Out of the Unknown

by axellon2008

Naruto discovers a crashed starship outside his village and his life is forever changed. Under the unorthodox tutelage of a Sith Lord's spirit, he will learn the technology and history of a larger galaxy that he, and no one else from his planet, ever knew existed.

16. Chapter 16

AN: I don't own Naruto, or Star Wars

AN: Yes I know its been a while but I am still writing. I've lost some motivation for my other stories but not this one. Hopefully I'll get back in my zone and get out chapters faster. This one is extra long so enjoy!

x-x

36.5 BBY – Current Year

Chapter XVI: Moving forward

continuation from last chapter

x-x

"What do you mean they were made in Grass Country?" Jiraiya asked speculatively as he looked at the items she was holding.

"I mean what I say I mean. The pouches, supplies, and shoes were all made in Grass Country." replied Tenten with her hands on her hips and a glare.

"And how do you know this?" asked Jiraiya for clarification and ignored the glare of the thief.

"I grew up in a weapons shop. I know how to tell Konoha and Fire Country supplies from all the other villages." stated Tenten and she folder her arms across her chest.

Jiraiya's thoughts about possible punishment for the two thieves were quickly replaced with thoughts about the new information he just received. He knew that whenever an academy student graduated they were given a weapons pouch, shuriken pouch, and standard supplies as a graduation gift. These supplies were always made by the village or by Fire Country. No village or even ninja would ever purposefully purchase supplies from another village. It just wasn't done, unless they were a missing-nin.

The fact that Naruto was carrying these items from Grass Country was definitely giving him a bad feeling. 'The supplies were from another village and the sword was a fake.' he thought to himself as he built off this new information. If the supplies weren't correct and the sword was a fake, then what did that mean for the body?

Earlier he did find something wrong but at that point he couldn't figure out what, but now he was sure. 'The seal isn't the real thing either.' he realized. It was definitely the correct seal however what he didn't see before was that it wasn't his students seal. He could recognize his students work. 'Minato didn't make that seal, and if the seal was a fake that meant that the body was a fake too.' he put together and it made sense however it left him more questions.

Who was in the morgue? How did the examiner not discover the body was a fake? How did Grass Country factor into it? Where was Uzumaki Naruto?

He started with the question that seemed the most out of place which concerned how Grass Country was involved. In order to figure that out, he needed to determine where and when Naruto would have encountered anyone from Grass Country. The answer hit him immediately and he needed to get to the ninja archives to figure it all out and determine if his hunch was correct.

He was about to leave when he remembered that he still had two guilty genin standing before him. He could have turned them over to the ANBU but their illicit 'activities' had actually helped him and the information he might find out from what the girl had revealed to him would likely make up for what he caught them doing.

Despite this, he still didn't think they should just get off and decided to put them to work. The records room was a incredibly boring place and looking through all the files he needed was both time consuming and tedious. It would take a while to find the files and information that he needed if he just went by himself.

'Unless I had a few unpaid workers helping me out.' he thought and smiled at the two genin who both started to get a bad feeling about what would happen next.

x-x

Naruto leaned on Karin as she helped him walk through the facility to where he left Kabuto and Tayuya. He glanced over at Suigetsu, who was carrying the larger Juugo on his back and thought, 'This definitely didn't turn out how I thought it would.'

Now he had three prisoners and he would have to get them all to Snow Country without anyone seeing him or without leaving any trail or witnesses along the way. The best route to take was through Hot Springs and then trying to find a ship at a port along the coast. The problem he would have to overcome was that so few ships went to Snow Country. Only a couple of ships went there each month and even fewer came from a port that he could easily get access to.

Going through a country with a major hidden village was not a good idea. He might get stopped by border patrols and he had to take three prisoners with him. There were questions he wouldn't be able to answer about why he was carting three people when none of them were in any bingo book or had a bounty on their heads.

Of course any of his prisoners could cause trouble along the way which only added the possibility of problems.

'It was such a simple plan in the beginning. Why did I make it so complicated?'

"There's trouble up ahead." Karin said and Naruto created a few shadow clones to carry himself and Juugo. He looked to Suigetsu and the white haired boy grinned as he brandished the ninjato and ran ahead of the group.

x-x

Huffing, Tenten put a new stack of files onto the table that Jiraiya was sitting at. 'Slave labor.' she remarked to herself at their treatment by the Sannin. It was already late at night and she had to get up early for team training but now she was looking through files in the Ninja Archives.

Neji used his byakugan to examine the remaining file cabinets for the correct file tabs. He wasn't supposed to look in the actual files so he was just looking at the marked tabs for the correct labels and then he would inform Tenten of where the files were.

Jiraiya opened the newest manilla folder and looked through the information. So far he had looked through every mission file that Naruto had but the boy had never been near Grass Country and had never encountered any Grass ninja on any of his missions. Somewhere there was a connection to Grass Country or at least to Grass ninja and once he found that, he might be able to answer the other questions that he had.

'If it wasn't a mission then what was it?' he wondered and sat back in the chair as he pondered this question. He was interrupted in this thoughts when the girl cleared her voice and asked if that was all they had to do and if they could go home.

Jiraiya was about to respond when he had the answer, "The chunin exams." he said out loud and received questioning looks from both genin.

"Bring me every file that is from the most recent chunin exams." Jiraiya ordered and both genin grumbled while they got back to work finding the files with the help of the archivists.

From what he could remember from conversations with the Sandaime, Naruto had been one of many chunin staffing the exam before he was promoted. Grass Country usually participated in the Konoha exams and at some point during the exams, Naruto must have come into contact with Grass ninja.

There were always deaths during the second exam and it was likely that the body currently in the morgue could have been one of the chunin hopefuls from Grass Country. The two genin brought him more stacks of files and he quickly sifted through them to separate the files that were of no use to him.

He pulled out several reports that were made by Naruto as part of proper reporting during the course of the chunin exams. The reports were quite bland and he skimmed through them until he discovered that Naruto was patrolling the fence of the Forest of Death during the second exam. He stopped reading when he found a part that greatly interested him.

Apparently Naruto had come across a genin while outside the forest and the genin told him one of his teammates was dead while the other missing. Naruto then entered the forest of death to find the missing teammates.

It was quite odd as usually chunin patrolling the fence weren't supposed to interfere but it had been known to happen. What really peaked his curiosity was that the genin was from Grass Country. He examined the rest of the file and noted that Naruto reported the other two Grass genin as dead but no bodies were recovered. He read intently when he came to a part about encountering Orochimaru and the examine proctor, Mitarashi Anko.

He again stopped and thought, 'At least it doesn't appear that he even so much as spoke to Orochimaru, but perhaps its best to be sure.' Turning to Tenten he asked her to retrieve another file from the archivist concerning a report made by Mitarashi Anko about what happened in the forest and also had Neji get the report by the surviving Grass genin.

Whenever deaths occurred during the chunin exams, they had to have a short report made by the surviving member or members so that they had documentation of the death on file. Despite signing a waiver, it still helped to have extra documentation.

Jiraiya waited for his genin helpers to get back and Tenten was the first to come back with a file. Jiraiya opened the file and skimmed through it to where Anko wrote about her encounter with Orochimaru. He skipped areas of text that talked about eating dango as well as a long rant by Anko concerning how she wanted to kill her former sensei and what methods she planned to employ if she ever got the chance.

He finally came to the area he wanted and read through it. Then he read through it again just to make sure he was getting the facts correct.

Anko had mentioned running into Naruto which he already knew about, however she also mentioned that Naruto was traveling with someone else. A red-haired girl from the Hidden Grass village. His mind worked through possibilities to explain this and he had a good feeling that Anko's report was the one he should go by for what events really took place.

'Naruto encountered a Grass kunoichi and traveled with her through the forest. It's likely that the kunoichi was part of the genin team whose member he already ran into earlier. However, he reported the two members of the Grass team dead. Did something happen to the girl before he left the forest?' he wondered and didn't like where the train of thought was taking him.

If Naruto found one member of the Grass team then he may have also found the other as well. The body in the morgue had gear made in Grass Country and was definitely a boy, so the body they discovered may be the genin that was never recovered. He didn't like these thoughts but that was where his intuition and experience was taking him. He however still didn't know about the girl.

Neji arrived moments later with the file concerning the surviving grass genin and basic information on his teammates that were supposedly killed and not recovered from the forest. Jiraiya pushed all of the other files that were on the table away from him and focused on the new file.

Rather than looking at the statement that the surviving genin made, he searched for the information on the deceased genin which was also placed in the file. It was just basic information that was filled out when the ninja applied for the chunin exams and included a picture.

Jiraiya found the missing shinobi's profile first and looked at the boy's information. In terms of size, weight, and blood type, the deceased Grass genin was a match for the body in the morgue. He had a feeling that was what he would find and turning to the next set of information he focused on the picture of a red-haired kunoichi with a Grass forehead protector partially covered by her hair.

'So the girl was alive when Naruto ran into Anko, but he reported her dead to her surviving teammate and sensei. What happened to you, Karin?' he thought as he stared at the picture of the young kunoichi. Thoughts filled his head of Naruto perhaps killing the girl but they were stopped when Tenten's voice brought him out of this thoughts.

"Why are you looking at Karin's file?" she questioned and Jiraiya looked at her seriously.

'Does she know this girl from the exam? Did they talk to each other at some point?' he wondered and decided to ask a few questions and then break the news to the girl that her acquaintance was possibly dead.

"Do you know her?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yep, she's an academy student but I haven't seen her for almost a week. We hung out a couple of..." Tenten began but was interrupted by Jiraiya bombarding questions at her, "Academy student?! Just last week?!"

Tenten stood rather frozen at the strange change in Jiraiya's demeanor and wasn't sure what to say or why the Sannin was yelling at her.

Jiraiya calmed down for a second before beginning in a lighter tone, "You've seen this girl as soon as last week?"

"Yes. She's an academy student. We went shopping and out to lunch several times. She had a bunch of questions to ask about being a ninja and kunoichi." replied Tenten and she was getting a little worried and nervous about where the conversation was heading.

'An academy student?' thought Jiraiya as he went through the possibilities of this new information. The genin in front of him was positive that she had seen this girl and that she was a Konoha academy student. His mind went through scenarios of a Grass genin infiltrating the village with Naruto's help or of Naruto being a spy for Grass Country but none of those made any sense. The redhead didn't look like a spy and was likely too young to be on any infiltration mission.

The best explanation that he could come up with was that, for some unknown reason, Naruto had helped a Grass ninja defect to Konoha. However he just couldn't find a reason why Naruto would do something like that and he was sure that what Tenten said about the girl being in the academy was a lie. That left him wondering where the girl was now and why Naruto had helped her. Everything he knew about Naruto pointed to the boy being a complete loner but there must have been a reason for him sparing the girl.

Although Karin may be unaccounted for, the best source of information he had about her was the the kunoichi in front of him. The redhead may have been telling lies but sometimes there was truth in the lies that people told.

"What exactly did you and Karin talk about? Tell me everything." ordered Jiraiya and Tenten stood silent for a brief moment before firing back, "No! I want to know what's going on and how Karin is involved?"

Jiraiya sighed and decided that if he was going to get the information he wanted, he would have to reveal some. He motioned to the chair and Tenten sat down across from the table he was sitting at and Neji took a seat as well.

"The girl you know as Karin is not an academy student and is not even from the village. She is...or was...a former genin of the Hidden Grass village." stated Jiraiya and he put the photo in front of Tenten so she could see the partially covered Grass forehead protector. Tenten was speechless for almost half a minute and Jiraiya decided to give her time to get over the shock and betrayal.

"So who is she?" asked Tenten and she looked up from the picture.

"According to our records she entered the chunin exam like you did and has been dead for over a month." Jiraiya revealed and he could see the disbelief on the girls face.

"While in the forest, she came into contact with Naruto and while I don't know what happened, he apparently helped her to fake her death. I also have a strong suspicion that the body in the morgue may be one of her former teammates." he continued and was nearing the end of his explanation, "I need to know everything the two of you said and anything that could be of some help. I still don't know why she stayed in the village but I don't think she defected to the village. The village doesn't take in many ninja from other villages and if we did there would be a good reason. A bloodline or special ability that would benefit the village, and I'm just not seeing that here."

"Well maybe she joined the village and few people knew about it?" Tenten questioned as she tried grasp for an answer that put Karin in a good light.

'Sensei would have told me about something like that when we talked about Naruto. Whatever did happen, the only person that knew about it was Naruto.' Jiraiya thought which was how he knew that Karin wasn't a part of the village but he decided to humor the girl and sent Neji off to look for any records of a person that recently joined the village or the academy.

They waited for a while and Jiraiya searched through the other information in the files he had. Neji returned shortly with files on the new residents in the village and there were no new academy students or current academy students that were Karin. Tenten looked through all the files as she tried to find one for Karin but she didn't find one for her friend.

Jiraiya gave the girl a few moments as he waited for her to accept what he was telling her.

Tenten began talking less than a minute later, "We didn't talk about that much and I didn't mention anything that was sensitive to the village." she said and Jiraiya nodded as he knew she likely didn't know any village secrets that she could accidentally give away, however he needed more information on Karin.

"What did she tell you about herself?" Jiraiya questioned and waited for the answer.

"Well she said she was an academy student and looking to become a medic-nin." replied Tenten as she tried to remember anything that could have been important. Most of the information they talked about was related to being a ninja or the upcoming chunin exam finals.

'A medical-nin.' Jiraiya mused as he thought about what information he had and tried to fit it in. Looking in one of his piles, he pulled out Naruto's file and confirmed what he already thought he knew. There was no mention of any ability in medical ninjutsu and in order to alter a body to such a degree, it would have taken knowledge and skill which Naruto didn't seem to have.

'So he needed the girl to help him.' he put together and it did make some sense. He just wondered if Karin was still alive. 'Did he run away from the village with her?' he questioned and he couldn't think of an answer. He knew what he wanted to be the answer. He hoped the girl was still alive as everything that Naruto had done up to that point was not something that couldn't be undone. Even if Naruto had essentially become a missing-nin, as long as no one knew Naruto was still alive, then he could hopefully find the boy first.

He could still fix the situation. As long as the council didn't find out about it until he found Naruto, then everything would be fine and he could return Naruto to the village with few repercussions. Of course he needed to make sure that no one else found out that Naruto was still alive, and that meant he had to make sure that the two genin in front of him did not spill the beans to anyone.

'And I still have to find Tsunade.' he reminded himself and he would set off in search of her in the morning.

"You two can go now." he stated to the two genin and they were quite relieved as they got up and began walking to the door of archives.

"Oh, one more thing." said Jiraiya and both turned around to see him smiling.

"If either of you ever try something like you were planning tonight..." and he paused for a short break while keeping the smile, "...I'll transform you both into toads and you'll never be able to turn back into humans."

Both genin shivered slightly as the sentence ended with a healthy dose of killing intent. They were about to turn around when Jiraiya added, "I'll also know if you come even within 30 feet of the morgue and personal possessions room. Everything you learned tonight is an S-ranked secret and you aren't to discuss it with anyone."

The atmosphere instantly changed when he added the last sentence and the smile was replaced with such a serious look that both still stood there looking at him seconds after the statement was over.

x-x

Kabuto and Tayuya's heads turned to see what the noises were that came from farther down the hallway. It sounded like someone was moving rubble.

Tayuya had only just woken up and found herself tied up as well as gagged. She was rather angry at being near Kabuto and the fact that the white haired ninja was not gagged and she was. From their cell, they could see down the hallway and noticed that there was some debris at an intersection a short distance away.

Kabuto figured that it was likely Naruto coming back from wherever he had gone and attempted to once again free himself from his bonds. The endeavor was again futile and he knew that Naruto had thought about everything concerning his bonds and his possible escape. He figured this was likely because of all the time that they spent together on a team and had no idea that Naruto had a much better look into his head.

Glancing over at the struggling Tayuya, he knew that they wouldn't be able to do anything to get free in the near future. Tayuya still had her cursed seal but if her chakra was as drained as his was, then the seal would be little help. Pulling on the chakra in the seal while low on chakra would likely cause her to be taken over by the seal. While this would help him, it would kill her and he knew she wouldn't go for it, especially after she and the rest of the Sound Four had been explicitly told what would happen.

The removal work down the hallway continued and eventually they heard talking. However while he could hear the voices, none of them were Naruto and he couldn't hear Suigetsu either.

'That's may not good.' he realized as they were likely in one of Orochimaru's facilities and earlier the ground had shook numerous times. Kabuto's mind worked fast and he reasoned that this might be the prison facility in the North. If something happened in the facility, the prisoners would take any opportunity to escape and most of them had cursed seals.

He closed his eyes and focused on his hearing as he ignored Tayuya's muffled sounds as apparently she had realized that something was wrong as well. He was able to pick up several broken sentences from different people between the thuds and thumps of rocks and debris being moved.

"..just a little farther..."

"..I can't wait to get out of this hellhole.."

"Are you sure there is an exit this way..."

"The guards are way more concerned with other parts of the facility..."

'Oh crap.' Kabuto thought and he doubled his efforts to get free. He moved himself over to Tayuya so that they could help one another. The kunoichi had excellent hearing and likely heard more of the conversation than he did so she was just as panicked and desperate.

Quite possibly, a group of cursed seal experiments were headed their way and they were not only trapped in a cell but tied up and helpless. The subjects in the prison hated him and he knew what they would do to Tayuya.

As they struggled, the voices and noises got louder and louder until they heard, "Finally we're through."

Footsteps could be heard of at least 6 people crawling through the remaining debris and walking down the hallway. They frantically struggled in order to be able to defend themselves in some way against the coming group. The steps got louder until they were right in front of the cell.

"I thought you said nobody was in this part of the prison?" asked one as they looked at the two struggling figures on the floor.

The others crowded around the cell until one of them recognized Kabuto.

"Well, well, if it isn't Orochimaru's right hand boy-toy. Is this some kind of game that the two of you play?" and he laughed along with the others.

"It can't be. The snake bastard isn't interested in girls." stated another as they looked at Tayuya and she didn't like the look they had in their eyes.

"Since this is a prison break, we might as well help them out."

"Its payback time, Kabuto." stated another.

"Then maybe the girl can help us out a little too." said another suggestively and the rest of the group agreed.

The two helpless captives watched as one of the group started changing with the cursed seal and it seemed that he had much more control of it than most of the other prisoners. Moving up to the bars, he began to slowly bend them apart and try to break the barrier tag in order to get inside the cell.

x-x

"Finally I get to use this thing in action." said Suigetsu aloud as he raced down the hallway. He'd been holding the blade for several minutes and each minute that passed he wanted to use it more and more. He wanted to see what it could do and was itching to come across someone to use it on.

Coming to the corridor that Naruto had collapse, he smiled as Karin was right and someone had apparently come through there. Reaching the intersection in the hallway he kept his speed and ran up the side of the adjacent wall instead of slowing down to turn. A prisoner was standing right there and he smiled as he swung the blade from his position on the wall.

The red blade quickly passed through the man's neck and neatly decapitated him. Suigetsu flipped in the air and landed in the middle of the group as they just finished bending the bars enough to get at the prisoners inside.

With a quick smile at their shocked expressions, he swung the blade behind him and removed the legs of the mutated man standing behind him. Two men in front of him charged and he swung the blade while dodging their attacks. The blade efficiently removed several limbs and Suigetsu left them to bleed out as was his standard practice. He may come back to finish them off when he was done.

The four he attacked were helpless against his blade and even the partially transformed prisoners stood no chance as he removed another man's arm and then cleaved him in two.

It wasn't until he looked around for anyone else that he noticed that one of the prisoners had managed to get inside the cell and was holding the red-haired girl by the throat. He didn't want to stop as she meant nothing to him but he knew that Naruto had some purpose for her, so he stopped his assault right as the man with the hostage spoke.

"Come any close and I'll snap her neck." stated the prisoner.

"Yeah I kinda figured that by the way you were holding her and the panicked, desperate look in your eyes." Suigetsu said and then laughed.

The other prisoner that was still alive and outside the cell, charged Suigetsu and punched him in the face. The attack resulted in a splash of water and the reforming of Suigetsu's head. It was at that moment that Naruto, his clones, and Karin came around the corner and found the stalemate.

'Shit! What the hell am I going to do? The little bloodthirsty bastard has reinforcements.' thought the prisoner with his arm around Tayuya's neck.

Naruto removed himself from the clones back and walked, as best as he could, up to Suigetsu and the cell.

"Stay where you are!" the man demanded and the other prisoner stood his ground but was still wary of Suigetsu and the newcomer who seemed to be in chare.

Everyone ignored the muffled shouts of Tayuya as they faced each other in the stand-off. Naruto was the first to break the silence and speak. "I have no idea who you are and I don't really care. If you let the girl go, you can both leave alive."

Suigetsu frowned slightly at the declaration as he really wanted to finish them off.

The prisoner stared at the cloaked figure and just smiled as he knew he was in a good position to get something more. Then he looked over to Suigetsu, "Gimme that sword brat."

"Hell no!" responded Suigetsu and he looked down at the beautiful blade. There was no way he was giving it up.

"Give him the blade, Suigetsu." Naruto commanded and Suigetsu responded, "No way, its mine."

Naruto frowned and glared at Suigetsu. Using the Force, he spoke to him. 'May I remind you that the blade is not yours and is mine.' said Naruto into Suigetsu's mind.

The boy was momentarily startled at the voice in his head but quickly composed himself. 'Oh, yeah.' he remembered and wondered why he had thought the blade was his.

Though reluctant to part with it, Suigetsu took a moment to get one last look at the blade before he tossed it to the man. The blade parted from Suigetsu and spun perpendicular to the floor with the blade facing down and the handle pointing at the ceiling.

'You better not be giving him such a great blade.' Suigetsu said to himself but he had the feeling that Naruto did hear him.

As the blade neared the man, he stuck out his arm to catch it. It was then that Naruto acted, moving his hand underneath his cloak as he used the Force to control the blade.

The blade suddenly rotated so the point of the blade was facing the man, and then shot forward with far more speed than what Suigetsu's throw had given it. The prisoner was taken completely by surprise and the red blade pierced through his eye and out the back of his head before he had a chance to do anything. He fell over a moment later and Tayuya was left standing there with a shocked look on her face.

Kabuto looked on with interest as he had never seen the blade that Naruto was carrying, nor seen him use a sword in the way he just had. He wasn't even sure how Naruto had managed to move the blade like that. Orochimaru had been able to do something similar with the Kusanagi but that made the blade glow with his chakra and he saw nothing with his eyes that would indicate a chakra string, nor any jutsu.

The last remaining prisoner ran as fast as he could down the hallway in order to put as much distance between himself and the group as possible.

"Suigetsu, duck." Naruto said and smoke erupted as he unsealed a discblade. Suigetsu ducked as Naruto tossed the blade which chased after the last remaining prisoner.

The man looked back and saw the blade so he dropped to the floor. The shuriken like object flew over him and he got back up. Quickly glancing back at the brats he smiled as they didn't seen to be doing anything else to stop him. He started running and then turned back around only to see the same shuriken heading straight for him. There was no time to dodge and it sliced through his torso and separating him into two pieces.

"That was brutal." Suigetsu said with a smile and ducked to dodge the discblade as it returned to its owner. Naruto caught the discblade and then sealed it. He extended his hand out and his sword removed itself from the other prisoners head and flew handle first into his outstretched hand. He then sealed the sword as well.

"I gave them a chance to leave." stated Naruto and looked around at the group he was now taking with him. Seeing as Kabuto and Tayuya were both able to walk, he thought it might be best to have them walk and have someone, or his shadow clones, carry Juugo. There was still a lot of ground to cover before they made it to a boat, and then they had a long journey to Snow Country.

x-x

"Can you believe that?" Tenten questioned and didn't give Neji a chance to say anything before she cut him off.

"After all that he just tells us to go and then makes everything that we discovered an S-ranked secret. Can he really turn us into frogs?" she said and asked the last statement in a much lower whisper. They were both walking back to their homes from the archives in the Hokage monument.

"He's one of the Sennin, anything is possible. You do realize that since it is an S-ranked secret then we shouldn't be talking about it." stated Neji as he glanced around. They weren't talking that loud and it was nighttime in the village, so there was no one else around but he was still wary. He wasn't sure what his uncle was going to say about his long absence but he at least had an excuse given that everything that happened was now classified and he couldn't tell anyone. Despite Hiashi being a clan head and member of the ninja council, an S-ranked secret was still an S-ranked secret.

"I know how important an S-ranked secret is, but can you believe that Naruto faked his own death to leave the village. I don't even understand why someone would want to leave Konoha." Tenten admitted and was very perplexed by the whole situation. She had grown up in the village and couldn't understand why someone would want to leave it. Naruto seemed to be advancing in rank at a much faster pace than anyone else and likely would have become a very important person in the village. It didn't make sense to her why he would leave.

"I don't know what Uzumaki's reasons were for leaving but we shouldn't be talking about this in the open. We shouldn't even be talking about it period." replied Neji and Tenten frowned. She didn't want to admit it but Neji was right. She just wished that the deserter had left his sword behind.

The two stayed silent until they parted ways at the next intersection. Tenten headed back to her shop while Neji headed back to the Hyuuga clan compound.

A few moments passed before two figures emerged from the nearby shadows. One was taller than the other and both had hats and high collared trench coats hiding their features. The shorter one raised his head revealing a pair of fully formed sharingan. He looked around to make sure the area was now deserted and then glanced as his partner.

The taller figure raised his head enough so that a row of sharp, shark-like teeth could be seen and then he spoke, "Looks like the Jinchuuriki is still alive and already left the village."

"So it seems." spoke the shorter figure and then both moved back into the shadows. There was no point in staying in the village if the Jinchuuriki had already left days before. They had to report back to their leader as soon as possible concerning the new information.

x-x

Staring at the communication device once again, Plageuis's frown deepened. He was sitting inside his study or what used to be Doto's study. He received no communication from his student in the last day and half, despite trying to send several messages. The boy obviously wasn't in Snow Country and should have already communicated with him and been on his way there.

His mind filled with possibilities of what could have gone wrong. His student had never failed him but it was possible that Naruto had been discovered or captured. It was also possible that the boy had done something impulsive and without proper planning. He knew his student had already recruited one person as an acolyte or helper and he wondered if that person was somehow influencing Naruto.

All were possibilities and he didn't like any of them.

"Meizo." he commanded and the ninja in question quickly appeared from smoke that had come through the cracks in the closed door.

"Find Naruto." Plagueis commanded and the smoke ninja disappeared a second later. With his reduced Force connection he could not feel his student but he knew that since Naruto performed the ritual on the demon brothers, that they had a connection with him that would allow Meizo to find Naruto. Whatever was keeping his student from arriving in Snow Country and holding up the rest of his plans would be taken care of by Meizo.

Though Naruto had the best means of transportation, the speeder bike, Meizo's unique smoke demon abilities would allow him to travel across the ocean faster than any boat on the planet.

He would deal with Naruto once he found out what was going on.

x-x

One day later

x-x

A short streak of purple smoke moved swiftly over the ocean and landed on the shore of Wave Country. It formed back into Meizo and he looked around to make sure that no one had seen him. He was on one of the uninhabited islands of Wave but he still needed to make sure. He was still a missining-nin and old paranoid habits stuck with him.

It seemed that the closer he was to Naruto, the better he could pinpoint his location and what direction to head in. Closing his eyes, he settling on a single direction to continue traveling in.

Looking back at the ocean, he smiled as he was able to make a seven day journey by boat in just over a day. He and Gozu had spent all their spare time in Snow Country training. They both received training advice from Master Plagueis and had access to many copies of ninjutsu scrolls that went with Plagueis on the boat to Snow Country.

After quite a while staying at chunin rank, he now felt more confident that his abilities were now closer to special jonin and with his smoke abilities he could probably fight a jonin. Neither he nor Gozu had been able to determine just what kind of threshold they could take in terms of ninjutsu damage before they were actually hurt.

Genjutsu had no affect on them and normal weapons or physical attacks could not hurt them at all but Plagueis believed that a strong ninjutsu, above C-rank could actually hurt them despite their smoke abilities. They had yet to test this theory though as neither wanted to purposefully injure themselves.

Turning his attention to the direction he wanted, he began changing into smoke again and using his Smoke Travel technique to move across the remainder of the ocean and towards what he thought was Hot Springs Country.

Turning completely into smoke he was able to travel in a plume of smoke a short distance off of the surface and at a fast speed. He couldn't fly but from a jump he could smoke travel quite a distance vertically before he returned to the ground as if gravity took hold. At most he could smoke travel about twenty feet high before he could no longer sustain his height and was forced to come lower to the surface. However he could travel at a height of several feet above the surface for an incredible amount of time.

He didn't quite understand why this was, but he wasn't going to complain. Becoming nearly invulnerable to most damage wasn't something a person should complain about. Especially since he had yet to really find a major drawback to it. Through experiments, they did find that they were slightly susceptible to water and that it hindered there smoke abilities. Water prevented them from turning into smoke and made them stay solid but they weren't vulnerable to normal weapons even in that state. It was a weakness however and one that Plagueis told them to be wary of against a ninja with a water affinity.

Ironically, both he and Gozu had water affinities, but this also meant that they had a good understanding of what jutsu a water users was capable of and could plan accordingly.

He soon reached the shore of Hot Springs and moved West. Apparently that was where Naruto was.

x-x

Naruto sat leaning up against the wall of his earth jutsu as he looked over the group he was now traveling with. He had basically created a large dwelling with earth jutsu as his group would attract too much attention if they stayed at a hotel or inn. Looking at his watch, it was about time to wake up and head out again. He had knocked out both Kabuto and Tayuya in order to make sure that they did sleep and didn't wake up in the middle of the night to try and kill him or escape

They might be able to reach the coast by morning and then from there they needed to find a boat that would take them to Snow Country.

The benefits of his impulsive plan greatly outweighed the cons but he would likely have to prove such notions to Master Plagueis and explain his impulsive decisions. He had put off contacting him for quite a while and it was mostly out of urgency to get to Sound Country before Orochimaru but now he found himself not wanting to talk with Plagueis. He had a bad feeling what would happen if he did but also a bad feeling what would happen if he didn't.

He sighed at the no-win situation and decided to start waking everyone up.

Juugo had awoken after their fight and been much more stable than before. The teen would glance at him from time to time and he had a feeling that at some point they would need to talk. Tayuya had slightly pacified as well. She no longer tried to kick him every time he got within kicking distance. Kabuto just glared at him slightly and then would smile. He of course knew that Kabuto was probably the most dangerous person in the group of three he had taken with him, as the medical-nin was very calculative and patient.

If he slipped up, Kabuto would not hesitate to take advantage. He started waking up the two he could trust more, Karin and Suigetsu, first and would then wake up the others. The temporary building would need to be destroyed so that they didn't leave a trace behind.

x-x

Moving swiftly through the trees, they were making good time and would be at a port soon. Naruto had numerous clones forming a perimeter around the group to make sure that no one tried to escape.

Everything was going well until Karin spoke up, "Someone's coming!" she alerted him and the group stopped as the real Naruto moved to talk with Karin for more information. Her range was about half a kilometer when she wasn't focusing.

"How many and what can you tell me about them?" Naruto demanded as Karin stood still and focused on her sensing.

"Its just one but they're coming right for us and fast!" she responded and Naruto was about to unseal his sword and create a defensive formation when he felt the person in question. A smirk appeared on his face and he mentally ordered his clones to stand down. He knew exactly who was coming and was glad.

A cloaked figure sped out of the trees and landed right in front of the group. Karin moved backward at the sight of the intimidating figure but Suigetsu smiled and asked, "Meizu-sempai, what are you doing here?"

Meizu glanced at Suigetsu and chuckled, then looked back at Naruto, "Master Plagueis sent me to find you, Naruto-sama. He wants to know what is taking so long to get to Snow Country."

Naruto frowned at the statement while the others wanted to know more. He had yet to actually tell them where they were going or about Plagueis and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as he could. The less they knew, the less chance they could tell anyone else should they escape or be caught.

It was obvious though that it could no longer wait and so he signaled to the others that they were taking a break. Removing his large scroll from his back, he went about unrolling it to find the communication device that he had sealed into it.

Though just a short distance away, the others were very intent on finding out what was going on and just who 'Master Plagueis' was and why Naruto apparently needed to contact him.

Kabuto found it very strange that the ninja spoke with respect to Naruto but also respect to the other person. Despite what he had seen, Naruto was still only twelve and he could easily see the boy working for someone else, though he had no idea who that person was. He watched as Naruto unsealed something from the large scroll and wondered what the device was. It had a monitor and some kind of antenna. Though he was familiar with many pieces of technology, he had never seen something quite like what Naruto had.

The device seemed to have been put together from other electronic devices and didn't look like something that anyone could buy from a manufacturer or that was mass-produced. 'I wonder if he made it himself.' he thought but wasn't sure as he had never noticed Naruto being interested in any form of technology.

Naruto adjusted the device and the screen turned on to static as he answered the message and awaited for Plagueis to respond. The screen quickly changed to that of a person but it was hard to make out details from sitting so far away.

'Well if I can't make out the figure, I'll just listen in.' thought Kabuto as he and several listened to what was going on. However, while they could hear the conversation, it didn't really matter because both appeared to be speaking in another language.

From what he could tell, there was no hesitation and it seemed Naruto spoke the other language fluently. This was also strange as he had never heard of anyone speaking another language, ever. He didn't even know that there were other languages spoken in the Elemental Countries.

"There were some delays, Master." responded Naruto in Basic.

"How many delays?" demanded Plagueis as he could see through his student's vague response.

"Four." Naruto quickly responded and he looked intently at his Master to judge the man's response to the information. Keeping his thoughts to himself was difficult with Plagueis' yellow eyes boring into him.

"Four?" Plagueis repeated and he wanted to be furious and to choke his student through the communication device. "And you just decided this on a whim?" he questioned and Naruto could feel the restrained fury coming from his master.

"No, I had been thinking about it for a while. An opportunity presented itself and I took it."

Gato's body took a deep breath and then exhaled as Plagueis continuing staring at his student. Naruto had basically gone rogue and done whatever he wanted instead of coming to Snow Country. The chance of their discovery was probably greatly increased because of his student's actions..

'Is he realizing just what kind of power he has over me in my current condition? Perhaps he's testing me or my 'flexibility'.' Plagueis thought but had difficulty reading into Naruto's real intentions. Bringing in one person wasn't that big of a deal, especially if she was a sensor but now adding four more people.

It concerned him what Naruto might be planning or his reasoning. 'Is my student just going soft and unable to eliminate the loose ends? How can he trust four people he just met?'

"You had better have a good explanation for your actions by the time you get here. If not, then you'll deal with the extra baggage you've accumulated by yourself. Are we clear?" demanded Plagueis and Naruto responded, "Yes, my Master."

"There is a boat heading out from Hot Springs Country, which I assume is where you are. See that you make it in time. I'll arrange for transport. It isn't a shipping vessel though, so make sure that you don't cause problems and aren't discovered or reported.

"I understand, Master." acknowledged Naruto and he bowed slightly.

"I await your arrival. Don't keep me waiting any longer."

The transmission ended and Naruto was left with his thoughts while he absently continued to stare at the empty screen.

He had good reasoning for taking each of the four new people that were coming with them, however, while he could see the advantages, he wondered if Master Plagueis would see them as well. Turning to the group of four, he contemplated which were the least likely to be accepted by his Master.

Suigetsu seemed like the most likely to be accepted so he knew he didn't have to worry about him. Kabuto could go either way and so could Juugo. They could both be highly valuable or not interest Plagueis in the slightest.

However, Tayuya seemed like the least likely to be accepted. While she did have limited genjutsu ability, it all focused around her flute, which was currently in his possession. He was not aware of her having other genjutsu ability and without her flute she may not be very useful as it was a large liability to give it back to her. She did have a cursed seal but with Juugo and all of Orochimaru's research and notes, that really didn't matter.

Looking at the girl in question she sneered at him and his gaze.

'That isn't really helping.' he thought as he also acknowledged the fact that she was likely the biggest flight risk and hardest to deal with.

Kabuto was much more devious and would wait for a moment and Juugo seemed to be going along with everything for now, but Tayuya would try and escape the moment he took the seals off of her.

At least he had a whole weeks journey to Snow Country to figure out what he could do.

x-x

A cruise liner.

The only ship that would take them to Snow Country was a cruise liner.

No shipping vessels were headed to Snow for at least another week and now he had to worry about not causing any problems on a ship full of passengers. All the while, he had three ninja that wanted little to do with him and two of those three that were definitely plotting escape or to kill him.

'I have a headache.' Naruto thought and rubbed his temples. His clones spent about an hour making sure that none of his prisoners would be able to escape their rooms and that they were completely sealed in. He couldn't let any of them mingle with the rest of the passengers and they would be confined to two large suites that were connected by a shared wall and adjoining door. The suites were the most expensive and luxurious on the boat. Any meals would be through room-service and only Karin, Meizu, and Suigetsu would be allowed to leave.

To ensure this, he inked in explosive seals on Kabuto, Juugo, and Tayuya's bodies. Should they make it past his seals and escape the room, they would explode.

It was rather extreme but it was the best plan he could come up with.

x-x

Naruto wiped his mouth with his napkin as he ate with Juugo and Kabuto. Meizu and Suigetsu were out in other parts of the ship while he watched his two prisoners. Karin and Tayuya were in another suite. Tayuya may have hated him but he was quite sure she wouldn't do anything to Karin.

"Not very talkative." Kabuto stated as he ate his meal and stared down his captor across the nice wooden table.

"You can put the dinner knife back with the other silverware." stated Naruto as he focused on his meal and took another bite. Kabuto smiled, bemused at the statement and removed the steak knife from his sleeve, then placed it back on the table.

"Why did you kill Kimimaro?" blurted out Juugo as he stared at Naruto with a serious face.

"I had no other choice and it was the only humane thing to do." Naruto began and before Juugo could cut in he continued, "Kimimaro was dying of a disease and I could not help. Had I found him earlier perhaps something could have been done but he was terminally ill. Would you rather I left him there to slowly die. He was in pain and I ended it. He felt nothing and simply didn't wake up from a coma. I couldn't very well carry a dying person all the way to the Northern hideout. He needed those machines he was hooked up to and was therefore completely stationary. I honestly didn't even know the two of you were friends and even if I had saved him, he would have tried to kill me anyway. I would have ended up fighting him and he would have died that way instead of peacefully." Naruto elaborated and then continued his meal as he let Juugo digest the information.

Silence fell over the table as the occupants of the chairs continued to eat. It was at least a minute before Kabuto decided to ask a few questions about what he had witnessed the previous day. "Who were you talking with yesterday on that device?" he inquired of his captor.

"You'll be meeting him when we reach Snow Country." responded Naruto and smirked slightly at how he evaded the question and how it riled Kabuto up.

"Exactly what language were speaking yesterday?" Kabuto continued to push as he searched for some answers to sate his curiosity.

"You'll be learning it soon enough as well." was Naruto only response.

"We will?" questioned Juugo.

"Yes, it will be a necessity where we're going." answered Naruto.

"And where exactly is that?" questioned Kabuto as he knew that people in Snow Country didn't speak a different language and that meant that Snow Country wasn't the final destination and just a stopping point. Despite his anger at the death of Orochimaru, he was very curious about Naruto and what was going to happen to them. He knew everything he saw so far hinted at something but whether it was as big as his imagination played it out to be, he had no idea.

"Once we get to Snow Country and you are able to impress him, I will tell you everything you want to know."

"And just how interesting is this revelation that you have for us?" joked Kabuto as he smiled and adjusted his glasses.

"Life altering and something you could never have imagined." answered Naruto with a small smirk. Kabuto frowned as he hadn't found out anything but was now more curious than ever about what Naruto was really up to and who the person was that pulled his strings.

Juugo was similarly interested.

x-x

It was rather quiet in the girl's suite as Tayuya and Karin silently ate their food. Tayuya was not very happy about the additional seals on her and didn't like being confined to the suite. Despite being an incredibly appealing and extravagant prison, it was still a prison.

Between bites, the two redheads would give glances at the other but the conversation had only been one sided as Tayuya had not been in a talking mood so Karin had stopped trying.

Tayuya decided though that she wanted one question answered that had been bugging her for the entire trip, "Why do you go along with the pint-sized rat?"

Karin looked up at the girl across from her and the edge of her lips involuntarily moved as she found the title for Naruto rather amusing but she wasn't going to laugh out loud. She took a few moments to think about the question and how she might respond to it.

"Well, I suppose I follow him because no one had ever thought I was useful before. He was interested in me and saved my life. So far, going with him has been better than staying in my village. He's given me instruction and many scrolls on medical ninjutsu that I would never have been given or even had access to while I was still in Hidden Grass. I've never been able to be so useful before and I never had much of a purpose." Karin answered and the answer itself made Tayuya's eyes narrow.

Basically Karin had joined Naruto for nearly the same reasons that she had joined Orochimaru. No one had been the least bit interested in her when she was living on the streets but Orochimaru had been. He had given her instruction and power. She became useful and had a purpose. It may have had several downsides such as her body slowly deteriorating because of the cursed seal but it was better than what her life had been before.

x-x

Once he was done eating and Suigetsu and Meizu were back, Naruto moved to the adjoining room where Karin and Tayuya were staying.

Walking into the room, it didn't take long for the two girls to notice him and they both quieted down to see what he wanted. Noticing that they had finished, he asked Karin to leave so he could talk with Tayuya alone.

Once Karin was gone, the room was silent as the two looked at each other. Naruto could feel her apprehension and worry about what he was there for and decided to end the silence.

"Upon arriving in Snow Country, I will have to explain myself to my Master." Naruto began and he gave a brief pause before continuing to let this sink in.

'His Master!' Tayuya thought as she realized who he must have been talking to the other day on that communication device.

"I will have to explain why I deviated from his plans and why I brought back four people, especially since he never agreed to letting anyone join." Naruto continued and he gave another pause to let himself read Tayuya and determine what she was thinking.

'Join!? Join what?' she wondered and kept her eyes locked on him while her right arm moved to the knife she took from the silverware they were eating with. It was placed in the rope that was wrapped around her waist that all the Sound Four were required to where. She didn't like where the conversation was heading, or the fact that Karin had left the room.

"I will have to explain why I decided to let you live and take all four of you with me. Unfortunately for you, the others have a much higher chance of being accepted as part of the group by my Master. You only have genjutsu and they all require your flute. You're also not very trustworthy and I can't give that flute back to you until I can trust you. Do you see the problem?" he questioned and didn't move to check that the flute was still underneath his cloak where he had put it.

Though she was angry at being seen as unimportant she could see where he was going with the conversation. She would have to prove herself in order to continue living but she couldn't prove herself without her flute, which he couldn't give back to her because he couldn't trust her. Was he there to kill her then?

'I'm fucked no matter what.' she realized and her hand grabbed the handle of the concealed knife.

Naruto was about to tell her it was useless but she acted before he could say anything. The knife was flung at his head and he caught it with his hand before it touched him. Despite not having access to her chakra, Tayuya had rounded the table she was sitting at and was nearly on him before he Force pushed her away.

She grit her teeth as she impacted the wall and began trying to use her cursed seal to aid her. The seals on her chakra would prevent her from activating it as much as they could before they broke.

A pattern began emerging from a spot on her shoulder and the flowing black tattoos moved over her skin. Looking up and smirking, the smile soon faded as she found that Naruto was already standing in front of her. She tried to use her enhanced strength but she was too late and Naruto had already put his hand on her head.

Tayuya tried to fight back but found that she couldn't move and her cursed seal began receding back into the seal on her shoulder. 'Damn it!' she thought as she knew there was nothing more that could be done.

Naruto dragged her defeated form back to the table and put her back in the chair.

"As I was saying, seeing as my Master may not believe you have enough value to live, I will have to spend the trip teaching you as much as I can." stated Naruto and Tayuya's eyes widened with surprise.

'What the hell? This rat bastard is going to teach me?'

"I'd prefer it if you just called me Naruto and not 'rat bastard'." Naruto said and smirked at the girl's surprised look. Ignoring how he had managed to read her thoughts, she decided she wanted more information as to his motivations, so she demanded, "Why would you help me?"

"Because I made a choice by keeping you alive. I could have killed you with the other members of the Sound Four but I felt you have value. I must now prove that to my Master as I made the decision without his consent. If you fail to live up to his expectations or he does not see value in you then he will make me kill you myself." Naruto said with finality and Tayuya scowled at him.

She didn't want to be there and now only had a week to learn new techniques, which she knew was impossible in that short time span. In order to save her life from the whims of someone she had never met and never wanted to meet, she had to do something that was impossible.

'This fucking sucks ass.'

"And what the hell can you possible teach me in a weeks time?" she voiced her concerns over the deadline that was slowly waning.

"You'd be surprised at how much I can help you in a week. I was thinking I would spend the time working on genjutsu since it's your strongest area of expertise. You will need to learn genjutsu using handseals and not just your flute." stated Naruto and he pulled up a chair to sit across from her.

Deciding it might be best to just go along with it, and given that she really didn't have much of a choice, "Fine, you can spend the entire trip trying to help me not get killed by some asshole I don't eve know." Naruto didn't respond and ignored the name she had referred to Plagueis as.

"I suppose you must be quite proficient in genjutsu then." she inquired as she was slightly interested in getting more genjutsu.

"Nope. I can't even use genjutsu." confessed Naruto and he smirked underneath his hood.

"WHAT!?" Tayuya responded and grabbed a fork off the table to kill him with. Naruto grabbed her wrist, twisted her arm, and maneuvered her to the floor where she impacted with a thud.

"How the fuck you supposed to help me then? You might as well kill me, you stupid bastard?" she yelled into the carpeted floor and Naruto could feel her anguish and fear. Though the girl seemed very strong on the outside, he could tell that she was actually close to tears. Her situation was bleak and he thought about letting her go but he really couldn't given that she had seen his face and might tell someone. There was also no where else for her to go.

Konoha had her image in their bingo book and she had helped in the assassination of the Sandaime, as well as working directly for Orochimaru. The only thing she could hope for was to join one of the few small clans in Sound Country that were not under Orochimaru's control and even then, they wouldn't trust her. The only thing keeping her safe was Orochimaru and now that he was gone, there was nothing else and she knew that.

Using the Force to calm her down as he relaxed the knee he had on her back, he loosened his grip on her arm, and waited to begin speaking again until he knew she was properly listening.

"Despite that I am not able to use genjutsu, this does not mean that I can't help you. I know numerous genjutsu and have all the knowledge and theory behind them. I can teach them to you." he tried to assure her.

Despite the likelihood that in one weeks time she would learn next to nothing from him, she decided to take the small hope. If it didn't seem to be working out then she would put all her efforts into escape.

"Good..." Naruto said as he knew she had given in, "Now all you have to do is look into my eyes." he stated and stared into the brown eyes across from him.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Tayuya questioned as she saw no point in what he wanted to do and didn't even try to look him in the eye. 'Stare into his eyes? Does he really think that is going to do anything?'

Naruto stopped himself from rolling his eyes at her doubt but she finally relented and looked into his blue orbs. For several seconds nothing happened and she was about to start giving him a piece of her mind when she felt a tug and for a second everything went black.

x-x

Tayuya looked around her new surroundings and tried to figure out where the hell she was. One moment she was in the suite and the next in a hallway of metal that she couldn't recognize. The floor was also flooded with water that felt slightly cold.

There didn't appear to be any exit or at least pathway that would lead her to somewhere she thought would be safe. Her moment of thought soon passed when she jumped at the presence of someone next to her.

She quickly turned and came face to face with Naruto.

"Its best if you stay with me. You could be in danger if you wander off." he said and motioned for her to follow him down the cold metal hallway. Deciding that she certainly didn't want to get lost in...wherever it was she was now in, she followed close behind as Naruto walked down the hallway and then turned into one of the entryways to another room.

The room was quite large but empty. Naruto stopped once he had walked into the center of the room and then turned to Tayuya. "We're currently in my mind. In here the passage or perception of time is much different. I can spend hours teaching you what you need to know while only a small amount of time passes on the outside. This is how I plan to keep you alive. Do you wish to continue?" he explained and asked.

"Fine." she accepted and secretly thought that the genjutsu help could enable her to escape later on. Especially if her captor couldn't use genjutsu.

"Then lets begin."

x-x

Snow Country

x-x

Upon their arrival days later, Naruto and his group traveled from the harbor to the train station that was set up and from there they took the train to Doto's castle. Naruto spent a good portion of his time examining the train and all its aspects. Despite being low tech compared to what he would be working with later on, it was still incredibly interesting.

The others found the train ride interesting as well. The train was very extravagant with spacious and decorated interiors in the cabins. The most prevalent thoughts going through the passengers minds were that whoever Naruto was working for must be well connected or have deep pockets. The ride took several hours before they reached a castle. The train came to a stop at a small station that was built into the lower levels of the castle.

So far everything was going smoothly but he still had to have the much anticipated and dreaded conversation with Plagueis. He spent a good portion of his time on the boat trying to come up with the best reasoning why he should be allowed to take so many people with him and to integrate each of them into the group. They all basically brought something unique and that his Master likely would be interested in but he had to prove that.

Kabuto began to suspect that Naruto worked for Doto, who had appointed himself leader of Snow Country but this proven to be wrong when they passed the leader in one of the hallways of the castle. The man didn't even seem to notice they were there or acknowledge their presence and Naruto barely looked at the man.

The group continued on until they entered the large audience room with Doto's throne where Plagueis was sitting in Gatou's body. Gozu was standing next to him and looking out over the group.

'That's who he works for?!' a couple members of the group thought as they stared at the short and pudgy man in the chair. They couldn't believe that Naruto would work for someone like that. The man was obviously not a ninja and it eluded them what hold or influence that he could have over Naruto.

Plagueis got up from his seat and walked down the staircase of the tall pedestal that the throne was situated on. Once he reached the ground level, he viewed the people that Naruto had brought. He didn't get much of a briefing on who they were and what their abilities were as he wanted to wait on that and see them for himself firsthand.

He only recognized Kabuto and wasn't that surprised that Naruto had spared and brought the white haired teen with him. Despite his teachings and influence, he could tell that Naruto still formed some kind of bond with the teen during the time they spent on the same team.

Plagueis kept his frown to himself and didn't show any of the emotions he was feeling when looking upon the unwanted guests and his own student. He had given quite a bit of thought as to what to do with the guests and decided to make it a test for his student as well as the guests.

Naruto had already explained the detour concerning Orochimaru over the communication system to him while cruising to Snow Country. He was loath to admit that while his students actions were brash and not very well thought out, the end result was a success. Naruto was bringing back data, samples, and other items taken from the Snake Sannin that could be very valuable to him.

He could see some value in keeping a few extra people but certainly not all of them. The ship could only accommodate so many people and with the group in front of him, they were now reaching that limit.

"I will speak with you alone about your actions." Plagueis stated to Naruto and then he turned to Gozu and ordered, "Take them somewhere to sit and make sure to watch them. If any of them move then you know what to do."

Gozu nodded and both he and Meizu herded the others through an adjoining door.

Plagueis didn't look at Naruto again and walked to a different door that led to the study that he had taken over from Doto. Naruto quietly followed and shut the door behind him.

x-x

Naruto sat in one of the chairs that were placed before the desk and stared at his master.

Plagueis looked back and decided to start the conversation that had been on his mind for a whole week, "I don't recall any communications between us of you going off to Sound Country to fight Orochimaru. In fact, I distinctly remember telling you not to get involved with the Snake Sannin. Why is it that after years of following my orders and wishes to the letter, you just decide to completely ignore my orders and do whatever you wanted to do? I wasn't gone for that long. Elaborate for me, your reasons." he demanded and pulled off his tinted glasses to reveal the sulfuric yellow eyes.

Naruto also noted that Gatou's body seemed to be slightly worse off then when he last saw it, which he gathered as being due to the possession. The man had dark circles under his eyes and it seemed Gato had lost some weight.

"An opportunity presented itself that I hadn't counted on. I had to act fast and couldn't stop to communicate with you. During the battle, the Sandaime used the Shiki Fuin on Orochimaru." said Naruto and he could feel his Master's surprise and interest. They had both looked at the Scroll of Seals and seen that particular jutsu. The kinjutsu was obviously something that neither would use or considered using given the exchange involved but that did not prevent Plagueis from being interested in how it worked.

"And?" Plagueis questioned with interest.

"I believe that the Sandaime was only able to seal away Orochimaru's arms before dying. The skin was darkened and appeared to be dying off on both arms. They were completely useless and hung limp. He even needed to rely on his guards to get him out of the village. With both arms gone I knew he couldn't use the majority of jutsu he knew. I made a decision to reach Orochimaru's base before him and set a trap. Karin and I rushed as fast as we could to Sound Country and didn't stop until we made it to the bunker. We got there before Orochimaru and his group and were able to set a trap." said Naruto as he took a break to try and determine what his Master was thinking.

Plagueis mulled over the information as he sat silently in his chair. The situation may not have been as bad as he thought. 'Perhaps I shouldn't have waited to talk with him in person and had him explain this over the communication device.' he thought and pushed it aside as it was already done.

Naruto knew without Plagueis telling that he was then supposed to continue his explanation and so he did, "I set traps for three of Orochimaru's five guards. The fifth guard was terminally ill and seemed to far gone to do anything so I ended his life. Karin detected another person in the facility but I wasn't able to do anything about them as Orochimaru had just arrived. At that point I put my plan in motion. I removed those that I didn't think could be of use and then trapped Orochimaru inside his own lab and fought with him. During the fight he showed his true form, which was that of a white snake, and he attempted to take over my body." stated Naruto carefully and he waited for his Master to absorb everything before he continued. He was choosing his words carefully to make it seem like when he accessed the Kyuubi's chakra while fighting Orochimaru, that it was the first time he had ever done so.

Plagueis was growing more interested in the story as Naruto went on. His previous anger was fading as his methodical and knowledge-hungry side took slowly took over. He was curious about Orochimaru's technique to stave off death and switch bodies. Considering that he knew the real Naruto was sitting in front of him and not Orochimaru, he knew his student had dealt with the situation but he wondered how.

Naruto again knew when he should continue without any words being said, "I had to access the Kyuubi's chakra in order to prevent myself from being taken over by the technique." he stated and instantly saw the reaction on the face of Gatou as well as felt his Master's feelings. Oddly, he thought he felt worry coming off his Master.

'So he accessed it.' Plagueis thought and he tried to determine if anything about his student had changed. There was no doubt in his mind that accessing such power would prevent Naruto from being taken over by Orochimaru but he was concerned about repercussions of using that power. He wanted to make sure that the beast had no control over his student and hadn't done something.

"When you accessed it, what did you feel and did you notice anything out of the ordinary?" questioned Plagueis with curiosity.

"I felt great hatred and power surge through me. I was quite bloodthirsty and it was good that no one else was around, otherwise I might have attacked them as well. It even seemed to increase my connection to the darkside. However, it was incredibly difficult to control the power and the extra emotions that were not my own. I reversed the process on Orochimaru and devoured his soul. After that I was able to push the power back to where it came from, as I no longer needed it, but it was difficult. There is also something else." Naruto stated with some trepidation as he still didn't like to think about it.

Plagueis motioned for him to continue and he idly noted that most of Master's anger had subsided. 'It must be the new information I'm giving him.' Naruto surmised and had the feeling that his Master's research and learning more about the Kyuubi's interaction with the Force took precedence over his anger.

"It seems that the Kyuubi's chakra doesn't interact well with my midi-chlorians. I could feel them in pain after I recovered and even feel some of them dying just from a small usage. I likely won't be able to use the Kyuubi's chakra at all if I want to keep my Force powers." Naruto concluded and could feel that Plagueis was hanging off his every word.

Plagueis took in all the information and was quiet for at least several minutes. He hadn't even considered what the interaction between the Kyuubi and midi-chlorians would be. He knew something would happen because of the hatred that went along with the chakra but he hadn't expected there to be such a negative reaction.

He did have plans for trying to get Naruto to eventually master that power but he was also wary of that same power. It seemed now that he might not have to worry about it as his student likely wouldn't try using it again anytime soon for fear of losing the Force abilities he knew Naruto cherished.

After he thought through everything he actually found himself relieved. The scenario that he always dreaded ever since he found out about the prisoner that his student kept was that somehow Naruto would be consumed by the beast or perhaps completely consumed by the darkside. The last thing he wanted was to unleash an out of control Sith with that much power at his disposal into the galaxy.

All Sith wanted power but only the foolish Sith sought power without control, and the foolish were the most dangerous to everyone.

Getting back to the matter at hand, he remembered why he was sitting in his study with his student and his anger returned, though it was not as powerful as it once was. He still needed to discuss the individuals that Naruto brought back with him.

"I can understand you recruiting Karin as you reported that she could feel you using the Force as well as her being a chakra sensor. You even began teaching her medical ninjutsu which only furthers her value, however, I don't recall ever telling you to bring along four others or that there was a need for four others."

"They each have their value." Naruto countered and Plagueis held his anger in check as he wanted to hear what Naruto's explanation was.

"I admit that Suigetsu wasn't someone that I planned on bringing but he was there and displayed incredible abilities, so I decided to test his loyalty and he passed. He was trained as one of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure and I think you will be interested with his water abilities." said Naruto as he gave a short break before continuing with his next argument, "You also told me how interested you were in the cursed seal that Orochimaru had. The blood of Mitarashi Anko that I sent you didn't prove very useful in your research did it?" Naruto questioned and Plagueis didn't argue the fact that it hadn't. He had tried to find out more information about what caused the mutations in the cursed seal but her blood did not tell him much.

"So I brought Juugo, the original carrier of the bloodline. Though I did have some problems in the beginning, I think he would prove incredibly useful for his abilities and your research."

"By problems, are you referring to the fact that he tried to kill you?" Plagueis guessed and knew from Naruto's surprise and sudden lapse in concentration that he was right.

"He has had problems controlling his abilities but I haven't had a problem in the past week and am confident that I can handle him should a situation occur. Meizo and Gozu would also be quite helpful should that kind of situation arise." Naruto added and then moved on to the next person he brought, "I thought Kabuto might be the most beneficial to you as has firsthand experience with most of the research that Orochimaru was working on and which I brought with me. Considering that you will be researching chakra, I thought it would be beneficial to have someone that could use chakra and that was experienced, helping you. In your current condition, I don't think Kabuto is even capable of hurting you. Perhaps he could hurt Gato's body but it looks as if may be nearing the end of its use." Naruto elaborated.

Plagueis held back his smirk at his students words. Evidently he had taught Naruto very well. Especially when it came to providing a short, logical, and well-reasoned explanation.

"Tayuya, the one with the long reddish hair, is quite adept at genjutsu and even uses a powerful variety that are sound based that she uses with a flute. She also has a summoning that I thought you might be interested in as well." finished Naruto.

"And why exactly did you think that we would need a person that can use genjutsu?" questioned Plagueis as Naruto's last explanation didn't seem as good as the other three.

"Because I can't use genjutsu. It was you that taught me to recognize and compensate for my weaknesses. Having a person that is able and well versed in genjutsu seemed like the best compensation for my lack of ability in that particular art. I may even be able to better train myself to resist them." contended Naruto. His face was serious and his mind guarded.

'Well played my student, though you never mentioned how trustworthy Kabuto and the genjutsu using girl were. Especially since they were former pawns of Orochimaru.' reasoned Plagueis. Despite being impressed that Naruto had managed to skillfully defend all those he brought with him, there were still details that had been purposefully left out. He had yet to see them for himself and had doubts about the last two, though he did have a plan to determine the loyalty of those that Naruto brought with him. In just a few moments he would put that plan into action.

"Exactly how much did you tell them about myself and the overall plan?" questioned Plagueis as it was definitely something to consider. Naruto should not have given any information like that away to anybody, not matter how much he trusted them.

"They know of your name as the person that I work for but that is it. I told them nothing about the ship or our plans. They are here because they wanted to come with me or because I made them come." answered Naruto and Plagueis wasn't very thrilled with that answer.

"I will have to see for myself about the abilities of the ones that you brought and should they not meet my expectations, then it will be up to you to rectify your mistake. You seem to put a great deal of faith in those that you just met. Did the Force tell you that you could trust them to this extent?" questioned Plagueis.

Naruto thought for a second about his Master's question. Truthfully, the Force had never told him whether or not he could trust all of the people he brought with him. He knew that at the moment he couldn't trust Kabuto or Tayuya, while Juugo was only slightly more trustworthy than they were. However, his feelings were that, given some time, they would be his allies.

"No, the Force did not tell me that, but I feel that they can and will be useful to us." replied Naruto and the answer confused Plagueis. There seemed to be no definitive basis for Naruto's statement and he questioned his students judgment on the four individuals, now more than ever.

'It's likely he just didn't want to have to kill them and so he brought them here and came up with excuses.' were his thoughts and he gave the signal to the two smoke demons. A little test would help prove if what Naruto said was plausible.

Naruto felt some kind of telepathic thought traveling from his master and going to a nearby room. It took him a few seconds to figure out what was happening but he quickly caught on.

x-x

Gozu and Meizu eyed the people they were ordered to watch but were secretly smirking behind their masks. Plagueis had given them special instructions to test the guests. They removed the chakra suppressing seals on each person and were each figuring out who might take advantage of the situation they would present. They had already placed bets.

The group was mostly silent with some talking and the brothers could feel the worry from all the members of the room, save for Suigetsu who was lounging on a couch. They were in a waiting room with several couches and seats but the two smoke demons were still standing and watching while the others remained seated.

At some point they would receive the signal and then intentionally let their guard down and see which of the group could actually be trusted and who was a liability. Should one of the group try to escape or attack them then they were to kill that person in the method that would instill the most fear in the remaining members, which was by devouring them.

As smoke demons they were able to use their smoke and encapsulate a person. They would then pull the person inside of their bodies where the captured individual would be devoured by the smoke. It was an effective means of getting rid of a body and didn't have much of an effect on them. They didn't taste the person or anything like that. They weren't even sure what really happened to the person or how the smoke was able to devour flesh and leave no trace of the person that was devoured.

What they did know was that they could do it and had on one occasion as Plagueis wanted to see if they could. If anything, the devouring made them temporarily stronger. The feeling faded but they did not feel any kind of hunger or pleasure for devouring another person which was actually something they were grateful for.

Both pairs of eyes widened slightly as they received the signal from Plagueis. Now they were just waiting to see who among the group was the least loyal to Naruto and would take the bait they would provide.

Meizu moved from his standing position to a painting that was on the wall and began inspecting it. His back was turned to the mostly silent group and he was the perfect target for an attack. Gozu moved to one of the chairs in the furnished room and sat down. He reclined and slouched in the chair while putting his arms behind his head to stretch.

Kabuto quickly glanced at the pair that were guarding them. He recognized them from the Kiri bingo book as the Demon Brothers. It was difficult to keep the smirk off his face as he knew that they were mere chunin and were a C-ranked threat in the bingo book. They would be no match for him.

'How foolish Naruto-kun. You went to such lengths to bring me here against my will and then do something so stupid as to remove our seals and leave these two in charge. Now I only have to decide what to do with the situation provided. Should I go after you and the civilian you work for or leave here and hunt you down another day?' wondered Kabuto as he debated his options. He remembered both fights that he had with Naruto and spent most of his time on the journey reviewing the fights and discerning what Naruto had used against him. This proved incredibly difficult however and he still wasn't sure what techniques Naruto could use, but he did have one trump card.

'Tayuya is probably the only other person that would follow me. Juugo has been warming up to the idea of being in the group, Suigetsu wants to be here, and that girl Karin just follows whatever Naruto says.' he thought and knew that with Tayuya he might have a much better chance since he knew Naruto couldn't use genjutsu and had difficulty breaking them.

'So revenge it is.' Kabuto decided and readied the kunai he had taken from Karin's pouch earlier that day. All he had to do was take care of the guards.

In one swift movement Kabuto lept from his seat, throwing the kunai he had at the lounging Gozu. The kunai struck the Kiri ninja in the eye just as Kabuto landed on the floor behind the couch he jumped over. Charging the second ninja, Kabuto's hand glowed with chakra for his scalpel technique and before Meizu could do anything, the hand passed over his throat. Meizu feigned choking noses and collapsed to the ground.

Gozu smiled broadly behind his mask from his seemingly dead position on the floor with the kunai still suck in his eye. Now Meizu owed him money because he was the first to be attacked and it was Kabuto that did it, so the amount of money doubled.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses and smirked at the remaining people in the room. They were still in their seats and hadn't moved from their positions. Suigetsu soon stood and yelled at Kabuto for killing the two but the taller white haired ninja ignored it. He glanced at Juugo to find the teen struggling to keep himself at the display which normally would not be the case as the old Juugo would have been losing control of his ability due to the killing and blood. The first redhead had her hands over her mouth in shock at what he had done while the second had an unreadable expression which he found odd.

"Are you coming Tayuya?" he asked but she didn't move from the couch.

"And what do you intend to do?" she questioned hesitantly.

"To kill our captors." he responded and she frowned at the statement.

"I don't have my flute, dipshit." she soon replied. To be honest, all the time she spent with Naruto over the week on the boat led to her one conclusion, he was better than Orochimaru. He was also not someone she wanted to go up against without her flute, even if she still had her cursed seal, and she wasn't sure she really wanted to kill him anymore. Her life was still in danger but there was a chance she would be fine and she was hesitant to act. Was it fear? She wasn't really sure what the feeling was but it kept her in her seat.

Kabuto frowned as it didn't look like Tayuya was going to help him. That meant that it was best just to leave. He knew that Akatsuki would be after Naruto and all he really had to do was get into contact with his former Master and inform the organization of Naruto's whereabouts.

With this in mind, he moved to the door but stopped when he heard laughing. He quickly turned to determine where the sound was coming from.

He stared at the figure on the floor that still had a kunai in its eye. The dead body was laughing at him. He looked to the body of the other missing-nin and saw the movement of the chest and heard the sound of laughter coming from it as well.

He stood completely still and watched as both bodies began moving and stood. He wasn't the only one surprised however, as everyone else in the room was watching as well. The bodies were soon standing. Meizu didn't move but Gozu took the kunai by the handle and slowly removed it from his eye. It was slowly enough that Kabuto couldn't see the smoke reform the eye and it just looked like the kunai was removed without a wound even being present. Gozu felt it added to the mystery and scare-factor.

"Holy shit! What have you been doing since leaving with Zabuza?" said Suigetsu and he was the only one to say anything.

Neither brother responded to Suigetsu but Gozu spoke to the room in general, "So just one. That's rather surprising. I thought it would be at least two. I win the bet brother, he's mine." Meizu didn't bother arguing.

Gozu proceeded to walk straight at Kabuto. He wasn't in a hurry and wanted to prolong the terror.

The closer Gozu got, the farther away Kabuto backtracked until he ran into the wall. Gozu just laughed and Kabuto's eyes narrowed. His hands surrounded with chakra and he attacked. He aimed for vital areas and Gozu didn't stop him or make any move to block the attacks. He now knew that the chakra scalpels could do little to harm him. They simply weren't powerful enough.

Strike after strike swiped at the intended targets and Kabuto eventually stopped just to see if it did anything. Gozu just laughed again and stretched out his arm. The hand and forearm changed into smoke and shot forward at Kabuto. The smoke was thick enough to latch onto Kabuto's arm and the white haired teen was unable to remove it from his arm.

Slowly, Kabuto was pulled forward toward Gozu. He tried to put chakra in his feet and stop himself from being pulled forward but that just resulted in his feet screeching on the floor as he continued to be pulled.

"You shouldn't have tried to betray the host's generosity. Now you'll be devoured." said Gozu as a few smoke tentacles came out of his chest and latched onto Kabuto's leg, thigh, and neck.

Kabuto was now only a few feet from Gozu and he tried in vain to attack the Kiri ninja but nothing worked. His punch with his free hand did nothing and his chakra scalpels still had no effect.

The others watched as Gozu let down his arm but the tentacles holding Kabuto still slowly pulled the teen closer. Kabuto's arm eventually came into contact with Gozu's chest and instead of touching it, Kabuto seemed to move into the chest as it turned purple and more thick smoke came out to envelop the hand and arm of Kabuto.

Kabuto's breath left him as his arm was enveloped by more smoke and it continued to move farther into the chest of Gozu. He was terrified and could no longer feel his arm. It was if it just wasn't there anymore. His head was pulled down as most of his forearm was lost to the torso of the monster in front of him. The smoke enveloping him continued to move to his neck and then up his face. Kabuto tried to use his free arm to push against Gozu and get his arm free but found his other hand trapped and also being pulled into Gozu's shoulder instead.

Kabuto heard screaming and soon realized that it was his own. He was shoulder deep in the man and his face was now only inches from the purple chest of Gozu and he wasn't stopping. The smoke that was enveloping him began moving into his mouth and his scream was silence.

x-x

"I was surprised the girl didn't move, did you have something to do with that?" Plagueis questioned as he sat with his student in the study. They could both feel what was going on in the room just down the hall.

Naruto grit his teeth but didn't respond to the question and Plagueis decided to ask another one, "Aren't you going to go and save him? You did spend the time and effort bringing him hear, despite knowing he would try to kill you for what you did to Orochimaru. All that trouble for nothing? What a loss." Plagueis commented and looked directly at Naruto while he said it.

"I knew he would try something eventually but I also knew I could handle it. He won't hate me forever and I thought the knowledge of the galaxy and what was out there might change his mind. If there is going to be a loss as a result of this, then it will be with your research." Naruto countered and didn't flinch or make any movement to get to the door to help Kabuto. If he was going to save Kabuto then it would not be by running to that room.

Plagueis waited until the last possible moment before giving a signal to Gozu to stop the devouring of Kabuto. Though he didn't want to admit it, Naruto did have a point. Kabuto could be incredibly useful to him. A medical-nin that had no qualms with experimenting on living or deceased subjects and was willing to learn new things would be invaluable. 'If only he wasn't such a liability, he truly could be as useful as Naruto thinks.' Plagueis thought and wanted to sigh.

It was still incredibly foolish to let someone like that live. Kabuto possessed a strong mind and would likely resist mind control or suggestion.

"Your actions were foolish and still are." Plagueis commented and he couldn't see the outcome of Naruto's decision or what it would lead to.

Harnessing his anger, Plagueis held Gatou's hand out with the fingers pointed at Naruto. Lightning arced off the fingers and struck Naruto in the chest. He toppled backward with the chair and landed flat on the cold floor. The pain soon subsided and Naruto was left on the floor while Plagueis stood and started speaking.

"Don't ever do something so foolish again. I don't spend time making detailed plans because I have time to spare. I do it because then I will have less to worry about and fewer things will go wrong. I expect you to follow my orders and to be informed before you rashly make so many decisions on your own. There are times to improvise but only when you don't have other options. You should have asked me first. I could have sent the Smoke Demons as backup. With the injuries he sustained, its likely Orochimaru wasn't going anywhere and we could have gotten more from him.

Going after Orochimaru with no help, against my wishes, and then recruiting people without even consulting me are not the best methods to keep this operation a secret. Soon we will be going into the galaxy and there is no room for such errors, lest we have the entire Jedi Order coming after us. I'm not even sure that right at this very moment ninja aren't learning of something that you did or your whereabouts and trying to figure out where you went." stated Plagueis while bearing down on Naruto.

The two continued to stare at each other from their positions for a few more moments before Plagueis left the room.

Naruto continued to lay on the floor for a few moments after his Master left. He wasn't angry at Plagueis. He had done many foolish things and possibly made several mistakes. He believed he was right though and when Plagueis evaluated the people he brought, he wouldn't have to kill any of them.

Standing, he brushed off his cloak which was still slightly smoking. The attack was more of a warning and meant as a lesson than something that would seriously hurt him.

He did however find out something very interesting. His Master did apparently have a weakness that he could exploit if he needed to in the future. Though he didn't have any plans to do anything drastic with that knowledge. He wasn't going to betray Plagueis like the apprentice he heard about, but he would be able to get his way.

Plagueis did spend quite a bit of time teaching him how best to exploit a weakness.

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