20 Chapter 20: Finding the Snake's Trail! Save Ai!

Naruto ran down the streets of the town looking for Jiraiya. He wanted to let him know that he hadn't been able to locate the man in the picture. So he wanted to try a different area to search. He thought about where Jiraiya could possibly be, but only one idea came to his mind. He's gotta be there, Naruto thought as he took off. After arriving at the suspected building, Naruto could hear the loud obnoxious laughter of Jiraiya coming inside.

Naruto sighed as he shook his head side to side. Of course Jiraiya is here of all places, he thought. He then looked up at the sign above the door. The building Naruto stood in front of was a brothel, he contemplated about how he was going to enter. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, when he looked over, he saw a woman wearing revealing clothes standing behind him.

"Hello cutie!" She said in a soothing voice.

"What are you doing standing in front of a place like this?" She asked.

Naruto scratched his head and laughed as he came up with an idea. "Sorry, my grandfather is just inside and I was just waiting for him to come back out."

The lady looked down at Naruto and then looked inside the building.

"What does he look like?" She asked with a stern expression.

"He's an old guy with white hair, red paint under his eyes and wears a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, with mesh armor underneath. He also wears hand guards, a black belt, wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side." Naruto described.

The woman nodded as she marched straight into the building. Naruto couldn't help but try to stifle a laugh as he held his sides and waited. After waiting a few seconds, Naruto heard a loud scream followed by a sound of something crashing. Soon, Jiraiya was sent flying out of the building with two swollen cheeks and a black eye. The woman stood with arms crossed as she glared at Jiraiya.

"Like I said, I don't have a grandson!" Jiraiya cried out in defense.

"Grandpa! Are you going to spend time with me now?!" Naruto yelled as he hugged Jiraiya from the side.

Jiraiya's expression paled as he turned to look back at the woman. Her eyes had narrowed as she started walking toward Jiraiya.

"Wait....I can explain....this isn't what it looks like!" Jiraiya begged.

"Hmph!" The woman smacked Jiraiya across the face, then she turned to Naruto and pulled him into a hug.

"Why don't you spend time with me, we'll leave your grandpa out here to reflect on his actions!" She said in a soothing voice.

Naruto stifled another laugh as he nodded his head. Jiraiya stared at the situation with mixed emotions, but mostly envy as Naruto was being embraced by a beautiful woman. If he could, Jiraiya would cry tears of blood as he stared at Naruto.

The woman pulled Naruto away as she introduced herself. "I'm Fuyuko Yui."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, do you know a Fuyuko Ai?" He asked.

The woman blinked in surprise when she heard Naruto mention the name.

"Ai is my little sister, how did you meet her?" Yui asked.

"I met her over by the old shrine near the festival in town. I was waiting for grandpa over there but decided to go looking for him." Naruto explained.

Yui nodded her head as she listened to Naruto.

"Well, why don't you spend some time with us?" Yui asked.

"Thanks for the offer, but I really shouldn't." Naruto said as he scratched his head.

"Don't be like that, I insist!" Yui said soothingly.

She blew a purple mist in front of Naruto, as he inhaled the smoke his eyes began to glaze over as he lost focus. He then fell into her embrace as she vanished from the area with Naruto in her arms. Jiraiya slowly got up and stretched out his neck as he looked in the direction that Yui and Naruto went in. A small toad poked it's head out of Naruto's pocket before going back inside.

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Sorry Naruto, Jiraiya thought, but I needed bait to lure her out. He then pulled out a scroll and began writing on it. Then he handed the scroll to a toad, before sending it away.

"Hopefully Kakashi won't get too upset with me." Jiraiya mumbled to himself.

Then he started heading in the direction Yui had taken Naruto. Hopefully nothing unexpected happens while I'm not watching, Jiraiya thought.

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Kakashi woke up from his sleep when he suddenly heard a toad's croak next to him. He looked over and saw a toad sitting on the small wooden table next to the bed. The frog looked at Kakashi before opening it's mouth wide and extending a scroll out with it's tongue. Kakashi grabbed the scroll and the frog disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

He opened the scroll and began reading the contents of it. When he finished, he placed the scroll down and sighed. Looks like Naruto got caught up in whatever mission Lord Jiraiya is on, Kakashi thought. He got up from his bed then he got dressed and left the room quietly. Once he was clear of the rooms, he rushed out into the night to try and locate either Jiraiya or Naruto.

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Naruto was laying on the ground when he finally came to, however, as he got himself together, he discovered that he had been chained up and was inside of a cell. Well, this is different, Naruto thought. He glanced around trying to get an idea of where he was, but beyond his cell and the hallway right outside, he couldn't gather much information. He sat down cross legged and closed his eyes, he stretched out his senses and was able to determine a few people nearby in other cells.

Naruto opened his eyes as he let out a sigh, he leaned back and landed onto his back folding his arms behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling. Hmm, now, how should I get out of this situation? Naruto thought. Before he could think any further on trying to escape, he heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

"So you've brought a new specimen?" A male voice asked.

"I have, I think he's quite the catch." Yui answered.

"Oh? You're that confident?" The man asked eagerly.

"Of course, who do you think you're talking to?" Yui said in confidence.

"We'll see about that!" The man responded.

The footsteps finally stopped in front of Naruto's cell. He got back up and looked at the two people looking at him. Then his eyes almost popped out of his head as the man matched the one shown on the photo by Jiraiya. So they were working together, Naruto deduced, then he remembered Ai, is she working with them as well? Naruto questioned in his head.

"Heheh, you were right, this is quite the catch, the amount of chakra sitting within this brat is enormous!" The man exclaimed.

"See? I told you didn't I?" Yui arrogantly replied.

"Sorry, I just wasn't sure if you were exaggerating the amount or not." The man apologized.

Yui looked away and began walking further down the hallway. "Don't forget our agreement!" She yelled back.

"Yes, yes, you'll get exactly what we agreed upon." The man said with a sinister smile on his face.

He looked back at Naruto as his smile grew even more sinister. He then walked away as he began chuckling to himself. Naruto couldn't help but feel that the man was way too creepy. The way the man stared at him was as if he was staring at a meal. Naruto shivered at the thought and decided that now was the time for him to make his escape. He looked around his cell, and other than a simple bed in the corner, there wasn't anything there. Naruto got up and walked around his room, then he sat down on the bed. Suddenly, Naruto felt something move within his pocket, and when he checked, he discovered a small toad sitting in it. So Pervy-Sage suspected something like this might happen, and was already onto Yui, Naruto thought. While he smiled at the thought, he couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed that Jiraiya had used him as bait. Next time I see him, I'm going to have him make it up to me, Naruto thought. He then started planning out his escape again.

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Jiraiya was sitting on a tree branch hidden by the leaves as he observed the old shrine in the town. He had followed the trail, and it lead him here, but he hadn't been able to discover the entrance just yet. So he had thought about waiting for someone to enter and to follow them in. But, because he didn't know when that would happen, he was worried about taking too much time. After all, he had let Naruto get kidnapped just so he could find the hideout, something that he regretted doing, and his guilt was only growing as time passed.

Suddenly, he felt a kunai appear against his neck as a figure was behind him. He looked back and saw that it was only Kakashi, who slowly withdrew the kunai away from him.

"You scared me there for a second." Jiraiya said as he breathed out in relief.

"Consider it payback for placing my student in danger. I thought you said to leave it to you?" Kakashi replied.

"I did, but Naruto followed me, and I knew he wouldn't leave me alone, so I let him become a part of my plans." Jiraiya explained.

"I see, now where are they?" Kakashi asked.

"They're inside that old shrine over there, but I haven't been able to locate the entrance just yet. If all else fails however, I can just force my way though." Jiraiya answered.

Kakashi nodded as he began analyzing the situation as well. He wasn't keen on the idea of leaving Naruto alone with dangerous people, especially ones with relations to that particular snake. So he began trying to find a way inside as quickly as he could.

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Naruto found that he could still use chakra, but he didn't want to do anything that would create too much distruction. He also discovered that there was a periodic cell inspection done by guards in the place. But while Naruto thought they were guards, they looked more like priests. Regardless, he needed to escape, so after figuring out the rotation schedule, he devised a plan on escaping. Using his chakra he got onto the ceiling and camouflaged himself and waited. A guard was walking down the hallway whe he noticed that Naruto's cell was empty.

"How the-?" The guard exclaimed.

"Quick, inform Lord Higachi! The subject has escaped somehow!!" He yelled

The man next to him quickly ran in one direction while the one who yelled ran in the other. Naruto made sure they were both gone, then he dropped down, next he coated his hand in wind nature chakra and sliced through the lock. Once the lock was broken off, he pushed open the door and looked around to make sure no one was around.

"Looks like I'm clear." Naruto mumbled to himself.

He quickly broke his chains off and then started running down the direction the guard who yelled ran in. He needed to find the exit quickly before that Lord Higachi discovered him, and the further he was away from him, the better, Naruto thought. He started following the passageway down, and surprisingly, for the most part, it was a straight path. Torches lit the hallway he was running in and seemed to cause the hallway to feel more enclosed than usual, as if he were inside a snake. As he ran, he started hearing voices up ahead, while looking for a place to hide, Naruto saw a door, so without thinking any further, he opened it up and went inside, closing the door behind him. He was listening through the door to figure out when the voices had left.

Suddenly he heard something shifting behind him, he quickly spun around ready to engage in a fight, but when he turned around he saw Fuyuko Ai standing behind him looking surprised.

"W-What are you doing here?" She asked.

Naruto kept up his guard not willing to let himself fall for another trap. "What do you mean? I was knocked out and captured, are you not apart of what's going on around here?" Naruto questioned.

Ai looked shocked when she heard his words, then understanding crossed her expression as she sat down on her bed. Naruto lowered his guard slightly since he felt that something was going on in this place.

"I'm sorry...." Ai said as she looked at the ground with a complicated expression.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"....." Ai seemed to be struggling with speaking when the two heard noises behind the door.

"Quickly, hide over here!!" Ai whispered frantically.

Without asking, she pulled Naruto into her bed and hid him under the covers with her. Naruto couldn't help but get red from embarrassment from being so close to a girl.

"Hey what are-" Naruto began.

"Shh, they'll hear you!" Ai whispered as she covered Naruto's mouth to prevent him from speaking.

She held him close to herself to make it look like there was only one person under the blankets as much as possible. The door opened and two guards rushed inside.

"Oi, one of the specimens has escaped! Have you heard anything!?" One of the men asked.

"No, I haven't, is something wrong?" Ai asked.

The two men looked at each other and nodded to each other.

"Nothing for you to worry about, don't leave your room!" The man instructed.

Ai nodded her head as the two left her room and closed the door. Once she felt that they were a reasonable distance away she uncovered her blankets and let Naruto out. She breathed out in relief as they had narrowly escaped detection. Naruto looked confused as he tried to piece together the situation. It only stood to reason that Ai was in league with the people here, so she should have no reason to help him evade detection. But since she did, that meant there should be a reason that she was here. He looked over at her and saw a pained expression on her face as she was biting her lip.

"What's going on here?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you would get involved in this matter..." Ai apologized.

Naruto looked at her and couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl.

"Tell me the situation, I might be able to help." Naruto suddenly grinned.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Ai said surprised.

"Well, I may not look like it, but I'm really strong, so if you explained your situation, I might be able to help you out!" Naruto explained while smiling.

Ai looked down in thought as she tried to weigh her options. She then looked at Naruto and nodded as she had made her choice.

"It all began a few years ago. This village used to pay their respects to this shrine to honor the snake god, who represented renewal and strength. My sister and I were priestesses who maintained the shrine. But then a strange man came to this town saying he was conducting research on the snake god. The village agreed to teach him our belief since he seemed to be eager to learn. That was when people started going missing. At first, no one knew what was going on, but eventually we learned that the strange man had been the one abducting them. He would perform horrific experiments on them, turning most of them into something else. When we confronted the man, he had simply said that he was trying to become closer to the snake god. Some of the villagers tried to resist, but those that did were killed. The rest decided to give in to the man's wishes." As Ai explained her situation, she had started to cry.

Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder to try and console her. She had been through a lot, and after listening to everything so far, he had a guess on who was behind everything.

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to." Naruto suggested.

Ai shook her head as she spoke. "No, I need to say it."

Naruto nodded and waited for her to finish.

"A year ago, the man left leaving being Lord Higachi behind to be in charge, however my sister and I were given curse marks and forced to form contracts with giant snakes, before he left. He had discovered that my sister and I had a unique bloodline that gave us an affinity for the snakes." Ai explained, then she pulled down her shirt collar and exposed the curse mark that Naruto was familiar with.

He couldn't help but get angry at this point, and he was certain on who was behind this. It couldn't be anyone other than Orochimaru who did this.

"So why is this Higachi person still capturing people?" Naruto asked.

"It's because the man who left sent word that he needed more subjects with unique bodies to experiment on. My sister and I can detect how much chakra a person possesses, and so when I met you, I knew that you would be a possible subject." Ai answered.

Naruto nodded his head, as he understood the situation.

"But why didn't you try to capture me?" Naruto asked.

"It's because I didn't want to be apart of this, but because of that, my sister has to do my work for me." Ai answered.

"What happens if she doesn't?" Naruto pressed.

"They'll kill me." Ai responded.

"What? How?" Naruto almost shouted.

"It's the curse mark, Lord Higachi has a way of activating it so that it forces us to use up all of our chakra, after which, it will kill us." Ai said.

Naruto looked down in anger as he grit his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. To force someone into a situation like this was just wrong! Naruto then stood up and started walking towards the door.

"W-Where are you going?" Ai asked in worry.

"To go kick that Higachi guy's ass!!" Naruto said as he looked back at her.

Then he turned around, opened the door and left, leaving Ai alone in her room. She had watched Naruto leave as she hadn't completely comprehended his words. But when she did, she got up in a hurry and chased after him.

"N-Naruto!! Wait!!" She called out to him.