"Look who's arrived," Kisame said with bloodshot eyes. "Itachi… I'm wondering if they're gonna send the whole village after us now."
Naruto turned around upon noticing his friends and teacher. He was thrilled to see them, but William seemed a tad ashamed. He believed he was going to be yelled at for bringing Naruto, the Akatsuki's main target, over here.
Alex stepped forward, saying, "We're here to stop you two."
"And who might you be?" Kisame asked.
"I'm Alex Hyūga, a sworn member of the Hyūga clan and Chūnin of the Leaf Village."
"My, my," Kisame said, a bit intrigued at one child's boldness. "And here I thought this village was just sending their Genin to the slaughterhouse."
Itachi's expression remained unchanged. Regardless of what title Alex claimed to hold, he was mainly interested in the others. "It's been a long time, Kakashi, the Copy Ninja…"
"Itachi Uchiha," Kakashi replied, swiping his arm, "I don't know why you two are here, but we're putting an end to this."
Just then, Jasper boldly yelled, "You there! Sharkboy… Have Lava Girl next to you back down, and lets you and I have a—"
"There won't be any need for violence," Alex interrupted, placing a hand in front of Jasper. "Unless you two want to die, I suggest you leave this village."
"And what makes you think the nine of you combined can stop us?" Kisame beckoned.
"Ten," Alex corrected.
Kurenai and Asuma looked at him in confusion. Alice was the most dazed. She could sense everyone in a wide radius: Might Guy, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Naruto, William, Jasper, Alex, and herself—there wasn't any other person close by.
Swoosh!
A wave of chakra suddenly erupted from the forest as a figure emerged from the shadows. It was Jiraiya!
"I hid my chakra well," he said, walking into sight. "No surprise you were the only one to sense me, Alex."
Itachi's and Kisame's eyes narrowed at the sight. Nine ninjas against them was manageable. But they were not expecting a Sannin as a reinforcement.
"Pervy-Sage!" Naruto pointed. "I thought you were prepping for a mission!"
"I was, Naruto, but I saw these two enter the village and decided to follow them undetected. Figured I'd make myself known before a bloodbath."
The two Akatsuki members exchanged looks as a silent communication passed between them. They knew that they were outmatched now that Jiraiya was here. So with one shared nod, they turned and fled, quickly disappearing into the forest.
Naruto shouted in frustration, wishing to chase after them.
"Let them go, Naruto," Kakashi ordered, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "We can't chase them now."
Guy agreed, "We need to regroup and assess things."
"While you two do that," Asuma said, "I'll put out an APB for their capture if they're still inside the country's borders."
Kurenai approached Jiraiya and said, "Thank you for coming. Who knows what would have happened had you not shown up in time?"
"No problem. After all, it's my duty to protect the village as a Hyūga."
"A what?" Jasper and Alice both questioned.
Suddenly, a puff of smoke erupted from the ground, revealing a clone of Alex! The real Alex walked and stood beside the clone with a smile plastered on his face. The others stared at him in disbelief.
"Sorry about that," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't want any violence, so I baited those two into believing the actual Jiraiya was here."
They were all impressed. So much so that his acting was flawless enough to have even deterred Alice's senses. No wonder she hadn't sensed the 'tenth' person.
"Naruto almost gave me away," Alex laughed.
"I knew it all along," the boy tried.
Maybe Naruto did, or maybe he was just acting to sound top. That didn't stop Kakashi from stating how very dangerous Alex's stunt was.
"Actually," Kurenai countered, ready to praise. "That was a smart tactic. I never would have thought about that."
"But why would you go that far?" Asuma inquired.
Alex didn't spend much time explaining to the two of the Akatsuki's objectives and what Itachi and Kisame were capable of. William backed up his story, to which Naruto felt annoyed that Alex was getting the center of attention.
Either way, the group commended him for his bravery and tactical decision. The only other person very suspicious of things was Alice.
"We need to gather more intel," Kakashi finally announced.
The group was then told not to fight if they saw them anywhere in the village. After this debriefing, everyone was given a task to help handle this situation professionally.
Alice, seizing the opportunity, decided to take Jasper somewhere more secluded until the two found themselves in an empty forest.
"Why'd ya bring us here?" he asked.
"'Cause Jada saw the whole thing."
The comment didn't seem to spark any interest in Jasper. "And that has what to do with us again?"
"Look, babe, I didn't want to tell you this while Alex was around, but… I sensed Marge and Jada were talking about how she wanted to talk to Itachi about being a double agent."
Jasper shrugged. "Honestly, I don't care about what she wants to do. More interested in why ya didn't want to say it while Alex was around."
Alice wasn't sure how to explain things to Jasper. So she took a breath and calmed herself. "Alex… I don't trust him."
"Why?"
"Because he's a liar, babe."
"What'd he lie about?"
"Well, everything honestly. Back when we met him in the Hyūga district, my senses caught wind of his chakra distorting when he spoke. Everything he was saying was basically a lie."
This was reasonable to believe because that's how the Mind's Eye of Kagura technique worked.
Jasper, however, scratched his head in confusion. "What exactly did he lie about?"
"I can't say," Alice murmured with a frown. In truth, she knew what it was; she just didn't want Jasper worrying that it was regarding the 'logged out' part. "But it makes me suspicious of him now. I can't stand liars, and we've already made one enemy out of Arthur; I'd prefer if we don't have another."
"Babe, Alex hasn't done anything suspicious. How about we just talk to him about it?"
"No way! I mean, if we call him out now, who knows what he'll say to try and get out of it?"
"Gee, babe, times like these really make me wonder if you were ever a cop before. Haha."
Alice avoided the comment by asking what Jasper's plan was after hearing all of these facts.
"I think you and I are better off doing our own thing away from the village," he admitted.
Alice took a moment to think that through.
As far as she was concerned, there wasn't going to be much happening in the Leaf Village. Orochimaru shouldn't be able to get through to Sasuke, and Naruto was growing stronger by the day.
"I… I think you're right," she finally agreed.
"I'm always right. And even if Alex turns his back on us, I'll take him out before it happens."
Alice believed those words. So long as they stuck together, they truly could accomplish a lot.
✟
One week later.
The sun was high in the sky as Jasper stepped out of the Jōnin Station.
He had finally been approved to leave the village and venture to a new continent with Alice.
A few days ago, in a meeting in their apartment, they had exclaimed their intentions to acquire powers from the Gelel Vein.
Only ever shown in one of the movies, this particular power was unlike chakra; it was a type of energy source that was imbued within a special stone of a certain clan in the Far East.
Centuries ago, the stone's potential for destruction was equally immense, leading to a devastating war and its subsequent sealing. Fast forward to today, and it has once again resurfaced.
A man named Haido would wish to harness the stone's power to dominate the world. His plan, however, was thwarted by Naruto and his team. And just like all of the movies, Naruto always wound up winning in the end.
"It's not gonna make you stronger than me," Margaret commented at the time.
"I'm already stronger than you," Jasper countered.
William was a tad skeptical about letting the two venture to an entirely different continent. As much as he disliked Jasper, he didn't want something bad happening to him. Yet he kept that comment to himself.
"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Jada had asked. "What if the Gelel energy changes you like it did Haido?"
"I doubt it will," Alice had replied. "As long as we don't lose control of it, we should be fine."
After Alex agreed that they should go, everyone didn't find a reason not to let them be. Of course, no one else knew that they were also planning to venture everywhere else in the world.
Now in the present, Jasper considered where exactly he wanted to go after securing the Gelel veins. The world was ripe with opportunities. He could acquire the Hero Water, or he could try and connect with other Jinchūriki from different countries.
"Jasper, babe! I'm all packed and ready!" Alice announced, breaking his thoughts.
"Hold on, I haven't even gotten my things."
She smiled and said in a quirky attitude, "Well, hurry up already!"
After he finished gathering his supplies, they stopped just outside of the village gates.
Alice looked at him and said, "Promise me you won't act crazy on this trip and that we'll be back here when we're done."
"Ya make it sound like we're getting into trouble or something."
"Jasper…!"
"Okay! I promise!"
Their destination never had a legitimate name in the movie, but it did in this world. It was called 'The Empire'. To get there, they needed to travel by ship across the Wani Ocean. After that, they would have to pass through various countries, such as the Land of Money and the Land of Temples.
The journey wouldn't be solely about collecting a major resource. And the only other place they had in mind to visit was the Water Country because of Jasper's ability to soothe the Tailed Beast.
Every process had a step they were going to take together, so the duo would have to tread carefully.
"All set then?" she asked, adjusting the pack slung over her shoulders.
"Yeah," he answered with a grin. "Let's get this over with."
With one last look at the village, they stepped forward hand in hand.