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Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Discovery

"Why would you help a demon? It killed your parents didn't it? It only thinks about itself, how it can get stronger, how it can get revenge" Mizuki said while he looked at Iruka lay bleeding on the forest floor.

Naruto was behind a tree at the tree line, trying to stay as quiet as possible. He still couldn't fathom what Mizuki-sensei had said. 'I am the fox? I'm the Kyuubi no Yoko? I can't be… can I?' It made more and more sense when he thought about it. That was why all the villagers hated him. That was why no one cared for him. That was why he didn't have parents.

"You are right. That's how the fox would be" Iruka said. Naruto tried hard not to cry out loud. Even Iruka agreed. The only person other than the Sandaime Hokage who actually cared for him, the one he thought was like a father, or maybe a brother, thought he was a demon.

"But that is not who Uzumaki Naruto is! He is one of the most caring person I know, and he just wants to be acknowledged! He may have that damned fox sealed inside him, but that doesn't make him the fox, more than a sealing scroll makes it what is sealed inside it! He is my student, and more than that, he is a person I care a great deal about! He is like family to me! I won't let you hurt him!"

Naruto was smiling. And not just a little smile; it was an ear to ear, sun shining out of your mouth; your chin is hurting smile. He had someone who thought him as family! Then his face turned serious. Iruka-sensei, his big brother figure, his precious person, was going to get hurt!

Naruto ran out from his hiding spot, just to see Mizuki throw his fuma shuriken. Naruto ran as fast as he could, but he wasn't fast enough. He could see it get closer and closer to Iruka-sensei. Naruto ran and ran, but he wasn't fast enough. It was 3 meters from Iruka now. He wouldn't make it. He wasn't fast enough to protect the first person to really acknowledge him. "NO!" Naruto yelled with all his might, his arm reaching out for Iruka.

The earth began to quake, and a big cluster of pink crystals grew out of the ground, blocking the shuriken. That left two Academy instructors and student speechless and stunned. Naruto snapped out of it first, turning to face Mizuki with the most serious look he had ever given. He pointed at him "I won't let you hurt Iruka-sensei. Not now, not ever!"

He put his hand in front of him, weaving a hand seal crossing his index- and middle fingers "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu". A big cloud of smoke exploded in the forest. When the smoke cleared, Mizuki and Iruka couldn't believe what they were seeing. Over a thousand orange clothed Naruto's were standing in the clearing and the surrounding trees. As one they charged towards Mizuki. "Not now, not ever!"

Screams could be heard all over Konoha, as the now traitorous Konoha-nin was beaten by a twelve year old academy student.

- Two minutes later -

"Sorry Iruka-sensei, I think I may have gone a bit overboard" the blonde said with his trademark smile, while scratching the back of his head.

Iruka stood dumb founded while staring at Naruto. He turned it into a smile "I think I can overlook it this once". He turned his head to look at the discolored formation of meat that was Mizuki lying on the forest floor. He then turned his gaze a bit to look at the big crystal-formation what was that. He turned his gaze back on Naruto, who was still grinning. "Close your eyes Naruto"

Naruto just stared back at him "why?"

Iruka rolled his eyes "Just do it Naruto."

- A few minutes later -

"Iruka-sensei, are you done soon? Can I open my eyes already" Naruto asked in an annoyed tone.

"Just a minute" Iruka chuckled.

"There, now open your eyes" Naruto did as he was told. There, right in front of him, was Iruka-sensei smiling at him. But something was off, something was missing. It took Naruto a few seconds to figure out. He didn't have hitai-ate on. Naruto's hand slowly made its way to his forehead.

"Yay, I did it! I'm a ninja of Konoha! I'm going to be Hokage in no time! Believe it!" Naruto began ranting. But Iruka's thoughts were miles away though those crystals. 'Did Naruto make them? How did he do that? Does he have a kekkei genkai? If it is, it's not one I have ever seen or heard of before. I guess it is possible he could have one, since no one knows who his parents are. I better report to Sandaime soon. He would want to know this.'

"Ano, Iruka-sensei," Iruka's focus snapped back at Naruto

"Sensei, is it true about the fox?"

Iruka smiled sadly; "I'm afraid it is"

Naruto looked down on the ground. He mumbled something in audible.

"What?"

"Am I the fox then?" Naruto asked with tears in his eyes.

Iruka placed his hand on Naruto's head and ruffled his hair "Didn't you hear me back there? You are no more the fox, than a sealing scroll is the kunai sealed inside it"

"Did you mean the other thing to?" Naruto asked carefully

"What other-"He looked at the blond, before displaying a large smile "Yeah, I meant it. Little brother"

Naruto looked up at Iruka again with a smile wider than when he had gotten his hitai-ate. Before Iruka knew it, he was tackled by the little blonde, hugging him tightly while sniffling.

- In the Hokage's office -

The Sandaime had seen it all through his "magic" little crystal ball. 'To think Mizuki would betray the village like that. I knew he had some grudges, but to think he would go this far…' He looked at the crystal ball, seeing his grandson in spirit hugging the Academy instructor 'At least something good came out of this whole ordeal. He have finally found someone else than me that he knows acknowledges him then he frowned but what was those pink crystals? I have never seen anything like it. I'll ask Jiraiya about it next time he comes to report in. He may know something about Minato or Kushina that I don't.'

He looked at the crystal ball again. The two Konoha shinobi were walking out of the forest hand in hand, the smaller figure jumping up and down, while the bigger looked down on him with a smile on his lips. Hiruzen leaned back into his chair, looking up at the ceiling 'Ah, I guess I better call back the search parties so they don't drag him off the street.' And with that thought, Hiruzen made his way out of his office.

- The next morning with Naruto -

Naruto yawned loudly as he sat up in his bed. He didn't really know what to do the next few days but train. It was not like he had any friends to hang out with. Sure Chouji and Shikamaru didn't hate his guts, but that was about it.

There was still six days left till the new teams got assigned. He didn't really care that much about who he got teamed up with. 'Just not from the Sasuke-teme. Please let it be anyone but Sasuke-teme.' And he wouldn't mind if he got teamed up with Sakura-chan. 'though I could imagine she would have a problem with that…' He frowned at that thought. "Well, better get up and get going" he said to himself jumping off the bed, and heading for the bathroom.

He had just opened the "newly" made instant-ramen when an ANBU appeared in front of him. Naruto froze the instant he saw the ANBU. 'What have I done this time? I haven't done any pranks since I painted over the Hokage monument. Right after that, it was the test, and then the whole thing with Mizuki-teme.'

"Calm down Uzumaki-san. You haven't done anything – this time" he waited a second, while giving Naruto a look. It felt like that anyway. "Hokage-sama has summoned you. You should be there within the next hour" The ANBU said, and shunshined away before Naruto could respond.

'Well, it's not like I have anything else I have to do today. I wonder what jiji wants' he wondered while slurping the noodles in him. Three bowls and another toilet visit, and he was on his way to the Hokage Tower

Naruto walked down the hallway where you could enter the Hokage's office from. As he walked past the receptionist, he got a dark glare. The blonde ignored it, like all the other glares. He knocked on the door and heard a quick "enter" before turning the door knob.

"Ah, Naruto, thank you for coming so quickly. We have a few things to talk about". Naruto looked around the room while his grandfather-figure talked. There was three shinobi standing in front of him. The two first he recognized right away: Sandaime-jiji and Iruka-sensei. The last one, not so much; on first eyesight Naruto could see he was old. Not as old as jiji, but at least up in his fifties. He had long white hair and some red war-paint running down his face from his eyes to his chin. He had a hitai-ate with the kanji for oil on it.

"Tora, Uma, please leave the office. I think we can defend ourselves against a twelve year old Genin" the Hokage said. Two ANBU appeared from the shadows before shunshining away.

"Now, Naruto, why don't you take a seat and explain us what happened yesterday" Hiruzen said, gesturing towards a chair.

Naruto went over to the chair and sat down. He turned towards Iruka for reassurance that he wasn't in any trouble. The scarred Chunin just smiled and nodded back at him. That was all Naruto needed, as he began rambling about what had happened, all from the way he had painted to Hokage monument, to how Mizuki had come to him after the exam, to the battle in the forest.

"And then I ran towards Iruka-sensei, trying to reach him before the fuma shuriken hit him, but I couldn't make it. I wasn't fast enough. And then…." Naruto trailed off, while looking up on Iruka with a confused and pleading look.

"And then the earth began to quake, and crystals grew out of the earth, deflecting the shuriken away" Iruka finished. Naruto looked around for the reactions. Sandaime-jiji and the white-haired guy didn't show any. They had calm collected faces.

"I see…. Please continue Naruto" the Sandaime said calmly.

Naruto continued his story, to the point where he had used a kinjutsu, and to where he got his hitai-ate, and the ramen Iruka-sensei had bought for him afterwards.

When Naruto was finished the room was quiet for a minute or two. Naruto was looking carefully at the three shinobi in the room.

"Jiraiya, do you have any idea what those crystals may have been?" the Sandaime asked.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto; taking in everything he saw 'Gods, he looks so much like Minato. But from what I've heard, he has inherited Kushina's fiery personality.'

"I may know…. I heard a rumor a while back. I had just set out on my journey. The nations were still recovering from the third great war, and everyone wore their nerves on the outside of their clothes. I heard that a whole village up in Ta no Kuni had been destroyed by a single jutsu. Now that alone isn't something to raise eyebrows over, it was the jutsu in question that was used that was."

"Where are you going with this Jiraiya-sama" Iruka asked in a mild annoyed tone. He had already concluded that it was Naruto who had made those crystals. But he didn't know why or how, or if it was dangerous in any way.

"Everything for its own time" Jiraiya said, looking calmly at Iruka, who was glaring lightly back at him. "Apparently it was destroyed by crystals. Now these crystals just grew out of nowhere, they encased people and plants alike. No one knew how". Jiraiya continued. He looked around on the small group "It later got the name Shoton" Iruka's eyes bulged out of their sockets. While he had expected something like that, it was still a bit of a shock. Naruto just looked confused at Jiraiya.

"I thought the same thing. There's only one way to find out" The Sandaime said, while going through his drawers. He pulled out a little piece of paper, and handed it to Naruto. "Please run your chakra through this".

Naruto looked questioning at the Hokage for a moment before complying. When he did, the paper split into two, where after each piece turned dark brown, before crumbling. Now Naruto looked even more confused.

"Eh, what just happen jiji?" Naruto looked at the Hokage.

"Well, Naruto, it looks like you have a kekkei genkai" the old Hokage replied calmly.

"A what?" Naruto asked, looking more confused than ever.

After twenty minutes of the older shinobi trying to explain the basics of elemental manipulation and kekkei genkai, the blonde finally got it… somewhat.

"But how? I mean…. Wait, you said this, this kekkei genkai is genetic, right?"

The old Hokage looked at Naruto, knowing where this was going "Yes, it is".

"Do you think, maybe…" rest was mumbling, as he turned his head down.

"Sorry Naruto, you will have to speak up. I'm not as young as I have been" the old Hokage said to Naruto with a kind smile.

"Do you think this will help me finding out who my parents were? We just have to find someone who had the same abilities as me, and they must have been my family, right?" Naruto asked hopefully.

The old man looked sad at Naruto. "I don't think that's possible. It is true that Shoton is a kekkei genkai, but it isn't bound to a family as, let's say, the Byakugan is." 'I wish I could tell you who you parents were. You just have to be a bit stronger before I can tell you. Minato and Kushina had some powerful enemies. Just hold on a bit longer. You will know soon enough.'

Naruto's mood dropped a second, but he came right up again smiling "I guess I'll just have to find another way then"

The older shinobi smiled at that. There were very few in this world similar to Naruto.

The Sandaime then caught the glance he was getting from Iruka. He sighed deeply. He didn't know how Naruto would react.

"Naruto…" He said gently. He got the attention of the blue-eyed blonde "About the Kyuubi. Are you ok?"

Naruto's smiled faltered slightly, but he was still smiling "Yeah. I guess I'm… I'm kind of relieved"

The Sandaime Hokage eyed him. "Relieved?"

"Yeah. I finally understand why. Why all the villagers hate me so much. Why I'm getting all those looks. Guess I'll just have to work harder on getting them to acknowledge me, despite that damned fox".

Iruka was smiling at his student. He was proud at how well he was handling it. He wasn't sure he could've done it well as him. "That's good to hear Naruto. Don't let it get you down. If you have any problems, no matter whom or what it is, you just come to me. My door is always open".

That got Naruto to grin while putting his hand behind his head. "Thanks Iruka-sensei."

"Well, it's good that that's settled. Now Naruto, we don't know how this Shoton works, so please don't use any chakra before we have taken a look at how it's used." The old Hokage said with a serious undertone. Naruto nodded. The Sandaime then turned to Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya, meet with me and Naruto tomorrow at training ground 43 at noon"

"Hai."

"Good" The Sandaime turned to the blonde. "Naruto –"

"I know, I know. Tomorrow at training ground 43 at noon. Don't use chakra until then. Can I go now?" Naruto asked eagerly. Now having spent almost two hours in the room, he was getting restless.

The Sandaime chuckled. "Yes, you can go. You're dismissed." And then the blonde shinobi dashed out of the office.

The Hokage then turned towards Iruka "You're dismissed to, Iruka."

Iruka nodded and made his way to the door. Halfway there he turned to face the Hokage "Do you think he will be ok?"

The Sandaime looked up at Iruka with a smile "You really do care about him, don't you?" Iruka nodded with a smile. "I think he will be fine. He has gotten some answers today. That should help him some."

"Hai" Iruka said before continuing walking towards the office door. Just as he was about to close the door, the old Hokage called him out.

"Iruka, take care of him"

Iruka just smiled at the Hokage. "Hai"

- The following day at training ground 43 -

Naruto and the Sandaime were talking as there were still a few minutes until they should meet with Jiraiya. Hiruzen turned towards Naruto and took a good look at him. He still wore that bright orange jumpsuit "Naruto, don't you think it's time you soon bought some new clothes?"

Naruto looked outrageous at the Hokage at that question "Why! What is wrong with my clothes?" he asked while looking down, tucking on his clothes a bit.

"Well, you're ninja now. And ninja's can't really go around with bright colors so the enemy will spot them faster, can they?"

"…I guess you have some point" Naruto grumbled. "But what am I supposed to do? I can't really go into a regular clothing store, since they won't sell me anything. And the few places that will triple or quadruple the prices as soon as I enter".

Hiruzen frowned at that. Naruto had a good point. He would have to talk to the boys' new Jounin instructor about that. Maybe he could help him.

A puff of smoke appeared in front of them.

"Glad to see you could make it Jiraiya" Hiruzen said to his former student.

"I hope I'm not late?"

"No, you just made it. Well, let's get to it" the two elder shinobi turned towards Naruto.

"Now, the reason we're here is because we need to make sure your Shoton isn't dangerous" the Hokage said.

"Why would it be dangerous?" the orange clad Genin asked.

It was Jiraiya who answered "well, normally with jutsu, the greater the power, the greater are the risks. We want to make sure you don't hurt yourself."

Naruto didn't seem convinced, but complied. Jiraiya nodded at Hiruzen.

"Good then. Naruto, can you tell me how you did it in the forest?"

"I don't really know. I just tried everything to save Iruka-sensei. I was desperate and was willing to do anything to save him. I had my arm put out like this" Naruto said while showing what he had done. As before the earth began to quake, and pink crystals appeared out of the ground. Both Jiraiya and Hiruzen were wide-eyed. While Hiruzen had seen it through his crystal ball, it was another thing to see it happen with your own eyes.

"How did you do it?" Jiraiya asked.

"I… I don't know. I just put channeled some chakra, while thinking of the crystals from yesterday" Naruto answered.

Jiraiya thought about that for a bit. He then got an expression like he had an idea "try to think of it shattering"

Naruto did what he said, and to his amazement, the crystal shattered in tiny pieces, making the air glitter lightly in pink.

"Amazing" was all Jiraiya could say.

Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya "What are you thinking?"

"I think it's controlled by his thoughts. He has to channel the chakra to make it, but he just have to think of what he wants, and it's going to do it. It will probably not work on higher level jutsu, but I on the lower… I would say D- and C-rank jutsu; he just has to think of it"

Hiruzen nodded while looking at Naruto. "Ok Naruto, try to make"…

- Next morning in Naruto's apartment -

Naruto yawned loudly while stretching. He took a few minutes sitting in bed and waking up, before making his way to the bathroom.

While he was taking a bath he was thinking about what happened yesterday. They had discovered a lot about his Shoton. It is a combination of fuuton and doton, as the chakra paper had said. Jiraiya had theorized that he used doton to find minerals and stuff like that, while he used fuuton to compress it under high pressure, successfully making crystals.

He could crystallize anything they put him to. Earth, wood, water, grass, really anything that had mass, and wasn't energy. He could even crystallize living things, as they had discovered when he accidentally crystallized a bug. It was really like having a weapon on hand all the time.

Jiraiya had also told him about the secrets of Kage Bunshin halfway through the day, so he had made about a hundred clones, putting them to learning his Shoton, thus why he already had such control over it. Jiraiya said he was the only one who could train this way, due to him having such a large chakra reserves.

When they were about to leave, Hiruzen had pulled him aside and asked him to go to the library today. Naruto wasn't really a reader, and had complained loudly about it, but as Hiruzen said "If you want to be a ninja and the Hokage nonetheless, you need to have knowledge about the world. If not, people will just use you." That had made Naruto promise that he would do it. He also planned to go find a store who would sell him a new outfit, though he didn't know if he would be successful.

Naruto ate his breakfast and brushed his teeth, before making his way out the door.

"Scram demon! And don't come back!" Naruto sighed as he was kicked out of another store. Walking off Naruto tried to think of a way to get into a store. He could use Henge, but it would dispel as soon as someone touched him. And he couldn't just use the "I'm a ninja under the direct command of the Hokage" deal. It would only work on buildings owned by the government, like the library, not private-owned stores. He sighed deeply again.

Looking around the blond found a store that looked fairly non-descriptive. The only sign that told him it was for shinobi was the rather large kunai symbol above the door and the sign that read 'Higarashi Weapon Shop'. Deciding to give this place a try Naruto walked in.

Looking around, the first thing Naruto noticed was that whoever owned this place had an obvious love for weapons. There were racks upon racks of weapons lining the entire shop. Swords, Staffs, Scythes it seemed that anything anyone could name was there. He had never seen so many different weapons in one place ever, and some of these weapons he had never seen at all. It was enough to make even someone like Naruto, who knew next to nothing about weapons, drool.

"Can I help you?"

Naruto stiffened and almost shouted as he spun around. Behind him was a young girl that was maybe a year older than him, wearing a Chinese style pink tank top, dark green cargo pants and had her hair done up in two buns. To Naruto they made her kind of look like a panda. 'Or a mouse'. Naruto did his best not to snicker at the thought.

"Hello?" Tenten asked, while waving her hand in front of Naruto's face. He blinked a couple of times.

"Um… what?" Naruto said, blushing in embarrassment as he took a step back and put a hand behind his head.

The girl just looked at him before she rolled her eyes at the kid's inattentiveness and shrugged. "I was asking if you needed help finding anything."

"Erm…" Naruto blinked in surprise. "You work here?"

"That's right!" the girl said. "My name is Higarashi Tenten. My father owns this store so I come in and help when I'm not on missions."

"You're a shinobi then?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Yep, I've been a shinobi for about a year now," Tenten replied.

"That's awesome!" Naruto stated with a large grin. "I just graduated…" he blinked as he remembered why he was here. "You know you can help me, I was looking into getting some new clothes!"

"I can see why," Tenten said with an amused smirk. "Your clothes are hideous."

"Hey!" Naruto said, feeling the need to defend his clothes. "These clothes are warm and comfortable and-"

"Ugly," Tenten finished with a grin, "seriously who wears orange?"

"I like orange!" Naruto shouted indignantly. Seriously, what was it with people continuing to dis on the color orange? It was the best color in the world! "It's my favorite color!"

"Even so, it's not a very good color for a ninja." Tenten replied, finding the boys defensiveness amusing. "Especially when it's so bright."

He took a deep breath to calm down a bit. "I guess I can see the logic in that. Anyways, can you help me?"

"Sure," Tenten replied, amused by Naruto's reaction. She took him over to the clothing section of the store. "So what are you looking for exactly?" she asked.

Naruto thought about what he wanted to look like. He needed something that made him look cool and added a mysterious persona to him. Something that screamed powerful and awesome! Something...

"You know… I'm not sure," he said sheepishly. "I've never really shopped for clothes before so…" He had actually tried clothes shopping once when he was six and had just gotten an apartment, however the store owners had kicked him out before he could actually shop. That had actually been the same day he found his jumpsuits in the trash, after the same store he tried to shop from had thrown them away.

"You're kidding right?" Tenten looked at him incredulously. When he shook his head she sighed. "Then it looks like we're just going to have to see what works." She pulled him over to the clothing section of the store, where she began grabbing different styles of clothes and then making him change into many styles she gave him, essentially turning him into a life sized dress up doll.

Eventually she found a style that fit. Now Naruto was wearing dark black shinobi pants that tucked into a pair of black shinobi sandals. He had a black sleeveless Chinese style shirt like hers but with a dark orange trims and with the Uzumaki swirl on the back of it, she had tried to talk him out of wearing any orange but was unsuccessful in getting the blond to completely rid himself of his favorite color. At least there was less orange then before and it was in a darker tone then his jumpsuit had been. His hands were covered in fingerless gloves and his arms were also covered in black bandages up to his biceps. Lastly she changed the strap of his hitai-ate, from the dark blue color to black.

"There, you look much better now," Tenten said, smiling at him. Indeed he did look much better, now that she was seeing him without all the orange he actually looked cute. "Now you're like a real shinobi."

"You think so?" Naruto blushed as he scratched the back of his head.

"Of course! So will that be all?" Tenten asked.

"Yes I think so. For now anyway" he responded with a smile.

"Tenten, are you out front?"

Both Naruto and Tenten yelled as they spun around.

Naruto found himself staring at a bull of man. Large and built like brick shit house. The man had muscles on every part of his body that Naruto could see; he even had muscles on his muscles! He had brown hair and brown eyes much like Tenten. He was wearing an off white shirt, brown pants and a pair of brown boots.

"Damn it tou-san!" Tenten shouted as she clutched a hand to her chest. "How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me? And especially when I'm with a customer!"

Tenten's dad merely laughed, "Ah take it easy Tenten. Beside aren't you shinobi supposed to be more aware of your surroundings?"

"Do you want to be used as target practice again?" Tenten asked with a maniacal gleam in her eyes and had one of her hands inside her kunai pouch.

Her dad merely sweats dropped before he coughed and turned his attention to Naruto. He looked him up and down, immediately recognizing him. That didn't matter to him; he wasn't as narrow sighted as some of the other villagers. He worked with sealing scrolls on a daily basis; he knew that the boy in front of him wasn't the demon. And if he had been, he would probably already have destroyed the village, with the way some treated him.

Naruto watched with a mixture of shock and weariness as the man looked him over. He was already expecting to get thrown out. No one wanted to sell the "demon brat" anything. But Tenten's dad just smiled at him, walking over to the cash-register, typing in all that his daughter had noted on a block.

"Now all that stuff you got there will come to around 5,000 yen," Tenten's dad said.

Naruto cringed a bit but got out the necessary money, it would put him back by a lot, especially since he would no longer be able to gain a stipend from the Hokage since he was a ninja. But this was for his shinobi-career, so he had to. He took out his frog-shaped green wallet, much to the amusement of Tenten, and put the money on the table.

"Thank you kid. Hope you'll come back" Tenten's dad said to Naruto while counting the money Naruto had left.

He gave the two there one of his most brilliant smiles. "Thanks mister…"

"Kaito," the man replied.

"Thanks Kaito-san," Naruto bowed before grabbing his equipment and running off with a grin. "I'll make sure your store becomes famous when it's selling to me as the Hokage!" he yelled out as he left for the library.

Naruto was standing outside a big building, a building he had never thought he would set foot in – the library. He sighed deeply and made his way through the front doors. He hadn't made his way in more than a few meters, when a voice called out behind him.

"Can I help y-. What do you want? I'm sorry, but you will have to leave - Now." Naruto turned around to see who it was. It turned out to be the custodian, a woman who looked to be in her mid-fifties said, spitting out the word boy with venom.

Naruto remembered what Hiruzen had said to him the day before. Naruto tapped his finger on his hitai-ate "I am a ninja of Konoha, under the command of the direct command of the Hokage. And can I remind you that this is a government owned building? And who again runs the government? That's right, the Hokage does. Thus, you can't kick me out of here" the custodian was clearly irritated by this, but as Naruto had pointed out, she couldn't kick him out.

She sighed "Fine, but if you break anything, you will be sorry" she said, and walked away.

Naruto snorted mentally at this. Since he was told about the Kyuubi, he had been near stunned by the naivety of the population of Konoha. One thing was the civilians who knew nothing of sealing, but the ninja-population too? They used sealing on a daily basis.

He shook it off him, and made his way to the shinobi section of the library. When he was there, he put his hands in a ram seal, making ten clones.

"Alright guys, I need your help finding some books. Anything on chakra, seals, Taijutsu and basic shinobi skills will be fine. Also, try to find something on bijuu, Jinchuuriki and anything related". With that said, he and his clones looked through the bookshelves looking for said books. In the end he found twenty-seven on the various subjects. He made his way home, and began to read.

- Three days later -

Naruto was on his way to training ground 43. Jiji had given it to train the week before the team assignments, which was still two days away. The Sandaime had said it was because he needed to get his Shoton under control before getting on a team, so he wouldn't put them or himself in danger with it.

He made his way to the training field, and did what he had done the last few days. He put his hand to form the ram seal, and made about one hundred clones, and split them up to do various tasks.

Fifty clones were working on his Shoton, which were coming along nicely. He had learned to crystallize stuff fast, and could even make crystals from the humidity in the air. He had also made quite a few new jutsu, most of the based on jutsu of other elements. It wasn't as hard as he had thought it to be. He would just have to think about something crystallizing, and it would.

The next twenty-five were working on his chakra control. He had perfected the floating leaf exercise that they had learned in the academy, and were now slowly making progress on the tree-climbing exercise. He could run up the tree by now, and could walk about two quarters of the way. He had decided that he wouldn't move on before he could fight on a vertical surface for about ten minutes.

And the last quarter were reading. Reading anything he could get his hands on. Most of the jutsu and exercises were from the books. He had learned a lot about bijuu, one of the subjects he was most interested in, for obvious reasons.

He continued training the next few days, until the team assignments.

- The day of the team assignments -

The alarm clock ringed high. Naruto almost fell out of his bed, trying to punch the stupid thing into oblivion. When he finally managed to turn of the stupid thing, he sat up, scratching his eyes and looked around with sleepy eyes. He saw the calendar, and within a second he was wide awake. 'Today I get my team assignment!'

He jumped out of the bed, and made his way to the bathroom to wash up and brush teeth. He thought about what he had done the last week. He had advanced rather quickly due to the Kage Bunshin; he had done almost two years of training in the last week. He now had decent control over Shoton, but it could still be improved. His chakra control were a ton better; he could know fight on the tree surface for about four minutes, before he fell off. And he had read. He was surprised how much it had mattered. He could actually understand what people were saying most of the time now. Nothing like when the week started. Overall, he had improved a lot, though he still needed to be careful. The third day he had dispelled all his clones at once, and had fainted from fatigue alone. He had woken up an hour later with a throbbing headache. He wasn't do that again, and had the following days dispelled his clones in groups of ten, with a few minutes interval.

He had also met Konohamaru, the "honorable grandson of the Sandaime Hokage", and his teacher Ebisu, who hated his guts. He had met Konohamaru when he had turned in his Ninja Registration Form. Konohamaru had come to challenge the Sandaime for the title of Hokage, but had tripped over his own scarf, halfway across the room. It had been fun to see the reaction of his teacher, when he slammed him across the head after he learned who he was.

Konohamaru had followed him later, asking him to teach him. Naruto had complied, and taught him Henge no Jutsu and Oiroke no Jutsu. Later Ebisu had come, saying he didn't want Naruto to teach. Konohamaru couldn't figure out why, but Naruto knew right away, when he saw the eyes of Ebisu. It was the same as most of the villagers – full of hate towards him, for something he had no control over what so ever. He had beaten him with his new Haremu no Jutsu, sending him flying halfway across Konoha because of his nosebleed. He had after told Konohamaru that there was no shortcut to becoming the Hokage, and that he had to beat him to get there. Konohamaru told him that they weren't student and teacher anymore; they were rivals. He had left after that.

After he was done in the bathroom, he made his breakfast, which was made up of bread and various vegetable. Naruto had read that he needed to eat better if he wanted to grow. Naruto was still the shortest from his class, which annoyed him to no end. He was sitting and eating, looking across the room. He saw the new picture he had put up the day before. It was his picture for the ninja registration. He had asked Hiruzen if he could get a copy of it to hang up, and was allowed. He was in the picture, of course, and stood with an angel to the camera, with his hand, back down towards the ground, pointing slightly towards it. From his hand, to the corner of the picture, and across the top, the air was glimmering slightly pink, clear evidence of his Shoton. It had taken some persuasion on his part, but the Hokage had finally said yes. He was quite proud of it; clear evidence of his shinobi status.

After he was done with his breakfast, he bolted out the door, and made his way to the Academy. 'Today I'm going to get a team. I am officially going to be a Genin, a ninja of Konoha. It's the first step on the way to become the Hokage.'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique: Similar to the Bunshin no Jutsu, this technique creates clones of the user. However, these clones are actual copies, not illusions. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing techniques on their own and can even bleed, but will usually disperse after one or two solid blows. They can also disperse on their own. The clones will be created in roughly the same condition as the original. When they disperse, all the knowledge they have gained return to the creator.

Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique: A Ninjutsu that creates an intangible copy of one's own body, without any substance. Since the clone itself doesn't have the ability to attack, and thus can only be used to confuse the enemy, it is mainly used in combination with other Ninjutsu. It's a basic technique, but depending on one's ingenuity, it can be used effectively. The clones will dissipate when they come into contact with something.

Kekkei Genkai – Bloodline Limit (Literally meaning "a technique limited to inheritance by blood"): are abilities passed down genetically in specific clans. It's possible for a ninja to have more than one of these abilities. Kekkei genkai abilities that work via the user's eye are called dojutsu. Other kekkei genkai include mixing one type of elemental chakra with another, creating a new one unique to the users, which is usually impossible for normal ninja.

Dojutsu – Eye Techniques: are kekkei genkai that utilize the eyes, granting the wielder ocular abilities? Being a by-product of specific kekkei genkai, dojutsu are not classified as one of the major jutsu types. They do not require the use of hand seals and in some cases facilitate in the use of or defense against Genjutsu, Taijutsu and Ninjutsu and then defeat their opponent. All known dojutsu also provide the user with some unique abilities, such as an extended field of vision or predictive capabilities. The use of dojutsu often-time consumes a great deal of chakra.

Shoton – Crystal Release: is a rare and specialized field of elemental Ninjutsu that can create crystal as well as manipulate already-existing crystals and crystalline structures.

Doton – Earth Release: is one of the basic elemental nature transformation techniques and allow the user to manipulate the surrounding earth for offensive and defensive purposes or create it; be it dirt, mud, or rock.

Fuuton – Wind Release: is one of the five basic elemental nature transformations. It is performed by making chakra as sharp and thin as possible. Wind Release is mainly short to mid-ranged offensive techniques that combine brute force and keen precision to deal cutting and slashing damage. A rarity among the five chakra natures, wind techniques are usually performed by generating air circulation and can be enhanced through this method as well. Wind-nature chakra can also be channeled into blades to increase their cutting power and overall range.

Katon – Fire Release: is one of the basic elemental nature transformations. It is performed by molding super-heated chakra inside the stomach before releasing it via the lungs and mouth. There are also variants to this in the form of some mediums such as the use of gun powder, explosive tags and chakra flow into a weapon.

Suiton – Water Release: is one of the basic elemental nature transformation techniques that allow the user to manipulate per-existing water, or create their own, by turning their chakra into water. It takes much more ability to create the water than to manipulate what is already available and expel it from their mouths. One of the most versatile of the five basic chakra natures, Water Release techniques can not only change shape but state as well. Moreover, the water becomes more solid in the process as well

Raiton – Lightning Release: is one of the basic elemental nature transformation techniques that allow the user to generate lightning by increasing the high frequency vibrations of their chakra, allowing for piercing damage and fast movement. The electricity paralyses the target so that they are unable to move and leave them vulnerable to a finishing strike. While uncommon, lightning can be infused into bladed weapons in a way similar to fuuton through chakra flow for increased the piercing power through vibrations, with the added effect of inducing numbness. When the technique is released from their bodies, and thus not requiring physical contact, it does not move as fast as true lightning. Instead, due to the control the user has to exert over it, it moves far slower, which give opponents can time to still react. Based on the exhaustion seen when using Lightning Release techniques, it can be presumed that they require more chakra than the other nature transformations

Kyuubi no Yoko – The nine tailed fox.

Bijuu – Tailed Beast: The tailed beasts are large, living forms of chakra, sometimes referred to as "Chakra Monsters", giving them power that far outmatches most shinobi. However, this immense strength is tempered by their bestial nature, which restricts them from being intelligent enough to use it effectively. As such, when the tailed beasts are sealed within humans, they are able to benefit from the knowledge of their hosts, giving them the ability to better utilize their powers.

Jinchuuriki – "Power of Human Sacrifice": are humans that have bijuu sealed within them. They exhibit extraordinary powers, and in some cases are more powerful than their tailed beasts, because they have the intelligence to use the beasts' powers effectively.

Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Technique: Given all the missions ninja are assigned to - battle, intelligence gathering, and diversions - this is a priceless Ninjutsu. It is typically used to change into people other than one, but one also has the ability to change into animals, plants, and even inanimate objects like weapons. This gives this technique an abundance of uses. The transformation of a skilled shinobi will be exactly like the genuine article, so it will be impossible to tell the two apart. On the other hand, a transformation performed by an inexperienced person will have obvious discrepancies. It will be impossible to deceive anyone with it. This is one of the most basic Ninjutsu, as such most shinobi know how to perform it. The transformation technique is considered to be among the more difficult E-ranked techniques, since it requires constant emission of chakra while mentally maintaining the form. On top of that, the user would be, most likely, interacting with the environment. This puts mental strain on an inexperienced ninja. Thus the best way to determine if it is indeed a transformation is to cause this strain upon the user; though this is of course not always successful.

Oiroke no Jutsu – Sexy Technique: The Sexy Technique is simply a Henge no Jutsu used to transform the user into a beautiful, nude woman in a very seductive pose with mists of smoke covering her privates, or in a bathing suit.

Haremu no Jutsu – Harem Technique: This technique is considered to be an advanced variation of the Oiroke no Jutsu, which is combined with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. After creating a dozen or so clones, Naruto uses this technique to transform them all into the same beautiful. Naruto uses this technique when he either wants a better chance of his target falling victim, or when the Sexy Technique fails to fulfill its purpose

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Survival Training! Pass or Fail!

Naruto made his way towards the Academy, ignoring the usual stares and glares. It didn't really bother him anymore, he had gotten used to it over the years. The only difference the last week was that he knew why he was getting them. That helped a lot; it was a burden lifted from his shoulders. He didn't have to wonder why.

As he walked down one of the alleys, when he saw someone 'trying' to blend in with the railing behind him, using a sheet as cover. The only problem was that it was hanging ninety degrees wrong. He knew right away who it was.

Before he could call him out, Konohamaru jumped out from his 'cover' yelling at him "Fight me!" sadly, he hadn't even taken one step, before he tripped over the sheet.

Naruto sweat dropped "What are you doing Konohamaru?"

"I expect nothing less from the man I respect" Konohamaru said, getting up.

Naruto was silent for a few seconds "I didn't do anything. You tripped – again."

Konohamaru totally ignored this and got up, making a hand sign "fight me fair and square!"

Naruto shook his head "Sorry Konohamaru. I have to go to my team assignment meeting now."

"Team assignment?" the boy asked confused

"Yeah, I'm a ninja of Konoha starting today!" he said smiling, pointing at his hitai-ate.

Konohamaru stared in awe. He smiled at his big-brother figure "Ok, nii-san. I guess we'll have to do it another day then". And with that, the two boys went on their way.

Naruto made it to the Academy a little earlier than normal. Heck, normally he would have met at least an hour late, since none of the teachers really bothered with him. But that wasn't on his mind today. Today was the first day in the rest of his life, the first step towards becoming the Hokage. Nothing could bring him down. If he was honest with himself, he didn't care much about which team he was assigned. 'Just not Sasuke-teme; he is waaay to broody for me. And I wouldn't mind getting on the same team as Sakura-Chan… though I could image her having a problem with me. I guess I'll do what Tenten told me to.'

- Flashback 3 days ago –

Naruto was walking down one of Konoha's many streets with Tenten. Since the day he had come her father's store, they had become friends. Well, Naruto's first real friend at his own age. Shikamaru and Chouji didn't hate his guts, but they weren't close either.

"So, have you gotten your team assignment yet?" Tenten asked.

Naruto shook his head "nah, we're getting them in three days. If I'm honest I don't really care what team I get on. I'm just happy I graduated"

"Huh, so you don't care at all? There is no one you would or would rather not be with?" she asked doubtingly

Naruto looked at his new friend with a small smile "well, there is this one guy. Sasuke-teme… He just gets on my nerves all the time."

"Wait, Sasuke? As in Uchiha Sasuke? The sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan Massacre?"

"That's the guy" he said while nodding

"Ouch, I can understand that. I mean, I can't set myself into his place, to get his whole clan killed, but he is just so…"

"So brooding"

"Exactly" she smiled. She rather liked Naruto. Not in romantic manner, but he was a good friend. It was a good break from her two teammates and their eccentric sensei. Naruto was a funny guy, maybe a bit straight forward with things, but nothing she couldn't handle.

She took a look around and saw the glares of the villagers. It wasn't her they were glaring at; it was her new friend. She had tried to ask him about it, but he had changed subject rather quickly. She knew that he had pranked most of the villagers when he was a kid. She had found them rather funny. And then a few days ago when painted the Hokage Monument. She was impressed. It wasn't anyone who could over paint a monument, which was visible from most of the village, in daylight, wearing an orange jumpsuit. When she had asked how he had done it, he had answered "It's easy when no one wants you to exist." That time it was her who changed subject.

She was pulled out of her train of thoughts when Naruto started talking again "And then there is Sakura-chan."

She raised an eyebrow while smiling "So there's a girl? I guess she hung up on the Uchiha then?"

"Yeah! Can you believe it? And every time she asks him on a date, he turns her down, and still she won't go out with me" he answered a bit moping.

"So, how many times have you asked her on a date?"

"Erm… Every time I see her? It's usually just after she gets turned down by Sasuke."

"I have an advice if you want" Naruto nodded eagerly "Back off"

"What?" Naruto said disbelievingly

"I said back off. Try to stop asking her on a date every time you see her. Try just to be there for her. You know, maybe in time she will come around" she said while winking at her blonde friend. "Baby steps, learn to be friends first. Then see where it goes from there."

"Maybe… Ok, I'll try it" he said, showing her one of his big bright smiles

"Good" she nodded approvingly.

- Flashback End -

Naruto opened the door to his classroom, and made his way inside. He hadn't stepped three steps inside, before a boy stepped in front of him.

"Oi, Naruto! Today is the team assignments. You do know that you would actually have to pass the exam if you want in on it, right?" it from the brown haired boy. He wore a pair of dark grayish pants the reached down to his calves, and a grey hooded fur-lined coat with a hood he wore on his head. Under the hood, on his head, was a little white puppy.

"Auf, auf"

"See, even Akamaru agrees" Kiba stated with a smug smiled, petting his puppy.

Naruto smiled right back at Kiba, while tapping his finger on his forehead protector "Are you blind dog-breath? I have a hitai-ate, thus must I have passed. The Hokage himself passed me. Can u say the same for you?"

Kiba narrowed his eyes, and took a closer look at his hitai-ate – just to be sure it was real. When he was convinced, he just came with an "hmph" and turned around to go back to his seat.

The blonde Genin shook his head with a smile of Kiba's antics. When he was done, he took a look around the classroom for an empty seat. As far as he could see there were three; one beside Sasuke-teme, and another beside that seat, and one in front of Chouji. The last option wasn't really an option in his opinion. It was a known fact that all the Akamichi's were real greedy-guts and the new clan-heir wasn't an exception. That alone wasn't the problem; the real problem was that not all of his food made the trip from the back it was in, to his mouth. So anyone who says in front of Chouji would be showered in food scraps.

Naruto took a deep breath, and made his way over to the table where Sasuke sat, and took the seat furthest away from the Uchiha. Naruto reached for his pocket, and took up a book on fūinjutsu and started reading it, much to the whole classrooms disbelief. Even the Uchiha was brought out of his brooding mood, and raised an eyebrow at the blonde shinobi.

Hinata was looking from behind the classroom, where she had taken a seat. 'Naruto-kun was able to graduate! Maybe, just maybe, I can get on the same team as him' She thought hopefully.

Before long Naruto was brought out of his reading, when the whole classroom went quiet. They could all hear something rumbling, like some big animals, like rhino's or elephants, which were running. It was getting closer and closer. You would think that the class would become nervous at the apparent impending doom, but this was a daily routine for them. Before long, two girls almost fell in through the door.

"First/I win" they yelled, before turning to each other to glare.

The first one Naruto recognized right away: it was Sakura-chan. She had bright pink hair, a color Naruto didn't know could appear naturally before he had met her, and green eyes. She also had a rather large forehead, and Naruto knew she had been bullied because of it. To him, though, it was just her, and he loved every part of it. She was wearing a red dress with a white circular design on her shoulders and her back, and she wore dark green shorts. She wore her hitai-ate like a hair band.

The second girl was Ino, who had an ongoing rivalry with Sakura. She wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a skirt that was cut off on the sides and bandage on her stomach and legs. She also wore purple and white elbow warmers with this, and her hitai-ate around her waist as a belt.

"I win again Sakura" Ino said

"What are you talking about? My pinkie-toe entered the classroom before yours by a whole centimeter!" Sakura replied, glaring harder.

Ino returned the glare "Are you blind?" The two girls kept bickering like that, and the rest of the class went back to doing what they were doing before. That is, everyone but Naruto. He was looking at Sakura with a blush. He quickly looked away again 'Naruto, remember what Tenten said. Give her some space. But there she is! Looking over here! And now she's coming this way. Maybe she wants to sit beside me' he thought, as the pink haired kunoichi made her way over to the table where Naruto and Sasuke were sitting.

He smiled at her "Good morning Sakura-Chan!"

"Get out of my way! I want to sit there beside Sasuke-kun" she replied, pointing at the seat in between him and Sasuke.

He sighed while getting out of his seat "Fine, get in then"

Sakura hadn't expected that. Normally Naruto would get going how un-cool Sasuke was, and she would have to hit him. "Erm, thank you Naruto" she said, taking her seat. She was just about to talk to Sasuke, when Iruka came in through the door.

"Ok class, settle down" most of them didn't hear him, causing a tick mark to appear on Iruka. He used his big-scary-head jutsu "I SAID SETTLE DOWN!" that got the desired effect. He cleared his throat "Starting today, you are all official ninjas, but you are all still just new Genin. It's going to get harder from here. You all will be in a group of three, where you will accomplish missions under a Jounin Instructor." That got the class' attention. Most of them hadn't expected a three-man team. Naruto wasn't surprised, the Hokage had given him permission to train the last week because he was gonna be on a team. Iruka continued "We've arranged the groups such that overall abilities are equivalent. I will now announce them. Team 1 is…"

Naruto started reading his book again, just paying enough attention to react when his own name was called. "Team 7 will be: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura" internally Naruto was jumping up and down in happiness. Sakura quite the opposite "And Uchiha Sasuke" that got the reversed effect. Naruto couldn't help but throw a quick glare at Sasuke 'The gods must really be against me. There are twenty-seven people that have graduated, and I get on the same team as Sasuke-teme?' He sighed 'well at least I'm also on the same team as Sakura-Chan'. "Next Team 8: Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. There won't be a Team 9, as last year's Team 9 is still in effect. Team 10 will be Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akamichi Chouji" he called up the last few teams. "That's it for the Teams. Now, your Jounin Sensei will be here after lunch, you can do what you want until then"

With that said, the different Teams went out the classroom.

- In the council chambers -

It was the day of the assignments of the new Genin teams, and thus there was a council meeting. Currently all were present but the Hokage.

The council chambers consisted of the Hokage's seat at the end of multiple tables. Beside the Hokage's seat were two smaller tables where the elders sat. Their names were Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane and Shimura Danzo. Homura and Koharu were old teammates of Hiruzen, and had retired from their shinobi carriers and settled back as elders and councilors for the Sandaime. Danzo was an old rival of Hiruzen. While he had Konoha's best at heart, he didn't always care of the way to get there.

From the Hokage's seat point of view, the left side was reserved for the business people of Konoha, the six that had been elected from their respective areas. These people didn't have Konoha's best at heart. What they cared about was getting more power, and getting more wealth.

The right side was reserved for the eight major clans of Konoha: Senju, Uchiha, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Akamichi, Nara and Yamanaka. Though, because of the Uchiha massacre, the Uchiha seat was empty until the time of the last Uchiha to be sixteen years of age, and the Senju seat was empty because the last known survivor of said clan, Senju Tsunade, wasn't in Konoha, and hadn't been for years. These people were the only one beside the Hokage who were not thinking of ways to get more power, but had Konoha's best at heart.

In the seat closest to the Hokage's was none other than Hiashi Hyuuga, the head of the Hyuuga clan which was currently the largest clan in Konoha. Hiashi was a man who despite his cold demeanor, always put his clan and Konoha first, even when it went against his own beliefs

The next seat from Hiashi was Tsume, the clan head of the Inuzuka Clan. This clan was well known for their collaboration with ninja dogs, their pack mentality and their hotheadedness. They always believed in looking out for family, and were well known for their fierce loyalty to others.

Sitting next to the Inuzuka Matriarch was Shibi Aburame, the clan head of the Aburame clan. The Aburame's were well known as a clan that followed logic, believing that to do otherwise would cause more issues to arise then need be. They were also ostracized because of the bugs they carry.

The last in the lineup were the members of the Yamanaka, Nara and Akamichi clans, who were well known for their powerful team work. These three were Inoichi, Shikaku and Chouza and they had been known as the Ina-Shika-Cho trio, due to the teamwork they used during the Third Great Shinobi War.

Finally the Sandaime entered the chambers, and took his seat. "As it seems we're all here, we will get started. Now first point of order is-"

"Sorry Sandaime-sama, but I have disturbing news that I think the council should hear" Danzo interrupted the Hokage. Hiruzen didn't seem affected by this, as he had known this would come sooner or later. He was pretty sure it was because of Naruto and his Shoton. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep it a secret long after he allowed Naruto's ninja registration photo to be taken. That, and that he had allowed the blonde to use one of the training ground by himself. He was sure that Danzo would have picked up on that.

"What is it Danzo-san?" Hiruzen asked more politely than he would have out of the council chambers.

"It has come to my attention that you have reserved a whole training field for a newly graduated Genin. It intrigued me, but I let it go: I'm not one to question the Hokage" Hiruzen mentally scoffed at that. Danzo questioned every action he took. He had tried to get his hand on the seat for a long time. Other than that, he had tried to get his hands on Naruto more than one time, willing to turn him into a weapon of Konoha, due to his jinchuuriki status. He was sure that he would try even harder now that he had found out about the blondes new kekkei genkai. Hiruzen was, of course, greatly opposing of this. Minato had asked him to make sure Naruto would be safe. He couldn't do much about the villagers, but this he could. He wouldn't let Naruto fall into the grasps of the old war hawk.

Never mind what Kushina would have done to the crippled elder if had gotten hold of Naruto. Hiruzen wasn't entirely sure if he'd applaud or be terrified of that outcome.

Danzo looked over the chamber. He could see that he had peeked their interest. "But then a few days ago, when the elders and I went over the new ninja registration forms, we came across this" he said, taking out Naruto's photo, sending it around the council. He could see many confused looks. "We, like you, had no idea what this was. So I send some of my guards to look for the jinchuuriki. They found him at earlier mentioned training ground. He was training to use… Shoton. Yes, the kyuubi jinchuuriki has Shoton."

- An hour later –

"Enough of this! Yes, Naruto has Shoton, but it isn't dangerous! Jiraiya and I have observed and made sure of that. The reason I allowed Naruto to use that training ground was so he could get it under control, and so he wouldn't put his team at risk" Hiruzen said loudly and irritated. The last hour had been nothing but accusations, and pleads about putting the boy down, letting Danzo have him. "If any other shinobi or citizen of Konoha had awakened Shoton, you would all be delighted. But because it's Naruto, you're acting like this? I won't have it" he continued, while glaring around the council. The shinobi side had been concerned, but had calmed a bit down. It was the civilians and the elders that caused problem. They hated the boy's guts, because of the kyuubi. "Now I have given you all the answers I'm willing, so we're gonna get on with this council meeting. Now, for the first point of order…"

- Lunch at the Academy -

Sakura was sitting on a bench outside the Academy. They still had some time before their Jounin Sensei would pick them up. She had just had a not so friendly conversation with Sasuke. He had told her that he thought she was annoying. '"You're annoying" 'huh? I see… Naruto must've felt the same way. Maybe I can be nicer starting now. I could give him a chance. I never really have gotten to know him; I always brush him off as a pest…'

He did seem different from before.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she saw Naruto coming her way eating a dango. It didn't seem like he had seen her yet. 'Alright, this is my chance to be nicer to him. Remember to smile, not scowl, smile'. With that, she had a really strained smile on her face "Hey Naruto, let's go back to the classroom."

Naruto looked up at her "Sakura-Chan? I thought you would be with Sasuke" he said the last part a bit sad. Sakura didn't miss that.

"Yeah, but he had to go do something else. Come on, let's go back to class" she said. This brought a big smile to Naruto's face 'you're a genius Tenten!'

- Three hours later in the classroom –

"Why is our sensei the only one who's late!? All the other teams have been picked up hours ago!" Sakura said annoyed. Team 7 was still sitting in the classroom. Or Sasuke and Naruto were sitting at their respected desks, and Sakura was going back and forth, getting inpatient with their new sensei.

Naruto sighed and looked up from his book "Sakura-Chan, it can't be helped. He'll get here when he get here." While he agreed with her, he was getting rather annoyed with Sakura. She had been like that for the last hour, coming with outbursts every ten minutes or so.

Granted a part of him was 'really' tempted to pull a prank on this guy. But making a first impression, that wouldn't help much.

Sakura turned to look at Naruto in disbelief, before gathering herself. 'Ok, if Naruto asks me to calm down, I really must be tiring. I mean, he is the most hyper person I know! But that means… that means Sasuke-kun also thinks that I'm getting annoying – again.' She took a deep breath to calm herself down, before taking the seat beside Sasuke. Naruto eyed her, before going back to reading his book.

Fifteen minutes later a silver haired Jounin entered the room. Sakura couldn't help herself, and jumped up screaming "You're late!"

He just starred at them passively "How should I say this… My first impression of you guys is… I hate you"

Sakura got a moping expression, while Naruto and Sasuke got a better look at their sensei. He was wearing the standard Konoha Shinobi outfit, along with iron plated gloves. His face was mostly covered by his mask, and his left eye was covered by his hitai-ate. All in all, they couldn't get a real good look at him.

"Meet me on the roof in five minutes" he said before shunshining away.

- Five minutes later on the roof –

Kakashi was looking over each of his students. He was mostly looking on Naruto Gods, 'he looks so much like you sensei' then he turned his gaze to the Uchiha 'I really hope I can help him, before chooses a path that he can't be saved from'. When the five minutes were up, he spoke "Let's see, why you don't introduce yourselves."

"Introduce ourselves? What should we say?" Sakura asked

Kakashi shrugged "What you like, hate, your dreams, and hobbies. Something like that"

"Why don't you introduce yourself first, sensei? So we know what to say" Naruto suggested

"Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream… I have few hobbies."

The three Genin were left with sweat drops on the back of their heads. Sakura turned to her new teammates "So all we found out was his name" Naruto squints while Sasuke's eye twitched.

"Now it's your turn. Blondie, you go first"

Naruto shot a quick glare for his new nickname "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, Ichiraku Ramen, my friend Tenten, Iruka-Sensei, and Hokage-ojisan. I dislikes are the three minutes you have to wait for your ramen to finish after you have poured water over it, people who will hurt my friends, and can't seem to tell the difference between a kunai and the scroll its sealed inside" this caused Kakashi to raise an eyebrow. He, of course, knew what Naruto was talking about. Sasuke and Sakura looked confused at Naruto. Naruto just continued, acting like he hadn't noticed "My hobbies are training, hanging out with Tenten, and tasting new kinds of ramen. And my dream for the future, I want to become the greatest Hokage and make everyone in the village acknowledge me. I also want to find out who my parents were" he finished, getting a nod from Kakashi.

"Hai, next you pinkie"

"I'm Haruno Sakura! I like… well, the person I like is…" Sakura glances at Sasuke "And my hobbies are… well, my dream is to…" glances at Sasuke again, and giggles like crazy.

"And? What do you dislike?" Kakashi asked

"Naru- I mean… I dislike Ino-pig!" Sakura finished looking over at Naruto 'I promised that I would try to give him a chance. And I start today'. Naruto looked genuinely surprised. He was half convinced that she would had said his name, and knew she almost did

'What happened to her?'

Kakashi looked at Sakura 'Girls her age must be more interested in love than ninja training. Well at least she's trying to be nice.' "Now you, last guy"

Sasuke didn't look up when talked "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things that I hate, and there aren't a lot of things that I like. Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream. The revival of my clan, and to… kill a certain man."

Naruto looked at Sasuke 'I guess it's the man who killed his clan…' Sakura was still hyped after her own introduction 'Sasuke IS cool'

Kakashi on the other hand had a brief look of seriousness in his eyes 'just as I thought'. He quickly got back to his old careless look "Alright, you three all have unique personalities. I like that. We're going to begin a mission starting tomorrow. First we're gonna do something we four can do together. Survival training"

"Survival training? Kakashi-sensei, we have just been through years of training in the Academy, can't we just go ahead and start missions?" Naruto asked rather annoyed.

"This is no ordinary training" Kakashi replied

Now Sakura was looking annoyed to 'Can't he just get to the point?' "Then what kind of training is it?"

Kakashi started laughing, freaking the three Genin out a bit. Sakura looked more annoyed than ever "What is so funny, sensei?"

"Well, if I say this, I'm sure you three are going to be shocked. Out of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine are going to become Genin. The other eighteen will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, this training is going to be a very hard test with a dropout rate of sixty-six percent." And as Kakashi had predicted, the three Genin were very shocked. "See? You three are shocked!" he said pointing at them.

"Are you kidding me? What was the final exam for?" Naruto asked in complete disbelief

"That? It just picks out those who are qualified to become Genin. Did you really think that three jutsu were gonna get you graduated? Out there is a world whose only goal is to get you killed. We're not going to send anyone out there, who isn't prepared." He paused to let it sink in "Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail tomorrow at Training Ground 7. Bring your ninja equipment and meet at 5 A.M!" Kakashi could see how shocked the three Genin were. Even Sasuke, who had until now composed himself, trembled some. "Now then, meeting over. Oh yeah, don't eat breakfast. You're going to throw it up, if you do."

- 5 A.M. at Training Ground 7 –

The three Genin of Team 7 came from each their own direction, every one of them half asleep.

"Good Morning" Sakura said tiredly.

"Hey…" it came from Naruto.

And the three of them waited… and waited… and waited…

- Three hours later –

Finally, Kakashi came going from the tree-line "Hi fellows. Good morning"

"You're late!" both Naruto and Sakura yelled at him, while pointing accusingly at him. Now normally the new and improved Naruto wouldn't do that, but the lack of sleep, and his empty stomach made him momentarily pick up some of his old habits.

"Yeah, you see a black cat crossed my path, so…" Kakashi replied, but trailed off when he saw the faces of Team 7. He cleared his throat "Let's move on". He went over to a clock on a stub a few meters from the Genin 'Alarm set at 12 PM' he then turned towards them, and took out two bells to show "Today's topic is to get one of these bells from me. Whoever can't, will have no lunch."

"What!?" it came from Naruto, but was ignored by Kakashi

"I'm going to tie you there, and eat lunch in front of you" he said, pointing at the three stubs, one of them having the alarm clock on it.

At that moment the Genin understood why he had told them not to eat breakfast. It took a few seconds for them to get over that.

"But wait, why are there only two bells?" Sakura asked

Kakashi showed one of his eye-smiles "I'm glad you asked Sakura. Since there's only two, at least on will have to be tied to the log. That person will fail, since he failed to complete the mission. The person will go back to the academy. It might just be one, or it can be all three. You can use tour shuriken. You won't be able to get these, unless you come at me with the will to kill me." He looked at his team. There were no objections. Kakashi continued "We're going to start after I say… Ready? Start!"

The Genin quickly jumped away, hiding in the surrounding area. Kakashi calmly took out a book, and, apparently, started reading 'The most important thing for a shinobi is to hide and conceal yourself. It seems like they got that part down.'

Naruto was hidden in a tree along the river going through the training ground. He was looking at Kakashi, thinking how to do this 'This is a Jounin, the highest rank of ninja, only surpassed by the kages. I can't run head first in there, without having a plan. Just to get a few things down; there is no way that I can take him down. He can't be expecting us to either, which means… he is testing out skills. But, he should already know them from our records from the Academy, well beside me… He must be testing our teamwork! Damn it! There is no way Sasuke-teme will team up with me; he thinks I'm a dobe with no talents. And while Sakura has been nicer to me since yesterday, I don't think she'll go against "her Sasuke-kun". So the only way we can work together is if I prove myself. And I prove myself by fighting against a Jounin… whom I have no chance of beating.' Naruto sighed at the dilemma he was in 'I guess there's no choice then. The only plus side I can see, is that I can get some info on Kakashi…' though he won't even be required to try. Naruto quickly formulated a plan. He made a few kage bunshin, and had them hide throughout the area.

Naruto jumped out from his hiding spot, and made his way to the field where Kakashi were standing. He took his stance a couple of meters in front of Kakashi. Kakashi looked from his book, acting like he had only just seen Naruto. He looked back in his book "You do know that it's basics for a shinobi to attack from the shadows, right?"

Naruto still in his stance, didn't take his eyes of Kakashi, observing everything "Yeah, but I figured there was no way that I, a newly graduated Genin, could beat you, a seasoned Jounin with years of experience. So I came to the conclusion that this test was to test our skills."

Kakashi looked at him again 'He is observing me. Trying to find anything he can use against me. But he-' he was cut short when the earth began to quake. His eyes widened when he saw razor-sharp crystals shooting out of the ground, trying to impale him. He quickly jumped back to avoid it.

"Shoton: Kessho no Hari" it came from Naruto. Kakashi took his eyes of the pink crystals, and looked at Naruto. For the first time since he had met Team 7, he was truly shocked. Was it not for years of experience in the field and in the war, he would have shown emotions

'Shoton… I haven't heard of that in a while. I think there was something up in Ta no Kuni, but to think it would appear here in Konoha… And it to appear in the jinchuuriki of the kyuubi.'

The two other members of Team 7 weren't handling themselves as well as Kakashi was. Sakura face was full of shock 'Shoton? Is that even a kekkei genkai? And how can Naruto have it?' she thought. 'How the hell should I know!?Just don't get hit by it, CHA!' it came from her inner self, which she completely agreed with.

Sasuke had his eyes narrowed 'how can the dobe have a kekkei genkai? He is a clan-less loser with no family!'

Kakashi looked at Naruto over his book "Well, since you want to show your skills, why don't you?"

"Alright" Naruto said before charging. He aimed a punch in the guy, but it was easily parried by Kakashi. Kakashi frowned; the punch had been a lot harder than he would've thought it to be. It didn't stop Naruto, he aimed a kick at the ribs, but it was again parried. He then aimed a kick in the chest. Knowing that Kakashi would parry, he focused his chakra there. Kakashi parried, but was pushed back a few centimeters, much to Kakashi's surprise. Naruto used this to jump back through the air. Kakashi used this to his advantage, and threw a kunai. Naruto saw this, and quickly conjured up a hexagonal shuriken in his hand, and threw it to intercept the kunai. They clashed together and were pushed out of the way.

Naruto landed with a smirk "That was my Kessho: Rokkaku Shuriken".

Kakashi still had his book up, but he had to focus a lot more than he had thought 'So, he is able to crystallize the air around him. It may seem like he doesn't have a weapon, but everything around him is. Also, it doesn't seem like he needs to use hand signs… But how was he able to kick so hard so suddenly?' Kakashi took a closer look at Naruto, and saw light reflect off him, which cause Kakashi to raise his visible eyebrow.

Naruto nodded at Kakashi "It's just what you think, Kakashi-sensei. I call it Kessho no Yoroi"

Kakashi didn't react 'To think he ranked dead-last.' Kakashi was, to say the least, impressed.

"Sensei, you're not going to retaliate?" Naruto asked in a ready pose.

Kakashi looked at Naruto. He knew that he wanted him to attack him, and that he had something up his sleeve. Kakashi shrugged before going through some hand signs "Suiton: Mizurappa!" Kakashi took a deep breath, before beginning to spew out water towards Naruto. He made sure it wasn't as powerful, as he would make it towards an enemy. He had to remember, this was just a test. What Naruto did next completely shocked Kakashi. Naruto raised his arm, just like to intercept, and when the water was a meter from him, it started crystallizing and split so it didn't hit him. Kakashi quickly realized that this jutsu weren't going to work; it was just supplying Naruto with more material to crystallize.

"Shoton: Kessho Hachidori" Naruto cried with the ram sign up. From the crystals that Naruto had just made, thousands of small hummingbirds were created. They appeared around Naruto, until there were no crystals left on the ground. With an unsaid command, they attacked. They closed in quickly, aiming all over Kakashi. Kakashi jumped into the air just in time to avoid them. When they hit the ground, they created a big cloud of debris.

'That was a close one' Kakashi thought, thinking he was out of harm's way.

"Shoton: Rokkaku Shuriken: Ranbu!" it came from several places around the clearing. From five places barrages of crystal shuriken was shot at him.

'Shit' he thought, before quickly performing Kawarimi no jutsu. Naruto's shadow clones jumped out of hiding, before dispelling. Naruto nodded to himself in satisfaction, before jumping away. Now he just had to find the others.

Naruto was jumping through the canopies when he heard Sakura scream. He quietly made his way there, making sure he wasn't detected by Kakashi. He finally found Sakura; she was lying motionless on the forest floor. He wasn't worried if she had been hurt; he knew Kakashi wouldn't take it that far.

He made his way down to where she was, and after a brief examination it was clear she was under a genjutsu. He put to fingers on her forehead, while the other was in a ram sign "Kai!" Slowly her eyes fluttered up. As soon as she could see where she was, she quickly got to her feet "Sasuke-kun!"

"Relax Sakura-chan. You were under a Genjutsu" Naruto said, trying to get his teammate to calm down. But she was still going on about she had seen Sasuke dying. "Sakura!" that got her attention "Stop fussing like that! Sasuke is fine. You were under a Genjutsu. Besides, this is just a test, so there is no way that Kakashi-sensei would hurt any of us badly let alone kill us."

That seemed to sink in, but she quickly shook her head "But I need to find him fast. We don't have much time until the test ends!" she said, starting to run out of the clearing. Naruto quickly grabbed her arm "What is it Naruto-baka!"

Naruto sighed at her affectionate nickname for him "I agree, but we can't just take him on one on one. We need to work together – all three of us."

Sakura stopped trying to struggle his way out of his grip, and he let her go. Then she turned to face him fully "but… one of us will fail."

"Maybe… but it's better than all three of us failing." None of them said anything for a few seconds "Listen, I'll give the bells to you two, you like Sasuke, right?" it was an obvious question he already knew the answer on, but she blushed deeply and nodded. "Good, then you two can be on a team together. I'll just… take another year at the Academy. I already failed three times, what is one more time to that, right?"

Sakura was looking at Naruto in disbelief 'was he always this nice? I kind of feel bad at how I treated him…'

The rosette nodded "okay, let's go find Sasuke-kun"

"No" Sasuke said.

Naruto starred at the black haired Genin in front of him with outrage "Why? You both will pass! We need to work together to get those bells!"

Sasuke scoffed "I don't need help from a clan-less loser like you to do that"

"It didn't seem like that, when we found you buried to your neck before" Naruto replied with a bit of venom earning a glare.

They kept bickering like that, with Sakura just sitting between them. Now normally she would jump to the defense of "her Sasuke-kun", but she could see the wisdom in Naruto's words, and she had seen what he could do with Shoton. Also, this meant that she would work together with Sasuke, and that she would be on the same team as Sasuke. But she knew they didn't have long time to do it.

"Sasuke-kun, we don't have very long time again before the test ends. Wouldn't it be better just to do it together and get it over with" she asked carefully, not wanting to get on the wrong side of Sasuke.

Sasuke actually seemed to think about it. He looked up in the sky to see the suns position. He scoffed "fine". Naruto nodded at Sakura, who was overjoyed now.

- Two minutes to twelve –

Kakashi was standing the middle of the clearing again. He looked over at the clock and sighed 'I guess it's just another team that doesn't pass. I actually hoped they would. Sensei's son, a Shoton user, and jinchuuriki of the kyuubi, the last loyal Uchiha, a true genius, and the girl weren't bad either. She just needs to get over her fan girl stadium. Oh well, maybe next time'

It was then that three Naruto's ran out of the tree-line. He watched them coming, but didn't do anything visible to counter them.

They all brought their arms to what looked like a guard "Shoton: Suisho To!" On their forearms deep blue-colored crystal tanto's formed. They charged forward as one, slashing like crazy at Kakashi. He could see that Naruto hadn't had this style practiced as much as the academy-style Taijutsu. He kept parrying and dodging. At last, he decided that it was time to get rid of the clones. He kicked hard in one of the Naruto's stomach and it dispelled. He was just about to do the same to the second, when he heard a voice shout behind him.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, spewing out a large fireball towards Kakashi.

Kakashi saw this coming, and jumped out of the way. He was a little worried that it had hit Naruto, but it didn't last, as he saw them dispel 'they were clones all along, huh?' he didn't have time to think, as he saw a barrage kunai being cast out of one of the trees. With closer inspection, he saw that it was Sakura. He brought up his kunai and began blocking them. He had just landed, when Naruto bolted out of the tree-line again. He was getting closer and closer to Kakashi, and was just about there when the alarm ringed. All three Genin looked in disbelief and despair at the clock.

"No, damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!" Naruto said, mentally kicking himself for not being a bit faster.

- A few minutes later –

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto were tied to the logs, and as Kakashi had said he would, was eating his lunch in front of them. Naruto's stomach was the loudest, but Sasuke's and Sakura's wasn't silent.

"Well then, none of you got the bells" Kakashi said. All of them were waiting for the dooming words. "You pass" Kakashi said. They stared disbelieving at him.

"But, you said that we would fail and be sent back to the academy if we didn't get the bells!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi nodded "I lied" he stated flatly.

"But sensei, what was the test for then?" Sakura asked.

"You three are the first I have passed. People I had previously were blockheads, who just thought about themselves, and didn't want to risk getting kicked back to the academy. They didn't want to work together because they knew one of them had to fail. But that is not how being a shinobi works – especially a Konoha shinobi. We work together, train together and basically live together." He looked up in the sky "'in the world of shinobi, those who break the rules are called scrum. But those who don't take care of their friends are even worse than scum'. You guys worked together to have a chance, even though you knew one of you would fail the test. So to answer your question Sakura – it was to test your worth as a team."

Naruto looked at Kakashi, as he moved around the logs to tie up the robes 'you know he isn't that bad. He is actually kind of cool'. When he had tied them up, he turned to them "The training ends here. Everyone passes! Team 7 will start doing missions starting tomorrow!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Fūinjutsu - Literally meaning "Sealing Techniques": are a type of jutsu that seal objects, living beings, chakra, along with a wide variety of other things within another object.

Shoton: Kessho no Hari – Crystal Release: Crystal Needles: The user creates long, sharp, and pointed bright pink and white crystals that shoot at the target at extremely high speeds with pinpoint accuracy.

Kessho: Rokkaku Shuriken – Crystal Release: Hexagonal Shuriken: The user creates crystal shuriken and launches them at the opponent. The shuriken are six-sided with spikes at the sides of each blade, resembling snowflakes.

Kessho no Yoroi – Crystal Armor: This technique allows the user to cover his skin with a thin sheet of crystal, protecting himself from physical attacks. This armor can also aid the user to perform stronger physical attacks. The user can control the thickness of the crystal, by focusing chakra in certain areas, to either give even higher defense, or harder punches or kicks. The crystal is transparent and can only be noticed by light reflecting off it.

Suiton: Mizurappa – Water Release: Wild Water Wave: Water gushes out from the mouth like a waterfall and washes away the enemy. One can freely control the power of this technique with the amount chakra one releases. Having many variations, this is a basic Water Release technique.

Shoton: Kessho Hachidori – Crystal Release: Crystal Hummingbirds: Many humming birds are formed from crystal, the birds then home on the target dodging simple jutsu that attempt to stop them.

Shoton: Rokkaku Shuriken: Ranbu – Crystal Release: Hexagonal Shuriken: Wild Dance: The user creates and throws a vast amount of crystal shuriken at her opponent

Kawarimi no jutsu – Body Replacement Technique: With this technique, one replaces their own body with a block of wood or some other object, the moment an attack lands. This creates an optical illusion, making the enemy think the attack was successful. From this, the user can use the lapse in the enemy's attention to attack or flee from the battlefield. Explosive tags can be attached to the replacement for an added surprise. It's a basic Ninjutsu even taught at the Academy, but it's a useful art that can be applied in variety of situations.

Shoton: Suisho To – Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Blade: With this technique the user can quickly form a blade made of crystal on her arm, and use it in a manner reminiscent of a tanto. Blades can be formed on both arms if needed.

Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique: A technique where chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire, and expelled from the mouth in a massive orb of roaring flame or as a continuous flame-thrower. The scope of the attack is altered by controlling the volume of chakra that is mustered. The released flames will engulf their target, and leave a crater on the ground's surface. This technique apparently requires more than average chakra reserves and most Genin should not be able to do this technique. The Uchiha clan also uses this technique as a "coming of age" rite and as such was a common and one of the more favored techniques amongst them.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: The hellcat and the Ramen-stand

Team 7 were jumping through the forests of Konoha, pursuing their target. It was faster than any of them thought it could be. They had used hours tracking it down, and now, for at least forty-five minutes, chasing it. But they were gaining in on it. They were so close now.

Their target had stopped. Team 7 quickly made their way to different hiding spots around their target.

"This is Sasuke, arrived at point B" it crackled through the radio

"Sakura here, I have reached point C"

"Naruto here, reached point A"

Kakashi was listening in, supervising them. Normally he would have scolded (as much as Kakashi now can scold people) that for taking so long, but this was no ordinary target. As soon as he heard they had reached their positions he tapped his radio "If you're all in position… Execute capture target T!"

Team 7 didn't need to hear any more than that; they jumped from their hiding spots, going after the target. It was fast, and dodged first Sakura's attempt, then Sasuke's. Naruto seeing his opportunity, jumped into a tree, and came at it from above. It was a success; he grabbed the fur ball shaped target. It was, to say the least, not happy. It turned around and began attacking Naruto. The cat Tora was captured.

The crackling sound of Kakashi's voice over the radio sounded "Does it have a red ribbon on its right ear? Is it our target, Tora the cat?"

The Uchiha looked lazily over at Naruto, who was getting beaten up by the small brown feline from hell, and Sakura who was giggling at her teammate's expense. Sasuke tapped his radio "Affirmative, Tora the cat is captured… again."

All the Genin of Team 7 was starting to hate Tora. Since they had graduated six weeks ago, they had had "capture Tora the cat" mission sixteen times – seventeen with this. For some reason the Hokage loved to give their team the most hellish missions. They were had all agreed it was because of Kakashi's tardiness.

- At the mission delegation office -

"My sweet, dear Tora-Chan, I missed you! I was so worried about you! My, my, you've gotten yourself really dirty, haven't you dear? We will have to take a long, wet shower when we come home" a large lady in red said to the hellish cat, while hugging it to death, much to the satisfaction of Team 7. They were all grinning evilly at the feline abomination from hell.

She turned towards Hiruzen, and bowed "Thank you Hokage-sama. I'm happy you're always willing to help" then she turned towards Team 7 "and thank you for helping"

The Sandaime nodded, while Kakashi smiled "ah, no problem Madam Shijimi. We were happy to help". All the Genin shot glares at Kakashi. Naruto scoffed mentally 'WE? What the hell do you mean with "we"? You didn't do a damn thing. If we get that mission one more time, I'm gonna kill that hellcat. I would be doing all of Konoha a favor.'

Sakura also mentally on the same lines: 'if you removed your eyes from that abomination of a book Sensei, you could have ACTUALLY HELP!'

Madam Shijimi walked over to the Hokage and handed him the payment "Here you are Hokage-Sama. I must be going now, goodbye"

"Goodbye Madam Shijimi, and give my regards to Fire Daimyo-Dono" The old Hokage said. She nodded at it, and made her way out the door. Hiruzen turned towards Team 7, to see Kakashi getting deadly glares from his team. "Now Team 7, let's see what we have for you now…" he looked through all the mission papers "Ah here we have it. Council member Yojyu needs someone to babysit his child while he is out on business, grocery shopping in a neighboring town and helping pick up potatoes at one of the Akamichi farms"

"Oh, come on Jiji! We have done nothing but D-ranks for almost two months! Can't you give us something just a little bit difficult!?" Naruto exclaimed. Sakura and Sasuke looked annoyed by it, but they had to agree; they too were getting tired of all the easy missions. Kakashi sweat dropped 'you know it's gonna be me who take all the trash, right? I guess its revenge for me not helping with Tora…'

Iruka sighed "Naruto, you already know how the ninja rank goes. You're only newly graduated Genin. Until you have trained some more, you can't go on higher ranking missions than D-rank"

"I know that, but I'm not the same brat who used to paint over the Hokage monument! I can handle myself!" Naruto retorted. "Will at least just one C-rank mission kill us Iruka-Sensei," Said scarred Chunin only sighed again at the blonde's words. He has been keeping up on his former student's progress and like Naruto said; he has been improving greatly in the past two months.

The old Hokage looked at one of this year's most promising Genin there is some truth to that. He chuckled lightly while puffing on his pipe "Kakashi, what do you say? Do you think they are ready?"

Kakashi, who in the meantime had taken up his little orange book, looked over his Genin team. They were all looking at him with begging eyes. He took a deep breath "I would say a C-rank would suffice as Naruto mentioned. They have been making slow but steady progress."

Hiruzen nodded "Very well then. If you insist I do have a C-rank for you then. It's an escort- and guard mission to Nami no Kuni."

"Ano, who are we supposed to escort then?" Sakura asked

Instead of answering Sakura's question, Hiruzen called out towards the door "Tazuna-san, can you please enter"

The young teens crinkle their noses from the smell of alcohol as coming in through the door were wobbling a drunk middle-aged man. He had grey hair and a large beard of same color. He wore glasses with a dark pair of eyes behind them. It took him a few seconds to get his balance. When he finally did, he narrowed his eyes when he saw who the ninja team, that was supposed to protect him, was made up of "What the hell is this? You're giving me a couple of brats? I mean, the short one doesn't even seem to be ten! They can't have any skill!" he slurred out.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He had matured a bit from his old self, but his short height was still a touchy subject. And then he criticized their skill. Naruto smirked, which caused Kakashi to worry. Before any of the people in the room could do anything, a big crystal shot out of the ground, impaling the bottle Tazuna was raising to his mouth, successfully pouring its content all over Tazuna's chest. He blinked a couple of times, very surprised. He wasn't the only one; all the ANBU guards in the room were mentally wide-eyed behind their mask. This was the first time they had seen the Shoton in action. They had of course all heard about it; it was big news when the village got a new kekkei genkai. But they didn't show any of this, thanks to their years in service.

"What was it you were saying oji-san?" Naruto smiled. He didn't get any answer.

Behind him Hiruzen coughed/secretly chuckle in his hand "Naruto, please don't kill our clients. Wouldn't be good for business, you know." Naruto looked over his shoulder, before shrugging. He snapped his fingers, and the crystal shattered in tiny microscopic pieces. Tazuna was breathless by the sight of the crystal shimmer in front of him, but composed himself.

"Erm… I am Tazuna and I'm an expert in bridge building. I will need you to escort me back to Nami no Kuni and protect me while I finish it" the old man from Wave said.

Kakashi turned towards his team "You heard the man. This is a C-rank, so we will probably be away for a few weeks. Go home and pack all that you could need. We meet at the main gate tomorrow morning at 8 A.M." Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto nodded.

"Good then. Team 7, I expect you back in a few weeks then. Dismissed"

-With Naruto-

The blond Uzumaki was walking down the main street alone. As soon as they had been dismissed from the mission delegation office, Sasuke had walked towards the Uchiha District with Sakura on his ass. He sighed 'I still like Sakura-Chan, but the way she acts sometimes… I have to find a way to talk to her about it. Most of the time, on and off missions, she really doesn't act like a proper kunoichi. Maybe I can use Sasuke to make her act less fan girlish.'

He was making his way to Higarashi Weapon Shop to buy different ninja tools for the upcoming mission. He had thought he had it all at home, but no such luck. He couldn't wait till he was better at fūinjutsu so he could make the exploding tags himself, but it was so damn hard to understand. He was only one fourth of the way through the first beginner book. He had learned to make sealing scrolls, and he was good at it, but the rest… It went slowly. It didn't really help with clones, since it was him that had a hard time understanding it. But he was making progress, slow and steady. He was brought out of his thoughts when he almost bumped into someone on the street. He quickly got out of the strangers way. He wasn't going to give the villagers any excuses to hate him more. Though, since he had graduated, they were concealing it more.

He had made his way to the weapon shop. He was hoping to see Tenten in there; he hadn't seen her in three weeks. She had been given a mission, so she was away, and now he was going on one… If he didn't see her, it would probably be a few weeks more. He stepped inside, and was delighted to hear a familiar voice.

"Welcome to Higari- Hey Naruto!" Tenten said, making her way out from the counter to give him a quick hug. They may only have known each other for a few weeks, but Tenten had become his best friend – if not because she was his first. When she was done she took a good look a good look at him "It's good to see you again. Now, did you come to buy or just to say hey to little old me?" she smiled at him.

Naruto smiled back "Well, kind of both. You see, my team has gotten its first C-rank mission, so I need to restock all my ninja tools, like explosion tags, smoke- and flash bombs, things like that. And then I hoped to run into you before I was going away"

She nodded, and began to take all the different articles from the shelves and put them on the counter. When she got to the kunai and shuriken, Naruto shook his head "I won't need those"

Tenten frowned "I know you told me you like hand to hand combat and Ninjutsu combat more, but you will need weapons"

"That wasn't what I meant" Naruto looked around the store, just to make sure they were alone. While most of the higher-ups ninja knew of his Shoton abilities, there weren't many others that did, and he planned to keep it that way for as long as he could. "I can make them myself" he said, holding his hand up, conjuring a crystal shuriken.

Tenten gasped "How did you do that?" she motioned to take it, but quickly stopped herself and looked at him "Can I take a look at it?" Naruto nodded. She took it from his hand, and looked closer at it. She was, to say the least, impressed. There were such detail, and she couldn't find any weakness in the way it was build, even though it should be fragile. In fact, it was the opposite, it was sturdy.

When she was done, she made motion to return it to Naruto, but he shook his head "You keep it, I can make a thousand others in no time"

She smiled at him, bigger than before. She put it down in her pocket, making sure it was safe. She looked at him again "You still haven't answered my question; how did you do that?"

Naruto's face turned serious "You can't tell this to anyone, ok?" she nodded. She weren't going to betray one of her closest friends. "I have Shoton, a kekkei genkai. I found out just after I graduated, and before you ask, yes, the Hokage knows, and so does all the higher-up shinobi."

Tenten was stunned, but regained herself… somewhat "So, how does it work?"

"Well, I haven't really figured it all out yet, but it seems like I can crystallize anything with a mass, such as earth, water, wood and so on. But I can't crystallize energy, such as lightning, wind and chakra. The only exception is my own chakra. I'm guessing it's because I'm so tuned into it. If I had to guess, I would think that if I spent enough time on, let's say a lightning bolt, I would be able to crystallize it. But because it only lasts for a few seconds at most, I wouldn't be able to do it. And all lightning bolts have a different energy signature, so it wouldn't help to try it out on a thousand different."

Tenten nodded, satisfied with the explanation. She was happy he was willing to share like that to her; she could see it was one of his "big secrets". He still wouldn't tell her why all the villagers seemed to hate him so much, but she guessed it was just a matter of time.

She walked over the cash register and typed all the items in Naruto was planning to buy "Ok, that will be 865 yen."

Naruto took the money out of his wallet, Gama-Chan, and put it on the counter before putting all the items in various pockets in his outfit. Tenten was still amused by his little frog wallet, and the fact that he had named it.

"Tenten, do you want to go grab something to eat? I probably won't be back for a few weeks" Naruto asked.

Tenten looked thoughtful for a second "One second. I just got to ask dad if he can watch the counter". She ran out back for twenty seconds and came back with a smile "It won't be a problem. Now, where do you want to go?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Naruto smirked at her "Do you really have to ask? Ichiraku Ramen of course."

- Thirty minutes later at Ichiraku Ramen -

Naruto and Tenten walked into the small stand "Hey Teuchi-ojisan, Ayame-neesan!"

Teuchi and Ayame, who were standing and making noodles, turned around to face where the voice had come from. Ayame were the first to speak "Naruto-kun and Tenten-san. Let me guess? The usual?" she asked with a smile.

Both nodded "You bet neesan."

The old ramen-stand owner chuckled deeply "Coming right up". Both of them turned to continue making the noodles and soup.

While they were waiting for the ramen, Naruto turned towards "By the way, you never told what your mission was about. I got told you were on one from Kaito"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I tried to find you, but obviously couldn't, and we had to go fast. My sensei is rather eccentric, and he makes everything into a competition…" she said, dropping her head at the end. Gai was a good sensei and all, but she could use a holiday from all the craziness.

"No worries. Now, what was your mission about?"

"There had been some bandit raids on some small villagers down by the border to Kawa no Kuni, so the villagers had hired us to track them down and take care of them…" Tenten told Naruto about the mission, how they had gone from village to village to get information, and to how they tracked down and took care of the bandit groups in the area. In the meantime they had gotten their ramen, and Naruto was on his third.

"Sounds like you had your work cut out for you, huh?" Naruto asked, inhaling some more noodles.

Tenten looked at her friend with a smile. She had tried more than once to get Naruto to eat with some manners. She had had some success with dango, but with noodles… According to Naruto, it was the Gods gift to mankind, and he couldn't get enough of it. "Yeah, but I have a good team. I trust them, no matter how weird they can be"

Naruto sighed "I wish I had a team like that"

"Is it still about Sasuke?"

"Yeah. He just doesn't want to work or train together. He says that I would 'drag him down'" he made quotation marks in the air to what Sasuke had said. "I just can't win with that guy. I'm probably one of the people in the village who understand him the most. I never knew my parents. Of course I can't put myself in his place; to have all that love just for it to get taken away…" he trailed off

Tenten could see he didn't like to talk about that, so she tried to get the conversation to move on "Then what about that girl, Sakura was her name?"

"Yeah, Sakura. Well, she is nicer to me than she was at the Academy, but she doesn't really act like a kunoichi. She is all about diets, her hair, what clothes she wear, and if Sasuke likes it. I like her, but I wish I could talk some sense into her."

"Ouch. I had a couple of fan girls on my class too. They haven't really made it far, so it would be good if you could talk to her." He nodded at that. She took another mouthful of ramen "Now I've told you about my mission, why you don't tell me about yours? It was your first C-rank, right?"

Naruto brightened up when she asked. She loved her blond friend's antics. "Yes, it's our first C-rank. We're supposed to escort some old drunk named Tazuna to Nami no Kuni, and then guard him while he finishes some bridge there."

Tenten shook her head at her friend's bluntness at describing people. He hadn't really learned what should be thought and not said. "Well, good luck then. It's a C-rank, so you shouldn't get into something you can't handle. Especially with your little gift" she said, referring to his crystal powers.

Naruto nodded "Thanks"

They were silent for a bit while eating their food. Naruto broke the silence "Do you have any chakra weights at your shop? I read that they can help you with your speed and strength. I was really planning to wait till I could make restriction seals, but it's going slower than I had anticipated. So for now, I will have to go with weights. I tried to look for them while you were gone, but couldn't find any, and I never got to ask Kaito."

Tenten finished what ramen she had in her mouth "You wouldn't be able to find them. There aren't many that buy them, so we will have to order them. I can do it later back at the shop. They should be here when your back from your mission."

"Thanks" Naruto said, taking another inhaling of ramen, now on his fifth bowl.

"So it's here where you were hiding? And with a girl nonetheless! I'm so proud. I hope I didn't interrupt anything" a voice came from behind them. Both of the Genin spun around on their chair to be faced with a big white-haired man.

"Ero-sennin! It's nothing like that. Gods, you're such a pervert!" Naruto said a little high.

"Damn it gaki, how many times have I told you not to call me that? And it's super-pervert thank you." Jiraiya responded, puffing his chest a bit.

Tenten watched as the two kept bickering. She knew she had seen the old man somewhere before. Then it hit her; it was Jiraiya! Tsunade's, her idol, old teammate. "Naruto! You really shouldn't call someone like Jiraiya that! Sorry Jiraiya-sama" she said while bowing.

Naruto scoffed "You wouldn't say that if you knew him. And you heard what he said: he is a super-pervert".

Tenten looked from Naruto to Jiraiya 'Well, he did say that. But someone with that much skill and such a high rank can't be a pervert. Can he?'

"Now, now Naruto. Don't get into a fight with your girlfriend" Jiraiya said with a smirk, causing both of the Genin to blush.

Naruto was the first to speak "Damn it Ero-sennin! I told you it isn't like that!" he paused for a few seconds. "Now that I think about it, why are you here? I thought you were out of the village?"

Jiraiya smiled at his part-time student "I was, but I'm back to report to sensei, and he told me that you're going on your first C-rank?"

"You bet I am!" was Naruto's answer

"Ok, in that case I got a new exercise for you" the white haired man said, taking off his backpack and looked through it. Now Naruto was excited; as much as a pervert the old sage was, he was a good teacher and always had new thing Naruto could do. He got more and more excited the longer it took Jiraiya to find whatever it was he was looking for.

His excitement plummeted when Jiraiya took up what looked like a water balloon and gave it to Naruto. Naruto looked curious, and a little disappointed, at Jiraiya.

The Gama Sannin sighed while rolling his eyes "It's the first step to a jutsu. And before you ask; no I won't show you before you have at least mastered the second stage. There are three stages."

"Aww, are you sure you won't show me the jutsu?" Jiraiya shook his head. Naruto sighed "Fine, but what am I supposed to do?"

"This" Jiraiya took out another balloon. First nothing happened, but then small lumps began to appear on the surface, before it burst. Naruto and Tenten looked curiously at his hand, where the balloon had been before. "You have to burst it open by using your chakra alone. Just rotate the water inside it." Jiraiya took out a scroll "Here I have sealed a lot of balloons inside it. It won't be easy, but if you manage to finish it before I get back, I'll give the second stage to Kakashi. For the third stage, you will have to wait for me".

Naruto took the scroll and put it down his pocket "Thank you Ero-sennin". Jiraiya nodded at him, before waving and walked away. Naruto turned back to his ramen, just to see Tenten look accusingly at him "What?"

"What? You're learning from Jiraiya-sama, one of the Densetsu no Sannin and you don't tell me?"

"I didn't think it was that important. Besides, he doesn't really train me. Kakashi-sensei is my sensei, though he doesn't train me much either…"

Tenten sighed "Just promise me, if you ever get to meet Tsunade-sama, and you get the chance, please introduce me to her"

"Will do" Naruto said smiling. He knew that Tsunade was Tenten's idol, and that she held her in very high regard. He finished his bowl "Oh well, I'm full now. How about you?"

Tenten looked at him with an amused look "I have been done for twenty minutes"

Naruto chuckled at that "Well, thank you for staying then"

"No problem. What are friends for, right?"

"Right". And with that they paid for their meal, said their goodbyes, and walked each their way home.

- Next morning at Konoha main gate, 11 A.M. -

"Gah, where are your sensei? He should've been here three hours ago!" Tazuna said rather irritated "I knew you weren't worth anything". Sakura and Sasuke shot him a glare. Naruto just kept reading his book. He may have lost it a bit when he first met the old drunk, but he weren't gonna let that happen again. He was aiming to be a top notch shinobi of Konoha.

Naruto looked up from his book "Well, it's almost eleven now, so he should be here any minute. He is always at least three hours late."

And as if called upon, a puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the road, with Kakashi in the middle of it.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched, making everyone else wince at the volume of her voice.

"Sorry, sorry. You see, a cat crossed my path, so I had to take another way, and then I saw an old lady trying to get across the street, and I just had to stop to help her over". All the persons present just gave him a look that said 'You don't really think you're fooling anyone, do you?' "Anyway, it seems like we're all here, so let's get going. Remember all the stuff you have packed."

Sasuke scoffed, but picked up his backpack. He took a look at Naruto. He couldn't see any backpack "dobe, aren't you forgetting something?"

Naruto was putting his book down in his pocket "No, what should that be?"

It was Sakura who answered "What about the things you should have packed?"

Naruto shrugged and held up two scrolls "It's in here. Way easier than carrying around a heavy backpack."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He had seen that Naruto was reading fūinjutsu books, but he didn't think he was this far in it. He stopped Sakura and Sasuke from digging more into it "Ok, it seems you all have your stuff, so let's get going." With that Tazuna and Team 7 walked out the gate, making their way to Nami no Kuni.

Next time: the wave mission begins.

Nami no Kuni – Land of Waves

Kawa no Kuni – Land of Rivers

Densetsu no Sannin - Literally meaning "Legendary Three Ninja": The Sannin was a group of three legendary ninja, noted to be three of the greatest ninja of their time. While all three eventually left the village at some point for their own reasons, they still retained their title as the Sannin. Their names are Senju Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: To Nami no Kuni with demons in the mist

Team 7 was walking down a road in the middle of the forest surrounding Konoha. They had only left said village a few hours ago, and had some days of journey ahead of them. Tazuna was walking in the middle of the group, with Kakashi walking behind the rest, pretending to read his little orange book while giggling perversely, to complete the illusion. He didn't think much was going to happen on this mission, maybe a few thugs, one or two bandits, but nothing his team couldn't handle. But he knew he had to keep an eye out; he was responsible for the safety of his team, and he wouldn't let anything happen to them, even if it meant giving his own life in the process.

In the front Sasuke was walking, with Sakura trying to get his attention by trying to start a conversation, but she wasn't very successful; all she got in return was scoffs, and if she were lucky, a couple of "hn" from didn't matter that much to her; she just kept telling Sasuke of her life, all the things she wanted for the future and so on.

Naruto was walking on the right side of Tazuna, while enjoying the day. He was working on the water balloon that Jiraiya gave him, but he hadn't had much luck. So far it would only bent one way, nothing what Jiraiya's balloon had looked like. But he kept trying.

He looked over at Sakura and Sasuke 'Now she even let her fangirlish tendencies disrupt missions. She is supposed to walk on Tazuna-ojisan's left side to guard him. I guess it doesn't matter much right now; this is only a C-rank, but… I really got to figure a way to get into her head that she got to start taking being a kunoichi serious. If not, she could be killed, or one of us could, try to protect her…' Absently glancing at their sensei, he noticed the silver-haired Jounin lone visible eye expressed the same feeling observing Sakura's current actions.

Eventually the rosette ran out of things to talk to Sasuke about, and turned towards the bridge-builder "Tazuna-san, can I ask you about something?"

Tazuna looked at the little pink haired girl "What is it?"

"You're from Nami no Kuni, right?" she asked curiously

"What about it?" he asked just a little irritated. The drunkard was an old man, and he wasn't known for his patience.

"I was just wondering why you didn't use ninja from your own country? Don't you have a village there?"

It was Kakashi who answered "no, there are no ninja in Nami no Kuni. Some countries are too small, too poor, or simply don't want or need a ninja village. For Nami it's the latter. It's remote and isn't influenced or influencing easily by other countries, so there is no need for a ninja village. If a small country, like Nami, needs help from shinobi, they get it from a village from another country, like Konoha."

Tazuna nodded "you're quite right" and left it at that. After that they walked in silence, only interrupted by Sakura trying to get Sasuke to talk again from time to time.

They continued like that for a few more hours. They were almost out of the forest, when Naruto noticed something. It was a little pool of water in the middle of the road. He frowned 'That's odd. It hasn't rained for over two weeks; in fact, it has been quite the opposite. There hasn't been more than a few clouds on the heaven, and it's been baking hot. And yet, here in the middle of the road, in a month where the sun has been high in the sky, there is a water puddle.' He thought for a few seconds, trying to figure out how it could be 'Could it be?' He glanced back at Kakashi, who subtly nodded without taking his eyes off his book. They continued forward.

They passed the puddle without either of Sakura or Sasuke noticing the oddity. When they had passed it by a few meters it quietly morphed into two cloaked people. Kakashi and Naruto had noticed it, but didn't show. Quickly, one of the persons threw the other, retracting the kunai-chain that was connecting the two through gauntlets. They quickly wrapped Kakashi in it, before stopping on each side of him. The rest of the group turned around. Tazuna, Sasuke and Sakura looked shocked, while Naruto acted like it, but in reality he knew that Kakashi had a plan. Naruto took a closer look at the two now obvious shinobi, and saw their hitai-ate's 'Kirigakure. What are kiri-nin doing here?'

The two kiri-nin retracted the kunai-chain, slicing what appeared to be Kakashi in half. "First one down" the one on the left said. They quickly disappeared in a blur of speed, only to reappear behind Naruto "Second one". Their chain began to extend out, trying to wrap itself around Naruto. He wouldn't have any of that; he stomped in the ground, making a small wall of crystal appear between him and the kiri-nin.

They were stunned, and before they could react, a shuriken followed by a kunai impaled their chain on a tree behind them. Sasuke was up in the air going through some hand signs. He took a deep breath, before spewing out a large fireball "Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu". The kiri-nin tried to pull the chain out of the tree, but quickly realized that they couldn't. They snapped the chain from their gauntlet, and dodged by jumped each their way, but they weren't finished yet. One of them charged towards Sasuke, and the other towards Tazuna, both planning to strike their target down with their claw.

Sakura quickly got in front of Tazuna with a kunai in her hand 'I have to protect him! He is our charge! But how? How can I do this?' she trembled lightly "Stay back Tazuna-san!"

Naruto saw this. He wasn't concerned about Sasuke; as much as an ass he was, he could take care of himself. But it was another story with Sakura. This was exactly what he had feared might happen. He saw the kiri-nin get closer and closer to the pink haired kunoichi, and knew he had to do something fast. Quickly he went through hand signs and slapped his hand down on the ground "Shoton: Suisho no Hashira."

Before the shinobi from kiri could react, he was shot seven meters into the air by a crystal pillar that had appeared under him. He narrowed his eyes when he looked down and saw the blond ninja holding his hand palm on the ground. Naruto smirked "Your battle is with me!"

Naruto quickly glanced over at Sasuke before his own battle started. He was doing ok as far as he could see; he were dodging most attacks, and quickly japing to counter. He looked back at his own opponent who was jumping down from the pillar. He looked at Sakura; he eyes were full of fear. He nodded at her with a smile. It seemed to help a little, as she tried to smile and nodded back at him.

Naruto jumped back to dodge the claw that was slashing at him from above. The kiri-nin was glaring at him. Naruto just smirked "Now, you can't expect me to nicely stay in one place. That would just be too easy, now wouldn't it?" He only got a growl in response. The kiri-nin began slashing at Naruto, who dodged it each and every time. Naruto jumped back after thirty second of that and laughed a bit "You will have to do better than that".

Sasuke heard Naruto laugh, and looked over to see how easily he was handling his opponent. It angered him 'Trying to show me up, are you dobe? Not going to work! I'm gonna get my opponent down in no time!' he thought as he ducked under yet another strike, only to counter with a kick in the stomach, which pushed his opponent back a meter or two. He charged his opponent and unleashed a flurry of punches and kick from his Uchiha style. However he was unfocused, this caused him to be left open, not going unnoticed by the kiri-nin. He slashed towards Sasuke's not open ribs. Sasuke saw it, but couldn't block it; he wasn't fast enough. Just before it hit, a couple of crystals shot up from the ground, blocking the attack.

"Teme! Get your game together! I can't fight both our fights!" Naruto yelled, jumping over a strike and kicking his opponent in the face. Sasuke scoffed.

In Naruto's fight, he was the clear superior thanks to his hard earned training plus Ero-Sennin. The longer they fought, the more of an advantage he had. The kiri-nin kept slashing at him, exhausting himself like that. Sasuke's were another story. They were close to equals, and it didn't help that Sasuke didn't keep his head cool. He tried to prove himself because of how good Naruto was doing, resulting in him getting bruises here and there, but no cuts so far.

Naruto winced when his opponent finally got him; he had a scratch across the back of his hand. Naruto decided that he had had enough of it "Sasuke, throw yours over here".

Sasuke looked annoyed by the fact that his blond teammate was giving him orders, but complied. The next time his opponent slashed at him, he grabbed his arms, and threw him over at Naruto's opponent. They knocked each other to the ground, and Naruto went through a seals "Kessho Purizumu". Three glass-thin red crystals grew out of the ground, encasing the kiri-nin in a prism. But Naruto didn't stop there; he went through another set of seals, before slamming his hand on the red crystal "Shoton: Baningu Kosoku." From the sides of the crystal prism, crystal chains shot out, wrapping around the two enemy shinobi. When it was done, Naruto lowered the prism, only leaving the two kiri-nin sitting on the ground. Before they could react, Naruto knocked them both out by slamming them on the neck.

That's when Kakashi came out of the tree-line clapping. "Very good, I'm impressed" he said with an eye smile. Sakura and Sasuke watched him with wide eyes, before glancing over where they thought they had seen him getting sliced in half. There were only wood-pieces left there – a clear evidence of a Kawarimi. Naruto just watched passively. He didn't think there was a way for Kakashi to get taken down by two ninja of that caliber.

Tazuna scoffed "Why didn't you help your students? They could've died! I knew I should've asked for some better shinobi" he said sounding a little bit irritated.

Kakashi looked back at him without emotion "I was standing in the tree-line all the time, ready to jump in at any moment if the need should arise."

He paused walking over to the kiri-nin, inspecting the crystal chains. Loosening them, the Jounin dragged the unconscious duo to the nearest tree. The silver-haired Jounin comments; "Now, isn't there something you would like to tell us? Those two are the Demon Brothers of Kiri; Gozu and Meizu. They are two C-rank missing-nin. While they could've been after one of us, but that is highly unlikely. For one reason; these three" Kakashi gestured towards his team "are newly graduated ninja; they haven't made their name yet. It's true they could've been after me, but I don't have anything standing with Kiri. Another reason is that we just got assigned to this mission. Not even the Hokage knew we were going to get it, before we did. So that only leaves you" Kakashi continued while tying up the Demon Brothers. Tazuna gulped. Kakashi ignored it for now and turned towards Naruto "You can dispel your chains now" Naruto nodded and snapped his fingers, making his chains shatter. While Naruto didn't need to snap, he loved how it looked. But to give him some credit, he was still a twelve year old, ninja or not. Kakashi saw the cut at Naruto's hand "Naruto, their blades are poisoned, don't move too much, or the poison will spread".

Kakashi turned towards Tazuna "I'll ask you more directly: are there any reasons for two missing-nin to be after you? Because we haven't heard anything about you being targeted by missing-nin. Your request was to protect you from armed groups like thugs or robbers. This is a mission that's above C-rank, possibly B-rank borderline A-rank. Our mission was to support and guard you until you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B- or A-rank. It looks like you have your reasons, but it only troubles us if you lie in your request details. This" he gestured to The Demon Brothers "wasn't a part of the mission."

That's when Sakura spoke up "This mission is out of our league. We may have been able to defeat these guys, but they couldn't have been more than high genin to low chunin level skill wise. If whoever is after you send stronger shinobi, we will be in trouble. Let's quit. We also need anesthesia to take out the poisoned blood out of Naruto. We need to go back to the village and see a doctor!" In the weeks since they had graduated, Naruto had grown on her some. While she still found him annoying from time to time, and she didn't like the way he acted towards Sasuke, she had started to respect him for his skills. Something she never thought she would in the Academy.

"No, that's not needed" the group looked at Naruto. Naruto looked at Sakura "Can I borrow a kunai please?" she was weary, not knowing what he was going to do, but lent him one. As soon as he had it in his hand, he quickly stabbed the back of his hand, forcing a lot of blood out.

Sakura gasped "What are you doing baka!"

Naruto shrugged "The mission is still on"

"Naruto, it's nice that you took out the poisoned blood and all, but you're going to die from loss of blood if any more comes out" Kakashi said with a carefree voice.

Naruto just laughed at the comment "As if that could happen". He knew of the Kyuubi's regenerative abilities that he had gotten. He dried off the blood from the kunai, and handed it to Sakura "Thanks for lending it to me". He then went on to drying off his hand in the grass, before continuing walking down the path.

Kakashi soon followed, with the rest of the group close behind. He watched the hand, and could see it was already healing 'So that's what he meant. It must be the Kyuubi's power. He knows more about it than I would have thought'.

- Fortress, Unknown location -

"Failed!? I spent a lot of money to hire all of you because I heard you all were skilled ninja!" a short man in a business suit said looking at a larger man, who was sitting in a throne-like chair.

"Stop complaining!" the man in the chair sneered, swinging a big butcher-like knife at the shorter man, just to stop inches from his throat. "I'll use this decapitating "knife" and kill those guys."

The shorter man didn't seem to believe he could do it, and starting talking in a mocking tone "Do you really think you will be ok? It looks like the enemy has hired good shinobi, and since the Demon Brothers failed in the assassination, they'll be more cautious, so it won't be easy"

"Who do you think I am?" the sword wielding person said, not liking the tone the shorter man was speaking to him in. "I, Momochi Zabuza, was called the Demon of Kirigakure."

The shorter man looked at him glaring back "fine, do what you want. But I expect him to be dead – and soon" he said, walking away.

- Team 7 campsite later that night -

Naruto was sitting on a hill at the edge of the camp. Kakashi had taken the first watch, and he was taking the second. He was sitting reading the book on fūinjutsu. He almost understood the concept behind the explosion tags. But he knew he couldn't make them yet. The blonde made a note to himself to have his clones work on his handwriting. He wasn't ashamed to say that it sucked; he hadn't really needed it – until now.

He heard steps behind and looked over his shoulder, to see Sakura walking towards him he turned to his book again "Can't sleep?"

"No" her voice sounded behind him "I was – hey! Aren't you supposed to keep watch?" she asked a little accusingly. Naruto didn't answer, instead he pointed to places at the edge of the camp. She looked to see a couple of kage bunshin. "Oh, sorry…"

"No problem" he flipped a page "why can't you sleep?"

She hesitated. She didn't really know if she wanted to share this with Naruto. She sighed, and sat down a meter beside him "I keep thinking about the battle. And then now, how tired Sasuke is because of it… I don't know."

This time it was Naruto's turn to hesitate. This was the moment he had waited for; the moment he could try to get her to act more like a kunoichi instead of a fangirl. "I have some advice, but I don't know how much you're going to like it." She just looked at him, as he continued "You need to get it together. We're shinobi now; we aren't just students. If it had been only you today, Tazuna and you would have been killed."

Sakura frowned. She didn't like it, but he was true "what would you have me do then?"

"Stop being a fan girl" was his tactless blunt response.

"I'm not a fan girl!" Naruto looked up from his book and gave her a look that said 'Are you kidding me?' She sighed "ok, maybe just a little bit"

Naruto shook his head with an amused grin on his lips "Try to take being a kunoichi more serious. Don't go on diet, you need the energy the food gives you. If you train without it, you will just become skinny. And not the good skinny you want, I mean bad unhealthy skinny. I don't think Sasuke would like that very much" she blushed like she had just found out her secret crush "and then start training. Stop caring so much about your clothes, hair and so on. Start focusing on training more." He paused "And for the record, it may even help your chances with Sasuke" it hurt a bit to say that to the girl he had a crush on "Sasuke is attracted to power. So if you become a powerful kunoichi, you may even get him."

Sakura nodded. She didn't like everything that was said. She needed to think about it. She rose and started walking back to her tent, but stopped and turned halfway around "Thank you… Naruto." Naruto just lifted his hand and half waved without looking up from his book, as to say 'no problem'. She walked to her tent, and tried to get some sleep before her watch was coming up. However her thoughts lingered some, especially on the new attitude of their blond teammate.

He changed so much since the academy… and ever since learning he has a Kekkai Genkai, he has been more responsible. He still acts only a little goofy, but he does not even ask me out on dates any more…

For whatever reason she felt a ping in her heart from that. He still calls her Sakura-Chan, but overall he has acted much more appropriate to her. Yet something still mewled at her.

'I really like this Naruto…. But kind of miss the old one… a little bit…'

- Early next morning -

Team 7 and Tazuna were sailed in a little boat in the thick morning mist. They were sailing from the mainland to the largest island of Nami no Kuni. The boat didn't even have a motor; it was propelled forward by a guy who was slowly paddling, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"The mist is so thick. I can't see anything in it" Sakura stated.

No one answered her right away, but Tazuna broke the silence "We should be able to see the bridge soon"

"If we sail alongside the bridge, we should be in Nami no Kuni soon" the paddling guy said.

And as if on command, the bridge appeared out of the mist. The Genin were stunned; it was huge. They had never seen anything like it. "Wow… that's unbelievable." Naruto said a little highly, while the other Genin nodded in agreement.

The paddling guy didn't like it "Hey, be quiet! We're using this boat and hiding in the mist. That's why I'm rowing instead of using an engine. In other words; if we get caught, we'll be in serious trouble!"

"Sorry" Naruto said lowly.

Kakashi was looking at the old bridge builder "Tazuna-san, before the boat gets to the pier, there's something I need to ask you." Tazuna looked like he knew what was coming "Who are the people who are after you, and why are they after you. That or we call the mission when you get ashore, and return to Konoha."

All the eyes of the Konoha shinobi were on the bridge-builder "it looked like I have to tell you the real story. I mean, I would like for you to hear my story. As you said" he nodded towards Sakura "this mission is most likely out of your job description and capabilities." He paused. No one was commenting, just looking at him intensely. "An extremely terrible man is after my life."

"Who is it?" Sakura asked

"You should have all at least heard of the name… Marine transportation billionaire Gatou."

That surprised Kakashi "Gatou? The one from the Gatou Company? He's one of the richest men on the elemental continent."

Tazuna nodded "Yeah, he is the president of the Gatou Company on the outside. But underground he uses gangs and ninjas to smuggle drugs and contraband goods. He also does a nasty jobs like takeovers of other companies and small countries. And one year ago, he set his sight on Nami no Kuni. He entered this country using violence and wealth as his shield and he quickly took over the island's sea traffic and transportation."

"Of course…" Naruto said, bringing all eyes on him.

"Of course what dobe?" Sasuke asked, irritated that Naruto apparently figured something out before him.

"If you wanted to take over a country like Nami, what would be the first thing you were going to do?" neither Sakura nor Sasuke answered him. "Take over the shipping industry. If you control that, you control everything in a country like this. They use the shipping industry to get things from the mainland, to transport stuff between the islands and so on. In a country like Nami, controlling the sea means ruling over the wealth, politics and the people. By taking over the shipping industry, you effectively control close to everything in a country like this."

Sakura was wide eyed; 'he actually paid attention?! I thought he slept through the studies?'

"You're quite right" Tazuna nodded in agreement "And the one thing Gatou fears is the completion of my bridge, which has been under construction for quite some time."

Sakura seemed to catch on "I see… So you, as the one building the bridge, it became an obstacle to him."

"Then those ninjas were sent by Gatou" Sasuke concluded

Kakashi turned back to look at Tazuna "But what I don't understand is this: He's a dangerous man that uses shinobi. Why did you hide that fact when you came to us?"

It wasn't him that answered, but Naruto "isn't it obvious Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi looked questioning at Naruto "Gatou has taken over the economy of this place, so the people here can't have much money to begin with. And then add the fact that they are building the bridge, they have even less. I'm guessing they didn't have enough money to pay for a higher ranking mission. But if you ask me, Sandaime-jiji would probably have made a deal with you guys, though you wouldn't know that."

"You're right again. Nami no Kuni is a really poor country. Even the feudal lord doesn't have much money. We don't have the money to request for an expensive B-rank or above mission… If you quit your mission after I land, I'll be killed for sure while I go home…" He paused "But there's no need for you to blame yourselves. Only my cute eight year old grandson will cry and cry and cry some more." Naruto got a feeling he knew where this was going "And my daughter will hold a grudge against Konoha and its shinobi and live a lonely life." He paused again, looking around at the sweat dropped faces of the Konoha-nin "But it's not your fault."

Kakashi seemed to be thinking for a second "I guess it can't be helped then. We will continue to escort you."

"That's good to hear."

It hadn't been much longer after that conversation before they had seen shore. Now they were walking down one of the many paths in Nami no Kuni to Tazuna's home. Team 7 was on guard, now that they knew what they were up knew that Gatou probably would send stronger shinobi next time.

They were walking cautiously down one of the many roads in Wave. They were surrounding Tazuna, Kakashi taking the rear, Naruto taking the front, and Sasuke and Sakura taking the flanks. Suddenly Naruto conjured a couple of shuriken, and threw them into some bushes. The rest of the team stopped in their tracks, holding their kunai in defensive positions.

They kept their guard up. Then Naruto blinked a few times "Sorry, I thought I heard something over there."

"You're such a dobe" Sasuke said, putting his kunai down his kunai-holder again.

Kakashi nodded at Naruto before heading over to the moved it away, finding a dead white-furred bunny. The Jounin frowned 'That's a snow rabbit. But what's with the color of its fur? They only have white fur during winter, when the days are short.' He looked around the tree-line, trying to spot anyone close by. That means it is a rabbit that was raised inside a place where the sun isn't a factor, highly likely for the Kawarimi no jutsu. He kept looking around, not going unnoticed by Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke had been shown up by Naruto more than he liked in the past few days. They readied themselves.

Kakashi spotted a sliver of silver in the corner of his eye. "Everyone, get down!" A big butcher-like sword were flying like a deadly Frisbee through the air, heading towards were Tazuna was standing. Naruto took action first, grabbing Tazuna's sleeve, and ducked, forcing the old man with him. Sasuke wasn't far behind, grabbing Sakura's wrist. The sword flew over their heads by mere centimeters, before hitting and embedding itself in a tree behind them. A man appeared on the handle of the sword.

"Sharingan no Kakashi. I see. Shinobi on the level of the Demon Brothers couldn't have handled you." The man looked over the Konoha-nin.

Kakashi stepped forward. "That may very well be, but it wasn't me who took them down. It was my team" he looked the man over.

Sasuke meanwhile reacted on the Sharingan part. 'Kakashi-sensei has the Sharingan? But I thought only members of my clan had it' he frowned, then smiled a bit, as much as Sasuke can smile anyway, 'I guess I can learn a thing or two from him after all.'

"Momochi Zabuza, also known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist. Current status: missing-nin. Forced into hiding after an unsuccessful coup d'état against the Yondaime Mizukage" Kakashi looked back at his team. "Team, stay back. You'll only get in the way"

Sasuke scoffed at that "Why? We took the Demon Brothers down pretty easy!" now it was Naruto's turn to scoff. Sasuke turned towards him "Do you have something to say?"

"Yeah, the Demon Brothers must've hit your head pretty hard. The Demon Brothers were high genin to low chunin level. Momochi Zabuza, on the other hand, is at low to mid Jounin level; we wouldn't stand a chance. The only one on our team who has a chance is Kakashi-sensei, and the best teamwork we can offer him right now, is stay out of his way" Naruto was so glad he had talked Jiji into giving him one of the bingo books. He had memorized it, so he would know when to fight and when to run. Sasuke just scoffed. Kakashi nodded approvingly back at Naruto.

"Now, we can do this in one of two ways. One: you simply hand over the old man, and I let you go without a scratch" Zabuza's voice sounded. Then he smirked, jumping down from his spot on the sword, taking it with him down "Or two: you refuse, and I kill you all before you can count to five" he finished, getting in to his battle-stance.

Kakashi looked seriously at Zabuza. 'If he is our enemy' Kakashi moved his hand up towards his hitai-ate, pulling it up slightly 'I can't afford to hold back' he pushed the hitai-ate the rest of the way up, exposing his left eye: The Sharingan. He turned his face slightly, to see his team out of the corner of his eye "everyone,form the triangle formation. Protect Tazuna-san" the three Genin were fast, taking the position: Tazuna in the middle, with the three Genin standing around, Sakura and Sasuke having regular kunai up in front of them, and Naruto having a crystal version.

"Oh, I'm honored. I get to see the famous Sharingan right of the bat. This will be interesting" he continued while a thick mist was forming "but let's cut the chit-chat now". He vanished in a blur of speed, before reappearing on top of a lake. The three Genin were surprised and impressed by the speed, but it quickly turned into fear. They realized they didn't have chance, what so ever, against him.

Zabuza stood with half the ram sign in front of his chest, while his other arm was pointing up. The water under him started to make small waves, while water particles swirled around him. 'He's putting a lot of chakra into the water' Kakashi noticed. He brought up his kunai, ready to charge.

He didn't make it before Zabuza casted his jutsu. "Kirigakure no Jutsu" the mist peaked; Team 7 couldn't see three feet in front of them.

The Genin couldn't see Kakashi anymore, and tightened up their stance. "Eight points" it sounded from everywhere and nowhere. "The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidney, and the heart. Eight points I need to strike once, and you're dead" the Genin shuddered "Now, how do you wish to die?"

Kakashi, also hearing this, summoned a bunch of chakra, making a small shockwave, effectively pushing away the mist just around him and his team. Sasuke was frozen in fear 'what an intense thirst for blood! One breathing motion, or one eye movement will be detected, and it'll get me killed… What an atmosphere! If I stay here much longer, I'll go insane!' Sasuke started trembling now.

"Sasuke" Kakashi's voice sounded. "Don't worry. I'll protect the three of you with my life. I won't let anyone on my team die" he said with an eye-smile.

"I wonder about that, Kakashi" Zabuza's voice sounded again, right before he appeared in between the three Genin. Kakashi reacted fast, charging at Zabuza, pushing him back. Zabuza was wide-eyed

"The fight begins now" Kakashi said, slashing at Zabuza with impressive speed. The missing-nin simply jumped back, dodging the slash. Before he had landed, Kakashi brought up three more kunai, casting them towards Zabuza. He dodged one, but the others hit their marks, on dead-center in the forehead, and two in the chest. Zabuza was standing still, before beginning to leak water.

That's when another figure appeared behind with a slashing motion. "Sensei, watch out! Behind you!" Sakura yelled, but too late. Kakashi was cut in half. The time seemed to slow down for the Genin, before what they had thought to be Kakashi to burst into water.

Zabuza looked wide eyed. 'He copied my jutsu!? I didn't even see him make the hand signs!'

Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza, holding up a Kunai close to his throat. Zabuza sliced his sword towards Kakashi, who quickly blocked with his kunai. He hadn't expected the force though, and was forced out on the lake. Zabuza was close behind, standing a couple of meters away facing his opponent.

"I must say, you live up to your nickname, Copy Ninja Kakashi. I am impressed; and I'm not easily impressed" Zabuza voiced. "But now we're in my element" he started making hand signs. Kakashi did the same signs at the exact same moment. When they were through with the signs, both of them yelled "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu" two great dragons shaped out of water morphed out of the waters, heading for the other. They collided with great force that caused a shockwave. The two Jounin guarded themselves.

Zabuza looked in shock at his opponent 'how did he do that? He didn't simply copy my jutsu; he used it the exact same time! Could he be…?'

"Reading my mind?" it came from Kakashi.

Zabuza looked even more shocked than more, but quickly reined it in. "I don't know what you did, but it ends here."

Zabuza charged again, closing in, forcing the two shinobi to use Taijutsu. Zabuza sliced at his opponent, but Kakashi blocked with his kunai. Zabuza frowned, putting more force into it. He won the struggle, forcing Kakashi underwater.

Kakashi quickly swam to the surface again. 'What the matter with this water? It's so heavy!' He thought while climbing up on the surface again.

Zabuza grinned at that "I'm afraid you've fallen into my trap Kakashi". He appeared behind the half submerged Kakashi and went through some hand signs again "Suiro no Jutsu."

Kakashi looked back at Zabuza who were standing with a hand extended towards him. 'Shit!'

The water quickly formed a sphere around him and Zabuza's hand. 'I thought I could use the water as cover, but it turned out to be a mistake on my part' Kakashi thought, while trying to think of a way to get out of the water-prison.

Zabuza laughed "I told you this was my element. You give me a hard time when you're moving, but now that won't be a problem." He looked over at Tazuna and team 7 "Now then, Kakashi, I'm going to finish you off later. First, I'm going to get rid of them". He made a hand sign "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu" a water clone appeared.

Back at Tazuna Team 7 was starring wide-eyed in fear. Kakashi had been captured! They were all trying to figure a way out of this mess. They knew they couldn't handle an Jounin level ninja. Their only chance was to find a way to release Kakashi from the water prison.

Naruto leaned towards Sasuke "Try do distract him, I have a plan that may work". Sasuke stared back at his teammate for a moment, before nodding.

Sasuke faced the water clone again. He began casting a barrage of kunai and shuriken, but to no avail. The clone simply dodged and blocked them. Sasuke summoned a fuma shuriken, casting it, hoping it would buy him just a bit of time, and then went through the hand signs for his clans' Katon jutsu. He took a deep breath and breathed out a large fireball "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu". The clone was surprised that a Genin could use such an advanced jutsu, but again dodged it with ease. Sasuke was starting to pant slightly; the jutsu had taken a good portion of his chakra, and he hadn't recovered fully from the encounter with the Demon Brothers- "Dobe, I hope you're done soon. I can't hold him off much longer."

Naruto nodded "Hai, just give me a few more seconds Teme" he needed a lot of chakra for this jutsu. While he had monster reserves, it wasn't easy to summon a huge amount at once. "There" he made hand seals "Shoton: Kessho Gokakuro" the ground under the clone, and the water under Kakashi's water prison glowed brightly pink, before they were encased in crystal. Naruto concentrated and made the ram seal "funsai!" the clone shattered into a thousand pieces, and so did the prison, leaving Kakashi free, who jumped back to get clear of Zabuza's range. He was impressed with Naruto; 'he guessed it wasn't easy to crystallize some, but not all, of something like his water prison.'

Zabuza was shocked. He looked over at the blond Genin, who were looking intensely back at him. He turned to Kakashi and asked a simple question "How?"

Kakashi looked at Zabuza, and quickly glanced over at Shino, before making eye-contact again "The blond Genin on team. He possess Shoton"

A look of surprise spread across Zabuza's face 'Shoton!? I haven't even heard about it before now…' he looked at Naruto again.

Kakashi then turned serious once again "But now, this really must end".

Zabuza began making hand signs, Kakashi following. Just before Zabuza was done, Kakashi cried "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

Zabuza was wide eyed 'This time he didn't do it at the same time as me. He did it before me!' Water began encircling around Kakashi, before shooting towards Zabuza. There was too much to be able to dodge. He was slammed away by the great mass of water.

It slammed him through multiple trees, before pinning him to one. Before he could look around, three kunai flew towards him, impaling him in different spots. Kakashi jumped and stood on a branch of the tree, while the water resided. Zabuza was panting heavily now. The water had really roughed him up. He looked down on the ground "Can you… Can you see the future?" he asked Kakashi.

Said person looked down at him "Yeah. And I tell you what I can see." He brought up another kunai "You're going to die". He jumped down, and was just about to strike, when his senses told him to jump away. He did so, only to see three senbon needles hitting Zabuza in the neck. His eyes rolled back in the head, and his body fell to the ground lifeless.

Kakashi and team 7 were stunned. They looked back to where the senbon needles had come from. They saw boy, not much older than themselves, standing. He has a mask over his face "It was true. He did die".

Kakashi jumped over to where Zabuza's apparent body was, checking for any life signs. He didn't find any "he really is dead". He looked back at boy who had killed his opponent.

The boy bowed slightly "thank you very much. I was looking for a chance to kill Zabuza".

"That mask… If I remember correctly, you must be a hunter-nin from Kirigakure" Kakashi said.

The boy stood up straight again "You are well informed, Sharingan Kakashi". He paused for a moment before continuing "yes, I am a member of the pursuing shinobi unit that hunts missing-nin." Kakashi looked analyzing on the hunter-nin 'judging from his height and voice, he must not be that older than Sasuke and the others. Yet, he is a hunter-nin.' He looked over him again 'he's no ordinary kid.'

The hunter-nin shunshined over to Zabuza's corpse, taking its arm across his neck, effectively carrying it "Your battle ends here for now. I must go dispose of this corpse. It's a body filled with secrets. If you'll excuse me" he finished, then shunshined away.

Kakashi, looking at where the hunter-nin had been, pushed down his hitai-ate, covering his Sharingan again. He turned towards his team and Tazuna "Our mission hasn't ended yet. We need to escort Tazuna-san to his house" the Genin nodded.

Tazuna grinned "Sorry about that, everyone! Just rest at my house!" the shinobi just sweat dropped at Tazuna's carefree attitude.

'No more than two minutes ago was he close to dying, and there he is standing grinning' Sasuke thought. He sighed deeply.

"Ok, let's go everyone!" Kakashi said, stating to head down the road. He hadn't gone more than a few steps, when he collapsed.

His team was beside him quickly with Sakura examining him "he looks ok. I can't be sure though". She turned towards Tazuna "How long is there to your house?"

Tazuna looked down on Kakashi "It's just up the road. Shouldn't be more than half an hour away by now" Sakura nodded at that.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kirigakure – Village hidden in the Mist: One of the five major shinobi villages.

Shoton: Suisho no Hashira – Crystal Release: Crystal Pillar: The user summons a big pink crystal pillar, which can shoot himself or opponents high up in the air. It can be attached or unattached to the ground. The size of the pillar is depending on the user's chakra and control.

Kessho Purizumu – Crystal Prism: A jutsu that has a variety of uses. This technique allows the user to focus chakra into the ground and three triangular walls of crystal shot up out of the ground and enclose around the target. The prism is large enough to enclose two or three average sized people if they are close together. The user can use it as a method of defense against assault from any angle or attempt to use the crystal walls to seal and trap any enemies inside the prism, making it a handy trick to trap any escaping ninja. Despite the red walls appearing glass thin, this jutsu is very resilient against Ninjutsu attacks, and it takes a lot of physical force to break through.

Shoton: Baningu Kosoku – Crystal Release: Burning Restraints: The user converts his chakra intro crystal, which forms chains. The chains can be loosed or tightened at the will of the user.

Sharingan - Literally meaning "Copy Wheel Eye" or "Mirror Wheel Eye": is a dojutsu Kekkai Genkai, which appears in some members of the Uchiha clan. The Sharingan is also called "Heaven's Eye" because of the many abilities it grants the user.

Kirigakure no Jutsu – Hiding in Mist Technique: This displacement technique is a specialty of the ninja from Kirigakure, where one causes a mist to spring forth by lifting up some water from either a pre-existing source or expelled from their mouth,[2] then goes in and out of sight at will from within the pearly-white realm. The mist's thickness is controlled by the amount of chakra kneaded into it.

Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu – Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique: This technique shapes a large amount of water into a giant, powerful dragon, which hits the opponent with formidable might, dealing physical damage. The ideal place to use it is near a body of water, but if the user's skill allows it, it is possible to use it even in a place where there is none. The amount of water used will be in proportion with the user's skill.

Suiro no Jutsu – Water Prison Technique: This technique is used to trap a victim inside a virtually inescapable sphere of water. The only downside to this technique is that the user must keep at least one arm inside the sphere at all times in order for the victim to remain imprisoned. This technique requires a sufficient amount of water, which can be provided by expelling it from one's mouth. Despite the fact that the prison is made up entirely out of water, it is stronger than steel. Once trapped the target is unable to move while within it due to the heaviness of the water. Because of the density of the water it can be used, to a limited extent, for defensive purposes if performed on oneself. It can also be stored in scrolls as traps.

Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu – Water Clone Technique: The Water Clone Technique is similar to the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu except it creates clones out of water that have one-tenth of the original person's power. Like other solid clone techniques, the clones can be used to perform tasks the user is unable or unwilling to do for themselves. The range of the clone is limited however, as it cannot travel very far from the original body without losing control. Like other clone techniques, if the water clones are injured enough they will revert back to normal water.

Shoton: Kessho Gokakuro – Crystal Release: Crystal Pentagonal Prison: The user completely encases her opponents in crystal. When the crystal is shattered, the bodies of the victims disintegrate along with the crystal particles.

Funsai – Shatter.

Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu – Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique: This technique extends water over a large scale, surges and rises up to several dozen meters high. Then it streams down to the ground in one big cascade, much like a gigantic waterfall. In doing so, it resembles a huge wave, with tremendous power that can hollow out the ground. What remains after that technique's utilization is reminiscent of no less than the aftermath of a natural disaster. This is a considerably advanced Ninjutsu, and activating this technique requires a fair amount of chakra.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: A week in Nami making lucky charms

- At Tazuna's home -

Kakashi's visible eye fluttered open. He was looking up at a wooden ceiling 'I used the Sharingan too much… At least we beat Zabuza'

"Oi sensei, you're awake" Kakashi rolled his head and looked over at his blond Genin sitting cross-legged beside him. "I'll tell the boss" Naruto said before puffing away in smoke. Kakashi raised his eyebrow 'He was a shadow clone… so that's how he's done it'

It didn't take long before he could hear footsteps out in the hallway along with "dobe, how can you know he's awake? You have been with us all along" from what sounded like Sasuke.

"Just trust me on this one teme" Naruto said

"Naruto-Baka! Stop calling Sasuke things like that!" it came from Sakura.

Then the door slit open "See, I told you he was awake" the blond Genin said with a big smile.

Sakura rolled her eyes and made her way over to where Kakashi was laying "It's good to see you're awake again" she paused while she sat down beside him "The Sharingan really is amazing, but it puts a lot of strain on the body. I'm not sure if it's good or bad"

"No" Naruto said while making his way to the other side of the futon "it's because it isn't Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan. Only the members of the Uchiha clan can get it. I'm guessing you had it transplanted, and by what I saw, it was when you were quite young." The other looked at him like he was crazy. While they had slowly started to accept that Naruto actually knew stuff, it was still surprising that he could estimate when Kakashi had his eye transplanted, just by looking at it once. It had also caught Sasuke's attention, since it was his Kekkai Genkai the subject was one. Naruto continued "Normally the Sharingan, or the Byakugan for that matter, doesn't take that much chakra or do so much strain on the body, but I'm guessing because it isn't a part of his body, it takes much more. People with Kekkai Genkai are normally born with bodies adapted to it, as the Uchiha clan, who hasn't the biggest chakra reserves, but very precise chakra control. This is so they can control the flow in and out of their eyes more precisely, and better control their Sharingan."

Kakashi nodded affirmative on what Naruto said "he is right. It does strain my body much more, than it would on any Uchiha. By the way, how long have I been out?"

While Naruto had talked, Tazuna and Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, had made his way in "You shouldn't worry about your brats. They carried you here about two hours ago." Tazuna paused "And at least you beat that creepy Kiri shinobi. Or the masked kid did anyway."

Sakura turned back to Kakashi "Ano sensei… Who are the hunter-nin's?"

Kakashi laid his head back down and closed his eye to rest. To say the Sharingan had strained his body was a great understatement. Sakura was almost beginning to think, that he wouldn't answer, when he spoke up "The hunter-nin's are a special department from the village's ANBU. They are also known as the fire extinguishing unit, and their job is to erase any evidence that a shinobi was alive. A shinobi's body will give away the secret of their jutsu, if said shinobi had a special chakra type, and any specific medicine that was used on the body, along with various other things…" he paused and opened his eye to look around on the audience. "For example, if I died, the secrets of the Sharingan would be examined… Or if Naruto died, his Shoton would be studied, and possibly copied." He looked at Naruto when he said his name.

Naruto got shivers up his spine 'It's kind of creepy and disgusting that another village would examine my body from top to toe, just to find out about my Shoton.'

"In other words" Kakashi continued "hunter-nin's will kill missing-nin's who have abandoned their village, and dispose of the shinobi's body, to keep the village's secrets in the village." He looked over the people in the room. They were all nodding understandingly. That is, all except Naruto, who was frowning "What is it Naruto?"

"Sensei, isn't senbon needles an odd choice of weapon for a hunter-nin? I mean, they a small and precise, but it's pretty hard to kill anyone, unless you hit exactly on some specific nerves."

Now Kakashi was frowning too "Yes, that is odd…"

"And then" Naruto continued "there's also the fact that the boy took the body with him. If a hunter-nin is supposed to erase all evidence of a shinobi, why would they take the body with them? Wouldn't it just be easier to do it where the body is? It could be because we were there, but… It just seems like something is adding up"

"You're right. All he had to bring back as proof was Zabuza's head" Kakashi said.

Sasuke, who had been silent until now, thought about everything they had been told. 'Nothing adds up. Why did the hunter-nin use senbon needles, when it's so hard to kill with, and why did he take the body, if all he needed was to take the head and burn the rest to crisps?' Sasuke kept thinking over what he had been told, trying to see 'Underneath the Underneath'. That's when his eyes widened "No. It can't be."

"What? What are you people talking about?" Tazuna asked, not a little bit irritated.

"Father! I'm sure they will get to it" Tsunami scolded

Kakashi looked lazily at the two civilians "Zabuza isn't dead; he is in fact very much alive"

"WHAT!?" the two civilians and the pink-haired Kunoichi were all but stunned. "What do you mean sensei? You yourself confirmed that he was dead! As in 'not alive'" Sakura screeched

Kakashi looked at Sakura "It's right, I did confirm it"

"Then how? How is he alive?" she asked

"Senbon needles" Naruto said, with a look that said 'Why didn't I think of that before?' All eyes were on him now "It's because he used senbon needles. As I said, you need to be very precise when you want to make a kill with them. You have to hit the right nerves to kill, but there's also nerves that put you into a stasis which makes you appear dead. You're literally put in a near-death state until someone pulls the needles out."

"Hunter-nin's studies the structure of the human body to the extreme, many times more than the average medic" the Cyclops Jounin said "That's needed to make the kill fast and precise, and to be able to dispose of all the parts. It would be easy for them to put a person into a near-death state". He breathed deeply "I think it's safe to assume that the hunter-nin wasn't who he said he was. First, he took home the apparent corpse of Zabuza, even when it was obvious that the body was much heavier than him. Second, he used a weapon that has a low fatality rate. From these two points, it's clear that the goal of that boy wasn't to kill Zabuza, but to help him."

"Excuse me Kakashi-san, but maybe you're over thinking this a bit?" Tsunami said with a doubting look on her face

"You're quite right. I am over thinking this. But that's a shinobi's job; to look underneath the underneath. The shinobi world is filled with lies and deceptions, so you need to think of every possible result, and expect the worst. It keeps you alive. It's one of things the academy students learn first; it's the iron rule of the shinobi."

Sakura looked a little worried "Sensei, how are we supposed to prepare for this? It doesn't really look like you will be able to move for a while. And couldn't Zabuza drop in at any moment?"

Kakashi shook his head "No he won't. To be in a near-death state like he was, he won't be able to move completely for about a week. And by then I should be able to move too."

Sakura nodded "still, you we still have to prepare, and how are we going to do that, when you're cooped up in here?"

"How? Even if I can't move around too much, I can still train you. For the next week we're going to get you three prepared by training. I can probably take on Zabuza again, but you will need to keep his little friend off my hands. He can't be much older than you, but he is already that talented. We can't underestimate him."

"Wait! You can't expect us to take on another shinobi of that caliber!? We just graduated from the Academy! How are we supposed to beat another shinobi?"

"Sakura, who was it that took down the Demon Brothers? And who helped me get free when I was trapped?" she glanced over at her teammates "That's right. And don't forget yourself. You may not have fought, but you stood your guard to protect our charge. You three are growing at a rapid rate. If I train you for a week, you should have more than a chance of beating that kid."

"There's no way you can beat them" it came from a gloomy voice in the doorway. They all turned around to see a little boy, not much older than seven or eight years old "You will just die".

"Inari! Where have you been? I've missed you so much!" a loving voice sounded. Team 7 looked around, before they were shocked to find out it came from Tazuna.

Inari ran over to his grandfather and hugging him "You're home ji-chan! I've missed you too"

"Inari, They have escorted your grandpa all the way from Konoha, and they will be staying with us until the bridge have been build. They will be helping us" Tsunami scolded.

Inari looked at the foreign shinobi "Kaa-chan, they're all going to die. There's no way anyone can stand up to Gatou and live."

This caused glare's from Sakura and Naruto 'Pft, how dare he. He doesn't even know what we're capable of' Naruto glanced at Tazuna 'I guess being an ass runs in the family' he thought, remembering how Tazuna had reacted first time he saw them.

Inari started to walk away "If you don't want to die, you should go home. No one can stop Gatou". And with that said, he disappeared out the door.

Tazuna looked down the floor with a solemn look "I'm sorry for that". Team 7 was once again shocked. Not only had Tazuna spoken with love to the little brat that had insulted them, he was sad now. There was much more to Tazuna than they knew.

Kakashi waved with his hand "No problem. Now, Team, we will take today to rest from the journey. Tomorrow we will start the training"

- Elsewhere in the middle of an unknown forest -

The young fake hunter-nin was squatting beside Zabuza's body, slowly unfolding a leather roll with various medical tools. He turned to look at Zabuza, trying to find any damage that may have been done. Other than scratches here and there, the only problem right now was the long needles in his neck. He looked analyzing in the area where he had hit him with the needles "It seems I have to cut the clothes off his mouth first, and make him cough up the blood first".

He took a scissor-like tool from the scroll, and slowly closed in on the clothes. When his hand was no more than a few centimeters from the target, Zabuza's hand shot up and grabbed the fake hunter-nin's. "I can do that on my own, thank you very much" it came from Zabuza, as he slowly opened his eyes, and began to peel the cloth wrap off.

"Oh" the boy said "You're already awake". He didn't sound surprised by a long shot

Zabuza grunted as he sat up "Geez, you're so rough" he said, as he began picking out the needles harshly.

This caused a gasp from the young boy, who frowned under the mask "I could say the same thing about you, Zabuza-san. If you keep picking those out like that, you're just going to damage a blood vessel. Then you're going to bleed out and die for real"

Zabuza didn't seem to care, as he continued to pick out the last of the needles. He sat silently for a second, before turning his gaze on the young boy "How long are you going to wear that fake mask? It's not needed here, so take it off Haku"

"Sorry, I forgot. It's been a while since I have needed to use this… "The boy said, beginning to lodge off the mask from his face." Though it did help pull off the act and fool the shinobi from Konoha. If I didn't intervene when I did, you would have been killed for sure" he finished. His mask was off. His face didn't look like a boy's face; the curves were very soft, and the skin fair. And his expression just shouted 'I couldn't hurt a fly if I wanted to', though Zabuza knew that it wasn't true.

"That may very well be, but you didn't need to attack my neck if you wanted to put me into a fake death. You're still that same wicked girl I picked up all those years ago"

Haku smiled "That may very well be true. But I couldn't help it; I didn't want to scar your beautiful body, Zabuza-san. Also, it's much easier to aim at the neck, since it has much less muscle tissue." Zabuza tried to stand up, but only made it halfway up before falling on his butt. Haku made her way over to help him "You won't be able to move for a week or so. But knowing you, that will not get in your way, Zabuza-san."

Zabuza sat still for a few more moments, catching his breath again "You're pure, clever and not tainted at all…" he paused for a moment, looking over at his student "That's what I like about you"

Haku blushed "well, I am still a child…" she looked over the area, noticing that the fog was lifting. "The fog is lifting… We should probably make our way back" Zabuza nodded affirmative as Haku paused. She turned a concerned look at him "Will you be ok next time?"

Zabuza sighed "I really don't know. I know I could take the Sharingan on one on one, but they also have a Shoton user… We have no idea what he can do. He broke my clone and water-prison with only little preparation. Given, I hadn't pumped as much chakra into it as I normally would have, but still…" He looked at Haku's concerned face "I need you to train to take him on. I don't think he will be an easy opponent – not even for your Hyoton"

Haku nodded "Anything for you, Zabuza-san." She helped him up, and they started walking towards their hideout to recuperate.

- Later that night -

Tazuna, Tsunami and Team 7 had just eaten dinner, made by Tsunami. Inari hadn't come down. After he had said hello to his grandfather, he had been in his room 'watching the ocean' according to Tsunami.

Naruto leaned back and patted on his stomach "Ah! That was really something. Not as good as Ichiraku's ramen, but good nonetheless" he said with a pleased smile on his lips.

"Eh, thank you, I guess" Tsunami said

"You should" Sakura said, taking another bite of the fish "He rarely compares anything to ramen, not to mention Ichiraku's ramen." While they had been a team, Sakura had learned a thing or two about Naruto. He was a train-a-holic, he actually had a head on his shoulders, and he loved ramen. On more than one occasion had he called it the Gods gift to man'.

"I'm honored then" Tsunami said with a blush.

Naruto stretched his body and yawned loudly "Well, I think I'm going to hit the rack. See you all tomorrow" he said walking out the kitchen. He walked up the stairs and heading for his room when he heard something from Inari's room. Slowly he opened the door to a crack to see what was going on. Inside Inari was sitting in the window sill. He was looking out at the ocean, but that was not all. As far as Naruto could see, he was holding a picture.

Then he heard sobs from Inari, who were pressing the picture frame further into his hug. "Tou-san" it came half-smothered from Inari. Naruto was looking with compassion 'I guess he lost his father. And I'll bet a year's supply of ramen that it was Gatou who took killed him'. Naruto closed the door quietly, making sure Inari didn't hear him, and made his way to his room.

- The next morning -

The three Genin of Team 7 were standing in front of their sensei, which had climbed out of bed with crutches this morning. They were standing in a forest clearing not long from Tazuna's house. Tazuna had agreed to wait with continuing the bridge till the next day, so Kakashi could get his team started on the training regime.

Kakashi looked over his team. They were all looking back at him determinately, even Sakura. He took an extra look at her 'What has come over her? She normally just looks and adores Sasuke. Oh well, it can't be bad.' He coughed in his hand to clear his throat "Well then, let's get started. We're going to work on your chakra these next days"

Sasuke and Sakura looked disappointed, while Naruto looked indifferent. Sasuke was the first to speak "Chakra? We can already use chakra and form jutsu. Let's just get on with it"

"Yeah, I agree!" Sakura said. Naruto looked at her with an 'are you kidding me' look. She always agreed with Sasuke; she didn't have to voice it.

Kakashi shook his head "No. You may be able to use chakra, but you have far from mastered it. Now, for today's exercise we're going to…" the Genin looked at him with high expatiations "climb trees".

And once again, Sakura and Sasuke were dumbstruck. This time it was Sakura who voiced her opinion "Climb trees? How are climbing trees going to help us with our chakra control? Or help us at all for that matter?"

"Like this" Naruto said going over to a tree, only stopping for a second to concentrate his chakra, before stepping onto the wood and beginning to walk vertically up the tree.

Kakashi nodded "That's right. I see you've already mastered it. Care to explain to your teammates what you're doing?"

Sasuke were glaring at Naruto 'How much ahead of me have you come since the academy? What am I talking about; he isn't ahead of me. He just knows an exercise that I don't. He can't be ahead of me. He is a clan less loser, and I'm the heir to the strongest clan in Konoha. Yeah, that's right.'

Naruto shrugged "It's pretty easy when you get the hang of it" he said walking up below a branch, and hanged with his head down, proving his point. "All you need to do is mold and concentrate your chakra below your feet, creating a suction effect to keep you on the surface you want to climb. But you really should watch out; if you build up too much chakra in your feet, it's just going to blast you off. And if you do the opposite, not building up enough, you won't get the suctions effect, and you will just fall off."

"Very good Naruto. As to why this is going to help you in the long run: Sakura, when you fight an opponent, what is one of the most basic skills a ninja uses?" Kakashi looked at the pink-head

"Erm, I guess Ninjutsu?" Sakura answered tentatively

"That's right. And what do you need to use Ninjutsu?" Kakashi continued

"Chakra" the girl answered, realization covering her face

"Right again. So by doing this exercise, your chakra control, and therefore your chakra utilization skills, will improve, and you will be able to use more Ninjutsu" the Jounin finished the explanation. He looked at the two grounded Genin to see if they had understood. Sasuke looked pissed, Kakashi thinking it was highly likely because of Naruto. Which caused him to look at said member of Team 7 and sweat dropped 'Now you're just showing off'. Naruto was currently swinging back and forth whistling, only connected to the tree by one foot. Kakashi cleared his throat, getting the attention "Meh, Naruto, mind coming down now?"

Naruto grinned, releasing the chakra in his foot, causing him to fall to the ground at high speed. Sakura gasped, but it really wasn't needed; Naruto simply flipped half way down, landing with a quiet 'thud' on the ground. "No problem" he said, still holding the same grin "So does that mean I can go on ahead with my own training?" Naruto hadn't had a chance to really train the last few days, for obvious reasons. He wanted to progress that water balloon exercise, and he also had to do practice some in his calligraphy. He had never thought that it would be a big part of his shinobi career to write, at least not until he became the Hokage, other than the mission reports here and there, and he never imagine to take it to such a high level. But if he wanted to get better at Fūinjutsu, he needed to learn to write fast and precise, else all his knowledge about seals would be for nothing. And maybe he could also get started on that water walking exercise. He had wanted to start on that for ages, who wouldn't want to walk on water?, but had waited till he was advanced enough in the tree-climbing. Finally when he was, they had gotten this mission, so he hadn't gotten started yet. And then there was the matter of keeping his training method a secret. Naruto gulped 'Sandaime-Jiji told me that he would have me get all the missions involving Tora until I took over the Hokage-hat myself, if I ever exposed it to someone not meant to see it.'.

The silver-haired Jounin glanced over his blond student before shrugging "I guess it won't be a problem. But since you already know the three-climbing, and has mastered as far as I can see, I will assign you to guard duty tomorrow"

Naruto's eyes narrowed "You're just assigning me to guard duty so that you can stay in bed all day and read ero-sennin's perverted books, aren't you"

Kakashi waved his hand in a dismissive motion, laughing nervously "now, where would you have gotten that idea? Off to train you go" he finished, hoping that the prospect of training was more exciting than exposing him as a pervert for the rest of the team. Naruto stood still for a few more moments, before sighing in a defeated manner, and ran into the forest to find a clearing he could use for training.

As soon as Naruto was away, Kakashi turned to the remainder of his team, and started them on their training.

- Next morning at the bridge -

Naruto was sitting on the railing of the bridge, taking a break from his water balloon, was looking over the bridge. It had been a slow day really. Tazuna had told him to get up around 4am, as they were needed at the bridge at 5. Naruto, not wanting to miss out on any training, had made a clone with three quarters of his chakra, and sent it to the forest clearing he had trained in yesterday. It had chakra to about seventy clones, but he was only making thirty or so. The reason being that they were on a mission, where they could engage in battle against foreign shinobi at any moment, so it wouldn't do that he was totally exhausted if that happened.

They had been the first to arrive, with twenty or so workers slowly filing in as the time got closer and closer to 6am. As they were about to start, one of the workers had asked were the shinobi guarding them were, to which Tazuna had pointed on Naruto. This caused disgruntled looks from almost all the workers, and a one even had the nerve of calling him a short brat. Tazuna had smirked, since he had come to know Naruto just a little bid the past few days. And as he had though, Naruto had showed the worker what he could do, almost fully surrounding him with crystal, before three razor-sharp blades had shot out, and were inches from slicing him. This, of course, had closed the mouth of any and all the workers, who quickly went to work, not wanting to get on the bad side of their guard.

Naruto sighed. He was developing a little temper when it came to his height. He looked down beside him; there were broken water balloons. Not shattered at all, they were just punctured, but he was happy; it was progress. He had made the breakthrough yesterday when one of his clones had sat down and analyzed what they had seen Jiraiya do a couple of days earlier, and had realized that what they were doing looked completely different. That's when he had gotten the idea to swirl the water in more than one direction. It had been a success, but it was still damn hard.

"Oi gaki, are you bored or what?" Tazuna's voice sounded, bringing Naruto back to the bridge

"Huh? No, not really. I was just taking a break from my training" Naruto answered, leaning back with closed and enjoying the sun on his face.

Tazuna frowned "Training? You're just playing with water balloons"

Naruto chuckled internally. He had figured that the way Tazuna showed curiosity were by insulting. When talking to strangers anyway. Naruto shook his head to answer Tazuna, and made eye contact with him "It's a bit harder than that. I have to burst it open with nothing but my chakra. It's a lot harder than it looks you know"

"I don't kno-"

"May I have a word with you Tazuna?" a voice from behind them interrupted.

Both of them looked at the newcomer. Tazuna put down the little log he had been carrying "Sure thing Giichi. Is something wrong?"

"Well… I have thought a lot about it, and I think I'm going to quit building the bridge" Giichi said, looking down on the ground as if ashamed, not going unnoticed by Naruto.

"W-what!? Not you too Giichi… Why the sudden change of mind?" Tazuna asked surprised, and a little outraged

"Tazuna, I have known you for a long time, and you have become a good friend. I want to help, but if I get much more involved in this, Gatou will after me when he's done with you. I have to think on the wife and the kids you know…" Giichi replied. Naruto could see that he was really split in this decision, but he had finally valued his family more. Naruto couldn't blame him; it was something Naruto longed after. He longed after getting a father and mother, or just knowing who they were. Naruto respected the man's decision. Tazuna didn't look that convinced. Giichi continued "I want to build the bridge and save Nami as much as the next islander, but everything will lose meaning if you die."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow 'So he is also concerned for his old friend? I like that guy'.

Giichi almost looked pleadingly at Tazuna "Why don't we stop building the bridge?"

Naruto was, to say the least, shocked. He hadn't expected the man to suggest that, not after all he had learned Tazuna had done for it to be built, including lying his ass off to the Hokage, one of the mightiest persons on the elemental continents. Tazuna had regained his calm look, and answered just as calm "You know I can't do that. This bridge is our bridge. Not just yours or mine, or the workers bridge, but the bridge of all the islanders of Nami no Kuni. This is the bridge, build on the hopes of the people, the hope that we can break free from Gatou's rule, that we can increase our distribution and transportation that will increase the wealth in this poor country. "

"But if we die…"

"If we die" Tazuna interrupted "people will know that Tazuna the bridge builder died for what he believed in. That he died in the hopes that someone would take over his work. That he died believing that Nami no Kuni will break free from Gatou, if not by his own hands, then by the hands of his successor." He put a hand on his old friends shoulder "I can't ask you to do it, but I will continue to build this bridge until my dying breath. I don't blame you if you don't want to risk your family… You can go home if you want."

Giichi looked sad at his old friend, before giving up convincing him with a sigh. He took off his uniform and the tools he had used, and gave it to Tazuna "I'm sorry old friend". And with that he left the bridge.

Tazuna stood there for a while, just staring at where his old friend had left. He didn't even hear the steps behind him, and only noticed the person when he took the uniform and tools of his hands. He turned around to see his blond guard putting on the uniform. He gave the kid a questioning look "I thought you said you shouldn't overwork yourself?"

Naruto grinned back at the old man "How can I sit still and not help after you gave that speech. You have gotten a little more respect in my eyes, Ojisan - but only a little".

Tazuna grinned back at the kid. He had come to like him; he was lively and didn't give up. "Thanks kid, I'm sure it will help. I just hope there are no more workers who quit just now. We're almost done with the bridge, one and a half to two weeks more… But, just like Giichi, people won't risk their families."

"I guess" Naruto said, bringing up his hand to form a very familiar hand sign "I will have to help a bit more. Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Twenty additional Naruto's appeared, effectively doubling the workforce at the bridge. It didn't take long for them to spread out on the bridge, and help where he could. His lively spirit also affected Tazuna, who only was that more, determined to finish the bridge.

- Same afternoon at the market -

Tazuna and Naruto were walking down the main street of the biggest town in the area. In all honesty, it didn't deserve the name town or road. It was a long dust trail, where shacks and cracked stone buildings stood along the sides. The people didn't look much better: they were all walking around very carefully, afraid that their life could be stolen at a seconds notice. They wore clothes, if you could call it that, which looked to be made up of sacks and mold infested cloth. The worst were the children; they were at every corner and store opening, begging to just get the tiniest attention and food. It reminded him of the year after he was kicked out of the orphanage, before he had gotten the apartment he was living in now. He shuttered a bit "What is the meaning of this?"

Tazuna didn't have to look to know what he was talking about "Nami no Kuni have been like this since Gatou took over…"

"That man can't be anyone but the devil" Naruto said angrily "I will definitely ki-". Naruto was interrupted when he felt hands go through his ninja bag. Whoever did it had chosen the absolute worst time to do it. Naruto swirled around to see a middle aged man. As soon as he caught a glimpse of Naruto's eye, he was scared out of his pants, and tried to run away. But Naruto was angry and he had to take it out on somebody. He grabbed the shirt of the man "You do NOT steal from me! Thief!" and threw the man down the street, where he continued skirting, before he was stopped abruptly by a brick wall. Naruto scoffed and continued after Tazuna, who had walked into a store to look for ingredients for tonight's meal.

He wasn't happy with what he saw. It was the same as the street and the town; the shelves where close to empty, with only a few foodstuff scattered here and there. And they didn't look fresh, quite the opposite. Naruto sighed and became only more determined to see that this country was set free from Gatou, and that said man was burned in the deepest pits of hell for what he had done.

He continued after Tazuna, who continued out of the store after paying overprizes on the scarcely collected wares. They hadn't walked more than a few meters before Naruto felt tucking in his bag again. 'Not again!' he thought as he swirled around, planning to chew out whoever was stupid enough to try and steal from him. He stopped in his tracks as he saw who was standing in front of him: a little girl who couldn't have been more than eight years old. "Please, give me" she said, holding her hands out. Naruto blinked a couple of times, before going through his bag and found a few pieces of candy. The girl's eyes lit up with joy.

She was just about to run off when Naruto stopped her with a smile, squatting down to her level "Hey, what is your name"

The girl blushed slightly "Amaya"

Naruto kept smiling "Hey Amaya. My name is Naruto. Want to see something cool?" he asked, which in response got a tentatively nod. He closed his hand together, activating his Shoton powers, making it glow slightly out of the cracks. When he opened it a miniature figure of a puppy was standing on his hands. The girl went wide-eyed. Naruto just kept smiling and handed the figurine to the girl "here, you take it. It's a lucky charm. As long as you have it, good things will happen to you. Just believe in it"

She reached out and took the dog, inspecting it all over. She looked back at the blond with tears in her eyes. She bowed deeply "Arigato Naruto-Niisan!" she cried out, before hugging him deeply. Naruto was taken by surprise, but quickly returned the hug. When they were done she looked at him with big puppy eyes "Will you be back? So you can meet all my friends?"

"I'm sure I will. Just keep an eye out for me" Naruto said with his kind smile on the lips. She nodded, and ran into the crowd, surely to find a show her friends her new toy.

"That was very kind of you" Tazuna noted

"Yeah… They remind me of myself when I was little" Naruto responded, before starting to head out of the town. It peaked Tazuna curiosity, but he could see he wouldn't get more of an answer for now.

- Evening at Tazuna's house -

When Sasuke and Sakura came back to Tazuna's house that evening, they looked extremely exhausted. Naruto raised an eyebrow 'It seems Sakura is actually trying. I'm glad she actually listened to me'. Naruto smirked at Sasuke "Worked hard, eh teme?"

Sasuke scoffed at him, not having the strength to come with a longer answer.

Sakura was just about to come to the defense of her beloved Sasuke-kun, when Tsunami's voice sounded from the living room "Dinner is ready! Come and eat!"

The Konoha Genin didn't need any more to be said, as they ran as fast as their bodies could carry them to the dinner table. It wasn't a gourmet meal, but it was not bad either at all. They all took their places, broke off the eating chops "itadakimasu!" and began eating like wolves, Sakura eating like a fine wolf.

After dinner when they had some tea, Sakura was looking around the kitchen and found a picture hanging on the wall. It showed Inari, Tsunami and Tazuna, and one other person it seemed like. But he was ripped out of it. "Ano, why are you hanging a torn picture?" it brought all the attention of all the shinobi to the mentioned picture. "Inari-kun was watching this during the dinner the entire time. This torn part looks like someone intentionally tore away the person who was there" she continued. It silenced the whole room.

Finally Tsunami, who was doing the dishes, spoke up "It's my husband". The shinobi waited for her to continue, not satisfied with the answer, but she didn't.

Tazuna spoke up "He was the man known as the hero of this town".

He didn't get to say more before Inari left his seat, walking towards the door. "Inari, where are you going?" Tsunami asked, but he had already left.

She walked after him, and when she opened the door, she turned around looking at Tazuna "Father, I told you not to talk about him in front of Inari!" she said a little harshly, before she to exited the door.

Tazuna sighed deeply. Team 7 was watching him closely. He looked around on them all "Inari had a father he wasn't related to. They were very close, like a real father and son. They were a real father and son."

He looked back up at the picture, seeing a laughing Inari in the middle. "Inari used to laugh a lot back then. But…" Tazuna began to sob lightly, shocking the shinobi. They had the impression of Tazuna of man who didn't really show any vulnerable feelings. Well, everyone but Naruto who had learned some about their client on the bridge. Tazuna bit back some tears "He changed after what happened to his father. His name was Kaiza."

Tazuna paused again "The word "courage" was forever taken away from the people of this island and Inari after that day". Tazuna went on about explaining how Inari and Kaiza had met. How he had taught him about living his life so he didn't regret a thing. He then went about telling them how a big storm had hit the island, breaking the dam, and how Kaiza had saved them all.

Then his voice turned into venom, as he spoke of how Gatou had taken over the island, and how Kaiza didn't want to back down. How he was executed in front of the whole town to set an example and that after that day, Inari was changed. He didn't believe in heroes and courage. He was depressed and cried alone in his room.

After he finished, the whole room was quiet. Team 7 had troubled looks on their faces.

"How horrible…" it came quiet from Sakura. The others nodded in agreement.

Tazuna then looked up at them all with a determined look in his eyes "And that's why I want to build that bridge. For the people of wave, for Kaiza and for Inari. I want to break us free from the rule of Gatou. I want Inari to be happy again".

That determination was also brought up in the shinobi. "And we will help you achieve it. We won't let Gatou lay a hand on you. Count on it!" Naruto declared.

Sasuke smirked "You count on it. I'm not going to be outdone by you, dobe"

"Hai, we can't let the people of wave suffer anymore" Sakura said.

Kakashi took a look on the clock "Guys, I think it's about time to hit the racks. We still have to train you guys hard the next few days to get you ready. You don't want to let Tazuna down, do you?" None of the Genin did, and quickly made their way to bed.

The next few days didn't go very different. Kakashi came and helped guard Tazuna, and in the meantime had handed over a jutsu scroll on Fūton: Reppusho. He had said it would work well with his Rokkaku Shuriken, and Naruto wasn't one to deny his sensei. Naruto was also making progress on the water balloon exercise, now progressed to the rubber ball exercise. It had taken time to finish the first part of the exercise, only finally completing it when Kakashi had said he had spun it against his natural flow. After that, it had gone easy. But this next step took so much more power, that he hadn't even punctured the ball.

Sakura and Sasuke were also progressing, both now able to walk up and down the tree without faltering, and just starting to learn to stay still on the surface. It was going slowly but surely.

As for the bridge? It had gone faster with Naruto's clones helping, but more and more workers had quit, and only seven of them remained now, most of them already having lost their families to Gatou. They didn't have anything to lose.

Naruto had also been back to see Amaya and her friends, telling them stories, and of course, making more 'pretty lucky charms' as they called them. Naruto was starting to grow attached to the children, especially when they all called him 'Naruto-Niisan'. It was at least one thing he was going to miss in Nami.

- At Tazuna's house, two evenings before Zabuza's return -

When they came back that evening, the Genin were rather battered up, even Naruto who had been working hard on the rubber ball, and were delighted when they saw another homemade meal was waiting for them. They ate as much as they could to recharge their energy, so they could give it all the next day.

Tazuna stopped eating and looked up at Kakashi "The Bridge is almost complete. It's thanks to you guys".

The old drunk's daughter looked up from her meal "But don't push yourself so much." The Genin just smiled.

Tazuna continued "I wanted to ask this before, but why are you still here even when I lied about the request details?"

Kakashi folded his hands and closed his eyes. "Not doing right when you know it is right is a coward's way. There are no weak soldiers under a valiant commander. They're the teachings of the Yondaime Hokage, our previous Hokage."

That's when Inari spoke up "why…" it caught all the Genin attention. Inari stood up, and slammed his hand down in the table "Why are you trying so hard to end up dead? You can't beat Gatou's men, even if you train! No matter how hard you try and say those good-looking words… Weak people are going to lose against strong people!"

Naruto glared at that "Shut up. You don't know the first thing about us!" That silenced Inari who were on the verge of tears.

"Here you are, living a relatively good life! You have mother that loves and cooks for you, and a grandfather who tries to save this country. And what do you do? You cry, and mope about how bad it is! You don't realize how good you have it compared to other people! Have you seen how the children in the town live? And for that matter, you don't know what it's like to be hated in your own village for something that is out of your control. You don't know what it's like to be beaten and kicked out of shops and forced to go through the garbage for food. You think your life is bad fine, but don't just sit around and moan about it do something about it fight back, don't be a coward!" Inari visibly shook as Naruto glared heated at him.

Naruto rose from the table and headed for the door. Sakura went on alert there "Naruto! Where are you going?"

"Out to train" Naruto all but mumbled. And with that Naruto stormed out the front door with tears in his eyes. Inari stormed out the other side of the house, out the backdoor.

The civilians and the Genin of Team 7 were shocked of what Naruto had said. "Kakashi-sensei, Naruto's life couldn't have been that bad right? He has to be lying to get attention" Sakura asked.

Kakashi shook his head "No. Everything he said was true. Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage when he was 4 years old, and was forced to living on the streets for twelve months before some ANBU found him and took him to the Hokage. The Sandaime gave Naruto an apartment, but he has had to learn everything for himself, and was constantly being beaten and kicked out of stores. And that's the down watered version" he said, shocking everyone in the room.

Tazuna looked down on his half empty plate 'So that's what he meant by that they reminded him of himself as a child. It seems to me that they got a good life compared to what he had to live through…'

- Later that night at the docks outside the house -

Inari was sitting on the edge of the docks, looking out over the ocean. He could see the bridge his grandfather was trying to build. He heard footsteps behind him, but didn't bother to see who it was.

"May I join you?" a male voice sounded. Inari guessed it was the Konoha Jounin who had arrived a few days earlier. He shrugged.

Kakashi walked over to Inari and sat beside him "Naruto didn't say those things out of spite, you know." Inari didn't react, but he continued anyway. "He is just stubborn" still no reaction. He looked over the ocean "We heard about your father from Tazuna-san. Naruto is the same as you in that way, he didn't have a father when he was young. To be truthful, he doesn't know what it feels like to have parents. He also didn't have a single friend growing up." That caught Inari's attention. He looked up on the Jounin as he continued "However, I have never seen him grow timid, get sulky, or cry. He has always been desperate to make people recognize him." He now looked down on Inari with what Inari could only guess was a smile on his lips "And he's able to put his life on the line for that dream. He's probably bored of crying by now."

That got Inari thinking, remembering what his father was like. "That's why he knows the true meaning of being strong. Just like your father. Naruto might be the one who understand you the most. What Naruto said to you before… Those are probably the words he's been telling himself over and over again."

Kakashi rose from where he had sat. "If anything, just don't hold a grudge against him. He wasn't trying to be mean" and with that said, he went back to the house leaving Inari to think about what he had heard.

- The following morning in the forest -

"Are you ok? Hello? Are you there?"

Naruto's eyes slammed open, surprising the person who had tried to wake him up. Quickly reacting he jumped up into his Taijutsu stance, but relaxed upon seeing that it was an ordinary teenage girl looking at him. He looked around him, finding himself in the same clearing they had been training in the last few days I must have fallen asleep out here.

Haku took a better look at the now obvious ninja in front of her. She noticed his Konoha Hitai-ate He was with Sharingan Kakashi the other day. He must be the one with Shoton… She didn't show her worry, but simply smiled at him "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you."

Naruto smiled back at her "Ah, no problem. I didn't mean to jump like that; reflexes you know."

She nodded at that "Is that hitai-ate real? Are you a real shinobi?" she asked, completing her act as an unknowing civilian

He grinned back at that, pushing his chest up "Yes! I am a shinobi of Konoha! I will protect her with my life" The girl giggled at the way Naruto was acting. Naruto looked at her again "By the way, what are you doing out here so early?"

"Picking herbs" she answered nicely, as she turned away, resuming looking through the plants on the ground.

"Herbs?" Naruto asked.

She turned her head and smiled at him "That's right. It's to cure injuries and illness. One of my friends has gotten hurt, so I'm out here looking for herbs to cure him."

"I can help you. I still have some time before I have to be back to breakfast" he said, helping her going through the plants. He had gotten a bit of knowledge of herbs from his reading, but it really hadn't been anything he had read up on.

They picked through the plants for a while, then the girl spoke up again "By the way, what are you doing out here so early?"

He threw her one of his big smiles "Training!"

"And why are you training?"

"I want to become stronger!"

"But you look strong enough already"

"No, I want to become stronger and stronger."

She was silent for a time, resuming picking through the forest-floor. "Are you doing it for someone else..? Or for yourself?"

"Well… I think when I just graduated I was doing it for myself. But then Iruka-sensei acknowledged me. And so did Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura-chan, and… I guess Sasuke-teme did too" he paused. "I think now I'm doing it just as much for them, as I'm doing it for myself."

She looked up at him "That's good. I believe a person is able to become truly strong, when they wish to protect someone they cherish."

Naruto got a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I think you're right. I understand that."

She nodded at him. She took her basket, now filled with herbs. "Thank you… I think you will become strong". She began walking out of the clearing "By the way, I'm a boy" she said, walking away, leaving Naruto stunned but he is beautiful! She can't be a boy.

"You're lying" he said before he could stop himself.

"I…. I…" she stammered. She sighed "Yes I am…"

"Why would you lie about something like that?"

"Because of Gatou. His men aren't always… polite"

Naruto was disgusted by that "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone"

She smiled back at him "Goodbye". I really hope I don't have to fight you when the time comes.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Hyoton – Frost Release: The Kekkai Genkai of the Yuki Clan

Fūton: Reppusho – Wind Release: Gale Palm: A simple technique that when the users hands are clapped together, wind is compressed and transformed into a powerful gale. This technique, when used as an isolated attack has the power to easily knock over a human. Though the true value comes from using it together with projectile weapons like shuriken or kunai. Their speed, power, and ability to wound or even kill are all increased several times.

Chapter Text

Naruto yawned loudly and stretched his arms above his head. He rubbed his eyes and gazed around in the room. Sasuke and Sakura were still asleep. It didn't come to a surprise, as the whole week he had woken before them. He was used to get up early to train, and to get through the village as early as possible when fewer people were on the streets. He shook the thoughts from his head and sneaked out of the room, heading for the bathroom.

While he was doing his business, he took a look out of the window; he could see the first rays of the sun touch the horizon in the distance. One thing he loved and hated about Nami no Kuni was the flat land and ocean. You could see for miles and miles without anything disturbing your view; he loved that he could see the sunrise so early, since in Konoha you would have to wait at least a few hours for the sun to raise above the small mountains and the forest of Hi no Kuni. But then again, he hated it because you could see so long. One part of being shinobi is hiding in the shadows, and being from Konoha where the forest is everywhere, he almost felt exposed. He breathed in deeply, and went on to brushing his teeth. He looked at his reflection in the little mirror hanging on the wall and took a deep breath. 'So, it's today huh?' he asked no one in particular 'Today is probably the day Zabuza will return, and it's highly likely that he will have that fake hunter-nin with him… I have no chance of defeating Zabuza, so I must keep his companion occupied. I have to protect my friends! But… it stills scares me. Today I am going to fight another shinobi. I may have to kill…' Naruto turned on the water and splashed water in his face 'I am doing it for my comrades. If I have to kill, then I will do it to save them, I will do it for them, so they can live.'

When Naruto was done, he made his way down to the kitchen. He was surprised to see Tsunami already up and cooking. He glanced at the clock, and as he thought, it was 6.13a.m. He sat down at the table "Good morning Tsunami-san".

Tsunami almost jumped two feet in the air and spun around with a knife in her hand. Her stance relaxed as she saw who it was "Oh, it's just you Naruto-kun. Sorry for that, but I didn't expect anyone up yet".

Naruto smiled awkwardly while scratching the back of his head "Sorry about that. Normally I'm out training in the morning, but since today is… Since it's possible I might be needed today, I'm not going."

Tsunami smiled at him and resumed cooking. Naruto walked over to the sink and took a glass of water and walked out to the pier to sit and watch the sunrise. He couldn't see much more because of the thick morning fog in the distance. That was one of the reasons they didn't go the bridge earlier. Zabuza could by himself already summon up a lot of fog, so they didn't even want to try him out when he had the natural occurring fog on his side too.

"Oh Naruto, are you already up?" Kakashi's voice came from behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder to see the silver haired Jounin reading his book. "Yeah, couldn't sleep anymore. I have woken up this early for as long as I can remember. Now it's training, before it was… to get away before the village awoke"

Kakashi walked over beside Naruto and squad down beside him "I haven't really seen you around since the evening before yesterday. When I left for the bridge yesterday you hadn't come back"

"Sorry about that" Naruto said, still looking out over the ocean "I needed time to think"

"And now?"

"Still thinking… Kakashi-sensei. Do you know why he chose me?"

Kakashi knew what Naruto was asking. Why had the Yondaime chosen him over so many other children? 'I can't exactly say "Don't worry Naruto, it was because he was your farther". It's not my place to reveal it... As much as I should being Sensei's student.' He pondered for a few more seconds "Naruto, you bear a burden not many others can understand or even start to comprehend. You have been through much that no child should have been through. But you have survived. I believe the Yondaime chose you for a reason that he believes in you. You are the Yondaime's legacy. And you live up to his name. As far as I know, you haven't let him down so far, have you? You still keep that beast under control"

Naruto nodded. It wasn't yet the final answer, but it would suffice for now. Kakashi rose from beside Naruto "Well, let's get inside. Wouldn't be any good if you got sick"

Naruto scoffed "Kakashi-sensei, I have never been sick. Sure, I have had broken bones and so on, but I have never been sick, and I'm sure you know why". Nonetheless Naruto got up and got inside.

- Three hours later -

Kakashi looked up from his book and around on the people at the table. Sasuke and Sakura had gotten down to the kitchen about an hour ago, and Tazuna and Inari came down about twenty minutes ago. There hadn't been much talk; everyone knew what was likely to happen today. He closed his book and cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention "We all know what is going to happen today, but we haven't really talked about how to execute this. We of course need people around you Tazuna-san, but we also need to protect your family, namely you, Inari-san and Tsunami-san. Since you can't go to the bridge for obvious reasons, we need to leave someone behind to take guard you"

Tazuna and his family had rather worried looks on their faces, but relaxed some when they saw the determined expressions of Team 7, especially that of Naruto. He looked straight back at Kakashi 'I have to make this mission a success. This isn't about my first mission being a success anymore, it's about freeing the people of Nami no Kuni, freeing Tazuna and his family, and freeing Amaya and her friends. I can't fail all of them'. Naruto pondered about what Kakashi had said before speaking up "Kakashi-sensei, I think I got an idea. I should stay behind to guard Tsunami-san and Inari"

Tazuna nodded satisfied. He knew that if Naruto was guarding his family, they were in safe hands. The blond brat had earned his respect from Tazuna. Kakashi raised an eyebrow "I see. What makes you come to that conclusion?"

"Well, I was thinking that I would stay here with them, and send a Kage Bunshin with you guys. That way we have a way of communicating with each other; I can keep you updated if anything is to happen here, and you can call for me if it should come to that"

"Wait, what?" All looks turned to Sasuke "Dobe, how are we supposed to keep contact with just a Kage Bunshin?"

The blond Genin smirked at his comrade "That's easy. When a Kage Bunshin is dispelled, no matter the way it is dispelled, the knowledge it has gained will return to the user and any other clones the user should have made. So if I want to send a message to you guys, I just make a clone and make it dispel. The same if my clone wants to send a message to me, it can either make another clone or dispel it, or it can dispel itself. And if it comes to it getting dispelled by getting destroyed, then I'll also know."

Before Sasuke could question again, it was Kakashi who spoke up "Very well Naruto, it's a plan I can accept. So Sasuke, Sakura and I, with a Kage Bunshin of Naruto, will guard Tazuna-san on the bridge, while Naruto will stay here and guard Tsunami-san and Inari-san. If anything happens on the bridge or here, we will let the respective part know by sending a message through the Kage Bunshin." Team 7 nodded showing they understood. "Good then, we leave in fifteen minutes, so you better get ready. We should get to the bridge around 10a.m." Sasuke and Sakura rose from the table and went upstairs to get their gear ready, while Tazuna seemed to speed up eating.

Naruto sat at the kitchen table reading his book on Fūinjutsu, Tsunami was currently washing the dishes from the breakfast, and Inari was sitting beside Naruto looking really bored. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke had left with Tazuna some half hour ago, so they should be at the bridge in ten to fifteen minutes. Naruto didn't let it show, but he was actually worried about them. He would have liked to have gone with them to the bridge, but this was the best way for them to keep contact. And if it came to it, he could be at the bridge in ten minutes. The only reason it was taking so long with the rest of his team, was because they had to go at a civilian pace. If they were going at a normal pace, well normal for a Genin team, they could probably be in Konoha in a day, instead of the four days it takes at civilian pace.

He was brought out of his attention when Inari spoke "Say, Naruto-nii chan, how again can you know if anyone is coming?"

Naruto didn't know when Inari had started calling him 'nii chan', but he liked it, the same with the kids in town. He looked up from his book "It's rather simple really. You heard what I said about Kage Bunshin at breakfast, right?" Inari nodded "Good, by the way, please keep it a secret. It's one of Konoha's Kinjutsu's. While none of the other villages can copy it, they can take precaution if they know some of its secrets."

"Sure thing. I won't tell anybody" Inari said smiling.

Naruto ruffled the boy's hair, much too said boy's dismay. Naruto laughed lightly at that "Good then. Anyway, back on topic, I have placed about twenty clones around the house, hidden of course, so if they see anyone who shouldn't be here, they dispel and I will know."

"That's so cool!" Inari exclaimed. Naruto nodded at him before getting back to reading. He heard a sigh from Inari "Can't you do something else? You know, it's rather boring just to wait around. And it's not like I can go outside and play!"

Naruto smiled again. He remembered himself being that impatient, and wanting stuff to happen all the time "Okay then Inari, what do yo-". He stopped midsentence when he got a feedback from one of his clones around the house. Two objects was moving towards the house at a fast pace. The clone hadn't gotten a good look at them.

"Nii chan, what's the matter?" Inari asked a little worried. Tsunami had also seen this, and had stopped doing the dishes.

"Both of you go upstairs and hide." They looked at him without moving "Now!" Naruto said with a voice that said they left no room for argument. Tsunami went over to Inari, took him by the hand, and headed upstairs to hide.

When they had disappeared up the stairs, Naruto sat down again and took his book up. It didn't take long for the two figures to make it to the house and burst in through the door.

"Hey, where the hell are they!?" one voice asked rather loudly

"How should I know? Oi, there's a kid here. I bet you know where they are, eh?"

Naruto finally looked up from his book; he took a look at the intruders. There were two, as he had known. One of them had a blue sweat-like shirt, wore a hood, and had tattoos and his eyes. The other had a bare chest. His right arm had a tattoo going up from his arm to the middle of his chest, and he wore an eye patch on his right eye. Above his left he had a scar. They both wore a katana at their waist. Just from looking by the way they were standing he could tell they weren't shinobi, they were simple thugs hired to do the easy work

"Do you two mind? I'm trying to read here" Naruto said half bored, trying to get them to lose their cool. It worked.

"What the hell!? Who do you think you are brat!?" the one wearing a hood yelled

"Calm down! Can't you see he is trying to get you to lose your cool? You're quite an idiot you know" the bare-chested said.

"What did you say? I'm not-"

"Let's just get this over with. Kid, where is the woman and the child?" the bare-chested asked looking at Naruto. He got a sweat drop when he saw Naruto had gone back to reading, apparently not giving them any attention at all. "Hey brat! I asked you something"

Naruto sighed deeply "As you said, let's just get this over with". Naruto got up, putting his book away and got into his stance, creating two crystal tanto in the process.

The two thugs hesitated a bit after seeing their opponent creating crystal out of nothing. It didn't last long as the bare-chested charged head first with his companion right after him. Naruto didn't go out of his academy stance, and he easily dodged the first punch from the bare-chested. As soon as he had squatted the other came with a kick which he simply blocked. This was child play compared to the training he had undergone. He grabbed the leg in front of him and quickly twisted it, making the hood wearing thug spin and fall. The bare-chested saw this as an opportunity and clapped his hands together in a fist and brought them hard down on Naruto's head. Instead of the crack he was expecting to hear, he heard nothing. Naruto had grabbed his right wrist, and wasn't letting go. Naruto looked with a smirk at his opponent, as he tightened and twisted his grip, resulting in a nauseous crack. Naruto's opponent cried out in pain, and retracted his hand as soon as Naruto let go.

The hood wearing thug got up, and together with his companion, they stepped a few steps back, looking at the blond brat in front of them, who had fended them off without breaking a sweat. Naruto got up from his squat, and simply dusted his pants off "Now, I think we have played long enough". Behind the two thugs, a vase and a chair transformed into two more Naruto's, who quickly thickened their crystal armor in their hands and hit the thugs in their heads. They went out as soon as they had been hit. Naruto shook his head with a smile 'Did Gatou really think he could kidnap Tazuna's family with thugs? He should know about us.' He nodded to his two clones, making them dispel, effectively passing what had happened here to his clone on the bridge.

He tied the two thugs up and went upstairs to find Tsunami and Inari hiding in a closet. Tsunami looked worried at him "Is it safe?"

Naruto showed her a reassuring smile "Yeah its safe. Gatou only send two thugs. As if they could take a shinobi down"

Inari grinned "of course! No one can take you down Naruto-nii chan"

"Now that isn't true" Naruto laughed "There's lot of-". Naruto stopped as he got feedback from a clone. It was the one he had send with the rest of his team. They were in trouble.

'Sakura-Chan…'

- A few minutes earlier with remainder of Team 7 -

Meanwhile Kakashi's group had made their way to the bridge. They couldn't believe the sight that met them; every worker was lying either dead or dying.

Tazuna stared in disbelief "W-what is this!?" he looked over the workers "What's wrong? What happened?"

Kakashi was showing no sign of emotion as he looked over the bridge 'Just as we thought. He has returned.' Mist began to fill the bridge, confirming what he thought. "Team, he's coming! Protect Tazuna-san!" They all quickly took their positions, going into defensive poses.

"Kakashi-sensei, this is his Kirigakure no Jutsu, isn't it?" Sakura asked, but got no answer. They were all waiting for Zabuza to show himself.

They all heard a familiar malicious chuckled "Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi. And you're still carrying those kids" Zabuza voice echoed in the fog, as Sasuke began to tremble- "He's shaking again, how pitiful" Zabuza mocked. Within a second of that remark, the group was surrounded by seven water clones.

Sasuke smirked "I'm shaking with excitement".

Naruto's Kage Bunshin sighed "It's just like you to play the cool act. Let's go Sasuke." One of the Water Clones was about to swipe with his sword when Naruto and Sasuke went for it. With a blur of speed, they ran around to the different clones and swiped them with their kunai. A second later they all burst into water. As soon as they were done the clone got the information from the clones at the house. He didn't take his eyes off Zabuza as he spoke to his team "Gatou sent two thugs to kidnap Tsunami and Inari as we thought he would. Boss took care of them rather easily, and they're safe now. He plans on taking them somewhere else, probably to Giichi's house or something."

Kakashi nodded "I think it would be best for you to dispel and tell Naruto to hurry and come here. I have a feeling we're going to need him." Naruto's clone nodded and dispelled.

From across the bridge Zabuza raised his eyebrow "So he was a clone? Haku, watch out, he can come from anywhere and at any time. I know you have trained a lot this week for this fight against his Shoton, but don't let your guard down. It only takes one slip to give the enemy the upper hand"

"Of course Zabuza-san" Haku said with an emotionless voice. Nothing like what she normally talked like.

Kakashi looked over his team. "Sakura, get close and protect Tazuna, Sasuke you will have to keep Zabuza's 'friend' occupied. I will take care of Zabuza." The group immediately got into the different positions they were given.

Zabuza saw the opposing group getting ready "I don't think we have more time for chit-chat. Haku you got first"

"Hai" she said, as she began sprinting around making her way to the Konoha shinobi. Sasuke looked in awe at the speed of his opponent as he brought up his kunai. She was aiming for one of the nerves in his chest, when he blocked. Zabuza saw it and raised his eyebrow 'oh? He was able to catch up to her speed.'

The two shinobi looked each other over, trying to estimate the others strength. Their kunai clashed again and again, neither being able to get through the others guard. Haku spun around fast, trying to get some more force into his strike, but Sasuke just did the same, getting the same result. They stopped, trying to overpower the other, rather than compete in speed. Then Haku spoke "I don't want to kill you, but you won't back off, right?"

Sasuke smirked at his opponent "What? Are you stupid?"

"As I thought… But you won't be able to keep up with me for my next move" she said, keeping up the power struggle. "And I'm already two steps ahead of you".

"Really? And which steps would that be?" Sasuke asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow

"The first one is the water on the ground" Haku said, keeping her voice even

"And the second?" Sasuke asked

"And the second one" she continued "is that I'm keeping one of your arms busy. Therefore, you can only take and block my attacks."

While keeping Sasuke's arm busy, she brought up her other hand, starting to go through one-handed seals. Sasuke's eyes widened 'what!? He's creating seals with one hand…?' He could only stand there and do nothing. If he tried to back off, then his opponent would stab him down. If he stayed, he would most likely get hit by whatever technique Haku was casting. He was trapped.

Haku stopped at a half ram-seal "Sensatsu Suishō" she said stomping with one foot in the ground. All the water around them flew into the air, forming a dome like shape around the two. As soon as the dome was shaped, the water started forming into needles, covering every escape route. Sasuke gulped 'So this is it? I'm going to end like this? Without even having a chance to catch up at Itachi?'

The people around the two fighters could only look by. Kakashi was, to say it mildly, surprised 'One-handed seals? I've only ever seen that in veterans! And it's not something you can learn; you either can or can't do it. And the latter is the most common. That boy really is something. I have to do something!' With that thought Kakashi charged towards the two, aiming to get Sasuke out of the needle dome. He was, however, stopped midway by a Zabuza slashing with his decapitation sword, and was forced to dodge it unless he wanted to lose a head.

Zabuza shook his head laughing lightly, causing chills down Sakura's back "Now, now Kakashi, it wouldn't be nice to interrupt someone's fighting, would it now?"

Kakashi looked frustrated at Zabuza, and thereafter Sasuke 'Come on Naruto. We need you…'

Sasuke looked around the dome, trying to find a way to escape the come, but all escape routes were blocked. He glanced over the shoulder to see if Kakashi could help him, only to see him in a showdown against Zabuza. He turned his vision back on his opponent. The water needles began flying towards the two, and Haku jumped back to avoid getting hit. The sound of the needles hitting their target sounded as the place they had fought was covered up in vapor. Haku didn't move out of her defensive position as it was slowly was blown away by the light ocean breeze. What she saw surprised her. Sasuke was inside a prism made up of thin red crystal. She narrowed her eyes 'So he has shown up. This is what I have trained for the last week. The other two won't be a problem, but the Shoton user. Now where is he?' Her question was answered as she heard a voice behind her.

"Kessho Purizumu" it came from Naruto who looked a little winded. He looked over the field; Haku was standing a few meters from Sasuke, who was now inside his crystal prism, Kakashi and Zabuza were standing in front of each other a couple of meter from Sasuke, not looking like they had started yet, and finally Sakura was standing guard in front of Tazuna all the way back on the bridge.

Haku rose from her crouch without turning towards Naruto "so you have finally decided to show up?"

Naruto jumped over to Sasuke, releasing his prism in the process. Sasuke looked up at his blond teammate and nodded appreciating. Naruto, seeing that Sasuke was ok, stood up and faced Haku "Sorry if I kept you waiting. I had to take care of the thugs your boss hired to kidnap Tazuna's family. Did he really think he could kidnap them with thugs? Surely you have told him about us."

Haku didn't answer but began going through seals, causing Naruto to go into defensive stance. Haku finished and stomped in the ground again "Sensatsu Suishō". Water again rose from the ground, before forming into needles and shoot towards the two boys. Haku was shocked when all the needles stopped only a few meters from Naruto who was standing with a hand raised towards the needles. Slowly at first, but going faster and faster, the needles crystallized with Naruto at center.

Naruto smirked "Jutsu like that isn't going to work on me". As he talked the needles combined and started forming the Rokkaku shuriken. With a flick of a finger they flew towards Haku who could only parry and dodge. Naruto was impressed that she didn't get hit once. "Impressive" he nodded approvingly.

Haku was watching him through her mask 'He can crystallize my Suiton… But how does he fare against a material that's already a crystal?' She began going through another set of seals "Hyoton: Senbon no Hari!"

Naruto was shocked to see the water around his opponent froze over before breaking into pieces and forming senbon. He didn't let it show as he looked at his opponent "I see… You have a Kekkai Genkai too. But seriously, what's with the needles?" He didn't get an answer as the ice senbon fired towards him. He planned to crystallize them, but was surprised at how hard it was. They got closer and closer, and he had only crystallized a little over a tenth of them. They were too close for comfort as he realized he couldn't crystallize them all before they hit. He looked over his shoulder to see Sasuke up and about again. "Sasuke, he has a Kekkai Genkai, go and protect Tazuna-Ojisan and I will take care of this!" Naruto said as they began to dodge all the needles. There were too many and they got scratches here and there.

Sasuke glared at his teammate "no way. I'm Uchiha elite; no way can a clan less dobe do better than me."

"Sasuke, remove that pole from your ass! Maybe if you had your Sharingan yet you could do it, but you don't! So let the 'clan less dobe' handle it! I should be able to keep him busy with my Shoton." As they spoke the mist began to thicken "Crap, Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza must have started their fight." They could hear their teacher and Zabuza clash here and there. Naruto took a look at Sasuke; he didn't look like he was going to Tazuna. He sighed dejectedly "Fine stay, but don't get in the way!"

Sasuke was still glaring at Naruto, but resigned "Fine"

Naruto turned towards Haku "Now, shall we?"

"You're not going to give up either, are you?" Haku asked from his position

Naruto shook his head "Sorry, no can do. Wouldn't look good on paper that my first higher ranking mission was a failure" 'And I can't let all these people down'

"I didn't think so. Hyoton: Senbon no Hari!" she said again, forming the ice needles.

Naruto knew he couldn't crystallize them, so he had to block them. He quickly went through the right seals "Kessho: Rokkaku Shuriken: Ranbu!" The ice senbon and crystal shuriken clashed midair, causing several hundred clangs to travel over the bridge. Neither one wanted to give in, and kept throwing projectiles at the other. At last they could see that neither of them would win like this, and Naruto stopped only to dodge the last few senbon from Haku by jumping to the side. They looked at each other, trying to determine what the other was going to do, both standing in their respective poses. Finally Haku made two more ice senbon and charged. Naruto made his crystal tanto's and charged as well.

Sasuke looked from the sidelines and marveled at the speed and power. It was clear to him that Haku had held back during their clash, and that Naruto never really showed his true powers. It was true that it had been two months since they had fought Kakashi in the bell test, but no one could get that much stronger that fast… could they? Sasuke got angry. He could still remember the dead last in their class. Where did he go? Where the hell did this Naruto come from? Shoton couldn't be the only answer. He wanted to show that he could fight too, but he could tell just by looking at Haku and Naruto that he was no match for either of them. Sure, he could probably get a hit in here and there, but in the end he would lose.

Naruto dodged another swipe from Haku's ice senbon, and tried to retaliate by slashing at her gut, but no luck. Haku brought her other senbon down and blocked. Betraying their size, the ice senbon was both strong and durable, surely because of the chakra it took to make them. 'It's probably because of all the chakra in them that I can't crystallize fast enough. I bet with a lot of training it wouldn't matter much to me, but as I am now it simply takes too much concentration' Naruto theorized as he ducked under a kick. He tried to grab it to twist it like he had done earlier, but no luck as Haku conjured up a few senbon and threw them at him, forcing him to jump back a few meters to avoid them. They looked at each other again, regaining their breath. They weren't winded or anything, but they knew that this fight would take some time. From what they could tell they were as strong as the other. This battle was only going to end when either the other slipped up, or by the one who had most stamina. They charged again.

- With Kakashi and Zabuza -

Kakashi was holding up his Kunai in a defensive stance. Zabuza was totally controlling this battle, no doubt about that. His Sharingan wasn't too much use as the fog was too thick. He was covered in small cuts here and there, the biggest being in his hand. Zabuza had stabbed him with a strange blade as soon as he had tried to uncover his Sharingan. After that Zabuza had disappeared into the mist, showing why he was called Demon of Kiri. His abilities with the silent killing method was frightening. The only reason he was still here was because of his Sharingan; he could dodge just enough for Zabuza to miss any of his vital areas. He was just hoping that Naruto and Sasuke were doing better. He could still hear sounds from another battle, so he was positive that they were still alive.

"Well, well Kakashi, it looks like you don't look so good" it came from Zabuza in the mist

"You're worried about me Zabuza? That's cute. You don't have to, I'm more than ok" Kakashi said, hiding his worry.

"Really? I guess we will have to do something about that won't we?" Zabuza said finishing with an evil laugh. Kakashi tightened up his stance and awaited a new barrage of assaults.

- With Naruto and Haku -

Naruto forced Haku back with a barrage of slashes. Haku jumped back, throwing a few senbon in the process, and landed a few meters away. Naruto simply blocked the senbon. They were in a stare showdown again. None of them had gained any injuries after they had started their fight. Naruto had gotten a few scratches from the ice senbon at the start, but they were healed now, thanks to the old fuzz ball. After that he had activated his crystal armor. He looked over his opponent; she didn't have any scratches either. But Naruto knew he had gotten through her guard a couple of times. He took a closer look and saw cold air forming around her. Now it made sense "I see. So you also have an armor, just like my Kessho no Yoroi" Naruto said staying in his stance.

"Indeed I have. Kori no Yoroi encases me in a thin sheet of chakra-infused ice. It will block all edged attacks but the most powerful" Haku replied.

Naruto nodded mentally to himself 'It's the same principles as my crystal armor. If we weren't enemies I'm sure we could learn a lot from each other. It does make sense though; ice is a crystal, a different crystal than my crystals, but a crystal none the less.' He paused and looked over at his opponent. He didn't know why, but he had an odd feeling that they had met before. Well, other than the brief encounter when his team had fought Zabuza the first time.

Haku began going through seals, she knew that they weren't getting anywhere with Taijutsu. She concentrated a lot of ice chakra and focused it in her longs before exhaling "Hyoton: Namida Reito!" A deep blue colored wind flew from her mouth and headed for Naruto.

Naruto saw this and knew he couldn't get hit. He quickly went through his own seals and stomped in the ground "Shoton: Kesshono Kabe!" A thick crystal wall grew from the concrete of the bridge, defending Naruto from the blue wind. The wind hit hard and the wall groaned under the strain, but it held. The wind split and went to either side of the wall and continued like that. Naruto seeing the attack was over shattered the wall. Everywhere the wind had hit a thick layer of ice were present on the ground. He took a look at his opponent; she didn't even look effected by using such a powerful attack. It was true he wouldn't either, but he had a demon inside him to help him with that.

Getting over it, Naruto decided to attack while he had the chance. He gathered a lot of Shoton chakra in his hand and slammed it into the bridge "Shoton: Omiwatari no Jutsu!" Blue crystals shot up from the ground making their way towards Haku. The Kunoichi began jumping back to avoid the attack. She was taken aback by the speed of the attack.

She saw that she couldn't run from it and went through seals "Hyoton: Namida Reito!" She slammed her fists down on the bridge and her own spikes began to form. The two attacks moved closer and closer until Ice clashed with Crystal. The force the two attacks hit with was enough to tremble the big bridge. Naruto and Haku had to concentrate chakra at their feet to not lose their foothold.

"Enough. I guess I will have to use one of my strongest attacks" Naruto said and began going through a great deal of seals "Shoton: Hasho Koryu!" From the water behind him a great crystal dragon rose. It danced around the air as it awaited Naruto's command. It wasn't anything near as big as either Kakashi's of Zabuza's water dragons had been, but it was decent enough for a Genin or even a Chunin.

"I guess so" Haku said going through her own seals "Hyoton: Reito Ryu!" She cried as three ice dragons rose behind her.

Naruto sweat dropped 'of course she also knows that kind of jutsu. Isn't there anything I can do to get the upper hand?' he thought as the two dragons began attacking, making crystal and ice showering down on Naruto and Haku.

"Don't wreck my damn bridge," Tazuna hollered angrily. "I'll kick your ass blondie!"

"You can try kicking my ass after we're done fighting for our lives Jiji!" Naruto fired back hotly in the dense fog.

Sakura only sighed beside the bridge builder; 'Yep, he's still a smartass at the very least.'

- With Kakashi and Zabuza -

Kakashi looked in the direction of where all the battle sounds where coming. He was starting to get a little worried. It hadn't been nice sounds that had come from that direction, and a few moments ago the whole section of the bridge had trembled. And now he heard roars of big beast, and even through the thick mist he could see shadows clashing.

"It's some student you have Kakashi, to be able to stand up against Haku" Zabuza's voice sounded

Kakashi tried to determine the origin of the voice. "The feeling is mutual. Naruto is most likely becoming the strongest Genin in Konoha. And if not, he is the strongest of his year" Kakashi replied while keeping his worry hidden. He couldn't afford to show any weakness now. He had come up with a strategy to get Zabuza. Now all he needed was to wait.

"I don't know about you, but I would like to see this fight, so let's finish this" Zabuza said, before appearing from the mist with his blade raised for a slash. Kakashi let it slash him slightly in the stomach, making blood splatter out on his opponent. Zabuza grinned before disappearing into the mist again.

"I agree Zabuza" Kakashi said keeping the pain back by sheer willpower "it's time we end this. The next jutsu will be the last". Kakashi brought out a scroll from his flak jacket, smeared blood on it, and began a ritual like process.

"Is that so? I can't wait to see what it-" he was interrupted when an ear shattering roar reverted through the mist, followed by what sounded like crystal shattering.

- With Sasuke -

Sasuke had tried his best to keep watching Haku and Naruto, but they were so fast. There were moments when he thought they had slowed down, but he brushed it off as his imagination. Finally he took Naruto's advice and made his way to Tazuna and Sakura. There was no way he could help Naruto. He could hear the roars of the dragons and the clashes they had, but ignored it as well as he could and continued.

Soon enough he was Sakura still standing the same place in front of Tazuna. Her face lit up with joy for a second, before it showed fear "Sasuke! What's wrong with your eyes?"

Sasuke looked dumbstruck "What do you mean? There's nothing wrong with them."

"But" Sakura said; not sure if she should tell 'her' Sasuke what's wrong "they're red!" Sasuke's eyes widened in excitement as he looked down in a puddle. And sure enough, his eyes were red with one tomoe in his left eye and two in his right eye. He finally had the Sharingan.

Before he could tell Sakura what had happened a shattering roar sounded from where Naruto and Haku was fighting followed by a crystal shattering sound. Sakura and Tazuna both looked worried in the direction it had come from. Tazuna was the first to speak "What the hell is happening? It sounds like they're tearing my bridge apart!" Sakura seemed to think the same

Sasuke looked away from the where Naruto and Haku was, and looked seriously at the two in front of him "It's Naruto"

Sakura was shocked. She had thought it was Kakashi and Zabuza. She looked away from Sasuke and looked in the direction Naruto was. He may be a Baka and annoying at times, but he was her teammate. She clutched her hands together 'Naruto… please be careful…'

- With Naruto and Haku -

Naruto was standing a couple of meters from his opponent. They were both starting to pant. They had used a lot of chakra. Naruto still had about forty percent left. This had been a lot harder than he had thought.

Haku looked at her opponent through her mask 'I can't go on like this much longer. I have to use it'. She began gathering what chakra she had "I'm sorry, but this can't go on much longer. I have to defeat you. There's no doubt about that you're strong for Genin, perhaps even a Chunin, but it ends here. No one has ever beaten my next jutsu Naruto-kun"

Naruto's eyes narrowed "How do you know my name. It isn't something I tell everyone" Naruto thought about it for a second 'well, not anyone not from the village'. He took a real close look at his opponent, and his eyes widened in surprise as he recognized her "It's you! You from the forest!"

Haku stared through her mask for a few seconds, pondering if she should reveal herself. She sighed deeply and took of her mask "Yes."

Naruto stared in disbelief "But why? Why would you work for someone like Zabuza?"

Haku gave Naruto a friendly smile "He saved me. You know about Kiri and its civil war?" Naruto slowly nodded. He remembered reading about it from Jiji; most of the population had developed an irrational fear of the families with Kekkai Genkai after the second great shinobi war. They had all but hunted the clans with Kekkai Genkai. It struck Naruto where it hurt since he had a Kekkai Genkai. He remembered being really happy about living in Konoha; they loved their Kekkai Genkai. If you wanted convincing, just look at the Hyuuga clan, or the Uchiha clan. They were some of the most influential clans in Konoha - even the Uchiha after being massacred.

Haku continued "My full name is Yuki Haku. My clan has the ability to control ice, or Hyoton as it's known as. We're never a very big clan, and we haven't supported any of the Mizukage there have been, and thus not participated in any of the wars. But that didn't matter. They went after us too. My mother changed her name. She married my father without telling him, and they had me." She paused to let it sink in "I was four when I first found out about my abilities. I showed my mom, I thought she would be so proud of me. But instead she hit me and told me to never do it again. But it was too late – my father had already found out. He gathered a mob and killed my mom in front of me. Then they went for me. I can't remember much after that. One thing I do remember was an ice spike that went through my father. I figured I killed him…"

Again she paused and looked over the ocean "I wandered for months through the roads of Kiri, no one cared enough to stop up and ask if I was ok. We were in a civil war, and one only looked out for one self. That was until Zabuza found me. He took me in, he cared for me, and he trained me. That was when his dream became my dream. I want to free Kiri. I want us to be one again."

Naruto looked at her with pity as she looked over the ocean 'Why did we have to be enemies?'

She looked back at Naruto with a determined look "If you won't back down, I will have to make you."

She raised her hands in a seal Naruto had never seen "Makyō Hyōshō!" A blue aura began to emit from her. Naruto noticed it was the same color as the Hyoton: Namida Reito she had used earlier and readied himself. Around him ice began to shoot up from the ground, forming mirrors. Before he could do anything about it he was inside a dome of ice mirrors. There was twenty-one: Twelve remained at ground level, eight floated above the first twelve and angled toward the ground, and the final mirror was above the rest and facing the ground. Naruto heard steps and faced Haku who was slowly making her way to a mirror and stepped inside. Now she was in all twenty-one "You have lost now Naruto. There is nothing you can do but give up".

"I already told you that I can't do that" Naruto said determinately "Have you seen what people in this country live like? How children beg for food just to survive the day? I am fighting for all of them. You are fighting for Gatou, the one that caused this. So I will win this, I will defeat you, and I will help free this nation from Gatou's grasp."

Haku looked a little sad "Very well then" she said as she raised her senbon "then you will die" and with that she threw needles from all the mirrors faster than you could see.

- With Kakashi and Zabuza -

Kakashi finished the ritual and slammed scroll into the ground. Zabuza laughed "No matter what you're doing it won-" he was cut short as he cried out in pain, and the mist lightened.

Kakashi walked over to Zabuza to find him impaled the ground by dogs, biting his arms legs and ribs. "You can't escape this. Now, release the jutsu!"

Zabuza tried to find a way out of the mess when he felt a cold chill and smirked at Kakashi "Sure. You want to see the demise of your student, won't you?" he said as he released it. The fog dispersed almost immediately. Kakashi was stunned to see a big dome of ice mirrors with Naruto in the middle. He didn't look like he had any injuries, but he looked exhausted, way more than Kakashi had ever seen him. And every now and then he was barraged with senbon needles. They bounced harmlessly off his crystal armor, but it wouldn't last forever. He was about to go to help him when Naruto looked him straight in the eye. He got the message and stayed where he was. He was just about to ask Zabuza when he answered "It's Haku's clan secret jutsu: Makyō Hyōshō. No one has ever escaped or defeated it. Even I would have trouble with it." Kakashi looked away from Zabuza and glanced over at Tazuna, thankful to see him unharmed, and saw Sasuke and Sakura guarding him. They all had worried look on their faces and they starred at Naruto in the dome.

- With Naruto and Haku -

Naruto had tried almost everything, but he couldn't break out of the dome. There was one more thing he could try, but it would leave him with almost no chakra, and it wasn't even sure to work. It was a new jutsu he had been working on, a last resort jutsu. He was brought out of his chain of thoughts when he was hit with another barrage of senbon. He looked at Haku. He wasn't in every mirror anymore; he was also low on chakra. 'Maybe, just maybe, it will work. She is also low on chakra…' Naruto thought 'Only one way to find out. But I must go through a lot of seals. I just hope my armor can hold the senbon off just for a little more time'.

With that thought Naruto began going through a lot of seals. Haku saw this 'What is he trying to do? I can't let him do whatever he is planning. I have to stop him' and she began bombarding him with more senbon needles. Slowly but surely his armor began to crack. Naruto speed up the seals as his armor began cracking more and more. Just as it Haku was about to throw the senbon that would have destroyed his armor, Naruto finished his preparation and gathered his remaining chakra. Everyone present looked in awe as a small pink ball began to form in above Naruto's chest.

Naruto squinted in concentration before crying "Shoton: Kessho Jundo!" The small ball expanded and encased the whole dome before dispersing. First nothing happened, but then with Naruto as center, everything the blast wave had touched crystallized. Within a few seconds the section of the bridge was fully crystal, even the mirrors. Haku had just enough time to jump out of the mirrors after using the last of her chakra trying to prevent them from breaking. As soon as she was out Naruto went through a few seals, effectively using the last of his chakra "Shoton: Baningu Kosoku" and crystal chains separated from the crystallized ground and tied Haku up. With that done, Naruto shattered the mirrors and returned the bridge to normal. When he was done he was on one knee.

Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna were by his side fast. Tazuna grinned widely at him "Good job brat! That was some jutsu used there at last. I'm just glad you could return the bridge to normal"

Naruto grinned back at Tazuna as Sakura fussed over him to see if he was injured. But thanks for his crystal armor; which he couldn't hold up anymore, all he suffered was being low on chakra. They were about to walk over to Kakashi and Zabuza when someone clapped.

At the end of the unfinished bridge were standing Gatou and about fifty men "Zabuza you dog! I knew you couldn't do it! Well, good riddance. I wasn't planning on paying you anyway!"

Zabuza glared at Gatou "Kakashi, it seems our, erm, disagreement is over"

Kakashi didn't take his eyes of Gatou and his men "Yeah, it seems like it" he said and dispelled the dogs and freeing Zabuza. He nodded at Naruto who did the same to Haku. Kakashi looked over his team, Zabuza and Haku. The only ones capable of fighting right now was Sasuke and Sakura, and there was no way they could take fifty men down, no matter how strong the enemy were.

Gatou looked at two of the men beside him "Well, what are you waiting for? Kill Tazuna! Kill them all!"

One of the men he had spoken to "What about the pretty rosette over there?" he asked with a perverse grin

"You can have her, just kill the rest of them" Gatou responded

That seemed to excite the men "You got it boss!" the two went through seals, quickly making it obvious that they were shinobi "Suiton: Mizu no Dangan!"

Multiple water projectiles formed as bullets quickly shot towards Tazuna and Sakura who was standing in front of him. Naruto's eyes widened. He tried using his Shoton, but he didn't have enough chakra. Before he knew it he was standing in front of Sakura with the worst pain he had ever had in his chest. He looked down and saw multiple holes. He looked at Kakashi who had wide eyes. Naruto coughed, causing blood to be spewed from his mouth. Faster than he could see more water bullets where shot towards him with such force it pushed him off the bridge and into the cold water below. The world began to blacken, and the last thing he heard was a female voice screaming his name. Tears brimming Sakura's eyes before realizing she was the one who screamed.

- With Naruto -

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. As soon as he did he shot up and bounced into defensive stance. He looked around and couldn't see where he was. The last thing he remembered was falling off the bridge. And now he was in a… sewer? 'No use of staying here' he thought as he began making his way through the hall.

The longer he went the more an ominous feeling began to grow in his chest. At last he made to a room with a big cage at the end; the only thing seemingly keeping it shot was a piece of paper with the kanji for 'seal' on it. A deep rumble came from the cage "So, you've finally come here"

Naruto squinted his eyes to try and see what was in the cage "Who are you?"

"Come closer and you'll see" the voice sounded.

Naruto carefully took a few steps towards the cage, but jumped back when four enormous claws tried to hit him through the bars "Gah! If it wasn't for this damn seal I would shred you where you stand!"

Naruto quickly made two crystal tanto's "Kyuubi no Yoko" he stated.

Two Glowing red eyes opened in the cage as the Kyuubi partially stepped into view "You're right I am. And I see you're using my gift well, human" the Kyuubi said, saying the last part as it was venom.

Naruto didn't pay attention to it much "If you are the Kyuubi, then this must be inside my mind"

"Very observant. Your predecessors weren't as clever the first time they came to face me"

"Why am I here?" Naruto asked

"You're dying" the Kyuubi stated flatly, as if he was talking about the weather.

"I-I'M WHAT!?" Naruto asked disbelieving

"Dying, as becoming dead, as not living" Kyuubi said amused. He hadn't had this much fun since he had been sealed inside Kushina. Oh how he could push her buttons

Naruto starred at the big fox "This can't be happening. I'm dying, and worse, my last moments will be with a demon fox that have made my life a living hell". Naruto sat down and began thinking. He could remember from the books about Jinchurriki that they sometimes could channel their tenant's power. Now it was just a question of how to get the Kyuubi to cooperate. 'It's not like I can force him to do it. He is an ageless mass of living chakra. But maybe…' Naruto smirked to himself "Well, if I am to die, I can't see any better way. I will have defeated one of the most powerful beings in this world"

The Kyuubi's laughter boomed through the sewers "most powerful being? The Hyoton user is nothing compared to what I've seen. Heck, even by your puny standards she wasn't much to talk about"

"Oh, I'm not talking about her" Naruto stated

The Kyuubi narrowed his eyes at the human standing in front of him "Then who are you talking about?"

Naruto smirked at the Kyuubi "You of course. When I die, you die. You're sealed inside me. Too bad, I guess if you had enough time you could break out some way. But that's not going to happen now". The Kyuubi didn't have any answer to that. Naruto went for the kill "Unless…"

"Unless what, human?"

"Unless you lend me your chakra. I bet that those guys couldn't stand up to the might of the 'mighty Kyuubi no Yoko'."

"Watch it human" the fox growled. He was silent for a few seconds "Very well, but you best not waist it! You are representing me; no way is my vessel going to lose to a bunch of thugs!" Red mist began to emit from the cage and centered on Naruto. First only a little, then more and more until Naruto couldn't see a hand in front of him. He heard the fox deep laugher rumple through the mist.

- With Kakashi -

Kakashi kept brushing off the attacking thugs. It seemed that it was only the two that attacked – killed – Naruto was shinobi. Kakashi kept glancing over at where Naruto had stood. There was a pool of blood spattering from where he had coughed up the blood. He looked over at Sakura who looked to be on the brink of tears. Her mind almost went blank as the image of Naruto kept appearing, watching him die to protect her. He was distracted for a moment, and was just about to take a stab from the enemy, when Zabuza blocked it. He glanced over his shoulder to look at Kakashi "Kakashi, get it together. Don't let the blond kid's death be in vain!"

Kakashi looked at Zabuza and nodded "You're right". He turned towards the attackers again. He was going to protect the rest of his team. He broke his promise once already – he was not going to do it again. But he had also let his sensei down. Kakashi knocked out one of the attackers, and was just about to do the same to another when he felt a huge chakra spike. He looked around, he wasn't the only one. Even the thugs without training seemed to sense something. Then a large quake happened, knocking many of the thugs off their feet. That was when Kakashi recognized the chakra 'It can't be! It's the Kyuubi's chakra. I would never forget that feeling.' He turned towards Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna "Get off the bridge!"

Sasuke wasn't going to go that easy "But se-"

"NOW!" Kakashi interrupted. Sakura ran over to Sasuke and tugged him in the arm. The three of them ran towards the entrance to the bridge while Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku held off the thugs. Another quake happened, stronger than before. The three shinobi were forced to use chakra to stay on their feet. The thugs and Gatou weren't so lucky, and kept falling on their behinds. The shinobi took this as their chance and took out a good portion of thugs. By now there were about thirty left, give or take a few. Kakashi heard a big crash and waves being pushed away. He quickly looked and marveled at the sight. A big crimson crystal pillar rose out in the ocean, towering the bridge by at least ten meters. He got a burst of hope 'Naruto!' Another crash from the other side of the bridge, and another of the pillars appeared. Two more appeared not long after. And then it happened. A pillar thicker and higher than any of them shut up from the ocean by the end of the unfinished bridge.

"You are dead Gatou!" Naruto's voice sounded. But it wasn't like his usual voice; it was thick and dark with killer intent. Kakashi tried to see where he was, and finally spotted him. On top of the last pillar a figure where standing on all fours. Naruto was looking around with red demon eyes, trying to figure out where his victim was. He jumped down onto the bridge, scaring the thugs. One of them tried to jump off the bridge, but only made it half a meter off from it, before a spike shot out from one of the pillars, killing him on the spot. Naruto laughed "You don't want to come out and play Gatos-chan? Fine! I'll come and find you!" The top of the pillar behind Naruto shattered in small pieces that swirled around him. Then he charged; roaring he tore down enemies left and right. No one could escape him; they were swiped with his claw like hands, impaled by the small crystals, and broken by his strong punches and kicks.

Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku could only look in awe and fear as Naruto tore through all their enemies. There was twenty left, then fifteen, then ten. As the last few fell, Gatou came running towards them "Please, save me! I'll give you anything, pay you any amount!"

"Not a chance!" Naruto's demonic voice sounded. He charged a massive amount of chakra in his hands and slammed them into the ground, which began to glow dark red with chakra and moved at a fast pace towards Gatou, who began running even faster. The other shinobi saw as the chakra caught up with the little tyrant and crystallized him. Not a few seconds after it shattered in atomic pieces. Nothing was left of Gatou.

"It's over" the blond Genin said. He looked at Kakashi and smiled. He began falling because of his exhaustion, only to be caught by Kakashi.

"Naruto-nii chan?" Inari asked. Naruto's eyes slowly open to see Inari followed by Sasuke, Sakura, Tazuna and the rest of the islanders.

"Oh, hey Inari. What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, not even bothering hiding his exhaustion from the child.

"We came to help! All the villagers!" Inari answered, getting loud agreements from the villagers, who began to cheer on Naruto and his feat.

The silver haired Jounin looked at his student as Naruto's eyes shut close. The Jounin smiled "You did good Naruto"

Inari went over to Kakashi "Is nii chan ok?"

The Jounin smiled at the boy "Yeah, he will be fine. He just needs a lot of rest"

"That's good" Inari said excited and walked back to the villagers and told them the news.

Kakashi took Naruto as piggyback and began heading over to Zabuza and Haku. That stopped when they heard a voice they had hoped not to ever hear "Momochi Zabuza, Yuki Haku"

The shinobi spun around and faced the new appearance. It was a squad of four shinobi, wearing the same mask as Haku had when they had first met. Zabuza sighed in defeat "So you finally caught up to us… I will come peacefully, I only have one request. Let Haku go"

Haku couldn't even move. His master was willing to give his freedom for hers. She was about to disagree when the hunter-nin spoke up "No, both of you are coming with us."

Zabuza reached for his blade "Then we will fight"

The hunter-nin squad leader shook his head "You misunderstand Zabuza-san. The fourth Mizukage is dead. We are here on behalf of the fifth Mizukage, Terumi Mei. She said you two were close comrades under the early stages of the civil war"

Zabuza's eyes widened before narrowing "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"She really knows you well. She told us you would react like that, and told us to tell you 'even if the mist becomes bloody, doesn't mean it can't become pure again'"

Zabuza slowly displayed a big grin "Haku, we're finally going home again". He turned towards Kakashi and bowed "I am sorry we had to meat under these circumstances. I hope to see you and that blond brat again"

Haku bowed likewise "Wish Naruto-kun well. I learned a lot from him". They both rose and walked to the hunter-nin, and then all disappeared with a Shunshin. Kakashi and his two conscious Genin walked back to towards Tazuna's house, receiving a hero's welcome as they walked through the city.

- A week later -

Team 7 was standing at the entrance to the newly finished bridge, preparing to go back to Konoha. The mission had taken a bit longer than they had anticipated, and they were all eager to get back home. To bid them goodbye were all the islanders leaded by Inari, Tazuna and Tsunami. Inari was sobbing lightly, seeing his new hero and big brother go away. Naruto kneeled down beside him, and he tried stop crying "I have to stop crying, or you'll just call me a crybaby!"

Naruto smiled friendly at Inari "It's ok to cry when you're happy. It just shows that you're human". Inari nodded and succumbed to full-out crying. Naruto hugged him goodbye and got up. Team 7 bids their goodbyes and began their journey home. Standing back was the bridge builder and his family.

Tazuna was smiling at the sight of Inari; he had gotten his grandson back "Hey, we haven't named the bridge yet"

Inari was looking at the fading vision of Team 7 "I think I have an idea"

"Oh, really?" Tazuna asked, already having a hunch

"'The Great Naruto Bridge'" Inari said as it was obvious. Several of the islanders voiced their agreement

Tazuna scratched his chin "'The Great Naruto Bridge', huh? Well, the name has given him plenty of luck. It should serve as our bridge well".

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sensatsu Suishō - Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death: Using this technique, Haku gathers some water from the air and surrounding environment into one thousand long needles. She then directs them to a specific target at high speed, leaping backwards before impact so she doesn't get caught in the crossfire. Haku is able to perform this jutsu with one-handed seals, allowing him to pin an opponent's arm and attack while they cannot use any techniques themselves.

Hyoton: Senbon no Hari – Ice Release: Frost Senbon Needles: Haku freezes surrounding water and shapes them into frost senbon.

Kori no Yoroi – Ice Armor: This jutsu allows the user to become encased in a thin sheet of ice to protect herself from blunt force trauma. This armor can also aid the user in performing stronger physical attacks. The ice is transparent and can only be noticed by light reflecting off it.

Hyoton: Namida Reito – Ice Release: Freezing Wind: This jutsu requires the user to knead a large amount of chakra inside the body which is then converted into ice chakra, and expelled from the mouth in the form of a blue colored wind. Anything that this freezing wind comes into contact with will be automatically frozen. The effectiveness of this jutsu depends on the volume of chakra that is mustered. The only problem with this jutsu is however, that it is used for short range; therefore, the user must be near the opponent first when initiating the jutsu.

Shoton: Kessho no Kabe - Crystal Release: Crystal Wall: The user conjures a protective wall of crystal.

Shoton: Omiwatari no Jutsu - Crystal Release: The Gods' Crossings Technique: The user places his hand on a surface, creating a long stream of sharp crystals to bind and pierce a target.

Hyoton: Namida Reito – Ice Release: Frozen Tear: Once the appropriate hand seals are done, the user begins to gather ice elemental chakra around their fist. When the necessary chakra is gathered the user will punch the ground with either one or both of their fists causing the ground to break open and stalactites (large spikes) of ice to appear from underneath the ground, these large ice spikes are super hard can be used to impale or skewer a target. Normally the spikes appear from underneath the ground, but it's possible to cause them to appear from the side of a tree, or from a ceiling. The size and speed of the jutsu depends on amount of chakra used, more chakra, the faster the "tear" will appear, and the stronger it will be. This technique can also be performed this near a body of water, as the user can manipulate any source of water into ice, thus the more water nearby the stronger the jutsu will be.

Shoton: Hasho Koryu - Crystal Release: Tearing Crystal Falling Dragon: The user crystallizes a material in the area, and then turns it into a dragon. It can be used as a means to travel or to attack a target. Several dragons can also be made and manipulated at once.

Hyoton: Reito Ryu - Ice Style: Frozen Dragon Jutsu: The user freezes a body of water and shapes it into a dragon that will do the users bidding. Can be used as a means to travel or to fight.

Makyō Hyōshō - Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals: The abominable and tremendous ability, passed down only within the Yuki clan. The "Kekkai Genkai: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals" is a technique wrapped up in many mysteries. It was said that no method in existence can defeat this technique. In an instant, multiple mirrors of ice are created around the enemy, reflecting nothing but Haku. The opponent is trapped in a dome of twenty-one floating mirrors made out of ice. Twelve remain at ground level, eight float above the first twelve and angled toward the ground, and the final mirror is above the rest and facing the ground. Once Haku has entered the mirrors, it's possible for her to move between the mirrors at the speed of light. It's impossible to see attacks send out from this literal light speed movement. As every mirror shows his reflection, one could say it's impossible to see all of Haku's attacks. Even if the opponent tries to attack the real body, Haku will have already moved to another mirror. Without eyes like the Sharingan, it will be impossible to keep track of him.

If the mirror Haku is in is broken, he can leap out of one of the fragments and continue his attack or move to another mirror. The technique requires a large amount of chakra to maintain, so Haku's movement becomes progressively slower the longer he maintains the mirrors.

Haku can also form individual mirrors, not restricted to the twenty-one-mirror formation. He can create them high in the sky allowing him to take out airborne targets. The cold which emanates from the mirrors is also enough to cause snow to fall. Though they are made from ice, the mirrors are resistant to Katon techniques.

Shoton: Kessho Jundo – Crystal Release: A large amount of chakra is used to entirely remake the battlefield into a giant crystal formation. This jutsu can maximum encompasses 200 feet around the user, though the area is controlled by the amount of chakra and control the user has. With the large amount of chakra used this ability is not without benefits. After the area has reached its crystal state the user then can draw energy from it. Opponents will find it very difficult to get around because of the users chakra repelling there chakra from letting them climb. In deep caverns or gorges that are formed is the most unwanted place for enemy shinobi, because of the repelling feature on enemies the area would tamper the jutsu abilities of the enemy or worse backfire on themselves.

Suiton: Mizu no Dangan – Water Release: Water Bullet: The user fires bullets made out of water.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Team 7 was walking through the gates of Konoha with a caravan in tow. They had been on a C-rank mission to escort and assigned to guard it while it was going through a quarter of Hi no Kuni. And once again the Chunin guards laughed at Naruto; his clothes had been singed in a Katon jutsu, and small patches were missing. Some shinobi had decided to try and rob the caravan a few miles from Konoha – rather stupid in Naruto's opinion – and of course he had been the only one hit by the only jutsu being cast.

Naruto dusted some cooling embers of his shirt "of course it was me he had to hit. It would be nice to walk into Konoha once without something having messed up my clothes! Last time it was a Suiton jutsu, the time before that a futon and I don't want to remember the time before that! Is one homecoming with my clothes intact too much to ask!?"

Kakashi waved his right hand in a dismissive manner "Ah, come on Naruto it isn't that bad"

The blonde shot his sensei a glare "Oh, and how would you know, oh great sensei? You never even look up from that damned porn"

The blond Genin didn't get an answer, and as such he just started brooding over his bad luck the rest of the way through Konoha. After they had dropped of their escort in the business part of Konoha, completing their mission, they made their way to the Hokage tower. Mission wise the last weeks hadn't gone bad. They still had the D-ranks, but the Hokage seemed to like their results on the C-ranks as they were getting more and more of those. So far they had completed 4 – 5 with this – C-ranks. They quickly reached the Hokage's office and knocked on the door to mark their entrance.

The old Hokage looked up from his stacks of paperwork "Ah Team 7. Back from another successful mission I take?" he paused at the sight of Naruto and sighed "what happened this time?"

Naruto crossed his arms. "Freakin' Katon jutsu" he answered in a scowl. Hiruzen shook his head in amusement.

Kakashi stepped forward, still reading his little orange book "Team 7 is reporting back from C-rank mission. The caravan have been successfully escorted through Hi no Kuni without any major incidents."

"Easy for you to say" Naruto mumbled behind him, but he didn't react on it. Sakura only giggled while Sasuke snorted amusingly.

The old Hokage nodded and wrote something down. He took a look at the paper he had been working on "I must say, I'm impressed with you. From all the teams of this year, you are doing by far the best." The statement cheered Naruto and the rest of his team up. Hiruzen mused as he puffed on his pipe a few times "Well, I think that will be all for now. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, you are all dismissed. Kakashi I have some things to discuss with you"

The Genin of Team 7 responded with a 'Hai', bowed lightly, and disappeared out of the door.

Hiruzen walked up and activated a privacy seal "It has been some weeks since your last report. How is your team progressing?"

Kakashi clapped the book close and put it in his pouch. He looked thoughtful "They are all progressing nicely. Sasuke, as you know, has activated the Sharingan and I have been training him how to use it. His Taijutsu is also improving quite nicely, so is his chakra control. We haven't gotten to the point where we start with the Uchiha clan-jutsu. For now we focus mostly on Taijutsu for him to getting used to his Sharingan" Hiruzen nodded while blowing out some smoke from his pipe.

Kakashi continued "And Sakura, our rosette has really done a 180. She is actually trying. Though I'm focusing most on Sasuke, I have been observing her progress. She sometimes trains with Naruto to get some pointers, but she mostly trains herself. She is a natural at chakra control, so it seems she focus more on the physical aspects of being a shinobi. I haven't seen her train any Taijutsu, rather she trains her strength, doing all kinds of different workouts. Rather clever actually; she was already rather strong for a girl her age, heck for a girl any age, so by training that first she will get an ace." Kakashi paused to think "And when I think about it, she seems to have more energy than she had those first few weeks. It could of course just be from her training, but I think she is eating well now, rather than being on a diet and starving her body".

Hiruzen smiled "Ah, so we have another aspiring Kunoichi? That's good. I was a bit worried about the new generation's Kunoichi. Most of this year's graduates were not really suited for the life of a shinobi"

Kakashi nodded affirmative "Hai, it seems that way"

Hiruzen got a tad more serious. This was what he really was interested in "And what about Naruto"

Kakashi noticed the difference in the old Hokage's posture and speech pattern "Well, to be honest, I don't know a whole lot. You know that Jiraiya-Sama has taken to train him, when he is around that is. I try to follow them in the shadows, not that I could hide from a Sannin, but they seem to train in an area surrounded by chakra suppression and barrier seals. I have an idea of what they are doing in there, but as I said, I can't be sure"

"You think Jiraiya is training him in using the Kyuubi?"

"That would be my guess" Kakashi let it sink in "When Jiraiya is away Naruto uses one of the more secluded training grounds. He is really using the Kage Bunshin to its full potential. It seems like he has learned a new Taijutsu form, probably from Jiraiya, but I don't recognize it. He also seems to be practicing Fūinjutsu a lot. He is at least on level with someone who can use the restriction seal. He is also finally focusing on something more than just his Shoton. He has taken a liking to Fūton"

A gleam of approval flashed in Hiruzen's eyes "Fūton, huh?" the old man said with nostalgic written all over his face "Just like his father and mother… How adept is he in it?"

"I would say he is at skill level of someone having cut a third of a leaf. He certainly is more adept in Fūton than Doton. He is not really training his Doton as of now. My guess would be that he tried out both Doton and Fūton, and decided to train the element he was better at."

Hiruzen nodded at the information he had gotten "What about the Rasengan? Does he even know what jutsu he is learning yet?"

Kakashi shook his head "No it doesn't seem he does. He is at the final step; suppressing the sphere. It looks like it's almost complete, but he seems to be stuck. He just needs the last push"

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and breathed deeply "He really is impressive. He isn't like Sasuke; whereas Sasuke is a genius, Naruto just works really hard. Not that I am saying Naruto is not as talented, but I wouldn't call him a genius"

"Hai" though agreeing to it, left a bitter taste in Sarutobi's mouth.

The old Hokage sat back up and looked the silver-haired Jounin straight in the eye "Just one more thing Kakashi. You know about the Jounin meeting this afternoon" Kakashi confirmed with a nod "don't be late. This isn't one you want to be late to"

Kakashi sighed "Alright, alright, I'll be there on time. Just this once"

Hiruzen nodded and began on his paperwork again "That was all. You're dismissed"

As his Jounin left the Sandaime's mind soon wondered as he stops working. Hiruzen's gaze went solemn as his mind recounted Kakashi's opinion between Naruto and Sasuke he leans back in his chair.

"Naruto truly does takes after you Kushina. And I have the nerve to act like his grandfather when I cannot properly acknowledge my own 'grandson'. True talent doesn't come from a clan, natural talent, or genetics. It comes from the drive to be the best at the craft you have chosen. And very much like you Kushina, Naruto has that in spades. Please forgive this old fool Naruto."

- With Naruto -

Naruto was walking through Konoha towards the training grounds. After they had been dismissed the blonde had been around his apartment quickly to change. He had also sent a Kage Bunshin with his burned clothes to Higarashi. Normally he would have done it himself to see if Tenten was around, but he knew she wouldn't be at the store. The day Team 7 was setting out on their mission, she had told him that she and her team was going to participate in the Chunin-exams, and that their sensei would use every moment until the exams with training them. So the chances of Naruto running into her were rather slim.

Naruto frowned lightly when he thought about his own training 'It's so frustrating! I'm sure I'm really close to finishing that jutsu Ero-sennin is training me in, but I just can't give it the last push… And then there's the Shoton Bunshin. I just can't make it. I make the form, it gains my traits, but it's just a dummy, it won't and can't do anything. Maybe if I…'

"Hey Naruto!" a female voice called him.

He turned around to see Sakura running towards him waving. He couldn't help but feel butterflies in his stomach. Little by little since they had come back from Nami no Kuni Sakura had accepted him more and more. She didn't call him an idiot or hit him that much anymore – which he was very thankful for. She had even joined him for training sometimes, where she fought against him or his clones. That way she was training her endurance with the never ending clones, and Naruto has been training her in the new Taijutsu style he had learned from a scroll he found. He waved back at the pink-haired Kunoichi "Hey Sakura-chan. Is something wrong?"

She made her way to her teammate "No, not at all. I was just wondering if you were going to train now."

He grinned at her "Do you even have to ask?"

She shook her head smiling "No, I guess not. Can I join you? I have a new trick I want to try out"

"Sure, but what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked while starting to walk again.

Sakura followed him "He is training with Kakashi as usual" she said a little harsh.

"Of course he is…" he said tiredly. Naruto couldn't blame Sakura, since he felt the same way; Kakashi was Team 7's sensei, not Uchiha Sasuke's personal guide. He could understand Kakashi taking some time for Sasuke, him being the only one able to train Sasuke about the Sharingan, but forgetting Sakura and him all together? That was pushing. They weren't mad at Sasuke, though he was sucking it up and not thinking about the team as a whole either, but at Kakashi. He was just glad that he can help Sakura could train by them or they would really be screwed.

They soon enough made it to training ground 43. Sakura politely waited while Naruto made the clones. Naruto made his way to the middle of the field and formed a familiar seal "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Two-hundred-ish clones appeared. Already knowing what to do they split up; a third of them working on Jiraiya's balloons, a fourth working on Fūinjutsu, a fourth working on the Shoton Bunshin and the last were walking towards Sakura to get ready to train with her. Naruto also made his way to his female teammate.

Sakura looked over at all the Naruto's who had sat down and started writing "Naruto, what are those clones doing?"

The real Naruto looked over at which ones she was referring to "Oh, they are working on my Fūinjutsu"

Sakura eyes widened 'Fūinjutsu! He is working on Fūinjutsu!? I knew he was good; he is by far the best in our class now… Even better than Sasuke. But to work on something that advanced?' She shook the disbelief from her. She should be used to this by now; Naruto kept surprising her from the day they had graduated. If you had asked her in the academy is she would ever willingly train with Naruto she would have smacked them across the classroom for the insult. But now? She would never have gotten this far if it wasn't for him.

"Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan, are you ok?" Naruto asked waving a hand in front of her face

She blushed lightly. She must have spaced out "Oh, yeah I'm ok. I'm just surprised that you're working on something as advanced as Fūinjutsu… Wait, so you're making those sealing scrolls you're using by yourself?" He nodded "How many seals have you learned"

Naruto showed her an embarrassed grin while scratching the back of his head "well, I know sealing scroll, explosion tags, restriction seals and mild chakra suppression seals. But that's all. Fūinjutsu is some of the toughest I've ever done." She nodded at the information, just getting even more impressed. Naruto got into his stance "Well, shall we?"

She grinned at him "Oh, yes we shall". Shivers ran through all the clones around her.

- Later that afternoon -

Naruto patted his behind "Ouch. You really have improved Sakura-chan" he said winching

She smiled proudly "Thanks"

"But how did you hit that hard? I mean, you left small craters for crying out loud" the blond Genin ask with a wondering expression.

"Chakra" she answered simply

Naruto's eyes lit up "Of course. That explains it. So you channel some chakra through your muscles making them stronger while you fight?"

"Yes" she nodded affirmative "but I can't do it for longer period of times, so I need training in that"

"I see…"

"Hey Naruto-nii chan!" a voice sounded behind them.

The two members of Team 7 turned around to see three eight-year olds standing and smiling to Naruto. It was Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon, or as they liked to call themselves, 'the Konohamaru corps'. Naruto kind of liked them. Konohamaru, the hyperactive leader with the longest scarf he had seen, Udon, the math genius/ geek, with a never ending cold, and Moegi the reasonable Kunoichi in training, with gravity-defying pigtails. He smiled back at them "Hey guys. What's up?"

Konohamaru looked deadpanned at him "Come on nii chan! Can't you remember? You promised to play shinobi with us when you came back from your mission!" Udon and Moegi nodded in agreement

Sakura turned to Naruto with a look that greatly resembled Konohamaru's "Really? A shinobi playing shinobi?"

"Ah, come on Sakura-chan. When you were in the academy didn't you ever want to play shinobi? And what better way to do it than with someone already a shinobi?" he answered not embarrassed at all.

The rosette shook her head smirking.

Konohamaru looked between the two older children. You could really see the wheels turn in his head. His eyes lit up "Oh boss! Is this your" he made a gesture with his pinky finger that all but screamed 'girlfriend'

Naruto quickly shook his hands in front of him in a defensive manner and shook his head "No, no! She is my teammate! Not my girlfriend!" He glanced over at Sakura; she had a tick mark, but seemed to calm down when Naruto denied it.'

Konohamaru took his hand and cupped his chin while nodding "I see. Guess it's because she's so flat-chested, right boss? Or, or! It's because she has that monstrously large forehead, right boss?"

Naruto looked at his little-brother figure in disbelief 'there is no saving you from this Konohamaru.' The blonde sighed "No, it's not because of either of those. Goodbye Konohamaru, it was nice knowing you"

Konohamaru gave him a puzzled look "Why? Are you going somewhere?"

"No, but you are" Naruto said and pointed lightly over at Sakura. Konohamaru glanced over at where Sakura should have been. What he saw instead he could've sworn was the death-god Shinigami.

It didn't take him more than a second to take off, with Sakura right behind him "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BRAT!"

Moegi and Udon looked worried at Naruto. He sighed "Alright, I'll try to stop her. But if anything happens to me, it's on you guys" he said pointing at them before he took off "SAKURA-CHAN! PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM! HE WAS JUST KIDDING, RIGHT KONOHAMARU!?"

"R-RIGHT! SORRY SAKURA, I DIDN'T MEAN IT! NARUTOOO! HELP ME!" it came from the young Sarutobi as he tried to get away from the spitting image of the death god.

Naruto had caught up to them when Konohamaru turned a corner. He heard a 'humph'. Sakura seemed to have calmed a bit down from the running and looked wondering at Naruto. The blond Genin looked just as confused. They quickly turned the corner as well and saw what Konohamaru had run into. He was currently held up in his scarf.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A little brat going where he shouldn't" the boy Konohamaru had run into said. He was wearing a black and baggy full body suit, with a red and yellow circle in front. To top the look off he also wore a black hood with cat-like ears on it. What caught Naruto's attention was the hitai-ate on his forehead. Naruto narrowed his eyes 'Suna… I guess they're here for the Chunin exams. But that doesn't mean they can go around and do whatever they want'.

"Konohamaru" Moegi and Udon cried as they had just also turned the corner.

The Suna-shinobi tightened his grip "That hurt, brat"

"Stop it. We're going to get scolded later. We're not in Suna anymore" a female voice came from behind the foreigner. Naruto took a look at her 'She is rather pretty'. She had dark green eyes, and blond hair, not far from the color he had, though a little darker, which was gathered in four ponytails.

Naruto stepped forward "Your teammate is right, Suna, let go of the boy"

Kankuro looked at the blond boy and saw the hitai-ate. He grinned mentally 'They must be Konoha Genin. Let's have some fun.' He stared hard at the boy in his hand "No, I think I better teach this brat a lesson before some noisy people come around."

Temari sighed "Kankuro, you're on your own with this. I won't be a part of this"

Kankuro ignored it and brought his free hand back, ready to throw a punch. That was Naruto's cue; he took off a lot faster than before. Before Kankuro could react Naruto had wrapped his hand around his wrist and twisted it, causing Kankuro to lose grip on Konohamaru. Naruto wasn't done; he twisted the arm behind his opponents back, while sweeping his feet, causing him to fall on his stomach. Naruto quickly conjured a kunai-like weapon with his Shoton and pointed it at the back of his neck "You should've listened to your teammate."

The Konohamaru-corps and the Suna-Genin looked in disbelief. Sakura, not so much, after all, she had been on the same team as Naruto for months, and trained with him. She looked hard at the two shinobi from Suna "Suna, why are you here? It's true that Konoha and Suna are allies, but you need a passport and reason if you want to be in Konoha"

Kankuro laughed lightly "How pathetic. You don't even know that the Chunin-exams are coming up?"

Naruto tightened his grip on Kankuro's arm, causing him to wince "And you are one to talk? We will have to take a look at your passports anyway"

Temari frowned "And why is that"

Naruto didn't look happy and half-glared at the girl "Even if you are here for the Chunin-exams, it doesn't give you right to go around and do whatever you please. As a shinobi of Konoha I can ask any foreigner to show their passport if I find suspicion that they are a danger, or do crime in Konoha. Your friend here" he nodded at Kankuro "have attacked a shinobi-in-training, the third Hokage's grandson none the less, a shinobi, and resisted giving your passports. So now, please, hand over your passports!"

Temari could see the boy wasn't kidding, and felt chills run down her spine when she heard who the boy her brother had almost mugged was "Kankuro, see! That's why I told you not to do it. I'm sorry Konoha" she said bowing "please let my brother go"

Naruto hesitated a bit, but did as she had asked. Kankuro stood up and dusted himself off. Naruto still was less than happy with her "And now your passports. Also the redhead up there" he made a gesture with his head towards a tree nearby. All the people around him looked surprised up at the place.

A red-haired boy were standing upside down in the tree "Temari, Kankuro, you are a disgrace to our village".

Temari looked a little scared "Gaara"

Gaara jumped down between them and handed over his passport to Naruto. Kankuro and Temari quickly did the same.

Naruto looked through them. As they had said, they were here for the Chunin-exams. Naruto's right brow lifted when he saw that they were the Kazekage's children, but that wasn't going to get them any special treatment. He searched his pouch and pulled up a pen. He channeled chakra through it to make ink and made a few notes. He handed the passports back "This will be reported. I will suggest that you hold a low profile while staying in Konoha. If you pull a prank like this again I can't promise that you will be able to stay"

"I'll make sure that there won't be any more problems" Gaara said bowing lightly. The dark green eyes met the bright blue. Naruto could feel something, maybe something familiar? He couldn't be sure.

He shook it off quickly and regained his serious face "Make sure of it". Gaara nodded before taking his team with him.

Naruto held his 'though guy' pose until he could feel the Suna-teams presences leave. He exhaled and turned towards the others with a smile "Konohamaru, are you ok?"

Konohamaru and his corps looked at Naruto with stars in their eyes. Konohamaru stepped out from his hiding place behind Sakura "Yeah I am. Boss, that was so cool!" Udon and Moegi quickly praising him with compliments, how he was a hero and how they bet he could kick those Suna-shinobi's asses if he wanted to.

Naruto grinned embarrassed, but stopped abruptly and looked up in another tree "Sasuke, you enjoying the view?"

Sasuke just replied with an 'hn'. He looked over the people there standing on a branch "I just came to tell you that for tomorrow we will have to meet Kakashi at the bridge". And with that he disappeared.

Naruto sighed 'Don't you ever get out of that asshole phase?' the blond swore he heard a loud scoff from his tenant, but nothing else.

He turned around to Sakura to see her clutch her hands near her heart, making his own break slightly "Don't worry about him". It didn't seem to help "Oh well, I'm going to get something to eat now, so see you tomorrow Sakura-chan."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow" she replied distantly

"HEY! What about us playing shinobi?" Konohamaru asked rather irritated

Naruto shrugged "Well, you can come with me, you paying for your own food of course, and we can do it after" he said and started to walk towards Ichiraku's. The Konohamaru-corps quickly ran after him while chattering about how cool he was.

- At Konoha's main gate -

The Chunin-guards were having a busy day. The Chunin-exams were coming up, and Genin from all over the elemental continent were heading to Konoha to participate, and because of that there was a lot of extra work for the gate-guards. Yet another team was heading towards the gates of Konoha. But this was from Kiri, the first one they'd seen so far.

"So this is Konoha, huh? It's a lot different from… from home" Haku said. She was still getting used to the idea of having a home, and not just being on the move all the time.

"You're right. It's a lot different" Zabuza replied looking at the big gates. "The village of the tree hugging hippies," the Jounin chuckled being glared at by the guards.

Haku smiled "I hope I get to see Naruto while we're here"

"M-me too. You have t-talked a lot about this guy" it came from one of her teammates. His name was Kurosuki Chojuru and he was the same age as her; thirteen years old. He has short, tufty blue hair, and dark eyes. He also had pointed, shark-like teeth; a trait that Haku knew he was shy about, and wished he didn't have. He wears square, black-rimmed glasses connected to ear protectors, a blue pin-striped shirt, and camouflage pattern pants. Over his shirt he wears his forehead protector on the front of his holster, which he uses to carry his sword. Haku was rather impressed by how well he was handling his sword; it was a big broad one, one that couldn't be light. Many had talked about that he could be the next wielder of Hiramekarei. He also had a sharp mind for tactics. But as he was now he couldn't put it to full use; he was rather shy, even with all his talent.

"Bah, as long as you stop talking about it every five minutes! He can't be that remarkable" it came from her second teammate. His name was Ringo Kouhei, descendant of Ringo Ameyuri, one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen. He was slightly older than his two teammates; sixteen years old to their fifteen. In his year he was one of the best shinobi, but according to his clan, he is not something to boast about. He was rather short for their age-group, but had a very elegant build. He had large brown eyes, framed by long coffee-colored hair worn in a style that could resemble a waterfall. Kouhei was more of a Taijutsu expert, using a modified form of his clan's Taijutsu. His form emphasizes tormenting one's opponent and using blocks and counterstrikes. Although he was very proficient in it, he was not without weapon; he was always wearing a whip at his side, and he knew how to use it. He was also a very skilled in trap-laying, a skill which had saved them a few times. But because of his clan looking down on him, he was not quick to acknowledge others strength.

"That's where you are wrong" Zabuza said to his student "Not only did Naruto go toe to toe with Haku here, but he beat her. Given, he was rather beaten up himself; he came out of it victorious. And you both know how strong Haku is; you have only been able to beat her when you teamed up, and even then you lose when she uses her mirrors. Naruto beat her mirrors."

"He sounds s-scary… I hope I d-don't let you guys down" Chojuru said a little dejected

Kouhei didn't believe a word of it. That Naruto guy must just have been lucky "You're not getting to me with any of that crap. When I see him I'll decide whether he is strong or not"

Haku shook her head as her team made its way over to the booth and showed their passports. After they had gotten their approval they made their way into Konoha to find their hotel.

- Half an hour later -

"BY THE GODS OMOI! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DIE!" a voice sounded from the forest-line making the guards winces. They turned to look where the gods-awful voice came from. It was a dark-skinned Kunoichi with long red hair and amber eyes. She looked to be around thirteen or fourteen. She was wearing a long, short-sleeved dress with frilly edges and a flak jacket in Kumo style, two simple yellow earrings and fishnet stockings. To finish it off she had thigh-high boots with white soles and she wore her hitai-ate as a bandanna. It didn't take long for the guards to conclude that the team coming was from Kumo. The Chunin frowned; Kumo and Konoha had severed all but the most basic communication lines, after Kumo had used what was supposed to be a peace-treaty to attempt a kidnap on the Hyuuga heir.

"But Karui, what if Kono-" Omoi tried

"NO!" she yelled at him before slamming him on top of the head. Even if he was from Kumo, the guards couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor guy. He had just as dark skin as his teammate, and looked to be the same age, but he had short, spiky, white hair and dark eyes that curved slightly upwards. He was wearing a dark outfit consisting of an overlong shirt with a hood, red bandage as hand guards, shin guards Kumogakure style and a black hitai-ate. He also seemed to have a thing for lollipops, as he had just finished one, but it was replaced within a second.

"Would you two please calm down! We are representing Kumogakure, and Konoha and Kumo haven't exactly been best friends the last few years" a third voice sounded, drawing the guard's eyes away from the bickering couple. Their mouths instantly watered; behind the two dark skinned shinobi were standing what they only could describe as beautiful. It was another girl, probably around sixteen or so. She had long, straight, blond hair, close to the color of the Yamanaka's hair. It was bound with tight bandages in a ponytail, before falling free to around her waist. She was wearing a short-sleeved black and purple blouse, black pants, both of which had cloud-like designs on them. Around her hands were purple fingerless gloves, and a chain of white beads wound around her left hand. Around her arms and legs she wore bandages, and around her waist a red belt. Around her forehead, keeping her hair from falling into her face, she wore the Kumo hitai-ate.

"Yugito is right you know" a fourth voice sounded. The team was finally together "Raikage-Sama has sent us here to make the relation between our villages better. Whether Konoha wants to acknowledge it or not, the Hyuuga incident wasn't on his orders, though I can't blame them that they don't believe it. If it had been the other way around I can't say we would have reacted as well as they did. So you guys are not only here as participants in the Chunin exams, but also diplomats."

The guards had all but forgotten Yugito now. The last member of the Kumo team seemed to be as older than Yugito by two years. She had fair skin and tall of stature, with lots of curves, especially her breasts. She had blue eyes and straight blond her, framing her face with a shorter cut in the back, and the front bangs reaching her shoulders. She was wearing a very low-cut outfit with mesh underneath, a short skirt and red hand-guards, high boots and what the guards guessed to be a modified Kumogakure flak jacket that only covered her stomach, not very different than that of a girdle.

"Yes, yes Neechan" Karui answered with a dismissive wave "I know that you have already taken the exam and all, but I can't understand why B-sensei couldn't come himself"

"Because of Yugito. I mean, try to imagine two of her kind, no offense to you Yugito, in a foreign village. Add to it that Konoha also has its own, I mean, what if they all lost control, and they wiped Konoha from the map. The other villages would demand them executed, and we wouldn't have a choice, and then there would be another big War, since Hi no Kuni would be unprotected, and then-"

"Gah! I get it already Omoi!" Karui cried out

"You two, stop it now! Act more cool, more like a shinobi of Kumo!" she said to them before going over to the booth and handed over the passports. She quickly got them back, and took her team to downtown Konoha, where they would be staying.

- In the Jounin meeting lounge -

Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting in his chair looking over all the Jounin-sensei's. He had already declared the Chunin-exams a little over a week ago, and there was only one more thing to do. He puffed a few more times on his pipe "Now that the Chunin-exams are soon upon us, will the Jounin-sensei with this year's Genin step forward". Three Jounin in the front row walked forward "Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma. As you know, any Genin who has completed more than twelve missions is eligible to enter the exam, though the new Genin's can only do it through your recommendations. But, as I'm sure you all know, it is rare for new Genin to be in the exams. Normally the Jounin-sensei in charge waits till they have completed at least a year of training" he paused, puffing on his pipe again, and letting what he had said sink in "Is there any Genin on your teams, who you think are ready?

Kakashi moved his right arm up in a half ram seal, a tradition when nominating someone to the exams, and began restate the words for nominating "From Team 7 that I lead, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura. I recommend those three to the Chunin-exams under my name, Hatake Kakashi".

Murmurs ran through the room, but were soon silenced as Kurenai took the same position as Kakashi had "From Team 8 that I lead, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. I recommend those three to the Chunin-exams under my name, Yuuhi Kurenai"

The crowd didn't have time to start again, as Asuma took the same pose as the others "From Team 10 that I lead, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akamichi Chouji. I recommend those three to the Chunin-exams under my name, Sarutobi Asuma".

As the last of the new Jounin-sensei's finished the crowd erupted in talk. Stuff likes 'all three gave their recommendations!', and 'It's been a couple of years since rookies have appeared in the Chunin exams' ran through the Jounin. Some looked less pleased than others, but none interjected. The old Hokage nodded "Very well. It's settled then, Hatake Kakashi's Team 7, Yuuhi Kurenai's Team 8, and Sarutobi Asuma's Team 10, will be given the chance of joining the Chunin-exams." He nodded to himself "Now that that's settled, let's move on to…"

- Next morning at the bridge -

The Genin of Team 7 had only waited for about 20 minutes when their sensei appeared in a puff of smoke on the top of the bridge. All quickly tensed, as their sensei only ever showed close to be on time when something serious was going on. When Kakashi saw this, he lazily waved "Relax, relax. Nothing is going on, you can get out of your stances" when he saw them relax he continued. "Well, I'll get right to the point. I have recommended you all to the Chunin-exams, so…" he searched his pouch and took out three application-papers "Here, take these applications. But as I said, I have only recommended you, so it's up to you guys if you want to give it a go or not." The three Genin took the applications as he continued "If you want to participate, then you sign the papers, and meet at the academy the first of July 3p.m, and go to room 301. That's in three days."

The Genin nodded and took a look at their applications. Kakashi continued "furthermore, because the Chunin exams are held here, I can't train or help you before the second exam is complete. Due to the number of foreign shinobi in the village, more Konoha-shinobi has been called to duty as patrols. So, decide well. C-ya" and with that he puffed away.

Before Sakura and Naruto could even talk to him, Sasuke had also disappeared, causing Sakura to sigh heavily. She leaned on the railing beside Naruto, whom seemed to be in deep thought. She looked at him wonderingly "I thought you would be jumping up and down in happiness. This is just what you want, isn't it?"

Naruto breathed deeply and looked up in the sky "Yes it is. But, I'm not sure if I'm ready. Tenten and her team are also in the exams, for the first time, and they have had a lot more training than we have. We will most likely be the most inexperienced Genin there, unless the others from our year join the exam, but even then, they too are some of the most inexperienced."

"Oh" was all Sakura could say

"Yeah" Naruto replied, still looking at the clouds. "But on the other hand, this is our chance to show what we got. I mean, I want to show everyone from our year that I'm not 'dead-last' anymore. I can't take how condescending they talk to me, well apart from Shika, Chouji, Hinata, and Shino. And I bet you want to show Ino how strong you have become?"

Sakura smiled when she thought about how Ino would react "Yeah, can't wait to see her face when I beat her"

Naruto got up and started walking, but stopped halfway off the bridge "I guess it's something we have to decide for ourselves. Let's just agree on that we won't blame the other for whatever we chose. Deal?"

Sakura nodded "Deal"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chakra suppression seal: A seal that suppresses chakra. It can either be put on a person to suppress the individual's chakra, or put in a formation around an area to prevent any chakra to leak out, or being detected.

Barrier Seal: You set up seals in a formation around an area to prevent anything or anyone to get in or out without 'the key'.

Restriction Seal: A seal that makes it harder for the user to walk around. It has 100 levels, each level being a lot harder than the previous. The user can use it as training, forcing the body to use a lot more energy on walking around.

Rasengan - Spiraling Sphere: The Rasengan is a powerful A-rank technique invented by the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, which he created by observing the Tailed Beast Ball. Minato spent three years developing the Rasengan; his plan was to take the shape transformation of one's chakra to the "highest possible point" and then combine it with his chakra's nature affinity, creating a technique that did not need the aid of time-consuming hand seals to control. He died before he could accomplish this, but on shape transformation alone, the Rasengan is still a very useful, powerful, versatile, and difficult technique to learn and master.

Chapter Text

The sun was finally peeking over the mountains of Konoha, and was shining directly through a window, and landing on a very special Genin. Naruto rolled over groaning, trying to hide from the sun a few more minutes. He was lying like that for thirty seconds or so, before peeking on the clock; it was showing 7:43 a.m. Naruto rolled his eyes 'of course. The day I decide to sleep in till around eleven I wake up early. Just my luck… Back to bed I guess'. Naruto threw a pillow over his face again, trying to get some more sleep. After what seemed like hours to him, he fluttered an eye open lightly, to look at the ever ticking clock. 7:52 a.m. He threw off the comforter and sat up in bed "fuck this."

Normally he would have been up in the early hours, training his ass off until his team would meet, but since today was everything but normal, he had planned slept in to when the normal citizen would have woken. He could see he would have none that. He sighed and started a mild morning routine: 400 sit-ups, 400 pull-ups, 400 push-ups, and 400 squats. Normally he would have done twice as much, but since today was the day of the exams, he wouldn't want to over exert himself. After he was done he went to the bathroom and did his business. For once he could actually enjoy his shower, instead of rushing through it.

He came out of the steaming bathroom with a towel around the waist, and headed for the kitchen. It took him real self-restraint not to just take one of the ramen cups, but actually making some healthy breakfast. He sighed once again; he knew he needed to eat healthier if he wanted to grow. He set some eggs and bacon over, and headed for his closet.

A few minutes later he was sitting at the table, enjoying his breakfast and the quiet morning. He took a quick look over the apartment; there were a few pieces of clothes here and there, but overall it was rather neat. His eyes went over his picture-wall. A smile crept over his lips; there was one of him and Tenten in the ramen stand, taken by Ayame. He really couldn't believe he had gotten such a good friend.

A bit to the left of that was one of his team and him. Kakashi was in the back, looking 'cool' as ever. In front of him was Sakura, trying to look as cute as possible. To her right Sasuke was standing, looking as broody as he could. The blond showing a confident smile, fearless as to tell the world, 'Bring it on'!

Further to the left of that was one of him and Sakura training. Sakura was throwing one of her mean left hooks at Naruto, whom were bracing himself with a cross-guard. In the background you could see hordes of his Kage Bunshin, training in various subjects.

On top of all the other photos was his ninja registration photo. He frowned a bit 'I'm happy with the photo, but right now I wish I had just let them take a normal one. It doesn't exactly take a genius to figure out that I have some sort of Kekkai Genkai; all they need is one look… No wonder Jiji were hesitant about allowing it. I just hope no one in the exams have found out. It would be nice to have it as an ace. If not… I'll burn that bridge when I reach it.'

He got up from the table and threw the dishes in the wash. Even he wasn't pressed for time he couldn't be bothered with it. He glanced over at the clock; it showed 9:14 a.m. He still had hours before he was supposed to meet his team. He walked towards the door. He knew he couldn't stay in his 'apartment' for so long. He could just as well use the time walking around in the village.

- A few hours later -

Naruto was walking down one of the many streets of Konoha, heading for Ichiraku Ramen. He looked around on the main-road; it was even more crowded than normal. It was the day of the Chunin exams after all, and people from all over the elemental nations had migrated to Konoha during the last weeks, to see what the next generation of shinobi had to offer. Stands were being erected all the way down the road, selling everything from food to charms to betting-coupons. Naruto was currently checking out said stands, and enjoying the lack of glares from the unknowing foreigners.

The whisker-cheek boy took a look at the suns position 'It's about 1:30 p.m. I have to be at the academy at 3 p.m. sharp, and it wouldn't hurt to get there a little earlier and see what kind of Genin we will go up against…'

"Naruto! Hey, Naruto!"

The blond turned around to see who were calling him, and a big smile spread out on his face "Iruka-sensei! Long time, no see, huh?"

The scarred academy instructor ran up to his little-brother figure "Yeah, you can say that again. I haven't seen you since after we had that ramen, after your mission to Nami."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed embarrassedly "Sorry about that Iruka-sensei. I have been kind of busy lately, a lot of mission you know"

Iruka grinned at the blond Genin "Yeah, I know. You're only missing a Doton jutsu know, right?"

The Genin in front of Iruka looked at him questioning "What do you mean?"

"You know, your clothes have been soaked by a Suiton, burned by a Katon, crisped by a Raiton, and sliced by futon. So you're only missing a Doton now, right? I wonder what that would do to your clothes"

Naruto's face got red in embarrassment as he glared at his big-brother figure "Who told you!?"

The scarred Chunin kept grinning at the smaller Konoha-nin "Oh, just an old monkey"

Naruto knew right away who he was referring to "I'm going to kill you Jiji!"

Iruka was having a real hard time to not laugh, but was holding in it "Well Naruto, now that I have that out of my system, you want to grab some Ichiraku's?"

Naruto wasn't completely over the tease, but eased the glare "I have already had breakfast, but I guess I could go for a bowl or two. I mean, it is Ichiraku's after all."

- Forty minutes later -

"Ah, that hit the spot!" Naruto said, as he finished slurping the last of the ramen from the bowl, putting it down on the table, before ordering another. Iruka sweat dropped as of now there was eight empty bowls on the table – and none of them was his.

He shook his head lightly while smiling "and here I thought I could leave without an empty wallet for once. Oh well"

Naruto laughed "Sorry 'bout that sensei"

"You know, you don't have to call me sensei anymore"

The blond Uzumaki shrugged "for me you will always be Iruka-sensei. That's not ever going to change, not even when I'm the Godaime Hokage!"

Iruka laughed and ruffled the blond Genin's hair. "Now, now, take one step at a time. You first have to make Chunin, remember?"

The whiskered kid nodded vigorously "Yep. But that isn't going to become a problem" he paused "Iruka-sensei"

The blond had changed his tone rather fast, catching the scarred Chunin off-guard "What is it Naruto?"

"Do you have any advice for the Chunin exams? You must've already taken it, obviously" Naruto asked

Iruka got a nostalgic look on his face "Well, the exam changes each time, though the basics remain the same. I can't help you too much, that wouldn't be fair for the other Genin, but this I can tell you. I'm sure you've heard it before, but 'look underneath-"

"'look underneath the underneath', yeah I've heard it before…" Naruto finished his ninth bowl of ramen, slurping and licking it clean "oh well, I better get going now. If I get there before time, I might have a chance of getting some information on the other Genin"

Iruka nodded approvingly and smiled at Naruto "Good luck"

Naruto jumped down from his chair, and showed Iruka one of his most brilliant smiles "Thanks sensei. Just you wait; I'll become Hokage in no time"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto was walking towards the academy in his own pace – he was after all in good time – when he heard a commotion from one of the café's on the road. Sounded like someone was in a hurry, but Naruto didn't pay much attention to it. That was, until he was just outside the café, and a boy came running towards him and didn't stop. Needless to say, the result was the two boys colliding and landing on the road.

"I-I'm so sorry!" the boy who had bumped into Naruto said while bowing apologizing

Naruto got up smiling and dusted himself off "Hey, no sweat. It was just an accident"

"Kouhei! I told you not to threaten him like that!" it came from inside the restaurant

Naruto looked over the boys shoulder "I know that voice…"

And with that two other figures came out from the café; a boy and a girl. "Well, we wouldn't be late if Zabuza-sensei hadn't disappeared like that. Now we have to find the exam building by ourselves" it came from the boy

The girl sighed "I know, but you know ho-"

"Haku!" Naruto half yelled happily

Haku stopped in midsentence and looked at where the voice had come from. When she saw Naruto a big smiled spread on her face "Naruto-kun!" and ran over to him and gave him a big hug, which he happily returned.

She stepped back blushing, a little embarrassed with her forwardness. Naruto for the first time took a good look at her; she really looked like a girl now. She was wearing the same clothes, but she didn't wrap clothes around to hide her breast, and she wore her hair down. He smiled at her "How have you been? Is Zabuza here too?"

She nodded "Yes he is, but I don't exactly know where he is. As for me, I'm doing rather well. Kiri has really changed, and we were accepted with open arms; they were more than happy to see one of the Seven Swordsmen and the last survivor of Yuki clan return. Mizukage-Sama even let him become a sensei, and put me on his team". She continued like that, with Naruto asking a few question here and there, and answering question himself, until there was a loud cough behind her.

"You mind introducing us Haku?" it came from the elder of the two boys

"Sorry, yes of course" Haku mentally bashed herself for forgetting all about her teammates "Naruto, this is my teammates Ringo Kouhei" she motioned to the elder of the boys "and Kurosuki Chojuru" she motioned to the blue-haired boy, who was bowing.

Naruto nodded to them "nice to meet you, I'm Uzumaki Naruto". Kouhei simply nodded at him, his eyes never leaving the Konoha Genin. Naruto didn't miss it, but let it slide for now.

Chojuru was much friendlier "It's nice to finally meet you Naruto-san. Haku has told us much about you"

Naruto smirked to a slightly blushing Haku "She has now, has she?" he paused "now that we've been introduced, do you mind telling me what all the commotion before was about?"

Haku sighed "As you've probably guessed, we're here for the Chunin exams, but Zabuza-Sama left a little while ago, and we only know the exams are supposed to be hold at the academy. But we have no idea where that is"

The whiskered boy smiled at them "I can take you there. I was on my way there myself. It's no far"

"T-thank you Naruto-san" Chojuru said, bowing yet again, making Naruto sweat drop

'This kid needs some more confidence'. Naruto noticed the suns position, having used way more time than he had planned.

"We better get going if want to get there in time. It's already around half past two" he said as he began walking towards the academy. It was a short trip there; it was only two blocks away.

Haku and her team was walking not far behind him "So, Naruto-san, a-are you and your team participating in the exam too?"

Naruto nodded "You bet we are. You better watch out; we're going to graduate this whole thing with top grades". Kouhei scoffed, causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow "You don't believe we can do it, Ringo-san?"

Kouhei shrugged "Why should you. From what Haku said, you're just rookies."

"K-Kouhei, that wasn't nice" Chojuru said lowly as Haku was looking harshly at their teammate

But it didn't seem to affect Naruto "If you keep thinking like that, you're in for a big surprise. By the way Haku" he said, catching her attention "do you mind keeping my… gift a secret from other teams? It would be nice to have an ace."

She nodded "Sure Naruto-kun"

They walked a little further. "Here we are" Naruto said with a smile, his back to the buildings.

"Naruto!" the voice of his teammate called. Naruto turned to look after his pink-haired friend who were running towards him "Naruto, I thought we decided to get here earlier to get some information on the other teams"

Naruto waved at her "Hey Sakura-chan. Sorry for not being here earlier, but look who I ran into" he said as he stepped aside, revealing the Hyoton user.

Sakura's eyebrows rose in recognition "Oh it's you. Haku, right?"

Haku nodded "Hai. And these are my teammates Ringo Kouhei and Kurosuki Chojuru"

The rosette greeted them and turned to Naruto "We should be going now. Sasuke-kun is getting impatient"

Naruto nodded "alright. We'll see you later then"

"S-see you late Naruto-san"

"Yeah, see you Naruto-kun, Sakura-san"

Nothing more was said, as Sakura was towing Naruto after her into the building. A few weeks ago it wouldn't have been a problem for Naruto, but Sakura had gotten a lot stronger. They walked in to a very impatient-looking Sasuke "Where were you dobe? I almost thought you chickened out"

"As if. You're not getting rid of me that easily" Naruto retorted. All he got in return was a scoff as Sasuke started walking towards the stairs. Naruto sighed and followed with Sakura.

They had made it to second floor. Naruto glanced to see if she had noticed what he had. She nodded lightly, only enough for those closest to her to catch on. There was a Genjutsu cast on them as they had walked into the hallway. The question was what it did. Naruto didn't have to look long, as he saw a group of kids standing in front of two others, who were blocking a door to what looked like to be room 301. But they were only on the second floor 'So, the testing starts already now. This must be to weed the weakest out.'

They heard a thud and a gasp from the crowd. They went to look at what was going on: Lee was sitting on the floor; obviously it was him who had made the thud sound, with Tenten kneeling down beside him. It didn't take long for Naruto to figure out that they were doing what he was planning to do; hide their true strength till they needed it.

"You're trying to make Chunin with that kind of skill? Maybe you should just quit" it came from one of the boys who were blocking the door

"You're just kids after all" it then came from the second.

Tenten got up from her kneeling position "please, let us through". She stepped forward to go between them. But they wouldn't have any of that. The one on the right raised his fist to hit her. She squinted, acting like the amateur they were trying to look like. But instead of the slight pain she had expected, she felt a tuck in her arm, and the feeling of spinning in the air. When she opened her eyes she was in Naruto's arms.

He quickly put her down "Hey Ten-chan. been a while, huh?"

She blinked a few times "Naruto? What are you doing here? Wait, are you guys taking the exam too?"

He nodded "Yeah we are. I would have told you, but I haven't been able to find you the last couple of days"

She nodded thoughtfully, then lowered her voice "Why did you 'rescue' me. You have to know that we are just pretending"

"Of course I know, but I just can't stand by and let one of my most precious persons get hurt – no matter if it's just a bruise on the cheek" he replied. She blushed lightly

"Dobe! First you show up this late, and now you're showing off skills? It was your idea not to let the other Genin in on what we can do. And who is this person?" Sasuke hissed

Tenten looked the raven-haired boy up and down, and saw Sakura standing behind him stealing glances. She leaned over to Naruto, having laid two and two together "Sasuke?"

Naruto sighed with closed eyes "Sasuke"

"Well dobe? What do you have to say for yourself?" Sasuke tried again.

Sakura came up beside him "Come on Sasuke, he was just helping a friend"

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked with shock in their faces on Sakura. It took her a few seconds to figure out why; she had just contradicted what Sasuke had said!

Sasuke scoffed, but let it go "Whatever. Let's just get going"

In the meantime another Genin had tried to pass the two. He got a kick in the stomach and landed on his butt harshly. "How cruel" it came from one of the Genin watching.

One of the boy's eyebrow twitched "What did you say? Listen up; we're being kind to you. The Chunin exams are like nothing you have experienced before – it's not just a stroll in the park."

"We have seen Genin who have given up being shinobi, become seriously injured, or even killed in the exams" the other continued

"A Chunin will receive missions where they are the commander. That means they are responsible for any failed missions, or any comrades' death, if it should happen! To think that Genin of your skill level is even trying to enter the exams…" the boy even looked a little disgusted by the notion.

The second boy put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, and then continued "With that in mind, what's wrong with sifting out those who aren't going to pass anyway? It would spare a lot of people a lot of time."

Sasuke stepped forward "That's a sound argument, but I will pass." He paused a second "And undo the Genjutsu field, it's rather annoying, I want to go to the third floor". Naruto sighed once again 'you just had to point that out, huh Sasuke?' They're kind of right; if these Genin can't discover such a low level Genjutsu, then they don't have what it takes to become Chunin.

The other Genin had other thoughts running through their heads. They had no idea what he was talking about; they were on the third floor. You could see it by the room number; it was 301, not 201.

The two boys seemed disappointed that their trick hadn't fooled everyone "So you noticed"

It was Sakura who spoke up "Of course we noticed it. You don't expect to fool everyone with a low-level Genjutsu like that, do you? We are only on the second floor"

As soon as she said it the boys released the Genjutsu. No reason to keep a jutsu up which fools no-one. The first boys' posture changed; whereas before it was just taunting, this said that he had no problem with getting into a fight. The boy smirked "You're pretty good, but that won't be enough" he said and took off. Sasuke was never one to say no to a fight and took off as well. Their kicks were just about to hit the other when a green blur stopped them; Lee. Sasuke eyes shot open in surprise 'He's fast. And he is different from the person who was just hit moments ago'.

Neji came over to the group, having stood with lee before "You two broke your promise". He looked at Lee "It was you who didn't want to draw attention by doing something that stands out."

Lee didn't answer but just took a look at Sakura. Tenten sighed "Sakura again? I think she has made it pretty clear that she isn't interested"

Neji looked Sasuke over "Hey you there. Identify yourself"

Sasuke didn't look fazed by Neji's attitude "You're supposed to introduce yourself, first you know". With that the two Genin started a game of wits, trying to get the other to tell their name first.

Naruto leaned to Tenten "So, Neji?"

She nodded "Neji"

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, let's go. We need to be there soon" Sakura said. Naruto bid Tenten and Lee farewell, and walked with Sakura and Sasuke up the stairs.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

They reached the third floor not long after, to find Kakashi standing in front of the doors to the examination room. He looked his team in the eyes; each of them was filled with determination, even Sakura's, a look more and more common in her eyes. He clapped his book closed "Good, you've all showed up. You can now enter the Chunin exams"

Naruto didn't miss how he had said it "And what would have happened if only two or one of us had showed?"

"You wouldn't be able to enter. You can only enter the Chunin exams in teams of three. Some exceptions are made, but none of you are qualified for them. But none of that matters now; you have all showed, and you can enter. Good luck" he said and stepped aside.

They stepped inside and were shocked at what they saw. There must have been more than a hundred Genin staring at them right now, or more like glaring. Naruto looked at Sakura whom showed real nerves. He gently tapped her on the arm to get her attention; they looked at each other and nodded. It seemed to help her. She looked back at them 'They all look so strong. And as Naruto said; we are just rookies. They all have more experience than we'.

"Sasuke-kun, you're late!" a seducing voice sounded, bringing all three out of their respective thoughts. Ino jumped at Sasuke hugging him, and making sure her assets were firmly pressed against his back "I've been eagerly waiting for you, ever since I heard that you would be participating in the exams too. It has been such a long time since I've seen you!"

Sakura was glaring right at Ino, who hadn't even had the decency to notice Naruto or Sakura "Get away from Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!"

Ino responded with a just a deadly glare "oh my, it's you, Sakura. Your forehead is as wide as ever, and you're still… What the hell happened to you!?"

First Naruto was confused at the response. He took a quick glance at Sakura; she looked as pretty as always, or what? He took a closer look; she did look different than in the academy. She wasn't as skinny as before, not that she was fat, but she had muscles now. Not bulging muscles, but you could see she had trained. Sakura just scoffed "It's called training, Ino-pig. Maybe you should try it sometimes?" Ino just stuck her tongue out at Sakura, still clinging to Sasuke.

"What, are you three going to take this troublesome exam too?" a new voice sounded. Naruto immediately recognized it as Shikamaru, heir to the Nara clan.

"What? You don't think we can do it, Shika?" Naruto responded

Shikamaru sighed, mumbling something that sounded like 'troublesome blond'. Beside him stood Chouji munching on a bag of chips.

"Yeah, I found the whole pack" half yelled another voice. Naruto turned to see Kiba and his team standing behind him "So I see that everyone is here."

"Hello…" Hinata said in a very low voice. Naruto noticed and look her directly in her eyes, until she blushed and looked away. Last there was Shino, just standing there, not letting any emotion show.

"What? So you made it too? Troublesome…" it came from Shikamaru

Kiba grinned "I see, so all the nine Genin rookies are going to take the exam. We will rock it!" Naruto cringed lightly; Kiba was speaking really loud, catching the attention of the whole room. They would get enough attention as it was, just by being the only rookies this year, they didn't need to seem dump too.

"Dog-breath, keep your voice down! You're drawing unwanted attention to us!" Naruto hissed. The other rookies looked at him like he had grown a second head; he had actually said something that made sense.

But Kiba wasn't convinced "yeah right, as if you could figure something like that out, dead-last"

Naruto glared at Kiba; he had always picked on Naruto in the academy, and it didn't seem like that had changed "If you keep thinking like that, you won't last long". There was a silence as the two glared at each other.

"Hey you guys" yet another voice called. They turned to see an older silver-haired Genin walking their way "You should keep quiet. You're drawing attention to yourself"

"See?" Naruto said to Kiba. He only got a glare in response.

The silver-haired looked at the rookie 9 "I'm Yakushi Kabuto. You must be the nine rookies that just graduated from the academy a few months ago, correct? You're all fooling around with those cute faces… Geez, this isn't a field trip"

"And why should we trust you? As you just said; this isn't a field trip. Don't trust anyone, and don't expect to be trusted" Naruto said, again getting looks from his old class-mates

Kabuto smiled "You're right, but I'm also a Konoha Genin" he said, tapping his hitai-ate as proof "I just thought I would give you some advice, since this is your first exam. But if that isn't enough, take a look around"

And so they did; almost every team were looking their way, listening intently at what they were saying. Naruto caught glimpse of Haku and her team, and nodded at them, the same with Tenten. Then he saw a team from Kumo, or more exactly, one of the Genin. She was tall, probably three years older than him. They got into eye-contact, and a sort of trance just started. Naruto was memorized by the eyes, or more likely the look in her eyes. It was as they had known each other for years. He also felt that same familiarity, he had felt with that Gaara guy.

"…to. Naruto! There you are" Sakura said, hitting him a bit on the shoulder to get his attention.

He blinked a few times and looked at his female teammate "huh? Something wrong, Sakura?"

Sakura looked at him "You just spaced out. Did something happen?"

Naruto shook his head, trying to get it back on track "No, nothing happened. Sorry"

Sakura turned back to Kabuto. "Kabuto-san, was it?" she asked, receiving a nod "is this your second time, then?"

"No. It's my seventh time" the rookies were stunned. "These exams only take place twice every year, and it's my fourth year."

"That would mean you know a lot about the exams, right?" Sakura asked

"Right" Kabuto smiled

Shikamaru wasn't so convinced "but he hasn't passed yet. He can't be that good"

"Or it means that the exams are harder than you think" he retorted, resulting in another 'troublesome' from Shikamaru.

"But as I said, I'm here to help you" he took out a set of cards "all the times I have been in these exams I have gathered information on the different Genin teams, and the Genin themselves. Just ask for anyone you want to know something about, and I'll tell you"

Sasuke weren't going to let free information slide by "then show me Gaara of Suna, Rock Lee of Konoha, and… Uzumaki Naruto, also of Konoha". Naruto send him a quick glare 'great, if Kabuto knows just a little of my skills, it's not going to stay a secret much longer. It doesn't seem like there isn't one team who's not listening in'.

"Oh, you know their names" Kabuto said, almost sounding disappointed "then this won't take much time". There was dead-silence in the room while he took the three cards, only the sound of Chouji munching his chips remained. "Here we go. First let's see Rock Lee: He's one year older than you guys. Mission experience; 30 D-rank and 19 C-rank ones. The squad leader is Maito Gai, the green beast of Konoha, his teammates are Higarashi Tenten, weapon-master, and Hyuuga Neji, prodigy of his clan". Hinata tensed up at the mention of her cousin, making Naruto frown. Was she afraid of going up against her own family? He brushed it off. Kabuto continued "his Taijutsu skills have increased dramatically this past year since he graduated, but his other skills are close to none existent. He got everyone's attention last year as a skilled rookie Genin, but he didn't take the Chunin exams. This is his first time taking it, like you."

"Next let's see Gaara of the Desert; he is the same age as you guys. Mission experience; eight C-rank ones and… This is amazing! He did a B-rank mission as a Genin. I don't know how many D-rank he did, as this is his first time taking the exams, and he isn't from Konoha. And the same reason is why I can't tell you his skills. I don't know his squad leaders name either, but his teammates are his siblings; Kankuro and Temari. They are all the children of the current Kazekage, Yondaime Kazekage-Sama. There is one more thing I should tell you, though it's just a rumor. It seems that he has returned from all of his missions unharmed."

The rookies were again stunned. "He did a B-rank mission as a Genin, and completed it unharmed?"

"And last, let's see Uzumaki Naruto; he is the same age as you, as you very well know. Mission experience; wow, 21 D-rank, 5 C-rank and… 2 A-rank ones, in only the few months since you graduated." For the third time in less than half an hour, Naruto received disbelieving looks from the other rookies. Kabuto continued "The squad leader is Hatake Kakashi, also known as Sharingan no Kakashi; his teammates are Uchiha Sasuke, the last loyal Uchiha, and Haruno Sakura, the top Kunoichi of her year. He himself graduated as the dead-last. His Genjutsu skills are below average, he is only able to dispel them, not cast them. This is because of his enormous Kage-level chakra reserves. His Taijutsu is above average, but nothing to take note off, and his Ninjutsu is well over average, using his Kekkai Genkai, Shoton." This time he got even more disbelieving looks, even from his own team. He paid no attention to it, only glaring at the person who had revealed close to all of his skills to the whole room.

"Why thank you Kabuto. Why don't you say it a little louder? I'm not sure the Kusa team in the other end of the room heard it!" the blond Genin said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No, we heard it" it came from the other end of the room, making Naruto and the other rookies sweat drop.

But Kabuto wasn't done "It also seems like he has an incredible healing-rate. He heals from scratches within minutes, broken bones within a day, and he doesn't seem to get sick." Naruto looked at the older Genin in front of him with disbelief. How did this person, who he had never met, know all of his secrets? Well, all but one. Even if he did, he wouldn't be stupid enough to reveal it. That's what he thought, until Kabuto was about to make one of his worst fears come true "it is thought the reason for his healing-rate is because-"

Naruto's eyes shot open in fear, before he let instinct take over. He grabbed Kabuto before he could finish the sentence, and slammed him into the wall. Crystals quickly formed around his wrist and legs, sticking him to the wall, while two smaller crystal blades formed close to his throat, inches from killing him. Many from the room looked surprised and shocked at the development, none more than the rookies. Sakura was probably the one who were most surprised; she had trained and hung out, and actually liked it, with him for months, and never once had he pulled something like this off. Normally Ino would have scolded Naruto by now, but she was mesmerized by the crystals at Naruto's command, as many others in the room.

Naruto, with his hand still pressing Kabuto to the wall, took the card out of the silver-haired Genin's hand and read it. He knew about the Kyuubi. 'But how? He can't be more than seven-teen. He wasn't old enough to be there, or have been told, when it happened.' He leaned close into Kabuto to whisper in his ear "You might as well thank me, Kabuto-san. I have just saved you for a very uncomfortable death. What you were about to reveal is an S-rank secret. I don't know how you found out, but I'll make sure the Hokage himself knows of it."

The sand siblings were standing halfway through the room, but they had a clear view. Temari stared at the crystal, the clockwork in her head churning "I knew it"

Kabuto turned to his sister "You knew what?"

"You don't notice anything, do you?" she scolded lightly "That is the Genin we ran into a week ago"

Kabuto didn't like being scolded like that from his big-sister "Well, it is a little difficult to notice stuff when you have your head stuffed into the road!" he hissed back.

Temari sighed "When he handled you" she got a glare from Kankuro "he seemed to summon a kunai out of thin air. I have been trying to figure out how he did it. He must have used his Kekkai Genkai… We should watch out for him"

"We don't need to do such things. If he crossed my path, mother will be happy to swim in his blood" Gaara said while looking hungrily at the blond Genin from Konoha.

Team Gai were already sitting at a writing table. Neji looked interested for a second but dropped it "Tenten, isn't that your friend?"

Tenten tore her eyes away from the scene; she was just as surprised as Sakura, to look at her teammate "Yes, he is".

"Did you know about his Kekkai Genkai?" Neji asked in an emotionless voice

She hesitated "Yes, I did"

Neji shot her a glare "And why didn't you think it was necessary to tell us?"

"Because he is my friend, and I promised I wouldn't talk about it, until it was public knowledge… which I guess it is now" she responded, not wavering a second.

The Hyuuga prodigy was about to retort when Lee intervened "Neji, calm down. While she maybe should have told us, given the circumstances, she didn't because of a friend. That is the best excuse you could have". Neji scoffed, but let it slide, as he retracted into his emotionless shell again. Tenten mouthed a 'thank you' to Lee, who nodded at her.

In another place in the room the only Kumo team stood. "You think this is what Raikage-Sama was talking about? He said that while this is a diplomatic mission, we needed to look out, because there had been rumors about Konoha getting a new Kekkai Genkai?" Karui whispered to her two teammates.

Omoi, who was serious for once, responded "I think we can be pretty sure about that. And he looks like he has some degree of control over it. What do you think Yugito?"

The third member was still staring at the whiskered kid from Konoha 'What is it about him? There is something…'

"Yugito-chan? Are you there?" Karui asked

Yugito blinked "Yeah, I think we can be sure it's him. We need to report it to Samui when we can".

Back with Naruto and Kabuto, the silver-haired Genin gulped "I guess I'll give you my thanks."

"I guess so" he responded with a glare. He stepped back, and with an unseen command, the crystal shattered. He then held the card up for Kabuto to see, then crystallized it and shattered it as well "you won't need this anymore."

A smoke-cloud expanded in the far end of the room "Quiet down you punks!" drawing the attention from the rookies. Little by little the cloud dispersed to reveal a bunch of Konoha shinobi. The front most seemed to be one who had spoken up "Sorry to keep you waiting. I am the examiner of the first test of the Chunin exams, Morino Ibiki." He pointed directly at Naruto "You from Konoha, don't think you can do anything you want before the exam. Do you want to be failed before it even starts?"

Naruto bowed "I'm sorry Morino-san, it won't happen again"

Ibiki didn't let show he heard it "this is a good chance to say this… You are not allowed to fight each other during the exam, unless given permission by the examiners. And if the permission is given, you can't kill each other, unless that has been expressed as well by the examiner. Anyone who doesn't follow the rules of the exams will fail immediately, understood?" No one contradicted him "The first part of the Chunin exams will began. Turn in your applications, and take one of these tags. Sit where the number tells you to. Then we will pass out the papers for the written exam."

Naruto got in line to turn in his application. He got number 53; he wasn't sitting anywhere near his teammates 'Well, I guess that's clear why. We can't sit next to the people we are in teams with.' He looked to his right side to find Hinata 'at least there is one person I know nearby.' He looked on his desk; there was his paper turned over, the backside facing up, a pencil, an eraser and a pencil-sharpener. He sighed; while he had gotten smarter, he still hated written exams.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Ibiki tapped a charcoal on the blackboard "This first exam has a few important rules. I will not accept any questions, so listen carefully…" he let it sink in as he started writing on the blackboard "First rule is you all are given 10 points at the start. The written exam consists of 10 questions, and each is worth one point; the test is a deduction based test. If you get one problem wrong, you will get one point deducted. So, if you get three problems wrong, your points will be reduced to seven…" He let the Genin in the room think about it for a few seconds "Second rule; the pass-fail decision will be determined by your team's total points." Just at that moment, Sakura was so relieved that she wasn't on the team with the old Naruto. Ibiki didn't stop "Third rule; if an examiner determines that you have cheated, or done something similar during the test, the action will cause you to lose two points… In other words, there will be people who will be forced to leave this place without their test being graded. Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully first, will only hurt themselves and their teams." He paused again "You are trying to become Chunin, so start acting like one… And last; if anyone in the team gets a zero, everyone on that team will fail." Yes, Sakura was really happy she wasn't on the team with the old Naruto. "The last problem will be given 45 minutes after the exam begins. You have one hour for the exam. Begin!"

The room was filled with the sound of papers turning, before falling dead silent. Naruto looked at the paper in front of him, and after he read the questions, got a little worried. Out of the nine questions, he thought that he maybe would be able to answer on three. He looked around him, to see horror filled faces. He turned his attention back to his paper 'Ok, question three: 'How far, and how fast, can you throw a standard kunai, not using any chakra of any kind, based on Kimrai's Law of air currents?' I know I have read this somewhere before…'

Thirty-five minutes had passed. There had already been fourteen teams who had been caught cheating. Naruto had only two solved problems, with one of them being a guess at best 'How is anyone able to answer these questions!? These are not for Genin-level shinobi. Sakura or Shikamaru might be able to answer them all, but she is a freak of nature in that department and Shika's a damn lazy genius… You just can't answer these questions without cheating! Okay Naruto, calm down. What was it Ibiki said? 'Those who try to cheat without thinking first'…' he thought about it for a minute or two 'that is it! He wants us to cheat! Of course, it all makes sense now; he must be testing out ability to gather information within limited time. The question now is how do I cheat without getting caught?' As Naruto had come to that conclusion, he looked around in the room. Just as he had thought, people were cheating; the Hyuuga had their Byakugan activated, Sasuke had his Sharingan activated, Tenten was using mirrors. 'Mirrors… Maybe, just maybe, will it work'.

He looked around to see if any of the examiners were looking his way; none was. Very subtle he made the ram seal under the table. He closed his eyes to concentrate. Very slowly little mirrors appeared around the room; one on his table, one on the ceiling above his table, and around the room. Now he wanted to see Sakura's test; she was the one he trusted the most to have the right answers. He was sure there were Chunin, or maybe even Jounin, in here, with the right answers, but he didn't know who they were. So he went with Sakura. Very carefully he turned the different mirrors, until he could see Sakura in the mirror on the table. He turned the last mirror a bit more, and there. He could now see her test, and as he thought, she was now finishing her solution on the last of her questions. He quickly wrote down the answers, and very carefully broke the crystal mirrors down, little by little, to avoid making noise. With that done, he waited the last minutes until the tenth question was revealed.

A few minutes later, Ibiki grinned. He was standing the exact same spot, as when he had told the rules of the exam. Naruto thought he was scary as hell, but he had some talent. Ibiki spoke up "looks like we've already dropped the incompetent ones. I will now give the problem, since 45 minutes have already have passed. So listen up! This is the tenth and final problem!" The room was dead-silent, all awaiting the last problem "But before I do, there's one thing I must say… There will be one special rule for this last question."

Just as he was about to tell the rule, the door opened, and in walked Kankuro and a guard. Ibiki smirked "you're lucky. Your puppet show didn't have to go to a waste." Shock was written all over his face; he hadn't expected anyone to know about his Karasu puppet. Ibiki closed his eyes "Oh well, sit down." Kankuro walked to his seat, discreetly dropping a piece of rolled up paper on his sisters table, and sat down.

"I will now explain" Ibiki continued. "This is a hopeless rule… First, you are all going to choose if you wish to take this tenth problem or not." That caught everyone's attentions.

It was Temari of Suna who spoke up "Choose? So what happens if we don't take the tenth problem?"

"If you choose not to take it" Ibiki replied "your points will be reduced to zero. In other words; you and your team will fail." A lot of murmur caused through the room "And here is the other rule". The room fell silent again "If you choose to take it, and you get it wrong, you will lose the privilege to take the Chunin exams forever!"

Kiba couldn't take it anymore. He had held in an outburst for way to long "What the hell!? There should be those here who have taken the exams in the past!"

Naruto started to get really scared, when Ibiki started laughing lightly. Chills ran down his back, and he swore he saw the Shinigami behind Ibiki. "You were unlucky" he finally said "This year I am the one making the rules. That is why I gave you the option of quitting. Those who are not confident, can choose not to take it, and just take the exam later this year, or the exam after that…" Naruto looked around finding worried faces everywhere. He looked at Sasuke and Sakura; he was relieved that they didn't seem to want to quit. But he caught sight of Hinata, doing something with her fingers, and the terrified look in her eyes. He looked back at Ibiki "Let us begin. Those who do not want to receive the tenth problem, raise your hands. After we confirm your numbers, we will have you leave."

First no one raised their hands. Just as Naruto was beginning to think no one would, the person on his left rose from his seat "I… I… I won't take the question!"

"Number 50, fail" it sounded from one of the examiners. "Number 130 and 111, fail along with him". And with that, the dam was open. More and more raised their hands, quitting. Slowly, one by one, the room thinned out. Naruto didn't have a problem with it, that is, until Hinata started to raise her hand. What could he do?

He quickly formulated a plan, and started to raise his hand, surprising both his teammates. He then slammed it into the table "You know what? Fuck you baldy! I'm not going to run away! I'll take the problem! Even if I become a Genin forever, I'm going to become the Hokage, no matter what! I'm not scared!" he sat down again. He winched mentally; he knew this was how he used to talk all the time. He really had to go and apologize to Iruka when he could; even he couldn't be around a person yelling all the time. But his plan had worked: Hinata, and everyone else thinking about quitting, now only had confidence left.

"I will ask one more time" Ibiki said "this is the choice that will impact your life. If you want to quit, now is the chance."

Naruto leaned back in his chair, looking straight into Ibiki's eyes "I am not going back on my word. That's my way of the ninja."

Ibiki smiled 'What a kid. He wiped out everyone's uncertainty. 84 students, eh? There's more left than I expected… Looks like there's no point in waiting any longer'. He glanced over at the other examiners; they all nodded to him. He took a deep breath "Nice determination. Then… For the first exam, everyone here… Passes!"

Everyone was stunned. Sakura couldn't stop herself anymore "wait, what's the meaning of that? We pass already? What about the tenth problem?"

Ibiki showed a big smile, making everyone get goose bumps "there was no such thing to begin with. Or you can call the two-choice question the tenth problem."

"Hey!" everyone turned their attention to Temari "So what were those previous nine problems?! It was all a waste!"

"No it was not" the scarred examiner replied "The nine problems accomplished their purpose: to test each individual's information gathering skills. First, this test's purpose lies in the first rule… Your pass-fail decision is based on your three person teams. By giving the idea, we have given you an unprecedented amount of pressure, to try and not be a nuisance to your team… But these test problems cannot be solved by your average Genin. So, most of the people here must have come to the conclusion 'I have to cheat to get points'. In other words, this exam assumed that everyone was going to cheat. So, we snuck two Chunin in, who knew the answers, to be targets of cheating."

Two people raised their hands "But those who cheated like a fool failed, of course. Why?" Ibiki untied his bandana, to show his scalp full of scars. "Information can have greater value than life at times and in missions and battlefields… Information is contested with the lives of people." People took a good look, before he tied his bandana on again "The information that an enemy gets after being noticed by a third person, will not necessarily be accurate. Remember this: getting incorrect information can cause great damage to your teammates, and village. So, we made you all gather information in the form of cheating. We kicked out those who were lacking in that field. That's what went on."

Temari had followed this far, but she still had one problem "But I still can't agree to that on the last problem…"

"But this tenth problem was the main problem of the first exam." Ibiki saw the confused looks on many, but a knowing look at Naruto "let me explain. The tenth question was a 'take or not take' choice. Needless to say, it was a painful two-choice problem. Those who did not take it, failed with their teams. If you chose to take it, and could not answer it, your right to ever taking the exam would be taken away… It was a very insincere problem."

"I still don't get it" it came from Temari.

This time Naruto spoke up "it's rather simple, really. When you become Chunin, you will get missions with you as captain. Thus it will be you who are responsible, and you are the one to make the decision. Let's say you get a mission, where you are against innumerable odds; you can choose to go, even when the odds are against you, and save your village, but risking you and your team's life. Or, you can choose not to go, but risk your whole village"

Realization struck everyone in the room. Ibiki nodded "You are correct. Just because your life and the lives of your teammates may be in danger, are you able to avoid dangerous missions? The answer is no! There are missions that carry heavy risks, but cannot be avoided. The ability to show your courage to your teammates when needed and the ability to get through a bad situation… That is what we look for in a Chunin, a squad leader. Those who cannot bet their fate in a critical situation, those who give up when given the chance, because there is a tomorrow, a next week, a next year, and let their minds sway over an uncertain future… Fools who only carry a light determination like that have no right to become a Chunin. That is what I believe." He looked over the crowd, who were sucking up every word, "I am saying that you here who have chosen to take the tenth problem, gave the right answer for a difficult question. You can deal with the difficulties you will face; you have broken through the entrance. The first exam of the Chunin selection ends now! I wish you luck."

No longer than three seconds later did a ball of cloth crash through the window. A hand threw two kunai to the ceiling, revealing a banner that said 'Second examiner, sexy and dangerous Mitarashi Anko, is here!' In front of it stood a very provoking-clothed woman with purple hair "Everyone, there's no time to be happy. I am the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko! Let's go to the next exam!"

Chapter Text

Anko was standing with pumped fist up in the air, starring out on the stunned crowd. Ibiki came out from behind the banner and said deadpanned "grasp the atmosphere. You're early…" The scantily dressed kunoichi had the decency to blush.

Naruto was staring at the lady Jounin with wide eyes. He glanced over at Sakura, an unspoken question going between them, as she nodded. Naruto sighed. 'Always get the weirdoes'

Anko looked over the crowd "84? Ibiki, did you let 28 teams pass? The first exam must've been too soft"

Ibiki didn't let it faze him "Or, it could be that there are a lot of excellent students this time"

Anko didn't really look like she believed him "Oh well… Not to worry; I'm going to make more than half the teams fail in the next exam." Shocked looks were to be seen through the Genin's, making Anko smirk hungrily "I'm getting excited. I will explain the details tomorrow. We will go somewhere else, so ask your Jounin-sensei about the rally point and time. That is all, dismissed!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kabuto was walking down a dark alleyway, glancing over his shoulder from time to time. It was clear that whatever he was doing, it wasn't something anyone could find out about. He picked up his pace, and entered one of the warehouses in the area. It was dark and damp, hardly any light entered through the crackled windows

"Were you followed?" a malicious voice spoke in the shadows. Kabuto couldn't locate it at first, but then saw two yellow slit eyes light up in the dark "Well?"

Kabuto kneeled down on one knee "No, Orochimaru-Sama, I don't believe I was"

Silence was between them, as Orochimaru watched one of Sasori's former spies. Kabuto kept kneeling until he was told otherwise. Finally Orochimaru spoke "How did it go?"

Kabuto didn't look up as he spoke "He reacted just as you planned for him to do – more so than I would have expect. But I was about to reveal one of his and Konoha's closest guarded secrets… He really is something, the Kyuubi Jinchurriki"

"That he is the Kyuubi Jinchurriki, though interesting, isn't what I'm most interested in. You know as well as I that the Bijuu are hard to control and that the Jinchurriki need years of training to even begin and control their tenant. No, what's truly interesting me is his ability… I have only seen it in one person before… In her." Kabuto's mask of indifference cracked as his eyebrow twitched. It was clear he didn't think well of the person his master was speaking of. It didn't go unnoticed, but the snake Sannin didn't delve into it.

The snake summoner seemed to be considering something, finally speaking "I think I will see for myself how much this Uzumaki Naruto is worth, after I have checked up on my dear Sharingan bearer… Kabuto, continue to keep a low cover. We won't be in Konoha for much longer, and it wouldn't do good to be exposed this late into the operation"

Kabuto nodded "Hai"

- The next day -

The Genin that had passed yesterday's test were now standing in front of a big fenced forest. If you looked in though the fence, you could see what looked like half-rotten tree's housing big animals, which slithered in and out of the shadows. Naruto knew this place all too well; he had used a training ground close by, and after one look through the fence, and the signs with 'forbidden area' and 'Warning – you may die', he had decided never to walk through one of the gates… until now that is

"This sure is a creepy place" Sakura said. But whereas a few months ago she would have looked freaked out, now she just looked disgusted. Naruto nodded in agreement

Anko was standing between the crowd and the fence. She smirked; she loved how scared all the bra- all the Genin looked "You will be able to experience all first hand, why this place is called 'the Forest of Death'." Naruto tried not to, but couldn't help it; he let out a scoff. Even if this place was creepy as hell, he had seen way worse. Anko didn't care for that, and faster than any of most of the Genin could see, threw a kunai towards Naruto. But Naruto wasn't the same person he was in the academy, as his reflexes were in top condition; he grabbed the airborne kunai, spun around, and parried the one held by Anko, now standing in the middle of the Genin group.

She was impressed by the boy's actions, but didn't let it show as she leaned her face close to Naruto's. "You know, boys like you are always the first to die in there. Lots and lots of beasts just waiting to eat you for breakfast"

Naruto just smirked back, and leaned in closer whispering "I'm sure they are, but they will have to wait a little longer. Beast such as those in there doesn't scare me. After all, I have the worst of them is sealed in my stomach". She nodded at him, and they stopped their little contest. They both knew she would win if they kept at it. Even if Naruto was a very skilled Genin, he still was a Genin, and didn't stand a chance against a well-trained tokubetsu jounin as Anko. Whispers went through the crowd

"I can't believe he actually caught it!"

"Yeah, did you see how fast that thing was flying?"

"I don't think I want to go up against him"

Naruto smiled to himself. He didn't think he would get the chance so soon. Since Kabuto had exposed many of his talents, though not the specific jutsu, he had changed tactics. Since he couldn't hide his talent, he had to make sure everyone knew how strong he was, and hopefully scare them off. Sakura nodded at him; he had already told his team what he was planning, the evening before. She looked back at Anko, who was walking up in front of the crowd again 'Even if that helped Naruto, what is with that examiner? She is totally whacked, to not say dangerous'.

The tokubetsu jounin looked over the exam-takers "Before we begin the second exam, I'm going to pass out these to everyone." She took out a stack of papers "These are consent forms, and those planning on taking this exam must sign one."

"And why is that?" a Genin from Ame asked

Anko looked happy that someone asked, a little too happy for Naruto's taste, as she said "From here on, people will die. Therefore, we need people's consent before we continue, so I, and thus Konoha, will be held responsible for the deaths." She laughed as if she just told a little joke. She waved dismissingly "Now enough of that. I will begin the explanation of the second exam. To be concise, you will all go through an extremely intense survival match" she said, as she handed the papers to Naruto, who took one and send it to the next Genin.

Shikamaru took a look on the paper he had gotten 'Survival match? What a troublesome exam…'

Anko rolled out a little map showing the Genin "I'll explain the training area's geographical features. The 44th training area is a circular region, surrounded by 44 locked gate entrances. There is a river, a forest, and a tower in the middle. The tower is approximately 10 kilometers away from all the gates. Inside the limited space, you will have to go through a certain survival program. The program consists of… A competition where anything goes… Over these scrolls" she held up another two scrolls for all to see.

"Scrolls?" a Konoha Genin asked

Anko nodded "Yeah scrolls. There are two kinds; the Scroll of Heaven, and the Scroll of the Earth. You will fight over these scrolls." She paused as she put the scrolls away again "28 teams in total passed the first exam. Half of those teams will the scroll of Heaven, and the other half will get the Scroll of the Earth. Each team will get one of these scrolls. And you simply have to fight over these."

"And?" Sasuke asked "What's needed to pass?"

"Bring the Scrolls of Heaven and Earth to the tower with your teammates" she answered

"In other words" Sakura thought out loud for all to hear "the 14 teams or half the people here, that get their scroll stolen will fail."

Anko nodded "Bingo pinkie. But it needs to be done within the time limit. This second exam has a limit of 120 hours, or exactly five days."

"Five days," Ino yelled in a high pitching squeak.

"What about food!?" Chouji asked as if the sky was falling.

Anko shrugged "Not my problem. You could find it in the forest- it's a treasure box of nature. There should be plenty of food."

"However" Kabuto said "there are also a lot of man-eating beasts, poison bugs, and poisonous, man-eating plants."

"No…" Chouji said disheartened

"Idiot! That's why it's called a survival match" Ino scolded

"Also" it came from Neji "it is possible that it's less than the 13 teams that pass"

Lee looked excited to try it out "And as time passes, you will be required to move more. So, the time to rest your body will become shorter. This seems quite rough."

"And we're surrounded by enemies. So when we finally do sleep, we won't be able to do so in peace" Naruto finished. A silence overcame the Genin, as they all thought about the possibilities.

"People will get hurt in the process of fighting over a scroll" Anko continued "and those who cannot bear the shinobi program's strictness will also emerge."

Shikamaru raised his hand "Excuse me, can we quit in between?"

Anko frowned "as a rule, you are not allowed to give up during the exam. You will spend the five days in the forest."

"Just as I thought…" Shikamaru sighed "How troublesome…"

"While we're on this topic, here are the conditions that will fail you." Silence fell over the crowd again "First, a team that cannot bring both scrolls to the tower, with the whole team alive, will fail. Second, the team that loses a teammate or produces an unrecoverable teammate will fail. Also, just as a note; you are not allowed to look inside the scrolls until you reach the tower. If you do? Well, that's a surprise you'll see when you look at it… If you become a Chunin, you will be handling top secret documents. So this test is also to determine your reliability."

"That is it for the explanation. We will exchange three consent forms for one scroll at that hut" she pointed at said hut "And after have gotten to your assigned gate entrance; everyone will start at the same time." Anko looked like she wasn't sure she should tell more, but finally let in with a sigh "I guess I should give you one last piece of advice… Don't die!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The members of Team 7 were standing in front of Gate 12. They had been some of the first to turn in their consent forms, not wanting to linger around the larger group. They were now waiting for the Chunin in front of them to open to gate; it was to be opened at 12:30 exactly, down to the second. They were all tense.

"Naruto, Sasuke-kun, wha-" was all Sakura could say before Naruto cut her off

"Not now Sakura-chan, wait till we're inside. We will find a place to get things sorted out." It took her a few seconds to figure out that Naruto wanted to wait with this talk till they were inside – they couldn't take any chances. For once Sasuke agreed with Naruto, so Sakura nodded at them. They went back to being silent and tense.

The Chunin in front of looked at his clock and unlocked the gate. Team 7 was getting ready to sprint off at full speed. It wasn't long after that, that they heard the crazy snake lady's voice resonating through the air

"We will now begin the Chunin Selection's Second Exam! TRY NOT TO DIE MAGGOTS!"

And the gates shot open, and the three Konoha Genin took off at full speed, leaping to the trees, the element they were most used to. They didn't stop for about fifteen minutes, only caring about getting into the forest, and away from everyone and anyone. They came to a small clearing when they finally came to a hold. Naruto quickly created about a dozen of his Kage Bunshin, and send them to be lookouts throughout the area.

"Good, now we can talk" Naruto said. He looked at Sasuke "Which scroll was it we got again?"

"The Scroll of Heaven" Sasuke replied, taking out the said object.

Naruto nodded "ok then. We need to settle a few things; what do we do from here, how do we recognize each other, and where do we hide the scroll"

Sasuke shot him a glare "Who put you in charge, dobe?"

Naruto shrugged "No one did teme. If you want to take charge, then fine. We just need to be fast. We can't stay in one place for too long." Sasuke still glared at him, but didn't object, so Naruto continued "I already have an idea of how we can recognize each other." Naruto went took out a scroll, where the center was a pen-case and pen. He put his hand out for Sakura to take "I'm going to put a seal on all of us"

Sakura carefully laid her arm in Naruto's hand, and he began drawing on the top of her arm, she bit her lip not to giggle from the touch of the soft brush. She was impressed by the seal "So, what does it do?"

"Well, I can't really explain it in detail, you wouldn't understand it to be frankly, but what it does is make a 'pull' in the mind, so you will know where the sibling seals are" Naruto explained. He saw the worry in her face, and smiled amused "No, it won't last forever. It can't be washed off easily, but this ink will slowly decay. Give it a week and a half, two at most. And they only work in close proximity, but they will work" he said as finished Sakura's seal. She took a look at it; she didn't recognize most of the work, but did see something that looked like the sign for 'mind'.

'He's really gotten impressive with working of Fūinjutsu. I still can't believe this is the same knuckle-head from the academy.' Sakura casted her eyes down; 'When we have some time I'll talk to Naruto later…'

Naruto reached for Sasuke's arm, who gave it reluctantly. Even he could see the use in what Naruto could do… Maybe he should give him a chance? Just…. Naruto continued "And then there's the scroll… I have two scrolls that look similar, so we can make fakes, and for the real one, we can seal it in a seal on one of our bodies. I will modify it, so we all can open it if the need should arise; wouldn't be good if one of us gets knocked out, and we can't open it because of that."

Sakura thought what Naruto had proposed, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find any flaws; Naruto had really thought this through. The blond member of team had finished Sasuke's seal in the meanwhile. He made two more Kage Bunshin right after; one to make his own seals, and one to make the fake scrolls. Before the Bunshin started on the seal he moved a hand glowing with chakra over Naruto's biceps; something Sakura had never seen or heard of before. Slowly another seal faded into appearance. To no big surprise, Sakura couldn't really make anything out of it, but the number '12' close to the edge. As the clone began to make the 'pull seal' Sakura let her curiosity gets the best of her "Naruto, what is that other seal you got? And why wasn't it visible before?"

Naruto looked at the seal she was referring to "Ah that, it's a restriction seals. Makes it harder to move around; level 1 it's like to move through water, level 2 it's like walking through mud, and so on… So, if you're ever in a pinch, you can remove the effects, and what before seemed like just jumping a meter, will suddenly be twelve meters"

Even Sasuke thought that it was impressive. The same thought ran through Naruto's' teammates' heads. Sakura brushed away a strand of hair that had wiggled itself out of her bow/hitai-ate "Erm, Naruto, do you think maybe I and Sasuke-kun could get one? I mean, it would be pretty good to have a hidden burst of speed in a pinch"

Naruto frowned "I don't think you can. Ero-sennin was rather adamant about me not giving it to anyone. First I didn't understand why, but after having studied some more Fūinjutsu… Though it is one of the first seals you learn about, it's advised that you don't try it out before you have at least a year's worth of training. It's in a category of seals, that not only require the seal itself, but the knowledge of the seal. I guess it's kind of like a sealing scroll; even if you have the seal, if you don't know how to access the items inside it, you can't use it. There are some major differences between the two… The most important and obvious is again about the knowledge. If you don't know how to work a sealing seal, you simply won't be able to get the item out or into the seal, but if you don't know how to work a restriction seal, it can really hurt you. So, no… sorry."

Sakura sighed disappointed "oh well…"

'Hn' it came from Sasuke. He looked thoughtful while looking at Naruto, as if he was deciding what he was going to do with him. He took a look at the clone making the fake scrolls "dobe, you said you also had some idea how we could best utilize the time in here… Let us hear them"

Naruto stared at Sasuke in disbelief; this was one of the first times Sasuke had actually acknowledged that he was worth something. He smiled "Yeah, well… What I'm thinking is that we have three options. One; we simply track and hunt the other teams down. The upside is that we're not really reliant on their movement; as we will be do the moving. But on the downside, we will use a lot of energy hunting them… Also, none of us really has any tracking skills. Sure, I could make a few hundred Bunshin, but that would alarm the other teams further, and they will be specifically being looking for us."

"Then there is option 2; we wait for the other teams by the river; it's the only pure water-source in this gods forsaken place. It is true that it's too big for us to cover the whole of it, but we could probably cover about a fourth or a third with the use of my Bunshin. The upside; we could mostly preserve our energy for fighting; they will be do the moving. We will also be the ones to set the circumstances for the fight. The downside; we will be reliant on their movement, and as such would be required to stay up for a long period of time, so they don't slip by while we're taking a rest. Also, we are for sure not the only one to be thinking like that…"

"And finally option 3. It's the same idea as option 2; set up and wait for another team, where they are sure to come. But instead of the river, we will do it at the tower in the middle. Same up- and downsides"

Naruto waited for their response. Both of them seemed to be waging the options they had been presented with. Sakura was about to speak up, when Sasuke cut her off "I would say we should go with the river. We will have access to clean water, and open areas; perfect for setting up a trap. The tower is of course also an option, but there isn't as much space, and we're sure to bump into a lot of other teams, that shouldn't happen at the river"

'…He really is not the same person from the academy,' Sasuke mentally mused.

Sakura and Naruto nodded in agreement. Naruto looked over at his clone to see how far he had gotten with the fake scrolls "Ok, if we're going with the river, I say… that we…"

Naruto trailed off as memories from one of the Bunshin he had posted as a lookout returned to him. Sasuke and Sakura were taken by surprise by it, but quickly understood that he must had gotten memories from one of his clones. He frowned.

"Naruto," Sakura whispers.

"We have to hurry up. A team from Ame is coming this way" he said and dispelled the two Bunshin that were with them. He had gotten both the 'pull seal' and a sealing seal on his arm. He grabbed the real Heavens Scroll and sealed it, and took the two fake scrolls. His other Bunshin had finished one of them, an Earth Scroll, and almost finished the other, another Heavens Scroll. He gave the fake Earth Scroll to Sasuke, who quickly put it in his pouch, and stuffed the unfinished one in his own.

They all three stood up. Naruto looked into the air, going over his and his teammates' skills, and formulating a plan to beat this team. It would be hard, since he had no idea what kind of skills the Ame team had, but they would have to do. If they ran, the Ame Genin were sure to follow them, and it could evolve into a competition about who gave up first, which he really didn't feel like. He looked up to Sakura, and even Sasuke, looking anticipating at him. He nodded

"So what I think we should do is…"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Three Ame Genin were jumping through the woods. They were all wearing what looked like full-body yellow wet-suits, their eyes covered by cloth, with holes to see through, and a mask over their mouth, probably to be able to breathe under water. Their tracker had just picked up on some other Genin, but they weren't sure who they were yet. The largest of the three tilted his head to get the tracker into view "Are you sure they are this way? I can't see any sign of them"

The tracker kept his hand in the ram sign "and that is why I'm the tracker, and you're the leader. I'm positive they're this way"

The third spoke up "They must be pretty fast. To be able to make it this far inside the forest, in the little time we have had since the test started, isn't an easy task"

"Doesn't matter" the leader of the three said "as long as we take them by surprise, it won't matter"

That closed the matter as they continued onwards. Not long after they arrived at the edge of a clearing, a clearing that Team 7 had been in not long before. The tracker motioned them to a stop. They continued long the forest-line, and soon came upon a small camping area.

They smirked as they only saw a pink-haired Kunoichi sitting in the area – the tracker couldn't sense any of the others, and so they figured that her teammate was out to gather food or wood, or something of the like. The leader nodded to the third member of the team, who quickly disappeared into the shadows. He smirked as he closed in on the apparent unknowing target. He sneaked closer and closer. He raised his dagger, almost having the Kunoichi. Sakura quickly spun around and delivered an earth-shattering punch to the Ame-nin abdomen. He coughed out a large amount of blood on her hand.

The leader and trackers eyes shot open as they realized they had walked straight into a trap. They were about to retreat when they heard two voice from behind them

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

"Fūton: Daitoppa!"

The first thing that hit them was the searing wind; it burned what little skin they had exposed. Then they saw an eerie glow between the trees, where after a fireball bigger than they had even seen came soaring towards them, setting anything it passed on fire. They quickly jumped down into the clearing; the only place they were sure it wouldn't hit, only to hear the same voice that had casted the futon

"Shoton: Baningu Kosoku!"

Several chains made of crystal broke through the earth underneath them and wrapped themselves around the two. They saw over at their humped-over teammate, and could see the same happening to him. Almost immediately after they felt their chakra being harder to access.

Naruto came out, with Sasuke close behind him, dusting his hands off in his pants "that went better than expected". Needless to say, the two conscious Ame-nin was glaring holes through him.

Sasuke 'hmph'ed "I still say we should've killed them right away"

"And risk not getting their scroll?" Naruto asked him, not really expecting an answer. He walked over to the two chained shinobi "So, spit it out. Where is your scroll?"

"Like we would give it that easily" the leader said laughing "you got some nerve kid"

Naruto sighed deeply and let his breath drop "Going to be that way then…?" he took up a stick from the ground. He turned his look back at the Ame-nin's "Let's play a little game. This is you" he motioned to the stick "and this is what I'll do to you and your team, one limp at the time, if you don't tell me where your scroll is".

The trapped shinobi watched intensely as the stick first was spiked with multiple blue crystals; they glanced nervously at each other. After it had been impaled with tens of crystal blades, it began crystallizing over; cold-sweat broke out. Thereafter, very slowly, the crystal shattered from one end to the other, sending the miniature crystal pieces out in the air. The tracker broke down

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you! Just don't kill me! I don't want to die yet!" he begged

"D-don't tell t-them!" the leader stammered

Naruto kept his cool, and raised an eyebrow at the tracker, completely ignoring the leader now "Alright then. Where is it?"

"It's over on him" he nodded towards the member of the team who had gotten pummeled by Sakura "he has it in his pouch". Naruto looked back at Sakura and Sasuke, who went over to the location right away. To Team 7 delight, they pulled out an Earth Scroll. Naruto rose and took a pose, ready to strike the shinobi in front of him

"You said you wouldn't kill us!" the leader half-screamed.

"I won't. But I can't have you guys following us, so you're going to take a little nap" the Shoton user responded, hitting them in the neck. They both slumped over, hitting the ground with a 'thud'. Naruto dispelled the chains and walked over to his teammates. Sakura looked worriedly at the three

"We can't just leave them like this. They will get eaten or something. You saw that snake out front!"

Sasuke didn't seem to agree, but didn't voice his opinion. Naruto looked at the Ame-nin and sighed in resignation "I guess you do have a point…" He made three clones and sent them with their beaten opponents on their backs, to find a hiding spot. He looked back at them "We better get out of here. We have stayed here for too long, and the other teams are bound to have heard that Katon/Fūton combination Sasuke and I fired off."

Both his teammates nodded in agreement, as they took off again.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Orochimaru in the disguise of a young Kusa Genin sneered; he still hadn't found Team 7. It had been almost three hours now, and if he they had been lucky, they could be on their way towards the tower now. He couldn't let that happen. In his search of the Shoton and Sharingan users, he and his followers had already come across two other teams. They had been stupid enough to try their luck against him, and failed miserably. They, of course, died a slow and agonizing death, but none of that mattered now. His thoughts were interrupted by the tracker he had taken with him

"Orochimaru-Sama" he called. Said Sannin glanced back at him, seeing a grinning Oto Genin "I've found them. They're about two kilometers south, south-west of here. They are moving rather fast"

Orochimaru, now also wearing a grin boarding to smirk, nodded at him "good work. I'll take it from here… You guys can go have some fun"

His two followers grinned to each other, before taking off into the forest. Orochimaru's creepy smirk stayed on his lips as he thought about the Sharingan user and the Shoton user; he couldn't wait to see what they were capable off. He shot off with speeds only jounin-level shinobi would be able to keep up with; in the direction he had been told.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Team 7 was jumping through the canopies of the forest, Naruto leading them, Sakura on his left, and Sasuke on his right. They were heading straight for the center; they had gotten their scroll, and the longer they stayed out in the open, the longer they risked of losing them. No matter how happy Naruto was about his team already having the Earth Scroll, he couldn't help but also feel a tiny tad disappointed 'and here I was ready to spent multiple nights out in the open, fighting strong teams… Oh well, I guess you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth'

In his mindscape the Kyuubi smirked darkly behind his prison; 'you'll get your wish brat. Let's see if you can live through it.'

It hadn't been ten seconds since Naruto had thought those thoughts did a very powerful gust knock them off course, forcing them to land on the ground. They quickly jumped into a formation, covering each other's backs, while being able to attack any angle. They stayed silence for about a minute, none of them daring to speak. But finally Sakura broke the silence

"That wasn't natural, was it?" she asked, still standing ready, trying to see if anything were coming for them from her view

Naruto shook his head "No, I'm pretty sure it was a Fūton: Daitoppa"

"But it looked nothing like yours did" Sasuke stated "This has to had been at least three times at powerful, probably more"

"Well, the thing about Daitoppa is that it varies in strength from user to user. Many factors matter, as- that doesn't matter now" the blond Genin answered. He narrowed his eyes as he saw something through the undergrowth "Sasuke, use your Sharingan here. I think they're coming." The Uchiha heir didn't get to do anything before they heard a laugh sending chills up their spines

"Ku, ku, ku" it came from the direction Naruto had pointed out. From the shade of the trees a person seemed to slither towards them "you really don't let your guard down." Said person came out into the light, giving Team 7 a clear view of a woman; she was one of the Genin from Kusa. "Looks like I can have more fun than I expected" she continued and licked her lips, giving the Genin from Konoha a sight of her abnormally long and odd-shaped tongue.

She laughed again while taking out his scroll; Scroll of Earth. "You want our Scroll of the Earth, right?" she asked, not really expecting an answer "since you three have the Scroll of Heaven." All three of Kakashi's students narrowed their eyes, the same thought going through their heads; she had been watching them, meaning that she had planned on taking them on. They didn't need an extra scroll, but none of them dared to speak or move against this enemy.

The next thing the foreigner did mental shiver; she brought the scroll to his mouth, her long tongue wrapping around the scroll, before forcing it down her throat. She continued talking to them, her hitai-ate covering her eyes in shadow "Now, let us begin… The fight over out scrolls… By putting our lives on the line!" She looked directly up at the three, pulling slightly down on her lower right eyelid.

A monstrous amount of killer intent hit them; something none of them had expected. They saw over, and over again, how the Kusa-nin were going to kill them; slice them open, kunai to the forehead, their throats slit. All of their eyes widened in shock and fear. Naruto half buckled down to one knee, but managed to remain partially standing, though still visibly shaking. He glared at the enemy in front of him, 'she can't be a Genin. Just who is she? No Genin can manage to release such killer intent, no matter how strong they are. This killer intent… It has been through wars, it has been surrounded by death… If it wasn't because I have been exposed to the Kyuubi's…' He shifted his eyes to his teammates

Sakura and Sasuke had fallen down on their knees. Sasuke was currently bent over, emptying his stomachs contents, 'A Genjutsu…? No. It was just intent to kill! I can't believe it… After just seeing into her eyes, I was imprinted with an image of my own death. Just who is she?!' Sakura was doing far worse; she was shaking like a leaf, crying her tears out. No matter how hard she had trained, nothing could have prepared her for this. How could she? This was a Chunin exam; no one like this should be in here.

Naruto was still shaking; but now in anger. He looked back at the imposing Kusa Genin, remembering his training, and shot his deadliest glare, with some of the Kyuubi's own killer intent. Naruto could feel traces of the Kyuubi's chakra running through his system, and knew that if he looked himself in the eyes, he would see red slit eyes, instead of the usual ocean blue. Sasuke stared up at Naruto, not knowing where he could've learned it. Sakura, though still in tears felt relief hit her system.

"Who are you?" Naruto growled

The hidden Orochimaru took a step back at the unexpected killer intent that rivaled, if not beat, his own, then smirked 'ku, ku, ku, seems little Naruto-kun has more control over the Kyuubi than I thought.' He smiled in his own creepy way "Very impressive Naruto-kun. I didn't expect you to be so in control"

"Tell me who you are!" Naruto repeated more harshly.

Orochimaru in the Kusa-Genin's body smirked. "Make me"

That was it for Naruto; he charges as fast as he could, conjured a crystal tanto in the process, and slashed through the foreign Genin. His eyes widened as the person his tanto was half buried in disappeared into smoke. She reappeared right in front of him, going through hand seals faster than Naruto had ever seen

"Fūton: Renkudan!"

Before Naruto could do anything, he felt like he was hit by the Hokage monument. Everything hurt as he was shot like a cannonball deep into the forest... She did not realize her voice echoed so loud as Sakura watched in horror.

"NARUTO!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Yugito, Omoi and Karui were sitting up in a tree while having something to eat. They had been running around the forest, trying to find another Genin team, but no such luck yet. Omoi swallowed his mouthful of rice-ball "You know; we could try the river. Some teams are bound to go there to get fresh water. If you don't, then you will just get dehydrated, then you will-"

"Gosh, we get it already, Omoi!" Karui yelled in a whisper and took another bite of her food. She sighed in defeat "but you do have a point… We're not getting anywhere at this rate. I really wish one of us was a sensory type that is good right now. Right, Yugito-chan? Yugito-chan?" Said girl was currently lost in thought, thinking about a certain blond Genin from Konoha.

"Yugito-chan!?" Karui yelled into her ear.

She pushed her away right away, rubbing her ear "That's mean Karui! You know how much more sensitive my hearing are because of Nibi!"

Karui shrugged "I had to do something. You were kind of in a dazed"

Yugito blushed "I was?"

Omoi nodded "Yeah, what was that about anyway? It's like the fifth time it has happened since yesterday. It could be really bad. Just think; we're in the middle of a fight with another Genin team, and they are charging at us. You're just about to cast a jutsu to counter theirs, but you faze out, and then – OUCH"

Karui rubbed her fist, but then looked at Yugito "again, he has a point. We need you to keep your head in the game. We are in here with a lot of other people, and some of us will die."

Yugito sighed "I know, it's just-" she stopped when she felt faint Killer intent. She looked at her two teammates, who were looking in the direction it was coming from. Not long after they felt a much more potent one. Yugito's eyes widened as she felt demonic chakra being used.

"Let's go" she said and jumped towards the killer intent

"What are you doing!? We should run away from that!" Karui screamed, but Yugito didn't listen. Karui quickly picked up Omoi "come on. We can't let her go alone."

They quickly jumped from branch to branch, trying to locate the exact area the killer intent and demonic chakra was coming from. Their eyes widened as they realized that one of the sources were moving fast towards them. That's when they started to hear to crashes. They stopped, getting ready to jump any way to avoid anything.

Through a tree crashed what Yugito concluded was the source of the demonic chakra, and it didn't stop. From where they were standing, they could see him crash through three more trees, before continuing out of sight. Yugito looked at her two teammates, before dashing off after the living projectile.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto tried to channel more of the fox chakra into his system, as he kept crashing through trees. He finally stopped by making a big dent into what seemed like a several hundred year old oak. He fell down from his crater, falling headfirst into the earth. He groaned as he tried to get up, but found out he couldn't get more up than on four limbs. He coughed hard and spat out a fair amount of blood. He closed his eyes trying to focus his thoughts, which was hard because of all the pain. He had never felt so much pain before. The Fūton jutsu wasn't enough; he had to go through multiple kilometers of forest. And through who knows how many unforgiven giant oak.

He could feel at least five rips broken, his right leg didn't feel too good either, and he was almost positive he was bleeding internally, since he was coughing blood up. He groaned again as he sat up by the oak and closed his eyes. Even with the fox's chakra, this was going to take a while to heal, and he had to get back to Sakura and Sasuke fast. He didn't want to think what that maniac would do to them. But he couldn't do anything right now… He had to rest.

His ears twitched as he heard something moving, and his eyes went wide open when he heard a hiss. In front of him was a snake big enough to fill up his whole apartment, and still have a good portion of its tail outside. It looked hungrily at him and began to slither towards him. Naruto used all his power to stand up, still leaning onto the oak, and made a crystal tanto. But the crystal shattered as soon as it had been made. He closed his eyes 'No, it can't end like this… Anything but this… Kyuubi, just a little more. Leant me your chakra'.

He opened his eyes screaming, and brought his free hand slamming into the ground "Shoton: Suishō no shi!"

The snake stopped as the whole clearing shook, seemingly concentrating under the snake. Right as Naruto thought the jutsu had failed, giant crimson spikes grew out of the earth, impaling the giant snake everything he could. From where the spikes had hit, the flesh started to crystallize, making the snake hiss in agony. In thirty seconds the snake was dead, only leaving a massive construct of a crystal snake in front of Naruto.

Naruto lost his footing again, as he felt the Kyuubi's chakra leave his system. His vision blackened as he saw the crystal snake beginning to crumble, and three figures jumping towards him.

Sakura…

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Tokubetsu Jounin – Special High Ninja: Tokubetsu Jounin are ninja who, rather than all-around jounin training, have jounin-level ability in a specific area or skill, much like warrant officers in real-world militaries. They are elite specialists in their areas and are often assigned as subordinates to regular jounin when their services are needed. One example of a Tokubetsu Jounin is Ibiki Morino, whose unique ability to completely understand the workings of the human mind makes him a jounin-level interrogation expert.

Ame – Rain: Also short for Amegakure

Amegakure – Literally meaning "Village Hidden by Rain": Amegakure is a small, yet highly industrialized hidden village located in an unnamed country. Its architecture is composed of several metallic skyscrapers with rowed ducts connected to them and mazy power lines surmounting. A number of smaller villages also surround Amegakure. As its name suggests, it rains almost constantly due to a storm above the village.

Oto – Sound: Also short for Otogakure

Otogakure - Literally meaning "Village Hidden by Sound": Otogakure no Sato is the personal hidden village of Orochimaru, which was founded for the express purpose of collecting ninja for his experiments and his quest to learn all techniques.

Fūton: Daitoppa – Wind Release: Great Breakthrough: This is a relatively simple technique that creates a sudden gust of wind, but its scale varies greatly depending on the user. If used by a superior shinobi, it has enough destructive power to knock down a large tree. The wind from the squall can blow away all things in the user's line of sight. A variation of the technique involves a smaller blast of wind which gets ignited with flame.

Fūton: Renkudan – Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet: To use this technique, the user will first take a deep breath, and then pound the stomach to apply external pressure, the power of which it uses to shoot a highly compressed air ball from the users mouth. The expelled air ball is mighty enough to hollow out the ground, and knock through tree, and even rock. Because of the large quantity of chakra kneaded into it, it explodes the moment it reaches its target, dealing an enormous amount of damage, as well as leveling anything in its path. The original user of this is Shukaku, the one tailed demon raccoon, is able to fire multiple of these in rapid succession, having a certain level of control regarding the size of the bullets.

Shoton: Suishō no Shi - Crystal Release: Crystal Death: The user slams his hand into the ground, filling it with Shoton chakra. The chakra concentrates on the enemy, where after it forms razor-sharp crystal spikes that impales. From the impaling wound, anything, organic or otherwise, will crystallize, killing almost any enemy.

Iwa – Rock: Also short of Iwagakure

Iwagakure – "Hidden Stone Village"; literally meaning "Village Hidden by Rocks": Iwagakure is the hidden village of the Tsuchi no Kuni. As one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Iwagakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Tsuchikage, current being Ōnoki. Iwagakure is well-known for the rock-hard attitude of its shinobi; as soon as the Tsuchikage gives an order, the Iwa-nin do so without hesitation, even if it means death. The standard attire for shinobi from this village consists of red outfit — which can either have one, or both sleeves — a lapel which is usually found on the side without a sleeve and a brown flak jacket — which also may, or may not have a pouch attached to it. They also tend to wear mesh armor around their ankles. Iwagakure ninja seem to specialize in Doton techniques.

The rocky mountain ranges that surround the village and country provide a natural stronghold. The village profits from this advantageous position and is proud of its strong defenses. The village sits among a mountain range consisting of small narrow waterfalls, with the buildings being composed of rock and stone; shaped from large, elevated formations of rock into tower-like structures. Many of its buildings sit on cliffs connected by a network of bridges. The Tsuchikage's palace seems to be the tallest structure with a cone shaped roof.

Tsuchi no Kuni – Land of Earth: Tsuchi no Kuni has seen little attention in the series thus far. It is located north-west of the Hi no Kuni. Its government leader is the Earth Daimyo. The country is mostly comprised of desolate, rocky areas. The border of the Tsuchi no Kuni runs along a rocky mountain range, blocking communication with other countries. The wind blowing from the north passes over these mountains, carrying small rocks from the Land of Earth to the surrounding countries. This famous natural phenomenon is called "Rock Rain".

Chapter Text

Darkness. Pain. Hatred. All he could feel was those things. He didn't know where he was, or when he was… who was he again…? Oh yeah, he was Uzumaki Naruto, orphan of Konohagakure no Sato, Jinchurriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, hated by the shinobi, despised by the villagers… The Kyuubi… The source of all his suffering… And that because of a single man; Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, Konoha no Kiiroi Senko, war-hero of the third great shinobi war… Why him? Why did the strongest shinobi in centuries choose him? Why was it him that had to be damned? Hadn't the Kyuubi taken enough from him? Wasn't his parents' death enough for the Yondaime? Hadn't he suffered enough?

The pain, this unbearable pain! It wasn't only his non-existing body that hurt now, but his heart too. Everything hurt, and he had nowhere to run… There was only darkness, darkness to swallow him up whole, darkness mock him in his darkest hour, darkness to remind him of all the things he didn't accomplish, all the things he wouldn't accomplish, and the things he never could accomplish… He had never hurt this much before. He wanted to get away, but there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run…

Then out of nothing came flash brighter than the strongest Katon jutsu, so bright that he thought it was a new sun. It was somewhere, instead of this nowhere. He began running towards it, he started to feel his body; his chest, his legs, his arms, his head, his everything. He was something, somebody.

The darkness grabbed out after him, trying to hold him away from the beautiful light, the godsend light, but he wouldn't lose. He used all his powers to struggle, to get away from the awful thing that was darkness. He was getting closer! He could feel the warmth, the caring, and the love. He had to get there. But the darkness was so strong! He was so close! He couldn't be shown the way out, just to have it taken away. But he started to slow down. The darkness came from him again, dragging him away from the light, from the warmth, the caring, and the love. He couldn't take it, the hatred, the pain, the darkness. It came for him again. He started to lose to it, slowly, inch by inch; it won, dragging him away from the light. It got colder.

That's when he heard the voice, that familiar yet completely alien voice. It was soothing, knowing, caring. It gave him strength. He fought, he couldn't lose to the darkness, and he wouldn't. He had things to do, goals to accomplish! He was going to pass these exams, he was going to be acknowledged by the village of Konoha, and he was going to become the Hokage!

He used his newly gained strength to get out of the grasp of the coldness, the darkness. He used all his powers to get to the voice, to the light. He was winning. He was so close now, just a few more meters. Five meters, three meters, a half meter. He stretched out his hand to touch his savior. He was so close to the warmth, it burned his hand. But he didn't care; anything but the darkness. And he touched it.

Light exploded all around him, chasing the darkness away, the coldness away, the pain and hatred away. There was only light, only love, only warmth. He blinked a few times to get use to the brightness. What he saw was not what he expected. He was standing what he guessed was a room, but without walls. There wasn't much furniture here, only a small table, a chair, and a crib. He heard low, light breaths from it. He slowly stepped over to it, his breath getting stuck in his throat when he saw who was laying in it.

It was a baby, which couldn't be more than a day or two old. That wasn't what had gotten to Naruto; it was its appearance. Three very familiar whisker marks were across the cheeks, his blond hair was spiky and uncontrolled, bristling in all direction. The baby had his eyes open to show him the most deep, cerulean eyes, which he knew very well.

He got a shock as two people appeared in the middle of the 'room'. A blond man was kneeling, holding a long, red-haired woman to his chest. You could see that she was very beautiful, despite appearing so sick and weak. Once again his breath hitched as the man rose from his kneeling position, showing his full appearance. He had the same spiky blond hair as the baby, but longer bangs, framing his head, the same deep, cerulean kind eyes was position in his face. His whole body structure just shouted 'I have power, and I'm not afraid of using it if I'm forced'. It was the Yondaime Hokage.

"Why" the red-haired woman weakly spoke. The pair didn't seem to have noticed the stranger in their home. Naruto stood frozen, not daring to make any movements

Minato began walking over to the crib "never mind that now… Just stay with Naruto." His eyes widened in realization as he heard what the older blond said. He looked in disbelief between the man standing over the crib, to the woman lying in it beside the baby.

The woman hugged the baby tightly, her eyes watering "Naruto…" She didn't notice the dark and grim look which was displayed in her husband's face. His fist tightened a second as a resolute expression took over the grim look. He went to where a wall should have been, and opened what appeared to be a closet. He quickly took on a white cloak with red flames dancing at the bottom. On the backside the kanji for 'Yondaime Hokage' was displayed. Naruto had no doubts now; this was the legendary Konoha no Kiiroi Senko.

"Minato… Thank you" the woman spoke, "good luck".

"I'll be right back" and with that he disappeared in a flash of yellow.

She just lay there, looking at her newly born son. He began to sob lightly, almost as if he knew what would come to be. The woman comforted him "There, there Naru-chan. everything will be all right." But he didn't stop, he began to cry louder. "Shhh, nothing is going to happen to you, just go back to sleep." But it didn't stop him; she sighed deeply with a smile on her lips, and began to sing for him. Chills went down Naruto's spine as he recognized the voice; it was the voice that had saved him from the darkness, the voice which had haunted his dreams, since he don't know when. He sat down on the chair simply listening to what he could only guess was his mom. A serene smile spread on his face

"Just when you think

Hope is lost

And giving up

Is all you got,

Blue turns black,

Your confidence is cracked,

And there seems no turning back from here

Sometimes there isn't an obvious explanation

Why the holiest hearts can feel the strongest palpitations

That's when you can build a bridge of light,

That's what turns the wrongs all right

That's when you can't give up the fight

That's when love turns nighttime into day,

That's when loneliness goes away,

That's why you gotta be strong tonight,

And only love can build us a bridge of light"

Naruto could've listened to that for hours, maybe even days, and not get tired of hearing it. He closed his eyes as the song went on and on, just reveling in the peace he felt. But he suddenly frowned when the voice became lower and lower. He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. He could only sit there as the angelic song was taken away from him.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto winced; he could feel all the pain in his body. He wasn't in the light anymore. What was that place anyway? Had it all been a dream? He really wasn't the Yondaime's son…? No, it couldn't have been a dream, not with all those emotions he felt. He could still feel the peace from the light, the love, and the concern; two feelings he never really had felt before, but instantly knew what they were.

He turned over to feel a warm glow from behind his eyelids. It was nice. Kept him warm now that he was lying here on the forest floor. But how could that be? How did he get here again? The last thing he remembered was the snake, the snake which poofed away, just like a summons's? A snake summoner? The only Konoha-nin with a contract to the snakes were Anko, and no one, not even her, was allowed to interfere in the exams. But who else could have the snake summon? Who again was holding the contract? He thought about it for a few seconds, before the realization came crashing down on him 'Orochimaru! It was Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin! But then… Sakura, Sasuke!' He sat up as soon as he had concluded it, but quickly regretted it and grasped his head. He got very lightheaded, and his whole body still hurt – not as much as before, but still a lot. He winced and looked down his body; he was covered in bandages. He frowned once again 'but who could've done it? For that matter, why am I sitting in a camp, and not lying beaten up somewhere in the forest?'

"Oh, you're finally awake. I have been waiting for quite some time" a foreign female voice sounded. Naruto, while still quite dazed by the lightheadedness, looked lazily over at the direction the voice had come from, and looked straight at a blond girl. He recognized her from the day before, at Ibiki's exam. He analyzed her face; it was smooth, beautiful even. Especially her eyes drew his attention; they were light blue, and her pupils were slit, just like a cats eyes, while they were set in an angle. They were just under her hitai-ate, which proudly displayed the three clouds which are Kumogakure's symbol.

'Wait' Naruto thought 'Kumogakure… Kumogakure!' Naruto didn't waste another second. He didn't show any concern to his body's condition, as he jumped from the makeshift bed as fast as he could, making a crystal tanto in the process, and got into a battle stance at the other side of the camp. He realized his grave mistake to disregard his body, as the crystal shattered and he fell clutching his left side.

"Baka! You're in no condition to jump around like that! You flew like a cannonball through several kilometers of forest!" it came from the Kumo Kunoichi as she stood up and made her way over to him

The blond Konoha Genin looked carefully at her, not really sure what to make of her, "You're not going to attack me?"

She snorted "and why would I do that? Not after all the trouble I went through to treat you"

No, Naruto really didn't know what to make of her. Why would a foreign shinobi, a shinobi from Kumogakure nonetheless, treat him? It was normal that Genin from the same village helped each other, or at least not attack or hinder each other, during the exams, but it was very rare, even for allied nations, to help teams from foreign villages. Naruto didn't take his eyes off her, trying to keep his guard up as much as he could "You treated me? Why?"

"Why? Because you were beaten up pretty badly, that's why" she answered a little annoyed. Here she had used hours to treat him, and he reacted like this. She stopped walking waited for him to put down his guard

Naruto shook his head "That's not what I meant. Kumo and Konoha aren't allies; far from it. You used the peace treaty as a way to try and get your hands on the Byakugan. It's just disgusting how you would use Konoha's good faith like that"

The Kumo Kunoichi snorted yet again; he had no idea what really happened that night. She looked at Naruto yet another time; he was barely standing, his whole body shaking lightly in exertion, and blood dripping from the now loose bandages. She raised an eyebrow 'while it's rather foolish to go around jumping like that with such serious injuries, I can't deny that I'm impressed… But even with his so-called healing abilities, he still is far from in a condition where he could safely move around. Then again… If he really is one of us, then it isn't that surprising.'

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before resigning and sat down on the ground. "Look, I'm not going to attack you, and neither are my teammates"

Naruto narrowed his eyes; he had forgotten everything about her teammates "Then where are they?"

She shrugged "out getting wood, water, and food. Now come here so I can treat you before you pass out again from blood loss."

Naruto didn't get out of his sloppy stance 'Should I really trust her? If she wanted to get rid of me, then why would she treat me? But what other options do I have? I could try run for it. But, with these injuries I wouldn't get far… She would catch me within a few minutes. I could call for help using that, but I don't think I have enough chakra to do it without passing out, leaving me at her mercy. And I could of course just put my trust in her… Sigh, doesn't seem like I have a choice. No matter what I do, I will be at her mercy. Might as well not waste any energy'.

He carefully got out of his stance "fine. But I'll be watching you." He limped over to the now standing Kumo Genin, who helped him over to the campfire again, where she began changing and tighten the bandages. He couldn't help but blush as he stood bare-chested, as she looked over his wounds.

She raised an eyebrow at what she saw; he really did have rather impressive healing abilities. The long gashes he had when they found him, where almost gone. 'If all his wounds heal as fast as these' she thought as she began stroking his chest lightly, feeling the wounds 'he must never have gotten, and never will get, any scars.'

"Hmmmh" it came from Naruto

She looked inquiring up at him. His cheeks was as red as a ripe tomato. She soon noticed why; she had been stroking him all over his muscular chest, checking for the wounds. As she realized what he must've thought and felt, she blushed deeply, and quickly changed the bandages. She sat down on the other side of the bonfire.

"So, what's your name?" she asked, eager to shift from the awkward atmosphere that had appeared

"You first" Naruto said, still not trusting the girl completely

She rolled her eyes "My name is Yugito. Nii Yugito"

Naruto pulled his knees up to his chest, and rested his aching head on them with closed eyes "Name is Uzumaki Naruto"

- Hours earlier -

"Fūton: Renkudan!"

"NARUTO!"

Sasuke and Sakura watched in horror as their teammate was hurled away, through the trees with enormous force from the hidden Sannin's jutsu. The now obvious non-Genin turned her attention back to the two Konoha shinobi in front of her. She cracked a smile

"Now, where were we?"

Sakura was shaking out of control. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stop shaking. It didn't help when Naruto, the strongest Genin she knew – yes, even stronger than Sasuke – was shot through the forest, without the Kusa shinobi even breaking a sweat. She felt something wet hitting her arms and legs. She looked down to find droplets of water. Still shaking, she moved her hand to her chin, feeling more water. 'Tears?' she thought 'even with all the training I have been going through, It still only took that little effort from him to take me down. Naruto could handle it with no problem, and Sasuke is also able to move… Wait, what is he going to do with that kunai!?' While Sakura had been trying to get herself under control again, Sasuke had done his own thinking; they needed to get out of there. He had taken out a kunai, and was standing up, barely. Sakura's eyes widened in realization as she knew what he was going to do.

"And what do you think you're going to do with that, Sasuke-kun?" the Kusa-nin asked as she began walking towards them.

'She is coming. But what can I do? I must… Naruto could pull it together. Sasuke pulled it together… I also have to pull it together!' the pink-haired Kunoichi thought. That thought repeated more as she saw their opponent now taking out two kunai

"Relax; I will end it in a flash. You won't have time to suffer" she said, as she almost casually walked closer to them, meter by meter, step by step. She stopped when she was only a few meters in front of the frozen members of Team 7, drawing back the kunai, ready to throw "I wanted to have a little fun, but… Now I'm disappointed. Maybe your teammate will be a bigger challenge. Maybe I should go look after him, when I'm done with you." He threw the kunai.

As surge of determination crashed through Sasuke and Sakura when their friends name was mentioned; they couldn't give up… he never would. Sasuke turned the kunai towards his thigh, rushing his kunai towards it, while Sakura, with all her strength and might, grabbed her left pinkie, twisting and turning it. There sounded a nauseating crack, and a sickening stabbing sound, and the two Genin was away, leaving the kunai to sink deep into the bark of the tree behind them.

Orochimaru looked down on the bloodied grass, and couldn't help but crack another smile in excitement "I see… They got rid of the fear with pain. Even the civilian-born… Maybe I will have a bit of a challenge after all"

- A few hundred meters away -

Sasuke and Sakura sat oppose to each other on a large branch, away from the maniac. Sakura looked down on her now purple and swollen left hand. Her pinkie was sticking away from the hand, defiantly not sitting in the right position. She winced as she tried to move it. She moved her right hand over the left, grabbing it

"Sakura, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked, with… with concern?

She didn't have time to care about it, or answer him. She had to do this before her determination left her again. She took a deep breath, and snapped the finger back in place. She bit down her scream, clenching her jaw tight, and tears streaming down her cheeks again. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Finally she answered her crush's question "I had to set it back in place… else it would get infected, or start growing back together at a wrong angle. It would hurt much more later on." She took out bandages and wrapped it around her injured hand.

Sasuke nodded at the explanation, finally taking out the kunai from his thigh 'We need to get out of here. We need to run. She's going to find us out soon. But how?! How should we run away from something like that?' He was so distressed he didn't even notice the blood seeping out from his wound. While still shaken up, Sakura had somehow managed to calm somewhat down – or at least going from panicked to distressed.

"Sasuke-kun, we need to stop the bleeding. We can't afford to have you pass out now!" she said, beginning to treat the wound, not even waiting for an answer. However, Sasuke quickly pushed her away, while jumping back, and activating his Sharingan in the process. She was about to ask him why, when she saw it. A giant snake was currently coming down at the exact spot they had been, biting the branch to toothpicks.

"I was so upset that I didn't notice the presence of a snake before it was over us…?" the Uchiha heir asked himself in disbelief as he flew through the air. He didn't get an answer, as the snake now launched of off the branch, aiming for him. As it did, he felt the presence of him. Panic struck like a lightning bolt.

"Don't get near me!" he screamed while throwing six shuriken at the snakes open mouth. They went straight through its head, and it soon lay dead in the trees, blood seeping from its head and mouth. Sasuke and Sakura tried to get their breath from the attack, thinking it was over. How wrong they could be.

The snakes' skin started to crack at its neck joint, like something was trying to get out. Slowly but surely, the fake Genin emerged from the snake

"You can't let your guard down for even a second" it came from the evil woman. "Prey need to strain their minds all the time, and run around… in the presence of a predator!" She was now fully emerged. She launched from the snake, aiming at Sasuke again. But she was changed; from the waist down she almost looked like a serpent-like. She even moved like a snake. Approaching the panic-struck Sasuke with incredible speeds. She got closer, and closer! She was now on the same branch. Just as she was about to attack, she stopped in her tracks as kunai and shuriken alike struck just in front of her.

"L-leave Sasuke-kun alone!" it came from the pinkette

Sasuke looked at Sakura with the same wide eyes he had been looking with for the last half hour. Though she was still shaking lightly, she was ready to attack. This was a Sakura he hadn't seen before. She was way different from the girl at the academy, or even the girl in Nami…

He couldn't let her die here.

"Sakura, run! Do not die here! She is way above our level! Run while you can!"

First she looked at him in shock, shock that he cared enough her that he would give his life for her. Then, to his great surprise, she glared at him "like hell I am! We are a team, all of us, no matter if you like it or not! I get that you're only on this team to get power, to get your so called revenge, but you're still my teammate, Naruto's teammate, Kaka-sensei's student! I'm not going to leave you to the likes of that… that… Hebi-teme!"

No one but Naruto, especially his so-called fan club girls, had ever spoken to him like that. It struck a chord. If she spoke to him like that, he must've been really far out. His eyes slowly changed, his posture changed. He looked back at the hidden Sannin, who noticed it all 'so… He wants to fight? That's great. I will finally see what the last 'loyal' Uchiha can do!'

"And so… it begins!" the female Kusa Nin laughed while changing back to having legs. They stood like that, the Uchiha heir and the snake user, just looking at their opponent, ready to react at the slightest movement. It was the snake-user that finally did the first move

"Sen'eijashu!" she said in a punching motion. Dozens of snakes appeared out of her sleeve, aiming their poisonous fangs at the Uchiha. His eyes widened, and he quickly jumped over at the branch Sakura was standing. Orochimaru smiled, as if it had been part of his plan. He pulled up his left sleeve to show a weird looking seal. He bit his thumb and smeared the blood over it, and began to go through hand seals. Sasuke immediately recognized the seals, but before he could warn Sakura, Orochimaru yelled the name of the jutsu

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The two Genin were hit by a rough gust, as chakra emerged from their opponent. When it was finally over they found the snake-user had summoned a very large snake; it was at least thirty or forty meters long. He laughed again "What cute prey we have here. For now, eat them!" The snake didn't need to be told twice, it brought its head back, before striking.

Sakura acted before even thinking. She remembered her training; mold chakra in her arm to increase its strength, and strike! She punched the branch below them, causing it to break from the tree, and fall down into the depths of the forest. Sure, they would maybe get hurt by the fall, but it was better than fighting a giant snake!

Sasuke was surprised by the sudden free fall, but quickly realized it was Sakura's doing. They both collected chakra at their feet, and came to a hold on the tree's bark. They nodded to the other, and started to jump through the rotten-looking forest together, trying to get away from the snake summoner. It hadn't been more than a few seconds later that they heard the forest behind them getting destroyed by something big; it was the snake, with its summoner, going after them. It was that train of thoughts that left them totally unprepared when the summoner came from their right side, punching Sakura harshly into a tree, and Sasuke through the air. He saw the giant snake behind him, coming to its summoner call. Sasuke twisted in the air, and landed on a branch

"Sakura!" he called her. He looked at her with worry, relief filling his face when he saw her crack open an eye. He turned to glare at the summoner; he reminded him way too much of a certain man. He remembered it like it was yesterday. He closed his eyes, as he remembered what he had said to him… 'Foolish brother. If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me… And survive in an unsightly way… Run… Run…! And cling to life!' No! He wouldn't let anyone he cared about the least get hurt again! He opened his eyes, his Sharingan now evolved.

Orochimaru smiled yet again 'he is definitely part of the Uchiha Clan. His blood must be making him excited.'

Sakura jumped down on a branch, violently coughing up blood as she kneeled down. Sasuke saw it 'we can't keep running in this condition. Then… I must fight him with everything I got!'

Orochimaru pulled up his sleeve again. "I will take my time to see how strong you are" he laughed, and recalled his snake to its own summoning world, getting into his stance.

Sasuke didn't even flinch at the gust. He had made a resolve, and he wasn't going to back down now. He brought out a kunai and put it in his mouth 'I have to survive to kill my brother. When that thought came to my mind… I realized that I was the one who was acting like an idiot. Naruto… Sakura… How can someone who can't even risk his own life here, even think about killing the man who slaughtered his own clan?'

Sasuke charged. He jumped into the air, throwing several kunai at his opponent, who dodged them with ease. He jumped from tree to tree, finally getting to the snake-user, and brought a punch and a kick to his chest, both of which Orochimaru simply blocked. He retorted, and tried to kick Sasuke while he was in the air, but Sasuke spun around, barely dodging it. He used the momentum from the spin, and landed crouching a few meters away. They didn't stay that way for long, as both charged again with amazing speeds. They engaged in close combat, each trying to get into the other's guard. Unbeknown to Sasuke, Orochimaru was merely trying, but was greatly impressed by the skills of this Genin. They kept throwing punches and kicks at their opponent. Sasuke dodged under another kick 'I can see it!'

Orochimaru punched at Sasuke's chest, the force forcing them a few meters apart. The snake-summoner decided to take a different approach. He ran around Sasuke in a radius, with speeds approaching jounin-level. The only reason Sasuke could see it, was because of his newly evolved Sharingan 'I can see!' He dodged when his opponent came at him, ramming into the tree where he had stood a fraction of a second earlier. He brought the ram seal up, took a deep breath, and spewed fire at the snake. And again. And again! Soon Orochimaru was engulfed in a sea of flames.

The flames dispersed to show no Orochimaru, but Sasuke saw where he was; inside the tree, making his way to Sasuke. He emerged from it, slashing at Sasuke, who jumped back and dodged it. The fight came to a hold, with Sasuke standing meters away from the half emerged snake-user.

Orochimaru looked analytically at Sasuke 'Good. He was able to predict where I was going to move, and attacked accordingly. He must be able to see me, even at mid-jounin-speeds.' Orochimaru gathered wind chakra in his hand, and used a seal-less 'Fūton: Reppusho', forcing Sasuke to jump away once again.

The raven-haired boy jumped the trees again, until he was just above his opponent. He gathered chakra in his feet, and pushed off, grabbing his opponent in the process. He latched on to the head-down snake-user

"I got you now!"

They approached a branch at increasing speeds. Then they hit it, Orochimaru head first, making cracks in the bark. He stood like that, head buried a few centimeters, before his arms went limp. Sasuke jumped away, watching as the legs also went limp. He almost thought he had won, but then the apparently dead Kusa-nin began to shake, and then transformed back into earth.

"Kawarimi?" Sasuke asked, but had to dodge a hail of kunai before he could think further about it. He was forced out over the branch. Mid-air, he took out wires, and latched them onto a small branch, swinging around the whole tree, landing on another branch. Before he could get foothold, his opponent emerged from the shadows, and completely pummeled him with punches and kicks much faster than before. He punched hard, making Sasuke fall on the branch a few meters away.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura arrived, having gotten left behind, and saw the situation. She felt hopeless; she wanted to help, but she was in no condition to do it. She felt so weak, so helpless right now!

Orochimaru walked closer to the Uchiha heir and 'hmph'ed'.

"That was too easy. You're not living up to the name of Uchiha, I'm disappointed. Oh well… I'm going to slowly beat you, and then kill you… Just like a bug" the hidden Sannin preached. What he didn't know was that Sasuke had planted small bombs on him. And they went off now. She was surprised by the small blast wave, forcing him to take a few steps forward, and got down on one knee.

Sasuke used the distraction to get back up, and jumped into the air. He threw a bunch larger, different shuriken at his opponent, all connected with wire. They all flew past Orochimaru, and the tree behind him. Soon enough the snake-summoner was surrounded by wires, but it wasn't the end of it. Sasuke pulled at the wires, forcing them to come back at him. For the first time in the fight, he was actually surprised 'These are Sharingan-Controlled Triple Windmill Blades!' The wires tightened, and he was latched onto the tree.

Sasuke, holding a wire in his mouth, went through hand seals "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

A large fire quickly ran all the way with the wire, assaulting Orochimaru's body with intense heat and fire, even burning through the tree behind him. The scream he emitted was other-worldly, and Sakura couldn't help the chills that ran through her body. The intense inferno lasted for a good fifteen seconds before dying slowly down. And there was silence. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura dared move; they knew this opponent was strong, and they weren't going to let their guards down once again. But even then, Sasuke sunk down a bit. This was one of the strongest and most chakra-taxing techniques he knew. And he had already used a lot of both energy and chakra at the fight.

Sakura saw it, and while keeping her guard up, jumped down to him with a limb.

"Sasuke-kun, are you ok? You got to get a hold of yourself" she asked concerned.

He didn't get to answer. His opponent got free of the burned-through wires, and opened his eye in his melted face. Sakura fell down on her knees right away, while Sasuke began shaking once again 'A paralyzing jutsu?'

"I must say that I'm impressed" She said. But her voice sounded different; almost like two voice overlaying each other. "That you can use your Sharingan so well at your age. You live up to the name of Uchiha indeed" now his voice was completely changed. It was way deeper, masculine and older. I want you after all"

Sasuke took a closer look. Half the face was burned off, and underneath was… another face? He could see very pale skin, and around the eyes were purple-like markings. His hitai-ate had also change; it didn't show the Kusa symbol anymore, but the music-note that is the newly founded Otogakure's symbol. He screamed in frustration; would this bastard ever just die?

"You two are definitely brothers" Orochimaru continued. "Your eyes carry more potential than Itachi."

Sasuke froze at the mention of his brother's name "Who are you?!"

"My name is Orochimaru. If you wish to see me again, get through this Exam as if your life depended on it. In other words, you'll have to defeat my subordinates."

Sakura couldn't stay quiet anymore "What nonsense are you chattering about? We never want to see your face anymore!"

Orochimaru laughed at her outburst "it doesn't work that way." He brought his hand in a weird seal, and his neck extended. Before either of the Genin realized it, he was biting Sasuke's neck.

"Sasuke-kun!" there was no response.

Orochimaru let go of Sasuke, and brought his neck back to normal size. Three marks appeared on Sasuke's neck. He quickly grasped it in pain.

"Sasuke-kun! You! What have you done to Sasuke-kun!?" Sakura asked with both worry and anger.

"I gave him a farewell present. Sasuke-kun will seek me. He will seek me for power. It was fun being able to see a lot of your moves. But not I got to go… I have an appointment with a certain blond-haired shinobi" he replied as he sunk into the ground

Sakura's eyes went wide "You stay away from Naruto!" But he was already gone. She watched the spot with horror 'I'm sorry Naruto… We couldn't stop him. I hope you will be ok…' She was broken from her thoughts when she heard Sasuke scream in pain. She got over to him "Get a hold of yourself, Sasuke-kun… Come on!" He screamed one last time, before passing out onto her.

"Sasuke-kun… Naruto …" she almost sound pleadingly. She couldn't hold her tears anymore; the whole situation was just too horrible. There was a maniac named Orochimaru running loose in the forest. He had send Naruto crashing through gods knows how many kilometers of forest, had beat up her and Sasuke, giving Sasuke a weird mark in the process, and was now going to find Naruto and probably do the same. It was too much. She hugged Sasuke tightly.

"I… What should I do…?" she asked herself closing her eyes in hopelessness.

'You're strong Sakura-chan. You just don't realize how strong'

Her eyes opened again, as she remembered what Naruto had told her. Who was she to ask what she should do? She already knew what she should do.

- With Orochimaru -

The sun had gone down by now. The forest was covered in shadows and darkness. Orochimaru emerged slowly from the earth; the fight had taken a lot more from him, more than he had expected.

"I guess I'll rest for now… By tomorrow Naruto-kun should be good as well…" he smiled "I can't wait to see what your son can do Minato-Kun, Kushina-chan." He leaned up by a tree, slowly sinking into it. When only his head was exposed, he closed his eyes, and resigned himself to the slumber.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto twisted and turned in his sleep. While he didn't get back to the darkness, he didn't see the light either. But the red-haired woman, who he could only presume was his mother, haunted his dreams with her song. In every corner her saw her red hair, in every place, she heard her song. She was almost there, but not quite.

That was not the only thing that haunted him; he could only imagine what Orochimaru was doing to his teammates and friends. He was angry with himself, angry for charging so carelessly at a so obviously stronger opponent, angry that he got hit by that Fūton jutsu, angry that he got so hurt, and angry that he couldn't heal faster. If it took this long for the Kyuubi to fix him up, then it must've really been bad. The best thing he could do now was rest, and let the fox do its work. Or he would, if someone wasn't talking so loudly

"But, what if he really is what you think he is? What if he loses control and kill us all? What if he destroys the whole forest, us with it? Then A-Sama would declare war because of- OUCH!" a male voice sounded

"Gosh Omoi, that won't happen! Look at him, does he look like he could go on a rampage?" a female voice scolded

"Does Yugito look like she could go on a rampage?" the male retorted

And there was silence for a few seconds. "He got you there" sounded the amused voice of Yugito. The other female sounded like she snorted at it. But what was it they thought he was? Did they know about the Kyuubi? No, they couldn't… could they?

"Why is it we're helping Kumo again?" another male voice sounded. It sounded familiar, as if he had heard it before, and yet he couldn't put a face on it.

"Because they're helping Naruto-kun! And stop complaining now!" Sounded an irate female voice. He knew that voice... it was… Haku! But what was she doing here? That must mean that it was her team that were the other three shapes he had seen before he passed out, with the first three being Yugito's team.

"I-I hope he is o-ok. I can't e-even imagine who co-ould've done something l-like this to him" a nervous voice sounded. Chojuru's voice Naruto concluded.

"Wonder how his weak teammates are. Probably lying dead somewhere" Kouhei said.

His teammates. Sakura! Sasuke! How could he have forgotten about them? He opened his eyes and sat up, surprising the six Genin in the campsite. It was filled with sunlight, so he had slept through the night. That must've been enough rest. He had to go now. He looked around to see their faces. He already knew Haku, Chojuru, Kouhei, and Yugito. The last two he assumed was Yugito's teammates; a boy and a girl. Both had very dark skin, only common in Kumo. The girl had red hair, and the boy had white.

"Naruto-kun! Are you ok?" Haku asked quickly at his side.

"Yeah, I am now. But I need to get going" Naruto said

"Hey, you wait just a second mister" the red-haired teammate said. "We help treat you and watch over you, and you're not even going to explain yourself? Who the hell did that to you?"

"Orochimaru" he answered flatly. When he saw their faces of recognition and shock he nodded, "yeah, that Orochimaru, of the Densetsu no Sannin."

"But how do you know that?" the dark-skinned boy asked

"The snake that attacked me" Naruto said while looking for his shinobi gear around the campsite. "The snake dispelled when it died. And only summoned animals does that. And before you ask, I know it was Orochimaru's because only one other person has signed the snake contract; Mitarashi Anko. And as you all know, she isn't allowed to interfere in the exams, unless it's a really dire situation." He paused as he began equipping his gear "even if Orochimaru let someone else sign the contract, it would only be someone who was in league with him. To be honest, I really hope it was Orochimaru, else we have two jounin-plus level shinobi running around in here." He checked if he had all he needed, and then turned towards the two foreign teams "Thank you for treating me, but I really got to find my team. If Orochimaru really is in here, Kami knows what he has done with them." He was about to take off when both Haku's and Yugito's voices sounded

"Wait"

"Hold on"

They turned to look at each other, and Haku continued first "We're coming with you"

"What!?" Kouhei said, while Chojuru just looked even more nervous

"Us too" Yugito then said, causing similar reactions from her two teammates.

Naruto looked at them for a second, and then shook his head "I can't ask you to do anything like that"

Yugito gave him a real cat-smile "then it's good you didn't. We're coming whether you like it or not, right Omoi, Karui?"

Omoi sighed "I guessed it can't be helped… If we don't go, you won't let it go, and you will probably end going off by yourself, and up against one of the Sannin, you will- OUCH"

Karui rubbed her hand "Stop over-thinking things!" She turned to Yugito, took a look at Naruto, and then back at Yugito "I guess if we treated him like that, it wouldn't be very good to let him go on his own. Besides, we already have our scrolls, and there is still over three days till we gotta be at the tower"

Haku was also trying to convince her team, looking at Kouhei with her puppy-eyes. He made the grave mistake of looking, effectively losing the argument. He signed resigned "fine, we'll go with blondie"

The Hyoton-user looked at Chojuru, who just smiled at her "you know I'll go with you anywhere"

The six genin looked at Naruto, expecting him to lead. He smiled broadly at him, and bowed low "thank you very much. You won't regret it! You will have a favor with the future Hokage of Konohagakure!" They nodded at him.

"By the way, how are we going to find your team? This place is rather big, and your team is sure to have moved from where you last saw them. And we need to contact the outside somehow; we can't take on Orochimaru all by ourselves" Omoi said. Karui and Yugito looked surprised at him, as he had actually said something straight to the point. He shrugged and took another lollipop in his mouth "I have my moments."

Naruto grinned at them "Already thought about that." He brought his hands together in a seal none of them recognized; he brought two fingers from each hand into a cross.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The whole clearing was covered in smoke. When it had cleared, all six foreign shinobi had eyes as big as teacups. There must've been close to, if not more than, a thousand Naruto's. The original nodded at them "you all know what to do. Look far and wide after Sakura and Sasuke. If you find them, then make another clone, and make it dispel. If you get the knowledge that one has found them, find a hiding spot, and try not to get spotted. Dispel twenty every five minutes by then. Now, go!" With that the blond army jumped through the trees. Soon enough there was only the original Naruto with his new allies.

Karui got out of her daze "That takes care of that, but how are we going to contact the outside? We can't exactly just go out a gate."

Naruto only shushed her, making her glare a bit. Naruto brought his hands together in the ram seal and concentrated. 'Feel the chakra throughout your body. Mold it, and focus it at the hara… Compress it into a sphere, squeeze and compress from every side. Once it compressed as much as possible, release it all at once!'

The six Genin were shocked once again, as Naruto's navel area began glow blue with chakra, and even more so when it expelled in a thick wall of chakra, knocking them all of their feet. They could see it go on and on throughout the forest in all direction. Naruto panted lightly, but it wasn't too bad "Hokage-Jiji knows that I'm the only one in the village that can do that. When he sees it, he will know something is wrong"

"B-but Naruto-k-kun, the Hokage-mansion is in the o-other end of the v-village" Chojuru said

Kouhei snorted "Yeah, do you expect it to travel over hundred-and-twenty kilometers?"

Naruto shrugged "It will travel at least ninety kilometers, which is enough. He will be able to see it, and if he doesn't, the ANBU are sure to alert him." He ignored the look of awe from five of the six, and then got a stern look on his face. Upon remembering the seal he made on his arm he looked seeing it was broken in places, 'Shit. Must have been damaged when I was cannonballing through the forest.' He looks to everyone.

"Now, we really need to get going."

With that he started moving; the Kumo and Kiri teams following him close behind. While he knew the situation was dire, he couldn't help but be impressed by their little gathering. Here he was helped by a team from Kumo, a village Konoha was barely having any relations to at the moment, and a team from Kiri, a village that had been ravaged by civil war, and hadn't been in alliances – ever.

He jumped through the forest, getting to the location he had last seen his teammates 'Sakura-chan… Sasuke-teme… Please be ok'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sen'eijashu - Hidden Shadow Snake Hands: This technique allows the user to eject snakes from their wrist or sleeve, usually after a punching motion. The snakes are used primarily to attack from a distance and, being snakes, can inflict multiple poisonous wounds on the victim's body or hold them in place. The snakes can also open their mouths to extend Kusanagi-like blades.

This technique can also be classified as a variation of the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. This technique can also produce snakes from different parts of the user's body, as seen when Orochimaru created a snake in his mouth to attack the Sandaime Hokage during their battle.

Kuchiyose no Jutsu – Summoning technique: The Kuchiyose no Jutsu is a space–time Ninjutsu that allows the summoner to transport animals or people across long distances instantly.

Before an animal summoning can be performed, a prospective summoner must first sign a contract with a given species. The contract comes in the form of a scroll, on which the contractor uses their own blood to sign their name and place their fingerprints and once signed is valid even after the contractors death. After this they need only offer an additional donation of blood on the hand they signed the contract with, mold their chakra with hand seals and then plant the hand they signed the contract with at the location they wish to summon the creature. The amount of chakra used during the summoning determines how powerful the summoned creature can be.

It should be noted that anyone can summon a contracted animal as long as they have the blood from someone who has made a contract, the seal of the summoned creature, along with a source of sufficient chakra that the summon will accept. A creature is capable of determining who is attempting to summon it from the chakra used.

Once summoned, the animal can perform a task or help the user in battle. The summon is not required to help the user, and may be more of a hindrance than an ally. In addition, summons are able to summon their summoner. They may also wear a hitai-ate, suggesting a loyalty to only one village, or clan.

Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu – Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique: The user breathes fire along a cord or any other type of long object, which rushes forward in straight line catching the enemy on fire. A line of enemies can be used as the conductor as well. The flames are meant to target, and assault the enemy's upper body just like a projectile weapon.

Chapter Text

Team 9, consisting of Higarashi Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, and Rock Lee, were jumping through the canopies of the forty-fourth training ground. They had already beaten down some Ame Genin, and were lucky enough that they had had the Scroll of Earth – the scroll they needed. Now they were jumping, running, and anything in between, as fast as they could towards the tower. The longer they were in the forest, the bigger the risk was that they would be taken down by an opposing team.

They hadn't really talked much more than necessary, mostly because of Neji. He was still… upset Tenten guessed, because she had withhold information about 'an enemy', as Neji so affectionately had called him, from her team. Tenten sighed: she had respect for the branch-member of the Hyuuga clan, but he really could be a pain in the ass. It wouldn't hurt him to loosen up just the slightest.

Naruto had told her his Shoton secret, and had specifically asked her not to tell anyone, so of course she hadn't. That didn't matter anymore because of that four-eyed Kabuto-something. She wasn't going to betray her blond friend. While she didn't know why, she did know that he didn't have any friends… well now he had that pink-head, his crush nonetheless, as his friend too.

"Argh!" it came from Neji as he deactivated his Doujutsu, almost at the same time as birds from almost every tree took off.

"Are you all right?" Lee said, already being beside the kneeling Neji.

Said stoic Hyuuga blinked a few times, apparently to get spots away from his eyes. "Prepare yo-", was all he managed say before the air became thick and electric. Tenten and Lee immediately got into a defensive stance around the still half-blind Hyuuga, ready for anything coming at them. Soon after they saw what had blinded their teammate and making the noise; a fast-moving, thick wall of chakra. They braced themselves as it washed over them, ticking their skin in the process. As fast as it had appeared, it disappeared along with the humming and electricity.

"What was that!?" Neji asked to himself as much as his teammates. Tenten had a pretty good idea of what it was… she just hoped she wasn't right. Because if she was, then-

"Tenten, look at your pouch!" Lee exclaimed pointing at said pouch with large motions. Tenten twisted herself to see what he was talking about: through the crack of her pouch you could see a dimmed pink glow. She took the pouch off and put it on the ground. With her teammates at her side, they all crouched down, and carefully opened it to see what could be the source of the light. Lee's eyes showed recognition, while Neji's was immediately scrunched into a glare, as she took the crystal six-sided shuriken she had gotten from Naruto so long ago. She had a habit of taking it anywhere, even on missions. But she had never seen it like this: slowly pulsing with energy, and emitting beautiful light.

Neji turned his glare from the shuriken to his female teammate, "what is that?"

Tenten didn't answer right away: She was going over the possibilities of why Naruto had used that big chakra wave. Surely he must've mastered it enough by now to not make such a big one… which meant that he was sending a message… he was in trouble! Determination etched its way onto her face

"It's a gift from Naruto. We have to find him now!" she said, getting up from her squatting position and faced the way the chakra had come from

"No we are not! We need to get to the tower as fast as possible!" Neji said harshly. That blond was only fated to be last, not matter if he had a Kekkai Genkai or not, and he wouldn't waste his time on him.

"I don't care if you will come or not, Neji!" Tenten said in an equally harsh tone, surprising the other members of her team: she never talked to them like that. "Naruto is one of my best friends, and he is in trouble! I will go either way!"

Lee, who had stayed quiet so far, rather impressively if you take into account that he, was normally a bigger ball of energy than Naruto, and decided to finally come with an input. "Neji, I will go with Tenten. Naruto-kun is also my friend, and I will not leave him if he is in trouble", he said in a calm but steely voice.

The Hyuuga prodigy changed between glaring at the green-clothed boy, and the weapon-mistress, before finally giving in with an annoyed sigh, "fine. Let's go find him then."'

With that, Team 9 took off further into the Forest of Death to find a certain sapphire-eyed Genin from Konoha.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The examiner for the second exam, Mitarashi Anko, was sitting on top of the stall where the Genin had come to get their scrolls. She was swinging her legs lightly and drinking some broth, while chewing on her favorite snack – a dango.

"Yum! Sweet red bean broth goes best with dango!" she said out loud to no one in particular. She took another bit of her dango-stick, "After I eat this, I guess I'll go wait at the tower for the guys who get through this." She bit the last dango off, "this program is made so that the good ones should be arriving there about now." She threw the stick at the tree beside the stall, now showing a full Konoha symbol, made completely from dango-sticks.

"The Konoha mark is complete", she said with a cheerful voice and smiling/grinning to herself.

She was just about to take off, when smoke exploded in front of her and one of the Chunin guards appeared in from it. He was kneeling lightly, "we have an emergency, Anko-Sama!"

Anko frowned, "What is it all of a sudden…?"

"Corpses. Three of them."

Anko kept looking at him, showing him that she wanted more information.

"There is something strange about them… Please come with me", the Chunin asked almost desperately.

"Strange?" Anko asked to herself more than the Chunin.

- A few minutes later -

Anko and the Chunin arrived at the scene. Two more Chunin guards were there, guarding the bodies. Anko recognized them as Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, also known as 'the eternal chunin's', not that she cared about that.

The snake mistress noticed what this place was. She immediately gritted her teeth in anger, 'one thing is to kill inside the protective walls of Konoha, but it's a whole other thing to kill here'. What she was referring to was the small shrines beside the bodies, now splattered with blood. This was a holy place… even shinobi had a few of those. Even countries a war didn't desecrate holy sites if they could help. For someone to kill here… they either extremely ignorant, or they really meant business. Anko didn't know what she wanted the most… While it would be bad for someone to really want to fight Konoha, an ignorant enemy could be just as dangerous.

Anko was snapped out from her fuming when one of the Chunin, Kotetsu, spoke up, "From their possessions and ID's… We found out that they are shinobi from Kusagakure who registered for the Chunin Selection Exams. But as you can see…"

Anko looked closer and found out what he was talking about, "Their faces are gone…"

"Yes, their faces are gone as if they were melted off."

Anko's right arm moved up to where her cursed seal was, as reality began to hit her. 'There's no doubt… This jutsu is… his… But why is he at this exam?' She turned towards the Chunin who had reported to her at the stall

"Show me the pictures of these Kusa shinobi. It should be in their applications", she said with urgency in her voice. If she was right – and Gods did she hope she wasn't – then there was a predator, much worse than the animals, inside that forest with the Genin.

"Hai", the Chunin said and quickly took out three photographs. She looked at the picture, recognizing the face from the day before at the briefing, 'So he took this girl's face? Then… He must have taken it already back then.'

She turned towards the Chunin with a very serious face, "This is Ser-". She was interrupted by the chipping of thousands of birds. The four Konoha-shinobi all turned towards the source, in the direction of the Forest of Death, and saw the sky grown dark by the birds flying away. Then they saw what they were fleeing from: an almost solid-looking wall of chakra was flying through the air at incredible speeds, and didn't seem to slow or lose power or density in the progress. They all braced themselves as the thick chakra washed over them, making their hair stand on every inch of their bodies. When they were through it, they looked back to see it keep going towards the village, and in every other direction.

Anko recognized it… A similar wave had washed over a quarter of the village – much smaller than the current one – a few months ago. She was told by the Sandaime that it was that blond kid that had done it… Anko's unsettlement just grew stronger. She turned her face towards the Chunin again, who were all looking at the light blue wall in awe.

"Listen up!" she half-snapped, catching their attentions again, "This is no drill. You three let Sandaime Hokage-Sama know about this right away. And request for a mobilization of at least two ANBU squads to the Forest of Death. Also tell him that Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin has returned! I will go after these guys now. Understood?"

"Hai", they all said unison, and jumped off towards the village and Hokage-tower.

She stood a few seconds, just staring at the bodies while holding her seal, 'He… He's back in Konohagakure… But why…?' Anko's eyes widened in realization, 'What is it that snake wants more than anything in the world? Power… And who inside those fences have power? That Uchiha-brat and the Shoton kid… And it was the Shoton kid who used that big chakra wall! I gotta find them. If I find them, then I'll find him!' And she took off at her top speed towards the forest.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The seven Genin, all from various villages throughout the Elemental Nations, were all heading through the thick undergrowth of the forest. Normally they would've taken the treetops, being an advantage point where you could see far in any direction, but this particular section of the forest was half-rotten – more so than any other part of the forest - meaning that they would risk breaking branches. That could result in both injury, and letting the enemy know where they were, none of the choices being good in the situation. Although, none of the other Genin teams would go up against seven other Genin, it wasn't them they were worried about.

They were currently heading through the few kilometers of forest that Naruto had crashed through the day before. Now, many times he had cursed the Kyuubi to hell and back for what it had caused him, but right now he was glad he had it in him. He knew that without its chakra, he would either be dead, or at least extremely wounded.

As they ran, he could see from the corner of his eye, that the Kumo-Kunoichi that had changed his bandages was staring at him, not even trying to hide the fact. He glanced back at his companions, lingering a bit longer on the blonde girl from Kumo. As soon as he did, she looked away. He frowned, 'There is something about her… I just can't put my finger on it.'

"She is the same as you," the deep sinister voice of the Kyuubi sounded in his mind. He halted his movements for second in surprise; the fox had never spoken to him since the incident in Nami no Kuni. Well, once more during training with Ero-sennin, but never since.

- Flashback, training with Jiraiya -

"I don't really know if I can do it again, Ero-sennin", it came from Naruto.

"You just have to try hard enough. All Jinchurriki is able to speak with the Bijuu sealed inside them sooner or later, in one way or another. And you have already spoken to it once", the response came from Jiraiya

"Yeah, but that was when I had been shot – twice -, had almost zero chakra left, and was drowning. I have tried again and again to make contact to it, but it doesn't work! What would you have me do? Throw myself off a cliff!?" Naruto said frustrated. He was silent for a few seconds, and then looked straight at the Gama sennin, "That wasn't a suggestion. If you ever do that to me, you will find out why they called me 'prankster king from hell'. I may not have done any pranks since I graduated from the Academy, but it doesn't mean I don't want to, or have forgotten how to."

Jiraiya shuddered slightly at the thought. Although he hadn't been much in Konoha while Naruto grew up, he had heard the stories… If the boy was able to paint the Hokage Monument in broad daylight without getting notices, and sneaking into the Hyuuga Clan compound, steal all their robes, and dye them bright orange, then he couldn't, or rather wouldn't, imagine what he could do to him.

He put the thoughts behind him, as his thoughts returned to the current problem, "Look, you have done it before. The first couple of times are always the hardest. But after the first time it is just the slightest easier, since you know what to do. Just try it again, please."

The whiskered Genin sighed and sat down. The two Konoha shinobi were in the middle of a grassy field, inside a sealed-off area. The reason for that was what Naruto was training in; tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra. After what happened in Nami, and Jiraiya was sure the seal wasn't breaking, he had wanted Naruto to be able to tap into the chakra whenever he wanted to. And it wasn't as if Naruto couldn't see the advantage of it. If he could use it before he was dying, it would be nice.

But he still had the problem of actually making contact to the fox. For the last two or three hours he had been sitting in this field, just meditating. And nothing happened. Nothing at all…

He sighed as he thought 'well, twenty-seventh time's the charm'. He closed his eyes and slowed his breath. In, out, in, out, in, out…

He opened his eyes again, ready to lash out at Jiraiya and tell him it still didn't work. But he stopped as soon as he his eyes opened, and was looking down a damp sewer. He had done it! Now all he had to do was to find the beast… should be easy enough.

Soon enough he was standing in front of the same iron bars as he had a month or so ago. The eyes of the fox opened up

"You're back… Come closer," it came from the fox

Naruto frowned, "How stupid do you think I am? Wait, on second thought, I don't want to hear your 'ageless' opinion. Last time I was here you just tried to shred me."

A chuckle came from behind the bars, as the fox in all its might and glory came out from the shadows, "So, you're not as stupid as I thought. You even managed to trick chakra from me last time… Impressive. None of your predecessors had the guts to do that"

The blond human smirked back at the beast standing in front of him, "If I didn't know better, I would say you were complimenting me, Kyuubi."

The grin on the fox's face turned into a scowl right away, "Don't press your luck, human! I'm just saying you're that less puny than the rest of your race! Now, why are you here! I am suffering enough being stuck in here, without having to deal with the likes of you!"

"I want to use your chakra when I call for it", Naruto stated firmly, not beating around the bush.

This time the Kyuubi right out laughed at him, "And why did you think I would agree to that?"

"As I said last time; if I die, then you die."

"Not good enough."

Naruto scowled a bit. This was more difficult than he had initially thought… but then again; he was trying to get the chakra of a Bijuu. He pondered of things he could offer the fox, without putting himself at risk. The fox and the human locked eyes, while Naruto thought over the things he could offer; a feat that Kyuubi thought was most impressive – but he would never admit that.

Finally Naruto spoke, "What about this: I will grant you access to see what I see, and hear what I hear."

"And why would I want that?" Kyuubi asked sounding disinterested

"You said it yourself; you have nothing to do in here", Naruto motioned to the 'room'.

"I said no such thing!" Kyuubi growled

"Pft, you did too. Anyway, if you can see and hear what I do, then you have something to do."

The fox stayed quiet for a minute or so, actually thinking about the offer. Neither Mito nor Kushina had offered anything like this to him. He looked at the human in front of him, locking gazes again. He stayed like this for about three or four minutes, Naruto not wavering once. Finally it growled, "Very well. But don't think you will be able to tap into all my chakra! I will give you enough to fight a fight, but nothing more and nothing less!"

"Deal", it came from Naruto. To be honest, he hadn't expected anything more.

He opened his eyes – for real this time – and grinned largely at his teacher. Said teacher was looking expectantly at him.

"Did you do it?" the old pervert asked his student. He had a pretty good idea what the answer would be, with the large grin and all, but with Naruto you could never know.

"Hai! I did!" the now very happy Naruto said, and brought his hands together in the ram seal. A few seconds later Jiraiya could feel the fox's chakra leak out around him, in a much larger quantity than he had expected. Now the real training could begin!

- Flashback End -

He frowned, 'Kyuubi, I didn't give you access to my thoughts! How are you able to do talk to me this way!?'

"Relax human," the fox growled, "it's something all Jinchurriki are able to do with their Bijuu – if the Bijuu are willing to do it. I can't hear anything you." Half-lying since it could. His current host not nearly as knowledgeable as Mito or even Kushina.

Naruto sighed in relief. He really didn't want the fox to hear his thoughts – it would be something it could use against him. He then remembered the statement the fox had come with, 'what do you mean that she is like me?'

"She holds Matatabi," it said in his mind

'Who?' Naruto asked confused

"The Nibi. She is the Jinchurriki of the Nibi"

'So that's why she keeps looking at me like that… And it's why I felt something about her,' he hummed to himself. Then he realized what the fox had told him, 'Hey, wait a second! You called the Nibi Matatabi! Why did you call it Matatabi? Is that its real name? I knew your name couldn't be Kyuubi! What is your name then?' Naruto asked, laying two and two together. He didn't get an answer. Just silence. He chuckled evilly to himself, and getting some looks from his companions.

Omoi leaned over to Karui, "Hey Karui, do you think he is ok? He seems a bit… off."

Karui didn't answer, or hit Omoi; she just kept looking at Naruto. Yugito however, 'Nibi?'

"My guess is he trying to get that stubborn old fox to talk. The fact he is having a conversation with the old grouch is surprising," the female cat demon spoke up.

'So he is Jinchurriki… What do you know about the Kyuubi?'

"Promise to tell you later when we are all out of this hellhole," Matatabi winks as she goes silent.

'Fine,' Naruto said to the Kyuubi, 'if you don't want to tell me, I guess I will just have to come up with a name for you until you want to tell me… Ruben? Nah, to easy…' He mused for himself for a minute or so, finally coming up with a name, 'I got it! From now on I will call you Anthony! At least until you tell me your real name. Anyway, Anthony, how come you're suddenly talking to me…? Anthony? Are you there Anthony?'

"For crying out-! Fine! My real name is Kurama! Just don't call me something as vile as Anthony!" it snarled in his mind, spitting out Naruto's affectionate nickname like poison, more so than he had done with the word 'human'. The blond Konoha Genin snickered to himself at his little victory. "And to why I'm speaking to you? That's my own business!"

Naruto didn't answer. They had finally reached the place he had seen Orochimaru first. Naruto sighed in relief: no bodies. The snake Sannin could of course have taken the bodies with him, but there wasn't any blood either.

"What now?" Kouhei asked.

"Well", Naruto said, "Now we look around to see sign of battle. Sasuke may be an ass, but he wouldn't go down without a fight."

Kouhei snorted again, "He was up against a Sannin. He can't have been much of fight".

Naruto glared lightly at the Kiri-nin. What was his problem anyway? He wanted to give him a piece of his mind, but settled with just saying, "Don't underestimate Konoha's shinobi."

The Kiri Genin was about to retort when Haku gave him a sharp elbow in the rips.

"Ok, so now- watch out!" it came from Karui.

Naruto turned around to see what she was talking about; a lot of shuriken and kunai was hailing towards the seven Genin. Naruto quickly stepped in front of his new friends, and quickly went through a couple of seals, "Doton: Doryuuheki!" he cried out, and slammed his hands onto the earth.

There was a big rumble, and a medium sized wall made of earth sprouted out of the earth in front of them, effectively defending them against the shinobi weapons thrown against them. When there weren't any more weapons to deflect, he lowered the wall to not hinder their sight around them. Not long after he had done so did a dark chuckle resonate from the shadows of the forest – the same dark chuckle Naruto had heard before.

The Kyuubi Jinchurriki narrowed his eyes into a glare, "Come out, Orochimaru!"

"Ku, ku, ku," it sounded as said person came out from under a tree, "so you figured it out, did you Naruto-kun. I'm surprised that you're able to. But that is to be expected by the Kyuubi Jinchurriki!" The snake sannin smirked, "The 'dead-last' of his year turned out to be something special. To think, I had originally written you off."

Naruto ignored the gasp from the Kiri team, and just kept looking at Orochimaru. He glanced over at Yugito, who were looking back at him with a face that said 'I knew it!' He looked back at Orochimaru, "Yugito-san, don't hesitate to use the Nibi, if you can."

She looked at him with a plane face, "how long have you known?"

"Not long. Kyuubi told me that he sensed Nibi within you, on the way here."

"Oh!" it came from Orochimaru, "What do we have here? A little kitten lost in the woods? Did you know that snakes eat cats?"

"Shut up!" Naruto said and began channeling his tenant's chakra, "Now, tell me where my team is!"

Orochimaru chuckled, "and why would I do that? Sasuke-kun and I had so much fun. I even gave him a little gift. A gift I might also give you… if you're lucky".

"You can keep your gift to yourself!" The blond yelled back. He was beginning to get really pissed at this snake, "If you won't tell me, I will just have to force it out of you!"

"Naruto, don't!" Haku said in worry of her friend from Konoha, but it was too late: Naruto had already taken off. Now all she could do was to help him as much as she could.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Doton: Doryuuheki - Earth Release: Earth-style Wall: The user creates a solid wall of earth as a form of defense. Chakra is either converted to earth within the body or then spat out to form the wall, or the user can manipulate pre-existing earth to form the wall. The earth then instantly rises up and takes form. The barrier itself is also coated with chakra, making its strength incomparable to that of a normal mud wall. Because of the earth's special characteristics, the wall is highly resistant against, for instance, fire and water.

Chapter Text

Hiruzen was sitting quietly in his office doing the bane of his existence – paperwork. There was even more than usual, since the Chunin Exams was being held in Konoha. And it would probably only increase over the next few weeks as the Third Exam approached. With the preparations for the Kazekage to come and attend the exam, plus all the noblemen- and women… he already knew that he would be getting very little sleep. How his predecessor had managed to always be done with the paperwork – and have an active social life on top of that – he would never know. Most fortunate for him, he had gotten letters from both the Mizukage and Raikage, and neither of them would be attending the Finals. Whereas Raikage hadn't seen fit to tell why, the newly instated Mizukage had written that she couldn't leave her village and country when the transition from Yagura's regime. That just meant less work for him to do.

Sarutobi sighed as he signed yet another formality paper and leaned back into his office-chair. He looked tiredly at the mess on his table; multiple stacks of papers, whereas the right, or 'finished', stacks of paper was barely the third the size of the left, or 'yet to be signed', stacks of paper. He groaned slightly and massaged his temples.

"I'm getting too old for this," he mumbled to himself and began signing again, thinking back to the year that he was actually retired, and happily at that. He would have stayed so if there had been a suitable successor. But the only previously one, Jiraiya, became a bit of a mess when Minato had died. And Tsunade had already left the village by then. But if he was lucky, he only needed to endure the job a few more years, and then Naruto could take over. Just maybe…

He shook the thoughts from his head and picked up another paper. It was a request for putting up a stall along the main-road during the finals. He sighed again; why did people think that they could get a spot only weeks before the event? As soon as the date for the finals had been announced, he had been swarmed with requests, and all the available spots had been taken… He was sure that they would spot more than a few un-approved stalls during the final. Just what he needed: More work.

He put the paper in the 'rejected' stack, picked up another paper, and was just about to read it. That's when he felt it; a massive chakra output. And it was coming from a southeastern direction outside the village… in the direction of the Forest of Death. But surely it couldn't come from the forest; it was too far away, and no one in there should be able to produce so much chakra. Only Kage- or Sannin-level shinobi should be able to do it.

An unsettling frown settled on his face as he rose from his seat and walked to the window – the one Jiraiya was so fond of using as a doorway. He looked over the village, trying to spot any and all things that could be related to the chakra outburst. He narrowed his eyes; even if he was able to train so his shinobi abilities wouldn't deteriorate too fast, the same couldn't be said about his bodily functions. He had noticed the last several months that his eyesight had gotten worse, just ever so slightly.

First he thought his eyes were messing him: Near the horizon the air was black with birds, and behind them the air seemed to… shimmer? Yes, it was defiantly shimmering. He walked over to his desk, opened the drawer and put on the glasses he wasn't too fond of using, despite Naruto and Asuma both saying he looked fine in them. He looked out the window, and could still see the shimmering. He quickly concluded that it wasn't just his eyes.

The shimmering air moved fast towards the city, expanding as it did so. Hiruzen's eyes widened, 'Are we under attack? Now of all times?' He had to think quickly. While looking at the approaching wall of energy, he had the weirdest feeling that he had seen something like this before. Perhaps during one of the two wars he had participated in?

Then it hit him: It was Naruto who had done this.

'But why?' Hiruzen thought. 'Why would he do it? From the reports I have gotten from Jiraiya, he should've enough chakra control to NOT make it this big. Why then? Maybe… Maybe he made it this big on purpose? But what could've made him done that?'

The wave or energy, or chakra Hiruzen now knew it was, slowly dispersed about three quarters of the way to his office. It was not very long after three Chunin arrived in the office by the use of Shunshin no jutsu. He recognized two of them as Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, or 'The Eternal Chunin' as they had become to be known as. He recognizes the third by name, as he knew that he assigned all three Chunin as guards during the exams. He narrowed his eyes: this couldn't be good.

"Hokage-Sama!" it came from one Kamizuki Izumo.

"Kamizuki-san, report!" Hiruzen ordered.

"Approximately four minutes ago we discovered three corpses at The Shrines. We called Anko-Sama immediately after the discovery. She examined the bodies, and she said…" Izumo glanced over at his partner.

Kotetsu saw his friend trouble and immediately stepped forward. "She said it was the work of Orochimaru, sir. She said that Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin is back in Konoha." Hiruzen's breath hitched as he remembered his old, and for a long time most promising, student. Orochimaru was back. But what was he after?

'What can cause him to return here after so long?' Sarutobi worriedly thought, 'what have changed for him to decide it is time?' The old Hokage's eyes widened. He swirled around and looked out of the window, in the direction of The Forest of Death. 'Naruto!'

"TORA! NEKO!" The Sandaime Hokage ordered entering full 'Hokage-mode', making the three Chunin wince lightly. Two ANBU members appeared in the middle of the office kneeling.

"You called Hokage-Sama," it came from the right ANBU, who was wearing the Neko mask.

"Tora, alarm the ANBU that Orochimaru or the Densetsu no Sannin is back and most probably within the Forest of Death right now! I want seven patrols around The Forest. And you, Neko, you will call Hotaru's and Usagi's teams to meet me at twenty-third entrance of The Forest in ten minutes! We are going in after him!"

"Hai," the two ANBU answered and disappeared via Shunshin.

Hiruzen turned his attention towards the still present Chunin. "You have done good to give me this information. I will require you to keep it a secret for now; we don't need worry the citizens, but alert the shinobi immediately!"

"Hai," they all answered.

"Good then," the Sandaime Hokage said and stormed out the doorway before getting an answer. He needed to get into his fighting gear as fast as possible.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Tell me what you have done to Sasuke and Sakura!" Naruto sneered at his opponent, as he tried to slash him yet again time with his blood-red crystal tanto. Orochimaru easily dodged it by leaning unnaturally back, and let the blade fly over him. Naruto didn't give up though. He gathered his chakra in his left hand, making the crystal in his Kessho no Yoroi thicken. He then threw the punch in the direction of Orochimaru's face. For a second or two, it actually seemed like it would hit, but just as it was about to, Orochimaru somehow got out of the way, and jumped a few meters away. Naruto's fist continued right into a tree, making splinters flies in all direction.

"Ku, ku, ku," the crazy snake summoner laughed. "That is it, Naruto-kun, show me your power!"

"Stand still and I will show you my power, bastard!" the crimson-eyed blond yelled, jumping up and came down for a kick to Orochimaru's face. True to his nature, Orochimaru twisted out of the kick and laughed at the Konoha Genin.

"Naruto!" Yugito called. "Calm down! You're falling into his trap!" Naruto glanced over at his… acquaintance. She was right; there was no way he was getting Orochimaru if he kept raging like this. He needed to think clearly. He looked back at the snake, and fought back the bubbling anger that was only growing stronger because of his tenant's chakra. He stopped charging after the Sannin for a second, and took a deep breath to calm himself down. He had trained for this; to use the Kyuubi's chakra, without letting it affect him too much.

The six foreign shinobi was relieved to see that they had finally broken through to their Konoha friend. They had been at it for a few minutes, also trying to help the fight go into the favor of their side. But each time they had been about to cast a jutsu, the Kyuubi Jinchurriki had gotten in the way, and they were forced to abort, less they wanted to hurt the one they were trying to help.

Especially Haku had been affected by the Shoton-user's reaction. She hadn't been able to recognize the blond Konoha-Genin at all: He had been nothing like the calm opponent she had fought in Nami no Kuni. 'He must really care for his friends to get this mad' Haku thought. She was brought back to reality as Orochimaru taunted Naruto once again.

"My, my, you're strong. Too bad you can't hit anything. Little Sasuke-kun was much better," the S-rank missing-nin said with a taunting smirk. 'He definitely has your temper Kushina-Chan.'

Naruto could feel the anger rising up in him again, and forced it down. 'No matter how hard I try, I simply can't hit him,' Naruto thought more than a little irritated, trying to find a way to hit his pale-skinned opponent. 'If Taijutsu doesn't work, I'll use Ninjutsu! That bastard isn't getting away before he tells me where Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme is!'

Orochimaru analyzed the blond Genin from where he was standing, 'he seems to have calmed somewhat down. He has that much control over the Kyuubi then.'

"Well, unlike Sasuke, I'm not really specialized in a Taijutsu style," Naruto said and began forming seals. "But then again, he doesn't really have much Ninjutsu other than that Katon jutsu of his."

Orochimaru just showed his wicked grin. "Oh ho, ho! We're going to do some playing with Ninjutsu now, are we? Very well, Naruto-kun, let's see what you got."

Naruto just narrowed his eyes and finished the last seal. "Shoton: Kessho Hachidori!" Crystal began forming on the ground and in the air. Soon enough started to merge, taking shapes of hundreds of small lumps. Soon enough they grew wings, beaks, and legs. Before Orochimaru knew it, Naruto had formed hundreds of small crystal hummingbirds, unlike anything he had seen before. And that was saying a lot.

And then there was the color of the crystal again: It was blood red. It just screamed of anger and hate, making the small hummingbirds seems way more intimidating than they would be without the color. Well, intimidating to anyone not of the Snake Sannin's caliber.

The reason that the snake Sannin was surprised of the color was because that, as far as he knew, Guren was only able to make crystal that was colored either pink, or blue – not red. 'It must be because of him using the Kyuubi's chakra,' Orochimaru concluded.

The small group of Genin that was present was all awestruck by the jutsu.

"They're beautiful," it came from Chojuru.

"I know," Karui agreed. "I can't believe how detailed they are! I mean, you can make out what looks like feathers on them!" The rest could only nod dumbstruck.

The moment was over as the crystal birds began fluttering their wings, and thus making a lot of noise. They started moving towards their target – Orochimaru. Said Sannin couldn't help but grin, 'this is going to be so much fun!' He began running away from the fast approaching hummingbirds, transforming his legs into a kind of snake tail, causing his own speed to increase.

The birds began attacking him. Kamikaze style as they flew at him – with their sharp beak first. First he didn't think much of it, but was soon brought on better thoughts, as one of the birds went almost fifteen centimeters into the bark of a tree, before shattering and thus making cuts around the initial impact point. Orochimaru slithered up the trees, twisted himself through branches, and slithered over the pond to get rid of the birds – which despite keeping up with the bombardment toward him, didn't seem to have lost many of their numbers.

Naruto used the cover to get back to the Kumo and Kiri teams. "That should buy us a minute or so," he said as he landed beside Haku and Chojuru. He looked over at Yugito, "Thanks for… calming me."

"No problem," she said with a small smile, "I know how it is." It was true, Naruto realized. She did know how it was, having Bijuu chakra flowing through your body. Even with the gravity of the moment, Naruto couldn't help but feel happy that he had found a person who could relate to what he had been, and was, going through. He didn't know how to respond, so he settled with an acknowledging nod.

"So, any of you assholes have a plan?" Kouhei asked in a carefree voice, while eyeing the Snake Sannin with very bored eyes.

"Hold him off until the ANBU gets here," the only Konoha shinobi present answered.

"Really?" Kouhei asked tauntingly, "That is your great plan? To hold him off?"

"Do you have any better idea, Kouhei?" Naruto sneered back. "He is a Sannin for crying out loud! We have no chance against him, so our only hope is that the ANBU get here fast!"

Kouhei was about to retort when Chojuru stepped in front of him, "Kouhei, stop! Naruto-san is right; we have no other choice." Kouhei didn't answer, just settled with grumbling.

"None of us stand a chance if we go alone," Omoi, "Well maybe Naruto-san and Yugito would but they are both Jinchurriki. Think; if they both went up against him, but lost their cool, then they would – ouch!"

Karui blew on her fist, "what my friend here is trying to say is that none of us stands a chance alone; we need to work together."

"Agreed," it came from Naruto.

'Little Guren never did something like this. Maybe Naruto-kun here is perfect for the Shoton Kekkai Genkai', Orochimaru thought to himself while dodging the ferocious hummingbirds. 'Maybe it's time I stepped up my game, to see what he truly can do.' The snake user was about to retort when a sharp crystal erupted from the earth, nearly impaling him, 'What?'

He looked back at Naruto, only to find him amongst the Kiri and Kumo shinobi he had arrived with. They were standing with various versions of kunai and short swords, the blue-haired Kiri boy being the only one to have a big, broad sword. He was crouching with his hands slammed on the ground, looking at Orochimaru with those red slit eyes, and a grin that says 'come and get me if you can!'

"Hebi-teme! Where are my teammates?" the crimson-eyed Konoha-Genin growled and began pumping more chakra into the ground and directing it towards the Snake Sannin.

Orochimaru soon figure out what the Genin was up to and began slithering between the trees, hoping to outrun the large quantity of chakra in the ground. Soon enough he was running from crystals erupting from the earth, trying to pierce him in several places. Not enough with the hummingbirds' attacks', but now he also had to keep from getting pierced by killer crystals from the earth. His grin only grew larger and larger; if it continued this way, he would be perfect for that.

"So… Does anyone have any ideas to how we're going to stall him?" Karui said while being awestruck by Naruto's powers. Now, she knew that she was a fairly talented Kunoichi herself, one of the best in her generation, but if she was to go up against Naruto… She would need some serious luck to get through it… And Naruto need to be really unlucky. And the sky needed to fall… Yeah, she didn't stand a chance against him.

"The only way I see it," the Hyoton girl said, catching their attention for a second, "is that we bombard him with jutsu to keep him busy until the Konoha ANBU arrives. It's already been a little while since that, erm… since Naruto send the message."

"Seems kind of risky if you ask me," Kouhei huffed.

Haku sighed at her less than cooperative teammate, "Do you have a better idea Kouhei-kun?"

Once again, Kouhei just settled with glaring at all the people there. Naruto sighed to himself; they were not getting anywhere like this. They needed to buy time – and a lot of it.

"Listen," the Kyuubi Jinchurriki said still crouching in the same position, "we're not going anywhere with arguing like this. If we continue, it will probably be the cause of our death." He paused to let it sink in to the six people behind him, who were all awfully quiet. "Haku-chan is right. This," he said, motioning to an Orochimaru grinning and laughing, "will not hold him off for long. I mean, for crying out loud, he is laughing! He is just playing with us. As soon as he gets tired of it, he can break out of it in a second. When he does that, we need to hit him with everything we got, all at once, and hope that it will entertain him for long enough. Got it?" They all nodded, not that he could see it. But when no one objected, he took it that they agreed.

As the Genin from Kumo, Kiri and Konoha went on to plan how to stall for time. While that happened, Orochimaru was beginning to get tired of the little game he was playing. He jumped up into the trees, having figured out that the crystals wouldn't be able to reach all the way up there, and spun around forming hand seals

"Fūton: Daitoppa!"

It was a much smaller version of the jutsu he had used on Team 7 before, much more like the one Naruto had used, but it did the job. Many of the birds were shattered in the strong wind, and the few lucky ones that didn't, were blown far, far away. He then turned towards the group of Genin, "Well? What's next?"

"Now!" Naruto commanded. Immediately the Genin started going through different hand-seals.

Orochimaru frowned: He knew that he can easily take them on, but getting bombarded with seven different jutsu wasn't anything to take lightly either – even if they only were Genin. He knew for a fact that Naruto was Chunin level, and the chances were that the Kumo Jinchurriki also was…

He didn't get to think of it anymore, as the Genin had finished their seals

"Hyoton: Tsubame Fubuki!" it came from Haku as the temperature in her immediate vicinity dropped, and several ice swallows formed and charged.

Chojuru settled on the U seal, took a deep breath, and spat out a long water-stream, "Suiton: Mizurappa!"

"Raiton: Raikyuu!" Karui said with a frown on her face. Soon enough a crackling ball of lightning formed in the edge of her clasped together index-fingers. She pointed at the Konoha Sannin and shot the crackling ball of energy off with a grunt.

Kouhei settled on the dragon-seal smirking, finally able to show what he was capable of, "Suiton: Jano Kuchi!" A long stream of water came out of several places of his body – hidden casks with water Orochimaru concluded, and formed into a long torrent of water, the first part of it taking shape of a snake's head.

"Denko Sekka!" Omoi said and slammed his hands into the ground, causing visible crackling lightning to run over it, towards Orochimaru.

Yugito barred all her teeth as she blew out a large quantity of fire, "Katon: Jigoku no Neko!" The fire soon shaped into the front of a giant cat, well in the size of a large lion, with glowing yellow eyes.

"Shoton: Hasho Koryu!" Naruto said and channeled the remaining of Kurama's, chakra into the jutsu. Small crystals began forming in the air, ground, and trees, clumping together, getting bigger and bigger. It didn't take long before a big, crimson-red, crystal dragon charged towards the Snake Sannin, towering over all the other jutsu sent after him.

Orochimaru's eyes widened at the intimidating number of impressive jutsu that was making their way to him. Fast. He quickly went through seals.

BOOM!

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Team 9 was jumping through the canopies when they heard the large explosion. They all stopped on their respective branch, the shockwave even reached them.

"What was that?" Lee asked with worry.

"Neji?" Tenten asked, "Can you see anything."

"Already on it," Neji said with his clan's bloodline limit activated. After several seconds of tense silence he said, "I'm sorry, I can't see the explosion site. And I can't see Uzumaki-san- wait."

Lee and Tenten were deflated for a moment, before their tenseness returned.

Neji frowned, "What are they doing here?"

"What is it, Neji?" Tenten asked with her voice full of hope

"In a part of The Forest to the south-east from here is several full teams of ANBU-members" he answered in is monotone voice.

"A-ANBU?" the weapon-mistress asked, worries returning in full force.

"Hai"

"Why would ANBU be here…?" Lee asked trying to think really hard. 'What would Gai-sensei do?' the green-clothed boy asked himself. 'Duh! He would tell me that nothing is more important than to save a friend! Thank you, Gai-sensei!'

"Never mind, it doesn't matter why they're here," Lee said, catching the attention of his teammates. "If Naruto-kun is in trouble, we need to help him."

Tenten nodded, trying to get rid of the growing knot in her stomach. "You're right Lee… Thanks," she said and smiled lightly at him. Neji didn't say anything. He just continued observing the part of The Forest with all the ANBU-members running around.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Hiruzen and the ANBU teams he had requested were running through the forest at speeds only reachable at high jounin level. To any normal Genin, they would be nothing but blurs. He was currently accompanied by Hotaru's team, while Usagi's team was scouting all around them. Each team had one Hyuuga member and one Inuzuka member. Apart from that, Usagi's team also had an Aburame member. If anyone could find Orochimaru, it was this team.

"Hokage-Sama! I've found him!" it came from the Hyuuga-member running a few meters from the old Hokage.

"Tell me where he is!" Hiruzen commanded

"He is at about two and a half kilometers to the north-northwest. And he is not alone"

"Who is he with?"

"It seems like there is seven additional persons there. Four of them have Genin-level chakra, two of them have Chunin-level chakra, and the last…"

"And the last? What is it?" Hiruzen asked, getting impatient.

"The last has more chakra than Orochimaru. Even more than you, Hokage-Sama."

'Naruto!' Hiruzen though and took off in the direction of his grandson.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

(Anbu Masks)

Tora – Tiger

Neko – Cat

Hotaru – Firefly

Usagi – Rabbit

Hebi – Snake

U – Hare

Iguru – Eagle

Taka – Hawk

Kuma – Bear

Urufu – Wolf

Inu – Dog

Kitsune - Fox

Shoton: Kessho Hachidori - Crystal Release: Crystal Hummingbirds: Many humming birds are formed from crystal, the birds then home on the target dodging simple jutsu that attempt to stop them. The birds upon reaching their target begin to either violently attack with their beaks like small blades or continue their flight, impaling the opponent before shattering, causing the wound to widen. When witnessing this technique the target is barely visible amongst the swarm.

Fūton: Daitoppa – Wind Release: Great Breakthrough: This is a relatively simple technique that creates a sudden gust of wind, but its scale varies greatly depending on the user. If used by a superior shinobi, it has enough destructive power to knock down a large tree. The wind from the squall can blow away all things in the user's line of sight. A variation of the technique involves a smaller blast of wind which gets ignited with flame.

Hyoton: Tsubame Fubuki – Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm: The user creates a dozen large ice needles, which takes the shapes of swallows with razor-sharp beaks. These birds/needles can change direction in the air, at the will of the user.

Suiton: Mizurappa – Water Release: Wild Water Wave: Water gushes out from the mouth like a waterfall and washes away the enemy. One can freely control the power of this technique with the amount chakra one releases. Having many variations, this is a basic Suiton technique.

Raiton: Raikyuu – Lightning Release: Lightning Ball: The user draws the static electricity of the area and gathers it in one point – the top of the index fingers are easiest. The electricity takes form of a medium-sized ball of electrical energy, which can be launched at an enemy.

Suiton: Jano Kuchi – Water Release: Snake's Mouth: The user generates a spinning column of water which takes the form of a snake with a gaping jaw. This snake can twist and follow its targets and swallow them. After it has swallowed them, it turns into a river that carries the enemy away.

Denko Sekka – Lightning Flash: The user slams his hand onto the ground and cause lightning to spread from his hand to underneath the opponent, causing the lightning to run through the opponent's body. It can be used on multiple enemies at once, though with lessening effect if used with the same amount of chakra.

Katon: Jigoku no Neko – Fire Release: Inferno Cat: A jutsu only used by Nii Yugito of Kumogakure. She channels minute traces of the Nib's chakra, and mixes it with her own Katon chakra. The result is an inferno cat, which slightly resembles the Ghost Cat herself.

Shoton: Hasho Koryu – Crystal Release: Tearing Crystal Falling Dragon: The user crystallizes a material in the area, and then turns it into a dragon. It can be used as a means to travel or to attack a target. Several dragons can also be made and manipulated at once.

Chapter Text

Naruto and his friends from Kumo and Kiri shielded their eyes and bodies as their jutsu made contact with their target, creating a small explosion and sending shock-waves throughout the forest. The Konoha Shoton user winced in pain as a piece of rock hit him on the wrist, leaving a shallow cut. 'Damn it,' he thought, 'I still haven't recovered completely from last time I met him… I should've left a small amount of Kurama's chakra for healing and for my armor. I still have about half of my own left, but I want to save that for later… if there is any later that is.'

Yugito coughed a few times, "Did we get him?"

"Don't count on it," Haku said already holding a few senbon, ready to attack.

"You're right about that, Hyoton user," it came in form of a laugh in the still dust-covered crater. "You really think that a bunch of Genin can take down one of the Sannin? One of the heroes of the Second Shinobi World War? Hah! You must be kidding yourself!" A gust of wind blew the last of the dust away, and uncovering Orochimaru with a face that looked half melted.

Naruto's eyes widened, 'Are you fucking kidding me! All those attacks, and he doesn't a scratch!? And what's up with his face? Must be part of the jutsu he uses to conceal his identity… Even so, even if we're way below his level, he shouldn't be able to go completely unharmed from that!' The rest of his… alliance seemed to react the same way.

Yugito gulped, 'So this is the power of Konoha's Sannin…'

"Where are my teammates? Where is Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme!?" Naruto asked once again, even though he knew he wasn't on the winning side of the fight.

"Sasuke-kun? You shouldn't worry about them. He will either embrace my gift, or he will die. I have people making sure of it," the Snake said with a wicked grin. Orochimaru dusted off his right sleeve, "Well, now that that's over, let's proceed to the main act." He released a burst of Killer Intent way larger than the one he used before, making them all fall to their knees. The only ones able to withstand it just a bit were Yugito and Naruto. His eyes settled on Naruto as he smirked, "It doesn't matter if you want my gift or not; you're going to get it. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with you and Sasuke-kun, my dear fox."

His fingers settled in a weird seal – one that looked oddly like the one Haku used when she used her Hyoton – and his neck expanded. Before Naruto or any of the other could blink, it was flying fast towards them – or rather, towards Naruto. He could see it come closer and closer, and he knew no matter what The Snake would do to him, it wouldn't be good. Twenty meters. Ten meters. Eight. Seven. Five.

Five shuriken flew out of the cottage flying towards Orochimaru with blinding speed, forcing him to abort the seal.

"OROCHIMARU! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ANOTHER SHINOBI OF KONOHA!"

Orochimaru's head snapped up towards a tree in the clearing, trying to see who the angry voice belonged to. When he saw who it was he couldn't help but smile. "It's been a long time… Anko-chan."

Said Tokubetsu Jounin jumped down from the tree, "Uzumaki, Kiri, Kumo, can you move?"

Naruto stood up with his feet feeling like jelly. He looked around to see to his friends. Only Yugito was standing up, and Haku about to. The other was still on the ground. There was no way that they were getting out of there like that. He turned to Anko, "Mitarashi-san, we won't be able to move for a little bit. And… Thank you."

Anko smirked; this gave her the excuse she wanted to go up against Orochimaru. She turned towards said missing-nin, "You are an extremely dangerous S-class wanted criminal. You have harmed Konoha more than enough, and I won't let you touch any more of her children. That's why I'm going to kill you, even if it costs me my life. It's my job as your former subordinate who learned everything from you," she said and pulled five senbon needles from her coat. "Isn't that right, sensei!?"

"You can't," it came mockingly from the Snake Sannin.

Anko narrowed her eyes and drew her hand back, ready to strike with her senbon. But Orochimaru was faster; his abnormally long tongue shot out of his mouth and struck at Anko's location. She jumped in the last second, getting above the newly made crater, with her senbon still in hand. She quickly gathered chakra at her soles, and began running backwards up the trunk of the tree. Orochimaru's tongue quickly followed. She jumped over to another tree, but to no avail; Orochimaru's tongue was faster, and it soon gripped her wrist, making her drop the senbon. It pulled her down fast, but she flipped over just in time, and landed on her feet and knees.

She seemed surprised – but just for a moment. She quickly got back into the game. With her right hand restricted, she pointed her left hand at Orochimaru with the back towards the ground.

"Sen'eijashu!" Four snaked emerged from or yellow coat and shot towards Orochimaru. He wasn't able to dodge, as he was currently tied to Anko via his tongue, so he couldn't do a thing as the snakes wrapped around him. "I won't let you get away again!" She pulled back so Orochimaru lost his footing, and threw him through the air, into the trunk behind Anko, and wriggled her hand out of his tongue in the process. Not one to miss an opportunity, she quickly retracted the snakes, laid her hand upon his, and drew a kunai through both their hands. She made eye contact with the Snake Sannin

"I got you. Orochimaru, I'm going to borrow your left hand," she said, and made a seal.

The Snake Sannin's eyed widened, 'That seal is…'

Anko smirked, "That's right. You and I are going to die here." She took a deep breath to prepare herself for her death, "Ninpo: Sojasosai no Jutsu." With that said she closed her eyes to let the sweet embrace of revenge and death sweeps her away. Or so she thought.

"Mitarashi-san! Watch out!" the girl from Kiri screamed at her, making Anko's eyes snap open.

Orochimaru's creepy laughter erupted from everywhere and nowhere, "Are you trying to commit suicide, my sweet, dear Anko-chan?" He emerged a few meters behind Anko, drawing her look to him. He ripped of his 'face' revealing the real one. "That's a Kawarimi."

She looked back at what she thought to be Orochimaru in horror, only to see it melt into mud. 'No! It can't be! I was so close!' she screamed in her mind.

"You're one of the village's Tokubetsu Jounin, dear Anko-chan, so don't walk around and use Kinjutsu – Kinjutsu that I taught you nonetheless – like they were nothing," the Snake Sannin said while walking closer and closer to Anko.

Naruto tried to take a step, but fell to his knees the second he did. He looked back at his friends, only to see them in same or worse condition than himself. 'Damn it! I can't let her die for me – for us. Even if she is a Shinobi. I won't let that happen!'

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, you will get your gift in time. Just let me take care of our little problem here first." Naruto just glared at Orochimaru in response – it was all he could do at the moment.

Anko pulled out the kunai she had punched through her hand and threw it at the other snake summoner. He simply caught it with two fingers, inches before his face. "I told you that it's useless," he said as he stopped and settled in half a Ram hand seal. Naruto felt a fast chakra spike from him, which then… upset something on Anko.

Anko froze up, and could do nothing as Orochimaru stepped closer, step by step. It felt like an eternity to Anko, but soon he stood right in front of her – the man she hated most in the world. She glared up at him, "I won't let you touch any Shinobi of Konoha – not even that Emo-brat of an Uchiha!"

Orochimaru laughed again, "We haven't seen each other in so long time, but you're treating me so coldly. And you're too late. Partly anyway. You interrupted me giving Naruto-kun here my gift, but I already gave Sasuke-kun it."

Anko's eyes widened: She was too late. "No," a whisper escaped her as she collapsed on her knees, a hand clasping between her right shoulder and neck.

"That's right," Orochimaru said as he kneeled down to Anko and held up the kunai she threw at him, "but you won't have to worry about that anymore. For you're going to die. Goodbye my dear Anko-chan." Anko closed her eyes and got ready for death once more – just this time around it wasn't so sweet.

Orochimaru drew his hand back and aimed. He moved his hand forward again, and-

"Orochimaru… You have really fallen a long way from grace, haven't you… my old student?"

All the shinobi present turned their heads to see none other than the Shinobi no Kami – The Sandaime Hokage. And he wasn't alone: There was ten ANBU with him – two full squads.

"JIJI," Naruto said strained, though still in his same cheered voice. The six shinobi beside Naruto looked at him with shock and horror across their faces – he had just called one of the most powerful shinobi in all of the elemental nations an old man. If anything like that happened in their respective villages, there would have been severe consequences.

All of the foreign shinobi had immediately got on alert as soon as the Hokage had appeared. While they knew that the old and powerful Hokage was most likely there to help them, he still was the leader of a rivaling village, and they knew nothing about him other than what they had read or been told. Because of that, they were nowhere near prepared for what their new friend had just said.

But the Sandaime seemed to smile lightly just a second as he nodded to Naruto, before he turned his attention towards their enemy, "Orochimaru, drop the kunai."

The Sandaime's old student just chuckled. "And why would I do that? I was just having a little chit-chat with an old disciple of mine. But if you insist." Orochimaru drew his hand back one last time and threw the kunai at the defenseless Anko.

She closed her eyes yet another time, only not to feel the stabbing pain. But maybe death didn't hurt? No, that couldn't be right. She opened her eyes slowly only to see the Hokage himself standing in front of her, the kunai nowhere to be seen.

"You will not take another life today, Orochimaru. I will make sure of that!" the old Hokage sneered to his old student.

The Snake Sannin looked around the clearing, waging his options. First, he was alone. Second, his opponents where many – seven Genin, ten ANBU, one tokubetsu jounin, and a Kage. He needed to get out of there now. He cracked a smile, "Well, not because this hasn't been delightful, but I will have to get going now. Too bad that I didn't get to give my gift to you, Naruto-kun." Faster than any of them could react he had made a seal-less Shunshin, disappearing in a puff of white smoke.

"Hotaru! Take command over Taka and Hato and pursuit Orochimaru! Usagi, you and the remainder of your team will scour this area. Make sure that there aren't any traps left from Orochimaru!" the Sandaime Hokage ordered and turned his attention to Anko.

"Hai," it came from the ANBU before they all disappeared in blurs.

While the Hokage was taking care of Anko, Naruto turned around and checked on his friends.

"Are you all ok?" he asked with concern in his voice. His eyes ran over the six people. None of them seemed to have any major injuries. Good. And they were slowly but surely recovering from Orochimaru's killer intent. Which meant that they could go find Sakura and Sasuke soon enough.

"I think I'm alright," said a slightly exhausted Yugito. She turned to her team, "Are you two managing?"

"Hai, Hai," Karui said.

"I am now, but what if-" Omoi began, but shut up as he saw the looks he was getting from the six other shinobi. "Hai, I'm fine."

"We're alright too. Right?" Haku half said, half asked Naruto and her teammates.

Chojuru stood up and fastened his broad sword to his back. "H-Hai. I'm a little low on chakra, but nothing else."

"It could be discussed what 'fine' is, but I suppose that I could be worse for wear." Kouhei snorts.

Naruto nodded, "Good, then we ne-." Naruto swayed a bit as flashing images came flashing through his mind. It took him a few seconds to place two and two together, remembering it was the shadow clones. He frowned: it hadn't found his teammates. But it had found the Oto Genin team.

"Naruto-kun, are you ok?" Haku asked with concern

"Yeah. It was just one of my clones that dispelled," he replied.

"Did it find your team?" the redheaded Kumo Genin asked.

"No, it didn't." Naruto could see the disappointment in their eyes. "But it did find the Oto Genin's – it saw which way they were headed. And Orochimaru said that he had send people after them…"

"Are you sure they will lead us to them? Or even tell us? For all I know, we could be wa-" Kouhei began complaining, but then stopped for some reason. Naruto thought it odd, until he saw the faces on the other Genin. He turned around to see the old Hokage coming towards him.

"Naruto-kun, are you all right?" Hiruzen asked with concern, not caring that the foreign shinobi saw him like this.

"Yeah, I'm fine Jiji," the blond boy answered. As he looked at his grandfather, he remembered all the times that he had asked about his parents. And the answers he had longed for. Now that he thought about it, they had all been vague, or even avoiding the question that had been asked. And then he remembered the… episode, dream – whatever it was – he had seen while he had been out. The Yondaime Hokage, the red-haired woman, the baby-Naruto…

"Ojisan." Naruto said. Hiruzen was taken back at the change of tone. "When we get to the tower, I need to talk with you."

Hiruzen looked at Naruto with a slight frown of concern. What could have happened in here that he needed to talk about? It couldn't be about Orochimaru, so what. He wasn't going to get the answer here, so he settled with a nod, "All right, my dear boy, I'll see you at the tower. But if all of you are all right, then I need to go. Orochimaru have caused much trouble in Konoha in the short time he has been back…"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sakura was sitting beside Sasuke. He was laying on the ground groaning and moaning in pain. Somehow after the fight with that weirdo. 'What was his name again?' she asked herself as she wiped sweat off of Sasuke's forehead. 'Orochimaru… That was what he said his name was… It sounds familiar… C'mon Sakura! You're the brightest of your year! You should be able to remember a name!' she berated herself. But no matter how much she tried, she couldn't think of it. She sighed and looked outside.

She and Sasuke were currently in a 'cave'. It wasn't really a cave, as it was under one of the larger trees. Somehow the tree had lifted, or the earth had been corroded away, leaving a well sized hollow beneath it. She didn't really care how it had been created, she was just happy she had found it.

After the fight with Orochimaru she had picked up Sasuke – boy had she been happy she had been training – and looked for a shelter as fast as possible. She had come by multiple places she could have hid, but none of them were defendable by one person. This place was: while it had three entrances – two of them rather small – they were all fairly close to each other, making it easier to watch them all at once. She had put traps outside the larger entrance and one of the smaller. She just hoped it was enough…

Sasuke groaned again, bringing Sakura back from whatever world she was thinking off. She looked at him with concern as his eyes moved rapidly beneath his eyelids. She laid her hand upon his forehead. 'His fever has gotten somewhat back to normal, but his fever… it just won't break. It's as high as ever.' She took out her water canteen and poured some new water over the cloth, 'I wish I could do more for him. For him and for Naruto. I have to become chūnin – that way they will start giving me lessons at the hospital. If I become a medic-nin I will be able to help both Sasuke-kun and Naruto much better.'

She looked over the 'cave' and the entrances, hoping to see a mess of yellow hair either sit here with her, or entering from being on lookout. 'Naruto… Please be Ok.' She was having a lot of mixed feeling about her blond teammate. Most of them being regret. The last few weeks, months even, since they graduated and became a team, the whiskered boy had really grown on her. 'Boy…' she mockingly thought to herself, 'I talk like I am way older and more mature than him. In truth, he is probably the most mature of us all…'

Anyway, as she had learned to know him, her regret had grown, just as her friendship with him had. She suddenly found out that he wasn't such a pain – that he actually was a funny guy, who cared deeply for his friends. She had seen that first-hand the way he was around that girl Tenten…

And one day it had hit her how miserable she must have made his life. And how many times she had actually wished someone dead. A fellow citizen, and now shinobi, of Konoha. It was even worse when it was a real possibility now. First in Nami no Kuni, and now here in the forest.

'No,' she told herself sternly. 'Naruto is alive. He is probably the strongest Genin in Konoha. No matter how strong that Orochimaru-guy is, Naruto will find a way to survive!' She felt herself brighten just the slightest. She knew that it was true, but the nagging feeling in her stomach just wouldn't go away…

In a tree, not long from where Sakura was sitting and nursing Sasuke, were three shadowy figures – two males and a female. The shorter male, but by far the largest too, brushed some branches away, making sure to make as little noise as possible. Now he had a clear lookout to the pink-haired girl.

The bandages across his face stretched as he smile, "I found you. We're going to strike at daybreak, just like Orochimaru-Sama ordered us to do. Our target is strictly Uchiha Sasuke."

"But if the other one gets in the way, we can kill her, right?" the other male asked.

"Please, she won't be a problem. Look at her: She is one of those fan girls that give Kunoichi such a bad name. You can see it by her hair. She probably use more time on it than she does on training," the Kunoichi said mockingly.

"No matter," the shorter male said, "if she gets in the way, kill her. But if not, just stick to our target."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Are we closing in on them?" it came once again from a very impatient Kouhei.

"Yes, Kouhei, my clone was dispelled just up ahead," Naruto said with irritation plain visible in his voice. And for a good reason: the Kiri Genin had been like all through the night. Apparently Kouhei didn't think they were going fast enough. 'Not that it can be helped' Naruto though. And it was true: while they were all shinobi, they had grown up in three different nations, and every nation had trained their shinobi with minor and major differences. The biggest was probably how to travel.

The shinobi in Suna was masters of traveling in hot and sandy area, knowing how to run the longest while not losing too much water. Kumo shinobi were had a major advantage in higher altitude, with them growing up in Kumogakure high in the mountains. Iwa were great mountain travelers, knowing how to avoid the rocky areas that could crumble and cause landslides. Then there was Kiri who were well trained to travel through damp area. And finally Konoha – no shinobi of the same level, from another village, could outrun a Konoha shinobi through the forest. Hell, the students at the Shinobi Academy were trained in navigating the forest before learning how to throw a kunai.

And that Naruto and his companions couldn't go faster: Haku's and Yugito's teams simply wasn't used to the forest. Sure, they were fast, but they weren't Konoha shinobi. Kouhei was clearly better than the rest, and thus was the cause of his complaints. Naruto suspected that he wanted to find Sakura and Sasuke as soon as possible, so he could get away from Naruto. And while Naruto enjoyed his new friends company, Kouhei were a big pain in the ass…

"And what then?" Kouhei asked, causing groans from almost everyone else in the group. Even the quite Chojuru. "What!?" he sneered, "we may soon be where he saw them, but that is hours ago, since we have gone so slowly! They could be miles away! They cou- Watch out!"

They all turned in midair only to see several dozen shinobi tools flying towards them. Naruto thought fast and went through hand seals, "Kessho: Rokkaku Shuriken: Ranbu!" The air shimmered around the Konoha Jinchurriki. Then the crystals formed. Less than half a second after he had finished the seals, crystal shuriken was flying towards the shinobi-weapons, annulling them.

Naruto and Haku's and Yugito's teams landed on the next branch, drawing their weapons, and looked for their opponent. They all knew that if it was Orochimaru, or another maniac running the forests, they would be done. They all had some chakra left, but they hadn't really had a chance to rest since Naruto's blackout. And Naruto didn't even fully recover from that. They drew their weapons back as three spots of the forest began to move, beginning to come out from the shadows. When Naruto saw who was standing in front of him a large smile plastered itself on his face.

Team Gai had finally found Uzumaki Naruto.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sen'eijashu - Hidden Shadow Snake Hands: This technique allows the user to eject snakes from their wrist or sleeve, usually after a punching motion. The snakes are used primarily to attack from a distance and, being snakes, can inflict multiple poisonous wounds on the victim's body or hold them in place. The snakes can also open their mouths to extend Kusanagi-like blades.

This technique can also be classified as a variation of the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. This technique can also produce snakes from different parts of the user's body, as seen when Orochimaru summoned a snake from his mouth to attack the Sandaime Hokage during their battle.

Ninpo: Sojasosai no Jutsu – Ninja Art: Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique: This forbidden technique is a murder-suicide attack, killing both the user and the target. The user makes a one-handed seal with both their hand and the intended victim's. Two snakes are then summoned from the user's sleeve, biting both their wrists and killing them with deadly venom. When Anko Mitarashi used this technique against Orochimaru, he replaced himself with a clone to avoid harm, leaving Anko unable to finish the technique.

(Anbu Masks)

Hato – Dove

Ondori - Rooster

Raku-N - Raccoon

Tori - Bird

Mausu - Mouse

Raion - Lion

Shinobi no Kami – God of Ninja: A nickname given to the Sandaime Hokage – Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Kessho: Rokkaku Shuriken: Ranbu – Crystal: Hexagonal Shuriken: Wild dance: The user conjures several Hexagonal Shuriken, and shoots them at the target. More powerful than Kessho: Rokkaku Shuriken.

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The tense atmosphere was palpable as Team Gai stood ready to attack at the sight of the Kumo and Kiri genin that stood near Tenten's friend. Naruto had relaxed for a microsecond till noticing the postures of his friend and her teammates. Then realizing his company behind him the blond lifted his hands; "Ten-chan it's alright. They helped me." Haku and Yugito were quick to calm their respected teammates upon seeing these three were no threat.

Neji's eyes only narrowed, not leaving his clan's Taijutsu stance. Lee eyed the foreign Genin cautiously as Tenten kept a kunai in each hand while keeping her eyes locked on Naruto, Kumo, and Kiri; "We saw your chakra pulse."

"Orochimaru… he was here"

Both Tenten and Lee's eyes grew the size of dinner plates, "The traitorous Hebi-Sannin is here? Are you truly certain Uzumaki?" Neji questioned, keeping his composure all the while glaring at Kumo.

The whip user of Kiri snorted in irritation; "Your Kage charged into the forest and is in full battle gear with two squads of Anbu. What wild theories can your brain come up with Hyuuga?"

"Kouhei!" Haku and Naruto both shout.

Neji remained in stance keeping his eyes locked on Yugito's team, "A most likely scenario, Kumogakure scheming to stab Konoha in the back like the cowards they are."

"Oh fuck you Hyuuga," Karui growled while Yugito and Omoi both frowned. "That was years ago."

Neji only snarled back; "Not all wounds heal Kumo."

"ENOUGH!" Naruto's echoing roar making everyone jump. The blond marched passed Tenten and Lee to stand in front of Neji; "These guys aren't the people who tried to kidnap Hinata."

"…You know?"

A dry expression came from Naruto, "I've hung around Jiji in his office since I was little. So yes I've heard things. Yes, you have every right to be pissed. But at their Raikage, not these guys."

The Hyuuga branch member glared leaning in to the younger teen; "Kumogakure is a den of vipers who will do every dishonor deed to gain power."

"We're Shinobi, playing fair isn't in our handbook."

As true as those words were, Neji wouldn't relent his anger. Not when Kumo, his uncle, and his clan elders were responsible for his father's death. No amount of words could ever calm the fury in Neji's heart.

Naruto continued; "And right now I don't have time to waste with my team out in the forest and Hebi-Teme's goons gunning for them."

"And a dead-last like you believes you can beat them?" Neji countered, "Your fate has-" The Hyuuga stopped as he and the rest felt the area around them got colder. Everyone's breath was visible as Naruto and Neji shifted their gaze to Haku.

Kouhei and Chojuru backed away from their female teammate as frost emanated from her body. The grass under her feet and around her started to ice over. Her face was blank save only her eyes than shined with a cold rage. "Insult Naruto-kun again Hyuuga and you won't like the consequences."

Everyone felt a shiver crawl down their respected spines, Neji included till Naruto quickly spoke up, "It's alright Haku-chan. Neji's the kind of people I love proving them wrong," Trying to calm his Kiri friend down before she beats the holy crap out of Tenten's teammate. The two genin resume glaring at each other; "Call me whatever you want, I don't care. What I DO care about is my team, even if Sasuke is an asshole like you. Help if you want, or get lost"

The Hyuuga said nothing but looked to his two teammates. Naturally Tenten gave a look that she was staying which Lee mimicked. Finally Neji relented; "Very well Uzumaki. I wash my hands with these Kumo."

A round of sighs went through everyone as Yugito got back on task; "Which way to your clone spot those Oto Naruto?"

"Not far," the blond Uzumaki looks back to Neji, "How far can you see with your Byakugan?"

Quiet for a minute the Hyuuga finally spoke; "You want me to spot the Otogakure genin?"

"If you're helping, yes."

"…Very well."

Tenten and Yugito both look genuinely surprised while Lee doing a 'Nice Guy' pose. "I will help as well Naruto-Kun. We will protect our comrades, and I will keep safe my dear Nobara-Hime!"

'…I am so glad I straightened up,' Naruto dryly mused as Kurama snorted.

XxX ~ Sakura ~ XxX

She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe… Her scream stuck in her throat as a large snake was slowly constricting her body. Its cold slit yellow eyes staring into her jade; "You won't stop me girl. Sasuke and Naruto will be MINE" its mouth opened revealing the Kusa woman's face smiling before lunging out with serpent-like fangs.

Sakura's woke with a start, biting back a scream as sweat dripped from her face. Her breathing was erratic as fear shined in her jade orbs. The rosette held a hand to her chest; 'Just a dream. Just a dream…' Taking slow deep breaths, Sakura gazed to Sasuke who was still unconscious. The Uchiha was still showing signs of pain as he fidgeted and grunted in discomfort. 'I still don't know what that woman did to him. I skimmed through some of Naruto's Fūinjutsu books, but I never saw anything like that.' Images of the blond Uzumaki flashed in her mind along with that 'Orochimaru' person's words.

"I have an appointment with a certain blond shinobi."

Quickly the rosette shook away any negative thoughts; 'Naruto won't let that monster near him. He'll be fine,' despite her mental reassurance her worry still knotted in her stomach. Ever since Nami she had considered the blond more than a teammate, but also a real friend. A tiny part of her still couldn't believe it was Naruto of all people who had been helping her these past few months, yet one thought kept ringing back in her mind.

Why?

Why was Naruto always so kind to her? Thinking on their academy days, she was not proud of herself remembering all those times she was so mean to the blond. Yet it never swayed him from greeting her with a smile, which only added to her shame. 'I bet even if I apologized for everything he'd just wave it off.' He was really that forgiving and kindhearted, 'I may not understand how much I mean to you, or why. But I'll make up for all the mean things I've ever done, I promise.'

While Sakura pulled out her black gloves from her pouch and put her hair into a ponytail with a hair tie. She was unaware of the looming threat hiding in the shadows. "Be ready," Dosu whispered as he narrowed his lone visible eye.

Zaku and Kin grinned murderously back to their leader. "One little fangirl playing Kunoichi, it will be fun making her scream," Kin almost purred licking her lips.

"Long as I get to kill the Uchiha, I don't really care," Zaku retorted with a snort.

Dosu just rolled his unbandaged eye. The lead Oto Genin crouched as he stared at their target. "On my mark" He softly called.

Zaku and Kin grinned, the former channeled chakra through his air tubes while the latter pulled out three senbon between her fingers.

The pinkette had her back turned to them, now was their chance...

"Go!"

They leapt through the trees, their movements so fast and silent there was no way she would become aware of their presence before it was too late. Kin took the lead, eager to draw the Konoha's blood. She threw the senbon straight to the pinkette's head.

The senbon pierced her neck and her body seized, making Kin smiled viciously. She reared her arm back to deliver a devastating blow the little girl's neck and end her life.

Her movement stopped as something tugged her arm. Eyes widening in surprise, she saw the pinkette standing right next to her, holding her arm as the one she had previously attacked vanished before her eyes.

Too late she realized it had been a genjutsu as the Konoha shinobi used her momentum against her, throwing her over her shoulder and right into a tree. Her body collided against the bark, splintering it, the air left her lungs as spit flew out of her mouth.

Both Zaku and Dosu shared a stun expression as Sakura took up her Taijutsu stance. "Always put traps in your traps. Why are you here!?"

Quickly Zaku lifted both his hands firing a concentrated blast of wind at the rosette who quickly dodged. "You didn't answer my question!" She charged both boys, gloved fists clenched.

Then there was ringing. Oh gods the ringing. It pierced into her ears like a drill. She screamed, holding her ears as the pain forced to drop to her knees as she lost her balance. The ringing made the whole world become blurry as she felt herself slipping away.

Then, the ringing stopped, only for a hand to grab the back of her head and slam it over the ground. The blow to her forehead stunned her enough to dull the pain, it was a cruel mercy.

"You actually think we would tell you?" The bandaged Sound Nin said with exasperation. "You're new to this job aren't you?"

She groaned; forcing herself to remained focus even with the swift but strong beating she had just received. "Not so long that I have to used bandages to hide all the times I screwed up..."

Dosu growled, and threw her to the ground once again. "Hold her" He ordered Zaku, who all too eagerly twisted her arm into a painful hold.

Even with pounding in her head and the pain in her arm, Sakura couldn't help but think; 'Smart mouthing the enemy, yep, been spending too much time with Naruto'

As Dosu gazed toward the entrance under the tree Zaku sneered, "Your blond boyfriend won't be here to save you. Orochimaru-sama likely already got him." Sakura only spits at him which Zaku angrily spat back.

"Naruto wouldn't let that bastard close to him," the rosette growled as Dosu looked at her blankly. "He'll come. And kick your asses if I don't first!" Zaku's free hand grabbed her by the throat.

"You're a cocky little brat aren't you," Dosu muttered, "A lot of confidence for a dead-last." The rosette only growled; "To bad you didn't get to hear the rest of that little dossier on blondie back in class. Wonder how you would feel about learning what he really is." Dosu only chuckled seeing Sakura's eyes shine with confusion; "So he never told you or Uchiha eh?"

"No surprise Dosu. You saw how Uzumaki acted. Nearly got told to the whole class he is a monster," Zaku smirked.

"What are you talking about?" Their words weren't making any sense to Sakura.

The face bandaged ninja chuckled as he leaned closer. "Tell me, have you ever heard the word 'Jinchuuriki'?"

"...It's above my pay-grade" Were the words she replied with.

Of course she had heard that word. In the academy they didn't go into the finer detail of it, but Jinchuuriki were so ingrained the history of the ninja wars it was impossible to discuss the subject without mentioning them.

Living weapons. Deterrents. The villages' trump cards... Holders of the Tailed Beasts.

Sakura couldn't imagine a fate like that, to seal such monsters inside a person, to be treated as another weapon of the village, while a very shinobi thing to do, it seemed just so... cruel.

Konoha was very tight lipped about the information regarding their Jinchuurikis. The most that ever got out was as far as 'we have 'em', but their identities were a secret only the Jonin and select chunin were privy to.

...A cold feeling dropped on her stomach. Where were they going with this?

"Those freaks have a lot in common. Their government treats them as weapons, even more than the regular shinobi. And their own people?" Dosu snorted. "To show how grateful they are to Jinchuuriki for doing they duty they shun them. Treat them as pariahs, pests they'd rather just disappear"

No... No, no, no, no. That couldn't be true.

Sakura wasn't among the top of her class for nothing, if the dots were there she would connect them.

'Stay away from him' all the adults would say. 'That boy is nothing but trouble', even her own family acted so nervous about him.

Lots of people acted that way with him, the way they looked at him with so much... anger and hate in their eyes.

The date of the Kyuubi attack, his birthday...

"Ohohoho" Dosu took delight in the shocked expression her face was making. "You've figured it out haven't you?"

Naruto... was Konohagakure no Sato's Jinchuuriki.

Her mind played back the past events. From sneering of a few academy teachers, how she and her classmates all treated Naruto... And even before the academy... A few stray tears fled from her eyes before practically roaring as she fiercely fought against Zaku's hold on her.

"Ah, figured out you treated him like a monster like everyone else eh girlie?" Dosu only smirked seeing the despair in the rosette's anguished/rage filled eyes as she struggled.

"N-No..." She told herself. "I-I never..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Zaku snapped at her. "We don't care what you feel, we're pretty much just doing this for shits and giggles" And orders, but she didn't need to know that.

The pinkette wasn't hearing him; she was lost in her own world as she tried to process the truth. She had just... gone with the flow, so to say. Everyone always treated him like that; it was just so ingrained ever since she was little. And yet... And yet she never stopped to consider how much it all must hurt him so much. Finding out about his status as Jinchuuriki only made things worse.

To mock and make fun of the orphan boy... Gods, looking back at it she realized how horrible it all was. She treated him like everyone else; he must have thought she saw him like the villagers did, a monster...

Blood and spit came from Sakura's mouth from a hard punch from Dosu; "If we decide to let you live, you can soul search as much as you like later. For now we have a job to do." The bandaged Genin looks back to the unconscious Uchiha as he pulls out a kunai.

'Naruto...' No. Now was not the time to feel berate herself. Sasuke, her teammate needed her. She would not cry she would not lay down and do nothing. She struggled against Zaku's hold, but the Sound ninja did not let her move, she was too weak at the moment to struggle.

"You stay right here pinky" He sadistically said with a smile on his face.

Kin walked up to them, having recovered from the blow she received when she hit that tree. She held her side as she glared with murder at the Konoha shinobi. "You little bitch..."

"You can kill her later. Make sure nobody interrupts" Dosu ordered as he moved over the Uchiha's vulnerable frame.

"Sasuke..." Sakura whispered in desperation.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sasuke knew this was a dream… Yet his heart did not stop racing as he saw his younger self crying over his parent's lifeless bodies. "If I was stronger, could I have stopped him!?" his younger self whimpers looking down at his mother and father as he wept.

Clinching his fists, the older Sasuke both seethed and shuddered as more corpses of his kinsmen appeared around his younger counterpart. "Yet we did nothing." Sasuke gasped as his younger self smiled sinisterly as another, older and malicious voice overlapped with his younger self. "Our clan died because we were weak. If we had power, we could have stopped it. If we had more power, we could kill Itachi!" Younger Sasuke's eyes turned yellow with serpent-like slit eyes, "Power to crush all those who stand before us!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

A deafening roar above shot all their heads upwards as a large crystal dragon descended for the Oto Genin. "SHIT!" All three collectively yell as they jump out of the way. The massive dragon shattered hitting the ground, Dosu skidded back looking in every direction; "UZUMAKI! Where is he?!"

Kin landed safely on a branch, also scanning the area along with Zaku who still held Sakura tightly in his grasp. Dosu's danger senses screamed as the bandaged Genin sharply turned only to have a blue sphere of pure chakra slammed into his chest like a drill.

"RASENGAN!"

'H-he finally learned it,' Sakura looked in awe remembering the months Naruto spent learning that jutsu.

Dosu roared in pain as he was sent flying like a spinning wind wheel till slamming into one of the massive trees. His body a mangled mess and motionless as Zaku snarled lifting his free hand; "I'll kill you myself Uzu-"

As chakra built up in his air-tube a firm hand grabbed his wrist. Before he could react another hand struck his elbow with such force everyone heard the bones break. Sakura found herself free as her captor screamed in pain. Leaping over to Naruto, Sakura gasped seeing Haku partially within one of her ice mirrors behind Zaku.

The Kiri kunoichi shunshined as the enraged Oto Nin used his one good arm to send a devastating blast of wind that shattered the ice mirror. Zaku's body soon froze up; behind him Haku stood having placed a senbon on the Oto Nin's neck. He fell to the ground like a statue. The brunette teen said nothing before turning her eyes to Kin.

The Oto Kunoichi readied herself only to find herself surround by Kumo, Kiri, and another Konoha team ready to strike her down. "Give me a reason," Karui smirked with her sword drawn beside Omoi who lazily rolled his lollipop in his mouth. Yugito's cat-like eyes glared as her fingernails extended as sharp as a kunai pointed at Kin.

Kouhei and Chojuru had their respected weapons drawn while Lee and Neji had their taijutsu stances at the ready. Tenten had a kunai in each hand as she scowled; "Not harming my friend's team on my watch."

Naruto's cerulean eyes were wide as he looked at the rosette's bruised face, blood dripped from the edge of her mouth. Her eyes couldn't, or rather wouldn't meet his as she stared at the ground. "I'm okay," she whispered softly.

"You don't look okay" Naruto said gently.

She let out a humorless laugh. "Part of the job isn't it?"

Naruto lifted his gaze to glare at the remaining Sound ninja standing. The group prowled like a predator stalking over a wounded prey, the kunoichi's gaze darted frantically trying to find for an opening, anything that would allow her to slip way. In a desperate move she called forth the strongest genjutsu could muster at the moment, a distortion of sound vibrating through the air that made their eardrums hurt, their vision become blurry and their footing to become unbalanced.

It was only for a moment before the most adept of their group at dispelling illusions managed to cancel it, but Kin had already moved to gather her teammates, having removed the senbon in Zaku's neck, trying to get him on his feet while a clone helped Dosu. The Sound Trio soon formed up as they slowly backed away.

The gauntlet wielding glared with utmost fury at the enemy before him. "You will pay for this!"

Kouhei shook his head as the genjutsu passed. "Really? Cause it seems to me we just kicked your asses" The teen was already charging chakra through his weapon, a few crackling arcs of electricity could be seen.

"Give it up" Naruto said resolute. "You're done for"

Whatever response the trio had, or whatever was their group going to do next, they were all interrupted by sensing a sudden rise of sickening chakra.

Neji, being the first one to see it thanks to his wide range of vision, turned around with an incredulous gaze that unconscious form of the Uchiha... that was now rising as the chakra kept raising. "What is this..?"

Dosu's one eye along with Kin's and Zaku's stared solely at the Uchiha; 'The curse mark is activating... This is bad,' the injured bandage Genin glanced to his team who looked back. Without saying a word, the trio agreed to escape, departing via shunshin they went unnoticed.

"S-Sasuke?" Sakura shuddered as visible purple chakra erupts around the Uchiha who begins to sit up.

Yugito heard Matatabi hiss in her mind, sensing the chakra like she was doing. And not liking one ounce of it radiating off Sasuke if her words were any indication. "That chakra feels so... wrong," the feline Bijuu growled out.

'Not even your chakra feels like that.'

"No chakra should feel like that, kitten."

As Sasuke fully stands, his Sharingan glows bright as strange black marks slowly rise up on the side of his face. "...Naruto," There voice maliciousness in his tone.

'Something's wrong, REALLY wrong here.' The blond felt sick just being close to that chakra coming off his teammate. 'I mean your chakra feels like pure hate furball. But what the hell is this?!'

Kurama only snorted; "You figure it out yourself brat."

"Sasuke... are you feeling okay?" The young Uzumaki tentatively asked, slowly taking one careful step forward.

The Uchiha laughed, yes LAUGHED, out loud. Throwing his head back and rolling his neck before finally setting his gaze upon his fellow teammate with an unnerving grin. "Oh I'm better than okay. I'm feeling fantastic~"

"...You're not okay" Naruto flatly retorted, more than a little creeped out by this development.

Karui looked nervously at the oddly behaving Uchiha. "You know him better than I do, but I can tell your teammate is acting way out of character"

"That chakra" Neji muttered as his gaze narrowed at a specific point on Sasuke's neck. "It's foreign, not his own. And it's infecting him like a virus, spreading through his body. This must be the reason to his... altered behavior"

Sasuke's grin widened as the marks continued to spread throughout his body.

"...Gee, whatever gave you that idea?" Tenten droned as she pulled out various scrolls from her pouches, preparing herself for the worst.

"Let's all act calmly" Haku said in a soft peacekeeping tone. "We don't know if he means us any harm"

"Naruto" The Uchiha growled out. "Fight me"

Kouhei deadpanned; "Well so much for that..."

"The hell?" The blonde in question muttered. "Sasuke, you're NOT well. Just... Just calm down!"

His words were of no use, the Uchiha took one menacing step towards him, oozing killing intent, godsdamned killing intent at his own teammate, in waves. "I need to fight you... I need to fight you" He repeated himself like in a mad trance.

"Why?!"

"Because you're strong... So if I defeat you then that means I'm on the right path"

"...I know this is hardly an ideal situation, but did you just compliment me?"

'Seriously?' Was everyone's thought as they sweatdropped.

"Show me why you're not some clan-less dead last loser anymore," Sasuke took another step forward as both Kiri and Kumo looked at each other in confusion before the Uchiha dashed with blinding speeds.

'He's faster,' Naruto pushed Sakura out the way before just barely blocking a high roundhouse aimed for his head with his forearm. The blond hissed, 'and he's stronger...If I didn't have my crystal armor up my arm would have been broken.' And even with his armor, it still hurt! "Snap out of it Sasuke! I'm not fighting you like this!"

His teammate wasn't listening, and quickly delivered a reverse spin kick at Naruto straight on the chest, sending him flying back and hitting his back against a tree before falling the ground. "I don't think your buddy is a listening mood Uzumaki!" Kouhei yelled out.

Haku and Tenten were about to jump and help him, if not for the Jinchuuriki suddenly shouting; "Stay back!" He said in between ragged breaths. "He'll go after you too!" The blond hissed, holding his chest as he slowly got up. Even through his shirt he felt the cracks in his armor. "I'm not fighting you teme!"

Sasuke grin slowly turned to a sneer; "Then I'll kill you."

"Listen to yourself damn it! This is not you! Whatever Hebi-Teme did to you is making act crazy!"

"Doesn't matter," the Uchiha seethed; "I feel more alive than I ever been. But I need more power, much more if I want to kill Itachi!"

Now Naruto's temper was getting the best of him; "It won't bring your family back! Your dad, aunt Mikoto, none of them will come back by killing your brother!"

'Stop it,' Sakura watched on as dread was welling up in heart. She shook her head as her teammate fighting more viciously than ever. 'Stop it...' Her jade eyes went wide as her body had reacted upon seeing Sasuke going into familiar hand seals. "STOP IT!"

Naruto and Sasuke both stopped as Sakura stood in front of her teammates. "Look at yourself Sasuke! You're acting insane, wanting to kill your teammate!" She fought through the tears. "Enough! You can't even see how much this is affecting you!"

"Stay out this" He seethed in anger.

Once she would have been taken aback by him addressing her in such a way. Now though? She was running on adrenaline after having the crap kicked out of her, she couldn't care any less. "Oh I'm sure your parents would be really proud, seeing you act against your own comrades like this!"

He took a menacing step towards her. "You dare…!"

"Sakura don't push him!" Naruto begged her.

"Come on! Try to kill me too!" She shouted, making the others inwardly worry that Sasuke's wasn't the only one going insane. Sakura taunting him like this was a terrible idea, at this rate he was going to unleash all that mounting aggression on her.

And he would have, had she not said the following words.

"Do it! Be just like your brother!"

Sasuke's body froze mid-step. His eyes widening in horrifying realization, the marks halted in their advance as his heart seemed to stop for a second. What... What was wrong with him? That sheer impulse to fight, that drive to kill, that... that rage guiding him. Where did it all come from?

He took long breaths, trying to calm down the chaotic influx of emotions and erratic chakra coursing through his body, the marks began retreating to the source on his neck. He... He attacked Naruto with no provocation, threatened to kill him and then Sakura...

"I... I..."

His words died on his mouth when the end of a lightning shrouded whip struck him right on the chest. "HRRRK!" His body convulsed as arcs of electricity coursed over his form, before finally falling flat on his face, smoke coming out of his unmoving form.

The other ninja looked at the once more fallen Uchiha, and then at Kouhei who was folding his whip.

Naruto summed it up best. "Dude what the hell?! He was calming down!"

"Better safe than sorry"

Naruto just heaved a long sigh along with everyone else as the blond walked over to his once again unconscious teammate. Then to Sakura; "Get some rope, we're making camp here for the night." The rosette nodded as Yugito and Haku came over, "Thank you for helping."

The Hyoton user just smiled; "Of course, we'll stick around just in case."

"Better going together than separated," the Nibi Jinchuuriki wisely states. "Besides, we already have our scrolls for the exam." Haku nodded the same showing her own for her team.

Helping Sakura secure Sasuke, Tenten looked up; "So do we."

Neji crossed his arms as he glared at the Kumo Nin who made their own little camp. "The situation has calmed, we no longer need to intervene. We should get going Tenten"

The weapon mistress looked at him in disappointment. "We're staying, Neji. Our fellow Konoha comrades need the help. Right Lee?"

"It is most unyouthful to just leave then on their own considering the circumstances!" The second coming of the green beast announced passionately.

"Besides, you really want the three us to head on alone with the damn Snake Sannin out there?" The Hyuuga couldn't reply to that. "Thought so, we're staying together until this part of the exam is over"

Casting one last glare at the genin from Kumo, Neji decided to let it go for the moment; "Fine"

After securing the Uchiha, Sakura gazed around to everyone setting up for camp as well as traps before noticing Naruto was in front of her. He was looking over her bruises as the rosette waved it off; "I'll live Naruto," she said quietly.

"Least let Haku-Chan or Yugito look you over, they have medical supplies. I would have used that seal I made for us but it got damaged by that damn snake bastard." He noticed how quiet his teammate was being; "Sakura-chan? What's wrong?"

The rosette froze before slowly turning away till Naruto gently turned her back. She still hasn't looked him in the eyes; "What's. Wrong?"

Sakura bit her lip before sighing; "I know..." She muttered getting a confused look from the blond; "I know you're the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki..."

Time froze as everyone sharply turned hearing her words. Tenten dropped whatever she was holding as she looked wide-eyed along with Lee and Neji.

For Naruto, the world became unnaturally quiet; he couldn't hear the rustle of leaves nor any of the myriad of noises that haunted the Forest of Death constantly. He swore he could only hear his own breathing and heartbeat; he stared at Sakura who continued to avoid his gaze.

"Y-You..." He felt terrified, he felt like running away. He never... never wanted any of his friends to know, even if he knew how pointless it was. "How did you know?"

"The Sound nin told me. And... Well, you just confirmed it"

Tenten's eyes darted between the two of them, mostly lingering on Naruto. Lee found himself at a loss of words for once, while Neji's showed an uncharacteristic amount of unnerved surprise.

Naruto's gaze fell to the ground, his fists clenched and unclenched as he tried to gather his thoughts, thinking on what to say. But his damn mind was empty; he just didn't know what to do...

Thankfully, Sakura once more knew what to say

"I want you to know this... doesn't change anything" She assured him. "You're still my teammate and my friend"

The blond lifted his head seeing Sakura teared filled jade gazing into his cerulean. Not even acknowledging the tears trickling down his own. Before he knew it she had wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly; "I accept you. And I'm so sorry... For how I acted during the academy. Even before...I was..."

Naruto had slowly returned the hug; "Thank you," his voice nearly a whisper fighting his tears. "Thank you…"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

Chapter 16: Lost Fragment

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Anko painfully hissed as she sat on an exam table in the forest tower with her trench coat folded on her lap. After several grumpy protests, an order from the Sandaime made the Tokubetsu Jonin begrudgingly took a seat for the doctors. This was also ensured with Hiruzen, back in his Hokage robes and hat keeping watch.

"I'm fine Hokage-Sama, just had a bad reaction with this stupid thing," the kunoichi muttered pointing to her shoulder.

Hiruzen's gaze was as dry as a desert; "You're fine when the doctor informs me you are, otherwise you remain here. Am I understood?"

"…Hai, Hokage-Sama."

Nodding, the Sandaime leaves the room as two ANBU appeared kneeling; "Report Iguru."

The ANBU in the eagle mask lifts his head; "We have searched half of the forest but no signs of Orochimaru."

"Continue searching every inch of the forest. Though it's he likely has left the area by this point, I doubt he has vanished from Konoha. Inform Commander Fox I want round the clock patrols throughout the village."

"HAI!" Both ANBU vanished via shunshin.

The Sandaime sighed as he tiredly rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What are you planning..?"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"I can't believe you're the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki" Tenten exclaimed, sitting by their makeshift camp as they finally had set it all up. "I mean… It makes so much sense now!" The glares, the way the adults talked about him, how people were always so nervous around him.

Now the truth was unveiled and everything fell into place. Naruto had been so overjoyed when Sakura told him she didn't care he was a Jinchuuriki, that was a fear that had not left him ever since her first learnt the truth himself. That if other people knew they would just… treat him like the adults always did. And for these people whom he came to call friends… He just wouldn't be able to handle if they too began to hate him as well.

"You… You're not mad?" He hesitantly asked.

"I'm mad you never told me before!" The bun haired girl snapped, but there wasn't true anger in her voice, none of the spite he was familiar with. "What? You think I'd care about something like that? Please don't be an idiot, you're always gonna be the same dum-dum to me"

He wouldn't cry. Ninja didn't show their tears. He did everything in his power not to cry at how happy he felt. So instead he lowered his gaze and thanked her; "You have no idea what that means to me"

Tenten smiled widely; "Now stop moping you big baby, you've got no reason to feel down"

"Yosh!" Lee agreed with a pump of his fist; "Naruto-kun's role in the village is invaluable, it must be no easy task to bear a creature such as the Nine Tails inside of you!"

"Yours is a heavy burden, Uzumaki" Even Neji seemed to acknowledging him, in his own way at least. "It seems you too understand the weight of a role imposed to you when you had no choice"

Sakura smiled sweetly, she could see how all of this was making Naruto feel happier than he had felt in a long while. The softness of his gaze, the relief of a weight being lifted off his shoulders, Naruto had friends he could count on, people who would support him no matter what, and he was starting to see it too.

"I'm sure if Sasuke," She gestured to the bound boy lying on the ground next to her; "was awake he'd say something like; 'Dobe, worrying about dumb things like that'" She said in a perfect imitation of his voice.

Like, seriously, it was absolutely Sasuke's voice coming out of her mouth. It freaked Naruto out to say the least, as he stared at her with wide startled eyes. "What was that?"

"Oh, small genjutsu to copy sounds, I used Sasuke's voice. What do you think?" She grinned cheekily at him.

"Creepy. PLEASE don't do it again"

Sakura couldn't help it, she laughed. It was infectious enough that soon Naruto began laughing as well, letting out all the joy and relief he felt. Tenten soon joined in with Lee, only Neji remained stoic in the face of such mirth, letting his eyes roll.

Over the other side of the clearing in their own camps, the Kumo and Kiri Nins watched the scene unfold. Yugito didn't know what it must have been, growing up scorned by your own village. Before Bee proved himself to be a hero to Kumogakure, the role of Jinchuuriki was held with as much contempt in Kumo as it was in Konoha, or so she heard from her elders. She herself grew up not with glares, but with gazes of respect from her fellow ninja. Of course, that didn't mean there weren't expectations. The higher ups expected her to one day master her Biju's power like Bee.

But Konoha? Their attitude regarding their Jinchuuriki was odd. Naruto from what she heard only found out not too long ago, and he didn't seem to be under any training to master the Kyuubi's chakra, almost like the Leaf wasn't interested in what should be one their greatest assets.

Historically, Konoha always had a very pro-peace attitude. Oh that didn't mean they didn't get their hands dirty, they were ninjas too after all, but seldom had any conflict been started by them, any military action on their part had been retaliatory or pre-emptive whenever another village was plotting against them. They didn't seem very interested in taking down the other villages.

They were considered the hippies of the Elemental Nations for a reason. But that didn't mean one should take them lightly, the Land of the Sky found that out the hard way in the Second War.

Hmm… she hoped she wouldn't have to fight him when the next war came. It'd be expected of her as a Jinchuuriki. But honestly? She kind of liked these people. So for now she wouldn't worry about it.

Haku smiled happily at Naruto, knowing he'd be alright. Having taken a liking to them as he got to know them, Chojuro shared in her happiness at seeing Naruto's comrades accept him. Kiri didn't have a good history with their Jinchuuriki ever since Yagura.

Kouhei for his part castes an impassive gaze at the Konoha ninja, he didn't have anything against them, nor was he fond of them like Haku was. Good for him regardless, gods know he knew how hard it was to be discriminated for something you had no control over…

He shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts, his straight coffee-colored locks swaying as he did so. "Ain't surprised you were chosen to be the Jinchuuriki" He said, getting everyone's attention. "Someone of your heritage is the most fitting host, Uzumaki"

Naruto tilted his head as he stared confusingly at him. "My heritage? You mean… the Uzumaki clan? I don't think I'm related to them" He crossed his arms behind his head. "I think I was just named in honor of them"

The Uzumaki clan of Uzushio, famed as the greatest seal masters of the Elemental Nations. Their seals were strong enough to even bind the Bijuu; indeed, many seals used throughout the nations had been inspired, if not outright invented, by them. If their knowledge of seals wasn't enough, they also possessed tremendous life force and vast chakra pools. Their village on their island surrounded by whirlpools couldn't really be called a Hidden Village; they existed long before the founding of the first ninja villages after all.

But one day, attacked from all sides, Uzushio had been destroyed, and the clan was no more.

Kouhei scratches the back of his head; "You really sure? Granted all Uzumakis are redheads. And seeing a blond Uzu is just weird."

"If you want me to punch you, you're getting there," Naruto growled.

"Uzumaki have enormous reserves of chakra combined with incredible longevity and stamina," Haku also brought up. "You seem to possess such"

Tenten tilted her head as she thought out loud; "Wouldn't being Jinchuuriki also give Naruto huge amount chakra?"

"You'd be right," Yugito spoke up; "But Uzumakis have incredibly high levels of chakra naturally. I heard that's the reason they're considered to be the most fitting hosts for the Nine Tails. And they are the greatest Fūinjutsu masters ever; stories said their talent came naturally to them"

Everyone looked right to the blond; "I only just started Fūinjutsu after graduation…"

"But you're really good at it," Sakura countered.

"I mean..." Naruto scratched his head, trying to come up with a possible explanation. "Could be a coincidence. Besides, the old man would have told me anyway if I'm really an Uzumaki"

"That is a good point" Lee added as he strokes his chin in though. "Does Hokage-sama know about your parents' identities? Has he told you about them?"

"He does. And noooo..." Naruto dragged out a sigh; "He says I'll know 'when I'm ready'" He came to hate those words sometimes. "I just... don't get why he never told me"

"Might be something you were not ready to handle yet" Tenten suggested. "Maybe he waited for you to mature a bit. And hey, you're not the knucklehead you used to be... much" She giggled at his pouty glare. "Try asking him after the exams are over"

"Yeah..." A wide smile suddenly grew on his lips. "Yeah I'll do that!" A frown quickly stood in the place of his sudden bout of good mood. "Though, it sucks I know so little about my own history you know? I mean, if I truly was an Uzumaki you'd think there'd be evidence about it, records or something"

Sakura, Lee and Tenten grew pensive at his words, there was more to the mystery of Naruto's heritage, he met most of the traits usually associated with the Uzumaki clan but there was something missing.

Neji, who merely stood by and idly listened to their conversation, sighed; "For all the emphasis our teachers place into 'looking underneath the underneath'-"

Naruto cut in; "Oh your teacher tells you that crap too?"

Neji continued as though he wasn't interrupted; "Taking that lesson too much to heart can make it difficult to see what's right in front of us"

Tenten looked at him in confusion; "What do you mean?"

The prodigy of the Hyuuga sighed. "You want to find the truth behind his heritage, perhaps there is a potential lead to such answer you're all overlooking" He turned his pearly gaze to them. "Think of this; who was a famed shinobi of this village that happened to belong to the Uzumaki clan?"

Tenten and Lee gasped in sudden surprise and realization. "You mean..." Lee started.

Neji nodded. "Indeed"

"Mito Uzumaki, the Shodai's wife!"

The Hyuuga and the weapon mistress face-faulted at that. "No, you dumbass!" Tenten admonished him at the sheer idiocy of his answer. "He meant someone closer to our time!" A very wide, very toothy (and a little fangirly, the other thought disturbingly) smile. "The Red Death, Kushina Uzumaki!"

Kouhei whistled; "I heard she was a total badass. She was an ANBU operative before she joined the front lines in the war. Best kenjutsu wielder in your village."

"N-Next to your slug S-Sannin Tsunade-Sama, she was the second deadliest kunoichi," Chojuru adjusted his glasses; "Z-Zabuza-Sensei respects someone of that caliber"

"If you saw a red streak," Karui shivered, this was something older ninja of their village would scare them with; "you were already dead. Thus her moniker, 'Red Death'"

Naruto just looked wide eyed hearing the praises about Kushina. Again the images of his dream flashed in his mind for a second. "Okay, she's cool."

"Are you kidding me?" Tenten outright gushed. Again disturbing everyone around her; "Kushina-sama is considered a war hero, having fought in the Third Shinobi War! She decimated squadrons almost as fast as the Yondaime! She's an example to kunoichi everywhere, a student of the White Fang himself!"

Sakura's eyes widened at that. "The White Fang? Kakashi-sensei's father?!" Even though... dishonored as the man was, there was no doubting the White Fang had been an extremely powerful shinobi on par with the Sannin. To have been trained by him...

Surprised as he was by THAT particular tidbit of info, Naruto couldn't help but sweatdrop at the girl's... enthusiasm. "Y-You sure are well informed..."

"Oh she was just so awesome! I'd be lucky if I become half the shinobi she was!"

Neji gave a very worried gaze to his teammate before looking at the Jinchuuriki of their village. "What I am trying to is, there is a possibility you might be related to her, if you are a member of the Uzumaki clan that is"

Naruto frowned at his words. "What, that she was my... my mother or something?" It was... hard to believe.

"I do not believe Kushina-sama was pregnant" Lee threw in.

Tenten shook her head. "Not that I heard, and believe me, I looked up a lot of info about her. Combat style, techniques, but having been an ANBU a lot of her service history is classified. Most you can get are rumors" She said with a shrug. "Haven't even heard of her having a spouse or partner of any sort. Unless you believe that stuff about her and the Yonda..."

Tenten suddenly just fell silent in the middle of her sentence. Her eyes ever so slowly going wide as she stared at Naruto. She just... stared at him awkwardly with a strangely shocked expression, as though she suddenly came about a missing piece of a puzzle and the realization simply left her in a state of stupor.

Neji, feeling puzzled, stared at his teammate in confusion. What could have caused her to look so shocked? By her last words it seemed like she was in the middle of suggesting there may been a relationship between Kushina Uzumaki and the late Yondaime...

The missing piece fell into place for Neji as well, and he was now openly staring at the blonde with the same amount of stupor.

Lee, Sakura and Naruto could only stare uncomfortably at their companions. Something weird was going on with them...

"Um guys?" Naruto tried to snap them out of it.

It was no use, Neji and Tenten continued to gawk at him.

"Y-You okay?"

Tenten's mouth moved as she finally managed to find her voice. "Oh my gods..."

"I-It can't be, but..." Neji slowly shook his head. "The resemblance... his last name, his Jinchuuriki status, it all fits..!"

NOW the others were confused. Kouhei whispered to Haku; "Uh are we missing something?" The Yuki could only shrug in reply.

Yugito perked up as she heard Matatabi make a sound of understanding. "Ahhhhh, so that's how it is..."

Sakura couldn't take it anymore; "Would you please let us in on the secret, guys?"

Naruto agreed. "Yeah, the suspense is killing me"

Nothing could have prepared any of them for what came after, especially not Naruto.

"…You're the Yondaime's son," Tenten spoke without thinking.

You could hear a pin-drop in the forest at that moment. Naruto's jaw almost hit the ground as Lee and Sakura's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Karui drop her sword while she was cleaning it, while Omoi's lollipop fell from his mouth. Matatabi only laughed at the reaction of her host, just Kurama snorted.

"H-H-H-Holy Shit..." Karui taking a long look at Naruto's face; "YOU ARE HIS KID!"

Chojuru didn't register his glasses falling of his face while Haku and Kouhei gawk at the revelation. As for Naruto his mind felt like it was spinning before shaking it off; "C-Come on guys. I might idolize the guy but ther-" he stopped as Sakura turned his head. The rosette's emerald orbs took in every detail of the blond's face.

Every lesson and few photos Sakura had seen her mind compared to her teammate. Her heart almost stopped as she spoke in a stupor; "You are Minato Namikaze's son Naruto... Your face might be round, but every detail, even the hair... It matches his."

It had to be the longest, most painful silence in Naruto's life.

He was sure he was breathing yet at the same time he felt he was constantly out of breath. He couldn't hear anything, neither the forest itself, nor the people around him. For all intends and purposes he was no longer on the same location, he was on some far away world where his senses felt nothing.

But that nothing left room for a single thought, one that as much as he tried to deny it he couldn't refute it

'You are his son'

His entire body trembled.

'You are his son'

His lips involuntarily formed a smile, but were at the same time forced down with a quiver, pushed down by the weight of happiness, sadness, realization and anger.

'You are his son'

It was like Sakura said. His hair, his eyes, his skin. He just... never saw it before. He held the Yondaime as such a faraway ideal that he couldn't compare himself to him in any kind of regard, so he never took it into consideration.

But... his birthday, the fact that he was chosen on that fateful day. All the pieces fell into place and he could no longer deny the perfectly clear picture presented in front of him

He was... the Yondaime's son.

"Hmph" The fox huffed inside his mind. "So you finally realized"

The single confirmation sent him into a fit of soft joyous laughter mixed in with despairing sobs. Before knowing it Sakura had wrapped her arms around the blond as he physically shook as he cried.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Finally after an hour Naruto had composed himself for Sakura to let him go. But still held his hand as the blond's breathing was ragged. "That's why Jiji kept it quiet," his voice was almost a whisper but was heard to everyone nonetheless.

"He had a good reason to," Haku said in sympathy, it pained her seeing her friend in such a state; "Your father had a lot of enemies. If they learned of you..." The Hyoton user sharply turned to Kumo.

Yugito waved it off; "Hey, don't look at us. That's the Raikage's old grudge" She looked to Karui and Omoi who nodded. "Besides, it ain't nothing compared to Iwa though"

"That old bag of bones in Iwa can't find this out," Kouhei nearly yelled pointing to Naruto; "If he learns this, I can't even begin to guess the amount of assassins he'd send!"

This was very true. The Sandaime of Iwagakure, Ōnoki of Both Scales as Naruto remembered from Jiji, was a very spiteful man who deeply hated both Konoha and his father after the massive casualties inflicted to them on the last war.

Neji gave a disbelieving gaze to the Kumo genin. "I find it surprising you lot even care what happens to him" He said with accusation. "Considering what your people did to the Uzumaki clan"

The ninja of Kumo collectively winced at his words for they could not deny them.

Tenten made an awkward sound while Lee had choose to look at a blade of grass he suddenly found infinitely more interesting.

That's right... Uzushio had been destroyed by a joint attack of both Kumo and Iwa. Their forces marched upon the island nation and reduced the village to rubble, the death toll had been massive. The Uzumaki clan was eradicated... but not without wounding the Kumo and Iwa armies massively for their transgression.

If Iwa could not forget nor forgive the Yondaime Hokage for the casualties he inflicted on them, then neither Konoha could forgive what Iwa and Kumo had done to their old allies. Wearing their emblem upon their flak jackets was a symbol not just to remember the fallen clan, but to warn the other villages they would never forget what they did to the Uzumaki.

"Neji, that's enough"

So it was surprising when they heard it was Naruto who said that, his gaze forlorn as he stared at the ground. "They weren't the ones who do it, it's a waste of time to get mad at them" Such a weird feeling it was, to find out where he came from, his legacy... only to discover it had been destroyed long ago.

"Honor demands you do not forgive the sins against your family" Neji pressed on.

"Yeah, against the people responsible. And I just said it's not them" The Jinchuuriki replied.

"...Do as you wish" The Hyuuga left it at that, clearly unsatisfied with his answer.

"How are you feeling, kitten?" The Two Tails asked gently.

Naruto let out an explosive breath. "I'll tell you when I figure out how to feel"

Sakura exchanged a confused look with the others. "Uh, what?"

"I'm talking to her Biju" Naruto said, pointing to Yugito who just waved. "Turns out they can speak telepathically with each other and their hosts"

"Oh, that's... disturbing" Sakura blinked before turning to Yugito; "You're a Jinchuuriki too?!"

"The Nibi Jinchuuriki," Yugito clarified.

"Her Biju's pretty nice... This is more than I can say for a certain furball ASSHOLE!"

Matatabi scoffed; "That old grouch has always been an asshole. I have plenty of stories to tell you" Kurama only growled; "Oh hush you overinflated imitation of a kitsune!"

Before saying more they heard a light groan. Turning their heads they saw Sasuke was finally beginning stir.

"Prince charming is finally awake," Kouhei jokes. "Took you a while"

"Yeah because you shocked the shit out of him, jackass," Karui retorted.

Standing up and walking over him, Naruto knelt down in front of his teammate; "You alright now?" Sasuke shook his head before gazing at the ropes binding him and dryly looking back at Naruto. "Are you surprised considering how you were acting?"

The Uchiha grunts; "Fair point... Sorry for that."

Sakura gently shook her head as she came over and helped Naruto undid his bonds; "What happened to you back there?"

The Uchiha's gaze became lost as he tried to come up with an answer. "I have no idea..." He honestly sounded frightened. "I felt... like there was 'something' in my thoughts, urging me to just... use that power blindly on anyone. It was like I was lost in a haze and could barely think straight"

Neji's eyes narrowed. "That sounds disturbingly close to mind manipulation techniques. Which are forbidden for a reason" His Byakugan activated, only for a moment, just to inspect the mark on Sasuke's neck. "And I can say for certain it has to do with that seal on your neck"

His binds released, Sasuke stood up and carefully touched the mark on his neck. "What did that bastard do to me?"

"You should tell the Hokage the moment you see him" Tenten urgently advised. "Whatever Orochimaru did to you it needs to be dealt with immediately"

He grunted in reply. "No arguments here" The last thing he needed was the traitor Sannin toying him. Gods know what plans he had in mind? The stories they heard about those sickening experiments... Sasuke didn't even want to image it.

"I could give it a look" Naruto offered. "Doubt I'd be able to do anything on a seal of that level, but I think I might be able to tell if it's acting up again"

His teammate pondered for a few seconds before conceding with a nod. "Go ahead"

Naruto walked up to him and placed a hand on his seal, trying to get a feel of the chakra running through it. It was a simple enough practice so it didn't require much concentration from his part. "Oh you won't guess what happened; I think I figured out who my father was!"

"The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Which explains your status as the village's jinchuuriki" Sasuke replied without missing a beat.

The other young genin present stared at him in surprise. "Wait, you heard us?" Naruto asked in bewilderment.

"No, I figured it out literally the day we were assigned to the same team"

"...Seriously?!" Naruto's shout would have scared various birds and other animals, if the previous fighting hadn't done so already.

The Uchiha winced, angrily staring at the idiot who choose to shout right next to his ear. "Yeah, didn't know how to break it to you so I waited for you to figure it out" He rolled his eyes at Naruto's glare. "Oh don't give me that look. Do I look like the kind of person who can talk about sensitive family matters?"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

As the early morning sun rose, the respected teams had a small breakfast of some fish caught at a river close by. Going through some books of Fūinjutsu he had in a scroll, Team 7 with some help from Haku read them over. "So far nothing matches anything on what Hebi-teme put on you. And according to what I felt when inspecting it you can't use jutsu or try molding your chakra," Naruto mutter turning a page; "not without making it act up again at least"

Well that didn't sit well with the Uchiha, he groaned as he ran a hand through his hair; "Which leaves me with Taijutsu. You sure you can't do anything?"

The blond looked up with a dry look; "I just started this stuff a few months ago. Whether I am an actual Uzumaki or not I'm still just a beginner. I'm not one of those stupid OP characters from television."

"Yet you're a total fanboy over that princess Gale movie nonsense I annoyingly have to endure all the time you watch one," Kurama chides.

'Oh shut up furball!'

The Hyoton user closed her book; "Nothing in this one." A similar calling came from Sakura who groaned in annoyance. The blond just huffed but kept looking through his own book.

Kouhei snickered mirthfully; "Careful Uchiha, that thing might turn you into a weresnake or something"

"A weresnake?" Sasuke deadpanned.

"Yeah, like a werewolf. Only it's a snake"

"I'm not some youkai of legend; I won't turn into a animal"

"Hey just saying, that Orochimaru guy did some fucked up shit. Even in Kiri they tell horror stories about what type of experiments he must have done to scare young genin. And this is Kiri we're talking about, trust me, we know when something is messed up"

"Thanks, I feel better already..." Sasuke's tone was as dry as sand.

"Leave him alone, Kouhei" Haku admonished in a tone Kouhei had labeled as 'The Scolding Older Sister Voice'. "He has enough on his plate as it is"

The brown haired young man snorted but said no more, Chojuru sweatdropped at the whole scene.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored them, his gaze shifted to Naruto who kept on reading on of his books on fūinjutsu. The revelations of his lineage lingered on his mind, if Naruto truly was an Uzumaki, son of not just the Yondaime but of Kushina Uzumaki, then he too came from a great clan whose future was taken from them.

Their destruction brought about by fear, unsurprising considering the Uzumaki developed seals capable of binding the Biju and doing many other wondrous things. And that was without going into their own physical and martial prowess.

Naruto did not experience it like he did, but Sasuke could at least understand that Naruto would try to live up to that legacy. Despite everything, if there was something positive he could say about Naruto was his unwavering determination to accomplish anything he sets his mind on. The Uchiha could respect that drive.

His thoughts once more returned to that name, Kushina Uzumaki... It was one he was familiar with. A name that her mother had mentioned in many occasions, followed by a tone of nostalgia and mourning, along with a pained look in her eyes.

"Naruto" He started talking before he could stop himself. "That woman, Kushina... you think she was your mother?"

"...I dunno, she might have been" The blonde softly replied, his gaze suddenly becoming hazed.

"Hmm" Sasuke muttered as he turned away, looking not at his blue eyes, but at the blue stream of the river. "My mother knew this woman... She had nothing but good things to say about her" Why was he doing this? He honestly didn't know; he just started talking without thinking. "I think they were friends"

None of the other shinobi dared speak, or do anything that would interrupt this moment the two were clearly having.

"...Your mom visited me sometimes, you know?" Naruto too wasn't looking at him, but at the river instead. "Cooking, cleaning some stuff for me, and teaching me how to do it. She... She always smiled kindly at me"

Sasuke said nothing.

"She was amazing" The blonde said.

"Yeah... she was" Sasuke's voice was thicker and softer than his teammates had ever heard him. "...I believe your mother must have been so too"

And the two fell silent, there was nothing more to say.

Sakura didn't know why she was smiling, but she felt that right now something good, something great, had happened between the two boys. And she couldn't help but feel just so happy that it did.

It was a moment the three would treasure in their own ways. Nothing could mar it.

Lee sniffed loudly, tears streaming down his face like waterfalls as snot dripped from his nose.

Well almost nothing.

The taijutsu specialist lifted a shaking fist. "This... This is the bonding between two manly spirits!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes; Sakura groaned and while Naruto loudly facepalmed.

"Lee, I swear!" Tenten growled, "If you ruin this moment for them I will END YOU!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

A young red haired girl in glasses screamed in the forest as massive black bear stood on it hind legs roaring at her. At its side were the mauled remains of her team as it looked hungrily at its next meal. This was it, this was how her life would end. It wouldn't even be another shinobi that would do her in, but a damn bear. Alright the bear was gigantic but that didn't make it any less painful.

Though she was certain the humiliation wouldn't hurt as much as those claws descending on her.

In her last moments, she could despair over her life choices. Leaving Kusa was something she would not regret, but allying with Orochimaru? Oh gods she had been a foolish child. A very lonely, very much lost child who had clinged to the first hand that offered aid and companionship.

She would die alone, without anyone ever even caring about what became of her. She would die and be forgotten, just like her clan...

Such a painful realization that was, the tears running down her cheeks were no longer that of fear, but also regret and sadness that her life had amounted to nothing.

The bear roared, raising its claws to maul her. And Karin braced for the end.

A shock flashed through her nerves like lightning, heralding the coming of another new and potent chakra signature.

"PISS! OFF!" Shouted as a yellow blur that descended upon the bear's head. A leg shrouded on what appeared to be crystal landed in the middle of the bear's eyes, shattering on impact and sending the great beast backwards, its body plummeted to the ground, sending strong tremors as consciousness left its massive form.

Karin could only gawk in stupor as her savior landed in front of him. Blonde with spiky hair, tanned skin, whisker-like marks on his face, deep blue eyes that stared curiously at her.

"Hey, hey, you okay?" He asked

The redhead nodded numbly, the chakra coming off from him...

He smiled brightly; "Good! Careful around here, the animals in the forest are huge! Heh, don't need to tell you that though"

...it was so bright. Cheerful and happy, warm and comforting, like the gentle rays of the sun. A world of difference from Orochimaru's dark and cold chakra.

Then she felt the giant mass of pure raw power deep inside him, so vast and alive, and the rage that came with it.

Karin shivered despite herself. Could he be... Konoha's jinchuuriki?

The blond gave a mournful glance to the redhead's teammates; "Sorry about those guys." he looks back to the girl; "You can get back to one of the gates okay?"

"UZUMAKI!" Karui and Kouhei both yelled. "You done playing hero? We got a schedule!" the redhead Kumo Kunoichi finished.

Naruto glared up back to the trees, not noticing the stare from the redhead in front of him; "GOT IT!" He sighs before turning back giving the thumbs up, "Stay safe!" Like a blur the blond was back up into the trees and was gone.

Uzumaki... Her heart skipped, they called him Uzumaki...

'Wait a minute... Uzumaki are redheads, mom told me that... but' Karin felt his chakra. And it was as large as hers or her late mother's. And it didn't feel like it was byproduct of being Jinchuuriki. No, that kind of chakra came naturally from him.

Was that blond boy truly an Uzumaki? Then... she couldn't stop the smile forming on her face. She wasn't alone anymore! But her joy soon froze as she remembered who's side was she on.

Orochimaru... Did he know? Oh course he knew there was just no way he didn't. He purposely must have kept that information from her. The kindly man who had offered her a place to belong didn't exist anymore, only the cruel and sadistic monster that performed those painful experiments on her remained. Her days with Oto were filled with gloom and loneliness, yet she had remained as she felt that 'purpose' Orochimaru gave her was the only thing she had left in her life.

But... there were Uzumaki here weren't they? At least there had been. And now that boy... Could she truly-?

Karin shook her head. Oh just entertaining those thoughts was too dangerous. Listen to yourself Karin, betraying Orochimaru? That was a death sentence. The snake sannin did not suffer traitors.

But if she promised information in exchange for protection then her odds of survival would drastically increase. She didn't know much of Orochimaru's plans for the exams, having been assigned here merely as a supporting role to the Sound team. But she knew the location of some of his bases, something Konoha would be very interested in.

Still, the risk was too great. Could she actually do it? She didn't hold any love for Orochimaru, and the chance at meeting a possible descendant of her clan, something her parents dearly wished for her... that kind of chances didn't present themselves often.

Karin wasn't sure if what course of action to take yet, but she began formulating plans on what to do if she choose to take on this opportunity presented to her

XxX ~xx ~ XxX

Step by step she ascended to the temple; her black red lined kimono billowed gently with the breeze of the open aired structure. Every clear cut brick, every piece of masonry, from the tiles on the walls, to the archway which leads into the central chamber and the large pediments atop the entrances were carved to the finest detail, depicting a myriad of beings, events and people prominent in history.

The central chamber stood at the center of the temple, in the middle of carefully maintained garden, shaped like a kiln with four entrances built in the four cardinal directions and no roof, as so the sun and moon could shine inside it.

The interior walls were carved with as much care and detail as was every other section of the temple. This one contained carvings that held much significance to the people of their nation, with giants of multiple arms and heads as they performed the arts, the proper religious practices, and shed blood gloriously in an ancient conflict.

The woman, of pale alabaster skin and ebony locks styled in a hime cut, stopped by the north entrance as her red eyes settled upon the hunchback cloaked figure tracing symbols and figures upon a pool of sand in the middle of the central chamber.

"I was informed you had a vision, is it true o' old one?" She said with reverence, her tone rich and regal, and her voice musical and soft.

The hunchback figure did not turn to see her, merely replied. "It depends" He asked; "Are you ready to accept it? For when I tell you, there will be no going back"

There was no hesitation in her voice. "I am"

The cloaked man continued tracing on the sand. "You once asked me if I could see a prosperous future for our people. There is a chance… and fates indicate it rests on the shoulder of those who bear Rama's Will"

The woman stilled. "It lives on, after so long?"

"Oh indeed, in those who can smile in the face of overwhelming odds, whose true colors shine when all is dark and their presence gives way to light" He finished his tracing and shakily stood back, supporting himself on his staff. "You will find such will alive… among the village of leaves"

The woman stepped forward, looking at the symbols on the sand. An intricate leaf inside a flame.

The Hidden Leaf Village, the shinobi force of the Land of Fire.

A ninja? Was it truly possible?

She frowned; "What will this inheritor do?"

"Help decide if our kind can share this world with them… or if we are to be destroyed"

The ultimatum made her turn her head sharply, fear and apprehension clear in her red gaze. "Are you sure? Then this means we can no longer hide so even if we tried…"

"Everything changes eventually; such is the way of things… There is a great darkness coming, a conflict that will engulf the entire world. We must do our part, for our actions too will help decide the outcome, for our people, and for many others"

His words concerned her, greatly. If he spoke the truth then isolation would no longer be an option. "…What if your Sight is wrong, and this heir proves to be our destruction? What if there is no chance of a future?"

A wrinkly hand took a hold of his hood, and pulled it back to reveal a fabric covering his empty eye sockets.

"I see much ever since I gave up my gaze… It is true that one path might lead to ruin, but hope yet remains, my lady"

"…Then I will trust your words" With a swift turn she made to leave the premises. "I go for Konoha, alone, to judge this for myself. And pray the ancestors guide us in the coming days"

The blind man bowed as much as he could. "Gods guide you, Queen Kuroreimei"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin pays a visit to your village. Oh yeah, he puts a weird hickey seal on your teammate which also drove him a little crazy. Also tried to do the same to you, never mind the fact we found out you're Minato Namikaze's son. Possibly also being the Red Death, Kushina Uzumaki's son, this would make you an actual member of the Uzumaki clan. These key factors which would require speaking to your Kage immediately to verify these potential facts, something that any other people would want to do as fast as possible… And you decide to save some random ass girl not even from your village," Kouhei's snarkiness was almost palpable as he spoke nonchalantly.

Karui also put her two cents; "Never mind hebi-teme might still be lurking around along with the massive carnivorous animals that want to kill and eat us too. I'm just throwing it out there, hun."

"SHE WAS GOING TO BE EATEN BY A MASSIVE BEAR, DID YOU WANT ME TO WATCH YOU ASSHOLES!?"

"Well not watch per say, but we have more pressing priorities. So… Yeah should have just let her die," Omoi spoke back calmly with Kumo's strong military doctrine repeating in his mind.

"You guys are just heartless bastards aren't ya?!"

"We're shinobi. It's called 'being pragmatic'"

Sakura and Haku both sigh as their unique motley crew journeys for the center tower within the Forest of Death. In the back of the rosette's mind becoming a Chunin was shelved at the moment given the chaotic events of the past few days.

The Chunin Exams were a stressing matter in and of itself, but add the factors of these crazy days it was like her entire world had been turn around its head. Between the competing foreign teams, the constant life or death situation (even more than what happened in Wave...) a freaking SANNIN of all people attacking them, how they even managed to survive was a miracle. Orochimaru must have been feeling merciful... though she doubted it, considering the stories she heard about him.

Sakura casted one worried gaze at Sasuke, namely at his neck. Or perhaps it was whatever Orochimaru had done to him that made decide too spare them. Was her teammate Orochimaru's new experiment? She shuddered at the thought

Another big point of these trials had been the revelations.

Naruto's status as a Jinchuuriki... his parentage. She couldn't even behind to guess the racing distraught thoughts that had to swarming his mind at this very moment.

'Whether or not Naruto is an actual Uzumaki he still has us. I just hope Hokage-Sama can give him some much needed answers.'

"Hey I see something," the rosette was taken out of her thoughts as Yugito spoke up.

Everyone took a large collective sigh upon seeing the sole man-made structure in this hellhole of a training zone. Near one of the larger rivers in the zone, the tower itself was a massive pagoda painted red with tan roofing for each floor.

"About damn time," Karui muttered as they all land on solid ground at the Tower's base. "And we have a few days to ourselves and catch our breathe."

Which was true, having only spent two days in the dangerous forest, it gave them all three days of free-time.

Naruto made his way over to Haku and Yugito; "Thank you, again."

Haku gave a light polite bow; "It was our pleasure" Chojuru gave them a nervous nod while Kouhei just gave them a thumbs up.

"Hey, not a problem Uzumaki" Yugito gave him a cat-like smirk. "We probably gonna end up having to fight each other one day" She raised her hand for him to grasp it. "Ain't any reason for use to be bitter about it"

Surprised at her attitude and invitation, Naruto quickly replied with a grin of his own and grasped her hand in firm hold. "I really hope that if we fight, it's not because our villages are acting stupid. I wanna see what you're made of in the arena"

"Heh! You're gonna regret that" The handshake tightened ever so slightly. "I'd wipe the floor with you"

Blue eyes sharpened, his tone gained a competitive. "Oh yeah?" Their hands began to tremble as the two put more strength into their grasp.

"Yeah" Yugito returned the same edge in her voice.

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

By now their arms were shaking visibly with how much strength they were putting into their handshake, one could imagine the sparks flying in between their locked gaze.

Matatabi let out a long tired sighed; "Kids these days..."

Tenten only sweatdrop at the scene; 'Still saner than what I normally deal with'

Neji only rolled his eyes while Sasuke grunts; "if you're done flirting dobe, can we finish this part of the exam so I can get looked at?"

"OH SHUT UP!" Both blond roar back at the Uchiha, blushing.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Saying their farewells, each team went through a different pair of large double doors into a spacious room with words carved on one wall. Kouhei gave only a dry look to the words while Chojuru cleaned his glasses beside him. "Really, some dumb riddle a five year old could solve?"

Haku stretched her arms; "Would you rather face Orochimaru again?" Her teammate turned several shades white, giving the Hyoton user her answer.

Putting his glasses back on, the shy swordsman looked to Haku; "D-Do we tell Mizukage-Sama about N-Naruto-San?"

"No," the brunette responded flatly; "I won't put Naruto-Kun's life in anymore danger than it is being a ninja. He does not need a bullseye on his back."

"Are you nuts?" Kouhei spoke up incredulously; "I get you like the guy, but Mizukage-sama has to know who Naruto's father is, along with his Jinchuuriki status. You don't let that kind of information on the back burner. That's ground for treason Haku."

"Then mine are the consequences" Her tone left no room for argument.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Solving the riddle was simple enough, the scrolls held a summoning array when overlapped. They needed inform any superior about Sasuke's mark, what Orochimaru had to him, urgently.

"Hope it's Kakashi-sensei, he'll know what to do" Naruto said with certainty.

"They'll inform the Hokage regardless, it's he who needs to know as fast as possible" Sakura replied. It involved his student after all, if anyone had any idea what was going on than it'd be their leader.

Sasuke grunted, placing a hand over his mark in mild distress. He wanted this cursed thing out of him; "Let's not waste time"

Sharing a nod with his teammates, Naruto stepped forward with the scrolls and positioned them so the arrays would fit. A soft application of chakra signaled the other end activated them.

A plume of smoke burst-ed from them, and to their surprise it was their academy teacher, Iruka Umino, who appeared forth. He looked at them with that kind smile he often have them when they were younger. "I'm so happy to see you three made it forth. I can see it wasn't easy for you but-"

"Sensei!" Sakura cut him off and took a step forward with urgency in her voice. "Orochimaru attacked us in the forest"

His breath caught in his throat, and the color quickly left his face. "W-What?!"

"He gave Sasuke some sort of... weird seal!" Naruto added with distress, remembering how their teammate had lashed out at them.

Sasuke showed the academy teacher the evidence, tugging at his collar to better display the seal on his neck.

A shallow gasp escaped Iruka's lips, they saw the sheer worry and horror written on his face as clear as day.

The chunin managed to regain his bearings and quickly instructed them with the authority a teacher possessed; "Stay here, I'll be right back!" His hands formed a seal and he disappeared with the same burst of smoke he had materialized with.

It wasn't long before Iruka reappeared with Hiruzen in tow, his expression grave; "Show me," the Hokage ordered, not beating around the bush.

Upon showing the mark Orochimaru placed on his shoulder the Sandaime spoke sternly; "We need to seal this off immediately."

"Jiji," Hiruzen glanced over to Naruto; "After you help Sasuke, I need to talk to you."

The Hokage nodded before placing his hand on Sasuke's other shoulder and vanishing via shunshin. Iruka only sighed rubbing his brow; "Why did he come back now?"

"Orochimaru is after Sasuke, and Naruto," Sakura quietly spoke up making the scar chunin sharply look at her and then to Naruto.

"I'm okay he didn't get me."

Relief washed over Iruka before noticing how quiet his former student was; "What's wrong?"

Cerulean eyes stared up at him with a myriad of mixed emotions. "I..." Should he tell him? Iruka-sensei was to be trusted after all, he could always count on him when he was feeling down. But... could he? It was all still very overwhelming, part of him didn't even believe it despite evidence to the contrary. That he was the Yondaime's son...

Letting out a long breath, he finally said; "It's complicated. I uh, I found out some things in the forest" His gaze became downcast, falling to the floor. "Currently processing it"

Iruka knelt down, gently placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked with genuine concern.

"Think I will be"

"Well, when you feel ready to talk you know where to find me" He smiled at the boy. "And then, I'll treat you to Ichiraku, does that sound good?"

Naruto slowly smiled; "You got it."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

With his shirt off, Sasuke sat quietly as the Hokage, joined now by Kakashi, examine Orochimaru's seal. "Naruto looked this over for you?" the silver haired Jounin asked.

"Yeah, said I couldn't use jutsu or mold chakra without risking further exposure to the seal. But he couldn't seal it himself."

"His skills aren't advanced enough for something like this," Hiruzen said critically, looking at every detail of the seal. "Before that you say you heard a voice?"

"Yes, told me to gain more power, and kill anyone in my way," The Uchiha stared at the ground, "I attacked Naruto because of that damn thing. Can you get rid of it Hokage-sama?"

The wizened Kage made a guttural sound as he stroked his beard. "Not fully, I'm afraid" Those words sent any hope Sasuke have crashing down. "But, I can suppress its effects via sealing. Limit its influence, and allow you to use jutsu and mold chakra again without risk of the cursed seal's chakra infecting"

"Is it really the option?" Limiting its influence and returning to him his abilities sounded great, but he didn't feel comfortable with that seal being stuck on his neck.

Kakashi jauntily supplied; "We could gouge out the flesh around the seal, removing all infected chakra points"

"...Sealing it is then" Sasuke said in defeated acceptance.

The Hokage patted his shoulder. "Try to remain calm my boy, this will hurt"

He let out a humorless laugh. "I'm used to pain by now"

"If that makes you feel better"

Sasuke felt the Hokage's hand seal, chakra humming through his fingers and into him. The young Uchiha felt an unpleasant pressure built up but it was anything-

Oh gods, the pain! He wailed loudly as he felt the searing hot burning of flames and electricity mixed into one coursing from his neck and over his body, almost like someone was pressing a soldering iron into his neck while spilling boiling water on him.

The Hokage's face was one of grizzled determination as he finished the final touches to the counter-seal, the matrix was in place, sealing off the infection area of the cursed mark. "Seal!"

An array of kanji appeared around the three tomoe, the letters quickly shining before turning invisible. The curse mark remained, but now it was inert.

The pain stopped, but the sensations lingered for a moment. Sasuke gasped as he placed a trembling hand over his neck.

"It is done" The Hokage informed him. "That should keep the cursed mark at bay"

"Relax, Sasuke. Breath" His sensei advised him. "Slowly"

The young Uchiha slowly reigned in his breathing, the rising and falling of his chest becoming less irregular by the moment as he regained his bearings, the pain slowly vanishing. After a few more slow intakes of air, Sasuke could sigh in relief. "Thank you my lord" He said in respectful gratitude to the elder Kage

Sasuke watched in confusion as the Hokage's face become a touch melancholic. "You own me nothing, my boy" Even his tone was heavy.

It was odd, but Sasuke didn't give it much thought as he put on his shirt again.

Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder. "You should go with Sakura and Naruto. Get some rest before the debriefing for the next part of the exam starts"

Sasuke nodded, the thought of his teammates making him remember the events that had transpired in the forest. He struggled for a moment to find the right words before looking at the village leader in the face. "Naruto knows the truth about his father, Hokage-sama"

His sensei let out a soft gasp of shock, his visible eye widening.

Hiruzen, despite the slight show of emotion he had displayed early, managed to remain stoic in the face of this news.

"...Indeed?" Was the only thing he said.

Sasuke nodded in reply. "Yes. It is none of my business, but I believe you must talk with him"

Slowly, the Hokage exhaled. "Yes... Yes I believe it has been a long time coming"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Both Sakura and Naruto were ecstatic to find a room designated for their team with three beds and a bathroom. The blond planted himself face first into one of the mattresses eliciting a giggle from his female teammate.

The rosette sat down beside him; "Interesting few days huh?"

Naruto snorted before shifting to lie on his back. His cerulean stares up at the ceiling; "Are you... really okay about me? Being Jinchuuriki and all?" His questions was met with a flick to the forehead; "OW!"

The rosette gave the blond a dry gaze; "Baka," Sakura's voice was quiet as she looked him in the eyes; "I meant every word. It doesn't matter if you're the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Your my friend and teammate. Maybe future Godaime Hokage if you stop being so wishy washy," Sakura said as she cheekily grinned.

The blond glared till both began laughing.

Their laughter was cut short by the sound of the door opening, revealing their teammate standing on the door-frame, the Hokage standing behind him with a carefully guarded expression on his face.

Naruto and Sakura bolted to their feet as ran straight to the Uchiha, stopping to an almost screeching halt. "So, are you okay?" Naruto rapidly asked, getting too close to Sasuke's personal space for his liking. "You won't go all murdery again?"

Sasuke scowled; "Only if you don't back away"

Sakura sighed, partly in relief and partly frustrated at their antics. "He's fine."

As the Uchiha moved passed his team to sit one of the beds, Naruto turned back to Hiruzen; "Before we talk just tell me. Please Jiji, am I actually member of the Uzumaki clan?"

Both Sakura and Sasuke watched the stony expression of the Hokage who was silent for a minute before sighing; "Yes... You are the son of Kushina Uzumaki." The blond narrowed his eyes as both his teammates looked wide eyed. "I will speak to you two later on keeping the matter silent. For now I must speak privately to Naruto."

Before either could respond the Hokage and Naruto had vanished.

XxX ~ Naruto and Hiruzen ~ XxX

Appearing in Sarutobi's personal office in the tower, the blond saw it looked like his Jiji's office in the Hokage Tower, but honestly he couldn't be bothered with such details at the moment. Going to his desk Hiruzen activated the barrier and silence seals in the room. Moving over to the one couch of the room the Kage sat and looked over to his surrogate grandson.

"Go ahead Naruto-kun."

"I have a clan and you never told me. Why?" the blond spoke in a mixture of pain and rage.

"For your protection. During the third Shinobi War your mother carved her legend into Iwa and Kumo. Kushina was extremely respected and feared with her prowess as a brilliant Kenjutsu, Taijutsu, and Fūinjutsu master. She also had a rare form of chakra where she could create actual solid chains from her energy. Something unique to the Uzumaki."

"You didn't answer my question." Inwardly, he was in awe by his mother's skills.

"During the Second War, your clan was nearly destroyed by a joint attack from Iwa and Kumo. They deeply feared you clan's power. And so when our forces were at our weakest they attacked. Kushina was blessedly in Konoha weeks before the attack. I feared if people knew you were of direct line of the Uzumaki and the Uzukages they would use you for their own ends. You would have been a target"

"I'm a target anyway…" Naruto muttered. He was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, something that wasn't a secret anymore. "Just because of the damn fox"

"Hey I'm not a fan of this either" Naruto ignored his tenant's words that were filled with annoyance.

"Had everything gone according to plan, you never would have been" The Sandaime sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You mother… She was the previous Jinchuuriki"

Blue eyes snapped open in shock. "What" His response was flat, barely even in a questioning tone.

"That is why she came to Konoha" Hiruzen explained. "She was the most ideal candidate"

"But… I don't get it" Naruto shock his head, a million thoughts running through his mind. "Then how did the Kyuubi get loose?"

"A female Jinchuuriki's pregnancy is not ordinary. The child feeds upon the chakra from the seal, which adds one more month and causes it to weaken immensely upon childbirth"

If he got chakra from the seal, from the fox, then that explained why he got those whisker marks, but… "Didn't you have measures in place?"

The Hokage's gaze was as dry as sand. "Do you think we're stupid my boy? Of course we did. She was taken to give birth on a special location. Surrounded my multiple-layered seals, dozens of ANBU, my own wife taking care of the delivery, the Yondaime himself keeping the seal stable"

"…He was my dad wasn't he?"

At this point, Hiruzen didn't question how Naruto came to know of it. "…Yes"

Naruto's eyes shut tightly, willing himself to not let the tears spill. "Why did he choose me?" He should have known how hard all of this would have been, shouldn't he? What kind of father submitted his son to that kind of fate?

He looked up when he felt a hand upon his shoulder, and saw Hiruzen looking at him with that comforting gaze he always gave him. "Because there was no choice… and a father trusts his son with such responsibility"

"…What happened?"

Hiruzen made a throaty sound; "A question I haven't stopped asking myself after all these years. The best we can tell is that someone interfered, beyond that we have no evidence to make a reasonable theory" He left it at that.

His father… Minato Namikaze was his father, but he was also shinobi, he was also the Hokage. His duty was more than to just him, it was to the entire village.

Could he himself have done the same had he been on his father's shoes? He didn't know the answer, wasn't sure he wanted to know even. So for now, he let the matter drop, he didn't know how to deal with it right now.

Hiruzen sighed. "How did you find out?"

"It's… part of it is hard to explain" He sniffled, rubbing his nose against his arm. "Back in the Forest we figured it out just by piecing things together. It also helps that I'm basically a carbon copy of my… my dad" It felt odd saying that. "Funny how a lot of people can't see that" He bitterly said.

"Oh don't be surprised my boy. People can't see what they don't want to see, even when it's right in front of their face" The Hokage spoke wisely. "You yourself never noticed either because in no way you could compare yourself with the Yondaime am I wrong?"

No, no he was not, Naruto had to admit.

"But that must not be the hard part you meant" Hiruzen noted. "What else tipped you off?"

"I… had a dream where I saw them, I don't know how or why but… I think it was before they died"

The Sandaime's analytical mind immediately began processing that. "Hmm, strange…"

"Were those memories?"

"From you? Please Naruto, you must have been barely an hour old. Babes don't even have pattern recognition at that point, much less the capacity to form memories that just pop out as dreams. It's absurd"

It did sound pretty dumb when he said it like that.

"Hmm" He stroked his beard in thought. "To have such developed memories… They're clearly not yours. The closest answer I can come up with is that it must be residual chakra implanted to you by your parents when they formed the seal, their own memories of that even imprinted into it"

"Can that even work?" He didn't know the mechanics behind such chakra that it could share memories. That was something new for him.

"Chakra works in a lot of ways Naruto. From my studies with the Yamanaka it is not outside the realm of possibility."

His eyes fell to the floor. "It felt… like they loved me"

Hiruzen's arm wrapped around his shoulder. "They did Naruto, gods know they did"

It was… actually very comforting to know that. To know that his parents loved him to the point they gave up their lives for him. He had received love the moment he was born; he wasn't some child nobody had abandoned to fend for his own. He was Naruto, son of Kushina and Minato, two parents who loved their child more than anything else in the world.

He could cling to that feeling, that happiness.

"I… I wish I had something to remember them by"

"You have an inheritance to claim, Naruto" The Hokage said gently. "I was waiting for the day you'd be ready for it… And I think that day has come. In fact" He searched through his robes and pulled out a miniaturized scroll, a single hand seal and it returned to normal. Now that Naruto could look at it better he saw it was green and had a golden lining. "I've been carrying this around for years. Among the items recovered from the scene of the event years ago, we found this scroll with the only instructions being; 'Open it' they had been written hastily, like the one who did it was under great stress. He suspected it was Kushina. "Despite my best efforts I just couldn't open the damn thing"

Naruto tilted his head as he looked at it. "And why couldn't you?"

"It has a blood lock matrix, only someone of the same blood as the one who used it can open it. There is a fifty-fifty chance it is Minato's or Kushina's blood that is required. An Uzumaki or a Namikaze"

He pieced things together. "You need me to unlock it"

"Well…" The Sandaime rubbed his neck. "That's the thing. You're both Namikaze and Uzumaki, there's the chance the seal won't recognize your mixed blood and collapse, destroying the contents inside"

"Oh" Naruto's eyes widened. Yeah, that was a big risk. And yet… "I want to try"

Hiruzen looked at him with apprehension. "Are you completely sure?"

"If there is something my parents left me, then yes. I think it's worth the risk"

The Hokage soon smiled in that grandfatherly way of his, he leaned close and whispered with an undeniable touch of mirth to his voice. "Let's open it shall we?"

Naruto couldn't keep the smile from splitting his smile, and eager stood up alongside the Sandaime who placed the scroll on the floor.

"How do we do this?" He was nearly bouncing on his feet, he was just too excited!

"Smear some of your blood on the seal. That should open it"

A quick bite on his thumb cut the skin and allowed blood to flow freely. He knelt down and carefully placed his hand upon the scroll, pouring chakra into it as he cried out; "Release!"

And then… nothing happened.

"Huh…" Hiruzen huffed. "That was anti-climactic"

Naruto's shoulders sagged, apparently it didn't work. "Bummer…"

Then, the scroll exploded with a huge release of chakra.

Furniture was turned over, books fell from their shelves, and the two occupants of the room were thrown back to the floor due to the violent shock-wave. Bright light illuminated the room.

"Woah!" Naruto cried out. "What's this?!" The light was too intense for him to see.

"I don't know!" Hiruzen shouted amidst the sudden chaos. "Stay close my boy!" He reached out to Naruto with the intent to shield him from whatever was happening.

The chakra in the air was so dense and intense any sensor within the vicinity must have felt it. No doubt the ANBU were already on their way. The chakra began to coalesce into human shape, the brightness of the room dimming as though the figure was drawing in all the light. Bones, organs, muscle, skin, nails, hair, and the chakra was becoming physical, giving form and life to something… or rather someone.

Then, as abruptly as it started, it was over.

Naruto and Hiruzen, still shielding their eyes, heard a dry 'THUD'. As if a heavy object had suddenly hit the floor. Slowly, they turned to see the result of such chaotic maelstrom of energy… and felt their souls leave their bodies at the sight before them.

Sprawled on the ground was a woman, bare of any clothing, but the fact that had her front to the floor and her long red locks were covering most of her figure hid any indecency. Her back rose and fell in quick succession, ragged breathes escaped her mouth as though she had trouble breathing. Shakily raising her head, violet eyes stared at the first person she could see.

A trembling hand tried to reach for him.

"Na…ruto…"

The hand fell to the ground as the woman passed out.

Naruto and Hiruzen were white, the color having drained from their faces. They had seen this woman before, though the circumstances were different. Hiruzen knew her for many, many years

Naruto had only seen her in dreams.

"…Mom?"

Hiruzen's eyes quivered. This wasn't possibly… This wasn't possible…

The ANBU burst into the office, no doubt drawn in by the burst of chakra. "Hokage-sama!" Neko was the first to speak, having already drawn her blade. "Are you alright?! What's the situa-?!"

The moment she saw the third figure in the room, her blade fell from her hands.

"Is that-?"

"No… No it can't be…"

The ANBU muttered among themselves.

Hiruzen fought hard to regain his composure. Analyze, prioritize, and react. Those were the words Tobirama-sensei had drilled into his head.

"Kushina…"

The woman before them was Kushina Uzumaki.

Alive.

Kushina was here, in front of him. ALIVE.

He quickly got to his feet. "Take her to the medical bay with utmost secrecy!" He ordered. "We don't know what we're dealing with here!"

The ANBU, being the elites they were, were quick to break out of their stupor and carry out his command. Neko was the first to move, placing her cloak around the redheaded woman while her comrades aided in moving her.

When she was taken out of the room, Hiruzen knelt before the broken pieces of the scroll. He took one look at the fragments of the array and gob smacked by the sheer complexity of them…

He recognized this work anywhere. There was no doubt in Hiruzen's mind what this scroll was, and WHO had made it.

Sharply turning to the young genin, he saw the poor boy was stunned beyond belief, frozen in place. He couldn't even move.

The Hokage gently grabbed his hands; blue eyes slowly looked at him. "Come with me, Naruto. I don't know what's going on… But I know you need to be present for it"

XxX ~ Forest of Death Tower Medical Facilities – Secure Location ~ XxX

An entire wing of the medical bay had been sealed off. ANBU stood guard, keeping a tight perimeter as the elite medics had been brought in to perform a full inspection upon the woman. Hiruzen hoped dearly that it was truly Kushina. He hoped that somehow she had survived that tragic night… but the ninja in him knew better than to have such expectations.

But the scroll in his hands, or rather the fragments of it...

He had sent an order to postpone the next stage of the exam under the excuse that they were currently conducting all their efforts into searching for Orochimaru, the snake sannin had caused plenty of casualties among the various shinobi from different villages, and struck terror into the genin who were fortunate enough to have seen him and lived to tell about it. Nobody would raise any question with a threat such as him running about. It wasn't an outright lie; he had plenty of ANBU searching the forest and the village for him. So for now, the prelims would be momentarily delayed. It served them that they were just a couple of days from now, with some fortune they wouldn't prolong too much.

A raccoon masked ANBU appeared next to him as though materializing from thin air. "We've opened her grave as you ordered my lord"

"And?"

"There was nothing there. But it was filled with dried blood"

Hiruzen's eyes widened in realization; "A blood clone… We buried a blood clone" Such type of clone was useful to fake a corpse, but only for a short time until they run out of chakra. It could also be solid enough to be wounded and not dispel like other clones, though it shared the weaknesses of a human body. It was the clone that had helped shield Naruto from the Kyuubi's claw.

He was already formulating a theory of what had happened that night. But they need to wait for Kushina to wake up first. Casting one eye at Naruto, he saw the young man was facing a myriad of emotions. The old Hokage couldn't blame him; this was just too much for the boy. He'd be in the same situation if his own late daughter or his wife suddenly returned out of nowhere. So all he could do now was keep the boy company as they both waited outside the room Kushina was being tended by the medics.

The young Jinchuuriki fought hard to keep his breathing even. His mother was here, his mother was alive. He could hardly believe it, part of him thought it was just a dream… but it felt too real. There was no way this was just a fantasy brought by his imagination.

He should feel happy, and he did really. But the chaotic nature of this situation and the stress it brought made it difficult to focus on positive thoughts. So instead he'd wait for his mother to see him, if he could just talk to her he'd know everything would be alright…

A burst of smoke appeared right next to him, and Naruto saw Kakashi looking more alarmed than he had ever seen him. There was a look in his eye the young genin had never seen before, desperation mixed in with hesitant hope.

"Hokage-sama, Naruto" He spoke with a strained voice. "Is it true?" No doubt Jiji had sent for him.

The Hokage sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We're trying to confirm it, but… all evidence so far seems to point it is true. The person inside that room is indeed Kushina"

Kakashi's breath was caught in his throat. "Oh my gods…"

Naruto looked at his sensei, wanting to ask him-

A sudden crashing sound alerted everyone. It came from the room his mother was in.

A medic burst out of the door, a panic expression clear on his face as they caught glimpses of struggle behind him. "Hokage-sama, the patient is awake but she's attacking everyone!"

Hiruzen and Kakashi immediately tensed for action, their experience making them rationalize what was happening. Kushina had just woken up after a traumatic experience, giving birth to Naruto, the Kyuubi extracted from her, she was confused and running on adrenaline, which made her lash out against everything she perceived as a threat. That is to say everyone in her vicinity.

The Hokage and Jonin sprinted quickly towards the room, Naruto followed soon after but wasn't fast enough to arrive when they did. The two older shinobi saw Kushina, dressed in a medical gown, being restrained by several ANBU.

Well, the ANBU were trying to restrain her rather. Someone of Kushina's strength running high on adrenaline was as easy to restrain as a bear. A mother bear looking for her cub most likely.

"Kushina-dono you need to calm down!" One ANBU, one that spoke with a certain familiarity with her tried to calm her. He stood behind her; his arms were under her armpits as the sneaked their way behind her head in a hold.

Neko was holding her left arm; "Sensei! It's us, you're in Konoha!"

But Kushina would not listen, her wild eyes caught size of a medic approaching her with a needle, an upward kick snatched the object from his hands and a strong tug on her part release her arm from an ANBU's hold, the grabbed the needle from midair and stabbed at the ANBU behind her right on the thigh, injecting into him whatever sedative they were going to give her.

The effect was swift; he lost his strength and stumbled back, releasing the Uzumaki. Kushina let go of the needle and lashed out with her arm at the ANBU on her right, the blow was strong enough to send him stumbling to the floor. She then quickly took hold of Neko's arms; kicking her feet and making her lose her balance. She was lifted from the ground as Kushina threw her over her shoulder in a throw; her body collided painfully against the floor.

Naruto was honestly frightened at the ferocity displayed by his mother. He started to understand what Shikamaru was always complaining so much about…

Kakashi was in the middle of pulling up his headband to reveal his Sharingan, but in a burst of movement that even he had trouble keeping up with; the Sandaime had cleared the distance between them and Kushina.

He quickly grabbed her arm and twisted it, forcing her to her knees. She cried out violently in defiance even as he pressed his palm against her head.

"CALM. DOWN." The words felt unnatural, a tinge of chakra filled the air around him. It was soon clear to Naruto and Kakashi what he did; A genjutsu, one that was apparently calming the nerves of the redheaded woman.

Her ragged breathing began stabilizing, her pupils dilated and constricted before settling into a regular size. Kushina's rage filled expression slowly morphed into a stunned one, her thoughts slowed down, allowing her to better perceive her surroundings and identify who these people were.

"…Old man?" She whispered.

"It's alright" Hiruzen softly replied, slowly letting go of her arm. "You're safe"

She breathed deeply, calming herself as she remained knelt on the ground. "Safe? I'm… Where is… Where is my baby?"

Hiruzen did not reply; he merely turned his gaze towards Naruto who stood by the door. Kushina followed it and chocked on a breath as he saw the young boy. Naruto gulped, feeling an overwhelming nervousness wrecking inside him.

"…Naruto?" The older Uzumaki muttered. "No… No you can't be him. He's just… He's just a baby"

The boy remained frozen in the spot; it took a soft push by Kakashi to motivate him into moving. He slowly approached his… his mother until they were face to face.

"It's… you. It really is you" Her eyes quivered. "How long has it been…?"

Hiruzen answered her. "You've been gone for twelve years"

A sob escaped her lips. "Twelve… Twelve years?!" Tears fell down her cheeks. "Oh Minato, I'm sorry" She looked at her son with great regret. "I'm so sorry!"

Naruto wasn't sure he understood what she apologizing for, but he didn't care, the moment his mother placed her arms around him nothing mattered anymore. He merely hugged her back, eyes leaking tears as they took comfort in each other, finally reunited after so long. Feeling his mother's embrace… it was the most wonderful feeling he had ever experienced.

XxX ~ XxX ~ XxX

He didn't know how much time it passed when they embraced, but eventually they both let go and Kushina was guided towards the bed, where she now rested. They had a lot of questions after all, and now that she was in her right mind she could perhaps provide the answers.

But first, they needed to ease her into her current situation.

"Oh my gods" Kushina groaned out into her hands. "Twelve years… Has it really been twelve years? Scratch that" She sighed as she looked at the occupants in her room, Yugao, Kakashi, Hiruzen, and most of all, her son. "Looking at you guys it's obvious time passed, I just… I never thought I'd be in that scroll for so long"

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked with concern.

Kushina smiled warmly at him, placing a hand atop his head. "I'll be fine; I just need a moment to take it all in. Oh jeez, it feels like I time-traveled…"

"Sensei" It now just dawned on Naruto that Neko, now bereft of her mask, was calling his own mother 'sensei'. But that wasn't important right now. "How did you survive?"

Kushina rubbed her neck in a manner Naruto himself often did; "I took a big gamble"

"Hmph, I'd say" Hiruzen replied. He pulled out the broken scrolls pieces from his robes. "You used this, didn't you?"

The Uzumaki hissed as she saw the remains. "Yikes, it really was a one-time use thing"

"What's that?" Naruto curiously asked as he looked at the scroll fragments.

"I share his confusion" Kakashi added. "I've never seen a scroll like this in my life"

It was not Kushina that answered them, but Hiruzen, proving why he was called 'The Professor'. "The Tenrai Suimin"

"'Divine Sleep'?" Yugao repeated in confusion as her eyes narrowed.

"One of the biggest works done by a member of my clan" Kushina clarified. "Tsukiko Uzumaki"

"Who?" Naruto frowned.

Kushina snorted; "Only the biggest badass woman that's ever lived. Master of seals so great they actually called her the 'Goddess of Fūinjutsu'. This was gonna be one of her biggest works, a scroll that could save someone from the brink of death"

"Amazing" Kakashi was sincerely awed. "How does it the work? The sheer complexity of it…"

"Supposedly it stores the user inside and reforms the body to the point of optimal health, erasing diseases and healing wounds. No matter how grave" Kushina paused. "At least, that's what Tsukiko-baachan intended. She said the thing was incomplete and she never had the chance to test it on a person. Not to mention the chakra requirement for thing is ungodly, she spent years gathering chakra to power it. And it's still incomplete; she deemed it a failure and gave it to me with the explicit instructions of only using it when I have no other choice"

"I must agree with Tsukiko-dono" The Hokage said as he inspected one of the broken pieces. "No timer-release mechanism, nothing to prompt its release once the user is healed. The already highly complex array doesn't leave room to implement something anything like that. You could have been trapped inside of it for eternity" He sighed. "You were damn lucky, girl. Your vague instructions didn't help"

"Oh I'm so sooooorry" The sarcasm in her voice was palatable. "I would have been clearer about it, but you know, I just had pushed another human out of me and had a fucking Biju ripped out from my very being… You'll forgive me if I wasn't in my right mind at the time"

The four sweatdropped. Well they couldn't deny the circumstances weren't favorable for one to act rationally.

"Annnnnd she's back" Naruto blinked as the fox drawled inside his mind. "At least I'm not riddled with spikes inside of her again. And I don't have to deal with her anymore. So that's a positive… as far as positive my current situation can be"

"Hey, you tried to kill me. You don't really have the moral high ground here" The young genin irritably shot back out loud, much to the confusion of the others.

Kushina understood what was going on, and it brought a sense of shame and regret. She pushed it down for the moment. "Talking to the fox?" Naruto nodded. "Yeah, he's an ass… Hey fox!" She glared, as though she was actually glaring at the Biju. "Still alive, bitch! I win!"

Hiruzen sighed while Kakashi awkwardly chuckled. It was almost like Kushina never left… Truly, the fates were kind sometimes.

"Kushina" The Hokage called for her attention. "We don't know all the effects of the Divine Sleep seal, or even if your body has been properly reformed, so I advise" He stressed the word, clearly meaning that by advice he meant order; "That you remain in bed until the doctors give the all clear"

Kushina groaned loudly as she fell back unto the bed. "Oh give me a break I already went through so much shit today... Well, not 'today' but you know what I mean… Ugh, I'm fine!"

Hiruzen gave her the most deadpanning look possible; "The doctors say your heart is now on the right…"

"…Oh" She placed her hand on her chest to verify, and yep there it was. On the right. Huh.

"I'll need to ask you some questions" His gaze softened considerably. "I know this is too soon but we need to understand what happened that night"

Her hand tightened into a fist, shaking violently at the memory of an orange mask. She led out a shuddering breath. "Yeah… I'll tell you everything"

Naruto worried immensely for his mother, her words were just filled with so much… anger and sadness.

He placed a hand on the bed, not really sure of what to do at the moment, part of him felt nervous about making physical contact with her again. Afraid he'd mess it up just because he was too dumb to understand a social cue or something.

Kushina's hand lowered and grasped her son's so tightly. Hiruzen, Yugao, and Kakashi silently excused themselves, giving them their space.

"…You were so small" She said softly. "And now… Now my baby has grown up and I missed it. I choose to use that scroll because I couldn't bear the thought of you being all alone. I… I cheated death and let Minato die all because I was selfish and rash, and wasn't thinking straight and…" She choked on a breath. "And I still left you because I didn't do things right, burdened you with being a Jinchuuriki!"

"Mom…" He didn't get how anything she could do was selfish. "You guys saved me. I'm here because you loved me. That's why I'm here today, happy and healthy"

She paused for a moment; "You're happy?"

He smiled at her so brilliantly; "You're here, how couldn't I be?!"

The older Uzumaki looked at him with a stunned expression, after her own failures as a mother she didn't think possible for her son to smile at her like that, to be so thankful for the few things she did for him.

Naruto stilled as he suddenly found himself encircled by his mother's arms once more, she wept as she held him.

"Thank you! Thank you for being our son..!"

The young boy soon found himself shedding tears as well, his arms returning the hug just as strongly.

"I love you"

Chapter Text

The beams of the moonlit shined from the heavens above over Konoha. Idly Kushina gazed out her window taking the sight of the forest of death. Her eyes soon returned to the sleeping form of her son lying on her bed with his head on her lap. She took in every detail of Naruto as she watched his chest rise and fall.

It was a bit hard to be, this was her son, her son, hers and Minato's.

Her hand rested in her son's spiky golden locks, her heart ached. Twelve years... Years she could never get back, but now was not the time for moping, she shook it off turning her sights to Hiruzen; "How was it everyone learned about my son's Jinchuuriki status while mine was so well hidden?"

"I have no answers for you my dear; I found no leads on how Naruto's status was learned by the masses."

Kushina looked over to her former student; "The ANBU looked into everything, Commander Fox himself headed the investigation but we couldn't find any evidence," Yugao lightly huffed. "Whoever leaked it made certain they were never found."

"Which means whoever did it is really good in this line of work to have been able to get away with it" Kushina reasoned, and let out a sigh. She had been spared of her status as Jinchuuriki becoming public knowledge so she would not have to go through the ordeal of the civilians treating her any differently because of it, and so the rival villages would not target her.

Barring the episode of Kumo kidnapping her, whom she deduced only had guesses and leads to her being the Jinchuuriki based on her lineage rather than any solid evidence, her secret had been revealed to only a few officials of the village and people she could trust with this kind of information.

For Naruto to have been exposed like that since birth... She had no idea how it must have been like, part of her didn't even want to know. But this growing side of her that was becoming alarmingly stronger by the minute, her motherly side, needed to know.

"How bad was it?" She softly asked, never taking her eyes away from her son. Her son... the thought felt so strange yet wonderful.

Kakashi's gaze avoided her, as though ashamed. Yugao closed her eyes somberly while the wizened Kage sighed. It was the village leader that answered her. "He was... alone. For a long time"

It felt like a kunai was lodged in her heart as Kushina bit her lip, "I ensured nothing extreme like abuse ever happened like some Jinchuuriki save yourself was treated. At best his treatment by the village was with a mild neglect."

Outcast, pariah, and a few the kinder words used for a Jinchuuriki in most villages. The Uzu matriarch shook her head, "But Mikoto, Hisahi, Inoichi, and Tsume-"

"You know clan politics Kushina-sama," Kakashi responded back quietly, "Involving a Jinchurriki into the household? That made things extremely complicated"

The redhead growled before huffing in annoyance. Of course she knew; taking in a Jinchuuriki was essentially being given an edge over the other clans. This upsets the balance of power between them. As much as she did not want to admit it, her friend's hands were tied. So they couldn't do anything for Naruto, "Did they know at least?"

"They knew Naruto was your son," Hiruzen nodded. "But knowing only made it more frustrating for them. I can't count how many times Tsume was swearing and shouting in my office."

A snort came from Kushina; "Hasn't lost her temper has she?" Glancing to her side she noticed how quiet Kakashi was being; "You okay?"

"...I wasn't there for him" He finally said with guilt.

"Sempai" Yugao tried to intervene.

But the Hatake continued on; "I actually went out of my way to avoid him" His voice was filled with shame and self-loathing. "He was all alone and I could have..."

Spent time with him. Invite him to eat ramen. Teach him from an early age how to be a ninja, how to deal with this unforgiving life. But he didn't, he just watched the boy from a distance, even when he could clearly see the loneliness in his downcast expression.

He had been so afraid, afraid of becoming close to Naruto and have him share the same fate all his loved ones did...

Even now as he sensei he still hadn't make things right, as watched the boy grow up with the best aspects of his parents, Minato's sheer dedication and drive, Kushina's overwhelming kindness and cheerfulness, he did not have the guts to tell the boy the truth. To apologize for having failed him.

He closed his eye. "Forgive me, Kushina-sama. I dishonored Minato-sensei's memory as well as yours"

For a moment the room fell into silence, which was only broken by Kushina's sigh. "Carrying all that guilt on you, there's something I'm not happy to see it hasn't changed..." She looked at him even as he refused to meet her eyes. "When Obito and Rin died, I saw as you nearly lost yourself to despair. I don't even want to imagine the kind of mess you were with me and Minato gone..."

Hiruzen grunted but held his tongue. The word 'mess' did not even began to cover it.

"You actually think I'd accuse you or berate you when you obviously must have been on a terrible, terrible place at the time?"

The Jounin still would not look at her; "Kakashi Hatake look at me." Obeying Kakashi's one eye turned and gazed into Kushina's warm understanding Violet orbs; "I will never berate you for a damn thing. Except holding onto that damn guilt."

Kakashi felt lighter... If only just a little as Kushina motioned for him to get closer. Doing so he was brought into a hug by the redhead. "Still a stubborn brat," She whispered.

A few stray tears fell from the Jounin's eye as both Yugao and Hiruzen smiled; "Get some rest, all of you. We will talk in the morning," the Sandaime ordered.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto grumbled as the sunlight hit his eyes; 'Why does that damn sun always come on me in the mornings,' yeah the blond was never much of a morning person. Groggy the blond sat up as he stretched and then rubbed his eyes. Blinking a few times his vision adjusted seeing Kakashi-sensei and an ANBU woman sleeping in two chairs?

He noticed his surroundings, why was he in a medical room? Then his brain finally jump started as he turned seeing the resting form of his mother. 'It...It wasn't a dream...' He felt a few tears come from his eyes before rubbing them away. 'My mom's alive...'

Kushina soon groaned as the morning sun landed onto her face; "Can someone blow up the damn sun dattebane..." she muttered as she pulled the blanket over her face.

"Mom" He tried softly tapping her shoulder. "Come on, wake up"

The figure under the blankets suddenly grew very still. Slowly, like a frightened animal, her eyes peaked above the end of the blanket. Two violet orbs looked as his blue ones with apprehension.

She stared at him like that for a moment that was becoming increasingly awkward.

"Oh, right... I have a twelve year old son" She said, her voice slightly breathy. Most of her face remained hidden behind the blanket while her eyes bore into him, wide and unblinking.

"Um, you okay?"

"Me? Yeaaah, yeah. Just... freaking out a little bit. It'll pass"

Naruto sweatdrops as the door opens stirring both Kakashi and Yugao as the Hokage walks in smoking his pipe. "Kuma is bringing some breakfast for everyone," he sweatdrops seeing only half of Kushina's face peeking out from under her blanket.

Soon blinking, Kushina sat up lowering her blanket; "Kuma's still around huh"

"He was the poor bastard you sent to dream land with the sedatives yesterday," Kakashi dryly spoke up.

The redhead winced; "Oh... I'll apologize when he gets here."

The silver haired Jounin waved it off before looking over to a stretching Yugao sweat-dropping; "You slept with your mask on?" The female ANBU weakly chuckled.

Kushina rolled eyes as Hiruzen sighed; "You have permission to remove your mask Neko. Naruto I know won't say anything."

The said blonde lightly blushed seeing the cute round face of Neko with her warm brown eyes looking at him with a smile from her ruby red lips. "My name is Yugao Uzuki. Your mother's only student." The purple haired woman stood walking over to her sensei and sensei's son.

Naruto slowly blinked at her in confusion. "Okay. Couple of questions here; you have a student and not a genin team?"

"Eh sometimes happens" His mother shrugged. "Odd number of graduates. Jonin putting their name and reputation on the line and taking on a single apprentice. Or a student is handpicked to be trained for a specific role. They're various reasons as to why they don't get teams"

The Hokage supplied. "For example, Lee was under Gai's mentor-ship until he was assigned a team"

"Oh Gai got a student?" Kushina's smile broke into a wide grin. "I so want to see what kind of tough kid can put up with that attitude"

Kakashi, Naruto, Yugao and Hiruzen paled considerably. "Um, yeah" The ANBU in the room started nervously. "That is... T-The point is, I was considered a bit more advanced during my evaluations and so Kushina-sensei decided to take me under her wing"

Kushina snorts; "A little advanced? Yu-chan here was my little prodigy!"

Yugao 'eeped' being hugged by her teacher who rubbed her cheek against hers; "I never saw anyone take to kenjutsu so well that wasn't an Uzumaki!"

"Sensei," the purple haired woman groaned blushing while glaring over at a chuckling Kakashi "Keep laughing sempai, I will get back at you."

"Ma. Ma, like the several dozen other times you and the others tried before?" The Jounin eye-smiled. "Besides, you're used to Kushina-Sama's antics as much as I am."

It just dawn on Naruto how familiar Kakashi was with his mother; "Uh how do you know my mom Kakashi-sensei?"

The room became quiet and still. There was no ignoring the question, no brushing it off as he would usually do; at this point it was either the truth or the truth. There was no backing away from it.

"Your father was my sensei"

Either Naruto took the news in stride, or the recent events had dulled him greatly, for his face remained impassive and nearly expressionless, if not for the slight twitch of his cheek that Kakashi could see.

"Ah" Was his reply.

Kakashi saw the fist coming from a mile away, he could have dodged easily or held his fist back, but he chose to receive it, he deserved it after all. It didn't hurt that much slamming into his jaw, only a slight annoyance compared to the things he had endured in his long career, but as long as Naruto had some vindication and quelled his anger then that was what mattered.

The blonde grunted as he pulled his fist back, quietly shaking it. That had hurt more to him than it surely did to Kakashi. "Thanks for telling me..." He said in sarcasm laced with anger.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" Kushina yelled before Kakashi rose up his hand.

The Jounin rubbed his jaw; "No I deserved that. Naruto asked me months ago in Nami about Minato-Sensei, but I chickened out in telling him the truth. I offer no excuses to you Naruto, I should have been in your life since you were little, but I wasn't. After losing my father, my teammates, Sensei, and Kushina-Sama I was just too afraid to get close to you. For that I am sorry."

For a long minute after the blond had calmed down with a deep breathe. He looks blankly to the ground; "You're here now. That's what counts."

"Hai."

Hiruzen breathed out some smoke; "Naruto," the blond lifted his head; "Why don't you show your mother your 'gift?'" He said, attempting to lift the mood in the room.

Kushina blinked as her son's face brightened turning to his mother, "I nearly forgot. I have a Kekkai Genkai!" The redhead gawked as a crystal kunai formed in his hand. "It's called Shoton, isn't it cool dattebayo!"

"Achkupsf!" His mother made a hilarious choking sound as she shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Where in Amaterasu's shining ass did you get that?! I sure as hell don't have that Kekkei Genkai, nor any close relatives of mine! Minato didn't say anything about his line having it either..."

"I dunno" Naruto shrugged. "I just... awoke it one day when I was in danger" He hadn't pondered much on how he came to develop this element to be honest.

"A recessive bloodline that skips generations perhaps?" Hiruzen suggest with a gesture of his hand. "It is not uncommon for that to happen sometimes, there are instances in which bloodline traits may manifest at random in people. Your adamantine chains are one such example Kushina"

"Wait what?" The blonde had to do a double take at that, he look at his mother with a wide grin. "You have a Kekkei Genkai too mom? That's so cool!"

Scratching the back of her head, Kushina lightly grunted; "Well, Tsukiko-Baachan said our chains were mostly found in the main house, but there were exceptions. And mostly woke in the females, with a few males in between."

Lifting her right hand, a chain phased through her palm, going down part way. "This chain can hold down even a Biju. I can use it in both offensive and defensive. But Baachan never said anything about Shoton." Retracing her chain, she takes the crystal kunai inspecting it. The detailing was beyond remarkable.

The Hokage rubbed his chin; "At any rate I had Jiraiya training the lad when not on one of his missions."

"The old perv is still breathing," Kushina smirked; "and still our spy master." Not that she was surprised; he was back when Minato was Hokage. And it was what he was best at. "Speaking of the perv, where is he?"

"On assignment, he should be back by today."

Kushina absently nodded as her gaze shifted in thought, she bit her lower lip and then asked. "And mom?"

The occupants in the room save the genin stiffened at the question, exchanging nervous looks as they tried to come up with the most suitable way to tell her that would not result in the redhead bursting in rage.

"She um" The Hokage began slowly. "Hasn't returned"

Kushina's violet eyes close shut, her grip on the sheets tightening until her knuckles were white. Her chest rose as she took a long intake of air, indicating she was trying to reign in the anger that was coursing through her.

After a few seconds, Kushina let all that air out, as though her anger was slowly seeping through as well. "Yeah... Yeah of course she hasn't. Why would she?"

"Um," everyone looked to Naruto who looked at his mother with, understandably, a perplexed gaze; "your mom?"

"Adoptive mother" The Hokage supplied. "Tsunade Senju"

…Ok, what the fuck?

Ugh, too much emotions and too many revelations lately, he couldn't deal with this right now. So he'd put it in the back of his head for later, because oh boy, he knew this was going to come up later…

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sakura stretched after a long shower and changed of clothes. She was grateful their room had one. She walked towards the beds while Sasuke looked out the window. The rosette sighed as she sat down; "Hope Naruto is alright." He didn't come to their room last night, but he was with the Hokage, so he had to be okay. That's what she told herself.

"Hm," Sasuke grunted as he kept his gaze out to the forest.

It was odd in a way, being alone with Sasuke after everything that happened; she liked to think she was no longer the same fangirl that would chase him around during their academy days. Looking back at it, it all had been so... childish. The academy did not prepare her for what a true shinobi life would be like. Oh that was their sensei's job, but even then Sakura felt she had been ill-prepared to deal with the world out there.

Bandits. Mercenaries. Enemy ninja. Honest to the gods' psychopaths. By all intents and purposes she should have died, after all, civilian born ninjas rarely meet a fate that goes beyond 'cannon fodder'. But here she was, taking on the next trial to ascend through the village's ranks, and serve as a more effective soldier.

Huh... Soldier. Yes, that's what she was. That's what they all were. She had joined the academy with no clear goal in mind; just juvenile thoughts driving her, the excitement and adventure that a ninja's life promised that inspired their young fantasies.

But the truth was much darker than she ever thought. On that day when she first left the village walls and came home with a new outlook on the world, seeing it for what it truly was.

What did that mean to Sakura? She still wasn't sure, but for now she'd move forward, respecting and honoring the path many have trailed long before her, as a shinobi of Konoha.

And the person she owed it all that got her acting like a serious kunoichi was Naruto… Perhaps she needed to express it, not just to him, but to the other teammate in front of her, having put up with her all this time. "Sorry for being so annoying back during the academy and after."

The Uchiha turned fully wide eyed before regaining his normal composure; "It's fine." Well that came out of nowhere, but he had to admit she had improved quite a lot since Nami no Kuni. She definitely looked a lot healthier, and by the tone he could see in her arms he could tell she had been training seriously.

Granted she annoyingly still asked for dates, but that has lessened to a bearable degree... Now if Ino could take notes that be a blessing. "You've been training with Naruto?"

Blinking her emerald eyes in shock, Sakura slowly nodded. Sasuke was actually talking back? "Y-Yeah. Ever since Nami. We've been doing whatever we can to improve. We even been learning the same Taijutsu Naruto found in the library."

The sparring sessions were fun. Though Naruto started paling when the rosette started working on her strength. "I really need to step up so I can help you guys. And Naruto wants to show everyone he not the dead-last anymore."

And he really wasn't, if Sasuke was honest to himself.

Then again, Naruto wasn't the only one he had to reevaluate his opinion of.

He thought back on how Sakura protected him by herself, risking her life for him, as was proper of a comrade. He couldn't remember last time she had tried to ask him out. Perhaps she was finally growing as shinobi, a valuable comrade in arms he could rely on. She and Naruto.

Sasuke wasn't used to relying on people. He thought that perhaps he'd never do, not since...

Hmm... Perhaps he too was growing a bit.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Jiraiya hadn't been much aware of his surroundings, a mistake that could cost any ninja his life. But right now his mind was concerned with other matters. He had been recalled quickly, what he had been informed about at the village gate by Iguru... He could scarcely believe it. It had to be true but he just didn't dare hope...

The forest became a fast blur, he barely even realized he had entered the building and the ANBUs escorted him through the warded off area of the medical section. His heart pounded inside his chest as he approached the doors leading to the room, he could hear faint voices behind it, barely strong enough for him to recognize.

Facing Hanzo, or any of the most dangerous opponents he had fought in his life, didn't even make his hands sweat as much as this moment could.

He controlled his shaking as he grasped the door knob and opened it walking through the threshold.

His breath got caught in his throat as he saw what lay inside the room.

The same red hair, those same violet eyes turned to him with the same brightness he remembered.

The same smile. "Hey"

Jiraiya stood frozen at the door.

"I know this must be a lot to take in for you, it's still a bit of a haze to me to be honest"

...

"Feels like I just saw you the other day but... It wasn't the same for you, for any of you as I understand"

...

"Well..." Kushina's gaze shifted awkwardly. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to say some-"

Her words died off as he crossed the room in an instant and tightly embraced her, eyes shut tight as his voice managed to brokenly strain out; "Don't ever scare me like that again, girl..."

Both Hiruzen and Kushina blinked, Jiraiya seldom if ever acted with such emotion behind his actions in such a manner. The fact he was actually embracing the redhead spoke how emotional the man was at present. Soon a small smile came from the Uzu woman who hugged the man back; "I promise, you old pervert."

Letting go, albeit slowly, Jiraiya turned to his old sensei; "How?"

"Luck along with a seal made by the goddess of Fūinjutsu herself." The elder Kage blew out some smoke from his pipe.

That was all the Gama Sannin needed to hear as he smiled; "How do you feel?" he looked back to the redhead.

Kushina deadpanned at her late husband's sensei; "Oh let me think here for a minute. The last thing I recall was giving birth, some lunatic in a mask appearing out of thin air and threaten my baby with a kunai a minute after he was just born, get the Kyuubi ripped out of my soul and go on a rampage in the village. Then waking up to find TWELVE YEARS have gone by while I was inside Tsukiko-Baachan's seal!" the redhead huffed as she glared; "How was your day?" Kakashi and Yugao sweatdrop at the thick level of sarcasm that came from the redhead.

"Okay stupid question," Jiraiya drawls before looking around the room; "Where's Naruto?"

"I had him go back to his team to bring them here," Hiruzen spoke up. "Along with getting a shower and some new clothes to wear."

Kakashi weakly chuckled; "I don't think Naruto, in his current frame of mind, will even remember to do the last two Hokage-Sama."

If you just saw your dead mother come back to life would you be acting rationally? "...Fair point," Hiruzen sweatdrops.

The Toad Sage thought on his teacher's word. "You okay with letting the two brats in on this?" He doubted they, the Hokage and those in the know, had a proper way to deal with this situation. How to properly let it become know that Kushina was back.

"Naruto insisted, besides I'm sure they can keep this a secret for a time"

"Besides" Kushina smiled brightly. "I wanna see them myself, hehe, Mi-Chan's littlest boy in the same team as my own boy. Knew they'd become friends one day"

Kakashi softly stiffened upon the mention of her friend, Yugao couldn't even muster a proper response. Hiruzen and Jiraiya exchanged worried gazes, the meaning was clear, Kushina had to be informed. Especially if she was to meet Sasuke.

The Sannin leaned closer to whisper to the Kage. "Should we tell her?"

"We must, she was her friend and-" He whispered back, pausing momentarily. "I know she's been through a lot already, but better now than her finding out from Sasuke"

"What about 'you know what?'"

"...That too I'm afraid. She deserves to know about Itachi"

"And these two?" Jiraiya's eyes darted to the other two occupants in the room.

The Hokage deliberated for a moment. "We can trust them to keep this secret"

"Heeey" Kushina looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "What are you two whispering about?"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sakura and Sasuke lightly jump as Naruto bursted into the room. "Naruto are you okay?" the rosette sat up from her bed.

Waving it off the blond smiled, and spoke so quickly his words were barely understandable; "I'm fine!Hellbetterthanfine!Youguyshavetocomewithme,thereissomeoneyouneedtomeet!" His teammates just blinked at him, "What?"

The Uchiha gave a proper dry retort; "How about not speaking at a speed only squirrels can understand."

Naruto glared before shaking his head; "I want you guys to meet someone."

"Who?" Sakura tilted her head.

"It's a surprise!"

Seeing they did not have anything else to do Sasuke shrugged; "Alright, lead the way dobe."

"Before that though," the boys looked to their female teammate who cutely crinkled her nose; "could you guys least get a shower and fresh clothes on? You both reek."

Naruto and Sasuke deadpan; "Seriously?" both drone. However both boys froze as they swore Sakura's eyes glowed as her hair moved on its own as she somehow now towered over both of them. Naruto absently thought he saw Kurama's chakra coming off her.

"WE WERE STUCK IN A FOREST FOR TWO DAYS! IT'S CALLED BASIC HYGIENE! USE IT SHENNARO!"

"YES MA'AM!"

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"So the exam won't re-start till the after the following two days." Samui's words more of a statement than question as she stood by the open door of her team's room with Konoha ANBU standing at the threshold. Inside said room Yugito, Karui, and Omoi absently listened while cleaning their gear.

The ANBU wearing a raccoon mask nodded; "On account of the events in the forest your team was caught up in, we felt best to hold the exam until all variables were tended to." Make sure a certain snake was not around causing more trouble than he has already.

The buxom teenage blond nodded; "Understood Rakūn-san, thank you for keeping us in the loop."

Giving a small bow the ANBU vanished via shunshin. The sole chunin in the room sat down in a chair looking towards her fellow blond; "We have to inform the Raikage about… that." the late teen said obviously referring to Naruto Uzumaki's status as Jinchurriki and parentage.

How exactly their Raikage will take it is unknown, but at the very least they know it won't be like the Sandaime Tsuchikage's warpath if he ever learns of it.

"I know, I know," the Nibi Jinchuuriki sighed; "A-sama will likely shout so loud glass will shatter and break his desk… again. If anything he'll just want to keep tabs on Naruto. See how much of a threat he is or could possibly become."

Yugito really did not like speaking about someone she came to respect. But given her village's militaristic nature and colored past with Konoha, A-sama would want every detail on the son of the man he considered a rival.

'If worse comes to worse and Raikage-Sama orders to kill Naruto…' Yugito's thoughts strayed; 'I really don't want to fight a fellow jinchuuriki.' Especially one that's she was growing fond of, might even call friend…

But orders were orders.

Matatabi shook her head; "Let's hope it never comes to that kitten."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina's eyes were wide as she sat as still as a statue on the bed. At her side Kakashi and Yugao weren't faring much better as they felt a knot pull in their stomachs, shock was etched on their faces. Jiraiya said nothing as he glared out the window, Hiruzen exhaled a long breathe as he lowered his hat. There, he did it; he had just revealed the awful and horrifying truth of the Uchiha massacre.

The silence was so strong one could hear a pin drop from a mile away. And when it was finally broken, the next words felt like rumbling thunder in the quite room.

"Oh my gods" Yugao whispered. Horrified did not even began to explain how she felt.

Kakashi let out a strangled noise as his breathing became very loud. Images flashed across his mind in quick succession, that of a young and very promising shinobi who joined the ANBU at a very tender age for their line of work. Pieces felt into place, forming a clear picture where once there were only inconsistencies and little reason behind the terrible events of that night.

There was always something that didn't fit. Itachi's actions had been very out of place, and the situation at the time, the discomfort the Uchiha felt before the suspicions of the Kyuubi attack. The elements of the clan that were distancing more and more from the village.

A coup. Heavens have mercy; the Uchiha had been planning a coup.

And Itachi, who remained loyal to village, took on an impossible task and shouldered the sins of his clan behind a veil of lies and blood.

Kakashi turned to look at Kushina; he could barely see her eyes as her head was now bowed forward, shadowing them. Her body began trembling, teeth gnashed together as they held back a wail of despair she would not let out. Bitter tears streamed down her face as she violently shook.

Images flashed in mind; when she first met Mikoto in the academy, becoming friends and teammates in the same squad under Sakumo-sensei. Mikoto's smile when she became pregnant with her first son Itachi. Seeing him a day after he was born. The shy little boy that always called her aunt Kushina.

Blood dripped from the redhead's from biting her lip so hard before she let out a scream full of pain and sorrow. Her hand hands covered her face as she muffled the screaming. 'DAMN YOU FUGAKU! DAMN YOU AND THOSE FUCKING ELDERS TO THE FURTHEST DEPTHS OF HELL!' Her mind roared with pure hate and venom. Yugao kept close to her teacher, trying to provide as little comfort as she could

"Why wasn't I told at the time?" Kakashi felt a tinge of calm fury in his tone as he glared hard at the Hokage. After all the years as one of the village's most loyal and best operatives, his position in the ANBU back then, he felt he should have been informed. Now more than ever that Sasuke was his responsibility as part of his squad.

"Because Itachi had requested it to me as such. He made the choice the bear the hate of the village to hide the treachery of his clan. So his brother would be spared from being outcast. Had I told you would things had been any different?" Hiruzen responded in a steely tone glaring back.

"Mikoto-sama would never have been a part of that," Yugao countered with resolution in her voice.

Jiraiya let out a sigh; "She put on a better front than I thought." The old Sannin glanced to the ANBU woman; "Mikoto was suffering from strong bouts of depression, due to a certain event that fucked up the lives of the people within this room. She put on a brave face in front of her kids, and Naruto when visiting him or outside the Uchiha compound. But I and sensei could tell she was in pain."

Mikoto had been one of the strongest shinobi they knew, but she had always been subservient to her clan. Educated from a young age to remain loyal. After that tragic night, there was little that tied her to the village. She must have just gone along with it, seeing no other choice for her because that was the will of the clan.

Kushina held her hand close to her chest, trying to hold pack the tidal wave of pain coming from it. Mikoto always deserved better than what she got, but in the end the chains of her clan bound her throughout her entire life.

"I tried to resolve things peacefully but they escalated too fast. I've fought alongside many Uchiha" Hiruzen said mournfully. "I know for a fact they were people of courage and determination, valuable members of this village. But... they are not the most stable people mentally when faced with trauma. They awakening of their Sharingan and its stages only makes it worse; it releases chemicals on the brain that affect their behavior and thought process. They are prone to paranoia and in worst cases psychosis"

Jiraiya put his hands on Kushina's shaking shoulders, trying to comfort her. "I'm sorry Kushina, we should have tried harder. What happened to the Uchiha, to Mikoto, Itachi and Sasuke, that's our failure"

Kushina raised her head; "The only failure is Fugaku and those elders," she seethed with absolute rage in her voice. She never like Fugaku or the Uchiha clan elders as long as she could remember. The only good things that rat-bastard husband of Mi-Chan ever did was give her friend two sons. Those were the only things she would ever acknowledge as a positive.

The redhead slowly attempted to calm herself as she barely steadied her breathing. Her rage turning into numbness as she gazed at nowhere in particular. "Where is Itachi?"

"Working as a double agent for me, he infiltrated an organization that's been on the rise for some time now," Hiruzen blew out some smoke from his newly lit pipe. He needed the smoke to calm his nerves.

"...And Sasuke?"

"He doesn't know the truth, as far as he knows Itachi went crazy and killed everyone in the Uchiha," Jiraiya bluntly stated.

The rage returned in full. "That's bullshit!" Kushina screamed at the Gama Sannin.

"Should we tell him that his entire clan wanted to take over the village and would have caused the lives of innocent people?!" Jiraiya yelled back.

"So making his entire life a lie is better?!"

"Enough!" Having had enough, the Hokage ordered them to calm down. "Both of you, this is not helping. Kushina" He turned his gaze to the Uzumaki. "I need you to keep this secret"

"Like hell I will!" Protocol, orders, long years of ANBU training and experience with cover ups left her mind. She couldn't tolerate this atrocity.

Hiruzen rubbed his eyes, fighting back the growing headache. "Kushina, Sasuke is not... well" It was a dirty tactic, but he knew Kushina would relent if he brought up Mikoto's son. "I've seen it in his eyes for a long time now, the boy is broken. He needs help, help he refuses to accept. We've tried to do a damage control so he won't go down the road many of his kin took... But his thoughts are filled with hatred and vengeance for the brother who sacrificed everything and did horrible things to him just to protect him. If he finds out the truth, that all his life has been a lie, the real reason as to why his clan died, then you will shatter any semblance of sanity left in him"

The Uzumaki woman froze as her sudden anger ebbed away in an instant. Mikoto's youngest was in pain. Her best friend's son needed help, as much as it was a bitter pill to swallow to hide the truth. Kushina wiped away the tears from her eyes and blood from her mouth; "guess I have two sons to worry about," she whispered. "I won't say a word. I love you old man but you're a real bastard some times."

Sarutobi only nodded in agreement. As he saw the begrudging nods from Kakashi and Yugao in keeping quiet as well. There were days he really hated his job.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

After the boys got their showers and fresh clothes, per their female teammate's request/order. Naruto was excited, FAR too excited in Sasuke's and Sakura's opinion. The blonde's attitude had been turned up to eleven as he proceeded to guide them through the corridors of the forest tower with the largest smile on his face. The fact he still did not tell them what was so important was beginning to wear thin on their patience.

"Naruto, who is this person you want us to meet?" Sakura tried asking him again.

"I'll tell you when we get there~"

The pinkette sighed. "Give it a rest Sakura" Sasuke advised. "You won't change his mind"

'Well as least he's in a good mood if nothing else,' the rosette mentally mused. On that she was quite happy to see.

Hoofing up through the corridor, the trio reaches reach the medical wing which got Sasuke attention upon seeing ANBU openly standing guard. The blond gave a quick salute to masked Shinobi who gave a slight nod in return. They were silently glad the kids did not get here earlier with all the screaming.

They were greeted with the sight of their village leader standing a few feet away from a pair of doors. "Ah, here you kids are" He said, clearly expecting them.

"Hokage-sama?" Sakura voiced in confusion. "What's going on? Naruto wouldn't tell us much"

The Hokage let out a soft laugh; "Yes, I imagine so" He approached the blonde and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, right now she's in a... delicate state at the moment. We had to inform her about friends of her who passed away"

The other two members of team 7 shared a look. Who was this 'she'?

"Ah" Naruto's gaze became downcast for a moment.

"You should go in. Seeing you will do her good"

Nodding the blond opens the doors now seeing Ero-Sennin in the room, seeing the redheaded woman was rubbing her face with her hands; "Mom?" Both Sakura and Sasuke looked wide eyed at each other than to the Hokage.

The elderly Shinobi grunted; "It's been a strange few days."

Kushina sniffed, lifting her head showing how puffy her eyes were from crying; "Hey sochi," her voice horse, cracked. She tried to smile, which did not reach her eyes.

Walking over to the bed the blond looked over to Yugao and Kakashi who sat back in their chairs giving a nod to him. He was picked up by a chain and brought onto the bed where his mom gave him a hug. He hugged back; "You okay mom?"

Kushina was quiet for a minute; "I'll be in a while."

Letting go, the blond looked over to Jiraiya; "Why are you here Ero-Sennin?"

The Toad sage deadpanned while getting light snort/giggle from the Uzu woman; "I told you not to call that brat."

"I'll stop calling you that when you stop peeking on the girls at the hot-springs." Naruto snarked back.

"Um, excuse me" Sakura politely called for their attention, and it was then that the others remembered that they had two new guests in the room. "I don't mean to be rude, but could you kindly tell us WHAT THE HELL IS GOING?!" She screeched.

Mom? Mom?! Did Naruto actually call this woman 'mom'?! What new spore of madness was this?!

Sasuke, while far more composed, could not stop the incredulity from becoming obvious on his expressions. "Yeah, I'm with her on that one. A little clarification would be nice"

Naruto pretty much hopped in place with a beaming smile; "This is my mom!"

"...A bit MORE clarification please"

The redhead for her part could not stop staring at the Uchiha, something the boy noticed and was becoming increasingly unnerving for him. The way he looked at him with such... nostalgia and disbelief.

"Wow" The woman muttered. "S-Sorry, it's just that... last time I saw you, you were barely a few months old"

Blinking the Uchiha looked at Naruto again; "Explain please..." He stressed through nearly gritting teeth.

"Short version;" Kakashi lifted a finger in a chipper tone; "Kushina-Sama survived via a powerful scroll made by the legendary goddess of Fūinjutsu Tsukiko Uzumaki. She was in a sort of healing stasis frozen in time for twelve years. She was finally unsealed the other day."

What followed was the most uncomfortable silence the two young genin ever experience, which lasted for a good two minutes before Sakura looked right to Naruto; "Are we in wonderland?" The rosette meekly asked.

Kushina blinks looking at Sakura long enough to make the rosette uncomfortable; "Sweetie is your father named Kizashi Haruno?"

"U-um. Yes ma'am?"

The redhead beams; "Which makes your mother Mebuki-chan! So that shop of theirs paid off after quitting being ninjas! How are they?!"

"Um" Sakura stammered as she awkwardly stared at the rather excitable woman whose smile was uncomfortably similar to Naruto's. "It-It's going well... I'm sorry this is all so very strange"

"Yeah, I guess it is isn't it?" Kushina asked rhetorically as she scratched her neck (again, in a manner that was just so similar to Naruto) "Let's start over shall we?" She cleared her throat. "Nice to meet you. My name's Kushina Uzumaki, born in Uzushio and all around badass"

Now with a proper introduction, Sakura could feel that some semblance of sense was stablished. "I'm Sakura Haruno" She greeted back with a short bow.

Reigning in her emotions as she shifted her gazed back to Sasuke. 'Gods he looks so much like Mi-Chan.' but mostly she focused on his eyes; "You really have Mi-Chan's eyes."

Stiffening for second, but keeping his cool, the Uchiha spoke; "So you did know my mother?"

Kushina nods; "She was my best friend since the academy. Hell she was my teammate in our genin squad." The redhead smirked (in a VERY Naruto-like fashion); "She was total badass, being creative with her Fire element and kenjutsu."

That caught more of Sasuke's; his mother had never really spoken much about her Shinobi days. "Oh, always thinking about other people. Too much on them and never enough on herself I always said" Her smile grew dim, slowly vanishing from her lips. "I uh... I heard what happened to her" Her voice was barely above a whisper, thick emotion, melancholy and sadness. "Gods, I loved her... I am so sorry" She put remarkable resolve at holding back the tears from spilling once more.

The air in the room grew weary. Nobody said a word for a moment.

"...She sometimes would mention you" Sasuke finally spoke, his eyes wouldn't meet hers. "Sounds like you two were close friends"

"...If you want, I could tell you about your mom during her shinobi days?"

Finally Sasuke looked up to her, not saying a word before nodding; "I'd... I'd like that."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"-so I took the servants' clothing so Mikoto and me could disguise ourselves. When I gave her the clothes she just gave me this weird look and told me; 'Why don't we just us henge?' Annnnnd she made me feel like a complete moron for having forgotten that. Boy was she the smart one in the team"

The genin and the other two adults in the room expressed their enjoyment of the tale each in their own way. Kakashi and Yugao had heard it before, but Kushina being present to tell it once more was a very refreshing feeling. Naruto for his part laughed with a toothy grin, Sakura for her part giggled behind her hand. Sasuke only let out a soft snort, which for the Uchiha was already a great expression of his feelings.

Hearing this woman remembers his mother so fondly was... nice, he would admit. To have someone else remember his mother, someone who could share their memories of her in such an away. It was comforting, made him feel relieved in a way. That there were people who still remembered her.

"I'm serious! Mi-chan always knew the right thing to say and do! She saw things that went right over my head"

Kakashi chuckled with his typical eye smile; "Only because you don't apply common sense to your plans, Kushina-sama"

"Oh screw you..."

Hard to believe two days had come and gone as the Uzumaki woman had been sharing all kinds of stories with her son and his team who told a few of their own. Kushina just gawked; "That stupid cat is STILL alive?!" Her head shifted to her student and late husband's student. "I told Jiji that thing was a Nekomata. Buuuut no it's the Daimyo's wife's favorite little kitty, we can't kill it..."

Kakashi chuckled weakly; "I'm just glad my team finally figured out how to capture him."

"Guess someone got the scratching?" Sakura pointed to both Naruto and Sasuke who both glared at the rosette upon Kushina's question. "Sounds like Obito and Kakashi," The silver haired jounin slumped his head earning a giggle from Yugao.

"Everyone having fun I see," Jiraiya walked into the room with some breakfast for everybody. He sweatdropped seeing both Naruto and Kushina drooling at the sight of their respected bowls of ramen. 'Yeah we know who the brat took after.' "Well you kids eat up and get ready for the prelims since it starts in a bit"

Thankfully before leaving, Hiruzen explained what was going to happen when the exams finally restarted, for which Kushina filled some details.

"You kids can draw lots of good info on potential opponents by watching them fight" The redhead advised. "Only good thing you can get whenever there's the need to have prelims. Otherwise they just make the exam longer than they're supposed to be"

"And this year, it's gotten even more complicated" Jiraiya grumbled in reply.

"Ugh, yeah. I heard" Kushina said in disgust, her eyes gaining an edge to them. "Orochimaru, that snake... He's planning something you know? He has to be"

"We're not dumb, girl. He must have something up his sleeve" The Toad Sage agreed. "He wouldn't have taken the risk of infiltrating just to kidnap ninja; it'd be easier for him to ambush them when they're away on missions. He has something in mind, something that requires his personal presence... I don't like this one bit"

Kushina deadpans; "He's after my son and Mi-Chan's son. Bad enough he put that cursed thing on Sasuke but wants to do it to Naruto if he gets the chance. That bastard tries getting near my son or Sasuke I'll skin him alive and make a purse out of him 'ttebane!"

"Not while you're recovering. Till then I'll keep an eye on the boys," Jiraiya said leaving no room to retort. "And until its then business as usual."

The redhead groans before devouring her salted ramen. Literally, she emptied it in what had to be one gulp, leaving Sakura and Sasuke to gawk, 'SHE'S WORSE THAN NARUTO!'

Kakashi sighed as he stood up from his chair; "Well I guess we better get ready." He looked to his Genin who finished their breakfast. "Let's get to it shall we?"

"Hmmmmm" Kushina grumbled from her place on the bed. "Hmmmmm!" She grumbled louder, trying to make as much a scandal as possible.

Yugao sighed; "Is something wrong sensei?"

"I don' wanna stay here, I wanna watch the matches!"

Kakashi drawled. "Doctor's orders Kushina-sama, don't act like a child"

"You're a child!" She threw an accusing finger at him.

"I'll get a TV linked to a camera on the arena for you" The ANBU quickly assured her. "Will you stay here then?"

Kushina beamed at her. "And that's way you're my favorite student!"

"I'm your only student" The unlucky one who got roped with the woman-child, she sometimes thought.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto gazed around the arena built at the base of the tower. It was HUGE, with large hands forming a seal carved out of stone at the front. Two balconies on the second floor for people to watch the fights one either side connected by stairs to the first floor. The blond grinned seeing his fellow Konoha graduated class all present, if not a bit worse for wear.

The blond gave a small quick wave over to Kumo and Kiri with Yugito giving the thumbs up and Haku smiling back. Looking forward he saw jiji with the Jounin sensei of the genin teams, the proctors of the first and second exams, along with Jiraiya standing on a stone platform in front of the carved hands.

"I bid you all welcome," Hiruzen spoke in authoritative tone. "I am glad to see a fair number of you endured the hardships of the forest and made it to the tower."

"So is this the third exam Hokage-Sama?" Kiba spoke up bluntly with Akamaru barking on his head. Kurenai breathed out a light sigh beside a chuckling Asuma.

"I'm afraid that's not the case" Hiruzen tried not to smile too much when he heard the hushed and groans whispers of disappointment and exhaustion. "You see, the number of applicants who made it out is larger than we anticipated, so we will need thin the herd so to say"

The examinees liked less and less where this was going.

"So for that, we shall be hosting a prelim exam. Those who win shall pass unto the third and final stage of the exam a month from now. Those who lose shall be disqualified and will need to apply for the next exams in two years"

Most of the genin grimaced, yet obstacle to overcome in order to reach their goal. Some welcomed the chance of further testing their skills, yet others looked like they were eager at the chance of fighting for its own sake.

"The fights shall me arranged the same way we arrange them for the third exam. One on one chosen at random"

One of the large blue segments behind the hand statue lifted revealing a monitor; "The names will be brought up on here."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"OH is that Tsume's boy?!" Kushina gushed watching a large screen television brought in by the ANBU and linked to the arena. Yugao sighed watching her sensei trying to see the kids of her old friends in the arena.

"Kiba Inuzuka," Yugao clarified as the Hokage was speaking to the Genin. "He graduated with Naruto."

"Hmm, he definitely takes after his mom. Hana-chan got the better looks out of the two I'd say" Not that she'd say that to Tsume's face. "So how's their father?"

"...He ran out on them..." Yugao lightly shifted recalling an angry Tsume storming through village looking for the good for nothing.

Kushina deadpans; "Well he's a lousy motherfucker." In seconds the redhead's mood shifted seeing Kiba's team; "I know a Hyuuga from a mile away. Hisashi's?"

"Indeed" Yugao nodded.

"Knew it, girl has Hitomi's hair color" Another friend who passed away in her absence, she tried not to think about it right now, so she ignored the pang of pain in her chest. "Goodness, look at her squirm. She looks shy as a mouse"

"Hinata-san has some... confidence issues from what Kurenai-san says. She's trying to help her with that"

"A shy Hyuuga" She mused. "Well, guess there is all kinds" One look at the last member of the team. "Who's the mini-Shibi?"

The ANBU chuckled in response. "Shibi-dono's son actually, Shino"

"Man, these Aburame. Can never tell them apart with them always hiding their faces..."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

As Hiruzen finished explaining the reason behind the exams and man in a standard Konoha uniform with his Hitai-ate wrapped on his head like a bandanna appeared via shunshin. He was bowing to the village leader as he lightly coughed; "Hokage-sama, may I take over from here?"

Sarutobi gave a nod as the man stood turning to face the Genin; "My name is (cough) Hayate Gekkō. I shall be the proctor of the preliminaries (Cough)."

'Should he be even out of bed?' Naruto and Sakura thought in unison seeing the dark circles under the proctor's eyes, never mind light paleness of his skin. Not to mention the constant coughing he was doing every few minutes.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina squinted very much like her son; "Is that guy gonna make it through the preliminaries? He should be in bed, not me." She soon noticed the awkward silence and looks from Yugao; "What?"

"...That's my boyfriend..."

The Uzumaki stared at her, then at the man on the screen, then at her again. All the while Yugao squirmed under her gaze.

"Nooooooo" Kushina slowly said, shaking her head incredulously.

"Yes..."

"Nooooooo" She retorted stronger than before. "Ugh, really Yugao? Really? He looks as lively as a corpse!"

"He is very sweet" The ANBU defended him.

"He is very sick, that's what he is. I'm not gonna question your taste in men... No fuck it, I'm gonna question your taste in men. I know this sounds hypocritical from the woman who married a Nancy boy, but at least he became handsome and less girlie as he grew older. This guy's looks like a soft wind could knock him over"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Before we (cough) begin the preliminaries is there anyone who wishes to back out? If you wish stop from going further in the exam you may do so now."

By the looks from the young Shinobi none showed they wanted go anywhere till one hand rose up; "Actually I like to drop out if that's okay?" Kabuto spoke up looking rather disheveled from his time in the forest.

Anko pulled out a clipboard and pencil; "Kabuto Yakushi."

Being close to the elder team, Sakura looked over Kabuto; "Are you okay?"

The glasses wearing teen gave a weak smile; "Not really. That forest wore me out more than I liked. Even with the extra day I'm not feeling up for fighting." As he heard the Jounin telling him to leave he gave a small bow and turned.

After few steps his wrist was grabbed by one of his teammates. a teen wearing a high-collared, sleeveless, a purple shirt short-sleeved, with one white one underneath, an obi around his waist, purple pants, blue sandals and purple fingerless gloves. A mask cloth covered his mouth while his Hite-Ate covered his head; "What are you up to Kabuto?" Yoroi Akadō whispered.

"Nothing at all," Kabuto whispered back, "Have fun." Freeing his wrist he walked away; 'No need to let the real me out on a bunch Genin. Have fun Sasuke and Naruto...'

Crossing his arms Jiraiya titled his head some; "Yakushi... I've heard that name before."

"That's Nonō Yakushi's adopted son I believe," Hiruzen tipped his hat, "that was the orphan boy she found in that destroy village years ago."

"Wait, wasn't she the one-?"

"The boy doesn't follow in her footsteps" The Hokage sternly said. "Danzo tried to have him act as a plant in the other villages, but was given to the village corps eventually. Since then he's been an active shinobi of our forces"

"Ah, I see" Jiraiya muttered. "Hmm, I worry about his future considering his history"

"Psychological evaluations don't hint at anything wrong, in a way he continues working as intelligence gathering. The info he gathers for the exams can be valuable"

"Let's hope he doesn't end up like his mother..."

"I feel sympathy for the boy, but I'm not in liberty of discarding assets to the village. Not in these times"

Jiraiya ruefully snorted; "'These times' have been going on for decades"

Lightly coughing, Hayate spoke up; "If no one else wants to back out, let's begin."

All eyes when to the wall monitor as two names appear. Sasuke Uchiha vs Yoroi Akadō. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes while Yoroi grunted, "Will everyone else please go to the second floor balconies except the named Genin?"

"You'd better win teme," Naruto smirked.

"Count on it Naruto," Sasuke smirked competitively right back; "Cause I'll be facing you in the 3rd exam."

Sakura just rolled her eyes before dragging her blond friend/teammate away. Arriving on the balcony their respected Jounin appeared beside their genin teams. Kakashi brightly waved at Zabuza whose Kiri team was close to his; "Yo!"

The swordsman rolled his eyes; "Kakashi..."

"Sup guys!" Naruto grinned to Haku and her team and waved to Yugito as her team came over.

Karui gave the blond a long look; "You look... different." She couldn't quite place it, but the blond seemed brighter.

"Just a few good days," Naruto said cryptically as he grinned. He soon blushed a storm as a young blond curvaceous woman at least four or five years older than him with a lighter shade of blue eyes than his walk over. Wearing a very low-cut outfit which displays her impressive bust, with mesh armor underneath, a short skirt and red hand guards, high boots. Her Kumo flak jacket being worn like griddle, Naruto blushes a bit more as she stands in front him; "Samui, you're Naruto Uzumaki I presume."

The young Uzumaki's mouth moves a bit before being lightly smacked on-top of the head by Yugito; "Uh yeah..."

"I'm the chunin substitute for my team from Kumo. Please to meet you."

'Don't look at her breasts' Naruto chanted to himself. 'Whatever you do, don't look at her breasts. Be better than Ero-sennin' on the arena, Jiraiya sneezed. Naruto coughed and focused on her very unimpressed eyes. "N-Nice to meet you, this is my teammate Sakura Haruno and Kakashi-"

"Hatake" Samui finished for him, surprising him. "Yeah, Kumo is familiar with him. We have standing orders regarding you, you know?"

"Oh" Team 7's sensei eye smiled cheerfully. "Is that right?"

"'If able, kill him and take his eye'" She coolly quoted, making the Kumo genin wince and Kakashi's students look at her with wide eyes.

'She has NO chill!' Sakura thought exasperated. Which was a rather ironic statement considering her frosty demeanor. A sentiment shared by her blonde teammate.

Kakashi, much to their surprise, chuckled. "Yep. Sounds about right"

Apparently he was far too used to people wanting him dead. This was more disturbing for Naruto and Sakura.

"Relax, obviously those orders aren't held during times for the exams. Keep the peace and all that" Samui shrugged. "But after the exams are over, who knows?"

Kakashi nodded casually, now reading his favorite book; "I understand Samui-san."

The red-haired Kumo Kunoichi dryly looks over to Naruto and Sakura; "Samui threatened him and he just reads one of those stupid smut books like it was nothing?"

"Yup," the two Konoha genin drawl.

Without even looking up, Kakashi casually informed them. "Sasuke's fight is about to start" That brought his students' attentions to the arena.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Coughing into his hand, Hayate turned his tired eyes to the genin that stood a good foot away from each other. "Are you two ready?"

"I am" Sasuke nodded.

"Heh" Yoroi snorted cockily. "This will be easy"

The Uchiha did not deign that with a response, he merely cracked his neck, showing his opponent that he didn't even think much of him. It got the intended result, Sasuke could feel the angry brewing inside Yoroi by the small amount of killing intent leaking out.

"First match of the prelims" Hayate called by raising his hand, managing to get his coughing under check for the moment. "Sasuke Uchiha vs Yoroi Akadō" And brought down his arm in a sweeping motion. "Begin!"

He withdrew from the arena, leaving the two combatants to face off.

Sasuke immediately began to calculate his odds, his thoughts nearly driven by instinct at this point. He knew nothing of Yoroi's capabilities, and if he dragged out the fight he risked showing some of his own skills to people who did not yet know how he fought, which would bring further complications for the final part of the exams.

He needed to end this fight quickly. For that, brutal and coldly calculated efficiency were necessary.

His Sharingan activated, he barely felt the sting of Cursed Mark on his neck. The Hokage had done a great job, if he hadn't had the damn thing warded off he wouldn't have been able to fight at full power for this match otherwise. Sasuke charged at his opponent, who charged towards him as well.

He could see Yoroi's movements clearly, he dodged a right punch while delivering a sweeping kick to his stomach. Yoroi reacted by holding his leg back with his left hand. Sasuke followed up with right fist, only to be caught by Yoroi as well.

Yoroi's hands were coated in chakra. And Sasuke felt his limbs grow weaker by the second. He could feel it and see it plain as day, Yoroi was using a technique to drain his chakra, physically exhausting his body.

"What's wrong Uchiha?" His opponent called mockingly. "Feeling tired?"

Sasuke immediately tried to get some distance between them. But Yoroi anticipated this and struck his remaining leg with a swift kick, throwing him off balance, and allowing Yoroi to drive him to the ground where he pinned him with a hold. Sasuke struggled under his opponent's weight, but his weakening strength made that very difficult.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Come on kid, what'cha you doing?" Kushina muttered as she bit on a nail, watching the fight through the TV

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Get up Sasuke" Naruto grunted as he and Sakura watched on helplessly.

Kakashi took his gaze away from his book and to watch the fight. There was little worry in his gaze, he was certain Sasuke could overcome this. His students had been through worse after all.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"UGH!" Sasuke cried out as his head was slammed against the ground.

"Soon I'll dry all the chakra from your body until you're nothing but a husk" Yoroi boasted with a throaty sound as he kept his voice low.

The Uchiha focused his gaze on his opponent's eyes, but much to his shock they failed to penetrate passes the lenses.

"Awww, can't use your genjutsu?" The masked shinobi mockingly laughed. "Got news for you, these glasses are layered with seals. Ocular genjutsu can't penetrate the chakra barrier between them and my eyes"

Tch... What an idiot. Why would he tell him that?

Yoroi just told him what he needed to do.

Mustering all his strength, Sasuke slammed his head forward, his forehead protector clashing against the lenses. Yoroi recoiled immediately on the impact, the breaking glass did not pierce his eyes but it left them quite vulnerable.

Sasuke's Sharingan bore right into them.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Goodnight!" Kushina cheered loudly as she laughed seeing Sasuke's opponent punched himself out and hit the ground unconscious. "Mi-chan was way more fun with her genjutsu."

Yugao rolled her eyes as her boyfriend declared Sasuke the winner.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Way to go Sasuke-Kun!" Ino cheered beside Chouji and Shikamaru.

Haku glanced over to Sakura; "So his little problem was fixed?" she asked covertly in case if any team was listening.

Naruto simply gave her the thumbs up.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Looking at his down opponent Sasuke shook his head; "You never reveal a weakness to the enemy. That's basic 101." Shifting his feet, the Uchiha turned and went to his team; "I see why the Kabuto guy said you lot have been doing this seven times."

Leaning his back against the wall, the Oto Jounin smirked; 'So no reaction from my gift. They sealed it well.' His eyes gaze to Naruto; 'I will find the opportunity to give you my gift as well Naruto-Kun,' the man lightly chuckled

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Leaning with arms on the balcony railing, Kankuro lets out a disheveled grunt; "Was hoping to see a bit more from the Uchiha."

"I've always heard stories on how dangerous the Uchiha clan was," Temari stared impassively at the arena below as she leaned against the wall. "Actually wonder what that kid could do. Or if all those stories are hot air."

Standing beside the young Suna Genin was a very tall man. He had two distinctive traits, red markings on the right side of his face, the only visible part of his head, with the rest being covered by his turban head gear and by a sheet hanging from it on the left side of his face. Wearing the standard Suna Shinobi uniform, he grunts crossing his arms; "You never underestimate any opponent Temari."

"I get that Baki-sensei, but these Konoha genin barely have a year since their graduation right? Can we really expect much out of fresh rookies from the academy?"

"Age or experience can be meaningless once a battle has begun. There are those crucial moments which can be exploited if your enemy lets his guard down precisely because of those suppositions. It's in those moments you find your either a warrior or a coward."

Gaara said nothing as his seafoam green eyes stayed fixed on Uzumaki and the long blond haired Kumo girl. Something about their chakra felt, familiar… He couldn't place it. No matter, if they challenged him then they would become a blood sacrifice for mother.

To their left the Otogakure team keep their attention focused on Team 7. Dosu's eye glared murderously toward at a certain blond Uzumaki whose chatting with Sakura and Haku. Absently his left hand runs over his thick bandaged chest. 'Orochimaru-sama's orders be damned. If I find a way; I am killing Uzumaki the first chance I get.'

"I must say Kakashi," a man who looked like the adult version of Lee, right down to the haircut, green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, and monstrous eyebrows, spoke. The jounin sensei of Tenten's team, Might Gai was leaning with his arms on the railing looking to his eternal rival; "You team thus far is interesting."

Naruto squinted realizing Sakura was hiding behind him. The blond had the 'pleasure' of meeting Tenten's eccentric sensei at her shop with Lee and a couple other times. He left an impression if you already guessed.

"I had the honor of meeting Naruto-Kun so I can tell you have an impressive team. But can they match against my own. I'd like to see that."

Kakashi lazily lifted his head from his book; "Sorry did you say something Gai?"

Neji and Tenten just sweatdropped and sighed heavily at their sensei's overreaction of being snubbed while Lee simply had tears in his eyes. The Kiri and Kumo Genin who had watched the weirdness just looked on wide eyed.

'Konoha is full of weirdoes!' Kouhei mentally yelled.

Walking up the stair of the balcony, Sasuke strolled passed Kumo giving them short nod before standing by his team. "Not sure if I should feel sorry or pity for Kabuto with his team," Naruto mumbled.

The last loyal Uchiha gave a grunt; "Seriously who gives out their one weakness in the middle of a fight? Dumbass…"

Omoi nodded, rolling his lollipop in his mouth; "Unless he really thought he was better, or play psychological games, or-" His train of thought was halted by Karui's fist to the back of his head.

"Don't start please…"

Team 7 and even Kiri sweatdrop as names soon pop up on the monitor. Yugito Nii vs. Kiba Inuzuka; upon seeing the name of his opponent, the Inuzuka groaned out loudly. "Oh man, I seriously wanted the dobe!" Shino only shook his head at his teammate while their sensei sighed.

With a twitching eye, Naruto glared over at Kiba; "Be careful fleabag. You might get your wish in the 3rd exam. That is if Yugito-san doesn't kick your ass back to your kennel."

Kiba just scoffed as Akamaru barked; "Yeah right dead-last. You won't even last in the prelims." The young Genin leapt over the railing to the arena floor below.

"He's real luckily he's not facing me," Tenten lightly growled as she spun a kunai in her hand. Haku only glared quietly with Zabuza noticed the faint killer intent coming off his apprentice.

Naruto waved it off; "He likes being cocky."

"So do you," Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi drawl back.

"But I'm way cooler at it."

At that, the majority of the Konoha, Kiri, and Kumo crew on the balcony rolled their collective eyes while Yugito snickered before jumping down the railings.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina's face was blank as her violet eyes were staring a hole at the Kumogakure kunoichi getting ready to fight Tsume's boy. Even with all her experience in the ANBU, Yugao felt a deep chill in the room, along with not being able to breathe. The killer intent radiating off her sensei was so overwhelming she felt she was drowning in water.

"S-Sensei..." The purple haired young woman manage to utter while under the pressure of such heavy killing intent, trying to snap her teacher out of her hate filled thoughts.

It worked, as Kushina's head perked up and blinked a couple of times, as if suddenly realizing what she was unintentionally doing. She shook her head and focused on calming her emotions, much to the relief of her apprentice who gasped softly for air upon feeling the heavy pressure leave the room.

"Sorry about that" Kushina sincerely apologized. She could pretty much hear Sakumo-sensei scolding her about not being in control of her emotions, something she never learnt to do apparently. Not that Kushina honestly cared much for that, she was an Uzumaki, wearing her heart on her sleeve was her nature. But she had to remind herself such things had consequences.

Taking a deep breath, Kushina focused and controlled her feelings much better this time, as she stared at the screen. "Kumo... Can't remember the last time they came to Konoha for the exams"

"Sarutobi-sama was cautious" Yugao explained, "but felt it was better not to shun them and avoid hostilities"

The Uzumaki snorted in disgust. "'Avoid hostilities'" She parroted.

The ANBU could do nothing but awkwardly stand around as her sensei's gaze became lost in haze of memories. To say Kushina was angry at Kumo's presence in the village was a massive understatement. She and that village had a very bloody history, or rather, it was more accurate to say her clan and that village along with Iwa had a bloody history.

If there was two places Kushina hated more than anything in the world, it was the villages of Kumo and Iwa. One of the two villages responsible for the destruction of her homeland and the death of her clan. And adding the failed attempted of kidnapping her as a child foiled by Minato, she had nothing but contempt for Kumogakure. "And it was Kumo who just so happened to find my son as he was nearly killed by Hebi-Teme's wind jutsu," the edge in her tone could have stopped any hardened warrior in their tracks.

"W-While I am uncertain of their Chunin substitute sensei Samui; those three haven't shown any sign of underhandedness around Naruto. Kuma and Usagi had been watching them by order of Hokage-sama after confronting Orochimaru."

Kushina's gaze towards her student showed she was hardly convinced. Shifting her eyes back she watched the monitor once again.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

As Yugito passed her opponent both Kiba and Akamaru caught her scent. 'Okay she smells good but weird? I swear I-' He looked up seeing Akamaru lightly shaking; "What's wrong buddy?" the little pup just whimpered, barking softly. 'Strange, Akamaru only did that with-' He looked wide eyed paling considerably as he glanced up to Gaara who was thankfully staring at Yugito for gods know whatever reason.

His mind flashed back to his team seeing Suna in the forest...

Okay she definitely wasn't as insane and bloodthirsty as that Gaara guy, he literally reeked of it. Granted looks can always be deceiving. But why did something about her smell felt the same as that Suna lunatic? What the hell?!

Standing in front of her opponent, the Nibi Jinchurriki raised a delicate brow at the Inuzuka who was looking at her and weirdly behind her. Lightly glancing herself, she saw Gaara staring down solely at her. 'What's his problem?'

In her mindscape, Matatabi tilted her head before letting out a low growl at to what she sensed what was within the Suna child Gaara. "Oh great... So that's Suna's new host for him. Kitten, you hear this to Naruto." Both young blond's blink upon hearing the feline Bijuu speaks to them. "That Gaara boy is a Jinchuuriki."

The two young shinobi did everything they could to suppress their reaction of shock and surprise at this monumental news. The most that managed to escape from them was a temporary widening of their eyes. Naruto in particular was reeling at this; Gaara was like them? Was this the reason he was so psychotic?

He didn't know if that could be true, the fox had not driven him insane nor driven him to violent acts despite his clear dislike for people. Matatabi was pretty nice actually, so Naruto was reminded that the Bijuu themselves had their own personalities. He had no idea what Gaara's tenant was like.

Picking on his thoughts, Kurama snorted. "Shukaku is a weakling, that's all there is to it"

"Kurama!" The flaming feline chastised him.

"Oh I'm sorry," by the Kitsune's mocking tone he really wasn't; "How about psychotic one-tailed weakling..." Kurama then tuned out his feline sibling's verbal ranting by going back to sleep.

Seeing how she was being ignored, Matatabi only growled before explosively huffing; "At any rate. You two be careful if you confront Gaara. Suna Jinchuuriki are known to be mentally unstable."

Focusing back to her match Yugito took a long deep breathe before giving a steely gaze to the spooked looking Kiba and Akamaru. Having the feeling he was being stared at, Gaara glanced up seeing Naruto staring at him with a wide eyed expression. Ignoring the blond's gaze he looks back down to the arena once more.

Yugito felt her eyes twitching seeing and feeling the hesitance coming off from her opponent. Putting her hands on her hips as she tapped her foot, the blond Kunoichi tilted her head; "What's wrong mutt boy? You and your little puppy's balls get cut off when you jumped over that railing or something?"

Kiba froze before his temper exploded; "What the hell did you just say!?"

"Well if you took that stupid hood off your head it might help you actually hear things you know," the Nibi Jinchuuriki chided back.

"Grrrr!" He growled, faring his sharp teeth at her.

"She's playing you, Kiba. Don't fall for her tricks" Shino advised from the stands, usually he wouldn't have been heard, in fact none of the other people in the stand was able to hear him due to how low his voice was. But Kiba's superior hearing allowed him to pick up his words.

The Inuzuka breathed in deeply and held back his anger just a bit. He shared a look with his partner, Akamaru barked, expressing that while he was nervous around this opponent he would fight alongside him with all he had.

Kiba grinned; "Let's do this boy!"

Hayate coughed into his fist before directing his gaze at the genin. "Are you two ready?"

Yugito rolled her neck, popping the stiff joints as she took a rather feral stance, crouching and spreading her fingers like claws. Kiba did the same, but placed one hand on the ground as Akamaru stood atop of his head.

"Second match; Yugito Nii vs Kiba Inuzuka" Hayate called as he rose his hand. "Begin!"

He left the arena in a blur, and Yugito charged at her opponent, nails growing and sharpening, ready to strike. Kiba and Akamaru leaped back, dodging a slash from her nails. But she did not relent, Yugito quickly pursued them, launching several slashing attack with great precision and speed. All the ninja and dog duo could do was dodge, as her swiftness left little room for them to properly counter attack.

Leaping back once more, Kiba moved to deliver a sweeping upper kick the moment she got close, his body flipping and landing on his hand as Yugito narrowly dodged the feet that nearly came into contact with her chin, forcing her to take a step back. Kiba did not stop, as soon as he landed on his palms he twisted his body and pushed himself from the ground, delivering a set of aerial spinning kicks at his opponent.

Yugito crossed her arms in front of her face, shielding herself from the kicks as they collided with her forearms. Kiba kicked her limbs repeatedly, finishing with a strong strike that pushed her back a few feet as he and Akamaru landed on their feet.

"How you like that bitch?" Kiba's grin was practically feral as Akamaru barked loudly at his feet.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina deadpans; "Oh he took after Tsume alright. Right down to the trash talking." The redhead said, ignoring the dry look that came from Yugao.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Glad to see he wasn't slacking off after graduation," Sasuke spoke absently watching the fight.

"Indeed," Shino actually spoke up loud enough for Team 7, Kiri, and Kumo to hear him. "You'll find him a difficult opponent if you face him Uchiha. That goes for you as well Naruto"

The blond Uzumaki snorted; "Yeah I will gladly whip that smug ass smirk off dog-breath, I'll show him I'm not the same person I was in the academy."

Shino gave his former classmate a look before turning back to the fight. Hinata all the while had been quiet, glancing at Naruto several times. Kiba's previous words ringed in her mind; 'Naruto-Kun has changed a lot Kiba-Kun... Like I want to...'

Karui only scoffed; "Won't matter how good he is, no way he's beating Yugito. She's trained harder than any of us. Samui-neechan is a badass, but Yugi-chan is the best of us because she earned it through blood, sweat, and tears."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Lowering her arms, Yugito's cat-like eyes gaze towards Kiba; "Was that all you got mutt boy?" Before vanishing in a burst of speed.

"Tch!" Kiba's eyes widened as his opponent's speed seemed to have increased exponentially. "Akamaru, with me buddy!" The pup barked in acknowledgement and the two prepared their special move, he triggered the Four Legs Technique, driving his body's physical capabilities to new heights by enveloping his entire body with chakra to the point it became visible. He took on an even more feral look as his eyes turned into slits, his canines enlarged and his nails grew. He was now a beast-like human.

For the second part of his technique, Akamaru stood atop him, synchronizing his chakra with his partner. This would allow Akamaru to turned into a sort of clone of himself by using a full physical transformation technique, and fight against their opponent with the same capabilities a human body would provide.

Kiba felt Akamaru transform above him, but his senses were focused on the Kumo ninja, he could hear the sound of her footsteps, smell her scent to pinpoint her location even if she was moving at such high speed. Together, he and Akamaru in this state would be able to defeat her.

But there was one factor Kiba didn't account for-

Yugito appeared at their side in a blur, and delivered a sweeping roundhouse kick that knocked the transformed Akamaru far away from Kiba's back, sending him crashing across the ground several feet away from them.

-they weren't fast enough to intercept her.

"Akamaru!" Kiba shouted in concern for his friend. He barely had time to direct his anger and lash out when a backhanded strike hit him across the cheek. Spit and blood escaped his mouth as Yugito mercilessly continued her assault. A knee to his stomach, followed by a series of punches that build up their way from his midsection until they connected to his chin with a devastating uppercut.

Kiba stumbled backwards, pain dulling his senses as he was grabbed by collar of his hoodie and pulled back, Yugito buried her fist directly on his right cheek and sent him to the ground.

Akamaru had just shook off the pain and was ready to retaliate and aid his partner, his human form took a very canine stance as he was about to jump into the fray. The pup froze in place seeing his partner on the ground, bruised and bloodied, groaning as a forearm pressed against his throat, while long sharp nails hovered threateningly above him.

One look at those cat-like eyes that met his gaze and he received a clear message; 'Try it, and your partner is done for'.

With little choice, the pup growled in anger as he remained still.

Satisfied, Yugito turned to her downed opponent. "Give up"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto and Sakura both cheered and winced as the proctor called the match upon Kiba's verbal submission. Akamaru returned to his original canine form running back his master. "Damn she is brutal," the blond Uzumaki spoke up as Yugito starting walking away as Kiba sat up with a hiss.

"Don't expect anything less if you by chance face her Uzumaki," Samui responded looking to the stairs as Yugito comes up; "Cool fight."

The Kumo Jinchuuriki shrugged; "It was alright. But it didn't really get my blood pumping though." She'd like something excitement to happen in these exams… Something that didn't involve a lunatic Konoha traitor sannin like in the forest, she never wanted to press her luck like that ever again. But a good fight against someone that was and equal to her. That would be her kind of fun!

Grunting Kiba soon reached the balcony as he passed everyone by. He spoke not a word as Akamaru laid on his head whimpering. As soon he got to his team, Kurenai and Hinata began to fuss over him in the blink of an eye. "I'm fine sensei, Hinata."

The genjutsu mistress was not buying it; "If you're not getting medically looked at then I'm looking you over, so off with that shirt."

Kiba just grunted as his puppy leaped into Hinata's arms.

"Oi, Inuzuka" The blonde genin from Kumo called, and Kiba regarded her with an apathetic look, expecting her to gloat about her victory. To his surprise, there was no smile of smugness, no satisfaction in her eyes, but instead there was acknowledgement. "That was a good fight. Keep it up and you'll get better"

It wasn't mockery she spoke with, but respect. She was recognizing him as a respected opponent rather than a defeated enemy to lord over with a sense of superiority. Something he'd have expected from Kumo.

His surprised lasted little, as he found himself smirking. "Next time, I'm gonna kick your ass"

"You can try" Yugito smiled challengingly.

A cough gathered everyone's attention once more as Hatake called from the arena; "We will now choose the participants for the next fight"

The screen randomly began rolling their names; everyone held their breath as they expectedly waited for the names to be displayed.

It finally settled in two; Shino Aburame vs Haku Yuki.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina winced seeing Tsume's boy get brutally beaten down by Kumo. As much as she hates that village, she will acknowledge talent when seeing it, begrudgingly... As the new names come up the redhead brightens; "Shibi's kid!" She tilted her head looking at the fifteen years old Kiri Kunoichi; "So that's the Haku that Naruto kept talking about."

"From Sempai's report about Nami no Kuni; she was personally trained by Zabuza Momochi. Combined with her bloodline limit Hyoton she can be a dangerous opponent," Yugao spoke in an analytical tone, eyeing the monitor seriously.

"Sochi was right; she really is a beautiful young lady." Kushina's sole student face faults; "I can see why he has bit of a crush on her."

'She wasn't listening to a thing I just said…'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Standing a good distance in front of each other, Haku gave a respectful bow to the Aburame heir. "I hope we both do well Shino-san."

In return, Shino gave a short nod; "I feel the same Haku-san."

Coughing, Hayate raised his hand; "Third match; Shino Aburame vs Haku Yuki... Begin!" And vanished from the arena.

Haku immediately took a stance, going through the proper hand seals to ready her ice element. The Aburame had not moved, he stood still with his hands on his pockets, but Haku knew this was not from arrogance on his part, Aburame fought at a distance as Zabuza had taught her. They relied on their hives to fight.

Haku had little to no experience when fighting insects. There had been encounters in which she faced opponents capable of summoning giant insects, but not entire swarms of creatures so small they could easily escape her vision. She would play on defensive first; if her suspicions were correct then his hide would not be able to withstand the cold.

Shino slowly took his hands out, small insects of many varieties swarming over his limbs as they seemed to come out from his very skin.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Karui paled significantly, a reaction mirrored by Omoi. Yugito gagged pressing a hand over her mouth. "Oh... Oh gods that's new" She had heard the tales, read the reports and everything. But to see it firsthand was something else. "When I heard about the Aburame being 'living hives' I thought that may have been... hyperbole"

"Nope" Sakura shivered. "Literal"

Chojuro felt nauseated while Kouhei thought his eyes might bulge out of his head. "That's... disturbing"

Zabuza rolled his eyes. "Wimps..."

A loud yawn came from a bored looking Shikamaru who lazily leaned against railing while Chouji ate chips beside him. "I could be taking a nap right now." Asuma only rolled his eyes, lighting a new cigarette. Ignoring the glares from Ino, Kurenai, and even Hinata… well, 'glare' was too strong a word for the young Hyuuga, at most it could be called 'vague disapproval'.

"Take a nap after the prelims dummy," Ino lightly snapped. "Till then suck it up."

"Troublesome..." Shika kept one eye open on the arena; 'I know Shino's noticed already.'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

'The temperature is dropping,' Shino soon noticed his own breathe even as he kept his eyes on his opponent. 'A bloodline limit?'

Haku's eyes never left her opponent as frost soon coated the floor around her feet and started to spread more and more.

The Aburame heir quickly took action before the temperature could drop further. He sent a swarm of his bugs flying straight towards his opponent, beetles and other fliers numbering in the hundreds, their amalgamation creating a shifting cloud-like form from there.

Haku's eyes narrowed; with a shift of her handsigns she increased the potency of her ice element taking effect on the air around her. The moment the insects got within a feet of coming into contact with her, they suddenly splintered off and moved around her as to avoid her. Many of the swarm falling to the ground frozen.

Shino quickly recalled the swarm back to him as he analyzed the situation. The temperature around his opponent was too much for his hive to handle, the insects had instinctively avoided her, and even them various others had fallen prey to the low temperatures, almost frozen in an instant.

'Temperatures are too much for my swarms' Shino thought critically. 'Adaptation to the temperatures will require a bit of time before they can withstand it. But by then my foe will have already attacked, her ice element will be too strong for me to counter on my own' He tried to draw out any possible outcome that might result in his factory. 'Arena unsuitable for evasion tactics and stealth. Not enough time to remain at bay and let my hive adapt' yet the odds decreased with every alternative he thought of. 'Chances of victory... very low'

Shino let out a silent breathe; "Proctor. I submit defeat..."

Appearing back in the arena Hayate gave the Aburame teen a look; "You're certain?" Getting a nod the proctor announced the winner; "Haku Yuki wins by opponent's verbal submission."

"A wise decision," the Hyoton user smiled as her ice soon vanished with the temperature returning to normal. "I glad there was no need to spill blood."

"I'd rather not sacrifice my insects; you are quite skilled Yuki-san."

A loud grunt came from Zabuza gaining people's attention; "You're still too soft Haku."

The Hyoton user merely smiled; "I know."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina whistled; "She's good... She knows her bloodline limit well." Yugao gave a small nod. The redhead's eyes lit up seeing the next match. "Oh this will be cool!" Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka; "Wonder how good Inoichi's daughter is."

The ANBU woman simply looked the other way.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Blinking, the rosette put her hair in a low ponytail giving Naruto a thumbs up; "Wish me luck."

"You don't need it," Naruto smirked back watching his teammate go down the stair. "Hope she doesn't kill Ino," the blond muttered as Ino walked by winking to Sasuke who ignored her.

"I'll win big time Sasuke-kun," The Yamanaka sing-songed before going down the step.

Samui's critical eye never missed a detail as she spoke to the boys of team 7; "She's a little thin for someone her age."

Naruto nervously chuckled as Haku and Shino came up the stairs and back to their teams; "Um, Ino is bit of a... Fan-girl..." Why did he just feel a hint of rage surge from Karui, Yugito, and Samui?

"...A bit?" Sasuke spoke up lifting a brow.

Kakashi momentarily took his gaze up from his book; "Say Asuma" He called to the leader of Team 9. "What kind of missions have your kids taken?"

"D-ranks. Occasional C-Ranks with bandits, nothing mayor, mostly bodyguard duty" The Sarutobi said as he took a drag from his cigarette. "Thought it would have been enough for her to wise up a bit"

"Did she kill anybody yet? Seen a corpse at least?"

"Nope" Asuma said regretfully. "Usually those are good eye openers"

"Well, I guess we were lucky in that regard" The Copy Nin said optimistically. "Our first serious mission really gave my cute little students a good welcome into the shinobi life"

"Yeah" Naruto drawled, a bit disturbed with how casual the jounin were about the whole thing. "With a psycho A-Rank ninja trying to kill us..."

"Yo" Zabuza lazily waved at them.

"You fought THAT guy?!" Kiba, now shirtless and covered with some bandages, yelled as he pointed to the Kiri Nin who yawned.

"DO I LOOK CRAZY FLEA BAG?! I was fighting Haku-chan while Kakashi-sensei dealt with the lunatic over here!" Naruto yelled back. "How the hell she stayed normal when being raised by that is beyond me!"

Zabuza oddly enough took the jibes with pride puffing up his chest out. Till Haku spoke; "Zabuza-sama is hopeless when it comes to cooking, I had to teach him." The swordsman face faulted.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Standing face to face with her opponent, Sakura pulled out her black gloves and put them on. "When did you start wearing that billboard brow?"

Ignoring the jibe, the rosette gave her former friend a look; "When I decided to be a real kunoichi."

"What the hell does that mean?" Ino's eye twitched feeling like she was insulted.

"Means exactly what I said," Sakura kept a calm demeanor as she popped her knuckles; "Thanks to Naruto and our first mission as a team I had my eyes open." She soon took one of the two Taijutsu stances that she and Naruto have been learning together for several months now. "Let me show you."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina perked up seeing that Taijutsu stance; "That's…." Yugao nodded as her sensei looked at her then back to the monitor with a smirk. "Let's see how far she and Sochi got using my Taijutsu." Her face soon turned serious; "What did she mean by now being a real kunoichi?"

"Sakura-san I believe became a ninja for the wrong reasons…It was to impress a boy," Yugao shook her head remembering the pinkette's original attitude and outlook on life before Nami no Kuni.

The redhead paused before a long loud groan came from the redhead's throat as she now glared; "She was a fan-girl?"

"Yup, her and Ino-San… Though by how it looks, Only Sakura-san started taking her duties seriously several months ago. Inoichi-san's daughter…"

"Are you-" Kushina growled as she ran her hands over her face. "I swear everything was fine till that masked bastard showed up and I was sealed away. Then I wake up and the whole damn village has GONE TO SHIT!" she screamed before huffing.

Yugao rubbed her sensei's back in sympathy, she honestly shared her sentiment.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Are the contestants ready?" Hayate asked after recovering from a coughing fit. Upon receiving two nods of confirmation he raised his hand; "Fourth match; Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka... Begin!"

By the time the proctor started the match Ino was already sure of her chances. All she needed to do was lock on to Sakura with her mind transfer technique and manipulate her body to make the pinkette surrender. It seemed as though Sakura was aware of her plan so she wasted no time in charging at her.

Ino smirked as Sakura raised her fist, jumping away as to avoid the fist that missed its marked and carried on its trajectory towards the floor.

The fist made contact with the ground, and the ground promptly exploded.

By 'exploded' what it actually means is that the sheer force behind broke through concrete that it send small chunks of stone flying upwards by a few feet. Cracks spread like a twisted spider's web until it reached around three to four feet in size with an indentation of the concrete of at least one foot.

The act had made Ino lose her balance and fall flat on her butt, leaving her to openly stare at the pinkette with horror. "Ah... ah... Ahhhh..!" She managed to utter only incoherencies as a she comically trembled before what she had just witnessed.

Hiruzen's and Jiraiya's jaws drop along with majority of onlookers seeing the destruction of Sakura's punch to the ground. Naruto just shivered painfully remembering the sparring sessions his clones had as she learned that technique. Asuma's cigarette fell out of his mouth, which was mimicked by the chip in Chouji's hand.

Tenten and Neji's eyes were the size of dinner plates along with their sensei's while Lee gawked. Team Kiri and Kumo who had not seen the rosette in action were not faring much better as Zabuza robotically turned to a visibly stunned Kakashi. "What the fuck did you do to her Kakashi?"

Sasuke to his credit tried to keep his cool as he looked over at Naruto; "H-How?"

"Very painfully," Naruto still shivered.

"NOT ANOTHER ONE!" The Hokage and Gama Sannin bellowed in terror.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina's jaw dropped; "Oh fucking hell... She figured out how to do THAT?!"

"All by herself," Yugao said warily having watched the training sessions of Naruto and Sakura did on their own.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The 'Jounin Sensei' of Oto lifted a brow; 'crude, but a remarkable recreation of my old teammate's monstrous strength. More than what I expect from a civilian-born,' Might as well keep an eye on her, out of curiosity.

As the smoke cleared, Sakura almost predatory stared right at Ino; "Like the new me?"

'WHAT THE HELL! Sakura was genjutsu type, even I know that!' Ino just looked wide eyed trembling.

The pinkette rolled her neck; "I figured out that if my chakra control was that good, I might as well put it to use for more practical means"

She called having the punch equivalent of a bomb 'practical'?!

"So" Sakura's smile was a bit cheeky. "What have you learnt since the academy? Been working on your family's jutsu right?" The genin took a few steps forward, walking out from the rubble. "So come on, try using it against me"

Ino gulped. This was not good; this was most definitely not good. She did not expect for Sakura to have grown this much stronger since they started training with their teams. It made her own progress look paltry in comparison- No! Now was not the time for doubt, she was as much a kunoichi as she was!

The Yamanaka first thought of using her mind transfer technique, but hesitated when she realized the pinkette was most likely goading her. Sakura was smart; she must have laid some sort of trap, or had something in mind that would work in her advantage the moment she did her technique. Genjutsu would not work much, as chakra control was Sakura's specialty. This led her with one option.

A frontal assault, she would have to outmaneuver and outpace her.

So Ino got to her feet and shifted into a taijutsu stance.

"...Tell me she's not serious" Tenten deadpanned.

"Attacking Sakura-chan head on seems... unwise" Lee tactfully said.

Asuma facepalmed; "Ino, you're supposed to be smarter than this..."

Chouji noted his longtime friend had closed his eyes and was trying to rest on the railing, "Uh, Shikamaru, don't you wanna watch Ino's match?"

"Why bother?" The young heir of the Nara clan yawned. "Ino already lost"

The Yamanaka charged forwards, chakra coursing through her legs as she accelerated in a dash of speed, fist reared back to strike her opponent. Sakura did not move, which Ino mistook as a sign she wouldn't react in time, leading her to throw her punch.

Sakura caught it unflinchingly with one hand.

"You're really thin you know" The Haruno casually commented as though they weren't in the middle of a fight. "You should eat more protein, build up muscle"

For the second time today, Ino gulped.

Finally the blond kunoichi couldn't stop herself; "How did you change so much!?" Looking at her former old friend up close now, she saw how toned and fit Sakura's muscles were. Granted she saw them in the first exam, but now really looking the rosette was in the best shape she'd ever seen.

Sakura's jade eyes gave her a warm look; "I had a wakeup call on my first mission, and Naruto made me see some things differently" She really owed her friend so much for helping become the kunoichi she is now. Just seeing Ino like this, how she also used to be, it really bugged her.

"Why would you listen to the Dead-" Ino winced as Sakura glared as she squeezed the blond's fist.

"Don't you ever call Naruto dead-last. He's has gone above and beyond from the person we remember during the academy. Sure he's a cocky smart-ass, but that will never change. And you saw his bloodline limit in the first exam, but that's the tip of the iceberg." The rosette shook her head; "Ino, you need to start being a real kunoichi. You're the heir to one the shinobi clans of the village. And it scares me to think if your teams gets into real trouble and you're still like this. You're a better person who just shouldn't settle for being weak fan-girl Kunoichi."

Outrage, humiliation, the feeling of her pride being wounded, the Yamanaka held these emotions in her heart as the pinkette's words cut deep. She wasn't just some fangirl, she was a kunoichi! She was Ino from the Yamanaka clan!

She would show her, she would show everyone she was worth it of that name. She wouldn't let the Sakura's judgement, or anybody's, get to her like this. Ino knew who she was, she knew she was strong.

That's what she was telling herself.

"I-I am a true kunoichi!" The Yamanaka seethed through gnashed teeth, holding back the tears of anger. She reared her free arm back, hand closing into a fist. "I am-!"

Ino's sentence was cut short as Sakura's free arm lashed out with a swift left hook. Ino's head turned to the side as her body fell almost boneless as consciousness left her. Sakura grabbed the Yamanaka's form and gently laid her on the ground.

She turned to proctor who immediately approached to check the blonde's condition. He coughed before declaring; "Winner by knockout, Sakura Haruno!"

The rosette wasn't really listening as she stared at the unconscious form of her former best friend; 'Maybe we can be friends again after all this...' She soon noticed Ino's sensei appearing and picking up his student. "She should wake up in a bit. I made sure to hit her softly... I just hope she listened."

Asuma smirked; "We can hope, good show kid, be proud of that."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Jiraiya grunted beside Hiruzen as the ANBU cleaned up the area floor to be fight-able again. "You know, after Nami I had planned on teaching the brat my Taijutsu. Since he was still using basic academy katas and that only gets you so far." He pretended to think by tapping his chin than showing surprise; "but who'd have guess that Naruto, found his own mother's private Taijutsu scroll, in the public library no less" His voice held the fakest tone of confusion and wonderment possible.

Dryly gazing down at his sensei, the elderly Kage simply lit his tobacco pipe without saying a single word. The Gama sannin kept talking; "No big surprise the brat's been teaching pinkie." He had been observing the two when they did their own training sessions by themselves. Jiraiya was impressed how both were actually coming, granted he didn't see when Sakura started pulling a Tsunade, thus his alarmed reaction.

"Quite the interesting year this is turning out to be" The Hokage idly commented.

"Interesting, yeah" Jiraiya curtly replied with a dry tone. "I guess that's one word to describe it"

"Now let's see who it'll be for the next round" Hiruzen said as the names began spinning one again, he could practically see the aspirants holding their breath in anticipation.

Then, the result was shown.

"Well" Jiraiya muttered. "This will be interesting..."

Genma coughed before announcing; "The next contestants are Chouji Akamichi vs Rock Le-"

"YOOOOOOOOOSH!" He was cut short by the sudden exclamation of raw unadulterated excitement as the genin in question cheered at the tops of his lungs. "Now it's my turn to prove myself, Gai-sensei!" The boy's eyes were aflame, the sheer enthusiasm made one feel as though he had literally burst into flames.

The ever enthusiastic sensei of the team's namesake pats his hand on Lee's shoulder; "Yes Lee, time to show everyone here how hard work is just as good as natural talent." Gai gives thumbs up and smile which somehow gleams like the sun.

Kouhei rubbed his eyes; "Seriously Konoha is WEIRD." His two teammates idly nodded back.

Choji on his part looked partly concerned against his opponent and actually having to fight. "Umm sensei?"

Asuma simply pats his student's back, "You got this Choji. And food's on the house after-" The Sarutobi chuckled as the Akimichi heir was already standing down at the arena floor.

"You know Chouji will thin your wallet dry right?" Shikamaru commented; looking behind him to see Ino was still unconscious.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"He looks like Chōza when he was twelve!" Kushina beamed as she and Yugao had lunch. "How good is he?"

"Choji-san has a bit of confidence issues, but he has showed promise."

Kushina smiled before turning so serious in a matter of seconds it threw her apprentice off; "How can you tell me with a straight face that Lee kid is not Gai's!?" The redheaded Uzu woman just stared at the monitor in horror, "The EYEBROWS, HAIR, and THAT GODS AWFUL GREEN JUMPSUIT!?" He was practically Gai's freaking clone!

"Hokage-sama did do a secret blood test; there is no relation" Kushina just gawked; "With neither him nor the deceased Dai being a relation"

"Gods help us..."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto shook his head as Lee jumped from the balcony; "Glad I was never that bad."

"You gotta respect Lee..." Tenten muttered, "If it wasn't for him, Gai-sensei would have put US in spandex instead" A dark cloud seemed to cover her eyes in dread as the horrifying possibility flashed in her mind.

Even the ever serious Neji couldn't help but mirror her expression.

The other teams from Konoha sweatdropped at this. "Team Gai has it hard huh?" Sakura muttered to no one in particular.

"You have no idea" Kakashi replied.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Are both contestants ready?"

"YOSH!" Lee shouted as she took a flawless stance.

"Yeah" Choji said as he readied himself to perform his family's jutsu.

Hayate raised his arm; "Fifth Match, Choji Akimichi vs Rock Lee... Begin!"

Lee spun forward with a burst of speed that left a dust cloud in his wake. Choji stared in surprise, hastily reacting by enlarging his arm to huge proportions to the point it was larger than his entire body. He grunted as he a punch, which Lee easily ducked under with sheer speed and agility.

The spandex wearing genin positioned himself behind the Akimichi, and before the large bellied ninja could turn he delivered a swift chopping strike to his neck.

Choji fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

The entire arena fell silent. The spectators could only watch gawking at what had just transpired.

"...the fuck?" It was Zabuza who had broken the silence as he voiced the incredulity everyone was feeling at the moment.

"Proctor!" Lee stood straight as he stared at the confused Hayate. "Does this mean I win?"

"Um... yeah" Even his cough seemed to have taken a backseat due to how surprised he was. "Winner by knockout, Rock Lee..."

"YYYYYOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHH!" Lee's voice roared throughout the arena as he danced and cheered.

Temari and Kankuro just blinked along with their sensei who looked just as bewildered. Gaara only watched blankly before looking back to Yugito and Naruto.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

In her medical section, Kushina and Yugao both gawked as they watched Gai's mini-me cheered to the heavens above

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Troublesome," Shikamaru just grunted as Asuma sighed before going to retrieve his second unconscious student. "And that just leaves me to represent my team... Wonderful," the Nara heir dryly muttered leaning on the railing.

"Choji's no slouch when he actually fights," Naruto lightly defended. Remembering the few spars in the academy.

Kakashi spoke up; "Their dynamics were too contrasting. Choji had power, but Lee has speed and strength. The difference between them was clear."

"Had he had better defenses to counter Lee's speed, the fight would have been different" Sasuke reasoned. "At least, it would not have been this one-sided"

"Compatibility can be a very deciding factor in a battle" Their sensei instructed them. "Even if your strengths are overall greater than your opponent, this one can still exploit a weakness or possess greater talent in fields you yourselves are weak against. For example, if your skill with dispelling genjutsu is not good enough it will not matter how much stronger than your opponent you are, if this on specializes in genjutsu then you will most likely lose. Or more recently, the fight with Shino and Haku, I imagine he couldn't prepare his hive in time to adapt against the cold, which resulted in them being unsuitable for his match"

"I guess that's true" Naruto admitted. Shino had been one of the best students in his class, and he was damn good. But the Aburame didn't care for boasting, so the true reach of his skills were hard to predict. "In a pure taijutsu match, there's no way I could win against Lee" That's why he had his jutsu and tactics to employ.

"Hehehe" The Swordsman from Mist chuckled as he directed a smarmy look at the jounin of team 9. "Hey Sarutobi, two down one to go huh?"

Asuma lightly glared at him; "If we were alone I'd make you eat those words. And I'll have you know my last student can handle himself, he'll get to the finals"

"It depends" Shikamaru lazily added. It wasn't said with pessimism, it was a mere observation, like he was stating a fact.

"...Come on Shikamaru, back me up a little here"

Kurenai couldn't help but giggle at the misfortune her boyfriend was going through; oh she felt horrible about it but couldn't help herself, truly.

As everything got back to normal, with Lee returning to his team. Two names appeared on the wall screen. Tenten Higarashi vs Kin Tsuchi. Upon seeing their names both young ladies glared hard at one another before leaping over the railing.

"Kick her ass Ten-chan!" Naruto cheered along with Sakura.

"You can do it!" The green beasts cheered on as one. "Tenten!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Higarashi..." Kushina looked wide eyed; "Kaito's girl!" She was only one or two years old when she last saw her. "Gods she looks like her mother."

"Naruto goes to the Higarashi shop quite frequently. He and Tenten-san have become good friends." Yugao said before sipping on her glass of water.

Hearing that Kushina smiled; "How is that old bear?"

"Hasn't changed one bit."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kin lightly sighed in disappointment; "Here I was hoping to fight Uzumaki."

"You won't get near him," Tenten spoke threateningly as she glared, pulling out a kunai for each hand; "I'll make damn sure of that."

A predatory grin came from the Oto kunoichi's lips; "Hope you can back up those words honey."

Gemma coughed; "Are we done with the pissing match? Ready?" the two ladies nod; "Tenten Higarashi vs Kin Tsuchi, begin!"

Tenten's kunai were a blur as they slashed through the air with the intent to strike her opponent, Kin defended herself well by pulling out two kunai of her own. The weapons clashed with the sound of scrapping metal as sparks came forth as they met. Both kunoichi showed them to be of similar speed and agility, neither gained the upper hand as they traded blows.

Tenten parried away a lash as she delivered a sweeping kick to the left. Kin blocked it by raising her own leg and letting it receive the blow, it did not deter her, so she spun her right kunai in her hand and thrust it forward, aiming for the bun haired girl's chest.

Tenten quickly ducked, letting herself fall to the ground, dodging the attack and striking against her opponent's legs. Kin backed away as she threw her own kunai at her, Tenten rolled away, the blades burying themselves on the ground. And jumped back to her feet, pulling a scroll from her pouch. The item transformed into a whole different object, a sickle blade connected with a chain to a heavy iron chain.

She spun the kusarigama's chain and threw it to Kin, the chain wrapped around her body and so Tenten pulled it, dragging the Sound Nin with it. When the opponent was but a foot close to her she disappeared in a blast of smoke, leaving behind a log which, to Tenten's shock, had various bomb tags planted around it.

The explosion shook the arena but did not cause much damage, amongst the fire and smoke weapon mistress disappeared. Lee called out her name in fear while Neji stared stoically, their sensei kept a carefully guarded expression.

Out of the smoke came Tenten, skidding over the ground with a shield raised in front of her face. It had black patches over its surface and let out a trail of smoke, indicating it had taken the brunt of the damage. The bun haired girl's pants were a bit singed, a few parts of it had been torn with the explosion, but her lowering the shield showed she was otherwise relatively uninjured.

Tenten panted softly, that had been close.

"You rely on those tools too much" Her opponent called out mockingly.

The weapon mistress did not deign that with a reply, she wouldn't play her game.

But the Sound Ninja carried on; "A true kunoichi knows that she herself is the tool, everything she is, everything she has. She will use her body in any way that is necessary if it means fulfilling her mission"

Tenten knew what she was referring to; the kunoichi present knew what she was referring to. Ninja used every dirty trick in the book, including those that some men and women would prefer not to in this day and age. Seducing your way through a mission, using your body as another tool at your disposal, degrading yourself and submitting to emotional and mentally challenging tasks if it was necessary.

Shinobi in Konoha did not insult those that were brave enough to take up such tasks, indeed; to insult them was the same as insulting their entire forces, to sacrifice their dignity like that. She herself had nothing but respect for her seniors, some of those who no doubt had taken up those types of missions before. But... that was not the type of shinobi she wanted to be, not to disrespect the role some kunoichi had taken in the name of the village, but she just couldn't see herself taking up such a mission.

"That's not the type of kunoichi I am" She declared finally.

"Tch, cute" Kin scoffed in disgust. "You think you can remain 'pure' in this kind of work. You're a little girl playing to be a ninja like all of the rest... You have no idea what I've done for the sake of my mission" She shrugged as she let out a smirk. "And hey, if you have to might as well enjoy it"

Tenten exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment. "Well, that's your business, not mine" She honestly did not care for what her opponent said or did; her words meant nothing to Tenten. She was just another enemy to overcome.

Kin let out a soft growl, before pulling out various senbon between her fingers. Tenten readied herself but to her surprise Kin had thrown them to she sides of the arena. Why had she-?

Wait... she heard something. A... jiggling?

Bells! Tenten soon realized; there were tiny bells tied to the senbon. She quickly stood on alert, unsure as to what the purpose of those bells-

Tenten fell on one knee as a deep piercing ringing assaulted her ears and went straight through her eardrums. She had let go of her weapon to hold her head, trying to hold back the growing pain.

"Those bells are emitting a sound that goes straight to your brain" Kin said haughtily, and soon she appeared to multiply before the weapon mistress' eyes. "No matter what you do, you won't be able to-"

Tenten quickly pulled out a pair of kunai, fighting through the pain, and threw them at her sides. The kunai embedded themselves on the wall near the senbon, revealing the paper tags on them.

The bombs went off, destroying the senbon and the bells, ending the sound.

"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed as stands trembled as a result of the blasts.

"She's really holding her own here" Sakura said, impressed.

Kin growled in anger. "You little-!"

Tenten was already counterattacking, throwing various bombs at her opponent, who quickly backed away thinking they were explosives. The bombs did explode, but not with fire and force, but rather with a dense smoke, covering a large part of the arena.

"You think you can hide!?" Kin pulled out her own set of explosive tags. "This is the oldest trick in the book!"

She threw her explosives and these went off with great force, blasting away some of the white smoke and replacing it with the black smoke resulting of black powder being ignited. But as this one settled, Kin's eyes widened as Konoha genin was nowhere to be seen.

"What? Where-"

Tenten appeared behind her in a burst of speed, smoke clinging to her in a trail.

Kin gasped in shock. Tenten spun a long staff in her hand and struck, right at the back of Kin's head. The Sound Nin could barely do anything but gasp as the impact made everything go dark for her.

The weapon mistress lightly pants; "I can respect anyone who takes the role of a kunoichi seriously. But going after my friend, you can go to hell bitch."

Walking over, the proctor knelt down and checked Kin's pulse; "Kin Tsuchi has be rendered unconscious, Tenten Higarashi is the winner!"

Lee, Naruto, and Sakura cheered loudly, Neji only faintly smirked with their sensei now smiling giving the thumbs up.

A now conscious Ino who awoke in midst the battle watched on quietly beside Shikamaru. The lazy Nara quietly eyed her; 'Maybe Sakura did wake her up.' He'd never say it out loud, but he really cared for his team. And as much as he loathed the thought of training like any true Nara, he knew he had to work at his strengths to keep them up to par. 'I hope Ino paid attention to that fight. I don't like thinking about bad what if scenarios if any future missions of ours go south.'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina leaned back on her bed; "She does rely on Weapons a bit too much." The redhead thought quietly; "Still I can trust Gai into training her right."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Retrieving her weapons, Tenten made her way up the stairs to the balcony. She was greeted by Naruto, Sakura, and Lee. "Good job Ten-chan!"

Tenten smirked; "She was just all talk"

"TENTEN!" They winced at Gai shouting at full volume, tears streamed down from his eyes. "I am so proud of you my youthful blooming flower! You have taken one more step towards becoming a great kunoichi!" He pointed dramatically at the horizon he was seeing in his mind. "Once Neji wins, we shall all take a triumphant 100 laps celebration around Konoha!"

"Do that yourself!" Tenten was not afraid on calling out on her teacher's ridiculous antics.

"But Tenten!" Lee joined his teacher. "It is important we bond in both defeat and victory!"

"And then!" Gai continued. "We shall train for the finals! We'll start light; I'm thinking using the fifty pound weights on the first day"

'Count on Gai to have more enthusiasm and energy than most teenagers,' Kakashi weakly chuckled while the rest sweatdropped at the odd man's antics.

As Kin was whisked away by the medics, the next match got everyone's attention as two names came up. Naruto Uzumaki vs Dosu Kinuta, both Genin glared hard at one another. Feeling a hand on his shoulder Naruto glanced to Sakura. "Be careful."

The blond winks before turning and being face to face with Sasuke. Neither say anything before the Uchiha smirked; "Don't lose."

Naruto smirked back before walking down the steps; "I do have to kick your ass in the finals after all."

Sakura only deadpans at her teammates; 'Boys...'

The Oto Jounin smirked as Dosu glanced at him before leaping over the railing. 'Impress me some more Naruto-kun...'

Normally Shikamaru was all for calm and quiet, but Ino not saying as much as a word since waking up was actually starting to bug him; "What's on your mind Ino?"

The blond Kunoichi said nothing as she kept her eyes on the arena; "Has Naruto really changed?" Sure he actually dressed better, and was around Sasuke's height now, looking like he ate more than just ramen. But wasn't he still just the same old Naruto?

At that her teammate shrugged; "No idea." That got him a light glare; "Sure Choji and I spoke to him a bit during the academy, but that was about it. Haven't really spoken or seen him since graduation."

Ino lightly huffed before looking back down to the arena. Asuma said nothing as he had heard a few things from his father and Kakashi; 'Just watch and see Ino, Naruto might just surprise you.'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Who are these Oto guys anyway?" The redhead asked in curiosity. "They weren't around back in my day" It felt odd to refer to what to her was just a few days ago as 'her day'

Yugao shrugged; "Some minor village that's on the rise, not a lot of info on them. Honestly they're barely a threat to anyone, what we do know is that their shinobi are very ruthless, more so than the average ninja"

Kushina's gaze is steely as he son and that Oto genin soon stand at the arena center; "Kick that mummy man's ass Sochi."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"You look like shit," Naruto snarked as he glared at Dosu.

The Oto Genin taps his bandaged chest; "I intend to return the favor Uzumaki."

"You're welcome to try."

"Naruto Uzumaki vs Dosu Kinuta. Fight!"

Naruto wasted no time, immediately going through the handsigns motions he planted his right foot forward. Sending a trail of crystals which grew out like spikes from the ground directly at Dosu.

The bandaged genin made no attempt to evade, he merely brought his gauntlet arm in front of him a delivered a sweeping strike the moment the crystals were close.

The blonde's blue eyes widened as he broke through them with that one move, leaving broken pieces on the ground.

"What the...?" Was his gauntlet made of materials that strong that they could shatter his Shoton with ease?

The Oto genin shot forward with blurring speed, his armed hand brought to bear. Naruto quickly formed a staff and brought it down on his enemy, the Sound genin blocked it with his arm, making the crystal crack before breaking the staff in half with a palm strike from his left hand.

Dosu quickly followed suit with a knee attack straight for the stomach, Naruto's thin crystal protection beneath his clothes resisted, but the impact was enough to send waves of pain around his midsection.

Yet Naruto could still hear a very faint sound, almost like that of a whistle.

As Dosu threw another punch, the blonde reacted fast and grabbed his arm, twisting his body as he threw the Sound Nin over his shoulder, but he avoided being slammed into the ground and broke free, jumping back to gain some distance.

With several handsigns from Naruto, crystal hummingbirds soon formed and shot forward towards his opponent. Dosu swiped his arm as soon as the crystal constructs were within range. They broke down and fell to the ground in pieces; he had not even touched them...

Naruto's suspicions were confirmed, that ringing he heard, and Dosu had to be using some kind of sound technique in a frequency that could shatter his crystals. Getting his crystals close to him would not be very effective in the long run, and trying to get close himself would also put him at risk, as he figured Dosu would could perform techniques that would horribly damage his ear if his proficiency with his sound techniques was as good as he feared.

Crossing his fingers, Naruto summoned four clones that quickly surrounded the sound Nin, charging at him from all sides. Four different strikes stopped him in his tracks, but his body bursted into smoke, revealing a log. His clones look on in surprise as a kunai embedded itself on the clone, a bomb tag strapped to it.

It lit up, and the clones were obliterated with the blast.

Looking at all sides, Naruto tried to find where Dosu had disappeared, his senses screamed danger as he heard a noise from above. Dosu was hanging upside down from the ceiling, and had thrown various bombs at him.

Rather than fire, light came from them in a blinding burst. Making Naruto cry out in pain as he tightly shut his eyes and pressed a hand against his face, trying to ease the burning sensation the light had produced. He grunted as he struggled to open them, everything was now a blur.

Dosu descended from the ceiling with great speed, and delivered a drop kick that knocked out Naruto's breath and forced him on his back. Naruto managed to react fast enough to use his hands and hold back the second foot which nearly crushed his throat.

Dosu sneered under his bandages; "One of us is going to die today Uzumaki. Question is though; can you kill me before I kill you?"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Neji narrowed his eyes watching the match intensely; "The Oto has been going for a killing blow against Uzumaki since their match started." He glanced briefly over to Hinata who was watching the match intensely.

Shino adjusted his glasses; "They're even skill-wise. So it can go either way."

Yugito lightly tapped the railing; "He's goading Naruto." Samui nodded along with Kakashi who overheard.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Once I go to the finals" He smiled sadistically behind his bandages. "I am going to kill each. And. Every. Last. One" He put more force behind his foot with each word. Naruto gagged at the pressure. "Of your friends"

The Uzumaki glared with rage filled eyes, the blur was gone and he could clearly see the face of his enemy, he could see in his eyes just how deep that twisted sense of satisfaction went. Hurting others, killing people, making others suffer just because it amused him.

Just like Gatou...

Dosu grabbed the blonde's head and began honing the frequency of his gauntlet to pierce his eardrums; he'd make him suffer before him finally-

One of Naruto's hands released Dosu's foot and grabbed the grabbed the gauntlet.

"What?!"

It didn't make sense, a moment ago he was struggling to keep his windpipe from being crushed, and now he could feel how he was starting to push him with just one hand!

He swore he saw the Uzumaki's blue eyes flash red for a moment.

Naruto growled in anger. People like him... People like him pissed him off so much, bragging about how much pain they'd bring, acting like they were above consequences, toying with lives like nothing.

Already they had tried to kill his friends before; he wouldn't let it happen again.

A spike of crystal shoots from his hand and pierced the gauntlet, cutting through skin and muscle, drawing a pained gargle from the bandaged ninja.

Then Naruto pushed him away with such force Dosu rolled on the ground for a few feet.

The Oto Nin hissed as he pulled out the spike of crystal out his arm and got to his feet. He growled seeing his ruined gauntlet. "People like you," Naruto growled out, "you're worse than scum!" Dosu had zero time to react as the blond vanished and reappeared in front of him with a dark crimson version of the Rasengan in hand. "SHUI RASENGAN!"

Ramming his jutsu in the same spot as before but with more hellish intensity, Dosu screamed in agony before being fired off like a spiraling cannonball into the wall with such force he's embedded deep within the cement.

Gaara looked wide eyed. What did he just feel just now? That chakra was like...

Jiraiya looked wide eyed; 'A Rasengan infused with the Kyuubi's chakra.' His eyes looked over to the Oto genin, now motionless with a large circular hole in his chest where his heart should be. 'Results speak for themselves.'

The proctor glanced at Naruto whose eyes were shadowed by his bangs. "Winner by fatality. Naruto Uzumaki."

His breathing was a slow pant as Naruto lifted his head; his cerulean eyes were slit for a millisecond before turning back to normal. He said nothing as he stared at the lifeless body of his opponent.

He didn't... No, he couldn't say he didn't want this. Dosu had threatened his friends, nearly killed them before, and was going do it with a gods damned smile on his face. Naruto wanted him gone, he wanted to kill him.

He had been angry, yes. But this wasn't like that time on the bridge where the rage and the surge of power had blinded him, this had been his choice, he had a clear enough head to know this was what he had wanted to do.

Did he regret it? No... Naruto couldn't say he did. But still, to have killed him like this. So gruesomely and so mercilessly it... Gods it left a very bad taste on his mouth.

He tried to steel himself in the face of it all, ignoring the looks of shock and even fear among some of the spectators. He took a deep breath and let it all go. He was a ninja now; this was the life he chooses.

Hiruzen tipped his hat; 'this life is hard Naruto, and the killing is never easy my boy. Living with it can be even harder. As much as I'd rather you never stain your hands with blood. You made the decision to become a ninja. Why I know you will overcome it. Like a true shinobi.'

Kiba was several shades paler as he gawked; "Damn..." Akamaru on barked lightly, okay so Naruto maybe really had changed since the academy. But damn that was brutal…

Hinata's eyes were wide as she covered her mouth; Shino's eyes narrowed at the scene. Ino and Shikamaru only looked at the scene with a touch of fear upon seeing one their graduation classmates kill someone in front of them. 'Glad Choji is still out, he might have thrown up.' Shikamaru mentally muttered.

A very cold chill went up the Yamanaka's heiress' spine, 'I-Is he really the same Naruto?'

Zabuza on his part gave a small nod of approval and a notch of respect for the kid least having the willingness to kill an enemy. 'No hesitation and he's not shaking. Hope for this generation after all.'

Kouhei and Chojuru both only grimaced at the sight. Zabuza-sensei made damn sure they were used to killing enemies during some missions against bandits. As unpleasant as it was, it was part of shinobi life, and they had accepted it.

Haku only gazed down at the blond Uzumaki with understanding and empathy radiating from her warm eyes. 'You did it to protect those precious to you. Never forget that Naruto-Kun.'

The Oto Jounin's smile grew more malicious; 'Magnificent...'

Kumo remained indifferent with their more militaristic upbringing having been drilled into them made the group adjusted to killing.

Sakura and Sasuke only looked to their blond teammate as Kakashi was now by his side. The Jounin placed his hand on his student's shoulder. "Naruto..." his voice quiet, calm.

"Does it... It doesn't get easier does it?" the blond asked quietly, his eyes fixed on the corpse of Dosu being pulled out from the wall.

His Jounin sensei let out a small breath, "I don't think it's supposed to. When it does, that's when we stop being human, and become the very thing we hate." Kakashi's ANBU days taught him that lesson harshly. Both heading up the balcony.

"Naruto" Sakura called out to him in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" He breathed out watching as they removed Dosu's body in a body bag. "I'll be fine"

"Hmph" Sasuke grunted. "He actively tried to you kill you before, us, and so you killed him. It was fitting"

"It's more complicated than that" The blonde refuted. "I… I didn't want him to hurt you, any of you"

The Uchiha still believed in the self-preservation aspect of it all, but the need to protect something, well, that was not something he was familiar with. Understood it? Perhaps. But no, he couldn't say he had felt the same before. Sasuke lived for the chance at killing… him, it never crossed his mind to risk his life and bring an end to others because they threaten something important to him.

He didn't have any important left in his life…

Onyx eyes stared at the rest of his team, at Sakura and Kakashi man who were currently accompanying Naruto in this trying time.

…did he?

While they had been lost in their own personal moment, the new names had been selected without them realizing.

"Oh no" Tenten muttered in dread.

Naruto and his teammates frowned in confusion. Was one of the contenders Gaara? Had been selected to fight against one of their peers?

A look at the name revealed to them that was not the case, yet it did not make the situation any less worrisome.

Neji Hyuuga vs Hinata Hyuuga

Shit…

The Jinchuuriki's eyes widened as he looked at the Hyuugas in question. Hinata was her fidgety self, looking more afraid than ever. Neji's gaze seemed to have gained an edge to it.

"Not Kumo then?" He said, seemingly disregarding the prospect that Hinata was his opponent. "Disappointing" And was about to jump down until his sensei stopped him.

"Neji" Gai's tone was so… serious. Without any of the excitable jubilation or energy nearly always found in his voice. His face was set in stone. He was acting so out of character it was honestly frightening. "Remember, self-control, discipline. This is just another fight"

If the Hyuuga took his words into consideration he did not show it, he had merely paused in his steps momentarily before jumping down to the arena.

Hinata nervously held her hands in front of her chest. The poor girl looked like she did not know what to do.

"Hinata" The warm tone of her teacher made her turn to see her kind eyes and smile, she grasped her hands gently. "You can do this"

"Hell yeah!" Kiba cheered her on. "He's just an arrogant ass"

"You are just as capable of achieving victory" Shino added. "Why? Because you too are very skilled"

The words of encouragement from her friends seemed to invigorate her, filling her with the confidence she lacked.

"Come on Hinata!" Naruto threw his support as well, offering her his typical smile. "You can do it!"

His efforts seemed to have worked, as Hinata smiled softly and nodded her gratitude to her friends and comrades. She hopped down from stands to the arena, though encourage, she couldn't shake off the feelings of doubt and hesitation.

She didn't want to fight Neji…

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina gripped the sheets tightly, fighting down every urge and instinct she had of going right there and hugging the two kids with all the strength she could muster.

One more death she was told about, another friend dead.

"Hizashi…" She muttered mournfully.

All because of fucking Kumo once again playing their hand, making demands they had no rights to.

She blamed everyone, Kumo for their transgression. The Hyuuga elders, too arrogant and stuck in their ways, seeing Hizashi's death as preferable, at Sarutobi for just bowing head to that village's ridiculous demands.

Blaming someone made the pain easier to bear… much like young Neji was most likely doing right now.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Both Hyuuga stood in front of each other, Hinata's gaze was one of sympathy and acceptance at what was going to happen. Neji's on the other had… the way he looked at her.

"He hates her…" Sasuke muttered.

"Hmm?" Sakura turned to him in confusion.

"Look at how he's looking at her. That's hatred in his eyes"

Naruto realized Sasuke was right, those eyes… that gaze was similar to the one some of the villagers would give him sometimes. One that carried pain and anger, directed at someone they believed was the source. Someone they could blame.

Naruto knew Neji hated the Main house of the Hyuuga but… he actually hated Hinata too? She was just a child when the tragedy happened, so had nearly been a victim of a kidnapping attempt.

But Neji didn't care, to Neji; Hinata was embodiment of all he hated.

Hayate raised his hand. "Neji Hyuuga vs Hinata Hyuuga... Begin!"

Neji didn't hesitate to take down his cousin, running forward and throwing a fast striking palm at Hinata. Though even with his ruthless intentions to destroy his cousin, he was not going to destroy her so easily, as she ducked under the strike and swung her arm up against his side, their arms becoming a flurry of movement.

Matching her speed, Neji turned his body back and to the side, dodging the brunt of her strike and fluidly striking with his other arm, hitting her dead on in the ribs with two fingers. Hinata ignored the pain as she drew back from the strike and smacks his arm to the side, stepping forward with a powerful palm thrust to his chest.

This was a shock to Neji, who expected her to yell out from his strike and back off, only to be taken by surprise and blast by a powerful wave of chakra to his chest and making him step back, unbalanced and almost falling from the sudden push. Before he could recover, Hinata was on him again, this time going for a double strike into his stomach.

Neji slammed his hands down onto Hinata's arms, using them as leverage to get his feet. His cousin's strike now deflected, he struck her shoulder as hard as he could with his palm, making in pain, ready to receive his next two strikes, one into her other shoulder and the other into her arm, which was coming up to toss his first two finger strike off her. His pinpoint strikes causing some damage as she held her arm close, backing off.

"So that's the Hyuuga's taijutsu style" Sakura said out loud.

Lee spook up, "It's called Juken, A truly deadly combination their dojutsu with their ability to close off chakra points with their strikes" They witnessed as Hinata struck her own arm, reawakening said points.

Going on the offensive, Neji strikes with vigor with blasts of chakra coming from his palms, though Hinata was somehow more skilled than he originally predicted. She smacked his first strike away before spinning under his next strike and blocking the third aiming for her head, throwing her own up to his chin.

Kurenai lightly bit the tip of her thumb.

Dodging the strike at his neck, he swings under it and throws his next strike into her arm that was aimed to hit him. The counter-attack Neji gave Hinata effectively stopped her from hitting him full on, but with a chakra infused strike grazing his arm, she did the damage she wanted before smacking the arm away from her, though the strike to her upper arm made it spasm from the movement and she gasped in pain, backing off and holding her arm, relaxing it to let it calm down.

Though this was a bad move on her part to stop her assault, as Neji came in full force with a flurry of pinpoint strikes to her arms and shoulders, cutting into her with devastating and powerful chakra infused finger attacks.

With a final thrust of his palm, Neji blasted Hinata back, making her fall. Blood hits the ground as the young heiress coughs heavily. For her older cousin he lightly catches his breath.

Neji shook his head; "Your skills have improved Hinata-Sama, but the results are still the same. A failure cannot change. That's your fate"

Neji's eyes only widen as Hinata slowly stands back to her feet. Blood drips from her lips as her left hand holds her chest. Her breaths raspy and shallow as her eyes look just as determined. A far cry from the shy girl.

"Nii-san… I know… you hate me" Hinata covers her mouth as she coughs. Lowering her hand, she looks mournfully at her cousin; she was struggling to remain standing and was a breeze away from fainting. "But I want you to know… I love you and admire you greatly, nii-san… You're my family"

Those words snap something in Neji's mind as his fists clench.

Family… what a joke, the Main House had no concept of what that word meant. To Neji, the words that came out from her were nothing but insults and jeers thrown at his direction and the entire Branch house.

His calm mask shattered showing absolute rage. He sprints forward with his right two fingers raised, ready to strike down his own flesh and blood.

The Hyuuga was stopped in his advance by Hayate holding him back, "Enough" The proctor ordered, watching as Hinata hit the ground. "She's already defeated, the winner is Neji Hyuuga!"

Kurenai was at her side immediately, accompanied by Kiba and Shino, holding the girl in her arms. "Are you alright?"

Hinata rasped for breath; "Did I… do good, sensei?"

Her sensei was both sad and proud. "You did amazing"

Hinata could only smile through bloodied lips before coughing up more blood.

"Medic nin now!"

Moving away to let the medics do their thing; Naruto came down to the floor and glared over to Neji. "You were going to kill her!" He accused.

"Really, Uzumaki?" He condescendingly retorted. "You are going to lecture me about killing an opponent?"

Though those words did in fact affect him, Naruto did not let it show. "She's your cousin and you were just going to kill her when she was clearly about to fall down!"

"The fight continued on, I merely exercised my right to make sure she was down"

The Inuzuka snarled with all the fury of a wolf, taking a threatening stop forward along with Naruto before both were stopped by Shino who put his hands on their shoulders.

"A time and a place, Kiba, Naruto-san," The Aburame spoke, calm as ever.

Both boys were forced to swallow their anger. "One way or another I am fighting you in the third exam. And I swear I am going beat your ass." The blonde promised. Hinata did not deserve the hatred her cousin directed at her.

"You can try Uzumaki" With the final word, the Hyuuga made his way back to the stands, were he casually endured the accusing gaze of his teammates.

Gai looked at him with something beyond disappointment. "I did not teach you this"

"You're right on that account, sensei" His tone expressed he held little respect for his so called 'teacher'. "After all, you only focus on Lee. I learnt nothing from you, but I did not need to anyway"

"Neji…" Tenten growled out. "I thought you were better than this" Lee could only look sadly, no more than ever they could feel how much they had utterly failed to reach his teammate.

The fact Neji looked like he didn't even care what any of them thought of him told them how true that was.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

As Kushina sat in her medical bed, she bore witness in sheer disbelief of Hizashi's only son had nearly committed Familicide of Hitomi's oldest daughter. Her mind couldn't comprehend the sight of seeing family wanting to slay another member of their family. To an Uzumaki that went against her clan's core founding principles.

Yugao only gazed at the screen with both sadness and disappointment. "He lashes out with his anger blindly. Even against someone who did him no wrong. If allowed to let that hate fester he will endanger himself and his team."

Her sensei did not reply as her violet eyes held nothing but sadness, 'Why did everything have go so wrong…'

However she knew as much as she wanted to do something, Hiashi wouldn't allow it. It was a Hyuuga clan matter and had to be dealt by the clan itself. But clearly not a single damn thing has been done up to this point which allowed this messed up bullshit to happen!

With a clinched fist, Kushina simply growled; 'Things will be made right. I promise you Hitomi, Hizashi…'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Anko grunted as she frowned; "Well that was fucked up…" Ibiki only gave a slight nod as he grimly observed the crew taking the Hyuuga heiress away for medical. His eyes soon gazed up to one responsible.

Beside those two Jiraiya scowled deeply with his arms crossed; "I knew things with the Hyuuga were edgy at best. But looks like it's only has been getting worse between the main and branch houses."

The old Sarutobi could feel his former student's eyes on him. "What do you want me to do Jiraiya?" The Hokage said with exasperation. "I can't directly interfere with clan traditions, which is exactly the root of the problem with the Hyuuga"

"I know sensei. I just hope they wake up before they destroy each other," Jiraiya says grimly. "There is enough hate in the world as it is. This generation should never have to pay for our mistakes."

Hiruzen felt responsible for the situation. He had been weak those years ago, when Kumo had tried to kidnap Hiashi's oldest, and the man had caught him on the act and killed him.

Kumo had the gall to act outraged, and demanded a pair of Byakugan eyes as reparation on the threat of war... and Hiruzen had conceded, he was so tired of war he just agreed with their baseless demands.

And now, upon seeing the son of the man who had sacrificed himself instead of his twin, seeing Neji ruthlessly injure and ready to kill his own younger cousin for his own failures. It was all the more reason he knew he needed to retire.

He sighed, feeling the burden of his mistakes weighing down on him. His student couldn't help but see him age decades more right before his eyes with how tired he sounded. "I'm old Jiraiya..." Hiruzen said. "The village needs someone younger, someone who isn't burdened by so many years of struggle, a Hokage who can do what must be done without fear..."

The Gama-sannin grunted; "We both know I can't do it for obvious reasons. The brat is not even remotely ready yet. 'Red' does not have the temperament. And Kakashi is still trying to pick up the pieces of himself."

"Which is why we may have to do something drastic when the exam is over," Hiruzen gave his student a knowing look for which Jiraiya's jaw almost dropped.

"You-You don't mean..." Jiraiya spoke, stuttering. "Sensei she'll never come back!"

The elderly Hokage gave his student a long dry gaze; "I think we both know, 'Red' will have her own opinion in that matter, whether she likes it or not." His former student simply paled.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto couldn't stop himself from scowling as he lingered a piercing glare over to Neji who simply gazed back at him with unflinching cold apathy. As if his eyes spoke; 'I'd gladly do it all over again. And finish the job.' The blond felt his temper building again till he received a light bonk to his head. He looked up seeing Kakashi stern eye.

"Enough Naruto, this won't help Hinata or yourself if you pick a fight with Neji now you will only get disqualified from the exams."

By the blond's glare in response he cared very little about the exam. Internally Kakashi sighed; 'He can't really help it being an Uzumaki. But I won't let his temper get the best of him. He can be angry at me all day for all I care.'

However before Kakashi could speak again, Sakura grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and made him look at her. The blond blinked at the strong jade eyes glaring at him. No word was spoken as both stared at each other before Naruto sighed as he lowered his head.

Sasuke lifted a brow; 'We can be thankful Sakura can keep Naruto calm at least.'

The rosette let go as Naruto gave her a nod and rested his arms on the railing. "Sorry about that. I mean, I knew things were bad with Hyuugas. Least what I overheard from Jiji, but that was…"

Granted he did not know Hinata that well or at all really. She was always so damn shy and quiet, but he could say she did not treat him like their class did during the academy days. Even if they weren't friends, his blood boiled seeing her own kin blatantly tried to kill her.

"Whatever you overheard from the Hokage will never be the whole story," Kakashi said quietly. "Their elders and traditions have been their foundations for too long. But at the same time it is those things that are causing such a rift between the main family and the branch family."

Sasuke crosses his arms on the railing; "Even I heard some things about it. But since the Hyuuga keeps matters like that private. We don't really have a clue just how bad it really is." His eyes narrowed; "But I won't condone what Neji did to Hinata was justified. If you want to take your rage out on someone it should be who you're really mad at." It was just pointless to get mad at someone who wasn't even responsible.

"And he's mad at the entire Main Branch" Sakura adds. "I don't think there is someone in particular"

"In any case, watch your backs if you face him. Like you Sasuke he was last year's rookie of the year and is considered a genius among his clan. None of you must take him lightly," Kakashi says sternly.

All three nodded as the board lighted up again. Everyone watched as two names appeared with varied reactions.

Shikamaru Nara vs Sabaku no Temari.

Upon seeing his name the Nara let out a long throaty noise; "Oh great, my match comes right after all that gloom and doom."

Chouji who had finally woken up simply shook his head while eating some chips. Asuma just sighed while Ino, being the sole motivator of the team smacked Shika in the head; "Oh hush up and get down there you lazy ass!"

"Troublesome…"

On the opposite side Temari smirked; "Well about damn time." She leapt over the railing onto the arena floor. While to her utter annoyance her opponent slowly came down the stairs. "I doubt any of us want to be in this damn tower all day! Let me just kick your ass so we can go about our own business."

"Do all you blondes seriously have hair trigger tempers?" Shikamaru dryly muttered as every blond in the arena felt their collective eyes twitch as they glared. "Plus I get to fight a woman. The joy never ends" Shikamaru spoke dryly. Not noticing or caring that now all the current women in the arena directed their anger right towards him.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina felt her eye twitch; "He is definitely Shikaku'a brat." Right down to the damn dry smart-ass attitude. To this day she never understood just what Yoshino saw in that man to marry that lazy bum. But then again her own choice in men was just as odd.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Temari slowly smirked. "You're going down"

"Yeah, yeah" Shikamaru said disinterestedly, which made Temari grunt with anger at her opponent's downright lazy attitude.

Hayate coughed some before he spoke; "Shikamaru Nara vs Temari no Sabaku. Begin!"

"I surrender." Shikamaru uttered the mere second the proctor called for the match to start.

Everyone in the arena, save Gaara and the Oto Jounin face faulted. In medical ward the ANBU guards heard a loud thump. They quickly came into the room only to sweatdrop seeing both their former captain and current lying face first on the floor.

It took a few seconds before Naruto was back up along with an irate Ino; "WHAT THE HELL SHIKA!?" The two loudest blonds of Konoha bellowed.

"Tch, it's too troublesome to fight right now"

"THAT'S YOUR EXCUSE FOR EVERYTHING!"

Temari on her part growled; "Are you that scared or are you just mocking me!"

Shikamaru just looks at her tiredly. "Man, you're so loud..." He groaned as he rubbed his neck, which only infuriated the Suna-nin further.

As everyone else soon regained their composure and got back to their feet, Hayate sighed; "Winner Sabaku no Temari."

The Suna kunoichi only seethed as her lazy opponent walked back up to his team. Asuma groaned as he defectively rubbed his hands over his face. He understood Shikamaru's reasoning, her opponent had the edge on range given her weapon of choice and the Nara lacked the necessary speed to dodge constantly, being always on the move wouldn't allow him to employ his shadow techniques properly. Not to mention the arena wasn't the most suitable for Shikamaru to come up with a plan to defeat his opponent fast enough. Taking all that into account, his students' odds of success were very poor and Shikamaru had known this, so he surrendered.

Doesn't mean Asuma was happy about it…

Kakashi chuckled; "Well that's three for three Asuma."

"OH SHUT UP HATAKE!"

Naruto and his team just glared at Shikamaru as he came up the stairs. "Your mom's gonna get you for this you know that right?" Naruto deadpanned.

Shikamaru slumps; "I know... But at least I can tell her I passed the second stage. Tch, though that would be even more troublesome too." He retorted; which prompted Naruto to bang his head on the railing, Sasuke face palmed while Sakura's eye twitched.

The Kumo and Kiri teams just looked at him; "How can he be that lazy?"

"You don't know many Nara do you?" Kakashi dryly spoke up.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Finally after everyone settled down and Temari growled her way back to her team. New names came from the monitor.

Sabaku no Kankuro vs Omoi

Rolling his lollipop in his mouth the Kumo Nin sighed; "Oh joy... Well wish me luck" He mumbled to his teammates. "Not that it'll help at all because I'm gonna lose anyway..."

Samui rubbed her eyes while Yugito groaned. Karui on her part slapped the back of Omoi's head; "Oh shape up! Go down there and whip that cross dresser's ass!"

"It's a traditional Suna puppeteer outfit!" Came a righteous bellow from the other side of the arena.

Naruto shouted back; "And the clown make-up?!"

"THAT'S WAR PAINT ASSHOLE!" a pronounce tick-mark forms on Kankuro's head shaking his fist.

Temari thought to mention his brother tended to borrow her makeup when he ran out of his 'war paint', but decided he had been teased enough. The Suna Genin grumbled all the way down the stairs while his opponent leapt over the balcony.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina was versed in Suna's traditions and was well aware of their gear like the outfit young Kankuro was wearing. Puppet Nin of Suna were both widely feared and respected throughout the nations. She even recalled a certain old hag that was one of the true masters of the craft. But it did not stop her from laughing her head off; "I can't believe they still have those! He looks like a cat!" Yugao just simply rubbed her eyes at her sensei's antics.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Omoi vs Sabaku no Kankuro, Begin!" Hayate leapt from the arena.

Kankuro quickly toke out the large strapped object behind his back with a predatory smirk. Omoi tensed and drew his sword. The Kumo Nin held his weapon at the ready, he was no fool, and Suna puppet masters are adept at long range. If he was going to have any way of winning, he'd have to be smart.

The straps on the puppet suddenly were set loose; they unfurl and fall revealing a rather creepy looking marionette in Omoi's opinion. It was covered in a dirty brown cloak, had several limbs, wild fake hair, three soulless eyes and sharp metallic teeth coming from the hanging jaw.

Sakura lightly shivered; "That is a creepy doll."

"Suna have a long tradition of using puppetry techniques" Kakashi explained as he read his book. "It looks like this kid follows said tradition"

"Puppets?" Sasuke snorted. "Seriously?"

"You underestimate how powerful they can be in the right hands Sasuke"

Back down to the arena, Kankuro smirked; "Think you can take on Karasu?"

Omoi shrugs. "Not really, think it's more likely I'll lose this fight without you breaking as much as a sweat" The team from Kumo collectively face palm, loudly.

Kankuro just stared. "...While I like my opponents to realize how pointless it is to fight my against me, I can't help but ask; is there any anti-depressive medication you should be taking?"

Karui yelled out; "Idiot says there are spy seals in them!"

"Of course there are spy seals in them; you can't see them because they're very tiny and are on the pills!"

Yugito holds up a small bottle and read the tiny writing on it. "Hmm, says side effects include paranoia..." She mumbled to herself.

Both Naruto and Sakura just gawk while Sasuke feels his eye twitching. Neji and Tenten only sighed. Haku just blinked; "I… don't know how to react."

Samui rolled her eyes. "Focus on the fight Omoi, that guy has already began his attack"

"He's wha-Holy crap!" He shouted as he narrowly dodged the Karasu puppet, which flew right above him.

Omoi's eyes narrowed as he dodged more strikes from Karasu; flipping over the puppet he saw a small opening and charged forward to Kankuro.

The Sand ninja swiftly moved his hands; Omoi could see blue threads of chakra dancing in the air. He felt something moving behind him at top speed. He planted his feet onto the ground and jumped, letting Karasu pass right beneath him, avoiding its attack.

"Let me guess. The fact that Puppet master are long range fighters you figured going to close quarters would be a weakness for me," Kankuro said smugly. "Sorry to inform that my Karasu can be faster than most ninjas, and I've got some tricks up my sleeve"

"You're wearing cat pajamas, what you going to do? Throw cat nip at him," Naruto just could not stop himself. His words prompting his mother in her room watching, Sakura, and Haku to giggle.

Growing a tick mark at the remark from the blonde, Kankuro just focused on the fight at hand, as his hands fly in front of him, his puppet coming up to block the sword strike from Omoi, who had gotten close due to Kankuro being slightly distracted.

As he swiftly moved his hand, his puppet came up to block the sword strike from Omoi who had gotten close enough to attack. The Kumo Nin dodged backwards when the puppet started to spin rapidly, it's limbs flying around like a tornado. Omoi was forced backwards even further when Karasu leapt for him, blades coming out of flailing arms, slicing through many directions. Jumping back, Omoi blocked the hidden arm blades rising to meet him.

With nothing but his wits about him, the young swordsman ducked the next charge from the puppet, and jumped up soon after, flipping back and cutting down at the puppet when it coma back to Kankuro, the rags of the puppet were cut off, some shreds of cloth floated to the ground. Dodging to the side, Omoi blocked the swinging body with his blade and sprinted for Kankuro, hoping to outrun the flying wooden construct under the Suna ninja's control.

The notion was outrageous, as well as foolhardy, as Kankuro's hands were fasten, the magic of his technique apparent before the audience when Karasu grabs hold of Omoi's arm and flung around, using momentum to toss the Kumo Nin to the ground and to the side.

"Damn that guy is good," Naruto muttered as he and the others watch.

Kakashi gave a nod; "Never underestimate anyone. Suna is renowned for their puppet ninja for a reason."

"Classic long range against close range battle. It comes down to who's more experienced in their short time of being shinobi," Asuma spoke up lighting cigarette.

Karui growled; "Come on... Come on!"

Getting up quickly, Omoi had little time to react to the next blow, as the puppet screamed at him from above with its clicking parts. Pushing to the side, he dodged the body slam the puppet attempted, and instantly targets his opponent's weapon. Being a user of tools, Kankuro knew one thing; the weapon was only as good as the user, take away the weapon and he's vulnerable!

The puppet suddenly breaks apart, and all of its limbs fly around Omoi like a tornado of death. Kankuro grins. "Let's paint the floor with your blood, sound better?"

Karasu's limbs fling at the Kumo swordsman, who jumped away from the initial strike and cuts the limbs away, slashing for every time Karasu's broken body tried to strike him.

Samui rubbed her chin; "I see no flaws in this Kankuro's moves. He trained hard to be this good."

On the other side of the balcony Temari crosses her arms; "That Kumo guy is good. But he can't beat Kankuro."

Baki nodded in agreement while Gaara only stared at Naruto and Yugito, the fight did not interest him.

Damn it... Omoi grunted. 'Can't keep this up forever, I need to get close and finish this.' He reaches into his pouch and pulls up three smoke bombs.

Hiruzen nods approvingly; "This is interesting."

"These kids just keep getting better and better," Jiraiya smirks.

Omoi quickly tried to close the distance between himself and Kankuro. The puppeteer smirks and quickly moved Karasu to intercept him, all limbs assembling the puppet's body once more, Omoi throws the smoke bombs just as he feels the puppet approaching. They explode into a large grey cloud, covering nearly the entire lower portion of the arena.

'Shit!' the Sand-nin curses. 'Can't see anything!' He moves Karasu close to him for protection.

Up on the balcony, the others share similar thoughts. "What's going on down there?" Sakura murmured.

Sasuke activates his Sharingan. "Omoi is trying to get him from behind" He whispered so only his teammates heard him. The rosette and blond mentally cheered for the Kumo-nin.

The sound of a blade piercing through something reached their ears, the smoke cleared to reveal Omoi, standing behind Kankuro, his sword piercing the puppeteer's stomach.

"Got him!" Karui cheered.

"Wait..." Yugito stopped her celebration, her cat-like blue eyes narrowing. "Something's not right" On the other side of the stands she could see Temari smirking.

From Kankuro's midsection flows no blood, in fact, the only thing they can see are splinters of wood. The shock on Kankuro's face, or what looked like Kankuro, vanishes when chips of wood fell off its face, the skin turning into shreds of cloth and tearing as the face of a puppet became visible. As Omoi sensed the danger of this, he tries to pull back, only to be grabbed by the arms of the puppet, which looked like a weird anatomy on a human-like Kankuro if it were truly him.

The face turned to Omoi as he tries to pull back harder, and the puppet just made clicking sounds before Omoi sensed someone behind him. Looking back, he saw the fist of the Suna ninja going for his jaw. As it hits, his head recoils and turned to the puppet, whose head collides against the ninja's. The puppet's final strike pushes Omoi back and out of the puppet's clutches as he falls to the ground, knocked out.

Kankuro floated the puppet to rest on his back as he grins, looking to the people who doubted him. The puppet points to them with its head turned with Kankuro's. "Don't underestimate a Puppet Master"

Hayate was immediately on the scene as he knelt down to the unconscious Omoi. "Omoi is unable to battle. Winner Sabaku no Kankuro!"

Quickly his team along with Naruto and Sakura ran down to check on their Kumo friend. Kankuro only smirked which made Karui growl at him till she heard the low groan of her teammate waking up.

"How are you feeling?" Yugito asked gently.

"Am I dead?" His question prompted his red haired teammate to smack him in the head; she didn't care if she only added more damage.

"What do you think idiot!?"

"Well, you're here, so yeah, this must be hell"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina only sweatdrops watching the red haired Kumo girl smacking her teammate; "And I thought Konoha was full of weirdoes." All the while ignoring the dry look from Yugao.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Temari grinned at her brother as he returned to the stands with the rest of their team. "Good thing you won, you would have shamed the village otherwise"

"Ahhh so little faith in me sis?" He teased her right back. "Come on admit it, I did awesome back there"

"Pfft, against that guy? Please beating somebody like him isn't an achievement, much less one that warrants praise"

The killing intent coming off from Kumo's team was easily brushed off by Suna's, in fact; they reveled in antagonizing their opponents. Baki ordered his team to keep quiet and stop aggravating the competition.

Samui too did the same. "Don't let them get to you. You did your best Omoi" Her gaze suddenly darkened; "But your best was not good enough, I'm gonna have to rectify that"

The lollipop chewer paled significantly. "Aww shit..."

"Hey you have it coming" Yugito scolded him with her arms crossed. "Losing like that? Shameful"

The teams familiar with them chattered amicably amongst themselves, all the while Suna's team discussed the performance of Kankuro's fight. Gaara had barely paid attention; he had not even bothered to acknowledge his brother's presence with even a single look since he returned to their side, and this was all boring him terribly. He could feel the need to draw blood crawling up his spine like a shiver, but knew he had to contain himself and wait for his match.

His eyes shifted back over to Uzumaki, that power he felt coming from the blonde during his match with that Oto Genin. It felt familiar to him. He had smirked, if only faint at the sight of seeing Uzumaki killing his opponent, but it had ended too quickly for his taste. The blond should have made his opponent suffer more, tore his enemy's body apart screaming in agony. Reveling in the massacre of it...

Gaara's thoughts were halted as the wall monitor came up with two new names. Sabaku no Gaara vs Ringo Kouhei, at that a dark smile formed on the Suna Nin.

On the opposite side Kouhei cheered; "About damn time!" He chuckled as he popped his knuckles. "Let's show these folks how it's really done."

His two teammates did not share his enthusiasm; "Do not underestimate him for a second," Haku said in her big sister like tone.

"Seriously," Naruto leaned over beside the Hyoton user; "Watch. Your. Ass. Remember the chat in the forest about that guy."

Their concern was met with a roll of the eyes; "Yes mom and dad, I will be careful." With that he leapt over the railing.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina kept her eyes on the screen; "Kirigakure no Sato..."

"They have come a long way from being the bloody mist," Yugao said having had informed her sensei of the rebellion and new Kage ruling in the hidden mist village.

"A woman Kage huh? Heh, finally" The redhead smirked proudly, as though the achievement was her own. "Was about time one held the title, and goes to show what we can do huh?"

"Indeed" Her apprentice.

Kushina sniffed, the air of smugness around her only got denser. "I remember when I set out to become Hokage, nearly did it too but I passed it down"

"...Sensei who are you trying to fool here?" Yugao deadpanned. "I'm in the ANBU, Sarutobi-sama himself said he considered you for one second, and then couldn't stop laughing for the next full minute"

The smugness vanished as soon as it came. "Well you don't have to be so blunt about it..." She grumbled.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chojuro adjusted his glasses in concern beside Haku; "W-Will he be okay?" Zabuza lifted a brow listening to the conversation. "Gaara being like you two..."

'Like you two?' The swordsman saw his student looking at both Uzumaki and that Nii from Kumo. He was missing something here but shrugged it off. Kouhei was no slouch, and after he put that brat through hell, he could endure nearly anything.

He had faith in the brat, not that he'd say it openly. He had an image after all.

Yugito crossed her arms but said nothing as she watched.

At the arena floor Gaara had appeared via sand shunshin. Kouhei kept his smirk; "Let's see how badass you really are"

Gaara smirked as he accepted the challenge; "Show me."

"Sabaku no Gaara vs Ringo Kouhei, Begin!" Hayate leapt back.

Kouhei wasted no time, the brown haired boy quickly pulled out his whip and swung, the air cracked as it impacted against Gaara, or rather the sand that had risen and quickly and absorbed the blow, sending ripples across its surface. Gaara just remained still with his arms crossed, starting impassively at his opponent, already the initial excitement was dwindling.

Kouhei tsk'd in annoyance. He pulled back his weapon and struck again, this time from a different angle, all for the same result to happen once again. Sand rose up and protected the Sand ninja. The Kiri Nin channeled his chakra through the whip, from the handle to the tip, and all it did was increase the splash range of the sand.

Gaara did not move.

Grunting in mounting frustration, Kouhei's eyes took an edge as he took out four kunai with paper tags attached to them from his pouch and jumped high in the air and threw them, the embedded themselves on the ground around Gaara, far enough for his sand defense not to trigger.

The tags began to burn, and then they exploded.

The observers shielded their faces from the blast, protecting their eyes from wind, dust and rubble caused by the explosion. Where Gaara stood there now was a cloud of smoke. Few felt particularly hopeful that simple tactic was enough to take out someone with Gaara's defensive capabilities; the grin on his siblings' faces only cemented that.

The smoke soon cleared, revealing Gaara surrounded by walls of sand that had clearly taken the brunt of the explosions. Kouhei looked at him stunned while the Sand ninja frowned with disappointment and disgust.

"Is this honestly all you have to offer me? At this point you're barely worth killing" He rasped with frustration.

The ninja from Kiri seethed through clenched teeth. Anger boiled from inside him, humiliated that his enemy wasn't even taken him seriously.

"Don't let him get to you, Kouhei!" Zabuza shouted from the stands.

But Kouhei barely heard him. Gaara's words resonated within him, stirring up old feelings he kept buried. To be told he wasn't worth anything, to be looked down like he was a disappointment, something unwanted, almost the same as saying he should have never been born in the first place.

Kouhei had heard those words plenty of time from his clan. The only thing he had to counter those ugly feelings were the memories he had of his mother, the sole person in his life who had never seen him as a mistake. So he had set to prove he wasn't one, as a ninja of Kiri, one his village could be proud of.

So he would distance himself from 'him'.

"I'll show you!" He'd take Gaara out with his own power, without ever relying on the one he inherited.

The whip spun in the air, the revolutions becoming faster with each passing second. Lightning coated the weapon, sending showers of park flying off into the air. The whip became a blur of movement and energy, a blue circular wall at his side. He shouted as he struck, the air cracking like thunder as the delivered a strike with the force of a storm.

Surely, this lightning imbued element would triumph over his hand!

Gaara remained still as the weapon came ever closer. His sand rose in a dense wall in front of him, the energy from the whip discharged all over the substance as it struck, the arcs of electricity licked at the ground as the sand spread, stopping any of the excessive energy from even touching him in the first place.

Kouhei stood there horrified; his best attack had failed utterly.

Gaara looked at him with disgust. "Pathetic" And rose his arm.

It happened so very fast, the sand coalesced and came crushing down on the Kiri genin with the force of a flying brick wall.

Pain spread through his arm as a crack came from his right shoulder, the sand swiftly covering his body. "You're weak, worthless..." Gaara spoke in a bored manner; "insects like you are barely worth killing... But I'll make an exception."

"Why was someone like you even born?!"

"You stain our clan's honor by having the monster's blood in your veins!"

"You're as worthless as that whore you call a mother!"

Words from the past and the Suna's words rang in Kouhei's head. Over and over he kept hearing the constant slander and hate from a village that did not want him. From people who cursed at him for the simple fact he existed at all. Fearing he'd become just like him.

Kouhei's rage boiled more and more he kept hearing those words in his mind. He snarled wildly glaring at his opponent. However he was not seeing Gaara. But a figure cloaked in shadow. Cold, empty, pink pupiless eyes staring at his own; "I WILL NEVER BE LIKE YOU!" The Kiri genin roared as everyone in the arena felt a tremor beneath them.

Pipes bursted through the walls and floor firing out enormous amounts of water like a geyser, even the very humidity in the room gathered and form water out of thin air. All were in shock, but no more so than Gaara as he was blasted by powerful streams of H2o. His sand was rendered useless as he was slammed into wall.

The eyes of everyone present watched what had just transpired with varying degrees of surprise and awe. Temari's lip trembled, unable to comprehend what she saw. "W-What happened?"

"Did that guy just... swat Gaara away like that?" Kankuro muttered in disbelief. Baki swore under his breath, Gaara had never received an attack like that; he had never been hit PERIOD.

Sakura looked at Kouhei with newfound astonishment, her previous assessments about the boy and his capabilities took a dive out the window. "That water manipulation, to be able to control water like that without any sort of hand sign then his affinity for the element must be... extraordinary"

Naruto sharply turned to Haku and Chojuro, both as shocked as he was. "Did you guys know he could do this?"

"N-No!" Haku stammered. "Kouhei had barely even shown proficiency with water element before!"

Kakashi's gaze caught sight of Zabuza; the swordsman was frowning heavily at the sight. He didn't look at as surprised as the others were...

"Kouhei" He muttered, his tone was hard to describe, even to the Hatake.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Holy fuck," Kushina muttered under her breath as she looked wide eyed along with her sole student. The redhead had only seen one person who wielded elemental chakra to such a degree, only with fire. It was like this boy was like a water version of Tsukiko-baachan

"As if that boy was the Nidaime Hokage reborn." Yugao said breathlessly in awe.

Well, that guy was better example yeah...

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kouhei barely registered his fall back to arena floor as Gaara's sand broke off of him in water soaked lumps. He let out a snarl as he held his broken right arm as exhaustion coursed through his whole body. The water soon receded as Gaara hit the floor. His body simply wouldn't move, 'I got worked up... Shit...'

Slowly, ever so slowly, Gaara stirred. He prompted himself up on shaking arms, this sensation, this... this was pain. It had been so long since he had felt physical pain. So long...

Teal eyes glared at his opponent. Gaara stood up, sand already forming around his body once more, absorbing the wetness on his person as his personal sand barrier regenerated. He took one slow step, then another and another, until he was walking towards the fallen Kouhei, killing intent radiating off of him in waves.

His exhaustion and weakened state, coupled by the strong intent coming off from Gaara, was too much for the young Kiri Nin. He let out a soft breath as he finally passed out.

"Winner, Sabaku no Gaara!" Hayate was quick to declare him the victor.

Yet Gaara did not stop, he continued walking towards him with murder in his eyes. He needed to draw his blood, needed kill him, for mother... He needed it, only then was he alive.

Sand began to swirl around him.

"Enough, you already won!"

The jinchuuriki ignored the proctor, and watched with irritation as various ninja came down in a flash to the arena floor, standing in his way. Kiri of course, but also Kumo and Konoha. The two of note, Uzumaki and Nii stood at the forefront, they both who felt so strangely familiar were staring him down along with the rest, daring to oppose him from fulfilling his existence. The Kiri jounin took his student in his arms protectively, almost challenging him to try something.

Fine, if they wanted death so much then all the better.

He raised his arm and-

"That is quite enough"

And hand was on his shoulder.

That bore repeating, a hand was on HIS shoulder. Someone was TOUCHING him.

He turned his head to meet the wizened gaze of the third Hokage, staring down at him sternly. That he had slipped in so close to him without his defense activating spoke volumes of the man's prowess.

Swiftly, his sand acted up.

"GAARA NO!" Baki shouted, terrified at the thought of his student, willingly or not, attacking the Kage of the foreign village.

The Sandaime narrowed his eyes. "Hmph"

Suddenly, chakra flooded the room. So vast and dense it cracked the ground around the old ninja with its sheer pressure. His sand was blasted away so effortlessly in every direction. It was like someone had dumped a river's worth of water on them; it was heavy, and so suffocating...

Gaara made a choking gasp as those eyes bore into him once more. So powerful...

"I believe you already won, it is no longer necessary to continue" The Kage said as he let go of the young boy's shoulder. Gaara wordlessly continued to stare at him, feeling something he could not quite describe, it felt familiar...

Ahh, fear. It's been too long since he had felt afraid too.

He merely marched towards his place by a calm looking Jiraiya, his eyes meeting that of each shinobi that was there on the arena in turn.

After what felt a small eternity, everyone could breathe again.

"...Holy shit" Shikamaru muttered, eyes wide as they stared at the Hokage with a sense of awe. He certainly wasn't the only one doing it at the moment. Ino the poor thing had fallen onto her backside, taking in as much air as she could after their leader's display.

Not that the others were fairing much better with shaky legs as they all calmed themselves.

"Yikes dad" Asuma muttered to himself, feeling the cold sweet run down his neck. "Overdid it a bit don'tcha think?"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"...Well, Jiji still has it," Kushina muttered warily before she turned to Yugao; "But what the hell was with that kid?"

The ANBU captain shrugged; "We haven't heard anything from Kiri in a long time. Even now we only get tiny details here and there. The Kiri rebellion and the eventual overthrow of the Yondaime Mizukage. Mai Terumi is making sure no one knows the full state of her village."

That was the smart thing to do, so no rival village would invade thinking they had become an easy target. It went to show this lady Kage was competent in her job.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Hiruzen hummed to himself as the ANBU patched up the arena to least making it fight-able. His eyes glanced up to Zabuza who only glanced back before turning to his team. Beside him Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "Well that wasn't something you see every day. That gaki from Kiri had one hell of trump card."

"He could rival, if not surpass, Tobirama-sensei if he ever masters that element. But also, I saw something in all my years I'd thought I'd never see. Three foreign teams coming together."

Such a concept he never once imagine he'd ever see while still alive. Not after all the bloodshed and wars that ravaged the nations. But to actually see three teams from three separate villages, two being enemies. Such a thing was completely unheard of.

"Heard those kids banded together in the forest" The toad sage commented. "The fact it happened at all surprises me" Fighting together for survival was a quick way of building camaraderie, even among the least likely allies. But for them to actually come to the defense of another once their truce was over well... that was pretty damn improbable. Naruto he could see it, that boy had a heart like his father. But as for the rest, Kumo in particular? He'd sooner believe there were youkai living among them.

Their swift response to protect the Kouhei kid... that they were at least driven by a sense of honor to defend a former comrade. Enough for them to jump in, their bodies moving before they even realized what they were doing.

"Honor among ninja, huh?" He muttered loud enough for his sensei to hear. That was something rare to find in their line of work, 'honor' was hard to gauge. There was honor in serving the village, in fighting for the country. But for some foreign ninja that by all rights would have been stabbed in the back once he ceased being useful? Jiraiya had seldom seen it.

The old Kage gave his student a look before losing himself in his thoughts. Honor, trust... Was it truly people for villages to cooperate like that? The alliance with Suna was... not exactly on steady ground at the moment. Their daimyo were hiring Konoha more and more often, much to the displeasure of the sand shinobi.

Hiruzen looked at the red headed boy. He knew what he was, the Suna jinchuuriki. There was just so many things wrong with the poor child. His gaze then went over the other genin, from his village and the rest, who were worrying over young Kouhei's unconscious form.

Bless their hearts; they haven't grown up as enemies with them that were the adults' own grudges. And if they didn't do anything then the next generation would eventually grow up to hate each other just as well.

The Sarutobi found that image before him to be very precious, and made him strive to protect it.

Perhaps... a bit of trust and honor between villages could do wonders.

"Hmm" He mused as he ran a hand of his beard.

"Oh I know that look" Jiraiya said amused. "What's on your mind?"

"Thinking that Kiri must be in need of supplies after what they went through"

That made his student pause; "That'll be tricky. Though reaching out to Kiri would be infinitely easier than Kumo. But convincing their new Kage it's not some kind of trap will take some effort."

"It will be worth it, we have two things Kirigakure needs; resources and allies" The old Kage was resolute in his tone as he lit his pipe.

Jiraiya slowly gave a nod; "This will be one for the record books if nothing else."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

After fifteen minutes the arena was finally repaired as well as a awaken Kouhei with a sling holding up his arm. The young Genin was ghostly quiet as his team along with Team 7 and Team Kumo were asking all kinds of questions.

Finally Zabuza was losing his patience; "Alright brats knock it off. He doesn't want to talk so stop nagging alright."

Karui dryly lifted a brow; "You're a ray of sunshine aren't you?"

For Haku, she tilted her head looking at her sensei/father-figure that looked right into her eyes. She could tell there was something he was hiding. But she wasn't going to get anything out him right now. Never mind her teammate who stared down at the arena floor.

Kouhei was… very silent, he even refused to look at anyone in the face right now. The display of power had somehow been horribly shameful for him, and Haku could not fashion why. It was some reason her teammate had clearly meant to keep this secret, but the reasons behind it were a mystery to her.

It was clear Kouhei would not talk about it, so she decided to give it time. If he wanted to reach out to his teammates then he'd do so eventually, and she'd be there for when he felt ready to speak.

Coughing a bit, Hayate got people's attention; "Now that the arena is fixed let us begin." Soon names came up on the monitor. Misumi Tsurugi vs Chojuro.

The fire name belonged to one lone Konoha ninja on the opposite balcony where Suna and Oto have been standing, Kabuto's last remaining teammate; who wore a similar outfit much like his team, along with a mask he wore around his mouth that hung to around his neck and forehead protector which he wore like a bandanna, his rimless glasses shined as he eyed the Kiri Genin before leaping over the railing.

For Chojuro he took a long deep breath before following suit. Kouhei still remained quiet but watched his nervous teammate beside Haku. Close by Naruto tilts his head; "Been meaning to ask, but what's with that sword on his back?"

Zabuza only chuckled evilly as he crossed his arms across his bare chest; "Watch and see Uzumaki. It's gonna be a bloody mess"

"Could you ever possibly tone the psycho out of you for a day?" Sakura drawled.

"Oh the screeching girl is gonna tell me to tone down my attitude?" The swordsman sarcastically droned. "Yeah, next you're gonna say the blondie of your team to tone down on the ramen I hear he loves so much, or the Uchiha to stoop brooding. It just ain't how it works girly"

"You are too bloodthirsty at times, Zabuza-sama" Haku agreed.

"And you brats are not nearly bloodthirsty enough!" Zabuza proclaimed with irritation. "Oh no, you're all about making nice with each other!"

Naruto deadpanned; "'Making nice' is what pretty much saved your life the first place"

"Oh stuff it you brat, I stand by what I said. You wanna scare your enemies away before you fight them? Project a good dose of killing intent and your mission will be done before you realize it. Or if they don't run away are instead paralyzed, then it just means they're easy targets. Nearly worked on you last time"

"...How did they ever give YOU a team?"

"Kiri is fucked up. It's not the Bloody Mist anymore but you can't change something like that in such short a time, it's still fucked up. So you work with what you have. Believe me; I didn't want to have a team either but that bi- the Mizukage was very convincing"

Haku sighed.

"Your team is so lucky..." Sakura drawled.

"Whatever" He rolled his eyes. "Let me just watch Chojuro's fight and shut-"

"Fight's over" Sasuke casually commented

Various pairs of eyes blinked simultaneously. "Wait what?" Naruto said.

Indeed, Chojuro had his weapon's chakra shaped into that of a giant hammer; his pose indicated he had just swung the blunt chakra construct. And some feet in front of him laid his opponent Tsurugi, glasses broken and nose bleeding, likely broken as well.

"Knockout!" Hayate announced. "Winner, Chojuro of Kirigakure!"

Haku's head slowly tilted to the side; "Did we just miss the fight?"

Kouhei only rolled his eyes.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"That's the Hiramekarei!" Kushina gushed in almost child-like wonder having seen the match; "So it really does shape-shift dattebane!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

A bashful Chojuro was met with cheers as he came back to his team; "Damn, for shy guy you can kick some ass," Karui grinned making Kiri teen lightly blush.

"T-thank you Karui-san."

Kakashi looked from his book; "You were impressive kiddo."

Wasting no time, not that anybody needed to be told who was next. Karui soon became serious as she leapt down from the balcony. Popping his wrists, Zaku gave a faint nod to his 'Jounin' who smirked back. Leaping down, the Oto genin smiled viciously; "Let's see how you scream."

For her part Karui did not look either impressed or intimated at her opponent. She simply tapped her foot waiting for the proctor.

"-Cough- Final match of the preliminaries" Hayate announced has rose his hand. "Karui of Kumo vs Zaku Abumi... Begin!"

The moment the proctor moved back the chunin aspirants took action. Karui took out her sword as Zaku lifted his arms, the inner hollow tubes priming as air pressure build up, blasts of highly concentrated air fired directly at her. Karui swiftly moved to the side and dodged, letting the air pressure pass by harmlessly.

"Got you!" Zaku fired off again, only for Karui to jump away, the air wave clashed against a wall, lightly cracking it and creating small fissures on its surface. "Is this all you can do? Run away!"

Karui was too much of a hothead, she knew that much to her shame, honestly it wasn't her fault her teammate infuriated her so easily. But when on a fight Karui knew better than to let her emotions blind her, that is not to say she didn't make mistakes, her temper would get the better of her. But Kumo's harsh standards assured that their shinobi would head on the battlefield with a cold, calculated and detached mind. Pragmatism at its finest. And Karui was no different.

If anything, her own temper gave her an advantage sometimes if she didn't let it blind her. It allowed her to strike harder and endure more, but also it gave her insight on how to fight people like her. People too hotheaded to fight rationally. She knew how to piss them off.

Those arms of his, there's no way tubes that small could handle blasts of high level techniques continuously firing, they had to have a limit, if she could get him to overload them... It was a reckless plan, and she had no idea if it'd work. But she couldn't get close enough to do any significant damage. No choice then.

"You talk a big game for someone who had to mutilate his arms to even stand a chance against another genin"

A vein throbbed on his forehead. "What was that, you bitch?!"

"I said you're a failure" Karui smirked. "Those tubes in your arms? They only way you ever could be useful to your village were by them installing weapons into your own body. Shinobi go for all advantages they can get, but when you couldn't show any worth on your own then you're not fit to call yourself a ninja"

At the balcony, the teams watched incredulously. "Why is she goading him like this?" Naruto muttered.

"Those Oto ninja are just looking for an excuse to kill any of us" Kiba said in disbelief. "Does she actually want to piss him off knowing that?"

Yugito turned to their temporary team leader; "She really needs to reign in her attitude"

"True, but this time" The Nibi jinchuuriki could have sworn Samui's lips twitched ever so slightly upward in a smile, but the thought of the cold fellow teenager smiling was something straight out of the realm of fantasy, so Yugito attributed it to her own imagination. "She seems to actually been thinking things through"

Zaku's form trembled with rage. To hear that low level Cloud whore talk down to him, saying he was worth nothing as a shinobi... that he was not useful to lord Orochimaru, the man who had given him everything, who had given him this power...

He'll kill her.

He'll kill her!

HE'LL KILL HER!

A scream that befitted more an animal than a human escaped from his lips as he once more brought up his arms. He channeled his chakra, all of it, into the tubes inside his limbs as to deliver the most powerful blast he had ever fired. There would be no trace of her, no piece of flesh, not even a single dust molecule of bone. He'd tear her apart so utterly there would not be a body left to take back to Kumo.

All the while the leader of Oto observed with disappointment as his subordinate's anger got the better of him. 'Fool' He should have known better than to let a mere girl goad him like that. He should have known better than to use his modifications so thoughtlessly without regard for consequences.

A single word from him could have calmed Zaku down. But honestly, he had little use for ninja who couldn't use their heads. This would be a... learning experience for him.

Zaku gathered the air pressure as the sound vibrations made his arms tremble, he could feel all the bones in his arms shudder. His chakra points burned due all the sheer energy he was channeling, but Zaku did not care, he would make her pay for her words. For daring to insult him. Dosu had been a fool, and Kin a whore, but he would prove himself worthy of being Orochimaru-sama's shinobi.

His preparations ready, he fired off his attack.

And his arms exploded.

The majority of the genin and a few Jounin winced as the Oto Genin let out a painful roaring shrill as he fell to the ground. Karui had appeared beside him thankfully knocking him out with hard kick. The Kumo Kunoichi sighed before cringing at Zaku's arms, or lack of them from the elbows down.

"Zaku is unable to battle, winner is Karui." Hayate spoke up as medical Nin was quick to take the injured Oto Genin.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

As the remaining genin stood in front of the Hokage with Jiraiya at his side, some feel both elation and exhaustion. They could finally get some rest in a bed instead of being in that accused forest and this bloody tower. Still a few were curious as to why Anko was holding a medium size box with a hole big enough for a hand. At here sides were both Hayate and Ibiki.

"For those of you who made it, I congratulate you. But test is not over, not yet" The Hokage spoke hiding a smirk upon seeing a few of the young teens groan in irritation. "Now, you must take a number from the box, whoever has the closest number to yours will be your opponent in the third stage"

"So it's like prelims, one on one competition," Yugito spoke up beside her team.

Hiruzen gave a nod; "Correct Miss Nii. However the final exam will be in one month. You make take that time to rest, strategize, and train for your coming opponent."

"Listen up," Ibiki soon took over with a firm shout; "When we call out your names get up here and grab a ball"

With that Hayate begun to call off names from his clipboard and the young chunin hopefuls came over taking a ball. The results… were unexpected for some…

Sakura felt a chill creep up her spine as she warily gazed over towards her opponent. Neji only gazed back at her with an impassive apathy. "First match: Sakura Haruno vs Neji Hyuuga," Hayate spoke writing on his clipboard.

Slit feline blues and chocolate brown both shone with mutual respect for the other; "Second match: Yugito Nii vs Haku Yuki."

Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Lee couldn't stop smiling while Naruto wasn't sure he was going to have fun. Or be totally screwed; "Third match: Rock Lee vs Naruto Uzumaki."

"Fourth match: Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara." As the proctor said the names, the Uchiha stared with determination while the Ichibi Jinchurriki showed little interest in return.

Temari's eyes were predatory as she smirked over to a nervous Chojuro; "Fifth match: Sabaku no Temari vs Chojuro."

A kunai spun in Tenten's fingers as she glared back at a vicious smirking puppet master; "Sixth match: Tenten Higarashi vs Sabaku no Kankuro."

Karui came to a realization as she counted the number of people who would pass to the third exam. "Wait, there's nobody left for me. We're an odd number"

"The finals are tournament rounds" Ibiki explained. "We can't accommodate just because of one person out, you'll fight whoever wins the first match"

So that meant either pinky or the Hyuuga boy. Karui honestly wasn't too happy about fighting an opponent who would already be tired and weakened after their first match but she had no room to complain"

"And so we close the second stage of the Chunin exams. You have one month, make it count," The Sandaime spoke with resolution which made every genin nod.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina let out a sigh as she lay back on her bed; "Well now that is over can I get the hell out of here now," the redhead whined making Yugao and the other ANBU sigh.

"Hokage-sama said you still need to stay a day more for observation. Fortunately the position of your heart won't cause any trouble, but they need to make sure the rest of your organs are in the right place." The sole student of the red death spoke back dryly, having to have explained this several times already.

Of course that only made Kushina whine louder…

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Can someone fully explain to me the need or purpose in waking up before even the goddamn sun is up for of all things a meeting?" Tsume growled with tired irritation as she rested her elbow on the clan head seating table with her cheek in her palm.

The majority of those present shared the thought, but unlike the Inuzuka clan head they kept quiet. It had been rather sudden and out of the blue as ANBU had summoned only the major clan leaders and the elders for an impromptu meeting ordered by the Hokage. While it was not called an outright emergency, the timing was still suspicious.

Mostly to Shikaku Nara who was currently sipping a cup of freshly brewed coffee beside a yawning Chōza Akimichi. "Now, now Tsume" Inoichi said diplomatically. "Hokage-sama would not have called us here if it wasn't for something important"

The wild maned woman growled; "Is the village under attack, no? Then why the hell can't I go back to sleep?!"

"One would imagine you Inuzuka to be early risers" The ever collected and nearly monotone voice of Shibi Aburame intoned next to her. "What with all the noise your kennels filled with young pups make every day"

Rather than barking an angry retort, the Inuzuka matriarch just look at him with surprised; "When did you get here?"

"...I've been here all this time" If one were to put more attention they'd pick up the slight tone of annoyance lacing his voice.

"Pretty sure I would have heard or smelled you before if you were" The Inuzuka prided themselves over their animal-like senses for a reason.

Shibi merely looked at her behind his shades, and Tsume got the feeling she had put her foot in her mouth once again. A few of the clan heads rolled their eyes at the antics that were far too much of a common occurrence for their tastes, especially to the head of the Hyuuga clan who merely sat with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, projecting the image a of cold and composed aristocrat he had perfected over the years.

It was only when the new arrivals appeared that he opened his eyes and greeted them. "Honored elders" He politely inclined his head, a gesture soon followed by the others.

The aged visage of elders Homura and Koharu was a familiar sight for the clan heads, as the Hokage's advisors they were closely involved in the Village's day-to-day business and its various operations. Though sometimes differing in ideology and methods to their leader, their opinion was highly valued by the Hokage regardless.

It was the third elder that put the clan heads a bit on edge. Half of his face covered in bandages, an arm hidden inside his robes which often lead people to believe it was no longer as usable as it was in the past due to injuries sustained over a lifetime of service, he walked by supporting his free left on a cane. His visible eye carried a hardened edge that seemed to pierce nearly anything. One couldn't be blamed to compare his visage to that of an old war hawk still on the prowl even after many years of battle.

Danzo Shimura was often a rare sight in meetings with the clans. The Shimura clan was under the leadership of his son (whom rumors stated was not on speaking terms with his father) having long since passed on the role to operate behind the scenes with some of the village's most... questionable activities. And coming from ninjas that spoke a lot of what the old war hawk did. Not that they themselves were much aware of whatever activities Danzo conducted in service to the village. The elder was just rarely involved in village meetings.

"So" Shikaku started, looking at the two elders often found at the Hokage's side, "do you know why Sarutobi-sama has called us?"

"We, in fact, do not" Homura replied tensely. "Whatever is going on, it wasn't brought up to us beforehand"

No one had noticed Danzo grip on his cane had gotten tighter while his face remained unreadable. He was not pleased being left in the dark with zero information given to him. Whatever was going on Hiruzen was playing something close to the chest. His grip relaxed as he simply waited along with others.

The door to the council room opened as the village leader entered; "I thank you all for coming at such an hour."

"Forgive my bluntness Hokage-sama," Tsume unsurprisingly spoke up first; "But if this is not an emergency why the hell did we all have get out of nice warm beds before the ass crack of dawn?"

'...Wonder how she will react with whose waiting outside,' Hiruzen dryly mused as he half wished he had a camera when seeing everyone's faces. He cleared his throat; "Well Tsume-dono please allow me to introduce the reason I have called everyone here. Enter!"

All eyes went towards the door as if opened slowly. Once open, Shikaku who was in the middle of drinking his coffee soon spat it out coughing.

Who came through the threshold and entered the room dawning simple ANBU pants and a muscle shirt was a person everyone in the room had thought they would never see again till their eventual deaths. For Kushina this was a really awkward moment and felt like hiding somewhere upon seeing the expressions of people who to her she's just seen a few days ago.

When in fact it had been twelve years for all of them.

The redhead gave a meek chuckle as she waved; "Uh hi..."

Hiashi had literally stood up from his seat, his rigid cold persona vanished with utter disbelief in its stead; "K...Kushina..."

"Been a while," Nice tension-breaking skills there, Kushina. She berated herself.

The sheer utter shock had pretty much shut down all cognitive functions in everyone's brain. Their minds simply could not comprehend that they were seeing right now. It was an impossibility, Kushina was dead, and that's something all of them were painfully aware of.

But here she was, alive, standing in front of them, looking exactly as she did last time they saw her. Sans the large pregnant belly. If this was the Hokage's idea of a joke then it was a very cruel one. This had to be an impostor. But the notion was quickly rejected in favor of logic (hard as it was to apply it in this occasion), the Hokage would not have brought this individual before them unless he was one hundred percent sure this woman was the real deal.

And yet... Kushina died that day, Minato had died with her. They has lost two dear friends that horrible day all those years ago, two more names added to the far too filled monument of their brave fallen, along with all those who lost their lives that night.

To have her in front of them was possibility that frightened them. Hope was terrifying after all.

It was Shikaku who first managed to ask what was in everyone's minds; "H-How is this possible? How are you alive?!"

"Well..." Kushina rubbed her arm awkwardly, "I guess it I should start with Tsukiko-baachan, you see, years ago before I even came to Konoha she gave me a scroll and-"

And she went on a long explanation about an extremely powerful scroll developed by the legendary goddess of fūinjutsu herself. Honestly, the possibility of such a scroll (even if it did have many drawbacks and was a one on a hundred chance it could work) was a bit too far-fetched for them to believe.

But then again, this was the Tsukiko. A woman whose exploits was up there with Hashirama and Madara. Indeed, they had met her before in their early childhood, on a visit from the seal master on their village years ago. The two hundred year old woman was a legend for a reason, the adults couldn't stop praising her sheer knowledge on the art of sealing, and how many seals used nowadays were designs that came from the woman herself. If Tsukiko Uzumaki created something like that, then it fell into the realm of possibility a scroll like that to have existed in the first place. That woman had left an impression.

It may also have to do with her famed crusade in which she would personally spank misbehaving children who had committed some act of naughtiness or other in her presence to install some discipline into them. Few were spared the wrath of her bent knee and smacking hand. Indeed, legends had it she had spanked all previous Kages in their youth.

The reality of the situation finally dawned on them.

"You're here..." Inoichi whispered loud enough to be heard his voice thick with emotion. "You're actually here..."

Kushina smiled warmly, and it was such a comforting sight; "Sorry I've been away for so long"

To Tsume that was not enough. Having climbed over the table, she strode over the redhead, towering over her by a few inches, and casted a judgmental gaze upon her which Kushina received unflinching. The Inuzuka sniffed, catching the scent coming off from the supposedly returned Uzumaki.

It was the same. Downright to the last detail that was Kushina's scent.

But there was only one way she would know for sure. Her knuckles of her right hand popped as her fist slammed into Kushina's face. "Tsume!" Chōza rose from his seat.

However the redhead rubbed her jaw before spatting out some blood. She grinned right back at Tsume; "That fist of yours has gotten soft, bitch."

"Oh THAT'S the Kushina I know!" Only she could take a punch like that and have a grin that was as feral as an Inuzuka's in return. Tsume grinned back; "Who you calling soft, bitch?" she patted Kushina's belly; "That little scroll might have saved your cute little ass. But that ass is far from fighting shape. This is a soft belly."

"I had just given birth to Naruto you dumb ass! How was your figure after popping out Hana and Kiba?! Twelve years and you're still a stupid mutt!"

"WHAT YOU CALL ME, YOU CUNT?!" Tsume snarled in Kushina's face who snarled right back

"YOU WANT ME TO FUCKING REPEAT, BITCH!"

"I DARE YA TO REPEAT IT!"

The majority within the room collectively sweatdropped at the display. It was like Kushina had never left, the interactions of those two had always been that strange friendship-rivalry of theirs. Annnnd they basically had picked up where they had left off. However the Sandaime cleared his throat loudly enough to get the hotheaded ladies to stop arguing. "You two can get back to your cat fight later." Tsume let out a light growl at the word 'cat'.

Trying to gather themselves in this situation was a monumental task, but they took their seats once again so they could properly carry on their business. Celebration could come later. The Uzumaki took a moment to look at all her friends' faces, they were similar to how she last saw them, but could tell there were more signs of aging. Once again knowing just how long she had been away was a disturbing thought.

"When exactly were you... unsealed?" Inoichi asked.

"Couple of days ago" Kushina replied. "Little before the prelims began actually"

Hiruzen took over; "Of course, I kept this matter private until I could be certain she was in fact our Kushina. We kept her hidden in the forest tower's medical facilities"

"Understandable" Shikaku nodded. "So I suppose the matter at hand now is; what do we do now?" He waved a hand at the red head. "Do we just tell everyone you're back?"

"This is an... unusual situation" Koharu spook up, hands joined over the table as she mused over the long term changes this would bring. "If Kushina rejoins our forces" The Uzumaki in question didn't like how she said 'rejoins', as though she had actually left service on her own. "Then eventually the other nations WILL know. Now more than ever with the Chunin Exams going"

"It is an inevitability" Hiruzen acknowledged. "Eventually, all will know. But I believe this works to our advantage" He gathered their interest with those words. "One of our strongest is back; let our enemies think carefully before provoking us now"

Kushina tried not to smirk too proudly at his words. She failed. "You hear that Tsume? 'One of our strongest'"

The Inuzuka matriarch bared her teeth and growled, to which Kushina just smirked more smugly. Both women quickly back down like ashamed children once the Hokage glared at them.

"As I was saying" He grumbled. "Kushina's return is a boon to this village, in more ways than one. My advice is that we just go with it immediately; let the rumors spread as Kushina walks our streets once again"

The voice of someone who had been quiet so far suddenly spoke up, one that soured Kushina's mood immediately; "And what do you propose we tell the populace? We can't just reveal to them she cheated death by use of an extremely powerful scroll"

Danzo... Gods, she had hoped that old war hawk wasn't still around. But because the universe hated her, here he was taking part of the meeting. This meant he was still overseeing those wet work operations of his. Kushina was no stranger to such black ops, having been in the ANBU for years, but Danzo's methods were extreme. He casually disregarded the lives of their shinobi and wasn't afraid of discarding them like one did a broken tool. The elder was vocal about Kushina mastering the Kyuubi's power to act as a cold and obedient killing machine for the village, which had earned the Uzumaki's despise. She didn't even want to imagine what he would have done had he gotten his hands on her son. His extremely aggressive doctrine was just trouble waiting to happen before he suddenly made the village a new enemy just because he took matters into his own hands and acted out of paranoia.

It had nearly happened in the past. Why the old man kept this warmonger around was a mystery to her.

"We say that she has been lying low since the Kyuubi attack, doing covert operations" Hiruzen proposed. "Certain circumstances led her to take an active duty once again"

Chōza's head shook in disbelief; "That's it? 'She was hiding and now she isn't', that's what we're telling our people?"

"It's better than the alternative. We don't want to give the other nations more reason to seek the Uzumaki's secrets"

What else could do they to her clan that they hadn't already? Kushina thought bitterly but didn't voice it. Instead she said; "Only the ANBU know what really happened. Along with a few people I can trust with this knowledge"

At that everyone slowly agreed with the Hokage's reasoning. Kushina noticed Inoichi looked conflicted as he rubbed his hands; "Inoichi, what is it?"

The Yamanaka head looked up at his old friend before sighing; "I'm trying to come up with some way to ask this without drawing out painful memories. Especially since to you it's only been a few days."

Hiashi closed his eyes; "There isn't an easy way asking what we all want to know."

Kushina's violet eyes casted downwards to the floor; "What happened twelve years ago." After a long silence, she explained the horrible events of October 10th. She gave every detail of the individual who she spoke with pure venom and hatred in her tone. But what sparked everyone's attention was the revelation the masked man had a Sharingan.

Hiruzen raised his hand before anyone could speak; "I want no one to jump to any conclusions. Whoever this masked man is, we do not know if he is indeed an Uchiha or not. Nor can we say it was the Uchiha clan or simply one man who orchestrated the events of twelve years ago."

"You still should have kept watch on the Uchiha regardless," Danzo spoke in a low tone.

Hiruzen only glared back in response. Neither talked, but from the Sandaime's eyes they read; 'this is neither the time nor the place.'

The old war hawk remained quiet before noticing the intense glare from the Uzumaki redhead. He was fully aware of the strong friendship between Kushina and the late Mikoto Uchiha. From their time in the academy to being teammates under Sakumo Hatake. And by the fury that blazed in the redhead's eyes, it was like she was almost daring him to imply her best friend was involved.

Shikaku rubbed his chin; "I don't like the sound of this guy being able to teleport pass our defenses, never mind able to phase through solid objects. Essentially this guy can go anywhere; we need to update the barrier seals." If that could even work against his skills in the first place.

"That's what catches your attention the most?" Tsume said incredulously; "What about the fact he controlled a fucking BIJUU? Something only the Shodai and Madara Uchiha could do!"

Shibi huffed; "I don't think anyone here is ignoring that particular fact, Tsume. For the moment our bijuu is secured. So I find myself worrying that our current defense systems are woefully ineffective against him" It was hard to tell what Shibi was feeling, but that was part of the course for the Aburame. "The Kyuubi had appeared right in the middle of the village, the masked man must have summoned it himself. Which means he got pass the Sensing Barrier"

Kushina did a double take; "The Sensing-? Oh my gods you people are still using that thing?!" The clan heads blinked at her outburst. "Jiji what the hell! I told you that thing wouldn't work! It's the most poorly functional and inefficient sensing system I've seen, I told you it would take decades to even make something like that remotely close to operable!"

The Hokage had the decency to look embarrassed. "The Kyuubi attack left us severely weakened and vulnerable; we had to use every option available to us. Even if the quality wasn't exactly up to par..."

Chōza muttered nervously; "The... Sensing Barrier doesn't work?"

"Oh it works... when it wants to!" Kushina exclaimed. "If that thing truly worked it'd be going off every time a BIRD flies over the village because it's an 'unauthorized passage'. Honestly, that barrier picks up intruders at random; sometimes it barely manages to pick up one if the chakra signature isn't big enough"

Hiruzen lit his old pipe; "I'll have that matter dealt with. In the mean time we find out whatever information we can about this masked man with a Sharingan, whoever he is."

"I promise I'll do more than find information," Tsume snarled almost like a feral hound; "He'll pay for all the lives he ruined. He'll be screaming when I'm done."

From all their gazes, Kushina could see her old friends all looked ready to spill blood. They finally had a real target, the one responsible for that tragedy twelve years ago. But they would to wait in line, because as far as the Uzumaki swordswoman was concerned;

That bastard belonged to her...

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto sat quietly in the Hokage's office as he looked down at the floor while Jiraiya gazed out the window to Konoha. It had gotten eerie quiet since the toad sage as he revealed himself being his godfather, as well as his father's sensei. But explained why he was never there as he was the village's spymaster. In truth, Jiraiya felt relieved letting it out. But it was just so damn unnerving not hearing a single word from the brat, being so silent for such a long time was extremely out of character.

"Are you mad?" The Gama Sennin cocked his head slightly and glanced behind him.

The blond's gaze remained at the floor; "I want to be. But I can't, being angry won't change a damn thing. And I get it, you couldn't lug around a kid going all over the nations for missions from Jiji."

"I was an orphan too growing up so believe me I do understand that kind of loneliness." Jiraiya's tone was solemn as he turned around seeing the surprised look from blond; "It's not an easy life but it toughened us up, taught us not to take bullshit when we see it."

At that Naruto could agree to; "So... what now?"

"Now, I know your mom wants to train you, but she also needs to get back into fighting shape. So both me and Kushina will be working on you and pinky, while Kakashi helps me with getting Kushina into fighting shape again."

Training with his mother sounded amazing. That was what a ninja parent was supposed to do with their child right? He was still new to this whole 'having a mother' thing, so honestly he was swimming in uncharted waters. Don't get him wrong, he was beyond happy to have his mother in his life, but this new experience was also somewhat frightening to him. He had no idea what to do as a son.

But hey, he never backed down from a challenge.

It was at that moment that the door opened, and the Hokage and Kushina stepped inside. "Man, I'm beat..." She drawled.

"I agree with you" Hiruzen grunted, this entire affair was a taxing one.

"Everything went well?" Naruto asked.

Kushina flashed a toothy grin; "Yep. Got to meet with old friends after all"

"You spent about at a half an hour in there," Jiraiya thumbed back to the window as the morning sun glowed in the sky. "Think that's a new record for you." Hiruzen rolled his eyes as he took his seat at his desk.

Just as Kushina sat down beside her son on one of the sofas and ANBU appeared kneeling; "Hokage-Sama."

"Hey Iguru!" Kushina smiled with a small wave to which the ANBU glanced with a nod and muttered 'Captain'.

The old Kage lifted a brow; "Something to report?"

"A young girl roughly Naruto-san's age came forward, expressing she had information regarding Orochimaru."

Everyone grew still, Jiraiya narrowed his eyes; "You sure? Could be a trap."

Iguru lifted his head "We brought the girl to an interrogation room; She gave every detail she knew about the Hebi Sannin."

Hiruzen rubbed his beard; "Bring her to me."

"Hai." The ANBU vanished via shunshin.

"Well that is out of the blue," Kushina crossed her arms leaned back on the sofa. "What should we do?"

"Nothing until I meet this young lady and she explains herself to me."

"Should I be here?" Naruto asked; "This sounds above my paygrade"

"And it is" Hiruzen agreed. "But considering the interest Orochimaru has shown on you and Sasuke, perhaps it's better if you too hear what she has to say" With that, he gave the young blonde his permission to stay.

It wasn't long before the ANBU returned, this time bringing with him a young girl wearing spectacles and a headband from Kusa. Her red eyes nervously shifted to the people present, lingering on Kushina for a moment as she seemed to tremble, clearly overwhelmed by the presence of such renowned and powerful individuals.

"Lord Hokage" She bow at the waist as was proper the etiquette. "Lord Jiraiya, and..." She paused at seeing the older redhead.

"Kushina Uzumaki" The woman presented herself.

"...I see" Something seemed to glint in her eyes. Recognition? Nostalgia? Whatever it was it quickly vanished as she looked at Naruto: "We meet again"

"Oh!" He perked up as his gaze shifted. "Y-Yeah! Hi! Uh... you"

"Wait" The girl's eyes narrowed. "You... You do remember me right?"

"Yeeeaaah-No" He confessed. "Sorry, I guess you didn't make an impression"

She face faulted at his words. Jiraiya smacked his own face at his lack of tact with women, while Kushina was openly giggled.

The girl composed herself as she glared at the apologetic blond; "Forest of death, giant bear."

Naruto's eyes sparked with recognition upon those two words; "OH!" He paused as he remembered why the girl was here as he turned serious; "You know about Hebi-Teme?"

She liked that nicknamed, but focused as she nodded and looked back to the Sandaime; "Yes, my name is Karin. I also need to inform you of what I told the ANBU; Otogakure is under Orochimaru's control." Everyone's eyes shot open as Iguru nodded in confirmation to her words; "He created that hidden village."

Now that was one hell of nugget of information. However the old Kage gave the young girl a long scrutinizing gaze; "You're being rather forthcoming with all this, you know full well Orochimaru is a traitor of Konohagakure."

"I am aware, I felt it best to be honest with if I wanted to seek asylum and join Konoha."

"Getting ahead of yourself, Specs," Jiraiya spoke up in a stern tone; "We need to know everything you know about my old teammate."

"Hai"

And so she did. She was part of the recon force, meaning she was an agent of the snake. THAT particular bit of information made all the occupants in the room scrutinize her all the more. Her powerful sensing ability would have allowed Orochimaru to pinpoint the location of certain key figures of the village, as well as targets of interest to him. Naruto and Sasuke, as the Snake Sannin were very interested in their bloodlines.

But what worried them the most was that Orochimaru was mobilizing his forces, which sent off many alarms on the Konoha shinobi's heads. Their target was quite clear to them.

"He's going to attack us" Jiraiya muttered in dread. "Right in the middle of the exams"

"But I thought Oto was a very small village" Kushina shook her head in confusion; "How is he hoping to get the manpower to attack one of the big villages?"

"I do not believe he is seeking an all-out battle" Hiruzen said, his eyes hardened. "Thinking on it logically, he plans on a quick strike to fulfill his objectives and escape swiftly before we can retaliate properly. This means he either wants to take something from the village, or remove something he perceives as a threat; taken that into consideration his most likely objective is that-"

Jiraiya finished for him; "He wants to assassinate you..."

Karin nodded which made Hiruzen sigh; "I had a feeling it would come to this." He tipped his hat as old memories, and regrets came to him. Seeing the image of the young boy so full of promise and potential, who turned into a monster he should have ended if not for the love carried for his apprentice.

His eyes turned to the young girl before him; "And you are a recon scout of Otogakure."

Turning to the ANBU beside her she showed Iguru her pocket. Wanted to show no hostile intent, upon looking, he gave her a nod for which Karin pulled out a metal headband with Otogakure's symbol.

"Young lady you realize this places you in a very complicated situation. You have admitted working for a renowned traitor to this village who wishes for my death."

A grave nod came from the glasses wearing Kunoichi; "I know. But if there was any chance in showing I mean no harm to the village and wish to join I had to be honest about my former employment."

"Why the hell would you work for a bastard like that?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It was all I had" Karin sighed; "My dad died when I was little, and my mother just a few years after. I was... alone, lost. Orochimaru found me and gave me a purpose, a place to belong. Where I was valued"

The bastard had emotionally manipulated her, Kushina thought bitterly, a sentiment shared by the others. He found a scared and lonely little girl and prayed upon her insecurities and fears so he could better use her for his own machinations. How many orphans had he turned to his side like that? How many people was he willing to use and sacrifice for his own ambitions? And just how many of those poor, directionless youths had he horribly experimented upon all for his sick quest for knowledge and power?

And here was this girl who wanted out. "You saw him for what he really is" Jiraiya said, it wasn't a question.

She nodded. "I did, I just... I just couldn't take it anymore. Not after all I saw, the things he did and what I... helped him do"

The Hokage tipped his hat as he closed his eyes in thought. "And why our village? Why not just go off the radar entirely?"

"Because I know what he's capable of, I fear he might find me anyway. I'm sure it won't be long before he knows I'm no longer obeying his commands" She fidgeted nervously. "And considering this village's history, I thought you might be more lenient with someone of my... heritage"

Okay that made everyone lift a brow; "Your heritage..." Hiruzen shifted his head.

Karin glanced over to Naruto and Kushina before she took a deep breath; "My full name is... Karin Uzumaki..."

Everyone could have heard a pin dropping in the room with the silence that followed. Both mother and son gawked while village leader and toad sage were not fairing any better. Even Iguru by his body language looked surprised. It was Kushina who shook it quickly before glaring; "Young lady," her voice etched with emotion; "if you are lying I swear to you, you will regret it. Who are your parents?"

"Hisao and Kirika Uzumaki," Karin said quickly as she shrunk under the older redhead's gaze.

Kushina froze; "Kirika-chan..." Her voice almost a whisper.

However Hiruzen upon gaining his composure was unreadable; "We will need to take a blood test to prove this claim."

"Use my blood," Kushina spoke quickly; "Kirika was a first cousin of mine. If what she says is true the test will show a familial match with me."

"Iguru." One word was all the Hokage needed for the ANBU to understand his intentions. The ANBU nodded and disappeared, when he returned he had a pair of needles ready to extract their blood.

All they had to do now was wait. Karin couldn't shake off the feeling of uneasy as all eyes continued looking at her in contemplation and suspicion.

XxX ~ twenty minutes later ~ XxX

After what felt like eternity, Iguru came back to the office handing the Hokage the scroll. Hiruzen must have read the results at least three times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, he turned to Kushina and Naruto with an unreadable expression; "They results came positive, there is a familial match... she truly is an Uzumaki"

Both mother and son had their breath hitch in their throats while Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock, They turned to the young girl in the room who cowered under their gazes, she had known these two people in front of her were her kin, though it had been quite a shock to hear she was so closely related to the Red Death Konoha (who wasn't as dead as everyone believed, but that wasn't the point right now).

Karin was simply overwhelmed, unsure on what to do now. These were her relatives, her... her family. Gods it has been so long since she last thought of anyone as her family.

Even if the spectacled girl didn't know how to act at the moment, Kushina on the other hand knew just what to do. She approached Karin, who fidgeted nervously, before dropping to one knee and surrounded her with her arms in a tight embrace.

Karin froze, she couldn't remember the last time someone actually hugged her. Nor could she stop the tears that soon fell from her eyes before returning Kushina's embrace.

"Son of a bitch," Jiraiya muttered as he read the scroll himself. He blinked looking up seeing now Naruto was beside his mother hugging Karin as well, his own tears starting to fall. His gaze shifted to his sensei; "Well old man?"

"I shall her grant asylum. But if she wishes to join the shinobi corps she will be under probation for at least four months." Hiruzen could not stop a smile that formed at the sight in his office.

Kushina rubbed the top of Karin's head before glanced over to Hiruzen and Jiraiya; "She is staying with her family. Orochimaru will never get near her again."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The morning hustle was in full swing as people and businesses went about their day. Well, that would be the case if everyone had not frozen in place as they saw a ghost of a living legend was strolling through the village. Kushina ignored the shocked stares as she, Naruto, Karin, and Jiraiya made their way to the blond's apartment.

Said blond only looked wide eyed as he walked seeing civilian and shinobi alike staring at his mother in absolute disbelief. "I think people noticed you're back, mom."

"Oh I wish they wouldn't stare at me so much" Kushina whispered, cringing as she did her best to ignore the looks she was receiving. "It's so unnerving..."

"Right?" Naruto, more or less an expert on the subject, droned dispassionately. Kushina immediately regretted her words and wished she could eat them.

"It's okay, girl" Jiraiya assured her. "Give it some time, they'll get used to it"

"I hope so..."

One of the ninja they there about to pass by gawked at her; "K-Kushina-dono!" He muttered in disbelief. "You're alive, h-how?!"

"Classified" Kushina replied with such ease that it clashed with her previous mood, almost as if those words were second nature to her.

"Ah" Surprisingly for Naruto that seemed to ease the ninja's surprise a lot. "Understood. Good to have you back" And went about his business.

Naruto's gaze followed the ninja until his neck couldn't turn anymore. "Okay that was weird. He went from getting the shock of his life to having ZERO questions"

"Ninja life kid" Jiraiya wisely said. "Not the weirdest thing it can happen, everyone will most likely believe she was on secret assignments all these years. Black ops is very hush-hush for a reason, you learn not to ask questions"

Walking beside her blond cousin, Karin, who no longer wore a Kusa headband, spoke up; "So where are we going?"

"We're heading to Gaki's apartment and grabbing all his stuff," Jiraiya answered now having both young teens look towards him.

Kushina gave a smile; "We're going to take you to your real home."

The blond's eyes went wide; "Wha-?"

"It was the old man's plan to give you your parent's house when we explained your heritage when you were ready. But since Red here is back, no point now." Jiraiya crossed his arms. "And can finally get those ANBU new mission assignments." He noticed the odd look from his part-time student; "Come on brat, you'd think we wouldn't have you watched over?"

"Wait" It had begun to dawn on him, "you're telling me the people in my apartment block are all ANBU?!"

"Well not all of them. We only have so many ANBU; a fair number of them are though. Others are jounin, chunin, even some retired ninja live there" He snorted at Naruto's incredulous look, "Seriously kid, you're a valuable target. We sure wouldn't have let you live on your own without making sure you were well protected"

"So, nearly all of them-?"

"Yup"

"The lady with the dogs?"

"Inuzuka sensor"

"The old lady that pressed flowers?"

"Retired medic, specialist on herbal medicine"

"The weird anti-social guy?"

"Aburame, 'nuff said"

"...The stoner at the top floor"

"Nnnnnnno that was just a stoner on the top floor"

Honestly, nobody knew where the hell that guy came from. He just showed up and started living on the top of the damn building. But it was shown he was harmless, and really good at making Cannabis.

As Kakashi worked through some reports on his team and the prelims and coming third exam he let out a loud sneeze.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina couldn't shake off the feeling of unease she got from looking at her house. Though part of her felt like she had last seen her just a couple of days ago, the other part of her knew it had been twelve years. She thought it'd look more run down, abandoned, but Jiraiya had assured her Hiruzen had the house routinely checked over and maintained, so one day Naruto would properly inherit it.

The same two stories block with a tower connected right next to it. It was modest on its own right; neither Minato nor herself had ever cared owning a fancy estate.

Minato and her together had made this place a home. To think he was no longer here, sharing this life with her and their son... it sent a stab of pain through her heart. She didn't want to step into the house, didn't want to enter and be greeted with silence instead of her husband's kind voice.

Gods she hadn't even visited his grave yet... And she was terrified of doing so.

But she had to do this right now, face her fears to show her son this was the home he was meant to live in all this time.

The blond and younger redhead looked wide eyed at the place; "This is home." It was more of a statement than a question as Naruto whispered.

His mother gave him a soft smile before they walked up the wooden stairs to the door. Kushina's hand shook as it held the key. She took a long deep breath while Jiraiya could see so many emotions coming from the Uzu woman.

She inserted the key. Upon opening the door she looked to her son and Karin; "You guys first."

Naruto stiffened for a moment before he took a step through the threshold. The interior was rather quite modest and simple. Karin had to admit, this was not what she was expecting of a house that belonged to the Yondaime Hokage and Red Death. The furnishings were kept homey and well cleaned. She did not see one speck of dust anywhere truth be told.

As the two teens wandered around inside, just outside Kushina held her chest with her hand. Her heart wouldn't stop racing.

Seeing her turmoil, Jiraiya placed a comforting hand on her shoulder; "Hey, if you're not feeling ready yet you don't have to stay here. We'll just get you and Naruto another place"

She shook her head after taking a deep breath; "No... No, I need to do this"

He looked at her in concern; "You haven't even properly grieved yet, girl" She had been thrown from the day of her son's birth, her husband's death, twelve years into the future without her having even had enough time to process it and come to terms with it. One would forgive Jiraiya if he thought Kushina clearly wasn't okay.

"Well... I guess this is how I start" She steeled herself and walked inside the house.

The entrance, the living the room, the kitchen, and the rest of the rooms she couldn't see at the moment, they all brought too many memories. Memories that should remind her of happier times were now tinged with heartache and sorrow. For they reminded her of what she had lost. The man who loved her, the life they could have had with their son...

She took a deep breath and continued on, hearing her son's voice coming from the kitchen as he inspected it, clearly impressed with its set up. Kushina prided herself on keeping a fully stock kitchen, with all the tools she required to make the many meals Minato enjoyed. She would cook them now for him, as she was always meant to do.

And Karin, gods the girl had just suddenly appeared in their lives without leaving her a single moment of rest to process everything that happened to her. But she was Kirika's daughter; she had fond childhood memories of her mother from Uzushio, to know that her parents were gone and that she had been in Orochimaru's service... Even with her grief while she tried to piece her life back together, Kushina simply could not refuse giving the girl a home. She was family after all.

So Kushina pushed down her grief, right now she needed to be a mother.

Her composure nearly shattered upon seeing a picture in the hallway. Of her and Minato celebrating when he was named as the old man's successor. A chocked breath escaped her lips, so she brought up a hand to cover her mouth and stop it from becoming a full cry. Even the image of him made her heart throb painfully.

Jiraiya grimaced, though thankful that Naruto and Karin went downstairs as they discovered the old training room Minato and Kushina made. He said nothing as he guided the redhead to the couch in the living room. Her body shook with her hands over her face.

The old Toad sage knelt in front of her; "This is going too fast for you. You need to stop and let yourself adjust." His voice quiet so not to get the kids attention.

"If I stop," she lowered her hands with fresh tears that gleamed around her eyes. "I don't think I'd be able to get back up." Her voice horse in a partial whisper; "Everything feels so wrong... like I was flung into some parallel world where my husband is dead. Mi-Chan is gone. And my son spent twelve years alone to fend for himself. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Jiraiya honestly thought of himself a poor teacher, regardless of his boasts he didn't think much of himself after a lifetime of failures. Who was he to actually help guide this woman when she clearly needed help? He, who couldn't even save a friend from himself, or protect his student?

But seeing the pain on Kushina's face, the woman who had gone through so much already, tear-stained and lost, reminded him that a poor teacher or not, he was still a teacher. It was his duty to offer guide, especially to the people who he thought of as family.

"Endure" He said strongly, placing a comforting hand over hers. "You know far too well this life will consume you up if you let it. So I all I can tell you is that you need to endure, be a mother for your son, and stay strong because for all that this cruel world has done to you, never doubt for a moment that it will stop. So you need to endure"

Her eyes, angry and mournful, glared at him; "Hasn't this world taken enough from me already? My home, my clan... and now my husband, and my friends, my..."

"You can stay here and wallow about how unfair everything is; knowing it's pointless because doing so won't change anything that happened. Or you can show your famed Uzumaki spunk that makes the universe give up in exasperation" He grinned. "That's the Kushina I know, the Kushina everyone loves... and the Kushina who can still have a life with her son"

'Kushina, why do we fall?' She heard Tsukiko-Baachan's voice in her mind; she still had no answer but…

The redhead closed her eyes before she gazed down to her hands. Her breathing became steady, the old lessons of Baachan echoed in her mind. She soon rubbed her eyes as she looked up to Jiraiya. "Thanks."

"This place is awesome dattebayo!" Naruto cheered as he ran up the stairs with Karin who shared his enthusiasm more quietly but still smiled. Striding to the living room he saw his mom on the couch who smiled at him while Jiraiya stood with a grin.

"Glad you like it. Now this is long overdue. Welcome home Sochi."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto had slept peacefully that night in the guest room, his original room was a still a baby's room, yeah that was something in the process of being fixed... While Karin had spent the night on the couch, he guessed once his room was ready the guest room would be hers. Having a home with a family was weird, but weird good.

Speaking of said family, he had spent all breakfast bombarding Karin with questions, a task his mother joined in while she made breakfast (It was one of the best meals he ever had, which made him very eager for the next if his mother was cooking it), where she was born, how was her childhood, her likes, her dislikes, the spectacle wearing girl took it all in stride... for the first five minutes. Afterwards she started looking... panicked, he guessed? She started making weird faces when the questions just wouldn't stop, muttering to her 'this is my life now...'. She must have been overwhelmed in joy by the idea that she had a family now.

Of course, part of the deal with Karin's probation was that wouldn't be let out of his mother's sight. Former agent or not, working for Orochimaru was a very grave matter after all. Not that Naruto believed there weren't ANBU watching them hiding somewhere.

So that meant Karin followed them everywhere, which honestly he was fine with, all the more time to get to know his cousin (and boy was it odd saying he had a cousin). Like right now, Karin was standing awkwardly to the side while his team gathered in their usual training ground, joined by Jiraiya and his mother for 'something special'.

"So what exactly did you need all of us for," Sasuke feinted annoyance while being genuinely curious while he glanced at Karin. The rest of Team 7 had been filled in on the presence of now a third Uzumaki in the village.

While her former affiliations with a certain snake made him wary. But the open honesty from the glasses wearing girl chose to give her the benefit of the doubt, if nothing else.

The Uchiha felt… glad for the blonde. But a part of him was more jealous than anything; here Naruto now had his mother, a family, while he still had to return to that empty place in the clan grounds…

But jealousy as unbefitting of his pride as an Uchiha, so he would push it aside.

Sakura wasted no time in talking to Karin, and the girls soon found out they had plenty in common, reading, studying techniques, they were of the same intellectual mindset so they quickly hit it off. The pinkette on her part was also very curious about what the sannin and the elder Uzumaki had planned, while Kakashi to had figured out what was going on. And things definitely would not be boring after this. So he remained quiet, smirked under his mask waiting to see the kids' faces. 'Wish I brought my camera for this.'

"Well," Kushina said sweetly wearing her old ANBU pants and sleeveless shirt smirked; "While yes this is something for Naruto and Karin, I wanted everyone here because this will be something you might gain yourselves down the line. A summoning!"

That immediately got a reaction. Summonings were indeed a very valuable asset to a ninja, but not everyone could say they had one signed. A contract with an animal clan was a difficult affair, some clans were little more than mercenaries and you could be whisked away in a moment's notice, much like one did when summoning a creature to fight for you or assist you in such a manner. You repaid their services in kind if that were the case, others were content with money, other valuables, or even favors.

Then there were those contracts built on familiarity, either passed down by a family or forged with trust by the user. Those were more intimate, based on friendship and camaraderie.

"You have a summoning contract?" Naruto asked excited.

Kakashi rolled his eye and snorted. The kids had no idea.

"Boy do I!" Kushina beamed before curiously looking at Jiraiya. "Wait, have you had him sign the Toad Contract yet?"

"Haven't had the time. Figured you could first do a demonstration, I do know 'they' will be happy to see you again"

A somber smile formed on the older Uzumaki, soon before she turned three shades white; "Genryu is probably really pissed right now."

"You think," Kakashi and Jiraiya drawled. "They likely noticed your chakra signature become active again on their end. I'm surprised they haven't reversed summoned you yet Kushina-sama," Kakashi spoke with interest.

Kushina squinted; "If I know that old grouch he wants me to summon him so he can yell at me personally." She shivered recounting the times she got her summoning angry. A thought came to her as she tuned to Sasuke; "Do you have your mother's Tiger contract?"

'Tiger contract?' The Uchiha lifted a brow; "My mother had her own summoning? First I ever heard of it."

"Well, I'm not surprised you weren't told. I mean, yeesh, the Uchiha weren't happy with that particular situation"

"They weren't?" That was strange, what was so bad about his mother having a contract?

"Ohoho boy no! It was quite the drama back in the day. Has to do with Mikoto's grandfather or something having the contract, but he wasn't from the clan and only his descendants could sign it and nobody else, and the clan wasn't too happy about it of course and-" Upon seeing the bewildered expression on his face she stopped her rant. "Oh wow, you really had no idea didn't you"

"None whatsoever..." He had been fairly certain his mother was completely pureblooded Uchiha like his father. "Why didn't anyone say anything?"

"Oh your elders probably didn't like to admit their strongest member wasn't fully born from the clan. They were assholes like that"

That caused Sasuke to frown darkly. "That's my clan you're insulting"

"I'm insulting the people in charge at the time, you probably were too young to understand, but the elders who lead your clan Sasuke? They were horrible people" She clicked her teeth as her expression hardened. "Mi-chan deserved better than following their orders all her life..."

She then realized the very uncomfortable and awkward looks she was receiving, particularly the one coming from Mikoto's youngest. One look at Jiraiya's disapproving glare told her 'Not the time'. She had gotten a bit off-track again hadn't she?

Coughing into her hand, she tried to get back on topic. "I-I'll help you look for the contract later. Anyway! How about you guys meet my clan's partners?!"

Karin adjusted her glasses, welcomed to subject change and just as curious; "I know Hatake-san has the dog summoning from profiles while Jiraiya-sama obviously has the toads given his title. But not even mom told me about our clan's summoning."

Well showing was better than talking, and Kushina soon bit her thumb before going into several hand-seals and slamming her hand to the ground a seal soon spread from her palm outwards; "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A massive plume of smoke engulfed the entire training ground catching the kids off guard. They soon froze upon hearing a loud and deep bestial growl. As the smoke faded, they all looked up and up...

It's body was serpentine, silver scales shone in the morning sun, having legs and arms with four like claws on each limb, a snouted lizard-like head with razor sharp teeth in its maw. Antlers the top of its head with long white mane. It let out a roar so powerful they all had to cover their ears and felt the very ground beneath them shook.

"KUSHINA UZUMAKI!"

A dragon... oh great gods in Heaven it was a dragon.

The dragon clans were a rare sight in the Elemental Nations. Seldom did they interact at all with humans, they preferred to stay away from their politics and power plays. There were many stories about the great serpents, rumors about how they would only speak with those of their choosing. The one great exception being a clan that lived at sea as the stories went.

And that clan just happened to be...

They back away in fright as the dragon lowered its head until it was face to face with Kushina, who kept widely smiling despite his clear anger.

"WHERE IN BLAZES HAVE YOU BEEN?!" The silver scaled beast roared. "WE THOUGHT WE BURIED YOU THAT DAY, THAT THE CONTRACT LINE HAD COME TO AN END, BUT THEN WE FIND THE SIGNATURE OF YOUR CHAKRA IN THE SCROLL ACTIVE! MEANING YOU WERE ALIVE ALL THIS TIME!"

Kushina cheerfully waved at him; "Hey Genryu! Sorry I made you guys worry!"

"TCH?!" A trail of irritation filled sweat travel down his brow, clearly taken aback by her nonchalant attitude towards the whole matter. Taking a deep breath, which made nearby grass flutter forward to his nostrils, the dragon calmed himself down and exhaled. "You have five minutes to explain yourself, or I swear on my ancestors you will regret it"

Well it took longer than five minutes but Kushina had the great dragon's complete attention. Genryu let out a throaty growl; "A dangerous gamble using an untested seal."

"But it worked, I'm still here." Kushina spoke with resolution before she turned to her son and Karin; "and have my son and a niece to raise."

Genryu focused his eyes to Naruto and Karin who froze. "I bid you greetings hatchlings. I am Genryu, chief of the dragon clan." He looked closer to Naruto; "You look more Namikaze than Uzumaki."

"...That good or bad?"

A rumble from the great dragon's throat; "It makes you unique. And that is never a bad thing hatchling."

The youths let their eyes wonder over the mighty creature that projected an aura of awe and majesty. Their instincts told them this was an old being, powerful and wise. They had only seen the likeness of his kind depicted in paintings, storybooks (and more than a few toys), to be in the presence of one of the reclusive dragons was a dream many children had.

In contrast with their astonished expressions, Kakashi and Jiraiya acted very casual regarding the whole 'there is a dragon here' thing. "Yo, Genryu-sama" Kakashi lifted a hand in greeting.

"Long time no see" Jiraiya added with a smile.

"Ahhh, Hatake. Toad Sage. Indeed, I have not seen you in some time" The dragon greeted back with a nod of its large head.

Karin let out an explosive breath; "I... wow I just... I heard the stories but I didn't believe them" Yet it brought even more questions. "But if Uzushio had you all along how did it fall in the first place?"

Genryu's gaze darkened, and Karin felt she had said something she shouldn't.

"...The battle waged all those years was against more than just men" The dragon chief replied, his voice laced with anger. A very old type of anger, one that bordered in hate even. "But that is a tale for another time. And I would rather not stain this moment with painful memories. Now is a day of celebration, Kushina yet lives, and so does the main branch of the Uzumaki clan. Meaning that the dragon contract can continue its honored tradition"

On instinct Naruto rubbed the back of his neck; "I'm new to being a part of an actual clan. But I hope to be a good summoner." Absently Sakura rubbed her friend's back with a reassuring smile.

Genryu lifted a brow at that and glanced to Kushina who waved it off. He turned his attention Karin who stood a bit straighter and spoke; "I'd be honored to follow in the footsteps of the Uzumaki of legends Genryu-sama."

Giving a nod, the silver dragon lowered his right hand as a blue scroll being the same size as the one Jiraiya carried puffed into existence. Kushina soon took it and unfurled it. The kids leaned in and blinked at the contents; "Only your name is on here mom."

The older redhead gave a mournful nod; "When Uzu was destroyed so was the summoning scroll, along with all the names of those who had signed the contract. So a new one had to be made, this one"

And for it to have only her name… it meant the dragons had not found another Uzumaki ever since. That was a depressing thought.

Kushina shook off the sadness before smiling; "Well go ahead you two. Bite you thumbs and sign your names beside mine."

Both Karin and Naruto felt a rush of excitement as they bit down on their finger and wrote their names. Genryu himself grinned; it felt good seeing names back on the summoning scroll once again.

"What are the handseals?" Karin asked as she finished first. Kakashi stepped in explaining the correct signs which both Sakura and Sasuke watched carefully.

"Give it a try hatchlings!" Genryu's own enthusiasm shone through along with Kushina's as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

Naruto and Karin performed the handseals; 'Boar - Dog - Bird - Monkey - Ram' both shout together; "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" and slammed their hands on the ground.

Naruto was hyped beyond belief; they actually had a contract with dragons! Freaking DRAGONS! Oh he just couldn't wipe the smile on his face as the smoke cleared, revealing-!

"Oh, this isn't my house"

...Two little grass snake-sized critters.

Huh.

Alright perhaps he got a bit too hyped there. Maybe he should have applied more chakra. Karin didn't share his disappointment, though she was staring fascinated at the small blue scaled dragon she had summoned. Naruto took a good look at his own summon, the one who had voice his confusion, he was red which was kind a cool actually, a very nice shade.

"Am I to be a companion?" The blue one said, staring with reverence at Karin. "It must mean the scroll has been signed. It is an honor, my lady" He (Naruto thought it was a he) bowed his head. "I am Yasu, and I am your partner from now on"

Well, that was a respectful little fellow.

His own summon on the other hand still looked very lost, it's little eyes looked everywhere, settling on the great silver dragon above them.

"Oh hi great chief" He waved with his little hand.

"Ahhh, Hien and Yasu, I remember you" The great dragon nodded. "They are young, but they will grow alongside you"

Hien turned back to the blond who summoned him bowing; "Greetings. I am Hien." He took a long look at Naruto; "...Are you Uzumaki? Apologizes for being rude, but I was told Uzumakis were all redheads." The blond slumped forward.

Well, he was polite if nothing else.

Jiraiya cleared his throat; "Alright now my turn. I have another summoning for Naruto which belongs to me and your father Minato."

"AH!" Genryu chuckled in reminiscence; "I have not seen the Toads in ages! How is that surly old Gamabunta doing?"

"Still the same surly old bastard you remember," The Gama-Sannin drawled as he took off the scroll from his back and unfurled it. He glanced to the rest of the kids; "Sorry but this one is just for the brat."

Sakura waved it off; "I'm fine, still have to train myself before thinking of summoning I think."

"I'm going to look for my mother's tiger summoning scroll when I get home." Sasuke simply stated as he watched Hien and Yasu.

Hien looked curiously as he floated on Naruto's shoulder. The blond glanced to him; "You okay with that?"

The little red dragon gave a nod; "It would be an experience meeting the Toads."

With that Naruto looked at the names on the scroll; "Who the hell's Arashi?" Why wasn't his father's name there? He should have been the last person to sign it right?

Then his mother started to laugh. Like, a lot. She had to hold her stomach while tears appeared at the edge of her eyes, threatening to spill. Her knees buckled as she struggled not to fall and roll around on the ground. Okay?

Jiraiya face-faulted; "Can't believe I forgot about that" He sighed. "That's your father's signature"

"...Say wha?"

Kakashi chuckled; "That is indeed your father's name, Naruto"

"It says Arashi," Sakura drawled, squinting.

"Look at the kanji properly, it's actually 'Minato'"

It took them a second to process that. "He was a seal master" Sasuke said incredulously, "HOW could his calligraphy have been so horribly his own name is nearly unrecognizable?"

"In Minato's defense" Jiraiya spoke on behalf of his student, "He was really drunk at the time"

Now did Kushina fall to the ground laughing.

Sweat-dropping Naruto shook his head as his signed his name beside his father's on the Toad summoning scroll. And soon going through the handseals he slammed his hand to the ground; "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke a small orange toad with purple markings around his eyes, mouth and stomach appeared wearing a blue jacket. "Huh?" The toad blinked as he looked around; "Where the heck am I?!" He turned seeing a blond human who knelt down at him with a floating red dragon? "You summoned me?"

Naruto grinned; "Yup. Naruto Uzumaki. Nice to meet ya! This is Hien." He thumbed to red dragon.

"Hello."

"Gamakichi huh?" Jiraiya spoke as he rubbed his chin, "That's the toad chief Gamabunta's eldest son"

"Oh great, the pervert's here. Pop's gonna love this" The toad drawled unenthusiastically.

"Well I can see you got your father's attitude..."

"Oh ignore the old man" Naruto waved it off, following his own advice by ignoring indignant cry of 'Hey!' "We're gonna be partners from now on!"

"R-Really?" Gamakichi didn't sound so sure. "Look, I'm flattered but I don't really know a lot about fighting"

"Hey not a problem, the three of us can grow strong together" Naruto said, ever the optimist, before turning to his dragon partner. "Right Hien?"

The dragon asked; "How does one 'fight'?"

Naruto and Sakura face faulted at that, much to the amusement of the adults present.

Sasuke deadpanned, "Fantastic"

"Now, now" The great dragon spoke with his booming voice, "We all started young, what's important is that you all grow strong together"

"Woah!" The small toad had pretty much fallen on the palms of his paws, thrown back by sheer shock at the sight of the great dragon. "Y-Y-You're chief Genryu of the Eastern Sea Clan!"

"Greetings young tadpole. Tell your father I'm still waiting for those seven bottles of sake he owes me from losing to Shogi."

Everyone face faulted saved Kushina who just laughed.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Well today had been an interesting day to say the least. Back home as night settled in, Naruto could say he was both still excited and worn out. He had gained two summoning contracts. Along with befriending his personal summonings Hien and Gamakichi. They were different, almost like night and day with Hien being so formal and Gamakichi being a smart-ass.

After having one of the best home-cooked meals ever, everyone deiced to head for bed. Now that the blond's room now had been properly refurnished with a bed instead of crib, he could sleep there.

It still felt like some weird dream...

He turned on the light to his room. Was about the same size of his old bedroom in his apartment. But it just felt different, he couldn't explain it, was this what kids felt like having parents and being in their own home?

Naruto was still adjusting to the fact he wasn't an orphan anymore. He walked over to the dresser by his bed, looking at all the pictures of his friends. Till he noticed something sticking out from the top dresser drawer. Opening it he eyes shot open seeing an envelope with his name and another below it 'Your father'.

Time froze, he could feel his heart pounding; 'D-dad.. When did he...' Almost cautiously he took the letter and sat down on the bed. His hand shook as he opened the envelope taking out a piece of folded paper.

Unfolding it he saw his name again; 'To Naruto; Hey kiddo, in about one month you're going to be born, I can still remember your mother telling me she was pregnant like it was just yesterday' He could almost feel the joy with which his father had written those words. 'I'll admit I'm terrified, out of all the things I've done being a father is completely new territory to me. Mine didn't live to see me become the man I am today, so I don't have a lot of experience in that field'

Hmm, some things just repeated themselves it seemed, Naruto thought grimly before resuming his reading with rapt attention.

'But I know this life... isn't easy. This is why I'm writing this, in case anything happens to me. Hopefully you'll have your mom there, be patient with her kiddo, Uzumaki are a rowdy bunch. But, considering you're half Uzumaki I find myself doubting your ability to be patient'

Well, he wasn't wrong in that regard. The blonde thought with humor.

'If you're reading this, then it means my fears have become reality. And I won't be there to hold you, teach you, guide you along whatever path you choose. For that I am sorry, first thing a parent needs to do is to be there and I already failed in that regard'

Naruto felt his eyes watering. No, it wasn't his fault.

'So, I want you know these things; this world isn't kind, it will try to bring you down every chance it gets. But yours is the choice to either bow in defeat or stand on your feet and make it back down, and I know you'll have the strength to make these lands a better place. You're my son after all'

His father... trusted in him so much?

'Take care of your mom, she already went through so much and she deserves to be happy. In her I always saw a spirit and strength that dwarfed my own or anyone I've ever known, really, I can't think of anyone who loves life more than her. She always knew what to say, never won an argument against her...'

Even through the tears falling down his eyes, he couldn't help but smile.

'You two carry the legacy of a proud nation and a great clan. Remember you are a child of both the Uzumaki and the Namikaze, so you can be as gentle or ferocious as the waves, yet free as the wind. That potential to be your own person is yours alone and nobody can take that from you.'

To be his own person, someone who shaped his own destiny... that's what his father wanted for him.

'But above all, I want you to be happy. And know that no matter what happens, I'll always be with you'

'I love you.'

'Your father, Minato Namikaze'

The blond's body shook as his tears grew in earnest. All his dad ever wanted was for him to be happy and shape his own future. He had heard that from Kakashi, Hiruzen, Jiraiya, even his own mother. But now, looking at this paper that was written by his father. He knew now, his father truly meant it.

Whatever lingering anger he had for his father faded in an instant upon reading that letter. "D-dad," His was horse as the tears flowed.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Restless was what Kushina could sum her feelings right now. So here she was strolling silently through the hallway before stopping at the guest room smiling seeing Karin soundlessly sleeping. To think she'd run into Kirika-chan's kid. She felt a small pang in her chest knowing she'd never see her cousin again.

She shook her head, no sense in being wishy washy. She turned and kept moving through her home and came to notice Naruto's room light was on. Nearing the door she found her son fast asleep on his bed. Though not dress for the night, poor thing must have crash the moment he came in. Walking in and about to cover her son with his blanket, she noticed a paper in his hand.

Curiosity got the best of her and deftly took it without disturbing her son. Unfolding it she froze as she saw the handwriting. 'Minato wrote this!' her surprise soon turned somber as tears threatened to come from her eyes. Of course he planned ahead, he always did...

She choked down a sob as she noticed there was a message for her hidden in the letter. Something she had taught him how to do when they were Genin. His message was simple, but just as heartfelt as his words to their son.

'Be. Happy.'

How?

Just... how?

How could she deal with all this? Minato was gone, Mikoto was gone and...

She took a shuddering deep breath, fighting back the sudden wave of negativity surging within her. No, she couldn't wallow in pity, that wasn't her. Kushina placed the covers over her son and turned off the lights, carefully placing the note on his nightstand, and returned to her room.

She looked at the bed meant for two people, it just felt so empty... She couldn't, or rather didn't want to, sleep on that bed. Not yet.

Kushina walked over the window to open it, she needed some air to cool her head.

'How am I going to do this without you, Minato?' She thought mournfully, 'I'd give anything for you to be here right now, for Mi-chan to be here, for mom to actually come to her senses and come back... I... I need someone to help me, anyone...'

"Hey" Jiraiya's voice came from the roof, and she saw him sitting there with a bottle of sake at his side. The pale moonlight showed his slightly pink cheeks from the alcohol. "Want a drink?"

Kushina did not question why he was on her roof drinking, she merely sat next to him and joined him. Drinking with someone was much better than drinking alone.

Jiraiya placed his arm around her; "It's all gonna be okay, child"

And for a moment, Kushina believed him. Heh, the pervert was always there for her. "You're the closest thing I have to a father in my life, you know that?"

Jiraiya softly smiled, "...That's sad"

"Tch, tell me about it"

Their cups clinked against each other in toast and remembrance for the man who meant so much to both of them, to the people they lost, and for the strength to soldier on.

They were ninja, that's what they did best after all.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

Naruto as a principle hated hospitals. Sure it was a place where people went to get healed, but the mere thought of having to stay in a room, doing nothing but to lay in a bed, eating horrible food, just waiting until he got better was enough to drive him mad.

But, there was someone he wanted to check up on. So he endured, walking down its white halls as he reached his destination.

Naruto, being Naruto, did not bother knocking on the door and just opened it with a shove, bearing a beaming smile as to cheer up the person occupying the room. Had a nurse or doctor been nearby, they would have given him a long winded talk too about proper etiquette when in a hospital.

"What's up Hinata?!" He always thought it was best to be as cheerful and energetic as possible when trying to cheer up someone up.

The purple haired girl let out a frightened yelp and nearly fell of her bed.

At her reaction the blond winced; "Ah damn, sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya."

"N-N-Naruto-Kun?!" Once righting herself on the bed the Hyuuga heiress felt her heart rate skyrocketing as shock etched on her face. Normally it was her sensei or teammates, her sister, of some members of the Hyuuga that had visited her since after she regained consciousness.

But the last person she ever expected to visit her was the blond she admired from afar. A blush dusted her cheeks as she shook her head; "N-no it's fine," the poor thing stammered shyly. "W-Why are you here?"

At that the young Uzumaki scratched his head; "Well, after what happened with Neji-teme I wanted to check on you. He went after you so bad, even though you're cousins."

Pearly eyes became downcast, her mind recalling everything perfectly in the prelims against Neji. How he went after her with every intention to cause harm if not possibly kill her. She knew his reasons, however it wasn't something she could or would openly share.

It turned out she did not have to keep them hidden, as Naruto soon made that known. "I... I heard what happened, to his dad" He muttered awkwardly, not knowing how to properly address the issue.

Hinata merely tightened her grasp on her bed sheets.

"I can get how he's angry at Kumo" He continued. "Back in the forest, were it not that Orochimaru creep was still out there, I don't think I could have convinced him to not pick a fight with Kumo. The way he looked at them..."

It was hate. Pure hate. Neji wanted nothing more than to see them die, but circumstances robbed him of that chance. So, he took out that murderous anger on his sweet little cousin who couldn't even harm a fly, which made absolutely no sense to Naruto.

"You were just a kid" He said, shaking his head slightly. "Why does he hate you so much too?"

Hinata's gaze her, the sadness in her eyes evident. "M-Maybe, he hates what I represent. H-He sees me a-and sees the Hyuuga clan entirely... the worst parts of it, t-the ones that chain the branch family"

"O-kaaaay that is really stupid" Naruto did not mince his words. "Has he actually spoken to you at all? I mean, I reeeeeeally don't think you're anything like your clan elders"

"It doesn't matter" She shook her head. "I am from the main family. And what happen with Uncle Hizashi" She sighed. "Maybe it was my fault. For being too weak..."

Was this girl for real? Here she was in the hospital because her cousin was insane enough to nearly kill her out of spite for something that had been beyond her control. And now she was saying it was all her fault when Kumo was to blame? Oh for the love of...

"Oh hell no"

Her pearly eyes turned to him in surprise. "Huh?" She soon blushed when Naruto approached her bed, resting his hands on it and getting to close for her comfort.

"I ain't gonna let you take blame for any of this crap" Naruto said strongly. "Kumo are assholes, your elders are assholes, and Neji is being an asshole. You have NOTHING to take the blame for. You have every right to be angry at them, at Neji"

"N-No!" The mere thought of being angry at Neji was simply impossible for her. "Of course not, I love Neji"

It honestly took Naruto aback that she spoke those words so earnestly and honestly. Most people would harbor any kind of resentment considering what other people did to her. Naruto would go as far as to say she did not harbor any ill will towards Kumo at all. He briefly looked at her head to see if there was no halo there, 'cause for gods' sake this girl was a freaking angel...

Yeesh, what did such a nice little thing like Hinata ever do to be deserve all the bullshit people put her through?

Naruto could say he was a forgiving person in his own right, but he had a limit. Hinata did not have one apparently; she was a very rare type of person. And that wasn't a bad thing in truth. But sadly her demeanor caused others to walk all over her.

The blond could only look at the girl as he shook his head; "You're one hell of good person," Hinata blushed at the compliment. "Wish I spoke to you sooner."

At that the lavender haired girl lifted a brow; "We have talked before." Seeing his bewildered expression made her smile sadly; "You forgot..."

"...When did we..." Naruto blinked several times. He was damn sure this was first time they spoke to each other properly, in the Academy aside from a passing word or something they've never had a long conversation before. He was sure of it. "I..."

"When we were younger. I-I ran away from the compound and bumped into some boys. They bullied me until you showed up. You got beaten up but you defended me without a second thought." Naruto only looked on wide eyed; "And then another time it was around winter..." The more spoke the more Naruto felt like, well, now he was the asshole.

That's where his old scarf came from? Oh... good gods he was a moron. How could he have forgotten?! Then again his memory wasn't the best at times, and his focus had the tendency to drift away as well. It always brought him trouble in the academy, but now with what Hinata told him, the fact that he forgot something like that worried him it would become a real problem down the-

No! No, focus! This was precisely the problem!

He looked at the shy girl with apprehension. What could he possibly say? Even he realized he had hurt her a bit by not remembering that small bit of kindness she had given him those years ago.

"I'm sorry I forgot" It was not the best, but it was what he honestly felt.

"It's okay" She actually seemed to smile a bit. "You were... so brave. All the time smiling, even when the world wasn't kind to you" He could only stare at her, mouth slightly open. "I admired that strength you showed, I still do. I wish... I wish I could be strong like you"

Just hearing that made him look in awe at her. And for what she said made him rub the back of his neck; "How about we start over?" Hinata blinked; "I can't really call myself a good person if I'm not there for someone who showed me so much kindness." She was about to object but Naruto lifted his head; "I know you're fine with it, but I'm not. So how about start as proper friends this time okay/"

He extended his hand; "Deal?"

Though her cheeks blushed profusely she reached over taking his, it was warm; "Deal."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Her steps were almost in trance-like as Kushina journeyed through the now empty section of the Uchiha grounds. She could remember the bustle of Uchiha who roamed all over this place, from child to elderly. The various shopkeepers whom greeted you with warm smiles and kindness...

Now there a silence so unbearable it might as well be deafening. The buildings were empty, bereft of the warmth and care provided by families.

The great Uchiha clan, caught in a web of mistrust, ambition and betrayals, slain in a single night. Itachi forced through the impossible task of choosing between the greater good, his loyalty to the village, and his loyalty to the clan and its ambitions.

Her fist slowly tightened until her arm shook. She punched a wall so hard it produced a small series of spider web cracks around it.

"Mi-chan..." She whispered, as though calling her name would fix everything.

It did not.

Mikoto was still dead. The clan was nearly gone. Itachi was still a criminal in the eyes of the village when he had actually carried out the greatest sacrifice in its name.

She took comfort in the memories she had left of her.

She recalled when they were kids at the Academy, Mikoto was a broody thing who didn't talk much to anyone, everyone else was very annoying to her back then, and she didn't like how that girl sulked all by herself. So she had decided to be her friend, even if it killed her.

More than one time had Mikoto told her to go away, which Kushina knew in Uzumaki tongue truly meant; Yes, I'd love to hang out, please keep pestering me more. And so she did. What a good friend she was.

When they graduated they were assigned to the same team, Sakumo-sensei had been the best teacher ever in her mind, and no one could ever replace him.

She had seen that shy little girl burst out of her shell to become a cheerful young woman, who always had a smile reserved for everyone important to her. She never let anything bring her down, not their harsh life as ninjas, not the horrible battles they've partaken in... Nor her arranged marriage to Fugaku…

She had been down for a time; Fugaku really wouldn't have been what Kushina would have chosen for Mikoto. Always so serious with no time for fun. He had been... decent enough (that was the most she's ever complimented him, not because he was a bad guy, she just disliked him on a senseless personal level), strong and treated her friend well, but still to Kushina, Mikoto had always deserved more. The future leader of the Uchiha clan needed heirs, and Mikoto was their strongest kunoichi. It was only logical.

How she hated that word sometimes.

Now her dislike for the man was amplified to outright hatred. She despised Fugaku, his ambition and that of the elders' caused all this. Mikoto barely resisted them; they took her voice the moment she learnt she speak, tugged at the invisible strings and made her dance like their puppet. Because in their eyes, the best thing that ever came out of their clan was nothing more than a tool.

Mikoto deserved better. Kushina should have done something; she shouldn't have given up so easily and maybe then-

...No. There was no purpose in lamenting it anymore, she had accepted it and move on. The past was the past, there was no changing it.

A long sigh came from the redhead as she turned the corner she came to a stop at the sight of Sasuke nearing his house. The young Uchiha paused upon seeing her, silence hung for several minutes till it became uncomfortable for both of them. "Hello," Kushina weakly muttered.

"Why are you here?" It was more curiosity in the Uchiha's tone than anything at the sight of Naruto's mother (That was still getting use to that) who seemed to hall roamed through the empty Uchiha district.

"Came to check on you." This was the honest truth but also; "Wanted to walk through here. I remember when this place was so busy..." She paused as she thought she might have talked too much.

Sasuke blinked at her before showing some sense of reminiscing; "Yeah." Something urged him to talk more though he had no idea why. "Did you know any other Uchiha?"

"Hazuki." Mikoto's son lifted a brow; "Uh she had a daughter Izumi. She was with-"

"My brother..." A soft bitter growl came from the boy.

Oh that angry demeanor was not good, "Want to know more about your mom?" That got his attention; "I didn't really tell everything about her when you met me in that hospital wing. Or after I got out"

"You were busy letting the village know you came back. The place hasn't stopped buzzing since." It's been less than week and the village had been alive like never before. "Plus you and Naruto and that Karin girl needed the family time... I'm glad on that part." Shock etched on the redhead's face, well there was more to the boy than brooding at least; "Don't tell Naruto I said that."

Kushina snorted at Sasuke's stern gaze; "Yup you're Mi-chan's boy alright. Well I promised some more stories about the badass that was your mom."

At Sasuke's invitation, she entered the house. It... Really wasn't much, there were a few decorations, clan iconography and such but aside from that it didn't have a 'homey' feel to it. Sasuke lived by himself on a simple flat, choosing to stay away from his old family home for obvious reasons.

Kushina huffed at sight. This place really needed a woman's touch, a mother's more specifically. Perhaps she could get Sasuke some plants at least; they always lightened up a place.

"I was going to look through my mother's things" He said as they walked through the dining room. "I have them in a few boxes" He directed her towards a closet, from which he took out at least three boxes. "But I never came across anything of the sort like a summoning contract"

"Hmph, your mother wouldn't leave something like that in the open" Kushina snorted. "The contract was with her line alone, that's something your great-grandfather made clear"

Sasuke momentarily stopped from browsing through the various items that belonged to his mother, from books to scrolls, to give the Uzumaki a puzzled look. "What do you mean that?"

"Oh, you were never told. Yeah, not surprised..." There was anger creeping into her voice as she her gaze hardened. "Your elders wanted to forgot the best kunoichi of the clan wasn't of 'pure blood' like them"

"What?" Now she had Sasuke's full attention. He noticed the hate in her voice but kept quiet on that.

"Well your grandfather on your mother's side was not an Uchiha. While his old man was the sage of the Tiger clan. Mi-Chan's mother met him... Oh when was it? OH, the spring festival in the village. The elders back then were upset about that too. But being the Tiger Sage was close to the village and the village upheld the traditions when it came to sages." Kushina stopped before she sweatdrops; "I'm rambling..."

Sasuke's dry look told her much before she sighed; "Short version, the Uchiha elders hate outsiders marrying into the family. Purity of the bloodline like some other clans believe."

"I know about that, family marrying family. Usually cousins who are compatible to each other," Sasuke said nearly quoting things he learned from text.

"Well your clan took it a bit more." Kushina stated bluntly, she sighed. "Look Sasuke, I don't want to speak ill of the dead. But my own experiences with your clan elders, how they treated Uchiha who were not 'true Uchiha' in their eyes, left a very bad impression to say the least. Hazuki was a great woman, and her daughter Izumi was simply a rare gem, yet they still treated them like unwelcome guests because the man Hazuki fell in love with was not from the clan"

Sasuke honestly couldn't say he remembered the elders all that well, or a lot of Uchiha who supported their policies, he had been very young at the time. "And my mother?"

He needed to know, if the clan actually treated her the same way...

Kushina took a deep breath, sadness seeping through her voice. "You know, when she was asked why she became a ninja she always said 'It was the clan tradition'. When asked what her goals were, she said; 'To bring honor to my clan'. Clan this, clan that, always the clan, always what the clan said... I don't think they ever allowed her to make a single decision about her own life"

"Our missions outside the village, far away from the Uchiha. I saw bits of the real Mi-chan. It grew more when around her friends. But back home, she might as well been one of Suna's puppets." The redhead snarled with a huff. Her focus shifted back to the present upon hearing a low hiss.

A gasp came from her lips at the sight of fingertip impressions so deep in Sasuke's hands they started to bleed. Her maternal instincts kicked in as she held his hands inspecting his palms. "Need to bandage th-"

"Those bastards," Sasuke interrupted seething. "What the hell was my mother to them?" the venom in his tone was livid.

A long sigh came from the Uzumaki woman; "Let's take care of these hands."

Sasuke shook his head; "I'll be fine." He soon froze from the stern glare from Kushina. Reminded him of his mom the few times she got angry.

"Young man I will be helping you am I clear?" Sasuke on instinct gave a quick nod; "Mi-chan was like family to me. So that makes me responsible for you."

"I didn't ask you to be" The young Uchiha found it on himself to put boundaries on her attempts.

"Well, tough" She sternly replied. "That's what I'm gonna do" There was an absolute finality to her voice, and Sasuke realize he could not make her leave him alone. Like it or not, this would not go away, so he resigned himself to his fate. She took his hand and looked at it. "Here I thought that only happened to women, guess you like to keep your nails long too huh boy?" The redhead smiled at him teasingly.

But Sasuke refused get on her level, so he ignored her jab, "Hmph"

"Oh great, another grumpy Uchiha-head" Her smile just grew, "No room for humor in that thick head of yours?"

Then she did something that made Sasuke's heart beat furiously. She raised two fingers and aimed them at his forehead.

He quickly grabbed them before they could touch his skin.

The woman became paralyzed at his reaction, watching as he took in deep breaths to calm himself.

"...Don't do that" He muttered, his voice heavy, and let her fingers go.

Kushina slowly retracted her head, "I'm sorry" She had done something wrong, she just knew it. "T-This is how I used to tease your..." And fell silent.

"Just" Sasuke took one final deep breath. "Don't do it again"

The redhead's eyes were filled with shame and guilt. "Alright... Go wash your hand"

After some dressing Sasuke's hands the two went over to the boxes that belonged to Mikoto. The two had been quiet for the most part, Kushina not wanting to say anything till he was comfortable. "So, mom's father. Did you know him?" The young Uchiha asked as they searched for the Tiger summoning scroll.

"A bit, he died around when we became Jounin and I was selected into ANBU. He was a neat guy, stern but had a decent sense of humor."

"And my great-grandfather?"

"Oof, now that guy was a mystery for me" Kushina let out a quick breath. "Rarely remember seeing him at all myself. Being a sage and all, he traveled everywhere"

"And he didn't serve Konoha you said?" He raised a brow when remembering that tidbit of information. "I don't believe a village would let go of an asset like that"

"Oh sages get special treatment, some can choose to associate themselves with a village out of duty or personal honor, and others don't hold any affiliation at all. Though, well, it varies from village to village how much they actually respect those traditions. Kumo or Iwa, pffft, you can bet your ass they wouldn't let go of someone with senjutsu. But here in Konoha, we still honor the role of sages"

"I see"

"Doesn't mean your elders were happy though, oh no" She snorted. "They wanted the Tiger Contract to be tied to the Uchiha, but Mikoto's grandfather and the tiger clan made it clear the only people who could sign it would be of his direct lineage"

"And you think it'd work for me"

"Sure" She shrugged. "You're not that distantly related from your great-grandfather that it wouldn't work, if you were that would require deliberation between tiger boss and elders to decide if you can sign it. But don't worry" She playfully nudged him with her elbow. "If that's the case I can put in a good word for you through the dragons, they're old friends with the tigers regardless of what myths say"

"It's good to have connections" The Uchiha dryly said.

Kushina beamed at him as they continued searching through the items in the box in the hopes of finding the precious contract. Kushina's attention was soon directed towards a piece of paper sticking out from within the pages of a notebook. It was through idle curiosity that she pulled it out; the texture revealed it was a photograph, and she was currently staring at its white back.

Flipping it over, her eyes widened when she realized what it was, she had an exact same copy.

It was them, when they were younger, among friends and their sensei. The two were holding a cake in their hands, gifting it to a sheepish looking Sakumo who looked so very touch. On the cake were the words 'Happy Birthday Sensei'.

Kushina let out a soft breath and smiled with melancholy. Those simpler, happier times.

She brushed a thumb over the picture, it looked so well preserved even after all these years. Mikoto must have used one of the seals she herself taught the Uchiha to keep simple things from weathering down with the passage of time.

Kushina sometimes longed for those moments again, with the friends she lost and never had the chance to say goodbye to. With Mikoto, to tell her after all this time she still...

Sasuke noticed the picture she was looking it, and his gaze softened as he himself saw what it depicted. The way his mother smiled there, he couldn't help but think of how her life was within the clan now that he knew more about it...

"Was she happy, in the end?" He asked, barely above a whisper. "With her life being how it was?"

"Oh Sasuke" Kushina set down the picture. "She loved you both so much" She assured him, there was no ifs or buts, as long as Mikoto was with her boys, she was happy.

Sasuke looked away, telling himself something just got into his eye.

"Which is why" Kushina pulled out one final item from the last box. "She would want you to have this"

She held the item reverently in front of her, treating it like a sacred treasure.

A red scroll with gold embroidery, the etchings of a tiger figure carved into a golden token hanging from the scroll's thread.

Sasuke took every detail of the scroll to memory. His hand moves as if it had a mind of its own. Almost delicate was his touch as his fingers sled across the tiger figure. This was the legacy of his mother, her father, and great-grandfather. He honestly did not know if he could measure up to them. But he'd damn sure make them proud.

Still, "I need to think this over." Gently he took the scroll in his hands. His eyes never leaving it once. "Need to sort out everything you told me."

A grin grew on the redhead's lips; "You got it. Take all the time you want." She knew somehow Mikoto would be happy in knowing her father's side of the family was being passed on. For that, Kushina smiled quite happily.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sakura liked to consider herself a focused person. The kind that would plan ahead, determined to overcome any challenge with maximum efficiency. She wanted to grow, not just in strength but as a person, taking this ninja life with the necessary amount of seriousness and dedication she had not given it when she first started.

She would not be the little girl she once was. She would not be afraid, and she would not back away from a challenge.

Which kind of felt flat when she remembered her opponent in the finals was going to be Neji, all the readiness to fight went out the window and her plans were pretty much replace with the words 'You're screwed', repeating over and over in her mind.

She groaned, running her hands through her hair and throwing her head back, uncaring that some people in the street were giving her a strange look. Except for the ninjas, they knew when a fellow shinobi was on the edge of going nuts, so they respected her need to vent.

She was barely going over what strategy Kakashi suggested she could use against Neji, first she needed to train her body more. Because against a Byakugan user of Neji's caliber, if you weren't physically able enough then he'd wipe the floor with you...

Never mind the Hyuuga taijutsu being one the deadliest forms of hand to hand. She was grateful that Naruto's mom wanted to help train her too. She did not think her or Naruto could have looked anymore dumbstruck in hearing the taijutsu they were using, the one Naruto found, was actually Kushina's. Though the two did notice the Sandaime looking rather smug for some odd reason.

Regardless, Sakura had to really buckle down and train herself to the bone to defeat Neji in the 3rd round. A sigh escaped her lips as she stood straighter; "I can do this."

"Sakura!" Hearing her name, the rosette turned on her heels at the sight of Ino running up to her. "Went to your house to find you, but you weren't home."

Jade eyes blinked at least several times as she stared at the blond kunoichi; "You... wanted to see me?"

A dry look came from Ino; "Yes I wanted to see you, you that shocked?" A slow nod was the answer as she facepalmed before groaning and soon took a serious expression; "Well I wanted to speak with you. It's about... It's about how I've been lacking, as a kunoichi."

If her eyes grew any wider they would have popped out of Sakura's head. Ino was admitting she hasn't been a proper Kunoichi?! Well, she hadn't either but she sobered up thankfully. But this was Ino; she was always confident and fearless to anything that crossed her way.

"You and Naruto changed so much. I mean, Naruto was bad at nearly everything and now he-" she paused and paled some remembering when Naruto killed that Oto Ninja Dosu.

"Yeah" She tried not to think too much about it, even knowing killing was part of the course with their profession. "Nami was... a wake up call" The pinkette sighed. "Talk about it over tea?"

The Yamanaka smiled at her, "That sounds lovely"

It did not take them long to find a rather simple and small tea shop where they got a table and each ordered some tea.

"So" Ino said as she stirred the sugar in her tea with a spoon. "What happened in Nami?"

"The mission there turned out to be more dangerous than the original parameters stated, the client lied to us. There was a powerful business man who hired ninjas against him, not run of the mill mercenaries"

Ino looked surprised. "And you guys continued?" Of course they had, she heard they completed their mission. But still, most ninja would abandon the client after that.

"Of course we did" Sakura nodded. "There we ran into a jounin-level ninja that could match Kakashi-sensei. You've seen him, he's Kiri's team leader"

"...And you guys were so casual with your would be assassin right there next to you" The blonde muttered in disbelief.

Sakura shrugged; "We cleared things up between us. But really, I guess I'm thankful to him. Had things not happened like they did, I wouldn't have realized how... casual about being a ninja I was being. I hadn't even put nearly enough training, once I thought how unprepared I was I had two choices. Either retire once my required time of service was complete, like most civilian born ninja... or actually make something for myself. Prove I deserved to be a shinobi of this village"

The Yamanaka heiress was taken aback by the conviction in Sakura's voice. She never heard this side from the pinkette unless they were... A long sigh came from the blond; "Daddy was right, I should have thought about being a Kunoichi better."

"We both should have," The rosette admitted shamefully now thinking on how they acted. "Thankfully, like me you can change that too. Naruto and I have been training together since Nami. Why not join us some time?"

Ino blinked at that for a moment as she thought for moment. "Well, suppose I could after the 3rd exam is over with." But there was also something that needed to be cleared up; "We stopped being friends for a stupid reason didn't we?"

"Yup..."

Naruto's bluntness had certainly rubbed off on her old friend as she let out a chuckle; "Well I for one want to fix that, don't you?" '..Maybe I should talk to Naruto some time too...'

"Completely agree." Sakura smirked. "So! If you're interested in training together, you can join me during my morning routine. We start by doing two hundred push-ups"

"W-Wha?"

"Followed by two hundred sit ups. Then 50 laps across one of the training fields. And that's before the afternoon training with my team"

"...You're not imitating Gai and Lee are you?"

"This is light-weight stuff" Sakura said in a completely serious tone. "TRUST ME. You haven't seen how those two train, they always talk about those outlandish standards but..."

"Yeah?" Ino said tentatively.

"They're underselling it; they actually do MUCH MORE insane stuff..." She'd seen them; it was a mistake, now she regretted it.

Ino paled; "H-how insane does Naruto train?"

"Not at Gai and Lee's level thank the gods. But trust me; Naruto's methods are something only he can pull off." Especially since out their graduating class, only Naruto could use Kage Bunshin like that with the enormous amount of chakra he has.

"I'm in for a doozy aren't I?" The blond sweatdrops and internally shivered.

The rosette soon gave her childhood friend a look; "And you need to eat properly. Build up your body and muscles."

"Daddy already gave me an earful on that part after getting home. 'If my baby girl wants to be a kunoichi she needs meat on her bones'," Ino said, trying to imitate her father's voice.

Sakura had to cover her mouth as she snorted with a giggle. "Oh don't worry about bulking up too much. You've seen our kunoichi? A lot of them are basically models, and some of them train a lot more than my current routine"

Well, that was true. Ino idly remembered seeing Kiba's mother and sister train one time the team was invited to the Inuzuka house in their district. The clan matriarch was extremely fit, having lithe and agile body with high muscular definition. Whereas her daughter Hana looked the ideal image of a woman.

Ino still felt jealous about the bust Kiba's sister possessed.

But Ino supposed it was rather shallow to think too much on her appearance. She was a shinobi once, and if she didn't start taking it more seriously than it'd cost her and her team. She wasn't about to let that happen.

"Our teams can train together" The blonde proposed. "Asuma-sensei is really putting us through our paces after the three of us lost in the prelims"

"I bet" Sakura chuckled. "I think you guys would benefit a lot, even Jiraiya-sama is watching our training closely"

The Yamanaka's gaze flickered. "That's... Not the only person I hear"

"Hmm?" Sakura titled her head in confusion before realizing what the blonde meant. "Oh... you heard I take it"

"Who hasn't?" She exclaimed incredulously. "Kushina Uzumaki, suddenly back in the village... and it turns out she's Naruto's mother!"

"I know" The pinkette nodded, "Crazy right?" She kept her choice of words limited, as she knew it was very classified information nobody could know. Not even her friends.

"I mean, where has she been all this time?" Ino questioned. "Poor Naruto, I can't imagine how he must have felt, not having heard anything from her for so long..."

Irritation swelled up inside Sakura, but did not let it show, it wasn't Ino's fault after all. Things were much complicated than she knew. "He's happy now, I think that's all that matters, don't you think?"

Ino's shoulders dropped. "Yeah, I guess..."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Yugito could only sigh with resignation now that the information of Naruto's parentage was sent to back home to Kumo. She could only imagine what will go through the minds of many from their village learning Minato Namikaze had a son.

The Nibi Jinchurriki sat at the window of her team's hotel room with Karui and Omoi sharpening their swords, and Samui going over some scrolls. The Chunin in the room idly glanced between her reading and over to her comrade and friend. "You know we had to tell the Raikage."

"I know; I accepted that," a pair of feline blues turn to the busty young blond; "Guess we can be grateful Raikage-sama saw the Yondaime Hokage as a worthy rival than mortal enemy like Iwa. I mean, Naruto is one of the more sane Jinchurriki I ever met."

She had a heard a few stories of least one of the Iwa Jinchurriki being blood-lust fueled maniac. And Gaara was not far off if the aura around was any more telling.

"You forgot Bee-Sensei," Karui mentioned before everyone sweatdrops remembering their sensei's 'unique' behavior. Perhaps 'sane' was stretching it a bit for him.

Yugito shook her head; "It's more than that. I could see myself being real friends with him. Naruto is a really good guy."

"Well, tough luck" Samui said. "He's Konoha, so it means you will most likely have to kill him one day if the next war comes around our lifetimes, which is likely" She did not speak with callousness, but rather a type of certainty brought by common sense, like saying 'tomorrow's going to rain'.

The genin all gave her an incredulous look. "Wwwwoah!" Omoi exclaimed. "And here I thought I was the downer..."

Samui sighed as she closed one of the scrolls. "Are you honestly so naive as to believe you could actually become friends with him?"

"Well yes" Yugito defended. "I know-"

"Even when it was us who slaughtered his clan?"

"...That was a long time ago" The jinchuuriki muttered. "The people who did it-"

"We are that people" The chunin finished as she stared at her the braided girl in the eye. "We can ignore responsibility all we like, but it was Kumogakure's decision to invade Uzushio, along with Iwa. You can pretend it doesn't matter because you didn't give that order, but you still represent Kumo, you must stand for the actions of our village. That Kumo destroyed their home because it was the best course of action for our village. So if one day you are ordered to kill him, Yugito" Her tone gained a soft edge. "You are expected to do as you are commanded"

The two young swordsman and woman shared an uneasy look. While Yugito had trouble meeting Samui's cold stare.

"I'm telling you this for your own good" The busty woman sighed. "So you better not go blabbering about being an enemy Jinchuuriki's 'friend' nowhere near any of our superiors. Much less Raikage-sama"

Yugito remained silent.

"This goes for all three of you" She continued. "You can't be friends with anyone here; things just don't work like that, much less with the boy who has all the reason in the world to hate us"

"He doesn't though..." Karui found herself muttering.

"...Maybe not" Samui responded back. "But his mother does"

THAT was another important piece of information they had sent to the Raikage, something Konoha was all too proud to let the world know.

The Red Death was back.

"Unlike her son, the Red Death lived on Uzushio, likely all her family was there. Can you tell me she doesn't harbor enough hate for us due to our village's actions?"

The rest knew Samui wasn't trying to sound like a bitch or cynic. The young blond simply had always been a realist through and through. And she did care about her team despite her cold demeanor, so she was telling them what was best for them in her mind.

Kushina Uzumaki slaughtered many Kumo and Iwa nin in the war, hunted them down with righteous vengeance, carrying the rage of a fallen clan with her.

She used to have another nickname before 'Red Habanero', a silly thing said jovially among her comrades to describe her personality.

Until they saw her on the battlefield, how she had been drenched in the blood of her enemies from head to toe. Kumo and Iwa blood dripping from her blade, eager for more.

She had the Red Death. The Vengeance of the Uzumaki Clan.

Yugito would admit one reason she had yet to talk to Naruto again was because she knew his mother would be nearby. And the thought terrified her.

Maybe listening to Samui wouldn't be a bad idea...

"Samui has great tits but that girl sees the world with that Kumo mentality too much." Matatabi grumbled as she shook her head. Yugito faintly blushed before shaking it off.

"Understood Samui. But if he wants to talks to us?"

"Just don't get attached. And pray his mother is tolerant on his decisions"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Hmph" The Swordsman of the Mist grunted as he quirked an eyebrow at the Hokage's proposition, "An invitation?"

"Indeed" The old Kage nodded from behind his desk. "Rasa-dono will be attending the finals, so I thought it'd be polite to extend the same courtesy to Terumi-dono"

"And would this courtesy be extended to the other two Kage?" Zabuza made an effort to keep his tone polite; there were many protocols to follow when talking to a foreign Kage after all.

"Oh it has. A-dono has expressed he is unable to come due to matters he has to attend to" Yeeeah, somehow Zabuza doubted that. "As for Ōnoki" The Sarutobi softly laughed, and Zabuza noted he used more familiarity when talking about the Tsuchikage. "I actually have his reply here, hang on"

The Swordsman gave a deadpanning look as the Kage pulled out a letter from his drawer, and began reading it with a humored smile on his face. "He wrote; 'To the smug hippies: Shove your invitation up your ass, you tree humpers. Sincerely, Ōnoki of the Scales'" He let out a hearty laugh. "Oh that man is still as hard-headed as always"

Well, let it not be said the Tsuchikage childishly carried his grudges.

At that Zabuza just rubbed his eyes; "And people call me vindictive." He gave the Sandaime a long look; "I'll send your message along to the Mizukage, but can't guarantee anything with how busy everything is back home."

"I completely understand. I am only thankful your village can finally heal."

A grunt from the swordsman as he took the Sandaime's letter. "If I may ask" He gave in to his curiosity. "What do you hope to gain from speaking with our Mizukage?"

"Why" Hiruzen shrugged. "I want to establish closer ties between our villages. Perhaps she'll agree with a few trading deals that would benefit your village, you still have much to rebuild as I understand"

Zabuza stared at the wizened Kage with suspicion. "For what purpose?" What could he gain from that?

The Hokage merely raised a brow. "So our villages can coexist in peace"

"Is that it?" The notion was... too simplistic for Zabuza to believe it. Things did not work like that when you were a ninja, much less the leader of an entire village. The game was to take any advantage you could over your opponents, until eventually they stopped being a factor that would get in the way of your village's prosperity.

So to hear this man, who had been in the game long before Zabuza was even born, wasn't looking to screw over their village in any way, raised a few alarms in his (properly) paranoid mind.

"It can't be that easy"

"It is"

"You want nothing out of this?"

"Only for this new generation not to know war" The Hokage explained himself plainly. "Is it that hard to believe?"

"In the ninja world? Yes"

The Sarutobi nodded to himself, clicking his tongue before looking at the Swordsman of the Mist in the eye. "Well I think it's time we remedy that"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sweat dripped from Naruto's brow as the morning sun rose over Konoha. His muscles burned as his body felt thousand pounds heavier via a weight seal placed on his forearm, as he was performing a simple pushup. "I haven't even gotten to these yet," The blond growled, pushing his body up with all his might.

Kushina who is dressed in a ANBU pants and a shirt chuckled beside a snorting Jiraiya; "Trust me gaki, there is a reason you haven't. Weight seals are designed for Chunin and Jounin, Genin must have one or the other present if they are using them for training. Fortunately for you bunch you have this awesome Toad Sage and Uzumaki madwoman helping ya."

"I know a bit too," Kakashi chirped up beside them while reading.

Beside Naruto, his team along with Karin felt like their bodies were carrying a mountain as they were going through basic exercises.

"When I sought asylum on Konoha..." The glasses wearing girl grunted with effort as she struggled to push herself up from the ground in repetition. "This isn't what I had in mind!"

"Well, it's best if you spend all your time with us Specs" Another thing she had not planned for was a sannin calling her by an annoying nickname, "Who knows if my crazy ass former teammate is keeping an eye on you?"

"That and we are keeping an eye on you" Kakashi supplied, flipping the page on his book. "You know, you're in probation and all"

"It's safer this way, sweetie" Kushina added. "And hey, that means you get to bond with us all the more!"

"I doubt this is anybody's idea of bonding!" Karin replied fiercely, her arms trembling.

"Oh boy, remind me to introduce you to the village's Green Beasts~"

While Sasuke was not complaining in having intense training, his body was not in agreement; "So where are we going by using these weight seal?" Gods he felt like every bone was creaking as he moved.

"For the training we have in mind for you guys we need to get your bodies up to par. The people you're going up against are far more dangerous than any of you." Kushina stated bluntly; "Neji is one the best I've seen among the Hyuuga since his father and uncle. Lee has been personally taught by Gai before being assigned a team and Gaara is a Jinchurriki..."

Sakura grunted beside her team and Karin; "So in other words we have to be better?"

A false laugh came from the adults before each one deadpans; "Nope" the teens face faulted; "A month is not nearly enough to get you lot to be at those three levels. So we have to make you be crafty." Kakashi clarifies as the kids resume their exercises.

"Plus Naruto does not fully know how to train with the Kyuubi's chakra. Kushina never really used it save for the healing factor that was automatic," Jiraiya shrugged.

Karin struggled herself up before speaking; "I have to say Konoha is strange you never even bothered training your Jinchurriki beforehand. Every other village does."

"We only ever had three in our history" Jiraiya said, looking at Naruto and Kushina. "Mito-sama sure didn't pass down any training methods in case things got dire, always said that the Shodai deeply regretted ever having used the Bijuu like he did"

"Oh he's sorry!" Kurama sarcastically, and angrily VERY angrily, roared out inside Naruto's mind. "Yes, that's make all the difference!"

"So we always relied more on our sealing prowess to deal with enemy Jinchuuriki" The Uzumaki matriarch continued, turning to face Sasuke. "Gaara is... extremely unstable, he will kill you without hesitation. So during the month I'll be designing a seal scroll you can use against him in a fight, if I do a proper work it'll restrain his Biju's chakra"

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed. "I don't want assistance like that for me" It was an insult to his pride.

"Weeeell, look how much I care about fighting 'fair'" Kushina rolled her eyes. "You're a ninja, grow the hell up. I'm not letting that boy kill you"

Uchiha grunted, but did not further argue. He'd discuss it with her on another time, perhaps after figuring a better argument. Fittingly, Naruto's mother was even more stubborn than the blonde.

"As for Lee, he is a pure Taijutsu fighter like his mentor. As eccentric as Gai is, he IS the greatest Taijutsu master in the village." Kakashi stated in a matter of fact tone; "Lee's speed and strength is leagues above yours Naruto. I know you already get that hanging around Tenten, but if you want any kind of ace against him, you need to fight him on your terms not his."

The blond had guessed that well enough seeing Lee train a few times before the exams. Now Naruto loved training, he believed in hard work. Lee though was outright obsessed with it. Cupped with the older teen did not believe in breaks, so this meant Naruto REALLY had to step up his imagination to take down the spandex wearing maniac.

Sakura frowned; "I can't beat Neji can I?"

"Not in a straight up fight no," Jiraiya shook his head; "Nor at the level you're at right now. That strength of yours in an edge, but means zip when your opponent can move faster than you. Never mind his dōjutsu."

The pinkette lifted her arms and let them drop lifelessly at her sides. "And genjutsu against someone with such precise chakra control wouldn't work on the long run" She sighed as she weighted her options. "So a straight up fight is out, distracting him with illusions is out..." Sakura tapped her lips with a finger as thought on what else she had at her disposal. "Then... perhaps a strategy involving different ninja tools" Explosives, poison perhaps, she doubted Neji had much defense against those.

A smile soon formed on her lips; "I think I something"

"Oh!" Kushina looked up excitedly. "Is it going to the arena the day prior and setting up bombs on the whole place?"

That got a row of deadpanning looks. "That would be hard to pull of" Jiraiya droned. "For a number of reasons, namely the ANBU doing a sweep and removing them..."

"Fine" Kushina sighed. "Let's hear your idea hone-ACK!"

It all happened very fast, a blur suddenly slammed into the Uzumaki and sent them spiraling over the ground before the newcomer threw her against a tree.

"Your senses are fucking dull!" A particularly savage looking woman, who had just assaulted Kushina out of the blue, roared in disappointment.

The kids along with Jiraiya and Kakashi blinked before the Gama Sannin deadpans; "Should have seen this coming."

Tsume, wearing in her Shinobi gear crossed her arms under her bust; "Thought you were supposed to be training."

A low growl came from the Uzu matriarch who shook off the mental cobwebs; "I'm not slacking off, I'm training the kids first, mutt!" Kushina seethed before marching right up Tsume; "Oh I plan on getting back into shape just so I can kick your ass all over this village."

"Well I don't see you sweating off those love handles yet."

A vein throbbed in Kushina's forehead. "I don't have love handles!"

"Then what are these?!" The dog mistress pulled at the side of Kushina's stomach, stretching the skin and flesh.

The others swore Kushina's teeth would shatter from how hard she was clenching them. "I. WAS. PREGNANT" She growled in rage. "FOR. TEN. MONTHS!"

"And you barely began doing any exercise since you came back! You lost muscle, now it's all extra fat!"

Kushina clashed her forehead against the Inuzuka, glaring intently. "I'll give you your extra fat!"

"What does that even mean?!" Tsume shouted back. "Work on your insults, you toothless bitch!"

"It's so nice to see those two still get along" Jiraiya smiled fondly.

At that the kids looked at the Gama sannin like he grew a second head while Kakashi just sighed; "It's like they never missed a day of pissing each other off and fighting." As if on cue, with his last words thus began the hair pulling and clothes tearing.

The sannin beside him just cringed at the sight; "Considering I see Kushina like my own daughter this is awkward."

Sakura and Karin only blushed while Naruto covered his eyes and Sasuke closed his eyes as the shirts started to be ripped off. "This is going to be a long month," the blond muttered.

XxX ~ one week later ~ XxX

His pace through the forest was almost at breakneck speed but he dodged every tree and boulder as the joy radiated off his body. He thought it was impossible! That what he heard was some wild tale or bad joke. But it was true, the news from Konohagakure was echoing like a whirlwind throughout the nation!

"She's alive!" the joy exploded from his mouth. "SHE'S ALIVE!"

His dark red hair was done in a spiky ponytail, with two large bangs falling down the sides of his head and unto his chest. He wore a dark tattered jacket tucked into a large belt above grey hakama pants. The man's looks just screamed 'roguish', that of a man who more often than not was prone to mischief.

He arrived at a house hidden between the dense foliage, a simple traditional home that could house quite a few people. This was place that had served to hide them for a long time; it had been their home for many years. By the front door knelt a man who wore a full kimono, his face was stern, hardened with time. His red hair was pulled back all the way, save for a few strands that peeked over his forehead. A katana rested in front of him, he was clearly in meditation.

"She's alive!"

The key word being 'was', as now his focus was disturbed. The swordsman bit back a sigh and asked; "'Who' is alive, Samenosuke?"

The long haired man beamed a blinding smile, squatting next to the other man. "You won't believe this, Saito. I was in town when I heard the news" He let out an excited breath as he ran a hand over his face. "Oh gods, I couldn't believe it at first myself! I-I just didn't dare hope-!"

"Samenosuke" Saito said sternly. "Just get on with it"

"...Kushina's alive"

A pin could have dropped and disrupt the silence brought by those two words. Saito was frozen; his amber wolf-like eyes had widened to pure shock. "That's a lie," his voice barely above a whisper.

"I thought so to," Samenosuke admitted. "Thought it was some ploy by Konoha, so did some digging with a contact of mine in the village." Tears threaten to leak from his eyes; "She's alive Saito, and had a son... Naruto Uzumaki."

"Who's alive?" Rounding from beside house was a twelve year old boy with scruffy red hair tied in a low ponytail wearing a kimono like Saito looked at the older men with curious amber eyes. His question was met with a hug by Samenosuke. The young man just blinks blankly; "You're happy, uncle."

The roguish looking man sets the boy down; "Remember those stories we told you about Kushina Uzumaki Soujiro?" The boy nods; "Well they're no longer pasted tense! She's alive!"

"Ah, so you're drunk then"

As Samenosuke sputtered and began trying to convince the boy he was not, Saito was lost in his own world.

He remembered the happier days of his childhood, the prosperous time of Uzushio. He remembered the faces of elders and young, a family, his father, his uncle, his cousins, among them Kushina.

He remembered when their own little group followed Tsukiko-sama around, the ancient woman always greeting them with a small yet kind smile, imparting words of wisdom they were too young to understand back then.

Saito remembered their home.

And he remembered their home burning.

The orange haze in the distance as the ships raced towards the mainland, their brave warriors staying behind to buy them time.

Then came the snakes, so many of them, and began tearing through as many ships as they could. He remembered the screams, the roars of their warriors who defended them, the flames of the dragons who defended them against their ancient foe.

They woke up in the shore, just a few of them, most of them children. The rest of the ships either sank or were spread all over the coast throughout the chaos. The clan splintering, hiding, trying to survive.

There was no refuge for them, the snakes hunted them down every chance they had. Ninjas poured from all over seeking to kidnap at least one of them for their secrets. Konoha had lost all traces of them as they tried looking for the survivors. They were too scared to come out of hiding, in fear that they would be found once again. So for years they stayed hidden.

His son Soujiro's birth, the death of his mother, had all but cemented Saito's belief that the best course of action was to keep their heads down, even if it meant Kushina would not know they were alive. At least she was safe in Konoha.

Saito would be lying if he said he hadn't entertained the thought of venturing to Konoha… but then news of Kushina's death reached his ears, and the village no longer looked like a safe haven. Not to the Uzumaki, who were hunted down by so many enemies.

But now… Kushina was alive? The hope he felt in his chest was too painful to ignore.

The thoughts of reuniting his family once more ignited with that terrifying hope.

"Saito" Samenosuke's voice called to him, far too serious to come from the playful man. "We've been hiding for so long; we had a chance once, to actually reunite with her. We thought we lost it… but now we have another chance" He stood before him, gaze determined. "I'm not going to waste it"

Neither was he.

"We need to inform the others" Saito's words made a smile nearly split Samenosuke's face. "Lyn, Eiji, everyone we have with us" The number was not big, but Kushina would not care, she would happy even if it was just one.

"Oh this is gonna be grand"

Soujiro looked in between his father and uncle, bangs swaying as he did so. "Shall I pack my things?"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

What does it mean to inherit a will?

Not in the sense of physical inheritance, of a relative who had passed away and left possessions to a next of kin.

But a will in the sense of a conviction, a belief, a drive, a set of ideals and morals.

Can something so personal be passed down? Children often would inherit such things from their parents.

But what if there was a will that jumped throughout generations, regardless of bloodline and nurture?

Konoha nurtured such inheritance of will, a Will of Fire they called it. Something passed down to their shinobi.

Kuroreimei came to the village not because of a Will of Fire, but because she looked for a far more ancient will.

She looked for a will that was passed down by the gods.

Once, there had been a king. He ruled his people justly and led them to great prosperity. It was a great age, a golden age.

But to humans it was anything but. And so fuel her kind's prosperity, theirs was pushed down.

The heavens heard their plea for salvation, and delivered forth unto them a savior.

The hero brought down their king, but spared them in his compassion, offering them peace.

They took it.

But ages passed, and old oaths were forgotten as tragedy befell upon the whole world.

Now the world was changing once again, and those that inherit Rama's Will often find themselves in the center of the storm.

Even thousands upon thousands of years later, the will lived on. And though calamity had taken away the world's old glory, her kind endured, strong and unyielding.

So it was her duty to find if these new inheritors spelled disaster for her people… or renewal.

For that reason, the pale skinned woman stood by the great gates of the Hidden Leaf Village; her hime cut ebony dark hair swaying with the wind as crimson eyes stared forth resolute.

She would find her answers, and do what she had to do for. It was her duty as queen.

For her people.

For Lanka.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Now Naruto would be the first to admit his handwriting really, REALLY sucked. After discovering he had Shoton and had begun learning Fūinjutsu from Ero-Sennin it had improved quite a lot. Granted understanding and learning calligraphy was a total pain. He could not count how much his wrist hurt after practicing for hours and hours just to learn a simply sealing scroll!

Before the Chunin exams he really thought he'd progressed rather well all things considered. He was damn proud how he could make a dozen seal scrolls, silence seals, and that signal seal.

"Sloppy." Kushina drawled in an unimpressed tone.

Boy did he get a huge reality check now that he had his mother take over his Fūinjutsu studies. Said mother and son were sitting in the training room of their home as the morning sun had yet to rise. Both wore a simple shirt and pants as they sat cross-legged.

Jiraiya was damn tough on the blond when starting Fūinjutsu, even given him calligraphy for dummies book to help. However it was nothing compared to the perfectionist his mother was when it came to seals. As she explained to him Fūinjutsu was the craft of their clan. They are artists when it came to seals, and they were deeply proud of their works.

"I thought I was doing well..." He said dejectedly.

"For an Uzumaki, this quality is not 'well'" His mother said sternly. "This is basic stuff; even novices of the craft learn how to make sealing scrolls. How many items can your scrolls hold?"

"Um..." He hadn't really kept an accurate count. "Around... twenty I think?"

"And that right there should tell you all you have to know about the quality of your seals. Twenty is not a high number when it comes to storage seals, it's just passable at best" The redhead said, sounding strangely logical and teacher-like. "The quality of a seal determines how much mass it can stored, spread evenly among the items per number and size, then you have to take into account if the item in question has chakra. Have you ever wondered why ninjas don't just seal their enemies away?"

"Not... really?"

"Because the added chakra levels plus the mass of the person make it impossible for them to be stored away unwillingly inside a scroll that is of average quality only. To seal a single living, conscious and struggling person, you'd need a scroll that has the capacity to store hundreds of thousands of items. But trapping the enemy into something like that is more trouble than it's worth, that's why paralysis and other related types of seals exist. That's why we reserve such use for corpses only, the loss of life force and consciousness makes it much simpler"

"Huh" He hadn't gotten to that in his reading yet. That was good to know.

"So, a storage that can hold twenty items is not of proper quality to be used in the field. At most you'd only add like twenty shuriken or kunai. Or a fewer bigger items" Kushina crossed her arms, still looking unimpressed. "Ergo, this is sloppy work for an Uzumaki"

The blond could only slump his head in defeat while Kushina ran her hand through her son's blond locks; "Don't fret sochi. With me as your teacher, your Fūinjutsu will make Ero-Sennin cry in shame," she just LOVED that nickname her boy came up for Jiraiya. It was so perfect she could not stop laughing when she found out.

Tapping the tip of his brush in the ink he started the seal exercise again; "Who taught you Fūinjutsu?"

"Tsukiko-Baachan," Kushina smiled at the memories while mentally wincing on how many times she had to correct her hand technique. "The lessons are tough but make you one bad ass Uzumaki seal master!"

"Not the first time you mention her" He said, stretching back as he popped the knots in his arms. He could use a break. "She was the one who made the scroll that saved your life right?"

"She was" His mother said all too fondly. "Oh you should have met her; Tsukiko-baachan was just the coolest!" The grin in her face was very bright. "Everyone in the village knew her, and everyone knew for a fact she was the best damn Uzumaki we ever had. Unrivaled master of seals and eternal asskicker"

"She was badass huh?"

"Oh badass doesn't even cover it!" She sounded like a child gushing about how cool her parent was. "She's everything I wanted to be when I was a kid" Her smile grew soft, though it did little to change the happiness that radiated from it. "She pretty much raised me and a bunch of other kids"

He tilted his head; "She did?"

"Yeah. My mom died when I was little, and dad was always busy with the clan and the village." Kushina leaned back, resting on her palms. "I don't really remember a lot from my mother, except that she loved the sea and always took me to the beach"

The image of his mother as a toddler, making happy memories with his grandmother brought a smile to Naruto's face.

"Tsukiko-baachan was always there for us, she had always been" She said with a touch of old melancholy. A soft laugh escaped her lips; "I mean; she pretty much raised the two generations prior to my parents"

Wait... what?

"Uh, how old was she?"

"Oh around two hundred and fifty."

The blond's jaw dropped.

"Of course you couldn't tell because she physically looked only thirty years old."

"T-that the famous Uzumaki longevity I keep hearing about?" Naruto's mind reeling at the thought of someone actually living for that long.

"Partly, Baachan was a senjutsu master, or what most people call them a Sage, something about her mastery and how much it affected her aging process. How you earn that title is learning by senjutsu." Kushina winked with a wistful sigh.

"So that's why Ero-Sennin has his title? He's a Senjutsu master?"

At that the redhead laughed; "Nope! He's tier 1, especially since he needs Ma and Pa to help him." Confusion etched on her son's face; "I'll explain Senjutsu later. Ma and Pa are the elders of the Toads."

Making an 'O' expression the blond massaged his wrists. He really did not know much of anything about his clan. Never mind his father's which he was told was a nomadic bunch.

"Saito, Samenosuke, Kosuke, Maya, Lyn, Kirika" His mother listed the names of cousins and other most distant kin. "I always hanged out with them when I was a kid. Oh how we would hound Tsukiko-baachan" She chuckled. "But that old lady was never bothered, never so much as grumbled" Her gaze became a bit lost. "You know, thinking back on it, sometimes she had this look like... she had done so much, that she had fought for so long and seen so much, but baachan didn't let the memories consume her" Her lips pressed into a thing line. "I never asked her about what kind of fights she was in, guess I was too young to understand"

Naruto listened in silently.

"She was always so wise; I only understood half the stuff she tried to teach me as I was growing up... Then, right before I was sent to Konoha, she left and... Didn't come back"

She fell silent for a moment.

"No one ever saw her again"

"...What happened?"

Kushina let out a long sigh; "Wish I could tell you, kiddo. But I know full well what happened after she left, the Second Ninja War was on the horizon, Iwa and Kumo thought we were too much of a threat, they couldn't allow Konoha to keep an ally like our country"

The bitterness in her voice, the intense anger laced in her words. He knew his mother hated those villages. It was plainly seen in her eyes like Neji with Kumo. Wanting to get lighten the mood, Naruto cleared his throat; "Think you can teach me the sword some time?"

Almost instantly Kushina perked up as she smiled at her son; "You want to learn Kenjutsu?"

"Next to Fūinjutsu it's an Uzumaki practice right? Figured I should learn that too." Naruto grinning seeing the beaming smiling coming off her.

"Okay, I can mix in some Kenjutsu while doing regular training. We can do it fully after the exams. Also need to get a sword too."

"I could just make one with Shoton."

"True, but a real sword master always has a blade on their hip." Kushina said seriously, remembering something her father always said.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Karin bit the edge of her lip as she accommodated the last book on the shelf. There, perfect. She stood back and looked at it satisfied. Now all her belongings where arranged just like she wanted.

All three of them.

The sheer space left in the rest of the shelves really painted a painful contrast...

The bespectacled girl sighed softly, she honestly had never been bothered by her lack of belongings, but that was before she actually had a place to call her own. Though originally a simple guest room, Kushina had been adamant that this room now belonged to her.

It was a bit strange for her. More often than not the ground had been her bed, and even when staying inside Orochimaru's bases her chambers were these small squared things lacking any kinds of wisdom. Just a dreary atmosphere of darkness and isolation.

Naruto and his mother really wanted her to feel welcome; they wanted this to be her home... It had so long since she had a home.

She knew her mother would be happy and relieved that her daughter was now with her real family again. Even though both were utterly insane and the biggest smart asses she ever met, they had been so kind and loving to her.

Though it felt almost alien to her having prepared warm meals every day and even lunches during training. She had gotten a rather odd look from Auntie Kushina (what she wanted Karin to call her) when she asked why she was making lunches.

'I guess adjusting to family life again will take a while for me.' She had been helping Naruto get used to it since he never had any family till a few weeks ago. If she was having a time to re-adjust, he was outright lost in adjusting at all.

Still, Karin would not let her cousin down as both had been growing into real family since.

Though there was still that gnawing sensation in the back of her mind, that fear that Orochimaru was watching.

Karin wondered if it had been a mistake, acting how she did, just going along with the village giving custody of her to Kushina until her probation was up. Acting so openly like this, there was no doubt in her mind that the Snake Sannin knew she had betrayed him.

Even now she could feel his gaze on her, almost like his pets were just waiting for the chance to pounce and sink their fangs into her throat. Orochimaru suffered no traitors. Karin was sure the only reason she was still alive was because there were ANBU keeping a close eye on her.

Karin took comfort in the knowledge that in the large scheme of things her betrayal was not a huge loss for Orochimaru nor did it change his plans in any significant way. She did not have any important information regarding his plans for the Leaf, and his mere appearance was enough to send the village into high alert, more so now with the Exams going.

What she did know, however, was the location of a couple of bases. Granted they were relatively low in terms of importance for Orochimaru's operations, but she was still a loose end he would have to take care of eventually.

She trembled at where her thoughts took her, Karin let out a shuddering breath and walked to the kitchen. She needed some water.

She was met by the sight of Kushina in an apron, preparing lunch. "Heeey Karin-chan!" She gave her a beaming smile. "Don't eat anything, lunch will be done soon~"

The smell of ramen hit her nostrils and she smiled, her aunt's caring smile made all her fears disappear in an instant.

Perhaps she could get used to this 'having a home' business.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The afternoon sun shined over Konoha as Naruto traversed through the trees in civilian clothes around the training areas. Seal training had taken most of the morning and his mother said he should relax a bit before they start their normal session. Idly he could not stop smiling even while his mother was a much tougher sensei than Ero-Sennin; it just felt amazing being taught by a family.

Family, something he thought he'd never really ever have. Having his mom back as well as his Cousin Karin being with them, it was a feeling he could not describe!

His mental musings were broken as he stopped on a large branch upon hearing… music? Curiosity claimed him as he followed the tune to an open field as he saw Yugito sitting on a stump playing, what was it that Sakura called them? Oh yeah a shamisen. Not far were her teammates Karui, Omoi, and Samui moving in the rhythm of his fellow Jinchuuriki's music.

It was a beautiful.

The Nibi Jinchuuriki's eyes were closed, letting her fingers move over the strings with ease, never missing a single note.

In the field, Omoi and Karui struck at Samui, the older Kumo-nin barely reacted to their combined maneuver as she held them back with her own blade and pushed them away, sending them skidding across the ground, tearing blades of grass on their feet's path.

Yugito's tempo began to decrease, almost in perfect sync with the mood and energy of her peers as they measured each other up, slowly taking a stance.

Her fingers seemed to stop for a moment before once more striking the notes with renewed intensity.

The young genin dashed forward, surrounding the chunin in a blur of movement. Samui parred away a downward strike from Karui before spinning around and delivering a sweeping slash to counter Omoi's strike from the other side. A straight kick against his chest pushed the genin back, sending him stumbling against the ground, Samui swiftly turned to face the redhead and struck with the back of her hand against Karui's cheek. Sending the girl to the ground with a cry of pain.

The shamizen's tempo slowed once more.

They were perfectly in sync with Yugito's music; it was like water, almost effortless yet powerful. Was this Kumogakure style training or they're own version of it? It was damn awesome either way. He soon noticed Yugito had stopped before realizing Karui and Omoi were standing on either side of him with Samui looking up at her fellow blond.

"You really need work on your stealth," Karui smirked with her head cocked to the side.

A weak chuckle came from the blond Uzumaki as he kept his gazed on the buxom Chunin with the impassive eyes; "Am I in trouble?"

"Depends on why you're here." Samui said in her normal cold tone.

A lollipop rolled in Omoi's mouth; "Espionage, uncovering Kumo training secrets, assassinate us-" Yugito appeared beside the sole male of their team, smacking him on the head.

Naruto only sweatdropped as he squinted; "I can guarantee I am not here for any of that. Last one especially. I'm just roaming around till my training starts later. Heard the music and came to see, you guys are awesome by the way!"

Samui gave the young blond a look; "We sent a message to our Kage about you, and your mother."

'SERIOUSLY!?' Karui, Yugito, and Omoi mentally yelled at the zero tact from their friend/substitute sensei.

"..I kind of figured that." Naruto stated solemnly before grinning; "But no harm in trying to be friends right?"

Uh, yeah. LOTS of harm in trying to be friends with a foreign shinobi, particularly one with his circumstances. That's what most of the Kumo Nin wanted to say but held their tongues. Was Naruto just oblivious to the consequences? He had shown he had a good head on his shoulders; they had fought alongside him so they knew he wasn't dumb. Though to be fair they didn't know him all that well, perhaps he was just selectively ignoring the facts.

Or perhaps he just didn't care, that was always a possibility.

"So uh, Yugito" The whiskered blonde said in an awkward tone. "Actually wanted to talk to you about something" He scratched the back of his neck. "It's about Gaara, you know how he, um..." He hesitantly looked at her comrades.

"They know Naruto" She revealed. "Soon after I found out I told them" Had to do it really.

"Yeah" Karui droned. "I know ninjas hold the ideal of being able to act without emotion for our duty, but there is a line in which you become a straight up psychopath"

"And that Gaara guy? Ohh boy" Omoi let out a long breath. "That guy crossed it a long time ago. Can't see why Suna keeps someone as unstable as him as Jinchuuriki."

"They do that on purpose," Matatabi spoke up in both Naruto's and Yugito's head. "I learned this from one of my old hosts. Suna places a weak seal on their Jinchurriki to Shukaku can purposely manifest on command against enemies."

"WHAT!" Karui and Omoi jumped while Samui lifted a brow at the sudden outburst from Naruto and Yugito. "What about the damn host!?" Naruto commented before he took notice of the odd looks from Samui, Omoi, and Karui; "Uh sorry, Matatabi-chan is talking to us."

The feline Bijuu smiled at that before getting serious again; "Why don't you all get back down to the ground so you can listen."

Following her advice as Yugito explained the group sat down on the ground as Naruto and Yugito told what Matatabi knew about Shukaku and Suna's Jinchurriki. Saying it was a bit disturbing was an understatement. The Nibi and Kyuubi Jinchurriki both seethed; "What the fuck does Suna see us as?" The young Uzumaki growled out.

"Are you honestly surprised?" Samui bored tone cut in. "You're a Jinchuuriki, you should know what it's expected of you. If you can't properly harness your bijuu for the sake of your village then they have to resort to desperate measures"

Yugito winced as Naruto angrily bore his eyes into Samui's. "I'm not a tool" He growled softly, though the intensity of his tone was still very noticeable.

"Then you're a poor ninja" She simply stated. "We're all tools of our village"

"I don't believe that" He heartfelt replied. "We do things differently in Konoha"

And he believed it, for all the 'shinobi are emotionless tools' crap he heard over and over, he had yet to meet a ninja that truly embodied that concept. He had met hearty comrades of the Leaf, he had seen fierce opponents who lost themselves to anger and bloodlust, releasing in the thought of killing their enemies. Each and every ninja he had met showed emotions all the time. This 'ideal' of what a shinobi truly should be was nothing but bullshit in his eyes. It was simply impossible.

"...Believe what you want" The chūnin said, a hint of tiredness showing in her voice. "I don't care"

'Looks super-hot but that attitude...' The blond just huffed in exasperation as he shook his head.

"To be fair she is a good person, she just sees things one way," Matatabi digressed with a sigh.

Yugito shook her head at her teammate/friend's behavior; "At any rate least we know more what we're dealing with Gaara."

"I can tell Sasuke later," Naruto muttered as he looked at the bunch; "So you guys still going to train more?"

Karui glanced to Samui who sighed; "We could take a break before resuming."

At that Naruto beamed; "Then you guys hungry!? I know best place to chow down!" He was greeted with bewildered looks save the busty Chunin who lifted a brow; "What?"

"Konoha and Kumo aren't fans of each other. Given half the crap our village has done. I can list half the murderous glares sent our way just walking around here," Karui expressed slowly. "...Not to mention you and your mom's clan."

Letting out an explosive sigh the blond Uzumaki shook his head; "I'll say it again like I told Neji, 'you' guys didn't attack Uzushio. Hell none of us were even born yet. So how is hating you over something 'you' never did going to help me any?" He looked at all them seriously; "Before I even knew why people treated me like they did I hated this village for so long. And you know what, I got sick of hating. So no, I do not hate 'you' guys for something that happened years ago!"

They remained silent as they looked at him.

"So, I'll ask again; you guys hungry? I can take you to a great place"

...Yeah this kid clearly didn't understand how the world works. But that was not her problem; Samui wasn't going to say no to a free meal. "Cool" She shrugged. Her team soon agreed with her on the account that their stomachs were roaring angrily at them.

Unbeknownst to the young teens a figure stood in the shadows observing and listening to the conversations between Naruto and the Kumo team. Her violet eyes remained impassive as she rolled a kunai in her the palm of her hand.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The shinobi of Kumo could honestly say that Konoha was not what they were expecting. As Naruto guided them towards what was, in his words, 'the bestest ramen place in the world' (with Yugito unsuccessfully trying to convince him that 'bestest' was not a word), they let their sights wander around the village streets.

Oh they knew there were a few share of Konoha Nin keeping their eyes on them, suspecting they were trying to spy for structural weaknesses and key points on the infrastructure, Kumo did have a background of playing Konoha, but the team did not care.

No, what caught their attention was how some stores were actually owned by NINJAS of all things. As in, shinobi who had another job in their civilian lives... That phrase along was wrong on so many levels for the group of Kumo. Back in their village, ninjas didn't have a 'civilian life', you either were a ninja or you were a civilian, there was no middle ground. The military did not occupy themselves with the rest of the village activities regarding commerce and such that was the civilians' job.

Your duty hours were in service of the village, and you're off duty hours were so you could relax and train to better be of service to the village. That's it.

They could understand a clan having means of acquiring money; it wasn't strange to see that the Akimichi clan possessed a large chain of restaurants in one of the districts. But then they heard that the Yamanaka, the clan who knew how to invade the mind, which some members could develop freaking telepathy had a flower shop... What?

That made no sense to the Kumo group. Konoha really were a bunch of hippies...

Perhaps further proof of such stereotype was when they saw a ninja of Konoha, a chunin or perhaps a jounin due to his vest, approaching a kimono wearing man sweeping the entrance of his shop. The two men smiled heartily at each other, and before the surprised eyes of the Kumo Nin, tenderly embraced locked lips in a gentle kiss.

Nobody paid them any mind. No passersby stopped to stare at them, no reactions just... nothing. Like this was something completely ordinary.

You didn't see that in Kumo.

"Um, is that-" Karui nodded towards the couple, not wanting to make it obvious and point. "-normal?"

Naruto turned to see what she was talking about, he squinted as he looked around. "What?"

"Them" Omoi whispered. "The... couple"

The whiskered blonde's eyes widened in understand. "Ohh that. What about it? They're just kissing"

"They're two guys" Yugito felt the need of pointing out.

Naruto didn't look like she understands what she was talking about. "Yeeeeah?"

Even the cold headed Samui felt her eye twitch. "They're gay"

"And?"

"Konoha is fine with this?" Karui softly asked.

"Well, why wouldn't we be? It's just two people in a relationship" It was then that his eyes widened. "Wait, Kumo doesn't let people...?"

"It's not illegal or anything" The Kumo Jinchuuriki tactfully said. "It's just... not really encouraged. The village sees it as robbing the chance of having future ninja"

The Uzumaki was now squinted at her. "That's pretty dumb. And what if their kids did not want to be ninja?"

"You can have a choice to be a civilian or shinobi. No one is forced into service. Orphans like me, Karui, and Omoi had the option to be civilians," Yugito explained while they walked through the street. "Though for me it became a full service after being selected as the new Nibi Jinchurriki."

"However you're expected as a Kumo Shinobi to be training during off duty hours," Karui also brings up.

"Damn," Naruto muttered as he shook his head. "So not much if any real R&R for you guys is there?" Granted he had been told out of the villages Kumo was the most militaristic, but never thought it was ingrained that MUCH.

"That's the life as a Shinobi Naruto-San," Samui said coolly as she walked.

A small groan came from the young blond as he cocked his head; "That's how you see the Shinobi life Samui-San. Never hurts to unwind a little you know."

The buxom blond just shrugged while Yugito shook her head. If Naruto thought he could get Samui of all people to loosen up he'd be in for a surprise. Still she gave him an 'A' for trying since they started walking.

It was not long before they reached a simple ramen stand, owned by a middle aged man and his daughter. The ever squinting eyes of Teuchi looked upon their best costumer and smiled. "Ahhh welcome Naruto, welcome! Who are your friends?"

"Some very misguided people who don't know the awesomeness of your food, old man!" The blonde smiled, earning a collective eye twitch and glare from the foreign ninjas.

"Oh no, we can't have that!" Ayame cried out in faux scandal, "Take a seat, we'll treat you to the best ramen in the village!"

"Lend me your senses for a moment, kitten" Matatabi asked her host. "Ohhh it's been so long since I tasted... well, anything really"

Yugito rolled her eyes with a fond smile, "Alright, alright" The owners believed the words were meant for them, and took their seats.

Once more they were unknowingly observed from the shadows. The violet eyes of a certain Uzumaki glared balefully at these Kumo Nin. Already tolerating them was taking a lot out of her, and seeing Naruto acting so friendly with the people who slaughtered their clan was already testing the limits of her patience.

She needed to have a clear talk with her son, once she managed to calm herself. Kushina feared if she went up to them now she'd do something she'd regret, something that would cause many problems for the village in the long run.

The Uzumaki took a deep breath and stealthily departed, she needed to let out some steam...

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Your movements are sluggish," Jiraiya critiques in a harsh tone with his arms crossed; "The Kushina I recall could actually whip my ass on a good day when I actually felt like being serious."

"And I never could land a single hit," Kakashi chimed in while reading.

In a secluded training area the two stood not far from a huffing Kushina. Sweat dripped off her as she glared at both men who remained unflinching by her gaze. It had been at least an hour in of as the silver haired scarecrow dubbed it; 'Let's kick Kushina-Sama's ass into shape session'. And for the redhead it was galling that she was this fatigued already.

She was an ANBU captain for heaven's Sake!

An ANBU captain who had been on maternity leave for months with an increasingly larger belly, but still! She still had all her knowledge, muscle memory was there, she could perform the moves she wanted... but her muscles were currently more like soft dough rather than the corded athletic mass she had developed through years of training.

Apparently, the Divine Sleep seal did restore her to perfect health for the most part... to a civilian level; she had to regain her physical fitness on her own. Great...

Okay, the thing had literally saved her life; she wasn't going to complain about having to do more exercise. She wasn't a Nara!

She spat on the ground and lunged once more; Jiraiya uncrossed his arms and met Kushina's wild attack with a cold calculated defense. An elbow block to defend against a right swing, his own leg rose to meet the redhead's knee strike; again and again he countered her attacks perfectly. They were passionate, as the woman often was, but more than that they were wild, angry. Something had ticked her off today.

A kick against her left leg caused her to lose her footing, leaving her open to a series of swift punches to her abdomen, finishing with an uppercut that sent her flying backwards and to the ground.

Kakashi flipped a page, "That had to hurt"

It did. But Kushina didn't know what hurt more, her body or her pride.

"You're unfocused, not sure what's got you in such a huff, but I don't care. What I do care about is you being at such a pathetic state. If we're going to get you back to the woman who struck fear with her mere presence, you better get that head of yours in the game girl." Jiraiya spoke in a tone as harsh as his glare.

Getting back to her feet, her eyes shifted to Kakashi who looked up; "Oh my turn?" his tone a sarcastic drawl.

Kushina took a deep breath, feeling the heat leaving her body as sweat dripped down her brow. She flashed him a confident smirk. "Don't hold back kid, I wanna see what you're capable of doing after twelve-"

Kakashi unfolded his Hitai-ate revealing Sharingan and stared directly into Kushina's eye, she saw the tomoe spinning wildly as heaviness overtook her body.

"FU-!" She barely had time to swear as everything went dark, the genjutsu overtaking her.

She spent what felt a small eternity floating in the body before she was finally able to snap out of it. She stood up from the ground with a gasp of breath. Kushina panted heavily while Jiraiya and Kakashi looked down at her.

"Seven minutes, thirty nine seconds" Kakashi said matter of flatly. "Not bad for the level of genjutsu I used, but still took you longer to break it than I thought"

The redhead rested her head in her hands. "Too physically exhausted to fight it properly" She cursed at her own weakness.

"Getting you back into shape should be our top priority" The toad sage reasoned.

Kushina fought back a growl. "Could have told you that myself..."

"And now we are sure" Jiraiya shot back snidely. "Now get on your stomach and do two hundred push-ups, after that we're done for today"

Kushina dropped the ground and began doing push-ups in the earnest, not letting the exhaustion get to her. "Any news on the snake?" She asked while she pushed herself up and down from the ground.

"We're looking everywhere we can" Jiraiya assured her. "But you know he is a slippery one, not helped that he knows Konoha inside and out..." This already made a bad situation even worse.

"What has that sick fuck been up to all these years?"

The sannin snorted, "From what I learned? Lots, none of them good. Human experimentation, forbidden jutsu research. There was even a time in which joined a particular group I've been keeping an eye on for a long time now"

Kakashi's sole visible eye widened in recognition; "You mean... the Akatsuki?"

"Akatsuki?" Kushina muttered to herself. "Who the hell are those, another Blood Leash wannabe?" Great, just what the nations needed, more mercenaries and slavers. As if they didn't have enough to deal with Blood Leash, the biggest slaver enterprise in the nations, and a private army that fought for the highest bidder. The Land of Fire had been trying to take them out for decades now. And by what she heard, they were still around...

Jiraiya and Kakashi shared an uneasy look; "It's... more complicated than that. They are mercenaries yeah, but what my info tells me is that their goals are... something more"

The Gama Sannin paused for a long while; "This is the group Itachi is being a double agent for..." Kushina stopped mid push as she turned her head slowly and looked at the older man; "He makes contact with me when he can."

"From what we know of them this is a group of highly dangerous rogue ninja," Kakashi digressed after he was told not too long ago in wanting to know of Itachi's whereabouts. "And you might know a few names of them."

"Kisame Hoshikage, Kakuzu of Taki, Sasori of the Red Sand, monsters in their own right are among their ranks" Jiraiya figured she'd at least react to the last one considering the history between him and Kakashi's father.

But Kushina did not seem to hear him, or she did not seem to care for those individuals at the moment. She continued on her push-ups with renewed intensity. 'Itachi...' She thought mournfully.

"As for their goals" Jiraiya sighed. "Itachi's info tells me they are planning to target the Bijuu in the near future"

"WHAT!?" Kushina stopped as she yelled. What the hell would some group want the Bijuu? "There will be people coming after my son" There was a feral growl in the redhead's tone.

"I plan on making sure Naruto is prepared for them," Jiraiya reassured her; "But with you back, I gather you want to do that to?" Dumb question considering the look from Kushina. "Right now the group is doing all kinds of mercenary work. Building up their renown throughout the nations and gathering funds. It will be awhile before they start their real plan."

Then they had time in getting Naruto ready for these 'Akatsuki' guys. Like hell was Kushina having anyone take her son from her!

Her pushups increased in even greater vigor, determined to double the amount the perv had tasked her with. She needed to get back into shape if she wanted to help Naruto.

All the while, she used that time to ponder on how to speak to Naruto regarding certain… company he's been keeping lately.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"So why are you dragging me around the stores?" Karin asked weakly as she kept up with Sakura and Ino. The young Uzumaki redhead having met the Yamanaka heiress a week ago when meeting up with Sakura.

She had almost as much energy as her cousin, never mind the cockiness too. Still, next to Naruto's team it was nice making another friend.

"Well, you need some new clothes and really need to make that room of yours be more 'you' if you get what I mean." Ino smiled surveying the stores.

At that Karin squints; "I'm not really much of a girly girl." Sure she liked have some things that defined her as a lady. But she never liked going overboard.

"So we go by your pace and find what you like." Sakura winked as they stopped at a clothing stores; "So let's start with some clothes for you?"

"Consider this as day one of your new life girl! Starting with clothes!" The Yamanaka beamed while physically dragging Karin into the store. Sakura only giggled as she followed them.

Now living under Orochimaru, Karin wore very bland basic clothing, which was enough in her opinion. Her eyes slowly widened at the sight of so much clothing and multitude of styles. Her head swaying from side to side as he eyes took in every fabric laid out for a potential customer.

With her hands on her hips Ino smirked at her new friend's awed expression; "Shall we figure out your style hun?"

"No rush," Sakura gave a meaningful smile.

There was no rush indeed... which unfortunately for Karin, it ended up meaning they took AGES so she could try every single dress that they could find. The bespectacled girl couldn't really say any of these strike her fancy, until she spotted a two articles of clothing that she honestly could see herself wearing.

"This looks nice" She commented.

Sakura and Ino turned to what she was looking at and face faulted. "The ninja shorts and shirt?"

"Yeah"

"That look just like what you're wearing right now only in a different color?"

"...Yeah"

The two kunoichi gave her a look.

"Yes, yes. I'm hopeless, trust me I know"

"You're not hopeless" Sakura insisted, "You just never had the freedom to do stuff you like. I bet you never even went to get ice cream because you wanted to or..." She waved her hand around, looking for another example.

"Date cute boys!" Ino, of course, said excited. She rolled her eyes at the look the pinkette was giving her. "Oh I am taking my career seriously, but hey, I like what I like"

Well that was true, Sakura sighed a bit. Ino had started training together with her since their talk and reconnect as friends again. Taking the training sessions seriously and thankfully the former fangirl Ino was beginning to go away. Still, there were just some aspects that would always be Ino; Gossip, clothing, and boys.

"Well," the rosette clasped her hands together; "as your friends, Ino and I will make sure you're fully adapted to your new life here. This includes fashion tastes."

Karin supposed she could accept that. And while having real friends felt odd, it was also nice to have them. Guess it could not hurt to let this two help her find some stuff for her and her room.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sasuke must have stared at the scroll for at least an hour.

He did not move from his position, kneeling on the ground with the Tiger scrolls perfectly settled in front on him. The silence in the house was so uncomfortably deep the movement of the clock's hands felt too loud. At moments his fingers twitching, as if finally deciding to move and open the scroll, only for him to hesitate and remain still.

Sasuke prided himself in being a determined individual; he knew his goals and went to claim them without any doubt.

But one look at that scroll and his determination crumbled to dust.

He should not feel this way; this was his legacy, something that was his own right to inherit.

And yet whenever he looked at it all he could see was his mother's face. A smiling face... A face that now he understood must have been a mask for a long time.

He took comfort in knowing his mother loved him, but to hear her life had seldom been of her own choosing... it honestly created a pain Sasuke was not accustomed too. He knew pain of tragedy, when injustice struck you. But this was a pain you felt for somebody else, when injustice befell another person.

The thought that his mother had been viewed by the clan elders as little more than an obedient servant was enough to drive him into rage

This scroll... this was part of his mother's life, her real life. This scroll was part of her pride, the legacy of her family line, something that she must have held unto when giving her life to the clan as a whole.

Part of him felt that signing the scroll himself would taint it. For the Tiger Contract was not tied to the Uchiha, the tigers made that very clear as he was told. Would they accept him? Would his mother want him to sign it?

"Whatever you choose, your mother would be proud of you regardless."

The raven haired boy let out a grunt, ever since leaving that hospital Naruto's mother had frequented the Uchiha to check on him. Or annoy him for the most part, but, it felt comforting having someone visit him who was his mother's dearest friend.

Mostly she was over telling stories about his mother during their Genin days while cooking for him. For which he did not ask for, but she would NOT take no for an answer. Sasuke really saw where Naruto got a lot of his personality from.

Still, as much as Kushina had assured him. He had been hesitant to open the summing scroll. 'For all I know they could outright reject me, at worse try to eat me alive.' They were tigers after all.

He took a look at his hands; '"Mother..." He knew prayers don't really help, but for this he felt like he had to. "I may not be worthy to even open this, but I want to make you proud. Not as an Uchiha, but as your son. After everything Naruto's mom told me, I just don't know what to think about our clan... But I do know this." His eyes shone with resolution. "After all the stories, I want to be like the ninja you were. So please, let me have your blessing to use this scroll."

The room was predictably silent. Yet he swore he felt lightness in the air around him now. His eyes look over the room before refocusing back to the scroll. A sigh escaped his lips; "I love you mother, I'll make you proud."

His hands reached for the scroll. Slowly he unlocked and unfurled it. He saw a few names, but the last one got his attention. 'Mikoto Uchiha'. Beside his mother's was likely his grandfather and great-grandfather. "Ryoichi and Tadao... I hope, as your grandson I'll do things right."

He bit into his thumb before looking at his mother's name, his name soon was written across from hers. A breathe he did not know he held escaped his lips once finished. It was done...

Should he try summoning now? Hmm, perhaps it'd be best to try out under supervision. Next time the team met on the training he'd try to make contact with the tigers.

For now, Sasuke prepared for his next persona training session. He had a match against a bloodthirsty maniac to worry about.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto came home with a belly full of ramen, which was enough to keep him on a good mood for the rest of the day. Mom should be back from her training by now, and he was actually eager for a new lesson on fūinjutsu. Perhaps he'd be able to convince her to skip on storage sealing on go straight for explosive seals. He had the suspicion his mother had a fondness for those.

He was right, as he entered the living room and saw his mom sitting on the couch, eyes closed with her hands folded against her lap. Man she looked beat up, the perv and Kakashi-sensei did not go easy on her.

"Hey mom" He greeted her with a wide smile, causing her eyes to open and turn to him. Hmm, she had a strange look in them. "What's up?"

"Oh, you're here. Good" She sounded nervous. "There is... something I need to talk to you about"

A bit worried about what had his mother troubled, he wordlessly stood in front of her, watching her hands clench and unclench on her pants. Finally she took a deep breath and gave him a stern look. "What were you doing with those Kumo ninja today?"

He blinked. "You k-"

"Yes I know" She quickly cut it. "Now answer the question"

"We..." He shrugged. "We were just eating"

"Mhm" Her tone was not too pleased. "And may I know why?"

"Because we get along?"

By the look he in her eyes she was only more upset. She took a long deep breathe, as if she was trying to reign in her feelings. "Naruto, do you know what Kumogakure did to our clan?"

The blond gave a small nod; "I found out during the second part of the exam. And when they tried to kidnap Hinata."

"...Did you also know they also tried to kidnap me when I was your age?" Shock etched on her son's face. Clearly no told him about that incident. "So I'll ask why would you get along with people from Kumo."

Naruto had seen that look before, in Neji; "Because while what Kumo did was horrible, it wasn't Yugito and her team who did it."

The older Uzumaki's eyes twitched at that, she pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long exhale. "You clearly don't get it"

"Did... Did I do something wrong?" He fearfully asked.

His fears were confirmed with his mother's next words. "Yes, yes you did" Naruto felt his heart throb painfully at the mere notion of having disappointed his mother in some fashion. Being a son had been such new wonderful yet frightening territory for him, he feared failing, to do something wrong in front of the eyes of she who had become an incomparable treasure to him.

"You honestly think you and anyone from Kumo can be friends?" Kushina said incredulously. "Those are the people who slaughtered OUR CLAN" She put emphasis in the words. "And don't give me that whole 'it wasn't them who did it', it makes no difference because if they are ordered to do so they will kill you and anyone you love"

"But they're-!"

"'Not like that'? You are just telling yourself that because you don't know any better!" Kushina stood up, angrily pacing around the room.

"What do you want me to do then?" He quietly demanded. "Not to see them anymore?"

"It's for your own good" Kushina assured him, believing she was getting through.

...But apparently that was not the case, as Naruto looked back at her defiantly. "What if I do want to be friends with them? Yugito is a Jinchuuriki like me, like you were"

"I am NOTHING like them!" She seethed. "And you should watch your tongue when speaking to me like that, I'm your mother" Children were supposed to obey their parents, that's how it's always been, that's how Tsunade raised her. "You know what their people did, why are you so forgiving?!"

"Because other people did it, not Yugito and her team!" Naruto cried back in exasperation, tears welling up in his eyes, the mere act of arguing with his mother was painful. "Why do you hate them so much?!" He needed to understand.

And Kushina made it very clear with just a few words

"BECAUSE THEY DESTROYED MY HOME AND KILLED MY FAMILY!" Her shout echoed throughout the house.

Naruto stood there flabbergasted the sheer intensity of emotion in his mother's voice, the anger, the hate, the pain. It reminded him of Sasuke in their early years in the Academy, once more he felt that pressure, once more he tried to empathize and understand but couldn't.

There was a brief but painfully heavy silence, broken only by Kushina's harried pants.

"Kumo, Iwa, the Kurokiba snake clan..." She muttered each name with loathing. "We did nothing to the villages, even in the wars we stayed mostly out of the conflicts, supporting Konoha in non-combat scenarios. But that was enough for them to see us as a threat" She plummeted down on the couch. "The Kurokiba clan has been a longtime enemy of ours and the dragons', so when a chance to strike presented itself, they did not waste it and informed two villages that would take it at a moment's notice"

A snake clan? That... was news to him. He had not heard any account of something like that being involved in Uzu's fall.

"I was already away from the village when it happened, given to Konoha to serve as the fox's jailor" Tears leaked from her eyes. "...By the time I heard the news, it was already too late, Uzushio was under heavy siege" Kushina ran a hand over her face, trying to stave off the flood without any success. "And by the time Konoha reinforcements arrived, the battle was over... our home had been utterly destroyed and our clan slain by the thousands... My father among those numbers"

Her father... his grandfather; Daisuke Uzumaki. Quite a few tales had been told to him, about the late leader of Uzushio from his mom. He knew how he died defending Uzu, everything had been facts, but hearing it from his mother like this… this wasn't just a history lesson, this was a tragedy, this pain still fresh.

But still, all he knew of his grandfather and his clan were only stories. He had no real attachment to them unlike his mom who did, passionately so. He could not see or feel as strongly for their clan and late family like she did, because all the family he had was just his mother and Karin.

"Mom..." His voice was quiet but she raised her head as she listened; "All I know about Grandpa or the clan is from you and bit from Karin."

The horrifying realization finally dawned on Kushina. Naruto did not feel like she did... He most likely didn't even understand it.

He, who had grown up alone (a fact Kushina bitterly remembered) didn't understand what it was to lose something. That is not to say Naruto didn't know pain, or that he couldn't empathize with other people. But to truly understand that kind of pain took something else, it took having lived through the same thing.

Kushina was not heartless, she would not judge someone for not 'understanding her pain' like some kind of angsty brat who thought the world revolved around them. She understood pain was hard to measure, and you didn't need to have gone through the same thing to feel compassion for someone. Naruto, bless him, was a kind boy. He wanted to see the good in other people, to help them even if he didn't fully understood. Because he was an oddity in the shinobi world, he was someone who knew kindness. And for that Kushina was eternally grateful, knowing that her son grew up to be so wonderful. Hoping he could keep that sense of compassion which she herself had been forgetting throughout many years of loss and pain.

But even still, Kushina could not let go of that pain, a pain which Naruto for all his virtues did not understand. He just...

"You didn't live through it" Kushina muttered softly. "They didn't even let me return until they buried all the bodies... Seen what was done to my home, it felt like someone had ripped out my own heart"

Her son remained silent.

"Tsukiko-baachan's gardens where we played so much with her were now cinders. The streets filled with the smiles of our kin were wrecked beyond recognition. The enemy did not stop until they made sure our ancestral homeland was nothing but rubble... The place of my birth, my parents', my grandfathers', all of our ancestors... There was nothing left" A sob escaped her lips, the memories as fresh and painful as they had been all those years ago. "They took everything from us just because they could..."

Some much pain rolled off his mother, he never could put it to words how much his mom loved Uzushio. There was no words he could describe what feelings she had for their homeland and clan. And most likely he'd never find them because he never knew about them.

His mom was right, he did not experience what she felt when learning Uzushio was destroyed and her father, his grandfather murdered. He did not feel the ache she did of losing an entire clan like she and Sasuke did. And as far as she was concerned all of Kumo was the enemy to her. It did not matter who they were, they came from the village that took away her family and nearly kidnapped her like they tried with Hinata.

Yes what they did was beyond barbaric and wrong. But for Naruto; "I... I can't blame Yugito, Karui, Omoi, and Samui for something they never did and weren't even born yet, something beyond their control. Because it's exactly be like how people here blamed me for Kurama attacking the village."

"...I see that now" Kushina spoke meekly, understanding her son's view on it. She could not lie and say she was happy about it but... Maybe as his mother she had to respect his feelings on the matter.

She did not know; this whole 'motherhood' thing was such foreign territory for her, thrusted into the role of a twelve year old's mother from one moment to the next. Ideally, she would have grown into the role as Naruto himself grew up.

But things would never be like that, so she had to adapt.

"Do you... want me to stop seeing them?" Her son asked, fearful for the answer.

The Uzumaki took her time pondering on what she was going to say. "No" Naruto felt he could breathe again. "I won't forbid you, but... I just want you to understand the kind of risks you're taking" Gently she took his hands into hers looking her son in the eyes; "Just please be careful around them. All I ask." Naruto slowly nodded before being pulled into a hug; "I'm sorry for yelling."

Naruto hugged his mom back; "It's alright..."

"I just..." Kushina sighed; "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing"

"If it helps, I'm on the same boat" The whiskered blonde replied.

The two manage to share a short laugh, knowing they'd be okay. They'd grow together as family.

Staying silently behind a corner, Karin smiled to herself.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

As the morning rays of light cleaved through the window of their current lodgings, it settled down upon a futon with disheveled sheets and the naked form of a woman covered in said sheets. Her very wild and long red hair went all over her back and even spread a little beyond the width of the shoulders, a few bangs covering her eyes.

She smacked her lips and groaned in discomfort as her slumber ended, she tiredly moved to get closer to the form of her partner, seeking the warmth and comfort of her lover's presence. Only to find the bedside empty as her arm reached forward and felt nothing but the mattress.

Slowly she raised her head, running a hand over her wild mane while yawning; she tucked away a stray bang covering one blue eye, freeing her vision. She slumped and pursed her lips in displeasure at the sight that her lover was not present.

She had a good idea of where she was right now. "Meditating at sunrise..." She muttered in a groggily morning voice. "Damn sage-y things, who does that?"

Disgruntled, she lazily sat up as the blanket fell to her waist she stretches her arms above her head, with a small sigh she lets them drop as she gets out of bed, not bothered by her own state of nakedness. "Guess I will make breakfast then."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The warmth of the sun and the cool breeze made for a perfect combination which brought comfort to her entire body, further relaxing her. On a field of grass, a woman sits meditating in a half-lotus position, eyelids closed and a serene expression on her face. Her messy blonde hair swayed with wind, the breeze caressing her mocha skin.

Her attire consisted of a one-sleeved light blue robe filled with wave and wind motifs with the sleeve covering her right arm, though she wore long dark fingerless arm gloves that reached to her biceps in both arms. A black tube top covered her chest area, her robe tied with a red sash; she also wore dark green loose pants and sandals.

Her mind drifted into the wind and the earth itself, allowing her to feel the natural energy flowed all around her. She welcomed it with her soul, but it did not enter her body, and slipped her grasp when she tried reaching it... just like she always did.

She refused to feel frustration; it went against her training and all she strived for. Determined to try again and again until she could finally succeed... Though a part of her wondered why it kept happening, why did nature not answer her calling.

Was she doing something wrong? For years she had prepared not just her body but also her mind, reaching out to the planet, not in demand of its power, but to further enrich her spirit. Just like her ancestors had done for so long, it was her duty to keep alive the clan's traditions. Her purpose was far from selfish; she should have made progress by now.

This failure, this disappointment, was unacceptable. The sudden flash of anger was quickly suppressed, her hands tightening and relaxing.

She was soon distracted, and she welcomed it, for it took her away from this place that made her feel negative emotions. "Hey!" It was the arrival of a familiar and exuberant voice. "Brought you something to eat" The redhead said, carrying a tray with tea and toasts, she was dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and a pair of black shorts.

"Thank you Lyn" The blonde replied patiently. "But during meditation, I require no substance other than harmony with the energies of nature" It was then that her body betrayed her, her stomach emitting a loud growl. If she wasn't so controlled of her own impulses she would blushed, or at least, she convinced herself she wasn't blushing.

"Aw, you're blushing!"

Damn it...

Lyn only giggled taking a seat as her girlfriend heaved a small sigh as she opened her sapphire eyes. "Still no luck honey?" The dry glare from the buxom blond was her answer which only mad the redhead smirk; "You'll get there. Haven't met someone so dedicated like you are with all the sage-y mysticism stuff."

"It's called Senjutsu, not 'Sage-y mysticism stuff'." Kya's clarification was met with Lyn sticking her tongue out at her; "Very mature for a woman in her mid-thirties."

"Well I'm Uzumaki, to us that means little" In a way, Lyn was right. If she survived this rather dangerous life of theirs, she might live well into being two centuries old.

But on the other hand, "That has little to do with maturity"

"What, you saying I should be a stick on the mud like you?" The wild maned redhead casually replied as she leaned to the side and picked her ear, "No thanks, you bring enough seriousness to this relationship as it is"

Well, somebody had to. Kya fought back a twitch of her eye at once more mentally admitting that this contrived thing the two of them had was apparently a 'relationship'.

Lyn groaned as she lifted her arms above her head, stretching her fingers, "I got a bounty today, some basin has been attacking a nearby village" She sighed in satisfaction as the joints in her limbs popped. "You want chicken today?"

The mocha skinned blonde was going to say no to Lyn's dish, even if the food in question was a giant fire breathing chicken. "I would, thank you"

The Uzumaki stood up and stretched her legs, "You gonna stay here meditating?" She asked with a touch of exasperation.

"You could benefit from it" Kya spoke with sincerity, "Your body is very compatible for sage training"

"Pffft wouldn't even know where to begin. Would love to carry on baachan's legacy but... I dunno. I think I'm not ready for that yet" The redhead said, her gaze becoming a little lost and melancholic. She soon shook her head and scoffed, "I'd rather be doing something fun, standing still for hours on end doesn't really appeals me" Kya suppressed a sigh. Well, she supposed Lyn was in tune with the world in her own way. She certainly was as wild as nature itself. "When I get back I'll go over the details for the journey to Konoha"

Kya soon regained her meditation stance, resting her hands over her knees and closing her eyes, "Will you take Tamamo with you?"

"I'd like to, but the girl might be busy. Some stuff going on later about-" Lyn soon fell silent, blinking a few times and she realized something. "Wait, you're not coming?" She asked in genuine surprise.

The blonde opened her eyes to give her and impassive look, "I thought my showing no interest in Saito's invitation was clear"

A mild glare came from her Uzumaki lover; "Oh come on! Never mind that Kushina came back, apparently she had a child with Minato Namikaze. A member of your clan!"

Kya remained impassive; "Being of mixed blood does not make him family. And my parents never knew his family. I am not like you or the other Uzumaki when it comes to family bonds."

Lyn let out a low growl, Kya had always been like this with people. Granted what she endured gave her good reason to be uninterested in meeting people let alone trust them. But no one can close themselves off from everyone forever. Being alone never solved anything... Except being lonely.

But now here was a chance for Kya to see another member of her own clan. Half-blood or not, this Naruto boy was as much Namikaze as he was Uzumaki, he deserved to meet a fellow kin. And Kya might never open up to nearly anyone, but by the Gods maybe she might open to another Namikaze.

Lyn knelt down; "You don't know how many Namikaze are left. And this Naruto boy may never meet one unless you go to Konoha. Same for you." Her eyes glared with unwavering steely resolve. "And here I thought you knew the importance of keeping legacy alive. Going on and on about your clan's heritage" She crossed her arms, "Now the chance of passing it to another Namikaze comes by and you outright refuse it, doing a bang up job there hon..."

The blonde's sapphire blue eyes narrowed in barely contained anger. Lyn had delivered a particularly heavy blow, one that hit her directly at her pride. But... she had a point. The Namikaze clan's heritage was barely alive as it was, long years of wandering and attacked by many enemies had left their people scattered to the winds. In all her life the only other Namikaze she had known were her parents. Their current situation put their sacred traditions at risk of being forgotten.

How could she call herself her parents' daughter if she just let that happen?

Kya sighed as Lyn grinned widely; the redhead knew she had won. "Perhaps... I should pass on what I know. As a Namikaze he has a right to learn of his heritage"

The redhead threw up her arms in cheer, "Success!"

"But don't think I'll 'bond' or anything with him" The blonde warned her with a glare. "I'm just doing my duty, that's it. My sage training takes priority"

"Oh I know" Lyn winked, "But I think this trip will be good for you. Who knows? You might actually like the kid"

Doubtful...

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"You really sure you're twelve?" Karin teased Naruto as the blond sluggishly waked up, popping several joints. "You creak like an old man." A giggle escaped her while being glared at by her cousin.

"Oh shut up, I'm not a morning person." While his redheaded cousin was already dressed in her new blue Kimono top and shorts.

"Aunt Kushina is getting breakfast ready. Get a shower and some clothes Naruto-Jiji." Kari only laughed as she ran out of the blond's room as he threw his pillow at her.

After a quick shower and getting dressed the blond paused as he entered the living room upon hearing a knock on the door. It was probably Sakura since she usually visited in the mornings. Nearing the door and opening it he was surprised at who was standing at his door.

"Hey," Ino gave a light wave with a small smile.

Confusion etched on Naruto's face as he blinked. "Uh, hey..." She was probably here to see Karin since Sakura introduce her to the Yamanaka heiress. "Karin's in-" He froze as Ino had suddenly globbed him into a hug. Saying he even more confused now would be an understatement.

Still, a hug was always nice to get.

"Is... something wrong?" Naruto asked he returned the hug.

A long sigh came from the Yamanaka as they detached; "Just wanted to say sorry for how I acted back in the academy." She gave her fellow blond a regretful grin; "after the prelims and talking to Sakura I figured I had to really refocus myself."

That Naruto had heard from his rosette haired teammate. "But also, I wanted to make up for being not much of a nice person."

To her surprised Naruto simply waved it off; "To be fair I did kind of act like an idiot back then." Kurama snorted in his mind but the blond ignored it. "So, yeah we're cool."

That was it, no yelling? Well she happy not to get yelled at, though she felt she kind of deserved it. Huh, Sakura wasn't lying saying how forgiving Naruto really was.

"Who's at the door?" Both blonds turn to see Kushina's head peeking out from the kitchen. The older redhead took a look at Ino; "Oh Inoichi's girl."

"Ino Yamanaka," The young kunoichi gave a respectful bow; "Nice to meet you."

"Well don't just stand there like logs, invite her in sochi. She can have breakfast with us."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The moment Ino sat on the table she was already regretting her decision of coming here. Good gods almighty she had only seen this much food on a table when Choji invited her to dinner with his family. It seemed the Uzumaki household held a similar philosophy; eat or be eaten. Karin only ate a moderate amount while Kushina and Naruto devoured everything in sight, which were bowls upon bowls of noodles. Where did all that food go?

"Shou knom" Kushina mumbled with her mouth full before swallowing. "You know, I actually saw your fight"

Ino's head tilted curiously, "Oh?"

"It was pathetic"

Her gaze became downcast. "Oh..."

"Seriously, what the hell are they teaching you girls in the Academy nowadays?"

Karin glared at her; "Aunt Kushina..." She muttered harshly.

"You know what I was doing when I was your age? I was being a professional ninja"

Naruto deadpanned; "I have SEVERAL people that say the complete opposite"

"I can play pranks AND be professional, 'ttebane!"

Well Ino could definitely tell where now where Naruto had gotten his personality from. And this was the feared Red Death? The blond shook her head; "In truth it was really my fault for not taking ninja training seriously. Plus I got into being a shinobi for the wrong reasons."

"Being a fan girl," Ino winced at Kushina's bluntness. "But Sakura knocked some sense into you?" Well she already knew since the pinkette told her how she and Ino had started training together at her house. But she wanted to hear it from her and see how resolute Inoichi's girl was.

"Yes ma'am." the Yamanaka gave a nod; "Listening to what Sakura told me about Nami got my attention."

"Good." Kushina smiled

"And..." Ino glanced to Naruto; "wanted to see if you wanted to be friends with me." Her eye twitched at the sight of Naruto stopping mid-eating his Ramen and look at her. He really needed some table manners...

Slurping up his noodles with a gulp the blond Uzumaki blinked; "That sounds cool."

At that came a bright smile and wink from Ino before she looked to Kushina; "After the exams you alright with my team training with Naruto's?"

"You know Kakashi is team 7's sensei right?" the redhead chuckled. "Buuuut I don't see a problem with it. Means I get to meet Shikaku's and Chōza's boys."

Hearing that Naruto squints while Ino sweatdrops; "Don't expect much from Shika." Both muttered.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Hinata sighed to herself as she stepped out of the hospital, after getting a clean bill of health she was free to return home. To the glares of Neji, the judgmental look of her father and the elders. If she were being completely honest, Hinata wouldn't have minded a few days on the hospital bed, facing Neji wasn't something she looked forward to. If they even let him close to her at all that is, oh dear, she hoped her father hadn't punished him too harshly. Neji was not a bad person, he was just lost.

Her pearly eyed gaze dropped to the ground. It was her own fault, had she won the match in the prelims perhaps she could have made some change in her dear cousin... But she didn't and she had to live with it.

Steeling her resolve, she looked up-

"Hi there~!"

And got scared out of her wits, falling to the ground with a squeak. Good thing they were at the hospital, they would treat her after this heart attack.

"Oh my" The redheaded woman looked at her in concern. "You okay there, hon?"

Hinata gazed upward and froze with a blush as she saw Naruto, but also his mother and Karin looking back. "N-N-Naruto-Kun! K-Kushina-Sama! K-Karin-San!"

The blond knelt down in front of the Hyuuga heiress; "You okay?"

Kushina gave the young girl a look over as her son helped her up. Oh she looked like her mother alright. "Sorry I haven't got a chance to meet you, you definitely look like Hitomi."

That gained Hinata's attention from conversing with the Blond to look at Kushina; "You knew my mother?"

"Went to the academy with her. I know your dad and late uncle too." The older redhead's voice softened. Shaking away the negativity Kushina leaned forward which made Hinata freeze being face to face with the legendary Red Death; "Hmm... Yup exactly like your mom."

"We were coming to check up on ya," Naruto had made a promise to himself to visit Hinata, making up for his forgetfulness. He had least been coming to see her once a day. It was a bit awkward at first with Naruto doing most of the talking and Hinata being too shy to say much.

But she had loosened up a little. And became friends with Karin when she came with Naruto at times.

"Heard you were coming out of the hospital, so I wanted to see how you were doing" Kushina said as she sat on the balls of her feet in front of the Hyuuga. "That cousin of yours was a dick" She blushed heavily at the crude language. Oh dear.

"N-Neji-niisan is not bad" Hinata spoke as she smoothed her clothes and shyly looked at the redhead.

"Oh honey, you are just too nice" Kushina beamed at her, "Let me introduce myself formally, I know you pearly eyes like that stuff. Name's Kushina Uzumaki, nice to meet you"

The purple haired girl managed a small smile, folding her hands in front of her. "M-My name's Hinata Hyuuga" And bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you"

Kushina made a strange face, "HNG!" Oh goodness, her voice, the shyness, the adorable looks. This girl was just so... so... "CUTE!" Without warning, she grabbed the girl into a tight hug and rubbed her check with hers, much like she used to do with sweet Rin. "Ohhhh I just wanna eat you all up!"

Karin sighed while Naruto dryly said, "Mom, you're making her uncomfortable"

Hinata was going cheery blossom pink. She was not used to physical contact like this at all, much less from someone so enthusiastic.

"I'd thank you not to smother my student, Kushina-sama" A voice came to Hinata's aid. Walking towards the hospital came a beautiful woman with long dark hair, red eyes, and a distinct outfit which resembled bandages but on a pattern. Along with her came Shino and Kiba, the latter who waved with a bright 'Yo!' Akamaru barking happily on his head. "I believe you're making her uncomfortable" Kurenai admonished, yet a small smile tugged at her lips.

"I lay claim to this girl" Kushina said resolute, holding Hinata tightly against her chest. "If anyone dares harm this precious cinnamon roll, I will destroy them"

"Hiashi-Dono might not care for that Kushina-Dono." Shino spoke in his usual monotone.

Kiba only sweatdropped at the redhead childishly sticking out her tongue; 'Is this really the legendary feared red Death?' He looked over to Naruto who was squinting. 'Well the weirdness matches.'

Kurenai being apparently the adult among the two tried to get Kushina to relinquish her hug from a full body blushing Hinata. She failed.

Naruto weakly chuckled; "Mom likes to hug."

"We noticed blondie." Kiba spoke dryly. He soon leaned back as Kushina leaned over to him with an extremely serious expression. The young Inuzuka froze while Akamaru dropped off his head and into Karin's arms.

"So...Tsume's brat. Looks like Hana got the looks in the family though." She dryly turned to her head over to Shino; "Your dad Shibi?" She had gotten a nod, which was as much as she would get from an Aburame; "Tell him I said hi." She leaned back to look at Kurenai; "Don't think I've seen you before though."

At that the female Jounin chuckled; "You might know my father perhaps. Shinku Yūhi?"

"OH… Nope, sorry hun but ringing no bells dear."

Kiba snickered at the sight of their sensei frowning in mild annoyance. "Hmm, my father said he only knew you professionally at most. I must say it is a pleasure to know you, you are an inspiration to kunoichi everywhere in this village"

"Good" The redhead sniffed, "About time people recognized how awesome I am"

"...The stories about your personality don't do it justice"

"Thank you!" Kushina took it as a compliment, it was not.

Kurenai shook her head before looking kindly at her sole female student, "Are you feeling alright, Hinata?"

"Y-Yes sensei" The girl muttered from her place amidst Kushina's bosom.

"You can tell her to let you go if you want to" Her teacher sincerely hoped she did. Learning how to say no was an important step Hinata had yet to take.

"But I like hugging her!" Kushina whined, tightening her embrace. The Uzumaki was not making it easy, but it served as a better test for the girl.

"Mom/Aunt Kushina," Naruto and Karin drawl in monotone.

The older redhead huffed; "Oh fine." She gently placed the Hyuuga girl back on the ground and freed to breathe again. "OH!" Kushina raised a finger as she remembered a thought; "Wondered if after the exams you like to train with us?"

That made the Genjutsu mistress blink; "Hmm... My team is more of a sensory team than anything."

Kiba however looked excited; "Oh come one Kurenai-Sensei! This sounds like fun to me. And gets some good sparring with Naruto and Sasuke!" Akamaru barked happily in Karin's arms while she pets him.

Did dog-breathe actually not call him dobe? Naruto looked genuinely surprised as he swore he heard a mild respect coming from Kiba.

Adjusting his shades Shino spoke up; "It wouldn't hurt to diversify our training."

Kurenai thought it over for a moment, "I do believe our team has been lacking in terms of raw combat prowess"

"Hey, that's what I'm here for!" Kiba retorted, feeling his pride wounded. "I'm the power house of the team!"

"And you got your ass handed to you in the prelims" Naruto felt the need remind him.

The Inuzuka growled ferally at that, but soon pressed his lips and let the growl die down in his throat. "Yeah... Guess I still have a long way to go. That bitch-UCK!" Kurenai bonked him in the head. "That... Kumo girl I mean knew how to overpower me in close quarters. Hmph, would have fought differently had I mastered the combined transformation technique yet"

Kushina's eyes lit up, "Ohhh you mean the one you Inuzuka's fuse with your dogs and turn into giant multi-headed monsters?"

"You can do that?" Naruto's hands flew to his head, "Th-That is so cool!"

"Damn right it's cool," Kiba smirked with pride as he puffed his chest.

For which Shino quickly deflated him; "You still have not fully mastered your Shadow Beast Clone with Akamaru."

"Shut up! Sis likes to rub that in enough as it is!"

A snort came from Kushina; "I imagine Hana-chan could runs circles around you!" Kiba only slumped forward with a whine that came from the little puppy.

"You can't rely on big flashy techniques all the time, Kiba" Shino reminded him, "Why? Because you will not always have the chakra needed to perform them"

Kiba threw his head back and groaned, "Must be nice to be a chakra tank like you" He said to Naruto.

"Can't complain" The blonde replied. It really saved his skin plenty of times before.

"Chakra levels only get you so far. Look at your teammate's father" Kushina gestured to Shino, "I know for a fact Shibi's reserves are decent enough, but he's got such fine control of his bugs he can pretty much make them devour a good chunk of a forest"

Kushina then pointed to Hinata; "Hitomi was one the best users of the Byakugan with her sheer precision. Hiashi was always amazingly skilled at their clan's Taijutsu." She noticed the distance in Hitomi's daughter's eyes. Kushina doubt Hiashi would tell her, but she wanted to speak to him anyways what had happened in the years she was gone. "However the Byakugan while their greatest strength it's also a crunch if you're not careful. A chakra-laced flashbang is a great tool to use against dōjutsu."

Hinata winced as she recalled lessons about the Byakugan's weakness.

"Main point though, all of you are still Genin. You're just getting into this, and you have not even scratched the surface of where you could go." Kushina crossed her arms under her bust; "Right now you're all rookies. As Sakumo-sensei said; 'untested blades are never safe to bring to battle.'"

Kiba deadpanned; "In other words buckle down and train our asses off."

"BINGO!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

To say Sasuke didn't like to open up to people was like saying water was wet. It kind of went unsaid, something everybody knew for a fact. So for Naruto to see him like this, eager yet nervous, masked beneath a veil of carefully maintained indifference, he knew this was one of those moments he would treasure. When Sasuke casually asked his team to be there for his first summoning, he understood the Uchiha needed somebody to be there because this was important to him in more ways than he could properly put into words beyond his usual grunts.

Sakura stood with her arms folded in front of her while Kakashi lazily stood behind them, hands in his pockets. Naruto and his mother were nearly bouncing on their feet, excited to see who would Sasuke's first summoned partner.

The Uchiha in question looked resolute, staring at nothing in particular as he stood in the middle of the training field surrounded by his teammates. No more delays, no more excuses, it was time to live to his mother's legacy.

His hands flew into the handsigns pattern with great proficiency, as he had practiced them many times before, biting into his thumb to draw blood and slamming his palm on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Smoke burst forth from the summoning array that formed around his hand.

Sasuke let out a sharp breath. He had done it, he had taken the first step towards his mother's tradition, that of his grandfather and great-grandfather. And so would he follow it with his pride held high not just as an Uchiha, but as Mikoto's son. He was certain his partner would be the one he needed for such journey, an equally proud and strong fighter just like-

"EKKKKK! I can't believe I got summoned!"

A voice whose sheer excitement and joy that made Sasuke shiver made itself known.

With blinding speed, a blur popped out of the smoke, barreling into him with enough force to send him to the ground. Sasuke grunted as the newcomer pressed with their pawns against his chest and shoved their face right into his.

"Am I your partner?!" A white Bengal tiger, a cub no bigger than a housecat, cried out with the intensity of a hundred toddlers high up on sugar. "I am aren't I?! AHHHHHHHHHHH!" The far too cheerful tiger shrieked.

The white tiger cub affectionately rubbed her face with a loud purr against Sasuke's whose eye twitched. The tiger cub must be under the category of what people called 'adorable' because both Sakura and Kushina squealed so loud Kakashi and Naruto had to cover their ears.

"She is so cute!" The Uzumaki matriarch gushed in utter delight. "You are a she right?" The white tiger cub turned to look at her with blinking blue eyes; "Hi! Kushina Uzumaki, I was friends with the previous Tiger summoner Mikoto Uchiha."

The tiger gasped; "YOU'RE KUSHINA UZUMAKI!? But the chief said you were dead." leaping off young Sasuke much to his relief the tiger circled the redhead sniffing; "You don't smell dead. Why aren't you dead? Was the chief lying?"

Everyone blinked at how fast those questions came in rapid-fire without so much of a breath. Kushina however remained unaffected; "Almost died. Got stuck in a scroll for a while."

"OHHH! Bet that sucked." The tiger said bluntly before smiling showing her sharp fangs; "I'm Ty Lee Hello! Yes I'm a girl!" Before anyone could blink Ty lee had ran back to Sasuke leaping up. Unconsciously he caught her before she could hug him with her paws and lick his face spiritedly.

Naruto tried as hard as he could to reign in his laughter, shoulders shaking wildly, he feared he might slip up but he just found this utterly hilarious. Kakashi hid his face in his book but his shoulders gave him away. This had to be karma or something!

Naruto had a look like he just achieved eternal bliss, "I want to thank all the gods in heaven for witnessing this moment"

Sasuke grunted as he kept Ty Lee as far away from his face as his arms would allow. "Glad you're enjoying this..."

"Ohhhh immensely!"

"Imma be the best partner ever, just you watch!" Ty Lee swore passionately, "We're gonna have tons of adventures, and we're gonna have fun, and, and, and eat lots of sweets!" She happily said as she wiggled in his grasp.

This cub was like the polar opposite of Hien.

Sakura tried to reign her giggling, tried being the key word. "I-I'm honestly surprised you got one like... this" Hyperactive didn't feel enough to properly describe how energetic Ty Lee was.

"I want to change. Right now" Sasuke demanded.

"Awww don't be like that, you sour puss!" The cub admonished.

Kushina chuckled, "Oh so sorry Sasuke, these are the rules. First one you summon is gonna be your main partner" The Uchiha looked like he was going to protest more, until Kushina gave him a sly smile. "Wouldn't want to break the same rules your mother followed would you?"

The glare he was giving her could have set her ablaze, but he hanged his head and sighed in defeat. "Fine..." He sternly looked at the white tiger. "But you better tone this attitude you have down, I don't do that stuff"

"You don't do happiness, excitement, the joy at all the wonderful things life can give you?" The tiger questioned.

"Yeah. None of that"

"Hmph!" Ty Lee pouted at him, "You're no fun! But just you wait, I'm gonna stick around just so I can get a smile out of your frowny face!"

Kushina smiled widely to herself, before noticing the look Kakashi was giving her. There was no rule about 'first summon is your main partner'. That didn't make any sense to begin with as a summoner could summon any specific creature for the task at hand. You didn't have to stick with one on a longer basis than you did with any other animal unless you wanted to.

The Uzumaki matriarch just winked at him, asking him to keep quiet with that simple gesture. Kakashi sighed; well perhaps this Ty Lee cub would be good for Sasuke. A more counterbalancing influence on his life perhaps, time would tell.

"So what do you do for fun?" Ty Lee asked her summoner upon being set down.

"I train" He curtly replied.

"That's no fun! You should chase mice!"

"Are you a tiger or a housecat..?"

XxX ~ the following day ~ XxX

She had begun to notice to crowd of people was steadily growing as the days rolled by since coming to the Hidden Leaf Village. People were no doubt excited for the 3rd stage of the Chunin exams, though as far as her personal opinions go on being ninja in this age, Kuroreimei found it utterly laughable.

In a time long passed she recalled the true assassins who were masters of the shadows and blades. If you had managed to see a true shinobi, you were already dead. These 'ninja' as far as she was concerned were glorified government funded mercenaries.

Still, they served a purpose she supposed.

The balance of the Elemental Nations was delicate to maintain, but such balance had quickly become stagnation in less than a century. Now the ninjas were locked in a pointless cycle of retaliation. Attack, defend, counter-attack, and prepare for the next conflict. Such narrow sighted path was no way to live. Humans always had trouble looking at the bigger picture and thinking long term.

And she was meant to find an inheritor of Rama's Will here of all places?

The pale dark haired woman sighed to herself. Was she doing the right thing, or just trusting blindly in prophecies? How was she even going to witness such a will, it wasn't something that anyone could just show out of the blue.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted as she was caught off guard by a young blond haired boy that smacked into her and making both her and the blond hit the ground hard.

Naruto let out a groan as he shook his head, he was so caught up on the fact he was late for practice he had not noticed someone in his path and ran into her. Rubbing his eyes with right hand, his left felt he was grabbing something really soft. "Do you always run into a lady and grab their breasts young man?"

The blond froze before lowering his hand and finding himself on-top of a raven hair woman in a red kimono who was dryly staring at him. With his other hand holding one of her breasts. Kuro swore the boy teleported off of her now standing with an intense blush covering his cheeks. "I-I'M SORRY!" he outright in a panic yelled waving his arms frantically.

"Hmph" She stood up, dusting off her kimono. The woman kept a perfectly controlled expression in her face despite the mild irritation she felt. "No harm done" Honestly, to have been so distracted by her own thoughts she didn't notice someone running at full speed, shame on her.

The boy was still doing everything he could to avoid looking at her in the eye. Pre-teens...

"So, do I not get to know your name after you got so forward with me?" She gave him a teasing smile.

"I-I said I was sorry!" He quickly sputtered. "N-Naruto Uzumaki, ma'am"

Her smile shattered as her red eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise. "Uzumaki you say"

Well now... interesting.

"Uh, yeah" The blonde scratched his neck awkwardly. "Guess you heard of my clan?"

"Enough to know you're supposed to be redhead"

"Oi! It's the genes' fault!"

"Of course" She humored him, and scrutinized him with a critical eye before giving him a friendly smile. "My name is Kuroreimei. Kuro if you'd rather avoid the mouthful"

"Nice to meet you!" He gave her a beaming smile which showed all his teeth. "Can we forget... 'That' ever happened?"

She chuckled. "No problem. Now" She softly bowed to look at him closer. "You were in a big hurry, don't you need to keep going?"

His blue eyes widened, as though he had just realized. "Crap, you're right!" He began sprinting once again, giving her a last look and a wave as he spun mid-step. "Sorry about earlier, see ya!" And disappeared on a corner.

Kuroreimei chuckled to herself, such a fun kid... The humor in her quickly died down, her brow furrowing in deep thought. Someone from that line... So the Uzumaki carried on. Was this what the seer had seen? Was this where that legendary will would be reborn?

The Queen of Lanka did not believe in coincidences. She would keep a close eye on that boy.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto let out a long weary sigh. Not only did he bump into some lady he had accidentally groped her as well. And if that was not enough his mother added a few 'EXTRA' hour of training for being late.

Oh he felt so damn sore in places he never thought possible!

Heading through the village to get some ramen for a break he spotted someone who made him smile; "Haku-chan!"

The said Hyoton user perked up upon hearing her name and turned seeing Naruto run up to her. "Naruto-kun." Beside her were Kouhei and Chojuro.

"Sup," The whip wielder of Haku's team said casually before grimacing; "What the hell happen to you?"

The question came to the look of blond Uzumaki. Front head to toe he looked like he was in small-scale war. Even his clothes were in partial tatters "Sparring lesson with my mom."

Haku winced but kept a friendly smile, "I see she did not go easy on you" The twitch in his eye did not look healthy. "We were just heading over to train ourselves"

"Right" Naruto said as he remembered, "You and Chojuro are gonna fight in the final exams" He placed his arms akimbo, as he looked at the two. "So, Yugito-chan and the Suna girl. Kind of like your opposites in the fight I think, one is fire the other is long range"

"It will be a challenge" Haku admitted, "But we're confident in our chances"

Kouhei snorted, "You're confident, four eyes here can't stop shaking at the thought"

The young swordsman let out a sad whine and looked down on the ground.

Haku gave him a reproaching stern glare, "Kouhei..."

"What? If he can't man up for his round, then he's not gonna impress anyone to get a promotion, much less actually win his match"

Naruto deadpanned, "Says the guy who lost his match"

A vein throbbed underneath the whip wielder's forehead. "Hey, my opponent was a total freak!"

He wasn't wrong in that regard. Gaara was a beast, plain and simple. But... knowing he was a jinchuuriki, Naruto couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. He could only imagine what he went through. To kill as to 'justify his existence'... he couldn't even begin to describe how messed up that was. The things Suna must have done to Gaara for him to develop that sort of mentality, that... sheer bloodlust, that overall sense of wrongness. It made Naruto feel much more grateful his later childhood was relatively happier and much safer than whatever Gaara had been through.

He felt the need to help Gaara, because Naruto could feel the pain and loneliness that laid beneath, he understood it very well...

He shook his head out of those depressing thoughts, he didn't even know how to help Gaara in the first place. So he focused on the present, a curious thought coming to the forefront of his mind as he remembered a peculiar detail of that fight in the prelims.

"You still slapped him around real good though. Didn't know you had a water element that strong"

"Yeah," Kouhei's tone was outright dismissive. He soon turned his head to look away.

The three teens were taken aback by how un-talkative Ringo was about using that powerful water element. You would think having something like that you'd least brag about it. But ever since the month for the 3rd exams begun Haku had told Naruto that Kouhei went quiet when by upon being mentioned.

Like he hated it, for whatever reason.

"Why didn't you use it before? Your water affinity is through the roof, man"

"Cause I didn't feel like it, okay?" Tough his eyes were mostly hidden by his hair, they could feel the intense glare coming from them.

Haku's gaze softened considerably. She had tried asking Zabuza about what they had seen in the prelims, and even though it was beyond obvious the bandaged man knew something, he kept it hidden underneath vague lies, 'How should I know?' he had said, 'Kouhei's business are his own'. And it was obvious Zabuza knew Haku didn't buy it, but whatever the truth was, he wasn't talking. No, Kouhei would have to tell them on his own volition eventually. If that day ever came at all.

Naruto couldn't really understand it himself. But it looked like he wasn't getting any answers out of the Ringo anytime soon, so he just let it slide. None of his business, Kakashi-sensei would say. Of course, that hadn't stop Naruto before, but even he could tell Kouhei wasn't nearly even ready to talk about this subject that burdened him so much.

"You guys want to go eat some time?" Naruto asked changing the subject.

Haku gave a light nod; "When we can." The Ringo gave a quick thumbs up with nod from Chojuro.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

One would think serving as the entrance gatekeepers would be the most tedious job in the whole village. But Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki knew better, contrary to popular belief, most of the time it was actually the main entrance by which enemy ninja would try to sneak in. A good ninja hid himself in plain sight, disguised as simple civilians, merchants or the like. As such, it was their duty to see through the disguises of any potential enemy Nin. Proper documentation was only the first step, and with the final part of the exams soon to roll in, there were lots of forgeries going around. A quick snap of their fingers and the ANBU stationed there would soon take down whoever they thought was a threat. Never did Kotetsu and Izumo let pass someone who they knew was lying about their identity.

Until today in which they had specific orders to let one such person pass that is.

The documentation was good, very good even... In fact it was too good, how the hell would a mere tourist get something signed by the scribes of the Fire Court itself? The seal was a dead giveaway.

Kotetsu kept his bandaged face carefully impassive, the person before him was doing a terrible job at trying to look inconspicuous. Baggy pants and a hoodie with which she hid most of her face, though he could still see the traces of soft rose hair and her pale green eyes were as clear as day, the posture was tense, her face betrayed every kind of emotion, this person doing such a poor job at sneaking in she might as well be carrying a sign that said; 'amateur'.

They had been informed the moment she left the capital of course. She did not do a very good job at leaving quietly either...

Izumo gave her a friendly smile, "Everything seems to be in order. Enjoy our beautiful village"

"Thank you!" The young woman said, a touch too exuberantly. "I will!" And walked inside the village with a quick pace. Trying to avoid any further conversations with the ninjas.

The bandanna wearing chūnin sighed, "She's doing a terrible job at sneaking in"

"Give her a break" Kotetsu came to her defense, "The lady hasn't been trained in stealth" He then tapped the button on the radio communicator around his neck. "She's in, Hokage-sama"

"Good job" Came their leader's voice through the radio.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Your part is done, let the ANBU tail her from now on" Said the aged Hokage as stared through his crystal ball at the young woman in a hoodie.

"My lord" The voice of Neko at his side asked with concern, "Is this wise? With all the recent events, the exams might not be the safest place for her"

"Orochimaru has yet to show himself again, besides, she is more than capable of taking care of herself" Hiruzen leaned back on his chair, taking a drag from his pipe. "Furthermore, Akiha-sama felt she earnt this chance to indulge herself. He believes it might quell the rebellious streak she's been having lately"

"Far be it from me to go against the daimyo's wishes" Said the purple haired ANBU, "I am just concerned is all, this is all very unorthodox"

"Hmph" Hiruzen let out a short laugh, "Considering who your teacher is, I thought you would be in favor of being a bit unorthodox every now and then"

"I strive to uphold myself to the standards I developed under Kushina-sensei's tutelage" Said Neko, "That is, always do the opposite of what she would do"

The Hokage nodded in approval, "That is wise" He looked once more at the crystal ball, and saw the young woman sitting on the outdoor tables of a coffee shop. "Now, let's make sure our dear princess stays out of trouble"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

She had done it! She had successfully sneaked into Konoha to see the exams! Great victory for Maiyuri Sasaki!

Ohhh she had been so nervous at first. But remembering her requests of going to see the Chūnin Exams being denied by her father on multiple occasions fueled her drive to act so... irresponsibly.

She wasn't going to lie, she kind of liked this sensation.

Maiyuri bit back a sigh, fiddling with a lock of her rose hair. Yuma was being a very bad influence of her, she could just imagine her giving her a thumbs up at this ridiculous plan of her.

Though the exams weren't the only reason she wanted to leave the capital. She would not be doing this if that were the case. She just... couldn't take it anymore. She was a young woman of age, she could make her own decisions, but most of her life she had lived secluded in the palace, learning the art of statesmanship and war. The only times she had glimpsed the outside world was when she trained with the monks at the Fire Temple, or whenever Yuma was in town and she would take her on one of their wild escapades.

Aside from that, all her life had been her education on politics and martial combat, nothing else.

Maiyuri loved her father, she truly did, but sometimes she felt he was not giving her the liberties she required. Like he did not trust her to keep herself safe. She wanted to go outside, see their nation for what it was, to see their people and mingle with them. Only then would she truly feel capable of one day inheriting her father's throne.

She had grown up hearing about ninja, and had even seen some in person. But those were experienced adults, now that she was in Konoha, she couldn't help but be... disturbed at how young some of them were.

Some couldn't be older than twelve...

The princess wasn't naive by any stretch. But the fact that child soldiers were more than a concept and an actual practice bothered her greatly. Children should not be plunged into life or death battles, blindly thrown into the horrors of war.

"Your mom is making ramen again? How you two have not suffered several heart attacks by now I'll never know"

"It's all in the attitude, you have to respect ramen and it will respect you"

"Do you hear yourself talk sometimes? That is not stuff normal people say"

"Then I don't wanna be normal"

"Mission accomplished…"

Her eyes glanced around and noticed a blond boy with whiskers speaking to a rosette haired girl. The Kyuubi Jinchurriki, of course she knew of their nation's 'trump card'. It made her sick that the poor boy was made into a weapon without a single choice in the matter.

His looks alone screamed Namikaze. Personally Maiyuri believed the secrecy of his heritage was a big farce, but then again, people didn't see what they didn't want to see. And any semblance of keeping his parentage a secret was gone with the return of his mother, the legendary Red Death.

To think she had been alive but in hiding all this time... At least that was the official story; Hiruzen-dono had of course informed her father who had confided in her the truth. A scroll that saved her life, truly, the prowess of the Uzumaki seal craft was unrivaled.

Just thinking about what the adults alone had to go through made her worry about the future generations of ninja. The clans had banded with the intent of stopping the cycle of conflict, but it had only expanded between villages. One step forward and two steps backwards. The history of the Elemental Nations in a nutshell.

Perhaps one day she could make things different.

"Sometime you have to break from your cage and spread your wings to show people you're ready."

Maiyuri sighed as her longtime friend's words echoed in her head. Easier said than done when you're the child of the daimyo. Granted once her father caught wind of what she had done to get here there would be an enormous scolding awaiting for her back home. But until she actually saw the world for what it really was, she knew in her heart she wouldn't be a good ruler otherwise.

So she would see what Konoha had to show her. All of it, whether it was good or bad.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Prophecies were a curious thing; this the Toad Elder Gamamaru had come to learn in his long years. His gift of foresight wasn't as clear as many would expect, sometimes he himself had trouble understanding what he was seeing.

The future was often foggy, or perhaps a better analogy would be to say that it was like turbulent waters, always moving and shifting on its multiple paths. The further you tried to look away, the more it diverged on its paths. Few oracles could tell the future with utmost certainty, often due to the gifts of the gods.

But knowing the future carried a risk, that of making it a self-fulfilled prophecy. In that way one could say the stream of time also went backwards in full circle.

The vision Gamamaru had seen long ago, that of the Child of the Prophecy that would bring peace in a tumultuous era, as time went on he uncovered more and more details. The promised time felt closer than ever, and many pieces on the board were starting to move.

Throughout the years Gamamaru had seen and heard of various individuals that could potentially be the Child. Minato had been promising, but had been cut short before his time. And that boy Jiraiya trained in Ame who had inherited the Rinnegan too had been slain according to the Sannin.

There was also Naruto to consider but... There was something that made him pause. Could it possibly be that only one person was the Child? His vision could have been symbolic; after all, more than one individual could inherit a will.

His vision lately had shown him another image, one far more clearer than the ones that came before. That of a magnificent hero who had saved the world once. The message was obvious.

The Child of the Prophecy would be someone that would inherit Rama's Will.

When darkness would be at its peak, evil at the cusp of victory and hope hung by a thread. The inheritor would only smile and fight with all their might to the bring darkness into light. To think such a will would return once more.

"All roads point to Konoha"

The Chūnin Exams, he could feel it, it was a pivotal point that would set off a chain of events.

"Fate points there" The soft feminine voice of his companion spoke, red eyes lost in thought. "Are you certain?"

"As certain as I can be, old friend" The elder spoke, leaning back on his great throne.

"Hmm, I guess it makes sense. Shishou's descendants live there after all" She replied with a small shake of her head, white hair with a touch of soft blue swaying as she did so.

"Are you planning on traveling there?"

"Only for a moment" She said as she stood up, brushing her white and red kimono. "I've much to do still" A smile graced her lips, "But it would be nice to see them" She looked at the toad elder, "Have you told your student the full truth, Gamamaru?"

"Not yet" The great toad replied. "But soon, it is time Jiraiya assumes his duties fully. So we must tell him of the past"

The woman gave a nod; "It will be a lot for him to take."

"Jiraiya can endure; he is a strong willed one."

An amused smirked crossed her lips; "And rather stubborn as well as I hear."

Gamamaru chuckled; "That he is."

Her mood soon darkened, "…Once again, war is on the horizon. And the fate of the world hangs in the balance" She took a deep breath before determination returned to her eyes. "So we must be ready. We must continue to seek allies, only then will we stand a chance"

"Those who inherit Rama's Will, will be at the center of it all Tomoe"

"Heh" A smile graced her lips. "Heroes who are driven by an impossible task, they are the ones who change the world"

She remembered such people fondly, their courage was magnificent. Though eras may pass, the flame of that spirit would never die.

"Teacher" Tomoe swore passionately, "I won't let you down"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Some would say it was too early to start drinking, well Jiraiya was a self-proclaimed Super Pervert who openly perved on pretty women. It was obvious by this point he didn't care what people thought about him. After devoting much of his efforts to find his former-best-friend-turned-nemesis with absolutely nothing to show for, he thought about starting the day with a way to make it bearable.

Oh alcohol, the source and solution to all of life's problems.

He tilted the sake plate up as he drank the last drops, setting it down with a heavy sigh. The rays of the sun descended upon his face on rectangular patterns through the terrace roof. He idly grabbed the jug next to him on the large chair he was sitting on; shaking it slightly to feel how much sake was left in.

Good, plenty to get wasted.

Not enough to drown his frustrations sadly.

He set the jug down with a grunt. Regardless of what others thought, Jiraiya was convinced Orochimaru was still somewhere in the village, he could feel it, but that snake of his former teammate was just too slippery. He knew the village inside and out, trying to find him would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

He had ANBU patrolling through every sewer and dark corner he could find, Inuzuka trackers and Aburame literally having their bugs spy through the cracks in buildings. Yet nothing of Orochimaru was yet to appear again. The only thing Jiraiya could do at the moment was waiting and prepare.

What kind of a spymaster was he if he couldn't find an intruder in their own damn village?

He angrily filled the cup again and drank it quickly, letting out a gasp as his throat burned.

"Drowning your sorrows?" A woman's voice spoke.

Looking over the terrace, Jiraiya found that a great beauty of a woman stood before him. Skin like porcelain, she had white hair with a tint of blue that framed the sides of her face and covered a part of her forehead, while the rest was pulled up in a long ponytail. Her heart shaped face was lovely, without any blemish, and her eyes were an exotic red. The white kimono top she wore had a red and black obi that accentuated her generous bust. And those dark blue hakama pants of her did leave a good part of thighs visible.

In any other occasion, Jiraiya would be all over her and most likely getting slapped at this very moment. But right now he was a few drinks in and too pissed to consider it.

"Drowning my frustration more like it" He grumbled, giving the stranger another look over. "We haven't met, miss...?" He prompted.

"Tomoe" She introduced herself with a polite smile and a short bow. "Tomoe Gozen"

"Nice to meet ya" He nodded back, "Jiraiya of the Sannin. No last name to speak of" He poured more sake into the plate. "Care to join me?"

"Um" She looked very nervous of all sudden; "I-I'll pass" She stammered. Odd. Tomoe then cleared her throat, "I've heard much about you"

"All true, I assure you" Jiraiya bragged before pausing, "Unless it was about the bad stuff, in that case, all lies"

The red eyed woman giggled, "Gamamaru was right, you seem to be quite the character"

The Toad Sage stopped just as he was bringing the sake to his lips; he gave the woman a critical look as he set it down. "Gamamaru... You can't possibly refer to a big old toad can you?"

"He's a friend" She replied. "The toads are old allies of mine"

"Huh" Jiraiya tilted an eyebrow suspiciously, "Never mentioned you"

At that, the young woman let out a wary sigh, "I've... been away for a long time. I don't blame them for believing I was no longer among the living"

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe you right away. Can't take anyone's words at face value in this business"

"Understandable" She reached into obi and pulled out a coin, she flicked it his way and he caught it on his hand. The coin had the kanji for oil, the same one he had on his own forehead protector. It had a certain smell to it, the kind belonging to the oil you only found in their mountains. "I trust this prove I'm an ally of them, and by extension, yours"

There was only one way she could have gotten this, the toads gave it to her.

"...This ain't a social visit I gather"

"Not exactly" The woman said regretfully as she approached him, taking a seat right in front of him.

"You are a sage too aren't you?"

"Indeed" She replied with a nod, "I came here because you are a sage as well, and there are things you need to know, things the toads have deemed you ready to hear"

His mind raced, wondering at the possibilities of what she could be talking about, "I already known about the Sage of Six Paths, and the Ten Tails. The toads were very forthcoming about it"

"Yes... but have you ever wondered what came before that?" Her gaze became lost, longing even. There was pain and nostalgia in those eyes. "The world... there is something wrong with it. Things happened that were never meant to happen. I heard about your quest, how you hope to bring peace to these lands, but for that there is much you need to know Jiraiya-san. Things that were put into motion a long time ago"

He looked at her with a confused stare, pondering, trying to grasp the magnitude of what she was trying to say. Part of him didn't believe it, he was almost certain the toads would have told him whatever it was this woman wanted to share with him. But... were they right perhaps, that he hadn't been ready yet? His own status as a senjutsu master was very lackluster all things considered, he couldn't even enter sage mode without turning halfway into a toad...

Oh boy, he was about to have his world turned upside down all over again wasn't he? This was going to be like when the elders talked to him about the Sage of Six Paths...

"Great" He readied himself by drinking his cup fully; shaking his head he motioned for the woman to go on. "Have at it then, I'll listen to whatever you have to say"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Humming a tune to herself, Kushina in a simple shirt and Anbu pants with sandals walked through the market district of Konoha with idle glances to each shop. Today being a rest from training for everyone the Uzu matriarch decided to take a gander at the market and see how much has changed in twelve years. A part of her felt relieved this area had not changed much at all, save a few new shops had cropped up.

She stopped and smirked at the sight of Kizashi and Mebuki's shop. A chuckle escaped her lips remembering fondly how Kizashi boldly claimed the Haruno mini-market will be the best in the Nation. She wondered how that dream was going.

Her decision made, she started towards the modest business before letting out a quick shriek and fell on her backside. The crowd all sharply turned to her as the redhead groaned and rubbed her sore rump. "What the he-" Her question stopped as she noticed a banana peel...

Seriously... A banana peel?

That did not just happen to her; a ninja does not slip on a banana peel... Except when she pulled the same pranks on other ninja when she was little.

Could it be-?

No, that would be ridiculous. Must have been thrown away by some dumbass that ate the fruit and didn't have the courtesy of just throwing it into a trash can. Stretching her back, the redhead continued on, choosing to ignore this had ever happened. She opened the door to see the familiar faces of the married couple who greeted her with a smile as she entered their mini-market.

"Ahhh Kushina! Welcome, welcome!" The rosette haired man waved at her behind the cashier as his wife swept the floor.

Mebuki warmly said, "So good to see you again"

"I just came by to buy some things at the best store in the village! ...But it was closed, I settled for this place"

Kizashi rolled his eyes, "Oh ha, ha. You made that joke only about a hundred times"

"Well, I gotta make up for the last twelve years" The redhead said with a grin. She walked into one of the aisles, losing sight of two behind the shelves. She skipped the medicine and bathroom items section and went straight for the fruit and vegetables at the end of the store.

Kushina knelt down and smelled the nice red apples, picking up one to check out its firmness. "Look's niIIIIH!" She dropped it the moment a worm appeared from a hole.

"What's wrong?!" Mebuki came running, finding the redhead in an awkward position and avoiding a fallen apple like the plague

"Worm!" Kushina pointed at the fruit.

Sakura's mother made a disgusted face, "Oh fantastic" She picked it up using a bag as a glove, "Hope it's the only one. Sorry about that Kushina" She spoke as she went back to the front to throw it out, leaving the Uzumaki alone again.

"Not your fault..." She sighed. Well so far this day was not going too well. But, it could only go up from here.

Perhaps choosing a dessert would cheer her up. She went over the refrigerators and opened the door, peering inside to look over the various yogurts and ice-cream boxes. Hmm, what to take, what to take...

"The new brand of strawberry yogurt is delicious ma'am" She turned to see an employee with in an apron, a man who didn't look older than thirty, common looks, shaggy dark hair, accommodating various items on the aisle next to the frosty products. "The one with the red cover"

"Oh" She spotted the dessert in question, a six-pack. They looked nice enough, maybe she would try it out tonight. "Thanks!"

"My pleasure" He smiled at her and continued his work on another aisle.

Placing the yogurts into her bag, Kushina stepped back to close the door on the fridge... only to find her hand was stuck to the handle. She blinked a couple of times as she tried letting go, but it was no use, it was as though her hand had been glued to it.

"Oh come on!" She tugged harder and harder, her frustration growing as she let out an irritated growl and pulled with all her strength... tearing the fridge's door off its hinges. "Uh oh"

Kizashi and Mebuki had run over upon the sound of tearing metal. Both froze and gawked at the sight of Kushina holding the fridge door with it no longer attached to said refrigerator; "WHAT THE HELL KUSHINA!"

"Not my fault someone put superglue on the handle!" The redhead said quickly waving her free arm childishly.

With a bit of effort Sakura's parents freed Kushina's hand as Mebuki frowned; "What happened?"

The redhead groaned as Kizashi took the glue off her hand; "That employee guy of yours said you had some good yogurt in stock. Next thing I now, I have a freaking fridge door stuck to my hand" She blinked to notice the odd looks she got from both; "What?"

"Sakura is the only employee we have." Mebuki spoke quietly

Immediately the trio went still with Kushina slowly pulling out a Kunai from her pocket. Her steps were silent as she gazed through each aisle till spotting the 'supposed employee'. Like the wind she was behind him with her kunai at his throat. "Who-"

However, before she could interrogate the man bursted into a cloud of smoke. Sakura's parents ran over "Kushina!" The Haruno matriarch called out. Turning the aisle both covered their mouths barely covering a loud snort at seeing the Uzumaki redhead covered in glitter...

Pink glitter at that, the entire front of her body was shining like a disco ball. Her eyes were closed and her expression controlled but you could see the cracks beginning to form. Kushina opened her mouth slowly and stuck out her tongue, which too was full of glitter, she spat a few times, running a hand over her tongue as to clean it.

Mebuki wasted no time in bringing the Uzumaki woman a wet towel to clean herself. First thing she did was clean her face before furiously scrubbing herself clean. "So that's how you wanna play huh? Well then, I'm game..."

"Is... everything okay?" Kizashi asked; only to receive a very dry and angry glare. "Okay, dumb question. Better one, what the hell is going on?"

"Somebody" She seethed through clenched teeth as she rubbed her clothes furiously to clean them, "is pranking me" The banana peel, the worm in the apple, the door, the human piñata with glitter, it was all very obvious to her now.

"You?" Mebuki replied incredulously, "That's an ironic twist for once"

"Ohohohoho" The Uzumaki chuckled darkly, "They have no idea what they got themselves into. They don't call me the Prankster Queen of Konoha for nothing"

Kizashi dryly spoke, "Nobody ever called you that except yourself"

"No time!" She dramatically declared with a fist pump, "I have to plan my counter-attack!" Before the married couple could say anything else, Kushina ran out to the front of the store.

She nearly stormed with her hurry, if not for noticing the bucket of water hanging on the ceiling, connected by a thin piece of rope and tied to the door. "Pfft, how dumb do you think I am?" With a flick of her wrist and a kunai flying, she cut the rope and carefully opened the door, all the while keeping an eye on the bucket just in case. When this one didn't so much as move, she allowed herself a smile as she face forward once again.

Then a creamy pie hit her in the face.

This was the sight Sakura and Ino came to just outside the shop. Both young girls were wide eyed as the older redhead wiped off her face with her hand; "Are you okay Sensei?" The pinkette meekly spoke seeing Kushina's expression being utterly blank.

Both were graced with a warm smile; "I'm fine Sakura, hello Ino. Could you two be dears and move aside?" doing as she asked she gave nod; "Thank you!" In a blink dust flew from where Kushina stood as she started running; "YOU WANT A WAR WITH AN UZUMAKI MADWOMAN YOU GOT IT! PREPARE FOR HELL!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Shock etched on the faces of the eternal chunin as they all heard the echoing roar of Kushina Uzumaki. Standing at the booth Saito sighed beside his son, a pouting Lyn, and indifferent Kya. "The man who dashed ahead is with us so please don't send ANBU to kill him." Saito spoke with a sigh while Kushina kept screaming throughout the village.

"Why couldn't I go with Samenosuke?!" Lyn whined in a childish manner. Her girlfriend only facepalmed with a shake of her head.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"My, she hasn't changed a bit" The long haired redhead muttered to himself as he looked over a corner on the alley he was hiding. It had been dirty business preparing all those wonderful trap-pranks, got a bit of the stuff on his jacket and hakama pants, the bangs of hair that reached his chest had a bit of glitter in them as well but it was all worth it. "Heh, still has those big lungs"

The screams didn't feel like they belonged to a human, but a very savage animal.

Was it childish? Oh definitely, but he couldn't think of a better way to start reconnecting with Kushina. The two often played pranks on each other when they were kids back in Uzu. So doing this felt right, like going back to simpler times before the tragedy happened.

For years they had remained hidden, away from the only family they knew because they feared slipping up and alerting their enemies of their presence. It wasn't entirely blameless to act like that, more than a few times those accursed snakes had chased them across the nations. Seeking to wipe their bloodline from the face of the earth.

Then they heard Kushina died, and only then did they realize they wasted their chance.

Then Maya-chan, Soujiro's mother, died in childbirth. And Saito swore to keep his son out of danger through any means necessary. Samenosuke loved the man as a brother; he couldn't see how much this wasn't healthy for his son. He bit back a sigh; hoping coming here would do the boy good. Today was a happy occasion; they would reunite their family at last.

Hearing the news of Kushina surviving, it was the best thing he had heard in years.

Samenosuke smiled happily to himself, finding great joy in hearing Kushina rage, it meant she was still the same Kushina they knew even after all these years.

The Uzumaki woman stepped over the blanket that camouflaged itself with the ground very well, letting out a cute cry as she fell into the sinkhole he had dig up and filled.

There was a very short splash of liquid. Oh it wasn't water.

A green slimy hand rose from the whole, grasping the edge and pulling the rest of the body up. A creature covered in bright neon slime came out, like straight out of an old horror movie, the blanket had wrapped itself around her body, and it too had become drenched in the liquid. Giving the woman an unnatural appearance, as she dragged herself up, moaning unnaturally like a creature of the deep.

A few civilians heard something in the alley and soon screamed and ran in terror as an enrage Kushina walked out snarling like a beast; "Oh you're so dead." Her voice seethed as he eyes locked on a figure on the opposite side in the allies; "YOU'RE MINE!"

People gave the slime drenched woman a wide berth as she ran through them roaring like a dragon. The moment she entered the alley the figure was gone and felt a tug on her ankle. Kushina let out a yelp as the blanket hit the ground and she was now hung upside down. But that wasn't the end as a bucket of ice water fell from above her.

People covered their ears as a loud shriek nearly made their ears bleed.

Samenosuke smirked; "Oh I bet hime is a screamer in bed." he chuckled perversely. Before noticing Kushina cut herself down and hit the ground with a thump.

Slowly the Uzumaki matriarch rose as she growled covered in glitter, pie, slime, and now soaked in water.

Was it wrong for him to smile at the sight, and thanking Kushina for wearing a white shirt and seeing the impressive bosom in a lace bra? Oh who was he kidding he loved it!

He whistled before dodging several golden chains coming for him as Kushina spotted him again. The chase was on again!

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

When the ANBU came to Naruto's home and told him there was a 'situation' going on, he already knew it was about his mother doing something. It was like she was driven to prove she was even more of a troublemaker than he ever was. Sneaking up on the Inuzuka kennels to play with hordes of puppies, trying to get a free meal by challenging Choji's dad to food competitions, things that would always got her an earful from the old man Hokage. Naruto was getting used to his mother's antics.

This was not a good thing.

So it was a huge surprise when they told him someone was actually playing pranks on HER (He had to sit down for that one), and she was currently on a warpath. So they required him to do 'damage control'.

When Naruto asked them why they couldn't do it, the ANBU informed him (happily he noticed) she wasn't in the ANBU anymore so she wasn't their problem, and so they could sub-contract it to the first shmuck they could find. It just so happened this shmuck was her son and as such responsible for her actions.

He was new to this whole 'being a son' thing, but he was pretty sure it was the other way around...

Naruto sighed as he was about to leave the house, "Hey Karin, can you track my mom?!" He called out to the girl who was in the other room.

"She's running through the north-east district and moving fast, you might want to hurry!"

Oh no way in hell he was chasing her alone, "Aren't you going to come with him?!"

"Chasing after the madwoman of your mother isn't how I want to spend my free day" Came the indignant reply.

He groaned, "I'll buy you okonomiyaki"

"...Fine" Karin grumbled as she walked up to him. "But you better keep-" Her eyes widened momentarily, gaze turning confused as she looked at their front door. "Who are they? They feel... familiar"

Naruto's brow furrowed, "They?"

There was a knock on the door; the cousins exchanged a look before Naruto went to open it. Their eyes widened at the individuals standing outside.

Redheaded individuals.

The man in the front, who looked to be in his late thirties with various lines in his face wearing a kimono, red hair pulled on a ponytail with various strands over his forehead. At his side there was a young boy about their age with scruffy red hair, two long bangs falling at the sides of his face with two thick strands falling over the bridge of his nose, wearing a much similar kimono to the older man.

And finally a woman with a WILD red mane, a heart shaped face with blue eyes and fair skin. She dressed like a classical warrior, white clothes underneath various pieces of armor like a chest piece designed to accommodate her bust, forearm and shoulder guards, her white pants were tucked tightly into the legging pieces. She donned a very distinguished sleeveless haori that was white outside and red underneath.

The man started first, clearing his throat. "Hello, you must be Naruto right? They told me we could find you here"

"What's up kiddo?!" The woman spoke up in a spirited tone and a toothy smile.

The young boy their age gave a small bow; "It's good to meet you cousin." Karin and Naruto both froze at hearing that word.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kushina landed in one of the training fields. She huffed as she glared with pure rage at the person who had been pranking the ever loving hell out of her stood in the shadows. "Just who the hell are you dattebane!"

An amused chuckle came from the figure; "Now I'm just wounded Hime. Here I thought you had guessed it by now."

The former captain lifted a brow as the figure came out of the shadows. Time itself froze as a loud gasp escaped Kushina's lips. Her rage had all but vanished as her eyes grew in size. This was a Genjutsu... It had to be! Quickly placing her hands together and generating chakra throughout her body she yelled out kai.

But nothing happened... It wasn't an illusion...

Even if he was older now, Kushina could never forget that face, that hair... Tears formed at the edge of her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled as her shoulder shook; "Samenosuke..." Her voice a horse whisper.

The roguish Uzumaki couldn't hold back his own tears as he smiled. "Hello Hime..." She moved like blur as she embraced her fellow Uzumaki who returned it in kind.

Choked sobs came the female Uzumaki; she couldn't speak as he held one of her oldest friends she thought was lost. Samenosuke was alive!

"I'm not the only one who survived." Kushina grew still as her teared filled eyes looked up at the man who tearfully grinned back.

"Kushina..."

That voice... It had aged but she knew it. Slowly detaching from Samenosuke she turned. A shudder came from her as she covered her mouth with her hand. A soft grin came from Saito as a few tears fell from his eyes.

"Niichan..." Kushina trembled as she muttered through her hand.

Saito slowly strolled forward till he stood in front of Kushina. Before he could say a word she hugged him with all her strength crying fully now. Not far behind them Lyn sighed crossing her arms under her bust. "Does not even acknowledge I'm here," She tried to sound irritated by the stray tears in her eyes belied her real feelings.

Beside her Soujiro waved his hand in front of a dumbstruck Naruto and Karin; "Are they broken?"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Try as he might, Naruto couldn't wrap his head about this new development. It felt like a weird dream or a very vivid fantasy.

But here they were, sitting on his living room... members of the Uzumaki clan. People his mother knew when she was a child. Her family.

Their family.

Nobody blamed Naruto and Karin for having to sit down to take it all in. A thousand questions ran through their heads, the same number of questions that were popping out of Kushina's face as she talked to the newcomers with the brightest smile on her face. She just sounded so happy, so very much overjoyed.

"I just can't believe you guys are alive" Kushina muttered in disbelief, "I thought you all had died in Uzushio"

"It got close" Their cousin (or uncle as he insisted) Samenosuke said as he stretched back on his seat, arms behind his back. "Even getting to the mainland was struggle after struggle"

Saito nodded gravely, "The four of us were all we had, we did everything we could to survive" His eyes grew melancholic and distant.

"Four?" Kushina frowned.

"Maya was with us" Her cousin said, his tone nearly impassive. Lyn and Samenosuke's looks became downcast. While Saito's son Soujiro remained quiet.

Kushina's eyes widened in realization, "Was..."

Saito let out a saddened sigh, "She's with our ancestors now. But she lives on in our hearts" He smiled at Soujiro, the boy met his gaze. "And in our son"

The boy looked much more composed than his father, his aunt and his uncle. Most likely because he never knew his mother, never experienced the pain of losing her himself, he grown up with the knowledge that his mother loved him, and that was all he needed to know.

Kushina fought back fresh tears before she wiped her eyes, Maya-Chan. Much like Saito was the voice of reason among their little group back in Uzushio. Out of all of them she was the most patient, kindhearted, and gentle among them.

And she was gone... But a part of her did remain. Kushina leaned over to Soujiro who looked back at her; "Yes?"

She said nothing as she simply looked at the boy. A lot of Saito resembled in his face. But she also saw a bit of Maya there as well. Kushina ran her hand through the boy's hair; "Call me Aunt Kushina. Glad to meet you Soujiro-Kun."

"I feel the same." The young boy gave a nod.

Leaning back Kushina dryly turned her gaze to Lyn who stared back; "Nice to see ya Lyn." Wow that was thick sarcasm in her voice.

"Missed you too dear." Okay that was equally heavy sarcasm right back.

Naruto shook his head before looking to Saito; "Where have you guys been?"

"Staying in the shadows. Did work where we could find it and made certain none of our enemies would find us." The oldest of the Uzumaki present paused; "Was not easy but we managed."

Kushina leaned her arms on her legs, "The snakes hounded you guys I imagine" She received a round nods, "Figures, the Kurokiba clan tried to kill me too plenty of times"

Naruto spoke up, "That's the snake clan that helped attack Uzushio right?" He recalled from the lessons he's been receiving, Karin nodded to him in confirmation.

Lyn snorted, "Helped? Orchestrated more like. Who do you think tipped Kumo and Iwa off that Tsukiko-baachan wasn't in the village anymore? Those damn snakes have been our enemies for centuries; they made damn sure they could take us out that time"

"But here we are!" Samenosuke smirked proudly, "They ain't ever gonna take down the clan. The whirlpool flows-"

"Ever onwards!" Kushina and the rest of their relatives sans Soujiro joined in a celebratory cheer. Saito, Samenosuke, Lyn and his mother all looked at each other with fondness and happiness, Naruto and Karin were left dumbfounded as they suddenly began to laugh. It was laughter of relief; a few tears escaped their eyes.

Naruto then understood his mother, his relatives; they were all feeling what he had felt when his mother came back. The joy in getting back something you thought lost. Except... he didn't know how much he needed his mother because he didn't have her growing up. These people were her family, something she held so dear to her heart that losing them must have been like losing a part of herself. Much like how she lost his father...

But fate smiled as often as it frowned. And here they were, together again, reunited after tragedy and decades of strife.

His mother's laughter gradually became sobs. Surprisingly it was Lyn who went over and hugged her first, soon joined by Samenosuke and Saito. Kushina wrapped her arms around them in desperation, clinging to them as if in fear that they would disappear.

Naruto and Karin smiled; even the ever serene Soujiro couldn't help but let his lips curl upwards at the sight.

"What are you kiddies doing there?" Lyn asked with a beaming grin, "Come here you"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"You sure they're not dead?" Lyn asked as she and the rest stood in the Hokage office after a bit of time passed at the house.

Feeling best to let the Hokage know about this surprising reunion, all the Uzumaki went together to the tower. Upon opening the door both Hiruzen and Jiraiya went stock still as they gawked at Saito, Lyn, and Samenosuke. The Sandaime and Gama Sannin had remembered them as children in Uzushio, playing with Kushina.

Both had long thought they had died in the surprise attack like the rest. But the Gods decided otherwise as the now much older trio stood at the Hokage's desk.

"I'm must still be drunk." Jiraiya muttered as he stood by the window.

"Y-You all survived," Hiruzen's voice like a whisper as he stared at each one of them.

Samenosuke gave a toothy grin and thumbs up; "Yup!"

"It has been a long time Sandaime-dono, Jiraiya-sama." Saito gave a small bow.

"...Yeah, no" The Toad Sage spoke with completely dead tone. "Not today, I just can't handle any of this crap anymore"

The other occupants in the room gave him an odd look. "Is something wrong Jiraiya?" His teacher asked him.

The Sannin gave him a strange look, as though he was barely holding back a freak out the likes of this village had never seen before. "Nope" He simply replied before taking a jug of sake from his clothes and began drinking the whole thing.

Well, it was clear Jiraiya was dealing with his own issues at the moments, so they weren't going to press. The Hokage let a bright smile form on his lips as he looked at the gathering of redheads. "My word, you have no idea how good it is to see you here"

"Preaching to the choir here" Kushina smirked.

"We thought nobody had survived" Hiruzen gravely said, "I had my ninja scour every single part of whatever was left of Uzu"

"And I had my contacts checking everywhere," Jiraiya said as he put down his jug, "But it was no use, too much chaos and confusion at the time. But now I see it's clear none of you wanted to be found"

"Exactly," Lyn chirped leaning against the wall with her arms crossed; "The Kurokiba had been hunting survivors since Uzushio fell."

Hiruzen's eyes hardened before giving a nod; "I understand." The Kurokiba were relentless, it was no wonder any Uzumaki who had survived remained hidden; "So why risk coming here?"

"We made the mistake of not being here when we knew Kushina was in Konoha. When we thought she had died we realized our mistake in being too fearful." Saito spoke with some shame in his voice; "Perhaps we could have prevented and killed that masked man." Kushina had filled them all in on what happened to her and about Naruto twelve years ago before coming here. To think there was someone responsible for that terrible day…

Saying they were angry were not sufficient enough words. But that man will get his comeuppances sooner or later.

"Or you all would have been killed like so many others when the Kyuubi rampaged;" The Hokage muttered as he shook his head; "We cannot change the past lad."

"Which is why we came when hearing our Hime was back," Samenosuke said in a rare moment of seriousness. "We had to come here. To be with our family."

It warmed his old heart to see these people reunited at long last. Already the gods had been kind to give Naruto his mother back, but now they were paying him back in full, and for that he could not be more grateful. The smile on the boy's face was one he treasured as much as Konohamaru's.

But the Hokage part of his brain reminded him it wasn't so simple, there were technicalities to address. "So, you will live in Konoha then?"

"If you'll have us" Saito respectfully replied.

As if they even had to ask, "I can grant you asylum as Konoha's old allies" He searched through his drawers for the right paperwork. "Now, I do believe you won't be joining the shinobi forces"

"No offense" Lyn scratched the back of her neck in a fashion that was all too similar to Kushina and Naruto's. "But it doesn't really feel right for us. Konoha is our friend, and we will help you if you need it. But right now fighting your enemies is not high on our list, even if some of them are our enemies as well"

"Understandable"

Jiraiya snorted, "The Council ain't gonna like that. I can already see what Homura and Koharu will say"

Hiruzen replied in a very business-like fashion, "The clans don't have every single member join the corps either; this can be considered a very similar situation. And if anyone feels that joining our forces would be fair compensation for us granting them asylum, I will more than happy to remind them of all the Uzumaki clan has done for us"

A predatory smirk grew on Lyn's lips; "If they still want to gripe just send them my way. Will gladly explain to them why Uzumaki are the last people in the world you don't mess with."

"As entertaining as it sounds," Hiruzen starting to work on the paper he needed; "It won't be necessary."

Cleaning her glasses Karin paused; "The house wouldn't have enough room for you guys."

Samenosuke waved it off; "Oh we're fine at any hotel."

"Oh hell no," Kushina said sternly with her hands on her hips; "Family stays with family."

Lyn dryly squinted much like Naruto; "Are we taking turns on the couch at night while the rest sleep on the floor? And I'm not sharing a bed with you Kushi; I have a girlfriend thank you."

"I'll gladly share a bed with Hime." Samenosuke brightly smiled lifting his hand.

"Of course you would." Every adult in the room droned as Hiruzen and Jiraiya remembered the roguish Uzumaki's antics back in Uzushio. Already a very… energetic young boy when who appeared to have matured early, his attitude seemed to have amplified through the years. Or did they reach Jiraiya levels? The Sandaime was afraid to know in all honesty.

"You can work on house arrangements later. I'll have some rooms ready for all of you in the meantime." The Hokage spoke up finalizing the papers.

Lyn perked up; "Oh add my girlfriend to my room please."

"Where is this 'girlfriend' you keep mentioning, and why haven't we met her yet?" Kushina asked before leaning over Samenosuke, "Is she imaginary, can only Lyn see her?"

"Oh very funny" The wild maned Uzumaki rolled her eyes. "Her name is Kya; she doesn't like crowds so the moment we arrived she went over to that eyesore you call the Hokage Monument" She ignored the indignant 'hey' from the current Hokage, "And there is something else you really need to know..." She clicked her tongue, looking at Naruto awkwardly, "she's a Namikaze"

One could hear a pin drop in the room. In fact, Hiruzen's pen did fall from his suddenly limp fingers.

Jiraiya looked at the jug in his hands for a moment before throwing out the window.

"...Say what now?" Naruto intelligently replied with a tilt of his head.

"Oh, merciful gods you really aren't pulling any punches today" Hiruzen muttered as he massaged his temples.

"You met someone of Minato's clan?" Kushina asked incredulously.

"Yeah, long story. Funny too actually, you see-"

The sound of their conversation was drowned out as Naruto's mind raced at the revelation. Someone from his father's clan... here, in the village, on the same day more of his family arrived to be with them.

He made a mental note to stop by the local temple and leave an offering in thanks.

To everyone's surprise, he suddenly bolted out of the room through a window.

"Wait, kid!" Lyn called out to him, running to the open window and stopping just at the edge as the boy disappeared from sight. "You need to know that Kya isn't what you expect!" She let out a groan, throwing her head back. "I don't think he heard me"

"What's wrong?" Kushina turned her gaze between Saito and Lyn.

Saito sighed before patting his son's head; "It's a long story."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The wind kept an even breeze to Kya's liking as she sat in meditation on one of the heads of the Hokage Monument as Saito had explained before coming here. Not exactly the most well sculpted pieces of art. But they were made as a measure of respect, and the Buxom Namikaze preferred up there than being in the crowd down in the village.

Despite the noise of the people down below there was an air of tranquility here, if there was anything to take away from this place it was that. Kya remained sitting with her eyes closed as they barely twitched.

Looks like Lyn got around telling that boy about her.

Naruto stood a good foot from the older Namikaze who seemed to not to react to him. Another Namikaze, he never thought he'd actually meet one by the tales his mom told about them. But here on sat on his father's head no less with the wind rustling her blond hair.

For what felt like eternity there was nothing but silence between them before Kya let out a sigh and opened her eyes. Her gaze turn up to Naruto as she took in his features; "You look Namikaze."

"I-I..." Kya lifted a brow as the boy meekly stammered; "Dad never left anything about the Namikaze. Mom said his parent didn't either."

"...Sounds about right. Namikaze are not the materialistic type given our nomadic nature. Yes we have scrolls of our history and works, but not a lot of them." She spoke in a calm if not bored monotone.

Naruto sat down in front of her as he took in her words. "Well least that explains a bit." He was about to speak again before Kya raised her hand.

"I already figured you had questions."

The young boy nodded excited, "Damn right I do" And gave her a wide smile, "I'm Naruto"

"My name is Kya" She cordially replied with a nod of her head. "As I understand, you are currently busy with your training for these exams. Once your schedule finds itself more open, I shall teach you what you need to know about our clan"

"Oh" Naruto was taken aback by her direct attitude. It sounded like she wasn't even invested in what she was saying. "Cool" He replied awkwardly.

"I'm glad we had this conversation" She said before resuming her meditation.

...That was it? She didn't even sound remotely interested in getting to know him.

"Don't you wanna... hang out or something?" He prompted, trying to get any kind of reaction out of the mocha skinned woman.

"That is unnecessary" She curtly said.

"Hey don't be like that" Naruto couldn't stop the disappointment in his voice from becoming evident. "Don't you want to get to know each other? We're probably gonna be the only other Namikaze we'll ever meet"

"Here I thought you would have your fill of socialization with your redheaded kin" Kya said, her tone uninterested. "My obligations to you are due to a responsibility to our clan. I would very much like to complete them so I can go back to my own training; personally I find that spending time with other people distracts me from my real calling"

The whiskered boy grunted in irritation, "And yet, you have a girlfriend"

For the first time since they began their conversation, Naruto saw a hint of emotion in Kya. Her eyes twitching momentarily, her gaze growing lost with something he couldn't properly describe.

"The... events of how we found in each other's company are" She gave him a hard stare, "private"

The younger blond winced at the slightest hint of anger in the older blond's tone. He realized he overstepped, though couldn't help it knowing a Namikaze was here. But by their brief words it was clear to him.

She had very little to no interest in getting to know each other. Numbly Naruto got his feet; "I'm sorry."

Kya only shrugged as the boy vanished via shunshin. "Namikaze find their own way Naruto. You'll figure that out on your own."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Well that had been… disappointing. After the amazingly warm reunion he had with his relatives, Naruto expected it to go the same way with a relative from his Namikaze side. But Kya was just so… cold. Uncaring even. Like meeting him was not something that warranted her attention and was only acting out of obligation.

It stung, really. Was it him; was he not what she was expecting? She certainly wasn't what he expected

He comforted himself when he arrived back at the house, knowing he had a much larger family awaiting for him. One he couldn't wait to get to know better.

He arrived to see they were making themselves comfortable, Lyn had dressed out of her armor and instead was wearing a set of short shorts with a tank top and sandals, lazily lying on the couch.

"Heeeey kiddo!" Lyn was the polar opposite of her girlfriend, bright, cheerful and very much approachable. Though that did not extend to his mother as Naruto was finding out. "Met Kya I take it"

"She's… yeesh"

"Heh, yeah. She was the same with me when I first met her"

"How the hell did you two end up together?"

Lyn seemed to ponder for a moment, "Beats the hell out of me" Naruto grunted as he sat in the adjacent chair. "Oh don't worry honey; I'm sure Kya will warm up to you eventually. Just… give her some time okay? She's got her own stuff going through"

"Like what?"

Lyn's lips pressed together, her eyes gained a hard edge to them. Naruto saw how anger and sadness quickly passed through them before she let out a heavy sigh. "It ain't my place to say, that's up to her"

Well, this was gonna be a challenge. But Naruto lived for challenges. "Now!" Lyn's mood did a full turn as she hopped out of the couch, "We're planning a big party today! Let's go help your mom, if the stuff about her food I hear is right, she'll need all the help she can get!" She shouted the last part, earning a furious growl coming from the kitchen.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Umm, shouldn't this be more a private thing Kushina-sensei?" Sakura asked before being handed a large plate with cooked food.

Kushina only scoffed while she cooked at the stove with Karin. "You're a part of Naruto's team and that makes you family as far as I'm concerned."

The question from the rosette was due to the current situation of a large feast being prepared as news spread like wildfire throughout the village of more Uzumaki having shown up! Said new Uzumaki were at the dining table setting up the plates. The pinkette barely knew what was going on before Kushina-sensei showed up and grabbed her with Sasuke being wrapped in the older redhead's chakra chains.

Currently the said Uchiha mildly glared in his seat at a smirking Naruto and eye-smiling Kakashi; "You should have known arguing with Kushina-sama was impossible Sasuke."

Standing on the kitchen table Ty Lee looked in wonder at the food being made; "So this is human cooking."

Hien and Yasu floated beside her with Gamakichi sniffing the air; "I heard Uzumaki love ramen but come on." The young Toad muttered.

"Hey don't you go dissing ramen, toady" The wild maned Lyn threatened with her chopsticks; "or I'll make soup out of ya"

Never in a hundred years did Sakura think they would meet even more Uzumaki, actual survivors of Uzu to be exact. Then again, Naruto's mother narrowing cheating death as she did; perhaps it'd be best for her to keep an open mind to such possibility. Positivism wasn't an unrewarding trait sometimes.

And good gods, when karma paid you back, it paid back with interest. She thought that perhaps that Naruto had emptied all the good karma accumulated when his mother returned and he had to start over, well there went fate showing her she was very wrong.

Seeing him smile so much... it made her smile as well. Even Sasuke, always some composed, and despite the hints of envy she could see in his eyes, respected Naruto enough to be happy for him. In his own stoic way at least. Kushina-dono was always looking out for him, and she liked to think it was that maternal care she was sharing with the Uchiha that was allowing him to move on and feel something other than hatred.

Heh, this family of loudmouths really did have a positive influence on people.

Then there was a knock on the door, "I'll get it!" Lyn bolted up from her seat and went to open it; they all heard a large cheer. "You came!"

"...I need to eat" Another woman's voice said in defeat.

Lyn came back to the room with the largest smile on her face, tugging at the hand of a what had to be one of the most beautiful women Sakura had ever seen. Flawless mocha skin, messy blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes, plus a figure Sakura would kill for.

Right, the Namikaze woman she heard about... As if the universe hadn't thrown enough curves already.

She sat next to her, momentarily passing an impassive glance at Naruto. The blonde boy actually frowned at her for a moment before smiling widely; Kya just looked at the food being served on the table. Well, it looked like that cheerfulness wasn't shared by their side of the family. She barely even reacted when Lyn planted a big kiss on her cheek, but there was no hiding that soft blush.

"Ahhhh, nothing like family dinner!" Samenosuke, who had already began establishing a reputation around the village as a shameless womanizer (okay not exactly a womanizer as not even men were safe from him) declared with large toothy smile they had seen plenty of times in Naruto. "Ain't that right Soujiro?" He prompted the young shaggy haired boy with a nudge from his shoulder.

"Yes" He replied with a small smile.

Karin shared an awkward look with Naruto. Soujiro seemed to take a lot from his father, being the odd calmed and composed type of Uzumaki. But the boy was just so... passive. Sometimes you could barely tell he showed any interest in anything.

Well... They could probably help him with that. Maybe he didn't have kid his age to be around. That was likely to with it, and thankfully they knew quite a few their age to help remedy that.

Hien floated over to Naruto's shoulder; "Dragon Chief will be most excited to hear this news"

"No kidding," Yasu chuckled as he tried sweets with Gamakichi.

Ty Lee happily chowed down on a large bowl of cooked meat; "You're the most bestest humans ever!" Least that is what everyone thought she said with food in her mouth.

The mood was lively as everyone ate and chatted in a upbeat tone save Kya, Saito, and Soujiro who were more composed while eating.

Kushina only smiled as she watched her son snickering at his dragon partner who ate his own bowl of food and tried using chopsticks.

Absently her mind wandered to the past, remembering those who weren't with them. And a pang in her heart in knowing some was gone forever.

XxX ~ many years ago ~ XxX

The great flower garden was a location many of the children of Uzushio frequented with great excitement, and one of their favorite playing spots. It wasn't the flowers that drew them, though many felt they were very pretty to look at, or that there was something remarkable about that place to their young impressionable minds.

No, the reason the garden was so much visited was due to its caretaker, a person the children treasures immensely. Immaculate sharp features that gave her an air of aristocracy and experience. Fierce red hair pulled back and held by a hair piece, letting it hang low while a few long fangs framed her face that was bereft of any blemish. Green eyes set in perpetual serenity; to the observer they would notice the heavy burden of experience in a very, very long life. Tsukiko Uzumaki had gone through most people knew; that was the general consensus.

But such things went unnoticed by the children.

"Baachaaaan~!" Kushina cried out from her spot, her arms holding unto Tsukiko's head as she sat on her shoulders. "Hurry uuuuuup!" Too long had they been waiting for her to be free of whatever clan business she had been dealing with.

"Patience is virtue, Kushina" Her infinitely patient voice replied.

"But we're bored!" Samenosuke groaned, his form swaying back and forth with the motion of Tsukiko's left leg, which he held unto firmly.

"You were gonna show us the spirits!" Lyn exclaimed, swinging from the other leg. "Come on, we wanna see fairies!"

"Guuuys, you're being rude to baachan" Maya, always the little voice of reason, came to defend their elder. Unlike the three, she was actually walking alongside Tsukiko, holding her right hand tightly, while a sighing Saito held her left.

"But we wanna play with the pretty lights!" Kushina couldn't be swayed. "Right Kosuke!" She turned to the last member of their group with a beaming smile, expecting him to join their side.

Poor Kosuke was too shy to say anything, the short boy with a bowl cut merely clinged to Tsukiko's skirt.

"The spirits are not going anywhere" Tsukiko wisely spoke.

It would always be the children who saw the gentle side the ancient and ageless Uzumaki. Her patience infinite when compared to her dealings with any adults. In Uzushio she had been the unspoken mother figure to many children of the clan. And it was a job she took with utter pride and a gentle smile that conveyed the pure joy she got from it.

Finding her usual stone bench she took a seat as the children looked at her in anticipation. Tsukiko chuckled at their faces before putting her lips together and releasing a soft rhythmic whistle. The tone was soothing, calm, it made Kushina, Samenosuke, and Lyn close their eyes and sway to it.

Soon small orbs of light chimed and rose from the garden which made all the children gasp in awe. Within the faint light were tiny humanoid figures with buzzing wings. They soon flew in a playful manner around the children who soon dispersed following them. Only Kosuke remained holding Tsukiko's skirt tightly, as if trying to hide himself.

"There is nothing to fear Kosuke," the ancient Uzumaki spoke gently placing her hand on the boy's head as he looked up; "Fairies will never harm you. They can be playful and dear friends and amazing helpers."

"I heard they can look scary to hurt people..." He mumbled.

"Yokai come in many shapes and forms" She rubbed his hair as he gave the little boy motherly smile, "The yōsei, the fairies, are no exception. Look" She beckoned one of the spots of light to come forth, she held the spirit in the palm of her palm, "They are of the lesser kind, so their form is more intoned with the minds of mortals. So long as you are gentle to them, so they will be with you"

The spot of light morphed into a long serpentine form with butterfly-like wings, the small dragon spirit peered at the young boy curiously, and who slowly loosed his hesitation to gaze upon the creature with fascination. It touched its glowing snout with the tip of his nose, making him giggle at the tingling sensation. He reached out with his hand to touch it, only for the fairy to playfully slip away from his grasp.

He tried once more, actually letting go of Tsukiko's skirt to chase it. Soon little Kosuke joined the others in their fun, laughing the day away with naught a worry in his mind. As children always should, Tsukiko often said.

"Come back here you!" One of the more humanoid lights made sound that was much like a raspberry at the clan princess. Kushina let out a growl as pounced upon the spirit. Her predatory looks changed to one of surprise and fear as she found herself on collision course with Tsukiko-baachan.

The Uzumaki elder impassively caught the flying child and deftly placed her on her lap.

Kushina blinked a few times at what had transpired before pouting and glaring at the spirit who just made a laughing sound and flew away to join the others.

"How come they listen to you?" Kushina grumbled, crossing her little arms "Is it because you're a sage?"

Tsukiko let out a short laugh, "Were it so simple, my little whirlpool. You only need to know how to handle them" She gave the child a teasing grin, "Much like one must deal with impish little creatures like you. I heard you pulled another prank today"

Kushina only smiled with pride; "Mr. Blacksmith's face was so funny!"

At the child's declaration the elder Uzumaki only rolled her eyes. Placing the girl down with a sigh she resumed playing with the others.

They played so much that they fell asleep right there on the garden

XxX ~ Present ~ XxX

One would look back on those innocent days with happiness and nostalgia, and the wisdom acquired through the years allowed them to see more than they could back then.

"Baachan was really a wise woman" Kushina muttered.

Now they could see a deeper meaning to nearly everything she said. Many times it wasn't even hidden, she always said things as they were, but they just didn't understand it at the time. When she was gone, the clan had lost a very valuable member. A teacher, a mother figure, a protector. She had been so many things to many of them.

To those of the younger generation of Uzumaki like Naruto, Karin and Soujiro, they could only lament they never got to know her.

"I believe Tsukiko-sama would want us to carry on our legacy" Saito muttered, his voice heavy. "The clan lives on, and... I want to believe it will rise again"

"It will rise again," Lyn spoke with utter resolution with a smirk on her lips.

Kya said nothing as she kept eating quietly.

A knock on the door made all of them perk up with Sasuke speaking up; "Anyone else was coming?"

Kushina smiled as she got from the table and to the door. "Took long enough Yugao-chan." The former captain placed her hands on her hips as she opening the door.

A sheepish Yugao, in civilian clothes chuckled beside her boyfriend Hayate Gekkō who remained in his shinobi gear; "Got stuck at ANBU HQ, sorry sensei."

The redhead waved it off before shifting her gaze to Hayate who respectfully bowed; "Kushina-dono."

"Nice to finally meet you." The man lightly coughed, seriously what did this guy have? "Well come in."

"And who are these two?" Lyn asked playfully.

Bringing the two into the kitchen Kushina smiled; "This is my student Yugao Uzuki and her boyfriend..." She paused remembering thinking for a moment; "AH! Hayate Gekkō." Yugao dryly glared at her teacher, well she remembered at least.

"It's -cough- a pleasure" The proctor of the exams greeted, trying and failing to stop his coughing from getting in the middle.

"Really?" The wild maned Uzumaki drone, "Oh honey, you could do so much better"

"Excuse me?" Yugao glared at the woman. "Relative of sensei or not, I will not let you insult my boyfriend"

"Only I can do that" Kushina added.

"I was talking to him" Lyn clarified, growing a smug grin at the look on their faces. "Dating a student of Kushina? Oh woo to the poor bastard"

"YOU WANNA GO?!" Kushina shot up, spreading her arms as if to say 'come at me, bitch'. "COME ON, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

Lyn rose up to the challenge, "YOU AIN'T GO SHIT ON ME, PRINCESS!"

The two pounced at each other and began rolling on the ground, furniture and decorations falling as their fight escalated around the house.

"Um" Sakura mumbled in a frightened tone, "Isn't anyone gonna stop them?"

Kakashi didn't even look up from his now open book as she replied, "You want to get in the middle of that, be my guest" His pinkette student pondered for a moment, before conceding it probably wasn't worth her life.

Naruto had a clear moment of realization, "So, this is life now"

Karin leaned over to bury her head in Naruto's shoulder; "We're living in a madhouse."

"Yup..." He gave his cousin a half-hug

Soujiro only gave a blank look; "You get used to it."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Finally after Kushina and Lyn were separated by Saito, Yugao, and Kya. The group settled down in the living room after eating talking amongst themselves. Ty Lee laid on Karin's lap purring loudly as the redhead petted her while Yasu rested on her shoulder.

Gamakichi sat on Naruto's head with Hien floating around them as the blond spoke to Soujiro with the others getting to know him. The Jinchuuriki tried not to judge, particularly a relative he just met but... oh boy, was Soujiro extremely passive. Naruto was pretty certain Soujiro couldn't speak more than words in a single sentence. Any questions he himself made were all related with training in some fashion.

Geez, only now did he start to realize that Soujiro hadn't had a proper upbringing. Spending all his life hiding, putting all his efforts into training and surviving, he barely had time to just have fun.

Well, starting tomorrow after training, Naruto determined himself to show him just how many awesome things there were to do in the village. Like pranking people, that never got old.

A sudden knock on the door brought silence to the otherwise lively house, his mother went to open it, and revealed Jiraiya standing on the other side.

"Well, now you show up" Kushina reprimanded him, placing her arms akimbo.

"Sorry about that" The old perv apologized. "I was... busy. There's somebody who wants to meet you" He nodded at some unseen figure next to him, and he stepped aside to let her through.

She was pretty, Naruto had to say, beautiful face and eyes, cool white hair with a touch of soft blue, great figure accentuated by a beautiful kimono held by an obi. But he couldn't help but wonder who this stranger was. The young woman looked at Kushina with something akin to longing, nostalgia and regret all mixed up into one, but there was also joy. Her eyes went over every redhead in the room (and him), taking in their sights and committing them to memory.

"Um, hello" She nervously started, "My name is Tomoe Gozen. I... am a friend of the dragon clan"

"Oh" Kushina blinked in surprise as many of their guests looked among themselves in confusion. "Nice to meet you then, I'm Kushina, and this is my family!" She happily waved her arm at the others, who simply waved at the white haired woman. "Except her" She deadpanned while pointing at Lyn, "She's just some hobo we took in out of pity"

"Fuck you!"

Kya put a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder before another brawl would ensue.

"Well hello there~" Samenosuke was up on his feet and in the blink of an eye stood before Tomoe, who eyed him curiously, "My name is Samenosuke, and might I say you are sight casted by the gods themselves" He put on his most winning smile, while everyone else rolled their eyes.

He thought he got lucky when she smiled back, "I'm not interested" Only for his hopes to crash and burn.

Samenosuke stood there frozen for a second before sighing and going back to his spot, "Swing and miss..."

"This happens to you often I take it?" Karin dryly asked.

"At least there wasn't any slapping this time"

"Before my clan scares you away" Kushina quickly brought things back on track, "Would you like to come in?" She politely asked, acting as a proper host.

"I'd like to but, I'm afraid I'm busy. I had other business to attend to, and there are more to be done before the night is even over" She said, though not tiredly nor resigned. "I just... wanted to meet you, if only for a moment. I wanted to see Shishou's descendants, know that her clan was alright"

Multiple eyes gazed at her in confusion, "What do you mean?" Lyn asked. "Who's your teacher? You know someone from our clan?"

"Indeed" The red eyed woman smiled fondly, "You all know her, my teacher is Tsukiko Uzumaki after all"

It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on them.

"...What?" Kushina muttered in disbelief, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Wait, wait, and wait. That... doesn't really add up. For baachan to be your teacher, and how old you look…" Tsukiko-baachan would have to had taught this young woman when she was but a toddler.

"Either you are lying" Saito said in accusation, eyes narrowing at her. "Or you are not telling us the whole truth"

"I am neither lying, nor am I being completely honest with all of you" The white haired woman admitted. "But know I value shishou immensely, she's very dear to my heart"

"She never mentioned you..." Samenosuke muttered.

Tomoe shook her head, "I imagine there was much she didn't tell you. And I wish I could clear everything up, but right now is not the time. If you ever need anything, just ask the toads or the dragons for me" She pulled out a circular tile piece from her obi, and handed it to Jiraiya. She looked straight into his eyes as she grasped his hand and she placed the item on it. "Remember our talk and be ready, we must soon begin to act"

The Sannin gravely nodded, "I understand"

The onlookers could only watch in confusion.

Tomoe gave Kushina one last smile, "It was nice meeting you, I warms my heart knowing the Uzumaki clan will carry on" She let out a short melancholic laugh, "You're all so stubborn... but that's part of your charm" She lifted her fingers in a half seal, "We shall meet again"

Her entire form became ablaze, they had to shield their eyes from the sudden glare even as she disappeared amidst the flames that quickly died down, leaving not even a scorch mark on the floor.

For a moment, nobody said anything. Jiraiya stared intently at the item in his hand, a tile with a flower painted on. A lotus flower.

"Who was she?" Kushina finally asked him. "How did she know baachan, what the hell is going on?!"

"...You wouldn't believe me if I told you"

The night's mood changed from one of merriment to confusion, if only momentarily. More questions than answers were raised, and it was clear neither Jiraiya nor this Tomoe woman was saying anything at the moment.

Naruto didn't know what was going on, or what Jiraiya had gotten himself into. He just got the feeling the exams wouldn't be the only interesting event he'd and the others would go through.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

It was a quiet morning in Konoha.

"What do you mean you can't tell us?!"

Scratch that, it was never a quiet anything in Konoha, not when there were Uzumaki around.

Currently all four adults of the clan of red heads were sitting around the breakfast table, the events of last night had left a rather strong impression.

That woman, Tomoe Gozen, appearing out of nowhere and telling them she was Tsukiko's apprentice and not even staying to tell them all in detail what kind of history she had with her or the dragons in general did not sit well with them. And apparently she now had some sort of connection with Jiraiya, but the toad sage was keeping his lips shut about the whole matter.

But the Uzumaki would not settle for it, they demanded answers even if the Sannin refused to give them.

Jiraiya shook his head and he leant back on his chair, "Exactly what I meant"

"You're being very unreasonable here" Kushina crossed her arms in exasperation, sitting on the opposite end of the table. At her right was Saito, who as always managed to remain calm and composed. Samenosuke at her left was leaning with an arm slugged behind the chair, his high ponytail dangling as he balanced himself on just two legs of the chair. Lyn was next to him, arms folded in front of her resting over the table, looking just as annoyed as Kushina did. "Why aren't you telling us anything?"

"She said she didn't want to overwhelm you, not when you just found each other again. She'll come clean once she feels you're ready"

"What kind of stuff did she tell you?" Lyn asked with a shrug of her shoulders, finding it very difficult to believe they wouldn't be able to grasp whatever it is this Tomoe woman told the white haired man. Tomoe said she knew Tsukiko-baachan; they had the right to know more about her.

"You said she's a sage like you" Saito remarked, "So was Tsukiko-baachan, does it have anything to do with it?"

Jiraiya's gaze became a thousand yard stare, taking the others aback. Kushina had seen it before, in people who had seen too much, or knew things they weren't prepared to know. The smarmy perverted sage just looked so... shaken, which disturbed the Red Death. As though Jiraiya himself was still trying to come to terms with whatever it was Tomoe said.

"No" He muttered before clearing his throat. "I can't tell you. Not right now, not with the exams are going on and you have to train with the kids"

Kushina looked rather disgruntled by those words along with Lyn; "Fine, after the exam we're having a talk. We have a right to know who the hell she is and her connection to Tsukiko-Baachan."

The old perv gave a nod; "You got it Red."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto wasn't fully sure if he was actually awake this morning. Mainly due to the fact he had suggested a training session of just him, Sakura, and Sasuke at their team's grounds. And it was Sasuke; yes Sasuke who thought it was actually a good idea!? Honestly both Naruto and Sakura half wondered if the sky would be falling next.

Still, as the sun shined in the skies above the genin of team 7 as they sparred together. With an extra hand from both Karin and Soujiro. Currently the last loyal Uchiha was sparring against perhaps the quietest Uzumaki he had ever met while Karin and Sakura were taking on Naruto and a few of his shadow clones.

Without his Sharingan active, his opponent was rather hard to read. Soujiro's style seemed to be a reflection of his attitude. Leave no openings and don't let anyone know what you're thinking. His attire consisted of dark hakama pants and sandals, along with a beige shirt tucked into his pants. The Uchiha's sharp gaze followed Soujiro's movement; his arms blocked and parried away the swift punches coming from the shaggy haired boy.

With each step he pushed Sasuke back, his right leg shot up in a high kick which force the Uchiha to cover his face with both arms, leaving his midsection open for Soujiro to deliver a second kick which knocked Sasuke back further.

The Uchiha grunted, gaze hardening as his black eyes flashed red, two tomoe spinning in each eye. He dashed forward with a dash of speed, delivering a flurry of punches that took the quiet boy by surprise, eliciting a soft gasp. Switching on the defensive he managed to keep up with Sasuke's attack, but this one was seeing through his movements. Quite literally as Sasuke's Sharingan allowed him to spot an opening.

A swift kick to Soujiro's left leg broke his balance. Allowing Sasuke to seize the opportunity by hooking his own leg with his and pushing him down to the ground, his forearm pressing against his neck.

"I win" The Uchiha said confidently.

No sooner than Sasuke was having declared his victory, Soujiro's left hand shot up, delivering a strong chop to Sasuke's side. The Uchiha grunted in pain as he felt the spread through his midsection, momentarily weakening his hold on his opponent. Soujiro took advantage of this kicked Sasuke away.

The Uzumaki lad massaged his neck as he slowly stood up. While Sasuke sat up, holding his stomach. Their gazes met, Soujiro's soft gaze held a touch of respect, while acknowledgement shined in Sasuke's eyes.

"...Good match" The Uchiha finally said. "Next we'll use jutsu as well"

"Agreed" The redheaded boy curtly replied.

Hmm, Sasuke was actually finding himself tolerating and, dare he say it, appreciating the presence of this Uzumaki. He just... spoke so little. After days in the presence of that maniac of a woman that was Naruto's mother, it was simply such a relief.

Both froze as the ground beneath them quaked. Glancing to their side they saw Sakura had slammed the back off her heel into the ground cracking and uplifting sections of earth in the area she was facing some shadow clones.

"Yeesh Sakura-chan, you trying to kill us?!" A clone yelled out which made the others hide behind him.

At that the rosette deadpanned; "You're chakra constructs who vanish at one hit."

Another clone pressed his hand to his chest; "Sakura-chan is so cold and heartless this morning."

Sakura only rolled her eyes at the Shadow clones antics. Not far from them Karin paled as she was sparring against the actual Naruto who shivered at his teammate's display of strength. "She is literally a mini-Tsunade Senju," the glasses wearing Uzumaki muttered with slight terror.

"Try taking one of her punches..." Naruto muttered, "She's like a human wrecking ball"

Sakura's eye twitched. "Naruto, order your clones to stop being wusses" She ignored their indignant cries. "And actually fight me"

"Sorry, can't force them to do stuff I myself wouldn't do"

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "You're saying you wouldn't fight me?"

"Well" One of the clones sheepishly says, "You're pretty terrifying lately"

Sakura let out a frustrated growl, "Okay, if that's how you guys wanna be" She cracked her neck, "Then I'm not wasting my time anymore" She took a stance, and the clones took a collective gulp.

"Gentlemen, it has been an honor" Of the clones said, resigned to his fate.

A powerful kick sundered the earth further, so strong it made a chunk of rock fly upward directly in front of her. "Shannaro!" Her fist collided with the rock, obliterating it into hundreds of smaller pieces that flew at great speed in the direction of the clones.

The clones were destroyed, annihilated under the barrage of stone and dirt, they could barely cried out as they puffed out of existence... some of the stones even going THROUGH them. A lot of them continued flying beyond the tree line.

The real Naruto and Karin gulped once more; Sasuke stared on impressed while Soujiro pointed out the obvious. "She's strong"

Sakura smirked to herself; lately her punches had been getting even more powerful. It made her chest swell with pride...

THWACK!

"AH!"

...and then it deflated when they heard the sound of a rock hitting someone, followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground.

For a moment, the young ninjas stood still.

"Crap" Sakura muttered in growing horror.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

When princess Maiyuri went to the training grounds for a bit a training, she was half expecting anyone to actually stop her, seeing as they were reserved for the shinobi corps, and it could be dangerous to just wander in. Not to look a gifted horse in the mouse, she continued her trek and soon was distracted by the sounds of sparring, there amongst the trees she the newest generation of shinobi training. Team 7, a peculiar team composed of the village Jinchuuriki, who happened to be of Uzumaki and Namikaze descent, the sole Uchiha left in Konoha, and a civilian born pinkette (whose shade of hair was much stronger than her own) who actually showed a lot of promise and talent.

Again there was this nagging feeling on the back of her neck, how part of her thought it was wrong for children to be made into soldiers, such was the cruel world they lived in, and gods did Maiyuri hate it…

But seeing them act so open with each other, she could see these youths were good friends. It warmed her heart to see the Konoha sense of kinship and camaraderie was more than just words.

She knew what it was to form a bond of trust and caring with others, as her eyes closed she thought back on the days of her childhood, when she trained under the fire monks. There had been another girl her age, pretty much her polar opposite, loud, energetic, without a care in the world, she would shout and laugh so much, making the days brighter just by being there.

Heh, even if Yuma could be a pain sometimes and got her into so much trouble, there was no other person she could trust more than her. She was always the one Maiyuri could trust with her fears, her ideals, her dreams, and Yuma would support her without question…

So lost in her memories she was, her closed eyes failed to notice a piece of rock flying at her at high velocity.

She fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

The five ran in the direction of where they heard the yelp and body landing in the forest area. They found a young woman who groaned as she held her hooded head. "Oh gosh are you alright?" Sakura said quickly as she knelt down with Karin and helped the woman sat up.

"I will be fine, I think." The woman rubbed her face with her one hand as she put down her hood. The pre-teens saw a young woman in her early twenties with short rosette hair like Sakura's but of a lighter tone of pink. Flawless pale skin saves the mark from Sakura's rock on her forehead (which made the Haruno wince). Opening her eyes they saw they were also a lighter jade than Sakura's as well. "Good display of strength by the way."

Standing beside the girls, Naruto squinted beside Sasuke and Soujiro; "Lucky it didn't take your head off." The blond winced from the sharp glare his teammate was giving.

"Are you a civilian," Sasuke asked with a cocked brow; "Or are you a spy?"

Well this wasn't how Maiyuri ever thought she meet some of the shinobi of this village. The outright suspicion and potential hostility took her back. "What makes you think I'm a spy?" She questioned.

"Civilians don't venture into the training grounds on their own, they are afraid of getting caught in the crossfire of a stray jutsu or a weapon" He explained, and it was then that Maiyuri noticed his eyes had activated into his Sharingan momentarily. "Plus, your chakra reserves are far too large to be a civilian"

The young woman did not look threatened, in fact, she looked bemused if anything. "Well, I see ninjas are paranoid even at a young age"

"Paranoia is healthy" Sasuke quoted, he'd heard that from older shinobi plenty of times. "It keeps you alive"

"I bet" She laughed, "My name's Maiyuri. Don't worry; I'm not a spy or anything. I'm just visiting for the exams. Should have known better than to just come here for a quick workout" She hissed as she tenderly rubbed the sore spot on her forehead.

"Sorry..." Sakura mumbled, sounding like a sad puppy.

"It's alright" She smiled, "You got a strong fist, miss..."

"Oh! Sakura" The younger pinkette introduced herself. "Sakura Haruno"

She gestured to the others; "This are my teammates Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. And these are our friends Karin and Soujiro Uzumaki."

Maiyuri paid attention to the two Uzumakis. She had heard like everyone else about actual surviving members of the Uzumaki clan had come to the village. That and saw Kushina rampage through the village, who was chasing down that red-haired scoundrel that grabbed her backside while running away…

Besides that little event, it warmed her heart knowing there were more members of the ancient Uzu still very much alive.

"It's nice to meet you," the princess spoke politely as Karin and Sakura helped her to her feet. "Sorry for snooping on you all."

Naruto waved it off with a grin; "It's cool,"

"You never said if you were a ninja or not" Sasuke pointed.

To which the young woman laughed, "No, I'm more a warrior myself. I trained with the fire monks since childhood. Ninja aren't the only types of fighters in the world after all" She said with humor in her voice.

"You wanna spar with us?!" The blonde asked excitedly.

Sakura felt the urge to bonk him in the head, "Who asks that out of nowhere?! She was just hit on the head, have some tact!"

"Why are you so mad at me? You're the one who hit her on the head" He backed away as a threatening growl came from her throat.

Maiyuri couldn't help but giggle at their antics, they were honestly so very cute and-

A surge of killing intent flooded the area, putting them all on edge. Sand emerged from the trees and coalesced into one place.

While the kids sharply turned their heads, Maiyuri looked up with a surprised expression seeing the Suna Jinchurriki appearing via a sand shunshin. The air around them soon felt cold, murderous as his blank emotionless sea-foam green eyes stared at them all.

'Why is he here?' Sasuke mentally mused before speaking; "Need something Suna?"

Gaara wasn't paying him attention as he looked directly at Naruto. The blond felt a chill down his spine as he looked into his fellow Jinchuuriki's eyes. The Suna Genin soon lifted a finger hand and pointed his finger at the blond. "Why do you feel like me?" His voice so devoid of feeling it made everyone unnerved. The others looked to Naruto who soon walked to the front of the group, almost protectively.

His cerulean eyes stared back fiercely "Because I am like you" His words came out strong. "I... am a Jinchuuriki too" He didn't care that the young woman heard him; this was a long time coming.

Gaara's eyes widened just a fraction, understanding dawning on him. "I see... and yet I don't" He sounded genuinely confused. "You above all others should understand what we are... and yet I find you here, mingling with weaklings and prey"

"These are my friends" Naruto snapped. "And my family"

"A meaningless word to people like us" Gaara replied uncaringly. "We are weapons you and I, there is the battlefield, the blood of our enemies, and nothing more. No friends, no family. We are all we have" He gazed at the blonde's companions with disdain. "These people you call friends, your family? Nonsense, there can never be such a thing for us. Love, companionship, kinship, they are nothing but lies"

He sounded so certain, the others thoughts disturbed. His world view was just so... twisted, broken. Gaara himself was broken.

"I don't know what happened to you" Compassion laced his voice. "But that's not true" Naruto couldn't help but feel sympathy for the Suna ninja. He just knew there was pain in him, one he understood very well. Loneliness, the thought that nobody would care for him. "You just need to give it a chance and you'll see it too"

"...You ask what happened to me" Small traces of anger began to creep out in his guttural voice. "My father sealed the One Tail in me, my village casted me out" He took a step forward, making the others take a stance in case they needed to act. Only Naruto stayed still. "Alone. My own 'family' denied me. I was born drenched in blood, as my mother died giving birth to me"

Closer and closer he moved towards the blonde.

"She never loved me"

To them, that couldn't be true. A mother was meant to love their child, always.

"There was nothing to my existence, but it was in the constant attempts on my life that I found the answer, such that I experienced joy for the first time"

A psychotic smile graced his lips.

"Death... Killing was all they made me for and so killing justified my reason to exist" He stood a foot away from Naruto. "I need the blood of others, only then do I truly live"

The blond felt a chill down his spine as Gaara leaned forward; "And I saw a glimpse of the real you during the prelims. When you killed that weakling human. I felt the hate and rage if only for moment, the real you. The monster that's like me."

'This is how they make Jinchurriki,' a shuddering thought came to Maiyuri's mind. Never in her life has she felt so disturbed by seeing this poor child twisted into this!

Naruto's gaze softened, "No, I don't believe that" And glared back defiantly at the redhead from Suna. "Just like I don't believe things has to be like this, for you, for me, for anybody"

His words confused Gaara; he just couldn't understand why this fool was so blind. He spoke as though there was a choice, when that choice had been made for them a long time ago.

He spoke of friends and family with such a disgusting fondness that it made his blood boil. Gaara decided that if couldn't make him see, then at least he'd take his blood. Yes, that would please Mother...

"...I'm tired of your idiocy" Sand slowly crept out from his gourd.

Naruto jumped back, taking a stance as crystal emerged from his hands, forming into kunai. His teammates and relatives prepared themselves, trying to shield Maiyuri. But the young woman did not let herself be intimated, and so too steeled herself to fight.

That was when out of the trees dropped multiple blurs, all geared in grey vests and wearing animal masks, much to everyone's surprise. The ANBU had arrived in a moment's notice, and they honestly couldn't be happier for their presence.

With the exception of Maiyuri, realization dawning on her face as to why they had ANBU appeared so quickly.

"Gaara of the Sand" One of the ANBU, a man whose mask resembled a cat, spoke with authority. "If you do not desist now, your actions will be seen as a violation of the Chūnin Exams' truce, as well as the Konoha-Suna Treaty. Stand down or we'll be forced detain you and inform the Hokage you started this conflict"

The Sand Shinobi glared at the ANBU who spoke before directing his attention back to Naruto; "I will wake you from this lie you believe so strongly in. We are monsters..." In a blink he vanished via shunshin.

Everyone let out a long collective sigh with Sakura giving the ANBU a grateful smile; "Thank you."

The man in the cat mask glanced at them; "We were on patrol and saw the situation. Be careful around that Suna Genin." Soon as those words left the man's lips all the ANBU were gone.

Naruto gazed to the ground as he clinched his fists. "...I could have been like him," He whispered though all heard him.

"Oh no" Sakura was all too quick to reply, a heavy frown on her eyes while her tone left no room for arguments. "None of that, you hear me? None of that 'if' nonsense. You didn't turn out like him, and you're never going to be like him" Said with utmost certainty.

"Idiot" Sasuke agreed, in his own way. "Don't start moping now. You're not that psychopath"

It moved him that his teammates were so fast to comfort him and wash away his fears. "Thank you, guys" He said with gratitude, "But I just... I can't help but feel bad for Gaara. I mean you all saw how messed up he is, what his own village and his family did to him. Makes what I went through look like a walk in the park..."

Maiyuri grunted to herself uncomfortably at the thought of her fellow people of the Land of Fire treating one of their own like that when he carried such a heavy burden.

"It's hard to explain" Naruto continued, "But it's like... Like I know him. I know it sounds weird, but I really feel I understand him. Far better than I ever understood anyone..."

"What you feel is empathy" Surprisingly, it was Soujiro who spoke. His voice carried its usual collected and soft tone, "Born of a burden only you can understand. You both share a terrible responsibility entrusted upon you at a time you didn't even have a choice in the matter, and by proxy became the target of resentment and anger. I believe you see in Gaara something akin to a kindred spirit"

Team 7 plus Karin all stared at Soujiro with squinting gazes, completely taken aback that the usually so quiet and reserved boy had just spoke such insightful words.

"Yeeeeeeah" Naruto slowly replied, more than a little weirded out. "Like that"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

After bidding her farewells to Team 7 and the two Uzumakis the princess knew exactly where she needed to go. And she had been so certain she kept herself well-hidden that no one would notice. Well, least not till much later. Then again she should have known better since this place is a 'ninja village'...

Those ANBU that conveniently showed up have likely been following her since she arrived.

Standing outside the Hokage's office Maiyuri sighed before knocking; "Enter." Hiruzen's stern voice came. Opening and entering the room the princess saw the Sandaime smoking from his pipe as he dryly glared in her direction. Beside him was the ANBU man in the cat mask. "Have you been enjoying the village Maiyuri-Hime? Tenzō has kept me informed of your activities since you try to 'sneak' into a village full of ninja." His voice being a dry as sand paper.

The soft pinkette dropped her head in defeat with a heavy sigh, closing the door behind her. "Alright, alright I get" She grumbled in exasperation, proceeding to list off with her fingers, "'It was very irresponsible'. 'I should have known better'. 'I need to think of the consequences'. 'It's not the best time I could have done this'. 'My father will hear of this'" She finished by slumping into a nearby couch. "Am I missing one?" She droned.

"Hmm, no you pretty much covered them all" Hiruzen quipped, "But you got one wrong. Your father won't be hearing of this"

The princess had to do a double take at that, "What?"

Hiruzen's smile was far too cheerful for her liking. "He already knows"

Her shoulders slumped as her expression morphed to despair.

"Why do you think Akiha-sama let you go in the first place" The Hokage said as he shuffled some papers on his desk.

Now she was back to confusion, "Wait what?"

"Akiha-sama felt this may calm that rebellious fire within you by seeing the world outside the capital. Although I was told your two personal guards are rather cross with you."

Maiyuri winced; Namika and Miharu were likely going to yell at her when she got home. Never mind what her father would have in-store for her. "If I going to rule the nation shouldn't I see the nation?" she still had her stubbornness showing.

"I don't disagree," Hiruzen sighed exhaling out a plume of smoke; "But there are dangers not even your training from the fire monks could ever have prepared you for outside the capital. Especially if someone recognizes you."

At that Maiyuri gazed down to the floor. The price of being nobility was a heavy one. "I grow wary of living inside the castle all day, every day" She tiredly said. "I understand Father just wants to keep me safe but... it's smothering. I barely interact with my own people, much less people from my own age" She said the last part a touch bitterly. Maiyuri then set her gaze on the aged Hokage, "I think you better than anyone understands, Hiruzen-dono. The way you as Hokage take time to be with your people, even with such a busy duty"

"I believe a true leader understands and connects with their people" At that, Hiruzen agreed wholeheartedly. "But I do not question the Daimyo. Had your father not told us otherwise, we would have already sent you back to the capital escorted"

Maiyuri stared back at him defiantly.

The Sarutobi sighed, gods that girl had the same fire as her mother. "Look, you can stay until the exams end. But afterwards you'll be returning directly to the capital"

"You can't order me, Hokage" She said, putting emphasis into his tile.

"You're not the daimyo yet" He reminded her, "And this my village"

"...Fine" She grunted out dissatisfied, but it looked like she wouldn't argue anymore.

The Hokage gave a small shake of his head, tapping over his pipe to clear some blockage. "Now, I must ask; what made you decide to come here during the Exams?"

"For being such a big part of how our society works" Maiyuri spoke, "I know very little of how shinobi culture works beyond the common knowledge. I was curious and the exams hosted in here Konoha presented the perfect opportunity for me to learn" She pursed her lips, "I will not lie and say that seeing children no older than twelve being on active duty disturbs me somewhat"

"Such are our traditions" The Hokage merely said, though not uncaringly. "It was much worse during the Clan Wars era"

"Doesn't make it any more right now" The princess argued.

"And if the age requirement for our shinobi were to be raised, we'd quickly find ourselves outpaced by the other villages and left weakened as a result"

"Do you personally believe that? Throwing children into life or death situations where they could die or worse? It does not matter how well one is trained, they are still children." Maiyuri spoke with fire in her voice.

Tenzō glanced to his Kage whose face remained unreadable but his mind was another matter. Of course he did not want children into the Shinobi corps. He never told anyone but he was terrified that Konohamaru even started training! He remembered the horrors of all three Shinobi wars and the toll it took on the Genin who fought in each one. Yet the tradition was laid out in stone for all the hidden villages.

Maiyuri soon clinched her fists; "And then there is the subject of the Jinchurriki." Her knuckles turned white.

The wizened Kage tiredly ran a hand over his face. "Yes, I know you were there when the boy Gaara made his... proclamations"

"I know Naruto-san's case was bad, but what was done to that Suna boy" Her voice was full of disbelief; she just couldn't understand how someone could psychologically torment a person until they snapped like that. The boy barely felt human, he was turning into the monster everyone claimed. There was only violence and disdain for life in him. Maiyuri shook her head, "The Jinchuuriki system is a sham, Hiruzen-dono. It was meant to act as a deterrence to prevent aggression between villages. And what was the result? Three ninja wars and dozens of smaller conflicts between villages, both great and minor"

The Hokage remained silent for a moment, his expression so guarded she couldn't even tell what he was feeling.

"I know"

His simple reply surprised not only her, but also the cat masked ANBU at his side, if the momentary shift in his posture indicated.

"We both know this system doesn't work, there is no point in lying. Hashirama-Sama, for all his virtues, did not foresee things escalating like this"

The princess released a soft sigh; "I know he meant well and wanted to end the wars. But what it has come to now, it must change."

At that the old Kage was silent; "Such a change will not come easy. I hope you fully understand the ramifications of what you will face if you decide to choose this path, it will be exceedingly treacherous."

"But it will be the right one," Maiyuri just had to think and see more of this village to grasp the plan she wanted. And see if it was truly the right course of action.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sitting in the training room of his house, Naruto and his teammates along with Kakashi, Kushina, and Jiraiya had decided to put their heads together and discuss a much needed strategy against their respected opponents in the 3rd exam.

They first told them about their encounter with Gaara in the training fields, Kushina of course was appalled at what the boy had gone through as a Jinchuuriki. Her own history as Konoha's Jinchuuriki made her have a soft spot for those like her, dealing with a Tailed Beast had been a heavy burden but was helped by the fact she had caring people at her side and her status was unknown to the general population and shinobi force.

Gaara on the other hand...

"If I had my way" Kushina grunted from her place in the couch, "I'd make a proper seal for the boy"

"But you don't" Jiraiya reminded her, leaning on the seat next to her, "Trust me, I'm not happy about it either, but our hands are tied. That is a matter pertaining solely to Suna"

The redhead clearly wasn't pleased with it, her reaction made it evident. Kakashi gently palmed her shoulder, offering a bit of support.

"I really wished there was something we could do" Naruto spoke, "I refuse to believe Gaara is beyond hope" If he ever began to think like that then he'd be doing the same thing the very people who shunned him did...

'He has sensei's optimism,' Kakashi mentally mused.

Sakura also had explained how she had accidentally hit a woman with rose colored hair much like hers, named Maiyuri. The young Genin saw the three adults in the room turn white as ghosts. Their sensei looked like a dead man walking which made the kids look at each other in confusion but shrug it off.

They finally got down to business and Naruto started off about Lee; "I've seen Lee train and spared with him when hanging out with Ten-chan."

"Got your ass handed to you didn't ya?" Jiraiya commented as his part-time student slumped his head; "If you think of fighting Lee with taijutsu you're done even before you began. Gai might be the weirdest person in the entire village, but he is the greatest hand to hand combat expert ever produced."

"Heh, don't had to tell me that" The bruises he got were still fresh in his mind. "Think I got something planned with the seals I learnt with mom-"

"I'm a great teacher!" Kushina humbly said.

"-I'll have to get close first, but that's what my crystal armor is for. I'll take some hits for sure, but I can make it work" If all fails, clone rush. Gods he loved that jutsu.

"Well, sounds like you got it figured it" Kakashi proudly complimented him.

"To be honest, I'm actually eager for the fight" He couldn't stop smirking at the anticipation. "Lee's like me, so this will mean a lot for the two of us"

The adults and his teammate's shared a confused look, "What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, we're both hard workers" The blonde Uzumaki explained, "We had to work a lot to get where we are, all we had was guts and nothing else to go by"

"Yes" Sakura said slowly, "At the academy you had a lot of problems getting the hang of techniques, but clearly not anymore. You made a lot of progress"

"Well, yeah" Naruto admitted, "Because I had great teachers"

"And when you think about it" The pinkette continued, "You were actually born with lots of advantages. You awoke your Shoton; your Uzumaki lineage gives you plenty of chakra and a strong constitution, plus a natural talent for mastering seals"

Naruto frowned, not liking where this conversation was going. Though a part of him couldn't help but feel deeply affected by her words, it pretty much threw his arguments out the window...

"Sorry to tell you kid" Jiraiya spoke, arms crossing over his chest. "You're not an underdog; you were just a late bloomer like me. And you're certainly not like Lee, he's had to fight his handicap from the start, you on the other hand were born with the deck stacked in your favor"

A frowned formed on the blond's lips; "But I-"

"You really haven't noticed it have you?" The blond turned to his Uchiha teammate; "Guess you are still bit of a knucklehead."

"Gee, thanks..."

"The point we're making is you have changed." Sasuke picked up one of Naruto's crystal kunai; "When this manifested is when it started, and ever since you have become different day by day. When we first sparred back in the academy you could never beat me. Now, we've been even ever since Nami."

The realization hit Naruto right where it hurt him the most, in his beliefs. "Great, now I feel like a giant hypocrite"

"Bah you're making a big deal out of nothing" Kushina waved it off. "You were born with advantages, so what? Does it suddenly make you a different person; are you going to turn into a smug prick now?"

"Hell no!" Naruto fiercely replied.

"Well there's your answer" His mother simply said. "Some people are slow learners, some are average, some are naturals, some are geniuses, and some are hard workers. And even if you can't believe it there are naturals who also work hard. My seals always came easy to me, and I practiced them daily. But my ninjutsu and genjutsu were always subpar; I had to supplement the first one with my seals until I became decent enough"

Naruto leaned back in his seat with a hum, musing over her words.

"Naruto" His pink haired teammate said, "Isn't the type of person you are and how you use your skills more important than how you got there?"

"...No" He finally admitted, "I guess not" He let out a long dragged out sigh. "It's just, now it feels wrong. When I fight Lee I wanted it to be the two of us giving our all because we're so similar... or so I thought"

"Weeeell look how much I care" Jiraiya droned. "You're a ninja, deal with it. If Lee isn't smart enough to strategize instead of fighting head on, then that's his problem"

"Lee's lack of skill for ninjutsu and genjutsu can be compensated by a heavy use of tools with the right tactics" Kakashi threw in his two cents, "Considering his teammate is Tenten, I would have expected him to possess a large array of items and use them in fights. So far, I've yet to see him use something other than kunai and shuriken. He is too much focused on what he believes is the only thing that can make him a great ninja"

The blond thought for moment; "Yeah, Lee only ever sparred using taijutsu and nothing else."

At hearing that Kushina groaned rubbing the bridge of her nose; "Gai still hyper-focuses doesn't he?" Kakashi awkwardly chuckled which gave her answer.

"That gives you an edge brat," Jiraiya mused; "Ninjutsu and seals should do the trick. But if you're thinking of piling a hundred or so clones on him to wear him out it won't work. Remember this guy nearly has as much stamina as you do. You're going to have to be clever."

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement, so Jiraiya turned to Sakura, "Well, pinkie, how goes your preparation?"

"Got all the stock I need" Sakura replied, "Just need to get used to the other part. Oh which reminds me" She searched into her pouch and pulled out a tiny bottle and unscrewed the cork; she grimaced as the contents entered her mouth. "Blah!" The taste did not get any better no matter how many times she did this.

"Heh, you'll be thankful later" Kakashi said with humor in his voice. "Neji is taijutsu powerhouse like Lee, but vastly different due to his clan's style. If he gets near you and closes enough chakra points then it's game over"

"You'll kick his ass for me right?" Naruto asked with a large smile on his face.

"As if you even need to ask" Sakura grinned right back. "I'll make him regret doing that to Hinata"

"Hopefully when you win" It warmed Sakura's heart the way Kushina said 'when', and not 'if', the Uzu redhead already believed she would emerge victorious. "You'll knock some sense into him" She sighed sadly, "He has a very fatalistic view of things from what I hear..."

It put a knot in Kushina's heart thinking about Hizashi's son acting like this. But she still hoped Neji could turn himself around before the worst ever happened.

Jiraiya turned his attention to the Uchiha; "And you brat? You know your opponent is a Jinchurriki, and an unstable one at that. Anything can happen facing this kid."

The old Sannin did not have to remind Sasuke of that. His opponent was extremely dangerous and it would take all he has learned thus far if he even thought he could win. If that sand of his grabbed him, it was over. "Will my dojutsu is any help against this guy?" He didn't know how effective ocular genjutsu would be on him, and Gaara seldom moved, all he would be able to follow would be his sand. And that was another challenge in and of itself.

"The harder part will be to pierce his defenses" His sensei spoke, "Which is why I've been teaching you the Chidori. That will be your ace. Use when you think you have a clear shot"

Sasuke nodded in return, his sensei's lightning technique was specially designed to pierce through any target. Given how Gaara's sand was technically earth element, the Chidori should be able to pierce through his protections.

"You need to rely on your instincts more than your eyes," Kushina stated; "Mi-chan for one rarely used her Sharingan unless she absolutely had to."

"That sounds... odd for an Uchiha" The dark haired boy remarked.

"She didn't want to become reliant on it. The Sharingan is a great boon, yes, but eventually you run the risk of going too low on chakra. When this happens your body can't react fast enough to the movements of your opponent which you could previously see clearly" It was sometimes hard to remember that this very energetic woman could also be a proper teacher when necessary, as shown by her insightful explanation. "Isn't that right Kakashi?"

"Well, in my case my Sharingan drains me faster because I'm not an Uchiha" He replied. "And it's not as omnipotent as you imagine. Remember Nami, I could see Zabuza's movements clearly, and that allowed me to keep up. But he was still very fast, it doesn't matter if you can't match your opponent's movements. If you let the battle drag on then the opponent will catch on and adapt as well, it's almost like the Sharingan doesn't make much of a difference with its base abilities."

"Which is why Mi-chan always concentrated on both honing her body and developing her techniques" Kushina continued, "By the time she used her Sharingan, it REALLY made a difference because of how sparsely she used it, the enemy didn't have the time to grow used to her adapting to their movements"

"Your mother played it smart," Jiraiya commented gaining the others attention; "Follow her example kid. Mikoto shared the number two spot with red here because they were dead even" The Toad sage thumbed to a smirking Kushina.

"And I would have been number one" She remarked, "Had I actually been able to use the Hiraishin proper like your father..." The redhead grumbled the last part.

"Woah" Naruto breathed out in awe. "You know the Hiraishin seal mom?"

"Know it? I helped your father improve it!" She took delight in the awed faces of the youths. "Tobirama's original seal only allowed for two people at the same time to be transported, but with your dad we managed to remove that limit, it opened a lot of doors for us regarding space-time seals. Hell before I found out I was pregnant I was working on a special area seal to nullify space-time techniques" She crossed her arms as her expression became one of dissatisfaction. "It kind of worked, could nullify summonings, substitutions and more, but the area of effect doesn't discriminate and everyone is affected"

Sakura leaned in with interest, "Does that mean you can use the Flying Thunder God like the Yondaime?"

"Pfft, I wish" Kushina grumbled, "Unfortunately, it takes more than knowing the seal, you need to have a good affinity with space-time techniques. That thing isn't just mere self-summoning; it literally rips apart at the dimensional barriers and crosses through a void. No sign that it's being used no need to use handseals, and the delay is a meager 0.2 seconds... if you have the affinity for it like I said. Which I don't, I need to prepare it beforehand, concentrate on which tag I'm targeting, takes enough time for it to very unsuitable for combat, unlike how it was for Minato and the Nidaime"

"The Hokage's personal guards" Kakashi took over, "Raidō, Genma and Iwashi were taught the technique by Minato-sensei, and they can only use it in conjunction, that's how difficult it is"

"What about you, sensei?" Naruto asked in curiously. "Do you know it?"

"Yes, but unfortunately my problem is the same as Kushina-sama's" He ignored the 'cut it out with the sama!' coming from the redhead next to him. "Not to mention it takes me a bit longer to even make one of those seals. I can't use it in combat"

"But there is something I sure as hell can do" Kushina grinned as she held up her palm, chakra gathered on a swirling motion, soon becoming a steady orb of pure energy.

The genin looked on fascinated, "You can use Rasengan? Awesome!" Naruto said with a thousand watt smile.

"Yep, the technique your father took years to develop, and Jiraiya months to learn it"

"How long did it take you?"

"A day"

The three genin fell to the ground in surprise. "What?!" Her son exclaimed.

"Hehehe" She giggled teasingly sending a look at the toad sage, "Yeah, when I first tried it I just put seals on my arm to force the chakra to rotate and take shape until it stabilized, afterwards I learnt how to do it without them, had all the time in world to do so because I could spam these things easily. Ohhh the look on your dad and Jiraiya's faces when they realized they could have used seals all along. Oh!" She point at the Sannin, "There, that's that face I'm talking about!"

It was that of a man who had the answer right in front of him all along but couldn't see the forest for the trees. In short, when one felt like a dumbass. And it was hilarious.

After recovering from the initial shock. The rosette looked to her Uzumaki teammate; "Maybe you can try and learn the Hiraishin?"

Naruto was beaming at the thought.

"But first you'd need to advance your sealing abilities a lot" Kushina spoke up, changing his smile into a frown. "This is a very complex seal. Right now we focus on what you need to beat your opponents." She glanced to Sasuke; "And pray you don't get killed so Mi-chan doesn't haunt me."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence..."

XxX ~ the following day ~ XxX

Naruto and Karin were waiting at the front of their house, they had been called by Lyn who (after a long phone spat with Kushina) asked if they knew a good blacksmith and weapons shop, as she was in need of resupplying and caring her for gear. Of course, Naruto had the perfect place in mind. And so they waited for the wild maned relative to arrive.

"I can feel at least two ANBU keeping watch on me" Karin mused out loud.

"You know how it is, just protocol"

"Well, I can't blame them. Former servant of Orochimaru, I wouldn't trust me"

"I trust you!" Naruto beamed, "You're family!"

Karin couldn't help but smile, feeling very touched. "That's a poor attitude for a ninja" She admonished, but her tone did not match her voice. Naruto just waved it off as he always did. The bespectacled girl perked up, "Oh here she comes, and..." She pauses as she turned to the stairs that went up to the upper level of the street.

Follow her gaze, Naruto saw Lyn dressed in a dark tank top and a skirt with an opening on the side, clearly dressing to show off her looks. He paused as he saw Kya standing next to her, wearing her usual one sleeved blue robes; the two were talking about something he couldn't make out.

He still felt a bit down that he wasn't getting as close to his Namikaze relative as he did with his Uzumaki side of the family, but Kya simply wasn't making it any easy.

Lyn laughed something out loud, while Kya remained her impassive edge. Though sharper eyes could not the blonde's gaze softened whenever she looked at the redhead. Lyn wrapped her arms around the Namikaze and planted a big sloppy kiss on her lips, which Kya slowly returned.

"Can't believe someone like Kya is with someone like Lyn..." Karin muttered in disbelief. They were like salt and sugar.

After finally letting go, Lyn waved her girlfriend goodbye and descended down the stairs. Kya took notice of the two young ninja and regarded them with vague interest. Naruto awkwardly waved his hand at her, and after a moment the messy haired Namikaze woman returned his greeting with a nod before leaving, likely to meditate somewhere.

"Things are still tense with you two huh?" The bespectacled girl asked.

"You have no idea..."

Hearing that as she descended down Lyn patted the blond Uzumaki on the head with a sad smile. "You have to go by Kya's pace kiddo." At that Naruto gave a nod as the buxom Uzumaki soon smirked; "Now no more sour faces! Please show your auntie Lyn this super-duper smith who can fix her awesome armor and weapons!"

Karin squinted much like her cousin; "Isn't that shirt a touch too small?"

Naruto said nothing though the blush from his cheeks said everything avoiding not staring at the woman's ample cleavage. Lyn snorted; "Oh honey it'd be a crime to hide these beauties."

Karin's eyes twitched.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Journeying through the village to the Higarashi weapon's shop was a small event with most men and some women staring at the figure of Lyn who was speaking casually with Naruto and Karin. Lyn was such a free spirited person it was easy for them to get along with her so fast like they did with Samenosuke.

Honestly, they could say that Lyn was a lot like Kushina, but they were certain hearing such a thing would piss her off. The two tended to fight a lot for some unfathomable reason.

They did not take long to reach the Higarashi's weapon shop; passing through the entrance they found Tenten in the counter. Naruto was half-expecting her to be training today, so it was a bit of a surprise to see her. "Yo, Ten-chan!"

"Well if it isn't most visible ninja in the world" Tenten grinned at him, before taking notice of Karin and Lyn. It was very surreal to hear that the Red Death was alive, and even more so find out more Uzumaki had arrived to the village seeking asylum. "You have a lot of nerve, coming here when you failed to introduce me to your mom"

Naruto scratched his neck, "Sorry, things were really hectic lately" He said as Lyn began to browse through the various weapons and items in the shop. "But, you could have visited me any day you know?"

At that, Tenten actually blushed in embarrassment and avoided his gaze.

"...Oh gods, you're nervous about meeting her" He said with a deadpanning voice. That was just... fangirly behavior.

"No I'm not!" Tenten snapped at him. "It's just that she's so, so, so cool!" A little bit more and there'd be stars in her eyes. "I'm just apprehensive, that's all"

Karin droned, "That's just another word for nervous"

Tenten mildly glared before sighing and looked back to her blond friend; "Can you please introduce me sometime?"

Naruto only squinted "Just come and visit Ten-chan, I guarantee it'll be a… experience." Seriously whatever she was imagining what his mother was like, it will not come close to reality. Or would it? Girls were always so hard to figure out.

Lyn rolled her eyes as she walked up to the counter; "If you want a badass Uzumaki to look up to then she's right in front of you, kiddo." She flashed a toothy grin; "Not only am I more badass, I am way more sexy that Kushi."

Naruto and Karin just deadpan; "What is the deal with you and mom anyways..." the blond grumbled.

"Hmph, we always fought as kids, she could never admit I was Tsukiko-baachan's favorite"

"I get the feeling mom would say the opposite if I were to ask her"

"Oh quiet you" The wild maned woman retorted before addressing the bun haired girl. "So, I'm looking to restock, plus I need someone to check my gear"

"Alright" Tenten opened a notebook and spun a pen in her hands, "What do you need"

"I'll need 30 smoke bombs, 30 oil bombs, 30 flash bombs" The young genin wrote it down, "Plus 60 empty bomb casings for custom make. A bag of a two hundred caltrops. A set 40 kunai and 80 shuriken" Tenten couldn't help but give the woman a look as she wrote the order down.

"Alright, we can have it made in two days" Tenten said. "Yeesh, this is a big order for just one person"

"I'll say" The strong male voice of Tenten's father spoke. The tower man entered the shop from the back door, wiping his dirty hands on his apron. "I usually fill orders like that but for whole teams who are assigned on long term deployment" Kaito said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I use a lot of tools in my line of work. Pays to be prepared considering the things I hunt"

"What do you hunt?" Tenten lifted a brow.

"The bad, the ugly and the worse"

"That tells us pretty much nothing" Karin pointed out.

"Oh you wanna see what I hunt?" Lyn had an all too predatory smirk on her face, "Here" She reached into her pockets and pulled out a miniaturized scroll. A touch of chakra and it returned to its regular size. She casually opened the scroll to reveal its sealing matrix. "Check this out" And formed a hand sign.

The scroll unleash its content in a blast of smoke, when it cleared away the others gawked at the sight of the severed of a giant chicken-like beast, its eyes were glazed otherwise the head was in remarkable condition, as though it hasn't decayed yet.

For a few seconds, there was only silence. Until Tenten's father broke it, "That better not stink my shop" He warned.

Lyn ignored him, "Isn't it cool? Killed this bad boy just a couple of days ago"

"What is it?" Naruto muttered as he looked the thing over.

"It's a basan! Well, the head of one. The rest is currently stored in my scrolls for food"

"Wait..." Tenten muttered as her brow furrowed. "Is this one of those giant fire-breathing birds? I heard of them but never saw one"

Lyn let out a grunt; "This charming fella was causing a little stir in a village." Why did they feel a 'little stir' meant all hell broke loose? "But this sexy badass took it down without a fuss." she finished with a smug grin as she crossed her arms under her bust.

"That's all well in good but can you put that back please," Kaito drawled with a mild glare.

Karin inspected the head before the buxom redhead sealed it back. "So a demon hunter."

"I do hunt regular bounties too; I have no problems tearing down bandits or slavers. But my main profession is slaying demons who are being meanies to villages."

Relieved that the severed monster's head was gone Kaito rubbed his eyes; "That's rather a dangerous life."

"So is being a ninja big guy," Lyn retorted with a cock of the head; "And your kiddo is one."

"Touché."

"Which reminds me" She took another scroll from her other pocket, this time unsealing a naginata. The shaft was black, with a golden flame shaped pommel at the end, on the other side was a coiling serpentine body that lead to the maw of a dragon from where its open maw came the blade, the back of the blade was shaped like fire while the edge shined with stainless steel. "Need you to take a look at it. See if anything needs fixing" She threw the weapon at the large man who caught it with one hand.

"Hmm" He mused as he inspected the weapon, feeling the weight and running a finger over the blade, Tenten gushed with stars on her eyes as she looked at it. "Very good craftsmanship. Did you make it?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking you to look it over" She droned, "Nah, found it years ago in some ruin. Looked Clan Wars era, probably even older"

"Does it have a name?" Tenten asked.

"I don't waste time with stuff like that. Pfft, if I did I'd probably follow the trend and call it something pretentious like a lot of people do" She chuckled, "How about Stabby-san? That's a good name"

"Naginata's don't stab" Naruto pointed out, even he knew that. "They're for slashing"

Lyn narrowed her eyes, "Don't sass me you brat" She handed the same scroll which had contained her weapon to Tenten. "My armor is here too, would like it all looked at along with my order"

"I'm a bit busy lately with the exams going on" Kaito shrugged his broad shoulders, "Will take me at least six days before I can finally look at your gear"

"Well, that won't do at all" The blue eyed woman said with disappointment. "I don't like not having my stuff for so long" She tapped her lip in thought, fingers snapping as a thought occurred to her. "Say, you ever used more... esoteric material in your work?"

Father and daughter exchanged a curious look, "What do you mean?" Tenten asked.

"Ever made poison with the venom sacks of a jorōgumo, a bokken with the bark of a jubboko?" A grin adorned her lips, "Or fire bombs with a basan's stomach acid?

Naruto and Karin gave Tenten a disturbing look as the girl was nearly salivating a thought of making weapons with such materials.

"...I'm listening" The blacksmith said with concealed interest.

"I get you rare materials like that" Lyn proposed, "And you look over my gear early, not to mention a discount here and there~"

As to show she knew what she was talking about, Lyn pulled out another scroll. Unfurling it on the cashier's table she went through quick hand seals and placed her hand on the scroll. In a quick burst of smoke soon appeared were several metal ores plus pieces of wood.

Kaito's eyes grew as wide as Tenten's with stars shining in both. "I-is that..." He stuttered. Picking up one of the ores as if it was a holy relic he looked at it in all with his daughter; "Where did you find this?!"

Lyn just smirked; "All you need to know is I can get you more~. What do you say big guy?"

"You got it!" Father and daughter chorused

Naruto dryly turned Karin; "What is that stuff anyways?" The glasses wearing redhead only shrugged back.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The concept of home was a peculiar one; this Soujiro had come to learn as he listened to the tales of his father, uncle, and aunt.

Home went beyond the process of owning a house, a roof above your head where you could dwell. A home was a concept, intangible, but very much real and present.

Home was where you could feel safe, where you would feel both joy and sorrow and be able to share it with people important to you. The people who had a prominent presence within your life.

The house where he grew up, hidden, was his home, because his family was there. Any place that housed his father and relatives was a home to Soujiro. The rest were just commodities, he did not need neither walls nor roofs. Leaving it had been no issue for him, for he traveled alongside his family in search of more Uzumaki.

This village, this house, its training room he currently sat in reading a scroll, would be his home. For in here his family had shared the joy of reunion, as well as the shared pain and comfort of the memory of their lost homeland.

To Soujiro, Uzushio was a distant concept of which he himself could barely visualize. He had not lived through its fall; he did not feel as the rest of the adults of his family did.

That is when Soujiro learnt to associate the concept of a home with a physical place. To the Uzumaki, home had been the place where their ancestors labored and settled where the roots of their lineage had grown through the generations. The island had become part of themselves.

Though the clan lived, the scars had been carved upon their souls. For they had lost something that held a great meaning to them, a legacy.

Soujiro understood that the adults still tried to make a new home for themselves, to give up would bring dishonor to the clan. So they carried the memory of Uzushio with them, nurturing it, hoping that legacy they held dear in their hearts would carry them forward.

They would live on and endure, never forgetting their ancestral home.

Soujiro couldn't be prouder of being an Uzumaki. He may not show it openly, he thought it was unnecessary, his pride was his and his alone, privy to nobody's business but his. It was in the small things, how he kept the bangs of his shaggy hair visible enough in his field of vision, at the sides of his cheeks, at the edge of his nose, he liked seeing his red hair. How he cared for his blade. Or how every morning he would offer a prayer to his mother and his ancestors, contemplating on their life.

He liked staying quiet and observe, one would learn many fascinating things just by paying attention, analyzing every small detail. Though many times it was unnecessary, most of his family wore their hearts on their sleeves, never hiding how they feeling from the world, making everyone know without hesitation nor shame what they thought.

"Soujiro-kuuuun! Want aunty Kushina to make you something to eat?!" His newly acquainted aunt was proof of that as she yelled as she stuck her head down from the top of the stairs with a full bright toothy smile.

The young man raised his head and gave a polite nod; "Yes thank you."

Kushina had to admit that out of her son, and Karin, Soujiro was the most reserved. The boy hardly spoke a word unless directly spoken to by someone. She knew it was partly due to his father, but she wondered if it was also due to the isolation from hiding for all those years.

Maybe being around people his age could change that now. Well she hoped anyways.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The Uchiha clan district, a place very much abandoned. Not even the shinobi of the village had a lot of reason to patrol through the area. After all, with no soul around their efforts were better put on other more populated areas of the village. Though once a while a ninja on patrol would pass by.

And Hayate thanked the gods he did, he could not miss a single word of the conversation happening not far from his position behind the roof.

"The situation has grown complicated" He recognized that voice, Baki from the Suna team. "Now more Uzumaki have entered the village. For they too have survived all these time, it means they are talented"

"Ahh, don't worry"

There was no way Hayate didn't recognize that voice, so shrill and raspy, sending shivers down his spine.

He willed himself not to cough, not right now, not when Orochimaru was so near.

"I've made more... preparations just for our Uzumaki friends"

Baki grunted as he folded his arms; "Even for the Red death?"

At that the snake sannin chuckled; "Oh leave Kushina-chan to me. But no worries Suna, the invasion will succeed and your village can show all you are not weak." Slowly Orochimaru sunk into the ground leaving the Suna Jounin alone.

"...Was it right to trust him?" Baki muttered as he shook his head.

In the shadows Hayate took a quiet deep breath; 'I must tell the Hokage.'

"It is not polite to eavesdrop. Did they ever teach you that, proctor?"

Hayate froze before slowly turning his head and saw Baki standing beside him. His unveiled eyes glared with pure murderous intent.

For a moment neither moves. Hayate knew he needed to be careful yet decisive, either him or the enemy before him will make the next move. Whoever strikes first will determine the fate of the village.

Hayate puts his faith in the Will of Fire, for sake of his village and his comrades, he cannot fail.

His sword is out in a flash, and his movements are a blur, almost an afterimage, as he dashes towards his opponent, the blade glints with the moonlight.

Baki's hand swipes the air, commands it to gather into a sharp edge, and sends it straight at the Konoha ninja.

Hayate's last thoughts are of Yugao.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Chapter Text

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Death was part of the shinobi life. They were taught since childhood how to deal with it. A ninja of the village had to move on quickly, and regard the death of their comrades with the highest of honors, for they had given their lives for the village, and there was still their own duty to fulfill.

But the truth of the matter was that death was never easy to deal with. No matter how much they placed it on a pedestal, it was impossible for a shinobi to become an emotionless tool. Perhaps ironically, those who have achieved such a state of emptiness were considered freaks by their fellow ninja, just to show how filled with hypocrisy the old mantra was.

When it came to the death of a loved one, all logic and rational thought went out the window; they were just left with a sudden void in their lives. The tears sometimes would take time to pour, as the person had yet to properly comprehend this void, for the pain to properly dawn in. Their emotions would just stir in a sea of confusion and emptiness.

Which was what Yugao was feeling right now, she must have stood there listening to the Hokage for what felt an eternity. Her surroundings were simple blurs and shapes, the only thing she could make out inside the morgue was the body laid on a table before her.

The ever kind and understanding gaze of the old Kage settled on her as the rest of the ANBU left, except for her. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You need time, Yugao" He said, using her own name instead of her code-name. "Don't think about continuing your duties, let the mourning come naturally"

He placed a sword, Hayate's sword, in her hands. Her fingers slowly curled around the sheath, holding it with reverence.

"I am sorry" There was nothing more he could say, so he took his leave. A ninja died but the village move on, as did his duties.

Leaving the morgue wing of the hospital and going down the hall, Hiruzen said nothing as Kushina darted passed him like the wind. If there was one person that Yugao needed it was her sensei. He was glad he sent to word through ANBU to the redhead of the news.

Stopping at the double doors of the morgue the redhead slowly opened them to see Yugao holding her lover's sword as she looked down at his lifeless form on the examination table. Only Hayate's head was uncovered by the cloth draped over him. Yugao was as still as a statue, her eyes unblinking as she merely stared at her dead lover's face. Kushina on her part said nothing as she slowly made her way behind her student and placed comforting hands on the purplette's shoulders.

"Yu-chan..." Her sensei's voice a warm whisper that finally roused the ANBU woman from her trance.

Tears dripped from her eyes as she sluggishly turned her head to gaze at Kushina; "We wanted to start a family..." Yugao spoke in a hushed tone before her body had begun to shake. Quickly her sensei wrapped her in her arms in a strong hug as her student broke down in a silent mournful wail.

Kushina ran a hand through Yugao's hair as she held her crying student close. She had only gotten to meet Hayate a few times when Yugao was off duty. But he was a good and decent lad who was passionate in his own way about the village. And deeply loved her student who was very taken by him.

"I'm here" Kushina soothingly said, her voice barely above a whisper. She channeled every bit of maternal love she had inside, trying to comfort the grieving Yugao.

There was little else she could do now but be at Yugao's side. Kushina understood the pain she was going through all too well, so she would be there for her student, every step of the way. Life may strike them at every turn, trying to break, but Kushina would not let it, as she would not let Yugao crumble either.

It would be up to Yugao to either rise or fall, but even in her grief the ANBU knew she wasn't alone. The warm embrace of her teacher, the miracle that was her presence in her life again, was proof of that. But for now the flood gates had opened, the pain was fresh, and so she grieved. Her teacher held her throughout it all.

Her heart ached at its missing piece.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

It was far too early in the morning, as far as Naruto was concerned, the skies were still that orange hue of dawn as the sun peered over the horizon. The drying clothes in the balcony of his house swayed gently with the wind while Naruto let out a long dragged out yawn before smacking his lips. He really wasn't built for this...

Unlike his uncle, who was the very image of calmness as he knelt next to his, his eyes closed with the few strands of red hair over his forehead trailing lightly with the breeze.

"How can you and Kya do this?" He mumbled, "Meditation is not for me, I can't think of nothing"

"Meditation is not 'thinking about nothing'" Saito said with humor in his voice, "It's about focus, concentrating into at least one thought, pursuing it as you push out all distractions"

"One thought?"

"A goal or an idea, something you believe in or strive to follow. You focus on that one thing and nothing else."

A squint and cock of the head came from the young Uzumaki; "That sounds way better than trying to not to think of anything." Honestly he wished Jiji explained meditation like that and he might have paid attention to it back then.

Saito chuckled; "It's just how some people perceive meditation to be so they follow it. Tsukiko-baachan's interpretation I feel is much better though personally." The blond grunted before eliciting another yawn. He really was not a morning person, Saito sweatdropped as he shook his head; "Well I do believe you'll be training with me and Samenosuke today."

"Right" Naruto said as he stretched, "Where is uncle Same anyway?"

"Well" Saito tried to look for a tactful way of putting it, "Samenosuke leads a... active lifestyle. He's always going from one place to another and-"

"You don't have to sugar coat it, aunt Lyn already told us he's a man-whore" The blonde Uzumaki drawled.

Ah, trust Lyn to go straight to the point. "But, we love him and we do not judge him" The reply came more mechanical than anything. Naruto guessed he told himself that every day to put up with Samenosuke's antics.

"So, where is he?" Naruto asked again, "Don't think he's in his room"

Saito's eyes dryly stared over and down from the balcony at a nearby bush on the street, "Right over there, can smell the sake from a mile away..."

Naruto's eyes twitched as he looked over and saw roguish man's legs sticking out of a bush. "He's weirder than mom isn't he?"

"No one is more eccentric than Kushina," Saito bluntly retorted; "Samenosuke just follows the beat of his own drum."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

After waking and nearly getting puked on, the trio left the house for one of the forest training grounds. Samenosuke sat under a tree with a cup of coffee, recovering from his hangover. Saito however sparred against the younger Uzumaki who occasionally had to avoid the highly accurate kunai thrown his way by the sitting roguish Uzumaki.

"How can you throw those things half awake!?" Naruto shouted, ducking under kick.

Samenosuke only smiled; "It's practically an art-form to me after all these years."

The swordsman drone, "It's a miracle how the accumulated alcohol in your veins hasn't killed you yet"

"What can I say? The gods must love me"

"Yes, I have heard they take care of fools"

Samenosuke pouted at him before throwing yet another kunai which Naruto narrowly avoided, but left him wide open for a backhand courtesy of his uncle Saito. The strike threw him to the ground, leading the blonde to groan and rub his jaw in pain.

"You call it foolishness" Samenosuke spoke as he threw his long bangs behind his shoulders, resting his arms behind his head. "I call it living"

Saito crossed his arms as he stared down at Naruto, "Drinking and having sex in excessive amounts isn't just living, it's a vice"

The blond Uzumaki sat up as he shook his head. It's been an experience learning from his two uncles and aunt; though in case of Kya, she had made it clear she would only start teaching him the Namikaze traditions after the exams. All three Uzumakis were very diverse in their skills of taijutsu and if Naruto was honest, he was loving every spar session he had with them.

Saito looked back to Kushina's boy as he stood up; "You are improving, but have long ways to at the taijutsu form Kushina made, its touch different from the norm of the usual Uzu style."

"I'd expect no less from our hime." Samenosuke grinned sipping some coffee; "It's simple yet balanced with practical techniques."

"Besides that," Saito paused; "How would you rate your chances against young Lee?"

The young blond crossed his arms; "If I can get those seals on him I know I have a chance."

"Plus you've been doing so much better with Fūinjutsu." Samenosuke cheekily smiled; "Compared to what you were doing beforehand." Naruto only slumped his head at the older Uzumaki's words.

"My seals were good!"

"To anybody else" The long pony-tailed man pointed out. "But you're Uzumaki, boy. We have higher standards when it comes to sealing"

"Don't have to tell me about it" Naruto grumbled, remembering how much his mother drilled the sealing lessons into his head. "Once mom started going into the more advanced stuff I swear my brain short-circuited for a moment. Kept wrecking my head trying to figure it out"

"Learning comes through a calm mind, Naruto" Saito spoke, though it felt like he was quoting something he himself heard. Maybe from Tsukiko? That woman sure sounded like she knew a lot.

It was then that his stomach growled.

"And from a full stomach!" Samenosuke laughed, "Come on kid, let's grab a bite"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Ahhh Ichiraku Ramen, he could smell it from a block away by now. It always brought a smile to his face to eat there, good company just made it better. He was happy his family (who perhaps while not as ramen happy as he and his mother, but still very fond of it) had grown to like this place that meant so much for him.

"Ayame-nee!" He called out happily.

The young woman turned to him with a smile, "Naruto, welcome baAH!" She yelped as Samenosuke nearly leapt over the counter to be face to face to her.

"Well hello there beautiful~" Naruto and Saito face faulted, not again... "Funny how I keep finding you here"

"I-I work here" She embarrassingly pointed out. "Please can we skip this whole 'thing', my father is getting annoyed by it..." Said father's grunt could be heard from the back.

"Ahhh!" He dramatically placed a hand over his chest, "To have you so near yet so far away. One day my sweet, one day" He winked at her.

She took their orders as fast and possible and tried to avoid eye contact with the man who kept leering at her.

"Yeesh" Naruto muttered. "This is the fourth time you've flirted with Ayame, and I've seen you flirt with five girls and six dudes... and my mom" He said the last part with accusation.

"What can I say?" Samenosuke shrugged with a grin. "I live in the now, my boy."

"Yeah, mom calls it 'whoring around'" At that, Saito cracked a small grin.

"Bah!" He scoffed, "Hime can call it whatever she likes, and I don't care. I lived a good part of my life hiding from the world and jumping at every shadow just to survive. And you what I learned?" He leant closer to the boy in his seat. "That ain't living, that's just not-dying. So I drink lots, I eat lots, and sleep around a lot, because the sake and food taste better when you believe it could be your last, because any company you enjoy could be the last you ever have."

Naruto could only stare at his uncle, impressed by the intensity in his words. He was usually so laid back about everything. Saito looked down as he held his hands in front of his face, he understood what Samenosuke said, and even agreed with it in part. Hiding your entire life wasn't living...

"So!" Samenosuke grinned widely as he once again rested his arms behind his head. "Coming to this village, best decision we ever made! The family's back together, and I get to enjoy this maddening adventure we call life with them. To do anything less is an insult to the clan"

Saito only groaned; "Naruto, while yes are clan is known for being rowdy. Please don't take every life lesson from Samenosuke."

"What, because mom would hit him? How's that different from any other day?"

"No" He thumbed over to the roguish Uzumaki; "She'd kill him."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Ino liked to think she was helping. Just... sitting on the sidelines next to Karin in the training ground, while Hinata was the one who sparred with Sakura.

"You can do it!" She cheered, as though this was an official fight.

Yeah, she was totally helping.

Hinata's finger strikes moved with such speed the Yamanaka had trouble following them, but Sakura was doing a much better job than she herself would if she were in the pinkette's shoes, evading those quick jabs and still managing to counter attack in her own. The two seemed locked in a sort of stalemate, Sakura kept herself from having her own chakra points closed off, which gave enough room for Hinata to evade her devastating punches.

Okay, Ino realized she wasn't helping as much as she would have liked. But really, Hinata was the best training partner at the moment considering whom Sakura would be facing in the finals. It was honestly a bit surprising the Hyuuga had agreed at all, Hinata was such a sweet little thing but... her attacks, the precisions, the intensity by which she struck. She sparring a fire that was rather out of character for the usually shy Hyuuga.

It was not out of a desire to fight, but something greater that motivated her, she wanted Sakura to adapt and learn how to fight a Byakugan wielder.

Beside the blond Karin cleaned her glasses; "Has Hinata ever fought like this?"

"Not even back during our academy days," Ino muttered watching Sakura just miss a sharp palm strike for the chest. "She was always so timid and shy. Still is actually, never seen this side before. Guess she really wants Sakura to beat Neji."

Overhearing the conversation between the two Hinata spoke up; "It's not about beating Neji-niisan. I want to save him!"

The other three girls stared up with surprise at the sudden words that came out with surprising fervor. Sakura stopped mid attack and lowered her stance, while Hinata became aware of the looks they were giving her she quickly returned to her usual shyness, gripping the hem of her shirt as she blushed in embarrassment.

Karin understood more and more why aunt Kushina would glomp the girls into tight hugs.

"You want to save Neji?" Sakura muttered in confusion.

Hinata's gaze flickered as she tried to look for the right words, somehow make them understand, "Neji-niisan... he is lost" She said, "He lives with so much anger, all he can see are the mistakes the clan did"

The Hyuuga Incident... as their career as shinobi progressed; Sakura and Ino had been informed of what happened that day. It was important to be aware of previous conflicts with the other villages and the repercussions they had. Karin only knew about it because under Orochimaru it was her job to know these things.

Kumo in their treachery kidnapped Hinata, sought to take the Byakugan from her and extract its secrets. Her father killed the would-be kidnapper in retaliation, and Kumo had the gall to demand compensation... which Konoha gave. They were taught not to question their leader, but Sakura honestly did not agree with the Sandaime's decision.

A Byakugan in exchange for the life of their fallen shinobi, namely the one belonging who had taken his life, clan leader Hiashi's.

But Konoha pulled a gambit of their own, a body had been supplied, that of his identical twin, Hizashi. Neji's father.

It was then that Sakura understood just how much bitter Neji was, why he viewed the world like he did. His father had been discarded as a tool because he was of the servant branch, in order to spare the main branch. She couldn't understand what it was, to be a servant all your life, for your life to be thrown away so coldly. She was a ninja of Konoha, if she were to give her life for her village then it was because that's what she wanted, because she loved her home and would die for it, just like many other of her comrades.

But to hear how the servant branch was treated, it was only by the smallest of technicalities that it wasn't considered full slavery.

"He thinks he is trapped" Hinata continued, her voice mournful. "That this life was his fate, and fate binds us all" She turned her pleading eyes to the pinkette. "Which is why I'm sparring with you, Sakura-san, you know how to fight him" She bowed at the waist. "Please, save my cousin"

Sakura took a small step back, overtaken by the sudden act. "S-Save him, me? Hinata, I-I don't even know how to talk to him" He could barely understand how Neji felt, who was she to even attempt to make him see life differently?

"You don't need to tell him anything" The dark blue haired Hyuuga said, holding her bow. "All you need to do is winning. I heard how he talks about you, a civilian born ninja; he thinks your fate is the same as every other ninja that comes from a civilian family"

Cannon fodder, just numbers to throw to the enemy, or merely non-combatants whose roles would be more on logistics, medicine, code-cracking and the like. A ninja who should not get in the way of those with real talent.

Sakura understood she had a steep hill to climb if she wanted to be viewed as more than just some no-name Kunoichi. More so to shed away that fan-girl persona she once had and the foolish reason she became a ninja...

While she might be still searching for the why she wants to still be a ninja, she was proud she had gotten so far compared to what she used to be. But it irked greatly that some people out there would still see her as nothing more than cannon fodder.

She was going to prove she was more than a disposable tool, and she'd prove it by bringing Neji down a peg or two. "If breaking his jaw will knock some sense into him I'll try." Wow, she has been hanging around Naruto and Kushina-sensei too much.

"He will not take you seriously, but that does not mean he will go easy on you" Hinata warned her, "Neji-niisan overpowers his opponents, he'll close your chakra points first chance he gets, and hit the right parts to immobilize you"

"Lucky for me, he'll have to charge head first" The pinkette replied with a smile, "Don't worry, I've been preparing just the thing to take him out. You said it yourself, he doesn't take me seriously so that means he won't prepared"

Hinata slowly stood straight, giving Sakura a heartfelt and thankful smile, "T-Thank you. I wish I wouldn't need to ask you this but... I don't think I can get through to Neji-niisan myself"

"Yeesh" Ino let out an explosive breath, "The guy tries to kill you, and here you are completely concerned for him. Doesn't sound really sound fair to me"

"I can't help it" The Hyuuga said, "He's my family" She said as though that was all the explanation needed.

"...Ugh, you're too good for your own good, Hinata"

XxX ~ the next morning ~ XxX

As the morning sun rose over the training area Jiraiya nodded to himself; "Well Red actually pulled it off." Kakashi glanced at him while reading; "Training those kids and getting herself back into shape in just the span of a month."

"Kushina-sama always did have the talent," Kakashi responded and Jiraiya took notice of light joyous tone from the young Jōnin's voice. Kushina's presence no doubt being the cause of it.

Not far from them stood the topic of their discussion wearing plain clothes, sparring against both Saito and Samenosuke. "It's more than talent, its drive. And Kushina has had that since she was a brat."

Well, that drive had paid off. In a month Kushina had recovered a lot of her fitness, with the help of her many friends and constant training. Her body now much more toned and athletic, having built back up the muscle she had lost during her pregnancy. The Uzumaki woman would not settle for less, and so submitted herself to a regime that would make Gai nod in approval. When she wasn't training her body, she had been catching up in all she missed during these twelve years. Abusing shadow clones like that to read on many old reports was migraine inducing, but necessary.

Always pushing herself, she did not take no for an answer when she asked (dragged) her cousins to spar with her. The two Uzumaki men were currently engaging her through different styles, Saito with his straight forward swordsmanship with his practice wooden sword, and Samenosuke with trickery via his various tools and seal use.

Kushina, holding a wooden sword of her own, parried the various strikes that came at her at quick succession. Right, left, upper left, center, she spun around struck, only for Saito to dodge out of the way, her wooded blade hitting only the grass. Samenosuke jumped in with a spinning kick, taking her by surprise, it landed against her face, making her retreat a few steps.

"A shame to hurt that pretty face of yours, but it's for your own g-" His words died in his mouth as the bokken swiped right over his head, it would have hit him had he not dodged at the last second. Kushina followed with a knee strike directed straight at his now lowered face, forcing him to shield himself with his hands. They caught the blunt of the strike and pushed himself back, gaining distance as he threw several kunai at her.

Kushina deflected the swift barrage of metal with ease, making sure none of them stuck to her bokken. She did not notice two of them had missed and went pass her on purpose. The moment they embedded themselves on the ground seals in them activated, conjuring up a small barrier wall behind her. Samenosuke dashed forward and jumped, kicking her bokken away with a strong strike, as he landed he followed with a series of quick jabs and open palm strikes, to which Kushina retaliated with the same style.

Uzumaki style martial arts, developed to make use of their sealing ability with their palms without forsaking the use of closed fist to weaken their enemy and deliver devastating blows. Kushina slowly gave a bit of ground thanks to his ceaseless advance, she parried a jab close to her face and struck with one of her own towards his stomach, and Samenosuke blocked it with his knee before using the same raised leg to throw a quick series of kicks.

Kushina was pushed back, and suddenly found herself colliding with solid air. It was then that she noticed the barrier behind her, taking advantage of her distraction; Samenosuke raised his closed fist and delivered a straight punch, only for Kushina to duck out the way just in time, letting his hand hit the barrier.

By his grunt, she imagined that must have hurt. Kushina snapped her fingers as she raised her left arms, a series of ink-black lines appeared on her arm, chakra circulating through her limb as her as adrenaline rushed through her veins. Her fist closing, veins rose over her forearm as her arm muscles flexed and bulged with the sudden surge of power. She let out a strong battle cry as she delivered at the punch straight to his gut, knocking the air out of him.

Samenosuke's body flew through the air before painfully hitting the ground and rolling away. A touch excessive for practice but Kushina would lying if she said some of his ceaseless flirting didn't have anything to do with that, or how he wouldn't reign in that lecherous personality of his even when the kids were around. She already had enough fears of Naruto being influenced by Jiraiya, she didn't need any more.

She let out a soft breath as she let the seals in her arm fade and remain inactive, it was better not to use this technique so much. She lacked the pinpoint chakra precision to use her adoptive mother's constant monstrous strength, but this was a good alternative as any.

The sudden rush of wind alerted her, and Saito was upon her in a second, with her bokken gone she was at the mercy of his strikes, forcing her to dodge without the ability to counterattack against his swift slashes.

So she did what she always would, and improvised.

Her teeth gnashed as she caught the bokken in her hands (catching a wooden sword swung at you at full speed was more painful than most people thought...) much to Saito's surprise if the small widening of his eyes was any indication. She channeled her chakra through the weapon, a seal array quickly formed where her hands touched the blade. Saito couldn't react in time as the temperature of his weapon rose exponentially, literally becoming too hot to touch, and was forced to let it go. The blade fell to the ground, smoking, almost ready to burst into flames.

"Time!" The Gama Sannin yelled ending the spar. "I'd say after an hour of watching you two face Red down, she is back into fighting shape."

Samenosuke who still lay on the ground lifted his hand and gave a shaky thumbs up; "Glad we could help out our Hime." He groaned out painfully.

"You're impressive Kushina," Saito grinned as he whipped off the sweat from his face. "I see why you became an ANBU." He had always remembered how fierce his cousin was when she was training. And she had never once lost that intensity if any of their sessions were anything to go by.

'When it comes to battle, be as ruthless as a dragon.' Kushina had always taken Tsukiko-Baachan's words to heart.

After helping a very sore Samenosuke to his feet, Kakashi gave the three some water and a towel to wipe off the sweat. "Good to see you back in shape Kushina-sama." The silver haired Jōnin eye-smiled.

"What have I said about dropping the 'sama'?" Kushina dryly retorted with a deadpan glare.

"Well, here I thought you would appreciate someone giving you the respect you so clearly deserve" Kakashi's tone was very exaggerated in its cheerfulness. "After all, didn't you run around telling people to acknowledge you as the great prankster queen of the village?"

"...You're trolling me" Kushina said with furious realization, "ME. Ohoho you don't know what you're getting into, kid" She promised with vengeance, "You've seen what I can do to people who annoy me, don't start a war you can't possibly win"

Kakashi had his book out, as though it had always been, his sole visible eye focused on its pages before giving her a quick glance, "Hmm? Yeah sure"

"GRRR!" The Uzumaki woman growled out fiercely, stomping the ground like a child, "Don't ignore me!"

"Oh by the way," Kakashi lazily spoke ignoring Kushina's tantrum; "Shouldn't you and Jiraiya-sama be heading to the Hokage tower by now?" At that everyone paused; "Wasn't the Mizukage coming today?"

At that both Jiraiya and Kushina blinked before yelling; "SHIT!" and ran off for the tower.

Saito sighed as he shook his head; "Kushina hasn't lost her absentmindedness either." Samenosuke only chuckled back.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Hiruzen only stared dryly at both Jiraiya and Kushina who stood on either side of him. Both had literally mad dashed through the village and leapt through his open window just as the ANBU told the Sandaime the Mizukage was in the village.

"Glad to see you two remembered the meeting with the Mizukage." The Hokage's words were as dry as the Suna desert.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world Jiji," Kushina chuckled weakly and shrunk under Hiruzen's glare.

"At any rate," the old Kage huffed; "What do we know of the Godaime Mizukage?"

Jiraiya grunted; "Not a whole lot. Just that her name is Mei Terumi; Kiri has always been the most secretive of the Shinobi villages."

With those words a knock came to the door and the Sandaime gave permission to enter. Upon opening the door they were greeted with the sight of a tall and very beautiful and slender fair skinned woman with ankle length auburn hair in a herringbone style pattern, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front hiding one of her green eyes. She wore a blue dress with long sleeves that went just below the knees. The right front side was kept open by a zipper and went down from the waist. Underneath her dress was a chain mesh which showed just a bit of her ample cleavage.

Kushina could not stop herself from whistling; "Oh now that is one hot lady I wouldn't mind having dinner with."

"Oh sure" Jiraiya drawled, "When I eye a lady, it's creepy, but when you do it then it's suddenly fine! There is some female on male prejudice here..."

"You know, I would take those words seriously if you weren't drooling right about now" Kushina shot back, making Jiraiya quickly rubbed his mouth.

Perhaps it was foolish of Hiruzen to expect these two to behave in such a delicate occasion like the meeting between two Kages, he briefly entertained the thought of vanishing them to the desert, and ahhh how simple would his life be then... A man could dream.

The lady Kage regarded them with a lifted eyebrow, "I seem to have arrived at a bad time"

"Oh don't mind them" The Hokage waved it off, "They're two of my best, but unfortunately they're not quite there in the head"

The auburn haired woman actually giggled at that, "If you were to meet some of my shinobi, you would not be complaining about yours" She placed a hand upon her chest as she gave a short bow, "It is an honor to meet you, Sarutobi-dono. I am Mei Terumi, Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure no Sato"

"Welcome to Konohagakure no Sato."

"I must say," Mei inclined her head; "Receiving your scroll was quite a surprise. At present my village is still recovering from the brutality of Yagura's reign. So believe when I say your offer of help peaked my interest."

"I understand if my actions were quite bold, but after seeing the comradely of our Genin in the prelims I felt it was worth a try." Hiruzen spoke honestly.

The Mizukage crosses her arms under her bust; "However, before I entertain this proposal I must bring up a matter."

"Yes?"

Her visible green eye shifted uneasily, "At the final moments of the rebellion, I fought against Yagura. Believe me, it was no easy challenge fighting a jinchuuriki, but in the end I prevailed" Her words carried a double meaning which the leaf ninja understood; she boasted her power, a warning in case they planned of backstabbing her. A tactic they themselves had employed in the past. "In his last moments, Yagura... wasn't himself" She shook her head, a sad glint evident in her eyes, "Or perhaps it'd be more fitting to say, he was finally acting like himself once again"

Hiruzen exchanged a confused look with Kushina and Jiraiya, "What do you mean?"

"Yagura was not always the tyrant of the Bloody Mist," She stressed, "But one day he began changing, it was subtle in some aspects, he still carried his personal life and affairs like always, but the decisions he started making once he became Kage, they were just... We are all very familiar with the kind of things we ninjas do, but Yagura's actions were seldom based in logic, often they were just pointless and petty cruelty. He spread such a strong anti-bloodline sentiment throughout the Land of Water, lead the purges and executed everyone who even dared question him"

She paused for a moment, and though she presented herself as calm and collected in her voice, there was no denying the underlying feeling of grief in her voice, carefully kept from becoming too evident. A Kage could not show weakness before another Kage.

"He was my friend once" She said, "Kind, thoughtful, he took on his role as Jinchuuriki with pride and the village respected him for it... The Yagura that lead the Mist was not the man I grew up with. As he laid dying..." 'At my hand', they suspected she truly wanted to say but couldn't. "...it was like he had woken up from a dream. He cried and mourned all the things he had done as Mizukage, apologizing because he had not been strong enough to resist"

The Konoha ninja remained silent.

"It wasn't the power that came with the title, or anything like that, he told what he could not resist" She leveled an accusatory glare at them, "was the powerful genjutsu that took control of his mind... casted upon him, by a Sharingan"

They fell silent, even the hidden ANBU were still like statues as both Kushina's and Jiraiya's eyes went wide in pure shock. The Sandaime remained unreadable as Mei continued; "Now I am not saying your village or the Uchiha were responsible for the acts in my nation. But the Sharingan is from the Fire Country, I cannot rule out those possibilities"

"Did Yagura-dono have any details on this Sharingan user before his death?"

A sigh came from the Mizukage; "A man in a black hooded who wore a mask with single right eye-hole." As her words left her lips she saw the look of utter shock from all three.

Kushina's blood turned cold as time stood still to her. Her eyes had grown hauntingly wide at the description of the man that plagued her nightmares. "It's him..." Her voice was a whisper but garnered everyone's attention. Soon shock became boiling rage as she gnashed with pure murderous hate glowing from her eyes. The killer intent that flooded the room made the Mizukage blink before seeing the Red Death roar and slammed a fist through the wall cracking it. "IT'S HIM!" She screamed in utter malice.

Her breathing was ragged pants of barely contained rage, images of that hateful figure that haunted her dreams flashed back with vivid intensity. Her fingers twitched, almost wanting to reach for a weapon so she could stab something, anything, and pretend she stabbing that bastard's heart.

Kushina's head sharply turned as she felt large hands upon her shoulder, she saw Jiraiya giving her an understanding look, trying to calm her down. She saw in his eyes that he too was feeling murderous anger wash through his very being, but needed to be held in check at the moment.

After taking a few calming breathes, Kushina went over to one of the chairs and sat down, pressing a hand against her face, reigning in the rage and killing intent.

All throughout the Mizukage just stared with wide eyed at the display; she turned to the Hokage, gaze demanding an explanation. "I see now" Hiruzen said warily, "Than I must be forthcoming about some secrets of our own""

And so he told her, every last detail. The Uzumaki's former status as Jinchuuriki, the night of her son's birth, all the accounts and description of the event that Kushina had provided him with. He left nothing out, for the Konoha and Kiri now shared a target who presented a threat for both of them.

After the long explanation, the Mizukage had to sit down. She was currently rubbing her eyes, trying to fight back against the growing headache. "Merciful Suijin" She muttered in disbelief, "This... This changes everything"

Hiruzen nodded grimly; "Indeed, whoever this man is has caused pain and misery in both our villages." He gazed towards Kushina who only glared at the floor. "We have a common enemy."

"Indeed we do," Mei only looked at the redhead with mournful yet understanding eyes. "And because of this man who caused harm in both our villages I shall agree to your alliance." She paused; "Kushina-dono." The Uzumaki woman glanced to the Mizukage; "If this man is found in our lands he will suffer, I promise you."

Kushina only gave a nod before looking back to the floor.

A long sigh came from the Hokage; "Whatever your village might be need of you have just to ask. I will see what I can grant you Mei-dono."

"That can wait, for now let's all retire for the day and rest ourselves for the Chunin Exams." All were in agreement on that sentiment.

They could prepare their vengeance another day.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Ever since Karin and then the others had arrived, the house had been rather busy all the time. It was rare to find just himself and his mother by themselves in the training room. Well, sort of since Yugao was upstairs resting on the couch. His mother had explained what happened and told everyone to give the woman space to mourn.

However instead of training, Kushina was showing her son a scrapbook with old photos.

Naruto had a feeling that Hayate's death and seeing her student in pain stirred up bad memories, fresh ones even. He sure did feel bad; even though he met him in passing he seemed to be a nice guy. Maybe it was her way of taking her mind off things, or just when faced with this tragedy it was best to remember those who passed away with those who still remained with you.

The album was pretty much a record of the entirety of his mother's life, since her childhood in Uzushio to her days as an ANBU and jōnin. She would point at the pictures that she thought were more interesting and went on a long explanation on what happened that day, down to what kind of meal she had (it was ramen of course, it was always ramen).

Naruto smiled at seeing the pictures of his father, he always looked so happy and serene, a trait that complimented his mother's overwhelming joy and excitement.

"This one is when your dad got assigned his own team" Kushina explained, "We all went to celebrate afterwards"

Naruto stared fascinated at the image of the people who had joined the party; it was pretty much all the parents from his class in the academy, even Hinata's father. The blonde's blue eyes squinted at the sight of the much smaller silver haired Hatake in the picture.

"Oh come on, even then he wore a mask?"

"Hehehe" Kushina giggled at his reaction, "It's a family thing sweetie, Hatake only show their faces to family. Sakumo-sensei always felt comfortable with everyone on the village so he didn't bother with one"

A snort came from the blond as he saw two other beside a young Kakashi. A girl with a brunette hair in a bob-cut with purple markings on her cheeks. And a goofy looking boy with short spiky black hair and wearing orange googles. "Who are those two?"

He saw his mother's cheerfulness become a mournful; "Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha... They were Kakashi's teammates when your dad was their sensei. Both died during separate missions. Kakashi's Sharingan came from Obito before he died." Kushina paused; "Rin was always a sweet girl. Would have had made one the best medical ninja with her talents."

He paused at the sudden sense of sadness coming from his mother, "And Obito?"

"He was such a goofball. His parents had died when he was very young so never knew him. He never fit the mold of a typical Uchiha and was the black sheep among them." There was a hint of anger in her voice when saying that; "I loved him like a son..."

Her eyes shifted through a myriad of emotions, from pain and nostalgia, to fondness and love, "I always was tough on that knucklehead because somebody needed to keep him in line" She smiled at him, "I can't tell you how happy I am, that you ended up being a lot like him" She pressed a big kiss against his forehead, it was a rather embarrassing gesture for him but he loved it all the same.

Naruto understood Kakashi-sensei a lot better now, the death of his father, his teammates, his sensei, everyone he cared about... It was a miracle that the scarecrow was still sane. It explained why his sensei never really made any contact with him when he was little, he was afraid of losing someone dear to him again, history just repeating itself over and over. Most people would have cracked a long time ago, yet Kakashi-sensei endured, ready to continue serving the village without asking anything in return.

Kakashi-sensei was the strongest person he knew, Naruto realized.

Kushina shifted the pages of the album, showing moments in her life when she was even younger. "Ohohoho, this one" She laughed, pointing at a picture of herself when she was a kid, Naruto recognized uncle Saito, uncle Samenosuke and aunt Lyn, plus there were a few other kids he didn't recognize. They were sitting around a woman in robes, her long crimson locks were pulled back by a hair piece, and they were all smiling at the camera. "Here is us as children with Tsukiko-baachan"

So this was the famed seal master among masters he had heard so much about. Looking at her, she held the same kind of eyes Jiji did, Naruto thought.

"This was just before we pulled a prank on baachan... and got the spanking of our lives" The Uzumaki woman shivered. "When she was disciplining you, she made sure you learnt your lesson THOROUGHLY. With baachan, no butts were spared..."

Naruto paled at the thought before he shook his head. He recalled vividly the times he was caught by Jiji with some of his pranks he had done around the village. And the ones he had done on the Sandaime himself, being chased by an irate Kage after messing with his prized Icha-Icha novels was an experience.

A part of him should not have been so surprised learning it was Ero-Sennin who made those smut books.

Flipping a page the blond took notice of a picture of two people who looked like a couple. A tall stern man with long red hair, violet eyes, and a goatee standing beside a beautiful woman with hair as long as his mother's with red eyes and a calm smile. "Who are these two?"

"Those are your grandparents, my parents, Daisuke and Manami Uzumaki."

At that shock etched on Naruto's face; "This is the first you ever said anything about them."

"Sorry about that," Kushina rubbed the top of her son's head; "Sad thing is I vaguely remember much of anything about my mother. She died when I was very young. Dad was the clan head of the Uzumaki, so he was busy a lot." She explained, "Taking care of the village and by extension the clan, was a pretty taxing job" All those nights she would find him on his study, organizing missions, speaking with the dragons, dealing with the other countries. "And trust me when I say the clan was the whole village, we intermarried with so many smaller families and clans that eventually they were all assimilated, and we ended up with multiple branches. The main branch our leaders, the craftsman branch who made everything, the lore keeper branch who kept our and research, the seal master who further studied seals and other type of esoteric knowledge, and the steel branch who were our frontline warriors. Though we all were equal" She said with pride. "There was no hard rule about the branches; anyone could learn anything from the other branches if they wanted to"

"Wow..." Naruto muttered in surprise, "Everyone in the village was a redhead huh?"

"Just about" She grinned, "Eventually, everyone in Uzushio had the last name Uzumaki. And dad lead them all, the position of Kage, clan head, village and country leader, it was all one job"

"Yeesh" His shoulders slumped, "Did it bother you, that grandpa was so busy all the time?"

"It did sometimes" Kushina admitted, "But, as I grew I began to understand things more. I had Tsukiko-baachan to raise me and educate me while I lived in Uzu" Her tone was melancholic. "What I do remember about my mom was that she absolutely loved the sea, she would always take me to the beach in the mornings..."

"...What would they think of me?" Naruto's voice a quiet hush as he stared at his grandparents.

"Oh honey." Kushina wrapped her arms around her son and kissed the top of his head; "They would have loved you and be proud of you as I am."

Naruto's heart swelled at the thought; "Can you tell me more about grandpa?"

"Oh when he smiled, when he was truly happy, he had the same smile you and I have"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Beyond the territories of human kingdoms, a valley of mountains rose from the earth like pillars; more poetic tongues would describe them like the fingers from the earth gods that outstretched seeking to grasp the sky. In these rocky earthen formations, plant life would still flourish, capping the tops with trees aplenty.

Upon the faces of these mountains one could find many houses and palaces of great size, built into the great stone pillars themselves. The craftsmanship required to make such a construction possible was not of human hands, indeed, for there was nothing that connected the buildings to one another but the air itself.

Dragons needed no bridges after all.

Not many humans had set foot in these sacred grounds, but those who were welcomed were considered kin to the dragons. In the palace of the great chief, a great structure of wood and stone, traditional in every aspect with the architecture of elevated high walls and gently curved tiled roofs, was one such guest welcomed by the dragons. A very old and very dear friend.

"They were very energetic" Her feminine voice said with humor.

A deep rumble was her reply, "Indeed, the people of the whirlpool never change. It is comforting"

"I cannot describe the feeling when I saw all of them," Tomoe muttered in a warm tone. "Knowing some people of Uzu had survived."

"There is likely more in hiding. Sadly I am uncertain of how many," Genryu grumbled in response.

"We have to keep on hope" The white haired woman said with conviction, a hopeful smile present in her lips. "Shishou's clan is stubborn just like her, I know more survived and that one day they'll reclaim their home"

The silver dragon smile in return, looking down at the sage from his great height, "That'll be a joyful day indeed"

Tomoe held her smile, even as it weakened somewhat at the thought of her teacher. "Do you think... that it is possible shishou is still out there?" She dared not believe otherwise, she could NOT believe otherwise. Tsukiko was the strongest woman she knew, both in character and power, she would not die in the darkness, forgotten and lost to the world.

"It is more than a possibility" Genryu said with passion, "It is a certainty, I can feel it in my bones. I know my sister lives, I just know it!"

Siblings often possessed a strong bond, Genryu and Tsukiko, born of the same mother, were no different. He would never allow himself to even entertain the thought his beloved elder sister was dead, his soul cried out that she yet lived, he'd dive straight to the depths of Yomi to find her if needed.

But even still, the years of her absence weighted on him, for so long he'd been looking for her, calling every favor he could, scouring the corners of the skies and the seas and yet...

No, Genryu would never give up hope. For he knew Tsukiko would never give up on him.

"It makes me happy" Tomoe smiled gently, tilting her head as she closed her eyes. "That shishou was surrounded by people who love her so much"

The dragon was happy he could share these moments with Tsukiko's apprentice, someone who knew her and cared for her so much. One day, they would reunite with her, and take her to see a clan reforged in hope and love.

They could spend hours talking about his sister, but the dragon chief understood there was a time to put such feelings aside when more pressing matters presented themselves.

"So" He spoke, his voice low and growly, "I understand the toad sage has shared with you his information"

Tomoe's eyes gained a sharp edge, "He has" Taking out a set of pictures from a folder; she spread them out between them. "His informant in this organization called 'Akatsuki' has confirmed various characteristics and identities of its members... Including that their leader possess the powerful dōjutsu known as the Rinnegan"

Genryu growled in distaste, they perhaps owned a great deal to the Sage of Six Paths, he had after all acted alongside his brother to stop that rampaging alien that was their mother. But a part of him couldn't help but feel displeased they even relied on him to begin with... were it not that all other individuals that could have done something (and that number was woefully short...) had been busy at the time.

It had not been too long ago, relatively speaking, when the world had fallen in chaos and broken. Much needed to be fixed at the time.

And then this sage spread the use of the rediscovered onmyōdō which he called 'ninshu' (that made Genryu roll his eyes) to the humans, giving them access to a greater weapon once again, spreading the knowledge of the mystical arts, magic that should have been carefully taught to them instead of being widespread so much.

But the damage had been done...

Tomoe stroke her chin, deep in thought much like the dragon. "From what the toads told me, this Rinnegan possess nothing short of godlike power. Not too surprising considering the source comes from the sheer primal power stolen from the world"

"It is a mistake that should have been corrected"

"A touch too late for regrets my friend, for now let's focus on the present" The red eyed woman said, as her eyes took in every detail from the photos in front of her. "As I'm lead to understand, these 'Bijuu' have not had very peaceful interactions with neither humans nor beasts"

"There was a time in which that fake nine tailed fox stayed with fox clan" Genryu replied, "But as I've been told, he has long since fallen out of their grace. His constant rampages through human settlements were not tolerated"

"And now his jailer is one of shishou's descendants, like the last two were" The sage sighed. "It is what it is... Hmm, Akatsuki is proving to be a growing threat, if their plans for the bijuu are like we imagine then the risk is too great"

"The Rinnegan wielder must be disposed of" The dragon agreed. "But at the moment we cannot act, not until we have more Intel"

Her eyes hardened when they settled upon a particular picture, for a moment flashing with a burning glow. "What worries me the most... is this one" She tapped her finger on the photo.

Short silver hair slicked, a wide grin and dark eyes... what was truly remarkable about him was his supposed immortality.

And the medallion around his neck.

"The Cult..." Genryu growled dangerous. "I would have written it off as a coincidence, but for someone with such abilities to be part of Akatsuki, it is too convenient"

"It means the Cult is acting in the shadows without anyone knowing. They follow in their predecessor's footsteps, playing their hand in secret, manipulating, sowing chaos and conflict wherever their reach extends"

Tomoe took a deep breath, fighting back the ancient rage within her. Her eyes seemed to glow as her pupil blazed from black to white momentarily.