AN: Well, it certainly took me awhile, huh? Too damn long, I know, and the only excuse I have is sheer laziness on my part. That said, I think I might be getting back into the swing of things, and I am NOT giving up on this story. Don't really have a scheduled release planned for the next chapters, but unless something bit happens, you shouldn't have to wait this long for a chapter again.

On that note, I have to give massive credit to PeinsDisciple for not only getting me back on track, but for helping majorly on this chapter. Much appreciated buddy!

PeinsDisciple: Lazzy's sensei here, just letting you know that there is someone riding this guy's back and making sure he gets stuff done. I ain't gonna let him slack off like he did with this chapter so look forward to more regular releases ok?

A Rough Start

"Ahhh…"

Naruto let out a deep groan, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. No matter what time it was his bones told him it was far too early for him to get disturbed by something as troublesome as morning. And yet the stiff cool breeze that blew through him stung his skin and shocked away his sleepiness, leaving him with just a grumpy query as he opened his eyes. "Where the hell am I?"

He squinted rather unhappily around him, barely recognizing the place in which he lay. It was nearby a stable, in a small indent between a pair of roots belonging to a short and broad tree. A pile of hay was scattered over him. It was as much of a blanket as he could afford. All things considered he was just glad it hadn't blown away in the night.

It came to him quicker than he expected; that he had not and would never wake up in his bed again. That life was gone to him now, and this was what took its place. Sleeping beneath the trees with just the lucky find of some hay to keep him warm. This certainly wasn't what he had expected when he turned his back on the village that didn't want him.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the light condition he looked to something remarkably more noticeable than the palette of brown and beige standing before him. It was the long blue hair of a certain someone resting against his waist, snoozing peacefully in the calm morning. Despite the serene look on Miko's face Naruto found himself rolling his eyes. She never had quite grasped the concept that Naruto was too old to sleep so close to a girl he wasn't married to, even if she was an apparition.

It was a little unusual actually, that he would wake up before her. Normally this energy packed girl was the one bothering him into consciousness, always expecting him to be as bright and cheery as she was. Maybe it was something to do with the change in environment, that Naruto was just waking up a lot earlier than was normal. In a way he was glad of it; Miko looked pretty cute when she was sleeping.

After a brief moment of asking himself if he should wake his close companion or not a thought slipped through Naruto's wakening mind. Tentatively he brushed off some of the hay covering him, taking the greatest of care and refusing to look away from the face of the sleeping Miko. Once his jacket was visible he carefully zipped it down, brushing apart the material to the t-shirt underneath. He then slipped his hand beneath this, raising it up slowly. For someone who had felt disturbed out of sleep before, suddenly he felt quite nervous.

In a second Miko's eyes opened and her head looked up, just in time to see Naruto give out a wide yawn and scratch his chest. Their eyes met and Naruto gave her a coy smile, to which she gave a rather unbecoming leer. Then she shuffled up a little higher, resting her head on his shoulder and slipping her hand beneath his shirt as well. Hers came to rest on his, and when her eyes closed Naruto gave a smirk of accepted defeat.

"Not today I guess." Naruto told himself, relaxing his tense hand and trying not to feel too uncomfortable when Miko intertwined her fingers with his. She really didn't see anything weird in doing something like that, no matter how often Naruto had displayed his embarrassment in the past. By now he wasn't sure if he had come to like it or was just jaded by it, but complaining just didn't seem worthwhile anymore. "Hey, I'm getting up."

Miko moaned lightly, tightening her hold on his hand. She didn't notice, but Naruto felt her fingers slip through his hand, and his heart trembled a little. Maybe he was a little rough, but he pulled his hand out of his shirt and left Miko looking at him with a slight startled expression. She hadn't realized it this time, but it was a bit of a sore subject for them when she tried to touch him.

It's not that they couldn't touch, but that it was only to the slightest degree. Whenever Miko laid a hand upon him it never felt like anything more than something light lying upon him, like a leaf or some cloth. Almost everything about her reminded him of bubbles, and that included the sensation of contact between them. To him Miko was without weight, without pressure… and without warmth.

He sat up, barely reacting as Miko passed right through him. He brushed off the rest of the hay and got to his feet, zipping up his jacket to keep away the cold. He took in a deep morning breath and cleared his head, before looking behind him at the ethereal girl still lying on the ground. Once more he felt unease as he saw Miko staring at her hand, the forlorn look in her eyes unbearable for him.

Miko looked at him as he crouched down beside her, hugging his knees and staring back at her with a pair of the widest eyes she had ever seen. She tried to meet his gaze, but found herself blinking bewilderingly every few seconds. Naruto did no such thing, staying so perfectly still he seemed almost frozen in place. Then, when Miko was just about to ask what he was doing, he focused both eyes on the tip of his nose. Even while he was cross eyed he could see Miko's cheeks suddenly puff up, the giggle escaping her lips sounding as bright and natural as a bird song.

"Come on, we can't just lie here all day!" Naruto grinned, seeing for himself that he had fixed Miko's mood. The ghostly girl hovered up behind him and draped her arms over his shoulders, resting her head next to his quite happily as he started to walk along.

Naruto drifted between the stable and the building next door, hoping he didn't look too disheveled when he stepped out into the street. Luckily for him nobody gave him more than the same fleeting glance anyone would receive when passing by. He managed to blend in with the other people rather easily, even for an outsider. It was a strange feeling for him to be in amongst a number of people without feeling like someone's eyes were on his back. Granted a lot of the time those eyes belonged to the person clinging to him like a child, but the point still stood.

By the look of things the people of this small village were early risers. This place was pretty much just a rest stop for those who couldn't quite make it to Konoha before nightfall, so it was nothing more than a few stables and inns, discounting the usual places one would find in any village. This would be the place that caravan from before would have arrived at. Since Naruto didn't plan on sticking around too long, he decided first call of business was to figure out whose carriage he would stow away on next.

He hung around the stables for a while for that very reason. There were a few horses resting here, but not the ones from before. It wasn't hard to tell the difference between the horses bound for Konoha and those heading away from it. This was the latter place, but by the look of things he wasn't going to get much luck here. It was a coach these horses were pulling, meaning there was a chance it could be occupied when it left. The driver's seat gave full view of the roof too, and Naruto didn't like the idea of hanging on to the bottom. It was better not to leave things to chance here, so he left with only the mind to return later and see if it was worth the risk.

Travel wasn't the only issue that was present in his mind. Neither he nor Miko had had the foresight to postpone their leaving until Naruto's next allowance, and so he didn't even have enough money for a meal. He knew he wouldn't last long without finding some work he could do here and there. He was hopeful then that what he managed to learn from the ninja academy would be useful. Even if he hadn't managed to make it as a Shinobi he was still a bit above most other people, so he was sure he could be useful to someone. The only trouble was that he hadn't the slightest idea where to begin.

Well, by the growling coming from his gut, it seemed a part of him had one suggestion in mind. It was a good thing Naruto wasn't a completely honest person. It was time for him to acquire some breakfast, and that restaurant at the end of the street looked very promising.

Konohagakure no Sato, long considered the strongest of the Five Great Hidden Villages. Hiruzen Sarutobi the Sandaime Hokage had worked tirelessly since he became Hokage during the First Shinobi World War, and again when he had to take up the mantle of Hokage once more after his successor the Yondaime died, to turn the village into one that would choose peace over war while still remaining strong. This had proved to be a daunting task to keep the peaceful mindset while making sure that his ninja had the skills to not wind up a corpse while on a mission, but he had found a way.

He had spread the belief of "The Will of Fire", stressing the importance of one's comrades and keeping them safe, and how the village as a whole was at the same time comrades and family. This had led to his ninja not only growing strong with a firm belief in protecting the village at all costs, but also to grow even stronger when said village or friends were in danger. Because of this the other villages had decided that, for now at least, trying to invade Konoha was more trouble than it was worth. And that suited Hiruzen just fine. He hated war, hell he hated fighting in general. Others may call him weak, but he liked being the kindly grandfather to his village more than the hardened general. And ironically, this had led the village growing closer and stronger, so it all evened out.

But now... Hiruzen heaved what felt like the hundredth sigh of the day from his seat behind his big oak desk in the Hokage's office. Just a few hours ago he had received word from one of the academy teachers, Iruka. Naruto hadn't turned up for class yesterday, and again today. Iruka had thought that maybe Naruto was just skipping class, perhaps to set up another prank. But when Iruka had stopped by Naruto's apartment to check up on the boy and drag him to class if he was skipping, he had found the abode completely empty.

The Chunin had immediately brought this to the attention of the Hokage, convinced now that Naruto was preparing a prank. Hiruzen however thought differently. Naruto had been quite upset with him two days ago, and the blond just do happens to not turn up for class the next day? Sure, he might just be sulking, but the Sandaime had learned to trust his gut instincts. He had ordered a team to check the village for any sign of Naruto, just in case, but he didn't really expect them to find anything. At this time this was nothing more than procedure; he already had a tracker unit on standby for the inevitable-

It was at this time that there was a knock on the door. 'Speak of the devil.' Hiruzen thought to himself. "Enter." he called to the people on the other side. A brief pause, and the door swung open, the team he had sent out earlier. As they marched into the office, Hiruzen took a good look at their faces. What some might take as looks of calmness, a veteran ninja (like Hiruzen himself) could tell that they were actually frustrated, and above all, nervous. From that it was easy to deduce what had happened. Still, he had to wait for the team to confirm their failure to find the blond boy and then send them out afterward.

After the team had left, Hiruzen got up out of his chair, striding over to the giant window behind him.

As he gazed out over the village, though not really seeing it, he heaved yet another sigh. There was no question as to why Naruto had left, and it irritated him to no end. Running away for the sake of that thing that called itself Naruto's friend... why couldn't the boy understand that Hiruzen was trying to protect him? There were just too many questions left unanswered about the thing to just trust that it was there to be a friend to Naruto just because, like the blond claimed it said. And yet Naruto just continued to trust it full-heartedly, ignoring all the warnings that the aged Hokage tried to give him. The boy was just too stubborn sometimes, just like his mother, rest her soul.

He had tried almost everything he could to try and sway the boy to get the boy to agree to having this 'Miko' removed from him and sealed. About the only thing that he couldn't do was to tell the boy who his parent's were. Not only had he made the decision to withhold that information until the boy made Chunin, but if Naruto knew that his parents were the Yondaime, the same man who sealed the Kyuubi inside of him, and one of Konoha's best Kunoichi, and hadstill been treated as he had by the rest of the village, it would have only given the boy more reason to leave.

Perhaps he had been too lenient on the boy. Perhaps by becoming a grandfather to the village before a leader caused him to let his judgment be clouded at times. He should have just ordered the sealing anyways and be done with it. Well, when the boy was brought back, he'd do just that.

His mind set completely now, he turned back to his desk and pressed a button off to the side. Within five seconds his secretary came in, her mouth already opening to ask him what he needed before Hiruzen cut her off. "Send a message to team 23. At this moment, they're no longer on stand-by. They are to begin their mission immediately. Tell them to complete the mission at all costs. Also, send a message to Jiraiya and tell him to keep a lookout for Uzumaki Naruto, put a photo in there of the boy so he knows who to look for. Also, inform him that once the boy is found we will need him to stay here for awhile to perform a sealing. Understood?"

With a nod and a bow, the woman left, leaving Hiruzen to his thoughts. It was time to put his foot down. He'd have that youkai removed from the Yondaime's son, even if he had to hold Naruto down himself.

It was the very moment that the last mouthful had slipped down his throat that Naruto stopped enjoying his meal and realized that he was in trouble. Trying to avoid suspicion he had ordered a meal that cost just little over what he had in the way of money. It had seemed that it wasn't enough however, since his waiter had kept a pretty close eye on him this whenever he was in the front and not helping other customers. And even then Naruto felt like the guy was watching him.

"Geez, how the hell am I supposed to enjoy a meal with people breathing down my neck?" he muttered under his breath. Miko distracted him for a moment with a reddening face and a mumbled apology, to which he shook his head. He was referring to the waiter who served them, who had failed to show Naruto an inch of the respect he ought to show a customer. "He better not be looking for a tip."

Miko let out a small giggle, even if the situation made it uncalled for. "The only kind of tips he should get are pointers in good manners!" she proclaimed, punching the air in the general direction of the vulture like waiter watching Naruto from afar. Not for the first time Naruto forgot that only he could see her, and panicked that she had just made a very rude gesture herself.

"You're not helping at all Miko!" Naruto hissed, noting the waiter still looking at him. "I need you to take a look around, see if there are any exits or anything we can use." With a nod the pajama clad girl lifted into the air, soaring around Naruto in the limited range she could manage. For a moment she disappeared through the wall of the booth they'd been set at. When she came back through, it was with an apologetic look on her face.

"No good, there's a bus boy and a chef outside the back door smoking, and there aren't any windows in the bathroom remember?" she reported, feeling bad that she didn't have anything helpful to say. "What do we do?"

"Well we don't have time to work it off, and without a back door there's only the flashy exit." Naruto deadpanned. He closed his eyes, taking several deep breaths to try and call himself. After some time he opened them, a determined look on his face. "Guess we don't have a choice. As soon as no one's looking I'll make a break for the door. I might have to use those, so be ready alright?"

"Mm! Got it Naruto-kyun, I'm ready when you are!" Miko agreed, throwing one fist into the air with a (somewhat) serious face. It took another minute of waiting, in which Naruto was sure he began to break a sweat, before their chance came. The waiter had gone to help another family in the corner farthest from the door, the cashier had ducked into the restroom, and Naruto and Miko had their chance. He slid, as quickly yet as quietly as he could, out of the booth, suppressing the urge to just bolt as quickly as he could through the diner and out the door. Sadly for him, the urge broke through its restraints after three steps.

'Goddamn it, face like a bird ears like a bat!' Naruto thought bitterly to himself when he heard the shouts of the man behind him. Reluctant to conform to the waiter's barking commands Naruto weaved dangerously between the tables, pulling them out and clambering over them as he made his escape. The server chased after him determinedly, aiming to barge past the chairs to keep up his speed. He yelped in surprise when the chairs resisted his charge, tripping him up and making him fall painfully over them. He'd been a waiter here for a year now. The chairs here did not behave like that as far as he could recall.

Unable to resist a gloat at his handiwork Naruto looked over his shoulder and grinned maliciously at the fallen server. But because of this Naruto failed to notice someone walk into the bar and ploughed right into the newcomer, bouncing off and landing on the floor hard. As he sat there dazed from the impact, the waiter finally caught up to him, having succeeded in getting past the chairs that he swore had been jumping out at him.

"Thanks for catching this runt, sir," the waiter thanked the man, trying to get his breath back. "He tried to leave without paying for his meal, the nerve of him!" The suited man raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between Naruto, who was still on the floor, back to the waiter, who was glaring at Naruto. Finally the newcomer leveled his gaze on Naruto.

"Ya just couldn't wait, huh, could ya little bro?"

The man's question caught both the waiter and Naruto off guard. The man in the suit bent down, grabbing Naruto by the shoulders and lifting him back up to his feet. The man, much to Naruto and Miko's confusion, proceeded to dust him off. As the man began patting off Naruto's left arm, which was the side that the waiter wasn't on, he leaned close to Naruto's ear. "What's your name kid?" he whispered, not looking directly at Naruto.

Naruto looked at the stranger with wide eyes, surprised at the unspoken message that only like minded people could communicate. In that brief second a connection of weak trust was formed, and Naruto murmured back a response. "Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

The man nodded, seemingly to himself before answering. "Alright Naruto, listen. I'm going to help you out, just play along. Ok? But you're going to have to trust me." Naruto paused a second, weighing the pros and cons of the situation. Of course, after a second he decided to hell with it, and muttered his agreement. The stranger gave him a flicker of a smile, then the two of them turned to face the suspicious waiter again. "The kid here was waiting for me, didn't know I was running late. He's a clingy brat, always used to cry out 'Oniichan oniichan!'"

The waiter looked positively flummoxed by this peculiar display. The whispering hadn't escaped his notice, and he was about to voice his concerns when he noticed the scars on this stranger's unshaven face. Those weren't the kind of marks you got from falling over, they were undoubtedly cuts from some sort of blade. The waiter weighed his options, but he had nowhere near the spine to confront a dangerous looking guy like this.

"You're his guardian then? I take it that means you are the one who will be paying his bill?"

So maybe the waiter wasn't as spineless as Naruto first thought. The failed escapee was busy being red in the face from his rescuer's story, but he kept his cool as far as he could. His eyes darted to his right as he watched the stranger slip his hand into his jacket. For a worrisome moment Naruto caught sight of what looked like a knife. He was definitely going to have to be careful here.

"Here, keep the change." Naruto's "brother" said, stuffing the waiter's hand with some paper notes before steering Naruto towards the door. The young one considered making a run for it, but this guy had one hell of a grip. "Sorry about the chairs, but we're kinda in a rush. You don't mind right?"

Though he asked the stranger didn't wait for a response, instead he just waved as he walked out of the diner, pushing Naruto along with him. Miko was hovering around frenetically, trying to find some way she could help Naruto out of this situation. He'd already given her the warning look to be quiet, and she knew when that happened, she needed to find an escape route fast.

"Pretty nimble for such a scrawny little guy. My guess is you've come straight outta Konoha right?"

With such a sharp and out of nowhere query Naruto was left without a clue how to respond.

Unfortunately for him his bewilderment answered the stranger's question for him. The risky guy smirked to himself, passing glances to everyone who passed by him, shooting them looks through the thin rims of his shades. "Ninja boy without a headband, that's a sad story that." he muttered, hitting Naruto again with impressive insight. "Got it rough kid, ain't no one looking to hire a brat that even the military wouldn't take."

Naruto ignored the obligatory gesture Miko gave in response to this stranger's words. Whoever this guy was he managed to work out a lot more about Naruto than he could have possibly liked. Granted it wasn't like he had many secrets… bar one, but he couldn't escape the feeling that this little talk was going somewhere specific. "Then I guess I ought to keep that a secret then huh mister gangster?" he asked, with remarkable stones for a kid in the hands of a definite thug. Then again most "kids" weren't packing what he was packing.

"Y'know I got a little saying when it comes to people like you and me." the stranger said, ignoring Naruto's ballsy jab. "'Me Kasu Tsu Kasu'. What Kasu sees, Kasu takes. By the way, name's Kasu."

Despite the blatant attitude this guy Kasu was copping, Naruto couldn't help but squint at him. He himself had never been great with things like writing, but he was pretty sure that what this thug just said was a load of crock. In this case that was as much an advantage as a disadvantage. Naruto could maybe outwit this guy, but with a face like that he doubted it mattered.

"Now see, I remember the days when I was just a little rascal like ya'self." Kasu continued, oblivious to Naruto's expressions. "No one was interested in taking in a scruffy little turd, 'cept the mob bosses. They were always looking for someone to control, and lucky ol' me was right in their line of sight one day. Granted I doubt I'd have made it this long without them, but I think it's time I sever my ties to those geezers. But first I'm gonna need a little severance pay, if ya know what I mean. How'd ya like a little paying work in exchange for my saving yer ass back there?"

A few things came to Naruto's mind in response to Kasu's offer. The first was that this thug talked way too much to somebody he just met. That was either really stupid, or really arrogant. The second was that he felt he could trust a guy like Kasu even less for his perceptiveness, though even without it wouldn't have been much better. Miko seemed to mirror his thoughts, shaking her head and waving her hands while at the same time worrying if that was even an option. In the end however the promise of paying work was too much of an opportunity to be missed. He couldn't afford to be picky. "I guess I can help out."

"Aaaataboy!"

"Well, there's the place." Naruto muttered to himself. "Man this place is fancy. What do you think Miko?" Hours later found the two standing under the cover of darkness outside a two-story, traditional looking house with a tall stone wall going all around. Naruto was pretty sure that even if Kasu hadn't been 'kind' enough to give him detailed instructions on where this place was, he'd have found it anyways easily enough. After all, the mean looking guys standing in suits at the front were pretty much a dead give away.

Behind him Miko gave her friend a nervous look. "I don't know, Naruto-kyun. This seems like a really bad idea. We don't even really know this guy, why are we going to steal such a stupid thing from such a dangerous looking place for him?" she asked him. Naruto gave an amused chuckle.

"It's not like I've never stolen anything before, even if I don't get to keep it this time." he quietly responded while sizing up the guards. "It's not like I'd know what to do with something like that, so I'd rather take the cash than try and hawk it myself. As for not knowing the guy..." he shrugged. "It would have been the same if we were actual ninjas, or if we continue to do any work we come across. We'll have to do things for people that we don't know. Just got to get used to it and not worry about it."

Miko didn't look completely convinced, but nodded her agreement anyways, forcing a smile onto her face. "All right. If you think we can do it then I'll trust you Naruto-kyun!" Naruto grinned brightly at her response before running off to one of the walls on the side walls, making sure that he wasn't seen by the two thugs at the front. Too focused on his goal, he missed the smile slide off Miko's face as well as her words that she muttered. "I trust you, it's that Kasu that I don't."

Still, she understood that they needed to do this job if they wanted to have money to avoid a repeat of the diner. Sighing to herself she followed her blond friend to the side wall, where he was busy studying it in hopes of finding a way over. Just as she reached him he had seemingly decided on a course of action. With a nod, he put on a serious face and turned to Miko. "Alright Miko, I need you to act as a scout here. You're gonna have to go through this wall and let me know when it's clear, ok?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Miko shouted with a grin, throwing up a sloppy salute. Before Naruto could retort she had gone up and over the wall, leaving the boy to wonder if she would ever stop teasing him whenever he started talking in his "Commander's Voice", as she liked to call it. Shaking those thoughts from his head for now, he brought his mind back to the situation at hand: getting over that wall as soon Miko gave the 'all clear', which she did a few seconds later.

Scanning the wall for imperfections unveiled cracks in the concrete that cemented the bricks in the wall together. Naruto reached behind him to the pouch strapped to his belt, the pouch that he had once imagined containing all sorts of cool ninja weapons. All that was in it however was a stolen butter knife; a rather pathetic replacement for a kunai or shuriken.

Careful not to draw too much attention to himself he stabbed the knife into a crack and began to expand it, chipping away at concrete for a good few minutes. Eventually he succeeded in surrounding a single brick in such a crack, and slipped his knife back away. Next he flexed the fingers on one hand, before he then placed his palm upon the outline brick. While he furrowed his brow Miko's face grew stony, her brilliant blue eyes suddenly glowing an eerie shade of green. A slight trickle of blood slipped down Naruto's wrist. He grunted and pulled hard once, twice, three times. On the fourth time the brick trembled, and on the fifth it loosened. Miko's eyes went back to normal and Naruto took the brick in both hands, pulling it out and placing it carefully on the ground.

With that done he backed up a few paces, his eyes never leaving the hole he had left on the wall. Once he got back far enough, he took a second to gather his breath and psych himself up. After a few seconds he suddenly ran straight at the wall, gathering more speed as he neared the obstruction. One he got close he leapt into the air, almost skinning himself as he kicked his foot into the freshly made hole.

From here he was able to push himself up higher, enough to make a jump at the top of the wall. He missed it with the first swing of his arm, but he managed to grasp it with the other arm. Quickly raising the first arm up to grab at the edge, he pulled himself up and over the wall, landing somewhat heavily against the ground. By some good grace of Lady Lucky, the front gate guards didn't hear him, so he got back to his feet and moved to a nearby window.

Kasu had told him earlier when he was describing the details of the job that a window would be left unlocked on the bottom floor, and that it'd be marked with a small piece of paper folded and tucked into the corner on the inside. The first window Naruto checked had no paper, and neither did the second. However, the third window did, and Naruto entered the house from there. Finding himself in what appeared to be a storeroom, Naruto took a minute to recall all the details that Kasu had given him.

'Let's see, according to the info, there aren't supposed to be any guards patrolling the hallway, though there might be some drunks wandering back from the kitchen. The place with the most amount of guards would be the second floor, near the boss's room, but since my target is in the basement, I shouldn't be worried about them unless I screw things up and give myself away. For now, I need to head to the dining room. Shouldn't be too hard to find, Kasu said it's close to where I'd enter this place.'

Satisfied with his plan of action, Naruto slowly opened the door out, peeking down the hallway to his left. Above him, Miko looked down to the right. Almost as if they planned it, they turned their head to the other side, so that Naruto was looking to the right and Miko, the left. As quietly as he could, Naruto opened the door even more, focusing his sight on a door down the hall to the left. He wasn't sure, but he had a hunch that was where the dining room was, and considering his luck so far, it was worth a shot.

Slipping over to the door and opening it, Naruto stepped inside and started looking around, Miko doing the same behind him. The entire room was decorated heavily, vases on pedestals and paintings covering most of the walls. A crystal chandelier hung above a long table that could easily sit at least fourteen people, and a fireplace was placed on one of the side walls, the mantle lined with several swords with a shield decorated with some kind of symbol was placed on the wall above it. Naruto let out a small whistle. 'This guy is LOADED. All this stuff must have cost a ton, and this is just the dining room! How much money does this guy have?'

Damn, he was going off track again. He gave himself a mental shake, and walked over to the fireplace. Idly noting that it had been burning not too long ago, the few glowing embers remaining evidence of that, he recalled the next bit of info Kasu had given him. Something about a secret door on one of the sides of the fireplace, though his employer couldn't recall witch side. After thinking for a moment Naruto turned back to his partner, who was now floating around the room looking at the paintings.

Hey, Miko," he called softly, lest he accidentally alert someone. "Can you check behind this wall, see which side has a passage behind it?"

"Yup, no problem Naruto-kyun!" she called back to him, pausing just a second longer to look at a picture of a smiling woman. It was kinda creepy, almost like the woman knew an amusing secret that Miko didn't. Shrugging it off, Miko floated through the wall to the right of the fireplace, popping her head out a few seconds later. "Nothing here. Must be your side."

Naruto nodded, thinking about how best to approach this. A few moments of hard thinking later, he gave up and decided to just go with the flow. Stepping to the wall, he gave a slight push, feeling the wall go in about an inch before stopping. Try as he might, the door would not go any further. Getting slightly frustrated, he jiggled the wall a bit hoping to shake off whatever was stopping it. To his surprise the door moved quite easily to the left. Naruto froze, fighting off the urge to palm his face in disbelief. Kasu should've told him that the door had to be pushed in and then slid to the side. Would've made Naruto's job easier.

After pushing the door completely open, the blond started to descend before a hand halted him. Jumping, he spun around, only to discover that it was Miko who had startled him. Naruto opened his mouth to scold her for startling him, but closed it when he noticed that she looked serious.

"Naruto-kyun, maybe I should go first." she volunteered. "If there's any traps, I can let you know about them so you won't activate them. And since we know I won't set them off, it should be ok." Naruto hesitated for a moment, then gave a small nod. If someone had gone and made a secret passage (that Naruto thought was incredibly easy to find) then the obvious thing that they would've done was place at least some traps there.

By the time Naruto had finished his musings, Miko had reached the bottom and come back up with a confused look on her face. "I found a tripwire set down at the doorway to the basement, but nothing else really caught my attention." she said, worriedly. "It's weird though, the lights are already on down there. I think someone's been in there not long ago."

Naruto frowned at the news, but a little puzzle piece slipped into place for him. He'd wondered why Kasu asked him to do this job when that person had already proven to be capable of doing the job himself just by preparing the place for Naruto. The only reason why Kasu didn't do it himself then would be that if the perpetrator got caught it would be Naruto's balls in the fire and not his. Well that was as much as he'd expected anyway, nothing he wanted to worry Miko about.

As he reached the bottom, stepping carefully over the tripwire, Naruto took a quick glance around the room. Suits of samurai armor lined against one wall, vases and paintings on another. Along the wall now behind him were a whole bunch of sculptures that appeared to be killed and stuffed, bears and tigers and such. And his target was on a shelf on the wall across from him, standing out even amongst the jewels, necklaces and urns that where beside it, with more jewelry was piled underneath it. Cautiously he made his way closer, his eyes never leaving his prize.

It was an egg about four or five inches tall and was about as big around as his fist. Ruby's ran around the top and bottom of the egg in a ring, while the center also had a ring of jewels around it, this one alternating between sapphires and diamonds. 'Ok.' Naruto thought to himself, gingerly picking up the egg. 'Guess that's not as stupid a thing to want as we thought. Small, easy to conceal, and could still get you quite a bit of money. Still, why this?' Next to him, Miko was having similar thoughts.

So focused on the egg where the two that they never noticed the sound of footsteps behind them. Until a man's voice broke out. "Nice job, kid! I knew ya could handle a simple thing like this!" Spinning around, Naruto and Miko were surprised to see Kasu standing at the bottom of the staircase, a grin on his face and his shades off. Though his tone was friendly, his smile seemed predatory and his eyes were cruel looking. "Now what say ya hand over that little egg there and we talk?

"Talk?" Naruto repeated, his grip on the egg tightening. "About what?" He flinched as he noticed Kasu's grin seemed to widen.

"Why, the future, o' course!" the older man said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "See, here's the thing. Boss man ain't home right now, ya know? Gone off on a little... business trip. Now o' course, when the boss is away, the underlings will party, just a natural thing. And like is normal, they party just a little too hard, and end up passin' out. And this thief sneaks in, and tries to steal from the boss. And with the guards knocked out from the booze and all, it looks like he just might get away. But wouldn't ya know it, good ol' Kasu, hard-workin' guy that he is, discovers someone's broken into the boss's secret treasure room and catches the thief!

And then, here's what happens. The boss comes back, Kasu tells him what happens and shows him the little ruffian who thought he could steal from a Yakuza boss. And the boss is so pleased that he promotes Kasu, gives him a bit more power in the group. And as for the thief, he either works for the boss... or he feeds the fish." Kasu's grin, if possible, grew more. "Whaddaya think, bozu?"

"I think you're an ass." Naruto deadpanned. "As for the future, here's what I see. I beat you, keep the egg, get out of here, and let whatever happens to you, happen. On the plus side, I won't hurt you too bad since you did help me out earlier." Naruto grinned himself, while Miko's eyes glowed that strange green again. "That said, I'm still gonna hurt you."

Kasu's grin lessened a bit before he started walking towards the boy. "Well ain't ya a cocky little turd?" he said, reaching into his pocket while he got closer. Naruto, for his part, tensed his muscles, getting ready to run the moment the option was available. "Thing is kid... You don't have a choice!" With that declaration Kasu lunged forward, swinging the hand that wasn't in his pocket at the blond in a fist.

Naruto reached back with both hands to grab a pair of urns, but Kasu's surprise tactic meant he could do nothing more than knock them over before he too was knocked aside into a waiting suit of armor. Struggling to his feet, me barely managed to dodge to the right, narrowly avoiding the knife Kasu had drawn in that few seconds of recovery that Naruto took. Naruto took a loose stance, standing a few feet in front of a giant stuffed brown bear, it's arms open wide with it's mouth dropped open to simulate it roaring at prey. Naruto then partook in a popular part of fighting with thugs and began to slowly strafe. Unable to resist Kasu did the same, his smile showing rows of benevolent teeth holding back cruel laughter.

With a loud yell Kasu threw himself at the blond again, and the boy almost barreled into the bear behind in a mistaken dodge that turned into a roll aside. Kasu pivoted quickly, just in time to see Naruto display his hands, then clench his fingers into fists. Before Kasu could even guess what that meant the urns Naruto had tried to grab earlier flew through the air and smashed into Kasu, striking him with clay and showering him in choking ash.

Any smart person would have taken this opportunity to get out of there. This was a classic ninja scenario if you replaced the remains of the deceased with a smoke bomb. When vision cleared Naruto would have been gone, impossible to follow. It was a shame he wasn't that smart a ninja then. Holding back a yell to avoid inhaling ash Naruto threw himself into the cloud and hurled his fist into his enemy's stomach.

Kasu's response really was something to be commended. Dazed by the blow to the head and choking on his boss's ancestors he still managed to grab Naruto's arm the moment after the punch connected. Naruto pulled back hard and Kasu let him go, surprising the boy into stumbling and using that confusion to fling out a roundhouse kick that connected to the young runaway's temple and took Naruto clean off his feet. The pain in his head numbed his entire body, leaving him unaware even as he crashed straight into a suit of armor.

Weakly Naruto tried to crawl out of the pile, but his body trembled and he fell to his side. The dazed blond could put up no resistance as Kasu came over and kicked the boy in the ribs once, forcing a cry of pain that was accompanied by a squeal from Miko. Kasu struck him once more in the gut, but Naruto restrained himself from giving this bastard the satisfaction a second time. Unfortunately he couldn't manage much more in his state. Kasu reared his leg back for a third strike, but then Miko threw herself between the two of them and let out a cry.

"YAAAAAAAAAH!" she screamed, throwing out her invisible hands, her eyes shining a blinding green. Kasu almost delivered his kick, but a loud groan made him whip his head around quickly. The sneer he had been wearing disappeared in a second, replaced by a look of cold terror, as the very bear he had been thrown into before suddenly began to charge straight at him. He didn't have time to do more than yell before the deceased model impacted and threw them both straight through the flimsy wall. Miko whipped around to the half conscious Naruto, her eyes subsiding as she looked fearfully at him. "Naruto-kyun! Get up!"

"Son of a bitch…" Naruto groaned, holding his injured stomach tight. It hurt like hell, but he could tell by touch that nothing was broken. He swallowed his pain and pushed himself up, creating a loud clatter as the rest of the armor pieces fell aside. He managed to get to his feet, but standing straight was impossible for him. He held a hand across his gut and panted hard. So this was what it was like to be on the verge of consciousness.

Neither he nor Miko let their guard down. They both turned to face the hole in the wall and waited silently for the dust to settle. They couldn't hear anything definitive, no sounds of a struggle nor growls of anger. When they could finally see through the wall, they were given the sight of the stuffed bear lying on top of a definitely knocked out Kasu. A trail of blood seeped out the thug's mouth, and his face was frozen in pain. But faint breathing said he was still alive. At least they weren't murderers.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, the adrenaline leaving his body. Miko did the same, descending down on the ground to wrap and arm around Naruto's neck and rest her head on his shoulder. Even though she received no injuries she was every bit as tired as Naruto was. "Next time you look for work, try to avoid the gangsters, ok?" she asked, breathing just a little less than her long time companion.

"Sorry…" Naruto exhaled. He looked up and exchanged a grin with Miko, but his attention lingered on the girl for only a moment. Movement from the corner of their eyes made them both turn suddenly around, sore muscles tensing once again. Someone must have heard the noise, or saw the open door. That was what they were expecting. What they weren't expecting however, was a familiar looking green haired girl.

"Hey, I was here first, so this is mine!" the girl warned, displaying the jeweled egg in her hand along with a warning look that forbade disagreement. Despite her statement the first thing Naruto did was try to remember her in the first place. The trim hair was familiar, but it was dark last time and he didn't notice her flashy choice in clothes. White shirts, skirts and bare midriffs weren't exactly common fashion where Naruto came from. Neither was that rucksack. A second later Naruto realized how little he cared about what she was wearing compared to what her words implied.

"Here first? You were here the whole time?" he exclaimed, shooting Miko a glance that was returned with an embarrassed aversion of eyes. When he looked back at the girl he was met with a blank stare that asked the same question he knew would repeat itself over and over.

"You're point is?" the girl asked, before shrugging like she didn't care. She took a quick look around the room and thought back to what she saw, quickly deciding that it wasn't in her favor to get in a fight with this strange person. "Look, I can tell by looking at you that you don't know the first thing to do with something this valuable. But the rest of this stuff should be easy to sell. Grab what you can and you should be good for a while ok?"

Without waiting for a response the girl then vanished up the stairs as quietly as she had first appeared. Miko waited about three seconds after the girl had left her sight before she exploded. "What the heck was that? We do all the work, we get into a fight, you get hurt, and she still gets the prize? That's not fair!"

Rather than join in on Miko's frustration Naruto simply rubbed his neck and let out a long, deep sigh. "I'm way too sore to care right anyway, let's just leave it like it is." he said. Miko reluctantly relented and hovered to her preferred position of hanging onto Naruto's back. Naruto meanwhile took another look around the room, specifically to the pile of small and valuable looking things he had knocked down before. "At least she's got some good advice on her." he added, before committing his third crime of the day.

Naruto grunted when his feet hit the ground, the rest of his body dropping down with him. He was outside the confines of the manor now, right where he had broken in earlier. He even found the brick he'd removed to give him footing. Quickly he bent down and picked the piece of masonry up. There was a blood mark on it, depicting a glyph resembling a barren tree standing beside a shrine gate; a rune that attaches itself to whatever contacts it for as long as the creator wills it to be. Roughly he rubbed this rune off with his sleeve, denying any chance curiosity from unveiling one of his secrets.

"Uh… Naruto-kyun?"

A glance at Miko became a full turn as Naruto realized they were once again not alone. To his surprise the girl from before stood just a couple of feet away, surveying him with an impatience that suggested he was the very reason she was still here. "Uh… yeah?" he asked, not wanting to waste manners on a girl like this. "There something else you want?"

"I kinda felt bad about taking your prize like that, so I decided to at least make sure you got out ok." the girl replied, taking an unwarranted step forward. She then proceeded to dust Naruto off, looking around him blankly while he fed to her a startled expression. Miko was busy attempting to wrestle her off, but of course the girl didn't notice. "I didn't expect you to just walk out after taking a hit like that."

Her eyes met with Naruto's, their closeness suddenly becoming very hard for him to ignore. He felt a slight flush come upon him, but was then shocked by the girl's face getting replaced with Miko's. His long time friend was glaring at him with both and accusing and betrayed look, with even less distance than the other girl had left.

"What's up with that face?" she demanded, whipping around and huffing away. She stood behind the girl and looked crossly over her shoulder, muttering something like "I'm bigger than her…". Since she was clearly the shorter of the two, Naruto decided not to think about what was supposed to be bigger.

"Uh… well, it's not as bad as it looks." Naruto said, realizing that the girl was giving him a weird look. She'd taken a step back and stared at him expectantly. Naruto quickly recalculated his opinion of this girl. Sure she'd jacked what he came to steal, but at least she was compassionate enough to make sure he was fine after that fight. "My name's Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

"… Futaro, Chiyome Futaro." the girl replied, her head tilting slightly, as if she'd just found Naruto to be a little more interesting than she had a moment ago. "Just call me Fuu." she added, almost in response to the snicker that came from Miko's lips. Her eyes sharpened considerably, the orange, pupilless circles somehow seeming more focused. "You're a ninja right? No way you did what you did back there without being one. What where you doing with a scumbag like that?"

Naruto hesitated for a second, but then he told her everything, from when he woke up to before the fight with Kasu. While it probably wasn't wise to tell everything to a stranger, he at least had the sense of mind not to mention Konoha or his runes. Fuu already knew more than he liked. They walked while he explained his situation, him following her. Once he was finished with his story she gave a low whistle.

"Damn, seems like you had yourself some bad luck for your first job, eh? Ah well, least you know now to be more careful." At this point they had made good distance from the gangster mansion. Fuu turned to look at her companion, a friendly smile on her face. "Well, Naruto, it's been fun, but I think I'm going to head to the next town. Feel free to stay in my house from before, I don't think I'll be coming back." She reached around behind the boy and gave a surprise slap to the butt that brought on an affronted gasp from a certain invisible someone. "Just keep the place semi-decent, you hear? Just in case I decide to pop in for a visit!"

Letting the boy go, she started jogging down the path, throwing a wave over her shoulder. Naruto stood there waving until she was out of sight, a smile on his face. "Well, that's really nice of her, huh Miko?"

Miko gave an indignant huff. "I don't like her. Good riddance, I say!" Naruto chuckled at his companions words, turning around and walking back into town, heading towards Fuu's old house.

"Well, regardless, at least we have some things to sell so we can get some money for food and such." He reminded her. He reached a hand down into his pocket. "I mean, just look at..." he drifted off, a confused look on his face. Slowly at first, and then more frantically, he began rummaging through his pockets, turning them inside out. There was nothing, nothing there!

"But, they were just here! I had those necklaces, some bracelets, all kinds of stuff! Where did they go?" Naruto began wracking his mind, trying to figure out where he may have dropped them. Beside him, Miko had a strange look on her face, her eyes wide and staring emptily out at Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto-kyun?" She called to the boy beside her. "You don't think that we were robbed... do you?" Naruto paused in his panicked thinking to throw a confused look at her.

"But, that can't be," he told her. The only person we saw since we left that place.. was..." he trailed off. Miko watched as his face went through a myriad of emotions. First realization, then shock and finally anger. As she saw that latter look, she acted quickly, throwing up her hands to cover her ears as Naruto drew in a deep breath.

Residents of that quiet little town were rudely awakened, as throughout the air rang the words "THAT BITCH!"