Jiraiya gazed warily at the incredibly dangerous man that was currently sitting opposite him. The Sannin had seen many peculiar things in his time, but few matched the sheer strangeness of Hoshigaki Kisame. An S-ranked missing-nin famed for his brutality and thirst for blood, Kisame was a tall man, whose extraordinary skills were matched only by his appearance. He was dressed in a long black cloak, decorated with distinctive, blood red clouds, and a collar that was capable of hiding the lower portion of the man's face.

Kisame however, preferred to keep his mouth on display; which allowed him to flash a grin to his enemies that fully show cased his rows of razor sharp, almost shark-life teeth. In combination with his unusual, blue tinted skin, and strange, gill-like features on his head, Kisame cut an incredibly intimidating, not to mention weird, figure.

"Ah now, Jiraiya, the pleasure is most definitely all mine. Although, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't tempted to try and gut you where you sit - just to see if I can."

The Sannin glanced at the man's rather large sword out of the corner of his eye. It was an odd creation, wrapped totally in bandages, and almost as long and wide as most human beings are. A less experienced shinobi might decide to himself that it was impossible to wield effectively. Jiraiya knew better.

"You're still about a hundred years too young Kisame. Now, why are you here - Akatsuki business?" Somehow, the shark-like man's grin grew at the mention of Akatsuki.

"Itachi-san wasn't kidding, you really do have ears everywhere. I'm impressed, Akatsuki were hoping we would be able to stay under Konoha's radar for a little while yet. But no, this is not Akatsuki business, quite the opposite in fact." Kisame took a sip of the sake that Jiraiya had ordered in preparation of the meeting, and considered his next words carefully. He needed Jiraiya to trust him. "Itachi-san believes that the leader of Akatsuki is aware of his continued loyalty to Konoha, and intends to leave the organisation and lay low for a while - and I intend to leave with him. He and I have been rotated away from the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, so we can't guarantee his safety while remaining part of Akatsuki."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed dangerously at the mention of Naruto. Itachi had been tasked with spying on Akatsuki and keeping them from Naruto for as long as possible. Now, Naruto was at considerable risk.

"Explain. Now." Jiraiya's tone allowed for no argument, and even with his years of experience, and S-class abilities, Kisame felt a bead of sweat begin to trickle down his forehead, as Jiraiya's eyes bored into his own. The Sannin really was something else, he needed no actual killing intent to intimidate, he just exuded an intense sense of danger naturally that made Kisame's senses scream at him to flee the longer he stayed in the man's company. It made him feel alive - Jiraiya was the kind of enemy that he relished to fight above all others. Despite all this, instead of answering immediately, he threw Jiraiya a scroll.

"This has everything Itachi knows, an explanation about my own circumstances, and our plans from now. I can't stick around any longer. We need to have disappeared before Akatsuki realise we've gone and start sending people after us." Kisame stood up and picked up his sword and started to leave, before turning back, grin completely absent from his face.

"Uzumaki Naruto... He had better turn out to be something special. If not... he's as good as dead."

And with that, Kisame walked out of the tavern, leaving the Sannin to read, and consider.

* * *

Naruto paused as he allowed his eyes to adjust to the gloomy darkness of the attic space he found himself in. The genin was clearly the first to set foot in the room in a very long while. A heavy layer of dust coated the numerous boxes and odds and ends that filled the dank and musty room, and thick cobwebs, many of them themselves gathering dirt and dust, stretched between almost all of the gaps between boxes and furniture. Across the room Naruto could see the trapdoor into the East Wing itself; sheets of light escaping into the attic from below between the gaps in the floor and door, illuminating the dust that fell to the floor like dreary, grey snow.

Naruto took a deep breath, holding back a cough as he took in a mouthful of the room's musty aroma, and carefully began to make his way across the attic, eying the floor and room ahead of him carefully as he he walked. Suddenly, the blond froze, his body stiffly held in place like a statue.

Not even an inch in front of him, almost at eye level, was a paper thin, clear wire, stretched between the two stacks of boxes he was passing between. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding before passing underneath the wire, and quickly moved the rest of the way across the room, his eyes straining in the darkness even more than they had been before.

Of course they wouldn't leave the only other entrance to the building completely defenceless. That would be much too easy.

He paused at the trapdoor, and examined it for any obvious traps. Seeing none, he carefully pulled it open by no more than an inch, before wedging a kunai between the trapdoor and floor of the attic. Peering between the gap, Naruto found himself incredibly glad he had started to read up on designing and building traps, as well as spotting them in the field.

Attached to the trap door was another thin wire, that when pulled a certain amount, activated an alarm mechanism on the floor that Naruto could only barely make out from his vantage point. If he had opened the door much further, he would have set off the alarm. Fortunately, this kind of trap was relatively easy to circumnavigate. Reaching between the gap, being careful not to set the alarm off, he used the kunai he had wedged the door with the cut the wire, enabling him to safely open the trap door, and drop down into the room right at the back of the East Wing, and the first of the archive rooms he needed to search.

Immediately Naruto was forced to squint slightly as his eyes adjusted to the shock of such a brightly lit room after the incredibly dim attic, and the question as to exactly why this room would still have the lights in it turned on came into the blonde's mind almost instantly. He quickly glanced around the room to make sure he was alone, and darted quickly over the door, making sure to be aware of any potential booby traps as he did so, and backed up against it, pressing his ear against the wood of the door.

He couldn't hear any sound on the other side, which hopefully meant that no-one was really close to the door itself. However, the fact that the lights were still on made Naruto nervous. It meant that somebody could be using this room, and therefore would be back quite soon.

Reaching into his sleeve he took out yet another tool that Jiraiya had provided him with before they had separated. It was a small, stainless steel rod, about the size of a pencil, and affixed to the end was a small mirror. It was perfect for seeing round corners, and would allow Naruto to scout around outside the door to make sure nobody was in the immediate vicinity before he started searching the place.

Gently turning the brass door handle, he pulled it open slowly and carefully, somewhat surprised it hadn't been locked. With the door opened just a crack, he pushed the mirror through and used the reflection to peer down the corridor to his right. It seemed to stretch forever under the distortion of his mirror's slightly rounded surface, but Naruto could see the corridor was empty, and ended with large, oak double doors that led into the main hall of the mansion. Turning the mirror to check the other way, he was greeted with the sight of a wall, signifying the end of the corridor, and a very large portrait of an elderly man, traditionally dressed, and looking incredibly stern.

That meant his schematics were, at least so far, correct; and he had definitely dropped into the final archive room, which was by coincidence, the place that Naruto believed he would find the evidence he needed - the room furthest into the mansion, behind all of it's defences.

That said, Naruto didn't think much of the defences he'd come across so far. Traps designed to catch civilians, no patrols in the area of the mansion they likely keep sensitive and incriminating evidence, combined with poorly thought out guard placements outside, gave Naruto the distinct impression of a rank amateur's efforts. In any case, it was possible that the information he needed would just be spaced out normally and not particularly well hidden, given the state of the building's security.

Of course, he knew he couldn't afford not to be thorough, or to not remain completely alert. Not knowing what he did about the activities of these people. They needed to be taken down, and Naruto would play his role, and he aimed to play it perfectly.

Satisfied that he was safe to begin his search, he turned back to the first room he had to turn his attention too. It was incredibly plain, with dull, slightly grimy beige walls, and a dirtied and visibly stained brown carpet, reminding Naruto of the cheapness that pervaded through the classrooms at some of the civilian schools within Konoha that he had seen. Against the rear wall of the room was a small mahogany desk that didn't appear to have anything other than a small lamp and a desk tidy upon it; and lining the wall to his right, were seven gun metal grey filing cabinets, that Naruto presumed were what qualified this room's designation as an 'archive room'.

Sighing briefly, the blond approached the first cabinet, and opened the upper most drawer, revealing a space packed full of surprisingly well organised and labeled paper work. He began rifling, carefully checking the name's of each document for anything that sounded useful, or suspect. This, Naruto realised as he began the monotonous task, was going to be a long night, for entirely different reasons than he had first thought.

* * *

Naruto pushed the final drawer of the last filing cabinet in the room shut with a finality that was rather cathartic to the blond. He can only have been in the room for around half an hour - forty minutes at the most - yet, it had felt like he had spent several long and torturous hours meticulously rifling through the documents in this room with very little luck.

He wasn't even Hokage yet, and the Genin had already decided he hated paperwork with the white hot fury of a thousand suns. Or maybe just as much as he hated whatever sick bastard had decided it would be a good idea to make vegetarian ramen. It was just unnatural.

As he had expected, the kind of information he had been looking for hadn't been particularly well hidden, simply in with the rest of the documentation. The blond had found two documents of interest in this particular room. One, was a fairly ambiguous document referring to the transport of assets between sites in Tanzaku Gai, and place called Otogakure no Sato; which appeared to be a shinobi village Naruto hadn't heard of in his studies, which is one of the reasons it stood out to him as suspect. The second reason was the way it detailed the loss of some of the 'assets' during travel, and inspections from Gatou Corps 'employees'. It stunk of people trafficking to Naruto, and the refusal to explicitly mention what the 'assets' were, sealed the deal for him.

The second was a little easier to decipher, mainly because of a dead giveaway within the wording itself. It was so sloppy, it would have stunned even a much younger Naruto in it's stupidity. It spoke about an outbreak of STD's amongst a section of the employees stationed at their 'offices' in Sango Harbour, Kaze no Kuni, and how much of their 'goods' had to be disposed of.

Naruto had to forcefully bite back his anger as he read the second document in order to continue working. These people were despicable, absolutely unforgivable in his eyes, and it only served to strengthen his resolve that what he would do later tonight, was in fact, the right thing.

Gathering up the documents he needed, the blond took out a small scroll that once again, Jiraiya had given him before the went their separate ways. It was a basic sealing scroll in appearance, but was actually chakra locked to the Hokage and the ninja using it, so only they could open it and retrieve it's contents. In this case, Jiraiya had modified with it slightly, meaning Jiraiya would also be able to access it, should the worst happen. He opened it slightly, revealing the complex matrix of the fuinjutsu that would allow him to store the documents inside. He recognised the meaning of parts of it, both from his readings, and from it's similarities with more basic sealing scrolls, however the majority was lost on him, and vastly more complex than he was able to understand at his current level of knowledge.

He allowed himself a small smile. If he had any say in the matter, that definitely would not always be the case.

For now though, he had more pressing concerns. Placing the two documents over the centre of the seal design, he the placed his palm on a particular piece of the seal on the top right, and channelled his chakra into it. This was what was known as the 'activation matrix' that most sealing scrolls had - essentially, it worked like an 'on' switch, you channel your chakra into it, then whatever is in the centre of the main seal gets stored. To retrieve the item, you simply channel chakra to the same spot, and think of the item you wish to be unsealed.

This had initially confused him, as how could the seal know what it was you were thinking? Naruto still didn't quite understand if he was honest, because the answer was laced in chakra theory that was at this point, beyond him. However the gist of it was, that channelled chakra essentially contains an imprint of your will, or intentions. The seal is designed to be able to interpret those intentions, and respond to them appropriately. Needless to say, Naruto had been fascinated by the possibilities that might entail, but even more so, how that was even possible in the first place. As a result, Naruto's reading on chakra theory had redoubled over since his return from Sunagakure.

A small puff of smoke was all that signified the two documents had been sealed away, and Naruto returned the scroll to it's space hidden within the seam of his clothes, before moving over to the door. Just to be safe, despite having been undisturbed since his arrival, and not having heard anything to signal that the situation had changed; Naruto withdrew his mirror once more, and double checked the corridor for the presence of enemies before stepping out into the more open space, carefully opening and closing the door so as not to make a sound.

The corridor itself almost perfectly contrasted the room Naruto had just left. The cheap, sterile, office cubicle feel of the previous room was infinitely inferior to the apparently luxurious interior of the East Wing corridor. It was what Naruto had imagined when he had read reports stating that this was a western-style stately mansion. The floor was made from deep brown, and obviously very old, knotted oak floorboards, with a deep red carpet running through the centre of the corridor, all the way from the end of the hallway to the door. The walls covered in a forest green, wallpaper with gold trimmings, and lined with magnificently painted portraits of whom Naruto presumed to be the previous owners of the house.

It was impressive to say the least, and the blond had never seen anything like it, both in terms of luxury, and actual style; and, as a result, the Genin had to fight the urge to stick around and tr and take in as much of the sight as possible. He still had a job to do, after all.

Quickly making his way over to the door of the second archive room, all the while scanning for traps and finding none, he silently made his way inside, closing the door behind him. Looking around, he couldn't help but be disappointed at what he saw. It was a carbon copy of the previous archive room, except that instead of a desk, there were an extra pair of cabinets to sort through.

More paperwork. Every Kage's mortal enemy, if you were to believe the words of the Sandaime. Naruto was beginning to believe it was simply the nemesis of all ninja, or at least those who sought to become Kage's. Naruto chewed his bottom lip. He couldn't afford to be doing this for hours on end, there was simply too much risk involved in staying in one part of the building for too long. Yet, if they had sensors, he'd be in trouble almost as soon as he let up on his Naibu Shōten. This was one of those decisions that he knew he would need to learn to make if he was going to accomplish his goals. Life, and the lives of his comrades, and death; only, he couldn't be sure which choice would lead to which outcome.

Admittedly, the fact that it was only his own life on the line made it a little easier to be reckless.

Without so much as a seal, five Kage Bunshin appeared around him, and Naruto handed his sealing scroll the the one in the centre. The plan was for two Kage Bunshin to search each of the two remaining archive rooms, while another kept watch in the corridor itself, disguised by transforming into an object to blend in . The one keeping watch would be able to dispel itself when danger approached, subsequently warning the four Bunshin searching the archives, giving them time to hide. They would store everything the found in the scroll, and all but one would dispel themselves when they were done - the final one meeting him on the roof with the stored information.

The original meanwhile, would set accomplishing about his other task for the night.

Seeing his Bunshin get started on their work without so much as a word, Naruto himself turned and walked back out into the corridor and briskly moved to the large double doors at the end of it. Pausing briefly to listen for noises on the other side, he caught something out of the corner of his eye, above him, on the wall to his left.

A grill.

Naruto almost slapped his own forehead in despair that he hadn't though of this before. A ventilation system would be the ideal way to navigate the Main Hall, without being seen by any guards. Channelling chakra to his hands and feet, he began to scale the wall as though he was some kind of insect crawling up it, and reached for the vent cover as soon as he was able to reach. Much to Naruto's surprise, it simply popped of, fairly quietly, and with ease. Not only that, but as he peered into the darkened vent, he realised that it would be more than big enough for him to crawl through. For one of the first times that night, the blond grinned, and began to climb in.

Fortune, after all, does indeed favour the bold.

* * *

Sarutobi seethed silently as he read over the formal petition his two advisers had placed before him on behalf of the civilian council. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had been on his own Genin team when he had first become a shinobi, and were both incredibly dear to him as friends and trusted advisers. However, they were both far more militant than he, and as a result, had began to clash on many issues over the years. Homura held much sway with the shinobi population, having spent far more time as a Jonin that either of his team mates, and had served a long stint in charge of the ANBU. Koharu on the other hand retired relatively early, and began a career as a politician, building up esteem with the civilian council, eventually becoming it's representative in dealing with the Hokage and shinobi matters.

Both held serious political capital, and more than ever, he wished his position as Hokage allowed him to tell the entire council to, as one of his students Tsunade had put it, all those years ago, 'kiss his wrinkly ass'.

Alas, such thoughts were out of the question, and the proposal they had forwarded had been the first time in a great many years his frustration at the council had threatened to become genuine anger.

"What is the meaning of this?"

The two advisers exchanged glances. It had been several years since Sarutobi had earnestly allowed his anger to spill over into the demeanour he presented to themselves and the wider public, and they had nearly forgotten quite how formidable the aging Hokage could be when he was, both on the battlefield, and politically.

"Please understand." Homura began, his voice considerably tighter and more reserved than normal. "This was not our doing. Both Koharu and myself tried to dissuade the council from taking this to you and to desist from pursuing this action. Despite our disagreements over the years on how Uzumaki-san is handled due to his...unique circumstances, we have no actual problem with the child. Our faith in the Yondaime's seal is as resolute as your own. But the civilian side was almost entirely unanimous in it's support for the petition, and several key figures amongst the shinobi are now involved. It holds to much sway for even your position to brush aside."

A glance over the names over the petition had already confirmed this fact for Sarutobi. Several prominent main branch Hyuuga, some well ranked ANBU, and several other members of some of village's more important clan's.

"We believe... That Danzou may be orchestrating this." This time it was Koharu who spoke, her words eliciting a soft curse from the Sandaime.

The petition was a simple one.

It was a petition to have Sarutobi push one Uzumaki Naruto into accepting being adopted by one of the village's major families in order to restrict his movements, place him under a constant guard, and keep him contained in the village.

The preferred choice of guardian was of course one Shimura Danzou. The man had been another friend, and a staunch rival for the position of Hokage in their youth. However, Danzou's motivations had become more and more suspect as time went by. He had once commanded his own personal black ops force, and Sarutobi suspected he still did; not to mention rumors of dealings with the likes of Orochimaru, and their hand in many un-approved assassinations and missions over the years.

Nastier rumours in recent years had begun to spread, however. And words such as 'coup', and 'rebellion' were finding their way into his intelligence even more. Danzou, Sarutobi feared, had become the enemy within. And now, he wished to try and use Naruto, or rather the power he held. Take him in, train and indoctrinate him, set him loose and seize power; or at least, that was the theory.

Obviously, Sarutobi could not just refuse to do anything. The civilian council could make life incredibly difficult for Naruto, refusing him access to shops, facilities, and banking, and evicting him from his homes, in order to force his hand. The support of some of the more prominent shinobi meant that the chances of his promotion, and working on some of the more important and career influencing missions could be restricted. For you see, it wasn't only the Hokage who did such things. Assigning missions for a shinobi force numbering many thousands of ninja, meant that such tasks were delegated.

Field promotions, assigning ninja to career and reputation vital diplomatic missions, among other things, were carried out by shinobi that, although he had picked, were not beyond influence.

In short, Naruto's life could potentially get very difficult, very fast. He didn't even have to be in the village. The danger was, that given time to work through the messy politics of the village, the civilian council could transfer guardianship of Naruto to Danzou without the permission of Sarutobi, since it was not technically as shinobi matter, which would be disastrous.

Sarutobi was left with one option, something that he had been hoping to put off until the danger posed by the Chunin Exams was through. Reveal the boy's heritage, and allow him to take up his position as the head of the Uzumaki clan. Naruto had already proven himself more than responsible enough to cope, and more than mature enough to show adequate restraint when given full access to some of his Father's more...volatile ideas.

Doing so would not prevent people from seeking guardianship in search of the prestige that would come with it, but it would remove the support for the petition, and Danzou's position as the prime candidate, as other families decide to compete for it.

In essence, a divide and conquer manoeuvre. Splinter the support for Danzou into easily ignorable factions. The downside being, that Naruto becomes a high priority target for anyone with a grudge when the village opens it's gates for the Chunin exam.

In the end, it would be Naruto's decision, it wouldn't be right for Sarutobi to reveal all without giving Naruto the chance to choose his own fate. The Hokage would just have to flex some political muscle, and stall until the blond's return.

"Fortunately, there are laws and circumstances that affect Naruto that circumvent even the wills of the respective councils. He is currently on assignment, and will not be back for a few days." Sarutobi started, his eyes narrowed at no foe in particular, the devious nature of this attempt to supplant his authority as Hokage, and condemn one of his shinobi to serving under a man such as Danzou. "Until he has returned, it is absolutely imperative that we prevent the council, and Danzou from forcing the issue any further. I can not say any more, but there is information that only myself and a few others are privy to that mean this absolutely can not be allowed to happen."

The two retired shinobi before him exchanged glances, holding some kind of silent dialogue between themselves, a feat only possible through teamwork honed by many years fighting alongside one another.

"You have our trust and commitment, Sarutobi my old friend, you know this." Homura spoke in a warm, friendly voice, as if to support his words as he spoke them; but it was Koharu who continued where her team mate left off.

"These circumstances Sarutobi, they refer of course to the boys parentage."

It was not a question, and if possible, the atmosphere in the room thickened even more, as the Hokage's piercing gaze was turned towards the advisers themselves.

"How long have you known - and how?"

"I rather wish we could say that we've known for a long while, given how obvious it seems when looking at the boy in hindsight, but we only began to suspect after Chunin Mizuki's betrayal. Uzumaki-san's reported accomplishments that night began to change our... preconceptions regarding the boy and his talents and value. Once we could look past those notions, look underneath the underneath, as I believe Hatake-san is want to say, his parentage became rather obvious to both of us."

It was Koharu who spoke, her tone as stern and firm as ever; however Sarutobi, having known the woman for decades, easily picked up on the subtle hint of regret and apology that coloured her words. He could find no insincerity in them, an none of the disdain for Naruto that she had held not even six months ago.

"You understand the level of secrecy behind this, and the consequences for revealing this information?." At the confirmation of his two advisers, Sarutobi pressed on. "Naruto himself is aware, and we have discussed the options regarding revealing his heritage. With everything going on, I had decided to hold off until after the Chunin exams, but if Danzou is going to force our hand, we'll press ahead the second he gets in the village."

"His position as heir of the Namikaze wouldn't allow him to circumvent the council as easily, being a minor clan who had very little influence within the village. The Uzumaki clan on the other hand, owns a fair amount of businesses within the village. Those under the patronage of the Uzumaki wouldn't be able to risk losing Naruto's support, which would make it impossible to put Naruto under enough pressure to accept a guardianship. We'll reveal his heritage, and have him accept his seats as the head of both the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans."

Privately, Sarutobi didn't believe it possible to put Naruto under enough pressure to accept being placed under somebody else's care. If they evicted him - he would camp out, stop him buying food - he would hunt and forage, prevent him from banking - he'd find another way to safeguard his possessions. However, as Hokage, he would not allow one of his ninjas to be treated in such a way; not only that, but denying the boy diplomatically important missions would prevent him from building a reputation amongst the politically important figures of the elemental nations, which was vital for one who wished to become a Kage - something the current holder of the position truly believed Naruto was capable of.

"We shall stall the council for as long as we can, Hiruzen, you have our word."

* * *

Jiraiya's face was grim as he read the scroll given to him by the shark-like Akatsuki member. An organisation of S-class criminals, monstrously strong shinobi, banded together with the sole purpose of capturing all nine of the bijuu - including the Kyuubi. The Sannin wondered how Naruto would take it when he broke the news to him. He was getting harder and harder to predict emotionally, truer to his actual feelings, as opposed to how he thought other people expected him to act.

You never know, he might even show a morsel of apprehension before leaping back into his training. And pigs flew.

But now, those three had joined, and immediately requested to be assigned to capturing Naruto. Their request had been granted, and at the same time, Itachi had been forced to remove himself from the group. He had been their plant - Jiraiya's source - into Akatsuki's movements. Now he had nothing, and Itachi and Kisame couldn't even be used as manpower, until Akatsuki had reduced their efforts in catching the two traitors.

The chunin exams, Akatsuki, Orochimaru, the Kyuubi, Danzou... So many individual factors, all moving and progressing at once, incredibly quickly; looming over the horizon, threatening to strike at the walls of the village all at once.

It would be a hideous stroke of misfortune, if all the things that threatened his village came to a boil at once - then again, that did seem to be just like Jiraiya's luck.

They wouldn't, of course. Akatsuki seemed to be moving at a leisurely pace, gathering information, setting themselves up. Naruto had time to grow before he had to face them. Danzou on the other hand was already hard at work within his own village, scrounging support, planting his twisted seeds amongst otherwise loyal ninja. He didn't have nearly enough manpower to threaten anything, but the Sannin thought the scarred man capable of pulling it off. But again, they had time.

That made Orochimaru's interference at the Chunin Exams first priority. Sarutobi-sensei refused to believe it possible, but Jiraiya was convinced that Suna was involved in someway. Their delegation was much larger than normal, and patrol routines and guard postings had been slowly changing over a period of week.

And that's not even mentioning the unbalanced Genin Jinchuriiki they were throwing in amongst the proverbial hens.

Naturally, Naruto was going to fight. Trouble clung to the blond like an unpleasant odor, and followed him for even longer. He didn't really have much choice. He had to be good enough to stop the Sunagakure container. Leaving snake-face to Jiraiya, hoping the rest of the village can hold out.

Hell, maybe he could get 'Bunta that snake skin wallet after all.