Sage

Ch.17

"Is it just me or is it getting warmer down here?" The two were making their way down the winding staircase they found; it may not have been the smartest thing they had ever done however no matter what their lives had been like, they were still pre-pubescent kids and their curiosity won out. Fuu just looked around as the earthen walls were slowly replaced by metal as the staircase continued to spiral down.

"It is. Most likely this area of the compound is either heated or lacks ventilation to prevent exposure or infiltration. It is fairly common practise when creating a forward base in enemy territory." Naruto just sighed as he refrained from trailing his arms along the walls again, wary from what happened last time.

"Great, so we managed to stumble across another secret base." Fuu looked at him curiously for a moment as the blonde chuckled anxiously. "Long story but we accidentally found an underground base in Kusa no Kuni. Turned out this guy was guarding it who could turn his body into mud, kept saying stuff about protecting the base and 'Orochimaru-sama'. I beat him and we left, didn't really feel like sticking around after he almost killed Shizuku." Fuu just looked even more intrigued as she returned her gaze straight ahead.

"You're sure he said Orochimaru?" Naruto just nodded while Fuu's gaze turned thoughtful like she was remembering something and trying to get the details right. "Orochimaru, S-ranked nuke-nin from Konohagakure no Sato, previous member of the Densetsu no Sannin and holder of the snake summoning contract, do not approach." Naruto blinked in surprise as the stairway finally levelled out, turning into a long metallic corridor with only two rooms on either side.

"That was very... comprehensive." Fuu just nodded succinctly as she made her way over to the left hand door.

"I was encouraged to memorise the bingo book for reference on missions" Naruto could quite easily hear the spite in her voice as she spoke.

"Wait!" He quickly grabbed Fuu's hand before she could lay it on the door. "There are seals covering the door. I'm not sure what they do but I don't think they're going to make us feel good." Fuu just blinked calmly before retracting her hand, allowing Naruto instead to reach forward and drain the chakra from the seals. "Wow, they really put a lot of Chakra in these, they really didn't want anybody getting in here." Eventually he stopped, now satisfied the door was completely harmless; even so when he went to open it he found it was locked.

"Ha, as if that'll keep me out. Banshou Ten'in." Almost immediately the door began to crumple, buckling out as if struck by some enormous force on the other side. Fuu was actually surprised it was still holding with so much apparent strain on the metal. Eventually though the sturdy door was completely ripped from its hinges, forcing Naruto to dodge to one side in order to avoid it crushing him against the other side of the corridor. He grinned, rubbing his hands together expectantly as he walked inside, only to frown.

"What the..? It's just a load of drawers." Sure enough the room was completely lined with drawers, ranging from old wooden ones to more modern metal filing cabinets. There were even a few desks in the corners with various papers strewn across their surfaces.

"You should not be so quick to dismiss. If the information here was guarded so thoroughly it is sure to be valuable, at least to somebody." She idly moved to one of the desks, picking up a loose sheet from one of the many stacks. It was mostly incomprehensible to her but she could at least glean it was some kind of blueprint; to what she couldn't say though. Naruto likewise began looking at the various drawers, now noticing many were labelled with names of either places or people. Most prevalent were the Shinobi villages, and not just the main ones; there were places like Hoshigakure and Tanigakure among others.