A Darker World

Review replies: Sneakyfox it is a bit creepy isn't it both their ages and the fact that you're apparently psychic because you read my mind.

I'm going to attempt to reply to all reviewers here from now on.

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It was easy for people to forget that Jiraiya was an intelligence expert. Of course, that was partly what made him an expert. Those who didn't know about his reputation, which were few, would think him a fool and he liked it that way. Life was so much more enjoyable when you could have fun.

That didn't mean he couldn't be serious though. The last few years he had been very serious. He had received the news of his sensei's death, a coup d'état and an immediate summons back to his home village all in the same message. Well, the official message had not been so honest. Rumors had reached him soon enough, though, that Danzo was in power, that had set off all sort of alarm bells with the Third’s death being so sudden.

He had hesitated and had sought more information. What he had found had worried him. Then he had received a second message informing him he was either too return to Konohagakure or be labeled as a Missing-Nin. The decision to disappear was easy enough for him. Over the next few days and weeks, he had linked up with other ninjas from his home village who were also as equally hesitant to legitimize Danzo’s actions.

Their problem was not one that could be easily resolved. Coups were certainly not unheard of in hidden villages, but it was a little like dropping blood in shark infested water. Other villages could sense weakness, and while the coup itself may not prompt a surprise attack, another coup so soon after could. Thus, they had settled on a single assassin who could hopefully do the job quickly and quietly.

He and the rest of his compatriots had waited far enough away from Konoha not to be noticed, but close enough that they could move in to support once Danzo was dead. Unfortunately, the assassination failed and Anko had barely managed to escape with her life. They had withdrawn frustrated, but unwilling to start a bloodbath.

For a while, there was dissent in the village and the rebels, as they had been labeled, ranks swelled. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration as their numbers, even now, didn't even exceed thirty. Still, for a while it looked as if Danzo would have to concede defeat. After all, the man was not so stubborn or foolish to be at the center of a village that could turn on him. They had underestimated the man’s savagery.

It had taken them several months to figure out how he had managed to stop the dissent within the village, and when they had learned, Jiraiya wished they had carried out the attack and damn the consequences. As far as he knew it was unprecedented that a hidden village’s hierarchy would punish an entire family for the actions of one member, but that's exactly what Danzo had done and it had worked.

His initial impulse was to find the place where the children were being held and rescue them, but when he learned of their numbers it became impractical. He could financially support that many children easily, but he couldn't hide them from recapture. Thus he had abandoned the idea at least until recently. The rebels were gearing up for one last push to take their beloved home back, and for their plan to succeed, they needed a Hyuga heiress.

Since none of their spies had been able to find the exact location of this place without a name, he had delved into the seediest parts of society to obtain the information. In the end, it had come down to a young government official who liked to frequent the place. In his relatively long career he had only killed a handful of noncombatants and for the most part those deaths bothered him, but when he had been done with this man, he had little trouble cutting his throat and it had not just been for operational security.

It was how he found himself stepping into an underage brothel. This wasn't the first brothel he had ever been to, but it was the first of this type. In a lot of ways it was the same, but in many other ways it was very different. For example, while all brothels pretty much gouged their patrons this place seemed to do it more. So far he had to rent a hotel room directly across from the brothel and pay a cover charge. Still, now he was in the place and he just had to find one of the two girls he was looking for.

This early in the morning the place seemed half dead. There were maybe a half-dozen other people in the restaurant area, and to his surprise, two of those were women who seemed very interested in the show on stage. He glanced at the show itself, but quickly averted his eyes upwards to the ceiling. It was necessary for him to blend in, but that looked to be more difficult than it usually would be.

He took a seat in the back corner not quite sure how this worked, but he assumed it couldn't be any different than a regular brothel. For a moment, he wondered about the two women. One of them seemed attractive enough while the other was ordinary. Were they here with someone or did they simply want what the male customers wanted? He had never thought of women going to places like this, but perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised.

Taking his mind off the customers and the show on stage, he glanced around the room. There was a bar, but it didn't seem to have a bartender at the moment. There was also a man who had a forehead protector on. That was unexpected, but Jiraiya wasn't just relying on a transformation to hide his appearance. He had dyed his hair black and even had cut it short for the purpose of this mission alone. He had also gone to the trouble of putting in colored contacts and inserting a pair of false teeth to change his jaw line. His clothes were also far more subdued than his usual attire. The only thing he could've added was a cane, but that had seemed superfluous.

“Good morning sir. Would you like a menu or a registry?”

Jiraiya had heard the boy's approach, but as he had been unusually quiet, he acted startled. The boy was maybe ten years old and was wearing some sort of bizarre outfit. Absentmindedly, he also noticed that he was standing just out of arms reach. Was that a conscious decision or just coincidence?

“Registry please,” he said trying on a smile.

“Very good sir,” the boy said as he placed the thicker of the two things he was carrying in front of Jiraiya. “Blue pages are for the boys and pink pages are for the girls. Once you've decided who you would like to spend some time with, go over to the window and work out the details with her.” The boy said pointing him in the right direction.

“Thank you.”

The boy smiled and said before walking away, “I'm just doing my job.”

The conversation had been benign, but it left him unsettled for some reason. It took him a minute to realize that the conversation had been too casual for what they had been discussing. A pain of guilt washed over him. It just dawned on him that he was only taking one person away from this place while leaving the rest here. It didn't seem right, but what else could he do?

He looked down at the book in front of him which was as the boy had said, but separated by a piece of thick paper between the pink and blue pages. Using that piece of paper, he opened the book to the halfway point and found that the thick white paper had writing on it. It described services and the price for each one. Ignoring that for now, he concentrated on trying to find the person he was here to rescue.

Even though he didn't know what the heiresses looked like, their eyes would make them distinctive. The first girl had brown eyes which meant she couldn't be one of them, but out of curiosity he looked at the rest of the page which had several other photos of her in more revealing positions. Finding that unsettling, he quickly turned the page.

For the next half-dozen pages, he concentrated on the eyes alone, searching for pale almost blind looking eyes. Then he came across a pair of Piercing green eyes. His eyes flickered over to her bangs which were pink. He checked the name which was only given as Sakura, but he knew it had to be Haruno.

It was her father who had made that name memorable for him. Kazuki Haruno had been a ninja of no particular skill. He had never even risen above the level of Genin. Early in his career, he had resigned himself to being a paper pusher. Jiraiya had seen the man only in passing when he came in to give reports to the Third. He had been more noticeable for his hair color than anything else.

He would've been long forgotten if he had not attempted something so daring, and in Jiraiya’s humble opinion, so brave, that it rivaled any of his accomplishments. What Kazuki Haruno had done was to attempt to assassinate Danzo. He didn't know why the man had attempted it, but he guessed one too many sleepless nights worrying about the village's future was the cause. From what they've heard, he had almost succeeded too. He had been able to get close enough to slice Danzo’s throat, but not severely enough before being killed himself.

Security was tight around Danzo, but no one had suspected him as an assassin. For his sacrifice, Jiraiya had raised a glass to his memory. Unfortunately, his daughter paid the price for his misdeeds. Suddenly, he felt the need to take her away from this place, for her father's memory if no other reason, but he had to concentrate on the mission. Once Danzo was gone they could shut this place down.

Fortunately, the next page had the pale eye girl he had been looking for. Her name was Hinata and that had been one of the two girl’s names he remembered. Going back to the page with services provided, he glanced at the descriptions. He decided he would pay for a two-day honeymoon. That would give them the longest lead-time to make good their escape. The only security he had seen so far was that one ninja standing there, but he definitely didn't want to risk anything at this stage.

Standing, he walked over to the little window which had a rather attractive young woman behind the counter. Placing the book on the counter, she looked up at him and smiled, “How can we help you today?” She said.

“I would like to have this girl for a honeymoon,” he said casually.

The woman looked down and smiled, “Hinata she is a popular one and on duty today. Now this is your first visit here?” He nodded and she continued, “Well, in cases of honeymoons we accept payment after services are provided. However, we do expect to be paid in full. I am obligated to tell you that if you renege on your bill, we reserve the right to hire ninjas at your expense to extract the fee from you. If you have insufficient funds the ninjas may feel the need to help themselves to your internal organs.”

That threat was not as uncommon as it sounded. No ninja liked being a debt collector, but even he had done that on occasion in his early years. “That won't be a problem,” he reassured her, “I have ample funds.”

He had to produce identification papers which stated he was from the Lightning country. They were actually legitimate papers coming from an official office, but none of the information was accurate. He was then given an initial bill and told that whenever he ordered something else the bill would be updated. Then the woman smiled and informed him that his girl would collect him momentarily and he should just sit back and enjoy the floor show.

Jiraiya did go back to his seat, but he didn't enjoy the show. Keeping his eyes plastered above the performers, he rehearsed the conversation he would have with Hinata. He saw her approach from the corner of his eye, but figured he should be captivated by the show. Waiting until she was only a few steps away, he turned his head to acknowledge her.

The girl was wearing a very tight green dress with a slit up the side. She was pretty in a way children were, but her smile was only skin deep as she came closer to him. Her hand reached out to touch his forearm, her hand sliding down to his hand and she intertwined their fingers and said, “Let's go.”

If an older woman had done that he might've found it arousing, but even though she seemed confident on the surface, it was evident to him at least that she was just playing at this. Like a little girls wearing her mother’s shoes. When he stood, he broke their contact which earned him a worried glance from the girl.

He followed her up two flights of stairs and into a suite of rooms. Once the door was closed, she turned round and smiled saying in a quiet voice, “What would you like to do?”

The situation was awkward for Jiraiya and it took him a minute to collect his thoughts. When he did he asked, “Your last name is Hyuga, right?” With her pale eyes that could obviously see he was ninety-nine percent sure, but it didn't hurt to eliminate that last one percent.

The young girl stiffened visibly, but nodded clearly on edge.

He bent down to be at her eye level and smiled. “Listen I don't want to hurt you in fact I want to get you out of this place, if you want to go?” He wasn't going to say she didn't have a choice even though she didn't, but he would offer it.

For a moment, the girl's expression remained neutral and then her eyes widened along with her mouth. He worried for a second that she would scream, but instead she smiled a genuine smile and asked in a louder tone, “Did you help Naruto and Konohamaru too?”

The mention of those two names took him by surprise. He recognized them both, but Naruto had been reported dead. Shaking himself, not believing that two parents would name their kids after food, he asked, “You know a Naruto? What does he look like, can you describe him?”

Hinata frowned, clearly not receiving the answer she wanted. “He's blonde. About this tall,” she put her hand slightly lower than her own height, “and has three birthmarks on either side of his cheeks.” She pushed her fingers against her cheeks to show him that they were like whiskers.

Jiraiya’s heart started to race. “Do you know where he is?” He asked before remembering what she had said earlier.

She shook her head and looked down blushing before saying, “We were told that Naruto had paid for some alone time with Konohamaru. However, this morning, everyone seemed on edge, so we think they ran away last night.”

For a brief moment he wondered what, ‘spending time with’ meant, but he pushed that thought to the side. If two boys had run away then they could be in trouble, not only from possible pursuers, but the world in general. Without ever consciously deciding on it, he knew he had to find Naruto. Fortunately, after a minute of thought, he remembered the tracking frog.

“Are you okay?” The girl asked warily. Wait,” the girl said taking a step back. “My sister can she come too?”

Jiraiya was afraid of this. In a way it was heartwarming for her to care about her sister like this, but if he took her sister then her sister might ask to take someone else and this would quickly turn into a mess. “I'm sorry. I can only take one of you.”

“Then take her.”

He blinked at her surprised, but at the same time not. Still, his conscience wouldn't let him take one sister and leave the other behind after such a show of loyalty. “Is there a way to get her here, without raising suspicions?”

She nodded looking down at her feet. “We're sisters. Some people like that.”

That thought made him feel queasy. If he remembered correctly, she was the older of two sisters and the thought that they had been forced to do stuff together was more wrong than anything else he had come across today. Of course, there was also a part that reviled himself, he's had that fantasy and had even written about it in one of his books.

“Yeah, okay. I'll take the both of you, but don't tell her that and then I'll go find Naruto.”

He let the girl go collect her sister while he examined the rooms. There were several rooms, but in the bedroom there were two windows that slid open to either side which made the largest exit. He had hoped for a balcony or something like it, but you had to work with what you have. Opening the windows, he looked out to see what he could see. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be anyone moving about down below.

Stepping back from the window, he bit his thumb before summoning two frogs. The first was a large green one, capable of carrying him and two passengers, but still small enough to fit through the window. The second frog was much smaller and seemed to look around as if expecting to be attacked at any second. “You-want–me-to-find-something?” The little frog asked running its words together.

“Yeah,” Jiraiya said leaning down. “Can you sense any daemonic chakra lingering?”

The little frog nodded quickly. “Yeah-yeah. It's-like-it's-all-around-like-it's-soaked-into-the-wood.”

He closed his eyes, remembering how difficult it was to deal with this guy. “Listen carefully,” Jiraiya spoke slowly and clearly. “I need you to find a trail of daemonic chakra. It will be leading away from this building. Do you understand?”

“Yeah-yeah,” the small purple frog said running the two words together.

“Good, go.” Jiraiya said pointing to the window.

The frog hopped from its place on the bigger frogs head right out the window before letting out a little screech, as he realized, he was on the third floor. Jiraiya would've been more worried if he didn't know that thing was practically indestructible.

A moment later, he heard the door open and close again and Hinata’s voice called out, “Hello, sir are you here.”

He grimaced, realizing he had never told her his name. “I'm in the bedroom,” he answered.

A moment later, the two girls were in the doorway, the smaller one in front with her sister right behind her. They both took a step back at the site of the overgrown frog. He smiled and stood, “Ladies, this is your lucky day. This frog and I are going to get you both out of here for I am the great Jiraiya!”