Sarutobi exhaled slowly, smoke pouring forth as he did so, spreading out before him and tracing mesmerizing patterns in the air before finally dissipating. Pipe smoking was one of the elderly shinobi's preferred methods of easing the many stresses and strains of the job he did, and soothing the guilt of sending his shinobi out to perform difficult missions. And, anticipating the arrival of his student Jiraiya along with the man's own apprentice to take just such a mission, he had turned to his pipe.

"You know old man you should cut that out, smoking can kill you - and we can't have you dying before you've announced me as your successor now, can we?"

The Hokage lip twitched into an almost imperceptible smile as his eyes flickered to the window that only one person used as a method to get into his office. Well, two, if you counted his sensei.

"I hope you realise that you shouldn't be imitating your sensei's bad habits, like climbing through that window, Naruto-kun. They're the reason he hasn't been named Hokage."

"You and I both know that you couldn't make Ero-sennin Hokage. The hot springs would never be safe if he had to stay in the village." Naruto shot back, and the Sandaime had to concede the point, as Naruto walked round to the front of his desk, in order to speak properly to the Hokage. Sarutobi looked over the boy, and felt a surge of pride as he took in the shinobi he had become in just a short amount of time. From the subtle changes to the way he stood, that indicated a certain readiness to jump into action, or the slight changes in muscle definition that indicated the hard graft required of a shinobi; to perhaps most importantly, the sharpness and determination contained within the blond's gaze. His boundless energy, and determined personality had found a purpose, and been channelled and focused towards his dream, and protecting his village.

Very few shinobi his age could boast of the same.

"I take it Jiraiya has decided to wait for you to be briefed and get ready to leave?" The Sandaime inquired, earning a nod from Naruto.

"He said he'd meet me by the Eastern gate in an hour, so I'd have time to get mission ready."

"In that case I'll get started with the briefing immediately." The Hokage reached for a scroll on his desk and pushed it towards Naruto, motioning for the blond to pick it up. "This mission will be a B-rank infiltration mission. Normally, a shinobi of much higher experience would be assigned this kind of task; however, I'm going to be frank with you Naruto, Konoha's forces are stretched thin. All of our Jonin are occupied either with Genin teams, or their own missions; and the majority of our Chunin still in the village we require to maintain a reasonable standard of village security. In addition, this is a time sensitive mission, we can't afford to wait for other shinobi to become available."

"So, basically, you just need someone non-essential to our forces, yet good enough that you can trust them to complete the mission. That still doesn't explain why you've opted for me over another, more experienced Genin?" Naruto asked, admittedly with only slight hope of the Hokage answering his question.

"If I'm honest, there is only one other Genin level shinobi who may be a better choice than you to undertake this mission, given what Jiraiya has been reporting regarding your growth. However, there is another reason for choosing you for this mission. The fact is, you're a student of one of the Sannin, and you must have a record to match that for the village to maintain face - especially with the Chunin exams fast approaching. Konoha's position among the five nations is weaker than it has ever been, and as a result, it needs to appear that we are stronger than we actually are. One way of doing this, is to display the talent of our up and coming shinobi."

Naruto considered the Hokage's words carefully, in particular how he mentioned that the village wasn't in the best position. Vulnerable. He had always been led to believe, in all his studies, and by everyone he spoke to, that Konoha was the strongest of the five. That this may not be the case anymore unsettled him. It meant that his home could be in danger.

He was also aware that he was likely being told information that very few of his rank would be told, because of his position as the apprentice of one of the Sannin; but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel that the old man had an ulterior motive in giving him this kind of information. It was something he'd have to think over later. For now, he had a mission to focus on.

"Now, back to the mission itself." The Sandaime said, as if reading Naruto's train of thought. "As you may be aware, Team 7 returned from a C-Ranked escort mission to Wave Country, not all that long ago. They encountered, and successfully fought, ninja hired by a man named Gatou. The man was the owner of a global shipping company, Gatou Corporation, which we now know to be a front for a wide array of illegal operations. Drugs, sex trafficking, slavery, extortion - just about every illegal or illegitimate means of making money was being utilized. They has seized control of the trade routes around Wave Country, and attempted to take control of it's populace by crushing the economy of it's towns."

Naruto couldn't prevent a frown from marring his features. These people sounded like scum bags, the kind the blond hated more than any other, preying on people who needed help for nothing more than a little money.

"However, Gatou was killed during the mission, and through the actions of Team 7, a bridge was completed allowing the country to trade properly with the surrounding nations. This temporarily caused the corporation a number of problems, namely because Gatou had no contingency plans for it until after his death. The resultant power struggle allowed us to gather a small amount information a few key operation hubs for the companies illegal proceedings, and prepare plans to shut the company down totally."

"But you need more information, right? If we don't totally shut down all the major branches of the company, the ones we miss will either go to ground, meaning it will really hard to catch the people running the show; or, even worse, the crimes committed by a particular branch will escalate out of control, because with the Gatou Corporation shut down, there's nobody keeping them in line and relatively under the radar, and that obviously puts civilian lives at risk." Naruto interjected, his face frowning in thought.

"A very fair, and as it is, accurate analysis. Now, as it happens, Gatou had moved his entire central hub of operations to a small village just within the borders of Wave prior to implementing the trade embargo, and in theory, all and any evidence pertaining to their illegal actions will be contained within. It's location, and all the relevant information we have is contained within the scroll provided. Your mission is to infiltrate the base undetected, and retrieve any and all relevant or useful information on the corporation's network of illegal activities. It most likely will not be overtly obvious which are the documents you require, as they won't refer directly to anything illegal as a precaution"

"Now, be aware of two things. Firstly, though our current presence in Wave as we assist them with getting back on their feet ensures that the large band of mercenaries the company employs are kept off of the streets, it is likely that the force remains within the stronghold itself as security. Secondly, it would look incredibly bad for Konoha if we were to be caught snooping into the affairs of Hi no Kuni's largest companies, so you must not be identified as one of our shinobi."

"So no headbands, symbols, or equipment that can be traced back here?" Naruto responded, eliciting a confirming nod from the Hokage. "I'm all over it, old man. If that's everything, I'll head off and meet the old pervert. I'll be back bef-"

"Actually Naruto, that isn't everything." The Hokage interrupted, and Naruto couldn't help but notice that it felt like the temperature in the room had dropped a few degrees, and the nature of the Sandaime's gaze had changed. "There is a second thing I would ask of you, but before I do, I want to stress that this is not an order. I am aware that I don't tend to hand out missions as if they were orders from a military commander, and though often they are not, most treat them as such. I want you to be totally clear that you are not obligated to accept this task in any way. If there were any justice, or even if there was anybody else I could safely ask this of, I wouldn't be talking to you about it at all."

"Ask away, Hokage-jiji. I won't make any promises, but you know I'd do my best." Naruto replied in the most even voice he could muster. He'd never admit it, but the intensity of the Hokage's eyes as the looked into his own, sizing him up, trying to read him and his emotions, and the clear severity of whatever the Hokage was about to ask him to do was beginning to get to him a little.

"The individual who has taken over the running of the Gatou Corporation, including it's illegal activities, is a former member of the Konoha civilian council until two years ago. He ran several of the largest banks in the village, and had accrued massive wealth and influence within the village walls. Through a combination of bribery and coercion, he has been able to gather a considerable amount of information on this village's military. Two years ago, we discovered his treachery, but far too late. He had already escaped the village, and hid himself. To keep himself from being discovered, as far as we are aware, he has refrained from selling any information on to our enemies; however, now that he has stepped out into the open, we are certain he will attempt to sell his secrets on. Unfortunately, we also don't know what information he has managed to acquire, so countering the information leak is impossible."

The Hokage sighed audibly as he pondered how he should approach what he was about to ask the blond to do, fairly certain that the Genin would accept - however grudgingly. He even briefly toyed with the idea of not asking at all, village be damned.

"...You want me to kill him, don't you? You wouldn't have made such a big deal out of it if you didn't." At Sarutobi's silence, the blond turned his gaze to the floor, as he turned over what the Hokage was asking of him. Everything he had ever heard, read, or seen about being a ninja stated that taking life, and confronting death, was an inevitability of being a ninja. But Naruto couldn't help but think that he would be different. That he would be able to avoid taking a life, especially in cold blood. "Can you at least tell me why? Why this has to end in a death - why can't I just capture him, bring him back?"

"Given our current situation, bringing him to the village is impossible."

Naruto's breath hitched. Bringing him to the village was impossible? That made it sound like it wouldn't be safe to bring him back into the village to interrogate or imprison. Almost as if there were threats already within the village.

"No doubt," the Hokage started, catching Naruto's attention once more. "You will come to your own conclusions. Just be aware that there are always threats, from within, and without, and right now, our enemies without are our main concern. And, whilst forces within are by their very nature, potentially far more dangerous; provided they are identified, they are also far easier to restrict and even manage, should they be too well entrenched to destroy outright. Time is very much on our side, should we continue to be suitably cautious and vigilant."

The blond's mind was a veritable whirlwind of thoughts and possible theories. The Hokage had been crystal clear, whilst remaining as cryptic as possible. Too well entrenched would imply a position of influence with the village, ties to the man he was being sent after hinted towards being linked with the council, and simply being considered a threat would indicate strong influence within the shinobi ranks. Not to mention that the Sandaime felt the need to be cryptic in his own office. He had been presented with as many of the pieces to a puzzle as the Hokage could provide, and been told to be vigilant, but that there was no immediate threat.

But that still left one issue...

"I understand, Hokage-jiji. Just answer me this - is it important for the safety of this village that I take this mission." His own eyes met the Hokage's once again, and he couldn't help but notice how much regret was held within them.

"I... Yes, it is. The risks involved are too great, and whilst we could potentially wait for a Jonin to be free to undertake this mission, the more time he is allowed to roam free, the more chance of the security of this village being jeopardized."

"Then I'll do it. But just so you know-" Naruto begun, his eyes never leaving the Hokage's, almost challenging the older man to disagree, or question his words. "I'm not doing it because it's some kind of stupid order from a superior. I'm not doing it because ninja are supposed to be able to kill. Hell, I'm not even doing it because this guy probably deserves it. I'm doing this because I trust you, and I trust that as Hokage, you would only ever decide to do what's best for the village. If you say that this needs to happen to keep this place safe, then even though I won't like it, I'll give it everything I've got. I'll protect this village, and everything it represents, with my life. That, is my Nindo."

And with that, the blond picked up the second scroll the Hokage had produced representing this mission, and began to leave the room.

"Now, I'd better not keep the old pervert waiting any longer. He might get bored and start looking for women to pester."

The Hokage merely nodded, signalling to the Genin that he was okay to leave, and reached once more for his pipe as the child left him to his thoughts.

He had truly inherited the Will of Fire in the same way his father had before him, and he was truly proud of the young man.

Despite everything however, he couldn't help but lament as yet another person so young left his office to spill blood for the sake of their village.

* * *

"So, you took both missions, huh?" The Sannin asked, eying his apprentice as they walked through the forests just outside of Konoha's walls. They had been walking for nearly an hour, and Naruto had been spookily quiet.

"Yeah." Naruto responded, his voice lacking it's usual enthusiasm and vigour. "I'm just trying to get my head around it, you know? I know it's naïve, I really do, but an assassination mission kinda goes against everything I pictured a Konoha shinobi to be, before I actually became one."

"Actually Naruto, it's not such a naïve thought." Jiraiya replied carefully, mulling over his next words. "Coming from Konoha, we're taught in a different way to those from other villages. Whilst in some places, strict adherence to the Shinobi Code is encouraged; in our village, we're taught the code, and effectively encouraged to only take certain lessons from it. Instead, we're shown to value the lives of our comrades over success; and even that taking life is something that should be avoided, if at all possible.

"In fact, being from Konoha, taking a life isn't at all something expected of most ninja, and there are many who go through their entire careers able to get by simply capturing enemies, or avoiding conflict where at all possible. The village shinobi corps very, very rarely take on actual assassination missions and even then, it's only when the village's safety is at stake. And when it is required, the pool of shinobi who are actually asked to undertake such missions is incredibly small, because it is only asked of those whom the Hokage is certain to be able to take the emotional strain of actually setting out with the sole purpose of taking a life, because let me tell you right, it's a completely different animal from killing without necessarily meaning to on a normal mission. Of all the shinobi I know personally in the village, the only people I can think of who ever had to do more than one assassination, were myself and Orochimaru, the Yondaime, Hatake Kakashi, and Mitarashi Anko."

"You had to do assassination missions, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked, curiosity plainly displayed on his features. "I didn't think you'd have ever wanted to do that kind of mission. I'd never have pegged my Dad for them..." The blond added, in a near silent murmur.

"I'll be totally honest with you Naruto, I hated doing them, and so did your father. But times were different when we were taking that kind of mission. We were at war with several different countries, surrounded on all sides. It was kill, or watch Konoha burn. I still regret every life I've ever taken in this line of work, but would never take any of it back, because I know what it would mean for my village. And that's the most important thing to remember when you've done this, Naruto. It will hurt, a lot. The guilt will be more than you can likely handle. But you mustn't ever let go of that guilt, because as long as you feel that, it means you're still human, that you haven't turned into some kind of bloodthirsty animal. But you also can't forget, that it had to be done, for the sake of the village you want to protect. The home you'd give your own life to defend."

"I understand, I really do - I'm just not sure I'll ever be able to accept that it was something that had to be done, that I couldn't have found another way."

"I still think that, but it's something that you have to work through when you get to it. I'll be there to help you, and so will everyone you know; just like Sarutobi-sensei and my team helped me. I still struggle with it more than I probably should. Every time I take a life, I make sure to take a note of their names, and pray for them in my own time. It doesn't help much, but it's enough to get me through."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the revelation that Jiraiya struggled with anything related to being a shinobi. The blond would never have admitted it, but the man had seemed totally invincible up until now.

"I'll tell you what else helps - knowing that you did it in the most respectful, and painless way possible. How about when we make up camp I take you through some things that will help you do that, and when we're done, I'll teach you a new jutsu to take your mind off it - one that I guarantee no-one your age in Konoha knows? I have a toad watching the man you're being sent after, so I'll know if we need to get there straight away. As long as he doesn't make a move, we can afford to take a bit more time to get there."

Naruto smiled at the gesture, and also at the prospect of learning a new technique; yet still, he couldn't shake the growing sense of unease in the back of his mind about what he was about to do.

And then, there was something else. Jiraiya had said that there weren't many people that took assassination missions, because of the strain it puts on people. If he completed his mission, would he then be forced to take more, since the Hokage knew he could take it? He could always opt out of course, but he couldn't help but consider that a little cowardly, if the village needed him.

But that was when another thought hit him.

If he refused an assassination mission, that would mean somebody else would have to be sent out in his place. Kakashi-sensei, or Ero-Sennin, or even whoever that Anko woman was. Somebody else would have to live with the guilt Jiraiya spoke of, because he wasn't willing to.

If he was okay with doing that - putting his comrades in the firing line for no reason other than cowardice, he realised, he could never become Hokage. Much less one that would make his parents proud.

It was unacceptable to him, that kind of failure, and that kind of selfishness.

Naruto took a deep breath, and moved to catch up to Jiraiya, who had started to pull ahead of him already. Now he had a reason for doing this mission, one that he could truly get behind.

He would, so the people he cared about wouldn't have to.

* * *

"That's enough for practice on the killing techniques, Naruto. I have something a little more fun for you to learn, come back over here and I'll explain it to you."

The Genin nodded, signalling his understanding to his teacher ,and turned towards his Kage Bunshin, who had been practicing the techniques Jiraiya had been showing him. The two had stopped for the night in a small clearing by a shallow stream that ran swiftly through the densely wooded forests surrounding Konoha. Jiraiya had started by showing the techniques to the blonde, and left a Kage Bunshin to watch him practice, while the original Sannin set up a fairly meagre camp, which consisted of a humble two-man tent and a fire. There had been several different techniques, all of which geared towards killing the target as quickly, and quietly, as possible. And preferably with as little mess as possible, too.

Most of them centred around striking a point above the sternum called the suprasternal notch, allowing you to drive down into the heart for a quick, painless and clean kill. Ideally he would approach the target from behind, or the side to allow him to cover the target's mouth, which would prevent any noise. This was especially important with the kind of strike he was going to use, because it tended to force air up from the lungs and through the voice box, causing a kind of 'artificial' scream.

He shook his head, in an attempt to break up his train of thought. He could ponder the morbid nature of the mission later, he still had work to do. Without a word, the Bunshin began to dispel themselves one by one, and Naruto himself turned towards Jiraiya, who leant casually against a tree across from where Naruto had been practicing. The Genin couldn't help but notice that the man had been watching him intently since they had left the village, and especially since their talk earlier, with an unreadable expression on his face. Usually he would have been delighted that somebody at least seemed worried about him, but at this point, it just reminded him about what he was being asked to do.

Briefly, he felt the urge to try and stop this from happening at all rise, before he forced it down, and walked over to where his sensei stood in order to start work on what the Sannin wanted him to try and learn.

"So what's this jutsu you want to teach me, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked, making sure to address him with the nickname Naruto had given him, to try and alleviate some of the older ninja's concerns. "You better be telling the truth when you said no-one else my age knows it." He threatened half-heartedly, causing the Sannin to break into a smile.

"Not even that Uchiha kid you don't seem to like will know this one, I guarantee it."

"What makes you say that? I mean, the Uchiha library must be packed with jutsu for him to learn... Unless it's particularly rare, or powerful?" At that, Jiraiya laughed, causing Naruto's confusion to rise.

"I say that because it is neither rare, or powerful. In fact, it's technically not even a combat technique, which is precisely why most Uchiha neglected it until they have to, and why you little friend won't know it either. Hell most don't learn it until they try and make Jonin."

"Why is that? If you're going to teach it to me, it has to be useful, so why wouldn't others learn it as soon as possible."

"Useful is an understatement and a half gaki. It's a technique that you have to be able to demonstrate to a sufficient level in order to become Jonin, such is it's value. However, typically, it doesn't hold much value until you are a Jonin."

"So, it's a technique that's only useful for missions that Jonin are likely to undertake?"

"You're pretty much right on the money. It's an infiltration technique that makes it easier to avoid detection by sensors or other shinobi. Obviously, as Konoha doesn't tend to send anyone but Jonin 'behind enemy lines' so to speak, it doesn't really become necessary until you want to attain that rank, which is why so few bother to learn it until they learn the requirements."

"You think there'll be shinobi in the base then?" Naruto asked, as Jiraiya's implication went directly against what his information told him.

"I think it's better to be safe than sorry, especially since I won't be right there with you. Gatou Corp has hired shinobi before, and it wouldn't take anything other than a mediocre sensor to pick up your chakra and give you away. This jutsu will help with that, although a really skilled sensor type would be able to find you regardless."

"It''s called Ninpo: Naibu Shōten, although to call it a jutsu is probably an exaggeration. It's purpose is simple. Your chakra is drawn inwards to your core, and suppressed. This minimizes your chakra output, and once you've mastered it, makes it difficult for even the most adept sensors pick up your chakra signal, because sensors work by being able to sense the chakra you expel naturally through your tenketsu points, rather than the chakra already within you. This has a secondary effect of making you incredibly light on your feet, as the chakra is pulled away from the muscles in your legs and arms. Unfortunately, it is not a substitute for being able to move silently, but as you haven't mastered that just yet, it will definitely give you a little bit of an edge."

"When you learned to pull on your chakra in the Academy, you should have learned to feel your 'core', yeah?" Naruto nodded, understanding that Jiraiya was only asking because of the Academy's methods when it came to teaching, or no not as the case may be, the blond. "Good. All you need to do is focus on your core, and the chakra flow coming out of it; and rather than 'pull' chakra from your core as you would when using a jutsu, you draw back the chakra already circulating through your system, as though you're trying to roll it all up into a ball within your core."

Naruto closed his eyes, and did as requested, feeling out the chakra within his system, and focused his attention his own core. Then, he began to draw on the chakra, pulling it back within himself like Jiraiya had described, trying to form it into a ball. However, he quickly found that his chakra was less than willing to comply. Each time he wold attempt to draw more in to his core, chakra he had gathered earlier escaped, leaving him no better off whenever he tried.

The Sannin had apparently noticed the blond's concern.

"This is both an exercise in control and, perhaps more importantly, inner calm. You need to relax, clear your head before you try it. Your chakra will respond to your state of mind, if you're calm, it will be so too, and therefore easier to gather and contain. You won't be able to gather it all on your first go, so just take it incrementally. Gather some into a ball within your core, and compress it as small as you can, and then progressively add more. Don't worry about finishing before we have to leave, you don't have to master it tonight, just get it to the point where you could hide your chakra from most Chunin without much trouble, which to be honest, won't take you very long at all."

Naruto nodded once again, and silently conjured a dozen Kage Bushin to help with the technique, determined to nail it that night.

The old pervert had been right. A new jutsu was an excellent way to take his mind off of the mission ahead of him.

"So, are you ready to talk me through your plan, Naruto?"

The blond in question looked up from the paper he'd been using to scribble some rough notes and diagrams on, and answered with a confident 'yes'. Once again, the Sannin found himself being impressed with his student. Another half a day of travel and they had made it to a spot just inside the borders of Wave Country, and not too far away from Gatou Corp's base of operations. Already, Naruto had gotten sufficiently good enough with the Naibu Shōten to reduce his chakra output to a level where only particularly talented sensors at Chunin level, or an average Jonin would be able to pick up on his chakra output. They were rare enough either way, and Jiraiya considered the chances of the company hiring yet more ninja to be incredibly slim.

More importantly however, he seemed to be a little more at ease with his mission. It was pretty blatant that Naruto didn't like it, but he had resolved to accomplish it, and for the right reasons too. The hard part off course, was when the deed was done and the guilt kicked in, but that bridge would have to crossed when they came to it.

And so, because Naruto was already at an acceptable level with the killing techniques, and the jutsu, he had spent the time since they had made camp making plans and devising strategies for infiltrating the admittedly impressive headquarters of Gatou Corporation.

"Right, essentially the building is split up into three wings, East, West and North. The North Wing is probably the most guarded, as it's where the man in charge of the whole operation lives on the top floor. The most important to my first mission, is the East Wing. It's where the bulk of the secretarial work, admin and things like that happen. It's the hub of the entire Corporation, and the archive there is likely where the information we need is going to be kept. The West Wing is the barracks for the in-house band of mercenaries the corporation keeps, so I'll be steering as clear of there as possible." Naruto began, gesturing towards the building schematics that had been sealed in the mission scroll itself, along with all the other vital information the blond would need for the mission.

"According to this, there are two ways into the East Wing, going through the front door, and one other. It's actually a converted mansion, and this means there's an attic, which according to my information for anything but storage, and can be accessed from the roof. That's my access point. From there, I drop into the room directly below, which is one of seven on the wing itself, and is one of the three archive rooms. I start my search there, and methodically work my way through the Wing, ensuring I get everything I need. From there, I push into the Main Hall of the building to and gain access to the North Wing from there. The wing is actually a tower, with only the one room at the top where the target sleeps. All I have to do is work my way to the top, avoiding the guards likely to be stationed there, break into the room as quietly as possible, and hopefully do the deed without him ever knowing I was there."

Jiraiya pondered Naruto's short explanation of his plan. Obviously, they had no information on the guards patrols, neither their number, patrol patterns or shifts, so the blond would have to keep his wits about him to not get caught. However, the entrance to his targets room was a problem

"Can you not think of a better way to get from the East Wing to the North without passing through the Main Hall? Going that way leaves you incredibly exposed as you pass through."

"I thought about going via the roof again, but the only access to the tower room is the room's window itself. Unfortunately they're barred, and breaking through them would be miles too noisy, I think. I'm going to try and get through the doors as quickly and quietly as possible, and take to roof if at all possible. A bit of wall-climbing shouldn't increase my chakra output to dangerous levels, so I should stay undetected" Naruto replied, his frown matching Jiraiya's. Evidently he had seen the flaw in his plan also, and could think of no way around it.

"I suppose what you have will have to do. Just remember that things will go wrong with it, so be prepared to improvise and adapt with the situation. I'll be sending a toad with you that is connected to me via chakra, something I'll show you how to do later, I imagine. The toad can alert me from a distance if anything goes disastrously wrong and you need me there. I can't really see any problems, short of you running in to a Jonin level ninja, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Jiraiya said, his mind focused on his task for the night, one of great importance to the village's safety. He hoped that nothing went wrong with Naruto's mission, because the village absolutely needed the information he was attempting to gain tonight.

"Anyway, get some rest for now, gaki. You're going to be having a long night, after all."

* * *

Naruto wiped the beads of sweat that had begun to form on his brow away with the sleeve of his shirt, his eyes never leaving the pair of mercenaries he could see in front of him from his vantage point amongst the trees, and stood between him and the sheer face of the mansion he needed to get to. The guards were all as far as Naruto could see, normal mercenaries, and were spaced equally around the building to keep watch for intruders. For the first time Naruto found himself appreciating the real strategic advantages of his village being quite literally 'hidden in the leaves'. Much like Konoha, this mansion stood in the midst of a deep forest, thick enough to to obscure both the sun, and clear long range vision; the only difference was the thin veil of mist that crept amongst the bases of the trees, and was getting ever thicker as the night went on.

This meant that ninja used to such surroundings would be able to move easily, comfortably, and most importantly unseen; and ambushes and defending locations would as a result become significantly easier. However, in this situation as the offensive party, the conditions were beneficial to the blond Genin. He was able to move quietly and unseen; and whilst normally the guards' formation would have been okay, the lack of visibility meant that each pair was isolated from the rest, and communication would be difficult. In addition to that, there wasn't a mercenary on the planet that could fight in a forest as effectively as a Konoha shinobi.

Naruto dropped to the forest floor, keeping the tree he had been on between him and the two mercenaries' line of sight the entire time. Almost totally silently, he darted to the tree slightly ahead of him and to the right. This was the tricky part, to knock out both of these guards silently, and using as little chakra as possible. His hand instinctively reached for his kunai pouch in anticipation of him making his move, and had to bite back a curse as he realised it wasn't actually there, as he wasn't wearing his usual shinobi gear. He had eschewed in favour of a lighter outfit he had bought at Jiraiya's behest when they were replacing his jumpsuit. It consisted of black combat trousers, that whilst looking like the standard Konoha version, were actually much thinner and lighter, and also created much less noise whilst moving. He wore a black long sleeve shirt of the same material, along with a face mask not dissimilar to Kakashi's and a black bandana to cover his bright blond hair. He had instead hidden some select equipment within the seams of his clothes, meaning he had weapons if they were needed.

Briefly, he thought to himself that he must look pretty stupid, for a ninja - in compared to him in his orange jumpsuit (that, by that way, he still couldn't find fault in). But the thought was gone almost as quick as it came, as Naruto spotted his opportunity to act. One of the guards had slumped to the floor, sitting down with his back to the blonde, clearly fed up with what could well have been a shift of several hours on his feet. The other guard had been practicing what Naruto thought were incredibly basic katana strikes, and was sufficiently distracted to give Naruto time.

He darted out from behind the tree, speeding towards the seated guard with a kunai he had kept within the seam of his sleeve in his hand in a reverse grip; and it was the ring end of that kunai that he brought crashing down on the unsuspecting guard's head, who only had time to grunt sharply, before he entered the realm of unconsciousness. Naruto was on the move before the body hit the ground, and Naruto was a step away from striking distance before the second man had noticed his companion's fall.

It was too little, too late. The mercenary only had time to let loose a surprised 'What the-' before Naruto had gotten inside his guard, and delivered a crushing strike, again with the kunai's ring end, to the man's temple, leaving him joining his friend on the floor.

Naruto breathed out through his mask deeply, and set about moving the bodies into a fairly concealed place back behind the treeline. He didn't think he'd be in there for very long, and they definitely wouldn't be coming to for at least a few hours, but the unconscious guards being discovered while he was inside would be a disaster.

Returning back to where the guards had been, he approached the wall to the East Wig, where he knew the entrance to the attic was. It was only three stories high, and was built in what looked to Naruto to be a foreign style, though he was nowhere near sure enough to be able to tell for sure. It was made of brick, but painted white, with black wooden planks sectioning of parts of the wall into squares. From below, the roof appeared thatched, but Naruto knew from the plans this was for aesthetics only, and potentially to disguise the roof access. The slanted flat thatched section only ran upwards for a few feet before reaching the end, and a drop onto the real roof of the structure.

Immediately, Naruto could see that while climbing the building's wall without chakra would be a cinch because of the wooden planks on the side, but that on the other hand, the overhang of the thatched roof would cause a problem without chakra. Naturally, the Genin put that to the back of his mind, and started his climb anyway, using the wood and the more damaged bricks as hand and foot holds, and had quickly scaled almost the entire wall, before coming across the apparent impasse that was the start of the roof.

Apparently, a some kind of higher power was on his side, because as he scanned above for a way up, he spotted the gutter, black to blend in with the shadow created by the overhang. Reaching up, he gripped the gutter and tested it, making sure it would take his weight, before pulling himself up on it and grabbing one of the timber beams within the fake roof itself. What Naruto didn't realise, is that the only reason the guttering had come even slightly close to taking his weight, was the combination of the fact that he had his Naibu Shōten active, and he had grasped either side of where the pipework was bolted to the building itself.

It didn't matter either way, because within moments the young shinobi had clambered over the thatch work and onto the roof, and darted towards the only trapdoor on the whole surface. It was unlocked, much to the blond's surprise, and Naruto, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, climbed down into the building.

He was inside, and now he could get on with the hard part.

Jiraiya took another sip of his sake, waiting for his second appointment of the evening to arrive. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what this person could want. His first meeting in this dank tavern in a slum district of Wave had just been a standard update from one from one of his regular contacts. Nothing special, some pretty large, although not altogether unusual troop movements for Iwa, and more surprisingly Suna. No, it was definitely his second guest that had him so much more on edge.

Which was why he tensed quite so much as he did when a figure sat down across from him, placing his straw hat on the table as he did so.

"So..." Jiraiya began carefully, his eyes hardened as he stared into the beady black pupils of the man opposite him, who despite the tension of situation, sported an unsettlingly wide grin.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Hoshigaki Kisame?"

Somehow, the mans grin grew, showing off a set of razor sharp teeth.