Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.
Bodyguard of Azula
Chapter 57: Rising Tensions and High Bids
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Masu)
Everyone was silent as they looked at Naruto. They were stunned at what had Naruto just told them, courtesy of the targeted client that he was 'seducing' last night, to his neverending horror.
"Are you absolutely sure about that, Naruto?" Anko asked him. They had expected to go up against only one member of the Akatsuki. Having two there changed the whole thing.
He scowled at her. "Do you really think I would make something like that up, Anko?" he asked. "I heard it straight from Nezumi's mouth. Both Kisame and Kakuzu are coming to the Underground Auction."
"Why the hell would Kisame be coming to it in the first place?" Suigetsu demanded. He could understand Kakuzu's motive for hunting down big bounties, but he didn't know why Kisame would be there. That is, until he remembered that the remaining swords were going to be there as well. "He's going to try and get the swords himself, isn't he?" he asked in growing dread.
"The thought had come across my mind," the blonde admitted. "If Kisame got the swords, it is likely he could try and form a group of missing-nin capable of using them."
"If that happens, five of the seven swords would be under his control and by extension, the Akatsuki," Chōjūrō finished what the blonde was thinking. It was a horrifying idea, to have the swords be used in such a way. They belong in Kiri, and they were supposed to serve only Kiri. That was the idea the Kiri team set out for, to bring the majority of the swords back.
"This could be a problem," Sokka muttered. He had been collaborating with Jiraiya with the plan-making when it finally came time to take Kakuzu out, but with Kisame in the picture, they would have to possibly come up with a completely new plan.
"Are you kidding? This is a bonus!" Raimu declared with excitement. "With him here, we now have a chance to recover all of the missing swords, including Samehada." They could all understand his reasoning, but they also knew that wasn't the main reason he was excited. He was more excited about the fact that his uncle was going to be there, well within killing range.
"That may be, but you have to remember that we weren't expecting him to be here," Jiraiya told him pointedly. "This puts us in a completely different predicament."
"Maybe we should abort?" Karin suggested. She wasn't trying to be a coward, but she did know when it wasn't a good idea to be around extremely powerful criminals.
"NO!" Raimu shouted, startling everyone. "We may not have another opportunity like this ever again. We know the location of the missing swords, each and every one of them! And you would just let them go?!"
"There are some things that are worth more than the swords, Raimu," Chōjūrō reminded him. "Please remember that if Kisame is trying to create such a group, he'll want all seven of the swords. If he finds out that we're here, he's going to make a beeline right at us."
"That's a risk we'd have to take!"
"You're not fooling us, Raimu," Suigetsu told him with a roll of his eyes. "The only reason that you want us to stay is because you now have a chance to go after your uncle, that's it."
"So what if it is?" he asked with a growl. Now that the seduction part of the mission was over, his hatred for the Hōzuki clan member was back in full force. "Yes, I want to kill my uncle, is that what you want to hear?"
"Our mission is to recover the swords, not go after Kisame," Chōjūrō reminded him sharply, his face set in a slight scowl.
"I know that!" He sighed with exasperation, annoyance, and frustration. "Why aren't you listening to me, Chōjūrō? We have a chance to recover all the swords. The Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist would be to full strength in no time at all."
"I am listening, Raimu. But you're not focused on the swords. You're focused on your uncle. If you're not on point, you will not be any help to us. And if you're not going to help, you might as well leave us right now." The look on Raimu's face said that they would have to drag him away if they wanted him gone.
"Pardon me for interrupting the argument," June spoke, getting everyone's attention. "But what's with the all fuss? One sting from Nyla's tongue and he'll be paralyzed just like any other."
"I don't know if Nyla will be enough to stop him, June," the wielder of Hiramekarei told her. "He wasn't called an O o Motanai Bijū (Tailed Beast without a Tail) for just his ability to use Samehada, his own chakra is immense. It's possible that he'll be able to use his chakra to either make himself be able to move or to get rid of whatever poison your shirshu has."
"That title is both a contradiction and an insult to a proper Bijū," the Kyūbi commented from inside Naruto. "How the hell can someone be a Tailed Beast if they don't have a Tail? Am I the only one who seeing that little tidbit of information?"
The blonde couldn't help but laugh at what the fox said. Even though he tried to stifle the laugh, the others still heard him. "Is there something you find funny, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked him.
"It's nothing, my tenant's complaining, that's all," he replied with a small shake of his head.
"That's real mature of you, Naruto. 'My tenant's complaining," the fox mimicked his voice, making it sound a little higher pitched then it actually was.
"You're one to talk about maturity," he retorted. "Who was the one either laughing his furry rear off or critiquing me when I was in the club tonight?"
"Oh come on, you have to admit the 'bodacious blonde' comments were funny!"
"Not when they're about me, they aren't!" He really didn't want to remember all the comments that the fox had spoken while he had been on stage, but they were coming back in full force. "If I want to laugh at a blonde, I'll listen to Ino when she's hot for someone!"
"So you do listen to what they say," the Kyūbi said in triumph. "I knew it!" The fox, like the rest of his team, had been urging him to reacquaint with the Konoha teams. It was he who finally started the process when he goaded the blonde to help Sokka win a Shogi game against Shikamaru.
"Oh, shut up!" he yelled at the Bijū. "It's not business of yours if I choose to be around them or to stay separate from them."
"Of course it's my business, I'm inside you. And quite frankly, you trying to avoid the Konoha shinobi is getting a little more than annoying. Would you please just be friends with them again already? This hovering in between beings friends with them or not is getting old."
He was about to retort, when an idea came to mind. "Guys, we've been thinking about Kisame's abilities as well as unconsciously thinking that we'd have to fight him and Kakuzu together. What if we just separate the two of them?" he suggested out loud.
The people in the suite fell silent as they all thought it over. "That actually could work," Anko admitted. There was a bit of a risk to the plan, but if they pulled it off, they might have a chance of killing them both. The Konoha teams had the information on the two members that were going to be there, it was just a matter of sharing it and figuring out who fought out.
"You're welcome," The Kyūbi told Naruto, knowing full well that it was his words that gave the blonde the idea.
"I thought I told you to shut up," he replied.
"The important thing isn't if we can split them apart, it's how we do it," Sokka pointed out. "We're going to have to do something a little complex than the old switcheroo if we want to fool them."
"Maybe not," Azula replied. "We have three groups here and the two Akatsuki members are probably here for different things. If we entice them, we could separate them."
"And how do we plan to do that?" Jūgo asked her.
"Kakuzu goes after targets that have high bounties and Kisame is probably here for the swords. But they both have a mission to capture Jinchūriki and bring them back to their HQ."
"Great, and here I thought I was done being the bait," Naruto said with a groan, covering his eyes with his hand. The action made his muscles stretched, giving the ladies a bit of a show (of which Azula appreciated very much).
"Look at it this way, you won't be seducing them," Sokka remarked.
"That's a point to him," Jiraiya commented. Nobody really paid attention to the comment, they had just gotten that used to the whole point thing.
"Besides, it won't just be you there, Naruto," Raimu told him. "I'll be there too, auctioning for the swords." That sentence made both Suigetsu and Chōjūrō look over at him.
"Whoa, hold on, what do you mean 'I'll be there too'?" Suigetsu asked him. "If anyone's going to be there with the blonde, it'll be me or Chōjūrō."
"But I have to be there!" he protested. "I have to be there so I can see Kisame with my own eyes!"
"Oh, is that the excuse you're going to use now?"
Before he knew it, Raimu had grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him into the nearby wall, pulling the kunai he always fiddled with and held it up against his eye. "I have a right to be there, Suigetsu!" he yelled. "I have a right to look that bastard in the eyes as he dies. I have the right to stab him to death with this fucking kunai!" They could all tell that if he could, he would do it with no hesitation. Jiraiya, Anko, and Naruto all had a brief flash of remembrance of Sasuke when killing his older brother was his first priority. It was eerily similar to what they were seeing now.
Suigetsu lost the calm expression he had worn ever since the two of them had started arguing when he heard that sentence. It was replaced with a look of anger. "I've got as much of a right as you do, Raimu. So don't talk about rights in front of me!"
"What right do you have? You're a fucking traitor! You're probably more likely to join Kisame then fight him! But you're not going to help him! He's going to die for killing my dad!" he stated. He was surprised when Suigetsu swatted the kunai out of his hand, and making it fly across the room and the other wall.
Suigetsu turned the tables against him by twisting around, making him pinned against the wall. "In case you've forgotten, Raimu, your father wasn't the only one who died that night! My brother died too trying to stop Kisame from leaving and your father was killed trying to stop them for some stupid misguided reason! Don't ever try to wave your father's death in my face when my brother did the same!"
"Jūgo, what's wrong?" Karin asked her teammate. He was shaking and his lips twitched, like he wasn't sure if he should grin or not. Then she noticed that the skin around his neck began to turn dark. "Anko-sensei!" she shouted in warning.
"Let me kill something," Jūgo muttered to himself. "I want to hurt someone."
Before he could anything else, a purple snake shot out of Anko's sleeve. It flew through the air and bit him on the neck. He went completely stiff and fell to the ground, landing flat on his face loudly. Both Suigetsu and Raimu looked over at him when they heard him fall, their argument momentarily halted. "Have you calmed down yet, Jūgo?" Anko asked her student nonchalantly. They had gone through the method of restraining his impulses so many times; it was practically second nature to them.
"Yes, I have, Anko-sensei," he answered, his voice muffled due to his face being on the floor. Even it had taken him longer to quell his instincts in the past, once he felt the snake bite him, his body automatically reacted. He had been practicing quelling his instincts on his own, but the snake was always good for an emergency.
"Okay, now that everyone has calmed down some," Jiraiya said, looking pointedly at Suigetsu and Raimu. "Perhaps we can get back to figuring what to do?"
"I've got an idea," Sokka announced. "What we do is have four people go into the Underground Auction while the rest of us hang back and make sure there aren't any interruptions. Once the four are inside, they wait for the swords to appear and then bid on them. Once they win them, they walk out and with any luck, Kisame and Kakuzu will follow."
"Who's going to go?" Karin asked him.
"That would be Anko, Suigetsu, Raimu, and Naruto," he answered, surprising the Kiri team. They were expecting only one of them to go, not the two who were more likely to fight then work together. "Aside from F.S.-sensei, Anko has the biggest bounty here, which will get Kakuzu's interest. Suigetsu will let Kisame know that the Swordsmen are after him and Raimu will let him know that he's there for revenge."
"And we all know why I'm going," Naruto said, finishing off the Tribesmen's explanation.
"If we're sending in Anko because of the bounty on her head, why not send in Jiraiya?" Suki asked them. It seemed logical to her. Jiraiya had the bigger bounty and since Kakuzu had a sense of greed that defied definition, it would be the better trap.
"Mostly because if we sent him in, it's more likely they would be scared off then enticed them," the blonde explained. "There are only a few shinobi who actually stand a chance against a Sannin and two of them are the other Sannin." And since Orochimaru was dead, there's just one other Sannin now.
"Well, now that's settled, how are we going to pay for the swords, if we get them?" June asked. That was the one part of the plan she thought they hadn't really figured out yet.
Or so she thought. "That's the easy part," Jiraiya told her. He reached into his vest and pulled out a small black book. "I want this back and I expect it to only be used in the Underground Auction," he told Naruto, handing the blonde the book.
"Who the hell do you think I am, F.S.-sensei? You?" he asked as he took the book.
"Um…are you sure he has enough money?" Chōjūrō asked. He felt justified in the fact that if they didn't have enough cash, they wouldn't be able to get the swords. Losing treasures of the village because they didn't have enough money was probably one of the most embarrassing things that could've happen to them (not to mention getting on the bad side of the Mizukage, which was something he wanted to avoid).
To answer his (fairly understandable) legitimate question, Naruto simply opened the book and show its contents to the rest of the room. It turns out that little black book was Jiraiya's checkbook and what was inside it stunned everyone. "It is not possible to have that many zeroes on a single page!" June objected. Never in her entire career as a bounty had she seen such a large number in one spot. Both Azula and Suki nodded in agreement. The former princess of the Fire Nation wasn't quite sure of how much was in the Royal Treasury (she made a mental note to write a letter to Zuko and ask), but it looked like the number could easily rival or surpass what they had.
"Say what you will about the series, but Icha-Icha sells," the blonde told them with complete seriousness.
"Icha-Icha doesn't just sell. Icha-Icha sells very well," Jiraiya corrected him. "And yes, that does make all the difference," he answered the silent question they all had on their mind.
"Yeah, whatever," Naruto replied with a roll of his eyes. "Okay, now that we've basically figured this whole thing out, I'm going to do what I was originally going to do when I came in here. Any guy who went through the same ordeal, please feel free to follow. However, there's going to be a line for the toilet," he declared as he walked away from the room. With no hesitation, all the guys who had been a part of the seduction detail followed him.
Later that night, Naruto sat on the balcony. He wasn't smoking, he just sat in silence. After the trip to the bathroom, he had changed into a shirt and a pair of shorts. He heard the glass door open but didn't turn his head. "Do you need something, Azula?" he asked her.
"Only you," she answered with equal parts seriousness and sarcasm. She walked over to his chair and sat down with him. The chair was roomy enough for her to do so, so neither of them was uncomfortable. "Naruto, can I ask you something? It's been bothering me for a while now."
"Sure. What's on your mind?"
"Why are you afraid of that Danzō person?" When she asked that question, she could feel him tense up slightly.
"…How could you tell?" he asked her after a moment's silence.
"I know you just as well as you know me," she told him. "So why are you afraid of him?"
He was silent for another moment before speaking again. "Do you remember when I told you that your mother was one of the few people that I was utterly terrified of?"
"How could I forget that day?" She was still thankful that he had decided to show her and Zuko that their mother was still alive. Not only did it relieve their fears of her being dead, but Ursa also helped her daughter figure out her relationship with the blonde.
"Well, Danzō is another one of those people. When I was little, I lived in one of his orphanages. I was never offered up for adoption, I was the matron's slave in all but name," he explained. "If I did anything wrong, I was beaten. And every week, he would come to visit me. He would teach me to read and write. If I got anything wrong, I would either feel his cane or be told how utterly worthless I was. I was told countless times how it was a great honor that he had chosen to teach me, but it sure as hell didn't feel like it. By the time I was five, I had run away from the orphanage."
As she listened, she began to hate the man for what he did to Naruto. "Did he send anyone after you?" she asked him.
"In all honesty, I don't know. If there was one thing I actually learned in that orphanage, it was how to make myself scarce. It took a week for the ANBU to find me and bring me to the Sandaime." He had been so terrified when they brought him to the office of the Hokage. "After Jiji managed to coax the story out of me, he put me in the building the Konoha Eleven now live in. And I lived there until I left."
"What happened after he put you there?"
"I didn't know until the first night after we set out for this mission. I asked F.S.-sensei after everyone else went to sleep. Apparently, the orphanage I was originally placed in all too gladly sold me to the one I grew up in and the reason Danzō kept visiting me was because he preparing to train me so I would become a shinobi under his command and obey only him. Once they found out that information, Jiji went to confronted Danzō about what had happened with F.S.-sensei right behind him. He then gave Danzō an ultimatum: if he ever came near me again, he was a dead man. He must've listened because I didn't see him until the day we were given the mission."
"Why would he listen to one Hokage when it looked like he obviously dislikes another?" A blind and deaf man would've been able to see the opinion Danzō had of both Tsunade and Jiraiya that day. If he was like that to Hokage, why would he be any different to another?
"I asked that as well. It turns out that Jiji and Danzō were friends at one point, but it soured over time. I think I was the last straw for Jiji because, according to F.S.-sensei, that was the only time he had ever seen his sensei threaten a friend with death." The idea still surprised him. He knew that his Jiji was the Sandaime Hokage and thus, a shinobi. But whenever he thought of the man, he could only see the kind old man who gave him a home of his own and watched over him. "I had nightmares about Danzō for a while afterwards. He was always there, watching me. It was like no matter where I tried to hide, he always found me with ease and always had that Kami-forsaken cane ready to use." He suppressed a shudder. "I was glad when I entered the Academy, that's when the nightmares of him finally disappeared."
"He won't hurt you anymore," she promised him. "I'll burn him to ashes before that happens again."
"Thank you, Azula." He was grateful for her promise. It was good to know that even though he was still afraid of Danzō, he wouldn't be alone in confronting him. A small part of his mind idly wondered if Jiraiya would stand by him as well. Ever since the Toad Sage had started training him again, his feelings of anger and distrust were gradually diminishing. And in all honesty, that scared him. "…Azula, what you do you think of F.S.-sensei?" he asked her.
She looked at him with surprise. "What brought this around?" It wasn't like him to ask questions like that.
"Just humor me, please."
She sat quietly as she thought it over. "If I had met him as a stranger, I would think he was an oaf and a buffoon who spent too much time going after women or spying on them. But I also know that he is a powerful warrior with enough of a history and reputation to back up his word. And I also know that he is a good man, despite initial appearances, and a good teacher." She looked over at him. "Why do you want to know what I think about Jiraiya anyway?"
"It's nothing, I was just curious," he told her, trying to brush it off.
She didn't buy it for a moment. "If you're curious about something, you don't ask others what they think about it, Naruto," she replied, looking him in the eye. "What's on your mind?"
"…I don't think I hate Jiraiya as much as I did before," he finally admitted.
"Isn't that a good thing?" She might not know much about friends (something she was almost desperately trying to fix), but even she knew that liking someone more than hating them was a good thing.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that when it comes to the Konoha shinobi."
"You're still trying to hold on to that grudge?"
"Yes, I am."
She would've rolled her eyes if this wasn't a serious conversation. "Naruto, if you wanted to keep the grudge, you wouldn't have come to this side of the planet in the first place. We would've stay in the Bending Countries."
"I had to come. I made a promise. Besides, we both know that the Akatsuki wouldn't just stay in the Elemental Countries. They would've come after me."
"I know, you decided to be selfless," she said with an annoyed sigh. "You've always been like that, putting the needs of others above your own."
"What's wrong with being selfless?" he asked. In all honestly, he didn't see anything wrong with being selfless. The only time he hadn't was when he left the village.
"It doesn't hurt to be selfish once in a while," she told him. "You've never considered what you want before what others wanted. You could've said no to the promise and stayed away."
"But I didn't. As much as I could've been selfish, I also wanted that snake bastard to die, even if that meant helping others before helping myself."
"But you didn't have to. You said it yourself; you would've been able to have gotten us out of the village within a week." She shook her head. "It amazes me that you would help Konoha out to kill a certain man, but you would still harbor a grudge against a few of their shinobi."
"What's your point, Azula?"
"If you have begun to stop hating one of them, perhaps you could stop hating the rest of them," she suggested.
"And what exactly have they done to earn that? They've done nothing, but chase after me since I left. When they found me, they kept coming after me despite my attempts to make them leave me alone. If they had left me alone, I might've forgiven them, and I stress the word 'might.'"
"If you don't want to forgive them, why do you interact with them?" she asked him.
"That's mostly because you and the others keep badgering me to do something with them," he grumbled. "Not to mention that the furball has been doing the same damn thing."
"Get over it, kit," the aforementioned furball told him. "The least you could do is talk to them."
"Naruto, even if we have been badgering you to interact with the Konoha Eleven, we did no such thing with you and Team Ebisu," Azula told him with a small victorious smirk. "You did that all on your own."
There was nothing really he could say in response, she had him there. If he thought about it, it was a way of apologizing to them for Kouzan. "What do you want me to do? Try and be friends with them?"
"It wouldn't hurt. You taught me that. I don't expect you to be a hypocrite."
"You'd be surprised."
"I'm serious, Naruto. You have to try."
He signed. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you of all people. I was expecting to have it with Jiraiya or Sokka."
"You'll probably still will. Sokka might be especially pushy." They both knew Sokka was among the more vocal of people in the team trying to get him back on friendly terms with the Konoha teams. Quite frankly, she was surprised the two of them hadn't come to blows about it yet.
He snorted as he stifled a laugh. "I think that'll happen after he and Suki are done in the shower." Azula tried to stay serious, but she couldn't hold it. It was no secret about what the Tribesman and Kyoshi Warrior were doing in the shower (they were all tipped off when Sokka wanted to go last for the shower), despite their attempts to keep it down.
After they shared a quiet laugh, she fell silent for a moment. "Hey, Naruto, I want to ask you something else."
"What about this time?"
"It's about us."
He grew confused and worried. "What's wrong with us?"
"Nothing is wrong with us," she quickly assured him. "It's just…shouldn't we be doing more? All we've really done is held and kissed each other."
His confusion and worry disappeared when he realized who she was unconsciously comparing them to. "Are you seriously comparing our relationship to Sokka and Suki?"
"Well…" She trailed off, realizing what she was implying.
"The same two people who sneak off every chance they get so they can dance the bedroom tango?" he asked her again. She began to squirm a little, making him smirk. "The same two people who—"
"Alright, alright, I get it," she cut him off, sprouting a small blush. She wasn't one to blush, but some of the things he said made her do so. Quite frankly, she hated it when he did that. "Okay, yes, I'm comparing us to them."
"Please don't, I really don't want F.S.-sensei to hear about that one. Kami only knows what he'll say." It would only end with him trying to attack the Toad Sage, and end up with his head painfully pressed against either the floor or the wall.
"It's hard not to," she admitted. "Sometimes, it just seems that they're winning."
He looked his girlfriend. "The last time I checked, we weren't in a race against them." He could only say it with amusement. Azula still sometimes saw things as competitions. That was one of the main reasons why she wasn't allowed in the kitchens at the Fire Nation Royal Palace. "Are you in that much of a rush to get into my pants?"
"It's kinda hard not when I keep wondering what they're doing," she replied with both sarcasm and a little embarrassment. The images that kept appearing in her head whenever she thought about it were enough to make her blush, especially after she made the mistake (in her opinion) of reading a few chapters of Icha-Icha (and she didn't blush easily). "How do you not wonder the same thing?"
"Probably because I'm not a virgin," he answered with a small shrug. Then he froze, having just realized what he said.
"I beg your pardon?" she asked him, an accusatory tone filling her voice.
"Oh, Kami take it," he swore. "…I don't suppose that you'll be nice enough to forget what I just said?" He was kinda hoping that she would, but he also knew that the odds were not in his favor in this one. He finally got his answer when he saw the look on her face. "I thought not."
"Who exactly was the taker of your virginity?" she all but demanded.
"Why exactly do you want to know?"
"I want to know."
"Then I'm not going to be much help, because I really don't know who it was exactly," he admitted a little sheepishly. The memory still brought a slight blush to his cheeks whenever he thought of it.
Apparently, she noticed the blush. "I want details, now!" she growled, straddling his waist and towering over him.
Had this been any other situation, he would've the position they were in a little kinky. But it wasn't the time to comment on that. "Alright, but you're going to have bend down a little." She did so and he began to whisper in her ear. As she listened, her eyes got wider and wider in surprise, shock, and simple amazement. "And that's what happened." he finished.
"Did…did you really do all of that?" It was the only thing she could ask him. She couldn't believe what she had heard come from his mouth.
"As far as I can remember, yes," he answered a lazy and amused smirk on his face. "Are we a little jealous?"
"Yes, we are," she replied. "You are mine, and no one else's." She then claimed his lips in a passionate kiss. That led to a hot and somewhat nosy make-out session that went on for quite some time. It finally ended when Jiraiya stuck his head out and told them to go to bed or he would put that little scene in his next book.
They obeyed his orders rather quickly.
Two days later, the group who was going into the Underground Auction made their way into the forest. The mood among them was a little tense and it wasn't just because of what they were about to do. Ever since the small shouting match the two had, Raimu and Suigetsu hadn't really said much to each other (mostly because they kept a suite's distance between each other and when they were in the same room, Chōjūrō was watching them like a hawk). In fact, the only thing they had really said to each other was regulated to things like "Could you pass the salt?"
"We're almost there," Anko announced as they leapt through the treetops. She held a map in her left hand, looking at it briefly before focusing back on where they going. "We'll descend to floor level and walk the rest of the way."
She began to jump down to lower branches and the other three followed. They landed with practiced effort, someone would've only heard them if they knew what to listen for. They walked through the forest, keeping quiet. After a few minutes, they came across a large tree that had a hole that was just big enough for a human to pass through.
"This is it," Naruto announced. He walked towards the tree and into the hole. After they saw him get in safely, they followed him one after each other.
Once they were inside the tree, they found themselves on a staircase that spiraled downwards. They walked down the stairs, going deeper into the earth. They felt a chill surround them as they went deeper, but they ignored it. By the time they reached the bottom, if they hadn't trained themselves to ignore when it's cold or hot, they would've been shivering. Just in front of them was a tunnel, with a human standing in front of it. He wore a simple grey kimono and had a katana at his side.
"You here to auction for something?" he asked shortly.
"Yeah, we are," Naruto answered, stepping forward. The day before, they had decided that Naruto would be the spokesperson. The main reason was because his constant refusal to wear a Konoha headband (which had started when he and Team Avatar were kidnapped) would mark him as a missing-nin to most eyes.
The guard's eyes roamed over the group. "Strange group," he commented.
"Why should it bother you?" the blonde asked in return, his tone slightly accusing. The other three recognized the tone and shifted their footing, becoming more prepared for a fight.
"It's just pretty odd to see shinobi from rival villages be together," the guard remarked, placing his hand on the katana. That was the only thing he did, but everyone could tell he was ready for a fight too. "Especially with you here," he continued, looking at the blonde.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Suigetsu asked him, joining in the conversation.
"A missing-nin with two Kiri shinobi and one from Konoha?" he asked rhetorically. "People will be suspicious."
"People can go fuck themselves," Naruto told him. "We're here to auction for things your bosses are selling, that's all that matters."
"…Fair enough," the guard conceded, removing his hand from the katana and stepping off to the side. "Go ahead in. you'll be given a catalog once you actually get there."
"Right, thank you." They walked past the guard and into the tunnel.
Kisame and Kakuzu sat far back in the seats of what looks like a theater that was carved out of the rock. The stage was carved out like a gaping hole in the wall. If someone were draw eyes at the top, it would've looked very much like a monster roaring at those who would sit before it. The seats weren't carved out of the rock like the rest of the room, but were rather made out of wood and furnished with somewhat comfy pillows. The idea was that they were comfy to make sure you didn't squirm around, but not so much as to make accidently fall asleep (which had happened once).
"Full crowd," Kisame commented as he looked around the place. The seats were gradually being filled as people who stood around and talked began to look for open seats as well as people who came straight in and sat down.
"It's always been like that," Kakuzu replied. Ever since they began traveling to the Underground Auction, he had been wondering why the ex-Swordsman had come along. He didn't give any reason, so he just decided to come along for the trip. Another annoyance for Kakuzu was the fact that if he went into of his rages, he couldn't just take it out on Hidan. It was a little aggravating, but he had several years of practice holding it in.
"How long until the actual thing starts up?" the wielder of Samehada asked him. He was a little antsy, due to the fact that Samehada itself was locked away in a storage room. One of the more prominent rules about the Underground Auction was that before and during the Auction, all weapons were to stay separate from their owners. The only people who were armed in the hall were the security.
"It will begin in a few minutes," he answered shortly. Movement at the door caught his eye. "Hmm, it seems we have just become very lucky."
"What do you mean?" The blue-skinned man looked at the door as well and saw an interesting sight. Naruto Uzumaki walked into the hall with three others. He made no attempt to hide himself; he just walked right on in. "Oh, I see your point."
"That's not all, Anko Mitarashi is with him," Kakuzu said. One could almost hear his sense of greed filling his voice. "She had quite the high bounty on her head. And Suigetsu Hōzuki too, his bounty a little small, but I'll take it all the same. I don't know who their fourth member is, so he's probably nobody."
"Only to you, Kakuzu," Kisame said quietly. He knew who the fourth member was. In the back of his mind, he knew that this day would come.
"Do you know him?"
"He would be my darling nephew. And the last time he saw me, was when I killed his father," he explained. Although his fellow Akatsuki didn't hear it, his voice had the slightest amounts of bitterness and regret in it.
"They're here," Raimu quietly announced as they walked to their seats. As he walked, his was shooting his uncle with the most hateful glare he could muster. It looked like he saw it, because he couldn't keep eye contact every time he looked their way.
"The rest of us can see that," Suigetsu said shortly. He was the one who had the catalog in his hands and looking through it with a nervous eye. Even though Naruto had told them that Nezumi spilled everything, he still had a nagging feeling that they wouldn't be in the catalog.
"The two of you relax, if we want those two to follow us when this is over, we need to stay in here," Naruto told them as they found their seats and sat down.
"We know that," Raimu retorted. But he didn't take it any farther than that. His nerves were on edge, both from the fact that his uncle was near and the fact that the swords were close by.
"Do you think that they serve dango here?" Anko asked, looking around.
"Is dango the only thing on your mind?" Naruto asked her. It honestly looked like it to him. Then he remembered who she was dating. "On second thought, never mind." To calm his nerves (and to get the forming images out of his mind), he lit a cigarette and began smoking.
Almost immediately, someone came up to them. "Excuse me, sir," he said to the blonde.
"If you tell me that there's no smoking here, this is going to go somewhere that'll make you feel very uncomfortable," he threatened, holding the cigarette up for the guy to see.
However, he didn't even bat an eyelash. "I was going to ask if you would prefer a cigar, sir." He held out a box of cigars for them to see.
"Oh…no thanks," the blonde answered, a little embarrassed and trying to ignore the fox sniggering in the back of his mind. "I'm good."
"In that case, sir, please remember to use the ashtray on the arm of your chair." He pointed at said ashtray and then walked away.
"Well, that was a little embarrassing," Raimu commented.
"Shut up," Naruto told him with a small glare. It was bad enough as it was, nobody need to make it worse. "And not a word of you either," he told the fox.
"I found it!" Suigetsu suddenly declared. A few other people look at them, but the rest just ignored them. Apparently, they were used to spontaneous outbursts. "I found the swords in the catalog!" he told them in a much quieter voice.
"Where are they?" Raimu asked, looking at the catalog. When he saw where they were in the catalog, he frowned. "We're going to have to sit through all of that?" he demanded.
"Looks like it," Anko said as she took the catalog. "Let's just be grateful that it's one of the last items on the list."
Everyone heard the rapping of wood on wood and turned to face the stage. Standing at the podium, was a woman. She dressed to impress, wearing a kimono that showed off of all her curves and in the same color as her highlights. Her lips were full and rosy red, forming a small smile that would've been illegal if it was on a younger girl. "Welcome to the Underground Auction," she announced in a voice that everyone heard. "The bidding will begin presently, please find your seats and for those of you here, who are not representing any of the families, please have your number paddle ready."
"Sounds like it is starting," Karin commented as she watched the entrance to the Underground Auction. She, along with the rest of the teams, had followed at a distance. Once they had found the place, they hung back and kept watch, seeing if anyone would try to come in or out. They were also able to communicate with the inside team via wireless radios. The guards had let them pass with them on, as it wasn't uncommon for representatives to receive their instructions from them.
"There's no need to worry, Karin," Sokka told her, standing at the base of the tree she was in. All the shinobi in the group were amongst the trees while the remaining members of Team Paragon were situated around the bases of the trees. They were scattered around, that way they could have a much better field of vision. "Your boyfriend will be just fine."
"Suigetsu is not my boyfriend!" she snapped at him.
"When he did say anything about Suigetsu?" June asked her from atop of Nyla. Both she and Sokka had joined Anko in teasing Karin about Suigetsu. Quite frankly, it was obvious that the two of them liked each other, despite them trying to deny it by insulting each other (and occasionally hitting one another). Oddly enough, the only one who hadn't said a word about it was Jiraiya.
Karin's only response was to start banging her head against the side of the tree. The entire trunk managed to vibrate each time she hit it. "I think she's wants you guys to stop that now," Jūgo commented with a straight face
"Sorry, we can't help it," the bounty hunter replied with a smirk on her face and not an ounce of apology in her voice. "We need something to relieve the tension on a mission and it gets boring sometime listening to Naruto and Sokka argue."
"Hey, don't mock our arguments! They're extremely important!" Sokka told her with a glare.
"You don't even know who is winning," Azula replied with a roll of her eyes.
"If everyone could shut up for a moment, I can get into contact with the inside team," Jiraiya said, joining the conversation and effectively cutting it off. After everyone fell silent, he contacted the other team. "How're we doing, Naruto?" he asked through the radio.
"We've got confirmation on both the items and the targets," the blonde replied in a hushed whisper. Everyone heard him, having turned to the same channel to listen in. "However, we're going to be in here for the long haul, since the items are among the last being auctioned. Just keep us advised if anyone is coming in or out."
"Don't worry about us. You just keep your eyes on the prize."
"Talk about stating the obvious, F.S.-sensei," he replied in dry sarcasm before disconnecting.
They all stayed silent as they waited for anyone to show themselves. For some, the waiting was the worse than the actual thing. Time would seem to stretch to an almost unbearable length. The one who had it the worse was probably Azula, if her fidgeting and clenching her hands were anything to go on.
"Everything will be fine." Suki assured her, noticing her fidgeting.
"Why should it matter to you?" she snapped. "Sokka's not the one in there, is he? Don't start telling me that everything will be fine!" She fell silent for a moment and then looked at the Kyoshi Warrior. "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that," she apologized, meaning it. While she was still not used to apologizing for her actions, she tried to be sincere and not go overboard in the process.
"It's okay; I'd probably be the same way if Sokka was in there." She quickly glanced over to see if the Tribesman was listening in. When she saw that he wasn't, she turned her attention back to Azula. "Don't ever tell him I said that."
"He won't hear it from my mouth," she promised. "But it's a little too late for that now, isn't it?" She looked pointedly at the Kyoshi Warrior, making her blush a little.
"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Sokka asked looking over at them. They could hear the curiosity in his voice and see in his eyes.
"Nothing," they replied in perfect unison.
The curiosity turned to suspicion. But he didn't have the chance to follow up on that suspicion. Akela sniffed the air and gave him a little growl. He instantly went on the alert and looked around. His eyes locked onto a man who making his way to the tree. The others saw him made sure to stay out of his line of sight. Once they saw him enter the tree, Sokka contacted the inside team.
"Naruto, someone's coming in." He began rattling off the details.
They waited to see the man come in, ignoring the auctioning that was going around them. When the man finally entered, they all watched him make his through the seats. "False alarm, Sokka," Naruto told him through the radio as the man finally sat down. "He's not with the Akatsuki, just one of the families."
"Right, got it," The Tribesman replied. "We'll still keep a lookout. By the way, how are things going in there?"
"We're in the double digits, that much I can tell you. I stopped paying attention after that," he answered before disconnecting the radio. He looked over at the others. "Does anyone know what number we're at exactly?"
"I think we're at the eighties, maybe," Suigetsu offered uncertainly. "Other than that, I don't know."
"I think it's safe to say we now know why it started early in the morning," Anko commented. "We're going to be here a while."
"We already established that fact," Raimu said shortly. Ever since they had sat down, his gaze had never left his uncle. If looks could kill, they would've lost count of how many deaths Kisame went through.
"Relax, Raimu," she told him, scowling lightly. "I know it's going to be a while. I was just being sarcastic."
"Well, we really don't need it right."
"Hey, if we keep this up, they're going to kick us out of here," Suigetsu reminded them with a pointed look. "And we don't want that. We just have to wait it out."
Naruto pulled out the book he had been working on. "That's why I brought this." Opening to the page he had left off at, he began writing again. While it honestly looked like he was writing, he was also keeping track of the people who were coming and going.
As the Underground Auction dragged on, more and more people stopped bidding. The representatives were among the ones who bided, but as the items went on, even they began to stop. Through all of this, the inside team kept track of the people who went in or out of the hall. So far, not one of them went near the Akatsuki members.
"I'm beginning to think that nobody is going to meet up with the target," Anko said quietly into the radio. "So, we're probably going to strike out on the information pumping idea."
"It was a long shot at best," Jiraiya admitted. "I guess we'll just have to focus on the swords and the targets."
"You mean we weren't doing that in the first place?" Naruto remarked, stubbing the finished cigarette in the ashtray. His remark made the others there smile and also made Anko suppress a snigger.
"Does anyone know where we are in the items?" Raimu asked. By his count, they had already been in the hall for a good four hours (there weren't clocks anywhere in there and he didn't have a watch, so he was mostly guessing).
As if to answer his question, the lady at the podium (who also was the auctioneer) made the announcement they've been waiting for. "Item number 2,962: the remaining four swords from the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist." The swords were pushed onto the stage behind her. They rested in glass cases, so that everyone could see them. When Raimu and Suigetsu saw them, they both gave a small sigh of relief.
"The opening bid is 10,000 ryō, do I hear 10,000?" One of the men in the front raised his hand. "The representative of the Kinkouchi family bids 10,000. Do I hear 15,000?" Another man raised his hand. "The Chuutetsu family bids 15,000 ryō. Do I hear 20,000?"
"Time to join the game," Kisame thought as he raised his paddle.
"Number 120 bids 20,000. Do I hear 30,000?"
"We need to get in there," Suigetsu said in a whisper.
"Already on it," Naruto replied as he raised the paddle in hand.
"Number 97 bids 30,000 ryō," the auctioneer said without missing a beat. "Do I hear 40,000 ryō?" A third man from the front raised his hand. "The representative of the Tekkou family bids 40,000. Do I hear 50,000?"
"Kisame," Kakuzu said shortly.
"I know," he replied, raising his paddle.
"Number 120 bids 50,000. Do I hear 100,000 ryō?" the auctioneer asked the crowd. Most people were glad to have silently made the decision to stay out of the bidding for this item. Even the representatives who were bidding for it were now considering backing out if the price would get any higher any faster. Their bosses hadn't given them any direct orders on obtaining the swords, but they mentioned an interest in getting them. Currently the only ones who were interested in the swords were the Akatsuki and the inside team.
Nevertheless, Naruto responded by raising his paddle. "Number 97 bids 100,000. Do I hear 200,000 ryō?" the auctioneer asked the crowd.
"I can stay in a bit longer," the first man thought as he raised his hand.
"The Kinkouchi family bids 200,000 ryō. Do I hear 300,000?" No one answered for a moment. "300,000 going once…going twice…" Kisame raised his paddle. "Number 120 bids 300,000. Do I hear 400,000?" Naruto instantly raised his paddle. "Number 97 bids 400,000. Do I hear 500,000?"
Taking a risk, the representative from the Chuutetsu family stood up. "I bid 2,000,000 ryō!" he declared. Everyone looked at him in surprise. That was high number for certain.
"The Chuutetsu family bids 2,000,000 ryō," the auctioneer said calmly. "Do I hear any other bids?"
"Hah, I can top that easily," Kisame thought as he stood up. "I bid 200,000,000 ryō!" he announced loudly. People were now looking at him and began whispering to themselves.
"What are you doing, Kisame?" Kakuzu asked him, a small amount of anger and fury entering his voice. While his greed was well-known, Kakuzu was also known for being incredibly stingy. He hated losing any more money than that absolutely needed (it was this conversation that usually led to him going into one of his rages).
"I'm making sure that they come after us," he replied, looking over at the four in question.
"What the hell are we going to do?" Raimu demanded in a harsh whisper.
"There's no need to worry," Naruto assured him with a lazy smirk. "If Kisame thinks he can beat us with a big amount of money, he's about to be sorely mistaken."
"Gaki, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, don't you dare," Jiraiya ordered through the radio.
"Relax, F.S.-sensei," he replied. "It's not like you won't be able to afford it."
"Number 120 bids 200,000,000 ryō," the auctioneer said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Do I hear any other bids?" No one said a word.
"What are you waiting for here, Naruto?" Suigetsu asked him, getting agitated.
"The right moment to tweak their noses," he replied with nonchalance.
"200,000,000 going once…" The auctioneer said. "200,000,000 going twice…"
That was when the blonde decided to stand up. "I bid 800,000,000,000 ryō!" he announced in a loud voice. If the people in the hall were surprised by the prices before, now they were downright shocked. No one had ever bided for something on that high of a price. When Jiraiya heard the price, he could only groan in misery.
"Number 97 bids 800,000,000,000 ryō. Do I hear any other bids? 800,000,000,000 going once…800,000,000,000 going twice…800,000,000,000 going three times…sold to Number 97!" she declared, banging her gavel.
"Gaki, I'm going to murder you," the Toad Sage threatened the blonde through the radio.
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.
That little backstory concerning Raimu's father, Kisame, Suigetsu's brother looked about right to me. They never did tell us how Mangetsu died in the manga or the anime (unless I somehow missed that little tidbit of information). What better way than to make both deaths happen at the same hands?
One of the reviewers had asked me when Azula was getting some actual screen time again. He had pointed out that she had really done anything in recent chapters, so I'll have to make sure she gets some.
One of the countless stories I've read had said that Naruto was raised in an orphanage run by Danzō. It seemed like a good idea to me, plus it would help with Naruto being scared of him. I think it would be safe to say that any child would be afraid of the person who was trying to them to read and write if they got the same punishment.
If any of you will think that because he beginning to hate Jiraiya less, the same will happen to the rest of the Konoha Eleven, think again. Please remember that when he wants, Naruto can be very stubborn. Let's face it, all the nagging his teammates (and Bijū) have done has made him budge slightly. One wrong move and he could clam up again.
I'll see you all next chapter!