Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.

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Memories Of Others

Chapter 48

A Chunin Endangered

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"They've certainly been talking for a while." Naruto said as he accepted another card.

"Hime and Sensei have a lot of catching up to do." Jiraiya shrugged as he gazed at his own hand. "Call. Full house, nines and threes."

"Three of a kind, sevens." Hinata sighed as she put her cards down.

"Do I get a bonus for having a totally random hand?" Kakashi half-joked as he put down his cards, none of which were anything resembling useful.

"Two pairs, fives and eights." Shizune said, showing her hand.

"Two pairs as well. Aces…" Naruto said, putting down two of the cards, "and aces."

Jiraiya groaned. "How? You haven't lost a single hand! I know you aren't cheating, I've been watching, so… how?"

"At least we're not playing for money." Shizune pointed out.

Naruto shrugged, hiding a smile.

"Maybe we should order some food." Kakashi suggested, glancing at the window. "It looks like it's about to get dark… some rooms as well, or are we going back to Konoha?"

"Interesting thought." Jiraiya mused, glancing at Naruto. "That skill of yours really changes things. I think I should hire the rooms, though. Tsunade may not want to head back at once and if the rest of us go back without her, she may change her mind and try to sneak away."

Shizune gave Jiraiya a look and he shrugged helplessly. "What? She's been running for over a decade. Sensei's good at persuading people to see things his way, but people don't change their habits that quickly without some sort of physical reason."

Jiraiya turned to Kakashi for support, only to blink at the sight of the empty chair where Kakashi had been sitting. A quick glance round showed the cyclopean shinobi to be at the bar, handing a small roll of money over to the grinning barkeep.

"Huh. Kid pulled a ninja vanish on me." Jiraiya said, his voice a curious mix of pride, awe and embarrasment. "Haven't had that happen for a long time. I must be getting old."

"How old are you?" Naruto asked before he could stop himself and Jiraiya chuckled.

"Old enough to be a legend, kid."

"He's fifty." A new voice said and Jiraiya pouted at Tsunade as she walked across to join them at the table while Hiruzen moved to join Kakashi at the bar.

"You know we were in the same class, right Hime?" Jiraiya pointed out and Tsunade shrugged as Kakashi and Hiruzen rejoined them.

"As much as I'd love to stay, the amount of damned paperwork still on my desk means that I need to get back." Hiruzen said. "Naruto, if you would?"

Three clones popped into existence behind Naruto as Hiruzen patted Tsunade on her shoulder.

"I'll see you again soon, Tsunade-chan."

"Okay… sensei." Tsunade agreed with a smile. "Just look after yourself until I get back. You've strained yourself enough already."

"But I'll soon have the best medic-nin in the Elemental Nations helping me." Hiruzen countered as the trio of clones took position around him. "See you soon, my student."

"Soon, Sensei." Tsunade whispered as Hiruzen vanished in a flash of light.

"So, who's for Sake?" Kakashi asked, breaking the mood and earning a glare from Tsunade.

"Sounds good to me." A voice said from the door and Naruto, Kakashi, Tsunade and Jiraiya all stared in shock at the cloaked man who had just entered the room and lifted the woven hat enough to expose his face.

"…Orochimaru…" Jiraiya choked. "But… but Sensei killed you!"

"It was rather painful." Orochimaru agreed with a smirk as he stepped forwards to allow a second cloaked figure to enter. "But I had a few backup plans in place… after all, you should both know how well I plan."

"When you can actually be bothered to put your mind to it." Jiraiya riposted even as Naruto used the distraction to look round. The back door was already occupied by two more figures in the black-cloaks-with-red-clouds that Orochimaru was wearing.

"We're surrounded." Naruto whispered and Kakashi gave a tiny nod.

"We're outnumbered." Hinata added, her byakugan active. "There are six more of them lining the roof… their chakra is… they share the same chakra… what are they?"

"What do you see?" Naruto asked as he shifted position slightly, allowing his Haori to dangle freely, thus giving him easy access to his shuriken.

"Their chakra, it… it's radiating out from bits of metal in their bodies and… and it also leads away… north!"

"I think that's enough." Orochimaru stated, his smile vanishing. "Lord Pein will be annoyed at you… although I do thank you for the information. I wasn't aware until now that he was using a technique like Sasori's."

A cough from the back interrupted his ruminations and Orochimaru nodded.

"I quite agree, Itachi, it's time to get things moving. Lord Pein only wants the Jinchuuriki, so Naruto, if you surrender, you have my word that we'll let the others leave unhurt. How about it, you wouldn't want your fiancee to get injured, or even killed, would you?"

Hinata's eyebrows lowered into a frown.

"You aren't taking my snuggly away."

Orochimaru looked somewhat taken aback by the sheer determination infusing Hinata's voice but Naruto smirked.

"I think that I'll be able to escape, Hinata."

"No, you won't." Jiraiya stated, pointing to Orochimaru's companion, who had produced a syringe filled with an odd-colored liquid. "They'll keep you unconscious until it's time to do whatever they want to do."

"…something's wrong." Naruto stated, his voice filled with sudden worry. "I can't get a lock on the tags… something's blocking me…"

"One of the ones on the roof is doing it." Hinata ground out. "I can see the effect it's having."

"Then we have our primary target." Jiraiya stated. "Which one is it?"

"Currently the middle one." Hinata supplied and Jiraiya grinned, pulling out a large roll of ryo and throwing it behind the bar.

"That should cover the damage." He said. "Tsunade, skylight, please."

Orochimaru's eyes widened in shocked recognition and he opened his mouth to shout a warning, but Tsunade was already in motion, grabbing the table and hurling it straight up through the ceiling, Jiraiya leaping up after it so quickly that he was almost within touching range, leaving behind a shout of "Kuchyose no Jutsu!"

Even as Itachi and his companion pushed their way in through the back door, Naruto grabbed Kakashi's hand. An instant later, the room was filled with clones of both Naruto and Kakashi, the latter of whom blinked in shock before, in unison, raising their Hitai-ates to expose their three-tomoe sharingans.

"Why am I suddenly having flashbacks?" Orochimaru grumbled as he dived out of the way of a trio of attacks, then another blast of smoke marked the appearance of a dozen more clones, this time clones of Naruto and Hinata.

"Heh, this is fun!" Itachi's companion laughed as he pulled out a huge, bandage-wrapped sword and used it to flatten and dispel a couple of the Naruto-clones. Orochimaru's companion flung open his cloak and shed his hat to reveal that he had several more Sharingan embedded in his skull and one on each arm.

"That is just wrong." One of Naruto's clones stated before a fist wreathed in electricity dispelled it.

"You should see the arm of my secret ally." Orochimaru grinned before a snake emerged from his mouth and extruded a sword that fell into his hand. "You know, I can't use my skills to their fullest extent since I need to take you alive, but they never mentioned how many limbs you were supposed to have…"

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Jiraiya landed on the rooftop even as two clouds of smoke marked the successful summoning of his chosen allies.

"Both of us, Jiraiya-kun?" Fukasaku asked. "Habit?"

"One of these can absorb chakra." Jiraiya stated as the red markings under his eyes began to expand. "Let's see how it does with Sage cha… Yahiko?"

"Yahiko is dead, there is only Pein." The figure thus addressed responded.

"Wait… Hinata said the bodies were being controlled… and those eyes… Nagato?"

"Hello… Sensei."

"Nagato." Jiraiya repeated, this time in shock. "I heard that Hanzo had killed you all… I was on my way back with reinforcements when I got the message… is Konan still alive?"

"…she is."

"Nagato, it isn't too late." Jiraiya pleaded. "You don't have to do this!"

"No, I do." Nagato stated through Yahiko's body. "Farewell, Sensei. Shinra Tensei!"

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"The hell?" The blue-skinned man gasped as his strike was blocked by a pair of crossed Kunai held by Tsunade. An instant later, she stamped as hard on the floor as she could, causing a plank to sharply rise.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

"Kisame!" Itachi shouted as he disengaged from the quartet of Kakashis he was fighting and moved to counter Tsunade's follow-up strike. "What happened?"

"…ow…" Kisame whimpered as he lay on the floor, curled up in a tight ball of pain. "That really fucking hurts…"

"Shit!" Orochimaru's companion yelped as he barely avoided a trio of strikes delivered by three Hinatas who were working together in perfect harmony. "Boss!"

"Little busy here, Shin!" Orochimaru called back as he frantically dodged a quartet of Rasengans before diving to avoid a chidori. "These clones are quite aggravating!"

"I know!" Shin yelled back as he rolled to avoid a shuriken barrage, only to come face-to-face with another Kakashi. "Shit!"

"I thought that you'd slacked off!" Orochimaru growled as he countered another Kakashi-clone. "You're almost back up to how you'd been at your peak! How?"

"I took a long look at myself." Kakashi replied as he dodged Orochimaru's blade. "Naruto inspired me."

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"Why, Nagato?" Jiraiya yelled as he delivered an axe-kick at the figure that had shed its cloak to reveal six arms with odd metallic lines on them. "Why are you doing this? What do you hope to achieve?"

"I am no longer Nagato!" Three of the Paths chorused in one voice. "I am Pein and only through pain can peace be finally achieved. If you will not stand with me, then you are my enemy."

Jiraiya ducked underneath a blast of energy that issued from the mechanized Path's hand, then did a backwards somersault kick that seemed to miss, but nevertheless sent the augmented enemy flying, crashing into the same hole that had been made by the Path that Jiraiya had substituted with after he had been sent flying by Pein's first attack.

"Nagato, you have no idea how much this hurts me." He grumbled as he delivered another senjutsu-enhanced strike that send the animated corpse of his former student flying. "Now, which of you was the one blocking Naruto?"

"It's that one!" A clone of Hinata shouted as she was launched out of the gap in the roof an instant before a chakra-beam from the multi-armed Path forcibly dispelled her.

"Thanks." Jiraiya shouted down the hole, then he ducked a missile barrage. "Ma, pa, I need as much Sage Chakra as you can…"

"Do you know what you're doing?" Shima asked worriedly and Jiraiya nodded.

"Trust me."

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"Aaaaargh!"

Shin stumbled backwards, clutching at the stump of his left arm. Hinata backed away, throwing the severed limb into the corner of the room, then ducked the back-swing of Orochimaru's blade, a back-swing that was in turn blocked by one of the five remaining Kakashi.

"Heh, these two haven't trained together." One of the other Kakashi's noted. "Not like those two."

"Less talking, more fighting!" Tsunade snapped as she jerked Shizune out of the way of a kunai thrust from Itachi, then dived to one side as a wind-enhanced kunai hurtled back at the Akatsuki member, missing him by a fraction of an inch.

"They're dispelling my clones too fast!" Naruto shouted as he wrapped wind chakra around a second kunai. "We can't hold… we're going to need a miracle…"

"Ask and you shall receive!" Jiraiya shouted from above and a statue looking like a humanoid frog crashed into the floor.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted in glee. "All non-naruto clones, attack! Originals to me!"

Tsunade and Shizune disengaged from their battle against Itachi, allowing a trio of Hinata-clones to take their place. Orochimaru tried to press his attack, only to be sent flying as Jiraiya plummeted through the ceiling and delivered a snap-kick, using the recoil to land next to Naruto.

"Here!" Jiraiya shouted and one of the clones grabbed him.

"Pervy sage ready!"

"Medic ready!"

"Apprentice ready!"

"Cyclops ready!"

Naruto caught Hinata in a hug. "Hime ready! Jump!"

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The two remaining Paths still upright on the roof stared at the hole where multiple flashes of light had briefly illuminated the shattered wreckage within.

"What happened?"

"They got away." Itachi stated as he blurred into visibility next to one of the Paths. "It would seem that Naruto has managed to learn his father's version of the Hiraishin rather than simply the Guard variant."

"Gonna… kill… that… bitch." Kisame grumbled from below as he finally managed to stand up, using his sword as a crutch while his other hand remained cupped around the abused portion of his anatomy.

For a long moment, the Shinobi simply stared at each other, then Itachi's form wavered before he collapsed, as did Kisami's. The bodies that hit the ground, however, weren't the ones that had started to fall.

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"Even through that technique, it hurt." Kisame grumbled as he stood up over a dozen miles away and started to stretch. "At least I'm still intact, had it really been me there, I'd be singing soprano permanently."

Itachi simply nodded and pulled out a packet of pocky.

"That Shin dude, though, those eyes he had are freaky." Kisame continued, not noticing how Itachi had briefly frozen mid-motion, his normally-neutral face creasing slightly into a frown. "I wonder what his story is."