[FFML] [Naruto][Fanfic] Genin, Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. Nor do Sakura, Sasuke, or any of the other characters mentioned or described herein. I haven't even bothered to get permission from their great and august creator. Feel free to sue me if you wish, but you won't get anywhere. Not only do I have no money, but as a college student, I have LESS than no money. That's right. A negative net worth. Have fun, Mr(s). Lawyer! Also, I will be using adult language in this fic. If you're not supposed to read such language, GO BACK TO SCHOOL!

Genin

By: Flashfyre5

Chapter Eleven: Espionage

Tsunade paced around her official offices restlessly. Her desk was loaded with paperwork and information scrolls, but she couldn't bring herself to address any of them, despite the late hour. A yellow, full moon hung low in the night sky outside her window. She was not alone in her misery; two clerks worked diligently at smaller desks on the far side of the sizeable room.

"This can't be a coincidence," she muttered to herself for the fifth time in the last half hour. The clerks didn't even glance upwards. They were doing their best to stem the tide of paperwork that flooded the Hokage's office. Tsunade never had been one for paperwork. She was, however, preoccupied by Sasuke and Masako's disappearance. On an impulse, Tsunade returned to her desk and fished out the meager information scrolls concerning Masako from the cluttered pile. With a sweeping arm, Tsunade pushed the day's remaining paperwork aside and unrolled them before her.

"There's got to be something that I missed," Tsunade mumbled as she pored over the information in the scrolls.

"There isn't, Hokage-sama," one of the clerks told her, just as she'd asked him to an hour and a half ago. Just like she had then, and a half a dozen times since, Tsunade ignored him. After a few minutes, she sighed and sat back in her chair. A scroll tumbled off of the information pile and bumped the back of Tsunade's left hand. Idly, she picked it up, still thinking.

"Sasuke's file," she mumbled, glancing at it. Then, her eyes focused on something, and she leaned forward in her chair. "Wait a minute. This is the symbol for fan," Tsunade realized aloud, seeing Sasuke's last name on the scroll. "Hiashi said something. what was it?" she wondered, her face screwing up in concentration. With a jerk of realization, Tsunade sat forward in her chair.

"They changed it to 'fan' years after the rebellion!" Tsunade remembered. "'Uchiha' used to mean 'house wave!' Then, Toru.," she trailed off. The clerks had stopped their work, and were looking at their freshly animated employer. Tsunade's face quickly darkened.

"Michino Toru. 'Unknown Door to the House'." she muttered. "She disappears at the same time as Sasuke, she's Akatsuki from our village, and we've got practically no record of her existence?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she thought. "This is no coincidence."

"Hokage-sama?" one of the clerks ventured. He was standing at his desk, obviously worried by Tsunade's seemingly random muttering.

"Raise the Anbu," Tsunade commanded firmly. "Have them turn this city upside down if they have to, but I want Sasuke and the Akatsuki woman found, and I want them found before the jounin exams conclude."

"Of course," he said, bowing. The shortish man made his way to the door, but Tsunade continued to instruct him. He stopped and waited for her to finish.

"Tell the Anbu that they'll probably be found together," Tsunade continued after a moment. The clerk nodded and waited to make sure that Tsunade didn't have anything else to tell him.

"'Unknown Door to the House of Waves.' damn it, it's another fake name!" Tsunade finally growled, her frustration boiling to the surface as anger. "She's here for Sasuke. I'm sure of it, and I'd be willing to bet money that she's holding Itachi's leash too." A moment passed, and Tsunade gritted her teeth. Finally, she raised her fist and violently slammed it down on her desk. It split in two, papers and scrolls tumbling to the ground. Not noticing, Tsunade exclaimed, "Who the hell is this woman?"

The clerk, having no answers and a high regard for his personal safety, took this as his cue to leave and carry out the Hokage's orders.

* * * * * *

Masako's eyes cracked open just as the morning sun was beginning to shine through the window of the second hotel room that she'd rented in the past week. It was a small establishment on the edge of town, and she'd rented the room under the guise of a battle-scarred old swordsman. The proprietor was a fat, compliant old woman with about as much ninja skill as a tree. Masako knew that she was safe for the time being.

What surprised the blue-haired woman was that she was alone in bed. Masako forced herself to full wakefulness and sat up, not bothering to use the bed sheets to cover her nudity. Sasuke stood at the foot of her bed, pulling on his stained undershirt from the day before.

"What are you doing up so early? Come back to bed," Masako pleaded in a well-feigned tone of mixed desire and sleepiness. Sasuke finished pulling on his undershirt and looked hard at her, his red Sharingan eyes whirling slowly.

"No," he said simply, his tone steel. Masako's eyes narrowed a fraction at his belligerence, but she camouflaged it as a lazy yawn. /He shouldn't have the mental capacity to refuse a direct order anymore,/ she thought as she yawned, using the yawn to mask her thought processes.

"Come here. I want another go," Masako ordered, her own voice firm. It wasn't entirely to test the limits of her ability to control the young Uchiha either; she had actually enjoyed the previous night's activities.

"No," Sasuke repeated, picking up his jacket. Since he wasn't looking at her, Masako didn't bother to hide her displeasure and worry. /This is not right,/ she thought, then his her expression when Sasuke turned to face her again. He looked angry and strained, as if he were just barely holding something in check.

"Come here now," Masako commanded, using a tone of voice that brooked no argument. It had only failed her once before. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and he walked around the bed towards her. Masako was about to grin in satisfaction when Sasuke slammed his hands down on the bed on either side of her head. His eyes were wide open and whirling quickly now. His lips were twisted into a sickly grin that unnerved Masako, much to her surprise.

"Go to hell, bitch," Sasuke growled, his hot breath washing over Masako's face. She did her best to hide the nervousness that she felt; Sasuke had already tied his kunai pouch to his leg, and her own weapons were piled against the far wall of the room. /He'll probably be able to kill me before I can finish a jutsu that'd have a chance of working on him,/ Masako thought with an internal grimace. For the first time in over a decade, Masako found herself at someone else's mercy; she did not like the fact.

"I don't dive a damn that you're a halfway decent piece of ass," Sasuke continued, having apparently missed the rapid assessment that she had just made. "I'm still gonna slit your throat and roast your liver over a slow fire. I'd do it now, but." Sasuke trailed off, licking his lips. Masako carefully eyed the razor-sharp kunai that he had drawn while he spoke. "I know the pleasure of ending one life. I want you to be a part of the bloodbath." Sasuke grinned at her viciously, then slowly pushed away from her. Masako relaxed fractionally as Sasuke spun the kunai on his index finger. Eventually, he slipped it back into its holster and wandered out of the room, whistling a tune that seemed at once cheerful and morbid.

For a long moment, Masako sat in bed and thought hard about retrieving her weapons and ending the brat's life. /They'll be looking for me by now,/ she realized, grimacing. With a sigh of frustration, Masako quietly slid the door to her rented room closed and began to dress herself.

"Damn, this is bad," she muttered aloud, checking the blade on her shikomi-zue. The blade itself was immaculate, as always. This, however, was not what concerned her. "I either need that kid, or I need him dead in a spectacular fashion." Masako thought for a while longer, then nodded to herself and sheathed her shikomi-zue. "I'll wait for Itachi and Kisame. We'll kill the kid and tear the place up. Should buy me a year or two at least." Her mind made up, Masako transformed herself into the visage of the grizzled old swordsman that she'd worn the night before and made her way to the clerk's desk. She paid for her night's stay without comment, then set about finding another hotel at which she could stay. Still, she worried, and with good reason. Few of her plans had worked out lately, and Masako knew that she couldn't afford for this one to go any further awry.

* * * * * *

Sakura shuddered as she dressed. She wasn't afraid, nor was she cold. It was much worse than simple physical discomfort. It wasn't surprising; she was putting on the same style of clothing that she'd worn the day before, the day that Sasuke had. that Sasuke had gone berserk. One, two, three buttons fastened on a black vest, just as she had yesterday, the day that Kakashi, her teacher and confidante, had been slaughtered by her childhood crush. The morning had a strange, surreal feeling to it; such normal actions after a day of adrenalin and horror seemed so unimportant. On an impulse, Sakura walked over to her underwear drawer and dug around in it. Soon, she had found the underwear that her other side had gotten as a prank. so long ago, it seemed. Quickly, she changed, the rather distinctly unusual sensation of the scanty under things bringing a sense of reality to her still-frazzled mind.

"I just hope they don't distract Naruto instead," Sakura mumbled wryly as she finished dressing herself. /I hope they do!/ Inner Sakura piped up, but Sakura smothered her. She simply had no time for her alter ego today; random distractions would most likely be the downfall of whatever test they had to pass. Still, a part of her agreed with Inner Sakura's sentiment, a part that she wasn't too willing to acknowledge.

/Damn,/ she thought, moving downstairs to the common area. /I can't deal with this right now. I need some time to sort things out./ Sakura wished that she had that time, but Naruto was relying on her. Resolutely, Sakura fed herself and stashed a couple of candy bars in her supplies pouch. They'd make for good, quick energy if she needed it. There was a note on the kitchen table from her mother. Apparently, she'd been dispatched during the night. Sakura shrugged it off; such things were fairly normal, considering the life of an Anbu. She left it on the table for her father to discover when he would come down, later that morning. A glance at the clock told her that her time was up; if she didn't leave now, she'd be late. Sakura indulged in a deep breath to calm herself, then quietly left.

The sky hung low and gray over her head as Sakura hopped from rooftop to rooftop. The air was thick with humidity, and wind whipped around her. /It's going to rain before the day's done,/ she thought worriedly. Rain was one of the few things that would ruin the Me ni Mienai; the rain would splatter off her form and reveal her position, even though she would still be technically invisible.

Before she was entirely ready, Sakura arrived at the east gates of Training Area 44. A couple of chuunin stood in front of the already unchained gate. Naruto was sitting with his back against the chain-link fence. He was staring at the gray sky, a thoughtful expression on his face. Sakura approached him slowly. The blond-haired teen finally snapped out of his reverie and looked at Sakura with a grin.

"Hey," he greeted her simply. Sakura could see that Naruto was tired; there were faint bags under his eyes.

"Hey. Did you sleep?" Sakura asked, worried.

"A bit. Not very well," Naruto admitted with a wry grin. "Couldn't get over that look in Sasuke's eyes."

"Are you gonna be all right?" Sakura asked, understanding Naruto's discomfiture. She'd had to take a sleeping pill to get to sleep last night for the same reason. Naruto nodded, then pushed himself to his feet.

"I'll get some sleeping pills after the test," he told her reassuringly. "Get a good night's sleep tonight so I'll be fresh tomorrow." Sakura nodded, then looked around.

"Where's Iruka-sensei's team?" she wondered aloud, noting that she and Naruto were the only candidates in the area.

"They're taking the same test in Area 23," Naruto explained, nodding towards one of the chuunin. "He told me when I asked earlier."

"The old castle? I'm surprised that they haven't torn it down by now," Sakura commented offhandedly. Naruto nodded his agreement, but one of the chuunin stepped forward before he could say anything.

"Well, it's 7:30, and you're both here, so let's get this started," she said in a bored and tired voice. Sakura didn't recognize the woman, so she remained silent. "In this exam, you'll be working as the team that you submitted to Tsunade. Since your third teammate got disqualified yesterday, there's just the two of you."

"For this exam, act under the assumption that Konoha is at war. It doesn't matter who it's against. Anyway, at the center of this forest is a tower. It's staffed by jounin. The woods surrounding the tower are patrolled by jounin. At the highest level of the tower, there is a scroll. Your objective is to get in, take the scroll, and get out without anybody noticing you or the fact that the scroll is missing," she explained simply. "This is a test for your espionage skills. If you are captured, you fail. If they realize that the scroll is gone before nightfall, you fail. If someone sees you, you can either attempt to fight or flee, at your discretion. In either case, you will be penalized if word of your existence reaches anyone staffing the tower. You have until nightfall to bring me the scroll. Any questions?" Sakura and Naruto both shook their heads. The chuunin nodded, and her partner threw open the gates to the training area. Together, Sakura and Naruto dashed through the gates, beginning the five-kilometer trek to the tower.

"We've gotta hurry," Sakura told Naruto as they ran. "I can get us inside with the Me ni Mienai, but our cover'll be ruined when it rains." Naruto grinned next to her.

"Good. If you can get me in and out, we're home free," Naruto declared cockily. Sakura snorted at him and shook her head. After a few minutes of running, Naruto pulled up short, and Sakura slowed to a stop next to him.

"What is it?" she asked, glancing around.

"There are patrols out here. We should start your genjutsu now, just in case," Naruto explained, glancing around to make sure that they were not being observed.

"I won't be able to hold it that long," Sakura said, shaking her head. At this distance, she knew that she'd have to hold it for at least two hours, which was her absolute limit. Naruto fished around in his supplies pouch and retrieved a small, brown pill. Sakura groaned as soon as she saw it.

"Just take it. It'll keep ya going until we're safe," Naruto told her, handing the soldier pill to Sakura.

"I hate these things," Sakura grimaced, then paused to swallow the thing. "They always give me cramps when they wear off." Naruto just shrugged, and Sakura sighed. With practiced ease, Sakura performed a long series of hand seals, then held out her hand. Naruto looked at it questioningly for a minute.

"I need to make sure that you're close enough for it to work. I don't have the chakra that I'd need for a second try," Sakura explained, a bit of a blush on her cheeks. Naruto's calloused hand slipped into her own. It felt nice, but Sakura did her best to banish that thought from her mind. "Me ni Mienai no Jutsu," she declared, and shuddered a bit as the initial, rather intense investment of chakra for the technique flowed out or her body.

"Are you all right?" Naruto asked, noticing her shudder. Sakura nodded, then realized that he couldn't see her.

"Yeah. It takes a lot to start up, but not much to keep going," Sakura explained, catching her breath. Naruto's grip tightened for a moment, and Sakura savored the feeling of his hand on her own. In many ways, it was what she'd imagined holding Sasuke's hand would be like, but it was, in many ways, different. Naruto's hand, though hard and calloused from years as a ninja, felt warm and soft in places. Even when she'd fantasized about Sasuke, Sakura had not been able to imagine any part of the steely boy as warm or soft. With a mental shove, Sakura pushed thoughts of the past and of Naruto from her mind.

"Let's go," Naruto said with a tug on her arm. Sakura obliged him, and together they raced along the forest floor towards the central tower, not daring to jump from tree branch to tree branch for fear of rustling a tree branch and giving away their position.

The chuunin proctor hadn't been kidding; Naruto and Sakura spotted no fewer than three patrols of jounin on their way to the central tower. None, however, gave any indication of seeing them. /They're investigating the chakra flare that I gave off when I started the technique,/ Sakura realized with a shudder. After a good half hour of hard running, Sakura and Naruto broke through the last of the trees. The central tower stood before them, tall and imposing. With a tug, Sakura ran towards it and slipped in one of the doors, Naruto right behind her. Once they were inside, Sakura pulled Naruto into a small side room that was currently unoccupied.

"We've got to move a lot more slowly now," Sakura whispered to her companion. "The jutsu will muffle our footsteps, but most of the tower is made of metal. If we run, we'll make noise." Naruto squeezed her hand once, a sign that she took for understanding. She led Naruto from the room and into a nearby stairwell. A glance upwards confirmed that it spiraled up at least half the height of the tower. With a nod of determination, Sakura walked up the outside of the stairwell, Naruto trailing just behind her. More than once, a jounin or two would come down the stairs. Some even looked directly at the stealthy pair, but again, none gave any indication that they could detect the hidden chuunin. Eventually, the pair made it to the top of the stairwell. Sakura examined a map of the tower, posted handily next to the stairs. /Three more floors,/ she noted. After a moment of thought, Sakura put her free palm on the back of Naruto's hand. She then lifted it up and tapped it with a finger three times. Her blond-haired companion squeezed her hand, and Sakura made her way towards where the map indicated the next stairwell was.

As they moved, Sakura was amazed to realize just how many jounin were present. Many that she had never even seen before patrolled the hallways. Sakura ran a quick mental tally of how many she'd seen so far and how many she knew that Konoha employed. The result she received wasn't encouraging. Estimating roughly the numbers that would be on each floor of the tower, as reflected by the floor that she was doing her best to traverse, Sakura realized that almost half of Konoha's jounin were patrolling this tower. /That must be why we haven't found any traps yet. The tower itself is a deathtrap with this much manpower,/ she thought, grimacing. Finally, she found the last stairwell, and slipped between the two jounin that were guarding its entrance. As she rose, she noticed that the intermediate entrance had been barricaded, and was secured with paper seals on the inside. Almost nobody would be able to get through it with that much defensive presence.

Finally, Sakura made it to the top of the stairs. She slipped through another pair of guards, Naruto right behind her. Then, she pulled up short, her eyes widening. In the center of the room, on a small pedestal, was a single scroll. Ringing the large room were jounin, each one watching that single scroll with utter and complete concentration. Naruto, however, continued forward, tugging his companion along. After a moment and a near stumble, Sakura fell into pace with the blond-haired chuunin. As one, they slowed, then stopped in front of the scroll. Then, Naruto pulled his hand from her grasp. Sakura stifled an involuntary gasp; she didn't dare make a noise in this room. A very tense moment passed, and Sakura didn't move, for fear of leaving Naruto outside of her protective bubble of invisibility.

Finally, Naruto's hand fumbled its way into her own, and Sakura breathed an internal sigh of relief. The scroll was unmoved, and none of the jounin had yet noticed the two. Suddenly, a hand fumbled around and eventually clasped Sakura's free hand. Again, Sakura had to stifle a gasp of surprise. Yet another hand fumbled around her head, and eventually found her ear. She turned her head as the hand gently pressured, and could feel Naruto's warm breath on her ear, before he whispered to her.

"Honshitsu Bunshin," he explained in a whisper so faint that Sakura could barely hear it, even though his lips were less than an inch away from her ear. She nodded almost imperceptibly, and Naruto withdrew his hand and head from her ear. Sakura tugged with her arm, trying to get the Naruto she was holding on to with her right hand to lead. It took a couple of tries before he got the idea. The three, in a line, could just barely squeeze past the jounin stairwell guards; the exit would have been impossible had Sakura been leading. Carefully, the three made their way down the stairwell, around to the first set of stairs, and down them as well. Finally on the ground level, the three mad their way to the main entrance, then stopped short.

"It's raining," Sakura stated flatly, then was nudged into silence by the Naruto on her left. Fortunately, nobody had been around to hear her. After a moment of thought, Sakura pulled her companions back into the room in which they had talked upon entering the tower.

"What now? They'll see the rain spattering off our bodies," Sakura asked quietly.

"Can we wait it out?" one of the Narutos asked. Sakura wasn't sure which one.

"No way. I'll only be able to hold the jutsu for another half hour at the most," she said, shaking her head despite the fact that nobody could see her.

"Then we've gotta go anyway. If we're not a good distance away by the time it gives out, we lose anyway," Naruto said. Sakura was fairly certain that it was the one on her right. Sakura sighed, then stepped forward, leading her companions. They paused at the entrance, then, as one, dashed out into the forest as quickly as they could. Sakura's genjutsu was the only bit of stealthiness that they bothered to take, instead focusing on speed. Amazingly, no alarm was raised behind them; it seemed like nobody had noticed their desperate escape.

Rain poured down on the trio in sheets. Sakura couldn't remember the last time that it had rained this hard. /They must not have been able to see us through the rain,/ Sakura surmised as she ran. At once, she thanked and cursed the intense rain; it would make their escape that much easier, but it was ruining her concentration. Sakura poured her remaining chakra into maintaining the technique, and did her best to keep up with her tireless companions.

"Damn. You'd only get a weather change this fast in Konoha," the Naruto on her right crowed, albeit much more softly then he would normally. Sakura was panting from the effort of keeping up with Naruto and maintaining her technique, so she didn't respond. Finally, as she knew she would sooner or later, Sakura tripped and fell to her knees. Her concentration ruined, the three companions flashed into view. One of the Narutos, empty-handed, skidded to a stop and picked her up, then slung her over his shoulder.

"Shit!" the Naruto that picked her up cursed. The other one nodded in assent and brought his hands together to form a seal.

"Henge!" he shouted, and transformed into a rather sodden-looking Sasuke. Sakura was about to object when he said, "They might forget that Sasuke got disqualified. Quick, let's get outta here!" The Naruto that now appeared to be Sasuke leapt into the trees, for faster movement, and the Naruto that carried her quickly followed. Fortunately, they encountered no patrols before they stumbled out of the forest. As he exited the gate, the Naruto that had taken on Sasuke's appearance released his transformation jutsu and walked over to the chuunin examiners, who were talking quietly under a tarp. Naruto set her down, and Sakura found her legs, then shook her head to clear it.

"Thanks," she said with a small smile.

"No problem," Naruto returned with a grin, then took her hand again. Together, they caught up with the other Naruto underneath the tarp.

"Here's the scroll," the Naruto that had arrived previously said, giving the small cylinder of cloth and paper to the examiner. She broke its seal and unrolled the scroll, checking the information inside.

"Looks like it's authentic," she declared after a minute of examination, then lowered it. Her eyebrows were raised, and her face bore and expression of respect. "You went in, got this thing, and came back out in two hours and forty-nine minutes. That's a course record."

"It's not the real one," Naruto explained, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I just used my Honshitsu Bunshin to make a copy of the real one. Sakura-chan kept us invisible, so that we could just walk in and make our copy. She did all the real work." Sakura blushed, and the examiner laughed wryly, then shook her head.

"That's the one that lasts forever, right?" the examiner asked. Naruto nodded proudly. The examiner stifled a chuckle, then waved the two away. "You guys can leave if you want. I have to go report this to Tsunade-sama. Oh," she added, almost as an afterthought. "Tomorrow's test is at Training Area 23."

"All right," Naruto said to the examiner. He then turned to face Sakura and smiled at her. "Good job, Sakura-chan. I'm gonna go home and dry off. I'll see ya tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," Sakura said, trying to keep the wistfulness out of her tired voice. Naruto turned and walked out from underneath the tarp, then dashed towards his apartment building.

/So. why didn't you ask him to come over to our place to dry off?/ Inner Sakura asked, only half joking. The thought had crossed Sakura's mind, and she'd shoved it away violently.

"We haven't even gone out on a date yet, you hornball," Sakura subvocalized as she made her way home. "Besides, I'm not that kind of girl."

/Yes you are,/ Inner Sakura returned with a mental grin. /You know damn well that I'm just everything that you've been repressing for the last six years or so./

"Shut up," Sakura said, making a physical effort not to yell. Unfortunately, she really couldn't deny her inner self's claims; they were true.

/You know I'm right, though,/ Inner Sakura replied, her mental presence of confidence growing. Sakura really didn't have a response to that, so she completed her trek home in silence.

* * * * * *

"Who's there?" a jounin demanded. He stood atop a gate, built into a great curtain wall. It encircled completely a traditional Japanese castle, albeit one badly worn by over a hundred years of regular use. Inside it were dozens of other jounin, and a single small scroll that they had been charged with guarding. The jounin that stood atop the gate, along with five allies stationed at other places around the wall, was in charge of ensuring that the team of chuunin that they were collectively testing never got as far as the castle. Still, it was absolute misery in this weather.

"Asuma," the taller figure called back, then took a drag from a rather mangled-looking cigarette. "Kurenai's here too." The smaller figure, still cloaked by the sheeting rain, gave a short wave of greeting. Asuma had a green-clothed form draped over his shoulder.

"Is that Gai?" the jounin guarding the gate asked, remembering that the three had been dispatched as a patrol team earlier that day.

"No, it's Lee. We found his team wandering in our direction in the forest. Gai went off to chase the other two away," Asuma explained, grinning.

"Are you sure he can handle them?" the jounin asked, motioning for the gate to be opened to admit his two allies.

"He was using Ura Renge. Neji isn't fast enough to hit him when he does that, and they both know it," Yuuhi replied, a grin of confidence settling on her face. "Aside from Neji, Iruka's nothing. Gai'll probably turn up in a few hours looking for some food, a towel, and a couple of aspirin." The jounin chuckled and hopped down to meet the two as they entered the heavily fortified area.

"That's Gai for ya," he returned, taking Lee's bulky, unconscious body from Asuma. "How'd you get this one?" Asuma chuckled, and Yuuhi reached back into her supplies pouch and retrieved a small brown bottle. She handed it to the jounin guard.

"Chloroform," he said flatly, reading the label.

"It was great. Cloth over the mouth while Lee and Gai were having their powering up contest. He went out like a light," Yuuhi grinned, and Asuma shook his head a bit as he chuckled.

"That. is quite possibly the saddest thing I've ever heard," the jounin replied, chuckling a bit himself.

"Yeah. Anyway, since it's lunchtime, do you think we could duck into the kitchen and get a real meal?" Asuma asked, pulling a fresh cigarette from a pouch on his jounin vest. He tried to use his old, sodden cigarette to light the new one, but failed miserably.

"Yeah, sure," the jounin nodded. "I don't blame you in this weather."

"I don't mind it at all. This big oaf just wants to light up where it's dry," Yuuhi shrugged, then followed Asuma as he walked towards the castle. They parted ways with the jounin bearing Lee as he went down a set of stairs to the prison area and Yuuhi and Asuma made their way to the kitchen area. As soon as they entered the room, Asuma drew yet another cigarette from his vest, then paused to light it. He took a drag from the paper cylinder with obvious relish. Yuuhi snorted in disgust at him. They each took a bowl of steaming misoshiro soup, a second bowl filled with white rice, and a relatively small fillet of charcoal-grilled fish. Asuma tore into his meal, while Yuuhi enjoyed her soup and rice at a far more moderate pace. Just as the chain-smoking jounin sat back from the remnants of his meal, a crash shuddered the castle to its foundations. He and Yuuhi leapt to their feet, their eyes locked on one another.

"That brat must've been faking!" Yuuhi exclaimed, dashing for the door.

"The scroll!" Asuma finished her thought, following close behind her. Several other jounin, also enjoying a lunch break, followed the two as fast as they could. They turned a corner, raced up a set of stairs, and turned another corner. Strewn in front of them was a line of rubble. On Asuma's right, there was a hole in the outer wall, and to his left, in the side of the wall that the scroll was stored in, was another hole. Asuma dashed into the scroll room. Inside were two altars, one of which had a scroll on it. There was a ragged hole in the floor between them. Behind him, Yuuhi stuck her head out of the hole in the outer wall and looked around, trying to locate the green-clad ninja in the sheeting rain. Two jounin, the scroll's assigned guardians, groaned and nursed minor wounds.

"I think he took the decoy," one of them said to Asuma. He nodded and grabbed the remaining scroll, then whipped it open.

"It's the real one," he declared, and everybody relaxed. Asuma rolled it back up and retied the string that held it shut. "What happened?" he asked, gesturing to the hole in the floor.

"The kid used Ura Renge and burst through the floorboards," one of the jounin guards answered, pushing himself to his feet. "Knocked us around, grabbed the scroll, and made his own exit."

"All right. You and you," Asuma commanded, pointing at a pair of jounin that had followed them. "Take the altars and move them to a different room. I don't care where. Put the scroll back on one of them. Do either of you have a spare decoy scroll?" he asked. One of the jounin fished a scroll out of her supplies pouch, and Asuma nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Yuuhi and I'll go after the kid." The jounin that he had commanded were already in motion, and Asuma handed the scroll to one of them as he left. Yuuhi leapt out of the hole in the outer wall, and Asuma followed right behind her.

They landed as lightly as they could, then made a mad dash for the gates. Asuma slowed down and let them open the heavy oaken gates for him, but Yuuhi just dashed right up the side of the wall, her feet sticking to the surface perfectly despite its slickness. Asuma slipped through the gates, ignoring the self-satisfied grin of the gate's guardian.

"Looks like he pulled one over on ya," the jounin teased as Asuma.

"Shut up," Asuma returned, his expression serious. Yuuhi hopped down from the top of the wall just as Asuma passed through the gates, and they pursued Lee together, soon moving to the treetops to expedite their chase. After a few minutes, they slowed a bit, then Yuuhi grinned at Asuma. Asuma ignored it, continuing forward. Soon, a cheerfully waving Lee came into view, standing in a tiny clearing.

"Did you get it?" he asked, his voice overly eager, as always. Seated with their backs against trees around him were Yuuhi, Gai, and Asuma. Each was obviously nursing a very nasty headache, and had a little 'I'm dead' note pinned to their vests. Yuuhi's running form exploded in a puff of ninja smoke, and Iruka jogged out of it, then slowed to a stop next to his companion. Neji released his transformation technique as well, Asuma's bearded body slipping from his true form easily. He silently held up a single scroll, then turned and grinned to his companions, despite the rain. Lee leapt upwards, pumping a fist into the air, and shouted an inarticulate cry of joy.

"Damn," Asuma complained, clutching his head. "Did you have to use real chloroform?" The three chuunin ignored him and left. After a few minutes, Asuma pushed himself to his feet. "I'm gonna go home and dry off. They've already got the damn thing anyway," he declared, then stalked off into the forest. After a minute, Yuuhi and Gai stood and followed after him.

* * * * * *

Two men dressed in long black cloaks stepped into the Fire country. A third, dressed similarly, trailed behind them. All three wore conical wooden sakkats that protected them from the pouring rain. The first man, shorter than the other two, stopped and turned.

"You shouldn't be here, Dontou," he said softly. His voice was nearly emotionless, and cold as tempered steel. "Masako-sama would not be pleased."

"She'll be fine," the third man, whose name was apparently Dontou, returned with a shrug that was almost imperceptible beneath his heavy cloak.

"No. She won't," the first man stated flatly. "She doesn't like you."

"And I don't give a damn," Dontou said just as flatly. "The last time you came here, you went off on some damn fool quest for four years, Itachi. I'm here to make sure you don't do it again."

"Do you want me to make him stay behind?" the big man asked, his deep voice emphasizing the word 'make' heavily. A brutally large arm snaked its way out from underneath his cloak and grasped a cloth-wrapped zanbatou that was strapped to his back.

"Bring it, fish-boy," Dontou grinned, a heavily gloved hand emerging from his own cloak. His left hand was visibly grabbing something that he had strapped to his back beneath the cloak. "I'm a helluva lot better than you are!"

"Not in the rain, you're not!" the second man roared, whipping his zanbatou forward. Dontou dodged out of the way of the cumbersome weapon with ease. His left hand whipped forward and attached a fully extended shadow shuriken to his right hand glove. With a flick of his hand and a shove of chakra, he sent the gigantic shuriken spinning on the well-greased knob that he'd attached it to. The gigantic second man pulled his zanbatou back and watched Dontou carefully, paying close attention to the spinning shuriken. He was summoning the chakra to perform several water jutsus in quick succession when Itachi placed a hand on his arm softly.

"Leave him be, Kisame" he said, the grip of his hand like iron. Even if he wanted to now, Kisame wouldn't be able to move his arm. He had always wondered how Itachi had the strength to do such a thing, despite his rather small form. "We'll let Masako-sama decide what to do with him." Kisame growled for a moment, then nodded. Itachi released his grip, and Kisame swung his zanbatou into its harness on his back. After a minute, Dontou slowed the spinning of his shadow shuriken to a stop, then collapsed it. His left hand retrieved the compact weapon and returned it to its sheath under his cloak.

"We'll be late if you two fight," Itachi stated matter-of-factly. "Masako-sama would not be pleased." Saying nothing more, he continued his trek, walking at a moderate but incessant pace that put almost as much distance behind him as sprinting would. Kisame nodded in agreement and caught up with his partner. Dontou spat on the road, carefully missing the cuff of his cloak, then followed the two at a distance.

*** Author's Notes ***

Hey, everybody. I know that it's been a while since I posted, and I have two very good reasons for it! First of all. it's Finals Week up at my college. That's right, people; I've been writing this in between my finals, instead of studying. My second reason. is not so good. Tatsu no Houou goaded me into re-reading "Comes the Cold Dragon," a Ranma � fanfic. Can I take this moment to say that that thing is UNBELIEVABLY long? It took me three solid days of reading to get through it!

Anyway, here's another chapter for you all. I had a lot of fun writing this. I've also been wanting to tell you guys so much more about Masako for quite a while now. It finally worked out here, and in just the way that I wanted. So. it's not just Itachi that's coming to town, but Kisame and a third person, presumably Akatsuki as well. Quite a show of force, no? I guess you'll all see in a few chapters.

I'd also like to thank all of you who've been so supportive of me. Seriously, I appreciate it more than you guys can imagine. Thanks to all of you, I can guarantee that Genin WILL be completed, and probably within the next 30 days or so. There's only, I think, 3 or 4 more chapters after this one.

For those of you that might want to cry at this announcement, I've actually got some good news. I've been prereading for a fic that's probably slipped under the collective radar, but I'm gonna try and fix that right now. "Future Legends" is a fic with great potential. It's well written, and the author is only getting better as time goes on. The fic is the story of Jiraiya's crew from their genin days. Now, don't pass this off as a mirror of Naruto's story, which would be the easy thing to do. There ARE similarities (Naruto's gang being the neo-incarnation of the Three), but the story, from what I've been told, will be significantly different. Furthermore, the characterizations in this fic are absolutely INCREDIBLE. I am a confirmed Orochimaru-hater. and this guy had me liking Orochimaru after the fist chapter. You can find it in the Naruto section on Fanfiction.net, and it's got my vote for the fic that's "most likely to become a widely loved epic."

Thanks for the time, guys. I'll update as quickly as I can.

~Flash (Flashfyre5@msn.com)

Number One Song on Naruto's Playlist:

"Fall From Above (You Can't Stop)," by Arkimedes. This song is an excellent ambient remix of the title theme from the X-Box masterpiece, Halo. Let it not be said that I only recommend playstation music! Anyway, this is a subdued but energetic piece that, I think, is perfect for the rather 'undercover' mood of this chapter. Pick it up at the Overclocked Remix (remix.overclocked.org).

Character Themes:

The one you've all been waiting for. Itachi: "Sephiroth Heavy Industries," by CamTarn. This is a HEAVY industrial remix of Sephiroth's theme from Final Fantasy 7. It's dark, moody, and perfect for everybody's favorite Clan-murdering bastard (and I use that term of address with all the respect that it's due). Find it at (vgmix.com).

Translations:

Misoshiro- a very yummy variation on Miso soup. My favorite! ^_^

Zanbatou- a very, very large sword. More of a polearm, really. Anyway, it's the weapon that Kisame uses.

Dontou: "Dull sword" or "dull sword blade." Yet another name pun!