Inheritance

That's the Easy Part...

Jiraiya gazed warily at the incredibly dangerous man that was currently sitting opposite him. The Sannin had seen many peculiar things in his time, but few matched the sheer strangeness of Hoshigaki Kisame. An S-ranked missing-nin famed for his brutality and thirst for blood, Kisame was a tall man, whose extraordinary skills were matched only by his appearance. He was dressed in a long black cloak, decorated with distinctive, blood red clouds, and a collar that was capable of hiding the lower portion of the man's face.

Kisame however, preferred to keep his mouth on display; which allowed him to flash a grin to his enemies that fully show cased his rows of razor sharp, almost shark-life teeth. In combination with his unusual, blue tinted skin, and strange, gill-like features on his head, Kisame cut an incredibly intimidating, not to mention weird, figure.

"Ah now, Jiraiya, the pleasure is most definitely all mine. Although, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't tempted to try and gut you where you sit - just to see if I can."

The Sannin glanced at the man's rather large sword out of the corner of his eye. It was an odd creation, wrapped totally in bandages, and almost as long and wide as most human beings are. A less experienced shinobi might decide to himself that it was impossible to wield effectively. Jiraiya knew better.

"You're still about a hundred years too young Kisame. Now, why are you here - Akatsuki business?" Somehow, the shark-like man's grin grew at the mention of Akatsuki.

"Itachi-san wasn't kidding, you really do have ears everywhere. I'm impressed, Akatsuki were hoping we would be able to stay under Konoha's radar for a little while yet. But no, this is not Akatsuki business, quite the opposite in fact." Kisame took a sip of the sake that Jiraiya had ordered in preparation of the meeting, and considered his next words carefully. He needed Jiraiya to trust him. "Itachi-san believes that the leader of Akatsuki is aware of his continued loyalty to Konoha, and intends to leave the organisation and lay low for a while - and I intend to leave with him. He and I have been rotated away from the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, so we can't guarantee his safety while remaining part of Akatsuki."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed dangerously at the mention of Naruto. Itachi had been tasked with spying on Akatsuki and keeping them from Naruto for as long as possible. Now, Naruto was at considerable risk.

"Explain. Now." Jiraiya's tone allowed for no argument, and even with his years of experience, and S-class abilities, Kisame felt a bead of sweat begin to trickle down his forehead, as Jiraiya's eyes bored into his own. The Sannin really was something else, he needed no actual killing intent to intimidate, he just exuded an intense sense of danger naturally that made Kisame's senses scream at him to flee the longer he stayed in the man's company. It made him feel alive - Jiraiya was the kind of enemy that he relished to fight above all others. Despite all this, instead of answering immediately, he threw Jiraiya a scroll.

"This has everything Itachi knows, an explanation about my own circumstances, and our plans from now. I can't stick around any longer. We need to have disappeared before Akatsuki realise we've gone and start sending people after us." Kisame stood up and picked up his sword and started to leave, before turning back, grin completely absent from his face.

"Uzumaki Naruto... He had better turn out to be something special. If not... he's as good as dead."

And with that, Kisame walked out of the tavern, leaving the Sannin to read, and consider.

* * *

Naruto paused as he allowed his eyes to adjust to the gloomy darkness of the attic space he found himself in. The genin was clearly the first to set foot in the room in a very long while. A heavy layer of dust coated the numerous boxes and odds and ends that filled the dank and musty room, and thick cobwebs, many of them themselves gathering dirt and dust, stretched between almost all of the gaps between boxes and furniture. Across the room Naruto could see the trapdoor into the East Wing itself; sheets of light escaping into the attic from below between the gaps in the floor and door, illuminating the dust that fell to the floor like dreary, grey snow.