenai and her dango.

Kurenai sweat-dropped. "What are you doing?"

Instead of answering, Anko's eyes grew impossibly wide and watery as she let out a pathetic sounding whimper.

Twitching, Kurenai handed her dango over. "Here," she said in a defeated tone.

Anko smiled happily as she grabbed the food. "You're the best, Kurenai-chan!" she proclaimed before attacking the dango with gusto.

Sighing, Kurenai refilled her cup before fixing Anko with a stern look. "You know, you shouldn't drink so much, Anko-san, especially when you're by yourself. Several of those men were giving you looks."

Anko just laughed "Of course they were, how could they resist staring at the great, sexy, and not to mention single, Anko-sama!"

"I'm serious Anko-san. If I hadn't taken you out of there who knows what might have happened."

Anko looked at her with a wide grin and her eyes squeezed shut. "Why do you care Kurenai-chan? It's not like you're responsible for me or anything."

Kurenai snorted, "I don't need a reason to care about you Anko-san. We're Konoha kunoichi, we should look out for each other."

Anko dropped her grin and stared at Kurenai.

"Anko-san?" she questioned, "Are you alright?"

She was caught completely off guard when stars appeared in Anko's eyes as she leapt across the table and caught her in a hug. "Yay! You're my new best friend Kurenai-chan!"

Kurenai was flabbergasted. "A-Anko-san..."

"What's with this formal crap? You should call me Anko-chan!" The excited Chuunin proclaimed, before glancing at the clock. "Whoops, I'm late for a meeting with the Hokage. See ya later Kurenai-chan!" With that she dashed out the door, leaving a gaping Kurenai behind.

Flashback ends

Since that day, Anko had made it a point to visit Kurenai's apartment every day they were both in the village. Some times, Kurenai had even come home to find Anko waiting in her apartment with a half-eaten plate of dango and noisily slurping a bowl of soup. Though that was much better than the time she came home to a surprise party complete with a banner saying "Welcome Home Kurenai-chan" in bold print. That wouldn't have been half as awkward if Anko hadn't been the only one there.

Still, in the few weeks since they met Kurenai had found that she quite liked the purple-haired girl, despite her eccentricities. She'd also enjoyed her sparring sessions with the younger Chuunin, like the Taijutsu match they had had earlier that evening.

Despite that, while Kurenai was making progress, it wasn't going as quickly as she hoped. She had turned her attention to her Taijutsu training a few months ago when her Genjutsu skills reached Jounin level. And while Kurenai knew her other skills wouldn't increase as quickly as her Genjutsu had, she was still disappointed with her current rate of improvement.

Right now, Kurenai would only rate her Taijutsu at mid-Chuunin, and her Ninjutsu skills were still barely above Genin level. She was focusing on her Taijutsu for now, as it was more important than her Ninjutsu at the moment.

Pulling on a robe, she stepped into the living room of her modest one bedroom apartment and took a seat on her small couch. Sighing in pleasure at finally sitting down and resting her sore muscles, Kurenai looked to the application forms sitting on her low coffee table. This was the second time she had been offered a chance at Special Jounin rank, and would likely be the second time she turned it down.

Some of her acquaintances had been rather shocked when they heard she turned it down once before, but Kurenai had explained her thinking. While the pay increase would be nice, especially for a young Chuunin living on her own, she had other more pressing concerns. As she had explained to them, for right now, the benefits of remaining a Chuunin outweighed the benefits of becoming Special Jounin. Quite a few eyebrows had been raised at that statement.

Kurenai planned to reach Jounin rank, and right now, she could make more progress to that goal as a Chuunin. As a Genin, a shinobi was relatively safe from most dangers that a shinobi might face. However, they generally only had their Jounin sensei to turn to for training, unless they had family members to help them. Kurenai had none.

A Chuunin on the other hand, could still learn from their sensei, but they could also seek out other Chuunin, and even Special Jounin for additional training, if they were willing. The missions for Chuunin were generally still safer than those that the higher ranks would garner, and unlike Special Jounin and Jounin, Chuunin were rarely, if ever, sent on solo missions. Having others to watch her back greatly increased Kurenai's odds of living long enough to reach Jounin. Especially when she already possessed Jounin level Genjutsu skills. That gave her an edge over others on C and quite a few B rank missions.

As a Special Jounin, not only would she be at greater risk, but she would also lose quite a few learning possibilities, as a Special Jounin seeking training from a Chuunin would cast doubt on her abilities, and could cost her the respect of her fellow shinobi. In addition, as a Special Jounin, she would begin receiving requests from others for training in her field of expertise, and that would cut back on her own training time even further. So in the end, she could reach Jounin level skills faster as a Chuunin than as a Special Jounin.

So for now, it was best for her to remain a Chuunin and take advantage of her training opportunities. Perhaps when her Taijutsu was Jounin level and she had reached mid-Chuunin or so in Ninjutsu, she might consider it.

Kurenai was shaken from her thoughts when she detected a chakra presence outside her apartment. A moment later there was a knock on the door. When she answered it, an Anbu stood outside her apartment. His mask tilting in her direction, the spiky haired, Inu masked Anbu nodded. "The Hokage requires your presence to aid in an investigation. I will escort you to where you are needed. You may get dressed first, but hurry."

Kurenai was moving to her bedroom the moment the Anbu stopped speaking. Closing the door, Kurenai slipped out of her robe and quickly dressed in a pair of standard shinobi pants and a sleeveless red turtleneck. After that, she strapped her kunai holster to her right leg and a shuriken pouch to the back of her left hip. Opening the door, she put on her Chuunin vest and zipped it up as she reentered the living room. Grabbing her Hitai-ate, Kurenai tied it around her forehead as she slipped on her sandals.

Nodding to Inu, she allowed him to put a hand on her shoulder and perform a Shunshin. The next she knew, they were standing outside what seemed to be an ordinary warehouse.

Glancing around, she frowned at her escort. "Where are we?"

"A warehouse," was Inu's blunt response as they walked toward the entrance.

Kurenai's eye twitched. 'No shit…thanks for the hot tip asshole.' Aloud she deadpanned. "Yes, I can see that. Why are we outside a warehouse in the middle of the night?"

Inu shrugged. "We needed a Genjutsu specialist and the Hokage personally recommended you."

Kurenai's twitch got bigger.

"In here." The Anbu opened a door and ushered her in.

Four men greeted her. One was the Sandaime, who was currently glaring into space. The only other man that she knew was Inoichi Yamanaka, the head of the clan and a man of considerable influence in the T and I division. She didn't recognize the third man however, and the fourth was a corpse.

The third man looked to be about her age, with dark eyes. His head was covered by his Hitai-ate fashioned as a bandanna, and he wore a dark trench coat over a standard Chuunin vest and clothing. What really caught her eye were the scars that crossed his calm and blank face.

"Hokage-sama, I've brought Kurenai Yuuhi as ordered." Inu bowed.

Kurenai snapped to attention as the Sandaime turned to face them.

"Ah Kurenai-san, how nice to see you again. Thank you for coming," the kindly old man greeted, his face clear of the anger she had seen before. "I trust you know Inoichi-san?"

"Hai Hokage-sama, Inoichi-sama." Kurenai nodded to the blond clan head before turning back to her Kage. "May I ask why I am here Hokage-sama?"

"Of course, Ibiki, explain the situation to her," the Sandaime ordered while he seemed to absentmindedly dig through his robes.

Kurenai's eyes widened when she heard the name of her fellow Chuunin. 'So this is the infamous Ibiki Morino…he certainly looks the part of an expert interrogator.'

She approached the table holding the dead body when Ibiki beckoned.

"This man was one of our shinobi. He was killed when he tried to assassinate the person he was assigned to protect and may have been involved in a previous attempt on the target's life. We found neither signs of seals on his body, nor any signs of foreign substances in his system. We need you to check for any signs that a Genjutsu may have been used on him. Needless to say, anything you have been told or may come to learn tonight has been classified an A rank secret." Ibiki's voice remained calm and unshaken, as if he were simply reciting the morning weather report. "You may proceed with your examinations when you are ready."

Kurenai was mildly curious as to why she of all people was selected for this. Mentally shrugging, she cleared her mind and ran through a few hand signs. She closed her eyes and extended her senses towards the corpse. This particular Medical Ninjutsu was relatively unknown to Konoha's general Shinobi population, due to the simple fact that it didn't actually heal anything. Added to that, was the fact that most medic-nin were equally unaware of this technique, as by the time an injure shinobi reached them, a Genjutsu would have either already run its course, or would have been dispelled by someone -even the medic-nin in question. And while Genjutsu can cause lasting harm, most of that harm coud be healed by medic-nin, so there was little need to search to see if a Genjutsu was responsible. And once the patient woke up, hey could describe whatever Genjutsu had been used against them -or at least its effects- and the technique could be identified by that. In a word, this particular Medical Ninjutsu was obsolete. In fact, outside of perhaps the Kurama clan and perhaps Tsunade herself, Kurenai wasn't sure if anyone else even remembered the technique.

She started her search over the appearance of the body itself. Finding nothing, she moved on to the sensory organs, the eyes, ears, nose, and tongue. When that still turned up nothing, she moved on to the last possible target of a Genjutsu, the brain itself. Scanning through the brain, she frowned when she noticed a small amount of chakra residue in the area of the brain that dealt with inhibitions. 'Strange... the brain is one of the few places where the chakra levels never really change...' Looking deeper, she realized that there was far more chakra remaining in that part of the brain than the rest. 'But why...no one tries to use chakra to enhance the brain...so why is there a relatively larger amount in this specific section?' Tuning out the rest of the brain, Kurenai focused all her attention on that single part. 'This chakra...it's not naturally there...and it seems to be resisting the natural dissipation process...which can only mean one thing...this is definitely foreign chakra.'

"Hokage-sama," she called, "I've found something."

The Sandaime stepped beside her, his gaze hard. "Genjutsu." It wasn't a question.

"Can you tell what kind it was?" Ibiki asked with his seemingly unshakable calm.

Kurenai nodded. "Yes, it was designed to make the victim more susceptible to suggestion. It works by subtly lowering the targets inhibitions, making things seem more acceptable to the target, particularly things that they would normally balk at."

"Are you saying that Hirotoro was a victim as well?" Inoichi interrupted.

Kurenai shook her head. "No, as weak as this Genjutsu was, it would have to build off his own subconscious feelings. A far greater amount of chakra would have been needed to actually create the desire to kill his subject. After that, a far greater amount of chakra would have been needed to ensure that he didn't realize he was in a Genjutsu and disrupt it. Then they would have to make it subtle enough that no one else realized what was going on until it was too late. There is no way this Genjutsu could have made an Anbu subservient to another's will. Most Genin couldn't even be directly controlled by this Genjutsu, simply because the deep down, they would know that their reactions weren't natural, leading the brain to rebel against that desire. The end result of that would either be breaking the Genjutsu...or insanity as the mind essentially waged war on itself."

"How sure of this are you?" Inoichi inquired.

"I'm positive, Inoichi-sama." Kurenai responded resolutely.

"We have the body of the person we believe may have been the one who cast it. Can you identify the body based on their chakra signature?" The Sandaime asked gravely.

Kurenai shook her head, "I'm only mildly skilled at chakra sensing, and it would all depend on the individual. If they had an average chakra capacity, then I'd need to look at the body within half a day. Any later and the chakra would probably have dispersed. The smaller the chakra capacity, the less time we'd have."

"They've only been dead for about half a day, give or take. Can you make it work?" Ibiki questioned.

Kurenai bit her lip in thought. It would be cutting it close, but there was a small chance. "I can try, but there are no guarantees." Kurenai offered with a slight shrug.

Ibiki and Inoichi both looked to the Hokage, who was again digging through his robes. "Do it." he ordered.

Ibiki gestured her over to another table with a white sheet covering what was obviously the silhouette of a human body. "She was a retired shinobi." Ibiki explained as he pulled back the sheet to reveal the head and shoulders of a withered old woman. "Both she and her husband were found dead near the unconscious subject of Hirotoro's bodyguard detail. There were signs that they were involved in the attempt on the subject's life. When we found them, there was no sign of Hirotoro. Approximately 14 hours later, Hirotoro infiltrated the hospital and tried to kill his charge. Since she had Jounin level skill in Genjutsu, we want you to try to match her chakra signature with the Genjutsu on Hirotoro."

"Right." Kurenai nodded as she started the scan on the second body. Hopefully, the woman would still have enough of her own chakra flowing through her that Kurenai could identify. The problem was, that while the body retained its chakra, once a person died, the chakra began to melt away until there was none left. If there was any left after more than half a day, then Kurenai wouldn't have much time to find it.

Kurenai's search became more frantic the longer she searched through the woman's chakra pathways. It looked like her efforts were too little too late. There didn't seem to be eno-'wait…' one of the Celestial Gates didn't seem to be opened all the way. There was a small amount of chakra, barely enough for a D rank Jutsu, trapped behind it. More than enough for her purposes.

Maybe if she used her own chakra to force open the Gate, she might be able to gather enough chakra to get a signature.

Kurenai bit her lip. She'd have to use a large portion of her own chakra to do so, and another significant portion to encircle the chakra released from the Gate. Normally this would only leave her tired, but with all the training she had been doing, this procedure might take more chakra than she had to give. She could still force open the Gate, but after that… the odds were against her.

Kurenai narrowed her eyes. If she went through with it, and lacked the chakra to finish it, they would lose any chance at identifying this woman as the Genjutsu user. At the same time, the longer she waited, the less her chances of success. Eventually, even the chakra slowed by the Gate would dissipate, leaving them with nothing. So it was either try and possibly fail, or do nothing and fail for sure.

'No real competition.' Kurenai smirked as she gathered her chakra and directed it though the corpse's chakra pathways. Centering her chakra outside the Gate, Kurenai drew up more of her reserves and smashed them against the Gate. Already partially opened, and lacking a living body to instinctively keep it closed, the Gate smashed open, the chakra it had held back rushing out to spread through the now dead chakra pathways. Before it could spread too far, it encountered a blockage in the system, composed of foreign chakra.

Like water, it tried to flow past the obstacle and when that failed, it tried to go through other paths - only to encounter the same blockages, one after another. Finding no way out, the chakra spread out as much as it could and went still.

This did not last long however, as the foreign chakra began to swell, and close in around it, forcing the remaining chakra to increase in density.

Sweat dripping from her brow, Kurenai felt herself reach her limits. She only needed to push just a little more, and she could accomplish her goal. 'Come on… almost there…NOW!' Reaching the desired density, Kurenai released her own chakra and focused all her concentration on detecting the corpse's chakra signature before it had a chance to dissipate once more.

"Yes!" she sighed in relief when she succeeded, before slumping tiredly against the table.

"I take you found it then?" Ibiki asked, causing Kurenai to jump in surprise. 'I was so focused that I forgot that they were even here!' she blushed lightly, hoping they would think it was just a sign of her fatigue.

"Yes." she answered as calmly as she could. "There's no doubt that she was the one to cast the Genjutsu."

"Are there any signs that she may have been influenced by one as well?" Inoichi inquired.

Kurenai could only shrug. "If there were any, they're long gone by now. I didn't find anything, and if her skills were as good as you say, then it would have taken a Sharingan to produce an illusion subtle enough to fool her without requiring a massive amount of chakra. Said amount would have lasted several days after death, so I'd have to say no."

"Thank you, Kurenai-san," the Hokage began. "I'll have Inu take you back to your apartment. Remember, everything you learned tonight is an A rank secret, and I want it kept that way. However, I will put this down on your record as a completed A rank mission."

Kurenai blinked in surprise. "Uh, yes Hokage-sama." She bowed to him before allowing Inu to put hand on her shoulder once again.

"Oh and Kurenai? Do consider the promotion this time." The Sandaime said with a smile.

She barely had time to impersonate a fish before Inu Shunshined her out of the room.

Sarutobi chuckled lightly at Kurenai's expression as she and Inu departed. However, his good mood left him as quickly as it came. 'So, Susuki and Takashi were involved and they recruited Nezumi to turn a blind eye to keep Naruto from getting to the hospital. The question is, what do I do about this? With the three of them dead, there's no one left to punish. And I don't want this to get out to the public. Naruto seemingly killing his adopted grandparents in self-defense, and Anbu fighting Anbu... no, too many would take advantage of this kind of scandal. As much as I hate to say it, this'll have to be swept under the rug. Maybe I can even convince Naruto that it wasn't really his grandparents who attacked him...' His thoughts trailed off as Inu Shunshined back into the room.

"Inoichi, Ibiki, Inu. All of the details of this incident are now classified A rank. I don't want a panic caused by doubt and mistrust in the Anbu. So from now on, Takeshi and Susuki Sanada, along with Anbu Nezumi were killed by an unknown assassin. Said assassin then impersonated the slain Anbu and attempted to silence the only witness to their attack. He was killed by Gama, and his body was destroyed by a seal carved into his body to prevent identification." He turned his gaze to the interrogators. "Understood?"

Ibiki nodded while Inoichi asked, "What about the boy, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi sighed, "I'll explain the situation to him in the morning. Let him have a real night's sleep before we tell him about this."

"I meant after he is released from the hospital, Hokage-sama." Inoichi replied.

Sarutobi glanced over at the blond clan head. "That's a little more complicated Inoichi. I'll need to go over a few things and wait until I talk to Naruto tomorrow before I decide." 'Translation, none of the council's business.'

"I understand, Hokage-sama." Inoichi stated with a bow.

Nodding Sarutobi Shunshined back to his own house, intending to get some sleep before trying to figure out how to piece together a child's shattered life.

Translations:

Hebi=Snake

Inu=Dog

Nezumi=Rat

Shishi=Lion

Taka=Hawk

Fukurou=Owl

Tori=Bird

Gama=Toad

Shunshin=Body Flicker

So, what do you think? Just so you know, much of the technical details used in this chapter are more or less made up by me. I hope they made sense to you, and that they helped the story. As always, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.