1928

Naruto liked Jiraiya’s house a lot better. Rather than living in Butte itself, he lived in a small town named Walkerville, just northwest of the city, closer to the mines.
Naruto suspected that the old pervert had somewhat dishonest connections to the mines themselves, mostly because all sorts of people were in and out of the man’s house at every hour of every day.
And on top of that, the man was a super pervert. He had hung nude paintings of women up around his house in the name of art. But Naruto kind of enjoyed it there. It was quieter, more like what he was used to, but it was dull, and he missed Sai and Sasuke. At least Jiraiya let Naruto run around in the back yard.
But it was cold in November, so Naruto didn’t go out much. To his pleasure, he discovered that the attic window looked over Butte.
From his vantage point, he could see where Kakashi and Sai lived. He was happy for a little while, but eventually, his heart just ached worse.
One evening, Jiraiya poked his head up into the attic.
“Hey, kiddo, I’m going to the club, you wanna tag along?”
Naruto was beside himself as he ran down the stairs to his room and grabbed his coat and shoes. Jiraiya smiled, he knew it was wrong to encourage those kinds of feelings in the boy, but he was such a romantic at heart and couldn’t stand to see the boy in pain.
“Okay, kid, you gotta keep a low profile.” Jiraiya said quietly as the crunched across the snow and ice and climbed into the car.
The car sped down the steep streets towards the club, the flashing spiral of the leaf sign cutting through the haze of the falling snow. Naruto exhaled against the cool glass as the pulled up, fogging up the window. Outside of the club stood Tsunade in a long green coat trimmed with dark fur. Beneath that, Naruto spotted glittering fringes of a cream colored dress and a pair of dancing shoes. Tsunade’s attendant, Shizune, stood beside her, shivering in her long black coat. There was another woman there, a girl in her late teens with strawberry blonde hair that was more strawberry than blonde.
Naruto got out of the car just as Jiraiya gave Tsunade a big hug. He golden eyes lit up when she saw Naruto and she bent down to give him a hug and pinch his cheek.
“I’m glad you made it for my big performance!” She said with a wink as Jiraiya opened the door for the three ladies. Naruto walked in right behind the strawberry head. She turned and gave Naruto a small smile, her pretty green eyes scrunching up around the edges.
Naruto ignored her as he scanned the club for any sign of Sai or Kakashi. He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Kakashi.
“Hey kiddo, come to watch Tsunade’s Montana premiere?” Naruto nodded, not really sure of what he meant. Jiraiya beckoned them over to their usual corner table. Orrochimaru was sitting in his usual spot, smoking his usual hookah, Kabuto was standing quietly behind him. But his mouth turned up at the edges at the sight of Naruto and he nodded.
Jiraiya offered Shizune and the girl some chairs before sitting down with Kakashi and Naruto. The club fell almost deadly silent as the music started up, a low, throbbing tempo. The red velvet curtain came up slowly and the pale one’s beneath it parted.
Tsunade started with her back to the audience and a shiver of anticipation ran through the crowd as she began to move in time with the music.
As a nearby table, Naruto spotted Miss Kurenai sitting on Asuma’s lap, nodding and smiling. His eyes roved the room as the music became more erratic, Tsunade’s feet hitting the floor and dress swaying like the storm tossed sea. His eyes fell on many dark haired people, mostly women, with the same pale skin… he looked back up at the stage, the bright lights, the swift, graceful movements of the woman…He sighed as he watched her. The entire room was so enthralled by the dancer that Naruto was sure he could have slipped away from the table, had it not been for Kakashi’s hand on his shoulder. It was almost as if Kakashi knew what he was thinking. The man looked down at him, his mismatched eyes boring holes into him.
“We’ll talk later, Naruto. Just enjoy the show for now, okay?” Naruto nodded, secretly cursing the man. He was so focused that he did not see Mr. Namikaze come in and sit down behind him, and he didn’t see Kakashi leave with him moments later. He continued to scan the crowd for Sai. He saw Sasuke coming towards them in the crowd. Naruto waved discreetly to the teen, and Sasuke offered a small smile. The girl grew rather excited. It seemed that she, too, knew Sasuke.
“Come to watch the show with us, Sasuke?” Sasuke gave her a smirk and took an unusually chaste stance behind Orrochimaru, leaning down and whispering in the man’s ear.
Orrochimaru leaned back, exhaling a cloud of smoke and nibbling on the boy’s neck.
Naruto looked away, feeling an awkward moment coming on. He couldn’t focus on Tsunade’s dancing, even if he tried.
It was then he saw them come in, in their long black coats, black and red scarves covering their faces. To anyone else, the appeared to be simply shielding themselves from the cold night, but Naruto knew better. He looked around for Kakashi.
Damn, where had he gone?
He tugged on Jiraiya’s shoulder.
“Just a minute, kiddo, Tsunade’s almost done.”
“But…”
“Shhh…”
Naruto got up, sneaking through the crowd, his heart beating wildly. He had to find Kakashi…when did this place get so hot? He wiped the sweat from his forehead. Someone backed into him and he dropped to his hands and knees, finding his way easier under the tables. The music stopped and he heard people getting up and the thunderous clap of applause. He peeked from beneath the table and his heart stopped.
A young man with a ponytail and eye’s just like Sasuke’s was standing right next to the table he was beneath. He wore the trademark dark coat and red scarf. His partner was a tall Polish man with bluish skin and scars on his hollowed cheeks. The man’s amber eyes met with Naruto’s blue ones and he poked the pony tailed man in the arm. Naruto’s heart pounded against his chest, his knees rooted to the spot. The Polish man bent down.
“Well, hello, there, kiddo.” His voice was deep and his teeth were rather pointed. From this angle, Naruto thought he looked rather like a shark. He tried to get up, to run, or scream, or anything, but he could only stare with wide eyes as the taller man grabbed him by the back of the coat, hauling him up and cupping a hand over Naruto’s mouth.
“Come on, kiddo, be quiet and come with us and you won’t have to get hurt.” He said evenly. Naruto felt his blood run cold as the man half dragged/ half carried him out of the club.
Naruto began to fight against the shark man’s strong arms, flailing about wildly as they reached the door. Jiraiya looked up just in time.
“LET GO OF HIM KISAME! He shouted across the crowded hall, reaching beneath his jacket as he ran towards the small group. The shark man froze, turning slowly and looking at the older man. The entire room seemed to freeze at the sound of Jiraiya’s normally calm voice.
“Itachi…take care of these nice people for me, would you?”
The elder Uchiha nodded, his cold eyes falling on the blond boy before he reached beneath his coat and pulled out a gun. Naruto shied away, pressing further into Kisame.
“Oh, don’t worry kiddo, we aren’t going to shoot you…” He said with a half chuckle.
Without another word, Itachi opened fire on the crowd, backing Kisame and Naruto out of the club. From outside, Naruto could hear people screaming and yelling as bullets ripped through the air, ricocheting off of metal and brick. Itachi came out moment’s afterward, tossing the spent firearm in a snowdrift.
“Hoshigaki, get him in the car!” Itachi snapped, pulling out another gun as Jiraiya came after them.
Naruto felt something cold hit Kisame as he was being dragged down the sidewalk.
“Let him go!” A ball of white went sailing through the air, hitting Kisame in the face yet again. Kisame stopped, his amber eyes falling on a shadow in the alley.
“Sai!” Naruto screamed, pushing on Kisame’s arm.
“Hoshigaki, no, we’re not here for him. The Boss said…”
“The Boss can wait, Itachi.” Kisame said, throwing Naruto towards Itachi. Naruto felt himself sliding on the ice, unable to gain control over his feet as he landed roughly in Itachi’s wool clad arms.
Kisame pulled out a gun from beneath his coat.
“Kisame, stop wasting our time on that brat! We need to go.” Itachi hissed. The world around them seemed to slow at Kisame took aim at Sai, puling the trigger. Naruto screamed, lunging forward in Itachi’s arms. Sai went down into a snow bank and Naruto twisted, kicking Itachi in the crotch. Kisame took aim at Sai again and Naruto lunged forward, biting Kisame in the arm. Kisame swore and dropped the gun, swinging his arm to shake the boy off.
Naruto tasted blood as he felt himself get thrown down to the sidewalk. Jiraiya rounded the corner, shooting at the other men. Naruto scrambled up, hearing the bullet’s whizzing past his head.
“Get down, Naruto!” Jiraiya warned, taking aim once again as Itachi and Kisame climbed into their car. Naruto ignored the man, stumbling through the dirty snow bank towards Sai. Naruto saw a blush of crimson in the snow and felt the tears collecting in his eyes.
He couldn’t stand the thought of losing someone else before the turn of the year. He knelt by Sai, lifting the boy’s head into his lap and touching the fine black hair. It was as he imagined, it was soft. Sai stirred, looking up at him through clouded eyes.
“Are you okay, Naruto?” He said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Naruto nodded, his eyes searching the black-clad boy for the wound. There was a bloom of red above his right hip.
“Sai…” Naruto whispered, tears running down his face. Sai’s hands were cold as he touched the marks on Naruto’s cheeks.
Jiraiya came over, kneeling by them and lifting Sai to his chest.
“Come on, Naruto, we need to get inside before they come back for another round…”