Naruto: Shattered Mirror 25

How's that rasengan coming along Hinata?" Jiraiya asked his pupil as they traveled down a road to their next stop.

"The first step is harder than I thought it would be Jiraiya-sensei." She told him as she continued trying to pop a water balloon with her chakra.

'Ahh just feels so good to be called sensei with such respect again.'

"Try using both hands if that helps." The sannin offered, returning his gaze forward, he offered a few hints on how to master the rasengan but he did not want to tell her everything about it. He wanted to see what she could figure out on her own.

The last stop they had been at finally provided a lead towards Naruto. A ramen stand owner had remembered the boy with great detail.

"Oh yes him, yeah I remember him. A real nice kid, though he ate more ramen in one day then I had seen ten people stomach in an entire week. If I didn't know better I'd swear the kid had never eaten before in his life."

The owner had recalled that after eating Naruto had gone east, heading closer to the shore of Land of Fire for reasons the vendor didn't catch or remember.

'The objective of Naruto's mission was to retrieve a cash payment on a debt to Konoha from an old client in the last town.' Jiraiya remembered, having been told why Naruto was out alone in the first place. 'If Naruto had to leave town in this direction, then it's likely the client wasn't there but in the next town over. That's suspicious, and I only hope Naruto realized that. If I'm right, then the client was trying to skimp out on the payment and was either hiding from the ninja hoping he'd give up, or is holding Naruto for ransom.' At that thought he shook his head.

"Jiraiya-sensei?" Hinata asked, seeing his headshake.

"Oh nothing, just had a thought I disagreed with." He told her. 'If the client were holding Naruto for ransom we'd have heard about it by now. You can't collect a ransom if everyone thinks the hostage is dead after all. Besides, Hinata herself verified that a group of rogues claimed to have attacked Naruto at night then ditched him. We can't interrogate the rogues but maybe we can find someone connected to them. Sure it's a long shot, but maybe if we can find the client Naruto was meant to find, we may know where Naruto ended up after he had been ganged up on.'

"Where are we going now?" Hinata asked.

"I've got an idea I want to investigate. If I'm right, we might find out exactly what happened to Naruto. If I'm wrong, we're no worse off than we are now."

Back in Konoha things looked no different than before it had before news of Naruto's death had been spread. The death of one ninja was never enough to change things for long, not even the hokage. Mourning periods for ninja villages were all but required to be brief, as to keep the ninja from wallowing in grief. Those that took longer to grieve then others had to save it for their off times, hence why Kakashi visited the memorial stone whenever he could.

Like they say, time heals all wounds, even though some wounds take longer to heal than others.

The other member of the former Team Seven, Sakura, was released from the hospital and indeed getting better finally. After moving in with Ino and having contact with others again after her self-imposed isolation, she now had a much healthier look and smile to her face, albeit not as bright as it used to be. Ino's parents were being extremely kind to her and were indeed making her feel welcomed. But Sakura felt something was gone, besides Naruto and her mother. Something the Yamanaka's couldn't give her.

Sakura was walking down the street, carrying a bundle of flowers in her arms. When she was not working as a nurse at the hospital for the sake of bettering her medical jutsu experience, she was earning her keep by making deliveries for the flower shop. She had nothing better to do as she was removed from the active list of ninja until she could prove she was no threat to others or herself, except when required on the job of course.

Today she was delivering roses for an anniversary to a happy couple when a memory came to her.

"Hey Sakura-chan, want to go on a date with me?" Naruto asked as he held out a freshly picked flower to her.

"Not in a million years." She said with absolute certainty.

"I could have gone on one date with him, just one date." She said aloud to herself with regret. "It wouldn't have killed me, and it probably wouldn't have hurt my chances with Sasuke either. Looking back I doubt he would have really cared if I had been nice to Naruto or not."

"Hey Sakura." Shikamaru casually greeted as he walked up to her.

"Hi Shikamaru." She returned the greeting, trying to sound chipper but it was more forced than genuine.

"Listen, there's something I've been meaning to tell you, but I thought it was wiser to wait a day or so first. That way I'd know you were ready to hear it."

"Hear what?" Sakura asked. 'Don't tell me he's going to ask me out. I don't know if he's my type, or if I even want to date anyone right now.' Without Sasuke or Naruto around anymore, Sakura was no longer sure what she wanted in a man.

"I'll tell you somewhere a little more private. I don't want anyone, not even Ino to hear what I was told."

Sakura looked concerned but curious. "Alright, I'll just finish this delivery and then we can go somewhere private to talk."

The delivery took no time at all, and the recipient was a woman being surprised by her husband who thanked Sakura. She responded politely and wished the woman happiness before leaving, not needing to collect payment as the husband already paid for them. After that they went to the most private place either of them could think of, the Nara's private forest, which Sakura was only legally allowed to enter thanks to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru took a seat on a stump while Sakura stood by a tree. "Sakura, you might want to be seated for what I'm about to tell you. Also, no matter what you must avoid shouting and you must be sworn to absolute secrecy under penalty of perjury or maybe worse."

Sakura nodded and sat down in the dirt by the tree, avoiding leaning against it so she could remain attentive. "What is it?"

"Swear to secrecy first Sakura." The young chuunin repeated. "I need to hear you say it."

The pinkette nodded. "Alright, I swear not to tell another living soul without Hokage-sama's permission, not even Ino. What is this?"

Shikamaru sighed before speaking. "I'm aware that you've been grieving greatly for Naruto after hearing he died. What if you had reason to believe he's not dead?"

Sakura's eyes widened and for a moment she swore her heart wasn't beating. "Wh-what?"

"I went to Hokage-sama a few days ago, and I have reason to believe Naruto may not be dead after all."

Sakura felt like the entire world had come to a halt in that moment. 'Na-Naruto may be... alive? My Naruto? He's still alive?' "Shikamaru, if this is a joke I-"

"Would I really joke about something this serious Sakura?" The Nara heir interjected. "And have you ever heard me joke before?"

"What... makes you believe this?" Sakura asked. 'Please let it be true. If I can see Naruto again even if only long enough to apologize to him I'd be so happy. And if he can stay longer... I might even do more than just date him, public opinion be damned.'

"I was going over research of the Uzumaki name. You see, one of my relatives told me Naruto was given that name in memory of an old respected family, but that made me suspicious as I had never heard of an Uzumaki family or clan before. Have you?" Sakura shook her head. "I don't think anyone our age has. So I looked it up and I found out something unusual. It turns out the wife of the First Hokage, her maiden name was Uzumaki."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Naruto's related to the First Hokage?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Along with the Fifth Hokage, since the First was part of the Senju, Tsunade-sama's clan."

'Tsunade-sama's related to Naruto? Is that why she let him call her baa-chan so much? Was she in some way something akin to that?' Sakura thought. "Wait, you said Naruto was given that name. Couldn't that mean he's not blood-related, just name-related?"

"I considered that, but when I confronted Hokage-sama on it and when I mentioned the surname of the First Hokage's wife, she admitted that she and Naruto were in fact distant cousins but that he himself was the last of the Uzumaki clan, not Senju."

Sakura was amazed by all this. "But Shikamaru, this doesn't mean he's still alive."

"I'm getting to that." Shikamaru told the pinkette. "Now, by discussing my findings with Hokage-sama, I was told the truth about Naruto's parentage and why he was the one selected to contain Kyuubi in the first place. She has forbidden me from telling you any of it, but she did mention that if Naruto was dead the Kyuubi would return in a few years and with no Uzumaki left we would be unable to seal it away again, as only an Uzumaki can contain it and stay alive. Anyone else would die."

"If?" Sakura asked, noting the emphasis on that word.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, if Naruto were dead. Which told me she believed he might not be. No sensors stationed around the country have detected any sign of Kyuubi's chakra flaring up so Naruto's death can't be confirmed. Not to mention Hinata is out of Konoha on a trip, which we all know is really a means for her to go find him. Hokage-sama wouldn't bother allowing that if she believed all Hinata was going to find was a dead body. So with all this in mind-"

"Naruto really could be alive." Sakura finished, sounding like she had just discovered the meaning of life.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, it is possible. But remember, you can't say a word of this to anyone."

"What? Why not? Shouldn't our friends at least know?" Sakura objected.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Sakura, remember how the village reacted once word spread that Naruto 'died'?" Sakura nodded, unable to ever forget what the village had done. "If word got out that Naruto was still alive, how do you think people would react? Would it be positive, or would they scream for his blood like never before?"

Sakura paled when she got his meaning. "The instant he showed up back here people would try to kill him on site, no matter what the law or hokage says. Some ninja might even sneak out of the village to find him and try to kill him before he even has the chance to get back."

Shikamaru nodded. "True. Now, our group means him no harm. But the fact is that through us other ninja can learn of this. In fact, even though Team Eight originally learned of Naruto's death, in a week the entire village learned. I'm certain no one on that team is a gossip, not even Kiba, but somehow someone learned what they knew and spread it. And it spread even more."

'He's right. All it took was a few hours after Shino had told me for my mom to hear of it. So how did it spread so much so quickly? It's as if someone wanted the entire village to know. But who?' Sakura thought.

"So even though it may feel like we're distrusting our friends, this is for Naruto's own good. Understand?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura nodded, though she looked upset. "Yes, this way we can keep people from trying to hurt Naruto wherever he is and allow Hinata to keep looking for him without interference. And hopefully in the meantime we can do something about the Naruto-haters still here, so when he comes back this will be a safe place for him."

Shikamaru looked, looking bored per usual but content. "Indeed, though the question is how without making things worse?"

"We're smart people, we can figure something out. And with Naruto's future on the line, you can't afford to be lazy on this Shikamaru." Sakura replied/threatened.

'Troublesome, but she's right.' "Very true, however as you can see I have not been lazy on this matter. I have been doing deep research. And I intend to find out who it was exactly that leaked such precious information regarding Naruto."

"What do you think you will find?" Sakura asked. 'When we find that creep I'm calling first dibs on beating the crap out of them.'

"Hopefully, nothing that will implicate that someone we know has a bigger mouth than a brain."

The White Lotus Casino and Hotel was a place that was awash in a sea of opulent decadence. It was one of the largest gambling establishments in all of Wave Country ever since Gato was eliminated. A place where fortunes were won and lost every hour by the patrons that flooded it. The gaming floor was flooded with regulars who tested their luck at the slot machines, threw dice across the tables, or tried to get the lucky 21 at cards.

In private rooms, more wealthy customers were playing high stakes games, betting piles of money on a single game of cards.

Casino entertainment varied from beautiful and scantly clad women to professional and well-known musicians.

But, there was the singular rule when it came to casinos, the house always wins and at the White Lotus that was not a rule, it was a law.

A man named Dewa Toshi was lounging in his luxurious room in his penthouse above the casino. At the moment he was using a 10000 ryo bill in order to light his cigar. That in combination with his tiger skin carpet, velvet recliner, a wine glass in his free hand, and a purple business suit all together made the middle-aged grey-haired man look like someone who had gotten lucky in life. Although many would think that he had been a little too lucky to have done it all by honorable means. If anything, he might just be a second coming of Gato in disguise, learning from the mistakes of the first one on how to rob a country blind.

He was having yet another good day in a long line of good days, but that was about to change right now.

"Burning money eh? I guess rich guys who never work for it see it as disposable." An unexpected voice said from behind, making Toshi jump out of his chair screaming for a second. He turned and saw a white-haired man in a red vest.

"Who the hell are you? Security!" He yelled.

"Relax, I'm only here to ask a few questions. You're in no danger."

Toshi wasn't at all convinced. He immediately rushed to the hidden button in the room to alert security and pressed it several times in a panic. But nothing happened, making him push it more.

"That won't work. I disconnected the wiring. A simple trick for a ninja of my caliber."

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?" Toshi all but screamed, slightly unnerved by the fact this man was a ninja.

"I'm Jiraiya of the Sannin, and I told you what I want. Don't give yourself a heart attack man."

"I haven't done anything wrong." Toshi claimed. "You can't prove a damn thing."

Jiraiya smirked. "I didn't say you did. Strange how you're so quick to believe I'm here to punish you for something. Have you done anything to be punished for?"

"No!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Oh you poor fool, do you really believe you can trick a shinobi like me with a lie like that?"

"What do you want?" Toshi asked again, thinking this might be blackmail or something, if it was then this could be all settled very easily.

"I'm just here to ask a few questions, namely regarding the last time a ninja from Konoha interacted with you." Jiraiya told him.

"What about it? A ninja came here for the final monthly payment and I gave it. What more do you need to know?" Toshi replied. Several years ago he had been competing with someone over who would inherit the casino and he was terrified that his rival would try to assassinate him before the previous owner would declare his successor. It turned out his fears were accurate, and Konoha shinobi fought off some powerful assassins. Unfortunately Toshi couldn't afford the bill for the mission at the time and arranged a series of monthly payments until the mission was paid for. Just recently the debt was cleared off entirely. It would have been paid sooner, but he had to pretend to be bankrupt to keep Gato away from his fortune.

"The thing about that is we never actually got the payment." Jiraiya told him. "You see, the ninja that had been sent here to collect the payment never came back."

"I just told you everything I can." Toshi told Jiraiya. "The payment was made, so it's not my fault that your ninja got ambushed. Making me pay twice is just cruel."

"This isn't about the money, this is about the missing ninja." Jiraiya stated, offended that the guy in front of him acted like it was his wallet that was the real victim here.

"I had nothing to do with that." Toshi insisted.

Jiraiya relaxed his posture. "Did I say you did?" Toshi's face paled. "Is there something you're trying to hide?"

"No, not at all."

"Then why are you so anxious for me to leave? If you're truly innocent then you've got nothing to be afraid of."

"Cause this is my casino and I want you out."

Jiriya smiled "Alright then, I will be on my way." He then looked like he was about to leave but then he paused. "But wait… I never told you that the ninja in question had been ambushed." He looked Toshi right in the eye. "How exactly did you know that?"

'I've got to get out of here.' Toshi told himself, looking for a way out. The only available exit was the door, so he rushed for that. Once he opened it though, he felt an unexpected surge of hits all over his frontside, rendering him immobile.

"Nice job Hinata." Jiraiya praised, glad his student had been ready for this event.

The Hyuuga heiress stood by the downed casino owner, who twitched and breathed heavily. "He's definitely hiding something from us Jiraiya-sensei. A blind person can see that."

"Then we'll have to make him give us the truth. And I can teach you some interrogation techniques while we're at it." The sage said as he came up to her.

"Why are we here again?"

"Because we need to find out what my old teammate Jiraiya is up to Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru told his student, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I still don't see how this is any of my concern." Sasuke commented. This was not his concern. Jiraiya was Orochimaru's problem not his. If they had a quarrel it was their business, something Sasuke could not care less about.

"According to my sources in Konoha, Jiraiya was supposed to take your former teammate on a training trip. With him dead, that trip should have been cancelled, yet it hasn't. So I wonder if your teammate is either tricking Konoha into thinking he's dead or if Jiraiya took on a new student. Either way, the wise thing to do is see for ourselves and eliminate the problem before it grows."

Sasuke frowned. 'The dobe might still be alive?' "So why are we waiting?"

"A snake hides before it strikes to catch the toad off guard."

"Toads can't fight back." Sasuke pointed out.

"Actually, they can. Trust me Sasuke-kun, the element of surprise often does more than brute strength ever could alone. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems." Orochimaru advised.

Sasuke didn't refute the statement but that was mainly because he wasn't in the mood to talk in the first place.

Week after week had passed and still there had only been a little process. More than he had accomplished before he left Konoha but not as much as Sasuke had hoped. He needed more power, much more if was ever to defeat his brother.

He had demanded that Orochimaru uphold his promise and use his 'methods' to increase his mental, physical, and chakra levels right away. Never let it be said that Sasuke was patient. But so far Orochimaru had refused him. Something about how his methods would indeed increase his 'current' abilities tenfold but if they worked together to harness the raw power already within him,by the time the experiments were needed he would already be ten times stronger. Maybe more.

Sasuke was quickly starting to dislike Orochimaru. The man was indeed a genius without rival but he guarded his secrets far too closely for Sasuke's likings. Hardly willing to share information that was expected in a master-apprentice relationship.

When Sasuke came to the snake sannin, he assumed Orochimaru would have handed him power left and right like jutsu were going out of style. That had yet to happen, Orochimaru was helping him Sasuke wouldn't refute that, but they weren't going at the pace Sasuke expected. It didn't matter that it was for his own good or even if his expectations were a bit unreasonable, as far as Sasuke was concerned Orochimaru was withholding power from him.

'I'll bide my time. I can't attack him now, he won't risk killing me but that doesn't mean he can't overpower me if I were to turn on him now. I'll learn all that I need to learn from this old fool. Once I have it I can test my new abilities on him.' Sasuke told himself.

Then there was the possibility that Naruto might indeed still be alive.

Part of him wasn't sure if he should be grateful or pissed.

If that blonde fool was still alive then the two of them could finally end their rivalry once and for all. Their battle at the Valley of End had been an epic clash without a doubt. But to him, even though he had emerged as victor, it felt like a stalemate. He had seen the power that Naruto wielded. The type of power that he himself dreamed of and yearned for, even if he couldn't identify what it was. If Naruto was alive then he finally prove to all that his power was indeed greater.

It would not surprise him if Naruto was still among the living. That damned dobe was too stubborn to die properly.

On the other hand… if Naruto really was dead then perhaps he could have some 'fun'. He was interested in knowing which other member of the Rookie teams had attracted the attention of another Sannin enough to take Naruto's place.

It had to be someone powerful, maybe Neji the Hyuuga genius or perhaps Shikamaru. Those are the only two he actually perceived as any kind of actual threat to him. Others like Sakura, Ino, or Lee were beyond laughable, and Kiba had lost to Naruto even when the dobe had been weakened by Orochimaru so he was even more unlikely. The other Rookies Sasuke never even bothered to learn the names of so he doubted it was either of them.

A small smile then started to appear on his face, whoever it was, he would make to sure to greet his old comrade 'properly'.