Village Hidden in the Sea: Part 1

"Usually I'd be super excited about being back in active duty, but that was insane." Dairuko was saying to Itachi, as they were re-entering the village, when Ayame ran up to Dairuko.

"Dairuko, are you alright? I heard the explosion and-" Ayame started, but Dairuko cut her off.

"Ayame, I'm fine, really, just more confused than anything… Itachi and I need to let the Hokage know what happened during the chase. I'll be back soon." Dairuko reassured her.

"Alright… fine." Ayame pouted and watched Dairuko and Itachi walk away. Itachi chuckled lightly.

"What's so funny?" Dairuko asked.

"I'm still not quite used to Dairuko in a stable relationship." Itachi said.

"Shut up and let's go."

"Sorry, Dairuko, I have something a little more important to do right now. You will have to report this on your own." Dairuko noticed Natsuki in the distance.

"Yeah. Sure. Let my sister know I say hello." Dairuko said and walked away.

Itachi approached Natsuki who was investigating the explosion.

"I've never seen an explosive like this before…" Natsuki said to herself.

"Were you here when it happened?" Itachi asked.

"I arrived only seconds before you guys, just in time to help out; sorry I missed the party- training was intense." She added lamely. "Happy birthday, 'Tachi." She stood up then gave Itachi a light kiss.

"Thank you, so what do we know?"

"Jack shit is what we know. I've never seen explosives like this. What about you guys? Any luck on the person who did this?"

"He got away."

"How? You and Dairuko were chasing him."

"He jumped off the cliff into the water and never resurfaced."

"So… he's dead?"

"I doubt it."

"So he what; just disappeared?"

"That seems to be the case, I have Neji watching the sea with his Byakugan should anything happen. He knows how to contact us."

"What's the plan?"

"We wait."

"For what?"

"He'll show himself again, and we'll be ready for him."

"I don't like it."

"If you have any sort of plan, I'll listen." Itachi and Natsuki both locked eyes.

"And that's what happened." Dairuko ended his report to Tsunade.

"Hmm… soka you are dismissed, Dairuko." Tsunade said and Dairuko bowed his head slightly before leaving.

The next morning Dairuko met with Itachi and Natsuki for tea while they discussed what transpired the night before.

"Well it's certainly nice seeing my sister again." Dairuko said.

"Yes it's good to see you too, Dairuko." Natsuki replied. "I like the new look… very rogue."

"Thank you for noticing, unlike some people… I won't give names." Dairuko said, then side-eyed Itachi.

"Stop side eyeing me, Dairuko." Itachi said with his eyes closed.

"How do you-"

"He's Itachi." Natsuki cut in.

"Now that we got the pleasantries out of the way, we need to talk about what happened last night." Itachi said and sipped his tea.

"Whoever he was, he was sent on a mission." Natsuki started.

"He's strong as hell." Dairuko added.

"He didn't know his way around the forest… he's probably an outsider." Itachi said.

"Only real water related village is the Hidden Mist, I say we start there." Dairuko suggested.

"No." Natsuki said.

"You still sore about that?" Dairuko asked.

"Hey, I was just trying to finish a mission when the Bitch of the Mist decided to arrest me for trespassing, even after I explained that there was a really bad guy out there; and she deserved… getting knocked down by a thirteen year old girl." Natsuki explained.

"Who was actually doing jounin level missions." Dairuko added.

"Besides, you haven't set foot in the Stone Village since your little incident."

"Hold up now, that is entirely different. The Flying Midget has it out for me just cause me and his granddaughter had a relationship once… with several-"

"Stop your story right there." Natsuki intervened.

"I'm going to the Hidden Mist." Itachi stood up. "We are Konoha's mobile unit and we have not been very mobile in recent years."

"Returning to our roots," Dairuko said "I'm game."

"You guys are the worst." Natsuki sighed. "I'm in."

"Natsuki, Dairuko and I will be going to the Mist for the sake of our contacts; you should go elsewhere for information." Itachi suggested.

"I guess I'll start packing." Natsuki said and left, then came back. "Never finish my tea."

Team 0 had split up, with Dairuko and Itachi in the Hidden Mist village, while Natsuki went off to find the only person who would be able to give her some answers.

"Maybe it's just me, but I swear this place gets more eerie every time I come back." Dairuko said to Itachi as their boat neared the village.

"I wouldn't know." Itachi replied.

"Whatever… we're here anyway."

"Dairuko, you find us a place to stay. I have some people to meet."

"Yeah, sure."

A lonely beggar walked through the Hidden Mist village, scrounging for money and food when, from an alleyway, a hand grabbed the beggar.

"I'm looking for the Grey Rat." The owner of the hand was revealed to be Itachi.

"Itachi-sama, I uhm… this way please." The beggar said and led Itachi to an old cemetery where the beggar pulled a chain which opened a stairway into the crypt. Inside was a haven full beggars and homeless families, each one looked as you'd expect them to; wearing rags with dirt all over them.

"Please don't do this to my family, Grey Rat, I beg you." A man in formal, fashionable clothes begged another man wearing rags.

"You know what it takes to keep my silence." Grey Rat said.

"I can't pay you that much money without questions being asked." The man said.

"You should've thought of that before getting yourself a mistress."

"You bastard!" The man tried to run at Grey Rat but the latter pulled out a knife and held it against his throat.

"I could kill you and send my information to your dear wife and everyone you know, and you can die a meaningless death or; you can pay me the fucking money I asked for and you won't have to worry about me until next month- your choice." Grey Rat said and the man surrendered to Grey Rat's terms. "Thank you for your co-operation."

Itachi silently watched the whole interaction and as the man walked passed him he quickly used his Sharingan to make the man forget the location of Grey Rat.

"Ah! Itachi-san, it is good to see you again." Grey Rat greeted Itachi with open arms as he stepped into view.

"You should take precautions next time you just let someone leave your hideout." Itachi said simply.

"I had it under control… how're the eyes?"

"You know why I'm here?"

"Not this time, my friend. Why don't you enlighten me?"

"There was an attack on Konoha recently, I have a feeling you know something."

"I'm sorry, Itachi-san. I heard about it but I know nothing. I do, however, have a little bit of info that you might find interesting."

"I'm only here for who's behind the attack."

"It involves your clan, Itachi-san."

"My clan is dead."

"I found survivors in the village, an old couple." Grey Rat said and Itachi was quiet for a moment.

"Where are they?"

"One of my people will show you to them." Grey Rat clicked his finger and a young boy came to him and he whispered something to the boy.

"Follow me, Itachi-sama." The boy said and started running with Itachi running after him.

A young woman wearing a grey, form-fitting battle suit with a small black cloak and hood snuck into the home of a wealthy family, who was out on vacation at the time. She walked through the house, straight to a painting on the far side of the room, then felt around the edges and pressed a switch that was hidden, revealing the safe.

"3-6-7-2." She muttered to herself before opening the safe to find it empty.

"Looking for something?" Dairuko asked, as he switched on the light near him while holding a red jewelled necklace. "Red was always your colour."

"Dairuko, or are you Sasaki this time?" The woman asked.

"Dairuko this time, I just wanted to ask you a few things, shouldn't take too long."

"Sure what do you want to know?" She replied and before Dairuko could ask her the question; a shadow figure quickly snatched the necklace from Dairuko and returned to the woman.

"I had a feeling that you'd do that, so I made a fake." Dairuko said and the necklace puffed into smoke. "So just help me out… for old time's sake besides, you owe me for our last escapade in the Stone Village."

"You nearly got me killed."

"Not my fault you're afraid of flying."

"Only when the thing I'm flying in is a piece of junk created by some mad scientist in Suna!"

"Hey, Koneko's invention still got us to safety."

"Crash landing into a river isn't safety."

"Any landing you can walk away from is a good one I say."

"What do you want, Dairuko?"

"There was an attack in Konoha. Know anything?"

"Maybe I do maybe I don't, I need something to jog my memory."

"I have this necklace… tell me what I want to know and it's yours."

"Dairuko, I stole that fair and square."

"And I stole it first, so let's compromise here." Dairuko said as he twirled the necklace around his finger.

"I'm sure we can." She said seductively and walked towards Dairuko who stood up.

"I have a family now, so there won't be any of this anymore." Dairuko said, holding up a hand to stop her.

"No one will know… I promise." She continued and ran her hand down his chest before leaning in for a kiss.

"You're probably right," Dairuko said then blocked the woman's kiss with his hand. "but I know what you're doing, and it's not gonna work, Kuroka." Dairuko smirked and Kuroka groaned into his hand, then tried to swipe the jewel from his other hand but Dairuko raised his arm straight up. "You are a better thief than me, Kuroka, but I will always be taller."

Kuroka stomped on Dairuko's foot before kneeing him in the groin and, grabbing the necklace from him, jumped out the window.

"Why? Why did she knee me in the dick?" Dairuko squealed with tears in his eyes.

'He always did let girls get too close to him.' Kuroka thought as she jumped from roof to roof.

"Fucking bitch." Dairuko said as he recovered then gripped both sides of the window before catapulting himself out with such force that he even overtook Kuroka.

As Kuroka reached Dairuko he attempted to punch her, but she flipped over him but Dairuko grabbed her by the ankle and threw her into a house across from them before following suit.

"Why must everything be impossible with you!?" Dairuko exclaimed.

"Because you're a dick!" Kuroka answered back.

"Fine we'll do this the hard way."

"We shall." Kuroka said and the shadow figure reappeared.

Kuroka attacked first with an overhead kick that Dairuko blocked, and the shadow attacked with a kick to the stomach that Dairuko took by hardening his abs to absorb the hit. While Dairuko held her one leg, Kuroka used the shadow as leverage to somersault kick Dairuko in the chin and the shadow swept Dairuko off his feet with a low kick.

"No fair, it's two against one!" A voice exclaimed causing Dairuko and Kuroka to pause, mid-fight, to look at the family huddled in the corner. The son had a sad look on his face while the daughter was excited.

"Nu-uh, he has muscles so it's fair!" the daughter exclaimed.

"I think they're betting on who'd win." Dairuko muttered to Kuroka who just nodded and listened to the kids arguing when the shadow hit Dairuko on the back of the head with a pan. "OW!"

"Use the chair!" The husband called out to Kuroka and his wife hit his arm.

"Throat punch no jutsu!" Dairuko exclaimed and hit Kuroka in the throat with a lightning fast jab. "Take a seat!" Dairuko said before grabbing a chair and hitting the shadow with it.

"Get her!" the wife screamed which got a look from her husband. "You can root for that skank, so I can root for him." She snapped in response to the look.

"Secret Technique: Boob-a-Palm!" Dairuko exclaimed then palm struck Kuroka's boob knocking her back and causing the wife to cover her chest. "Don't worry, that should take her down… 'cause she has big boobs… and they're sensitive."

Kuroka lunged forward, two footing Dairuko in the groin again, full force, causing the husband to cover up.

"That was for my tits, you bastard." Kuroka said.

"You fucking bitch." Dairuko said as he lay on the ground.

"Thank you for having us this evening." Kuroka said and bowed then the shadow disappeared. Dairuko shot out a large wooden trunk from his hand that branched out like a hand- knocking Kuroka out, before seizing her in its grip.

"There's ice in the freezer." The husband said pointing at the freezer. Dairuko walked over and took an ice pack.

"Thanks."

"Oi! Wake up." Dairuko said, slapping Kuroka awake.

"W-what?" Kuroka said groggily, and Dairuko slapped her again.

"Firstly; why'd you keep kicking me in the dick? And secondly;" Dairuko slapped her again. "That was for my dick."

"You jerk."

"I'm a jerk with this." Dairuko held the necklace up. "You know what you need to do to get it."

"Why don't you remind."

"Because you already know."

"I don't recall anything."

"Fine. Wanna be impossible? I'll bring Itachi here for interrogation purposes."

"You brought Itachi?"

"Yes, we have a mission… oh yeah, that's what I'm doing here; the Konoha attack."

"Yes, I remember now!" Kuroka said in realisation.

"Fighting really makes you forget stuff, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"Now what do you know about the attack?"

"Not a thing."

"Are you fucking kidding me, all of that was for nothing!?"

"Hey, you know our deal; you earn whatever information I give you one way or another and, because you're a family man now, one way is out of the question."

"What a waste." Dairuko said then tossed the necklace to her.

"Hey… tell Itachi I said hello."

"Will do." Dairuko said dismissively, and then returned to his and Itachi's hotel where he found Itachi sitting on the bed.

"Any luck?" Itachi asked, turning his head to Dairuko.

"None. What about you?"

"No."

"So both our contacts- who have roots in the underworld- can't help us… shit. I hope Natsuki is faring better than we are."

Meanwhile

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Natsuki exclaimed as she and Ren both ran away from a giant snake.

"You wanted information. I will give you information… after we're done with this woman. So you go low and I'll go high." Ren said.

"Fine!" Natsuki exclaimed then used her Chidori Spear to slice the snake as it approached her, while Ren jumped up and kicked the woman on top off the snake, before punching her on the floor- unconscious.

"So… what now?"

"You won't believe me if I told you… I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen the things Orochimaru's done, but… there's a village in the sea- underwater."

"You're kidding me?"

"No, but they are normally peaceful people… Hoka may be behind this, trying to frame the village; or the village has allied with Hoka. Regardless, something is amiss."

"How do I get to this village?"

"You can't enter- let alone reach the village -unless a villager appears on the surface and… helps you." Ren shrugged then looked at the woman on the ground. "The last Orochimaru loyalist was his only real fangirl."

"So… what you're saying is; I must wait for another attack?"

"Yes."

"Well, you were of no help to me."

"I'm more help than most."

Meanwhile back at the plot

"I'm sure she's fine." Dairuko said.

"I think I've had enough of today." Itachi said lying down.

"I hear that." Dairuko replied and did the same. "Oh, Kuroka says hello."

"Damn it."