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Welcome back to the Chronicles of the Seventh. As always I like to begin by stating that I do not own Naruto.

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A special thanks to those who reviewed my previous chapter: Maria; Diamond Man; airnaruto45; Lord Jaric.

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Thank you for continuing to support this story everyone. Please leave a little review when done. Thanks. Next week will be a new Seven Sins chapter.

Naruto: Chronicles of the Seventh

Book IV: Curse of the Namikaze

Chapter XIX: Trap

***Outside Amegakure Hospital***

"Hurry up!" A masked Amegakure ninja yelled as he and several of his comrades ran with him. "We need to get inside! We have three assassins in there already!"

As they all ran by, none of them noticed the small, white beetle perched on the leaf of nearby juniper tree. As the group of ninja vanished down the street, the little bug flew up into the sky and flew around a building and down a darkened alley before rising above the streets. Eventually it was joined by a small group of similar beetles and they all flew together high above the village before finally descending and flying into an open man hole.

The swarm of beetles entered the cavernous sewers beneath Amegakure and wound its way though the darkened waterways before stopping and swarming around a tall man with long dark hair. He wore a tan, long sleeved jacket with a high upturned collar and sunglasses. On his back was a large, tan gourde. The man raised his hand as one of the bugs landed on his finger. He focused on the bug for a brief time in silence. "I see." He said finally.

The man stretched out both arms. "You have all done well." He said as all of the bugs flew up into his sleeves. Once they were all inside, he turned and began to walk down the large, dank sewer. His footsteps echoed off the walls.

A few moments later he came up to another man in a brown cloak, shaped like a snake who sat off to the side listening to the sound of dripping water that echoed from some unknown location. "Well?" The man in the cloak asked without looking up.

"My bugs have returned Kabumaru." The man in the glasses said. "Naruto and the others have arrived in the village. Sending an anonymous tip to Oboro and his group that they were snooping about was wise. Naruto found out about your attack and they have already entered the hospital."

Kabumaru smiled. "Excellent work Muta." He said as he made several quick hand signs. Behind Muta, a coffin sprouted out of the ground and opened. Muta took a step back and stood inside. "You can go rest now." Kabumaru continued as the coffin closed and vanished into thin air.

"Are you finally ready to go? I'm dying of boredom here, hmm!" Deidera said as he rose from his seat in the shadows.

Kabumaru chuckled. "A corpse is complaining to me of dying of boredom, huh? I really do need to reconsider the company I keep." Kabumaru rose to his feet. "Fine. Now that Naruto-kun and the rest of our audience is here, we can perform."

***Meanwhile***

"Masamune," Harada asked as he saw the captain commander speaking with the blonde attacker and his woman. "Do you know these riffraff?"

"Of course." Masamune replied. "As should you."

"Ha!" Harada scoffed. "I doubt I travel in such circles."

"Hmm," Masamune replied as he stroked his chin with a grin on his face. "It is possible that you wouldn't be capable of being in the same social circle. What do you think Lord Hokage?"

The people exploded in conversation and mumurs of disbelief. "H-Hokage?" Harada asked in shock. "Do you mean..?"

"Yes, I'm sure you do not recognize them outside of their usual dress." Masamune said. "I must admit it even took me a minute to be sure. But their faces are unmistakable. This is indeed the Hokage of Konoha, Namikaze Naruto and his wife…"

"Namikaze Sakura!"

Everyone turned to see the head doctor shuffling out of the emergency room. "I came out to see what this ruckus was all about and here I find you milady." Sakura looked at the doctor quizzically for a moment. "Don't tell me you've forgotten me have you? After all the days we spent together with the others doctors discussing our theories on external chakra manipulation techniques."

Suddenly a smile spread across her face. "Doctor Kawachi! I forgot you were the head medical officer here!" Sakura stepped past the flustered soldiers and shook the shorter doctors' hand.

"Indeed." Kawachi said happily as he smiled through his thick framed glasses. "And must admit I am…pleasantly surprised to see you here." The doctor looked around at the injured ninja and hallway that had been turned upside down. "Are you the cause of all this?"

Naruto laughed as he walked up. "A misunderstanding."

"With all due respect young lord, someone getting your order wrong at a restaurant is a misunderstanding." Kawachi replied as he adjusted his glasses on his nose. "You've turned my hospital into a god damned warzone."

"My apologies." Sakura replied with a bow. "But we needed to get here as soon as possible. And your men were on a short fuse."

"With good reason." Masamune answered. "Kabumaru struck the very heart of our home. He took dozens hostage and killed them all before attacking our Lady."

"We're more than familiar with his tactics I'm afraid." Sakura replied.

"Doctor." Naruto said as he walked up to Kawachi. "How is she?"

The doctor frowned and shook his head. "We were able to stabilize the wounds. The real danger is the poison."

"Poison?" Sakura asked.

The doctor removed a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed the sweat from his forehead. "I've never seen anything like it. Every time we think we've been able to isolate the pathogen it mutates. It changes its own structure and we're back to square one. The only thing working in our favor is that it's slow acting so we've been able to keep her alive. We had to sedate her though because it also causes extreme pain. It's clear that bastard wanted her to suffer. We've been at it all night with little progress. At this rate…"

Sakura bowed her head in front of the doctor. "With your permission I'd like to assist you with the procedure."

"Assist with the procedure?" Kawachi asked. He smiled warmly at her. "When I first came to your village several years ago I found it impossible to believe that a girl so young could be so knowledgeable in the field of medical ninjutsu. I questioned your every theory. Doubted every hypothesis you put forward. And yet, you did nothing but prove me wrong time and again. And now you ask if you can assist me?"

The doctor stepped to the side and gestured for her to enter the emergency room. "My dear girl, feel free to run the damned thing."

Sakura smiled gratefully and headed for the door. She paused for a second and looked back at everyone. "I really should do my part to heal these men first though. Their injuries are my responsibility."

"Please do not concern yourself with my men." Masamune answered with a bow. "They are much hardier than you think. They can come back from this. Lady Arashikage is what must take priority." Sakura looked to Naruto who nodded his approval before turning back to the door.

"Please, this way." Kawachi said as he led her into the room.

Masamune immediately turned to his men who were slowly trying to get themselves together and assess the injuries they'd all suffered. Masamune looked to one of his men. "Please head out and see who requires medical attention and also notify the men that everything is back under control. I need to know who is still in fighting shape. Have those who require it, seek medical attention. Everyone else needs to return to their posts and secure the perimeter."

"Yes sir!" The man said as he turned to leave.

"What the hell happened here?!"

Naruto and the others turned to see Shikamaru walking down the hallway, calmly observing the damage as he tiptoed around the mass of fallen bodies before walking up to Naruto. "I leave you two alone for a moment and you both run wild?"

"Shikamaru!" Naruto exclaimed happily. "Sorry for leaving you back there."

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru replied with a smirk. "You better pay me back with all the sake I can drink when we get home you bastard."

"What happened out there after we left?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I gave your men a choice. Unfortunately, they chose the wrong option. I made sure that some of your medics were looking out for them before I followed you down here. What a wreck. Where's Sakura?"

"She went in to check on Konan." Naruto answered. He then looked to Masamune. "Masamune-kun, can we find a private place to talk? I really would like to know what's going on here."

"Of course." Masamune responded. "Please follow me." Masamune led Naruto and Shikamaru down the hall, past a still stunned Harada who only looked on in disbelief. Masamune chuckled to himself at seeing the old man's face.

He led the pair into a small examination room and before he closed the door in instructed his men not to disturb them unless it was critical. Once they were alone, Masamune sighed heavily and slumped into a nearby chair. "I do not know what brought you here Lord Hokage. But I doubt you will find anyone here more grateful for your arrival. Things have been chaos."

Naruto and Shikamaru each took chairs of their own. "What happened, Masamune?"

"The impossible, I'm afraid." He answered.

***Meanwhile***

"Right this way." Doctor Kawachi said as he led Sakura out of the prepping room where she quickly washed her hands, arms and face and put on a clean pair of scrubs.

Sakura walked into the room behind the doctor and quickly analyzed everything around her. As she expected, the room was littered with all of the sorts of the line instruments one would expect in an emergency room. Some were stained with blood, highlighting the recent use. The room itself was spacious with high arching ceilings and was well lit. Konan was lying on a full sized bed with several thick chakra strings winding their way from under her clean white sheet and out towards the six medical ninja who were feeding chakra to them in order to stabilize her. Konan's hair was loose and matted. She was pale. Even for her. From a distance Sakura could see how shallow she was breathing.

"Doctor." One of the medical ninja called out as he and Sakura entered the room. "What was going on out there?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Kawachi answered. "It was just a misunderstanding and Masamune has already it cleared up. How is the patient?"

"We're feeding chakra to her vital organs." Another medic answered. "It's all we can do to keep her stable. We're waiting for you so that we can try to locate and isolate the poison."

"May I have a look?" Sakura asked.

"And who are you?" A female medic asked incredulously. "You don't look familiar."

"Mind your words." The old doctor snapped. "This person is Namizake Sakura, head medical physician in Konohagakure and the young woman I've mentioned."

Everyone in the room gasped in shock. "My apologies!" The female medic said with a bow.

"It's fine." Sakura replied with a smile and a wave.

"H-How did you get here so fast?!" Another medic asked. "Even if we notified you and requested you to come…"

"It's coincidence really." Sakura answered as she walked up next to Konan. "My husband and I happened to be in the area."

"H-Husband." One of the medics said. "You mean the Hokage himself is here?" Again they all burst into low mumering as they tried to understand what was going on.

"Alright!" Doctor Kawachi exclaimed. "They'll be enough time for questions later. Focus on the task at hand. This is too important to slip up now."

Sakura looked down at Konan and sighed. She was surprised at what she felt looking down on this once, powerful woman. It felt like a lifetime ago when she'd first laid eyes on her. It was during the attack. Sakura herself didn't take part in the fight as she was tasked with healing and protecting the villagers. And it wasn't only until after it was over that she'd learned that one of Konan's paper bombs claimed the life of her father.

For years Sakura could feel nothing but a deep seething hate for this woman. She dreamed of the day she could face her. And even after she returned to aid Konoha and fight by Naruto's side, she couldn't forget. She couldn't forgive.

The subsequent years of peace did little to lessen her anger. Yes, Konan was true to her word and stood by Konoha .And yes, she proved herself to be a strong and reliable leader of Amegakure and loyal ally of her home. But what she did before. The lives she took. Sakura couldn't forgive. So whenever Naruto chose to travel to Amegakure she would suddenly have important work she couldn't leave.

Whenever Konan came to her village to visit, Sakura would keep their conversations to brief pleasantries before she had pressing work at the hospital to attend to. And what made it worse, was that Konan knew. She was no fool. Sakura could see it in her eyes. Konan knew of the hate Sakura still harbored in her heart. And in those moments Sakura would always remember the words Konon said to her that night. "If the day comes that your need for revenge is too great, come find me."

"Tch! Stupid woman." Sakura said under her breath. She was surprised the complete lack of satisfaction she thought she'd feel in this moment. This woman killed her father. But all Sakura could think of was saving her life. It was then she knew that despite it all, she respected Konan's strength, her resolve and her courage. Konan knew what she'd done. Never once did she apologize. But she also never ran from it. She never hid from it. Not with Sakura, her own people or any other village. If anyone wanted revenge, they knew where to find her. And standing here now, all Sakura could feel was regret for holding on to her hate for so long. Too long.

"Lady Sakura." The doctor said as he handed her two chakra seals on parchment. "Attach these onto Milady and you can use this as a bridge to do a proper diagnosis."

"No need." Sakura replied handing them back. She then raised her hands and they both began to glow bright green. Everyone remained speechless. "I have my own method." She said as he placed on hand on Konan's forehead and another she slipped under the sheets and touched her bare stomach. Sakura closed her eyes as she concentrated.

What the hell is that? The doctor wondered. It looks sort of like the chakra scalpel but the amount of chakra I feel coming from it is immense. But at the same time it feels dulled. What technique is that?

Sakura smiled. "You did well to heal her stab wound. Very clean. I won't be surprised if there is little scaring." Sakura opened her eyes and scanned the room. "Who was responsible for that?"

The young female medic sheepishly raised her hand. "I-I did most of that, I guess."

Sakura smiled at her. "You did well." The girl blushed.

Sakura closed her eyes and continued to concentrate. "I see. I've located the poison. I have to admit I've never felt anything like this before. You're right. It keeps changing its structure to evade being isolated. It's almost like a living organism trying to hide from a predator."

Sakura began to sweat as she focused even more intently. I wonder if I can use my ability to force her body to expel the poison? She wondered. Only one way to find out. Sakura focused. She commanded her chakra to heal. A moment later her eyes flew open. Almost simultaneously, Konan coughed and spat up blood. Her body began to convulse violently. "Damn it!" Sakura yelled. She then looked to the medics in the room. "Pour as much chakra into her as you can spare! We need to stabilize her!"

"What's going on?!" The doctor asked as he grabbed a rope and forced Konan's mouth open. He quickly placed a cloth between her teeth to keep her from biting off her own tongue.

"That son of a bitch!" Sakura exclaimed as she grabbed several seals and placed them on Konan's forehead and arms. "You said that the poison wasn't very aggressive, right doctor Kawachi?"

"That's correct! I haven't seen her react in this way!"

"That's because of me!"

"What?!"

"The poison was made mostly dormant on purpose until another ingredient is added."

"Another ingredient?"

"Me! Or rather my chakra. When I tried to use my chakra to cure her, this was the result. That bastard created a poison that increases in aggressiveness once my chakra is added!"

Finally Konan's body began to relax. Her breathing grew even shallower. She made a low whistling sound with every inhale of air. All of the medics sighed in relief. "This is no time to relax." Sakura said as she pulled out a notepad and pencil from her coat pocket. "As it is now Konan might not live through the rest of the night. We need to act quickly!"

"You there!" Sakura said as she pointed to the young female medic who'd spoken up earlier.

"Y-Yes." The girl said as she jumped to her feet and hustled over.

Sakura finished writing and ripped the page from the notepad and handed it to her. "Take this and find all of the items and ingredients on this list. And I need you back here in no more than twenty minutes. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" The girl replied before running out of the room.

***Meanwhile***

"My god." Masamune replied as he sat back in his chair and allowed the information he'd just heard settle in. "With everything going on here, we were forced to bring in all of our scouts. We had no idea that Konoha was attacked."

"I think that might be part of his plan." Shikamaru said. "He might be considering isolating Konoha by preoccupying our allies."

"If that's the case, could not the other nations be in danger?" Masamune asked.

"It's possible." Naruto answered. "But right now I feel our best course of action is to take the fight to Kabumaru. Which is why we're out here. If the other villages are in danger we just have to believe that they can handle things on their own for now."

Masamune looked at Naruto incredulously. "Should I assume then that you are out here without the knowledge of your own people?"

"Why do you think that?" Naruto asked.

"It makes no tactical sense, in a situation like this to allow your Kage to be moving about like you are." Masamune replied. "You might be from a different village but that truth is the same no matter where you come from. And considering your efforts to keep your identity hidden, I can only assume part of that reason is to keep word of your location from getting back to your home."

Naruto chuckled. "You never fail to prove why Konan always had so much faith in you, Masamune."

"So what have you learned so far?" Masamune asked.

"Very little I'm afraid." Shikamaru answered. "The Akatsuki that escaped our village were headed in this direction. We believe they may have already crossed the border into the Land of Stone. As to what Kabumaru's motivations are, they remain a mystery. I was wondering if you could allow me to look inside Lady Konan's private quarters. Perhaps there might be some clue there."

"Of course." Masamune replied as all three men rose to their feet. "I can also show you the written reports of the incident. It's not much but anything could help."

"Right." Shikamaru replied as he followed Masamune to the door. Naruto was walking behind them when Shikamaru stopped and faced him. "You should probably stay here Naruto. If Sakura can get Konan to wake up she may want to see you."

"I guess you're right." Sakura replied begrudgingly.

"Of course I am." Shikamaru said with a smile. "I'll be back in no time. Besides, you look like crap. I don't think you're fully recovered yet. You should get some rest."

"I will let my men know that you will be resting inside, Lord Hokage." Masamune said. "They will notify you immediately if anything happens."

"I appreciate it." Naruto answered as the two men turned and left the room. Naruto took a deep, measured breath as he returned to his chair. For a long time he sat with his eyes closed as he fought to calm his nerves. Sitting here, doing nothing, was harder than anything he'd done he thought. Patience was never his strong suit anyway.

A moment passed before he rolled up his sleeve to reveal the brown leather wrist strap on his left wrist. He made several hand signs and there was a puff of smoke. "Summoning Jutsu." He said in a low voice. As the smoke on the ground between his feet cleared, he could see the large Namikaze scroll. There was an average sized table in the room with a few medical instruments scattered about. Naruto quickly moved them away and placed the scroll on top and unrolled it. Might as well see what more I can learn. He thought as he began to read where he left off.

***Meanwhile***

"Hey Jiro!"

Jiro, a young ninja of average height and build with brown hair and mole just above the left side of his upper lip, turned to see three more ninja coming towards him. In the lead was his older brother Katsuo. "Yo!" Jiro replied with a bored expression. He had been standing watch on the roof of a five floor complex, watching over three quiet blocks in the warehouse district. There was a light rain as Jiro kept watch, trying not to fall asleep standing up.

"What's up little brother?!" Katsuo said as he slapped Jiro on the back. "Not goofing off are you?! You standing around daydreaming about Emi's big tits?"

"What's with that?!" Jiro yelled. "You goof off way more than I do! And you shouldn't talk about Emi like that! As a lieutenant you should try to be a better example to your men!"

Katsuo laughed. "Calm down. You're always too serious. Besides everyone knows she's got a thing for you. You should just man up and ask her out you lucky bastard. She must have the biggest tits in the squad!"

"Shut up you jackass!" Jiro yelled which caused his brother and the other guards to laugh merrily. "I saw that crazy explosion in the distance. Any idea what that was about?"

"My men and I weren't able to respond to that." Katsuo answered. "But I did hear from Nobou's squad that it was caused by Oboro and his idiot group."

"Ah! Not those losers." Jiro exclaimed. "What the hell were they up to now?!"

"Not sure. They were jabbering on about three strong ninja who snuck in. And it appears Oboro himself is still missing. In any event, we should be extra vigilant in case that assassin we're looking for isn't here alone."

"Right." Jiro responded.

One of Katsuo's men, a heavy set man with dark hair tied in a ponytail, thick dark eyebrows and a small silver nose ring glanced down to the streets below. "Hey, we have movement."

Everyone looked down to see a figure walking through the streets. The person was wearing an odd looking, brown cloak as he walked in the opposite direction. "We locked off this district. There shouldn't be anyone here." Katsuo said. "Jiro, you come with me. The rest of you follow from the roof."

Katsuo and Jiro leapt down to the ground behind the suspicious character. Silently, Katsuo motioned for his brother to move over to the left side while he moved to the right. The person walked slowly, hunched over with the hood hanging low over his head. "You there." Katsuo said. "What are you doing in this neighborhood? This area has been closed off by order of the Arashikage."

The person continued to walk without responding. "Hey! Didn't you hear me?! I said..!" Suddenly the figure looked back the two men and they found themselves speechless at the sight of the grotesquely pale man with glass smiling back devilishly at them. "K-Kabumaru!" Katsuo yelled in shock.

Kabumaru smiled even wider as his long tongue fell out of his mouth and waved about. "Can't I take a leisurely stroll without being harassed?"

Jiro and his brother found themselves frozen in fear as they looked upon the man who tried to kill their Arashikage. Kabumaru turned to face them all while standing straight up. Despite the fact that he was a man of average height, to the brothers it felt as though he was towering over them, blocking out the moon and stars. Kabumaru took a step towards them. "Perhaps I should take a moment to teach you some manners?" Before he could move any closer, a kunai landed by his feet, embedding into the stone. "Lieutenant!" One of the ninja from above yelled as they leapt down.
"Hmm, maybe next time." Kabumaru said with a smile as he turned and leapt away.

"Sir! Are you alright?!" The chubby ninja asked as they ran up to the brothers.

Katsuo shook his head as if trying to remove the haze that seemed to cloud his mind. Never before had he known such instantaneous and overwhelming fear. "Y-Yes. Th-Thank you." He stuttered. He looked to his brother who also seemed to be snapping out of it. "Okay! We found him! We can't let him get away!" Katsuo ran and leapt to the rooftops as his brother and team followed closely behind. They could see the figure of Kabumaru nearly a block away running through the streets.

Katsuo turned to the chubby ninja. "Send word to everyone that we've located the target!"

"Right!" The ninja said as he turned and ran off in another direction.

"We need to stay on his trail!" Katsuo yelled to the others. "Just remember to avoid a confrontation if possible! We need to have back-up first!"

Kabumaru glanced behind him and could see his pursuers in the distance. He slowed down just a bit to ensure they didn't lose him. This is going to be fun. He thought as he smiled. So much fun.

End of Chapter XX