The Anti Thieving Duo
"Hello" - (Normal talking)
"What happened?" - (Thoughts)
"What do I do?" - (Flashback)
{"Hey, can you hear me?"} - (Communication)
":Now arriving at our destination:" - (Another Language)
"\Prepare for departure\" - (Radio and speakers)
Hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 17 - The Deep Dive Caper
(Out at sea, nighttime)
Naruto and Carmen were both standing on a boat with hard looks on their faces, wearing their mission clothes, as it rained quite heavily around them, while Zack and Ivy were in the cabin, wearing raincoats, as Zack drove the boat.
{"You're risking your necks on the word of Coach Brunt without even trying to talk to Shadowsan?"} Player asked over their comms.
"So he can tell us only half the story like always?" Carmen asked with a frown.
"No, Player, we'll learn what there is to know about our family all on our own, the only sure way we know how. We're going back to VILE Island" Naruto said with his own frown, as thunder crashed and lightning flashed.
"I'm worried. They said that they'd never go back" Ivy said, with a look of concern on her face.
"I said that I'd never go back to that cheese steak joint in Southie after it made my guts explode, but, mm-hmm, those peppers and onions!" Zack said with a smile.
Ivy gave her brother a side look frown at this. "My fist is gonna make your guts explode if you say anything to upset Carmen or Naruto!" she said with a hard look and tone.
Naruto and Carmen walked to the front of the boat, as they gazed out towards where they knew VILE Isle was. "Every mission in VILE's history is archived on their mainframe," Carmen said with a frown, as she and Naruto used their binoculars to try and spot the island in the rain.
"We'll infiltrate the server room and sync you in, so you can download the case files. It'll be just like old times" Naruto said, as they both zoomed in on the island.
"Guys, are you sure that this isn't one for ACME?" Player asked with a look of concern.
"Coach Brunt's little sneak attack on the train fried our communicator" Carmen said.
"Yea, so we have no way of contacting Chief," Naruto said with a nod.
{"I can probably help with that"} Player said casually.
This took them both by surprise. "What?" they both said in shock, as they lowered their binoculars, while glancing at their ear comms.
"I was able to trace her transmission when I spotted you talking to her in Botswana" Player said, as he typed on his computer, showing a picture of VILE Isle and a picture of Chief next to it, with a loading bar on it and what looked like measurements being taken of her face. "It was Shadowsan's idea" he added with an unsure look on his face.
"Infiltrating VILE requires stealth," Carmen said with a frown.
"Yeah. So if they saw ACME coming, they'd wipe all data from the site and we might never learn the truth" Naruto said with a nod of agreement, his own frown on his face.
"Guys, we're approaching the position!" Zack yelled out, as he leaned out of the doorway to the cabin, with Naruto and Carmen turning around at this.
"Thanks Zack" Carmen said with a nod at this.
"Yeah, thanks dude" Naruto said with a smile, as he gave him a thumbs up.
The two of them then turned and faced the front again, as they got closer to the island.
As they did, they both frowned slightly, before they lifted their binoculars back up, as they came upon where the Academy normally stood….only it was gone. All that was left was a pile of rubble and some boulders of various sizes.
"NO!" the two of them shouted in shock, as they lowered their binoculars, showing their wide eyes.
{"Guys, what is it?"} Player asked curiously.
"It's gone," Carmen said with a shocked tone.
"The academy, all of it," Naruto said with his own tone of shock.
0o0o0o0
(Flashback starts, two weeks earlier)
VILE Academy was completely empty. No one was seen in the halls, classrooms, bedrooms or in the courtyard.
The four Faculty members were standing outside, as they all looked at the ocean.
"Our glorious institution has weathered many storms, and I have every conviction that we will weather this one" Gunnar said, with his arms folded behind his back.
"We should welcome this new chapter in VILE's history as a new beginning," Bellum said with a smile.
"Oh, like our last 'new beginning' went so well?" Coach Brunt said with a raised eyebrow at the other three, before she turned around and walked off a little. "That would be the day Shadowsan brought Black Sheep and Dark Fox to this island. And for that, I vow to mash him up and stuff him into their fancy red hats!" Brunt growled out in anger, with her eyes narrowed.
"There are more devastating ways to wreak revenge than bodily harm, Coach dearest" Maelstrom said with an evil smirk.
"Oh? I'm not personally familiar with those ways" Brunt said with a raised eyebrow, as she turned around.
"Have you forgotten that we possess secrets which would certainly put them at each other's throats?" Professor Maelstrom said with a cunning grin, as he clenched his fist tightly.
"Imagine what payback Carmen Sandiego and Naruto Uzumaki might wreak upon Shadowsan if they ever learned the truth" Cleo said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
Brunt had a raised eyebrow, as she looked thoughtful at this, before she gave a smirk of her own. "Let them destroy each other from the inside out," she said.
"Do consider planting that seed in Naruto and Carmen's heads instead of your fist the next time they darken your path. Who knows? In Botswana perhaps" Gunnar said with a smirk, as they looked back out at the ocean.
"Evacuation complete" Vlad said with a dull tone, as he and Boris stood behind the Faculty members, as they carried some luggage with them, with Vlad holding a teddy bear under his arm.
"Then tallyho" Maelstrom said with a raised eyebrow and a smile, before they all headed for the VILE helicopter, with the Faculty members carrying their own luggage.
Once they'd stored all their luggage safe and secure, the Faculty members got strapped in, while the Cleaners got into the cockpit, as they started up the chopper, before lifting up off the helipad and flying away.
"Farewell, sweet palace" Countess Cleo said with a sad look, as she glanced out the window at VILE Isle.
"Cleaners, scrub it" Maelstrom ordered with a firm tone.
They both nodded at this, as Boris pressed a button on the cycle stick, causing VILE Academy to get blown to pieces in a massive explosion, as the helicopter flew away from the island.
0o0o0o0
(One week later)
There was some rustling, as leaves and bushes were pushed aside, before Chase pushed some bushes aside, showing he was dishevelled.
"This is the last time I ever take the advice of Ms Argent. Or anyone in a dream!" Chase yelled with a scowl, as he carefully made his way to where he'd moored the boat he came in.
Once he got to the boat, he climbed aboard and began pulling the cord on the engine, trying to get it started, so that he could leave the island….but it wouldn't start.
Chase gave a growl of annoyance, as he went to the front of the boat to check the fuel gauge….which showed that he was empty.
"No. No, no, no, no!" Chase said in a panic, before he took out his cellphone to call for help….which showed that he had no signal.
"NO!" Chase yelled out to the sky.
(Flashback over)
0o0o0o0
(With Player)
Player was looking at his computer screen, which showed him VILE Isle. "I was able to tap into a weather satellite system, guys. I'm seeing all sorts of wreckage on the ocean floor" he said with a raised eyebrow.
"If the case files are down there, we'll find them," Carmen said with a hard look, as she and Naruto finished putting their diving suits on.
"Yeah, we won't let VILE rob the truth from us," Naruto said with a nod and his own hard look, as they both activated their helmets, which turned the lights on and lowered the glass down over their faces, as they fell over backwards into the water, while Zack and Ivy watched them go.
Once in the water, they both looked around for a moment, before they swam down to the wreckage of VILE Isle, passing by some fish as they did.
Once they reached the wreckage, they looked around for a moment, before swimming off in a direction, where they passed the oni mask picture that used to hang in Shadowsan's classroom.
The two of them looked at it momentarily, before they continued on swimming through the wreckage, as they headed for the elevator that would lead them to the server room.
Once they reached it, they swam down the elevator shaft to the bottom, before prying the ajar elevator doors open, then swam into the server room.
"Player, we're in" Carmen said, as they swam over to the VILE server.
{"Good. Hope that you find what you're looking for, and that it's salvageable"} Player said to them.
"So do we, Player, so do we" Naruto said, as they swan down to the controls of the computer.
"Now, we just need to find the hard drive that has the data on it we need" Carmen said, as they looked it over.
"Well, let's get to work" Naruto said, as they began looking for the hard drive they wanted.
0o0o0o0
(A few hours later)
It had stopped raining, and Ivy stood on the boat, as she looked out at the water, while Zack was fast asleep, snoring away, just as the sun was coming up.
"They've been down there a long time," Ivy said with worry, as she looked around.
Before Ivy could do anything else, Naruto and Carmen resurfaced, before swimming towards the boat.
"Guys!" Ivy yelled out in relief, as she walked to the back of the boat.
Zack woke up at Ivy's yell, as he gave a gasp. "Peppers and onions!" he shouted out.
Ivy helped pull Naruto and Carmen onto the boat. "Did you find what you were after?" she asked them curiously, as Zack stood up.
Naruto and Carmen opened up their diving helmets, before Naruto unzipped a small pouch and pulled out a plastic ziplock bag, before holding it up, showing that it had a hard drive in it. "We need to get this to Player" Carmen said, as they began taking off their diving gear.
"And as soon as possible too" Naruto said with a nod, as he and Carmen dried themselves off once out of their diving suits, before getting dressed.
"I'm on it" Zack said with a nod, as he went back to the cabin, before starting up the boat.
Meanwhile, on the island, Chase was fast asleep, in a rudimentary tent that he'd made out of sticks and leaves, while using other leaves as bedding.
Chase gave a groan, before sitting up when he heard the boats engine, showing that his hair was unkempt and he was growing a beard.
He quickly and carefully got out of his tent, and ran to the cliffedge, as he began jumping up and down while waving his hands in the air.
"Wait! Wait!" Chase yelled out, hoping to get their attention, as the boat drove away.
"No" Chase whimpered out sadly, his hands on his cheeks.
0o0o0o0
(In a diner)
The four Faculty members were sitting at a table in a diner, as they were having a meeting.
"We might have fared far worse in Botswana if Coach Brunt or any of the operatives had been taken captive" Bellum said with a small frown.
"Or if any key intelligence had been confiscated by ACME" Cleo said with her own small frown.
"We owe it to Roundabout's strategic foresight in the matter. And for that, he has my vote" Gunnar said.
Roundabout was sitting in his office, when his VILE phone began ringing, causing him to pick it up and answer it, seeing Maelstrom's face on the phone's screen, causing him to smile. "Gunnar! Terribly sorry again about the bungle in Botswana, old chap" Roundabout said with a frown.
"It all worked out, Roundabout. In fact, we've decided it's high time our open position be filled... by you" Maelstrom said with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
This made Roundabout cock an eyebrow at this, as he gave a smile of his own. "Fancy that! I would be honoured to take my seat in the illustrious Faculty lounge, at the table which looks not at all how I remembered it" he said with a raised eyebrow and a look of confusion.
Before anyone else could say anything, a waitress approached their table. "Who here needs a refill?" she asked them.
Cleo scoffed at this. "Reswill" she said with a frown, as Maelstrom angled the phone, so that the waitress couldn't see Roundabout's face.
"Hit me, sugar," Brunt said with a smile, as she held out her mug to the waitress.
Once the waitress had left, Gunnar turned back to the phone. {"A temporary workspace. Our first order of business with you onboard will be to scout a suitable site for our relocation"} he said with a raised eyebrow, which made Roundabout smile.
0o0o0o0
(On VILE Island)
Chase was kneeling before his tent, as he grunted while rubbing some wood together, trying to get a fire started.
After a while, he gave up on trying to start a fire and grabbed a wooden spear that he had made, and went to the beach. He carefully walked into the water, and looked around for any fish, before he spotted one.
He raised his spear, and thrust it down at the fish….only to end up stabbing his own foot instead.
"AH!" Chase yelped in pain, before he pulled the spear out and hobbled back to the beach.
He went back to his camp and kneeled back on the ground, as he tried to start a fire again, panting for breath as he did.
After a while, he looked up when he heard a chirp and saw an insect on a branch. Chase then stood up and carefully went over, before he picked up the insect and popped it in his mouth. He chewed it in his mouth, causing a few crunches to be heard, before he opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out, showing that the insect had pinched his tongue.
"Ah!" Chase yelled in pain, as tears came to his eyes.
He carefully grabbed hold of the insect as he pulled it off his tongue, before he threw it away.
"Damn insect" he grumbled under his breath, as he went back to his camp.
Chase once more knelt back down on the ground, as he began to try and start a fire, before stopping when it didn't go.
Chase then stood up and grabbed his wooden spear, as he went back to the beach.
Once there, he was careful not to startle any of the fish, as he thrust his spear down, before lifting it up, showing he had caught one.
"Ha ha!" Chase laughed triumphantly, as he ran back to his campsite.
Once there, he stabbed his spear into the ground, with the fish over his fire pit, before he again knelt down, as he tried to get a fire going. "Come on, come on!" he grunted out with a smile, as he saw smoke appear, which caused him to go faster before fire was shown, which caused Chase to laugh.
"I have created fire! All hail the fire king!" Chase laughed out in triumphant, as he danced around, while waiting for his fish to be cooked.
As he did this, he didn't notice a small spark getting carried in the wind towards his tent, which was quickly set aflame.
Chase danced for a while, before he took notice of what was happening with his tent, causing him to look at it for a moment with a blank look, which soon changed to panic. "No. No, no, no, no!" he said quickly, as he shook his head at this, before he turned back to the fire, just in time to see his fish get burned and turned to ash. "NO!"
Meanwhile, out at sea, a sea captain was looking through his binoculars at the island, and saw the smoke plume that Chase's fire had caused.
The captain put the binoculars down, and frowned slightly, before he went to the bridge of his ship, and picked up a phone on the control console, as he called a rescue helicopter and directed them to the island.
Back on the island, Chase was kneeling before the large bonfire that he had inadvertently caused. "No. No" he whimpered out.
Before anything else could happen, Chase noticed the dust getting kicked up in the air, as he heard a noise above him, which caused him to look up and see a rescue helicopter hovering overhead, as a ladder was lowered down to him.
"Oh, thank god. I can finally leave this damn island" Chase said with a smile and a look of relief, as he climbed the ladder up to the helicopter.
Once he was inside the chopper, the rescue crew pulled up the ladder and put it away, as one of them gave Chase a blanket to wrap him up in, while the other flew away from the island.
Chase was sitting in a seat, when he heard a beeping noise. He raised an eyebrow at this, as he checked his pockets, before pulling out his phone, which showed he had a new voicemail.
He clicked on it, before putting it to his ear, a look of concern on his face. {"Devineaux. This is your supervisor speaking. I must regretfully terminate you from Interpol. Have a nice life"} Andrew's voice was heard on the phone, before a click was heard from the receiver.
Chase had a look of sadness on his face at this, as the helicopter flew back to the mainland.
0o0o0o0
(With Player)
Player was typing on his computer, as he hacked into the hard drive that Naruto and Carmen were able to get.
"Guys, I just retrieved the file. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 years ago. So far, Brunt's story checks out. Shadowsan was dispatched there to take out a hit on two people named 'Dexter Wolfe' and his friend 'Minato Rana'. No pictures on what they look like" Player said with a frown.
Naruto and Carmen were standing behind their headquarters near the ocean wearing casual clothes, as the sea splashed against the side beneath them, with Naruto holding his phone that had Player's video image on it.
"Wolfe? Could that be my family name?" Carmen asked with a raised eyebrow.
"And is Rana mine?" Naruto asked with his own raised eyebrow.
"Does it say anything about wives or -" Carmen was saying, before she was cut off.
{"No, it doesn't,"} Player said with a shake of his head.
Naruto and Carmen both had looks of curiosity. "Why did they want Wolfe and Rana gone?" Naruto asked, as he looked off to the side in thought, while rubbing his chin.
"Well, they must have been onto them. They were Interpol?" Carmen asked with a cocked eyebrow.
{"Not Interpol. They were traitors to VILE"} Player said, making Naruto and Carmen frown at this.
{"So 'Wolfe' was a codename"} Carmen said.
{"And most likely the same with 'Rana' too, since it's Spanish for frog. They were VILE operatives?"} Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, as they both looked at Player.
"Sorry guys, but not exactly. Wolfe was VILE Faculty, with Minato as his right hand" Player said with a look of concern on his face.
This made Naruto and Carmen gain looks of absolute shock on their faces, upon hearing this.
{"What are you guys going to do now?"} Player asked them.
"We're gonna talk to the only person who has the answers we need," Carmen said with a look of determination.
"And we'll force them from him if we have to," Naruto said with his own look of determination, as he hung up before they turned around and headed for their headquarters.
0o0o0o0
(Shadowsan's room)
Shadowsan was in his room, as he hung up a hannya mask on the wall.
After a moment, he gave a slight frown. "Your silence... is like thunder" he said without turning around, knowing that Naruto and Carmen were in the doorway.
"Did you take our father's lives?" Carmen asked with a hard tone.
"No, I did not" Shadowsan said, as he narrowed his eyes.
"Dexter Wolfe and Minato Rana. We read the files" Naruto said with his own hard tone, as they both clenched their hands tightly.
"I see" Shadowsan said, as he looked to the side.
"If you run, we will find you" Naruto and Carmen said together, as they both glared at him.
Shadowsan turned around at this to face them, before kneeling in a seiza position. "No more running. No more secrets" he said with a look of sadness on his face, before he gestured for them to join him.
"We're listening" Naruto and Carmen said together, as they kept standing in the doorway.
Shadowsan gave a sigh as he closed his eyes for a moment, before reopening them as he looked at the two of them. "Your fathers both taught Stealth 101 at VILE Academy during my time there, either together or separately, whenever one of them was busy" he said.
0o0o0o0
(Flashback starts)
A young Shadowsan was seen as a student at VILE Academy, as he sat amongst other VILE students.
"I learned a lot from Instructor's Wolfe and Rana... when they were present. For, like his namesake, The Wolf relished the hunt far too much to lead an idle academic life" Shadowsan said. "While Rana was always hopping from place to place, much like a frog, as he stole what caught his fancy."
Dexter Wolfe and Minato Rana were seen robbing various places and people, either together or separately.
Wolfe was a man who appeared to be in his late thirties, early forties. He had some lines on his face, but otherwise appeared to be in good physical shape. He had short brunette hair and blue grey eyes.
Minato was a man about the same age, with a few lines on his own face, but still looked to be in good physical shape as well. He had blue eyes and spikey blonde hair, with jaw length bangs framing either side of his face.
"The Faculty tolerated their leaves of absence because they always delivered. Never bypassing an opportunity to steal the shirt off someone's back if they saw fit" Shadowsan explained.
Shadowsan was brought to VILE by helicopter, as he stepped out of it, before walking into the Academy as he headed to the Faculty room, where he stood before the four younger VILE Faculty members.
"I was a first year operative when I was called back for an urgent matter. Both Dexter Wolfe and Minato Rana had been going off grid for longer spells with greater frequency. The Faculty suspected that their excursions were no longer crime related and discovered that they had been secretly moving VILE assets into personal Swiss bank accounts. The signs were all there... your fathers had been preparing to leave VILE" Shadowsan said to them both.
The large overhead screen showed various locations on it, as lines from each location all pointed towards one area, with Shadowsan and the VILE Faculty members looking at it. A younger Gunnar stood up from his seat, as he got Shadowsan's attention and ran his finger across his neck, a smirk on his face as he did.
"And no one ever leaves VILE" Shadowsan said with a frown.
The Cleaners used the VILE chopper to take Shadowsan to Argentina, before they landed in a secure area, so that it wouldn't be spotted. Once he got out of the chopper, Shadowsan went into the city, and waited near a bus stop. After waiting for quite a while, he watched Dexter and Minato both getting off a bus with a bag each hanging off their shoulder, from the other side of the street.
Shadowsan watched as they went into a junkyard, while he went into a building as he headed for the rooftop. After a while, he saw a red car drive out of the junkyard and drove off down the street, as he watched with narrowed his eyes.
"I was hand-picked for my specific talents. My orders were to track the movements of my former teachers. Gather what information I could about the nature of their betrayal and tie off loose ends" Shadowsan said.
Shadowsan carefully and quickly followed the car to a house, before he snuck himself inside.
"I tracked Wolfe and Rana to a town just outside Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was immediately clear that they had indeed been leading a secret life in South America and were preparing to run" Shadowsan said with a small frown on his face.
Shadowsan peeked around the corner of the closet he was hiding in, as he saw both Dexter and Minato packing a few suitcases. He quickly hid himself, when the two of them opened up the closet that he was in, and grabbed a few shirts before walking off to put them in their respective suitcases.
"And that I had no other option but to carry out my mission" Shadowsan said.
Young Shadowsan walked to the closet door, and narrowed his eyes as he looked through the blinds before he grabbed the hilt of his sword, pulling it slightly out of its sheath.
"And yet an unexpected obstacle dropped into my path" Shadowsan said.
Two babies babbled, which caused Shadowsan to gain a look of shocked surprise. Minato and Dexter turned around and looked down with smiles on their faces, as they put the clothes in their arms in their suitcases, before reaching down to pick up a baby each.
"The two of you" Shadowsan said.
Baby Naruto and baby Carmen both babbled and giggled in their respective fathers arms, before they were put down when an old woman walked over to talk with them.
"If your mothers were anywhere on those grounds that day, I never saw them. Only a nanny, several packed suitcases, and plane tickets" Shadowsan told them.
Baby Naruto and Carmen both babbled, causing Shadowsan to look down, and see that they'd found their way into the closet, tugging on his pants as they looked up at him with smiles on their faces. Shadowsan frowned slightly, before he pushed them away from him with his foot, as they looked at him curiously, before they backed out of the closet and fell down. They then looked over at their fathers, who were packing some toys in boxes, as they pointed at the closet.
Their fathers walked over, which made Shadowsan look worried, before he went to hide himself again, just as Minato and Dexter arrived and picked up their kids, and closed the closet doors.
"It was all too easy to see why Wolfe and Rana had wanted out of VILE. Being a father had changed them. They had been planning to end their criminal careers not for themselves, but for their children, their family" Shadowsan said.
Shadowsan waited for them to walk away, as he carefully and quietly left the closet, closing the doors behind him, and followed after them. He hid on the other side of a wall, where he saw them both waving goodbye to the nanny as she left, before they walked off.
(Flashback paused)
Naruto and Carmen both gave Shadowsan looks of shock at this, before they turned into looks of sadness.
"You stole their lives," Carmen said.
"And right before they had a chance to live with us," Naruto added.
Shadowsan looked down at this, a slight frown on his face. "As you well know more than anyone, you two, I have made grave mistakes. It is this road that I once chose. But I do not consider myself an evil man, despite my former allegiances...only a soldier with orders to obey. Yet, nothing could have prepared me for what happened next" he said.
(Flashback resumes)
Young Shadowsan poked his head round the corner, as he saw baby Naruto and Carmen playing together, while Minato and Dexter packed some more boxes, before standing up. Shadowsan unsheathed his sword slightly, as he went to grab the hilt, then stopped when he noticed they both stiffened slightly as they looked out the window, seeing an agent hopping over the fence. Shadowsan looked out another window, a look of concern on his face, as he saw other agents walking up the driveway, each brandishing a weapon as they walked towards the house.
"It appeared VILE had not been the only entity hunting The Wolf and The Frog" Shadowsan said.
Dexter and Minato picked up their respective baby, as they looked around for somewhere to hide them, before they looked at the closet. They quickly ran over and opened the doors, before putting the babies down, who looked up at them with tears in their eyes.
"Your fathers promised to return soon and asked you to play a game. See how long you could remain quiet" Shadowsan explained.
A knock was heard at the front door, along with what sounded like a dog growling, which caused them both to look towards the front door. Baby Naruto and Baby Carmen both sobbed slightly, before they began crying loudly, making Dexter and Minato look at them, before they stood up and looked around slightly.
"Their words failed to convince, so they both found another way to pacify the two of you" Shadowsan said.
Minato and Dexter went over to a shelf and grabbed an item each off it, before they went back to their crying kids, as they moved the items before them; a small ninja statue for Naruto and a matryoshka for Carmen.
The two of them slowly stopped crying, with Minato and Dexter lightly pressing the items against Baby Naruto and Baby Carmen's noses, before they grabbed hold of the items and held them, sobbing slightly as they did, while looking up at their fathers.
"They knew that they might never see you again. I could see it in their eyes" Shadowsan told them.
Dexter and Minato both looked at their kids sadly, as they closed the closet doors.
"I am convinced that every decision your fathers subsequently made was with both your safeties in mind. But desperation has a way of making even the most accomplished thief err in judgement" Shadowsan said with a small frown.
They went over to a window and opened it, before they climbed out and jumped down to the courtyard. They looked around for a moment, then ran towards where the car was parked.
"Your father's lives were not robbed by VILE, but by a young female agent" Shadowsan explained. "I never saw her again, not until recently... when I came to realise that she is now the Chief of ACME."
Shadowsan peeked round a window slightly, as he saw an agent following them towards the car, before she drew her gun on them, getting their attention as she stepped into the light….showing that it was a younger Chief.
Minato and Dexter both put a hand up each, while the other was in a jacket pocket. They began taking their hands out of their pockets, each holding something as they did, which the agent mistook for guns, causing her to shoot them both dead. The two of them fell over, with their hands opening, showing that Dexter was holding his car keys while Minato had a phone in his.
This made the young Chief have a look of shock on her face, as two other agents ran over, both with their own looks of shock at what they saw.
"And that is how the deed was done" Shadowsan said mournfully, as he closed his eyes, with his head bowed slightly.
Shadowsan pulled away, as he grit his teeth with a frown, as more agents arrived, running over to their bodies.
(Flashback paused)
Naruto and Carmen both frowned at this.
"You're lying," Carmen said.
"Yeah, cause the case file didn't mention Chief or Interpol" Naruto said with a nod of agreement.
Shadowsan opened his eyes and lifted his head back up, as he looked at them. "With good reason. The Faculty relied solely on my report and I opted to withhold details. If there were any way to prove it to you, I would, but no physical evidence survived. Wolfe and Rana may have been traitors, but they were also a direct link to VILE" he said, as he looked at them with sadness.
(Flashback resumes)
Shadowsan looked around the house for a moment, before he grabbed some matches and began lighting the curtains and anything else on fire, before he opened up the closet and picked up baby Naruto and baby Carmen, as he held them both close, with the two of them both crying.
"Protocol dictated that I scrub the sight of anything potentially incriminating quickly, before the police could enter" Shadowsan explained.
As both the babies continued to cry, Shadowsan looked around, before spotting the matryoshka and ninja statue on the floor, which he picked up and handed to the respective baby, which caused them to stop crying as they held the items close, as they sniffled.
"You were the only loose ends I was thoroughly unprepared to tie off" Shadowsan said.
Shadowsan turned and ran out of the house, before the house went up in flames. Once Shadowsan was outside, he looked back, as he saw the agents taking notice as they ran towards the house, with a furious look on Chief's face.
Shadowsan then headed back to the VILE helicopter, and climbed in, before the Cleaners took off back to VILE Island, with Shadowsan keeping Naruto and Carmen entertained.
Once back, Shadowsan immediately headed for the Faculty room, so that he could meet with them.
"Explaining any particulars of how the deed was done seemed entirely beside the point at the time….being that I had more unusual actions to justify" Shadowsan said.
Baby Naruto and Carmen both crawled on the Faculty table before the members, as they babbled.
"Oh" Cleo said, as she leaned away from them with a look of disgust.
The babies both blew raspberries, as they crawled over to Bellum.
"Why on Earth would you bring these things back to the island?" Cleo asked Shadowsan with a cocked eyebrow.
"Well now, what was Shadowsan supposed to do?" Brunt asked curiously.
Gunnar rolled his eyes at this. "What we always do with loose ends," he said with a scowl.
"The children are far too young to have any memory of anything which could compromise us in the future," Bellum said to them, as Carmen reached for her pocket protector in her coat pocket, while Naruto reached for the ruler and pen in her other coat pocket, without her or the other Faculty members noticing.
Countess Cleo stuttered at this. "B-but what do we feed them? And who'll clean their -" she asked with a raised eyebrow, before she leaned back with a shudder, when Naruto and Carmen both sat in front of her while babbling as they did, with Carmen holding Bellum's pocket protector and Naruto holding her ruler and pen.
"My pocket protector! And my ruler and pen!" Saira said with a gasp of shock, as she looked down at her empty coat pockets.
"Well, well, looks like lil' lambkins and whiskers are natural-born thieves" Coach Brunt said with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
"Like their fathers," Dr Bellum said.
"With proper rearing, they could make fine operatives one day" Professor Maelstrom said with a smirk, as Coach Brunt got out of her seat and walked to stand between Cleo and Saira.
Naruto and Carmen played with the items they took for a while, before they held them out to Brunt, who picked them up, causing them to drop the items on the table, which allowed Bellum to pick them back up and put them in her coat pockets.
"Oh-ho! Yes, yes, yes, come to mama bear" Brunt said with a grin, as she rubbed her cheeks against Naruto and Carmen's, causing them both to giggle at this.
(Flashback over)
0o0o0o0
"We then entered a pact to keep your lineages secret from the two of you" Shadowsan said with a small frown. "That was the first vote taken by the Faculty that night."
"And the second?" Carmen asked with a hard look, as she and Naruto had their arms crossed over their chests.
"The decision to award your father's vacant seat to me in return for my deed" Shadowsan said, as he looked off to the side.
Naruto and Carmen both sat down, with Carmen leaning against Naruto. "All this time... Even if we believed you, why would you keep it a secret? Why would you make us find out on our own?" Naruto asked him, as they both glared at Shadowsan.
Shadowsan closed his eyes for a moment, before he looked over at them. "Because I have spent nearly half my life watching you both forge a remarkable path, one of honour and courage. A road of your own choosing. I feared that learning VILE's blood runs in both your veins might cause you to question your life's mission. I feared providing you with any excuse to veer from your course against your one true enemy" he said, as some tears came to his eyes.
Naruto and Carmen both frowned at this, as they looked down in thought.
0o0o0o0
(A few days later)
Inside an apartment, an alarm clock went off, showing that the time was six in the morning, before a hand pressed on the button, switching it off, as someone climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom, showing that it was Chief, as she closed a mirror door cabinet while yawning slightly.
She had a shower then cleaned her teeth, before getting dressed. She then went to feed her cat, who happily purred when she stroked him.
Chief walked over to a table and grabbed her ACME, as she put it in her coat pocket, before opening her door. She then turned around and clicked her tongue at the cat with a smile, who gave a meow, as she shut and locked the door.
She then walked to a cafe, and once she entered, she gave her order.
"One non-fat latte, coming right up!" Zack yelled out, as he and Ivy stood behind the counter, each wearing an apron and hat.
"This stupid thing won't open" Ivy said with a sigh, as she hit the register before shaking it.
"First day?" Chief asked with a small smile and a raised eyebrow.
Ivy looked up at this. "That obvious, huh?" she asked with a shrug.
"Ooh, baby, that's hot!" Zack yelled, as some steam hissed from the espresso machine, causing him to shake his hand slightly.
Chief chuckled a little at this, as she took some cash out of her wallet, while the door behind her opened, causing the bell to jingle, while Ivy walked away from the cash register.
Chief turned around and widened her eyes in surprise, as she saw Naruto and Carmen standing there.
Carmen locked the door, while Naruto turned the sign from open to closed, with Chief frowning at them slightly.
"We would have called," Carmen said, as she and Naruto walked over to a table.
"Yeah, but we lost our pen," Naruto said, as he took a chair from another table to sit on, while Carmen sat down.
Chief walked over to the table, and sat in the other chair at this. "So, the two of you must be ready to enlist," she said with a smile, as she placed one hand over the other with her elbows on the table.
"We're still undecided," Naruto and Carmen said together, with their arms crossed over their chests, as they stared at Chief, while Zack and Ivy tried to make Chief's latte, as it overflowed, causing them both to argue over it.
"I'm not getting my latte, am I?" Chief asked with a blank look and tone.
"I wouldn't drink it" Carmen said, with a blank look and tone of her own.
"You went to some trouble to find me, you two. I assume that it's to get to know me better, before you can trust me" Chief said.
"Well, we know that you like cats," Naruto said with a shrug.
"Persian long-hairs, apparently" Carmen said with a smile, as she and Naruto looked at a piece of hair on Chief's sleeve.
Chief raised an eyebrow at this, as she too looked at her sleeve, before taking the hair off and looked at it with a slight frown, before smiling at them. "Oh, you are good," she said, as she tossed the piece of hair away.
"Does it have a name?" Naruto asked curiously, as he leaned forward on the table slightly, while smiling a little.
Chief looked at them for a moment, before she smiled. "His name is Commander," she said.
"Cute," Carmen said with a grin, as she and Naruto stood up before walking towards the door, while Chief watched them with wide eyes.
"When we're ready, you'll know," Naruto said with a grin of his own, as he unlocked the door and changed the sign back to open, before the two of them left the cafe.
Chief then looked back at the espresso machine, and saw that Zack and Ivy were no longer there, with the mess they'd made still there.
Chief then stood up, to see if she could find the real owners of the cafe, before she spotted something in Carmen's chair. She leaned over with a raised eyebrow, and saw that it was a VILE hard drive.
This caused Chief to smile widely at this, as she grabbed the hard drive before running out of the shop.
0o0o0o0
(In an unknown location)
Agents Zari and Argent were both typing on their laptops, when the doors opened, causing Julia to look over. "Chief? But you're…" she said with wide eyes, as she and Zari both stood up, with looks of shock on their faces, as Chief walked past them.
"Special occasion, Argent. We're about to receive confirmation" Chief said with a smile over her shoulder, as she stood before a large wall.
"Of what?" Julia asked curiously.
"Of your remarkable instincts regarding one Carmen Sandiego and Naruto Uzumaki" Chief said, as she held up the VILE hard drive with a cocked eyebrow and a grin, making Zari and Argent look at each other in surprise.
Chief slotted the hard drive into a slot as it beeped, causing the wall to light up, showing it was a large screen. Chief stepped back slightly, while Julia and Zari walked over.
Soon, a loading bar appeared on the screen with the VILE symbol, and once it was fully completed, the screen began to distort.
"Something's wrong" Julia said, as Chief frowned slightly.
After a while, the distortion stopped and a white hat appeared on the screen.
"We have a breach. Someone's in the network" Julia said in shock, as she looked at Chief.
Zari scoffed at this. "Good luck accessing the ACME files without a pass code" she said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
Chief gasped at this, realising who it was. "No!" she said, before grunting in anger as she scowled.
0o0o0o0
(Meanwhile)
Back at the cafe, a white van was parked outside with Naruto, Carmen, Zack and Ivy sitting inside it, with Zack and Ivy sat up front while Naruto and Carmen were in the back.
{"We're in. We just need that pass code"} Player said with a grin, as Zack and Ivy looked over their seats.
"Try variations on 'Commander' and see if that works," Carmen said.
Player nodded at this, as he typed on his computer. After a few minutes, he was able to gain access. "Boom! I'm on a shopping spree" he said with a grin, as he snapped his fingers.
"So, what have ya got?" Naruto asked curiously.
{"Shadowsan's story checks out. Former Interpol Agent Tamara Fraser is on record taking responsibility for Wolfe and Rana's deaths and leveraging the case to form a special investigative unit-ACME. According to this, ACME's very first case file, Wolfe and Rana set fire to what was assumed to be Wolfe and Rana's own villa. By all indications, they never realised anyone else, including you two, were present. Wolfe or Rana wasn't the name on the house deed, though. The actual homeowners both succumbed to a terminal illness just two weeks earlier. Two women, Vera Cruz and Tsunade Senju"} Player said, as he read the files, along with looking at the photos.
"They both sound like codenames," Carmen said, with Naruto nodding in agreement.
"Well, we are dealing with VILE," Player said with a slight shrug.
"Which is why we won't believe any obituary in ACME's files. Not without solid proof" Naruto said.
Carmen nodded in agreement at this, before looking at Zack. "Zack, get us to the airport pronto," she said to him.
Zack looked a little surprised at this, but he nodded and started up the van before driving off.
"Player, have Shadowsan meet us there" Naruto said to him.
"Why are we going to the airport?" Ivy asked with a raised eyebrow.
{"And why do you want Shadowsan to meet you there?"} Player asked with his own raised eyebrow.
"Because we're going to Argentina, to find out if those two women are actually buried there" Carmen said with a frown, as Naruto nodded in agreement, his own frown on his face.
Player's eyes widened at this, before he typed on his computer, booking them a flight to Argentina, while Ivy gave a nod at this, as it made sense.
Once they'd arrived at the airport, they saw Shadowsan waiting for them. The group went inside and got sorted out, before boarding the plane, which soon took off.
0o0o0o0
(Buenos Aires, Argentina Cemetery)
Once the plane had landed at Buenos Aires, Argentina, they got checked into a hotel, before Naruto, Carmen and Shadowsan headed towards the cemetery, where they'd found out that the two women were buried, hoping they'd get some answers.
They'd hired some people, along with a digger to dig up the graves, and a crane to lift the caskets out of the ground.
Naruto, Carmen and Shadowsan watched as the workers dug out the graves, before they used the crane to lift the caskets out of the holes, and set them down on the ground next to each other.
Naruto and Carmen nodded at the workers, as they paid them, before they left with the machinery.
Shadowsan walked over to the caskets, and knelt next to them, before looking at Naruto and Carmen for a moment.
"Do it," Naruto and Carmen said together.
Shadowsan nodded at this, before he placed his hands on the lids, while Naruto and Carmen looked on pensively as Shadowsan opened the caskets….showing that they were both empty.
"Textbook Stealth 101" Shadowsan said, as he looked back at them.
Naruto and Carmen both smiled at this, as they both closed their eyes, imagining their fathers carrying them as babies, as they stepped off a plane to meet their mothers.
Carmen imagined that her mother had the same coloured hair as her, while wearing a red coat and a yellow scarf around her neck. Naruto imagined that his mother had an orange coat on with a blue scarf around her neck, and her hair was blonde.
They both imagined their fathers stepping off the plane and placing them on the ground, as they walked towards their mothers, who kneeled down with their arms spread out wide.
"We would have rendezvoused with them to start a new life somewhere" Naruto said, as he and Carmen opened their eyes.
"Wolfe and Rana had both clearly fabricated your mother's passings to enable them to vanish without a trace" Shadowsan said, as he stood up.
"Everyone leaves a trace. Somewhere out there, we both have a mother who may or may not know that we're alive" Carmen said with a grin.
"Are you with us?" Naruto asked Shadowsan with a raised eyebrow.
"To the end of the line" Shadowsan said with a nod.
Naruto and Carmen both smiled at this. "Then let's find them" they both said together, as they walked out of the cemetery and towards the city.
0o0o0o0
(Chase's apartment)
Chase was in his bathroom, shaving his beard off when his mobile phone began ringing. He tried ignoring it, but it kept on ringing, causing him to growl in annoyance as he tossed the shaver at the mirror, making it bounce off it into the sink, as he picked up his phone and answered it.
"What is it?" Chase asked.
{"It is your lucky day, gumshoe"} Chief's voice said, taking Chase by surprise. {"You're being reactivated. Carmen Sandiego and Naruto Uzumaki have crossed a line, and I am dedicating ACME to taking them down. Think you can bring the heat, Agent Devineaux?"} Chief asked him.
Chase gained a wide smirk at this. "You bet I can, Chief," he said happily.
0o0o0o0
Authors Note: To those who want me to lemon/sex scenes in every chapter or so, I can't as I need to find the right time/moment to do them. Such as, on their plane, in a hotel room or in a train's sleeping carriage. So please, stop asking me to keep adding them, as I'll do them when I please.
Hope that everyone enjoyed the chapter, and that you're doing what you can to avoid getting this COVID by following the rules, while any and all flames are no longer welcome. Also, for some reason, if I get a PM from anyone, it wouldn't show me the number(s) on fanfiction (so if you send me a PM, and I reply to it late, that's the reason why). Let's hope that now the vaccines are all done, we can rest a bit easier.
I have also posted a few story ideas on my home page, and if any of you want to use them please, PM me and let me know.