Behind the Waterfall

#34 Back Again

Reappearing in front of Shibuki' desk, the two bowed slightly as the village leader nodded and the Anbu disappeared.

"Welcome to Takigakure, Eagle, Wolf. How have you been?" Shibuki asked, obviously noticing the masks that the two had placed on their belts, Naruto looking around the room, while Fuu answered the questions. He was surprised as he looked to the door behind them, feigning interest in the architecture of the room. There were two people, he had already known that from their chakra signatures, that he could feel, however what surprised him more was the fact that one of them was Akaru, the trader that had helped him get away from Sunagakure when he was younger. He was already suspicious about him, when he had seen him with Shibuki when he and Fuu had first visited Taki after escaping from Sogen, but now he was sure that something was wrong with the man. He didn't pay attention as Fuu talked with her former friend, thinking about his interactions with the wandering trader.

"He knew about your training." Kurama's voice echoed through his mind.

"Right, the only one other than Fuu that could have told Shibuki." Naruto replied in his thoughts.

"It was a really good coincidence that he was there when you needed him." The Kyuubi stated, as the events in Sunagakure came to his mind. Without the trader he would have had to confront the Kazekage and his plans, however they would have played out. Naruto firmly believed that the first time he had met Akaru had been a real coincidence, but looking back at it, he started to question even that. He knew from his own experience that it was relatively easy to manipulate people, especially if they had no reason to be suspicious of you.

"But what would his objective have been, if he planned on becoming my friend?" The black haired teen asked in his mind.

"I don't know. Maybe he wanted to bring you here all along and didn't have a chance to do so back in Konoha and then he saw his opportunity in Suna." Kurama suggested, although these plans didn't really seem to hold up in Naruto's opinion.

"But if he really spent so much of his time just to get me to come with him to Taki, probably with the knowledge of Shibuki, why would they let me go so easily? Wouldn't it be a huge waste of resources if they didn't have a way to make sure that I would be staying here?" He voiced his concerns, thinking back on how easily he had been able to get away from the town. Kurama had nothing to say to that as Naruto felt the bijuu shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, the little skirmish with Sogen was really nothing to worry about, thankfully Hirana's message had reached us with enough time to prepare, so we were able to take their army by surprise. We only lost one shinobi actually and that was not even because of the fight." The leader said, when Naruto focused back into the conversation.

"How did that happen?" Fuu asked, not knowing if he was talking about her or if someone else had been lost.

"Before you had come to us, Hiatsu had been blackmailing us into an alliance with him. He actually managed to get us to agree to a political marriage with one of our top chunin. Our last information was that she was still in Sogen when we attacked, however we did not find her. I am afraid that he had already killed her and disposed of her body." Shibuki explained, earning a sad nod from the two rogues.

"Anyways, of course I will grant you access to Taki, you are unsung heroes of this village after all." The village leader changed the topic, as he shook his head.

"Thank you. I am sure she is happy, wherever she is now." Fuu replied, bowing lightly as the man stood up. Naruto bowed as well, before the pair walked out of the office.

"We need to get him back. The Kyuubi belongs to Konoha. We don't stand a chance without the bijuu!" The voice of Homura sounded through the council chamber. The few members of the council that had been called, looked around, everyone nodded in affirmation.

"How do you propose we do that?" A woman with blonde hair, a member of the civilian side of the council, asked.

"We would need to give him a reason to come back. I think we need to get him away from that green haired girl for that. I propose that we should send someone to seduce him. If he had someone to come back to." The gray haired old man suggested, looking at the different people in the room.

"We don't have anyone who would accept a mission like that. There is nobody that could take the green haired girl and have a chance at seducing him." Shikaku Nara said, his mind already racing to come up with a plan.

"I might have a solution to that." Hiashi Hyuuga said, looking at the room.

"Let's hear it."

"Well, my daughter seems to be infatuated with the boy. I think we would have a good chance, if you could spare one or two shinobi to deal with the girl." The Hyuuga clan head stated, looking at Homura.

"Are you sure she would be up to the task?" The blonde woman asked, looking around the room.

"I don't think she would accept a mission like that, but when we get rid of the green haired girl and give Hinata a bit of time with him, she would make her move. And I am sure that she will be successful, because Hinata's charms are second to none." Hiashi explained.

The fifth and last person in the room finally stood up, causing everyone to stop talking. The other four looked at the man as he opened his one eye, looking around the room.

"Then it is decided, I will make sure that the girl will be dealt with." He said, smiling around the room leaning on his cane.

"I will draft a mission for your daughter. I hope that her team won't give us too much trouble." Homura chipped in.

"Good. Then we will meet again in a week." The one eyed man ordered. He walked towards Homura, nodding at the man. The other three people disappeared out of the room, while the gray haired man placed his hand on his co-conspirator.

"You really think this will work Danzo?" Homura asked, while the one eyed man smiled slightly.

"I'm sure of it." With that the two disappeared in a swirl of leaves.