Chapter 2: Reunions

Summary: 3 years after leaving Konoha Naruto has a reunion where he is not fully aware of of all the implications and possibilities.

AN: Disclaimer in chapter 1.

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...ooO Reunions Ooo...

Naruto frowned at his dish of sake. It wasn't very high grade and it would take gallons to have any real effect on him. He often found it was an effective way of encouraging opponents and informants to underestimate him.

He wondered what the hell was delaying the freelancer Gameko had promised him. Naruto knew he was good and with kage bunshins he could easily duplicate an army to take out any gang of bandits or regular nukenins. Unfortunately this group he was after was modeled on the Akatsuki fashion, invitation only, nins with high rank combat experience and varying specializations. All experienced shinobi knew the weakness of kage bunshins and Naruto had not quite mastered the Hiraishin to be 'all over the place' as it were. He needed a partner for this job. Unfortunately there were few with the necessary skill level he trusted so he had been forced to go to Gameko, an intermediary who specialized in introducing parties. A few days ago Gameko had sent a message with a date, time and place.

As he waited his memory drifted over the past few years. The first few weeks out of Konoha he had been terrified. Waiting to see if the Council had somehow found a loophole and sent ANBU after him. Or if some wealthy civilian with a grudge decided to put a contract on his life. Or if Baa-chan changed her mind (or was forced to) and authorized a black ops mission to execute him.

After three months he relaxed and began to enjoy life. Bounty hunting as an independent was tiresome work because he had to do everything himself. Naruto found himself depending heavily on the network of contacts and friends he had all over the Elemental Countries. Hours watching Jiraiya manage his espionage network came very handy as Naruto created a similar latticework around himself.

When he came into information on smaller heads he made a tidy profit by selling the information to other independents without his information network. Information and people were crucial in this business. As long as you knew What people were working towards you could generally predict their actions.

This group… Kuroakuma. They had none of the grandiose schemes of Akatsuki. It made them less and more dangerous than the bijuu collectors. Too bad none of the intel ops of the Hidden Villages had picked up on them. They already had done quite a bit of damage in several trade routes and smaller economies. Luckily their operations were basically run by three intelligent 'heads'. With all three heads gone the body would die just like any other animal.

"Naruto-san? The Spider sent me."

A quiet feminine voice barely discerned against the general noise.

Naruto inhaled deeply. She had barely registered on his senses. Her chakra control was exceptional to have mimicked a civilian. He would have assumed her to be a waitress if it wasn't for the faint scent of weapons polishing oil drifting from her.

Slowly he turned halfway and scanned her. She was standing about four feet away. A respectful distance to give just enough warning room for both parties if one decided to attack.

If he was to sum up her description in a few words Naruto would say 'Deadly and Beautiful Elegance' and be quite accurate. Her body was slender and toned under the tight fitting well used armored brown leather garments and boots. Over that she wore a mottled olive green canvas coat treated to be water resistant. Her weapons pouches were a lighter brown and her weapon harnesses and belts were black. Naruto was certain she was concealing more under the voluminous coat. Given the scuff marks on her outfit Naruto was quite sure she was very good.

Her face was the kicker. Almost triangular with fine porcelain skin stretched over delicate fragile bones. Almond shaped slanted black eyes set under fly away dark brows. Long strands of silky black hair escaping from the neat coronet of braids wrapped around her head to frame her face. He could see the flash of steel senbon used to secure the braids.

She reminded him of someone but Naruto wasn't quite sure who. Oh well, it would come to him sooner or later. Besides, he was more worried about Operation Hydra.

"Your name?" Naruto had given up on making friends at first meetings. He preferred to reserve judgment before reaching out.

She bowed her head. "Call me Hibara. Gameko's local agent can vouch for me."

Naruto nodded curtly. Watanabe was a sneak and a coward and a very bad liar since Naruto could literally sense lies using his Kyuubi augmented senses. In the weeks after he left Konoha he had discovered his sensitivity had increased several-fold. A meeting with the fox left him feeling the furball wasn't so bad after all. He had agreed to augment Narutos body enough so the deteriorating side effects of channeling the dense red chakra would be greatly reduced.

All Naruto had to do was to open his senses to the yoko, so the bijuu could receive some sensory input and the emotional benefits. Of course it meant the fox often egged him into bedding every attractive female just so he could enjoy the endorphins and sensations. Naruto did not mind too much. He had found women outside Konoha found him very attractive. With his loyalties to Sakura and Hinata gone he had little reason to restrain himself from enjoying the pleasures of the flesh.

Firmly he pushed the idea of bedding Hibara out of his mind. She was going to be his partner. If she was good it could lead to a more permanent arrangement and Naruto wasn't going to toy with someone who could cause him a great deal of physical damage. Oh, it would heal but the annoyance just wasn't worth it.

Carefully he pushed himself off the stool. "Let us walk Hibara-san. Some fresh air will do me good."

She did not say anything but followed his lead. That was one point in her favor. Most women were complete bitches when you were short with them. At least this one was professional. Both of them knew small talk was pointless. They would know each other better after a practice spar.

Naruto had a vague feeling he would be working with Hibara for a long time.

...ooOoo...

Naruto watched his partner drink steadily. She had already polished off two jugs of sake by herself and was nearly finished with her third. The last job had been ugly. Child prostitution wasn't something that could be prettied up and for some reason it hit Hibara hard. Probably some female thing. They had come to an understanding of each others limits in the months they worked together but Naruto did not delude himself into believing he knew everything about his partner.

The blonde squinted through the dim light of the not-so-high-class tavern. The acoustics of their booth and the sound canceling jutsu barrier guaranteed their privacy so he blurted out the question that had been plaguing him.

"Hibara-chan, would you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Ask away Naruto-kun."

She always insisted on using the affectionate suffix though she never indicated in other ways that she had emotional ties with him. Oh, they trusted, respected and liked each other. But for both of them the past was taboo, the present and immediate future was all that mattered.

"Are you related to the Uchiha clan of Konoha? You look like the Teme."

She stilled. "Teme?" She inquired.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Old teammate. Spoilt brat and all around bastard. Went traitor and put a hole in my chest. Chased him for years because I promised. When I finally succeeded they closed me out, kicked me to the curb." Naruto explained vaguely. "Don't blame you if you are an Uchiha. It's not like you can choose your parents you know."

She blinked. Naruto saw two glittering trails down her cheek. Before he could apologize and tell her she didn't have to tell him anything she spoke.

"My father was." Her voice hardened. "He was a complete bastard. I was happy when Uchiha Itachi slaughtered the clan." She looked at him carefully through the corner of her eye to study his reaction.

Naruto blinked. "If you say so." He tapped his finger against the age smoothened table top. "I never quite understood Itachi though. He didn't seem like the type to just snap. And his excuse; testing his limits? Bull shit! He had another reason."

Hibara blinked. "What do you mean Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sipped his sake and gathered his thoughts. "What do you know of Itachi?"

"Just that he was a prodigy, a genius who climbed through the ranks to become ANBU Captain at thirteen. At fourteen he slaughtered his clan leaving only one survivor, his younger brother. Then he joined Akatsuki, an organization that was collecting the bijous. After the organization was destroyed he vanished. His body was never found unlike most of his old allies."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that's it in a nutshell. But Itachi was one of the most apathetic people I'd met. He said he wanted to test his limits but slaughtering a clan of cheap copy cats who've rested on their laurels so long? I don't think so. He would have just gone rogue taunting Konoha by thrashing every single oinin and ANBU team sent against him. He would have tested and penetrated the defense of every Hidden Village so he could fight the best of the best.

"The Uchihas must have done something really bad to so thoroughly piss him off. The question is what."

Hibara did not say anything for a while. "Uchiha Itachi is the only one who can answer that question."

"Yeah. I suppose. Too bad he's probably hiding somewhere far away. It probably would be nice to spar with him without having the whole killing each other issue."

"You want to talk to him? But why?!"

"Itachi is a human being who was probably given a shitty hand like most of us. He probably did what he felt he had to do in order to survive. I just want to know what could have been so bad that he slaughtered his own kin with no remorse."

"Only he can answer that."

"Yeah. Well I'm done for the night. Can you look after yourself?"

Hibara snorted, a soft sound. "Of course Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded and made his way to the bar to pay off the tab and give some quiet instructions to the bartender. Then he made his way up to his room on the third floor. As usual Hibara had the connecting one next door.

He stripped off his clothing, dropping them carelessly over a chair before falling into bed nude except for his boxers before pulling the blanket over his frame.

A couple of hours later he came to with a jerk, flush of red chakra incinerating the effects of alcohol on his body. There was an intruder close by.

"Naruto-kun?"

It was Hibara. Her chakra was fluctuating unevenly, quite unlike her. Probably the alcohol she had consumed.

Her hair was disheveled and spilling down her back. At some point she had removed or lost the picks she used to secure her bun. He watched as she discarded her coat, then the close fitting armored vest. She struggled with her boots before they too hit the floor with two soft thuds. Then she walked, no swayed towards him.

There was no power in her steps or restraint in her motions. Her entire body swayed slightly out of control as she carefully made her way to him.

Her face was flushed pink, Sharingan was active from the lapse in chakra control. He had gotten used to it. For a long time he had been terrified. He had only seen the Sharingan in two faces, both of whom tried to kill him. Kakashi didn't count because he never really used the full blown Sharingan against Naruto. Now it represented control, competence, constancy, camaraderie and companionship.

"What is it Hibara-chan?"

She managed to sit on the edge of the bed without losing her balance though she refused to meet his eyes. "There is something I have to tell you."

After what seemed like eternity she lifted Sharingan eyes to his blue ones.

"I am Itachi."

Naruto stilled. What was she talking about? Itachi was a guy. He stared hard going over what his senses were telling him. She was telling the truth or she really believed it. But how could everyone have believed Itachi was a guy? Narutos brain worked furiously. All right, ignore that question and focus on the starting point.

Assumption, Hibara used to be the nukenin Uchiha Itachi. Extrapolate. Everything shifted and formed a dazzling kaleidoscope before settling into a new pattern, one that was far more complete than the old picture. It all made a crazy kind of sense. But going back… How?

Realizing she was near her breaking point he scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her and settled her on his lap tucking her head under his chin.

"Tell me everything Hibara. I won't tell anyone else."

And then she spilled everything. Her most early memories growing up in barren barracks and raised as an automaton. The regular medical check-ups. The near constant training. Returning to the Uchiha Clan House just before Sasuke was born. Being pushed and driven through the Academy and up the ranks. Occasional blank spots in memories. Blank spots created when her Controllers wiped out her memories when she had discovered her true sex. Going through puberty feeling almost completely asexual due to the treatment of hormones and drugs. Finding out about the truth and memory wipes soon after she turned fourteen and deciding to slaughter the clan so they could not wipe her memories yet again.

At the end of it she was shaking and crying so hard she could barely speak.

"I knew I could not break the henge, it was a fuuin jutsu and the only Seals Master I knew was Jiraiya so I decided to join Akatsuki. But after a few months I realized there was no way I could just run off and hide, not when they actually had a chance at succeeding in collecting the bijuus so I started to pass information to Jiraiya."

"His inside informant."

"Hai. Once things started wrapping up Jiraiya broke the henge and sword a blood oath to not reveal anything about Uchiha Itachi or Hibara. Then I left."

Naruto crooned softly rocking the woman in his arms. "Jiraiya kept his word. He did not breathe a single word to me or anyone else. He kept your secrets."

"I was worried for a while that he would tell the Godaime."

"No. He doesn't trust the Council. He never tells Tsunade anything he wants to be kept secret. Baa-chan would blurt it out if anyone asked her when she's drunk. Jiraiya is the type to owe loyalty to people. Besides from his perspective the Uchiha Clan got what was coming to them with their illegal experimentation and child abuse. He doesn't have any tolerance for things like that. Not after Orochimaru."

Hibara nodded mutely. Then something came to mind. "What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to split up? I can understand-."

"Hush. You did what you had to do to survive. Just like me. As far as I'm concerned everything is square. Besides," His voice turned teasing. "We make a pretty good team and I'd hate to break up."

Hibara laughed a choked sound that gradually became genuine. What could she say to that? Especially since he was right.

...ooOoo...

TBC…