A Bewitching Dance Chapter 19: When You Bite the Hand, a naruto fanfic

Heya,

This chapter was meant to come out well over a week ago. FFnet has been having some issues when it comes to uploading and editing documents, and I've had to find progressively wackier workarounds to get this thing out for y'all. Hopefully formatting doesn't break or anything like that.

Anyways, no more bullshit. Chapter start.

That evening, night overstayed well past its welcome. Naruto lay in a daze throughout it all, petty scraps of fitful half-sleep were but paltry offerings to his exhaustion. Tired as he was, his mind was remiss to fully pull away from the earlier events; instead, his altercation with Jiraiya remained stalwart at the forefront of his mind. Something close to bitter shame rooted closely to the memory.

"I shouldn't have hit him," He finally bit out when even the light of the moon had waned and dulled, and all that remained for him and Kushina was the empty blackness of his room. They were the first words he had spoken in hours.

"No, you shouldn't have." Kushina's tone was gentle; understanding. Her fingers cupped his cheek, brushing the thin crust of dried tears that remained. "You were frightened; you thought he would hurt you, so you lashed out… It wasn't okay, but it is understandable."

"Mhm…" He said nothing else, for a time. His fingers flexed, rife with unspent energy. With his senses turned inwards off the back of Tsunade's lessons, he could just about see the channeling of nervous signals rocketing throughout himself at rapid speed. They kept him active and alert, even in spite of his own will; the remnant dregs of adrenaline lingered, intent on anticipating a threat that had long-since passed.

Even if he would not admit it, a part of him feared that Jiraiya would burst through that door at any moment. Every second that passed only seemed to raise his energy in response to that threat, empty as it likely was; his body was desperate for an outlet, to such a point that he'd been forced to wrap himself painfully tight within the embrace of several bundles of blankets.

"Maybe I should start drinking." Kushina snorted, in turn.

Then, a light tap sounded at his door; it was so feather-light that it was near imperceptible if not for his own sharp hearing. Even with the range of his sensory technique reduced, he knew that he would find Hinata at the other end of the door.

A brief, near-traitorous thought flitted through his head for the moment. He was too embarrassed to face her; not after the meltdown he'd had mere hours earlier. Perhaps he should just ignore her?

That thought was stamped and crushed as it rightfully should have been, and with just a moment's hesitation, he called back. "It's open."

Slowly, the door creaked ajar. Her pale, luminescent eyes darted about with clear hesitation, which waned just a touch in favor of bemusement as her sight seemed to fail her. He chuckled, and her eyes snapped upwards, beholding the boy who lay bundled up on the ceiling like he'd been cocooned.

"Y-you're on the ceiling?"

Bundled too tightly within his arrangements, Naruto merely made his best attempt at a shrug. "I couldn't sit still on the ground; it's more comfortable this way."

Her eyes fluttered with rapid blinks, not entirely sure what to make of that admission. "Er- I see…" Staggered as she was, it was a few moments' pause that filled the air while she regained her senses. When she did though, "I-I wanted to check on- are you okay?"

Just as quickly as she'd formed the words, she felt an urge to smack herself. Of course he wasn't! God, he probably didn't even want to talk to her! She licked her lips anxiously when he only seemed to shift, uncomfortably. "I c-could- I could come back later if you- um, if you don't want to see me right now…"

"I want to see you," Naruto interjected. Then he groaned. "I'm just a bit stuck is all."

"Wha- oh!" Hinata giggled, pacing forward with increased confidence. It was short work to adhere to the ceiling, herself. Approaching the boy, she began to work away at his bindings. "How long have you been trapped like this?"

"Don't know; I only just realized when I tried to get out to let you in," He admitted, embarrassedly. Her deft fingers pried the cloth apart layer by layer, finally freeing his arms and some of his chest. Then, quick as a flash, he snatched the girl, eliciting an uncharacteristically loud yelp from her as he yanked her close to his chest with mischief on his mind. "Now would be a great time to reveal that this was all an elaborate trap."

"You have betrayed my tiny trust," Hinata whined, devolving into a loud laugh as her boyfriend nuzzled her head and once again wrapped the blankets around himself, now plus herself. A heated blush overtook her face at their proximity, but she wasn't uncomfortable with the arrangement.

To think, just a few weeks prior, merely touching the boy would have sent her into a complete meltdown. Now though- she buried her face into the crook of his neck, partly to hide her expression; mostly to breathe in the sweet, honeyed scent that clung to his skin and melted her insides. She wasn't quite bold enough to admit aloud that she was addicted to the scent. She was bold enough though to revel in the fact that he didn't seem angry at her. It helped in a way, sensing that he seemed just as needy for her comfort as she was, his; it made it easier to swallow her embarrassment.

"I was worried that you wouldn't want to talk to me."

Naruto paused for a moment, considering her admission. "Nah. I always want to talk to you… Sorry for making you think otherwise- and, thanks for standing up for me…" He chuckled, after a moment. "You were super badass, ya know."

"Re-really?" She downright vibrated with pride. Wait, was she cool now? Was this the birth of 'Cool Hinata'? What did cool people even do? Did she have to start wearing sunglasses or chewing on toothpicks; she still had Shino's set from the Chunin exams. She supposed she could try hair gel, but she wasn't so sure that she'd look good like that. Maybe the pretty proctor lady from the second test could give her some advice? She was pretty cool…

What was she thinking abou- oh! She shook herself free of those thoughts, peering up -or was it down?- at Naruto's amused expression. Honestly, these days it seemed like he could tell exactly what she was thinking!

She didn't exactly mind it though. Though, that reminded her:

"I wanted to tell you- before everything happened with Jiraiya-sama… I wanted to say that you don't need to tell him or me anything that you're not ready to talk about, okay?"

Naruto's amusement was replaced with a frown, his breath seeming to freeze in his chest. "You're not upset that-"

"If you say you aren't ready to talk, then I trust that you have your reasons," She cut in, firmly. God knew that Hinata had her own things she was remiss to bring up, even with him. Even if she wished he could tell her, she had no intentions of pressuring him. "You don't need to tell me about jinchuriki either. It was wrong of me to bring it up."

Naruto was silent for a moment, and in that time, she wondered if she'd somehow said something wrong. An apology was on the tip of her tongue when he responded. "It wasn't wrong," He said, just a bit forcefully. "I- Well I just- You deserve to- ugh! Okay just give me a moment to remember how to make words." Hinata snickered into his chest, but remained silent while he composed himself once again. Seeing the boy flustered so much- it helped her own confidence, in a way, to know that he was just as anxious as she was.

Finally, Naruto spoke up again. "I want you to know. You deserve to know, more than most." He shushed her as she tried to contradict him. "You do. It's because you're so understanding and don't pry and put my feelings first that you deserve to know… But I want you to understand in advance- what I'm gonna tell you is tied to a bunch of other stuff that I'm not ready to talk about; stuff that I probably won't ever be ready to talk about. Not to you, not to Jiraiya; not to anybody." She nodded, the gravity of his secrets seeming to dawn on her all at once; he knew that she understood, and he buried his nose into her hair again. "If it seems like I'm skirting around stuff, that's gonna be why. I just-" He sighed. "I don't want you to feel like I'm lying to you, or like I don't trust you, ya know? 'Cuz I do trust you. But-" He thought of his mother's words, now days apart. "Some of this stuff goes beyond trust, alright? Some of this stuff isn't just mine to tell you."

"I understand." Hinata gazed up at him, her expression firm. "Whatever you want to tell me, I'm ready to hear it."

'Well I'm not ready to say it…' Still, he needed to tell her, before he got cold feet; before that traitorous part of his brain told him she would reject him and leave him alone.

"She won't." Kushina's comfort lingered for the moment, her lips finding his brow in a silent show of support; it was a message, unspoken, yet loud and clear.

Despite their argument the days prior, she trusted Hinata too. The seal was off the table, but in this, he had her blessing.

Then her presence was gone, leaving her son to their moment.

He took a long breath. "The word 'jinchuriki' comes from the Uzumaki clan's language. It translates to 'power of the human sacrifice'." Hinata wiggled away from him to regard his expression, something akin to creeping horror meeting his own sad smile. "It's a term that was coined by my people to refer to those who had been 'sacrificed', usually for some kind of special duty. In older times, it was specifically a word of reverence, spoken in reference to lok'haathe- er, warriors who were killed in defense of others. The sacrifice of one life to preserve someone else, ya know?"

Hinata nodded slowly, unwilling to speak back in fear of interrupting him.

"In modern times though, it has a different meaning," He growled, and Hinata twitched with nervousness at the boy's abrupt fury. "It's not for people who sacrifice themselves anymore, but for people who are sacrificed. Usually against their will."

Something painful swelled in her gut and she just couldn't help herself. "You were sacrificed? I-I don't understand? Who would-"

"My father." The admission was blunt, aggressive even, as if the mere thought filled the boy with fury. "My dad, the Fourth Hokage, sacrificed me for the village the day I was born."

Hinata gaped, not quite having the mental bandwidth to even fully register what he'd said.

His father? The Fourth Hokage? Lord Fourth was his father, and he had somehow sacrificed Naruto, his own child… "What?"

Ugh, smooth, Hinata.

Naruto grimaced. "Ugh, I'm talking in circles, sorry… Just give me a-" He took another steadying breath. "Nowadays, jinchuriki- it's a term used to reference people who are made into weapons. Their humanity is sacrificed to transform them into tools of war." Naruto's fingers ghosted across his own abdomen, that ugly bitterness he so loathed taking root in his chest. "The most commonly known way to do this is to either seal someone into something, or seal something into someone." He swallowed, face red as he tried to make that final push; to force the words out before he lost his nerve. They tumbled out in a long, breathless rasp. "My da- the Fourth Hokage… He sealed the Kyuubi into me- th-the night that it attacked."

Hinata froze, her eyes all but bugging out of her head; her jaw fell loose in an expression that would have been hilarious to him in any other circumstance.

"The Fourth- Lord Fourth, he- the Kyuubi no Kitsune- in you?" She stammered out, only the barest chain of sense linking her babbling together.

Suddenly a whole lot made sense. The whiskers-like marks on his cheeks; his baffling chakra levels… His birthday! He had been made into a human sacrifice on his birthday! She was suddenly struck with the urge to vomit, so intense that she did not dare even try to speak.

Was that why all the adults seemed to have it out for him?

"Mhm… Yeah. The night of the Kyuubi's rampage, he sealed it inside of me. I mean, I guess it makes sense; he did it to protect the village and all but…" A pause. "There's- well, there's more to it, but that's about the gist of it… He turned me into a weapon for the village's sake. All of the adults know; if you've ever wondered why they all seem to hate me, it's 'cuz they do, and that's why."

Hinata said nothing. Her eyes had welled up so thoroughly with tears that all she could make out in front of her was a blurry mess. Her throat burned, the urge to scream on his behalf so great, and yet in the end all she could do was bury her face into his shirt and sob.

Naruto merely let off a loud sigh, seeming to deflate in tandem until he was all but limp in Hinata's grip. "I'm sure this ain't what you signed up for when we started going out… Sorry."

It was like cold water had been dunked over her head. There was something sad, almost resigned in his tone that sent alarm bells ringing in Hinata's head. Choking back her own emotion, she cupped his cheek. "Don't apologize!" She hissed. Naruto blinked at the authority in her tone.

It wasn't his fault that the Hokage had done such a horrible thing to him! Did he think she didn't want him anymore?

Never. Never!

"You said it yourself, that word is meant to be a term of honor! Every day you live- every breath that you take is a blessing!"

"H-Hinata…" Naruto's eyes grew moist.

"A-and besides!" She cut in again, hastening to get her thoughts out before she lost her nerve. Her arms tightened around him, impressing upon her his slender, muscled shape. Her eyes trailed up to capture his own, marveling at the multicolored, star-like pupils, each dotted at every corner. So similar to Shukaku- on the sand demon, they had been unsettling; on him though- well, maybe she was just biased, but he was stunning. If she squinted just right, it was like he had eight pupils, instead of two.

She grinned. "You're more of a spider than a fox, huh?" Boldly, she clung to him even tighter, so tight that her biceps ached and her nose bent uncomfortably against the crook of his neck.

What would he say if their roles were reversed?

"A-and I tru-trust you to- um, I trust you not to eat my face off, okay!?"

Ugh! Way to stick the landing Hinata- wait, was he crying?"

"That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me." Naruto sniffed, his eyes sparkling almost comically. "I promise I won't eat your face off. I super duper promise!"

Scratch that. She was 'Debonair Hinata' now. Maybe she oughta start carrying chocolates…

Roses? What kind of flowers did Naruto like?

"T-then in tha-that case-" Hinata smiled sweetly at him, then pressed her cheek against his chest. Her eyes panned downward, a lingering gaze finding the bracelet he had made her. In the near black of the room, it was near-luminescent in its shine; somehow, it seemed brighter and shinier than ever! "In that case, this changes nothing between us."

If anything, it only made her love him more.

Orochimaru's safehouses were habitually spartan. For as extravagant and flamboyant as the man tended to portray himself, such flare for drama rarely seemed to extend to his personal spaces. Naturally, his subordinates ought not to expect much better; least of all those who had lost his favor.

With the Four now on the chopping block as they were, it was no wonder that they had been crammed like sardines into a tiny basement room, barely functional for the whole lot to share amongst themselves. They were afforded just sparsely enough to rest their heads for the evening, and even that was a close luxury that they were hesitant to indulge, none among the four wishing to be around and idle near Orochimaru's ire.

Still, not even the snake seemed to begrudge Tayuya and Kidomaru a lengthy rest after nearly two days of extended watch over the Konoha brat; he waved the pair out of his sight with little more than a short exchange and report on their ends, once again turning his attention to some project or another while Kimimaro all but clung at the man's heels.

Still, there had been something keen in the snake's eyes as Kidomaru explained to the man the training the boy had done under Tsunade's watchful tutelage; something that bordered on interest.

Or even morbid affection.

Tayuya filed it away, far from bold enough to push her luck with the man, but knowing that any and every piece of ammunition would be essential before long.

So it was a tired Tayuya that stumbled into their shared living space, followed closely by her spider-like teammate. A quick act of sleight of hand disguised a chain of hand seals, set to bend the room's sounds so that none would escape. So focused on this, she nearly tripped over the downed form of Jirobo on her way to her own futon. "Hug a wall or something jackass; don't just lurk in the middle of the damn room."

Jirobo all but bared his teeth in response. "You've been gone two days, and that's the first thing you say? I bet you two were off slacking while we were keeping watch over Jiraiya!"

"I bet you spent the last few days rubbing your nips raw at the thought of Orochimaru-sama calling you a good dog, you damn loser," Tayuya batted back thoughtlessly, still not so much as looking at her teammate. She yelped as he suddenly scrambled to his feet, his meaty shoulder slamming painfully into her spine and bowling her over the now forcefully rousing forms of Sakon and Ukon in a startling display of aggression. "What in every hell is wrong with you!?" She howled at him, trying to scramble upward and only managing to irritate the twins further. Jirobo seemed not to hear her at all for a moment, stalking after her with heavy breaths that swelled in his chest through flaring nostrils. "O-oi, it was a joke, asshole! Chill out!" Tayuya hissed, painfully detangling herself from the grumbling siblings, who-too had begun eyeing their now angrily looming teammate with increasing wariness.

"It's not so funny when you're on the other side of things, huh?" There was something deeply disturbed in the young man's eyes as he hunched over all three of them. His whole body vibrated with unrestrained energy, a gross desire to hit something seemingly trained solely onto her. Tayuya swore she saw a tint of yellow in his eyes. "I'm trying to save our lives, and all you can do is make fun of me!"

Jirobo had always been the mild sort, rarely rising to her taunts with any more than mild chastisement. On some level, that banter had merely become routine for Tayuya; something that she took for granted- hell, maybe even something she looked forward to. Never had he struck her; never had he even seemed tempted to. Now though- She watched his fingers, each clenching and spasming with building fury. She didn't doubt that a fight would break out between them if things continued to escalate.

"Dial it back, Jirobo, Kidomaru warned him, stepping forward. Two of his six arms were placed between the pair, fighting to push a near-growling Jirobo back; another one reached to help haul the downed Tayuya up to her feet. "She may clown on you a bunch, but Tayuya has been working hard in her own way, too."

"Yeah, asshole! I've been busting my ass to help you out, and the first thing you do is hit me and jump down my throat!"

That gave Jirobo pause. "What are you talking about?" Not far off, the Sakon and Ukon also seemed to grow more alert, rising to a full sitting position.

The faintest hint of a sneer broke through Tayuya's composure, something petty in her trying to push her to withhold her words, if only to further frustrate the heavy set boy.

"Jirobo's gonna be desperate to do whatever he thinks he's gotta do to impress Orochimaru. If we want to make it out of this alive, we can't have him ratting us out."

Swallowing her irritation, she schooled her features. "That other kid- the one we were watching- apparently, he's good pals with Tsunade," She started, her tone leading. Jirobo's own sneer was quick to return.

"Yeah, she was here just a few hours ago. Now she's refusing to help Orochimaru-sama all of a sudden." Then his eyes widened, and rage overtook them. "You think that trash has something to do with it!?"

That was news to her, but, "We know it," she retorted, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "Apparently they're related or something. He's got some super rare sensory bloodline or whatever that she's teaching him to use. If she's suddenly backing out of their deal, then it's probably 'cuz he said something that warned her off." Jirobo twitched, and Tayuya pushed on. "What's more, I heard from Kimimaro that he's also the one that took down the One Tails and fucked up our whole invasion. He also got in the way of the boss while he was trying to mark the Uchiha; it's like he's got a hard on for getting under Orochimaru-sama's skin or something, 'cuz the boss hates him."

That, she wasn't quite sure about. But she'd never claimed to be a truther.

Kidomaru was quick to jump in. "So not only do we have an unmarked Hyuga with perfectly good eyes lying around, we've also got some kid with a hidden ability who's interfering with Orochimaru-sama's plans and is someone he probably wants axed." The spider-like boy stepped forward, palming one of Jirobo's large shoulders and grinning. "That sounds like a damn good opportunity to get back in Orochimaru-sama's good graces, wouldn't you say?"

Jirobo's eye twitched, a thin well of saliva pooling at his lower lip and dribbling to his chin. His teeth gnashed together, so hard that Tayuya winced at the sound. Fingers twitching and chest heaving, Kidomaru knew the boy was hooked.

Maybe a little too much, actually.

"Hold on," Sakon suddenly cut in, his expression severe. Tayuya and Kidomaru both suppressed a wince at the boy's interference. "Orochimaru-sama explicitly told us to stay out of Jiraiya's way. If we do anything to those brats, even if we're successful, we're likely to just piss him off." His eyes narrowed, suspicion evident in his eyes. "What exactly are you trying to pull?"

Backing him up was Ukon, his glare even more intense than his brother's. "Yeah, Tayuya I could see plotting something stupid like this-" He sneered in response to the rude gesture she gave him in turn. "But I expected better of you, Kidomaru."

They needed to shut him down. "Listen, dipshit!" Tayuya bit back, stepping into the twins' space. "We need to face the damn facts: We're old news! The boss has far more interesting shit in his focus now than us; we're failed experiments; bad product!" Every person in the room, herself included, flinched at the blunt admission. Jirobo's chest heaved with heavy breaths, that realization seemingly doing little good for his mental state. "Get your head out of your ass and understand that we are no longer Orochimaru's special snowflakes; all of the fucked up shit he does to the peasant-ass-peasants- we're on the table for all of that now, unless we can find a way to get back in his good graces. If you can't see that, then you deserve whatever the hell he does to your dumb ass!"

Sakon stepped back, something close to self-loathing briefly creeping to the surface. But Ukon snarled right back in defense of his brother. "So what, your bright idea is to get us killed faster by disobeying him!? You haven't got a lick of sense in that head of yours!"

Picking a fight wasn't in their best interest. She needed to reign the discussion back in before it got out of hand. "Quiet down and listen," she bit out, a forced calm settling over her. "I've been around the block the longest out of us so I can tell you for sure that Orochimaru values initiative, and he'll forgive a lot if we bring results! If we're out the door regardless, then our best bet is a hail mary play; we've gotta do something impressive enough that the boss rethinks scrapping us, and the only way we're gonna see that happen is if we pull up our frilly skirts, sack the hell up, and Get. To. Work."

Then she turned just enough to eye the stock-still Jirobo. "You guys know where they sleep; we-" She motioned between herself and Kidomaru. "Know where he trains. Between the four of us, it oughta be a piece of cake to get those kids while their pants are down; together, even without the curse mark, we're more than enough to take out a Jonin elite, let alone some twink asshole and his girlfriend. We just need the right moment and we can snatch them both right under the Toad's nose! In a worst case, Orochimaru can probably ransom them to get the Slug chick to heal Kimimaro. You know how important he is to the boss; if we get him fixed, he will reward us."

The plan was full of holes, but the plan really didn't matter. All that mattered was how they sold it. One look at Sakon and Ukon told her that their earlier suspicions had at least been bullied back for the time being. They'd follow the flow of things just as they always did, so long as it kept them out of the line of fire. Jirobo though…

Slowly, a cruel smile began to stretch its way across the heavy set boy's face, the corners of his lips tilting and stretching so much they cracked marginally open, red and raw. "Yeah, let's do it!"

They slept together that night, bundled together like a burrito atop Naruto's futon and plastered to the ceiling. It was a chaste intimacy like she hadn't enjoyed in so long; not since she was young, when her mother would invite her to her bed and tell her stories or sing for her until she dozed off in her arms. Those days, her father had smiled so often that it was rare to see him without one…

She'd missed those days.

It was a long moment before her thoughts reorganized themselves, reminding her that those days were long passed. Nonetheless, she was content now with what she had found in its stead. Though, it was only when the sun had risen well enough for its glare to gleam through gaps in the curtain blinds that Hinata's eyes snapped open with long-overdue realization.

That she had spent the night.

Cuddling… With a boy.

Wow, she really was 'Debonair Hinata, huh-'

"Gah!" She jumped apart, arms flailing and all but tearing herself away from a now loudly-grumbling Naruto. In her haste, she fell completely loose, taking a rough tumble to the ground and landing on the ground with a wheeze. "Ouchies."

"Ya know, I was having a perfectly good nap before you decided to hit me with a three-piece combo and screamed in my ear," He groused, gracefully descending from his spot by his fingertips and rubbing at his sore chest.

"S-sorry! Sorry!" She whined, staggering up to shift from foot-to-foot. "I didn't mean to fall asleep!"

"I did," Naruto grumbled right back. Then his eyes gleamed with a touch of curiosity, looking the girl over. "What are you freaking out about anyways? Sleep is good for you, ya know."

"W-well no- I didn't- well I mean yes, sleep is good but we're not supposed to-" She stopped abruptly, taking in the blank expression on the boy's face as if not a single thought was running through his head. "Er- nevermind… Sleep is good."

There was about a fifty-fifty chance that he was messing with her…

Hinata yelped as the door suddenly shot open. "We didn't do anything!"

"Sure you didn't." Jiraiya looked between the two, his typical leer fighting to stay well in place. Then his eyes trailed up, catching sight of the futon that was still plastered firmly on the ceiling. "Er- did you sleep up there?"

"Yeah?" Naruto eyed Jiraiya curiously. "What's the problem?"

"No problem. No problem," Jiraiya repeated, his tone taking on just a touch of awkwardness. The two seemed to shuffle around one another, somehow without ever taking a step either which way. "Uh… Breakfast is on the table. Come eat… Or don't. Up to you." Again, his eyes panned between Naruto and Hinata; his lips parted as if ready to say something, but then they snapped shut with a 'pop', the man thinking better of it. "I'll- uh, yeah, I'll go."

The door clicked shut with his hasty departure, once again leaving a befuddled Naruto to watch the door that the man had just disappeared behind. Slowly, he turned that gaze toward Hinata, who stood frozen in exactly the same spot she'd been in since she'd fallen, and shrugged. "Breakfast?"

She nodded mutely, and thus the pair found themselves seated and tabled across from a silent Jiraiya, a handful of cardboard takeout cartons spread out on a cheap tablecloth between them all.

Jiraiya wetted dry lips, glances cutting between the two; a myriad of unspoken thoughts lurked behind his eyes, but he was remiss to voice most of them, in fear of raising tensions further.

"I figured it was a bit early for ramen," He finally said, apologetically. "So I stopped for dumplings instead… Neither of you are allergic to seafood, are you?"

"U-um… No," Hinata piped up. Her eyes refused to meet Jiraiya's, for even if she stood by what she'd said the evening prior, there was no overlooking the fact that she'd shouted at her superior. Not wanting to open that particular can of worms, she boldly reached for the nearest carton, looking hesitantly between the other two before dragging it closer to herself.

Its contents looked good enough, if a bit soggy. Hinata's features curled near-imperceptibly with distaste at the wad of ginger deposited at the top. Then she blinked when a set of chopsticks entered her vision, plucking the hated food from its place; her vision trailed back to Naruto, who stuffed the whole thing in his mouth with nary a thought. Then he cracked open his own carton, and was nearly two dumplings in when he finally spotted the befuddled look of Jiraiya. "She hates ginger."

"Oh… My bad."

"Mhm…"

Really, it was like those two were made for each other! Unwilling to let the conversation die out, Jiraiya piped up again, a tentative grin finding traction on his features. "Awfully convenient then that you seem to like it so much then, yeah?"

"I also hate ginger," Naruto corrected him with a light chuckle. Jiraiya's face fell at that. "But I'm not the sort that likes wasting food, ya know?"

The old sage didn't need to wonder long about why that might've been. Unbidden, Naruto's words echoed from back in the Chunin exams.

"Most nights, I had sleep for dinner… Some days, there wasn't enough to go around so I killed and ate the rats too."

He had tried to convince himself that his godson would be okay, left in the village under Hiruzen's watch. He told himself that the village needed its spymaster, and that the boy was better off without him… But really, he'd just been too unwilling to accept responsibility over the boy; he had agreed to be his godfather because Minato had asked, and it had never once occurred to him that the young man could actually die.

How do you even kill a man that powerful, who could be anywhere at any time?

When it had happened though- when the time came for him to honor the promise he had made to the man who may as well have been his own son- well, he'd made excuses; had screwed off to indulge in his vices while his greatest responsibility fought to survive all alone in squalor.

What's more, he had hurt him.

"Post-traumatic stress disorder… How the hell do you not understand that you've gone and fucked that kid up for life?"

He was his godson; he was the last living legacy of his boy, the man who had been his son in all but name. Yet, Naruto's greatest memory of him was of being pushed off a cliff…

"Hey," Jiraiya spoke up again, fighting not to look away as the boy hesitantly met his eyes. "I've been thinking- er, about last night. I just wanted to say-"

"I know, I'm sorry," Naruto hastily cut in, looking almost pained. "I know I shouldn't have hit you; that wasn't cool of me at all."

What? Jiraiya was so stunned by the boy's words that his jaw fell limp. He processed them, then reprocessed again, his brain trying to make sense of it all until, "Hold on! No! No-no-no, no! I'm the one who's gotta apologize!"

"Too late. I already did it." Naruto snickered, mischievously at the older man's fluster. "You snooze you loose, ya know?" He side-eyed a giggling Hinata, giving the girl a wink.

"Yeah? Well I'm double sorry!" Jiraiya stood up from the table, clear indignation written all over his face.

"I'm super sorry. Everyone knows a super apology is two-point-five times more powerful as a standard apology. You're outmatched, bud."

"Triple sorry then!"

"There is no 'triple sorry', you damned cheater. God, did you even read the rule book?"

"Erm, J-Jiraiya-sama is hereby issued a red card for violating the rules of engagement."

"What!?" Jiraiya's face was an accusation of betrayal, aimed solely at Hinata.

"You heard her, Pervy Sage. You're disqualified."

"You both suck!" Jiraiya whined, thumping his forehead against the table.

Really, here he was trying to apologize, and both of them were making fun of him! The audacity! A second round of arguments was sprouting in him when he caught Hinata's eye.

Subtly, she shook her head, and he deflated.

Ah, so that's how it was…

Jiraiya chuckled into the table cloth. "Fine, fine. You win, kid. Apology accepted." He sighed.

No doubt, Naruto was still hiding plenty from him. There was some uncertainty in letting it all lie, he knew. But prying at this point wouldn't get them anywhere, and the fact that the kid was willing to joke at all was a small blessing that he was remiss to take for granted.

What's more, the message had been loud and clear: The kid really just needed the win, however small.

"I talked to Tsunade." Jiraiya opted to switch gears, instead. "She's got one last client here, then we're out of here; day after tomorrow."

"Orochimaru?" Naruto's nose scrunched in disgust. His newfound fondness for the woman aside, he had not forgotten her parley with the traitorous snake Sannin. Judging by the sneer on Jiraiya's face, so closely matching his own, he was of the same mind.

"Nah. Remember I said that the Daimyo's nephew was holding a big tourney here, yeah? That's tomorrow, and she can't miss it."

"She's really making us wait two more days so she can get some last-minute gambling done?" Naruto's eye twitched, the urge to punch the woman rising.

"It ain't that simple, kid. Regardless of her status, Tsunade's name is closely affiliated with the village. She's already accepted the summons and been seen in the area; if she blows him off, that doesn't just look bad on her. The entire village is going to eat shit for it; believe it or not, she's actually acting in our best interests here."

"Um-" Hinata reddened with embarrassment as two sets of eyes turned onto her. Her mouth was full, and she'd spoken up without thinking. Fighting down a dumpling, she choked out, "My fa-father… He said that public relations is just as important as a ninja's actual strength."

"That's right. It's not just what you can do, but who you know, that decides stuff in this world. Connections with strong figures makes for a powerful asset. It's why we let Sand off the hook despite their betrayal; plus, the illusion of strength is often just as valuable as strength itself."

Naruto frowned. "And by buddying up with the Daimyo's nephew, Auntie is building a bridge through him, potentially to the Daimyo himself. Is that it?"

"That's right." Jiraiya nodded, a grin taking hold on his face in response to the boy's understanding. "Little micro-decisions like this are what separates a strong ninja, and a damned good one. If you really plan to become Hokage, you've gotta start looking forward and seeing how you can start building bridges of your own!

Bridges, huh? Naruto thought back to the village of Wave; his first C-ranked mission had taken place outside of the village, helping the old bridge builder Tazuna to wriggle out from under the heel of a massive shipping tycoon by the name of Gatou. He hadn't thought much about his actions at the time beyond merely doing what he thought was right.

Imagine his surprise when he learned that those people had named their very lifeline after him.

"To those people, you are a hero." Kushina's words were as humbling as they were unbelievable. "You acted in their best interests. In doing so, you made yourself lifelong allies."

"Those Sand kids definitely seemed pretty taken with you too by the time we sent them on their way, remember? Even though they were frothing-at-the-mouth pissed at you before the invasion." Jiraiya grinned. "They're the kids of the late Kazekage; at the very least, they'll likely be pretty highly-respected ninja in a couple of years. If you're lucky, one of them might even succeed Rasa and become their village's Kage… You're already doing a bang up job of making friends in high places; now though, you've gotta learn how to do that intentionally."

Naruto frowned. But didn't that take the legitimacy out of it, if he was just doing stuff like that to make them like him? His frown twisted, bordering on a sneer, but he fought that back for appearances.

Hashirama had done just that with the Uzumaki, and look how that had turned out for them…

"As ninja, we do a lot of things in the name of duty- many of which we'd really rather not."

"Right, I'll keep that in mind," Naruto finally bit out, shortly.

Jiraiya glanced at the boy, perturbed by his sudden change in mood, but unwilling to test his patience so soon after they'd seemingly made up. "I-I mean I suppose it's a bit early to have you kids worrying about stuff like that so soon anyways. Look, there's gonna be a pretty huge festival surrounding the event; I figure while Princess and I get all of that business sorted, you two can enjoy the festivities. And don't worry about sensei; his condition ain't great by any means, but reports so far say he's still stable." Honestly, Jiraiya was of the mind that a little bit of downtime might do the kids some good. A thought then occurred to him, and he nearly facepalmed before rifling through the inner pocket of his haori. "Also! That academy guy you mentioned sent a letter back to you. Here." He passed over a sizable bundle, sliding it across the table and into Naruto's open palm. He sweated a bit as the boy eyed the broken seal with a frown. "Er- I didn't read it, I swear; I just checked for traps. I'm sure your friend is good and all, but you never know what might hitch a ride on the way out."

"Someone like Danzo would definitely try to rig your mail with something suspect. Besides, if he'd read it, he would've resealed it." Kushina had a point. Jiraiya seemed fairly earnest too, and nothing deceitful stood out in his chakra.

"Mhm…" Naruto's frown didn't at all abate, though in the end, he merely shrugged, sandwiching the parcel between his legs and continuing on with his meal. Catching Hinata's worried eye, he merely smiled for her.

He'd give the old pervert the benefit of the doubt.

She had a week.

No, less than that, even. The daimyo's nephew's parade was only a day away. The day after that, they'd be bound for Konoha; once that happened, dealings of any kind with Orochimaru were entirely off the table.

Tsunade scoffed. Dealings should've been off right from the start! She knew more than most, save for Jiraiya himself, that Orochimaru was not to be trusted. The old snake was loath to directly lie, but only because he preferred to twist one's words like the coil of his namesake!

Problem was, she wasn't seeing the trap. She'd thought it over on repeat since their conversation just that afternoon prior; every round she went was another layer of doubt that scattered like fresh dirt over her surety, burying it beneath desire.

Desperation.

To see them again.

"A real living, breathing, independent restoration of the soul."

That was what he had promised. Not a bastardization, like what her uncle Tobirama had been capable of, but a true revival. What were the limitations? What was the cost!? Surely Orochimaru knew better than to bluff like that with her.

So why wasn't she seeing his play?

…

Unless he was being genuine. If he truly was capable of such a thing, Orochimaru had no reason to lie or betray her. Dan had been a formidable jonin, for sure; however, his talents were nowhere near being a threat to Orochimaru even when he had been alive, let alone now. Nawaki, even less so; her baby brother had been no more than a fresh genin when he had died. Neither were a threat to her old teammate. Only she had a chance of killing him, and honoring his word would steer him wide and clear of that outcome; both of them knew that.

What's more, he needed her cooperation. He had offered to revive Nawaki, just on the condition of her agreement, which meant he was more than ready to back up his words with action!

Which meant that he was, more than likely, telling the truth.

She knew this; she had concluded it dozens of times already, and yet every bone in her body screamed to her that something was wrong; that she was missing something!

Except Orochimaru would do it. It was in character for him to revive them, if only to prove that he could. But it had been a long time since her old friend had done anything for anyone but himself…

Except in a way, this was as much for him and it was, for her, huh? The guilt he had felt back then, when Nawaki had died- Tsunade knew that wasn't a farce. That had been before he had-

She sighed.

That had been before he'd been lost. Back when he still had a heart that bled red and was yet filled with love, however wounded.

Perhaps this was his own way of redeeming himself? One final act of kindness, so that he could truly close that chapter of his life and become the evil, self-serving snake he reveled in being?

Or perhaps her old friend wasn't quite as lost as he made himself out to be…

Oh, bullshit. Her palm found her face, colliding hard enough to redden her forehead. She pinched the bridge of her nose to stem the headache that seemed fast approaching. "I'm going in circles… What the hell am I missing here? Just what is your angle here, Orochimaru!?"

Her heart ached for her to trust him, but her gut screamed otherwise…

A light 'clicking' at her door seized her attention.

She had sent Shizune out; the young woman's tentative pestering had grown insufferably insistent since she'd returned from her meeting with the snake; again still, after her chat with Jiraiya.

The girl meant well, but Tsunade had just about had enough of her nagging; meek as her apprentice was, Tsunade doubted the young woman would have returned so soon; not after their earlier argument had seen her all but toss the girl out on her ear.

The 'clicking' sounded again. It was hollow, and sounded at the base of the thing.

"What do you want, Tonton?"

A muffled "Oink!" intruded from the other side and she sighed.

"I'm not sulking! Go find Shizune or something!"

"Oink!"

"Oh piss off, you ruddy pig! I'm busy!"

The briefest of pauses followed. Then the door burst open with force, smashing against the wall and leaving a visible imprint in its surface. The upper hinge broke off, leaving the door hanging loosely, the tiniest applications of force likely to finish the job for good.

Tsunade squawked in surprise at the tiny swine's audacity. "Hey! That's my door, asshole!"

"Oink!" Tonton's diminutive hooves stomped into the room, her tiny beady eyes glowering at her mistress with unmistakable scandal. "Oink! Oink!"

It was ice-water over her head. "What are you- I am not planning on ditching him!" She glared right back at the pig, her earlier irritation becoming something heated. "Don't even suggest that I would- A-and watch your fucking language!"

"Oink!"

"Oh you insufferable little shit, you think I won't eat you!?" She leaned forward, snatching her ninja pet up off the ground and holding her up at eye level. Tonton's glare did not wane even a bit; the tiny creature seemed ready and willing to stare her down. "You must have lost your goddamn mind, you little runt!" Tonton let out a sharp 'oink' in return, and Tsunade flinched. "I'm not going to ditch him…" Her eyes softened a bit then, finally breaking away from her companion's. "But if I could get them back, even if just for a bit- shouldn't I at least consider doing what I can?"

Tonton did not respond, but her eyes spoke plenty, filled so thoroughly with judgment that Tsunade did a double take. "I-I mean, wouldn't they do the same?

"Oink…" Tonton sounded almost disappointed in her… "Oink oink. Oink oink oink, oink."

"W-well yes, I know I can't trust Orochimaru, but he's just asking me to heal his brat, ain't he?

She paused.

But what about her brat? Orochimaru had attacked him, nearly killing him in the process! What's more, he'd invaded their home, put Hiruzen in a coma, and likely slaughtered hundreds of people in the process. All over a petty grudge…

Even if he could bring them back; even if he would, he had long-since shown his true colors. What was stopping him from just killing them again after the fact? Or leveraging their lives to keep her in line even after she had fixed his underling?

"Oink?" Tonton looked up at her again, her beady little eyes so much softer, this time.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm picking up what you're putting down." Tsunade sighed, so deeply that she felt like a balloon letting out all of its air. Slumping bonelessly, she reached down and cuddled her companion.

To think that she had to rely on a damn pig to talk some sense into her…

"God, I'm so pathetic."

"Oink!"

"Don't agree with me, asshole!"

Naruto,

News has gotten back to the village that you had a scary run in with some very dangerous ninja. Exact details are scarce, but I can guess enough to know that you seem to have scraped by, by the skin of your teeth!

I spoke with Kurenai-san and she says you're out with Hinata. Take care of each other, alright? That's an order! Look, I saw when they wheeled Sasuke in. I don't know what happened, and nobody's telling me anything, but I'm not losing any students, okay!? The doctors say he's stable, but whatever monster went and put him in that state- I can't imagine that kind of cruelty!

Naruto, please, please be safe; don't take any unnecessary risks, and stay close to Jiraiya-sama. Come see me right away when you get back so I know that you're okay!

Oh, I guess I shouldn't be ordering you around anymore huh, mister Chunin? And first among your class too! Well, alongside Shikamaru.

In any case, your performance during the exams was extraordinary! I saw both of your fights, and my only regret is that I didn't get to congratulate you myself before the fighting broke out! I'm really sorry; I really wanted to be the one to give you your vest, but with all the chaos the last few days- well I guess having Nara-sama give it to you instead is a much higher honor than some nameless teacher, yeah?

Just make sure you don't completely forget me in a couple of years when you're Hokage. Speaking of which, you're really climbing the ladder! I can tell your name is turning into the talk of the town these days- er, in a good way!

Sorry, it's been a while and I'm worried so I guess I'm rambling a bit. I'll congratulate you properly when we next see each other; all you can eat ramen at Ichiraku's, my treat!

Now, to answer the questions you posed in your letter:

I wracked my brain for hours trying to come up with an answer for you. After checking all of my notes and even checking the library, I'm pretty convinced that you must have faced an original work of some kind. The barrier would've had to be unanchored to be able to be moved around so freely, which is a concern in itself since unanchored barriers are notoriously hard to maintain!

The advantages should be clear though: If you can move a barrier's radius into a person's position, you don't need to worry about how you're going to trap them in it. My best bet right now is that your enemy sustained an unanchored barrier that somehow hid their presence from Hinata's byakugan, then anchored that barrier to your location once they found you to delay Jiraiya-sama's interference. Hinata breaking the floor might have dislodged the anchor, causing the barrier to fall apart, which would explain how Jiraiya-sama found you so quickly afterwards!

Tell her I said well done!

Now, I've never heard of the properties of a barrier being shifted post-casting, but that's what would need to be done in order to anchor it long after it's already been cast. Doing so though- you'd need to be able to maintain the original structure while essentially changing one of the elements that makes it! It'd be like fully baking a cake, then replacing all of the sugar inside with maple syrup; for the life of me, I can't even fathom the level of mastery it'd take to pull something like that! To do something like that- Naruto, just what kind of monsters have you gotten the attention of?

Look, I've included any and all notes I found that I think could be helpful to you here; I hope they prove helpful… Just please come see me when you get back so I can stop worrying so much, alright? I'm really proud that you seem to be taking your ninja duties so seriously, and I'm so grateful that you thought to come to me for help; I hope I didn't let you down. See you later, alright?

Love, Iruka.

A fond chuckle rumbled in Naruto's throat, warm eyes reading and re-reading his old sensei's letter; he marveled at the familiarity in the man's script. For as methodical as his old sensei tried to be, the man really had quite the chaotic heart.

"He seems wonderful." Kushina's compliment made him feel proud for reasons he couldn't quite place, and Naruto carefully folded Iruka's letter twice before placing it gently into his frog-wallet, gama-chan; it was tucked neatly into one of the inner folds, past myriad wads of crumpled up ryo notes.

The notes that Iruka had provided were lengthy. Each set was meticulously dotted with his old teacher's handwriting, including tiny asides and references to other pages that were jotted neatly in the margin-spaces. The collective pile, spanning several-dozen pages, had been folded and bundled together with a rubber band, then enclosed within an envelope. The entire contents, save for the man's personally addressed note, had been succinctly dumped onto his floor, where a smattering of half-a-dozen clones loitered; they navigated through the pile with hard-honed coordination, organizing it all with ease.

Multiple pairs of eyes sifted over it all, and Naruto had to admit that Iruka knew a hell of a lot about barriers. Even things that the seal seemed to draw a blank on!

"Near the end of the Third Shinobi war, Konoha started investing extra resources into developing barrier jutsu as a work around to a sleeper jutsu developed by the Mist Village. One of Minato's students was captured while on border duty… After that, he and Hiruzen worked together to develop a number of barrier jutsu that are likely used today as part of the village's core defenses." Kushina whistled appreciatively, enjoying the multiple perspectives provided by his clones on her end; at this range, it was almost like their perceptions were as one. "That sensei of yours though- he seems very well studied!"

"Iruka-sensei is amazing. It's a wonder that guy is still a Chunin, with how much he seems to know." To be fair, he'd only seen the man fight seriously against Mizuki, and it wasn't like Iruka had fared spectacularly. Though, Naruto was inclined to give the man a pass, seeing as he'd been defending him.

But wherever Iruka may have lacked in outright combat ability, he more than made up for it as a scholar; doubly so as an instructor. Even just those cramped little margins of his were chock-full of distilled knowledge!

Barriers are the art of projection, refined. For many, a misconception forms at that explanation; some mistakenly believe that barriers are a purely defensive skill, or that their applications are limited to such. However, the sky's the limit, for the true potential of a barrier is in the art of marking one's domain across a space and determining the rules that it enforces.

Cold moisture found Naruto's brow, tearing his gaze away from Iruka's notes. In its place, he found shy, lavender eyes, attached to a pretty face and smile. Hinata lightly swirled a cold glass of water. "Please remember to drink water…"

Wordlessly, Naruto acknowledged that she had seemingly found the original amongst his clones with only a glance. Fondly, he obliged her offer, setting the notes down and grasping the cup with both hands while the girl sat down beside him. "Thanks. I was just thinking that if I went another second without a drink, I'd wither up as old and crusty as Pervy Sage." Hinata tried to disguise a giggle beneath her palm, but he wasn't fooled.

"How is Iruka-sensei?" Then she blinked twice, a faint haze of pink touching her cheeks. "S-sorry. I don't mean to- I mean, not to pry-"

"He seems fine," Naruto cut in. "A little frazzled over our little oopsie with the bad guys, but he hasn't come to drag us back home yet, so I think we're clear." His arm snaked out, wrapping around the girl's shoulder and pulling her close enough that he could kiss her temple. A thin chain stretched loose from his wrist; it found gama-chan again, procuring the note the man had sent him and slipping it between her fingers. "If I don't wanna talk, I'll let you know, don't worry."

"O-oh!" Hinata looked down at it, tentatively prying it open with instinctive care; her gaze followed Iruka's meticulous handwriting and a faint smile played at her lips. Then, passing the note back as carefully as she had taken it, she looked at the mess on the ground and wetted her lips. "W-well then…What's all of this?" She gestured at the piles before them, then at the myriad clones lounging around them.

"Iruka-sensei sent me some notes on barriers. It's complicated work, but I'm starting to get the gist." Hinata's curious gaze found his own, and he smiled indulgently. "So in essence, barriers are all about using your chakra to 'claim' a space, I guess. You remember when Iruka-sensei mentioned it at the academy, right? You basically stretch out your chakra and span it over an area and everything within that area becomes subject to your chakra. Normally, doing this without purpose just means you've gone and wasted a whole lot of chakra; what separates that from a proper barrier is-" Naruto held up one finger. "Firstly, the control needed to keep that projection stable. Second-" A second finger. "The finesse needed to encode that projection with an effect and target things that enter that barrier with it."

Hinata nodded, clear interest swimming in her eyes. Naruto sighed. "Unfortunately, barriers are apparently super complex in practice, and that's probably why they never covered any more than the theory in the academy! There's basic projection, automatic targeting, specified targeting, inverted casting, and a whole bunch of other nonsense!

Really, Iruka made it all sound basic! "Ugh! There's even different types of barriers; I'm probably gonna be busting my ass for a while trying to get all this down!"

There really was no other choice though. Naruto sure as hell had no plans of letting Itachi or anyone else get the jump on him again; certainly not by using the same technique twice!

"W-well…" Hinata bit her lower lip, nervousness worn plainly on her sleeve. "I'd- um, I'd li-like to help- er, if that's okay, that is!?"

Where was 'Debonair Hinata' when she needed her? Stupid, lousy, useless-

"You're so good to me, ya know?" Naruto's lips found the corner of her own, simple affection lacing the gesture so thoroughly that she just about froze, mid-breath. "If I've got you helping out, this oughta be a piece of cake!"

Ah. Perhaps the real 'Debonair Hinata' had been with her the whole time! Now if only she could remember how to breathe!

She was unable to say anything in response, too focused on keeping her most important faculties online in the face of the shock her boyfriend had given her. Instead, she robotically grasped the pages he sent her way, fighting to restart her heart so oxygen would finally pump to her brain again.

"Er- Hinata, you're reading upside down?"

"O-oh! R-r-ri-right! Hehe, I'm just- er, yeah, I'm just being a bit silly is all!" She let out a high pitched faux laugh in her nervousness, and Naruto bemusedly smiled back at her, opting to merely indulge her antics and not embarrass her further.

Eventually, she did regain her senses, leaving the two to spend the day and evening pouring over Iruka's notes, broken off only briefly by the need for water or snacks, which had been left behind by Jiraiya.

Although the man had not explicitly told them to stay inside, neither boy nor girl were willing to upset the tentative peace they had seemingly found with him just that morning earlier by leaving unannounced.

Between his clones and her byakugan, they'd both been able to consume the pile in its entirety, each with at least a somewhat comfortable level of comprehension. Which paved the way for practice.

As Iruka's notes had suggested, the basic principles of barrier jutsu were relatively simple in concept. At its core, it merely came down to the visualization of shape, and the actualization of its intended effect. Actually shaping the barrier was the easy part; they'd had plenty of practice in shaping raw chakra through their forays into the rasengan. Even over a larger scale that covered the entire body or more, it was easy enough to consciously sacrifice density for size, and before long, Hinata made the first breakthrough with a perfectly spherical dome to encompass herself entirely.

In practice though…

"You're focused too much on getting the actual shape perfect." Naruto prodded at the thin, translucent dome she'd formed around herself, feeling the way her chakra warped to his touch. "And you're using too much chakra too; you'll burn yourself out. Remember that the actual physical shape ain't as important as what it represents. You gotta keep these things efficient enough to spread over a huge area, and flexible enough to stay stable when you inject your jutsu into them, ya know?"

Reaching forward, he wiped a bead of sweat from the girl's face. "My turn."

His was more abstract, almost lumpy, even. It lacked the smoothness of Hinata's efforts, and was near invisible, save for the faint displacement of air around them. Hinata's byakugan activated to follow his efforts.

"Your barrier is s-shifting a bunch." It looked like a strong breeze would blow the whole thing apart. "Um- maybe if you try stabilizing it with a stronger core and cleaning up the framework?"

Practicing casting barriers was a fairly nonvolatile task, and though their efforts started clumsy, each attempt yielded results in one way or another. Successes, half-successes, and failures too. Each casting brought them a little closer to a more cohesive outcome, and with the advantages of a Hyuga's eyes or Naruto's chakra sensitivity and clones in play, every single attempt was a source of knowledge to learn from.

Slowly, their clumsy efforts smoothened and refined themselves. Chakra output stabilized, resulting in a more consistently-sized dome; shape was concentrated, like an artist's strokes steadying with experience. Ever-so-steadily, they each got that much closer to creating something more befitting of the instructions they'd been provided with. Not necessarily a dome, but a construct, embedded onto their surroundings like paint on a canvas.

Kushina's own advice from within was a yet another boon, allowing her son to further bridge the gap toward basic execution. As quickly as her aid came, he passed it along to Hinata, whose own breakthroughs came quicker with every attempt.

"It looks like she's more suited for simple-type barriers," Kushina mused.

Simple type, or in other terms, stagnant barriers. Their conditions were simple and easy to understand; they were rigid, and best suited for protection. It made sense; Hinata was reactionary. She rarely took initiative, even if she did seem to be growing in confidence by the day.

Her barriers were tougher- stronger than his, even despite the chakra discrepancy in his favor.

"You on the other hand seem to favor conditional-types."

Conditional-type barriers were far more flexible in their applications. They were less focused on defense or protection and instead specialized in altering the state of the battlefield.

If he really thought about it, Haku's Ice Style was probably the perfect example of a conditional-type barrier… Perhaps reviewing that memory could offer him some insight?

"I'll prepare it tonight."

It was only when the sun had fallen and left their world awash with a nightly shade of ink that they finally took a break, proper. Parked inside the kitchen around twin bowls of instant ramen, it was the first real meal they'd had all day, not counting minor luxuries like fruit or water. The door to their lodgings gave way to Jiraiya at just about midnight, the old sage trudging inward with tired eyes. His gaze lit up though ever-so-slightly, seeing the pair as they were.

"Heya. What did you brats do all day-" He stopped, tilting his head just right to take in the small, translucent bubble that Hinata seemed to be toying with before she had frozen at his arrival. "Whatcha got there?"

"Erm… Ramen?" Hinata nervously gestured to the bowl with her chopsticks, initially misunderstanding the man's focus. When he pointed at it though, she gasped. "O-oh! Well, Naruto-kun and I were practicing on- Iruka-sensei sent him some notes on barriers so we-"

"Y-you managed to figure that out in just a day!?" Jiraiya's eyes were so wide that Hinata could make out the redness surrounding his sclera. "Barriers are no joke!" The tiny projection looked innocuous enough, but the real selling point was the tiny rasengan she had seemingly encased within that bubble, somehow rendering the entire thing completely stable and independent of her touch.

A simple-type barrier, projected to encase a rasengan. Seemingly, she was using a rather mundane projection like a mobile battery, fueling the rasengan even as the encased sphere floated several inches from Hinata's pointer finger.

"Um- well, doing this much- it w-wasn't much harder than the rasengan?" Hinata looked Naruto's way for reassurance, and he smiled back, far more confidently.

"Right now, it's all just shape manipulation and projection. If anything, learning the rasengan was the perfect bridge to learning this." Naruto shrugged. Encoding a barrier with a specific technique was tough work, and something that Hinata seemed to grasp far more easily than himself, at their current stages.

"Simple types have a much lower skill floor than conditionals, and are better suited for more mundane applications. You'll have to work much harder to keep up with her, and need to be more creative to get the most out of them. But you'll find a much higher natural ceiling if you can stick with it."

A good thing he was well suited for cramming unreasonable amounts of effort into equally unreasonable spans of time, and all the more reason for him to see Iruka when he got back to Konoha.

There were still a fair bit of hiccups, even in the most basic applications of the skill they were developing. Still, it was a solid foray into an advanced skill, and Naruto wasn't about to complain about their progress if it had Jiraiya looking like a fish out of water.

The festival was scheduled to take place that evening, leaving the Four a strict timetable to prepare.

They had unanimously agreed that it would likely be the best time to go after the pair, leaving the group to scout out the town and its functions under disguise.

"If they're at the festival, we'll be able to slip in and subdue them in the chaos without too much trouble. If they aren't, everyone else will be, and we'll have a perfect chance to catch them lacking."

Simple enough. The only real hiccup to their plan would be if Jiraiya or Tsunade hovered around them the entire day, but Kidomaru's summons had heard around the grapevine that Tsunade was meant to be a guest of honor for some stuffy young lord, which meant that the toad was likely the only unknown that they needed to account for.

Well that, and Jirobo…

"Remember fatass, we ain't killing them. Not unless the boss-man gives the word, at least."

Jirobo scowled. "Wouldn't it just be easier to bring him their heads though? All Orochimaru-sama would need is the Hyuga's eyes, and you said he wants the other trash dead, as is."

He'd been a lot more bloodthirsty as of late, his typical mild demeanor and willingness to 'roll over' seemingly staunched by his mounting impatience for results. In spite of it all, Tayuya had thought her mohawked teammate to be mostly harmless, even in spite of his outburst the evening prior. But Sakon and Ukon's warnings that morning had forced her to reconsider.

"Hey…" Sakon gripped the cuff of her sleeve tightly, tugging to lead her off from their other two teammates. Affixed to the back of his neck as usual, Ukon seemingly kept watch on Jirobo and Kidomaru, who both seemed absorbed in a terse conversation. "Tayuya, I don't know what it is you're trying to pull, and frankly, I want no part in it. But you gotta stop riling up Jirobo."

Tayuya raised an eyebrow, her gaze naturally sliding over to the heavy set boy. "I mean- I'd say I've been tiptoeing around his attitude a bunch since he started acting like a damned baby. What more do you want from me?"

Ukon cut in with a low growl. "Listen. While you and Kidomaru were out doing whatever, Orochimaru-sama called Jirobo to his personal quarters. I don't know what happened there, but he's been on edge ever since."

"Yeah… Look, just don't go screwing things up for all of us, alright? Whatever game you and Kidomaru are trying to pull, all we want is for you to leave us out of it!" Sakon's gaze softened, becoming almost desperate. "Please."

Tayuya schooled her features, forcing back the urge to insult the young man. "That ain't our call to make, big guy. We're already gonna be flying close to the sun trying to pull all this off without pissing off the boss too bad. The last thing we wanna do is go killing anybody without his express say-so, yeah?"

And not even a single curse or insult to be found. She was pretty damn good at this!

… Eh, close enough.

"But if we really don't wanna make Orochimaru-sama mad, then why are we even acting behind his back?" Jirobo froze, as if suddenly having an epiphany. "Tayuya, maybe we oughta ask for permission before we do this."

Absolutely not.

"If we ask, he'll definitely say no. We ain't gonna get back in the boss' graces by just doing what he wants ya fa- ya silly guy-" She cringed, an expression that was mirrored behind a confused Jirobo by Kidomaru and the twins as well.

Gross.

"We gotta give him what he needs. That's why Kimimaro and Kabuto get away with so much shit!" She suppressed a wince at the flare in Jirobo's nostrils, knowing his disdain for her language. "They've got initiative; they know what the boss really needs and are always ready to give it to him, even if it'll piss him off a little at first!"

A myriad of emotions flitted across his face. Disbelief, irritation, then surprise. The bigger boy adopted a thoughtful expression. "I guess that makes sense. Kabuto is always off doing his own thing and even sometimes teases Orochimaru-sama, and he never punishes him. Kimimaro directly disobeyed him during the invasion and he got praised for it." Then he glared down at Tayuya, something close to envy simmering behind his eyes. "And before we got in trouble, he was always letting you get away with being a pest."

Ouch.

Kidomaru paced forward, resting a hand on Jirobo's shoulder; he winced as the boy's head snapped his way a bit too quickly. "Now you're getting it, bud. Look, we're playing on hard mode for sure, but the loot is gonna be phenomenal if we can pull it off, right? We all want Orochimaru-sama's favor again; this is the best way to make it happen."

Jirobo looked mollified for the time being. Out of the corner of his eye, Kidomaru noted that the two brothers had stepped away, seemingly eager to stay as far out of their mess as possible.

Would they rat them out? Sakon was just eager to stay out of things; he was merely acting out of basic self preservation. Ukon in particular though- he was the sharper of the brothers; it was unlikely that he didn't at least suspect exactly what they were up to; his earlier conversation with Tayuya had only affirmed this for them both. But would he sell them out to save his own skin?

Their eyes met, Ukon glaring at him from behind his more anxious sibling, and the boy shook his head.

No, he'd keep quiet, because whether he wanted to admit it or not, both boys knew that Tayuya was right. At the rate things were going, they truly were on borrowed time.

"The plan then," Tayuya cut in. She took a seat on a bench, adjusting the annoyingly too-frilly skirt she'd stolen for decency. "Arms-" She grinned at Kidomaru as he rolled his eyes. "You're on scouting duty and crowd control. We gotta know where those two clowns are at all times; the moment the toad leaves them alone is gonna be our best chance to close in for capture. Once the targets are in sight, you're gonna have your less ugly siblings scare any civies off so they stay out the damn way."

She looked to Sakon and Ukon, but again, Jirobo cut in.

"What's the point of wasting time on civilians? If they get in the way we can just go right through them…"

Tayuya palmed her face. "Are you a ninja or not? There's no point in packing on collateral damage if it ain't needed." Jirobo's sneer only seemed to grow, and she sighed, searching for another excuse. "Besides, the transformation jutsu is common in Konoha; if either or both of them starts transforming into civilians to get away, it's gonna be a pain in the ass to lock them down."

That at least seemed to get through to her heavy set teammate. "Alright…"

She then looked back to Sakon and Ukon. "You two are on barriers, in the event that shit hits the fan, we can't have any other goons muddying the situation. You can either disguise yourself among the normies, or bury yourself beneath ground; all you gotta do is just keep the barrier up long enough for us to nab them.

It was an out; a peace offering for the pair, so that they could stay as far away from the situation as possible. Sakon startled for a moment, clear surprise written on his features at being offered such a mundane task. His painted lips parted, seemingly intent on questioning her choice, but then he stopped, a silent gesture from Ukon encouraging him to drop it.

"Which leaves me and you, Jirobo." Tayuya didn't have to feign the grin that found her, this time. "You obviously want a crack at the brat, so you'll engage him while I keep him and his honey separate. Once we've identified our targets, Kidomaru will secure the area and close in for ranged support. The girl doesn't look too tough; I'll subdue her quickly then we'll jump the boy. Any questions?"

"One thing. Not a question, but a reminder," Kidomaru piped up, his expression severe. "Do not under any circumstances activate your curse mark. If you do, Orochimaru-sama will know we're disobeying him, and it won't turn out great for us. He can't know until after he's seen the results, or it's game over for us. Are we clear?"

Jirobo scoffed. "Like I need Orochimaru-sama's gift to take down some snot-nosed Konoha trash."

Subtly, Kidomaru traded glances with Tayuya.

Their plan was a go, then. The pieces were falling into place; now all that was left was for them to stick the landing.

'I hope you know what you're doing, Tayuya.'

Because if they failed, they wouldn't live to regret it.

At Jiraiya's insistence, Naruto and Hinata had taken the last few hours leading up to the festival to get ready. The old man's offers to find clothing for them had been swiftly rejected by both, neither willing to endure a repeat of his last attempts.

Thus, Hinata had simply opted to remix the same wear that she had recently taken a shine to, with a new addition of mesh leggings added underneath her newly favored skirt.

The festival wasn't the work of any special holidays or celebrations, so she didn't think she'd stand out too terribly by not dressing up much. The only other addition she tried was a faint dust of eye shadow that was offered by Naruto, which she washed away before she'd even gotten halfway through.

"It's a shame; it looked cute on you," Naruto mused, licking his thumb and wiping away a stray smudge of the substance near the corner of her eye.

Like her, he hadn't done much more than touch up his outfit from a few days prior when they'd gone to meet Tsunade. The spiderweb clip-on earrings had been replaced with actual tiny, rose-gold spider-charms with scarlet beads for eyes. Similar, smaller adornments were woven subtly into his hair; she spotted tiny mandible-like hooks that closed around his hair in addition to a braided rope tie, the ends of which hung loose.

Most noticeably though was a thick layer of dark eyeshadow around his own eyes, a shade darker than what he'd offered her.

"I was joking about the makeup!" Jiraiya groaned.

"That was your first mistake."

"Where did you even get that?" He supposed the boy could have bought it while he was out the other day, but the kid had insisted that all he did was train.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "It's not even real eyeshadow. I just crushed some of my chains real fine, darkened the color, and changed the consistency to mimic a binder." Anticipating the coming 'why', Naruto shrugged. "I don't gotta form a facemask to protect my face and eyes if I'm already wearing what I need; it's a lot faster to change my chains than it is to make them from scratch."

"You know, you can just admit you want to feel pretty." Jiraiya's taunts rolled off the boy easily.

"I am pretty. I don't need any help."

"You are very pretty," Kushina agreed. "Just like your momma!"

Hinata's rapid nodding certainly wasn't doing much to stifle the boy's ego, Jiraiya decided. "And what about all of the charms then, huh?"

"You said to be extra careful, so I'm being extra careful." Naruto did not elaborate, but his godfather was sure that the boy's earrings were staring at him.

Right then… He wouldn't be touching any of that!

Instead, he urged them out the door, intent on at least walking them halfway. No doubt they wouldn't want him hovering around them; besides, Tsunade had surprisingly requested him as her escort to the function, and he wasn't passing up any chance he could to try and cop a feel!

A perverted giggle slipped out, and Jiraiya pouted as both kids seemed to walk that little bit faster.

Oh whatever… They'd be fine. "If you get into any scraps at all, Naruto go ahead and summon Gamakaori. If he can't do the job, he can reverse-summon me in seconds."

"Got it." Naruto gave the man a thumb's up with his free hand, the other lightly swinging in Hinata's shared grip.

Out of wedlock? Scandalous!

"And if you see anyone even remotely snake-shaped-"

"Burn the entire town square to the ground, and snort the ashes. Got it."

That was that, then. Jiraiya wasn't keen to test the boy's patience when he seemed to be in such a good mood.

"We'll be okay, Jiraiya-sama." Hinata's voice was surprisingly steady as she spoke. Her features were deliberately placid, but the eagerness behind her eyes was plain to see. "If anything happens, we'll take care of each other."

"Right then." Jiraiya stopped, letting the pair walk off together. Ahead, bright lights, music, and colorful decorations welcomed their imminent arrival. "Have fun…"

They barely seemed to notice that he had stopped following them; Naruto swung Hinata's hand back and forth as they walked, partially in step. Sounds and colors and even energy- all of it was unlike anything he'd experienced before!

"Y-you've never been to a festival?" Hinata side-eyed him, looking stuck between amused and concerned by his childlike awe.

"I was never welcome around those very much," Naruto muttered back, absently. Deep within, Kushina's heart clenched.

Hinata's chakra sank in disappointment, so he was quick to reassure her with a gentle squeeze of his hand. "Don't worry about that. I wanna enjoy this!"

He was going to do everything. He'd try some snacks, then maybe play some games- oh! "Do you think they do the goldfish thing?"

Hinata smiled, softly. "I-I'll catch you a goldfish, if you'd like."

She'd get him whatever the hell he wanted, the moon, the stars- hell, she'd hand him somebody's kidneys if it'd make his night.

Hinata let him lead her around, his visible eye sparkling like the gem it was colored as they prowled after their first stand. An elderly man stood behind an aged, rectangular structure in wait, his back slightly hunched but his smile strong.

"You two make for a cute pair," He laughed, taking in the blonde's giddiness. It was near-infectious!

"Heya gramps-"

"Manners."

"Er, wait sorry that's rude. Sir! Mister cool-stand-guy!" Kushina snorted, but let him continue. "This is my first ever festival, and you're the first guy we're seeing!"

"I'm honored," He retorted, gently. "Running this stand is something of a tradition in my family; it's nothing special, but I look forward to events like these."

Even if the arrangements had been last minute.

"So whatcha got here!?"

"Just a humble dango stand. It was mighty heavy to set up all by my lonesome, I'll have you know!" He laughed, absently rubbing his sore back. He wouldn't ever presume to be anything more than he was… Still, "Seeing the smiles of such pretty young ladies makes the effort worth it, I'd say!" With that, he procured two skewers, each adorned with three sizable round dumplings. The one he handed Naruto had a green tail, a white body, and a pink head that was adorned with long, chunky rabbit-like ears and had two tiny, beady eyes. "This here is my family's bunny dango!"

It was an active show of restraint in Naruto not to snatch the treat from the man's wrinkled hands. They smelled incredibly sweet.

He loved sweets.

"It's adorable!" Kushina giggled as her son beheld the stylized treat. "Now destroy it!"

"I will treasure it for as long as it takes for me to end its tiny life." Naruto shared a grin with the old man, whose eyes were simply warm for him in a way he had rarely enjoyed from his seniors back in Konoha.

"The first one's on the house. But if you want any more, you're gonna have to pay!"

"Thanks boss." Then Naruto grinned, conspiratorially. Leaning forward to the man as if to impart some great secret, he whispered. "Also, I'm a boy."

Then he grabbed a giggling Hinata's hand and raced off, withholding a cackle as the old man's jaw dropped. His mother was not nearly so restrained.

Maybe Haku was onto something, there!

They had to have hit another half-a-dozen stands and then some, a whirling of oddities and experiences all unlike anything he'd ever seen. There was a tea-sampling stand that substituted tea leaves for mushrooms! Then, they humored an obvious hoax of a fortune teller who stared at his palms and muttered some nonsense about the healing 'power of friendship' or whatever such clownery. Another stand featured a dart-playing game, which Naruto only just remembered to fail at, Kushina's reminders not to attract attention earning at least a modicum of his discretion. Hinata seemed less imposed on by such instructions, for not one, but two prizes from two separate games were succinctly stuffed into his arms, a beatific smile playing at her lips; a large stuffed bird, resembling a raven, and a smaller, plush spider just bigger than his fist that doubled as a tiny bag.

"I dub thee Kumoko, the swole!" Kushina all but cooed over the tiny spider-bag. "Let's put a space-expansion matrix on the inner threading and stuff it chock-full of explosives!"

Now there was an idea. He could whip it like a frisbee to mess someone's day up. Hell, a kinetic plating algorithm sewed through the connective lining might even see it survive a toss or two!

He was on cloud nine; for the moment, he let himself forget his stress; of the old man's condition; of Sasuke's encounter with his brother; hell, of the village and its people, and the cold stares that waited for him back at home.

It was just him, Hinata, his mother, and the pretty, sour-faced redhead who had been following them on-and-off.

Hey, he was giddy, not blind.

She wasn't much shorter than him, standing tall enough to just about tower over Hinata by a head and some change. She wore a cream-colored yukata with a red obi, colored a shade or so darker than her hair; the latter hung loose and straight, sitting comfortably at the mid-back range. She had incredibly long eyelashes, longer and fuller than even his, and chocolate brown eyes that were nice, but hardly kind.

More importantly though, her chakra was impressive. Her reserves eclipsed Hinata's own thrice over, and was lopsided heavily into a yin-leaning distribution.

And it reeked, like an egg cracked onto hot asphalt and left to burn. The source of the stench was the pulsating mass of fury that roiled underneath her clothing, centered just short of her throat.

"It's just like Sasuke's curse mark, but so, so much worse… You should punch her."

Not a bad idea, really. She was obviously a ninja, one of Orochimaru's, and likely a genjutsu specialist; if her chakra hadn't clued him in, the subtle ways that she moved was a clear give-away. She didn't seem armed, but that just meant she was good at concealing her weapons, as far as he was concerned.

A sly gesture prodded one of his earrings, though he needn't have bothered. The clones that he'd transformed to adorn himself with were already watching and waiting. Their range resonated with his own, artificially expanding his chakra-based perception to a point that not only matched his original range, but far surpassed it.

Yet in spite of the boosted range, he sensed no others like her in the immediate area. Still, it was unlikely that she was truly alone…

Clearly, they were being followed; she was subtle, but not enough to elude his mind's eye. He and Hinata indulged in another two stands, finally stopping at the promised goldfish-catching game, and Hinata jumped onto the opportunity to catch one for him. As she stepped forward, her tongue sticking out slightly in concentration, Naruto stepped back just a bit, falling in line with the pretty red-head.

"I'm having a pretty good time tonight," He muttered fondly, watching the girl work. Next to him, the redheaded girl stiffened, her eyes panning to her right to side-eye him. "We've had a long couple of days, so I was looking forward to getting to just relax, ya know?"

The girl blinked, slowly. "Uh… Good for you?" She licked her lips, and he grinned, pearly white daggers peeking out just slightly between curling lips; she twitched.

"If you and your Sound buddies plan to ruin this for me, I will gut you all and light a pyre with what's left." She stiffened, her fingers twitching for her obi before she forced herself to relax.

So she was carrying a weapon. A hardening matrix laid over her obi could repurpose it into a makeshift weapon as he disarmed her. His fingers twitched, ready to rip it off the girl and strangle her with it.

"Don't get your butthole puckered too quick, ya damn sissy," She growled, a sneer fighting to smear itself across her pretty features as if she'd anticipated his thoughts. Her fists clenched, but she kept them far away from her hidden weapon. "I ain't here to fuck with you and your bit-" She caught herself as his grin seemed to widen, teeth now on full display. "Your girlfriend," she amended. "I'm here to help you."

A raised eyebrow was her response. "I don't believe you."

"I give negative fucks." The girl forced a pleasant smile into place, clapping politely as Hinata lunged, sweeping up a tiny fish in a single motion. She winced as Naruto suddenly cheered, loudly. "It doesn't change the facts. One of my associates is here to dive in your ass like a goddamn warrior; I'm here to bail you out."

At that range especially, it would've been damn hard to lie to him. But her chakra was even- not artificially so, like Tsunade's had been when they first met either; she was either telling the truth, or she was way out of his league.

"If she's one of Orochimaru's, she could be out of your league."

A thought. True enough. But if that were the case, she would've just killed him.

"Unless Orochimaru wants you alive…"

Also true. Even if the snake didn't know about the Legacy Seal, there were plenty of other reasons. The Kyuubi, his chains- between even just those two things, Orochimaru had a lot to gain from getting his grubby little grippers around his neck.

"Why do you care?" Naruto tilted, just enough to glare at her as Hinata turned away from him again, letting a portly, middle-aged woman wrap the tiny fish into a spacious plastic bag for her. Even still, his grin persisted. "I would think you and your master are all about claiming young boy ass."

A chuckle rumbled long and fondly in her chest, shaking her shoulders. "No bullshit? 'Cuz you have something I want. I want something from you and I'm willing to prove that I'm good for it… And I ain't one of Orochimaru's."

Not anymore.

She sniffed. "I ain't getting involved in your scrap, but my pals and I can keep the civvies clear for you so no one else gets sucked into it; I'll help you out if you just make me a promise."

"And what's that?"

She swallowed, finally glancing directly at him for the first time. Both orbs overflowed with fear so strong it made him feel sick. "Don't kill him… Please."

"... We'll see."

She nodded, sensing that was the best she was going to get. Then she left just as Hinata came running back, her winnings clasped in both hands.

"Look, I've got an idea, but you're not gonna like it."

Kidomaru sucked his teeth. His fingers trailed up near-unconsciously, ghosting across marked flesh. "Let's hear it."

No beating around the bush then. "We need a sacrifice."

Kidomaru paused for a moment, then, "What the hell did you just say to me?"

"No, no, listen!" Tayuya waved her hands in front of herself to ward off the incoming insults. "I don't mean it like you think I do!"

"... You've got five minutes."

"Look, we need someone to take the heat off us; if we approach the damn tree-people wrong they're gonna cut our damn faces off and wear them like friggin tiki masks or some shit before we can even get a word in; that's if we're lucky!"

"How do you even know that? They might just take us into custody!"

"Orochimaru, Kabuto, Danzo Shimura, Itachi U-fucking-chiha!"

Kidomaru blinked. "Wha-"

"Don't you find it thought-provoking that all the most unhinged psychopaths seem to come from Konoha? If we come at them wrong or get the wrong asshole, they'll friggin' scalp us and eat oatmeal out of our severed heads! I ain't letting anybody use my head as a goddamned motherfucking cereal bowl, do you understand me!?"

"You're being dramatic!"

"I'm being realistic!" Tayuya snarled. "Not even a month ago, we waltzed our happy asses into their village, caught a kill streak on their people, assassinated their kage, and left with a 'tally-ho!' like we owned the damn place. How arrogant do you gotta be to think they wouldn't want their get back, huh? Orochimaru kills people he dislikes for breathing too loud, and you think the village that spawned him can't do worse?"

… Damn, she had a point. "Alright, fine, a sacrifice. I don't suppose you're volunteering?"

Tayuya snorted. "Fuck no, and I ain't asking you to do it either… Nah, we need Jirobo to take the fall."

"Of course you'd sell him out." Kidomaru groaned, palming his face. "What the hell did he even do to you, anyways?"

"I don't have anything against him! He's just the best fall guy- ugh, look!" Tayuya leaned into his space, forcing the spider-like boy to back up from her intensity. "I ain't gonna let them kill him, but we need him to- how does it go in your damn games, huh? We need him to 'soak up the aggro' or whatever; wear them out! In the meantime, we can try and meat ride to find an in!

"At Jirobo's expense."

"Hey! I'm trying to save him too, alright!" Tayuya's nostrils flared, true anger welling up into her eyes now. "Me and you; fatass and the sissy twins too! We're all victims of Orochimaru! We're all gonna gobble down a double-dee decker dose of diarrhea shit if we don't figure something out."

"Heh, alliteration."

"Oh shut up." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "But look, he ain't gonna just come along willingly! So if he's gotta eat a foot colonoscopy or two to earn his keep, then I'm not going to complain about it; are you!?"

Kidomaru frowned, thinking long and hard about it. "Your plan sucks."

But for the life of him, he wasn't suggesting anything better.

She hadn't meant to actually approach the boy; even trying to speak to him too early could've ended catastrophically for her, had he been more eager for a fight.

Maybe it was how pleasant he'd looked, running around like a chicken with its head cut off with that girl of his; maybe it was her way of trying to help Jirobo; hell, maybe she was just feeling lucky or stupid or lucky and stupid. Either way, she was quick to disappear before he changed his mind.

"Found 'em," was all Tayuya said as she regrouped with her team. She found them loitering close by a lakeside bridge, each dressed simply to fit among the masses. "They're off sucking face like fuckin' lampreys; no sign of the toad either; if we're gonna get 'em, now's the time. Kidomaru gave the girl a meaningful look as Jirobo all but threw himself from the bench he'd claimed.

"I'm going!" He hissed, a vein throbbing so tightly in his temple that his teammates worried his flesh would split.

"Hold on!" Jirobo froze, his neck slowly creaking to turn a dark look Kidomaru's way. The spider-like boy twitched at his teammate's growing instability. "We have a plan, remember?"

"The plan was to sneak in and ambush that trash! What now!?"

Tayuya withheld the urge to growl at him "We keep telling you this shit- we gotta air this place out; just give Kidomaru some time to send 'em scurrying like ants under a magnifying glass and-"

"Enough bullshit!" Each of his teammates recoiled at the boy's use of foul language. Jirobo's lips curled, rolling back to reveal the pink of his gums. Teeth bared, he snarled. "If you're suddenly getting cold feet, then don't worry about it; I'll do the job myself!"

"O-oi, fatass- Jirobo! What's gotten into you- Hey!" Tayuya jumped into the path of the larger boy as he barrelled on, but his shoulder knocked into her own hard enough to bowl her over; he paid her no mind as she fell, storming back toward the town square. She scrambled forward, intent on chasing after him, but then froze. Mouth dry, she croaked out toward her three present teammates. "We gotta move, now. The snake's onto us."

Sakon and Ukon paled, the former looking almost sick. Kidomaru cursed.

"Shit!" Bleeding his thumb then blurring through hand seals with haste, he threw himself down to both his knees and slammed two of his palms onto the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"

Tayuya paid her teammate no mind, having eyes only for the advancing form of Jirobo. With the lights blaring just ahead, it was like she was just now truly seeing the big-boned boy for the first time. Coiled around his throat like his throat like its creator's namesake, the curse mark bubbled molten red on his flesh.

"Well now, that's interesting…" Orochimaru blinked, too slowly, as new information trickled into his awareness.

"Orochimaru-sama?" Kimimaro all but scrambled across the room where he'd been standing guard, throwing himself down before his master in short order. The pale-faced Sannin merely chuckled fondly at the young man, ivory fingers reaching downward to share his affection.

"Nothing to worry about, my dear." Orochimaru sighed, almost sadly.

It had been only a matter of time before his children tried to go their separate ways. 'Likely Tayuya's doing', he mused after a moment.

She always was the most spirited of the bunch. And the most impulsive.

It couldn't have come at a more inopportune time, really. No doubt, this little stint of hers was likely to incite Tsunade against him.

But he already knew she would not aid him. Tsunade was impulsive; if she ever truly could have been convinced, it would have been the moment he had put his offer on the table.

A shame too; he would have liked to try doing something good, for once.

Ah well!

Tayuya's rebellion- timing aside, it was far from unexpected. He had sensed the moment's arrival since the day he'd taken his rage out on them, days prior; when they'd finally touched down at one of his safehouses, dirtied and exhausted, and burnt in their cases- well, it had hardly been his best moment.

He had failed to kill his fraud of a sensei; oh, he might succumb to his wounds down the line, but Orochimaru didn't bet on 'maybe'. Moreover, it just wasn't the same. He had lashed out at them, punished them for failing him at such a terrible moment.

Ah, but it wasn't their fault; not really. They had been up against Jiraiya, a man who, for all that Orochimaru taunted, rivaled their master at his best. When the moment had passed and his rage had subsided, he had understood his folly.

Perfectly good treasures, cast away before their time by his thoughtless fury…

Such a waste.

Whatever he did from then on, he knew he would at least lose Tayuya. She was not the sort to give second chances; certainly not after the suffering and humiliation he'd subjected her to. Before long, she would turn the rest against him too. He knew all of this; no amount of posturing would undo what had already been done. So it was much easier for his heart then to merely distance himself from them in preparation for what was to come…

A mental shrug was all he could afford for that disappointment.

The smart thing to do would have been to simply kill them all, to do away with them before they made a problem out of themselves. But for the life of him, Orochimaru had never quite had the heart to simply do away with his treasures. Each of them had been marked with a piece of him; they were as much a part of him as he was, them! He'd tried years ago with his darling Anko; the best he'd been able to muster had been to leave her, and even that made him ache within, even to this day.

How great could she have become, had he kept her in his company?

Ah, that, and he had to admit that the scientist in him had wondered how Tayuya would do it.

What wacky, harebrained scheme would his dear girl concoct to get away from him?

He had even ordered them not to use their curse mark, so eager for the surprise!

Oh, but Jirobo, that foolish boy, had gone and spoiled his surprise before its time. "Naughty boy…" He would need to be punished for that.

"Of the rest of your team, you are without a doubt the weakest," Orochimaru's sibilant hiss was an accusation that compelled the mohawked boy to flinch.

"M-milord, I swear, I will do anything and everything to remain useful for your sake! Give the word and I will train until I break; subject myself to any experiments necessary to become worthy of your will, once again!"

So eager to please, and yet so lacking in… gumption.

How disappointing. Jirobo had always been his least favorite of his children. That would make this easier.

"Anything you say, mm?" Orochimaru prowled toward the kneeling boy. His sweat dribbled off from his flesh, marring the wooden floorboards in a near-perfect approximation of the boy's flesh. "Truly?"

"Yes, my lord! Anything!"

Foolish. But who was he to complain? "Then in that case, perhaps you may yet re-earn my favor in due time. I have something I'd like you to test for me, in the coming days."

Orochimaru did not wait for a response; his neck cracked and dislocated itself, bones shifting and re-aligning themselves to give way as his flesh and muscle contorted accordingly. He stretched impossibly long, crossing the distance between himself and his pet in a blink. With a grin that was near-uncomfortably wide, his head circled around Jirobo, startled form, lips peeling back like the flesh of an orange to reveal teeth, gums, and spittle; his jaws clamped down in a vice grip around the boy, and it was only a moment later that Jirobo began to stammer.

Then he began to groan.

Then, he began to scream.

"Well then my sweets, I hope you don't mind if I throw my own fun into the pot." Orochimaru slowly uncoiled from his seat, standing tall. Kimimaro remained bowed, waiting for the exact moment that his master palmed his head and bid him to stand at his side. "Come then, my dear. I wish to see my surprise in person."

Hinata returned to him with her plastic makeshift fishbowl, the goldfish she'd caught for him swimming around in a daze. "I got you one!"

Naruto put the strange redheaded girl out of his mind just for the moment so he could eagerly wrap his arms around Hinata. "Give me kiss." Her face ignited as he planted an obnoxiously wet kiss onto her brow, and the smaller girl ducked her head into the crook of his neck, choking down the urge to squeal. Around them, a loitering crowd seemed to cheer them on, much to her further embarrassment!

God, 'Debonair Hinata' was really on a roll, as of late!

Tucking her underneath his chin, Naruto rested his cheek atop the crown of her head. "I mean it- thanks for coming here with me." His voice was tiny, barely even a whisper that struggled against the wind to reach her ears.

"Ah," Hinata drank in the more somber mood, which seemed to have crept up on them all at once. "Always." She let him pull away from her just enough that they could hold hands once more. Naruto led her a ways apart from the brunt of the festivities, seemingly seeking a more intimate space for the pair. As they walked, the girl took in the growing severity of his expression. Her fingers tightened slightly around the plastic bag in her other hand.

"Is everything alright?" Why did he look so on edge, all of a sudden?

Naruto's frown came immediately. "While you were catching that fish for me, one of Orochimaru's goons approached me."

Her stomach flipped. "They're here?"

"Mhm…" He looked off absently; she swore she saw his earring closest to him faintly vibrating. A moment more, and the other seemed to join it. "A redhead; long hair, brown eyes- er, I think she was wearing yellow… She told me they're going to attack me." He tilted his head slightly, his earrings vibrating slightly. "One of them is fast approaching."

Why would they- Hinata frowned. "I don't understand?"

"Yeah, I'm not seeing the angle either." He grinned. "But she- she begged me not to kill them… I'm wondering if maybe they're acting against their will."

That, or she was trying to get into his head, somehow. If she really was a genjutsu specialist like he suspected, it certainly wasn't a strange tactic. But chakra didn't lie, and "She was terrified."

Hinata was silent for a long moment. Her fingers tightened almost painfully around his own. Then her face hardened, peering up to stare back at him with confidence that she didn't fully feel, but she knew he needed. "What do you need from me?"

His lips parted, but the words that came died out under the sudden rush of air that slammed into them. Off in the near distance, smoke began to rise, close to where the town's center had been.

"Well at least they ain't blue-balling." With a huff, Naruto stood up straight, cracking his neck. "Let's get this show on the road-"

"Hold it!" Kushina's order caused him to freeze in place, to Hinata's confusion. "You should summon Gamakaori," Kushina advised him. "Even if you can handle the foe, you don't want to piss off Jiraiya by disobeying him here."

A shame. Naruto didn't exactly enjoy the idea of letting somebody else fight for him, but he had promised. With a groan, he began to parse through the seals. "Summoning Jutsu."

He dropped down to press his fingertips against the ground; there was a rush of chakra.

But nothing else.

Not even a puff of smoke- anything to signify even the attempt of a summon.

Which meant there was nothing to call on…

Come to think of it, he hadn't tried summoning a toad since he'd fallen, huh?

"Well that's not good-" He didn't get much further than that before a chakra spike put him on guard, just as a massive shadow seemed to creep into place right above him. Peering upward, he blinked, rapidly. A massive boulder was approaching at incredible speed. Moving to evade, he started as a large hand burst from the ground, holding him in place by his ankle. "Oh that's foul."

The boulder slammed down, consuming him under its form.

The night had been everything he could have asked for thus far. Jiraiya wasn't nearly as much of a gambling nut as his date was, but even he could enjoy the thrill of a good bet.

Even if Tsunade had lost them most of their chips within the first quarter.

No matter! Tsunade seemed to be in one of her rare good moods as she intertwined their arms, leading the man along after an exquisitely dressed young man, not yet even in his twenties.

Ryuko Oshimura, a young lord and favored nephew of the Daimyo of Fire Country. He was handsome and youthful, like one of those bishounen characters in the modern romance novels he'd been studying. His hair was shoulder length, but slicked back and lightly oiled in a way that gave it remarkable volume. He wore the faintest bit of makeup under his eyes and around his cheekbones, giving him a rather traditionally 'refined' appearance. His clothing, rich and colorful as it was, was adorned with all manners of fine trinkets; Jiraiya didn't doubt that there was a story of some kind behind every one. The boy certainly struck a fine impression, in spite of his youth.

"I wanted to thank you again, Tsunade-san, for attending my humble event." The young man's voice was smooth, refined in a way that only true royalty could muster. Every syllable he spoke was well-enunciated, and Jiraiya had to admit that even the boy's manners seemed to be on point. "And that is not at all to say that your company is any less adored, Jiraiya-san." Ryuko's head bobbed in tandem with Jiraiya's own nod; the group slowed to a crawl, his armed guard fanning out with a mere gesture; only one, a stocky man with a stubbled chin, lingered. His grip twitched periodically for his blade.

"My lord, if I may be so bold, is it truly wise of us to leave you out in the open like this; and unprotected, at that?"

Ryuko chuckled. "Do you not see the legends who stand with me, my friend? I am safer now than I have ever been, in the company of the Sannin."

Ah, an act of flattery, then. The boy wasn't terribly subtle, but he was smooth.

"Moreover, there is a matter of discussion that I wish to have, and I wish for the contents of that talk to be kept to a strictly need-to-know basis."

His remaining samurai bit his lip, but bowed his head, departing as well.

"Let us speak plainly, now," He tilted his head, catching Tsunade in his gaze. "My esteemed uncle was heartbroken to hear of the condition of Konoha, following recent events."

Tsunade's expression remained placid. "I'm sure your concern will be well-received, Oshimura-sama." With a raised eyebrow, she added. "Though, I wonder to what end you reached out to me? I have not been an active ninja of Konoha for some time."

"That is true." He nodded. "I do not claim to fully understand the inner machinations of Uncle's mind, but I would not dare question his wisdom." Elegantly, he plucked a nonexistent piece of lint from his shoulder-sleeve and smiled. "What I do understand is that Konoha is in a precarious position now. The damages left behind by invading forces will wound morale; what's more, your village is leaderless- a snake without a head, so-to-speak."

Tsunade and Jiraiya both did not doubt the intentionality behind his words.

"I am no ninja, so I will not presume to comment on the ways of your people. But what I and Uncle both understand- and this is why he wished for me to see you on his behalf- we understand that it is necessary that Konoha induct a new head, posthaste. One or the other, that is not for us to decide; but one of you two must take the position. No one else is more suited for the task."

Jiraiya forced back the urge to groan. Of course the Daimyo would butt in…

But he wasn't wrong. Now more than ever, Konoha needed a strong leader. Already, they had been without someone to look to for several weeks too many. What's more, even if Hiruzen could be revived, it was unlikely that he would ever be in a condition to fight again, let alone lead an entire hidden village while the village was so very weak…

A Hokage who could not fight would not last long at all.

Options were limited. Kakashi had the brains and skill, but was rusty, and much too weak. Shikaku Nara, even moreso. Danzo- Jiraiya nearly snarled. With Danzo in power it wouldn't take more than a week before either or both of those kids were dragged kicking and screaming into root; a week longer and they'd probably be at war…

Over his dead body.

Which meant it truly was him or Tsunade, and he knew damn well that Tsunade would not be convinced.

"I suppose if there are no other options, it will have to be-"

"I've got it," Tsunade cut in, sounding resigned. She seemed to deflate, as if just the implication of the task was already too much for her. "You're much too valuable working independently from the village. Besides, if you're put into power you'll make a laughing stock out of the entire country in zero time… It's gotta be me."

On second thought, the only person stubborn enough to convince Tsunade to do it was, ironically, Tsunade herself.

Well, he wasn't complaining.

"For the sake of brevity, you are confirming that-"

"Yeah," Tsunade cut through the young lord's question, twin shards of amber glaring back at him; a bead of sweat trickled down his temple, contrasting his placid smile. "The Fifth Hokage of Konoha will be me."

Jiraiya could say nothing. He was too caught up, just observing the woman beside him. Mere days ago, she had been nothing short of broken. Now though…

Just days, she had gotten to know his godson; already, he could see her light returning to her.

The very light in her eyes that had stolen his heart, all those years ago.

Tsunade caught him staring and scoffed, rolling her eyes away from him; the faintest dust of pink lingered on her nose.

The young man's sudden clap cut through the moment, startling the two. "In that case, it would appear that Uncle has little to worry about!" Ryuko chuckled, once again smoothening the imaginary wrinkles in his clothing. "Thank you again for your most efficacious audience; it truly was an honor to watch the 'Legendary Sucker' work her magic, this evening." He chuckled good naturedly, and Tsunade's eye twitched at the dig. "Please enjoy the festivities for as long as you are able; I imagine you have quite the workload waiting for you back at home."

Was it considered treason to throw a noble into the cold river? Tsunade side-eyed the nearby body of water, then cut her eyes back to the smiling young man.

Probably.

"What a quaint little gathering that you've gone and assembled here, young lord." The telltale hiss was impossible to mistake for anyone else. Three sets of eyes snapped about, two quickly zeroing in above to spot the last of the Sannin, dangling thoughtlessly close to the edge of a squat building. The young noble's eyes finally caught up, and his skin bleached a stark white, beholding the serpentine criminal whose gaze lingered on him, teeming with crude amusement.

"Orochimaru… I don't suppose you're just here to offer your congratulations?" Jiraiya tried to banter, forcing a relaxed grin in place of the sneer he wanted to show his old friend.

"Oh, but I am!" Orochimaru's grin seemed a lot easier than his old comrade's; he folded one leg of the other, both hands clasping and cupping over his knee. Eyes shifting only for Tsunade, his stare was almost fond as he regarded the blonde. "How does it feel, my dear Tsunade? To know that you will be accomplishing my old dream, in the coming days?"

Tsunade couldn't help herself. She groaned. "Kinda sucks that the only one who made it was the one who cared the least, huh?"

"Hmm… Quite." Something bitter lingered on that stump of a retort. Orochimaru palmed the edge of the building, pushing himself off to land gracefully, now at the same level as the two. His eyes flashed dangerously to the petrified young lord, who only just moments ago had seemed so in control. "Run along now, little lordling. I have business with my dear friends."

Ryuko staggered back, eyes now hunting for the guards that he had so confidently sent away, mere moments prior.

"Ah, I suppose it is only natural for a child to seek protection, in moments such as these. How unfortunate it is- your guards seem to be stretched rather thin, at the moment." As if on Orochimaru's queue, the wind around them seemed to change. Neither Tsunade nor Jiraiya could parse exactly when or how it had happened, but the festival's music had turned into screams.

All around them, puffs of smoke began to rise, telltale signs of the summoning jutsu.

"Oh you piece of shit-" Jiraiya started, sandaled feet stomping ahead to engage Orochimaru.

"A-ah-ah-" Orochimaru sang, his grin on full display. "Believe it or not, this was not my doing."

"Like I believe that shit!"

Orochimaru boldly cut his gaze away from the raging Jiraiya, eyes only for Tsunade, at that point. "It seems I will need your answer a bit earlier than we planned… Will you heal my Kimimaro? Or is our business concluded?"

Tsunade grit her teeth.

'I'll heal them,' is all she wanted to say. Whatever it took- anything to have them back and in her arms…

But she couldn't do that. Jiraiya would never trust her again; Naruto would never trust her again; hell, she'd never trust herself again. "I'd say our business is pretty done, Orochimaru."

"You're sure then? No takesies backsies?"

"Super Sure. Get lost."

"Ah, a shame." Orochimaru sighed, sounding almost wistful at that moment. "I'm sure you're wondering- I would've done it, you know."

Tsunade felt a spike of pain. Regret, looking to creep up on her at his final confirmation. "I know you would've." Hardening her heart, she stepped forward, her fist clenched too tightly. "But I also know you would've made me pay for it for the rest of my life."

A sharp laugh ripped from the man's throat, high pitched and grating. "So true! Kimimaro?"

Behind them was the telltale 'tap' of a body landing lightly onto the ground level; another followed shortly after, much heavier than the last.

"It is as you asked, Orochimaru-sama."

"Splendid!"

Ryuko whipped to regard the new arrival, his already pale face tinting green at the sight that he beheld.

A lanky, pale-skinned man in a loose, lavender shirt stood tall; half of the garment had been shucked to the side, leaving bare a portion of his pallid chest and shoulder. Flecks of blood coated his flesh, some even having found its way onto the tips of his bone-white hair as well.

The young lord's eyes trailed down the impressive figure of the young man, spotting a bone-white blade clasped tightly in one of the albino man's grip. Lower, and he found a dreadful sight; one of his guards, chest split open so wide and deep that even from their distance, Ryuko could make out the shape of his ribs.

Tsunade's arm wrapped protectively around the terrified young man's shoulders, forcing him to turn away from the grisly sight. "Was this really necessary?"

"Ah, my apologies, little lordling. I can be a touch impulsive, you see."

"A big fucking baby, more like." Tsunade disregarded the man, regarding the chaos that was progressing deeper into the town. "What's going on over there?" Her eyes then cut back to an antsy Jiraiya, silently ordering the man to stay put for just a moment longer.

"It would seem that a few of my pets are trying to shed their collars!" Orochimaru chuckled, sounding truly unconcerned by the idea. "What a lovely going away party they've gone and held for me, wouldn't you say!?"

"Orochimaru sama-" Kimimaro kneeled as his master gave him his attention. "The traitors- may I kill them for you?"

The Snake Sannin thought for a moment. "I'm afraid not, my dear… I have a better idea." Once again, he turned his gaze to Tsunade and smiled. "If you will not cure my Kimimaro, then I'm afraid I have no further reason to behave myself. And how convenient! I've actually got a thing or two I've been wanting to show you both!"

"Orochimaru, I'm only going to say this once," Jiraiya growled, his stare so dark that it momentarily gave even his old friend pause. Jiraiya's fists shook, gripping so tightly to his palms that his nails stripped their flesh. "Get out of my damned way, or I'm going through you."

"Ah!" You know, it's been some time since I saw that look in your eyes!" Not since he'd defected, had the old Toad ever looked so livid. Orochimaru chuckled, growing quickly into an all-out laugh. "How wonderful!"

No doubt, his once-teammate was thinking about those two children he'd dragged along on his merry little adventure.

But letting him interfere? No, that wouldn't do! Not when his children had gone through such lengths to prepare for him such a magnificent performance!

"I'm afraid that neither of you are going anywhere!" Orochimaru's hands blurred together with such a speed that neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade had any hope of stopping him at that range. Hands clapped together, the audible smack of his palms causing the young lord in Tsunade's half-embrace to flinch. "I told you, didn't I? I've got a gift specifically for you!"

"Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!" Orochimaru's laugh only grew louder as the ground beneath them began to shake.

"Jiraiya!" Tsunade needn't have said anything, for Jiraiya had already closed the distance between himself and Orochimaru, a blinding blue sphere coalescing dangerously into his palm.

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya roared, body tensed with absolute intent to destroy the man who grinned before him. A coffin burst into place between the two, and Jiraiya's rasengan tore right through it like it wasn't even there. Only the briefest resistance followed, the sphere in Jiraiya's palm carving through flesh and bone before coming out on the other side with the snake's death as its sole directive.

But he was nowhere to be found. Jiraiya slid through the space that Orochimaru had only shortly ago been in, experienced senses already flashing in all directions to spot his location.

"You lot play nice, alright?" Above, Orochimaru threw his arms out and bowed, causing Jiraiya to scream in fury. Kimimaro touched down beside the man, looking to him for direction. "I have a show to catch!"

Before Jiraiya could move to intercept the man, the shaking around them grew even more intense; he was forced to leap back as coffins began to rise in place around them.

Ten, twenty, fifty- no. Well over a hundred corpses and counting burst free from their places of rest, each and every one of them recognizable in some way or another for the remaining two ninjas.

"Oh, you heartless bastard," Jiraiya snarled. His gaze flashed over with concern for Tsunade, who stood frozen. Her pupils were dilated; her grip on their charge had tightened so much that the young man looked pained under her grip, and yet she hardly seemed to notice. Every inch of the woman seemed to quiver, paralyzed by the innumerable bodies that stood before them, yet focused near-entirely on the two that stood in front of all the rest.

"Dan? Nawaki?"

They were almost exactly as she remembered them. Dan's handsome features were set in a sad smile, mirrored closely by the little boy who stood beside him

"Darling…" Dan could not get any further before his eyes, so warm and loving for just that briefest moment, were wiped clean. His head lolled slightly to the side, as if his neck no longer even had the strength necessary to hold his posture. Not a single ounce of life could be beheld in those orbs anymore, his blackened sclera taking up so much of his gaze, such that the only thing left of the man she loved seemed to be his pallid flesh, the demon that wore it given away by its shrunken, hollow pupils.

"Big sis… Sorry." Then, Nawaki too seemed to die all over again. His unruly brown locks hung limp; even the once ever-present blush of his cheeks seemed to die down to little more than a shade of himself. His lips, still frozen in that adoring grin of his, seemed to hollow out, like little more than a porcelain facsimile of the real thing.

Behind them, dozens upon dozens of figures underwent the same transformation. Comrades and friends of old- each of them were overwritten, their faces frozen in some expression or another while their bodies seemed to merely amble about, unnaturally.

Then, as if all ordered at once, their heads snapped up to attention, sickening cracks pouring from their disused bones and limbs in a synchronized crescendo of noise as they all turned to curiously regard the screaming town. There was the briefest delay, and then all of those bodies were barreling after the sounds, malice radiating in their bodies and chakra and incited by the silent orders of a cruel master.

"Dan! Nawaki! Wait!" Tsunade cried after the two as they too joined the mad dash of their brethren. She made to chase after them, but-

"No! Tsunade! Snap out of it!" Jiraiya thundered, scrambling after the woman before she could get far. He wrapped both arms around her shoulders, dragging her into an embrace and fighting against her monstrous strength to hold her still. "That's not them! It's not them!" He repeated, desperately trying to reach the woman.

"But!-" She whined, only half-looking at the man. She looked at Ryuko, who was all but paralyzed; his gaze was all but locked onto the still corpse of his closest guard. "Shit! Fuck! Fuuuck!" She sobbed, slamming an open palm twice against her own head.

"Tsunade, please!" Jiraiya shook her. "Focus! Shizune! The kids! We've gotta find them!"

Why hadn't Naruto summoned him yet? Had he already been-

No, the kid was too good to just get snuck like that. Whatever had happened, he needed to find them before Orochimaru did!

At the mention of Naruto and Shizune, Tsunade finally seemed to fully shake herself free of her daze. "Y-you go after Naruto, I'll do what I can for the civilians." A deep, shuddering breath, and she looked to the petrified young man in her grip. "Stay close to me, Oshimura-sama." As if on cue, she and Jiraiya both began to form hand seals.

"Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram. Summoning Jutsu!"

As the boulder slammed down on Naruto's form, Hinata had to cover herself to ward off the incoming wave of debris that slammed into her.

"You okay!?" She shouted after her boyfriend, byakugan bulging to life to peer through the offending structure. It was hollow, with more than enough space to trap Naruto inside and then some.

"Good question!" He didn't manage to say any more before the grip on his foot tightened, trying to drag him beneath the ground.

So an obvious earth jutsu from above. It limited his movement options, but also distracted him from an attack on the ground-level. His chakra sense was distracted by the massive spike of chakra; it was a clear weakness in the artificial expansion of his Mind's Eye jutsu through resonance with his clones. The delay, however brief, that it took for them to transfer information could be exploited…

He'd need to calibrate to compensate for that weakness in the future.

The grip on his leg increased in its insistence. Resisting the pull, he let his chains unfurl from his spine, three of them bursting harmlessly through his clothing and rattling with ill intentions. "Adamantine Formation: Spear-fishing." Twisting together into a thin, spear-like point with a barbed tip, the merged construct snapped forward, skewering into the ground to ward off his attacker. The grip released in the nick of time, his assailant moving to steer clear of his retaliation; the messy displacement of stone combined with his Mind's Eye technique allowed him to easily track their path. Carefully, Naruto hopped out of the way of several short lunges, retaliating with several more groping stabs of his own. Finally, he stood his ground as his foe attempted to circle around him. A body burst from the surface, a large meaty fist trying to bludgeon his skull, but he was onto his opponent, tilting his body just enough to avoid it.

Naruto's grip was iron as he clamped around the passing forearm of his attacker. The muscles in his wrist bulged, shaped and stoked to a crushing point by the heightened yang release suffusing in tandem with the refinement of his body.

"Lion's maw." He noted the weight of his attacker as he yanked them entirely off the ground, swinging them around in a half-circle before slamming a foot into their sternum. His assailant went flying back with a choked gasp, crashing into the wall of the dome they'd trapped them in, and had little time to prepare themselves before Naruto near-glided after them.

A straight blinding fast jab cracked across their jaw like a gunshot, and a masculine groan was his reward for his efforts. Their intentions shone clearly in their chakra, and Naruto twisted away, leaning back to avoid a chop to his neck. Before his opponent could recover, he punished them with a grueling hook punch that embedded into the side of their torso and drove the air out of their lungs; it was immediately followed by an uppercut from the same fist that smashed into their jaw and sent their head slamming back into the wall, bouncing audibly and causing stone to crumple from the surface.

"Yeah, I'm good." Naruto decided, his forearm forcing the body back against the stone wall as they tried to escape. His fingers twisted, temporarily making him 'fluid'. "Tiger's Paw." The bones in his arm fused together, chambering into a shape somewhat resemblant of a piston. It compressed, then expanded all at once, driving through to bash their chest with a tensed palm that split the dome behind them and sent his foe hurtling back through the opening with a breathless wheeze. He stepped out after them, shaking his arm back into its natural state. The increased luminosity allowed him to finally regard his assailant properly for the first time.

A male; he was large, standing taller and much heavier than Naruto, himself. An orange-haired mohawk was easily his most discerning feature, sectioned with two additional parts that curved behind each of his ears. The second most notable quality was a thin wire necklace with decorative metal chimes. Molted red, triangular-patterned tattoos were spreading generously across his left shoulder, arm, and face, extending from a point underneath his clothing that Naruto's sensory jutsu could see nestled at the left side of his throat.

"That'd be the curse mark…" Naruto hummed in thought, prowling toward the young man who was trying to scramble back to his feet. He clutched at his chest, fingering a pair of broken ribs; saliva dribbled from his open mouth. The wrist that Naruto had grabbed had already begun to swell a dark, ugly purple. "So that'd definitely make you one of Orochimaru's little piggies, yeah?"

The heavier boy sneered at him, his glare dead set on the blonde Uzumaki without so much as an eye for Hinata, who had moved to flank him.

"Don't get cocky, you trash!" He hissed, spreading his legs out into a wide stance. "You're both coming with me; now we can do this the easy way, or the-"

"Don't care." Naruto cut through the boy's words before he could finish. The Sound ninja blinked dumbly, his bafflement rapidly shifting to fury in the face of his apathy. "Naruto looked away from his fuming assailant, instead regarding the chaos that seemed to be pulling further and further away from them. "Looks like your buddies are off making a mess of things."

That girl had said they wouldn't hurt anyone… But even if he thought she was being genuine, he still didn't have the measure of her allies; no, he'd be stupid to just trust that.

He oughta make some clones and send them off to help evacuate the area, just in case.

"If you split your chakra recklessly, you'll be putting yourself at a disadvantage, at least until they finish and your chakra is returned to you."

True enough. Moreover, despite mentioning them both, this guy seemed to only have eyes for him at the moment…

He didn't seem particularly tough, even with that curse mark slowly spreading across his body. But his chakra hadn't stopped rising since their first clash.

"If he keeps climbing like that, he could become a problem."

He had pulled back with his first few attacks to avoid killing the guy, but already, his body seemed to be repairing itself; likely the work of the curse mark, though for the life of him, he couldn't quite determine how.

"Hinata, I'll take care of this. Make sure the civilians get evacuated. If you run into any more of these guys, put them down quickly. Take them in, but don't kill them."

Hinata hesitated for a moment, looking between him and his attacker. "They c-could be trying to split us up."

Also true. In that case, it'd be better off to stay together; watch each others' backs.

But the screams-

Crumbling rubble; bodies slamming against the walls, their bones crumpling like impacted debris in a horrific symphony of carnage.

Rubble hitting that poor boy's head.

The terror of their silence.

A deep breath. "Make sure everyone gets out, then if I'm still fighting, come help me jump this guy," He ordered firmly. "I trust you to make it back to me."

She did not hesitate again. With a nod, she sped off, leaving him alone with the Sound ninja, who had by now seemed to recover almost entirely from his injuries.

"Giving up the advantage in numbers? Over a bunch of bad meat? You leaf ninja sure are stu-" His words bled into a muffled scream of shock as Naruto's palm swiftly closed the distance, then around his face, his crushing grip threatening to compress his skull to the point of bursting.

"Shhh." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes at all. Naruto began to walk him down, forcing Jirobo to stumble back in sync with him as he approached. "Ya know, I was having a lovely night here with my sweetheart before you clowns went and mucked it up."

For now, he'd heed that girl's request. The guy in front of him wouldn't die… But he hadn't promised to leave him in one piece.

"Don't waste too much time on him, X'omaa." Kushina's call was a welcome reminder.

Unneeded, but welcome.

"If I recall, the festival was set to continue on until eleven; that makes two and a half hours of my fun left that you went and pissed down the drain." The larger boy tried to slam a meaty fist against the side of his head, but it never reached him. His eyeshadow pulled partly away from his face on that side and expanded, coalescing to something between liquid and solid; web-like tendrils stretched from his face, condensing and shaping the surface into a thin, spiny barrier that intercepted the impact; newly refined yang chakra flow chased after it, reinforcing the protections and causing attacker's fist to bleed from the resulting perforations in his flesh.

Naruto's own grip only tightened, now squeezing the boy's face so hard that his eyes looked fit to pop loose from his skull and roll away from them. He raised his arm, leaving the other boy's feet to dangle frantically, just above the ground. Jirobo's nose began to run, and a sheen of sweat clamored to the surface of his skin.

Glaring into the now panicking boy's eyes, Naruto's grin was all teeth. His visible eye was a crystalline shard of malice, four still pupils expanding to take the other boy in. Violent, sharpened jaws parted slightly, a faint plume of purplish smoke puffing free; the faintest clicking of building sparks in the boy's mouth whispered an insidious threat that made Jirobo pale.

"Since I'm now stuck babysitting your goofy ass, you'd better not disappoint me."

That's the chapter. Getting it out has honestly been a pain in the butt, but I'm glad to finally have it here. Thanks for all you guys' patience.

Special thanks to those of you in the discord who helped beta read and offer feedback while I was coming up with solutions; you guys are the real ones. Speaking of which, come check out the discord! We've got some really cool goons in there and we have a lot of wacky discussions about this series and other fan works as well. It's been really fun.

You can find the link on my profile, some assembly required.