Title: The Hunt (1/4)

Pairing: NaruSasuNaru

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Summary: There are things, apparently, that you can't do without black haired pussies meddling in your business. Hunting down missing children happens to be one of them.

……

The first time it happened, everyone brushed it off as trivial.

It was only three days later, when Naruto found a sobbing Kurenai at his doorstep that he realized that something was seriously wrong.

'Minako's still not turned up?' he asked, one hand firm on her elbow, as he lead her to Iruka's kebab stall. 'It's been three days, hasn't it?'

Kurenai used her dupatta to blow her nose. 'She's never been gone this long before. She usually doesn't…I mean, she's always clinging on to me…she doesn't even go out to play with the other kids as much as her brother. I was the one always pushing her to go make friends…Oh God!' She broke down again, collapsing into one of Iruka's wooden stools.

Naruto refused to panic. Children not turning up at the end of the day wasn't that uncommon a story. This was a slum, kids disappeared all the time. When they were twelve, he and Kiba had gone off to the city before the cold settled in, and spent a week there trying to steal enough clothes for the winter. Iruka had been slightly hysterical when he came back, but the incident was forgotten in a month, and he had sneaked off into the city plenty of times since.

'It's not your fault,' He told her reassuringly, as Iruka placed a half baked clay cup of Masala chai before her on the table. 'She'll turn up. They always do.'

Kurenai's fingers shook as she took a sip of her tea. 'She's never left the slum before. And she's only five.'

Naruto tried not to let his discomfort show as he felt Iruka's worried gaze upon him.

'Look,' he told her, smiling as broadly as he could. 'If she doesn't turn up this week, I'll round up all the guys and go look for her. We'll search the entire city. And if we still don't find her, we'll go to the police,' he tried not to grimace at the thought of walking into a police station only to be sneered at, before they tossed him out within seconds. 'But, I'm sure she'll turn up in another day or two.'

One week later, Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Lee, Neji, and about a dozen other men set out to look for not one, but two missing children, for Asuma's son Raidou who had Polio, and never went anywhere that was more ten minutes away from his father's sweet shop, failed to come back home one day.

***

Naruto knew he had to buy Konohamaru gulab jamuns if he was to ever get any answers out of the boy.

'C'mon, 'he said, 'I bought you a whole plate. Now I have work extra hours at Iruka's to get back the money. Spill already.'

He watched in growing irritation as the boy blissfully slurped at the sweet juice on the plate, hands batting lazily at the flies which attempted to do the same. 'Whaddya wanna know?'

'Have you guys seen anything suspicious?' Naruto asked, urgently. 'Any new characters? You people play on the maidan all evening, you would've noticed if there was someone strange about.'

Konohamaru licked his finger, looking thoughtful. After about half a minute, he said, 'nope.'

Naruto exploded. 'So WHY did you say that you might know something important?' Then understanding dawned, cold and clear. 'You little shit, you just wanted me to buy you those sweets didn't you?'

Konohamaru shifted guiltily.

'Three kids have disappeared!' Naruto said, disgusted. 'Three kids your age, and you don't give a flying fuck just because they're not the ones you play cricket with!'

It didn't help that a hush had fallen around them at the first mention of the missing children. A group of women carrying clothes to be washed in the river stared at them as they as they passed by. A crow landed on the bench Naruto was sitting on and pecked at the remains of a jalebi, scattering an indignant group of wood ants who had staked their claim on it first.

He didn't notice Asuma walking up behind him, and started when he heard him speak.

'Konohamaru,' Asuma said. 'I beg you, please look out for your friends. Raidou was my only son, and more parents shouldn't have to go through what I'm going through right now.'

By now Konohamaru was looking seriously embarrassed. Naruto didn't feel much sorry for him.

'I'll keep a look out.' He mumbled. 'I promise.'

Then he pocketed the last of the gulab jamun and slid off the bench.

Naruto felt like burying his face in his hands and crying. He felt the bench shift as Asuma sat down next to him.

'The police?' he asked tentatively as though he already knew the answer.

Naruto snorted bitterly. 'At least we set a record this time. We lasted seven minutes in their goddamn station.'

Asuma wiped at the sticky mess Konohamaru had left on the table. 'Not like we actually expected any help from them. Naruto,' he paused, 'It couldn't be that they just wandered off, right?'

Naruto shook his head miserably. 'Look at the last one gone, Chiyo. He had gone off to Tsunade to get that herb medicine thingy she had prepared for her father. He reached Tsunade's, took the medicine, and never made it back home. If it was a simple case of gallivanting around the city, of all the times that he could have chosen to wander off, why would he do it when his father needed the medicine? I mean, he could have walked off just as well the next morning.'

Asuma wiped at his eyes with the back off his sleeve. 'Mira hasn't eaten anything for days.'

It was a pathetic. Konoha was a slum, and like all slums it was used to people walking in and out like a wave which never really left its mark. But for the dwellers, this stretch of uncertain land was the only home they knew. And for Naruto, that meant family. That meant family, and now things were going wrong and three kids had disappeared in two weeks and people were getting hurt, and weren't people supposed to protect their families? Then why the fuck was he doing such a lousy job of it, then?

'Naruto,' a breathless voice announced the return of Konohamaru. 'Oi, Naruto, listen. There is something. I forgot, listen.'

He stopped to catch his breath, while Naruto stopped the activity altogether.

'There's been this guy. About your height,' Konohamaru pointed at him. 'Hangs around the maidan all the time, creepy like, and stares at us playing. We don't pay much attention to him, you know, 'cause he's all weird, and never actually says anything, but maybe he could be the one you're looking for?'

Naruto completely forgot to be angry with boy. He felt like hugging him.

Instead, he pressed, 'Can you tell me anything else about him? What does he look like?'

Konohamaru wrinkled his nose in distaste. 'Black hair. Black eyes. Really pale, like those prim types who have never kicked a ball in their lives, you know. Dresses like that too, all expensive.' Then almost as an afterthought, he added, looking particularly ferocious, 'Moegi thinks he's all handsome. Wants me to ask him to play with us. Gah, like he can pitch anything like me.'

In spite of the pounding in his ears, Naruto felt like snorting. It was no secret that Konohamaru had a huge thing for Moegi. The entire slum was planning their wedding already. All that was left was for Konohamaru to work up enough nerves to actually come close to doing anything, like, confessing.

'This guy,' he asked Konohamaru. 'Has he tried talking to any one of you?'

'No. Just stands there like a pussy.'

Naruto exhaled loudly. At least this was something.

Konohamaru eyed him shiftily. 'Does this get me another plate?'

***

Naruto sniffed sadly as he watched Sakura straighten the pleats of her sari. 'You don't know what you're missing out on.' He told her, temptingly.

'No, I really don't.' She turned and winked at him. 'What am I missing out on, Naruto?'

With great flourish, Naruto gestured at his own body. 'This!'

Sakura rolled her kohl rimmed eyes. 'Bring me the cash, and I won't hesitate, honey.'

Naruto said, with great dignity. 'I'm not paying to sleep with a woman.'

Mistake. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, dangerously. 'Is that supposed to mean something, Naruto?'

Naruto hastily shook his head. He had been acquainted with Sakura's fist too many times to make any more careless slips. He had marks on his body to prove it. Just not the sort he would have desired to obtain from her.

Pouting, he flipped at a flower in Sakura's hair. 'One day, you'll give in.'

'Yeah sure,' Sakura said, pinching Naruto's hand and coolly watching him yelp. She was a woman of cold, cold blood. 'If you manage to get there before Lee, that is.'

Naruto nursed his abused finger and sighed. He knew his persistence was something which was made of epic, but next to Lee, he was a sad failure. Dinosaurs had sacrificed to Lee's perseverance.

Ino stuck her head around the curtain separating there rooms. 'Sakura, we'll be getting late. And Naruto, I'm telling Jiraiya to not let you in here without money any more.

Naruto grinned and blew the girl a kiss. 'You know how much you love me Ino, you don't have to fight so hard to resist it.'

Sakura turned to look at herself one more time in the ancient, cracked mirror propped up against the wall of her room. 'Yeah, I'm coming. See you Naruto.'

Naruto looked at her mournfully, 'You'll be careful, won't you? There are weird guys around.'

Sakura hesitated for a moment before reaching out, her bangles clinking loudly, and softly ruffling his hair. Naruto caught the cloying scent of her perfume, and beneath that, the headier scent of paan.

Ino snorted at them. 'Naruto, you schemer, I bet you said that just so she'd touch you.'

Naruto immediately arranged his features into a lewd grin. 'Guilty as charged.'

He got a cuff in the head for that, and Ino stuck her tongue out at him, but he saw Sakura shoot him a reassuring smile before she left the room, and that in itself was worth the bruise he'd be sporting in the morning.

He sat back on the straw mat, and watched the shadows shift ominously across him on the wall, their dance in sync with the flickering flame of Sakura's oil lamp.

Ten minutes later, Jiraiya entered, carrying a pot of thandai, which, if Naruto knew Jiraiya, had bhang in it.

'Ino's been complaining about you,' he said conversationally, as he made room for himself on the mat. 'Some bhang?'

Naruto shook his head. He didn't particularly feel like getting drunk when there were kids disappearing left, right and centre in Konoha. Even if it would bring him a bit of relief for the night.

'You know,' Jiraiya continued, 'sometimes when you think too hard about something, you miss the answer when it's right underneath your nose.'

'What do you mean?' Naruto straightened up. 'Do you know something about all of this?'

'No,' Jiraiya said mildly. 'Just what you've told me.' He paused as he poured the milky liquid into his own mug. 'That you've placed your bet on this guy with the pale face and dark hair.'

Naruto watched the other man closely. Jiraiya was being mysterious. Whenever Jiraiya was being mysterious it meant he had something brewing behind the scenes. Or that he was thinking about Tsunade's breasts, but somehow Naruto doubted that would be the case right now, given everything.

Then his patience snapped. 'What, you stupid perv, what do you know?'

Jiraiya gave him a maddeningly confused look. 'I told you, nothing. Just that you're not considering the possibility of it being someone inside Konoha.'

Naruto gaped at him. 'What? What are you saying? Of course it's not someone from the slum!'

Jiraiya shrugged at him, face passive. 'Selling children is not unheard of here. Plus, the kids are more likely to go off with someone they actually know.

Naruto shook his head vehemently. He refused to believe this. Konoha was home. They were all a family.

'No,' he said. 'I don't believe that.'

Jiraiya looked at him for a long moment. 'Ok,' he gave a small smile. 'Neither do I. Now, some bhang?'

Naruto closed his eyes, still rattled, and let out a shaky laugh. Of relief mostly. 'Stupid pimp.' He muttered. 'And yes!'

***

They met at Iruka's every evening, mainly because it was the only place that would give them any free food. Naruto always made up for the loss by working extra hours, so he didn't feel too guilty about it either.

'Morisuka disappeared this morning,' Kiba said, his words like stones falling into the heavy gloom. 'That makes four.'

He wasn't saying anything every one didn't already know. Naruto kicked at the leg of their table. Iruka glared at him when it wobbled dangerously.

Four children missing. Three weeks.

'I was thinking,' Neji said, fingers playing at the edge of his plate, 'that we should stop using the maidan.'

'That doesn't make sense.' Naruto said. 'Nobody's been picked up from there.'

Neji frowned into his chai. 'There's a suspicious person around.'

The hair at the back of Naruto's neck prickled. 'Pale face, black hair, black eyes? You've seen him? '

Neji nodded. 'When I finished delivering the papers this morning. I took the route next to the maidan, and he was watching the children play.'

Kiba frowned. 'When was that, around seven in the morning? Maybe he was just going for a walk.'

'No,' Naruto said firmly. 'Konohamaru said he acts strangely as well. I think he's our guy.'

Shikamaru sighed. 'Don't jump to conclusions, Naruto. It might be someone from within.'

Everyone felt silent at that. They had considered the possibility, of course, but nobody liked it, or liked talking about it.

'No,' Naruto said through grit teeth. 'No.'

'Don't keep counting it out,' Shikamaru said, exasperated. 'Don't let this become something we can't fix, just because we couldn't handle it.'

'I agree with Naruto.' Kiba said, suddenly. 'I really don't think it could be anyone from here.'

Shikamaru shrugged. 'It's strange if you think about it,' he said, sitting back. 'Kids have vanished before too, but never at this rate. It's almost as if…,' he paused. 'There's something downright urgent about the pattern of the disappearances. Like, remember when we were young? The mass kidnappings? About eighteen kids disappeared from the slum then.'

They remembered, of course. They had all been there. It had been terrifying at the time, and Naruto still remembered the way Iruka would take his hand and walk him home every evening. Especially after Haku went missing.

Haku.

He had been their friend. One of Naruto's closest.

Then one evening, he said he would turn up at the maidan, and then, he didn't.

After that, Zabuza left the slum to look for him, and he never came back.

It wasn't something anyone could ever forget.

Naruto looked at him, eyes wide. 'What are you saying? Is this going to get worse?'

'I asked Lee look around the city for a bit.' Shikamaru broke his kebab into neat little pieces, and it didn't slip anyone's notice that he hadn't answered the question. 'Check the child beggars to see if he recognizes anyone…and nothing. Where do these kids keep vanishing?'

'It's not that difficult to hide four children,' Neji reasoned.

Shikamaru just shrugged again.

'We have to make sure the kids are indoors before dark,' Naruto said. 'Someone should watch them when they're at the maidan. No one should run errands once it's…'

'Naruto,' Shikamaru interrupted, 'they won't listen. The more you try to restrain them, the more they'll try to escape. Some might even make catching this guy an adventure.'

He was right. It was what Naruto would do if he was a kid. Freedom ran in your veins if you lived in a slum. You might not have money, you might not have a solid roof over your head, but you'd make do with the sky as long as it didn't try to hold you down.

'Then what do we do?' he asked, hopelessly.

'We keep an eye on them,' Shikamaru said, calmly. 'But we do it without their knowing.'

'And the ladies too,' Lee said enthusiastically. 'The ladies at Jiraiya's will need protection too. My dear Miss Sakura –'

'Lee,' Kiba said, irritably. 'It's not the ladies who are being targeted.'

All the same, Naruto knew that Lee would be a constant presence on Jiraiya's street from then on. The knowledge was oddly comforting.

'Isn't that Konohamaru?' Neji asked, looking at a point near Naruto's shoulder.

It was. Konohamaru stopped at the table, flushed and breathless.

'I told you,' he panted, looking at Naruto. 'I told you I'd help out, didn't I? I spoke to the black haired pussy today.'

'What?' Naruto turned to him, excited. 'You did?'

'You shouldn't have,' Neji interrupted sharply. 'You don't know who he is. You can't just walk up to stran-'

'I didn't,' Konohamaru crowed. 'He came to me!'

For someone who called the guy a pussy, Naruto thought, Konohamaru was awfully proud at having spoken to him.

'What did he want?' Shikamaru asked.

'He wanted to know if we all lived in the slums. So I told him, obviously, because duh. Then he asked till what time in the night we play outside.'

Naruto's detective alter raised his head and sniffed into the late evening air.

'Did you tell him?'

'No,' Kohohamaru grinned. 'I told him to mind his own business and then he walked off, all pissed. Moegi was so annoyed, she ran after him to apologize, on my behalf. But the asshole brushed her off too.'

Naruto turned to Shikamaru, smiling. 'So can I jump to conclusions now?'

Kiba said 'We have to look out for this guy.'

'I've tried already,' Naruto informed him mournfully. 'He never turns up when I'm there.'

***

Black haired pussy turned out to be a master at evading people. There was no sight of him over the next three days.

If anyone asked Moegi what she had spoken to him about, after her failed attempt at an apology, she just narrowed her eyes and stuck her nose up at them. 'I know you think he's bad,' she said. 'Konohamaru must have told you. He is such a child.'

Meanwhile, Naruto took to watching as many children as he could like a mother hawk. This was excessively difficult, because there were more of them than he could count.

'They're taking you for a ride, you know that?' Tsunade said, stirring something brown and murky in a plastic bowl. 'Mission: Run from Naruto, that's what they're calling their new game.'

Naruto sighed. 'I know. They all hate me now. Everyone does.'

Tsunade snorted, 'If you're trying to get me to buy you noodles from Ichiraku's, you're doing a shitty job of it.'

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her. 'Stingy hag.'

***

Naruto knew Konoha like the back of his hand; knew every winding street, every crowded alley, every shop, every person. He knew that the wind which blew from the west in the evenings brought along the smell of silt and fish, and though he retched at it then, he always prayed for it in the stifling heat of the afternoons He woke up to the songs of the worshippers in the nearby temple every morning, and slept to the sounds of the slum, the hum of life, the squabbling of children, the howl of dogs. He knew that the Muslim couple who had just opened their shop near the outskirts of Konoha made the best biryani in the world, and he knew that if he ever told Iruka this, the man would look at him with watery, betrayed eyes, before secretly going off and learning it for him.

Naruto knew where all the washing ladies hung their clothes up to dry; when he was younger, he would unremittingly steal their bras. He knew exactly when Yamato would be in a good enough mood to give him a plate of free pani puris. He knew that the old man Sarutobi liked sweets even though Konohamaru never let him have them because they were bad for his teeth. He knew that Hinata was bound to accept Kiba's proposal one day, and that her favourite colour was beige. He knew that he was best liked among the kids, and that their most exciting ambition was finding him a girlfriend.

He knew that if he were to take the street that led him out of Konoha, he would have to cross the maidan, and there he would find kites of all colours, soaring like the spirits of those flying them. If he took the narrow lane to the left, he would find himself at Jiraiya's, inhaling scent of women and incense. If he went straight instead, he would reach the trash cinema hall no one ever came to. A little further and he would see the big house no one lived in, with a big lock at the gate.

A little further, and Naruto would catch his breath.

The building had always fascinated Naruto. It had been intact about twelve years ago, when he was eight. A lot of people had lived here. A big family, Naruto liked to think, with a pet dog.

Naruto remembered them somewhat. They were very rich people, and there were lots of them. Maybe it was a joint family? All aunts and uncles and cousins living together?

Naruto imagined it would feel sort of like his slum.

If he thought really hard, Naruto would remember a boy. About his age. A school bus would come every morning to pick him up.

The building was in ruins now. It had simply caught fire one night. Faulty gas cylinder, they said.

The next morning, Naruto had watched with the rest of the slum, as the police dragged the charred, lifeless bodies outside.

Everyone said that the building was haunted. But Naruto knew that the slum was a place that breathed rumours like air, just like he knew that the place was absolutely safe.

The insides were black, decrepit, and smelled of ash, but the steps were intact, and sometimes, Naruto climbed all the way to the top.

The roof was his favourite place in the whole world. The whole of Konoha spread out before him, a sea of matchbox like houses, narrow, winding snakelike streets, and the people – his living, breathing family – moving through them, tiny ants in a world too big for them to comprehend.

When Naruto sat here, he felt as though he was watching over them. The people he loved and swore to protect.

I will protect them, he thought, and the answering wind sifted gently through his drooping eyelashes.

***

Naruto dreamt of the fire at times. He dreamt in vivid, bold strokes of harsh fluorescent, and woke up panting, sweating into the shirt he used as a pillow.

Tonight, he realized after a few hazy seconds of staring at the bamboo and gunny bags which made up his ceiling, it wasn't the dream which had woken him up.

The scream came again, cold and shrill in the sultry night.

He was up and out of the door in seconds.

***

Kiba caught up with him as he took his fourth turn.

'I've got Akamaru,' he said, panting. 'The bastard isn't going anywhere.'

Even as he ran through it, Naruto could see the slum coming to life in minutes. Lanterns were being lit, heads poked out of their windows.

Neji shot out of an adjacent lane.

'That way,' he breathed before taking the turn around the biryani shop.

The maidan spread out before them, washed silver in the moonlight. Sobbing in the middle of the street, was Moegi.

And holding her captive was a pale, black haired man.

Akamaru reached them first. With one clean leap across the street he latched on to the man's knees.

Naruto made it next. Falling on top Akamaru, he proceeded to beat the shit out of the kidnapping bastard.

They had finally caught him. They had caught the twisted, filthy –

There were lots of noises, dull beneath the rushing in his ears, and vaguely, he realized that Kiba was shouting something and someone else was screaming 'Stop, stop!'

Out of nowhere, Naruto felt a fist connect with his jaw.

The bastard hit him!

Next thing he knew, Kiba was pulling him off, and yelling something into his ear.

'Naruto,' he heard. 'Naruto, we've got the wrong guy.'

'What?' he raged, 'but,' he pointed at the man trying to wrench Akamaru off him, and Naruto wished for a brief second that he could trade places with the dog. 'But it's the black haired pussy!'

At that the man stopped struggling and attempted to glare a hole through Naruto's head. 'What did you call me?'

'BLACK – HAIRED - PUSSY!' Naruto hollered back. 'And how can you say he's the wrong guy? He was trying to kidnap Moegi!'

Neji gave a long, tired sigh and thrust Moegi forward.

'Naruto,' Moegi said, tears half choking her words. 'Sasuke didn't try to kidnap me. He saved me.'

***

To be continued….

Terms:-

Dupatta : A sort of stole. Part of a three piece Indian attire.

Gulab jamuns : A sweet dish. Brown, and really sticky.

Maidan: An open ground, usually used for playing.

Jalebi: Another sweet dish.

Paan: Itis a South, East and South East Asian tradition which consists of chewing Betel leaf (Piper betle) combined with the areca nut

Thandai: It is a cold drink prepared with a mixture of almonds, fennel seeds, rose petals, pepper, khus khus seeds(White poppy seeds), cardamom, saffron, milk and sugar. It is native to the country of India.

Bhang: Preparation from the leaves and flower bud of the female Cannibis plant consumed in the Indian Subcontinent.

Pani puris : Popular street snack in the Indian subcontinent. It comprises a round, hollow "puri", fried crisp and filled with a watery mixture of tamarind, chili, spices, potato, onion and chickpeas. Its size is small enough to fit in the mouth.

Author's notes: So this story started LEAKING my brain, and I had to do something about it. It was strange putting the characters in an Indian setting, especially because of their names, but there you go. There are terms that might sound strange, but I've explained them at the end of the chapter.