[Outpost Fox – Forested Perimeter Outside Hidden Leaf]
The wind outside whispered through the trees like a breath held too long.
Inside the reinforced wooden walls of the ANBU outpost, Naruto sat alone. One vambrace lay unstrapped on the table, the other still secured to his bare forearm. His black trench coat hung from a peg near the door, hood stitched seamlessly into the collar, the mask resting beside a dim paper lantern.
He hadn't opened the scroll yet.
Not out of hesitation—but because he didn't like surprises. Especially not ones marked with black wax, the kind used only for sealed recon operations tied to unlisted assets.
Naruto's eyes flicked to the envelope again. The characters stamped in ink were plain:
> Subject: Site 016-B
Classification: Black Level (Legacy – Discretionary)
He finally broke the seal, the wax cracking like a whisper. The contents were brief:
> Investigate Site 016-B. Coordinates appended. No formal mission brief available. Associated with former internal research activity.
Use discretion. Engage support only if needed. Return with any actionable intel. Classified anomaly present.
He read it twice. Then a third time. Site 016-B... Orochimaru.
But that was impossible. Or at least—unusual.
Orochimaru's known labs were burned, buried, or repurposed. Some were left to rot. Others had already been absorbed into Konoha's own black archives. But 016-B hadn't shown up in any of the post-defection clearance scans. Not in Danzo's old Root files. Not in Tsunade's personal briefings. Not even in the handover ledger he reviewed two years ago after being promoted to Fox.
So why now?
Naruto exhaled slowly, mind ticking like gears in a box.
Possibility one: It had been missed. A buried entry. Unrecorded, possibly on purpose. But Orochimaru rarely misplaced anything—not unless he wanted to hide it from everyone. That alone made it dangerous.
Possibility two: Someone else had uncovered it first. A field agent, a defector, maybe even another nation's operative. Which meant someone—somewhere—was starting to dig. And Konoha didn't like being behind the curve.
Possibility three: It had never been abandoned.
That thought lingered.
Naruto tapped the edge of the scroll. "No recent movement, no energy signatures, no seal flares," he muttered to himself. "Yet they want eyes on it now."
It wasn't just cleanup. There was an anomaly—one the scroll didn't define. If it were just about sealing tech or lost files, they would've sent a research division. But he got the call. The Fox. A solo agent who specialized in preemptive threat removal.
Which meant it might be alive.
Or worse—waiting.
He stood, tightening the strap on his vambrace, the chill in the air sharpening as dusk began to creep over the canopy above. His coat slid on like second skin, hood folding into the collar, gear strapped in.
He didn't know why the site had gone dark all those years ago. But if it was tied to Orochimaru, it wasn't dormant. Just sleeping.
The wind stirred the edge of the map spread across Naruto's table, curling one corner slightly. He pressed it flat with two fingers—coordinates marked in red, just south of the northern coast, near an inlet that rarely made it onto public maps. No known trade routes. No patrol routes. Nothing.
Except one thing.
He sat back slowly, arms folding as memories stirred like smoke.
Three years ago, he was dispatched on a similar black-level request—no name, no origin, just a half-buried shrine on the edge of the Land of Rivers. At first glance, it looked abandoned. Cracked tiles, rotting support beams, faded glyphs burned into the lintel.
But below the altar was a staircase that didn't belong.
It led to a chamber with a broken tank in the center. The remains of something still clung to the glass like flesh, but warped—like it had grown too fast, or split from within. No documents. No seals. Just a chalkboard with a child's drawing tacked to it. One word written in strange, looping characters below it.
He never told anyone about the drawing.
And Danzo hadn't asked.
Another time, the mission came from Kumo—an informal joint investigation. A research tower long thought to have collapsed in a landslide had been found intact... but empty. No signs of Orochimaru. But the hallways were still clean. Not just dustless—clean. As if someone was maintaining it from the shadows.
And then the walls started bleeding.
He barely escaped with half his clone network intact.
Even after the mission closed, even after Tsunade signed off on the "natural phenomenon" explanation, he could still hear Kurama whispering about it from inside his chest.
That wasn't chakra, the fox had said. And that place wasn't built by human hands.
Naruto's jaw tensed.
This—016-B—felt like both.
No records. No survivors. No context.
Just a coordinate and an anomaly.
And that was the problem. When Orochimaru built something and didn't talk about it, it usually wasn't meant to be found. When it was found, it was usually too late.
Naruto reached forward and traced the route from his outpost to the location.
Three days on foot. One and a half at full speed. Less if he took a direct route through the gorge.
He tapped twice on the corner of the scroll.
"I'll need backup," he muttered.
But not just anyone.
This wasn't just about retrieval or sealing. It was about walking into a shadow no one remembered—and hoping to walk back out again.
He stood, strapping on his second vambrace, fingers pausing briefly at the base of his neck—just below where the sealing collar rested, buried under layers of gear. Not because he needed to touch it, but because the cold metal always reminded him he wasn't just a shinobi.
He was a safeguard.
---
[ANBU HQ, Subterranean Briefing Chamber – Hidden Leaf Village]
The walls dripped with silence. No noise but the faint hum of chakra-sealed lights lining the ceiling—sourceless, sterile, and too bright.
Naruto stood alone at the end of the corridor, mask off, hood pulled. The Fox had arrived.
A door hissed open ahead—an oval iris that rotated like a mechanical eye. Commander Rekino, one of Danzo's most senior handlers, waited behind the console.
Naruto stepped forward, hands behind his back, posture clean. Civil. He wasn't just another jounin. Not here.
"Solo Agent Fox," Rekino said flatly. "You've acknowledged the 016-B assignment."
"Affirmative," Naruto replied. "Scouting, extraction, and intel salvage."
The commander's eyes flicked to the holotable between them, the projection of the abandoned hideout blinking faintly on the map. Coordinates. Perimeter scans. History—none.
"No known survivors. No hostile claims. High probability of internal security systems," Rekino continued. "Standard operation parameters allow solo infiltration. Why request support?"
Naruto didn't blink.
"Because this isn't standard."
He tapped twice on the edge of the console.
"The last hideout we encountered like this one had residual dimensional residue. Traces of alchemical markers. Seal structures we've never catalogued. I'm not risking a repeat without a Byakugan."
Rekino's gaze sharpened. "You want Hyūga Neji."
"Yes."
A beat.
"And the second?"
"Sakura Haruno."
Rekino tilted his head, lips tightening. "Snake, and Tiger are not an active ANBU agent. They are an extension."
"They're essential" Naruto said. "Tiger's familiar with Orochimaru's lab structures. She's encountered his architecture during previous missions. And her eyes—she notices what others ignore."
Rekino was silent for a long moment. Then tapped a button.
"Jounin-level backup requires a secondary seal."
A panel slid open in the table between them. A single scroll, white with a red ribbon, emerged. Naruto reached out and took it.
"Deliver this to the Hokage," Rekino said. "If she signs off, the request is formalized. Otherwise, you go alone."
Naruto nodded once.
"Understood."
He turned without another word, scroll tucked inside his coat. He felt Rekino's eyes on his back until the door closed behind him.
As he ascended from the depths of the ANBU compound, the air changed—less clinical, more alive. Civilian world noise filtered through the cracks. Somewhere above, children were running, market bells were ringing.
But for now, he had paperwork.
"Fox, running errands," he muttered under his breath, almost amused.
Still—better this way. Sakura wasn't a variable he could ignore. And Neji… if the walls of that lab were like the last one, they'd need someone who could see the seams in the world itself.
---
[Hokage Tower – Hidden Leaf Village]
The corridors of the Hokage Tower were quiet, deceptively so. From the outside, it was business as usual—paperwork, messenger hawks, shinobi filing reports. But Naruto knew better. Every floor of this building hummed with unspoken friction. Tensions between the villages had grown sharper ever since the uprising in the western reaches, and now… Orochimaru's abandoned lab.
He climbed the stairs alone, his coat sweeping low behind him, vambraces glinting faintly in the filtered light. His mask remained tucked at his belt—protocol didn't demand anonymity here.
At the entrance to the Hokage's office, Shizune raised a brow. "Black Fox?"
Naruto gave a mild shrug. "I have a sealed request to deliver. Priority: inter-division collaboration."
She took it with one hand, already scanning the seal. "From Anbu Division One?"
He nodded. "Solo agent request for mission support. Two extensions. One of them is Haruno."
Shizune's eyes flickered briefly. "She's still recovering."
"Status was cleared yesterday," Naruto replied evenly. "No physical restriction. The call is yours… or rather, hers."
Shizune motioned him in.
Inside, Tsunade was at her desk, no bottle in sight but the weariness in her posture said it wasn't far. She glanced at the file and then up at Naruto.
"So the snake's lab, huh?"
Naruto bowed slightly. "Confirmed location. Unsealed directive. I need Neji Hyuuga and Sakura Haruno for this operation."
"You already talked to them?"
"Not yet. This is formal clearance."
Tsunade leaned back, her eyes scanning the scroll. "You do realize Sakura's weapon is still under forensic review?"
Naruto didn't flinch. "It won't compromise her performance."
"She'll be unarmed."
"She's still effective."
Tsunade exhaled. "And you want Hyuuga because…?"
"Potential traps. Unusual architecture. I want a Byakugan on the inside."
A long pause.
"Fine. Recommendation approved," Tsunade said, scribbling her authorization and sealing it with her chakra. "But if either of them returns in pieces, I'm charging the repairs to you."
Naruto gave a slight smile. "Understood, Granny."
As he turned to leave, Tsunade called after him. "Naruto."
He paused.
"I know this isn't just another mission."
His smile faded. "No. It's not."
And then he was gone.
---
It had become something of an inside joke among the tower staff—"Shizune's Curse." Not a literal curse, but the bureaucratic kind: one moment she'd be stamping mission reports and overseeing Hokage directives, and the next she'd be swallowed whole by an ever-growing paper avalanche from the outer provinces, especially since the Kumo incident.
Twice last week she was reassigned to temporary management over a delayed diplomatic exchange with Iwagakure, and for three days prior, she'd been buried in backlogged medicinal inventory updates after the supply chain to the border villages had cracked under demand.
When Naruto walked past her on his way out, he casually remarked, "Surprised to see you here this time."
Shizune rolled her eyes. "I live here now, apparently. I haven't seen my own apartment in six days."
Naruto nodded solemnly. "Respect."
"You know," she added, pointing a pen at him, "if Sakura waltzes in and out of here again without checking in, I'm filing her under 'ghost protocol.'"
"She's efficient," Naruto offered with a shrug. "Deadly, too."
"Yes, I've read the reports," Shizune muttered, then glanced toward Tsunade's closed door. "Lady Tsunade's lucky she likes that girl."
Then she leaned forward with a whisper: "Between you and me, I think the Hokage's been giving her leeway lately because… well, how do I put it? Sakura might be the only one left who still reminds her of the old days."
Naruto didn't comment, just gave a subtle nod and left the tower quietly—carrying that thought with him.
---
[Border Quarter Canteen – Hidden Leaf Village]
The lunch hour had mellowed the bustling streets into a gentle rhythm. The quarter's canteen—frequented by off-duty jounin and field medics—was tucked between two watchposts near the edge of the village's inner ring.
Naruto stepped through the canvas flaps, the slight weight of his ninjatō pressing between his shoulders like a silent promise.
He spotted them at the back.
Tenten raised a chopstick in greeting without missing a bite. Neji gave a polite nod. Lee, however, merely looked up from his bowl of porridge, one eye sporting a fresh bruise and his arm wrapped in compression tape.
Naruto tilted his head. "Lee…What the hell happened to you?"
Before Lee could answer, Tenten grinned and casually pointed at him with her spoon. "He had a dance session with Sakura yesterday."
Naruto blinked, then let out a soft whistle. "You poor bastard."
Lee attempted to wave it off heroically. "It was a worthy exchange of flame! She moves like a river of fire—graceful, unpredictable, and—"
"Lethal," Neji added dryly.
Tenten snorted into her drink.
Naruto slid into the bench beside Neji, resting his arms on the table. "Lee, I know you're tough. But that girl's a literal red flag, you know?"
"She smiled after," Lee mumbled with visible trauma. "Said it was a good warm-up and walked off."
Naruto nodded solemnly. "That's the kill switch. If she says it was 'fun,' check if you're still breathing."
Tenten leaned back with a smirk. "To be fair, you did try to outpace her with only one arm working."
"I didn't want to disrespect the match," Lee replied earnestly, eyes burning with hot-blooded fervor even beneath the bruises.
Naruto turned to Neji. "And you?"
Neji lifted his teacup calmly. "I observed. Strategically."
"Smart man," Naruto said, then leaned in just slightly. "Mind if I steal you for a bit?"
Neji raised an eyebrow. "Business?"
Naruto gave a subtle nod. "Yeah. Something sensitive. You'll want to hear it."
Tenten wiped her mouth, noticing the shift in tone. "You pulling him for an op?"
"yep" Naruto replied. "Just got Hokage's approval."
Neji stood and slid his tray aside. "Let's walk."
"Wait," Tenten called. "If it's serious, at least let the man finish his drink."
Neji calmly took one final sip before setting the cup down. "Done."
Naruto gave Tenten a brief nod. "Thanks, Tenten. Oh—and make sure Lee doesn't challenge Sakura to a rematch."
Lee raised a trembling thumb. "I've already scheduled it for next month."
Naruto walked off laughing, Neji falling into step beside him as the flap closed behind them.
---
The two walked side by side beneath the slanted afternoon light, their shadows drawn long across the village stone. Here, away from the central lanes, the wind whispered quieter—rustling banners above empty rooftops and brushing past shuttered windows.
Naruto waited until they rounded the last turn past the canteen before speaking.
"I've got movement," he said, his voice low and steady. "One of Orochimaru's old labs. Off-record. Somewhere near the coast."
Neji glanced over, but didn't slow. "It's only showing up now?"
"Field agent tracked a dead relay seal. Flared just once before it died again. Enough to get flagged and traced—but no active signature since. Place's been dark for years… until now."
"Could be bait," Neji said.
"Could be," Naruto replied. "But it's too clean. No sudden chakra spikes. No surrounding activity. Just one old trace—then silence."
"And you're going in."
Naruto gave a small nod. "Cleared for solo. But I requested backup."
"Why me?"
"Orochimaru's style," Naruto said. "Layered chakra traps. Seals inside illusions. You can read them mid-trigger. I can't."
Neji's expression didn't shift, but his posture straightened slightly.
"And the other?" he asked.
Naruto answered without hesitation. "Tiger."
Neji raised an eyebrow. "She's active?"
Naruto exhaled faintly, then gave a half-smirk. "Seeing Lee's like that is already proof enough. That she's capable now."
Neji let out a short breath through his nose—something between amusement and concern. "Capable, yes. Stable?"
"That's… harder to say," Naruto admitted. "Heard she's joking again. Smiling. But sometimes, it feels like the words come from someone just behind her mouth. Like she's saying them to keep the real her quiet."
"She always did walk with shadows," Neji murmured.
They reached the long stone corridor leading toward the administrative tier of the village. Naruto pulled a sealed scroll from his coat.
"Tsunade already signed it," he said, handing it over. "Mission endorsement with recommended team configuration."
Neji took the scroll, tucking it neatly into his belt.
"When do we move?"
"Dawn," Naruto replied. "Gate three. Travel light. Plan for three days, possibly more if we hit a secondary site."
Neji nodded once. "Understood."
They paused at the split between corridors—one path winding back toward the northern barracks, the other sloping gently down toward the residential district where Sakura lived.
Neji looked over his shoulder before leaving. "You think it's just another lab?"
"No," Naruto said without turning. "I think it's something he wanted us to find. Just not all at once."
As Neji walked away toward the barracks, Naruto's gaze lingered briefly on the other path—down toward the residential district—before turning back, the looming tower behind him casting a long shadow that felt heavier with every step.
---
Sakura spotted him first.
Coming down from the higher district path, silhouetted against the burnt-orange of early evening, was Naruto—calm, unreadable as always, his stride precise and quiet.
She leaned back against a wooden post near a closed tea stall, arms crossed, and called out with her usual cheek.
"Well, well. Look who's haunting the village. Thought you only showed up when someone needed bleeding."
Naruto's head turned toward her. His eyes registered her presence, but his expression didn't change.
"Tiger."
"Fox," she returned, lifting an eyebrow with mock formality.
He approached, and as he did, her gaze dropped in habit—scanning him the way she always did, half from instinct, half from years of fieldwork.
But something made her stop.
Her brow creased slightly.
"You're missing something."
Naruto paused. "Hm?"
"My kusarigama," she said, voice light but laced with real curiosity. "You still had it when you left. Where is it?"
He hesitated. "Still with Hanabi."
"Why?"
"Analysis."
Sakura blinked. "Analysis? What analysis?"
Naruto glanced away, then folded his arms. "After the last mission, I noticed something odd. The chain had blood on it—different from the target's. I sent it in for testing."
Sakura's eyes narrowed, curiosity flaring. "Different how?"
"Thicker. Darker. Took longer to dry. Didn't register as human at first. Hanabi's been running tests for days."
Sakura tilted her head. "Huh. That… doesn't make sense. I've only ever used it on people who bleed red."
Naruto offered a faint shrug. "So did I. Swear I used it properly. Much more tame than you, even."
She smirked. "You wound me."
"I mean it," he said dryly. "I didn't wrap it around anyone's throat for the aesthetic."
"Yet," she said, mock stern.
Naruto allowed a small exhale through his nose that passed for a laugh. "Hanabi said something's off. She's rerunning everything. Could take a few more days."
"Hmph. Well, tell her to be gentle with it," Sakura said. "That chain's been with me since my second kill. We've been through a lot."
Naruto didn't comment on that.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward the direction of the village's outer gates.
"I'm heading out again soon. Orochimaru's lab. Off-record location."
Sakura perked up. "Ah. Sounds like somewhere nice this time?" she paused. "Am I on the list?"
"Yep, welcome aboard," Naruto said.
"Oh, I feel so honored. Do I get a plus one?"
"Sure. If the plus one is named 'Neji.'"
She grinned, then fell in step beside him, just walking for a beat.
"Do you think we'll find anything?" she asked.
Naruto gave it a moment. "Could be more than we're ready for. Or could be nothing."
"And what about him?"
Naruto looked at her.
"You think there's a trace?" she said, voice quieter now. "Of Sasuke?"
"Maybe."
She nodded slowly. "If we find him…I'm gonna tell him I've been sharpening my tongue just for him."
"Can't wait for that."
They walked a few more steps in silence, the village settling into its evening hush around them. The streets were thinning; lanterns flickered to life.
Then, casually—like an afterthought—Naruto spoke.
"You holding up?"
Sakura glanced sideways at him. "Since when did you start asking?"
"Since last week," he replied, voice light but not joking. "You leaned on me. Haven't forgotten."
Sakura's smile faltered just a fraction, before she tucked it back in place.
"Figured you'd tease me for that."
Naruto shook his head faintly. "Didn't feel like teasing."
Her lips pressed together. She exhaled softly. "I'm fine."
He gave her a look, one she knew too well.
She sighed. "I'm… getting there."
They walked on. A few steps, quiet, before she added, voice lower, more honest:
"Everything's quieter now. But not empty."
Naruto nodded once. "Good."
Sakura glanced away, then hesitated—like she was weighing whether to say something.
"By the way," she said, almost too casually, "I asked Granny for something."
Naruto glanced at her. "What?"
"A seal," Sakura answered, voice quieter now. "Nothing fancy. Just… something to help. If it gets too much again."
Naruto's eyes lingered on her, expression unreadable.
"You really think you'll need it?"
She gave a small, almost bitter smile. "I'd rather have it and never use it, than need it and lose control."
There was a pause. The air between them settled heavier.
Naruto finally said, "Tsunade agreed?"
Sakura gave a faint nod. "She said she'd think about it. Doesn't trust me to keep quiet when things get loud."
Her smirk returned—wry, fragile. "She's probably right."
They had walked farther than either realized, past the edge of the marketplace and into the quieter lanes where the buildings stood older, more worn, shadows curling beneath their eaves.
Sakura slowed, glancing sideways at him.
"You don't usually walk like this."
Naruto gave a soft sound—half-exhale, half-hum.
"Not much reason to."
Sakura tilted her head, studying him.
"And today?"
Naruto didn't answer right away. His gaze drifted upward—toward the sky, pale and quiet above the rooftops.
"Sometimes," he said quietly, "you need to walk through something to remember what's still here."
Sakura's smile was small, almost sad. "You sound like a poet."
He glanced at her sidelong. "I sound tired."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Naruto's hand dipped into his coat, pulling a folded slip of parchment—the formal mission order.
He held it out toward her without ceremony.
"Be ready at dawn," he said. "Gate Three."
Sakura took the paper carefully, tucking it beneath her sash.
"Three days?"
"Maybe more," Naruto replied. "Depends what we find."
She studied him, lips parting like she wanted to say something—but the words didn't come.
Instead, she offered a nod. "I'll be ready."
Naruto started to turn away, then stopped—something unreadable passing across his face.
He glanced back, voice softer now, almost too quiet.
"Sakura."
She met his eyes, her name hanging between them heavier than it should have.
"You're not the only one worried about what's under your skin."
Sakura blinked—startled, but not by his words. By the fact he said them at all.
Before she could reply, he was already walking, steps measured, vanishing back down the lane the way he always did.
Like smoke.
Like a shadow.
Sakura stood there a moment longer.
Then, quietly, she smiled.
"I'll hold you to that, Naruto."