Chapter Eighty Three: The Ensemble

The Nightclub That Evening)

"What did you do to my friends, and who the hell are you really working for?" the twenty-two year-old shinobi growled.

"Your friends are perfectly fine; as for my employer, I work for this establishment, of course…But I really don't see what this has to do with-"

"That's a load of crap, and you know it!" the older shinobi barked.

It was then that Tenten was suddenly lifted and pushed against the wall, trying to resist strangulation from her sudden attacker. Tables were knocked over, with the porcelain cups falling over and crashing to the ground broken.

Amongst all the chaos, Tenten's thoughts were racing as she struggled to improvise a solution to this unexpected development.

Damn it, Naruto! swore the weapons mistress and seductress, When this mission is over, you owe me a katana for all the trouble you've made me go through! How the hell did this all go so wrong?!

(Nineteen Hours Earlier, Naruto's Safe House)

It was 4 o'clock in the morning and Naruto's clones were at work singling out all of the archers from the compiled surveys. The list grew even shorter as the names were compared to the list of men Tenten catered to.

Two other clones were spending their time comparing the hair samples Tenten collected from the men with the DNA samples found by Shikamaru and Neji's teams.

They eventually found a match with one of the culprits and later another match

with the second one. However neither samples matched the hair and seminal samples he found in Ni Ketsueki's body.

It turned out that the blood sample discovered on the window in the empty apartment matched the hair and seminal samples found in Ketsueki's body. When they went and compared the names with the men that sought Tenten's massage sessions, they found the names of three men that came as a trio one night. The two latter names matched the DNA samples from earlier. The clones compared the blood, hair and seminal samples and found a match with the first name listed among the trio.

The clones were happy that a major breakthrough was made in their investigation as they put together everything they and the other Konoha ninjas found into one investigation report to bring and use later when it was to be brought before the Tsuchikage and the shinobi council of Iwa.

Of course, after examining Ni Ketsueki's corpse for the umpteenth time, one clone made a remarkable discovery: a bite mark and slashes near the wrists (indicating that the body was drained of blood). Such a discovery was overlooked earlier, because Naruto was mainly preoccupied with discerning the details of Ni Ketsueki's rape. Plus, it didn't help that the body was heavily decomposed.

Once that clone vanished into smoke, the information was passed on and the list of possible implications suddenly raced through the collective thoughts of the clones:

Tortured before being raped and murdered?

Blood drained to steal her kekkei genkai?

She went to the blood bank to make a donation?

Upon the proposal of the third thought, all of the other clones responded by glaring at the source of the silly thought, a lone clone which sheepishly smiled and remarked, "Why are you staring at me like that; it's a reasonable idea!"

Another clone countered his argument, saying, "Oh really? I suppose that a girl who went to donate blood just happened to have snake-shaped bite marks instead of the usual syringe injection mark, right?"

Upon the mention of "snake-shaped," all of the clones came to a consensus:

Oh, crap…Now we know that it's definitely HIM…

(Later That Morning)

It was 9 o'clock. Tenten, still with her hair down, was in her room still trying to copy the seals on the arrow. It wasn't like writing storage seals for her weapons and she found the task daunting and frustrating after having gone through several scrolls in the attempt to copy the seals. Sighing, after once again finding that she would need a seal master to crack the seal, she decided to go to Naruto to ask for his help. She soon found him asleep at his desk with what looked to be completed official documents and medical records resting on the desk.

Tenten smiled and commented to herself. Naruto really possess a strong and determined character though even he has his limits.

Tenten then recalled how she fell asleep the other night at the desk in the study room she was in and how she found herself in the bedroom Naruto lend to her after realizing that Naruto carried her there.

I can't return the favor to physically carry him back to his room, Tenten joked to herself. She thought about letting him sleep but after considering the time limit Tsunade forced on him, she went and woke him up. Naruto yawned and shook the drowsiness away and recalled the experiences his clones gave him after everything was done and put together.

"Had a nice nap?" Tenten asked.

"Not really," replied Naruto as he turned to Tenten, "But on a more positive note, I believe I have found the identities of three archers responsible for the crimes."

"That's great!" Tenten said as she was happily. But her happy moment was about to change with Naruto's next words.

"But you're going to have to relinquish that arrow to me," Naruto stated as he held his right hand out to her, wanting the arrow to be returned.

Tenten frowned deeply and replied, "But why? I'm not done studying it yet!"

"It's part of the proof we'll need to present to the Tsuchikage and the others. That arrow is one of the key links to the lead culprit who's also responsible for Ni Ketsueki's rape and demise," Naruto explained with his outstretched hand still facing her, "Now hand it over."

Sighing, Tenten reluctantly removed the arrow from out of her pocket and surrendered it to Naruto, who reclaimed it into his hand.

"I couldn't copy the seal no matter how hard I tried. I'll need a seal master to help me in copying that seal," Tenten confessed.

Naruto explained, "I'll need the owner of that arrow in order to learn and copy the seals on this arrow. Only he would know the secret behind those seals otherwise it would be an impossible task for me to pull off."

"The archer isn't just going to explain to you the secret behind that seal just because you asked for it," Tenten remarked.

To this, Naruto replied, "Who said anything about asking for a verbal explanation?"

"What do you mean?" Tenten inquired, not understanding Naruto's words.

"Just leave it to me. One way or another, I'll be able to retrieve the information from the archer," Naruto told her.

"Thank you, Naruto. Besides that, I still couldn't come up with a method of putting a homing seal on possible targets without the risk of accidentally placing the seal note on myself or any of our comrades," Tenten admitted.

Naruto thought about what she said and after some consideration, he decided to give her his suggestion.

"There's a way to apply the arrow's homing beacon by touch alone Tenten," Naruto stated. Tenten's eyes widen like dish plates as excitement build up to high levels. Within seconds, she was upon Naruto like gravy on rice.

"Are you actually serious, Naruto?" asked Tenten, "You mean there's a way for me to apply the arrow's homing beacon by touch alone?"

For a moment, the weapons mistress had puppy dog eyes and was brimming with pure elation and anticipation. One could say that Tenten resembled a chibi at this point.

"Yes," responded a nonchalant and exhausted Naruto, Sheesh, I give her ONE extra weapons tip, and she's just like a kid at the candy store.

"Without a need for a paper seal?" Tenten asked anxiously.

"Yes," Naruto answered plainly.

"Without a need for glue, adhesive tape, or sticky syrup?" Tenten implored and then thought, Honestly, I don't know why I even said syrup; maybe it's because Izumo-senpai wouldn't stop talking about how he created his syrup ninjutsu every time I'm at the Missions Office with Lee and Neji!

"Totally yes," confirmed Naruto, "and if you keep bouncing around without letting me explain my solution to your fūin jutsu, you're going to wear yourself out and be without a voice."

Tenten slightly fumed and pouted for a moment, but soon stood silently to pay attention to Naruto, teasing, "I'm listening, Naruto-sama."

Not replying to the shift in persona, the Elite Jounin then prepared to give his explanation. After Tenten was tapped on the shoulder, the Hiraishin seal suddenly appeared. A squeal of joy and fan-girlishness suddenly left Tenten's mouth, but was soon followed a small frown.

"Wait a second, that's the same seal on your tri-pronged kunai during the Suna-Oto invasion! If you could do this "seal by touch" the entire time," remarked Tenten, "Why did you mostly use the kunai instead?"

"The kunai provides something that manual touch can't: range and a flexible location for teleporting each time that Hiraishin is used," Naruto explained.

"Besides, I, myself, only recently learned about the touch method; around a few

days before this mission."

"But wasn't Hiraishin exclusively limited to you and the Yondaime?" asked Tenten,

"There's a reason you refer to it as an 'artificial bloodline limit', right?"

"Actually, it's not as exclusive as you think it is," muttered Naruto under his breath, remembering on how the Sandaime elaborated on Hiraishin's true origins, while also remembering the gambit that he and Sarutobi enacted in order to keep those origins secret.

(Flashback, 1-2 years ago, Hokage Monument; rehash of Ch. 15; revelation at the end)

"I figured you'd sense I was here Naruto," Sarutobi said. Naruto nodded.

"Thinking about what happened earlier," Sarutobi asked.

"I was," Naruto admitted, "I have to admit the girls took it rather well. I was surprised that they didn't turn into crazed fangirls on the spot."

Sandaime chuckled at this and said, "That's because they're your friends Naruto, not shallow girls who sees you only because of the name you carry or because of whose son you are. They see you for you, and I can tell that from the way they look at you, as does your mother. Those girls really like you Naruto and I'm sure that they'll be of great benefit to you in the future."

"I saved their lives," Naruto joked, "What's there not to like?"

"Tell that to the Akatsuki and your father's enemies from the other villages and nations," Sandaime shot back.

"Point taken," Naruto frowned.

"Seriously Naruto," Sandaime stated, putting all humor and jokes aside, "The truth about who you really are will eventually come out into the opening. Once word gets out that you're the living son of Yondaime, you'll be a most, if not solely, loved figure in this village and a most hated representation of Yondaime to outside enemy villages who really hate your father."

"You told me this before jiisan," Naruto retorted, "As did my father, who has yet to teach me all of his jutsus and fighting styles, and the Hiraishin No Jutsu for that matter."

"Most likely for your own protection," Sarutobi stated, "Your father was the feared Yellow Flash after all. From what your father told me before you were born, creating and mastering the Hiraishin No Jutsu was no easy task, even for a seal master like him. He didn't go into many details about how he created that jutsu or how long it took, but he told me that he designed and created the Hiraishin No Jutsu in a way that only someone of his bloodline descent could use it."

"That explains why he never taught it ero-jisan," Naruto made known, "The Hiraishin No Jutsu is fundamentally like an artificial bloodline limit then."

"Comparatively," Sandaime agreed, "From what he told me, even if the enemy did acquire the jutsu and the special kunais used with it, that jutsu's complexity in its creation is the reason why it won't work for anyone else. Your father took every precaution he could think of to ensure that the Hiraishin No Jutsu wouldn't fall into the wrong hands and used against us. It's an S-Rank self-summoning jutsu that can't be copied or emulated by anyone outside the Namikaze bloodline."

"I bet the Uchihas weren't happy about that," Naruto joked. Sandaime merely chuckled and continued, "But I'm sure that you'll learn and master your all of father's jutsus in time as you continue growing stronger mentally and physically. You will become the new Yellow Flash of Konohagakure after all."

Naruto nodded in understanding, "I'll grow stronger and inherit my father and mother's wills of fire and legacies, and become Hokage someday."

"It's funny you should say that since the first nickname you ever gotten from me when you were merely a few hours old was "Born Hokage"."

"It was," Naruto asked, "I thought my first nickname was "Neo Yondaime Hokage"."

"That's the second nickname you've gotten, that one from Jiraiya," Sandaime said.

"Speaking of ero-jisan, where is he?"

"No doubt doing some research as he puts it knowing him."

Naruto didn't need to be told more.

"Anyway Naruto," Sandaime said recapturing his attention, "I came here to talk to you about another matter of utmost importance."

Paying close attention to Sarutobi, Naruto listened as Sandaime explained the Clan Restoration Act with great detail, detail which suddenly became too much information to take.

"I don't know if I can look at girls the same way again," Naruto admitted, feeling as though Kakashi and Jiraiya's perverted traits were starting to rub off on him. Sandaime chuckled at Naruto and said, "I don't think Hinata and Ino will ever look at you the same way again either. Just promise me that when the time comes you'll be mature about this. This is a serious matter after all."

"What's there not to be mature about," Naruto retorted, "I'm the only Namikaze left and I'd hate to be the one responsible for guaranteeing its extinction. However, I don't like the idea of girls marrying me simply because of what name I carry, whose son I am or which clan I came from. I want such girls to see and marry me for me because of the way they feel for me, just like how I would marry them for who they are and how I feel for them."

Sandaime smiled and simply nodded in agreement before taking another puff of his pipe, You're showing maturity and a level-headed mind about this already Naruto.

For the next couple of minutes, both Sarutobi and Naruto quietly looked over at the village, with the darkening starlit night skies blanketing village.

Once Naruto, Minato, and Kyuubi, had their later heated conversation, Naruto and Sarutobi left the balcony of Hokage Monument and entered the Hokage Mansion.

Upon locking the doors, Sarutobi closed his eyes, touched the ground with his finger, and said, "I'm not quite at the same level as our Nidaime-sama, nor am I as youthful, but even I can tell that our unknown spy has fallen for our trap. There is no presence of chakra in the room other than the chakra belonging to us, so it's safe to assume that the spy isn't watching us right now. I'm going to check with the Barrier Team later to see if the intruder is still in Konoha."

Nodding in affirmation, Naruto pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, which had every written detail of the conversation on the Hokage Monument (thus, indicating that the conversation was staged).

"Feeding the spy incomplete information was a brilliant idea on your part, jiisan," remarked the young Namikaze, "Although, I would have preferred that I had more time to rehearse; two hours is certainly more reasonable than thirty minutes."

"And let the spy know that his cover was blown?" countered Sarutobi, "Aren't you supposed to be the number one unpredictable shinobi in Konoha?"

"You have a point," acknowledged Naruto, "But we're getting off topic. Now that we're in a secure room, aren't you now going to tell me the most crucial details about the Hiraishin?"

After double checking the room once more, Sarutobi sat down on his chair and proceeded to give his explanation. He stated, "Your father wasn't the originator of the Hiraishin; rather, it was the Nidaime Hokage and your adoptive great-granduncle, Senju Tobirama."

"So why was my father the one with the 'Yellow Flash' reputation?" asked Naruto, who scratched his head in confusion, "Are you saying that the entire ninja world had amnesia about my great grand uncle's skills?"

"Not necessarily," said Sarutobi, patiently folding his hands, "It's just that most of the opponents who witnessed Tobirama's use of Hiraishin either didn't survive to tell the tale or later died of old age. Plus, Tobirama's mastery over water ninjutsu typically overshadowed his skill in space-time ninjutsu."

But instead of easing Naruto's confusion, Sarutobi's explanation only served to do the opposite.

"If only 'most' of the opponents died," frowned Naruto, "that means that there is a small percentage of elderly shinobi who possess vital intel on the Hiraishin."

"Actually, there's another detail that I should have mentioned earlier," admitted Sarutobi, "As far as I remember, Tobirama only used the Hiraishin against his Uchiha contemporaries during the bloody era of Uchiha-Senju conflict. Therefore, only the elder Uchiha generation should be remotely aware of the connection between Hiraishin and Tobirama."

"And we all know what ultimately happened to the Uchiha clan as a whole," remarked Naruto, who cringed as he remembered Itachi's past words on slaughtering the clan to test his strength. However, Naruto had another important question, "Anyway, why did you feel the need to hide my great grand uncle's involvement with the Hiraishin?"

Sarutobi's face then grew even more serious. "If you were to compare your father and great grand uncle in terms of executing the Hiraishin, the latter would come out as the victor in every related scenario. However, Minato was able to improve on the Hiraishin in ways that Tobirama could not imagine. Both of them could place the seal on enemies by touch, but only Minato considered using the tri-pronged kunai for extra mobility, range, and unpredictability. And most importantly, Minato was able to make the Hiraishin more exclusive. To use Hiraishin to its fullest extent, one would need knowledge of the seals belonging to BOTH Nidaime and Yondaime Hokage."

Upon hearing the last sentence, Naruto grinned. This was going to be the first lengthy lecture that he actually enjoyed!

(Present Day)

"What was that?" Tenten asked with a confused tone.

"Never mind," Naruto replied and continued, "Anyway, we'll have to capture the three archers soon, tonight if possible. We're going to lure them in order to use the lotion I gave you to use on them."

Reflexively, Tenten implored while in her alias, "How is this to be done, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto grinned as a plan started formulating in his mind. The grin told Tenten that Naruto was conjuring something when he eyed her hair, figure and body carefully.

"What are you thinking about?" Tenten asked.

"How good are you with a hula-hoop?" Naruto inquired.

She replied by asking, "What kind of new performance you want me to perform?"

Naruto told her, "What I have in mind will help amplify your burning alluring youth radiating with a passionate fire that will draw those three archers out like bulls to the slaughter."

Naruto gestured for Tenten to follow him.

"You won't be wearing one of your Chinese dresses tonight but something else," Naruto revealed. Tenten followed him back to her room. He went into the closet and went further into it to retrieve an outfit Tenten wasn't aware was there. When she saw it, she blushed deeply and replied, "You want me to wear that while using a hula-hoop, Naruto-sama?"

"That's right. Before tonight, I'm giving you a whole new crash course training in sensuality and bringing out the desires and lust of every man's wet dream. You'll only have hours to get it right to perfection," Naruto said. Tenten smiled confidently and moved closer to him before she responded with sultry, "My mind, body and soul are in your hands to mold and wield as your see fit, Naruto-sama."

Tenten is really convincing with her alias…even more so now than before, Naruto thought.

Kyuubi remarked, "You still don't want to admit to yourself that this vixen in front of you is hinting that she's ovulating and wishes to mate."

Shut up! Naruto retorted while trying to mask his annoyance.

(Back In The Prison Cell)

Tsukiiwa and her friends were huddled together after eating some food that was given to them. What was surprising was that they were given more food than they were given the previous days. They didn't feel as weak and tired as they had before though they were still a bit cold.

Suddenly the door to their cell opened as several ninjas the orphans couldn't recognize appeared through it with a man with glasses and silver gray hair in a ponytail. The man smiled and greeted, "You five are looking and doing better than before. That's good, because I'm going to need you five for a most important task."

Tsukiiwa retorted, "We want no part of whatever it is you want us to do!"

To this, the man responded, "You clearly don't have much of a choice. You five can either comply or spend the rest of your lives locked away in much deeper and darker cell of this cave with no hope of ever again seeing daylight."

The five of them grew scared when they saw that the man was serious.

"By the way, I haven't properly introduced myself to you children whom Naruto is so fond of," the man said as he adjusted his glasses, "I'm Kabuto, and if you wish to possibly live to see Naruto again, I advised you five to do as I say."

Tsukiiwa saw the scared looks in her friends' faces and clearly they didn't want to die a death being buried alive the dark. After a brief moment, Tsukiiwa reluctantly relented, "Fine. We'll comply."

"Now was that so hard to do?" Kabuto asked. The group of Oto ninjas was ready to knock the children unconscious if they were to try anything funny; not that Kabuto was unable do the job himself. Tsukiiwa and her friends came out of the cell before they were led out of the cell.

The same older boy that spoke to Tsukiiwa the other day yelled out to Kabuto, "Where are you taking them? What are you planning to do to Tsukiiwa and her friends?"

Kabuto replied, "Nothing for you or the other children here to worry about."

Kabuto walked off with the five orphans being led away. One of the female children in the cell said, "I hope nothing terrible happens to them."

A young boy her age stated, "All of the other children and young teens taken by that man never returned. I fear that whatever happened to them the same fate awaits Tsukiiwa and her friends now."

The older boy retorted, "Don't think that way!"

But another girl told him, "Since our capture, our number has been gradually dwindling every time that man came and took some of the children away. And once I overheard something about some failed project involving all of the children that had been used."

The older boy realized with a horrified expression that the children taken from before were being used as lab rats for some kind of experiment and now Tsukiiwa and her friends were next.

(Later, At the Lab Facility)

After Kabuto had sent the five children to an incubation room, his attention was suddenly drawn by a nearby mercenary, who (unlike the other mercenaries) was entirely shrouded in black (A/N: think of him as like a Ringwraith from Lord of the Rings).

"You know, Kabuto," said the mercenary, "I'm not exactly a scientist, nor am I fond of children; however, I can't help but ask as to why you would need these brats at all. I mean, they have no notable kekkei genkai (Bloodline Limit) to harvest; plus, orphans typically don't yield a high ransom price!"

Kabuto smirked in response, "Yatagarasu, I believe that you're being paid to provide 'security,' not to make inquiries which have nothing to do with you."

"I suppose you have a point," admitted Yatagarasu, who then extended weapons from the long sleeves of his cloak, as if to make a gesture. Extending from both sleeves were hands, each adorned by a claw gauntlet with long, razor sharp steel blades. Blood stains and pieces of straw could be found all over the blades.

"However, I'm getting sick and tired of your dart boards and practice dummies, Kabuto. You better have some live targets for me to play with before I quit out of sheer boredom."

"Ah, but I know you won't quit," countered the white-haired medical nin, "Because if you did actually quit, you would miss out on your generous salary and be unable to repay your debt to our boss."

Yatagarasu knew what Kabuto was implicating. Fourteen years ago, the mercenary was found badly injured in the woods and left for dead outside Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) and was recovered and healed by Orochimaru. Unknown to Yatagarasu was that Orochimaru considered him as a potential host body for Fushi Tensei, thereby moving the Snake Sannin to want to protect his "investment." This generous act, in turn, motivated Yatagarasu to work for Orochimaru on a regular basis in return, at the right price of course.

"Anyway, why settle for the cannon fodder of this hideout when instead, you can finally have your vengeance against a certain slug doctor who left you in the broken and dying condition Orochimaru-sama found you in?" Kabuto suggested. Lowering his weapons, Yatagarasu smiled and said, "I'm listening…"

Yatagarasu's motivation for working under Kabuto, besides being indebted to Orochimaru, was one objective: revenge by proxy against Tsunade.

"I know it's not just money that you're after. It's also because you're really pissed off about losing against Tsunade. Orochimaru and I knew about Naruto's diplomacy mission in Iwa in courtesy of some inside information leakage from Konoha that was sent to us. Therefore, we intended to lure Naruto into staying longer in Iwa by kidnapping Tsukiiwa and her friends for our little science project."

After having the gambit explained to him, Yatagarasu accepted the offer Kabuto suggested, ready to seize vengeance that has been fourteen years overdue, even if it meant taking it out on Tsunade's son.

(ROOT Underground Headquarters, Interrogation Room)

"Oh dear, where's a key when you need one?"

With her bruised arms and legs chained to the table in front of her, Shiho had obviously seen better days. She struggled in vain, shaking the chains to see if a weak link could be found and broken.

If only I had Tsunade-sama's legendary strength right now, lamented Shiho, I'd be back in my house, safe from ROOT and anyone else who would dare consider kidnapping me.

Unfortunately, upon noticing weird-looking seals on the handcuffs, Shiho realized that such an obvious option wouldn't be viable, realizing, I can't mold my chakra at all. But anyway, where am I?

As far as the cryptanalyst could remember, she was earlier knocked unconscious, blindfolded, and dragged to an unknown detention center of some sort.

Am I in their headquarters? But before Shiho could contemplate further, she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Oh, so you're awake. Good, now the questions can begin." Apparently, Suzume was the interrogator assigned to Shiho.

"You won't find me the talkative sort," argued the cryptanalyst, "Besides, doesn't Danzo already have what he wants?"

"Uh, uh, uh, I'm the one who will be asking the questions, not you," reminded Suzume, who took off her ANBU mask and hood in playful humor, revealing her curly black hair and contact lenses. "Oh, how I miss the days when I infiltrated the Academy as an instructor. Things were so much simpler back then. There was little to no need for assassination, which I find to be rather messy on my part; plus, the art of waiting and blending in with the crowd is so much more rewarding and fun in comparison."

That hair… those eyes…, reflected Shiho, who then adopted a horrified look, No way, this woman is Suzume-sensei?

In response to Shiho's distraught expression, Suzume continued, "Of course, given that you were once my prized protégé in class, I expect you to already know the importance of stealth in a kunoichi's line of work. Imagine my disappointment when you chose the life of a bookworm over the life of a spy. Now, imagine me feeling even more disappointed by you easily letting your guard down while decoding that precious book of yours…"

"The Konoha Cryptanalysis Team Offices is patrolled every two hours," said the cryptanalyst, "I had very good reason to trust in the security provided by the ANBU-" She cut herself off, realizing the naiveté of her last sentence.

"And which larger group is ROOT a part of?" responded the interrogator, "Honestly, bureaucratic red tape does so much wonder when you're trying to exchange your morning shift for the evening shift. Tsk, tsk. The lack of air conditioning in this room isn't really doing so well for the oxygen flow to your brain, huh?"

Shiho then adopted a deadpan look, commenting, "I'm confused. Did you kidnap me for the Blood Double's intel, or are you here to lecture me to death?"

"Patience, Shiho," responded Suzume, "This will be like old times. Remember, my questions for you to answer always come at the end of class, right after you're done listening to my informative lecture."

(Konoha, Forty-Fourth Training Ground: "Forest of Death")

"ART IS A BLAST!" yelled Deidara as he unleashed one of his giant clay birds on Ryota. Naturally, Ryota easily sidestepped the bird and considered the threat averted. That was, until the bird exploded in mid-air and showered Ryota with…chocolate ice cream?

"Damn it, Haku!" cursed Ryota, who sought to maneuver her way out of the sticky dessert, "You're ruining the immersion and my suspension of disbelief. How am I supposed to practice against Deidara's techniques if you make yourself unable to be taken seriously by me? And how…*slurp* *slurp* does this ice cream taste…*slurp* so delicious?"

Ryota had a handful of chocolate ice cream in both of her hands, both of which she ate with satisfaction.

"I made it myself, Ryota-san," shrugged the Hyouton user, who by now had dispelled the Henge of Deidara's image while still continuing the fight. It was then revealed that Haku was in mid-air not by means of a clay bird, but by means of her ice mirror.

Haku continued, "It's amazing with what you can do with just a little bit of milk, vanilla extract, salt, and chocolate. And once you take into account that I'm providing all of the ice from my Kekkei Genkai, making the overall ice-cream doesn't seem expensive at all. Anyway, as to your question about why I'm using ice cream instead of explosions in general, there are two reasons. A: I can't copy that Akatsuki member's explosions; they probably are part of his own Kekkei Genkai. B: Even if I could simulate the exact explosions, both Naruto-san, many others, and I consider you as a precious person, so permanently harming you is against both of our interests."

But regardless of such words, Haku continued the spar by throwing several ice senbon, keeping the "Shining Stone" on edge.

"To say 'many others' is quite a stretch," snorted Ryota, who moved to a tree for cover while also throwing back a giant rock boulder in a defensive feint, "I may have gained Naruto-kun's trust and love while staying on neutral to friendly terms with the rest of his peers, but I doubt this village as a whole has come to fully trust me."

Even after proving her loyalty and dedication during the Nami no Kuni mission, Ryota was still the subject of some possible scrutiny and suspicion. Tsunade's words during the aftermath of that mission definitely left a lasting impact on her self-confidence.

"But you're getting there," encouraged Haku, who easily froze (and then shattered) the boulder into pieces, "The villagers will come to fully accept you over time. Trust me; I know what it's like to feel uncomfortable inside a land outside home. Even though I was overjoyed at Naruto-san's proposal to come to Konoha, there was a part of me that was afraid of what challenges awaited me at my new home. All sorts of thoughts raced through my head. How would I live life without the guidance of Zabuza-sama? How would I adapt to a culture so different to that of my home village? Would the villagers come to hate me for my Kekkei Genkai? Would they come to resent me for being one of Naruto-san's former enemies?"

Ryota listened intently, momentarily halting the spar.

"And in spite of all that," continued the Hyoton user, "I let go of my fear and found friends and loved ones, just like what you did with Naruto and your students. Alone, I might have fallen into depression and darkness, but with Naruto and the others' help, I have found purpose once more: to protect them at all costs, even my own life!" As if to emphasize the point further, Haku clenched and threw the senbon in her fingers with conviction.

Dodging the senbon, Ryota nearly lost balance and struggled to keep her footing while searching for another tree for cover. While doing so, she stepped on several stones in consecutive sequence, causing a trap door to open.

"Oh crap-" yelled the kunoichi before she fell into the opening, "DID NOT SEE THIS COMING!" And as she further fell, her voice echoed, suggesting that whatever hid beneath the hole was very deep.

Seeing her comrade's sudden plight (and naturally surprised at this sudden development), Haku decided to end the spar and rush to the rescue, responding "I don't specialize in Doton jutsu, Ryota-san! I thought that you would've used that technique on me instead of yourself sooner or later. Hang in there!"

Floating right above the trap hole with her mirror, Haku decided to traverse below carefully, lest she get caught in a trap herself.

(Konoha, Location: Unknown)

"I can't believe I'm in this mess right now," muttered Ryota, as she hung on to an earthen staff she created between the walls of the hole. Right now, that staff was the only thing preventing her from getting impaled by the chasm of spikes below, a chasm which also happened to have impaled at least a dozen shinobi. She noticed that the corpses were varied in terms of flak jacket and headband color, leading to a single conclusion: "No wonder the Chunin Exam preliminaries had such a low turnout rate."

Seeing an entrance (lighted by torches and candles) on her right, Ryota waited until she gathered enough momentum, finding the right opportunity to swing and land safely. After panting of exhaustion, she sat down and took time to consider her escape options.

"I could try tunneling my way out of here with Doton: Chidokaku (Earth Style: Rising Earth Core)," reasoned the kunoichi, "but I've exhausted most of my chakra sparring with Haku."

Ryota also added, "There's also suicide, but I'm not that desperate, nor am I that stupid.

"Well, I hope Haku didn't go after me in a hasty rescue attempt. That would've been rather reckless and dangerous on her part-"

"You okay, Ryota-san?" asked Haku as she descended to Ryota's elevation level with the help of her ice mirror, "I came as soon as I could."

"Oh that's right," remembered Ryota, "I forgot that you could indirectly fly. Anyway, I think we've got plenty of time to escape. I mean, it's not as if this hole will automatically close itself-"

*THUMP*

The trap door closed itself, shutting out the source of light from above. A moment of silence passed between the two girls.

"Me and my big mouth," Ryota grumbled.

"…."

"Haku, will you remind me to never tempt fate again?"

"Duly noted, Ryota-san."

"Well, since we can't fly out of here anymore," reasoned Haku, "we could tunnel?"

"Nope, already thought of that," responded a bored Ryota, "Don't have enough chakra right now."

"Okay then," said Haku, "That leaves the big, scary tunnel with torches and beacons for us to navigate through until you regain enough chakra to find a way out for both of us. Is that a good idea?"

"Sure, why not?"

As the two girls navigated the tunnel, they saw all sorts of interesting sights along the way.

"Whoa," exclaimed Ryota, "Check out all these masks, Haku! I'm sure you could add some to your collection, right?"

Ryota picked up and looked at one of the masks that was on the wall. The mask she was holding looked similar to that of a Crow Tengu's face, eyes, beak, and grimace alike.

"I'm fine with my old one," declined stoic Haku, "but I do appreciate your intent."

Of course, the two girls also came across some not-so-interesting sights. Ryota, for instance, found several skeletons that were laid against the wall, with noticeable holes and burns all over their bodies. And as if things couldn't get any worse…

"Who goes there!" boomed a ghostly voice, "Who are you two, and why are you trespassing on sacred ground? Identify yourselves!"

"My name is Haku, and this is my friend Ryota," responded Haku, "She discovered this place by means of accidentally triggering a booby trap, and I came here to rescue her. We don't mean any harm, and we can leave if you can show us the way out-"

"SILENCE!" halted the voice, "No trespasser shall escape the wrath of Uzumaki Mito! Accident or not, you have already seen too many of the Uzumaki clan's intimate secrets! I died with them, and so shall you!"

And true to her words, the voice came out of the shadows, revealing herself as Uzumaki Mito. With her red hair, purple diamond forehead mark, and her white robes, Mito, or whichever woman had claimed her identity, was there in front of the two kunoichi at her very prime.

Unfortunately, neither Haku nor Ryota were able to recognize her at all, which was understandable, given that they were still relatively new to Konoha and not necessarily aware of the deeper details of its history. But hearing the name "Uzumaki" was enough to set off alarms for Ryota and cause to her to think deeply.

Uzumaki? thought Ryota, Wait a minute! Didn't Naruto-kun have a previous full name of Senju Uzumaki Naruto? And second of all, what sort of dark secrets could the Uzumaki clan possibly be hiding? I thought they were a rather nondescript merchant family which specialized in selling scrolls and seals!

Haku, on the other hand, wasted no time in defending herself. The kunoichi threw senbon at Mito, but to her surprise, Mito didn't bother to dodge. The senbon passed through the Uzumaki as if she were intangible.

"If you haven't already come to the obvious conclusion, I'll fill in the blanks for you," calmly responded Mito, "It's true. I've been dead for quite some time, even for as long as decades. Care to join me?"

Is she a ghost? thought Haku. Oh my, we've got ourselves into a real mess here. How do we defeat what is already dead?

"Relax, Haku," remarked Ryota, "She's intangible and already dead. She can't hurt us."

"It's true," admitted the specter, "I am indeed intangible to the living world."

But then, white chains erupted from the ground behind both Haku and Ryota, effortlessly restraining them. And to make things worse, the swords which had earlier impaled the skeletons in the tunnel were pulled out and now being manipulated by more of those white chains.

"These chains and swords," continued Mito, "on the other hand, are real and ready to kill you at any time I desire."

She then floated to where the two girls were and stared at both of them, saying,

"But I am not without mercy. Before I grant you a quick and painless death, have you any last words?"

Thinking quick on her feet, Ryota then yelled out, "You wouldn't want to kill one of your descendants, would you?"

Mito scoffed at the statement. "I really doubt that you're an Uzumaki; if you had the trademark red hair, I might have actually considered believing you. And even if you did have red hair, I can sense your chakra. It indicates otherwise-"

"I'm not related to the Uzumaki clan by blood per se," argued the former Iwa-nin, "but I am betrothed to an Uzumaki: Senju Uzumaki Naruto. And I'm currently pregnant with his child! So if you kill me, you lose a descendant. Is that what you really want?"

Ryota was telling a half-truth, having lied about the pregnancy, but in her mind, that half-truth was the only option that could possibly spare both her and Haku.

"And am I supposed to believe that your friend over here is also another of the betrothed?" sarcastically remarked the specter, who glared at Haku's direction, "It would indeed be a rather convenient excuse."

"Not really," admitted Ryota, "but Haku is a close trusted friend of Naruto. If you kill her off, you will still cause a fair amount of grief for Naruto."

Manipulating the sword by means of her chain, Mito inched even closer and held the sword to both of the girls' throats. Haku closed her eyes and maintained her composure, thinking, I'm sorry, Zabuza-sama. Guess I'll have to meet you a bit earlier than intended.

As for Ryota, she too, was trying to appear calm, but was having a harder time hiding her distress, I haven't avenged Chizuru yet; I can't die just yet!

But just when the two expected the sword to slash horizontally, the sword instead fell on the ground, to their surprise.

What was even more surprising was the change of expression on Mito's face. What was once a frown now shifted to a mischievous grin.

"Oh dear," contemplated the spirit, "You should have seen the looks on your faces! I got you good, didn't I?"

"Wait, so you're not going to kill us?" remarked Ryota, "What caused you to change your mind?"

"Unless," continued Haku as she realized the truth, "You never intended to kill us in the first place!"

"I knew you two had no intentions of stealing anything from the moment you set foot at the temple entrance," said Mito, who had now taken time to sit down and shake her head in amusement. "I'm surprised that the Kyuubi's gift of sensing negative emotions lingered with me even after my departure from this world."

Haku took notice of that particular statement.

"You were the Kyuubi's previous Jinchuuriki?" remarked Haku, "That's an interesting revelation to consider."

"Well, not necessarily the direct predecessor," admitted Mito, "I don't know how many generations apart I am from this Senju Uzumaki Naruto you speak of. But hearing the name "Senju" must mean that this Naruto has familial ties with with either my granddaughter Senju Tsunade or Senju Nawaki."

The two kunoichi were then freed of their chains, carefully listening to whatever historical recaps or tales of adventure Mito had to offer.

(Iwagakure, Fields Outside The Catacombs; Later That Day)

"Are you sure you know how to do this?" skeptically asked Kurotsuchi, "I've never before seen an animal summon who was specialized at fuuinjutsu specifically," Kurotsuchi commented. Standing before Kurotsuchi was a half-human/half-fox humanoid masked woman dressed in ceremonial battle attire. Naruto had clearly entrusted Tao with the task of finding a way into the genjutsu barrier.

"But you've never before seen this sort of barrier either," countered Tao, who smirked behind the mask, "So you have nothing to lose from entrusting this task to me."

"Much like how the Tsuchikage feels he has nothing to lose entrusting this investigation to Naruto," Kurotsuchi remarked.

"My summoner has offered his help, and by extension, my services, on behalf of you, your people, and your Kage regardless of the hatred most, if not all of you hold against him and his family. I see no reason for your Kage to not trust Naruto," Tao countered.

"Point taken," Kurotsuchi relented.

Saying nothing further, Tao formed a complex hand sign Kurotsuchi never seen before as she focused chakra into her hands.

A moment later, Tao raced through a serious of more intricate hand seals and then shot her right hand down to the ground. Upon doing so, seal writings started appearing in front of them in a long horizon position across the field.

The seal writings eventually came to the a stop and fired a wall of chakra into the air, revealing large waves of distorting chakra surround the field in front of them.

"This genjutsu barrier is large in diameter and quite strong," Tao stated calm but confidently assured, "Regardless, I will be able to dissolve this barrier in given time."

"Oh sure," Kurotsuchi calmly replied with an undertone of sarcasm, "Because we sure have plenty of time."

Tao decided to ignore her and her sarcasm completely and concentrate on what Naruto summoned her to do.

(Meanwhile Inside the Laboratory)

A number of hours had gone by. Kabuto had resorted to using a polymerase chain reaction on Naruto's blood to get a decent amount of copies of Naruto's DNA to infuse into the project.

He was thankful that the blood samples brought back by the mosquitos were enough for the process. Using his chakra scalpel, Kabuto fine-tuned the work at the genetic level as he used a microscope with great concentration to combine Naruto's DNA with latest results they received from last experimentations. Kabuto was aiming for perfection this time and failure was not an option.

With everything in place, Kabuto had summoned a new partner, Yomi, whom Orochimaru employed, to help see to the completion and perfection of Project Star. After the five orphans were dosed with a potion that knocked them unconscious, Kabuto proceeded with the newly revised and upgraded procedure.

"Your master is clearly going through great lengths to see to the success of this project if he would go so far as to employ my helping hand," Yomi commented.

"Your skills had reached my master's interests and he isn't one who'd pass off employing one's skills for a useful and...beneficial means to an end," Kabuto said.

"Be that as it may, I'll make my stay here short since I promised your master that I'll only give him a brief moment of my time to help and nothing more," Yomi stated, "my master in particular is not as patient as yours."

"That's all we can humbly ask of you," Kabuto replied, "Now, let us proceed and waste no further time."

The two men headed over to the five unconscious orphans. Kabuto began the medical infusions of the newly revised experimentations into Tsukiiwa and her friends. He took great precautions not to repeat the same mistakes he made in the last experiments to ensure the children's survival and the project's success. So far everything looked good with no life-threatening effects showing so far.

"The five youths you chose here are proving to be compatible to with your research," Yomi commented.

"But now here's where things get complicated," Kabuto said before he went and retrieved the remaining glowing purple meteorite fragments and brought them over to Yomi, "This is where you come in."

Yomi nodded and summoned his needed chakra for the task. He had a technique which allowed him to directly inject chakra, be it natural, altered, or otherwise, into his henchmen.

In order for the meteorite chakra to be integrated into the children while minimizing the fatal effects, Kabuto needed a way to rapidly inject the meteorite chakra into the children while having the children's bodies become acclimated to the meteorite chakra and merging with the medical experimentation simultaneously; and Yomi was just the man for the job.

After half an hour had passed...

"This is proving to be rather interesting," Yomi remarked while seeing the noticeable changes the children's bodies and hair were undergoing.

"Indeed it is; clearly Naruto's DNA was the missing primary key to this project," Kabuto said with an approving smile while monitoring the progression of stages the infusion was undertaking on the five children, "Now, if we were to eventually find a way to kill Naruto, he could be forcibly recruited by means of Edo Tensei."

It was then that an unexpected visitor made her entrance.

"Uh, Kabuto-sama?" asked a meek voice, "Is this experiment going to be finished soon? You promised me that you would revive the Uzumaki clan!"

Turning around, Kabuto turned around and saw his red-haired assistant, Karin, hiding behind a stone pillar and having a nervous expression.

Smirking briefly, Kabuto responded, "You'll have your little brothers and sisters sooner or later, Karin; but you'll have to wait just a little longer. Why don't you check on our…guests while I finish up here?"

"Okay," said a dejected Karin, who whimpered away and left with a sad look.

With a curious look, Yomi briefly turned his head to Kabuto and asked, "Uzumaki clan? You mean, as in the merchant family? Clearly, this seems to be more like a conspiracy than a mere project."

"You can ask more details from my master once we're done with this project," replied a nonchalant Kabuto, "But for now, continue with the experiment."

(At The Safe House; Later That Evening)

Tenten was getting all of her required equipment and clothes together. Her crash course training in erotic hula-hooping and dancing was quite...enlightening for her, as a tomboy.

It would be a lie if she said she wasn't enjoying what Naruto was having her do and train in as it brought out a side of her personality she never knew what so buried deep within her being.

She blushed cherry red when Naruto told her about the call card Neji and the others found in the apartment the culprit archer used. She knew that she would hear about it from them later. But in the meantime, she was doing her duties as a ninja; regardless of how questionable they seemed, failure was not an acceptable option.

With all of her things now gathered together and sealed into her scroll, she put the scroll in her pocket and headed for the door. After passing a mirror, she stopped and looked into the mirror to see her hair tied in her trademark hair buns. After she gave it some thought, she decided to undo her buns and allow her hair to flow freely down her shoulders and neck. When that happened, she unconsciously gave her famous toothy feminine smile she gave as Muteki no Panda-ko-chan.

"This is more like it," Tenten grinned confidently before continuing on her way out of the house and back to Iwa. It was quite a trip heading back, however she managed to sneak back inside through the same hidded passage way Naruto showed her. Moving quickly she made her way back to the red light district and over to the nightclub she "worked" at.

After entering the nightclub, she found everyone getting everything ready for tonight. As she made her way to her assigned quarters, she saw an older but otherwise very beautiful woman with short blue hair coming from the opposite direction. She was dressed in ceremonial robes, socks and sandals fitted for a geisha with the hairstyle to match it. However she didn't have the facial makeup an actual geisha would wear. Tenten recognized the woman after a coming closer to her.

"Origami no Aijin," Tenten greeted; she had to remain polite, even though she never knew the woman's real name. The older woman looked at Tenten and greeted respectfully, "Good afternoon to you too, Panda-ko-chan. The club will open soon as the evening hours in fast approaching."

"I know," Tenten said, "I'm just getting in so I have to set up quickly."

"I understand," Origami no Aijin replied, "I'll let you be on your way then."

Origami no Aijin continued to walk off, leaving Tenten to her thoughts. The younger girl was about to call out to Origami no Aijin to ask her for her real name, but the woman turned the corner and disappeared out of sight. Sighing, she turned and continued on her way to her quarters. Entering the room, Tenten closed and locked the door behind her.

"Now let's get everything ready," Tenten said before retrieving her scroll and opening it up to release all of her needed clothes and equipment.

(Meanwhile; At the Fields Outside The Catacombs)

Tao was making tremendous progress in breaking down the genjutsu barrier. She found that the barrier was being generated by four seal posts stationed in four cardinal directions of Iwagakure, all of them three miles apart from each other. The four seals had to be destroyed simultaneously in order to effectively drop the genjutsu barrier.

Summoning four spirit fox clones from within her being, Tao dispatched them to dissolve the seal posts and whatever other obstacle that possibly lied in ambush for them. These feral spirits made haste and quickly made their way to their targeted locations. Upon their arrival, the four foxes telepathically communicated with each other in order to time their removal of the seals just right. Once in position, the four foxes destroyed the seal posts at the exact same time. And as Tao predicted the genjutsu barrier started dissolving and before long it was completely removed. The four spirit foxes they disappeared in the form of energy and teleported back into Tao's body.

"I completed the task Naruto-sama summoned me for," Tao explained, "The genjutsu blocking this region is no more."

Kurotsuchi stepped forward a couple of steps and saw that she didn't fall into unconsciousness. She saw that Tao was true to her words.

"My work here is done. I'll report this to Naruto-sama while you report to your Tsuchikage that he can now send his ninja into this field," Tao stated before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving Kurotsuchi to her thoughts as she didn't notice the tri-pronged kunai Tao left behind on the ground.

(At The Hotel)

Tao appeared before Naruto in the hotel room he and the others were staying in and knelt down respectfully on one leg and hand.

"I've fulfilled my duties Naruto-sama. That task has been done," Tao said. Naruto nodded his head approvingly and said, "Terrific work as always. Thank you."

"It was a pleasure. Until next time," Tao said before she disappeared in a smoke cloud and left again. Naruto wasted no time retrieving Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, Lee, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru. He told them the news of Tao's success in destroying the barrier. Wanting to get there faster, Naruto had them hold onto him before resorting to Hiraishin to teleport them to the catacombs. Naruto picked up and put away the tri-pronged kunai Tao had left behind for him to use.

"Neji," Naruto instructed, "Check for possible enemy ninjas in the region hiding and waiting to ambush us."

Neji nodded and activated his bloodline limit, "Byakugan!"

Neji carefully search the region. So far everyone looked clear without the genjutsu blocking their entrance.

"I see no one in the vicinity. We're clear to move in," Neji said. Naruto nodded and instructed the group to come along with him. They traveled deep into the grassy pasture for a while before coming across a small mountain with an opening at the side. Keeping out of sight, the group investigated and found hired ruffians patrolling the entrance into the cave.

"Those guys aren't standard ninjas," Shikamaru ascertained.

"More like low class thugs and hooligans," Shino added.

"Then they shouldn't be a problem for you guys to handle," Naruto said, "Kiba, Lee, Chouji, deal with those men."

The trio nodded and hurried on to the main entrance. When the ruffians saw the three Genins, one of them exclaimed, "How did you get past the barrier!? And who are you three!?"

"We're the welcome wagon! It's very nice to meet you guys!" Kiba stated before Lee charged in with a fury of taijutsu attacks effectively taking out a number of the ruffians present. Kiba and Chouji joined in the battle, leaving Naruto, Shino, Neji and Shikamaru to make their way inside. Going deeper into the cave, they came across a large opening that held a large intimidating number of hired thugs and Oto ninjas.

"Just what we need," Shikamaru remarked.

"This will be trouble," Neji added before one of the Oto ninja in hiding saw them and alerted the others, yelling, "Oh crap! It's Naruto and his ninjas."

Naruto pulled out his scroll and declared with a cold steel tone, "Correction: it's Konoha's Second Flash and his ninjas."

Naruto threw his scroll high into the air; forming a hand seal, the scroll burst into smoking and fired a large number of tri-pronged kunais in seemingly random directions among the groups of enemy ninjas and thugs. The next thing everyone saw was flashes of yellow followed by death and screams of Naruto's targets.

"Run!" one of the thugs yelled fearfully upon realizing who they were dealing with, but that bandit was slain within mere seconds after his scream to retreat. Shikamaru, Neji and Shino watched as Naruto slaughtered every last ninja and thug in their sight with no sign of remorse or mercy. Within seconds all of the enemies in sight were dead. Lee, Kiba and Chouji arrived and caught up with Naruto and the others only to see slashed up bodies and blood littered all over the ground as Naruto's clones were retrieving all of the tri-pronged kunais and returning them to Naruto.

"You guys arrived on time, all the better," Naruto said without looking the least bit tired.

"At the very least, he did the dirtiest job for us," Shikamaru shrugged. Naruto was kneeling down in front of one Oto ninja he, unlike the others, wounded but didn't kill. Grabbing hold of that Oto ninja's head with right hand, Naruto scanned the ninja's memories and delve deep into his mind. Neji and the others waited patiently for Naruto to finish probing the wounded ninja. After several minutes, Naruto grabbed the man's throat and in one hard squeezed he crushed it, killing him instantly. From the look on Naruto's face, it didn't need to be said that Naruto was truly pissed about whatever it was he found out.

Moments later, Tsuchiko, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi along with a decent number of Iwa Jounins entered the cave and arrived at the site, only to find that all of the enemy ninjas and bandits were already dead.

Neji noticed the arrival of the trio (especially Akatsuchi), and dryly remarked, "So, I take it you had a nice nap?"

"Oh, will you just shut it," grumbled the not-so-jolly shinobi, "It was just a fluke."

Naruto didn't give the other Iwa ninja time to say another word as he proceeded further into the cave, his cloak flowing with his quick pace.

"Looks like we missed a good party here," Tsuchiko remarked while looking at the sight in front of her and the others.

"Naruto wasted no time and slaughtered everyone here and from the way he looked in the end, I can tell he's rather angry about whatever it is he discovered," Shikamaru clarified.

"I suggest we don't lose track of him and follow where he went," Lee suggested. Everyone agreed and hurried to catch up with Naruto. It wasn't long until they saw Naruto and his three clones breaking doors off their hinges and tossing the broken doors down to the ground, freeing the remaining number of the surviving terrified kidnapped children from their prison cells.

The mixed group of Konoha and Iwa ninjas hurried to aid Naruto in retrieving the kidnapped children. Once all of the children were freed from their prison cells, Tsuchiko advised bringing the children back to Iwagakure for needed medical attention and nourishment due to lacking of food and water.

Shikamaru saw how quiet Naruto was since his finding the kidnapped children. His clones searched all around the cave and tunnels but turned up empty in the end.

"They're not here," Naruto said in an undertone before punching and cratering one of the walls to vent out his anger and frustration.

"You mind not doing that?!" Kurotsuchi retorted indignantly, "You might cause a cave in and doom all of us, genius! And plus-"

Naruto turned and gave her a cold steel gaze that quickly silenced her before she and several others unknowingly took a few steps back out of fear of him as heavy bloodlust poured out of him. Though Naruto didn't actually say anything, but that look in his eyes and face spoke a promise of death if she or anyone else pissed him off further.

"I take it that you didn't find your young friends Naruto," Shino deduced.

"No," Naruto said plainly, "But that's not all."

"What more is there?" Kiba inquired.

"From what I gathered from the memories of that Oto ninja whose mind I scanned, Tsukiiwa and her friends are being experimented on by Kabuto with regards to some secret experimentation called Project Star. A number of children who were kidnapped and experimented on have already died from Project Star's failure to succeed in producing their desired results. But what also disturbs me is that Kabuto is using my blood in his revised project on Tsukiiwa and her friends, but I don't know why! Nor do I know how he got a hold of my blood!"

"That's as troublesome as a mosquito's bite," Shikamaru remarked.

"Funny you should say that since Iwa isn't known for having mosquitoes," Tsuchiko made clear. When Naruto heard that, he recalled being bitten by three mosquitoes the other day.

"Damn it! So that's how Kabuto did it!" Naruto realized, "He somehow managed to use mosquitoes to sting and get blood samples out of me. I would have never suspected mosquitoes as his instrumental puppets."

"Also innocent Iwa civilians have been murdered and used as instrumental puppets, literally," Neji added.

"It's surprising that Kabuto is able to do this even with insects we wouldn't suspect," Shino remarked.

"And the laboratory this experimentation on the children is taking place at isn't here?" Chouji asked.

Naruto confirmed, "The laboratory was originally here. But it was relocated and is now being kept elsewhere. This place become nothing more than a holding and shipping facility to detain the children who were taken from their homes." I hope Tenten is having better luck than I am.

(Meanwhile, In Iwagakure; Back At The Red Light District)

Back at the nightclub, Tenten was wearing a skimpy tiger-skin miniskirt-like loincloth with a matching tiger-skin bra that was literally wrapped and tied around her breasts.

Her miniskirt-like loincloth did little to cover the left and right sides of her hips and it helped reveal that her underwear was in fact the tiger-skin loincloth itself. She was barefooted with her brown hair flowing down her neck and shoulders. Her skin had a shining luster and alluring smell to it now as she had applied an exclusive and rather expensive skin lotion all around her body. That lotion was given to her by Naruto, which was given to him in courtesy of Jiraiya. She was also wearing reddish pink lipstick.

Tenten currently had her hands up towards the ceiling while sensually hula-hooping with in an exotic belly dancing fashion that showed off her lovely and toned lithe figure.

Playing in the background was soft instrumental music that helped set the mood for Tenten's performance as she swung her hips and rear in a steady rhythm that flowed with the music. Watching this arousing and lust enticing performance were Keisuke and his two friends Kentaro and Goki and all three of them looked ready to pounce on Tenten and take turns doing her right there and then.

As for the said female...

I can't believe I'm doing this in front of three suspects Naruto narrowed down as the culprits behind Tsukiiwa and her friends' kidnapping and Ni Ketsueki's rape and murder, Tenten thought while keeping herself from losing her concentration. She looked like she was enjoying what she was doing, but the truth of the matter was that she felt disgusted that she had to do this to keep them where they were before she could subdue and neutralize them.

Through the entire time, she was imagining that she was doing her performance in front of Naruto, which helped keep her disgust at bay.

After another minute had passed, the music came to an end and so did her hula-hooping. Tenten caught the hula-hoop before it could fall to the ground. The three males started clapping after seeing Tenten conclude her performance.

"That show was as beautiful as you are, Panda-ko-chan," Goki cheered.

"Thank you, my lords, I wish only to serve and entertain," Tenten said humbly with a touch of charisma while briefly bowing down, "And because you three have been so kind to me during our time together, I have a special treat."

Tenten went and retrieved specially designed Sensation Lotion labelled "For the Customers of The Month."

"Please discard your clothes so I may pleasure your bodies with my skillful hands and fingers my lords," Tenten requested with smooth sultry, "I like to first start with Kentaro and Goki and then finally Keisuke."

"You wish to give us another body massage?" Keisuke asked.

"And why does Kentaro get to go first?" Goki asked with an annoyed looked while Kentaro simply smiled expectantly.

"It's how I desire to satisfy you three. And if you all behave decently and allow me to perform this task, I might add my tongue and lips into the mix of things and perhaps more," Tenten teased flirtingly as she swayed her hips and belly side to side. The three males blushed and giggled perversely as they hurriedly started to remove their clothes until they were only in their boxers. Tenten saw their arousals as clear as day in their boxers.

I hope for my sakes and chastity that Naruto-sama's lotion works, Tenten thought, without realizing how she mentally referred to Naruto. Getting herself back into the groove of matters, Tenten encouraged the young man clearly in his late teens to relax and lay himself down on the futon so she could proceed with the application of the lotion and massage.

After Kentaro did as she requested, Tenten started pouring and rubbing the lotion all around Kentaro's body. Kentaro noticed that her hands and the mannerism of the massage was even gentler and soothing than before. This served to help him relax and succumb to Tenten's treatment. The smell of the lotion was that of peaches and sweet nectarines with a mix of strawberries.

Before long, his body was completely covered the lotion. Tenten then gestured to Goki to approach her. When he did, she went and stood behind him and started caressing his abs and chest while applying the lotion to his body.

"You have a build of a strong warrior my lord," Tenten purred.

"Well, I do what I have to in order to stay fit and firm as the mighty ninja that I am," Goki replied pridefully as Keisuke rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," Keisuke retorted. Goki was about to give a retorted of his own when...

"Please my lords," Tenten beseeched tactfully, "I'm sure all of you work hard to achieve your strengths and I appreciate each of your differences for their uniqueness."

Tenten lightly squeezed Goki's pecks and rubbed his abs again, causing the youngest of the three males to giggle and blush. Keisuke snorted but said nothing further as Tenten continued her work while Goki stood where he was. In time his whole body was massaged and rubbed down with the special lotion and Tenten gentle laid him down on top of another futon next to Kentaro. Both of the older male teen Chuunins looked like they were resting peacefully without a care in the world. Keisuke looked at this scene suspiciously now as he saw that something was off about what was going on.

"What did you do to my friends, and who the hell are you really working for?" Keisuke growled.

Tenten assured, "Your friends are perfectly fine; as for my employer, I work for this establishment, of course…But I really don't see what this has to do with-"

"That's a load of crap, and you know it!" Keisuke barked. It was then that Tenten was suddenly lifted and pushed against the wall before trying to resist strangulation from her sudden attacker. Tables were knocked over, with the porcelain cups falling over and crashing to the ground broken.

Amongst all the chaos, Tenten's thoughts were racing as she struggled to improvise a solution to this unexpected development.

Damn it, Naruto! swore Tenten, When this mission is over, you owe me a katana for all the trouble you've made me go through! How the hell did this all go so wrong?!

"I want answers now!" Keisuke warned as his grip on Tenten's neck tightened while she was trying to break free from his strangulation, "Or so help me I'll-"

He didn't get to finish when a sheet of paper sudden appeared in front of his face and attached itself to his face, forcing him to release his hold on Tenten. The young female collapsed to the floor and gasped for air as the pain around her neck slowly subsided. The paper blocked Keisuke's nose and mouth and prevented him from screaming as more paper appeared through the room's ventilation vent from the ceiling and attached themselves to Keisuke's body, wrapping around him entirely and binding his arms and legs together thus keeping him from moving. The paper wrappings then knocked Keisuke's head hard into wall, effectively knocking him unconscious.

The sheets of paper then released and dropped Keisuke's body to the ground in a thud before coming together and fusing to form the blue haired woman Tenten saw earlier.

"It's you," Tenten said in surprise, "Origami no Aijin."

"Indeed, Panda-ko-chan," Aijin said, "Or should I refer to you as Tenten, the Genin working for Naruto?"

"So you knew it was me all along?" Tenten figured.

"I was in deep cover like you, investigating the kidnappings that have been going on here," Aijin replied, "I had some leads, but they were dead ends as I couldn't find any suspects. Anyway, judging from what happened here, you clearly beat me to the punch before things obviously got out of hand for you to handle by yourself."

"Yeah; thanks for saving me," Tenten thanked, "But why are you investigating the kidnappings? Are you an Iwa ninja too?"

"No," Aijin said, "But my employer, whose name I can't reveal, requested my services in finding the ones responsible for the kidnappings of the orphans and the other children of Tsuchi no Kuni. Plus, I myself, was an orphan, faced with dangers like the ones those children are faced with. I can empathize with their plight."

Aijin turned to leave when...

"Wait! Since we're on the same team, we should work together," Tenten suggested.

"I prefer to work alone, but if I feel the need to give you any help in whatever way I see fit, I'll offer them to you and Naruto," Aijin remarked before her body started breaking down into floating sheets of paper again.

"You mind telling me your real name," Tenten beseeched, "If it's not too much to ask for?"

After thinking about it, the older woman answered, "Konan."

And with that, Konan, in the form of many sheets of paper flew off into the ventilation system in the ceiling. After she left, Tenten quickly got some rope and tied all three men up and gagged their mouths and blindfolded them. By the time she was done, Naruto appeared in the room and saw the condition the room was in.

"I take it that things didn't go as planned," Naruto figured. Tenten replied to that was, "It got a little turbulent after using the lotion on Goki and Kentaro. The Jounin, Keisuke, saw something was amidst and attacked me. But in the end, all three of these men were taken down."

"You clearly were almost strangled by Keisuke," Naruto pointed out as he noticed the reddened bruise around Tenten's neck, "I'm sorry I put you up to this."

"You don't need to apologize," Tenten assured with a smile, "I already knew the dangers this mission came with and accepted it. You can simply pay me back with a katana you're going to owe me for my troubles Naruto-sama."

"By katana I'm sure she's referring to what's in your pants," Kyuubi taunted while observing through Naruto's eyes how Tenten was dressed.

I'm amazed at how the idea of me and Tenten being together interest you Kyuubi, Naruto replied with interest and a touch of annoyance. He cleared his head and then turned his attention back to Tenten who added, "While I was being strangled by Keisuke, I was saved by a woman who dressed like a geisha and went by the name Origami no Aijin, but her real name is Konan."

"Konan you say?" Naruto implored, "How exactly did she save you?"

"She had some special ability to manipulate paper and she even has the ability to turn herself into hundreds of sheets of paper. She used that ability to take out Keisuke and stop him from strangling me to death. She said she was hired to investigate the kidnappings but she didn't tell me who her employer was. She left shortly before your arrival here. But she also said that if comes down to it, she'll give us some help if she sees fit to do so."

"I see," Naruto acknowledged, while recalling Jiraiya telling him a few years ago about meeting and training a young orphan girl from Amegakure who had abilities like the one Tenten described. He wondered if there was a possible connection.

But putting that thought aside for now, Naruto mentioned, "We and the others found most of the missing kidnapped children but not Tsukiiwa and her friends. To make matters worse, I just found out that Tsukiiwa and her friends are being experimented on and that Kabuto is using my blood in their project called Project Star."

"That's awful! Do you have any leads as to where those five youths could be?" Tenten inquired. Naruto shook his head and said, "None yet. But I'm going to see if I can get some answers out of these three."

Naruto summoned three five clones. Three of them took the men and teleported with them back to the safe house while the other two clones cleaned up the mess made in the room, removing any signs and evidence that a scuffle took place earlier. While this was happening, Naruto healed the injury on Tenten's neck.

"That feels a whole lot better. Thank you Naruto-sama," Tenten said and then teased charismatically, "You really know how to give the attention and care my body and soul needs."

Naruto grinned and said, "Well you did allow me to wield your mind, body and soul along with your will in the best way I know, Panda-ko-chan. Now it's best we leave and return back to the safe house. I'm sure you can use a break. Neji and the others are at the hospital with the retrieved children helping Tsuchiko and the others there."

Tenten nodded as Naruto held her and teleported with her back to the safe house.

(Meanwhile, inside Naruto's consciousness)

'Taunting my son again, Kyuubi?' dryly remarked Minato, 'Clearly, you have nothing better to do with your free time.'

'Shut it, Yondaime,' snarled Kyuubi, 'My imprisonment in this cage could hardly be called free time. Besides, I'm sure you've had your fair share of taunts towards that brat of yours…'

'Taunts which don't involve perverted jokes,' countered Minato, 'My taunts are more like constructive criticism from father to son. You, on the other hand, taunt my son to deliberately torment him.'

'Why are you even talking to me in the first place?' pondered Kyuubi, 'Don't YOU have anything better to do?'

'Actually, I didn't come here just to reprimand you for your behavior,' admitted Minato, 'Truth is, there's been a huge mystery that's been bugging me.'

'Oh, and why do you expect me to help you out?' glared Kyuubi, 'We are not friends at all.'

'It's about the events during the night of your attack on Konoha.'

Kyuubi's ears twitched a little in response. 'Been there, done that. What more could you want to know?'

'It's more about Kushina's fate,' described Minato, 'I'm pretty sure I remember her dying as a result of childbirth, but now, I'm not so sure. And if it turns out that I'm wrong about her fate, what other events could I have recalled incorrectly?'

'Your pathetic wife is dead, already, Yondaime,' dryly commented Kyuubi, 'Learn to cope.'

'If she really died from childbirth,' countered Minato, who pointed a finger to the left, 'Then why is THAT door over there?'

Taking Minato's cue, Kyuubi turned his head over and saw a tiny door at the end of the corridor. It was labeled, "Kushina."

'Wow, it took you that long to figure it out?'

'You knew?' replied a shocked Minato, 'How long have you known?'

'Chill out, Minato, you simply never asked about the matter until now,' remarked Kyuubi.

'It's kind of funny that you're referring to me by my real name instead of my title for a change.'

'Call me by my real name, and then I can consider repeating it.'

'Duly noted.'

(The Next Morning; In The Cellar At The Safe House)

Kentaro and Goki gradually stirred and yawned while trying to get the sleep out of their systems. Their visions were blurry and they found that they couldn't move their bodies freely.

"Huh? What the...," Kentaro asked in confusion.

"Where are we?" Goki asked as he and Kentaro found themselves in a pitch chamber of some sort with a spotlight over them being the only source of light for them. In all directions outside the spotlight there was nothing but darkness.

"You both are in my territory outside of Iwa's protection," a cold voice said from within the darkness. The two Chuunin looked and found that their arms, hands, waist, neck, legs and feet were tied down to steel chairs they were sitting on and that they were still only in their boxers.

"I'm sorry if you both and your friend Keisuke were hoping for pleasure and a good time with Muteki No Panda-ko-chan, but I have other plans for you three," the voice continued.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want with us?!" Kentaro demanded.

"What I want is to grant you both and your third friend, who presently isn't here at this time but being kept elsewhere, one wish of my choosing based on the answers you guys give to my questions," the voice said, revealing itself to be Naruto as he stepped into the light and stood over them.

Goki inquired, "And what wish would that be?"

With a cold tone Naruto answered in the form of a question, "Do you wish for the pain to cease?"

The three suspects have been captured and the kidnapped children have been found. But more questions remain:

Where are Tsukiiwa and her friends and what goals are Orochimaru and Kabuto hoping to obtain through Project Star's perfection? Will Yatagarsu succeed in taking his revenge against Tsunade by attacking and killing Naruto? Who hired Konan to investigate the kidnappings and is she really there to help Naruto and the others?

Will Naruto get the answers from the suspects and save his five young friends before time runs out? What secrets will Ryota and Haku discover through their meeting with Mito? Why is Kabuto seeking to revive the Uzumaki clan as he promised the girl name Karin? And what new mystery and unknown secrets concerning Kushina and what happened more than 13 years ago is Minato on to?

Find out next time.