章 1466: 56
Where the Rain Never Stops
A blue sky marked the day as Naruto walked to the Hokage Tower. He'd woken up early that morning to discover a member of the ANBU waiting for him. His presence had been requested by the Hokage, apparently, and he'd been asked to meet with her as soon as he could. Thus Naruto had shelved his original plan to train that morning in favor of meeting with the old lady to see what she wanted.
Tenten had still been asleep when he left. She'd only woken up briefly, long enough for him to tell her that he was leaving and give her a kiss goodbye.
Two weeks had passed since Naruto, Tenten, Ino, and Chouji had returned from Nadeshiko no Sato. His relationship with Tenten had improved. These days it was not unusual for her to come over and spend the night at his place. It was also not unusual for them to have a lot of sex. Actually, their sexcapades had reached the point where he was worried she might have become addicted.
Then again, maybe that was just him.
After wandering into the Hokage Tower, Naruto traveled up to the Hokage's Office. He didn't bother knocking. Busting the door wide open, he strode in with a confident gait and a grin that caused the whiskers on his cheeks to stretch.
"What do you want, you old hag?"
The moment that question left his lips, a paperweight flew at him, prompting Naruto to duck. There was a loud crash behind him. Turning to look at the paperweight, now embedded into the wall, Naruto could only silently click his tongue as he turned back to the annoyed woman sitting behind the desk.
"That might have actually hurt me if it hit me."
"Good." Tsunade twitched with barely repressed agitation as a vein appeared on her forehead, throbbing and angry red. "It was supposed to hurt. I wish it had hit you."
"Now that's not very nice," Naruto muttered.
Wandering further into the room, he found that Shizune was not present like normal. She must have been at the hospital. Since Tsunade was the Hokage, she couldn't run the hospital herself, so she left her first apprentice in charge of it. In Shizune's place was someone else, a man with white hair that looked like a lion's mane, a red vest over a green gi, and geta sandals.
"Ero-sennin." Naruto frowned as he squinted at the man. "What are you doing here? It must be pretty important to pull you away from your porn."
"That's a pretty rude thing to say to your sensei!" Jiraiya shouted, though it lacked heat. The man didn't even seem to care. "But you're right that what I'm here for is pretty important."
"Given that you've been involved with basically every incident involving Akatsuki up to this point, I'm sure you know that we've put a pretty nice dent in their forces." Tsunade began ticking members off her fingers. "Hidan, Deidara, and Sasori have been disposed of. Akatsuki consisted of seven S-ranked ninja from what we've gathered. Provided they haven't gained any new members, that means they are now down to only four. Itachi and Kakazu are two of them, but we don't know anything about the others."
Naruto nodded along with what they were saying, though he also rolled his eyes.
"I already know all of this, though I guess if you're reiterating this information, it means you've either discovered who the other members are, or you've found out where they are hiding."
"Give the brat some ramen." Jiraiya grinned as he clapped his hands. "That's right. I believe I know where Akatsuki's leader is hiding. To be honest, I think I've known about it for a long time, but I dismissed the idea originally since I didn't think it was possible."
Naruto looked at Jiraiya, at the look on the man's face, a mixture of cocky and serious. Jiraiya had crossed his arms and was giving off a stern yet somehow nervous vibe.
"And? Where is this hideout?"
"We believe the leader of Akatsuki has holed himself up in Amegakure no Sato," Tsunade said. "How much do you know about the Hidden Rain village?"
"Barely anything." Naruto shrugged as he shifted his feet against the floor. "I know that because of its location between three of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, it has frequently served as a battleground during the various ninja wars. I also know that most of its population are war refugees because of those same ninja wars."
"That's about what most people know." Jiraiya stepped forward, toward the Hokage's desk, which he placed one of his hands against and began tapping on. "Because Amegakure had suffered so much during all the ninja wars, Hanzo the Salamander adopted a heavy isolationist policy, leading to the village's defenses becoming almost impenetrable. Just being admitted into the village is a pain in the ass."
Naruto didn't say anything at first as he pondered what Jiraiya and Tsunade were telling him. He bit the inside of his cheek, lightly, and came to the only conclusion he could think of.
"You believe that Akatsuki's leader is there."
"We do," Tsunade said.
Naruto looked at Jiraiya, and then at Tsunade.
"And I'm guessing the reason Jiraiya is here, and the reason you summoned me, is because he and I are going to infiltrate Amegakure no Sato to locate this mysterious leader."
"Got it in one." Jiraiya's broad grin spoke of pride. "That's right. You and I are going to be heading out on this mission tomorrow."
"This mission is an S-ranked one," Tsunade added. "Not only that, but its confidentiality is being classified as SS-rank. This is the kind of mission that never happened. You understand what I'm getting at, right?"
"I do, and don't worry." Naruto raised a hand over his mouth and pretended to zip it closed. "My lips are sealed."
Saying his goodbyes to Jiraiya and Tsunade, Naruto quickly left the Hokage Tower and headed back to his apartment. He would have to get ready. However, there was someone he'd like to spend more time with before leaving on a dangerous mission that would last for Konoha knew how long.
XoX
Jiraiya and Tsunade watched Naruto leave. The door shut behind the young blond, and the sound of his receding footsteps tapered off. Once they were both certain that Naruto had left, the two Konoha Ninja relaxed. Tsunade leaned back in her seat, crossed her arms, and turned her chair around to look at her old partner.
"Are you sure it's a wise idea to have Naruto come along with you?" Tsunade asked.
"Worried?" Jiraiya smirked at her.
"Of course I'm worried." Uncrossing her arms, Tsunade reached up to rub her forehead. "You're traveling to Amegakure no Sato. On its own, that is a dangerous and foolhardy task. However, if Akatsuki really does have a base there, then the danger and foolishness is multiplied over a hundred fold. It's like we're giving them Naruto in a handbasket."
"Well, you normally would have a point."
Jiraiya walked around to the other side of Tsunade's desk, knelt, and opened a drawer. There was a bottle of sake and two saucers inside. He took them out, set the saucers on the desk, and uncorked the sake, which he then poured into the saucers. As the clear liquid sloshed around inside, he pushed one saucer over to Tsunade.
"However, I think you are greatly underestimating Naruto." Jiraiya lifted his own saucer and took a sip.
"I'm not underestimating him." Tsunade glared at Jiraiya before taking her own saucer in hand. She swirled the liquid around, staring into it with a pensive expression. "I know how strong he is, but even if he was powerful enough to be Hokage, I would still feel hesitant about sending him on a mission like this. The Akatsuki are after him. Sending him straight into the belly of the beast is a terrible idea."
"And I don't disagree," Jiraiya admitted. "But I also need him to come with me."
"Can't do this task by yourself?" asked Tsunade, a joking tone in her voice. However, the look Jiraiya gave her made the light smile curling her lips die.
"I'm getting up there in my years, Tsunade. I'm not the young man I used to be." Jiraiya downed the rest of his sake and poured himself some more. The tone in his voice was somber as he continued speaking. "I don't think Naruto has realized it himself, but he's already surpassed me in many ways. I might be able to defeat him if I was in my prime, but I'm not. I no longer have the strength I once did."
"I see." Tsunade turned to look out the window, at Konoha, the village that she, Jiraiya, and even Naruto were doing their best to protect. She suddenly felt brittle, like something inside of her had broken. "And that's why you want Naruto to come with you?"
"Aside from you and I, Naruto is the strongest ninja in the village." Jiraiya sighed as he set the saucer down. He walked to stand beside Tsunade as she sat in her chair and also looked out the window. "When Naruto gets serious, there's no one in this village who can beat him. Even Kakashi wouldn't stand a chance if he went all out. While I could sneak into Amgeakure no Sato on my own, if I run into trouble, I'll need someone I can count on to bail me out."
"Which is why you're asking Naruto to come with you." Tsunade sighed. "I understand. Just promise me that you two will be careful. I can't afford to have either of you dying on me."
Finally, at those words, Jiraiya smirked. "Would you miss me if I died on you?"
"You wish."
Tsunade chucked the now empty sake bottle at him, her eyes twinkling.
XoX
Naruto returned home to find that Tenten was gone. His bed had been neatly made, and the sheets had even been changed out. That was a little disappointing, but he assumed she'd either be at the training ground with her team or her father's shop. He'd just head over to those places once he'd finished making breakfast.
Because his apartment was so tiny, Naruto's kitchen and living room were one and the same. He went over to the fridge and opened it. There wasn't much. He would have to go shopping at some point, but he'd been so busy lately that he couldn't find the time. Still, he did spot a carton of eggs. He checked the carton and found three eggs were still left inside. It would have to be enough.
Starting up the stove, Naruto pulled out a pan and cracked the eggs onto it. He quickly stirred the yoke in.
While he was making scrambled eggs, a soft click alerted him to someone unlocking his apartment door. Only a few people had a key to his apartment. Of those people, only one of them was currently in Konoha. He kept his eyes on his food as the door opened, and then closed.
"You're already making breakfast?" Tenten sounded disappointed. "I was hoping to make some for you before you got back home."
Naruto finally turned his head. Tenten stood in the doorway. She was frowning at him. In her left hand was a grocery bag, which he could only guess was filled with the ingredients she'd planned on using to make breakfast.
"Sorry," Naruto apologized. "I honestly thought you'd gone back to your parents after waking up."
Tenten sighed as she walked over to the counter and set the bag on top. "It's fine, but here. If you're going to make breakfast, then at least make enough for the both of us."
Inside the bag, Naruto found flour, cheese, milk, and another carton of eggs. He wondered what she'd been planning to make with all that.
"Will do," he said, grabbing four more eggs and cracking them over the pan. Since he had some cheddar as well, he added that into the mix and stirred it even more, whipping the scrambled eggs until the cheese had melted and the whole thing was light and fluffy.
"So?" asked Tenten as she sat down at the table. "What did the Hokage want?"
"I'm going on another mission." Naruto turned off the stove and grabbed two plates and forks. "It's one that Jiraiya and I are going on. Sadly, it's S-ranked and confidential, so I can't tell you anything about it."
Tenten nodded as Naruto, after putting eggs onto both plates, wandered over to the table and set the plate next to her. She grabbed the fork embedded into the eggs and began eating as Naruto sat down and did the same.
"You'll tell me about it afterward, right?"
"So long as the old bat permits it."
"I really don't think you should be calling our Hokage an 'old bat.' Even if it is kind of true."
Naruto and Tenten kept their conversation mostly light, though he did let her know that he'd be leaving on the mission tomorrow. He asked if she'd like to spend the day with him, but, sadly, Tenten informed him that she actually was scheduled to head out on a mission with her team. It was a simple B-rank, but it would be a several day mission.
Tenten left soon after. Since Naruto had nothing better to do, he went over to one of the training grounds and spent his day practicing. There wasn't much he could do, though. Unless he wanted to practice his more destructive jutsu, which he'd been forbidden from doing within Konoha, there was nothing he could improve on. His physical abilities were about as good as they were going to get, his chakra control was as perfect as he'd ever be able to make it, and he had no trouble entering his yokai form at will.
Naruto stared at his clawed hands, clenched them, then unclenched them. He could his chakra flowing through his tenketsu like a raging torrent. His eyes, which he knew had become purple, could see the chakra, though not as well as perhaps the Byakugan or the Sharingan. This wasn't a doujutsu.
Without having to battle, Naruto could maintain this form for several hours, though his limit remained around ten to twenty minutes during combat. He wondered if he could extend the time. Akane had told him it was possible, but she'd dropped out of contact before she told him how.
Akane…
She still hadn't spoken to him since his mission to Yuki no Kuni. He had tried contacting her several more times within the last few days, but no good had come of it. Naruto could no longer enter the seal.
With a sigh, he released his hold on the transformation, welcoming the strange sense of exhaustion that made his body feel like it was being weighed down. Because the power acted almost like a drug, it left him drained whenever he stopped using it. He likened it to the Akamichi's soldier pills. It boosted your stamina, but then once it ran its course, you were left more tired than you were before.
"I know you're there, Kakashi," Naruto said suddenly as a presence tickled his senses, like an itch in the back of his mind. "Come on out."
The man appeared before him, the same spiky silver hair, headband covering one eye, and perverted book in hand. He appeared as nonchalant as ever. That said, the fact that he was there meant something.
"I'm guessing you heard about the mission Ero-sennin and I are going on," Naruto said.
"I did." Though he had the book out, Kakashi was not reading it. He looked at Naruto and eye smiled. "That's why I've decided to ask you now if you wanted to get a drink with me? I've been meaning to do it for some time, but with how busy you've been, I haven't had the chance."
Naruto didn't answer at first as he considered the man before him. While he'd never blamed Kakashi for it, this man had neglected Naruto's training in favor of Sasuke's. Because of that, he'd never really considered the person before him to be his sensei. That said, it wasn't like he actively disliked Kakashi either.
"Sure," Naruto said with a shrug. "I've never gone drinking with another guy before. It should be interesting."
"I'm not really sure how to take that," Kakashi murmured as he snapped his book shut.
It was a lot later in the afternoon than Naruto first realized. As Kakashi led him to a slightly seedier district of Konoha, or rather, a district filled with numerous bars, he looked up at the evening sun as it painted the sky red.
The place where Kakashi led him through was getting boisterous, with loud voices echoing from inside numerous bars. Laughter rang out, muffled but still loud. Naruto couldn't see anything since these bars didn't have windows, the better to hide whatever raucous activities their patrons were getting up to. That said, one didn't need to be a genius to know what was going on inside.
Kakashi led him to a place called The Rusty Kunai, which Naruto almost rolled his eyes at from how stereotypical it sounded. He wondered if all shinobi hangouts lacked originality as he entered the bar to see… about what he had expected to see. Low lighting made it difficult to fully make out the patrons as they sat around tables, guzzling ale and laughing. Some were standing up, arms wrapped around each others shoulders as they sang off-key songs. A woman with a sleeveless shirt arm-wrestled several men at one table. Every man who came up to her lost.
"Come on," Kakashi said.
Naruto followed the man up to the bar, where they both took a seat. He expected to find a bald man with more muscles than he knew what to do with cleaning a mug, but what he found instead was a young woman who seemed really cute. She was short, coming up to about his shoulder, had brown hair tied into pigtails and an innocent smile.
What the fuck?
"Heya, Kakashi!" The woman greeted with good cheer. "I see you're not with the usual crowd. Who is this cutie?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the cutie comment, but Kakashi answered before he could come up with a suitably witty retort. "Why, this is one of my cute students. I told you about them, remember?"
"That you did." The woman nodded several times, then studied Naruto. "Hmm… blond hair, blue eyes, whiskers… you must be Naruto. I've heard a lot about you."
"It seems a lot of people have heard about me." Naruto couldn't think of anything else to say, so he said that. "And you are?"
"Katarina." Her smile brimming with pride, the woman thrust out her modest chest. "I'm the owner of this establishment!"
"Really?" Naruto looked around at all of the people causing mayhem inside. Then he looked back at her. "I never would have imagined such a cute girl could run a bar like this."
"Hu hu hu." This Katarina woman sure had a strange laugh. "Not many people do, but it's true. I am the one who owns and operates this fine drinking establishment."
"Uh huh…"
"We'd like to get two of your specials please," Kakashi said when Naruto found himself unable to think of anything else he could say. His brain felt like it had been melted with a fire jutsu. "Also, bring us some of your chilled sake please."
"Sure thing! I'll have your order up in a gif!" The woman turned around and began shouting in a voice that somehow carried over the ruckus. "Hey, Ichi! We've two orders of the special!"
Naruto looked past the woman to find a kitchen located in the very back of the bar. The bar itself was located in the center, a round table encircling the entire thing. The center had numerous taps with different names on them. He only recognized a few of the ales being stacked on top of one another.
"Your orders will be out in just a minute. In the meantime…" Katarina took out a large bottle of chilled sake from somewhere below, set it on the counter, and then pulled out two small glasses and set them next to the sake. "Here is your chilled sake."
"Thank you." Kakashi eye-smiled at the girl, who beamed right back before having to turn around because one of the other patrons called out to her.
"This is an interesting establishment," Naruto said as Kakashi poured sake into both glasses and slid one over to him.
"That woman may not look like it, but she's a former ANBU operative," Kakashi stated as he lifted his cup. Naruto could only shake his head when the man drank it without even pulling down his mask. "She worked under me for a time, but the stress became too much and she quit. After that she opened this bar, claiming that if there had been a bar like this where she could unwind after a mission, she would have had an easier time coping."
"Well, that's… an interesting reason to run a bar."
"Isn't it?"
The two sipped their sake in silence for a time, though that certainly didn't mean silence reigned supreme. They might have been quiet. However, pretty much every other patron in the bar was anything but. Naruto could not withhold a grimace as numerous loud noises echoed all around him, from overly enthusiastic voices to the sound of hands and mugs slamming into tables.
Finally, Kakashi sighed. "The reason I brought you here is because I wanted to apologize."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
"For not being a better sensei, for putting Sasuke before you, for not teaching you properly."
"I feel like we've already been through this once before."
"Maybe, but it bears repeating." Kakashi poured himself another glass of sake while Naruto finished sipping his first. "I had a friend who was an Uchiha. He's the one who gave me this eye. Were it not for my friend giving me this eye, there were many times where I would have died. It's thanks to him that I'm alive today."
"And so you feel indebted to him, and that's why you taught Sasuke over me?"
Kakashi grimaced. "That's one of the reasons. The other one was because I saw a lot of myself in Sasuke. However, I also saw a lot of darkness in him. I had been hoping that I could lead him away from his path as an avenger by giving him something better… but I was wrong. Even after doing everything I could to help him, Sasuke still abandoned the village."
This must have been eating Kakashi up for awhile now. Naruto traced his finger along the lip of his cup, thinking about how Kakashi must have felt when, after doing everything he could to help Sasuke form strong ties to the village, the boy ended up leaving anyway. He couldn't. While Naruto did feel betrayed by Sasuke abandoning Konoha, he wasn't so stuck on the boy that returning him to the village was his only concern.
"I don't think you should let yourself wallow in the past like this, sensei," Naruto said at last, using the term sensei to show his sincerity. "You did what you could to help Sasuke, and he rejected your help. That's all there is to it. If you really want to prove your sorry, then make up for it by doing what you can now to help the village prosper."
Kakashi looked at Naruto like he was seeing him for the first time, and then the man's only visible eye closed and flipped into an upside down U. There was that famous eye smile of his.
"I know you've done a lot of maturing during your journey with Lord Jiraiya, but I'm surprised by just how much you've grown."
"I am my father's son."
The words made Kakashi pause, likely because he knew who Naruto's father was. Kakashi had been a former pupil of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, Naruto's old man. He didn't doubt that Kakashi had also known who he was before accepting Team Seven as his students.
After a moment passed, Kakashi relaxed and raised his glass. "Yes, you are at that."
"Cheers." Naruto grinned as he clinked his glass against Kakash's. As one, the two tilted their heads back and slammed the sake down.
Konoha's nightlife continued to echo around them.
XoX
Naruto woke up alone that morning. He frowned at the empty spot beside him, which would normally have been filled by Tenten or Temari, depending on who was there at the time. With a sigh, he climbed out of bed, made breakfast, brushed his teeth, and got dressed.
The sun had just risen when Naruto left his apartment to meet Jiraiya at the gates. His sensei was already there. He was wearing the same clothes as always. However, strapped around behind his back was a massive scroll, the summoning contract for the toads of Mount Myoboku, which Jiraiya only carried when he planned to go on long journeys.
Jiraiya gave him a grin. "You all ready to go, brat?"
"Who do you take me for, you old pervert?" asked Naruto as he patted his ninja pouch. "I've got everything I need right here."
"Good. Then let's head out. No sense in wasting daylight."
After checking out at the gate, Naruto and Jiraiya headed for the Amegakure no Sato.
XoX
Amegakure no Sato was known as the Village Hidden in the Rain specifically because it almost constantly rained there.
Surrounding the village was a massive lake. The water's of this lake were constantly being disturbed as tiny droplets of rain sprinkled it, creating small ripples on the surface.
Swimming through this lake was a seemingly innocuous frog, whose shadow could only vaguely be seen before its head popped out of the water's surface. Then the front opened its mouth. Without warning and defying every logical convention known to man, a hand emerged from the frog's mouth. The hand was followed by an arm, then a shoulder, then a head, and a body. Slowly but surely, a man emerged from inside of the frog. Dressed in a red jacket with a green gi, battle mesh armor, and a scroll on his back, Jiraiya of the Sannin knelt on the water as another figure emerged from the frog's mouth.
"That was certainly not the most glamorous way to travel," Naruto commented as he stood up and brushed himself off.
"A ninja's life isn't always glamorous." Jiraiya also stood up. "You should know that."
"That doesn't make me feel any better."
The village of Amegakure no Sato stood before them, a series of industrial structures that loomed above their heads like towers. It looked nothing at all like Konoha, which blended in with the surrounding nature. This was a place of steel and cement. All the buildings towered in the sky, with pipes jutting from them in a convoluted network. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for them, though Naruto was sure they had one. That said, he didn't think they were sewage pipes, so he was at a loss to figure out what they were.
"Well, let's not waste any daylight." Jiraiya adjusted the scroll on his back and began moving toward the village.
Naruto sighed, but he dutifully followed his sensei.
They both put on a raincoat and pulled the hoods over their heads as they entered the village. Naruto was not wearing his headband, but his vibrant blond hair would definitely stand out.
Perhaps because the village was surrounded by a lake, there were numerous large rivers running through it. As Naruto and Jiraiya walked past other people wearing raincoats, he wandered over to the railing and looked down at the boats ferrying people across the river. Beyond the river were numerous other walkways. Some sloped. Others were flat. Naruto spotted a large number of staircases in the distance.
Everything looked very dull.
Naruto didn't know if it was the rain, but this place just looked dreary. The buildings were all a very drab color, a faded gray that blended in with the steel pipes running throughout the village. Likewise, none of the people looked truly happy. Their expressions were lifeless and shallow. He wondered if that meant they were being oppressed, or if the people who lived here were just that boring.
As they continued to wander, Jiraiya went over to a small shop that was selling steamed pork buns. An old lady sat on a stool next to the wooden steamers. Rain dripped off the Naruto walked over to him just as Jiraiya paid for two pork buns and tossed one to him.
"I haven't seen your faces before," the woman said. "Are you not from around here?"
"That's correct. I'm actually a writer," Jiraiya said easily enough. "I travel the world and write about regional cuisine and products for a magazine. This young lad here is my apprentice. I'm teaching him how to spin a good tale to make his articles pack more punch."
As soon as he finished, Jiraiya took a bite of the pork bun. Naruto decided to do the same. He actually paused, though, when the steamy insides hit his tongue. There was no intense burst of flavor, but the softness of the bun complimented the savory warmth of the steamed pork.
"Hmm… I see. And how do you like my pork buns?" asked the old lady.
"They're delicious," Jiraiya said, and it wasn't a lie. They weren't the best, but they were pretty damn good. Naruto quickly finished his. "I heard about them from a friend, but even I wasn't expecting them to be this amazing."
A twinkled entered the woman's eyes as she smiled. "I know! Aren't they?"
Jiraiya held the pork bun aloft, waving his hand back and forth as if to emphasize it. "I'd like to introduce them in our magazine. Is that okay?"
"In a magazine?" The woman seemed startled.
"Yes. Although…" Jiraiya leaned down and cupped a hand to his mouth as though getting ready to share a secret. The old woman leaned in. "Once I write about them, you'll have such a big crowd you won't be able to rest."
The woman's eyes widened as Jiraiya stood back up. She laughed as she said, "I-I see. That would be a problem!"
Naruto pretended to be a diligent apprentice by pulling out a notepad, a pen, and jotting down notes. Meanwhile, Jiraiya looked left, then right, a smile growing on his face.
"It sure is peaceful around here."
"Ah." The woman nodded as her face brightened even more. "This village is no longer plagued by war thanks to Lord Pain." She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. "We're so grateful to him."
The look on Jiraiya's face was nonplussed, as though he'd heard her words but didn't know what to make of them. He mulled the words around for a bit. Naruto could practically see the fire jutsu igniting inside of his head.
"What ever happened to Hanzo the Salamander?" he asked.
"Eh?" The woman held a hand to hear ear as though she hadn't heard him.
Jiraiya began to lean down when Naruto noticed that all of the villagers walking past them had stopped. He tapped the older ninja's geta with his sandals discreetly so as not to give himself away. That caused his sensei to stop what he was doing and look around. Once he noticed the looks he was getting, Jiraiya coughed into his hand.
"Nevermind." Jiraiya laughed off his nervousness. "It's been a long time since I've been to this village, so I hadn't realized there was a new leader."
"Hmm… well, Lord Pain has been our leader for several years now," the old woman said.
"I see." Jiraiya paused and considered what to do. "I'll be sure to write that article for you. Take care of yourself, granny."
"Thank you for the meat bun." Naruto smiled at the woman and bowed his head. "It was delicious."
As the two wandered off, leaving the quiet crowd of civilians who'd been staring at them behind, Naruto looked at his sensei. The befuddled and serious expression on the man's face was not one that his perverted teacher normally wore. It let him know that something was wrong.
However, just as Naruto began to feel unsettled, Jiraiya stopped walking. He was confused at first, but then he saw what had made his sensei stop. There was a bright neon sign with yellow lights outlining it. Near the top were two glowing pink hearts being pierced by an arrow. The bottom had the name Make-Out Pub War.
"So places like this exist even in Ame," Naruto muttered with distaste. "Well, I guess shinobi need some way to relieve their stress."
"Hehehe… Naruto… I'm gonna do a little intelligence gathering in there," Jiraiya said, wiping his mouth of the drool that had begun leaking out.
"Do whatever you want." Naruto sighed. "In the meantime, I'll see if I can't find another method of getting information."
Naruto had no desire to enter a place like that. He didn't begrudge others who wanted to relax by having some hot chick in a skimpy outfit pour him drinks, but he was perfectly content with his sex life and didn't see the point in a place where you could only look and not touch… unless you paid a hefty fee. That was so not his thing.
The two ninja split up. Jiraiya skipped into the adult only bar, while Naruto decided to keep wandering the street.
XoX
Konan watched her friend as he stood beneath the rain. Pain hadn't moved from that spot for awhile now. This was not unusual, but several times in the last few minutes, he had shifted as though something had attracted his attention.
"Is something wrong, Lord Pain?" asked Konan.
"I sensed two strong presences enter the village a little while ago." Pain tilted his head. "They are incredibly powerful."
Konan looked over the rainy village, at the water splattering against the rooftops, walls, and floors. A trickle of worry seeped into her gut. Their village had been secure against intrusion for so long now, even before Pain had taken over the village. Who could possibly infiltrate it?
"Konan, when I stop the rain, seek out the intruders with your jutsu."
"Got it."
Konan raised her hands and made a simple seal as Pain shifted through a series of hand seals. They were the seal he used to activate and deactivate his sensor jutsu, Ukojizai no Jutsu, a contact-type perception ninjutsu that allowed him to freely manipulate rain infused with his own chakra.
The rain fell from the clouds, formed by Pain's own chakra. During this technique, the falling raindrops were closely linked to Pain's senses. This allowed him to sense foreign chakra signatures. The detection of the rain, however, was not specific. Pain only knew when someone had entered the vicinity of the rain but not where they were.
That was where Konan came in.
Pain raised his hands after finishing his numerous hand seals, and, after several seconds had passed, the rain pouring down on Amegakure no Sato eased up, and then it ceased all together. Konan glanced to her left. Several small droplets of water trailed down the lip of the roof, coalescing into a Pain large drop that fell to the floor with a splash.
Lowering his hands, Pain turned just his head and looked at Konan. "Do it, Konan."
"Right…"
Konan lowered her hands and manipulated her chakra. A small crack suddenly appeared on her face, and then another and another. Soon, multiple lines formed along not only her face but her body as well. Rustling sounds like paper being crinkled echoed all around them as Konan spread her arms wide.
And became paper.
Her body transformed into hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper, all of which floated into the air, wavering like they were caught in a breeze.
One by one, the sheets of paper began folding. Creases formed as the paper bent numerous times. The end result was that each sheet of paper had taken on the shape of a butterfly.
Pain stood in place as the thousands of paper butterflies took off, slowly disappearing as they dispersed throughout the city.
XoX
"The rain has stopped…"
Naruto looked out the window of a small shop he'd been eating at. While the sky was still cloudy, it was no longer raining, though the city was still very wet. He watched a few droplets of water as they trailed down the window.
While Jiraiya enjoyed himself at the rather adult drinking establishment, Naruto had spent his time talking with various shop owners. He used his cheerful personality to engender himself to them. People were more willing to talk if they thought you were a good person.
Unlike his sensei, whose line of questioning was regarding Hanzo, Naruto focused on learning more about this "Pain" character. He was the village leader. According to what Naruto had heard, Pain had defeated Hanzo and brought peace to the village. However, he also killed anyone who he thought was associated with Hanzo.
No one seemed to know a whole lot about Pain. In fact, it seemed as if very few people even knew what Pain looked like. That said, everyone there had an almost unhealthy reverence for this man. The look in their eyes as they spoke of Pain, how he had saved them, how he had brought peace, had disturbed Naruto a great deal. It was almost like they thought this man was a god.
Something else Naruto learned was that Pain didn't work alone. He had a woman who worked with him, and unlike Pain, who almost never showed himself in public, this woman had been seen around the village. They called her Lady Angel. He didn't know if she had another name. If she did, no one seemed to know it. Still, the idea of this woman being an angel only reinforced the idea that these people thought their village leader was a god.
"Oh, you're right," a young woman who'd been catering to Naruto said as she looked out the window. She had a tray with a plate of hot tea and some dango resting on it. He would have preferred ramen, but he'd picked up a taste for the stuff thanks to Anko. "That's quite odd. Lord Pain normally doesn't stop the rain so suddenly like this. I wonder if he's planning to send Lady Angel out on an errand?"
"Does Lady Angel appear often, then?" asked Naruto as the woman set his tea and dango on the table.
"Oh, yes." The woman smiled. "She appears quite a lot, actually. She normally travels around the village and helps people who are having problems. I've also seen her playing with the children sometimes."
"She sounds like a nice person," Naruto said.
"Mm! She is very nice!"
Naruto didn't stay in the shop for very long. After finishing his meal, he left and headed into the streets.
Given what Naruto had learned so far, the rain that had been falling on Amegakure appeared to be related to some kind of sensor ninjutsu. If the rain stopped, he could only assume that it was because the ninjutsu was not accurate enough to locate him and Jiraiya. That meant Pain would be sending this Lady Angel to locate them.
To avoid a confrontation, Naruto stuck to the main streets where traffic was heaviest. Instead of disguising himself with a transformation jutsu, he used makeup and a wig to make himself look like a member of the village. If this Lady Angel was a sensor, she'd probably still find him, but it would be harder.
Naruto also created several shadow clones and had them transform into various animals, mostly rats and birds, which then traveled either through the air or the numerous pipes located throughout the city.
He didn't know where Jiraiya was. However, if he knew his sensei even half as well as he thought he did, then he suspected the man was likely interrogating a ninja of the village by this point.
Should I meet up at the assigned meeting point?
Once they had all of the information they could gather, he and Jiraiya had agreed to meet at the edge of the village.
As he pondered whether or not he should head to the meeting point, a large surge of chakra erupted from several dozen meters away, causing Naruto's head to snap around like it had whiplash. He wasn't the greatest sensor. That said, the giant surge of chakra was something that even a novice could sense.
Channeling chakra into his eyes, Naruto looked in that direction. The world around him shifted. Everything became shades of gray, save for the chakra signatures all around him. Most were very basic. Their blue flames were small and let him know they weren't very powerful. However, there were three among those flames that were impressive.
Naruto recognized Jiraiya. The man's chakra looked like a reddish-brown flames. He was next to two other signatures. Both were powerful. The size of their flames, of their chakra, was on par with Jiraiya and other kage-level ninja. One of them was white. The other was… muddled. Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of that one, but it was easily the most powerful chakra signature he'd felt to date.
Has he been found out?
Well, obviously. If two such powerful signatures were confronting Jiraiya, then they had definitely discovered the man.
Cursing to himself, Naruto discarded his disguise and took to the roofs. Several shouts echoed behind him. He ignored them and created several shadow clones to keep any ninja that chased him busy.
Traveling along the walls, over pipes, and across roofs, Naruto soon came upon a very obvious battle sight. Jiraiya was fighting against a man with orange hair and many piercings. Both were standing atop a summons. Jiraiya was on a toad, who Naruto recognized as Gamaken, while the man was on a giant chameleon-like lizard.
The lizard summon looked odd. There were so many piercings stuck in the creature's body that Naruto wondered how it was still alive. Also, its eyes were unusual. There were no whites in its eyes. Concentric rings spread out from the pupil like ripples on the surface of a pond. Naruto noticed that those eyes matched the eyes of the man standing on top of it.
Naruto would have wondered what that was about, but before he could even begin to get closer, several shuriken flew from out of nowhere. He twisted his body like a corkscrew, dodging the attacks. A sharp pain struck his cheek as one sliced into him—or so it seemed, until Naruto disappeared in a burst of smoke.
"A Shadow Clone, is it?" a woman floating high above Naruto asked as she turned to face the real Naruto, who stood several meters from where the clone was dispelled. "You were quite skilled to replace yourself with a Shadow Clone so quickly. I barely even noticed it."
"Thank you for the compliment." Naruto gave the woman a cheerful smile. "You must be this 'Lady Angel' that everyone keeps talking about."
The woman before him really did seem angelic, and not just because of her paper wings. Her light blue hair framed a delicate face. Brown eyes were narrowed in a natural sensuality. She had a lip piercing. While her body was covered by the traditional Akatsuki cloak, even Naruto could tell from the way certain places swelled that she had a body worth dying for.
"And if I am not mistaken, you are the Kyuubi's jinchurikki, Naruto Uzumaki." The lady gazed at him as her wings flapped to keep her aloft. "It was foolish of you to come here."
"You think so?" Naruto began circulating chakra through his body. "I don't know about that. It seems to me like I'm doing something you Akatsuki people never expected. Sometimes doing what your enemy least expects is the best thing to do."
"Hmph. You sound just like Jiraiya-sensei."
Jiraiya-sensei?
Naruto was nonplussed by those words, but he wasn't given any time to question them. The woman before him suddenly split apart into many sheets of paper, which then folded themselves into shurikens and flew at him. Left with little choice, Naruto replaced himself with yet another shadow clone.
As he reappeared on a roof several meters away, Naruto took off running. It would be better to battle this woman away from Jiraiya. There was no sense in mixing their battles together. Neither of them needed that kind of chaos right now.
The woman quickly chased after him. He could hear the flapping of her wings behind him. Given that they were also made of paper and that she had transformed into paper, Naruto could only assume that all of her jutsu were paper-based techniques. He'd never seen jutsu like that before. They must have been unique to her.
Several more paper shuriken flew at him from all directions, but Naruto twisted his body and blew them all away.
"Senpuken!"
Large gusts of wind burst from his fist and tore the shuriken apart like they were, well, like they were made of paper. Naruto landed on a roof and fired off several more of the same jutsu. Each one blasted apart numerous paper shuriken. He then back flipped to avoid an attack that came from above. Six shuriken became embedded into the roof.
The woman raised her hands above her head as she floated in the sky. Naruto narrowed his eyes when a large quantity of paper sheets converged above her head, turning into a chakram-like shape. With little ceremony, the woman threw the chakram at him. Narrowing his eyes further, Naruto waited until the last moment before dodging to the side.
"Nice try," he taunted, "but that won't—"
Alarm bells flared inside of his mind. Naruto leapt away from where he'd been standing. The chakram the woman had thrown flew through the spot not even a second later. It then curved around, coming toward him again. What's more, the woman had made two more chakrams, which she threw at him as well.
"Well, this is annoying."
It looked like she could control the chakrams trajectory and speed with her chakra. He guessed since the paper sheets came from her, she was able to freely manipulate them however she wanted.
Since it was clear that dodging them would get Naruto nowhere, he grounded himself on the roof, bending his knees and bringing his elbows into his torso. He breathed in. The chakrams came closer. Then he breathed out and launched three Senpukens simultaneously using his fists and left foot. His attacks hit the three chakram, which exploded violently, sending paper flying out in all directions.
"You are a most troubling opponent," the woman said.
"Ha! I could say the same thing to you. Those paper attacks of yours are really annoying."
The woman didn't respond to his taunt with words. She launched a multitude of sharp paper planes at him in rapid succession.
"That's not gonna work! Senputatsumaki!"
Naruto thrust out his fists and released a massive stream of chakra, which quickly spiraled outward in the shape of a giant tornado. His attack slammed into the paper. Naruto expected his attack to shred the paper to bits, but that wasn't what happened.
"What the hell?!"
Instead of his technique shredding apart the paper, it was the paper that shredded apart his technique. Naruto was forced to leap backward as the sharp paper slammed into where he'd been standing. He gawked as the paper projectiles punctured numerous holes into the steel roof. What the flying fuck?! How could paper be that strong?!
"I see," he murmured as he looked at the woman. "Not only can you freely control paper by infusing it with your chakra, you can change the paper's density, making it harder than diamonds."
"You are very astute," the woman said.
"Heh. Of course I am. You're looking at the best damn ninja on the face of the planet." Naruto grinned at the lady, whose eyes widened ever so slightly. That was an interesting reaction. "Hmph. Anyway, if we're going to continue this battle, do you mind if I at least had your name? Calling you 'Lady Angel' in my head is annoying."
"…"
The woman didn't say anything for a long time. Leading Naruto to believe she wouldn't say anything. But then…
"My name is Konan," the voice came from behind him.
"What—hurk!"
Naruto turned his head to find Konan standing behind him, and then something sharp pierced his back, slicing through his body and emerging out of his chest. He looked down. Poking from his chest with a slick coating of blood was a paper sword. He looked up. The "Konan" floating above him suddenly unraveled into several sheets of paper.
"So that's what happened. You replaced yourself with a paper clone and snuck up behind me. Very clever." Naruto turned his head to grin at the woman. "But you know, clones are my specialty."
Konan twitched when the Naruto she had impaled disappeared.
"Rasengan!"
She leapt away when the real Naruto plummeted from the sky, a swirling ball of chakra in his hand. His attack slammed into the roof. Metal shrieked as it was ripped apart like someone had stuck it in a grinder. The jutsu exploded outward seconds later, causing the hole in the roof to become even larger.
Naruto stood up and glared at Konan as she floated away again. This game of cat and mouse was beginning to get annoying.
As they fought, several loud explosions rang out from far away. Neither of them looked away from each other. However, both of them knew that the explosions were being caused by the battle between Jiraiya and Pain.
"It looks like Ero-sennin and your master are still going at it."
"So it seems."
"Then perhaps we should end this."
"I agree."
Konan launched more of those paper projectiles, which Naruto decided to call paper kunai, from her wings. He moved back to avoid them. However, this time, when they struck the roof, each one exploded in a massive geyser of fire. The heat singed his face while the force of the explosions threw him back.
She must have wanted to knock him off balance. Konan appeared above him and threw numerous paper shuriken at Naruto while he was stumbling, but he avoided them by launching a powerful tornado to his left, using the resulting force to push him away from her attacks.
Since Konan was flying in the sky, Naruto decided to follow her lead. He expelled wind chakra from his body, particularly his feet, and launched himself at her.
"A frontal assault like that won't work!"
Konan once more sent numerous paper kunai at Naruto, but he expelled more wind chakra from specific tenketsu to push himself into a series of complex aerial maneuvers. Deftly avoiding each attack, Naruto closed the distance as he created a rasengan in both hands.
"Rasenrengan!"
He thrust out his right Rasengan first. Konan dodged by rotating her body to the left, but doing so left her wing exposed, and his rasengan tore through it with ease. Using the force created from dispelling his Rasengan, Naruto spun around and shoved the Rasengan in his other hand straight into the woman's chest.
Konan exploded.
A massive gout of fire tossed Naruto away, burning his skin and clothing. He fell to the ground, striking it with great force—and then he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"This is getting us nowhere," Naruto muttered.
Konan was clearly an intelligent shinobi who analysed her opponents and used deception to attack with paper ninjutsu. She could also use exploding notes to great effect, which he guessed was an extension of her paper ninjutsu. Her main method of fighting seemed to be luring shinobi in to attack her, then attacking with explosive tags. She also had a jutsu where she would transform into paper and cover her opponent's body, but Naruto could break out of that easily by expelling wind chakra from his tenketsu.
The problem was that Naruto couldn't land a solid attack. Whenever he got close, she replaced herself with a clone and made it explode or tried to restrict his movements. She was excellent at keeping her distance.
Naruto assumed this meant she wasn't well-versed in close-quarters combat, but since she wasn't good at taijutsu, it meant she had become adept at avoiding situations that required close-quarters combat.
If he wanted to win, Naruto would have to trick her into getting close.
By this point in time, their battle had taken them far across Amegakure, over many roofs and through numerous pipes. The amount of damage left in their wake was extensive. Fortunately, no one else had been around for their battle, meaning there'd been no civilian casualties. Naruto wasn't the type who wanted to hurt innocent people.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Naruto created six shadows clones that threw themselves at Konan, attacking from all directions. They converged on her like vultures on a corpse. However, the Konan they attacked exploded with incredible force. The pipe Naruto found himself shook as a massive hole appeared on the side.
His sense of danger alerted Naruto to an attack from behind. He dodged left, shuffled his feet along the ground, and spun like a top. Expelling wind chakra from his body created a massive tornado around him that tore several dozen paper shurikens apart, but just as he did that, each shuriken exploded with impossible force and his tornado was engulfed in flames.
Replacing himself with a shadow clone, Naruto rushed out through the hole, leapt onto another pipe several meters away, and then ran up a wall until he had landed on the roof. The flat roof only had a few pipes sticking out, and they weren't very big. That meant he had no cover.
Konan tried to follow him, but Naruto finally created several hand seals and unleashed a massive ninjutsu.
"Fūton: Fūryū no Jutsu (Wind Release: Wind Dragon Technique)!"
Chakra gathered in Naruto's lungs, expanding his chest. Just as Konan was about to reach his roof, he expelled all of that chakra in a single gust, which burst from his mouth like an enraged monster and quickly assumed the shape of a dragon easily ten meters in length. The dragon slammed into Konan tearing her body apart.
She was another paper clone. However, the real one did not appear to be present.
Before Naruto could search for Konan, something else caught his attention.
Naruto was standing on the roof of a building near the edge of Amegakure lake. Down below was a multi-tiered walkway that acted as a wall with multiple levels of defense. Dozens of large pips emerged from the bottom of the wall and traveled into the water. One section of the wall was rounded out, forming a half-cylinder.
Six people stood on that wall. All of them had orange hair and wore the black cloak with red clouds that Akatsuki had made famous. Each one had pale skin, numerous piercings, and strange, ripple-like eyes. Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of them. Were those eyes part of a doujutsu? But how could so many people have the same doujutsu? Were they members of a clan like the Hyuuga or the Uchiha?
The six individuals were gazing down at someone standing on the water, and Naruto felt a jolt travel through him when he realized it was Jiraiya. The man's nose had grown large. Several warts had formed on it. What's more, his pupils had turned into black bars. There were two toads standing on his shoulders, whom Naruto recognized as the elder toads.
Jiraiya had entered the fabled Sage Mode.
That was surprising, but what surprised Naruto—no, what sent ripples of shock and fear through him—was not that Jiraiya had been forced to use his ultimate technique. It was that Jiraiya was missing his right arm.
Naruto had no idea what was going on, but just then, all six of the strange individuals leapt from the balustrade and attacked Jiraiya. Even with one arm, the man was a badass. He held off the first three that attacked him, avoiding their attacks, and then launched himself at the one standing further back. However, that man caught his hand, twisted his wrist, and then threw him away like he weighed less than a feather.
One of the other ninja raised his hand. Several strange tube-like things appeared around his wrist, which flew at Jiraiya as the man landed on a wall. He ran up the wall. The devices struck the wall, and then they exploded.
As Jiraiya leapt away from the explosions, the man with spiky hair raised his hand, and as though it was being pulled by an invisible force, the wall behind Jiraiya was torn from the surrounding area with the intent to slam the old ninja into the water.
Naruto wasted no time in leaping down from the roof. He used wind chakra to boost his speed, creating distortions in the air as he flew unerringly toward the massive chunk of wall that was threatening to crush his sensei. While he flew, Naruto created six shadow clones and had each one charge up a powerful attack.
"Fūton: Rasengan!"
Six Rasengans powered with wind chakra slammed into the wall, creating a massive detonation of wind. The clones were dispelled. Their own attacks had destroyed them. Meanwhile, the real Naruto grabbed Jiraiya and leapt away as the wall was engulfed in a massive sphere of destruction.
"Naruto!"
"It looks like you could use a hand," Naruto said. "Seeing how you're missing one of yours."
"Now's not the time for jokes!" Jiraiya snapped as three of the strange figures leapt at them.
"Senpuken!"
Naruto's jutsu slammed into the first one, launching him away, but then the second one reached them and Naruto was forced to engage the man in taijutsu. Unfortunately, he was still in the air and therefore had no traction. He let go of Jiraiya and was pushed back.
Landing on the water, Naruto shuffled backward as a long-haired man and a bald man attacked him. The bald one threw a punch. Naruto tilted his body to dodge, but then the guy's fist suddenly extended. As it grew in length, Naruto realized the man's hand had actually detached from his wrist. There was a long chord keeping the two connected.
Several of those explosives were attached to the chord. With plumes of smoke, they were launched at Naruto, who had no choice but to replace himself with a shadow clone. When he appeared several meters away, he made several dozen more shadow clones and had them split up and hide themselves.
The long-haired one tried to attack him next, but Naruto flowed around his less than coordinated attacks and launched a powerful, wind-infused kick that sent the man crashing into a wall. He would have celebrated, but then several more explosives were launched his way. Rather than avoid them by dodging, Naruto held out his hands and created a powerful barrier of wind chakra.
He winced as the explosions slammed into his barrier. Leaping back, he kept the barrier up while charging his next attack—that was the plan. Before he could, the man he'd launched away came at him again. Naruto had to release his wind barrier in favor of defending himself.
The long-haired individual reached out to touch his chest. Naruto sensed something weird about the act. He quickly leapt back as a strange purple chakra connected to his body and tugged at something inside of him. It was like this thing was trying to pull out his soul!
Slamming his hands on the water, Naruto shoved a huge amount of wind chakra underneath the surface, which created a massive tidal wave that rose up and swallowed the two individuals. They weren't the only ones either. The four people who Jiraiya had been fighting were forced to leap away from his sensei as the wave crashed into them.
Jiraiya also leapt into the air. Landing near Naruto, he and his apprentice stood back to back as the six figures surrounded them on all sides.
"Who the hell are these people?" asked Naruto.
"I don't know…" Jiraiya narrowed his frog-like eyes. "They call themselves the Six Paths of Pain, but I have no idea what that even means."
"So Pain is six people?"
"I don't know."
"You're no help at all."
"Don't be like that. I found out a lot of useful information."
"Sure. Sure. Why don't you tell it to me later? I'll determine how useful it is."
"You are… the Kyuubi's Jinchurikki," the Pain with short, spiky hair said. "I had known there were two of you, but I didn't realize one of you was the Kyuubi's Jinchurikki. You have given us a lot of trouble. I'll be sure to defeat you here and take the Kyuubi away from you."
"Ha!" Naruto barked. "That's rich. I don't know who you think you are, but there's no way I'd ever let you take Akane from me. I don't even think that's possible anymore."
The Pain that Naruto was talking to narrowed his eyes.
"We shall see," was all he said before he and the five other Pains attacked in earnest.
Jiraiya and Naruto have infiltrated Amegakure and are now under assault from Pain. This chapter was pretty standard canon for a good portion of it, minus the fact that Naruto is also present here. The next chapter will be the Naruto and Jiraiya Vs. Pain battle. While this story isn't the best written, I do hope you all have been enjoying it.
One thing I wanted to let everyone know is that I don't come onto Fanficnet very often anymore, which is why I rarely ever respond to PMs these days. I usually just come here to post chapters before logging off. If anyone wants to talk to me, your best bet is to follow me on Twitter or Facebook. My Twitter name is BrandonBVarnell while my Facebook is AmericanKitsune. On Twitter, I generally tweet about anime, manga, light novels, visual novels, and lewd anime girls because I'm a perv. On Facebook, I post more about my books and writing, along with illustrations my artists make for me. If you don't mind any of that, feel free to chat with me.
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