12So if anyone was confused about Jiraiya's house, here is the explanation. 1st, I think I made it nice and clear, but the gas was supposed to come out as soon as the door was opened. The fat that the door landed on the switch was purely accidental. 2nd, the mat is activated with the gas, so if the door hadn't stuck on the switch, first one across the threshold would have taken a dive.
3rd, the switch in the bedroom is linked to all the cupboards mentioned + the toilet + the stove. Stepping on the switched blew the whole house. Pretty sure I mentioned this, but the gasoline was in the smoke - which was laughing gas. The bolt used to kill the man who opened the door was primed in a cross bow. The part that pushes the bolt was connected to a wire that ran around the room and wrapped around the door handle.
The tension of the string held back the release. When the door was flung open, the wire fell slack and allowed the bolt to fly!
I think that's everything. If you need anything clarified, just ask.
When life backs you into a corner…
Itachi flung out his arm, searching for the ladder he had seen just before the current had dragged him under once again. He had missed several of these now, the water was just that bit too strong for his bulging muscles to resist. Maybe this time…!
His hand contacted the ladder hard and he pulled with all his might, letting out quiet grunts at the effort he was making. His fingers had gone numb from the long exposure to the freezing water – it was late autumn after all – and he could barely feel the metal under his tight grip.
He strained to pull the rest of his body towards the climb to freedom, but the water had already swept him too far past; his muscles were too worn out to counteract the flow.
With a short gasp he let go once more, dipping beneath the surface of the murky water and doing his best to keep his eyes and mouth shut. He could feel his body weakening to the point of exhaustion, and he knew that if he didn't find a way out soon, he would be just another MIA of the organisation (a sorely missed one of course).
He briefly wished that Kisame were down here with him, that man could swim like a shark and would have been able to get them up, no problem.
But alas, he was alone in this foul underground; and wishing for help was not going to get him anywhere. He pushed his arms and legs into action, propelling himself once more towards the poor excuse for air above. He drew in a deep breath of gross oxygen as his head broke the surface and opened his weary eyes.
Blurred though they were with droplets of sewage water, they were still able to make out the hazy outline of another ladder looming close ahead. He blinked rapidly to clear his sight, doing his best to float on the surface of the rushing water.
With the unfeeling mess his body had become he couldn't be sure, but had the strangest feeling that his legs were dragging along something. This belief was further amplified as his upper body began to lean forward, as though something were tilting him, making it more of a struggle for him to keep his head above the water.
He could see a lot better now, and was surprised to find himself drifting slowly towards the ladder he had spotted. Only now could he make out that it was set into a wall with two paths either side of it, causing the central tunnel to fork off in different directions.
He suddenly found himself coming to a stop, realising that the deep water he had been in previously had become very shallow, very quickly – either that, or he had lost some time along the way … somewhere...
He lay on his front for an indeterminable amount of time, his face to the right and only half of his mouth open for air – the other half was still immersed in water. His legs were numb, but he knew that if he wanted to survive then he would need to stand up and climb that damn ladder.
Why the hell couldn't they just have doors?!
Knowing that he had arms somewhere, he put all of his thought into contracting the muscles he couldn't feel, a brief moment of satisfaction flaring in his mind when his hands appeared in front of his face. It had been a while since he'd been this cold, but this certainly wasn't the first time he found himself in such a situation; albeit not in a sewer.
He slowly pushed his upper body off the ground, focusing on the positioning of his arms and increasing his power outage bit by bit, so that he didn't accidently flip himself over or flop back on the ground. It was hard to do without the right sensations from his biceps, but at least the muscles were still responsive.
As he hauled his body up, out of the water, painful tingles started to race up and down his body. His fingers were twitching from the sharp stabs running through them; he rubbed his hands together, trying to encourage some heat into the stiff digits.
As he slowly rose up onto shaky legs, his whole body began to shiver, and goose pimples broke out across his flesh once the surface had warmed up enough to realise it was cold. Not wanting to remain in the sewers much longer, but knowing he had to re-gain control of his muscles before attempting the climb, he took the time to slowly clench each muscle; holding the contraction for a few seconds before releasing it.
The attention allowed his muscles to warm up faster, reducing his shivers and giving him enough control over his body to feel safe on the metal rungs.
As he began his ascension, he briefly wondered where he would find himself when he was through the drain.
'I hope it's not locked…'
He lifted up a shaky hand to push at the covering, directing his dwindling strength into the arm. The cover wouldn't budge.
Nagato wasn't entirely sure what he was doing back at the house. He had stationed his thugs at various points around each village gate – though most were sitting around the guard's quarters awaiting his instructions. He was waiting for Itachi to return, either to inform him of a successful capture or to tell him which direction the target had escaped in.
The latter would annoy him, but now he knew exactly who he was dealing with he expected the night to last a good while longer. At least they weren't chasing on a full-moon again, every time that happened they had to put several men down from infection.
Shaking the depressing thought aside, he continued to look around the up-stairs of the house. It had been searched already of course, but his view of 'valuable' tended to be slightly different from that of his employees. Naturally he would take money (it was for the good of the organisation after all) but he was far more interested in…
'Ah, there it is.'
He stepped around a knot in the floor – no doubt designed to bring something down on his face… ah yes, he could just about see the eggs now – and made his way cautiously to the thin cracks, only faintly visible against the dark blue wall making up one side of that damn Namikaze's bedroom.
This must be it.
They had been searching for Namikaze for nearly eleven years now, searching for the formula he had stolen from the organisation, before running off with that red-headed whore of his. The man had been their top scientist once, at the young age of 18. A true child genius, he had been searching tirelessly for a way to subdue the beasts that roamed their world.
Looking back on the long pages of research left by his predecessors had prompted him to abandon the search for a permanent cure to the disease. Instead, he began to look for a way of allowing the monsters to retain their human minds during the transformation; removing their desire to bite any living creature.
Namikaze had had to promise he would return to the original research after a specified amount of time with no breakthroughs, after their leader had threatened to throw him to the wolves due to the lack of results.
No one was entirely sure what happened to him. One day he'd announced that the formula was close to completion, the next – gone. Just like that.
His lab had been cleared and all of his preparation work and equations were gone. His assistants had no clue how to restart his investigation – though they had been trying ever since. Even Orochimaru, their new head scientist, had no clue how the blonde had even started; let alone how he could finish.
Now though, now he would be able to get his hands on the formula, and they would be much better equipped for fighting those abominations! His friend would be very happy indeed…
He ran his hands over the blank wall, his searching fingers catching faintly on the barely visible cracks. How on earth…
He took a step back, his eyes flicking back and forth over the wall as he looked for a way in. There didn't seem to be any hidden latches or notches, but there had to be a way to get through! The entire wall was devoid of any protrusions and the only knot he'd seen so far was the one to release the eggs (definitely a waste of good food, in his opinion).
Unless… maybe it was a double bluff, anyone trying to get through this door would attempt to avoid the eggs on the way in; perhaps to get one you had to suffer through the other? But the knot of wood in the floor was designed for unsuspecting idiots to step on, surely.
Unless he considered those looking for his formula to be too smart to get caught in the messy trap, but not clever enough to consider a dual snare.
Nagato considered himself a very clever man, perhaps not on par with a top scientist, but definitely more well versed in the art of tactics and strategies. He knew what Namikaze was up to now.
Just as he was turning away to re-examine the floor trap, his eyes caught a discrepancy in the wooden flooring. Not quite as outlandish as the knot, but a noticeable difference all the same.
He bent down to have a look, his cloak flaring out gracefully with the movement. Ah, as he'd thought. There were a few dents in the floor – about 5 – carved quite deep into the ground. The holes were too narrow for him to push his fingers into and were set out in a very specific pattern, like compass points with one hole marking the centre.
He sat back on his heels; his sharp eyes flitting about the room as he searched for an object – or several – that could act as a key for the strange lock. He really had to find out how Namikaze did all of this; even he had never heard of such a lock.
He saw nothing useful in the room, but his mind seemed to be stuck on something outside… had he seen something similar?
'Yes,' he decided 'I have'.
Upon his return to the house he had taken a walk around the back garden, weaving in and out of the burning torches left behind from the earlier commotion which allowed him to see clearly in the dark surroundings.
He had a habit of patrolling the outside of any building he needed to enter. Part of his paranoia, as it was.
Aside from the massive tree growing up the back, the garden had been pretty standard; the only object laying around in the unruly grass being a very smooth rock with unnatural protrusions.
He hadn't really noticed it at the time, seen it – yes – but not really noticed it. Thankfully, his brain filed away everything he saw and then some. Perhaps the rock was what he needed. It was possibly a bit far-fetched that a random rock was the key to a secret door, but knowing Namikaze as he did,
He acted upon his thoughts immediately, exiting the room with long, fast strides – taking care to avoid the egg trap. When he got outside he turned to the left, his memory guiding him towards the drain cover he could see nestled between two of the torches.
Just behind it, almost completely hidden in the long, thick stands of wet grass, the light grey edge of a rock met his searching gaze. It was unnaturally smooth and had two parallel grooves running down each side; almost like handles.
As he neared it he heard a soft thud coming from the drain. He stopped where he was, all of his muscles held taught and ready to fight – he would never flee. There was a soft groan (likely much louder on the other side) then a louder thud, as though whoever it was, was trying to break out.
Nagato trod silently towards the heavy metal cover, wondering whether or not it was worth seeing what idiot had got himself stuck in the sewers. Logically, it was likely to be either one of his men, or their target.
If it were the latter he wouldn't want to risk scaring them off, but he needed to find out somehow…
He knelt down in the grass – using his cloak to keep his trousers dry – and rested his hand on the thick Iron, thinking for a moment before firmly tapping out a pattern that simply meant: 'Report'.
There was silence for a moment, before an answering pattern came from underneath him. He was thrown for a moment by all of the expletives that were being tapped to him, until he recognised the modified code that Itachi had worked out with Kisame, when the big guy had decided the original cipher was too polite.
Though the stoic man hardly ever swore out loud, his language could rival that of a sailors when he thought only Kisame was there to hear him. Nagato had happened to walk past once or twice when the two were creating the modifications, and thought it was in his best interests to listen in.
Although he only knew bits and pieces, it was enough to get the gist of what Itachi was saying. Nagato didn't think he was in the mood for reporting just yet.
He looked for a handle or groves on the surface that would allow him to pull up the cover, his brow creasing slightly in confusion when no obvious grips made themselves known to him.
He tapped out a 'Wait' as he thought, receiving a 'Hurry up' for his trouble. He sat back on his heels and drew the palms of his hands all the way across the centre of the grate and around the perimeter. He lifted an eyebrow when his fingers contacted deep groves on the concrete surrounding the metal.
'This feels familiar…'
He rose to his feet and stepped over the drain, bending to pick up the stone – turned – key. He examined it for a moment, noting the pattern and different lengths of the outcroppings, before turning back and matching it against the holes.
'Perfect fit' he thought, as he pushed down on the smooth top of the rock. There was a quiet grating sound followed by a click as the cover popped up in front of him. He dug his fingers under the rim and contracted his biceps, heaving the lid up and letting it fall with a cushioned squelch on the muddy ground.
His nose wrinkled without his consent as he was greeted with the strong smell of sewage and a dirty, wet head of black hair preceding Itachi's body, as he flopped over the rim of the manhole.
Nagato stepped back with the key as Itachi hauled himself out completely, allowing himself to flop carelessly onto the soft ground with a relieved sigh. Although he didn't show it, Nagato was surprised. Itachi rarely allowed himself to appear so defenceless in front of another – even Kisame didn't get the honour.
Though that could be because he constantly attempted to 'surprise attack' the man, with the constantly upgraded mechanisms of Samehada.
"…then the whole house blew up. I can only think that the smoke was laced with gasoline, I know of no other way it could have gotten on to all of our clothes. To the best of my knowledge all of the others were killed in the blast."
With the guard quarters located near to the targets house, Itachi had been able to nip over and grab a change of clothes. His body was now swathed in the standard uniform reserved for Konohan guards, minus the cloak. He didn't want any material that could get in the way of the fighting that was sure to come.
"I found a grate and blew it open; I had no choice but to go down. Due to the excess rain, the current in the sewers is very strong and I was unable to fight against it. The water ran thin at the last ladder – the one you found me at – so I was eventually able to pull myself up.
The boy wasn't at the house when we reached it, but I don't think we missed him by much. I'm not sure which direction they took but…"
Itachi trailed off as a memory from earlier flashed through his mind. His left eyebrow twitched.
"Unless Chub are well known for being flying fish, I believe they may have escaped down the river. They are likely headed towards the South gate."
He halted his movements and faced back the way they had come, towards the south. Beside him, Nagato also came to a halt, turning to face him with a slightly sceptical look creeping over his features.
"That river is very strong and very fast. You believe he could have survived it?"
"Perhaps not by himself, but we currently have no idea who is protecting him. Though I heard he was an old man… Well, supposedly middle aged, but he already has white hair."
Nagato was silent for a long moment, pondering the new information whilst beginning to walk back in the other direction. With no other thoughts as to where they may have gone, Itachi followed him; taking another large bite out of the chocolate bar he'd left in his room last night.
He needed to build his strength back up after all.
"Go there, take the rest of the men with you and catch him, Itachi. If you fail... you will be restrained in the white room. Your brother will man the desk."
Itachi managed to catch the shudder before it ran down his body. Sasuke... he couldn't do that to Sasuke, it wasn't an option.
"And Kisame won't be allowed to engage in his activities until you're out."
Failure… was out of the question.
They hadn't shown up.
Itachi was getting increasingly worried that they had picked the wrong gate. Either that, or their targets had managed to get out before reinforcements had shown up. He wouldn't be surprised; they'd had a head start on him after all…
He was currently stationed up on one of the rooftops with a group of men. He had placed the others at strategic points surrounding the tight alleyways lining the square. They all had very specific instructions and were prepared for the perfect ambush – provided they weren't already too late to put it into action.
He lay low, watching the streets for any sign of movement.
'I will not be put in the white room. Sasuke's mentality is frail enough already without being put at the controls again.'
Whilst he could handle the ongoing torture, his brother had always struggled to do what was necessary without hurting himself as well. The fact that the men around him would either be run through or face public corporal punishment for 5 days barely even crossed his mind. There was a reason it was so hard to reach the upper ranks after all.
Suddenly, his ears picked up the barest whisper of sound; so sight he could have imagined it. But he had learnt long ago to trust his senses implicitly; this was something he couldn't ignore.
His eyes shifted to the source, searching the streets leading towards the gate on his left. The darkest hour of the night was swiftly approaching so without his torch it was hard to make out much detail. Nevertheless, he was able to see two dark blobs against the lighter colour of the wall, slowly making their way towards the large village exit.
He momentarily lost them as their movement ceased, but spotted them again as one stepped away from the wall slightly where the alley met the square, his silhouette visible in the open space.
He signalled to the man behind him to light up their torch. It was a small one, invisible to their targets due to the angle – the edge of the roof blocking their view – but within sight of the men stationed on the buildings around them. They would, in turn, signal the footmen and all would wait for Itachi to start the hunt.
It was time to go fishing.
Naruto took a deep breath as he prepared for their next move. His heart beat was already elevated in anticipation; adrenaline coursing through his system as he waited anxiously for Jiraiya's signal. Stupid old hermit – he hadn't even told Naruto what the signal was, just: "You'll know it when you see it!"
Helpful.
He had a sneaking suspicion it was something to do with the package Jiraiya had collected before they arrived at the gate, though. After they had recovered from almost drowning, the old man had led him on a winding route through part of the town; heading the wrong way for the south gate and refusing to answer any of Naruto's confused questions.
He had been left at the head of a dead end, whilst Jiraiya darted into the alley; re-appearing quickly with a brown paper package. Naruto tried to see where he had gotten it from, as the bulky bundle wasn't the slightest bit wet, but He had been hauled away and put back on track – towards the gate.
Now he had been left on his own to wait, bored and with strange shivers running up and down his spine. Was he being watched?
The feeling had been with him since he'd entered the street, refusing to go away (despite the fact that he could clearly see some guards positioned off to his left; they hadn't looked at him once). In fact, they hadn't glanced around even once since he'd been there… wasn't that what watchmen were supposed to do?
With no prior warning an explosion rocked the ground beneath his feet. He stumbled as brightly coloured sparks lit up the dull night sky, loud, resounding 'Boom's hammering into his ear drums.
'He could have at least warned me!'
He recovered his feet and took off at a sprint, running back up the alley and into the conjoining street, making his way around the square in the opposite direction to where the fireworks had been lit. Bright, loud and clear. Colourful too; Jiraiya's distractions were always the best (and the most obvious).
It was a topic his father and Godfather argued about constantly. Whilst his father maintained that: the best distraction was one where the target didn't even realise something was happening, Jiraiya believed that there was no point in a distraction if it wasn't noticed.
After watching them target each other several times (each using the others tactics when it suited them) Naruto had come to the conclusion that it depended on the situation. Both ways had their uses. In this kind of environment –where you needed to divert the attention of several people at once – a big, obvious distraction worked best.
He nodded mentally as he silently passed two hunters, staring at the commotion with wide eyed confusion; definitely the best. Had the situation been any different, he would have joined them.
As it was, he needed to relocate himself closer to the exit, where Jiraiya would meet up with him when he'd finished having fun. From there, they could sneak into the guard post and crawl into the tunnel Jiraiya had dug – once upon a time. If there was one thing the renowned pervert was good for, it was escape routes.
As he ran, he noticed that the horrible smell of sewage didn't seem to be going away. It seemed to be mingled in with the wind that was blowing from behind, along with the rich – and slightly bitter – smell of dark chocolate.
Chocolate… he'd smelt that before. When was it…?
He could hear shuffling up ahead, the sound of unpractised men trying to move quietly. It sounded like he was heading straight into an ambush, or so they thought. Luckily for him, the floor wasn't his only path.
Halfway down the street, he turned left into a dead end instead of continuing on around the corner; no ambush for him! He scurried up a ladder set into the wall, climbing towards the rooftops.
As he ascended, the smell of chocolate grew stronger. It was almost as though someone had left a bar on top of the houses, but surely no one else came up here? He had just reached the top rung when a memory of the afternoon drifted back to him.
It was when Hikaru had disobeyed him and run outside, wanting to play (not that Naruto could really blame him). When he'd finally persuaded his brother to get back inside, he had caught the faintest whiff of chocolate and gunpowder; the same gunpowder that had later exploded in his face. He wasn't going to get blown up again, was he?
As he stepped up onto the roof the scent brought up another memory, one from a few nights ago that triggered a connection he should have made before. That smell had been present when he's watched a fully grown wolf trussed up as though he were just a pup, too worn out to put up a proper fight.
The smell of sewage had completely masked the other scent when he'd been on the ground, but now it was there, good and clear. He twisted on his feet, not having to search far for the man who was right behind him, only a roof top away. He was surrounded by a few others, all sneering at him – safe in there assumed superiority.
He didn't notice the object the raven haired man had been swinging round and round in his hand until he let loose, the rope hurtling towards Naruto's legs. Naruto, for all his mock fighting and preparation, was entirely un-prepared for the fear he felt as he face the object of several nightmares, and therefore failed to dodge the incoming projectile.
He was knocked clean off his feet, as the weights on either end of the rope twisted firmly around his ankles, pulling his legs tight together and sending his body flying with the force behind the throw. The pain of the fall jolted him out of his stunned stupor, allowing his brain to kick start into full throttle as his hands flew down to tug at his bonds, his panicked thoughts racing a mile a minute.
As his tormentor started jogging towards him, he realised that pulling was not going to help. He took a breath, put his brain into gear and picked up one of the weights, unwinding the trap. With all the adrenaline rushing through his veins, he was moving fast enough to unravel his restraints and jump up; just as the man cleared the gap between their two buildings. He immediately turned around and raced off, unsure of which direction he should head in. He couldn't lead these men to the meeting spot and ruin Jiraiya's plan.
Normally, werewolves could only access their animalistic traits on the night of the full moon – when they turned. In their human form they were naturally stronger than unbitten individuals, with heightened senses and a greater craving for meat. If a wolf had been slacking or had never bothered to train their body, then a trained human would be able to overcome them – especially if the wolf was still young.
Naruto, however, had the joy of shifting whenever he wanted to. His father had once told him it was due to the young age at which he had been bitten, which was also probably why he didn't lose his mind when he turned. After that, the man had muttered something about his mother and inconsiderate assholes, who had no right to be even partially human. Naruto had dropped the subject after that, leaving his father to his dark mutterings and depressing mood.
Jiraiya had told him to keep the information as close to the belt as possible:
"If they know what you can do, they'll cut you up and rummage around inside to find out why!" He'd once been told in an overly cheery tone. Just what a 7 year old needed to hear.
So, although he didn't really want to show off his ability to shift on a waning moon, he really needed the extra speed to get away from the stupidly well trained man; currently attempting to step on his heels.
He allowed a tiny bit of his power to bleed into his blood stream, gritting his teeth at the slight pain emanating from his lengthening nails and canines. If he put out too much, his eyes would turn red – another unusual trait, but he couldn't help being weird.
With the extra boost, he was able to kick some distance between himself and his pursuers just as he felt a hand rake across the material at his back. He quickly tore off the fastening on his cloak, allowing his arms to slip out of it as a fist closed around the hood, pulling the cloth from his body. At least now he didn't have to worry about getting too hot.
He cleared the gap to the next rooftop with ease, taking a step before planting his feet and twisting around; leaping back across the gap just as the hunter's feet left the edge. He had jumped diagonally to try and increase the distance between himself and his follower, finding the gap to be too small as a leg extended out before his own, tripping both of them. The man had used Naruto's legs as a way of twisting his body around, causing him to land facing the direction in which Naruto was now free falling. Naruto, on the other hand, was trying his best to keep from face planting the ground, crossing his hands and throwing them out in front of him; bracing his arms. He landed hard on his palms and immediately used the cross position to twist his body around, releasing the pressure on his wrists as he finished facing the man, sliding backward with the momentum and scraping most of the skin off his hands.
He winced at the sharp pain, not having much time to take care of it as the other men caught up. He ducked under a charge and dove around a punch, using his elbows where necessary to keep his hands from further harm. They had already started to heal, but still had a ways to go.
He threw himself forward, ramming his shoulder into the solar plexus of the man blocking his way and managing to create a hole in the disorganised huddle. He sprinted through it and headed back to the ladder he'd previously used, planning to return to his starting point and find a different way around. He only remembered the other players in the ambush when he found them crowded at the bottom of the ladder, blocking his escape route.
'Curse him and his band of bull-headed baboons!'
Disregarding that idea completely, he took a step back and jumped across to the next roof, heading in the direction of the – now exhausted – fireworks. He wasn't sure if Jiraiya would still be there but he didn't really have many options at the moment.
Behind him, he heard the man clear the gap he had just crossed, many more thudding footfalls warning him the others weren't far behind. For some reason, only the man leading the chase seemed well trained, the rest were only sub-par at best. In spite of the situation, he couldn't help but wonder why.
He groaned out loud as he raced across the flat stone, more men were climbing up in front and to his right – where the square sat. Where the hell did they all keep coming from?!
Since those ladders were now out of order, Naruto changed direction; heading off to his left where he knew a drain pipe diverted off of the gutter.
He was going to have to lose his pursuers within the twisted maze of streets below. On his home ground, he had the advantage!
As he ran towards the edge, a loud "B4!" rang out from behind him. He was tempted to look back and see what was going on, but he couldn't allow himself to slow down; wanting to keep as far ahead of the hunter's as possible.
When he reached the drainage pipe he crouched down and swung his body off the side, grasping the plastic with both hands so that he hung from the wall. The pipe was crossed with metal bands that kept it bolted to the brick, which he used as he would the rungs of a ladder; clambering down to the floor.
He leapt back immediately as a larger body followed his own, practically sliding down the drain for all the steps he bothered to use.
Naruto cursed and twisted left – his right was blocked by a wall – racing to the end where a street ran perpendicular to his alley. He flew around the corner, heading right this time to try and get around to Jiraiya.
Too late, he realised his path was already blocked by at least five black cloaks; all sporting cocky grins on their shadowed faces. He slid to a stop and turned back, his feet freezing as the man smelling of chocolate stepped out, guarding his only other chance of escape.
For some reason, that man was the only one wearing the standard guard uniform; yet he was far too good for any guard Naruto had seen.
As he stood between the two groups, deliberating which would be easiest to get past ('one really good fighter, or five… not so good ones?) The man took a step towards him. Naruto took a step back in response, and then another as his pursuer continued stalking forwards.
The group behind him had also begun to drift forward, and he let out a curse as he realised he was about to become a Naruto sandwich.
'Five it is then' He thought as he twisted around once more, dashing towards the cloaked men who had crouched in preparation for his attack.
'Perfect'
He built up his momentum and darted to the left, swapping the cobbled floor for smooth brick wall. The man closest to him straightened up and reached out his hands, grabbing for Naruto's waist. Naruto slid through the middle of them, laying his hand down on the hooded skull and cartwheeling over his head.
His legs kicked into the chest of the second man standing behind the first, pushing him down in a flurry of brown material and a cough of air, escaping from bruised lungs.
He hopped off the body and ducked under grasping fingers; avoiding capture by a hair's breadth.
He tore down the rest of the street with wild abandon, skidding slightly as he tried to take the next corner without slowing down. He jumped over the washing basket he'd passed with Jiraiya when they had first snuck towards the square – unsuccessfully, he might add.
He smirked as he heard one of his followers trip over it, bringing another down with him.
He turned into another alley, once again scurrying up the ladder there and escaping onto the open roof top. He really needed some space right now.
He turned to look behind him, seeing how much of an advantage he'd managed to gain.
His eyes turned wide in shock and he ducked swiftly to avoid the right hook to his face. He rose back up in time to meet the front kick to his abdomen, letting out a gasp of air as he both heard and felt something crack.
He flew back with the force of it, hitting the ground hard and sliding backwards; stopping just before the tiled edge of the roof.
Hacking out a globule of blood, he gingerly pocked his damaged ribcage. The third rib from the bottom wasn't holding its position, but he didn't think it had punctured his lung, in spite of the blood. He didn't know how long broken ribs took to heal, but the skin on his hands had already grown back.
He painfully drew himself up onto his knees, looking up to see his attacker taking long strides towards him, an annoyed glint in his eye belying his stoic features.
Naruto groaned lightly. It was a bit far and it was going to hurt but, just like an injection, it was better than the alternative.
He flopped back down and rolled his body off of the roof.
Jiraiya straightened and regarded the groaning men in front of him. They hadn't been able to snap out of their focus on Naruto fast enough to counter his attack, and now they had paid the price of inexperience.
No one had seen him crouching on top of the roof, waiting for Naruto to climb up so that he could jump down between his godson and those blasted Akatsuki fools. One of them had been right on the kids heels, and he hadn't been able to stop him – for risk of revealing himself too early to the others.
Sadly, that one man looked to have the skill of an upper circle employee – which meant Naruto had little to no chance of escaping on his own.
He was half tempted to kill the men writhing at his feet, but he knew that they were just cannon fodder, easily replaced. He also didn't have the time.
Instead of following Naruto up the ladder, he ran past the alley and towards the corner of the building; he would meet them on the other side.
Naruto hissed out a pained breath as he kept his fingers curled around the gutter, the position pulling on his injured side. He stabilised himself before pushing back, twist around as he descended towards the building opposite. He raked his palms across the rough brick, hands and feet digging into the wall until he let himself drop to the floor.
He stumbled slightly as he landed, hands automatically clutching his side to try and alleviate some of the pain. He could tell it had started to heal, already the bone felt ore solid; more attached.
He began to move again, half limping towards the next corner. He made it only five paces before a hand gripped his elbow and pulled him back. When he was level with his raven haired attacker, a second hand wrapped around his neck and slammed him into the wall.
His head jerked back and cracked into the brick, red lights flashing across his eyes and leaving black spots to float around in his vision. He struggled to take in air, his head pounding as barely oxygenated blood rushed up; leaving his legs weak and shaking.
His hands automatically rose up to tug at the restriction around his airways, looking up to see black eyes boring into his own.
The hand loosened just enough to allow oxygen into his system. He gasped in the precious substance and stopped struggling for the moment; taking the time to recover his senses.
"Where is your companion?" His voice was alike to velvet, soft, yet sturdy; the tone and volume perfect for Naruto's aching skull.
Naruto stared into hard black irises, only a harsh rasping escaping his lips as he caught his breath.
The hand around his throat tightened again and the lips above him twitched.
Naruto's eyes burned as his air was slowly cut off once more, he struggled to keep back the moisture he could feel building up from his tear ducts. He would not let this man scare him, and he would not talk.
He was lifted up, his toes barely touching the ground as the man held him aloft. The pitch eyes were no longer looking at him, focused instead on the actions of his second hand as he unhooked a band of metal from his belt. It was slim and circular, with a strange, bulky latch at the front that was currently undone.
The man looked back up to him and Naruto snarled, twisting his body and flailing his legs, trying to kick the guy where it hurt. Suddenly, his back left the wall, and an accelerated falling sensation overcame his body, his neck gripped in a choke hold. Pain flared again in his head and back as he was rammed into the floor.
Unconsciousness threatened to take a hold of him as the hand left his neck. He took in sharp pants of air as he felt legs straddling his chest, restricting his lung volume and causing his heart to thud painfully against his chest.
This time, he was unable to stop the water that leaked from the corners of his eyes, as the sensations of his body overwhelmed him. He had never been in so much pain.
"Stop… get - *hic* - get off me" He was half sobbing by that point, unable to stop the outburst once it had started.
There wasn't even a twitch from the expressionless face above him, making him feel even more helpless as he cried.
Naruto struggled to see through his tears as both hands returned to his neck. He flinched away as cold metal touched his skin, but was unable to resist as a lock snapped under his chin.
He was only one step away from shifting. He couldn't hold it back much longer, but he couldn't let this man find out! He clenched his fists around lengthening nails and tried his best to keep his mouth closed. There was a snap as his rib immediately moved back into place, and he began to push his arms up against the thighs crushing them; using the strength coursing through him to push the man off his chest.
Before he could do much more, the weight on top of him shifted and rolled off, leaving Naruto staring into the clouded sky above.
A mane of white hair came into Naruto's view; he could honestly say he had never been more happy to see his godfather in his life.
Jiraiya came down hard on the grimacing man, short sword to hand and extreme rage written all over his face. There was no time for words as the two engaged in a very intense sword fight, the raven haired man procuring a pair of daggers from yet another pocket, hidden within the baggy uniform he wore..
Whilst the man was clearly very skilled, it seemed that Jiraiya had the upper hand in this fight. He was giving much more than he got, and the man was slowly forced to retreat back down to the previous corner, giving up ground as he tried to keep the sword away.
Naruto sat up slowly, taking deep breaths to calm his mind and reverse his partial transformation. He looked up just in time to see Jiraiya swipe his sword across their adversary's shoulder, blood soaking into his brown shirt. He twisted to the side, putting his injured arm behind him as he backed away.
Jiraiya seemed unwilling to pursue him too far. He stood between the man and Naruto, sword held deceptively low in both hands in spite of the confident aura he exuded.
The raven haired attacker took his eyes off Jiraiya for a second, sending a calculating gaze towards Naruto, who stared back with hate filled eyes; his fingers probing the collar about his neck.
Lightning fast, Jiraiya struck. His sword arced towards the right side of the man's ribcage, since the other side was turned away. The man brought his knives up hurriedly, barely managing to block the swift attack. The force broke his balance and sent him sprawling to the floor where he quickly rolled over to spare his injured shoulder. Before Jiraiya could go after him again, he jumped to his feet and dashed back up the street; speeding round the corner and out of sight.
Jiraiya stared after him for a moment until Naruto said, "He's gone, I think he's going back to the gate… though he said something about 'C5' to some others around the corner."
His godfather turned around and assessed him quietly, seemingly discarding the new information. His eyes roved all over Naruto's body, before coming to a stop on the collar that now adorned his neck.
"You ok kid?" He asked gruffly.
Naruto's hands were now tugging at his new necklace as he tried not to panic.
"Can we get it off?" A note of desperation bled into his voice, he felt so trapped.
The hope welling up in his chest in want of a favourable answer plummeted, as Jiraiya shook his head.
"It's … complicated. The lock is designed to hold up against fully grown werewolves, it's supposedly unbreakable. I've never been able to get my hands on one, so I haven't had a chance to examine the mechanism. What I really need to find is one that hasn't been closed, then I can poke around the inside and see what holds it together. I've heard that there is a key – within the Akatsuki stronghold; just the one. We'll have to look into it…"
Although the odds of them getting their hands on it were little to none, Naruto couldn't help but feel a little better now he knew there was a chance.
"What we really need to be worried about is the control."
Jiraiya's eyes looked grave, and Naruto hesitated a little before asking, "Control?"
"Yes, the collar has an inbuilt electrical circuit; it acts a bit like a conductor. I heard it was something Orochimaru –" he spat the name with distaste. "-came up with."
"Orochimaru?"
Jiraiya glanced down from his search of the alley to consider him for a moment.
"Nothing you need to worry about yet kid. You need to be more concerned with that control, like I said. It's a chunky square of metal with a few dials and a button. If they press the button, it will break the circuit and the electricity will flow into your body, giving you either a big or small shock; depending on the setting.
That's also why it would be dangerous to try and force the collar open – we'd break the circuit and get the same result. The key shuts off the electricity. "
Naruto glanced down and frowned, thinking. When the man had fallen over he'd heard something drop… like metal onto stone! He raked the ground behind the old man with his eyes, searching for… Yes!
He scrambled up and went after it.
"This! Is this it?" He asked excitedly, holding the small metal box up for Jiraiya to see. It had a small red button on the centre and two dials on either side, just like the man had described.
"Well, that's one thing we no longer have to worry about. Pass it here."
Naruto handed it over and watched as Jiraiya slammed the bottom of it against the wall; taking care to avoid the button. The box split open into two halves.
Jiraiya threw the underside to the floor and focused on the top half. There were several wires poking out the back – Jiraiya spent a minute playing around with them before letting out a triumphant: "Hah!"
He ripped one of them – a red one – out of its socket, Naruto cringing in expectation of a shock. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes and looked back at Jiraiya – who was stowing the control into his pack.
"Is that it?"
"Mmhm, they won't be using that anymore." A smirk settled briefly on Jiraiya's face, before he turned serious again and looked around them.
"Right, I think it best if we stay on the ground for now; don't want them seeing us. Keep your ears open, we'll take a look at the square from the other direction, If it's not possible to get past then we'll have to think about using another gate. If we're still here by morning, our chances of getting out will be close to zero – they'll call in reinforcement soon, I'm sure."
Naruto nodded, his thoughts had taken a similar turn, and he briefly wondered if anyone was guarding his hole… It probably wasn't even worth thinking about.
AN: Aaaaand we have the next chapter. It felt a lot darker than the others, much less humour – though I could be wrong. Your thoughts?
I hope I explained the happenings in Jiraiya's house adequately, if anyone is confused just ask (I drew out a house plan and everything). I feel like I didn't do Nagato any justice. He kind of lost his mysterious, 'I am the leader' attitude. Oh well, you cant have everything!
You may think that itachi lost to easily there, but (although he acts older) he is only 16. Naruto sees him as a man because he is only 10, so itachi looks old to him. Jiraiya has kept up his training, and is very deadly because of it. Itachi still has a lot of training to do.