The Ring

The hospital's sublevel was a place that Jiraiya never thought he would be in his life time. The truth was that the smell sickened the Sannin to his very core. True, he witnessed a lot of death in his shinobi life, but never before he entered a morgue. He knew that his assignment was important, though, so he would have to suck it up and do what was asked of him. Because of the Yondaime's death, the only one qualified to understand just any type of seal and its function was Jiraiya. True, the pervert wanted Naruto to receive his tutelage regarding Fuinjutsu, but Jiraiya couldn't just simply reach him and force the information into his brain. Like the Yondaime did back then, Naruto would have to ask for the subject to be taught, otherwise it would be worthless. Naruto wouldn't appreciate the art and eventually he would forget such knowledge as not being worth his trouble.

Wondering about his student, Jiraiya was actually proud of the damn brat. Joining the Anbu at sixteen was outstanding and Naruto was quickly becoming one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha. Sure, both Kakashi and Itachi beat Naruto by joining the Anbu forces on their 12th birthday, but Kakashi's timeline was in the midst of war, so there was a necessity for promoting ninjas and Itachi, well, Itachi was a genius. Getting out of the elevator, Jiraiya started feeling nauseous as the smell filled his lungs. Tsunade mentioned that there were some masks located on a room next to the elevator for those who wouldn't stand the intoxicating smell of the dead. It didn't take long until he reached the room and found the black breathing mask that happened to filter the intoxicating air and make it breathable. Trying to control his breathing now, Jiraiya almost chocked, but his breathing soon reached normality.

Looking up, he found directions to the room he needed to go and followed them. Soon, he knocked on the door and one medic-nin opened.

"Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama told us you'd come here to check on Hoshikage Kisame's corpse, we're already prepared his body for your analysis, please right this way" – Said the medic-nin in charge of the room to which Jiraiya nodded and followed the man.

"Actually, I'm not here to take a look at that fish's body. I'm here for the ring that he wore on his right hand" – Explained Jiraiya, before seeing the man stopping and looking back at the Sannin.

"All his personal items were stored with his body, so if he wore by the time he died, then sure the ring is here" – Stated the medic-nin, before turning to the door in front of him and began to press a certain digit sequence. After he finished, they heard the sound of a lock opening before the medic-nin turned the doorknob. When Jiraiya entered the room, he looked at the blue corpse in front of him as he wondered about life itself. The man was considered an S-ranked criminal, wanted for trying to murder the Mist Daimyou along with aiding in the Mist Civil War. Now seeing him reduced to just a corpse, Jiraiya couldn't help but wonder if every evil caused by this man was worth it in the end. It didn't matter if he was the enemy or not, seeing someone throw his or her live away for evil didn't deserve respect, but pity.

"His possessions are located at that metal plate next to his body and I believe there is the ring you're looking for Jiraiya-sama. I'll be on the next room if you need me, okay" – Said the medic-nin to which Jiraiya nodded and picked up the ring before looking at its kanji.

The symbol engraved in it didn't tell Jiraiya much, but he knew that Fuinjutsu techniques often times required more than one seal to be effective, quite like the five barrier sealing technique that protected the cave's entrance when Naruto went to retrieve Gaara from Akatsuki. So, his mind began to process the information and search for clues that would aid him in his research for the technique responsible of sealing the bijuu's power.

===At the gates===

Looking at the village for the first time since her departure, she couldn't help but feel nostalgic. Some would consider two months a very short time to feel this way, but Haruno Sakura didn't care. Konoha was her home and she never spent so much time outside the village, except on her Chuunin exams in Kumo which actually took a month and a half. This time, she had a medic field mission on a village a few miles away from Konoha which was to establish a new hospital for the villagers. At first, she tried reasoning with the Hokage about her doing this mission, but in the end, it was safe to say she would thank Tsunade for all eternity for doing this to her.

Upon arriving at the village, Sakura immediately forgot about everything in the past and focused only on working throughout her two month mission. The hospital was about done and people came pretty much every day for either a normal check-up or to treat a heavy wound or, even, some severe surgery. After a month, Sakura was considered the village's savior as she was the one responsible, along with an elder doctor in town, for reestablishing the village's hospital. She had to admit she felt good upon hearing the villagers thanking her and couldn't imagine her doing anything different in the future

Now because of the end of her mission, she now would return to her home village and report to the Hokage, but she wouldn't be going alone….

"Sakura-chan, let's get going…I'm eager to meet Lady Tsunade and get to know about her medical knowledge" – Said a guy about her size, black hair and wearing some formal clothing. The pink-haired girl smiled at the guy's enthusiasm and nodded, before the two walked inside the village while holding hands.

"Hakushi-kun, I know you're eager to see the Hokage, but it's been a while since I've been here, I wanted to look around a bit" – Stated Sakura, earning an understanding nod from Hakushi.

Another reason why Sakura would need to thank Tsunade was his new boyfriend Taiki. He is, actually, the elder doctor's son and, because of this, he and Sakura ended up spending quite a lot of time together. Hakushi's dream was to become the best doctor in the world and to be able to help as much people as possible, so it wasn't hard for Sakura to fall for the guy. Of course, the physical attributes were appealing as well, but ever since Sasuke rejected her that day, surely the girl wouldn't mind taking a look at personalities instead of just looks.

Hakushi asked Sakura, some time, about what's like to work under the best medic in all the elemental nations and told that he wanted to study under her knowledge, perhaps, even becoming a doctor at the Konoha Public Hospital. Some would say that it was better for him to stay with his father helping the villagers, but one of Sakura's achievements was to select a very competent staff of doctors and nurses to work under Hakushi's father, so it wasn't necessary for him to be there at the moment. Of course, if the need arose, in the future, he would go without even thinking, but for now, he would work hard under Tsunade's teachings.

Back to Sakura, she was looking around the village and smiling upon seeing some children playing and women gossiping. A normal life, Sakura concluded. While on her mission, Sakura began to wonder how different her life would be if she dedicated full time into being a medic. She could settle for teaching aspiring medic-nins and work full –time at the hospital. It was surprising how in two months time, she could change everything she ever believed and even settle for working full-time at the hospital, instead of going on missions. Sakura wondered what her taichou's reaction would be once she came with the request. If Sakura knew anything about the Hokage it was that the woman would be pissed if she knew her time was wasted and certainly, Sakura didn't want to be in the receiving end of such frustration.

Nevertheless, this was a dream of hers and she wanted to do it, even if her master disapproved. Just as Sakura was about to take another step, she looked up to see Ino looking at her, before greeting the pink-haired Chuunin with the normal respect, but still some cold towards her. Sakura couldn't help but look down in shame since she remembered how she used to treat everyone and sighed.

"Hello Ino, how's everything" – Said Sakura in a normal, yet down tune to which Ino picked up in an instant. This Sakura was different she could tell. Normally, Sakura wouldn't behave like this and the Yamanaka wondered if something happened on her mission.

"So Sakura, I heard that you went on a two month mission, how was it? And who is the man standing next to you? " – Asked Ino as she pointed to Hakushi. However, she managed to see a faint blushing from Sakura and wondered if something was going on.

"Well, this is Hakushi-kun and he came with me to work at the Konoha Hospital…and we….uh….boyfriend and girlfriend" – Stammered Sakura, not even knowing why she did so. Or perhaps she knew, as she kind of owed Ino for being such a bitch before. Ino, on the other side, was now sure something happened on this mission, for three reasons. First, Sakura wasn't behaving like a bitch; second she wasn't fawning on Sasuke and third she was dating someone else, a civilian no less. The Yamanaka didn't think ill of civilians because they weren't ninjas, but she knew the difference in ideals between the two. She wondered how a civilian would understand the life of a shinobi and vice-versa. It didn't just work, period. Ino, was however, caught by surprise when the man next to Sakura approached her and showed his hand as if he was about to greet her.

"Good afternoon Ino-san, it's finally nice to meet you. Sakura told me a lot about you and that you're also a medic-nin" – Smiled Hakushi, earning a smile in return from Ino as she greeted him back. Seeing that they were near a small café, Ino invited them for a cup of coffee while they could catch up on things and maybe, get to know the new Sakura better. Of course, she wouldn't trust her right away, but at least giving her the opportunity to start all over wasn't a bad idea.

It wasn't long until the three of them began talking…Well, Ino was just listening since both Sakura and Hakushi had a lot to tell about Sakura's two month mission towards the man's village. She learned about Sakura's achievements and that the village now contained a special clinic for wounded shinobi to attend to in case of poisons and/or chakra related diseases. Hakushi explained that without Sakura, the hospital would have taken nearly a year to be fully operation and people wouldn't receive a proper care to which Sakura began to blush at the remark. While Hakushi was talking, Ino couldn't help but see a changed Sakura in front of her. Even though Ino and Sakura were friends, Sakura always had that air of false superiority and, more often than not, she would boss everyone around. Now, though, Sakura was different. She didn't correct anything that came out of Hakushi's mouth and even smiled when Hakushi explained a rather moving event when Sakura managed to save an old lady after she was infected with poison.

After the new couple stopped talking, Ino began to tell Sakura what happened since she left. Of course, she told about how well Shikamaru is doing as an Anbu and getting to tell her about some of his exploits.

It didn't take long for them to break, since Sakura had to report to the Hokage about her mission success, so they parted ways. Hakushi was saying how nice it was to meet Sakura's friend, but one question he did answer that surprised Sakura.

"Tell me Sakura-chan, I noticed that Ino-san gave you glances from time to time, I thought you two were friends?" – Asked Hakushi, before hearing a sigh in dismay from the pink haired medic.

"Well, we were best friends alright, but some events created some distance between us. As I grew up under Tsunade-sama's teachings, I became kind of bossy with people…so it's safe to say I didn't leave the village on the best of terms. But I've changed now and I hope that Ino and I can be friends again. I remember when we were kids, that we were inseparable and I'd like to recuperate that type of friendship with her" – Explained Sakura, as they walked inside the Hokage Tower.

Going upstairs, she and her boyfriend were in front of the Hokage's office, just waiting for Sakura to knock before entering. But for some unknown reason, she just stared at the door. She wondered if the Hokage sent her away because of her bossy attitude towards people. Even if she acknowledged said behavior, it didn't felt good to know that Tsunade was trying to get rid of her just like that. Looking up once more, she decided to face it and knocked on the door, thus getting authorization to enter.

"Greetings Tsunade-sama, I've recently came back from my mission" – Said Sakura as she and Hakushi entered the office.

"Ah Sakura, come in please, it's nice to see that you're safe, so report" – Asked Tsunade side with Shizune on the room.

"After arriving, I made contact with the village's head doctor and we established the plans needed to hire some staff and acquire the necessary medication for the hospital. In two weeks, the new hospital was up and running with half the staff needed and a few medical supplies on the way. Within a month, the civilian hospital was fully operational, thus receiving a vast number of wounded and even some scheduled check-ups every now and then. The ninja hospital took a while longer to finish, because some of the staff needed additional training on some basic medic techniques. Overall, in two months, both hospitals are fully operation and both ninja and civilians are attending them" – Reported Sakura, earning a satisfying nod from the blond Hokage. She couldn't help but smile, though, as the old Sakura would never give credit to other than herself and even her expression was lighter than before, she assumed Shizune's idea came through quite nicely.

"Good job Sakura and I trust that you are Hakushi-san, your father told great things about you. He asked me to give you a position in our hospital and I accepted; it's tough to find good medics this time around" – Said Tsunade, earning a nod from Hakushi.

"I appreciate it Tsunade-sama, I didn't know my father asked you already, I was hoping to come here myself, but I guess he beat me, right" – Laughed Hakushi, earning a smile in recognition from Tsunade, before she looked at Sakura. The girl was blushing upon looking at him, or she was just delusional. Upon looking at Shizune, she smiled and nodded, knowing what the Hokage was thinking.

"Excuse me Tsunade-sama…" – Asked Sakura, earning the hokage's attention, before she continued. "I was hoping to ask you about something?"

"What is it?"

"Well, throughout my mission, I was able to dedicate full attention at the hospital and in time, I had an epiphany of sorts. I liked taking care of people rather than hurting them, which is why I wanted to ask if I could be full – time at the hospital instead of being on the field and possibly teach aspiring the next generation to be a medic-nin. I know you trained me and I'm grateful for everything but I want to use this training at the hospital" – Said Sakura, lowering her head as in expecting the shouting that was soon to initiate, but instead all she heard was laughter.

"Sakura, I've seen this mission did wonders for you my dear, and I bet this young man next to you did as well. So, you want to be at the hospital, then, I see. I'll grant your request and I want to say I'm proud of you Sakura" – Said Tsunade, before seeing Sakura look at her with wide-eyes, since she never got to hear such praise before. "Medical Ninjutsu was created to save and not to harm people. Only a true medic-nin would choose what you did and for that, I'm proud of your growth. Shizune will take care of the papers and we'll talk about the medic-nin school some other time, now why don't you show Hakushi-san his new home and we'll see about an apartment for him later" – Said Tsunade, before seeing the two bowing in respect and leave.

"She changed a lot, didn't she?" – Asked Shizune, earning a smiling nod from Tsunade.

===With Naruto===

After leaving the village straight towards Fang Country, Naruto and his team were now leaving Fire Country. Being a three man team, the formation wasn't that hard to make, but Naruto was doing a nice job leading an Anbu level mission. He positioned Shino to be last because of his scouting abilities while he and Shikamaru would be in front to scout ahead. Shino was using his kikaichu bugs to alert them of any hostile intent nearby, so that they could travel faster without needing to worry about incoming enemies.

Their mission involved two parts. The first was to track the missing-nins that stole the documentation and then engage in combat. Tsunade wasn't clear as to what they should do about the missing-nins, so both Naruto and Shikamaru agreed that were a threat that needed to be dealt with, after retrieving the scrolls.

Looking back, he asked Shino to report their status so far.

"My kikaichu didn't sense evil presences around and up front as well. Our path is clear for the moment" - Said Shino, earning a nod from Naruto who, then, focused some chakra on his feet and increase the pace.

Anbu missions were very different than normal missions. While traveling, they couldn't afford to either rest or proceed at a slow pace. Both Shikamaru and Shino knew this and while the bug user followed Naruto's speed, Shikamaru muttered his favorite word since he had to use a great deal of chakra to just cope with Naruto's speed.

"Black Wolf-taichou, how much time until we reach the client's house?" - Asked Shikamaru, after reaching the blond. Naruto, though, looked at Shikamaru for a while, wondering why his long time friend was addressing him with such respect which would be normally given to those at least with double the experience in battle than him. Naruto ignored it, though, in favor of asking later.

"We are close now, the client's mansion is a few miles away from here, we'll be there in five." - Reported Naruto, earning a nod from Shikamaru, as the trio continued the fast pace towards their mission.

"So what's the plan after we arrive?" - Asked Shikamaru.

"The mission's file didn't give us a thorough description of the document or its contents, so we'll have to ask our client to better explain it to us. After that, we'll begin the investigations to find the ones who stole said document. I expect this phase to last close to a day, before one of us manages to find a major lead on our suspects. That will be outline for now, I'm afraid; in order for us to devise a battle formation, we need to understand the enemy's capabilities and their numbers first" - Explained Naruto, earning a nod in understanding from Shikamaru and Shino.

"Now, before we arrive, I want to know of you two's abilities when engaging multiple opponents. I know I read your file, but the more information the better, plus the report is written after the battle, meaning that I can't grasp a ninja's full potential from reading a report" - Asked Naruto, before Shino responded for Shikamaru.

"After we joined Anbu, we developed a special teamwork strategy that consisted of shadow binding and my kikaichu draining their chakra. After sucking as much as possible of the enemy's chakra, we change into long range elemental attacks to eliminate a large quantity of the enemy's forces. The rest, we engage in plain Taijutsu/Kenjutsu. As to our abilities, ever since we fought against each other, we trained a lot and managed to improve our element mastery. In conclusion, we can take close to ten enemies by ourselves" - Reported Shino, earning a nod from Naruto.

"Ok, then. After we have a better grasp at our enemies, we'll devise a proper battle plan. In order for your plan to work, we must find a way to include me in it..." - Said Naruto, but was interrupted by Shikamaru.

"That wouldn't be an issue. In our battle plan, you'd hold the enemies like I use the shadow binding while the bugs suck the enemy's chakra. I would use stronger shadow attacks and eliminate as much as possible, before you choose one of your destructive techniques to take care of the rest. With you, we could probably take on five maybe ten opponents more" - Said Shikamaru, before he looked forward and noticed that the client's house was appearing in the horizon.

===With Jiraiya===

A bit more than two hours passed and Jiraiya haven't progressed one bit with his research. The problem with jutsus that used more than one seal was the huge number of possibilities for its use and finality and for all the experience he gathered on seals, he couldn't grasp all such possibilities. Taking his eyes off the ring for a second, he chose a different approach. He knew that all the Akatsuki members had these rings and he presumed each of them contained different engravings that would aid in the technique.

And while he couldn't possibly know about the other seals, Jiraiya can at least figure out the mechanics behind the technique. Another thing Jiraiya wondered about was why the organization didn't come to Konoha and try to retrieve the ring. If such a technique was only possible with all of them, they wouldn't be resting unless they had all the seals.

"Let's think for a second. I know that Orochimaru used to be a part of said organization and even though he left, the organization was still able to do this sealing jutsu, so it means that the more seals/chakra source to use, it's easier to perform the technique. But it is not impossible for them to perform it with fewer members, but they would need a lot more chakra for compensation. So, I guess it's safe to say the technique was created for 10 individuals to perform at the same time. Ok, then, now I must figure out how this technique works" - Thought Jiraiya out loud.

He immediately wrote his findings on the technique on a blank scroll, before looking again at the ring. The next part was to figure out why the need of the ring itself, seeing that the ring wasn't as important as the seal inside it. Jiraiya frowned from lack of knowledge about their members that would help him to figure out the need behind the ring. He didn't know if the finger position was important or if all of them used on the same finger. He needed help from someone that already saw them in order to tell him.

I guess I'll have to go to Tsunade and ask her directly...I don't know anyone besides Naruto and Kakashi that saw their members...wait, Tsunade and the Anbus engaged Itachi and Kisame...she must know about the ring positions.

===At Tsunade's office===

After explaining his findings so far about the technique, he saw the Hokage cross her arms and close her eyes in retrospect. She had to confess that she didn't bother looking at their hands, since she was more concerned with eliminating them from the face of the earth. But if she managed to remember, Jiraiya's research would improve and he could figure out what he could do to prevent the Kyuubi's extraction, in case Naruto gets captured in the future. She was recalling each step of the fight and even remembered Itachi's prowess with Katon jutsus.

She remembered seeing the speed behind making hand seals, before suddenly an image froze on Itachi's ring.

"I remember now; when Itachi was doing hand seals at the time, he finished with the tora seal and his ring appeared. It was his right hand wedding finger, I believe. Where was Kisame's?" - Asked Tsunade.

"Left wedding finger; if the technique was created to be used by ten individuals, then there must be ten rings, each one used in each of the ten fingers" - Explained Jiraiya, to which Tsunade frowned, while trying to hold her urge to punch the pervert from stating the obvious, but Jiraiya was a master in finding information, so she waited for his brain to process the information he now possessed.

Back to the pervert, he was deep in thought. Ten people, ten fingers, it must be the position in which the seals must be aligned for the technique to work, he thought.

"This means, then that in order for the technique to work, the finger positions must be aligned. So, they could have a Fuinjutsu map of sorts" - Said Jiraiya until he saw the look in Tsunade's face, not understanding what he said just now, before continuing. "A Fuinjutsu map is sometimes used when the technique is complex and need a specific position. Most of these situations consist of more than one ninja performing the ritual, kind of like the ones used for the medic-nin technique for human tissue reparation. In this case, the members could be positioned in each of the fingers that they represent and all of them focus chakra at the same time. I'm not saying it's how it works, it's just a guess based on what I know of the art. Once the technique is initiated, the ten chakra sources reach the Jinchuuriki, starting the extraction ritual" - Explained Jiraiya, earning a nod from Tsunade, who managed to imagine the situation.

"Then what do they use to keep the bijuus after the extraction? Scrolls, maybe?" - Asked Tsunade, earning a nod in the negative from Jiraiya.

"No, if that was the answer, than Minato wouldn't need to sacrifice his life in order to seal the Kyuubi and he was a true genius. To my knowledge, there isn't a better jail for the bijuu, than the Jinchuuriki, so it's possible that what they're using isn't created by humans at all" - Concluded Jiraiya, earning looks of shock from Tsunade who demanded explanation.

"Think about it, they were nine Jinchuuriki in all the elemental nations and nine tailed beasts trapped inside, do you think that if there was a possibility of sealing a tailed beast inside a scroll, that the villages would prefer to seal inside a baby. I believe I figured out as much as I could here in Konoha, I'll go to my spy network and expand this research worldwide. One of them will be able to give me a lead of what this sealing technique contains" - Expressed Jiraiya, earning a nod from Tsunade.

"Okay, then, proceed with caution, I can't afford to lose you now" - Said Tsunade with no second intentions, other than military, but Jiraiya couldn't help but want to get a rise out of his once teammate.

"I'm touched with your concern over my well-being, Tsunade-hime. I promise you with all my heart that I'll return to you my love..." - Joked Jiraiya, but couldn't finish, since by the time he said the last word, he was already out of Fire Country, flying from the woman's mighty punch.

===With Naruto===

The team arrived at the client's mansion shortly after seeing it on the horizon and they were now being escorted to the one who hired them. The man's name was Higurashi Kaito and he was one of the most trustworthy men inside the Fang Daimyou's Castle. So, it didn't take a genius to realize that the missing-nins simply felt like stealing some documents from the guy without reason whatsoever. In little time, the Anbu reached a spaced living-room before finding a man, who appeared to be Kaito, drinking some tea with his eyes closed while he savored the delicate aroma of the green herb.

"Kaito-sama, the ninja from Konoha are here as per requested my lord" – Said the servant, earning the man's attention. Kaito's figure didn't demand respect in any shape of the way, he was short, needed to lose weight and on top of that, he was exhaling a powerful smell, probably from smoking so much. Shino was finding hard to control his insects for causing major chaos inside his body. As he approached, he handed the tea cup to the servant and began looking at the Anbu in front of him, with a failed attempt of trying to look at their eyes, because of the mask. Both Naruto and Shikamaru couldn't help but curse the guy for staring so much, but didn't react because of their mission.

"Well, I'm sure Tsunade-san would send their finest to aid me, since I paid a lot of money to her. Those documents are important and I need them back." – Said Kaito, earning a nod from Naruto who, since he was the leader, stepped up and addressed the client.

"Kaito-san, we assure you that we'll do everything within our power to recover those documents and capture the missing-nins. Now, could you perhaps explain to us what we need to know about the documents and, if possible, about the ones who stole it?" – Asked Naruto, trying to be as polite as possible, since he never had any training in etiquette, aside from some hints given by his girlfriend from time to time. Shino and Shikamaru, though, acknowledged said ability and didn't find any flaws in Naruto's greeting. Since both of them were clan heirs, such rules were practically drilled inside their head since birth, but since Naruto was an orphan, he had no one to teach him these things.

The client looked at the blond one as in trying to study the group's leader, but couldn't find anything. The man's posture demanded respect, Kaito thought and the way he spoke brought confidence to Kaito about his hopes of seeing the documentation.

"Sure, I can ninja-san. As you may or may not know, I'm the director of commerce and trading here in Fang Country and as such, I'm privy to contracts and keen documentation regarding the negotiations being held with my country. A few weeks ago, we managed to close a trading deal with Wave Country; however Wave Country's Daimyou Tazuna-dono requested a copy of the contract for his archives. Sadly, though, it was stolen right before I managed to get it" – Explained Kaito, earning a nod from Naruto, while thinking about the people in Wave Country and wondering if the old drunk actually is Daimyou now.

"Ok, then sir now why are you suspicious of missing-nins from Iwa stealing said contract?" – Asked Naruto, earning a nod followed by a smile since Kaito was just getting there.

"A couple of weeks ago, a selected group of them caused some small chaos on one of our villages. They called themselves "Iwa's Exile". Three days ago, one of my servants was killed by them with what appeared to be a kunai imbedded with a message, right before the contract was stolen" – Said Kaito, before grabbing the note and giving It to Naruto.

Greetings Kaito-san,

By the time you read this, we'll be pretty much gone from your castle, however we won't be leaving empty handed. You see, Fang Country has spread its trade and commerce throughout the elemental nations and we, the Iwa's Exile, don't like that. We plan to expand our group and for that, money is involved. This contract surely means a lot for your country, so you wouldn't mind giving us a fair amount of money for it, don't you? If you want the contract back, you'll have to give us three million ryou in exchange. Also, don't worry about you finding us, just settle the amount with you when we arrive next time. Also, in case you try to hire someone to go against us, be sure not to let us know, unless we'll destroy the contract and everything of its contents.

See you soon

After Naruto read it, he gave it to Shikamaru and Shino who began analyzing it. "Sir, we'll get right on the case" – Said Naruto before he and his team left the place and went outside.

"So what do you think?" – Asked Naruto to Shikamaru, since he was the mastermind of the team.

"The message seems legit, but the lack of blood on it is what I'm worried. He said that the message was imbedded with a kunai that pierced his servant's back, but there is no blood or even evidence of any in the past" – Reported Shikamaru.

"How can we know that this so called 'Iwa's Exile' even exists? One of the things I did upon getting inside the Anbu forces was to memorize the bingo book and I don't recall reading about this group" – Commented Shino to which Naruto nodded with his arms crossed as he processed the information his team gave so far. The story seemed farfetched, but if the contract exists, then Fang Country must want it back somehow.

"The contract exists, though, and it's missing. What we need to know is do some recon both from the message and from the place the contract was stolen. From there, we can identify the user's method and perhaps know their identities or where did they go. I'll bring in an associate of mine to aid us in these investigation" – Said Naruto, confusing both his teammates, before they saw him cutting his index finger and making hand seals.

"Oni Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Demon Summoning Jutsu)" – Shouted Naruto before a brown two-tailed fox appeared in front of him.

"Naruto-sama, how can I be of service?" – Asked Onmitsu, before Naruto explained the entire situation to the investigator fox. During this event, both Shino and Shikamaru were looking at each other, both remembering the same thing.

Flashback on

Both Shikamaru and Shino were in front of the Anbu Commander's office, being briefed on what it takes to be an Anbu.

"Congratulations both of you for joining the Anbu forces. We work under the orders of our Hokage and help her to better protect this village even it costs our lives to do so. You are now part of this organization that was responsible for protecting the village during all the great shinobi wars and grant victory to the Hidden Village in the Leaves. Now as members of this prestiged organization, both of you will be entitled to some of the village secrets and both I and the Hokage expects that you keep these information secret for as long as you both shall live. As of right now, I'll be telling you two a S ranked secret that I believe is vital for those under my command to know. It revolves around one of our most proud members codename Black Wolf" – Said Yamato, before Shino and Shikamaru looked at each other in surprise.

They came to know from others, about Black Wolf's reputation, but few of them knew his real identity since he never take his mask off even inside the HQ. But both Shino and Shikamaru knew who Black Wolf was. However, they didn't know he had a secret that no one knew about.

"Both of you were taught that the almighty Kyuubi no Yoko was killed by our Yondaime Hokage but at the cost of his life, right" – Asked Yamato, before seeing both nodding. "However, that was a cover story in order for our member to have a normal life, at least one as less dangerous as possible. The Kyuubi no Yoko was composed of pure energy, its shape was predefined by how much power stored within him, so it was safe to say that no human could ever hope to kill something based purely on energy. So, the Yondaime Hokage used a Fuinjutsu technique that enabled him to seal off the fox inside a human being. An object wouldn't suffice as the fox would simply escape. It couldn't be just any human being, because the fox would kill him from the inside and escape once more. The best possible choice was to seal the fox inside a born infant, simply because its chakra coils wouldn't be developed yet and he or she could hold the fox's chakra and use it in the future" – Explained Yamato, but by the look of pure shock in both Shino and Shikamaru's faces, he didn't need to continue the story.

Shikamaru was shocked, since for as long as he knew the blond, never before he could've know that someone like Naruto could hold such a terrible secret for himself. Shikamaru remembered his father telling about the Kyuubi event and that several Nara members were killed because of the fox, but Shikamaru wasn't mad at this predicament, simply because it happened right after he was born, so his memory had no recollection of what happened. Now wondering about his friend, Shikamaru actually began to respect him even more now. Naruto was the first of their generation to join Anbu and he was considered the dead last of the class. One thing for sure was that Shikamaru now understood just who the real Uzumaki Naruto was.

Shino, though shocked, couldn't argue with the logic behind the whole manner. Like with the Nara clan, lots of Aburame members were killed by the Kyuubi, but Naruto's situation was similar to his own, so how could he think any ill of Naruto? The Kyuubi was Naruto as his bugs were to him and aid them in battle. Also, it's not like Naruto asked to receive such burden. They were awaken by Yamato who cleared their throat and addressed them.

"The reason I'm telling you two this is because from all of us here, you two were present throughout Naruto's life and as such, you two deserve to know the real truth. That doesn't mean, though, that the secret is free to everyone. It's still remains a S ranked secret and if shared with somone who doesn't have the authority to know, will be punished by death. I trust that both of you understand the seriousness of this situation" – Said Yamato, earning a nods of acknowledgement from the new recruits.

Flashback off

As they saw Naruto telling the fox everything they discovered so far, both Shino and Shikamaru both remembered the silent oath they did to follow the blond in case he ever needed their help.

After a while, Naruto got up and addressed his two teammates.

"I know what you two are thinking and I know that Yamato-taichou told you two about my condition. Now, because of my link, I can summon five ninja foxes that can aid me or my team throughout the mission. Now, Onmitsu here is the detective, one look at the contract place and he can detect even the faintest chakra residue. That will help us finding the ones who stolen the document and see if they are indeed Iwa missing-nins" – Said Naruto, before he went back to the house with his fox in tow, but stopped once Shikamaru called him.

"Taichou, yes we know of your condition and no, we don't think any ill of it. Trust us to see the underneath of the underneath and realize that what you are is not a result of what you'd asked for or really craved for it. This happened without your consent and as such, you shouldn't be condemned for it. We just hope you'll trust us more in the future than you do now" – Said Shikamaru, earning a nod from Shino who was standing with his arms crossed.

Naruto couldn't help but smile behind his mask as he heard his friend's words. Sure, trust wasn't earned so easily these days and Naruto would have half a mind to just place a step back for these two. However, he could not forget that neither Shikamaru nor Shino ever treated him badly in the past nor underestimated his abilities even when people considered him a dead-last. Naruto concluded that amongst those he knew, he could have two new additions to the ones precious to him. Naruto had few, but precious friends, Kakashi, Iruka, Hawk, Yamato, Bear and now Shikamaru and Shino joined the list.

"I don't know what the future holds, but for now I can say for sure, that I can trust you two with my burden. Now, let's proceed with the mission since I want to come home as fast as possible" – Said Naruto, earning nods from Shino and Shikamaru, before entering the house with the fox.

Shortly after arriving at the contract room, Onmitsu's eyes changed and he scanned the room for any different source of chakra than the ones present. His noise surely detected four different scents, but the smells alone couldn't lead the two-tailed fox anywhere, so the fox changed its approach and tried to scan for chakra residues inside the room. It took a while, but Onmitsu's eyes managed to scan the faint chakra residues and managed to tail them outside the house, before looking at said direction.

"Naruto-sama, I managed to sense four chakra residues going northeast from here. If my senses are correct, they are not so far from here. Shall we follow after them?" – Asked Onmitsu, before Naruto nodded and turned to his peers.

"If the message is legit, then they would return here to collect the money, I'll leave some Kage Bunshins here just in case, but if Onmitsu managed to track them, we won't need to worry about them coming to collect the money, let's go" – Ordered Naruto, before Shikamaru and Shino nodded and followed both Naruto and the fox towards where the battle would now begin.