Hello FanFiction! This is pain17ification posting the next chapter of "The Secret Apprentice"!

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own anything except for the story idea

I wanted to surprise you guys with this, but I figured y'all could help me more if I just told you. In the previous chapter, I mentioned that I was gonna eventually bring in three girls from a different series into this.

The girls are Akitsu, Miya, and Karasuba from the series "Sekirei". Now, I need help in figuring out how they'd interact in the story, so I'm looking for someone out there to volunteer and help me!

*bows* Thank you very much in advance! And now, on to the chapter!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Bijuu/Techniques"

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 4: Reunion in the Clouds

In the hidden village of Kumogakure, civilians and shinobi alike went about their day to day business with the pride of their home in their hearts. The shinobi worked diligently to protect and serve Kumo while the civilians worked hard to supply and deliver much needed goods.

It was this incredible pride in the village that made one Uzumaki Naruto give a real smile, however small it was. This place hadn't changed much from his time here with Sasori so long ago. It was also back then that he made his two first friends.

[Flashback (Naruto age 5)]

It was about two weeks after Sasori had taken Naruto with him on that pouring night in Konoha. The blonde was still dressed in his rag-like clothes and black cloak, but he didn't mind. He finally had someone who gave him a purpose; a reason to keep on living.

He was content enough to not give a care for something as trivial as attire.

"We're almost there," stated the soft voice of his new Master as they reached the top of another hill. Blue eyes looked down and saw clouds covering mountaintops and he looked to the puppet master for an explanation. "Down there is the village of Kumogakure, otherwise known as the Hidden Cloud Village. I have some people I need to speak to and I'll also give you your first real taste for subterfuge."

"Subterfuge, Sasori-sama?" asked Naruto in a calm tone with a hint of confusion.

"It basically means your first lesson on being…sneaky. Come along, Naruto," the redhead commanded as he led the way once again.

Once they got through the gate, passing themselves off as nomads making a stop on their journey, Sasori wasted no time in leading Naruto to a rather unassuming bookstore. Once inside, the redhead merely showed his scorpion tattoo on the back of his left hand and the clerk nodded discreetly before looking to the blonde.

"He'll have to wait out here while we talk. Can't be too careful."

The puppet master gave no facial changes, but his tone was one of slight irritation. "Very well…" His tone became neutral again as he said, "Naruto, go find something to do and meet me at the central market in an hour."

"Hai, Sasori-sama," replied the blonde as he stepped out of the shop.

"Wait," called Sasori calmly, stopping him from opening the door. He stepped up to the boy and handed him two vials of silvery liquid. A week ago, Sasori made a batch of the stuff and added some of Naruto's hairs – which he took from the boy as he slept. "Here's your first task I'm giving you. I want you to find two people to give these to and have them swallow the elixirs inside. Make sure that they are worthy enough in your eyes because there are no second tries."

Naruto slowly took the vials, being extremely careful not to break them. He nodded to his Master and made his way out of the bookstore.

[End Flashback]

He was broken out of his thoughts as he heard the sound of metal clashing against metal along with some cursing from a female. Curious and seeing that it was near where he first met his friends as a child, he made his way there.

Before his eyes when he arrived, there were two women in a deadlock with their swords while a male in his late teens sat against a tree and watched them. The male had short and spiky grey hair, a dark complexion, and black eyes. He wore a standard uniform for a Chunin of Kumo and had what the Uzumaki observed as the stick of a sucker hanging out of his mouth.

One of the women sparring was a redhead with long and spiky hair, a dark complexion – per the average of the residents of Kumo – amber eyes, and a look of determination on her face. Her outfit was the same as the males, only it befitted her status as a kunoichi.

The last person was a blonde woman with a bobbed hairstyle, icy blue eyes, a fair complexion compared to her teammates, and an impressive figure. Her attire was similar, except that her white vest didn't cover her chest due to the size.

The last one he observed brought a smirk to his face. Her form was replaced with the image of a young girl with longer hair, the same icy blue eyes, but a kind smile on her face. The girl extended her hand to him and he heard a faint whisper in the wind of, "It'd be cool if you told me your name."

"Samui," muttered the Uzumaki as he leaned against a tree and watched her win the deadlock and send the redhead to the ground.

"I win," she stated calmly as she sheathed her weapon; a tanto as long as her arm.

"Damn it," cursed the other girl as she got to her feet and picked up her katana. "I almost had you that time."

"Perhaps," commented Samui with a hint of a smirk. "It's cool that you think so optimistically even in defeat, Karui."

"What'd you say?!"

The male stood up and was about to try and diffuse the situation before he spotted Naruto. Blue eyes met black and the latter pair blinked once before he saw no sign of the whiskered teen. He blinked again in confusion before he shrugged it off as him seeing things.

However, he overly paranoid mind soon began to go on a wild journey of panicked thoughts that all led to him seeing things.

Samui merely tuned out a ranting Karui as her mind began to feel a little hazy. She gently rubbed her forehead before the haziness became a splitting headache. She wanted to groan in pain, but she never got the chance as the headache was immediately replaced with a memory long forgotten by her.

"It'd be cool if you told me your name," she said while smiling and looking down at a sitting blonde boy in a black cloak. He had these markings on his cheeks that made him look like a cat in her eyes.

"…I'm Naruto," answered the boy quietly. He looked up to see that her hand was extended to his, offering him some help to stand. He stared at it warily and remained seated.

The blonde girl noticed his reluctance and lowered her hand before she decided to just sit next to him. When he turned to her with a questioning gaze, she gave him a faint smile and said, "I'm Samui."

He nodded once in both understanding and greeting before he returned his gaze to the passing people of the village. She just sat there next to him, smile still in place at the comfortable silence as they people watched.

It was about ten minutes later that the boy finally asked, "Why are you here?"

She frowned slightly at the question and faced him, showing annoyance in her frigid eyes. "Is it wrong just to sit next to someone you've met?"

He looked perplexed at the retort and his gaze fell to the ground. "…I don't know," he answered softly. "I've never had any good ex… exp…"

"Experiences?" she asked, seeing him struggle with the word.

He nodded. "I've never had good experiences with other people… It's okay though." She noticed his eyes become…empty as he smiled to her. "I was told that monsters don't deserve human affection."

Her eyes widened and she gasped loudly as the vision ended. Karui and Omoi looked to her in concern as she clutched above her chest. They're eyes widened as they saw that hers became misty.

"Naruto," they heard her whisper. The two looked to one another, hoping that one of them knew anyone by that name. Both shook their heads with shrugs to show that they didn't.

Abruptly, Samui turned and made her way back into the streets of Kumo at a brisk pace. He was here! She knew he was!

'Where are you?' she asked mentally as her eyes darted here and there in hopes of catching him. As she passed a small bookstore, she stopped and looked into the window. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw a mop of spiky hair as golden as the sun atop a teen dressed in dark clothing. She slowly made her way to the door and opened it, making a bell ring.

Both the blonde teen and the elderly store owner turned…and she saw them. The very things that proved that the teen was who she was looking for; whisker marked cheeks and eyes as blue as the ocean. She couldn't keep the small smile from her face as the one last memory resurfaced.

The boy handed her a small glass vial with a silvery liquid. She took it and gazed at it in confusion before she looked to him.

"What is this?"

"It's a…gift," he answered with a small pause as he struggled to find the right word. Throughout their talks, she noticed that he did this a lot. He seemed to have a poor limit of vocabulary. "My Master said to give it to someone."

"Why are you giving it to me?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

"…Because you were nice to me, even if I'm just a monster," he answered with a small smile as he stood up and left without another word.

She watched him leave, confused and sad at his words before she looked to the vial again. Taking one last look at his distant form that became lost in the crowd, she opened the stopper on the vial and drank the liquid.

As soon as she swallowed it, her eyes flashed blue and a whirlwind of whispers and feelings raged in her mind before her mind went blank.

Unknown to her at that, the elixir was working at making her slowly forget the blonde boy until the time was right. Its secondary function was to make her subconscious thoughts focus on him in the form of a dream. It would help her remain faithful to Naruto when her memory returned.

And it worked perfectly. Every week, she'd have a dream that showed her conversation with Naruto. And each time she had it, she would wonder whether or not it was real, what she could do to help the boy who saw himself as a monster, and why he felt that way.

Subconsciously during her thoughts on the dreams, she would feel a connection to the boy and would crave seeing him once again so that she could get him to smile at least once in happiness and not resignation.

When he gave her a faint smirk with a look of contentment in his azure orbs, she felt satisfied at having a wish fulfilled. "Samui… Good to see you again," he greeted. "Been quite some time, hasn't it?"

"Indeed it has…Naruto," she replied. "You…look so different. You're like a cooler person now."

He chuckled and returned, "And you've become much more beautiful."

Her cheeks had a dusting of pink at his flattery before she stepped up to him and embraced him. He slowly hugged her back, and she enjoyed the warmth she felt in his arms. "I always wondered if what I dreamed was real," she whispered.

"Believe me, I'm real Samui."

When he pulled back from the hug, Samui noticed him turn to the owner and nod. It was returned as the man went into the back room of the shop. Not even two minutes later, he returned with a small scroll in his hands. "The location is on this scroll. Once you take it, the debt's paid."

"Of course," Naruto stated as he took the scroll. "The Scorpion's Debt is fulfilled."

"Right… Now if you don't mind…?" asked the man as he gestured to the door. "No offense, but I hope that I never see you again."

The woman didn't appreciate the man's statement and glared coldly at him before she felt Naruto's hand on her shoulder. He squeezed it gently as he replied, "Same here, old timer."

Once the two left the store, Naruto led her to a random store and discreetly opened the scroll, revealing a map of the village with a big red "X" on one of the buildings. Samui quirked a brow at the location, but she remained silent. The spiky blonde closed the scroll and put it in his coat before he made his way to the Kage Building of Kumo.

"Naruto, where are you going?" she asked in confusion. "The place you're looking for is the other way."

"I know this, Samui. However, I'm going to see another friend I made during my first visit here." He turned to her and smirked, which she realized was his version of a smile. "You just happened to be the first of my two friends I ran into."

"Who else did you meet?"

"You'll see," he said, making her frown slightly at not being given an answer.

"Keeping secrets is not cool, Naruto."

He chuckled and opened the doors to the building, revealing a large lounge area that led to many different hallways of the building. However, who Naruto was looking for was seated at a desk near a set of double doors.

At the desk was a dark-skinned young woman with green eyes. She wore very formal attire consisting of a forest green long-sleeved, high-collared dress shirt and skirt of the same color, along with a pair of long, thin gold earrings and black high-heeled sandals. She wore her light grey hair pulled back into a bun with two bangs that fell on either side of her face. She was busy sorting a large stack of paperwork into two separate piles, so she didn't look up to see who approached her desk.

"One moment, please," she said as she worked. "I'm nearly finished and then I'll be right with you."

"That's fine," Naruto said with a slowly growing smirk. "You always were like this…Mabui."

The woman stopped and looked to the speaker, curious as to how he knew her name before her eyes locked with his. Like Samui earlier, her mind became hazy and a vision soon came to mind.

She was seated in the library with at least half a dozen books next to her. She was currently reading up on various floras that could be found throughout Kaminari no Kuni when she heard some books fall and a small yelp of surprise.

Her green eyes turned to see a boy maybe two years younger than her picking himself out of the pile with a look of slight frustration on his face. He sighed sadly before he began to pick up the books one by one and return them to the shelves. She saw that one of the shelves was too high for him and she stood up to help him.

As he bent down to pick up another book, she reached for the same one and their hands brushed against one another. He looked up to her and she saw deep blue eyes staring at her in innocent confusion.

She smiled and began to pick up books as she said, "I thought you could use some help."

"…Thanks," he said softly as he resumed returning the books. Once they were finished, she noticed that he had one tucked in his arm and red the title: Basic Reading for Children.

She then got a better look at his clothes and saw the state they were in, making her realize that he was an orphan boy. After he thanked her again for the help, she called out to his retreating form, "What's your name?"

He turned to her and she saw a wary gaze in his eyes, something she read was slightly common in orphans when dealing with strangers. "…Naruto."

She gave him a friendly smile and replied, "My name's Mabui. It's nice to meet you."

"…You too. Thanks again for helping me."

As he made to leave again, an idea came to her and she smiled again as she raced to catch him before he left the building.

After she caught him, Mabui had offered to help him read and the two spent a good hour doing so. By the time it was over, the blonde was reading much easier and he thanked her by giving her his last vial. When asked why, he said something similar to Samui:

"Because you helped me, even though I'm a monster."

And like Samui, she drank the elixir and became Naruto's unknowing second spy within Kumo. With her position as secretary to a Kage, she had dirt on practically everything within the village while Samui, being a student of one Jinchuriki and close friends with another, knew quite a bit about the Bijuu containers.

Mabui smiled brightly as her vision and mind cleared before she quickly made her way around her desk and embraced the spiky blonde.

Unknown to her and him, Samui's brows furrowed slightly at the sight and something bubbled in her.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Naruto. It's been so long."

"Yes it has… You're just the same as ever, Mabui; neat, organized, and professional." He chuckled and finished, "It seems that being a secretary suits you very well."

She smiled and covered a small laugh with her hand as she retook her seat. "So, what brings you back to Kumo?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

The third and final thing about the elixir was that, when the memories returned, the drinkers' minds were informed of their roles to the one whose genetic code was mixed into the serum. The role was very simple: being a spy during their time the serum was in effect.

"I'm here to…clean house," answered the Uzumaki as he handed her the scroll he was given. As she read it, he continued, "I'm also here to tell you two that the time has come."

"I see," Mabui commented as she returned the scroll to him.

"How do you plan to accomplish this, Naruto?" asked Samui.

"I have a plan… But first, I need something that only you can get me, Mabui."

"And that is…?"

"Strands of DNA of the Sandaime Raikage…"

(End Chapter)

There we are; chapter 4! Hopefully it came out well enough for you guys!

Remember that I'll need help with Miya, Akitsu, and Karasuba for this, so if you have suggestions please PM me!

Next Time: Naruto's plan is revealed! What will happen?! Stay Tuned!

pain17ification