It's been a long while I must admit, but i'm back. Finals finished today and i'm finally able to spend some time writing without feeling really guilty. Like always, I don't own Naruto.

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It was a bleary eyed, sleep deprived, and much charred Makkuro (which is what Naruto will be referred to for a while) that found Tamaishi three days later directing workers on the backside of the inn.

Makkuro had spent most of his time between meeting the old nin and the present working on getting down into secret passage below Jiriaya’s old room. After smashing the stone door, disabling the blades, and finding a shield jutsu powerful enough to block the jets of fire, he’d finally gotten down there only to find a dead end. The little room beyond the fire jets was scattered with the charred remains of several would be thieves and at least one ninja of undetermined nationality. After inspecting the remains Naruto/Makkuro moved on to the walls. After a bit of careful inspection he found a single word scratched into the rocky wall.

‘Library’

After punching the wall a few times in frustration he’d proceeded to exit the room. Unfortunately the jutsu he’d used to block the flame jets didn’t last long enough for him to fully get out. He’d ended up shooting out of the hole well done and screaming bloody murder.

Once he’d cleaned himself up as best he could he’d gone to the library room and pulled out every single book and scroll from its place. Five kunai traps and close to a thousand items later he’d managed to find nothing interesting hidden behind the books and scrolls. Another bottle of sake was consumed before the books and scrolls were returned to their shelves.

Needless to say Naruto/Makkuro was not in the best shape but he felt he had to do something constructive before allowing himself the opportunity to rest.

Tamaishi smelled the faint scent of charred flesh coming from behind him and stopped giving orders to see what was causing the smell. The sight that confronted him was something only a ninja or a pyromaniac would have found funny. A sullen Makkuro stood with his hands in the pockets of his pants. The pants, along with the rest of his ensemble, were blackened and burnt at the edges. What was visible of his skin was a light pink, showing that he hadn’t completely healed from the burns he’d received. His hair seemed untouched.

Tamaishi coughed into his meaty hand to cover a bark of laughter at the sight. Makkuro glared at him and shifted uncomfortably, obviously in pain in places he didn’t want to be.

When the coughing stopped Makkuro stepped forward and held out his hand. “It looks like I’ll be staying a while. I’ll take the job.”

Tamaishi, still with a hint of a smile on his face, engulfed the younger man’s hand in his own and squeezed. Makkuro’s mouth twitched at the pressure on his still smarting hand but refused to say anything about it.

“Good,” Tamaishi said in a gruff baritone. “We’ve been a bit shorthanded lately.” He gestured to the obvious work being done on the backside of the inn. From what Makkuro could see they were working on the kitchen and service area. “We’ve had to pull workers from the baths to keep construction deadlines. If its not too much trouble I’m gonna put you on the night shift for the bath crew and hand over half of the night security to you as well. You’ll be puttin out towels and keeping the bathing area’s clean for the first one. That goes from eight till bout ten then security goes from ten till five. Think you can handle that?”

Makkuro shrugged. He didn’t especially want to do the bath work, but a job was a job so he wasn’t about to complain. “Sure. That’s fine. Just show me what to do and I’ll do it.” He glanced down at his cloths. “What should I wear?”

Tamaishi chuckled and cast an eye over the younger man’s charred cloths again. “Well certainly not that,” he said, pointing at the offending clothing. “I’ll have someone send up some stuff for the bath job. I’m sure you’ve got something that would work better for the security post though.”

“Just have em leave it in front of the door. I need to catch up on some rest before then.”

The older man nodded as a crude grin split his face. “So what happened?”

Makkuro knew what Tamaishi was asking about and decided to tell the truth. “Got caught on the receiving end of a fire trap,” he said as he turned and left. The sound of laughter followed him all the way home.

>>>>

Naruto/Makkuro woke refreshed and feeling much better then he had when he’d gone to bed. A quick look at the clock in the kitchen told him he had half an hour to get to work. The cloths that had been left at the door were not what he’d expected. A nice black short sleeve dress shirt complemented the long light brown slacks. His new name was sewn into the left breast of his shirt in gold lettering. An little whistle of appreciation escaped his lips as he slipped on the cloths. They were very comfortable and provided ease of movement. Makkuro finished it off with a nice black belt and then gathered a small bag for the cloths he’d be donning afterward for his second job.

He had no trouble picking out where Tamaishi was. He easily had the largest chakra signature in the valley outside of Naruto’s own so homing in on him didn’t take much time.

After a brief tour of the facility Tamaishi put Makkuro to work restocking towels, cleaning unoccupied areas, and delivering drinks to thirsty late night bathers. He was an instant hit with the ladies of the baths. His muscular arms, broad shoulders, and dazzling sky blue eyes grabbed the attention of practically every female and even a few resentful males who disliked the fact that their women were looking elsewhere. But even they had a hard time disliking the smiling blue eyes or the lithe body that moved among them, happily taking care of their needs.

Makkuro found that he sort of liked this job. It required little thought so he could devote more time to being thoughtful and nice to customers. But all too soon his two hours of work in the baths and spas done and he was directed to the front office where Tamaishi waited for him. The lopsided grin on the old man’s face told Makkuro that he’d done well.

He changed quickly into the cloths he’d brought with him in his bag. A long sleeve net shirt, a slightly shorter black turtleneck, matching black pants, gloves, and a dark blue lightweight version of an ANBU’s vest. His weapon’s pouch and leg holster were in their traditional spots. Topping it all off was a black half mask much like Kakashi had worn. He wore no clan or ninja marking.

Tamaishi nodded his approval. The older man wore his normal work cloths but added his old battered grey flack jacket and his leg holster. The vest was obviously designed for someone smaller then him and Makkuro doubted the man had ever been able to get it zipped up properly.

“Well then,” the old stone nin said. “Why don’t we give you a little test run? Your objective is to get behind the reception desk without me stopping you and without alarming the guests. You’ll start from the outer most springs and go from there. If you can get past me we’ll switch spots and I’ll try the same. Think you can do that?”

Makkuro’s grin couldn’t have been more cocky. “Sure thing old man. Just try to keep up,” he said as he slipped his mask up into place and stepped out the door. He hadn’t gone six steps beyond the doorway when he promptly vanished. Tamaishi blinked and smiled ruefully. This was going to be fun.

>>>>

Naruto stopped when he reached the last hot spring and turned back to look over the valley floor to the bright lights of the inn slightly more then half a mile away. His grin was still in place. He hadn’t had a chance to have fun like this in years. The last time he’d done something like this it was for the Jounin exams. Konohamaru’s team had been trying out. The then Hokage Naruto had chosen to step in personally during one of the tests as a member of the opposing force. His friendship with the younger ninja had not been lost over the years and Naruto had considered him his younger brother. And as such it was the older brother’s job to make the younger’s life a living hell. Naruto had tailed the team the whole way to their objective and had confronted them, in separate disguises and varying numbers, at least four times before they had managed to slip past him using a combined Jounin level genjutsu technique that left Naruto incapacitated for fifteen minutes. Time enough for them to slip away and complete their mission. Naruto had congratulated them personally the next day and, when asked how he had known, he’d transformed into one of their opponents and rattled off one of the cheesy lines he’d used to confront them.

Now he’d get to do it all over again.

Forming a familiar seal with his fingers he began to plan.

>>>>

Tamaishi stood outside in the dark in front of the double doors of the inn. Or at least a bunshin of him did. The clone stood there looking menacing, backlit by the light that poured out of the doors behind him. The real Tamaishi crouched in the shadows at the far left corner of the inn. From his position he could easily see the front entrance, the clone, and a good majority of the hot springs.

After waiting fifteen minutes some movement out among the darker recesses of the hot spring rocks caught the old man’s attention. He focused on the spot for several seconds but whatever was there had stopped moving. Then more movement caught his attention, only this time it was further right. This movement stopped almost as fast as it had started as well. Within three minutes he spotted at least seven more half seen figures slipping around the rocks and pools of the hot springs, all in different locations.

‘Are they bunshin or is he just incredibly fast?’ Tamaishi wondered. ‘Or is it genjutsu of some sort?’

After a minute without sign of any further movement Tamaishi directed his clone back inside. If Makkuro thought that the clone had really been him then he might give away his position once the clone’s back was turned. No sooner had the clone disappeared indoors then he spotted more movement. First from one spot then another. ‘Got to be clones, they’re too widely dispersed to be all the same guy,’ Tamaishi thought. ‘He’s using them to distract me.’

The older ninja was about to turn away and dismiss them as purely bunshin when one of them caused a small stone to fall as it passed an unoccupied pool. He swore silently as he readjusted his position. He’d almost been fooled but now that he’d seen through it he knew what to do.

Something bounced off the hidden man’s head, prompting him to jump slightly. He picked up the offending object and found that it was a small stone. Several more fell beside him. He glanced upward to see a slippered foot scramble over the edge of the roof, knocking loose a few more of the small rocks.

He swore, this time not so quietly, as he broke concealment and raced for the front door. A flash of white distracted him long enough to see a bit of white curtain flapping in the breeze from a darkened window. It hadn’t been there a minute ago. He knew for a fact that that room was unoccupied.

‘If he’s inside then he’s a step ahead of me. Damn!’

Tamaishi ducked through the doorway and took cover against the nearest wall. His clone was still there, leaning against the front desk.

A creak in the floorboards on the landing above announced the presence his opponent. He dug a kunai out of his leg pouch and stepped away from the wall only to see a shadowy figure slip into an open doorway part way down the left hall. He caught just enough of the person’s foot to know it was clad in ninja sandals. The click of the door handle was audible even from where he stood in the foyer.

‘How the hell is he doing this!’ Tamaishi thought as he dashed over to the desk, dispersing his clone as he approached. Another moving shadow ducked out of sight down the right hall. The old man tensed. His opponent was closing in on him and he knew it.

Just then a group of three bathers, with towels around their necks, descended the stairs. They were happily chatting about how good the water was going to be tonight. They nodded politely to Tamaishi as they passed him, not noticing his drawn weapon that he’d hurriedly stuffed behind his back, and walked out the door and out of sight.

A little sigh of relief escaped his lungs as the door closed behind them. Then, quite abruptly, the lights cut out. Trained reflexes spun the old man. The knife flew from his fingertips. Even in the dark he knew where the fuse box was situated and his aim proved it. When the lights snapped back on a moment later the kunai was imbedded in the wood post mere centimeters away from the catch to the little power box’s door. Only there wasn’t anyone there.

The old man’s eyebrow quirked. ‘How did the lights come back on?’ he wondered.

The front desk’s phone rang.

Before he could turn to answer it someone else did.

“Myouboku Mountain Inn front desk, how can I help you?”

Makkuro, comfortably seated behind the desk swivelled around in his chair, his hand over the receiver. He looked over at Tamaishi. “It’s for you. Should I tell them you’re unavailable?” he asked in a light hearted tone. A subtle glint of mischief sparkled in his eyes. His mask was pulled down around his neck in a casual manner.

Tamaishi grunted.

Makkuro swung back around. “I’m sorry he’s not available at the moment, could you call back later? ... Ok then, you’re welcome. ... Goodbye.”

The young black haired ninja swivelled back around to face his boss once more, a grin splitting his suddenly cheerful face.

“How?” Tamaishi asked in a whisper. Then he scowled. “How did you do that boy?” he asked.

Naruto rolled his mental eyes at the question. ‘He must not have gotten around much as a ninja if he doesn’t know Kage Bunshin.’ Makkuro tapped his nose with a finger, winking at the same time.

“Why would I tell you? I have to have some secrets you know.”

Tamaishi ‘humphed’ as he walked over to the fuse box and yanked his kunai out of the post next to it. He inspected the box carefully. After a few moments he turned around scratching his head. “You never touched the box did you?”

Makkuro shook his head. “I’m not particularly good at genjutsu but I do know a few.” He smiled inwardly as an idea popped into his head. The jutsu he’d used had the same name as his false identity. ‘Well now I know a bit more about Uzu Makkuro,’ Naruto thought.

“The one I used, Makkuro no Jutsu (Pitch Black Technique), is a technique that effects the eyesight of my target. It creates a false darkness that, in the right situation, can make someone think the lights have been turned off or that they’ve lost the use of their eyes. A family specialty.”

The older man nodded thoughtfully. “Then how about all those clones? That couldn’t have been genjutsu. One of them knocked rocks down on my head from the roof.”

The black haired ninja winked again. “Sorry, that one’s secret.”

Tamaishi glared then waved absently with his kunai. “Fine then. Maybe you can answer this one. How did you enter? The roof? A window?”

Makkuro’s smile dropped a bit. This was the most disappointing part of the whole exercise. The way he’d come in proved that either the old man wasn’t a good ninja at all or that he had been panicking at that point. Neither one was very good. “I came in right behind you. I could have reached out and put a kunai in your back as you walked through the door.”

The old man paled as what Makkuro said hit him but he recovered quickly. He coughed slightly and looked away. “I find it hard to believe someone as good as you would simply up and leave the Leaf. Why weren’t you stopped? Why aren’t there Hunter Nin on your ass?”

“Because they think I’m dead.”

Tamaishi looked at him for a long moment as if trying to judge what he’d said was true or not. He finally just nodded.

Makkuro stood and stretched, his whole body arching in the process. “So we gonna go again or what?” he asked.

“I don’t see why not,” the former stone ninja said in a neutral tone. “I could use another challenge. Give me twenty minutes to start,” he said as he holstered his kunai and walked sedately out the door.

The former blond waited a couple minutes to make sure his opponent was gone before giving a light whistle. Twelve shadow clones appeared around him, popping out from behind doors, floorboards, plants, and even one from behind the chandelier. The real Makkuro addressed them all quietly. “Good job guys. Well done. Transform so you don’t look so obvious.”

Some of the clones had to think for a minute before transforming. Eventually there were twelve utterly different people standing around their leader.

“Ok now, just like we planned it. Don’t let him see you until you have to move got it?” Twelve heads nodded. “Ok, break.” The clones vanished again, dispersing as per orders to varied locations around the inn. Within seconds Makkuro was alone again. He looked out the door into the night, a small predatory smile playing on his lips.

‘So Tamaishi, how will you do it? More importantly, how far will you get before I catch you?’

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Eh, what can I say? I would put Tamaishi's attempt in but at the moment i'm wondering if I should. I've got more important places to go with this story. I guess we'll see won't we. Thanks all for stayin with me through my long absense. Hope you enjoyed.