Chapter 8
The Magnificent Milford Mabry!

The toad on her bed disappeared in a puff of smoke, its message delivered. Tsunade smiled incredulously and let tears form in her eyes. The boy was safe. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and flung on her robe. It was early, the sun had just come up but she knew where her newest apprentice would be.

As she walked out of the modest hut settled in the hills of the Fire Country, she heard the sounds of Sakura practicing. She stood at the doorway to watch for a few seconds.

Sakura was oblivious to Tsunade's presence. She cocked her hands to her sides in the traditional horse stance and prepared her chakra. She felt it swelling to her fists and she unleashed her right fist into the large boulder that eclipsed her. It hit with a solid 'whoomph'. Dust and rubble flew from the point of impact, leaving a hole much larger than the impact her fist should have made. Ever since Tsunade had shown her the secret of the Futae no Kiwami she'd been practicing it. Days, weeks, months had gone by.

She concentrated on the process again in her head. Basically a double impact hit, the first punch with the proximal interphalangeal joint neutralizes the hardness of the target; then the second blow, struck with the proximal phalanx, breaks the target before it recovers from the force of the first blow. Of course this all needed to be done in milliseconds so that to the naked or even trained eye, it looks like one hit.

She released her breath and hit with the left fist this time. A similar puff of dust and pebbles erupted out of the boulder. Sakura allowed herself a small smile. She was getting there. She was getting stronger.

"Sakura!" Tsunade called out to her. "Come over here I have something to tell you."

Jiraiya landed with a thump in Tengoku, the river of wind getting no easier for the Sannin to traverse. He grumbled as he picked himself up and looked back the way he came. I need to do something about making that entrance easier. And more secure too.

He hefted the bag on his shoulder and walked over to where he could see the tower being built in the distance. The steel beams that framed the structure were all up. The first floor had been completed and work was moving ahead briskly on the second. Even with all of Naruto's clones, this was as far as they'd gotten in two months. Well to be fair, they had needed to split the clones amongst the water plant, the wind turbines and the tower construction.

Still the tower was beginning to look impressive. Massive white stone walls lined the first floor, an intricate design was laid into the floor which Jiraiya could have sworn was marble. Guerrera was really a genius with his hands. It was in here that they all slept now, sleeping bags scattered over to one side of the massive room. The second floor was supposed to have bedrooms for them all, even if they would have to share the one bathroom they had planned for that floor.

Jiraiya grinned; they had all been so excited at the prospect of indoor plumbing once again.

"Hey!" He called out to one of the busy Naruto clones. "Where's the real one and everyone else?"

The clone stopped and lowered the tools in his hands. Jiraiya noticed that as usual, 'Naruto' was bareback. But this time he saw that he had grown in height a little bit, and that his muscles had gotten harder and bigger. All the manual labor was really paying off in strengthening his body, and that was translating into his clones.

"Well Naruto and Senjii took a break so they went to train down at the grounds. Tenchi and a bunch of us clones are running underground cables for the electricity, and Tazuna and Inari are running pipelines for the water plant into the tower. We're all really excited about being able to shower soon!"

With that 'Naruto' picked up his tools and joined back in the work on the second floor. Jiraiya turned on his heels and headed down to where Naruto and Senjii would be training. They had come to call it the 'training grounds' but it was really just a large flat meadow right outside of where they had mapped out the village they were building would be.

Before he arrived he heard the sounds of the training through the trees.

"Ready Naruto?" Senjii's voice called out loudly.

"Let her rip!" Naruto's voice then called out. Second later Jiraiya heard a whistle as something flew through the air; after which a loud 'BOOM' resonated through the meadow. He walked into the meadow and saw Naruto at one side palms facing forward. Senjii stood at the other side of the meadow laughing.

"Good block Naruto! Ready?" He asked again. Jiraiya watched in interest. Senjii grasped his blades and in one swift move sliced towards Naruto, causing a slash of energy and air to hurl towards him. The Sannin was alarmed until he saw Naruto grin and calmly push his palms forward and release a counter barrier of Chakra and Air. The two collided with an explosive force that had wind whipping at Jiraiya's face.

Those two are either going to kill each other, or going to be the strongest warriors in the world. Jiraiya frowned, honestly not knowing which option it would be.

"Hey brat!" Jiraiya called out. Naruto and Senjii waved at Jiraiya and walked over. "That wind affinity is really coming along isn't it." He said matter of factly.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. It's getting easier to convert my chakra to wind. I can almost feel the wind around me too. I don't know if it's because of where we are, in the windy place, but I can swear I'm almost feeling it all over me all the time."

Jiraiya frowned. If Naruto was beginning to feel the air, it wouldn't be long before he started to feel the chakra all around him. This sort of development was too fast, he hadn't made any arrangements to begin Sage training. He might need to step up his schedule to prevent his prized pupil from turning into a frog statue.

"Keep practicing boys." Jiraiya turned to go, "I'll talk to you tonight". He walked off determined to have a talk with Pa toad very very soon.

That night, as they sat around a small fireplace in the ground floor of the tower, Jiraiya relayed news to them.

"OK, so I've begun spreading rumors of Tengoku. My spy network is in full effect, looking for any clans who are in need of protection and somewhere to go."

Everyone greeted this with nods of approval. Ever since they had come here, they had been discussing the purpose of the village. And Naruto was most insistent that they protect the innocent, and shield those who needed it. He very much remembered what it was like to be persecuted and hated.

"I've also gotten in touch with Tsunade. She will be joining us with her apprentices soon." He looked curiously at Naruto. "Naruto, one of her apprentices is Sakura. After you were banished, Sakura abandoned Konoha and begged Tsunade to train her."

Naruto was startled, he had thought of his friends back in Konoha often, but not once did he think he'd be seeing one again so soon. He couldn't help but smile at that.

"So I've asked Tsunade to get in touch with someone I've used many times. She's far closer to his last location than I am."

"Who's that?" Tenchi asked curiously. The fire crackled as Senjii fed it another stick.

Jiraya chuckled softly. "Why the Magnificent Milford Mabry, that's who." Tenchi groaned and Naruto gasped.

"I remember him!" Naruto smiled widely. "He had done a free magic show for us when we were at the orphanage! He was great!"

Tenchi sighed. "Yes, Milford Mabry." He groaned again to himself - Naruto was explaining to Senjii and Inari how this lady was sawed in half, then her feet began kicking in the box – "That charlatan would indeed be useful."

Naruto stopped his animated description and turned back to the discussion. "How is a magician going to help us?" He glanced at the Kazumo clan and wondered if maybe a magic show to raise spirits was what Jiraiya had planned?

"Mabry is a find-it-man." Jiraiya explained. "Anything you need, no matter how rare it is, he can find it and supply it. I want to use him to set up supply lines for Tengoku. Food, medicine, clothing. Basic necessities as well as anything special we may need."

"Ohh.. " Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Moving on, I stopped in Getai village and had these made up." He tossed the first thing he pulled out of his bag at Naruto who caught it effortlessly.

It was a head protector with the symbol of Tengoku on it. Naruto held it tightly, a hundred emotions going through him. He remembered the feeling when his own headband was denied him after being banished. The feeling he had when Iruka had given him his headband personally. It felt….wrong to put on a headband to replace the Konoha one.

He looked up at everyone watching him. Naruto steeled his face and tied the band to his left arm, symbol facing out. They all seemed to understand, as Jiraiya passed them around, Senjii, Tenchi, Guerrera, Tora Kazumo. They all put on the bands on their left arm instead of their foreheads. The Kazimo children looked like they wanted the symbol themselves. But Old Man Tora explained to them how it was a symbol that only qualified warriors should wear. After they finish his basic training, they could get bands of their own. Naruto smiled, remembering his own eagerness to earn the Konoha leaf head band. The pride he felt when he earned it was so tangible.

Jiraiya smiled at the small family and how they supported Naruto. He slipped one more band out of the bag and tied it to his own arm.

"Good, we are now officially Archangels." He said tongue in cheek.

They all laughed. Old man Tora though stopped and asked a question. "Wait, speaking of that, do we want Tengoku to be recognized officially as a hidden ninja village by the other villages?"

They all went silent as they thought about that. Naruto hadn't thought about it at all.

"I'd say," Jiraiya spoke first, "that eventually we would want that but we're a good few years away from that being possible. We should focus on building a strong village first, before we try to approach the other villages for recognition. We do need to build our reputation though."

"Reputation?" Naruto asked.

Senjii explained it to him. "Our village is unknown, so we won't get jobs that hidden villages get normally. Protection jobs, assassinations, the normal stuff. Like what we were doing before, you and I, as freelancers."

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes, building the structures is important work, but so is building the reputation of our warriors. My spy network is already whispering the name Tengoku, but we need displays of prowess."

Tenchi looked at the younger warriors seriously. "That means that you Naruto and you Senjii must take some more jobs and execute them flawlessly. I think one job per month, so that you can split your time between here, building the village and outside, building the name. Either I, or Jiraiya will arrange these jobs for you. I think we can scrounge up work with our contacts?" He looked at Jiraiya who grinned in approval and held up one finger.

"Good that's settled. You will leave on your first mission in a week's time."

In a deep cave far away in the Land of Sound, a sallow face split into a large grin as he stalked the hall, slithering his way to the dimly lit room where his newest 'apprentice' was practicing. A dark chuckle escaped his thin pale lips as he saw the progress the young one was making with the help of the cursed seal and a few other minor adjustments he and Kabuto were doing to him.

The news he had just heard would add fuel to an already promising fire.

"Sasuke." He said, barely audibly. "We have heard a rumor of your old team mate… Naruto." The voice trailed out into a fit of other worldly giggles.

Sasuke grumbled. "What do I care?" He continued to swing his katana at the practice post.

Orochimaru grinned. "The rumor is he single-handedly wiped out an entire city filled with marauding pirates in his anger. That his anger was so righteous, that he smote them into oblivion with a wave of his hand." He giggled madly again. "I guess you have a long way to go to catch up to him."

He watched intently as the emotions played across Sasuke's face. Shock, disbelief, jealousy, anger, and finally resolve.

Sasuke tackled the post harder with the next swing, and the next, and the next.

Orochimaru chuckled to himself and closed the door to the training room.

Jiraiya eyed the entrance to the wind tunnel. Securing this entryway was a high priority, but a task he was loathe to do. It would require countless hours of seal making to get his idea just right, and he was no seal master. This would have to be temporary.

He sat down determinedly, and began to sketch out the first array of seals. Just then, a shadow fell across him and a familiar voice greeted him.

Senjii hefted the next large square stone onto his shoulders and took the steps to where it needed to go. He deposited it shortly thereafter on the pulley system they had rigged up. With a sigh of relief as the weight was no longer on his back, he wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up. The sun was blazing down on them. He know it was all in his mind, but he could have sworn that they were remarkably close to the sun, being this high up in the sky, as it mercilessly beat down upon them.

Suddenly he felt a presence coming at him from behind. He bent at the waist backwards just as the sound of a whip cracked where his head was a second ago. He twisted and landed on all fours, drawing his knees to his chest and springing forward towards his assailant.

He didn't recognize who the intruder was, a warrior who had a long red scarf around his neck, oddly shaped robes tucked into double toed soft shoes. The whip that had come close to hitting him was no whip, but the scarf itself.

There was something familiar about the enemy.

Senjii's lunge was blocked by a raised leg and the unknown warrior settled into a pose holding the scarf that Senjii recognized immediately. He rolled in the dust and sprang back up.

"Shit. Kire Kengeki." His swords were far away, so this was going to be a hard fight; however he had no intention of fighting back. His recognition of the fighting style led to his realization of his attacker.

"Hiroka?" He whispered under his breath as his attacker whipped the scarf towards him. It moved impossibly fast. Senjii could have sworn the material stretched beyond what it should have been able to. He ducked under it only to see it fold down and come after him. He spun out of the way, whirling his legs around to land on his back a yard to the left.

He knew that the Kire Kengeki user infused Chi – or as Naruto called it Chakra – into their weapon, which was always a form of cloth. Harmless looking, yet deadly.

The edge of the impossibly long scarf sliced into the ground where he lay seconds earlier, leaving a large cut in the earth. Senjii let a drop of sweat fall from his forehead. If that had hit him…

"Hey what are you doing?!" A Naruto clone shouted at the attacker. Three other clones came around the building then and saw what was going on. The attacker cursed and lashed out with the scarf. It billowed out, unfolding like a sail. As the Naruto clones charged, the scarf split into sections, each one impaling a clone in the arm, legs. Not a deadly wound if it was a person, but enough to make them erupt into puffs of smoke because they were clones.

The intruder turned back to Senjii who had gotten up, but hadn't attacked.

"Listen Hiroka—" He started to say. The tail end of the scarf hit him in the midsection, knocking the wind out of him. He flew backwards, looking on helplessly as strips of cloth snaked their way around him, binding his arms and legs. He hit the dirt trussed up like a turkey, the attacker jumping impossibly high into the air, other strips of cloth billowing behind her. She looked like a winged demon with the cloth forming wings behind her as she twisted and turned, to plummet heel first towards Senjii's tied up form.

He rolled to the side just barely enough for her foot to graze his forehead but not crush it. It was enough however to knock him unconscious.

The attacker stood proudly over Senjii bending down to grasp his face.

Fifteen Naruto clones exploded into the attacker, tackling her to the ground. When at least two Naruto's were holding arms, legs, head, pinning the attacker to the dirt, only then did Naruto ask.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Naruto ripped the mask off the intruder, to find a beautiful Chinese girl, probably eighteen or nineteen years old, muttering curses at him and spitting.

"Dài lǜmàozi!" She writhed against the restraints of Naruto's hands. "Cào nǐ niáng!" A long string of words that Naruto did not understand, but got the general idea were not very nice followed.

Jiraiya and Tenchi walked into the clearing, laughing. Tenchi walked up to the struggling attacker.

"Such bad language." His face stern. "Behave yourself daughter."

Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura entered the town to the sound of carnival music filtering its way down to them. The townspeople all looked jovial and excited. Tsunade scowled.

"We're in the right place." She motioned to the center of the small town where a large brightly colored wagon towered above the gathered crowd. In front of the wagon, was a tall gangly man, garishly dressed in a bright turquoise top hat with a matching jacket. His waistcoat was the color of gold, gleaming in the midday sun. The only thing that could have been any brighter was the smile on his face, teeth gleaming at the gathered crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! This is not a trick! This is…" his fingers flash and a large bouquet of flowers appears in his hand. "Magic!!"

The crowd claps appreciatively, children laughing at the display. Sakura turned to look at Tsunade, confused.

"Did he just do a summoning Jutsu in his hands without blood?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade shook her head in disgust. "No. Mabry doesn't know any Jutus, or have any chakra capacity or control. He's just a slight of hand artist. The best you're ever likely to see. He's also the best supplier in the named world."

They sat down to watch the show as Mabry flourished pigeons, blew fire, levitated a child from the crowd, and sawed his assistant in half. The crowd ate it up. Sakura marveled at the showmanship of the Magician. He had them eating out of his hands. They cheered, laughed, and called for more when the show was finally over. He thanked them all and went behind the curtain into his massive wagon.

Tsunade and Shizune got up, so Sakura followed suit. They walked through the happy dispersing crowd to the curtains. A very large woman blocked their path. She sported short bristled blonde hair, tattoos up down both arms, and one eyebrow that extended over both eyes. She was indeed a fearsome looking creature.

Tsunade walked right up to her face. There was an instant of recognition on the bodyguards face.

"Mistress Tsunade?" There was a question in her voice. Sakura saw a flash of fear, then a look of resolve. "You cannot go in. Mr. Mabry specifically told me if I ever saw you again…"

The bodyguard had no time to finish the sentence because Tsunade had grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted, then threw her to the side, sailing into a nearby water fountain.

Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura walked through the curtains into the Wagon of the Magnificent Milford Mabry.

He sat at a simple wooden table, drinking what Sakura guessed was scotch, looking all the while like he was waiting for Tsunade. He flashed her a half-hearted smile and poured himself another drink.

"I saw you in the back of the crowd earlier. Thanks for not disrupting the show. The kids were really enjoying it." His voice was somber and not at all like the personality on display outside.

"So how many did you find this time?" Tsunade asked, sitting down opposite him at the table. The creak of the wooden chairs competing with the tinkle of nearby chimes for the only sound in the room.

"Thirteen homeless children. Five severely beaten; my boys are out looking for the runner now." He said, anger clear in his voice.

Sakura looked baffled between Mabry and Tsunade. They clearly knew each other. Tsunade saw Sakura's puzzled expressions and sighed.

"Mabry here runs a home for homeless children. He takes exceptionally good care of them, raising any child from infancy until he's ready to leave or stay behind and help out. Most chose to stay. He's been doing this for, what? Twenty years?"

He cleared his throat. "Twenty two actually." He turned to look at Sakura. "See I was an orphan myself. I had to endure beatings and being on the street. Then I was taken in by who I thought was a kind man. He was a Child Runner. They sell children into slavery, prostitution, begging. It's a cruel torturous life for a child."

Realization washed over Sakura. "So you travel from town to town looking for children to save?" Her face cracked a wide smile of genuine affection. "You're a really nice man."

He shook his head in disgust. "No. No I'm not."

At that moment two younger men came bursting into the Wagon, throwing a greasy looking man onto the floor at the feet of Mabry. He looked down at the sniveling man dressed in what looked like hand me down finery. A whip lay curled at his belt. Mabry's eyes narrowed and he gave a sharp intake of breath. He grabbed the man by his throat and lifted him to his feet.

"You use that whip on the kids you enslave?" He asked at barely a whisper.

Sakura watched as the Child Runner pissed himself. I guess facing an adult is a lot scarier than facing a child. She turned to ask Tsunade a question when the sharp crack of a slap rang through the room. Mabry had back handed the man across his face. The blow left a large red welt on the man's face.

The man reached for his whip. Sakura was about to intervene when Tsunade grabbed her wrist. She shook her head at Sakura, signaling to let Mabry deal with it.

Mabry lifted the man even higher with his one hand on his throat. The Child Runner's feet no longer touched the wooden floor of the Wagon-room.

"Dax, Keino." He called out to the two young men who dragged the man inside. "Make sure that the children he beat up see his corpse on the nearest tree." With that he snapped the man's neck with his one hand and flung the body to the two men. They quickly picked it up and left the tent.

Mabry stalked back to the table and drank the rest of his scotch.

"So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit my lady Tsunade?" He said with a small bow.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "I, …we… have a proposition for you."

Mabry took his hat off and put it on a rack. "We?"

"Jiraiya and I." She continued. "And his apprentice, Naruto."

Mabry stiffened. "Naruto? Jiraiya? Is this Naruto from Konoha?"

Sakura was startled. "You know Naruto?"

Mabry cursed under his breath. "Seven years ago I tried to take Naruto away from Konoha. He was beaten up, neglected. He would have done well away from such a bad environment. But the Hokage stopped me himself. Said Naruto was too valuable to the village and had to remain. We got into an actual fight over it." He took off his shirt. A long white scar ran diagonally across his chest. "That's how I got this scar. The old goat was better than I thought."

Sakura didn't know what else to say. This man had fought the Hokage, over the well-being of Naruto, a then-child who he hadn't known anything about beyond being neglected?

"So what's the proposal?" He asked as he pulled out another shirt from a cabinet and began to put it on.

Tsunade smiled. "We'd like you to set up a supply line to Heaven."

Senjii woke up several hours later. Night had fallen and they were all talking and laughing with the young lady who had intruded on their camp earlier. He sat up, rubbing his temple.

"Ow Hiroka.," he grimaced. "Why do you have to play so rough?"

The girl in question threw a look his way. "I had to make sure my ex-fiance hadn't gotten weak."

Naruto sighed audibly. He didn't understand exactly what was going on, no one was telling him anything. Senjii sulked off into the darkness to wash the blood off his face. Naruto followed him to make sure he was alright.

He caught up to him by the edge of the lake. "Sooo... your ex-fiance huh?" Naruto asked awkwardly, grinning like an idiot and rubbing the back of his head.

Senji grumbled and splashed the water on his face. "Yeah. Tenchi's daughter." He bent down to the lake again and cupped his hands in the moonlight.

"The only woman I've ever loved and will ever love. And I can never marry her." Senjii said with a finality that left no room for more questions.

Naruto didn't ask, just sat with his friend as they stared up at the moon, which seemed impossibly close.

Mabry cracked his whip over the four gigantic donkeys pulling his wagon. He waved down to Tsunade, Sakura and Shizune.

"Remember our deal Tsunade. You hold up your end, and I'll do my part." He grinned and took off his hat, waving it to the crowd of people cheering as he slowly drove off. The townsfolk only saw a great entertainer.

Shizune scowled and looked at Tsunade. "Why would you agree to that? How are we going to manage that?" She asked incredulously.

Sakura agreed, it seemed like an almost impossible task all things considered.

Tsunade shook her head. "It will be fine. Step one we find Mabry's orphanage using the map he gave us. Step two, we transport the entire building to Tenshikage, as well as every boy, girl and baby in the place. How hard can that be?" She asked with a glint in her eyes. "Why I bet we can make it in one week!"

Konoha

Shino leaned against the door nodding his head as Ino spoke to him. To anyone passing, it was just two teammates chatting in the evening after a day of missions. A more wary and observant eye may have noticed that neither seemed completely at ease. Or they may have noticed that Shino had several bugs scattered in a block radius.

The two teens were standing guard over that night's meeting of Naruto's Army.

Ever since the debacle that was the Daimyo's visit, the village had been a powder keg, just waiting to explode. Citizens and ninja alike were embarrassed by their Hokage Danzo. He had brought much shame to Konoha. Danzo himself had gone on a rampage looking for the source of his harassment, blaming Naruto's Army for it all. The 'Demon Sympathizers' would be captured and punished. Even Naruto's Army had no idea how it had happened, but the Kage Bunshin that hit the Daimyo and Danzo did 'look' like Naruto. And that was Naruto's favorite Jutsu.

But public opinion had turned. Danzo had no support for the common populace. He was now ruling with an iron fist, all semblance of democracy was slowly being peeled away. The council themselves were due to meet to discuss the situation. The general feeling and rumor was that they were going to remove Danzo.

Inside the meeting room, Kakashi had his Sharingan exposed. In case anyone got past the guards outside, he would immediately notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Tonight, the clan heads and the village elders will vote on Danzo's leadership abilities." Shinamora announced to the gathered Genin, Chunnin and Jounin. "I have it on good advice that the Hyuuga's are withdrawing their support for Danzo. They are one clan that does not handle embarrassment well."

Hinata nodded at that statement. She had overhead similar discussions, very heated ones, at her clan home.

"Danzo would be aware of this, and has to be planning something. He's a very smart political animal."

Kakashi nodded. Just then his Sharingan eye picked up on Lee arriving outside and saw as both Lee and Ino ran through the doors into the room.

Ino panted as she let the words spill out. "The village elders have been assassinated! Danzo has declared martial law! The ANBU are looking for the murderer Hatake Kakashi!"

Authors Note: Much thanks to my new beta Joshua the Evil guy!