Disclaimer– "The act of writing is an act of optimism. You would not take the trouble to do it if you felt it didn't matter. – Edward Albee.

The Maelstrom of Konoha-1.26

The Tale of a Young Boy's Ascent into the Legends

God I took a long time rewriting bits of this. It only focuses on two characters, but I think it's an important chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. I'm going to try and get the next one out sooner but we'll see. These chapters are difficult because I'm trying to make all of the characters come together at the right time to wrap things up. – C.


Kiba fell to the ground and stared up the length of the sword pointed at his neck. Sakura stood over him, sword in hand, smirking triumphantly. Kiba hurt all over. His arms and back throbbed with pain where Sakura's practice sword had hit him. They'd definitely be welts tomorrow.

Sakura took her sword away from his neck and he stood up slowly. This was Sakura? The pink haired girl who couldn't beat a child with her taijutsu? The girl who fawned over Sasuke? No, this was a different animal altogether. This Sakura was strong, and fearless. She barely even blinked when he had gone at her with a Gatsuga.

"If this had been real fight," Gekko said with his arms folded," then you'd be missing several limbs and probably dead, Kiba."

Kiba growled. "Obviously," he said. "She hit me with that sword like 8 times! And it hurts, by the way," he added to the pink haired girl.

Gekko nodded. "Exactly. You definitely need to work on evading blows. The strength of your blows is nothing to laugh at, but if you continue to take hits as you try to land a blow you'll only end up with pyrrhic victories."

Kiba grimaced. He had thought, no, known, he was making progress with his fighting ever since Gai had taken him under his wing, but the fact that Sakura had come so far so fast under Hayate made his progress seem like nothing. It was disheartening.

"Sakura," Gekko turned towards the girl as he spoke. "You've been doing very well. You and Tenten both. If you each continue like this I have no doubt you'll be the best sword wielders in Konoha of your generation. Now, Tenten, I want you to listen closely as well…

Kiba stopped listening and turned around to see that team 8 had joined their training again. Hinata was currently sparring with Neji under Gai's watchful eyes while Kurenai watched over them. Shino had already left for some mission with his father, but both Hinata and Kurenai had greeted him warmly since yesterday. Maybe it was because they had all gone out to lunch together. It seems they forgave him for being an idiot before. Except he couldn't feel worse about it. He felt so guilty.

Yesterday when they had all gone out to lunch, he had done it. He did the deed. He poisoned Shino's lunch yesterday while he smiled through his teeth. His mother was happy when he had told her of course, but Kiba was the one who had to deal with a dirty conscience. This wasn't some fight over a girl any longer. Now it was war between two clans, and he was playing a pivotal role. And now that team 8 had forgiven him and were being friendly, it only made it worse for him. He had betrayed their trust.

He had done it when they had gotten their first orders. Kiba hadn't been sure how he was going to go about it; he wasn't really the stealth type, despite being a shinobi. He had spent so long debating on how he was going to do it, and then it ended up being almost laughably easy.

Lunch had given him the golden opportunity. When the old chef had put their meals down in front of her, he handed it down to each person, and as he did so he took the small vial out that his mother had given him, and carefully poured it into Shino's meal.

Nobody had noticed, and Kiba still wasn't sure if it had even worked. That didn't matter though. He did his job for the clan, and now he was done. He'd call it quits and just say no next time his mother wanted him to do something against the Aburame. Clan or no clan, he was a Konoha shinobi, damn it.

On the training grounds, Hinata glanced at him and gave him a small smile as she went through her forms. Kiba gave a smile back, but quickly glanced at her father, Hiashi, to make sure he wasn't disapproving. He was surprised to see the man giving a smile, even if it was a little thin lipped.

That had thrown him off at first. He knew that Hiashi was supposed to observe him, but he was still unnerved when the man showed up to their team training and sat down on a nearby bench, simply to watch. It made Kiba feel like everything he was doing was being scrutinized. Perhaps it was.

Hiashi had kept his distance for the most part, although today when Hiashi had shown up he had given Kiba a small nod, perhaps as a hello, or maybe as some form of acknowledgement. Kiba wasn't sure. The fact that he didn't seem to mind him trying to be friendly with his daughter was also extremely off-putting. Shouldn't Hiashi be stern and telling him to stay away from his daughter?

Just as he was thinking this, the man beckoned Kiba over with a small wave. Kiba pointed at himself stupidly until Hiashi nodded, and then he got up and walked over, putting on his best smile.

"Yo," he said with a wave.

Hiashi's eyebrow shot up and he said calmly, "Hello Kiba."

Kiba cursed inwardly at his own choice of slang. Stupid. Should have said hello. He thought carefully about his next words. Asking, "What do you want?" Would probably be fine among Inuzuka, but would come off entirely too crass to a Hyuuga. So Kiba tried to settle on something a little bit in between. Not too informal, and not so uptight that it made him seem fake.

"You wanted to speak with me?" he asked, then added, "Sir?"

Hiashi nodded as he watched his daughter and Neji practice. "Indeed, Kiba."

Kiba stood at attention for a moment, waiting for Hiashi to continue, but the man simply stared at his daughter and Neji, sitting still as stone. Kiba shuffled on his feet, wondering what the man was doing. Did he expect Kiba to say something? Kiba wracked his brains trying to think if there was anything his mother had told him specifically to say to Hiashi. He couldn't think of anything though, so he turned back to look at what Hiashi was looking at—Hinata and Neji. Maybe he was supposed to notice something?

After a moment, Kiba turned around to the older man. "So, uh, what did you wan—"

"Those tribal tattoos you have on your face," Hiashi cut in suddenly. He still didn't bother turning to look at Kiba, who had brought his hands up to his face to trace the outlines of the fang-like tattoos on either cheekbone. "Yes, those," Hiashi said. Kiba gave a started, not noticing Hiashi was looking at him.

How? Kiba grimaced. Byakuugan. Of course.

"Correct me if I'm mistake, but do those not symbolize your membership and loyalty to the Inuzuka clan? It would be shaming for an Inuzuka to have the tattoos removed, am I correct? It symbolizes that one has betrayed his clan?"

Kiba frowned, wondering where this was going, and then nodded. "Yes, if we lose the tattoos, our companions also leave us as we have abandoned the pack, er, um, clan, that is."

"I see. Many do not realize that the Inuzuka markings are not inborn, but are in fact given to a clan member when they have accomplished their first clan mission. I however, am fully aware of this," Hiashi said.

Kiba nodded, showing he understood. Why was Hiashi talking about this, and why did Hiashi know that it had to do with a clan member's first clan mission? A mission given to a member by the clan head and not the Hokage? Did the Hyuuga have a similar tradition?

As if to answer his questions, Hiashi turned to look at Kiba fully then and leaned forward. "I merely bring this up, Inuzuka Kiba, to stress that the Inuzuka clan is the only one to stress the loyalty to the clan so deeply, even more than the Hyuuga. It would be a shame, then, if you failed to do everything in your power to redeem yourself in the Inuzuka clan.

Kiba gulped and couldn't help but shift his weight nervously. Did Hiashi know about him poisoning Shino? No, he couldn't. That would be impossible. He was just talking about Kiba's position as losing his position as the clan heir, surely.

Kiba was about to ask if that was what Hiashi was getting at, but was cut off again suddenly by the older man.

"I understand that originally you fought with the Aburame boy over my daughter. Is that true?"

Hiashi was definitely putting the pressure on Kiba. He was sure of it. Kiba would have given anything to be anywhere but in front of Hyuuga Hiashi at that moment, but after a moment he steeled his nerves, stood firm and nodded.

"Yes, Hyuuga-san. I did. In fact it is something I am deeply regretful for. I treated Hinata unfairly and didn't show her the respect she deserves. I have apologized to her, and I would like to humbly apologize to you—"

"Actually, as I understand it you quite impressed Hinata." Hiashi cut in. Did the man ever wait for someone to respond fully?

Kiba blinked. "What?"

"Do not say what as if you didn't hear me, Kiba. I do not like to repeat myself."

Kiba gaped, "no, what I mean is how did I impress her?"

Hiashi looked back at Hinata finally, and Kiba was silently thankful that the man's stern gaze wasn't so focused on him anymore. "Hinata has always been shy. It is what makes her weak. She does not take what she wants, and has never been certain how to do so. That may be slowly improving, but that is thanks to people like you who show her the way. Your determination is inspirational to her, not to mention the fact that you fought for her is very flattering. It showed you care about her."

Kiba took this all in with wide eyes. Why was Hiashi telling him this? Shouldn't this man be chasing him away from Hinata with a huge stick, or worse, his jyuuken?

"I cannot say much for what she thinks of the Aburame boy however," Hiashi said thoughtfully. "She mentions you from time to time by name, but never the Aburame boy. In fact, I am not sure she truly enjoys his company as anything more than someone she has to deal with as a teammate."

Suddenly Hiashi stood up, and Kiba turned to see that the rest of the teams had all finished their practice. Everyone was gathering their gear and smiling as they got ready to head home, or go grab something to eat.

Gai enthusiastically invited everyone to continue training with him and Lee, but nobody seemed interested. Kiba smiled at his new teacher's antics. If he weren't already so exhausted and bruised from sparring Sakura and Tenten, he might have taken up that offer.

Asuma's team had already left, they were all eager to leave it seemed, and were heading to the barbecue grill restaurant nearby. Apparently Choji had won some bet, and Asuma was looking pretty sad about it as he eyed his wallet.

Hinata and Neji began to walk over to Hiashi and him, and the older man glanced down at Kiba.

"I wanted to congratulate you on your very recent success, Kiba, but I am sure you will be asked to do more shortly." The man gave a hint of a smile and strode off to meet his daughter and nephew.

Kiba sat there for a long time, his mouth agape, as he faced the truth. Hiashi knew. The head of the Hyuuga clan knew exactly what Kiba had done to Shino, there could be no doubt. Was he in on this with his mother? Or did he find out some other way, in which case what did that mean for him? For his clan?


"So where are we headed to now?" Naruto had been a source of constant questions throughout the trip. Jiraiya usually didn't mind questions, but this kid's were constant! Always about where they were going, what was he doing, and could he train him. And if Jiraiya did train him, the kid always absorbed the lesson way too quickly for comfort. Jiraiya just wanted some peace and quiet.

Although somehow, ever since Jiraiya had taken him on this mission, Jiraiya couldn't imagine things without the kid. Having him around made him feel useful again. Needed. Intelligent. Jiraiya had always been well suited for training others. Hell, look at his previous student, the fourth Hokage! And now his student's son, Jiraiya's own godson, Uzumaki Naruto, was proving to be every bit as apt as the Yondaime had been.

No, Jiraiya was quickly becoming attached to his godson turned student. They didn't always see eye to eye, but slowly they seemed to be reaching some sort of mutual understanding. At the moment, they were heading down the trail towards another one of Jiraiya's contacts, who happened to be an owner of a brothel. Beside him, Naruto was walking with a frown on his face as he tried to puzzle out the jutsu Jiraiya had shown him.

"Can you do it again? I need to see you do it."

Jiraiya sighed. "Watching me do it over and over won't make you learn it. You have to practice it and discover how it works yourself, or you'll never master the technique."

"Just one more time, Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto asked earnestly.

Jiraiya sighed, but did the technique anyway. He wasn't sure what Naruto couldn't possibly figure out from watching the technique, he wasn't an Uchiha.

"Okay, but again I'm only going to do a small one, otherwise it'll just draw attention. Doton: Yomi Numa!"

Jiraiya put his hands down on the ground as he did so and drove the chakra through his arms into the earth, and suddenly in front of him where he'd focused the chakra the earth quickly became a swamp, as deep as it was wide.

"So cool!" Naruto said as he admired the small swamp. It was only a few yards wide, but it wasn't hard to make a larger swamp once the technique was mastered, and it could easily stop an enemy in their tracks.

Jiraiya nodded and gave a wide smile at the praise. "Well there you have it, now it's up to you to figure it out. I've given you the seals and the basic lesson on it. You take it from here."

"I've never really understood techniques unless I get to see them a few times," Naruto commented as he examined the swamp. "All that book stuff and lectures never really sink in."

Jiraiya was about to argue that the lectures and 'book stuff' were important, but froze, remembering his own youth. He hadn't always been so rigorous with his own training. The academy hadn't helped him much. It had been Sarutobi –sensei and his hands on teaching which had ultimately turned Jiraiya into who he was.

Jiraiya turned his mind onto their destination; a brothel and stripclub. Jiraiya did have a reputation for going into such places, and not without reason, he did enjoy it, but this truly was one for his spynetwork, as many others were. Brothels were a great place for the exchange of information. Men drunk on sex were always quick to give up information at the bedside.

Still, Jiraiya wasn't sure how to tell the boy, who was far too prude for a healthy teen, and would probably be outraged. Naruto would probably think Jiraiya was just 'celebrating' and being a filthy old man.

Jiraiya glanced up at the sun. It was getting late; the sun was starting to fall. They had been heading to their destination almost the entire day, sometimes running, and other times, like now, taking their time to walk and enjoy the scenery. In his many years, it was one thing Jiraiya had learned should be appreciated on missions. Regardless, they would be at the brothel soon. Within the hour easily, if not sooner.

Naruto suddenly knelt down to the ground. Jiraiya could feel him molding his chakra, and the kid had a determined look to his face as he planted his hands on the ground.

"Doton: Yomi Numa!"

Jiraiya felt a slight bubbling from the ground and he quickly moved away as the earth he'd been standing on suddenly changed into a dark murky color. It had changed form, but it wasn't the swampy mud that was supposed to appear.

Jiraiya knelt down and prodded it with his finger to see if it had the desired effect of pulling someone in and trapping them. It was soft, but not mud. A little too hard, more like clay.

Naruto groaned as Jiraiya shook his head. "You're getting better, keep at it. It's a hell of a lot better than yesterday. And don't test the technique on me again."

Naruto laughed and tried to play it off, but Jiraiya didn't doubt that he was taking him seriously. Naruto sat down and looked at the clay he'd made, clearly disappointed that he still hadn't figured it out. He'd been working on it for only a short time, but Naruto refused to give up.

Jiraiya walked up and looked at the clay a little bit closer. "You need to fuse your chakra into the earth a little more, and add some water into it. Right now it's too dry, so you end up with this, which is wet, but not enough. Naruto nodded slowly, and Jiraiya held up his hand before the boy could try again.

"Before you go on, have you made any progress with the other jutsu?"

Naruto nodded and gave a smile. "Hell yeah! I've got this by the end of the night, easily, check it out!"

Naruto flashed through some hand signs and molded his chakra to quickly form a kagebunshin and then perform a second jutsu, "Kageayatsuri no Jutsu!"

The clone stood still for a moment, before looking at Jiraiya and said, "See?"

Jiraiya ignored the clone and stared hard at the clone's shadow, where another Naruto suddenly emerged, as if the shadow were peeling itself off of the ground. Jiraiya inspected the shadow closely and grunted.

"Almost, the shadow still has color to it; if I look at it directly I can tell it's you and not a shadow. But almost."

Naruto let go of the technique and nodded. "I've got it well enough for now though."

"No, you don't have it well enough for now, Naruto," Jiraiya stressed, perhaps a little too much than he meant. "You have to promise you won't try techniques that you haven't mastered on missions. It could be dangerous not only for you but your comrades as well."

Naruto looked a bit put off by Jiraiya's tone, but Jiraiya knew he couldn't show any weakness on this issue. He had to make sure Naruto understood. After a moment, Naruto nodded in agreement.

It wasn't long before they found themselves in front of the brothel .Naruto stared up at the building and then back at Jiraiya accusingly. "This is where we're headed? I thought by celebration you meant dinner or something, maybe some drinks, but instead you take us—"

"This is another contact of mine," Jiraiya cut in. "And perhaps we can celebrate too if we feel like it," he added. Naruto was about to argue against it and Jiraiya held up his hands, "look, they've got more than just the women in there, you can drink, gamble, there's a separate room for food, relax. "

Naruto folded his arms and grumbled. "Yeah but this seems like much more of a celebration for you than something I'd enjoy. Who's this contact and why are they in a brothel?"

"There's many a slip 'tween the cup and the lip." Jiraiya said knowingly. "The only time men let more secrets out than when they're drinking is when they're in bed with a woman. A brothel is one of the best places you could possibly go for information."Jiraiya opened the door. He paused for a moment to look over the boys disguise before nodding. "Keep the eyes red, that's it. Come on, I'll introduce you to our contact."

Naruto stepped into the brothel, not really knowing what to expect. The room was red. Very red. The walls were all painted a dark burgundy, and had black trim. Girls walked around in scantily clad outfits as they went from patron to patron, leaning over them seductively and chatting with them.

Sometimes drinks were ordered, sometimes the men simply wanted company. Other times the girls would grab the man's hand and lead him beyond red curtains to private rooms for a dance or perhaps more.

Naruto was surprised to see several women patrons as well, and men, shirtless and well-muscled, serving them drinks and talking to them, performing the same duties, apparently, as their scantily clad female counterparts.

In the center of one room was a raised stage, where two women were dancing as they slowly removed their clothes. Naruto's eyes lingered on their striptease for a while before he was suddenly accosted by a girl. She grabbed his arm and pressed her body against his, and he couldn't help but be extremely aware of the soft touch of her breasts. To Naruto's side, a girl had walked up to Jiraiya and grabbed his arm as well.

"Anything we can help you boys with?" the girl on Naruto's asked as she put her hand on his chest appreciatively and eyed him through lidded eyes seductively. "We can help you with anything you want."

Naruto, his mind reeling at the sudden advance from the girls, took a moment to respond. "Um, uh,-"

"No." Jiraiya cut him, his voice firm. Naruto blinked in surprise. He had expected Jiraiya to quickly wander off with the girl and do who knows what with the girl. "I'm here to speak with Madame Ayumi, girls. I have some girls she might be interested in taking in."

The girls' expressions changed immediately to normal straight faces, and one of them answered in a very businesslike tone. "Oh, well you must be one of the proprietors; we'll get her for you."

They both turned and walked off, leaving Jiraiya and Naruto standing near the entrance. Jiraiya caught Naruto looking at him incredulously and guessed correctly at the boy's surprise.

"Thought I'd go with em, eh? You really should start to see underneath the underneath, as your former teacher used to say."

Jiraiya led them to a nearby seat as they waited. Naruto turned back towards the front door and noticed that a lot of girls were lingering in that area so that they could swoop in on the patrons who entered. Often times they only needed to talk with the man for just moments before leading him off to another room in the building.

Naruto frowned. The girls were beautiful, and surely could do anything they wanted. What made them do this for money?

"I don't get it," he said to Jiraiya. "Why are these girls doing this? Couldn't they do something else?"

Jiraiya folded his arms and sat back. "You're assuming that they want to do something else. For some, this is an acceptable life, others feel empowered by it. Still, I suppose some others don't really have a choice."

"What do you mean? Of course they have a choice."

Jiraiya leaned in close to Naruto. "In many brothels the girls are actually from the slave trade, Naruto. They are bought and put into this position."

Naruto nearly stood up in shock, "What? Why aren't we doing something! Jiraiya-sensei!"

Jiraiya grabbed his arm and held him down in his seat. Thankfully nobody seemed to notice the boy's sudden alarm. "Shut up, kid, that's not import—"

"It is important, sensei!" Naruto protested.

"Naruto! Be. Quiet." Jiraiya growled. "This brothel buys the girls from the trade," he tightened his grip on Naruto's arm as he spoke to make sure the boy stayed in his seat. "It buys them, and frees them. Many girls have no place to go however. Most people in the slave trade are prisoners or orphans that are picked up by the slavers. You may not understand it now, but those people, after the captivation and the abuse…" Jiraiya's eyes tightened as he seemed to be imagining the horrors he was speaking of. "They are broken. They don't have, or want, to seek out a new place, and our contact, she takes care of them."

He let go of Naruto's arm, and Naruto rubbed it briefly to get some feeling back into it. "You might not understand right now, but this brothel, it's one of the good ones, and Ayumi takes care of the girls better than anyone else. They aren't forced to do anything they don't want to."

Naruto nodded, and just then woman wearing a fine slim black dress walked up. Jiraiya turned to her and muttered, "Speak of the devil…" The woman was older, Naruto knew, but she looked years younger under a layer of makeup and the fine clothing and jewelry she wore. While the working girls in the brothel were all scantily clad and oozed raw sexuality, this older woman held herself as someone who was in charge, but possessed a classy seductiveness.

"Ah, Mr. Kojima," she said with a warm smile. "It has been far too long, how are you?"

Jiraiya smiled and took the woman's hand, kissing it quickly. "Madame Ayumi, you are as beautiful as ever. I am well."

The woman glanced over at Naruto, and Jiraiya was quick to answer the unasked question. "And this young man is my nephew, Takeru. I'm grooming him to hopefully take over the business one day, since I have no son of my own to pass it on to."

Ayumi nodded. "Very well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Takeru. Now, if you both will please follow me to one of the private rooms, we can discuss business."

Jiraiya motioned with his hands. "Please, lead the way."

The three of them walked through several rooms, and Naruto couldn't help but stare at all of the girls as they passed. To their right as they walked down the hall he peeked past the thin red curtains to make out the shadowing outline of a girl straddling a man's lap, dancing to the music. The next room was a small gambling den, with several tables and men crowded around it, shoving money into piles and cheering when they won and groaning when they lost. In another room men sat around a raised stage with a pole on it, tossing money up to the girls on the stage. When Naruto turned to look at Jiraiya walking beside him, he was surprised to see Jiraiya hardly even paying any attention to the girls.

The older man noticed his look and gave a smirk. "I might not really be the lecherous one here, you know. Sure, I love women, but I can focus when I need to. Seems you're struggling with that."

Naruto looked down at the ground, embarrassed, and even then as a girl serving drinks walked by he couldn't help but notice her long shapely legs, toned from the dancing, with silky smooth looking skin. His eyes longingly followed her calves up to her thighs to the hem of her very small skirt, which hid just enough to be tantalizingly short, but long enough to hide everything. Naruto yanked his eyes away and kept them fixed on the ground, and he heard the girl's light laughter dance in the air behind him.Jiraiya was right, he was having far more difficulty focusing on the task at hand and not the girls. .

Eventually they found themselves in a small room, much like an office. Its dark brown walls and wooden desk were a huge change, from the other rooms in the brothel, with their sheer red curtains masking the silhouettes of girls dancing, flashing easy smiles and the promise of sex.

"Well now, Mr. Kojima, what has brought you here to my fine establishment?" Ayumi asked just as the door closed with a click.

"I want to hear everything you've got recently on the trade. Movements, sales, the works. And anything you have on those missing-nin." Jiraiya said, taking a seat.

Ayumi raised an eyebrow. "Akatsuki?"

Jiyaiya nodded.

"Very well," Ayumi held out her hand expectantly and Naruto watched as Jiraiya fished for a small bit of money and handed it over. Ayumi smiled as it fell into her hands and she put it down on the desk.

"You are most generous, Mr. Kojima," she said. She glanced at Naruto expectantly.

"You don't expect me to pay too?" Naruto asked.

"You can't expect me to give information to two spies for the price of one," Ayumi responded smoothly. "How do I know you aren't both reporting to different masters?"

"I told you he is with me, Madame." Jiraiya growled. "And if you can't take my word for it after all of these years, you'll give me my money back now before something ugly happens."

Ayumi stalled for a moment, her hand hovering over the money as she weighed her options. Naruto had to wonder at that moment if she knew exactly who Mr. Kojima really was, and that the threat of a fight wasn't exactly in her favor. Still, her hand hovered for far longer than Naruto expected. Was she going to call it as a bluff? She'd be in for a terrible surprise.

Finally, she smiled, and her hand fell back to her side. "Of course, Mr. Kojima. You have, after all, been a longtime patron of mine. Your payment is more than enough to cover Takeru as well." She went and opened a drew in the desk, taking out a key and then leaving the room. "Please make yourselves comfortable while I get the information for you, I'll be right back."

She closed the door behind her and Jiraiya sighed, slouching in his seat. He quickly unrolled a scroll and unsummoned his writing materials. "Got to make this quick," he said, climbing under the desk with a small brush and ink. Naruto walked around to watch Jiraiya as he quickly scrawled two seals on the underside of the desk.

"what're those?" he asked. Jiraiya shushed him with his free hand. "Quiet. I'll tell you later, for now, walk outside and go to the bathroom really quick or something. Make a kage bunshin and walk back in here. Leave the kage bunshin to watch the door.

"What? Why?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Just do it!" Jiraiya snapped.

Naruto hurried to comply, leaving the room and nodding to the two men who had appeared on either side of the office door, like guards. The bathroom was nearby, so he quickly entered a stall and made a kage bunshin and then left to return to the office. He nodded to the guards on his way back in.

"Okay, done," he said. "I henged the bunshin too.

Jiraiya frowned. "Not sure that's a good idea, if there are other ninja's in here they could spot a henge pretty easily.

"I'd think there are a lot of reasons to expect a henge in this sort of establishment though," Naruto said.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Ah, I suppose you're right at that. Well, either way it's done now. "Almost done…"

Just then Naruto got a memory from the kage bunshin and his eyes snapped wide. "She's at the door," he hissed.

"What? Shit!" Jiraiya hurried to finish the seals. "Just stall her for a moment.


"Just go out there and do something stupid! Be yourself!"

Naruto didn't even have time to retort, he just spun around and opened the door, stepping outside quickly." Madame Ayumi was right there, her hand outstretched towards the doorknob, and Naruto did the only thing he could at that moment and just walked into her, bowling her over.

He tumbled to the ground on top of her and quickly entangled himself with Madame Ayumi to keep her from just shoving him off and getting back up. The two of them struggled for a moment, she was trying to shove him off and get back up, and Naruto was struggling to keep himself attached and hold her to the ground while trying to make it look like he was trying to get up too. When she planted one hand on the ground to try and push up, he planted his right behind hers and tried to push as well. In the same motion he knocked her hand out of the way and off the ground, making both of them collapse back to the floor.

Then two hands had grabbed Naruto's shoulder and hoisted him up off of Madame Ayumi, while a third guy held out his hand to her and helped her up. She took a moment to brush herself off as the two men held Naruto firmly.

"Well, that was, an experience," She muttered. She looked up at Naruto.

"Sorry," Naruto said, "I didn't mean to, didn't even see you until it was too late.

"Yes, I could see that." Ayumi said. She looked over Naruto, studying him, and Naruto tried his best not to squirm under her scrutinizing gaze. "Where were you headed, anyway?" she asked, folding her arms.

Naruto paused. He couldn't say the bathroom, as the two men holding him already knew he had went earlier. "Ah, he said I could…"

"Mr. Kojima?" Madame Ayumi asked.


"Said you could what?"

She was waiting for an answer, and Naruto was not really having any good ideas. Suddenly, over Ayumi's shoulder, one of the girls caught his eye and winked. "I um…. Wanted to see the girls." He finished in a rush.

Ayumi's face broke into a huge smile. "Ah, well then," she laughed. "Please, go right ahead, enjoy yourself." She nodded to the two men, who let Naruto go, and she strode past him and into the office. Naruto glanced over his shoulder to see as the door opened that Jiraiya had retaken his seat.

One of the girls walking by was carrying a tray with drinks, and Naruto grabbed one. He needed the alcohol to calm his nerves. He didn't want to do this. He downed the drink fast, and sighed. The drink was pretty good. He turned around and grabbed another off the tray. Naruto expected the girl to give him an odd look at drinking so fast, but the girl only smiled at him and kept walking by.

Naruto turned back and walked over to the girl that had winked at him. He might as well go through with his plan now and get a dance. He doesn't really want this anyway. He's just keeping his cover. That's all. The girl took his hand and smiled as she led him to one of the rooms and sat him on a chair. The music seemed louder in here, drowning out all the other noises. In front of him, alone, he took in the entire sight of the girl. She was beautiful. She danced and locked eyes with him, drawing her hands over her own body slowly, sensuously. She dipped down and crawled over to him, climbing up his legs and leaning in to his chest. He could feel her body up against him, her perfumed lingering in the air, clouding his senses. Her hot breath caressed his neck. His body responded, unwillingly. He didn't want this though. He was only doing this to keep with his lie to Madame Ayumi. And at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder; was this girl really doing this dance out of choice either?


So, next chapter: SHINO! ANKO! SASUKE! ITACHI AND KISAME? And what was Jiraiya doing with those seals? Uh, yeah. Hope that's exciting? Dunno.