Eroninja

Yuffie looked back at Aeris as she lagged behind while they neared the Land of Fire border. Finding that now that she was older again, she was more in charge of her emotions she didn't snap at her teammate for looking like a lovesick puppy. However, aware that with their return to their original ages, as well as form and face in Aeris's case, that there could be serious trouble for them should they be caught she said, "Come on Aeris, pick up the pace. I do not want to run into any Anbu when we're only a couple of days from home. Don't forget as far as Konoha is concerned we're a couple of escaped prisoners."

She did want to lose her cool as Aeris actually seemed to slow down at the mention of the village they were leaving behind. Yet, before she could a large flame shot up on a branch between them as Kiyomi appeared. Both kunoichi stopped on the branch they were on and Yuffie was pleased to see that Aeris also raised her guard. Yuffie was annoyed at the smirk the adorned the red-head's features as if she found it cute the two women thought they could defend themselves from her if she intended trouble.

Holding her four prong shuriken Yuffie said, "I should have known you wouldn't let us go."

Kiyomi's smile grew wider as she responded, "If I wished you dead. I assure you I wouldn't need to come in person to do it."

Before Yuffie could respond in a manner that would likely prompt the Bijuu to show her teammate if she could or couldn't, Aeris said, "How'd you find us? We checked through all the items you gave us. There were no seals or other means of tracking us."

Kiyomi turned her back fully towards Yuffie tempting the woman to try and take out the Bijuu, but doubted her weapon would do anything but make her annoyed. Kiyomi was amused as she said, "Did you honestly think I'd let you go if I couldn't keep tabs on you. But to answer your question, I simply followed my chakra. There is still some of it active in you; I do after all, need to make sure you can't spill any of Naruto's secrets now, don't I?"

"So why reveal this to us," Yuffie asked causing the Bijuu to look at the Taki-nin from over her shoulder.

"I may hold a particular disdain for you and your team," Kiyomi said neutrally. "However, as Tifa has decided to become one of Naruto's lovers. I must at least come to grips with her presence as well as the fact that she is now a part of my family. With that in mind, I feel the need to inform you that in your haste to return to your village. You're in fact likely rushing towards your demise."

"What do you mean?" Aeris said with a measure of confusion. "Why would Kiba..."

"Kiba doesn't know," Kiyomi said quickly. "He is under the impression that he has granted you the freedom that you both desire." Seeing the look that passed over Aeris face the Bijuu added, "Although perhaps one of you is questioning whether that is..." Advertisements

"We're not questioning anything," Yuffie said in an anger brought on by the fact the Aeris wasn't even bothering to try and conceal that was what she was feeling.

Kiyomi's smile made the emotion stronger as well as her dismissiveness towards Yuffie's claim. "Hmm, is that so? In any case, I think that you'll find your leaders are going to be less than thrilled at the prospect of your return."

"Get to the point, fox," Yuffie demand feeling some joy at the Bijuu's eyes narrowing at her, even as she felt a shiver of dread also since she knew what would likely be her fate if she did provoke the woman too far.

"As you wish," Kiyomi replied after a moment, "As you know doubt know, Fu was the host of my sister Seven. Well what you may not have realized is what brought her to Konoha in the first place. Basically, she was betrayed by your elders to prevent the Village from having to face the Akatsuki."

Aeris frowned at her village choosing to abandon one of its own rather than fight. She hadn't known Fu, but could only imagine how the woman must have felt. However, she didn't necessarily see how it concerned her or Yuffie so asked, "What does Fu being betrayed have to do with us?"

Kiyomi gave the woman a sad frown as she answered, "Well, they weren't going to let Akatsuki try to capture her in the village. Therefore they needed to give her a reason to leave; the mission they came up with was to link up with a certain Team of kunoichi that had been out of contact for around ten years or so."

"Us," Aeris said as her eyes reflected her shock, "But we were..."

"Locked up," Kiyomi finished. "Hence, the out of communication part of my explanation. If you're going to sell out your most powerful military asset, you certainly aren't going to announce as much to your village, are you? What better patsies to pin it on, then a team of kunoichi that you know are locked up and can't defend themselves?"

Aeris directed her gaze past the Bijuu to Yuffie, who looked at the woman's back with several emotions boiling within her. Disbelief won out as she shouted, "Why should we believe any of this crap? Why tell us now?"

Kiyomi shrugged as she answered, "Kiba believes he is setting you loose. I saw no reason to illuminate him to the possible fate that awaited you since it would likely influence at least one of you into staying. If you did choose to stay, it should be something that you decide to do after having some time to think it through away from the village." Looking back at Yuffie, the Bijuu said, "Besides, truthfully I thought you would have made the trip alone and I can't say I would have felt all that horrible if you ended up in a shallow grave."

"Bitch," Yuffie muttered.

Kiyomi smirked as she focused on Aeris to continue, "But, you seem genuinely sorry for your past actions. It would be a shame if you didn't know what fate potentially awaited you. Plus, if Naruto ever realized it upon returning to Konoha, he'd be disappointed in me for not sharing the information. I've done that enough, especially in regards to you and your teammates."

"Was that an apology?" Yuffie asked annoyed.

"Hardly," Kiyomi replied, "Merely an acknowledgement that my treatment of you was rather rough. In all honesty I do not regret it, only the difficulty it caused in my own relationship with Naruto." With a shrug the Bijuu added, "Well now you're properly informed so can decide what to do with the rest of your lives however long may they be."

She was about to Hiraishin away but stopped as Aeris said, "Wait! Is that why you included so many supplies?"

Kiyomi smiled as she answered, "Enough for a trip to Taki and back, or at least to wherever you decide to go if you truly don't wish to return to Konoha. Regardless of what you do decide, your fate is now truly in your own hands. Don't choose poorly."

The Bijuu then disappeared in flames leaving the two Taki-nin alone. Yuffie quickly tried to blow Kiyomi's warning off as she said, "Forget her Aeris, she's lying."

Aeris looked away as she stared towards in the direction of the Leaf Village as she responded, "Is she? Didn't the village do the same thing to your sensei's old teammate after he failed to kill the First Hokage?"

Yuffie winced as she couldn't deny that it had in regards to Kakuzu. However, not wishing to see her team break up even further she said desperately, "Aeris...please..."

Aeris looked back torn, but then she began to become covered in the red-chakra of Kiyomi as it boiled up from her skin. Yuffie moved to help her teammate and friend, but before she could move she noticed the woman's body and face morphing back to how she had looked during their time in Konoha. When the change was complete she saw that her teammate's heart was settled. It was conveyed in words as Aeris said, "I'm sorry, Yuffie. I can't deny what I want any longer." The kunoichi then leapt away as she decided to return to the place where she decided to make a new home.

Yuffie watched despondent as she watched her last team member abandon her. Feeling alone, she sat down against the trunk of the tree on whose branch she sat and began to cry into her knees. As she vented her tears, she was unaware of the fact that red chakra began to appear from her skin as well.

*****

Time didn't have much meaning for Toka after being hit by the Uchiha's Jutsu. She had felt as if she was on the verge of teleporting somewhere much like when Tobirama would use his jutsu the Hiraishin. Yet, the sensation had ended about midway through the journey, she guessed, leaving her trapped in a black void where without any means to tell time, she couldn't be sure whether an hour, day, year, or even longer had passed.

A part of her wondered if the unending darkness was her reward for the life she had lived, or if the moment she was trapped in was just her mind coping with whatever it was the Uchiha's jutsu had done to her. A point in time that was both unimaginably long while happening almost in an instant. She kept wondering if at any moment she'd suddenly be gifted with the sensation of pain which signified her death and hopefully the end of the nothingness she was experiencing, or at least her awareness of it.

Toka felt some hope enter her as a feeling of acceleration began due to the unformed dimension that the Uchiha Commander's use of Kamui had partially created before his death beginning to collapse. Having been trapped between the outside world and the dimensional space of the jutsu, with the latter's collapse, Toka suddenly found herself face down in the dirt as without the other dimension's pull she was pulled back to the clearing. She picked herself off the ground to her hands and knees and quickly learned that her body didn't appreciate its sudden return as she heaved up the contents of her stomach.

After she was finished, she worked herself to her feet and felt a sense of Deja vu as well as unfamiliarity with her surroundings. The area looked like the one where her clan had battled the Uchiha, yet also much more forested and overgrown then she remembered. Further to the point, there were no apparent signs of the furious battle or aftermath. Unaware of the nature of the jutsu that she had been hit with, she mentally asked, "Where am I? Did that Uchiha teleport me away from the battle somehow?"

Trying to get her bearings, she leapt up a nearby tree and studied the surrounding area. Much like the area she found herself in, it was vastly more forested then she recalled. But what caught her eye was what appeared to be a fortified village nearby. Wondering if much like Tobirama's jutsu, the Uchiha's used some sort of mark or seal to indicate where a teleported person went. She speculated whether or not she was now behind enemy lines. Deciding to scout out the encampment since if it was an Uchiha installation it was bigger than any she had ever encountered which would likely be bad news for the Senju.

Moving towards her destination she was continuously barraged with the feeling that she hadn't traveled nearly as far as she had originally thought. There would be landmarks that looked vaguely familiar except for being more eroded by the weather then she recalled. Also, the forest seemed much thicker and denser than the area she had traveled through on her way to the spot where they had ambushed their rival clan.

Upon nearing what she suspected was a kind of military outpost; she dropped to the ground aware that there could be shinobi patrols. Moving stealthily, she came to a stop upon coming across a well-worn dirt road. She frowned as she stopped neared it, due to just how well traveled it was. Looking up the road she felt some concern, since if she was still near the area where the battle she had just participated in had taken place then it meant someone had managed to build a rather massive fortified village without it being detected. Not an impossible feat of the time, since the many warring clans were constantly trying to find ways to gain an advantage over their rivals. It was rumored that the Uchiha actually had dozens of hidden supply bases hidden throughout the Elemental Countries. Toka recalled how on one occasion her cousin Hashirama had even managed to score a crushing victory against the Yotsuki clan by building a fortress in a single night in a strategic area that forced their opponents into attacking it thus doubling the amount of casualties they suffered.

Toka upon processing the new information wondered if the base was still being constructed or if it was truly still a secret as she recalled what looked like recently repaired sections of the wall that would seem to indicate a battle had damaged them recently. Knowing that in either case she needed to scout the place and then locate her clan brethren to report her findings, she proceeded to follow the road towards it.

She grew confused as she grew closer primarily as while she was moving stealthily through the woods while following the road, she began to pass more and more people. However, none of the travelers towards the base appeared to be shinobi as they looked like regular civilians. She did need to stop several times though as she got closer due to the presence of what appeared to be several shinobi groups began to pass down the road while heading away from the base, often in the company of a civilian.

During those moments, Toka would remain perfectly still, as she observed the suspected shinobi. She noticed that they all seemed to wear a metal band on their person with a symbol she was unfamiliar with. Most of the teams that passed her seemed to be comprised of several children with an adult team leader. Several details struck Toka as odd. For one, most of the younger shinobi all seemed to wear different style of clothes, unlike most clans that she had encountered, where while the colors were different, the armors they wore all were of the same style. The older shinobi though tended to favor wearing a standardized uniform which consisted of a light flak-jacket and a dark blue shirt and pants. The reason Toka found this so strange was that although most of the children were old enough to have been in battle several times over, for the most part they seemed to be green recruits. Also, they seemed entirely too comforted by being near the base they were coming from as they more often than not were barely paying attention to their surroundings, often chatting among themselves or with the civilian they were accompanying. She found herself wondering why the more experienced shinobi that appeared to be in charge weren't calling them on their behavior as they should know that enemy clans could attack at any moment. The behavior of the children notwithstanding, Toka was forced to admit that the team leaders did appear to be well aware of this fact as several seemed to be aware of the fact that someone was watching from the woods. Naturally, she was curious why those team leaders didn't follow up on their intuition, but she suspected it was due to the presence of the civilians and not wanting to put them in danger.

She began to move again after a lull in the foot traffic appeared, and found herself rather confused as to the nature of the installation she wanted to recon. She had noticed that all of the flak jackets had sported the symbol of the Uzumaki clan. However, she had spotted none among the shinobi that she would have labeled as being members of said clan. However, she had noticed what appeared to be Aburame, Inuzuka, and even the Hyuuga among the teams that had passed her.

Furthermore, as she listened to some of the teammates speak to each other, she had learned that most of the teams were actually hired by the civilians that were accompanying them, and for the teams that weren't in the presence of one, they were in most cases going to meet their clients. Toka honestly couldn't fathom this, as it took a person of incredible means to hire a shinobi clan. Some of the people that had hired the shinobi passing by had looked as if they could barely rub to coins together, let alone be wealthy enough to hire shinobi. More to the point, hearing some of the tasks the civilians had in mind for the shinobi they had purchased made the Senju wonder if she was wasting her time trying to recon the base. She couldn't understand why someone would hire a trained killer to herd livestock, or locate a missing cat.

She did consider that it might be a rather ingenious way for some of the weaker clans to gather resources to compete against the Senju or Uchiha. Although, she did have a difficult time believing the Uzumaki would be party to such a plot considering their long standing alliance with her clan. Yet, Toka knew that given the right circumstances that almost any alliance would crumble.

Nearing her destination she applied a henge that changed her appearance to that of a civilian of modest means, before stepping out onto the path. Upon nearing the massive gate a shinobi wearing glasses along with a bandana that sported the forehead protector and marking that she suspected was the symbol for the alliance of clans the base represented called out towards the new arrivals, "Greetings everyone, and welcome to Konohagakure. Can I ask all residents and frequent visitors with passes to form a line to my right? Please have the necessary paperwork out so the chunin at the gate can quickly get you on your way. Everyone else, please form a line to my left so we can get you signed in. Also, the morning job assignments have already been handed out, so if you are hoping to hire a shinobi team for D ranked missions, you'll need to wait for the afternoon session. You can still head to the Mission Office to make your request known however."

Toka was a little surprised at how forthcoming the man at the gate was, since he had effectively answered several of her questions. She guessed the D-ranked missions that he had mentioned were intended for shinobi of low rank and status. It didn't answer why children at such an age were only now just getting such missions, but all things considered she imagined they must not consider it much of a secret that they were. Yet, it did make her begin to question just what the situations she found herself in was, since none of the people around her were giving off the air of people that lived under the constant threat of attack. Plus, she found it hard to believe that with just a signature she would be allowed inside a military installation. Yet, as she got closer and looked in past the massive gates, the area inside the wall looked more like a large village, than a clan encampment. She did notice more signs that it had been attacked recently so suspected that despite appearances it was filled with capable warriors.

Getting into the line for new or infrequent visitors, she waited to approach the desk while trying to listen for any useful information. She noticed quite a few rough looking characters in line with her, most of who were being accompanied by rather well to do individuals. It was something that one of the apparent residents of the village noticed as well. The old woman approached the glasses wearing man directing the lines and asked, "Okei, what's with all the rough and tumble types lazing about recently. Are they here for the Chunin exams?"

The shinobi chuckled as he said, "No, they're here due to a challenge that has been issued by the Owner of the Great Tree Shipping Company."

"What sort of challenge? And why would the Hokage permit so many thugs into the village to take part in it?" the woman queried.

"Perhaps you'll permit me to answer that ma'am," an older man said approaching the two.

"Who are you?" the old woman said annoyed at her village being filled with so many deviant looking types.

"Forgive me," the man replied politely regardless of the woman's tone, "I'm Jirocho Wasabi, Head of the Wasabi family."

The woman's eyes grew wide as she realized that she had disrespected the man who controlled the Degarashi Ports and ran several gaming houses throughout Tea Country. "Please forgive me," she said quickly, "I had no..."

Jirocho put her at ease by chuckling as he said, "There's not need to apologize. I can only imagine how disconcerting it would be having so many unsavory types running about. The reason for their presence though is that the Lady Kiyomi is hoping to prove that her company is once more capable of taking on the more dangerous shipping jobs. It's no secret that while she was incapacitated, her siblings had nearly ruined her company's reputation for safely transporting its cargo through multiple countries."

"I'm afraid I don't understand," the woman said confused.

"Basically what I mean is the primary difficulty one can expect when shipping valuable cargo is when it has to pass through multiple countries." Jirocho could see his point wasn't getting across so explained, "Take a shipment going from Degarashi Port and which needs to reach the Capital of Lightning Country. Now due to the good relations between Fire Country and Tea, it would be no problem for a shipping company to hire a shinobi from Konoha to escort the cargo through Tea and Fire Country. However, once they reach Hot-Water Country then those Leaf Shinobi might not be able to escort it any further, and definitely would be unlikely to be able to escort it into Lightning Country itself."

Okei nodded, but said, "Although if things go well with the impending talks with Kumogakure that could change."

"Hopefully," Jirocho replied, "but one is likely to encounter the same problem with Earth Country and Water for the foreseeable future." Returning his focus to the woman he continued, "For the company responsible for the shipment, they get around this by hiring their own security force to accompany the shipments. These usually are made up of Samurai or ex-shinobi who work for the Company directly, rather than a hidden village, as such they have no trouble crossing the borders of countries hostile to the shinobi of the country they operate out of. It also tends to be cheaper, since rather than hiring a shinobi team from each of the countries a shipment is moving through, they only need to pay the one team once."

The woman did seem to understand his point so asked, "I take it then, that bandits would take advantage of these change overs in security if a company used shinobi instead?"

"Precisely," Jirocho answered with a nod, "A lot of bandit groups are actually based near the borders of known trade routes. This is so they can take advantage of a change overs since most times the shinobi leave before their counterparts arrive, or to take a shipment where the company doesn't hire shinobi to watch it after crossing a border. It's a gamble but sometimes a company is banking on the shipment being able to reach its destination before the bandits realize there will not be any additional guards joining up with it."

"Yet what does that have to do with so many men that could be bandits coming to Konoha?" the woman asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people are actual bandits," Jirocho informed the woman. "It has to do with Lady Kiyomi's challenge. A lot of shipments were taken during her siblings' tenure at the head of the company. They refused to hire shinobi from multiple countries to protect shipments so a lot of them ended up getting stolen. Recently, her president has been meeting with old customers and has claimed to have hired several powerful warriors to protect all future shipments. The Great Tree Shipping Company has been making good on their word to protect the shipments they have been charged with up to this point by hiring shinobi. Still as I mentioned, this method means they are likely barely breaking even, due to how little they are charging in order to win back some of their old business. I suspect Lady Kiyomi's challenge was issued in order to put some of the customers that they have won back at ease now that they are planning to go the security force route. Her challenge is that any of her company's customers or competitors are free to challenge her security force in an upcoming competition that she is holding. If any of her security force is defeated in the competition, then she'll pay a prize of ten million ryo."

The old woman whistled at the amount as she asked, "Is that why you are here?"

"Among other reasons," the head of the Wasabi Family replied.

The old woman looked at the man standing next to the Family Leader as she said, "No offense, but I don't think that young man is going to be able to beat those warriors if Lady Kiyomi is willing to bet that much money on it."

Jirocho looked behind him at Idate, who gave him a smile which the older man returned. Chuckling he said, "Idate is merely tagging along since he was born in the Leaf Village. He is a valued member of my family, and if the competition involved a foot race, I would consider him more than a match for most people. But I have another man in mind to represent my interests in this matter. It was a pleasure speaking with you."

"With you as well Lord Jirocho," the woman replied, "Good luck in the competition."

Toka tuned out the man's reply since she had heard enough, and was approaching the desk. None of what she heard made any sense to her, other than the fact that outside of the village she was standing out front of, there appeared to be others, which seemed to be on similar terms with each other as the clans she knew of were. But she was beginning to wonder if it wasn't just a matter of where she was, as when. This was due to the fact that it was becoming readily apparent that a great deal had changed from when she had gotten out of bed that morning. Hoping to find out more inside the village she stepped up to the desk and hoped that she would be able to supply whatever details she was asked for since a great deal may be different then how she would recall them.

*****

"I'll be back in a moment," Naruto said to his lovers as he approached Karura. "Ready?"

Karura sighed letting a look of distaste appear on her face as Naruto wrapped an arm around her waist before Hiraishining them to the basement of Kiyomi's mansion. As soon as they appeared, she pulled away, making Naruto feel like if it wouldn't look silly then she'd likely put up a sand wall between them. "She certainly has between Temari and me," he thought since Karura had made sure Naruto and his blonde lover hadn't had any time together. Naruto assumed it was only due to their needing to keep a low profile as they traveled under the guise of Karura being a civilian that had hired them to escort her to Fire Country that had kept Temari from going against her mother's wishes. He knew it was so that she could interfere in his love life that the woman hadn't let him Hiraishin her to Konoha.

He half expected that when he Hiraishined back to the forest that he had left his lovers in, he'd be jumped by them do to the lack of s.εﾒ they had enjoyed. This was due to Naruto's decision not to sleep with Sakura or Shizune as he didn't want to have Temari feel left out as they traveled. This naturally didn't endure Karura to the two Leaf Kunoichi, not that she apparently cared as Karura had left him with the distinct impression that she planned to do all within her power to convince Temari to end her relationship with the jinchuriki.

Naruto wasn't too concerned about the mother's meddling as he knew that Temari loved him and as such Karura stood a better chance of convincing a sand storm to change course. He frowned though as the recently resurrected woman said, "So this is going to be my prison for the foreseeable future."

"I've spent some time in prison," a voice called out from the tunnel Seven was building to connect the Den and Hotsprings with Kiyomi's mansion. "If you wish, I could arrange something much more suiting of such a description for you to stay in."

Seven emerged from the tunnel as Karura sent her an icy stare, but the Bijuu ignored it as she approached her lover and kissed him deeply shocking the Sand kunoichi. Seven pulled back and smiled softly before stating, "I want you to visit me tonight."

"No fair," another voice called from the top of the stairs leading to the basement. Karura directed her gaze up to see a buxom blonde hurrying down to join them. Reaching Naruto, she pulled him into a kiss as well before saying, "I want you to spend tonight with me." Looking at her sister who was still holding onto Naruto, Rangiku said, "Although I wouldn't mind sharing him."

Seven shrugged as she replied, "I suppose that would be the most expedient way to solve this dilemma."

Rangiku giggled as she pushed her heavy breasts into Naruto's other side as said, "Then it's agreed."

Naruto smirked while sandwiched between his two lovers as he commented, "Don't I get a say in this."

"Of course you do," Seven said kissing his neck before adding, "Unless it's to say you can't make it."

Naruto chuckled but it trailed off as he felt Karura's eyes burning a pair of holes into his back. Luckily before she could let her thoughts on the matter be known Rangiku said, "So, this is the woman Gaara used to believe he was pleasing when he went on his little rampages."

"Yes, no doubt in thanks to your influence you monster," Karura said angrily. It was an anger that Karura also felt towards her husband and to a lesser extent her brother for agreeing with what her husband had done to her son. Yet to her surprise, Gaara, although having not quite having forgiven them for their actions in making him think she had never loved him, had come to understand what had motivated the previous Kazekage. It also particularly irked her that the man currently sleeping with her daughter, as well as half of her village it seemed, was also the same person that had helped heal most of the emotional damage her husband's actions had caused. She knew she likely owed Naruto a debt, but didn't know if it extended to being pleased with his relationship with Temari.

Naruto felt Seven tense in his arm and was about to try to calm the situation down, not that he had succeeded lately, due to his presence actually escalating the disagreements Temari and her mother were having. Luckily though, Rangiku replied to the barb almost amused, "Me a monster. Who was it that allowed said monster to be sealed inside her son while he was still in the womb? Plus, I've seen you people lock up a monk for no greater crime than containing me. So let's just be more aware of our own actions before we toss that moniker around."

Karura looked away from Rangiku's probing gaze before admitting, "You are right. That was rude of me. Please accept my apologies."

She felt a vein begin to throb upon looking back though as it appeared Rangiku hadn't heard her as she was instead rubbing her hands on Naruto's chest and sucking on his earlobe. Pulling it back she let it slip from her lips as she stated, "Waiting for tonight is going to take forever. Can we just fuck right now?"

Naruto pulled free of his lovers to reply, "Actually, I need to get back to the others. We need to pass through the gate so people don't get suspicious about our arrival."

The jinchuriki was about to Hiraishin but stopped as Karura said, "I trust you'll be coming straight to the village, and will keep your hands off my daughter."

Naruto frowned, but before he could reply Seven said amused, "I think the one you'll need to worry about is Temari."

Karura's face reflected her disapproval at the thought, but Naruto took the opportunity to Hiraishin away. Arriving where he had left his lovers, he saw that much as Seven had stated, Temari appeared to want to take advantage of her mother not being present. However, before she could make her intentions known a clanging sound began to come from the village. Recognizing it as the mobilization alarm, Naruto kissed his lover on the cheek and said, "Rain check, okay?" Temari looked disappointed but nodded so Naruto took off running towards the village with his lovers following behind him.

*****

Yakumo had been stationed at the gate on what commonly was called the babysitting detail. The reason for the name was due to the squads assigned to it where often tasked with watching visitors that caused those working the desk to become concerned. The babysitting detail usually grew during certain events like the Chunin Exam when traffic in and out of the village was at its highest, which made it a prime time for those hoping to infiltrate the village to make their attempts. Due to Kiyomi's Challenge, a lot of people who normally didn't visit Konoha were arriving in the hopes to be the ones to win the Ten Million ryo prize.

She knew some of those entering were representatives of competing companies hoping to prevent the Great Tree Shipping Company's resurgence. In the employ of those representatives were various warriors of different professions. It was a massive headache for security since some of those representatives had actually hired bandit groups to enter the competition since they would be the type of opponents Kiyomi's security force would be facing so if they were defeated by them it would be doubly crushing to any hopes of the Company's quick return to its previous success. The fact that some of those bandit groups would so readily decide to work for The Great Tree Shipping Company's rivals made it seem as if some of the bandits targets had not been as random as they had at first appeared.

Yakumo couldn't say that she was too surprised by the idea that some companies had taken to hiring bandit groups to attack their rivals. She knew that some of the wiser ones actually paid some of the larger bandit groups a tribute to prevent them from attacking their shipments. She imagined it was only a small step after that to actually hiring them to attack rival shippers.

Despite that though, the people bringing actual bandits to the contest were smart enough to tell them not to do anything foolish, since there was an entry fee to participate in Kiyomi's challenge. Therefore, despite the number of shady characters entering the village, the babysitting detail hadn't been called upon overly much since they already knew who to keep an eye on.

That had changed though as a woman approached the desk, prompting the chunin on duty to ask, "Name?"

"Lady Kai," the woman had replied quickly.

"Where are you from?" the chunin asked not finding anything suspicious about her reply.

The woman hesitated as if not sure about how to reply before decisively answering, "Degarashi Port in the Land of Tea."

The chunin hadn't reacted to the strange hitch as he seemingly continued like nothing was wrong, "What is your purpose in coming to Konoha today?"

"I've never been to a... hidden village before; I thought I'd see what they were all about."

"Well welcome to Konohagakure," the chunin said filling out the last portion of her visitors' visa. "Please sign in and I hope you enjoy your visit."

Despite the warm welcome as soon as she accept her paper and turned away the chunin discretely signaled that he wanted the woman watched, so the man in charge of the squad Yakumo had been assigned to motioned for his team to take up the task. At first Yakumo wasn't sure what it was that had prompted the chunin to want the woman followed since upon entering she did seem to almost be overwhelmed by the size and scope of the village. She also seemed particularly taken by the Hokage monument.

Yet as her team kept up their observation of the woman it soon became apparent that she was perhaps more than just some civilian taking in the sights as she seemed to sense that she was being followed. This was due to her moving towards a crowded market and would begin stopping at the various shop windows at random intervals, and while to most she was looking at the items on display. To the shinobi following her, it gave them the feeling that she was looking for her unseen followers.

During one such stop, Yakumo slipped into the shadow of an alley, but almost immediately she heard one of her teammates curse as he was caught out of position and spotted by the woman. "Alright, move in and detain," her team leader's voice said through the ear piece of her radio, "this is no ordinary tourist."

Yet, before the team could follow through on their orders the woman quickly flashed through several hand-signs and Yakumo watched as person after person began to slump to the ground as they fell asleep from the genjutsu which made itself known by the white feathers that appeared in the air. Yakumo blocked the effects from taking over her, but to her shock her entire team had been rendered unconscious as well. This shocked her since although she knew of the Temple of Nirvana Technique, it tended to be completely ineffective against most experienced shinobi even when caught by surprise. That her jounin squad leader hadn't been able to dispel its effects despite being on guard made her suspect she wasn't dealing with a standard genjutsu user.

Shaking off the drowsy feeling that still tried to pull her under, Yakumo realized that the woman hadn't cast the jutsu once but twice with the second casting being more subtle to cause the unwary to believe it was just an aftereffect of the primary casting in case it was dispelled. Releasing the second genjutsu, she cursed as she saw that the woman had taken the opportunity to escape.

Yakumo pulled a flare from her pouch and fired it off, almost immediately causing those monitoring for such a sign to set off the alarm. Leaping to the rooftops hoping to catch some sign of the intruder, she tensed as a female Anbu landed behind her, but relaxed as the woman asked, "What is it?"

"The village has been infiltrated by some woman posing as a civilian..." Yakumo trailed off as her senses screamed at her that something was wrong. "Kai!" she said creating the hand sign to dispel genjutsu and was shocked as the Anbu morphed into a woman wearing armor of the type often worn by Konoha Shinobi during the early days of its founding.

"Impressive," the woman said admiring the kunoichi skill at seeing through her illusion.

Charging Yakumo, she threw a punch which was deflect by the young woman, but followed up with a kick which caused her to stumble back. Yet a moment later the possible spy was forced to leap away as several Anbu who were approaching the market threw shuriken and kunai at her.

Toka avoided the first round of attacks and upon landing focused on the masked men as she weaved a genjutsu that had them believe they had thrown the second barrage they were preparing. However, the genjutsu then made them believe that they had switched places so that their own weapons pierced their bodies.

Toka watched as the masked men collapsed from her jutsu and then raised her hands to block a kick from behind. Catching the leg, she pulled the woman over her shoulder smashing her into the roof of the building they stood on. Producing her own kunai, Toka held it menacingly against the girl's thigh near a major artery as she said, "Where the hell am I?" Having noticed the prevalence of kunoichi she also asked, "Furthermore, when was it that kunoichi stopped being made into baby making factories or as sluts to wheedle information out of the men they slept with?"

Despite the knife being held to her inner thigh Yakumo sensed the woman was more confused and scared than anything else. She was about to try and calm her, but a new voice made it impossible as Naruto shouted, "Get the fuck away from her!"

Toka leapt away as a blond man landed where she had just been standing. He directed an angry gaze her way and she was surprised to see his eyes were yellow with square pupils. Not sure what clan possessed such traits she quickly cast a genjutsu to confuse his senses. Making him believe she was standing still, she charged and closed the distance between them. To her surprise despite his gaze still staring at where her genjutsu should have been telling him she was standing. He lashed out with a punch towards where she had been preparing to kick him in the head. A secondary blow that seemed to follow in the wake of his fist hit her lifting her off her feet and caused her to skid across the roof until barely catching the edge.

Leaping back up to the rooftop, she studied her opponent before she noticed two kunoichi looking over the masked men her genjutsu had taken out. They were being guarded by another kunoichi holding a fan and who wore a separate symbol on the headband she wore. The sight of so many kunoichi kind of shocked Toka since she had been the only active one at her age as most others that established themselves had been quickly assigned a husband and began pumping out future soldiers. Her decision to fight against such a fate had been a major embarrassment to her father, and would have likely been the cause of her being excommunicated from her clan as a traitor, for not doing her duty, if not for her cousin assuming command of the Senju.

Her attention drifted back to the blond man as the first kunoichi she had fought climbed onto his back, causing him to say confused, "Yakumo..."

"Shush," Yakumo said climbing placing her hands on her lover's face. "You can't dispel the genjutsu can you?"

"My mom's feeding me Natural Energy so she can't dedicate herself to it, every time she tries it's like the genjutsu resets, but I can still sense her somewhat," Naruto answered finding the way the woman standing in front of him would flicker before reforming a little disorienting, especially since his senses were telling him that she was standing further away and to his right.

A moment later the woman completely vanished as he spotted her standing where she was really. He registered her shock at her self-repeating genjutsu being broken before casting another that caused multiple images of her to appear as she disappeared again. "She's good," Yakumo stated finding that every time one was broken a new one took its place.

"Hang on," Naruto warned as he was forced to move sensing the woman was attacking again. Yakumo wrapped her legs around his stomach as she held on while Naruto leapt away from where he sensed she was approaching from. He caught a flicker of her for a moment and created several clones to attack the location. He wasn't too surprised as the clones were dispelled but used the smoke of their defeat to make his opponent as blind as he was.

He was forced to agree with Yakumo's statement of the woman's skill as he had hoped that with the added intricacy of the smoke he'd be able to spot some sign of her moving through it. But apparently she was quite aware of that so her jutsu made sure to erase any path she may have cut through it. Yet, that didn't concern Naruto too much as he had other plans which he showed as he leapt free of the smoke before shouting, "Temari now!"

His lover smiled as she pulled her fan back and waved it blowing the smoke away, as well as the woman that had been moving through it towards the sound of the man's voice. Naruto watched as the woman appeared and her copies disappeared due to Yakumo's breaking through her genjutsu and her being too busy holding onto the roof to reapply it.

The tile of the rooftop that the woman was using chakra to grip gave way causing her to be blown towards the edge of the roof. Before she disappeared over it, Naruto threw a kunai and teleported to it catching her by the arm as Temari's jutsu ended. The woman quickly pressed an older style kunai towards his stomach as she said, "Let me go, or I'll gut you."

"Do that and you'll fall," Naruto pointed out.

"A fall from this height wouldn't be fatal," she pointed out.

Naruto shook his head as he countered amused, "But it wouldn't do you any good, that's for sure. Plus how do you know I wouldn't fall on top of you." Toka glowered at him prompting him to say, "Look lady, you're the trespasser here. I can sense a certain amount of confusion coming off of you. I'm guessing you want some answers, let me help you to find them. My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

Toka stared into the young man's blue eyes and couldn't see any deception in them. She pulled her blade from his stomach and put it away as she replied, "Uzumaki... I am Toka of the Senju Clan. Have I somehow been transported to the Land of Whirlpools? I had thought this village was somewhere in the Land of Fire."

Naruto set Toka down on the roof's edge as he got over his surprise. Recalling from a conversation Tenten had with Mito about there having been a Toka Senju, and taking in her old battle armor, Naruto said, "Um... I think it would be a matter of when you were transported to, not where."

Toka wasn't as shocked as she otherwise might have been already having come to believe as much. Directing her gaze to the stone faces carved on the mountain she asked, "I see. Is there some particular reason my cousins' faces have been carved into that mountain."

Naruto nodded as he answered, "They are the faces of the previous Hokage. Your cousin Hashirama Senju founded the village, and was followed by his brother after he died from injuries he sustained in his last battle with Madara Uchiha."

Toka tensed at the name as she said angrily, "I told Hashirama his hopes for peace with the Uchiha would lead to his death." Advertisements

"It also led to this village," Naruto said holding his hand out towards his home. Seeing that Toka was less than convinced that it was a fair trade off, he added, "Come on. Let me introduce you to the Fifth Hokage. She also happens to be your Great Grandniece."

"I see," Toka said, "Then the Senju still rule this village."

"Not exactly," Naruto said as Yakumo slipped from his back before tapping him on the shoulder. Looking at his lover she indicated the sleeping people down below causing Naruto to say, "Um, before we go into all that. Do you think you could...?"

"Very well," Toka said ending her genjutsu which awakened the people she had put to sleep and the Anbu that Shizune and Sakura were looking over. As she watched the people awaken, she noticed that gathered around the other rooftops were the shinobi that made up the village and had remained back to let Naruto deal with the situation. Again shocked to see so many different clans represented in one place, she couldn't deny that perhaps Hashirama's dream wasn't as ludicrous as she had so often believed, especially since she noticed quite a few women standing among the ranks. Looking towards Naruto, he indicated in which direction she should go before leaping away to introduce her to her grandniece.

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